9.22.08 My Top Ten Right Now
1. ALBUM Johnny Flynn “A Larum”
The sound is something like The Decemberists if Josh Ritter were the lead vocalist, with a bit of a country bent. Here’s a sample lyric from “Tickle Me Pink,” one of my favorite tracks: “Pray for the people inside your head/for they won’t be there when you’re dead/muffled out and pushed back down/pushed back through the leafy ground.” Absurd, delightful and totally unforgettable.
2. WEB Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy
I’ve already professed my love for Family Guy, so I guess it is no surprise that MacFarlane’s new web series tickles my funny bone. The premise is more or less all of the digressions from Family Guy lopped off and presented on their own, and it works. Definitely check out the Bob Marley interrogation scene. He even makes the overabundant Burger King sponsorship funny and palatable.
3. ALBUM Liam Finn “I’ll Be Lightning”
I thought about recommending a track or two from this album on this week’s list, and then I realized that it would have taken my entire top ten because it’s just an excellent listen from start to finish. The album is lyrical and interestingly produced, a mixture of synth backings with simple guitar and flourishes of a choir. Finn’s voice is captivating and makes enough of his own mark even if you cannot deny the influences of his father, Neil Finn of Crowded House fame. Take a listen to “Gather to the Chapel.” So good.
4. FOOD Good Restaurant, West Village, NYC
Sitting on the foot-traffic heavy intersection of West 12th and Greenwich Ave, this restaurant offers up some tasty contemporary American fare. The skirt steak drenched in garlic pesto butter is to die for, possibly literally given the amount of butter. And if you’re there on a Sunday before 7pm, there’s actually an early bird special, which made me feel about 80 years old, but for $23 you get an appetizer and an amazing entrée (entrées are priced at $22 to begin with, so a good deal). And that leaves room in your wallet for that dessert you’re just dying to have.
5.WEB “Screen Test” on T Magazine Online
Celebrities, shot in black and white, talking to the camera about their favorite influences and their current projects, shouldn’t be this funny or interesting. Well edited, simply conceived, it makes these people human and shows that acting is just a bit more than just showing up and hitting your marks. I especially like recent interviews with Matthew Goode and Javier Bardem.
6. MOVIE Then She Found Me (2007)
This movie was so hated by critics that I couldn’t stay away. And I’m glad I didn’t. While this is certainly not the best film ever made, it is worth a viewing. Helen Hunt, in her directing debut, puts together a lovely and intelligent cast (including a great performance from herself) creating a small drama about the big drama of life. I can totally understand why people didn’t respond well to the film, it’s darkly funny and overwhelmingly sad, but there is definitely something winning here.
7. ALBUM Elton John “Tumbleweed Connection” (preferably on vinyl)
Nothing makes me happier than throwing this record onto the turntable and blasting it. From the opening guitar vamp of “Ballad of a Well-Known Gun” to the rallying closer “Burn Down the Mission,” it’s just a well-paced fantastic classic album. And it includes two of my quieter Elton faves, “Come Down in Time” and “Love Song.” It’s just perfection, especially when heard with all the warmth and pops of a record player.
8. ALBUM Carrie Newcomer “Regulars and Refugees”
This CD has been on my iPod for so many years and I never listened to it. But one day recently I did, and I was quite impressed. Very early ’90s singer/songwriter style, she has a smoky voice that’s a combination between a huskier Sarah McLachlan and Rosanne Cash. The lyrics are the real hook, emotionally open and confessional without moving over into navel-gazing territory.
9. FOOD No. 7, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
This is an adorable restaurant that just opened, and while I’m not one to make it out to Brooklyn, this was well worth the trip (and nestled literally right on top of the A train making it easy). Offering just a handful of entrées, each one we tried was fantastic. Interesting combinations are paramount here, including kimchi pierogis with the steak and an excellent spicy jalapeno sauce drizzled over the tuna appetizer. Save room for the banana pudding dessert, you wont be sorry.
10. ACTOR Debi Mazar, right now and forevermore
In her three or so lines on Entourage this past weekend, I remembered how much I truly love this woman. I can’t explain it, she’s never really had a role of much substance or interest, but every time she pops up on a screen, TV or film, I find myself entranced. She just shouldn’t be a star, and yet, with that horrifying voice, she is. What luck to be the elevator girl in a NYC club in the ’80s and have Madonna, not yet famous, walk in needing a stylist…
