Lambchop’s first release in nearly four years, Mr. M (Merge) is a thoughtful interweaving of music, portraiture and feeling. With song titles such as “Gone Tomorrow” and “The Good Life (Is Wasted),” the 11-track album—dedicated to the late, great Vic Chesnutt—explores the messy-yet-universal emotions of love, loss and the minutiae of everyday life. The CD packaging is full of Wagner’s painted black-and-white portraits of young men dressed for formal occasions; he turned to portraiture as solace after Chesnutt’s 2009 overdose. Lambchop will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Check out our recent feature on the band.
Norris: Wong Kar-wai‘s unrequited love elegy has been one of my favorites for years now, but I saw it again recently and was floored once more. Everything about this film is pitch perfect. Christopher Doyle’s cinematography is genius, rich in color and detail; the set design and lighting are impeccable, and Michael Galasso’s score, with its repeated theme set against slow-motion shots, is like a wordless Greek chorus commenting on the action, or rather, lack of action in the film. It’s the kind of work you come back to again and again, finding fresh nuances with each go. I’ve seen it more times than I can remember, and with each viewing I somehow forget most of the plot details, so much is the film about mood and atmosphere rather than action. The performances of Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung (who couldn’t help but fall in love with this woman?) are wonderful as well, and the decision to exclude most faces from the film save theirs is a stroke of genius. After seeing it recently I was immediately ready to see it again. It cuts deep, this one. Nothing quite captures longing like it.
Video after the jump.
