M&M #10

Jennifer O'Conner – Over The Mountain, Across The Valley (2006)

Decided to give this a listen because of a free mp3. At first it seemed like your typical indie rocka with a guitar. The hooks were pleasant, the lyrics obscure but simple, and her voice just gravelly enough to pull you into her pain. I wanted to write it off simply because it's so easy to write off indie music nowadays, but I kept listening to the song and it kept grabbing me. It was a flash in the murky swirl tempting me toward my fate. Once I found the album used at the local music store I dug in and gave it strong consideration. It stuck on heavy play all year long and today I sing along to every tune like I wrote them myself (that is if I had the ability to actually write a tune). So now I'm a fan and O'Connor has thread her way into my soul.


Mutual Appreciation – Andrew Bujalski (2005)

Bujalski has been referred to as the king of mumble-core, which is a style of film that embraces low production value and actors who mumble their lines instead of your typical sharp high quality budget feature seen at your local multiplexes. Yeah...that may be true to an extent but what I like about this movie is how down to earth it feels. It reminds me of the old John Cassavetes from the 50's and 60's. You know that they just want to make great movies that aren't about all of the flash. It's okay if the film is gritty and the actors aren't perfect, because that's exactly the way that life works. And we all are whirling around each other trying to express ourselves the best way that we can and sometimes we don't say the right things and sometines we feel all the wrong things and sometimes we screw up everything that was working and sometimes we just need hug to make it all better. I guess this is real independent film-making.