Oct 16 - The National and The Breeders play an Obama rally on Fountain Square

The National invite you to "Vote Early, Rock Late".

You are invited to join The National and their fellow Ohioans The Breeders at a rally in support of Barack Obama and Joe Biden to be held on October 16th at Fountain Square in Cincinnati, Ohio (Located at the corner of Fifth & Vine Streets, downtown). The rally will be held from 5-8 pm and will feature performances by The National & The Breeders and speeches to inspire Hope and incite Change. The show will be free to all. Ohio residents can vote early beginning on September 30th, so we've lined up charter buses to take registered Hamilton County voters to the polls on the night of the event.

For more information visit www.vote-ohio.net

The National are incredibly excited and honored to have the opportunity to support Barack Obama's inspiring candidacy for President. Bush and his cronies have wrecked this country at home and abroad. With an economy in freefall and a public education system that is collapsing, we are pouring billions of dollars every month into Iraq to fight an unwinnable war based on false pretenses. Millions of American citizens can't afford health insurance and unemployment is soaring across the country, yet the Republican Party continues to preserve unfair tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and promote a byzantine social agenda to kowtow to an out-of-touch right-wing voter base. John McCain and Sarah Palin promise to carry the torch for Bush and push America ever further into the Dark Ages. We desperately need change and more intelligent, pro-social leadership in this country and Barack Obama is absolutely the right man for the job. We sincerely hope Ohioans of all stripes will join us to help make a difference.

Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist

Back in the day when the Smashing Pumpkins were producing trippy guitar rock that took you through the clouds, they were one of my favorite bands. I did not get into them until Siamese Dream, which came out in 1993 in the middle of my high school years. By the time I hit college in 1995, Mellon Collie became a rather permanent fixture in my CD player. A lot of the music that came out around that time - Under the Table and Dreaming (DMB), Odelay (Beck), New Miserable Experience (Gin Blossoms), and Deluxe (Better Than Ezra), to name a few, have come to be the soundtrack of college for me. That was back when it was still ok to like mainstream bands and when rock bands weren't forced to go to indie labels because they aren't deemed marketable enough for the masses.

I actually went to the record store to pick up Interpol's new album Our Love to Admire without realizing the Pumpkins' album was out, too. I knew one was to come out some time this summer and had planned on picking it up only because they had been one of my favorite bands. I expected it to be pretty bad, but wow, I am surprised. I've listened to it a few times now and with each listen it gets better. Like the Pumpkins' albums that defined my time in college, I believe this album might come to define Summer 2007 for me.

I only hope that something happens this summer to make it something I actually want to remember.

This makes me sick

Wow

They are every bit as good as advertised.

Arcade Fire put on a show last night that had everyone leaving with looks of awe on their faces. Next record comes out and these guys (and gals) are going to be selling out stadiums. It was incredible to watch ten people on stage playing violins, french horns, hurdy gurdy, upright bass, accordian, and of course, your good old rock and roll guitars, bass, and drums. I enjoyed watching them switch instruments - those guys are incredibly versatile musicians.

Win Butler, the main lead singer who stands at an impressive 6'4", easily stole the show from his bandmates. The guy has that rock star quality that makes me wonder how long his six bandmates (three who were on stage with them are not technically part of the band) will stick together. They seem to love playing with each other now, but it's only their second record after being together four years, and they have yet to suffer from the blinding lights of international superstardom, to which they are rapidly ascending.

The band's album Neon Bible is beautifully orchestrated social commentary about the state of the world today with America as its center. Win and his brother William are expats, born and raised in Texas but living in Canada where the rest of the band are from, so the album is kind of looking at America from the outside. Neon Bible debuted at Number 2 on the US and UK charts last month and Number 1 on the Candian and Irish charts. Considering Arcade Fire releases their records on Merge Records, an independent label, such high chart positions is quite a feat. Hurray for indie labels giving the corporations a run for their money!

The show began with a video of some evangelical crackhead ranting Jesus this, Jesus that, women should not wear high heels but combat boots to fight the fight for the Lord, and other nonsense before the band launched into Black Mirror. They proceeded to play nearly every song from Neon Bible and most of the songs from their debut Funeral.

The most poignant part of the night for me was during the song Windowsill, when the crowd seemed to shout the line "I don't want to live in America no more" a bit louder than the rest of the lines. It seems a lot of US citizens are looking to fill that America-shaped hole in their hearts left there by the destructive policies of this admininstration. Arcade Fire may be one of those bands that will help to vocalize what many of my generation are thinking these days.

I don't want to hear the noises on tv
I don't want the salesmen coming after me
I don't want to live in my father's house no more

I don't want it fast, I don't want it free
I don't wanna show you what they done to me
I don't want to live in my father's house no more

I don't want to choose black or blue
I don't wanna see what they done to you
I don't want to live in my father's house no more

because the tide is high
and it's rising still
and I don't want fear at my windowsill

I don't want to give 'em my name and address
I don't want to see what happens next
I don't want to live in my father's house no more

I don't want to live with my father's debt
You can't forgive what you can't forget
I don't want to live in my father's house no more

I don't want to fight in a holy war
I don't want the salesmen knocking at my door
I don't want to live in America no more

Because the tide is high
And it's rising still
And I don't want fear at my windowsill

I don't want to see it at my windowsill
Don't want to see it at my windowsill
Don't want to see it at my windowsill

MTV what have you done to me?
Save my soul, set me free
Set me free, what have you done to me?
I can't breathe, I can't sleep
World war three, when are you coming for me?
Been kicking up sparks to set the flames free
The windows are locked now, so what'll it be?
A house on fire or rising sea?

Why is the night so still?
Why did I take the pill?
Because I don't want to see it at my windowsill
I don't want to see it at my windowsill

Of course, without the music for which they are known, you can't get the full effect of the song. You can't really get it here, either, because the quality is piss poor:


They ended with the song I was hoping they would end with - Wake Up.


The show was easily worth the double face value I paid for the ticket. In fact, I would pay double that to see them again. Although I hope it doesn't happen for many years, I envision one day when U2 hands their instruments over to Arcade Fire like the Police did to U2 all of those years ago when they became the Biggest Band in the World. I guess, though, U2 doesn't have enough instruments to hand over!


They already have U2 connections, as Wake Up was the song U2 played right before they came on stage for the Vertigo Tour, and Arcade Fire opened three shows for them. And then there was this beautiful number:

The opening band, The National, was great, too. Good stuff.

Achtung, Baby

Land of Confusion

One of the most vivid memories of videos on MTV from my childhood is the Genesis video for Land of Confusion. A Phil Collins led Genesis was one of the great political bands of the eighties and early nineties, and Land of Confusion is the greatest of all of their political songs.

The video, as you will see, starts with puppets of Ronald and Nancy Reagan going to bed. Ronnie begins to dream, first of marching boots, then of heads of famous people, including his own. Nancy opens the curtains and starts dancing with a monkey in front of a window. Outside, a bird suddenly blows up and turns into a cooked bird with a price tag. The dream then switches to Reagan pulling on a Superman suit. He goes outside and a dinosaur steps on his cape, and the two of them go to a movie theater and watch television, which Reagan channel surfs. At the end, a bunch of celebrity puppets - Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, and Dolly Parton among them - are singing, apparently in the spirit of We Are the World. It ends with Reagan hitting the nuke button instead of the nurse button, and the most poignant part of the whole video is when he makes a joke about it, like oops!



The President may have changed, but American political culture has not, unless you say it has gotten worse under the nasty, swinish behavior of Karl Rove. Bush certainly is a puppet in the sphere of neocons that has made a mess of the world. This song is still very relevant to today, given the same dinosaurs from the Cold War era are still running this country, television still dominates, and celebrity worship is a full time hobby for many. Truly one of the great videos - and great songs - of the eighties.

Disturbed did a cover of the song in 2005 with an interesting video depicting materialism as a black dollar sign in a white circle on a red banner.

It's really too bad Phil Collins doesn't produce good quality music anymore, though he did in the nineties. As a solo artist, he has never really produced political songs, though songs such as Another Day in Paradise and Take Me Home are of the same topical vein as Genesis songs. Genesis is touring Europe this summer - I wouldn't mind seeing them if they come to the U.S. and don't charge a month's salary for tickets. And it'd be great if they can put out an Iraq-inspired album before Bush leaves office.

We all want to change the world

I was sitting at my desk this morning daydreaming about baseball and looking out at the brilliant blue sky and the church steeple that reaches to the clouds not too far from where I live, when Revolution 9 comes on. Normally I'd just skip to the next song, but for some reason, I wanted to listen to it.

It took me awhile to understand the significance of the Beatles. Growing up, when I heard a Beatles song on a watered down classic rock station, it was usually the bubble gum pop stuff from the early days, like Do You Want to Know a Secret? and P.S. I Love You. I later came to appreciate those songs, but it wasn't until I understood that the reason those songs sounded like pop songs is because the Beatles were the first ones to make songs sound like that.

As I was only three years old when John Lennon was killed, a sort of mystique had always enshrouded the band in my mind. Who was this guy John Lennon? Why was he worshiped as some sort of god? Why was his assassination considered to be on the same level of JFK, RFK, or MLK?

The evolution of my knowledge about music was pretty slow and really did not start to develop until U2 released Achtung Baby!, which was about the strangest music I had ever heard at the time. I was in 8th grade. I bought the cassette tape, but it took me about a year before something clicked and I began to understand the significance of rock music. I still didn't get the significance of the Beatles until I was out of college. Then again, I've always been sort of slow to understand how the world works. I don't know if that is a result of bad schooling or being sheltered from the real world while growing up in Southwest Ohio or simply my tendency to produce tangent thoughts instead of focusing on the task at hand, but it really wasn't until I went to Europe during my junior year of college that I woke up and began to notice that the Earth is rather wobbly on its axis and that a lot of people just plain suck. I've been trying to catch up on all that missed knowledge ever since.

With Revolution 9 playing, I did some googling of the song. I found a breakdown by minutes of each part and was amazed to discover the intricate structure of the song - the noise was actually organized! And yeah, it really is a good soundtrack for a violent revolution - it is what I imagine Iraq to sound like right now.

That being said, next time it comes up in the scramble, I'll probably skip it.

cross-posted at washingtonrox.
___

Rox and politix

Justice through Music just released its "Rock Your Rights 2" DVD. It is a 60 minute "Rockumentary" featuring 21 bands and musicians urging people to vote and get involved. They also discuss issues such as war, the death penalty, and privacy; that tends to get very interesting.

This release features full concert performances by some of the bands, with the song in its entirety. Some of the bands include Dar Williams, Indigo Girls, Ministry, and many others.

Order it here.

When baseball, music, and politics mix

That's my cup o'tea - I have a blog on each of the topics (Church of Baseball and washingtonrox). John Mellencamp's performance of the anti-Bush song "Our Country" before Game 2 on Sunday was a pleasant surprise and a welcome change from the corporate censorship that we've seen over the past six years on television.

It's too bad the song is used for Chevy ads (and is played every commercial break!) It's a good song. Verses:

I can stand beside
Things I think are right (Remember, Mellencamp was harshly criticized by middle America for taking a stance against Bush, especially after he put out his protest song To Washington.)
And I can stand beside
The idea to stand and fight (When it is necessary. He is against the Iraq War.)
And I do believe
There’s a dream for everyone (Not just for elites. He's always believed this - just listen to his songs like Little Pink Houses.)
This is our country

There's room enough here
For science to live (Obvious slap at the religious right.)
And there's room enough here
For religion to forgive (Another slap.)
And try to understand
The other people of this world (This one's blatant, too.)
This is our country

That poverty could be
Just another ugly thing
And bigotry could be
Seen only as obscene
And the ones that run this land
Will help the poor and common man (Amen!)
This is our country

The dream will never leave
And some day it will come true
And it’s up to me and you
To do the best that we can do
And let the voice of freedom
Sing out through this land (Free at last, free at last, God Almighty, we are free at last!)
This is our country

Today's lyrics that matter

Primitive Radio Gods: Mofo

When do I get paid for all the money you made
Selling souls on Capitol Hill
Another law's been passed designed to break your ass
And keep the middle class quiet and still
You talk a lot about justice and then go and bust us
Except for a chosen few
I've got a God-given right to smoke whatever I like
So tell me how it got given to you...Motherfuckers
The monkey looks back at his foot in the trap
And it's the boogie man coming for you
He sells you a spade to dig out your own grave
And you can cover yourself when you're through
I never just say no so take your slogans and go
I'm gonna spell it so there ain't no doubt
'Cause I'm the one with the other
I'm a bad motherfucker
And my bullet's gonna find you out
Four billion people all strung out of their minds
On power trips and slaving ships
Not seeing that they're blind
One day I'll be in front of you
One day I'll be in front of you
Put up your hands, give me all your money
Don't think, don't blink, 'cause I can't rely on you
I sold myself, and I'll sell you with me
Don't blink, don't think, that I can rely on you
Mothers and fathers, it's your sons and daughters
That they're selling to the prison cells
Why so afraid of the flesh you've made
And the lies that the preachers tell
Well I was born to run on the light of the sun
And the smell of the woman's wrist
I'm out of things to say, so here's a raw display
And the power of the silent truth
Four billion people all strung out of their minds
On power trips and slaving ships
Not seeing that they're blind
One day I'll be in front of you
One day I'll be in front of you
Put up your hands, give me all your money
Don't think, don't blink, 'cause I can't rely on you
I sold myself, and I'll sell you with me
Don't blink, don't think, that I can rely on you
Put up your hands, give me all your money
Don't think, don't blink, 'cause I can't rely on you
I sold myself, and I'll sell you with me
Don't blink, don't think, that I can rely on you
Put up your hands, give me all your money
Don't think, don't blink, 'cause I can't rely on you
I sold myself, and I'll sell you with me
Don't blink, don't think, that I can rely on you
Put up your hands...Put up your hands...Put up your hands...

The Saints Are Coming

Wow. That performance was intense. I actually watched Monday Night Football last night, and I'm pretty indifferent about football. This wasn't about football though, it was about symbols. We as humans are dependent on symbols as tangible reminders of intangible concepts like memory, emotion, ideology, and god. It's why we build memorials and monuments and statues.

The Superdome had come to symbolize the tragedy of the storm that swallowed an American city. Last night, that stadium came to symbolize the resilience of the human spirit, hope, and rebirth.

I cried to my daddy on the telephone, How long now, Until the clouds unroll and you come home the line went, But the shadows still remain since your descent. The song I tuned into watch, a cover of The Skids' The Saints Are Coming, performed by U2 and Green Day, could not have been more fitting. Not only did the title work for the football team and the lyrics fit the flood, but the underlying darkness and anger that was driven by The Edge's guitar and Tres Cool's drums spoke of loss, human suffering, and the mess that was made by those we've elected to protect the general welfare. The darkness behind the music was countered by Bono's ever-present message of hope and redemption.

A drowning sorrow floods the deepest grief, How long now, Until a weather change condemns belief, The stone says this paternal guide once had his day. The two bands performed together to benefit Music Rising, a charity to help New Orleans musicians acquire new instruments and reestablish the musical tradition of the birthplace of jazz. The Edge and producer Bob Erzin wanted to bring the music back to New Orelans, so they and Gibson Guitars formed the organization.

From the few criticisms I've seen of the show, the comment seems to be "what does U2 have to do with New Orleans?" The haters never cease to find something to bitch about, do they? Musicians and other artists share a common bond; I pity the soulless creatures who don't understand music, who cannot be moved by the mathematics of sound, who find nothing but contempt in their hearts.

See Gentilly and Lakeview
Crescent City right in front of you
Birds sing in broken trees
They're coming home to New Orleans
Lower 9th will rise again
Above the waters of Lake Pontchartrain
See the bird with the leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out.

How is it that more than a year later, New Orleans is still a disaster? Why are we spending billions of dollars a year on a war in a foreign land when mother nature has fought a war with us on our own soil? Why can't we spend money on problems in our own country? The saints are coming, the saints are coming, I say no matter how I try, I realise there's no reply.

It's too bad it was a mere football game, for those who felt something last night probably forgot it this morning (Never Forget!™ echo, echo, echo...) Still, being able to play a football game in that wreck of the stadium was a giant step forward in rebuilding the great American city of New Orleans. Oh yeah, the Saints have come back, come hell and high water. Here's to hoping the rest of the city comes back, too. How long now?

You can download the song here - proceeds go to Music Rising. The video of the entire performance of Wake Me Up When September Ends/The Saints Are Coming/Beautiful Day can also be found there for a limited time.

Cross-posted at washingtonrox.

Send a soldier some music

Here.

Music for Troops™ Inc. is a nonprofit, charitable organization founded by performer / songwriter, Cat Hughes. Cat has sent over 200,000 copies of her songs to the USA troops around the world. The mission of Music for Troops is to send music to the members of the USA armed forces at home and away from home.

Music is donated from the entertainment industry at large and sent to our troops free of charge in a secured multimedia transfer method. All copyright and other lawful obligations are strictly adhered to.

HT: Zach

By the way, we now have more dead troops than victims of 9-11. Heckava job, Bushies.

Bono and Billie Joe Armstrong

Have they switched hair?

Like a Prayer

"I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.'' ~ Voltaire (the real quote, not the misquote.)

Great. I haven't even been to work a half hour and I've already been upset by a rather un-American email message, one about Madonna, nonetheless. No stranger to controversy, Madonna has challenged her Catholic upbringing time and time again. Everyone knows by now about her "crucifixion" on the current Confessions Tour, as everyone from the Pope to the Russian Orthodox Church has condemned it. The ironic part about it is that people are calling it anti-Christian and a mockery of Christ when the purpose is

"to bring attention to the millions of children in Africa who are dying every day (or) are living without care, without medicine and without hope. I am asking people to open their hearts and minds to get involved in whatever way they can."

That isn't anti-Christian, it's the definition of Christianity!

Yes, it's called a "mock" crucifixion because it is not real. That is what mock means; it is not "mocking" the crucifixion, and it sure as hell isn't mocking Christ! Every Easter, Catholics across the world perform "mock" crucifixions when they go through the stations of the cross. It's a simple imitation. Are you making fun of turtlenecks when you wear a "mock" turtleneck? This is a lack of understanding of the English language!

Since the summer, Clear Channel Communications, the company responsible for ruining radio and the owner of a majority of radio stations in this country, has not regularly played songs from her latest album Confessions on a Dance Floor, despite a demand for them, including an online petition that was delivered to the company. They claimed the music wasn't right for top 40, but Madonna had no problems getting her songs on the radio in the rest of the world.

Now, NBC is pondering pulling the broadcast of her concert special Live to Tell, recorded during the latest leg of her hugely popular and equally controversial Confessions tour, because some people WHO HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN IT are "offended." How do you know it's offensive if you haven't seen it? This isn't judging a book by it's cover; it's judging a book by hearing the title spoken!

Remember when people screamed "freedom of speech!" when Muslims were upset over the cartoon of Mohammed with a bomb on his head? (According to their religion, it is a grave sin to depict the Prophet at all.) Madonna may have no taste, but she is no bigot, and she is entitled to express herself (no pun intended.) See, the great thing about America is that we have this thing called "freedom of speech."

To those who may sign the petition to NBC to get the show pulled: If you're offended, please don't watch it. It really is that simple. Don't take something from other people just because you don't like it. If you are worried about your children seeing it, maybe you need to have more control over them - don't let them watch so much television, or let them watch it and explain to them that she is pleading for help for African children who don't have enough to eat. Once you start taking away one person's right to speak, others will follow, and then one day, you may find yourself in a position where you no longer have a voice. Don't give your freedom to the corporations.

Please show your support for free speech - tell NBC not to cave into pressure from religious extremists and people who disrespect the United States Constitution. Sign my petition to NBC in support of broadcasting the show (even if you don't plan to watch it.)


cross-posted on washingtonrox

A Day in the Life of The Edge, by Bono

Part 1

Part 2

The most expensive album ever made

The rumors are flying about Guns N Roses' Chinese Democracy coming out at the end of the year, including in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. If it resembles anything close to Use Your Illusion, it should be a good one. Of course, without Slash...who knows? It better be good - it's taken nine years to make it. (A forum has been up for five years on the album.) Hell, the album has taken so long it better cause a revolution somewhere!

The vastly changed and Slashless band is touring throughout autumn, though it remains to be seen if Axl will bother to show up.

I'm listening to Civil War right now, a song I've always thought incredible, maybe the best on both of the Illusion albums. This one goes out to the troops who are out fighting for our country when Bushie and his cronies will get the spoils:

Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before

Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before

My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars

D'you wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "Peace could last forever"
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
When it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
For their promised land

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war

Look at the shoes your filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more

My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
'Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars

I really am excited for the new album and will be picking it up on the day it comes out, whenever that may be.

It's noo-cu-lar!

The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and I live by the river
~The Clash, 1979


Aren't you glad we don't have to worry about getting nuked anymore?

Oh, wait...

We didn't start the fire

In pictures! It's very well done. (Best viewed in IE - Firefox makes it too small.)

HT: Uncommon Sense

Are you ready for some football?

U2 and Green Day will be performing together on Monday Night Football when the Superdome reopens on September 25th.

From U2.com:

U2 and Green Day will perform live, together, to mark the opening of Louisiana Superdome later this month. Before the football game between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints, the two bands will perform a cover of The Skids track ‘The Saints Are Coming’ and a download will raise funds for Music Rising.

Oh, how awesome this will be! If it weren't on U2's official site, I wouldn't believe it to be true. Additionally, the two bands are currently recording the song at Abbey Road Studio. Read about it on Green Day's site.

Go check out Music Rising for more information on how you can bring the music back to New Orleans.

I hope the Saints come back in full force this year and bring some comfort to those who still suffer in New Orleans.

And in related news: U2 are in the studio recording new songs!

My country, right or wrong

Cheney speaks:

Vice President Cheney offered a veiled attack yesterday on critics of the administration's Iraq policy, saying the domestic debate over the war is emboldening adversaries who believe they can undermine the resolve of the American people.

This is the second member of this administration in the past couple of weeks who has made it clear that he does not tolerate debate in this country, as Rumsfeld made the same statements during a speech in Colorado last week, which were condemned in brilliant, incisive commentary by Keith Olbermann on MSNBC:



This kind of no dissent speech coming from this administration is rather frightening, given the fact that we don't know the extent to which the NSA is spying on people and the fact that no Supreme Court decision seems to stop these people from doing whatever the hell they want. The infallibility perception of this country is astounding. History repeats itself because of human nature, because greed and power are lusted after time and time again, because our all too short existence means humans believe "it won't happen to me." Who does it happen to, then? Do you fools who blindly support this administration honestly believe that Germans in the thirties were evil, stupid people? Supressing dissent is the behavior of fascists and dictators.

A timeless classic from Midnight Oil, My Country, sums it all up:

was it just a dream, were you so confused
was it just a giant leap of logic
was it the time of year, that makes a state of fear
methods, were their motives for the action

and did i hear you say
my country right or wrong

did you save your face
did you breach your faith
women, there were children at the shelter
now who can stop the hail
when human senses fail
there was never any warning, no escape

did i hear you say
my country right or wrong
my country oh so strong
my country going wrong
my country right or wrong

i hear you say the truth must take a beating
the flag a camouflage for your deceiving
i know we all make mistakes

Glen Phillips is spending a year in Europe

And he's blogging about it.

Toad the Wet Sprocket was one of my favorite bands of the nineties. I still listen to them quite often. They did a tour this summer, but unfortunately I didn't get to see them.

Glen Phillips has an awesome voice. I hope Toad makes a big comeback.

Check out Mr. Lemons, too.

Avenging the world

I was born when the punk movement was in full swing, which is a shame, because I know I could have identified with it had I been cognizant of the world back then. Even flow the nineties produced some great music during what was horribly titled the grunge period, when I look in the rearview mirror, I see how the music was strangled by the tragedies of corporate rock, how even Pearl Jam, arguably the best band of the period (although U2 wins the decade hands down - Achtung Baby! and Zooropa, well, I could write about Zoo TV and Berlin all day long), suffered from the totalitarianism of record companies.

From an outsider's perspective, a person too young to experience punk but who has an appreciation of rock enough to understand it, the rawness and the angst and the anger made punk the epitome of socially conscious rock, true political music, and a movement that will forever hold a prominent place in the history of rock and roll. I randomly stumbled into an Avengers show last Thursday, and the music was still relevant, still raw, still full of energy.

The American in Me could have been written for the Bush administration; indeed, Penelope Houston sang the song at a Dean rally in San Francisco back in 2003. Any friend of Howard is a friend of mine.

It's the American in me says it an honor to die
in a war that's just a politician's lie
It's the American in me that makes me watch TV
see how they burn the SLA

If I close my eyes, I can conjure up the images of seeing bands like the Avengers at the Old Waldorf in 1979 (it helps that I now have a CD to listen to), but I'll never know what it was like to live through the time. If we ever needed a rock movement, now is the time, with perpetual war, a whole continent dying, greed and materialism running rampant, etc, etc, etc. Fortunately, punk isn't dead. Its spirit lives on in bands like Green Day, Arctic Monkeys, Libertines/Dirty Pretty Things/Babyshambles, and Franz Ferdinand. Green Day put out a brilliant album in American Idiot, but it remains to be seen if the momentum from that album (still going strong after three years!) can carry over.

Oh yeah, and even at 50, Penelope Houston kicks ass. It was a good show.

"I'm just a girl in a grown woman's body"

If Gwen Stefani had any credibility left, it's gone now:

Gwen Stefani is no longer just a girl. Now she's a doll, too. The singer, actress and fashion designer announced Tuesday that she will bring her trademark rock 'n' roll style to the toy industry with a series of limited-edition dolls.


There are eight dolls in all, and Stefani has dubbed the line Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Fashion Dolls. Each wears one of the colorful looks Stefani sported on her latest world tour.

The dolls will be available for $24.95 at Target.com and other retailers.

A piece of red cloth

Chinese punk rock sounds about as ridiculous as Hasidic Jew reggae rappers, doesn't it? Today's WaPo takes a look at punk in China. Punk, though it brings visions of white boy angst to mind, is the perfect anti-Commie music, a music of rebellion against authority, and it works well in the Chinese situation.

A few parts of the article were thought-provoking, thoughts colored in red, white, and blue:

The obstacles to China's music, filmmaking and painting are not always from government censors. China's pressure-cooker university system has been criticized for destroying creativity and preparing students only for exams. Much of the most interesting art is found underground. Often, it is society that is unsupportive.

A single chill falls down my spine. My own country comes to mind, a land where society has no appreciation for art, where artists are called "weird," where hicks like Britney Spears sell albums, where the more explosions in a movie, the more tickets are sold. One part of the population labels artists as "hippies" or "leftists" because they dare to make statements against government or society. Our own education system produces a lot of nothing, people who come away with a university degree without critical thinking or analytical skills, mere pieces of paper they got because they paid the money to do so.

"The government told people you should live for money, a house, a car, a bigger house. So more people get rich and more people get poor."

Here, again, we see harrowing similarities in the United States. Bush and his business cronies live for money. They talk about the "American Dream" of home ownership. The income gap in this country has become a chasm, and you have Freeper-types who chant "mine, mine, mine!" everytime some mentions the word "poor."

China has their morality police who make sure Chinese can't see anything sexual, especially homosexual. America has its own morality police trying to ban everything they don't like. Indeed, an evangelical crackhead just defeated incumbent John Schwartz in Michigan.

Lei Jun, lead singer of the punk band Misando, pretty much sums it up: "Of course the government tells you what to do. It tells Americans what to do," he said. "The politics everywhere are ugly. It looks different here, but the nature of it is the same."

Rock swallows a bite of Business

What do you get when the Son of the Gods of Rock buys a large chunk of a leading business magazine? Hope. Here you have a guy who thinks of people before profits owning information about investment.

The Forbes family, children of Malcolm Forbes whose father B.C. Forbes founded Forbes magazine and ensuing empire, has sold a minority stake in the company to private equity group Elevation Partners which includes mono-monikered U2 frontman Bono.

The numbers aren't public but NYT writer David Carr reports hearing that the Elevation stake is over 40% at a price tag of $250 - $300 million.

According to Steve Forbes, Elevation was a natural partner for Forbes because of their technology and new-media savvy: "They are not just a source of capital; they are a source of insight." Forbes said that Forbes had taken a hit in the digital age. Carr has written previously about Bono and U2's marketing savvy and ability to adapt to changing times. Carr reports that Elevation was clearly "buying into a Web site with a magazine attached, as opposed to the other way around." Forbes.com reported 10 million unique visitors in June.

What does this mean? Well, on the surface, not much. But when you give the most powerful figure in rock, indeed, one of the most powerful guys on the planet when it comes to influence on and persuasion of policymakers across the globe, a voice in the direction the business magazine goes, you are definitely giving business an injection of morality.

Control the media, control the world. This step may seem like a small one, but it may just turn out to be a giant leap towards a more moral global business environment. God knows big business certainly needs it.

Radio inspired by TV

TV on the Radio is one of my favorite "new" bands out there. Not only is their sound amazingly cool, but their lyrics are overtly political and have a high intellectual quality to them, something always appreciated in the mindnumbing density of today's music business. Apparently David Bowie loves this band, which is funny, because some of their songs are downright Bowiesque, not to mention he sings on Province, the third track of their latest album, Return to Cookie Mountain, which was released a couple of weeks ago. TV's lead singer, Tunde Adebimpe, reminds me a lot of Peter Gabriel, a sweet, melodious voice with a hint of anger and a flood of passion.

I have visions of a family eating processed food in front of Faux News when I hear the lyrics to Bomb Your Country:

Bomb your country
Oh shed no tears
TV dinner overfed your fears
So make your money
And spread your seed
Better lap up luxuries
But acknowledge need
You've made a family
Now kill 'em dead
Oh it's not me Ma
It's what the TV said
Your final fantasy for your
Final days
Oh baby it's the infancy
In so many ways
Bomb your country
Then sit and smile
Why don't you lay back easy
Just wait a while
Just wait a while

So baby bomb your country
And sit and smile
Oh baby lay back easy
Just wait a while
Just wait a while

Final fantasy

If you don't already have it, get Return to Cookie Mountain now. NOW, I tell you. Brilliant stuff.

Carbon Portfolio Strategy

As I sit under the glowing residue of a thunderous sky, the air thick with humidity that has nowhere to go, my thoughts are on the violence of the storms we've witnessed this year. When I was growing up in the swampy summer air of Southwest Ohio, afternoon thunderstorms were a given. Sure, they'd knock the power out of our country house long enough to make us have to reset our clocks, but we never thought the house was going to blow over or that pieces of the sky would come crashing through the roof.

With each passing year bringing about weather that feels like the sky has been ripped open and the wound is bleeding storms, the evidence of climate change is undeniable to everyone but a neocon with an agenda. We can see it. We can feel it. We watch its destructive force. It kills. The agony of those who lose their houses, their livelihoods, or their lives is seen far too often on television or in newspaper photos. You've seen the pictures of tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods. You know what? Those people that suffered those storms, they didn't piss off some divine force to cause their misery. No, these are normal people. You could pass them on the street, buy a coffee from them, perhaps sell something to them yourself in your job. And guess what? It can happen to you, too. (And U2, too.)

In 2003, Pearl Jam joined forces with Conservation International to fight the good fight. Their efforts continue, and earlier this year, they developed the Carbon Portfolio Strategy.

The Carbon Portfolio Strategy is the newest component of our ongoing efforts to advance clean renewable energy and carbon mitigation. Through this Strategy, we will donate a total of $100,000 to nine organizations doing innovative work around climate change, renewable energy, and the environment.

Check out the Carbon Portfolio Strategy. And buy their latest release Pearl Jam.

On history and the convenience of memory

Once in awhile you discover something about an old song that you never knew, something that inspires you to think about it a little more, or perhaps a lot more. I really like Dave Matthews' Some Devil album, but I don't listen to it all that often, as it can be rather depressing. Today, though, I got it out. As I put the CD into my computer, I noticed some jacket notes under the spot where the CD goes. One of the notes discusses the source of inspiration for the first track, Dodo:

Some years ago I was visiting a friend of mine on the coast of Maine. In his house, there was a collection of old National Geographic magazines, some as old as the nineteen-thirties. It was interesting to see how popular American culture viewed Adolf Hitler before the full fury of World War II. The view was quite favorable. It's strange how things change.

Germans have had to deal with the shame of Hitler's legacy for more than sixty years, while the rest of the world, partially thanks to the Hollywood obsession with the Nazis, equated Germany with the swastika, even as another brutal form of government oppressed many of the German people. However, like Dave says, we forget, either conveniently or shamefully, that Adolf Hitler was a popular person during his rise to power, not only in Germany, but across the world. He was especially favored by the global business community; indeed, his policies toward business were so favored by some businessmen that many continued to do business with German companies throughout the entire war, businessmen like Prescott Bush, Dubya's granddaddy, and Henry Ford. Now that's treason.

If you mention these truths to a certain type of American, they look at you in horror, like you support the Nazis yourself. Somehow in American popular culture, facts have become subjective, and the quest for knowledge has become something only "elitists" do. Our system of education has fallen into decay, our schools are crumbling, our playgrounds are war zones. University has become a place where you go to drink beer and get a job rather than an education, and if a fact contradicts your belief system, well then, that fact is simply wrong.

Dave sums it up well in Dodo:

Once upon a time
When the world was just a pancake
Fears would arise
That if you went too far you’d fall
But with the passage of time
It all became more of a ball.
We’re as sure of that
As we all once were when the world was flat

So I wonder this
As life billows smoke inside my head
This little game where nothing is sure, oh
Why would you play by the rules?
Who did, you did, you
Who did, you did, you

When was she killed
The very last dodo bird
And was she aware
She was the very last one

If all the things that you are saying love
Were true enough but still
What is all the worrying about
When you can work it out
When you can work it

Keep rocking in the Bushworld

Rox and politix doing well

Veteran rocker Neil Young's new political CD, "Living with War," is one of the hottest sellers in the nation -- number three on Amazon's list today...The CD, which includes several antiwar songs and "Let's Impeach the President," was recorded hastily this spring...The two CDs ahead of it on Amazon this afternoon were by fellow "antiwar activists" -- the Dixie Chicks and Bruce Springsteen.

Neil Young: Impeach the President!

A song on Neil Young's new album entitled Life in War is called "Impeach the President."

DownWithTyranny! has the scoop.

Why can't we sing these songs of freedom?

Recently we passed the three year anniversary of "shock and awe," when bombs rained down on Baghdad like human life doesn't mean a thing. Unlike Vietnam in the good old hippy-laden sixties, not many people seemed to give a damn about dead Iraqis and US soldiers. They were too afraid that some "turist" was gonna destroy their property to care if limbs were being ripped from bodies and widows were becoming a growing demographic.

Some people have cared. There have been some great anti-war songs put out in the past few years, but our self-absorbed driven population is out of touch with their souls and their brains and have lost their capacity for feeling and thought, so these songs don't get as much air time as they should, and they don't incite action against our nation's own version of terrorism. Maybe they are stuck somewhere in TV Land, maybe their souls died in their pharmaceutical comas. Whatever it is, the utter lack of social awareness and concern for other people is a shameful tumble towards societal disintegration. Country music isn't getting it done, that's for sure. Sure, there are a couple country musicians who seem to have thoughts in their heads, like Tim McGraw, for example, who played Live 8 last year to a crowd of apathetic Italians, but for the most part, singing about how you are proud to be a redneck is just another sign that America is in decline. The sad thing is that the people who scream "Proud to be an American!" the loudest and who wave their flags the fastest are the ones most contributing to our nation's downfall.

By no means am I saying that all country music is bad, but for the most part, today's popular country music has no soul. All but gone are the stories of Johnny Cash and the lyrics of justice by Willie Nelson. Instead, the country is left with some sappy, simple, made-for-profit studio pop with a slide guitar and twang in the vocals.

Rock music was born as a social movement, which is, of course, the theme of this blog. In rock lives a rage towards injustice, a spiritual awareness that strives to save this world from its own destruction.

With that said, I present my favorite anti-war songs (or references to the war) of the last couple of years.

Green Day - Holiday
Favorite lines: This whole song is good, can't pick favorites.

Hear the sound of the falling rain
Coming down like an Armageddon flame
The shame
The ones who died without a name

Hear the dogs howling out of key
To a hymn called "Faith and Misery"
And bleed, the company lost the war today

Hear the drum pounding out of time
Another protestor has crossed the line
To find, the money's on the other side

Can I get another Amen?
There's a flag wrapped around a score of men
A gag, a plastic bag on a monument

Sieg Heil to the president gasman
Bombs away is your punishment
Pulverize the Eiffel towers
Who criticize your government
Bang bang goes the broken glass and
Kill all the fags that don't agree
Trials by fire, setting fire
Is not a way that's meant for me
Just cause, just cause, because we're outlaws yeah!

REM - Final Straw
Favorite lines:

If hatred makes a play on me tomorrow
And forgiveness takes a back seat to revenge
There's a hurt down deep that has not been corrected.
There's a voice in me that says you will not win.

REM - I Wanted to Be Wrong
Favorite lines:

The rodeo is staged, gold circle goat-ropers and clowns.
A rumble in the third act, tie 'em up and burn 'em down.
We're armed to the teeth, born a little breech;
Blue-plate special analysts, cells and SUV's

We can't approach the Allies 'cause they seem a little peeved
And speak a language we don't understand.

Franz Ferdinand - Walk Away
Favorite lines: Whole song

I swapped my innocence for pride
Crushed the end within my stride
Said 'I'm strong now I know that I'm a leaver"
I love the sound of you walking away
Mascara bleeds a blackened tear
And I am cold
Yes I'm cold
But not as cold as you are
I love the sound of you walking away

Why don't you walk away?
No buildings will fall down
No quake will split the ground
The sun won't swallow the sky
Statues will not cry

I cannot turn to see those eyes
As apologies may rise
I must be strong and stay an unbeliever
And love the sound of you walking away
Mascara bleeds into my eye
I'm not cold
I am old
At least as old as you are
As you walk away

And as you walk away
My headstone crumbles down
The Hollywood wind's a howl
The Kremlin's falling
Radio 4 is static

The stab of stiletto
On a silent night
Stalin smiles
Hitler laughs
Churchill claps
Mao Tse-Tung
On the back

Dave Matthews Band - Out of My Hands
Favorite lines:

And now our finest hour arrives,
See the pig dressed in his finest fine
And all the believers stand behind him and smile
And the day lights up with fire
Let me in
Let me in
I stopped feeling crazed, betrayed
Out on my window ledge

Dave Matthews Band - Everybody Wake Up
Favorite lines:

Everybody wake up
If you're living with your eyes closed
See the man with the bomb in his hand
Everybody wake up

Oh I remember the words of the misguided fool
Do unto others as you'd have them do
An eye for an eye as the golden rule
Just leaves the room full of blind men

Bright Eyes - Landlocked Blues
Favorite lines:

We made love on the living room floor
with the noise in the background from a televised war
And in the deafening pleasure I thought I heard someone say
"If we walk away,they’ll walk away"
But greed is a bottomless pit
And our freedom's a joke we're just taking a piss
And the whole world must watch the sad comic display
If you're still free start runnin' away

Today's lyrics that matter

Take that, Pat Robertson and Christian(TM) crackheads!*

The Fallen - Franz Ferdinand

So they say you're trouble boy
Because you like to destroy
All the things that bring idiots joy
Well what's wrong with a little destruction?

And the Kunst won't talk to you
Because you kissed St Rollox Adieu
Because you robbed a supermarket or two
Well, who gives a damn about the prophets of Tesco?

Did I see you in a limousine
Flinging out the fish and the unleavened
Turn the rich into wine
Walk on the mean
For the fallen are the virtuous among us
Walk among us
Never judge us
Yeah we're all...

Up now and get 'em boy
Up now and get 'em boy
Drink to the devil and death to the doctors

Did I see you in a limousine
Flinging out the fish and the unleavened
5000 users fed today
as you feed us
won't you lead us
to be blessed

So we stole and drank champagne
On the seventh seal you said you never feel pain
"I never feel pain, won't you hit me again?"
"I need a bit of Black and Blue to be a Rotation"

In my blood I felt bubbles burst
There was a flash of fist an eyebrow burst
You've a lazy laugh and a red white shirt
I fall to the floor fainting at the sight of blood

Did I see you in a limousine
Flinging out the fish and the unleavened
Turn the rich into wine
Walk on the mean
Be they Magdelen or virgin you've already been
You've already been and we've already seen
That the fallen are the virtuous among us
Walk among us
Never judge us to be blessed

So I'm sorry if I ever resisted
I never had a doubt that you ever existed
I only have a problem when people insist on
Taking their hate and placing it on your name

So they say you're troubled boy
Just because you like to destroy
You are the word - the word is Destroy
I break this bottle and think of you fondly

Did I see you in a limousine
Flinging out the fish and the unleavened
To the whore in a hostel
Or the scum of a scheme
Turn the rich into wine
Walk on the mean
It's not a jag in the arm
It's a nail in the beam
On this Barren Earth
You scatter your seed
Be they Magdelen or Virgin
You've already been
Yeah you've already been
We've already seen
That the fallen are the virtuous among us
Walk among us
If you judge us
We're all damned

*Not Christians, only those who are hypocrites, those hypocrites who preach hate and are involved in politics and money and don't have a clue what Christianity means. It's why I like this song so much.

That's Corporatism for you

The almighty dollar always trumps ethics: Label's questionable email raises eyebrows

Rock band Hawthorne Heights and rising R&B star Ne-Yo are expected to vie for the top of next week's Billboard 200.

But the band's Chicago-based Victory Records label seemed to throw a low blow February 28 when an e-mail appeared to urge its street promotions team to "decrease the chances" of a Ne-Yo sale.

In the e-mail, it appears that Victory street team director Abby Valentine urges reps to tamper with Ne-Yo's sales potential. "If you were to pick up (a) handful of Ne-Yo CDs, as if you were about to buy them, but then changed your mind and didn't bother to put them back in the same place," the message read, "that would work ... just relocating a handful creates issues."

The corporate music industry has no soul. And they wonder why the industry is struggling? It's because they don't give a damn about music; money is all they care about.

Keep illegally downloading music! We'll continue to kick them in the wallet.

Culture of Paranoia

There are a lot of stupid people on this planet. There is also a dire lack of common sense. No, the two are not entirely related. True, stupid people usually don't have any common sense. But you can be a relatively intelligent person, or at least an educated person, and have no common sense. Apparently, the authorities at Ohio University are of the latter persuasion. Or maybe they're just stupid.

Pat Hanlin has been locking his bike up for two years in the same location— in front of the Oasis Restaurant on the Ohio University campus in Athens, Ohio. For two years, no one took notice of the bike’s sticker that promoted the Pensacola, Fla. band This Bike is a Pipe Bomb. But on a Thursday morning in early March, a campus security officer saw the sticker and interpreted the message literally.

You can guess where this is going. The cool thing is, though, that This Band Is A Pipebomb is trying to raise money to buy the guy a new bike.

The old and the new try to Bring 'Em Home

Stipe, Bright Eyes Unite for Peace

R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe, Bright Eyes, Public Enemy frontman Chuck D and Rufus Wainwright will join peace activist Cindy Sheehan for the Bring 'Em Home concert. The event, which will benefit the Iraq War Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace, will take place at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on March 20th, the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The evening's guest hosts will include such outspoken celebrities as Jane Fonda, Alec Baldwin, Margaret Cho and Janeane Garofalo; while Steve Earle, Fischerspooner, Peaches and Devendra Banhart will be among the other performers.

The concert will kick off the national Bring 'Em Home speaking tour, which will bring Sheehan and noted authors to fifteen cities across the U.S. in April.

Sounds like a good show with a few notable exceptions. While I am glad that Stipe and Bright Eyes are getting involved, some of the celebs shouldn't be there. Jane Fonda has no right to even set foot in this type of setting, for she is a traitor. And Alec Baldwin? Come on. There's a difference between a celebrity with an informed opinion and the Baldwins.

Speaking of the Baldwins, it's time for a new anti-war spokesperson. Cindy Sheehan has worn out her welcome with most of the anti-war crowd, and no one takes her seriously anymore. The Crawford stand was one thing - her preaching to the choir thing is quite different. As the war has turned from a war of occupation to a civil war, a more serious person must take the helm, one that does not appear to be basking in the glory of the spotlight.

Some might criticize Stipe as being a hasbeen, but the addition of singer/songwriter Conor Oberst aka Bright Eyes will lend a fresh look to Stipe, who is one of the greatest lyricists in the history of rock music. REM's last album was much better than everyone give it credit for, and the anti-Bush song Final Straw is a dark and haunting testament to this administration's bullshit.

As I raise my head to broadcast my objection
As your latest triumph draws the final straw
Who died and lifted you up to perfection?
And what silenced me is written into law.

I can't believe where circumstance has thrown me
And I turn my head away
If I look I'm not sure that I could face you.
Not again. not today. not today.

If hatred makes a play on me tomorrow
And forgiveness takes a back seat to revenge
There's a hurt down deep that has not been corrected.
There's a voice in me that says you will not win.

And if I ignore the voice inside,
Raise a half glass to my home.
But it's there that I am most afraid,
And forgetting doesn't hold. it doesn't hold.

Now I don't believe and I never did
That two wrongs make a right.
If the world were filled with the likes of you
Then I'm putting up a fight. I'm putting up a fight.
Putting up a fight. make it right. make it right.

Now love cannot be called into question.
Forgiveness is the only hope I hold.
And love- love will be my strongest weapon.
I do believe that I am not alone.

For this fear will not destroy me.
And the tears that have been shed
It's knowing now where I am weakest
And the voice in my head. in my head.

Then I raise my voice up higher
And I look you in the eye
And I offer love with one condition.
With conviction, tell me why.
Tell me why.
Tell me why.
Look me in the eye.
Tell me why.

Pumpkins rumors...

Smashing Pumpkins set to reform for festivals

Smashing Pumpkins are strongly rumoured to be reforming this summer for live shows - with Coachella touted as their comeback.

Singer Billy Corgan has made no secret of the fact he wants to reform his old band, and NME.COM has learned the band are set to make their comeback at the Californian festival on April 30.

Writing recently on his webpage, Corgan hinted reformation plans were coming along.

"The surprise I have in store for you all will be announced soon enough," he said. "Hold on to your horses. After all, good things surely comes to those who wait....Don't you just love the suspense?"

The Pumpkins were were in my top 5 bands in the nineties. I had the good fortune of seeing the Melancholy tour in Cincinnati one cold winter day, though it wasn't as good a show as I had expected. Too much Billy - perfect example of why they broke up in the first place.

I'd like the first song on the new album to be a stinging criticism of the Bush administration...

1984, 2006 style

US rocker and writer Henry Rollins was reported to the National Security hotline during his recent Australian tour because of a book he was reading on flight to Brisbane.

A furious Rollins was informed he was "nominated as a possible threat" for reading Jihad: The Rise Of Militant Islam In Central Asia.

The incident happened on a flight from Auckland on the recent Big Day Out tour.

Rollins told Australian fans during his tour that he received a letter from a "nice woman" who worked "in one of those government areas that deals with anti-terrorism matters."

He posted the letter on his website.

"Please tell your Government and everyone in your office to go f... themselves. Baghdad's safer than my hometown and your PM is a sissy," he wrote.

Paranoia runs deep in Western psyche. The terrorists have won. They have succeeded in destroying our sense of security. Or have they? I for one am not going around thinking a boogeyman is going to get me. This is life. Shit happens, even horribly evil shit like terrorism. We can't go around waxing fascism because some jihadist bastards who are burning in hell right now attacked us. Educate yourselves, ignorant masses, like Rollins is doing in reading that book.

Geldof focuses on tackling corruption

Bob Geldof has joined forces with pressure group Transparency International (TI) to better ensure global aid is not lost to corruption.

They will focus on the $50bn (£29bn) of additional aid to developing nations pledged last year by the Group of Eight (G8) most industrialised nations.

"It will not be possible to beat poverty without fighting corruption," said Mr Geldof.

Amen! This is a progressive development in Geldof's fight to eradicate poverty in Africa. Western aid has done nothing but build bigger houses for perennial dictators throughout Africa and ensure a continuation of the plight of starvation. Why? Because the institutions for viable economic sustainability are simply not there and the West cannot see this. The CIPE Development Blog has an excellent piece about corruption in Africa.

...well-intentioned donors give money to governments to aid in social and economic development to overcome poverty and consequently corruption, but in this process further corruption occurs and the poor are those that suffer. Unless opportunities are created for the poor to help themselves, the most viable option for economic prosperity and stability of an individual in a low-income country, is a political or government position, which enables one to have access to money through political power. This has been suggested as one reason why several presidents of African nations seek to maintain their power. In Gabon, the current president, Omar Bongo, has been the head of state since 1967.

Geldolf and Bono realized that Live Aid did nothing to alleviate poverty and have been working to raise awareness that eradicating poverty requires more than money - it requires a multi-faceted approach, including fair trade, debt relief, and fighting corruption, in addition to education, health, and basic resource programs. Geldof and Transparency International make an excellent team.

BBC has an interesting debate on corruption in Africa.

When the music dies, it shall be reborn

"They're not even covering it anymore. If I don't speak on it, then who will?"

Juvenille shot his latest video in New Orleans, a critical view of the horrible mess those in charge made in the recovery efforts.

The video, which debuts on MTV this month, includes footage of the devastated Lower Ninth Ward, people holding up placards that read "Still here" and three kids who wander the streets wearing masks of Bush, Nagin and Vice President Dick "Shoot 'em up" Cheney. [middle name my addition]

It's nice to see a hip hop artist take a political stand. Too often hip hop seems to encourage irresponsible behavior. Kudos to Juvenile for trying to be a leader and trying to bring some social justice to this anti-social world.

Where our so-called leaders left a hole, Gibson Guitars, Producer Bob Erzin, and my favorite guitarist, The Edge, are working to replace instruments lost by Gulf Coast musicians in the storm. To achieve this aim, they've created the Music Rising program. Limited edition guitars are available here, with 100% of the proceeds going to the program. If anyone wants to buy me one of these signed by Mr. Edge himself, feel free... ;) Otherwise you can donate to Music Rising directly here.

And then you have people like Britney Spears, who will be bringing "surprises for a group of very deserving young residents" when she goes to celebrate Mardi Gras. With today's news, I wonder if she'll plug Bushie as she has in the past. "Oops, I did it again!" she says, as angry NO residents push against the stage...

And you thought this post was going to be about hip hop. Hmm...seems like rock and roll isn't the only music that can change the world.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

Peter Gabriel, such a fine voice, sang Imagine during the opening ceremony, a ceremony which has been very well done. A far cry from the last few opening ceremonies, this one has been moving. Oh, Italy, such a wonderful country, full of life and beauty, aware everyday of its own historical magnificence. As everything Italian, the opening ceremony is beautiful, unlike some of the recent avant garde Bjork ceremonies which were quite bizarre. Italian culture is so beautiful. What better way to end the ceremony than with Pavarotti bringing the house down? God, what a beautiful voice! What a beautiful language! What a beautiful life!

I love the Olympics. I love having the world come together for peaceful games and watching the world's best athletes with their hearts on their sleeves, eyes wide, many getting to travel outside of their countries for the first time in their lives. There is a youthful energy, a current of excitement that runs through the games, the crowds, the cheers, and the competitors. Their eyes sparkle as they come out for the opening ceremony, their faces full of joy, joie de vivre, zeitgeist... To me, the Olympics represent the best of humanity, a time when countries who would normally be at each others throats can get along (with a few notable exceptions.) The Olympics are full of a little thing called Hope, a celebration of how the world could be, mere games between people who are more similar than different.

Buona fortuna agli atleti.

Since U Been Gone?

So the war rages on, but here in ADD nation, we turn our attention to more important things, like Britney Spears driving with a kid on her lap or who did well on American Idol. American culture – so deep, so intellectual, so…drowning in a sea of nonsensical bullshit. Eugene Robinson writes in today’s WaPo about how American Idol received more viewers than the Grammys. Robinson says:

"I've always thought the Grammy Awards offered a better, more finely detailed portrait of the American zeitgeist than either the Oscars or the Emmys. The sheer profusion of recorded music that comes out in any given year -- thousands upon thousands of CDs and EPs and singles and downloads and ring tones -- gives the analyst far more data points to plot than the relative paucity of movies or television shows ever could.

So what did we discover Wednesday night? For one thing, we learned that "American Idol" rules the known world. "Idol" beat the Grammys head to head in the ratings, which means that viewers chose to watch fumbling amateurs over such legends as Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Sly Stone (who, by the way, looked as if he'd been exhumed for the evening)."

He goes on to say:

"What this "American Idol" hegemony says about America -- whether it speaks of our great national optimism or heralds the final collapse of civilization -- depends on whether or not you've sipped the Kool-Aid."

Kelly Clarkson, American Idol winner, won two Grammys and acted like an idiot on stage. I was embarrassed for her when she introduced herself to Bonnie Raitt while she was accepting her second Grammy, for Bonnie nearly rolled her eyes on camera. American Idol cheapens talent, doesn’t it? I’ve watched it on a few occasions, and I think it is entertaining. I like the egalitarian nature of it. See, the entertainment industry is very elitist. It all depends on who you know, and some with less than talent can get record deals. But American Idol lets the common folk tryout, and the best of the common folk get record deals. I suppose it is like entertainment communism. Is that bad? Well, judging by Clarkson’s proletariat reaction, I am wondering if it will water down our pop culture even further. But I am more inclined to agree that exposure of one’s talents to a national audience by any means, especially in this day of corporate rubbish, is good. However, isn’t American Idol corporate rubbish, too? It is a brand, after all, and recent stories have surfaced about how much it controls the lives of its contestants.

The question I have is why don’t these American Idol contestants try to pursue traditional means of exposure? Where is the starving artist these days? What ever happened to packing all that you owned into your shitty car and driving out to California or New York and driving around in a van full of your equipment, playing in dives to get noticed? The elitist entertainment culture can’t be so bad that it is totally closed off.

I am a music fan. I don’t discount talent no matter where it comes from. American Idol is good for the country because it gives raw talent a chance, but there is something about the poppish control it has over music and the cheapness of its contestants that makes one question its credibility as a good source for music.

Or maybe it’s just the rock fan in me…

Album of the Year!

Congrats to U2! Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group. Don't forget Veritgo won three Grammys last year, making a total of 8 for this incredible album. Steve Lillywhite also won Producer of the Year.


Also, kudos to Bruce Springsteen for saying "Bring 'em home" after his performance. Barack Obama won a Grammy, too, for Best Spoken Word Album for his "Dreams From My Father."

In other politics meets Grammy news, Burt Bacharach said: "I've never seen times like we've got right now. I'm really upset. This is the future I'm leaving behind for these kids, and I'm concerned. I think we've really made a mess of it. If the president had just gotten up and said, 'I made a mistake. I take full blame for it. There are no weapons of mass destruction; our information was wrong. Bear with me and we'll get through this together.' But to be stonewalled -- " Bacharach shook his head. "I never like to be lied to by a girlfriend or an agent. And certainly not the president of the United States."

Other than those things, politics pretty much stayed out of it- no Abramoff jokes last night.

cross-posted at washingtonrox

American Idiots

Record companies are whining again about dismal sales last year. Although 2005 saw a slew of good rock releases, (Franz Ferdinand, Arcade Fire, Bright Eyes, Coldplay, Death Cab, Fall Out Boy...) a lot of crap continued to dominate the airwaves. Quality sells records, yet they can't seem to understand that. American Idiot is the perfect example. This album is probably the best rock record to come out since Achtung Baby!, and it it sold more albums in 2005 than it did in 2004 when it was released.

Rock music is at its best since the early 90s, yet the record companies haven't done enough to market the incredible bands that are out there now. Why is this? Is it because they are too liberal for their corporate tastes? Bright Eyes and Death Cab were on the Vote for Change tour. Franz and Bright Eyes have excellent anti-war songs on the new albums. Only Green Day has succeeded in selling its liberalism to the general public.

Record cos need to stop their whining and come up with some innovative marketing, because there is too much good stuff out there that isn't getting out.

Beautiful Year

U2 win human rights award

Irish rock band U2 has been awarded a prestigious accolade by campaign group Amnesty International.

The band have won the 2005 Ambassador of Conscience Award for their "21 years of commitment" to equality.

The body's secretary general Irene Khan said the band had shown "leadership in linking music to the struggle for human rights and human dignity worldwide has been ground-breaking and unwavering".

International Political Artist: Gipsy

Promoting justice and racial tolerance through music

"I found a power in rap," the Romany musician known as Gipsy explains at a pizzeria while grabbing a quick bite to eat between recording sessions. "With rap, I feel I can sing about problems and opinions with a big spectrum that everybody will understand."

Gipsy's musical message of tolerance and hope is headlining a Human Rights Day concert at Roxy, with United Flavours opening. "We're on the same boat," says United Flavours manager Lukáš Kolíbal. His organization, JahMusic, is devoted to spreading "the importance of equal rights, respect and justice."

Gipsy, 23, is an ambitious young Roma who has toured internationally, co-owns a recording studio and in 1995 founded a music agency called Paranormalz. His intensity and street-smart charisma are balanced by a generosity of spirit that quickly deflects any focus on himself to larger issues. Part of that expansiveness is his use of three languages: "English as [the native] element of rap, Czech for the spectrum of what I want to say, and Romany as the emotion we need to reference."

Bright Eyes glares at W

Bright Eyes, Over Two Dark Circles

"I haven't played this song much lately because it started feeling like shooting fish in a barrel," Oberst said as he stood alone onstage at the beginning of the encore. But, he said, "I want to wake up the [expletive] who sleeps across the street." Thus Oberst began singing the virulent "When the President Talks to God," punctuating the caustic lyrics ("When the president talks to God/Does he ever think that maybe he's not?" ) by emphatically strumming his acoustic guitar.

Fighting for tix

Yes, it is true. You see, it all began around 6pm. I went to the U2 concert extremely early because I was afraid that the tickets I got from Craig's List were fake. I had the same feeling yesterday, but this one was far worse. The show didn't even begin until 7:30, and I knew U2 wouldn't come on stage until 9pm, so if there was a problem, at least I'd know early and could do something about it, right?

Well, turns out my feeling was right. My tickets were fakes. Now, usually here's the point where I freak out when something goes wrong, but see, this is U2, and somehow everything always works out when it comes to them. At least it had until this point. I hopped back on the Metro to go home, wondering how I was going to get a ticket with only $15 in my pocket and none in my bank account until payday next week. On the train, I thought perhaps I would write a bum check at the grocery for a couple hundred and pay the bank fee when it bounced. Then in desperation, I contacted a friend to borrow $150, which she graciously lent me. I drove over to pick up the money and then drove back to the MCI Center and paid $20 to park. I didn't have time to search for a parking space, or so I thought, so I just went into the garage. So I'm down to $145 for a ticket.

Now, I've purchased tickets from scalpers many, many times, including U2 shows, so I thought this would be no problem. Apparently, so did everyone else, because after wandering around the outside of the MCI Center for an hour and a half looking for a ticket, I could hear the opening chords of City of Blinding Lights. Shit! They're on stage! What few tickets there were available from scalpers were going for $300, and no one would take my $145.

I thought I was going to cry, as there is nothing in the world I'd rather do than go to a U2 show. Nothing. When I say nothing, I am dead serious. NOTHING. Still, I didn't give up hope, and I kept circling. I honestly contemplated snatching tickets from someone's hand and running. I'm pretty fast, so I could have gotten away with it, but my damn morals got in the way. Next, I tried bribing a guard at one of the doors. He accepted, but as he was letting me in, a supervisor caught him and asked him what he was doing. I still had the fake, so he wasn't going to get fired because she thought I was just trying to enter through the wrong door.

At this point, I had missed City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, and Elevation. I decided to try my luck with bribing on the other side of the Center. No luck with the guard. He was kind of an ass when I showed him the money. I guess he didn't need my $100. Out of Control was playing, and we had a decent view of the stage from outside, and when Bono crossed we could see him, and we could hear him, so I thought I was going to be stuck there for the night. However, a guy on the inside kept going to the door and looking out. I didn't understand what he was doing, but then I found out he had an extra ticket! He was looking for someone to give it to.

He showed it to me through the window. It's face value was $163. I did not have the money, and a group of worthless homeless jerks who were obviously wanting to make some crack money swarmed the door when he opened it. I asked him how much he wanted for it and told him I only had $145. The homeless jerks had wads of cash from scalping earlier and were trying to get the ticket as well. Then the guy points to me, and I try to get up to the door to hear what he wants for the ticket. He says I can have it. I can HAVE it. No charge. Zero. I guess I just didn't comprehend, because I was a little slow in grabbing it from him. One of the crackheads did instead.

I was not going to have it. I attacked the guy. I grabbed his arms and kept at it until he finally said here, take it. Then as I looked up at the guy and thanked him. I began to run to the front of the center so I could go inside. The homeless guy was just like, "aren't you going to give me anything for it?" Jerk.

The high I felt as I entered the arena to the beginning of Beautiful Day was indescribable. It never went away, as the set list and the music was kick ass tonight, much, much better than the disappoint from last night. I still feel the high now, nearly two hours later. They ended with an amazing, breathtaking Bad, the best I'd ever heard the song, which is already unbelievable live. Oh, wow, I still am blown away.

Thank you, Jamie Lenieux, for the ticket. I can't say it enough.

Antiwar Fervor Fills the Streets
Demonstration Is Largest in Capital Since U.S. Military Invaded Iraq

Tens of thousands of people packed downtown Washington yesterday and marched past the White House in the largest show of antiwar sentiment in the nation's capital since the conflict in Iraq began.

The demonstration drew grandmothers in wheelchairs and babies in strollers, military veterans in fatigues and protest veterans in tie-dye. It was the first time in a decade that protest groups had a permit to march in front of the executive mansion, and, even though President Bush was not there, the setting seemed to electrify the crowd.

Steve Earle was on hand to perform along with Joan Baez, Thievery Corporation, and others.

The Celebrity Goddess Katrina

I caught a brief glimpse of the telecast "Shelter from the Storm" last night. It was really strange. Randy Newman started it off by singing Louisianna 1927 (do we ever learn?), and he was followed by my personal gods, U2, who sang "One" with a kick ass Mary J. Blidge sharing vocal duties with Bono. I turned it off after that, but not before I saw the cheesy parts with Ellen DeGeneris and Morgan Freeman. It was cheese because it was a telethon, and those are always cheesy.

I am tired of people, mostly righties, criticizing the efforts of celebrities. Is it so hard to fathom that celebrities are people who care about others? I have seen Celine Dion slammed by so many people, many times only because they hate her music. She donated ONE MILLION DOLLARS! It's called generosity. Or how about Sean Penn, who traveled there to try to help the victims. So what if he had boat issues? At least he was there trying to do something, rather than sitting on his ass in front of a keyboard criticizing the Nayger mayor or the vacationing clown. It's more than most of us have done. (At least we were able to get Brown sent back to Washington before he made an even bigger mess.)

Kudos to the celebs for keeping politics out of it. And praise be to Mr. Clinton, who was directly asked by Steve Harvey at the BET telecast if he would have done a better job responding. Clinton, ever the diplomat, simply responded that now wasn't the time to talk about it. As for those with big mouths, people deal with frustration in different ways. Indirectly, Kayne West was right. Ask a black man. West clearly has no tact and no sense of diplomacy, but I don't think there are many who can deny the fact that if rich white folk were the ones stuck, help would've been there immediately. Those who deny it are living in Candyland.

I wonder how much was raised for the Red Cross last night. I wonder when America, ADD Nation, will become sick of Katrina, as I've already seen some bloggers commenting about how they are sick of the media coverage. Katrina isn't a one hit wonder- she's in for a pretty successful career, as it isn't everyday a country loses a major city. We are all going to be feeling the impact of this disaster for years in every aspect of our consumer lives. I wonder if people will remember when gasoline prices were two dollars. I wonder if people will remember cheap goods, buying junk they didn't need, going to Walfart, pretending like this country was infallible.

Cross posted at Washingtonrox.

Stones say no to Merkel

How rock n' roll is Angela Merkel? Not rock n' roll enough to be allowed to use a Rolling Stones' song following her campaign speeches.

Recently, Angela -- or Angie, as her campaign staff would like Germans to think of her -- has been leaving the stage following her stump speeches to the strains of the Rolling Stones' eponymous song.

The soulful wail of Mick Jagger over a mournful melody of piano and guitar is, apparently, supposed to let Germans know that this woman feels their pain. But did anyone in her coterie think to pay a little bit more to what Mick and Co. were singing? And did anyone ask the kings of rock n' roll if a conservative chancellor candidate in Germany could even use the hit from 1973?

The Stones say no. full

Coldplay copies Kraftwerk?

It certainly sounds like it, from the link provided by Edgar Nunez. Tsk, tsk. I hope they had permission.

U2 handed top Portuguese honour

For trying to save the world...

Irish rock band U2 have been awarded Portugal's highest honour for their humanitarian work.

President Jorge Sampaio bestowed the Order of Liberty honour on the group hours before they went on stage for a concert in Lisbon on Sunday.

Stones tell Bushie how it is on new album

The Rolling Stones will deliver a musical attack on George W. Bush with their new album.

So who in the rock world is left to voice their opposition to W? I can't think of anyone.

There is some amazing rock music out there these days after a short drought. The Stones may not be the biggest band in the world these days (that honor STILL goes to U2), but they are rock GODS who know what the music is about.

I may actually buy my first Stones album in years.

Rock is progress.

Death Cab's new single

The new album comes out August 30, but you can hear "Soul Meets Body" here.

More Corporate Censorship

No, you're not smoking something--the cover of Willie Nelson's new reggae album comes in two separate versions: regular and Wal-Mart.

Lost in all of this is the fact that Willie Nelson has put out a reggae album.

full article

Uno, dos, tres, catorce!

Live 8 is currently underway. Watch free online here.

So my computer crashes and Blogger doesn't save all that I've updated here. Argh. I look forward to one day in the future when these types of technology glitches are a distant memory like I do now upon the pre-internet period. It seems prehistoric.

Today, I have watched rock, rap, r&b, country, reggae, opera, and punk being performed simultaneously in London, Philly, Berlin, Paris, Toronto, and Rome. Concerts are also being held in Moscow, Tokyo, and Johannesburg. If we just step outside of time for a minute to look at how incredible this is, a moment when a billion people in the world are focused on the plight of a continent that has been ignored for half a century, we can see that people are pretty much the same. No amount of flagwaving and Rovian bile can change that fact.

I am amazed at how many on the right shamelessly criticized this event. The "white" lineup included Snoop, Jay Z, Black Eyed Peas, Destiny's Child, Mariah Carey, Will Smith, Craig David... the list goes on and on and on and on. So, nix that criticism. Another criticism was that rock stars don't know anything about anything. Twenty-five years ago, Live Aid organizers still had smooth faces and irrational idealism. That idealism has matured into a more pragmatic form, and they actually know what they're talking about. None of this Don Henley plants a tree b.s.

A third criticism is that it isn't going to make a difference. That one takes the cake. It already has worked. The campaign has been in full gear for a couple of months now. G8 leaders have already pledged millions of dollars to alleviate the poverty and combat the diseases that run rampant on the continent, in addition to the substantial debt relief they've already legislated.

Then there is the fact that 8 men in a room have the power to decide the fate of the world. But, I think, just maybe, the fact that the G8 leaders have been forced to listen to a bunch of rock stars and their fans means that they don't have as much control as they think they do.

Miniprop Strikes Again



State Department Doctors Bono Quote

A State Department release from Monday doctored remarks from U2’s Bono, twisting his quote to mean the very opposite of what he apparently believes. Here’s the State Department paragraph, two graphs below the lede [besides underlining, excerpt appears exactly as published]:

Bono, lead singer of the Irish band U2 and longtime activist for aid to Africa, echoed Geldof’s praise for President Bush as he told an American television interviewer June 26, “[Bush] has already doubled and tripled aid to Africa .… I think he has done an incredible job, his administration, on AIDS. 250,000 Africans are on anti-viral drugs; they literally owe their lives to America.”

In fact, Bono only said the latter half of that quote during his appearance on Meet the Press last Sunday. The first part — “[Bush] has already doubled and tripled aid to Africa” — is deceptively transplanted from an interview Bono did with Time magazine that Tim Russert quoted on the show, and the State Department has taken it entirely out of context. Here’s the full quote:

Question: Which of the G8 leaders do you think remains the toughest nut to crack?

Bono: The most important and toughest nut is still President Bush. He feels he’s already doubled and tripled aid to Africa, which he started from far too low a place. He can stand there and say he paid at the office already. He shouldn’t because he’ll be left out of the history books. But it’s hard for him because of the expense of the war and the debts.

In other words, Bono was relaying President Bush’s claim (which he repeated during his press conference with Tony Blair this month) that his administration has tripled aid to Africa. Yet we know Bono does not believe that Bush has tripled aid to Africa. On Meet the Press, Bono said that while Bush has made a commitment to triple aid, that will only be the case “if he follows through” on that pledge.

From Think Progress.

Pumpkins getting back together

Woohoo! Corgan announced it this week.

Ok Computer predicts "global culture of communal distress"

Radiohead's album OK Computer has been named the best of the past 20 years by US music magazine Spin.

The British band beat Nirvana's Nevermind and Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back in the publication's 20th birthday issue. article

Number 1

Coldplay number 1 in US

Fuck ebay

It's already tough enough to get tickets to concerts you will pay for, but when you have to start buying tickets to a free concert for outrages amounts, that says it's TIME FOR FUCKING REFORM IN THE CONCERT TICKET INDUSTRY. FUCK TICKETMASTER AND LEGAL SCALPING COMPANIES. I'm sick of it. Time to rebel.

Go Geldolf.

Ok Go to be regular on Air America Radio

As OK Go's forthcoming single "Do What You Want" is poised to garner summer spins across America's airwaves, the band is preparing for another kind of radio campaign -- one notable for its defiant lack of spin.

Beginning June 4th (3-5PM ET), Capitol recording artists OK Go will appear as regular guests on the Air America Radio program "So What Else Is News?" Singer Damian Kulash and bassist Tim Nordwind will submit monthly reports to show host Marty Kaplan, providing listeners a mix of music and industry commentary, tales from the rock 'n' roll road, and a healthy dose of the unexpected.

Listen to Ok Go's new single.

Coldplay battles corporate evil

Coldplay's Chris Martin has dismissed pressure to boost his record company's profits, saying: "Shareholders are the great evil of this modern world."

EMI issued a profit warning in February partly because the release of the UK band's latest album X&Y was delayed.

Awesome.

Live8

Live Aid new shows

My God, that London show will be awesome! Not to put down the other performers, but U2, REM, and Coldplay? I'll probably head up to Philly to see DMB. It's only 2.5 hours away, and it IS on a Friday. (I tend to miss those days at work in the summer.) However, it is rumored that you will only be able to get a ticket through a cell phone text message lottery. Kind of sux since my cell phone is not operational these days. (Blame the capitalists who don't pay me enough.)

Speaking of U2, could anyone spare about a thousand dollars so I can fly over to Dublin and see them? Ha, ha. I saw Vertigo in Philly. The new songs sound great! I have to say, though, I envisioned them as live songs from the moment I heard the album. If they would only play "Crumbs." Love and Peace was definitely the best song- one of those ones that nearly makes you stop breathing. Ohhhhh, that moment when Edge takes off on his solo and Bono takes over the drums... these are the greatest highs one can get.

Nine Inch Nails vs Corporate Censorship

NIN should fight back.

The day the Pope stole my shades

Bono the politician