This Week in Lumps
#54 [24/06 - 30/06]
So, Heroes volume 2 is about to come to an abrupt end later this week. Fear not, as most (if not all) of the loose ends will be tied up, plot-wise, baddies will be incarcerated somehow, and old ones will return before the credits roll, all ready for volume 3.
Sadly, because of last years writers strike, the original plan to run 24 episodes was cut down to a mere 11, and with that change the shows pace changed so much in the second half of episodes that even the creator Tim Kring had to apologise for the way the last few episodes were rushed to a conclusion. However, this is forgivable, and they handled better than some shows might have.
Overall, I’ve enjoyed series 2; the main characters are still enjoyable (despite Peter’s face being stuck in one expression through the whole 11 episodes, a mixture of fear, confusion, and the look as if a bad smell had crawled into range), the stories have mostly been good, despite one or two weak efforts, and although the rush to finish ruined making it better than the first, I still feel it wasn’t worthy in some bad reviews from the States, and I’m looking forward to Volume 3.
The biggest problem, for me, is the storyline tie-ins and crossovers. A long running drama show like Heroes, much like TV soaps such as Holby City or EastEnders have always had issues with tying storylines together with the existing cast; bringing in new faces to explain something dramatic is not as easy as using someone already in the show who viewers are already familiar with; it saves spending at least 1 or 2 episodes building up a history for that character, and it’s also potentially better for ratings, ie; the uncle is always the father of the child, and not some stranger you’ve just met 5 minutes ago. In volume one of Heroes, for example, we had the corny link between Peter and Nathan being related to Claire, and the stripper that Ando had been perving over turned out to be Nikki, who likes to throw guys around rooms.
This way of working is carried over to volume two in abundance; in fact, the series could have easily been renamed from ‘Generations’, to ‘Just so happens to be’. Let’s begin the long list of examples:
When the series begins, we find that the Bennett’s have become the Butlers, and have moved home to hide from the dreaded Company. Claire soon throws her toys out her teenage pram when HRG stops her from dating, the boy who has caught her eye ‘just so happens to be’ Superman-wannabe West, who HRG kidnapped and tagged many moons ago. West remembers him and freaks out, while the rest of the Bennett/Butler family seem to plod on by like nothing is different.
Hiro meanwhile crashed down into 17th-century Japan, where he eventually bumps into Takezo Kensei, who ‘just so happens to be’ regenerative just like Claire, only male, and with a really bad English and Japanese accent.
Mohinder and Matt have branched out onto their own sitcom, which is like ‘2 and Half Men – The Comic Book Hero version’, as they’ve (rather quickly) adopted Molly, and decided to bring down the company. They find that the remaining elder generation of Heroes are being killed off one by one, and one of them just so happens to be Matt’s daddy, who, get this, just so happens to be (!) the boogeyman from Molly’s nightmares.
Micah temporarily moves in with relatives whilst his Mother recovers from finding a 3rd personality, where he finds his cousin Monica… just so happens to be… yet another hero-in-the-making, this time being able to copy and memorize movement and techniques. Nikki meanwhile injected herself with the Shanti virus to remove her powers; Mohinder’s antibodies can’t help her, and Claire just so happens to be the savior.
Meanwhile in Mexico, the recovering Sylar realises his powers have gone, so kills Candice out of frustration. After wandering for three days, he is rescued from the brink of death by nearly getting run over. The car (wait for it) just so happens to be (!!!) driven by Teary McCry-baby, otherwise known as Maya and her non-English speaking brother Alejandro, two new Heroes on the run looking for help from Dr Suresh.
Lastly, Peter has amnesia thanks to the Haitian, has a brief holiday and romance in Ireland before regaining some memory enough to remember to meet someone in Montreal. This person just so happens to be Takezo Kensei, aka uber-villain Adam Monroe, who just so happens to be the person who tried to release a deadly virus from the company, and (finally) JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE the person killing everyone, including Hiro’s father, and Victoria Pratt.
Phew.
I first started noticing this around episode 2 or 3, and by episode 7 or 8 I was getting so fed up of the sheer ‘luck’ of bumping into another hero that it was starting to take over the actual show. The number of characters ‘with powers’ now strongly outweighs the number of characters ‘without’, and it’s starting to effect that certain specialness of either kind. Take Ando- great character, contributes the right amount to the show as Hiro’s friend, doesn’t need any kind of Inspector Gadget power to be good. Likewise with Mohinder, adds just enough in his role without the need for him to shoot petrol out of his nose, or memorize the 1974 Wimbledon Mens final scores.
Heroes Volume 3 is balanced nicely. The title: ‘Villians’ leaves a lot to the imagination, which is needed, and I hope it can go from strength to strength. Just… a little less of the soap-esque plotlines, please.
~
· Back in July of 2005. I saw a band play the Lowry Theatre in Manchester, a night that I very nearly didn’t get to attend. To that point, I had not been to a gig quite like it before; we were far from the dampened walls and broken lights of the dives I usually see bands play. The venue, situated a stones through from Salford Quays, was a seated venue, arched round the stage like a crescent moon, with a sound system so perfect I still can’t compare it to anything else. Maybe it was the humble settings that had an effect on those in attendance; once the lights dimmed, and the gentle clapping faded, everyone sat still, and was silent. No phones, no muttering of plans for the night ahead, and whats more impressive, no-one had to be prompted to keep it that way. Apart from the heartfelt applause in between songs (and the standing ovation at the end), those in attendance were like rabbits in headlights, awed by what was in front of them.
Sigur Rós were in front of them.
Everything about the show was perfect; the music, the visuals, the support, the setting, everything. To this day, it’s still described go those who ask as the best gig I’ve ever been to, and I can’t see it being toppled anytime soon. After it was over, and we all headed into the sunset, I was too hazy to come to grips with what I had seen, and simple clichés couldn’t really do it justice anyway.
Almost 3 years to the day have passed since, so it feels almost right to review their latest album on this anniversary. The band now find themselves much better known the world over, as they release Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (translated With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly), It has the almost impossible task to try and keep up with previous albums ( ) (2002) and Takk… (2005).
They get the potential singles out of the way first: album opener and recent download ‘Gobbledigook’ is a short but sticky sweet introduction, and fits nicely with ‘Inní mér syngur vitleysingur’, with has hints of Album Leaf, Arcade Fire and the Miki Disco singing act on the Fast Show sketch ‘Chanel Nine’ (sminki pinki, anyone? No? Okay…)
The ‘album’ side kicks in for ‘Góðan daginn’, an acoustic masterpiece, gentle and hypnotising, using voices as instruments, neither leading, nor backing, just accompanying. By the time that the smiling ‘Við spilum endalaust’ starts that you realise that the arrangement of noise has greatly changed from previous albums; in the past their stand out tracks (such as Popplagið on the ( ) album) highlights the bands great abilty to merge a great tidal wave of instruments together into giant, epic walls of sound. For this album, its much different; there are parts when you can pick out individual instruments, and appreciate everything in a much different way.
Festival is the best thing on the LP by a country mile. What starts off as a haunting, venerable requiem, transforms into a thumping, bass-driven titanic track, to easily rival their best work. Nobody, anywhere else can make sounds like this sound as good as these 4 Icelandics. The following 6 tracks do a great job at keeping that peak, and ending it perfectly. ‘Íllgresi’ is a beautiful acoustic track, ‘Ára bátur’ is another amazing piece, based around a simple piano melody, and kept at such a dazy, dream-like speed until a huge ending made by 90 people, including the London Sinfonietta and London Oratory Boy’s Choir, ‘Með Suð í eyrum’ and ‘Fljótavík’ are all great songs, albeit on a slightly short side, ‘Straumnes’ is sneakily pinched straight from Brian Eno’s back pocket, whilst English sung ‘All Alright’ ends the album lovingly, and fittingly.
Sigur Rós still make me shiver, 5 years on from first hearing them. A band that has the ability to make you so very happy and so very sad with the same song is a band that has to be recogised as one of the finest, purest, greatest bands currently in existence. This album is as tear jerking, heart-string squeezing, beautifully ambient as anything else they’ve released. Coldplay can only wish they were this good. It’s a shame that, for me, nothing will ever come close to that night in Manchester.
~~~
That was the week in lumps, a week in which: Barack Obama revealed what is currently on his iPod, Blue Peter presenters Valerie Singleton and Peter Purves had a fling, Hellboy II looks amazing already, Amazon have invested in Twitter, Michel Gondry picked his favourite 25 music videos, Some GTA patches have been released, Google joined the Internet For Everyone campaign, and the Arrested Development movie is coming in 2009. Thank the lord.
That, as they say, is that. I have no more typing left in me; I’m now away to play the entire Sigur Rós back catalogue, and slowly drift off into a deep sleep. Wake me up next week.
ttfn
x
