New Music Tuesday: Spoon

The second I mentioned the new Spoon album, my friend Mary laughed and pulled out the pitchfork quote everyone has used: "They're just the poor man's Billy Joel." Despite the infectious wit and self-indulgent puffery of Pitchfork, I disagreed. With "The Way We Get By," I disagreed. With "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine." Even when a Jaguar ad featured "I Turn My Camera On," I stood by the musical integrity of Britt Daniels and crew, if only for "Girls Can Tell."

I could never understand the derision. When Spoon released Telefono, they were looked at as the heir to the Pixies' mantle. Mention that connection today and you'll get spit on. Nothing of their earlier, rougher sound survives after "A Series of Sneaks." Once Elektra dropped them from their label, they turned towards the pop rock drawing board and charted their way into every indie kid's play list, if only a few songs at a time.

However, their validity in the indie world has been challenged from time to time, especially with "Gimme Fiction" and the mid-album dive into throw away rock like "Sister Jack." The album starts out with a sharp bite, and ends with corked teeth. For such reasons, the indie music community looks at an album title like ga ga ga ga ga and stands ready to pounce. Well, I can only hope Pitchfork isn't that imposing. After all, the hailed an group of Ace of Base knock-offs as having the best album of the year. Give me a break.

Thankfully, after Ga ga ga ga ga, I feel justified in my defense.

"Don't Make me a Target" checks in with the basics - guitar, bass and drums - before slowly intensifying. Daniel's spits lyrics that suspiciously sound aimed at the Bush administration. If they aren't, they're at least appropriate.

Here come a man from the stars/ we don't know why he goes so far/ keeps on marching along, beating his drum ... When you reach back in his mind/ feels like he's breaking the law/ there's something back there he's got that nobody knows. He never claimed to say what he says/ smells like the insides of closets and stairs, the kind where nobody goes.

If that didn't solidify the point, Daniel's quickly follows his under-the-breath condemnations with a pointed demand: "Don't Make me a Target." While this sort of lyrical unrest continues throughout the album, the instrumentation and rhythm changes from song to song.

From this sinister strut, Daniels throws us violently into "The Ghost of you Lingers," a desperate pounding of piano chords, off key at first, then taking flight with Daniels vocals, who has applied so much reverb as to suggest he recorded the vocals out of his own body. Daniels sings as a man torn asunder, with multiple voices pleading for restoration. It's an ethereal track, and stands in stark contrast to the pop instrumentation of the rest of this album. However, the lyrics follow a theme of frustration and division.

"You've Got Yr Cherry Bomb" throws another curve, invoking 60's style pop (the chimes at the beginning almost reminded me of Motown) and an upbeat driving beat complete with horns and bubblegum intentions.

The roller coaster of moods continues as "Don't you Evah" and "Rhthm and Soul" set a steady beat and groove. This sounds like a safe and familiar territory, until descending into "Eddie's Ragga." Here, Daniels laments his tortured relationship with a lover, going back between wide-eyed contentment and isolation. The sinister bass work peering from behind the occasional stabs of guitar enhances Daniel's despondent and resigned lyrics.

"The Underdog" almost seems triumphant in comparison, with a the fierce acoustic strumming explodes into a blossoming of trumpets, as if spring has broken free from winter. Yet, this isn't a rousing anthem, but a warning regarding not heeding warnings: "But you won't hear from the messenger/don't want to know about something that you don't understand/you have no fear of the underdog/that's why you will not survive." It can be taken as a shot toward Bush, toward Elektra, perhaps toward the music industry. Whoever the target, it still cuts deep. Needless to say, it's an expertly crafted pop song with a clear message, something lacking in pop songs, in general.

The album's last three are just as solid tunes, but nothing groundbreaking. "Finer Feelings" laments over true love and commercial appeal with a welcome re-entry of light distortion and a steady-beat (although there is a brief interlude in the song that seems unnecessary). "My Little Japanese Cigarette Case" remains brief and to the point, with flourishes of zithers and piano trills.

By the time "Black Like Me" roles around, Daniel's asks his departing audience for someone to take care of him tonight. It will have seemed too quick. Daniel's may have lashed out at everyone around him, beat himself up and lamented his position, but he's already looking for recovery. What's more, you might be hitting replay, as the album blasts by in only 36 minutes and ends with abrupt silence.

Not a second is wasted, not a track is filler. Certainly, Spoon only needed that much time to prove they're a few steps above Gimme Fiction. Or "Uptown Girl," for that matter.

---------

Interpol, later today.

It's been awhile...

But I will update, as soon as I can upload some photos I've taken in the last week. If anyone in the Madison area has a USB cord that connects to a sony cybershot, It might be helpful.

Body Found in Oregon, WI.

Cap Times says it was in relation to the Kelly Nolan investigation. The family was there during the search, but left before the body was found. There is going to be a news conference at 2pm regarding the find. Keep some close eyes on this one.

As for the whole foul play take, I agree with Critical Badger, It's hard not to suspect foul play when some man came to take Nolan home from the cafe worker who originally was walking her home. Still, I guess this case is "wait-and-see."

Anglophiles Anonymous - 7/6/07 - The Punk Show!

You can listen to the show at this link and download it here. We had a great deal of kids in the studio again, but someone complained about during the sports show before me, so they didn't appear on mine, unfortunately. Nice kids though.
Playlist:
1. The Sex Pistols
2. The Jam - In the City
3. The Clash - White Riot
4. Sham 69 - Cockney Kids are Innocent
5. Wire - Surgeon's Girl
6. The Stranglers - Somethings Better Change
7. Buzzcocks - Promises (Live)
8. Generation X - Ready, Steady Go
9. Elastica - Annie
10. Joy Division (as Warsaw) - Warsaw
11. The Fall - Industrial Estate
12. Gang of Four - Ether
13. Elvis Costello - Radio Radio
14. Magazine - Shot by Both Sides
15. The Adverts - One Chord Wonders
16. Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device
17. The Slits - Love and Marriage
18. Mekons - Where were you?
19. Wire - Two People in a Room
20. The Clash - Clampdown

Grime next weekend? We'll see.

The 4th, the dispute. A rant.

I saw this post on Erik Opsal's blog this morning and the resulting fallout and I just had to add my two cents to the debate. Rather, I add this RANT.

Whenever I hear people talking about freedom, I feel sick to my stomach. Not because I am - as some would say - a "godless communist", but because I know that those who talk about freedom speak in different connotations. We've reduced liberty to a series of visuals in hopes of unifying our understanding. It never really works.

With this debate over the health care issue, the crushing reality of multiple meanings comes to divide us again. Liberals talk about the 10 percent of Wisconsin without health care, Conservatives talk about the overwhelming financial burden on the rest of us. Each one claims the mantle of true American liberty. Both have flaws in their argument.

Erik, despite his claim, is incorrect about the conservative definition of freedom. It is as far from narrow as possible to see. Certainly, the idea of freedom may bring up images wild masses streaming throughout vast idyllic landscape, but the idea is far from the reality. Mike could certainly explain his definition with eloquence and logic, as do many conservatives I know.

What Erik is targeting are those who subscribe to the conservative agenda without really understanding or abiding by it. There are many (neo-cons, the current administration, uneducated hawks) who may follow this path, but I doubt writing an open letter to conservatives decrying their defnition of freedom is a sensible choice.

But on the health care issue, I side against Mike.
This line caught me in Mike response:

If we want to be technical, no one has the right to medical treatment. That may sound mean, but it's true. Don't forget that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Here's my idea for a universal health care system: The patients are free to see whatever doctors they want by paying money to the doctors when they see them. Doctors and other health care providers are similarly free to accept patients based on the patient's willingness to pay for such care. It's called 'capitalism'.

Except for two problems:
1) The ideal system of Capitalism is a far cry from what we have now come to face with. Ideally, capitalism would entirely benefit the consumer because the increase in competetion would eventually level out to zero profit for no companies and the best deal for consumers. As that would make very little money or incentive for more corportations to enter the fray, it turns in a very wicked way that leaves an oligarchy of profit-maxmizing companies to strip the consumer of that low cost (unless you're Walmart and just screw everyone else over instead.) Insurance companies are certainly some of the biggest purveyors of greed in our system. They benefit from capitalism, the patient suffers.
2) We have no right to health care, but we do have a right to life, do we not? If medical treatment is the best way to guarantee us life, shouldn't we make it available to all?

Ahh, but the financial burden. We can't simply force 90 percent of Wisconsin to pay for 10 percent that represent uninsured Wisconsin! It's not my problem, I shouldn't have to pay for it. If that's not a restriction on our freedoms, then I don't know what is!

For all the talk of Independence, freedom sure gets a lot of play. No one thinks about that other half of the equation. The one that we honor with silence and brevity, no fanfare but "Taps."

Sacrifice.

The countless Americans who went into World War II placed themselves in the line of almost certain death. A sacrifice of the minority of the US for the majority. What did the majority back home do? They rationed. They switched production to the war effort. They did everything in their power to support their boys.
The majority sacrificed for the minority.

We can sacrifice for the minority, can't we? They may not be at war, but if they are without health care, aren't they already on the front lines? They ask for the right to live and it costs employees a 4 percent tax on and 10 percent tax on our employers. We are going to deny that 10 percent their right to life simply because we don't want to give up any more money? When you take into consideration the possible savings to be had from this plan, it's not even a true loss, it's a change in the way we pay. After all, we're still getting coverage out of this deal.

But, we are stubborn. Why? Democracy. Capitalism. Freedom. These have rigid definitions in our minds and altering them would cause a collapse to our way of life. Universal Health Care must be a rejection of all of those things. As such, it cannot pass. The ideals must stand.

We have these ideals, but we're always modifying them. We've always attempted to perfect our ideals, but often arguments for the "right way" choke off our decisions. The oxygen-starved brain that is government freezes because of our own political paralysis.

Only recognition of the need for flexibility will end such stagnation. We may live under the banner of everlasting freedom, proclaim the rule of democracy and run ourselves as a republic, but we blot out the underlying method behind our actions.
We - this country, these citizens and our way of life - are an experiment. Nothing is made in stone.

Democracy is our aim, but the people's rule is far from absolute. We admit to a republic, but our history in foreign lands has always hinted at imperialism.
We strive for freedom, but must confess our rights are subject to security limitations and moral imperatives.

The United States is, just like a scientific experiment, an explosive and ever-changing process. Our conclusions always result in more questions and problems. However, we must stop running the same experiments over and over in hopes we get new results each time.

A new hypothesis must be tested. If it fails, then we try a different one. Lives may be lost, people may lose things along the way. Unfortunately, they're losing those things anyway as we stand idly by. So why not try a different approach?

This may be quite a grand statement for a thing as specific as health care, but it is done for a reason. If this is an experiment, then we are the scientists. We must be ruled by logic and reason, not personal attacks, political spectrum and empty rhetoric. We have a duty to work toward progress.

Therefore, we cannot sit here asking each other the same questions on these matters. We cannot bicker about the conservative or liberal conception of freedom. We have done this before and come out with very few answers. Instead, we must choose one unified direction and act. When we come to a conclusion, evaluation of success and failure will be taken. Then, we can try a different direction. Eventually we'll find the correct path.

Health Care is a test. Democrats have chosen the direction. I suggest we test this new hypothesis. I'm not saying it's fool-proof, I'm not saying it will solve everything. I'm just saying it is worth a test.

After all, we have the freedom to test, don't we?

-----------
Happy 4th, everyone.

It's official...

The Badger Herald Editorial Board presents...

The return of Muckrakers on WSUM 91.7 FM!

Starting July 11 at 8pm, come listen to the Herald take the spin out of the news with roundtable discussion from the Herald Editorial Board.

Call-Ins and questions are welcomed. It's sort of a summer experiment, so input and listeners would be nice.

Blogger Aggregate? How about a news hub?

Today, Dorshorst and Critical Badger mentioned the idea of a Madison wide-blog aggregate where people can submit stories and posts to this aggregate, much in the same way Post does.
Well, let me tell you how ecstatic I am to hear of organization attempts coming to the forefront. But, don't simply make it a forum.

I feel that there would be no better way for free-lance journalists (whether they are up-and-coming J-school students or inquisitive citizens) to put their findings to Madison. In fact, it might be beneficial to create an blogging hub for Madison and work with the J-school to add the element of real-world publishing to student journalism. I know that many students write class assignments with the idea that they'll never be published. Give them the publishing outlet and they'll make sure the quality is a step ahead of what they produce now.

Yes, the papers could compete with each other more effectively, but so could citizen journalists and students being groomed by the J-school.

However, it's not just about news. I have some interesting ideas on musical innovation that could also be applied to the blogosphere. (something I'd like to discuss with bloggers and musicians together, if possible.)

I say, let us not regard this grand vision as a monolith in the far distance. Let's make it reality. and let's start this week.