BLACK GOD

Just discovered this. It's Ryan from Coliseum, but more importantly, it's members of Black Cross.

Do you like hardcore punk rock? Why do you like it? I like it for three reasons- 1. the sheer power and energy 2. The formalism- Hardcore abides by strict rules, and it's interesting to me how creative people get within those strictures and structures. 3. The directness- within that hard, fast tightrope, there's no room for indulgences. Black God fully understands what I'm talking about. They even have explicit rules for what they do- no more than 2 minutes per song, and what not. They call it "Blitz Rock", and that's an excellent name for it- it's like The Bronx, but with the Minutemen's super tight sense of structure. It's definitely hardcore, but in the 1980's sense. It reminds me of those perfect hardcore bands, like Articles of Faith, Battalion of Saints, Poison Idea, MDC, 7 Seconds, Minor Threat, Conflict, and Bad Brains. And it's from Louisville. I think I need to move to Louisville...

Anyway, just absolutely awesome music, even if I'm too damn old to slam like I used to ( yes, that's "Slam" kiddos, not "mosh". Moshing is done by idiot heshers who want to be cool, slamming is what friendly punks with skinhead haircuts who surf and skate do, geddit?). I think I need to break something, stat....

Zia Records, Bookmans, Toxic Ranch & PDQ

If you're from Arizona, at least one of those names should be familiar. They're all interesting cases of hipster media stores.

Zia is now a sponsor for Coachella. So, they're doing OK. They sell used CDs, DVD's Games and books. Very much like a "Tower Records" kind of vibe, and defintely my least favorite. But, the business model is very much the traditional- sell the new stuff, and trade ins are like Used cars- inspected, and assigned value based upon condition and popularity.

Bookmans, likewise, seems to be doing well, as well. Very much a traditional used-Book store, with some vinyl, some toys, some games, and so forth. My favorite is the Used magazines- a good way of getting your pop-media fix cheaper. The key for them, though is sheer volume. Each of their stores are freakin' HUUGE. Also, they're very keyed-in to environmental concerns, which is a selling point for me. My favorite of their stores is the Bookmans at Grant in Tucson, where they have had electric car chargers since the 1980's.

Toxic Ranch/ Westworld is more a tale of survival. Bill originally had the store in pomona, California, where I first encountered what was called "Toxic Shock" back in the early 1980's. Then, Bill moved to Tucson, after forming a mail order, and a record label. I moved to Tucson very shortly thereafter, so I feel like he and the store are familiar to me. But, it's much more the boutique model, and I think they'd have gone under if not for online sales. They're still trying to make it on Niche markets, as opposed to what's locally popular, and that's a hard road to toe. I respect the effort more than I actually shop there.

Then, there's PDQ, in Tucson. They didn't survive. They were a great example of failing to adapt to the times. They were a massive mostly-vinyl Used and new record store very, very much in the traditional indie spirit- very 'High Fidelity", if you will. But, you see, they missed the basic lesson of running a business- adapt to your clientele, or die. You cannot make them come to you.

When talk about Indie stores, these are the default models in my mind. In the romantic part of my mind, I think of the PDQ style. If I think about the early 1990's style, I think of Zia. If we're talking what I think the model should be, we're talking about Bookmans, and if we're talking about what most people are trying to do, I think we're talking Toxic Ranch. Different models, sure, and I bet there are individual variants wherever you are, but I bet the models aren't so very different.

Re-iteration

So, in the past week or so, I was in Phoenix, Arizona. It's really not lovely- I far prefer Northern Arizona, these days, and have preferred Tucson, Arizona, but I was there for Family, so you have to go where Family is. But, that meant a trip to Zia's. Zia's is the last real holdout in this country that I am able to pinpoint. Sure, there are standalone record stores, like Amoeba, and so forth, but Zia's is the last independent chain of New/used CD store with the snooty clerks, and the dope-smokin' paraphernalia, tasteless posters, outdated cash registers and the rest of the jive you might remember from the late 1980's, early 1990's, So, did I get anything new? No! I got scads of stuff I already own, or have owned. So, just to re-iterate on some:

I got Quicksand-Slip. There was a time in the early 1990's when "emo" wasn't always a dirty word, and when Hardcore was dividing like cells in an embryo. Still one of my favorite times for music, if not my favorite. Sure, you had "alternative", and "Grunge", but in my mutant mental landscape, such things are but cells, in this new creation coming out of Punk/underground rock. From about 1985 to 1995 you had everything from Country/roots divisions to electronic/industrial divisions. In 1993, at the tail end of that fertile period, a former Gorilla Biscuit masterminded what I consider to be the Platonic ideal for this particular outcropping- the Emo/posthardcore division. Yes, that means I think Quicksand's "Slip" is better than Fugazi, Jawbox, and so on- Now, I think that Jawbox was a better band, overall, and had a few songs that eclipse everyone else, and Fugazi were definitely the spearhead of the genre, but song-for-song, sound-by-sound, note-by-note, I think this one is perfect. From the opening of "Fazer" to the last note of "Transparent" it's one of the few records I have that captures a moment, a feeling, a scene completely. And if you don't dig "Dine alone' I sincerely doubt that you'll dig any of this branch of my tastes. It's like the Cro mags playing a reggae version of a Jane's Addiction song- what could be better? One final note, though- listen carefully to the bass and guitar tone- I know of no one else who managed such a cutting, powerful midrange sound. If you really listen, it makes Heavy Metal sound toothless and mushy.

I also got dEUS- In a Bar, Under the Sea, from just a few years later. For some, it's their favorite period for dEUS. Me, I'm more into the MkII version of the later 2000's, but I don't hate this. It's very loose, funky Alt-rock, like a more Captain Beefheart version of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. But, even at that point, my favorite stuff was the Tom Barman pop songs. Overall, it's kinda like how I feel about the Flaming Lips. The early first version is good, and definitely hits the spot for the time and place, but the revamp is timeless, and spotless, and beautiful.

Then , I got Kasabian's 'Kasabian'. I'd never heard it before. I came in with the West Ryder LP, so, at the time this came out, I thought they were just a bunch of sub-Oasis yobbos. Wrong! This is clean, powerful Electro-charged british rock, of the danceable variety. Now, it's not anywhere near the Awesome-sauce that is Velocipraptor, but still, for that British dance rock thing, it's a nice continuation from the Madchester thing, from the late 1980's- a bit more Jesus Jones/PWEI than Stone Roses/Charlatans, but still of that same musical space. If you don't think I'm a massive fan of that sound, you need to google the title of this blog, and check out what you get.

Then, I also got British Sea Power's "Open Season". They've never been one of my favorites. They're ok, and I like to hear some of their tracks whilst driving long distances. They're like a very pop-influenced version of Shoegazing music. Again, it's good, but not great. I doubt if it'll offend your ear, but won't change your life, either. Ultimately, I think it's music for sad girls from small towns, waiting to go to university.

Newer still, but in a way, older- I got Kele's (Bloc party) solo record -The Boxer. I think I'm with Kele on the divide between he and his old(?) band. Yup, hard Electronics over increasingly nostalgic New Wave guitar rock. But, isn't that better "retro" if you remember the 80's?

Finally, I got my 4th copy of Wild Flag's LP. Yes, 4th copy. I bought one that I , unfortunately, thrashed. I got another on Mp3, that I still have. I gave away another copy to a friend, so now, I've got my 4th copy. Yes, it's that good. I'm happily married. However, I would be in love with Carrie Brownstein, if I could be. She plays a mean guitar, in her own style, she sings like Joey Ramone meets Sue Tissue, she's smart, she's funny, and she's stylish. In other words, it's probably for the best that I'm happily married, and that she's bisexual, and involved, because she's way too good for me, and I'd probably end up being some kind of creepy stalker guy. Anyway, my wife really is smart, funny, stylish and happy with me, to boot, so I win, but still, yup, Carrie's one of my ideal women. That aside, this is still the hottest album of party rock I've heard in awhile. If you don't have it, yet, seriously- go and get it, now.

Harry Crews

So, I just found out today that the old guy is dead. While too bad for us, I guess he'd suffered enough. If you don't know who Harry Crews is, read one of his books, and get back to me. I thought he was one of America's finest authors, and the world would be a better place if they taught kids to read his stuff as a requisite to graduate....

Ceremony- Zoo

You know how metal got split up into 4.8 billion micro-sub-genres? To the point that none of it was trackable, nor informative? Same thing happened to Punk rock, 10 years earlier. It became This-core, and that-core. And it lasted longer- much, much longer. It's as good a reason as any for why I'm one of the very few adult males I know still obsessed with Punk Rock. I will give all these microgenres a shot, and I'll try to report back what I can, knowing full well that most of it will be crap.

Lately, however, in the past 3 years, I've been seeing the Punk Rock diaspora starting to congeal back into something recognizable, and now, there's a record that I think truly is with the best Punk Rock going, right now- yes, Ceremony, the former Powerviolence merchants have got something to compete with Coliseum and Off! I got "Zoo" and, as with all good Punk Rock, fell immediately in love. There are garage rock and shoegaze traces, along with the odd postpunk angularity, or metal flourishes, but the main thrust is that shot of adrenachrome right to the spine that is Punk. You know that almost prickly feeling of joyous overexcitement when the best song cranks up at the show, and you're about to dive into the Pit, screaming something unintelligible? Well, maybe that's just me... But, you're far more likely to have that experience listening to this record than you will listening to the Black Keys, even if you like the Black Keys. I don't like the Black Keys, except that Pat the drummer looks like the son I don't have- I've got a son, but he was from a prior marriage, and thus looks a bit like my ex wife. Pat looks like what would result from my real wife and I having a kid, so I gotta give the guy a little bit of love, but the music is unexciting boogie rock, like Black Oak Arkansas for guys in skinny jeans, and bad beards. Ceremony, on the other hand, like Coliseum, make burly, angry stomps that are infectious as teenage angst, and lasting as childhood trauma. The songs are bitter misanthropic tirades set to shout-along chorus monsters. Like weapons, there's something simultaneously attractive and repellent about them. As a bonus, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fashion parade- There's no mohawks, tartan bumflaps or attempts to be hip. This is exactly the kind of thing that drew me into Punk Rock long enough to get called a poseur. Get this record, and make it hip, and tell me if the world ain't a better place because of it.

Visual Arts

I don't talk a whole lot about Visual Arts on here, which would surprise my 21 year old self. Believe it or not, I used to be really well-versed in what was hip and current in the visual arts. I'm not so well versed these days. Oh, sure, I am aware enough that I know where the galleries are, but really, I'm not there anyway. Also, I'm not all that thrilled with what little I see. The last time I was excited by a new visual Artist would be back in the 1990's when you had the Lowbrow stuff, Tiki Art and Neo Rauch, and the New Leipzig school. Yeah, I bet you care....

But all that doesn't mean that I hold the visual arts as unimportant. I'm sure it's just ignorance on my part. So, I want to learn. I wonder if there's a good online class or something? Anybody got a Clue? Because I'm out of the loop on this one....

I'm not going

I'm not going to SxSW, this year. But, if I was to brave that massive tumour they call a new music festival, I think these would be the bands I'd see:

http://www.therapyquestionmark.co.uk/

http://screamingfemales.com/

http://www.facebook.com/ringodeathstarr

http://www.gobacktothezoo.nl/

http://www.capsula.org/

http://teamme.no/

http://www.somethingfiercemusic.com/

http://www.just-a-band.com/

http://www.mariannedissard.com/

I'm not saying they're all great- just interesting to me.

Discipline and Sociology

So, in a recent post, I was talking about how song craft is important. No less a figure than Wino would agree, at least in principle.

The first thing would be to describe what Songcraft is. Bottom line, it's about the discipline of finding a meter, and seeing it through. On the one hand, that can be very simple- iambic pentameter, 4 line verses, 2 line chorus, and you're done. In Rock and Roll, it's usually based around the 12 bar system of the blues- Tonic, subdominant, and dominant, and 4 bars to a line.

Music doesn't have to be quite that limited, and a song can be extremely well-structured on the basis of the 32 bar rhythm changes of 4 eight measure sections. But the point is that the meter makes the song. Ignore meter- and I know lots of 1970's era Prog bands that do ignore meter, and the song craft dies, in favor of the "jam". Well, to borrow a phrase from the mighty MC5- Kick out the jams, brothers and sisters ( Nope, I don't swear gratuitously- here's why- I want the content of what I'm saying make the impression, not the format)

See, what most listeners crave in music is some form of harmony. Sure, technically, that means vertical harmony, while what I'm describing in meter is closer to the melodic line, or horizontal - but, even Frank Zappa reached for a kind of harmonic tension in his compositions- in the meter.

So, when we talk about music the extensively uses dissonance- the "harmony" can be in the metrical use of dissonance-

Putting this in terms that everyone is sure to understand- no matter what you do in a song, make sure it sounds like you meant to do that, so that the listener, whether they perceive the individual bits and pieces as working together or not, understands that there is a plan- that, to me, is the essence of songcraft.

I think this is why people are willing to accept "music" with no melody- such as is found in some rap/hip hop and Industrial music, or where the melody is submerged to the beat, like in Grind, and Deathmetal, or where the harmonies are so odd that nothing sounds 'in tune' to western ears, like Math rock or free jazz.

Now, this is one of my underlying aesthetics. I can certainly understand, intellectually, how some folks just love the 400 bar free form "jam" that some bands indulge- "Dude, the drummer did a 20 minute solo, followed up by the bass player and flute player jamming for another 10 minutes! It was AWESOME!" but that has zero emotional resonance with me. This is why I hate 99% of guitar solos in hard rock and metal- in order for some dude to show off his ability to pull off 18 varieties of hammer ons, and achieve 164th notes, the whole structure of the song has to stop for "THE SOLO". Emphasize that crap too much, and it's like listening to somebody's workout routine- maybe that's entertaining for you, but I'd rather gouge out my ears.

Now, both require a kind of discipline- and I can always respect discipline, but ( and this is another part of my ever-evolving aesthetics) for me, I prefer the disciplines that aren't about inflating one's personal ego, and are more about serving some purpose outside of the self. Think about it- do you prefer someone who is single-minded in their pursuit of getting accolades, or do you prefer someone who wants to make something that other people will enjoy, even if that means that they will get less personal thanks? Either way can be validated, but i know where i stand.

I think most of us feel like I do, and I can prove it simply- I've got two blogs on blogger. This one which is a lot more focused on other people, and one that's purely self-indulgent,and probably more intelligent and sophisticated- people choose to read this one at about 500 to 15 ratios. There you go.

Ultimately though, the only aesthetics that matter are yours. If you can find stuff on this blog that serve your needs, fantastic! I'm not about to change it too much, but that's kinda the point of this whole thing- rather than mass culture- where we look for some kind of personal meaning in impersonal Art, my goal is to find those points where my personal tastes intersect with the public. Geddit?

See what I saw part 2

Torche: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuNNh_Ast7g

Yeah, I was nowhere near the font for this one- way, way too loud. But still not a bad representation.

So, New to me

I'm not just a nostalgia act, I swear!

I'm also listening to some stuff that's new for me. Four bands- Thelema, Nonagon ,Tennis Bafra and Kathy's Clowns.

Thelema is neither original in their name, nor musical intent- but they execute quite nicely. I got Thelema! from Bandcamp, and that's about all I know about them biographically. I thought they were either the Italian goth band, or the Russian metal band, but evidently they're a stoner band from Argentina. Yes, I called them "Stoner' but it's not really true. This stuff is grunge from the metallic end of the spectrum- a lot of Alice in Chains, with some early Soundgarden, and more than a dash of Candlebox. But, on the fast tracks, like my favorite "Dystopia", they have enough swing and propulsion that I'll group 'em in with the harsher Stoner stuff. Good, not fantastic.

I've mentioned before when I've gotten something because it was a promo. It's that time, again. Nonagon sent me a promo email, and I downloaded their People Live Everywhere promo ep. I suspect it's because I'm a big fan of the United Sons of Toil, because I can hear some carryover. But, Nonagon sound a bit more traditional than USOT. Oh, this is still some dissonant skronky stuff, but I'm hearing more traditional structure to the songs, less math. Still, Rusty ( and I really cannot imagine that you haven't), if you haven't heard them, I think you'd like them. Still what does all this insider trading type talk have to do with why I'm writing about them? Here's what, this is another very rare example of a promo item I really like. They've got some heft and swing to the songs, and no matter how non-traditional the chord progression, time signature, or tuning, ultimately, I, as a listener want something that moves me both emotionally as well as mentally. So, much like USOT, I can tell they know what they're doing, and the craft shows. See, back in the day, Punk Rock said 'Anyone can do it", and ever since people have mistaken that for an invitation to disregard songcraft, which isn't what Punk Rock seemed to be about, if you ask me. Punk Rock was pretty much the opposite- it was saying "look, there are methods and ways of creating culture, and none of it is magic, or arcane formula- anyone can learn how to make a song, or design a shirt, or entertain their friends- follow the craft, and you can do it, too". So I'd much prefer to hear a band like Jawbox, Unwound, USOT, Jesus Lizard, or Nonagon who have a solid understanding of the craft behind making music, and then, want to play with the formula than hear some band who never understood the craft, to begin with- though, that can be fun, in limited doses ( See Germs, Flipper, "Fun House" Stooges, etc)- because that's the best chance of actually communicating through music. See, to me, the band should be something more than emphasis for the singer. I think that the music, itself, should communicate thoughts and feelings. That's next to impossible, if the players don't know what they're doing. I have to break it to any moody, artistic teenaged romantics out there- if you want me to see your heartbreaking genius, you're going to have to know how to display it properly. Anyway, so this is meticulously well crafted post-punk with a mathy approach. Yes, that's a good thing. The songs go zoom, thud, strum and smack in a most satisfying way, and the overall sense of angst, and wry humour with just a bit of nervous anxiety is a great formula.

Then, there's Tennis Bafra. Slackers! Seriously, they've been at it how long, and they're now releasing this? I've heard elsewhere that they sound like a more-organized Sonic Youth. I can hear a lot of Sonic Youth, and yes, there's more pop-song structure than Sonic Youth are wont to display, but these guys are just slackers. The songs, even when uptempo on Abulia Jubilee, seem to meander, and they seem to be coasting along on the tunes. I think that's why people hear Pavement and Sonic Youth, and so on, but the difference is this- Sonic Youth was pursuing a pose- these were well-educated Art school dropouts who were doing Rock as a kind of performance art, while Pavement were Ivy League dropouts who were defiantly rejecting the type A lifestyles that they were told to expect. Tennis Bafra seem like Skaters who get off on noise. And you know what? I get off on noise, too. Call this one a guilty pleasure. I dig it, because they do the kind of tough jams that Sonic Youth grew too tired to do, but I have no pretense that it's great Art. It's more or less a tribute to 1990, but I'm good with that, just as entertainment.

Kathy's Clowns win instant points with me for copping their name from You Am I. yes, it's possible they copped the name from elsewhere, but they are related, in some fashion, to the Blue Chairs, who really love the Church, which makes me think they're more familiar with Australian music than the Everly Brothers, or tropical fish. This is another band that I've got next to no biography on- I just saw the name, and the profile on Jamendo, and was impressed by the sound. Some clues seem to indicate they may prior have been known as the Tales, but I can't tell 100%. What I can tell you is they do some great classic power pop- some vocal resemblance to The Cranberries, but mostly is sounds more 1980's- Bangles, Pandoras- that sort of retro mod fascinated stuff.