Well- I’ve returned to a gracious, and patient, little snowstorm. Just yesterday the air felt perfect. Just perfect. And here I thought the winter of 2007-2008 was decidedly over with. I’m still reeling, internally, from the show on Saturday. That, and the complete-and-utter cell destroying week I had. It could be tough to get into the swing of things again. Went out last night for an anniversary of birth. We gave Sonji a couple LPs: Black Keys and TVotR. He told me that Del’s new CD wasn’t very good, and I completely believe him. He said that for the combination of Del+DefJux, the album was mediocre at best. I’ve listened to lots of the tracks, and I gotta say from what I’ve heard it doesn’t sound all that promising. He NEEDS Domino on some production, or Prince Paul, or Automator. Someone else.
Things should slow down a little bit for the next couple of days. Next weekend could be another mind-fuck when The Giraffes come into town to rock some socks off. They’ll be playing with the city’s own band Gay Witch Abortion. Not sure how this band’s music would transfer over to a live show; but from what I hear they’re a popular draw around the metro. It’s a two-piece, so the overall sound probably isn’t quite to par with the studio version (Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” theory). But for just two of them, Gay Witch Abortion makes LOTS of noise; attributed mostly to a heavydelay on the guitar. This guy even pulls out the sampler technique to layer his sound. He takes pieces he’s played, puts them onto a loop, and begins playing a lead or rythym over/behind the original track. Compare this to the uber-opposite style of Damien Paris, the Giraffes guitar player; and Saturday the 29th could be a pretty amazing show for guitar players. And drunk folk, can’t forget the drunk folk.
Yesterday I bought Rocket From The Crypt’s last show on DVD/CD. It’s pretty damn cool. The quality’s pretty good, but not too polished or glamorous. They play a big variety of tunes, and leave no stone unturned. The banter is AWESOME; Speedo pretty much takes everyone on the journey he took with RFTC that night. All 15 years of it. The Crypt, partly a victim of the mid-late 90s industry (like so many others), represent the truth and beauty of Rock & Roll (like so many others). They play it fast. They’ll talk shit. And they won’t apologize for anything. RFTC actually madeit too; which is way more than most bands like them can say. But the late 90s showee, rock star-ish, materialistic tones ended up tearing them apart. We don’t have that anymore though. Kid Rock, Durst, Creed, these guys are long gone. Why can’t bands like RFTC find success in the 21st century?
Well, for lots of hipsters, Rock music simply isn’t cool enough anymore. Indie kids increasingly edge towards more obscure and strange stylings; and have been since the teen-pop/rock-star boom. Not that there’s anything wrong with obscure and strange stylings. But to disregard something for being too far “pure rock & roll” on the spectrum is weak. Which is why stations like Minnesota’s “The Current” need to re-evaluate how and why they’re picking and playing songs. They’d never play the Giraffes OR RFTC; these bands are/were just too normal sounding.
I’ll be receiving Walking Dead and Thunderbolts in the mail shortly; both of these issues have been raved about for almost two weeks now. In TWD, someone will die. That’s for sure. And as far as super-hero TEAM comic books are concerned, it doesn’t get much better than The Thunderbolts. Team dynamics at its best. But, if such moral-less personalities are going to be sanctioned for usage by the US Government, the uneasiness of that squad will eventually boil over. Which is why I’m so fucking pumped too see Warren Ellis tackle the X-Men. He’s a well respected writer among the industry, I know. But this is quite a controversial move for Marvel. Who else has dedicated more than 3 pages alone to a shanking to a stomach?? Joss Whedon’s team writing is amazing, but I think the new Astonishing will live up to expectations.
I’m still getting random “friend requests” from girls and boys on MySpace, and it sickens me. I should close my account, but that’s the only way I could ever upload MP3′s of my own to internet. And who knows when I’ll ever need/want that ability. Sure, I could spend a small amount of dime to get my own hosting site, but it wouldn’t be worth it. But God I fucking hate MySpace. Kids/people think they’re part of some sort of social/musical/technological revolution. But these people aren’t any Che’s; not when they’re contributing to the massive-ness of Fox and Rupert Murdock. Revolutions of any kind don’t involve the people already on top.
[This kitty-cat won't leave me alone] Back to work tonight. Snow and all. I should bring a shovel with me. No signs of letting up. It’s STILL going. Basketball’s becoming THE water-cooler topic. That, and baseball before it’s even started! “Let me tell you something about baseball: It’s a bunch of overpaid fucks who charge YOU way too much money to go see them. Fuck baseball.” Yup.
And while everyone wants to know who won the first Red Sox/Yankees match-up in spring training, culture, along with individuals, is being SMASHED in the eastern hemisphere. People already call for boycotts of the Olympics. The most successful communist country ever is cracking down on individualism, cultural differences, and protests like NEVER before. Where’s the red scare now? It’s in the fucking Middle East, that’s where. Terror alerts replace nuclear fallout and no one seems to notice. Communism is a threat now, maybe more so than the communism of old. For the beast now is on the verge of singular super-power vision. Music, arts, THE INTERNET are being squashed on a more regulatory schedule. The liberty of its citizens is dying, and yet the country continues to grow as the people who damned it 30 years ago now invest in it. All of a sudden, when the economic struggles on THIS side of the fence, we’ll happily turn a cheek to basic human freedoms if it means we can invest money into the country which will soon take our position in the world. Where’s YOUR Red Scare now??
-Sonny
*EDIT: I completely forgot to mention the passing of Sci-Fi legend Arthur C. Clarke. The gentleman who decided to tackle, fictionally, mankind’s first meetings with extra-terrestrial lifeforms of an intelligent nature. The man who said this in relation to making 2001 with Stanley Kubrick: “One of the biggest roles of science fiction is to prepare people to accept the future without pain and to encourage a flexibility of mind. Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories. Two-thirds of 2001 is realistic — hardware and technology — to establish background for the metaphysical, philosophical, and religious meanings later.” And this of religion in the modern world:
1) “The greatest tragedy in mankind’s entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.”
2) “There is the possibility that humankind can outgrown its infantile tendencies, as I suggested in Childhood’s End. But it is amazing how childishly gullible humans are. There are, for example, so many different religions — each of them claiming to have the truth, each saying that their truths are clearly superior to the truths of others — how can someone possibly take any of them seriously? I mean, that’s insane. …Though I sometimes call myself a crypto-Buddhist, Buddhism is not a religion. Of those around at the moment, Islam is the only one that has any appeal to me. But, of course, Islam has been tainted by other influences. The Muslims are behaving like Christians, I’m afraid.”
And finally I’ll leave you with Clarke’s best quote, and it relates back to his ultimate theme: other intelligent life. He said this in 1999: “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”
-Sonny W. (again)
