Another David Byrne Post: "As if I didn't already wish I was him..."

Today David Byrne did this.













He turned a building into a musical instrument. Read more here. It's the Battery Maritime Building and you can see it from today thru the 10th of August at 10 South Street in NY.

Every white haired guy on a bike I see is David Byrne

Yesterday David Byrne did this.

Thats ostensibly a carpet made of pedals, into which he plugged a guitar and let it sit in the middle of the walkway at a benefit for The Kitchen. People would have to walk over the pedals to get from one part of the party to another. The noise would change with each step of each person. There must be an insane amount of range of sounds in there. There are loop pedals and delay pedals, to be sure, so the noise would be in constant flux, controlled not only by the feet at random, but by the sound itself. Byrne explains it here. I can only imagine what it sounds like. Maniac genius.

He also recorded some songs with the Dirty Projectors, which is a brilliant collaboration if I've ever heard of one. And I've heard of one. Will be incredible for sure.

mark.

Attention...

Performed our version of Macbeth in our space about two weeks ago. First show we've done there. I had a blast and the audience seemed to, as well. Thanks to everyone who came out and everyone who was in the show and everyone who put up with our work during the rehearsal process. I hope it was worth it. I think it was. We got a bit of a review Andy Horwitz who write the blog for the theater P.S. 122 downtown, which is a great space and has become a wonderful cultural insitution. He had some nice things to say. Here's the post in its entirety. I'd like to, for posterity, quote a passage from it.

...this production gave me hope for New York Theater.

I guess that's all I'll quote. Please read.



And our home was also grossly misinterpreted in an article in the New York Times this week (the front page, nonetheless). Read it here. It's pretty funny. Though some of the things the author smugly claims point towards the truth, I should say that there are good things about that are not touched on in the article.

Some notes on racism

Reading the "new" Kurt Vonnegut book, Armageddon In Retrospect, a collection of unpublished essays and speeches and letters, and came across this gem from his last written speech, scheduled for a year ago yesterday, April 27, 2007 (not delivered because he fell and hit his head and died):

The most spiritually splendid American phenomenon of my lifetime is how African-American citizens have maintained their dignity and self-respect, despite their having been treated by white Americans, both in and out of government, and simply because of their skin color, as though they were contemptible and loathsome, and even diseased.

I have always admired Vonnegut as a model citizen and held his political persuasions as beacons, and this statement is a great example of why. With this in mind, Obama's proximity to the presidency became again surprising to me. I am not surprised that America is seemingly now ready to let a black man lead the country, but that a black man would even want to be the leader of the country responsible for the things it has done. Not that that in any way gives him more claim to the presidency, but the weight of his desire should be acknowledged in context. As should Clinton's.

While we're on the topic, I feel I should point to this article by a guy named Tim Wise, a polemicist and anti-racist writer. It's about the Reverend Wright "controversy" and why he thinks it's unfortunate bullshit. It violently claims that Rev. Wright was mostly correct in saying the things for which he was condemned. And he blames white people's addiction to lies and historical misinformation for their inability to see the truth in what Wright said. It's worth a read, though it is a little vitriolic for my tastes and at times too general. He also neglects an awful culprit in the mess, the media. But this bit is worth pointing to:

So what can we say about a nation that values lies more than it loves truth? A place where adherence to sincerely believed and internalized fictions allows one to rise to the highest offices in the land and to earn the respect of millions, while a willingness to challenge those fictions and offer a more accurate counter-narrative earns one nothing but contempt, derision, indeed outright hatred? What we can say is that such a place is signing its own death warrant. What we can say is that such a place is missing the only and last opportunity it may ever have to make things right, to live up to its professed ideals. What we can say is that such a place can never move forward, because we have yet to fully address and come to terms with that which lay behind.

Is it just me or does it feel like somethings gotta give sooner or later? The Rev. Wright hullabaloo is certainly far from receding (even today he gave a speech wherein he said that his comments were taken out of context in a damaging way. That speech, incidentally, was taken out of context on every news program I watched and in almost every article I read). And Bill Clinton can't seem to stop whatever it is he thinks he's doing. These are just a couple of instances that make me think this election campaign is going to be more arduous on the American people at large than we think it will be. At least more so than it has been so far. And probably more so than we are ready for.

mark.

from the ashes...

Not even sure I'll remember how to do this. It's been a while and we will hopefully not have such an extended lapse in communication, much to the delight of our many readers, I am sure. We took an unintentional hiatus to pursue our own personal endeavors, including making music, a play and money (the latter of those three things not being related to this first two, of course. This is New York, after all).

But some exciting things happened while we were away from our computer screens. And while we'll do our best to recount some of those things that were particularly wonderful, our focus is still onward and upward to the future. That means tomorrow, which is a big deal, indeed. Tomorrow three records we're very excited about will be released. The buzz so far and the tracks we've heard tell us that our excitement is not mislead. And a strange thing is that they all have very self-referential titles. They are: Portishead's Third, The Roots' Rising Down, and Jamie Lidell's Jim.

Hopefully, we'll give you an update when we get back from Sound Fix tomorrow morning.

That's all for now. Here's something great that happened while we were away that we all can't seem to get enough of, still:



Great.
mark.

Los Campesinos! HOLD ON NOW, YOUNGSTER by kevin

Since I first discovered Los Campesinos! when they were (mercifully) overpowering Amy Winehouse’s set at Lollapalooza last year, I’ve spent the past 6 months having sadly abbreviated one man dance parties to their debut EP Sticking Fingers Into Sockets. Impressively, even at a mere 5 songs long, the Welsh septet’s catchy hooks and songwriterly lyrics have kept me fully engrossed even after a gluttonous amount repeated listenings. I’ve trolled their MySpace listening unreleased tracks, begging for a U.S. tour, and counting the days until the release of their full length album Hold On Now Youngster. This waiting game is nothing new to me, and invariably the result has been eventual bitter disappointment. So many times have my fragile rock and roll dreams been shattered, I was scared the first time I pressed play. I needn’t have been. The self appointed “Second most punk rock band in Britain” delivers here 12 of the most eclectic, introspective, and downright danceable songs in recent memory.

The disc opens on a rocking note with the young group’s signature song “Death to Los Campesinos!” This infectious, upbeat number sets a nerdy tone early, peppered with daydreams about robots. While imagery like “ctrl-alt-deleting your face” may seem too clever by half, that tends to be just how I like my punk rock lyrics. As the album progresses, the prevalent themes become quite obvious: the traditional rock and roll standbys of love and loss, intimacy and alienation. One could reasonably guess this just from a glance at the track listing, with song titles like “Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats” and “This is How We Spell HAHAHA We Destroyed The Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux Romantics.” Bonus points for actually incorporating the verbiage of these titles into the lyrics of the songs (unlike a certain once-prolific Indie Rock superstar I could mention).

What separates Los Camesinos! angsty stories of the heart from every other group of whiny emo punk-rock kids is the depth and complexity of their lyrics. Lead singer Gareth pours his soul into the microphone on every song, alternately delivering pithy insights (“when the smaller picture/is the same as the bigger picture/you know that you’re fucked.”) and taking us down long and rambling roads such as this gem from “We Are All Accelerated Readers”:

“I’m not Bonne Tyler/And I’m not Toni Braxton/And this song is not going to save your relationship/I’m not shitting/This sentimental movie marathon has taught us one thing/its that the oppostite of true love is as follows:/reality.”

The eclectic music pairs perfectly with the lyrics; Keyboardist Aleksandra’s supporting vocals provide a perfect complement to Gareth, and many numbers incorporate even more voices, creating a choral feel akin to The Polyphonic Spree. The instrumentation is similarly lush, with horns, violins, and even a glockenspiel lending fullness and variety to the melodies. And unlike so many other pop groups, the music actually serves to help tell the story. The wonderful “…And We Exhale and Roll Our Eyes in Unison”, opens loud and raucously, detailing an argument between a couple (“It's bad enough you ever use the word as an adjective/
But to suggest we do it in heels is really quite crass”). Over a mere two minutes the song deftly downshifts, leaving us on a quiet and elegiac note (“And woe is me/and woe is you/and woe is us/together.”)

The great strength of Hold On Now Youngster is how perfectly Los Campesnios! fuse these sorts of pining, inward lyrics with such irresistibly danceable music. Anybody who can’t get down to “Don’t Tell Me to Do the Math(s)” or the aptly titled “You! Me! Dancing!” must be a very unhappy individual indeed. The second most punk rock band in Britain has come to the U.S. And they’ve brought with them one of the most purely entertaining albums in recent memory, and easily one of the best albums of the year.

mediumkev@gmail.com

Dirty Projectors @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 4/9...

was best show I've seen in New York City.

more later.
mark.

Obama's speech

This may seem a bit behind schedule but I didn't want to jump on it. Felt like I needed to give it room to breathe. At any rate, Barack Obama gave one of the most important speeches on race, in recent memory. While I watched the speech (at work, yes) I kept reflecting on how I've never, in my lifetime I mean, seen a leader speak to people like that. Jon Stewart said something to the effect of, "and on a Tuesday morning in March, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination spoke to the American people like they were adults." It was the most honest, reasoned, reserved but at the same time passionate and real account of racism in America I've ever seen from a public figure, let alone a politician. He spoke with a candor that is rare (or nonexistent), not only in American political discourse, but in our culture, as well. I do not want to pick out certain passages that I thought were particularly revealing or that I "liked" because it is not something, I think, that can be taken in bits. It should be processed wholly. However, I will point to this simple introductory section:

Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now...The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through – a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.

This is a seemingly simple statement. But within it is the challenge that Obama is consistently putting in front of us. For someone in quest of the highest office in this country, and lacking the support of a particular and important contingency of voters (white males), to make this statement, not to mention the entire speech, is bold.

To be so bold as to come out and say black anger is real, white resentment is real, and call on us to move forward is something some argue is politically stupid. I say it is essential in a leader.

Melissa Harris-Lacewell, of The Root, had this to say:

I think what mattered most to me is that Barack made the implicit and radical argument that black people are human. Of course, we already know that we are fully human: good, bad, hopeful, angry, brilliant, stupid, capable, pitiful, loving, hateful, all of it. But we rarely see a member of our government so beautifully articulate our humanity.

He also spoke to us all, of all races, like we were human. Like we were, as Jon Stewart said, adults. He spoke not down to us, but as if we were capable of understanding a nuanced argument about an incomprehensibly huge subject.


Marc Lamont Hill, also of the The Root and avidly a non-supporter of Obama (he's for Nader), said this:

Instead of merely assuaging white racial anxieties, Obama’s words forced the entire nation to come to terms with its demons. Although he unequivocally denounced Jeremiah Wright’s remarks, Obama refused to reduce him (or his own white grandmother) to a racist caricature. Also, through his evenhanded analysis of both structural inequality and individual responsibility, Obama raised the stakes for racial discourse in American politics.

Matt Bai, in his study of racial integration in the Democratic party for the New York Times political blog , wrote:

A lot of top Democrats have for months expressed their fears that Mr. Obama would lose handily in November if he were the nominee, and the implication in this is that he is too much the candidate of black voters. What was remarkable about Mr. Obama’s speech, though, was the way that this black son of a white mother took issue with the notion that America, outside of Washington, remains defined by its racial bias. He didn’t suggest that somehow he alone had the ability to break down old racial barriers, but rather that those barriers have already begun to tumble and that the political establishment just hasn’t caught up. Indeed, his central criticism of Mr. Wright was not that he was too outspoken or too enraged at white Americans, but that he was too rooted in the past — that he lacked “a belief that society can change.”

The same might be said of the Democratic Party itself. And this is why the success of Mr. Obama’s argument has serious implications not just for his candidacy, but also for a party that has too often feared the worst about white America. If you’re a Democrat and a pessimist about the basic nature of the American voter, you might reject what Mr. Obama is saying as just more wishful rhetoric, a call for the kind of racial unity that has never been visited upon the country. If you’re more of an idealist, though, you might see in his vision the possibility of a country less obsessed than its aging leaders with racial division—and of a party that might one day be led by those who have for so long sustained it.

Barack Obama never once suggested that he was the one who could heal our racist wounds. He puts it on us. Obama is criticized for not being specific enough in laying clear his policies of "change" (this speech was criticized in much the same way). On top of this being for the most part untrue, I find it ridiculous for another reason. He is not, and will never claim to be, a savior to pull us out of the muck. He knows change can never come from one person. So he puts it on us, the people.

I have already said this on this blog, so I'll refrain from going further, except to say this: If Barack does not get the nomination, and years from now, when this speech ("which may be dissected in grade-school classrooms and graduate seminars for many years to come," as Matt Bai writes earlier in his piece) is put into historical context, people will be dumbfounded that we denied this man the chance to be our leader.

As I said, the speech should be heard or read in its entirety. If you haven't seen, heard or read it, I urge you to.

"A More Perfect Union"

There was one feeling, on top of the countless others that came up throughout the speech, that lingered, even as I read response after response after response (which came at an alarming rate). It was, as my buddy Ron put it, Finally.

mark.

Gnarls Barkley is Good!

Continuing the trend of great bands working against the contemporary model and status quo of record releases, Gnarls Barkley took it upon themselves to release their new album, The Odd Couple, without prompt on March 18 instead of its original release date April 8. Never the ones to let themselves be confined in any way, and always working to keep us on our toes, Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse (who ?uestlove calls "the last great living and WORKING soul singer under 40 and the most creative and intuitive producer maniac music has seen in a sec," respectively) have dropped 13 body-rockin', mind-bogglin', psycho-soul tracks into our laps while we were all preoccupied with Barack Obama and race or whatever (more on the later). I'm personally elated about the decision as I was getting antsy having to wait so long. I'm listening to it right now and can say that it would've been worth the wait. At first glance, it seems to have all the emotional energy and intensity of St. Elsewhere and maybe even a harder edge. That's already been made clear from the first two singles from the album, Run and Who's Gonna Save My Soul.

So now they're not only genre-bending but music-industry-rule-breaking. They're signed to indepedent label Downtown (which also includes Mos Def, Justice, and Art Brut among others). Way to go Downtown. Artist control!

About that last little rant...

Just found this, which speaks to all that stuff I was writing about a few minutes ago but in a much more logical, less emotional way, and points to Clinton's desperation as the reason for her being awful.

And, regarding all this, it doesn't matter, anyway. Obama winning is the only logical outcome.

That's all on that. I don't want this thing to go in that direction.
mark.