After a 13-hour flight across half the world (or thereabouts), I am not sure what day it is or really even where I am. But I think I saw some movies on the plane.

George Clooney / Good Night, And Good Luck A talky, highly political black and white film seemed rather an odd choice for an in-flight film, but I certainly wasn’t complaining. The multi-Oscar nominated film about newsman Edward R Murrow taking on Senator Joe McCarthy was terrifically engrossing if a little tough to hear at points over the rumble of the 747’s engines. It was understated and still fiery in its way. The integration of archival footage of McCarthy and the hearings with the rest of the film was seamless. David Strathairn was amazing as Murrow – intense and driven, yet quiet and contemplative – and George Clooney continues to impress the hell out of me as both a director and actor, though I still can’t get over his early early Golden Girls guest spot which I channel surfed past a couple months ago. Bonus: hearing the dialogue that R.E.M. included in “Exhuming McCarthy”, off of Document – “At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

Ben Younger / Prime Synopsis – recent divorcee hooks up with young hunk, and tells her therapist about it, who happens to be hunk’s mother. Hilarity ensues. Okay, not really hilarity, more like tepid formulaic romantic comedy. What could/should have been an interesting premise isn’t really milked for all its worth, instead all the characters are allowed to remain realistic, sympathetic and rational. Which I suppose is what some people are looking for in a rom-com. Maybe I was just in the mood for something a little more Farelly Brothers? I dunno. Not bad but not especially interesting, either. Though it did do its assigned job and killed a couple hours on the plane. Maybe I was too distracted by the fact that apparently Uma Thurman is now being cast in roles as “the older woman”. Say what?

Hello from Vancouver. I’m making an overnight stopover out here en route to Taiwan, and then Japan (and then back to Taiwan). I should remain pretty well connected whilst over there, and time zone wackiness notwithstanding, posting should continue apace and I shouldn’t be slipping into full travelblog mode either. There’s probably only so many times I can say “I don’t understand anything anyone is saying”.

And naturally, while I’m gone, there’s a whole whack of shows coming through town that I would otherwise be all over like a fat kid on Smarties. But even though I’m half a world away, there’s no reason you shouldn’t attend (these specific shows for Torontonians and these tours for those on the east coast):

The Magnolia Electric Co & Destroyer @ Lee’s Palace – March 25
Neko Case @ The Music Hall – April 2
The Hidden Cameras @ The Music Gallery – April 2
Eisley @ The Mod Club – April 3
Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s with South @ Lee’s Palace – April 3
Arab Strap @ Lee’s Palace – April 4
The Flaming Lips @ The Phoenix – April 4
Centro-Matic with Great Lake SwimmerS @ The Horseshoe – April 5
Beth Orton @ The Carlu – April 6

All of these come with some degree of endorsement from yours truly, for what that’s worth, though realistically I’d probably only have made a real effort to get to the Margot, Centro-Matic and Flaming Lips shows. And if I have to recommend just one show to see in the next two weeks, it’s unequivocably Centro-Matic. And not just because there’s no way you’re getting Lips tickets. Their new one Fort Recovery continues to grow on me and their day show at SxSW last week definitely served to remind that they’re an amazing live act – hopefully they’ll bring their a-game for their Canadian debuts. Creative Loafing and Cokemachineglow both have interviews with head Centro Will Johnson. And note this endorsement has nothing to do with the Centro-Matic ad running down the side there, but if you want to hear Fort Recovery streamed online, feel free to click through…

The St Paul Pinoeer Press recounts the story of Neko Case while Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune (via The Miamit Herald) talks to Neko and producer Daryl Neudorf about fairy tales and Fox Confessor.

Chart talks to Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffatt about cheering up on The Last Romance. Incrementally. And co-conspirator Malcolm Middleton compiles “Nine Songs That Give Me Goosebumps and Make Me Want to Give up Music When I Hear Them Because I Feel Like Dirt Next to Them” for Pitchfork.

Do you hear that? That’s the sound of a press maelstrom of Lips-ian proportions brewing. Duck and cover, kids. Duck and cover. The UK is getting it started with Flaming Lips pieces in The Telegraph, The Scotsman and The Independent.

Beth Orton is the subject of feature/interviews with Paste and North Jersey.com.

Joey Santiago tells Billboard that besides a brief European tour this Summer, he has no idea what Pixies will do next.

Some rock (three-finger devil salute) shows to announce – The Duke Spirit are at Lee’s Palace on April 18 and Heavy Trash are at the Horseshoe on May 6.

So on the plane yesterday, I was served some Yoplait “Probiotic active culture”. Mmm mm good! Ask for it by name! I spent much of yesterday roaming the UBC campus and otherwise enjoying the temperate Vancouver weather. Today I am on a 13 hour flight across the Pacific to Taipei. That international date line thing is fearsome to me. It’ll be like some crazy-ass time warp. But see you on the flip side.

Even though it’s certainly flawed and easy enough to pick apart if you so desire (overlong, poorly paced, visually uninspired), I found V For Vendetta to be quite riveting. Though the graphic novel was originally intended to be a scathing commentrary on Thatcher’s England in the 1980s, the cinematic version is disturbing timely and topical twenty years later, with only minor tweaks to the story.

Quick synopsis – England is a totalitarian state, V is a freedom fighter/terrorist (isn’t that a sticky wicket) who tromps about in a Guy Fawkes mask blowing up buildings, Evey is a latent freedom fighter/terrorist who inadvertently falls in with V’s cause. There’s a lot of vengeance, pontificating, flashbacks (excessively so), some gruesome deaths and The Wachowski Brothers’ new gimmick – knife time. It’s like bullet time, but bloodier and with streaks. As I mentioned before, the film’s flaws are legion, but that it even exists – I distinctly remember someone saying shortly after 9/11 that there was now no way that this film, which champions a terrorist as hero, could ever be made – is something of a triumph and that it was the #1 film at the box office last week even more so. There are people out there who are expecting to see a sci-fi action flick and instead are going to be hit over the head with none-too-subtle political commentary (and some action, yes). If Michael Moore really wants to get his message across, he’ll stop making documentaries and start producing Vin Diesel flicks.

It’s interesting that Hugo Weaving gets a top billing even though you never actually see him. Which isn’t to say that he doesn’t deserve it – anyone who has to recite all his lines twice, once during filming and once for his voice overs – definitely gets props in my book. But that really could have been anyone in that outfit and doing the voice. In fact, my memory has now replaced V’s voice with Darth Vader’s. Awesome. Also odd – the fact that V’s jukebox would have Cat Power and Antony & The Johnsons on it. But not as odd as the fact that they went with The Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man” over the closing credits. Whuh?

MTV has an article about V creator Alan Moore and his long-standing battle against film adaptations of his work, covering all the celluloid travesties based on his creations to date. His formal disavowal of V For Vendetta notwithstanding, it’s certainly head and shoulders above League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen or From Hell. Purists will still surely be outraged but purists exist to be outraged. It’s their thing. It’s what they do.

Another artist who had something to say about Margaret Thatcher back in the day – Billy Bragg – tells The AV Club about how the state of England in the 80s politicized him, answers some questions from Salon and talks to NOW about his new box set, Volume 1. I’ve just realized that the reason he didn’t play much/anything from Worker’s Playtime at his recent show is that it’s not covered in the box set releases – which means that I won’t be able to give away my copy of Victim Of Geography (which collects Talking With The Taxman About Poetry and Worker’s Playtime one one convenient disc) just yet.

Patterson Hood gives Billboard some insight into Drive-By Truckers’ promotional plans for A Blessing And A Curse, out April 18 – “We’re gonna tour a whole lot”. Sounds good.

The National’s Bryce Dessner talks to Chart about meeting big fan Bruce Springsteen, sibling rivalry and plans for the new album. They’re recording from June through August and are probably looking at a 2007 release for the follow-up to Alligator.

Chart has some info on Feist’s cupboard-cleaning collection Open Season, which now appears to be due out April 25 and not the 18th as I’d originally speculated.

When is the umpteenth SxSW recap worth reading? When it comes courtesy of The Onion’s AV Club. Most exciting to see that they were also floored by Eric Bachmann’s set but that he’ll be putting out a solo album later this year. I thought maybe I was the only online reporting-type person who was at his show – everyone else was seeing the Flaming Arctic Tapes or something.

CokeMachineGlow has part one of an interview with The Mendoza Line’s Tim Bracy.

Metric’s Emily Haines eulogizes Spin magazine, courtesy of Tripwire.

…and we’re back on a plane this morning! Huzzah.

np – Luna / Penthouse

Even with all the show-going madness of last week, nothing in Austin measured up to the anticipation I had for The National’s return to Toronto last night. You may or may not recall I missed their Toronto debut last September when I was in Europe – well I caught this one just by the skin of my teeth. I got back into town on Monday and am leaving for a fortnight this afternoon. Anyway, no one cares about that. To the show!

Their tourmates on this jaunt were New York’s Cloud Room, who you may recall from Pitchfork’s recent cautionary tale. It must be an odd position for the band to be in – they’re like a hypothetical one-hit wonder without actually having the one hit (or revenues associated with). And that’s rather too bad – while the song in question, “Hey Now Now”, is definitely a catchy slice of something something, it’s not really indicative of their other stuff at all, which sounded to be a fair bit more unconventional and eclectic-sounding. If they could borrow some of the hookiness of the one song and graft it onto the bentness of the rest of their stuff, they could really be onto something. But not quite yet.

The National’s set opened with “Secret Meeting” (and no, still couldn’t make out the backing vox) and continued at a very deliberate, controlled pace, not getting too fast or slow. It was a few songs in at the brooding, hypnotic “Cherry Tree” that you began to feel the energy onstage begin to crackle. Then, when Matt Berninger howled “My mind’s not right!” in the chorus of “Abel”, it was like the floor gave out and the audience was plunged into the dark little rooms of Berninger’s psyche. He’s a mesmerizing frontman, pacing and roaming the stage as though searching for something that won’t be found, clutching the microphone like it’s a weapon one moment, life preserver the next. All the while the band churns out driving delicacy and aggression in equal measures. Not surprisingly, the most explosive moment came with the penultimate number of the set, “Mr November” as Berninger lurched around the stage, screaming “I won’t fuck us over, I’m Mr November”, as much a cue for an audience singalong if I’ve ever heard one. Which the packed house did.

Rather than go through the typical encore motions, Berninger left after finale “About Today” in the midst of a an extended outro, then returned a short bit later for another three songs. Unaware that they had already received their encore, the crowd called them back for one more even after the house lights and music had come back on. For me, the show was worth the wait and could have been near perfect if not for the asshats who seemed to think Berninger’s Cincincatti Bengals shirt created some sort of deep, emotional connection between them that gave them carte blanche to talk loudly about football through the whole set, and not even anything insightful. That’s two shows in a row now that have been marred by people who seem to have nothing better to do than pay cover to hear themselves spout inanities. If this keeps up I will almost certainly be getting into my first fistfights since high school before the year is out. But I digress. Photos here.

John Stirratt talks about life in Wilco with The Des Moines Register.

Chart finds out what Nina Persson of The Cardigans has been listening to.

Radiohead are touring North America in June.

eye and NOW offer up their SxSW post-mortems.

Okay, gotta go pack now. Again. Boy oh boy do I love getting on planes.

np – Centro-Matic / Fort Recovery

Well DAMN that took a long time, but here you go – the best of my photos from SxSW 2006 and my final SxSW post for the year. I managed to shoot at least a bit of every show I saw, 50, if you’re keeping track. They’re divided into galleries for day and evening shows for each of the four days for ease of viewing and organization.

March 15, 2006 day shows
March 15, 2006 night shows
March 16, 2006 day shows
March 16, 2006 night shows
March 17, 2006 day shows
March 17, 2006 night shows
March 18, 2006 day shows
March 18, 2006 night shows

I had thought I was pretty well equipped, camera-wise, but man – after seeing some of the rigs the professional photographers were running with I feel like I’ve got a toy. But I think I still came out with some great shots, including the one above of Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater and Okkervil River. The stage lights in some of the clubs were beyond awful and to have gotten any results whatsoever should be considered a triumph. It was interesting working in so many different clubs and environments in such a short amount of time. Not really a lot of time to analyze and adjust for the new situation, just set to what seems most appropriate and go. I think I was the only one in Austin working with only ambient light – most others had an arsenal of flashes, gels, etc – but I’m pretty satisfied with the results and am happy to share them with you. And for more superb (professional) shots from the fest, go here.

Adam Radwanski kept a blog whilst in Austin as well as filing reports for The National Post.

The Grand Rapids Press discusses the difficulty of Googling The National with singer Matt Berninger and The Daily Northwestern profiles the band. I’ve selected my winners for my National contest in which I asked entrants to give their best interpretation of what the backing vocals in “Secret Meeting” are saying (hear the clip). The prize for funniest goes to Steve, who offered “Don’t chocolate ice it for us, No chocolate icing for it, don’t chocolate ice it, don’t chocolate ice it”. Most accurate guess (?) to Ron with “Don’t chalk an ace in for it,” and my random pick prize goes to Seth, who went with “don’t drop the dice (roll it)”, also entirely plausible. Congrats, guys. See you guys at the Horseshoe tomorrow night tonight.

The Radio Dept released their new single The Worst Taste In Music last week and while it’s great to have some new music from them, and the title track is superb, the fact that two of the three b-sides are remixes is more than a little disappointing. All their previous EPs had boasted terrific bonus tracks making them well worth owning on their own. This one? Not so much. Especially not since you can grab the title track from Labrador. Their new album Pet Grief is out April 12.

MP3: The Radio Dept – “The Worst Taste In Music”

The Boston Phoenix goes Q&A with Billy Bragg.

np – Film School / Film School