Glorybee

I am recovered. Celebrate! with Glorybee!

Glorybee - Atlantic Dance Panic

My favorite track from GYB: The First Power. You can get it at their website and also from CD Baby. DO IT!

White Bitch

Though I was too sick to catch the set last night at Big Top, I did spin the White Bitch record, I Can't Find My Way Around, a few times.

White Bitch - Pick Up the Phone

This is the first and best track from the record. It begins somewhere between the BeeGees and the Doobie Brothers - I was surprised how different most of the songs sound on the record than they do live. A lot quieter on the record. Anyway, I have no idea where you can buy this one, either, and as far as I know the White Bitch doesn't have a website or anything. If anyone knows, leave it in comments or email me.

Sick Sick Sick

I'm totally sick right now and I don't really feel up to posting anything big. Plus, YouSendIt isn't working well. Bah. Anyway, new shows up on the calendar, including Vietnam, who came here last December with DFA1979 and were awesome. Another terrifying show for Twiropa. Why why why?

Soon, hopefully, I shall get some more New Orleans music up. On the list is Glorybee, Chef Menteur, Potpie, and, my favorite, White Bitch. Which reminds me: White Bitch tomorrow night! With Ray Bong and the Bongoloids at Big Top. Starts at 10p. Come out.

As per the masthead

...here is a track by a band from New Orleans. I mentioned a couple of days ago the Fantastic Ooze, but I didn't get a chance to make it out to their show with Consortium of Genius. I did pick up their record from the station, though, and gave it a couple of spins.

the Fantastic Ooze - Legs That Feel Like Philadelphia

This is my favorite track from their record In Your Brain. Basically, they've got a bit of the Zappa feel, or maybe a more accomplished early Flaming Lips. I can't tell how ironic the vocalist is - sounds like a goodly amount. Anyway, the drums on this track are great, as is most everything else. I don't know where exactly you can buy this record, but if you go to the band's website and drop them an email, I'm sure they'll tell you or sell it to you.

Coachella speculation

The big deal about Coachella this year is that either New Order or David Bowie might be playing. However, Goldenvoice isn't announcing anything yet, and there's no word when they will. The only bands that I know of to confirm are Rilo Kiley and M83, who confirmed, strangely, on the back of a sticker that came with my recent order from Aquarius Records.

Pollstar, as usual, has a rumors list up and going, but it doesn't include M83, so who knows how reliable it is. If you didn't want to search, also tipped are Franz Ferdinand, Nine Inch Nails, Iron and Wine (I don't really think that's likely, but we'll see), Bright Eyes, Jimmy Eat World (gross), Wilco (I'd say likely after they bailed last year), Death From Above 1979, and Dogs Die in Hot Cars, amongst others.

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I received in the mail today the following albums, which may or may not make it here in some form:

Thalia Zadek - Trust Not Those In Whom Without Some Touch of Madness (Thrill Jockey, 2004)
Stars of the Lid - The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid (Kranky, 2001)
William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops I (2062, 2001)
Oren Ambarchi - Grapes From the Estate (Touch Music, 2004)

Oh, it's a feast. I'm looking forward to it.

Mardi Gras Motherfuckers/Demonic Penguins in My Sofa

Yes, last night was the first, raunchiest, parade of the Mardi Gras season. If I can get some pictures up here, I will. Everyone should experience the "Jieux for Cheesus" and "Turning Wad Into Wine - Praise the Load!" floats. In any event, in honor of the inexorable advance of Mardi Gras, I'm going to be posting some tracks by some of my favorite New Orleans area bands, for you to experience and, hopefully, purchase.

Mike Freemont - Animatronic Jesus

Mike Freemont - Ella Menner's Plea

New Orleans area hip-hop guy Mike Freemont (otherwise known as the main braintrust behind Sun Valley Deth Trap from Chalmette) released Sounds Created When Two Branes Collide, which has turned into the only local hip-hop that really strikes me. Mike draws from a pretty wide spectrum of avant-hip-hop/electronic music, falling somewhere in between Aphex Twin, Anticon, El-P and Kool Keith, depending on the track. Two of my favorites, "Animatronic Jesus" and "Ella Menner's Plea" are above. "Jesus" hews much closer to the low-budget Aphex Twin range of Freemont's skills, whereas "Ella" sounds a whole lot like Why?, except a lot better. Depending on where you drop the needle on this record, you're going to get a totally different opinion of Mr. Freemont, but the album as a whole is startlingly coherent. This is another record that I absolutely overlooked for most of last year. Definately one of the highlights of New Orleans music in 2004.

You can, and should, buy it here.

Paris Hilton, Joanna Newsom

I don't know whether to be impressed, terrified, or disappointed by this video for "Paris Hilton" by Mu. I really liked Afro Finger and Gel, still can't decide about this. Worth checking out though.

Also, go to Said the Gramophone and download Final Fantasy's cover of Joanna Newsom's "Peach, Plum, Pear", which was incidentally my favorite track from The Milk-Eyed Mender. It's pretty nice.

Radio show

Indeed, the time is nigh, and this morning I had my first radio programme of the new year. I'll be working with Luke Stobie, with whom I DJ'd (nominally) last semester.

Thursday mornings, 8a - 10a, pick us up on your drive to work/school/back home. As my playlists come back, I'll post them here.

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Also, Isis' Panopticon is supposedly metal, but I don't think it is. It's much too delightful to really be metal. I mean, metal is for greasy-haired engineering students, right? Well, with DFA1979, Tim Hecker, Corrupted, and Isis, it seems as if metal in 2004 made a big dent on my consciousness. I'm not going to post a full review of Isis, but I will say that if you like music, you'll probably like Panopticon. Hail Satan!

Europopmusik!

Fasten your beltseats!



Do it!

M.I.A. - "Sunshowers" single (XL)

As promised, here's the first bit of new music trickling in, this one from XL Records' most hyped new addition, Sri Lanka's M.I.A. Apparently, her new record is dropping on Feb. 22nd, and "Galang", her first single, has already hit pretty hard in the UK. She's drawing comparisons to the XL's other big UK player, Dizzee Rascal, if only in the kind of promotion push that XL's putting behind her.

I've heard a couple of tracks from the Piracy Funds Terrorism, Vol. 1 mixtape, and I liked a lot of it, even if I didn't get the names of the tracks. The "Sunshowers" single hits close to the top of that pile, but the real surprise is on the b-side, "Fire Fire", which is the best M.I.A. track I've heard and would've been my favorite hip-hop of last year had I heard it then. Like all of her successful stuff that I've heard, "Fire Fire" keeps it really fucking simple, with 1-2 (pause) 1-2 rhythms, a little high hat, some 1-note synth stabs and and occasional bass hit falling to the floor. It leaves room for her voice, which is the best part of an M.I.A. track - she's got a little bit of depth and timbre to it that a lot of female MCs lack. The accent is nice, too.

I also just picked up the "Galang" single from Insound, because XL was all sold out of it. However, Insound doesn't appear to carry the "Sunshowers" single, so you'll have to split up your purchases if you want both of them. Or just wait for her new album to come out.

On the other hand, if you can't wait, here's the 80s hip hop revivalism of the "Galang" video. As I get it, you get it.

Señor Coconut El Gran Baile con... (Emperor Norton, 1997)

As I'm tired from work, I'm not going to post much tonight; also, I should be recieving some new records to talk about soon, so no reason to fill space here with crap. Except for to tell you that, as I periodically do, I was going through some of my less-listened-to records and rediscovered this delightful gem. Señor Coconut, aka Atom Heart, aka Flanger, aka German producer Ewe Schmidt, is probably best known for his 2001 album of Kraftwerk via Esquivel covers under the same name as this record. By all means, if you own more than two Kraftwerk records, pick that one up (called El Baile Aleman). However, this record is much more musical than the aformentioned one. It's filled with Latin instrumentals, glitched-out and messed up in the clicks-and-cuts style (though, not as glitched out as, say, Prefuse). Even 8 years later, it still sounds great, which is something I can say about only a handful of electronic records.

And, as much as I hate to direct anyone to Amazon, you can find El Gran Baile here, as I can't figure out what the hell is up with the Tigersushi/Emperor Norton site and I don't know who else carries this record. But there's probably a good chance you can find it in a used bin somewhere.

Highlights:
Track 2: "Supertropical (Neo Tradicional)"
Track 7: "La Noche Cool (Cha Chambiento)"
Track 8: "Suavito (Jive Eclectico)"
Track 11: "4-D Cha Cha (Cha-Cha-Delic)"

I wound up taking the whole weekend off, despite my best intentions not to, because there was absolutely nothing going on. On the other hand, I did purchase a 1968 Gibson Medalist 4x10 amplifier, which I'm looking forward to toying with. However, the Ibanez UE305 footpedal I was attempting to purchase was withdrawn from my consideration randomly. I thought that was illegal on Ebay...

Whatever. A new show has been added - Ratty Scurvics tomorrow night at One Eyed Jack's. Also, the Elvis Costello show at House of Blues has apparently sold out.

If you've got a few minutes, maybe check out newish New Orleans area band the Fantastic Ooze. They've got a little Zappa-ish sound going on in a lo-fi sort of way. Not too bad. They're playing on the 22nd of this month at One Eyed Jack's with Consortium of Genius, who I have not heard.

If anything at all happens, it'll be put here.

It is a poor decision to use one's debit card on the internet

...because it's like play money.

In any event, enroute to my home, from Soul Jazz, The World of Arthur Russell and Sextet, the third album from A Certain Ratio - recently reissued. In addition, I visited Aquarius Records and picked up Oren Ambarchi Grapes from the Estate, William Basinski Disintegration Loops 1.1 and Stars of the Lid The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid. Within the next couple of days, we'll also be seeing 20 Jazz Funk Greats from Throbbing Gristle, Trust Not Those In Whom Without Some Touch of Madness by Thalia Zedek and the "Sunshowers" 7" from M.I.A. with Diplo. I should not be allowed to do these things.

I'm having trouble deciding what I'm most excited about listening to. I think it's either Arthur Russell or the Throbbing Gristle record. I really enjoy, and not in an ironic sort of way, the Second Annual Report, for reasons I can't really describe. My friend Adam absolutely despises TG, but his reasons are personal, not musical, in nature. Of course, Adam also hates Clouddead because he sides with El-P in the whole Anticon-Company Flow battle, so this isn't his first nonmusical musical decision. Anyway - TG - I could do without "Industrial Introduction", but absolutely love everything about the terrifying "Slug Bait - ICA", "Slug Bait - Live at Southampton", and, especially, the monumentally disturbing "Slug Bait - Live at Brighton", which compiles some lovely noise along with a newscast interviewing a man who, apparently, raped and murdered a ten-year-old. It's probably merely because I've listened to enough modern composition and attended a show at which Rubber O Cement played, but TG sounds quite melodic at times with their avant-garde noise; that is to say, they're certainly not as abrasive as Wolf Eyes. Fuck, the middle 5 minutes of the noise bit on A Ghost Is Born were a bit more abrasive than a lot of the stuff on Second Annual Report. Ah, progress. The bass line on "Slug Bait - Southampton" is a good groove, even.

I can't really make it all the way through "After Cease to Exist" - the soundtrack to the move of the same name, as it's essentially low-impact Throbbing Gristle. Luckily, the disc ends with "United", which feels like a kick in the balls after the rest of the record, as it's essentially an electropop song. Oh, how I laughed. Since 20 Jazz Funk Greats is their more "accessible" album, I wonder how I'll like it. I'm sure I'll have something good to say later.

Morrissey You Are The Quarry (Sanctuary/Attack)

This is a record that I mostly overlooked last year, because I couldn't bring myself to go buy it. I do enjoy the Smiths, and Morrissey himself on a certain level, but it wasn't until I went back and listened to "Everyday Is Like Sunday" from Viva Hate and "Asleep" from The World Won't Listen that I had any urge to listen to this album in totalé. It was Christmas before I picked it up, and early last week before I began to listen to it.

That said, I've noticed a bit of a trend in the public criticism of the latest drama-queen outing from Morrissey: "he's great but the music is hackery" or Morrissey apologists. In fact, Morrissey has always ventured a little bit closer to the lounge-singer than I think people were willing to admit, and has always been a classicist despite however "innovative" the Smiths may have been. (However, if "How Soon Is Now?" is anything, it's a "Johnny B. Goode" ripoff ran through a tremolo pedal.) On this album, Morrissey just seems to finally be fully embracing, and the critics seem to also be willing to embrace, his schmaltzy, Britain-via-LA style pop. Of course, those same people who are going to apologize for the music on this record will probably be lavishly praising the next Shins or Decemberists record for the music, which is perhaps a hair more innovative but far less interesting.

If there's one thing I think we can all do after 2004, is appreciate a good pop song, regardless of how played-out it may sound at first. After all, the best mainstream pop song of last year was just Timbaland-dancehall-by-Morricone-by-Aphex Twin. But it was good, nay, great. So, even if "Irish Blood, English Heart", "First of the Gang to Die", and "The World Is Full of Crashing Bores" are kinda rote modern rock fill in the blank, they're good at what they do, which is support Morrissey's voice and be catchy, just as "Toxic" made every attempt to obliterate its singer (and largely succeeded).

And while a lot of people are going to apologize for the music while praising Morrissey for releasing his first good album in over a decade, I'm going to go ahead and say that I do like it, to the tune of listening to it much more frequently than any other record I've bought over the past few weeks. Which just continues to remind me - it's been a really weird year in music.

Big news-day roundup hottness.

First up on the docket, Why, oh why, Interpol, did you agree to play Twiropa? Furthermore, why is Twiropa booking so many shows all of a sudden? They obviously don't give a shit about live music - at least not enough to make the mix listenable. I saw White Bitch and TV on the Radio and it was terrible - about half of White Bitch's mix was inaudible and TV on the Radio's set suffered from fluctuating vocal levels and poorly balanced guitars. Fuck, even Mermaid Lounge, with its old-ass setup, was able to provide a better mix. If Twiropa is going to become the venue of choice, then they'd better get their shit together. It's a nice looking space and, yes, they're possibly not as douchey as House of Blues, but they still need to have some consideration for those of us who appreciate being able to hear the music when we go to a show. Not much I can do about it, though.

On the other hand, Prefuse 73's new record looks hottttter than the center of the sun. El-P and Ghostface? Sweet. Could be a huge clusterfuck, but as nothing yet from the Herren camp has been, I'm definately looking forward to it. Plus, he said he had to cut out an hour of material to bring the album down to a releaseable length. Outtakes, anyone? Dropping March 22, with a new single in late Feb.

Also on the 22nd, the Decemberists' new record, Picaresque, gets released. It'll probably be inoffensively pleasant and everyone who hears it will like it. Then Colin Melloy will run for President along with the Shins and they'll carry the coasts and Nebraska. Will it be enough? Depends on Ohio. Chris Walla of DCFC fame will be producing the record. Or, rather, has already produced it.

Ah, well. The new WTUL DJ schedule comes up this weekend. I'll be posting my show time as soon as I've got it.

Skirting close to Hornsby territory.

First some news. The new New Order album is set to drop on March 28th in the UK, and in the states TBA on Reprise. I've heard them on the shortlist for Coachella, which would also make sense. Interestingly, the new record, Sing for the Sirens, was co-produced by John Leckie, the guy who did Radiohead's The Bends.

Also, from No Rock and Roll Fun, news that Mclusky have broken up. Fuck. Also, the Unicorns have called it quits "for the forseeable future". Oddly enough, I'm much more upset by the Mclusky news than the Unicorns. I really wanted to see them live.

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Now, a dose of Hornsbyism:

Recent books bought:
One World by Peter Singer
Watermark by Joseph Brodsky
Selected Works By Guillaume Apollinaire
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume
Identity in Democracy by Amy Gutmann
The Body in Pain by Elaine Scarry
The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt
Phenominology of Spirit by G.W.F. Hegel
The Foucault Reader
Nausea by J.P. Sartre
Selected Poems by George Oppen
"A" by Louis Zukofsky
Complete Poems by Basil Bunting
The Granite Pail by Loraine Nedecker
Complete Short Poetry by Louis Zukofsky
Positions by Jacques Derrida

Recent books read:
One World by Peter Singer
Watermark by Joseph Brodsky
Selected Works By Guillaume Apollinaire

Currently reading:
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume
Identity in Democracy by Amy Gutmann
The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt
Nausea by J.P. Sartre

I was wondering whether Giraffes? Giraffes! by Dr. and Mr. Doris Haggis-on-Whey would count, but I decided it didn't. Good book, though. Much reading and listening still to do, mostly with Mclusky Do Dallas in the background, if such is possible.

I remain confused about the state of the music industry

First of all, I'm back in New Orleans now, which doesn't really mean anything for you, unless you know me, in which case I'm either closer or farther away from you, depending on where you know me from.

But MSNBC has two articles about bands that, you'd think, they wouldn't have anything to say about. First of all, the Arcade Fire and, second of all, Bright Eyes. Actually, everyone except I, it seems, have weighed in on the Arcade Fire (it's not gonna happen now, either) and Bright Eyes has been showing up right between the Killers and Nelly on people's facebook.com profles. Indeed, with Modest Mouse, Franz Ferdinand, etc., it seems that 2005 could get even weirder for those of us who have been following "progressive" or "independent" or whatever for a while.

Could it have something to do with the fact that legal downloads finally outstripped CD single sales or that CD sales were up by 2.3% over 2003, even with increased downloading?

Maybe the big media corporations are finally figuring out that just because these artists' reputations generally have spread via online trading, downloading, show attendance, word of mouth, etc, doesn't mean that their CD sales are going to be hurt. In fact, it seems that downloads help sales. Imagine that. The Wilco debacle may have been the majors first turn-on to this idea, but it will probably take a while longer for them to actually adjust and begin taking the risk with some of the more adventurous albums - not just the Bright Eyes and Modest Mouses, proven sellers in "indie" circles.

Meh.

SubPop Singles Club

Holy shit!!

The entire SubPop Singles Club set of 45s has been put up for sale on Ebay. Last time I checked, with 5 days and about 13 hours left, it was going for about $4,500. According to the seller, he's even got multiple copies of some of the 45s in the different colors of issued vinyl.

So, yeah, if you've got what will probably amount to $10 - 15,000 to drop, go check it out. Even if you don't, it's still a pretty impressive thing to look at, as the seller's listed all the records with their B-sides and pictures on the Ebay site.

More JD Capitalization

This, from the BBC:

The life of late Joy Division singer Ian Curtis is to be made into a film, it has been announced.

The Manchester-based production is called Touching From A Distance, after a book by Curtis's widow Deborah which forms the basis for the film.

Music mogul Tony Wilson, who headed the record company Joy Division were signed to, will be co-executive producer.

I expect shit, but there's always a chance that the exploitative nature of this whole gig could churn out something impressive, like the Heart & Soul set from a couple of years ago. I have my doubts.

Also, the "Ghost | Glasgow" show that was listed on the sidebar for tomorrow night has been taken off, because I was misled. My impression was that the "Ghost" that was playing was the Japanese psych-rock band - which was why I was confused as to the lack of discussion about it. However, it turns out that it's simply local rap-rock. Totally glad I found that out.

Deathbomb Arc Records/Experimental Dental School

If I can say one good thing about the band Explogasm (and I could probably come up with two, if I really wanted to), it's that their connection to the Deathbomb Arc family has introduced me to some really good bands. For instance, one of the best singles of this year, in my opinion, was Captain Ahab's "The Canvas of Love", which was such a tasty piece of smoove jazz crap that I couldn't believe the song hadn't been written before. (Don't let the fact that the song is crap fool you. It's crap in the same way that Chinese restaurants open at 3am are crap - delightful, colon-devouring crap. Crap that you are thankful for.) Granted, the rest of his record, The Sex is Next, can't quite live up to those standards, but how much ironytronic music can?

Certainly not Explogasm themselves, who (sorry, Cap'n) are a month's worth of joke run out for about 2 years. What happens when you give some kids an ARP Odyssey and Cubase? "Ginebot 2004", that's what. Personally, I like "The Moving Units Stole My Haircut" and the other slowjam with the vocoders, but the next time I see some sort of blog that includes "No Pants, Just Stamos" on any sort of list is when I move to Sri Lanka and hope to get swept out to sea. However, LA eats that shit up with two spoons and a trough, which is part of the reason that I was hesitant to listen to LA-bred Ariel Pink earlier this year. Of course, he has nothing to do with Deathbomb Arc, and I don't know why I brought him up.

Deathbomb Arc, if you follow the link above, does have one of the most ingenious album covers I've seen in a long time (Child Pornography's The Beatles CD) and associations with such luminaries as Xiu Xiu and Animal Collective, as well as non-luminaries like the Mae Shi, whose Terrorbird was the worst record yet released on the 5RC label. They also alerted me to the presence of one of my favorite finds from this past year, Oakland-based Experimental Dental School. Klezmery, jazzy, punky, art-damaged, &etc., guitar-drum-and-organ trio. The title track from Hideous Dance Attack!!! made it onto my songs list and, if it didn't, then I forgot it and I should be spat upon. This album is great, and though the song titles are seething with art-school-irony, the music itself is handled roughly, damaged, taped back together and then recorded on salvaged BBC-reject tape just to make sure. So don't be fooled by the misspellings and excess exclamation points, they're merely there to connect with the San Francisco "Who can drink the beverage most indirectly proportionate to the size of his/her trust fund?" crewe. Mickey's in a can? You win!

But anyway, there's a moral behind all this, and that is this: many a talent is wasted in the service of irony, which must be handled delicately. Sure, you can sell out clubs in LA, but can you make a record you'd be proud to talk about with some asshole who has a blog that no one reads? No, no you can't. Not if you're wearing a penis on your head or using kitchen plates on top of briefcases to simulate turntable scratching. And here's the real shame: the shadowy mastermind behind all of Explogasm's tracks is actually a damn good musician and producer, which I only know because I used to be in a band with him (this isn't - good God - a namedrop, but rather an attempt to make it clear that I don't disparage the talent behind Explogasm, but rather the cocksocks out in front of it) and he produced several cuts on our record.

But make up your own mind. Explogasm and Experimental Dental School both have tracks available for download on their websites, both of which are pretty nice. Furthermore, who cares? Deathbomb Arc is cool, and one time I saw one person wearing a Deathbomb Arc shirt, which surprised me, because I didn't know anyone in New Orleans knew who they were. Then I realized it was a DFA1979 show and he probably didn't. But what a name, huh?

Will AG be the AG?

Tomorrow begins the confirmation hearings on Bush's appointment of Alberto Gonzales to the position of Attorney General. A lot has been made of the infamous "torture memo" that he shipped on up to the Bushies that, if it didn't directly lead to the Abu Ghraib and Gitmo incidents, then at least allowed the administration to continue to overlook them. Anyway, there has been some discussion of the whole thing over at Newsthoughts, notably here. I'm not sure if I'm going to watch it or not, but it'll be interesting to see whether Bush's political capital can hold up better than the dollar.

But provided that AG is confirmed as AG, I've got the soundtrack for the next 4 years at Gitmo lined up: Coil's Horse Rotorvator. With tracks like "The Anal Staircase", "Penetralia", and "The First Five Minutes After Death", not to mention the vaguely little-kid-in-a-minaret-sounding "Babylero", it seems as if it was almost tailor-made for the experience.

...measure the extent/of our dizzying decent/down the anal staircase./The anal staircase.

Shows, Music for 18 Musicians

Just in case you haven't noticed, the New Orleans Shows sidebar has been updated. I try to update it twice a week - culling from different sources. Actually, a lot of the info comes from NOLA DIY, but since they don't post shows that are at House of Blues, I figure that a little overlap isn't a bad thing. But they have a lot more posted over there, I just sort of selectively choose the stuff that I might want to go to; so if you're looking for a complete list, they're still the better place to go to.

Also, if you know of a show that is coming up, or have a show that you're playing somewhere that you think fits somewhat with the format of this site, let me know and I'll probably post it.

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Other than that, I have very little. I'm still trying to absorb the Nonesuch version of Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich. Basically, it's a much more closely-mic'd recording. On the one hand, you can clearly differentiate the instruments, especially the vocals, as opposed to the ECM recording from 1978 (I think...) where everything was much more blended. From what I've read, the difference is that Nonesuch specifically commissioned the 1997 performance for a recording, and so mic'd it differently than the ECM version. In any event, it's more fun to listen to in a lot of ways...having heard the ECM version, it's nice to be able to hear where every sound originates. A lot of the mystery of the piece winds up being lost to clarity, though. What really first struck me about the ECM recording, which was the first one I heard, was the mystery in the seemingly amorphous motion of the sounds. The (what I now recognize as) bass clarinets and cellos literally came out of nowhere and floated down into through the mix. On the Nonesuch version, you can almost hear the breathing of the musicians, it seems, even through the multilayered composition. It's impressive, but ultimately makes the listen much more academic, I think.

I like this version - my ECM recording was flawed and I couldn't play "Section IIIA", so I trashed it in favor of this one. I still maintain, though, that if you're looking to get into this amazing composition for the first time, that the ECM recording is superior.

"Pulses" (the first) at 5:02 remains one of my favorite musical moments ever.

Tsunami Nationalism

Having given my $40 to Red Cross International and my guilt thus assuaged, I felt like I could watch tsunami coverage on TV again today. As is my custom, I flipped between CNN and Fox to make sure that I could be both outraged by the obscene bias (Fox) and spineless pandering (CNN) that characterizes cable news. The tsunami, though, has brought out the true characteristics of both networks and shown me, once again, why I trust CNN more.

While Fox News has not, for one moment, shown anything regarding the tsunami that does not feature:
a) American soldiers
b) how Americans really are generous
c) sensationalistic "disaster" video footage
d) George W. Bush
e) American soldiers

CNN has risen to the occasion with truly global coverage. Today alone, I have seen:
a) fundraising for a Sri Lankan orphanage
b) a 15-minute interview with Sri Lanka's UN Ambassador
c) Scandinavian mourners
d) not a single American soldier

Small favors, eh? Fox also decided to do a feature on how this generation of young Americans are more in debt than any generation before them (Fox anchor: It's their fault! Guest: Actually, college is really expensive now, the government doesn't issue as many grants as it used to, and entry-level positions don't pay as well as they used to. Fox anchor: And they have credit cards!), which was just as asinine as their coverage of South East Asia.

Now, CNN still has more than its fair share of asshats (Tucker Carlson, Paul Begala, Robert Novak, Lou Dobbs, Judy Woodruff, Paula Zahn, I'm looking at you, asshats), but at least it can recognize the greatest disaster of at least a decade as global in scope and devastating on a massive scale, even if it doesn't hit America. So, while Fox does another "Danger: Could a Tsunami Maybe Hit America's Heartland?" (quick answer: no, the people-who-vote-on-the-basis-of-fear have less to be afraid of than the people-who-vote-on-the-basis-of-bushenfruede) I'll be checking the Amazon totals for Red Cross donations through their site. In a little less than a week, Amazon.com has already raised almost what Bush pledged in the first 4 days!

Most generous nation on the Earth my ass. For now, it's Japan.

CONTORT YRSELF soundtrack for today: The Nels Cline Singers Instrumentals - Not a singer in the group, just fantastic L.A.-based avant-jazz guitarist Nels Cline accompanied by contrabass, drums, and some light electronics. A delicious record with sonic devastation and balm. This record was released in 2002, but he released another one this year, The Giant Pin that got a song on the 2004 songs list (Bright Moon). Instrumentals is a better record all around (even just for tracks "A Cause for Concern" and the staggeringly beautiful "Harbor Child"), but Nels has been busy recently what with his touring the world with Wilco. Not just for jazz freaks.