Truly an Atomic Bomb!

For all those who are looking for that great album to listen to, I suggest U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. If you’ve already listened to it, most probably you’ll be raving about it by now. The album’s just sensational and I’m so glad it won the Grammy – it truly deserved it. This is U2 at their best – a combination of serious rock and groovy soundtracks with a shade of pop (though the purists might disagree) . Bono insists they sound like a punk band trying to play Bach, while also suggesting, ‘It may just be our best.’

The album starts with the chartbuster Vertigo, the shouts of Spanish chants, and Hola! we’re ready for the ride. With Miracle Drug, the serious side of U2 comes to the fore. This is a song that says so many things at once. The lyrics are beautiful, though sometimes really abstract. Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own is the third track of the album, and its most personal. Bono’s dedication to his late father, this song exudes intimacy, passion, regret, anger, longing – so many emotions juxtaposed, overlapping each other.

And can a U2 album be complete without demanding peace on earth? And so we have, Love and Peace or Else, an irresistible track, though not in the same league as One or Sunday Bloody Sunday. City of Blinding Lights takes you back to the U2 of old, the U2 of Where the Streets Have No Name, the U2 of the late 80’s. This is a song of a long standing affair with New York – an affair that began on Bono’s first trip in ‘80 and a dream to own an apartment in Manhattan.

All Because of You and A Man and a Woman continue the album’s quest for constant evolution, and is followed by my personal favourite, Crumbs from Your Table – a track so good, its impossible to ignore. One Step Closer isn’t exactly a great song, but is engaging nevertheless. The tenth track, Origin of the Species is vintage seductive U2, in the league of Beautiful Day, a song you’ll return to again and again, without really knowing why. It is really sad that an album of such beauty and magic has to end with a dud, for that’s what exactly Yahweh is.

For all those who thought that All That You Can’t Leave Behind was the best they could create, U2 have truly dropped an atomic bomb this time.

Chokers or Stranglers?

There are some moments in sport that catapult you into another world. The match yesterday between Australia and South Africa was such a moment. With both teams tied 2-2 to set up a massive finale at the Wanderers, nobody could have predicted such a game. It was as if God wrote the script. Or maybe, not even he could have thought of something like what we saw.
Inarguably the greatest one-day match ever played, the game was being played at a surreal level. Not surprising then, The Hindustan Times bore the caption – Space Age – to describe what truly was an extra-terrestrial event.
I started watching the match ten minutes into the South African reply. Smith and Gibbs were really hitting the ball well and I thought they would win until I realised what the Australian score was. 434, shit, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, followed by ‘These Australians are just too good.’ Yet I kept on watching Gibbs and Smith send the ball to all corners of the park wondering how long it would last, until the familiar collapse in pursuit of high totals happened. The amazing thing was, it didn’t stop. Not when Smith went. Not when Gibbs holed out to long-off. They just went on and on, and as I watched glued to the TV, the impossible was happening right before my eyes.
Four, six, four, six, they had forgotten that in cricket you can also score runs by running. Herschelle Gibbs, a perennial underachiever despite his tremendous talent, truly redeemed himself. So did a South African team, forever tagged with the unsavoury title of chokers, in one day of unbelievable magic become stranglers.

(And yeah, despite all my animosity for the Australian team, I did feel sorry for Ricky Ponting and Co. I mean, they scored 434 and lost. But as he said, South Africa were simply too good. Or as I believe, they were just destined to win. )

Poignant cowboy love and cinematic magic

Ever since I watched Brokeback Mountain yesterday, I have been thinking about it.

There is something about Brokeback Mountain, which makes it linger in your memory, in your subconscious. It is the story of two cowboys Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist who meet while looking for work and are required to herd sheep together in the loneliness of the Wyoming countryside. Through monotonous dinners and forlorn horse rides, they gradually develop intimacy and camaraderie. A night of biting cold leads to sexual passion in a scene resounding with the looming threat of violence and comic intimacy.

Jack and Ennis go their separate ways, get married and lead blissful domestic lives until a postcard arrives. It is from Jack who plans to drop by on his way. This meeting leads to a resurrection of all the emotion that had been bolted inside. It leads to short, sporadic and spontaneous fishing trips to Brokeback Mountain where no fish are caught. It is a relationship that can only be built in isolation, beyond societal and familial alienation.

Brokeback has the rare quality of great art that relies on portrayal rather than elucidation. In fact, I felt momentarily that the movie would have done without dialogue at all, minimal as it is (apart from the now famous line I wish I knew how to quit you). Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal are simply stunning, so is the score by Gustavo Santaolalla, along with Ang Lee’s commanding and sensitive direction.

All the hype surrounding the movie seems justified. It is portrayed as a pathbreaking tale about homosexual relations, a coming-of-age gay cowboy movie. But more than anything, the movie is about love. About two people Jack and Ennis, who feel, who laugh, who cry like we do and this indistinguishable perception makes Brokeback believable, real and heartbreakingly poignant.

Stirring performances, haunting score and gripping images make the movie a masterpiece. Though a certain Academy might have given Best Picture to Crash (or was it Trash?), it is Brokeback Mountain that will stand the test of time.