Army with Harmony – I’ll Drop Some Weird On You

I’ve got a serious soft spot for the work of Harmony Korine.  I’ve tried to explain it to several friends on a few occasions, and failed miserably.

My favorite piece of work by Korine happens to be his now out of print novel; A Crack Up at the Race Riots.  I would call that a novel, loosely.  It’s more a collection of poems, one-offs, dialogues, suicide notes, jokes, and a few things that would make a billy goat puke.

A Crack Up at the Race Riots is one of my prized possessions, if you will.  It’s the second funniest book I’ve ever read.

Rather than try to explain (or scare you with) the reasons why I admire Harmony’s work, I thought I’d post a few of my favourite clips from his films, and a classic appearance on Letterman.

Real Emotional Truth

The truth is; Stephen Malkmus’ latest album, Real Emotional Trash, is his most progressive work as a guitarist to date.  Fans and critics seem to be divided on the finished product (see Pitchforkmedia.com’s friendly musing of mediocrity), but this fan is waving his prog-rock post-Pavement flag. 

Malkmus may have drifted further away from Pavementy familiarity, but this effort will earn a new friend or two with it’s shreddin’ gnar guitar.  Like Sonic Youth before him, Malkmus has become better with age.  Spouting some of his most care-free lyrics since his solo debut; a jam-esque freedom abounds this time around with the Jicks. 

Believe this; I hate jam bands more than Ram Jam, but Real Emotional Trash displays ample structure and is one of the more enjoyable guitar rock albums of this early year.  8.7/10.