by Carrie Brownstein

Tuesday Miscellany

I'll answer my own Thursday Treasure Hunt query now:

I always tip 20 percent.
I will be rooting for an upset by the NY Giants during the Super Bowl.
I love Brett Favre.
I played varsity level sports in high school (tennis).
I have a library card.
I can remember a time when a Bush or Clinton was not in the White House.
The fact that John McCain is gaining momentum makes me excited AND nervous.
I have read several music autobiographies and biographies. In the last year, they were all about Dylan.

And if you have some free time:

This morning I was on NPR's Talk of the Nation discussing campaign theme songs.

I also participated in a discussion about Rock Band on WNYC's Soundcheck.

Lastly, in brief:

Listening to: Imaad Wasif w/ Two Part Beast Strange Hexes. The album is out March 18th, but you can listen to it here.
Reading: The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
Watching: La Vie En Rose (well, I'm not watching it right now, obviously).
Awaiting: I'll admit it, the season opener of Lost.

5:01 PM ET | 01-29-2008 | permalink | comments (33) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

 

Jagjaguwar Interview

Back when searching for music was more laborious than a few clicks of the mouse, most of us depended on labels to encapsulate a movement, a city, a sensibility, a sound. Whether it was Stax, Hi, Dischord, Rough Trade, Cherry Red, or Trojan, we put our trust in music labels and made our purchases accordingly. Now that music seems to be floating on a universal plane out in the ether, and every release has the potential to be on equal footing (regardless of origin), it is easy to overlook record labels. Maybe because mainstream media keeps proclaiming their soon-to-be obsolescence.

In the days of mail order and no preview of the music, I made purchases based on a label's reputation and the descriptive quality of the catalog listing. It's been a long while since I have sought out records not based on genre or artist, but based on the label that releases them. However, in the last year, I have turned my attention to an independent label in Indiana called Jagjaguwar. As far as I can tell, they are adept and inspired curators, and I find myself looking to them for exceptional music.

Jagjaguwar was founded in 1996 by Darius Van Arman in Charlottesville, Virginia. The label moved to Bloomington, Indiana in 1999, when Chris Swanson (a founder of Secretly Canadian) joined the partnership. Recently, two other Secretly Canadian partners (Jonathan Cargill and Ben Swanson) joined Jagjaguwar. However, it is Darius and Chris who continue to make the creative decisions.

Darius kindly answered these questions via email:

CB: The first time I heard of your label it was when I purchased a Black Mountain CD. How did you first hear about that band?

DVA: From demos. Steve McBean had sent demos of his songs to us, based on a recommendation from his friend Dan Bejar (aka Destroyer). Some of the recordings were Steve's solo work, and some were Jerk With A Bomb recordings. My partner Chris really took to the demos initially, and I think Chris and I were listening to some of the Jerk With A Bomb recordings - a CBC-recorded live performance - during a road-trip when it clicked for both of us.

CB: What is it about Canada, or western Canada, in particular that is fostering a wealth of creativity and good music these days?

DVA: I'm not sure, and I would hate to generalize. I don't believe there is disproportionately more musical wealth in Canada than, say, in the U.S., or vice-versa. But there does seem to be a different outlook on what being in a band is all about in Canada, and I can't quite put my finger on it.

I guess if there is an overall environment in Canada that is more conducive to creativity or good music, it is probably due to how the Canadian government is relatively more supportive of the musical arts, how strong Canadian Public Radio is, and how relatively close knit the various musical communities within Canada are.

Interestingly, here is what CBC - the Canadian equivalent to NPR I am told - did for Jerk with A Bomb, the predecessor to Black Mountain:

(1) CBC decided to record a live performance by a relatively unknown band called Jerk With A Bomb
(2) CBC recorded this band well (which is no small feat, as you would probably know as a musician who has been recorded in a live setting)
(3) CBC paid band members handsomely for the honor to do so
(4) CBC broadcast the performance throughout Canada

Then, Chris and I end up listening to this CBC recording during a road trip and get psyched about working with what would become Black Mountain. Perhaps it was public radio that brought Jagjaguwar and Black Mountain together.

CB: Though you have managed to gather a diverse roster of artists, can you pinpoint a common thread or essence to the bands on your label?

DVA: I wish I could. Maybe the music on Jagjaguwar is generally more personal than social. There's a sentimentality there. And a mystic yet grounded quality. Like a well-worn bench in a park, or maybe that one magical tree that is intimidating in its beauty but has a low-lying limb that anyone can climb on. Okay, getting pretentious here, maybe because I'm grasping at straws. Chris sometimes muses that Jagjaguwar is generally "darker" than our sister label Secretly Canadian, but there are some huge counter-examples to this notion on both the Jag and SC rosters. It is basically songs that Chris and I are moved by.

I have a good friend in Charlottesville named Tyler who, in the very early days of the label, used to mockingly describe the music on Jagjaguwar as "the wheezy sounds of male white depression." Ugh. Our artists are not all white males who are depressed. :)

CB: Have you ever signed a band based on a demo or a MySpace page?

DVA: [Aside from] Black Mountain, Okkervil River, Bon Iver, the Besnard Lakes, to name a few. Although, not ever based SOLELY on a demo... usually a demo moved us to see a band live, or get more recordings, or have lengthy conversations, etc., before Chris and I would be into starting a new relationship with an artist.

CB: Is there a label, model of business, or version of success that you emulate or to which you aspire?

DVA: When I was younger and in college, I was really enamored with labels like Drag City, Touch & Go, Siltbreeze, Too Pure, Creation, to name a few. I was also really into the aesthetics of Shrimper, The Communion Label and Independent Project Records. And, before then, growing up in the D.C. area, Dischord, Teenbeat and Simple Machines were great prototypes, that sort of put that notion in my head that starting a label was possible.

Both Chris and I also adopted the profit sharing structure that Touch & Go and Dischord had with their artists (at least what we thought it was; there's no manual out there), and sort of embraced how we thought they did business: timely accounting, transparency, doing what you say you'll do and being what you say you are (i.e. integrity), deferring to artists with regards to how their music is used, treating others with respect, etc.

These are the sort of values we aspire to, and, for us, if Jagjaguwar can be around for a few more decades, and if we can continue to make things easier for the artists we work with (if we are doing that now), I think that's the version of success worth hoping for.

CB: Your label is based in Bloomington. Historically, a lot of great labels are based in towns or smaller cities, or at least outside of this country's media centers. What is it about Bloomington that allows you run your label? Could Jagjaguwar exist in NYC or LA, or how would it be different if it did?

DVA: Hard to say, not ever operating out of a bigger city and knowing firsthand the distractions there. But, I think it is safe to say that, for most labels, the early years are financially very tough. And living in a small town makes things way more sustainable (i.e. rent, cost of living, etc.), and, in that way, can be an effective incubator for a music label. And maybe there's less pressure to be successful right away, to force sales to happen, to make aesthetic and ethical compromises that may take you down the wrong road. And maybe if you are in a small town, it is harder to get caught up with group-think or A&R feeding frenzies, that make you like all the other labels.

CB: What is your least favorite trend in the music industry these days? What trend is the most promising?

DVA: Chris and I love albums. We love songs, but really really love songs as part of an album. (And even more so, as part of an artist's "body of work".) This trend away from albums and toward singles is disheartening. And even the way albums are sold, with more pressure to add on bonus tracks here and there. For instance, you can sell more records on, say, iTunes if you add a bonus track to an album, and we've done it sometimes when it has felt right, but there is part of us that's like, wait, what about the album? Would Capitol add an exclusive bonus track for Amazon or iTunes or Emusic to Dark Side Of The Moon, if it came out now, in order to get some special placement or push?

A good or promising trend? Maybe how things are getting more meritocratic. Anyone's record can be distributed throughout the world, because of the relatively low cost of digital distribution, and there is an increasing chance that bona fide word of mouth will have some real impact, aided by things like blogs and bulletin boards. A single champion of a record can go a long way, and it will become easier for artists and smaller labels to get significant attention for their records, if their records are truly outstanding, regardless of the size of their marketing budget. That's the idea, anyways. In reality, there are still some gatekeepers. But these gatekeepers don't seem to be as entrenched, and are more quickly changing... this is a good thing.

CB: There is a consistently gritty, organic quality to the bands and artwork on your label. Is there a style of music you can't stand or a deal breaker when it comes to bands or songs?

DVA: Uff da. It is hard to sell Chris and me on instrumental music, but not impossible. Words with music means so much to us. And artists we work with have to be serious about their music. I mean, they could make goofy music, but they would need to be serious about making goofy music.

Stylistically, I think both Chris and I are open to almost any musical form or genre. And I think there's some basic human things we're attracted to, like bands or artists who are generally respectful to people around them, and who embody endearingly conflicting traits, like those who project humility while secretly having utter confidence and faith in their own work. I guess if a total asshole wanted to work with us, it wouldn't be impossible, but he/she/they would have to be really really talented... and we couldn't live in the same town.

CB: The label name comes from a D&D name generator. What were some other options that it gave you or that you considered?

DVA: No comment. :)

CB: There is a lot of fear, real or hyped, about the death of the music industry as we know it. It reminds me of when electronic music became popular and the media declared guitar rock over. For me, music is about storytelling and people will always want and need to hear stories. Has new technology or anxiety surrounding rapid changes in the industry affected your approach or philosophy to running the label? Or are there better things to worry about?

DVA: I love this question. Yes, music is about storytelling. Even at my most futurist, I can't imagine a world without the need for stories, or stories embodied in song. You take away the need for stories, you take away humanity. So unless robots take over the world, the music industry will never die, although it might change drastically in form.

Chris and I think about this, but don't worry too much about it. We think our existing philosophy of just trying to be of value to the artists we work with is very compatible with whatever may come down the road. Who knows, Jagjaguwar may become touring van mechanic specialists, or entertainment tax specialists. (We'd really prefer the former; there seems to be an art to keeping a van with 400,000 to 500,000 miles on it still humming...)

CB: What perks are there to working in your office? Ping Pong? Liquid lunches? Guitar Hero?

DVA: Some boring, typical things: every month we have PIZZA DAY. And, also once a month, we go out as an office to celebrate everyone's birthday that month. A more exciting thing: the SC Distribution label conference once a year. Everyone gets to go on a pontoon boat on Lake Monroe here and mingle with some of the staff of the other labels, like us, who are distributed by SC Distribution (i.e. Temporary Residence, K Records, Asthmatic Kitty, Mush Records, Tomlab, Social Registry, Table of the Elements, just to name a few).

CB: What is the business attire for Bloomington label execs?

DVA: Label and band t-shirts. Jeans. Some of us are really stylish, and some of us are just schlubby. Some time ago, there was a bad stretch where I was sleeping in the office occasionally, and I'd just raid the label t-shirt bin, so I wasn't completely smelly the next day.
------------
jagjaguwar.com
secretlycanadian.com
deadoceans.com

Pictured above are Chris Swanson (left) and Darius Van Arman (right).
Photo by Lucy Robinson.

2:12 AM ET | 01-28-2008 | permalink | comments (16) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

 

Thursday Treasure Hunt Part Two

It's time for the second installment of Thursday Treasure Hunt. If you are so inclined, please respond if you fall into one or more of the following categories. If you do choose to respond, please provide a brief explanation (if necessary). Thanks.

You always tip 20 percent at a restaurant
You are addicted to caffeine
You have never dyed your hair
You dye your hair because you don't like your natural color
You dye your hair to cover the grey
You are trying to quit smoking
You have children
You have at least one child who is grown up and has moved out of the house
You will be rooting for the New England Patriots during the Super Bowl
You will be rooting for an upset by the New York Giants during the Super Bowl
You love Brett Favre
You don't care about Football
You played varsity level sports in high school
You went to college on an athletic scholarship
You play the violin
You play the banjo
You read your local paper in the morning
You have a library card
You have entered a karaoke contest
You have sung an Eagles song at karaoke
You own your own bowling ball
You know "Stairway to Heaven" on guitar
You have never been alive when a Bush or Clinton was not in the White House
You can remember a time when a Bush or Clinton was not in the White House
You organize your music collection, but not alphabetically
You are left-handed
You met your current boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife online
You sneak your own snacks or drinks into a movie
The fact that John McCain is gaining momentum makes you excited
The fact that John McCain is gaining momentum makes you nervous
You have not yet purchased music in 2008
You have paid $100 to see a concert
You have song lyrics tattooed on your body
You've never liked AC/DC
You will put a presidential candidate's sticker on your car
You already have a presidential candidate's sticker on your car
You have read a music autobiography or biography
You feel like The Shins changed your life
You have never been to Canada

12:24 PM ET | 01-24-2008 | permalink | comments (200) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

 

The Todd Barry Interview

Todd Barry is a comedian who lives in Manhattan. His stand up has been featured on the Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He has appeared on numerous live action and animated programs, from Flight of the Conchords to Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Todd was kind enough to answer these questions over email, a medium that allowed me little defense against his piercing, blinding, slaying, violating wit. If you have never seen Todd perform live, it is highly recommended. And if you have seen him, see him more; he is a funny man. Tour dates, pictures, and more information can be found on his website.

CB: You recently filmed a movie with Mickey Rourke, can you tell us something about him that we may not know? To be honest, I personally know nothing about Mickey Rourke, so any tidbit would be helpful.

TB: I actually haven't filmed the movie yet, Carrie (ooh, we're off to an awkward start). But yes, I have some scenes with him in an upcoming film titled The Wrestler, directed by Darren Aronofsky. I'm a fan both of those guys, so I'm really excited. I film in early March, so you'll have to wait those Mickey Rourke "tidbits." Maybe I'll even get you some "morsels."

CB: Do you think you could live outside of New York? Maybe in Florida again? In what other cities would you feel accepted or fit in?

TB: Where would I "feel accepted or fit in?" Am I a child molester who was just released from prison? I don't have a huge desire to move back to Florida, although it's freezing in New York now, and I heard there's a glut of affordable condos in Miami, so it's not totally unappealing. I really love living in New York, but -- for a city that has everything -- it is also limiting in its own way. Maybe if I become rich I'll get a little house somewhere else. Do you want me to move to Portland?

CB: What is the connection between comedians and musicians? Labels that were associated solely with music have started putting out comedy albums and comics tour with bands quite frequently. Is it merely an attempt to broaden your audience, are the groupies better, or is it that the economic woes of the country require package tours? That being said, do you prefer to tour with other comics?

TB: There's a long history of musicians and comedians sharing a bill, and music labels put out the comedy albums I listened to when I was a kid. It is, however, a relatively new phenomenon in the indie-rock world. I've done great shows with bands, including Yo La Tengo, The Shins, Aimee Mann and Michael Penn, They Might Be Giants, and a tour of Sweden with Jens Lekman. When it works, it's loads of fun and different than the typical comedy club experience, but it's something that I'm careful about. I was once asked to open for the Beach Boys at an amusement park in New Jersey on July 4th. The "warrior" part of me would've liked to said yes, but the (larger) part of me that didn't want to get eaten alive said no. A friend of mine ended up doing it and got booed off the stage. I also turned town an opportunity to open for "Weird" Al Yankovic because the money was bad. I regret not doing that one, just for the story. If I'm opening for a band I try to get someone from that band to introduce me, to sort of send the message to the audience that "he's with us," and possibly thwart any disruptive behavior. Not to sound too precious, but a comedic performance is a delicate thing; I go to rock shows fairly often, and I actually think audiences talk too much during the bands, who at least have the advantage of volume.

CB: I saw you open for Louis CK, and while his style is very scripted, yours involves a lot of rapport with the audience and leans towards site specific observations. When it works, your approach adds to the uniqueness of the performance, but what happens when it doesn't work? Can you provide an example of when you referenced a town, city, or aspect therein that failed with the audience?

TB: I remember doing a show in South Bend, Indiana. It was in a shitty, mostly-vacant mall. I noticed that that department store next to the club was going out of business and having a "fixtures sale." I went on stage and said something like "I'm just in town for the Save-o_Mart fixtures sale." HUGE laugh. Oh wait, you were asking for a time when it DIDN'T work. I can't think a specific example, but I'm sure I've gone on stage with the attitude of "you guys hate living here, right?" And it turns out they like living there, so you just look like and elitist tool. But that hasn't happened a lot.

CB: Do you ever wear shirts that aren't button up shirts?

TB: Holy shit, where did that one come from? You're really going for the jugular! You and I have only hung out a handful of times (and maybe broken bread once or twice) but I didn't think I've been around you enough for you to notice the trend in my shirt preferences. And the last time you saw me was at a wedding. Is it cool that I wore a button-up shirt to a wedding? If I wore a Smashmouth Rules t-shirt like you did, I would've been thrown out. (Carrie wore a "Smashmouth Rules t-shirt to a wedding) But you're actually not the first person to ask me that question. And you're right I usually wear button-up shirts. And I never wear shorts. I know you didn't ask me about shorts, but I added that as a bonus.

CB: What aspects of your humor are culled from growing up in Florida? Is there a Floridian style, sensibility or character that has informed your writing or performance?

TB: I wouldn't say I do "Florida-style" comedy, but I love the concept ("Todd Barry's okay, if you like your comedy Florida-style.") But I did start my comedy career down there, so in that sense it's been influential.

CB: I have always been grateful that even during the political correctness phase that gripped the nineties (a well intentioned movement that stifled a lot of expression and took itself very seriously) comedy continued to ignore or break a lot of those restrictions. Yet, is there a subject that is off limits in your comedy or is everything fair game? Have you ever been criticized for going to far?

TB: I think everything is fair game, but not necessarily for me. There are definitely topics I wouldn't joke about, but would probably laugh at.

CB: What is the weirdest fan letter/email you have ever received?

TB: Have a look at this.

CB: Do you practice your live act in front of people, into a recording device, in front of the mirror, or all three? Or are untested jokes tried out in smaller markets?

TB: The only time I would really "practice" a comedy set (without an audience) is if I was preparing for a stand-up spot on TV, or if I was doing a more theatrical one-man-show type thing. I generally do my joke writing and re-writing on stage. Many good lines come out in the moment, and that's probably not something that would happen if I was sitting at a cafe, writing jokes on a laptop. And as much as I like the idea of doing a month of shows in Casper, Wyoming to try out new jokes, I feel like big city residents deserve to be punished with underdeveloped material as much as anyone. There are, however, some smaller rooms in New York where I am more likely to a set that's largely comprised of untested material.

CB: If an audience doesn't laugh at a joke is it because they don't get it or because the joke isn't funny?

TB: It could be that the joke isn't funny (did I just say that?) or that I haven't figured out a way to communicate why I think the essence of the joke is funny. There are also times when the audience is just bad. And there are other times when they seem bad, but they're just low-key, and are actually having a good time. And, of course, there are times when I'm bad. I also have a handful of jokes that seem to be fully fleshed out, but only get laughs ten percent of the time. That's always confusing to me. But maybe they aren't funny.

CB: When you meet fans, what is the most typical thing that they say to you?

TB: If they meet me after my show they usually say something like "that was great," "wow, you were awesome", "holy shit, that was amazing", "fuck, that was life-changing" or other variations of that sentiment. But if they meet me on the street or at a bar, they usually say something like, "hey, you're a comedian, right?" And lately I've been getting recognized a lot from my appearance on Flight of the Conchords.

CB: Everyone knows that you have beautiful eyes and trenchant wit, but what is a skill or attribute that we may not be aware of?

TB: I guess I could name another attribute other than my beautiful eyes or my wit, but why focus on that? That's like asking Tiger Woods, "hey, I know you're good at golf, but do you also make a mean omelet?" But I guess it's possible not everyone knows about my beautiful eyes. Maybe you should post a photo of them right here:

CB: Can you give a one sentence review of your current favorite TV show?

TB: Intervention
If you like watching a chiropractor go out to his car and do speedballs between patients, this is the show for you.

CB: What is the first joke you ever told?

TB: My comedy debut was at Coconut's Comedy Club in North Miami Beach, FL, in 1987. I did five minutes of jokes about McDonald's and circumcision. Not sure which joke I told first or how I tied those two subjects together.

CB: What is anathema to comedy?

TB: Words like "anathema".

1:16 PM ET | 01-22-2008 | permalink | comments (15) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

 

Eight Heads In A Duffel Bag

Here's a question: What are you particular about versus what do you whole-heartedly embrace? For instance, some people are gourmands while others will eat anything. Some people read only what is considered literature, while others read all sorts of books and periodicals. You get the idea.

As for me, I will see almost any movie. My tolerance for the mediocre, the mildly sexist, the trite tearjerker, the eye-roll-inducing romantic comedy, and Adam Sandler, goes beyond charitable to outright shameful. Compared to my discriminating taste in music, my movie palate is all-encompassing. Sure, I've watched the works of Truffaut and Bergman, Polanski and Malick--and I am more edified and inspired when a film is bold or daring, or when it unmasks complexities in its uniquely succinct visual dialect--yet I can also watch Wedding Crashers or The Family Stone and come out of the experience unscathed, if not downright gleeful.

Compare this to my intolerance of certain musical stylings or events. While I might linger to the end of The Holiday if I stumble upon it on HBO, I couldn't get through even a minute of a live (and curiously recent) Jamiroquai set on VH1 or James Blunt on Austin City Limits. And nothing makes me flag down a server at a local restaurant and request the check faster than the sight of someone unpacking an acoustic guitar or mandolin.

I don't think this is about me playing music and having a more sensitive ear. A lot of musicians and even music critics are willing to check out any number of bands on any given night. Or they can have a drink with friends while someone earnestly strums and sings about lost love on a small corner stage. People from all walks of life and professional backgrounds will sit down at a Farmer' Market, their reusable grocery bag loaded up with vegetables and herbs, and listen to a local musician playing their catalog of catchy tunes aimed at the under 5 crowd. There are also those who can stroll across a city or campus square on a sunny afternoon and give a blues covers band ten minutes of their time. They can, but I cannot. Yet, not only can I spare a few hours, I can shed real tears (weep, in fact) over Eight Men Out, Invincible, or most recently, We Are Marshall.

Maybe this predilection for lowbrow films paired with a fussiness about music began in Olympia, Washington, where I attended college. At the time, Olympia, compared to most towns of its size, had a disproportionate wealth of great bands--from Unwound to Karp to Heavens to Betsy. It also had an art house movie theatre, but the pickings were slim, and the popcorn toppings--brewer's yeast and garlic salt--would have been better suited to a food co-op than a concession stand. I often drove out to the suburbs, where I could get movie popcorn with real fake butter and enough soda to fill a small bathtub. I watched nearly every mainstream movie that came through town, from Castaway to Contact. I think the keyword here is "mainstream." That was an informative time in my life: I was in my late teens and early twenties, and I was entrenched in Olympia's DIY music and arts scene, one that fostered a sense of corporate skepticism, eschewed excess, and exalted the alternative and the underground. But at the same time I was fervently collecting 7" records, reading fanzines, and attending four mind-blowing basement shows a week, I must have been missing that tether to a less insular place. And without a television set to save me, movies were what connected me to a world beyond the homogeneity of Olympia.

I guess I am lucky that it was mainstream movies that helped me keep sight of popular culture during a time when mostly what I was doing was rejecting it; I could have just as easily turned to romance novels or the TV show Friends.

And while I found it easy to let go of most of the self-imposed, strident rules I lived by in Olympia, for some reason my music particularities remain intact. There's enough amazing music being made in the world that I don't want to settle for just anyone with a song in their heart and a guitar pick in their hand. I will, however, settle for certain sights. Movies, in particular. Any movie. Anywhere. Anytime.

12:07 AM ET | 01-18-2008 | permalink | comments (73) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

 

Peak Performance

This morning I woke up and took my performance enhancing drugs -- didn't you? It's hard to get through our hectic days without a little help, and the ante keeps getting raised for what constitutes healthy, beautiful, young, male, female, talented, smart, and environmentally conscious. I used to drink orange juice that was not from concentrate to get me started in the mornings. But then OJ plus calcium seemed like the better way to go. Yet now calcium is not enough. I might have to try an orange juice that contains plant sterols, which will supposedly lower my cholesterol. My organic cereal, featuring a grain I can't pronounce so that I can avoid the easily pronounceable but much maligned grain called "wheat," is enriched with 18 vitamins and minerals. By 9 am I am already on my way to another day of peak performance.

Next stop is my computer where I check email on my Mac iBook G4 circa 2005. Both the computer and my Internet connection are too slow. I know that if I want to keep up with everyone else, I better hurry up and escalate the speed of both devices, maybe by shelling out $1800 for the so-hyped-it-will-feel-dated-by-the-time-it-comes-out MacBook Air.

Technology and the media have made us addicts of achievement and enhanced performance. And we need to be. How else can we process the hyperbole, the onslaught of information and gadgets, and the 24-hour news cycle? We've adapted by becoming supercharged.

What are MySpace and Facebook if not virtual enhancements of us and of our social sphere? Music downloads, live streaming, YouTube, TiVo, those are sped up, more powerful versions of media consumption. Whether it is the pressure to get a car that understands via voice command what music to play, or to feed our animals not just treats, but ones loaded with lavender to help their anxiety and glucosamine to aid in their sore hips -- there is an emphasis on doing the newest, bestest, fastest thing. So why should we leave our bodies out of the equation? Otherwise, not only are we lagging behind our friends, our competitors, our pets, and some version of who we think society wants us to be, but we are also lagging behind our own devices. The rules of performance and success have changed, not just in sports, but also in every day life. Each facet of our day is measured up against a norm that keeps moving to extremities just beyond our reach.

So, I am not surprised by the latest news alleging that 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige and others used or received performance-enhancing drugs. And even if they didn't, there is likely someone else in music who did, or who is. Three encores? 20-minute guitar solos? Double kick drum? Madonna's arms? Come on! And it's not going to stop with musicians. Just wait until we find out that author Joyce Carol Oates has been on the juice as well. How else does she put out two books a year? And I suppose James Frey's style of non-fiction is its own version of performance enhancement.

Maybe the reason for our ambivalence on the subject of performance enhancing substances, illegal or not, is because our own lives and our own bodies are seeking, if not needing, a boost all the time. Though the alchemy of staying ahead or merely keeping up might vary from person to person, very few of us aren't juiced these days. Yet it's one thing to be doing it for yourself and another to be buying in to external pressure. In other words, just because we are striving for improvement doesn't mean we have to drink the Kool-Aid.

2:04 PM ET | 01-16-2008 | permalink | comments (29) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

 

Ladyhawk, Minus Rutger Hauer

Though entirely coincidental, on the same day I published a post about eagerly anticipating new music to come along and light a fire under 2008, I received a package from Jagjaguwar. As already mentioned on these pages, I am looking forward to the label's January 22nd Black Mountain release, In The Future. If you haven't already listened to the MP3 of "Tyrants", you should check it out.

Yet this entry isn't about Black Mountain, it is about Ladyhawk (and, no, I'm not talking about the Matthew Broderick/Michelle Pfeiffer movie, because if I was it would be spelled Ladyhawke).

Ladyhawk are four guys from Kelowna, British Columbia. Their second album, which will be out in March, is called Shots. Let's get some comparisons out of the way: Neil Young, Screaming Trees, and on the quieter moments, maybe even Bill Callahan.

Heavy and melodious, moss covered, twig snapping, tree felling--the Ladyhawk tunes are glimmering droplets in dark woods.

I'll put up a new MP3 when I can, but for now, head to their MySpace page or to the band's beautiful website to check out older songs.

Jagjaguwar has been the label to watch for a few years now, and Ladyhawk is the band that might have me traveling across Canada .

Lastly, if you live in Portland, or nearby, check out the Reel Music Festival, which starts tonight and goes through February 3rd.

Have a good weekend.

1:34 PM ET | 01-11-2008 | permalink | comments (16) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

 

Day to Day Announcement

I just wanted to let everyone know that a version of Monday's blog entry concerning political candidates and their theme songs will be featured on NPR's Day to Day. I included some of your responses in the piece, so thank you for all of your entertaining and insightful comments.

The piece will air tomorrow, Friday, January 11th.

Click here for more information on where and when you can can tune into Day to Day

Or visit their website to listen to the show online.

4:12 PM ET | 01-10-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

 

Hurry Up And Wait

The year in music is starting with out with an inarticulate mumble. And from what I can make out, it hasn't spouted out anything interesting thus far. Maybe we're still in a post-2007 stupor, buying up and downloading the songs and albums we read about on year-end lists. And it's true that record companies tend to steer clear of this transitional month. A trip to the local record store or a perusal on iTunes supports this trend. How many of you have scooped up new releases by Menudo or the Xanadu The Musical Soundtrack? And The New York Times put Natalie Merchant on the cover of their A&E section last week. Good for her. Yet still... The biggest music news thus far has been that Radiohead released a CD version of In Rainbows, an album that has already been dissected ad nauseam (this writer is among the guilty). Another sign of the slow music month was an unfortunate (and very tabloid like) frenzy surrounding an alleged domestic assault by an indie rocker -- a charge quickly dismissed. Portland's local weekly, The Mercury, went so far as to attach the word "gate" to the musician's band name, as in Watergate, Lewinksygate, etc.

If this were 1975, the month would have delivered us Dylan's Blood on the Tracks. And in January of 1980, London Calling by the Clash arrived.

So what are we listening to in this slow January? I love the infectious new single "A-Punk" by Vampire Weekend. It reminds me a little of Liliput's "Die Matrosen." I forwarded the song to a friend of mine whose response was, "Is that guy singing with an accent?" I sensed skepticism and maybe a little annoyance. And I suppose that is a fair question to ask four Brooklyn lads who graduated from Columbia University.

Maybe it's that the election year (and the news cycle that is traveling at the speed of light around it) is eclipsing the smaller, subtler cultural moments. Then there is the writers' strike, which has successfully enervated our love for television. The strike is a supposed boon for books (people are reading again!), yet until we get a great music release, I can't say that I am turning to new albums as a way of passing the time.

Instead, it's been a month of pulling out old records -- revisiting Mahalia Jackson and the Fall, the Chills and Soundgarden. But I'm ready for that first jolt of the new, a soundtrack, or at least a sounding board, with which to freshly interpret the world.
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Note: Believe it or not, I actually do know that BOTT came out in '75. In fact, I just wrote a long essay on the album for a book (which makes my mistake even worse, considering that I labored over that piece for months). Anyhow, in an early morning haze, I didn't do a proper re-read. Thanks to everyone who pointed out the correct year, the entry has since been amended.

12:18 PM ET | 01-10-2008 | permalink | comments (47) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

 

Do You Hear What I Hear?

When Barack Obama took the stage in Des Moines to deliver his impassioned Iowa caucus victory speech, U2's song "City of Blinding Lights" preceded him. On the same night, John Edwards' address to his supporters was also paired with a U2 song, "Pride (In The Name of Love)". Since when has U2 become the band to sum up American sentiment? Or is it just that they are one of the biggest bands in the world and summing up the zeitgeist is part of their job? I guess with Led Zeppelin's "Lemon Song" not exactly getting the right message across and Rush a little tricky to dance to, U2 is the only monolithic band to embody that perfect blend of informed-yet-cool. And with Bono himself probably the most electable man in any number of countries, it's not a bad choice to align yourself with someone so universally loved. But it is noteworthy that U2's ubiquity has transformed their songs into ones that are both non-partisan and non-threatening, which at least in the aforementioned contexts skirts a little close to non-music.

There is nothing like politics and politicians employing songs as a force for musical atrophy. Even though politicians might inspire some great tunes (imagine 1980's hardcore without Reagan or recent Springsteen, Steve Earle, or Arcade Fire albums minus Bush II et al as inspiration), they are less successful at marrying music with their own image or agenda. It's a tricky process indeed. We're not talking about a benign Celebrity Playlist on iTunes, wherein people can admire the esoteric tastes of Nicholas Cage, or confirm their instinct that they and Michael Cera were meant for each other based on a mutual fondness for the Microphones. And it is more serious than the song one chooses as a cellphone ring, that 15-second personal ad broadcast a few times a day. Instead, a candidate's theme song is a little bit more like a tattoo; some people won't care or even notice it at all, others will think it really sums up who they are and what they stand for, and the final category of people will be slightly offended by their lack of taste.

And anthems do matter. Sure, they matter a lot less than the messages or the men or woman themselves. But in a time where pop and political culture, highbrow and lowbrow, public and private are conflated to the point of being indistinguishable, a candidate's venture into the realm of personal expression via music is bound to get noticed.

The title of Frank Rich's Op-Ed piece in yesterday's New York Times referred to Bill Clinton's theme song from his 1992 campaign, Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" (though the Rich piece was about Obama and Huckabee, perhaps a dig at the current Clinton presidential candidate, who might not embody quite as much hope for tomorrow). Whatever the case may be, the song in question is one of the least interesting tracks off of the Rumors album; it's a blithe song full of more disillusionment than hope. It should be noted that on the record, "Don't Stop" is immediately followed by "Go Your Own Way", which doesn't exactly speak of unity or unification, and paints "tomorrow" as a much bleaker day.

And there have been much bigger gaffes than candidate's merely picking feel good tunes, those sonic versions of BenGay. Some of you might recall when Ronald Reagan thought Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" was nothing more than a jingoistic anthem exalting American values and pride. Or in 1996, when Bob Dole changed the lyrics of Sam & Dave's "Soul Man" to, you guessed it, "Dole Man". This clever (?) idea was executed with neither permission nor clearance from the copyright owners, who sent the campaign a letter urging them to stop the use of the song, which they did. But the more egregious act in the case of "Dole Man" was Dole's assumption that a song like "Soul Man" has or never had a any cultural significance beyond its being a staple on the oldies stations.

Yet what do we expect from Presidential candidates? I mean, above everything else, do they have to have good taste in music? No, it's certainly not a requirement. In fact, maybe the less the candidates get nearer to our own tastes, the better. How strange, for instance, if Spoon's "The Way We Get By" was the soundtrack to Hillary Clinton's stump speech. And the further the candidates' beliefs get from our own, the less we want to know that they might actually share our cultural tastes. Like if "The Greatest" by Cat Power accompanied Mitt Romney wherever he went.

This is true also with a candidate's supporters. We'd like to think that our favorite bands, especially those who ostensibly share our political outlooks, have ideologically similar fans. Yet I'm sure followers of Franz Ferdinand or Modest Mouse vote on both sides of the aisle, which is why music is better at uniting people than politicians.

So, since music does transcend politics, I propose that we help these candidates find songs that actually do embody the messages they espouse. Any suggestions?

But where I draw the line with music and politicians is seeing Mike Huckabee playing bass. If that guy ever joins the White Stripes on stage I will either give up this blogging gig, or vote for him. That, after all, is the power of music.

3:01 AM ET | 01- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (71) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)

 

The Great Eight?

Hello, 2008.

While on holiday, I took in some movies (Juno and The Savages are the ones worth mentioning) and went to a Stephen Malkmus + The Jicks show. Their new songs are as heavy and tortuous as locomotives. Malkmus has three fantastic musicians with him (Joanna Bolme, Mike Clark, and Janet Weiss) and their playing put a lot of bands to shame that night. When Malkmus forgets that he pioneered a 1990's version of rock insouciance, and instead attacks notes and melodies with eagerness and desperation, he is easily better than most of his contemporaries. Not only because he can wrestle with a Jazzmaster and make it look easy, but because he approaches the notes from all sides and in unpredictable ways. And right now there is a heaviness to his songs, a weight asking to be lifted, which even the finest Pavement songs never had. These latest Jicks songs are stuntmen to Pavement's acrobats. The tunes are still agile, lithe, and daring--but with a burden that grounds them. Needless to say, I am excited about the upcoming album.

2008 also brings: Albums by Black Mountain, Vampire Weekend, and Magnetic Fields. The new J.M. Coetzee book. And the 5th season of The Wire, which premiers this weekend, and should keep me sated through the writer's strike (in a way that Celebrity Apprentice never will).

With the start of the New Year is a new batch of hope. I volunteer at my local humane society and I often think of hope in terms of the animals there who are in need of adoption. In December, we had our "Home For The Holidays" campaign, which aims to find a home for every dog, cat, and small animal (rabbits, hamsters, etc.) who has been at the shelter on or before December 1st. This year, the challenge seemed particularly arduous. There was Mimi, an 11-year old brindle Shepherd mix who had a brief shot at a new life after going home with a fellow senior citizen. But Mimi, possibly taking offense to the implication that she was ready for retirement, was promptly returned to the shelter after proving she could still pull on the leash hard enough to drag a person down. And then there was Coco, a male Aussie mix scared of men in uniforms, especially if bearded. We also had four bonded pairs, meaning dogs that had lived together for so long that they couldn't possibly imagine life without the other. Two of the pairs consisted of St. Bernards. So, first we had to find someone that wanted a 100+ pound dog, and then we had to convince them to take along an appendage of sorts. It's the dog equivalent of those giant RVs that also tow a car behind them on the highway; it looks impossible, and it' certainly not for everyone. Alas, only one of the bonded pairs, Spunky and Pepper, ages 10 and 11, spent the holidays on a cozy bed in front of a warm fire. (At least that's how I like to imagine what "home for the holidays" means). In the end, though over 200 animals were adopted, the other bonded pairs, along with Mimi, Coco, and a lot of the other long-term resident dogs are still awaiting for homes.

Yet hope is continuous. It doesn't end on December 31st at midnight; it stretches on through the year, despite all the forces at work to diminish or dampen it. Like assassinations and troop surges, global warming, the passing of Mailer, Ivins and Paley, or discovering that Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant (that this was major news was more depressing than the fact that she will be a teenage mom).

There is much to look forward to in 2008, like electing a new President, for one. And also smaller, more tangible fulfillments, ones to counter act all the uncertain outcomes, some which are likely to be dispiriting. Then again, some things might turn out better than we expected.

Here's hoping......

Happy New Year.

4:04 AM ET | 01- 2-2008 | permalink | comments (24) | e-mail post | trackbacks (0)