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God bless the freaks! In this increasingly homogenized world any appearance of the mutant tendency is a cause for celebration. Think of it this way, the impulse towards rebellion and originality were traditionally the purview of artists and mystics. Artists inherited the previous generation’s themes and modes with the implicit mission of rejecting and reinventing them. Mystics have always used the singular and visionary of the inner as a method to change the uniform and stale outer. Both of these models have been usurped. In the mind’s eye of the public art has been reduced to pretty picture making. As for religion, when did Jesus become a Republican?

What roles do art and religion play in this world? As far as I can see, art has become subservient to decoration. Musical expression has been reduced down to that lowest of common denominators; the talent contest. While I’m sure that many find solace in their chosen faith, where is its’ dissenting voice? Nowadays we get religious justifications and approval for everything from this brutal war to funeral hazing of dead soldiers who MAY have been gay. What ever happened to love thine enemy? What ever happened to the meek inheriting the Earth? The meek are not only not inheriting the Earth, they’re being priced out of it and taxed for it.

It’s into this stale slipstream that the nuts in Cloudland Canyon release their great new album, “Requiems Der Natur 2002-2004″ (Tee Pee Records). This album is the cure for what ails ya! The tracks feature hypnotic synth washes and odd repetitive snippets of water, wind and animals. The odd blend of motorik, Kraut-Rock inspired madness and the warm organic and churning field recording samples give this album its’ engrossing tension and charm. Sonically there are splashes and dashes of such noisy luminaries as Ash Ra Tempel, This Heat and Can. Repetitive loops of ruffled and crinkled warblings fold in on themselves with a fierce single-mindedness. Hushed and strangled mantras swell, congeal and finally sputter out into their constituent parts.

This is one of those sound worlds it is best to experience as a unit. Although it is separated into songs the strength of this release lies in its totality. So if you’re aching to bust out of the gray world and spend a little creative time in a technicolor hysteria, check out Cloudland Canyon. Their music is a naked freak-out by moonlight in an electric forest.

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Nominated for 17 Emmys in its short four-year run, Soap premiered in the Fall of 1977 as one of the most controversial shows in American television history (and all before a single episode ever aired). The show was opposed by many groups who thought its subject matter would be too mature for a prime-time audience. But Soap never overstepped its bounds, and the show became an instant smash hit with its brilliant and satirical spoofs of classic daytime programming. Sporting an all-star cast and talented producers, the show spawned successful spin-off Benson in 1979, a series that launched Robert Guillaume’s career to a whole new level…

Set in suburban Connecticut, Soap follows the lives of two sisters - Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond), a wealthy yet dim elitist, and Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon), a housewife in a more traditional blue-collar atmosphere. But regardless of their social station in life, neither woman manages to escape the scandal and intrigue surrounding a typical soap opera family. Jessica’s daughter Corrine (Diana Canova) is smitten with a priest, yet they are both having an affair with the same tennis pro. Meanwhile, Jessica and her husband Chester (Robert Mandan) incessantly cheat on one another. As for the other side of the family, Mary’s husband Burt (Richard Mulligan) is certifiably insane, her son Danny (Ted Wass) is a mobster, stepson Jodie (Billy Crystal) is an out-of-the-closet homosexual, and all of them are caught up in a family filled with promiscuous infidelities and quite possibly murder! Throw in the insubordinate and sarcastic Tate butler Benson (Guillaume), and Soap holds its own as one of the funniest sitcoms in TV history

The Soap (Season 3) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere in which Burt awakens in the hull of a spaceship. Eunice asks Dutch to strike a deal with the feds, and Benson organizes a posse to rescue Billy from the Sunnies while an alien clone of Burt takes the real Burt’s place Other notable episodes from Season 3 include Episode 52 in which the real Burt and his alien clone finally confront one another, and Episode 69 in which, with a guilty Chester by her bedside, Jessica dies, all while Jodie gives an impassioned courtroom defense of his right to be an openly gay single parent

Below is a list of episodes included on the Soap (Season 3) DVD:

Episode 48 (Episode 48) Air Date: 09-13-1979
Episode 49 (Episode 49) Air Date: 09-20-1979
Episode 50 (Episode 50) Air Date: 09-27-1979
Episode 51 (Episode 51) Air Date: 10-04-1979
Episode 52 (Episode 52) Air Date: 10-11-1979
Episode 53 (Episode 53) Air Date: 11-01-1979
Episode 54 (Episode 54) Air Date: 11-08-1979
Episode 55 (Episode 55) Air Date: 11-22-1979
Episode 56 (Episode 56) Air Date: 12-06-1979
Episode 57 (Episode 57) Air Date: 12-13-1979
Episode 58 (Episode 58) Air Date: 12-27-1979
Episode 59 (Episode 59) Air Date: 01-03-1980
Episode 60 (Episode 60) Air Date: 01-10-1980
Episode 61 (Episode 61) Air Date: 01-17-1980
Episode 62 (Episode 62) Air Date: 01-24-1980
Episode 63 (Episode 63) Air Date: 01-31-1980
Episode 64 (Episode 64) Air Date: 02-07-1980
Episode 65 (Episode 65) Air Date: 02-28-1980
Episode 66 (Episode 66) Air Date: 03-06-1980
Episode 67 (Episode 67) Air Date: 03-13-1980
Episode 68 (Episode 68) Air Date: 03-20-1980
Episode 69 (Episode 69) Air Date: 03-27-1980

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Soap (Season 3) DVD.

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Oliver Stones Film; World Trade Center, bombed at the box office and came in a very weak third to two other movies, which were not even notable. Yet Oliver Stone supporters say that the movie did the best of any Oliver Stone film ever? But if it bombed both in Europe and the US in its first week what does that say about Oliver Stone and his other movies; ouch? Basically the movie took in under 19 million and did not even get close to 20 million or the other 911 movie, which made 27 million in its debut.

That race car comedy kicked its butt in the opening week with 90 plus million in the last two weeks and beat World Trade Center during its second week and just prior to going to DVD? Oliver Stone appears to be losing his perceived edge in the market place and perhaps will end up going into early retirement?

Those who saw the movie have made mixed comments, I thought the movie could have been much better and some of the family members were not impressed with it either. Despite all the hype it appears that Americans are over this 911 attack and just would rather watch silly mindless films than to see another Oliver Stone flick. Too bad for Oliver Stone and company, but that is show business. Consider this in 2006.

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