music » Undiplomatic

29 October 2008 Charles J. Brown
06:45 am

Morning Buzz: Chinese Democracy

First shock: Axl Rose finally got around to releasing “Chinese Democracy,” the new Guns-n-Roses album. For those unaware of the saga, just know that it took something like twenty years and evry other member of the band quit in frustration over a decage ago — it was, until now, the most famous failed rock album since the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds.”

Second shock: “Chinese Democracy,” the first single, is surprisingly not-half-bad. Trust me — I hated GN’R. This is tantamount to me saying I spend my evenings listening to “Tammy Faye Baker Sings PTL Club Favorites.”

Granted, the guitar solo on the bridge is so old-school awful that it sounds like the dude-that-replaced-Slash is consciously channeling David St. Hubbins, but other than that, there’s not much to complain about. For me it sounded more like Blue Oyster Cült’s “Godzilla” or The Move’s “Brontosaurus” than “Welcome to the Jungle” or any other GN’R late 80s metal cliché.

Third shock: Axl doesn’t scream. Not once. Well, sorta at the beginning, but it’s not part of the lyrics.

Fourth shock: the song is about. . .wait for it. . .the future of democracy in China. That’s right — Axl Rose is really, really pissed at the ChiComs.

Really.

Granted, the lyrics aren’t that sophisticated. Okay, they’re lame. He rhymes Falun Gong with, uh, now.

CHINESE DEMOCRACY
It don’t really matter
You’ll find out for yourself
No, it don’t really matter
I’m gonna leave this thing to somebody else

If they were missionaries
Real time visionaries
Sitting in a chinese stew
To view my disinfatuation

I know that I’m a classic case
Watch my disenchanted face
Blame it on the Falun Gong
They see the hand and you can’t hold on now

Cause it would take a lot more hate than you
To stop the fascination
Even with an iron fist
All they’ve got to rule the nation
But all I got is precious time

It don’t really matter
Guess I’ll keep it to myself
No, it don’t really matter
I guess you’ll leave this thing to somebody else

Cause it would take a lot more time than you
Have got for masturbation
Even with your iron fist
All they’ve got to rule the nation
But all I got is precious time
All they’ve got to rule the nation
But all I got is precious time

It don’t really matter
I guess you’ll find out for yourself
No, it don’t really matter
So you can hear it now from somebody else

You think you’ve got it all locked up inside
And if you beat ‘em enough they’ll die
It’s like a walk in a park from a cell
And now you’re keeping your own kind in hell
And if you’re Great Wall rocks blame your self
While they all reach out for you hand/help?
And we’re out of time…

But hey — who’da thunk Axl Rose could be political? Now we know why he wasn’t invited to perform during the Olympics Opening Ceremony.

But dude — masturbation with an iron fist? Ouch. And ewwww.

Morning Buzz: They’ll Need a Crane

In honor of the reported infighting between McCainiacs and Palinistas, one of my favorite They Might Be Giants songs:

They’ll need a crane, they’ll need a crane
To take the house he built for her apart
To make it break it’s gonna take a metal ball hung from a chain
They’ll need a crane, they’ll need a crane
To pick the broken ruins up again
To mend her heart, to help him start to see a world apart from pain

White Riot

Tony Karon doesn’t blog much, but when he does, it’s always interesting. Earlier today, he posted an excerpt from the 1980 film Rude Boy, featuring Joe Strummer and Ray Gange discussing left- and right-wing politics.

When Gange says he wants to be “one of the [rich] people riding around in cars,” Strummer says, “There’s nothing there. You can get all the [wealth] you want, [but] there’s nothing at the end of that road, no humor, life, nothing. . . .It’s all of us or none.” It’s like the punk rock version of What’s the Matter with Kansas?

Once the conversation ends, the movie cuts to The Clash performing “London’s Burning” and “White Riot.” Depending on where you work, the video may be NSFW — it actually has bad words in it.

Watching this made me wish I had seen the Clash in their prime. But it also got me thinking about the similarities between Britain of the late 70s and John McCain and Sarah Palin’s America:

White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own
White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own

Strummer meant this ironically — later in the song he says that most Brits are sheep who “go to school where they teach you how to be thick.” But if you’ve seen the videos of Palin rallies, you know that the chorus represents a pretty good description of what’s happening in the United States today.

Increasingly, McCain-Palin supporters — or at least the Palinistas among them — rant incoherently against forces that they are not even trying to understand. The United States they idealize ceased to exist a long time ago, but it is only with this election that they are beginning to come to terms with the fact that they no longer represent a majority view.

As a result, they have denounced Obama as a terrorist, Muslim, “baby-killer” and racist, even as they use racist symbols (Curious George, watermelon, ribs, fried chicken) in their depictions of him. They are hostile towards anyone they perceive as the enemy — including the media. Some have even threatened violence.

It’s the distillation of white anger into its most virulent form.

In other words, it’s a white riot.

I am not an expert on late 20th Century British history, but it strikes me that there are more similarities between England of the late 70s and contemporary America than just the anger and alienation of a fading culture.

Thatcherism was in large part a response to an exhausted ideology — social democracy — that had managed to disillusion those who had supported it for two generations. Most voters thought that the Labour Party was outdated and out of touch with the average voter’s concerns. The economy was in shambles, and most voters blamed the current government for their own problems. Dozens of past Labourites publicly endorsed Thatcher, portrayed Labour as having moved outside the mainstream of British politics. She also skillfully used the economic crisis to highlight the failures of the Callaghan government.

Today, it is conservatism and Republicanism that is the exhausted ideology and party. It’s not yet clear whether Obama will prove to be the kind of realigning force that Thatcher was in England. But certainly the conditions exist for it to happen.

Britain got over its white anxiety, culture wars, and economic doldrums (and, for that matter, Thatcherism) to become the “Cool Britannia” of the early Blair years. It is possible that an Obama Administration may help bring about a similar transition in the United States.

Of course, just as is the case in England today, a few die hards will continue to hate.

Morning Buzz: Up and Down. . . .

I hate Eurodisco. But given the craziness on Wall Street these days, it somehow seemed appropriate.

That’s three minutes of your life you’ll never get back. Sorry about that.

Morning Buzz: Joe Biden’s Favorite Video

Because, and I mean literally, it’s literal. A revisioning of the A-Ha uh, classic.

Morning Buzz: The Housing Crisis Theme Song

Don’t know why I didn’t think of this one before. I mean it works on two levels: the name of the song and the name of the movie from which this version comes.

A question: why does the MSM continue to insist on calling it the subprime crisis? I mean, yes, that’s what started it, but does anyone think that the housing meltdown isn’t hurting those without subprime loans?

Afternoon Buzz: Music for “That One”. . .Guy

Sorry for the radio silence this morning — I was really fried last night and a bit under the weather. Decided I needed a few hours to recover from both.

After last night’s “That One” moment, what better band to start the day with than That One Guy?

“Of all the dirt that we dug, I think my favorite was the mud.” How appropriate.

Morning Buzz: Slow Down, You’re Gonna Crash

In honor of the continuing meltdown.

This is one of the great power pop tunes of the 1980s. To this day, I still don’t know why these guys never got big. I strongly recommend their first two albums.

Morning Buzz: Lucky Number

My lucky number these days is 270.

Morning Buzz: Sarah Palin’s New Theme Song

Richard Hell and the Voidoids, circa 1976 or 1977.

Morning Buzz

This has nothing to do with the mess we’re in. It’s just really, really cool.

Hat tip: Ultrabrown

Morning Buzz: Money Talks

I was tempted to go with “Highway to Hell,” but somehow this one seemed like a better fit today.

“You break the laws. You hustle, you deal, you steal from us all.” That pretty much sums it up.

Afternoon Buzz: In Honor of Tonight’s Debate

I’ll be live blogging and on Twitter. See you then.

Morning Buzz: Fundamentalist Ska

The band’s name is Sonseed. It’s as if Madness became fundamentalists, kicked out all the black members, replaced them with middle-aged white people, and started wearing really really tacky matching polyester outfits:

Oh, but it gets better my friends. Here’s a mashup featuring Marilyn Manson doing Sonseed (there are also versions featuring Metallica and even Slipknot):

Then there’s the Chipmunks version:

There are more — including one of two stoner dudes trying to sing along but basically laughing the whole time — but I think I’ll stop there.

Morning Buzz: Whose Stupid Idea Was This?

If, like most people, you did not watch the Emmys (Emmies?) a couple of nights ago, you missed this lovely little crime against humanity:

I think my favorite moment is when the dancers start kickin’ it to “Suicide is Painless.” Teh Awesome.

Was Josh Groban high when he agreed to this? Or was he just indulging his inner Rich Little? The man definitely should think about finding a new agent.

Morning Buzz: Beatbox Flute

I guess this has been around for a couple years, but this is the first time I’ve seen it.

Molly is a fairly serious flutist. She plays in a local orchestra and even played at a Kennedy Center event once. There’s nothing she hates more than “jazz flute.”

I have a feeling I’m gonna be sleeping on the couch tonight for this. . . .

Brush with Hotness

This is off topic, but given the demise of MTV’s Total Request Live, I wanted to share my own brush with celebrity.

Five or six years ago, I attended a retreat for my then-employer on Long Island. At the end, I needed to travel into NYC for some meetings. The bus service my company had hired to transport folks was short one vehicle, so they put the five of us heading to Manhattan in a limo. One by one, it dropped us off.

I was staying at the Paramount, which is located around the corner from MTV’s Times Square studios, and unbeknownst to me, where MTV apparently kept a suite for visiting stars.

So when “my” limo pulls up outside the hotel, about 300 teenage girls started screaming.

Then I got out.

It was like somebody had thrown a switch. The girls stopped in mid-scream.

I have never seen greater disappointment in my life.

Funny thing is, if I close my eyes, I kinda sorta almost not really look like a fat, middle-aged, gray-haired version of Justin Timberlake.

Bringing diplomacy back, girl. Those other countries don’t know how to act.

Photo: Wikipedia

Morning Buzz: Music for an Economic Meltdown

The Flying Lizards, 1979. Your love gives me such a thrill, but your love won’t pay my bills.

According to a VH1 special, the video was made for £7. Today, that would buy you about 62 shares of Lehman Brothers stock, which closed with a value of 21 cents per share yesterday.

The Future of Music in China

Former Ministry/Public Image Ltd./Killing Joke drummer Martin Atkins went to China in 2006 to meet and record the next generation of Chinese musicians. The result is Sixteen Days in China. Here’s the trailer:

My favorite line: “He’s such a good scratcher, he should have leprosy.” Heh.

Atkins believes that what’s happening in China now is not unlike the London punk scene circa 1977 and New York’s new wave circa 1980:

The backdrop is different, but the immersion, the focus on just the music and attitude feels like a definite ripple from those times. It doesn’t feel strategized in a careerist way. The guys in D-22, who now have a label called Maybe Mars, and their venue reminded me of the vibe of CBGBs. . . .I think a natural process is underway. One of the reasons I mentioned New York in 1980 and London in 1977 is that both of those places and times seemed to be on another planet to me. . . . I thought I was going to get shot in Times Square while eating pizza. Whether that was true or not, it certainly adrenalized our activities and adrenalin opens up the pathways.

You can find more on the documentary, including the full interview with Atkins, here. I can’t wait to watch the whole thing.

Morning Buzz: Because You Need A Break. . .

. . .from politics, and so do I.

If you only know Stevie Wonder from his performance at the Democratic National Convention, or from Jack Black’s snark attack on him in “High Fidelity,” check this out: Stevie on Sesame Street, circa 1973.

The man was an absolute rock god. And his band is on fire.

Hat tip: Kottke

Continued Server Problems

I want to apologize for yet another interruption today. Readership has grown faster than I expected, and the web hosting company I chose to host the site has not been up to the task. We’re working on a solution, but for now I’m going to have to grin and bear it. Thanks in advance for your patience and understanding.

I also want to thank everyone who has joined the conversation here and/or has subscribed. I’m both surprised and delighted at the response so far, and I’ll do my best to continue to make Undip worth your while.

Last but not least, don’t forget to vote in our newest poll — what should be Sarah Palin’s new theme song?

Hey, Kids! Let’s Play Hide the WMD!

Back when I was in graduate school, Chernobyl happened. Being graduate students, we responded to this tragedy in the only way we knew how: we threw a party. We covered the walls with aluminum foil, replaced all the light bulbs with flashing red lights, and renamed the keg the cooling tower. We had so many people there, that the floor almost collapsed and the heat generated by the foiled-up walls caused the air conditioning unit for the entire building to fail.

That was the last time I remember connecting nuclear power to dancing. Until now. If you’ve been watching the conventions, you’ve seen this commercial:

You may not have noticed it, given the awesome animation and Lipps Inc.’s “Funkytown” playing in the background, but if you pause at 0:09, you’ll notice a couple of words down in the lower right hand corner:

YELLOW CAKE

So that’s where Saddam put it! Canada!

And what is up with this ad? Funkytown? The happy shiny strip mining? And the apparent argument that we should have nukes so that people can play Dance Dance Revolution in Shanghai?

So the ad is at least two years old. The first version was in French.

You wouldn’t know it from the commercial, but after a check of The Googles, I found out that Areva is “a French public multinational industrial conglomerate that is mainly known for nuclear power.”

Oh.

Did I mention that the company also manages those yellow cake mines in Niger? More happy shiny strip mining!

That means Areva played a role, albeit indirectly, in the whole Valerie Plame scandal. And the Iraq war. And, of course, the lies of the Bush Administration to justify both the war and the Plame leak.

Now that’s some serious funk.

They’re Not Chanting “Barack,” They’re Chanting “Reggie!”

If you want one, go here. Designed and promoted by the band The National, all proceeds go to the Obama campaign.

Weekend Pick: The Bird and the Bee

Something a little different for the weekend pick. Not the band, but the video. “Again and Again” is off The Bird and the Bee’s 2007 eponymous album. It’s a great song — I had it in my head for weeks until I discovered The Submarines and “Swimming Pool” took its place.

You can find the band’s official video here. It’s pretty good. But I like this unofficial video even better. It was put together by a self-described “aspiring director.” It manages to show off all the things you can do on a Mac and at the same time capture the spirit of the song. Word is that the band liked it, and sent him some free tickets to a show. Good for them.

Isaac Hayes, R.I.P.

If the only things you know about Isaac Hayes are his role as Chef on South Park and the “Theme from Shaft,” then you don’t know Isaac Hayes. One of the truly great innovators in music history, his death is a tremendous loss.

Hayes not only put out some of the best soul albums ever, he also influenced genres as diverse as disco, funk, hip hop, neo-soul, and even trip hop (Steve Cropper’s guitar solo on “Walk on By” is one of the most sampled cuts ever). Oh, he also wrote, played on, and produced many of the best Stax-Volt hits of the 1960s.

Do yourself a favor: go over to iTunes (or your prefered music provider) and buy “Hot Buttered Soul” today. Trust me — it’s priceless. The 12-minute version of Burt Bacharach’s “Walk on By” is one of the greatest songs in rock history (and this is coming from an ex-punk rocker who loathes jam bands with every fiber of his being).

To give you a taste, here’s the single version of “Walk” via YouTube:

Rest easy, Isaac. I hope you’re already jamming with Otis, Jimi, and the rest of the crew.

Weekend Pick: The Watson Twins

If you’re a fan of Rilo Kiley, you probably know that lead singer Jenny Lewis put out a solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat, back in 2006. I think it’s better than anything she’s done with RK: to this day I have it on heavy rotation on my iPod.

When it came out, her fans were surprised to see that Lewis had shared billing with a previously unknown duo, The Watson Twins. It turned out that Lewis had discovered them singing back-up for some local band and brought them into the studio. She liked the result so much that she gave them co-billing and even included them in the cover photo.

Chandra and Leigh Watson (yes they’re actually twins) are now building a nice career for themselves. In June, their first full-length albm, “Fire Songs” came out. I’d feature something from it, but the one video isn’t available for embedding yet.

I’m also a fan of their first EP, “Southern Manners,” particularly “Shoot Out the Lights” (not the Richard Thompson song) and the title song. There is a (pretty raw) clip of them performing the latter on YouTube, so I’ll go with that.

Belated Weekend Pick: The Submarines

The other thing Molly and I did this weekend, between packing, driving, and emergency room visits, is go see Aimee Mann, who played the 9:30 club on Saturday night. She was great, as usual. The opening act was a duo known as the Submarines.

My usual reaction to opening bands is pretty much “Get off the stage so I can hear the artist I came to see.” But these guys were amazing — I loved their energy, their talent, and of course, their music. When we got home that night, I immediately downloaded both their albums, which stand up to the live show.

I guess I’m pretty late to this party — they’re featured in the new iPhone 3G ad and one of their tunes was on “Weeds” — but if you haven’t heard them, they’re worth your time. Here’s a taste — “Peace and Hate,” off their first album, “Declare a New State!” The video is, as seems to be the case with all indy band efforts lately, lame. But the music is great — simultaneously spacey, edgy, and sweet.

And while I’m on the subject, what happened to the days when a band like They Might Be Giants could get on MTV with low-budget cool vids like “Put Your Hand in the Puppet Head? Then again, what happened to the days when MTV played music? But I digress.

Weekend Pick: Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy

When my daughter was born, my friend Kimi gave her the coolest little kids-size Michael Franti and Spearhead “Power to the Peaceful” t-shirt. Greta still wears it — and looks adorable in it. But I have to admit that while I like Spearhead, I find it’s more of an intellectual than emotional appreciation.

I prefer Franti’s previous band — the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Here’s “Television,” one of their classics.

This one is for Joe Scarborough. Warning: the video contains some graphic violence.

Sunday Night Pick: Eric B & Rakim

I’m late with my pick of the week, in large part because there has been so much news this weekend.

Call me old skool, but I still love Eric B & Rakim. “Paid in Full” was way way ahead of its time, and remains one of my all time favorite cuts. I was tempted to go with that, but given that it is election season, I had to go with “Eric B is President.” Here’s a live version, along with “I Know I Got Soul,” from what looks like the Apollo…

“Thought I was a donut, you tried to glaze me.” Gotta love it.

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