| The
Crossing - December 2007 Edition
The Crossing - December 2007
Edition
Well, here we are. 2007 is
quickly winding down. It’s December and the weather has turned cold and
damp. The roads and shops are filled with holiday
shoppers all looking for
any number of material goods to be wrapped under shiny paper. But real
material goods, the ones that count we all know, all have something to
say about the world we live in. What could I possibly be talking about
you may ask? ART. That’s right. CD’s and DVD’s. Music and movies. Audio
and cinema. Where would we be without these grand inventions? In a hopeless
miasma of goo, that’s where. But that should be self-evident. Anybody worth
their salt wants Rock and Roll in their stocking and under their tree,
so that’s where I come in. Assuming you have more shopping to do and I
haven’t completely ruined your Christmas by not getting these lists out
sooner, you may be thankful that they have now, indeed, appeared. Let’s
get to it...
In my estimation, 2007 was
an excellent year for music. There were only two major bands (U2 and R.E.M.)
that didn’t have all new albums this year that prevented 2007 from being
the all-out banner year that I predicted back in January: They did however
have some great releases to tide over fans. U2 released The Joshua Tree
box set and R.E.M. released the Live in Dublin CD/DVD set, their
first set of its type. Both bands can be counted on to have new albums
in
2008.
But, what did come out this
year? Funny you should ask.
Let’s go thru the names of
some of the artists that released new material this year.
John Mellencamp/Patty Griffin/Lucinda
Williams/Mary
Chapin Carpenter/Lucy Kaplansky/Arcade
Fire/Innocence Mission/Roger
Clyne & the
Peacemakers/Jack Ingram/Fountains
of
Wayne/Marillion/Rush/Bruce
Springsteen/Chris
Cornell/Dream Theater/Polyphonic
Spree/White
Stripes/Relient K/Mark Olson/Buffalo
Tom/Wilco/Son
Volt/Smashing Pumpkins/Kim
Richey/Suzanne Vega/Over
The Rhine/Eisley/The
Waterboys/The Oysterband/Robert
Plant/Alison Krauss/KT Tunstall/Steve
Earle/Mark
Knopfler/John Fogerty/Marc
Cohn/Neil
Young/Justin Currie/The
Eagles/Radiohead
Pretty impressive group,
is it not? And, of course, that’s just a small fraction.
Of those, I came up with
six that I gave big time airplay:
Rush - Snakes & Arrows
Marillion - Somewhere
Else
Bruce Springsteen - The
Seeger Sessions and Magic
Buffalo Tom - Three Easy
Pieces
Roger Clyne - No More Beautiful
World
KT Tunstall - Drastic Fantastic
What do these six artists
have in common? I have no idea. But, I think, for what ever reason, I just
found their releases to be the most interesting
filled with great music
and intriguing lyrics.
Looking ahead to 2008, we
can expect to hear from these artists: U2/R.E.M.(as stated earlier)/John
Mellencamp(again)/Metallica/King’s X/Matthew Sweet/Social Distortion/David
Gray/Great Big Sea/Fish/James/Bill Mallonee/Pierce Pettis/Big Country/Marillion/Bruce
Springsteen and The Hooters
Both Marillion and Bruce
Springsteen are said to have recorded surplus material in their latest
ventures into the studio, so they should have short
follow-ups to their most
recent records.
Big Country is down to the
original three guys with bass player Tony Butler taking over on vocals,
guitarist Bruce Watson taking over lead guitar
and drummer Mark Brzezicki
rounding out the trio. They have already played a dozen or so live dates
in the United Kingdom and have more dates in December. An all-new album
is forthcoming for 2008.
The Hooters have finally
found an American distributor for their latest disc Time Stand Still
and it should be in stores relatively soon in the new year.
Also, John Mellencamp has
been reported to have been working with producer T Bone Burnett for a relatively
short follow-up to Freedom’s Road.
Let’s talk movies for a moment.
(Hey, it’s a rarity!)
I saw quite a few good movies
in 2007 and these would make my top ten in no particular order:
-
No Country For Old Men
(Coen brothers back on track. A very violent movie that may give us a little
too much insight into where society is headed. Fits in with other Coen
movies Fargo and Blood Simple nicely.)
-
Zodiac (Very well acted
famous case study of how these investigators go off the deep end in search
for a killer.)
-
In The Valley Of Elah
(Even if you don’t like the direction the flag is hanging from in the final
shot, this movie does make you think about the state of the Nation.)
-
The Namesake (A good
movie that gives you the angle of an outsider looking into this country
of ours.)
-
Freedom Writers (A movie
that shows you change is possible. This gets my ‘should be seen by many
more people’ vote.)
-
Children Of Men (I liked
this better the second time I saw it. Is this a look at the future of society?
I sure hope not.)
-
Gone Baby Gone (The final
shot of this film will haunt you. Did they make the right choice?)
-
The Lookout (A well acted,
indie tale that as a whole makes a great little film.)
-
The Assassination of Jesse
James... (Really well acted film that probably plays a bit too much
like a documentary about the famous historical Missouri outlaw.)
-
Once (I actually haven’t
seen this yet, released this month, but I suspect I will like it.)
Honorable mention:
-
Breach (A well acted
film about an astonishing breach of security in US history.)
-
The Hoax (An entertaining
movie that amazes you in how far someone will go to sell a story.)
-
Into The Wild (A sad
tale that does make you think we as a society may have lost touch with
some of the things that are really important. Moving to Alaska to live
in an abandoned bus may be taking it a bit too far however.)
-
Harry Potter and the Order
of the Phoenix (Up there with the 3rd installment for best Potter flick.)
-
Spiderman 3 (Not as good
as part 2, but still pretty good. It probably, if anything, needed to be
longer so everything that got crammed into it didn’t seem so crammed.)
-
Beowulf (Awesome in 3-D!)
-
The Golden Compass (Controversy
aside, I thought it was awesome to look at and very well acted, while whatever
‘message’ there may be will go
-
over most people’s heads.)
Happy shopping! Be safe
out there!
Recently released and not
mentioned in last edition:
* The Lost Dogs - We Like
to Have Christmas
* Interpol - 6 song live
EP (Only available at indie
stores.)
* Jesse Dayton & Brennen
Leigh - Holdin’ Our Own
* Motion Picture Soundtrack
- Even if it Kills Me
* Doug Jayne - Voices in
the Wind
* Jana Hunter - There’s
No Home
* Yarn - S/T
* Only Son - The Drop to
the Top
* Grizzly Bear - Friend
EP
* Armor For Sleep - Smile
For Them
* Nightwish - Dark Passion
Play
* Mutemath - Flesh and Bones
Electric Fun - DVD
* Carrie Newcomer - Light
of Change - DVD
* Black 47 - New Year’s
Eve in Times Square - DVD
12/4
* David Bowie - Box (10 CD
singles.)
* Nick Drake - Fruit Tree
(Box set.)
* The Wreckers - Way Back
Home: Live from New York City - CD/DVD
* The 77’s - 99 (Live EP.)
* Michael Sweet - Touched
(covers project.)
* Daft Punk - Alive 2007
* Idlewild - Best of: Scottish
Fiction: 1997-2007
* The Libertines - Best
of: A Time for Heroes
* Echo & the Bunnymen
- Killing Moon: Best of
* Never Enough - S/T
* Johnossi - S/T
* Ziggy Marley - Love is
My Religion
* Scout Niblett - This Fool
Can Die Now
* Once - Deluxe Soundtrack
* Various Artists - P.S.
I Love You (Soundtrack.)
* Saturday Night Live -
Complete Second Season - DVD
* Live Earth: the Concerts
for a Climate in Crisis - 2 DVD’s/1CD
* Brian Eno - 77 Million
Paintings - DVD
* Rufus Wainwright sings
Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall
- 2 CD’s/DVD
* Fred Eaglesmith - Live
Below Sea Level - DVD
* Pirates of the Caribbean:
At World’s End - DVD
* Superbad
* The Hottest State
* The Nanny Diaries
* Arctic Tale
12/11
* Pink Floyd - Oh, By The
Way (40th anniversary box set: 16 CD’s and 1 DVD.)
* Rivers Cuomo - Alone:
the Home Recordings/Demos 1992-2007 (singer of Weezer.)
* Sheryl Crow - Hits &
Rarities
* Keane - Night Sky EP (import.)
* The Dave Matthews Band
- Live at Piedmont Park - 3CD’s/2DVD’s
* Led Zeppelin - The Song
Remains the Same - DVD
* Gov’t Mule - A Tale of
Two Cities - DVD
* Cactus - Live - DVD
* Styx - Caught in the Act
- DVD
* Harry Potter and the Order
of the Phoenix - DVD
* The Bourne Ultimatum -
DVD
* December Boys - DVD
* Interview - DVD
12/15
* Daniel Lanois - Here Is
What Is (Digital download only at redfloorrecords.com.)
12/18
* Keller Williams - 12
* Radiohead - 7 CD box set
(Everything you already own edition.)
* John Lennon - Live Peace
in Toronto 1969 - 2 CD’s
* Ben Harper - Live at Twist
& Shout Records - CD/DVD
* The Scorpions - Live at
Wacken Open Air Festival 2006 - DVD
* Tool - Vicarious - DVD
* Kiss - Kissology 3 - 5
DVD set
* Once - DVD
* Stardust - DVD
* The Simpsons Movie
* Underdog - DVD
* Balls of Fury - DVD
* The Last Legion - DVD
* Rob Zombie’s Halloween
- DVD
* National Treasure - 2
DVD Collector’s edition
* Braveheart - Special collector’s
edition DVD
* Blade Runner - 25th anniversary
DVD (Also a 5 DVD box set available.)
* Adventures of Young Indiana
Jones: Vol. 2 - DVD box
set
12/25
Merry Christmas!
12/26
* Eastern Promises - DVD
* The Brothers Soloman -
DVD
* Rush Hour 3 - DVD
* Shattered - DVD
1/1
Happy New Year!
1/2
* Radiohead - In Rainbows
* Ellis Paul - Dragonfly
Races
* Shoot ‘Em Up - DVD
* Jet Li’s War - DVD
* September Dawn - DVD
1/8
* Daughtry - Home
* Edgar and Johnny Winter
- Together Live
* 3:10 to Yuma - DVD
* Sunshine - DVD
* The Invasion - DVD
* The Hunting Party - DVD
* Eagle Vs. Shark - DVD
* Joshua - DVD
* Death Sentence - DVD
* Dragon Wars - DVD
* Resident Evil: Extinction
- DVD
* Zodiac - Director’s cut
DVD
1/15
* The Eels - Meet the Eels:
Essential 1996-2006
* The Eels - Useless Trinkets:
Bsides & Rarities
1996-2007 - 2CD’s/1DVD
* The Magnetic Fields -
Distortion
* Good Luck Chuck - DVD
* Mr. Woodcock - DVD
* The Ten - DVD
1/22
* North Mississippi Allstars
- Hernando
* Cat Power - Jukebox (Deluxe
edition.)
* Cat Power - Covers II
1/29
* Joe Jackson - Rain
* Shelby Lynne - Just a
Little Lovin’ (Inspired by Dusty Springfield.)
* Sons & Daughters -
This Gift
* The Mars Volta - The Bedlam
in Goliath
* King of California - DVD
* Rocket Science - DVD
* The King of Kong: A Fistful
of Quarters - DVD
* Groundhog Day - 15th anniversary
DVD
2/5
* Lenny Kravitz - It is Time
for a Love Revolution
* Jack Johnson - Sleep Through
the Static
* Nada Surf - Lucky
* Iron Maiden - Live After
Death plus History of Maiden: Vol. 2 - 2 DVD set
* Across the Universe -
DVD
* The Assassination of Jesse
James... - DVD
* Elizabeth: the Golden
Age - DVD
* The Jane Austen Book Club
- DVD
2/12
* Michael Jackson - Thriller
(25th anniversary before
he lost his mind Deluxe
Edition w/DVD.)
* In the Shadow of the Moon
- DVD
* We Own the Night - DVD
* Into the Wild - DVD
* Becoming Jane - DVD
2/19
* Ray Davies - Working Man’s
Cafe (US release.)
* Rendition - DVD
* Lust, Caution - DVD
2/26
* The Kingdom - DVD
* The Darjeeling Limited
- DVD
* Resurrecting the Champ
- DVD
* The Heartbreak Kid - DVD
March and beyond preview:
* Aimee Mann - Smilers
* The BoDeans - Still (produced
by T-Bone Burnett.)
* The Black Crowes - Warpaint
* Kathleen Edwards - Asking
For Flowers
* Bauhaus - Going Away White
* The Silver Jews - Lookout
Mountain, Lookout Sea
* The Breeders - Mountain
Battles
* Freedy Johnston - Rain
On the City
* Counting Crows - Saturday
Night, Sunday Morning
LYRICS of the MONTH:
So, tell me Christmas
Are we wise
To believe in things
we never see
Are prayers just wishes
in disguise
And are these wishes
being granted me
For now I see
The answering
To every prayer I’ve
prayed
She’s coming home this
Christmas Day
So tell me Christmas
Are we kind
More on this day than
any other day
Or is it only in our
minds
And must it leave when
you have gone away
It’s different now
It’s changed somehow
And now you’re here to
stay
She’s coming home this
Christmas Day
All at once the world
It doesn’t seem the same
And in a single night
You know it all has changed
And everything is now
as it should be
I have the ornament
I have the perfect tree
I have a string of lights
I have a chance to see
Everything that my heart
thought could be
For of all the dreams
You were the first I
knew
And every other one
Was a charade of you
You stayed close when
I was far away
In the darkest night
You always were the star
That always took us in
No matter who we are
And so she’s coming home
this Christmas Day
Trans-Siberian Orchestra,
the song “This Christmas Day” off the album Christmas Eve and Other
Stories.
Again, have a Merry Christmas
and a very Happy New Year!!!
Here’s to 2008...
Chris Barlow
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