Real to reel

Local observations from a movie, music buff

4 months, 3 weeks and 2 bands

The intense Romanian film “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days” is at the Music Box; two Chicago bands mailed-in debut releases

By Dan Ochwat

Starting off with a very quick and important reminder from last month’s column — “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days” opens at the Music Box Theatre on Southport on Feb. 9. This brilliant movie, my No. 1 choice of 2007, will have a short run at the Music Box, so see it while you can. It is also rumored to be on On-Demand; however, I have tragic cable issues, so have not found this to be true. (Another column for another day.)

The film — the Palm d’Or winner at Cannes in 2007 — is one girl helping her friend get an illegal abortion in communist 1980s Romania. It’s filmed with a sobering, bleak realism that wrings out a very intense drama. The director, Cristian Mungiu, overplays nothing. The audience sits outside looking in through clouds of cigarette smoke and tension, feeling the anxiety and build-up to abort, lamenting the backhanded dealings, squirming through the procedure and the consequences, and especially squirming through one genius scene when the main character, Otilia (the best friend aiding the preggo), is forced to squeeze in a dinner at her boyfriend’s parents’ house. It’s absolutely suffocating, an old generation looking down on a new one.

Coming off the heels of last year’s “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu,” an equally bleak and stirring knock on Romania’s health system, as well as the lauded “12:08 East of Bucharest,” Mungiu’s film is another example of a new wave of Romanian films. The country is the current hot spot of cinema.

My plea is to challenge yourself at the movies this month. Jessica Alba and her freakish eye can wait for video. However, I won’t fault you for going to see that bucktoothed shark in “Strange Wilderness.” I’m doing that voice-over laugh right now ... hysterical.

Mailed-in music
Two Chicago bands sent me their debut CDs for review. First, by way of Ireland, Danny Burns’ Defectors is holding a record release party at Martyr’s on Feb. 19 for the band’s debut album, “Grace & Mercy.” This is no “Once” fairy tale, that cult musical of the past year, as Burns’ music is more soft rock, near-adult contemporary with some roots in blues. (However, the second track, “Hell’s Fire,” eerily recalls another movie, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and that Soggy Bottom Boys’ gem “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow.”)

That aside, “Grace & Mercy” is a pleasant listen. Burns’ vocals are warm with a guttural street sense about them. The songs have some soul, some folk-rock. It’s the perfect Martyr’s band, really. Personally, it’s more for my dad, but Burns’ does this right and sincere, and his vocals really are something, no more resonant than on the songs “Red Wine” and “Golden.” I would like to hear more Irish brogue in the vocals, too, simply to set him apart from other adult contemporary vocalists. The album is available at iTunes and www.dannyburns.net.

Another local act, Ash Avenue, sent me their debut CD, “And Then We Ignite,” a pop-rock band that skews, again, more toward an “adult” sound. It’s what I call “suburban rock.” The musicianship is there, good guitars, some organ and synths: It sounds like “Gin Blossoms” and “Mike & Joe.” It’s safe pop rock, perfect for Durty Nellies in Palatine. Fans of this bar-room brand of alt rock, honestly, will enjoy this album and sign up to be “Ash Holes,” what the band affectionately names its followers.

The standout tracks are the catchy, chorus-driven “Disposable King” and “Fade to Gray,” a rock song that, I think, breaks away nicely from the major pop elements of the album. Upcoming Chicago shows are at Duffy’s on April 3 and Schubas on April 22. The album can be purchased on iTunes, CDBaby.com or at www.ashave.com.

In concert
Sometimes I love this band and sometimes I wonder what I was thinking. Nevertheless, a tune off “69 Love Songs” seems to make all my mix tapes: The Magnetic Fields are set to play six shows in three days at the Old Town School of Folk Music beginning 3/14.

Other cool upcoming shows include the African-influenced and modern-sounding Yeasayer with the catchy MGMT for two shows at Schubas on 2/8. The next night, a couple of under-the-radar rock bands, The Whigs and Tulsa, play Schubas, and on 2/10 Cat Power (whose latest “Jukebox” is surprisingly very good) plays the Vic Theater.

On 2/15, Iron and Wine plays Wheaton College, and for a less spiritual experience, a raucous but surely incredible show is set for 2/17 with instrumentalists Holy Fuck and new wave ear-ringers A Place to Bury Strangers at Schubas. Cutesy and feisty female punk band The Coathangers play Ronny’s on 2/23, and on the same night St. Vincent — I don’t know what people see in her — plays two shows with a cool rock band Foreign Born at Schubas.

Experimental bands Health and Crystal Castles play the Abbey Pub on 2/27. On 2/29, Sia, touring in support of her latest album, which has a strong R&B sound, plays Park West, while underrated rockers Pela plays with up-and-comer singer/songwriter Liam Finn at Schubas. On 3/1, Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and his solo outfit Atlas Sound plays the Empty Bottle, and The Black Lips bring their vintage rock to the Logan Square Auditorium. Working for a Nuclear Free City bring their cool, danceable sound to Schubas on 3/5, a must see for a band that doesn’t seem to tour much. Finally, on 3/7, The Evangelicals, in support of their wonderful new sonic mishmash “The Evening Descends,” play Schubas, and one of my favorite new albums of 2008 is from The Raveonettes, whose stripped down guitar sound plays the Double Door on 3/18.

Keep sending me your music or anything else on your mind at danochwat@hotmail.com. I’ve also joined the MySpace army, so give The Real Chicago some love at http://www.myspace.com/danochwat

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