I have finally finished my dissertation prospectus, and I'm going to try a little experiment: posting some of it here. I've mentioned my project in at least one other post, so I thought that it might make sense to put some of it here. Ultimately, though, I'm doing this for a couple reasons. First, it feels like a monumental achievement (even though I know that the hard work is really ahead of me now), and I want to show it off. Second, I'm happy to hear comments, suggestions, etc. that might help make it better. In the interest of not overwhelming anyone, I'm going to leave out my literature review and just put in the stuff that outlines what my project will be. Enjoy!
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A Brave New Economy: Rhetoric, Identity, Privilege, and Economic Citizenship in the 21st Century
On September 14, 2008, Lehman Brothers, one of the largest investment banks in the United States closed its doors and filed the largest bankruptcy in the country’s history ($613 billion in debt at the time of the filing). The same day Merrill Lynch, another large investment, bank, announced that it was being purchased by Bank of America. While the economy had been slowing down for all of 2008 prior to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, this unfortunate event became the most visible touchstone for a sharp, sudden downturn in the American economy, which in turn resonated through other economies around the world. This downturn has been referred to as the biggest since the Great Depression. The U.S. Department of Labor reports that “Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has grown by about 5.3 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 3.4 percentage points. Half of the increase in both the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate occurred in the last 4 months.”[i]
Since then, the Federal Government has stepped in with a few substantial programs to address the financial crisis that has erupted since September 2008. On October 3, 2008, George W. Bush signed into law the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which established the Troubled Assets Relief Program, among other things. This program enabled the Secretary of the Treasury to use $700 billion to purchase or insure troubled assets owned by financial institutions that they could not get rid of or sell on their own because they would result in a huge loss for the companies and worsen the economic crisis. Measures authorized by this program included bailout money to some of the country’s largest investment banks, major American auto manufacturing companies, insurance companies, and mortgage brokers. On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which instituted a number of measures designed to stem the tide of economic decline. Among the measures included were tax cuts, expansion of unemployment benefits and other social welfare provisions, as well as domestic spending in education, health care, infrastructure, and energy. On June 1, 2009, President Barack Obama announced the bankruptcy and structured reorganization of General Motors, the nation’s largest auto manufacturer. The agreement resulted in the federal government taking a 60% ownership stake in General Motors. These events have shaken Americans’ perception of its economy to its core. As a result, the sudden and strong economic recession combined with numerous rounds of bailouts instigated a moment of reflection among individuals and groups throughout the country. Specifically, this cultural moment has opened a space to examine the way that identities are constantly made and remade. The identity of the CEO, the hourly worker, the union member, the consumer, the producer, and even the citizen are in question after the destabilization of the American economy in 2008. These identities are not just a matter of introspection but are always manifested in relationships that involve questions of power, status, and privilege.[ii] These questions of identity are both affected by and affect “the articulation of identities, ideologies, consciousness, communities, publics, and cultures.”[iii] The relationship between identity negotiation and questions of privilege and power are, therefore, necessarily rhetorical, since they involve “the mobilization of signs” for that very purpose.[iv]
In my dissertation, I would like to examine the relationship between privilege and identity that have contributed to the (re)definition of economic citizenship in the economic crisis and bailouts. I am interested in understanding how privilege and identity have come to be understood and have affected the way that American people have situated themselves both individually and communally, particularly with relation to the American economic apparatus. This project seeks to engage the following questions thoroughly: how have Americans come to understand themselves in light of the worst American recession since the Great Depression? What kind of economic citizen have discourses regarding both the economic crisis and the Federal Government’s response to it produced? How has this production happened? What are the conditions of possibility for this rhetorical reorientation of social relations in relation to the economic bailouts of late 2008 and 2009? How has our understanding of privilege shifted in light of these new circumstances, and how has this shift affected identity formation and negotiation on both individual and communal levels?
I argue that the rhetorical articulation of the bailouts in the United States at this time produces an economic citizen with an enhanced sense of personal responsibility to engage the economy in new ways. Overall, though, these discourses become configurations of a larger populist narrative that emerges around this time that has two prominent strains: one pits “the people” against Wall Street investors and CEOs who, from this perspective are primarily to blame for causing the crisis; the other sets “the people” in opposition to the Federal Government and finds fault with its response to the economic crisis. These two strands of populism presume a negative sense of privilege in its characterization of “elites,” a more positive sense of privilege in its positive view of “the people” in the United States, and various points along this continuum. “The people” presume the right to speak out against the injustices they see. They also demand accountability from the ones they hold responsible for the economic crisis, and they seek new ways of engaging with the broader economic landscape throughout the United States. This engagement takes numerous forms, and some of those forms will be examined as case studies in the chapters of this dissertation.
Case Studies
This project’s first two case studies will examine public rhetoric surrounding the to major types of bailouts effected in late 2008 and 2009: bank and auto bailouts (messages of economic bailouts that were widely public, not technical or esoteric discourses involving economic theory). These two case studies should exist in a dialogue with each other to outline similarities and discontinuities between bailouts of banks and automotive industries. The first case study will examine the rhetoric related to the bailouts of the banking industry in late 2008. I will investigate the way that these bailouts were discussed in popular discourses, focusing on issues related to the bailout including questions of fairness and responsibility in company and CEO practices. Specifically, this case study will examine speeches by members of Congress and President Bush around the time of the passage of the bank bailout bill, the public scrutiny surrounding exorbitant practices of companies that received bailout money, the “too big to fail” label given to banks to justify the government bailout of banks, and the testimony that bank CEOs gave to Congressional committees about the use of bailout money. This chapter will also investigate the practice of publicly calling the Chief Executive Officers of the companies involved in the bailouts to testify publicly before Congress. Such testimony concerned questions of both the extent of the companies’ need for federal assistance as well as the individual consumptive habits of the companies’ highest ranking employees (large bonuses, expensive accommodations, etc.). The rhetoric in these various discussions centers on questions of individual responsibility for the poor performance of the companies as well as their role in addressing the issues. This chapter will examine the relationship between the testimony and the practices to determine the extent to which the blame for the economic crisis is placed on the CEOs and what that sense of blame produces both in terms of public discourse and in terms of understood standards of practice for individuals and corporations. The discourse that singles out selfish CEOs who indulge themselves with lavish homes, offices, and modes of transportation can shed light on current modes of populism that have arisen in reaction to the recent economic downturn.
The second case study will focus on the rhetoric surrounding the bailouts of the automotive industry. It will specifically examine the institutional and bureaucratic differences between the auto and bank bailouts, the testimony auto company CEOs had to give in from of Congressional committees regarding their personal actions, the additional issues that presented themselves when discussing auto bailouts (unions, plan for restructuring, necessary sacrifices), and the theoretical distinctions between bank and auto bailouts (e.g. the rhetorical implications of “wall street” vs. “main street”). Auto bailout rhetoric presents another perspective from which to examine the new sense in which economic citizenship is undergoing a transition in the current economic moment. Questions of identity as in economic class (both in terms of income and in terms of type of profession, such as white collar vs. blue collar employment), location (in terms of both geographic location of the country and rural vs. urban locations), and education present themselves in relation to privilege. Populism takes on additional components as we look at the rhetorical effect of automotive bailouts.
Third, this project will continue investigate the populist resurgence by examining The Daily Show’s critique of CNBC’s reporting on the economy from March 4 to March 12, 2009, which culminated in an extended interview between host Jon Stewart and CNBC personality Jim Cramer. This chapter will also look at popular news media discussions of the exchanges, including segments where Jim Cramer appeared on other programs to discuss Stewart’s critique and commentary on the controversy by other news media shows. The episodes, especially the interview with Jim Cramer, garnered some of the highest ratings for the Daily Show so far in 2009.[v] In the exchange, Stewart takes a quasi-Marxist position, blaming both the CEOs for manipulating the stock markets to the detriment of the general public and CNBC not only for allowing it to happen when they had an opportunity to raise critical questions but also for cheering the CEOs and the financial system that created a situation where the general public suffered from said manipulation. Not only does Stewart point out an abuse of privilege in its most negative sense by the CEOs of the offending companies, he chastises CNBC for abusing their privilege (in the form of access to high ranking officials of these companies) to remain complicit (willingly or unwillingly) in the defrauding of the American economy. The exchanges between The Daily Show and CNBC concern both the role that the dissemination of information plays in the free market and the relationship between flows of signification (as information) and flows of capital. The critique becomes a call for a more engaged media, but there is little beyond that. In this sense of populism, a role for news media institutions becomes clear, and the relationship between a vibrant media and an engaged populace is evident. The only responsibility that Stewart speaks to, however, is that of the media to become something akin to political parrhesiastes (truth-tellers) that Foucault discusses in Fearless Speech.[vi] Stewart’s criticism leaves us with a crucial question, though: what are the conditions of possibility of engaging that truth in a productive manner in the current economic climate? What role can a properly informed citizenry play going forward in such a drastic economic recovery?
Finally, this project will interrogate another form of populism that I outline above by examining the conservative organization of tea parties around the country. These are populist protests that echo the famous Boston Tea Party that took place on December 16, 1773 to protest the American colonies’ status of being taxed without being represented in the British Parliament. The tea parties function in this current climate as a protest against efforts by President Obama and the Congress (controlled by the Democratic Party) to use governmental means (taxpayer money) to address the economic crisis. These protests have been promoted on right wing websites and on Fox News, and many of them have been planned for April 15, 2009, the day by which all Americans that earn an income must submit file their income taxes. This form of populism presumes that while the government has the privilege of controlling the taxpayers’ money, the people have the privilege of their voices to influence the government’s policies in a more libertarian (or fiscally conservative) direction.
Methodology
This project’s methodological approach is, to an extent, implicit in the literature review. Overall, both the method and the approach of this project will focus on the construction of the subject, specifically the economic citizen subject as it relates to the economic crash and subsequent bailouts. The economic discourses that will receive significant attention articulate the citizen’s role in political life: ways that citizenship is understood and practiced, narratives that proscribe new limits and conditions for economic citizenship in the 21st century, and potential implications for citizenship’s construction and negotiation in the new economic landscape. It is under the broader theme of the new economic citizen that concepts like populism, rhetoric, identity, and privilege will operate within this project. These ideas inform the practice of economic citizenship and vice versa. Given the complex and multi-faceted nature of the issues in this project, I believe that a poststructuralist theoretical lens would be most advantageous. Specifically, I believe that Michel Foucault’s discussions of power, discourse, and truth-telling would be extremely useful in interrogating populism.[vii] His work from The Archaeology of Knowledge on discursive formations, statements (enonces), and discourse might be useful for examining the case study involving the tea parties across the United States. The parties involve not only numerous different (and occasionally inconsistent) factions but also paradigms that can both overlap and diverge from one another. The contingent collection of these diverse elements of American politics in the tea parties includes libertarianism, religious fundamentalism, and xenophobia. Foucault’s work will be particularly instructive in figuring out the function of these protests at this particular moment.
Given that Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe have explicitly written about populism in the context of radical democracy, their discussions of articulation, antagonism, and hegemony will be helpful in discussing the final two case studies in particular, but they might also inform the first two to a lesser extent.[viii] Populism runs through each of this project’s case studies, and the approach of Laclau and Mouffe’s discussions of populism, radical democracy, and articulation provide a useful way of examining the diverse voices and statements that can be found in each case study. In the bailout chapters, for example, the collection of diverse perspectives from governmental, business, and individual voices articulate democracy, economic citizenship, and populism.
Gilles Deleuze’s numerous concepts provide some analytical tools that might push the project in new and exciting directions that may be difficult to see even at this point. His theories and those of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri have influenced Ron Greene’s work on “communicative labor” and “money/speech” that will be especially useful in discussing case studies involving the act of bringing CEOs to Congress to testify for their actions in light of the substantial financial assistance they have received from the Federal Government. The implications of CEO testimony and the Daily Show interview with Jim Cramer reach both linguistic and non-linguistic levels. Similarly, the rhetorical strength of the tea parties can be found in both the signs and slogans that are present at these parties and in the relative size of different parties, the structural organization of parties themselves, and the relationship between the locality of the gatherings and the national scope of their news coverage (particularly by Fox News). Overall, the case studies themselves are highly complex, and traditional rhetorical approaches alone will not provide the robust theoretical tools necessary to examine them thoroughly. Poststructural approaches offer the richness that will allow for a thorough interrogation of the various ways that economic citizenship and populism have provided a new way of understanding the relationship between privilege and identity.
[i] U.S. Department of Labor, “Employment Situation Summary: March 2009,” United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 3, 2009, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm.
[ii] Broadly speaking, I see privilege occurring when a person or group is able to enjoy a benefit or avoid a hardship that another cannot.
[iii] Kevin DeLuca, “Articulation Theory: A Discursive Grounding for Rhetorical Practice,” Philosophy & Rhetoric 32, no. 4 (October 1999): 346.
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Daniel Frankel, “Cramer boosts 'Daily Show' ratings,” Variety, March 13, 2009, http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118001235.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1.
[vi] Foucault, Fearless Speech.
[vii] Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge (New York: Pantheon Books, 1972); Foucault, The History of Sexuality. Volume 1: An Introduction; Michel Foucault, Fearless Speech (Los Angeles, CA: Semiotext(e), 2001) See also Barbara Biesecker, “Michel Foucault and the Question of Rhetoric,” Philosophy & Rhetoric 25, no. 4 (Fall 1992): 351-364; Mark Cousins and Athar Hussain, Michel Foucault (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984); Gilles Deleuze, Foucault (University of Minnesota Press, 1988)
[viii] Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics, 2nd ed. (London: Verso, 2001); Laclau, Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory; Laclau, On Populist Reason; Laclau, “Populism: What's in a Name?”; Mouffe, “The 'End of Politics' and the Challenge of Right-Wing Populism”; Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox (New York: Verso, 2000); Chantal Mouffe, The Return of the Political (London: Verso, 1993).
Friday, August 07, 2009
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
When you're lucid you're the sweetest thing
Now we turn to this year's music, and I have to say that so far, I've been quite impressed with the large amount of good music that's come out so far. We're just under halfway through, and I have a number of year-end list contenders. I don't know if there has emerged a clear frontrunner for album of the year just yet, but I'm enjoying the trial and error. The following albums are ones that I've found myself listening to over and over, ones that I'm still in the process of engaging and appreciating more deeply with each listen (in no particular order). I'll try to offer at least a little preliminary commentary on them.
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Highly recommended for fans of Belle and Sebastian or just well crafted and shy twee pop. They deepen their sound even more than on Let's Get Out of This Country, which is a good thing. The songs are warm and engaging, and the album fits well into a number of moods. Not much else to say other than a great album that grows nicely. Side note: Erin and I will be going to see them in Atlanta June 19th. Anyone who wants to meet us there is certainly welcome.
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Was there any doubt that this record was going to be good? Of course, Neko has brought out a solid collection of songs that are layered not only with careful crafting but carried on the strength of her amazing voice. While I think I liked Fox Confessor Brings the Flood a little more than this one, her current effort is by no means a slouch. "This Tornado Loves You" and "Some People Got A Lotta Nerve" are my two favorites. I've given this one some time off and plan on heading back to it in a little while to see if I think it can surpass her previous masterpiece, but it's really hard to dislike her work.
The Appleseed Cast - Sagarmatha
I've liked The Appleseed Cast for years, dating back to their time on Deep Elm Records. They were certainly part of my emo phase, but they didn't fit the traditional emo mold (more like post-rock, I guess). That's probably why I liked them so much. They were more about cogent melodies than about high-pitched singing about heartbreaks (btw, the Low Level Owl albums are amazing). This album straddles the line between instrumental and subtle singing post-rock, and does it better than they've done so far. Really great effort from these guys.
Burning Hearts - Aboa Sleeping
This album feels kinda like a more organic version of Stereolab, and it's really quite a wonderful collection of tunes. This album is bold enough to be confident in stylistic and substantive choices, yet unassuming enough that it trusts you to engage it on your terms. It doesn't force you to bend to its will, and I respect that a lot. (h/t Heartache With Hard Work)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
I really enjoy this band's mix of fuzzy pop with the retro -- late 80s/early 90s -- indie pop. They recall numerous bands in various places, yet the record still feels current in 2009. It's a great record for head bopping or toe tapping, and the melodies can easily get stuck in your head. It's really nice that the songs don't take themselves too seriously and that they still come across with a solid authenticity that is very reassuring.
Various Artists - Dark Was the Night
Of course, this record is going somewhere in everybody's year end lists, right? I mean, it's a collection of the current who's who of indie music, from Arcade Fire to the New Pornographers to the National to Bon Iver. Add to that the fact that pretty much every act contributes a memorable, standout song, and you've got no reason to pass this album up. Plus, it's for a good cause.
Balmorhea - All is Wild, All is Silent
Another great instrumental album from Balmorhea. This one has a little more musical variety in it than the previous effort, yet the increased expansiveness doesn't feel like overkill. The additional instruments give it a broader feel, and again, it's good writing music.
Metric - Fantasies
Metric's new album is so bittersweet for me. On the one hand, the songs are really catchy, and it's clear that the band pays attention to the success of their performance. The main drawback to the album is that it's dreadfully overproduced. It of course brings a clean sound to the music, but at times it feels too clean and too precise. This flaw isn't enough to make me dislike the album, but it does tend to get in the way of a more complete engagement with the songs and the record as a whole.
Passion Pit - Manners
I was initially very wary of Passion Pit, having dismissed them as just another band from NYC doing the "indie dance music" thing that seems to be in right now (Hot Chip, Gang Gang Dance, MGMT, etc.), but this album really impressed me. Their pop sensibility and playfulness shines through, and they don't just get caught up into doing expiremental techno stuff and trying to sound uber-hip. They fuse the keyboards with guitars and more traditional pop sounds quite well. I gotta say, they converted me.
Maria Taylor - Ladyluck
Great female singer-songwriter who was formerly a member of the indie duo Azure Ray. This stuff is more coffeehouse and straightforward than the stuff she did in Azure Ray, and that gives the music a genuineness that is endearing. I predict that "Cartoons and Forever Plans" will make its way to a commercial before year's end.
The Bird and the Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future
Low key trip hop inspired dance pop. My favorite song here is "My Love." The album makes me think of Imogen Heap's solo work and stuff with Frou Frou. Very catchy stuff that is very easy to enjoy without thinking about too deeply.
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
I know, I know...everybody and their friends will put this one on their list for sure. It's being treated as the greatest musical creation since Beethoven or something. While I usually see Animal Collective as very hit or miss, I must admit that I do really like this album. Finally, they put out a record that is much more accessible than anything they've done before, in my opinion. They tend to melodies and creating layers of music much more and better here than the previous albums which to me seemed much more interested in experimenting for its own sake (and gets pointless real quickly). "My Girls" is easily my favorite song from them.
This is a good start. I have other albums that I think it's too early to say anything about like the following:
Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light (1st impression: great in places)
Viva Voce - Rose City (longtime fan of them, 1st listen of this record shows much promise)
Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP (good continuation of previous work)
Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind (too soon to tell if it's better than just good)
I'm also looking forward to other albums that I haven't had much/any chance to try out. I'm interested in the Dirty Projectors' new record (previewed it through NPR...not sure what I think about it). I am really excited about Phoenix's new album (probably will have to buy the CD at Target, since it's not on emusic...grr). I'm both intrigued and a little unsure about the new Grizzly Bear record. They're one of those bands that gets high marks from indie critics, but I just don't get them (Animal Collective was like that until their recent album). I like "Two Weeks," so I'm willing to give Veckatimest a try (if emusic ever decides to make it available).
If you've actually read this far, thanks! Also, I'm happy to hear suggestions for '09 records. What have you heard this year that impresses you? What/who should I be checking out?
UPDATE: I don't know how I forgot this one.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
Great new album from YYYs. This album is more subtle than their previous work and with more synthesizers than before. It's a more mature approach, yet the album still has a good amount of fun to it. It's definitely worth the time investment to let it grow. I'm still getting more familiar with it with each lesson.
Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
Highly recommended for fans of Belle and Sebastian or just well crafted and shy twee pop. They deepen their sound even more than on Let's Get Out of This Country, which is a good thing. The songs are warm and engaging, and the album fits well into a number of moods. Not much else to say other than a great album that grows nicely. Side note: Erin and I will be going to see them in Atlanta June 19th. Anyone who wants to meet us there is certainly welcome.
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Was there any doubt that this record was going to be good? Of course, Neko has brought out a solid collection of songs that are layered not only with careful crafting but carried on the strength of her amazing voice. While I think I liked Fox Confessor Brings the Flood a little more than this one, her current effort is by no means a slouch. "This Tornado Loves You" and "Some People Got A Lotta Nerve" are my two favorites. I've given this one some time off and plan on heading back to it in a little while to see if I think it can surpass her previous masterpiece, but it's really hard to dislike her work.
The Appleseed Cast - Sagarmatha
I've liked The Appleseed Cast for years, dating back to their time on Deep Elm Records. They were certainly part of my emo phase, but they didn't fit the traditional emo mold (more like post-rock, I guess). That's probably why I liked them so much. They were more about cogent melodies than about high-pitched singing about heartbreaks (btw, the Low Level Owl albums are amazing). This album straddles the line between instrumental and subtle singing post-rock, and does it better than they've done so far. Really great effort from these guys.
Burning Hearts - Aboa Sleeping
This album feels kinda like a more organic version of Stereolab, and it's really quite a wonderful collection of tunes. This album is bold enough to be confident in stylistic and substantive choices, yet unassuming enough that it trusts you to engage it on your terms. It doesn't force you to bend to its will, and I respect that a lot. (h/t Heartache With Hard Work)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
I really enjoy this band's mix of fuzzy pop with the retro -- late 80s/early 90s -- indie pop. They recall numerous bands in various places, yet the record still feels current in 2009. It's a great record for head bopping or toe tapping, and the melodies can easily get stuck in your head. It's really nice that the songs don't take themselves too seriously and that they still come across with a solid authenticity that is very reassuring.
Various Artists - Dark Was the Night
Of course, this record is going somewhere in everybody's year end lists, right? I mean, it's a collection of the current who's who of indie music, from Arcade Fire to the New Pornographers to the National to Bon Iver. Add to that the fact that pretty much every act contributes a memorable, standout song, and you've got no reason to pass this album up. Plus, it's for a good cause.
Balmorhea - All is Wild, All is Silent
Another great instrumental album from Balmorhea. This one has a little more musical variety in it than the previous effort, yet the increased expansiveness doesn't feel like overkill. The additional instruments give it a broader feel, and again, it's good writing music.
Metric - Fantasies
Metric's new album is so bittersweet for me. On the one hand, the songs are really catchy, and it's clear that the band pays attention to the success of their performance. The main drawback to the album is that it's dreadfully overproduced. It of course brings a clean sound to the music, but at times it feels too clean and too precise. This flaw isn't enough to make me dislike the album, but it does tend to get in the way of a more complete engagement with the songs and the record as a whole.
Passion Pit - Manners
I was initially very wary of Passion Pit, having dismissed them as just another band from NYC doing the "indie dance music" thing that seems to be in right now (Hot Chip, Gang Gang Dance, MGMT, etc.), but this album really impressed me. Their pop sensibility and playfulness shines through, and they don't just get caught up into doing expiremental techno stuff and trying to sound uber-hip. They fuse the keyboards with guitars and more traditional pop sounds quite well. I gotta say, they converted me.
Maria Taylor - Ladyluck
Great female singer-songwriter who was formerly a member of the indie duo Azure Ray. This stuff is more coffeehouse and straightforward than the stuff she did in Azure Ray, and that gives the music a genuineness that is endearing. I predict that "Cartoons and Forever Plans" will make its way to a commercial before year's end.
The Bird and the Bee - Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future
Low key trip hop inspired dance pop. My favorite song here is "My Love." The album makes me think of Imogen Heap's solo work and stuff with Frou Frou. Very catchy stuff that is very easy to enjoy without thinking about too deeply.
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
I know, I know...everybody and their friends will put this one on their list for sure. It's being treated as the greatest musical creation since Beethoven or something. While I usually see Animal Collective as very hit or miss, I must admit that I do really like this album. Finally, they put out a record that is much more accessible than anything they've done before, in my opinion. They tend to melodies and creating layers of music much more and better here than the previous albums which to me seemed much more interested in experimenting for its own sake (and gets pointless real quickly). "My Girls" is easily my favorite song from them.
This is a good start. I have other albums that I think it's too early to say anything about like the following:
Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light (1st impression: great in places)
Viva Voce - Rose City (longtime fan of them, 1st listen of this record shows much promise)
Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP (good continuation of previous work)
Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind (too soon to tell if it's better than just good)
I'm also looking forward to other albums that I haven't had much/any chance to try out. I'm interested in the Dirty Projectors' new record (previewed it through NPR...not sure what I think about it). I am really excited about Phoenix's new album (probably will have to buy the CD at Target, since it's not on emusic...grr). I'm both intrigued and a little unsure about the new Grizzly Bear record. They're one of those bands that gets high marks from indie critics, but I just don't get them (Animal Collective was like that until their recent album). I like "Two Weeks," so I'm willing to give Veckatimest a try (if emusic ever decides to make it available).
If you've actually read this far, thanks! Also, I'm happy to hear suggestions for '09 records. What have you heard this year that impresses you? What/who should I be checking out?
UPDATE: I don't know how I forgot this one.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
Great new album from YYYs. This album is more subtle than their previous work and with more synthesizers than before. It's a more mature approach, yet the album still has a good amount of fun to it. It's definitely worth the time investment to let it grow. I'm still getting more familiar with it with each lesson.
Did you hear the old gospel choir?
Now that summer is in full swing, hopefully I'll be able to post more, both about some more desert island disc picks and maybe some reviews of music that I have found so far this year. I'll start with two things: 1) 2008 albums I missed in my year end list and 2) early favorites of 2009.
On #1:
I became a late comer to a few albums that I subsequently came to appreciate a lot. First, The Gaslight Anthem's record The '59 Sound is a great album, especially if you like the Boss, the Killers, and some straightforward rock n' roll. Another is Balmorhea's Rivers Arms, which is instrumental, neo-classical music that I find wonderful music to play when writing. The following get a solid honorable mention:
Army Navy - Army Navy
The Clientele - That Night, A Forest Grew EP
Dr. Dog - Fate
Marching Band - Spark Large
Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling
Rosebuds - Life Like
She & Him - Volume One
Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
Tobacco - Fucked Up Friends
Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
Next post: Number 2
On #1:
I became a late comer to a few albums that I subsequently came to appreciate a lot. First, The Gaslight Anthem's record The '59 Sound is a great album, especially if you like the Boss, the Killers, and some straightforward rock n' roll. Another is Balmorhea's Rivers Arms, which is instrumental, neo-classical music that I find wonderful music to play when writing. The following get a solid honorable mention:
Army Navy - Army Navy
The Clientele - That Night, A Forest Grew EP
Dr. Dog - Fate
Marching Band - Spark Large
Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling
Rosebuds - Life Like
She & Him - Volume One
Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
Tobacco - Fucked Up Friends
Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna
Next post: Number 2
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Teabagging Everyone in America
I've briefly mentioned my dissertation above. Another chapter I'm considering deals with the tea(bagger) protests that were much discussed and occurred yesterday across the US. As part of (I guess you could call it) quasi-ethnographic research, I attended the Atlanta tea(bag) party and took some pictures. I got there around 6:45 and just walked around. The crowd was pretty big (I'm terrible at numbers, but if I had to guess, I'd say maybe 5,000). It was at the State Capitol. There was a big stage where speaker after speaker went up and spoke their peace about how we're overtaxed and spending our children's future. There were also two big screens showing the people on stage (which seems a little expensive and intricate for an "entirely organic, grassroots" sort of thing, but maybe these grassroots must have a lot of money). I didn't join in any of the protesting or cheering when speakers made their fairly standard points. One speaker mentioned the three goals of the movement: property rights, lower taxes, and a Christian nation. Other than that, it was difficult to see the basic point of the protests other than to complain about the current administration. I come to this conclusion despite the idea that some of the protesters voiced to me that this was about implementing the so-called Fair Tax (and there were plenty of signs for that). Below I have a slideshow of pictures I took at the event. I tried mostly to get signs, and I noticed a few patterns in the rhetoric emerging as I was there. I'm not entirely sure what I think about this, but I feel like there is something interesting that I can say with the help of some of the folks I've been reading this semester. This protest seems like an attempt to constitute a certain type of economic citizen whose relationship to the government is minimal in the hopes that the unfettered free market will magically flourish and help everyone in the country (or at least everyone who matters).
This also feels like an entirely unoriginal hodgepodge of right-wing slogans and talking points with almost no sense of 1) what their sense of the world should look like (other than replace the income tax with the unconstitutional national sales tax)...in other words, it's just a negative reaction to the status quo; or 2) how to bring about that change other than through supporting conservatives running for office.
I think that part of the issue is that you have your standard, run-of-the-mill conservatives protesting against Obama and the "liberal" (scare quotes are, of course, intentional) policies Washington is putting in place to respond to the extraordinary economic crisis protesing alongside the more extreme (dare I say fringe?) elements of our political culture, calling for scrapping the income tax and replacing it with a national sales tax (which would require a Constitutional Amendment to repeal another Constitutional Amendment) and abolishing the Federal Reserve. I even saw a rebel flag at this event, which could suggest, among other things, an openness to secession. As Rachel Maddow so correctly points out, tax day protests have been done inthe past. The difference this year seems to be the way that the Republican party has decided to co-opt this tradition in the hopes that it can reconstitute the GOP into a viable political force in the years to come. The problem seems to be, though, less that they are "astroturf" as opposed to "grassroots" as much as the fact that they're using these old arguments to deal with an economic environment that doesn't fit this perspective. That disconnect is what's so interesting to me, and I'm wondering both what the conditions of possibility are for the reactions to the crisis and the conditions of possibility for the drive to incorporate these protests into a larger political movement.
This also feels like an entirely unoriginal hodgepodge of right-wing slogans and talking points with almost no sense of 1) what their sense of the world should look like (other than replace the income tax with the unconstitutional national sales tax)...in other words, it's just a negative reaction to the status quo; or 2) how to bring about that change other than through supporting conservatives running for office.
I think that part of the issue is that you have your standard, run-of-the-mill conservatives protesting against Obama and the "liberal" (scare quotes are, of course, intentional) policies Washington is putting in place to respond to the extraordinary economic crisis protesing alongside the more extreme (dare I say fringe?) elements of our political culture, calling for scrapping the income tax and replacing it with a national sales tax (which would require a Constitutional Amendment to repeal another Constitutional Amendment) and abolishing the Federal Reserve. I even saw a rebel flag at this event, which could suggest, among other things, an openness to secession. As Rachel Maddow so correctly points out, tax day protests have been done inthe past. The difference this year seems to be the way that the Republican party has decided to co-opt this tradition in the hopes that it can reconstitute the GOP into a viable political force in the years to come. The problem seems to be, though, less that they are "astroturf" as opposed to "grassroots" as much as the fact that they're using these old arguments to deal with an economic environment that doesn't fit this perspective. That disconnect is what's so interesting to me, and I'm wondering both what the conditions of possibility are for the reactions to the crisis and the conditions of possibility for the drive to incorporate these protests into a larger political movement.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The Daily Show v. CNBC and Jim Cramer
I know I'm a little late in posting on this, but I'm intrigued by this whole exchange (including both the Daily Show critique pieces and the interview) between Jon Stewart and Jim Cramer on the Daily Show. My dissertation is going to be a rhetorical examination of the economic meltdown and bailout through the prisms of privilege and identity (What does the economic crisis do to what we think of as privilege? Who is privileged now? How do we discuss the privileged and privilege itself? How do identities get constructed and negotiated in a major economic crisis such as this?). Part of this deals with questions of blame, but I'm also interested in the way that rhetorical responses have materially impacted various flows (capital, for one), both in terms of signification and other forms of articulation. After seeing the smackdown of Jim Cramer, I'm seriously considering doing a chapter on the Daily Show vs. Cramer exchange because I think that it hits on crucial questions of identity and privilege that I'm looking into here. In this spirit, I'm posting the unedited interview Jim Cramer gave on the Daily Show where Stewart takes Cramer to task for embodying the worst aspects of CNBC's reporting. What do you think? Does this idea make sense for a study of rhetorics of privilege as they relate to the economic crash/bailout?
Friday, February 06, 2009
Rachel Maddow makes my day
After seeing Paul Krugman go on MSNBC's Morning Joe and put the beatdown on GOP talking points about this recent stimulus business, leave it to Rachel Maddow to bring it on home. She is such a vital part of our public discourse, and her insight is so keen, efficient, and just plain awesome. Thank you Rachel Maddow. Thank you!
Here's what I'm talking about:
Here's what I'm talking about:
Monday, January 26, 2009
In which I ponder my home state
The above picture is of my former bumper sticker. I had placed it on my car in September and displayed it proudly until today, when I noticed what you see. I had been gone at a debate tournament all week, and before I left, I am certain this had not been done. Some annoying little prick decided to 1) deface my personal bumper sticker and 2) use the mack daddy racial slur to do it. As hurtful of a gesture as this move is supposed to be, I was more struck by how pathetic it was than I was offended. Of course, I was (and still am) offended, but I don't want the asshole who did this to get the satisfaction of getting to me. Instead, I choose to see this as a truly pathetic cry for attention without the maturity of taking any responsibility for his discourse (I say "his" because I figure that the handwriting and passive-aggressive undertones indicate a male culprit...although I reserve final judgment on the sex of said individual). Words cannot express how petty, infantile, and simple this act is. I have a hunch that it is someone who lives near my residence, but I have no way of knowing for sure.This incident is telling given that I'm currently teaching a Rhetoric and Privilege course. There's a lot involved in this that relates to privilege. The perp tapped into classic racial privilege in using the word as a weapon not only against Obama but (indirectly, of course) against me as well for displaying a bumper sticker of support for the President. I mean, think about it; would we feel the same way about a Bush/Cheney sticker with the word "Cracker" written on it? Additionally, my reaction is possible because of types of race privilege that I experience. I have never had a friend or family member called that in my presence. I have no history with the word. My knowledge of it is mostly intellectual in nature. Seeing the word on my car, though, brought it into my life in a way I'd never experienced before, which is a privilege. I find myself a little taken aback at the boldness of racism in the year 2009, even though I do live in Georgia. I just can't help but wonder why my bumper sticker was such a threat to the culprit that he found a marker, took the time to alk over to my car, bend over, and scrawl that? Is there really nothing better he could do with the minute or so that he used to deface my bumper sticker?
Obviously, I took the sticker off my car, but I replaced it with another Obama/Biden sticker I had. I'm not gonna give this asshole the satisfaction of winning that easily. Plus, I have proof that he's a grade A dumbass. Later tonight, I found out that he defaced another of my bumper stickers.
Can you spot the error? Initially, I had thought that maybe culprit was going for some sort of Derridean erasure maneuver on the word "is," but I don't want to give that dipshit any such credit. My guess is the idiot was trying to scribble out the "NOT" and was too dumb to pull that off. Interestingly enough, he could spell the slur correctly. Why is that word so easy for racists to spell correctly but not a word like "official"?
Saturday, January 17, 2009
New Neko Case!
OK, now it's time to look forward to the new year in music. In that respect, I'm totally looking forward to the new Neko Case album! It's called "Middle Cyclone," and if the first single is any indication, this record may land on numerous year end lists. The song is "People Got a Lotta Nerve," and Case's label Anti- has an interesting proposal for publicity: they'll donate $5 to Best Friends Animal Society for every blog post about the new song. Not only does it bring attention to the song but it highlights a good cause as well. And the song itself is quite nice. Not only does it showcase a nice up tempo pop-country vibe that is one of her trademarks but it has an interesting take on people's perceptions of human (and animal) nature.
Neko Case - "People Got a Lotta Nerve"
PS...how badass is that album cover?
PPS...Neko Case is in competition for best female singing voice in all of music. If you have a chance to hear her live, you should take it.
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