Column: Funeral Songs
Tony Naylor on The Guardian talks about funeral songs following the publication of a list which showed the top ten most requested at a cemetery in Adelaide and the ten most unusual choices.
Topping the list, naturally, is ‘My Way’, a fairly predictable but solid choice, a decent two-fingers-to-death kind of song saying that I may be dying, but I don’t care because I did everything I wanted the way I wanted. You’ve also got ‘What a Wonderful World’, ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ and ‘Unforgettable’, the latter seeming maybe a little ego-filled but hell, it’s your funeral and if you can’t blow your own trumpet there without fear of consternation then this is indeed a dark world.
Outside of that, there are more modern staples in the UK, most notably ‘Goodbye My Lover’ by James Blunt. All seriousness, I lose it enough to have James Blunt playing at my funeral, kill me again. ‘Angels’ by Robbie is another popular one, as is ‘With or Without You’ by U2. The Robbie one is a little too life-affirming for me (‘I know that life won’t break me’ is pretty redundant when you’re in a box) and ‘With or Without You’, a paean to the difficulties of relationships, it’s a beautiful song but for a funeral… hmmm. ‘Tears in Heaven’ by Clapton is about the only one that makes sense and isn’t overly mawkish, a pretty lovely and heartfelt song about the devastating death of a loved one.
Political Weekend
UK
Boris is coming under fire over Ray Lewis, his just-resigned deputy.
It’s really a key blow for him.
Hospital workers are being given stab-vests.
The government is asking supermarkets to stockpile food in case a petrol crisis causes a rush.
Senior CofE figures have met over the internal problems facing the organisation.
A 14-year old girl from Britain has won the junior title at Wimbledon.
Brown and King will decide how bad the UK economy gets.
Cameron needs to end his incoherence.
US
Obama has been rallying supporters in Missouri.
He wrote this week to clear up his position regarding FISA.
One of his surrogates, General Wesley Clark, is looking to put this week’s incident behind him but is not apologising.
Big Linkin’
Wild Things… a cult camp classic?
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters finally gets a lavish DVD release.
Catch up with your grime and dubstep.
Barack bumper stickers available in all states.
Sherlock Holmes with Baron Cohen and Ferrell? How many mysteries will get solved?
Win a walk-on role in Mad Men.
Jezebel: Having a gay husband is kind of queer.
The Muppets wish everyone a happy Independence Day.
David Fincher is to make a CGI version of The Goon.
JoBlo interviews Wackness-director Jonathan Levine.
Here’s an interview with Alex Soropian from Wideload Games.
Here’s EW’s 25 music classics of the past twenty-five years.
Val Kilmer and Xzibit to be in Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant.
The Fly as opera. No Goldblum unfortunately.
Everybody loves Dolly Parton.
Ian Curtis’ gravestone has gone missing.
Another negative book about Harvey Weinstein is apparently on the way.
Minus The Bear in session for Daytrotter here.
Lily will leave if her second album doesn’t live up to the hype.
Rock Band 2 in September.
Girlgroup killed in Photoshop accident…
Bryan McFadden is big in Australia.
Here’s a live review of The Hold Steady.
99 Problems But A Link Ain’t One
Native American comic books for your delectation.
Here’s an interview with Liz Phair.
Jim DeRogatis relays his experience of seeing The Feelies.
Jay Reatard gets a storming review.
Here’s a taste test on Drank, the anti-energy drink.
Interview with Silver Jews’ David Berman here.
Jesus and Gandalf will star in the remake of The Prisoner.
A Christian record from Heidi Montag…
Bowie talks Bowie songs.
Alex Ross discusses the Chinese music boom.
Big love for Adele on PopMatters.
Could Gok Wan be the fashion answer to Clarkson?
Should Robin come into the Nolan-era Batman?
Eddie Murphy not only won’t do the new Beverly Hills Cop, he also will quit movies!!!
Post-Happening, Wahlberg talks up Departed seq/prequels.
Tati’s Trafic has reached DVD through Criterion.
The Guitar Hero: Aerosmith track-listing has turned up.
Zach de la Rocha is on his way back.
DVDs This Week
Pick of the Week:
Mad Men: Season 1 – One of the very finest US import shows of the past few years, Mad Men stands as a beacon, as the final moment of American television greatness in the Sopranos/Wire-era. It concerns itself with Madison Avenue ad men in the early 1960s, hungover with the sexism and other societal issues that plagued the previous decade are beginning to fall. It’s about manhood being brought back and a host of other lofty explorations of archetype. Mostly though, it’s about great acting, beautiful writing and a perfect sense of place. Wonderful.
Also out:
Futurama: Beast with a Billion Backs – See the review on Screenjabber for more info but my take; Bender is too funny and overawes everyone else. Thankfully, he’s so funny that it’s still great.
Other Boleyn Girl – Haven’t seen it and don’t really want to. Portman and Johannson may be pretty but they never really deliver the goods when the part truly demands. Well, Portman sometimes.
The Bank Job – Again not seen but probably will as it has Jason Statham and our household has a truly unhealthy obsession with his craft.
Diary of the Dead – Tom’s verdict: Worst movie he’s seen this year.
Oz Season 5 – Still a brutal, bleak masterwork of American television, rarely bettered.
Taxi to the Dark Side – An oppressively bleak and angering work that’s absolutely essential viewing.
Be Kind Rewind – Very enjoyable little comedy with a slight loss of tone occasionally but a big beating heart at its core.
Picnic at Hanging Rock – Peter Weir’s lyrical, hypnotic cult classic.
Garage – Anne Marie Duff is in it so there’s a solid reason to watch. Maybe the most underrated actress in England.
L’Avventura – Antonioni’s masterpiece and the Sight & Sound reader’s second favourite film ever.
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit – A great book becomes a brilliantly acted piece of drama.
Diggin
Music: The Hold Steady are taking over my mind yet again after dominating my stereo last year. Stay Positive is less immediate than Boys and Girls in America but that same manifesto of making people understand the live-saving power of great rock ‘n’ roll music. The lyrics are more oblique but they still work and my early prediction is that his is likely to become my number uno albumo over the year.
I’ve been trying to find more good music for writing this week and this seems to have split down two avenues. One is high-quality, beat-driven indie-hip hop, notably J Dilla’s Donuts and The Bake Sale EP by The Cool Kids. The former is sketches of genius from a sadly-missed producer while the latter is just a really great piece of summer driving music.
The other avenue the choices went down is somewhere around the drone/shoe gazing area. My Bloody Valentine EPs have filled the spaces between the neo-classical pieces of Eluvium and the dreaming drones of Stars of the Lid, the true sound of dreaming.
Films: It’s actually been relatively quiet week, mostly because I’m absolutely knackered and can’t seem to pull up enough energy or time to sit and watch a movie.
I do have a number on the list that I will be getting too in the coming, quieter week, including In America and Shock Corridor while Tom and I, on his return from the USA, will take in the Kinski-goes-crazy trip of Woyzeck in a continuation of our Herzog exploration.
The best thing I did manage to see this week was the pretty wonderful Imagine documentary on Annie Liebovitz, Beth and my favourite photographer. Watching her at work was nothing less than awe-inspiring but the scene when she breaks down when talking about her late lover/muse, Susan Sontag, brought me to tears too. A pretty great piece of documentary filmmaking from the ever-improving BBC institution, always better when Yentob just stays out of the way.
Books: I started The Rabbit Omnibus by John Updike, among my favourite short-story authors around, but couldn’t seem to get into it, likely because of a dual issue with the intimidating stature of the author and the busyness of my week. I needed something lighter and Muscle for the Wing by Daniel Woodrell covered that base nicely. A well-told neo-pulp novel concerning a group of interweaving storylines and troubled pasts, it canters along really nicely to a wonderfully bleak ending that seems entirely in keeping with the down ‘n’ dirty action of the rest of the novel. Highly recommended.
Other: I have to say that beer has proved a key component of my past week. I’ll likely need a dry week now to let my body recover but overall, it has cooled and calmed when needed and spurred and driven when I partied on a barge in Battersea. Right now though, the thing I think I love the most, is my bed.
Political Weekend
UK
Racial discrimation in the police force rears its ugly head once more
Wendy Alexander, an ally of Brown, has quit.
The Guardian has a piece on Henley and the now dominant Tories in the area.
Donors are turning on Brown too.
Tony Benn puts in his support for David Davis.
US
So Obama and Clinton have publicly made friends this week.
McCain and Obama are courting Latin American voters.
Obama is planning to hit the road.
Jeff Greenfield discusses how Obama can lessen the impact of the Republicans.
Could he get the endorsement of Colin Powell? The ‘Obamacons’ pose a serious threat to McCain.
Rock You Like A Linkicane!!
Dennis has been taken out of the Big Brother house for spitting. Ewww… no grace in that one.
Here’s a primer on Pixar, if there is anyone who is still a novice.
An an interview with Andrew Stanton.
The Girl Talk album is liked.
Air France’s new EP is loved.
Fans as band PR. A good idea, no?
Anthony Lane talks through Wanted and The Happening.
A sequel to 300…
It’s Tarsem Singh versus Louis Leterrier.
The Emmy finalists have been announced.
Peter Travers has reviewed The Dark Knight.
Here’s an interview with the creator of Emily The Strange.
El Paso has given Tom Waits the key to the city.
Political cola. Surely the wave of the future.
Michel Gondry has picked his top twenty-five music videos of all-time.
Here are some highpoints in gay cinema.
Here’s an interview with Zack and Debbie Snyder.
The trailer for RocknRolla is doing the rounds.
Best robot love stories.
Finally, just as I had predicted, Wall-E is apparently a masterpiece. Check here, here and here.
My Bloody Valentine @ The Roundhouse
Five years ago, witnessing the wonders of the bands of my formative historical lessons in music live in concert seemed a dream on par with shaking Jimi Hendrix’s hand or slapping Sting square in the face. But these days, with the money flying and the revivalism at a cyclical zenith, you can’t move for bands reuniting and reminding that the young pretenders of today are indeed, just pretending. The Pixies booted their supporting Futureheads off the stage, Sebadoh lo-fi rocked the shit out of the KOKO and Sonic Youth, well, they didn’t reunite but them, playing Daydream Nation, ain’t no young’ns getting close to that.
Electricity & Lust 
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