tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64626289706198198592023-12-14T14:59:32.859-06:00Devotion, Incorporatednotes from your invisible peerMary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.comBlogger220125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-4587563647034512812020-06-16T23:52:00.007-05:002020-06-17T00:07:22.108-05:00On One Eyed Men <div>"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" — Tom Waits, "Singapore"</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QywH5lialsU" width="320" youtube-src-id="QywH5lialsU"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div>I was around 21 or 22 the first time I heard this phrase, courtesy of Tom Waits on his magnificent <i>Rain Dogs</i> lp. It always struck me for its, I don't know. Mystic zen? Something. It's one of those lines that, when you're young, just plain sounds cool and you don't have to put much thought into it; just file it away and enjoy. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And then one day, 25 or more years later, a day comes when you're trying to figure out why you aren't making any headway in the office even though you're hitting the ball out of the park on a regular basis, and everyone is fawning over the guy who's taking your initiatives and presenting them as their own. Those who learn swiftly, on their own and under their own motivation, have a hard time understanding those who can learn, but won't. And maybe they're a little repelled. Disdaining. Whatever. But that other guy, he doesn't have that problem. He <i>wants</i> to be the guy people turn to for help and doesn't need them to learn on their own so he can go on to other projects. He even has a name: The Go-To Guy. He's got the answer everyone's question, and/or will go searching for it, for them. He may not know, himself, but Google's right there and he will not send them an email link that includes the lmgtfy.com domain. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">...<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The <i>pressure</i> to be on social media is astonishing in its scope. If you aren't visible for the masses, you don't exist for the masses. And who wants to be non-existent? So I finally gave in and joined, sometime around 2008 but didn't really get active at all for another 5 years, when I was out of radio. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Social media is like work, for me. Only I'm not getting paid. I and others, amateur and pro, alike, create content for Silly Con Valley information distributors, free of charge. I don't think anyone ever could have come up with a device that's so perfect for forcing creatives and other self-starters to waste their time and get beaten down, mentally, if they'd tried. And once you're there, if you are the highly communicative sort and you have a finely tuned bullshit detector, it's a recipe for antagonism. If the pressure to be there in the first place is bad, that's nothing compared to the pressure to conform to the CW of your peer community — who haven't spent 30 years of their life under the threat of being fired at any given time, if they didn't have their act together and their words chosen carefully and responsibly for the public interest, necessity and convenience. The majority of your FB friends will not thank you pointing out disinformation and the illogical nature of their <i>content. </i>They never had to sit down in an aircheck session.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>For this reason alone, I'm finding a huge preference to Reddit these
days, although that, too, is a time waster for creatives unless you are deliberately collaborating or otherwise incorporating it into your work. When the worst
thing anyone can do is downvote you, life's not bad. It's easy to hide in the crowd; you're under the cloak of anonymity, there's no price to pay. There's an aspect to transparency that, especially as a creative, I find horrifying. It invites ankle-biters like nothing else on earth. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">...<br /></div><br /></div><div>I often lead kayaking trips, now, for an interest group on Facebook. Kayaking has been a hobby for 11 years. I started out under the mentorship of two wonderful Middle Tennessee paddlers: Dennis Fulk, and Leslie Dunn. They both saw that I had some smarts and a knack, and gave me tips while we in the midst of river trips. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Now the sport has increased twenty-fold, thanks to the twin engines of poorly designed but newly affordable brands you find at discount retailers, and social media — especially Facebook and Instagram. FOMO is making a ton of greenbacks for someone, that's for certain. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Leading trips for these interest groups is both wonderful and a pain in the ass. Nothing delights me more than turning people on to new things and experiences. I take no small amount of pride that the first trip I ever organized to the Nantahala Gorge area led at least 5 people going on to intense whitewater training; at least two went on to become instructors, another followed his drummer to become a raft guide on the Ocoee. Every summer. Another one of my newbs started up her own Facebook kayaking group and was a board member of TSRA, Middle Tennessee's premier swiftwater training group. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>And that's all wonderful. But here's what is happening in the Facebook paddling groups springing up everywhere: <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>First, you've got those who would be organ donors if they had the ability to purchase a motorcycle for $90, and get it on the road without any kind of instruction or licensing. And they're cheering on equally uninformed newbies and wannabees. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>A more personal challenge — because, remember, I used to get paid to research, digest, and share information — are those who, going by their profile pics, appear to be fairly successful people and when I post a paddling event, want to know exactly where is the put in location? and where is the take out (some times it's right in the event info; occasionally I'll arrange another meeting place for a caravan)?, exactly how long will it take? and other items which are specifically addressed in the event information. They may ask how long is the drive? All this, rather than do their own web/maps search. I've gotten to the point where I just don't/won't answer those questions anymore. 85% of the time in the past, when I have, they ended up cancelling out, anyway. Others have no intention of signing on to go with strangers, at all. They just want the details so they can go with their own crew. I don't think it occurs to them, the amount of time it takes people to master some types of knowledge, but the internets have trained them to expect to be spoonfed. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So yes, of course they love the one-eyed man. They love the go-to-guy and gal, who will happily answer their questions for the ego boost, alone. Hopefully the go-to-guy will find some way to benefit, beyond that. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I just can't do it anymore. <br /></div><br />Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-79252997033756455462020-05-22T11:35:00.012-05:002022-01-18T12:07:10.596-06:00Rumblings ...<span style="font-size: small;"> Dang, four years. I'd apologize, for abandoning this little project, but to whom? At best, you could say I got dragged into the social media hole. At worst, I just got dragged.</span>
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2012-2014 were horrible years. The worst. My Program Director committed violent suicide, via handgun, in February of 2012, after having been undermined for years. Over the course of the next few months, depression and cognitive dissonance set in as I came to finally understand that I was never going to be anything more than window dressing there, and for people who wouldn't have lasted more than six weeks with my previous employers. That's an arrogant thing to say, I suppose. That kind of knowledge breeds hubris, and it didn't endear me to anyone. Especially the station accountant who was set to become the VP of programming, a background move which was set in early 2102 and never even announced to the rest of the station until .. well I don't know if there ever was any kind of memo, I just know that the rest of the air-staff had no clue, even a year later when I got canned. And so from April or May of 2012 and for the next two years, I spent most of my non-work related time in bed, with the comforters pulled up over my head.</span>
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Should I manage to find any discipline, to return to writing in general and this blog in specific, the topics won't be contained to entertainment. Just fair warning.</span>
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In recent years, I repeatedly find myself returning to a thread of thought, about how the atmosphere around the 1970s anti-Disco movement has re-emerged in social media and politics. In coming times, I hope to fully articulate my feelings, thoughts, and opinions in a coherent narrative. I think a massive chunk of what's going on in our political divisions, is at least partly — and a pretty huge one, actually — the result of how the emergence of rock radio dovetailed with business interests, and how the advertising/marketing industry was engaged to assist in carving out a cultural identity for rockists. I believe we are in a societal arena that's very similar to the anti-disco backlash, due to social media, and now that we are all thrust back into a cultural marketplace with few massive communities instead of tons of smaller ones, the battle is on for whose culture or subculture will be dominant. And the people running for various offices are using it. </span>
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So .. if I can find and hang onto the necessary discipline, you'll see more on that.</span>
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- MB</span>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-6868416999898301252014-01-24T20:17:00.000-06:002014-01-24T21:47:09.869-06:00January Sounds (or, I'm stumped for a pithy title) What's become an interesting year-end / year-beginning ritual for music lovers is the BBC's "Sound of" lists, something they started doing in 2003 when they chose 50 Cent as the act to watch. Their record hasn't been 100%; often, it goes like American Idol in that the runners' up are the most interesting, and have the better careers. In that first year the rest of the top 5 included Electric Six, The Thrills, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. #6? Interpol. <br />
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2004 was another successful class, with Keane topping a poll that included Franz Ferdinand, Joss Stone, and Scissor Sisters. 2005? A bit of an off year. The Bravery came in first, Kaiser Chiefs at 5, and KT Tunstall at 6. And it's not that they were lacking, but lasting chart power wasn't a factor in that year's list. 2008. Now there was a class. Adele, Duffy, Ting Tings, Glasvegas, Foals, Vampire Weekend, Joe Lean & The JJJ, Black Kids, MGMT, and Santigold — only two of those ten <i>haven't</i> gone anywhere since.<br />
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So, there're some good calls and bad. Some with shit-tons of artistic merit, and some pure bubblegum. This year's top pick is a kid named Sam Smith and his voice is heavenly, but the arrangements are the stuff pop confection is made of. Listen to him on Disclosure's "Latch" for a less RickRoll-worthy experience.<br />
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California's BANKS and Chicagoan Chance the Rapper comprise the interesting Americans on the list. What's really got me worked up at present, though, is a young Bristol kid named George Ezra. #5. Little skinny blonde kid with a voice that would make Mississippi blues and Dave Wakeling fans, alike, blink. Twice.<br />
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Ezra got early support from a local BBC outlet, started doing open mic nights, found himself at Glastonbury in the summer of 2013, and is now signed to Sony and working with Class of 2009 graduate Lady Gaga's publicist. Already, people are looking for a repeat Jake Bugg phenomena, or is it just the deservedly cynical UK press? You can't blame them/us. So many times, we've been hyped on some piece of schlock with a too-good-to-be-true origin story. Ezra sounds like he's got the goods, regardless. Let's just hope he can stay away from the producers-du-jour. <br />
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One thing, a little disquieting, is the marketing agreements that are already in place. Apparently there's some kind of Burberry fashion connection. Kind of reminds me of how a Nashville Americana band had a Stetson endorsement before their album even came out. Can't anything stand on its own, anymore?<br />
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Speaking of the home team, among Nashville's newer residents is guitar slinger / songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan. Originally from Ohio, Tasjan landed in NY in the aughts, in the original lineup of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkVnUS98sEA" target="_blank">Semi Precious Weapons</a>. The band was hot on the glam scene and destined for great things, but they weren't the kind of great things Tasjan wanted, and so he walked away from Gagaland (yes, two Gaga connections in one post. Dig it) into the decidedly more rootsy and down-to-earth Madison Square Gardeners. Even though that band wasn't very long lived, it put him in the same scene as people like Kevn Kinney and Todd Snider, who talked Tasjan into moving to Nashville. Between playing with SPW and bringing his solo act here, he's managed to share stages with the likes of the NY Dolls, Golden Palominos, Tim Easton and Drivin' n' Cryin'. In the latter case, he's their current guitarist.<br />
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Like all the hard-working kids in town, Aaron Lee Tasjan's been out on the road almost since he got here. Keep your eyes peeled for his next local gig. This was at the Stone Fox, in December. <br />
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Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-29337251537708227822014-01-13T14:33:00.001-06:002014-01-13T15:04:51.190-06:00Brand New Single From Foster the People - Coming of Age<div style="text-align: left;">
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Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-61530148505481905712013-12-19T15:49:00.000-06:002013-12-19T15:58:31.616-06:002013 Countdown Finish ... and the Top 5 Songs Are <b>5. Vampire Weekend - Diane Young</b><br />
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This became a song people either loved or hated. I fell on the love side; it was like Elvis on steroids.<br />
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<b>4. Macklemore & Lewis - Thrift Shop</b><br />
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Backlash over this song, but particularly the video, developed over the song's send-up of commercial hip-hop culture. More on that further down the list but the important ingredient here is thrift shopping has long been the province of young, creative people in low-paying jobs. And $50 t-shirts deserve all the ridicule they garner.<br />
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<b>3. Disclosure - When a Fire Starts to Burn</b><br />
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UK brothers Guy and Howard Lawrence have been called 2013's stealth success. They were still living in their parents' home and taking festivals by storm last summer and hypnotizing people with the likes of ...<br />
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<b>2. Lorde - Royals</b><br />
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So ... about that backlash over criticism of hip-hop culture. Between "Thrift Shop," Lily Allen's "Hard Out Here," and "Royals," <a href="http://www.spin.com/articles/lorde-royals-rap-radio-urban-macklemore-thrift-shop/" target="_blank">hubcaps and gold overlays took a minor stabbing</a>. Are the complaints valid? I don't know. Perhaps. If so, they are no more (or less) valid than womens' complaints about 25 years of bitch/ho. <br />
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<b>1. Kanye West - Black Skinhead</b><br />
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And then there was this. Did someone say "bitch"? Why yes, actually.<br />
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<br />Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-51823920570188086642013-12-18T01:27:00.003-06:002013-12-18T01:33:57.548-06:00Quick Take on The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I saw the flick this afternoon. If you're a JRR Tolkien purist, you probably won't care for it — unless you're also a huge action fan and maybe a whitewater enthusiast. Peter Jackson has um ... Jacksonized the flick and turned it into a Lord of the Rings prequel that threatens the suspension of disbelief for the latter. As a result, some of the best things about Hobbit 2 are also the things that also make it kind of dodgy. <br />
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<b>Highlights: </b><br />
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Visually it's a 3D-elight, if you decide to view it in that media. The movie opens with a dark orc chase that quickly gives way to a sun-filled, airy meadow, with bumblebees flittering around the screen. <br />
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The Mirkwood elves' hangout. Of the three elf kingdoms, Mirkwood Hall is a little more decadent than Rivendell or Lothlorian. But it's also more tree-ier and looks more like a place you'd expect to see elves. (Did I really just type that?)<br />
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Bilbo above the treetops. It's funny how such a simple scene was such a memorable passage, in the book.<br />
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Bilbo and Smaug and Holmes & Watson. As UK tv's current Sherlock Holmes (and the most stylish man in the universe, since Bowie) <span class="kno-a-v">Benedict Cumberbatch is making a lot of people his bitch these days. As Smaug, he gets outwitted by his Watson, Martin Freeman as Bilbo. Cute, huh?</span><br />
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<span class="kno-a-v"> Gandalf gets attacked by formless, black smoke Sauron, who turns into Burning Slit Sauron as a result of Gandalf's defense spells (I think). </span><br />
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<span class="kno-a-v"> River Barrel Chase. As a kayaker, this may be the result of some bias on my part, but that looks like one badass run. </span><br />
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<span class="kno-a-v"> Bard!</span><br />
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<span class="kno-a-v"> Legolas! </span><br />
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<span class="kno-a-v"><b>Not so much</b></span><br />
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<span class="kno-a-v"><b> </b> <i>Legolas!</i> I know, right? Orlando Bloom is always a welcome sight, but there's something that's just wrong about a scene with a Legolas that looks 10 years older than he was in the LotR movies, meeting Gloin, father of Gimli, several decades before LotR takes place. </span><br />
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<span class="kno-a-v"> Mirkwood Spiders. That whole business was kind of a let down, compared to the book.</span><br />
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<span class="kno-a-v"> The Sauron reveal is another instance where you wanna go, 'hey gee, cool,' before you wonder, if they knew this cat was out of the bag this early in the story, why didn't they start coming up with a Destroy Sauron plan much earlier?</span><br />
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<span class="kno-a-v"> No emotional connection to the story. Or very little of it, anyway. There's an elf/dwarf (Legolas, Kili, and the newly introduced Tauriel) love triangle that got added into the mix, but even that doesn't seem to hold up as any kind of sweepstakes. Considering what we know of LotR, it's a safe bet Legolas is going to wind up single, anyway.</span><br />
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<span class="kno-a-v"> <b>Overall: </b>It's a good popcorn movie; the craft that went into it was superb. On the down side, its soul is missing. You don't get the feeling the movie makers<i> love</i> these characters the way they did in Jackson's other Tolkien trilogy. When you consider that was a much shorter book, and it's getting three installments, you'd think someone would have taken a little more time for that.</span>Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-22620725935237576402013-12-16T23:05:00.003-06:002013-12-16T23:37:27.396-06:002013 Countdown Continued (15 Songs)At this point it starts getting hard, with self-second-guessing as the new hobby. At this point, almost any of the next ten songs could get my vote for #1, depending on what day it is and what I'm doing.<br />
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But ...<br />
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<b>10. James Blake - Retrograde</b><br />
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White soul doesn't get much whiter or much more soulful than this. Blake evoked early '80s UK acts, but traded out the fromage for some knob fiddling, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24745412" target="_blank">taking home the Mercury Prize</a> as a reward. <br />
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<b>9. Volcano Choir - Byegone</b><br />
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Justin Vernon's other band, or one of them, has been kicking around since 2005. This summer saw their second release, <i>Repave. </i> If the Bon Iver chorals put you off, you can relax. The guitar does the soaring on this one.<br />
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<b>8. NONONO - Pumpin Blood</b><br />
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What is it with the Swedes? They were all over the place this year, in pop, rock, and post-rock all. In NONONO's case, it's pop of the infectious kind.<br />
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<b>7. Valerie June - Twined and Twisted</b><br />
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There are an unlimited number of gorgeous songs on the debut of Brooklyn-via-West Tennessee's Valerie June. Though initial hype focused on June's collaboration with Dan Auerbach, the ageless, deep-South, soulful country songs are the ones that leave an imprint long after the player has moved onto the next song in the shuffle.<br />
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<b>6. Phosphorescent - Song for Zula</b><br />
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And another from a deep South native, gone to NYC. Alabaman Matt Houck made the album of his life, in the aftermath of that life falling apart. "Song For Zula" not only stood "Ring of Fire" on its head, it also became an anthem for anyone with a tired-of-love gripe to whine about.<br />
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<br />Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-24881241677632330032013-12-16T04:05:00.000-06:002013-12-16T22:24:14.238-06:00My Top Songs of 2013 Countdown I'll be doing this over the course of the next few days, 5 tunes per day.<br />
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<b>15.</b> <b>Daft Punk - Get Lucky </b><br />
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2013 was the year dance music got its due. Funny thing, just as EDM was officially recognized as a force to be reckoned with, Daft Punk reunited and gave us the old school with Nile Rogers, himself, contributing. <br />
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<b>14. Atoms for Peace - Ingenue</b><br />
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Speaking of dancey things, Thom Yorke's little side project became a full-fledged entity, complete with tour that even stopped in Nashville. <br />
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<b>13. Franz Ferdinand - Goodbye Lovers & Friends</b><br />
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Four years after Tonight: Franz Ferdinand pissed off the indie boys club, they came back with the slightly better-received <i>Right Words, Right Thoughts, Right Action</i>. Though there were plenty of pop-ready tunes on the album and two or three radio-ready singles, the lyrics on "Goodbye Lovers and Friends" show a protagonist self-directing their future funeral, in all of Alex Kapranos' biting glory.<br />
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Don’t wear bright colours<br />
You know I hate bright colours<br />
I never liked you for the way you dressed<br />
Anyway<br />
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The groove is the icing. <br />
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<b>12. The National - Demons</b><br />
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<b> </b>2013 was also the year The National earned the respect to transcend their indie-darling status and start making the jump to bonafide pop culture. <br />
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<b>11. Deerhunter - Dream Captain</b><br />
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<b> </b> Indie rock was all over the place this year. This track stood out for me for the sheer power-pop noisiness, that didn't get old within the space of three weeks. Big ear worm.<b><br /></b><br />
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<br />Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-12889314428820745832013-11-19T00:38:00.001-06:002018-07-27T12:11:37.277-05:00Where Is My Mind: Revisiting the Revisiting of the Pixies<span style="font-size: small;"> A few nights ago I was at a concert and got into a conversation with a friend, about the headliner's new single and what it signified. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> As the 1990s came to an end, <i>Fight Club</i> became a cultural touchstone for disaffected Gen-X, particularly white males. Chuck Palahniuk's story of a DID-plagued white-collar worker touched a nerve with a generation that marked the split between the time when you could have a blue collar job and provide for a family, or not. Those who took the collegiate route to success were getting into condos and McMansions, filled with Bohemian Bourgeois trappings, while their lower-income peers seemed to disappear first from their lives, and then from any significance in popular culture altogether, once Roseanne was cancelled by ABC. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> We had a metrosexual president who felt our pain and had notorious affairs, when he wasn't caught up in the humanitarian war on the Balkans and shepherding NAFTA and GATT, the trade agreements that took away so many well-paying blue collar jobs. The buffoonish masculinity of WWF was no longer the province of 12 year olds, big money cracked the demographic wide open.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> In this atmosphere, <i>Fight Club</i> became a beacon; it offered a convenient and highly entertaining answer to the masculinity crisis without challenging its audience to rush out of the theatre and take action. In the end, the movie taught us, nihilism offers a solution that demands nothing and has no consequences.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Hearing the obscure Pixies song, "Where Is My Mind," as buildings fell and then over the end credits, that was just icing on the cake.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> But from there, an odd thing happened: a song that pretty much no one among Pixies' fans ever considered to be among the band's finest moments, spent the next 10 years becoming the song that has come to define that band in today's music culture. If you asked a Pixies fan in 1988 to name their favorite songs, they might tell you about "Gigantic," "Bone Machine," "Cactus," or "Nimrod's Son." If you asked them again, in 1990, they'd add "Velouria," "Monkey Gone to Heaven," "Debaser," and "Here Comes Your Man." Ask again in three more years, and "U Mass," and "Alec Eiffel" would have been additions.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> If you asked anyone prior to <i>Fight Club</i> what their favorite Pixies songs were, "Where Is My Mind" barely pinged the radar, even among huge fans. Could have been any number of reasons but for my money the most likely one is that people who came to the Pixies anywhere between 1987 and, say, 1994 weren't there for the drone, and they certainly weren't there for the traditional rock structure this song incorporates more of than most of their other work. Speaking for myself and what I can recall of my friends' opinions, we were there for the twisted pop. We were there for Black Francis' shrieks, his and Kim Deal's delicious vocal interplay, the helter-skelter surf-punk guitar work, and occasionally, like on "Monkey Gone to Heaven," Joey Santiago's premo leads. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> And we were there to release joy. Which is why it bothers me, and some others, that revisionists have made "Where Is My Mind" so heavy on the scale that it threatens the band's legacy of subversive pop. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> In 2012, Stereogum published a list of "The Best Pixies Songs." 5 of the 10 were never high on anyone's radar and 6, if you took the <i>Fight Club</i> factor out of the equation. The #1? "Tame."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> "Tame" was an okay tune. The best part of it was the line, "Lips like Cinderella," and the staccato guitar lick, fine. But honestly? Nothing else about it was very memorable. For most people, "Tame" was the short interlude between "Debaser" and "Wave of Mutilation," and that's pretty much it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> In the comments to the article, the list was challenged, especially by people who thought it was nuts that songs like "Monkey Gone to Heaven" and "Here Comes Your Man" weren't on the list. I thought this response was interesting:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: small;">I really don’t think that “Monkey Gone to Heaven” is a no-brainer to
make the list, though. It’s a good song, but I would not consider it
one of my top 20 favorites. That song and “Here Comes Your Man” are two
songs that seem to belong more to that moment in time, whereas some of
their other songs have a strange weirdness that is timeless. </span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"> Now, this isn't the response of the journalist who put the list together, but I find it highly typical of some millennials I've worked with in radio; they have a hard time differentiating between their personal favorites and quality that's going to have a broad appeal. I think a huge part of that has to do with "serious" popular music failure to evolve or, more directly, serious popular music promoters' failure to do their jobs when it comes to youth.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> Due to the huge financial success of rock music — <i>40 years ago</i> — the part of the music industry that serves young white males doesn't want to let go. The catastrophic error could not have been made more clear to me than it was one beautiful Sunday morning when I was kayaking on the Duck River in Normandy, about 90 minutes Southeast of Nashville. As I came around a bend in the river, I passed two young men, probably in their early 20s, in a fishing boat. Poles out, the iPod on, and they were listening to hip hop. In the middle of outer-bumfuck, Tennessee. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> And because we've got a music industry that refuses to let go of rock, in spite of today's piss-poor record sales, we've got a group of young'uns (that segment that didn't find hip-hop) are identifying with music that's 4th or even 5th generation spin cycle. No matter how talented some of these artists might be, they aren't using those talents to come up with a single original idea. And we've been stuck here ever since <i>Nevermind</i> was unleashed and Alternative's turn to the left was effectively killed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> So the only thing for millennials and younger to do to hear something that actually was kind of, sort of, brilliant, they're stuck going back to 1989 — and trying to make it their own. It's no wonder some people might have a problem with that. To draw a comparison, imagine some '80s hipster writing in Rolling Stone or Musician magazines and creating such a list for ... say, the Doors. And listing "Maggie M'Gill" as the best Doors song, ever. You know damn well their editor would laugh them out of the room. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> Where do we go from here? The current folk revival offers some promise, but there's a lot of it that's simply Rock music with Bluegrass instruments. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> Oh, wait. Guess the show I was at the other night ...</span><br />
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Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-15997152934669652022013-11-17T20:21:00.000-06:002013-11-17T20:35:37.253-06:00Lily Allen Is Mocking the Dominant Culture. You'd Be Pissed Too, If You Were In the Scene<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"> My neck is sore from all the back and forth over Lily Allen's new video, and its satirical mocking of pop music conventions that rely on objectification of women.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> The music business has long been known for sexism, but in the last decade its taken on horrific proportions. Three months ago, Huffington Post wrote an article about how Lorde's song "Royals" was the first song by a female artist to top the Alternative charts in 17 years. That's shameful, considering it's coming from the genre that got its start with bands like the B-52s, X, Eurythmics, Sinéad O'Connor, and thrived with Belly, Throwing Muses, Concrete Blonde ... shall I keep going?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> Anyway, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/12/lorde-first-woman-alternative-chart-17-years-royals_n_3745113.html" target="_blank">here's a link to the article. Make sure you read the comments</a> and see how many people immediately started taking shots. The hatred pouring out on the page is astounding. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> So it's interesting to see what the negatives are about "Hard Out Here." From the men in the scene she's satirizing, the typical response boils down to, "shut up, cunt." But the women ... oh my. Sad to see so many supposed feminists jumping all over Lily for the use of black dancers in twerking. In butt-jiggling. Champagne pouring over body parts. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> At first, it's easy to get caught up in their rationalizations. "Lily only cares about White Feminism," etc. In the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/11/15/gazing-critically-at-feminisms-flaws-and-lily-allens-video/" target="_blank">Washington Post, Soraya Nadia McDonald writes</a>,</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">Black women are not here to be used as collateral damage in the fight
against patriarchy. We’re smart, resourceful, capable allies, but that
stunt Allen pulled is not ok, and hiding behind the explanation of
“satire” is weaksauce, because this happens over and over and over. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"> At a certain point it dawns on you: these women are actually here to defend the abusive patriarchy whose balls Allen is kicking in. That's one of the top symptoms of a dysfunctional society, in the first place. And it was there that I was reminded of the infamous reaction Aerosmith's Steven Tyler had to the movie, <i>This Is Spinal Tap</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Rob Reiner's famous "mockumentary" took a playful hand to the excesses of a once-famous, now on the skids, hard rock band in the 1980s. It came out in 1984, when Aerosmith was trying to come back from drug and personnel problems. The following quote comes from excerpts of music industry Joe Smith's taped interviews, now in the Library of Congress (the emphasis is mine):</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">"...When we got into the thick of stardom in the
Seventies, I found the most outrageous things I asked for, would've
thought of asking for, had already taken place the week before with some
other group. It was harder to do something that hadn't happened . . . I
can remember the height of my oblivion, I was into doing things just
because I could. I would think nothing of tipping a whole long spread,
and I'd be so livid – explicit – no turkey roll! Give us a turkey – no
gravy, no stuffing, just real meat. No hockey pucks, no mystery meat,
just a turkey. And I would come in after coming offstage, and I'd have
12 ounces of Jack in me, and half a gram, sweating profusely, and I
would see that tray, and I would go "Yeeow!" and just turn the thing
right over. And that would feel good to me. That felt real good . . .
That movie [<i>This Is Spinal Tap!</i>] bummed me out, because I thought, <b>'How dare they? That's all real, and they're mocking it</b>.'"</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> And here's what Brad Whitford told SPIN magazine:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;">"I'd swear those Spinal Tap guys were at half our meetings," says
Whitford. "The funniest thing is, the first time Steven saw it he didn't
see any humor in it.
That's how close to home it was. He was pissed! He was like, 'That's not
funny!'" -- Spin - May 1997</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> I also have a recollection of reading an article on INXS in one of the big three (Rolling Stone, Musician, SPIN) that recounts Michael Hutchence's negative reaction to the film. I can't find it online, unfortunately, but it was along the lines that he found it depressing because it hit so close to home.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> Bottom line: These supposedly intellectual viewpoints, claiming the ground of "Black Feminism" are acting as nothing more than shields for the excesses that we've been through before, and (rightly) derided before. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"> Mock on, Lily. Mock on. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-30033118153078704562013-11-13T00:42:00.001-06:002013-11-17T23:38:27.688-06:00We Will Rock You .. Yes, They Will<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JwbeLqKMCH3bQSPpT0_YQ-N5oTH9sus4DJdktcmpbmn0gROufYyfvTatUS6tl0OnP6bscQGPlSz2zhpfeaAE3nG8_6n_fHIEP6i_liReveGioAN6bLIfhLdkYjMwezW6KWBd1RA0_pzs/s1600/IMG_1219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JwbeLqKMCH3bQSPpT0_YQ-N5oTH9sus4DJdktcmpbmn0gROufYyfvTatUS6tl0OnP6bscQGPlSz2zhpfeaAE3nG8_6n_fHIEP6i_liReveGioAN6bLIfhLdkYjMwezW6KWBd1RA0_pzs/s1600/IMG_1219.JPG" width="450" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>We Will Rock You</i> TPAC Jackson Hall</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> There are times when I thank my lucky stars to have been born just early enough to catch the tail end of the baby boom, and late enough to have experienced the late 1970s with the appropriate amount of youth and innocence to accept what Queen contributed to rock and roll dramatics and theatre at face value, and not spend any time speculating on Freddie Mercury's sexuality or whether it mattered, at all. In art, tv, and film, the mid-late '70s and the first years of Ronald Reagan were an explosion of ideas and imagination that still had some value for art's own sake, and people dared stupid. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Let me veer slightly off course and provide a separate example of stupid, fantastic entertainment that succeeded wildly: </span></span></span></span><br />
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At 35 seconds in, one of the most famous exchanges in daytime history: "Luke? I love you ... you aren't going to let anybody freeze to death, are you?" "No, no, no I'm not going to let anybody freeze to death I'll talk to you later." Genie Francis and Tony Geary sold us the Ice Princess in all its cheesy glory because, in that era, the entertainment industry was willing to dare stupid, and offering support to people who were willing to play along. The above clip was from a show at the top of the heap in the Nielson ratings during its original airing. The actors sold it because for the 30 minutes they were performing, they let themselves believe it. That was 1981.</div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> For Queen, 1980 was the year of both their greatest commercial success and their first relative failure. <i>The Game</i> was their first album to hit #1 on both the UK and US album charts, and it yielded no less than 5 radio hits and two Billboard #1 singles. The <i>Flash Gordon</i> movie sound track, released later in the year, never made it into the top 20 in the US and barely top 10 in the UK. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> 1980 was also the year I got to see Queen at the 8,000-seater in my little town. Because Ticketmaster & charge-by-phone didn't exist in 1980, and the internet didn't either, a teenage kid had a fighting chance to score good seats if they cared enough to get to the box office an hour or more before tickets went on sale and wait. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Freddie Mercury in and out of a jumpsuit<br />
Richard Aaron photo</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span> Desire and good fortune put me in the 5th row for the most spectacular, best fucking rock show of my life. It was loud and brash and crude and fun and the light show brought us kids to near-sensory overload. <a href="http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/queen/1980/glens-falls-civic-center-glens-falls-ny-73dc9e55.html" target="_blank">I found the setlist online</a>. Shit, what a list. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> And you know what's amazing, looking back? That tour, not just in Glens Falls but all over the place, they started their set with "Jailhouse Rock." And that might not seem significant given the undisputable iconic status Elvis has now, but in where I lived in 1980 </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">teenage kids and twenty-somethings didn't give a crap about Elvis Presley, </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">e<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">xcept for a small tribe of rockabilly fans</span></span></span></span>. The only Elvis that existed for most of us at that time was still the Fat Elvis in the white studded jumpsuit. But Freddie was a jumpsuit guy, and he dared to be that uncool. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> So, about <i>We Will Rock You.</i> It's stupid. And it's brilliant. Stupid in how it tries to invalidate pop music that comes from synthesizer use (Queen did, during the 1980s, use synth). What's the point of railing against the electronic/internet revolution if you're not going to try to break the machine? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The plot: 300 years in a future, dystopian society, Earth is called iPlanet and run by Globalsoft Corp. Musical instruments aren't allowed, let alone rock songs. A teen boy is arrested when he comes close to creating his own. In another part of town, a girl is arrested for failure to dress like all the Ga Ga Kids in her school. The two deviants find like souls, run away together and eventually wind up with a tribe of vagabonds at the ruins of the Hard Rock Café in Las Vegas. The brigands would all love to rock out - if they only knew what it was. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The dialog and plotting that gets us to and around all of that is sometimes contradictory, sometimes drags, and often the humor shoots for the low hanging fruit. In spite of all that it works for the same reason Queen's over-the-top live show worked, and the same reason Luke & Laura worked. The actors throw themselves into it with everything they have and no stepping back to consider how ridiculous they might be. The band members, that we can't see most of the time, throw themselves at the material with no holds barred, even though they'll never be Queen. The same can be said for the light set. Over the top and in your face in a way that you might have to cover your eyes, especially near the end. Everything about <i>We Will Rock You</i> is what novelist Tom Robbins' character Quivers would call, "Vivid." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> A person couldn't ask for much better source material; many of the songs used are on the set list that's linked to, above. Most of the musical performances work great within the context, and "Somebody to Love" is probably my favorite stand-out.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS5jIaVdH3IpaNTKr6T7M5C4OZEVcIm1fDMrgr1oZTlyxXBfR5JbB_P9GgACrcq-wE0LjQXdQF6kgrqzXKUTM7qchpXyLjQ9UIMH5IUs0cQx0yD1qNWj2UhArLnNVrqZGB6Q8HtW-JgpNb/s1600/ensemble-1024x768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS5jIaVdH3IpaNTKr6T7M5C4OZEVcIm1fDMrgr1oZTlyxXBfR5JbB_P9GgACrcq-wE0LjQXdQF6kgrqzXKUTM7qchpXyLjQ9UIMH5IUs0cQx0yD1qNWj2UhArLnNVrqZGB6Q8HtW-JgpNb/s320/ensemble-1024x768.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> It may not hold up to all of the rules for brilliant theatre, but <i>We Will Rock You</i> does everything that counts for serious entertainment. As a testament to just how well it entertains, after the company takes their initial bow, there's an unexpected encore. Before the play indicates the encore is coming, the audience was already giving a standing ovation and prepared to go home happy. I won't spoil the surprise for you, but when you realize what you almost didn't mind missing it's icing on the cake.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">At TPAC's Jackson Hall through Sunday, Nov. 17. </span></span><br />
<br />Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-40331404870951203922013-08-11T13:20:00.004-05:002013-08-11T13:22:05.452-05:00More National / Dead InfoLook who walked onstage to play with The National & Kronos Quartet for their Outside Lands set?<br />
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<object height="290" width="450"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/JekY09C5r1I?version=3&hl=en_US"></param>
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<embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/JekY09C5r1I?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="290" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-54272251556569567482013-08-02T16:24:00.003-05:002013-08-02T16:25:51.466-05:00The National to Produce Grateful Dead Tribute LP Word is moving around that <b>The National</b>, riding high on the success of their latest lp <b><i>Trouble Will Find Me</i></b> are turning to a different source for their next bout of inspiration — <b>The Grateful Dead</b>. Look for a tribute on the horizon, as Relix reports the band's twin guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner will curate the album, <br />
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which will benefit the AIDS-fighting charity Red Hot. The article goes further on to say Bryan and Scott Devendorf will "ghost curate." Look for members of Vampire Weekend and Bon Iver to show up.
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This isn't the first time the Dead have gotten the tribute album treatment. Back in the early 1990s, <b><i>Deadicated</i></b> was among the first wave of popular tribute CDs that marked that era, and it was (and some would say, still is) one of the better examples, with contributions from artists as varied as Jane's Addiction, Warren Zevon, Los Lobos, Midnight Oil and Lyle Lovett. <br />
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<object height="280" width="450"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/YxOlQrVa-84?hl=en_US&version=3"></param>
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Every so often, a young girl picks up a guitar and uses it to focus her rage in such a way that scares the shit out of many young and old men, alike. Patti Smith did it. So did PJ Harvey. Courtney Love, almost, but the sideshow got in the way. And now an 18 year old from London, who first gained attention two years ago with a ukulele and park bench, has picked up a new toy.<br />
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Honestly, it's not anything we haven't heard before. But I kind of miss the days when PJ Harvey was relevant in the US. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mistymillermusic" target="_blank">More ...</a>Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-2556085297551874662013-06-27T22:08:00.001-05:002013-06-27T22:10:20.643-05:00Yum! New Hobbit Trailer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
For the Desolation of Smaug, aka The Hobbit part 2. </div>
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Let me be the one to say it: Richard Armitage makes dwarves look kind of hot. And OMG! Legolas!Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-1917310069910547922013-06-17T19:16:00.000-05:002013-06-17T19:16:12.009-05:00Sigur Rós Streaming New LP on AmazonAside from the music itself, the most interesting thing about the preview from the 7-album strong, ground-breaking, constant concert-sellout Icelandic band's pre-release promotion is the fact that, like Daft Punk, the National, and a small handful of others, its debut is not on NPR, NME, Paste, Pitchfork, PopMatters, or any of the usual suspects where the culture wars are being fought, but instead at the record store itself. That, and the fact they're coming to Nashville this fall! The date is 9/27, the place, The Woods at Fontanel. Tickets go on sale Saturday 6/22.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?docId=1001227931" target="_blank"><img alt="click image to go to stream" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRUiBMA1HB7qmmLWmfb6IZuuVG5cJUSwQqcljdxef4JTXs4WpGwrX92BzCrewWfOFnR_mP0Fo0SqP9SShX2mn4CuhiZaoD5E0fnYUJ40hfV3qiS0NB6W1FoRPi-sQFXqYRcS7dJ9OCWM2P/s320/tumblr_mo8vc5bcI41qejocno1_500.jpg" title="Sigur Ros - Kveikur" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-5549934730077236612013-06-14T16:35:00.002-05:002013-06-14T16:52:46.663-05:00... and the boy: Tom Odell. A Tale of Two VideosWho could blame serious music fans for putting the UK's Tom Odell in the "file under James Blunt" column, when this video for his first single, "Another Love" showed up last November?<br />
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It's a discrimination of sorts; you hit the "play" button, you see the ridiculously good-looking boy in close-up, you see the young girl draping herself on him, and — if you're the jaded type — you think, "Cheese alert! Abort mission!" Because that's not what a serious artist would allow for a video. Right? And so, you're gone after 30 seconds and miss the bite of the remaining 3 or so minutes. <br />
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So it comes as no surprise that, when it became time (right now, actually) for Tom Odell's label to put him in front of American audiences, we got a fresh new video. The theme is similar. Like the original video, the below features the lovelorn 22 year old ignoring what's in front of his eyes, but we are spared the initial emphasis on Odell's dreeeeeeeeeaminess.<br />
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You can't blame the UK Gaurdian for calling it this way:<br />
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<i>"Odell's songs – combining his Jeff Buckleyesque golden voice and
thumped piano – are so commercial you can almost hear the sounds of
ringing cash registers behind the eerily layered backing vocals and
pounding drums." </i><br />
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But then, the classically-trained pianist's bite shows through:<br />
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<i>"Odell is full of such details that thrill mainstream audiences, but
although he sings with his eyes closed to signify deep angst, he forgets
to sustain the illusion when he opens them to peek at the front rows.
In fact, that glint in his eye suggests he's more than another
laboratory-created mainstream troubadour, unless sharing his tequila
with the crowd is another fiendish move to roughen up his image."</i><br />
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Look for the rest of the Londoner (via Chichester & Brighton) and Brit Critics' Award winner's debut, <i>Long Way Down</i>, on June 24. Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-48206657260701749682013-06-10T19:13:00.001-05:002013-06-14T16:36:27.894-05:00The Girls of Summer: Lorde, Valerie JuneRight now there are two young female artists in major rotation in the Bitchin' Granny Car™stereo ... one from the Deep South, and one from the Southern Hemisphere. Allow me to introduce you to ...<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Lorde</b></i></span> </h2>
It's looking more and more like the song (or one of them) that's going to turn out to be this summer's smash is from New Zealand's teenage chart sensation, Lorde. Born <span class="st">Ella Yelich-O'Connor, she got signed at age 12 — and the payoff cometh with a song that spent 6 weeks at the top of the NZ charts. When Lightning 100, here in Nashville, started playing her song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFasFq4GJYM" target="_blank">"Royals"</a> about a month ago, radio listeners responded immediately. </span><br />
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<span class="st">The commentary on the in-crowd, rapped over a minimal beat, obviously is striking a chord with the masses. </span>“When I wrote Royals, I was listening to a lot of rap, but also a lot of
Lana Del Rey, because she’s obviously really hip-hop influenced, but
all those references to expensive alcohol, beautiful clothes and
beautiful cars – I was thinking, ‘This is so opulent, but it’s also
bulls**t.’”<br />
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<span class="st">How fast is she breaking? Last Thursday, a Google news search turned up a little over 400 results in the publications it monitors. Today that number is up over 1200. And here's something else that's turned up, on Lorde's Soundcloud account, of mighty interest to '80s alternative music fans:</span><br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F95491882" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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Boom. Our teenage breakout turns out to be a Replacements fan. Or at least has someone in her camp who turned her on. Perhaps this could be the effective indie-hater block Del Ray could have used. <br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Valerie June</b></span></i></h2>
Wow. Damn. I received an advance of Valerie June's debut album last week and haven't been able to stop listening. <span class="st">30 year old Valerie June Hockett was born and raised in Jackson, Tennessee and took a stop on the Memphis scene before landing in Brooklyn. In its own way, West Tennessee is as much a melting pot as NY, it's just the flavors that go in are a little different. On VJ's debut you can hear echoes of '60s girl groups & Nancy Sinatra, Stax/Volt, Link Wray, Howlin' Wolf, thrown in with bluegrass king Bill Monroe, Appalachian howlers. </span><br />
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The first single out got an assist from Black Key's Dan Auerbach ... <br />
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Very Memphis rave-up, but don't let its lightness fool you. This compelling album is chock full of deep blues, country soul and loneliness that will linger on your mind long after the party's over. Check out this heart-stopper:<br />
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<br />Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-42738581619000531542012-12-25T18:39:00.001-06:002012-12-25T18:39:22.263-06:00Happy Yule, Y'all<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-87560950413401030682012-12-08T07:22:00.001-06:002012-12-08T07:22:26.881-06:00While You're Waiting for The Hobbit to Hit the Theatre<div style="text-align: left;">
A fan compiled the various trailers into the One Clip, to rule them all.</div>
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Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-75410285843636584132012-12-03T13:31:00.000-06:002012-12-03T15:11:12.435-06:00Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Playing in Nashville - ConfirmedI had an advance word the other day when I posted the new NCatBS audio clip. March 16, at the Mother Church - The Ryman Auditorium. When you consider Cave's long-standing fascination with the American South and religion, and the Ryman's history as a place of Southern worship, well ... if I weren't so busy being thankful we'll finally have a Bad Seeds show in Nashville, I might ask what took so long.<br />
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My program director just said to me that "every radio chick" he ever knew loves Nick Cave and he had no idea why. I think it has something - a lot, actually - to do with the Wim Wenders' generational touchstone, <i>Wings of Desire</i>. Cave and band's primal performance in a Berlin night club is heavily featured, in a pivotal scene that comprises a good portion of the film's emotional climax.<br />
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There are some literary characters that are so universal, anyone with the right set of gear can imagine themselves in that character's shoes. I think just about every performing woman who ever saw <i>Wings of Desire</i> had several moments where we could identify with Marian's jitters and fears as a trapeze artist. Performing without a net. It's one of many underlying themes in <i>Wings of Desire</i>, from Marian's gig, to Damiel's plunge from the Wall and transformation from heavenly angel to newly human.<br />
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The character of Marian transforms from a tragic loner to a confident, confrontational woman while Damiel, who she's never met but knows is with her, wanders around the club looking for her, finally settling to wait at the bar. Before she goes in there to meet Damiel, she loses herself in the raw power unleashed in "From Her to Eternity."<br />
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Or, it could just be that we women like dark, sexy music. Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-65935585948075604152012-12-01T09:15:00.000-06:002012-12-01T09:15:13.406-06:00I Wanna Hear Higgs Boson BluesBut I'm going to have to wait until February 19, when Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds put out their 15th album, <i>Push the Sky Away</i>. In the meantime, there be morsels.<br />
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Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-53650649244589216802012-11-29T12:01:00.000-06:002012-12-01T08:16:30.263-06:00Meet Jake Bugg<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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He's 18, he's got melody and a knack for words, he's cute and right now, in the UK, Jake Bugg is receiving more <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/nov/15/jake-bugg-review" target="_blank">scrutiny</a> than Lindsey Lohan wandering around in a Harry Winston shop.<br />
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Depending on who you trust, he's either the second coming of Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Billy Bragg all rolled into one, or a wanky exercise <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/ios-pop-review-jake-bugg-koko-londonbellowhead-dome-brighton-8326244.html" target="_blank">for late 40-and-early-50-somethings you'd see at a Paul Weller show.</a> That is, if you live in a city large enough to have enough Paul Weller fans to fill a room in the first place. Either way, when the <a href="http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Clifton-singer-Jake-Bugg-beats-Mumford-Sons-Leona/story-17148409-detail/story.html" target="_blank">Nottingham-raised Bugg's debut album knocked Mumford and Sons out of the #1 spot on the UK charts</a>, people sat up. <br />
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Recently Nashville got a look at Bugg when he opened for Snow Patrol and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds at the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px6hTx3UT0U" target="_blank">Ryman, where an already impressed fan had the camera rolling.</a><br />
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The only US release available is his "Two Fingers" EP, but the full length is out there as an import. On Lightning 100 we're playing "Two Fingers," a minor anthem for anyone who's ever faced the choice of self-medication or flight. I'm pretty sure we were the first in the country to add it, a few weeks ago. And if you want to see why people are throwing in Johnny Cash comparisons, here you go ....<br />
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Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-47229198259150675482012-11-23T18:29:00.001-06:002012-11-23T19:23:28.785-06:00Best of 2012 Pt 5Lambchop - <i>Mr. M</i>.<br />
This one is another entry from the start of 2012 — and it's a Nashville band to boot. Lambchop have been following their own muse for something like 15 years, evolving from the world's "most fucked up country band" to introspective chamber pop. A tribute to the late Vic Chesnutt, <i>Mr. M'</i>s a melancholy affair that haunts, long after the strings come in and out.<br />
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Alt - J - <i>An Awesome Wave </i></div>
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<i> </i>It's no surprise that England's 2012 Mercury Prize winner is a fascinating album that never bores. What is shocking is that this shimmering "folkstep" debut got picked up by a US major label and is actually being promoted. </div>
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Warning: the following video is considered highly unsettling by many.</div>
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Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6462628970619819859.post-53083315201356081952012-11-21T20:56:00.001-06:002012-11-23T20:09:43.635-06:00Best of 2012 Pt 4Oh, Japandroids, how do I love thee? It takes a surrender. When you've lived through 85% of the rock era, you hit a point (several, really) where you realize that just about everything that can be done with 3 chords has been done, and we should all move on, already. And then some little punk comes along and flogs the corpse until it sits up like a Black Plague victim in a Monty Python movie and yells, "I feel happy ..."<br />
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Django Django - <i>Django Django</i> This exciting UK electronic outfit was putting out singles for a couple of years and finally put them all in one place, on this Mercury Prize nominated album that gets a lot of mileage out of its minimalism. "Hale Bopp" contains one of the best lyrical metaphors I've encountered in ages.<br />
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Mary Bracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11425674186721051926noreply@blogger.com0