01.30.07
Music flood
Today was a great day at Other Music. I picked up the Hold Steady album, "Boys and Girls in America", which is currently blowing my mind. I haven't even finished listening to it yet and I think it might be legendary. Incredible mix of raw power and beauty. 'Party Pit' just came on and confirmed my new love for this band... Also, found the new Beirut EP, Lon Gisland, at checkout which has temporarily satisfied my craving for more of this group after being completely let down when they cancelled their show here in November. It is singer/songwriter Zach Condon's first record with a whole band, mixed in Bushwick, Brooklyn. It's beauty is less aggressive than The Hold Steady, but equally entrancing. And to top it off, I asked those omniscient employees if they had any Ming & Ping, and they said they had never heard of it... I told them all about those Hong Kongian (Hong Kongish?) twins that I wrote about on 01.13.07 and they said they would check it out. Did I just inform Other Music? How can I be ahead of my favorite record store?
Internet?
01.27.07
At Least It's Pink...
Alaina is stage-managing this show at Ars Nova, and if you like your entertainment raunchy, this is your ticket.The show stars Bridget Everett in a cabaret-style performance, singing on such topics as her love for the black phallus, her multiple abortions and her "canhole". Can you handle it? I would highly reccomend that you check it out and see for yourself, and not just because my wife is calling the show and working the lights. It is brilliant and hilarious and the crowd, heavily gay, was LOVING it. I saw the show on opening night, which was attended by several celebrities, including Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon (The director is Michael Patrick King, who writes and directs 'Sex in the City') and Moby, who wrote a very positive review of the show on his blog (go to january 25th), which, by the way, is an excellent example of this medium and has been written steadily for seven years now. Go Moby!
01.22.07
Sometimes you win...
And sometimes you lose. The Patriots have done more than their share of winning the past five years, but last night was a tough loss. The Colts finally gave back what the Pats have given them several times in recent playoffs: heart-breaking, season- ending devastation.The game was about as good as it gets, and for Colts fans, it may have been the best ever. I can understand that; They came back from 18 points down, tied it at 21, went down, tied it again at 28, went down, tied it again at 31, went down, then went ahead 38-34 with one minute remaining in the game. Brady intercepted. Game Over.
It bothers me to think about it like this, but the only parallel I can draw is the the Red Sox mounting the monster comeback win over the Yankees in 2004 ALCS. Down three games to zero, The Sox gave it ALL back to the one team that had done it to them so many times. I know how good that felt, so I can take some consolation in knowing that someone out there had their sports life MADE last night. Congratulations. Enjoy it.
There's always next year.
And I will be back. Sports is a drug, and I have a major addiction to it. It is impossible for me to imagine my life without it. There are side-effects, such as short-term depression and warped time-priorities, but it can make you feel real good. Sports is a religion, and I believe in its power the way others believe in the holy scriptues. I see no difference between the Church and the NFL. Sports create community, which makes the individual larger than himself, and he becomes enraptured by the mass. When it works, it is pure LOVE. When it doesn't work, it hurts. It is a gamble, and when love turns to pain, it hurts even more. But when a community of people joins in love... it is a feeling that everyone on earth should share.
01.13.07
Good To Be Good
It's nice to be nice, it's good to be good, and the world would be better if we all could.
This song is for kids, but older kids can enjoy it, too.
Ming & Ping
Identical Twins with no musical background move from Hong Kong to San Francisco in 2003 and make some amazing 80's new-wave electro. I obviously have a penchant for the 80's because that was the stuff I was raised on, but this band stands on its own today. I have been listening to their last album".mp2" A LOT recently and will pick up their first one, "mingping.com" soon.
Music Today
This is a fertile time for music. The internet offers an unprecedented freedom for recordings. I hear music that I would never hear if radio or MTV still controlled our taste. It is an amazing SOCIAL network. That is what it's all about; linking people and cultural information. It creates knowledge.When I compare the number of different new bands I have heard in the past few years to the rest of my life, it is astounding.
Basically, in the beginning of my life I listened to Sesame Street records every night as I was going to sleep. I didn't need anything else. Then I began to realize there was more out there, so I got a Whitney Houston tape, followed by a lustful relationship with Paula Abdul, which is also when MTV became a part of my life. After going to a few sixth-grade dances which ALWAYS ended with "Stairway to Heaven", I decided to check out this Led Zeppelin thing and was completely blown away. Obviously.I came across the Red Hot Chili Peppers in seventh grade and was ecstatik when they put out Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Seattle gained mythical status when Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden exploded, but then MTV became something bigger than itself and I was permanantely turned off. Luckily, this happened to be right around the time Greg Wright gave me a Phish tape on the bus and started a quasi-religious devotion. Over the next 8 years I attended about 30 Phish shows with Bela Fleck, Dave Matthews and Allman Brothers concerts to supplement this addiction, as well as an introduction to jazz and bluegrass. In college, I made some very important discoveries. The first was Fela Kuti, who shifted my focus to that part of the world and was at least partially responsible for my need to visit West Africa. I also found Steve Reich, who made me understand music on a much deeper level. Tortoise, Radiohead, and Medeski Martin and Wood all became live staples in my life as Phish was waning. It was in my senior year at Middlebury when I discovered electronic music through raves in barns and on mountains and through Alaina, who had grown up in the heydey of New York raves. Up to this point my new music discoveries were slow, sometimes years apart. Then Napster was born. We could hear anything we ever wanted whenever, free: Aphex Twin, The Postal Service, Air, Hot Chip, The New Deal, Royksopp, Erlend Oye, Mylo, M.I.A., Junior Boys, Gnarls Barkley, The Streets, Ratatat, Death Cab For Cutie, Wilco, Sufjan Stevens, Antibalas, Brazilian Girls, Beirut, Ming & Ping, Supergood... Music is in a golden age right now. We are so lucky to have experienced the birth of the internet in our lifetimes!
Pete
My wonderful friend Pete Wohlsen was hit by a car last week and is recovering from his injuries at a hospital in Brooklyn. It was a hit and run, so nobody knows what happened, but he is very fortunate to be alive. Sometimes we need reminders like this to make us realize that it can all change in an instant. Please send your best thoughts in his direction for a quick recovery.
01.10.07
What George said...
Either Bush didn't read what I wrote yesterday or he didn't understand it... He still wants to send 20,000 more troops to Iraq. "I know it looks bad over there, but that's exactly why we need to escalate!" Great reasoning, George, but I can tell you right now they will see your challenge and raise you a disaster.
01.09.07
More Troops!
Sending 20,000 more troops to Iraq is a mistake. An arrogant and foolish act compounding a collossal error in judgement. Why are you escalating this aggression, George? Please show some compassion for Humanity and begin REDUCING U.S. troop levels. NOW.
I appreciate freedom. I acknowledge the fact that I am allowed to voice my dissent on this website, and I believe that freedom is the most important aspect of a functioning democracy, but using violent force to promote freedom is impossible. The two simply cannot co-exist.You will ony promote Iraqi freedom fighters bent on driving out their invaders. Who do you want to "win" this war? Ruthless American Imperialists? Guerilla Iraqi Nationalists? Hopefully neither, but in the end, both will probably claim victory. I am rooting hard for everybody's home team, Humanity.
What we need is an alien invasion! A foreign species that arrives on earth with intentions of subjugating every single one of us, regardless of citizenship. Maybe that would be the ultimate unifying action. Then we could finally see beyond ourselves and our random, divisive borders, to fight for the survival of Homo Sapiens. While I sincerely hope this scenario never occurs, if it came to pass, I would absolutely defend us to the death by any means necessary.
Here is a movie of people uniting to save humanity, shot just a few weeks before the invasion of Iraq. Please watch and consider the power of the people. Let's regain this energy and turn the tide...
01.08.07
Saddam is Hung!
Did you hear the news? Saddam is dead! Finally, we are safe. The man. We fought this war for one man and we killed him. Mission Accomplished.
But wait, that's not all! With this war we have also killed over 50 thousand human beings!
Did you say fifty thousand?
I sure did! And what would you expect to pay for this amazing package? Nothing? Negative money? No! This war is ours for the outrageous sum of over 356 billion dollars!
That's incredible!
SCENE
OK, enough bitter irony. Please excuse my snarling rage. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this war is BAD. I really wish Bush would read this blog and recognize his imbecilliness. And maybe listen to the music I wrote for him: Your War and End Your War. Please, George, for the LOVE OF GOOD!
In other news, I won two fantasy football leagues on Christmas day in miraculous fashion. In one league, I tied the two-time defending champion in the finals and beat him on a tie-breaker, and in the other one I beat my friend, a professional sports gambler, on a challenged 32-yard touchdown reception. It was the second best Christmas ever.
01.02.07
'007
2007: The Year of Bond. Alaina and I got the entire Bond DVD collection from my parents at Christmas and are working our way steadily through them. It is an amazing, unprecedented series of movies that have been made regularly over forty years.Could they possibly have had any cluewhen they made the first one, Dr. No, that at least 20 more would follow? Given the strength of the latest Bond, it seems these may be made forever.
The Supergood 2006 compilation is complete and downloadable for your aural pleasure. Please enjoy responsibly.