Luddite Machine

Poem

2010-02-12T08:42:00.000-08:00

My son wrote a poem. I think it's brilliant.

+++++++++++++++++++

Popcorn

I think
inside every popcorn kernel
is a tiny
white monster
that gets hungrier
when it gets warmer.
And
when it gets really hungry,
it bursts out
and eats the kernel.

What Christmas Is

2009-12-18T13:46:00.001-08:00

It's the liquid in this picture.

This however always makes me smile:

Savory

2009-12-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

I remember hearing this song on WHFS back in Baltimore. Jawbox was a local band (DC), but I never saw them play around. They were probably already too big to play Max's or the 8x10. This song stood out among the new alternative pop/noise bands. It was definitely noise, but the texture was restrained -- very restrained, just listen to that tension build as the song goes on. Also this noise had a sweet melody which definitely set it apart from many of the post-Fugazi quiet/loud/quiet angry-shoegazing beltway bands.

Jawbox has reunited to celebrate the 15 year anniversary of the release of their major-label debut album, hence their appearance on Jimmy Fallon (who always seems to get cool musical guests). This song sounds even better live; the tension becomes almost physical as the space between the chugging chords remains defiantly unfilled. A lot of the talk around the reissue of For Your Own Special Sweetheart is about its influence on the alternative pop/noise bands of the 1990's and today. I am not sure I could identify a Jawbox-influenced group today, but this song remains one of the best products of the manufactured trend of the early 90s that we called "alternative."

Jawbox does however remind me of a dearly departed friend.

Auto. Tune. Rocket. Boom.

2009-11-11T20:32:00.000-08:00

Live at The Shop, October 22, 2009

2009-10-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

Moldover is a hard act to follow. Download the extremely large file and hear for yourself my best effort, recorded last Thursday night.

New Music

2009-10-12T21:46:00.001-07:00

My friend John and I recorded a song called Jukebox in his basement clubhouse. It's a song that was written some years ago by my friend Greg Mansperger for his band Johnny. When John and I started playing together, we just wanted to rock out. This recording is about as close as we're going to get to rocking out as long as our drummer is a machine.

You can download Jukebox here.

It's Fracking Happening

2009-09-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

Remember hydraulic fracturing? It's come to Pennsylvania and Upstate New York, and it's already contaminating our water.

The DEP [Department of Environmental Protection] has found that Cabot operations have caused unacceptable levels of methane to get into private water supplies. Four wells have been taken offline to prevent explosions and at least a dozen are being tested regularly. The company also installed systems at some homes to either take out natural gas or other contamination that has been linked to drilling.

What can we do to stop these people from poisoning our watershed?

Kanye!

2009-09-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

Kanye!

Sentence of the Day

2009-09-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Written by Jonathan Zwickel for Spin online:

"For her encore, she was lowered by trapeze into a vat of unidentifiable goo."

Yes indeed.

For You Alone You Are The Everything

2009-09-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

R.E.M. are one of pop music's great masters of bittersweet heart-tugging nostalgia, and there is perhaps no better example than the song used in this video. MoveOn.org is one of the best purveyors of videos that turn political issues into heart-tugging personal stories. This video has some of my favorite things mashed-up: R.E.M. and healthcare reform. Bittersweet.

Controllerism

2009-09-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Moldover is also the inventor of the Octamasher, a Burning Man installation and generally supercool musical collaboration device. It reminds me a bit of the setup Here Are The Facts You Requested used at the Loop festival in Oakland back in 1999. Ours was not interactive though. I'm totally jealous.

Pick Ten

2009-08-15T20:10:00.001-07:00

This post is for the band.

Death Panelling

2009-08-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

We already have death panels deciding who gets medical care and who doesn't. They are called insurance companies. And they make a profit, in part, by denying coverage to people who are just about to need expensive care.

Are Americans so satisfied with corporations having this life-and-death role in their lives? Why are Americans so readily willing to give over their lives to corporations? Why are we grateful to save pennies at Wal-Mart when we know that Wal-Mart kills the Main-Street small-town businesses that we claim to yearn for? Low prices require low wages. Low wages devalues labor, and degrades the soul. What is it that corporations promise that makes us so forgiving of their tactics and processes?

OK, without corporations we wouldn't have computers, airplanes, or ibuprofen. But do we need to get our food, news, and medical care from a corporation, an entity whose chief goal--by law--is not to serve its customers, but to maximize profit for its investors? It would be nice to experience an America in which corporations didn't control and influence so many aspects of our lives. Would it look like a pastoral communal paradise, or would it be Beyond Thunderdome?

Take the Pledge or Shut Up

2009-07-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

I would like all of the baby-boomers who were indoctrinated by the cold warriors of the 1900's to believe that communism was the same as socialism to stand up for what they believe and take a pledge.

If you believe that socialism is wrong, you must pledge to refuse your social security payments as well as any medicare coverage you might qualify for as you enter your golden years.

(And you might also want to refrain from using or supporting other socialized programs in the USA such as libraries, schools, the VA, roads & bridges, food stamps, unemployment benefits, buses, trains, parks, police & fire services, etc.)

Otherwise, shut the fuck up about socialism.

Long Past Due, with Heartbreak

2009-07-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

Recognition of Mark Mulcahy's heartbreaking genius has finally arrived in the form of an all-star tribute. Unfortunately the circumstances include earth-shattering sadness.

Found on remhq:

An all-star cast, including Michael Stipe, has contributed songs to Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy, a compilation of the Miracle Legion front man's songs which serves simultaneously as a tribute to the songwriter (whose wife Melissa passed away recently, leaving him with three-year old twins) and a benefit. Ciao My Shining Star - The Songs of Mark Mulcahy, will be released on September 7th in the UK and September 29th in the USA.

01. Thom Yorke - “All for the Best”
02. The National - “Ashamed of the Story I Told”
03. Michael Stipe - “Everything’s Coming Undone”
04. David Berkeley - “Love’s the Only Thing That Shuts Me Up”
05. Dinosaur Jr. - “The Backyard”
06. Chris Harford and Mr. Ray Neal - “Micon the Icon”
07. Frank Black - “Bill Jocko”
08. Vic Chesnutt - “Little Man”
09. Unbelievable Truth - “Ciao My Shining Star”
10. Butterflies of Love - “I Have Patience”
11. Chris Collingwood of Fountains of Wayne - “Cookie Jar”
12. Frank Turner - “The Quiet One”
13. Rocket From the Tombs - “In Pursuit of Your Happiness”
14. Ben Kweller - “Wake Up Whispering”
15. Josh Rouse - “I Woke Up in the Mayflower”
16. Autumn Defense - “Paradise”
17. Hayden - “Happy Birthday Yesterday”
18. Juliana Hatfield - “We’re Not in Charleston Anymore”
19. Mercury Rev - “Sailors and Animals”
20. Elvis Perkins - “She Watches Over Me”
21. Sean Watkins - “A World Away From This One”

There are some real gems in there.

Water on Fire

2009-07-13T06:31:00.001-07:00

I've been quiet for a long time. Maybe I was drunk on Obamania. Passed out on hope. But now the anger is seeping into me like natural gas in the water supply. Our former leaders are getting away with it. Our current leaders are impotent. People die every day to support our easy lifestyle. And in an effort to find new sources of "clean" energy, soon they will start pumping a dangerous mix of chemicals deep into the earth beneath north-central Pennsylvania and south-central New York, and our water will become flammable.

Dueling Banjos

2009-03-29T20:22:00.001-07:00

Sunday afternoon at the store.

Turn On, Tune In, Opt Out

2009-03-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

The greatest feature of Facebook and Twitter is that they allow complete opt-out.

Maybe I should put a bucket over my head
and a marshmallow in each ear
and stumble around for another dumb numb week
for another hum drum hit song to appear.
-- Ani Difranco, Fuel

For hit song, substitute tweet or poke, and that's where I'm at.

What I'm Doing

2009-03-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

Not reflecting, that's for sure. I'm in the moment. Events are unfolding quickly and now demand attention. Reflection requires pause and it's too early to pause. Reflecting happens later. Now I am in the world and it requires my attention. What use are politics or criticism or language or art. I am engaged. Events are unfolding. Connections need soldering. People are coming. I will show them something new. There's something new to experience. Small moments, unfolding into something larger, rolling out like a parachute.

New Neighbors

2009-03-03T15:49:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite bands just changed its name. That's not something that your favorite bands typically do. But these guys are young and have a whole career still ahead of them.

New Neighbors posted a bunch of live and rare recordings on their new website. I have to say I would have freaked out if I had been there when they eased into The Postal Service's Such Great Heights. I know because I just about freaked out when I heard their mellow and almost menacing version of With a Little Help From My Friends. A cleverly rearranged cover is the mark of a truly interesting band, as is a note-for-note recreation. I wonder if they will post a recording of their Bowie/Lennon Fame cover? Note-for-note funky bliss.

[Note: I had created and posted Muzicons of these tracks, but Muzicons has changed the way they code their files and the sound quality was too poor to share.]

You can download high-quality MP3's of these tunes and many others here.

And if you're in the neighborhood, New Neighbors will be performing live in-store on April 17 at the grand re-opening party of McNeil Music of Ithaca.

One Dream Come True

2009-02-27T09:08:00.001-08:00

Come visit us in the Triphammer Mall, Ithaca, NY.

Oh, the Colors You'll See!

2009-02-22T12:58:00.000-08:00

Fresh paint and flowers for Abu Ghraib prison

The prison's outer walls were painted in a bright cream color, and Iraqi flags fluttered at the entrance. The driveway to the main gate was spruced up and lined with colorful lampposts, flowers and plants.

Large billboards identified the prison compound by its new name, Baghdad Central Jailers were dressed in their finest navy uniforms and hats and made to stand frozen in formation along a red carpet laid down for the occasion.

Inside, the hallways reeked of fresh paint: lavender, cream and light blue. Glittering party decorations hung on the walls, and pots of plastic flowers lined the corridors. Slogans in ornate Arabic calligraphy filled the walls.

There were no prisoners to be seen. All 400 of them...were moved to a section beyond the sight of reporters behind a heavily guarded gate covered with blue sheets.

The cellblocks that had once been the scene of prisoner torture, abuse and humiliation by U.S. soldiers and contractors in 2003 and 2004 were newly painted in glossy cream. Freshly painted Arabic numbers identified the individual cells, which were empty except for neatly made bunk beds. Large TV screens were placed in the corridors outside the cells; one was showing a popular cooking program on a government channel. Posters with the words "No to Torture" above close-up photos of bodies battered with bruises and cuts hung on the wall.

The Horror

2009-02-17T18:16:00.000-08:00

If you have any doubt left in you as to whether George W. Bush & friends are guilty of war crimes for the tortures conducted at Guantanamo, you might want to take a few moments to read some testimonials given by people who were there. In 2005, the Center for the Study of Human Rights in the Americas at UC Davis launched the Guantanamo Testimonials Project, "a long term research project to assess the effects of the U.S. war on terror on human rights in the Americas."

Testimonials have been collected not only from prisoners, but also from FBI agents, military guards, interrogators, foreign intelligence officials, the Red Cross, even a chaplain. Some testimonials have been given in violation of non-disclosure agreements and with possible consequences to those who told their stories.

The CSHRA states: "We take no position as to whether the Guantánamo prisoners are guilty or innocent. Yet we recognize that these individuals are, in either case, entitled to a set of fundamental rights (a) as individuals held during an armed conflict, (b) as prisoners in general, and (c) as ordinary human beings."

It's time for the people who ordered the torture of the prisoners at Guantanamo to be prosecuted for their crimes, the details of which you can read for yourself, if you can stomach it.

Handlebars

2009-02-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

This Flobots song is pretty cool, right up until it becomes needlessly melodramatic. Mostly it makes me wish Cake would put out a new album.

Sail away with me, to another world.

2009-02-03T19:17:00.000-08:00

This one goes out to lou and her guy.