Reviews | Hello Destroyers

FLEET FOXES “HOPELESSNESS BLUES” | May 4th, 2011

Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues Reviewed by Nick Mack With their first full-length album, Fleet Foxes hooked many with an otherworldly sound that held enough intrigue and an element of mass-appeal to keep the hooked intrigued. They created their own niche that crossed the borders of a few genres. They exhibited strength and an ability to produce songs that reeled fans in and ensured that people from all walks would gladly trek down the mysterious yet inviting paths forged by their songs. With their second album, Helplessness Blues, they have expanded the territories through which they will take us if we are willing. A few months ago, Fleet Foxes released the song “Helplessness Blues” on their website. This gave a taste of their current direction and an idea of where their new album was likely to take the scores of fans that found themselves with fresh hooks attached. It sounds like Fleet Foxes see the popularity of their first album and the Sun Giant EP as a license to move away from releasing songs that stand out as catchy hit singles. It has to be said that the Fleet Foxes brand of catchiness does not carry with it the irksome traits of another catchy pop song; they gracefully step beyond that. Their new album is more than a simple collection of hits. It is a rushing stream of mystical and diverse folk songs, that has “Montezuma” – a song that uses clever layers of vocals to ignite the album – at it’s source. There are seamless segues between the instrumental wanderings of “The Cascades”, into two-part, multi-faceted epics like “The Shrine/An Argument”. The catchier “Helplessness Blues” and “Lorelai” hold hands comfortably with the timid “Blue Spotted Trail”, many parts working together and forming a beautiful body. So far, I’ve used lame fishing metaphors and imagery that makes it seem as though I want to take Homelessness Blues on a date. Perhaps I would, if that were appropriate but perhaps this is just the kind of dumb I’ve been struck yet again by what Fleet Foxes do? Let’s go with that, shall we? I would not be surprised if this less catchy new album by Fleet Foxes turns some people off. They have gone in a direction that swerves away from hit production and they’re set to make weather-beaten, musical adventurers of us all.

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Tags: Fleet Foxes, Hopelessness Blues, nick mack, review

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PINOY SUNDAY (REVIEW) | October 13th, 2010

Let me begin by saying, “PINOY SUNDAY is good, its really really good and you should watch it.” PINOY SUNDAY is the story of two Filipino migrant workers, MANUEL IMSON (Epy Quizon) and DADO LOPEGA (Bayani Agbayani). Friends since childhood, the two came to Taipei, Taiwan to work in a bicycle factory. While Dado deals with leaving behind a wife and a young daughter back home, by having an affair with, Anna (Meryll Soriano), a domestic migrant worker. Manuel uses his time and energy chasing girls and daydreaming about beer and more women.

Dado is finally settling down to the rhythm of life in Taipei when he hears that his wife back home had gotten into an accident. Upon hearing the news, Dado’s mind is wracked with guilt and breaks up with Anna on her birthday, leading to a hilarious verbal beat-down from Anna. While Manuel desparately pursuing his new crush, Celia (Alessandra De Rossi), is brushed off mercilessly like a pest. After the stress of the morning, while contemplating their home sickness they find a discarded couch. With no means of transportation, lack of money and the constant language barrier, Manuel and Dado finds themselves lugging the couch for miles across the streets of Taipei City. Pinoy Sunday’s premise may be simple and you might ask, how much story can you get out of two guys moving a couch? Well, have no fear my friends, actors EPY QUIZON and BAYANI AGBAYANI carry the movie effortlessly with their dynamic charisma and fantastic on-screen chemistry. QUIZON playing Manuel as the suave but hopeless Romantic, and AGBAYANI as the pessimistic but ‘motherly’ Dado, its an absolute treat to watch them onscreen!

I’ll go so far as saying, this might be the best buddy movie dynamic since Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, THAT’S HOW GOOD THEY ARE! Malaysian-born director WI DING HO co-wrote the script with Indian colleague Ajay Balakrishna. Inspired by Roman Polanski’s 1958 short film, “Two Men and a Wardrobe.”, and based on Wi’s personal experience as a student at NYU, where he once picked up a discarded couch. On the concept of the movie Wi said, ““The Taiwanese are affluent. For two men to carry a sofa all over town, they must be underprivileged … like students and migrant workers.” Along with a quirky script, great actors, Wi’s cinematographer, Jake Pollock, framed every shot with such perfection it felt like I was reading a comic strip come to life. The cinematography perfectly framed each shot, highlighting the humor, drama and emotion of the each scene to perfection. With a few obvious editing error during a scene, PINOY SUNDAY is a gorgeus movie to watch and I can’t wait wait to see it in Hi-Def or Blu-Ray. All in all, the beauty of the PINOY SUNDAY is how it fuses themes of emotional isolation, homesickness and racial tension with the bright and comedic nature of the whole story seamlessly. I recommend this movie to anyone, it may look foreign and strange, but you might find yourself wrong as you soon relate to the MANUEL and DADO as they try to etch a piece of familiarity in a foreign land. 4.5 out of 5.

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Tags: biaka, movie, Pinoy Sunday, review, Taipei, taiwan

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SUFJAN STEVENS-THE AGE OF ADZ | October 10th, 2010

Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz Previously to his latest album, Sufjan Stevens used what I consider to be just the right amount of non-electronic instruments. The Age of Adz makes me think that he invited a group of robots into the studio as he was recording, and got them to make all sorts of fancy beeps, blips and clicks. I see him nodding his head and smiling, and thinking of how great it all sounds to him. Sadly this vision does not include a concerned friend of Sufjan’s, who taps him on the shoulder half way through recording and whispers “ahem, don’t you think that you’ve used enough fancy beeps, blips and clicks now?” Such advice could have saved The Age of Adz for me. Or perhaps my finger is too far from the pulse for my opinions to mean anything? Yeah, that’ll be what’s going on here. The beeps, blips and clicks are carried along on a magic carpet of voices and ambient electro-melodies. Unfortunately this carpet also stole my interest in what was happening as the songs passed by. This theft rendered Stevens’ lyrics on The Age of Adz impotent, which is tragic since the lyrics of his previous albums often struck a chord with me. Instead of inspired I felt unphased and bored, even mildly irritated. The Age of Adz closes with a 25-minute long song called Impossible Soul. Twenty. Five. Minutes. That is longer than some whole albums. Crikey. As the song started, I began to wonder what he might do with the next almost half-hour of my life. The thing with such an epic song is that it has to have the power to take the listener on a diverse and engaging journey. Otherwise people are left standing in one place listening to a monotonous drone. Sufjan paid attention to this rule and turned Impossible Soul into a prog-indie, magical mystery tour. Stevens has put music on The Age of Adz that might make some folk dance. There are hints of Kanye as he breaks out the vocoder; there are whiffs of Justin Timberlake as his voice hits high pitches. I felt confused as these moments cropped up. All I can really say is that this new album of Sufjan’s is not really my cup of tea. I recognise that it is not really bad music – Mr. Stevens is a most accomplished musician and he is consistent in exhibiting this. The Age of Adz might be for you; it might be exactly your cup of tea. So go ahead and pick it up, tip the cup with pinkie extended, holding the dainty Wedgewood saucer in your other hand, and taste this latest batch of Sufjan. I’ll give up this bizarre tea metaphor before I discourage you from giving The Age of Adz a listen of your own.