What does a terrorist eat?

Does he prefer the chicken or the fish? Does he require a low-sodium meal? Does he ask for orange juice, diet soda or a bloody mary? Does he ask for a second bag of nuts? Does he like to sit in a window seat to watch the mountains go by beneath him? Does he try to engage his neighbor, who is obviously trying to read, in conversation? Does he read a Grisham novel or the in-flight magazine? Does he ask the flight attendant for aspirin because of the screaming kid in the row behind him who won't stop kicking his chair? Does he use the air sickness bag? Does he giggle at the stupid Jim Belushi sitcom rerun they show in flight? Does he try to convince his girlfriend to meet him in the lavatory so they can join the "mile-high club"?

The fightening thing is that Homeland Security thinks that questions like these have answers. Worse, they believe they know the answers. They are so confident in their expertise that think they can assign you a score based on, among many other things, which meal you order on the flight and this score tells them whether or not you are a terrorist. Your score is so useful that Homeland Security intends to keep it on file for forty years and so accurate that there is no need to let you know it has ever been assigned to you or to let you challenge it in a courtroom.

Of course, we all know that the middle-aged Caucasian Southern Baptist from Arkansas will never be given a high score, despite his connections with a group responsible for shooting a doctor in Houston because she has performed abortions and burning down a gay bar in Atlanta with many patrons still inside. Instead, an Iranian man, a physician who has been honored for his volunteer work at a pediatric burn unit in his community, a married father of four with pro-Western sympathies, will switch seats on a flight from Paris to Boston because another passenger has had four cocktails and has become obnoxious. This innocent move will cause his arrest and detention by Homeland Security upon arrival at his destination because he just happened to move to a seat above the wing. He will never see an attorney or a judge. He will never know why he is being detained or tortured. He will never see his family again because he thinks the only way to end the torture is to confess to something he never did. They will never know what happened to him. All because he committed the crime of FWM - Flying While Muslim.

I would laugh at the irony of this, except it isn't funny. The real story here isn't the arrogance of federal officials who think they can apply a mathematical formula to expose terrorists; it's the fact that Americans have remained complacent while their nation gradually turned into a fascist state. We were all taught it could never happen here because of our precious Constitution. We have now learned the hard way that our civil rights are like potted plants: they shrivel up and die if they aren't nurtured. After 9/11, we were duped into believing that we needed to temporarily give up some rights so our government could protect us. Then, they said it wasn't enough; we needed to give them more power to protect us. By the time we got wise to the ruse, we had already allowed the passage of the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act. These two laws, more than any other, have gutted the Constitution.

It seems, though, that we may have stopped it in time. We still have the right to vote and we exercised that right a few weeks ago by affecting regime change at home. Had voter turnout been much lower, perhaps we would have lost the power to elect our representatives in government, too. There but for the grace of God, indeed.

Now we, as Americans, have the responsibility of keeping the Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate on their toes. We must remind them frequently that we want our civil rights back. We mustn't get complacent and trust someone blindly just because he or she has a 'D' by their name. After all, many Democrats have been complicit in the attacks on our Constitution over the past five years. Many are already working to reverse the erosion on our civil liberties, but they will need all the help the can get. Help them by writing to commend them when they defend the Constitution and criticize them when they fail to protect it. Help them by calling for the resignation of any Democrat found to be corrupt, even when you have supported them in the past. Help them by making them work for you. Otherwise, the Democratic Party won't be able to improve anything. I don't want to see the country's power divided between two parties that aren't different at all, because that would by the last nail in the coffin.

Tom Waits ♥... Missy Elliott!

In an interview with Pitchfork, Tom Waits professes his love for Missy Elliott. "I'm crazy about her," he said. This is one of only a handful of situations in my life in which I have been simultaneously surprised and not surprised. It's an odd sensation. It's a bit like déjà vu.

Do not be alarmed by any other strange sensations you experience while reading the interview. Unless your left arm suddenly goes numb and you smell vanilla. Then, you may be having a stroke. Or it could be your reaction to Waits' list of strange laws from around the country. Either way, seek immediate medical attention.

HOA update

Courtesy of Wil Wheaton, whose link has been woefully absent from my sidebar until today, we have an update on the peace sign wreath situation.


Long story short, reason prevailed. The resident will be allowed to keep the wreath and all fines have been reversed. This goes to show that civilization gradually progresses toward truth, though it can be a painfully slow and bumpy process.



Speaking of Wil, I need to start reading his blog more often. He is a very intelligent individual with great tastes in the finer things in life, such as Heroes on NBC. Also, his role as Wesley Crusher on ST:TNG jump-started my puberty.

Another reason to abolish HOAs

A Denver HOA has ordered a resident to take down a Christmas wreath in the shape of a peace sign because some of her neighbors have taken offense to it.

Now, how could a reasonable human being object to a universal symbol of peace, one of the central values of their own religion? Well, a reasonable person wouldn't. Only a stupid person would.

Their stupidity is confirmed by their reasons for taking offense to it. Some neighbors have confused it with a pentagram, which they have confused with a pentacle, which they erroneously believe is a symbol of Satanism.

If you are under this pernicious delusion, please take a note of the differences between the three symbols in this handy diagram:

As you can see, there are pronounced differences between the symbols. So there goes that argument.

Of course, if you want to get technical, even if she had displayed a pentacle or pentagram, it couldn't be considered an explicitly Satanic symbol because both symbols have been used by many cultures to represent God or some concept associated with God. The star of David is an example of a pentacle (the etymology of which has nothing to do with the number five, despite common misconceptions). Early Christians displayed pentagrams to respresent the wounds that Jesus suffered on the cross. It's not really necessary to go into all of this to refute the arguments of the peace sign opponents, but it does illustrate their ignorance of the history of their own religious traditions.

The other reason neighbors cited for objecting to the peace sign is that it expresses opposition to the war in Iraq, in which some of their sons and daughters are fighting. Here they are making rash assumptions about her reasons for hanging the wreath. Let's ignore the issue of whether the war is legal or morally right and focus on the meaning of the symbol. Again, a little history lesson will illuminate the matter. The peace sign was created for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1958. The symbol is derived from the semaphore symbols for 'N' and 'D'. So the peace sign is nothing more than a stylized acronym for "Nuclear Disarmament." Of course, the peace sign became a symbol for the movement against the Vietnam War. Beyond that, it has become a symbol for the ideal of world peace, something that real Christians wouldn't object to. The peace sign has no explicit connection to the war in Iraq, and one would think that opposition to the Vietnam War is no longer a hot-button issue. Once again, the HOA's reasoning has been proven fallacious.

Having established that our heroine was, in fact, explicitly supporting the abstract notion of world peace and not necessarily intending to express a stance on the current war, let's turn our attention to why the concept of peace should not be controversial.

There are numerous references to the ideal of peace in the New Testament. For example, Matthew 5:9 says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." James 3:18 says, "Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." There are also numerous associations between peace and Christmas in folk tradition, especially in carols. On famous example is in "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", written by Charles Wesley in 1739. "Peace on earth and mercy mild" are lauded as the consequences of the coming of the Messiah. If the offended neighbors intend on singing this particular carol this year, in public or in private, they have no leg to stand on in their objections.

However, there is reason to believe that the campaign against the peace wreath has more to do with the personal ambitions of the HOA president. The architectural control committee voted to allow the wreath in accordance with the HOA's rules. The president, however, was dissatisfied with the result of this vote and fired all five committe members.

This goes to the center of why HOAs should be abolished or, at the very least, heavily regulated. They frequently go way beyond protecting property values and abridge the civil rights of homeowners without due process. There is no way the presence of a peace sign wreath, controversial or not, can severely affect neighbors' property values. This is entirely about trying to control what fellow Americans think and say, which is the very definition of un-American. I hope that the new Democratic majorities in both houses will make limiting the power of HOAs part of the 2007 legislative agenda.

R.I.P., H. Donald Wilson

H. Donald Wilson, creator of LexisNexis, one of the most kick-ass research tools used by libraries, passed away November 12th at the age of 82.

If you have never used LexisNexis, you should definitely try it. Unfortunately, I didn't know about it for most of my undergrad. I wish I had because it would have been useful. I went to a staff training for LexisNexis last year and I really enjoyed using it.

LexisNexis provides full-text access to federal court cases, campaign finance contributions, Congressional proceedings, census statistics and many other useful data sources. If you are affiliated with a university, you probably have access to LexisNexis. If not, you can contact public libraries in your area to find out whether they subscribe. Check it out if you get a chance.

My recommendations 2006:The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast by Matmos

Matmos: The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast
Matador 5/9/2006

Available at Emusic

In the film Barbarella, the matmos was a source of energy that fueled various forms of evil in the city built upon it. Ironically, very little of the activity that Jane Fonda's title character witnessed in the city in search of Duran Duran (yes, the band also got their name from this film) could really be called evil. Hedonistic, certainly. And hedonism is one aspect of gay history that is manifest on Matmos' The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast, a concept album about notable gay figures from history. Each track commemorates one person who has made his or her distinctive mark on the world and is played in a manner that evokes that individual's influence. For example, for Valeria Solanas, the lesbian who shot Andy Warhol, a cow uterus is played like a wind instrument over a reading of her anti-male manifesto. For William S. Burroughs, it's a typewriter. For The Germs' Darby Crash, Matmos recorded the sound of cigarettes burning human skin. And for erotic photographer James Bidgood, human semen was splashed while Antony gently cooed and chanted. This is easily among the strangest and best albums of the year.

My recommendations 2006:Youth by Matisyahu

Matisyahu: Youth
Sony 3/7/2006

Okay, I know what you're thinking. Matisyahu? Isn't he the rapping rabbi novelty dude?! I know that Pitchfork panned this record mercilessly, but Sean Fennessey seemed more concerned with Matisyahu's lack of legit reggae credentials than anything about the music. Plus, Fennessey's review was factually inaccurate on every count. For the record, Matisyahu was born and raised Jewish. But that doesn't matter anyway. Let's talk about the music. I wanted desperately to not like this album, but despite my own considerable prejudices, I have to admit it's pretty darn good. Perhaps if I was into the misogynistic, homophobic reggae of Beenie Man I would think Matisyahu pretty tame in comparison, but as far as reggae goes, I haven't heard anything as effortlessly enjoyable as Youth. If you need more convincing, consider the producer of this record: Bill Laswell. Yes, that Bill Laswell. The same Bill Laswell who played on Eno and Byrne's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, founded Material and The Golden Palominos, and produced Swans' The Burning World. The production on Youth is easily some of Laswell's best work of the decade. While Youth gets a little preachy at moments, it's otherwise a surprisingly great album.

My recommendations 2006:Six Demon Bag by Man Man

Man Man: Six Demon Bag
Ace Fu 2/21/2006

Did I mention that I love weirdos? Well, I do. And I absolutely adore the idiosyncratic sideshow music of Man Man. Critics frequently compare them to Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits, only because those are the only artists that have a similar magnitude of weirdness. Six Demon Bag doesn't quite match the over-the-top gorgeousness of their criminally underrated debut, The Man in a Blue Turban With a Face, but it's still really quite amazing. This should be required listening for anyone who loves music or even claims to.

My recommendations 2006:It's a Feedelity Affair by Lindstrøm

Lindstrøm: It's a Feedelity Affair
Smalltown Supersound 11/21/2006

Lindstrøm's Feedelity label website describes his sound fairly accurately: "...without any knowledge of dance music whatsoever, he entered the scene rather freed from any preconceived notions of style and trend parameters." This may be somewhat of a redundancy when describing any artist in an electronic genre - who gets a B.A. in microhouse from Juilliard anyway? - but in Lindstrøm's case, it's doubly true. He constructs house music from real, organic instruments as well as synths. If you were not given this information ahead of time, you might never figure it out because Lindstrøm blends organic and synthetic elements so seamlessly that the distinction seems meaningless (because it really is).

My recommendations 2006:Drum's Not Dead by Liars

Liars: Drum's Not Dead
Mute 3/21/2006

Not long ago, critics conveniently grouped Liars in with the DFA-style dance punk that was emerging in New York at the time, if only because of geographic proximity. Then it seemed necessary to reevaluate this categorization; Liars were apparently drifting closer to trends in noise. However, it seems now that Liars are beginning to stumble upon something completely novel. Angus Andrew's description of the ethic of Drum's Not Dead that most succinctly summarizes Liars' sound: "It's the idea of dealing with loss or change, how do you recover from that, and what that recovery can lead you to." Drum's Not Dead tells a story of two characters: Drum and Mt. Heart Attack. They symbolize both the creation/destruction dichotomy and the often turbulent history of the city Liars now call home, Berlin. The album reminds me of early Einstürzende Neubauten, both in style and in philosophy.

My recommendations 2006:Rabbit Fur Coat by Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins

Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins: Rabbit Fur Coat
Team Love 1/24/2006

There is an elusive quality in a flawless female voice that I have always loved. I have always been drawn to this particular kind of voice. I heard it in Alison Moyet's performance on Yaz's "Midnight", when it sounded as if her head might explode from the pressure. I heard it throughout all three This Mortal Coil albums from various women who have contributed their voices to the project. Now, I hear it all over Jenny Lewis' solo debut, Rabbit Fur Coat. Co-produced by Lewis and M. Ward, Rabbit Fur Coat is more country-rock than alt-country, so its twang might be a little off-putting at first. However, a little patience and open-mindedness pays off, as Lewis' voice, as well as the Watson Twins', is completely beguiling. Despite my prejudices against the particular genres explored on Rabbit Fur Coat, I must admit that any other format would have been a less perfect showcase for Lewis' vocal abilities.

My recommendations 2006:45:33: Nike+ Original Run by LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem: 45:33: Nike+ Original Run
Nike 10/17/2006

I was ambivalent about whether to recommend this release. In particular, I felt uneasy about the ethical implications of LCD Soundsystem's relationship with Nike. For one thing, Nike's human rights record is infamously abominable. They have refused to guarantee a minimum wage for their factory workers and to allow independent inspectors to tour the factories to ensure safe and sanitary working conditions. They have also been caught making false statements about working conditions in their factories and had the gall to argue in court that they actually have a First Amendment right to lie in their ads because it's political speech. On the other hand, they have been vocal advocates for the gay community in recent years, supporting domestic partnership benefits and anti-discrimation and hate crimes legislation. Then I remembered that this is about the music. On the basis of the music alone, this is a fantastic album. 45:33 is a single, continuous track of slowly shifting disco. I hope that LCD Soundsystem expands some of the sections into proper songs on future releases because they are really quite remarkable. So, if you are comfortable with downloading this album despite Nike's human rights record, I highly recommend it.

My recommendations 2006:Silent Shout by The Knife

The Knife: Silent Shout
Mute 7/25/2006

In high school I wrote a paper proposing that Scandinavian geography and climate created conditions that favored greater interpersonal dependence than in other European cultures, which resulted in some cultural phenomena that Americans might find peculiar. It was utter bullshit; I pulled it completely out of my ass without actually having done any research to back it up. Nonethless, I got an A on the paper, probably because my thesis was completely plausible. One look at the history of pop music in Scandinavian countries and one might swallow my theory wholesale. The Knife is a brother-and-sister duo from Sweden that serves as an example of this. The Olof and Karin Dreijer seem to have created a private language of cultural symbols, which the use to create a bizarre form of technopop. Or maybe it just seems weird because of my American cultural biases. Perhaps the Dreijers find Jack and Meg White incomprehensibly eccentric.

My recommendations 2006:Xan Valleys EP by Klaxons

Klaxons: Xan Valleys EP
Modular 10/17/2006

Available at Emusic

As you may be able to tell from previous posts, I am perhaps overly fond of weirdos and genre-hoppers. Klaxons definitely fall into both categories. Their sound is kind of like post-punk, grime, house and everything else that has been revived in the UK in recent years. Beyond that, their sound is very difficult to describe. Let's hope their debut album lives up to the promise of this charming EP.

My recommendations 2006:So This Is Goodbye by Junior Boys

Junior Boys: So This Is Goodbye
Domino 9/12/2006

Junior Boys' debut, Last Exit, was declared by many to be the one of the greatest albums of the 21st century so far. I liked it, but I didn't fully appreciate how amazing they were until I saw them live last year. I had gone to the show primarily to see Caribou, but I was completely taken aback when I saw Junior Boys. I was astonished at how just two musicians could create such a sublime sound. From that day forward, Junior Boys became one of my favorite new acts. It was hard to imagine how they could top Last Exit, especially considering the departure of Johnny Dark, who had been responsible for much of their sound. Somehow, with So This Is Goodbye, they did it. So This Is Goodbye is much tighter than Last Exit, much of whose appeal came from the sensation that it might fall like a soufflé if one did not take care to tread lightly in its vicinity. You could throw So This Is Goodbye against a wall without fear that it might crack. Junior Boys' sophmore album is much less blue-eyed soul and significantly more 1989 Ibiza house-inflected New Order than its predecessor. It seems that Jeremy Greenspan found an even more suitable collaborator with Matthew Didemus to expand upon Junior Boys' unique sound.

Update

You may have noticed that I haven't posted a new podcast in while. Don't worry; the podcast is just on a short hiatus. I will record and post paleunderweight podcast 30 before the end of the year. I think that it will be posted in several parts over several days. This will be a special podcast commemorating the music of 2006.

I am also going to launch another blog in the next few days. It will not replace this one; I will maintain both blogs simultaneously. The second blog will be focused on a narrower subject matter than this one is. Right now, I'm just playing with the format. I will post an announcement when the new blog is ready to be seen.

My recommendations 2006:Welcome to My World by Daniel Johnston

Daniel Johnston: Welcome to My World
High Wire 4/18/2006

Available at Emusic

Everything I've ever read about Daniel Johnston makes a point if mentioning his lifelong struggle with mental illness. Having heard this anthology of his recordings, I wonder which is his bigger problem: his bipolar disorder or just not receiving love and support from those he is supposed to be able to depend on. Johnston is frequently self-referential, and it's obvious that he's talking about himself even when speaking in the third person. His songs frequently tell stories of an anguished artist, discouraged by friends and family from doing what he loves who call him a bum. I can relate to this experience very well. At the age of thirteen, a psychiatrist told me that it was unlikely I would ever be able to function in society, hold down a job, succeed in school, etc. He told me I would probably end up killing myself, living in an institution or worse. Later, my mother tried to discourage me from going to college, saying, "Why bother? You'll just fail anyway." Sometimes, as Johnston and I both can tell you, people are just wrong. Johnston's recordings are often rough around the edges, but frequently brilliant. He continued to record despite his family's reservations and eventually influenced the likes of Tom Waits, Beck, Robert Pollard and TV on the Radio. Thanks to Johnston's determination and reliance on his own abilities, he amassed a vast body of work over many years. This anthology, as well as my graduation from college only weeks after its release, proves that mental illness need not be an insurmountable obstacle to success.

My recommendations 2006:IBM 1401, A User's Manual by Jóhann Jóhannsson

Jóhann Jóhannsson: IBM 1401, A User's Manual
4AD 10/24/2006

Available at Emusic

Jóhann Jóhannsson's father, while working as a technician on early IBM copiers many years ago, discovered that the machines emitted radio waves during their normal operations. He managed to record some the music he composed on the machines. Jóhannsson discovered the tapes years later, which inspired him to compose this symphony based on those recordings. Considering that these pieces were composed as an ode to a machine, they sound surprisingly pastoral. It just goes to show that the machines created by man reveal hidden patterns in nature. With IBM 1401, Jóhannsson shows how capable his is at interpreting these patterns.

My recommendations 2006:Silver EP by Jesu

Jesu: Silver EP
Hydrahead 4/11/2006

Critics have attempted to pigeonhole Jesu into various categories, usually some kind of subgenre of metal. Perhaps critics are unwilling or unable to see Justin Broadrick's new band in any other light because he was in Napalm Death and Godflesh. To me, Jesu sounds more similar to dark ambient acts of the mid 90s than any metal I've ever heard. Like Lycia, as well as every other band signed to Projekt in the 90s, Jesu uses slow, grinding drones to form the foundations of melodies. Unlike Black Tape for a Blue Girl and their sound-alikes, however, Jesu does it without becoming monotonous. I suppose this is because, despite how slowly the songs unfurl, there are distinct verses, bridges and choruses - all absent from most dark ambient. As much as I loved that kind of music ten years ago, I could only take so much of it, even then. Jesu, on the other hand, leaves me wanting more.

My recommendations 2006:Return to the Sea by Islands

Islands: Return to the Sea
Equator 4/4/2006

Available at Emusic

In the aftermath of The Unicorns' baleful and silly breakup, one couldn't have been blamed for thinking that the members' individual careers were over. One bizarre news story after another emerged about their questionable decisions, such as Nick Diamonds' and J'aime Tambeur's announcement that they were making a foray into hip-hop as Th' Corn Gangg. And while it was well received, The Unicorns' debut, Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?, was so ramshackle it gave little hope of longevity. In spite of all indications to the contrary, Diamonds' and Tambeur's debut as Islands, Return to the Sea, establishes both as enduring presences in indie rock that are likely to hand around a while, in one form or another. Return to the Sea is every bit as strange as The Unicorns' album, but nowhere near as childish or silly. Who Will Cut Our Hair was not a fluke; Diamonds and Tambeur have shown they are capable of controlling their creativity. Though Tambeur has already left the band, Diamonds insists that "Islands are forever." Let's hope so.

My recommendations 2006:The Warning by Hot Chip

Hot Chip: The Warning
Astralwerks 6/13/2006

I was worried about Hot Chip's signing to Astralwerks. Frequently, signing to a major label can spell doom for an indie band. Loss of creative control and incompetent representation could have destroyed what was special about Hot Chip: amateurish but deceptively danceable tunes overflowing with narcissism and bravado. I was partially right; Hot Chip did lose their amateurishness. Now, they make well-crafted and forthrightly danceable tunes, still overflowing with narcissism and bravado. There were moments on their debut that were grating simply because they were unaccustomed to using their own equipment. These moments are gone on The Warning. What Hot Chip lost has been replaced by something even better: competence.

My recommendations 2006:Boys and Girls in America by The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America
Vagrant 10/3/2006

Available at Emusic

In a climate of unabashed artsy weirdness, it's suprising that The Hold Steady are held in such high regard by critics. The don't play glockenspiels, they write verses and choruses, and their songs are about the present day. Perhaps it's the literary quality that pervades their songs, then, that indie hipsters are atracted to. The Hold Steady write stories more than songs; they have a stable of characters they put into challenging situations, usually drug-related. Or perhaps critics and fans love them because they are good at what they do. Their songs are frequently celebratory and anthemic - easy to love whether you have ever overdosed at a concert or not.

My recommendations 2006:Black Ships Ate the Sky by Current 93

Current 93: Black Ships Ate the Sky
Jnana 5/1/2006

Available at Emusic

Current 93 is one of the most dependable and constant things in this world. David Tibet is long past finding himself. Consequently, Current 93 has a well-defined sound that is unlikely to change. For most bands, this would be a liability. However, Tibet has a vast cadre of collaborators, each bringing their own perspective to the apocalyptic folk sound that Tibet pioneered. So each album sounds a little different. Black Ships Ate the Sky returns to the same epic format of Thunder Perfect Mind and All the Pretty Horses. This time, Tibet brings in more vocalists than we have seen on any previous album, including Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Antony Hegarty, resulting in seven versions of "Idumæa". These versions give the album a hub-and-spoke structure, the album returning periodically to the same reference point. Most of the rest of the songs include Tibet's distinctive vocal style in oscillates between chanting and speaking, but almost never singing. All of Tibet's favorite themes are reprised: Gnosticism, Louis Wain, Louis Wain and the Roman Empire. Longtime fans of Current 93 such as myself will find it a welcome return to form, while the uninitiated might enjoy Black Ships Ate the Sky enough to start exploring their vast back catalogue.

My recommendations 2006:Harmony in Ultraviolet by Tim Hecker

Tim Hecker: Harmony in Ultraviolet
Kranky 10/17/2006

Available at Emusic

Brian Eno once said, "'Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting." If Tim Hecker agrees with this approach, then Harmony in Ultraviolet is a success, but if you aren't paying close attention, then you are missing a lot of what is great about it. I suspect that the allusion to George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" is intentional; Harmony is every bit as complex but much more subtle, hence the Doppler blueshift into the ultraviolet. It's almost as if the Gershwin tune were left out in the elements for a few centuries, subjected to erosion and corrosion, leaving it so weathered that only an archaeologist has the eye to recognize it as a human artifact.

My recommendations 2006:From the Cliffs EP by Guillemots

Guillemots: From the Cliffs EP
Fantastic Plastic 3/14/2006

There are times when it's a real drag living in the United States. Not only do we have the shitty political climate of the last six years, but we also have to wait for albums that the rest of the world gets to enjoy months before they are released here. I have been drooling over a number of such albums that are not schedules for domestic release until early 2007: Lily Allen, Jarvis Cocker, I'm From Barcelona and Guillemots. Luckily, while I'm waiting for Guillemots' debut, Through the Windowpane, to arrive stateside, I have this lovely EP to tide me over. Guillemots go big on everything, so big in fact that all their song titles should be written with exclamation points. Not since Wham! have we seen such opulent and over-the-top arrangements from a pop band with so few members. Even The Polyphonic Spree, with its billion or so members, come up short in terms of both grandeur and quality when compared to Guillemots.

If you don't buy the new Tom Waits album, you will go to Hell.

Okay, I exaggerate. But Orphans is pretty damn phenomenal, even for Tom Waits. Buy it! You won't be sorry.

Stolen bicycle

I was going to use this evening to catch up on music recommendations, but I'm not really in the mood now. In fact, I'm positively livid.

It turns out that my roommate has known since Saturday that my bicycle was stolen out of the backyard but neglected to mention it to me until just a few minutes ago. Apparently, he came home Saturday afternoon to find the door to the from the garage into the backyard open (we have an open garage facing the street which leads right into the backyard). He found that my bicycle and his tile saw had been stolen.

He says he didn't say anything to me because he assumed I already knew. It's just common sense that if I knew, I would have said something. He also assumed that the police couldn't or wouldn't do anything about it. I guess it didn't occur to him that bicycles and power tools have serial numbers that are traceable. Had he called the police on Saturday, we might have been able to recover the stolen items. Now, who knows? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can get the serial number for my bike from the shop that sold it to me and it's not too late to file a police report.

Maybe I will get one or two recommendations done tonight, but I wouldn't count on it.

Mark your calendars...

...because Dec. 22nd is the first annual Global Orgasm for Peace!

For most of my readers, this won't involve doing anything you don't do everyday anyway. But if an orgasm isn't a normal part of your daily agenda, make sure to reserve adequate time in your Outlook calendar. Don't forget to send invitations to your partner(s) using evite or some other service. More gregarious individuals may want to consider inviting everyone in their Myspace friends list.

My recommendations 2006:Color Wheel by Growing

Growing: Color Wheel
Troubleman Unlimited 4/11/2006

Color Wheel is often lumped in with the work of Growing's contemporaries in noise such as Excepter, Wolf Eyes and Death From Above 1979. However, this doesn't tell the whole story. Color Wheel is more similar to Brian Eno's Discrete Music in its elegance and breadth. Rarely does noise overshadow the ponderous drones. Fuzzy, cacophonous bits of detritus float past one another on a sea of pure tones. The overarching theme is balance; rhythms throb unchangingly over periods of up to twenty minutes to give stability to the compositions, while random flares of noise break up the monotony.

My recommendations 2006:Yellow House by Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear: Yellow House
Warp 9/5/2006

It's great to see that Warp Records is finally diversifying their portfolio. For years, their catalog was all IDM all the time: Autechre, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, etc. While these acts are all great, what will Warp do when IDM falls out of favor? It seems that they are beginning to hedge their bets, and wisely so. Last year they released Maxïmo Park's great (though overhyped) debut, a skittering, spastic post-punk album that was similar in ethic, if not in style, to their established artists. Now, they have released Grizzly Bear's sophmore effort. Yellow House continues the trend of postmodernist genre recombination that some of the year's best albums have exhibited. Americana, psychedelia and post-rock are the primary sources used for constructing Grizzly Bear's sound. If Warp is wise, they will make Grizzly Bear the flagship band of a new cadre of artists, more eclectic and diverse than the label has ever had.

My recommendations 2006:The Tragic Treasury: Songs From a Series of Unfortunate Events by The Gothic Archies

The Gothic Archies: The Tragic Treasury: Songs From a Series of Unfortunate Events
Nonesuch 10/10/2006

I believe that fifty years from now, music historians will look upon Stephin Merritt with the same affection that they do Cole Porter now. Like Porter, Merritt is extremely prolific, having released hundreds of songs under his various guises: The Magnetic Fields, The 6ths, Future Bible Heroes and The Gothic Archies. Also like Porter, Merritt can write a flawless pop song seemingly without effort. The Tragic Treasury is full of such songs, all overflowing with the dark, twisted wit of their creator. This gallows humor, which is used only sparingly on other Merritt endeavors, comes out in full force here, as over-the-top and tongue-in-cheek as he can get away with. Listening to The Tragic Treasury is like eating a birthday cake with your hands in the dark by yourself when it's not your birthday; you enjoy it though you get a sense that you shouldn't. This is, after all, a song cycle inspired by a series of children's books written by Merritt's former bandmate (Lemony Snicket was once a member of The Magnetic Fields). However, this is not children's music. This is a mature highbrow lowbrow kind of album - not inappropriate for a child, per se, but it was obviously intended for an adult intellect.

My recommendations 2006:Lunático by Gotan Project

Gotan Project: Lunático
XL 4/11/2006

Available at Emusic

This joint Argentine/French/Swiss project aims to revitalize tango music and stimulate interest in the genre by infusing elements of electronic forms. When I read something like this, I immediately think of the Starbucks impulse-buy area next to the counter where they sell vapid and sanitized "world" music. However, even if it does end up being sold at Starbucks, it certainly doesn't sound boring or watered down. Gotan Project manage to sound authentic to tango tradition and innovative simultaneously - a true feat when trying to meld two or more disparate genres. It's not likely to inspire me to sign up for tango lessons at the local Arthur Murray studio, but it has opened my mind to the potential of tango in hands as capable as Gotan Project.

My recommendations 2006:Supernature by Goldfrapp

Goldfrapp: Supernature
Mute 3/7/2006

Goldfrapp seems to have finally hit their stride. Their previous albums, Felt Mountain and Black Cherry, had some great tracks but were marred by some lackluster songs as well. Not so on Supernature. Nearly every song is as catchy and thrilling to warrant being released as a single. There are a few tracks that exhibit the signature combination of glam and electronica that we have all come to expect from Goldfrapp, but they seem to be growing as well. Supernature demonstrates that Mute is the perfect label for Goldfrapp. They fit in well with classic Mute acts such as Depeche Mode, Yaz and The Normal, while displaying influences from Mute's Grey Area reissues of Can, Throbbing Gristle and SPK. This is an album can be easily enjoyed by indie snobs like myself and musical philistines alike.

My recommendations 2006:St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley

Gnarls Barkley: St. Elsewhere
Downtown 5/9/2006

It seems that Danger Mouse is everywhere these days. Only three years ago, he was completely unknown, and then his controversial Beatles/Jay-Z mash-up The Grey Album made him a household name, among music hipsters anyway. Since then, he became a member of Gorillaz on their Demon Days album, collaborated with MF Doom as DangerDoom, resold altered copies of Paris Hilton's album's packaging with a clandestine remix CD-R inside, and is now working with Cee-Lo Green as Gnarls Barkley. Cee-Lo is a great choice for a vocalist, because he is indeed a soul machine as his last solo album suggests, as opposed to Doom, who may enjoy being called a soul-crushing machine. St. Elsewhere has some of the best the both artists bring to the table: Danger Mouse's wicked humor and even more wicked beats coupled with Cee-Lo's strong and soulful vocals, resulting in a solid album, start to finish.

My recommendations 2006:Night Ripper by Girl Talk

Girl Talk: Night Ripper
Illegal Art: 5/9/2006

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that Night Ripper is going to be at the top of many critics' lists this year. Greg Gillis, AKA Girl Talk, constructed Night Ripper entirely out of samples of popular songs. Some would argue that this is completely unoriginal, but that would be completely untrue. Unlike a lot of other mash-up artists, who combine two or three similar songs to highlight their similarities, Gillis takes pieces of dozens of very different songs to create something completely original. It's clear that Gillis loves music. He uses the most energetic and climactic chunks of songs - a great bassline, an infectious chorus, an effortlessly flowing rap verse - to show his audience exactly what there is about music to love. Night Ripper is something you can listen to over and over again in succession and never get tired of it, tapping your foot and bobbing your head the whole time.

My recommendations 2006:In the Maybe World by Lisa Germano

Lisa Germano: In the Maybe World
Young God 7/18/2006

Available at Emusic

Considering that Young God Records was created to reissue classic Swans albums and the solo projects of Michael Gira and Jarboe, the label has had remarkable success at launching the careers of new artists that Gira has discovered: Devendra Banhart, Larsen, Windsor for the Derby, Akron/Family, Mi and L'au, etc. Now, YGR is trying to reinvigorate the career of an established artist who has been tragically overlooked: Lisa Germano. Germano is a phenomenal violinist, pianist and songwriter. After having worked as a session musician for the likes of John Mellencamp, David Bowie and Indigo Girls for many years, she released come critically acclaimed albums that sold poorly, both on major and indie labels. Somehow, despite her talent, she has been criminally ignored by the indie rock crowd. In the Maybe World is a great example of her abilities as a musician and songwriter, but if the lukewarm reviews of this album are an indication, Germano and Young God Records are in for an uphill battle to get her the attention she deserves.

My recommendations 2006:Shattered by The Exploding Hearts

The Exploding Hearts: Shattered
Dirtnap 10/31/2006

Available at Emusic

Shattered is a tragically appropriate title for this posthumous (in more than one sense of the word) album. In April 2003, The Exploding Hearts released their superb debut album, Guitar Romantic, which was received very well by fans and critics alike. The following July, their tour van flipped over on an interstate, killing everybody inside except guitarist Terry Six and manager Rachelle Ramos. Shattered collects all of their recordings that were not included on Guitar Romantic. It shows that their debut was no fluke; every track is an example of the astonishingly catchy and well-crafted post-punk/power-pop that made Guitar Romantic one of the best albums of the decade so far. It's just one more reason to mourn the destruction of The Exploding Hearts and to hope for the best for Terry Six and his new band, The Nice Boys.

My recommendations 2006:He Poos Clouds by Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy: He Poos Clouds
Tomlab 6/13/2006

Available at Emusic

Musicians that work alone, such as Final Fantasy's Owen Pallett, have the luxury of being able to write and record in their own peculiar way, without the compromise inherent in group settings. This isn't always a good thing; independence often leads to overindulgence, as Cex has shown, or to a lack of diversity, such as Kieran Hebden's most recent ouput as Four Tet. Pallett, on the other hand, seems to have the ability of self-restraint, too rare in indie musicians these days. He lets his lap pop/chamber pop compositions roam but knows when to rein them in. His best ideas are allowed to flourish but he doesn't do them to death. He Poos Clouds is humorous, strange and clearly the result of a singular vision, but not so insular as to be soulless. In fact, these songs are often quite poignant. As much as I enjoy this album, I think his next two or three albums will be increasingly better, as Pallett hones his ability to balance independence and empathy.

My recommendations 2006:Drowning in a Sea of Love by Nathan Fake

Nathan Fake: Drowning in a Sea of Love
Border Community 3/20/2006

This gem has not yet seen domestic release, which is a real shame, expecially considering much of the dreck that has been released in the U.S. this year. Nathan Fake isn't going to be accepted by most American music consumers, though, since he is bucking all of the current trends in rock and electronica. As soon as you think that he is following the well-worn paths established by IDM pioneers like Boards of Canada and Aphex Twin, the song progresses for a few seconds, gradually morphing into something that My Bloody Valentine or sunn o))) might envy. Drowning is hard to pin down because it shouldn't be pinned down. Attempting to pigeonhole Nathan Fake is as distasteful as vivisection and only slightly more humane. Drowning should roam freely, unhindered by the cages in which those who see music as something to be tamed might wish to confine it.

Misanthropy day

Whenever I think I couldn't be any more appalled by human behavior, I read the news and get slightly more appalled.

Today I read that Mike Tyson is making a career change. He will be a prostitute at Heidi Fleiss' new Nevada brothel for female clients. I have to question Heidi's judgment here. First, Tyson has shown he can't be trusted around women. Second, any woman who would pay to have sex with Mike Tyson should be admitted to a mental facility for observation, because she is clearly a threat to herself.

I imagine something like a three-tier pricing scale for the modern woman with discerning sexual tastes. First, the Desiree Washington experience, which involves a tiara and forced intercourse. Slightly more pricy, but worth every penny, is the Robin Givens experience, in which masochistically inclined ladies get pummelled about the face while having sex with Tyson. Finally, the Evander Holyfield experience allows the wealthest matrons to enjoy the very finest Tyson has to offer. It's basically a Robin Givens with a special bonus: Tyson gnaws off all the cartilage on the client's face and head. Now, that's luxury!

I have to wonder whether Heidi really considered all her options. If she wants a washed-up celebrity, why not one who is somewhat less, er, felonious? How about Wilford Brimley? He hasn't been working lately. How about the men that have nothing better to do than SciFi Channel original movies, like Lance Henriksen or Judd Nelson? Sure, they aren't much to look at, but there are women with very particular tastes who might go for them. In any case, they are all superior to Tyson in almost every way.

Maybe Heidi wants to exploit the untapped market of women who write love letters to serial killers. If 90s daytime talk shows are any indication, they are more common than one might think. Perhaps the "have sex with a famous misogynist and rapist" angle is a sure money-maker and Heidi is just the first innovative entrepreneuse to exploit this overlooked market and Nevada's premissive penal code to build what will become America's first chain of franchised brothels. Ten years from now, there will be a Heidi's Felon Fuck location on every city block in the country - and three on ASU's Tempe campus.

One good thing will come out of this: Mike Tyson will move out of Arizona. I'm sure his neighbors in Paradise Valley are already lining up to help him pack.

Louis Wain

My recommendations 2006:Transparent Things by Fujiya & Miyagi

Fujiya & Miyagi: Transparent Things
Tirk 5/15/2006

It has been said that Fujiya & Miyagi are at the leading edge of a burgeoning krautrock revival movement. This may be true, but to me they seem to owe more to late 70s Kraftwerk proto-techno, Air, Parliament and DFA Records than they do to Neu! or Can. Actually, a corpus analysis of their lyrics, a shepherd's pie of English, French, German and Japanese, would reveal more about their influences than any of the Tirk Records talking points regurgitated by lazy critics thus far. Transparent Things borrows liberally from the best musical ideas to originate from all of these cultures in the past thirty years. For three years I have struggled to convince people to accept my theory about the origin of new musical forms: out of the current postmodernist recycling of 20th century styles, the first truly 21st century genres will eventually emerge. It seems now that I have been wasting my breath; I should just sit back and let bands like Fujiya & Miyagi prove my point.

My recommendations 2006:Hollinndagain by Animal Collective

Animal Collective: Hollinndagain
Paw Tracks 10/31/2006

2006 could hardly be called a year without an album from Animal Collective. It's been so long since we've seen a full calendar year without one that, for all we know, there may be some kind of Groundhog Day effect at work that would require us to start the year over unless Avey Tare, Panda Bear and co. emerged sometime before New Year's Eve to perform their obligatory calendric ritual. Having realized that their time was running out, not wanting to unnecessarily prolong the administration known as the "madness of King George" for another year, Animal Collective exhumed an extremely limited edition vinyl-only live album from 2001 and gave it a proper release. This is pre-Here Comes the Indian Animal Collective, so don't expect any campfire sing-alongs about winning rabbits and not going to college. The songs are almost completely amelodic (is that even a word?) and often more than a little abrasive, but the hypnotic percussion at the top of the mix draws you in anyway. It's as if they brought all of the elements of music to the performance but reassembled them in a configuration that's completely ignorant of Western musical dogmas. If you require music to have a tune and a melody in order to enjoy it, you will hate Hollinndagain. On the other hand, if you can listen with an open mind, then it might just become one of your favorite albums this year.

What is news-worthy?

When an American citizen commits suicide by self-immolation, a death so slow and agonizing that fewer than ten suicides by this method have ever been recorded in the U.S., in the middle of rush hour on a famous public sculpture in the busy downtown of one of the most populous American cities to protest the most controversial war in which the country has ever been involved only days before the most important midterm election in over a century, shouldn't it make the news?

When Malachi Ritscher burned himself alive on a public works sculpture in a crowded Chicago square on the Friday before the election to protest the U.S.'s involvement in the war in Iraq, not one major news service outside of Chicago covered it. I only found out because of Pitchfork's feature article this morning. If he wasn't prominently involved in Chicago's music scene, they wouldn't have covered it.

When an insignificant celebrity files for dissolution of a brief marriage to an even less significant public figure on the day of any national election, shouldn't it be a mere footnote in the day's news cycle, at the very most?

When Britney Spears filed for divorce from her former backup dancer after two years of marriage on the day of the most important midterm election of my lifetime, it was breaking news on every major television network and news service, overshadowing all of the election-related news that had been reported up to that time.

More evidence that we are living in a society gone mad.

The saddest part of all this is that Ritscher intended to draw attention to the injustice of this war by killing himself in the most spectacular way possible, but he severely overestimated America's capacity to give a flying fuck about anyone who hasn't been on MTV.

America's priorities are fucked up, to say the least.

Congratulations to South Africa!

...on becoming the first nation in Africa to legalize gay marriage.

How many nations will precede the United States, the so-called "land of the free and home of the brave," in this courageous step towards full legal equality?

My recommendations 2006:Cannibal Sea by The Essex Green

The Essex Green: Cannibal Sea
Merge 3/21/2006

Available on Emusic

I was surprised to learn that The Essex Green were part of The Elephant Six Collective, which included bands such as Neutral Milk Hotel and The Olivia Tremor Control. You wouldn't know it from Cannibal Sea, which lacks that schizophrenic quality that pervaded NMH's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea or OTC's Dusk at Cubist Castle. Instead, The Essex Green craft short and sweet power-pop tunes with catchy melodies and great hooks. Despite its lack of experimentalism, Cannibal Sea has plenty to offer and is never boring.

My recommendations 2006:II by Espers

Espers: II
Drag City 5/16/2006

It's ironic that the bands lumped into the music press construct known as New Weird Americana tend to exhibit a high degree of Anglophilia. Take Espers, for example, whose most apparent influences include Incredible String Band, Nick Drake, Bert Jansch and Vashti Bunyan. Like their British forebearers, Espers emphasize sweeping melodies and lavish arrangements that include strings, guitar and vocal harmonies. Though psychedelia has clearly influenced their sound, Espers are unusually succinct, tending not to allow their compositions to noodle and stagnate needlessly, but rather reining their compositions in before they become tiresome.

My recommendations 2006:The Boxing Mirror by Alejandro Escovedo

Alejandro Escovedo: The Boxing Mirror
Back Porch 5/2/2006

Few musicians (outside of gangsta rap) could benefit more from a witness relocation-type program than Alejandro Escovedo. Almost every review of The Boxing Mirror makes a point of reminding the reader that Escovedo's niece is a famous percussionist that once collaborated with Prince, as if our impressions of this record should be affected by this knowledge. Not to knock Escovedo's family, but at the very least he deserves to be evaluated on his own merits. Luckily for him, his merits are plentiful. Escovedo is a gifted songwriter in the Americana/country/blues rock tradition. If he should be compared to anyone, it should be Jeff Tweedy or Howe Gelb. Actually, to be more accurate, they should be compared to him.

Nerd porn!

This animation comes to you from Harvard via Mr. Sun. Click on the inimitable Ms. Raquel Welch below to view:

My recommendations 2006:Modern Times by Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan: Modern Times
Sony 8/29/2006

I think that a proper appreciation for music in general should include due reverence for the 20th century's great songwriters: Cole Porter, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, etc. For some reason, though, I never gave Bob Dylan much notice until Modern Times. Having heard the album several times now, I don't know how he could have eluded me until now. Even having released over fifty-some albums, he's still such an amazing songwriter. I initially bristled at some of the styles included here, but Dylan's attention to detail has won me over. From the craftsmanship Dylan displays on these songs and in the diversity of their styles, it's easy to see now how he has influenced, and been influenced by, my favorite songwriters. I will likely revisit his earlier catalogue now, and if Blonde on Blonde and other albums are better than Modern Times as so many fans claim, then they are sure to become some of my all-time favorites.

My recommendations 2006:Yes, Virginia… by The Dresden Dolls

The Dresden Dolls: Yes, Virginia…
Roadrunner 4/18/2006

The Dresden Dolls describe their style as "Brechtian cabaret punk". Being not entirely sure what they mean by "Brechtian", I had to look it up. According to the Wikipedia entry on Bertolt Brecht, his style of theater was intended to "provoke rational self-reflection and a critical view of the actions on the stage." In this sense, I'm not entirely sure The Dresden Dolls describe their music accurately. The way they cause the listener to empathize with their characters is, in fact, very un-Brechtian. I'm totally on board with the "cabaret" descriptor, however. Everything about Yes, Virginia… is theatrical and emotional. Imagine Antony Hegarty's Blacklips Performance Cult performing songs by Kander & Ebb. That comes close to describing the overall tone of Yes, Virginia…

My recommendations 2006:Donuts by J Dilla

J Dilla: Donuts
Stones Throw 2/7/2006

Available on Emusic

It's taken me until the past two years to start getting over the bad taste that was left in my mouth by mainstream hip-hop. I was turned off by the seemingly narrow subject matter and the overt homophobia and sexism in all the MTV-friendly rap and hip-hop that was popular during my teens. However, after reading some appealing reviews of underground hip-hop records from independent labels, I started testing the waters. After a few positive experiences, I got over my preconceptions. Donuts exemplifies what I thought was missing from hip-hop. It's a very strange record, eschewing typical song structures for very short compositions that blend into each other to create a surreal sound experience. It's completely unlike anything I had expected from any form of music, let alone hip-hop.

My recommendations 2006:Destroyer's Rubies by Destroyer

Destroyer: Destroyer's Rubies
Merge 2/21/2006

Available on Emusic

I have a soft spot in my heart for such unabashedly weird artists as Detroyer's Dan Bejar. He is refreshingly unconstrained by the rules of traditional indie rock song writing, letting his ideas roam free without adorning them with artsy bullshit. The results are completely sincere yet schizoid epics along the lines of David Bowie's "The Cygnet Committee". Just when you think you know where the song is going, it unexpectedly darts off in a random direction. Bejar somehow integrates the song and its nearly a dozen independent parts into a seamless, cinematic whole.

My recommendations 2006:The Crane Wife by The Decemberists

The Decemberists: The Crane Wife
Capitol 10/3/2006

In some ways, it's scarier to love a band that's still working and creating than one that no longer exists. No matter how great a band is, it will eventually peak and decline. Every time The Decemberists release a new record, I brace myself for the inevitable. I always fear the worst: that they have used up all their best ideas and the new record will be mediocre. When I heard The Crane Wife, as has been the case with every Decemberists record so far, my fears were assuaged. They seem to be beating the odds, for now anyway. Their sound has definitely changed - it's harder and rougher than it has ever been - but they haven't lost the baroque quality that makes them great. The Crane Wife hasn't yet grabbed me like Picaresque did, but it just might become my favorite Decemberists record so far. If this album is any indication, they haven't even reached their peak yet.

My recommendations 2006:Ships by Danielson

Danielson: Ships
Secretly Canadian 5/9/2006

Available on Emusic

A project like Ships, whose purpose is to gather as many collaborators as possible into one room to make a record, would have failed under the direction of anyone who took themselves more seriously than Daniel Smith. Fortunately, Smith's insistence on making a fun, energetic record succeeded. Many of the collaborators who worked on Ships, such as Sufjan Stevens and Serena Maneesh, can get kind of heavy and depressing on their own, which isn't a bad thing. It just would have been misplaced on a Danielson record. Thanks to Smith's unifying vision, everyone brought a sense of frivolity and their silliest ideas to the table, resulting in the most solid and effortlessly enjoyable Danielson effort to date.

Poo and Milly pictures

Last week, I posted about Michael's new kitten, Shadow. As a result, a couple of readers have requested pictures of Michael's other cats, Miss Milly and Poo Stinky. Here's Poo in the sink:

Here's Milly in bed:

Here they are together: