Crib Notes

It’s that time of year once again, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t seize the opportunity to go all fanboy on y’all and turn Crib Notes, for a moment, into a total geekfest. After all, this is a music blog, and film and music have long been recognized as natural complements to one another. Actually, the truth is that quite often, the music makes the movie. Nowhere is this more evident than within the horror genre, which has given us some of the most haunting and iconic scores of all time. With that in mind I present a rough smattering of a few of the best spooky film themes, because really, who doesn’t love scary movies, especially at Halloween?

1. The absolute king among horror movie themes is, of course, Bernard Herrmann’s iconic score to Hitchcock’s breakthrough 1960 film Psycho. The main theme is creepy enough, but nothing compares to the horrifying, shrieking music heard during the infamous shower scene. This score would go on to heavily inform another great theme, the one to 1985’s Re-Animator.

2. Interestingly, the spooky theme to 1973’s The Exorcist wasn’t written for the film at all, but rather by composer Mike Oldfield for his album Tubular Bells. Nonetheless, it would become legendary, serving as inspiration for countless horror scores to come, including… (more…)

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For the past few months, we’ve been crashing on the couch over at our sister blog, Freshloaf. We kept the place pretty tidy for the most part, posting something A&E related every now and then. After a while, we got comfortable and started posting reviews, features and interviews. It wasn’t long before we introduced new columns covering TV, gaming and books, among other things. A&E content was strewn about Fresh Loaf like piles of laundry. Now, our Fresh Loaf roomies didn’t ask us to leave, but you know how it is when it’s not your place, per se, and your friends are stopping by all the time, leaving comments and whatnot… . It didn’t take long for us to find a new spot at clculturesurfing.com.

At CL’s Culture Surfing blog, we have the freedom to wax poetic on anything we please, from viral videos, to local theater and visual arts, to television and more. We brought along 15 of our most popular posts from Fresh Loaf to give you a taste of what we’ll be offering.

We welcome your feedback, and encourage you to leave comments on the blog or to send me an e-mail at debbie.michaud@cln.com.

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SIZE MATTERS: Kevin Phillips (left) and Jamal Woolard as Biggie Smalls

HOLLYWOOD PRODUCT: Notorious

GENRE: Rags-to-riches rap biopic

THE PITCH: Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. the Notorious B.I.G. (played by newcomer Jamal “Gravy” Woolard, who only has two names) rises from the violence of Brooklyn drug dealing to the violence of the 1990s hip-hop scene.

MONEY SHOTS: Young Biggie triumphs in a street corner rap battle. A fight breaks out — or does it? — during one of Biggie’s first concerts. At his wedding to singer Faith Evans (Antonique Smith), Biggie shoots the preacher an amusing look during the part about “forsaking all others.” Faith gives a beat-down to a hotel room ho when Biggie fails to forsake all others. Biggie’s ex, Lil’ Kim (Naturi Naughton), raps in full woman-scorned mode before an audience.

BEST LINE: “What kind of man, a grown-ass man, calls himself ‘Puffy?’” wonders Biggie’s perpetually worried mother (Angela Bassett) about her son’s Svengali. Read the rest here.

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As Valentine season draws near, so does CL’s celebration of unquenchable desire, debilitating crushes and white-hot attraction: our seventh annual Lust List.

We’re not looking for strippers, models, actors or anyone who makes money off their looks. We want to hear about the unappreciated goddesses of the service industry, the unsung gods of blue collar grime, the angels of retail, the hunks of hourly wages.

Tell us where and how we can find the objects of your lust, as well as what makes them hot. And if possible, upload a photo. We don’t care where it comes from — Flickr, Facebook, MySpace, clandestine camera phone shot, etc. Or, if that’s too complicated for you, just add a link to a pic in the comment field.

Deadline for online ballot submission is January 23.

Check out Creative Loafing’s Feb. 11 issue to see if your crush made the cut!

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As Valentine season draws near, so does CL’s celebration of unquenchable desire, debilitating crushes and white-hot attraction: our seventh annual Lust List.

We’re not looking for strippers, models, actors or anyone who makes money off their looks. We want to hear about the unappreciated goddesses of the service industry, the unsung gods of blue collar grime, the angels of retail, the hunks of hourly wages.

Tell us where and how we can find the objects of your lust, as well as what makes them hot. And if possible, upload a photo. We don’t care where it comes from — Flickr, Facebook, MySpace, clandestine camera phone shot, etc. Or, if that’s too complicated for you, just add a link to a pic in the comment field.

Deadline for online ballot submission is January 23.

Check out Creative Loafing’s Feb. 11 issue to see if your crush made the cut!

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I recently flew to New York City to catch the Black Lips, Deerhunter, and King Khan & the Shrines play a free show August 3, at McCarren Pool in Brooklyn.

It was worth the trip. The bands played to an insanely packed crowd of thousands of kids, young and old. It was so surreal standing onstage looking out at the wave of people covering the pool so thick you could barely see the cement floor.

The show was sweaty, loud, unpredictable, and a little bit chaotic — sounds like an Atlanta show to me.

I spent ten days in the city. This is what I saw:

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TROUBLESHOOTING WITH PALM TREES
Finding perspective with the Hiss on a road trip through Florida

By J. Winter

“Life moves pretty fast. And if you don’t stop to look around every once in a while, you just might miss something.”

Palm trees.

I don’t know how they do it, but they can have an amazing effect on you.

It’s not scientifically proven, but I’m pretty sure they release some sort of chemical endorphin in your brain that makes you feel better. Gives you a careless confidence. Coupled with the right light and a nice breeze on the fringe of an afternoon buzz, they can sometimes make all your problems go away.

With the summer months wearing thin and the sight of the same city faces wearing thinner, an impromptu road trip with the boys is welcome relief from the dog days of August. In a last minute decision, I joined the Hiss in a weekend romp through the Sunshine State. It’s the same trip we made last spring in which we appointed ourselves to a fictional state department — the Department of Nightlife.

After a quick pass through Gainesville to reminisce at the University of Florida, where Todd Galpin (drums) and Adrian Barrera (lead vocals) met, we roll into Tampa for a Thursday night show. Three of the four guys in the band hail from here, so it’s a homecoming gig of sorts.

Tampa Bay is a weird town. It’s not so much the heat; it’s the chlamydia.

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