Going For Baroque

In the history of journalism, amateur or otherwise, how many articles do you think used this post's play on words? I would guess probably somewhere in the thousands. Probably in the high 20th percentile of all articles written about baroque - anything.

Mainly every article I write about Beirut would probably use the same title. Bombs over Beirut doesn't seem PC enough, and Beirut Cause probably wouldn't only suffice in the event that Zac Condon decided to start a fundraising organization. Which, coming from New Mexico, and knowing of his latin american influences in his work (see March of the Zapotec bro) is not completely out of the question ...

But as usual I have strayed from the course which is holy wack a mole am I enjoying 'The Rip Tide' ... it's basically the album i've been waiting for all year. I mean, I almost always have my hopes up to find something new to really rev me up about music. A new band, a new sound, a new character emerging ... To an extent i would say EMA and Liturgy have provided those things for me this year.

But honestly who doesn't want that one album that draws you in like sweet butterscotch candy. You just can't stop listening to it. For whatever reason the songs recall familiarity and yet have a sense of creativity that shines. A great example from 2010 is the National's High Violet. They didn't reinvent themselves, they just took what they did best, and put together a great collection of The National songs.

On The Rip Tide you won't find anything Condon hasn't done before. But neither will you find anything to be disappointed about. The bread and the butter aka organs, trumpets, and accordians are all still front and center, along with Condon's sorrowful swoon which colors over the brash trumpeteering with melodic control.

Staple tracks like Goshen and East Harlem support some delving into more pop friendly sounding tracks like Santa Fe. Even songs that tend to start slow like Payne's Bay end in classic bombast and crash for which Beirut is best known for.

I think there's a strong comparison to the King is Dead, whereby a classic group put together a an album that was unmistakably their own. But what puts the Rip Tide ahead is it's ability to not seem as complacent. While I find the King is dead enjoyable, it by no means stretches the songwriting chops of that excellent band.

Perhaps it's best metaphorical comparison is it's own name: The Rip Tide. It's gripping, and dragging, and pulling you out to sea, and just when it's got you it gently lets go.

3 bro thumbs up bro.

understanding the debt ceiling deal

Let me first start by saying most of these thoughts were conjured after reading an op-ed piece in the buffalo news by Rod Watson . It was critical not of just one side or the other, but the whole group in general. And while some fingers were pointed, I thought they were deservedly so.

While I can mostly chalk the results of the debt ceiling debate up to 'stupid americans voting for glamorized politicians' (aka tea party members) and politics in general being more about wealth, fame, and greed over actually trying to look out for the interests of your constituents I still get physically uncomfortable thinking about the absurdity of this system in general. This article in particular brought up a few actually that made me turn into 'hindsight man' , for example...

So Obama thought that if he didn't blink that the debt ceiling wouldn't raise and put the American economy in peril that the American people would place the blame on him. I think he shouldn't have blinked. I mean the things he had to compromise are idiotic. Why is the understanding that the taxes that would have gone in place would affect You or Me? Why is there the perception that these taxes would be 'new', when in actuality it would just RESTORE tax revenues that were reduced under Bush ... remember him? Remember what a slimy shit bag he was, and how all his rich buddies got a free pass on paying taxes? Obama (and the dems) were just trying to set the playing field back to even.

Another point raised is how the spending cuts implemented are going to cost the US 1.2 million jobs. Again, the whole reasoning the GOP has for the tax breaks for the rich is that by decreasing their tax burden they will transfer these saved funds into investment in the US economy.

I wish I knew a sharp economist. I would love to know the # of jobs saved by not cutting spending, and the number of jobs created by these tax breaks. I'm going to bet the tax break money just goes into their bank accounts, and makes the bottom line all that much fatter.

To make a more close to home point the three most prominent area billionaires latest purchases to "help" the american economy 1.Terry Pegula - Bought the sabres, raised ticket prices ... seems to hurt the economy, where are the added jobs? 2. Bob Rich - Bought a european soccer club ... so his money is actually being spent on foreign investments, and again not doing a damn thing for the american economy 3. Grandpa Ralph - 2.5 million grant to improve the Pro Football HOF. Actually, in a way, there are going to be construction workers on that dime, but still ... I'm pretty sure 2.5million could have gone towards a much more economically sound investment in the american working class.

So basically my proposition is what if Obama stuck to his guns? Maybe he sacrifices the next election and the US economy crumbles ... when you only make 20k a year you have a lot less to lose than someone making 20mil a year. And a lot less to earn back. The whole thing is preposterous. Logic dictates that the debt ceiling should have been raised. If it wasn't blame should have been placed not on the people who insisted on using reason, but instead on the shit heads that held the american economy hostage in the name of helping the wealthy continue to skirt their responsibility.

And while I believe that Obama truly thought he had no choice, for the first time I don't actually think he is the right choice to lead the country. We need someone that will stand up, even if it means having a strong stomach, and the knowledge that you might commit political suicide. While open and honest dialogue is much appreciated, sometimes just taking one for the team is much more worth it.

I've decided ...

I've decided to become a full time sports blogger. Seems like a relatively easy gig, and it really takes no expertise. Plus, it always ends up in long term job security and wealth.

So I'll save the diatribe on pro athletes, money, greed, and how asinine the whole thing is, i mean how well compensated they are and how the people who provide that compensation are seemingly never made to be the most important aspect of any sport's culture.

Instead I just want to rant about how I think the Eagles are going to totally suck this year. Everyone knows the best db's can't make up for a lack of a pass rush. Ask Donte Whitner. Also, Michael Vick might make some amazing plays that no other athlete in the NFL can make. But he's not a winner. Never has been, and I don't think he ever will be. The eagles will be fun to watch, but they will not win a super bowl. Sorry. Also, I'd put down some serious bank on the odds that Vick is injured and misses at least 25% of the season. Good luck with VY philly.

Can't cry for those fans though, the Phillies are STACKED... Ideally Hank Steinbrenner would make a phone call that went something like this "Hey Rub (Ruben Amaro Jr. phillies GM) how's it going? Listen, I'll trade you my team for your team straight up, whatdya think?"

Top 10 2011

About a month behind everyone else but here's my top 10 albums of 2011 in no order:

Bon Iver - ST

The Head and the Heart - ST

Tune-Yards - w h o k i l l

Liturgy - Aesthetica

Decemberists - The King is Dead

Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact

My Morning Jacket - Circuital

Panda Bear - Tomboy

The Psychic Paramount - II

Radiohead - King of Limbs

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

also I am enjoying the Thao and Mirah album more than I thought i would, Kaputt by Destroyer was pretty creative and enjoyable ... like this year's Ariel Pink or something. Also I only listened to the Cults album twice, but it was pretty bubble gum pop enjoyable. There were a shit ton of disappointing albums this year including DCFC, Black Lips, and the Dodos.

Looking forward to the Beirut album a lot. And I just got the new Washed Out album which i think will just be a good album to put on in the background when you're doing pretty much anything. I didn't get why Toro y Moi was so well received, but then again I didn't like his first album all that much either.

Also I think neon indian is putting out another album this year, and das racist has their first non-mixtape coming out which should be awesome.

I feel pretty out of the loop with the indie music scene these days so i'm sure i've probably missed some great albums. Looking at some of the other lists out there I can say i haven't listened to about 75% of the albums on the various lists.

sleep deprived

a result of not being able to sleep is the ridiculous amount of random pondering that instead filled my head.

this morning i woke up with all these thoughts about what the fuck is wrong with the world. and why no one can resolve anything. i basically newb'd the shit out my twitter account, taking to it like some sort of random internet genius. the truth is most of my ideas are crackpot and probably not very good ones at all.

the last part that I almost ranted about was the state of the nation. 140 characters weren't going to be sufficient. i suppose the reason why i've kept this blog open is for just this situation.

basically, i love america. i love living here. i am grateful and thankful to whatever randomness ended up with my consciousness existing in my current surroundings. maybe, as many others probably are guilty of too, I don't take time often enough to realize how lucky we are. we always have cnn and fox news to remind us how much worse it can be. when you're not in the hell holes that they glorify though it seems surreal, like maybe that is just something they're showing on tv to make everyone feel good about their current lot.

i start there because the rest of my thoughts are related to what a shame the current state of the nation has become. it's silly to think about the importance and power of money. people say money doesn't buy happiness, but clearly it buys everything else. if you're not happy without out everything else, then you probably won't ever be happy.

the whole h129 thing has me kind of down. it's like ... yes i do not want the government to be a competitor in the marketplace, that is totally unfair. but no, i don't want the marketplace run by greedy ass clowns who only care about the bottom line instead. I mean look at the charts. Clearly the communication cartels can offer better service than they currently are. and yet every time they release a statement about increased speed, that comes at a price. An unnecessary cost. And if you're not getting an upgrade, then you're just getting your bill restructured to try and help them save money, read: make MORE money. It's hard for me to believe anyone who is in charge of making these decisions is not wealthy beyond their possible needs.

it literally makes me sad to think about the reason for the american revolution. freedom from tyranny. freedom from government rule. a government ruled by the people. i can get behind all of this. but at this point clearly these principles are not controlling our interests. a new tyranny has taken over. it's greed, it's money, it's power. it's the exact same reasons i'd say we revolted in the first place.

it just seems like this country is no longer built for the betterment of all people. It's built for the betterment of those who are willing to step on others. and that is just kind of sad. it's highly doubtful i will ever live to see a real change to this structure. even worse is feeling powerless. like i can't actually make a difference. it's sad to know that i've given up.

so next time you see me shopping at walmart, or filling up my gas tank, or listening to my ipod just know that it's only because i've given up, not because i'm unaware of what an asshole i've become.

simple physics

well, technically this isn't about physics at all. as a matter of fact there are probably numerous scientific or statistical or proven theories that can/should/will be ignored for the purpose of this post.

i mean the thing is i work in generalities. what is a generality? i don't know. but i said i work in them which means i have a general idea, which may or may not be true, but as long as i think that it's true, then it is.

i will at least give you my 'general' belief in generalities so you can taunt me about this later. There are two key points:

1. All of my thoughts are based on the premise 'in general', or meaning on a greater than 50% experience. It basically is tied almost to a binary sense of reality. Like if something happens more than 50% of the time it might as well be 100% of the time in my head. To break down the context of every event that occurs would be, at least in my head, an inefficiency of the time allotted alive. So basically, or 'in general' i see things as black and white even though the reality of that is obviously not so.

2. I totally lost track of my train of thought, if i can remember my second point supporting my 'generalities' philosophy i'll be sure to add it later.

The real point of this post though is that I've come up with a fairly simple equation for helping someone to find good music.

The start of this whole thing relies on some unavoidable randomness. But after you leap over what i would call an obvious randomness factor you can actually figure out how to find quality indie rock music, at least in the current cultural context.

As far as other genres of music I can't really speak to that since I don't have much experience so I'm not sure if my equation would support someone whose tastes are more strongly aligned with different genres.

the gist of the equation goes like this:

1. debut albums (EP's or LP's) are still completely random. You cannot tell, regardless of hype of how well a band's debut album will be until you listen to it.

2. any other album then follows: If the current/new non debut album by a band is immediately hailed as publicized as the band's best album the actual best album will be the one prior to it. This is very closely tied to elitism or hipsterism, but i believe that is a simple way of writing off more statistically relevant facts. Declaring elitism is a simple way of not having to pronounce yourself subject to mass appeal.

In a way it makes sense. A great album allows for more people to listen and enjoy. The album after said great album allows those who thoroughly enjoyed the great album to heap the praise they've been unable to do on a scale they feel is the act's great album truly deserved.

Here's a theoretical situation: Band A releases an album that for the purpose of this argument is their best album (lets just call it great). But no one really knows Band A. They get a few good reviews, but for the most part Band A is not well known and while their album is amazing the fact that it's not really being pushed due to lack of existing fan base / critical acclaim.

In simple mathematical terms: Lets say 10 people know about it, and they tell their 5 friends. There are now 50 friends. But the 5 friends didn't find out about the album lets say for a year. So even though we have 40 more fans of the album the time when they first experienced it is staggered over time and therefore the social awareness is generally a small, slowly growing result.

Now lets say it's been a few years and Band A is ready to release album 2. There are now 200 fans. The album comes out and it's good. This is the first time 190 people are allowed to show their pride in Band A, Album 1, and now Album 2. Do you think they hype machine is going to be a little louder this time?

Do you think there is a chance for an unreasonably high review for the new album? I would say if they band has never had critical success before on a large scale there's a good chance even if Album B is shitty it's probably going to be very highly rated, even if in fact the previous album is better.

The downside to this theory is that it only works in one context which is The Album Prior to the Album with the Highest Critical Praise Out of an Entire Discography Is The Musician(s) best actual album.

There is no working calculation after that. Once critical and social acceptance has been reached it's back to being a very random experience. Though I would say IN GENERAL the album after the highest critical praise is not as well regarded / accepted / enjoyed ... for lack of a better word it's usually not very good ... in any context.