The Boob Tube

Ye gads, but it's been bad for cult TV shows and me, this fall.
First, Joss Whedon, who was behind the greatness that was Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog nailed the final nail in his coffin with Dollhouse. Quite possibly one of the worst shows on TV, ever, in my estimation.
Now, they've managed to savage The Prisoner. This was, folks, the pinnacle of television, for me. If you watch all 16+ episodes of the original series, you'll end up with some of the same outlooks on life that I have. Seriously, it was more than "change your life" Art, it was foundational philosophy.
On paper, this remake had several of the trappings of a good remake- some great actors, beautiful sets, a great soundtrack. But, the writing, the directing, and yes, the acting destroyed any greatness that could have been. As it stands, this thing was unwatchable. Yes, pure drek. Avoid it, if you value your time.

The Bomb- Speed is Everything

I like Punk rock. Having said that, I know that Punk Rock involves some artificial limitations that turn a lot of musicians off. Ideally, the Punk ethos is that "Anybody could do it". That's actually a pretty tough row to hew if you think about it. It's like writing haiku- of all the sounds available, you have to cling to only these few.
But, also like Haiku, if you maintain the discipline, you are rewarded with a kind of Freedom- in that you can explore vast worlds of music.
That universe of music is large enough that I can honestly say that I detest some stuff that fits under the rubric of "punk rock' more than I dislike whole other genres, while still really enjoying "punk rock". If you can understand that, you can start to see the kind of scope I'm talking about.
So, Jeff Pezzati specializes in Punk, which should then tell you zero about the music he makes, right?
What I mean is that he explores whole continents of melody, while sticking with a 4/4 verse-chorus limited pop song format. He's by and large unschooled, and relies upon his guitarists for arrangements. So, his once and future band, Naked Raygun really owes a lot of the sound to John Haggerty's minimalism. The Bomb, the band at hand, right now, seems more collaborative. There is a lot more focus on vocal harmony. Not quite like the Undertones, but still, Jeff is singing much more than his chanting in Naked Raygun. Still the guitars are co-stars, here. Jeff Dean has a lot of force to exert, and deploys his riffs in bursts like he's hoarding secrets. He can be as minimal as John Haggerty ( I think "The Rescue" might have less than 3 chords) But he employs strategies worthy of Robert Fripp- using chromatic dissonance to create tension in "Haver", using minor-to-major modalities in "Not Christmas Night" to slow down the melody- almost to a hover while keeping the tempo at appropriate Punk rock breakneck speed. So, yes, it's pretty, and has a lot of energy, but this is a far cry from "stupid". There's even a canny re-imagining of a Flock of Seagulls' "Space age Love Song" as a postpunk shimmer.
This stuff also points out the strength Punk Rock has, which almost always gets ignored. For sheer ferocity, heavy metal beats Punk rock. There are dozens of Hardcore, electronic, and even new music composers who can summon up more of an unfocused threat than punk rock ever has. No, the strength that Punk rock has is in re-shaping aggression, and passion into structured Pop music. Anybody can scream, but Art is made by conveying a scream without screaming. That's what The Bomb has done.
A special mention should be made of the production- J. Robbins had a big hand in shaping this sound, and as he always does, his touch on this is perfect- I defy you to find more ear pleasing production than he works up!
So, if you want to hear what the platonic ideal for Punk Rock is, in 2009, Speed is Everything!

Instrumental

Music isn't quite as categorical as it might seem. I mean, to hear music critics, you'd think there are walls between genres- and when someone dares to leap one of those walls, they achieve "crossover", like they went behind enemy territory. Really, such considerations are only for marketers, advertisers and the people duped by them. Not you, right?
So, when I say there are bands out there at the nexus point of "indie rock" and "metal"- somewhere between "Stoner Rock" and "shoegaze" and making music that resembles both Sonic Youth, and Mountain, you're not surprised at all, are you? It makes perfect sense, because all these labels make no sense to music fans, anyway.
Well, ever since bands like Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath got tagged "Heavy Metal" there has been loud trippy bands with extended jams that weren't really trying to cop jazz, or bluegrass licks, like the so-called "jam bands" do when they improvise. So, the newer instrumental, or semi-instrumental "Metal" bands that have sprung up in Neurosis' and Isis's, and Godflesh's wake might be inspired by newer music, I hear more echoes of the very early 70's in them, which might be a turn off to some folks, because they associate it with lazy, uninspired riffing. Me? I think about Can, Neu!, and their Krautrock peers. Simultaneously, I think about some of the most artistic loud bands of the past 10 years, like Queens of the Stone Age, and Deftones.
Well, here are two of the newest, so you can decide for yourself-
The first, from Chicago, Ill, USA is Pelican with their new record- What we all come to need.
Now, they are not a new band, and have practically pioneered a kind of sound, in the past- equal parts Slint and Neurosis, but with this new record they're headed into new territory- this is like what Mogwai would sound like if they gave up their pretensions of being "post Rock"- meaning it's intriguingly complex music built around a foundation of very hard rock. You know the long jams in an Isis song? Yeah, take that, speed it up, add a drummer with an exceptionally light tough for metal, and guitar interplay up there with Television, and subtract most of the vocals, and you end up with this cinematic sound- imagine Mad Max, or playing Fallout 3 with this sound track, and you'll get the idea- it's sweeping post-apocalyptic intense rock- both pretty and brutal.
The second is a northern European juggernaut- partially from Berlin, mostly from Arhus, Denmark- The Manipulated Living, with their newly-remastered demo "Prelude to Oblivian". Unlike Pelican, who specialize in a kind of twangy pounding- like a an Ennio Morricone sound track made by Ogres, the Manipulated living make a sound that's a kind of molten shimmer- like the heat distortion from a desert road in summer. In other words, there are echoes of different more gauzy types of hard rock- like the more pastoral elements of the Deftones, and the echoing drone in "Home" by Jane's Addiction. The result is less Cinematic, less airy than Pelican, and more oceanic, more trance-state. The song length in either case is Epic- figure about 8 minutes per song with Pelican, and about 10 minutes per song with The Manipulated Living- but that epic length is not an excuse- this isn't Pop music with a bridge section, like the Grateful Dead! Especially in the case of the Manipulated Living- the whole is meant to be taken in at once- like getting on a surfboard- you don't experience the ocean in parts, you feel the whole thing, then learn to isolate bits from it. This isn't the greasy kid stuff of some screamo band lost to their own inflated sense of self-worth- this bears more in common with composers like Glenn Branca and John Cage- a new way to experience the familiar. A swooning new visualization of loud music.

Tona

Full Disclosure: this band features George Almosthole who is a friend. Don’t let that sway you.
Whenever I see a band described as “post-rock” I scratch my head a bit. Any genre broad enough to cover both Yes and GG Allin would seem to contain enough multitudes that it wouldn’t need a postscript. Either it’s rock, or it’s not, and if it’s not rock, it could bear some relation.
But Tona aren’t post rock. No, they understand that they are fully in the rock. Never mind that they might employ an eastern modality here, a country lick there, and a grab bag of influences, this still is self-consciously Rock music. There’s no fashionable poses of being in with this marketing genre or that. Certainly, a nod to the so-called “Stoner Rock”, but isn’t that stuff basic rock music, anyway? No, this is asynchronous rock- it’s outside of time. You’ll hear a snippet of Motorhead, a flash of Black Flag, a moment of latter-day Clutch, a moment of Kyuss, a few seconds of the Melvins, and some Thin White Rope. The vocals, while sung, and not growled are full throated and masculine- think Germanic military chants, like Laibach, but not as an affected gesture; that’s just George’s voice. Boris and Filip have a pretty broad range to choose from, sonically- from delicate neo-jazz phrases to full-bore overdriven skronk. Yes, lots of distortion, but more of a late 70’s tube-driven creaminess than a late ‘80’s scooped out shine, or a 90’s thud- even less the contemporary twinkle and crunch- Boris and Filip would blow minds in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, because they play with a much more broad musical understanding, but their tone would not be out of place on a latter-day Thin Lizzy record (and what’s a higher standard than that?)Vladimir and Roger- the rhythm machine- quite frankly they’re locked in so tight that it invites comparison to something artificial, but the tone used keeps it completely organic- lots of splash cymbals and walking bass lines, so it can help but have a kinda woodsy edge. Still, musically, this is rock- don’t expect Belle and Sebastian!
Yes, they are Serbian, and yes, I think that plays into this. They’re not political, but there is the kind of urgency, and determination you just don’t hear in more western countries. Take it this way- when some Anarchopunk band from Orange County screams about war, pain, and death, there is an understood comfort underneath it- they can always go off to college and become lawyers, and when some Satanic Death Grind metal band from Norway screeches about wanting to burn churches, you know full well they have one of the best social nets in the world underneath them. A band from Serbia, from Uzbekistan, from Burma? Even if they come from the upper class, there’s something underlining whatever the band does- if this falls through, there aren’t necessarily the resources to go for plan “B”. Shouldn’t we all have a little of that?

Shotgun Shogun

Punk Frickin' Rock!
Ok, ok- more detail- This is a punk band that calls itself "Shotgun Shogun", and they're from the wilds of Laramie, Wyoming. I'm sure their influences are varied, and modern but they remind me a lot of some older bands. There's a lot of the nasal not-quite harmonies of Arcwelder, and the guitars incorporate just enough jamming and Country to remind me of a very, very punked out Thin White Rope. Nowhere near as talented as TWR, mind you, but edging in some similar directions. But, the bottom line for this or any Punk Rock is that it's catchy, fun, and obnoxious. What more do you want, really?

There is no B

I was raised on B movies. My aunt Vi loved the Drive In movies of people like Roger Corman, and, being a child, I didn’t understand that they were cheaply made, or substandard in any way. They were just what movies are. Though I have much more understanding, now, of how movies are made, I still do my best to retain that childlike, naïve way of seeing any given film.
Which, of course, puts me at odds with the majority of the film-going public in America. The less glitz, the less budget, the less likely a film is to be seen on its own merits, and the more likely that reviews will center on the “gimmick” of having a lower budget. This has reached the point of Irony in the films of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez ( Although they have shown love for B's as well).
But, I still do my best to view each film on its own merits. I ignore not-so-special effects, and I wade through some wooden and non-professional acting. The points are how good the story is, and how well it is told.
Take some of the films of John Carpenter, as a prime example. Escape from New York has a gripping story, with some great social commentary. They Live is still probably the best satire of consumer culture made. Prince of Darkness turns witch and Deviltry stories on their head by having the “devil” operate on a foundation of theoretical physics, and has references to the Gnostic heresy! But, taken by the mainstream standard- Escape from New York is a thin chase movie, Mad Max with the roles reversed, They Live is a low budget Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Prince of Darkness is a nearly “Made for TV” rip off of the Exorcist.
Now, this isn’t my political blog, and I’m not trying to read too deeply here, but I truly believe that the problem is the love of money. I believe that Capitalism ruins our appreciation of Art. Because if you take away the cash yardstick, I think it’s impossible to view movies like the ones John Carpenter made, filled with a love for the craft, and dedication to the story as inferior in any way to the bigger budget films.
Still not with me? What about the love George Romero puts into his films? Yes, we’re talking about the Zombie king of Pittsburgh (incidentally- another function of money- ever notice how many of the “good guys” come from the Rust belt? Guys like Corman from Detroit, Romero from Pittsburgh, and Carpenter from both New York and Kentucky- that’s not just coincidence. Ask John Sayles-From Schenectady, New York) His lowest budget “Living Dead” films inspired a whole genre of film, and a cultural phenomena. I’d call that a huge Artistic success, and the core of that comes from Romero’s fierce love for his anti-capitalist story (and can you really doubt that his stories all come from a place where the Zombies are the heroes because they represent the working man, while the villains are the leaders of industry, and the upper echelons of society?) Romero literally puts himself into his movies, and loves his story so much that he’ll retell it from any new angle he can, unlike big-budget Hollywood types who cannot wait to get to the next project.
So, when I say that I still love B movies, it’s not an Ironic thing. I’m not putting some kind of artistic distance between myself and the stories. I honestly believe I’m watching the best movies, period. Maybe I’m skewed from childhood, but, if so, so be it. I really do believe that I like the finest things- not only do I watch the best movies, and listen to the best music, and read the best books, and dress in the best clothes- tied in with that is that I believe I have the best friends, I have the best wife, the best son, and so on. So called “B” movies have taught me that it’s not about some objective standard involving yardsticks like dollars spent; the only yardstick is how much you love it- the most subjective standard there is- but also the only real measure of Art, life, and everything in between.

As winter approaches you may need a Sunshine Factory

The Sunshine Factory is mostly one guy; Ian Taylor. His Dad helps him, as do other musicians, but it's mostly a one man affair.
Like sElf, another one man affair, there are limitations. Sometimes some editing would have been useful, and other times the music isn't as fleshed out as it could be, but by and large this is good, pleasant music. There are strong psychedelic influences, mostly from Kevin Shields/My Bloody Valentine, the Chemical Brothers and a couple of songs sound like vintage Prince. Yes, it's Swirlie, but there's a good backbeat on some tracks. A little mysticism in the lyrics, but most of it is very romantic love letters. I don't know how well this would translate live, but for an indian Summer day in the middle of October, it's like a piece of key lime pie: a little tartness, a whole lot of sweetness, with a lovely texture of froth and cream. Now doesn't that sound lovely?