By Michael Houston
GO SEE Ratatat at the Wonder Ballroom Monday night. The show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are only $13 and still available. Ratatat has two members: guitarist Mike Stroud and synthesizer player Evan Mast. Their music is wholly electronic and has a mix of dance songs and relaxed beat-heavy grooves. A hint of house techno is present, but unlike the techno songs that carry the same beat forever, Ratatat mixes up the background beats. This increasingly popular band from New York is definitely worth checking out Monday at one of the hippest venues in Portland.
WATCH "The Science of Sleep," a fascinating film that follows a young man who finds difficulty in differentiating his waking time from his dreams. In the movie, the main character Stéphane (Gael GarcÃa Bernal) moves from Mexico to France and becomes close with a woman in his new apartment building. Through Stéphane's dreams the two begin riding motorized stuffed horses and he even stars in his own television show. Even the viewer has difficulty keeping reality separate from fantasy in Michel Gondry's latest film. He also directed "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Dave Chappelle's Block Party," which documented a 2004 block party in New York.
LISTEN to "Four Winds," the latest EP from Omaha band Bright Eyes. Lead singer Conor Oberst and the rest of the band continue moving toward a more folksy sound with the new EP, which is a shorter musical work originally on 7" records, as compared to a full-length album or LP.
Along with the usual drums and guitar, "Four Winds" adds a banjo, violin and some duets, including the song "Smoke Without Fire" with M. Ward, a local Portland artist. Oberst's lyrics continue to be a reflection on his search for truth which he conveys thoughtfully: "I tried walking backwards to get less confused/Working off the theory I could never prove," comes from "Cartoon Blues" off "Four Winds."
A full-length LP entitled "Cassadaga," which is taken from the name of a small mystic town in Florida where all the residents read palms, comes out April 10. With the exception of one song, it is entirely new music. Bright Eyes has produced an incredible amount of music in the past 10 years. Two great places to start are "Fevers and Mirrors" (2000) and "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning" (2005). Oberst and his band are coming to Portland May 2 to play a show at the Crystal Ballroom.
RENT Christopher Guest's sixth movie "For Your Consideration," his latest mockumentary about the Oscars. Guest directs and acts in the movie, along with the usual crew from his past movies that includes Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara. The plot follows a group of older actors during their filming process of "Home for Purim," a small independent film set in the mid-40s American South. Oscar buzz begins to stir around two of the actors (one from a blog off the internet) and the group is launched into a funny collage of TV appearances and Hollywood parties.
"For Your Consideration" is not quite as full of the dry humor found in his previous movies (see: "Best in Show," "A Mighty Wind"), but is a worthwhile parody of Hollywood. The cast seemed to have difficulty in poking fun at some of the latest entertainment shows. Skits mocking "The Carson Daly Show" and "Howard Stern" didn't quite cut it and came off as rather awkward.
