Thinking about home

I want a version of this for San Francisco. I've been feeling so rootless these days.

Can uke help me?

 

This year. This month. I believe it has many times been compared to a huge "tire fire" and I must say that isn't far from my experience. My fellow humans seem far uglier than I had ever thought before. My frustrations with being in a new place... deaths of heroes and the pending fall of Rome (so to speak). I have decided to become a ukulele player. That part isn't the tire fire but rather the only balm I can find for my aching soul and the knots in my stomach. Sweet tones, easy tunes and geared tuners! Geared! I used to play the violin and holy cow; gears and frets make this tiny guitar easy as pie. Quite rewarding. I once learned to play Bella Bartok on the violin, compared to that learning One Love on the uke is much like an easy trip to a Hawaiian beach. 

Aloha.

Harkness Tower

This is a low quality video I took of a little walk about at Yale... This is a produced video about Harkness Tower and the Carillion in it... very cool...

Things that annoy me

In no particular order;
1. The phrase "hump-day"

2. Bookshelves organized by color... sure you can find the blue books, but where's the psychology section?  I'm sorry do you Read those books or are they just decorative?  Are you four?

3. "Clean" versions of albums.

Explicit; adj. 1.a Fully and clearly expressed, leaving nothing implied. b. Fully and clearly defined and formulated. 2. Forthright and unreserved in expression.

If it's art and if it's important then Fully and clearly express it!

4. People who call their pets their "children"

 I'm sorry... Just NO.

Fallacy of youth

I always thought that Allison was being a little overly dramatic about this... but I must admit somehow I did think that eventually I would ease up on my obsession with music. I thought that somehow once my youth had passed that I would find myself stuck in a bubble of time and wouldn't be able to connect with anything new.
I find now that as I grow older it is either not true or that I had vastly underestimated "youth".  I still find I loose sleep because I'm making playlists, because I'm listening to new music, because I'm discovering old music I'd never heard before.

 -- Teenage me... aren't you glad you were wrong?
(yea, I guess... at least we don't get pimples anymore, right?)
-- um... let's not talk about that right now, here's some awesome music from the future.

Monday Queen

Because I can't listen to Queen without a little strut.

Mondays require strut.

Bieber vs. Sinatra (Rant)

I hate these memes.  First off, it implies that Justin Bieber is today’s equivalent of Frank Sinatra.  Second off it pretty much says that the world has lost all sense and good taste because Justin Bieber is so popular.  “What has the world come to?!”  You know what, it’s not the world, you’re just old.  You have become old and rigid… that is what the world has come to.

Let’s break this down.  The Sinatra song lyrics here are from “The Way You Look Tonight.”  It won the best original song in 1936 as performed by Fred Astaire.  It was written by song writers Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern.  Mr. Sinatra covered this song in 1964, nearly three decades later.  Sinatra was 49 years old when he recorded this ballad.

The Justin Bieber song lyrics are from a song titled “Baby” (clever, yea).  Bieber wrote this song with four other song writers and I imagine with the simple nature of the track it’s not out of line to imagine he actually had some input in it. Bieber was 16 when the song was released. Baby debuted at #5 on the Billboard 100.

We should be comparing Justin Bieber to 1964 teenagers… one of whom was Millie (age 18) with her big hit; My Boy Lollipop

(Bieber fairs pretty well against her)

Big downgrade for the Beebs however if you count in the fact that Sir Paul McCartney was doing rather well with his little band by age 18,  however if you look at the songs the Beatles were releasing at the beginning of their career (when they were Justin’s age they were still calling themselves “The Quarrymen” but let’s fast forward a bit to the early Beatles proper)

 “Please Please Me” Lyrics include

Last night I said these words to my girl

I know you never even try girl

Come on

Come on

Come on…

Please, please me, whoa yeah

Like I please you

You don’t need me to show the way, love

Why do I always have to say ‘love

Come on

Come on

Come on…

So it’s not terrible, but it’s not terribly clever just yet.

 “Please, Please Me” is a much better song than “Baby” but it’s not as far off as the old person telling ‘those damned kids to turn down that noise’ would have us believe.

Sinatra on the other hand was fairly well established in 1964, was in the middle of reviving his singing career in the midst of his successful movie career.  So we should be comparing him to someone like that in 2012… The music industry is drastically different, there aren’t more than a handful of actors who are taken seriously as singers or vice versa, so as far modern singers with amazing acting chops to boot, I would like to nominate (although currently 62 years old) Tom Waits as the modern Frank Sinatra.

Pick a Tom Waits song  (oh except that he actually writes his own songs and Sinatra did not)  any song and it will probably blow Sinatra out of the water.  That’s right I choose Tom Waits for my dodgeball team while Frank can wait for the next round.

"All the world is green" lyrics;

I fell into the ocean
When you became my wife
I risked it all against the sea
To have a better life
Marie you're the wild blue sky
And men do foolish things
You turn kings into beggars
And beggars into kings

Basically the memes that like to point out that the world is going down the drain don’t take into consideration the filter of time or context.  1964 had some amazing music that we still love today but it also had crap that we’ve collectively let settle into the dust of oblivion.   Also I am curious as to how many pre-teen girls in 1964 were into Frank Sinatra (that is Bieber's main audience.)  Someday Justin Bieber will either improve or be forgotten and everyone who thinks it’s cool to rag on a 16 year old teen heart throb needs to take a long hard look at the celebrity they had a crush on at age 12 and chill out.  Really, who was it?  David Cassidy?  New Kids on the Block?  Wesley Crusher (yea that was mine)... 

This guy;?

My latest aural obsession

Johann Baptist Neruda.

Frequently played on the classical radio station but I've only found one CD of his work... it's lame I tell you!  Why is America so limited in our choices of composers?  I checked out the SF Symphony schedule and it's mostly Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Hayden.  Seriously, no Bach, no Neruda, no Telemann, no Schostakovich.  It's our collective* poor musical education being pandered to by people who think that noone will come see these 'unknown' composers.  Well you know what, I'm not going to see the known ones so what's that tell you?  I dare say theatre is just as bad with its narrow selection of playwrights, but right now I'm ranting on music, so basically I'm saying there's this composer from the 1700's, I only learned about him recently, and I love him.

*Disclaimer; my music education was great, thanks ISOMATA, Mom & Dad, Buzz, Vic... I'm making sweeping generalizations on the poor quality of arts education for a large portion of the U.S.

Christmas Music

The one thing I really need... to get through the Christmas season, off tune, insincere "I just made this Christmas album because my agent said I should" crap ... are my headphones. 

This is what I am playing to drown out the Jingle Bells. 




I am enthralled with Gogol Bordello.

How was the concert?

A: It was amazing.

That is how this exchange is supposed to go right?  It's like Q: How are you?  A: I'm fine.  It's a good way to ask a question that you don't really want an interesting answer to...

However; How was the U2 concert? 
Why I am so glad you asked!

Last week I went to my third U2 concert.  My first was in Louisville KY 2001, then in Oakland CA, 2005... Where to even begin about what it is like to attend a U2 concert?  I suppose part of it is linked to the connection I have with their music.  If you know me, you know that they are my favorite band and have been since about 1993.  Are they my favorite band because their concerts are so special or are their concerts so special because they are my favorite band?  I'd like to think that the two are not mutually exclusive.




The beauty of a U2 concert is unique.  U2 is not just about the music.  Each of the U2 shows I've been to, I've been far far in the back... they are usually a centimeter high from my perspective and yet they manage to make the place feel full.  The use of multi-media as a fifth member of the band helps. This tour features a giant 360º LED screen that expands and changes height.  The screen helps add elements that could not otherwise be achieved in mere reality.  What other rock group could/would integrate astronauts in their rock show?

Astronaut Mark Kelly did this for Oakland (and probably other cities on the tour... but we went crazy when this came up)


What other group could/would take down the audience to discuss matters of humanitarian importance?  I had no idea about the prisoners of conscience in Myanmar, now I do.  Every show is a teaching opportunity for the band who spend a lot of their non-rock-band time in humanitarian efforts.

U2 will build you up, will play you the greatest song you can imagine (yes this is a biased opinion I know), but then they want you to think about your privilege, to think about the suffering in the world and to do something about it.  Every show I see they are grateful for the crowd, grateful for their careers and mindful of others.  Every show, they thank the audience for being there.  They are not spoiled rock stars.  At this concert Bono thanked us for our patience (we did wait an extra year to see this because of Bono's injury last summer, it has been two years since the tickets originally went on sale).  Because of this thought provocation, every show is filled with happy, mindful and friendly people.

After the show, at least half of the Coliseum funneled back to BART (our rapid transit) in a sea of people... you will never see a happier mob in your life.  At the end there were people keeping others from loosing keys, clearing the way for those on crutches, fun banter with strangers and no panicked pushing (gentle pushing maybe). In any other crowd I would probably have been fully freaked out.

I do get out to see concerts whenever I can, but there is nothing like a U2 show.

Yo?

Ok this is a little random and just odd enough that I had to make a vid of it to share...


I tried the CD in a CD player... it's Billy Ocean disguised as Yo-Yo Ma... weird.

U2; No Line on the Horizon

Finally I have finished my review of No Line on the Horizon, the new U2 album that I think is fully worth the time. It is an album that is much like the Joshua Tree in the way that it is a journey. Bono said that this album is "a more meditative album on the theme of pilgrimage" I believe that is the best nutshell description of it… now for the longer song by song description;

1.No Line on the Horizon
Best Lyric; I know a girl, she’s like the sea/ I watch her changing every day for me/ one day she’s still, the next she swells/ you can hear the universe in her sea shells.

Time is irrelevant, it’s not linear…

Strong throughout, great lyrics, the instrumentation is hot, catchy lyric, it’s a travel anthem

2.Magnificent
Best Lyric; This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue/ only love can leave such a mark

Somewhere between The Joshua Tree and the better songs from POP is this song. Catchy, lyrical, vague in a grasping way.

Edge shows off his signiture 16th note riffs and a fine solo. While Larry drives the beat on in a steady journey.

3. Moment of Surrender
Best Lyric; At the moment of surrender of vision over visibility I did not notice the passers by and they did not notice me.

Somewhat lacking, seems more like a B-side. The lyrics are somehow reminescent of my junior high poetry. Bono has some interesting vocal lix in here though. It’s an ok song but not one I’m going to scream “Oh Yes!” if they play it live.

4. Unknown Caller
Best Lyric; I was lost between midnight and the dawning/ In a place of no consequence or company
It sounds like morning. The sun comes up, the birds start to sing, the world comes alive… the feeling of nature is juxtaposed with a more marching technological chorus; it’s beautifully evocative. It’s the feeling of travel alone, jumping out into the unknown, discovery… the simple beginning grows into organ music, french horn, guitar solos… full sound that burgeons out into the world.
This song grows on me more every time I hear it.

5. I’ll go Crazy if I don’t go Crazy tonight
Not going to choose a “best” for this song;

It’s lyrics are too sing-song, the chorus is like a bad movie soundtrack… it very well could end up on some obnoxious Oprah pick movie in the midst of a montage. The melody is repetitive and simplistic… I can’t even begin to say how much I hate it.

6. Get on Your Boots
Best Lyric; women of the future hold the big revelations… you don’t know how beautiful you are.

Strong track! It’s catchy, it’s all filled with girl power and makes me want to put on some tall stomping boots and dance around. It’s flattering (“you don’t know how beautiful you are” repeated over and over) It’s positive and sexy and fun and I cannot wait to hear this one in concert. Am I wearing sexy boots to the show? You betca I am!



7. Stand Up Comedy
Best Lyric; stop helping God across the road like a little old lady

I am still undecided about this song. The tune is fairly familiar U2, but it seems a little more complex somehow, the lyrics are all over… usually when I feel this way about a track it’s because it’s a new format, a new lyric, just something that is somehow foreign. I felt this way about Thom Yorke’s solo album until I had heard In Rainbows and went back to it. After hearing this a few more times I think I’m going to like it. Right now it seems a bit dischordant…

8. Fez – Being Born
Best Lyric; head first, then foot, then heart sets sail

Ah a Passenger’s track meets an Achtung Track… eerie instrumentation meets the Edge and Larry driving a flying car through the desert. An odd buzzing whirrs through the headsets. I Love this track. It’s a journey in itself.

9. White as Snow
Best Lyric; who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not?

This is by far one of Bono’s best poems. It’s the searching for Grace, the coming short of it, and looking again. The music has a vague hamered dulcimer feeling, quiet piano… but still played with guitar and bass. Bono’s vocal work is longing and lilting, as Irish as it ever gets within the pop music format.

10. Breathe
Best Lyric; the forest fire that is fear so deny it, walk out into the street, sing your heart out!

This is quintissential U2. It’s got that heavy rhythm with soaring guitar and vocal work; it’s going to be amazing in concert. The lyrics are vague, but have enough catches that you can latch your own meaning onto that everyone will think they know what it means. It is independence, freedom, a brave journey into the ether… I love this track.

11. Cedars of Lebanon
Best Lyric; I’ve got a head like a lit cigarette/Unholy clouds reflecting in a minaret/ you’re so high above me, highter than everyone/ Where are you in the Cedars of Lebanon?

I’m still not sure of what I think this one means. Clearly it’s a story of someone far from home seeking truth. There are images of war-torn places, there are decisions to stay or leave… and the enigatic lyric that closes the album;
“Choose your enemies carefully ‘cos they will define you/ make them interesting ‘cos in some ways they will mind you/ they’re not there in the beginning but when your story ends/ gonna last with you longer than your friends”

I Think it’s a song about choosing your battles, and choosing the noble path in life, but still I admit I’m not solid on it.

U2 2009

Update; If you've stumbled across this via search engine, my actual review of the album can be found HERE

A month ago I put my netflix on hold in order to save for the U2 album that came out today. At 12:10 this morning I had already downloaded the new album with bonus tracks and movie from Anton Corbjin...
They are the musicians of my heart, they sing the songs I hear in my head... I love them...
because of that I'll probably be putting up a few posts about the new album this week...

however for those of you who aren't quite as die hard as I am and don't need all the bells and whistles, today (possibly only today) amazon.com is offering No Line on the Horizon as an MP3 download for only $3.99! If you liked All that You Can't Leave Behind, and/or How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, I can safely recommend the new one as well.

Here's the link to the amazon store;
U2's No Line on the Horizon

You'll need the amazon downloader, but that doesn't take up a lot of space on the computer and often the amazon downloads are cheaper than iTunes...

Need a good Laugh?

Here it Is! I had this song stuck in my head all day, so instead of purchasing it via iTunes, I elected to purge the tune in my head via YouTube. I had forgotten how hilarious the video was. The song is cheesy but actually pretty good. The video however is full of Michael tossing his flowing locks atop the grand canyon in a matching denim outfit. His shirt is unbuttoned to his navel, his face is dead serious about how he Feels so much more than Love... very bodice ripper here. Between Michael himself, the eagles and horses flying/galloping through fire and the fan comments (go to the video and check out the serious comments left there) My favorite comment was; " One of the best lyrics....Something no one had ever thought about...The way he says that he said he loved but he lied....but then in the next time...Says that it is more than love He feels inside...So much of depth in the meaning" I was on the floor laughing at it all. Perhaps I'm too easily amused. Perhaps it's good to be entertained so easily... either way;
Enjoy;