Reflection Pond #6

Black Milk - Tronic (2008)

When it comes down to beats, this guy has got the mojo. With an immense groove that immediately pulls you into the depth of each composition, Black Milk is thrusting himself amongst the great hip-hop artists of all time very quickly. When I heard Tronic for the first time I didn't know how to describe it. Nothing seemed overly extraordinary with his delivery or lyrics or whatnot, but the beats kept bringing me back. They're hypnotic and essential. They're fluid and powerful. After awhile you don't need to hear the lyrics or the nuances of his flow to understand how masterful these songs are. It's just simply amazing and you are hooked. I have a feeling that once the annals of the hip-hop era are compiled a hundred years from now, Black Milk's Tronic will be right in there as one of the greatest representations of the mastery of the craft. It's one of those items that will stand the test of time and keep delivering for generations to come. So in the future when some DJ mixes a groovilicious beat with Black Milk's signature sound and you can't help but wonder where it all came from, just hearken back to 2008 and rediscover the love.


Burn After Reading - Joel & Ethan Coen (2008)

This is classic Coen Brothers comedy magic. And we all know how I feel about the Coen Brothers. They have a knack for creating wonderful and smart characters that are quirky and funny but brutally honest as well. I think that's what makes us appreciate their movies in such an intrinsic way. The way the story weaves through and the decisions that each person in the film make are unique and real. It's very easy to feel the frustration and the dumbfounded ignorance and the eager excitement flashing upon the characters faces when they're painted with the Coen brush. Burn After Reading follows along the same path of their other comedies (see The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, The Hudsucker Proxy, O Brother Where Art Thou), following a group of people who are connected via a meandering path that takes them through the scorching burner of the Coen lens. I can't even begin to describe it with any clarity but let's just say that it starts with the discovery by a clueless Brad Pitt of the life works of an aged CIA agent, which inevitably leads to a clueless George Clooney leaving the country under false pretenses. Most of the people in between are clueless in some way or another and they all bumble around until the dust finally settles. It truly is a work of art and you will definitely find yourself chortling at many of the ridiculous scenarios that happen upon the screen.