Summertime

This past week, Entertainment Weekly ran a small piece trying to predict what the “summer jams” of 2008 will be. A lot of mainstream music mags and websites generally do something along these lines around this time of year, and most lists are fairly predictable themselves. They will almost always include: 1 rap song with mail-order beats, tired references to how much money, cars and women the rapper has, and an incredibly annoying and repetitive hook; either a crappy Top 40 band masquerading as “punk” or “emo,” or some marginally “alternative” band slipped in by the editors in a desperate effort to hang on to whatever shreds of cred they might have once had; and inevitably, the list will be topped off by the current overproduced mess from the R&B or pop starlet of the moment, who 90% of the time can’t hit the high notes without the aid of pitch bending software. In recent summers, we’ve been treated to Rihanna, Beyonce, Avril, and Britney. This year, EW gives us three options: Mariah Carey (OK, she’s got a real voice), Fergie (absolutely hopeless without Pro Tools), and the coup de grace, Maroon 5 (kings of pitch shifting themselves) featuring Rihanna. Double the Pro Tools action, double the summer jam potential, apparently. Well, screw all that. If you can’t sing without a computer to help you, there’s no way you should be making money as a singer. But good luck trying to convince whoever is buying the iTunes Top 20 every week of that fact (I’m looking at you, High School Musical fans). Luckily for me, I haven’t crossed into that territory in many many years, and in that spirit, here’s my anti-summer jam mix. Perfect for rocking your Memorial Day picnic.

I Will Possess Your Heart… Death Cab for Cutie
Orange Crush… Editors
Grounds For Divorce… Elbow
Violet Hill… Coldplay*
Living Well Is The Best Revenge… R.E.M.
The Righteous Path… Drive-By Truckers
Rich Kid Blues… The Raconteurs
Just Like Heaven… The Watson Twins
Outfit [Live]… Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
I Like What You Say… Nada Surf
I Thought I Saw Your Face Today… She & Him
M79… Vampire Weekend
Lights Out For Darker Skies… British Sea Power
The Light… Sun Kil Moon
Shooting Star… Air Traffic
One Day Like This… Elbow

*Full disclosure: Coldplay is treading dangerously close to falling into one or two of the categories I listed above (for that matter, Death Cab’s not far behind), and I’m not 100% sold on the quality of this, their new single. But I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt until I hear the new album. Plus, c’mon, it’s Coldplay. They’ll be impossible to avoid in a few weeks anyway. Might as well start assimilating now.

Metalworking

I just got back from my second viewing of Iron Man, and I have to say, I'm not at all surprised that it was just as good the second time. It’s a great movie. Not a great “superhero” movie, or a great “summer blockbuster.” It’s an all-around great movie. Sure, it hits all the right beats for a comic book movie (especially an origin story) and there were plenty of geek references for the comix fans (Rhodey eyeing up the silver armor, and did anybody else pick up on the Star Wars references?), but it wasn’t campy, it wasn’t overdramatic, and it wasn’t a commercial for merchandise—just a well-cast, well-marketed movie with a solid story at its core. Unlike most (OK, all) superhero movies, this one left me with the feeling that, given another 10 years of technological advances, it’s probably not all that far-fetched. I give most of the credit to director Jon Favreau for not letting the effects and tie-ins overwhelm the movie (OK, except the Burger King thing—that was a little gratuitous), and also to Robert Downey Jr. for making Tony Stark a living, breathing character, not just the cardboard caricature he could have easily become. I’ve always been a fan of RDJ’s, but he crushed this role (not that he had to stretch very far to play a “bad-boy” celeb). The supporting cast was great as well, if a bit under-used. Gwyneth and RDJ had very believable chemistry, and Jeff Bridges was so far removed from The Dude as to almost be unrecognizable. Even though I’ve never read any Iron Man books and only know the very basic backstory, I cared about these characters, I got sucked into the story, and I wanted to know what happened next. Happily, I’ll get that chance again. Thanks to Iron Man’s gigantic opening weekend, not only has Marvel already greenlit Iron Man 2, but as anyone who sat through the credits knows, there’s an Avengers movie in the works as well, which will tie Iron Man in with this summer’s Hulk reboot, as well as upcoming Thor and Captain America movies. The nerds truly are running the gym these days.

So after all that, I realized it’s been years since I actually went back to see a movie a second time in the theater, so the bar is set pretty high for this summer’s lineup. Next up, Prince Caspian. Let’s see if Walden and Disney can improve on a decent, not stellar, Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe.

Interactive

Elbow at the Bluebird Theater. I always prefer small venue shows for a lot of obvious reasons—clearer sound, actually seeing the people onstage, and the chance for the artist to embrace and interact with their audience, an opportunity Elbow’s lead singer Guy Garvey grabbed with both hands last night. Kicking off off with “Starlings,” the opener from their new album, Elbow proceeded to mix their “golden oldies” with several more new songs. Elbow’s lush and layered sound came off surprisingly well live (if you’ve never heard their music, imagine Peter Gabriel fronting an older, smarter, and more cultured Coldplay). The band sounded tight, switching smoothly between rockers and the more mellow acoustic stuff. I was happy to hear “Scattered Black and Whites,” “Leaders of the Free World” and “Grace Under Pressure,” and the new single, “Grounds for Divorce” was a high point as well. The only disappointment for me was no “Fugitive Motel” in the set, but overall, I left quite satisfied. And openers Air Traffic showed a lot of promise, despite wearing their influences pretty blatently on their sleeve (I’m betting Coldplay, Muse, and even their tour mates are in heavy rotation in their van). They impressed me enough that I bought their album, and I’m happy to say it was well worth the $10.

But what stuck with me most on the night was Garvey’s electric personality and ability to handle the crowd. He provided interesting banter between each song, convinced a group of fans to buy the band a round of shots, drank toasts with the audience throughout the set, had the front row grabbing for his hand like some superstar televangelist, and shamed the ubiquitous howling Denver douchebag contingent into silence with a brilliant display of Northern English charm and wit. He even convinced the audience to sing a song of our choice instead of stomping and clapping to get the band to return for an encore. Unfortunately, the only song we could come up with that everyone knew was “The Wheels on the Bus.” Pretty lame. Still, I can count on one hand the shows I’ve seen where a performer has had the audience in the palm of their hand the way Garvey did last night. It’s an incredibly difficult stunt to pull off, which makes it all the more exciting when it happens. Most impressive.