High-Wattage Performance

I thought about writing up a lengthy post about the sublime M. Ward/Mike Watt show at The Fillmore last night, but decided to keep it brief as at least two of my music journalist friends have already done it more justice than I ever could. But hell, I haven't had that good of a time at a Fillmore show since last time Shane MacGowan came to town.

Mike Watt continues to bring the punk well into his late forties, rockin' his thud staff with the enthusiasm and relentless energy of a nineteen-year-old, not even stopping to replace a string broken midway through his set. Didn't matter. He produces a fuller, more dynamic bass line with three strings than most bass players can manage with four, or even five. It doesn't hurt to have M. Ward and former Stooge Steve MacKay available to join you on stage. Watt clearly was excited as well, it appeared to me that he wanted to take a bite out of both Ward's and MacKay's faces at different points in the show. A mindblowing ensemble cover of The Stooges 'Fun House' toward the end of Watt's set seemed like the type of star-studded performance normally reserved for the end of a headliner's set.

It's always perilous to follow a dynamo of an act like Mike Watt and the Secondmen, but what read like an odd pairing actually worked beautifully, as my good friend out by the beach expressed in a much more elegant fashion than I could. Suffice it to say that M. Ward's flawless, throaty, expressive vocals are couched in thoughtful and inventive compositions, a combination that holds it own no matter who the supporting act may be. But since that support was a favorite of the headliner, the pair of them retook the stage for a stirring encore rendition of 'Spoonful'. I'm glad I decided to stay around long enough to see Watt 'lay down the low flow' to buoy Ward's superlative vocals before I grabbed a road soda, and high-tailed it down to The Independent too catch Brooklyn indie buzz band Grizzly Bear's set.

The Wire: Still the Best Show on TV

Critic's darling and TV 'Pleasure of the Boss' The Wire recently kicked off its fourth season, which will focus on the plight of schools and students in the low-income neighborhoods of Baltimore.

Despite what many,including myself, saw as a creative hiccup in the beginning of Season Three, The Wire has returned to form and regained its place as, far and above, the best and most ambitious undertaking on television.

The show was created by former Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon and erstwhile Baltimore homicide detective and schoolteacher Ed Burns. The pair drew on their experience to create TV's most unapologetically realistic depiction of the intersection of inner-city life and the civic institutions that fail to serve this segment of the citizenry.

The unusually diverse ensemble cast delivers performances of the first water, which is especially impressive considering the large number of younger actors and the many non-professionals culled from the streets of Baltimore. In fact, a former drug kingpin named Melvin Williams, whom Ed Burns arrested as a result of a year-long wiretap like the one conducted in Season One, plays a recurring role as The Deacon, a sage advisor to former police lieutenant Bunny Colvin in the show's current season.

Among the real standouts so far in the Season Four cast are several holdovers from the first three seasons, including British actor Dominic West seamlessly faking a Bal'more accent as Patrolman Jimmy McNulty, JD Williams as corner-running dealer 'Bodie', Michael K. Williams as much-feared stick-up artist Omar Little, Wendell Pierce as homicide detective Bunk Moreland and Irishman Aiden Gillen playing all-too-lily-skinned mayoral hopeful Tommy Carcetti. New additions such as Gbenga Akinnagbe as gang muscle Chris Partlow and Tristan Wilds as reluctant and idealistic 'hopper' Michael Lee help lift the series closer to its Season Two heights.

Maybe this will be the season that the Academy of Television Arts and Whatever finally catches up with the critics and gives this show its due. If not, at least we can celebrate the fact that The Wire has been picked up for a fifth and final season.

All Hail CLIN-TON!

I watched with much amusement last night as former president Bill Clinton quickly and aggressively knocked Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace off balance in a 15-minute taped interview that aired for the first time yesterday.

At times, it reminded me of the Matt Lauer interview of George W. Bush, with Clinton leaning toward Wallace and using aggressive and intimidating body language. Clinton referred to the interview as a "conservative hit job" and blasted Wallace for having a smirk on his face and thinking he was "so clever". The difference between the Clinton and Bush interviews, however, is that what Clinton said actually makes sense, as well as the minor detail that he has the truth on his side. And while Lauer was tough with Bush, he was not nearly as dismissive and disrespectful of the president as Wallace was with former president Clinton.

Wallace started off the interview with some innocuous questions about Clinton's Global Initiative Conference, but then thought we would throw in a quick sucker-punch in the traditional Fox News 'not me, but some people are asking' style highlighted in Robert Greenwald's documentary Outfoxed.

Wallace: When we announced that you were going to be on "Fox News Sunday," I got a lot of e-mail from viewers. And I've got to say, I was surprised.Most of them wanted me to ask you this question: Why didn't you do more to put bin Laden and Al Qaeda out of business when you were president?

Clinton wasted no time in responding in simple terms, if perhaps in a somewhat agitated and overly defensive manner. He raised and repeated three points:

1. That the neocons who bring up Clinton's withdrawal from Somalia in 1993 as a decision that emboldened Al-Qaida, were the same ones who criticized him for waiting a month after the Blackhawk Down incident to withdraw the troops from that region. Also, no one knew of Al-Qaida in 1993 and there was no real evidence that the U.S. pulling out of Mogadishu aided their cause.

2. That Richard Clarke, who worked to combat terorism in four White Houses, three of which were Republican, said in his book, Against All Enemies, that Clinton was obsessed with getting bin Laden, especially after the African embassy bombings. And that Clarke, who was obviously an invaluable resource in combating terror, was ignored and eventually demoted by the Bush administration.

3. The CIA wouldn't certify that bin Laden was behind the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole before the end of Clinton's presidency (it didn't until after Bush took office in 2001) so he could only send special forces to Afghanistan, a move which the military argued would be ineffective.

Clinton also chided Wallace for repeating the neocon talking points, blaming Clinton for 9/11, while never pressing Bush administration officials on why they put counter-terrorism on the back burner for the first nine months of his presidency, or why they didn't follow up on the Cole bombing once the CIA certified that Al-Qaida was responsible, or why they decided to demote Richard Clarke. Wallace claimed that he had done so, a claim quickly and easily refuted (as is often the case with Fox News claims) by Media Matters.

I would also ask why the Bush administration ignored the Hart-Rudman Report or why they ignored the infamous Aug. 6 President's Daily Brief. But apparently, the more important question for CNN is: Why did Bill Clinton Blow His Top?

A's have done it once again

Best records in baseball since the All-Star break:

Oakland Athletics: 45-21

Minnesota Twins: 45-24

New York Yankees: 41-25


The A's are likely to clinch a playoff berth tonight or tomorrow, especially since their current series opponents, the Seattle Mariners, haven't beaten the A's in their last 15 tries. Once again, their playoff berth will be due to a scorching second half, just as it was in 2000-2003.

Also, there has been more and more talk of Frank Thomas for MVP, and then there was even this.

IT = Incredibly Thinskinned?

I got in a bit of hot water over at my main source of freelance income the other day for requesting a computer upgrade via a perhaps overly snarky email. I thought the IT department would get a kick out of it, what with the tech-nerd inside jokes and all, but turns out I was very much mistaken. The executives were alerted to my boorish behavior and it was suggested that I apologize. Never underestimate the sensitivity of a hardware wrangler.

By the way, all the specs mentioned in the email (below) are accurate.



Dear (Nameless IT Director),

Don't know if you're the appropriate person to email
about this, but I have a request.

I was trying to get on the latest version of the
ARPANET the other day, when I realized that my
company-issued Dell Optiplex GX150 didn't have the
processing power to do much more than talk with my
colleagues on one of those newfangled listservs.

I know that at one point a 933MHz Pentium III
processor was considered the bee's knees, but ever
since some guy came up with Moore's law, I expect
more.

Though I could use an upgrade as soon as possible, I
realize it may take until tomorrow or perhaps Friday
for you to receive this email as my 128MB of RAM are
pretty taxed what with sending this email while
simultaneously having the calculator application open.

Don't know if you have any newer machines, or if
you're interested in upgrading someone who's just
part-time, so feel free to tell me to shove this
request right up my 3.5-inch floppy drive and cram it
in the vast 20GB of storage. That's your prerogative
as the IT director.

If that is the way it must be, then I suggest that we
plan a celebration marking the 6th birthday of the company's
oldest living silicon-based employee.

yours in pre-millennial technology,

Jeff Palfini
Proofreader

Et tu, Oignon?

I want you all to read this, my goodbye email upon leaving The Industry Standard in August 2001:

Area Man Thanks Co-Workers For 'Unforgettable Ride'

Low-profile researcher, Jeff Palfini, a recently laid-off employee of local tech magazine The Industry Standard, thanked his co-workers via e-mail today for 'an unforgettable ride' prompting dozens of the people he was 'proud to work with' to rack their brains to recall who the hell he was.

"I'm pretty sure he was the guy who fixed my computer last week," said one editorial staffer who asked not to be named. 'But whoever he is, he must know me since I got this e-mail saying that he wants to 'keep in touch no matter what happens.'

Human resources expressed similar quizzical feelings.

"I wish I had some inkling of who this guy was," said one Standard HR representative. "It felt a little hollow writing 'we wish you the best of luck in the future' on his dismissal term sheet, under the circumstances."

Palfini, who has been employed at the Standard in one capacity or
another for more than a year, showed up at many company gatherings and parties, but failed to do anything to stand out, instead hovering around the free food tables and ordering two beers at a time at the open bar.

Although Palfini thanked upper management for its 'constant support' and 'a wonderful opportunity', at least one member of the senior management could not recall providing any such thing.

"To be honest, I almost had to check my files to see if we even had an employee with that name at the company," said Standard CEO John Battelle.

"Though I don't remember hiring, firing or ever employing anyone with that name," he continued, "the e-mail did come from jpalfini@thestandard.com, so I guess I must have."

At press time, one Standard employee had reported 'some hazy recollection' of Palfini and his contribution to the magazine. But insiders at the Standard report that this person also claims to have seen Elvis selling hot dogs at a Giants game.

Now I'd like you to read this article from The Onion dated September 8th, 2006.

First there was Joe Biden, then Jayson Blair, later Ann Coulter, and now this. Mr. Onion Writer, you better own up, because I have a response to my goodbye email stamped with a time code, and as we all know, that is very difficult to fake.

I'm warning you, don't fuck with me, or you learn the hard way like some companies in this article did when I got all pro se on dey ass.

Quien es mucho indie?

Tipo Numero Uno:





o Tipo Numero Dos:

Stoner Tip of the Day

Frustrated by the 'Smoke-Free Concert' policy at Willie Nelson's shows? Knock on the door of the tour bus, they got plenty.

Stay Gold

Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI), our choice for President in 2008, spoke out yesterday against the Bush administration's use of dangerous language in the War On Terror. He implored them not to use the words 'Islamic fascism', as it is not only inaccurate but also needlessly inflammatory.

"Fascist ideology doesn't have anything to do with the way global terrorist networks think or operate, and it doesn't have anything to do with the overwhelming majority of Muslims around the world who practice the peaceful teachings of Islam," Feingold said in a speech to the Arab-American Institute.

In just a few short minutes, he sounded almost ridiculously thoughtful and reasonable relative to his colleagues, especially the current occupants of White House.

As if to underscore the point, Bush gave a speech the same day, in which he once again compared Osama bin Laden to Hitler and Lenin.

Lauer's Monday-Morning Journalism

Maybe he's just a little perturbed that Katie Couric got the nod for the CBS Evening News anchor chair and he's still at the frothy, lightweight Today Show. But Lauer hinted yesterday (perhaps a bit too late), with a tough interview of GW43, that he does carry a bit more journalistic heft than his former co-host.

G-Dub tried to intimidate Lauer by poking at his chest with his finger for the entire interview (seems like it should have worked) but Lauer stayed on him. I imagine that without the sound, the interview would look something like the beginning of a bar fight. By God our president is a smug, condescending SOB.

ABC is History

ABC aired the first segement of its 'docu-drama' The Path to 9-11 last night. I missed it, much like I missed the first episode of The Wire's fourth season, because I had an appointment with the superb David Berman and his Silver Jews.

As we've all heard over the past couple of weeks, ABC's docudrama is -- how do I say this -- a tall, steaming pile of bullshit. On Salon's Video Dog today, we find a clip from Politically Incorrect where Salon's Joan Walsh, Bill, P.J. O'Rourke and Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas(?) pick through and poke at the aforementioned shitpile.

We also find an amusing sneak peek at some other docudramas ABC might have in the can.

Take a gander and prepare for tonight, when ABC drops a second load of dung (8 pm) into the inside of the shiny talking box in your living room. Or if you're dung-averse, try the replay of The Wire's fourth-season premiere (9 pm, HBO2W) or a replay of a real documentary, Spike Lee's When The Levees Broke (8:15 pm, HBO-E).

It's Hard Out There For a Pimp

When Three 6 Mafia won an Oscar for the song (title above) from Hustle & Flow, we should have taken it for what it was – a sign of the times. Yep, the writing was finally on the wall for all those pimps out there -- the world’s middlemen – the sharks, hustlers and hucksters.

Who would have thought that they would be among the first lasting victims of the Internet age? I mean, it makes sense, but didn’t we all think they’d wiggle or weasel their way out of it, like always?

That seemed to be the case when Hilary Rosen and the RIAA were bullying 13-year-old kids for file-sharing, high-powered lawyers were trying to drive the Shawn Fannings of the world out of business, or when Lars Ulrich revealed himself to be the Joe Morgan of the music world, unable to grasp how the coming New World Order would benefit him more than the old way ever did.

But a recent Wired article offers up proof that the seeds that were sown by Fanning and others have finally begun to take deep root. Perhaps the populist movement is finally getting the upper hand.

If we believe what we read, now the big four labels are between a rock and a hard place that is suspended over the edge of a bottomless pit of obsolescence. Bands have begun to realize that singles, radio play and deep-pocketed advertising are no longer as important as they once were.

Not many read magazines any more, except older businesspeople that fly a lot. Radio isn’t dead yet, but now people anywhere have access to college radio (via iTunes and the Internet), independent Web radio and the extremely egalitarian podcast. With the Internet becoming the primary means of distribution, what is it that major labels are providing the bands on their roster for all that money they’re pulling out of their pockets? Turns out not very much, just like any good pimp. Well now it’s the ho’s turn.

According to Wired, the labels’ mainstay, CD sales, have dropped 20 percent since 2000, but concert ticket sales have increased 100 percent since 1999. Many bands, both large and small are offering free access to new material through myspace and their own sites. It used to be that only big-label established acts would find their way into car commercials, large music festivals and other big paydays. Now a bit of the youthful frontiersmanship has made its way into marketing boardrooms. Mid-level acts like My Morning Jacket, Modest Mouse, Richard Buckner and the Dandy Warhols have had songs turn up in commercials for formerly staid industrial giants like Ford, Coors Brewing Co. and Volkswagen. Festivals seem eager to keep up with up-and-coming acts rather than trotting out the big draws every summer. While the dinosaurs keep rising ticket prices to counter lackluster sales, fans turn to the cheaper alternative – going online to discover bands that are playing more intimate venues for reasonable prices.

So next time Lars and Metallica play Oakland Arena for 80 or 100 dollars, they just might discover that many of their fans have gone to see Sunn O))) at 12 Galaxies instead.

Sidewalk Rock Critic

This is one man's opinion. This is one man's opinion who was denied entry to much of DeVotchKa's show at The Independent last month, and all of The Zombies show last night at 12 Galaxies. This is one man's opinion who listened to most of both shows from outside the front door of the respective venues. This is one man's opinion coming from someone who threw such a hissy fit while being barred from the sold-out DeVotchKa show that he lost his balance and fell in the gutter while trying to spike a messenger bag on the sidewalk.

So add as many grains of salt as you need to digest my assertion that if there is one band who sounds superb from the sidewalk outside of a venue, it is DeVotchKa. So great, they might make you throw a hissy fit and fall in a gutter. Their haunting klesmer-tinged folk balladry translates well through the tunnel of a venue entryway, almost as if it was the distant background music you hear in your head when reading a Russian novel, or say the subtlely used score to a thoughtful, moving and funny film starring Steve Carell.

The Zombies, on the other hand, were visible from outside the front door of 12 Galaxies, and if you were just passing by, might be mistaken for a better-than-average bar band. That is, if not for the two gigantic tour buses parked outside the modestly sized venue. Though the sound out on the sidewalk was admittedly worse than it was at The Independent, it was still clear that The Zombies lack the punch that they have on the old albums or even that of the Argent material.

Could the impact have been diffused somewhere between the bar and the doorman's cash drawer? Does the moan of a violin travel better than the bleat of a keyboard? Did Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone look more like rockers and less like the house band from an airport Holiday Inn if you were standing in the actual venue? I can never be sure. These are the grand questions of a sidewalk rock critic.

Tubes!

Something called 'Net Neutrality' has been in the news lately, though most people probably didn't notice what with the unveiling of Baby Suri, the surprising death of the Crocodile Hunter and Katie Couric's first nightly news broadcast.

Net neutrality is a 'relatively complex' issue, so most news outlets figure the people don't care or won't be able to make heads or tails of it (see Ted Stevens video clip, linked further down). But it boils down to this: Are we willing to sacrifice the level playing field of the Internet so that large content providers can serve up streaming video or MP3s or whatever a bit faster for us?

Telcos want to provide preferential treatment for broadband content providers (in relation to smaller, less deep-pocketed companies and individuals) so that they can command and pay for more bandwidth to serve up, say, commercials, video clips of their TV shows, or footage of Paris Hilton getting wild at some Vegas club.

Democrats have put forth a bill, called the Net Neutrality Act, to put in place guarantees that the telcos can't do this.

Not surprisingly, Republicans fall on the other side of the issue, either because they depend on contributions from the large corporations that would benefit, or because many of them, apparently including Alaskan senator Ted Stevens, have no freakin' clue how the Internet works (Tubes!).

Reminds Me of My Soccer Days

I haven't heard an insult like this one since I last played soccer almost 20 years ago. Can't recall if the 12-year-old who uttered it got the headbutt that was coming to him.

Suj-fan Makes My Christmas That Much More Bearable

Sufjan Stevens (sometimes pronounced SUJ-fan Steff-ENS) has decided to put together a Christmas box set, according to Pitchfork. I celebrate every indie rock holiday release, as each one supplants an album's worth of yuletide suffering at the hands of Bing Crosby, Reba McEntire or Andy Williams over the holiday season at my parent's house. I celebrate with gusto when the release in question takes the place of five albums and I can tell my parents that it's Christian rock.

Apparently, MP3s of at least some of the 42 songs on this box set have been around for a year or two.

(photo courtesy of NOW Toronto, 2003 via Brooklyn Vegan)

Merrill Hartson = Karl Rove?

Liberal media? Are you friggin' kiddin' me?

Wired on the Music Industry

San Francisco's own Wired Magazine just put out an issue devoted to technology-related changes to the music industry. The two most notable pieces are on a new approach to music marketing and the rise and the ensuing reaction to Pitchfork Media. Both pieces are now available on Wired's website. More commentary to come.

Olbermann Channels Murrow

Every once in a while, Keith Olbermann reminds us how far he's come since his days sitting to the right of Dan Patrick on SportsCenter. This past Wednesday was one of those occasions. His take on Donald Rumsfeld's straw-man argument blasting critics of the Iraq War raised echoes of Edward R. Murrow, an intent Olbermann acknowledges toward the end of the segment. It's really something.

Update!: Now Olbermann has some harsh words for The Decider.

Disturbing Trend of the Week

Faux links.

This article on Mos Def's arrest that appeared on ContactMusic.com has words in it that appear to be links to more in-depth information on the story. But when you scroll over them, small ads pop up.

And if, God bless you, you happen to click on them before you realize what is going on, you'll be redirected to the advertiser's website. I personally felt like I had been shanghaied.

Mos Def Arrested

Mos Def had his Kanye West moment last night outside the MTV Video Music Awards. But unlike Mr. West, who was merely put through the ringer by the press for his comments during a Red Cross Fundraiser on NBC, Mos ended up being hauled off to jail.

Police said that Mos, whose real name is Dante Smith, was creating unsafe crowd conditions when he pulled up in a flatbed truck in front of Radio City Music Hall and began to perform his slam on Bush and institutional racism titled "Katrina Clap" to a crowd that had begun to gather on the sidewalk. Police asked members of his entourage to halt the performance before starting to make arrests.

It may not have the news-clip replay appeal of "George Bush doesn't care about black people," but Mos has nevertheless managed to draw some attention back to the need that still exists down on the Gulf Coast -- and did so with some style to boot.