Heartache With Hard Work

Another Fuck You Song – Against All Authority

So Burris is going to be seated. Ugh. I know there isn’t really a legitimate reason to refuse him, but it just feels terrible. If it weren’t enough that he was appointed by Blagojevich, there’s also the clear demonstration that he is willing to put his own personal benefit above petty little things like the principles of fairness and good governance, or the Democratic Party for that matter – as evidenced by his willingness to accept the appointment. Beyond that, there was the race-baiting of his effort to get seated, which is all the more galling because I am so completely behind the idea that the Senate is a retrograde institution badly in need of color and gender (and sexual) diversity.

All I can say is, Democrats in Illinois should get ready to beat him in the 2010 primary and put this whole sordid affair behind us.

Light of Love – Music Go Music

Music Go Music are from Los Angeles, but I’m not going to hold that against them, particularly since they sound far more like they’re from Sweden via Motown. While some of their other tracks delve far more deeply into the Abba oeuvre, this one sounds far more like a lost 60s era girl group single just itching for some top 40 radio play. As if all the rest weren’t enough, they’ve got their “whoa whoa whoa”s down to an art form.

I came to them late in the year so didn’t get much of a chance to listen in detail. But so far they’re entire output is two singles, so here’s hoping for a full album that treads on the same territory as this track.

You Can’t Sexy Dance To Punk Rock – The Riot Before

This is a song to get you all hot and bothered. It’s got that gritty snarl you’d expect from Against Me! or The Lawrence Arms. And beneath that there’s a pulsing bit of punk rhythm like you might get from…well…Against Me! or The Lawrence Arms.

I heard about The Riot Before during that mad rush of year-end lists and recommendations that suddenly present me with dozens of albums I want to check out (this one courtesy of Can You See the Sunset…). So I picked up Fists Buried in Pockets, and while there are some weak moments, on the whole it comes across very well, walking the (sometimes fine) line between Americana and punk.

I know they probably get sick of being compared to Against Me! but there’s really no way to avoid it. Which is not a bad thing. It’s alright to sound a little derivative as long as you’re putting a lot of work into writing quality songs. Which they do here in spades. These are not a few throwaway punk-by-numbers tracks – the thought and effort are apparent in every little drum fill, in the rousing choruses, and in the lyrics which contain a great deal more complexity than you’d ever expect.

Zolpidem – The Sinister Turns

Few records have stuck with me as well as the EP from The Sinister Turns (one of my favorite albums of 2007). It’s only five songs long, but each one is among my most listened songs of the past couple years. They are beautiful, funny, intelligent, and full of enough pop charm to make the even the hardest heart blush. As such, I’m baffled about why they don’t have an absolutely huge following.

They went on hiatus while sorting out band rearrangements, but are back and will be recording new songs in the next few months. In the meantime, if you’re in Boston, they’ll be playing a couple shows. First on January 30th in Cambridge at the All Asia Cafe with The Bynars and Michael Dylan and the Sleepwalkers. Second on February 8th in Boston at Midway Cafe with The Zookeepers, Koalala, and Gertler’s Law. Plus, they’re playing a show as part of a film shoot in Cambridge at the Quincy Cage on January 16th, apparently. If you’re in the area, check them out and experience some of the finest energetic pop this side of the first Beulah album.

If January is any indication, 2009 might be a very good year for music. I’ve heard a number of demos from Vanessa Peters’ new album (coming out in a couple weeks) and they’re uniformly amazing. The stuff out from Asobi Seksu sounds fantastic. Plus, there’s a new Decemberists album in the works – and while I’m a little worried it’ll turn out to be bloated and overdone, the next less-than-good record put out by Colin Meloy will be his first. So I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Beyond that, there’s a record that has already asserted itself as my favorite of the year so far. The band is Purplespace, and the record is called A Tiny Little Spark. They’re a side project of Starring Me who I described a few months back as making “music almost too pretty for words.” That applies pretty well here, too. Vaguely shoegaze, just a bit electronic, gauzy dreampop – this is music that makes you want to stare at the stars…

Kaleidoscope – Purplespace

You can hear a few more tracks here, or pick up the whole record at their myspace. If the rest of the songs are anywhere close to as good as the ones I’ve heard so far, you’re likely to get a more complete review later on. In the meantime, enjoy this songs and maybe pick up their first record at eMusic.

As with many of my good recommendations, this one comes via Hits in the Car.

Ashamed – Deer Tick

My best of 2008 list featured a number of folk-driven (dare I say, Dylan-esque) acts. Here’s another one which missed making the cut, but nevertheless contains a number of very fine down-home touched and nasally-vocal songs. Deer Tick is really just John McCauley, just 20 years old, though you wouldn’t guess it from the way this record sounds. War Elephant has the feel of someone who has been on the road for years and see his fair share of misplaced desires, dirty bars, and empty highways.

At 14 tracks, it’s a bit longer than necessary, producing a few trips into nonessential generic indie-influenced alt-country or into tracks that wish they had been written by Tom Waits. The second half is particularly susceptible to this problem, with only “Diamond Rings 2007” feeling like it belongs in the same class with the first eight tracks. However, on the good tracks (“Dirty Dishes” for example), you can hear every bit of the pain and sadness. And there are few finer songs along these lines than the opener “Ashamed” which trundles along a lightly-picked guitar line until the final twenty seconds when the drums enter for just a second: as if only to show you what you can never quite touch.

I Kissed a Banquet – Katy Perry vs. Bloc Party

Helping to convince myself that “I Kissed a Girl” isn’t in fact as terrible a song as it seems – and thus easing my guilt for liking it so much. Mash-ups aren’t really my thing, but occasionally there’s one that captures the best elements from two different songs, and by combining them, produces something quite amazing.

This is one of those occasions. Remember when Bloc Party used to sound like this? Those were good days…

I’m back from LA, been to my first couple classes for the term, and am ready to get back to blogging. Here’s some tidbits, things I’ve been thinking about, some links, and a song…

* One thing that drives me absolutely up the wall is the unnecessary use of quotation marks. Like when you see a sign that says we “care” about your business or something. Well, I’m in luck, because it turns out there’s a snarky blog that collects such images. Head over to The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotations Marks for all that you can handle.

* Just in case anyone is wondering, I’d vote for: Rickey Henderson, Bert Blyleven, Tim Raines, Alan Trammell, Mark McGwire, and Tommy John. I wouldn’t have a huge problem with Dawson, but it’ll be pretty annoying when Rice makes it in this year.

* I made vegan spaghettios last night. The key is using lots of onions, lots of nutritional yeast, and just the smallest amount of ghost chile to give it some serious kick.

* I’m very excited about the new Springsteen album (Working on a Dream, due January 27th). That said, I’m pretty annoyed at his selling an unnecessary “new” greatest hits album and doing so exclusively through Wal-Mart. Now, I don’t quite share the absolute hatred of Wal-Mart felt by many folks on my end of the political spectrum – I can see the value in providing cheap goods for consumers who might otherwise not have a lot of options. And while I personally don’t shop there, I’m not going to get all high and mighty about it. That said, it’s not like Wal-Mart is a shining beacon for the dispossessed or anything. Even if they do offer some advantages, they clearly leverage their might to do a ton of crappy things. So, to sum up, selling your records there: fine, whatever. Making an exclusive deal with them to sell a pointless record: WTF, Boss?

* The 11th Doctor. I’m skeptical. The guy is younger than I am. And while I don’t think casting of The Doctor is something that needs to be guided by “political” considerations, it sure would have been nice to see a non-white or a woman in the role. Still, they did a great job picking Tennant, and most of the things that have irritated me about the show in the past season or so have come from Russell T Davies, who’s no longer involved, so we’ll have to wait and see before I can really pass judgment.

* I never really got into iLiKETRAiNS (in part, I have to admit, because of the stupid name), but this recent track from The Christmas Tree Ship EP is making me change my mind. It’s everything that post-rock is supposed to be: rocking you to sleep in one moment and bursting with life and energy in another.

South Shore – iLiKETRAiNS

100 Resolutions – The Lawrence Arms
In The New Year – The Walkmen
New Years – Asobi Seksu
2006 – Hello Saferide
My Horoscope Said It Would Be a Bad Year – Beulah

2008 had its ups and downs. On the one hand, we elected Obama and got the ball rolling for a whole host of policies and agendas long past due. On the other, Prop 8 passed, the economy is in free fall, and we wasted yet another year that could have been devoted to starting the long effort to move away from fossil fuels.

In terms of music, 2008 was a good, if not world-beating, year. I’m already pretty excited about some new albums, including a new record from Vanessa Peters and one from Asobi Seksu.

And from a personal perspective 2008 was one of the very best years of my life. Hands down.

Anyways, thanks for reading everyone. If I’ve counted correctly, I think this is the 600th post here, actually. I never would have anticipated that when things started three years ago. I appreciate the audience for my various ramblings, and love any feedback you’ve got to offer.

In case you missed them at the time, here’s some highlights from my last year of posting:

Top 25 albums of 2008
Top 40 songs of 2008
Review of Frightened Rabbit’s Midnight Organ Fight
Review of The Gaslight Anthem’s The ’59 Sound
Review of Caithlin De Marrais’ My Magic City
My razorbloodz post that got picked up by NY Magazine
Thoughts about Obama’s victory
Taking change seriously: politics in the era of Obama

See y’all in the new year…

Matt Yglesias:

It’s weird for the Senate to get holier-than-thou about this given that one sitting senator is a family values advocate with a taste for hookers and that there was a bipartisan love-in staged on the occasion of Ted Stevens, convicted felon, departing from the Senate. If these guys can get weepy about Stevens, surely they can handle the vague air of impropriety hanging around Burris.

It’s not weird in the slightest. This appointment was made by someone who has been caught on tape trying to sell the very seat in question. Even if you think personal sex lives should constitute a legitimate case for expulsion, you’d still have to admit there’s a massive difference in both degree and kind between these two cases. Furthermore, the Senate was fully prepared to expunge Stevens. His colleagues paying tribute to him after it was clear he had been removed through less catastrophic means has nothing to do with their willingness to kick him to the curb if it had been necessary – left-wing blog freakout on this issue notwithstanding.

On another note, how embarrassing is the attempt to turn this Burris appointment into a battle over race? Obviously Blagojevic is the primary villain in all this, but if you’re Burris (accepting the offer) or Rush (fulminating about the refusal to seat Burris as an attempt to “lynch” him), how exactly can you look at yourself in the mirror this morning?

It’s going to be aggravating beyond belief if this whole ridiculous mess makes people so angry at the Democrats that the voters go red in 2010 simply out of anger at all this.