The Trumpet Child (or How I Learned Americana is More Than Just the Junk on Antiques Roadshow)

I started the Album Club to get introductions to new music. The Trumpet Child – Over the Rhine, our January selection, introduced me to the americana genre of music. Prior to this, I thought Americana just referred to country kitsch with an overwhelming American-flag motif. Not my style, sorry. But I was pleased to find that the music didn’t leave a similar bad taste in my mouth.

Our friends at Wikipedia tell us:

Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles such as bluegrass.

My (somewhat questionable) taste in music steers me toward Top 40 pop hits and R&B/hip-hop tracks. If it’s got a good beat and I can shake my ass to it, I like it. Lyrics are mostly irrelevant, which leaves a lot of singer-songwriters out with me, while “producers” reign supreme. It’s a limited musical niche for sure, one I was looking to break out of with the help of my Album Club mates.

The Trumpet Child is not something I would have picked up on my own, but that’s the whole point. I wasn’t really expecting to even like it, much less love it. I had never heard of Over the Rhine, so I did a quick Google search to learn a bit about the husband-and-wife duo of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist. Wow, Karin’s kind of hot. Nice. But can she sing?

Oh, yes. She can sing.

I brought my usual overly managed style to my album review and did a spreadsheet that you’re welcome to view if you find yourself achingly bored. For this post, I’ll spare you my track-by-track analysis and just stick with the main points.

The album opens strong with two of my favorite tracks. Bergquist’s sultry vocals quickly suck you in on “I Don’t Wanna Waste Your Time” and by the time you get to “Trouble,” you’re more than ready to have a little fun. “Nothing is Innocent” and “Let’s Spend the Day in Bed” are also high on my list. I enjoyed almost every track, even “If a Song Could Be President,” which hasn’t gotten much love from my fellow reviewers.

Two tracks scored a “Meh,” grade from me. “Desperate for Love” doesn’t do much for more. I don’t like the lyrics, and as a single woman, I certainly don’t like to think of myself as “desperate” for much of anything. “Waiting for Tom” is my least favorite track. It’s also the only track where Bergquist doesn’t take the lead on vocals. Maybe that’s a coincidence or maybe it’s not. I’m not familiar with Tom Waits’ work, so I didn’t get any of the references and there is just something about the arrangement that’s not working for me.

Overall, it’s a great album. I probably listened to it a half-dozen times and went back and listened to my favorite tracks a few times on their own as well. It’s definitely going into my regular rotation. I would love to see them perform live. And I just learned that Over the Rhine are performing TONIGHT and TOMORROW in Maryland. Due to a lack of funds and prior plans, I won’t be attending. But certainly not because of a lack of interest.

Movie Monday: Spooky Buddies

With a nod to the holiday, today’s Movie Monday feature is Spooky Buddies.

You might have been hoping for something a bit scarier this Halloween. If that’s the case, I highly recommend stopping by KellyVision where gal pal Kelly routinely talks about scary films and thrillers, particularly at this time of year. As for me, I have a seven-year old son who is still young enough to be a member of Disney’s straight-to-video target market and this is as scary as it gets. My apologies.

For better or worse, I have seen all the movies in the Air Bud franchise. Of course, my son was just a twinkle in my eye when the original came out in 1997, but my youngest brother was a fan of both sports and big dogs (our family only ever had dogs of the 15 pounds or less variety). We’ve long since moved on to Air Bud’s offspring. My son was a little young for Air Buddies in 2006, but was easily hooked on Snow Buddies in 2008. Santa Buddies and Space Buddies followed in quick succession. This latest outing has the pups celebrating Halloween.

We’ve also left behind any semblance of realism. Sure, you have to disregard the puppies talking in earlier films, but it seems possible that they could get dognapped or accidentally end up in a frozen shipment of ice cream to Alaska. There are no magical elements. That grip on reality starts to loosen in Santa Buddies and is summarily tossed out the window completely in Spooky Buddies as we start the film in 1937 Fernfield with a dark magic warlock and a puppy ghost named Pip.

Okay.

But I honestly have to say the film does get better when it comes back to present day. The child acting is… not good. But the puppies are cute (as puppies tend to be) and dressing them up in matching costumes with their owners manages to be adorable without being completely over the top. The plot is really just an excuse to put the kids and puppies into funny, unusual situations and it works. My son and I were chuckling along with the film in all the expected moments. There’s the requisite happy ending. And it’s always awesome to watch a Halloween movie where everyone in the town is so into the holiday with lavish costumes, huge parties and highly decorated homes. I would love to live in a town that put so much effort into Halloween!

Favorite moment(s): A creative Frankendude costume was the highlight for me, while my son exploded with laughter when Budderball fought evil with a fart. 

Bottom line: If you’re watching along with a younger child, it’s worth a $1-rental from redbox. 

Movie Monday: Bridesmaids

I want to post more often, but I rarely know what to write about. So I’m going to try a new little feature here at Jenny, Exiled called Movie Monday! I will write about a movie I’ve watched recently and will tie it back to myself in true navel-gazing-blog style. You will either enjoy it or stop subscribing to my blog immediately. The movies will rarely be particularly timely or topical because I have rather eclectic movie-viewing habits (not necessarily by choice).

First up? Bridesmaids!

Everyone else saw this movie when it came out and thought it was hysterical. I really wanted to see it at the time, and even made plans to go see it on a few different occasions, but it just never panned out. I ended up picking it up from redbox and watching it solo on a Sunday night. I’m not really familiar with any of Kristin Wiig’s other work. Unless you count her voice work in animated children’s film such as Despicable Me and How to Train Your Dragon (which I really don’t). I didn’t know what to expect, but I had heard from a wide range of friends, acquaintances and even my brother that the flick was great.

Five minutes into the movie, and I’m texting one of my best gal pals to say that Annie’s relationship with Ted is EXACTLY like my non-relationship with [redacted]! Fifteen minutes into the movie and I’m thinking Annie’s failed bakery is just like my failed bar, only she didn’t have to move in with her parents as a result. Thirty minutes into the movie and the wedding-fueled hilarity starts and I stopped obsessing about how Annie’s train wreck of a life mirrored my own. And I did stop thinking about that. Right up until Annie moved in with her mother.

Oh, God.

Annie’s pity party speech about not having any money or friends or future could have been ripped from my own lips. Yes, dear reader, I am a sad sack at times. Hard to believe, I know. (For my sake, let’s at least pretend it’s hard to believe, okay?) But then it was back to wedding wackiness and Wilson Phillips cameos and all was right with the world. I really enjoyed this film and plan to add it to my permanent library soon.

If you’re not as self-involved as I am, or at least have your life in some semblance of order, you will probably enjoy this film even more than I did. It’s funny and witty and while there’s at least one scene that is reminiscent of a male-cast comedy, it totally nails the dynamics between female friends and frenemies. And Annie’s romantic arc, while completely unbelievable, was also pretty darn cute. I’ll give it a pass.

Favorite moment: Everyone knows about John Hamm’s appearance by now, but I was delighted to catch sight of SNL alum Melanie Hutsell as Annie’s tennis partner and Victorious regular Matt Bennett as Helen’s stepson when Annie and Helen spend some time together without Lillian. 

Bottom line: If you haven’t seen this film, run out and buy it on Blu-ray immediately!