1967
Noah’s Barks pages covering things relating to the year 1967.
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Belle de Jour
I continue to like the ideas of Luis Buñuel more than his actual films. His humiliation of the bourgeois continues in Belle de Jour, but there’s an additional element I’d not seen before: an actual sympathy towards sexual deviants as people repressed by the expectations of society. Catherine Deneuve becomes a victim herself as the… (read more)
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The Monkees – “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.”
The fourth album by The Monkees is among the greatest rock records of the ’60s, exceeding all expectations. (read more)
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Le Samouraï
With Le Samouraï, Jean-Pierre Melville crafts a minimalist noir where absolute silence is golden, a foil to the heavy use of grey tones that cast dark, foreboding clouds over the slow proceedings. Possibly the most beautiful film of the ’60s, every scene takes place in real-time as if a natural coil is slowly wrapping around… (read more)
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The Red Crayola with The Familiar Ugly – “The Parable of Arable Land” (1967)
Brilliant approach: just bash your guitar on the wall until you hear a new sound instead of reaching it naturally. I can’t respect The Parable of Arable Land at all. Tunelessly playing your instruments at random as if one gave a five year-old an electric guitar they’ve never picked up before is a result obvious… (read more)
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The Electric Prunes – “The Electric Prunes”
There’s a little bit of all the great ’60s rock acts here. Considering The Electric Prunes formed in ’65, it’s clear that they’re trying to latch onto a scene. But integrity in pop music can be forgiven if the songs are good—so are they? (read more)
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David Bowie – “David Bowie” (1967)
His first album, David Bowie (1967), is completely silly music and lyrics. Utter nonsense. This could be excusable if the songs were good, but they aren’t. There’s a clever lyric here and there that can put a smile on my face, but it’s not worth listening to the song (let alone the album) to get… (read more)
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The Beatles – “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
Sgt. Pepper’s some of The Beatles‘ simplest material. Considering they were writing songs like “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “I Am the Walrus” around this time, this album seems far below what they’re capable of. There are a couple of brilliant songs on here, like “With a Little Help From My Friends.” “A Day in the… (read more)