A Joel For All Seasons

2011 ~ Retrospective

2011 was a year of transformations. A year of passings, and new arrivals. Joel lost his grandpa, and his aunt. We got married! We were at 4 other occasions to witness friends get hitched. We put over 30,000 miles on Joel’s car.

The Year in Travel

The Honda Accord accrued a great many thousand miles in 2011. Joel, and then Joel+Bree made a great many trips across the country in it.

In chronological order, then:

1. February: Joel helps Sam Shepard move to Atlanta, Georgia.
2. Also February: Joel flies from Atlanta to Dallas, Texas to visit his future wife.
3. March/April: After gracefully leaving his job, Joel packs up his life and drives to Atlanta, visits Sam for a day, then continues on to East Texas.
4. June: Joel and his future wife pack up their wedding necessities and drive straight up to Ohio, taking a break to nap at a rest stop north of Cincinnati because neither of them can remain awake enough to drive. They arrive in Bowling Green a little less than 23 hours after they left Lindale.
5. Also June: Joel and his future wife become Joel+Bree in Bowling Green on June 25, 2011! They vacation in lovely Toledo for two nights, returning to Bowling Green to be surrounded by friends and family.
6. July: Joel+Bree return to Texas with their brand-new kitten Bruce, visiting their friend Michelle and her chihuahua, Palmer, in Tennessee along the way.
7. Also July: Joel+Bree depart Texas on their HMRT (Honeymoon Road Trip)! They camp in the Monahans Sand Dunes and Tucson Mountain Park.
8. HMRT: Joel+Bree attend the San Diego Comic Con and nearly overdose on popular culture.
9. HMRT: Los Angeles visit to see the Cordys, meet new friends, and watch a dated ’80s comedy in the back room of a comics shop with Juliette Poughon.
10. HMRT: We camped in Cedar Canyon, Utah, amongst the pines.
11. HMRT: Joel+Bree made it to Denver, Colorado, and visited Michael+Shelby Edwards. There is much beer drinking, and some hiking in Red Rocks.
12. HMRT: Nebraska affords the cushiest campsite of the entire trip, and the first one to allow actual campfires to be lit.
13. HMRT: To Rochester, Minnesota for a visit with our friends the Crays. We searched for Francis Schaeffer’s grave site, ate massive chocolate cake and banana cream pie, and Bree did a painting for the house collection.
14. HMRT: Joel+Bree triumphantly return to Ohio in time for a family reunion and to see Dan Lyon and Sonja Storhaug become Dan+Sonja!
15. August: Return to Texas and contemplation of the next phase in life… should we move to California? The answer is, YES!
16. November: Joel+Bree flew to Florida to witness the union of Jaclyn+Ryan Montesano, and have a huge family reunion on the Gulf of Mexico.
17. December: We packed our lives into the Honda and drove west to Phoenix, Arizona to visit our good friends the Richards, and then drove to Escondido, California, our new home for the near future.
18. God only knows how we can top this amount of traveling in 2012.

The Year in Music
by Joel

2011 was a crazy year for music, not only because there were way too many good albums which came out and I was on a diminishing budget to buy them, but also because I spent nearly 9 months (from April to December) in East Texas. This presented 1) the logistical problem of having an unreliable/slow Internet connection, and 2) a barren cultural landscape from which to cull any new musical finds, East Texas being what it is. These changes to my environment yielded a few interesting advantages, however, as 1) I was constantly surrounded with the artistic tastes of my in-laws, and 2) they came to think I was a bit of a whiz when it came to fixing computers and the Internet every time it died. Despite my parched-wanderer-in-the-desert attitude towards any downloadable music that would successfully transfer across the great void and onto my hard drive, my song library still managed to swell by 2318 tracks before the year was over.

Truthfully, I still prefer to buy records the old-fashioned way: from the artists themselves. Without further ado, I give you my picks:

The Top Albums of 2011

11. Bombadil – All That the Rain Promises

Bombadil shipped their third LP to me in a padded manila envelope emblazoned with stickers and stamps. Enclosed with the album was a hand-written note of thanks from the band, expressing wonderment that someone from as far away as Texas had discovered their music (they hail from North Carolina). An accessible long player, All That the Rain Promises has proven to be a grower in true Bombadil-fashion. Songs that at first seemed precious or twee begin to take form with the proper level of substance, wit, and carefully-constructed melody upon further, repeat listens. I wanted to take the time and care to write a proper review, and maybe send it along to the band in an envelope plastered with crazy stickers. Perhaps I will, yet.

10. C418 – Minecraft – Volume Alpha

The soundtrack to the hugely-successful independent game Minecraft is filled with atmospheric, placid piano melodies that help unlock your building imagination. It is also filled with spooky, brooding instrumentals that conjure vivid memories of the blood-freezing terror that grips you when exploring a dark cave and being startled by a creeper. As far as video game soundtracks go, Volume Alpha is actually quite solid, offering almost an entire hour of music that flows like melted ice packs, dislodging those pesky branches which would try and clog up the bubbling brook of your imagination. It’s brain music.

9. Low – C’mon

I wrote a review of C’mon for a great music blog named Right Hear, back in April. What I wrote then probably explains plenty about why this album wound up on this list at the end of the year.

8. Jim Guhtrie – Sword & Sworcery LP: The Ballad of the Space Babies

Another video game soundtrack, this one is from Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, a fantastic iOS game/piece of art that I beat (through following the advice of the deceased cheating cheater, I achieved only 99% completion of the game’s objectives) in October. The music is by Jim Guthrie, a former member of the late, Canadian independent band Royal City. The music is incredible, phantasmagorical, and mysterious. It perfectly soundtracks the sensory experience of the game, itself, and provides a rich, sonic tapestry upon which Superbrothers painted a gorgeous, linear adventure story. This album is now a favorite of Bree’s for when she is hard at work on art. More brain music.

7. Michael Edwards (Genetic Engines) – Genetic Engines

Apparently, I am not alone in placing this album on my Year-end top list.

Michael Edwards released his album at the uttermost end of 2010, a few months after relocating to Denver, CO. All throughout 2011, he’s worked hard to put together a band that will hopefully tour beyond the Rocky Mountain State in 2012. Genetic Engines incorporates a broad sonic palette, drawing from some identifiable influences along the way, but easily holds its own. As a full-blown solo album, it is ambitious in scope, yet intimate in its execution.

6. Destroyer – Kaputt

Playing like the lost soundtrack to a Blade Runner-esque, ’80s urban fantasy epic, Kaputt offers further proof of Daniel Bejar’s unmitigated genius. The entire album conveys a feeling of a back-alley exploration in the dead of night in a nameless major city. Mesmerizing.

5. Washed Out – Within and Without

Ernest Greene arguably created one of the year’s best albums, simultaneously resurrecting the fading ‘genre’ known as Chillwave. I, quite honestly, enjoyed much of Washed Out’s work up to this year, though I often pondered if I could sit through an entire LP’s-worth of their music. Turns out, I absolutely can. Indeed, many of the cuts from Within and Without stand up just fine on their own. Taken together, the album proper forms, as assured as ever.

4. They Might Be Giants – Join Us

TMBG is about to celebrate 30 years of making music on the 28th of January, 2012. Join Us, the Brooklyn band’s 15th studio LP, is probably the best thing they’ve done inside of a decade. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve made some awesome albums between Mink Car (including no less than 4 albums aimed primarily at children) and today, but Join Us represents the band reclaiming their peak powers all over again. I defy anyone to find a weak cut on this album.

3. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

I also wrote a review of Helplessness Blues for Right Hear back in May. The album has actually since gone through an accelerated ‘Neon Bible effect’ with me- which is to say, I enjoyed the album, but over time it has taken a mythical quality upon itself and become so much more excellent and wondrous in my estimation that I cannot quite remember what it was like to regard it with mere admiration, before.

2. Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde

An astounding sophomore effort from this Chicago garage-rock band. Clocking in at a little over 35 minutes, Dye It Blonde might just be the closest-to-perfect rock album of 2011. Every track is expertly crafted and loaded with sticky melodies that you will never dislodge from your head.

1. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

A magnum-opus of widescreen proportions. Anthony González exceeds all of his prior work to create this 2xLP masterpiece. Lead single Midnight City is easily the best song of the year. I probably can’t say enough good things about this album, so I’ll just end by saying this: Cinematic Skyscraper Waterfalls.

The Top Songs of 2011

60 songs round out my list of the best in 2011. They are presented in no particular order.

1. I Will Wait – Bombadil
2. Midnight City – M83
3. Velvet Elvis (RAC Remix) – Alex Winston
4. The Nothing – Baths
5. Wrinklecarver – Born Gold
6. Fallen in Love – Smith Westerns
7. 50 Ways – Telekinesis
8. Young Blood – The Naked and the Famous
9. PotatOS Lament – Aperture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory
10. Love Out of Lust – Lykke Li
11. Video Games – Lana Del Rey
12. Neat Little Rows – Elbow
13. The Beginning of the End – The Twilight Singers
14. Poor In Love – Destroyer
15. Exile Vilify – The National
16. Calgary – Bon Iver
17. Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes
18. End of Time (Acoustic Version) – Lindsey Buckingham
19. Witness – Richard Buckner
20. Rise to Me – The Decemberists
21. An Arcade From the Warm Rain That Falls – Comet Gain
22. 2082 – They Might Be Giants
23. Love the Way You Walk Away – Blitzen Trapper
24. Minecraft – C418
25. Sara – Chad VanGaalen
26. Limit to Your Love (Feist cover) – James Blake
27. House of Balloons / Glass Table Girls – The Weeknd
28. Till the World Ends – SALEM x Britney Spears
29. Winter Beats – I Break Horses
30. Super Mom – The Very Best
31. Loftcries – Purity Ring
32. Palomino – Mates of State
33. Short Side of the Wall – Bombadil
34. Vomit – Girls
35. Before – Washed Out
36. Let It Go – The Zombies
37. Skipper Dan – Weird Al Yankovic
38. Clang of the Concrete Swans – Comet Gain
39. Need You Now – Cut Copy
40. Savage Night at the Opera – Destroyer
41. Sadness is a Blessing – Lykke Li
42. Darlin’ – James Pants
43. Unknowable Geometry – Jim Guthrie
44. o m a m o r i – elite gymnastics
45. Real is a Feeling – Pictureplane
46. Steve McQueen – M83
47. Endless Summer – Still Corners
48. The Shrine / An Argument – Fleet Foxes
49. Earthquake – Ssion
50. Belispeak – Purity Ring
51. An Argument With Myself – Jens Lekman
52. Escape – Richard Buckner
53. Nothing But Heart – Low
54. Feels Like Death Might Win – Michael Edwards (Genetic Engines)
55. Canajoharie – They Might Be Giants
56. Eyes Be Closed – Washed Out
57. Armored Scarves – 13 & God
58. Smile – Smith Westerns
59. I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl – Wavves
60. Want You Gone – Jonathan Coulton

The Year in Film
by Joel

Wha’ happen? 2011 was filled with so many franchise entries, reboots, pre-boots, remakes, and commercial-grade turds, that I nearly lost faith in the entire American film industry.  Perhaps that was a side effect of working in a theater during some of the more barren months of the Hollywood release cycle (yes, there is a very calculated science behind when films are released, of course). In any case, I saw film after miserable film- for free! The melancholy of leaving my job in Texas and moving to California was knowing that I would miss out on seeing all of the big holiday releases I was looking forward to.  So… this list could very well have included The Descendants, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, or Young Adult, but I missed out on those. I also wasn’t able to see Warrior, The Ides of March, Drive, Contagion, or Sherlock Holmes 2. In any case, I did see some phenomenal films this year.

10. The Adjustment Bureau

The most recent adaptation of a Philip K. Dick short story (The Adjustment Team) was a refreshing departure from the likes of Next or Paycheck. Writer/Director George Nolfi put together a competent cast and made a very enjoyable, interesting adaptation out of a simple, short story. But the real magic that makes the film work is the utterly-believable chemistry between its two leads: Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Every scene they have together sells the on-screen relationship completely, which is an extremely rare feat in tinseltown’s cookie-cutter romances.

9. Fast Five

So… much… action… I’m pretty sure my jaw never left the ground. I couldn’t care less about the story, or even the characters, for that matter, but this film kicks every Michael Bay ‘splode-fest in the teeth and then drags its hogtied, screaming body through the dirt. Vin Diesel fighting Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson would’ve been enough to sell this one to me, but the fact that every other minute of it is packed with impressive action set pieces- many performed by actual stunt vehicles- cements it as a milestone feature.

8. Super 8

A superbly realized love letter to the fantastical Spielberg films of the ’80s. Lens flares aplenty. The film is about kids, and about loss and love and dealing with not being able to control bad things happening. It’s probably more profound than it seems, at times, and a little less ingenious than it wants to be. The mystery is merely the backdrop for a story to play out on and gain your emotional investment.

7. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

After watching Ghost Protocol, you might get the idea that Brad Bird had been directing action films all of his life, and had just now been granted an insane budget with which to realize all of his craziest fantasies. An awesome cast, a much more interesting story than M:I2 or 3 had, and Tom Cruise climbing the side of the Burj Khalifa make this one of the best films I saw in 2011.

6. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

As Orson Scott Card puts it, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the best adaptation of his classic novel, Ender’s Game, yet made. My level of experience with the decades-old franchise had been merely to watch the dismal Tim Burton remake with Cardboard Wahlberg, so I wasn’t exactly looking forward to a prequel/reboot (pre-boot) of the series. I mean, how compelling could it be? Turns out, for a film filled with computer-generated apes, it is way more compelling than a hundred films filled with actual people in them. Andy Serkis provides the motion-capture performance for Caesar, the chimp whose story is central to the film’s foregone conclusion. Rise is an example of excellent storytelling and meaningful character-development that infuses the franchise with a promising future.

5. Bridesmaids

What could’ve been the all-female version of The Hangover (and it certainly marketed itself along those lines) turns out to have been one of the best comedies of the year. It’s rated R for a great many reasons, so, leave the kids at home. I laughed quite a bit, and quite hard, during the scene taking place directly after the girls finish having lunch at the Brazilian restaurant. Kristen Wiig utilizes her forte of physical comedy to great effect in this film.

4. The Help

I’ve never read the book, however I can say that the film was excellent. A thoroughly ‘middle-brow’ film that didn’t impress any critics, it racked up some significant box office totals and will probably be nominated for a slew of awards. Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, and Jessica Chastain all turn in great performances.

3. Source Code

The film that Deja Vu should have been. I was, perhaps, a bit too vocal in my criticisms of Deja Vu, giving my commentary as I watched it in the living room with friends. Nevertheless, I stand by that comparison. The essential idea behind Source Code is that the military has developed a way to peer into the memories- into the past- of a person’s life in order to extract information about certain events. In the film, they’re ostensibly using it to find the bomber who blew up a train earlier in Chicago. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the grunt who is sent into the ‘source code’ in order to extract this information. The film easily walks the line between high-brow science fiction and serviceable entertainment for the masses, and even traverses into very Dick-ian territory.

2. Win Win

Thomas McCarthy’s third effort as a director is funny, sad, earnest, and endearing on so many levels. It is a finely-made picture. Most people may- or may not- know of McCarthy as an actor in various films and television programs, or perhaps more so as the co-writer of Pixar’s Up. Win Win is essentially about a family man, played by Paul Giamatti, who is experiencing financial turmoil. He also coaches high school wrestling. Storytelling is certainly a gift of Mr. McCarthy’s (he wrote the script, as well), and he’s a consistently-good at it.

1. Insidious

Blew my socks off. A classic horror film, through and through. A terrifying experience that falls into the group of films that actually scared the crap out of me, such as Poltergeist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Sisters. And look, it’s my favorite theatrical experience of the year. I’m pulling the blankets over my head, now.

That wraps it up for the 2011 Retrospective! Whew, it was long enough, right?