A-A-AA-AH-WOOOOOOO!
Up all night looking for Warren Zevon related videos on Youtube. I still don't know what the hell business he has bein' dead. Some people should be too sarcastic to die. I'm noticing how much his stuff all feels like the same body of work. Well, yeah, duh, but MORESO than most musicians, like it's different chapters of the same novel, a kind of magical realist fool's journey from romantic drug addict werewolf fuck-up to gettin' older and travelling the world and finally layin on the beach in Hawaii after your girlfriend dumped you for the Hula Hula Boys but finding a kind of black-hearted peace to, finally, death and dying and finding a measure of self worth in the face of the vast indifference of heaven.
It would start "Warren woke up early on sunday morning, roused to a kind of half-assed imitation of action by Mrs. Jambowski chasing a feral black Tom cat with a stick and swearing in Polish."
Anyway, the technorati widget wants me to "claim" my blog. Which I thought I already did. It's my fuckin' blog. So I need to do this link:
Technorati Profile
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
Hunt for Oracle
Smashing Pumpkins - Tarantulla
I'm really not a fan of the "I'm a tortured artist SOB!" sub-genre of pop music in general or the Smashing Pumpkins in absolute particular, despite my enthusiastic appreciation for bald dudes as a species. And the Pumps fail my somewhat-subjective-but-still-surprisingly-accurate "Do I feel a little bit embarrassed for a band after typing there name more than ? test, which mostly parallels the relative suckiness of band and band name.
Really, folks. Try it at home. Smashing Pumpkins, Smashing Pumpkins, Smash... Ah geeez, the poor guys. Couldn't they have picked a poor name?
But this tune doesn't bug me much. Precise, machine gun drummin' is ALWAYS a good way to start your rock song and I dig the slightly atonal overdubbed background vocals and the surprisingly-metal-for-an-"alternative" band guitar solo. I'd almost rate it as good, 'cept I haven't given the lyrics a thorough listen and I'm afraid that if I do listen to the words it'll ruin my enjoyment of the song so I don't wanna do that.
Still, for a reworked cash-in-on-a-name-that-was-famous-ten-years-ago reunion tour version of a band I never dug much, this is a spectacular success, or at least beats the reformed Eagles or Stooges (which represent the two musical extremes the Pumpkins fall 'bout half-way between pretty well) all t'hell.
Blue Scholars - North By Northwest
"Poetic lyricism with beats you can dance to. Marxist theory with Baha'i spirituality. Musical influences ranging from Thelonius Monk and Aphex Twin to Marvin Gaye and J Dilla."
I'm gonna Shuffle away from the pop radio for a second 'cause, honestly, my tolerance for music marketed at the kids half my age is kinda limited, we got a cut from the number one most played album on Seattle's KEXP, the station I spend most of my time streamin' when I'm hanging out at home in my pirate costume and scroungin' online for good deals on used parrots.
The 'bove quote from B.S.'s Myspace gives you a pretty good idea what this here band's about: Blue Scholars are a Seattle-based hip-hop group who spout an EXTREMELY Pacific Northwesty brand of commun0-anarchic laid-back liberalism. But at least on this track they do it over some cheerfully funky horn loops and scratched up gospel snippets, name-checking Thelonious Monk and Transformers along the way. On the downside, there's nothin' absolutely revolutionary on this cut and EmCee Geologic could certainly afford rockthe mike with a little more (HA! I made a funny!) with that KRS-ONE fire in th' belly. At the end of the day it's more good in the sense of being, um, good than good in the sense of "oh-they-probably-donate-to-the-NAACP-too so I should probably buy their album and play it very softly whilst driving my hybrid down to Whole Foods to see what new foods they have that are made out of hemp" sorta way. But I do wonder if it wouldn't do the band good to get away from Seattle and the kind of sleepy malaise that defines the city. A little more vibrancy and a little more urgency would make their positive "get off your ass and make art and fuck the major labels" hit home quite-a-bit harder.
I'm really not a fan of the "I'm a tortured artist SOB!" sub-genre of pop music in general or the Smashing Pumpkins in absolute particular, despite my enthusiastic appreciation for bald dudes as a species. And the Pumps fail my somewhat-subjective-but-still-surprisingly-accurate "Do I feel a little bit embarrassed for a band after typing there name more than ? test, which mostly parallels the relative suckiness of band and band name.
Really, folks. Try it at home. Smashing Pumpkins, Smashing Pumpkins, Smash... Ah geeez, the poor guys. Couldn't they have picked a poor name?
But this tune doesn't bug me much. Precise, machine gun drummin' is ALWAYS a good way to start your rock song and I dig the slightly atonal overdubbed background vocals and the surprisingly-metal-for-an-"alternative" band guitar solo. I'd almost rate it as good, 'cept I haven't given the lyrics a thorough listen and I'm afraid that if I do listen to the words it'll ruin my enjoyment of the song so I don't wanna do that.
Still, for a reworked cash-in-on-a-name-that-was-famous-ten-years-ago reunion tour version of a band I never dug much, this is a spectacular success, or at least beats the reformed Eagles or Stooges (which represent the two musical extremes the Pumpkins fall 'bout half-way between pretty well) all t'hell.
Blue Scholars - North By Northwest
"Poetic lyricism with beats you can dance to. Marxist theory with Baha'i spirituality. Musical influences ranging from Thelonius Monk and Aphex Twin to Marvin Gaye and J Dilla."
I'm gonna Shuffle away from the pop radio for a second 'cause, honestly, my tolerance for music marketed at the kids half my age is kinda limited, we got a cut from the number one most played album on Seattle's KEXP, the station I spend most of my time streamin' when I'm hanging out at home in my pirate costume and scroungin' online for good deals on used parrots.
The 'bove quote from B.S.'s Myspace gives you a pretty good idea what this here band's about: Blue Scholars are a Seattle-based hip-hop group who spout an EXTREMELY Pacific Northwesty brand of commun0-anarchic laid-back liberalism. But at least on this track they do it over some cheerfully funky horn loops and scratched up gospel snippets, name-checking Thelonious Monk and Transformers along the way. On the downside, there's nothin' absolutely revolutionary on this cut and EmCee Geologic could certainly afford rockthe mike with a little more (HA! I made a funny!) with that KRS-ONE fire in th' belly. At the end of the day it's more good in the sense of being, um, good than good in the sense of "oh-they-probably-donate-to-the-NAACP-too so I should probably buy their album and play it very softly whilst driving my hybrid down to Whole Foods to see what new foods they have that are made out of hemp" sorta way. But I do wonder if it wouldn't do the band good to get away from Seattle and the kind of sleepy malaise that defines the city. A little more vibrancy and a little more urgency would make their positive "get off your ass and make art and fuck the major labels" hit home quite-a-bit harder.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Slip you in the dozens, you papa and you cousin
Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls
The Jamaicanisation of American culture continues with this little ditty which is, like, the fifty seventh reggae tinged single introduced to pop radio this month. Are the Carribean people trying to infiltrate out culture and take the States over? It's a terrifyin' thought. If the research I just invented is correct, you have to... BY LAW!... lie around on the beach smokin' pot for AT LEAST four hours a day? None of our corporate middle managers would survive that kind of lack of pressure.
And I'm sure there would be a down-side to this, too.
Anyway, I like this jam. It would be the feel good hit of the summer if the major hook was about happy, happy bunnies having rabbitsex or somesuch instead of offing yourself. Anyway it's got a kind of laid back Chuck Berry's Havana Moon type a feel to it with it's slowed down Stand By Me riff, full of soul crushing longing and despair but the mellow type of soul crushing longing and despair.
Some lyrical stupidity towards the end mars this song a bit: I'm losing my mind, and I don't think it's clever doesn't actually make a whole lot of sense, although I suppose it flows better than I'm losing my mind and AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! ELVES! ELVES CARRYING GIANT SPOONS ARE BUILDING CONDOMINIUMS IN MY PUBIC HAIR! AIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!
And, really, this tune is so damn SUMMERY that it might not have the same resonance when you're trying to find your car under six feet of snow in the middle of January, but right here and right now it's one of the highlights of summer music, circa 2007.
You're much too beautiful girl
That's why it'll never work
You'll have me suicidal/Suicidal
When you say it's over
That's why it'll never work
You'll have me suicidal/Suicidal
When you say it's over
The Jamaicanisation of American culture continues with this little ditty which is, like, the fifty seventh reggae tinged single introduced to pop radio this month. Are the Carribean people trying to infiltrate out culture and take the States over? It's a terrifyin' thought. If the research I just invented is correct, you have to... BY LAW!... lie around on the beach smokin' pot for AT LEAST four hours a day? None of our corporate middle managers would survive that kind of lack of pressure.
And I'm sure there would be a down-side to this, too.
Anyway, I like this jam. It would be the feel good hit of the summer if the major hook was about happy, happy bunnies having rabbitsex or somesuch instead of offing yourself. Anyway it's got a kind of laid back Chuck Berry's Havana Moon type a feel to it with it's slowed down Stand By Me riff, full of soul crushing longing and despair but the mellow type of soul crushing longing and despair.
Some lyrical stupidity towards the end mars this song a bit: I'm losing my mind, and I don't think it's clever doesn't actually make a whole lot of sense, although I suppose it flows better than I'm losing my mind and AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! ELVES! ELVES CARRYING GIANT SPOONS ARE BUILDING CONDOMINIUMS IN MY PUBIC HAIR! AIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!
And, really, this tune is so damn SUMMERY that it might not have the same resonance when you're trying to find your car under six feet of snow in the middle of January, but right here and right now it's one of the highlights of summer music, circa 2007.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Ah what the hell... Let's try this thing.
And let's see what's on the radio right now.
Hurricane Chris - A Bay Bay
Really, I'm all for lyrical economy. But three years into the L'il Jon era I'm getting a tad nostalgic for hip hop songs with more than seven words, total. This is almost like "generic" rap, from the Dre style TWEE-eee-eee-eee sounding keyboard fill to the lyrics, which feel like rap bingo. A - 7 Chains! B - 7 Strippers! C-14 In DA CLUB!
Bingo motherfuckers! Just Got A Cadillac!
The best part is the background rapper who repeats A BAY BAY after the lead hurricane and sounds kinda like the Arnold from Different Strokes, which increases this tune's awesomeness factor by, like, 17.
I also kind of dig the ending where there's a bunch of cheering when the song's over. I can relate.
Justin Timberlake - My Love
Y'know, if you were a tweenypop star and you were setting out to prove that your all grown up by talking about booties and sex and saying "motherfucker" 'n stuff... You should probably get a guest rapper with a little more street cred than than the Pilsbury Doughboy.
Just sayin'.
Hurricane Chris - A Bay Bay
Really, I'm all for lyrical economy. But three years into the L'il Jon era I'm getting a tad nostalgic for hip hop songs with more than seven words, total. This is almost like "generic" rap, from the Dre style TWEE-eee-eee-eee sounding keyboard fill to the lyrics, which feel like rap bingo. A - 7 Chains! B - 7 Strippers! C-14 In DA CLUB!
Bingo motherfuckers! Just Got A Cadillac!
The best part is the background rapper who repeats A BAY BAY after the lead hurricane and sounds kinda like the Arnold from Different Strokes, which increases this tune's awesomeness factor by, like, 17.
I also kind of dig the ending where there's a bunch of cheering when the song's over. I can relate.
Justin Timberlake - My Love
Y'know, if you were a tweenypop star and you were setting out to prove that your all grown up by talking about booties and sex and saying "motherfucker" 'n stuff... You should probably get a guest rapper with a little more street cred than than the Pilsbury Doughboy.
Just sayin'.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Q: So, What Have We Here?
A: Sarcastically dismissive pop Music reviews by a guy who's too old to care, really.
Q: Too old? Come Again?
A: You know how you're in your teens and popular music is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING in the WHOLE WORLD and you're lying on your bed crying into your pillow because Johnny went to the prom with Suzy and only the Britney understands the depth of your loss?
Yeah, I'm older than that.
Q: So if you don't care about Pop music, what are you doin' here?
A: Just because I don't understand or care doesn't mean I don't.... Nah, screw it. There's still a bunch of stuff I like, even at my advanced age. And there was always a bunch of stuff I hated. Here's the thing: I don't love popular music, don't hate it, my identity isn't defined by it, but I'm not indifferent to it. That puts me in a unique position to review it.
Plus I'm a sarcastic asshole, and I need an outlet for that.
As for deeper meanings, call this a combination of up-to-the-minute sociological analysis of our culture as defined by it's music and an old guy sitting in a rocking chair with a shotgun yelling "Hey Kids! Get off my lawn!"
And sometimes I might talk about stuff I like, too. I'm keeping the format as open as possible, I think. I'm a cool type-a bruther. We'll see where it goes.
Q: Too old? Come Again?
A: You know how you're in your teens and popular music is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING in the WHOLE WORLD and you're lying on your bed crying into your pillow because Johnny went to the prom with Suzy and only the Britney understands the depth of your loss?
Yeah, I'm older than that.
Q: So if you don't care about Pop music, what are you doin' here?
A: Just because I don't understand or care doesn't mean I don't.... Nah, screw it. There's still a bunch of stuff I like, even at my advanced age. And there was always a bunch of stuff I hated. Here's the thing: I don't love popular music, don't hate it, my identity isn't defined by it, but I'm not indifferent to it. That puts me in a unique position to review it.
Plus I'm a sarcastic asshole, and I need an outlet for that.
As for deeper meanings, call this a combination of up-to-the-minute sociological analysis of our culture as defined by it's music and an old guy sitting in a rocking chair with a shotgun yelling "Hey Kids! Get off my lawn!"
And sometimes I might talk about stuff I like, too. I'm keeping the format as open as possible, I think. I'm a cool type-a bruther. We'll see where it goes.
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