These Go to 11: interviewing Me and the Bees

Next band answering our questionnaire is... Me and the Bees! You know when a band is more than just their tunes, more than how they sing & play their instruments, more than how they hide & show their influences, more than what they say in the lyrics, more than the sum of their members... When a group, just HAS it. That something, that special, genuine, something that makes you go back to their tunes. Once and again... Does it makes sense? Love them. These Go to 11!

Me and the Bees

The Bees conquering SXSW

A band named after a The Softies' song surely was going to catch my attention. Friends Esther Margarit and Eli Molina began this story by middle 2000s around their personal adventures and day-to-day life. The amateurish, unpretentious affair kept evolving until 2008, when two videos uploaded on MySpace got the attention of Hans Krüger (Montreal Studios), immediately asking them to record some tunes. Next turn of events came that same year when Artur Estrada (Nueva Vulcano, Aina) convinced them to play at a show at Sant Adrià. Demos were recorded, and the increasing gigs demanded a more stable line-up, so Verónica Alonso and Carlos Leoz (Half Foot Outside) completed the band. The quartet signed with La Castanya in 2009 and, in a meteoric jump, only a year after arrived debut LP "Fuerza Bien", with gigs, critic praise and single "Cleopatra" following. Think on K and Sarah Records, Guided by Voices, Pavement, vital, carefree, golden lo-fi indiepop. Although Eli left the band to focus on her also exciting project Fighter Pillow, the now trio of Bees are back in this 2014 with sophomore album "Mundo Fatal" scheduled for this May. Needless to say, dying to hear it. Here we go!

1. First record that you bought (be honest)

Carlos Leoz: "Master of Puppets", Metallica.
Esther Margarit: Honestly, I'm incapable of remembering the first record I bought, but for sure one of the first was the Vértigo compilation, the original.
Verónica Alonso: Michael Jackson's "Dangerous". I had to order it by catalogue. No record shops in my hometown...

2. First and last concert you have attended (be honest too!)

C: First concert...don’t remember, probably Jugos Lixiaviados. Last concert was Red Kross.
E: Jajaja! Can't remember first concert either, but I do remember the 98' Dr. Music Festival where I got blown out with Beastie Boys, Pulp, Bod Dylan... among many others. Last one was just a couple of days ago, Furguson and Traams at Sidecar.

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

V: First one was...Celtas Cortos, and last one has been, thank god!, Dead Meadow

3. Guilty pleasure (song/band you shouldn’t like but you do, yes, it’s the embarrassing question)
C: Army of Lovers “We Stand United”
E: Wouldn't know where to begin...
V: Linkin´ Park....I am sorry

4. Most precious music item you own (collector mode on)

C: Spectrum's ”Soul Kiss (Glide Divine)”, transparent gateofold edition with green liquid.
E: Have a special fondness for a Triffids singles compilation (early singles) that was a gift a friend gave me years ago.
V: My L supraphonic snare drum!

Las Ruinas, heavy-pop & killer lyrics

5. Favorite lyrics (not yours)

C: Las Ruinas lyrics.
E: I'm more of devastating verses, but if I had to choose one of my favourite bands because of their lyrics i would be Las Ruinas without a doubt.
V: “Going Blind” but if Melvins are performing it much better

6. Musician/s you would like to meet (should be alive, for obvious reasons, but you can choose a dead one too)

C: Thurston Moore.
E: Jad Fair, Kim deal, Robert Pollard, Kim Gordon, Calvin Johnson, Georgia Hubley, Beyonce, etc..
V: Neil Young, Steve Albini and PJ Harvey

7. Favorite artwork album (not yours)

C: Arthur Lyman “Yellow Bird” album.
E: I'll tell you just the one that comes to my mind right now: "Beat Happening", from Beat Happening.
V: The Make-up, "In Mass Mind".

8. Books or movies? Depending on your answer recommend us one (trick: you can choose both)

C: Movie: Marco Ferreri’s “La Grande Bouffe”
E: Fanzine: "Chilena Comando".
V: Both! Last book I read was John Waters, "Role Models!", and film...maybe the one I am never tired of "The Great Gatsby" (but the old one!!! no remakes could be better )

9. Song (of yours) you are most proud of

C: "Fun in summertime (the Watterparties)"
E: "Spiderman (Silly Walk)"
V: Maybe..."Love and Fun", new one in the new record

10. What’s does it mean indie for you? (yes, the “serious question”)

C: Indie=not mainstream music.
E: The one that wants to be a cowboy but prefers dancing (literally "El que quiere ser cowboy pero prefiere bailar", the blogger is completely speechless after this answer).
V: It means an independent way of expression in all types of art.

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

C: No need to know...
E: I'll have a puppy.
V: I will be 43 so I guess doing the same but having ten years more of experience : )

Zillion thanks Bees!

"The Great Gatsby", Fitzgerald for Dummies

The Great Gatsby

I knew this was going to happen. I really saw this review coming. And I was right. Ouch, that hurts beyond what's bearable...

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe director Baz Luhrmann is a visionary. Maybe he just made this awful, incredibly simplistic and shallow film just to attract the youngster generation. Maybe he thought "look at these kids, they cannot read more than their whattsup one-liners. We need to bring them the best stories, in this case one of the finest examples of American literature, in a language they can understand". In Luhrmann's opinion, I believe, that means reducing Fitzgerald's book to a one-line plot: incredibly rich millionaire gives amazing parties but he's unhappy because he can't have the chick he loves. Period.  I imagine Luhrmann adding: "Now kids, here's the lesson to learn, the profound message I'm offering you in this film, so try to be focused: even the richest cry sometimes. Astonishing, right? You don't have to thank me. I'm just that great". Well Baz, NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

Sure. Even the less smart of the Smartphone users can get Luhrmann's only idea on his "The Great Gatsby". But that doesn't mean they will have even the less remote clue of what was Fitzgerald's masterpiece about. It's not a question of being faithful or not to the original text (it was ages ago, but I do remember being extremely bored with Robert Redford's Gatsby version, and believe me, few books are more moving and engaging). It's just that he has decided to go for the most superficial, to an incongruous extreme, take of the book. It's all surface, as bombastic, flamboyant and 3-D as you want, but with less than zero insight. So, even you don't give a damn about the adaptation of the original story, what you get is so shallow that you won't get a film that's worth the effort either. "The Avengers" might have the same amount of depth than this Gatsby. And that's unacceptable.

Granted, "The Great Gatsby" first half is a visual feast in the vein of "Molin Rouge" (but now on 3-D folks!, so go to cinema and pay even more for that!). But exclusively visual. From the very beginning, characters are introduced and then completely ruined. A good actor like Tobey Maguire makes the dumbest impersonation of Nick Carraway I could ever imagine. He just stays there, mouth open, a silly kid enlightened by the exotism, the noise, the chicks, the confetti and grandeur of his neighbour. That's not the character Fitzgerald wrote. At all. Carey Mulligan's as Daisy deserves a separate comment. Don't know if that's Luhrmann, Mulligan or both fault, but what a disastrous performance. Exactly in the same vein as she did in "Shame", without the suicidal tendencies, with the similar annoyingly results. DiCaprio, the only remarkable of the film (and the reason the rating below isn't lower) makes a vivid impersonation of Gatsby, that grows from the shameful "perfume advertising" first looks to a much somber character, much closer to the troubled, complex and absorbing character Fitzgerald penned. Still, Di Caprio is alone, so he can't help the feeling he's performing on a ridiculously expensive and lush but fake and empty set. Fitzgerald's were powerful, extremely rich yet still misterious, obscure, not very likeable yet absorbing characters. Human contradictions, ambitions and miseries revealed. Nothing to do with this. The National's Matt Berninger penned the perfect definition for the characters you'll find on the film: "a television version of a person with a broken heart". Fakers.    

There's more to rant about. Of course, the music. We get it, partying is partying, but being a film directed to kids it's better to go for a much modern, cooler soundtrack, full of Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Will.I.Am... well hell no Baz. You did quite well (at least watchable) with "Romeo & Juliet" before with the soundtrack... because you translated Shakespeare story to a contemporary context, but not this time. Do you know what the Jazz Age means? Jazz is a very important part of the context where the story takes place... oh sorry, I forgot the director didn't care about the story. Ok, let's change the subject .Transitions. Hard to remember a film worse constructed. First, a lame lame trick so Nick Carraway can explain his insane fascination for Gatsby, so flashbacks are justified. Second, you can film as many flamboyant, flashy or slow-motioned dancing scenes you want, but they should carry you somewhere, or are we just contemplating a terribly long videoclip? Third, I can't remember just a drastic change in tempo and mood in any film seen in a long time. Party is over, so then let's go for a romantic drama. Drastically. And fourth, symbols should be subtle, if not become seriously upsetting there's no need to repeat once and again adverts or the green light. We got it. The kids too.

So, If you believe "The Great Gatsby" needed an adaptation for our digital age where information MUST fit in your mobile phone, then you have reasons to celebrate. Luhrmann has nailed it. But if you don't want to watch this "Fitzgerald for Dummies" version, just stick with the book. Have some faith in the kids next time Baz.

SCORE: 2/10