|
Up to the minute notes on the current state of free thinking and free living: Kentucky moonshine - original analysis and reporting from MoreThings, and all round pop culture museum of sight and sound - photo galleries, mp3 and video downloads.
Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
Live free or die!
----
|
August 16, 2003
the trouble with being myself- classic new Macy Gray
Perhaps I'm a bit obsessed with Macy Gray's new album. I can't walk down the street at this point without bits of the trouble with being myself stalking me from within my own mind. Take this as a strong endorsement of the album.
I have about half a dozen favorites out of twelve songs. The pre-album single was "when i see you," which I gushed on about extensively. It's a fine classic pop-soul song that Marvin Gaye would have been proud of.
Epic released "she ain't right for you" as a single to correspond with the release of the album. It's a big soul ballad broadly in the stylistic range of her main hit, "I Try." However, there's no sign of this making any dent at radio. Take this as a sign of the musical illiteracy of the market. Years of listening to tuneless crappy rap records or even less musical Linkin Park, Rob Zombie and other such illiterate nonsense apparently has left consumers unable to even recognize a real song like this when they hear one.
"it ain't the money" features a couple of rap verses (courtesy of "pharoahe monch") which are not in themselves the most tuneful parts of the album, but Macy's choruses ("bet you're giving head to a movie star") really took root in my brain after about the second listen. Also co-writer Beck has one notable repeated low vocal hook line ("Ain't it funny how the money makes the honey taste like nothing").
This record gets the most out of the basic song with lots of thoughtfully embedded musical and vocal colors. The quick horn sounding riff that opens the record, for example, and several distinctive bits of electric piano among other touches take turns jumping out with repeated listening. This album is probably her most impressive on a production level. Every song has its own distinctive sound and unique colors.
This production quality comes out very much in "Happiness." It features some particularly distinctive backing vocals from a "children's choir" behind the narcotized "happiness" of a self-described junkie. The flat affect of the vocal harmonies emphatically stomping out the word "ha-pi-NEEESS" after Macy's all done with it really makes the record. Note also the Spanish guitar solo over hip-hop beat in the last minute of the song. It's entirely new bonus musical thought after we've already had a full song.
The song that really stalks my consciousnes is "My Fondest Childhood Memories." Macy's making like some funky Maxwell Edison. Thing is, Paul McCartney's narrator was a very glib creation. Macy, by contrast, seems to be reflecting some deep emotional fault lines in this perfectly cheerful sounding tale of a child murdering her parents' parmours. After a few listens, the emotional realness under the fantasy can become disturbing.
It bounces along with a kind of latin funk beat, specifically referencing a quote from her classic "I've Committed Murder," only in a completely different melodic context- "And I don't feel bad about it." Note also the bits of honky tonk player piano. There's a little recurrent sax riff that sounds like young Macy sneaking up the stairs to whack that plumber she had caught "plunging" her mother.
We'll see what else turns up yet, but this sounds like an outstanding candidate for album of the year.
posted by Al at 8/16/2003 03:17:00 AM
August 15, 2003
Honey, the electric's out- better call the president
Honey, the electric's out- better call the President.
Call me crazy, but when the electric goes out down on the farm, we generally call the electric company. Screw the mayor or some county councilman. I want to see the Wichita lineman.
Yet when the electric went out for a big chunk of the country yesterday, everyone was waiting with baited breath to hear from President Bush. Why?
Really it comes down to the functioning of our lower brains. It's basic mammalian instincts, stuff we pick up as toddlers. When there's any kind of crisis, turn to the alpha male.
Of course, this just doesn't really apply to all situations in a modern industrial state with highly specialized labor. What the hell is any president supposed to do? Democrats and cheap shot commentators have given Bush hell for attending his scheduled fund raising events in California while the electric was out, even blaming him for somehow being the cause of the blackout. What was he supposed to do, grab a wrench and personally go to work on the grid?
Other than determining that there was no terrorist attack involved, the POTUS has no obvious immediate connection to a power outage. Why is he expected to be on tv? I was more interested in hearing from someone at Con Ed.
We're working with a bazillion year old bunch of lines and stations trying to meet ever increasing demands. They actually work surprisingly well, considering. One bad blackout every 25 years seems to me like a fantastic record, actually. It would have been a huge pain in the ass to get stuck in Manhattan yesterday with no way to get home to the 'burbs, but that's life.
Now, it might be good if we take this little blip as a sign to consider our vulnerability and needs for energy policy reforms, that's well and good. It's prudent.
It's just dumb, however, for congressmen who have been in Washington for many years to be wailing on about how a problem with a 50 to 75 year old power grid is the fault of a president who's been here for less than three years, particularly considering that he's got a war on terror to win. This looks even more stupid considering that we still don't even know what happened to cause the blackout in the first place.
The only thing stupider than blaming the president for the lights going out is standing around waiting for him to fix them.
posted by Al at 8/15/2003 07:54:00 PM
August 14, 2003
Malkovich?
posted by Al at 8/14/2003 06:17:00 PM
August 13, 2003
Bill O'Reilly needs slapped
Now it's starting to make sense. It was Fox News filing suit against Al Franken, but it wasn't so much a board decision apparently. It looks like it was done at the bequest of Fox's main star, Bill O'Reilly, whom Franken apparently blasts mercilessly in his new book Lies and the Lying Liars That Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.
For one thing, this just underlines O'Reilly's authoritarian mentality, that he would even be inclined to stop a book from coming out because it is critical of him.
I would just LOVE to see Franken on the Factor. Even in O'Reilly's studio, Franken would end up putting a saddle on him and riding him around. Oh yes, Al Franken would make Bill O'Reilly his bee-yatch.
I still can't imagine how it is that O'Reilly thinks this story will make him look anything other than like a dick. He's a chickenshit, hiding behind his employer's lawyers.
He is, to use the technical term, a punk assed bitch.
Oh yeah, Franken's book has shot to #1 in sales at Amazon in the wake of this controversy. All the better.
posted by Al at 8/13/2003 11:49:00 PM
August 12, 2003
Fox News courting humiliation
God love Al Franken, and Al Franken must just LOVE THIS:
Fox News Channel has sued liberal humorist Al Franken and the Penguin Group to stop them from using the phrase "fair and balanced" in the title of his upcoming book.
Filed Monday in Manhattan, the trademark infringement lawsuit seeks a court order forcing Penguin to rename the book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." It also asks for unspecified damages.
Fox News registered "Fair & Balanced" as a trademark in 1995, the suit says.
Franken's "intent is clear - to exploit Fox News' trademark, confuse the public as to the origins of the book and, accordingly, boost sales of the book," the suit said.
So Fox is claiming that Franken is trying to trick people into thinking that it's an official Fox News sponsored book so they'll buy it? That is SO incredibly lame.
The really obvious intent is that Franken is specifically mocking the Fox News claim of objectivity, portraying them as just more lying Republicans. However much you agree or don't with Franken's outlook, it makes Fox look stupid to be making this obviously dishonest claim. They're only helping Franken-and making his point with this blatant dishonesty.
The best part of Franken's and likewise Ann Coulter's work is watching them gleefully confiscating people's goats. Seeing how bad their targets squeal really makes my day.
I like Rush Limbaugh well enough, but I really enjoyed watching the torment that Franken put on him at the time of his opus Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot. Franken was directly printing statements as blatant as "I hope Rush Limbaugh rises to the bait." Several times, I heard Rush on his show start to blast Franken, and choke himself off, not wanting to help him with the publicity. Oh Jebus, that was funny.
Apparently the folks at FNC aren't as smart as Rush.
posted by Al at 8/12/2003 10:43:00 PM
Snoop's pimp skills slipping?
I've wondered about those Girls Gone Wild videos. A commercial porno producer is dealing with just a few paid professionals who are presumably signing model release forms and such. The Girls Gone Wild, on the other hand, just seems to be any silly slut they can convince to flash them on the beach. Exactly what are the standards being followed so that the producers of these videos don't, oh, get sued for whatever some hooker thinks they can get their hands on?
That brings us to THIS STORY:
Rapper/actor Snoop Dogg is being sued by two Louisiana women who say they were offered drugs during Mardi Gras 2002 to flash their breasts for pictures that later appeared on a cover of the video series "Girls Gone Wild."
The suit by Jaime Capdeboscq, who was 17 at the time of the alleged incident, and Whitni Candiotto, who was 18, also names Joseph R. Francis, the owner of Mantra Films Inc., which has produced the series of mail-order videos that feature nudity and sexual activity.
On April 2, Francis was arrested during spring break at Panama City, Fla., where videos were being filmed. He faces 22 charges including racketeering, procuring minors for sexual acts, filming minors engaged in sexual performances and conspiracy. Mantra Films has disputed the charges, contending crews always ask young women their age and film only those who say they are 18 or older.
Yowsa. This is a multi-million dollar operation, and their defense is that the girls all SAID they were over 18? The dumbest ass pimp on the corner would know to have a better story than THAT.
It's all good, though, cause they always post a sign near wherever they're filming that says, "By entering, you consent to the use of such film and your image in a commercial film product."
Which speaks of a demerit for Snoop Dogg for being part of such unprofessional pimping. Snoop is SUPPOSED to be the goddam Superpimp, a Nietzchean uber-pimp.
Superpimp would KNOW that they have to have their papers in full legal order, and that they are absolutely NOT going to get any benefit of the doubt if any of this hits a courtroom.
"We had a sign." Oh, ok then. No problem.
What kind of half-assed excuse for pimping is this?
posted by Al at 8/12/2003 09:58:00 PM
August 11, 2003
Jerry Falwell turns 70
Baptist spiritual leader Rev. Jerry Falwell was born August 11, 1933. Happy number 70 to the good reverend.
I was never a member of the Moral Majority, and surely I haven't agreed with much of his political outlook. Nonetheless, he has been a good and articulate spokesman for his community, and a valuable member of the public debate.
Also, he made back some points with me in recent years. This comes from seeing him make nice with Larry Flynt. After Flynt thoroughly beat him in front of the SCOTUS, Falwell has shown love for his enemy. They're at least halfway pals now. It did my heart good to see him a couple of years ago with his arm around Flynt referring to him affectionately as his "most wayward parishioner." As the Freaks would say, "One of us! We accept you!"
posted by Al at 8/11/2003 03:14:00 AM
Arnold's problem
Regarding the problems that actor Arnold Schwarzenegger might have in running for governor, Democrat political consultant David Axelrod has framed it perfectly:
"This isn't the movies. No one is going to throw him a ray gun so he can blow up the deficit."
On the other hand, there IS a school of philosophical thought which holds that there is no problem which cannot be solved by a sufficient charge of explosives. I've yet to see this theory disproven.
Exactly where is that pesky deficit at, anyway? Miuzi Weighs A Ton.
posted by Al at 8/11/2003 03:06:00 AM
Joe Jackson's birthday
Born August 11, 1955, Joe Jackson turns 48 today. Happy birthday!!
It seems that ol' Joe has never gotten quite the recognition that he deserves for his artistic achievements. Some of that may be because Elvis Costello sucked all the air out of the room for new wave singer-songwriters from England in the late '70s. I'm afraid that for some people Joe Jackson has always been that guy who's kind of like Elvis, only not quite as good. You can be a notch or two below Elvis, though, and still have a heller career.
Actually, I'd say Jackson was competitive for the first half dozen albums or so. His more recent work hasn't been as strong, but you're missing out if you don't have at least several of his early albums. Look Sharp! just kicks ass song for song. It's really not that much like Elvis Costello anyway, but more like your classic power pop, such as Get the Knack or early Beatlemania era hits. I'm the Man is just as consistent song for song. The apparently out of print Beat Crazy completes that early power pop trilogy in good form.
Whereas Elvis made a tribute album of country songs that just absolutely didn't work, Joe Jackson made a tribute album of jazz and jump blues, Joe Jackson's Jumpin' Jive, which may now be recognized as a classic equal to the originals, with a competitive level of musical skill and interesting new arrangements and emotional tones from the Louis Jordan and other originals.
Night and Day gave Jackson his greatest commercial success. You couldn't argue against this. Each and every song is outstanding. If anybody wanted to pick a new wave Cole Porter, this record would be Exhibit A for Mr. Jackson.
After that, he hasn't been able to keep quite up to those high early standards, but he's always worth a listen. Body and Soul certainly still rated pretty high, and he's usually got something to justify giving his new work a listen.
However, even if he never made another record, he's already made
I'm the Man
It's Different for Girls
Breaking Us in Two
One More Time
Geraldine and John
Is She Really Going Out with Him?
Sunday Papers
On Your Radio
Instant Mash
Pretty Boys
TV Age
Beat Crazy
Cha Cha Loco
You Can't Get What You Want
Fools in Love
Not Here, Not Now
Jack, You're Dead
You Run Your Mouth (and I'll Run My Business)
A Slow Song
Throw It Away
Kinda Kute
Steppin' Out
Another World
What's The Use Of Getting Sober (When You're Just Gonna Get Drunk Again)
Baby Stick Around
Real Men
Cancer
Hell of a Town
Chinatown
Target
Got the Time
posted by Al at 8/11/2003 03:03:00 AM
Freedom of Conscience 101
John 14:2 - In my Father's house are many mansions.
I reject the notion that I need to justify my appreciation of a song or any other work of art by jumping through hoops to show that it somehow reflects a Proper Political Statement or that it specifically echoes some obvious Truth that I agree with.
Mac Diva has a post here detailing what songs and artists she has banished from her collection for being politically incorrect. Somehow she thinks she's being very liberal and tolerant and open minded in doing so.
It's funny what things are considered horribly offensive. Used to would be that curse words or sexual content were wicked, but they're generally only mildly considered risque today. It's difficult to conjure up any type of sexual description to universally offend the sensibilities of Decent People. As Cole Porter said, anything goes.
Well, almost anything. Anything that even might be taken to be a racial slight by any white guy is totally unacceptable, however. Shhh! Don't tell anybody about those David Allen Coe songs. However, no one would bat an eye about "Folsom Prison Blues," wherein he shot a man "just to watch him die." All kinds of wickedness and badness are OK to depict, except for ones that offend proper sensitivities. I'd like to talk to the guy who decides what those are.
I profit from listening to the Clash with their cheesie commie fantasies and kick-ass songs. They were pretty wicked indeed, though- and not in a good way- to publicly support the Sandinistas, because they were, you know, goddam murdering communists. How about proclaiming how cool Charles Manson was? He certainly didn't do even a small fraction as much murdering as the Sandinistas. Still, London Calling was the shiznit.
David Allen Coe's wicked humorous race songs tickle my funnybone- especially when balanced with some compensatory classic Richard Pryor or James Brown recordings ["Say It Loud. I'm Black and I'm Proud!"]. Yet I dare not even mention the titles of the relevant DAC songs in this public place. That's just asking for a crucifixion.
Well, alright- just one. At the risk of drawing flames for my grievous hate crime, the key song of these underground David Allen Coe records is called "Nigger Fucker." The title alone consigns to hell any listener who enjoys the record. It details in the first person the humiliation of a poor white schmuck whose woman has run off with, um, a black guy. It's a joke, son. I said, "joke." And the honky is the butt of this one. [THIS DAC ALBUM has some good songs, but none of the infamous underground titles, such as the infamously titled "I Made Linda Lovelace Gag." You can find them readily on the net. That's why G-d made P2P.]
Public Enemy's racist rantings excite me. For one brief peak moment, ie Fear of a Black Planet, PE had the noise. That's just a fine artistic statement, even if the whole conceit of the group was racist and demagogic in ways far worse than the silly personal animosity of DAC. Coe was just venting a spot of personal frustration, with humor at his own expense- not purposely fomenting organized racial animosity like PE was at least pretending to do. [See video and song "By the Time I Get to Arizona."] Please do not mistake my appreciation of a good groove, however, as a sign that I've joined the Black Panthers or the KKK.
But see, there I go already- eagerly justifying why it's ok to like DAC.
I also love Elvis gospel, even though I don't really believe in Jebus. Still, there is a sense of peace and fulfillment that comes out of some of these records that he never touched in his secular work. It's a spiritual thing.
But music sometimes moves me by reflecting light into the darker crevices of the soul. David Allen Coe made some highly humorous and catchy explorations of the racial insecurities of white guys- not reflecting us back in the best light.
In short, enjoying the Rolling Stones "Stupid Girl" does not mean that I hate women, nor does an interest in DAC mean that I have issues with black folk.
More troubling to me personally, I have a fairly intense devotion to the 12 minute album version of James Brown's "Papa Don't Take No Mess." I'm all down with James in his pride, but this makes me significantly uncomfortable. The song, after all, can easily enough be seen as a celebration of child abuse.
This is the opposite sentiment from the properly set sensitivities of Suzanne Vega's "Luka." James is praising, celebrating the memory of his father's harsh discipline. "But when we did wrong, Papa beat the HELL out of us. HIT ME!" I'm well aware of how easily proper discipline can cross over into just plain nasty child abuse. Still, there's something in the unique emotional expression of this recording that I can't stay away from. Lots of things. This is a key recording in the whole James Brown cannon. It continues to fascinate me.
Indeed, if I find my own interest in a piece of art troubling, then I take it as a sign that it's something I definitely need to hear and think about. Don't worry though, 100 viewings of Night of the Hunter doesn't mean I'm going on a killing spree. I'm not planning on one right away, anyhow.
In short, art in different forms presents useful reflections and refractions of the human experience from all corners and perspectives, even- nay, especially- when it's showing things that are wicked or dysfunctional.
The King James Bible is another work of art that I put pretty much stock in. I take it with a shaker of salt, however- particularly the book of Joshua, and the stuff about people coming back from the dead. Here's one part, though, that I think particularly wise:
Titus 1:15 - Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
posted by Al at 8/11/2003 03:01:00 AM
Link Soup
morethings master
photo gallery index
MP3
new album
releases
lyrics
sammy davis
little richard photos
buddy holly pictures
fats domino images
chuck berry pictures 01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/
01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/
01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/
01/02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12
01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/08/
09/
10/
11/
12/
la
24
lucille ball images james
blunt photos
clint eastwood pictures lena
horne images team
america pictures
robert mitchum photos
bruce springsteen pictures
mariah carey pictures
ann coulter photos
george clooney images
loretta lynn pictures
beatles pictures
white stripes pictures
andy griffith pictures
kill bill pictures
beverly hillbillies pictures
robin williams
frank zappa pictures
jerry lee lewis pictures
richard pryor photos
june carter johnny cash pictures
vic mackey shield pictures u2 photos
four seasons images
james cagney images
elvis presley pictures
country music
blog
dolly parton pictures
olsen twins photos
tom petty photos
tori amos pictures
joaquin phoenix images David
Bowie photos
Quills movie images
reese witherspoon pictures rolling
stones photos
fiona apple images kim
novak images ray charles photos marx
brothers pictures
prince rogers nelson pictures blazing
saddles images
sinead o'connor images
eddie murphy photos aretha
franklin photos
south park pictures homer
simpson images
bob dylan pictures elizabeth
taylor photos madonna
images
saturday night live pictures willie
nelson images hee
haw pictures james
brown images pete
townshend photos
tina turner pictures
dixie chicks photos
margaret thatcher photos
guns
n roses pictures
paula abdul pictures
jodie foster photos
amy winehouse
eminem
frank sinatra photos
van
halen images
satan
blondie photos
joni
mitchell pictures
merle haggard
images
rocky horror pictures
monty
python
|
|
