oldnik - September 18, 2008, 1:31pm

After switching jobs, I’m now working in central London, no longer do I cycle for 45 mins to work! I now have the luxury of being able to walk to the station and get the train to work, listening to music and reading instead of dodging pscho car drivers!!

Current faves:

Mogwai- The Hawk is Howling... some good epic songs inthe trad post rock Mogwai stylee, still early doors for an overall decision on how good this is, so far so good.

I’ve listened to this album about 20 times now. I’m not getting tired of it, and that’s pretty rare for a Mogwai album for me. I wish their drummer would heal up so they can come back to the states and play again.

im listening to all of Gavin DeGraw’s music on my iphone.

FWIW, I just posted my year-end mix. Here’s the breakdown, if you don’t care about reading my commentary:

1. Portishead - “The Rip”
2. Sun Kil Moon - “Lost Verses”
3. Northern Portrait - “I Give You Two Seconds To Entertain Me”
4. Au Revoir Borealis - “The World Is Too Much With Us”
5. Cut Copy - “Out There On The Ice”
6. M83 - “Kim & Jessie”
7. The Radio Dept. - “Freddie and the Trojan Horse”
8. Park Avenue Music - “Tufts”
9. Lansing-Dreiden - “I Disappear”
10. Pallers - “Humdrum”
11. Starflyer 59 - “Concentrate”
12. This Is Ivy League - “London Bridges”
13. Fleet Foxes - “Blue Ridge Mountains”
14. July Skies - “Skies For Nash”

One of my biggest regrets last year was not being able to see Mamoru Oshii’s “The Sky Crawlers” anywhere, especially since both Todd and Kurt have told me I will probably get a big kick out of it.
 
But it didn’t play in the Netherlands as far as I know, so I’m grinding my teeth and hope it’ll be in the International Film Festival Rotterdam this year. Or, failing that, the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival in April (although if that BluRay in March has English subs I WILL have seen it by then!!!!!!).
 
Todd and Kurt are probably right though: I received the CD of Kenji Kawai’s “Sound From the Sky Crawlers” which indeed contains his score for that film. And in short this is one of Kawai’s best soundtracks. The haunting central theme knocked me out cold, and the good news is that the cd has seven versions of this theme on it.
 
I don’t get it. Oshii and Kawai, when collaborating, seem to be uncannily able to touch me in several weak spots of my soul. Watching the best trailer I could find, then listening to the opening credits music got me REALLY close to crying! I know the general setup but have no clue about the story yet, but I swear if anything emotional happens in the film and this theme comes up I’ll probably be reduced to a blubbering jellyfish in the cinema.
 
Hmmm, might be prudent to wait for that BluRay…
...nah, who am I kidding?