OneChanbara

A fruitful weekend indeed. Another film for the Far West inspirography (although this one is a bit further afield, subject-wise.).

OneChanbara: The Movie — based on the Japan-exclusive videogame series, and pronounced “Oh-nay-chan-bara” (A combination of the slang term for young woman/older sister and “chanbara” (sword fighting film genre) — so, in essence “Sister Sword Fighting”), the movie features Bikini-Cowgirl-Swordfighter and her Schoolgirl and Motorcycle-Chick-Machinegunner friends vs post-apocalypse Zombies.

Oh, come on. Like you need any more details than that….

The Good, The Bad, The Weird

Another one for the Far West inspirography pile — the new Korean film, “The Good, The Bad, The Weird.” A tribute to Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns, which, according to the four-star review in London’s Times, is set in 1930s Manchuria, where three Koreans — a psychotic dandy gangster, a bounty hunter and an opportunistic small-time thief — take on Mongol tribesmen, the Japanese Army and each other to secure a treasure map.

The trailer:



Friday Music

Here we go again….

First up, my current favorite song, from Lily Allen’s new album, It’s Not Me, It’s You, which is coming out next week. Originally, she posted this song on her MySpace page under the title “G.W.B.” — but for the album, she decided to go with the NSFW title of the refrain. I *love* this song — it’s adorable, biting and perfect. Lily Allen – “Fuck You.”

The UK fascination with retro revival continued this past summer, with the release of Sharleen Spiteri’s solo debut, Melody. The lead singer of the Scottish band Texas (best known over here for a few 90s alt-rock tracks) takes the neo-soul thing, winds the clock forward a few years to the big, lush sounds found in Nancy Sinatra and Dusty Springfield records, and absolutely nails it. Sharleen Spiteri – “All The Times I Cried.”

This song came up on my iPod the other day, and I thought about how it seemed appropriate for where the country is now. Especially the lyric: Guess who’s back in circulation? Now, I don’t know what you may have heard, but what we need right now is the original Goodtime Girl… The image of the country as a bad-ass chick doesn’t really fit with Bush’s era, does it… but now, she’s back! David Lee Roth – “Yankee Rose.”

More sounds from the UK – this time a remix of Blackpool-born electronica artist Little Boots by a couple of DJs (one from Brooklyn and one from L.A.): Little Boots – “Meddle (AC Slater and DJ Skeet Skeet remix, feat. Goldielocks).” (Copy and paste this link if you get an error)

As I’ve mentioned recently, I’ve been watching a lot of older UK TV. This is the damn-near Bondian theme from the 1966 “Avengers-esque” adventure series, Adam Adamant Lives!, which was about a Victorian adventurer frozen by his evil nemesis, and revived in the Mod London of 1966! Kathy Kirby – “Adam Adamant Lives!”

One of my favorite trip-hop tracks of all time, from DJ Krush’s 1997 album, MiLight. The fact that it’s from Krush, I suppose, means that it straddles the line between trip-hop and acid jazz, but regardless of the genre label, it’s good stuff. DJ Krush – “Skin Against Skin (feat. Deborah Anderson).”

Lastly, in tribute to the passing of Lux Interior, who died this week of a heart condition, I give you one of my favorite Cramps songs: The Cramps – “I Was A Teenage Werewolf.”

Enjoy.