George Bush vs. Seth Cohen

You better believe that I'm upset! The OC being cancelled because of the President's speech last night. Like, whatever! Who does George Bush think he is, pushing the Ryan, Seth, Summer and Marissa out of the spotlight so he can talk about Social Security Reform? In my world social security takes a back to seat to whether or not Julie Cooper is going to kill her husband.

But it's not all Mr. Bush's fault. What's up with those punks at Fox? The speech was over by 7 p.m. - just in time for the OC. Instead they showed Simpsons and Seinfeld re-runs followed by the epitome of television dross, The Simple Life.

This is what's wrong with America.

Moby vs. 50 Cent

I've got mixed feelings about Moby. While I occasionally like his music, I also get the feeling that he's kind of a B-list celebrity, who wants more than anything to really become an A-lister.

He played Salt Lake yesterday and while he was here he did an interview with NPR (listen to it here). The radio show is about how in addition to selling records, he has also opened a vegetarian tea shop called "Teany" and has a book called "Teany book."

I think a lot about music and business and such. I think it's amazing that a young rapper can get his first hit single and within minutes he has his own record label, line of clothing, sports drink and mini empire. Case in point, last week I was watched "Rip the Runway" on BET, and marveling at the fashion stylings of P. Diddy's Sean Jean line of clothing and 50 Cent's G Unit line.

Why is that when hip-hoppers expand out into other business ventures, it is completely cool and when white techno guys do it, it just seems like selling out? What makes it okay for 50 Cent to be all about money-making and still be credible as a musician?

While there are many different factors in this equation, I think the simple answer is this - there's two pictures above of two musicians who both have lots of money. What's the difference?One sells Formula 50 super water (advertising slogan: "Honeys bounce when you throw bad game. Try a dose of formula 50...and lose the pimp cup:) and one sells organic tea (sample tea flavor: "herbal tea calm"). Poor, poor Moby.

Some Kind of Monster

I am taking the dreaded GMAT today, in hopes of getting into an MBA program this fall. As it gets down to crunch time I am wondering if it was a mistake to spend an entire night this past week avoiding studying by watching Metallica's "Some Kind of Monster" and "When Metallica Ruled the World" back-to-back on VH1. I am crossing my fingers that the Argument Analysis question will be "Some say that Metallica's new material lacks the intensity of early albums such as Ride the Lightning. Evaluate the validity of this argument." If it's not, I'm screwed.

Rosa Parks vs. Outkast

The Rosa Parks drama is apparently over for Outkast. The famous civil rights bus rider sued Outkast for $5 billion in 1999 for using her name as the title of a song from their 1998 album "Aquemini."

"Ah ha, hush that fuss
Everybody move to the back of the bus
Do you wanna bump and slump with us
We the type of people make the club get crunk"

Rosa Parks apparently did not want to bump, slump or get crunk with Big Boi and Andre 3000.

The two parties have finally settled the suit. Outkast doesn't have to pay, but will make amends by working with the Rosa Parks Foundation to teach today's kids about her role in history.

Check out the full story here.

Wake up with the King (Have it your way, fatty)

I can't get enough of those creepy Burger King commercials! I have yet to enjoy the 710-calorie Enormous Omelet Sandwich, but I'm looking forward to it. (I am also looking forward to the resulting heart attack) I am also happy that Hootie is getting a second chance at fame. Listen to an interesting review of their strange ad campaign here.

Got a spare 7 minutes?

If you have seven minutes to spare, my latest song o' the month has just been posted here.

Manifesto Radio

As if having my own website, writing a self-centered blog, and constantly pimping my one-man band wasn't enough, I have pretty much decided that I need my own radio show as well. "Podcasting" (broadcasting via the internet, with capability of feeding the show to an mp3 player) has become the new rage and I want in! I have been doing some research on how to get the podcast up and rolling, but I don't really know what kind of weekly radio show I want to produce - music, politics, rantings. Any suggestions? I hope to have something rolling within the next week or so.

Ben Folds - Songs for Silverman

Ben Folds

Songs For Silverman

 

"The old bastard left his ties and a suit…Pretty soon you'll be an old bastard too." 

Well, an album can't start out much better than that. 

Unfortunately "Bastard," much like the the rest of Songs for Silverman, Ben Folds' second full album since the Ben Folds Five disbanded, can't quite hold the momentum. It's often hit and miss with Ben Folds. It seems like every-other record he puts out is good. 

The Unauthorized Biography was a dud, Rockin the Suburbs was a classic and Songs for Silverman struggles. 

The album alternates between beautiful quiet numbers like "Jesusland" (the records' best track) and b-side worthy 70s throwback numbers like "Give Judy My Notice" and "Sentimental Guy" that I swear I heard on that Sesame Street skit where the little boy learns to brush his teeth. 

The album is void of any solid upbeat tracks and all of the good soft tracks ("Trusted," "Late") seem to be sandwiched between songs better skipped over. My money's on Ben's next album being a knockout.

If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball

I feel like I’ve been hit by about a dozen wrenches. I participated in the Hillcrest Ward Elders Quorum’s First Annual Dodge Ball Tournament this past Saturday. I don’t know how I could have been this out of dodgeball-shape; it’s only been about 15 years since I last played. There are parts of my body that are sore that I didn’t even know existed. Fortunately I’m not the only one, just about everyone was limping around elders quorum meeting yesterday. I've made a decision: I'm going to stop studying for the GMAT and start training for Ben Stiller’s next dodgeball movie.

Politics & Bumper Stickers

 This post would be a lot better if I still had the original images. D'oh! 

[pic]

I was driving down the road the other day and I noticed that the car in front of me had a bumper sticker that was most likely from the Clinton era. It said, "Don't blame me, I voted Republican." This caused me to have an epiphany about two-party politics.

While this country was still in its infancy, George Washington warned of forming a two-party system. "It serves to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration....agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one....against another....it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption...thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another."

If a two-party system causes such grief, why do we use it? The answer is in the bumper sticker. The reason this country loves the two-party system is because it gives us someone to blame if things aren't going the way we want them to. Instead of working together to fix problems, or even working against each other to fix problems, we all just sit back and say "It's not my fault. I didn't vote for those idiots" or "I voted for that guy so I am sure that he's doing a good enough job." We are allowed to sit back and think "it's those idiot [enter the plural name of the opposing party here] that are ruining this country. Stupid [enter either conservatives or liberals here].

What are we to do? After a quick internet search I found the answer to all of our nation's problems, and once again it was all thanks to a bumper sticker:

[pic]

Raves: Kurt Cobain

All in All is All We All Are:
Looking Back on Kurt Cobain
by Pat Barnum

Of all the things that can be said of Kurt Cobain, above all, he articulated the despair and anguish of his generation.  While everyone shies away from "generational spokesman" labels, there is no getting around that the essence of Nirvana's music was despair and that it struck a universal chord with America's youth.  Whether Kurt knew it or not (and he likely didn't), his band's 1991 arrival into the mainstream was huge because, as with the 1964 Beatles, it happened to be perfectly in tune with the national mood.   

Perhaps the greatest musical tribute that can be made to Kurt Cobain is that, like 9-11 and the Civil War, contemporary rock is now viewed in terms of before-Nirvana and after-Nirvana.  Their early-90's arrival was rock 'n' roll's watershed moment of today's generation.  Before Nirvana, alternative rock truly was the alternative; since Nirvana, "alternative" has become mainstream, and mainstream rock as we knew it ceased to exist. 

Kurt Cobain turned not only music, but pop culture itself, on its head.  Who can erase the image of the exasperated, blond-haired punk rocker ("Smells Like Teen Spirit" video) invading the high school basketball game; the band whose subversive, ominous drone had the effect of exposing Mr. Popular as the pretentious fraud he was.  Kurt Cobain held no secrets, and to listen to Nirvana was to hear a soul unveiled: rage, apology, tenderness, hopelessness, and no messing around.  Fans did not listen to Nirvana to "rock out." They listened to look into a mirror, to self-medicate.  Kurt was also the pioneer of self-deprecation with Radiohead's "Creep," Beck's "I'm a Loser Baby," and other pop icons following the lead. 

Cobain obliterated the rock scene as we knew it and enabled a whole new (and better, I might add) world to develop.  In this way, he did not simply change music, he changed the music market.  Virtually all important acts since then, from Weezer to Tool;  Smashing Pumpkinsto Linkin Park; and even The Dave Matthews Band to the "pop punk" movement, owe their success to the change Nirvana wrought on the musical landscape. 

Amazingly, Kurt Cobain brought about a rock 'n' roll philosophy which was the complete opposite of the one that preceded him.  As we all know, the 80's was the golden era of the macho-hedonistic-glutton rock championed by Motley Crue, Guns 'n' Roses and Bon Jovi.  Then comes this introspective, politically conscious, highly aggressive sound from Seattle, rendering the hair bands - quite literally overnight - as obsolete as the tape cassettes they made their millions with.   Nirvana, in the tradition of the Beatles, Led Zepplin, and Pink Floyd, made rock 'n' roll a thinking affair again.  They rescued us from the hair bands.

It seems to me we should regard Kurt Cobain as we would a favorite drink.  That drink is delectably good, full-spunk with flavor, and makes us feel so good inside.  But we know that if we get too close, too familiar with its magic, there is danger.  The problem with Kurt Cobain was that he meant what he said when he wrote the song "I Hate Myself and I Want to Die."  You can't listen to his music without hearing your own dangerous songs.  Unfortunately he got too close to his songs, and we are left to lament his loss. 

Maybe I'm Human After All

I had pretty well conceded to being a techno artist. I would sit at my computer, turn knobs and make robot voices. And then tonight - during my elders quorum presidency meeting of all things - I had the chance to rock out to some live drums. Rock, sweet, rock. One of my fellow counselors, Dallon, happens to be incredibly good at the drums and the guitar. He said he's got my back and now I have no choice but to go back to my plans of rock revolution. Y'all better get ready...

Check out Dallon's guitarstring company at www.knuckleheadstrings.com

R.I.P.

Today is the 11th Anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death. If you are still interested in debating whether or not he committed suicide, check out http://www.justiceforkurt.com/.

I Love the 90s

I ate lunch at Bubba's Firehouse BBQ today. I was just sitting at the table listening to the conversation when I realized the song playing at the restaurant was "Blow up the Outside World" by Soundgarden. Now, this restaurant isn't some hip place. It's just a regular-old joint that serves food to 40 year-olds. Next thing I knew, I was hearing hit after hit from the 90s- White Zombie, Hole, Weezer, even Dinosaur Jr! What was this place? It was amazing. I am 25 years old and today I was already having high school nostalgia like crazy! Then as I was driving home and I heard "6 Underground" by the Sneaker Pimps. No matter what the history books may say, the 90s produced some really good music.

Hot Hot Heat - Elevator

Hot Hot Heat
Elevator

When I got a hold of Hot Hot Heat's Make Up the Breakdown in 2002, I absolutely could not get enough. These Canucks were on the front-end of the Cure-influenced dance pop punk craze and their bouncy numbers literally forced me to get out of my seat and jump around, jump around.

Elevator just doesn't do that for me. On the surface, these new songs are similar to the old ones - dancy, guitar pop and Steve Bays unique vocal style - but are definitely missing some elements. Make Up was driven by incredibly creative guitar work, combined with rad organ solos and driving synthesizers. The guitar just doesn't have the same impact on this one (There must have been some issues there, since guitarist Dante DeCaro has now left the band), and where in the world is the organ?

This album is not a complete throw-away. There are a few very solid tracks - "Island of the Honest Man," "Dirty Mouth" and "Shame on You" are all very good. This album would have made a great 4-song EP.

Free Fiona

 

There's nothing the world loves more than rage and misery. We live to see the catfights on "The Bachelor," it's not worth watching the current season of "The Apprentice" unless Chris turns into a screaming banshee in the Board Room. How else do you explain Spencer's continued love for Pedro the Lion, a man whose songs and voice inspires deep depression in me every time I hear it. There's just something about seeing those emotions laid bare on T.V. , in a movie, or in a song that makes us all feel a little less bad about ourselves.

So, thinking about these two beloved topics - rage and misery - I write today to ask Sony music (and the world in general) a question- "Why won't you release Fiona Apple's latest album, Extraordinary Machine?" If there is any artist that sums up a world of misery and rage, it is Fiona Apple. For years, Fiona has continued to rage rage rage against everything. Even Alanis Morrissette finally got happy. Not Fiona. And I need her rage!! Her album has been finished for two years, but Sony won't release it because they think it won't sell.

I found a website a few months ago called freefiona.com. The guy who started this website envisioned the whole world rising up and converging on Sony headquarters in New York City. He also encouraged those who couldn't make it to mail things to Sony headquarters on a certain day. So I did my part by printing off a picture of an apple and writing the words "Free Fiona" on the page and mailing it off. According to our friend, the Internet, the protest in January wasn't quite what the organizer hoped it would be. I think that somewhere between 8-15 people showed up. I wonder if my apple even made it past the mail room.

But thank goodness, someone leaked the entire album online, so I have been enjoying it for the last two weeks now. What's not marketable about it? So what if every song sounds like a crazy, angry circus - it sounds exactly the same as her last two albums, both of which were big sellers. So I say "Come on Sony, free Fiona. Let us the consumer enjoy her misery and rage, and we'll let you enjoy our hard earned dollars and you'll rage all the way to the bank."

Su-Tang 3000 - Hover Low EP

Sutherland Manifesto
Hover Low EP

The first official review of the new EP. Not very objective since it's by my good friend Pat Barnum, but hey, I'll take it!

Spencer! Your debut release!! Congratulations on getting it wrapped up. Sorry I've been so slow in responding on it. More than any comments I might have on the songs, I want to tell you I'm inspired by your focus/passion in making it all happen. You are a genuine artist!

My basic reaction was that while you showcase an impressive variety of musical genres, your sound is original. That's why I say you're a genuine artist: good art unconsciously gathers the best of what's preceded it, only to assert its own voice. I hope I don't sound too cheezy in saying that, but I really mean it. I sense that it is so easy, as far as the music scene goes, to imitate a prevalent sound, to latch onto what's working. But it requires discipline and some bravery to ignore it all, and sing your song. So there's my soapbox.

My favorite is "Record Store." Playful, bouncy, slick, all the while with the sentimental catchiness underneath. I love the Ace of Base ref. And the 20 dollar bill. The windows down, aimless drives, and the CD's that never let down--a sentiment that strikes a chord with me!

And "Airport Song!" Maybe it is my favorite. Two things: it has the most personal, meaning-filled touch of all the tunes, and it captures your unique ability to combine elements of techno and punk. Spencer, that is what makes you you! How many people can melt punk and techno into an appealing sound of their own? I don't know of many. They are rather opposing genres, and that you can pull it off is impressive.

Yeah, techno is an interesting thing for me...Traditionally I am slightly antagonistic toward it yet on the other hand I've recently found myself quite intrigued with it, at least as a component of a wider sound. It's grown on me more since Radiohead incorporated it in a significant way (via Kid A and Amnesiac).

That said, I enjoyed "fly high, hover low (or is it just the unnamed title track?)" and "mad mad city." For me, techno does something to your mind as opposed to being conventional listening material. And I would describe the effect of "hover low" as being warm. And massaging. Techno is very interesting. I'm curious as to what inspired "mad city," or which particular city it may be. But it has nice, sleek sound to it.

Well, I think that about does it for me. What can I say, su-tang 3-thou, but great job? Seriously Spencer, I am happy you've able to finish everything up, and I'm sure it feels good to have the big job done. It was "the bomb-diggitty" indeed!!