designed by 
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Become What You Are
I, the errant blogeuse of Carrot Rope, would like to wish you, the rare and special reader of said blog, a very happy new year. It is in large part because of this blog that I got married just over a month ago, so I will keep writing here, mostly about music but also about other things. I don't consider myself a music writer per se, as I have neither the time nor the inclination to be one; I am content to pitch in here and there when I can. However, I do not resent (consciously or unconsciously) the mass of music out there that I have yet to hear, unlike some people who approach music like a chore and instead of being excited, are content to be ignorant. If you don't really care for something, just don't care for it and let that be that. Read, watch, listen and admire what you want, when you want. That is my advice to you, for 2008 - and don't mistake bliss for ignorance, ignorance for bliss.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Back To Regularly Irregular Service
Well, well, it's about time I wrote here, isn't it? This here blog is, after all, where the personal time of Marcello & I began, way back in August 2003; he wrote, I blogged, I later asked for his email address...and so on. Two weeks ago we were married right here in the building where I live, in the 'party room' - renamed by my mom for the day the 'wedding room' - right on the dancefloor! November 24, 2007...and you may call me whatever you wish, I have yet to change my name legally however (and probably won't, once I think about it) as I have a small matter of packing up and moving to London to join him in a shortish while. I'd be doing this already, but my mom broke her hip and is still in hospital, and so I have been doing a lot of errand-running and had my own day surgery as well last week. But things are looking good and by the time I reach Fulham, all will be right...
...so that is why I haven't been posting here! I certainly have opinions, but the energy to race over here and point to good things (Adam Phillips' review of Ted Hughes' Letters for example) and not-so-good things (the Guardian's endless and frustrating list of albums to listen to before you die; for every one album worth hearing, there's two or three which are either obvious [canonical choices that appear on every list i.e. A Love Supreme] or wrong [asking people to buy a boxed set of Bob Dylan instead of telling them they should hear Nashville Skyline, for instance.])
Other good things include Rotate This on a Sunday afternoon, the Baldwin Inn, Chippy's, Only Everything and Mary, Queen of Scots, and this - scroll down and you'll find Marcello's piece on the late Stockhausen, a composer and thinker who has influenced modern music right up to whatever strange yet emotionally overwhelming thing you've heard lately.
Monday, November 19, 2007
In Which The Guardian Explains Why Their 1000 Albums List Is The Way It Is
"Don't mistake overexposure for lack of talent.
Broken Social Scene? Like some of the stuff, but I think that's a classic example of a band that got some buzz behind them, but actually there's not much there. I will wholeheartedly except Anthems For A Seventeen-Year-Old Girl, which is one of the best songs of the past five years.
Jacques Brel ... think laterally. He will come up. Just not in his own name."
(MHann, Guardian music editor)
I am not exactly sure where to start here. There is an entire world, a galaxy, inside Broken Social Scene; I can only really feel pity that the collective (ha!) heads at the Guardian can't comprehend that (please note that not one artist even vaguely associated with BSS have made the list so far, including Apostle of Hustle, Jason Collett, The Dears, Do Make Say Think, Kevin Drew, Feist, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Emily Haines & Soft Skeleton, The Hidden Cameras, KO-S, Metric, Amy Millan, Most Serene Republic...nor do I expect Raising The Fawn, Stars, Young Galaxy...the entire collective renaissance is being ignored. (May I say once more how damn excited I am about the BSS Presents: Brendan Canning album due next year?) In the end I have to feel sorry for them, get more Resonance radio time and play nothing but Canadian music. Again. (Please note: it's not just the A&C family that is being ignored - outside of Arcade Fire, almost all contemporary Canadian music is being ignored, and The Band didn't make it which perhaps shows their initial mistake in understanding Canadian music in the first place.)
Also, if they have to go at Brel laterally, I'm not sure they really get him.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
The Best News David Cameron's Going To Get All Day Dept.
Compared to her bandmates, Girls Aloud's baby is less gobbily bubbly, less inclined towards small talk, and while on duty is hilariously - and, I say, revolutionarily - reluctant to beam 100-watt smiles like wot pop stars are meant to do. In a band of enthusiastic swearers, Nicola's the fookin' boss.
But when she does speak, she does with some force. Ask her about David Cameron's reported enthusiasm for Girls Aloud and she replies: 'David Cameron - that's not bad. It's not as bad as wotsisname being a fan. Gordon Brown. I'd rather David Cameron be a fan than him. Why? 'Cause Gordon Brown's like a little toad who talks shite, isn't he?'
Nicola would prefer a Tory government. 'I don't wanna be seen like I'm fookin' trying to talk about politics all the time. But I personally - this is not the band's opinion - would like to see a change. That's me argument.'
This interview also made me strangely sympathetic to Lily Allen, who of course they hate because she is a Londoner. (They don't say so, but as Northerners, I can't imagine they like anyone from the South.)
Friday, November 9, 2007
Hint: It's A Woman
Late-breaking news: Marcello's passport arrived two weeks ago and so... Things are much more relaxed here at "The Bride" Arms. Flights and bed & breakfasts and even future accommodation have been secured; a minister and a best man have been found; and the dress is being made. So I am much happier and am happy to post this - I will let you guess who it is doing the talking...
I’m afraid I’m going to come out with the stock answer of anyone who’s ever been in a band and throw a tantrum about being labelled as part of a ‘scene.’ Britpop? I remember Blur hated Oasis and Oasis hated Blur. And that Blur won the battle but Oasis won the war. But then later Oasis won the battle and Blur won the war. Several people embarrassed themselves by shaking hands with Tony Blair. I think our contribution was to stand at the sidelines (being ignored) with stunned bemusement at this desperate attempt to create an advertisable brand of Britishness that seemed to represent a minuscule stereotyped sector of the U.K.
The answer and more delightfully straightforward talk can be found here.
Friday, October 19, 2007
My Contempt Outdoes Your Withering Scorn
Hey there, sorry I haven't been able to post here lately BUT...
...I had an ultrasound, a Women's Unit appointment, a root canal and a huge book sale to contend with, not to mention exhaustion due to rolling my eyes too much at inane commentary at The New Yorker and elsewhere.
The UC Book Sale is over - I got my usual quotient of this and that, walking around at the very end thinking, this is the end and feeling...okay about it. I worked hard on my larger-than-ever section (I had nearly 2,000 books all told) and it sold very well. I got three novels from my table - Small Island, I Capture The Castle and Jemima J.. Plus a lot of books about London and Britain in general, because I want to understand my new home. (Please note - I am still waiting for MC to arrive here, so we can get married & then I can finally move to London.) I am acclimating myself now so when I hear such-and-such about Gordon Brown, I won't think/say, "Huh?"
Of course, there are certain things that make me say "Huh?" right now, and one of them is quotes like this:
"I didn't want this to be a music nerd book ... I wanted this to be something different," he adds.
OH man, the NERDS! Aren't they just the worst? Always insisting that things change! Having the gall to disagree with djs! Being obsessive packrats who keep used music stores in business the world over! OH woe betide anyone who knows less than them!...
Sigh. This is one of those things that doesn't make me at all sad about leaving Canada. I don't even want to defend the term 'music nerd' because it is so inherently stupid. Music is an incredibly fluid thing and yet people want to put up so many barriers, freeze it into so many cubes. Guess what, folks? Nerds like the same music that you do. Really. Go over to ILM and read all about it. NEXT.
(The resident blogeuse is impatient for Her Majesty to give MC his passport, thus the tetchiness.)
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
A&C & So Much More
As most of the world knows by now, the Polaris Prize was won by Patrick Watson for their album Close To Paradise last night. Bravo to them, and to all the musicians who were nominated.
I wonder how many of next year's nominees will be from the Arts & Crafts label - BSS/Kevin Drew's Spirit If... and Stars' In Our Bedroom After The War are already out and albums from Jason Collett, BSS/Brendan Canning (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MUST GET) and The Constantines are only a few months away...and yet the Polaris Prize doesn't even need to have half of these. That's how strong the scene is these days.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Mike Osborne, RIP 1941-2007
Another great jazz performer has passed away - soon, too soon after Max Roach, Art Davis and Paul Rutherford - the British alto saxophonist Mike Osborne. Official obituary here, much more impassioned and keenly intelligent tribute here. If you are unfamiliar with his work, you ought to catch up on him, starting with the song Marcello Carlin mentions, available on this album, which will blow your mind, trust me.
Monday, September 17, 2007
New Blog Alert!
The Blue In The Air is a new blog by Marcello Carlin, all about great songs. The first one is "Abergavenny" by Marty Wilde; there will be many more to come.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Go Canada Go!
Reasons to be cheerful include new albums from the Weakerthans, Constantines, Stars, New Pornographers, Kevin Drew, Matthew Good, Joni Mitchell even...not forgetting Hot Hot Heat, Paperbacks, that new Emily Haines ep, the Russian Futurists compilation and so on...maybe I should open a tiny music shop in London that sells nothing but Canadian music...
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Luciano Pavarotti 1935-2007 RIP
Hey there everyone!
Sorry I haven't been here lately but the laptop I use was rather wonky last month, plus I have been going to the doctor/clinic some more for what I laughingly call my big fat non-Greek uterus, and then there's my wedding preparations...
...and so I must catch up here, starting with this delightful memory of Pavarotti at Slate - short, but it is a reminder that great men often have great senses of humor. I imagine Tony Wilson would have gotten along famously with him, and now, perhaps, they are meeting at last...
Friday, August 10, 2007
Anthony H. Wilson, 1950-2007 R.I.P.
A great man, Tony Wilson, has died. I wish I could say something more coherent than this: my friend Patrick, Mancunian born and bred, said his local was Tony's local and I always thought I'd get to go there and see both of them one day.
My condolences to all who were touched by what he made possible.
Update: To work is human, to play, divine.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
And If I Had To Pick A Beatles Song, It Would Be "And Your Bird Can Sing"
OOOH, I have a top ten for these guys!
(No Gallagher or Weller songs, of course)
Everything That Touches You - The Association
Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush
Let The Wind Blow - The Beach Boys
Rockaway Beach - The Ramones
Avenue - Saint Etienne
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) - Jimi Hendrix Experience
Sugartune - Sloan
1,000,000 - R.E.M.
Do You Love What You Feel - Inner City
Chicago - Sufjan Stevens
I am sure I would fail horribly, but, in that case, yay!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Not Even ITV Can Help Some Publishers
"Still, Northanger Abbey is not seen as one of Austen's great books, so next he sent off Persuasion, under the title The Watsons. Again the letters of rejection flooded in. JK Rowling's agents, Christopher Little, were among those who turned it down, saying they were "not confident" of being able to place it.
Then he played his trump card, sending off Pride and Prejudice, calling it First Impressions, again an early title Austen had used for it. The names of the main characters and places were changed, but with no great guile.
Mr Bennet became Mr Barnett while the estate Netherfield becomes Weatherfield, the fictional setting for the TV soap Coronation Street.
And he did not change the opening line, one of the most famous in world literature: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
Still the deception was not spotted and the rejection letters thudded on to Mr Lassman's doormat, most notably one from Penguin. Its letter read: "Thank you for your recent letter and chapters from your book First Impressions. It seems like a really original and interesting read."
The mind boggles, but it's most puzzling that Penguin, of all publishers, should not pick up on this purposeful hoax right away. Only one did, which gives me pause about the first readers and what they have read (let alone what is acceptable for 'lists').
Thursday, July 19, 2007
The Muggles Can't Bust Your Literature
My interest in the Harry Potter books is medium-strong at best - I am square in the middle between those who proudly know nothing and those who are getting dressed up to wait in line tomorrow evening to buy the last book in the series - but really, do we need reviews of the book before it's even officially public? The books sell themselves and what critics say about them (from Harold Bloom on down to two Canadian children's book authors I heard on the CBC recently who were very snobby about her) means nothing to the many, many fans, children, teenagers and adults alike, who are happily geeky and are hoping for something between a normal happy ending and some kind of near-psychedelic/action movie complex web of intrigue that will demand re-reading of the last few books to really understand. As for spoilers...the most fun is thinking of your own plot, kids.
For what promises to be a good look at the book itself, Slate have already started a book club for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Not Just Gauze on the Lens Anymore
In case you are like me and only have a vague idea as to what is possible in altering photographs, take a look at the before-and-after pictures of Faith Hill here. Hill is 40, but on the cover of Redbook, she is...30 at the most? (Insert lament over the beauty industry, fear of aging, life in general, etc.) I'm not so much shocked as tired of this; and tired of the Posh Spices of the world who buy into this whole thing, and then end up being 'improved' for magazine covers anyway.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Polaris=Indie, Mes Amis
The Polaris Prize nominees are as follows:
Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
The Besnard Lakes, The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse
The Dears, Gang of Losers
Julie Doiron, Woke Myself Up
Feist, The Reminder
Junior Boys, So This Is Goodbye
Miracle Fortress, Five Roses
Joel Plaskett Emergency, Ashtray Rock
Chad Vangaalen, Skelliconnection
Patrick Watson, Close To Paradise
Not a bad list, though it's hard to believe that the judges listened to anything besides alternative rock in making up their lists - I mean, I'm disappointed that Emily Haines and Sloan aren't here, but I'm even more disappointed that K-os (or indeed any hip hop) isn't here, and there is, unless I am wrong, nothing en francais, including Daniel Belanger, mais oui. Still, I'm glad Arcade Fire are on the list, same with Feist, Patrick Watson and Julie Doiron.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Some Thoughts on Good Girl Gone Bad
Marcello (he's been on a real tear recently; from Bjork to Dizzee Rascal, Natasha Bedingfield to Brotherhood of Breath) wrote me saying he'd listened to Good Girl Gone Bad and couldn't (beyond "Umbrella") get into it, and this is what I wrote in response...
"...as I write I'm watching Rihanna (she's in Tokyo) and I know what you mean about the album - it does take some time, but I always remember that it is an appropriate album for a 19-year-old to make...even if the people writing the songs are older. The last two songs - where she questions existing (or, if you like, existence) and where good girls go bad, they are gone (die) forever - are just right. "Breakin' Dishes" sees her being a bit demented and adolescent (Beyonce rings the alarm to get the cops; Rihanna fights the man directly, pushing *him* to call the cops - she's in a mood to fight and doesn't even have proof of any wrongdoing!), and her duet about not wanting to love someone as much as she does - also adolescent, verging on grown-up. "Lemme Get That" is so utterly cold rationalist that I can't help but think it's a parody of a gold-digging woman - I mean, furniture? - isn't a woman supposed to ask for bling? - unless there's some new trend in asking besotted young men for dining room sets...
..."Don't Stop The Music" I will always associate with being at Sam's but I think the background noise/thumping makes it sound like you're in her head hearing her think as she is actually hearing something else...
..."Say It" and "Push Up On It" also fit in - as does "Shut Up and Drive" - she has enough experience to know when the attraction's real, that there is something else going on - she knows better than to be a tease, but then is it right to reward a guy for his emotional honesty with sex?...I see "Shut Up and Drive" as a *very* late retort to "Little Red Corvette" - she knows she's fine, she's fast - the car crash at the end is like an editorial - slow down, girl! But she doesn't care (again, adolescent)..."Rehab" is easily the most awkward song, but I blame one J. Timberlake for that...:-)...
"Umbrella" in all this is really the most grown-up song of all - "took an oath, gonna stick it out 'til the end" - it also has a bigness that I think she needs. Her voice is unconventional and needs odd tempos and words to go with it. When I was out shopping I heard a disco-type remix of the song and it's not nearly so affecting - it needs that stop-start-stop for her voice to soar over. It's almost like architecture, if you know what I mean!
The whole album seems to rest on "I don't know who you think I am" and "Who am I living for?" Does she know herself? Sort of...sometimes...but who can she trust? Can she trust herself? She has yet to ask that, but if she is any good she will next time.
("Good Girl Gone Bad" is another version of "Breakin' Dishes" - you don't get mad, you just leave, though as the song shows, it is sad when a good girl gets drunk in a nasty dress - her life was good, she was good...is it better to do that or stay and fight? Another problem to work out...)
That's how I see the album, anyway. "Umbrella" coming first throws it off, I think...it almost works better as the last song...
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Hmm, I'm Moving To A Place Where Radiohead Is A Supermarket Band...
"If Radiohead brought an album out 5 years ago, I'd know that I'd need 1,500 copies to last me a month," he says. "We'd sell that many copies. But if Radiohead brought an album out tomorrow, I reckon 50 would last a couple of weeks, and that's because they're now a supermarket band. I'd sell more copies of a Sunn0))) album, but we are still here, so we must be doing something right, and we're still positive and buying more deletions and putting stuff in front of people that they can't get anywhere else."
However, a Central Line trip to Brick Lane in east London finds the most optimistic view of the independent record store. This is where Rough Trade will open its ambitious superstore later this month, after closing its minuscule Covent Garden branch. The 5,000 sq ft space will incorporate a coffee shop, a "snug" (in other words a lounging area, with free wi-fi) and a performance space. The aim, says store director Stephen Godfroy, is to "rediscover the joy of browsing" - connecting retail with the overall music experience, and attracting en masse the sort of fans who will pay a premium for this kind of service and recommendation.
"The point of an independent retailer is to pass the baton on," he adds. "As soon as a band hits the mainstream then they are no longer your market - the role of the independent is to break new acts. This is what is so important about this store, you'll discover the artists that even labels are yet to find out about. The back catalogue is important but breaking new artists is the most important thing and that is done face to face over the counter."
Ah yes, the joy of browsing - I just hope the people at Rough Trade will be friendly enough so I'll have one of those across-the-counter discussions, as opposed to being called "Madame" and so on (which happened to me at HMV here in Toronto!) Oh, and Prince? Downhill ever since he had the need to tell us he was funky, but he's no fool...more here on him as well as the Fopp Facebook Army.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Here Come The 60s, Part One
If you were like me in 1984 (I doubt you were, but, anyway), one of the best movies you saw that year was...the 20th anniversary re-release of A Hard Day's Night. Here are some fine behind-the-scenes photos from the making of the movie, including heartwarming ones of fans, young and old...
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Gadzooks, Odd's Bodkins, Tally-Ho, Etc.
"Archer paused again. He drew a circle in the sand, and continued. "Some business about share certificates, and loans, and promissory notes. I won't bore you with the details. Take my advice, never trust a lawyer and especially not a judge. I now know the prisons are full of innocent men who have been tripped up by the law."
"How awful," said Blair, shaking his head. "And the real criminals go scot-free."
"When they let me out, I travelled here and decided to stay. And how about you? I heard about the Mesopotamia business."
"I was innocent too," said Blair. "But I managed to stay one step ahead of the lawyers. The way I see it, you have to follow God and your conscience. Veritas prevalebit. What counts is knowing, deep down inside, that you're doing the right thing."
"Good for you, old chap," said Archer. "I tried to do that. Of course, I wasn't religious like you. But at least I never got anyone killed."
Blair was unsure what Archer meant by this, but decided to change the subject. "Did you ever get that novel published?" he asked.
"Not yet. Publishers are such duffers. But I'm going to persevere."
"I might try writing a novel some day. The dear old mater always said I was good at making things up.""
Yes, it's an excerpt from a boy's own story by James Morrison about the newly private Anthony Blair. Excitement! Attacks from surly natives! This is like the street party no one is having, the commemorative tea towels no one has bought, the...well, you know what I mean. Meanwhile, a yay for Gordon Brown, who I expected to have a stronger Scottish accent than he actually has.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The Only Thing That's Missing Is the Sam's Sign
Whoa, hello there! It is about time I let you know what I've been doing. Currently I am tutoring French, looking for a new family to nanny for, doing some work for the family I have been working for and going to Sam the Record Man nearly every day finding bargains galore as they prepare to shut down this month. All of these take time and energy, as you might expect, so that's why things have been so choppy. I hope to get a position soon so I can post here on a more regular basis. Sounds Like Canada on CBC Radio One had a long drawn-out Seven Wonders of Canada search & the public nominated a ton of places and things, with three judges deciding on the final seven a little while ago. In anticipation of Canada's 140th birthday, here is a little photo album of the Seven Wonders - some natural, some man-made, but all quintessentially Canadian.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
And Though She Feels She's In A Play - She Is Anyway
"For the last dream, Number 6's drug dose is doubled; even though Number 2 realises that this is potentially fatal, he is by now desperate to find out what, if anything, he was selling. Now the sixties party scene is grotesquely distorted, all Third Man angular cameras, dissonant music, Number 6 yelling out incoherent blurts; gazing like a maniac into a twisted mirror, he turns it as though steering a sinking ship and sets it straight. "C" turns out to be Engadine, the party's hostess, and together they exit from the party to be driven to the point of "no turning back" - in other words, his defection. But the journey, even given ITC's budget constraints, is strangely artificial; the garden gates close automatically, like a set of theatre curtains or the door of Number 6's house, the urban back projection as they sit in the car seems to be deliberately inflated, and the square where they eventually arrive resembles a stage set, complete with creaking floorboards where the ground should be.
A masked man emerges; Number 14 suggests that he could be considered "D." Meanwhile, Number 2 is practically having an orgasm at this previously entirely unknown prospect. But Number 6 remains stalwartly cynical; striding towards the man, he demands to see his face, and then, in one of the most chilling scenes ever to play on British television, he turns towards the camera, towards his captors, and indeed towards us, as he intones with heavy irony, "We mustn't disappoint them" - a miniscule but shattering movement of eyes towards camera - "...the people who are watching," rips the mask off "D" and turns him brutally towards the camera; it is Number 2's terrified face. "I knew, of course," says Number 6. "Now - show THEM!" Both men gaze directly at the viewer. "SEE?" he taunts."
What does this have to do with Sgt. Pepper and The Beatles in general? Read on and see!
Monday, June 4, 2007
A Chord, A Country, A Club
"Lennon's songs are inevitably the more shaded and desperate. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," though far too long, is drenched with distended, filtered remembrances addressed to no one in particular. "Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite" is the hard bottom to the springy surface of Barrett's "Bike" - and while it is not, strictly speaking, essential that you do so, let me say that it is impossible to reach a full understanding of Sgt Pepper without having full awareness (more so, arguably, than SMiLE across the ocean) of the album being recorded in the studio next door; an album, moreover, which did a better and funnier job of stretching out the atoms of pop and turning them into rock than Pepper managed (since the latter's radical implications are all in the words and appearance rather than the music). "Carnival Of Light" was until very late in the day earmarked for inclusion on Pepper, was the Beatles' clearest response to the Floyd capable of "Interstellar Overdrive" and perhaps the group should have been brave enough to include it (had the CD been in existence in 1967, no doubt they would have done, let alone "It's Only A Northern Song" or for that matter "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane") - but maybe its reputation is protected by its failure to appear on any legal Beatles release; would hearing its fourteen minutes now prove as tiresome a letdown as "What's The New, Mary Jane?" was when it finally saw the light of day on Anthology 3? Both Lennon and Barrett were drawn back to the dusky attics of childhood, extracting and liquefying the wonderment to be found in those old trunks, the webs of intrigue; and to a roughly equivalent degree (but in radically different manifestations) they never managed to get out of that attic."
40 years ago today, something profound began, but maybe not what you think. Marcello Carlin investigates just what it was. Even if you hate Sgt. Pepper, it's worth reading.
Monday, June 4, 2007
A Chord, A Country, A Club
"Lennon's songs are inevitably the more shaded and desperate. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," though far too long, is drenched with distended, filtered remembrances addressed to no one in particular. "Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite" is the hard bottom to the springy surface of Barrett's "Bike" - and while it is not, strictly speaking, essential that you do so, let me say that it is impossible to reach a full understanding of Sgt Pepper without having full awareness (more so, arguably, than SMiLE across the ocean) of the album being recorded in the studio next door; an album, moreover, which did a better and funnier job of stretching out the atoms of pop and turning them into rock than Pepper managed (since the latter's radical implications are all in the words and appearance rather than the music). "Carnival Of Light" was until very late in the day earmarked for inclusion on Pepper, was the Beatles' clearest response to the Floyd capable of "Interstellar Overdrive" and perhaps the group should have been brave enough to include it (had the CD been in existence in 1967, no doubt they would have done, let alone "It's Only A Northern Song" or for that matter "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane") - but maybe its reputation is protected by its failure to appear on any legal Beatles release; would hearing its fourteen minutes now prove as tiresome a letdown as "What's The New, Mary Jane?" was when it finally saw the light of day on Anthology 3? Both Lennon and Barrett were drawn back to the dusky attics of childhood, extracting and liquefying the wonderment to be found in those old trunks, the webs of intrigue; and to a roughly equivalent degree (but in radically different manifestations) they never managed to get out of that attic."
40 years ago today, something profound began, but maybe not what you think. Marcello Carlin investigates just what it was. Even if you hate Sgt. Pepper, it's worth reading.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Jezebel, Female Rebel
"4) THE AFFIRMATION CRAP LIE If women's magazines have done their job, if they have kept your attention and your subscriptions and you have devoted precious hours to consuming it, you are probably unlovable. You wonder whether Mischa Barton is skinny-fat, and whether you, too, might be skinny-fat (or simply fat!) You are insecure about things you probably didn't know it was possible to be insecure about. (Are you an effective cuddler? Find out in June's Cosmo, page 132!) (No, actually really! It's a real story!) You fret that your lipstick is bleeding and your fine lines are deepening and that during oral sex you might not be handling his balls correctly, and most of all, that you aren't projecting enough confidence, probably because your posture is bad. Is it any wonder that you now need affirmation that you are worth loving at all? Incessant reminders of what a goddess you really are? And that he is never going to love you if you don't love yourself. But wait, why should you love yourself? These magazines have made you boring as fuck!
5) AND FINALLY, THE BIG META LIE. is that this is one big postmodern joke on which we are all in. The big lie is that we even know what the fuck postmodern means, and we've all read all the Beckett plays and seen Zizek speak, that we know how to pronounce Zizek, not to mention Nicholas Ghesquiere, that Everything Bad Is Good For You (and that you actually read that book, too). And that all the surreality and celebphemera and retail therapy is harmless escapism, that it has always been this way, that it is not symptomatic of some sort of larger societal cancer. The big lie is that we haven't let the norms of the celebrity-sartorial complex seep into the way we see everything in the world, perpetuating the notion that all of life is high school, and the pretty people are the only ones worth your attention, and that alpha girls are entitled to act cruel and inhuman towards their subordinates, and that all the world would be that way anyway. Because it wouldn't. And though we've found women's magazines to be a fairly trusty engine of hilarious tidbits, it is not all one big joke."
Only a day old, and yet sassy as hell: World, meet Jezebel. You have been warned.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
And Don't Get Her That New Michael Buble Album, Either
"Diet books: Please. "Happy Mother's Day. You're fat." Why it is that books like this are billed as Mother's Day fare is beyond me. Ditto for the makeover books and the You-dress-like-Gollum books. New dads, a warning: Buying the book about how your ravaged and sleep-deprived partner might regain the scorching body of her youth for her first-ever Mother's Day is the worst idea you've ever had. Go with the stretchy pants or the hedge clippers instead."
"Microscopic books: For some unknown reason, publishers believe that what moms really want for Mother's Day are books that measure a single square inch with fonts the size of dust motes. Books like the itsy-bitsy In Praise of Moms or the mini version of It's a Mom Thing seem like a great idea. They are, after all, on the Just for Mom table. They have the word mom in the title. But know this about the teeny books: If your mom spends the better part of her days sorting through microscopic socks and well-nigh-on-invisible Lego pieces, the last thing she really wants to do at the end of the day is crawl into a great big bubble bath and squint at a "gift" the size of a tortilla chip. Go the other way: Give her an enormous book. A Shakespeare concordance or a King James Bible. Something improbably permanent in a universe teeming with tiny plastic things that cannot be found when needed and are invariably underfoot when not."
Slate's Dahlia Lithwick knows what books moms want, and they have nothing to do with being moms.
Monday, May 7, 2007
When Genres Collide, Pt. 94
It isn't just Leonard Cohen, it isn't just Sonny Rollins, but it's them together doing "Who By Fire" - note the slight amusement on Cohen's face towards the end...
Thursday, April 26, 2007
'To Say You Know When You Know, And To Say You Do Not Know When You Do Not, That Is Knowledge'
I am reluctant, as ever, to point out the continued existence of one Mr. Hitchens, his ranting here reminded me of Confucius, who said, "To attack a task from the wrong end can do nothing but harm." Atheists who do nothing but rant about how 'religion poisons everything' are indeed attacking their task, whatever it is, from the wrong, wrong end.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
'To Say You Know When You Know, And To Say You Do Not Know When You Do Not, That Is Knowledge'
I am reluctant, as ever, to point out the continued existence of one Mr. Hitchens, his ranting here reminded me of Confucius, who said, "To attack a task from the wrong end can do nothing but harm." Atheists who do nothing but rant about how 'religion poisons everything' are indeed attacking their task, whatever it is, from the wrong, wrong end.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
An Improvising Robin on the Roof
It's Kate Bush week over at Stylus - they have inducted her into their hall of fame! Lots of fine writing on her, including the introductory essay by Marcello Carlin, and lots of raw and not-so-raw reactions to her music are being posted all this week. If you haven't gotten Aerial yet then I strongly encourage you to do so - take it slowly, the way it was made, and you'll be fine.
Friday, April 13, 2007
London, Hub of the Universe
"Oh, Routemasters look charming on the postcards, but for anyone who actually uses them - especially if carrying anything larger than a small box of fudge or cursed with offspring, wheeled or otherwise - they're hopeless, and I can't help feeling that those who want to preserve them (a) rarely go on them and (b) are the same people who insist their local "classic caff" continues serving them cups of watery Nescafe for 50p, even if the owner then has to work a 16-hour shift just to cover the rent while his adoring clientele jump in taxis and head off to 40K jobs in the media, writing features on classic caffs and Routemasters for the colour supplements." [Bus Of The Month - Matt Haynes]
This is but a small sample of the fine writing found in a small magazine called Smoke: a London peculiar, a regularly irregular look at the buses, statues, parks, streets and public life of London. It is immensely funny, readable and perhaps only possible in a city as old, big and worth celebrating & mocking as London obviously is...much better than So London, more intimate than Time Out, and ideal for reading on (yes) a bus, even one with girls singing in the back to their mp3s/cellphones because they can.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
George Eliot Wields The Whip
"Why do girls love these big, epically long, boring books? Anyway, I've set myself to my purpose and I am currently flagellating myself through it. I've done 150 pages so far. I'm just waiting for it to hot up." Thus opines Boris Johnson, in this month's Easy Living magazine.
Hmm. So why do we girls (or, as we might prefer to style ourselves if we are in fact old enough to read Middlemarch, women) love these big, epically long, boring books? Perhaps because where men like Boris see vast acres of impedimenta to plot and purpose, we see nuanced description, the subtle and elegant construction of character, the careful dissection of social niceties and moral ambiguities, all of which seems at least as satisfying and as worthwhile a reward for reading as does simply jumping from plot point to plot point like Wodehouse's chamois with his crags.
Big, bountiful Victorian novels are all going to appear - to anyone whose primary interests are Latin, Greek and politics - as giant, sprawling, unwieldy messes with too much "extraneous" detail to fit them either for relaxation or adding in an efficient manner to the sum of human knowledge. They require the kind of mind that is used to detail and to dealing with sprawling, messy businesses like real life and real relationships and which likes to see something of their infinite complexities reflected in the book it reads."
Sack up, Boris. If Stephen Malkmus could read it and like it, so can you. And yes, it does 'hot up' though you are going to have to wait. Sigh...
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Hello Mr. Mackenzie
Yesterday I had a dream. I was outdoors, in a largish park (it was too well-groomed to be sheer wilderness). The sun was shining, the sky was clear, the grass was vibrantly green, the soil underneath dark and damp with recent rain; the trees just coming into bloom. Yes, it was spring, spring all across the nearly-flat land...
...and who should appear, walking his dogs and singing to them, to himself, but Billy Mackenzie? Not that he said anything to me, in particular, but he was friendly enough, and his whippets (his spirit animal, if you will) were friendly too. In this dream I wore black, with crystal earrings and necklace, as if I was in mourning, only not quite; not all the way.
Billy Mackenzie was born in Dundee fifty years ago this day. It is hard for me to do justice to him - to his voice - to his unforced and immediate joys and profound and quiet sorrows. Years ago Marcello Carlin wrote about this Top of the Pops appearance, which I linked to here at Carrot Rope, thus starting the most important non-familial relationship of my life, just hours before the big blackout of 2003. So in a way I have the Associates, and thus Billy, to thank. And yet he is not here, thus my dream. I think - I hope - he would be touched & amused by this, and maybe he would be pleased that he was remembered with such intense affection and admiration, that what may have seemed to him to be a short period of fame could have such an impact.
To continue this thread, I link again to Marcello, to a Church of Me piece on his later work, on one song in particular - "Beyond the Sun." I totally agree that Billy gave everything when he sang (just as intensely as Orbison, Curtis, Springfield) - and in his perfectionism there was a great fear of failure. I may be very late in saying this (he died, by his own hand, ten years ago): Billy, you did not fail us. In my dream I mourned you, yet you were not dead, nor were you unhappy. And I know you are happy, wherever you are...
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Presumably The Original Version, Not The Clooney One
Alert reader Brent Murphy has kindly informed me that if you listen to the new album by The Lightning Bug Situation and watch Solaris (with the audio off, obv.) then you will have quite the experience. So for those of you tired of listening to Kid A while watching Dracula...and I know you're out there...consider yourself informed.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
When In Doubt, Blame It On The Girls
Post-grunge outfits like Nickelback and Hinder continue to be popular - or wreak havoc, whatever your opinion - in part because they appeal to the estrogen set, said Craig Marks, editor in chief of Blender magazine. A "slightly hipper band" will sell more albums to guys than girls, he said.
"They're selling a lot of records to very casual music fans who don't buy a lot of CDs," Marks said. "When you're selling 5 million albums like Nickelback or 2 1/2 million like Hinder, and especially when you're making your mark with big ballads that are kind of wedding songs, then you're selling records to both males and females. And that's often how you get from selling 1 1/2 million records to selling 4 or 5 million records."
When "teenage girls or tween girls like an artist, that's often a sign that ... the artist isn't cool," said Marks, who also gives Spears as an example. "You know, `My little sister likes them.'"
And thus rock critics are stopped dead by annoying little sisters around the world. And they don't even need to buy The Secret!
Of course, I cannot end this without quoting Ron Sparks from Video on Trial: "If I tried to put my thumbs down any further, I would mess my pants. And then my pants would be full of Hinder."
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Night Lights
"It seems beyond the realms of credulity to me that the emotional truthfulness and awesome generosity repeatedly demonstrated throughout Neon Bible can somehow be interpreted as "insincere" or hardening up and producing what they think their audience wants. Perhaps it's simply that too many people remain scared of true bigness in music, need to traduce it to levels compatible with their own tunnelled eyes. Anyone who listened to the Islands and Final Fantasy albums last year won't need convincing of that, or the Arcade Fire's continued importance as the not-so-distant Quebecois conscience of the Canadian music world as it beautifully stands in 2007. However, it needs to be faced; Neon Bible was never going to be another Funeral - these are desperate times which require slightly harder remedies, and if we can grasp with our own ample resources of generosity the hymns, the pleas that Win Butler and his group are making on behalf of those who continue to be ruled out of the ghastly white heat of Thatcherism/Reaganism Mk II, who want to fly high in their own souls rather than in an anonymous and unforgiving market, who seek not to tread on everyone else but to be able to stand by themselves..."
Marcello Carlin guides you through the pages of the Neon Bible - essential reading, as ever. He has also recently written up an intensely compassionate (but not sentimental) review of Judee Sill's albums and life - I can't think of a better place to start for understanding her, outside of listening to her yourself...
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Recreation Is Our Destination
"The behaviour of women in the public eye still has extraordinary power to spread panic and alarm, especially when it appears to veer slightly out of control. Too much food, too much drink, too much sex, too many opinions, too many ideas, too much talent . . . It all seems to make some observers rather uncomfortable. You might be safe if you stick to the script, keep slim, keep smiling, keep your eyelashes glued on and your stomach sucked in. But even Sarah Harding, star of the slickest product of the pop music machine, Girls Aloud, gets it in the neck on an almost daily basis because she has committed the daring sins of liking vodka and dancing and good-looking men and hot nightclubs on cold nights. Real women behave like this - but in tabloid-land they shouldn't.
What makes people most anxious about these "bad" girls of pop is the deep-down knowledge that Winehouse, Allen, Stone et al are not transgressive but actually hugely representative. That women, just like anyone, can be obnoxious and messy and embarrassing and loud and confrontational. At a time when it would seem that the major indexes of female success are waist size, number of designer handbags owned and how many men want to date you, that is a challenging notion. But there is more to women than that, and it needs to be let out. They tried to make Britney Spears play the part and look how that turned out.
I can easily prevent my heart from bleeding too much over the individual causes at stake here. The women in question are successful and talented and rich enough to cultivate a thick skin when it comes to vapid, bitchy remarks about their personal conduct. But what we say about them does matter on a much larger scale: by saying that these women should be self-contained and unobtrusive and endeavour at every moment to be pleasing to all eyes and ears, we are saying that all women need to do that."
This is nothing new, sadly. It reminds me of a quote by a famous English novelist: "If I am a wild Beast, I cannot help it." (24 May 1813)...Or as Mel & Kim sang it 20 years ago...
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Green Never Caused Anyone's Death in a Video
Bad news first: my pitch to write a book on Scritti Politti's Cupid & Psyche 85 has been, sadly, turned down. I have been listening to it again this afternoon and I'm honestly sorry that I didn't get picked, as it's a hell of an album, and I know there's people out there dying to read about it.
On a lighter note, here's an excellent Idolator piece on the criminal actions of one Mr. Timberlake in that very drawn-out video of his.
Friday, March 9, 2007
"Can Anything Be Done About It?"
It seems that 2007 will be yet another year for Jane Austen; three of her novels are going to be on British tv soon (Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park and Persuasion (trailer here) and the new movie about her, Becoming Jane looks pretty good, even if it's not 100% accurate...I hope I can catch up on the tv shows somehow, in reruns...
Meanwhile, the Guardian would like you all to remember that the heroines of Austen's fiction were (with the exception of Emma, cough) tedious, bothersome creatures who drove their elders and betters crazy by refusing the first person who wanted to marry them. Hah!
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Technorati, Meet Carrot Rope...
Oh, and just to show I am somewhat up-to-date, I just joined the almighty Technorati ProfileTechnorati army and am hereby claiming this modest blog to be, indeed mine. Whoo-hoo!
If you are also part of the Technorati posse, by all means link to me, and I will link you back in kind. Thanks!
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Ruby Slipper Time
Firstly, yes I am still recuperating, which means I am sometimes tired, in pain (such is the case today)...which also means I get a lot more writing done in my head than here, for example, or over at Stereogirl.
Have any of you ever taken the Luscher Colour Test? It measures your psychological state by your choice of colors in sequence. It's rather cool and I did it just the other day, and unsurprisingly got a rather 'rare' result - I chose the color red first. Red means "passionate and vibrant" as you might expect, and it also means that I "desire for (my) actions to bring about powerful experiences." (I say the word 'rare' as I found out just before my operation that I have a rare blood type. Hah!)
I like the color red as it's bright, warm, friendly, sexy...it is not passive; it does not just sit there. Perhaps this is why Bono & Co. chose it for their Product Red campaign. On the face of it, it makes sense: red catches the eye, it's sensual, and you can use it to end so many verbs and make them adjectives! Oh yes, there is little the color and word itself cannot do.
Except, apparently, sell stuff. You know: t-shirts, iPods, cellphones, etc. Stuff that apparently everyone needs, wants, desires. The Product Red campaign was designed to raise awareness and funds to help fight the scourge of AIDS in Africa, and yet and yet...it does not seem to be working.
Now, I am not sure how much marketing money went into this - millions upon millions of dollars apparently - but to my morbidly sensitive eye, one awfully big factor in the multi-level-corporate-capitalism-is-the-new-punk-rock that has been forgotten is that if the color of something is wrong, people will not buy something. Red is a warm, friendly color as I stated, but (to my eye) they chose the wrong version of it. You might think this is splitting aesthetic hairs, but really, is it an attractive red they chose? No, it isn't. It is a shade of red, meaning they added black to it to make it more 'serious' and 'important' and 'boring'. It is not a color that says "Oh God yes buy me now now NOW!" but rather "I am quite important and deserve your admiration and maybe, just maybe, your money, you peon. And by the way, compare me to a sauteed raspberry and not tomato paste and I may actually look good on you." That is exactly what it says. Who chose this color? Perhaps Bono did, while looking at it through whatever tint of glasses he was wearing that day - purple, perhaps. Eighteen million dollars is nothing to sneeze at, to be sure, but it's probably what the Gap and its many stores makes in what, a week?
Of course, there are other reasons. The measly percentage on the rather hefty credit card is a sore point: kind of like John Malkovich as Valmont handing out coins to the poor, methinks. But I digress...
...because clearly Product Red isn't doing as well as it should because it, they, have not read/seen The Secret, the newest in a very long line of 'believing and think and it shall be so' magical thinking that Americans are so prone to falling for whenever anything goes wrong. Now, I have nothing against thinking or believing as such, but if they are not backed up by some kind of action, they are as good as dreams, evaporating in the air. Oprah, as you may know, is a big believer in this sort of thing herself, and doesn't believe, so to speak, in much else. Positive vibrations bring positive results; negative, negative. You can see the terrible and stupid consequences of this, and how blind she is to fall for this: this is a woman who had Elie Wiesel, for crying out loud, for her book club. She talked to Katrina survivors. And so on. But no; but no; I can already see her glaring at me as if I was James Frey and saying I have no right to write this. Well too bad, I just did.
Wish upon a lucky star, avert your eyes when anyone/thing 'ugly' or fat or unfortunate goes by, treat the universe as if it was one big catalogue delivered to your door - if you do not have the guts and compassion to see that nothing changes without actions, actions that include listening, critical thinking, and just plain hard work, then nothing will improve. And if you don't, as the Beastie Boys once put it, check your head, you may have all kinds of material goods, but you will have a diminished soul, and you will no longer be able to tell what is truly beautiful - truly worth one's time and yes, money.
Friday, February 23, 2007
And She Fell in Love and Decided To Stay There?
Usually I just add links to Carrot Rope and don't bother announcing them (there's new ones in the food section, for instance); but I thought I should point this one out, as it is useful, particularly if you are trying to find a book - not to buy, just to identify.
What's That Book is a free and friendly place that will help you figure out just what you read, based on the smallest of details - it covers fiction and non-fiction alike, and yes, you can help them out by going over queries and contributing knowledge! I have yet to post mine - "young woman in 70s America looks in mirror and goes back a century" (anyone?) - this site should be the cause of fewer headaches and sleepless nights, which can only be a good thing.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Front Page Malcolm
Nice Canadians are totally stumped by Malcolm X; in rememberance, for the show and for the man. (I will talk about the living soon, don't worry!)
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Pretty Songs
Forty years ago, today, this was set in motion... In other news: staples are out (not too painful), winter is winding down and it's Mardi Gras, so live it up while you can (if you are, indeed, giving something up for Lent).
Friday, February 16, 2007
This Request Is Justified
Well hello there! Sorry I have not been posting more, but having an operation will do that to you - just slightly under a week (by one hour!) I had a laparotomy done, and am now at home resting up - my staples are to be removed on Monday, which will be nice, and relatively painless, I hope... In the meantime, the good people at 33 1/3 books have graciously accepted my proposal...and over 200 others...and will be milling over them until late March to decide whose is worth pursuing. (I pitched Scritti Politti; very relieved, I must say, to see I was the only one!) I don't envy their having to read and absorb and then decide, and of course I want to be chosen - there was almost no New Pop pitched this year (besides me there's one for Soft Cell, two Pet Shop Boys pitches and, er, Kraftwerk, if you want to count them in, and hey, why not?) and none published so far, and I know there are people out there who are tired of the same-old same-old being written about YET AGAIN while things that are a bit different are ignored...and please, do not get me started on the lack of female authors/subjects... ...but it is a fascinating list, almost a sociological map of what critics want to write about, which seems to go from what you would expect to what you would never even consider. Good job, everyone!
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Penguins On The Loose!
If you ever wanted to work on a novel with a whole bunch of people you don't know, as opposed to laboring over one by yourself - now is your chance to join in on A Million Penguins. It is a 'wiki-novel' and yes, it does have moderators and an obvious publisher behind it; whether the novel itself will work in the end is up to those who contribute. (Years ago I contributed to a group novel, which had few guidelines other than commonsense and a shared sense of humor. It worked about as well as you think it would. I can't remember whether this was the one we all wrote backwards, or what...)
Health Update: I'm going to be spending some time at Mount Sinai Hospital soon; virtual and for that matter real cards, flowers, hugs, Little Thinkers dolls and so on are not expected, but are always welcome. After the 9th (the date of my operation) I'm going to be (of course) posting here even more rarely than usual, so I will try to get a few more things here that are at least compelling, if not useful. Such as LibraryThing, the place to catalogue books; I am there, under my address name here. It's free and worth joining, if only to see who else is around...
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Twin Towers, Two Americas
Adam Sobolak of the Omnitechtural Forum has come to the conclusion of his unparalled series on the events of 9/11 and the months after, "Total Destruction and then Transcendence." One day (in my imagination, but hey) hipsters will be buying this at Book City (it will be one of those small books at the cash, right next to Chomsky) and then making mix cds of Britney, Xtina and Peter Frampton, not to mention Cassetteboy, Death From Above 1979, etc.
(Please note: I know hipsters is a pejorative to some, but I really mean truly hip people, as opposed to those who only do things if a magazine tells them to do them. Or a website, for that matter.)
Of course, being an American, I think it's always been ugly, but beauty keeps coming up through the cracks; the next few years will determine a lot, at least politically. (Something's going to happen; something always does.)
Monday, January 8, 2007
As It States Elsewhere, I've Got the Funk (and John Harris Can't Have It)
I know someone who, if you mention two film actors, will be able to do a 'six degrees of separation' and join them up, no matter how seemingly impossible it was, at first - he likes challenges, but if you give him something not so difficult, he'll smile and and say, "Well, what do you want me to do? Do the scenic route or just go ahead?"
This is what I thought when I read this piece on the house that JB built. Oh, where to start? So, so many places. Since I am not a resident of my hometown just yet, it is a good idea for me to get some notion of what my fellow future neighbors think - in this case, about funk.
As it turns out, at least with this guy, it's pretty embarrassing.
Oh - and insulting. And wrong? Yes, and wrong. The tour guide in Clarksdale was wrong too, of course, but Harris is even more wrong for repeating that nonsense, fun as it is to parody. (By the way, claiming that this was a piece written in jest or ironically or any of that is also incorrect, as a) I don't really see much that makes that too damn obvious and b) it doesn't have that beery thwack-to-the-back-of-the-head obviousness which I grew warily used to reading the British music press back in the 80s.)
As an American, the idea of the blues being killed by funk is so silly as to be insane. Slap-bass is not the enemy. Six-hour concerts (hello Wagner, hello church services) are parties, ceremonies, experiences - not just concerts. James Brown and his influence are everywhere, and to pick on one style of music - poison it, if you will - mucks up the whole system...
For example, here's one scenic route - Blur records "Girls and Boys" which is then remixed by the Pet Shop Boys, who were inspired by the sounds of "Planet Rock" (which I discovered reading...the Guardian) which in turn was a mix of Kraftwerk's "Numbers" and "Trans-Europe Express" and guess what, Kraftwerk were directly learning from and doing their own take on...James Brown. Which would lead me to point out that "Girls and Boys" is pretty funky all by itself. (For those who don't know, Harris wrote a book about Britpop and that's why I'm talking about Blur.)
(I love it when I see the word "demise" in a book title - dude, you're no Edward Gibbon, c'mon...)
I am trying really hard not to go all Gordon Ramsay on this writer, because in my hapless idealism I think he can learn. (I also don't want to come across as a grouch, unnecessarily.) As a future resident I hope I don't have to keep posting about how incredibly, willfully uniformed people are about my native land, its music and its people. And I've got to say how happy I am to see the intense backlash against this article, short and pathetic as it is. I recently filled out a survey for this paper and at the end, pleaded with them to get better music writers. Now you know why.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Just Trying To Keep Up Here
"Ariel Sharon was still alive, and war erupted between Hezbollah and Israel. Authorities in the United Kingdom announced the discovery of a terrorist plot to blow up as many as ten passenger planes in the air. Riots over blasphemous cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad broke out in India, Indonesia, Kashmir, Palestine, Thailand, the autonomous Somali region of Puntland, and Afghanistan. Yanni was arrested for allegedly hitting his girlfriend, and Keith Richards fell out of a coconut tree. Coretta Scott King, Gordon Parks, Octavia Butler, Stanislaw Lem, James Brown, Don Knotts, Syd Barrett, Betty Friedan, Milton Friedman, John Kenneth Galbraith, Slobodan Milosevic, Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi, Kenneth Lay, Gerald Ford, and "Grandpa" Al Lewis died. The Massachusetts legislature voted to make health insurance mandatory for all state residents by July 2007, and a whistleblower accused AT&T of providing the National Security Agency with full access to customer phone calls and Internet usage records. Polls found that while only 36 percent of Americans worry a great deal about global warming, 90 percent were prepared to fight its effects by caulking. Twenty percent of U.S. teenagers admitted to huffing household products in order to get high. SAT scores in the United States showed the largest decline in 31 years, and after 15,000 tries a California scientist was able to teach starlings some grammar. At least 2.5 million American children were taking antipsychotic drugs; the same number of Kenyans were close to starvation. The United Nations said that 1,200 people were dying in Congo each day, and Zimbabwe faced an acute tampon shortage. At a zoo in the Netherlands three bears ate a monkey."
Darn bears! Well, that's part of the Harper's Yearly, which as you might guess happens but once a year.
Friday, January 5, 2007
In the Air Now (But Not On The Lists)
I will be ladylike here in stating that the Jackin' Pop critics, save for one, slept like narcoleptics off their medication on one album, an album that (yes) came straight outta Toronto and was perhaps even forgotten here as it had a January release: Planets Conspire by the Meligrove Band. I will go out on a very short limb here and say it's better than Ron Sexsmith, Matt Mays & El Torpedo, Natalie McMaster, The Tragically Hip...who all made the list. If you need more convincing, read this, and then go buy it. You won't be disappointed.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Master of the Rhythm
"Of course, JB's grooves only sound unadorned and minimalist to outsiders. The key to the greatness and radicalism of his music lies in his inverse and decidedly non-Western approach to song construction; despite his unapologetic worship and reclamation of capitalism (which to the black society of the late '60s onwards, shaken to its core, was more than enough), Brown built his music from the rhythm upwards, as opposed to the melody downwards, as everyone from the Gershwins to the Beatles did. An early instructive comparison would be to play his Live At The Apollo Vol 1, side-by-side with Coltrane's contemporaneous Live At The Village Vanguard; in both records, note how any concept of melody is systematically deconstructed until every voice, every instrument, is a drum (just as "Chasin' The Trane" burns to its essence of tenor and drums alone)."
Somewhere I read Chrissie Hynde say that there should be a statue of James Brown in every city in America. Marcello Carlin explains why.
Monday, January 1, 2007
What Is Romance?
First, all apologies that I have not been posting here as of late - but I am ill, it is the holiday season and I have been less than moved by much of what passed for ye olde culture this last year. (HAPPY NEW YEAR!) Whether it is celebrity marriages, celebrity divorces or celebrities apologizing (if you ask me, they shouldn't wait until they do something hellaciously dumb to apologize at times)...well, I do take notice but my thoughts, I fear, are not exactly original - as in, well, what did you think? Just because you can release an album, Miss Hilton, should you? (And if that question offends you, just substitute away.) This year I have changed so utterly that the comings and goings of the rich and famous, while still interesting, hold less and less fascination for me. It is, oddly, like my taste for chocolate - I can still eat milk chocolate quite happily, but it does little for me. But give me something more intense, right up to 99%, and I am...transported. (There are some people who are the same way with hot food, chilies and curries and such; it takes some getting used to, but WOAH...)
The point of all this is to note this man's folly in the past year, and how wrong-headed he is...in claiming that if things had worked out, he would be smug. Because on the basis of what he's written, it never could have worked out. He has, amusingly, no perspective on how unromantic his supposed romantic gesture is; his experience doesn't even seem to have depressed him, which is proof his feelings for this woman were not that deep (well, you can see that from the beginning of the story anyway). He is already smug, thinking of shorter flights and maybe it would work if he showed up with flowers next time.
I hate to break it to this man, but a successful relationship needs obstacles, particularly at the start. They give depth, intensity, value, priceless worth...and of course they are tough, so tough that once you overcome them, you have no smugness left, just a powerful happiness and humility. But you cannot go looking for difficulties first; you must find the person first (believe me, the problems will follow)...the other thing is time. The more time, the better; it is as simple as that. One day? Try a year; two years; three years. That time won't be all suffering, more a kind of proofing (a bit like making bread) - some of it patient hapless waiting, some feeling punched & kneaded by circumstances, and some sweet humming rising happiness. Yes, it is much like that; it is not what this man did at all. If I have any advice to you, my dear readers, it is to avoid what he did - God knows I have my version from the past - and resist anything superficial or shallow, in matters of the heart. Be brave; be willing to work to build a bridge; appreciate what you have done, and then move forward. It will not be easy, but it will be beyond any worth or price, at the end.
Friday, December 15, 2006
A Literary Note, For A Change
It seems like an awfully long time since I've written here about anything literary, so, here goes:
There's going to be a huge conference on the work of Sylvia Plath in time for her 75th birthday next year at Oxford University. By that time I should be living in England, though whether I will be able to attend is uncertain; I have much on the go right now and will have a lot more once I am well...I may just submit something and see if they want me; if not, I won't mind too much. It's hard for me to say now what I will propose to speak about, but it will probably be something avant garde, Plathwise...updates as they are warranted...
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Name That Band
"The band are anti-war but broadly Labour and favour higher, hypothecated taxation. "You'd happily pay taxes if you thought, I'm paying them so a fireman or a nurse can have a decent wage," said Walsh. "People just want to know it's going to the right people."
On education Cole, believes: "You can't help the fact that some kids are just not going to be as bright as others ... They should definitely bring back grammar schools. Then you can say to low achievers: you can get there if you work hard."
Cole seems irritated by David Cameron's recent answer to a question about who he fancied most. "Politicians know that we get listened to by more young fans than they do. That's why David Cameron said he fancied me. He was just trying to be cool ... Do I fancy him? No! Politicians should stop trying to be cool and get on with running the country."
Friday, December 8, 2006
Looking For That Last Song
A really good article on the soon-to-be lost art of the compilation tape, for yourself or much more importantly, for your Other...
...and I forgot to mention in the post just below that McGee had the chance to sign Sloan to his label but didn't; one of the reasons Never Hear The End of It is unavailable in the UK is due to folks like him...sigh...
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Enough Already!
A day of infamy...okay, I exaggerate...I had my final blood test today, meaning three vials of blood were taken for the near-exhaustive testing being done on me. Oh, if only they made e-cards for "Hope you feel okay after having your blood tested for the third time!" BUT they don't; as soon as I find out my operation date, however, I will let you all know...
.............................
"This doesn't seem such an unreasonable point until you reflect that they have had fifty years to rake in billions from The Beatles. Also, the notion of the back catalogue acting as crutch to fund new talent seems to imply that more contemporary acts have brought home peanuts. This would be very sad indeed if it were anywhere near the truth.
To me, the 50 years, during which both company and artists have had full opportunity to reap the lucrative benefits of their work, seem more than ample. It strikes me as natural that after such a time (in which several lifetimes of wealth have been generated) this music should move into the public domain.
But this is where the industry summons the most "fearful" scenario: the music of The Beatles could be packaged and used by anybody! We could be flooded with cash-in, novelty records that tamper with the original songs!
Overlooking the fact that the latter can clearly happen regardless of who owns the rights, I have two main objections to this concept. First, the music entering the public domain would open a world of creative possibilities and could be just as likely to lead to The Beatles' music and others enduring and growing in significance from things like the sample culture, where DJ hip hop street mixes turned out by Dangermouse reinvented the Beatles on the Grey Album, or Cherrystones morphing forgotten 60s records into contemporary breaks'n'beats classics."
So says Alan McGee - yes, that one - (Cherrystones is on the PopTones label) is basically telling me that it's okay for Oasis to do Beatles covers. No, it's not.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
No, Record Store Clerk Guy Who's Older Than Me, I Don't Need Your Help
Yesterday as I looked for a certain unavailable cd in four different stores I heard four different kinds of music as I walked in; fully three of the four were appealing in some way to the 'older' demographic. Now, I'm not exactly a spring chicken, but this explains why that is, and why that beside-the-point Generation X feeling still lingers, 15 years after the book first appeared. Will we, as a generation, go to shows with wine tastings and dinners beforehand? Who will be left to sing to us? All the people I can think of that I'd like to see are either recluses, not going to be around when I'm that old, or dead already.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Alton Brown, You Have Been Outnerded
"Pizza took me to Naples. Here I was slightly disturbed to find that the San Marzano tomato has declined a little in quality au naturel and only retains its flavour when canned, but I was heartened to discover that the Neapolitans are not using Manitoba flour, which has been poor this year. Water is also a much misunderstood ingredient in pizza making; only H2O with a pH level of 900 microsiemens should be used.
1. Build oven capable of reaching temperatures of 2,000,000C.
2. Get gnarled old Italian peasant to knead dough for 47 years.
3. Cook for 93 nanoseconds.
Only pigs with an IQ of more than 140 should be considered when making sausages. I know there has been much debate about cultural relativism in pig IQ testing, but I've always found that asking a pig what spices it prefers to be cooked with sorts out the Gloucestershire Old Spots from the Tamworths. Maris Pipers make the best mash, but beware of potatoes grown at a depth of more than 14.72cms as they have too much dry matter.
1. Push entire pig through a sieve.
2. Add lark's embryo to taste.
3. Steamroller potatoes.
The best steak in the world is Peter Luger's Porterhouse Brown which conveniently enables me to skip off for a week's holiday in New York. The secret to the perfect steak lies in the length of time the carcass has been hung; my preference is for the Egyptian Longhorn, which is mummified.
1. Slice a 4kg fillet diagonally in two.
2. Cover with napalm.
3. Torch for 17 seconds with flamethrower.
The British have ruined fish and chips by using inferior species, such as cod. Experience has taught me that turbot caught 273 miles off the coast of Aberdeen produces the finest flavours. Chips should be fried in vodka to get the best texture.
1. Put on diving gear.
2. Take turbot back underwater to a depth of 311m to rebalance its oxygen levels.
3. Place element in its mouth and cook slowly at 84C while you return to surface.
4. Add depleted uranium.
5. Sear in nuclear reactor for 2 seconds."
Or so the Guardian's Digested (ho) Read says is in Blumenthal's book.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Show Us What You're Made Of, Baby
Updatey updateness: I am feeling fine, but still not out of the woods healthwise: I have yet to hear from Mount Sinai and no doubt will call them again on Friday to see what's going on. In the meantime, I've been busy writing about Scritti Politti's Cupid & Psyche '85 over at Stereogirl; all the writing is in raw form, to be expanded and edited. Ideally I want it to be a book for the 33 1/3 series, as I've said before...reaction to it is good so far, which is nice, but I still have a ways to go... I am also busy posting & reading at Popular, which is fun - even if I don't always know the singles. (This is, I trust, a good thing.) Because I've been in hapless limbo, I am too nervous to be really reading anything, though I am trying to get through Fowler's The Jane Austen Book Club which is good writing so far...though how its disparate characters are going to really come together is beyond me.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
The 2000s: A Great Period for Anthologies, Says TIME
I think - no, I know that this list was done just to irritate people like me, but really, does it have to be so predictable and offensive? Then again, this is TIME magazine here...
In other news: I am currently awaiting a test, in a kind of tiresome holding pattern; I have enough energy to get through the day, but not enough to really get anything done. I try to think, but the thoughts don't stay; I can't read very much, and feel rather mindless. People tell me I look well but I don't feel well, of course. I want to write and work and plan but I end up over at amazon constructing an ever-more quixotic wishlist, and sleeping, or wishing I could sleep. I want to write a 33 1/3 book on Scritti Politti's Cupid & Psyche '85 but besides writing to the general editor I have no idea about it. What I do know is that there is no course or degree in writing about music; I just try to read the best people and think, when I can, about everything and anything to do with it. Oh, and no, I didn't see them when they came to Toronto, as that was the day I went to emergency and I was much too tired to attend...
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
Smeared
For once, I'm not going to be apologetic: I haven't been posting here as I've been ill (emergency on Saturday, MRI tomorrow, operation soon after that I hope) and while not in much pain, I am definitely less energetic in all ways than usual. I will post here when I know my operation's going to take place, so any real or virtual gifts/flowers/hugs can arrive at the right time...
...meanwhile, join me in wishing Chris Murphy of Sloan a very happy birthday! Here are some lyrics of his I like a lot, and that I would sing to myself on certain days...
"Marcus Said"
Halloween The night the artist caused a scene The night I heard about his queen I'm just glad my clock was clean
Hit the road Hit the ceiling, hit my friends And watch while it ends
Harder harder hardest I am the artist That makes it easy for you To paint you in a corner
Marcus said Or at least he might have said I know what it is to be sad You should see what I once had
Eighty-three Man that's where I'd like to be God help me
Harder harder hardest I am the artist That makes it easy for you To paint you in a corner
Alcoholic alchemy Write a song for me I can turn lead into gold Just don't let me get old La la la...
What I find Is I can drink until I'm blind But I don't mind
Have a heart Just take one look at my art It should give me amnesty It means everything to me
Harder harder hardest I am the artist That makes it easy for you To paint you in a corner
Alcoholic alchemy
Write a song for me
I have turned lead into gold
How did I get old
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Autumn Reading
Sorry for the interruption, but I've got so many bees in my figurative bonnet I may as well have a hive on my head. However, there is the new Plath poem to ponder - "Ennui"; a new version of the shy redhead from Mantua's epic to read; and if you live in Toronto then by all means read Marc Weisblott's blog over at the Globe & Mail, Campaign Bubble.
One place I've been spending a lot of time is Librarything; it's nice to see all my books at once, sure, but looking at someone else's shelves is just as cool. I only wish there were pictures for all of them...currently I'm reading Bronte's The Professor and the Grossmiths' Diary of a Nobody, two halves of the same coin I figure...
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
RIP Sandy West 1959-2006
"Being so young and musically raw - West was the best musician - lent an edge to the group. Yet Fowley was known for hyping gimmicky acts, and his outspoken pronouncements meant many in the music industry dismissed the album. There was also the stage image of a lingerie-clad Currie, confirming suspicions that the band were being marketed as "jailbait on the run."
Yet the songs told something else: Cherry Bomb, Is it Day or Night, You Drive Me Wild are hard rocking, melodic and memorably direct. Young women singing of adolescent desire and alienation, getting high and casual sex, shocked many, and US radio stations refused to play them. Male critics dismissed the band with misogynistic loathing. "These bitches suck," declared Creem, while the liberal Village Voice dismissed them as "bimbos."
I loved the Runaways as a semi-badassed teenager and it's a truism that most bands are only as good as their drummer, and Ms. West was one hell of a drummer for a 15-year-old (notice I'm not saying girl, let alone 'bitch' or 'bimbo.') Despite the heavy hand of Fowley (get a copy, if you can, of We Got the Neutron Bomb to read about that) they were all eager musicians who seemed manufactured but actually weren't; West began drumming as soon as she could just as Jett began guitar very early. Practically every all-female group owes a debt to them, and it's a shame that their home country never understood them in the first place.
Rest in peace, indeed.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
It's All True!
"The mid-month tally for U.S. troops killed in Iraq was 79, making October the deadliest month this year for American soldiers. The first Eskimo was killed in the Iraq war; it took 20 men a full day to dig his grave through the permafrost in a town 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The Maine National Guard has been offering "Flat Daddies" and "Flat Mommies," life-size cardboard cutouts of deployed service members, to spouses, children, and relatives waiting for them to return. A Gypsy pressure group filed suit to stop British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's latest film from being shown in Germany. The group accuses him of antiziganism, or hostility to gypsies; Cohen's fictional alter-ego Borat claimed that Gypsies had molested his horse. During a debate with his Democratic rival, Senator Conrad Burns of Montana said that President Bush (who this week compared Iraq to Vietnam) has a secret plan for winning the war, but that Bush is not going to share his plan with the world. White House press secretary Tony Snow compared the President to "one of those guys at the gym who plays about 40 chessboards at once."
And he wins all the matches...right? Right?
In other news...I'm done with the UC Book Sale, I've been to the Trinity one and have St. Mike's to look forward to real soon. Many books, many crouching-downs-to-go-through-a-box, lots of Penguin Classics (I don't collect them, I just like them; this is what I tell myself) and other publishers too...no response from my open letter recipient yet, but then I never did expect one...I wonder how long it will take him to get to Sloan (Never Hear The End of It is amazing)...
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Open Letter to Bill Drummond
"I decided I needed a day I could set aside to listen to no music whatsoever. Instead, I would be thinking about what I wanted and what I didn't want from music. Not to blindly - or should that be deafly - consume what was on offer. A day where I could develop ideas. This day I would call No Music Day.
St Cecilia is the patron saint of music. I have no idea why and I am not interested in finding out. But her Saint's Day is on 22 November. This is the day we are supposed to celebrate music, thank God for its existence. I decided that No Music Day should be on the day before St Cecilia's Day, using the same principles as having Halloween the day before All Saints' Day or Mardi Gras on the day before Lent kicks in.
I registered the domain name nomusicday.com and then put together one of the posters I do. The website was up and live a couple of weeks before 21 November 2005. Its format is simple. It exists mainly as a place where people can register that they will be observing No Music Day and to document how, and why, they will be doing so. I did next to nothing to promote the site, but it seemed to hit a nerve and a few thousand people stumbled upon it and many left their comments. This year I wanted to raise awareness a notch. I approached the art radio station ResonanceFM (resonancefm.com) to see if they would observe it. They were eager for the challenge