buzzing static

I’m over the global hegemony of the English language in popular music. All of you musicians for whom English is not your first language, please sing, rap, chant, and make song titles in languages we don’t yet understand. The American, English, Scottish, Irish, Australian, Kiwi, South African and Commonwealth Caribbean and other countries include fans that should be sophisticated enough to listen and appreciate the diversity of languages representing other cultures. If you want, throw in a few subtitles to help us out. Otherwise, f*** it. Why bother creating lyrics in English when most of our market listens to crap? The portion of the market that doesn’t listen to crap has enough curiosity to find you if you’re any good.

Given a couple hours to think about what I wrote, I'm going to try pulling my foot out of my mouth. Stereo Total, The Low Frequency in Stereo, zZz, General Electrics, and Röyksopp all sing in English and they are among my favorite bands. Cesaria Évora does not sing in English and she's one of my favorite singers. It doesn't really make sense to argue against the market; it is what it is. I just wish it were different.

Now that I’ve gotten that little rant out of the way, I’m going to add to the buzz surrounding 65DaysOfStatic. They’re good (and ok, they sing in English they don’t sing, for the most part they’re instrumental, but if they did, it might be in English because they’re from Sheffield, England; so, this doesn’t exactly reinforce the point I would like to make above). People describe them as post-rock and compare them to Explosions in the Sky. My friend Scott likes them. He likes them so much that he was willing to make all the necessary phone calls to get them rebooked somewhere else on a Friday night in New York when Europa tried to cancel their show because they arrived half an hour late for their scheduled slot (due to U.S. customs). Somehow, common sense prevailed and 65dos ended up headlining.* They are currently touring the U.S. and I would catch them now at a smaller venue if possible. Their September schedule includes places like Madison Square Garden and the Toyota Center in Houston because they will be opening for (ahem?) the Cure on the second leg of their tour.

Here is a video of Don't Go Down to Sorrow.

* I was not present at this show because I was moments away from getting some much needed sleep when my friend called me. I regretted not seeing them as much as I regret missing the entire Siren Festival, Hal Wilner in Prospect Park, Matmos at Lincoln Center, and the Brazilian Girls at Summerstage. Sometimes, I need to rest before I can even enjoy music. Oh, now that I see Head Stapler has included them in the podcast, I recall that Gogol Bordello was scheduled to perform on Friday at Irving Plaza too.