I’m a huge fan of film scores and how important they are to bringing a movie’s emotion to life…how a director’s vision is taken to that next level once the right sounds go hand in hand. That’s the amazing thing about music: it takes a book a few pages or a movie a few scenes to do what music can do in a matter of seconds. Some of my favorite film score composers include the great Danny Elfman (who’s worked with Tim Burton among others) & Angelo Badalamenti (of David Lynch and Spaghetti Western fame). But if there was ever a match made in Heaven, it’d be Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann. Case in point: Vertigo. I can’t figure out which is the greater accomplishment, the film’s writing & direction or the compositions that accompany it. Beautifully acted, directed and constructed and Herrmann’s score is to die for. I caught it again on TV recently and fell in love with it all over again. Next time you’re in the mood for a good classic flick, definitely pop that one on. Heck, run out and buy it. Everyone should have that masterpiece in their collection. And if you’re a fan of scores, pick up Bernard Herrmann’s work. http://goo.gl/BBy1h What would the world be without music? Can you imagine? I can’t.
Album Update
With only a few weeks to go before we enter the studio, the excitement mounts. We’ve compiled a list of some of our best songwriting to date, not to mention a collaboration with the one Clint Lowery. That old cliche’ before a band releases an album is how they are so enamored with all their material that they can’t figure out what to include on the record. Well, while I’d like to be more original and not fall into that common thread, unfortunately (or fortunately), there is definitely more quality material than we know what to do with at this moment. Up until a couple months ago, I was almost certain of which songs would make this record, but judging by some of our newly written songs, I will say that the record, which we’ve titled “The Sixes” will most likely comprise of songs written more recently than those that have been hanging around for quite some time. After all, a small part of our songlist dates back to the “Across State Lines” sessions, but I just can’t see those making the cut. One thing that we were pretty dead set on from the beginning, and you’ll know it when you hear it, is that we didn’t want to make ASL part II. And this certainly isn’t that. It is still very much Dead Fish Handshake…all the essence of our personalities is there, but we’ve also grown together musically since our last record. And THAT’S what excites me most.
Where are the kids?
So the other night I hit up a show featuring some of the most influential hardcore bands to come out of the NY/NJ scene. While swimming through the sea of people, I ran into numerous old friends that were in this same circle and was able to catch up and chat about old times. At the end of the night I was left with one nostalgic thought: Why don’t we drink milk out of cardboard cartons and whatever happened to those kids on the back?
Flaming Skulls and Jelly Beans
So my lifelong friend and DFH family member were avid comic book fans when we were kids (don’t make fun of us now that I just admitted that! Hahaha!) We just recently saw the sequel to Ghost Rider starring the “Infamous” Nicholas Cage! For those not familiar with his work (which I don’t know how you couldn’t be because he’s in every damn movie) he really lights it up in this franchise. By lighting up I mean bending over with a lighter attached to your ass! Now we are not bashing Mr. Cage, he’s phenomenal with his charity work and philanthropic persona, however, we are bashing his acting abilities in this movie! If you are not familiar with Ghost Rider, it’s the story of a man who makes a deal with the devil to save a loved one and in return becomes a flaming skulled, motorcycle riding, chain wielding bounty hunter from Hell! Very serious character and a very dark story to say the least. When first hearing that this franchise was hitting the big screen we were ecstatic like any comic fan would be…until we actually went and viewed it! Ha! Now like most comic movies there’s a 50/50 chance of it being good. This unfortunately was not one of the lucky “50″. Nicholas Cage’s portrayal of Johnny Blaze (Ghost Rider) was so far removed from the actual story that Mickey Mouse playing Freddie Krueger would’ve been a more believable casting choice! Now I’m not Nicholas Cage bashing for sport. I actually like his work in The Rock and you can’t take his Oscar away from him for Leaving Las Vegas which was a great movie! But you do wanna borrow his Oscar and bash your face in for sitting through his scenes in what would otherwise be a decent action hero movie. This movie is actually the sequel to the 2007 film where Nicholas Cage decided to take the character in his own direction and instead of being a tortured soul living day to day as a loner hard living and hard boozing he had the character eating JELLYBEANS out of a martini glass! Now I love jellybeans as much as the next person but let’s just say I don’t envision the bounty hunter from Hell pulling out his jellybelly bag and combining blueberry and buttered popcorn to create Blueberry Muffin! Yes that is a real jellybelly concoction! Hahaha! We were tricked by clever marketing and a great trailer into paying $10.50 to see the 3D version of the second instalment of this series. Go judge for yourself and don’t forget to bring your jellybellies during this 3D experience!
Nim Chow
You know what really grinds my gears? Bad business in good restaurants! First and foremost, I love Japanese food! Big fan of the hibachi! Monday night I have a tradition of going to a Japanese restaurant (that will remain nameless) with a few of my very close friends. Now sidenote…my close friends love them some all you can eat sushi and trust me they eat all they can. So much so that they seriously make these sushi chefs work around the clock giving them some all you can eat goodness. Now because these guys are big spenders and not the casual overeaters they’ve created good friendships with the hierarchy at this place. So with that said one would think that with all the money we spend in this nameless restaurant that it would be ok to swipe an innocent piece of NIM CHOW off of my friends dish! Right? WRONG! The hostess seriously came up to me to say she caught me stealing the Nim Chow off of my buddies dish and that I needed to stop or Id be charged full price for the all you can eat deal. So naturally I told off the hostess and said I’ll eat all the Nim Chow I want and I’ll gladly pay the difference! She didn’t like that response in case you couldn’t tell. But seriously, Nim Chow…a piece of rice paper stuffed with lettuce and maybe a carrot and a phantom piece of shrimp?! So I guess it’s cool to just throw it away and waste it next time because in her head it’s wrong to pick off of your friends dish! So sorry hostess! Next time I’ll be sure to bring my own rice paper. Thoughts? Ha!