What to do with your free time...

...if you still have any.

I can't remember the last time I fell as completely and utterly in love with a film as I did with Mud, which I saw on Wednesday evening. It certainly wasn't the last time I made it to the cinema, to see Les Miserables - the only bit of which I didn't find glaringly underwhelming being Eddie Redmayne's face. I spent most of that genuinely concerned that Hugh Jackman was going to do serious damage to his vocal cords: "he's not going to go for that note, is he? No, he'll never make it. Oh, he is...? Brave. Very brave."

But anyway. Mud. Set along the Mississippi, in Arkansas, two young teenagers find a man hiding out on an island near their riverside homes. He goes by the name of Mud, and is waiting for a girl - a girl he's been in love with for years, and whose violent ex he killed - and is trying to stay off the radar of the dead man's family, and the authorities. The two boys get drawn into his story, and begin to help him - the sensitive one, Ellis, more readily than his brilliantly-named friend Neckbone. Ellis is having problems of his own; his parents are on the verge of splitting, and he's got a crush on an older girl. He's amusingly given to throwing punches when frustrated in his endeavours - I kind of wanted to ruffle his hair and tell him that in four years' time, he'd probably be needing two sticks to fight off the ladies. And then I remembered he's a fictional character.

It's achingly middle-class to get gushy about cinematography, but Mud definitely warrants it. Thanks to its glorious, wild setting and Steadicam camera work (I've been reading everything I can find about this film; can you tell?) it's a film you want to step right inside and explore. I've also had the soundtrack on repeat for the last few days; it's as country as you'd expect, with some really nice guitar work going on. In particular, the track called "Snakebite" (which doesn't give away any major plot points, not at all), with its spiky guitars and menacing drums, makes whatever you happen to be doing while listening to it feel like The Most Important and Epic Thing You've Ever Done. I was proofreading the absolute shit out of my work on Friday to it... (You can find it on YouTube if you want to see what I mean.)

There is nothing about this film I did not love - the plot feels like it could have been adapted from a classic American novel, and it doesn't descend into cliche. Even Ellis' dad, who could be your standard emotionally-unavailable hard-ass, has his softer moments. Everything wraps up quite neatly, sure, but thanks to the story-telling and really good performances from Matthew McConnaughey as Mud, Tye Sheridan as Ellis and Ray McKinnon as Ellis' father, you don't feel short-changed. And plus, who doesn't love a sort-of-coming-of-age film that ends in a shoot-out?

I mentioned in the last post that I'd wanted to include something about the new Thea Gilmore album, Regardless, but that I'd run out of words. So while I'm on the topic of nice things to see and listen to, here goes. In several reviews of the album, much was made of how Ms Gilmore has reached musical maturity and finally found her "place" in the British talent line-up. Biased though I may be, I think what's actually happened is that British music has finally found a place for her. Presumably she has, more or less, always made the music she's wanted to make, and for any artist, that's going to change between the ages of 23 and 30-something. It's probably true that in Regardless, Thea Gilmore has struck her best balance yet between finely-articulated rage against injustice and apathy, and writing about more universal themes of love, family and loss. Stand-out tracks include Start As We Mean To Go On - my new drinking song, surely - Something to Sing About, and Spit and Shine. And if you manage to listen to My Friend Goodbye and remain dry-eyed, then you're a robot.

And so to reading material. On my desk, there's a stack of things I should get on and read, one being The Second Coming, by John Niven. It's the sequel to Kill Your Friends, a book so sharp you could hurt yourself on it. With a protagonist so vile you finish the book and feel a genuine need to read the Bible - but he has such a strong voice you find yourself slipping into his thought patterns. It's funny, but black comedy doesn't begin to cover it. It's a triumph of a novel, but God, you feel dirty afterwards. I'm both nervous and sceptical about the sequel - it's got so much to live up to.

To lighten the mood, I've also got Hadley Freeman's Be Awesome. It's not a self-help book; it's closer to a more balanced How To Be A Woman. I worship at the altar of Caitlin Moran as much as the next 23-year-old upstart who thinks she's cool, but her first book probably should have been called The World According to Catmo. Freeman writes in a similar way - it's like having a long, putting-the-world-to-rights chat with your best mate - but her arguments seem slightly more measured. And it's worth reading for the chapter entitled "A day in your life in Daily Mail headlines" alone.

That's all for now. Have some... oh God, I'm struggling for musical recommendations... Oh, this is quite Sunday-ish, that'll do.

Music-based musings...

...The book thing naturally sparked a music version, and I am one of those infuriating people who thinks their taste in music is Right, and everyone else's taste in music is inevitably Wrong.

So here are the 8 artists/bands that have had the most impact on my musical life... feel free to judge, 'cause I would.

1) Thea Gilmore

If any friends are reading this, it's OK, I can hear the collective eye-rolling and "you're banging on about her again?" Yes, yes I am. Because she really, really, really is that good. Every time I see her live I swear she gets better - and trust me when I say I have lost count of the number of times I have seen her live - and it's been exciting to see how her style has matured and developed.

See for yourselves... Don't be put off by the somewhat basic approach to video-making; she's really not about slick marketing and selling herself as a product. What she is about is crafting intelligent, witty lyrics and not overcomplicating or over-producing her records. She deserves to be so much bigger than she is, but I'm a little scared that if she was, I wouldn't be half the fan I am now. (And not in a hipster, "she's sold out, man" kind of way. Honest.)  


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfTFiuJO0sM

2) Alanis Morissette

Just as Anne Frank was a predictable choice for the book list, Alanis is no surprise here. I spent 7 years as a teenage girl, of course I was going to have an Alanis phase at some point. I started writing songs at the age of about 11 (interestingly, I believe my first song was called "Real Love". What an eleven year old knows about real love is, well, bollocks-all, quite frankly, but I bet I could still hum it to you), and heard Jagged Little Pill for the first time about a year later. It did change the way I thought about female singer-songwriters - there's a lot of female rage and bitterness on that record, as well as several lighter moments - and it was the first time, I think, that I'd listened to a girl singer who wasn't slick and choreographed and polished to perfection. Her songs highlighted the confusion and conflicting feelings that relationships and their breakdown can bring, and that was a revelation at the time.

Though I doubt I realised it.

3) Michelle Branch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WAiMmSQLFs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0n2HaC-gzk

If those two examples aren't enough, I'll shut up and retreat with a sigh, shaking my head at your awful taste...

In all seriousness, though - Michelle Branch emerged about the same time as a certain Ms Lavigne, who seemed to nab Branch's spot when it came to being the charts' guitar-wielding girl singer/songwriter of choice. This was, to my mind, totally unfair. Michelle Branch never made it as big in the UK as Avril, but in my opinion is so much more talented. Her incredibly strong voice, her simple but never simplistic lyrics, the way she also gets better and better... Yeah. Little bit of a girl-crush going on here. Actually, I think I just want to be her. Just for a day. She plays a Gibson Hummingbird, too, which is the top instrument on my "guitars-to-buy-when-I'm-rich" wishlist.

4) The Calling

Remember them? "I'll go wherever you will gooooooo..." (Actually, you probably do remember them, given that Charlene Soraia did a very yelpy, whiney cover of that song a few months ago.) Well, I'm somewhat loathe to admit this but it was the intro to that song, the soft guitar picking bit, that made me pick up the guitar in the first place. Their first album - incidentally I think the first album I ever bought with my own money - was actually pretty strong; it certainly wasn't all soft-rock ballads like their most successful single, and it's a shame they didn't last longer than they did.

5) Damien Rice


Male readers, if they are anything like the Boy, may well be sighing and spluttering and generally finding it hard to believe I dare refer to myself as someone with good music taste, if I'm going to put Damien Rice on this list. I do not know many guys that admit to liking him, it's true. Boy himself keeps extolling the virtues of Newton Faulkner over the Rice man, but I much prefer Rice's lyrics. O was a funny little record - I only liked two or three songs on it when I first listened to it, but oh, how it grew on me. There are dark, bitter moments on it, and subtle, light moments, and it is the album that is home to the ultimate anthem of unrequited love: Cannonball. If you need any more persuading that Damien Rice isn't simply the Irish version of David Gray, then go listen to "Dogs", from Rice's second album, 9. Then come back and tell me I'm wrong.

6) Bruce Springsteen

Stay with me...  I expect, if my uncle knew how to use the internet, and could read this, he would be quietly punching the air with pride. He's probably been waiting almost 22 years to hear me say that Bruce Springsteen has had any sort of influence on me. Because, as you've no doubt gleaned, my uncle is quite the Bruce fan. More obsessive than I am about Ms Gilmore. I don't like everything  Bruce has ever done - indeed, I haven't heard most of it. But there are a few songs of his that really make me happy - Radio Nowhere, The Rising, Lonesome Day, and it almost goes without saying, Born to Run. Plus, anyone that comes up with the phrase "dancing in the dark" has got to be a songsmith of pretty high calibre...

7) Lissie

She's got an awesome voice, she plays guitar, she never seems to try too hard, she looks like she'd be wicked fun to get drunk with, and she's mates with Ellie Goulding. I cannot love her more. Anything else? Oh, this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OltcXMV-9Vk&ob=av2e

Pure class.

8) Grace Potter (and the Nocturnals)

Who? This one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHlhOgQ36m8

Yes. Exactly. That voice is pure sex and grit and rock'n'roll. I am so jealous of her voice, it's unreal. Why she's not super-world-famous on a Lady Gaga scale is beyond me. Check out Medicine for further convincing. Like you need it.

All right, I'm off now. Only for more internet procrastination, I expect. You should check out at least one of the above if you haven't already; I do have impeccable taste. Of course, if you've stumbled here by mistake and you're more of a death-metal person, then I won't be offended if you don't. Much.