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Metro staff reviews the latest CDs, DVDs and books for your reading pleasure.
 
Movies
The gangster of Hollywood
FEATURE. Johnny Depp doesn’t know what time it is. Though he technically calls an adorable village in France home and owns an island in the Caribbean, the mercurial actor spends so much time working that his internal clock is all out of whack.
 
 
Movies
Directorial debut is a shot at the ‘Moon’
INTERVIEW. When directors are limited to a $5 million budget and a 33-day shooting schedule, they usually won’t do anything too arduous — especially for their first films. But director Duncan Jones, 37, tells us that he “wanted to do something with ambition” for his debut flick. So instead, Jones, who is the son of David Bowie, decided to make the sci-fi adventure “Moon,” which opens Friday. The affable Brit explains how.
 
The Word
The Beckhams’ island getaway
GOSSIP. According to the Sun, David Beckham is planning a trip to Necker Island, Richard Branson’s private island hideaway, to celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary with Victoria Beckham. And the best part? It only costs $51,000 a night to have the whole island to themselves.
 
Movies
Bale does light-lifting
 MOVIES. Christian Bale is more relaxed than usual, and with good reason. The heavy lifting in promoting his latest film, “Public Enemies,” falls to Johnny Depp. For once, the success or failure of the movie doesn’t rest on Bale’s shoulders. There’s no talk of on-set outbursts or franchise potential. And for that, he’s grateful — and cheerful.
 
Published 18:57, January the 8th, 2009
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Who does that guy look like?The Hold Steady keys guy says the British press comes up with “bizarre local references” that send him to Google image search to find pictures of the BBC broadcasters, musicians, and once “a young Gene Wilder,” with whom he allegedly shares a physical resemblance.Who does that guy look like?
The Hold Steady keys guy says the British press comes up with “bizarre local references” that send him to Google image search to find pictures of the BBC broadcasters, musicians, and once “a young Gene Wilder,” with whom he allegedly shares a physical resemblance.
 

A 'Major' one-man rock machine

The hardest working musician in Brooklyn makes room for a solo tour — between four other bands

PROFILE. Franz Nicolay, whom you more than likely know at least by sight if you frequent indie rock venues, is sitting in the parking lot of a post office and attempting to itemize the number of songs in his mental jukebox. “Let’s see. I’ve probably got 60 or 70 World Inferno songs. Two dozen or so Guignol. Fifty or so Hold Steady songs. All the covers I’ve ever done. A couple of dozen of my own songs.”

He concludes that he can probably account for somewhere between 400 and 500 songs, “maybe not perfectly, but with a quick index card note pinned to the keyboard.”

Nicolay is the mustachioed keyboardist for a playlist of  bands, including the punk cabaret collective World/Inferno Friendship Society, performance collective Anti-Social Music, gypsy punks Guignol, and the Hold Steady, that old school style bar band that seems to take over more of the world each year.  What else to do? This month, he added his own solo record, under the name "Major General."

No one will be shocked to hear that the East Coast’s busiest musician was able to rope in quite a few extra guest stars for his first record, including Brian Viglione of the Dresden Dolls, most of the band Demander, Peter Hess from Balkan Beat Box, World/Inferno lead singer Jack Terricloth (who contributed some lyrics)and former World/Inferno musician Yula Be’eri, most of whom showed up to record over six days in Hoboken, in exchange for family dinners and “gallons of red wine.”

Stepping to center stage has led him to a few modifications in his playing style.

“When I’m off to the side playing keyboards, I can jump around like a monkey. I know all the parts and I can play them in the worst states of inebriation. After all these years I spent pissed off at lead singers, it turns out remembering a hundred or so words, in order, is hard. Who knew?”
With so many bands, however, scheduling tours can get dicey. How does he decide which bands take precedence? “Triage,” says Nicolay. “With extreme prejudice. The Hold Steady comes first, then Major General, then Guignol. I’m glad we did this. I just figured it out.”

"Major General" comes out next week on Fistolo Records.

Amy Benfer