Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Punk and the swastika

for a certain somebody
Okay so some of the punks back then were kinda dumb,but they were young and could relate to the feeling of being in Nazi Germany(oppression of labor unions, Powell,etc.) Did I mention that Johnny Rotten had a great love of Reggae and Siouxsie would later fully speak out against racism? Read the whole feature, it's a tad bitter in places, but it's a lot more complicated than just "punks wearing swastikas are ultimately racist!" Was it a stupid gesture? Yes. Was it somewhat, perhaps a tiny bit understandable in context of their surrounding environment? Also yes.

Monday, August 29, 2011

call me fucking stupid

But I'm actually kinda happy a hip hop artist with D.I.Y. internet Roots won an MTV award And anyway, couldn't A tribe called quest also be grouped under the White hipster fanbase genre of rap? Methinks there's a bit of ageism going on here.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

thoughts

Imperial Bedroom: It's a much less unnerving version of Pinkerton set in a jazz bar. Poor lil Declan mopes and mulls over whether to talk to a girl, scolds himself for not being the right type and regrets past loves that went sour. And he's not at all sarcastic about it; he's quite, reserved and,well, sad. It's quite a far cry from the sarcastic Costello many were used to on his earlier stuff. While it lacks the agonized wail of a Gordan Gano, say, Imperial Bedroom is the best damned Jazzy emo precursor out there. Get of yer ass and get it.

Crazy Rhythms: The rhythms aren't crazy, but they're good. Pitchfork called this geek rock and I'd agree in some respect; Loveless love, Moscow Nights and Original love deal with the yearn of no longer being a virgin,but most of the time, this record sounds like a really good garage band tuning up and practicing, giving it all a nice suburban "we're rocking out to beat ennui" vibe.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Assesments

Mission Of Burma: Like the Minutemen, they aren't so much punk as acoustic rock and as much as I hate to say it, this didn't draw me in. The guitars on All world cowboy romance were quite impressive, but overall it didn't have the catchy hook of a "Shit from an old notebook" or the smooth softness of "Do you want New Wave or do you want the truth"

Young Marble Giants: Now this? Incredible- these guys flirted with everything from pre 8 bit noises on "The Taxi"(Seriously, these guys coulda been video game composers if they wanted to) to simple guitar pop on "Wurlitzer Juke box" t0 the60s spaghetti western guitar sound on " Choci Loni" and the lady's voice makes it all even more unnerving. No wonder they didn't record another album, it probably couldn't top this one! Bravo kids, bravo!

Next up: Imperial Bedroom and Crazy Rhythms.

In which I peruse selections from the Pitchfork various best album of the (insert decade here)

I went to bed early last night and with not much to do, I decided to check out Pitchfork's picks for best albums of the 70s, 80s, and 90s- here's the ones picked out as most intriguing either due to a lyric sample or description alone:

80s:
Imperial Bedroom-Elvis Costello: apparently, this was quite the personal album. Oh, and I have to thank him for producing Rum,sodomy and the lash of course.
Fear and Whisky-Mekons- described by Eric Carr as a " drunken redneck lecturing on socialist economic policies" I am in!
Signals, Call and Marches- Mission to Burma: Academy fight song is a catchy sonovabitch(okay, it's not on this album, but still) and That's when I reach for my revolver packs an emotional wallop(why the fuck hasn't it been used in some remake of Hamlet?) so why else wouldn't you want to listen?

Crazy Rythyms- The Feelies: Being impressed with their cover of Paint it Black,making the sitar filled classic into a low key yet rallying cry for raining on people's parades(I assume) and their original Boy with Perpetual nervousness, I decided to check out the rest of their album. Oh and Brendan reid says they were a precursor to Weezer only obviously not as creepy as River Cumuo(let's hope)

And don't the Kids just love it- Televison Personalities:Pitchfork sez these guys invented Twee, but to me, stuff like This Angry Silence or Part time punk highlights something darker: it's basically a much sadder version of Charlie Brown. Twee's actually more cheerful even when it talks about relationship problems

Colossal Youth-Young Marble Giants: The final Day is a short, disturbing gem, and apparently, the morbidly fascinating idea of the apocalypse haunts the rest of the album too:
Though the album's spare, perfectly placed strokes of guitar, bass, organ, and voice would have more of an effect on mopey slowcore types and basement four-trackers, the ineffable thing about the Giants' music was how simultaneously haunting and cheery they could be. "Eating Noddemix" is music for brushing your teeth to the morning after an apocalypse, and the inimitable "Wurlitzer Jukebox" is a dance track for the last man on earth, with a geiger counter relentlessly ticking out the beat. Om, baby, yeah. --Brendan Reid

Brushing teeth?A Geiger counter? Oh Boy!

E2-E4-Manuel Göttsching. The last name alone sold me


70s:

Band of Gypsies- Jimi Hendrix: Never heard this one, nuff said.

A tribute to Jack Johnson-Miles Davis: Not a fan of boxing,but this somehow intriguied me

Historie de Melody Nelson-Serge Gainsbourg: Apparently a very creepy album about Serge's ladyfriend. Sounds like another precursor to Pinkerton


I'll do the 90s list tomorrow, but today's selection I chose to download Young Marble Giants' Colossal Youth and Misson Of Burma's Signals, Calls and Marches. My reviews will come soon.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Book O Mormon

Didn't get to see the musical,but I got the broadway cast recording and shall be listening to it. Methinks "Fuck you, God" may very well be on par with that of The Pogues' gallows humor, vulgar semi religious anthems such as Sickbed of Cuchulain or Sally Mcleanne, but we shall see.