as if i weren't already going

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

just an interesting little happening that occured the other day.

figured i should post it given recent events and its relation to music, so here it is:

i was heading to class last week, listening to my ipod (actually matt’s ipod), and was listening to John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band, which i never think to put on. Just a random pick.  and as i was walking to class on november the 5th, the final lyric in the song “Remember” says somehting regarding Nov. 5th, followed by an explosion sound. weird right? ,that i won this 1/365 chance lottery? that was already coincidental. then the next song, “Love” goes on to sing “POWER TO THE PEOPLE!” which i assume is related to something election related?

All this happening on the day after obama is elected president?

coincidence? i think not.

i believe this is a hypnotization somehow created by the obama campaign, where they made john lennon fans across the world put on this album, and hear those two songs back-to-back.

hes doing great things for this country already.

-Thomas Hanks

Britney Spears (Nah, for real!)

I saw Britney Spears’ relatively new music video, “Piece of Me,” on MTV. I was shocked, and then saddened, and taken aback.

I was in a hotel room, people were drinking and crossing in front of me, the television was playing in the background with the sound off, and I was far from sober. Perhaps I gleaned more insight because of those factors. Because all I could see was the visual, there was no music to distract me, and I think the visual is what was most significant.

I suppose because I hadn’t thought of her in a while, for me, the quintessential image of Britney Spears is her MTV VMA performance of “Satisfaction/Oops I Did it Again,” which I watched in 10th grade and was mesmerized.

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You cannot deny the magnetism of that performance. She is seductive, provacative, and full of energy; she owns the stage; she’s a performer.

That memory of her is naturally supplemented by her Baby One More Time catholic school girl outfit, her Rolling Stone covers, and the Esquire pictures, to create the image I have (or rather, had) of Britney: the embodiment of hot young sex.

Needless to say, that Britney had faded away over the last few years, as the onslaught of tabloid covers will attest. But for whatever reason the tabloids hadn’t affected my image of her. Maybe I was just proud to ignore all tabloids and gossip in general, or didn’t care in the first place. Whatever the reason, there was an image of SexyBritney that had remained cryogenically frozen in my mind, and it was suddenly shattered when I watched that video.

There was a bit of a warning: a year ago, I had felt bad for her when I saw the “Gimme More” MTV performance where she looked so listless (and maybe even drugged- no?) and completely embarrassed herself. But I was even quick to foregt that.

Not this time around. This video was a cousin of that performance, but I suspect because it was a video, planned, rehearsed, edited, maybe photoshopped, generally carefully prepared, the message was that much bolder and harder to ignore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4NayXtzsBo

(Why didn’t I embed it? HA! Because embedding is “turned off by request” in every single version of this video that’s available. Not surprising, eh? Take a minute to watch it before you read on.)

She looks middle aged, a cougar. Though she’s only 28, she looks old and beaten down. Most telling is the quality of her energy. It is by no means fresh or vibrant, but so obviously desperate, reaching for past glory. So much of sexiness is attitude and confidence and here she lacks both completely. It’s the difference between demanding attention by sheer force of presentation and pleading for it.

…the grotesque way she leans over to show you her cleavage…her uninspired, perfunctory dance moves (compare with above)…or that she’s too timid(?) to dance at all for the most part…It all is (was) very depressing. Pathetic, really.

It made me sad for her and jolted me into thoughts of time passing, and what it means to trade on your appearnce, the harsh rules of celebrtiy culture, etc. And while wading through those thoughts, I pitied her.

She was hot and a sex symbol, maybe even THE sex symbol for a period of time, and I suppose seeing that video really illustrated how much of a fall it is from that absolute peak.

Immediately after, a Rihanna video came on. Her video reminded me of Britney far more than Britney’s video did.

-Pez

Currently Listening to: Felice Brothers Self-Titled

(no subject)

Pitchfork Media review of Wilco at Lollapalooza:

About halfway through Wilco’s set, I thought that I already had my review figured out: Make a joke about Barack Obama not showing up, make a joke about how the band’s snazzy rhinestoned Nudie suits couldn’t cover up the numbing mediocrity of the music on their last two albums. Point out that “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” (which they played second) is still a fucking amazing song, and Nels Cline is still a fucking amazing guitar player (see: his solo on “Spiders [Kidsmoke]”). Say something about how the whole thing was pleasant but dull, whatever.

But then, during “Pot Kettle Black”, a guy in a Hawaiian shirt standing next to me with a beer in his hand asked me how I was enjoying the show. I said I was kind of bored. He looked stunned. “But it’s such a nice night!” he exclaimed. “Everybody’s having such a good time!” He waved his arms around to indicate all of the happy people around us.

You know what? Fuck it. He’s right. How can I hate on a Wilco show on a beautiful (and not humid!) night in downtown Chicago? Regular dudes having a good time making music for regular people having a good time listening to them. Couples with their arms around each other, families sitting on picnic blankets, high school kids sneaking cigarettes. Everybody singing along to “A Shot in the Arm”.

I’m not that mean. It was a great time. There, I said it.

A couple of newsy notes: Wilco played a new song, apparently called “One Wing”. It started out as a pretty, melancholy jam with lyrics falling squarely in the Tweedy self-hatred canon (“I was a curse,” “I cast a shadow on this world,” etc.) But then it built to a nasty, noisy climax complete with a ripping Cline solo. Right on.

Also, former Cardinals fan Jeff Tweedy threw out the first pitch at the Cubs game today, and Wilco led “Take Me out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch— a job done yesterday by Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello. Yay, Chicago! [And…woot, back-to-back homers by Reed Johnson and Alfonso Soriano! In your face, Milwaukee.— Ed.]

Moonrises and Sunsets

I’ve been working on this album since about the beginning of June with Matt mostly, and it’s the most professional sounding work of music I’ve made to date. I’m happy with it, but my opinion really isn’t enough, so I’m posting it here to find out what other people think. If you like it and you know someone else that may like it, feel free to send it to whoever you like. any feedback would be great. thanks.

To download the album, go to http://www.mediafire.com/?il1ymur0jid

Also, a story was written to go along with one interpretation of the lyrics, and the story can be found here.

Posted By Danny