Media Junkie

Under The Radar: Quasi-Retro Edition

Jason Lytle - "Birds Encouraged Him" Acoustic Performance

In my ongoing effort to help promote ex-Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle's solo debut, Yours Truly, The Commuter, I now present an acoustic performance of one of the album's tracks - "Birds Encouraged Him".

This performance was recorded live at Maps, an Italian radio show, and features Lytle on vocals and guitar, and his good friend Rusty Miller (from the band Jackpot) on tamborine.

You can also head on over to the official Maps site to check out a two part interview with Jason, as well as download an mp3 of the acoustic performance.

Yours Truly, The Commuter will be released May 19, 2009 on Anti- Records.

9 - The Original Short Film

For those of you who have seen Henry Selick's brilliant animated film Coraline, you were most likely treated to the trailer for the upcoming film 9.

Directed by former WETA Digital animator Shane Acker, and produced by Timur Bekmambetov (director of 2008's Wanted) and Tim Burton, 9 looks to be a visionary animated film in a post-apocalyptic setting.

For those unlucky enough to have missed the trailer thus far, take a moment to watch it.

After viewing the trailer, 9 has skyrocketed towards the top of my Most Anticipated Films of 2009, second only behind the upcoming Watchmen. 

If you are as intrigued as I am, I present to you (with the help of YouTube, of course), the original 10 minute, Oscar-nominated animated short that inspired the full-length feature film.

Required Viewing: Coraline

Coraline
Laika Entertainment/Focus Features
PG
100 Minutes
2009

It is a common misconception that Tim Burton was responsible for writing, producing, and directing the classic gothic fairy tale The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Burton was indeed responsible for the first two feats, but directing duties were actually performed by Henry Selick, whose other credits include James and the Giant Peach and the strange undersea creatures of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.  Selick is a master of the craft of stop-motion animation, and his talent has never been more apparent than in the 2009 release Coraline.  

Adapted from legendary English author Neil Gaiman's story of the same name, Coraline is a masterfully well made motion picture that is touching, surreal, captivating, frightening, and beautiful all at once. 

Grassroots Promotion: Jason Lytle - 'Yours Truly, The Commuter'

With the upcoming May 19th release of Jason Lytle's first solo album, Yours Truly, The Commuter on Anti- Records, the former Grandaddy mastermind will become a semi-permanent featured artist here at Media Junkie. 

As a Grandaddy fan, I believe Jason Lytle has written some of the most honest, evocative lyrics of any songwriter - lyrics that touch upon familiar subjects in an intimate, introspective manner, which makes them easy for listeners to relate to.  And so it is with great anticipation that I await his first solo record.

As some of you may know, this blog is a labor of love.  I review music, movies, and the occasional book, because they are all things that I am passionate about.  I receive no compensation for my reviews, I receive no ad revenue from this blog (as there are no ads featured), and I do not take requests to review or promote anything I do not already have an interest in.

Last summer, I was contacted by a promotional group to feature a Comcast-sponsored Dark Knight post, which I agreed to do because The Dark Knight was very clearly a film I was anxious to see.  However, when that same firm contacted me several weeks later to feature a new video-on-demand website, I declined.  I have no interest in promoting things I am not passionate about, which is why it is with great pleasure that I present to you the following two videos.

These two videos, originally found on the Anti- Records official blog, comprise the electronic press kit (EPK) for Jason Lytle's solo debut.  In them, Jason discusses the album's title and songs, and you'll get a glimpse of him in the studio, as well as his new Montana homestead and neighboring landscape.

In the coming months, there will be more features about Yours Truly, The Commuter.  In the meantime, I urge everyone to check out my review of Grandaddy's classic record The Sophtware Slump, as well as the rest of the band's music.

CD Review: M83 - Saturdays = Youth

M83
Saturdays = Youth
2008
Mute Records

Buy This Album

There's a very fine line between being a derivative knock off band and making your influences apparent in your music.  While an argument could be made for either side, French popsters M83 have a distinctly vintage sound that still somehow manages to sound fresh in today's overcrowded, overproduced pop music scene.  They sound like they're straight out of the 80s, but like the best bands of that decade, lack the disposable, inherently cheesy qualities that doomed those artists to being forgotten over time.

Combining the new wave synthpop sound of New Order, prog-rock guitar work reminiscent of The Cure, and ethereal dreampop similar to bands like Hooverphonic, M83 have made the old new again.

Essential Albums: Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine

Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against The Machine
1992
Epic Records

Buy This Album

The 1990s are best known for the emergence of grunge rock.  Bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam changed the face of rock music and helped define the decade with their angst-ridden sound.  However, the 1990s also hosted one of the most important releases of an entire generation - Rage Against The Machine's self-titled debut album.

Combining hard rock, hip-hop, and funk, Rage Against The Machine's sound was every bit as heavy and influential as their politically-charged lyrics, shouted with unbridled, indignant anger and passion by frontman Zack de la Rocha.  Tim Commerford's low, rumbling bass would test the limits of your speakers, and guitar virtuoso Tom Morello shredded his axe with crunchy riffs and tweaks to produce a variety of unique sounds.  Anchored by steady, powerful drumming from Brad Wilk and proudly proclaiming "no samples, keyboards or synthesizers used in the making of this recording," Rage's fusion of heavy guitars and hip-hop came years before more commercially viable posers like Limp Bizkit, or the nu-metal craze of Linkin Park.

This wasn't some overproduced studio schlock trying to pass itself off as hardcore or anti-establishment; Rage were the real deal.

Required Viewing: Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire
Celador Films/Film4/Warner Bros.
R
120 Minutes
2008

Director Danny Boyle does it again.  With his latest picture, Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle lends his acute visual style to an Indian boy's rags-to-riches story.  Based on a novel by Vikas Swarup and adapted for the screen by Simon Beaufroy, Boyle's stunning visuals, pacing, and ear for music bring the story to life in vibrant color and sound.

One part romance, one part crime drama, and one part human triumph, Slumdog Millionaire is an engrossing, touching, and ultimately magnificent film that ranks amongst Boyle's best works to date.