Music Notes: April 2022
Oh this and that.
- Joe Gross – In on the Kill Taker
I’ve read a lot of books about music, but I really like the 33 1/3 series of profiles of great albums. Short punchy accounts of the songs and the story behind them. And the best of the them make you want to explore all the other stuff mentioned in the book. This is one of them. - Big Black – Atomizer
Came across Big Black when I was in university and discovered their cover of Wire’s “Heartbeat.” Now the thing about listening to music…back in the day…was it was easy to miss stuff. Unlike today’s music at your fingertips world, it was often the case that you had to buy something in order to listen to it. And there was just too much to buy. So, if you’ve never listened to Atomizer, go for it. And Kerosene will fascinate, enthrall and terrify you. - Wetleg – Wetleg
Discovered this band the day I wrote last month’s music piece. The debut is just as good. Deadpan vocals, bouncy, um, new wave disco-esque sounds. BTW, I’ve heard a number of explanation of the name, but not the one I remember as a child. Who knows. - Sonic Youth – Sister
Another old one. From around the time I discovered Big Black, Scratch Acid, Pussy Galore, and Touch and Go records. The thing about Sonic Youth was how they combined these beautiful melodies with blasts of atonal noise. Standouts on this, “Schizophrenia,” “Catholic Block,” and a lovely cover of Crime’s “Hotwire my Heart.” Cool cover on the record too. - Yard Act – Dark Days EP
The first time I heard “Dark Days” I wondered if Half Man Half Biscuit were trying a new thing. Nope, this is something else musically, but some of the same caustic wit. Well worth exploring, and likely the next big thing. - Can – Tago Mago
Sure I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s such an amazing record it’s worth coming back to again and again. “Halleluhwah,” lasting almost twenty minutes is a completely captivating moment. A hypnotic rhythm which crops up in many plans afterwards including Primal Scream’s “Kowalski,” and pretty much all of Happy Mondays work. Fantastic. - The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You
A lot of people make the case for this being the last great Stones record; I’d say Some Girls, but this one is not without its charms. Yes, yes, “Start me Up,” has been played to death, and it’s slightly weird to have men in their 40s singing about “Little T”&A”, but overall the album is good listening, and “Waiting on a Friend” is great. - Liz Phair – Horror Stories
Like Elvis Costello’s book, Horror Stories doesn’t follow a chronological pattern, but consists of chapters full of stories. The early ones aren’t even about music, but full of Phair’s marvellous and honest prose. Some of the stories are horrifying, but never boring. - The Clash and Ranking Roger – “Rock the Casbah”
In a couple of weeks, the Clash’s final album (yes, and I stand by that), Combat Rock is getting a re-issue with 12 new tracks. Till then, make do with this beauty. - The Linda Lindas – Growing Up
Every bit as good as you knew it would be. It’s on all sorts of streaming services, but support independent music, buy a physical copy or at least a digital download.
Roger Stone goes North
I will say, though I wasn’t surprised by yesterday’s news about Twitter the announcement that the Ontario Party had hired Roger Stone as a consultant.
Now, I know what you’re thinking…what is the Ontario Party again? In November of 2017, a group of Progressive Conservative members unhappy with the party’s direction under then-leader Patrick Brown, left the party and joined with a number of social -conservative social issue groups to form the Ontario Alliance. Seven months later, the party saw its first split, and the Ontario Party was formed. Both are running in the upcoming provincial election, and for those who like a little conservative variety, there’s also the New Blue Party led by a married couple who were turfed/split from the PC’s to form their own…well, that’s not exactly clear.
But back to the OP. Now led for former federal Conservative MP Derek Sloan, the party seems to fancy itself as the the Ontario wing of the People’s Party of Canada, but in all likelihood will be even less successful. Still, I wasn’t expecting Stone, who Sloan refers to as his friend, to announce solidarity with the OP’s principled stands. If only because throughout his career as a proud ratfucker, Stone doesn’t seem to have any positions other than loyalty to his own agenda. (A trait he shares with his former leader). Kinda curious to see how long this lasts and how messy the falling out will be.
So, then…Twitter
Of course I have a Twitter account, mostly about comics books, music and films. I did think about starting one as an addition to this blog, but never got around to it.
I can’t say I’m surprised by its acquisition by Elon Musk. After all, a group of rich people had an opportunity to make a shit load of money, and they took. it. Bruce Arthur, a commentator in a Toronto paper noted, “Twitter has always bee n Gotham. Now the Penguin is the Mayor.”
Still, Musk’s stated reasons for acquiring Twitter are amusing. The return of free speech is it? For all their talk of “free speech” and openness, Musk and his ilk have remarkably thin skins when they are criticized. Trump’s failing Truth Social even has a clause about not criticizing the God-Emperor. Pretty much, they all quickly reveal their true colours as petty tyrants.
The French Elections
What’s the adage about elections in France? On the first round, you vote for who you want, and one the second you vote against who you don’t want.
Today’s election saw Emmanuel Macron defeat Marine Le Pen 58% to 42%. In 2002, Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie Le Pen came in second to Jacques Chirac losing by 18 to 82 % as the country seemingly united to “reject fascism.”
Le Pen’s National Front did not reach the second round again until 2017. By this point, the elder Le Pen had been expelled, and some of the blunter rhetoric had been banished to the backrooms of National Front meetings. Still Macron easily defeated Le Pen receiving double her vote, 66% to 33%.
Today, Macron was again triumphant against Le Pen, who renamed her party National Rally in 2018, but by a much smaller margin. Le Pen herself described her loss as a “triumph.” It remains to be seen if Le Pen’s gains will translate into further support for her policies, or whether this loss will provoke tensions within the organization given that some commentators were even speculating about actual victory. The looming crisis is France continues.
Police on My Back – Hard Crackers on Eddy Grant and the Equals
Pretty cool article on the Hard Crackers site about Eddy Grant
Don’t Fight for “Your” Country
New leaflet by Internationalist Perspective on the war in Ukraine
Notes from Underground 