bigmouth strikes again

Top 30 albums of 2010

2010-12-18T09:06:00.000-08:00

Again, I'm not including a blurb about why I liked this album, like in years before. I just don't have time. Here, though are my 30 favorite albums of 2010.

30. The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
29. The Weepies - Be My Thrill
28. Brian McBride - The Effective Disconnect
27. Four Tet - There Is Love In You
26. jj - jj no3
25. Yeasayer - ODD BLOOD
24. Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard
23. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
22. Jimmy Eat World - Invented
21. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
20. School of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire
19. Jonsi - Go
18. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
17. The Radio Dept. - Clinging To A Scheme
16. Tokyo Police Club - Champ
15. Sambassadeur - European
14. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
13. The New Pornographers - Together
12. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
11. Beach House - Teen Dream
10. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
9. Holy Fuck - Latin
8. Girl Talk - All Day
7. Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love
6. Laura Veirs - July Flame
5. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
4. Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks
3. The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt/Sometimes the Blues Just a Passing Bird
2. The National - High Violet
1. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor

Top albums of 2010: Honorable Mention

2010-12-18T09:02:00.001-08:00

I don't really have time to go into too much detail with why and how I chose favorites like in previous years. This year I'm just going to list records and leave it at that. I've been a little underwhelmed with music this year, even though there's been some really good stuff. Not as much has been all that classic, though. OK, here are some albums that I liked but didn't quite make it into the top of the year list.

Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
Balmorhea - Constellations
Azure Ray - Drawing Down the Moon
Delorean - Subiza
Maserati - Pyramid of the Sun
Midlake - The Courage of Others
Carissa’s Wierd - They'll Only Miss You When You Leave: Songs 1996-2003
The Morning Benders - Big Echo
She & Him - Volume Two
Allo Darlin’ - Allo Darlin’
Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP
Stars - The Five Ghosts
The Books - The Way Out
CEO - white magic
Broken Bells - Broken Bells
Shout Out Louds - Work
Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
Vampire Weekend - Contra
Wild Nothing - Gemini

Top Songs of 2010

2010-12-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while since I last posted, but I honestly thought I'd be more active here. With the new job and the move, that's turned out not to be the case. Now that I've got some time in the holiday season, I'm able to post my annual top songs and albums posts. Here are some of my favorite songs of the year.

Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union
The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
The Tallest Man On Earth - Burden of Tomorrow
The Tallest Man On Earth - Like the Wheel
Vampire Weekend - Giving Up the Gun
Stars - Wasted Daylight
Sufjan Stevens - Futile Devices
Local Natives - Who Knows Who Cares
Laura Veirs - I Can See Your Tracks
Kanye West - Runaway
Jonsi - Go do
Janelle Monae - Cold War
Hot Chip - I Feel Better
Frightened Rabbit - Swim Until You Can’t See Land
Broken Bells - The Ghost Inside
Belle and Sebastian - I Want the World To Stop
Belle and Sebastian - I Didn’t See It Coming
Beach House - Norway
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round
Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Arcade Fire - Empty Room
The New Pornographers - Crash Years
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Say No to Love
The Radio Dept. - Heaven’s On Fire
Sambassadeur - Stranded
School of Seven Bells - Heart Is Strange
Shout OUt Louds - Fall Hard
Surfer Blood - Floating Vibes
Tokyo Police Club - Breakneck Speed
Yeasayer - Ambling Alp
Cee-Lo - Fuck You

My favorite album of the 2000s

2010-04-02T07:04:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post my list of top albums of the 00s for a while now, but writing the dissertation got in the way. I'll just list my favorite album of the decade because for me it's a clear decision. Below that, it would take too much time and energy. Plus it's a bit late for that sort of thing right now anyways. So, here it is...my absolute favorite album of the 2000s.

Arcade Fire - Funeral

I could write for a while on this album, but the simple fact of the matter is that this record, for me, is a total masterpiece. Every song, every note, everything works together so well. It's well written, well executed, and it always manages to conjure in me a wealth of emotions with every listen. The sheer depth of this record is unmatched by 99% of other albums that I have heard.

Also, I may have mentioned this before, but if Arcade Fire comes near your town, go see them. There is nothing like hearing their already impressive songs played live.

My Top Albums of 2009

2009-12-19T16:16:00.000-08:00

It's always fun around this time of year both to read other people's year end lists and to put my own together. I like the sense of people and groups sharing what music really worked for them, what really moved them enough to make them want to tell someone else about it. That said, not only am I listing my top 30 albums of the year, but I'd be happy to hear from you what were some of yours. Without further ado...

30. Cass McCombs – Catacombs
Great “guy + acoustic guitar” album. This record doesn’t always have the strongest singing, but the songwriting and the laid back performance give the sings a sense of sincerity that is quite endearing. Cass tells good stories, and you get the feeling that he’s genuinely trying his hand at honest expression through another’s eyes, which is never an easy feat. The result is quite lovely at times. A perfect example of this is “Harmonia,” which I forgot to include in my favorite songs list.

29. Memory Tapes – Seek Magic
I feel that I haven’t listened to this album enough to get a real sense of its full potential. I know that it’s a great listen, taking elements from disco, 80s pop, alternative, and dance. I can certainly tell that a lot goes into the crafting of the songs on the record. I’m still figuring out the moves and shifts on the album, but I know that it’s really good. The strongest song on the record for me is easily “Stop Talking.” It really shines with both the soft dance verses and the strong chorus. What I appreciate most is the diversity of sounds that go into the record. Album closer “Run Out” is also really pretty.

28. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
I am so torn about this album and band in general. I haven’t really gotten Grizzly Bear the way that many other people appear to. Yellow House just didn’t do much for me at all. I found it sleepy and difficult to engage. Veckatimest is a vast improvement for me, but it doesn’t do enough for me to fall in love with everything they do. The album has some real gems like “Two Weeks,” “While You Wait For the Others,” and “Ready, Able.” Some points in the record are good, and others fall squarely into the “I just don’t get it” category. Ed Droste has one of the nicer voices in indie music this year, though, I must say. You know that they put a lot of thought into the record. That doesn’t mean, though, that it all makes sense.

27. The Antlers – Hospice
This is the quintessential emotionally draining record. The Antlers debut with a concept album about an abusive relationship between a dying patient and caregiver. Yikes. And you really feel the anguish in the music too, all the way from the softest sung (practically whispered) verses to choruses that let out a yell. They really know how to play the highs and lows off of each other. This record is so thoughtfully constructed, but at the same time it’s such a tiring expression of despair. “Bear” and “Two” are probably my favorites on the record. Overall, it’s really good; just don’t expect this one to brighten your day.

26. Loney, Dear – Dear John
Emil Svanangen’s one-man show Loney, Dear is quite impressive. He makes high tension indie pop. There’s a softness that feels vulnerable. He clearly expresses feelings, and he adds in a lot of soft percussion for good measure. You get a good mixture of optimism and melancholy. “I Got Lost” injects a sense of melancholy realism before we get the sunny optimism of “Summers.” On this record, you get the constant struggle between both, lyrically and musically. Another great example of this is “Violent,” a song that simultaneously connotes tension and joy. That struggle, though, is where the beauty in the record shines.

25. Dodos – Time To Die
Dodos second album is a bit of a departure from their first. Visiter was aggressive and zany, especially for a guitarist and a drummer. At times the risk paid off, and other times, it was a turn-off. On Time To Die, the guys calm down and take a more measured approach to songwriting. The result is a really enjoyable album. This one is softer and a little more mature feeling. It doesn’t totally lose the edge of its predecessor, but some of the rough spaces have been smoothed out. I think that’s a positive development. Each of the songs has more space to grow and breathe some. Sometimes this really pays off, like “Fables” and “Troll Nacht.” Other times, you get songs that have great moments mixed in with disappointments. Examples: “This Is a Business,” and “Two Medicines.”

24. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
Honestly, I’ve gone back and forth on this album throughout the year. At times I think it’s a well crafted concept album, and other times I think it’s overwrought and pretentious. While I doubt that struggle will be settled once and for all, seeing the band perform the entire album in concert (from front to back) gave me a sense of appreciation for what they were doing. There are some really strong moments on this album (“The Hazard of Love 1” and “The Hazard of Love 4”), and then there are some serious WTF moments. They throw in a jarring switch from a light melody to this hard, proggy, slow riff that completely throws off the rhythm of the music. And they do this exact move (same chords and all), like, 3 times on the album. Some of it’s just off, but the stuff that’s on is really nice and fits well with the rest of their body of work. For that reason, I have it here.

23. Viva Voce – Rose City
I have been a fan of Viva Voce for years. Husband and wife team of Anita and Kevin Robinson have really been enjoyable, even when they’ve gone into more experimental territory. With Rose City, however, they’ve added a couple members and gone back to more traditional melodies while still keeping some of the edge that they’ve sharpened on previous albums. The result is a collection of songs that really shine and stay in your head. “Devotion” totally feels like a movie soundtrack song. “Midnight Sun” is a slow jam with a nice calming effect coming from the piano. The instruments have a great sound, and everything comes together well.

22. Kings of Convenience – Declaration of Dependence
The long awaited new album from this Norwegian acoustic guitar duo may not be as strong as the absolutely lovely Riot On An Empty Street, but it is a great album in its own right. They approach a broad range of topics from the death penalty to the trouble people often have reading each other’s signals. For two guys singing with guitars, these fellows are great at providing a full sound with little more than their instruments and their voices. Some of my favorites on the record are “Mrs. Cold,” “Boat Behind,” and “Peacetime Resistance,” but the entire album is a nice record that doesn’t impose upon you.

21. Ingrid Michaelson – Everybody
Ingrid has probably the strongest female singer-songwriter music out there right now for me. Her songs are generally optimistic, supportive, and heartfelt at the same time. Sure, they’re mostly about relationships, and they don’t really tread new ground lyrically. But the faith in the strength of companionship coupled with the solid musicianship make this a great listen. The songs don’t ask too much of you, and they don’t make you work hard. Sometimes, that can be the recipe for a nice album. That and it’s a good record to sing along to. Favorites of mine are “Soldier,” “Maybe,” “The Chain,” and “Mountain and the Sea.”

20. ZAZA – Cameo
This band shows some promise. Their 6-song EP mixes Radiohead-esque indie alternative (“Sooner or Later”) with some aspects of 90s style trip-hop (“Faith in the Faithless”). The music has an aura about it that makes it feel larger than the sum of the individual sounds that go into it. It’s a strong showing for ZAZA’s debut recording.

19. The Appleseed Cast – Sagarmatha
The Appleseed Cast is another one of those bands I’ve really liked for a while now. This album finds them relying more on their instrumentation than on lyrics, and the result is both a little challenging and really rewarding. The album opener, “As the Little Things Go,” clocks in at over 8 minutes, and the singing doesn’t begin until about 6:20. Oddly enough, I don’t miss the singing. I think that the instrumental moments are as expressive as the singing ones. It’s like the singing voice is just another instrument, not different stylistically from the other components of the music. The Appleseed Cast has really honed their sound, and I really enjoy the effort.

18. Burning Hearts – Aboa Sleeping
In an earlier post previewing albums I liked at the halfway point in the year, I mentioned this album sounding like a more organic version of Stereolab. I stand by that characterization, and more listens haven’t diminished my level of enjoyment with this record. Songs like “I Lost My Colour Vision” are just so peppy and engaging that you can’t help but be curious how the rest of the album is gonna turn out. Thankfully the duo doesn’t disappoint. I mean, there’s even a song that includes an old recording of irregular heartbeats. Through high and low points, the songs keep pushing along and inviting you along for the ride, but they don’t impose. Instead, they just pique your curiosity and make it worth your while to keep listening.

17. We Were Promised Jetpacks – These Four Walls
Here comes another Scottish band whose lead singer keeps his accent. I really enjoy these bands, and I had a couple of them on my list last year (including top album). This year has one on the honorable mention list (The Twilight Sad) and this one on the proper list. We Were Promised Jetpacks are kind of like a cross between Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad, if that’s even possible. They’re a bit on the emo side, but that’s ok with me because they resemble the kind of emo music I enjoyed a few years ago before it became popular and began sucking. WWPJ have a nice array of songs that really pack an emotional punch whether the lead singer is softly groaning or full-out screaming.

16. Balmorhea – All Is Wild, All Is Silent
Balmorhea is a great group of solid musicians that play instrumental arrangements that include piano, guitar, banjo, strings, and solid drumming. This album features not only some gorgeous melodies but complex movements that provide wonderful inspiration whether you’re paying close attention to every note and beat or just casually playing the music while working or talking with friends. It’s really emotionally evocative music, and while I don’t think this album is right for every occasion, it’s a really wonderful record for a lot of them. This record is a testament to the power of music to move you without the need for words.

15. JJ - JJ N° 2/JJ N° 1
Swedish group JJ have put together a collection of really solid indie pop. They put out two offerings: N° 1 (a brief release featuring two songs: “My Life, My Swag” and “My Swag, My Life”) and N° 2, the band’s proper album. The most interesting offering on the album is “Ecstasy,” a song about the rave drug backed by the four-note riff that is the backbone for Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop.” The rest of the album features guitar and sweet vocals in songs about love and life that don’t feel hokey or overdone one bit. Pop music this well crafted doesn’t come along very often.

14. Various Artists – Dark Was The Night
This compilation of who’s who in the indie music world might run the risk of self-importance, but this record is really quite a solid collection. It includes not only the biggest names by themselves but also collaborations between big names. That gives the album a great deal of diversity, and oddly enough, the songs by (what I would consider) the biggest names aren’t even the strongest ones on the album. Dirty Projectors’ collaboration with David Byrne “Knotty Pine” is a really solid album opener, and Yeasayer’s “Tightrope” is one of my favorites on the record. The Decemberists’ “Sleepless” is, for my money better than anything on The Hazards of Love. This is one of the best various artist compilations I’ve heard in a long while.

13. God Help the Girl – God Help the Girl/Stills EP
God Help the Girl is a side project of Belle and Sebastian lead singer Stuart Murdoch. He put in ads for singers and auditioned a few, settling on about three female leads who trade off throughout the album. The record is apparently part of the story that is set to become a film in the next year or so. The music has obvious B&S undertones (in fact, 2 of the songs on the record are renditions of songs from the last B&S album), but there are key departures that give this group an identity of its own, more prominent and consistent being the most obvious. The Stills EP came later with some extra tracks that didn’t make it onto the album proper. It’s pretty good, but the best stuff is on the album. Faves include “Musician, Please Take Heed,” “Come Monday Night,” and “God Help the Girl.”

12. Delorean – Ayrton Senna EP
This little EP came out of nowhere and completely surprised me. It’s just 4 tracks (5 if you get it through eMusic) of solid indie dance pop (and 2 of them are the same song…one’s a remix of the other), but it’s so refreshing and catchy that I find myself returning to it again and again. The mixture of synth, guitar, and disco-type beats really make this thing shine. The lyrics are uplifting, and every note is so bright that this has become my go to good mood record this year. If you want a sense of what this record is like, then hear “Seasun” (the original version, even though the remix is pretty good too). On an EP of great songs, this is the clear standout for me. The melodies are just so fresh and well executed that my only fault is that it’s so short. I would love 4 or 5 more songs of this caliber to make a full album.

11. The Mountain Goats – The Life Of The World To Come
John Darnielle has made some solid music dating all the way back to his days of playing and singing songs like “The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton” into a home tape recorder (btw, you have to hear this song if you haven’t). This new album is a twist from previous records: the theme to this album is the Bible and its application to modern life in ways one might not expect. Darnielle names each song after a bible verse, and as usual, you can hear the emotional struggles that go into each verse, chord, and track. On the whole, the record is more subdued than some of his previous work, but that doesn’t mean that this record is safe or missing anything important. Rather, Darnielle has a knack for adjusting his songwriting for each set of ideas he wants to express. With songs about crises of faith, the importance of home, and even agonizing death from cancer, this record really brings a human dimension to the Bible in ways that I hadn’t considered before.

10. The xx – xx
Another surprisingly impressive record that came out of nowhere this year comes from the xx. This record exemplifies the notion of doing more with less. Some other albums on this list have taken a somewhat minimalist approach to their songs, but this one finds ways for just a few simple notes to fill tons of space. I don’t know how they do it. Couple that with the guy/girl back and forth singing through pretty much the whole album, and you get a very unique approach to indie pop. It’s like the two are singing private and intimate (emotionally as well as physically) conversations to each other. There’s such a sense of honest expression of affection and companionship to the record that it piques my curiosity to hear it again and listen more closely each time. It’s good to see this group getting some recognition for this album. (The xx will be touring with JJ next year… should be a good show)

9. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
I’d heard of Fuck Buttons before, and I was a little turned off by their previous album. It was good techno, but I thought they were a bit too noisy and experimental for my enjoyment. This record took a couple listens, but it didn’t take long at all for me to become enamored. They keep some of the odd sounds here, but those are mitigated by moments of pure beauty. There’s an undertone to the music on this album that employs soothing and refreshing sounds and builds on that. The song structure is both complex and reminiscent of post-rock. Even in the moments where they start to make odd noises that begin to feel uncomfortable, they quickly pull back into melodic arrangements that showcase a complexity. The length of the songs gives the movements time to build and fully reveal themselves, and that’s just really nice. They make techno that pushes the envelope, but the attention to melody and detail is so stunning that the risks totally pay off.

8. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – The Pains of Being Pure At Heart/Higher Than the Stars EP
2009 was such a good year for indie pop. Case in point: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Their fuzzy, poppy music jumped onto the scene around March, and they wouldn’t leave for the rest of the year. The songs are so catchy and retro-esque (combining some 80s new wave with 90s alternative and twee pop) that you can’t help but love them. Even if you feel that the songs are a little too retro-pop, you can’t fault them for it because they get the mix right so much that it’s so difficult to complain about their music. “Young Adult Friction” is a solid example of this phenomenon. It’s a love song set in a library, which of course adds hipster/nerd cred. The Higher Than the Stars EP even adds some more to the collection with a mix of clean and fuzzy guitars to stretch out their sound a little bit. This group has managed to create 2009 music that would fit well anywhere along the last 25 years.

7. Passion Pit – Manners
Speaking of surprisingly good indie pop, I was all set to dislike and dismiss Passion Pit when I heard about their album. They’d put out an EP that contained “Sleepyhead,” a wonderful song that got a little too much attention. Plus, they were part of the new craze that I was starting to hate (but eventually learned to accept and even enjoy) of indie dance music. Then I heard the full length effort, Manners. I was completely blown away with the first listen. The music is just so damn fun. This group pulls off a record of songs that relentlessly and unapologetically push through with shiny happiness, and they make it sound effortless in the process. The record includes “Sleepyhead,” which is a major plus, but the rest of the album stands up on its own as well. Michael Angelakos’ perpetual falsetto and the strong combination of guitar and keyboard create an effort that really gives you a lot to sing along to. There aren’t a lot of tricks or clever turns of phrase, just well executed danceable pop songs.

6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
What a great year for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They returned with an album that easily violates and exceeds expectations at the same time. If you’re familiar with Fever To Tell, you’re probably expecting them to craft another abrasive record that demands you to push through and recognize its strength, but no. This record finds YYYs smoothing out some of their rough edges and exchanging that raw nerve aggression for a more mature, synth-pop approach. The record that comes out is really quite stunning. Karen O hasn’t sounded better, and the synthesizers added to a cleaner guitar give you solid melody from start to finish. The album opener “Zero” is a head turner, but then it transitions into the best song on the album “Heads Will Roll.” After that, though, the album doesn’t end up sinking into mediocrity at all. The band tries out some slower material that harkens back to “Maps,” and what they come up with can give that ballad a run for its money. Don’t think that they’ve completely abandoned the harder edge, though. The middle of the album has shades of earlier rawness with “Dull Life” and “Shame and Fortune.” PS…this album is tied with another record for best album cover of the year. Guess which one.

5. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion/Fall Be Kind EP
It took this album for me to become a convert to the much loved Animal Collective. I gave the album a shot because of the hype, and I was really impressed at how accessible it was. Previous albums from this group have been hard for me to swallow whole because I felt like they were experimenting for the sake of experimenting. This record proved me wrong. They are able to emphasize pop crafting and melody here without losing the edge that earned them critical acclaim all these years. “My Girls” is probably the song of the year, but other songs like “Brother Sport” and “Summertime Clothes” are so catchy that they’ll stay in your head for days. Plus, the lyrics are surprisingly simple and sincere. They don’t go for grandiosity, just genuine expression. The LP came out in January, and the EP came out in December, creating good bookends on the year. Both are really worth your time.

4. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
It’s no secret that I thoroughly enjoy Neko Case’s singing. So it’s also no surprise that I’m inclined to like her album when it comes out. That doesn’t mean, though, that I’m wrong about this album being completely great. She has one of the most unusual and beautiful love songs of the year with album opener “This Tornado Loves You,” and the entire album has such personality that it’s thoroughly lovely. This album also has the distinction of being co-winner of album cover of the year for me. By now you’ve seen it, right? Neko on the hood of a car wielding a sword. The cover both inspires confidence and sums up the spirit of the album. There’s a sense of love coupled with a fearless fighting spirit for that which is loved. Other strong points on the album include “People Got A Lotta Nerve,” “Middle Cyclone,” and her cover of Harry Nilsson’s “Don’t Forget Me” played with a dozen or so pianos that she got for free from the internet. How can you dislike an album that has that kind of story?

3. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
I don’t remember how, but I came across Phoenix’s previous album, It’s Never Been Like That a few years ago, and I was surprised that they weren’t bigger than they were. They had solid pop sensibilities, great melody, and catchy beats. Well, now they’ve finally hit the big time with this effort, and I say it’s well deserved. From the opening duo of “Lisztomania” and the ubiquitous “1901” (if you’ve seen a Cadillac commercial this year, you’ve heard it) to the closer “Armistice,” you get even more refined and cleverly textured pop music that is unafraid to be exactly what it is. Even the 2-part “Love Like a Sunset” provides a nice transition from the first half of the album into the second half. This is another group that I’m very happy to see get some recognition for a well crafted album.

2. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
I’ve really enjoyed Camera Obscura’s music, even dating back to when they basically sounded like Belle and Sebastian. Let’s Get Out Of This Country is a strong candidate for my favorites of the decade list. This album picks up where the previous one left off, and while it may not reach all the highs that one did, it’s got some of the most memorable moments for me this year. “French Navy” starts off the album innocently explaining the freshness of a new love, and then it transitions into “The Sweetest Thing,” which contains hands-down my favorite line of the year: “when you’re lucid, you’re the sweetest thing.” “Swans” is a peppy little number sure to get toes tapping. “James” is a sad breakup song that connotes the frailty of love. The title track is another solid song that has a nice disconnect between the somber lyrics and the upbeat music. Final track “Honey In the Sun” would be the best way for Camera Obscura to close an album if they hadn’t already done “Razzle Dazzle Rose” on the previous album. Each has a different tack: “Razzle” is kind of a dissolve ending that just melts away; “Honey” packs one final punch and sticks in your head all day. Great album. It makes me curious to see where they’re gonna go next.

1. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Dirty Projectors are another one of those bands who weren’t really on my radar much until this album. Like my previous two albums of the year, this one’s a grower. Bitte Orca might be more of a grower than earlier albums, but the payoff is as great if not more so. Each time I listen to this album, I find more and more that was packed into the songs, from additional instrumentation to the quirky but stunning vocal arrangements that frequently pop up out of nowhere just to give the song extra punch. Opening track “Cannibal Resource” is one of those songs that feels a little off the first couple listens, and then one time it just clicks! The opening guitar riff, the seemingly random falsetto notes from lead singer Dave Longstreth, and the backup vocal gymnastics from Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian all come together in such a mesmerizing way that it’s difficult not to appreciate the intricate thought that went into writing and arranging this song. And that’s just the first track! Each track has something like that. Some combination of instrumentation, singing, and songwriting just works both within the song and in the album as a whole entity. The beauty of the whole project for me is that I wasn’t really expecting many (if any) of the twists and turns that the album provides, from non-traditional time signatures to chord arrangements to uncommon harmonies. But it all works so well that I have to give the band credit. One wouldn’t think that a collection of nine songs could be as ambitious as these are, but the ambition is both palpable and rewarding. Other strengths (even though there certainly aren’t weak moments) include “Stillness Is The Move,” “Two Doves,” and “No Intention.” I went back and forth on whether I thought this was the best album of the year, and ultimately, I decided that the sheer ambition of this record combined with the talent required to put it together pushed it in their direction. Amazing record, and shame on you if you don’t have it.

There you go! Thanks for reading this far. Have a great holiday season and happy new year!

Top Albums of 2009: Honorable Mention Edition

2009-12-16T06:45:00.000-08:00

As I said before, it's been a great year in music. This has led not only to a large number of albums on my favorites list but also complicates organizing the list. That said, I think I have settled on my top 30. The albums below are just under that cut. They aren't in a particular order necessarily, and they didn't make the cut for different reasons. Some were nice but didn't wow me as much as the top 30. Some I just recently acquired, so I haven't had enough time to listen to them enough to really get them. So, here they are.

The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You
Venice is Sinking - AZAR
The Crayon Fields – All the Pleasures of the World
Regina Spektor – Far
Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
Maria Taylor – Ladyluck
Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
The Clientele – Bonfires on the Heath
Brendan Benson – My Old, Familiar Friend
Antony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light
Au Revoir Simone – Still Night, Still Light
The Bird and The Bee – Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future
fun. – Aim and Ignite
Headlights – Wildlife
Jonsi & Alex – Riceboy Sleeps
Mono – Hymn to the Immortal World
Metric – Fantasies
The Raveonettes – In And Out Of Control
The Twilight Sad – Forget the Night Ahead
A.C. Newman – Get Guilty

Later this week (hopefully), the proper list.

Top Songs of 2009

2009-12-15T20:22:00.000-08:00

It's been forever since I've posted something. It might have to do with the project that was the subject of the last post. Well, I have finished my 2nd of 3 case study chapters, and to reward myself, I'm going to go through my annual favorite songs and albums of the year lists. This year, I will add a faves of the aughts list since that's so fashionable right now. I'm working on the albums lists, but for now I shall list favorite songs of the year.

Let me start off by saying that this has been an incredible year in music. I've been pleasantly surprised at both the number of albums released by bands I like a lot and albums by new or heretofore undiscovered groups that have caught my attention. There have also been really solid albums by bands whose previous work I liked well enough but wasn't too crazy about. Overall, I've just really enjoyed the quality and diversity of music that's come across my radar screen this year. So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite songs of the year, in no particular order.

Animal Collective – “My Girls”
Camera Obscura – “Honey In the Sun”
Camera Obscura – “French Navy”
Neko Case – “This Tornado Loves You”
Neko Case – “People Got a Lotta Nerve”
Phoenix – “1901”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Heads Will Roll”
Passion Pit – “Sleepyhead” (this one might be cheating since it came out in ’08)
Dirty Projectors – “No Intention”
Delorean – “Seasun”
Grizzly Bear – “Two Weeks”
The xx – “Crystallized”
JJ – “Ecstasy”
Viva Voce – “Devotion”
Maria Taylor – “Cartoons and Forever Plans”
Regina Spektor – “Eet”
Metric – “Gimme Sympathy”
The Twilight Sad – “Reflection of the Television”
The Bird and the Bee – “Fanfare”
The Appleseed Cast – “As the Little Things Go”
The Antlers – “Two”
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – “Young Adult Friction”
The Raveonettes – “Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)”
A.C. Newman – “The Heartbreak Rides”
Burning Hearts – “I Lost My Colour Vision”
We Were Promised Jetpacks – “This Is My House, This Is My Home”
Andrew Bird – “Anonaminal”
Yeasayer – “Tightrope”
The Decemberists – “Sleepless”
Feist and Ben Gibbard – “Train Song”
The Mountain Goats – “Genesis 3:23”
Ingrid Michaelson – “Soldier”
Dodos – “Fables”

I didn't want to have too many repeat artists. Needless to say if you see the same artist on favorite song and album lists, I like other stuff on the album as well. Coming soon: favorite albums of '09: honorable mention edition.

My life for the next year

2009-08-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

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!

____________________________________________

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).

When you're lucid you're the sweetest thing

2009-06-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Did you hear the old gospel choir?

2009-06-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

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

Teabagging Everyone in America

2009-04-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

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.

The Daily Show v. CNBC and Jim Cramer

2009-03-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

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?

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 1

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 2

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 3

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

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Rachel Maddow makes my day

2009-02-06T20:59:00.000-08:00

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:

In which I ponder my home state

2009-01-26T22:56:00.000-08:00

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"?

New Neko Case!

2009-01-17T12:15:00.000-08:00

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.

My Top 30 Albums of 2008

2008-12-18T19:03:00.001-08:00

I am such a fan of "favorite things of this year" lists, especially albums. It's so fun to compare notes with other people, groups, organizations and see what was notable to whom for what reasons. Sometimes it's validation (or not) of my view of songs/albums, and other times it becomes a way for me to find out about records that may have avoided my radar. Last year, I added a youtube video of a song from albums, and it felt like the post took forever to load. Needless to say, I will forgo that this year. Like I said on the "favorite songs" post, if you're interested in learning more, search the internet, youtube, google, myspace, Hype Machine, etc.

30. The Dodos – Visiter
While this album is kind of hit or miss for me, the hits definitely outweigh the misses. Pitchfork has compared them to a more unplugged version of Animal Collective, and to some extent, I can see that. It’s stripped down music, but there’s a lot of heart to it, from the energetic drumming to the driving acoustic guitars to the occasional supplemental shout. Strengths include “Red and Purple,” “Fools,” and “Jody,” and while I can live without some other tracks, their unconventional quirkiness isn’t enough to take away from the album’s successes.

29. The Notwist – The Devil, You + Me
This album is a soothing, yet odd little collection. It occasionally goes off-kilter (complete with Radiohead from Kid A-style percussion), but it comes back with a soft landing. You then realize that you’re better for the journey. There’s still a smoothness and subtlety to the execution here that’s heartwarming. The occasional gentle strum of the acoustic guitar with the soft but driving rhythm section give their music warm undertones that make it an enjoyable listen. Favorites include “Good Lies,” “The Devil, You + Me,” and album closer “Gone Gone Gone,” which sounds like a song you could hear playing during the credits of either The Office or an indie film. It provides an appropriate anticlimactic end to either a short story or an album built on subtlety.

28. Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs
Another very enjoyable record for Death Cab for Cutie, although it’s clear that they are taking some chances with this record. Its more unconventional song structures mix with the band’s knack for solid pop songs for a record that is a pleasant listen. Songs like “Cath…” and “No Sunlight” are really catchy, and despite the lyrics, they bring out a sense of optimism that is infectious. I do wonder, however, what’s up with the 4 minute intro to “I Will Possess Your Heart.” Overall, though, Death Cab has another catchy, smart record that grows well with a few listens.

27. Earlimart – Hymn and Her
If you were ever in the mood for some more Elliot Smith-esque pop, may I introduce Earlimart to you. In songs like “God Loves You the Best” and “Cigarettes and Kerosene” I swear the male singer Aaron Espinoza sounds just like Elliot. Other times you get some pretty good moody pop music. They have a great combination of instruments, and the songs from female vocalist Ariana Murray (“Time for Yourself,” “Before It Gets Better”) bring a nice balance to the record. It’s got a good range to it.

26. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
The softness and intimacy of this album is quite striking. This album has gotten a good bit of attention around the blogosphere for good reason. With little more than a guitar and the occasional percussion, Bon Iver have managed to capture emotional connection and vulnerability in a way unlike any other. I can appreciate the sentiment, even if the songs don’t stick in my mind as long as others on the list. My favorites are “Skinny Love,” “Flume,” and “Blindsided.”

25. Los Campesinos! – Hold On Now, Youngster/ We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
I am a late comer to Welsh band Los Campesinos!, so with some more time, it’s possible that these two albums (they released both albums this year) could have moved higher with some more time in my sights. In my few short listens, however, I have been very impressed with the combination of energy and pop crafting that has gone into both albums. The guy/girl lead singer trade-off makes for a good dynamic, and their playfulness only adds to the fun in hearing them. I couldn’t decide between the albums, so both are listed here. “Hold On…” has more energy and rawness, while “We Are Beautiful…” is a little (just a little) more subdued and focused. They don’t just follow the pop formula, though. They add something to it. Case in point: “I cherish with fondness the day (before) I met you.” The addition changes the sentiment and opens it up to new perspectives. Other strong points include “You! Me! Dancing!” “Ways To Make It Through The Wall,” Miserablia,” and “Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks.”

24. Grand Archives – Grand Archives
The demise of Seattle favorite Carissa’s Wierd led to the creation of Band of Horses, who have put out two solid albums. After their first album (the better one, IMHO), guitarist Mat Brooke (who had also been in Carissa’s Wierd) left the band to start Grand Archives. The result is a pretty good album of familiar melodies that are just done well. It doesn’t stand out as a heartbreaking, mind-blowing experience, but that’s part of the appeal for me. It’s just a nice, straightforward album with the occasional whistle, harmonica, and well executed melody. High points for me are “Torn Blue Foam Couch,” “Sleepdriving,” and “A Setting Sun.” It’s a good Sunday afternoon, relax with a good book album.

23. British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?
With an album title like “Do You Like Rock Music?” one would expect the new British Sea Power album to be a broad, sweeping rock n’ roll opus that wears its ambition on its sleeve. While the band doesn’t exactly meet those expectations, they do put together a collection of tunes that manages some atmospheric finesse. It stumbles in a few places, most notably the end song “We Close Our Eyes,” which is just a reprise of the opener “All In It.” The problem, though is that the reprise is almost 4 times longer than the opener and just repeats the ideas in the first. High points, though, kick through with driving melodies and leave such low points in the dust. Recommended tracks include “Down On the Ground,” “Waving Flags,” and “Atom.” The middle half of the album is definitely worth it.

22. Longwave – Secrets are Sinister
This album made an impression on me in its unyielding catchyness. It’s good indie pop that ranges from the crunching guitars and keyboards to quasi-ballad with clean guitars and pretty melodies. All in all, it’s worth a few listens. Sure, the song structure is fairly predictable, and the band kinda blends the styles of bands like Echo and the Bunnymen, Paloalto, and Death Cab for Cutie, but that’s not really a bad thing, right? Sometimes, the way you can combine these influences is a benefit in and of itself. “Sirens in the Deep Sea,” “Satellites,” and the album closing title track inject a little sunny optimism, but not too much.

21. Glasvegas – Glasvegas
I have a special place in my heart for Scottish bands whose lead singers don’t lose their accent when they sing. Glasvegas join the Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit in that category. I feel like the accent adds a sense of emotional rawness and vulnerability that gives the music an extra quality. Add in Glasvegas’ anthemic, crunching guitars, and you have a winning combination. They happen to have one of the best tracks of the year in my opinion: “Geraldine.” The song is from the perspective of a social worker trying to keep poor, drug addicts from going off the deep end, and you don’t realize it until about halfway through the song. The turn of phrase just gets you. It’s so memorable and emotional that it alone makes 2008 in music a good year. It’s not the only solid track, though, to be sure. Opener “Flowers and Football Tops,” “Lonesome Swan,” and “S.A.D. Light” are also great songs in their own right. It’s not their fault that they are overshadowed by such an achingly beautiful song.

20. Mates of State – Re-arrange Us
Another soft spot goes to married couples who form a band together. Part of it’s the hopeless romantic in me, and part of it has to do with the fact that many of them make solid music. Along with the Submarines and Viva Voce, we can add Mates of State. While this album isn’t as strong as their previous effort, Get It Back, it’s certainly a very pleasant listen in its own right. On this record, Kori Gardner mostly trades in her Yamaha Electone organ for a piano. The result is a little loss of the edge earlier albums had, but in exchange we get a more sustained focus on crafting good, memorable pop songs. “Get Better” is one of their prettiest songs, and “My Only Offer” doesn’t trail that far behind. All in all, this is a well executed pop record. The only thing I find lacking is some of the umph that was so visible on Get It Back and All Day EP. With a little more intensity, this is a record that could have easily cracked the top ten, but obviously it’s still good enough to make the list.

19. The Week That Was – The Week That Was
Peter Brewis of Field Music took a hiatus from his main project to craft a side project, The Week That Was. Their debut album boasts an expansive reach (with 9 members working together seamlessly) while still retaining a focus that makes the album so darn enjoyable. They pack a lot into only 8 songs (32 minutes), so I don’t feel like I’m being shortchanged. Plus, it’s so easy to listen to this album 3 or 4 times without realizing it. It works in familiar elements with new twists, and the carefully crafted smoothness of songs like “It’s All Gone Quiet” and “The Airport Line” work so well in contrast with the pounding percussion of “Learn to Learn” and the album’s strongest song, “Scratch the Surface.” This is certainly one of those albums that might have been even higher if I had been able to listen to it since April or May. This one needs room to breathe; trust me, it’s worth it.

18. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
That’s right. The blog darlings of 2008 made it here. The album is just so darn catchy, and they even have a song with my name in it (“One (Blake’s Got A New Face)”). The first couple of listens were the most unsure, but once the tracks sink in, they’re pretty much there for good. My top 3 favorites on the record are “Oxford Comma,” “A-Punk,” and “M79.” There’s just something so fun and laid back about their music. I think senses of escapism and playfulness in both the lyrics and the song structure really help this record grow on you quickly. Plus it benefits from The Week That Was’ knack of crafting a short, good album so that you can put on repeat a few times without getting sick of it. As the songs mature, they add some depth, but they don’t take themselves too seriously. To me that quality is a rare thing. If only more groups could capture some playfulness in their music.

17. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
Another blogosphere recommended group. This duo has had a great year, including getting the cover of SPIN magazine (November). Their record suggests that they’ve earned it. It’s dramatic psych-rock that somehow manages to sound both retro and futuristic at the same time. Either way, from the opening keyboard riff on first track “Time to Pretend,” you realize that you are somewhere (or when) else. They use a broad range of instruments and sounds, and that keeps the record from falling into a rut or feeling too repetitive. They give off sounds that remind me of Yeasayer’s debut album and even Animal Collective (especially on “Pieces of What”). For me, though, the star of this album is the dynamic keyboard that provides some of the driving melodies that make the record shine. Other favorites for me include “Electric Feel” and “Kids,” a close second for favorite track on the album behind “Time to Pretend.”

16. Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell
After such a journey into the unfamiliar, it becomes time to move into more comfortable territory, and for that I turn to Tokyo Police Club. They’re a pretty good indie rock, post-punk-y band whose latest album Elephant Shell delivers that comfort in droves. With almost every song clocking in at under 3 minutes, they deliver the energy and emotional outpouring you expect from the genre without overdoing it or wearing themselves too thin. I don’t have much more to say about this album, mostly because there’s not much new with it. They just do what they do well enough to make for quite satisfying repeat listens. I’m a fan of “Juno,” “Your English is Good,” and “Tessellate” (my favorite).

15. Sigur Ros - með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Sigur Ros has been all about making some excellent ambient music for years now. I’ve enjoyed their music since Ágætis Byrjun, but I was unsure if they would be able to branch out without losing the core of their sound. I was even more unsure when Takk… came out because, even though I liked the album, it felt like it was too much of a departure from what they had done before. This record, though, pretty much puts to rest all those fears. It’s beautiful, but it brings in more pounding, driving percussion from Takk… in a way that doesn’t feel too overpowering. There’s an intensity to this record that I hadn’t gotten from previous records. The beauty of the record overflows, and this becomes one of those albums that can accompany both mellow and content moods. It’s hard to pick favorites for this record, but I really like “Festival,” “Við spilum endalaust,” and closer “All Alright,” which is the first song Jonsi sings in English.

14. The Helio Sequence – Keep Your Eyes Ahead
This record has enough good indie pop sensibility to draw you in closer with every listen. Starting with “Lately,” a song whose narrator is trying to convince himself that he’s over his ex, you begin to understand where singer/guitarist Brandon Summers is coming from. I think it has something to do with a subtle Dylan-esque quality to his vocals. It’s very nice music, but you get the sense of melancholy pervading every note. There’s a sense that the hammer of harsh “reality” is always just beyond our peripheral vision waiting to invade and take out our slowly tarnishing “idealism” (whatever the words in quotation marks even mean). “Can’t Say No” bombards you with the despair of contemporary American lifestyle that compels you to join in even as you want to retreat. It’s a great expression of the cognitive dissonance I’ve been feeling for years every time I go into a mall or Walmart. Other solid tracks include “Shed Your Love,” “You Can Come To Me,” and “Broken Afternoon.”

13. Hello Saferide – More Modern Short Stories from Hello Saferide
This is just a beautiful record. Swedish band Hello Saferide have crafted one solid pop album, no question. Music journalist turned lead singer Annika Norlin has a solid singing voice, and the crafting of songs is just wonderful. She’s able to capture longing and lack so well without being depressing; her wit is something to marvel. There are points in which she tries too hard, and those become noticeable for sure. Overall, though, they don’t really take away from the album’s splendor as much as they serve as a temporary distraction from sentiments you can feel running from start to finish. My favorites are “Lund,” “Middle Class,” and very favorite “Anna,” a hypothetical about a child that the narrator and partner would have had if the partner had not left. The unique perspective Norlin takes throughout this album is both heartbreaking and refreshing at the same time.

12. Ra Ra Riot – The Rhumb Line
The melody of this album is just spellbinding. I guess that’s what happens when you have both a violin and a cello in your band, but still, they manage to use each instrument so well that the music has real heart to it. You can feel it in every note of this record. From album opener “Ghost Under Rocks” to “Dying is Fine” and even in the low point of the album, their cover of Kate Bush’s “Suspended in Gaffa,” you know that the band is 100% committed to the sonic output. This is an indie pop band that wears its heart on its sleeve, and that genuine outpouring only makes the beauty of the album’s well-crafted songs even stronger and more palpable. Lead singer Wes Miles is both a good singer and someone with the knack of giving all he’s got to a song. This album is worth a significant investment of your time, and I would expect this band only to get better in the next few years.

11. Okkervil River – The Stand Ins
The Stand Ins is a sequel (I think) to their excellent previous album The State Names (which made it to #10 last year). Again, this one deals with headaches and pressures of trying to make it in acting as well as the relationship between the star and the audience. While I’m still a slightly bigger fan of The Stage Names, I am quite impressed with the follow-up. They build on the crafting of the previous records (BTW, Black Sheep Boy is also incredible), and Will Sheff’s storytelling is still quite strong. Plus, he’s quite a good singer, the kind you have to hear live. As an aside, I saw Okkervil River and the New Pornographers this past May, and I became convinced that Will Sheff and Neko Case both have voices that must be heard live. In person, they each blow away their respective album performances. This record stands up on its own as it extends on lyrical themes and carves out its own musical niche.

10. The Mountain Goats – Heretic Pride
I got turned onto John Darnielle’s project a couple years ago, but I have since been stunned at his knack for using details to sketch out wonderfully intricate stories, complete with characters’ thoughts and realizations (“This Year,” “Dance Music,” “Woke Up New,” and “No Children” are the top 4 must download tracks from The Mountain Goats). He is an amazing lyricist, able to express emotions better than just about any songwriter I’ve heard. His new album, Heretic Pride, doesn’t have an overarching theme like his last 2 or 3 records have. Each song is its own separate story, but they all still work so well. “Sax Rohmer #1” is probably the high point on the album, but other enjoyable songs include “Autoclave,” “So Desparate,” and “How to Embrace a Swamp Creature.” This album has the benefit of working together as a complete package without a song or two going just far enough astray to make you want to skip it (probably the only shortcoming of his previous records for me).

9. Headlights – Some Racing, Some Stopping
Yay for twee pop! This is one of the best indie pop albums I’ve heard in a while. From the very twee-tastic “Cherry Tulips” to the Camera Obscura-like sounds of “On April 2,” this album delivers unabashedly straightforward gushy pop that is just a joy to listen to. It’s all about soft sounds and ambient guitar and keyboard melodies. The guy/girl lead singer switch-off is also part of the formula for success. The attention to melody and harmony are so enticing that it’s easy to get lost in the album, even though it clocks in at just above 30 minutes. Other standouts for me include “Get Your Head Around It,” and “Market Girl.”

8. M83 – Saturdays = Youth
As a child of the 80s, I can say that this album touches that soft spot of nostalgia that I have for my childhood. It most definitely has the 80s sound, but in a way, it’s also very not 80s. The synthesizers and soft, new wave sounding vocals are definitely a throwback to the decade of the rubik’s cube and Back to the Future, but there’s also something very now about the songs on this album. In other words, I don’t think that the 80s would have been ready for this music. There’s some over the top instrumentation and percussion, but it is always complimented with a sense of calm that I don’t recall from Simple Minds or Modern English. High points are “Graveyard Girl,” “Kim & Jessie,” and “We Own the Sky.” The journey back in time is both awe-inspiring and comforting, especially with the 10-minute wind down “Midnight Souls Still Remain” to close out the record.

7. Deerhunter – Microcastle/Weird Era Cont
I enjoyed Deerhunter’s previous album, Cryptograms, even though I thought there were times when it wandered around in ambient noise for too long. Their latest release is a double album of sorts. Microcastle is the main album, but along with it comes Weird Era Cont, this bonus disc with as many songs as the primary recording. Since they work so well together, I’m keeping them together for the purposes of this ranking. I’ve listened to Microcastle more, but both records hold up well to repeated listens. On both records, Deerhunter stray back into the world of pop music with more discernable melodies and instrument arrangements that make it less work to get acquainted with the songs. Standouts from Microcastle include “Agoraphobia,” “Saved by Old Times,” and one of my favorite songs of the year, “Nothing Ever Happened.” If you hear no other Deerhunter song ever in your life, download this one. It’s the truth, especially the back half of the song where the instruments just take over and finish out the song. “Nothing Ever Happened” becomes the heart of the album, as well as its peak. The rest of the record basically revolves around this high, but there isn’t a disappointing track between 25 songs.

6. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes/Sun Giant EP
Fleet Foxes have had a wonderful year! They’ve gotten tons of recognition, played on practically every late show on television, and put out a debut EP and LP, both of which are wonderful. The harmonies on the record are heavenly, and the band isn’t stingy with them. You have no shortage of lyrics are about the mountains, or open fields, or woodland creatures in the snow. There’s nice imagery, and the music is so wonderfully crafted that it’s difficult not to enjoy both records from start to finish. Sun Giant EP opens the door with songs like “Drops in the River” and “English House” giving you a taste of what to expect on the full length LP. The eponymous album picks up where the EP leaves off and just goes farther out into the wilderness with confidence. High points on the LP include “White Winter Hymnal,” “Ragged Wood,” “He Doesn’t Know Why,” and closer “Oliver James.” Congratulations for Robin Pecknold and the rest of Fleet Foxes on two solid recordings in one great year.

5. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colors
I have been a fan of this album since April, and I mentioned back in May that it was one of my favorites. Things haven’t really changed much since then. I’ve given the record some breathing space, and it keeps coming back to me with enough life and energy to be its own battery. I never cease to be amazed at how Cut Copy can weave their way through various musical genres with relative ease. You start out with indie pop, move to 80s new wave, go to progressive rock, stop off at dance, and back without realizing just where you were going until you’ve gone through it all. The song construction is tight, and the variety blends so seamlessly that it’s really quite a feat that they’ve managed to retain credibility as they put all the songs into one collection. They don’t lose musical integrity as a band no mater where they take you. I still think that “Feel the Love” is one of the best Track 1’s of the year. It’s just bright and shiny without trying too hard to get your attention. Other solid standouts include “Lights and Music,” “So Haunted,” “Hearts on Fire,” and “Strangers in the Wind.” This is one of those albums I put on when I’m in a rut writing and need something to help me get my second wind, and it hasn’t failed me yet.

4. Santogold – Santogold
Oddly enough, I’m even surprised at myself with how high this record is on my list. Maybe sometime later, I’ll rethink things and decide that this wasn’t very bright, but for now, it’s #4. Santi White (aka Santogold) takes the genre-hopping that I just mentioned with Cut Copy and goes about it in a completely different way. Rather than weaving seamlessly from one genre to another, she blatantly jumps from clever indie rock/pop (“L.E.S. Artistes” and my favorite on the record, “Lights Out”) to M.I.A.-style underground dance/R&B (“Creator” and “Unstoppable”) and everywhere in between. The transition is abrupt, but on this record, that seems to be part of the point. Each song has such strength of voice and character that there’s no need for her to justify the broad range of music on this album. Her voice is unique, and it’s actually quite refreshing to see her refuse to be bound by traditional musical genres, incorporating whatever she thinks will give her work something fresh and unique. It’s also amazing how Santogold can put out so many songs that are ridiculously catchy yet still credible enough to avoid being corny. Some of my other favorites include “Say Aha” and “I’m a Lady.”

3. Portishead – Third
Ok, first off, I was not trying to be funny by having Third be my #3 album of the year. It’s a coincidence. I am, though, so excited that Portishead is finally back with another record. As I mentioned in my May post, the hiatus was way too long. It’s so fascinating to see how the 10 year break has influenced Portishead’s song construction. I mean, think about it. The last time Portishead released a new album, Bill Clinton was President. For one, they still have retained the basic sound and somewhat gloomy outlook that became a trademark for their first two records. The shift, however, comes in some bold new innovations. There’s the pulsating Hammond B-3 organ on “We Carry On” that feels like an irregular heartbeat, the ukulele olde timey quasi-song “Deep Water,” and of course, the pounding drums that drive the album’s strongest track (and possibly one of the best songs Portishead has ever done), “Machine Gun.” Beth Gibbons’ voice is as fragile and intimate as ever. They rely less on samples and more on the raw combination of instruments, and somehow that move feels right. After listening to the record a few times, it becomes clear to me that this record could not have been made or released in 2000, 2002, or even 2004. This feels like the right time for Portishead to come out of hiding and make their mark. I hope it doesn’t take another decade for a follow up, but if that’s what it takes for another masterpiece like Third, I would be willing to wait if it came to that.

2. TV on the Radio – Dear Science
TV on the Radio is definitely one of the most innovative and edgy bands out there right now. Their previous record, Return to Cookie Mountain, is probably one of the most difficult albums I own. I got it a couple years ago after it started showing up on so many year-end lists, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure the record out. I have played it numerous times, let it sit for a while and come back to it, and still I am puzzled by some of it. Part of it for me is that the innovativeness is inseparable from a raw abrasiveness that I can’t quite put my finger on. Well, that trepidation weighed heavily as I listened to Dear Science, and I was both puzzled and blown away at the same time. In one sense, I wondered if this was the same band that gave us such off the wall tracks as “I Was a Lover”? At the same time, though, I knew that this was the same people, but something is very different here. The album has lost that abrasiveness without giving up innovation. It’s much more palatable. The unfamiliar is still engageable in a way that I still haven’t found with Cookie Mountain. This is a much smoother and accessible record than the previous work was, and I am convinced that both the band and I are better for it. The chaos has settled, but it’s not gone. It’s something that feels less scary and presents itself as pure possibility. Of course, some of the songs are about the current political climate and the hope that things will stop sucking soon (“Golden Age”), but they do so without a sense that all is lost. There is a hopefulness and focused energy on this record that makes it so freaking astounding to listen to over and over, even as it ventures into new territory. As with many albums on this list, this one should get a few listens with the headphones so that the music can connect directly with the music and you don’t have to worry about the atmospherics of the room interfering with the subtleties.

1. Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight
To be completely honest, I’m very surprised that this album hasn’t surfaced on more year-end lists than it has. When it has shown up, it’s been more toward the bottom of the list. I do not know what is up with many of the music mainstay organizations. This album not only got good reviews, but it is one of those albums that breaks in nicely. In May, I said that this was my early favorite for album of the year, and while there was a while when I wasn’t sure that would hold up, I can’t deny that this has been my favorite record to listen to all year. I’ll echo the comments I made on Glasvegas’ debut about how I totally heart Scottish bands whose lead singers keep the accent when they sing. Scott Hutchinson has a unique ability to sound both strong and fragile as he sings. There’s also a really great connection between body and state of mind with songs like “The Modern Leper,” “Good Arms vs. Bad Arms,” “Head Rolls Off,” and another one of those pivotal ballads, “Keep Yourself Warm.” Hutchinson’s strength as a songwriter comes in this understanding that emotional and physical connections are inseparable (the central line in “Keep Yourself Warm” is either genius or hackneyed depending on who you ask, “It takes more than fucking someone to keep yourself warm”…I’m less concerned with whether it’s clever and more interested in how it informs the album’s perspective). In fact, the relationship between biological processes/embodied experiences and perceptions/memories/ideas becomes one of the central themes of the album that surfaces in new ways with each song. It touches on the overflowing emotional journey that comes with life, relationships, and human interaction that becomes filtered through an existence in a body that is fragile, vulnerable, and always already limited. All in all, this record is very human. It has ups and downs, surprises and disappointments, successes and frustrations. The Hutchinson brothers are able to articulate parts of that complexity through the complex relationship between music and words, and the listener is better for the engagement. At first, the realization of how vulnerable we really are as a people can be disconcerting to say the least, but the more I got into this album, I started to understand that this vulnerability doesn’t have to be a weakness. It can be strength because once you understand its parameters and learn to live your vulnerability, you don’t have to give in to despair. The determination in “Floating in the Forth” with the line “I think I’ll save suicide for another year” (probably the best line of the album) gives me a reason to look forward, not with hope that things will get better, but rather with the understanding that the uncertainty of tomorrow or next year can be as inspiring as it is debilitating. Ultimately, it’s worth it to see what the unknown could bring.

If you actually made it this far, thank you very much for reading and Happy Holidays!

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that Frightened Rabbit have put out a live album where they basically play The Midnight Organ Fight in order. It's called Liver! Lung! FR! It's cool to hear how the songs translate in a live, but intimate setting.

My top albums of 2008: Honorable Mention Edition

2008-12-18T11:18:00.000-08:00

I'm currently working through my list of top albums for the year of our Lord 2008. As, I do that, though, I did want to list some albums that I liked but didn't break into the top 30 (that's how many I was willing to go with this year) somehow. This list won't really have commentary between each album like I will have for the official list. Suffice it to say, though, that there are various reasons for these albums just falling below the list. They could been either late in coming out or in getting enough listens for me to feel comfortable ranking them. They could have been missing a certain something that I had found in the top albums. They could have had some good songs and some flat out awful ones, so I wouldn't feel comfortable giving the entire album high bidding. I would still recommend these albums, but they just don't get the same level or type of praise that my top 30 will get. They're also not really in any order, so they're not numbers 31-whatever. They're albums that, for me, are good but just under the cut off.

Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer
Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part One (4^th World War)
Kaki King – Dreaming of Revenge
The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
Death Vessel – Nothing is Precious Enough For Us
Hercules and Love Affair – Hercules and Love Affair
Now, Now Every Children – Cars
Loquat – Secrets of the Sea
Hot Chip – Made in the Dark
The Ravonettes – Lust Lust Lust
R.E.M. - Accellerate
School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms
Sera Cahoone - Only As the Day is Long
The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave
Tilly and the Wall - o
The Whigs - Mission Control
No Age - Nouns
Lykke Li - Youth Novels
Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
El Perro del Mar - From the Valley to the Stars
The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale
Beach House - Devotion
Blitzen Trapper - Furr

I know it's a lot...Apparently, I've been able to listen to a lot more albums this year than last year. Thank you Ruckus and Spiralfrog.

On an unrelated note, I do want to highly recommend an album that came out last year that I didn't get the chance to hear until this year. The band is called Fields, and their album Everything Last Winter is amazing. I feel certain that if I'd found this album last year, it might have made the top 5. There's just such luscious musical arrangement and harmony. I don't know why more people didn't put this one on their year-end lists or how I didn't hear about it until just a few months ago. It's one of those special albums where the more it grows on you, the more you realize that it fits you perfectly.

My top songs of 2008

2008-12-12T07:06:00.001-08:00

So, now that comps is finally over and done with, it's time for me to point out some of my favorites in the music of 2008. I was a little surprised to see all the "best of" lists come out starting last month, especially since Kanye West had a new album out right when some people were saying what their favorite albums of the year were. Now, I know that 808s and Heartbreak is a stylistic departure for Mr. West and has both its supporters and critics, but chances are some people would have included it if it came out in June (it didn't make my list, but part of that could be due to lack of time to let it ruminate). Then I found a comment from John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats (who are on my best of list this year) that makes a lot of sense, "Labels who wait 'til November to unleash your heavy hitters: November is too late for a great record to really be able to assert itself, so get that stuff out by September. You may not have noticed but it's a new world." So, I guess I'm saying 1) I agree with Darnielle that labels should put albums they think might be best of the year out sooner and 2) people should at least wait until December to put out their best of lists. I understand that print publications are under pressure to deliver on antiquated deadlines that don't work well with the fast pace of the internet, but I think there's a chance of passing over some possible jewels.

I'm pretty much finalizing my best albums list, but in the meantime, I did want to put out a list of songs that I liked a lot this year. I don't really feel like ordering them, and my knack for posting mp3's leaves a lot to be desired. I'll just list the songs, and if you are interested in hearing them, you can search The Hype Machine or something. It's also possible that some songs were left off b/c another song from the same artists was already on the list. I didn't want to overload with 3 or 4 songs from an album that I just might be raving about in the "albums of the year" post. So...without further ado, and in no particular order.

Glasvegas, “Geraldine”
Deerhunter, “Nothing Ever Happened”
Tilly and the Wall, “Tall Tall Grass”
Santogold, “Lights Out”
The Mae Shi, “Run To Your Grave”
Portishead, “Machine Gun”
The Mountain Goats, “Sax Rohmer #1”
The Mountain Goats with Kaki King, “Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is In Another Castle”
Frightened Rabbit, “Good Arms vs. Bad Arms”
Cut Copy, “Feel the Love”
Death Cab for Cutie, “Cath…”
Coldplay, “Viva La Vida”
Chairlift, “Bruises”
The Week That Was, “Scratch the Surface”
TV on the Radio, “Dancing Choose”
Ra Ra Riot, “Ghost Under Rocks”
R.E.M., “Living Well is the Best Revenge”
Okkervil River, “Lost Coastlines”
One Day as a Lion, “Wild International”
MGMT, “Time To Pretend”
M83, “Graveyard Girl”
Mates of State, “Get Better”
Hello Saferide, “Anna”
Goldfrapp, “A&E”
Grand Archives, “Sleepdriving”
Fleet Foxes, “White Winter Hymnal”
Vampire Weekend, “A-Punk”

Streaming Election 08 results

2008-11-04T09:41:00.000-08:00

For those curious to follow along in real-time tonight, here is Daily Kos' Electoral Scorecard.

What's missing at the RNC?

2008-09-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

Ya know, Republicans do a great job repeating that John McCain is ready to be President, but the two words that you don't hear from them are "temperament" and "judgment." Obama and the Democrats made a big deal about this being a key test for being President, and the GOP is dropping this vital argument.

PS...if you thought "change" was a glittering generality, the GOP has the Dems beat big time.

UPDATE: ok, can we stop indirectly calling the black Presidential candidate uppity?

UPDATE #2: it really burns my biscuits that the GOP is trying to sound like NOW.

McCain, Palin, etc.

2008-09-02T22:08:00.001-07:00

John McCain isn't a maverick. He caved to the extreme right wing of the Republican party by picking Palin. A real maverick move would have been to pick Lieberman or Ridge and call the base's bluff. The choice shows 2 things: 1) that he makes stupid gut decisions (a trait I don't want in a President) and 2) he's still beholden to the most extreme elements of the right wing (compare that to Obama who, rather than feeling the need to cave in to the far left is acting more like the standard bearer for the party that he is).

It's clear that the McCain/Palin ticket is going to try to run on the "we're better change than Obama" slogan, rather than the "ready on day one" tagline. There are a couple problems with this. First, they are always a step behind Obama on the question of change. Obama has already spent months laying out how change works and what it means both as a set of beliefs and as a group of policies. McCain's stuck on the "reform" message, which is just change-lite. In fact, I would urge Obama supporters to refer to McCain's current schtick as change-lite. It has a good sound to it, and it puts the message in perspective. Second, the only thing I have ever learned from what little I've seen of America's Next Top Model is if you copy someone else's idea, you'd better make sure that you do it better than the person you're copying or else you look like a poseur. McCain is not far from looking like a poseur. How can he expect to match Obama's message of change with "reform"?

McCain's "reform" is too small to gain any significant advantage over Obama. Go back to Obama's speech (I have the link to the video in a post below) and note what he talks about when he mentions "change." He goes beyond the narrow-minded focus on pork spending that McCain is making the hallmark of his campaign. Notice that this is the only thing that McCain has been able to reference when he talks about the need to "shake up Washington" (well, that and standing up to your own party, but who does he think he's kidding?...see my first note above). Obama talks broader about a more fundamental question of the role of government in people's lives. Government isn't there to hold your hand through life or to control everything you see/do. It is there to help you out in times of need. It should help people have access to the American dream. All McCain has is "government is wasteful and spends money on useless crap...I'll stop that." Keep in mind, though, that Obama doesn't take lobbyist or PAC money, while McCain does. Obama even got the DNC to shun PAC and lobbyist money. McCain has just raked in that cash. The fresh perspective that Obama has gives him a leg up on "shaking up Washington" primarily because it involves wrestling it away from the hands of an incompotent Republican who's been steering it for the last 8 years.

Palin was either not vetted properly, which means that McCain made a stupid gamble, or was thoroughly vetted, meaning that McCain was perfectly OK with everything that has come out in the last 5 days or so. Neither of these says anything good about his judgment now, does it?

Republicans have tried to defend themselves from the fact that McCain's choice of Palin completely obliterates their "Obama ain't experienced" argument, mostly by trying to split hairs over what counts as experience. I've been working through this for a while, and I've come to several conclusions:

1) If Palin is more experienced than either Biden or Obama because her experience is "executive" in nature, then it must follow that Palin is more qualified to be President of the United States than John McCain, since he has no executive experience either. I dare any McCain supporter to defend the argument that because of her "executive experience" Palin is more qualified to be President than John McCain. If you concede that she isn't, then you have to concede that this means that a) executive experience really isn't all it's cracked up to be and b) that federal level experience has to count for something (definitely more than executive experience in a state with fewer people than the state of Delaware).

2) Executive experience should not be limited to government. What I mean by this is that you could say that Carly Fiorina or Meg Whitman have executive experience because they were CEO's of major multinational corporations. These positions involve significant management skills, meaning that if you run, say, a presidential campaign for 19 months (almost as long as Palin has run the state of Alaska...hmm), successfully attract 2,000,000 individual donors to give money to your campaign, average over $50,000,000 a month in campaign contributions, and defeat one of the most well-oiled political machines in the business (Hillary Clinton's campaign) in the primaries, wouldn't it seem fair to say that Barack Obama has at least some level of executive experience that we could compare to the exaggerated accounts of Sarah Palin's executive experience?

3) Republicans are trying to have their cake and eat it too with regards to the inexperience factor. They seem like they're not willing to let it go just yet, although, I think they do this at their own peril. In response to the argument that Palin isn't qualified to be VP or Prez, they're trying to argue that Palin is not from Washington DC, which is good because she's in a unique position to shake things up. Obama, on the other hand, the argument goes, is not experienced enough to be ready for prime time. If it's true that Palin's lack of time in DC is a plus, then it would follow that Obama's dearth of DC tenure makes him an equally viable candidate for changing the way that things are done in Washington. Either they're both fresh Washington outsiders, which means they both have a claim to being effective agents of change, or neither is fit for the office of the Presidency. I don't think that Republicans have thought this far into the argument. If Palin can shake things up, then logically it means that Obama can as well. In fact, if I were an Obama surrogate on TV, I would argue that Obama's limited time in Washington gives him the perfect mix of being the shake-'em-up outsider and an experienced politician who knows how to deliver the right kind of change for the country. Unlike McCain, he's not wed to Washington or the Bush legacy, and unlike Palin, he at least has some idea of how things work in DC.

McCain's choice of Palin undermines two of McCain's strongest arguments of the campaign so far: 1) the experience issue (which has been discussed ad nauseum) and 2) the importance of national security as the top issue in the campaign. At first I thought that #1 was the more damning concession, but I've started to think that maybe #2 is really the more dangerous one for McCain. This not only prevents McCain from using ideas from Hillary's "3am" ad and others to say that President Obama = country at great risk for big terror boom but also allows Obama to refocus the campaign onto the primary issue of his choice. In other words, now Obama can claim both that the economy is where people should determine their votes, not national security and that if McCain wants this election to be about national security then he's the dangerous one b/c he selected an unknown lightweight to be a heartbeat away from Leader of the Free World in a time of great peril.

Whew!...and I thought this was gonna be a short post...

BTW, did anyone notice that Fred Thompson admitted that being a POW doesn't = qualification to be prez? That's interesting. He says that it shows character, but both candidates have a claim to character. It's telling that a Republican is allowed to say what got Wesley Clark into so much trouble.

...and the hits just keep coming

2008-08-29T22:01:00.001-07:00

Ok, so last thought about McCain's choice of Sarah Palin in the veepstakes. She just had a child with Down Syndrome 4 months ago! This is significant for a number of reasons. First, yes it does provide the GOP with that strong "family values" symbolism that they are known for, but there's a significant drawback here. The McCain campaign has asked her to join the ticket where she needs to travel nationally and actively work to get her new boss elected for the next two months or so. This puts demands on her time that will likely affect her ability to care for the infant (much more than being governor of Alaska would). That will hurt her mostly because this delicate balance will probably cut into the amount of time she would need to get up to speed on the plethora of major domestic and foreign policy issues that she needs to be able to process and speak about coherently. Second, this seems at odds with the Republicans' "family values" motif in the sense that they are kinda requiring that Mrs. Palin spend so much time away from the family and children (especially the youngest one who still needs to be nursed, burped, etc. with a mother's care in their view). Finally, my bright fiance pointed out to me that the materiality of a new mother's body can complicate matters even further. Giving birth has effects on a body, and that should be taken into account.

Let me be clear, though. None of this means that she can't do it or shouldn't take the job. It's just surprising that there appears to be little to no consideration for the amount of time and energy she would need to devote to raising her infant son and how that could trade off with the excessive demands that come with being McCain's running mate.

On Obama's speech and Palin

2008-08-29T07:56:00.001-07:00

First, Obama's speech was amazing. He hit every point. He talked about the broader direction for the country, tapped into the higher calling he sees for the next 4-8 years, added in some specifics so people understand what "change" means, and popped McCain numerous times with easily the best lines of the campaign. It was wonderful. The game is ON now! The gloves are off, and Obama showed that he's ready for a fight. Sweet!! He made the best case possible, and left Republicans speechless. Their response was awful, and that leaves the Democrats with the advantage coming out of the convention, which leads me to...

Second, it seems that John McCain has tapped Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. This is a bold, yet stupid choice for McCain. It's obvious that they are going with 2 things here: 1) shore up the conservative base (she's quite conservative, used to support Pat Buchanan...shudder) and 2) try to appeal to the Hillary holdouts by choosing a womyn. On the first, he's successful, but it comes at a cost of undermining support from independents. They have to hope that the GOP base will be larger than the Dem base + new first-time Obama supporters. On the second, I think this is a terrible idea. Basically, they're saying, "Pick McCain: his running mate has a vagina!" Her position on social issues that were terribly important to Hillary (that she talks about in her DNC speech) is at odds with the very womyn they're trying to sway. I think former Hillary voters will see through this pandering and will find insulting the idea that just picking a womyn, regardless of her positions on the issues, would be enough to sway them...Then again, Rachel Maddow seems to think that some of them are "post-rational." Any womyn that this would reach were already gonna vote for McCain before he made his pick. I doubt very seriously that choosing Palin will bring in new votes.

This choice comes with way too many risks. First, she's only been governor of Alaska (a state on the other side of Canada) for a year and a half. This means, of course, that she's got NO foreign policy experience, which is a huge negative for someone who would be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Second, she's under investigation in her state for using her influence to fire an ex-brother-in-law, which will be difficult for the McCain campaign's attempts to brand her properly. Third, there is not enough time for the GOP to brand her before opponents and media will brand her. Finally, she is younger and less experienced than Obama, which undercuts McCain's argument that Obama isn't ready to lead (the only argument, by the way, that was gaining any traction). This dovetails nicely with Bill Clinton's argument that Obama's selection of Joe Biden shows good judgment.

We'll have to see how the rollout goes, but once the newness wears off, I think the McCain campaign will find out quickly that choosing her has only short term benefits and no long-term ones, particularly in terms of governance.

Update: Andrew Sullivan has been talking about this a bit, and he concludes that this isn't really a serious pick, particularly compared to Biden. He includes a couple comments he's received. My favorite is this one: "McCain's penchant for beauty queens is, um, subtle." (Get it? She was a former beauty queen! She finished second in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant, according to Wikipedia.)

DNC day 3: quick thoughts

2008-08-27T18:42:00.001-07:00

Awesome speech by Bill Clinton. He made a wonderful case! (Oratorical Animal is "liveblogging" the evening's speech, and his insight is excellent)

Now Kerry's up, and he is pissed! FINALLY!!!! Oh, this warms my heart so. His best distinction is Senator McCain vs. Candidate McCain. This is a good way to frame the McCain campaign from now until the election.

The gloves are OFF!

ps...the first two nights were great too, but they were lacking the umph and the punch that we're finally starting to see tonight. We've turned the corner. It's time to fight back!

Factoid of the Day

2008-08-23T09:21:00.000-07:00

John McCain owns more houses than Oprah does!

PS Biden is a great pick for Obama!

Just a thought...

2008-06-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

Isn't it interesting that Obama's $22 million May fundraising is his worst month so far and McCain's $21 million is his best month? I mean, McCain could only do that well 2 months after clinching the nomination and with basically nothing draining his resources, Obama was in the midst of his primary battle with Hillary Clinton (diverting his campaign away from fundraising), and they raised about the same amount of money? Wow. McCain should enjoy this closeness while he can because I have a feeling that it's the best piece of fundraising news he's going to get during this election.

Why Obama shouldn't fear a backlash about public financing

2008-06-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

I’m getting a little tired of all the hay being made of Obama’s decision to opt out of public financing. There has been a lot of hand-wringing by Republicans and some claims of the media that Obama’s decision constitutes a grand shift. While I am personally an advocate for fully publicly financed campaigns for public office, I fully support Obama’s decision. Let’s look at a couple of the issues surrounding the move.

First, Obama never said that he would take public financing. What he said was that he would discuss it with McCain’s campaign. They discussed it, and Obama’s campaign says that McCain wasn’t interested in reigning in outside groups or 527 organizations that don’t adhere to campaign finance restrictions. Obama has started to do that because we hear today that Moveon.org will cease its 527 activity, which is a pretty big deal. Moveon.org is (at least perceptually) one of the larger and better noticed groups out there, so their move to back off really helps Obama perceptually more than any ads they would have put out could have done. The only “shift” for Obama is not meeting with McCain when he said that he would to figure something out. While the two might not have met personally, the campaigns do appear to have had some contact. They could have put forward more of a good faith effort if they were looking to appease the McCain campaign, but I’m not sure they need the McCain campaign’s approval. Sure, McCain will say it’s a breach of trust, but it’s difficult for them to translate this technical maneuver into a longstanding pattern of lying or breaking promises.

Second, while I support the decision, I am a little flabbergasted at the Obama campaign's fairly milquetoast defense of the move. Apart from some bloggers (Kos in particular), most of the people defending Obama have just recited his mild argument that the system is broken. It has fairly simple counterarguments, and it comes across as at least somewhat disingenuous. I don’t know why Obama isn’t just stepping up and saying, “Look, these objections would make sense if we got most of our money the old fashioned way (with lobbyists and PACs), but we don’t. Our campaign is directly people-powered. We are functionally a publicly financed campaign. The point of campaign finance laws is to prevent the use of money to influence a candidate’s positions. People give our campaign money because they believe in me. It would be wrong for me to return the investment of these great people just so we get caught in this rigged system (one that McCain is scamming).” Obama and some of his people have been making a similar argument kinda half-heartedly, but they can and should be much stronger in saying that this is a different kind of campaign. The direct nature of the funding for this campaign makes everyone’s complaints moot. Just. Say. THAT!

I like the decision, and I think ultimately the objections will dissipate in time (only Republicans will continue to whine about it after a few days). I just wish that the Obama people would more vigorously defend the decision and stop giving the opposition’s complaints as much credit as they have.

UPDATE: David Corn over at Mother Jones has a similar defense of Obama, but he tries to come across as more even-handed.

Desert Island Discs: Dummy

2008-06-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

My favorite kinds of albums (regardless of genre) are the ones that you listen to a few times when you first get them, put them away or don't really listen to for a few months or even years. Then, you come back to them and re-engage them with a different perspective than the one you had when you first heard the music. Somehow, the latter listens feel deeper, richer, and more robust than the first time, even though it's been a while. I can do that with a few, special albums more than once. If you haven't done something like that, I would recommend it. It's really a nice experience. The trick, of course, is remembering to come back to the album in a few months.

I mention this little side story because it applies to my desert island disc of the day: Portishead's masterful debut record Dummy. It's an album that you cannot listen to just once. It begs for repeated engagement, on both musical and lyrical fronts. The more you listen, the further in you go into the emotional journey that Beth Gibbons and company weave with so much complexity that sometimes you can forget where you are or have been. That's ok, though, because the journey itself is more important than figuring out a destination. The opening arppegiated chords of the album's first track "Mysterons," with that echo, set the mood: dark and mysterious, yet welcoming. The album's primary single was "Sour Times" with the chorus "Nobody loves me, it's true/ not like you do" that translates dispair well, although in some ways this song sticks out from the rest of the album. I tend to find more comfort in the warmth of songs like "It Could Be Sweet," "Wandering Star," and "Roads." Also, let's not forget the spectacular closer "Glory Box." This song still keeps the dark moodiness, but it ends things on a slightly optimistic note that seems to take charge. Gibbons demands "Give me a reason to love you/ give me a reason to be a woman." Such a commanding stance feels like a source of power. It's not just that I feel a need to love others; I want to know that investment of my time and energy is worth something to them. Overall the songs come together well, and they have complemented various moments in my life, some good and others bad.

Also, let's talk about genre for this record. There are elements of jazz, soul, alternative rock, and yes...most certainly the genre the album is most known for: trip hop. They essentially inspired trip hop with this CD, and it makes sense why. At the time there really wasn't much like this record out there, so it felt so new and creative. Even to this day I think it's a very creative record, and it's part of why I'm so into their long-awaited Third album (it's one of my favorites of the year so far...I have a mini-review of it a few posts ago).

What this album does for me more than anything else, though, is just exist as a companion. It recognizes that life has problems. The waters are turbulent, yet I feel ok with the turbulence when I listen to this record. We don't need to have all the answers to questions or problems. It's enough that we have a relationship with the world around us. That relationship is changing, and it invites participation. It begs for us to engage with it. Dummy gives me the strength and perspective to do so without feeling like I'm giving too much of myself in the process. I get as much as I give. For me, the record's strength isn't so much that I feel like Beth Gibbons understands me (or anything like that) as much as it is that I feel a connection in the kinds of feelings she conveys independent of specific experiences or perspectives. Isn't that enough, though? Even if I have no idea what someone else is going through and can't relate through sharing similar life experiences, isn't it enough sometimes to share an emotion, or more basically, an affect? I think so, and that's why I heart Dummy.

Previous Desert Island Discs
Radiohead - OK Computer

Underrated or Appreciated Albums: Regretfully Yours

2008-05-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

I thought that the Desert Island Discs post was so much fun (I'll certainly have more in the coming weeks) that I came up with other specially-themed posts to do. This one, Underrated or Appreciated, deals with albums that I like a lot but am surprised and a little disappointed that they didn't get more attention/praise. I've found this trend happening often enough that it deserves its own kind of post. Basically, I'm going to do two things in this kind of post: 1) praise the album I like, and 2) complain that more people don't see things my way.

First up in this set of posts is one that I think is one of the most underrated albums of the 90s: Superdrag's debut album Regretfully Yours. This album came out in 1996 at the height of the alterna-craze of the 90s. "Sucked Out" was the main buzzworthy song, and MTV played the video for a little while. The rest of the CD, however, was overlooked for some reason. I mean, I like "Sucked Out" for sure (who can't appreciate screaming along with John Davis, "Who sucked out the FFFEEEEEEAALLLLIIINNNNGGGG?!?"), but most of the album has a really nice energy. Also, despite its occasionally depressing lyrics, the songs sound upbeat and so catchy. It's a fun album that combines the youth of innocence with the angst of adolescence. Maybe that's why I got into the record so much during college.

You have such a strong start with "Slot Machine," the driving one chord that moves into lines about unrequited love and trying for friendship. The song bleeds into another smooth rocker, "Phaser," that makes you want to dance and jump around. Another strong point is "Destination Ursa Major," a song that builds up enough energy to propel it to the stars. The second half of the album is great, although it is more hit or miss than the first half. "Whitey's Theme" has a playful feel, particularly since it includes a guitar solo that sounds like like a taunting song that everybody sang on the playground in elementary school. "N.A. Kicker" has such a sweet guitar line that it practically demands a head bob. The album's closer, "Rocket," finishes off the record with another bouncy, driving melody that promises you it won't go away. The only bothersome tracks on the record are "Truest Love" and "Nothing Good is Real." Both are worth skipping, but even if you take them away, you have eleven songs that make a nice, cohesive album that can meet you with as much optimism or pessimism as you are willing to bring. Either way, Regretfully Yours packs a punch and gets you to enjoy the ride.

Unfortunately, Superdrag were never really able to recapture the same amount of magic that they achieved on their first album. Subsequent records have good songs here and there, but they couldn't make an album that worked as well as a cohesive unit like Regretfully Yours. I'm really surprised that they didn't receive more attention or praise for this album, mostly because I think there were enough strong songs that they could have certainly been appreciated by a broader audience. "Sucked Out" was their biggest hit, but it didn't really create the lasting attention for them that carried over to other songs, sadly enough. They're certainly worth listening to, particularly if you have an affinity for 90s alternative.

Superdrag - Sucked Out
Superdrag - Destination Ursa Major

A new way to get music

2008-05-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

I've been searching off and on for a way to get music cheaply or free for a while. I like supporting local, indie music stores when I can, partially because they're a dying breed and partially because there are a couple great ones in Athens within walking distance of UGA's campus. The problem, however, is that being a starving grad student means I don't have enough disposable income to spend on a slew of albums that I might be interested in hearing. I have to pick and choose. The only other alternative is getting them from torrent sites, and I think the RIAA's narrative and heavy handed tactics are enough to make me feel guilty whenever I even visit one of those sites, regardless of my ambivalence regarding intellectual property and copyright laws.

Early this year I heard about a music service for college students (yes, I still technically count, even though I'm not in undergrad) that provides free music. It's called Ruckus, and it's a fairly good way to access most of the music that you might want. It obviously doesn't have everything, but the selection is pretty good. I mean, most of the albums that I listed in my "Favorite Albums of 2007 (latecomer edition)" and "Favorites so far of 2008" posts I got through Ruckus. The upside is the pretty good selection and ease of getting stuff (once you get the hang of the website/player). The downsides are the following:
1) you have to download the Ruckus player, so that becomes another player that you have to deal with. The Ruckus player itself doesn't have many bells or whistles. It also doesn't link up with other programs very well like iTunes, Winamp, or Windows Media Player. There is a slight way around this, however. The files are all in .wma format, so they can be played in Windows Media Player with no trouble. In fact, I rarely listen to the songs through the Ruckus player anymore; I use Windows Media Player.
2) in order to download anything, you have to have both the player and the website up at the same time. It doesn't all work through just one or the other. This isn't really that big of a deal, but it can be a hassle compared to sites like iTunes and other similar programs.
3) DRM: this isn't specific to Ruckus. iTunes has DRM, and most websites that sell their music (or have it for free) have some form of encryption on their music files. The point, obviously, is to limit what you can do with the music file. Ruckus, however, goes farther than iTunes. With iTunes, you can at least burn the files to a CD even if you can't convert them to mp3 or a more usable file. Ruckus doesn't allow burning, converting, or transferring the files to another device. You can't load the files onto iTunes, because iTunes would need to convert the files away from .wma, and you can't convert them. DRM gets in the way of transferring the files onto a portable mp3 player. If you plan on listening to a lot of music at your computer, then it's ok, but you can't take the music with you as is.

All in all, I'm glad to have Ruckus because at the very least, I can listen to new stuff and get a sense of whether I like it enough to buy either online or in CD form at a local store. If you're a university student, you can sign up for free and download music for free. It's a great, free, legal way to learn about many new artists, and if the album is available from Ruckus, you can get it the day it comes out. For example, I've been listening to the new Death Cab for Cutie album off and on this week. I might review it a little later...Who knows?

Desert Island Discs: OK Computer

2008-05-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

A while ago, a friend of mine, Bethany, began a frequent blog post idea in response to an idea from her father: desert island discs. It's kind of a popular thought experiment. If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have a handful of albums (assuming a way to listen to them) with you, what would you take and why? Typically, the goal is to point out some of your favorite albums of all time, albums that have made a big impact on one's life. I like the idea so much that I'm starting the series here. First up, I have to go with the top one on the list, a soundtrack to technological dystopia.

In 1998, critically acclaimed alternative band Radiohead went from "pretty good" to "this generation's Beatles" with their third album: OK Computer. This album has been noted by Spin Magazine as the top album from 1985-2005. It has the originality, songwriting, melody, and lyrical complexity that you only get in rare albums when things go just right. Of course, the album's popularity on its own isn't the only reason I have it here. I bought the album not too long after it came out. It has both the pessimism and the ambiance that has followed me for the 10 years since its release. It has grown with me, and the sounds have only deepened with repeated listens. I've also seen Radiohead play most of the album live, and they achieve a fullness that even eclipses the album in a concert setting.

The first guitar line of the opening song, "Airbag," begins the album with a sense of disorientation. The song discusses the feeling of a car accident and the feeling of empowerment that comes with surviving a potentially tragic event. Next came the album's first single, "Paranoid Android," which both delves into the fear of totalitarian control and the desire for that same sense of control that overruns you. Consider the lyrics, "when I am king you will be first against the wall/ with your opinion which is of no consequence at all." The song goes over 6 minutes, and winds through both heavily distorted guitars on both sides of a beautiful, melodic breakdown. This song is so complex that it took me a few listens to appreciate it fully. From there, we have one of the softer numbers about alien abduction "Subterranean Homesick Alien." Next comes the song written for the end credits of Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet," "Exit Music (For A Film)." It is the second eeriest song on the album, yet the hushed intimacy builds to the dramatic climax with the line "we hope that you choke." "Let Down" comes next, a song that beautifully spells out pessimism. Ending the first half of the album is the most popular song on the record, "Karma Police." This somber ode to comeuppance imagines a scenario in which you are able to enact just revenge on those who annoy you. The song ends with what sounds like machinery breaking down as it fades into the most unique track on the record. The second half of the album begins with "fitter happier," a repetition of popular, feel good platitudes spoken by a computer voice. The effect is to disconnect the words from emotion, making them feel empty and cynical. "Electioneering" follows, the loudest song on the record and a direct critique of status quo politics. We move from the loudest song to the creepiest song, "Climbing Up The Walls." Thom Yorke finds ways both with notes and with lyrics to scare the ever-loving crap out of you. Then we transition to the lullaby, "No Surprises." This one is such an interesting sleeper because includes lyrics about fading out ("a handshake of carbon monoxide") as well as political messages ("bring down the government/ they don't, they don't speak for us"). This song typifies Radiohead's complexity on the album because of the musical beauty combined with such varied lyrical expressions. Next comes "Lucky," another eerie song that is also confident and complex. With such a somber, yet brave tone, Yorke belts out "it's gonna be a glorious day/ I feel my luck could change." The album ends with "The Tourist," another lullaby, but it expresses both the sadness and frustration of going too fast without slowing down to pay attention to the world around you.

This album has helped me comprehend my emotional state in some more depressing moments as well as helped me cope with what I often see as a horrific political/cultural environment. Though my outlook on some things has changed, I can safely say that I wouldn't be who I am without this album. It may sound cliche, but in some important ways, I found out who I was because of OK Computer.

ADDENDUM: After looking back through this entry, I realized that my review of the album feels kinda weak. I don't think I did the album real justice by just talking about every song and saying the album means a lot to me. I want to add a little more. For me, the sheer beauty of this album comes in the incredible mixture of lyrical content and musical diversity that still maintains an overarching theme. It's like a concept album without really being a concept album per se. OK Computer expresses fear and revulsion at a world gone terribly wrong, and this was in 1998. Think about it: Clinton was in office, things were going fairly well economically, we weren't fighting wars, and the biggest scandal was Bill's zipper problem. Yorke was able to see that something was amiss years before the rest of us could, and I think that's part of what has made this album stand the test of time more than any other in recent memory. His perspectives and turns of phrase have only become more relevant as the years went on. The album was truly ahead of its time, and it's taken many of us years to figure out how much the band's commentary on where we have been going in the past decade makes sense! It has given me the perspective to notice that the world we live in has serious problems, yet at the same time, despite the music's sense of despair, there's just a glimmer of hope in knowing that the ability to diagnose some of the problems with the world around you means that you are doing the right thing. Ultimately, that's what the album's about: understanding your relationship with a messed up world around you. That's what has given this album such meaning to me for the last decade. I have been able to use it when I was personally depressed about random things and when I needed to cope with some critically negative developments in the world at large. I think that's why so many have found this album near the top of their favorites lists.

My open letter to Al Gore

2008-05-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Vice President,

Let me start off by saying that you are beyond a doubt one of my few heroes in politics. You have been nothing short of a dedicated public servant despite the terrible hand that you have been dealt throughout your career. I cannot imagine that anyone else, after actually winning the presidency only to have it stolen from them in broad daylight, would handle the situation with more dignity and sophistication than you did. Not only that, you have worked since then to make the world a better place through your tireless work on so many fronts, most noticed of course being your work with global warming. I love An Inconvenient Truth, and I have been thoroughly amazed at the amount of time and energy that you have personally put into your attempts to find viable and significant solutions to the serious crisis we face in global warming.

On a personal note, I heard that you recently hired a friend of mine, Brad Hall, to work with you on research for upcoming work. You could not have made a better decision. He is a brilliant and hard working guy, and I know that whatever you have in mind will only be enhanced with him at your side.

A couple days ago, I came across a brief article that stuck out in my mind. In it, you are quoted as saying that, no matter who becomes president, you will not accept a cabinet level position if the next president were to offer it to you. I am writing to you, sir, to ask that you reconsider that position.

I can understand your decision not to run for president in 2008. I mean, you got stung once by the dirtiest tricks that the Republicans could conjure up (openly stealing an election), and I think I could see why you would not want to put yourself through the rigor and pain of another long presidential campaign, particularly since, as you are quoted in the article, you are "looking for a way to bring about change in other ways." A campaign would mean a diversion of a lot of resources and time that you have focused on fighting global warming. I can also understand why you would not want to be someone's running mate. You did that job for 8 years, and it would not make sense for you to be asked to do it again.

I am, however, a little perplexed that less than 6 months away from the Presidential election in November and 8 months away from the Inauguration of a new President you would already close the door on another opportunity for public service. First, a lot could happen between now and then, and I feel like someone of your experience and high competence would be a Godsend for our government as we turn the corner away from the disaster called "The Bush Administration." Second, I am not sure I see a high-level position in the government as mutually exclusive with the other ways you are looking to bring about change. I'll admit that I don't know all of what you are doing to fight global warming, but I feel like a lot of it could overlap with at least some of the projects you have at the time. Third, working in the government means that you have a direct influence on policy, meaning that you can take bigger steps than most people can in the private sector. You wouldn't have to be Secretary of State or Attorney General. How about being head of the EPA? You would get cabinet rank even though the EPA technically isn't a cabinet agency. I think this would be a wonderful place for you not only because you could set government policy with regard to our environment (which would make the most sense because you're immanently qualified for the job!) but because placing someone of your stature at the top of the EPA would also bring respect to an agency that doesn't really get much respect in the eyes of the country. It would signal to the country and to the world that the US is committed to taking substantial action on global climate change now. Placing you as head of the EPA would be one of the biggest symbolic and material steps forward that the next President could take in our fight to reverse the effects of global warming.

All I ask, sir, is that you think about it. If after reconsidering the idea you decided that your first inclination is correct, I would still respect you as much as I have and do. I just think that it's a bit premature to say "no" to the potential of working in the government again if the opportunity arose for you to have a direct effect on this country's habits and tendencies.

Either way, good luck in all you do. Keep fighting the good fight. Lord knows we need more people like you.

Blake

I think I'll save suicide for another year

2008-05-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

The semester is finally over, and now that I have some extra time, I thought I'd mention some of my favorite music so far a little over 4 months into 2008. I've divided up the list into three sections: recommended, highly recommended, and favorites so far. Albums in the last category are in the running for my favorite of the year (subject of course to new additions). With the exception of the final category, the albums are listed in no particular order. Also, with the exception of the last category, I'm not gonna take the time to add commentary on each album. I noticed that there are a lot of albums here, and I'm too lazy to talk about each one at length.

Recommended:
Grand Archives – Grand Archives
Throw Me The Statue – Moonbeams
DeVotchka – A Mad and Faithful Telling
Gnarls Barkley – The Odd Couple
Hot Chip – Made In The Dark
Sera Cahoone – Only As The Day Is Long
R.E.M. – Accelerate (given where I live, it would be a crime to leave them off, but the album's nice without the geographical connection)
Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
The Kooks – Konk
The Fashion – The Fashion
Foals – Antidote

Highly recommended:
M83 – Saturdays = Youth
Fleet Foxes – Sun Giant EP
Dodos – Visiter
Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
The Helio Sequence – Keep Your Eyes Ahead
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Headlights – Some Racing, Some Stopping
British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?
The Whigs – Mission Control
Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell
Cloud Cult – Feel Good Ghosts

Favorites so far:
1) Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight: This is my favorite album of '08 at this point (despite the appearance of "Good Arms vs. Bad Arms" on Grey's Anatomy this week - it was the one at the end). It's like the potential that a band like Coldplay could reach if they just stopped trying too hard. The song construction and musicianship are just phenomenal, the melodies are infectious, and you can really relate to the ideas that the Hutchison brothers are trying to convey. It's so good that I can't even think of a weak track on the album. Standouts, though, are "The Twist," "Head Rolls Off," "Keep Yourself Warm," and "Good Arms vs. Bad Arms." I cannot recommend this record enough. Here's a video for "Head Rolls Off" to give you an idea of the greatness. Plus, kindergarteners seem to like it...

UPDATE: Charles over at Heartache With Hard Work has reviewed the album, and he agrees with me. He has one of my favorite mp3 blogs, and I often like his recommendations.

2) Cut Copy – In Ghost Colors: This is a close second for me, but the album is quite different than Frightened Rabbit. While they are more britpop-esque (whatever that term really means), Cut Copy is more of a genre traveler of sorts. They weave in and out of French pop, dance, New Wave (think Depeche Mode), and 90s Alternative so effortlessly that often you won't realize they are shifting genres until they've moved onto the next one! It's quite amazing to hear, actually. Plus, everything is just so darn catchy! I mean, all you have to hear is the opening song, "Feel the Love," and you'll be hooked. They have great melody, and it's just a great blend of elements. So many artists try to mix in new things and end up with such failure that it's refreshing to see a group get it right. "So Haunted" and "Lights & Music" are other standouts. Video for "Lights & Music" below.

3) Portishead - Third: How on earth did we get along for over a decade without a new Portishead record? I absolutely adore Dummy; it might qualify as a desert island disc (more on this in a future post). While their self-titled second album was a little bit of a let down, it was still very good. The burning question for all of us fans then was, "What is this album gonna sound like after an eleven year gap?" We all found out, and it is remarkable. They have moved beyond the confines of the trip hop box they helped to craft without losing signature sounds and arrangements. They also showed some new tricks up their sleeves to boot! This record is one I'm still digesting, and I am sure it will take some time for me to really process how I feel. My sense, though, is that the strength of this album comes in the way that all the disparate elements come together so well. I mean, you go directly from the short, ukulele driven, olde-timey sounding "Deep Water" to the pounding industrial sounds of "Machine Gun." As jarring as this transition can be, it works. Neither song feels out of place on the record. That alone is a significant accomplishment. Other standouts include "The Rip" and "We Carry On." Here's the video for "Machine Gun."

That's all I have for now. Thanks for reading. I feel like adding more as the summer progresses. I will probably discuss new music that I come across (I'm looking forward to the new Mates of State and My Morning Jacket for starters) as well as some more specifically themed posts. I may even throw in a political rant or two in...who knows? Until then, keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the top shelf of cookies.

UPDATE: I just realized that I forgot a couple more highly recommended albums.
The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
The Charlatans UK - You Cross My Path

Clinton, Obama, and Edwards on Colbert Report

2008-04-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

If you didn't see the Colbert Report Thursday, watch the video clips below. The two Democratic candidates left in the primary and the candidate who could have been appeared and did their respective comedic interactions with Stephen Colbert. Am I the only one who thought that the best performance came from the one who isn't in the race anymore? I may be just a skosh biased (I still wish that Edwards was our nominee...I can't help but believe that the Democrats wouldn't be nearly as worried about the general election if he were), but I thought that Edwards was significantly funnier than either Clinton or Obama. I know, I know...they have writers for each of the performances, but Edwards delivered his lines better. He had a more animated demeanor, and was more entertaining than the other two for me. I mean, he didn't even need to interact with Colbert to be funny. He got to do the whole segment by himself, and he nailed it! The other two were good, and they made their points resonate with each's campaign theme, but I was left wishing that Edwards was our candidate... Oh well, either way all three of the cameos were funny and made one of the better episodes in a while.

Favorite Albums of 2007 part 2: Latecomer Edition

2008-04-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

So remember how in the last post I mentioned that I like end of the year lists because they are good for recommendations? It's really a fun thing to do; I recommend it. I found out about The Hold Steady and Midlake a year ago the same way. Well, I have had some time to find, listen to, and process some of the albums that were on various people's end of the year lists, and I thought I'd list some of my favorites. I'm not going to re-do the list I made. At the time that was my list, and I won't change that. Think of this as an addendum, really. So here they are in no particular order.

Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Sambassadeur - Migration
Yeasayer - Yeasayer
Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8
Shout Out Louds - Our Ill Wills
Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War
Let's Go Sailing - The Chaos In Order
Palomar - All Things, Forests
Deerhunter - Cryptograms
Jay Z - American Gangster
Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
M.I.A. - Kala
Justice - †

Maybe soon if I have some time after schoolwork dies down I will post with a "favorites of 2008 so far" type post.

My Top 20 albums of 2007

2007-12-15T15:24:00.001-08:00

I love "best albums of the year" lists. I try to read as many of them as I can. This is for two reasons. First, I like to browse for recommended artists and albums that I may have missed. Second, I like to see what albums other people put where and why. These are always so much fun for me that I decided to do my own list. So here we go, without further ado...

20.Peter Bjorn & John – Writer's Block
I haven’t heard this one too many times through, but it certainly is catchy, and who doesn’t like “Young Folks,” honestly? It has a good mix of indie pop, shoegazer, and lo-fi experimentalism that makes for a pretty good listen. Some of their songs have ended up on commercials, which prolly explains why bits of their songs (rather than lyrics) get stuck in my head.

"Young Folks"

19. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Of Montreal has definitely progressed significantly since its earlier days of uber-quirkiness. The Sunlandic Twins is still my favorite album from them, but this one is pretty strong in its own right. There’s the great 3-minute pop of “Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse” or “Suffer for Fashion” (probably the two strongest tracks on the record, for me), and then you have the almost 12-minute opus “The Past Is a Grotesque Animal,” giving the album a pretty decent range. There are some flat moments (“Labyrinthian Pomp” comes to mind), but overall, the record performs well and leaves me with a pretty good feeling.

"Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse"

18. Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light
Oh, Jimmy Eat World…what happened? This band is one of my guilty pleasures; I adore Bleed American and Futures. Both albums have a great mix of energy, emotion, and pop sensibility. This album was a bit of a disappointment for me. It’s still a good album, good enough to make it onto the list. I guess I was just hoping for more memorable songs than what came out. Strong tracks include “Big Casino,” “Let It Happen,” “Always Be,” and “Chase This Light.” The rest of the album, while not bad in any respect, is kinda forgettable. It’s got what you would expect from a pop-emo-rock album; if only they could get a little more inspired.

"Big Casino"

17. Voxtrot – Voxtrot
After a set of EPs, this debut LP from Voxtrot is a nice piece of indie pop/rock work. The songs are catchy, melodic, and have a good positive feel to them, even when the lyrics are a little depressing. “Kid Gloves” is good, and “Firecracker” has a lasting aura to it. It’s also an album that isn’t too imposing. You can play it in the background and let it compliment your environment. I’m only familiar with a few of the songs from their EPs, but this album has piqued my curiosity to see how their other work sounds. Pretty good effort for the Austin band.

"Firecracker"

16. Maserati – Inventions for a New Season
I have been a fan of this Athens, GA band ever since their first album. The instrumental post-rock world opened itself up to me with their debut “37:29:24.” Since then, they’ve shifted their sound a little while still keeping the solid musicianship that has made them strong. This album is not an exception. With the addition of Jerry Fuchs on drums, the band is even better, with improved rhythm and complexity in their songs. While I think they didn’t need to rely on the delay pedal as much as they do here, overall the record keeps with the pace of great instrumental numbers that pack both energy and sophistication.

"This is a Sight we Had One Day From The High Mountain"

15. Kanye West – Graduation
Of course, another great effort from Kanye West. The music and lyrics are a great combination. He has great introspection and insight as always. The stuff is catchy, smart, and memorable. A couple tracks here and there fall flat (were they drunk when they decided to write and record “Drunken Hot Girls”? That song is pure terrible), but most of the record stands up on its own with “Good Morning (Intro),” “Stronger,” and “Homecoming” standing out for me. All in all, one more strong album; was anybody really surprised?

"Good Life"

14. Band of Horses – Cease to Begin
Pretty good follow up for Band of Horses, but it could have been stronger. “Everything All the Time” was my favorite album of 2006 because from start to finish it had an excellent vibe to it with 10 strong songs from start to finish. “Cease to Begin” has some nice songs, but I feel like they delve a little too much into the southern rock rather than staying within the genre-limbo that made their first album such a classic record. Tracks like “Is There a Ghost,” “No One’s Ever Gonna Love You,” and “Island on the Coast” are the standouts. On the whole, the album’s good, but it’s a little step down from their debut.

"Is There a Ghost"

13. Anberlin – Cities
I like Anberlin, but usually they get a little formulaic at times. It’s almost like if you’ve heard one Anberlin song, you’ve heard them all. This one, however, is a bit of a surprise. There’s more variety, range, and depth to this album than in the previous two. There’s definitely a sense of growth to this record that makes it their strongest and most coherent collection of songs yet. “Godspeed,” “The Unwinding Cable Car,” and “Dismantle.Repair” are some of the better ones, but for the most part, the album is a pretty good listen.

"Godspeed"

12. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Spoon is one of those bands that gets a lot of praise, and I enjoy their music. I’m just usually not that wild about them. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga keeps with their tradition of good, consistent albums that are memorable, hummable, and more comfortable with each listen. The album’s ten tracks blend well together, and they are well-crafted to create a pretty solid album. “You Got Yr Cherry Bomb” and “The Underdog” stick out to me as the strongest tracks. Overall, it’s a very good album, worth a few listens.

"The Underdog"

11. The New Pornographers – Challengers
I absolutely adored Twin Cinema, and I appreciate the more mellow sense that runs through Challengers. It makes the album feel more down-to-earth and serious, which is a bit of a shift from some of the more peppy numbers that the New Pornographers have put out in years past. The downside, though, is that some of the tracks disappear from the memory as soon as the song has ended. “My Rights Versus Yours,” “Challengers,” and “Adventures in Solitude” are the three strongest tracks on the record. “Go Places” sounds like it could have been a cut from Neko Case’s Fox Confessor album last year. I agree with some reviews that say they coulda used more of Neko’s amazing singing voice or given her more range, but on the whole, I won’t complain. Even the best moments on Challengers fall in the face of “Sing Me Spanish Techno” or “The Bleeding Heart Show” (probably The New Pornographers’ best song ever). All in all, another solid effort from the Pornos, even though it’s not as good as Twin Cinema.

"Challengers"

10. Okkervil River – The Stage Names
I just got turned on to Okkervil River this summer. I heard that their previous effort Black Sheep Boy is a solid album, and The Stage Names makes me want to go back and hear it. The Stage Names is a great effort, dealing primarily with the complexities that come with acting. Each song reflects a sophistication, attention to detail, and craftspersonship that is quite refreshing. “Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe” and “A Girl in Port” are standouts, but to be honest, I can’t find a bad song on the album. They just released a pretty good 9-song EP called “Golden Opportunities mixtape” through their website as well.

"Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe"

9. Motion City Soundtrack – Even If It Kills Me
This is another guilty pleasure band for me. The emo/geek/punk rock aesthetic that they go for is kinda endearing to me. Their first album (I Am the Movie) had some rawness and roughness, and their second album (Commit This To Memory) smoothed away some of the rough edges of the first. Even If It Kills Me (produced by Ric Ocasek) wanders even farther into pop territory, but it does so without losing too much of the strength of MCS’s previous effort. They tone down the new wave sounding keyboard enough so that it doesn’t overpower much of the music. Rather, it finds a solid compliment. It has good, danceable songs that still have enough lyrical maturity (for the most part) to move the music beyond simple-minded pop. “Last Night,” “Can’t Finish What You Started,” and “Antonia” are standout tracks for me, but again, the album has very few low points overall.

"This Is for Real"

8. Blonde Redhead – 23
I’m kinda surprised this album isn’t farther up on people’s lists. I really enjoy this album for its range, boldness, and musicianship. I like the combination of experimentation and pop sensibility that make for very interesting and enjoyable songs. I’ll admit I hadn’t heard any Blonde Redhead before 23, but I like their approach to songwriting. There’s a freshness to their music that is memorable without being overpowering. It seems like another one of those albums you put on in the background and let it create the atmosphere. “23,” “SW,” and “Spring And By Summer Fall” are standout songs that help shape the eclectic feel of this nice record.

"23"

7. Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City
Bloc Party captured some good attention with their first full-length album Silent Alarm, which led expectations for their second effort. The gang did not disappoint here either. While I found the album to be a little bit of a grower, the payoff was worth it. The front half of the album has more energy than the second half, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that the second half is somehow lower quality than the first. On the contrary, songs like “I Still Remember,” and “Sunday” bring the album to a fitting close, balancing faster music with softer, more intimate sentiments. Overall, through different tempos and varying degrees of distortion on the guitars, the album works as a cohesive unit and impresses.

"I Still Remember"

6. The Clientele – God Save the Clientele
The Clientele have a great, soft indie pop sound, and their ability to craft simple, yet powerful music is plain by listening to any of their songs. The primary drawback to them, however, is that one song tends to sound like all the others. On God Save the Clientele, they branch out a little from their tried and true formula to introduce subtleties and nuances that give each song more distinction from the others. “Bookshop Casanova” is the best example of this, as it does not sound like any of the other songs on the record. It is also one of the best cuts. The other songs, though they have more similarity, deliver a sense of emotional vulnerability (thanks to Alasdair MacLean’s unique singing voice) that is hard to match. “The Dance of the Hours” is also a lovely Belle and Sebastian-esque instrumental that is quite possibly the best two minutes on the record. Well done to the band for a great rainy day album.

"Bookshop Casanova"

5. Feist – The Reminder
Leslie Feist has put out another solid record that plays well from start to finish. There is great songwriting, nice instrumentation, and of course, she can sure sing! From the infectiousness of “1 2 3 4” to the quirkiness of “Sealion” to the aching sadness of “Brandy Alexander” and “Limit to Your Love,” The Reminder is a great album that’ll have your toes tapping and linger in your mind for days after your last listen. This record has really been a breakthrough for her, which I’m glad to see. Not only is she on commercials, but she is playing on various television shows like Letterman and recently The Today Show. Her music is catchy without being cookie-cutter, and that is something worth noting. Her penchant for one-take choreographed music videos doesn’t hurt things either. All-in-all impressive effort.

"1 2 3 4"

4. The Shins – Wincing the Night Away
Ever since Natalie Portman announced in Garden State that The Shins would “change your life,” they’ve had to contend with substantial expectations for their next record. Wincing the Night Away handles those expectations and responds with a well-crafted indie pop record. Their sound is more commercial here than on their two previous albums, but that is not a bad thing. They don’t seem to compromise the core of their songwriting and structure for which fans fell in love with them (myself included), and they add an element of accessibility that can only benefit them. “Phantom Limb,” “Australia,” and “Turn On Me” stand out, but again, there isn’t a downside to this album (unless you include the bonus track “Nothing At All” that I—and maybe you—got with the album on iTunes…a completely unnecessary song that almost takes away from the album as a whole, so I’m not counting it as part of the album proper). Wincing shows the Shins getting comfortable in their own skin and making music that is just great to listen to.

"Australia"

3. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
I heart Arcade Fire so much it’s not even funny! I got to see them when they came to Atlanta last May, and they were without a doubt the best concert that I’ve ever seen. Each member puts 110% of themselves into each show, and they bring out not only a good sound live but also an enthusiasm that gives the fans their money’s worth (in other words, GO SEE THEM LIVE!!). I think that Funeral is probably the best album of the decade so far, so needless to say I was eagerly anticipating Neon Bible. The album has some big expectations to fill with their previous record, and for the most part, they meet them. We see some subtle changes in direction (like the incorporation of the huge pipe organ in “Intervention” and “My Body is a Cage”) that reflect a positive growth for the Win and Regine specifically, and for the band as a whole. Even songs I thought I would skip on later listens, like “Black Mirror” and “Neon Bible,” grew on me such that I really enjoy the album from start to finish. It’s hard to pick standout songs for this record because the whole thing works together like a very strong unit, but some of my favorites are “No Cars Go” (originally on their debut EP, but they re-recorded it for this record…not much difference in style, yet somehow this version sounds better), “Intervention” and “Keep the Car Running.” The variety and intelligence of the songs make this a must own record.

"Neon Bible"

2. Radiohead – In Rainbows
Seriously, who would have thought in January 2007 that we would be putting a Radiohead album in our “best of” lists for the year? No one even really knew that they were seriously recording another record, so imagine our collective shock when they announce that not only are they done with the album but they were going to leak it from their website…oh, and you can pay what you want for it. The innovation with which this experiment went forward definitely deserves the merit it’s received. The record? It meets and even exceeds expectations. For the first time in their career, Radiohead actually sounds…hopeful. There’s an optimism and a sense of contentment in the music that I haven’t seen from the band before. And if the more playful tone of their recent webcasts is any indication, it’s a trend that goes beyond just the music. The web videos they did for Hail to the Thief rarely featured the band and were more about abstract artistic statements. Here, you see them playing songs from the album and showing an accessible humanity that is just plain refreshing. Usually Radiohead records emphasize the darker aspects of existence, even when there’s a determination to rage against the darkness (“You and Whose Army” and “Street Spirit” come to mind). In Rainbows has a playfulness that makes the album so much fun to listen to. The lyrics emphasize direct human connection while maintaining the unique perspective that we’ve come to appreciate from Thom Yorke. They don’t mess with drum machines or weird sonic augmentation on this record like they had on the past three. Mostly it’s a return to straightforward instrumentation that proves to everyone that Radiohead has still got it. We even see Phil Selway’s drums take a more prominent role here than on previous albums, which is a welcome development. He doesn’t just try to keep up with the other elements on the song; here Phil is actively driving the songs into new territory. “Jigsaw Falling Into Place,” “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” and “Videotape” are probably my three favorites. All ten songs, though, resonate so well that they might deserve album of the year…but…

"Jigsaw Falling Into Place"

1. The National – Boxer
The National opened up for Arcade Fire when I saw them in May. They put on a solid performance, playing mostly tracks from their upcoming album. Of course, their music was impressive, and I had to get the record. This record far and away exceeded any expectations I had of the band or their music. Matt Berninger’s distinctive baritone is so inviting and connotes fragility in a way that I haven’t heard in a long time. Lyrically, the album contains wonderful stories and excellent ways of seeing life, friendship, relationships, and the insecurity that comes with taking risks. Every single song of the dozen on this record is solid. Each one is distinctive and can stand on its own as just a great song. The musicianship on the record is spot on, from guitars to piano to drums to even accordion (I must say, though, that Bryan Devendorf’s drumming on this album is excellent and is part of the reason for my placing it in the top spot). Some of my favorites on the album include “Fake Empire,” “Mistaken for Strangers,” “Squalor Victoria,” “Slow Show,” “Apartment Story,” and “Start a War,” but, as I said, there isn’t a second of filler on this record. The album is a grower, but it is worth every second you spend on repeat listen. This is even one of those records that you should listen to a few times and then put away for a while. Then, come back to it and re-acquaint yourself with the record. You will be so glad that you did.

"Apartment Story"

That's the list. Thanks for reading this far. I'm sure there are honorable mentions I'm forgetting or something. Happy Holidays!

UPDATE: I'm feeling pretty good about my list, particularly since my top three matches the top three at the Onion's AV Club (in a slightly different order).

Resign!

2007-11-27T20:38:00.000-08:00

I know, this was done in the summer, but I still feel like posting it.

John Edwards and this notion of hypocrisy

2007-05-23T07:11:00.000-07:00

Cross-posted at DailyKos

I haven't totally made up my mind on who I will support in the Democratic Primary, but at this point I'm leaning heavily toward John Edwards. My reasons are numerous, but they revolve around 2 overarching ideas: 1) his policies are specific and lead the country in a direction that I would like to see and 2) he's been in a presidential campaign before, and he's fought through all the way to election day, meaning that he would know the mistakes of Kerry/Edwards from '04 and has learned them. Add to this 2nd reason the fact that he's already been through the ringer the first time, so there isn't much that the GOP can throw at him that isn't either old hat or something he can easily refute...which brings us to the point of my post. The main argument against Edwards goes something like this: "He talks a good game on poverty but he gets expensive haircuts and makes a lot of money; ergo, he's a hyprocrite." The media, rather than focusing on his issues, has decided that his appearance and bank account are more important things to discuss. Let's go through the main three charges:

1) he got $400 haircuts

Yeah, so? Edwards' explanation is plausible. He's a popular guy who has to travel a lot and speak to many different places. They don't have time for him to go to his hometown barber, and they have someone cut his hair at hotels. The hairdresser people overcharged him, and he said himself that the fee is outrageous. Who hasn't gotten a bill for something and realized that they got overcharged?

2) he worked at a hedge fund and made money

Again, so? I'm not concerned about the $400,000+ that he made there because, as I will discuss below, he gave most of his earnings to charity. I'm not impressed by his "I took the job to learn about how markets work" excuse, but ultimately I'm not concerned. This is because he has not changed his stance on the taxation of such hedge funds. It would ONLY be hypocritical if he said that these organizations should still at as tax shelters and enjoy loopholes. He doesn't. Not hypocritical. Some tension maybe, but ultimately not enough to undercut credibility. Besides, I'll happily stack his few months of consulting work with a hedge fund against years of work fighting poverty both as an attorney and as the founder of UNC's poverty center. This objection does not give any credence to the idea that Edwards is hypocritical or doesn't really care about poverty.

3) he got $55,000 for a speech about poverty

This one has the potential to do the most superficial damage, not because of the facts of the case but more because of the way that the right-wing can spin it. In doing so, though, the right exposes its own stupidity and inability to make basic logical connections. In the link above, Carla Marinucci examines every speaking fee that John Edwards charged and found this one to be the most expensive one. The irony of asking for money to give a speech about poverty notwithstanding, the message here is that Edwards is hypocritical for taking money when he says that we should work to alleviate poverty in this country. Of course, FOX Noise Channel has picked up the story and run with it as ammunition for non-stop Edwards attacks, As News Hounds notes, quite well I might add, this just is not hypocrisy. I'll quote them: "If Edwards was going around advocating in favor of poverty, saying we should all strive for it and live simple, non-material lives as he lived the good life, THEN he would be a hypocrite. But what he does is advocate success and tries to show people how to achieve it, as he did." Even a junior varsity high school debater could see that. Edwards wants to fight to alleviate poverty, and his willingness to (cue dramatic music) get paid for working does not make him a hypocrite. It makes him human, like all of us.

Ultimately, these attacks are inconsequential for three main reasons.
1) Attackers focusing on how much money Edwards has made ignores how much money other candidates have made. This is particularly true if you look at the fact that Rudy Giuliani has made $9 million in speaking fees last year, charging over $100,000 per speech and even asking for a $47,000 private jet ride for one speaking engagement. Focus on Edwards' income is more hypocritical if you don't scrutinize that of other candidates.
2) Focus on how much Edwards has made is pointless if you fail to see that he gave almost $700,000 of his earnings to charity last year, including every cent he made from his book. That means even if you take all the money that he made from the hedge fund and speeches, he gave a majority of his earnings to charity last year. I'd say that works in his favor at least as much as (if not more than) the other things that the news media believe cut against him.
3) Finally, there is a more basic logical flaw here: that you have to be poor to care about or fight poverty. This is the most ridiculous of all the assumptions that people make. Edwards has used his position as a wealthy individual (who worked his way up from poverty and, as he's said himself, hasn't forgotten where he came from) to help those who need more help. In fact, he's in a better position to work to fight poverty if he has the resources to devote to it than he would be if he didn't have them. Being rich does not inherently mean that you don't care about poverty. Would we not believe Robert Kennedy for wanting to make poverty an issue in his Presidential campaign because he was a Kennedy? Of course not. It's ludicrous to think that Robert Kennedy didn't care about poor people because of his wealthy family.

Judge Edwards by his issues and how his actions actually effect them rather than trying to create a link between the two that is tenuous at best.

Great article on the Paul vs. Giuliani

2007-05-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

Roland Martin, radio talk show host and occasional CNN commentator has a great comment on the surreal back-and-forth between Rep. Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani over the impetus for 9/11 in the 2nd Republican debate. Basically, the gist of the article is that, despite the "Rudy sure showed him" attitude that most have taken toward the exchange, we should be willing to consider what Paul said. Doing so doesn't mean that we love terrorists or we hate America. It actually shows a maturity that we need as a country. It's below.
______________________
Martin: Paul's 9/11 explanation deserves to be debated
POSTED: 9:26 p.m. EDT, May 18, 2007
By Roland S. Martin
CNN contributor

(CNN) -- Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was declared the winner of Tuesday's Republican presidential debate in South Carolina, largely for his smack down of Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who suggested that America's foreign policy contributed to the destruction on September 11, 2001.
Paul, who is more of a libertarian than a Republican, was trying to offer some perspective on the pitfalls of an interventionist policy by the American government in the affairs of the Middle East and other countries.
"Have you ever read about the reasons they attacked us? They attack us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years," he said.
That set Giuliani off.
"That's really an extraordinary statement," said Giuliani. "As someone who lived through the attack of September 11, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq; I don't think I've ever heard that before and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for September 11."
As the crowd applauded wildly, Giuliani demanded that Paul retract his statements.
Paul tried to explain the process known as "blowback" -- which is the result of someone else's action coming back to afflict you -- but the audience drowned him out as the other candidates tried to pounce on him.
After watching all the network pundits laud Giuliani, it struck me that they must be the most clueless folks in the world.
First, Giuliani must be an idiot to not have heard Paul's rationale before. That issue has been raised countless times in the last six years by any number of experts.
Second, when we finish with our emotional response, it would behoove us to actually think about what Paul said and make the effort to understand his rationale.
Granted, Americans were severely damaged by the hijacking of U.S. planes, and it has resulted in a worldwide fight against terror. Was it proper for the United States to respond to the attack? Of course! But should we, as a matter of policy, and moral decency, learn to think and comprehend that our actions in one part of the world could very well come back to hurt us, or, as Paul would say, blow back in our face? Absolutely. His real problem wasn't his analysis, but how it came out of his mouth.
What has been overlooked is that Paul based his position on the effects of the 1953 ouster by the CIA of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh.
An excellent account of this story is revealed in Stephen Kinzer's alarming and revealing book, "Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq," where he writes that Iran was establishing a government close to a democracy. But Mossadegh wasn't happy that the profit from the country's primary resource -- oil -- was not staying in the country.
Instead, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now known British Petroleum, or BP) was getting 93 percent of the profits. Mossadegh didn't like that, and wanted a 50-50 split. Kinzer writes that that didn't sit too well with the British government, but it didn't want to use force to protect its interests. But their biggest friend, the United States, didn't mind, and sought to undermine Mossadegh's tenure as president. After all kinds of measures that disrupted the nation, a coup was financed and led by President Dwight Eisenhower's CIA, and the Shah of Iran was installed as the leader. We trained his goon squads, thus angering generations of Iranians for meddling in that nation's affairs.
As Paul noted, what happened in 1953 had a direct relationship to the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in 1979. We viewed that as terrorists who dared attack America. They saw it as ending years of oppression at the hands of the ruthless U.S.-backed Shah regime.
As Americans, we believe in forgiving and forgetting, and are terrible at understanding how history affects us today. We are arrogant in not recognizing that when we benefit, someone else may suffer. That will lead to resentment and anger, and if suppressed, will boil over one day.
Does that provide a moral justification for what the terrorists did on September 11?
Of course not. But we should at least attempt to understand why.
Think about it. Do we have the moral justification to explain the killings of more than 100,000 Iraqis as a result of this war? Can we defend the efforts to overthrow other governments whose actions we perceived would jeopardize American business interests?
The debate format didn't give Paul the time to explain all of this. But I'm confident this is what he was saying. And yes, we need to understand history and how it plays a vital role in determining matters today.
At some point we have to accept the reality that playing big brother to the world -- and yes, sometimes acting as a bully by wrongly asserting our military might -- means that Americans alive at the time may not feel the effects of our foreign policy, but their innocent children will.
Even the Bible says that the children will pay for the sins of their fathers.

2006-10-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

Bush Administration's action before 9/11

Such a good examination of the Bush Administration's lack of preparation prior to 9/11.

2006-09-20T23:13:00.000-07:00

Olbermann says Bush owes us an apology.

...of course he does

2006-09-18T03:30:00.000-07:00

Keith Olbermann's 9/11/06 Commentary on President Bush. Comment

I can't say enough good things about this commentary...just watch it yourself.

2006-09-18T03:27:00.000-07:00

Bush's torture rant with reporters in Rose Garden

YouTube rocks my face off!
So does Keith Olbermann.

2006-09-18T03:25:00.000-07:00

Experts Easily Reverse Diebold Results & No One Would Know

This is the original story upon which the FOX report is based.

2006-09-18T03:24:00.000-07:00

Princeton / Diebold Vote-Reversal Story on FOX News

of all places.

Interesting Debates

2006-07-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working with the Ben Franklin Transatlantic Fellows Initiative at Wake Forest University. We are recording podcast debates on several topics in world affairs, and I encourage you to listen to the debates and comment on them. My group is talking about the death of Shamil Basayev, discussing what possible effect that his death will have on Russia. Please take a little time to listen and comment on the discussion if you want to add something.

Thanks!

2006-07-19T23:09:00.000-07:00

funny commercial

I can't figure out why this commercial is so friggin funny, but every time I see it, I get a good chuckle.

Holy Freaking Crap

2006-07-09T06:27:00.000-07:00

Now I wish I watched more Court TV.

ways to actually protect marriage

2006-06-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

From Left in the West
If you want to do something that actually helps marriages, then
1. Raise the public’s consciousnesas of the dignity and importance of women in our still deeply patriarchal society.
2. Provide every couple with a guarantee of health insurance that spares them the relational strains inflicted by devastating illness and an inability to pay for medical care.
3. Increase the minimum wage and offer tax breaks to the working poor so that spouses can see each other for more quality length of time, rather than briefly passing eachother on their way to two jobs.
4. Cover mental healthcare in medical insurance policies so that serious emotional difficulties can be prevented from tearing marriages apart.
5. Encourage family planning.
6. Set aside resources for dealing with domestic abuse. Well, at least, that’s a start.

A must read

2006-06-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

Ever since Election Night '04 I've felt that something was amiss with the result, and now my hunch has been supported by factual evidence provided by people who actually did the research. The exit polls have stuck out in my mind, but it's good to see someone talk to statisticians who verified that they could not have been as far off as they were without manipulation. RFK provides a very well documented, compelling case for the argument that Kerry should be President of the USA right now. It's kinda depressing to read, but then mostly everything else is too, right?

Was the '04 Election stolen also?

My main objection to Bush's speech

2005-12-18T19:57:00.000-08:00

Now, I realize that many of the liberal bloggers will talk about the problems with Bush's speech tonight, and I will no doubt agree with many assessments. They will talk about how Bush was sticking to the "we must stay until victory" stuff despite the overwhelming evidence that his rosy vision of the country is just another example of his selective viewing of the facts. They'll also show many news reports that deny Bush's claims. One thing I suspect they do and will miss is one glaring part of the speech that jumped out of the TV screen at me. The following portion is from the full text of the speech available at ThinkProgress.

"The terrorists do not merely object to American actions in Iraq and elsewhere – they object to our deepest values and our way of life. And if we were not fighting them in Iraq … in Afghanistan … in Southeast Asia … and in other places, the terrorists would not be peaceful citizens – they would be on the offense, and headed our way.
September 11th, 2001 required us to take every emerging threat to our country seriously, and it shattered the illusion that terrorists attack us only after we provoke them. On that day, we were not in Iraq … we were not in Afghanistan … but the terrorists attacked us anyway – and killed nearly 3,000 men, women, and children in our own country. My conviction comes down to this: We do not create terrorism by fighting the terrorists. We invite terrorism by ignoring them. And we will defeat the terrorists by capturing and killing them abroad … removing their safe havens … and strengthening new allies like Iraq and Afghanistan in the fight we share."

Do you see that? Do you see how brazen of a baseline claim he made there? It's not just his claims about Iraq that are erroneous and misleading. His very claim about September 11th is the starting point for this entire mess. He says that "the terrorists" attacked the US on 9/11/01 without provocation. They just attacked us because they're so evil and they hate that we're so good. If we stopped all our military actions, they would still attack us because they're just evil...that's how they roll.

This view right here forgets all history that predates 9/11/01. It misses the obvious fact that 1) we WERE in Iraq before 9/11 and in fact did have a military presence flying over Iraq daily to enforce our arbitrary "no-fly zones" and 2) the US has done many things prior to 9/11 to make people angry enough to design, plan, and execute a highly coordinated activity such as the 9/11 attacks. I shouldn't need to list them, but here's a sample: Iraq (the first time around as well as our support for Saddam Hussein's brutality in the 80's while he was committing his worst crimes), our support for Israel and their violence against Muslims, our military presence in Saudi Arabia, our traning and monetary support for Osama bin Laden and the Mujahideen in Afghanistan (a group that Reagan referred to as "freedom fighters"), and the list goes on.

The attacks on 9/11 were horrible and completely unjustified, but they were NOT unprovoked. The "they started it" defense is not only factually incorrect, it paints us as the innocent superpower that is justified in ANY response it takes to violence. 9/11 wasn't justifiable, and neither was the US invasion of Iraq. Before we will ever hope to see the end of the so-called "war on terror," we must be willing to look in the mirror and see the fault of our previous actions. We must begin to make amends for what we've done and get our house in order. Only then can we begin to talk about (much less undertake) the task of stopping the spread of terrorism around the globe. Only a good faith effort on our part will begin to change the perception that people from other countries have of us.

That and unequivocably stopping anything that could even possibly resemble torture. Repeating the lie "we do not torture" is obviously not working for us. By the way, I'm not advocating that we stop torturing just because it hurts America's image around the world. I think that we should not torture simply because it's wrong. End of story. We should need NO other reason to stop it. The fact that we even have to ask whether our government engages in torture tells me that we've gone too far.

Meet the new COINTELPRO, same as the old COINTELPRO

2005-12-17T19:18:00.000-08:00

MSNBC's website headline today was pretty funny .

Seriously though, Bush's defense of his decision to allow the NSA to spy on Americans whenever they want without having to obtain a court order reminded me of the pivotal scene in A Few Good Men where Tom Cruise is examining Jack Nicholson. Nicholson's response is very similar to Bush's defense today: yeah, I did it and I'd do it again...you know you want me to keep doing it. It's the defense of a person so blinded by his/her view of the world the s/he can't see the damage that view has. I have the dialogue from the movie below...I couldn't help but feel some real similarities with the radio address today.

from http://www.whysanity.net/monos/fewgood.html
Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee (Tom Cruise): I think I'm entitled to them.
Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth!
Jessep: You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall.We use words like honor, code, loyalty...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something. You use 'em as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to!
Kaffee: Did you order the code red?
Jessep: (quietly) I did the job you sent me to do.
Kaffee: Did you order the code red?
Jessep: You're goddamn right I did!!

I miss Paul Wellstone

2005-12-10T20:34:00.000-08:00

Over the past coupla days, I was working on a paper on Paul Wellstone's ads in his 1990 Senate campaign. After reading parts from Wellstone's book and his ad guy's book, I really miss Wellstone. It's a shame that there aren't more people like him in government.

More on Rove

2005-07-19T13:18:00.000-07:00

This evening, Bush will finally have a distraction from the media whirlwind surrounding Karl Rove's improper (and possibly illegal) actions when he announces his nominee for the Supreme Court. All eyes will be on this, so it may take some attention away from Rove. Let's hope not, though. I'm sure that for Bush, the more contentious the nominee, the more attention it takes away from Rove. It's time to see if the media has the ability to focus on two things at the same time. If they don't, the good news is that (as Kos has said) the special prosecutor will not let the Supreme Court nominee distract him from his business.

One thing I wanted to mention about Bush's slight of hand with regards to whether someone will be fired in his Administration. In case you've been living under a rock the past couple days, Bush said, "if someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration." Now many have seen this for what it obviously is, a shameless ploy to wiggle out of Bush's previous statements that anyone involved (in any way) would be fired. I totally agree, he's changing the standard for what it'll take to fire somebody so he doesn't lose Rove. What's interesting, though, is that I just read the cover story of Time's most recent issue (not what Cooper wrote, the other story). It seemed to suggest, based on information from an anonymous source involved with the investigation, that the special prosecutor isn't just focusing on the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. The special prosecutor might also be looking into other crimes, such as perjury or obstruction of justice. This fact might cause Bush's sneaky remarks to come right back and bite him in the ass. If Rove is indicted or convicted of perjury, that's a crime. Bush didn't say how serious the crime has to be, just that if someone committed a crime they would be fired. I would love to see the Bushies try to wiggle themselves out of this one! Either Bush would have to lose Rove, or this becomes the most blatent lie that he has directly told the American people.

a Rove-an rant

2005-07-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

I've become quite amused with the Karl Rove story because it's fun to see the media taking this one seriously for once. It used to be that something comes out about the Bush administration's shadiness, they deny it, and the media lets it go after a day or so. The media is actually following up on it for a couple days. I like that the stonewalling is only piquing the media's interest. It's fun to watch the White House press briefings from the past 3 days. The media is getting frustrated, and they're firing back for once. I don't know if they'll have the stamina to keep this up for a few weeks, but I hope they do.
David Corn has some interesting analysis on this whole debacle. One of his best questions is as follows: "Is it better or worse for the Dems to make a big stink? It does keep the story going. But it has given all the right-wing spinners the opportunity to create a new framework for the story: this is just a partisan smear attack." It's true that the Republicans like to lean on this one as their standard response when Democrats go on the attack, no matter what it the attack is about. I think, however, that the Democrats have a couple good responses to this dilemma. First, some Democrats (John Kerry, Howard Dean, etc.) have made sure to point out that this issue rises above partisan bickering. It goes to the very credibility of the White House. Even if Rove didn't technically break any laws, he acted in a way that tarnishes (even further) the office of the President. That alone deserves a regination or a pink slip. Second, as Tim Russert (of all people) noted a couple days ago on the Today Show, "If this was a Democratic White House, we'd have Congressional hearings in a Second." This response is significant because it highlights the fact that the Republicans' unwillingness to do something about Rove is itself playing politics! The Republicans are doing everything to help their people, and it's making them look bad.
The Republicans have released talking points (scroll down the page for a copy of the talking points) to deflect criticism from Rove to Wilson. They're trying to attack Wilson for being partisan because he found out that documents were forged to drum up support for the invasion of Iraq. These attacks are clearly beside the point. They amount to defending Rove's unethical and potentially illegal action. It's sad. First of all, the Republicans are lying (right now Al Franken is debunking the talking points on his radio show) and taking quotations out of context for their attacks. Second, they are defending potentially criminal activity!
I'm curious about George W. Bush's role in this. There needs to be some accountability in the White House. Now, I know that Dubya isn't great on taking responsibility for mistakes and wrongdoings (recall that Dubya himself could not come up with a single mistake he has ever made aside from trading Sammy Sosa and appointing some people), as many of us on the left know very well, but he clearly said he would take action if someone was found out leaking classified info. Check out David Corn's analysis (link above) that shows Rove did leak classified info. George has said that he is a straight shooter whose word is his bond. He needs to fire Rove, and if he doesn't, Bush himself should be removed from office for his unwillingness to take responsibility or hold those reponsible accountable. Also, what did Bush know about this leak, and when did he know it? If Bush knew what Rove was doing when Rove did it, then Bush would be culpable in this matter as well!! This is the type of questioning the media needs to follow up on. It's not like this was a low-level person who did a leak under the nose of the higher ups in the administration. This is Bush's top advisor!! He's known Rove for almost 20 years! He's gotta know what Rove did, and if he isn't willing to do something about it, then Bush himself should go.
Overall, the media from all over should rachet up the pressure on the White House here. This means talk about it w/ everyone and demand that Karl Rove leave. Now, I expect that even if more and more pressure comes to fire Rove, Bush won't do it. He's got too much invested in Rove to let him go. Besides, it's not like incompetence or wrongdoing have been compelling enough to cause Bush to fire anybody. He values loyalty over competence. History proves this to be true. Alberto Gonzales (torture), Donald Rumsfeld (not enough troop support and lying about wmd), and Condi Rice (ignored "bin laden determined to attack US" memo) have screwed things up during the first 4 years, and they have either kept their job or been promoted to another position. Paul Bremer and George Tenet messed up the war and reconstruction in Iraq, and they got medals of freedom. I expect the same kind of response to Karl Rove. He'll be kept on, and it'll only make them look worse. Goodie gumdrops.

the meaning of "moral values" or, what would Freud say about Republicans?

2005-06-26T04:22:00.000-07:00

I'm sure a lot of us have heard about the statistic that a large chunk of voters who voted for Bush last November voted because of "moral values." I also happen to have heard a number of people on the radical right (including a grad school classmate who shall remain nameless) talk about the need to connect morality to the common voter more extensively than is already being done. You hear it mostly from voices of the religious radical right. They say that we need to get back to moral values because the country is in a moral decline (blah blah blah). This is a very clever discursive trick (for which I'm sure Karl Rove is at least partly to blame) played on the American people. "Moral values" as defined by the radical right doesn't really mean adhering to an ethical standard in all one's actions (be they public or private). It is code for a narrowly defined ideology that divides the world into "us" and "them" for the purposes of passing a specific set of policies that increase governmental power over the individual.

For starters, when the radical right-wing in the United States refers to "morality" or "moral values," they are really only talking about one thing: sex. Think about it, what did Republicans spend most of their time demonizing in Clinton? Monica. Of course there were other things, but the main thing that Republicans spent their time on was Clinton's zipper problem. Almost all of what the radical right considers to be moral issues are merely variations on an attempt to control sexual activity, which is (to some extent) a private matter that should not be the business of the government. Obviously, there is some sexual activity that should be regulated (rape, sexual abuse against children, anything that isn't consentual), but consentual sexual activity between adults is no business of the government, despite the radical right's attempts. Let's go issue by issue. First, Republicans want to eradicate homosexuality from the face of the earth, starting with a Constitutional Amendment to prevent gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons from enterring into holy matrimony. It should be obvious that this is an attempt to regulate with whom one may have sex. The radical right ardently pushes "abstinence only" sex education in schools (despite studies that now show that they are counterproductive). They do this while demonizing condom use. This is an attempt to regulate where and when one may have sex. The radical right is dead set on cutting welfare and social programs for poor single mothers. This sounds like punishment for what they would consider promiscuous sexuality (because, as the logic goes, if they would only get a man and marry then they wouldn't be in such dire straits to begin with). Then, of course, there's the radical right's staunch opposition to abortion (despite its tension not only with their position on condoms but also their economic policies). This is an attempt to regulate the consequences of one's "deviant" sexual activity. Oh, and don't forget the right's feigned indignation over the brief exposure of Janet Jackson's breast at the Super Bowl in '04. It would appear that, to paraphrase my dad, "their Freudian slip is showing."

My problem with the radical right's characterization of "moral values" is not just that it betrays a very repressed sexuality that needs serious attention. My main objection is that they focus on sexuality as morality at the expense of other, more pressing moral issues. Many other aspects of our life deal with morality that the religious radical right will not touch. Here I am more than happy to give examples. Poverty is a moral issue (hunger also goes with this). In fact, in comparison to the few verses in the Bible that mention homosexuality (no more than 10 at the most), there are literally thousands of verses in the Bible that talk about the need to fight poverty, both individually and institutionally. Lying is a moral issue, so lying about why American troops need to go to Iraq and die is just as immoral as any of the sexual sins the radical right preaches about ad nauseum. Stealing from people is morally wrong, so CEOs from such companies as Enron and Tyco are wrong. There's even the famous story in the Bible of the tax collector Jesus meets, and that tax collector realizes that he was wrong for stealing from people and gives the money back. Such thievery should be a big deal in our society, but we just shrug and don't get outraged like we would if someone sees two men kissing. Health care is also a moral issue. Did you know that? Jesus says we must care for the "least of these." Not only is that part of the concern for poverty, but it is also for health care. I am convinced that it is of moral concern that we do not have universal health care coverage. I'm sure people can debate about specifics of this coverage until they're blue in the face, but the fact is that it is evidence of our moral failing that we are not concerned about someone else getting sick without the ability to go to a doctor. If we are truly to love one another, shouldn't we agree that we all deserve health care?

The radical right wants to use the power of the government to regulate behavior that is between the individual and God. It is not their place to judge. Jesus also had something to say about this. If we want to talk about morality on a political/social level, fine. It has to include, however, issues that are actually social in nature. How we treat each other is a moral issue. Issues like poverty, hunger, corporate thievery, health care, and others like it are issues of morality. The radical right dismisses these moral issues at their own peril. Many people seem to think that leftist beliefs are inherently in opposition to Christian teachings. Nothing could be further from the truth. I gain my leftist leanings directly from the teachings of Jesus Christ. It's not my fault that Jesus is a liberal.

buy gas from CITGO

2005-05-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

seriously...this is from commondreams.org

Buy Your Gas at Citgo: Join the BUY-cott!
by Jeff Cohen

Looking for an easy way to protest Bush foreign policy week after week? And an easy way to help alleviate global poverty? Buy your gasoline at Citgo stations.
And tell your friends.
Of the top oil producing countries in the world, only one is a democracy with a president who was elected on a platform of using his nation's oil revenue to benefit the poor. The country is Venezuela. The President is Hugo Chavez. Call him "the Anti-Bush."
Citgo is a U.S. refining and marketing firm that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company. Money you pay to Citgo goes primarily to Venezuela -- not Saudi Arabia or the Middle East. There are 14,000 Citgo gas stations in the US. (Click here http://www.citgo.com/CITGOLocator/StoreLocator.jsp to find one near you.) By buying your gasoline at Citgo, you are contributing to the billions of dollars that Venezuela's democratic government is using to provide health care, literacy and education, and subsidized food for the majority of Venezuelans.
Instead of using government to help the rich and the corporate, as Bush does, Chavez is using the resources and oil revenue of his government to help the poor in Venezuela. A country with so much oil wealth shouldn't have 60 percent of its people living in poverty, earning less than $2 per day. With a mass movement behind him, Chavez is confronting poverty in Venezuela. That's why large majorities have consistently backed him in democratic elections. And why the Bush administration supported an attempted military coup in 2002 that sought to overthrow Chavez.
So this is the opposite of a boycott. Call it a BUYcott. Spread the word.
Of course, if you can take mass transit or bike or walk to your job, you should do so. And we should all work for political changes that move our country toward a cleaner environment based on renewable energy. The BUYcott is for those of us who don't have a practical alternative to filling up our cars.
So get your gas at Citgo. And help fuel a democratic revolution in Venezuela.

for those of you with a sense of giving in your heart

2005-04-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

One area that we hardly talk about at all with respect to the occupation and control of Iraq is the dire situation that womyn* in Iraq are currently facing. They are especially troubled because not only do they have to worry about the "regular" security issues that you hear about on the news (violence, bombings, raids, etc.) but they also have to worry about other security threats that they face b/c they are womyn (such as kidnappings, rape, pressure to veil, etc.). They played the voices of Iraqi womyn explaining the situation and the way the plight of Iraqi womyn is often buried under what are considered to be more important concerns (setting up an official "figurehead" type of government and then addressing "womyn's" issues later). These issues that fall through the cracks of news coverage and our discussions about the way things are going on in Iraq. I see news coverage on Iraq still leaving out many of the issues that are just as important to the future of Iraq as who runs the country. The fate of over half of the population of the country we destroyed for a few million more barrels of oil will more than likely once again fall through the cracks of the powerful government officials and the major (read corporate) media. I often find myself wondering what we as mere individuals stuck in the throes of the richest country in the world can do to help those who are falling through the cracks as we speak. Sometimes I feel so powerless w/ the way that our political system goes b/c we're told that we should make our voices heard on election day, as if every other day of the year is for us to shut up and deal w/ the crap that those elected (or selected, depending on how you see certain recent election results) by a minority of us dish out. Voter turnout in our elections is usually between 25% and 35%, and a majority of that slim constituancy decides who makes the laws that tell you and me what to do. I feel that we should do more than just go to a voting booth on one day and pick from the handful of people that are set there for us to pick (this isn't to say don't vote, but don't just vote and do nothing else). So, I found a way that you can help the womyn of Iraq without lifting your fanny off your chair in front of your computer (this, of course, depends on if you have to get up to get your wallet/purse). I found the website for the Iraqi Womyn's Rights Coalition, and they have a link so you can donate directly to them online to help them build shelters and provide supplies to help womyn in Iraq forge productive lives for themselves in this uncertain time. I'm sure that however much you would want to donate would be appreciated. Here's the link:http://www.equalityiniraq.com/english.htm

Sorry for sounding preachy. Donate if you want to. Don't if you don't. I just figured that I would provide people the opportunity to help those whose lives our government has destroyed.

*I use "womyn" instead of "woman" or "women" as a discursive attempt to disassociate womyn's identity from that of men. It's a part of Simone De Beauvoir's argument about womyn's identity being seen only in terms of what they aren't (they aren't men, so they're womyn).

no, no to the occupiers

2005-04-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

Two full years after the statues toppled in Iraq, tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to protest the continuing occupation of their country by American forces. They want the US out of Iraq, and they want it now...and who can blame them? Bush himself said he wouldn't like being occupied. What's even more interesting than the protests themselves is how the US media is trying to spin them. NBC is basically saying, "keep in mind that they were told to do this by that bad guy, Al-Sadr...so don't really think of this as the will of the Iraqi people. It just means that Al-Sadr is trying to exert his political power to the new government." This excuse is not only wrong (tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to protest the presence of the occupying force is NOT just a shouting cry from the radical cleric--it's the very voice of the Iraqi people!!), but it is dangerously misleading. It's an attempt by the media to prevent an honest discussion of the presence of American soldiers in Iraq two years after they did what they were called to do, beat the crap out of Iraq. They are there longer than they were told they would have to stay. Many of them are still dying, and they're not helping the Iraqi people!! The US's response (of course) is that they aren't leaving until they get the oil...er, um...I mean, until it's secure. The problem with this security claim is that the only reason that the insurgents are fighting and making Iraq a dangerous place is because the US is still there!!! Is it that hard to see?!? If the US leaves, then there is no reason for the insurgents to attack people. US and Iraqi lives will continue to be in danger over there until we realize that it's time we left and let them govern on their own. The US government and media are totally unwilling to consider the possibility that we might still be part of the problem in Iraq. Once we consider that possibility, then it'll be much easier to start coming up with real solutions to the violence and crap that's going on over there. I would say the best and easiest solution to the problem is to leave. We need to realize that Iraq is not the US's property, and we have no right to assume that it is or that we can just stick around as long as we are.

The mass media in this country just doesn't get it...

Bush's approval rating down to 45%

2005-03-26T09:36:00.000-08:00

Where were these people in November? Why did they wait until the following March to start disapproving?!?

the hypocrisy is so strong it's baffling

2005-03-21T15:42:00.000-08:00

So...let me get this straight. The potential death of one person who has been severly brain damaged for fifteen years is cause for uproar and protest by the right wing in this country, but the deaths of HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of INNOCENT civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan isn't?

Oh, the sad sad sad sad world in which we live...

This Whole Ward Churchill Controversy

2005-02-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

I've been watching and reading some of the massive controversy that surrounds Ward Churchill's 3-year old essay on 9/11. I happen to be familiar with a good deal of Ward Churchill's work, having researched his writings vis a vis US policy toward Native Americans for the past 5 centuries or so. He makes a stunningly convincing case for calling what we've done to the Native Americans genocide by going through the official definition of the word and pointing out the 5 areas that constitute what really is genocide.

That being said, I have read the essay, called "Some People Push Back" as well as Churchill's response to the recent criticism. Overall, the essay is very angry and pointed. I agree with an analysis I saw elsewhere that said Churchill could have used a good editor. The essay, however, makes great points about the double standards that we apply to other nations without looking at how they must certainly be applied to us. In many ways, his argument is similar to things that Noam Chomsky and Chalmers Johnson (author of the great book Blowback). So why is Churchill targeted with death threats and not others who have said the same thing? Two words: "little Eichmanns." The corporate media has seized upon those two words like my cat Crouton seizes on a twist tie. Much like the media is known for doing, they have refused to listen to any explanation. The only thing they want is for Churchll to apologize for what the media has taken out of context! The "little Eichmanns" comment was NOT calling victims of 9/11 Nazis, nor was he comparing the two in any way. All you need to do is read Churchill's response. The reference was to a specific piece by Hannah Arendt called "The Banality of Evil." The importance of Eichmann is that while he did not directly kill people, his job was to ensure that the Nazi system ran smoothly. This is like those who are upper class businessfolk whose job it is to see that the capitalist military-industrial complex runs smoothly. This is NOT to say that the victims are like Nazis but that, like the system the Nazis built, the American capitalist system is wrong/bad. Those who actively work to ensure its continued growth and success should not be surprised if some people push back.

Churchill was merely applying Americans to the same standard we hold to the rest of the world. I read the transcript where he was on Paula Zahn's show. It was painful to read the transcript...I can only imagine what it was like to watch the actual exchange. Churchill explained his Eichmanns reference, and Zahn was just like "I wanna go back to what you said...that was bad...shouldn't you apologize?" She kept asking him if he was pro-terrorist. I mean, she was asking him tougher questions than were EVER asked of the Dubya Administration vis a vis WMD! Churchill's comments have become a bigger scandal than the fact that Dubya led us to war based on FALSE DOCUMENTS!!! Double-you Teeee Effffffffff?!?!

Read the pieces linked for yourself if you have not already. It just pains me that we have this predicament where using language some people don't like can get you fired but lying about why thousands of people have to die needlessly doesn't.

and so it begins...

2005-01-31T11:46:00.000-08:00

I don't expect many people to see/read this, but if you happen to find this and find it interesting/educational, then my job has been done here. I want to use this for some social, political, or economic commentary that I may have on current events. If you like it or hate it, either way, it's my little self-indulgent cyber-soapbox. I will keep doing it. If you want to engage in debate or add your commentary, please do so. All I ask is that you say something intelligent and well-thought out.

Thanks and enjoy yourself.

oh, and speaking of self-indulgence, help me get a free ipod