While watching The Big Year I was both disappointed and pleasantly surprised. The disappointment was, with comedy superstars such as Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson, that it wasn’t as funny as I had anticipated it would be. The pleasant surprise was that it still turned out to be a very good movie.

The Big Year is about three men trying to find their calling in life and they all have one thing in common, birding. Stu Preissler (Steve Martin) is a very successful business man who fears moving on with retirement. Brad Harris (Jack Black) is 36, broke, divorced, hates his full-time job at Dell, and his dad disapproves of his birding heavily. Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson) or “Bostick”, as everyone calls him in the movie, holds the previous year’s record for birding (732 species) and is willing to put his whole life on hold to defend his title. These three, along with other characters in the movie, are on a mission to find what makes them truly happy.

The rules of having a Big Year are simple. Whoever sees the most birds in one calendar year in the United States is the champion birder. To count the bird, all you have to do is see it, or hear it, if you’re good enough. The whole competition is based on the honor system and, surprisingly enough, nobody cheats. The winner of the Big Year is printed in Birder Magazine and goes down in history as the person who saw the most birds in one year.

Throughout the movie, no one wants to admit that they are going for a Big Year. For fear of stronger competition, they all keep their mouths shut and claim they are in it for the sport. Preissler and Harris meet on a boat while looking for gulls and quickly become friends. Bostick makes nice with the duo, but ultimately tries to sabotage them every chance he gets. This soon becomes an issue for Preissler and Harris and, upon discovering that they were both going for a Big Year, team up to not only beat Bostick, but beat his world record.

Throughout The Big Year it feels like Preissler, Bostick, and Harris are trying to escape their old lives but can’t quite seem to break free. Preissler’s two associates at work won’t leave him alone and they claim that a large business deal will fall through if he doesn’t come back immediately. On top of that, he is sacrificing valuable family time beings his grandson was born in the same year as the competition. Harris is broke and he has to maintain his full time job whilst traveling at his credit cards’ and disapproving family’s expense. Bostick, who might be the most die-hard birder, sacrifices his marriage by abandoning his wife while she is having hormone treatments. Each character has their own quirks to work out but it makes the viewer ask themselves: What would I sacrifice to follow my dream?

All in all this was a surprisingly entertaining movie that takes you on an adventure all around America. The best parts may have actually been the editing, the soundtrack, and the birds and locations you get to see. The character development is good, but the back-and-forth of the movie can be a little distracting. Above all, I will say, almost everyone can relate to the characters’ struggles. The Big Year is a fun movie to watch with anyone and is entertaining from the opening and all the way through the ending credits.

On a cold February night in Minneapolis my girlfriend, Abby, and I walked into an unexpectedly uninhabited venue named the Terminal Bar. After we paid the $5.00 cover charge to the very aged bartender, we made our way past the empty barstools and chairs to reach the back where the band was playing. On stage were three guys playing pleasant folk music to the one person in the audience (who later turned out to be their manager). Abby and I took a seat and smiled at each other because we both thought the Terminal Bar would be packed.

After a few minutes of playing, the band jokingly asked the audience (us) if there were any requests. When we replied, “Play the Neighbor Song!” the band looked shocked that we not only knew who they were, but that we knew one of their songs. With smiles on their faces, and a newly rejuvenated spark for the night, they played the “Neighbor Song” and the rest of their set until the show was over.

After the show was over, the band sat down with their manager at a table near us. When they noticed that we were still there, they motioned us over to share a beer with them. They told us that they were about to pack up and leave until we made a request. I shared with them that Abby had introduced me to their music a few months prior and I was excited to find out that they were playing nearby in time for her birthday. We shared stories, took some pictures, and eventually they invited us to go back to their motel and throw TV’s out the window with them! Sadly, we declined because we had prior arrangements.

But enough about me, let’s get to the meat. The band I am talking about is Aunt Martha. They are a small folk band from Norway, ME, and they have, for lack of a better word, incredibly charming music. Aunt Martha is composed of three members (Tim, Garrett and Brian) and they are all very talented musicians. I am not usually one to get into folk music but when an Aunt Martha song comes up on my iPod, I never hit ‘skip’.

Aunt Martha has a more distinctive sound compared to most indie/folk bands. They don’t have your typical cookie-cutter riffs and song layout as most of the mainstream groups. I really enjoy how Brian sometimes switches out the bass for violin, which I believe is a highly underrated instrument, how Tim is a definite wordsmith and he brings out his exceptional voice with clever rhyme schemes, and how Garrett’s drumming seems to match perfectly with the mood of every song. Some of my favorites include: “Neighbor Song”, “Detroit City”, and “Bloodshot”.

Aunt Martha is getting a lot of headway in their music career. They have two albums, Candymaker and Norway, ME, and one EP, Bloodshot, on iTunes and they recently finished recording a new EP entitled La La Lonesome which you can currently get for free here. Candymaker is their first full length album and it has one of my personal favorites, “Neighbor Song”, on it. They have also already completed a U.S. tour and are currently on tour again.

Aunt Martha has a unique combination that works. Since folk music is not usually on my playlist, or radar for that matter, I have to commend Aunt Martha for somehow finding their way in there. I always enjoy their music and I look forward to hearing what they produce in the future. They are also always posting new free music on their website to keep listeners coming back. If they keep delivering great music, I will gladly throw TV’s out of a window with them if the offer ever arises again!

There is no doubt that almost everyone has seen the viral YouTube video of “Walk Off The Earth” playing every part of a song called “Somebody That I Used To Know” on a single guitar. But did you know that an artist by the name of Gotye (pronounced “goat-ee-ay”) has an even higher view count on his own music video? Yes, the smash hit single off of Gotye’s album Making Mirrors is being made famous by two different artist! With both videos combined, the view count is over 210,000,000! With numbers competing with mainstream pop artists like Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber, could this solo artist from Belgium be a very talented musician? Or is he just another one hit wonder? 

After I heard “Somebody That I Used To Know” on YouTube, I had to grab Gotye’s album. The compilation starts out with the album’s title song, “Making Mirrors” which is a slow and abstract song with interesting sounds and a few words. To most, the intro will not make them want to dive into the album so I suggest starting with track number two.

If you skip to track two, you dive straight into the bulk of the album. “Easy Way Out” is the second song, and third single, off of the “Making Mirrors”. “Easy Way Out” is a good alt-rock song that will get most listeners pumped to see what the rest of the album has in store. In fact, the first 5 tracks, excluding track number one, are all very well put together and very fun to sing along to. In that list you will hit “Somebody That I Used To Know,” which is an instant favorite, and two more named “I Feel Better” and “In Your Light”, which make the listener want to get up and dance (or sing very loud if they are driving). 

There is, however, on black sheep on the album. The song “State Of The Art” is apparently Gotye’s attempt at an electronic song. The song is filled with a repetitive beat, auto-tuned voice over, and very electronic-y sounds that are inconsistent with the rest of the album (which is played on instruments). “State Of The Art” is very unique, and almost seems out of place on the album, but after a few listens it does start to grow on you. I’ll have to admit, I sort of dig it.

After many, many listens since the album has come out, I have to say that it is definitely one of my favorite albums of 2011 and into 2012. When my iPod is on shuffle, I almost never hit next when a Gotye song comes on. The best descriptive word I can say for Making Mirrors is fun. The whole album is great and very fun to listen/sing along to. Gotye is definitely a great artist and I think anyone can find a favorite song on his album. Keep him on your radar, I believe he has much more to offer in the future.