I love the process of voting. I am one of those old fashioned types who believes that one should actually go to the polls, stand in that little plastic booth and punch the card with your choices. I have yet to give in to the absentee process mostly because I think it robs us of the joy of electing people and making choices on those propositions interest us the most. I admit that often I approach voting with less than a full plate of understanding of the intricacies of the different measures and some of the lesser known judges that are running. But I still like the pageantry of election night. I will be glued to the TV as the results come in and states are lite up either red or blue. (by the way, how cool are the sets for election night. Seriously who wouldn't want to play with a huge electoral map).
One of the odd things about the Britpop of the 90's is that it was divided into several camps. You had those bands that came from Manchester and had a decidedly dancy style to their music. You had the bands that were still recovering from the shoegazer movement. Then you had those bands that were climbing the pop charts by channeling the Beatles and the Stones (*cough* Oasis). Every once and awhile one of these bands would dabble with their musical formula and would be met with either derision by the mainstream press or adoration for stretching their musical legs. Herein lies the problem with a band like KULA SHAKER. These lads had several strikes against them when they first came to prominence:
I have never been one who likes to drive. Part of this is due to the fact that I currently tool around the greater San Gabriel Valley in a 1993 Nissan pick up that is lovingly referred to as a "P.O.S.". But it is also due to the fact that I get bored easily and a long drive is just about the greatest form of torture for someone with ADD. So with the new move arrives a special present; a 45 minute commute to and from work!! This has meeant getting up a half hour earlier (those of you who enjoy sleep undersatnd the importance of the last half hour of rest prior to the day) and sitting in traffic with the countless others on the 210 freeway heading off to the day's activities. Then when the day is done I get to do it all over again.
I always admire other bloggers. It takes dedication and passion to keep posting music day in and day out (lord knows I have trouble putting down a post a week!!) So when bloggers move beyond the realm of just commenting on music and onto actually putting music out I have to take time to say "Way to Go"! One such blog I frequently read is 17 Seconds run by a very knowledgeable chap named Ed who has started his own label. Taking the DIY spirit to heart and putting out what I hope is a long line of great Scottish bands that are sorely in need of some attention. Case in point is ABERFELDY, which has just released a a divine slice of pop heaven as a single called "Claire/Talk Me Round". If you love catchy indie pop then check out these songs on their myspace and by all means by the damn single when it comes out. I know Ed will appreciate it.
So, I stopped watching the Video Music Awards via MTV (perhaps the most misleading moniker in TV these days..but that's a post for another time). Anyway, I stopped watching the VMA's mainly due to the fact that most of the artists that are performing are not my cup of tea. But I happened by the show a few days ago, just in time to catch KANYE WEST's live performance of his new single, "Love Lockdown". Some thoughts about the performance and Mr. West himself:
Some bands just catch lightening in a bottle. They are great for one record and then disappear. For some it's not that they don't release other stuff; it's merely that it's ignored. For others, one record is all they can muster. ELASTICA actually fit into both categories. I remember getting the 7" record of their first US single "Stutter" (back in my radio days when records were still pressed for playing purposes) and I was shocked at what I heard. Not since THE PRETENDERS, had I heard a female voice with such power and focus. Justine Frischmann had the kind of raw emotion to her voice that made their songs jump out of the speakers and grab hold of you. I must have played "Stutter" three dozen times prior to the release of their debut record. Needless to say, my hopes were high for the whole album. And it did not disappoint. Now, Elastica, wasn't exactly setting off in uncharted waters with their mix of pop and punk but it had a real sense of urgency and the entire collection had a drive and immediacy to it that it mad it infectious. Then radio got a hold of "Connection" and everything changed. Justine became the new it face of British rock (due in large part to her very public relationship with Blur's Damon Albarn) and the band couldn't put a follow up together. Time came and went, as did several members of the band, and most of the world forgot about the band.
I have made no secret of my disdain (or perhaps apathy is a better word) for the last BLOC PARTY album " A Weekend in the City". Maybe it's because "Silent Alarm" was so good and so polished for a debut that I raised the bar on the band too high. Maybe it was that I had a poor digital download of the album which made the nuances harder to appreciate. Maybe the darker feel wasn't where I was at the time, but the whole album left me wanting more. Anyone can see these guys could very well be a great band and make great music for a long time. But with the surprise release of their third album "Intimacy" we might be seeing a full fledged band emerge with the kind of adventurous spirit of RADIOHEAD or U2.
THE BLUETONES were supposed to be a big deal - at least, that's what the PR guy from their US label said to me in line one night at the annual CMJ festival in New York. CMJ was a magazine/charting service for College radio that was my personal bible while in college. When I was in the industry, these charts were the make or break for a new band because it told the world whether or not a band had indie cred. This is an antiquated notion these days, but a fair analogy would be a hit record today on about a thousand blogs would be the same as getting played on a thousand college stations back then. So, when you went to CMJ, you would be seeing the hippest and coolest of the music industry at that time. Each night was a collection of showcases for different bands trying to sway stations to play them on the air. Each night there was that one band that was the big ticket that every radio and industry type wanted to see. For one night in New York, The Bluetones were that band.
It's amazing how reliant I have become on technology. Now, I have always been relatively in tune with the latest gadgets and advances. But over time I have become more and more attached to the notion that I can get information any time I want via the Internet. For many of us who lived prior to the Internet days, this development has changed how we act when we go on vacation. I recently spent 10 days on a ranch in Southern Oregon where I had no cell-phone reception (thereby slicing me away from being able to check my blackberry for e-mail), a computer with a dial-up modem (which makes getting information off the net next to impossible) and a local paper that was 14 pages total (mostly about local news which has no bearing on my life). Add to this the fact that, even though there was cable TV, it was in another state so forget trying to keep up on local baseball teams and their games. I was reduced to checking the ESPN crawl at the bottom of the screen over and over to see if the Angels were winning or losing. For someone who has a information addiction this is some form of sadistic torture.
Summer school is at an end so it's time to pack the family up in the car and head North to the great state of Oregon for our annual family trip. This year we decided to try to minimize the pain on the boys and drive through the night rather than wasting an entire day. This does mean, however, that I will have to pull an all nighter to accomplish this feat. So given the fact that I have to rest up and that I will be on vacation for the next 10 days I leave you with a couple of parting gestures. See you in a couple of weeks...
In every movement there are those bands that don't get the respect and admiration they deserve as compared to others. THE AUTEURS clearly are one of those bands. Led by singer and principle writer Luke Haines, The Auteurs brought a sense of poetry and lyricism to the Britpop movement that cut against much of the original working class leanings of the other larger bands. Haines traveled in imagery of French lifestyle and love found and lost. The bands use of acoustic guitar and synths gave their sound a more cosmopolitan feel as if plucked from the soundtrack of a foreign film.
From time to time I get insomnia. My wife also suffers from this inability to get to sleep, but in a much different capacity than what is currently afflicting me. Her's requires a nightly sleep aid to allow her to sleep. Mine strikes intermittently making it impossible to even lay still in bed. I can't really say what causes it or why it strikes, but it's as if my body has these twitches and leaps in it making it very hard to drift off to sleep. Sometimes I can pinpoint a cause (usually consumption of large amounts of caffeine prior to bed does the trick) but then there are those nights when it becomes obvious that sleep is not coming soon. So what does one do? Do I lie there in the dark hoping that something will allow me to calm down? Do I give in and take a drug knowing that the sleep will not be true? So, instead I came out here to the computer to type to see if that might help center my thoughts. So I have nothing original or thought provoking to say just musings to pass the time.I suppose I could write a review of THE DARK KNIGHT since I saw it today, but what could I say that would be unique or new to the conversation? (other than that I personally enjoyed it quite a bit despite the unrelenting darkness of the film and yes Heath Ledger is very good...)
I could take the time to talk about the state of my beloved LA ANGELS (best record in baseball) but since no one else in mainstream sports media cares about them then why should I?
I could opine on the state of the US economy and the eerie parallels between the current situation and the beginning of the GREAT DEPRESSION of the 1930's (but that would only put you to sleep, not me)?
I could pick something random and just babble on about it, but that might just get my mind all fired up and then I never get to sleep!!! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY MADDENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I put this to you dear readers, how do you fight insomnia? How do you drift off to sleep when every ounce of your body is fighting you? Leave suggestions in the comments section. I'm gonna go have some warm milk...
