When Your Loneliness Is Cooking

Goldfrapp “Ooh La La” (Removed 6/24) – The first single from Goldfrapp’s forthcoming Supernature LP does not stray too far from the sound of their previous album, but rather builds on the foundation of songs like “Strict Machine” and “Train.” Or more specifically, the remixes of those songs – this is a lot more like the Ewan Pearson mix of “Train” than anything else. Good for them. This is rather exciting; I’m very much looking forward to hearing the full album. (Click here to visit the official Goldfrapp site.)

Drexel “Monolithic Beast” – Dayton, Ohio’s Drexel is truly one of a kind. Tom Waits is the most reasonable touchstone, but there’s a severity to their whimsical flamboyance that makes Waits seem almost mundane in comparison. “Monolithic Beast” starts out as a soulful lounge ballad in deep space, but eventually transforms into something roughly akin to lo-fi show tune. The band is an acquired taste, but totally worth the effort. (Click here to visit the Drexel Myspace page or buy it from the band by emailing mutantauctions @ yahoo.com)

Batman Begins – One of the great strengths of Batman as a character is his incredible versatility. Over the past seven decades, several hundred writers, artists, and filmmakers have used the character in a myriad of ways, ranging from the relentlessly grim and “realistic” stories that came mostly in the wake of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns to the most absurd camp imaginable (trust me, the Adam West tv series has nothing on the most outlandish stuff DC put out in the Silver Age.) Batman Begins errs on the side of the grim, but it’s probably more accurate to claim that the film succeeds in capturing the immutable essence of the character and his mythos. There’s nothing wrong with wacky Batman stories, but the timing is right to reestablish the central themes of the Batman mythology, and leave the pop art to the Marvel franchises. In contrast to other recent films based on famous superheroes, Batman Begins is almost entirely devoid of irony and selfdeprecation, and it’s all the better for it. The film takes its mythology and subtext very seriously, and commits itself to being something more thoughtful and fulfilling than a standard popcorn movie without ever surrendering to humorlessness. I’m very fond of its structure, particularly in how it gradually reveals the insidious corruption on nearly every level of Gotham City over the course of the first two acts. The film makes a point of showing that Batman isn’t up against one crazy villain in a costume, but rather fighting a futile war against a sick system with only a handful of allies. Batman Begins grapples with idealism and complicity in corrupt institutions like a flamboyant, crowd-pleasing version of The Wire.