Cloverfield

I think it’s time I admit to myself that I’m a non-ironic fan of found footage-style movies. An unsteady frame, organic characters, a decently creepy plot — throw a moderate dose of hysteria in the mix and I’m sold for the entire runtime. Oh, and an obscure or semi-obscure malicious creature helps, too.

Cloverfield fits the bill. It also had all the viral marketing and hype to build it up as the most spectacular monster/disaster/found footage movie ever prior to its release 5 years ago, which simultaneously meant that you set yourself up for a colossal disappointment if you bought into it, so I took my time until I finally decided to watch it, and I’m glad I did. Now that the fuss has long cooled off and there were no outside influences to taint my experience, I could go into it with a more open and neutral mindset than would have been possible in 2008.

There are some questions you just don’t ask when it comes to the genre, like why the characters don’t throw away their silly cameras and run in acutely life-threatening situations. The answer is because then we cinemagoers wouldn’t have the chance to be at the edge of our seats for 85 minutes, that’s why. But what I like about Cloverfield is that there are other, more interesting questions left to be discussed. Little is revealed about the monster, which leaves a lot of room for interpretation — it’s impossible not to notice a parallel to Godzilla, only instead of being an allegory for the damage inflicted on Japan by the atom bomb, the Cloverfield beast is an allegory for the damage the events of 9/11 inflicted on New York. Upon reading the synopsis on IMDB, I found out that in the end scene, when the military finds footage of the main characters on their trip to Coney Island, there is an object falling from the sky and into the ocean in the background. (I find it virtually impossible to see with the naked eye, especially if you don’t actively pay attention.) In interviews, Drew Goddard has stated that contrary to popular belief, the object is not the monster, but a satellite. The monster had been lying dormant in the ocean for thousands of years, and the satellite awakens it from its sleep.

So needless to say, there are myriads of theories by fans to be found on the Internet. I love when a film sparks speculation and debate of this kind. Cloverfield provides just the right amount of answers to prevent fun-spoiling frustration, but leaves enough mystery to stir the audience’s curiosity and investigative spirit.

I’ve heard my fair share of film buffs criticise the use of shaky cam for being a convenient way to hide violence, ill-executed CGI sequences, poor acting and stunt doubles, hindering complete immersion in the story and generally just making scenes hard to watch, but I disagree. To me, the use of shaky cam in movies like Cloverfield is nothing short of a must. When the whole population of New York city is seized with panic and fright, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be chaos; and what better way to emphasise the terror and havoc visually than by not using a tripod to shoot the movie? When a situation spins out of control to this extent, messy shots make a lot of sense. I really, really dig the cinematography, but there’s a staggering amount of people who couldn’t finish watching Cloverfield because of it, so I suppose it’s a weakness, as well. (Interesting fact: our brain shuts down our vision when we turn our head quickly — this phenomenon, known as “saccadic masking”, is the reason why the use of shaky cam in films makes so many people feel sick.)

Cloverfield is one of the better movies of the genre I’ve yet had the pleasure to encounter. It starts out rather weak by depicting the boring lives of rich New Yorkers, hits its peak when the disaster strikes and stays there for a majority of the film, and unfortunately ends on an underwhelming note, but that doesn’t significantly detract from its overall quality. It’s a thrilling watch that stayed on my mind for a while.

Serj Tankian – Jazz-iz-Christ

Serj Tankian has recorded a jazz album. So far, so good. Serj Tankian even did a pretty interesting jazz album. And as “interesting” is a damn boring word, let me try to explain why.

I’m certainly not a specialist in jazz music, so for all you connoisseurs out there, let me know if my impressions are for the birds. First of all, Tankian invited a wide range of guest musicians (probably because he isn’t a specialist either) such as, amongst others, Tigran Hamasyan, Tom Duprey, Valeri Tolstov or Troy Zeigler, which would be the first explanation for the advanced level of Jazz-iz-Christ. Besides classic jazz influences the LP combines fusion, electro, also rock, even if it is not so obvious at first listen, and also a number of oriental influences, represented for example by sitars.

The opener Fish Don’t Scream was described somewhere as a System of a Down song in disguise, and I have to say that this an appropriate way of hearing it, especially for the returning stamping parts. One could really imagine the slower jazz melodies as a reflection of a possible Tankian singing performance. The rocking elements on this album are omnipresent without pushing to the foreground at any time. The classic guitar solo in Arpeggio Bust, for instance, is perfectly fitting to the jazzy rhythm section. Moreover, there is a very concise and pushing bass line in a handful of songs.

Besides the rock influences there are especially the electronic and/or the fusion elements that produce the main groove of Jazz-iz-Christ, which generally spoken provides a wide range of musical experiences without being overcharged at any time. Most songs are instrumental; Tankian himself, or his vocals, enter the stage in song number 7, Distant Thing, a very oppressive but chilling song in which his voice and performance perfectly fits, which counts a little less for the following  Song of Sand.

The album clearly has its depressive period towards the middle, guided by melancholic vocals and instruments, combining the feeling of drinking whisky in a dark lounge and Tankian’s typical feeling for tragedy. Jinn then picks the pace up again, being a rock song at heart, and yet very hard to categorise in terms of style. Waitomo Caves would be the next creative bastard, having a 90s electro and beat box groove dancing around the classical jazz instruments. Same as the opener, the closing song Miso Soup then again can easily be defined as being a SOAD song, and this time, to make it more obvious, Tankian takes care of the vocals.

Jazz-iz-Christ is a very enjoyable, nearly 57 minutes long piece of jazz combined with like everything one could imagine, and I think one can really hear the fun the contributors were having during the recording sessions.

Confide – All Is Calm


As I said last time: post-hardcore releases are swarming in these days! Our next one is Confide‘s third album All Is Calm, which was entirely funded through Kickstarter. Three years after disbanding in 2010, the band decided to give it another go due to enormous demand from their fan base. Since I quite enjoyed their first two records, I also pledged and got my digital copy two weeks before the physical one…a nice gesture.

Remember how I said last week that almost every band one-upped their previous work this year? Well…sadly I cannot say the same about the LA based band. Don’t get me wrong though: the record is in no way bad, far from it actually, but it just lacks that little something. The music definitely feels like Confide, with its poignant mix of electronic elements into traditional instruments, but it simply follows the old formula too much for my taste. Also, this might just be me though, I have a hard time distinguishing the twelve songs since there is no real “oh yeah that song!” moment except for the song you can find at the end of this review.

The vocals have not varied much in the past years either, which is a good thing though since they always were and still are the driving force of the quintet. The only addition to the vocal arsenal are the, almost standard these days, “scratch vocals”.

While it might seem to you that I do not like this record, that is not the case…I guess I was just too hyped and was expecting the next big thing. Objectively speaking it is an album worth giving a shot, especially if you’ve never heard the band before…since it is arguably their best output. For more information you can visit their Facebook page and to get a taste, you can listen to the above-mentioned song below.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3chiacaK9BY]

Summer Break


After providing you, our beloved readers, with reviews for 31 weeks non-stop this year, we decided it’s time to take a little summer break! This means that all activity on the site will be down until the 2nd of September where we will resume in our usual rhythm! Until then: stay safe, enjoy the weather, your loved ones and cold (alcoholic) beverages! We sure will!

~The El Gore team~

Sharknado

Sharknado (2013) is a modern low-budget, disaster B-Movie directed by Anthony Ferrante and produced by the production/distribution company The Asylum, which is also responsible for Syfy trash gems like Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus (2010), Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (2011) and 2-Headed Shark Attack (2012).

Even though I am a big trash aficionado who has seen a few Asylum productions and knew what to expect more or less, those responsible go the extra mile more than once. I even have to admit that it was quite hard to imagine how they could possibly turn this movie title into a film because, let’s be honest, three hurricanes which whirl up highly aggressive and man-eating sharks sweep across Los Angeles to let the sharks rain down on the goofy residents is, even for a trash movie, quite over the top.

Sharknado is the ultimate collection of the worst of the worst. The director of photography and the post-production guys must have been high while working on this film. There is no other explanation for the dreadful, illogical, odd and redundant camera shots, cuts and transitions which, finally, are accentuated by the worst CGI effects I have ever seen. The incompetent cast nearly made me cry and Tara Reid shows us what she can do best, namely nothing. Only John Heard seems to have heard of the word “acting” before.

Sharknado is (like) a Roland Emmerich movie done without a budget, with even more awkward dialogues and stupid pseudo-trash quotes (we can’t just wait here and wait for sharks to rain down on us again). I  like the ragtagged and far-fetched premise and I stopped having strong feelings about (bad) CGI and movie mistakes in independent cinema but especially the central part of Sharknado is congested with padding material which obfuscates the trash ambience and lets the movie drift into boredom, which is fatal when it comes to B-Movies. If you decide to create something as excessive and nuts as Sharknado you have to create a humorous atmosphere and Anthony Ferrante doesn’t want to or simply isn’t capable of creating one.  As I said before, the premise is brilliant, but Sharknado wasn’t able to measure up to my expectations. Bummer!

Secrets – Fragile Figures


While 2013 has been an amazing musical year for me thus far, the post-hardcore front has been severely unsaturated. This is all about to change in the coming weeks though, with the first contestant being SECRETS with their second album Fragile Figures. And oh boy, what a monster it is!

If there is one thing that I can say without a doubt, it’s that this year every band has one-upped their previous album in almost every way; this is no different for the quintet from San Diego! Their debut The Ascent was already a solid output, apart from the abysmal production, but this one puts it to shame in every single aspect. First off: this time around the production is perfect. Every single instrument (bass!) can be clearly distinguished and is fine-tuned to seamlessly fit into the ensemble. The arrangements have also become by far more intricate and complex, resulting in a way more enjoyable listening experience.

Then there’s the clean vocals. Where do I start? They are the ideal match for this kind of music and, in my opinion, can easily compete with the bigger names in the genre…or actually outshine them. Especially, because they have hardly been altered in the studio and therefor sound very natural throughout the eleven songs. Of course, as the “rules” dictate, there are also unclean vocals which are provided by a new vocalist who, to me, does a better job than his precursor. Lyrically, they tackle the “usual” topics but especially the choruses have high sing-along value and I really dig them.

During the thirty-seven minutes there isn’t really a filler song, off the top of my head I’d say that one song is a bit weak compared to the rest…but all in all you get enough for your money’s worth! If you want to know more about the band, you can go check out their Facebook page and listen to their single below!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itgGsjC1L1A]

Naam – Vow

Mystic tunes welcome the listener to Vow, Naam’s second long player after their debut album in 2009 and their EP in 2012. A mix of psychedelic hard rock and stoner elements create this LP’s character throughout the 11 songs, intros and outros. The title track takes the listener for a ride on a psychedelic wave during which rapids beware the trip from being boring at any moment.

The different intros between the songs bend the bow for a very confident performance. The songs have a clear structure which doesn’t prevent the love of experimentation from being heard. The sound production is pretty raw, lacking a kind of deepness from time to time, although raw sound also is necessary for this kind of music. Finding the balance may be a challenge for further albums.

Nevertheless, lovers of psychedelic hard rock will find everything their heart could wish on Vow: spacy sounds like in Brightest Sight or in the space odyssey Beyond , hard bass lines as in On The Hour, one of my favourite songs on the album by the way, electronic organs, sitars, hard riffs, outbursts and also oppressive moments. Only the vocals may become a bit annoying as time goes on, but this may be an impression which is valid for every psych-rock record ever made, though one must say that the performance here is pretty standard.

In the end, this is a very chilling and at the same time challenging LP for those moments when the lust for Sabbath or Deep Purple grows too strong.


Denis