Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Earth, The Showbox at SoDo, 9/23/08
I’d really been looking forward to seeing this show since Science Girl told me she’d gotten the tickets. The last couple of Bad Seeds albums have been really strong, of course, and I’d always heard that Cave puts on a hell of a show. When I found out yesterday afternoon that Earth was opening I actually became somewhat giddy, seeing as The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull is one of my favorite albums this year. Win/win, right?
I'm not making this up. If I thought a dime of that money would go to Obama's campaign, you know I'd be all over this like a tornado on a trailer park. As it is, I just gave money the regular way. You should, too.
No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
PT Barnum said that, and I firmly believe that he was correct. And yet I still can’t wrap my little mind around the fact that there are former supporters of Hillary Clinton who believe that Sarah Palin is an acceptable substitute.
Why? Apparently, because she has a uterus.
It can’t be due to her stand on, um, damn near anything. Anti-choice, pro-NRA, supportive of the teaching of creationism in public schools, running with a candidate who voted against equal pay for equal work, and whose healthcare expert believes that all Americans are insured because there are emergency rooms – Governor Palin would seem to be the anti-Hillary. And yet, these dead-enders can’t seem to see any of that. She’s a woman – end of story.
Let’s put the shoe on the other foot for a moment. Say that Hillary had prevailed and won the nomination. Let’s further suppose that John McCain, in an attempt at wooing disgruntled Obama supporters, chose Alan Keyes as his running mate. How many people do you think would say, “He chose a black guy. He’s got my vote!”?
But hey, she’s got ovaries. That makes her qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Look, if you truly believe that a McCain/Palin administration would be good for America, by all means vote for them. But if you’re planning on voting for them out of some bizarre gender solidarity thing, you are dumber than a sack of wet mice really need to reassess your priorities before November rolls around.
*Note to McCain staffers: pointing out the flaws of one of your candidates is not sexist, no matter how much you might want it to be. Palin was chosen in an embarrassingly transparent attempt at garnering some of the angry Hillary vote, just as your claims to the contrary are.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."
In an address last June, the Republican vice presidential candidate also urged ministry students to pray for a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it "God's will."
Sounds like fiction, right? Oh, hey, look – video!
Speaking of labor (and I was – check the previous post), yesterday we went down to Georgetown to check out the Fantagraphics bookstore. As it turns out, they share a space with Georgetown Records – mostly vintage vinyl, and some really nice stuff at that. We didn’t buy anything there, since we don’t currently have a functioning turntable. This may change.
Science Girl said that the guy at the counter (I’m assuming he was the owner) reminder her of me. I know what she was getting at – we’re both of a similar age, we both were wearing flannel shirts over t-shirts and jeans, both wearing black-framed glasses, both graying at approximately the same rate. (I’ve got a bit more hair than he does, but I’ve also got a bit more gut.) The place was not exactly buzzing with customers while we were there, so he was spinning some tunes and chatting with the guy at the Fantagraphics counter – who, as it turns out, was Larry Reid.
It’s no fun to be working on a Sunday (no more than it is to be working on a holiday), and there are a whole bunch of drawbacks to being self-employed. That said, I want that guy’s job. Badly. Get up in the morning, throw on some comfortable clothes, hang out and listen to Jimmy Cliff. What’s not to like about that?
Greetings, comrades! Happy Labor Day! Let us take this opportunity to rise up and smash our oppressors while they slumber. We, the workers, will seize the means of production from the plutocrats and lead the world into a glorious new day. What say you, comrades?
What’s that? Oh, you’re all spending the day at the lake. Fantastic. Have a cold one for me.
Yeah, I’m at work. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, but I’ve switched over to day shift. Now I get to sleep like a normal human AND have dinner with Science Girl. Woo hoo! So far it’s working out very well, although it’s a little weird going to bed before midnight. Like, a couple of hours before midnight. Still, it’s a good thing all around.
Pointing out that “today’s indie rock is dominated by upper-middle-class, liberal arts college-educated youths” is much like pointing out that fish often have gills and like water. While I guess I salute Vampire Weekend for not trying to be something they’re not, I gotta say that Talking Heads did the same thing, better, twenty-some years ago. Just because VW fans are somewhat, er, clueless, that doesn’t mean that the band themselves are even remotely “punk”. Fact is, they’re not all that different from (and certainly no more interesting than) the Decemberists. On the other hand, at least those guys are doing their own schtick.
Well, I had intended on regaling y'all with new fave band, Radio Massacre International. That's gonna have to wait, though, 'cause I gotta go do some jury duty for the next couple of days. Hopefully no more than that, but I guess we'll see. My last experience on a jury truly sucked, and not in a good way. I'll save that story for another day, since I'm trying to go into this as open-minded as I can. Cross your fingers for me.
Not much to say at the moment. I've been busy re-adjusting from the lackadaisical ahhh of vacation to the soul-crushing relentless slog of everyday life. Yes, I could have it much worse - refugee camps, toxic labor conditions, etc., etc. While I'm truly grateful for the goodnesses that I have, I can't help but feel that I'm slowly being ground into a fine powder sometimes.
I’ve been out of the Metal loop for some time now, mostly because it’s become this undifferentiated lump of tedious riff-o-rama and boo-scary cookie monster vocals from guys grunting about the Debbil being in their bowling league (and the pins are the souls of the damned!) or something equally asinine. Don’t get me wrong – it takes a lot of skill to play through a bajillion chords in lockstep like that, but for me it’s just not all that much fun to listen to.
However, that doesn’t mean that I have totally forsaken the Heavy end of the music world. No. I like the crunch, and I’m a natural-born sucker for what the kids are now calling “stoner rock” (although if I ever catch up with the chump who convinced me that High On Fire were anything other than sub-Metallica wheeze-mongers, he’s gonna wish he had an actual demon or two to call upon in his hour of darkness, ‘cause that shit ain’t stoner rock in the least).
So it is that I come before you today to say thanks to the creatures at Southern Lord for putting out two of my favorite records so far this year: Earth’s The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull and Smile, by Boris. I realize just exactly how late I am in jumping on these particular bandwagons, which just goes to show that I’m sincere.
If I thought in terms of Album of the Year, that Earth disc would be top of the heap as of now. Metal it’s not, but it is most definitely heavy. An airy sort of heavy, to be sure, if that makes any of sense. It’s a slow, molten afternoon on a rock in the desert, breathing through your eyelids like the lava lizards and waiting for something to die so’s you can eat without the sun (which seems like it’s about five feet away from the top of your skull) broiling you completely. Or something. Anyway, it’s real good, you betcha.
As for Boris, I’ve avoided them up until now for the same reason I’ve stayed away from Earth – they’ve always been pegged as this sort of slow drone-y sludge. And maybe that’s been the case in the past. I couldn’t say, since both of these records I’m writing about are my first dips into those respective bands’ pools. What I can say is that Smile reminds me of nothing so much as the best of what was happening here in Seattle in the late 80s – early 90s, only sung in Japanese so I have no idea what they’re on about. It’s fun music, loud and moist and fertile with anti-Vampire Weekend microbes. Touch it, it’s sick.
And on that note, I sign off to go pack for our annual “Flee the Blue Angels” exodus (movement of Jah people). We’re off to Brinnon as soon as is humanly possible, so it’ll be quiet here (metaphorically speaking) until next week. Aloha.
