We Need A Revolution

I found this image today while browsing reddit.com and found it to be extremely relevant to everything we have been talking about in class lately. it takes a minute to see it, but the way the money is folded allows for the phrase "We Need A Revolution" to be spelled out by the letters on the dollar.

It amazes me how split the party system supposedly is. In reality, everyone is going for the same goal- more money in their pockets and their bank accounts.

One thing I've really noticed lately is that even though there are massive protests going on throughout the world (Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Wisconsin...), there's really not any protest music coming out of it- or at least mainstream protest music. But it's also ridiculous to think of any major acts these days writing protest music. Picture this: Katy Perry, in the middle of her current "California Dreams Tour," dropping everything to record a song in protest of the Libyan or Egyptian (or Wisconsonian) government.

I would laugh. Not because of the idea of it, but because I can't take most of pop music seriously anymore, and a Katy Perry protest song (the song that I'm getting in my brain would be something along the lines of the backing music of "California Gurls" plus the lyrical equivalent of "Maggie's Farm") would honestly be downright laughable.

The idea of somebody who actually makes an impact on music these days putting something out that even mentions any form of protest is insane. I'd love to see Britney or Katy Perry or Justin Timberlake or whatever come out with something, anything revolutionary, but it would most definitely not get any airplay (if it even were to get released as a single).

I swear to god, if I ever find out that somebody has made a synth-pop mashup of "Maggie's Farm..."

Godlike Genius

Well, the new Foo Fighters single dropped this week. And, according to NME, Dave Grohl is officially a Godlike Genius.

Grohl is one of those guys who, in all honesty, deserves everything he's got. But if it weren't for some stupid shit when Nirvana was just starting to get big, Dave would definitely not be where he is right now. His band, Scream, had split up due to a the departure of their bass player, and he had just been to a Melvins concert with Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic and started to get to know the two of them. Kurt and Krist loved Dave's style of drumming and needed a new drummer, so after an audition, they added him as a full-time member to the now infamous lineup of Nirvana, the band that changed rock music forever.

With the music industry in the state it is, it's very refreshing to see an artist who loves what he does but can have a sense of humor about all of it. Dave is another one of those guys who takes what he does seriously but obviously thoroughly enjoys himself, like in the "Fresh Pots!" video from when Them Crooked Vultures were in the studio or his commentary on seeing Jake Shears' nutsack at a Scissor Sisters show.

Joshua Homme: The Queen of the Stone Age

If you haven't heard of Queens of the Stone Age, I suggest you pick up one of their albums. They all kick major ass and are sure to please because hey, who doesn't like a little bit of harder rock every once in a while?

In a little less than a month, Queens of the Stone Age will be kicking off a 14-date North American tour to commemorate the reissue of their self-titled debut album from 1998 with a date here in New Orleans at One Eyed Jack's, a 400-capacity venue on Toulouse down in the quarter. Why is that a big deal? The last time Queens of the Stone age played here in New Orleans was a headlining slot at VooDoo in 2005. Last summer they were the friday night headliners at the massive European music festival Reading and Leeds.

Lucky for me, my brother got us 2 tickets. As you might be able to guess, I'm beyond excited.

Joshua Homme ("Homme" rhymes with "mommy") is one of the most interesting musicians I can think of. He has self-described "musical schizophrenia" and is not only in Queens of the Stone Age, but also plays the drums for Eagles of Death Metal and is the frontman for Them Crooked Vultures, his Grammy-winning collaboration with John Paul Jones (of Led Zeppelin) and Dave Grohl (of Nirvana and Foo Fighters). His music ranges from the deep guitar jabs to Stones-esque sleaze to stoner-rock heaven, and he pulls it off well. As the main songwriter for 2 out of the 3 bands that he regularly plays in, he's got his hands full and is one of the hardest working men in the business now, whether he's touring, recording with one of his bands, or producing acts like Arctic Monkeys or Spinnerette. Josh is one of the most humorous musicians I listen to, slipping puns and wordplay into nearly every song he writes (as well as helping the wonderful people over at Record Store Day out by doing this amazing video for last year's event).

But Josh is also known for being one of the biggest assholes when it comes to being on stage. More often then not, Josh rips into audience members during shows who are acting in a way he does not deem appropriate. Personally, I think his anger is often justified, but what he says is usually out of line and rather offensive. Usually he's reacting to a fan's stupidity, but when you're going to call some kid a "chickenshit fucking faggot" you might be taking it a little too far.

It's episodes like this that make me wonder how the people he works with stick have stuck around for so long- Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo have been around since the beginning, and friends like Dave Grohl and Alain Johannes have been working with him since the early part of the 2000s.

Onstage antics aside, Josh knows how to put on a show. He switches instruments constantly, can play guitar like a madman (and sing at the same time) and is pretty innovative when it comes to cool sounds. It's very cool for me to listen to songs off of the first Queens of the Stone Age album that so heavy you could almost call them metal ("Avon," anyone?), where as several of the songs from his latest works are slow-burning blues ("Make It Wit Chu" is the perfect example). Granted, musical progression makes absolute sense, especially when you've been doing it as long as he has, so I applaud him for having such a wide array of styles that he rocks.

(Get it? "Rocks"? It's a "stone" pun.)

Stop The Hate!

So last night was incredible. And no, i'm not talking about the Krewe du Vieux parade in the quarter. I'm talking about Marleyfest 2011, the best example of a community of musicians I have ever experienced

So a couple of weeks ago, people who obviously hate everything about life did a terrible thing and stole several thousand dollars worth of instruments, personal belongings, and money from the van of the wonderful gentlemen in New Grass Countr

y Club while they were out gigging in Shreveport. So, as any wonderful community should do, the guys in Sun Hotel, Native America, Habitat, and Caddywhompus organized an amazing evening in order to stop the hate that those bastards in Shreveport so willingly shelled out on New Grass. It was 5 bucks to get in for tons of awesome music and tons of love, the obvious opposite of hate. There's even a "Stop the Hate" EP, made up of songs from all of the bands that played (plus Vox and the Hound). They even made "Stop the Hate" t-shirts (or they'd tag the shirt you were wearing).

This really ranks up there in coolest concerts i have ever been to. There was so much love and friendship, and it was really an enjoyable night. Sure, I ended up missing most of Krewe du Vieux, but that's alright- I'm part of a community, and people in a community help each other out. New Orleans is the only city i can think of that has such a wonderful group of musicians that honestly want to help each other out. Back home in St. Louis, people go to a show to see their friend's band and leave directly after. Here, people show up early and they stay late. They put on benefit shows for people whose priceless gear got stolen by some bastards out in Shreveport. They come to your shows, and you go to theirs. Bands care about each other like the members of a family cares for one another, and it's a wonderful thing to see somebody in your family start to make it big.

So thank you, New Orleans, for helping to stop the hate.

State Farm, or Why I Have Finally Given Up On Weezer.

Damn you, Weezer.



I stumbled across this today, and it honestly sickens me to think of what Weezer used to be. The Weezer that I know and love didn't give a shit what the critics said about Pinkerton and wrote some of the best music of the '90s. The Blue Album and Pinkerton were truly great albums, highlighting the fantastic lyrics of Rivers Cuomo over what was, at the time, a new direction for rock and roll- almost a pop-grunge. Pinkerton, especially, is actually heavy- instrumentally as well as lyrically. Rivers writes his heart out about his girl problems and what was really on his mind. Albeit non-political or particularly revolutionary, he was writing about things he thought were important. Songs like "Tired of Sex" and "Why Bother" highlight his disillusionment with the lifestyle that Weezer became a part of the success of their debut album. Rivers wrote meaningful songs that people enjoyed listening to and that people could relate to. But after "Pinkerton" was poorly received, Rivers changed the sound of the band, and although "The Green Album" and "Maladroit" have a couple of amazing tracks to them, they are inconsistent albums that lack substance and seem to be mostly filler tracks. The reviews of "Pinkerton" pushed Rivers from writing about his life and what really mattered to him to writing about what everyone else told him to write about.



Weezer has, in my opinion, never had an album match the emotion and meaning that was so blatantly there (and criticized) on "Pinkerton." Their latest albums have been attempts to stay relevant, with one or two singles and about 8 tracks worth of filler. After I watched this video today, I thought about all of this. Instrumentally, Weezer really hasn't changed much- they still know how to write a killer guitar hook, and their guitars are as distorted and thick as ever (seriously though....how the hell do they get some of those tones out of those guitars? It's so thick....). Lyrically, though, Weezer has become a gimmick band. Songs like "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" and "Can't Stop Partying" are practically jokes. The depth that Weezer once had is now gone, leaving them to be that band that does a song for State Farm Insurance.

Seriously, guys? This puts you on about the same level as that "Free Credit Report Dot Com" band.

A Bit of Shameless Self-Promotion

So as a few of you might know, Pat Testa and I are in a band, Cute Machines. We're a dance-punk band, with influence ranging from The White Stripes to LCD Soundsystem to Lady Gaga to The Who. Pat plays the synthesizers and sings, I play guitar and synthesizers and sing on occasion, and my twin brother, Collin, plays bass and sings more often than I do. It's an awesome mix of synths,fuzzed out guitars and bass. Oh, and we have a drum machine, too.

Well, we've got a really big show coming up this weekend, so I thought I'd let you all know. It's on Saturday at Café Prytania, doors are at 9, and we're going to be playing around 10 or so. We're playing with Coyotes and an amazing band from Austin, Mobley. It's 5 bucks at the door for several hours of awesome, so you know you want to go.

So that's my bit of self promotion. Hopefully we'll see some of you there.

Farewell, White Stripes.

As many of you probably know by now, The White Stripes have called it quits. After 13 plus years of making some of the most wonderful (and wonderfully simple) music I can possibly think of, they have this to say:

“The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong
to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is
that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your
involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful."

I seriously was about to cry when I heard this news today. The White Stripes were my first favorite band, the first band that I can say I religiously followed. Back in that awkward stage of middle school, I discovered them and that was pretty much it. I dreamed of getting to see them live and bought every album.

The White Stripes were one of the most important bands of the last decade, there's no doubt about that. They, along with The Strokes, pushed indie garage rock into the mainstream music scene. 10 years ago, before "White Blood Cells," the idea of a brother-and-sister duo making a racket playing Son House and Leadbelly covers would have never made any waves in the music business. But now, "Seven Nation Army" is considered one of the best songs of the 2000s, and Jack White is considered one of the greatest geniuses in modern music. Their near perfect blend of pop and blues gave The White Stripes an edge that nobody else had at the time, and now you can't find a guitar player who isn't inspired by Jack.

I respect them for their decision to end it now though. In another quote from the band, they claimed that the breakup was "for a myriad of reasons" and that they want "to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way." Good for them, I say. They had a great thing going, with not a bad album to their name. After 4 years of Jack working on other projects and Meg starting a family, it probably just didn't feel right anymore. I wish more bands would do that, to be honest. Far too often, bands release records just to stay within the business and make money, it doesn't matter if the album is one or two good songs plus 10 songs worth of filler. I applaud you, White Stripes, for having the decency to call it quits when you know it just doesn't feel the same.

That's all I really have to say about the whole situation. Third Man, Jack's label, says that they'll continue to release old studio and live recordings through their Vault subscription service as well as commercially, so it's not like they died or anything. Just kind of sad, really.

Thank you, Jack and Meg.

Lollapalooza: Chile

Last summer I was lucky enough to be able to attend Lollapalooza in Chicago's Grant Park during the first weekend of August, and I have to say that it was one of the coolest experiences of my life. I got to spend 3 days hanging out and listening to music, discovering new bands like Royal Bangs, Skybox, and even MyNameIsJohnMichael, as well as getting to see other acts that I never thought I would get to see, like Arcade Fire and The Strokes. I even got to touch Lady Gaga when she did a stage dive directly on top of me during Semi Precious Weapons' set.

So, in hopes of going again next year, I got on Lollapalooza's website over the weekend to find out when tickets go on sale this Spring. I was surprised to find out that Perry Farrell (the creator of Lollapalooza as well as lead singer of one of my favorite 90s bands, Jane's Addiction) is putting on Lollapalooza Chile in Santiago in April. With headliners like The Killers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kanye, Fatboy Slim, The Flaming Lips, and (of course) Jane's Addiction, as well as about 40 other bands, including many South American bands and artists, it looks like the Chileans are in for a real treat.

It struck me as I read about the festival, though, how rarely bands trek down to South America. It was a really big deal when The White Stripes played nearly every country on the continent after their release of "Get Behind Me Satan" in 2005 (MTV even did an hour long special from Manaus, Brazil). Then I thought about how incredibly different music is in that part of the world. I never hear about any pop artists from South America (other than Shakira, of course), and I wonder if the people in Chile have even heard of some of these smaller bands on the line-up, like Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. Granted, I hadn't heard many of the bands at Lolla last summer, but I had at least heard of them and therefore knew who I wanted to go see.

Then I began to think about European music and festivals. It's not uncommon for me to hear about artists from Europe. In fact, a lot of music from Europe is far superior to the crap that comes out of the U.S. pop charts these days (I'm looking at you, Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars). Why is it that most of the world's most popular music comes from just two countries, the U.S. and the U.K.?

It didn't take me long to figure out an answer to that question: in regards to culture and what's "in" right now, the U.S. and the U.K. are where it's at and where everything comes from. With all of the money in those two economies, as well as widespread access to the internet and other media outlets, it's no surprise that bands that aren't U2 or the Rolling Stones don't tour to countries that are that far out of the way. It's kind of a shame, really.