first off, i should probably note that i don’t actually speak much french. my knowledge of the language essentially equates to the level of the song “foux da fa fa” by flight of the conchords (which, incidentally, was the main inspiration for the title of this shiny new blog). this also provides a perfect segue into my first review of a current obsession.
the hilarious musical duo from new zealand first captured my heart during a car ride with one of my friends. i had no idea what the hell he was playing, only that the songs were catchy and had surprisingly amusing lyrics that made me laugh out loud. “hiphopopotamous & rhymnocerous” was the rap parody song that really made me curious about the group.
i downloaded their CD, completely unaware that they had a huge following AND their own TV series on HBO. originally, flight of the conchords were somewhat of a novelty band, just like the one that they portray on the show. they were solicited by HBO to make a series using the music they wrote. the plots sometimes seem superficial, as they were mostly written to be tailored to the songs the duo had already composed. however, the show is hilarious just the same. bret and jemaine are funny and endearing, both as characters on the show and as people (at least, they are in my imagination).
it was interesting to begin the discovery process of flight of the conchords first with their CD, followed by the TV show and snippets of live shows on youtube. if you’ve never heard of them, i’d recommend starting with the music first, then transitioning into the show. their music was originally written to stand on its own, and that way you can have even more fun watching the show when you already know all of the songs. plus…they’re just so wonderful and hilariously strange outside of any context.
also note that bret makes a brief appearance in a couple of the lord of the rings movies as hobbit extra.
