M&M #25

Iron & Wine – The Shepherd's Dog (2007)

I've developed a fond appreciation for Sam Beam's music over the years, especially when I'm feeling self-indulgent and wish to roam the deeper avenues within. His super mellow arid music and heart clutching lyrics cast me into wary dreams of abandoned love and achingly surreal yearnings not often seen outside our precious imagination. It's a beauty so deep inside that it can only be conveyed to the world by communicating beyond the literal flow of ideas. A sanguine glance, a rabid moan, a fluttery touch, a clutch at anticipation, an aureate blindness of passion, a dark shiver of pleasure, an ache so deep tears can't stop it, a warm hand upon your back, settling into the flow of blood, cascading across the tremble of leaves, so soft you never want to feel the edge again. Nothing, no words can compare, just the music sliding down into my soul.


Faye Grim – Hal Hartley (2006)

'Faye Grim' is the sequel to Hartley's amazing film 'Henry Fool', which can easily be numbered among the great cinematic achievements of the nineties. Although 'Faye Grim' doesn't quite live up to the original, Hartley develops ethereal magic with his movies and he doesn't disappoint here. It turns out that all of the incredible bullshit that Henry spewed in the first film wasn't actually bullshit after all and his writings are really just a secret code revealing some terrible truths regarding global espionage. Now it's Faye's responsibility to retrieve the manuals with the FBI and terrorists nipping at her heals. Yeah, it doesn't sound like your typical Hal Hartley fare but, even if you haven't seen the first movie, 'Faye Grim' is a strange wonder that makes you look at film-making with a different eye.