I Love Metric!

Event: Metric Concert & New Album Synthetica 

Location: 2012 Tour around the World 

I can't get enough of Metric. For over ten years, I've been in love with all the bands that had some relation to Broken Social Scene: this included the famous Feist, Stars and the awesome band that I'm now going to rave about, Metric.

While Feist is more folksy and Stars is more pop-like, Metric is full rock-n'-roll. They really put on a good live show, and there's not a moment where it's boring or uninteresting, even if they turn acoustic. 

If you've never heard of them, check out Black Sheep, the theme song from the indie film Scott Pilgrim, which is definitely rocked out. 

Yes, so there might be a reason why I'm biased towards all the bolded bands & films above, as they are all CANADIAN! Haha. However, I don't know anyone who has ever listened to Metric and not liked them. So there you go.

They were playing quite a lot of shows across the UK last month, and I caught their last show. They looked a bit worn out (the very sexy lead singer Emily Haines, who usually chats with the crowd comfortably, was rather silent as she just focussed on singing her heart out), but the energy was still very high, and everyone was singing along to their old anthems Help I'm Alive, Stadium Love, and Monster Hospital. 

They sang quite a lot from their new album too (Synthetica) and the good thing was that they released their whole album online way ahead of the tour, so lots of us were able to hum or at least bob along to the music. Their CD is really whacky - all the lyrics are printed backwards, and the case includes a mirrored sheet so that you can then 'read' the lyrics from the reflective sheet. Crazy!

If you want to hear more, listen to my Top 3 Metric songs: Empty (below), Poster of a Girl and Gimme Sympathy. 

Woody Allen: A Documentary

Title: Woody Allen: A Documentary
Where to watch: Selected Theatres in UK

'I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.'

The title gives it all away - Woody Allen: A Documentary is a film that's focussed entirely on Woody Allen. It naturally starts off from when he was young, and then leads into how he made it into the comedy scene, how he became a regular figure on tv talk shows, and ultimately, how he ended up on the big screen. 

I love Woody, especially his classics Manhattan, Annie Hall ... and yes, though the most recent Woody film I've seen was a tad cheesy (Midnight In Paris), it was still very, very enjoyable and definitely worth two hours of your life. 

Ok, so he has had a few big flops, but you've got to admire his career that has lasted over four decades; his jokes are still just as self-deprecating and relevant as it was in the 60s. Woody is a famously solipsistic man, and in this film you can see him constantly battling with the meaning of life in a very philosophical, psychoanalytical, and occasionally theological way. 

Everyone knows he is not without controversies and the film touches on that aspect lightly. Though the film pays tribute to Woody's inspirations (including one of my favourite directors, Fellini), it seems a bit of an oversight to not deal with Groucho Marx's influence over Woody. Overall, it's not a very critical film, more a movie directed by a big Woody fan. 

Ah well, still, if you're the least bit interested in Woody's films and how they came about, then it's interesting to watch this documentary. 

'My one regret in life is that I am not someone else.'