Dexter

My nights have been filled with serial killer empathy as of late.

Leave it to Showtime's Dexter to provide television with a new plot and rendering you've never seen before: Dexter, a serial killer cast as a sociopath, complete with a growing sense of self and feeling and a hot borderline girl to battle with.

In Dexter we meet a serial killer trying to find out his past and discover the meaning of life in the self-titled offering from Showtime. In it's third season, "Dexter" presents psychologically complex characters who challenge perhaps the last outposts of diametrical presented "evil," at least in American Culture.

Dexter's one true virtue, honesty, is the source of the characterization. The writers take us into the struggle of a sociopath, haunted by a repressed path and living by an external code, the "code of Harry," provided by his father as a means of survival and a way to kill killers who are able to evade the law. The inner life of Dexter is provided by a first-person narrator, commenting on scenes much like Ron Howard does in the newly resurrected Arrested Development . Though I don't subscribe to Showtime, I highly recommend the DVD series as it is fascinating, challenging, original, and well done. Can't wait for Season Three to come out.

Old Man

Song Review: Mother Mother's "O My Heart"

A Seattle friend slipped me this c.d. over the winter break, telling me he'd seen them play in New York and was blown away by their musicianship and killer harmonies. Mother Mother's brand of rock defies immediate comparison: it is some of the most aggressive, in your face powerpop I have ever heard. Perhaps they sound a bit like Queen would if they sang about Harley Davidsons instead of bicycles.

"O My Heart" is the strongest track on the album, tells the story of someone trying to throw their heart out but having it keep coming back in more and more hideous versions. "My heart is a fish out water and it bakes in the bad sun/ oh my heart, it's a roof in the straw in the jaw of el nino."

I love the risks Mother Mother is willing to make - extended metaphors are rare in rock music, and rarely are they done with such panache and a such a blow torch of power. A debut album from Vancouver B.C. worth checking out.

Old Man

John Moessner: "Welcome to the Johngle"

Nashville’s got a brand new offering unlike anything I’ve heard from Tennessee: No, it’s not silky smooth American Idol pseudo-country or more contemporary Christian blather, it’s powerpop that would make John Vanderslice pick up the phone. Pull the curtains, enter John Moessner.

John Vanderslice may be a good comparison. “Welcome to the Johngle” is the first offering from a Tennessee native who, like Vanderslice, runs his own studio and uses his knob turning agility and ample instrumentation to bolster his low-fi tenor. What comes out is something between Brian Wilson , Jellyfish, and Sufjan Stevens .

Orchestral pop has made a comeback over the last few years, and there are a lot of messy underproduced jumbles of emotion out their trying to be the next Bon Iver . It’s nice to hear someone who is willing to use a few dozen instruments and spend the time and effort to make them sound good.

Moessner’s voice is reminiscient of Steven Page (Barenaked Ladies) – a band that I personally can’t stand thanks to a college roommate who would exclusively listen to, on principle, the Bare Naked Ladies or Jimmy Buffett. Nothing else. (Thanks Brian, wherever you are). So John had an uphill battle to win me over. But diamonds like “My First Attempt, ” “For the Boy, ” (written for his son), and my personal favorite, “Is The Universe Friendly?” , Moessner’s mix of unabashed love songs, tongue in cheek lyrics, and Sgt. Pepper orchestrations make me happy.

I could see this album getting picked up by an indie label somewhere and getting some traction on college radio. Until then, let me announce it: Welcome to the Johngle.

Old Man

Time Capsule Review: John Denver

Have you ever listened to John Denver? I mean really listened to him?
I know: his sweet country boy faced has launched a thousand infomercials, a few Sesame Street episodes, and more than one child to name their dog Lassie.

On your next morning commute, pretend J.D. didn’t blow up into some sort of caricature of himself and instead pretend your friend just gave you a demo c.d. of a new band from the Midwest. Then listen to these five tracks: “Leaving on a Jet Plane ,” Take Me Home, Country Roads, ” “Rocky Mountain High, ” and “Thank God I’m a Country Boy .” (I’ll spare you “Sunshine on My Shoulders” – you must have something to work towards). Tell me it isn’t phenomenal, tell me you don’t want to listen to it again, and tell me you don’t start to hear a dozen or so immensely famous artists and a hundred indie ones who would never admit being influenced by him but obviously, unmistakably, are.

I’ll be the first to start the list: Listen to the way he says “your door” on “Leaving on a Jet Plane” then listen to way Jeremy Enigk says “your door” on "Explain " from Return of the Frog Queen.

Old Man

The Stills "Oceans Will Rise"

Anyone who's had the hubris to be around me long enough knows I have a fondness for most things Montreal, thanks to a summer school term spent frolicking there: summer jazz festivals, smoked meat sandwiches, Mordecai Richler novels, and even those dearly departed Expos, amongst other things. But what about Montreal's vibrant music scene, you ask? This is, after all, a metropolis on par with Seattle, Austin, etc., having spawned such acts as Stars, The Arcade Fire , The Dears, and Corey Hart (he of "Sunglasses at Night" fame; just checking to see if you were paying attention).

Add The Stills to this impressive list. It was with excitement that I spotted their latest release, Oceans Will Rise, on a trip to my friendly record store. My first thought after looking at the gilded skull on the cover went something like, "Have Tim Fletcher and company gone metal on us?" Fear not, Stills faithful, the band are still the Stills (a little gratuitous alliteration there, I know) you've known and loved. It may not be Pantera, but it brings an energy all its own that I haven't heard on previous releases.

What I loved about The Stills' debut release, Logic Will Break Your Heart , was the detached sense of melancholy that permeated the album from end to end. There was a sonic bittersweet hollowness for LWBYH which lent itself well towards the overall tone of the album. On Oceans Will Rise, Fletcher and company still do their thing with wistful crooning about all things heartbreak and angst. This time, it packs a healthy punch, and with a dose of optimism to boot! Witness the single "Being Here," a soaring anthem that proclaims triumph through the road of tribulation. It's that kind of tune that makes you want to floor it in your droptop while speeding down the PCH on a sundrenched day. "Everything I Build" is a sweet number, with its soothingly pulsing rhythm and Fletcher's heartfelt delivery, while "Eastern Europe" is another energetic track whose relative freneticism emphatically signals the band's emergence from its melodramatic roots. Granted, there are a couple of duds like "Rooibos/Palm Wine Drinkard" and "Statue of Sirens" that seem to deserve their position bringing up the rear of the album. But overall, this is an inspired release: oceans will rise and the Stills will still make their music, but with an invigorating twist.

Between sending in my ballot early and writing this piece, I could use a smoked brisket sandwich on rye with a pickle right now. Too bad Schwartz's on Blvd. St. Laurent doesn't deliver.

Platypus