Am listening to the New Order "Club" disc from their Retro box, wondering on the Steve Hurley Fine Time remix, who was it, really, that mixed a heavily gated male spoken vocal in the middle of a house track - you know, that low baritone internal monologue scary thing that when you're fucked off your head dancing feels like it's coming from inside you? Who did it first?
NEWS DEPT.
Columbia has found it in their hearts to give me a grant to go to Prague this summer to study language and do a little work and research. I'll be gone the last week in July and most of August, planning weekend trips to Poland and maybe up to the UK at the end. I'm ridiculously excited, and also thrilled to find out that the Plastic People of the Universe are playing Joe's Pub on May 22. If there are any PPotU fans in the NYC music issue reading world, hit me back cause I need a concert buddy.
4.29.2005
Flavor of the week
Nothing like coming home from a kickass Parts & Labor wee waa BAM BAM BAM sorta sloppy tunarific freak out thinking, 'man I guess I'll read the whole Aquarius newsletter, because maybe there really is some awesome hypen-doom band that I should be listening to to make it all make sense,' and then AQ delivers with descriptions like:
Everybody's favorite Oakland-based Carcass-worshipping death metallers (Impaled)
or
a completely unforgettable, loping
seasick main riff, relentless double kick drumming, totally heavy and
MASSIVE, occasionally slipping into indie rock, with deliriously
jangle-and-chime drenched melodies that eventually becomes a dreamy
acoustic coda complete with flute (Pelican)
I feel like "OSIIR" should be the neologistic acronym of choice for AQ. Unless SUNNO))) somehow already means that, or its opposite.
OTHER SHOWS I SAW THIS WEEK:
File under - girls trample friend while running out of the pot: Good Charlotte launching into "I Just Wanna Live" at Radio City Music Hall. My god, did you know they have a song called "My Bloody Valentine" - It sorta makes me sneer in the same way that I know I could never adore a band whose lead singer was named after a wiley stray, whose 1974 film debut, by the way, the IMDB calls "one of the finest films made about the trials and errors of society, as seen through the eyes of a cute male terrier."
File under - unwritten gonzo lowtide - Bob Dylan and Merle Haggard at the Borgata. That's all I can say. How do I get off this carousel?
Other news:
NYU's Clive Davis School just keeps getting better, with Vivien Goldman now teaching a class.
I like pretty pictures by Takagi Masakatsu.
Everybody's favorite Oakland-based Carcass-worshipping death metallers (Impaled)
or
a completely unforgettable, loping
seasick main riff, relentless double kick drumming, totally heavy and
MASSIVE, occasionally slipping into indie rock, with deliriously
jangle-and-chime drenched melodies that eventually becomes a dreamy
acoustic coda complete with flute (Pelican)
I feel like "OSIIR" should be the neologistic acronym of choice for AQ. Unless SUNNO))) somehow already means that, or its opposite.
OTHER SHOWS I SAW THIS WEEK:
File under - girls trample friend while running out of the pot: Good Charlotte launching into "I Just Wanna Live" at Radio City Music Hall. My god, did you know they have a song called "My Bloody Valentine" - It sorta makes me sneer in the same way that I know I could never adore a band whose lead singer was named after a wiley stray, whose 1974 film debut, by the way, the IMDB calls "one of the finest films made about the trials and errors of society, as seen through the eyes of a cute male terrier."
File under - unwritten gonzo lowtide - Bob Dylan and Merle Haggard at the Borgata. That's all I can say. How do I get off this carousel?
Other news:
NYU's Clive Davis School just keeps getting better, with Vivien Goldman now teaching a class.
I like pretty pictures by Takagi Masakatsu.
4.22.2005
bedroom tech and the death of indie rock
Was listening to this new Colleen album on Leaf and thinking about this argument new sparring partner Christopher put forth about how indie rock is such a watered down junk culture that corporate America and the agencies that sell it feel totally okay using it to sell their Hummers (hey, Ratatat had a Hummer ad? Weird, but sort of perfect, actually - the obvious clunky junk end of utilitarian metal (blow it up from underneath!) sells decedant wasteful post-transport).
Colleen could be sold that rainstick store in the mall, it totally chimes, drips, burbles and pulses - it is new age, new age as shit. But the textures are developed so well, the compositions tight, - it's better than the genre it is and isn't the genre it will be assigned. Indie rock - what does that mean? It's a historical term, in my mind, but psychophrenic at that - both Our Band Could Be... and post-Nirvana jangle pop, SST and Kindercore. Like new wave, it means nothing but 'this is a response' to punk, to post-disco, to the 80s. So indie rock is the response to the response, thus the lack of coherent style or even ethical/production-oriented value which I usually associate (like Azerrad) with the term 'indie.'
So Colleen, tranquil little piece of bliss that it is, is listened to by those following the eddies of post-rock, blooming hushed bedroom electronics, blooming more organic post-electronic music (The Books, Fennesz) but it will never have the saving swoop of Sunny Day Real Estate or Jawbreaker, nor does it want that rap. Is there something to this turn to the interior, the lack of politic, the texture over form? All I can think is the Rapture "You're getting ooollldddeerr...."
Was not entirely happy with this Stranger piece on U.S.E. in Japan, mostly cause I just wouldn't call them a 14-legged sonic love machine. Of course USE is going to be huge in Japan, and I love them to death, but what is their listening potential here? Also, I'm glad that this article put their Xtianity on the out, cause I think they make a lot more sense when you put their esctaticness into perspective.
Speaking of which, what I wouldn't give to have a statue of USE that looked likethis. Note, they'd have trouble with Jon E. Rock, since only white people seem to walk with Jesus in resin-statue sweatshops.
Colleen could be sold that rainstick store in the mall, it totally chimes, drips, burbles and pulses - it is new age, new age as shit. But the textures are developed so well, the compositions tight, - it's better than the genre it is and isn't the genre it will be assigned. Indie rock - what does that mean? It's a historical term, in my mind, but psychophrenic at that - both Our Band Could Be... and post-Nirvana jangle pop, SST and Kindercore. Like new wave, it means nothing but 'this is a response' to punk, to post-disco, to the 80s. So indie rock is the response to the response, thus the lack of coherent style or even ethical/production-oriented value which I usually associate (like Azerrad) with the term 'indie.'
So Colleen, tranquil little piece of bliss that it is, is listened to by those following the eddies of post-rock, blooming hushed bedroom electronics, blooming more organic post-electronic music (The Books, Fennesz) but it will never have the saving swoop of Sunny Day Real Estate or Jawbreaker, nor does it want that rap. Is there something to this turn to the interior, the lack of politic, the texture over form? All I can think is the Rapture "You're getting ooollldddeerr...."
Was not entirely happy with this Stranger piece on U.S.E. in Japan, mostly cause I just wouldn't call them a 14-legged sonic love machine. Of course USE is going to be huge in Japan, and I love them to death, but what is their listening potential here? Also, I'm glad that this article put their Xtianity on the out, cause I think they make a lot more sense when you put their esctaticness into perspective.
Speaking of which, what I wouldn't give to have a statue of USE that looked likethis. Note, they'd have trouble with Jon E. Rock, since only white people seem to walk with Jesus in resin-statue sweatshops.
4.20.2005
strike, mutiny
Hey hey former Columbians, students, workers, friends - there's a strike at Columbia University this week. If you're around Wednesday, there's a rally at 4pm, hoping to build enough support to convince the university to allow for a grad student union. Why? Because as amusing as it is to waste the most productive years of your life teaching undergrads the beauty of Beethoven's 5th, it is not really very lucrative. I would sort of prefer to limit the number of hilarious but not very lucrative professions I have to one.
Also, I can't even begin to tell you how much the school's healthcare sux. And then there's the whole 'terrifying prospect of not getting tenure because of increasingly hostile employer/employee relations at US higher learning institutions.
IN OTHER NEWS: just reviewed Open Season, British Sea Power. Am totally in love with the song "True Adventures," Mads Bjerke did an amazing if not exactly groundbreaking job getting that woozey, feverish warm synth sound, just like he did with Spiritualized. Who would win in a fight, BSP's Yan or Colin Meloy?
Also, I can't even begin to tell you how much the school's healthcare sux. And then there's the whole 'terrifying prospect of not getting tenure because of increasingly hostile employer/employee relations at US higher learning institutions.
IN OTHER NEWS: just reviewed Open Season, British Sea Power. Am totally in love with the song "True Adventures," Mads Bjerke did an amazing if not exactly groundbreaking job getting that woozey, feverish warm synth sound, just like he did with Spiritualized. Who would win in a fight, BSP's Yan or Colin Meloy?
4.19.2005
EMP short attention span theatre
Elijah Wald: presentation on the huge set of racial and ethnic stereotypes on stage at the turn of the century, point: it wasn't just blackness that was debased/satirized. Reminds me: of the movement to understand the importance of Chinese labor in the American West. Butte, Montana.
Steve Waksman: as always, best hair. Amazing dude from Smith University, talked about Alice Cooper's art school tendancies. Great thought, maybe a Bangs quote: Alice Cooper reversed the rock standards by using music to sell hype.
Tim Lawrence: of the "Love Saves the Day" fame, keeps moving on in his history of dance music with Sylvester. great thought: people want gayness to be camp, but Sylvester's was real and passionate - people were afraid.
Sharon Mesmer: best read paper of the conference. Talked about 'alternative femaleness" as found in Patti Smith pix when she was young. Brave to be in a room full of rock dudes and talk about having small breasts.
James Hannaham: lip-synching. Calling out the Ashlee haters - great moment: after his paper, Hannaham lip-synced the Whitney H. national anthem. How could people have loved that shit in 1991? Yikes.
Charles Kronengold: "If you're a song and you don't want to be known as pop, what can you do?" amazing.
Eric Martin Usner: do not steal our faculty! His paper on Starbucks CD track selections - good stuff. Drank from the paper cup dramatically. Must learn about this "third place" of which he speaks, the place between home and work, the place we need to fill the void of the social. 9000 Starbucks! The guy next to me on the plane (see last post) said, "I don't know whether to move back to North Carolina and open a Starbucks or a bowling alley?" duh, if you can't be a rock critic, open up a Starbucks. lucrative.
Nate Harrison: played a fucking acetate of his paper about the "Amen" break by the Winstons and its history in jungle. dude! He then made a great argument for fair use - information wants to be free - and well, then the record was done. Wish people would have asked more abt his process.
Fred Maus: talked about "Deadbeat Club" in terms of dealing with the AIDS crisis, through close listening. I was a little lost at first and then there was the 'damn, that's smart' moment at the end. Used the word 'ventriliquise' - bang!
Ted Widmer: most unlikely jobswitch - fake band to Clinton speech writer. Amazing. was in a band called Upper Crust, 18th century noble wannabes whose high point was opening for Aerosmith in Boston and a hilarious night on Conan. Best song "Sting, where art thou death?" best cover: "Monarcy in the USA"
Sara Shurr: High priestess of Philly indie, part-time drag troupe girlie girl. Awesomely weird footage of her Bob n' Barbaras (!) pals in all sorts of poses. Best moment: very large gay man in a Pop Tart box singing Gypsy Rose.
Amy Phillips: The kiddie of EMP talks about age(ism) and played disembodied voices of the crowd - got people thinking all weekend long about how we don't mind calling out age as if it were not somehow a paranoid factor of biography. Quarter life crisis, an upswing in said phrase?
Evelyn McDonnell: How awesome is she? talked about Miami's unheralded influence on a decade of hip hop. It's more than blink and beach - people pay attention. South Beach was segregated until very recently, she said. Sick.
Ned Sublette: best storyteller, hands down. "As an experiment, I was moved from 2nd grade to 7th grade, and that is where I developed my love of giantesses." Imagine said with a Northern Louisiana accent. Amazing. talked about the sex slavery of the Americas, and how domestic production of slaves was the south's true cash crop. Also talked abt the Mardi Gras indians. Boy am I glad I didn't try to give that paper.
Carl Wilson: talking about how singer/songwriters take on band names to deflect the connotations of the 1970s. Ann made a good point: that it also deflects the overt lust of a female fanbase, unless yr Conor. Smarty panel "the autobiographical fallacy" - a new staple thing to say and think about.
Lenny Kaye: Okay, a paper about crooners, one of my favorite topics. Head-tilted sung examples, talk of double "oo" vowel stretches, whisper into the female ear. And Lenny Kaye, fercryingoutloud!
Daphne Brooks: what would black feminist rock criticism look like? I wish it looked just like Daphne Brooks. How awesome is she? Arguing for new language and new vision, embracing multi-genres and questioning the given truths of your own identity.
Keith Harris: used the term "hickface" to describe latterday Bruce. Totally valid. Also used the word "sexily" which is, I think the word that least resembles itself in soundform. Sex-il-ee. He's right tho - that Toby Keith song about beer for horses is like the most racist bullshit ever - shame on you, Willie.
Will Hermes: not so secret jam band lover talking about the 'acoustic set' as a precursor to death. great phrase "the warm glow of existential dread that is so very French." also used the word brio, which should be used often and vigorously. Dude, what about the ladies? For us acoustic is 'normal,' rock is the courtship of demons.
Chris Nickson: reggae man. I know so little about reggae I can't even tell you. He played a lot of amazing examples of reggae that had been 'stringsed up' to be more popular for a British audience, and then examples of how British reggae changed with the black conciousness movement. I am schooled.
Mica Hilson: has the best conference voice ever. Talked about 'synth zombies" and whiteness, the new marked! use of conditional in lyrics as sublimation of desire, the overwhelming, high place of swirls and swelling keys over dead vox. made me want to DJ or start a band. Am I a zombie? don't answer that.
Peter Mercer-Taylor: winner for most unlikely paper. A Mendelssohn scholar with a love of black metal deconstructs a Cradle of Filth song as if it were an opera, all in a deep southern accent. "If I weren't here right now, I'd be singing in my church choir." He said it twice, I believed it both times.
Eric Weisbard: caught only a bit of his paper (what's up with the conference host switching his own panel around?) talking about Buddy Holocaust. I'll email him for the paper and re-report since I only caught the 'and in conclusion, people said this was an act of necromusicology,' which is of course intriguing and yet another word brought into my brain this fine weekend.
will add links tomorrow. should like, do some schoolwork now.
if you'd like to read my paper "Dancing, Democracy and Kitsch: Poland's disco-polo" - email me. I'll send it with some mp3s and pix. am just keeping it DL cause I'd like to publish something from it...
Steve Waksman: as always, best hair. Amazing dude from Smith University, talked about Alice Cooper's art school tendancies. Great thought, maybe a Bangs quote: Alice Cooper reversed the rock standards by using music to sell hype.
Tim Lawrence: of the "Love Saves the Day" fame, keeps moving on in his history of dance music with Sylvester. great thought: people want gayness to be camp, but Sylvester's was real and passionate - people were afraid.
Sharon Mesmer: best read paper of the conference. Talked about 'alternative femaleness" as found in Patti Smith pix when she was young. Brave to be in a room full of rock dudes and talk about having small breasts.
James Hannaham: lip-synching. Calling out the Ashlee haters - great moment: after his paper, Hannaham lip-synced the Whitney H. national anthem. How could people have loved that shit in 1991? Yikes.
Charles Kronengold: "If you're a song and you don't want to be known as pop, what can you do?" amazing.
Eric Martin Usner: do not steal our faculty! His paper on Starbucks CD track selections - good stuff. Drank from the paper cup dramatically. Must learn about this "third place" of which he speaks, the place between home and work, the place we need to fill the void of the social. 9000 Starbucks! The guy next to me on the plane (see last post) said, "I don't know whether to move back to North Carolina and open a Starbucks or a bowling alley?" duh, if you can't be a rock critic, open up a Starbucks. lucrative.
Nate Harrison: played a fucking acetate of his paper about the "Amen" break by the Winstons and its history in jungle. dude! He then made a great argument for fair use - information wants to be free - and well, then the record was done. Wish people would have asked more abt his process.
Fred Maus: talked about "Deadbeat Club" in terms of dealing with the AIDS crisis, through close listening. I was a little lost at first and then there was the 'damn, that's smart' moment at the end. Used the word 'ventriliquise' - bang!
Ted Widmer: most unlikely jobswitch - fake band to Clinton speech writer. Amazing. was in a band called Upper Crust, 18th century noble wannabes whose high point was opening for Aerosmith in Boston and a hilarious night on Conan. Best song "Sting, where art thou death?" best cover: "Monarcy in the USA"
Sara Shurr: High priestess of Philly indie, part-time drag troupe girlie girl. Awesomely weird footage of her Bob n' Barbaras (!) pals in all sorts of poses. Best moment: very large gay man in a Pop Tart box singing Gypsy Rose.
Amy Phillips: The kiddie of EMP talks about age(ism) and played disembodied voices of the crowd - got people thinking all weekend long about how we don't mind calling out age as if it were not somehow a paranoid factor of biography. Quarter life crisis, an upswing in said phrase?
Evelyn McDonnell: How awesome is she? talked about Miami's unheralded influence on a decade of hip hop. It's more than blink and beach - people pay attention. South Beach was segregated until very recently, she said. Sick.
Ned Sublette: best storyteller, hands down. "As an experiment, I was moved from 2nd grade to 7th grade, and that is where I developed my love of giantesses." Imagine said with a Northern Louisiana accent. Amazing. talked about the sex slavery of the Americas, and how domestic production of slaves was the south's true cash crop. Also talked abt the Mardi Gras indians. Boy am I glad I didn't try to give that paper.
Carl Wilson: talking about how singer/songwriters take on band names to deflect the connotations of the 1970s. Ann made a good point: that it also deflects the overt lust of a female fanbase, unless yr Conor. Smarty panel "the autobiographical fallacy" - a new staple thing to say and think about.
Lenny Kaye: Okay, a paper about crooners, one of my favorite topics. Head-tilted sung examples, talk of double "oo" vowel stretches, whisper into the female ear. And Lenny Kaye, fercryingoutloud!
Daphne Brooks: what would black feminist rock criticism look like? I wish it looked just like Daphne Brooks. How awesome is she? Arguing for new language and new vision, embracing multi-genres and questioning the given truths of your own identity.
Keith Harris: used the term "hickface" to describe latterday Bruce. Totally valid. Also used the word "sexily" which is, I think the word that least resembles itself in soundform. Sex-il-ee. He's right tho - that Toby Keith song about beer for horses is like the most racist bullshit ever - shame on you, Willie.
Will Hermes: not so secret jam band lover talking about the 'acoustic set' as a precursor to death. great phrase "the warm glow of existential dread that is so very French." also used the word brio, which should be used often and vigorously. Dude, what about the ladies? For us acoustic is 'normal,' rock is the courtship of demons.
Chris Nickson: reggae man. I know so little about reggae I can't even tell you. He played a lot of amazing examples of reggae that had been 'stringsed up' to be more popular for a British audience, and then examples of how British reggae changed with the black conciousness movement. I am schooled.
Mica Hilson: has the best conference voice ever. Talked about 'synth zombies" and whiteness, the new marked! use of conditional in lyrics as sublimation of desire, the overwhelming, high place of swirls and swelling keys over dead vox. made me want to DJ or start a band. Am I a zombie? don't answer that.
Peter Mercer-Taylor: winner for most unlikely paper. A Mendelssohn scholar with a love of black metal deconstructs a Cradle of Filth song as if it were an opera, all in a deep southern accent. "If I weren't here right now, I'd be singing in my church choir." He said it twice, I believed it both times.
Eric Weisbard: caught only a bit of his paper (what's up with the conference host switching his own panel around?) talking about Buddy Holocaust. I'll email him for the paper and re-report since I only caught the 'and in conclusion, people said this was an act of necromusicology,' which is of course intriguing and yet another word brought into my brain this fine weekend.
will add links tomorrow. should like, do some schoolwork now.
if you'd like to read my paper "Dancing, Democracy and Kitsch: Poland's disco-polo" - email me. I'll send it with some mp3s and pix. am just keeping it DL cause I'd like to publish something from it...
4.18.2005
a promise, but not bunnymenesque
just got back from EMP - great, amazing, many new friends and great ideas. will blog tomorrow.
in the meantime, make your own annoying conference paper at home with this cool link. Refresh for the truly inane wonder!
just thinking how i was writing about going to the fischerspooner record release party as part of my study of art school pop, and this guy next to me struck up a conversation about living in the city. he told me how he spends 20 days running an internet business in new york, and 10 days living in north carolina raising cattle (what do the cows do the other 20 days, play shuffleboard?). he promised that one day when he's dining in nyc and I walk in a doctor, he'll send over a bottle of champagne, signed 'the redneck.' don't know why, but this is one more thing to look forward to.
in the meantime, make your own annoying conference paper at home with this cool link. Refresh for the truly inane wonder!
just thinking how i was writing about going to the fischerspooner record release party as part of my study of art school pop, and this guy next to me struck up a conversation about living in the city. he told me how he spends 20 days running an internet business in new york, and 10 days living in north carolina raising cattle (what do the cows do the other 20 days, play shuffleboard?). he promised that one day when he's dining in nyc and I walk in a doctor, he'll send over a bottle of champagne, signed 'the redneck.' don't know why, but this is one more thing to look forward to.
4.09.2005
zines: books about them as they become obsolete
Just saw a post about the book DIY: The Rise of Lo-fi Culture by Amy Spencer. It looks promising - ahh, summer reading! I wish more stuff like this had been around when I did my undergrad thesis on DIY publishing - the only text I knew at the time was Stephen Duncombe's "Zines," which is a great book, but not broadly historical.
He was on my defense panel, and when I brought copies of my favorite little pubs in, he curled away - overexposure. Although I can't really imagine someone like him really sitting around reading Wallpaper to balance it out.
That said, you may remember that I was running a zine last year and that well, it died. Simple - no longer free access to a copier. I've had a promise from an awesome friend for him to teach me basic bookbinding so that I can make little books, which I would like to do, and perhaps that will spark me. In the meantime, check out Evil Twin Publications, who make just the type of thing I see in my head when I think 'zines for grown ups.'
Inspired, I think, by a great conversation by my old friend Molly last night, who was telling her beau that I was 'the rebel' in high school, and about how my zine almost got me kicked out. Oh, to have my writing affect such angst now !
He was on my defense panel, and when I brought copies of my favorite little pubs in, he curled away - overexposure. Although I can't really imagine someone like him really sitting around reading Wallpaper to balance it out.
That said, you may remember that I was running a zine last year and that well, it died. Simple - no longer free access to a copier. I've had a promise from an awesome friend for him to teach me basic bookbinding so that I can make little books, which I would like to do, and perhaps that will spark me. In the meantime, check out Evil Twin Publications, who make just the type of thing I see in my head when I think 'zines for grown ups.'
Inspired, I think, by a great conversation by my old friend Molly last night, who was telling her beau that I was 'the rebel' in high school, and about how my zine almost got me kicked out. Oh, to have my writing affect such angst now !
4.06.2005
italo disco polo euro hi-nrgy house (of pain and papers)
oh my! the only thing lamer than having too much work to do on a beautiful day is blogging about it. duh.
Anyone in town April 16, who is a raving Messiaen fan or Cabaret Voltaire fan, should go to Why Birds Sing at NYU. A little different than your given Jason King explosion, but good none the less.
Anyone in town April 16, who is a raving Messiaen fan or Cabaret Voltaire fan, should go to Why Birds Sing at NYU. A little different than your given Jason King explosion, but good none the less.
4.04.2005
child's play
In the "Youth Is Wasted On Our Young" dept. isn't there something slightly off about Avril and Usher being the childrens' choice winners at Nickelodeon? Sparked to think that the Britney-haters (the legions, who, like truly cynical cultural critics, have never listened to her, rather just know her media blitz) must be confused now, what with the bubbles popped, Frankie and Annette have grown up, gone dirty n' low. In the collapse, Green Day is a Grammy winner, a Rolling Stone cover, a former crusty punk band and the childrens' choice award. How is it true that we live in a world of niche? Maybe they ONLY sell American Idiot at Walmart - maybe I'm missing something.
In the cyclical nature of appropriation/influence, here's Gipsy, a Czech-Romani rapper who bears an uncanny vocal resemblance to Eminem. The skits on the full-length are sort of painful, but his lyrics are mostly great, his characters suffering everyday problems rendered tragic by their constant recall to the crap situation Romani have in the CZ. Anyone who's read Kafka's The Trial knows what I mean.
In the cyclical nature of appropriation/influence, here's Gipsy, a Czech-Romani rapper who bears an uncanny vocal resemblance to Eminem. The skits on the full-length are sort of painful, but his lyrics are mostly great, his characters suffering everyday problems rendered tragic by their constant recall to the crap situation Romani have in the CZ. Anyone who's read Kafka's The Trial knows what I mean.
4.03.2005
grotesque velveteen swagger
He he he.
Went to see some Vaclav Havel plays at a little black box on 42nd, not a normal thing for me, and heard Devola, this super-young prog-metal troupe with a very, very serious female lead singer who channelled PJ through the Creed dude, which was weird and funny. Their kit had a sticker that said emo sucks, which is like the "skateboarding is not a crime" or "punk's not dead" of the early aughts. The Audience, The Unveiling, Protest. Great as a trilogy, the last is autobigraphically about the writing of Charter 77 in support of The Plastic People of the Universe (hey, one of those people ain't no plastic!). So the band thing. worked.
Then, he he he. Saw Something for Rockets at the Tribeca Grand. some people say things like this of the music:
"this grotesque velveteen swagger and the droll God-I-wish-this-were-ironic stupidity of his lyrics"
But 'he' is my friend's friend, and they are BIG supporters of USE, even filmed them for a SXSW MTV report, so I could not talk too much trash. Still, it did have this made-in-LA, post-Lynchian horror feel to it. Cohorts affirmed the nostalgic d n'b feel of several songs, reminding me of Lamb, but less frentic or chopped, more crazy clown crooning and laptoppy blah blah.
Then went dancing with the kids at Dave P's DJ thing - good times, tho the weird, no lights (not even par cans, no moving fixtures, totally just *dark*) is annoying. Is it just me, or is lighting a hot, crowded basement bar with votives a recipe for disaster?
Went to see some Vaclav Havel plays at a little black box on 42nd, not a normal thing for me, and heard Devola, this super-young prog-metal troupe with a very, very serious female lead singer who channelled PJ through the Creed dude, which was weird and funny. Their kit had a sticker that said emo sucks, which is like the "skateboarding is not a crime" or "punk's not dead" of the early aughts. The Audience, The Unveiling, Protest. Great as a trilogy, the last is autobigraphically about the writing of Charter 77 in support of The Plastic People of the Universe (hey, one of those people ain't no plastic!). So the band thing. worked.
Then, he he he. Saw Something for Rockets at the Tribeca Grand. some people say things like this of the music:
"this grotesque velveteen swagger and the droll God-I-wish-this-were-ironic stupidity of his lyrics"
But 'he' is my friend's friend, and they are BIG supporters of USE, even filmed them for a SXSW MTV report, so I could not talk too much trash. Still, it did have this made-in-LA, post-Lynchian horror feel to it. Cohorts affirmed the nostalgic d n'b feel of several songs, reminding me of Lamb, but less frentic or chopped, more crazy clown crooning and laptoppy blah blah.
Then went dancing with the kids at Dave P's DJ thing - good times, tho the weird, no lights (not even par cans, no moving fixtures, totally just *dark*) is annoying. Is it just me, or is lighting a hot, crowded basement bar with votives a recipe for disaster?
4.01.2005
the pope of pop culture
This might be really tasteless, and you know, half the reason I was so sad last night was reading Douglas Brinkley's excellent tribute to Hunter S. in Rolling Stone:
"Once the reality struck Juan, he thought about what Hunter would have wanted him to do. Carefully, Juan wrapped his father's body in gold scarves. He then walked outside, in a state of sadness and anger, and fired a nickel-plated 12-guage shotgun into the Western sky. Eventually Sheriff Bob Braudis - one of Hunter's closest friends - was called and the coroner arrived. The official time of his death was 5:42 pm."
Wrapped in gold scarves. Isn't this what everyone wants in life, to have someone who will intuitively swaddle you in beautiful things, even as you expire?
But, before I get too deep about death - I was thinking, I used to be Catholic, and if I could vote for the new pope, who would I choose? My first thought was Bjork, because she could bring the formality and ritual into a glitch-filled modern era, and would look great in gold filigree.
Then there's Sufjan Stevens, who would issue an era of musical understanding unto the world. Rome would just add another state to his list though, so he'd have to rule from one of his test sites.
Ozzy? He's got the kitsch, and just think of the ratings for THAT reality show. But, like the pope this year at Easter, I doubt he would be able to make it through the Latin mass.
Then there's Sinead and Bono, the obvious choices. So far, she's been too lusty and well, he'd have to take a pay cut.
Thing is, this is an important, world-affecting regime change with no democratic input and the potential to lead to further conservative standpoints (on women in the priesthood, family planning, gay-rights, celibacy etc), or even brutally regressive stances that will no doubt curry favor with our charming right-wing 'culture of life' and conservative social systems in Catholicism's worldwide followings. In other words, I'm not one for praying, but I today I pray for a new, liberal and progressive hand driving the Pope-mobile.
UPDATE: the ny times looks at the spectacle of JPII as a rock star
"Once the reality struck Juan, he thought about what Hunter would have wanted him to do. Carefully, Juan wrapped his father's body in gold scarves. He then walked outside, in a state of sadness and anger, and fired a nickel-plated 12-guage shotgun into the Western sky. Eventually Sheriff Bob Braudis - one of Hunter's closest friends - was called and the coroner arrived. The official time of his death was 5:42 pm."
Wrapped in gold scarves. Isn't this what everyone wants in life, to have someone who will intuitively swaddle you in beautiful things, even as you expire?
But, before I get too deep about death - I was thinking, I used to be Catholic, and if I could vote for the new pope, who would I choose? My first thought was Bjork, because she could bring the formality and ritual into a glitch-filled modern era, and would look great in gold filigree.
Then there's Sufjan Stevens, who would issue an era of musical understanding unto the world. Rome would just add another state to his list though, so he'd have to rule from one of his test sites.
Ozzy? He's got the kitsch, and just think of the ratings for THAT reality show. But, like the pope this year at Easter, I doubt he would be able to make it through the Latin mass.
Then there's Sinead and Bono, the obvious choices. So far, she's been too lusty and well, he'd have to take a pay cut.
Thing is, this is an important, world-affecting regime change with no democratic input and the potential to lead to further conservative standpoints (on women in the priesthood, family planning, gay-rights, celibacy etc), or even brutally regressive stances that will no doubt curry favor with our charming right-wing 'culture of life' and conservative social systems in Catholicism's worldwide followings. In other words, I'm not one for praying, but I today I pray for a new, liberal and progressive hand driving the Pope-mobile.
UPDATE: the ny times looks at the spectacle of JPII as a rock star
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