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April 30, 2007
Coachella Wrapup - Sunday
In today's edition, the third and final of your daily Coachella wrapups, enjoy: Rage! French bands! Predicting riots... after they happen! And a bro factor through the roof! This day is written in the blisters on my feet: let me unwrap the bandages for your benefit.
4:10 pm - Walking to the venue (our rental house is within walking distance, a move which I highly recommend) we wonder aloud about what the presence of a reuniting Rage Against the Machine will mean in terms of the attendees. As if to answer our question, as we turn the corner into the festival parking area, a football flies through the air, caught by a shirtless bro, with shaggy blond hair and cargo shorts. We laugh, until his pit bull runs out to greet him. Then we just start walking faster.
4:42 pm - We've been enjoying the epic instrumental rock of Explosions in the Sky as we walk up, but they finish as soon as we make it through the gates. Oh well.
4:54 pm - Next stop: Junior Boys on a smaller side stage. They're good, but their midtempo electro with whispery vocals suddenly starts to remind me of Spandau Ballet. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Above: Junior Boys, who know this much is true
5:15 pm - Off to the dance tent to check out Soulwax "Nite Versions". This is the new concept from the Belgian Dewaele brothers, whose rock-ish band, Soulwax, kind of pales next to their DJ sets as their alter egos, 2 many djs. "Nite Versions" seems to be an attempt to marry the two concepts, with live musicians as well as fast-paced sampling of other artists. It's a pretty good idea. They sneak witty references into the set: mixing Tiga's "You Gonna Want Me," which they produced, into an early '90s dance track with the same line; replacing "Funkytown" in the well-known mashup of their "NY Excuse" track with Sylvester's "Do You Wanna Funk."
Above: Soulwax do Nite Versions... during the day!
5:30 pm - Holy crap, "James Brown is Dead!" Todd Terry! Am I dating myself? Are they?
6:10 pm - Off to the Outdoor Stage for Kaiser Chiefs, who start with "Every Day I Love You Less and Less," and do their best to fire up the crowd with their laddish antics. Oh, you Brits.
Above: Kaiser Chiefs want you to know they're the Kaiser Chiefs
6:30 pm - The Chiefs play "I Predict a Riot," which reminds me, we talked to some people working the show who mentioned there was some sort of riot in the campground on Saturday night, possibly involving fireworks being mistaken for gunshots and police firing beanbag things into the crowd. As if camping in the parking lot could be any worse.
6:45 pm - Intrepid photographer Kristi emerges from the photo pit saying the Kaiser Chiefs fans at the barrier were pretty chatty, wanting to know who she was taking pictures for. "Well, Mother Jones, for one," she said, and one guy went into a whole thing about how he likes the Mother Jones, but The Nation has been around longer, since 1872, or something, and blah blah blah. "Okay," she said, "I'm going to keep taking pictures of the Kaiser Chiefs now."
7:00 pm - Willie Nelson takes the main stage. It's so crowded there's no way I can get over there and back in time. Sorry, Willie, I love you. From afar I can see his bandana'ed head on the giant Jumbotron.
7:20 pm - British up-and-comers Klaxons play a small side tent. The smell of weed is heavy in the air, and upraised hands hold multicolored glowsticks. Maybe there is something to this whole "New Rave" trend.
7:38 pm - I take off from Klaxons, reluctantly, because next door Swedish folk singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez is playing, and I love him. I manage to sneak into the packed tent right at the front, which is a good thing, because his quiet, James Taylor-style acoustic guitar numbers are no match for the techno emanating from the geodesic dome just a few yards away. Despite the distractions, he's astonishing. The first thing I see is his well-known cover of electro band The Knife's "Heartbeats," which he has morphed into a planitive, delicate lament. The softly lit palm trees behind him seem strangely appropriate.
7:55 pm - I can't tear myself away from Jose Gonzalez. Despite being accompanied only by a bongo player and backup singer, the sound is as full and rich as a symphony, and people seem hypnotized, clapping along as the songs swell to a climax. He ends with two covers: a haunting version of Massive Attack's "Teardrop" with a double-time bongo accompaniment, and finally, Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy."
8:40 pm - In order to provide Mother Jones readers with the most comprehensive Coachella coverage, I've split up with intrepid photographer Kristi. She's remained in the Klaxons tent to document Lily Allen, while I head off to see Air. I find out later Allen was a disappointment, forgetting lyrics to her songs (and she's only got, like, ten!) and whining about a sore throat right before lighting up a cigarette.
Above: Lily Allen, who can't remember what happens when she sees you cry
8:55 pm - Back at Air, things are getting tense. The French band was supposed to go on 20 minutes ago, but there's no sign of them. The "down time" between main stage bands (that would allow them some rare quiet here on the side stage) is rapidly dwindling.
9:02 pm - People are starting to leave. Do I hear booing from the crowd nearest the stage? Eek.
9:05 pm - Manu Chao starts his set a little early on the main stage, before Air has even begun. It's a cacophony of noise, even as far away as we are, and will definitely interfere with Air. Plus I kind of wanted to check him out. This sucks.
9:12 pm - Finally, Air emerge. They are barely audible. I watch them do a number from Premieres Symptomes, then "Cherry Blossom Girl," but Chao sounds like a freaking carnival from the main stage. Finally I decide to run over and check it out, if only for Mother Jones editors, who have asked me to.
Above: French band Air taking their own sweet French time
9:24 pm - As I make it to the main stage, the intense, uptempo, minor-chord Latin rock I was hearing ends, and gives way to a jokey acoustic number, "Bienvenidos a Tijuana." It's kind of dumb. I left Air for this? A trio of women in front of me are doing some sort of synchronized dance. I decide to run back to Air.
9:35 pm - I approach the side stage as Air finishes "Sexy Boy," then tell the crowd "you are sexy," and walk off stage. That's it. They're done. Apparently Goldenvoice has held Air to their predetermined cutoff time, despite the late start, so they played five songs. Arggh!!
10:00 pm - After some complicated reconnaisance, I meet up with my friends in the VIP corral. There are tales of a Lindsey Lohan sighting, and a story about Brazilian combo CSS, whose song, "Meeting Paris Hilton," is clearly mocking the famous-for-nothing young lady; however, at their side stage performance, apparently Ms. Hilton was actually watching from the side of the stage, and the band gave a desperate-seeming explanation before the song about how they actually love Paris and the song is just for fun, ha ha ha. Very disappointing.
10:40 pm - Rage Against the Machine takes the main stage, and I realize I don't entirely hate them. The sound is bad, and they don't seem like they're enjoying this very much, but I start to see how the straighforward, mostly one-chord songs make more sense in a live context, and I almost enjoy it. But my friends emerge from the crowd incensed about the awful sound quality and sloppy performance. We hightail it out of there before the end so we don't get stuck in a people-jam of angry bros full of pent-up rage, ready to sick their pit bulls on us if we don't correctly recite lines from "The 300." As we walk back to our house, we can hear the crowd's screams, even a mile away from the venue.
Above: Rage Against the Machine, from a safe distance
So, a strange Coachella this year. No standout, legendary performances, some odd scheduling, and bro-centric headliners (instead of, say, Radiohead and The Cure) were serious negatives, although some side stage performers really stepped up to the plate. But it's always hard to judge right afterwards, when your aching feet and sunburned forehead combine with the post-coital letdown to form a vague malaise. Give me a couple months to mull it over, decide how it all was, and start making plans for next year.
Thanks to Kristi Highum for her photography; for more of her shots of Coachella 2007, head over to her Flickr set.
Posted by Party Ben on 04/30/07 at 2:50 AM | | Comments (1) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 29, 2007
Coachella Wrapup - Saturday
In today's edition of What I Did On My Trip To Coachella, you will experience: Unbearable heat! Profusion of bros! Arcade Fire! Celebrities! And VIP fashion trends! It's Coachella Day Two, and the dusty crap in my nose is still fresh, so let's get this all down before I forget.
4:14 pm - We enter the venue. The heat is up at least one major level from yesterday: it's a searing blast, like when you open an oven, except it doesn't stop. Regina Spektor is on the main stage, and deserving it -- casual, funny, and charmingly odd, her songs veer off in unexpected directions, saving them from "I Kissed a Girl"-style corniness. Plus she does a number in Russian.
Above: Regina Spektor would have used a steak, but she's a vegetarian
4:45 pm - Hot Chip are on a side stage that faces the setting sun. We can barely get in and the sun is directly on our backs. The heat is like a sauna, and the sweat pours off of us like rivers. I have never been so hot. I do the unthinkable and remove my shirt. Perhaps it's the giddiness that comes before heatstroke, but Hot Chip's electro jams are rocking my world.
4:53 pm - They end with a radically reworked version of "Over and Over," and the heat-addled crowd goes wild.
5:08 pm - Off to see New Pornographers on the outdoor stage. "It's hot," says lead singer A.C. Newman, in the undestatement of the year. "What's up with that?" They follow this, appropriately enough, with the sunny sounds of "Sing Me Spanish Techno."
Above: New Pornographers can't take the heat
5:21 pm - The harmonies sound a little half-hearted at the end of "Bleeding Heart Show;" I think these Canadians are really having a tough time in the heat.
5:40 pm - Time for Peter, Bjorn & John, the Swedish combo whose "Young Folks" is taking over radio and TV commercials all around. They're underwhelming live. Canadian techno duo MSTRKRFT are next door in the dance tent and I split from my friends to try to get some of my elecro jollies that were so sorely lacking yesterday at Faithless. The entire tent is jammed with people, but I'm still so sweaty that I seem to slip right in between the dancers and somehow find myself right in front of the massive stage. They put on an amazing techno track based around an increasingly distorted buzzing alarm noise. A "dance pit" has emerged in front of the stage: an empty circle into which people are jumping and doing a few moments of an amusing dance of some sort, to the cheers of the crowd. As the buzzing noises climax, everyone jumps into the circle in a kind of techno orgy... but in a good way.
6:12 pm - There is a mass migration to the main stage. Arcade Fire are on at 7:30pm and we are planning to try and get a prime position during Kings of Leon. First we make a pit stop in the VIP corral. Arctic Monkeys are hanging around, looking painfully sunburned. Danny Devito walks by.
6:21 pm - Fashion update: being very, very skinny is really in this year!
6:45 pm - We make our way to the stage for Arcade Fire. Everyone else is doing the same thing. Kings of Leon are good sports and thank everyone for putting up with them in the meantime.
7:40 pm - Arcade Fire take the stage, to a distorted recording of a preacher. "Keep the Car Running," the latest single, kicks off the show, and as they continue, it's... good, but not great. Between songs, there are eerie sound effects like thunder and static; it seems to suck the energy out of the crowd.
Above: Arcade Fire fight the power of the Chili Peppers bros
8:10 pm - In my vicinity there are a variety of shirtless males who seem oddly uninterested in the band. "Why are they here?" I think, and then I remember: Red Hot Chili Peppers are next.
8:30 pm - Arcade Fire finish with "Rebellion (Lies)." Win seems to sense a disconnect with the crowd and runs down into the wide no man's land between the security barriers, holding the microphone up to the crowd to sing "Lies! Lies!" in the chorus. It's a good effort, but when he returns, he seems to get lost, and he flubs the chord change when the song enters its usually shiver-inducing coda. There are a few dissonant measures, but then they figure out their mistake and finally seem to relax, laughing to each other on stage.
9:00 pm - After the show I meed up with Miles, my Arcade Fire-obsessed friend. He had camped out in front of the stage three bands before to get a good spot, and made it to the very front. "But I was surrounded by The 300," he says. "What do you mean, just a bunch of buff guys?" "No," he says, "buff guys actually doing dialogue from 'The 300' with each other, yelling 'we are Sparta' and doing the "Hoo, hoo," chants and crap." They were apparently all waiting for Red Hot Chili Peppers and mocked Miles for caring about this strange Arcade Fire band. Miles was undaunted, yelling, "the Chili Peppers suck compared to this!" One of The 300 drawled, "whoever said that's a dumbass."
Above: Miles surrounded by Spartan warriors
9:10 pm - It's still hot. Exhausted and spent, we retreat to the VIP corral. One of my friends buys a coconut with a straw to drink, and Silas from "Weeds" comes up and asks her where she got it. She tells him and asks when "Weeds" Season Two is coming out on DVD. He doesn't know but mentions it just came out on iTunes.
9:45 pm - Off to the dance tent for LCD Soundsystem. The tent is jammed, and even though everybody else has their hands in the air, we just have to sit down. It's still fun though, watching the lasers spray geometric designs around the ceiling, and the massive cheers for tracks like "Tribulations" and "North American Scum" restore my faith in America... somewhat.
Above: the LCD Soundsystem signature disco ball in effect
10:30 pm - We wanted to stay for The Rapture, but it ain't happening. My feet are killing me, and despite some disappointments, there's a definite feeling of having achieved greater musical satisfaction today than on Friday. Regina Spektor, New Pornographers, MSTRKRFT and LCD were all really good, and it's not like Arcade Fire were bad, they just didn't change my life, like usual. We get back to the house, looking forward to some quality pool time, and suddenly a giant gust of wind comes up, causing a miniature dust storm. We retreat indoors and put Joanna Newsom on the stereo.
Stay tuned tomorrow, when we'll hear from The Roots, Kaiser Chiefs, Soulwax, and Air; we'll see what the deal is with Manu Chao, and if a Rage crowd is more pleasant than a Chili Peppers crowd.
Posted by Party Ben on 04/29/07 at 12:51 AM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 28, 2007
Coachella Wrapup - Friday
Good morning from Indio. It's Party Ben, reporting at 2:30 a.m., so please forgive the poor grammar or wonky punctuation.
Coachella, it should be said, contains multitudes, and I don't just mean 60,000 hipster kids wandering around the desert. With so much music happening all at once, your experience of the festival is shaped by your choices, your luck, and how fast you can walk. So I, along with my intrepid photographer Kristi, tried to sample as many performers as possible. Here's what we saw on the first day of the first three-day Coachella in the event's 8-year history.
4:55 pm - We arrive at the polo grounds in the searing late-afternoon heat, and head straight for Of Montreal, a synthy, power-pop band from Georgia. Charismatic band leader Kevin Barnes is wearing, uh, some sort of kelly green and white spaceman outfit. His band mates wear wings and glitter. They're really good.
Above: Of Montreal, it gives you wings
5:35 pm - Outfit change: Barnes emerges from the wings in sky blue hot pants, to sing about wanting a lover with "soul power." Their goofball, DIY aesthetic is actually backed up by solid songs, and when the band launch into an extended intsrumental jam, all the hands in the audience are in the air.
5:41 pm - Another outfit change: A ladder is brought out with a giant silver poncho, into which Barnes inserts himself.
6:25 pm - Arctic Monkeys are on the main stage, kicking off their set with the new single, "Brianstorm." Kristi goes down to take pictures in the photo pit, and when I look up, she's on the Jumbotron.
Above: Audience for Arctic Monkeys asks, "Didn't we see you on the Jumbotron?"
7:05 pm - Everybody wants to go see Rufus Wainwright on a side stage. I don't like Rufus Wainwright. But we trudge over. I run to the dance tent to see if Digitalism are still playing -- nope. On the way I run into the Energy Factory, a sort of environmental exhibit-slash-art installation. Solar powered metal sunflowers are slowly spinning in the grass, bamboo T-shirts are for sale, and a fleet of stationary bicycles are set up, connected to cell phone chargers. A couple people are gamely pedaling along. I could use a charge since I've been texting like a madman, but my feet are tired. Giant banners advertise environmental bullet points; I think they're made of vinyl.
Above: The biking for minutes cell phone plan
7:30 pm - Reluctantly I return to Rufus, who's wearing some sort of stripey robe and pointy hood that makes him look like a fashion-conscious white supremacist. "Here we are in the desert," he says, "where all the rejects go: the Jews... the gays..." There's wild applause after "the gays," but not after "the Jews." He sits down at the piano and sings an actually rather lovely lament about being tired of America.
Above: Wainwright, "I'm like a faggy Sinatra."
7:55 pm - A brief foray into the dance tent sees Felix da Housecat DJing to an overflow crowd. He does a simple trick with the eq where he filters out more and more of the bass until the sound is just a distorted hiss; the crowd goes wild. Note to self: try that at next DJ gig.
8:00 pm - In what appears to be a reference to the 2004 performance by Arcade Fire on the same stage, Peaches is climbing the scaffolding.
Above: You'll need to f*** the pain away if you fall off of there Peaches.
8:15 pm - Return to the main stage area for Jesus and Mary Chain. Reunited or long-lost 80s heroes have a mixed track record at Coachella (see The Cure, New Order, and Bauhaus, who were all pretty terrible), but the Chain are awesome. "Reverence" sounds just as shocking, and as good, nearly 20 years later.
8:28 pm - The rumors come true: Scarlett Johansson joins the Jesus and Mary Chain for backup vocals on "Just Like Honey," consisting of approximately 17 seconds worth of singing.
8:45 pm - Jarvis Cocker seems more interested in chatting with the audience than playing music. "Festivals in England have too much water," he rambles, "but here, I saw a lorry practically pissing water all over, just to keep down the dust." The third song, "One Man Show," with its sad lyrics about being a lonely guy and having a "hot date with a baked potato," hit a little too close to home, and we take off.
Above: Jarvis Cocker, interested in water usage
9:15 pm - Now comes the first, and perhaps most difficult, of the "Sophie's Choices" this weekend: Interpol, Sonic Youth and Faithless are all playing at the same time. We head for Interpol, who open their set with dramatic blue lighting and a Depeche Mode-reminiscent new track. The set is solid if a little dour for the party atmosphere.
Above: Interpol, via Jumbotron
10:05 pm - We head to the dance tent for Faithless, catching the tail end of "Mass Destruction." I'm surprised at how empty it is, until the next two songs: a cheesy and soul-less mid-tempo dance number about, like, love, or wondering where the love is, or something, and a horribly over-sung ballad. We have no time for filler, Faithless, and we are out of here.
10:35 pm - Sonic Youth are my heroes. Performing material from Daydream Nation as well as more recent tracks like "Do You Believe in Rapture" and "100%," the band are energetic and alive, and the open-tuned guitars ring out into the desert air. Kim Gordon dances better than women half her age. The video backdrop is showing what looks like home movies of an aquarium.
10:45 pm - From afar, we hear the opening strains of "Earth Intruders" coming from the main stage as Bjork kicks off her set with the new single, which I had hoped to hear, but no luck. After a 15-minute obstacle course through thousands of exhausted, supine concert-goers, we make it to the VIP corral, where everyone is grooving to Bjork's "greatest hits" set. "We saw Paris Hilton," my friends tell me. "And Adam Brody." Bjork does "Joga" with horns doing the string parts. It's actually pretty good, but there's a hot tub waiting for us back at the rental house, and that's as much of a part of the Coachella experience as anything else.
Stay tuned: tomorrow, will Arcade Fire choke under the main stage pressure? Will anybody be able to get into the side tent for Peter Bjorn & John? Will the presence of Red Hot Chili Peppers bring the ratio of puka shell necklace-wearing frat bros into the stratosphere? Stay tuned... now where's my Margarita?
Posted by Party Ben on 04/28/07 at 2:29 AM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 27, 2007
Nagi Noda and Jack White Team Up to Pimp Coke Prettily
Highly acclaimed director Nagi Noda is known for her whimsical eye and is the creative genius behind many fantasy laden art and video projects. Her most notable works include the short film Fitness Video and music videos for artists such as the Scissors Sisters: "She's My Man", Tiga: "Far from Home", and the brillant Yuki: "Sentimental Journey" video that inspired Noda's latest work--a commercial for Coke featuring music by Unibloggal heartthrob Jack White. For the most part I hate ads which is why I praise my DVR up and down every night, but if I have to be subjected to the art of marketing, I at least appreciate when it's artful.
—Laurin Asdal
Posted by Mother Jones on 04/27/07 at 2:12 PM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 26, 2007
Meet the "Messengers of Orgasm"
If you haven't found your clit by adulthood, it might be worth seeking some guidance. That little nub can be hard to find, and cultural and religious mores have shrouded it even further. But paying $2,000? Living in a community of spiritual supporters? Practicing "orgasmic meditation" every day under the direction of a guru? The for-profit One Taste Urban Retreat Center in SOMA sounds less like feminist consciousness-raising than a self-help scam. Rife with jargon such as obnosing, chargey, and open-source sensuality, this story by Mary Spicuzza is a fun read.
Posted by April Rabkin on 04/26/07 at 7:00 PM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 25, 2007
Early Top 10: Coachella Edition
Tomorrow morning, me and about 60,000 of my pals will start heading down to Indio for the Coachella Music & Arts Festival. The event – envisioned as an American version of British festivals like Glastonbury, without the mud -- has drawn hipsters, fashionistas, yuppies, rockers, ravers, goths and geeks to the broiling desert since 1999. I’ve been to all but one. Maybe it’s the amazing lineup, maybe it’s the well-planned and grassy venue, or maybe it’s the fact that I never had a wild Spring Break experience because I was always studying too hard, but I love everything about Coachella, and every year I start counting down the days to the next one the moment I get back. Check back here for coverage and pictures all weekend. Here’s an arbitrary list of what to look forward to if you're going (or watching the webcast):
10. Sonic Youth (Outdoor Stage, Friday)
This venerable New York combo put out one of the best albums of 2006, and this might be our only chance to hear them play songs from it, since much of their upcoming tour will be dedicated to Daydream Nation. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
9. Jarvis Cocker (Outdoor Stage, Friday)
Pulp were near-revolutionaries, and while their frontman hasn’t stayed on top of the charts, he’s as feisty as ever (bad language on that link!), releasing an acclaimed solo record this year.
8. Manu Chao (Main Stage, Sunday)
What’s great about Coachella is that not only do you catch up with your favorite artists, but also discover new ones. I don’t know much about this Latin singer, but about seven different people in the last week have told me how excited they are about him, so I’ll check him out, and I hope he doesn't turn out to be the World Music Dave Matthews which is kind of what he looks like he might be from this picture.
7. Faithless (Sahara Stage, Friday)
It’s been almost ten years since I’ve seen Faithless, and it was at a small San Francisco club; in the meantime, they’ve established themselves as an epic, must-see festival act all over Europe. With Coachella known for life-changing dance tent shows (see Daft Punk, Underworld, Chemical Brothers), this could be a highlight.
6. Peter Bjorn & John (Mojave Tent, Saturday)
Sticking a heavily-buzzed band in the tiniest tent (see Gnarls Barkley last year) is also a Coachella tradition; if I can actually get in to see them, I’ll be interested to see how their lilting, ’60s-style indie pop translates to the stage.
5. Justice / LCD Soundsystem / The Rapture (Sahara Tent, Saturday)
Now here’s some scheduling magic: three great dance/rock bands in a row, with little competition from other stages, finish out the night on Saturday. I’ll just be staying in this tent until the bitter end thank you.
4. Bjork (Main Stage, Friday)
No polar bears at this show, for sure. While I noted being slightly underwhelmed by her SNL performance, this will be the first taste of most of the new material from Volta, and I’m still very intrigued.
3. Ratatat (Mojave Tent, Sunday)
This New York City duo make quirky yet energetic electronic music; their second full-length studio album, Classics, came out last year to much acclaim. Supposedly they are amazing live, and supposedly they recorded part of the album at a house owned by Bjork. Small world.
2. Arcade Fire (Main Stage, Saturday)
Hey, Riff readers, did you know I liked this band? Har har. Anyway, it’ll actually be hard to top their stunning performance here in 2004, and moving to the main stage carries risks that they’ll be overwhelmed by its immensity. But, my God, it’s Arcade Fire!
1. Interpol (Main Stage, Friday)
I know, crazy, but I just heard a couple preview tracks from their upcoming album (The Heinrich Maneuver, out May 7th), and they were awesome; plus they always put on a riveting, emotional live show; their epic, wide-open songs should be perfect for a warm night under the desert sky.
Wait a minute -- actually, if I'm honest, this is my real #1: We rented a house with a pool table!!!!!!
Posted by Party Ben on 04/25/07 at 5:51 PM | | Comments (2) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
MTV Thinks Indie Bands Are Over
A weirdly vitriolic and kind of hard-to-read article appeared today on MTVNews.com with the basic point that “indie bands are unsuccessful.” I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising -- it’s kind of like George W. Bush saying global warming doesn’t exist. What are you expecting him to say? But it’s still disappointing. The writer, James Montgomery, describes some sort of mythical time -- apparently, 2005 -- when bands like Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were “flavors of the month.” Sadly, none of them could keep it up, because, uh, something happened, “and suddenly,” it reads, “none of them seemed to matter much any more.” Wow!
This is my least favorite kind of pseudo-journalism: “I’m going to make a name for myself as a writer by being against everything the cool kids are for.” It’s controversial and attention-grabbing! But unfortunately, the only actual statistic that Montgomery cites completely contradicts his thesis: Arcade Fire’s new album Neon Bible (as I blabbed about endlessly) debuted on the Billboard charts at #2. Seems pretty good to me. The rest of his “facts” are as follows:
--Clap Your Hands’ new album has sold 1/3 what their first one did (even though it’s only been out three months);
--Bloc Party’s latest has “all but disappeared from the cultural zeitgeist” (he even had to “wiki” the title);
--a “hunch” that Arctic Monkeys’ new CD, released this week, won’t have the same “impact” as the first one.
Right. His entire theory is baseless: independent music’s impact and popularity actually continues to expand, with recent, surprising Top 5 debuts from Bright Eyes, The Shins, and Modest Mouse. Even Bloc Party’s A Weekend in the City debuted at #12, and has sold 50,000 copies already. Not bad for a delicate, wistful album about coming to terms with your sexuality. In fact, one could make the point that with the ascendancy of iTunes, independent music has more of a potential audience than ever.
What’s the point of this article? To point out that not every single self-released, import, or independent album outsells the Pussycat Dolls? Or to find some sort of justification for MTV ignoring independent artists, by pretending they have no impact, or that they’re “over”? Well, a bit of Google sleuthing turns up an interview with Mr. Montgomery on AbsolutePunk.com, where he describes his job as covering “emo/Warped Tour/MySpace/whatever you call it punk.” Oh, okay. Well, perhaps covering Panic! At the Disco might be more up his alley.
Posted by Party Ben on 04/25/07 at 4:52 PM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 22, 2007
Björk on SNL: Hmm, B-minus?
(Watch quick, before it gets taken down...)
Icelandic singer Björk gave a highly anticipated performance on "Saturday Night Live" last night, her first on the show in almost ten years. It's an interesting time for Björk: with a new album and high-profile tour imminent, she's seemingly emerging from a kind of artistic cocoon that she appeared to enter after the traumatic experience of filming the nearly unwatchable (in my opinion) "Dancer in the Dark." Think back: the immense artistic achievement of 1997's Homogenic was followed by Vespertine and Medulla (in 2001 and 2004 respectively): introverted, experimental albums with none of Homogenic's vertigo-inducing vistas of sound or emotional intensity. After that, as if to thumb her nose at critics who thought she couldn't get more left-field, she hooked up with Matthew Barney, and their combined effort, "Drawing Restraint," seemed both weaker and weirder than the individual artists' work.
So, when news emerged that Björk would be working with Timbaland on her new album Volta, people like me -- who enjoyed her weirdness, but worried she might be losing her relevance -- rejoiced. The first single, "Earth Intruders," was intriguing both for its accessibility and its distance from what both Björk and Timbaland have done before: a galumphing double-time beat dominates the track, and strangely, its catchiest moments come without a real chorus or "hook." Not necessarily astounding, but pretty good.
With Björk headlining the main stage on the first day of the Coachella festival this Friday (4/27), SNL was to be our "sneak preview" for how she would approach the new material live, and unfortunately, I'm not sure all the bugs are worked out. During "Intruders," the insistent beat was a little overwhelming, muddying up the delicate plinks and squeals that give the track its charm; a troup of female backup singers in primary-colored robes added heft to the chants of "We are the Earth intruders / We are the paratroopers," but when they started blowing on horns, the effect was grating. Bjork herself seemed a bit lost in this song without a center, and only her cries of "Turmoil! / Carnage!" in what passes for the verse captured some of the transcendent vocal tone that's the essence of what Björk does best. For a comparison, check out this video of the Homogenic track "Joga," live -- now that's what I call Björk. Check back here starting Friday night for my updates and reviews from Coachella to see how it all turns out.
Posted by Party Ben on 04/22/07 at 7:43 PM | | Comments (5) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 20, 2007
Top Ten Stuff 'n' Things, 4/20/07
This week, in honor of it being 4/20, I guess, there's a lot of zoning out on the cool psychedelic trip. Man. Plus some depressing photos, and, um, lip gloss. Did that harsh your mellow? Well, whatever. Where were you when we were getting high:
10. Dan le Sac vs. Scoobius Pip – "Thou Shalt Always Kill" (mp3 via Feed Me Good Tunes)
Okay, novelty tune, for sure. But when a novelty tune comes in the form of a hilarious, fast-paced Streets-meets-Audio Bullys screed about stuff you shalt and shalt not do, most of which seems amusingly, uh, specific to this Dan guy, I’ll make an exception
9. Maximo park – "Russian Literature" (From Our Earthly Pleasures out 5/9 on Warp) (mp3 via Stereogum)
Oh, those Russkies. They write good. This angular, Franz Ferdinand-y British five-piece agrees, and brings a little piano action to the foreground to make the point
8. Explosions in the Sky – "The Birth and Death of the Day" (from All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, on Temporary Residence) (mp3 via Aural Fitness)
I like post-rock, yes I do. When it comes to 8-minute instrumental rock epics, there’s a fine line between exultant and self-indulgent. But this Texas combo keeps it together by going right for the emotional jugular, like Slint, Tortoise, or Godspeed you Black Emperor before them
7. Lil’ Mama – “Lip Gloss” (video, via Pitchfork)
Apparently Lil’ Mama is really “lil,” only 17 years old in fact, but in this video about how a magical pink lip gloss makes everything okay, she actually seems more self-assured than that setup might make you think. Plus, the supremely minimal backing track (just a stomp and a clap) is a showcase for her very real vocal skills
6. Ulrich Schnauss feat. Judith Beck - “Stars” (from Goodbye, out July 10th on Domino) (mp3 via Use Your Faults, Use Your Defects)
This German artist put out one of my favorite albums of 2003, the neo-electronica-meets-My Bloody Valentine-fuzz A Strangely Isolated Place. This preview track from his long-awaited followup shows a more mature, and dare I say accessible, style
5. Teddybears – “Automatic Lover” (from Soft Machine on Atlantic) (mp3 via My Old Kentucky Blog)
This Swedish combo put out their Big Beat-reminiscent full length last year, but it took me a while (and a few stellar live performances) for me to warm up to it. This track may have “car commercial” written all over it, but its robot vocal and blippy background put it somewhere between Royksopp and the Chemical Brothers. One for the Coachella poolside iPod mix…
4. Chris Jordan - "Running the Numbers: An American Self Portrait" (photography, via Yahoo! Picks)
For a borderline obsessive like me, who has a really hard time putting anything in the garbage, since all I think about are the piles of plastic trash, lasting for millenia, these large-format digitally altered photographs are both beautiful and nearly unbearable. The rearrangement of “Denali” to say “Denial” in the b/w mountain portrait is a little silly, but the version of Seurat’s “Sunday Afternoon” made from soda cans is awesome
3. Blonde Redhead – "Spring and Summer by Fall" (from 23 on Matador) (mp3 via Crackers United)
Pitchfork was, in my opinion, a little mean about this album, even though they gave it a 7.0, using the word "monstrosity" seems a bit harsh. Perhaps it’s just the soft bigotry of high expectations, but the review seemed to have a real issue with the shoegazey sheen. Well, I say, "hooray for shoegazey sheens," especially when combined with a song this mesmerizing: an uptempo guitar-driven track with surprising melodic twists and turns, over which Amadeo Pace insists, “Tell me where you’ve been / tell me what you saw”
2. Dungen – "Familj" (from the forthcoming Tio Bitar, out April 26th on Subliminal Sounds) (mp3, and great story about the guitarist working for the Swedish post office at Stereogum)
Dungen blow my mind. Is it some sort of Scandinavian genetic memory, helping me deduce meaning from the Swedish lyrics? Or is it the hypnotic, swirling harmonies that suddenly give way to a single acoustic guitar, only to blast back in again? Dungen give “psychedelic rock” a good name, maybe the best name it ever had
1. Being completely, utterly focused on Coachella
Hey have they posted set times yet? Check again! What does Weather.com say the high is for Saturday? 90? 92? 93? What’s optimum? What stage do you think Arcade Fire is playing? When? How long will we have to camp out in front of the stage to get a good spot? Have they posted set times yet?! How many days until we leave? We’re having margaritas, right? Are set times up yet? Did you bring the limes? Wait, where's my ticket?!
Posted by Party Ben on 04/20/07 at 5:26 PM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 19, 2007
FDA May Legalize Chocolate Fraud
This is so wrong. The FDA is entertaining a "citizen's petition" to allow chocolate manufacturers to substitute cheap vegetable oil for cocoa butter, and pass it off as chocolate. Citizens petition my ass. It's straight from the Chocolate Manufacturers Assn., the Grocery Manufacturers Assn., the Snack Food Assn. and the National Cattlemen's Beef Assn. Straight from K Street.
Posted by April Rabkin on 04/19/07 at 11:23 AM | | Comments (4) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 18, 2007
Attention Boston Bloggers: Iceland wants you!
In an effort to "put web attractions in print" and reinvent notions of what a traditional newspaper provides, the new and free publication BostonNOW is grabbing up bloggers that will produce content for print.
BostonNOW is funded by an Icelandic company, Dagsbrun, that hopes to have NOW papers in eight to ten different cities in two years, with every one built from the bottom-up – or from the blog-up.
"It will be fun," Editor-in-Chief John Wilpers told NPR. It will also be a chance for bloggers – and maybe even self-described "sloggers" who blog about their sex lives – to see their name in print and potentially reach a wider audience. Initially bloggers will comprise about 10 percent of the paper's content, but the plan is to expand that to as much as 50 percent. Whether or not the blogs will be uninformed columns, personal diatribes or quick, informed snippets remains to be seen.
Wilpers is right, it probably will be fun. It will also be cheap. Bloggers won't be paid, although a business model that could pay bloggers is allegedly being developed. So is this the latest in crowd sourcing? Probably. Could it be a great strategy for providing fresh, irreverent content? Maybe.
-- Gary Moskowitz
Posted by Mother Jones on 04/18/07 at 2:32 PM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 17, 2007
Sundance Channel's Green Living Show Debuts Tonight
If you're going to use electricity tonight, you may as well do it watching Sundance Channel's new green living show, "Big Ideas for a Small Planet" (9 p.m. E/P).
In true Sundance tradition, "Big Ideas" is a series of short documentaries. But they're not the drab, depressing kind. Instead, they feature cutting-edge technologies and brilliant inventors bent on saving the earth.
Each episode has a theme, and tonight's is alternative fuels. You'll meet a couple who'll retrofit your gas-guzzling vintage ride into a clean machine, see an Indy 500 driver get better torque and pull using ethanol, and feel the rush with a monster trucker who fries chicken and then uses the grease as gas. These are people who don't just "talk the talk" about being green; they "drive the drive," as one quips. (That this first episode is about alternative fuels and a later one is about green vehicles is probably no coincidence: the show is "sponsored by Lexus," who has a new hybrid SUV on the market.)
The series doesn't end when you click off the TV. "Big Ideas" is just part of a larger line of programming, web features, and blogs called "The Green." Viewers can check out easy tips for green living, watch video clips, or learn more about environmental issues on "The Green" section of Sundance Channel's site, for which TreeHugger provided much of the content.
But lest you think Sundance the only cable channel targeting green viewers, the Discovery Channel is launching an entire network devoted to everyday green living next year.
—Jen Phillips
Posted by Mother Jones on 04/17/07 at 3:03 PM | | Comments (1) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
Willie Nelson Speaks the Truth
Interestingly-designed web site truthout.org has a cool video of Willie Nelson, fresh from his appearance on the "Colbert Report" (and subsequent appearance atop the Party Ben Top 10), giving a speech at the Camp Casey Peace Awards in Austin last week. The awards are named in honor of Cindy Sheehan's son, who was killed in Iraq three years ago. The clip shows the 73-year-old country legend has only grown more outspoken with age, saying "I just love a revolution," to cheers from the crowd.
In the followup interview, Nelson talks about how he manages to express progressive viewpoints while holding onto his conservative fan base, something that, as a radical former Nebraskan, I'm pretty much in awe of. "I stay with the traditions of country music," he says, "so in that respect I think I'm pretty conservative." It's a reminder that the kinds of things Nelson is talking about -- dedication to American farmers, opposition to nation-building foreign policy, support for the freedom to, uh, smoke weed, without government interference in your personal choices -- are actually kind of conservative too. Huh.
Willie Nelson's upcoming tour dates include three more nights at the Fillmore here in San Francisco (through Thursday 4/19), then he hits the main stage at Coachella on 4/29, its country sister festival Stagecoach the next weekend, and the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Illinois on 7/28.
Posted by Party Ben on 04/17/07 at 12:58 PM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 16, 2007
What Snoop Dogg Means by "Ho"
Snoop Dogg told MTV that Imus deserved to be fired but rappers can keep talking about "ho's." That's because the Rutgers players are upwardly-mobile athletes, Snoop said, but rappers are referring to "ho's that's in the 'hood that ain't doing sh--."
"It's a completely different scenario," said Snoop. "[Rappers] are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We're talking about ho's that's in the 'hood that ain't doing sh--, that's trying to get a n---a for his money. These are two separate things. First of all, we ain't no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC going hard on black girls. We are rappers that have these songs coming from our minds and our souls that are relevant to what we feel. I will not let them mutha----as say we in the same league as him."
So I guess slurs are fine as long as they come straight from the heart.
But seriously, listen to Gwen Ifill on Meet the Press yesterday, via Feministing. (When Ifill was a New York Times reporter, Imus called her "the cleaning lady.") It's great to see her look straight at David Brooks and Tim Russert when she talks about complicity--among journalists who appeared regularly on the show--in a culture of "casual slurs and insults."
Posted by April Rabkin on 04/16/07 at 12:24 PM | | Comments (5) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
Don't Get GLAAD, Get Mad
solid; border-color:#000000;">Towleroad points out today that writer Michelangelo Signorile has given the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation some guff on his blog, "The Gist." The organization has become known for its annual media awards ceremonies, the most recent of which took place Saturday night in Los Angeles. I've got nothing against awards shows, I guess, but lately GLAAD's have started to seem like less like celebrations of still-rare queer representation, and more like opportunities for (apparently?) heterosexual stars to access the gay demographic. Saturday's honorees included a "vanguard" award to Jennifer Aniston, as well as "outstanding individual episode" of a TV show to "Grey's Anatomy." Maybe they were trying to be funny with that last one?
Signorile takes the organization to task for its apparent reluctance to speak out during recent "f-word" slipups, and calls for the awards show to be "halted, or at the very least, radically pared down." Maybe Signorile is just trying to catch up to Michael Musto, whose recent controversial Out cover story has reignited the "outing" torch. But he has a good point: in a world where celebrities still live in the "glass closet" and homophobic outbursts have little consequence, it seems like there's a lot more for GLAAD to do besides becoming a "high-priced masseuse" to Hollywood.
Posted by Party Ben on 04/16/07 at 10:02 AM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 15, 2007
Aqua Teen Movie Not Very Good
Yes, yes, you're saying, "in other news: Pope Catholic." I'm sure the Mother Jones editors are like "what kind of dimwitted yokel is this so-called Party Ben, sullying our esteemed web site with blather about the latest stoner cartoon." Indeed. But in my defense, "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," the show, was at one point the funniest, oddest thing on television, belying its rep as "TV for slackers" with rapid-fire dialog that rewarded repeat viewings. Like "Monty Python," the best episodes built a bizarro world of utter nonsense, but then respected this world's inner logic, and pushed the rules to their logical, insane conclusions. The strange format of 12- or 13-minute episodes made the action dense and rollicking, like a great comic short story.
We all knew the movie was a crazy idea, but I secretly had high hopes: like the long-rumored "Sprockets" project, it seemed almost zen-like in its willingness to take a concept so completely ridiculous and barely even there, and stretch it out to fit the length of a feature film. If it worked, it would be the greatest thing ever, really. But this kind of trick is a real high-wire act, and the producers seemed to just give up. The film opens with a brilliant song urging good movie-going behavior that should be shown before every feature ("why did you bring your baby to this film / take it out and leave it in the street!"), but then it's downhill from there, with long stretches of filler and little of the transcendently silly dialog from the best episodes. I probably spent a majority of the movie feeling a bit depressed and embarrassed. Plus, worst of all, they didn't include the frat aliens (from a mid-Season Two episode when the show was at its creative peak), whose boozy, weirdly homoerotic actions are made all the more hilarious because, well, they're aliens. Watch that episode here. And Mother Jones, I promise I'm not stoned! I just like surreal comedy. Hopefully Adult Swim can have mercy, put Aqua Teen to rest, and come up with something else just as brilliant.
Posted by Party Ben on 04/15/07 at 4:27 PM | | Comments (3) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 13, 2007
Party Ben's Top Ten Stuff 'n' Things 4/13/07
Ooh, Friday the 13th. Time for scaarrry electro jams, and spooooky Icelandic singer ladies, and situation commmedieeesss!!!
10. Getting ready to go see "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters"
Mostly just being amused by the Chronicle’s baffled (yet admirably open-minded) review of the thing today.
9. The Glass – “Come Alive” (mp3)
The NYC electro duo comes back with a more mainstream sound reminiscent of Tiga and fellow New Yorkers The Rapture. Grab an mp3 of it (and a cool DJ set from them) at Spinner here
8. Cover art for Bright Eyes Cassadaga, new album on Saddle Creek
Yes, fine, it’s Omaha’s finest singer-songwriter with a more “Americana” style album. Whatever. But duuude, check out this cover art, it’s all like black and white static, but you pull out the included magic view screen, and it turns into pictures of crazy stuff! How do they do that?
7. DJ Axel – Breakin’ the Law (self-released album)
LA’s Peter Axelrad has quietly become one of the most consistent mash-up producers out there, with flawless and crowd-pleasing DJ sets; this collection of tracks is augmented by brilliant, Sgt. Peppers-inspired cover art
6. Bjork – “Earth Intruders” (from the forthcoming album Volta, out May 7 on Atlantic)
This Timbaland-produced single underwhelmed me at first, but after a week of hearing it around town, it’s wormed its way into my brain. With its clompy drums and space-alien perspective, it’s oddly similar both sonically and lyrically to Bjork’s first solo single, “Human Behavior,” and almost equally charming
5. Klaxons – “Golden Skans” (from Myths of the Near Future on Geffen) (listen on their MySpace page)
Brits call this the “new rave,” or, God forbid, the “nu rave,” but this track is slightly more mellow than others on the London three-piece’s new full length, and showcases their real songwriting talents
4. Will Arnett on "30 Rock" (Last night, NBC)
Yeah. Touch the peacock. You’re a peacock.
3. Diplo - Mad Decent Podcast #13
The Philly DJ’s diverse tastes can sometimes make for awkward sets, but this hour-long mix for Australia’s Triple-J radio combines electro, hip-hop, Brazilian favela, and Baltimore beats into an eclectic celebration of great music
2. Nihon Restaurant, San Francisco
Despite loving their sister restaurant, Tsunami, over on Divis, I resisted trying Nihon, since high-end whiskey really isn’t my thing. But last night I got off work at like 10:30pm and I was starving, so I stumbled over to 14th and Folsom, walked right in and sat down at the bar, and proceeded to have the best Manhattan I’ve ever had, and then generous piles of top-notch sushi snacks, and not too pricey. Any after-10pm food in SF is something to cheer about; late-night eats this good are a life-saver
1. Queens of the Stone Age – “3s & 7s” (from the forthcoming album Era Vulgaris on Interscope, out early July I think?)
I probably shouldn’t even be writing about this. The Interscope peeps came in and played us this track from Josh Homme and co yesterday, and then took the CD back -- we can’t even have an advance of the thing yet, it’s so hot. But I can’t resist, because it’s so freakin’ awesome. Possibly one of their best singles ever, it’s instantly accessible, with the trademark screaming Queens riffs, and I ache -- ache! -- to hear it more
Posted by Party Ben on 04/13/07 at 6:34 PM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
Pimping Up Where Molly Ivins Left Off
OK, so anyone who has been paying serious attention will know that I'm late: the Texas Observer's Molly Ivins Tribute issue was published in February. But I just got mine in the San Francisco mail yesterday -- via Pony Express from Austin, I guess -- and, just in case you missed it too, I am telling everyone I know: Do yourself a favor and get a copy while they last. Even if you don't need a pick-me-up today or tomorrow, the day will surely come that you do, and this issue has some inspiring and potent juju.
Of all the stray and stringy indy journalism dogs that Molly adopted (and Mother Jones was one), The Texas Observer was the one closest to her heart. She was co-editor there from 1970 to 1976, and more to the point of this story, she was in these last few years driven to get this feisty, important and perpetually strapped publication on its financial feet. Last fall, she even subjected herself to a Molly Ivins "barbeque" (AKA, roast) to raise some important money. The Observer had been challenged to match a $500,000 grant to ramp up their reporting and, indeed, with Molly inspiring large gifts and small, they made the match: The money will support a serious expansion of the magazine's investigative reporting for the next two years. (Anyone who reads the business pages should have already noted that the total amount raised there -- huge by the standards of indy media -- equates to 1/300th of Larry Ellison's yacht and is 1/54th what Goldman Sachs' CEO took home last year. I suppose the justice is that getting paid even measly wages for doing butt-kicking journalism is just more damn fun.) But I digress.
The Molly Tribute issue has contributions from lots of people you've heard of (Bill Moyers, Maya Angelou, Jim Hightower, Garrison Keillor, and Dan Rather among them) and lots that I hadn't, and it's all really, really good, that sweet combination of tears and laughter and Texas that truly honors Molly's life and spirit. Typical of us bleeding-heart liberal publications, the Observer has gone and underpriced it: It's available online for a mere $5. But you know what you need to do: when you go to the Observer's site to get your copy (and do it now -- I'm told they're down to fewer than 1,000 copies), also click on the button to make a contribution to the Molly Ivins Investigative Fund.
Help those heroes and heroines at the Observer keep fightin' for freedom! (I'm telling you, you'll love that Tribute issue.)
— Jay Harris
Posted by Mother Jones on 04/13/07 at 11:13 AM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 12, 2007
Imus Loses His Bully Pulpit
CBS dropped Don Imus' morning shock-jock radio program, Imus in the Morning. In case you've been living under a rock, Imus called the Rutgers women's basketball team, who placed second in the women's NCAA championship, a bunch of "nappy-headed hos." Although many black groups expressed their dismay to CBS, Imus's ratings went up after the April 4 remark. Here's an example of the market not taking care of itself, I guess. Fortunately, CBS (and MSNBC, which dropped the simulcast yesterday) did the right thing.
Ironically, Imus was scheduled to apologize to the team in person today.
An interesting thought problem: Clearly, what Imus said was more racist than sexist ("hos" notwithstanding). But it's interesting that his racism was stimulated by women's basketball and not men's. Why do racism and sexism seem to get so perversely intertwined?
Posted by Cameron Scott on 04/12/07 at 2:40 PM | | Comments (2) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 11, 2007
Johnny Cash's House Burns Down
Please, no "ring of fire" jokes: the Tennessee house Johnny Cash lived in for more than 30 years with June Carter Cash burned to the ground Tuesday; the cause is still unknown but appears to have been exacerbated by "a flammable wood preservative" (?!!) that construction workers were applying to the house. In addition to hosting a whole variety of famous friends of Cash, the house was also the setting for the emotional video for "Hurt," one of the covers from his American Recordings albums that make you go "Oh, that's how that song's supposed to be."
An Oak Ridge Boy lives down the road and gives a quote that seems like a bit of a dis on current owner of the house... wait for it... Barry Gibb. Again, may I just say, "?!!"? Anyway, the Oak Ridge Boy says "maybe it's the good Lord's way to make sure that it was only Johnny's house." Which is nice, but the image in my mind is more like the good Lord letting Johnny reach down and zap the house himself. Or, come to think of it, Barry Gibb burning down Johnny Cash's house.
Posted by Party Ben on 04/11/07 at 1:21 PM | | Comments (2) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 10, 2007
Live Earth, Dead Ears
Billboard is reporting that some acts have confirmed for Al Gore’s “Live Earth” concerts on July 7th, and while the concept is admirable, please don’t make me attend. The show at Giants Stadium in New Jersey will feature the progressive sounds of Dave Matthews, Roger Waters, The Police, Akon, Alicia Keys, Bon Jovi, Fall Out Boy, John Mayer, KT Tunstall, and Melissa Etheridge. Holy Gap khakis, that almost reads like a parody. What about, you know, Starship? The London lineup is only slightly better, with Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys and Foo Fighters, all of whom put on adequate live shows even if their best material is years behind them, but get a load of (shudder) Genesis, and the worst of the interchangeable syrupy Brit-“rockers”: James Blunt, David Gray, Damien Rice, and Keane. Blarf! Seeing Bloc Party on this bill actually makes me like them less. Well, maybe the shows in Shanghai or Rio will be better. If you’re interested in jumping through all the random hoops to get tickets to this thing (Register! Apply! Wait! Get notified! Provide blood sample!) then feel free to go here to find out more, and let me know how that goes for you. Meanwhile I'll be trying to help save the earth by carpooling to Coachella -- coming up in just over two weeks.
Posted by Party Ben on 04/10/07 at 3:16 PM | | Comments (4) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 7, 2007
Party Ben’s Top Ten Stuff ‘n’ Things – LA Edition
Okay, I’m sorry, the big list is a day late, but sometimes when you’re in Los Angeles, heavy drinking gets in the way of blogging. I’ve only been in town a few short hours, so in fact this Top Ten will have little to do with this pubescent metropolis, and actually, there’s still a couple things to mention from my trip last week to New York. Sorry, LA; New York still wins.
10. Community Service, Indie 103.1, Fridays 10pm – 12 midnight
Alright, here's one cool thing in LA. Scott Kirkland and Ken Jordan, otherwise known as the Crystal Method, have become possibly America’s most knowledgeable purveyors of progressive breaks. Their Friday night show manages to push the envelope with new sounds while keeping it friendly with the goofy, geeky banter of the hosts
9. The Ponys - “1209 Seminary” (from Turn the Lights Out on Matador)
Robert Christgau seemed to kind of dis the new Ponys album (but, wow, it still gets three stars, like everything else in Rolling Stone) and while I don’t think this Chicago four-piece is necessarily rewriting the rule book, their Sonic Youth-y alt-rock reminds me of why I got into radio in the first place
8. Paul Wall “I’m Throwed” (from Get Money, Stay True on Atlantic)
While this doesn’t compare to the majestic “Sittin’ Sideways,” the Houston rapper is still making weird, weird tunes. Is that a car alarm? What is that? How do I get to be a hip-hop superstar so I can use, like, truck-backing-up noises for a smash hit single?
7. Mark Ronson “Stop Me” (from the forthcoming album Version)
This UK DJ and producer has made a name by covering current hits in quirky, often soulful styles, and while this version of the Smiths’ 1987 swan song won’t replace the original, it does recontextualize it as a kind of “new standard,” reminding us of how spine-tinglingly brilliant the Smiths were even as they were falling apart. “I still love you/Only slightly less than I used to” – God almighty, and this is like a third-tier Smiths song!!
6. Charlotte Hatherley - “I Want You to Know” (from the forthcoming album The Deep Blue)
If you ask me, Ash were one of the most underrated bands of the last 15 years. Thanks for asking. Now their guitarist emerges from the background with a sound that’s slightly more mature, somewhere between Belly and the Pixies. Nice
5. Basement Jaxx - "Make Me Sweat"
While last year’s Crazy Itch Radio was a bit of a disappointment (and with many critics saying Timbaland is doing their thing better than they are) the Jaxx remind us of their genius by tossing off this throwaway single, a straightforward, stomping number that throws the ball back in Timbo’s court
4. 30 Rock (Thursdays on NBC)
I put a bunch of the most recent episodes on the iPod for my flight back from NYC, and it almost made the overcrowded, delayed, crying-child-filled flight bearable. It seemed like the show got off to a bit of a rough start, but at this point, the most bizarre, hilarious stuff comes rolling out effortlessly – the one where they’re trying and repeatedly failing to defuse an apparently anti-American slipup by one of their cast (whoops, swastika sparklers!) continually shocked me with what they were getting away with
3. Jeff Wall, MOMA, New York (through May 14th)
This exhibit of the artist’s large-scale back-lit photographs of oddly staged landscapes and weird “dead zones” are clearly modern, but strangely elegant, and after walking through the video-wall overload of Times Square, unexpectedly traditionalist. While I’m not enough of an art student to know the paintings he’s often referencing, the scenes depict ugliness beautifully, like 1993’s A Sudden Gust of Wind, where pink papers fly into the air over a polluted canal
2. DJ Khaled - "We Takin' Over"
Via Sasha Frere-Jones' blog, it’s a South florida rapper with track that sounds like just like how I imagine Florida feels like (I've never been) – an uptempo freestyle beat, and over the top of it, a high-speed slippery vocal that makes it all sound so, so easy
1. LCD Soundsystem, live at the Bowery, New York City, Saturday, March 31st
Is James Murphy the indie rock James Brown? Like the late funk soul brother's music, LCD’s spare funkiness requires absolute precision, and while Murphy comes off like a geeky, easygoing slacker, he’s obviously a brilliant vocalist and musician, as well as a whip-cracking band leader. Stepping over for a stage-left drum-pad solo during “Tribulations,” he hit the syncopated claps with such exactitude, I thought it was just a drum machine at first; and his goofy yelps during “Daft Punk is Playing at My House” were always right on the octave. He said he had the flu, but I never noticed
Posted by Party Ben on 04/07/07 at 3:39 PM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 5, 2007
A Brief Foray Into Primetime: LOST as Shakespearean Drama
Last night's "Lost" left main gals Kate (brunette) and Juliet (blond) handcuffed together and running through the wilds a la "Charlie’s Angels." As the two made their way through the brush, it struck me that their names are both found in Shakespearean works: Kate as the prickly one in "The Taming of the Shrew," and Juliet as the star-crossed lover in "Romeo and Juliet." In traditional Shakespearean fashion, both gals have picked the same man as their ill-fated lover.
As cliché as it is for two women to catfight over a man, I thought the episode was interesting. Kate’s tortured relationship with her own mother, and Juliet’s work at making women into mothers (she’s a fertility doctor) brought an interesting psychological element to the episode. Kate yearned to be supported by her estranged mother, but by killing her mother’s husband, she condemned the relationship to failure. Juliet, on the other hand, only wanted to help her sister get pregnant, and was then recruited to work on a fecund, jungle island where no one has any trouble getting pregnant.
It’s worth noting that there has been very little female bonding on this male-written show. Although men bro down like there’s no tomorrow--trekking into the woods, killing boars, hiding guns--the women are seemingly not very interested in interacting with one another, save when they need to take a pregnancy test. In fact, I can't think of a single episode that's focused on a female-female relationship in the show's three year history.
Ultimately, I don’t know if the episode furthered any plot arcs, except for the fact that The Others are now seemingly gone except for Juliet. Quite a few bloggers have suggested that (like Shakespeare’s Juliet at the masked ball) Juliet is a decoy, a mechanism for getting inside the Losties once and for all. If she does, I hope she takes the time to make friends with some of the women, because I’m tired of men being the only ones with female friends on the show.
Okay, back to reality, where we have our own ongoing mayhem and tragedies to deal with.
—Jen Phillips
Posted by Mother Jones on 04/05/07 at 10:39 AM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 4, 2007
More Neato Viddys on the Intertubes
Cover/Parody/Mashup/Goofy Concept Edition!
Sad Kermit - "Hurt"
In which, er, Kermit the Frog sings the jaunty Nine Inch Nails number covered to great effect by Johnny Cash. Probably not safe for small children who believe Kermit doesn't inject drugs
Jem vs. Le Tigre - "Deceptacon"
In which the post-punk trio are reimagined as a certain truly outrageous cartoon band
It's Raining 300 Men
In which the buried homoeroticism in a recent film is, erm, elucidated
Eurythmics vs. Donna Summer - "I Feel Love is a Stranger"
In which the late 70s and early 80s are brought together at last. Worth it if only for the footage of vintage synths
Alanis Morissette - "My Humps"
I know you've already seen this, but still, watch it again, you know you want to
Posted by Party Ben on 04/04/07 at 4:19 PM | | Comments (2) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
Debunking Sandra Tsing Loh's review of I'd Rather Eat Chocolate
A new book claims women have weaker sex drives than men because of testosterone.
Yeah right. First of all, women have testosterone too. Secondly, testosterone is made out of cholesterol, which is just about the least sexy molecule I can think of.
To be honest, I didn't read the book but I did read the book review by Sandra Tsing Loh. It holds some truth. Maybe it would help my friend, a 110-pound waif, have some compassion for her libido, which she compares to the libidos of those beefcakes who spend a few hours a day pumping iron at Gold's. Just because she's not on the prowl constantly doesn't mean she's repressed. Her sex drive isn't "weaker" but "calmer," "less demanding," and "less needy." She shouldn't pathologize it. True enough, Loh.
On the other hand, I've been mulling over Loh's anecdote about two obese L.A. lesbians who haven't had sex since the Clinton impeachment. When I first read about "Teri and Pat" a month ago—suspiciously mentioned by first name only—something just didn't seem right. In lieu of sex, "Teri and Pat have had a special Monday-night ritual. They order an extra-large cheese pizza… settle in on the couch with large twin bags of Doritos. Each chip is dipped first in cream cheese and then in salsa. Cream cheese, salsa. Cream cheese, salsa.... The Doritos are finished to the last crumb, and then, upon arrival, the pizza as well."
Here's what tipped me off: Doritos dipped in cream cheese. Ever seen that? No, because it doesn't happen. You can dip a Dorito in sour cream, baked brie, even Easy Cheese. But cream cheese is so firm that the Dorito in hand just crumbles. And so does this anecdote, despite Loh's deft prose. Nobody dips Doritos in cream cheese—not lesbians, not gays, not straights, nobody. Maybe "lesbian bed death" exists, but this Monday night, double-dipping, binge routine does not. "Teri and Pat" are no more than a caricature striking terror in the hearts of women everywhere.
Posted by April Rabkin on 04/04/07 at 11:14 AM | | Comments (1) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
April 2, 2007
Get Your A$$ Out of Bed
ThinkGeek.com, a website featuring "stuff for smart asses," has developed an ingenious device to make sure you're never late to work, sleep through another appointment or simply annoy your partner, children, neighbors, etc. by hitting the snooze button every 10 minutes for and hour and half. Don't lie. You know you've been guilty of snooze button abuse at one point or another…well, no longer. The SnūzNLūz alarm clock—via a WiFi connection and link to your online bank account—will donate money to an organization you hate every time you hit snooze. According to their website:
The SnūzNLūz uses the very complex psychological phenomenon known as 'HATRED'. Basically it's human nature to wish harm upon your enemies. Similarly, it's human nature not to give your enemies gobs of cash so that they can grow big and dominate the world with their totally wrong, stupid and invalid point of view.
Are you a butcher? Set your SnūzNLūz to donate to PETA
Are you a Republican? Set your SnūzNLūz to donate to the ACLU!
Are you a land developer? Set your SnūzNLūz to donate to the Wilderness Society!
Enjoy your freedom V1.0? Set your SnūzNLūz to donate to the GOP, or
Enjoy your freedom V2.0? Set your SnūzNLūz to donate to [the Foundation for National Progress!]
Are you a hippie? Set your SnūzNLūz to donate to the American Coal Foundation.
You gotta love technology!
—Laurin Asdal
Update: Happy April Fool's Day from ThinkGeek. (Those geeks!)
Posted by Mother Jones on 04/02/07 at 4:51 PM | | Comments (0) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
EMI Ups the Quality and Drops the DRM
Well, ask and ye shall receive. I was just complaining about the low quality of 128kbps iTunes mp3s, and blammo: today EMI announced it will be offering its catalog on iTunes in 256kbps quality for the slightly increased price of $1.29 per song. The big news is that the tracks will also be free of the crippling DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection that many have complained about, but of course the other news is that a record label has finally broken the 99-cent barrier on iTunes, something they've lobbied for unsuccessfully for a while. Hopefully this won't lead to more label influence over prices ("hey, that Beyonce track looks hot, up the price to $3.50 for the next 7 hours!") but if they're willing to make this kind of tradeoff, I'm willing to pay 30 cents.
Somebody does need to tell the Times that Damon Albarn is now two bands removed from Blur, though.
Posted by Party Ben on 04/02/07 at 9:59 AM | | Comments (2) | E-mail | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | Reddit | Yahoo MyWeb | StumbleUpon | Newsvine | Netscape | Google |
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