Why is it good?
Because this was one of the best 80s-inspired albums in a decade full of 80s-inspired music. Again, as we touched upon on number 6 with Lucky Soul, a successful homage rarely has any relation with how it is done; it has more to do with what is done. And in The Radio Dept's case, I absolutely looooved what they were doing: sad New Order guitar, meets shoegazer, meets The Blue Nile electro-moodiness.
In the blog entry that launched this protracted and tedious project, I described how all of my favorite childhood memories seem to have been frozen in the music of 80s bands that play a specific kind of jangly, melancholic indie guitar sound. "Pet Grief" was one of the rare contemporary albums that seem to channel these specific yet vague memories. For someone who grew up loving "Substance"-era New Order, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, and "Hats"-era Blue Nile, "Pet Grief" was one hell of a cocktail.
So why isn't it ranked number one? Well, if you noticed in my first sentence, I said "one of the best 80s-inspired albums". We haven't gotten to THE best 80s-inspired album yet. There's a teaser for you.
What memories (real or fake) does it inspire?
Of traffic-less, amber-hued nights in the city, when the quiet guitar sobs of Radio Dept. (particularly in the lovely, lovely song "Always a Relief") instantly remind me of a specific kind of emotion I last felt when I was probably 15: how comforting it was to be all alone in seeing beauty in something everybody else ignores.
# 2 Movie: “Before Sunset” (2004)
Because this was one of the best 80s-inspired albums in a decade full of 80s-inspired music. Again, as we touched upon on number 6 with Lucky Soul, a successful homage rarely has any relation with how it is done; it has more to do with what is done. And in The Radio Dept's case, I absolutely looooved what they were doing: sad New Order guitar, meets shoegazer, meets The Blue Nile electro-moodiness.
In the blog entry that launched this protracted and tedious project, I described how all of my favorite childhood memories seem to have been frozen in the music of 80s bands that play a specific kind of jangly, melancholic indie guitar sound. "Pet Grief" was one of the rare contemporary albums that seem to channel these specific yet vague memories. For someone who grew up loving "Substance"-era New Order, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, and "Hats"-era Blue Nile, "Pet Grief" was one hell of a cocktail.
So why isn't it ranked number one? Well, if you noticed in my first sentence, I said "one of the best 80s-inspired albums". We haven't gotten to THE best 80s-inspired album yet. There's a teaser for you.
What memories (real or fake) does it inspire?
Of traffic-less, amber-hued nights in the city, when the quiet guitar sobs of Radio Dept. (particularly in the lovely, lovely song "Always a Relief") instantly remind me of a specific kind of emotion I last felt when I was probably 15: how comforting it was to be all alone in seeing beauty in something everybody else ignores.
# 2 Movie: “Before Sunset” (2004)
Why is it good?Because it was impossibly better than "Before Sunrise".
Now, to put that in its proper context: to this day, I don't think I've ever watched any movie more times than I have watched "Before Sunrise". I've seen it between 30-40 times. I wish I was exaggerating.
In his brilliant book "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs," Chuck Klosterman suggests that the women of his generation (meaning, women who are now in their mid to late 30s) are all inevitably trapped with romantic expectations set by the late-80s movie "Say Anything". He says that the women in his age group have - for their entire adult lives - been looking for the same guy: the John Cusack character in the movie who made it his sole purpose to please and comfort Ione Skye. He says that the tragedy lies in that no such guy exists.
Well, I can't speak for my generation. But I know this without a shred of doubt: all of my romantic expectations were set by "Before Sunrise". Women in their late 30s should consider themselves lucky.
You have no idea how many plane rides, jeepney rides, bus rides, and MRT rides I've spent waiting for an attractive and interesting girl to just start a conversation with me out of nowhere. My personal tragedy did not just lie from the simple fact that this never happened. "Before Sunrise" didn't just subliminally convince me that the prospect of perfect strangers connecting was a realistic prospect. The movie was also able to subliminally convince me that a love affair (or anything that approximated a love affair) was infinitely more cool and noble if it wasn't permanent. In that regard, "Before Sunrise" effectively ruined all of my relationships and pseudo-relationships.
In retrospect, I suppose it was easy to be deluded by a movie that had characters who were deluded themselves. In "Before Sunrise", Jesse was the cynical Gen-X American who didn't believe that love was meant to last or that life had any meaning beyond the onstensible. Celine was the semi-romantic French girl who still wanted to believe that the world was still intrinsically good. What they both agreed to believe, however, was that their brief encounter could only work if it never happens again. The logic being: all relationships inevitably disappoint, so agreeing not to meet again meant they weren't going to be disappointed.
Before the movie ends, they change their minds. They'll see each other again in six months. We never know what happens to them...at least until 2004.
"Before Sunset" was a rarity for two reasons. One: it was a useful sequel. Other sequels function as an extension or continuation of the original movie. "Before Sunset" was neither. I know this is a weird thing to say since the movie shows their much belated reunion in an idiom very much reminiscent of the first movie: lots of walking, lots of talking. Thematically, however, "Before Sunrise" was over in a way that "Before Sunset" wasn't interested in continuing or extending. The minute "Before Sunset" began, thematically, it was completely about something else.
Here's what I mean: "Before Sunrise" was over as soon as the 90s were over. Teenage angst was over, navel-gazing was over, the debate on how to be truly authentic was over, earnestness was over. The 90s were about "finding" things. We didn't find anything.
The 2000s were about mocking that search. The idea of doing something "ironically" was born. Everybody embraced commercialism; even "indie" music and film. Focusing on abstract things suddenly became meaningless. The emphasis focused on pragmatism. 9/11 made sure of this. And "Before Sunset" was set against this backdrop.
Celine was done being a romantic and turned to activism, which is basically a pragmatic expression of romanticism. Jesse was still a jaded cynic...but it wasn't that simple. He wrote a book about their one night in Vienna, after all. As the movie went along, Jesse unraveled into a cynic who momentarily considered romanticism before ultimately being defeated by reality. Celine, on the other hand, unraveled into a hardened pragmatist who had to abandon her romantic self out of necessity.
Which brings me to the second reason why "Before Sunset" was a rarity: it is the only movie (as far as I'm aware of) about Gen-X people living in the anti-Gen-X 2000s. My experience watching "Before Sunset" transcended that of watching a mere movie; it was an examination of how much Jesse and Celine changed, how much the world changed, and how much I have changed over the last decade.
I once believed that certain things were totally plausible, like falling in love with a fellow commuter or being okay with the temporariness of love. That version of myself could have only existed in the 90s. It had no business living in the 2000s.
What memories (real or fake) does it inspire?
The one complaint I have with "Before Sunset" is its happy ending. I know it was supposedly an "open" ending, but its openness was only there to mitigate its happiness. And I know that Richard Linklater probably thought he owed his audience a happy ending after how much they were tortured by the ending of "Before Sunrise".
I don't agree with the sneaky-happy ending. At the very least, I think there should've been less hints that Jesse wasn't coming back home anymore. Why am I complaining? Because the memory that this movie gives me is the same kind of memory that "Before Sunrise" gave me in 1997: romanticism. As melancholic as this movie seemed to be, it still held the promise of redemption. And I'm tired of Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy manipulating my expectations. Enough, I say!
What does this list say so far?
That during this decade, some old emotions were reborn. Some, I welcomed back with open ears; some I had mixed feelings about.
album cover from klicktrack.com; movie poster from moviegoods.com
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