Matt Taibbi – “Arizona Debate: Conservative Chickens Come Home to Roost” (2012)
This article was written for Rolling Stone, Feb. 23rd, and definitely hits the nail on the head, as far as the Republican Party is concerned in the year 2012…
How about that race for the Republican nomination? Was last night’s debate crazy, or what?
Throughout this entire process, the spectacle of these clowns thrashing each other and continually seizing and then fumbling frontrunner status has left me with an oddly reassuring feeling, one that I haven’t quite been able to put my finger on. In my younger days I would have just assumed it was regular old Schadenfreude at the sight of people like Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich suffering, but this isn’t like that – it’s something different than the pleasure of watching A-Rod strike out in the playoffs.
No, it was while watching the debates last night that it finally hit me: This is justice. What we have here are chickens coming home to roost. It’s as if all of the American public’s bad habits and perverse obsessions are all coming back to haunt Republican voters in this race: The lack of attention span, the constant demand for instant gratification, the abject hunger for negativity, the utter lack of backbone or constancy (we change our loyalties at the drop of a hat, all it takes is a clever TV ad): these things are all major factors in the spiraling Republican disaster.
Most importantly, though, the conservative passion for divisive, partisan, bomb-tossing politics is threatening to permanently cripple the Republican Read the rest of this entry »
Cotton Mather – “Kontiki (Deluxe Edition)” (2012)
A Feb. 20th PopMatters review by Steve Horowitz of this expanded reissue of the 1997 underground classic which sounds like Squeeze meets Revolver…
Back to the Future Past
Not all of the songs the Beatles recorded during their Sgt. Pepper days made it to the album. The most interesting tune not included, one which showed up a year later on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, was George Harrison’s “Only a Northern Song”. Its soft psychedelic pop groove grabs the body and the mind. The gently out of tune and out of sequence arrangements mesh floatingly with wise koan-type lyrics that could be interpreted in a number of ways, all of them cool. It’s far out, and that’s not meant ironically, pal.
British band Oasis admired the Beatles and paid tribute to George Harrison through its megahit “Wonderwall”, which took its name from a Harrison composition. Oasis’ Noel Gallagher also raved about an American release, Cotton Mather’s Kontiki. No wonder. The Austin, Texas-based band’s tracks also sounds like Harrison’s Sgt. Pepper leftovers. Read the rest of this entry »
Michael Davis (1943-2012)
Former bassist for the legendary rock & roll revolutionaries The MC5 has sadly passed away at the age of 68…
David Lee Roth – “Scrapbook – Chapter One” (2012)
An interesting, weird and entertaining “scrapbook” that Dave made for the DLR Army. Recorded over the previous year or so.
Chickenfoot – “Chickenfoot III” (2011)
A review of the humorously titled 2nd album from supergroup Chickenfoot, by Matthew Wilkening from the Ultimate Classic Rock website, Sept. 2, 2011…
True to lead singer Sammy Hagar’s recent promises, Chickenfoot’s new album III finds the rock supergroup expanding their sound considerably beyond the range of their slightly awkward self-titled 2009 debut.
Of course there’s a fair share of Zeppelin-inspired stomp to be had on III, but the band also tries out a few surprisingly direct heartland-style rock songs, as well as a sultry, R&B-influenced bedtime come-on, during the record’s compact 45-minute running time.
Not everything fits together perfectly, but an impressive amount of the material connects in a very strong manner, and it’s clear that the time the band spent touring together in support of their first album has resulted in a much more cohesive sense of chemistry.
For one thing, who knew Joe Satriani could be this much fun, or fit so well into a band dynamic? Every minute you turn around on this record, the instrumental guitar whiz is up to something creative that legitimately Read the rest of this entry »
The Suicide Dolls – “Prayers in Parking Lots” (2012)
Written Feb. 11, 2012…
A Journey Through Night
The first sound you hear is a short sample of a “numbers station,” which are mysterious shortwave radio stations that are believed to be secretively operated by government agencies to communicate with spies out in the field. They have been around for several decades, all over the world, but never officially confirmed. The voice we hear intones “achtung” which indicates that it is German in origin. Perhaps this is a coded tribute to U2, whose early albums are an inspiration to this band? Even if it’s not, it’s a cool touch, and they use samples from those numbers stations throughout the album. From that brief introduction we go into the main portion of the opening song, “Eye,” which features a cool Pixies-like guitar riff. Lead guitarist and singer Brian Albano commanding that “I’m ready, I’m willing, I’m able – I’m ready to make the time” during the chorus. This might be the best song, out of many contenders, on what is The Suicide Dolls’ recently released debut album, Prayers in Parking Lots – an album that is extremely strong and accomplished.
There are many Pixies-ish songs on this album, but traces of Sonic Youth can also be heard, and not just in the fact that, like Sonic Youth, The Suicide Dolls (great band name, by the way) are led by a singing couple – Albano and Read the rest of this entry »
The Beat Patrol 