It’s a sad fact in the musical world that bands come and go.  And that’s double sad in the indie/underground world, where bands are already flying under the radar.  When one of them disappears, it’s sometimes next to impossible to figure out what happened unless you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows the drummer’s younger brother.

One such band was Fine China, who disappeared after releasing two acclaimed albums of sugary, melancholy pop that summed up everything good and golden about bands like The Smiths and New Order.  Well, the band is now back in the recording studio working on a new release, and they’ve just posted two new songs to their website, which can be found here.  The two songs are rough demos, and are obviously in need of mixing and mastering, but they’re still quite nice, especially “Prosecute, Electrocute”.

There’s no word on when the album will be done, or which label it’ll be released on (the band has previously released stuff on Tooth & Nail Records and Velvet Blue Music).  Whatever the case, it’s good to see the band is still in action.

BTW, check out the Fine China interviews on Opus.  There’s one from Cornerstone 2002 and one from Cornerstone 2000.  Enjoy!

I’ve already commented on my newfound love for the delerium that is The League Of Gentlemen, which I discovered while in Toronto.  And while perusing the Web, I came across this unofficial fan site, which is just chock full of info on the League.  Best of all, there are some video clips, so you can experience the sheer lunacy for yourself.  (Not recommended if you’re easily offended.  Everyone else, click away!)

Oh… and what’s this about a League movie?

I was going to take a break from my festival writings, and post a long, enthusiastic entry about the recent controversies surrounding several prominent televangelists (sheesh, that feels so 1988).  First, Paul Crouch (of Trinity Broadcasting Network fame) gets caught up in a gay sex scandal, which has led to a fairly indepth set of articles (registration required) on the Los Angeles Times about the so-called “prosperity gospel” that Crouch and Co. espouse.

And then Jimmy Swaggart causes yet another uproar with his comments concerning gay marriage, even going so far as to threaten any potential suitors:

I’m trying to find a correct name for it.  This utter absolute, asinine, idiotic stupidity of men marrying men. I’ve never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I’m gonna be blunt and plain; if one ever looks at me like that, I’m gonna kill him and tell God he died.

Click here to see it for yourself.  Just keep in mind that he’s knocking the legislators, not “the poor homosexual”.  (Requires Windows Media Player)

However, others have already written far more thoughtful articles, so I’ll just point to them.

Yesterday, ChristianityToday’s Ted Olsen posted a feature that looks at the Times’ coverage, as well as some of the issues surrounding “prosperity” theology.

And Christian History & Biography has an interesting article that tries to figure out why Pentacostal ministers (which include Crouch and Swaggart, more or less) seem especially prone to sex scandals and whatnot - the article touches on Romanticism and its impact on evangelicalism, and is a pretty fascinating read.

I’ve caught a number of films in Toronto’s theatres during my stay at the festival.  However, I’ve also taken some time to go through my gracious host’s DVD collection, and have already discovered some future additions to my own collection (i.e. Spaced).  After much cajoling and reminding, I finally sat down and watched Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s Last Life In The Universe, which Chris reviewed quite awhile back.

This is an amazing film, and like Lost In Translation and In The Mood For Love, takes a powerful look at lonely characters and their attempts to find some sort of connection in the world.  It’s a sometimes surreal film (one of the main characters constantly imagines ways to kill himself, and the other has pot-influenced visions of her house being cleaned), but it moves with such quiet grace and sublimity that I found myself completely arrested throughout.  This isn’t a film you watch so much as absorb, quirks and all.

One thing really helping that notion is the music, which is some of the most perfect film music I’ve heard in a long time.  The soft tones and rhythms perfectly complement the tentativeness of the film’s burgeoning relationship.  Watching it this afternoon, with the light from sunset filtering in through the blinds, I felt myself slipping into one of my favorite film viewing modes, in which the film becomes a waking dream that you just seem to be wandering through.

As of the right now, the DVD is only available as an Asian import.  But the good folks at Palm Pictures are releasing the film domestically in 2005, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

This is just a reminder… if you’re in the Omaha area on September 11th around 9:30pm, head down to O’Leavers to catch Namelessnumberheadman.  I know I’ve raved about them a lot in the past, but trust me, they deserve it.  And apparently, there are some other bands playing that night too.  Not bad for $5.