Salvador Plascencia- The People of Paper:
An incredible debut from a very promising writer. The People of Paper is a meta-fictional tour de force on the nature of lost love and the emotional fallout afterwards. While this sounds a bit too sentimental, this book is far from it. Plascencia plays with form in order to explore the borders between fiction, fictitiousness, and exploitation of those around the author with such creativity and humor that it is criminal to pass this work up.
Clap Yours Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah:
2005’shypebandlivesuptoitspraise*. With or without the David Byrne endorsement, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is one of the best, if not the best, new bands to come out of 2005. Familiar and strangely comforting vocals against ridiculously catchy melodies. As much as I do not want to admit it, I think the hype is deserved.
*If you enjoy the lack of spaces in this sentence, you will probably enjoy the slurred vocals on this album.
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema:
The third consecutive great album from the New Pornographers, Twin Cinema is a pop rock masterpiece. A considerable leap forward from their last album, The Electric Version, the New Pornographer’s latest is their best to date and that is saying quite a bit given the high quality of their last two albums. Be sure to catch them February 25 in Toronto with Belle and Sebastian.
Le Samouraï:
Recently released on DVD as part of the constantly amazing Criterion Collection, this 1967 crime film more than makes up for a lackluster year at the movies. Director Jean Pierre Melville’s meditation on the death drive and the nature of a schizophrenic contract killer is a stylized and memorable work well worth the thirty-dollar price tag.
Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene:
The follow-up to the incredible album, You Forgot It In People, Broken Social Scene returned with a sloppy, but endearingly sincere musical mess. With the number of members swelling to approximately 12, their latest effort spills out all over the place and succeeds in spite of the bloated roster. Broken Social Scene is an epic and rewarding album.
