Nathan Kotecki - The Suburban Strange

Ville Varumo

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:01:05 -0400

Ville Varumo

Diane Pernet

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:01:17 -0400

Diane Pernet

Danielle Levitt - Grace Coddington

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:00:57 -0400

Danielle Levitt - Grace Coddington

Peter Akehurst - Grace Coddington, 1961

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:00:58 -0400

Peter Akehurst - Grace Coddington, 1961

Peter Beard

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:01:09 -0400

Peter Beard

I’m alive, and dead, and the stranger…

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:01:23 -0400

I’m alive, and dead, and the stranger…

Dancing on crocodiles; dancing on hallowed ground; dancing...

Sun, 12 May 2013 09:01:14 -0400

Dancing on crocodiles; dancing on hallowed ground; dancing Nijinsky style; dancing with the lost and found…

Robert Doisneau - Optical Distortion, 1982

Sat, 11 May 2013 09:01:02 -0400

Robert Doisneau - Optical Distortion, 1982

Berndnaut Smilde - Nimbus D’Aspremont 2012 (photo by...

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:01:22 -0400

Berndnaut Smilde - Nimbus D’Aspremont 2012 (photo by Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk)

Ask Me Anything

Thu, 09 May 2013 10:40:00 -0400

In the process of putting together a Reddit IAMA at the request of the student book club at York Catholic High School in Pennsylvania - most likely on Wednesday, May 22 at 9:00 EST. More details to come…

…and it’s official! Please join me on Reddit on that date/time for a free-wheeling Q&A session about anything you’d like. I’m crazy enough to consider answering just about anything. :)

Mats Gustafson

Thu, 09 May 2013 09:01:02 -0400

Mats Gustafson

Been running so long; I’ve nearly lost all track of time....

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:01:10 -0400

Been running so long; I’ve nearly lost all track of time. In every direction I couldn’t see the warning signs - I must be losin’ it ‘cause my mind plays tricks on me. It looked so easy, but you know looks sometimes deceive…

Mikola Gnisyuk - People in Trees (The Rooks Have Arrived)...

Tue, 07 May 2013 09:00:57 -0400

Mikola Gnisyuk - People in Trees (The Rooks Have Arrived) (detail), 1964

Bert Hardy - Tiger Bay, Cardiff, 1950

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:01:08 -0400

Bert Hardy - Tiger Bay, Cardiff, 1950

Siouxsie Sioux

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:01:06 -0400

Siouxsie Sioux

Words like violence break the silence…

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:01:19 -0400

Words like violence break the silence…

She tells her love while half asleep, in the dark hours, with...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 09:01:11 -0400

She tells her love while half asleep, in the dark hours, with half-words whispered low: as Earth stirs in her winter sleep and puts out grass and flowers despite the snow, despite the falling snow.

Isabeli Fontana by Peter Lindbergh for Vogue Paris April 2012

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 09:00:55 -0400

Isabeli Fontana by Peter Lindbergh for Vogue Paris April 2012

Furniture - “Brilliant Mind”

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:31:36 -0400

Furniture - “Brilliant Mind”

FURNITURE - BRILLIANT MIND

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:30:33 -0400

Some Kind Of Wonderful shows the refinement of the John Hughes teen fairytale oeuvre. In many ways it’s a retelling of Pretty In Pink from the year before, but the characters and relationships are more nuanced. The general composition of the film is more sophisticated; the plight of adolescence is still brought achingly to life, but without resorting to quite as many cliches. There’s also an exhilarating cameo by March Violets with their two final and most accessible songs before they disbanded.

Another song on the ne plus ultra soundtrack sneaks by, barely present in the actual film. At the start of the scene between Keith & Hardy in the art room, we hear a church-like organ sounding wistful chords over a roiling rhythm section, and only the first two lines of the lyrics. The second time we hear it, when Amanda is cut by her friends and mocked by Hardy, it’s purely instrumental. Considering how prominently so many songs feature in John Hughes films, we may be tempted to assume that this particular music is just a score element and not even look for it on the soundtrack.

But it’s there, and it’s gorgeous, and it sums up all of Some Kind Of Wonderful better than any of its peers. That organ and rushing drum and bass are the framework for ‘Brilliant Mind’ by Furniture, one of the biggest undervalued talents of modern music.

I’m at the stage / where everything I thought meant something seems so unappealing / I’m ready for the real thing but nobody’s selling / except you and yours / saying open up your eyes and ears / and let me in / You must be out of your brilliant mind…

How marvelous that this verse, perhaps a lost fragment of a beat novel, crystalizes the entirety of the love triangle that is Keith, Watts, and Amanda? Jim Irvin’s voice is quietly controlled; it builds gradually along with the song, relentless without being oppressive, detached but betraying the emotional swells underneath.

I’m at the stage / where I want my words said and no one wants to listen / No one wants to listen ‘cause everybody’s yelling / about you and yours / and how I’d have the answer / if I’d only open up, up, up / and let you in / they must be out of their brilliant minds…

This is the calm in the midst of the storm of growing up, the moment of wry clarity while the emotional turmoil howls outside the door. By itself, the organ part might as well be a church hymn, with its continuous re-resolutions from chord to chord, no attack, only sustain. But the sheer velocity of the rest of the music - bass notes there on every eighth, bursts of tom at the end of almost every measure, the absolutely inspired addition of pizzicato strings to further agitate the breakdown and rebuild - it’s a constant tension, the closest thing to the adrenalin of heartbreak you’ll ever hear.

The bridge adds an unexpected shading to this song of love and longing. ‘I said shame / shame on you’ is repeated three times, a stronger stand than the verses take. Everyone is out of their brilliant minds, and the sooner we see beyond our teenage self-involvement, the better. We hurt each other, frequently when we believe that we are the only ones hurting. As with others in the Hughes canon, the great message of this film is to find ourselves in the people with whom we assumed we had nothing in common.

It’s difficult to categorize this song. On the one hand, nothing is unique; it’s late new wave in which keyboards and guitars coexist harmoniously, and pop sensibilities and post-punk artfulness meet halfway. But I can’t think of a single other track obviously adjacent to ‘Brilliant Mind’; it is ‘Spellbound’ without the rough edges, ‘Heartbreak Beat’ dragged behind a speeding train. It’s a perfect storm, never to be repeated.

[At the time of this post, Furniture does not have an official website]