no nino rota

2008-02-25T14:32:00.006-05:00

wheat? chaff? eva hesse.

there's a weird thing going on when someone is said to have "the best taste in (x)." most people can tell that its a statement loaded with ramifications. but it's something that is said with enough frequency that it certainly is an attitude that is shared by a lot of people. so many that the statement can be seen as culturally mainstream. established and whatnot.

the statement says a few things:

1. there is an ideal taste, taste can be ranked. taste is no longer subjective. there are some standards that apply to taste.
2. somehow taste is not completely self-determined - if not, we would all assume the taste we deem 'best.' forces outside of simple preference are at work, things beyond control, on a scale too large to dissect. taste seems to choose you. and you know the ideal taste has not chosen you.
3. as (x), be it music/art/books, is not a static body of work but instead is consistently augmented, taste must be adaptive. taste must deal with change. people's tastes change with everything they encounter. this ideal taste, too, must change.

a hierarchy of taste reigns. what we read and see is dictated by necessity. we can't read or here everything. and yes, this has positives. you can imagine how anxious we would all be if we really thought that the best books written were not being read, and the best films of our time were not being made at all. but we are reassured - people with 'taste' advocate for us all along the chain. we need not grind our teeth over what we may be missing. in fact, when people gripe about money ruling hollywood, they are really griping over taste's relegation to second place.

but what happens when the dictates of this hierarchy of 'taste' aren't obvious, where taste perhaps has no foundation on which to build? where the objective goodness we are convinced exists is nowhere to be seen? where you couldn't even tell if someone has the best taste or average taste or bad taste? where am i?

that's why, i think, contemporary art confuses people and angers people, and maybe deservedly. there are no clear parameters, and a small group of largely arbitrary people are busy making arbitrary decisions about what has substance and what doesn't. as someone who knows very little about it, this is exactly how i feel about 50% of the time: dear lord, who is in charge here?

however, in the remainder there are things i look at and say "something, somewhere in there, is functioning as it should be." the hierarchy i recognize as 'proper' is embedded in there.

it took that long semantic exercise to justify this post on eva hesse.

it took that to preface why i think of her as a sculptor - a very very very good one. her work is what could be called "untraditional." i can barely describe what i like about it.

i think form is so powerful because it communicates feeling completely outside of language. it finds a route into our brain outside words. so there is really no way to use words to describe how i connect with it, but i can look at even a picture and say hey i like that. here are some more.

ingeminate, 1965.

hang up, 1966

right after, 1969

2008-02-11T16:06:00.001-05:00

my favorite animal.

this diary is about things i like or think about a lot. so with further ado.....

i could do a little fancy bit on how the life of the koala could serve as some sort of model for a human's in this oh-so-modern world. wouldn't that be oh-so-david foster wallace of me?

but i am going to let the speak for itself. it says, "look at this guy."

2008-02-10T14:25:00.000-05:00

teenage symphonies to god.

i apologize for walking out on this journal and forgetting to shut the door behind me. i suppose that with my return to this and the radio, i am reclaiming my 2006 life. much of my time has been occupied by this and that, but regardless 'no nino rota' has reinstated me as 'only guy here.'

and with that, hello to all. this is going to be long and somewhat autobiographical.

paul mccartney believed that the title 'greatest song ever written' belonged to brian wilson's 'god only knows.' While you read this, try to remember that i am in the wild, passionate throes of a white album renaissance (since the summer it has dominated my music listening). Paul's comment incited within me a hectic sorting out of my attitudes, when you realize the way you think about one thing should be in the context of many more things.

unfortunately, and perhaps tragically, my generation is one of the first for which it will be impossible to construct enough of the context around the beatles and the beach boys that will be required to appreciate them in totality. it's overwhelming to even to put them in the context of each other, to think that at one time they were doing something similar to answering one another with music. Wilson fired off Pet Sounds, the Beatles answered with Sgt. Pepper's, and Wilson in turn wrote Good Vibrations, Surf's Up, and went to bed for a long time.

and here i am, listening to both albums with some degree of regularity, never really putting them together.

my associations with Sgt. Pepper's mostly revolve around my junior year of high school. i guess we did, perhaps unknowingly, make an effort to experience it on its closest terms: most of the time on vinyl, much of the time on drugs (except for me because pot can't touch my brain?). this is where 'lovely rita' lives in my head, next to things that fell by the wayside a long time ago (I can say with confidence I will never see Requiem for a Dream again). this was the first beatles album that i considered very carefully.

pet sounds was a bit more circuitous. my brother sang 'sloop john b' in chorus sometime when i was in middle school. pet sounds in its entirety comes with my living on my own out here by the great lakes. i thought about buying it on vinyl somewhere in toronto but i settled on just downloading it.

now paul mccartney's comment would, in a perfect world, shift my perspective on these two bands. it's clear these two were writing songs back and forth. this dialogue should enrich my listening. it's clear that 'god only knows' and the white album's 'i will' are companions and they are all the more beautiful side by side. they tell a similar story sung similarly soft and sweet. it's really wonderful. figuring that 'i will' is both lovingly original and a very, very deft response to something else lovingly original is a big big thought.

and i guess what i am getting at is, even with that in mind, 'sloop john b' is my favorite song on pet sounds. not because i can find it in a grander scheme of things, but because my brother used to sing it all the time in our basement. and even though i think the songs on the white album are maybe better than those on lonely hearts club band, the latter is still what i would call my favorite beatles album. these are judgments based on my own arbitrary set of associations, my own frame.

mccartney et al had their own frame to apply to their music. And to appreciate anything they produced in its totality, that is, and to precisely know this frame's dimensions. which i would hold to be impossible for many, many reasons but the most obvious being the separation of time, that john lennon was dead before i was born. this makes my frame quite a bit different. but then, now that i know our frames will never fit, i learn 'sloop john b' may as well be my favorite song from Pet Sounds.

i think there's nothing wrong with this whole situation. it's just weird is all.

{Jonathan Coulton covers 'I Will.' He is friends with John Hodgman and quite talented.}
{Brian Wilson sings 'God Only Knows.' accompanied by photo montage.}

for those of us who are dismayed at the fact that you will never appreciate art entirely if you are out of its time, i sympathize with you. i read chaucer. a lot. i want to believe in the timelessness of things too.

for revolver apologists: as you can see i am not one of your number. it's middle of the pack on my beatles album depth chart.

2006-12-13T01:32:00.000-05:00

he drew the map of america way too big.

After a semester of Asian American literature, I could tell you a lot of things about Orientalism and assimilation vs. acculturation and Charlie Chan. But I am going to cut to the chase, and post this link of Andrew Lam's excellent short story "Show and Tell," as it is a highlight and doesn't require much context. Other than that, if you're looking for good AA lit, I would suggest Chang-rae Lee and anyone from the Phillipines or their descendants (Carlos Bulosan, Jessica Hagedorn, etc etc). That country, man, they can write.

And also I saw UR's Dan Price play the Drama House coffee house deal the other day and if you STILL don't believe me that he is really, really good and you can tear yourself away from BitTorrent for one hour to see him play, for the love of God visit his myspace. Tuesday November 2 is my personal favorite. Ju-jajuba was set to play but Cory was sick. And you ain't goin' nowhere without Cory, Ju-j.

2006-12-05T02:44:00.000-05:00

"we're not playing anymore until we get six soy lattes on the stage."

The first thing you'll notice is the video quality - surprisingly high 'res.'

Then you get this post's title - kind of obnoxious. You can be honest. Just cause you're in a great band doesn't mean you can just ironically make knowingly-hip-sorta-serious-half-threats on stage. I'm pretty sure it's in the Talmud, somewhere in theres. I think I read it in The Chosen.

Third thing, how tight is Ladybug Transister live? Sure, there's not too much going on around them, but this one's a keeper.

2006-11-24T15:02:00.000-05:00

FROM THE BIG CHURCH TO THE BIG RIVER AND OUT TO THE SHINING SEA

Background - Billy Bragg used to be 'totally righteous' and his leftist anger was looked on as somehow appropriate. Now he's regarded by many (re: the English) as a suburban socialist, yelling slogans for labor causes from his gated community. I will allow him a degree of bourgeois comfort as he runs roughshod over pretentions you didn't even know you had in his lyrics.

Take "Help Save the Youth of America."

In one sense, he allows us to retain our self-important he-was-a-young-American attitudes - that we're in some sort of privileged position, one not only of pound-for-pound future power but of knowledge and freedom and even taste (rock music and Disney movies have marched around the world). We've still got that world-running swagger, the lingering aftertaste of the american century. Our American history courses end with perestroika and glasnost and one superpower left standing. We learn a few Russian words so that we can know their slow surrender in their native tongue. We rescued Western Europe from fascism, Eastern Europe from communism, and then we made movies about it.

I know it's been said before - that we Americans sit on our thrones and watch the rest of the world so on so forth - but Bragg sees the legs coming out from under us, a la Europe 1914, and how this will affect surfers. The idea of the world saving the youth of America doesn't jive with our own ingrained attitudes - our parents messed up, its up to us to make it right, and we either can or can't. It's us to the rescue or no. But being rescued? Bwah? Not in the programming of isolation versus intervention. We are the deciders!

So realize this isn't about guitars and things. But look at the last few generations. The first dimension they're defined on is music. Elvis, the Beatles, the Bee Gees, the Ramones, Duran Duran, Nirvana. Music sheds quite a bit of light on being young at a specific time. It's the most convincing argument I can come up with for that really obnoxious "music is life/music is so important to me!/i'd die without my music" belief that I just so happen to ascribe to.

2006-11-15T00:02:00.000-05:00

"we'll sing a crooked path back to our home"

Well it's getting to the point where I can sort of remember the smells of changing seasons in Massachusetts. You get a lot of time to absorb that fall smell there and as a result it has always been my favorite season (we just skip the season here in rochester, I wasn't around when that decision was made). It's also close to the point where I maniacally check concert venues in Boston (rather, Allston and Cambridge really) to see what I can see! I usually can't see anything. And there's usually one show that I am really aggravated to miss.

This year it is definitely Hallelujah the Hills, for a variety of reasons.
1) Check out their show schedule. They are nearly constantly playing a show there. I think they have 82 shows in November. Of course, they are taking Thanksgiving and the weekend off. Take it on, guys, take it on! You're young!

2) They actually sing about Massachusetts. I sympathize with this and willingly admit I give to much credit for it. Local bands from back in the day would do it all the time, just inserting our ungainly moniker into the chorus as a line unto itself. let me try to mimic it:

"toyota corolla's busted, in the shop

i shot the tv for the sox game on fox

massachusetts

i'll never get bored with you"

Makes "Boston you're my home" look like Wallace Stevens, the way we used to fawn over our state (although it is the best one in the Union [runner-up Oregon, last place Florida]). Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers could pull it off well. The Cars didn't really try. The Pixies' "UMass" gets honorable mention.

3) This band is really good? I know, weird. My sporadic posting has been due to the fact that little has demanded the time out of my quasi-masochistic schedule. A merry band of Guided By Voices fans for sure, that carve their own little world of love for homeland with the four minutes of static they are given. Sure, their lo-fi resources pin them to at least a somewhat GBV sound, but the lyrics are even more reminiscent of Guided By Voices - "there is no context for this progress/ a village epidemic reaches Congress" - and a song title like "My Scientist Colleagues I Bid You Farewell" only reinforces it. But man. You can root this in Guided By Voices but I feel like this isn't throwback indie rock - it's undoubtedly a step forward. I love when great indie rock songs come 'round to remind me of how daring and creative and simply wonderful the Wrens, Sebadoh, Built To Spill, that 90-early 00s school truly was. They couldn't have done a better job of it even if they straight up covered GBV (ie, the sorta-cool Trail of Dead Cover of "Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory."

Over this break I am at least going to try to get my hands on a t-shirt.

2006-10-24T12:17:00.000-04:00

HEADLIGHTS/CANADA - 10/17

Where else would this show be? The fine folks at the Bug Jar seem to have arranged another show just for me! This thursday I'll once again put on my groveling-cap, head to Monroe Ave. to take in some expansive, wispy young folk's americana (ironically from Detroit outfit Canada). They have released this Pitchfork-panned, Joe-adored on Quite Scientific Records, which I have never heard of but since the word "science" is in it, they are probably geniuses. (Genii? I think I just had this conversation.)

I think I have already written about Headlights. I've got a wicked big crush on the girl though. And the dudes. Don't judge me. Have you heard "Put Us Back Together Right"? Wait, that's from a post I began and never posted. Here is what I wrote circa one week ago about the song:

"After hearing a particularly rousing Headlights song, I am even more anxious to see them when they swing round this edge of the Rust Belt with Canada.

This song is brilliant. Rock piano isn't as easy to write with as it seems (Hey Jude was not written in a day). When I hear a song that not only has a great piano part but the song absolutely depends on it, I latch on like a frightened four-year-old. The chord progression is that same tired major-major-minor-major that seems to appear in every other song written since "Let It Be," but you know, taking your cues from the Beatles is not a bad decision. This was a particularly good one for Headlights - it's harnesses despair and angst without coming off like a high schooler. The lyrics speak to that feeling that you and your close friends are broken together and it's not entirely you guys's fault. Our generation hasn't had nearly as many songs like this as the one before us (a gap mostly due to the Who). Sure, this song doesn't say anything monumental that hasn't been said before, but no one is saying it for people under 30. I don't know, I just want to be friends with them."

SO GO TO THIS SHOW. It's on October 26 at the Bug Jar. It's only $6 over, $8 under.Take the 72 Red Line around 8:30-ish, 9 to get there comfortably, casually late.

2006-10-13T13:40:00.000-04:00

JOSE GONZALEZ, TONIGHT IN ROCHESTER, NY

Tonight is the Jose Gonzalez show at the German House. It will be surrounded by a serious amount of studying and reading and writing things. It's sort of frustrating that Nina Nastasia joins him tomorrow rather than today but you can't always get what you want or somewhat unreasonably half-expect. Jose, with all his nylon-stringed Swedish talent, was brought here by our friend Brendan at Universal Buzz, not bad for a first booking at all, hmm?

Video - Sony at least has good taste when trying to convince me I need a new printer. That's Jose's cover of....

this amazing song. this is a serious 30 iTunes-plays-in-one-day little piece. The video is also, um, perfect. Where did those kids learn to skate like that? 'Nam?

So everyone should go! doors are at 7 PM, show starts at eight, openers are Sub Pop's Death Vessel. It's $15 at the door.

2006-10-08T14:07:00.000-04:00

MUSIC AND FILM GET A SWEET DEAL.

I know she supposedly ruined Godfather Part III but I've forgiven Sofia Coppola. Lost In Translation would have been enough (isn't there a Yiddish word for that) but then this.

Check out this trailer. She makes a movie about 18th century France and she soundtracks it with Aphex Twin and the Cure. This particular trailer takes Joy Division's "Age of Consent" and wrings it for all it's worth. I didn't realize how much that song galloped until I saw them horses. Sofia has the eye and the ear, my friends.

I love the text too. Reminiscent of Jubilee and all that very odd music/film that came out of Britain in the wake of punk rock. New wave was a movement I've always enjoyed but could never in a million years imagine myself actually making art anything like Jubilee or a Eurythmics album. Layer that on top of the French Revolution and I am at the very least intrigued.

2006-10-01T14:27:00.000-04:00

I'M GEOFF REACHER

I'm not Geoff Reacher. I did, however, see Geoff Reacher open for the indie institution Elf Power at the Bug Jar a week ago and was thoroughly impressed, thinking "i'm going to buy his CD and listen to this consistently for a year" about halfway through his second song. He's doing the whole acoustic-guitar-and-drum-machine sort of thing, pulling off both sides of the routine like a champ. Watching him was a blast, as he stomped around with his down-home guitar parts and filthy beats. The recordings are a bit more poppy than the live versions but that's far from a sin in my book. After every song he'd say with a twang, "Thank you, I'm Geoff Reacher!" He is on Orange Twin Records.

Geoff Reacher - You Like My Song

Also there were five of us there from UR which made it slightly more comfortable. Rochester's own Little Yellow Bird opened. And to build on the previous post, Owen from casiotone lets it be known that he "kind of has a crush" on Rochester. The man can do no wrong in my book from here on in. The interview is here in the March 30 post.

WHEN WE CUT DOWN TREES WE PLANT NEW ONES TO MAKE THE WORLD BETTER

THAN IT WAS

Tim Stacey organized a great show at the CLC the night before Elf Power, with both Little Yellow Bird and Ju-jajuba honoring the UR campus with a show gratis. Both won fans. Travis, ie the one-man-band Little Yellow Bird, vigorously employed a delay-deal pedal to put layer of layer of strat on top of one another. To do this to some six songs requires a little thinkin' and effort. It works.

Ju-jajuba then blew everyone away. Tom and Cory know what they are doing at this point. "We're gonna take it down, all the down to Chinatown. Which is really, really far down." I have more fun watching these local wunderkinds than I do watching Magnolia Electric Co. Sorry Magnolia Electric Co., but I'm not 35 yet. I urge you all to listen to this band, love this band. They are our Rochester neighbors.

2006-09-25T23:12:00.000-04:00

Am I utterly obsessed with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone? Yes I am. I love his characters and his places, especially the Nashville Parthenon. I was there in seventh grade and it was a really odd. This is Tomlab's website and you can hear the song "Roberta C." and that is a personal favorite. It is on constant rotation with Mirah right now and trust me you wouldn't mess with this equation either.

Also, South Wedge Green Grocery is apparently open? I shall report from the field when I have any free time. Any.

2006-09-16T11:50:00.000-04:00

A RETURN

My dorm room has been poster'd. My schedule has been figure'd. Now I have some serious updates.

Just before I moved back to campus I saw Will Oldham of Bonnie "Prince" Billy play at New World Record in Buffalo, New York with Justin PK. His new album "the letting go" was just released on Drag City and its more of the intelligent, dark and thin, down-home songwritin' that we like from the man (who drives a subaru forrester, by the way). After I did the interview for WRUR, I just asked him about Edith Frost, his Drag City labelmate and a woman I would go to war for. She is very good with computers.

I saw Owen at the Bug Jar with Our Brother The Native and Joan Of Arc. I wish Owen had played longer. It was just Mark Kinsella and his acoustic guitar, and what I thought were two guitar parts on the record were apparently ALL HIM. Our Brother The Native was sort of a gimmicky noise act and couldn't stop thinking "I can't wait for Xiu Xiu to come and play this stage" while they were on. They were just kids though and you can't blame them. Joan Of Arc was all right (Mark's drumming the highlight for me, that man is talented) and pretty enjoyable except for the 20something molesting me. David punched him in the stomach. I tried to subtly headbutt him but met with no success.

Two nights ago was Tracy Morrow, Shearwater, and Magnolia Electric Co. Tracy Morrow likes Genesee Cream Ale, that all I have to say about that. I like Shearwater, A LOT. Not only are they the nicest musicians I've ever come across but they put on a wonderful show. The drummer's name is Thor, he's friendly and dabbles in art and ambient music as well. He is an incredible performer, and his parts were very creative (to my untrained ear, at least). The multi-instrumentalist guy was dramatic and made tambourine entertaining without looking like a douchebag. He also played bass and keys and guitar. Bassist lady was always smiling, as Nicketti noted and then told her. She played double bass and every guy in the room wanted to help her carry it to the van after the show (what? it looked heavy!). Frontman/God Jonathan Meisburg tore it UP. He had a Harmony Rocket, perhaps the greatest guitar I've ever been near, and his keyboard was housed in a homemade wooden box thing for the organic feel. When he sang and really had to belt, he would turn his head up and his tongue would come really far out. Like a baby bird sort of. There was a woodpecker on this banjo. They didn't have t-shirts my size. I asked if Misra Records would ever have a t-shirt and they said hahah no and then i asked about Edith Frost of course. Cause I am obsessed.

I couldn't go to the show, but Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin slept over at our place. Good guys, buy the record Broom when it's rereleased on Polyvinyl(!), its incredible.

2006-08-09T17:21:00.000-04:00

PEOPLE ARE SMART.
Credit Where Credit Is Due.

1. Sam Cole. Sam is a new summer friend of mine. Sam not only has a genius idea in paperwall (which will be a peer-to-peer poetry/fiction sharing community thing), but also requested Handsome Family on my radio show, specifically, the track "Tesla's Hotel Room" (real audio file here) off of their album Last Days of Wonder. I am forever indebted. The song features extremely expressive, smart lyrics that are perfectly reflected through the music. Handsome Family is apparently a lyricist-wife and composer-husband combo, so this could partially explain things. They have that weird America vibe, the kind of vibe that makes you think that living in New York 19-ought-5 would be swell, you'd get a sweet hat and science hadn't figgered everything out and there were things left for you to figger and you were free to figger incorrectly, cause no one really knew better. Tesla himself is a fascinating character, and despite his Serbian heritage, he was a tinkerer and stubborn romantic in a thoroughly American way. Listen to that stuff.

2. Martha Hoffman. Martha is my second summer friend, and thanks to an intensive summer chemistry course, now a near-constant companion. Martha drives me many places and gives me much music to listen to. We like to jam to Mirah Yomtov Zeitlyn and Ju-jajuba a lot. Martha turned me on to Call and Response, a truly terrific little crew from San Francisco. They are POP and apparently they were Kindercore Records' top-selling artist. The combination of them and Handsome Family made me realize that I tend to like either extremely dark (HF) or extremely happy (Call and Response) music. I guess. Here's the aggravating story of Kindercore for you as well.

3. Marc from :nook. Marc moved back to Rochester from New York, and still works for Entertainment Weekly via his laptop while he works at his new, delightful indie/pop culture store in the South Wedge. He was also the former music director of WRUR and wrote COUNTLESS reviews for seminal albums in really unique handwriting, so everytime I pulled the Magnetic Fields, I'd see his handwriting. He is a great guy who wants so badly to bring indie things to ROC with more ethical business practices than Lakeshore Records. He recommends Soapstar (who have disappeared since 1996) and Silversun Pickups. Here is his blog, well sort of, he writes the new music parts so you may have to dig.

4. Justin Peczakezakowski. Justin has bested me in indie-knowledge on two embarassing occasions. First, when I said that the Knife covered Jose Gonzalez, because I thought that "Heartbeats" was the advance single on Silent Shout, their new album, not Deep Cuts. I am an idiot, and was blatantly wrong. The second was last night when I thought Joanna Newsom was in Broken Social Scene. I could have sworn I heard her on World Cafe talking about BSS. I am an idiot and once again, bested! It would make sense if she were in BSS, though. I don't know where I dream these clearly untrue things up. I now listen to the Knife on repeat. You can buy the Knife at :nook. But message to Justin - I am only losing to soften you up.

2006-08-01T21:32:00.001-04:00

IN DEFENSE OF A SMALL PERUVIAN BOY AND HIS MONKEY.

Okay, here is an argument I've been making for quite a while. I'm tired of Ma-Ti, better known as "Heart" of the Planeteers, getting all this flak about being the worst Planeteer. This is a lie. Only a PHILISTINE would ever believe this nonsense. I apologize if I mispell any names, I haven't actually seen this show in a while. But here is a fairly direct argument as to why I believe this.

When asking the question "Who is the weakest Planeteer?", you have to imagine the group after said Planeteer has left and they're down to four. I'm working under the assumption that the four can still call Captain Planet, as the subtraction of any Planeteer would have the same effect in this aspect. It's better to imagine Captain Planet picking a Planeteer to cut. What team does he want working on the problem for the first 20 minutes of the show?

Really the key to any given situation the Planeteers found themselves in was never brute force or physical strength. Besides, every episode ended with Captain Planet doing the brunt of the actual dirty work. Really it's the Planeteers contributions up to that point that matter. Sure, their elements helped but really they used their heads to take care of problems. It was how they approached the problem, and thought it through that saved them from bind after bind after ecologically disastrous bind. So I've broken down each Planeteer's strengths as a thinker and team member.

EARTH.
In a metaphorically appropriate fashion, Kwame was the cornerstone of the group. Kwame's role was always to call for cool-headed meditation on the problem, carefully weighing the consequences of any decision. He was always careful not to pick fights unnecessarily, a proponent of laying low, and down for some good ol' fashioned prudence. Kwame was the offensive line of the Planeteers, the foundation on which all the others build. The clever segue here would to make him "Dear Prudence" by the Beatles, the foundation on which all the others build. But in terms of general impression, I think of him as Depeche Mode. DON'T ASK.

FIRE.
Wheeler was the caricature American street kid - he had a mouth, he was impulsive, didn't really have a broad knowledge base, but man did he have guts and American know-how. Wheeler was always the one who said what everyone was thinking, and would suck it up and make the tough call. He was by far the most altruistic of Planeteers, as he would always flame someone then be stuck in a block of ice or something for like 5 TV minutes, which is an eternity. He would also stress independence and self-reliance, something the rest of them could use. He wouldn't get a papercut and call Captain Planet. Wheeler has so many American music analogues its not even funny, most notably Johnny Cash, but also including Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices, Ian McKaye of Fugazi/Minor Threat, and even Pavement.

(conspicuous absence of WIND here)

WATER.
Gi was the strategist of the group. That broad knowledge base Wheeler lacked? The writers gave it to the Asian girl. What Gi lacked in social skills she made up for in cunning. She knew how to think scientifically and at times surprisingly out of the box. Challenge Gi with an iron pipe and she'll bust out a magnet. That sort of thing. She had the booksmarts that no other character had. She was a genius able to think several steps ahead - Gi is quite clearly Devo.

HEART.
My opponents are right - Ma-Ti's ring was an impotent trinket next to Wheeler's flamethrower. But putting theatrics aside, Ma-Ti's outlook was the driving force behind the Planeteers. His wide-eyed idealism, his uncompromising defense of life, and his intense connection with the earth pushed the show past being a flaccid 30-minute public service announcement and into a show of substance, one with an honest message to send with its story. Ma-Ti didn't just speak to dolphins. Ma-Ti spoke to that little whimpering piece of wilderness still left in the TV-torched brainrot that was my mind as a seven-year-old. Ma-Ti was the real deal, a throwback to ancient man living in a television set. Anyone that argues that Ma-Ti had a petty role to play in Captain Planet needs to stop and think for maybe five seconds, about how the Planeteers operated, and more importantly why the Planeteers operated at all. Anyone with minimal reasoning faculties can figure out that Ma-Ti is indispensable. If you disagree with me on this point, I seriously think you're an idiot and probably shouldn't be allowed to vote. I don't even think this about Ayn Rand fans. Ma-Ti is organic and reaches us in a way that's fresh and unique, yet familiar: Ma-Ti is Animal Collective, Neutral Milk Hotel, Joan Baez... DOT DOT DOT.

WIND. Linka was a blonde Russian girl that was only added to the show for symmetry's sake. It was the late 80s and she was politically necessary. Linka was there for romantic purposes (a Wheeler-Gi romance would be just not be believable). She was leggy, she had an accent, and she played hard to get. Linka was a creation of the modern media, a completely contrived character made ready-to-order to fill out the ranks. Talking about wind vs. heart as if they are superhero powers is, once again, irrelevant in the context of the show. Linka belongs on a collectivized Ukrainian farm, where she harvests advertising. Linka is Sigue Sigue Sputnik, an abortion of a band. If their were a band called the Filthy Communists, she'd be them too.

This didn't have very much to do with music and I apologize but this needed to be aired out.

2006-08-01T12:34:00.000-04:00

PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL

Union Park, Chicago

On thursday night at abouts 12 AM, myself and a few compatriots piled into the Bills Superfan Van (buffalo head above the windshield, PVC pipe field goal post on the hood, and lightning bolts and logos all on the side) to drive the 11ish hours from Rochester to Chicago. It guzzled gas, we ran out of it in Fairview Pennsylvania and called AAA and used Luke's dad's card which is apparently not allowed. We stayed at Roger's house in beautiful Western Springs and his mom was the gracious-est of hostesses. Went to Wrigley Field that afternoon. There's some context.

DAY ONE
After wandering the merch tent during Hot Machines, I made it out to Chicago's own Chin Up Chin Up. There was a modest crowd in attendance at this point. Their live set didn't deviate much from their recorded material. It was well-executed, and "Virginia Don't Drown" was exceptional. If they came to Rochester I would pay the $8 at the Bug Jar to see them. Also at this point the heavens opened and a spot at the front rail opened. I took it and was planted at Main Stage B for a while.

Man Man played Stage A and from afar I chuckled. However, I didn't come to Chicago to chuckle, I came to see great live music. And Band of Horses delivered. Mere feet from Benjamin Bridwell's lap guitar, their set was my personal favorite of Saturday. They were able to recreate their record's sound so well it was eerie. Their soaring, expansive brand of rock is quite at home outside. Bridwell seemed genuinely glad to be playing for me. Oh yeah and the swirling mass of people behind me. "Great Salt Lake" and "Funeral" were religious.

Then the Mountain Goats played Stage A - I probably should have ditched my spot at this point. My mistake. They played "Jenny." Then they played "Source Decay." They paraded the hits - "Cubs in Five" and "No Children" were audible from the other stage. I was so pissed for that 40 minute interval.

Sucka MC Tim Tuten introduced Destroyer with some out-of-context lyrics, which was pretty awkward because it didn't look like he had ran it by Dan Bejar. Then Bejar played some stuff off of his most recent album Destroyer's Rubies and it was pleasant (you can stream a bunch of stuff here). Destroyer's obviously not gonna smash guitars up there. Myself and others were wondering whether his speaking voice is the same as his singing voice, and the answer is a resounding yes. He introduced one song with, "This song is about... ehhhhh." Then I shouted a marriage proposal to him. I wish I was kidding.

Then it was Art Brut at the other stage which the Chicago Tribune really enjoyed but didn't so much appeal to me so I kept my spot for Ted Leo. Ted Leo's next album will be very good. I always forget how much I love guitar rock. This man knows how to put on a show, and though I've seen him live before he is still a delight to watch. "Timorous Me," "Biomusicology," "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone," and "Ballad of the Sin Eater" all showed up to the party.

During the Walkmen and the Futureheads I did something I hadn't done for long time - eat and/or sat down.

Then the Silver Jews. What a wonderful end to to the night, though we had to leave early to catch the El to the Metra. I did get to here favorites from American Water ("Smith and Jones Forever" and "Random Rules") and from The Tanglewood Numbers ("Punks in the Beerlight" (thats a video) and "Animal Shapes"). My favorite stage banter comment of the night came when David Berman said something to the effect of,"This is one of the most musically literate crowds I've ever played for and I am gonna take this opportunity to say, sorry I think Brian Wilson sucks." I disagree, Brian Wilson is wonderful. But that's not the point now is it. The point is, from long distance under the red lights and with the fan blowing in her hair, his wife/bassist was extremely beautiful. GIRLS WITH INSTRUMENTS ARE PRETTY.

And that concludes my summary of Pitchfork Music Festival Day One. Day Two coming whenever, but expect a post about the Planeteers beforehand.

2006-07-22T17:44:00.000-04:00

I'm quickly getting all sentimental toward Rochester. I really like living here and finding all these new things and adapting to my adopted home. Here are a few notes on this weekend.

1. There is a fantastic new store in the South Wedge has one wall selling independent music, has lots of pop culture books, and you know upholstery and postmodern (to quote moe of the simpsons - "weird for the sake of weird") household goods. It is a completely, 100% awesome. It is locally owned. It is call ":nook" and it is on South Ave right near equally new-t0-me-and-great coffeeshop equal=grounds. please patronize this place and make it a permanent fixture here. hell, email me and i will take you there and buy your birthday present.

in fact that's a new policy - every one of my birthday presents while I am in this city will be purchased at :nook.

2. The Jens Lekman show is tomorrow. We've been pushing it - hard - for some time and we got i'd say a tugboatload of calls for the tickets we gave away on friday. It doesn't look like Jens will be in Rochester in time to get him on air as was the plan, but nonetheless the show should be just wonderful. Reminder, its tomorrow at 8 PM at the Bug Jar which is on Monroe Ave near the National Museum of Play. Which is also the greatest thing ever.

P.S. I figured I should add that I bought Helium's 1997 album "The Magic City" at :nook for six bucks and it is magnificent. Matador has a lot of Real Audio files on their website, which is sort of nice of them I guess? Helium is Mary Timony. mostly. She's from Boston. She writes what Liz Phair would write if she a) didn't begin a precipitous decline after whipsmart, b) was a little more talented as a pure musician and not so much a heart-baring emoter, c) polished her music up and added about 10 more parts per track.

2006-07-15T14:46:00.000-04:00

Wishbone, Take Me Home. Volume Two.

Public Service Announcement.

This week: "The Entrepawneur"

Joe's absorption with a new business venture puts Samantha and David in a "touchy" situation. Wishbone, as King Midas, has the "Golden Touch" and big problems in this tale from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

When the Wishbone writers wanted to make an Oakdale episode really intense, they would simply sow a little of the ol' discord amongst friends Joe, David, and Samantha. The King Midas plot was a little weak, despite Wishbone's characteristically flawless performance as the titular character, so they were forced to pull this trick in "The Entrepawneur." If I remember correctly, Joe starts a grocery delivery business and uses his friends as slave labor to ride the bikes around pulling produce. It was like a paper-or-plastic teen Gulag Archipelago. Joe struggles with his uglier side (a common undercurrent on Wishbone) as he uses his friends like common beasts of burden.

Although the Donkeys apparently go for that sort of thing. The Donkeys are first and foremost geographically confusing - San Diego band on a Bay Area label with that i'm-so-lonesome flyover state sound. They can drag their feet in a forlorn fashion, and then put on the roller skates. Their self-titled album is marvellous. It doesn't blow you away, but if you let it, it can tug 'n nudge you to some pleasant places. They rarely stray from the guitar/wurlitzer-centered lineup and this is a great thing - they're the experts. This is the band that Matador should have signed instead of Brightblack Morning Light. My personal favorites on the album include Into The Pale, Black Cat, and In the Morning.

"Mom got killed in the fire. Sis got killed by Indians." Does this sort of thing still happen in San Diego? I gotta move to the West Coast! Oh and please, Native Americans, sirs.

Aside: I have a very low tolerance for musical loitering - when artists take five minutes to do what could be done in two. You can call me impatient, makes all sorts of arguments involving Explosions in the Sky, but I still won't enjoy long-windedness. And the Donkeys are found guilty on "Lower the Heavens" - instead of the five-minute runaround it is this should be a two-minute intense workout. "Try To Get By" follows immediately. and in a minute-49 leaves a more substantial impression than the grandiosely-labelled "Lower The Heavens." Take heed, children.

They also did some instrumental work for Owen Ashworth/Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, whose album Etiquette is equally as good as this one but didn't segue as well from "beasts of burden" and thus wasn't the subject of this edition of wishbone.

2006-07-13T22:07:00.000-04:00

Over the last two days I have been completely and utterly obsessed with Edith Frost's song Cars and Parties. This song should speak for itself, really. It appears on her album Wonder Wonder for Drag City and also "demos" available in its entirety thanks to Comfort Stand Recordings. My dear friend Marfa has the Wonder Wonder version, but I like the demos one (i win).

oh lord.

2006-07-08T16:18:00.000-04:00

Boz Scaggs' Publicist: Hey Boz Scaggs, I think you should get a MySpace.
Boz Scaggs: OK. All these young people are gonna get hip to "Lido Shuffle."

We live in a strange world, a world in which Boz Scaggs has a myspace. He's hittin all the major markets/retirement hotspots on a summer tour entitled "The Hits" with James Hunter. Maybe I'll get tickets to the Boston show for Pops for Father's Day or something. By the way, James Hunter is actually pretty good at the white-man-soul thing.

2006-07-08T14:40:00.000-04:00

What's the Story, Wishbone? Volume One.
Please watch this first to get in the wish-zone.

This week: "Shakespaw" featuring Shapes and Sizes
David tries to remain calm at the center of the storm when problems plague his direction of "The Tempest," by William Shakespeare. In the play, Prospero directs the events on an island assisted by Wishbone as Ariel.

This was an unusual Wishbone - "The Tempest" doesn't have any obvious contemporary-sitcom-ish plot reflective of the original - so the writers just had David direct "The Tempest." This can initially come off as a transparently lazy cop-out by Mo Rocca (yes, Mo Rocca wrote Wishbone) but he made sure that it had all the drama of Shylock's version. David's self-confidence issues really take center stage. Wishbone's running around as always making snarky comments and being unproductive, and in the Shakespeare he plays an androgynous dog-spirit that can teleport. God bless American public television.

Equally sexless, Asthmatic Kitty's Shapes and Sizes is a wonderful indie-rock four-piece from British Columbia. Caila Thompson-Hannant and Rory Seydel split vocal duties down the middle, so there's really no subconcscious gender-identification. Caila being the dramatic and lovable one, Rory a little more matter-of-factly. Their songs are long, busy, and sometimes duplicitous - they are apt to turn a track on its heels and send it in the other direction. The droning of woodwinds add that little bit o' depth and intrigue. Imagine that Elf Power was thrown into a Fiery Furnace. They swung through Rochester in March, so they probably won't be here for another fourteen years, but hey, a kid can dream.

Here they are with their own little two-act number about trouble surrounded by water on all sides, Island's Gone Bad.

2006-07-06T16:56:00.000-04:00

POINT-COUNTERPOINT - LEKMAN, JENS.

Genius? Or is this just how the Swedes are built? Our paralegals examine the evidence.

POINT. Jens Lekman is a boy wonder. Contradicts the notion that "they don't write 'em like they used to." Lekman takes a few of old toys he found laying around the house - easy-listening's conventions, pop's bounce, and his own nostalgic wit - winds them up, points them in the direction of each other, and we all get to watch them collide. He proves equally competent writing songs for guitar ("I Saw Her At The Anti War Demonstration," also featuring a little bit 'o strings), for keys ("If You Ever Need A Stranger"), and for both (the utterly incredible "Black Cab").

COUNTERPOINT. Sweden is a nation of boy wonders. They have about nine million people living there now, making it a bit smaller than the state of Michigan. It's commonly said that they rank 3rd in the export of music, behind the US and the UK. Per capita the statistics must be disgusting. Sweden practically invented modern American pop music in absentia (see: ABBA). Listen to "I Saw The Sign" right now, I dare you. Is it the hyperneutrality that bores them into writing all them hooks in a basement? Or is it their socially-engineered problem-vacuum of a nation? I don't know, but to say Jens is an exception among Swedes would be off the mark.

No matter where you fall on that particular issue, I think you'll agree that Jens Lekman stopping in Rochester is cause for celebration. You can catch him at the Bug Jar on July 23 for $8, a steal of a show. Secretly Canadian labelmate Frida Hyvonen will open.

2006-07-06T16:34:00.000-04:00

I know this seems cocky, arrogant, etc. but I am going to be the pretentious jerk and say it: there exists a song that is the greatest of all time. It's got the Muhammad Ali of melodies. Its lyrics make Hamlet look like Rent. It was produced by a robed Brian Wilson in a Buddhist temple high atop a peak, while George Martin shouted suggestions and shaved his head. When the Greeks defeated the Persians at Thermopylae, they were playing this repeatedly on the stereo. Save this for the wedding night, fellas.

This is the kick-off to a series of sorts (we'll see how long it lasts). I will take a descriptive blurb for an episode of Wishbone and somehow link it to great music of all types, brand new or classic.

2006-07-06T16:20:00.000-04:00

There once was a time when man could transcend his mortal condition - he could reach for those proverbial stars, or just try to sleep with as many lady-fans as possible. Man was still allowed to smoke on the MTV. More accurately, there once was a man who lived his life to the fullest. No one doubted his brilliance, because no one else came close.

His name was Vangelis.

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

2006-07-04T19:08:00.000-04:00

I feel like I owe Smog (aka Bill Callahan) something just for hanging around long enough for me to grow into their music. When 1996's The Doctor Came At Dawn was released, I believe I was 10. AND A HUGE SMOG FAN. No, absolutely not, I was 10. But as recently as 2005 's A River Ain't Too Much Love, Smog has released new material. There are oh so many bands that I wish were still around (Throwing Muses - please tour). And this one is!(?) The Doctor Came At Dawn is still my personal favorite - Jay-Z has nothing on Bill's 4,000 problems on "Four Hearts In A Can." And on top of that, a bitch is each one. As you could guess the man is pretty brooding. He's also a wonderful wonderful songwriter, and doesn't shy away from simultaneous musical understatement and lyrical overstatement. Domino Records has posted some tracks from his latest album - tidbits here.

I feel like I should add that I "got into" music extraordinarily late. The prime reason was that in sixth grade I didn't want to ever disagree with my peers and didn't know whether I should like the Beastie Boys or shouldn't like the Beastie Boys. I didn't want to pick what wasn't cool by accident. It took the entirety of middle school to get over this fear and turn on the radio for myself.

I also wasn't afraid of aliens because I was completely convinced that I could talk them out of whatever they wanted to do to me/my civilization.

2006-07-03T03:08:00.000-04:00

Out of nowhere, it turns out that the writers of '90s teen drama My So-Called Life listened to some seriously good music. Music From the Television Series My So-Called Life was found for $2 at the Record Archive on East Ave. Well apparently $2 can buy you tracks by Juliana Hatfield, Buffalo Tom, The Lemonheads, Archers of Loaf, the Afghan Whigs, Daniel Johnston and a little band known as SONIC YOUTH.

Coincidentally, some of these guys are makin headlines today, and with a little help from MySpace (of which I am not a member for no explicable reason) I will share their music.

Greg Dulli, formerly of the Afghan Whigs, is out to make cocaine hip again by releasing Powder Burns as the Twilight Singers. On behalf of our generation, thank you Greg Dulli.

Daniel Johnston is not only a subject in my previous entry but is also a Hollywood hit! The Devil and Daniel Johnston is winning all sorts of olive branches and critic's palms and things. His MySpace is only valuable insofar as he has for all intents and purposes no friends. However, here is a massive video of Daniel playing the Bug Jar, putting on a great show, and then being interviewed by a well-meaning puppeteer who is seemingly oblivious to the fact that Daniel is brilliant and thus inpenetrable to normal conversation and on another plane entirely.

Sonic Youth used to be a great rock band. And apparently they still are. Also of note: Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth is a Rochester native. Something feels inherently wrong in linking to MySpace in the context of Sonic Youth so here is a track from their new album Rather Ripped available on cred-less Geffen Records. Come on, they signed their own daughters to a deal. But i'm down with what thurston and co. are still doing.

Buffalo Tom are still alive, still in Boston. What I would give to be in Massachusetts from the mid-eighties to mid-nineties. Oh wait, I was. I wait, I was a child and if I was into Wolf Colonel and Sebadoh that would just be WEIRD. Anyways, MYSPACE, GO!

2006-07-03T02:04:00.000-04:00

Daniel Johnston once wrote a song called "Go". It is, first off, adorable. I'm gonna go out on a limb and call this a "self-consciously imperfect masterpiece. " And I am not really sure what that means. Daniel Johnston has this weird ownership of songs unique to himself... each one can be played by just him on a stage with one instrument. One minute you think "no one else can pull this off-" - and next thing you know Sparklehorse and the Flaming Lips are pulling "Go" off right in front of your ears. Also, a Welshman made a video for "Go" available on YouTube.

The Apples (in Stereo) once wrote a song called "Go". These guys know pop music, and "Go" is no exception. It's a delight. You can find it on their album The Discovery of a World Inside The Moone which came out on spinART. You can find a video of my favorite song of theirs, Ruby, live at Desdemona, on YouTube.

Moby once wrote a song called "Go" and all of a sudden people started caring about him, and next thing you know he's in a tiff with eminem. Once again, take it away YouTube - Moby's "Go."

we gots snowfall in the triple digits.

2006-07-03T00:41:00.000-04:00

dirty on purpose has posted an entire live show from boston (also my city of birth... swell town) AND they have put out a quite-good new album, Hallelujah Sirens, on North Street Records. Very reminiscent of those product-of-New-Zealand Flying Nun bands, and specifically the Bats/the Clean. Indie rock on the lighter side, done right.

"Lake Effect" is my personal favorite (not in the live set, sorry), it's got that pining violin; skimpy, sad-but-not-sappy piano, and actively encourage citizens of my fair city (albeit non-specifically) to leave for more moderate climes. It's not our fault Lake Ontario bullies us with frequent "squalls" (what makes a snowstorm a squall? better yet, how can I earn the title of "squall"?).

"The larger cities in the region with a significant fetch when the wind is from the west are Akron (47"), Cleveland (61"), Grand Rapids (71"), London, Ontario (83"), Buffalo (96"), and Rochester, New York (100"). "
-from "The Straight Dope," an educational website that apparently thinks it's cool.

The Mae Shi

2006-07-03T00:01:00.000-04:00

Are you a schizophrenic that is happy for no reason? The Mae Shi feels your pain, and they have written some music specifically for you and that adorable Russian child dressed as a scarecrow that follows you around but nobody else can see. If you don't like it, at least pretend you do so as not to hurt their feelings. But I certainly do.

The great tragedy of The Mae Shi is that they were ten years late for a sweet spot on the Streetfighter soundtrack.

Their split with Rapider Than Horsepower is out on Strictly Amateur Films Records (films records?). "Rapider Than Horsepower" reminds me of that "faster miles per hour" line from the Modern Lovers' song. Which is a problem because that Jonathan Richman is awesome and Rapider Than Horsepower is not Jonathan Richman. i.e. not awesome. Not terrible, not awesome.