Death was Punk.
Seeming to cement the notion that the claims that punk rock was the only modern western music that was not co-opted from Black America is a bunch of hooey, allow me to introduce you to Death:
Listening Party
Boy howdy. Music is being teh good to me these days. I’ve added a music player to the blog so you can listen to songs by these folks right here and now! Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t it just the very most exciting thing that you’ve heard all week? Yes. Yes, it is.
The new Decemberists record is due out March 24th and I can’t wait to hear the whole thing. The pre-release single (which is available now from their site, or to listen to below) is great! Typically dark, moving, and adventurous.
I first heard K’naan on the NPR show All Song’s Considered, which seems to be where I hear about all the new music I end up loving. It’s the best radio show I know and the podcast comes out weekly.
Lily Allen doesn’t offer a whole lot for those who didn’t like her first record, and for my money that’s a good thing. Less ska and more pop and dance feels make it sound like a bit of a progression but the themes are still the same: herself, people she knows, people who know her, people she has screwed, people who have screwed her, drugs, and fame.
Santogold is strange. Dub, pop, rock, all sung with a really cool voice that reminds me of Karen O, of Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
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I Finally Begin to Understand the Financial Crisis. Thank You NPR!
Last week’s episode of This American Life was a very well done hour-long segment explaining what the current economic crisis is all about.? It was a co-production of TAL, NPR News, and the (excellent) Planet Money podcast folks.? Much of the info may be overly simplistic at the beginning, but for those of us for whom things like economics will forever exist in a half-lit otherworld populated with frightening old men with frowny faces and no love for humanity, it’s just the ticket.
So, if you’ve ever heard someone say that the banks are loathe to “market to market” and did not realize that they were actually hearing “mark it to market,” well boy do I have the radio show for you!
Check out the free downloadable episode available? on the This American Life site.
I Finally Begin to Understand the Financial Crisis. Thank You NPR! Read More »
How Long Until Dollhouse Is Cancelled?
I’m a big fan of Joss Whedon, but I can’t for the life of me figure out two things:
- Why he is doing another show on Fox
- Why he is starring Eliza Dushku in that show
Honestly, does he want the show to fail?? It’s the only thing I can think of given that he is back with a network that totally screwed his last series (Firefly, which was actually great), to produce a new show (Dollhouse, which is not).? I know that his shows usually take a few episodes – even half a season – to find their legs, but Ms. Dushku is going to take much longer than that to learn how to act.? I didn’t like her in Buffy and I don’t like her here.
The thing was, Buffy was a great show in spite of the other wooden actor (Sarah Michelle Gellar in the title role) because there was so much else to love about it:? The other cast members were interesting and fun, and carried the show in spite of SMG’s cruddy acting, and the writing was fresh, quick, and funny.? Dollhouse doesn’t seem to have either of those two things.
I’m betting it’s doomed.? Will it last the season?? Who cares?
Buffy Season 6 Review by MikeJer
I really like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.? I’ve now watched the entire series three or four times (the last time with the kids).? I’ve been known to expound on what I feel Buffy has to say about our world – probably even more than some (perhaps unfortunate) drinking partners would prefer.? But this guy MikeJer…now he really knows how to go on about Buffy.? ? Case in point: nearly 14,000 words analyzing the often derided Season 6.? Just, wow.
CNN Loves Tots, And It Creeps Me Out
The word “tot” doesn’t give me the heebie-jeebies all by itself (not like, say, “linoleum,” or “panties”), but it seems like CNN has developed quite a fetish for the use of the word. I suppose it’s to save headline space and help make their lists of links look nicer by preventing lines from wrapping, but it just seems out of place in nearly every case. Used less frequently, and to slightly less consternation on my part is the word “kin.”
Neither of these words seem appropriate to the types of stories they are used to promote. They seem to convey a sense of informality, or even condescension, that is rarely appropriate to the content of the story.
Here are some examples that make my stomach turn in the way it used to every day working for a television station:
- Tot who died on Disney ride had bad heart
- Missing tot’s trail goes cold after three months
- Tot had heart sticker on mouth
- Tot mom meant to kill!
- Twister kills two mothers protecting kin
- Buffett: Tax my kin, please (not surprisingly, Buffet did not actually say “kin”)
- Kidnapped soldier’s kin: Stop the killing
Did The Mormon Church Go Too Far Fighting Proposition 8?
It sure seems like there’s plenty of reason for the IRS to investigate.
Did The Mormon Church Go Too Far Fighting Proposition 8? Read More »
What Does Rick Warrens AIDS Work Look Like?
I haven’t really heard anything about what kind of work Rick Warren has done to combat AIDS in Africa since Obama announced him as his pick to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. I’ve though it a bit odd since that is the main response that the Obama team has used to defend their selection of a homophobic prick.
“He’s devoted his life to performing good works for the poor and leads the evangelical movement in addressing the global HIV/AIDS crisis.”
– From talking points circulated by the Obama team
Leave it to AlterNet to dig into it. How surprised am I do find that Warren has worked AGAINST the so-called ABC program (hint: the “C” stands for “condoms”) created by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in cooperation with several NGOs, and credited with lowering Uganda’s AIDS rate by 10%? Not very surprised, I tell you. Not very surprised at all.
Condom Burnings and Anti-Gay Witch Hunts: How Rick Warren Is Undermining AIDs Prevention in Africa (AlterNet.org)
Who Is Sexier: Rachel Maddow or John Stewart?
I just can’t decide. The two of them together, though…now that’s HOT!
Swingers – One Good Reason
My good friend James Gossard and I used to swap mix-tapes where one of us would do a side and give it to the other to do a “response” side. I learned about some music from James that I probably never would have found where it not for those mix-tapes. Among the songs I still have on tape, but that I’ve had an impossible search for digital versions of, is this one from the New Zealand band Swingers. I’ve never seen the movie this video is from, but am certainly intrigued.