Greetings from the City of Angels. I’m here this week to see a few shows–ostensibly. Other reasons I’m here might include getting the hell out of the town where I live, among others. The photo above is of the well-behaved crowd being pummeled by the wall of sound that is My Bloody Valentine.
This is the second time I’ve seen My Bloody Valentine, the first time was sixteen years ago and it was the loudest show I’ve seen. I remember trying to get as far away from the sound as possible because my skull was rattling. I literally crawled along the wall, trying to find a spot that wasn’t vibrating. For future reference, when looking for a quiet spot in a room, the wall is not the place to go. Eventually I just gave up on finding a comfortable spot to listen and accepted the pain.
They gave up playing right after that tour, so I was never able to go back and compare the sound with other bands I’ve seen since that might have been louder. So when they announced that they were going to play a limited number of dates this year, I thought it sounded like a great idea to go and see them.*
The tickets said that the show was supposed to start at 8:30, so I was there right on time, only to find that there were a couple of desperately mediocre opening bands, who were not listed. I hate that. Seriously, promoters, if you’re going to have support acts, list them on the bill and don’t foist them on me in an effort to trick me into watching them just because I’m there. Let me make the choice of whether I want to see your openers, otherwise I will just resent them. As for last night, mission accomplished, I couldn’t resent them more.
This little spark of annoyance was compounded when, at 10:00 the lights went down as if the band were going to come out. We all pushed close to the stage, hoping to get a good view. And there we waited. For half an hour. Finally they strolled out and went through the very scripted show. I can see why they would only want to play a limited number of shows; I would get bored playing a mechanical show every night, too.
So was it loud? Yes, very. This time I was armed with earplugs, but even though my ears didn’t suffer as much, my insides still shook throughout the performance. When they got to the noise section of the show–which they have apparently done for all performances so far, the crew all donned the sort of ear protection you usually find at a rifle range.
Was it good? Yeah, I suppose so. I was a bit put off by the fact that parts of songs were clearly sequenced, but I still enjoyed it. It was fun to look around and notice people’s reaction to the aural assault and then listen (through the faint ringing) to them talk about waves and overtones as they filed out of the auditorium.
*You may not think it sounds like a great idea, but this is why I’m not like you.
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My friend Packrat sent me a link to some samples of an unreleased Cowsills album out of the blue today and I’ve been watching various Cowsill YouTube videos all day. Curse that Packrat.
Here are a handful of things that I did not know about the Cowsills:
- They did the theme for Love American Style.
- They turned down the offer of having a television show made about them because the producers were going to cast Shirley Jones as their mother. The show later became The Partridge Family.
- Their biggest hit was “Hair.”
- Susan Cowsill was once married to dB’s co-founder and sometime R.E.M. sideman, Peter Holsapple.
And now, here is the weirdest video of the bunch:
Would you believe Miss February?
Peace?
When I first loaded this page, I assumed that photo was of a student audience at a Biden/Palin debate and I was anxious to read your criticism of the event… (because in the past you have in a way– covered political events)
But not so… In fact, I am curious as to why not much has been mentioned about the NAP contributors personal politics with this election. I mean… come on? Nothing? Is it a courtesy? A let’s not talk about religion or politics as if this is an office space? I mean, I know this is essentially a music blog… but uh… this election is huge, and I would love to know where you all stand.
What the fuck with this business?
Curious and with spare time to be bored and annoy the NAP,
Unspeakable
Oh cool, My Bloody Valenzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
John Cramer just informed me that my link had absolutely nothing to do with my comment. NOTHING AT ALL, and that presenting it in a cloud of Seinfeld isms would do nothing to reward me with any responses from you guys– because you are all intellectuals who have no time to waste explaining the basics to doped out metal chics like me… And he also laughed and called me a douchebag and then called My Bloody Valentine THE most overrated band of the entire century. Well.. I guess Moxie is enough to excite the people, God help you all.
I don’t know about the all being intellectuals bit, but otherwise, spot on.
Oh, and who’s Moxie?
I know very little about politics, thats the main reason i dont talk about it. I know very little and it absolutely holds no interest for me. When the US government stops keeping puerto ricans hostage I might think different, but for now, all the politicians can all go burn in hell. Obama included. though he does seem to be a nice guy, but then again, i dont know him, all i know is that its campaign season and he wants me to like him, for all i know he’s the anti-christ. I will vote for him, but really, I almost wish we could keep bush another 8 years until people got really pissed off, maybe then the US government would really collapse (i’ve been so hopeful the last week) and this whole ‘world leader/super power’ stigma would just go away and we could just be another country.
see, i dont know shit about this.
I also don’t really see the hugeness of this election. Seems like standard american politics to me.
And one more thing, i vote for the same reasons I occasionally say a prayer – just in case i’m wrong and all those other people are right, and its easy enough to do.
Okay, Carlos and John, I’ll bite…. I didn’t really want to talk politics here at all, but since you are insistent on it…
Sarah Palin is a fucking insult. I hope she dies.
You didn’t? well you fooled me. I was trying to be nice and participate. But i guess i’ll go back to watching seinfeld now.
Robots don’t die.
Wait, both Chicago MLB teams are in the playoffs and you expect me to talk politics? Oh wait, I guess there’s a Chicago guy in that too. And since when did I watch baseball. And when did I become Mr. Chicago?
The addition of Palin to the race was for me a reminder of how powerless the presidency should be (let alone the VP). A reminder that no one, not even Obama, is gonna bring about real change just by sitting in that chair –if you don’t have backing of,like say, Big Money, Oil and a bunch of Hymn singing soldiers behind you, you’re not gonna get much done. But then in that hayride of a debate she gave us, towards the end when my eyes were half shut, she went on about how the VP position was gonna get turned on. And I got a little scurred because then I remember that she does have the backing of Big Money, Oil and a bunch of hymn singing soldiers behind her. As an artist in need of inspiration I encourage you to vote Palin all the way.
Justin – I just finished watching the Danielson movie when I watched your tube. Weird. I would not be turned on by seeing Miss February. That’s that’s well I need to go kneel and pray. Btw, you said you were seeing a few shows – what else?
Carlos – when PR finally gets their freedom will these obnoxious PR’s on the west side go home?
I would have mentioned the debate if there were anything remotely musically related to talk about. I probably had the same reaction that most people did: Biden did just fine and Palin is either afraid to deviate from the talking points or she is genuinely dumb. I suspect it’s the former. For example, when she was unable to come up with the name of a newspaper she reads this week, does anybody really believe that she’s never read a newspaper? My guess is that she was avoiding saying something like “Oh, ya know, I read the New York Times” because the media are the enemy in the “us against them” battle they’ve got going on and the Times is the biggest target.
I just finished watching the Danielson movie when I watched your tube.
Thanks for reminding me of that move. Into the queue it goes.
Btw, you said you were seeing a few shows – what else?
Tomorrow night: David Byrne, doing the Eno/Byrne songs.
Funny, because I just watched a YouTube video of her on Fox today in which she tries to redeem the botched response to the newspaper question by saying she reads the New York Times along with others like the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. I was amazed she mentioned the NYT since it’s such a “biased elitist liberal rag” (like that other McCain hack has been saying all week).
Maybe she doesn’t read the papers. She would be pretty busy raising forty kids and being a governor. It’s not out of the realm of possibility. I do know that she makes a good excuse on which to pin the claim of diversity when it is clear that she is little more than a token on a ticket that is struggling for a tangible identity. The only reason people care so much about her in this whole deal is precisely because she is so obviously over her head, not in spite of it.
Sorry I’m so comment happy in here, but one unrelated thing: Why is the text in the comments section so tiny now? I use a laptop and I’m half blind, the shit reads like microfiche. What gives? Reading this tripe is becoming almost harder than it’s worth.
Hahaha, I kill me.
One thing that bothers me about Palin isn’t that she sucks on candid camera. What bothers me, is that her ego didn’t allow her to gracefully decline the VP nomination.
This election is of the utmost importance. If anyone is thinking of not voting for Obama, please allow me to convince you otherwise.
Wed, when PR gets its freedom we’re going to start a war with Cuba which we will win, Cuba then will give us the USA as spoils of war, even though they really can’t. We won’t care and we’ll take over anyways, invalidating the government and constitution of the USA and establishing our own hammock government (run by one guy in a hammock).
We will then go to war with Brazil and we’ll make all the people of the USA Puerto Rican citizens so we can draft them into the PR Military and send them to Brazil. You’ll be PR citizens but you won’t be allowed to vote in the PR election. And with your drafted men and women we’ll just continue to invade and attack any country that has one of the letters that spell Puerto Rico in their name cause we have to protect our name.
Years later under international pressure we’ll let you write a constitution so you can all play at self-government. To be sure it’s just play though, we’ll put some small print at the bottom of your constitution that says that if we ever don’t like anything you are doing, we can just invalidate the constitution in whole or in part, and we can poop on the streets if we want.
About those PRs on the west side of Chicago, like all the PRs in the USA, they are going to force you to work for their companies at very close to minimum wage and all the money they make and the products you make they’ll send to PR. Then they’ll sell all those products you built back to you at a huge mark up. And they won’t let you buy them from anywhere else. Then they will call you ungrateful for not being happy enough about the fact that you can only trade with us.
Me, i’ll just move back to PR and start working on collapsing that government by doing nothing and spreading laziness and self-indulgence.
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Cramer, the print looks the same on my computer…
and Conor, I’m voting for Obama, but I’d still like to hear how you would convince someone.
Oh cool, My Bloody Valenzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
You may not like their recordings, which are all sound wash and dreamy, but the live show is totally different. It’s still a sound wash, but it’s a brutal one. I’d always read about how they were influenced by Dinosaur, which seems like a strange comparison when you listen to the recordings. Live, though, it starts to make sense.
she tries to redeem the botched response to the newspaper question by saying she reads the New York Times along with others like the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek.
I wonder if her handlers got to her and told her it was okay to mention the Times or whether she suddenly remembered. It seems so unlikely that she would forget, so I’m going to blame it on her thinking it was better not to mention the liberal rags. I’m probably overthinking this.
This election is of the utmost importance. If anyone is thinking of not voting for Obama, please allow me to convince you otherwise.
I was walking through a parking lot the other day in Houston and saw an Obama sticker on a car–one of many that I’ve seen–and I realized that I haven’t seen a single McCain sticker. Why, it’s almost like the perception that Texas is the Republican bellwether is wrong. Damn liberal media.
we’ll make all the people of the USA Puerto Rican citizens so we can draft them into the PR Military and send them to Brazil
Awesome, I’ve always wanted to go to Brazil.
RE: the comments section – I thought it was my new monitor. Trolled the “Known Issues” section but didn’t find anything about this. Doesn’t look like something we can correct in the Settings. As Rosanne Rosanna Danna would say, “well it just goes to show you, it’s always something, you either got a toenail in your hamburger or toilet paper clinging to your shoe.”
Justin – isn’t it a little early where you are to be up and commenting? And yes, you don’t have to go back too far do you? – to remember that Texas has a strong Democrat history (my own family as a group switched sides with Phil Gramm and are showing signs of turning back to the party now). Remember Ann Richards? But anyway you’re in Houston and it’s a big city like most any other. When was the last time Houston had a Republican mayor?
Wow. Politics.
This is the part where I say I’d love to be convinced to vote for Obama. I mean, I’m voting for him, but I’d love to be convinced.
You see, I disagree with him substantively on a number of issues, because I’ve always been a fiscal conservative and a social liberal (but decidedly NOT a libertarian). It’s difficult for me to endorse the fiscal side of Obama’s policies. I’ve decided to vote for him anyway, because spending a crapload of money on a war with Iran is even worse than launching an expansion of entitlement programs.
Just once I’d like someone to say, “hey maybe it’s not a good idea to keep borrowing from China and Japan in order to meet our spending obligations! Instead, let’s raise taxes back to the Clinton-era levels and start cutting spending in a meaningful, difficult-to-stomach manner.”
My hunch is that economic conditions will force President Obama into this position. And since he’s the guy I’d rather have speaking on our behalf to the rest of the world, that’s who I’m voting for.
If you’ve got a good idea as to why Obama’s fiscal policies make good sense, I’d love to hear them. But the numbers don’t work, and that’s true for both candidates, so Obama is the clear choice. But I’d still love to be convinced.
McCain stickers are everywhere once you’re in Sugarland and other points equally as far from Houston’s epicenter. We went camping in Edna, Tx where Candy Barr is from however, and there was wall to wall Obama signage.
Edna! We go to Edna every year – Tricia is from those parts.
Also from Edna, Stone Cold Steve Austin.
McCain stickers are everywhere once you’re in Sugarland
It’s not all that surprising that there would be McCain stickers in Sugar Land (note: two words). After all, that’s DeLay country. It’s worth pointing out that folks in Sugar Land are not the narrow-minded evangelicals that so often comprise the stereotypical Republicans that you see in media coverage.
Here’s a question: Why would you want to live somewhere where everybody has the same opinions? Diversity of opinion is important, otherwise you get groupthink decisions.
It’s difficult for me to endorse the fiscal side of Obama’s policies.
Yeah? Like what? Health care? That’s the only major entitlement program that I know of in Obama’s policies. Are you saying that we shouldn’t or aren’t able to do what every other industrialized country in the world has managed to do? I’d really like to hear this logic.
Obama has promised increased educational spending as well. Quite a lot of it, although he’s not been as concrete about his educational plans.
Also, neither candidate has mentioned that their national service plans, while requiring donated time, will also require significant logistical (i.e., financial) support that will likely come from the federal treasury.
None of this is really spending I object to. Hell, I work for a hospital. I can’t wait to have more paying customers. But where’s the money coming from?
I’m not saying I don’t agree with Obama’s spending decisions, I’m asking where are the cuts going to be. He’s not even pretending this is budget neutral. If all this spending occurs in increases, and none of it is paid for by cuts, I’m not for it.
But in principle, yes, I agree with a single payer healthcare system. But shit is expensive. And although savings are theoretically possible, it’s not going to pay for itself for a long while.
One other thing to consider is that tax cuts (proposed by both candidates) are actually spending. This is a concept people don’t seem to understand, but every tax cut or rebate or incentive involves spending money. Money we would have had otherwise, but the GAO doesn’t ever seem to count this as spending.
It is.
It’s worth pointing out that Bill Clinton promised middle class tax cuts as well. They never materialized (and the shoudln’t have) because it would have made his budget surpluses impossible.
It’s the same kind of reality I’m trusting Obama will run into. Maybe he can pay what it will cost to fix healthcare (I hope so). But continuing to weaken the dollar by selling debt to China ain’t a good plan.
Remember, I am voting for Obama. I’m skeptical, not a hater.
Okay, so first of all, Obama’s plan isn’t a single payer plan. I wish it were and I wish it were mandatory, because both of those things would help it succeed. As it is, the plan is sort of a gateway nationalized healthcare. It’s not what I want, but I’ll take it.
And second, there are lots of ways the government can raise money and not all of them involve raising taxes. In fact Obama answered this question about where the mney comes from in the debate. There would be the tax on the rich, but he also wants to close loopholes on corporate tax which is a very good idea. Though they will fight him tooth and nail to continue enjoying the free ride, I think he might have the cajones to actually take them on.
He’s going to have to pick his battles because taking on tax loopholes, the medical industry, and lobbyists is probably a bit much for one person. But we’ll see. I see no reason not to me optimistic. No sense shooting him down before he’s even started.
Ah yes, you’re right. It isn’t single payer. But like you, that’s what I’d like to see.
And yeah, I agree, he’ll have a chance to make the numbers work. As I’ve said, I don’t think he’ll have much choice. The market will work to constrain spending naturally. The alternative is inflation.
There are going to be some tough choices. It will be interesting to see how a Democratic President and Congress makes them. I’m thinking Obama will be much more pragmatic than the Right is predicting.
I’m thinking Obama will be much more pragmatic than the Right is predicting.
What the Right thinks and what they say in an attempt to win the election are two different things. They know that Obama is going to be pragmatic. All the evidence points in that direction, but if they say that, then they can’t scare voters into voting against him. So they paint him as the “most liberal Senator” (seems like every Democrat they run against is somehow the “most liberal”) or a socialist. That last one really bothers me because A) he’s not a socialist and B) what’s wrong with a little socialism? I guess they depend on people just kneejerking that socialism is bad (like being a Muslim, apparently). Never you mind that Bush and Congress just socialized a large section of our banking industry.
I should have said “voters on the Right”.
The actual people running McCain’s campaign (as well as the Fox pundits) have been absolutely tone deaf. You can’t keep painting Obama as some sort of bizarre leftist, race-baiting radical who “doesn’t understand” anything.
The voters have seen and heard the man for 4 years now, and no amount of hysterical firebreathing is going convince them he’s anything but cool, calm, intelligent, and exceedingly presidential. He might not balance the budget, but he’s not going plunge the nation into a socialist death spiral either.
If McCain loses, it will be because he forgot every advantage he had lay in not running the Rove-ish campaign he’s run.
I know it’s all lip service, but I like that one of Obama’s notions of improving “national security” isn’t the standard beef up airport security approach etc. He says he wants to improve the American image overseas, which for me–has been an important issue, ever since having the Bush empire be such an embarrassing face to get behind or be associated with in any way.
What sucks is that we always deserve what we get, and we don’t get much.
Palin Porn Flick