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Archive for the ‘Dystopia’ Category

My Great Depression: Ten dispatches from the near future (Harper’s, June 2009)

Posted in Anachronisms, Barack Obama, Ben Katchor, Ben Marcus, Colson Whitehead, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, David Rees, Dilbert, Dystopia, Garfield, Get Your War On, Harper's, Hüsker Dü, Jamaica Kinkaid, Kevin Baker, Minnesota, Ruben Bolling, Sherman Alexie, Short Story, Simon Critchley, Technology, The Family Circus, The Replacements, Thomas De Zengotita, Tom McCarthy, Tom the Dancing Bug on June 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »

hapersSOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (1981).

sorrymaSince I’ve been talking about The Replacements so much, it made me want to go back and listen to their stuff.  The Replacements are the quintessential band that “grew up” or “matured” and for better or worse sounds utterly different from their first album to their last (a span of only nine years!).  In fact, I don’t imagine that there are too many people who would enjoy all seven of their discs.  One suspects that if the band themselves were given a copy of their All Shook Down disc in 1981, they would have smashed it.

So this was their first release. It has 18 songs in about 30 minutes.  That’s pure hardcore, right?  Well, not exactly.  Even though the songs are short and fast and quite sloppy, there’s something about Paul Westerberg’s voice and delivery that makes these songs seem not quite hardcore.  He enunciates!  And you can understand him most of the time. And, maybe this is a better indicator: there’s parts to these songs, it’s not just breakneck pacing.  They also have song titles that belied how good their song writing would become.  Like: “Shiftless When Idle.”

In fact, “Johnny’s Gonna Die” isn’t fast at all.  It shows what the kind of songs that they would eventually write: literate and moving indie rock.

There must have been something in the water in 1981 in Minnesota.  Hüsker Dü, the other amazing punk outfit out of Minnesota (referenced in the ‘Mats song “Something  to Du”) also put out a blistering live hardcore record in 1981 called Land Speed Record (17 songs in 26 minutes, listed as 2 tracks on CDs because they don’t pause in between songs).  Like the ‘Mats, Hüsker Dü wouldn’t recognize their later incarnations in 1981 either.  And why are The Replacements abbreviated as The ‘Mats?  I don’t know.

But this ‘Mats record is the kind of sneaky record that can get you to enjoy punk even if you don’t think you like it.  There’s something so fun about Sorry Ma, that you don’t really notice that it’s all done so fast.

[READ: May 22, 2009] “My Great Depression”

This essay collection is tough to catalog.  Do I include all of the authors in the title of the post, do I pick selected ones, or just go with none.  Yes, go with none.

Harper’s asked ten authors/artists to send stories from the near future, after the economic collapse of the country. All of the pieces are three columns or less, and some are more enjoyable than others. (more…)

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Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith–Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009)

Posted in 19th Century, Adventure, Art Brut, Dystopia, Funny (ha ha), Jane Austen, Marriage (Happy), Military, Neutral Milk Hotel, Portishead, Quirk Books, R.E.M., Seth Grahame-Smith, Supernatural, The Decemberists, U2, Violence, Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me, WRSU 88.7 FM--New Brunswick, NJ, WVPH 90.3 The Core--Piscataway, NJ, Zombies on May 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

pride-zombiesSOUNDTRACK: The Core: WVPH, 90.3 FM.

coreThe Core is also from Rutgers University.  How do they have two radio stations?  Interestingly, the station is shared with Piscataway High School.  For several hours a day Piscataway High School takes over the airwaves.  Although I admit that I have not listened to any of the PHS stuff because the first block is at 6 in the morning, and the other block is from 1- 3PM.

The college folks, however, play a pretty excellent selection of alternative music.  They’re not quite as indie and out there as WRSU, but they’re not commercial either.  To me, they’re more of the kind of college station I’m used to from my days as music director at the University of Scranton.

In the few days that I listened, I heard a lot of familiar alternative artists, with a nice focus on new bands.  What I especially liked about the station was that they didn’t play too much in the way of commercial alternative (your U2s and R.E.Ms who were once alternative but are now mainstream).  Rather, they played bands like Art Brut, The Decemberists, Portishead and Neutral Milk Hotel: bands that many people have at least heard of, but that you won’t find anywhere else on the dial.

This is the station that I would turn to most if my CD player busted permanently.

The only thing I didn’t like about it, but which also reminded me of my days as a DJ, was that college DJs tend to talk A LOT.  We all think that we are imparting precious wisdom to the masses.  And often, that is true.  Although in this one case, the DJ said that the name of the band was Art Brut Vs Satan, which is in fact just the album name.  (See, I’m still a pretentious music snob!).   However, when I’m having dinner and reading a book, I don’t need a seven minute update about that last concert that you went to.

[READ: May 19, 2009] Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

When I first heard about this book (as a punchline on Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me at my brother-in-law Tim’s house), I couldn’t believe it was real.  I was so intrigued by the concept, and then so impressed by the reviews, that I couldn’t wait to read it.

And this book does not disappoint.

For those out of the loop: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is, as the title suggests, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice with good old zombie action thrown in.  Elizabeth and Darcy… What?

Yes.  Zombies.

Seth Grahame-Smith has taken Pride and Prejudice, changed a few details and then added an entire…well, subplot is not right…more like an underlying condition to the story.  It turns it from a story of love and marriage into a story of love and marriage amidst zombie brain-lust. (more…)

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Philip Roth–The Plot Against America (2004)

Posted in Dystopia, Free Speech, Nazis, Pearl Jam, Religion, Set in New Jersey!, South, Threats, Violence, War on May 5, 2009| Leave a Comment »

plotSOUNDTRACK:  PEARL JAM-Live on Two Legs (1998).

2legsThis is the first official Pearl Jam live release.  It is compiled from a number of different concerts, yet it flows pretty seamlessly. It highlights how much faster many of the songs became during their live shows.  This increased their power almost uniformly.

This disc also works as, not really a greatest hits, because there are plenty of hits left off the set list [most of Ten, notably] but maybe a greatest hits of all the non-Ten songs.

A track listing would be the most sensible way to cover what’s on here, since  it is uniformly solid and enjoyable.  And I don’t have too much to say about each track.

Corduroy-Vitalogy
Given to Fly-Yield
Hail Hail-No Code
Daughter-Vs
Elderly Woman-Vs
MFC-Yield
Go-Vs
Red Mosquito-No Code
Even Flow-Ten
Off He Goes-No Code
Nothingman-Vitalogy
Do the Evolution-Yield
Betterman-Vitalogy
Black-Ten
Fuckin’ Up–This song bears a mention as it is a cover.  This is their first recorded cover of a Neil Young song.  Later, this song and “Rockin’ in the Free World” became staples of their live shows.  On here, they play a gorgeously sloppy rendition of this track.  It perfectly encapsulates the record: raw energetic and more than a little vulgar.  Perfect.

The set list also belies the fact that No Code isn’t as popular of a disc as the others.  There are three tracks from each of their records (except Ten which has two).  And the No Code tracks sound as good as the rest.

This is a good representation of Pearl Jam around this time, and it’s a good place to investigate their live sound (until you’re willing to take the plunge into the 72 self released live discs).

[READ: 2004 or 2005] The Plot Against America

DIGRESSION: I read this book a few years ago, and I didn’t remember the details all that well.  However, the overall story had a pretty big impact on me–especially in that it made me want to read more Philip Roth.  So, I’m going to include it here.  Some of my summary comes from other sources, but I do include my own recollections too.

I’ve never read Philip Roth before reading this novel.  Despite all of his famous works, he’s always slipped under my radar.  But the urgency and political nature of this book made me want to read it right away.

What was so interesting to me about the novel was that, even though it is a fictionalized account of things that didn’t actually happen, I didn’t know a lot of the history behind the story.  And so I actually wound up learning a bit of American history from this novel. (more…)

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Oisín McGann–Daylight Runner [Small Minded Giants] (2006)

Posted in Adventure, Dystopia, End of the World, Free Speech, Harry Potter, Irish Writer, John Keats, Modest Mouse, Oisín McGann, Roddy Doyle, Sci-fi, Set at School, The Smiths, Threats, Violence, YA Books, Yuck! on April 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

daylightSOUNDTRACK: THE SMITHS-The Queen Is Dead (1986).

queenisdeadYears ago, when I was a young metal head, my friend Garry expanded my musical palette by introducing me to a lot of college rock (or whatever it was called back then).  The album that had the most impact on me back then was this one, The Queen Is Dead.

Unlike most listeners and fans of The Smiths, I was first drawn to them because I found this album to be very funny.  Now, true, Morrissey is a funny, literate writer, but the general consensus is that the Smiths are mopey, sad, depressive, you know, goth.  I guess I was more interested in the words than the music at the time?

And of course, it was “Bigmouth Strikes Again” that really sold the deal for me, as “Now I know how Joan of Arc felt…when the flames rose to her Roman nose and her Walkman started to melt,” is pretty twisted and funny.  [To the sticklers: all these lyrics are paraphrased somewhat].  And “Vicar in a Tutu” is weird and wonderful, with a rollicking skiffle beat that propels the song at a mighty pace as the vicar “comes sliding down the banister.”

Even “There is  Light that Never Goes Out” is a depressing sing about dying together, and yet the phrasing is pretty darn funny: “If a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.”  And lest we forget the peculiar disc ender, “Some Girls are Bigger Than Others.”  Certainly a true statement regardless of whatever he’s talking about.

My introduction to this disc was in the days of cassettes, and we listened to side 2 a lot, but side 1 is also fantastic.  The title track is a great opener: fabulous melody, rocking drums and a great verse about Morrissey breaking into the palace and being told by the Queen that he cannot sing.  Next, “Frankly Mr Shankly” is a 2 minute poppy song, also twisted, with lines about “making Christmas cards with the mentally ill.”  And “Cemetery Gates” is a twisted little fun piece which namechecks Keats, Yates and Oscar Wilde.

And lest we forget the rest of the band, the music on this disc is varied and wonderful.  The music of “The Queen is Dead” is funky bass, smashing drums and the gorgeous guitars of Johnny Marr.  Since The Smiths broke up, Morrissey has been in the spotlight far more than Johnny Marr.  Morrissey’s solo career is flying pretty well these days, while Marr has been a sideman in a lot of different  bands (currently Modest Mouse).

Johnny Marr’s guitar playing has always been a fascinating mix of textures and effects.  No one would say that he was a show offy guitarist–I don’t think there are any solos in his career at all–but the sounds he creates are weird and more than appropriate to the songs.  I’ve been playing guitar for years and I’m not even sure how he makes some of those sounds.

The Smiths were a great band, and this is one of my favorite albums.

[READ: April 10, 2009] Daylight Runner

My friends Louise and Ailish told me that they met this author in their hiking group.  I imagine all kinds of interesting Irish folks climbing the coastline of Ireland talking literature….  Anyhow, when they told me about this author I pictured a fledgling writer who was trying to get his book published…and they read it and thought it was really good.  I was intrigued, and Louise said she’d send me a copy.  And she did.

What I didn’t realize is that she was able to order it from Amazon, and that McGann is a rather prolific author in Ireland.  He is primarily known for his kids and YA books.  So they know a widely respected and published author.  That is almost as cool as my friend Christopher being taught by Roddy Doyle before he wrote The Commitments. (more…)

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Italo Calvino–“The Daughters of the Moon” (New Yorker, February 23, 2009)

Posted in Constellation Records, Consumerism, Dystopia, End of the World, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Italo Calvino, Life, New Yorker, Outer Space, Short Story, Silver Mt. Zion, Supernatural on March 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

ny223SOUNDTRACK: THEE SILVER MT. ZION ORCHESTRA & TRA-LA-LA BAND-Thirteen Blues for Thirteen Moons [CST051] (2008).

13-bluesI’ve enjoyed most of the output by (A/Thee) Silver Mt. Zion (Orchestra (& Tra-La-La Band)) over the years.  So, I naturally picked up this one when it came out.  And I’m torn by the record.

This disc contains 4 lengthy tracks.  But unlike fellow Constellation label mates Godspeed you Black Emperor, they are not orchestral pieces that ebb and flow until they reach a climax.  Rather, they are almost punk-orchestral pieces.  They have different sounds throughout the disc, sounds that are powerful, tender, angry and very raw.

And musically I think the album is pretty great.  The problem I have, which I hadn’t noticed on previous releases, was how much I don’t like singer Efrim’s voice.  He simply doesn’t have a very good or strong voice.  It sounds weak and exposed, and, given the content of what he’s singing about, that is either perfectly appropriate or wildly off base.  It seems to work well on “1,000,000 Died to Make This Sound” and yet for “blindblindblind” I just want him to be quiet and let the gorgeous backing choir take over.

And that’s the thing about SMZ, the backing vocal chantings are sublime: whether they are beautifully supportive or disconcertingly discordant, they are perfectly apt to the songs.

I guess when I think of SMZ I think of them as a collective band, an orchestra who works together to create their sound, and in many instances on Thirteen…  Efrim just stands out too much.  And who knows, maybe that’s the point, maybe that’s the punk aesthetic they wanted to bring to the album, I just think it takes a little something away from the beautiful noise they make.

[READ: March 4, 2009] “The Daughters of the Moon”

This is the first piece I have read by Italo Calvino.  Calvino’s name has been around for ages, but I honestly didn’t know a thing about him.

This story was written in 1968 (and was just translated into English) and as soon as I began reading it, I knew that it was a dated piece.  Not because of things like mentioning Life magazine, but because the naked women that populate the story were all referred to as “girls.”  And there was something about it that made my pop culture references hit upon Woody Allen’s early 1970s movie where he calls all the women that he’s interested in “girls.”  It seems strange that that stood out to me so much, but it just came across as something that a writer wouldn’t write anymore, or even pre 1960s.  At least as far as naked women were concerned.

And, about the naked women…

The story concerns the disintegration, capture and removal of the moon.  It is told by Qfwfq, who fills in the details of this extraordinary event.  Despite the fact that the narrator is named Qfwfq and it concerns the destruction of the moon, the story is set in Manhattan.

The moon is off course, it is wobbly and disconsolate.  And so are the residents of Earth.  One night, when Qfwfq is passing Central Park, he sees a naked woman in the park; she has removed all of her clothes and is lying prostrate to the moon.  She climbs on to his car and they race across the city to a large junkyard, where she and many other naked women support the moon with their power.

But soon a crane comes and tries to add the moon to the junkyard’s pile of old, discarded materials.

The story is a thinly veiled allegory of consumerism and disposable culture.  And I suppose that the allegory is so thinly veiled that I found it a little too obvious.  Maybe, it’s because the story is nearly 40 years old, and the topic is always in discussion now, but it seemed very obvious to me.

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Clifford Chase–Winkie (2006)

Posted in Adventure, Clifford Chase, Dystopia, Free Speech, Funny (ha ha), Funny (strange), Futurama, Meta, Nirvana, Political Humor, Pregnancy, Prison, Racism, Religion, Short Books, Soiled Underpants, Supernatural, The Flaming Lips, The Replacements, Threats, War, WMDs on January 14, 2009| 2 Comments »

winkieSOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-Oh My Gawd!!!..The Flaming Lips (1987).

gawd1The cover of this disc makes a statement.  And it should tell you everything you need to know about the music inside.  It’s got skulls and psychedelic colors and Oh My Gawd!!!  And yet, it doesn’t, exactly.  It’s not quite as out there as the cover might make you think.

Because it’s funny how much this disc’s first song sounds like the Replacements (except where he starts singing about his brains falling out and everything exploding…not quite ‘Mats material).  But Wayne sounds like early, sloppy Paul Westerberg, and the riffs are not too far off from some of the early ‘Mats records.

Even the wonderfully titled 9 minute epic  “One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Afternoon” isn’t quite as much of a freak out as you might expect.  In fact, the early instrumental part is one of the prettiest melodies they’ve done.  It is particularly interesting given its sparse instrumentation.   The song does eventually drift back into earlier Pink Floyd territory (“Astronomy Domine” etc). But it’s “The Ceiling is Bendin'” that is the freak out you’re looking for, with a fun drum fading and the chaos.  “Maximum Dream for Evil Kenevil” on the other hand is a noisy mess (a fun noisy mess, but a noisy mess nonetheless).

It’s clear that they’re doing some good experimentation with audio effects.  And yet “Can’t Exist” is a delicate little song with just a light touch of feedback.

The first half of “Prescription: Love” is a rocking instrumental that would not sound out of place as a Nirvana B-side (but since it came before Nirvana, let’s say maybe on an SST Records track.  The second half returns to the garage rocking sound (with some funky deep vocals dubbed on…the first of many experiments with voice on future albums).

“Ode to C.C., Pt. 2” feels like it’s going to take of in an explosion but never does. But it has the excellent line “Hell’s got all the good bands anyway.”  “Can’t Stop the Spring” is another fantastic riff rocking song, and it starts and end with a classical music sample.  [Which I can’t place right now, sadly].

The disc ends with “Love Your Brain,” a 7 minute piano workout –which ultimately ends in the destruction of the room.  It sounds like every instrument in the place is destroyed.

So this disc expands the sonic weirdness of the Flaming Lips’ first disc, and it also showcases their growth as musicians.  It’s not a brilliant album by any means although it is quite good.  The most interesting thing is seeing how much they are experimenting with sounds now, and how it will pay off for them later on.

[READ: Late 2006 & December 2008] Winkie

I read this book two years ago, and my memory of it is not that great.  I’m only including it because I really enjoyed it at the time, and would like to make some record of having read it.

UPDATE: I have decided to re-read this book while on P breaks at work.  I am now utterly unsure whether or not I read the book fully last time.  I have just finished it again, and I was totally surprised by so many things (although one or two things did trigger my memory) that I really had to wonder if I finished it.

So, the story is about a stuffed bear named Winkie.  Winkie was a beloved toy of the Chase family and most recently of Clifford Chase [see author’s name now].  As the story opens, Winkie, the stuffed bear, is being tackled by the FBI as they arrest him for terrorist activities.  [You can re-read that sentence to see if your brain digested it.] (more…)

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Max Barry–“Springtide”, Cory Doctorow–“Other People’s Money”, Warren Ellis–“The Position”, Lowell Yaeger–“Factory”, Michael Bagnulo–“Abstract” (Forbes, October 15, 2007)

Posted in Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Cory Doctorow, Dystopia, End of the World, Forbes, Funny (ha ha), King's X, Lowell Yaeger, Max Barry, Michael Bagnulo, Political Humor, Sci-fi, Short Story, Technology, Thin Lizzy, Warren Ellis on September 25, 2008| 7 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: KING’S X-Ear Candy (1996).

I think of Ear Candy as King’s X most upbeat record musically. Even the cover is upbeat!  It’s their first cover in ages which isn’t dark and forbidding.  It actually has a white border!  And of course, it’s hard to miss the psychedelic, brightly colored scarab beetle.

And the music matches the cover really well.  The opener, “The Train” is a catchy bit of near psychedelic rock which brings Ty’s vocal to the front.  It seems to set the tone for the rest of the album.  Even “Picture” contains a simple guitar riff reminiscent of the joy of Out of the Silent Planet.

I’m jumping down to “Mississippi Moon,” one of their supremely pretty songs ala “Goldilox.”  It’s more of a bluesy ballad, but the chorus is just amazing.

“A Box” continues the loveliness from the beginning of the album.  Its message, that there’s no room inside a box, seems to apply to the band’s more claustrophobic sounds as of late.  But lest you think they’ve gone soft, “Looking for Love” is a fabulous rocker, which makes me think of Thin Lizzy. 

Ear Candy also features “American Cheese (Jerry’s Pianto)” a rare track with Jerry Gatskill on lead vocals.  It contains the most Beatlesque sounds of a band that is full of Beatlesque sounds.  This one maintains a great deal more psychedelia than previous songs.  It’s not prog rock by any means, it’s just straight up psychedelia.

Lyrically, Doug opens up about his loss of faith; “Run” addresses it directly: “Yeah she told me, that if I wasn’t good He would get me, make me pay for everything I did, and she said that everybody bad would burn in Hell. I did what she told me and I became someone else.”

Despite the negative feelings in the above song, musically the album is very positive: a lot of the distorted riffs are toned down, and the album feels less angry.  I think this disappoints some of the band’s fans, but it retains such authentic King’s X sounds that it’s hard to argue with it.

[READ: September 5, 2008] “Springtide,” “Other People’s Money,” “The Position” “Factory” & “Abstract”.

In 2007, Forbes magazine asked five authors to write about this scenario: “It’s the year 2027, and the world is undergoing a global financial crisis. The scene is an American workplace.” I discovered these stories when I was looking up some information about Max Barry (I had just read Company). I was surprised to see that the stories were in Forbes, but whatever.  When I saw that there were five authors given the assignment I decided to try all five. (more…)

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Cory Doctorow–Little Brother (2008)

Posted in Adventure, American Libraries, Be Your Own Pet, Black Flag, Corporate skewering, Cory Doctorow, Dystopia, Funky Web Sites, Funny (ha ha), Military, NPR/PRI/PBS, Prison, Record Labels, Set at School, Smarty Pants, Technology, The Muffs, Threats, Upton Sinclair, Video Games, War, Wikipedia, WMDs, YA Books on September 19, 2008| 5 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: BE YOUR OWN PET-Get Awkward (2008).

Be Your Own Pet are a bunch of young kids from Nashville.  Get Awkward is their second album.  According to the liner notes, two of them were born in 1988 and one of them in 1990.  1990!  They play three-chord punk music which focuses primarily on having fun and partying.  I like to think that Black Flag’s “TV Party” might be an influence, but really they sound more like The Muffs than anyone else.   Jemima Pearl is one of those surprisingly cute punk singers who explode in a gruff gravelly voice (although never TOO rough or gravely) which makes all the proceedings quite fun.

The songs are short (only 2 songs are over 3 minutes), fast, and generally fun.  Song titles like “Food Fight,” “Zombie Graveyard Party!” “Bitches Leave” and “Bummer Time” should give you some sense of what the songs are about.  I’m led to believe their first album was a bit more aggressive (enough to get Thurston Moore to sign them to his Ecstatic Peace record label).  But this one keeps pretty well to the three chords (and occasional guitar riff) and fun shouting and singing.

It seems like every few years there’s a new young punk band who takes up the mantle of punk rock and BYOP were the most recent (although their web site says the just broke up).  And it’s cool for young kids to have a new young band to look up to.  Much like the theme of the book below, if you’re over 25 you ‘ll probably just think that this band is ripping off [insert your favorite brash young punk band here] but really who wants to listen to 40 year olds singing about parties and whatnot.  So, if you’re looking for a new young band, then, check them out.  There’s not too much new about them, but then, that’s not the point, is it.

And according to Wikipedia, three tracks were removed because they were deemed too violent (!).  Maybe the album is well suited to this book after all.

[READ: September 16, 2008] Little Brother

I have to get this out of the way:  READ THIS BOOK!  It is fantastic and it will motivate you like nothing I’ve read.  READ IT READ IT READ IT.

Okay, I feel a little better.

I read an interview with Cory Doctorow in American Libraries, the magazine of the American Library Association.  It was a short interview about this book, and he said such great things in a few paragraphs, that I immediately went to work and checked out the book.   And, wow, what a fantastic book.

This may be the kiss of death for any young reader, but Little Brother is an important book.  And everyone should read it.  And yes, I know it is fiction, but fiction can be a very powerful tool for waking people up to injustice.  Upton SInclair’s The Jungle was instrumental in the creation of the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which established the Food and Drug Administration.  Not bad for a work of fiction, eh? (more…)

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Gary Shteyngart–Absurdistan (2006)

Posted in Anya Ulinich, Black Sabbath, C.S. Lewis, Consumerism, Corporate skewering, Dystopia, Funny (ha ha), Gary Shteyngart, King's X, Meta, Military, Religion, Russia, Sex, The Beatles, Violence, War on September 5, 2008| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: KING’S X: Out of the Silent Planet (1988).

I just got the newest King’s X CD XV a little while ago, and I really liked it.  I figured I’d go back to the beginning and see how much they’ve changed over the last twenty (!) years.

When I first heard Out of the Silent Planet, I was blown away.  I had never heard anything quite like it.  It had heavy heavy bass (I always said it was like Black Sabbath, but that’s not really accurate), but they also had beautiful harmonies like late-period Beatles.  Add to that Doug Pinnick’s amazing gospel/soulful voice.  And top it off with some great acoustic guitar playing and unusual instruments.  Amazing. The heaviness is more of a dissonant sound that has become more popular in the last few years: complex chords that are played very heavily.   I wouldn’t say that King’s X had anything to do with that popularity, but I heard it from them before I heard others do it.

The one thing that really struck me about the album was just how dissonant some of those chords are. I always think back on the album, which I’ve listened to hundreds of times, as being sweetly harmonic, and yet really the chords are quite aggressive.  And the riffs are in a dark, minor key.  Which is why those beautiful harmonies make such an impression.

The other thing that really struck me was how religious the record is.  Now, when it first came out I didn’t really think of the religious aspects of the disc.  There really weren’t any Christian metal bands back then, (except for Stryper) at least not on the cultural radar, and they didn’t proclaim their religiosity overtly, so I just didn’t see it.

But starting from the title: Out of the Silent Planet is a book by C.S. Lewis (of Narnia fame).  And much as Narnia is a thinly veiled Christian allegory, so is Out of the Silent Planet.  You can read Narnia and not see the Christianity in it, but once you know its there, it’s unavoidable.  Same with this album.  The lyrics are not overtly Christian, but there’s enough symbolism to tell that when he sings about You, it’s not romance, but God he’s singing about.  A verse like “Sometimes my cup is empty; I wish that it stay full; cause I am always thirsty; I can’t get enough of you” can be secular or religious depending on your point of view, and I think that makes the album great.

Plus, it’s got the fantastic “Goldilox” a beautiful song, no qualifications needed.  It’s a gorgeous ballad.  but lest you think that it’s all sweetness, the album closer “Visions” ends with an unqualified thrash out…which comes after the song should end properly.  Ty Tabor’s guitar work is pretty amazing.

Wow, it’s a great album.

[READ: maybe December 2006/January 2007] Absurdistan.

I read this book a couple years ago, certainly before I started keeping this blog, but while I was working at the library.  My memory of it was fuzzy.  But when I referenced it in the Petropolis write up I was sorry that I hadn’t written about it.  As I’m reading the details of the book in a book review, much of it is flooding back, so I feel comfortable saying a few words about it.  Plus, I just did a fascinating thing: I skimmed the book for details.  It was fun to “read” this entire book in about two hours.  I got lots of great details, remembered parts of it, and enjoyed re-reading some of the funnier parts. (more…)

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Kurt Vonnegut–Player Piano (1952)

Posted in Consumerism, Dystopia, Funny (ha ha), Kurt Vonnegut, Marriage Trouble, Technology, Universities, Yo La Tengo on August 30, 2008| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: YO LA TENGO-I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (2006).

I’ve liked Yo La Tengo for a really long time.  And not only because they’re from Hoboken and play Maxwell’s pretty much every week.  I wouldn’t call them a favorite band, but most of their singles from the 1990s are some of my favorite songs.  I find that they don’t really release great albums, and they don’t really release bad songs: they release great songs and good songs, and their albums are made up of some combination of these.

The great title of this album, is something of a misnomer, as you might expect a riled up and raucous record.  And the first song, the nearly 11 minute squealing guitar rave-up “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind” goes along with that premise.  But some of the middle songs like the piano ballad “I Feel Like Going Home” and the 8 minute instrumental ballad “Daphnia” are mellow, and rather pretty.  In fact, the album is kind of all over the place.  Some songs really stand out: “Mr Tough” and the long opener and closer are really great.  The middle is a bunch of solid, well-crafted songs.  For some reason, not too much left an impression on me, even though I enjoyed the disc while I was listening to it.

[READ: July 18, 2008] Player Piano

When Kurt Vonnegut died, I made a note to myself to read more, if not all, of his books. I had read Slaughterhouse Five and Time Quake maybe one or two others, but I figured I’d make the effort and start from the beginning.

Player Piano was his first book. And what a way to start. The time is the future, after the next war; the second industrial revolution. Machines now do most of the work that people used to do. In fact, machines now determine what job you are allowed to do. If your IQ is tested high enough, you can become an engineer (or manager) of the machines. If not, you get assigned to the Reeks and Wrecks: Reconstruction & Reclamation Corps, or basically, manual labor: fixing the roads and other maintenance projects. It imagines a future in which machines can do everything. And, it’s pretty horrible. (more…)

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