Favorite Scene Friday! It Might Get Loud: Guitar Building 101

This week's FSF is by Nick from French Toast Sunday! Check out his other guest posts here.

I love music. Probably even more than film. So when the two come together in musical or “rockumentary” form, I’m there. Well, most of the time I’m there. I didn’t see Rock of Ages or Mamma Mia. I consider jukebox musicals lazy and the only good song Abba ever put out is ‘Fernando’ and I challenge anyone who says otherwise. But we’re not here to talk about that or comment on run-on sentences. I wanted to break historic ground in the Favorite Scene Friday frontier and present the first ever favorite scene from a documentary. The film is 2008’s It Might Get Loud and the scene I’m presenting may be the greatest introduction to a documentary ever.

Wikipedia

It Might Get Loud is a documentary/workshop where Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), The Edge (U2), and Jack White (The White Stripes) got together and discussed everything music and guitar. The three get together to share their stories and influences, as well as demonstrate some of the secrets behind their craft. But before we even get to that, we start on a farm in Tennessee. It’s maybe mid-morning, cloudy, and amongst grazing cows and random odds and ends, we see a silent Jack White hammering a nail into wood. He stands on the ground, using an old porch as his worktable. The concrete is weathered and the posts supporting the weight of the awning are old and paint chipped. He’s wearing the makings of a three piece suit. Black trousers, black shirt, and a charcoal suit with matching bowtie. A trilby hat sits atop his head as he hammers another nail into the wood. You can’t see his shoes, but you assume they were once shiny, now matted with dust from the farm.

Cows look on as he ties a string between the two nails. Jack slides a glass bottle between the string and the wood and begins to hammer more wood. Still in a focused silence, he adds some basic guitar components to the wood, assumedly from a guitar he no longer uses. He plugs the creation into an amp, feedback garnering the attention from the cows. With one hand, he picks at one end of the crude instrument while the other works a slide up and down the string. He brings his creation to life as it cries it’s bluesy tears through a heavy distortion pedal. After a few seconds, he clicks the pedal, silencing the cries. Jack makes a cigarette appear from thin air as he remarks, “Who says you need to buy a guitar?” The epitome of cool. Smash cut to a real guitar chorting out a bluesy riff as the opening credits montage begins.

What follows is nearly one hundred minutes of being a fly on the wall in what is one of the coolest and most inspiring hang sessions ever. In this scene alone, yeah, Jack White is building a guitar, but really he’s showing you and telling you that you can do anything. You can create any thing, you can be any thing, and the craziest part: You don’t even need the basic tools. Make them all by yourself. Create them yourself. Go forth unto this world and pursue your dreams, passions, and inspirations. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched this scene and just drank in the creative passion behind it. I’ve never watched this and not smiled when it ended. It’s awe-inspiring and just plain cool. Whether you like the artists and the bands they are in, or not, the collective history and innovation between these three artists is undeniable and being able to learn from them is well worth the price of the film.

What's your favorite music doc?

Favorite Scene Friday! X-Men: Days of Future Past: "Time in a Bottle"

With X-Men: Apocalypse out today, I knew I wanted to share something from the franchise. I've had a scene in mind for quite a while, one that straight up left me dumbstruck with joy when I saw it in a theater. But I can't find a great version of it online and I want to make sure I do it justice, so I moved on. I eventually came across a franchise trailer someone put together and, while it wasn't great - just random clips, really - I was going to use it. But then, in said trailer, I saw a bit from Quicksilver's scene from Days of Future Past - another scene I had meant to use and forgotten about. Huzzah!

Rich Davies via Nerdist

In Days of Future Past, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) travels from a future overrun by mutant-killing giant robots back to the past to try and stop that future from ever happening. He needs a young Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to tackle that, however, and that brings us to today's scene. Wolvie, the Prof and others have traveled to the pentagon to break Magneto out of jail. It's here where Quicksilver (Evan Peters) - a super fast mutant - comes in handy. Not only does Quicksilver break Magneto out of his cell, he single-handedly saves Wolverine, a powerless Professor X, and Magneto when some guards open fire on the group.

This scene is already a modern classic. Not only is the slow-mo fun in general (right off the bat, a slowed down shot of Wolverine's claws extending is great) it's just a joy to watch Peter's Quicksilver run around the room sabotaging the guards, rearranging items, and sampling soup. One of my favorite bits is actually the moment right after he puts on the guard's cap and notices that the bullets are getting close to the other heroes. Such a great subtle look of concern.

This scene actually kind of reminds me of Nightcrawler's first scene from X2. They're both great showcases of the mutants' abilities. Considering Bryan Singer directed both films, it's easy to see why.  Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't highlight "Time in a Bottle" by Jim Croce. The bittersweet song totally works here.

If you're interested, check out some behind the scenes videos here and here after you watch the actual scene below. And go see X-Men: Apocalypse!

What's your favorite X-Men scene?

What would you do if you had superspeed/could stop time?

Once Again, A Six Pack of Thoughts

by Jeremy Tidwell

It's been a while since I've found the time to sit back, crack open a few bottles of my favorite alcohol, and slip into my rather obsessive thought pattern over all things pop culture related. Life has been busy and sometimes the simple pleasure of drinking beer after beer while musing upon the current state of things is not something that can happen often.

Yet this past week I actually found time to do just that. After my birthday I found myself a little hung over and decided the best way to remedy my current state was to enjoy some of the “hair of the dog that bit me”. For those unaware of this saying, it just means I drank more to bury my hangover in more alcohol. And in doing this, I was able to enjoy a few cold ones and think.

So here's what I came up with…

BEER ONE

I’m not sure how I missed the Bates Motel train when it first come around, but damn is that not a good show. Bates Motel on A&E is a well scripted and superbly acted show that allows some insight into a fascinating character by the name of Norman Bates.

Laurent Durieux

Speaking of Norman Bates, Freddie Highmore’s portrayal of the confused and disjointed Norman is pitch perfect. He's able to find the nuances of the character that pulls out all the innocence and despair that makes me feel sorry for Norman. I want to see him just succeed and get past it but we all know how Norman turns out – an obsessive, cross dressing psychopath who channels his Mother’s essence to commit his crimes. Damn.

If you've missed out on this one, binge watch it. You won’t be disappointed. “Whatever you say, Mother.”

BEER TWO

As a lifelong horror movie lover, I'm growing more and more frustrated with the current trend of taking iconic horror villains and feeling the need to explain everything about them. Like the viewer needs to know how they became the way they are or why they kill or what color underwear they prefer.

It's overwrought and useless. The recent news of the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre film being about the teenage years of Leatherface and even the idea that a new Friday the 13th film will attempt to explain the immortality of Jason Voorhees, has sparked this recent rant of mine.

The great thing about these characters is their ambiguity. The simple fact that they're killers with no real reason or thought but just that they feel the need to kill is enough. The idea that there's no reasoning with these killers, that there's no remorse with them,  is what makes them frightening.

Take the original Halloween as a shining example of this notion. In that film, Michael Myers’ actions were never explained. He was just pure evil...the embodiment of pure, unchecked evil.

He was the Boogeyman. It was never explained why he killed, but it didn’t matter. The fact that he killed because he was malevolent was all we needed to be scared and check our closet at night before we went to sleep. If you look at all the great horror villains, there is very little explanation or exposition on why they do what they do. Freddy liked killing kids, Jason was left to drown by promiscuous teens, Leatherface was nuts, Myers was a soulless killing machine who had family issues. Simple. Plain. To the point. No need to try and go deeper with these characters because they're like nightmares. Nightmares don’t always make sense, but they sure do keep us up at night.

That's what made these characters great - not that we knew all their motivations and why they wanted to butcher people. Sometimes the thing we know very little about is the thing that scares us the most. I hope those production companies, writers, and filmmakers figure this out before they ruin
everything.

BEER THREE

FUCK KANYE. Yep, I said it. I loved, no, I adored this guy’s music when he first came out. Hell, I still contend 808s and Heartbreak is one of the best rap/pop/R&B/whatever genre albums to come out in the past ten years. But now, see the first statement I made at the beginning of this small section.

BEER FOUR

With this beer my thoughts are reaching a frenzied point of going off the rails. The alcohol seems to be seeping into my veins a tad quicker than normal due to the fact that I'm nursing a hangover by ingesting more beer. But I'll push forward because I'm sure the readers wonder what other dumb bile I might spew forth if given the chance. Or maybe they're truly interested. Especially after I just said fuck Kanye.

Well, one thing I keep thinking about is tacos. I'm hungry. I think I'm going to get tacos after I finish this article. It seems like the right thing to do.

BEER FIVE

I wonder, can it finally happen? Can two of the coolest time traveling, air guitar playing dudes in
the cinematic universe be close to another adventure? Of course, I'm talking about Bill and Ted. I (and I hope many others) love these characters so much that I would kill someone very slowly for the chance to see another film.

DKNG via /Film

I don’t know if it's just the nostalgia factor or if there's something just truly transcendent about the characters, but I think another Bill and Ted film would be so righteous. A fun film that appeals to the good in all of us. Yes, you may think that's a lofty label placed upon a film about two pretty dumb dudes who stumble into history based hi-jinks, but think back on those films and just how damn cool and fun they were. I can’t see anything wrong with wanting to have another Bill and Ted film and see what happened to the WYLD STALLYNS!

BEER SIX

Actually at this point I've already downed beer six and I'm now enjoying a hard apple cider with a splash of fireball in the neck of the bottle. A very tasty treat that has just the right kick. It does seem by now that I'll be dealing with another treacherous hangover, but, what the hell.

My final thought, well, the final thought for this article, will pertain to how awesome The Walking Dead was this season. It's just been a powerhouse of a show, in my humble, yet inebriated opinion. Many claim the program has become more of a soap opera or a slow, grinding show that really goes nowhere. I disagree. It's a program that shows such power, sadness, rage, hope, and loss that you can’t help but tune in. There are so many chess games and deeper themes floating in this zombie drama, that as a viewer you have to pay more attention to the humans than the zombies. Following the main group and all their struggles and triumphs, you can’t help but become attached, and when the show kills one of them off, you're forced to deal with their death in a very real, human way. The show doesn’t allow you to look away or blink at the atrocities being shown.

The detractors of the show say it's being too slow or melodramatic and focus on the wrong things. The show is based off a comic that was all about the human element of the zombie apocalypse. It was about showing how people and society would deal with all of this happening. It was not about the zombies and how they just ran around and ate people. It was always about Rick Grimes and his band of survivors (his family) and what they did to make it through this new way of life with the undead. So, it seems your complaining is pointless if you look at the source material and what the heart of the story really is. 

I think this show is top notch, and if you're missing it, you should catch up. And if you don’t like my opinion, then maybe the next time I see you I'll “Otis” your ass and let the nearby zombies dine on you like it's half off at the Golden Corral. Maybe that'll happen. Maybe not.

Well, that's all I got. Six beers. Six thoughts. Even though I did sneak in another beverage, it still counts as six. Anyway, I'm going to go drink some more and then talk with real people about all this shit and see what they think.

Jeremy Tidwell is an artist, writer and filmmaker. He loves John Hughes movies and can't sleep with the closet door open. He currently resides at the bottom of Buffalo Bill's pit. He hates the lotion.

Music Video Monday! OK Go: "I Won't Let You Down"

It's Monday and a new video from OK Go is out, so why not combine the two for a good ol' fashioned Music Video Monday? What starts as a simple choreographed dance on some Segway scooters (?) turns into fun with synchronized umbrellas (lots and lots of synchronized umbrellas) until the camera pulls waaaaaaay back/up and then pans up and rotates, until you start to fear that maybe OK Go wasn't kidding about that whole not letting you down thing. Have a look for yourself below. Remember back in the day when you just needed some treadmills and a dream?

Escape Artists: March and April 2014

So we’re finally rolling out our “Escape Artists” series, something I’ve been meaning to focus on for a long time. What in the holy hell is this about, you may ask? Well, we’re highlighting escapist people and events, whether they're here in Jacksonville or elsewhere. So check out the report below - and don't forget to submit your own escapism in the comments or to totheescapehatch(at)gmail(dot)com!

Past Escapism

Nerd Lunch Meetup

A few weeks back the nerds from Nerd Lunch met up with the Cult Film Club in Atlanta and a nerdy, culty time was had by all. Visit to the World of Coke? Check. Chowed down on tasty looking food? Check. Read more here. You can also listen to the podcast they recorded here.

Nerd Lunch

True Detective Going Away Party

EH Team member Nick is moving to Carcosa North Carolina and we threw him and his bride a True Detective themed going away party. Why? Fugifweknow. Check out the pics below!

Made by hand by Matthew McConaughey himself.

Please join me in the storage shed.

Cake got kind of messed up...

 

"Black stars..."

I wish I could tell you we bought Big Hug Mugs for all of the guests.

Upcoming Escapism

Record Store Day

Record Store Day is once again upon us. Will you be venturing out to find a limited edition Ghostbusters LP? If you’re here in Jacksonville you may find some of us perusing the vinyl at Deep Search Records in Riverside. Check out their site here.

recordstoreday.com

Deep Search Records

Miscellaneous Escapism

• 6 Famous Movies You Can Walk Around In Right Now - via Cracked
• The Winchester Mystery House is Now Accepting Guests - via Nerdist
• CBS Announces The First Official "Star Trek" Beer - via The Hollywood Reporter
• Speaking of beer - Walking Dead Beer with Actual (???) Brains - via NY Daily News

gotta try this. RT "@Tap42Bar: Brewery creates ‘Walking Dead’-inspired beer made with real brains http://t.co/loePN2htmJ"
— Michonne. (@GRATEFUL_DREAD) March 26, 2014

• Rolling Road Show Screening of Hot Rod

HOT ROD Roadshow Beer Party with Special Guests The Lonely Island – Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone! http://t.co/rHO6CSdHjI
— RollingRoadShow (@rollingroadshow) March 26, 2014

• American Theaters are Going to Start Using 4D Tech - via JoBlo
• Zombie Donut Food Truck - via Bloody Disgusting
• RDJ Had a Captain America Birthday Party - via Geek Tyrant

Favorite Scene Friday! Stranger than Fiction: "(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World"

Is anyone else guilty of forgetting about Stranger than Fiction? I think I've only seen it all the way through once. But it's an undeniably solid film with an interesting story and great performances by Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Emma Thompson. It was one of Ferrell's first "Hey look at me I'm trying to act here," roles.

At its core, the film is about the relationship between Will Ferrell's Harold Crick and Maggie Gyllenhaal's Ana Pascal. The two start out as anything but friends (Harold works for the IRS and is auditing Ana) but they eventually fall for each other. Today's scene shows the moment that happens.

Ana has just cooked for Harold and the two have finished the meal. Ana starts to clean up in the kitchen while Harold wanders over to her guitar and, despite declining Ana's requests to do so, begins to play the one song he knows - "(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World" by Wreckless Eric. What happens next is fun and, dare I say it, pretty sexy. Let's watch:



I love right around 2:00 where you can tell Ana is really getting into Harold and she starts mouthing along with the song. And then at 2:30 where Harold notices that she’s watching him. When they finally kiss it seems as if they’re going to break the guitar between their bodies ala Val Kilmer and Lucy Gutteridge in Top Secret.

make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

That passionate kiss is what makes this scene so great. Well, that and the buildup to it. The scene starts so mundane - Gyllenhaal is washing dishes and Ferrell is just wandering around the living room - but culminates in a great song and a kiss worthy of The Princess Bride. I guess that's the point of the film...don't be mundane, be passionate! Anyways, enjoy your Friday and your weekend. Learn the guitar! Be passionate! At the very least, watch Stranger than Fiction again.

Music Video Monday! Arcade Fire: "Reflektor"

So this happened:



That's right, new Arcade Fire! The only two words that come to mind are "Nightmare Fuel" (trust me, it's a good thing). Many fans' minds have been blown, so don't expect to hear a whole lot from them, either (Tiff is going to make a full recovery but it was touch-and-go for a while...she won't stop talking about the light and an angel that looked a lot like Win Butler).

That's it, Hatchlings. Watch the video again and dance around and around.

to the escape hatch! Turns 2 or 5 Things I Love About This Blog

Somehow this blog is two years old. I remember meeting the gang for lunch one day to discuss starting it. I forgot all the notes that I took and our waitress had to step out of the restaurant to call me back. What’s funny is that place isn’t even there anymore.

French Toast Sunday recently turned three and Lindsay did a post on what she loves about blogging. I thought I’d kick our third year off with a little light plagiarism (hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery) and basically do the same thing. So, without further ado, here are

5 Things I Love About This Blog

5. Concerts

Before we started this blog I probably could have counted the number of concerts I’d been to on one hand (okay, one hand and that one weird foot of Pat’s). And going to concerts is a regular thing for me now. There’s a lot more potential for violence than I would have thought. That might be naive, but it’s not like we go to GWAR concerts.

4. Sun-Ray

Sun-Ray Cinema

Sun-Ray Cinema is an awesome local movie theater here in Jacksonville. They’ve been kind enough to team up with us on a few giveaways for some of their screenings. And I’ve gotten to see some of my all time favorite films on a big screen thanks to them (The Evil Dead, Jaws, The Shining, Vertigo). We’re actually set to watch the upcoming 4th season of Arrested Development in its entirety on May 26th at Sun-Ray, and that’s pretty awesome. Hopefully they keep on keepin’ on, and with talk of adding a second screen, I can’t see how they wouldn’t.

3. The Nerd Lunch Podcast

Nerd Lunch

A few months after we started the blog I got an email from my friend CT from the Nerd Lunch Podcast, asking me if I’d like to be a guest on the show. We’d worked together years ago (okay, I was an intern) and we’d recently started interacting again because of our respective blogs. I’ve been on the podcast a few times now and I think I’ve gotten a little better. This probably sounds silly to veteran podcasters, but it’s a lot of fun and I enjoy being on when I can. The NLP crew are a great group of guys and I’m honored to be a part of the 4th Chair Army.

2. Friends

I’ve met some really awesome folks through this blog. Pete from I Love That Film. Alex from And So It Begins... Ruth from ...let’s be splendid about this... Mike from 20 Something Awesome. Lindsay, Jess, Nick and the gang from French Toast Sunday. Lackey and the crew from Forced Viewing. Dan from Dan The Man’s Movie Reviews. Jeeg from Nerd Lunch. Pax from Cavalcade of Awesome. Vern from The Vern’s Video Vanguard. Chris from Movies and Songs 365. Dylan, Joel and the kind folks at The LAMB. George and Markus from Green People Soup. Shala from Life Between Films. Rodders from The Reviewing Rodders. Chip from Tips from Chip. And everyone else that I’ve forgotten.

Some of our friends have been kind enough to guest post for us. Special thanks to Ruth for being the first. You can check out all our guest posts here. We’d love to have an even bigger extended family, so just shoot me an email if you’re interested in writing a Music Video Monday!, Favorite Scene Friday!, a review, or something else. There’s plenty of room in The Hatch.

1. The EH Team

My favorite part of this blog is my EH Team Family. Pat has a pretty successful Twitter account where he’s retweeted by rock stars. Like the rest of the group, he’s a great lover of music (and I was just kidding about the weird foot). I’m fortunate to work with Tiff in the real world, so we get to talk about movies, TV, and music all day. She’s currently going through The Walking Dead withdrawals, having watched seasons 1-3 nonstop. Nick and I share a love of good horror films, shitty horror films, Community (which just got renewed again somehow!), and countless other crap. These guys make me feel like I’m part of something special.

So in conclusion, thanks for reading our blog for the past two years. Stick around!

The EH List: March/April/May 2013

Once upon a time a boy started a feature called The EH List. His intention - a pure one - was to highlight the music that he, his blog mates, and their friends shared on a monthly basis into one Spotify playlist. But it was not to be...

Yeah, I didn’t do one of these last month (or the month before). I meant to but LIFEHAPPENED. Anyway, I figured I’d make this installment three times as awesome. Hope you enjoy.

“Where Are You Now”
Mumford & Sons

Mumford & Sons

This is just an excellent tune by M&S that Tiff and I discussed a few months back. It’s a fantastic song about love lost and love rejected.

M&S are playing in St. Augustine in September. Just a stone's throw from The EH Team's stomping grounds but we don't have tickets...at the moment. Actually, probably forever. That thing is crazy sold out.

“Walking on a Dream”
Empire of the Sun

Turns out this awesome song has a really kooky music video, as witnessed in Tiff’s MVM from February.

“Landslide”/“Go Your Own Way”
Fleetwood Mac

Chris over at Movies and Songs 365 did a very thorough series on the music of Fleetwood Mac. Two of my faves were “Landslide” and “Go Your Own Way”. As I mentioned to Chris, the latter always makes me think of Forrest Gump.

“Hot Chip”
Shake a Fist

Mike from 20 Something Awesome shared this track back in February. I’d never heard of Hot Chip before.  It’s a very catchy tune - and I haven’t even listened to it with my headphones on!

“Yamaha”
Delta Spirit

Nick shared this tune as a Music Video Monday after hearing it featured in Warm Bodies. He wasn’t crazy about the zom-com and I still haven’t seen it. Maybe I’ll give it a whirl in October.

Wikipedia

“Just Dropped In”
Kenny Rogers

John from The Droid You’re Looking For featured this track as part of his look at the music of the Coen Brothers. The tune is from Hatch favorite The Big Lebowski. Nick actually put this track on a CD for me a long time ago and I couldn’t believe it when he told me that Kenny Rogers did it. Still blows my mind.

While we’re on the topic of the Coen Brothers, check out the Red Band trailer for their new flick, Inside Llewyn Davis, which also looks to be brimming with tunes.

“Inhaler”/”Blue Blood”
Foals

Mike from 20 Something Awesome was kind enough to handle Music Video Monday for us one week in March. He chose the Foals track “Inhaler”. Mike had previously shared “Blue Blood” (and its awesome video) on his own site and I’ve included that here as well.

“Drift Drive”/”Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out”
The Antlers

Virtually every MVM from late February to April was chosen because the artist was set to perform at the Shaky Knees Music Fest in Atlanta (and we still weren’t issued press passes...grumble). Case in point, Pat chose these two Antlers tracks and they performed that Sunday afternoon. I was a little fuzzy at that point but I’m sure they were great. Hopefully Pat or somebody else can attest to that.

“Diane Young”
Vampire Weekend

Our last track from Mike is a catchy one from Vampire Weekend’s new album “Modern Vampires of the City”. I wanna say it’s a little different from their usual style, but, then again, I’m not familiar with their entire catalogue. In any case, it’s a fun tune.

“Don’t Break the Needle”
J. Roddy Walston and The Business

Another MVM pick by Pat, “Don’t Break the Needle” is (wait, is it about a record player or drug use...okay, the latter) a song about DRUGS. Anyway, Pat chose this track after some unmitigated praise for the band by Nick.

“The Funeral”
Band of Horses

As I mentioned in my MVM from April, I was very excited to catch Band of Horses at Shaky Knees. And I have to admit, watching the band perform in the rain surrounded by the EH team and friends is one of the highlights of my year so far.

“Elephant Gun”
Beirut

I was completely unfamiliar with Beirut until Pat brought the band to my attention with a recent MVM. Great song. You could listen to it chillin’ on the beach but it’s also a little sad.

Until next month August!

Music Video Monday! Band of Horses: "The Funeral"

Well it looks like I'm finally going to get to see Band of Horses live this weekend, courtesy of The Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta. We were set to see them on tour a few years ago when they were opening for Kings of Leon. That didn't turn out so well.

To kick Shaky Knees Week off right I thought I'd share the video for my favorite BoH song "The Funeral". Turns out the video is sad as shit, however. The song is pretty depressing to begin with, so I'm not sure what I was expecting. Not to worry, I threw in something happy after the music video. See ya in Atlanta!

Tune In Tuesdays

Hi there, welcome to Tune In Tuesdays here in totheescapehatch, or TITs, as we like to refer to it.  This is the first installment of what will hopefully be a weekly post along the same vein as our Music Video Mondays, MVM, and Favorite Scene Fridays, FSF, where we bring you all the best new releases from around the entertainment world; music, movies, books, etc.  If you’re anything like me, you find yourself scouring Amazon.com for new releases in movies and music when you’ve exhausted all of your porn … er, “other” searches.  So I thought we’d do you one better and leave out all the shit that’s being released and instead turn you on to only the good stuff.  That being said, not much in the way of movies was released today, but we finally have some music to look forward to:

Music – Jimi Hendrix and Josh Ritter; a bit of old with a bit of new . . .

2013 hasn’t been the most prolific concerning new albums, at least not so far anyway.  Local Natives sophomore album, Hummingbird, is well worth a pick-up, but aside from that, I’m afraid it’s been bare bones and cold out there.  That is, until today.  Today, March 5, brings us yet another 12 tracks of “previously unreleased studio recordings” from the greatest guitarist of all time, Jimi Hendrix, on the new album People, Hell and Angels.  The name of the album alone gives me chills, but in an electric kind of way, if you catch my drift.  About half of the 12 tracks represented you’ve undoubtedly heard other versions of before, if, like me, you’re diehard fan, but according to the liner notes, none of us have been granted the pleasure of the “studio” versions.  In the short time that Jimi was with us, he gave us some of the greatest Classic Rock tunes ever recorded and based on this release, as well as 2010’s Valleys of Neptune and the slew of Live performances released/being released lately, he’s still not done.  Don’t get me wrong, I have no doubt in my mind that Jimi is dead (how could it keep releasing new material???), but it amazes me that his family is still making money off of these “unreleased recordings” (oh, I see).  Gotta love greed, right?  I guess I can’t complain too much though, because I really did enjoy Valleys of Neptune in, more or less, a nostalgic way (clearly wasn’t his best, but then again why would it be?) and I can’t wait to get ears on People, Hell and Angels . . . chills again.  What do you think, should we finally let Jimi rest in peace or are you all for new “old” releases?

Another big release in my mind (but apparently not in the rest of the four Jacksonville music stores) is the release of Josh Ritter’s new album, The Beast in Its Tracks.  Ritter is far and away one of the best songwriters making music today and I’m delighted as hell for this release.  I read that the album came about upon the disillusionment of his short marriage so I’m expecting some sad stuff, but then again, Blood on the Tracks is one of the penultimate Bob Dylan albums out there and it came about from a split/divorce of his own, so my hopes are quite high for this one.  To be fair, my excitement is a little on the “huh, what?” side being that I’ll be married in two and a half weeks, but I keep going back to Blood … and how some of the best music is created out of heartbreak.  I’m sure this one will remain fresh and relevant for quite some time to come.  We’ll see I guess.  The Beast … is Ritter’s seventh album and I encourage you to pick them all up and see him live every chance you get – he’s a very personable, down-to-earth performer, as I’m sure both Robert and Tiffany can attest.  Every album has its standout tunes, obviously, but so far, 2010's So Runs the World Away is my favorite.  What about you?  Have you heard his stuff/have a fav?  Let me know and check back next Tuesday for TiTs here in totheescapehatch.  

Music Video Monday! Foals: "Inhaler"

Mike from 20 Something Awesome is here with our very first guest Music Video Monday! If you've never scoped out 20SA, please rectify that. Do you like movies? Check out the site's "New on Netflix" column (OHSNAP Tremors is on there now???). Like music? 20SA has you covered with their "Song of the Day" series. Are you on Twitter? 20SA is (@20someawesome), along with their "Hashtags That Should be Trending" feature. So read this week's Music Video Monday and then go check out 20 Something Awesome. It's awesome. It's in the name for Denny's sake! 

You can learn more about Mike and 20 Something Awesome right here. 

20somethingawesome.com

I was first introduced to Foals back in 2010 in conjunction with the release of their second studio album, Total Life Forever. What convinced me they were great was the opening track "Blue Blood". While being a great UK indie rock track, it also has an awesome music video.

Over the past few months I've been keeping up with the new singles that have been released in preparation of their 2013 album, Holy Fire. "Inhaler" and "My Number" are very catchy tunes that got me very excited for the album. It was released in mid February and after two listens, I'm not disappointed. Holy Fire seems much rockier than previous albums but it's welcomed with open arms from these ears.

Below is the video for "Inhaler". It's very dance heavy which makes me wish I had the mind/body coordination to move my body in meaningful movements. It is also quite vandalism and "you damn kids" heavy. The beginning and ending sequences have a "Thriller-esque" feeling, with young people doing zombie-like movements which I imagine are supposed to represent the inhaling and exhaling which is displayed throughout the rest of the video. What other less obvious examples of breathing are in the video?

Beware - there's some light drug use and light nudity. Nothing sexual or grotesque but more "artsy". Maybe NSFW.

Music Video Monday: Put the Movie to Sleep Already and Just Crank the Soundtrack!

Happy Monday, Kiddies!  Hope your weekend and Oscar picks unfolded to your liking.  In early May, the Hatch will ascend up to Atlanta, GA for its Shaky Knees Festival and today's Music Video Monday will undoubtedly be a highlight of that weekend.  Delta Spirit is a favorite here in the Hatch, which should come as no surprise if you frequent the blog, so today's song should come across as one of those "lying in wait" videos.  So allow me to free it of that burden and share it with you.  What I find surprising is that the only video for the song comes from the soundtrack to the recently released, Warm Bodies.  I didn't care too much for the movie, but that's probably because I'm way too familiar with the tale of Romeo & Juliet and don't think a zombie version should be relevant, but I understand today's kids and their lack of focus, so way-to-go Hollywood (I guess).  The song on the other hand, is fantastic and has lived in my head ever since I saw the movie. I was even more thrilled when I discovered I already owned the song, Woo Hoo!  

"Yamaha" isn't a fast number by any means, but it is a compelling number by all means.  The song sounds like it is sung in a dream-like state which adds to its relevance.  I'm not the number one fan of D.S. here in the Hatch (that'd probably be Pat), nor am I the number two (that'd be Tiff), but I'd venture to say that I'm the biggest fan of this song.  It's very atmospheric and that's why I dig it so much, and I'm sure you will too.  Enjoy the video (let it take the place of watching the whole movie, this video and especially the song provide more than the movie ever could) and have a good week.

The EH List

The EH List is my attempt at periodically (monthly?) gathering all the music we showcase here on the blog and some tunes shared by others. This is by no means original, but I thought it would be fun and a great way for me to get more into the music aspect of our site. So without further ado...

"Across 110th Street"
Bobby Womack

Alex over at And So It Begins... featured this song in his “Top 15 Song Moments in Quentin Tarantino Films” piece a while back. The tune pops up in Jackie Brown. Still catching myself singing it every now and then.

Wikipedia

"Baby Blue"
Scanners

Tiff featured this song in her Music Video Monday last month, after hearing it in an episode of Shameless. Tiff’s ordered me under pain of death to start watching this show (I’m getting to it). Anyone else a fan?

"Hold On"
Alabama Shakes

This was my pick for Music Video Monday last month. The Shakes didn’t win any Grammys but they’re still great in my book.

“Ghost Tonight”
Chairlift

This is just a badass song I stumbled upon. So good. These guys got their start by doing music for haunted houses. Who knew that was a thing?

chairlifted.com

“True Romance”
Citizens!

A song Tiff recommended. I don't think it has anything to do with the movie (which I recently just watched for the first time).

“Breakers”
Local Natives

Another song Tiff recommended.

"Once in Awhile"
Don't Stop or We'll Die

Mike from 20 Something Awesome featured "Once in Awhile" in a recent Song of the Day post. Let him know what you think of the tune.

"Where Is My Mind?"
Pixies

Pete from I Love That Film did last week’s Favorite Scene Friday and chose to highlight the final scene of Fight Club. The clip is set to the tune “Where Is My Mind?” by the Pixies. I couldn't see it happening any other way.

Fight Club

“Control Yourself”/“Do The Trick”/“Warrior Man”
Dr. Dog

Pat chose these three Dr. Dog tunes for this week’s Music Video Monday. Why, you may ask? It has a little something to do with the Shaky Knees Music Fest. Read more at Shaky Knees’ site here.

“Jump Into The Fog”
The Wombats

This is just another song I found badass.

♫What a great achievement it was
To get a hotel room this late
I bet they charge by the hour here
The kind of place where you should bring your own UV ray♫

As you can see, I've embedded a Spotify EH List below. Unfortunately it only displays the first eight tracks (seriously?) but if you click play it should take you to Spotify to hear the whole playlist. If you have some free time today give it a listen!

Thanks for reading/listening!

Favourite Scene Friday! Fight Club: A Very Strange Time

It's Friday and we're taking the day off! We've handed the Favorite Favourite Scene Friday reigns over to Pete from I Love That Film. 

Forget the other crap you've heard about Pete - he's a good guy. He's a friend to The EH Team and we've mentioned him here on the blog before. He writes reviews for Filmoria and Static Mass Emporium. He's also a lecturer and he's getting a PhD in Found Footage (Identification, Self-Consciousness and Proof in the ‘First-Person’ Contemporary Horror Film). Pete loves films on twitter too - @ilovethatfilm.

I Love That Film

It’s Friday which means hopefully you don’t have to think about your mind-numbing, spirit crushing day job for two whole days. Spare a thought for the protagonist of our favourite scene this week. ‘Jack’ (Edward Norton), the actually never named narrator of Fight Club is an insomniac who is your typical office drone. Day in and day out, he dreams of another life, a life where he can basically be a bad boy, the buffed up and brutal Brad Pitt.

If you haven’t seen Fight Club, do yourself a favour and go and watch it now. And also do not read anymore or watch the clip below as today’s favourite scene is the final moments of the film. Jack has realised that his insomnia has got the best of him and his mind has created an alter-ego, the magnificently charismatic and deviant Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and has also learnt that he is basically the leader of a cult. What started out as a bare knuckle underground boxing club has turned into a full on terrorist organisation intent on bringing down Western civilisation by attacking capitalism.

In this scene, Jack has killed off Tyler but it is too late. His ‘space monkey’ followers have wrapped the foundations of major credit card company skyscrapers with explosives with the intention of erasing the debt record. Not only this but they have also kidnapped a girl he has realised he has treated despicably, Helena Bonham Carter’s wonderful Marla Singer.

As The Pixies’ ‘Where Is My Mind?’ starts up on the soundtrack, the audience realises that the bonkers Marla Singer has suddenly become the sanest character of the film. The drums kick in as the buildings begin to explode outside the skyscraper windows.  Jack says 'Everything's gonna be fine,’ and reaches for Marla’s hand, delivering one hell of an understatement; ‘You met me at a very strange time in my life.’

It is a perfect ending, juxtaposing a tender romantic moment with extreme explosive violence. Unfortunately the clip below has the subliminal single frame of a penis removed that reminds the audience as the credits roll; Tyler’s still out there and he’s still intent on mischief and mayhem.

Music Video Monday! Alabama Shakes: “Hold On”

Let’s kick this week off right.

Alabama Shakes' Website

Alabama Shakes is a relatively new band (they’re up for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards on Sunday). Their tune “Hold On” jams right into your head and stays there. It’s an intense song, thanks in no small part to lead singer Brittany Howard (who - in this video, at least - might be mistaken for a high school biology teacher instead of a rock star).

If you’re looking for a band that’s a little different from everything clogging up the radio these days, look no further. The group comes from humble beginnings, their sound is wonderfully old school, and, as you'll see, the video for "Hold On" is just the band performing the song.

If you need a bluesy, soulful start to your week, you’re cleared for takeoff. As always, Happy Monday! And if Friday seems too far off, heed Ms. Howard's advice.



P.S. “Hold On” is also nominated for a Best Rock Performance Grammy. Maybe I’ll finally watch the show this year!

Music Video Monday! Baby Blue: Scanners

Happy Monday, folks. I'm baaaaaack! You may (or may not) have noticed that I've been off the blog for a while. I've been taking a sabbatical to address global water shortage issues. Actually...not really. As much as I wish that were true, it's not nearly as interesting as that. And I don't even know what a "sabbatical" is...I just like to use that word. Really, I've just been away. Not writing much, not really "tuned in" to anything. But now I'm back and I'm excited to re-enter the blogosphere with a post about a song that I'm pretty painfully in love with.

Scanners' Myspace

For those who do not know, I tend to be a very possessive music lover. This is because anytime I hear a song I love, whether it's the sound of the song or maybe lyrics that moved me, I declare it mine. As in, "this is MY song." I have a lot of songs that are "mine," and once they become mine, they certainly cannot be claimed by anyone else. Today's song is a perfect example. I first heard it during an episode of the American version of the show Shameless (which I highly recommend for anyone who hasn't seen it). The show played just a small part of the song, but as soon as I heard it, I knew I had to find it and hear it all the way through.

"Oh Baby Blue...never think of home..."
 

The song is, in a word, beautiful. It's pretty and sad and touching, and I'm a sucker for all of those things wrapped into one soul-changing track. Before seeing the Shameless episode, I had never heard it or even heard of the band. After finding it...I don't know if I've ever heard a song that felt more like something meant for me.

The video is nothing more than just watching the band sing the track on stage, but it certainly looks to be a good show. I'm looking into their full music catalogue now. In the meantime, I've got Baby Blue on repeat. And I hope after you hear it, you will too.

"All of your hope, all of your heart
All of your heat, all of your dark,
Secrets you keep, all to be part,
Of the love that you keep, I would just try to,
Drag you from deep, wake you from sleep,
Bring you back home,
There I would keep you safe."

Music Video Monday! Schoolhouse Rock! "Conjunction Junction"

I was listening to NPR yesterday - as bad ass playboys often do - and the particular program that was on featured Bob Dorough, he of Schoolhouse Rock! fame. Remember Schoolhouse Rock? The series began in the early 1970s but has stuck around ever since (I remember watching it as a kid in the early ‘90s).

Wikipedia

The program - a series of short, musical Saturday morning cartoons that aimed to teach kids about math, grammar, and other subjects - is turning forty (40!).

I thought I’d help celebrate this milestone by sharing one of my favorite Schoolhouse Rock! tunes - "Conjunction Junction". Let the nostalgia wash over you:

Feel good? Now get cleaned up and tell me what your favorite Schoolhouse Rock! song is.

Music Video Monday! Mötley Crüe: "Home Sweet Home"

Seeing as how we Americans recently celebrated Thanksgiving, a lot of us just spent a good chunk of time at home with our families. And the best thing about Thanksgiving is, it means that Christmas - the grandpappy of all "Home for the Holidays" holidays - isn't far off. So in honor of our homecomings, I decided to share Mötley Crüe's "Home Sweet Home" for this week's MVM.



That, and I caught "Hot Tub Time Machine" on TV recently.



Happy Homecomings!

Batch o’ Hatch: Halloween Withdrawals and Dr. Dog at Freebird Live

Halloween Withdrawals

I don’t know about anyone else, but the Post Halloween Blues hit me hard this year. So many horror movies I didn’t get to. So many posts I could have written. The worst is catching up on TV and seeing the Halloween episodes I misse - ModernFamilyhilariousHalloweenepisodeturnitoff!!!

In particular I wanted to watch Basket Case and Saturday the 14th (sorry Pat). I also wanted to watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 with the gang. I watched that on my own and it was nuts. Dennis Hopper - the good guy, mind you - just runs around screaming shit and chainsawing stuff for like, twenty minutes straight.

Wikipedia

 Yes, that's the actual poster and yes, it's a parody of The Breakfast Club poster.

Wikipedia

Are you having Halloween withdrawals? Any movies you didn’t get to this year?

Dr. Dog at Freebird Live

T, Pat, Nick, and myself are catching Dr. Dog at Freebird Live tonight. Between the four of us, this will make 13 times that we’ve seen the boys in concert (hell, this will mark the third time T has seen them this year). I saw them in Atlanta last and I’m looking forward to catching them out at Freebird again.

Anyone a fan of Dr. Dog? Anyone checking them out tonight?

Escapism

Lebowski Fest Chicago is this weekend! In the off chance that we have any readers attending the Fest, do share some photos!

Lebowski Fest

Tweets

For my favorite horror scene back in October, I talked about how Jeepers Creepers is made creepier by the fact that I grew up close to where they filmed it. I asked Twitter if they could relate to this and I got a few great answers:

@zerbert I grew up 5 miles from Burkittsville, MD, def made Blair Witch Project freakier.
— Alex Withrow (@shiftingPersona) October 19, 2012

@zerbert I live near a place in a horror book not film.The book is The Rats by James Herbert.
— steve gonzo reeve (@dicanio72) October 19, 2012

Pax at Cavalcade of Awesome said what we were all thinking about this Disney Star Wars business:

Oh, man, I just realized.No more 20th Century Fox fanfare before a Star Wars film. #GeekSadness
— Paxton Holley (@paxtonholley) November 1, 2012

This was just a delightful tweet by The Cinefamily and it’s making me miss Halloween even more:

S.O.S.! Be a part of something spooktacular: Come by the theater NOW & help set up our Haunted Patio! We've got donuts!! Just come on down!
— The Cinefamily (@cinefamily) October 13, 2012