Restrepo

Documentaries have always had the stigma of being boring and dull. It’s the nerd of the world of cinema so to speak, and when you’re going up against the extravagant plotlines and big budget effects of fiction film its fairly easy to see why. You have movies like Transformers where giant robots fight amongst clever cityscapes, or District Nine where aliens are fight for their way home. Even movies based on real life events are changed to amp up dramatic appeal. However the Oscar nominated documentary, Restrepo, is giving fiction film a run for its money. It has all of the drama and action of any one of these high budget films yet somehow maintains the incredibly raw realities of war.

            The film documents the year that filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington spent with a platoon of the 503rd Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army. In what was at the time considered by many to be the most dangerous area on earth, the Korengal Valley of northeast Afghanistan. It was the job of these soldiers to clear the area of insurgency while maintaining the trust and cooperation of the local population. Their posting, OP Restrepo (named after a fallen friend), is known to take fire from Taliban forces just about every single day. In conditions where getting shot at and taking lives is the norm mental states begin to fray, which becomes very apparent in the film.

            This documentary clearly illustrates all of the emotion and frustration that go along with living in a very high-risk area for a long period of time. It’s truly fascinating to watch these men carry on in conditions that most people wouldn’t be able to survive in, and in many cases a lot of people haven’t. In the movie one of the soldiers talks about the insomnia he’s suffering through, “I’ve been on about four or five different sleeping pills and none of them help, that’s how bad the nightmares are”.  This is the most real depiction of war we’ve had since the coverage of Vietnam back in the 60s and 70s.

            Even if Restrepo were a written film made with big budget effects and an entire team of writers it would still be just as good. The fact that your looking into the lives of actual people who are living and dying for their country takes the film to that next level of quality that not many films can stand up to.

LCD Soundsystem "This Is Happening"

             The age of the album is dead. This fact, as controversial and debatable as it may be, it is a fact of life that nearly the entire music industry knows and works around. In today’s fast paced world full of handheld devices and wireless networks no one wants to sit down and listen to an entire 10-12 track LP anymore. It has gotten to the point where a great deal of musicians have given up hope writing a great deal of good music.

            It seems to be that one of the latest offenders is LCD Soundsystem. Putting on the first track of the album one may be led to think that they’re listening to the next classic. Lengthy as it may be the calm crooning of front man, James Murphy, paired with the catchy harmonies in the albums opener, “Dance Yrself Clean”, lead to what may become one of the best singles of the year.  The next song on the album, Drunk Girls, is a memorable ode to the crazy nights of drinking and debauchery that I’m sure we’ve all lived at one time or another.

            Sadly this is where the successes of this album end. There is so much filler that someone could’ve mistaken it for something made by a fast food restaurant. Now don’t get me wrong these songs have a lot of potential it just seems as if LCD Soundsystem realized they had two decent songs and just stopped trying.  The song “one touch is probably couldn’t get more generic as far as an electronic song is concerned. The rest of the album basically goes along these lines for the rest of the time.

            For their last album ever as a band (aside from the ever so popular reunion that may or may not happen ten years down the road) Murphy and the gang should have been killing themselves to create something would go down in history. Instead they seem to have gotten all too comfortable with the fact that they were breaking up. Its sad to watch great bands like this go out with a fizzle instead of what they truly deserve and could achieve.

Adele "21"

For someone so young Adele has a very old soul. Listening to her one might be led to think that she’s lived a thousand years and had heartbreak to match. Her music filled with songs of lovers that do you wrong or broken affairs that just cant be. Maybe she’s seen a lot her short time on earth; maybe she’s got wisdom far beyond her years who knows.

Two years after her massively successful debut, 19, the British songstress returns with a soulful follow up to the 2008 album. However if you were looking for those bright Mark Ronson backed beats it would be wise to stick to her first album. 21 is an album that tends to explore more genres than we’re used to hearing from her. Within this one record you’re likely to hear a bit of blues, R&B, soul, and a tiny bit of gospel even. Whether that’s a good or not is up to you decide.

.In the past if you were to listen to Adele’s previous work you could peg her as someone who’s been in a few relationships that went awry and is pretty vulnerable due to that fact, however on 21 she’s become a different person entirely. The new Adele is empowered and won’t take any shit from anyone. Within the first two tracks (Rolling in the Deep, Rumour Has It) she takes a powerful bluesy stance the likes of which hasn’t been seen from her before.

As it seems Adele’s music just seems to get more and more soulful as her career goes on. If she keeps up like this there are going to be great things to be expected of her in the future. We may never figure out where she’s getting all this soul from but as long as she keeps up this way people probably aren’t going to care very much.