You know it's over when...

I will put this out there, first: I'm thinking about stopping this blog. No, this is not a plea for an audience to come in- I'm not Rik on "The Young Ones" - I don't think it matters if I write this, or not. But, I do know that I'm wanting to discuss different stuff. I'm getting interested in musical gear, again, which I haven't been in about 10 years. I'm interested in The BBC, and the differences between what they're doing and what HBO and AMC are doing here. I'm still interested in music, but, for example, I didn't watch the Grammys last night, and didn't even try. The only interest I had was to see if Lorde fell on her face, and to see how uncomfortable Josh might get in that "superstar" line up. I like Dave Grohl, just fine. He's created a likable public persona. A good percentage of the Foo Fighters' music is bland MOR, though, that has zero appeal to me ( and that's the important part. I've been surprised by what I would otherwise call bland MOR before) . Likewise, I really don't like Trent Reznor. Like I don't ever want to be in a room with that guy type personal disgust, and he's compounded that by easing back on a project I liked a bit, to bring out a zombie Nine Inch Nails, which was a hit-or-miss project to begin with. Lindsey Buckingham, however, pretty much personifies everything I loathe about music, and the music business. I cannot stand his music, his conveyed personality, the sound of his voice, his methods of bringing his music to people- literally top-to-bottom, if you want the "Anti-Max" as far as music goes, there's your guy. So, to trot Josh out in that sausage fest, in a cutesy matching leather jacket? Either he's still the same lizard he's been, and he'd be VERY uncomfortable, like "get me out of here, NOW! NOW! NOW!" type uncomfortable- or he's turned into the anti-christ of everything he was- both of which seem equally plausible- but how much do you really want to see those scenarios? I mean Lorde seems like a smart little girl, who might turn into something worthy of her hype, someday, but, for now, is just sounds like Brittany Spears trying to cover PJ Harvey, and not quite getting there. So, do I really want to see her fail? Maybe a little, but not really. Josh might have lost his mojo on the new record ( and yes, he did. You can like it, all day long, and in every way, but you're still just digging a mojo-less Josh Homme) but I saw his ACL performance, and there was still some fire there. Nowhere near what once was, but some fire. So, I don't really want to see him uncomfortable, other than in the hopes that it would re-ignite the fire for him, and I really don't want to see his Vegas years start up right before my eyes.
So, yes, even though discussing pop culture and music is exactly what I'm doing here, I'm starting to want to talk about something else- something that gives me a bit more hope. There are some really bright spots out there- for example, Kylesa have a record label, now- Retro Futurist and from what I've heard so far, it's really very good stuff.  So, yes, shutting down the blog is on the table, as is the thought of keeping it, and doing a new blog just to talk about music gear. Also, there is the thought of just ending all the blogging because I pretty much accomplished  all my missions, and you don't need me to do yet another music blog. I don't know, just yet. How do I know when it's over? Guess I've got to figure that out.

Checking in and TV

I don't have a whole lot to report, musically. Yes, I got a friggin' AWESOME Mark Lanegan best-of, this week, called "Has God seen my Shadow?", but do I really have to tell you to listen to Mark Lanegan? That's what mainstream guys do, because idiots are still listening to John Mayer. I'm far too cool and sarcastic for that. But I will say this- if there is a heaven, Mark Lanegan and I won't get to be there. He's got too much of the devil in his voice, and I like that devil too much.
As for the hobby, I finally bought an OCD clone.  It's great, and if I played Sludge Metal, it would be my dirt box of choice. For my guitar playing friends, if you have a spare USD 40, and you want that baritone rumble "creamy" distortion, this will get you there. The "review videos" all seem to add a fair amount of treble to what I actually hear- but it has a crap-ton of gain, with the lower mids emphasized- it's a dark beast, that can instantly dial up Eyehategod to Thou tones, and if you twiddle the knobs a bit, you can get around the same neighborhood as all the Savannah bands ( Kylesa, Baroness, BlackTusk) get, and they all use the OCD. One warning- the "high" setting adds a pretty significant boost- between 15 and 20 DB- so you can blow out effect inputs later on in your chain, if you're not careful.
But, I've been watching a lot of TV- I saw the first two seasons of Sherlock and yes, it's really good. I also am finally watching Dexter, and you'll note there's no link. That's because I don't think it's worth supporting- it's too full of cheap tricks designed to manipulate the viewer, and while I'm not all that smart, I know i'm smarter than this show. I'll watch more because I've got friends who like it, but really, I think it's crap TV with "Skinemax" sensationalism.
I also have been checking out the Portico channel. It's got some worthwhile bits.
I watched a pretty great documentary called "Machete Maidens Unleashed" - it covers all the pop culture ground you'd expect for a doc about exploitation films, but it even exposes a fair amount of the ethics ( and ethical failings) of those exploitation films, not to mention the politics of them, as well.
That plus the usual, and yes, I've been busy.

The Politics of Gear

I do understand that everything we do, say or think carries consequence. Really, I do. I understand that it matters if I drive or take the bus, and I understand that it matters if I buy my coffee at Starbucks, or my local coffee shop, and if that coffee is fair trade. I understand that carelessly using words like "bum" or "crazy" or "gay" can give license to various forms of prejudice, even if I don't mean it that way.
I don't think its possible to be aware of absolutely every ramification, however, so I'll admit I wasn't quite aware of all the issues surrounding buying guitar gear. First, there's the whole usual "green" thing. I was aware of that- some of the woods used coming from tropical locations, and endangered species, and being shipped great distances, yes, that's an issue. On top of that, there's the question of trade practices- is my distortion pedal made by sweatshop labour? Did some 8 year in Pakistan install the fretwire on my Samick guitar? ( No, I don't have a Samick, just citing a 'hypothetical')
Then, there are the consumer issues on this end- if I buy a "boutique" version of a Tubescreamer, am I being ripped off? Hey- yes, there are some folks out there who are taking cheap mass marketed equipment, and repackaging it, to appear like they made something they didn't. Likewise, even if they did wire it up themselves, are they doing good business, or are they being sneaky- an example being that there's boutique boost pedal out there that is definitely over-priced because the people who make it have deliberately created artificial scarcity to jack the price up. I mean the fine folks at Cheaper Pedals definitely have a few points. ( And I plan on writing more on the subject at a later date)
But, it even goes deeper than that- I recently came into some Danelectro pedals, as I think I mentioned- and I was confronted with this: The CEO evidently doesn't like gay folks. Now, I don't think my 20 bucks paid to friend  for two used pedals does very much, but there is that question of 'flying the flag'-somebody sees some Danelectro stuff in my rig and they could think that, at the very least, I don't care about equality. It could get more elaborate- while I personally think the "fab" line of pedals are hideous because they're too bulbous, I do like the retro aesthetics that Danelectro trades in. So, I'll probably try to get these two rehoused, but if they were different models I might not really want to- and I can see how, given my tastes for a kind of late 50's early 60's retro vibe, people might think it reflects a longing for days before Civil Rights and Feminism- something I'm sure is true for some- I think some folks think of those times as "Happy Days" precisely because they have a problem with the complexities that equality brings. I'm rendered into the same predicament as Andrew Eldritch- he once famously stated that Nazis had better fashion sense. I understand what he means. I think that Leave it to Beaver is messed up, politically- but Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy looked pretty suave. I think there is some separation from aesthetics and ethics, but it pays to be aware that you might not be projecting exactly the image you intend.
So, no, I don't have the politics of gear exactly all worked out, but it is worth pondering.

Sage Francis- Sick to D(EAT)H Mixtape

I'm not a Hip Hop head. No surprise there, but I am aware of hip hop in a general fashion, except in some rare cases. So, I lost track (heh) of Sage Francis awhile back- around "A Healthy Distrust", until a friend played me a track from this new mixtape- Blue  which is a stunning downtempo trip hop song that, though meant to be a talk about Gulf War veterans, is a brilliant deconstruction of the American male psyche, and honestly makes me well up everytime I hear it. So, I went to Strangefamous and bought it. A great way to spend 10 bucks, let me tell you.
I'm still not a hip hop head, but this is some great music.

Ringo Deathstarr- God's Dream

Ringo Deathstarr are different for a "shoegazer" band, in that I think they have connected back to the same well of inspiration that launched bands like My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver and Ride, as opposed to simply being inspired by those bands. They are harder, more American, more Rocknroll than any of those bands, and  more like a psychedelic punk band, with a heavy Eno-esque love of ambient textures than a straight "shoegazer" band, even if that means the guitars end up sounding like My Bloody Valentine on "Isn't Anything". The close male female harmonies are, of course, going to recall MBV for the majority of listeners, and I can hear that, but I hear 1970 - Youngbloods, Original Caste, and above all the New Seekers- just as much. What I'm saying is that they belong more with Redd Kross, Sonic Youth, and The Butthole Surfers than they do with Asobi Seksu. Geddit?
So, it makes sense that Adam Franklin and Jeff Shroeder would show up- Ringo Deathstarr are trying to set themselves up as peers and equivalents to the late 1980's "Shoegazer/alt nation" scene as opposed to a carbon copy of that scene.
Anyway, all this is semantics- let's talk about the tunes!
For once the song titles are actually pretty descriptive, once you crack the code- first song, for example is "Bong Load"- on one level a single entendre for smoking drugs. But take it apart- A bong captures and distributes smoke, while a load is a weight- so this is something heavy made airy, made like smoke. This method works throughout. Nowhere moreso than with the lead track "Flower Power" which seesaws between blasts of uptempo noise, and pretty little bits of glissando. Geddit? Flower power? This mix of light and dark- Distortion and melody, Male and female voices, dichotomies in the titles, etc is what Ringo Deathstarr are all about musically. If you get the 9 track Japanese version ( which I did, which is why it took about 10 days to get to me) they get the balance perfectly. Really good, really innovative while at the same time really cheesy and really retrograde. Ain't that what we want from Rock music?

Pixies- EP 2

Ok, let me get this out of the way- clearly, Charles Thompson is difficult. He cannot keep bass players be they Kim Deal or Shattuck, or be they Eric Drew Feldman.  I can't deny that. However, what else would you call a band featuring his voice, Joey's magnificent guitar, his songs, and that style? It's the Pixies, with or without Kim Deal. Plus, honestly, this new EP is the best I've heard from the Pixies moniker since "Bossanova". So, yes, this is the Pixies.
Four songs, no filler. "Blue Eyed Hexe" is an out of control rocker that only the Pixies could do. It starts from a grungey AC/DC style boogie riff complete with cowbell, and then takes off. Black Francis even  finds a new use for that scream, making the song structure go sideways, as he builds it into ever more crazed frenzy, and then, poof! lets the whole thing drop.
Magdalena is a smooth, surfy, pop song with those off-kilter harmonies that dominated Bossanova. It's beautiful, and anyone who relegates it is just bitter they didn't get the idealized Pixies in their mind. This is the sound of the Pixies, and I'm happy with it.
Greens and Blues deliberately addresses the ghosts of Doolittle, and it's gorgeous- and so easily misunderstood. Black Francis is trying to get this across- if you're assuming who he is based upon who you think he should be you are "wasting your time"- he is only creating the Art he creates, not fitting into an injection mold we call Pixies, and if you can just take it as it comes, you are rewarded with a song that is both simply beautiful and deeply twisted.
Finally, we're back in Joey-land with the closing rocker - Snakes. He's just as vital to Pixies as Black Francis. Without his unique take on rock guitar, there is no Pixies. It's this weird mix of  James Williamson meets The Ventures, and layered like Wire on 154. Simply awesome.
It's too bad that this carries the weight of unfair expectations- I haven't read all the reviews but I can guess- Pitchfork hates it, the British press likes it, but only wants to talk about the backstage drama, and talk about themselves, the reviewer. I consider the lukewarm response part of the disease of our fame culture- it's why music magazines rarely show artists with instruments, why movie magazines rarely show Actors acting, why everything has to start with a biographical paragraph.  It's about creating a cult of celebrity. I'd prefer to celebrate cults. So, this is the new EP by the Pixies, and it's got damn fine rock music on it, made by people who craft their rock music in a way you don't hear anywhere else. It's done extremely well, and shows enormous talent. What more do you need?

Doom- Corrupt F**ing System

I always found it funny that The UK Doom was a Discharge styled Crust band, meaning a band that fuses anarcho punk with heavy metal, whereas in the US, Doom is most certainly a punk styled traditional metal band.
Anyway, they've been silent for a long while, but not forgotten. I still love the Police Bastard EP, and the Total Doom LP, but with all the line up changes, label changes ( and slagging their former labels) I lost touch with them back in the 1990's.
However, I did pay my way into buying this new LP on Bandcamp, and well, for the most part, yeah, still Doom. Like Amebix minus the keyboards meets Discharge. It's got  vocal samples, and scooped out guitars ( mids are a crime in Crust, I'm used to it) and D-beats with the drums too closely mic'ed galore. If I sound dismissive, I kind of am. I like it, but others have taken the crust torch to such better places- from Tragedy who still are more than a little crust-y, to Kylesa, who only bear vestigal bits of crust. Hearing a throwback to 1990 styled Crust seems quaint at best. I personally think it's just a way of saying "Yeah we're still here, 25 years later"
So, why slag it off? Well, I don't mean to, and I have listened to it, and heard it, and enjoyed parts of it.  I still have a soft spot for Thrash, D-beat, Crust, and Grind. However, it does bring up the question- when should you hang it up? When is it done? There's still an audience, and my misgivings aside, I'd probably go see Doom if they were playing nearby this weekend. So, do I want them to stop? Hell No! But, does it carry the same level of inspiration, and artistic integrity it once did? Hell No!- so, I'm left with that question hanging- when does the show stop?

Held in Place

Sorry, I don't have much to report- I have lots of new music, and a few video picks to go over, but due to circumstances, both positive and negative, I haven't had much of a chance to listen or watch.
But, this is meant to be a "web log" as much as anything else, so I'll report as honestly as possible what I've seen and heard, even though I know this will be of very little interest to anyone.
Heard- Tones on Tail: Everything! - Yes, I dig Bauhaus/Tones on Tail and early Love and Rockets.  Later on, they decided they were pop stars, and the music became uninteresting, but Tones on Tail was the most interesting period for these musicians. That having said, this is old and well known enough that I believe that if you would be interested, you have already heard them.
Seen- TV- Multiple seasons of The Amazing Race. No, I have no real interest in the show. But, I have interest in my wife, and she enjoys the show for the glimpses of travel destinations. Also, both seasons of The Booth at the End - which is basically a very long episode of the Twilight Zone.
Movies- All old, I'm afraid. I watched Repo Man for the two hundredth time ( that might not be an exaggeration) and I watched Kiss Me Deadly for the tenth, and Nicholas and Alexandra for the twentieth.

But, all in all, I've been held in place by a combination of the holidays, unexpected car troubles, family business, and work frenzy. Maybe next week?

Hints, Rumours and Allegations

So, my hobby is leading me into fabrication. That is- I've assembled some parts, and I'm thinking about making an effects pedal- specifically a distortion pedal- and I  already have the MXR distortion + and the OS-2, and the Fuzz pedal- so why a new one? Well, partially because I can, but partially because I want something that can fill some "in-between" spaces- I want one pedal that can go from sludgey overdrive ( as opposed to crisp overdrive) to a scooped-mid crunchy distortion- as opposed to total war fuzz. Basically, with the three I've got, I can cover 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10- so I want one pedal to cover 3, 5, and 7. Since this will be a one-off I can publicly say what I'm doing- I'm taking Marshall's old Shredmaster circuits, and substituting a diode and a capcitor to make it resemble a mix between a shredmaster and a Boss SD-1, then  tweaking until I end up with a differently voiced Marshall Guv'Nor GV2.
So, Max, you say, why bother telling me about it? Well, I'm asking if there's any interest in seeing and/or hearing the results? I'm still debating if it's horribly self indulgent to post this kind of crap, or if folks actually have any interest in gear, like this...

Pat Todd & the Rank Outsiders

I've been a fan of Pat Todd since the 1980's. For your Thunderesque glammy, trashy rocknroll needs, his old band the Lazy Cowgirls have you covered. But, he likes Country, and he loves Punk, and he enjoys glamrock, so his new-ish band The Rank Outsiders occupy a space somewhere around The Supersuckers to The Replacements, and a Stones cover band . What I am saying is that this is about as traditional Rocknroll as there can be. Sure, I like lot of stuff more. But, I still have a place in my heart for the type of Rock music that fully embraces tradition- even though I know there are no surprises, here. This would've been considered hopelessly out of date even in 1985- that's a quarter century ago-But, I still have a soft spot for that honkytonk country-fried 3 chord rock. Stuff that cannot escape the shadow of the Rolling Stones. So, I'm not suggesting you rush right out and buy a copy of 14th & Nowhere, but I'm trying to catch up here- I have been listening to this on and off since about September. So, it's not earth shattering, but it is good for what it is.