tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post4828955310206458143..comments2024-03-28T18:59:21.172-04:00Comments on Face to Face: The Parallax View and the Sublime visual styleagnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-73130594299132706432013-03-14T21:39:00.136-04:002013-03-14T21:39:00.136-04:00Did I say I never heard a song by Prince? When I w...Did I say I never heard a song by Prince? When I was in high school I was stuck in a room with "Purple Rain" on a loop, which certainly didn't endear me to him. It is true that I haven't heard much from him.<br /><br />I tried listening to a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30rpE1oNXM8&list=PL6F054D2EE183B1FB" rel="nofollow">mix</a> of Talk Talk, but have to admit I couldn't sit through more than five songs. Ugh. I don't consider them or the Animals to sound angry. The Animals sound bluesy (downright happy in their live performance of "Nobody But You" with Sonny Boy Williamson), Talk Talk sounds gay, presumably why Gwen Stefani covered them. The best of the bad bunch was their eponymous song, which I'd be much more averse to listening to again than the worst I've heard from the Animals.<br /><br />I do quite like Judas Priest's "Tyrant", though I'm not so keen on "Victim of Changes" which is supposed to be the standout track from that album. "Hell Bent For Leather" is perfectly serviceable stupid metal, but nothing special. "Green Manalishi" can't compare with Peter Green's extended jamming, but neither can Green's original studio version.<br /><br />For Priest's genre, I greatly prefer Iron Maiden, who had a more consistent output. If I had to choose between Maiden vs Sabbath, it's tough but I'm going with Sabbath. And I even agree that Ozzie is not a very good singer! Dio is clearly a better singer (I think Ozzy might have said as much), but the original incarnation of Sabbath is better than the one with Dio (better than Rainbow as well). It's a matter of more than one member's virtuoso performance, but coming together as more than a sum of their parts. Similarly, Bruce Dickinson is a better songer than Paul Di'anno, but I think the previous incarnation was better (on this I'll admit I'm likely in the minority). With Paul you can believe you're hearing former skinheads injecting a new vitality into the genre. Despite a fantastic debut with Dickinson I think they degraded into making bloated "epics", whereas even an extended Di'Anno track like "Phantom of the Opera" still fits in well beside their punk-tinged shorter numbers.<br /><br />Billy Idol is a joke. Admittedly, I've only heard his solo stuff rather than Generation X, but I haven't heard anyone say they were a particularly good band in their own right. I'm not as big a fan of the Clash as many others, but there's a reason the Ramones said that by Give 'Em Enough Rope they had been outdone. Billy Idol hasn't outdone anybody worth a damn.TGGPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017651009634767649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-22375275675337876182013-03-14T00:11:40.033-04:002013-03-14T00:11:40.033-04:00Or since you Millennials are so lazy, try out &quo...Or since you Millennials are so lazy, try out "Riding on the Wind" vs. "Paranoid". Similar intentions for both songs, but Priest have a far richer sound, greater skills at both composing and performing / improvising, and don't just get you up out of your seat but kick your ass out the window.<br /><br />Ha, just remembered this post by a classically trained voice teacher, her take on 5 heavy metal singers:<br /><br />http://www.invisibleoranges.com/2010/07/ask-a-real-musician-5-classic-male-metal-singers/<br /><br />She really digs the octave range, expressiveness, and overall technique of Bruce Dickinson, Ronnie James Dio, and Rob Halford (and she's only hearing a '76 recording, not their peak). Thinks that King Diamond is all talent but no substance -- also correct. And what about Ozzy Osbourne?<br /><br />"...no command of vocal technique... his throat is so tight that there is no flow or resonance. His rhythmic punctuation of the lyrics is very distracting... I was tempted to ask Cosmo how long his career lasted before he either washed out or needed surgery. The entire range of his singing is contained within a single octave..."agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-40374797804537417992013-03-13T23:48:24.066-04:002013-03-13T23:48:24.066-04:00And tell me what songs you know fairly well alread...And tell me what songs you know fairly well already -- without YouTube-ing their Wikipedia discography article -- by the Supremes and by Bananarama.<br /><br />BTW, for other readers, check out Bananarama's self-titled album from 1984. It's catchy and bouncy like their later songs, but a shade more dark/ominous, and more new wave / synth-pop stylistically. Probably the best "girl group" album, song for song.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-26909937759652830852013-03-13T23:42:33.999-04:002013-03-13T23:42:33.999-04:00Well you haven't heard many songs by any of th...Well you haven't heard many songs by any of those groups, from the '60s or especially the '80s. Sometime in the last couple years you admitted that you'd never heard a song by Prince, which didn't stop you from passing judgement.<br /><br />By transitivity, you've heard little or nothing from the other '80s groups I mentioned.<br /><br />Duran Duran vs. the Beatles is not very debatable, although that's the best match between a '60s group and their "spiritual successor" in the '80s. The rest of the contests are slam dunks.<br /><br />Go listen to Talk Talk's first two albums. Their more developed style of angry outsider rock blows the balls of the Animals, who aren't a bad band. Mark Hollis, the singer, got his start in the punk scene. But like Billy Idol he decided to go for greater musicianship and emotional range in the '80s, instead of the stripped-down aesthetic of punk, which left it with nothing to run on but pure attitude -- hence uninteresting as music.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-7136770644253513412013-03-13T21:06:02.683-04:002013-03-13T21:06:02.683-04:00"In the same way, Duran Duran made greater mu..."In the same way, Duran Duran made greater music than The Beatles, Talk Talk was greater than The Animals, Bryan Ferry was greater than Elvis, Bananarama was greater than The Supremes, and Judas Priest in the late '70s - mid '80s was greater than Black Sabbath in the early '70s."<br />What? If you hadn't already made some other bizarre claims I'd assume you were taking the piss. I don't even think the bands you mention would agree. I could understand a claim like "Pete Townsend was better than Link Wray", but let's not get ridiculous.TGGPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11017651009634767649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-46799397260130077712013-03-13T01:13:45.220-04:002013-03-13T01:13:45.220-04:00"And the 3D? Who the hell wants shit right up..."And the 3D? Who the hell wants shit right up in front distracting you."<br /><br />IMAX too. I'm not sure exactly how it interferes with the experience -- but it puts a little strain on my eyes. I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark in IMAX last summer, and it felt a little bit off -- nothing as bad as releasing it in 3-D, but it didn't feel right.<br /><br />Maybe it was depth perception or resolution of detail (focus/blur), I couldn't tell because I tried to just ignore it and enjoy the movie.<br /><br />I do know that movies shot for IMAX don't give the shallow focus that anamorphic lenses do. That came out obviously during The Dark Knight Rises, where those crowd melee scenes in front of the bank (or city hall or whatever) were shot in IMAX, whereas the majority was shot in Panavision.<br /><br />Those scenes had much greater depth of field, and distracted me with fights clearly in focus at all kinds of distances from the camera.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-72379666506153421522013-03-13T01:03:03.098-04:002013-03-13T01:03:03.098-04:00"What about giallo films."
I give the a..."What about giallo films."<br /><br />I give the award to who did it the best, rather than who did it first. There was a rebirth of color contrasts during the 1960s (not only in movies). But a major cultural change does not reach its peak at the beginning. It takes time to mature.<br /><br />In the same way, Duran Duran made greater music than The Beatles, Talk Talk was greater than The Animals, Bryan Ferry was greater than Elvis, Bananarama was greater than The Supremes, and Judas Priest in the late '70s - mid '80s was greater than Black Sabbath in the early '70s.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-50072375576357109442013-03-12T22:28:40.089-04:002013-03-12T22:28:40.089-04:00Movies today are grotesquely in your face. While t...Movies today are grotesquely in your face. While there are cases of nice panoramic shots, the producers cant help but smear digital effects lipstick all over the canvas-.<br /><br />I think women viewers care more about a face expressing pleasure than the object that evokes the pleasure. Hence the shots like picking boogers out of jack and rose flying on the titanic, edward and bella in a constant three way with the camera, and every fucking show on TV.<br /><br />And the 3D? Who the hell wants shit right up in front distracting you. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-27621526917594408832013-03-12T22:00:53.486-04:002013-03-12T22:00:53.486-04:00Blade Runner, Manhunter, and Black Rain hypnotized...<i>Blade Runner, Manhunter, and Black Rain hypnotized audiences with color contrast not seen since Art Deco architecture, Empire/Regency design, or the painting of El Greco and Rubens.</i><br /><br />What about <i>giallo</i> films. Mario Bava, Dario Argento? They hypnotised audiences with <a href="http://cinecafe.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/suspiria-1977-bluray-720p-dts-x264-chd01848816-39-53.jpg" rel="nofollow">wild</a> <a href="http://www.horrorphile.net/images/blood-and-black-lace-silhouetted-killer1.jpg" rel="nofollow">splashes</a> of colour long before <i>Blade Runner</i>.Federicohttp://studiolo.cortediurbino.orgnoreply@blogger.com