Ben Folds released a trio of EPs during 2003-04 featuring a mix of cover songs, throwaway tracks and a few very good original songs. ‘There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You,’ from the Sunny 16 EP, is one of the the good ones.
This track is a cross between a pep talk and a fuck you. Folds sings about how little the opinions of others matter and extols the virtues of self-confidence and security with your own shortcomings.
I haven’t given much thought to the film Once in the eight years since its release. While I certainly appreciated it at the time, it never grabbed me the way my favorite films do.
That’s a bit surprising, because the movie should be right up my alley. It has the low-budget, real-life romantic vibe of Richard Linklater’s Before series and it features a number of beautifully staged musical moments (Marketa Irglova’s late-night battery run, for example).
Of the three White Stripes albums I own, 2005’s Get Behind Me Satan is my favorite (the other two, for those keeping score, are 2003’s Elephant and 2007’s Icky Thump.
This record eases off of Jack White’s usual guitar-heavy sound and introduces new flavors such as the marimba that’s heavily featured on today’s SOTD.
Fourteen years before he took home Oscars for writing, directing and producing Birdman, Alejandro González Iñárritu made his feature film debut with Amores Perros. It’s a much better film.
Last year, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood was robbed of the big prize, which made it impossible for me to cheer on Iñárritu, who I’ve rooted for ever since he blew me away in 2001 — even as each film that followed Amores Perros was a little less successful than the last.
Today’s Random iTunes selection comes from an album of Disney Princess songs we bought for my daughter’s years ago.
It’s a pretty great album, featuring such songs as ‘A Whole New World,’ ‘Part of Your World,’ ‘Colors of the Wind,’ ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight,’ and ‘Belle.’ I always thought it was weird that it didn’t include ‘Beauty and the Beast.’
Meet Me In Montauk 