Best Coast, Crazy for You (Mexican Summer, 2010)

If there ever was a time to judge an album by its cover, it would be now. A bright yellow background with a palm tree, a cat and a beach that resembles a postcard from the ‘60s gives listeners a great preview of what’s to come on the 13 tracks about boys, California and getting stoned.
Best Coast, an indie-pop band from California, released its first full-length album “Crazy for You” in the summer of 2010. Still getting heavy play months later, the album makes for a feel-good listen any time of the year. Singer, songwriter and guitar player Bethany Cosantino croons on tunes that never make it past the three-minute marker as simplistic lyrics mixed with fuzzy unproduced sounds make for an endless lazy summer vibe on standout tracks such as “Crazy for You,” “Each and Everyday” and “Boyfriend.” On “Our Deal,” Cosantino cries, “I wish you would tell me how you really feel/ But you’ll never tell me ‘cuz that’s not our deal” over haunting guitar riffs, simple percussions and echoes of her own voice.
Keeping with their summer vibes, the record sounds like something that could have been made in the ‘60s in the midst of surf-rock— imagine if the Beach Boys and the Dum Dum Girls got together today.

Though the band released several EP’s before, they didn’t prove to be as upbeat, structured or focused as their new full-length release. Their 2009 EP, “Where the Boys Are” didn’t sound promising. The band sounded like another group trying to make an unstructured album for the sake of making noise, as you could barely make out the lyrics Cosantino was signing through the muffled guitar.
Cosantino started singing clear, comprehensive lyrics and she should have done it a while ago, since she has a charming voice. The group also toned down the fuzziness of its sound by adding some uplifting poppy percussion elements to the new album. Around the same time of the album release, the group also added drummer, Ali Koehler of the Vivian Girls, giving the band a more complete sound.
While their new simplistic sound is effective, on several of the tracks the lyrics start to lack creativity and are easily confused with similar lyrics from other songs on the album. With Best Coast’s newly revamped sound and style no listener with ever have to suffer from the winter blues again because “… there’s something about the summer.”

Le scaphandre et le papillon

Based off of the real-life tragedy of Elle France’s Editor-in-chief, Jean-Dominique Bauby, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” directed by painter Julian Schnabel, is a poignant and beautiful film in both its story and composition.

The French film is an adaptation of a memoir, of the same title, written by Bauby before his death and it appears with English subtitles.

Bauby (played by Mathieu Amalric) suffers a massive stroke at the peak of his career in the mid 90s. The film follows Bauby after his accident, as he is trapped inside his own body, in a complete state of paralysis, yet fully conscious of his surroundings. His only form of communication is blinking. The majority of the film is told from first person narrative—through Bauby’s eyes and his thoughts which the audience hears out loud.

Before his accident, Bauby had a book deal. Now trapped in a hospital and in his own body, he decides to continue with the book deal, but tell it from his experience of his current state. He works with a therapist who comes up with a language system to interpret his blinking. One word or blink at a time, his therapist helps him write his book, which essential becomes his memoir.

One of the most emotional scenes in the film can be seen early on after you witness Bauby in his “locked-in” state, he is no longer able to open and close his right eye. Doctors decide to stitch his eye shut to prevent an infection. The audience witnesses this through the lens of the camera as if they were Bauby’s own eye.

Trapped in his own mind, Bauby’s most intimate thoughts are shown and while the audience empathizes with the character, they also become conscious of the power of the human mind to overcome even the most traumatic of events in ones life. When Bauby moves past his feelings of self-pity, bits of humor are weaved in to scenes from his inner monologue.

The audience meets significant people in Bauby’s life--his children, his ex, his father and his current girlfriend, though she refuses to visit him in the hospital. The brief encounters of these characters don’t allow for much development on their own, but they are developed in Bauby’s own memories of them and past events as he still has feelings of guilt from unresolved relationship problems.

A large portion of the film is set in Bauby’s hospital bed with an eerie coastline in the background that mirrors the solidarity he must feel.

The 2007 film is Schnabel’s third and probably most notable to date, as he previously gained recognition as a filmmaker with his first release “Basquiat.” And though Schnabel is American, he seems to have mastered the art of French film.

TGIF Mr. West

It’s been almost two years since Kanye West released his last full-length studio album “808’s and Heartbreaks.” The album exposed a side of West, a darker more emotional side that was not heard on previous albums as he had made it after two traumatic events, a bad break up and the loss of his mother. Still, it fell short with expectations from the fame-level West had risen to.

West released the single “Power (Remix)” on Aug. 20, not through an album, but through his blog. The rapper promised via Twitter to release one song every Friday (dubbing it Good Fridays) until his album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is released Nov 22.

West has not only released songs every Friday like promised, but made them available for free through downloads on his website. It is hard to fully judge the songs released as a complete entity, because of the uncertainty of what will make the cut on the full-length album. But so far, the songs have re-sparked a fervor that once exuded from West.

Though the heavily auto-tuned, simpler and more pop-like 808’s seemed more purpose-driven than past albums, it lacked a certain passion and energy that was heard on previous songs like “Good Life,” “All Falls Down” and “Spaceship.” 808’s should have made West grow as an artist, but instead it felt more like it distracted him. But Good Fridays releases have reminded us of the mega hip hop star West is, lyrically and musically showcasing his ability to collaborate with a collection of diverse artists.

It is West’s second Good Fridays release “Monster” featuring Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver that stands out as one of the most powerful tracks so far. Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon opens and closes the song with his soulful voice over hip-hop beats and West confesses on the chorus, “Everybody know I’m a muthaf***ing monster.” But it’s the angst and hype that comes from each of the lengthy verses from Jay-Z, West and Minaj that hype this song up. With Minaj’s being most abrasive, she toys back and forth with her vocals ranging from a fury to cute, girlish talk. She raps, “First things first I’ll eat your brains then I’mma start rocking gold teeth and fangs.”

Another track that earns heavy play is “Christian Dior Denim Flow” with John Legend, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Lloyd Blanks and Ryan Leslie. The track is an ode to West’s love for the fashion world. The emotion-evoking ballad with a violin, “I got the world in my hands…” mixed with heavy drum beats and catchy percussions was worth the extra day West waited to release the track due to a hacking.

Good Friday’s energetic tracks have seemed to slightly humble West from the egomaniac he is. OK, if you follow him on Twitter he isn’t that humble, but at least he is confessing to some pretty bad faux pas in the past. And on these tracks he owns up to his out of control ego, “No one man should have all that power…Stop trippin’, I’m trippin’ off the power.” Although if there were ever a time he should be giving himself kudos it’s now.