I live near enough to DC that I gotta comment.

Bad Brains and The Evens both have new ones, and well, I have copies of both. I don't want to be negative, so I'll just say that I was a big fan of Bad Brains, especially the "I against I" LP, but I'm not a fan of everything they do. While the Punky reggae they do is appreciated, this LP "Into the Future" lacks the crazed urgency that made them special. Perhaps it's time to put Bad Brains to bed.
The Evens on the other hand are decent, and actually pretty good when they concentrate on Amy Farina. I actually probably should like them a lot more than I do But, there it is. I don't entirely like them. Part of it is personality- Mr Mackaye and I have had dealings, very far in the past, and I don't like him all that much. Don't get me wrong- we all have off days, and we all change over the years, but I still don't care for the guy, as a person. There's some class issues, and other high minded stuff involved in that, but mainly, it's just a personality clash. But, musically, I also feel like I've heard the Evens before, and done better. When they rock out, they're in Sleater Kinney 's shadow, they're in a debt to K records ( in general) and when they try to be gentle, they're behind Unrest and Velocity Girl. My problem is that I'm already disqualifying myself for analysis because of the aforementioned personality issues. However, I hope I've generated enough goodwill through my candor that you'll understand that I think there's more worthy material out there by other bands in  this area, even, than The Evens. For example, J Robbins can do no wrong- whether it's Jawbox, Burning Airlines, Channels or the Office of Future Plans, he's got you're post punk with a DC twist covered. Likewise, for carrying on the K records spirit but in a modern way,  Wild Flag, Screaming Females, and a bit of a stretch, but The Dismemberment Plan... Again, I'm not saying that The Evens suck, and I'm not saying I hate the record, just that it doesn't get as much play from me because there are so many other things I prefer. That's about as much as I can say for the two big recent "local" releases.
Now, I'd like to get in a quick whine- Quicksand have reformed and will play this area, but dammit, they're playing at the fracking Black Cat. I really don't like that venue. I mean really don't like. The neighbourhood is beyond the usual uncertainty that rock clubs occupy- it's flat out bad. Parking sucks, and it's hard to get there from here, as well. While it's not as awkward and bad-sounding as the Ottobar, it is still awkward and bad sounding- so, my whine is this- why Walter why? Couldn't you book with the 930 club, or The Fillmore, or hell, Jaxx, or even the aforementioned Ottobar? I'm seriously having doubts about going to see Quicksand because I hate the venue so much. On a Tuesday night, no less? Arrrgh. Well, at least it's sold out, so my ticket might go to a good home....

See what I saw- Torche edition.

Well, this time, I'm pretty obviously there. Here's a clip I found on Youtube, I'm on the left foot of the stage, thick specs and all. I was distracted by trying to preserve my beer and 10" record, but yeah, it was good.

War, Inc

So, nearly everyone hated this 2008 film, and I can see why. It's political and cultural satire for our ritalin obsessed  undereducated overstimulated  Cartoon Network-based Viacom simulated "lives". It's also partially written by Mark Leyner and Jeremy Pikser. Leyner is an author who specializes in overkill, and Pikser wrote Bulworth, the very definition of ham-fisted satire, even if it was correct.  See, it's easy to make it sound like I hate it, but I think that's by design. There's something very subtle underneath the bright neon satire. I actually liked Bulworth in that it showed a basic truth, despite itself- that we are ruled by deeply vain people- Warren Beatty or Bill Clinton, you're talking about a guy who's convinced he's friggin Awesome. Likewise, in the little asides, and in the wink-wink nudge nudge acting, there's an awareness that everyone in this film is part of the same machine they're satirizing. I think that comes from Mark Leyner, who targets his overkill, 9 times out of 10, at himself, but John Cusack also is a pretty self-aware movie star, so there's that angle. There's also a streak of nihilism you can read into it, and I think many critics did- it seems to offer no solution,only retreat. However, there's another premise that might account for how little praise the film got- this isn't a "democratic left" film. It's not "republican right", either. It offers up a far darker, but far more insightful view- so long as money is involved, we can't trust ANY of them. The baseline here is that we cannot trust storytellers, including supposedly "honest" ones- Anderson Cooper , amoungst others, is lambasted as being a part of the problem, as is Dick Cheney, as is just about everyone. There's a scene that's nearly a stock scene in a war movie, but the part that reveals what the satire is, I find truly telling: our protagonist is looking for a secret hideout, so he tries to bribe the information out of a little kid, who milks him for more money. Stock scene, and deeply cynical, right? Well, as our hero leaves with the girl he's trying to save, he finds the kid has torched his ride and the kid says "next time you should bring candy". The satire isn't about the convention in a movie of bribing the local- the audience is being satirized for expecting that some third world nation child would want American dollars. The film is saying that we have a pretty screwed up view of the world, and doesn't give us the "out" that we're only as smart as our cultural overlords allow us to be- We're smart enough to know that we're watching a movie , and smart enough to know a cliche, it's not about our intelligence, but rather about our lack of compassion, and our racism- so going back to why the Nihilism- it's because these characters, as people, not as characters in a movie- where would they go? What would they do? Under the best of circumstances, they're screwed up, badly. The only happiness they can know is to hide. It's therefore not espousing that we all retreat- it's espousing that we treat people as people, not characters, brands, or logos. I bet Naomi Klein didn't like the movie, but I can see how the makers of the movie felt they were being true to her message in "Shock Doctrine". Just like that book, the only real answer is to re-set our world view, not to follow this program or that, and I don't think many people are ready for that. I've got proof that I'm right in my reading of the film, and proof that I'm right that people didn't "get" it. That's a bit besides the point, however, in that I bring up the whole mess because it dovetails with my theme of the moment that rather than trusting reviews or trusting artists, we should trust our own experience of Art. Again, the solution I'm proposing against "mass culture" is individual, idiosyncratic culture. Even if no one else will understand. Re-watching this film reminds me that it can be a political solution, as well....

Scott Walker Bish Bosch

I find it's best to never fully believe an Artist. They'll tell you the truth, but it'll be "their truth"- it will be heavily subjective, and from a perspective that isn't yours. Such is definitely the case with Scott Walker, and if you follow me, it'll strip away most of the enigma from him, so, only read this if you want the mystery gone.
See, he started out as a crooner- more aligned with Perry Como, Neil Sedaka, Burt Bacharach and so on than the Teen pop he was identified as being. Then, he took the crooner style to an anti-confessional style just as confessional singer-songwriters got popular. Along the way, he got a knack for delivering lyrics that were astute "slice of life" kitchen dramas of the the minute moments of pathos in every day British life. Then, goes the myth that created the mystery, he retreated and became surreal. I don't think that's it at all- instead, I think he wanted to get even more concrete- he abandoned narrative, he abandoned pop song structure, and pursued a more and more accurate depiction of what "real life" as he saw it, occurred. Our thoughts don't follow a narrative, so why should his lyrics? Likewise, our lives don't have a pop soundtrack, so his songs are not melodic, but evocative. You cannot simultaneously be an observer and the observed, so he became reclusive and removed. I don't see any mystery in his method.
So, why listen to Scott Walker? Because just like real life, amidst the cacophony and chaos, we create order   in our minds, we come up with harmonies in our head. So, I'd like to think that what my brain does with his perspective is to add my pleasant delusions, and thus, I hear far more pretty things in my life than he does in his.
It's certainly not "easy" listening, so I don't blame anyone for hating this, but this points out the other side of "truth"-don't fully trust critics, either. They're only able to give you their perspective, as well. Ultimately, you have to trust your ears, eyes and mind. That's the value in mentioning any of this-to get you to trust me a little less in my aesthetics, and a little more in my philosophy.

Saw Anthony Bourdain

So, my wife likes reality TV a lot more than I do. She likes the house hunting, Travel and "ghost" type of shows as opposed to the Kardsahian, bored housewife or beauty pageant type of shows. She also reads a lot of Food network books. She also loves the bluesy type of garage rock that Jon Spencer plays, or the Black Keys pursue so, Anthony Bourdain is a natural fit for her. I have become a bit of a fan by osmosis. I have a bit of the oppositional nature of my teen aged years, still, so I still divide the world up a bit as "with us" and "against us". In that very false dichotomy ( there is no cultural "them" in order for there to be an "us"- people just have tastes) Bourdain would, by image, consistently come up on the "us" side of the equation.
However, I've worked in Entertainment, as a broad category, so I'm choosing my words very carefully, here.     I no more know what Tony Bourdain really likes to listen to at home, or what clothes he wears when going to the market, nor how he keeps his home than I know how he was as a chef. But, in that  "Reality" of TV, he has featured Josh Homme, The Black Keys, Sleigh Bells and his theme music is by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. His books have a slightly Hunter S Thompson gonzoid edge, and he dresses like a relatively rich guy who has been at the back of clubs I've gone to, as well, so, again, the image is of a rapidly aging hipster, much like most of my friends, so, yeah, that would seem to be sympathetic to my cause, at least. Therefore, the guy got me to listen to him. Now a fair percentage of the TV shows he's done trade in the same kind of cheap exoticism that was Bourgie and imperial back when Oscar Wilde was a hot topic, but some of the message- about trying to appreciate everywhere for simply being what it is, about travel being its own reward, and about just being friendly- I can get behind that, no problem. No, I'm not a total hypocrite nor am I unaware of how much of a jackass I can be, so, yes, I can be bourgie and imperial and worse as well. I don't have to support things that are against us though, right? So, it wasn't until Anthony Bourdain went against Paula Deen that I could get behind the guy. Simply put, I more than share the belief that a large portion of American culture is designed to kill people, and sell them crap to make that slow death more palatable, so I'll gladly support someone willing to use their celebrity, however false it may be, against that process.
So, I was glad to go when my wife bought tickets. It was basically the same show as this guy saw. It's very well-rehearsed, but pretty funny, and fairly insightful. We got VIP passes, so it was nice to see Benn and Rachel from Atomic were partially sponsoring the event.  The mirage of "Us" is always better maintained when you see friends are involved.
I even got a book signed ( To "Max Van" 'cause that's how I roll)  and I can report that, up close and personal? While I still have no clue as to who Tony Bourdain is, "Anthony Bourdain" is definitely "one of us"- he might be a bit self-involved and aging badly, but he is trying to raise the flag for beauty, truth, art and culture. That's an "us" that doesn't need a 'them" for justification, right?

Events

So, I've been to another Torche show this week. Torche stomped a new one out, literally- they played both sides of their unreleased next 7 inch, and if you thought the bomb string was dead, you're in for a shock- they crushed the low end with a pummeling glee like demented dwarves forging axes made of bass. It was a strange show as an event, though. Three local bands and Torche on a wednesday night? yup. And furthermore , it was an odd mix of a power metal and retro-thrash metal type of band playing, and did I mention no one was the traditional "Metal God" long hair Thor lookin' type of dude. Very odd...
So, then, tomorrow, I've got the Finnish Bazaar.   That's always a different experience. A Fully Scandinavian bake sale. Then, I see Anthony Bourdain . So, yes, I really am the mutant that I say I am- because name me one other person who will have done all three events by the end of the week. You can't. There were less than 100 of us at Torche, and of the 10,000 folks who will go to Finnspark, I bet none were amoung those 100. Even if there was one, besides me, they wouldn't also be going to see a TV travel guy.  So, there you go. As has been often declared- we are what we do, not what we say.

Too Popular

So, I've got a few things to write about, at long last. Hope you weren't waiting around.
So, I've been listening to the Deftones' Koi No Yokan ( which I'm led to believe translates as "Love at First Sight") and I think it's the best thing they've done since "White Pony" . I don't fully understand why Deftones don't get their due- they pretty much have invented their own sound, which is this mix of Goth, metal, hip hop, and shoegazer elements that seems like a much more harrowing version of what The Walker Brothers were doing. You've got the same billowing clouds of sound, with strangely dispassionate vocals, crooned in a way to emphasize the strain in the voice, and oblique lyrics about minute events. So, why aren't they critics' darlings?
So, this one is less rythmic, more reflective- like the self titled LP a few years ago, but with an emphasis on melody that was absent on that record. The lush atmospherics are there, like on a Neurosis or Mogwai LP, but more dynamic than that might suggest. Overall, it's the most brutal post metal you'll hear, the most "indie rock" that metal gets, and the least "pop" melody gets. So, again, I question why folks aren't all over this... The only explanation I can give is the taint of "nu metal" that they carry- and the reason why that is a taint is that it got too popular with the wrong people- as bad as that sounds, it's a very real complaint- who wants to brave an audience filled with meat heads, even if the songs are great?
That's the reason why you won't catch me going to Crafty Bastards, again, after this past weekend. Last years was not an anomoly . The hordes of MTV influenced hipsters  have taken over and crushed the life out of it, to the point that I feel bad for suggesting that people go to it. It was horrible. Parking was inadequate, to the point that I got into a "fender bender" accident- and I've not been in an accident in over 20 years! I was around so many humans that it aggravated my cold into a bad case of the flu- again, something that hasn't happened in years. Food and drink was impossible- hour long lines , limited selection, shortages. Add that it was taking place in a parking lot in an industrial wasteland part of town, and it felt like going to a third world market, that had been invaded by impossibly hip yuppies from San Francisco.
It took away my one solid reason for going- to see and talk with some of my favorite crafty people. There was no talking in a crowd 50,000+ , only yelling and people shoving. So, my wife and I bought some stuff from Jon Wye, Tina Seamonster, Berkley Illustration  and Alternate Histories and got the hell out, to go kill time at a less crowded shopping Mall ( yes, the freakin' Mall was preferable)  until we met up with an out-of-town friend for a late dinner.
So, yes, there is more to hating when things get too popular with the wrong crowd than simple hipster elitism.
As I've been typing, MTV 2 has been playing indie rock- of the  Two Door Cinema Club Grizzly Bear, Circa Survive and Silversun Pickups variety. That might be because it's not yet 0700 AM, but it still means that the mainstream is coming for them, so forget the kind of venues that suit their kind of intimate rock. Likewise, I have to forget about seeing my friends at Crafty Bastards, and the critics will never give Deftones their due.

I was going to write a post...

But Bruce LaBruce, of all people, said it first, and better. Boing Boing, for all their "White Hat" reputation, are clearly floundering on this topic, while Vice are, for all that they have contributed to the problem, at least striving to do better. Here's the one thing I can still add- I'm not smart  nor am I savvy enough to fully understand, but it seems to me that with the internet, as with real life, it isn't as simple as white hat/black hat. Sometimes, the sarcastic trolls at Vice are right and good, and sometimes the people's advocates at Slate are wrong, and cynical. Sometimes, Anonymous are destructive, and sometimes constructive, and sometimes the harder you try to be constructive, the more destructive you become. The internet is just a network of people. Technology is just another way of saying tools. People are a force, people are good and bad, and people progress and regress- don't get it twisted.

How much longer?

Ya wanna know why I'm not real excited by a lot of the upcoming releases? Watch this. Break down what Trent is saying, and it becomes this: he wants to be a big rock STAR again. Whether you're talking about Trent Reznor, or Amanda Palmer, I'm seeing that thing emerge again. I hate it. It's a disease, and I know this as much as I know that cars need fuel, cats hate bananas, and my wife loves me. I hate it so much that I hated the whole "kill rock stars" thing because it made my hatred  "cutesy". No, I'm rabid on this topic, so all caps like an internet crazy troll: THE DESIRE FOR FAME IS A DISEASE LIKE AN ADDICTION. You can play with fire a bit- just like you can have a few drinks or tokes, and you'll probably be ok, but only stupid bastards go all in. Part of how I came to this is Trent Reznor, himself. A quick story- it's 1991. The first big American "Alternative" Festival. It really won't take much for you to guess. Of the several bands playing that day, I like the music of most, but hate the band members of most as well. I'd done sound for most of them for club dates, and I hadn't fully formed my philosophy, yet. But I knew that there was a difference between them and the other, equally well-selling bands. None more different than Nine Inch Nails.  They brought their own sound crew, and, well, have you seen Spinal Tap? Where the lead singer brings in his girlfriend to manage the band? Same thing, only Trent brought in his own sound crew. These jackasses had no background, and no business doing professional sound. Fletch and I both tried to warn them that they were wiring everything wrong, but Trent, himself, shooed us away. We were trying to literally save his life, and Fletch did, a little while later. Because during the set opener, with the dry ice pumping, and the moist stage literally crackling with shorting wires, Trent goes in for his big dramatic rock star move on the keyboard, which could just as well have been a prop because everything was loops and sequences, and you could see the arc of electricity at least 30 metres away. If we didn't cut the power right then and there, that would've been the end of Trent right there. Should he have been grateful? I'll let you decide, but He, his sound crew, and some other jackass are immediately pissed off that we cut the power, even though trent had just been sent into the drum riser, so powerful was the jolt. Eventually, we relented, and they played about another song and a half before the mains started popping out. The promoter went on stage, ended their set with an angry tirade about how NIN were not going to be paid, or were kicked off the Tour, or whatever.
But, in that story, you have the perfect metaphor for the kind of fame addiction that Trent, and others have- even when it's clearly demonstrated that what they want will kill them, they still want it, and they want it in precisely the way they envisioned it, and will fight to get it. The only other thing I've seen like that is hardcore drug addiction. Add to that things like the Butthole Surfers and their 15 grand guarantee , or Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro literally trying to kill each other for the spotlight mid-gig and, in retrospect, I don't see how i could have missed it, but that really was a turning point- that desire to see your section at the record store, the desire to recruit fans like you're building brand loyalty to a kind of tissue paper, to have your gig advertised to the exclusion of other bands? Yeah, that is precisely the symptoms of a disease that I want to see gone.

Classics from an Alternative Universe

The break up of USOT kinda bums me out. Sure, there are new projects, and if the band is untenable, it's better for them to pursue their best course, but I really did want to see them live, just once. So, I listened to my favorite record of theirs, this week: When the Revolution Comes, Everything will be Beautiful . I still think they didn't get their due for that record.

So, that, in combination with some posts on facebook by some friends got me thinking about some other great records that I liked, but few others, or at least too few others, noticed. So, I've been listening to them, too.

First, Arcwelder's Entropy. Amazing band that sounded like Shellac meets Archers of Loaf with Bob Mould singing They Might Be Giants songs. Yes, post-hardcore, indie rock, but something a bit more than the sum of the parts. They distilled a certain post punk awareness of certain midwestern hardcore types: the whole Reflex/Ruthless/Touch And Go/Homestead B-list type thing- as in the kind of band that would have been written about in Your Flesh magazine, but forgotten soon thereafter. While I might be an all-day sucker for that whole thing, certain of these deserved A list status, and Steve Albini including Arcwelder in his ATP line up says that I have this one right. (BTW, If I had a spare 3 large, I'd go. Jeebus, lookit that line up!)

So, Arcwelder playing ATP got me thinking about my big regret this year- not seeing the Quicksand reunion. Sure, I like Gorilla Biscuits and Rival Schools and so on, but Slip by Quicksand, that's a stone classic, and I genuinely pity you if you don't think so, as well. It's the punky reggae party of the Clash and the Ruts brought headlong into the post-hardcore 1990's, with Killing Joke and Helmet styled metal-isms thrown in to shine it up. Furthermore, I dare you to be excited by the second half of Fugazi's discography after hearing Slip. Quicksand dominated that sound so thoroughly that I really don't know why anyone took up that sound until The Refused came along. 

That leads me to The Rise. I've mentioned them before but I talked more about their second LP. The first one,  Signal to Noise is amazing as well. Yes, it clearly owes a debt to The Refused, but it carries that torch a bit further into electronic music territory than the Refused did. And, well, The Refused did break up, and the members did other, very worthwhile projects, but they weren't exploring that post hardcore meets Techno meets Jazz meets folk sound. The Rise kept most of that, though they lowered the folk elements, and really brought up the Techno, making it a different thing from The Refused. That the Metalcore folks bought in was surprising, and I think if people were a bit more candid, they'd probably admit that Signal to Noise was the gateway that brought them to The Refused- meaning that the influence The Refused had on The Rise paid back dividends in the proper way, much like Metallica championing the Misfits properly brought focus onto Glenn Danzig and company. On top of that, much like The Refused, The Rise were made up of very creative individuals, involved in everything from great rock bands- Aeges, Juliette and The licks,  and ...And You Will Know Us by The Trail of Dead, to magazines and design- Law of Inertia magazine, multiple albums and of course, production and engineering. So, much like USOT, the fact that there will be no more records by The Rise is a bummer, but not a catastrophe, and there's some classic documentation left behind.