Trying to buy it.

I'll let you know http://www.mybloodyvalentine.org/

Red Emma's

I've done my best to avoid talking about which political theories I subscribe to, or about my beliefs, in general. This isn't because I'm trying to hide, it's because I want the emphasis on things away from me. In my idealized little mental world, I'm like an Emcee- pulling back the curtain, and saying " be amazed at what these awesome folks are doing" . I know that bits of me get leaked out, and I've made my peace with that. At the same time, I've got another blog for more personal stuff, so again, I'm not hiding, just trying to do the opposite of what most writers do- I want to keep your focus on the cool stuff, not me.
So, I'm putting something on here that's a little more personal today, and it does have to do with politics. Now, other than my more general neurosis, the reason for my preamble is that I don't totally agree with these folks. In order to explain that I have to mention what I do believe. So, I am a Marxist. I do believe in Socialism as both a politics and a philosophy. However, I also have a very strong libertarian, populist streak. This isn't a contradiction if you're versed in 20th century radicalism, but I have to specify that I'm not a Chomsky styled "Libertarian Socialist". I'm a Socialist- most closely, in America, to the DSA, however, I don't vote straight along any party lines, and sometimes support things directly against the DSA. I'm not one of those vegan, queer Anarchists in a black hoodie. But, I fully support your choice to be one. I'm not a fundamentalist christian with a gun collection, wearing Camo and hating the Feds, either, but, again, I'm down with your right to be one.
So, that brings us to Red Emma's. They're not my favorite bookstore in Baltimore, but I do like them. I don't fully embrace their politics, but I do like them. They're not my close friends, but I do like them.
They are looking to expand, and they are looking for donations. Now, while I think that the call for donations shows the limitations of their politics , I'm posting this to support that call for donations because, regardless of how they get there,  I'd like them to achieve their goals, because the end result would be good. I know the inherent problems with any "ends justifies the means" argument, but I'm not saying that anything is justified, just that I want to see the ends.. I still think that a more "traditional" cooperative makes more sense, but I'm willing to be wrong. Therefore I'm presenting all this- the notion being that much like the Emcee I'm trying to be- that I can present, and let the reader decide if it's worthwhile to them.

No Progress

I'm still the guy I've always been, I think. I cannot explain my love for the messy amateurish underground punk-based rock- hardcore, D-beat, thrash, crust, powerviolence, whatever, it doesn't matter, I still like the fast, simple and amelodic stuff. It's been a long while since I spent the whole night in the pit, but I did spend a while in the pit at The Refused- so it's incomplete to say that it's about the pit, but that's part of it. Part of it is connecting with a certain kind of youthful energy- the feeling that nothing is needed from the larger world. It's a tribal myth, I know, but a useful myth- if you think you are completely independent, it's a bit easier to have the courage to attempt fixing your own plumbing. But part of my enjoyment is knowing the distance I have from that scene. I'm a middle aged middle class type of guy- no one will confuse me for a squatter. At the same time, when I was a lot closer to that type, I still didn't look the type, so I've never been fully a part of things, so I don't think I'm trying to falsely claim it, either. 

Again, the best explanation I can give is that I'm still the same guy at heart, so I'm not yet done with this stuff.  This past week, it's been a lot of stuff from Moshpit Tragedy.  Favorites are the Atakke and Autarch EP's- both of which are far from purist exercises in form- they go between Crust, Metal, and post-rock, but no one will confuse any of this stuff for even something as polished as Disfear. Still, if you dig the raw, fast punk metal hybrid stuff, this is a great place to get your fix. I know most of the folks reading won't be interested, but I cannot ignore this part of my tastes, as well.

The Night Marchers

Ok, I'm not going to pretend that I'm some kind of arbiter of taste, here, or that I'm even up to the challenge of being a music "critic", but if you value my opinion at all- go out and listen to this Album, "Allez, Allez" by the Night Marchers.
For the uninitiated, The Night Marchers are John Reis' culmination. As in, maybe you liked Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu, or Rocket From the Crypt- but if you want to know where he was going in each, your answer is The Night Marchers. This is 100% pure, uncut Rocknroll. If you like bands like The White Stripes, The Hives, The Bronx, Japandroids , or Ty Segall, wait until you get a load of this. Punk Rock? Yes. Blues rock? Yes. Garage Rock? Yes. High Octane, Supercharged, Blown Out Power Rock? HELL YEAH!
Now, I know there will be detractors. Do the politics lean a little to the Libertarian? are there sweet and tender melodies in the blisters on the guitar's fretboard? do they eschew the "hardness uber alles" of modern Hardcore and Metal?  Yes, yes, and yes. But, if any of that is a hang up for you, you might not be fully suited for the space flight I intend to take. You might prefer the new Hatebreed record, or the oldest Amboy Dukes record you can find. That's fine, and you can dig your own hole on that. However, if you think, like me, that The Wipers, Radio Birdman, Flamin Groovies, Johnny Thunders, You Am I, and, yes, Rocket From The Crypt played just as bullet hard,  billet proofed rocknroll when they wanted to sound sweet for the girls as when they wanted to soundtrack the boys rumbling in the parking lot, then strap in, and check your instruments for take off.
Wiping away the metaphoric detritus, what I'm saying is that if you, even now in 2013, like hard and loud rock and roll, you will find no finer example than the Night Marchers. If that's something you're inclined to like, and I hope that you do, because it's better for you if you do, then, you need to secure this post freaking haste. Allez, Allez!

Adam Ant

I was a fan of Adam and The Ants back in the day, and, judging by the reaction that produces, I should explain: I liked everything the guy did up to Prince Charming. That means, no, I didn't really fall for his mid 1980's term as a pop star. I was a fan of his Art-punk abstraction, before I even knew that this is what he was doing. See, he just seemed like one of the few interesting pop stars to me- he was referencing Dada, Futurism, Spaghetti Westerns, Tribal "talking drums", Roxy Music, Elizabeth Taylor, and B movies, not to mention bondage, Pirates, the history of Native peoples, and the rest of what you already know. Basically, he was putting Europe between the World Wars in a blender with early 1960's cinema from underground to Epic and making spiky pop music out of it. Which, if you think about it, presages our post-modern hyperlinked pop culture present. Later, it did smooth out to standard pop music, but up until 1982, I'd consider his stuff as artistically valid as David Bowie.
So, he has lost his mind since then. Don't get me wrong, that's not meant to damn him. I say that with the utmost  sympathy, as much as I would for Roky Erickson. He has had success as an actor, seen his music fall in and out and back into fashion. But, in the background, he's seen the inside of psychiatric institutions, and rather than being on overly romanticised street drugs, has struggled with medication for bipolar disorders.  I think it's a testament to the human will to survive that he's still here.
So, he has a new double LP out, and I got it.  Ye gads. It's not exactly easy listening. First, it must be said that Adam never had the most tuneful voice- stuck halfway between a croon and a yodel, it's not exactly Mark Lanegan or Elizabeth Frasier here. But the spirit of adventure is back. He's made his version of the self-produced lo-fi, bedsitters LP. It goes between swampy blues, Bacharach torch ballads, and Eddie Cochrane styled rockers, and mostly is coated in a thick syrup of fuzz, with the vocals mixed very, very high. So, it's like listening to your cousin's band's demo tape. The flashes of brilliance you hear are undercut by the amateurish execution. But, I want the reader and potential listener to consider something- this is Adam Ant, here. He's a veteran. He's had some of the most talented musicians, producers, and engineers on his speed dial for the past quarter century. If he wanted to release "Friend or Foe, pt 2" he easily could have put that together. So, this album sounds intentionally unmixed. He's making a point. Also, several of the songs are polished, fully realized pop rock songs- so he could have put out just those, and cashed in on a "comeback". So, I'd like you to consider that maybe he has his sights set on something a bit different from some kind of "comeback".  I think he's shooting for something akin to what the Raveonettes were lauded for, or perhaps a more idiosyncratic version of what Bob Pollard is known for- this is a kind of fetishizing of the songwriting process- trying to catch the best moment of a song- whether it's at the rough demo stage, or the epic showstopper. What I'm asking you do is trust the experience and intelligence. I think there's a pretty good pay off in that. But, if you can't make it all that way, fair enough. I don't think everyone can give that much trust. Just don't think that he's trying to re-live past glories, here. The one thing conspicuously absent is nostalgia.

What do you do when you're a shut in?

It's happened to everyone. You get ill, or injured, and you're stuck at home for a day or two .I've been stuck at home for a week. It was emergency surgery, due to bad surgery in the past. So, I'm stuck at home for a week or two.  Apart from the internet, and the blog posts I've already made, here's some media I've consumed;
Magazines: Popular Science, Esquire, Popular Mechanics, Men's Journal, Shop Smart, Rolling Stone, Backpacker, Psychology Today, Outside,American Frontiersman, and Consumer Reports Best & Worst New Cars
TV Series: Feasting on Asphalt, Walking Dead, Rescue Me,  How I Met Your Mother, Portlandia, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Movies: Near Dark, Marnie, Brick, The Runaways, Inglourius Basterds, Dead Man, and  Akira
Books: The Portable Henry Rollins,Portlandia: a Guide for Visitors, Violence Girl, and  Undisputed

What do I have to say about my past 5 days of media?
1. I gotta get back to hiking and camping, it's been too long.
2. Feasting on Asphalt demonstrates how Alton Brown makes superior TV to Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain might be more interesting as a person, but Brown makes better TV- the fact that Bourdain is more popular only shows that, conclusively.
2. Rescue Me will always be my favorite show. But I'm open to new things. Portlandia is very good, Walking Dead can be excellent, and Boardwalk Empire ( which I didn't watch, yet) is probably a better miniseries than ongoing TV show, even if it's equally high quality Television. Oh, and the Prisoner is right up there with Rescue Me, but it, too, functions like a miniseries.
3. Near Dark is a great movie, but it is starting to get a bit dated. Marnie I ended up watching for the costumes and the mid 1960's aesthetic, not because the movie is worth a damn.
4. While Henry and Alice are some very, very angry people- it strikes me that Chris Jericho is trying to be as charming as Portlandia, but he's seen more actual violence than both of them. I wonder what that really says about the nature of truly violent people?

Anyway, nothing too deep- but I figured at least one post about how we actually consume media wouldn't be a bad idea.

Mike Atta

Mike's an old friend. While no one deserves cancer, and we all die sooner or later- it sucks extra hard when our friends get sick, or are in extra danger of dying. So, I'm asking you to consider donating. Even if you don't think you can help Mike, you might help Van. Right here: https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/6Otz6

Exciting new music!

Have you heard the new Black Rebel Motorcycle Club? It's a really good, I think. A re-imagining of a song by the Call, the band fronted by the singer's late father, it's got that druggy loose vibe that I look for from BRMC, but it rolls with the swing and heft of a much heavier band- like QOTSA or maybe later Led Zeppelin.
Then, as I mentioned, I've been ill and in hospital, and so I really got a chance to dig into the new Joy Formidable LP, "Wolf's Law". I have to get rid of the bad first: if you've been paying attention over the past year, you have already heard the highlights- "This Ladder is Ours", and "Cholla", and they do have the tendency to plunder from the same vein again and again. Also, they do have a sophomore album disease- this thing is over-produced even beyond what Thirty Seconds to Mars, Muse and Placebo do to their music- and that clearly is the crowd that The Joy Formidable are shooting for, these days. That having said, I prefer this to the Big Roar- there is a lot more range and dynamics this time around. The songs still tend to resolve themselves into a big dizzy blur, but they hold off a bit more, and it brings out the songs a bit. So, call it a near miss, as opposed to "hit or miss" as the Big Roar was. But, if the thought of Siouxsie meets Lush meets pop-rock Gods level Muse amuses you, as it does me, this is well worth it. I mean take "Bats"- there are sections that sound like a feminine version of mid-1990's Killing Joke- tell me that's not worth it! Or, consider the Maw Maw song, which combines a rolling fuzz bass, icy electronics and a big prog rock chorus, like Thirty Seconds to Mars meets Rush, but with lyrics that seem like a piss-take of all the above. There's nothing on here that truly carries through on the promise their sound implies- some kind of profound melodramatic take on shoegazer music, but it's still better than their male peers in that neo-prog genre that they're inching towards.
Then, I also heard the new Bad Religion- True North. Umm, well, it's a Bad Religion record. Rarely have I heard a band that clings so closely to their formula. Seriously, since the late 1980's they sound pretty much exactly the same. Now, it's a decent sound- syrupy sweet vocal harmonies, on fairly verbose socio-political pop punk, held to the tightest structure this side of Rockabilly.So, yes, it's ear-pleasing, and there's nothing to  complain about, and I actually find it comforting to listen to, and, if I'm honest, I'll admit that it's very appealing to me. However, Bad Religion are a super-group. You've got members from best-selling most influential etc, etc punk rock artists here- from Hetson being in Red Cross to Baker being in Minor Threat. With that pedigree, I'd expect more- and they've hinted that this is it- their last record. Why not go out on some kind of statement? I suppose following the formula is the statement- this is Bad Religion, and nothing more or less. So maybe if you have found a sound you should just make that sound and allow others to find their sounds?
I don't know, I find that hard to swallow. I find it more exciting, and more engaging when a band is trying to find sounds to express who they are today, even if that's more volatile with a bigger chance of failure, than of success. But, is it the point of music to be exciting? what of pleasure? What of comfort? What of warmth and nostalgia, and sentiment? I don't know if I'm right to want more, I just know that I do want more.

Unfairly dismissed and backhanded compliments

So, I don't always play fair. Sometimes, I don't give things enough credit. I can think of two that I've done that with in he past year. First- the  Riverboat Gamblers- The Wolf You Feed cd released back in may. I still don't think it's outstanding. It's merely catchy and tight garage rock with a punky edge. I think it's telling that  Mike Wiebe, the singer, has been putting more into his comedy career as of late. But, as compared to most of the pop punk released, this stuff has much more solid songwriting. Dillinger Four and The Bronx both do it much,  much better, but I think the Gamblers at least deserve a mention.
Second, I should have at least talked about Metz. A lot of folks have hyped them, and I've heard them, and, unlike many of their "sloppy noise" band peers, I don't hate them. I mean in contrast- consider Blacklisters. For every decent bar of one of their songs, there's at least another bar that sounds directionless, and basically, a rest for the musicians to figure out what they're doing next. As a listeners, that's really not challenging, nor enjoyable, so overall, I'm not interested. Metz at least retain their focus. So, while I wouldn't put them on a "best" list, exactly- they do have the dubious honour of being the best of a bad lot- the neo- noise rock that appears to be hip, this past year.

Excuses, excuses

Sorry, I was planning to post stuff about the new Joy Formidable and Bad Religion records this weekend, but I got really ill last thursday morning, and had to go in for emergency surgery. I just got home, today, and still feel pretty awful. I will post about them and more in the next few days....