777 times lovelier than I'd ever seen
July 2003
July 29, 2003
The Corn Sisters
Neko Case/Kelly Hogan/Carolyn Mark, the Black Cat, 27 July
This was officially billed as a Neko Case show, but the sexiest woman in indie rock wasn't really a solo act. Instead, the alt.country chanteuse was playing with Kelly Hogan (of Atlanta's way good, way garage-y Rock-A-Teens) and Carolyn Mark (who is, with Case, the other half of the Corn Sisters). I'm going to call this a Corn Sisters show, and to hell with it. The three only played a few of Neko's solo songs ("Look for Me (I'll Be Around)" and her cover of Hank Williams' "Alone and Foresaken", among others). Neither Hogan nor Mark can wail like Case, but that's unsurprising. As my friend Tracy noted a few years ago, Case has just an incredible set of pipes, something that really obviates the need for a band or backup singers. The girl can belt it. But the three (and Bloodshot session guitarist Jon Rauhouse) were pretty tight for a group that seems not to have practiced or toured together much, and there were some amazing three-part harmonies. Standouts of the night in my mind were a girl-group-ish "Smoke Rings" (a tune Mary Ellen informed me was most recently covered by k.d. lang) and the shiver-inducing "Look for Me". A wonderful show, even if Case didn't tap dance the way she apparently used to for the Corn Sisters; I was impressed enough that I've ordered some of Hogan's solo work.
July 26, 2003
28 Days Later
My friend Johnny says that zombie movies are his favorite because they tell the story of what happens when civilization is stripped away. Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave stripped the veneer away from three London yuppies and let them slip into a war of all against all, so you'd think he'd be a natural to make a zombie film. You'd be right; 28 Days Later is really good. The setup -- they're not the walking dead, but victims of some sort of zombifying virus that is transmitted through blood and saliva and takes effect within seconds -- means that the zombies can be something other than the shambling braineaters I know and love, and it works magnificently: the zombies are creepy as hell. The film is lovely, too; I don't normally care for feature films shot on digital video, but it looks just right for post-apocalyptic London. (The cinematographer is associated with the Dogme 95 folks, so video is presumably his métier.) The contrast between London and the bucolic countryside is handled nicely, too. The second half of the film gets a bit too man-vs.-man society-gone-mad for my tastes (a bit too Shallow Grave, in fact). Romero's best movies knew that human conflict is supposed to be the backdrop and subtext for zombie-related carnage, not the other way around, and this falls down on that front, but I still liked 28 Days Later a heckuva lot.
(Bonus: A song by Godspeed You Black Emperor! on the soundtrack. Their music makes my commute feel cinematic and sweeping; it's no surprise that it works well as the protagonist runs through an abandoned London. Extra bonus for the distaff sex: V. says that the protagonist was knuckle-chewingly hot. Extra extra bonus: There's apparently a new ending now playing after the credits; I might go back and see it again, because I am a sucker, yes I am.)