I've written another double-sized review post because my reading's dried up, and I didn't want to admit to reading nothing in the whole of May at the time. I'm still ashamed it's not improved much since, but hey, I now have three months off from uni to get back on track!
Oh, and I have other hobbies, too.
All music mentioned in this post can be heard by clicking on the relevant link.
TV
I've not watched anything lately, I've been busy with uni. However, I did finish Twin Peaks last month...season 2, that is. Admittedly, that's also where the show finished back in the 1990s, and I didn't have a copy of season 3 lying around. I'll get to it at some point, though.
My initial thoughts were that season 2 felt extremely contrived. It was almost as if David Lynch, the director, just gave up on telling a compelling narrative, and instead opted to pad most of the season with dreadful soapy filler. The first season revolved around the whodunnit of who killed Laura Palmer, and how the whole town was handling the tragedy. I assumed we'd never find out, that we'd come close but there would be a fork in the road stopping us from doing so.
Instead, we learn who killed her...in episode 8 of season 2. Out of 22, by the way. In what felt almost sensational, when I'd have hoped for a heartbreaking realisation. That means there are 14 episodes left, and only the final few are actually engaging. Everyone's moved on from Laura, who cares if literally everyone in the town had something to do with her, they've all got such thrilling lives we need to waste ten episodes on them. Those side plots never really go anywhere, and in the end they're all overshadowed by this new Windom Earle character, whose very existence threatens everyone's lives. Whilst he felt like a bit of a gimmick, at least it gave the show some direction it very much needed, and it ends on a high note, with one of the most surreal, cryptic finales I've ever watched. It left me with no answers, and initially I felt betrayed, but I've since come round to it.
In hindsight, season 2 wasn't that bad, it just wasn't what I was looking for. Apparently the "filler" is only there because the TV network forced the writers to wrap up the Laura Palmer case early on, so I suppose Lynch isn't to blame, he did the best he could do. And it was worth it, in the end, so I don't mind as much.
Music
There was only one album I considered listening to that came out in May - that's Inferno by Boards of Canada. They're a Scottish electronic duo, often blending strange, unearthly samples with eerie, 80s-flavoured synths, the kind that can make you teary-eyed with nostalgia or back you panicking into a corner. They're also one of my favourite bands, precisely because they convey emotions through immersive, peculiar soundscapes.
I even went to the record store on the day the album came out, just to pick up a CD. This was the first time in ages one of my favourite acts had released an album - the others tend to have died - so I was going to treat this like the special occasion it was. I went home, listened to it on CD, and found it amazing.
The second half's far better than the first, don't get me wrong. Their sampling could be clumsy at times, make you almost laugh, like on tracks like Father and Son where robotic voices awkwardly recite religious cult footage. In fact, I tended to enjoy their ambient pieces, like Memory Death and Deep Time (which, fun fact, was first released as Tape 05), far more than tracks overly reliant on samples. You Retreat in Time and Space might be the finest song on the album, as it builds up and swells from minimalist chords into an almost enchanting lullaby to space.
That was nearly a month ago; since then, I've gained appreciation for the tracks I considered weak or too repetitive, and I've played the album from Blood In the Labyrinth onwards far too many times. I'd say it's one of the band's best, and also my favourite album of the year so far. Worth checking out, if only out of curiosity.
Musicals
I went to see Jersey Boys with my mum at the Wimbledon Theatre recently. It's about Frankie Valli and his band, the Four Seasons, who were a pretty big boyband in the 1960s and 70s. I knew some of their hits from the oldies radio, but most of the tracks they performed in the musical were completely new to me. It seems like they were big in the UK, but they were a far bigger force in the US, maybe that plays into how I viewed Jersey Boys.
It's an alright musical, the performances were great and the drummer especially was fantastic. All the songs were performed vividly and the vocals were gorgeous. I was also a big fan of how the musical told the story of the Four Seasons through the perspectives of each of the band members, I thought that was unique for a jukebox musical. I'd say the biggest issues I had were the pacing and plot; it was particularly hard to follow at the beginning, but that's maybe down to me not knowing much about the Four Seasons. The musical ends with the original lineup reuniting for a big performance, but only a while ago, they seemed to have irreversibly broken up with no way out. I guess they can't fit everything in, but it does mean you're left with a very paper-thin view of what the band were probably really like.
I guess musicals can be carried by the music, that's the whole point. But I'm also not a huge fan of oldies pop, and to me the Four Seasons simply aren't the sort of band you can base a two hour long musical on. Maybe I'm too young, but I thought it was merely okay. Oh, what a night :/
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