(no subject)

Mindy Smith's "It's Amazing" starts out like Swan Dive covering Josh Rouse's song "Miracle," and then her voice kicks in. Now and then I hear Molly Felder or Kathleen Edwards or Deb Talan in it, but mostly I'm learning to hear Mindy Smith, and she's singing a song of love and comfort, and it's nice to just wrap myself in that voice for a while. I should be working, or driving, but this is what I'm doing instead.

And for what happens next I have to get all music geek for a second, and I'm sorry but it's all I can do.

The chorus starts on the tonic--A major--and the melody is up on the major seventh, a G#, with harmony vocals singing along on the fifth and ninth. And then the bass drops to F# and the vocals stay where they are, and now they're the seventh and ninth and eleventh of the chord. This can't possibly be anything that hasn't been done a thousand thousand times--and look, I used to play jazz piano, ninths and elevenths were like the back of my hand. But this afternoon when I pay attention to it for the first time I'm sure it's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.

I spent half a movie tonight analyzing the melodies I've written and desultorily browsing the subtitles on the screen. I've never used a major seventh in a prominent way like this. My songs are ti-free. There are so many things I've never done! I guess I won't run out of music for a while.

(no subject)

One of my favorite programs every year is Student Shorts--that's right, a collection of short movies by film students. I like short films in general. Maybe it's a short attention span thing, but I tend to think most films don't earn their length. Keeping your running time under half an hour gives you a leg up with me.

Student films are hit or miss, and the misses are painful. But the hits are fascinating, often among the most creative things I see all year.

Some of my favorites this time out: Dandelion, an animated fable of future war; Haircut (official site), sort of like Better Off Dead with air guitar contests and mullets; and Spin, a life-and-death exploration of quantum physics. (For what it's worth, the philosophizing in this one reminded me of The Matrix, except that the actor made it sound like he understood what he was saying.) Spin and Dandelion are both available from the Cinequest page, as is The Promethean, a sort of abstract mythic sci-fi thriller that was also really good.

But the short film (not by a student) that really blew me away was the last segment of A Bus Came... (official site, Cinequest page) , a compilation of short films by different directors that all, well, have a Budapest city bus in them. I liked the wordless cross-section of urban life "Shoes," and the superhero struggle between Sha-Man and Daedalus (and his son, the winged bus Ikarus). But listen, the last segment begins as a cinema verité documentary about a bus accident, and then ( a spoiler happens )

. I have no way to explain it. I was staring open-mouthed at the screen for most of its length. It was bizarre, beautiful, and not quite like anything I've ever seen before.

And that is why I am here.

(no subject)

Every year during the festival I watch dozens of filmmakers talk about their movies, and I am filled with love for them, and I think about how I would like to work on a movie, or at least to have worked on one, to be what we call "with a film" at a festival like this one. Once in a while, though, you see a director whose film was not what they wanted it to be, and they know it, and you can see that they know it. It's hard to watch. I don't think I could stand to be in that position. Not that I'd be a director, but you know what I mean.

I've read a lot of interviews with people who make music and people who make movies, and sometimes they say things like "If my song comes on the radio I change the station" and "I can't stand to watch the movies once I'm done with them" and sometimes they say things like "Yeah, I'm really proud of the record I made--I love hearing it." I always thought if I made something, I'd be one of those people who says one of those kinds of things.

Now that I have a CD it turns out I'm both of those kinds of people. Sometimes I'll be driving along and one of my songs will come up on my MP3 player and I will think: Yes, this is a really catchy melody! The production is low-budget but interesting! This holds up next to some of my favorite music! And other times I'll hear the same recording and all I can think is Oh my God, this is awful! Who is that singer! I can't believe I let anybody hear this!

So anyway, yeah, I think it would be cool to contribute to a movie someday. But only a good one! Good luck with that.