The Filtered Excellence: March 8, 2012

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Bob Geldof once asked us, “Where is the filtered excellence!?” Its right here. Here are this weeks picks of what to WATCH, what to DO what to TRY what to READ what to LISTEN TO and more:

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WATCH THIS:

Attenberg.   Written and directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari, Attenberg is part of what has been called “the new wave of Greek cinema.” Marina, the protagonist, is 23 years old and living with her architect father who has returned home  after having been dignosed with terminal cancer. But that’s not the whole story. Marina is extremely inexperienced with sex, and this detachment also extends into basic human interactions.  She prefers to fixate on studying Sir David Attenborough’s mammal documentaries instead. This film is a weird one, alright…but the quirkiness of the story is also endearing and it is tempered with humor and some incredibly touching moments. (limited release March 9th)

The Announcement.  Don’t miss director Nelson George’s The Announcement this week on ESPN. The story of Magic Johnson’s decision to announce his illness and retire over twenty years ago is narrated by Johnson himself.  Don’t miss this riveting documentary to see Johnson speaks about how his life changed and the journey he went on after learning he had HIV. It airs March 11, 2012 at 9pm est on ESPN.

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LISTEN TO THIS

Release Me by Lyle Lovett. For his final album on Merge Records (his musical home for 26 years and 11 albums) Lovett released an album of mostly covers  entitled Release Me complete with a cover photo of the singer tied up with a lariat. You might assume that this is a forgettable quickie release intended to satisfy his contractual obligation, but you would be wrong. This album functions as an excellent retrospective of Lovett’s career, allowing him to represent the country, jazz, blues and R&B elements he has tackled so ably over his career. His rollicking full band songs and sparsely arranged ballads are also represented. The sole sour note is yet another version of “Baby It’s Cold Outside”, but even that is pretty okay. Overall, it’s a must listen for fans of Lovett as well as folks hearing him for the first time.

Open Your Heart by The Men.  Here, the “rock is dead” cliche here can be refuted.  Check this Brooklyn quartet’s latest, and tell me it’s not true. They rock. In description of their musical style, The Men have been tossed into their fair share of categories and punk sub-genres. All kinds of punk riffing guitar are present, as are likenings to ’80s left of the dial luminaries, The Replacements. But no worries, the album is no throw-back retro endeavor. There is an equilibrium achieved in Open Your Heart that balances pummeling hard rockingness with the catchy, as well as a few slowed down, thoughtful tracks too. In one track, Candy there’s the line, “I just quit my job now I can stay out all night long.” That’s what Open You Heart Feelslike; the start of that kinda night.

Love at the Bottom of the Sea by The Magnetic Fields. Calling an album fun doesn’t have to mean trite. Love at the Bottom of the Sea is a really fun album full of sweet indie synth-pop infectiousness, but it’s also brimming with sharp, witty lyrics.  So, Love at the Bottom of the Sea is smart and funny, with more hooks than a tackle box…and believe it or not, there is some sentimentality up in there too that is not limited to the synth pop sounds reminiscent of The Magnetic Fields earlier catalog.

Happy Pills by Norah Jones.   The first single from her forthcoming album Little Broken Hearts marks a bit of a departure for the multi Grammy wining singer-songwriter. She and producer Danger Mouse snuck into a studio over a few days, handled all of the production chores and played most of the instruments themselves. Add to that a not so pleasant breakup Jones had gone through at the time and the result is the most catchy goodbye-and-piss off song since Rolling In The Deep.

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DO THIS:

Radiohead on Tour. Thom Yorke and co. are going back on tour, so don’t miss your chance to see their always amazing live show. The dates don’t start until May, but many dates will likely sell out, so grab your tickets when they go on sale this week.

Martha Redbone at 92nd STreet Y Tribeca. Singer-songwriter Martha Redbone has been music’s best kept secret for the better part of a decade. Her mix of Native American, R&B, funk and soul has drawn critical raves. Her latest project, Garden Of Love, brings her back to her Kentucky roots as she explores Appalachian folk music using the poetry and lyrics of William Blake. Friday’s performance will mark the official live debut of the material, which was produced by Nitty Gritty Dirty Band co-founder John McEuen. Come out and see this beautiful merger of soul and folk.

Ultra Music Festival 2012, Miami Florida, 23-24 March 2012.If you’re an electronic music fan, this is your mecca. Grab your glow sticks and get ready to join 150,000 others for one of the largest electronic music festivals in the country. This year, the three day event will be featuring the band New Order and this will be the first time they have played in the US since 2005. Some of some of the other acts that are performing are: Kraftwerk, Fatboy Slim, Tiesto, John , Digweed, Armin Van Buren, DJ Icey and more.  Tickets are sold out for this event, but are still available on Stubhub and Ebay.

 

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Interrobang Staff

Interrobang Staff