I’m The Doctor, I’m worse than everybody’s aunt.

I’m not going to go into the specifics of why the Doctor Who Series 5 premiere rocked my socks off because I want to write a spoiler-free review. But I’ll say as much as I can without giving away plot.

Firstly, I was a Tennant purist. Suppose I still am. I think Neil Gaiman actually said whatever Doctor you see first will always be the ideal Doctor in your mind (or something like that). And before I started watching any Doctor Who beginning to end I saw a random episode of it on the SyFy Channel (back when it was the Sci-Fi Channel. Weirdos). And that one episode featured David Tennant. I know, I know. So sue me for getting into Doctor Who so late. But it’s all about what you have access to, and it has taken becoming quite internet savvy to see any Doctor Who at all. Anyway, my first Doctor was David Tennant.

That being said, no Doctor I’ve seen HASN’T been the Doctor. And I’ve actually now seen quite a few episodes (including the very first episode from 1963). And I feel the same about Matt Smith. Even though I’ll miss seeing David Tennant (who, if I can be girly for a moment, is way more attractive to me), Matt Smith, after seeing his first episode, will no doubt be the Doctor as much as any other Doctor in no time. And bonus: he didn’t even look as strange to me by the end of the episode. And Karen Gillan wasn’t half bad either as Amy Pond. No Rose. No Martha. But she’s sassy in her own way. And I actually LOVE the way the introduced her (quite different from other companions).

There are so many “news” to cover in the new series. New Doctor. New companion. New TARDIS interior, which isn’t so different from how it was, and that makes the change more pleasant than jarring. I’m all for new. For a show that has been running so long, new has to happen. Some “news” might not work as well as others, but there has to be a willingness for new. The last thing that Doctor Who needs to do is to stagnate. Of all the “news” that were packed into one episode I only really had a problem with one of them: the new opening theme music. The iconic theme is still present, but they’ve “thrown it back” and turned it synth-tastic. I liked the orchestral arrangement more.

Perhaps the most important “new” is the new attitude of the Doctor. We all know (well those of us that are fans of the Who-niverse) that the Doctor changes more than his appearance when he regenerates. This remains true with Matt Smith’s Doctor. In some ways he is much more slapstick than Tennant’s Doctor. But there’s the feeling that he’s willing to be much more ruthless as well. It will definitely be interesting to see how this plays out in the series.

And to show support for the Doctor, I will make a one-time supportive exclamation:

“Geronimo!”

Back to “allons-y.”

Evelyn Evelyn: Putting the Drama Drama to Rest

A while back I talked a little about the whole drama surrounding Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley and their new project Evelyn Evelyn, which is a fictional musical duo comprised of conjoined twins.

The Evelyn Evelyn album was released just over a week ago, on March 30th. And I would like to hope that the #dramadrama (as it was reported on Twitter) has been taken care of. Why? Because in my humble opinion, the Evelyn Evelyn is a spectacle that should be listened to at least once by everyone.

This is not to say that it is really going to be everyone’s “cup of tea.” In fact, many will probably find it hard to listen to. Few songs are the types of songs that make you want to sing along. I was actually unnerved while listening to several tracks.

There are the “Tragic Events” tracks, which tell the sad story of the Neville twins. It’s this story, divided and spread throughout the album, that makes even myself, who has known of Evelyn Evelyn for years now (albeit as a joke of the two singers), believe wholeheartedly in the twins and their tragic past.

But “I must go further back”, because the “Tragic Events” tracks are the obvious choices to describe the unnerving tone. In fact, the first track itself, “Evelyn Evelyn” essentially sets up the tone of the entire album. The tragic life of the twins, although we do not know the details yet, is mirrored in the tone of the first song of the album, with its ghostly piano line and somber lyrics delivered by the even more somber tones of Palmer and Webley.

We grew up closer than anything. Shared our bed and wore the same clothes… What shall we wear tonight? What shall we wear today? We should go ice skating. We just did that yesterday…. What if they find us… I feel like a ghost…

The second song on the album, “A Campaign of Shock and Awe” would seem very much like a joke, more quirky, if it weren’t for the song that it follows. That tone setup of the first song gives even the more joyous songs on the album a sad and tragic undertone. The songs from Evelyn Evelyn that I had known of previously, such as “Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn,” “You Only Want Me ‘Cause You Want My Sister,” and “Elephant Elephant” feel like completely different songs when tossed into the mix of the album. What once made me laugh now, and I apologize for using this word, but I feel it best describes the situation, makes me feel unnerved.

There are also the songs on the album that describe characters from the Neville sisters’ story (“Chicken Man”, “Sandy Fishnets,” “Elephant Elephant”). They too are quirky, and would make very little sense if it weren’t for the narrative tracks on the album, which, if you listen closely, use the themes of the songs in the background when describing the characters.

And then there’s “My Space,” the next to the last song on the album. When I heard the news that a song called “My Space” was going to be on the album, I immediately thought it would be a comedic song. But, then again, I thought the album was going to be far more funny than it turned out to be (to my pleasant surprise, I must add). The song actually has two meanings layered on top of each other, not to mention the fact that it is a textbook example of an 80’s pop ballad (even down to the epic guitar solo. Why don’t we have more badass guitar solos these days?)

The last song of the album is the only cover. And again, the song alone would be considered funny. It is, after all, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” sung by “conjoined twins.” But just like every single other song on the album, as a whole, the album manages to create an entirely different tone from the individual songs.

This album is great. In my opinion, it is best listened to by setting aside enough time and diving in for the whole journey. Listen to the album from start to finish before listening to individual songs. It’s worth it. The album tells an amazing story. The album actually makes me appreciate albums (as opposed to individual songs) a little more.

As for the Drama Drama? I think it would be quite hard for anyone to prove that Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley were making fun of conjoined twins after listening to this album.

(For my whole rant on the Drama Drama see my earlier post.)