thunderbolt

By all accounts, Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest is a work of beauty. It's impeccably shot, has outstanding, compelling lead performances by Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller, and contains some of the most remarkable sound design in a live action movie you will ever experience (Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burns, who did the sound design, deservedly won this year's Academy Award for Best Sound). However, this story about a German family living during the second world war is deceptive.  On the surface, it's a family drama. The film opens with a family on a lovely picnic. They are a loving bunch, and have moved up to some success. The are light moments around the dinner table, the celebration of the father's birthday. there are quiet, romantic moments between the husband and wife. there is a scene of suspense when the father must rush to get two of his kids out of immanent danger. There is even some sadness when the father is promoted and must leave the family at

I was gifted a piece of artwork called "My 90's Tapes" by an artist named Jeff Klarin ( https://www.bughouse.com/wall-of-sounds/choose-a-tape-collection-print . It looks like one of my own collections at that time, a mix of rock/classic rock, pop, new wave, punk, dance, heavy metal and soundtracks. I decided to use this artwork as a writing prompt to review all 115 albums pictured and share some personal anecdotes along the way. Consider this me dipping my toe back into the Basement Songs pool. Had I stayed on top of things, I would've written about today's entry back in December, seeing as it's a Christmas themed EP. You remember EPs, don't you? The abbreviation stands for "extended play," and artists would put them out in between albums when they had some leftover tracks and a new single to promote. Many indie artists would also use the format to create interest in their music while pursuing a record deal. Nowadays, those leftover tracks a

  I was gifted a piece of artwork called "My 90's Tapes" by an artist named Jeff Klarin ( https://www.bughouse.com/wall-of-sounds/choose-a-tape-collection-print . It looks like one of my own collections at that time, a mix of rock/classic rock, pop, new wave, punk, dance, heavy metal and soundtracks. I decided to use this artwork as a writing prompt to review all 115 albums pictured and share some personal anecdotes along the way. Consider this me dipping my toe back into the Basement Songs pool. It’s not my desire to let a month pass between entries. Quite the contrary, I'm more inspired to write this year than I have been since I lost the desire in 2017. It's just with the holidays, then recovering from the holidays, and then the wife and I went to Maui to celebrate our 30th, and then recovering from Maui. You get the idea. Moreover, I've been working on a couple of novels. With the minimal hours I find to write, the books take priori