Larrok

Zanna, I don’t care about technique; I certainly don’t measure an artist’s greatness by their technical skill. I simply responded to those who spoke about instrumental ability. How you interpreted my phrase as equating a technical musician with a good musician is something only you know... oh well...

I respect everyone's ideas, but how can one say that Charlie Watts is the least skilled instrumentally when he is the only one with a semblance of technical ability? Shall we talk about Keith? For goodness' sake, a rock icon, gritty and damned, he's written great riffs, but instrumentally he's a bit of a mess... just the fact that he plays in open G tuning and without the low E to make it easier to do those 4 chords he plays live... I would say that in terms of ability with instruments, Watts is the most talented, also having a passion for jazz outside the band.

Paloz, I appreciate your music reviews; they are always excellent. But here you've clearly missed the mark... try watching the film again without any preconceptions... you might catch its qualities. It's possible that you saw it at the wrong moment. Paloz, I'm telling you this without arrogance, this film is probably among the top 10 of 2006. And I'm not someone who gets easily excited.

Paloz, I didn't expect such superficiality in your analysis of this film which, if you understand even a little about cinema, you realize is a masterpiece. The most unacceptable and stupid thing, not to mention bigoted, is judging a film negatively because it's too violent. Do you have any idea what art is?? It's not a fucking kids' movie!! And how silly is it to say: "the fantasy aspect should have been predominant"... but for what damn reason, for crying out loud??? For the poster? Are you kidding me? I couldn't care less about the Oscars it received, because the Academy is not a guarantee of quality, but sometimes they get it right. If there were more fantasy films like this, the entire genre would benefit. I like Big Fish, but you give me the impression that you appreciate that film more because it's calmer and has good sentiments. Damn it, not all films have to be all roses and sunshine; suffering, violence, and terror are part of this world, and only idiots close their eyes to them.

Amarok, if on a scale from 1 to 10 the latest albums by Vasco are worth 0 or 1, the earlier albums will be worth at best 3 or 4. Take this "Siamo solo noi," which is one of the first works and thus often praised as a masterpiece: excluding the title track, which is quite catchy (even though it is musically identical to "Colpa D'alfredo" from the previous year), the rest is just a hodgepodge of mediocre tunes with vulgar lyrics and unnecessary melodies, including a blatant plagiarism of "Living after Midnight" by Judas Priest. In short, if this is the true Vasco of the golden years, well, it's time to stop considering him a great artist. He may have written 3-4 decent songs in his life and is regarded as a rock legend. Ignorance is capable of that too.

This "From the Lions Mouth" is one of the best examples of Post-Punk ever. It's the record I was looking for and expecting to find in The Cure's discography, but I never did. For me, it's on par with Unknown Pleasures (maybe a little inferior...)

Best listened to with headphones to fully appreciate the intricate arrangements and Nick's unmistakable voice. It's more complex than Pink Moon, but it probably offers even greater rewards once you delve into it. It's a treasure trove.

The fact that it lasts 36 minutes benefits Hemispheres; if it had lasted 70 minutes, perhaps with a lot of filler, it would have been a dead bore, but as it is, it’s a very pleasant listen. 4 songs of excellent, direct, and traditionalist prog rock. They are 3 musicians with balls of steel, no doubt about it.

Votes...

Beggars is amazing. There are the great classics and also evocative delta blues atmospheres, as well as genuine country (Dear Doctor) and even almost folk (Factory Girl). One of the peaks of the '60s. My favorite remains "Stray Cat Blues," the pervert's blues :D