There Will Be Blood, Assassin's Creed 2 and A Bit Of Music

I wasn't going to write about this film to be honest because I didn't really know what to say. It's a tightly wound, overbearing piece of cinema to say the least. In many ways it trundles along for it's two and three quarter hour running time but you become spellbound by it. Most of that factor though can be attributed to Daniel Day Lewis who is sublime in this film to say the least. I feel like I need to watch it again really though to fully grasp everything going on it. But from a first viewing it's deserved all the praise it's got for me, some scenes from this film won't leave me for quite some time and the score perfectly feeds the tension at work. Glad I plucked up the courage to sit down with it, I was initially worried that this film was going to be above my understanding of high end cinema. Fortunately it turns out I underestimate my own intelligence. Or that of the film. But let's go with the former on that eh?

From high end cinema I go to the frantic mess of a narrative that is the end of Assassin's Creed 2. Not to spoil it, but the pay-off explanations at the end really are a bit of a disaster. There's one more thing that nags me about the game though. How much control do you assert over the character? Given you're supposed to be Desmond inhabiting the memory of Ezio and re-enacting his past. So in the cut-scenes is it Ezio or Desmond? How far does the control stretch? I feel like this game has pushed me into a philosophical nightmare. First Moon and now this. Probably wasn't paying attention in the cut-scenes. Should have warned of the intellectual quandaries you'll blunder into if all the information at the start is not fully understood. At least now I've got the relaxing opportunity of picking up the last 100G left in the game before sending it back. Bioshock 2 doesn't hit for a few weeks yet so still plenty of time!

Also, feeling fairly musically nostalgic lately and have been listening to a lot of the Arctic Monkeys debut. Lot of memories I've got with that record; some good, some bad. Still stunning lyrically though, a sharp wit that I don't think I appreciated as much when I first heard them. A lot of their newer matierial has left me a bit cold, I'm sure given time it's got some depth to it but their first record (or even the demos circulating long before the album) is the one I'll never forget. Might even slip you a sneaky weekly top artists chart from Last FM;

1. Arctic Monkeys (50)
2. Arcade Fire (30)
3. Radiohead (26)
4. Flying Lotus (24)
5. The Prodigy (19)

Tubelord, Editors, FlashForward, True Blood & World Of Goo

Not long after I posted about not having received the Tubelord album yesterday the link turned up in my inbox. For those who are uninitiated in the wonder of the Kingston scamps they peddle a kind of jittery ADD enriched punk-pop. They buy their clothes at the same shop as Danananana(ananana)akroyd to put a metaphorical spin on it. I'm quite enjoying this new breed, they're from my generation after all. The ones who were listening to Blink 182 and Green Day when they were at school. When those bands used to be good as well, not when the colours dulled and the ballads were spun. As a thank you for pre-ordering (read paying for) the album I received an acoustic album. But the main album is pretty good to start with. "Night Of The Pencils" is exactly what punk-pop should be sounding like these days; the unpredictability of Infinity Land era Biffy and all the gang vocals and sing alongs of any of your more recent chart-botherers. The only detractor I can think of is the quality of the audio is a bit shit for me, but that may well be just my brand of headphones and speaker. I'm no expert. Anyway, listen to them, love them. Oh yeah, the acoustic album's good too. They can sing and all.

Editors seem to have been around for a while now. Although they're only now releasing their third album. Their contemporaries Bloc Party, Maximo Park and even Arctic Monkeys beat them to it. They've gone for a change of direction this time, out with Interpol in with Depeche Mode. First single "Papillion" made it seem like an inspired choice, sounding surprisingly addictive for a song so devoid of Editors' signature guitar. Although after listening to the rest of the album I'd say the result was not so inspired. In fact its a little boring. Which is the risk you take when its all monochrome clothing and rambles gloom. But all I've heard this year is records which inspire sadness and depression. There's only so much I can enjoy before it becomes an endurance. Maybe when I'm more in the mood I'll give it a proper listen but for now I'll remember the epic refrain of "Bullets". At least that sounded a little upbeat in its depressing musings.

So Flashforward has been rumbling on for a few weeks now. Rumbling is an appropriate term for it because I'm not really sure where its heading. Which I guess is part of the attraction. Its still walking the tightrope between sci-fi hokum and modern thriller. I'm not fussed either way really but I just know that I'm not going to find out for a while. Its appealing though, I'm being drawn in. The odd departure to Germany aside the drama is bubbling quite nicely. I just pray we get some kind of answer at the end of the season. I've heard ABC likes cutting good dramas short early, if they decide to end this after one season it might even be better for it. Which brings me on to True Blood, no new paragraph. This only going to be brief. Second episode was enjoyable, this is very much about the characters though as opposed to the previous. The central romance featured is starting to get a little Twilightesque (or what I think that would be like) but hopefully it will continue down a few more alleyways. Also the cliff hangers are surprisingly lame. I'll wait till next weeks to see if this one is as poor as I expect it to be.

Finally I come to World Of Goo which is celebrating its first birthday by doing a Radiohead. I paid a measly $2. I'm sorry. I'm poor. That's more than I paid for the Radiohead album mind. Anyway, its basically a little physics puzzle based around gooey blobs of smiles. The graphics are lovely, the sound endearing and the puzzles taxing. But I'm shit at puzzles. I get confused about using my keys sometimes. I've got stuck on many of the Lego games. I have no idea how to use the blind in my room, I've been here for 8 months. I digress, my point is you should buy it. Fund an indie developer a little and enjoy a great slice of left field gaming. Its more fun than Guitar Hero 2. That's for sure.

Lily Allen and The File-Sharers

Been reading this afternoon that Lily Allen has proclaimed herself the saviour of the music industry. She's going to step up and make sure those file-sharers pay for what they're doing to the music industry! But she's kind of missing the point from where I'm standing. Cutting off connections to people who download music illegally is a big big move to make. But what's it going to change? Nothing for the better that's for sure. Where are people going to hear new music? These here interwebs is where the majority of all new bands get broken. Taking that away is surely a bad move. It's alright to punish those people who upload countless albums they don't even listen to, they are just abusing the system. But some people can't afford a new record, but will make the effort to go to a show or contribute some other way. It's time to evolve or die for the music industry, you can't just cut off people's internet and then expect them to trudge back into HMV and start buying over-priced £15 CDs. It's a ridiculous prospect, especially when you've got the avenues of music release that Radiohead opened up. As well as the fantastic program that is Spotify. These are the things people should be looking into, not draconian responses. Face it, the music industry was too slow to deal with the internet revolution in how media is distributed and now they're paying the price. I don't feel that people who are ahead of the curve should have to pay for the mistakes of those left behind. On a final note, Lily's campaign is bringing out the big-hitters. Take That, James Blunt, Keane and even fucking Spandau Ballet. So all the ones who struggled through the underground music scene yeah? The internet has made many bands who they are today. Look at the Arctic Monkeys for christ's sake, did you not even get a clue then that a band who had a number one single through internet hype alone? I hope Mandelson's bill does not come to pass. But undoubtedly, we're in dark times.