So the new Sun Kil Moon record is out. Oddly enough it’s 11 Modest Mouse covers, but it’s fucking amazing. So the really odd thing here is Cameron Crowe is putting out the vinyl version on his label(Vinyl Films). Now I fucking hate Cameron Crowe, he makes shit movies for 30’s something half wits. Only rivaled by Oliver Stone for the crown of fake good movies. This really didn’t start as a rant againt Cameron but while I’m on a roll let me just post this:
What’s odd about Crowe is how pervasive his influence is, or seems to be; there are so many movies that feel like they could have been directed by him (Serendipity comes to mind), mostly because lesser directors steal his actors and his tricks. Likable lead, comely lady, ol’ time rock ‘n’ roll song for the trailer. All this bad-Xerox mimicry has made Crowe seem like the voice of a generation — much as John Hughes once was. Yet in his own films, all Crowe can do is spout slogans; he’s a voice with nothing to say.
At their core, Crowe’s movies are distressingly anodyne: Be nice. Play fair. Walk wide-eyed into this world, and appreciate its wonder, especially when said wonder unfurls to a song by Elton John.
In fact, the most enjoyment we’ve gotten out of Cameron Crowe in years has nothing to do with him at all. It’s that fake trailer for the fake movie Shining that’s been circulating the internet for weeks(which I posted here). The most inspired moment in the fake trailer is the use of Peter Gabriel’s “Salisbury Hill,” so perfectly employed as the Pavlovian cue for all viewers to prepare their hearts for warming. This kind of Easy-Bake moment is exactly what Crowe’s best known for, and best at: a moment that effectively cues you to feel something you remember having felt before, rather than inspiring an actual honest emotional response.
-Fametracker.com
Anyways the guy has put out a Low record and some various other cool things on vinyl. For the record I like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and I almost like Vanilla Sky but he lifted that movie from Abre Los Ojos so that doesn’t count. Let me return to the point of this post, check out Sun Kil Moon.
wow, i didn’t know you had so much animosity towards Mr. Crowe, but at least you have your reasons. i like Almost Famous (does this make me a 20’s something half wit?) a lot, but not for the reasons the Fametracker quote above seems to think i would. and unlike John Hughes, i can name only two or three Cameron Crowe movies (but i am sure i have seen way more), so i guess he really isn’t the voice of my generation.
anyway, i downloaded this album for a friend, but i haven’t listened to it yet. perhaps i will give it a spin when i get home.
oddly enough, i just got wind of this album and heard it yesterday from my dad. i must say, it’s awesome.
dood,
that record is a big pile of steaming horse shit.
mark kozelek seems to have no concept of what made those modest mouse songs great to begin with, and instead just brushes over them with the same monochromatic stroke on every track. his delivery is tired, and his musical accompaniments are uninspired.
terrible. seriously, my dad called and wants his red house painters cd back. seriously, he did call.
haha
gray you make some valid points…
but then again you like the fucking Toadies…
wow….wow! how dare you!
everyone knows the difference between “liking the toadies”, and wearing a shirt you got for free as an employee of the local college radio station.
i will not stand for this besmirchment of my character!
the toadies?! i’m shaking, i’m so mad!
i may or may not have “borrowed” a certain comp 7″ from a certain UGA college radio station when i lived in athens back in 96 or 97. it has some band called Line Drive on it. any of you guys ever heard them before?
🙂
haha oh my bad…
I guess the embarrassment I felt walking around with you in a Toadies shirt overshadows the reasonings in my head, mind you you had it much worse, I wore Razorbacks Basketball jerseys, San Jose Sharks Hockey Jerseys, “HARD AS FUCK” hats, Straight Edge Varsity jackets, headbands…
i hope you’re happy with yourself for burgling the WUOG archives. know that you are not only robbing the radio station, you are also stealing joy from all those in athens, georgia who wanted to hear Deadwait on their radio station.
chances are, that record came straight out of my personal archives, which of course originated in jawk’s archives over at mentalfist records.
So last weekend I actually found some LINExDRIVE tags I made when I was diggin through some old shit…l should scan that shit.
here is the input of my relevant pop knowledge: mark kozelek is one of the members of the band (blackwater?) in the movie with goldie hawn’s daugther; cameron crowe calls his remakes (‘vanilla sky’) as ‘covers’ – i think that’s cute.
speaking of radio tapes, i just got my car vs. driver comp in the mail; for some live tracks, i loaned 2 cassettes of ‘live at wrek’ that i had held on to for 7 years to james joyce in 2002, and he only returned one of them.
sorry gray. i was all of 20 years old and didn’t think of the ramifications of my actions. my bad.
I don’t know if anyone mentioned this but their was a limited color version of “Ghosts of the Great Highway” also on Vinyl Films.
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