Sylva by Snarky Puppy and the Metropole Orkest - First Impressions

After having some major problems with the last album from groundUP Records(Swift by Bill Laurance), I’m happy to report that Sylva, the latest endeavour from Michael League, Snarky Puppy and the Metropole Orkest, has restored my faith in the jazz fusion collective.

My biggest concern going into this album was that the use of the orchestra was going to feel gimmicky and tacked-on to give the album an interesting selling point, but nothing more. Thankfully, the orchestra and the band feel like one giant ensemble rather than one accompanying the other. There is only one track that doesn’t implement the Metropole Orkest so well - The Curtain. I want to get my problems with this track out of the way before I continue to praise the rest of the album. The problem I had with The Curtain is that it felt like a bunch of different ideas (all of which had potential) shoved together into one, huge,underdeveloped piece. If they had taken one or two of the ideas they included and developed them, they could have come up with a couple of really great,memorable pieces. What they were left with, instead, was the only piece on the album which felt too long and where the orchestra felt misused.

Much to my relief, the rest of this latest album is characteristically brilliant. TheClearing - the 20 minute centrepiece of the album - is incredibly enjoyable and,unlike The Curtain, never felt too long. The highlight of the album is Gretel - adramatic anthem like piece with an incredible, booming final section whichmakes great use of silence and the full force of the entire ensemble alike. Ialso loved Flight and Atchafalaya. These are, to me, the most melodically andrhythmically interesting pieces on the album and, to make things just that littlebit better, they lead really nicely into each other.

Sylva is an incredibly enjoyable and musically interesting album, that makes fora fantastic follow up to last year’s equally brilliant We Like It Here. I definitely recommend supporting the band by buying this album. All I can say now is that I am even more excited for Snarky Puppy’s next album, coming later this year - Family Dinner Volume 2.

Swift by Bill Laurance - First Impressions

I have to say, I’m a little disappointed by this new album. Having thoroughly enjoyed Flint, I expected Swift to build upon the foundations that the previous album established. Flint was an album that not only provided intellectually stimulating music, but also provided music that evoked feeling from the listener. Swift is certainly musically diverse and impressive in an intellectual sense, which is something I always look for when listening to new music, but it never made me feel anything. Swift lacks the balance that Flint found between esotericism and accessibility. There are certainly no standout tracks that stuck with me after listening to the album. I understand that the point of this album is to create a series of musical landscapes, but what that does is to make sitting and listening to the pieces themselves as a primary activity rather difficult. The biggest issue that I have with the album is that it seems confused. On one hand, it’s trying to break down the barriers between genres and create an intellectual music experience. On the other hand, it creates a sound that is best heard when one doesn’t pay attention to it. There is no denying that the music itself has a serene beauty to it, but that doesn’t help the fact that at times, it feels as if it’s not moving anywhere. To me, Swift feels like an album that could have done something amazing, had the music felt as though it had the purpose that the concept of the album intended.

The Phosphorescent Blues - Album Review

Anyone who has spent any amount of time around me knows how much I love music. Anyone who has spent a substantial amount of time around me knows that Punch Brothers are the one group of people who I will always trust to create music that I will love. Anyone who, like me, was a little worried prior to hearing The Phosphorescent Blues (Punch Brothers’ newest album) that the band was moving in a direction far from what made so many of us fall in love with their sound, can sleep soundly tonight. Whilst there are a few tracks on the new album that aren't up to the boys’ usual standard, there is enough good to be found within The Phosphorescent Blues to call it another successful endeavour from the best progressive bluegrass has to offer.

The album opens with what appears to be somewhat of a preview of what the band is trying to achieve with The Phosphorescent Blues. The first track – Familiarity – is a ten minute long tune that has been split in two. The first half, whilst having some pretty complex instrumental lines, is very vocal focused and introduces drums for the first time in a Punch Brothers song, played by Jay Bellerose (someone who Chris Thile referred to on the band’s website as a “sixth Punch Brother”). I have to say I was incredibly sceptical of the inclusion of drums in this new album. I have always appreciated that the Punch Brothers were able to simulate the effect of drums without actually having a drummer. Fortunately, whilst the drums are a little jarring to begin with, they find their place within the group’s sound in the second half of Familiarity. Speaking of the second half, this is where we see the other element of what’s to come in TPB: the classic Punch Brothers sound you know and love. I really liked Familiarity. It sort of feels like a trailer for the rest of the album and does that job really well.

The rest of the album can be sorted into two categories: ‘pop heavy’ and ‘bluegrass heavy’. What I mean by this is that when listening to each song I imagined a set of scales. On one side was the influence of pop music and on the other was the influence of older, more folky Punch Brothers songs. All of the songs on this album have influences from both ends of the scale (the only exceptions being the Debussy and Scriabin covers which are straight arrangements for bluegrass instruments of the original pieces), but some songs have more weight on one side than the other. I had more difficulty in getting behind the more ‘pop heavy’ songs. This may be due to my broad dislike of pop music and the fact that most of these songs featured drums which still irks me a little, however, I think the main reason for my issue with the ‘pop heavy’ songs on TPB was due to the lack of esotericism, a trait that I have come to expect from Punch Brothers’ music. I think the best example of this lack of complexity is I Blew It Off. This song was the first song revealed from the new album and was the source of my concern before I listened to the entire set. It is the simplest song on the album and the most repetitive. That’s not to say that this is representative of the entire album. In fact, the album is saved by six songs that I absolutely loved.

Some of those six songs fall under the ‘bluegrass heavy’ category. Whilst these songs certainly draw from older Punch Brothers material, it is not the case that this new music is entirely in the spirit of past albums. My two favourite songs on TPB are My Oh My and Julep. These songs definitely come from progressive bluegrass beginnings and that is the predominant sound here, but they have moved somewhat towards the area of pop music. This is the direction in which I expected the Punch Brothers to take their sound and with these two songs as well as Passepied (Debussy) and Boll Weevil, they have done so successfully.

The last song I want to talk about before giving my overall verdict of The Phosphorescent Blues is Little Lights – the last song on the album. This, I feel, finds the perfect balance between bluegrass and pop. The song focuses mainly on the singing (and Chris Thile’s slightly off-putting falsetto), including some lovely, folky vocal harmonies and a collection of fan-submitted vocal clips arranged in a sort of sample choir. This focus on the vocals is not at the expense of the instrumental work. There is an enchanting violin solo that leads into, and carries on during the chorus. The melancholy tone of this song hammers home the slightly sombre mood of the entire album and closes out the set incredibly well. This is also the only track where the drums never felt out of place.

The Phosphorescent Blues is not the best Punch Brothers album, but it does have enough good in it to sustain my confidence in Thile, Critter, Pickles, Gabbers and Arco Paulo. I enjoyed a lot of the new album, but the overall direction of the music is unclear and that bothers me. To put it simply, The Phosphorescent Blues is confusing, but enjoyable and in the end… Isn't that all that matters?


7/10

Guardians of the Galaxy - Review

The Guardians of the Galaxy are not a well known group of characters from the Marvel universe. For this reason, many were sceptical of how successful this film could ultimately be. As someone who was incredibly excited about this film from the moment the first trailer was released, I’m happy to say that those naysayers were wrong to doubt the abilities of James Gunn and the rest of the cast and crew of Guardians of the Galaxy. This is not only my favourite Marvel film of the year, it is probably the best film they have ever made.

The Guardians looking awesome!

For those who are unfamiliar with this particular side of the Marvel universe, Guardians of the Galaxy is easiest to describe (but perhaps not most accurately) as the outer space equivalent of the Avengers. The premise of this film places Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), a space outlaw who was kidnapped from Earth as a child during the 1980s, in a situation where he must team up with four other criminals: Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax (Dave Bautista). All of the central characters were played well by their respective actors. I’d like to mention Chris Pratt in particular who is relatively inexperienced in this kind of film. His portrayal of Peter Quill was hilarious whilst still serious when he was needed to be.

Chris Pratt as Peter Quill 

Zoe Saldana was able to be intimidating and forceful whilst still having comedic moments. Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel were both playing fully animated characters and both did an excellent job. Particularly Cooper who’s role as Rocket was absolutely the heart of the film. A large portion of this success is down to James Gunn’s brilliant script which was able to take an inexperienced actor like Bautista and help him to deliver some of the funniest and most intense moments of the film.

Further credit must be given to Gunn for introducing an entirely new ensemble of important characters and still managing to produce a film in which none of them felt underdeveloped. There was a well measured mix of dialogue, character development and action as well as ensuring that the continuity from previous films was upheld. The action sequences were tense whilst being dotted with just the right amount of humour to uphold the film’s comedic tone. This tone was further enhanced by the brilliant soundtrack of 70s and 80s pop songs from Quill’s childhood. These songs never felt out of place and at many points in the film, really improved the experience.
My only real gripes with Guardians of the Galaxy came from its villains. The villain to whom the film paid the most attention was Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace). This was the only character in the film that seemed underdeveloped. He was presented as a religious fanatic with a great many anger issues, but he never felt scary or all that intimidating. Fortunately, the villain to whom he answered – Thanos (Josh Brolin) - was far scarier and never felt underused, despite him only being in one scene.

Lee Pace as Ronan

This film excites me for two reasons: Firstly, it opens up the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a whole new side of the universe in the comics. Secondly, it shows that as long as they maintain this level of quality, Marvel no longer has to be afraid of using less well known characters as the subject of their films. Guardians of the Galaxy was so enjoyable that it makes me nervous about any future films Marvel can make. This reaction is similar to the one I had after seeing The Avengers; can anything be as good as this?

9.4/10

The Fault in Our Stars - Review

The Fault in Our Stars is a film, based on a book by John Green about two teenagers with cancer. If you’ve seen the trailers, you probably think this film is just a teen romance film, and, if you read the book, you would be proven wrong. The film however, is not much more. The Fault in Our Stars for me was your average teen romance film, bookended by tragedy.

I loved the book by John Green. However, I had a few minute problems with it. Unfortunately, these problems were amplified upon their arrival to the big screen. The most prevalent issue was the characterisation of the film’s two main characters, Hazel and Gus. Neither character felt as if they had their own individual voices, instead, they both seemed to be vessels for John Green to be existential. The film deals with some very interesting ideas through Hazel and Gus’ conversations, but for the most part, these discussions feel like one person having a deep, meaningful chat with them self. This really took me out of the experience and removed a great deal of the emotion from the film.

Hazel and Gus

Another major problem with the Fault in our Stars is the lack of decent actors. Aside from the fantastic performances from Shailene Woodley (Hazel), Nat Wolff (Isaac) and Willem Dafoe (Peter Van Houten), the majority of the acting in the film was either bland or over the top. The most disappointing of these performances was that of Ansel Elgort as Gus. Whilst in the book this character is immediately likeable and funny, Elgort’s portrayal was rather pretentious. This made potentially charming scenes annoying and, in some cases, pretty creepy. Thankfully, Woodley’s acting ability was able to partially rectify the situation. Since Woodley played a likeable and sympathetic Hazel, it was easier to share her affection for Gus, despite his lack of charm.

The presentation of the film was also quite unpleasant. The opening scene felt out of place at the beginning of a high profile film such as this. The scene was a quick montage of some of the happier moments that would follow in the story, accompanied by music very similar to that in the trailer. Usually, montages at the beginning of films are pretty enjoyable, but due to the footage they used for it, it felt like a trailer. Furthermore, the majority of the music used in the soundtrack felt like an afterthought. The soundtrack was comprised of songs that did not fit the scenes they were accompanying and often cheapened them.

This is not to say that the film was all bad. The plot remained faithful to the book meaning that it was well thought out and full of moments that will probably make you laugh, and will most certainly make you cry. The final segment of the film is particularly heart wrenching and is probably the most enjoyable. Unfortunately, in order to get to it, you have to sit through a lot of cringe worthy and boring scenes. There is something to be said for the atmosphere in a room full of people when watching The Fault in Our Stars. When everyone around you is crying at the same time and for the same reasons, the experience is definitely enhanced.

Ultimately, The Fault in Our Stars is a great story with bad presentation that is unquestionably a better experience when read. If you are determined to see this film, make sure that you are in a room full of people when you do.

5.8/10

X-Men: Days of Future Past - Review

X-Men: Days of Future Past is the sequel to 2011’s X-Men: First Class as well as being Bryan Singers first film back after X2 and the first film that truly links all of the X-Men films we have seen so far together (except X-Men Origins: Wolverine which I think we can all agree will not be missed). Days of Future Past rights the wrongs of past films and sets up the rest of the series excellently whilst generating new problems of its own.

Days of Future Past’s story is a little complicated due to the inclusion of a rather strange form of time travel (more on that later). If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t like to pay very close attention whilst watching a film, you might want to make an exception for this one. The film is split between two time periods each with its own cast of actors. The majority of the time is spent in 1973 and follows the cast of X-Men: First Class; the rest of the time is spent in the not too distant future and follows the cast of the original X-men trilogy. Overall, I enjoyed the main plot of the film despite its complicated nature, and whilst I felt that a few casting choices weren’t so great, the acting was of a pretty high standard too.

The main focus of the film was on the young Charles Xavier trying to find a “better path” as the film put it. James McAvoy’s performance as Xavier was perhaps the strongest in the film. His tale of regaining his former self and righting his wrongs in order to become the Xavier as portrayed by Patrick Stewart was enduring and often quite emotional. This is an area that the X-Men series succeeds in where other superhero franchises fail; it tells compelling human stories, that other films (… Man of Steel) neglect in return for extra long action sequences that often detract from the overall experience.

(Left to right) Beast, Professor X, Wolverine

The other central roles in Days of Future Past are Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), with some being more successful than others. Fassbender does an excellent job of channelling a younger version of Ian McKellen, especially in the way that he speaks as well as in the way he portrays the character. This is an improvement on his performance in First Class in which Magneto didn’t seem all that much more than a really angry guy. As usual, Hugh Jackman plays a great Wolverine. It really seems at this point that there isn’t anyone else who can play the character as Jackman has been doing a consistently good job for the last fourteen years. As the only character that interacts with both casts in the film, it’s nice to see that he reacts as Wolverine would in both situations.

Jennifer Lawrence also plays an important role in the film as Mystique. I liked the direction the writers went with her character in the film, but I didn’t feel that Lawrence really fit in with that direction nor did she seem comfortable during action sequences (perhaps Mystique’s lack of clothing was responsible for this). Peter Dinklage plays Bolivar Trask, creator of the mutant hunting robots – the sentinels. As expected Dinklage played Trask very well, however, he wasn’t given enough screen time to be a particularly memorable villain, which I felt was rather a waste of his talent as an actor. Evan Peters’ Quicksilver had a similar problem. His scenes were among the most enjoyable in the film; the issue was that there were only three of them. I’m glad they included these scenes as I often found myself laughing aloud when Quicksilver was on screen. Perhaps they could have exchanged some of Beast’s screen time for more Quicksilver as I felt that Nicholas Hoult’s Beast was a little unnecessary and only served the purpose of keeping Xavier company and inventing convenient bits of tech to advance the plot.

The scenes in the future contained most of the film’s action sequences (though the 1973 bits had their fare share) all of which were incredibly satisfying and did a good job of showcasing the powers of the mutants. Whilst none of these characters had much of a presence within the story - aside from Stewart’s Xavier, McKellen’s Magneto and Kitty Pride (Ellen Page) – they were a welcome addition and provided nostalgia and some enjoyable scenes.

Old and new young guys

Singer took this opportunity to repair the broken continuity of Fox’s X-Men­ cinematic universe as well as set up for future films. The ending of the film left things at a point where the series can go quite a few different ways which on one hand I like because it means that the plot of future films and their subsequent twists will be a surprise. However it leaves the series in a position where new films will either have to be super complicated / long in order to accommodate multiple story lines, or they’ll just release a lot more films which seems more likely.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a successful launch pad for Fox’s new cinematic universe whilst still managing to be a very enjoyable film in its own right. Despite its few minor problems Days of Future Past is well worth watching and leaves me very excited for X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016.

8.8/10

First look at Batman and the Batmobile from Batman Vs Superman

The first image of what we assume to be the new Batsuit and Batmobile from the Man of Steel sequel has been tweeted by director Zack Snyder today.

I'm concerned that Batman has a neck issue

The Batmobile doesn't seem all that different to the one featured in the Dark Knight trilogy. The main interest for me is the Batsuit, which looks rather similar to the suit from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.

Frank Miller's Batman

These similarities would make sense as Batman Vs Superman has so far shown to have taken a lot of its inspiration from the iconic Batman storyline.

Snyder has not released any further details about the film but it seems quite likely that the Wonder Woman suit will be revealed soon as well.