Of Terrorism and the Culture of Fear

Thanks to the combined efforts of “the terrorists”, the news media, and the Bush administration, it appears that we are becoming a nation of trembling Chicken Littles frightened by our own shadows.

I just came across this AP news story by way of Boing Boing, which I will use to illustrate my point.

Basically, here’s what happened:

A Connecticut teacher thought she was alone in the school building. Two teenagers and a custodian, also thinking they were alone in the building began singing “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses over the PA system. Upon hearing the lyric

You know where you are?
You’re in the jungle baby
You’re gonna die

the teacher loses her mind, and fearing for her life, barricades herself in a room then notifies the authorities. Six troopers and three police dogs show up and the kids are handcuffed until the “investigation” reveals that there was no threat or danger.

Now honestly, I can undestand how that would startle, even frighten a person, but come on! Surely most rational people would immediately recognize it for exactly what it was; kids goofing off.

Similarly, apparently all it takes is a “suspicious package” or an errant piece of pipe to fling an entire community into mass-hysteria. Recently our local news reported that a man had found what he thought might be a pipe-bomb in his garage. As you can imagine, the response was immediate and overwhelming. With the help of all manner and sorts of high tech equipment, the bomb squad determined that the “device” didn’t contain any explosives. But even after this discovery, they (the reporters and law enforcement) continued to refer to it as a “pipe bomb”.

Uh, excuse me, but isn’t it the addition of explosives that makes it a “pipe bomb”? Without something that goes “boom”, it seems to me that all you really have is a pipe.

The sad thing is, as society becomes further indoctrinated into the culture of fear, this type of incident will become more commonplace and, I’m afraid, eventually accepted.

Of Hippies and Musical Serendipity

The other day I was listening to John Prine’s ‘’Fair and Square'’ CD (a great CD which I highly recommend, by the way) in the car on the drive home from work. As I stopped at a stop sign a man came around the corner pushing a baby stroller.

This guy looked like he could be the guitar tech for the Doobie Brothers. I’m talking early 1970’s-pre-Michael-McDonald here people!

Anyway just then John Prine hit the “Lord, this world will make you crazy” refrain in “Crazy as a Loon“. Not missing a beat I sang along:

“I believe that hippie stole that baby…”

As always, I laughed at my cleverness all the way home.

My New Musical Fixation

Back in October of last year I saw the band ‘Brazilian Girls‘ perform on The Late Show with David Letterman. I was really impressed with them, great music coupled with an innovative and arresting stage show (bordering on performance art), but somehow still managed to promptly forget all about them.

So anyway, this past Sunday I was watching A&E’s ‘Breakfast with the Arts’ and guess who was on? Brazilian Girls! Let me pause a moment to explain one thing, “Brazilian Girls” is just the name of the band. There is only one girl, Sabina Sciubba, who is drop-dead gorgeous, but is not Brazilian, hailing instead from Italy and Germany. The 3 guys in the band (Didi Gutman, Aaron Johnston, and Jesse Murphy) are also not Brazilian, nor are any of them girls. Anyway, they’ve become my new musical obsession and I can’t wait to get both of their CD’s.

Here’s their video for “Jique” which Sabina sings in English, Italian, French, and German (by my count). The title, “Jique”, is apparently a word of her own invention.

You can find videos, wallpapers, and lots more on their website, including the aforementioned Letterman and “Breakfast with the Arts” appearances.

That’s How They (USPS, UPS, DHL, FedEx, et al.) Get You

Back on May 9th I ordered a hard to find CD (Together at the Bluebird Cafe - Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark) through an “Amazon Marketplace Seller”. The confirmation email said that they would ship my CD by the 11th. The 23rd rolled around and still the CD hadn’t shown up, so I decided to drop them an email and see what was up. They promptly emailed me back saying:

Hello Greg,

thanks for your mail.

We already shipped your order, please remember that shipping from Germany to the USA may take 5 to 15 working days.

kind regards,

Sonja Foelsch

Oh!
I wrote back:

My apologies, I didn’t realize (or had forgotten) that it was being
sent from Germany. Thanks for the quick response.

Greg

As I sent my reply, I laughed to myself, “Of course, that means it will come tomorrow.”
It did. They always do! I can’t count the times I’ve gotten impatient while awaiting a package, emailed the sender, then had the package arrive the next day. What’s the moral to this story?
Should I:

• Be more patient, or;
• Get impatient sooner, thus expediating the package’s arrival?

I wonder.

Top 10 Live Albums

In the spirit of John Cusack’s Character, Rob Gordon, in High Fidelity (itself a worthwhile piece of cinema and recommended viewing), I have compiled my list of the Top Ten Live Rock Albums. While I share John/Rob’s obsessive desire to make lists, I find I can’t seem to limit mine to just the “Top Five”, Letterman’s “Top Ten” format suits me better.

Without further ado, here they are, in no particular order (mostly).

• Warren Zevon - Stand In The Fire
  Finally available on CD after all these years, this one is not to be missed. Take Warren’s songwriting genius, throw in an inspired, manic performance and top it off with with a stellar back-up band and what do you have? The Greatest Live Album, Ever!

  If your tastes lean more toward Warren accompanying himself on 12-string or piano, Learning to Flinch is a sonic masterpiece as well and might just be the cure to what ails you.

• KISS - Alive
  The greatest stage show in rock and roll, brilliantly captured and preserved in all its bombastic, fire-breathing, blood-spitting, rocket-shooting guitar glory.
• Ian Hunter - Welcome to the Club
  Most of what I wrote about “Stand In The Fire” applies here as well. We’ll call this one the best of the rest.
• The Kinks - One for the Road
  The Kinks at the very pinnacle of stadium-rocking Kinkdom, what more could you want?
• Lou Reed - Rock and Roll Animal
  Lou strips these songs of their pretty Velvet Underground veneers and presents them in true, snarling, sneering rock and roll style! Kickin’ ass and takin’ names!
• BB King - Live in Cook County Jail
  Not a rock album, per se, but this album belongs on this list. Listen to the man, consider the men…
• The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!
  The self-appointed “Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World” at the peak of their live prowess.
• Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
  You could argue that The Name of This Band is Talking Heads is a better live Talking Heads album, but Stop Making Sense gets the nod for the great concept, as well as for also being one of the greatest concert movies ever, too.
• The Who - Live at Leeds
  Worth the price of admission for that version of Magic Bus alone, stellar!
• The Band/Various Artists - Last Waltz
  The Band’s legendary 1976 All-Star farewell concert. Featuring performances/farewells by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, and Muddy Waters. One incredible night! Do yourself a favor, If you don’t already own it, get the DVD, too.

So, what are your top five/ten albums? Any genre; just try to run a common thread around them. Share away, the comments await!

One More Nightwatchman Video

Here he is playing “House Gone Up In Flames” on Jimmy Kimmel Live (4/25).

I’ll try to make this the last one for awhile, but I’m not promising anything.

Countdown to The Nightwatchman’s “One Man Revolution”

If you’ve been here before, and you’ve been paying attention, you know that I’m really excited about the pending album release by The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello’s alter-ego).
That release date (April 24) is almost upon us! Run! Go pre-order it from Amazon now! (I have.) The Nightwatchman will be performing on Jimmy Kimmell Live on April 25, so be sure to set your TiVos for that.

In the mean time, enjoy this trio of Nightwatchman videos:

This last one is more a slide-show set to music, but still very much worth your while.

Speaking of Amazing Acoustic Music

Do yourself a favor, buy or download Rodrigo y Gabriela’s eponymous CD. When I saw them on “The Late Show with David Letterman” back in December, I immediately went to eMusic to see if it was available there. It was, I downloaded it, burned a disc, and it’s been in heavy rotation in the car CD player since. If you don’t like this CD there’s something wrong with you!

Just to tie things together, here’s a (tenuous) Tom Morello connection. On April 29th they’re playing the Coachella Festival; also playing Coachella this year? The reunited Rage Against the Machine!

Here’s the aforementioned Letterman appearance. The song they’re playing is “Diablo Rojo”; enjoy.

The Nightwatchman, part 2

The article I referenced before mentioned a few of the songs to be on the upcoming CD, but they didn’t mention “Home of the Brave”, which is a particular favorite of mine. I dare say that I was far from the only person at ‘The Vogue‘ in Indianapolis who had goose-bumps throughout his performance, but this song in particular really spoke to me.

Home of the Brave
Tom Morello

Fred Hampton went to heaven
On a mattress soaked in blood
At twenty-one his every word
Set fire to the neighborhood
On the bed he held her tightly
His bullet riddled wife
One hundred deadly bullets
In theory took his life

This house is haunted
With righteous souls
I saw them standing blindfolded
Against a brick wall in a row
Don’t ask me for nothing
I already gave
In the land of the free
And the home of the brave

Bobby Hutton went to heaven
Without his shirt on
He was scared and he was fearless
His eyes open on that morn
At seventeen his courage
Made those who saw think twice
One hundred deadly bullets
In theory took his life

This house is haunted
With righteous souls
I saw them standing blindfolded
Against a brick wall in a row
Don’t ask me for nothing
I already gave
In the land of the free
And the home of the brave

Huey Newton went to heaven
On a street corner in the rain
The general, the poet
The hero washed away
But his will shook the heavens
And put the ghetto’s soul on ice
One hundred deadly bullets
In theory took his life

This house is haunted
With righteous souls
I saw them standing blindfolded
Against a brick wall in a row
Don’t ask me for nothing
I already gave
In the land of the free
And the home of the brave

Here he is, via YouTube, performing it live.

I’d buy the album for this song alone, I hope it’s included. Even if it isn’t, the songs that were mentioned; “Union Song”, “Let Freedom Ring” and “Maximum Firepower” are well worth the price of admission.

Postscript:
Sadly, it looks like “Home of the Brave” won’t be on the album. Here’s the track listing from his website:

1. California’s Dark
2. One Man Revolution
3. Let Freedom Ring
4. The Road I Must Travel
5. The Garden of Gethsemane
6. House Gone Up In Flames
7. Flesh Shapes The Day
8. Battle Hymns
9. Maximum Firepower
10. Union Song
11. No One Left
12. The Dark Clouds
13. Until The End

Not a bad song in the bunch, I can’t wait for April 24th!

The Nightwatchman

I first became aware of Tom Morello’s persona, The Nightwatchman, when I saw him perform as part of the “Tell Us The Truth” tour in 2003 (along with Steve Earle, Billy Bragg, Lester Chambers (of Chambers Brothers fame), Mike Mills (of REM), and Boots Riley (of the Coup)).

Anyway, that concert was amazing and I’ve been watching and hoping for him to release a ‘Nightwatchman’ CD since. So, I was most pleased to see this news story which says, in part:

As the lead guitarist of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, Tom Morello played loud arena rock — and loved it. Once back home, going through his record collection, he realized there was more to music than volume.

“In more recent years, I’ve discovered that music doesn’t need to be loud to be heavy,” Morello says by phone from his California home. “Some of the darkest and heaviest albums I have are Bruce Springsteen’s `Nebraska,’ Bob Dylan’s `The Times They Are A-Changin’,” Johnny Cash.

“I found some inspiration in that.”

The newly inspired Morello created a new persona: The Nightwatchman, a solo acoustic singer-songwriter in the tradition of those Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. “I’ve found my voice,” he says with a laugh, “as a black Woody Guthrie.”

Morello, under the nom de tune The Nighwatchman, is releasing his first solo album, “One Man Revolution,” on April 24. The album is Morello, his acoustic guitar and his harmonica; for the first time, Morello will handle the vocals, too.

I don’t often get terribly worked-up about new music releases, but I am really excited about this one; I’ll be buying it just as soon as it comes out.

If you like good acoustic music with a (left-leaning) political conscience, check it out.

The Internet is Like a Box of Chocolates (and some of those chocolates are full of nuts)

So, I was perusing cafepress.com, like I do sometimes. Imagine my surprize when the search term mandolin returned this.

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with people?

Thankfully, it also turned up this, so all was not lost.

And in Related News…

BB King Plans One More World Tour. If he comes anywhere near your town, don’t miss the chance to see him (or see him again). As BB himself says in the article;

“I think the clock is ticking, yes,” King said. “In fact, I know it is. Frank Sinatra sang about the September of (his) years. I think I’m in the November of my years.”

Performers of his stature come only once per generation (if that often).