Boring Arts Review 1

Every month, I'll try and discuss some film, TV, music, etc that I've been watching so far. Let's see how long this lasts.

Links to music are provided. Just click on the hyperlinks! 

Music

I have surprised myself by how much music I've been listening to lately - there have been more albums than I can count. Then again, when making music is one of your hobbies, it's only natural to want to listen to more stuff. 

In terms of new albums, though, it's only been the one this year - Secret Love by south London post-punk band Dry Cleaning. This is my first real exposure to them - before this, I'd only heard their single Scratchcard Lanyard - but I was vaguely aware of what to expect. That is, spoken word vocals over angular guitars and throbbing basslines. Think the Fall, but Mark E. Smith's been replaced.

In the end, I felt underwhelmed by it. The music didn't really grip me, and the lyrics themselves weren't as poetic as they need to be if you're doing spoken word. It's a shame because vocalist Florence Shaw does have a nice voice, and on the few occasions she tries to sing, I quite like it. Instead, the vocals tend to blend in with the instrumentals which at times felt passionless, almost like a safer version of bands like Wire.

There is one other album I'd like to mention, though, and it's one I really think you should check out. It came out in 2002, so not exactly new, but I only discovered it last year and I'm really glad I did. It's Re.sort, which is the only album by Japanese glitch artist Sora. It's a very intricate, fragile album, pieced together with glitchy melodies and various field recordings, creating a rich album that's perfect for listening when you're relaxing. I especially recommend Revans and Satellite Towers.  

TV

I've only just started watching shows, really. I've always been a book person and never cared much for dramas and the like. 

This month, I've managed to finish Better Call Saul. It's a spinoff of Breaking Bad, which is another show for those who have somehow never heard of either. But where Breaking Bad focuses on a chemistry teacher cooking meth, Better Call Saul focuses on a lawyer who slowly loses his morals completely. It's a really engaging watch, but it's best if you watch Breaking Bad first - otherwise, you'll miss out on lots of context and "ah, now that makes sense" moments. 

I might argue that Better Call Saul is the best show I've ever watched - the character dynamics and relationships are thrilling, the cinematography is stunning, the payoff is worth the "filler" - if not for the ending feeling a bit rushed. Spoilers, but in the last season, one of the main characters dies, but in such a way I feel like the writers didn't know how to resolve the story, so just pulled the trigger on them. And I'm not convinced the show did a great job of having two overarching storylines - one of the lawyer side of the show, another of the drug cartels - occurring at the same time. The cartel scenes personally bored me, and I was waiting for the show to just get on with it.

On the whole, it's an enjoyable show. I enjoyed season 3 the most, which I know some fans might find weird, but to me it was the most satisfying in how everything came together for the characters come the season finale, Lantern. It also has one of the best episodes I've ever watched in Chicanery, which is thrilling, heart-wrenching, and also amusing.

Books

Only the one book so far, in fact it's more of a play. I've always wanted to read some Samuel Beckett, in fact I read his play Endgame last year to get some inspiration for my own fiction writing, and I liked it.

This time, I gave Waiting for Godot a try. I got most of it finished on the train as I moved around London - it flows really well, even for how weird it is. Because it is weird. Half the time I had no clue what was going on.

The gist is this: two men, Estragon and Vladimir, are waiting for Godot. But Godot never arrives. The boy who works for Godot is there occasionally, telling them Godot will come, but Godot never comes. And you have the really absurd Pozzo and his servant Lucky, who bring some of the funniest lines of the play but otherwise are just that - absurd.

I get the point is that nothing happens. I understand it's supposed to be an existential musing, and it was written in the aftermath of France in World War 2, and that adds to the context. But I found myself reading the play quickly, waiting to just be done with it. For those who aren't used to experimental literature, or who just want a nice read, I don't recommend it, purely because there's a good chance you'll feel incredibly lost when reading it.

It's also a play, so I bet it's incredible on stage. It looks like Keanu Reeves is in a production out on Broadway right now, which I'd totally see if it wasn't for me living not in the US. For now, the best theatre will have to be my head.