Dance Punk...In The Most Literal Sense

Some of my friends would probably wonder what happened to me. Just a few years ago I was fully entrenched in a world of sound which comprised of dirty guitars and screaming vocals. So long as the volume and intensity was there, I was pretty much happy. Suddenly somehting happened. A part of me which was latent for a long time began to surface. I began sleeping with the enemy. In high school nothing made me more angry than techno. To a young punk, nothing seemed more fabricated than this music. It was created entirely in a studio by a bunch of Eurotrash dudes, and it just sounded stupid. But now, I must admit, I barely listen to anythig else. I've become the monster I feared. However, as one examines the musical landscape it seems I'm not the only one guiltily indulging in this world of sound. Whereas for a long time one could find Indie-rock bands wiht clear punk roots, the same seems to be happening with Dance Music.
Even as a listened to albums in High School, I can rmember enjoying the bits of electronic msic I heard. For example, I would play and repeat those little bits of "The Shape Of Punk To Come" that employed electronics. As I rode on the metro to school I can remember listening to my brother's copy of the "Pi" soundtrack and thinking that there was something to the intensity in Clint Mansell's score and to the Aphex Twin track on there. Something about it appealed to me, but I was not yet ready to admit it. Even watching Daft Punk videos circa Discovery gave me a sort of happy feeling. But I wasn't there yet, I was still of the mind that Minor Threat's Complete Discography would forever be in my CD player.

No, admitting all of this to myself was still going to take a few years of listening and becoming comfortable with the fact that I was now a Dance Punk. Slowly other bands started to wear this love of groove on their sleeves. Q and Not U and the Rapture slowly bacame more disco-y and bands like !!! were making nothing less then full band dance music. The full enjoyment of this srt of stuff started with remixes, however. I spend a lot of time on the internet downloading whatever I can get my hands on. I started downloading a ton of DFA remixes and dance remixes of bands I liked. Some of them surpassed the originally, and that was one admittance closer to where I am. One night I decided I'd go ahead and download the Daft Punk album in question earlier. I thought "I remember liking a few of those songs, why not?" To those who asked what happened...this is the turning point. I started devouring that album, albeit a few years late. I really couldn't get enough of it. From that point on, I just didn't stop. Even as I write this I'm bouncing merrily along to some pulsating beat.

But it doesn't seem like I'm the only one whos had this shift. Many punks are starting ot put their hand to the dance music world. James Murphy admitted in an interview that he and I were once in the same boat, claiming that at one time he hated dance music, but DFA mate Tim Gloldsworthy showed him the light in some sense. The people making dance music are no longer in tight t-shirts and spiked up hair. Look at a lot of the new promo shot of dance music guys like Justice or most of the Kitsune roster and you won't see anyone that belongs on an Ibiza Compilation album cover. That DFA1979 guy makes unabashed dance music, not a bit of the old punk/metal instrumentation of DFA1979 really infiltrates the MSTRKRFT album. People who once scoffed at dance music are slowly enjoyig it more and more, pretentious music sites are reviewing new dance releases with a suprising regularity. While the instruments aren't there however, I think the appeal lies in something deeper, perhaps an attitude or maybe even in a general aesthetic.

Hardcore and punk is based on repitition. The song structures are simple, often somprised of three chords over and over and over. The lyrics are either unintelligible or simple in nature, making them good for loud shout alongs with your audience. Punk always liked to make people move at the shows, the more people went nuts the better a show it would be. Im finding that most of the things I found attractive about punk and hardcore remain true in dance music, especially as the people with punk roots begin to make it more. The new dance music isn't very slick. A great deal of the french groups have dirtied up the techno sounds we hated. Nothing is slick except song progression. The synths are sharp, fuzzed-out and loud. These are greasy dudes who like dancing, a category I find myself in now. The songs are fast loud, deceptively simple, and ultimately fun.

Most other forms of music I once felt passionately about have been corrupted and co-opted y larger powers. Indie rock is a boring landscape now, bands that really aren't very good are getting a huge amount of buzz. Punk, these days, is just a joke, sold out of a store in a mall. (side note: i know this is a trite argument, but i just stood above a hot topic the other day watching people go in an out, it's a pretty disheartening thing to watch...try it) Dance Music is't there yet. Right now you've get an exciting new wave of people who seem to feeel the sae way pushing beats upon the masses. They've all given in to what's been eating at them all these years and are using their musicality to do it themselves. Much like the old punk, dance music is primarily founded in making you feel something. If you feel like dancing, if you feel good listening to it, the artist has done their job right. So here it is, my first fully quotable public admittance: I'm a dance punk.

This is a term which has been thrown around a lot. But I feel now is a real time to reclaim it. For a while it was bandied about, applied to dirty indie rock kids who used their high-hats and kick drums a little more, but they were just picking up at post-punk. Now there really is a wave of old punks making dance music, not a watered down version. These were people who loved the Cramps, Minor Threat, and the Misfits in their old days. Hell, even Ted Leo has a picture of Daft Punk on his personal myspace page. He even admits that the really repetitive parts of some of his songs are a result of dance music influence. Techno and House are still dirty words. The old version of "Dance Punk" rightfully died a few years ago, because the words carried no weight, they were filler. Now that term actually applies...I'm bringin it back. Don't be afraid of the beats and hand-claps, they are there to make things better. Take that toe tapping you can't help and turn it into something greater, admit just your "Like" of the music and your summer drives will get that much better.

Love,
John

P.S. This is the first thing I wrote today, It may seem a little grouggy, I may beef it up later...I gotz to get to class.

We're getting weird (or: How to love music)

There is something important about the concept of anticipation when it comes to music. I am a lover of the "wall-of-noise" sound, but herein lies the beauty of presence and absence. Without the quiet and simplicity which precedes it, a wall of noise is nothing. At times a song can be picking its way along, beautifully, with a fragility all its own. And then suddenly it can be torn apart by a million tracks of guitars, organs, triangles, drum machines, steel drums, vox effects, etc. But for my money there really is nothing better than that moment where you can feel it coming, you know it's supposed to come. You can feel that simple guitar line about to break up. It seems simple and basic now, but that brick wall of sound is about to come. That tension followed by a release in your brain when that little ditty comes crashing down around you is the best thing you can feel in music. That loud/soft dynamic, the crash and splash of cymbals and drums, that moments pause before the band returns to your ears full force. These are the things that make good music, not fashion, not videos, not a good "buzz" surrounding your band. It's the moment you can start breathing because that anticipation is gone is where the money is. The rush of blood that comes along with that big breath is something only notes can do.

Listen to Yank Crime

Love,
john

God dammit...

Man, I'm sorta pissed. While the story is still "unfolding," it seems that T.I. and his entourage were involved in a violent shoot out. But, wait I haven't even got to the most rediculous crap. After T.I.'s concert at Bogarts last night, he and his group went to go party at the Ritz Niteclub. At the kloob they got into an argument which escalated. On their drive back to the hotel, which took them down I-75, the group became engaged in a big gun battle WHILE DRIVING. For 3 miles the two arguing groups were shooting at one another. Wait, slow down, actually the only injure were in T.I.'s posse so maybe they were just being shot at. (From the way this seemed to have panned out, I'm doubting it though.) T.I.P. was not injured in the debacle, but 4 people in his group were. (edit: from all the reports I'm seeing, it was not T.I. or his crew that fired any shots. Down below I've included a witnesses account from the Enquirer)

When Clayton, Matt and Drew offered me a chance to go to T.I. I was reluctant. Not so much because of going to the concert, but any time there is a rap concert in Cincinnati I get a bad vibe. This is a bad thing. I don't want to feel like this but it seems that hip-hop shows here attract people who have bad intentions. While on different ends of the popularit scale, this is the second violent hip-hop related incident this year. First, the incident on Short Vine and now this. It's not every thing, the KRS-One show went off with none of this crap. Why do people who feel they need to prove their machismo keep showing up at this shit. If we begin getting a reputation for this shit we're never really going to help the rep Cincinnati has. These are major media attention incidents. This is just more random violence we can tag on to our rep. Pretty damn unfortunate.

I mean, I'm just complaining here. I'm so flustered about this that I really have no idea what should be done. It's tough to curb random violence like this. You can't just have cops tailing major rap stars to make sure nothing goes awry. Actually, we probably won't have to much of a problem anymore because no more major names in rap will play shows here. We're going to now have a reputation of a violent, shit-starting town. The last thing you want when you are on tour is to have to deal with a difficult town. And you definately don't want to fuck with a town that will get you involed in a 3 mile long gun battle on a highway that ultimately keeps you in Cincinnati due to police investigation making you miss your next show.

Dammit. as soon as I come up with a solution for this, I'll let you know. Right now, I'm just pissed about it all. I thought I got away from Baltimore.

Love,
John

P.S. From The Enquirer:

"Witnesses told the Enquirer the problem started when a large group of men at the night club became upset after money was being thrown from the stage by one member a rapper’s entourage.

“It was supposed to be for the ladies,” said one witness, who asked not to be named. “But it (the money) was hitting the guys in the face and they were like, ‘We got money’ so why are you throwing money at us?’” (If I do say so myself, worst reason for an incident like this ever. This was guys just trying to start shit.)

The tension mounted and moved outside, where the witness said T.I. was trying to get his group packed up in their vans.

“T.I. was telling his boys, ‘Come on let’s go. Let’s Go.’ And the Cincinnati boys were like, ‘Yea, let’s go.’”

The witness said about four people – believed to be from Cincinnati -- followed the rappers’ vans in a large vehicle, possibly a GMC Tahoe.

The witness said one shot was fired in the parking lot, but he did not think it was related to the tension.

“They were just showing off,” the witness said.

The names and conditions of those shot were not available. They were all taken to University Hospital.

Although police did confirm that the dead person was part of the T.I.’s entourage, they say T.I. was not injured.

Two vans belonging to T.I. were found on the I-75. One victim was from one van. Three people in the other van were shot.

The wounded included one woman. A man, believed to be a victim, was escorted out of University Hospital before 7 a.m. by a police officer. The man had bandages on his arm."

Wait for it, wait for iiiiiiit...

I know I said I was going to write more, but then the part of the semester where I actually have to work started. Sorry. I'll write more soon, I've got plenty to say. Once the summer is here I'll be killin' it on the blog. In the meantime, have a good couple of weeks.

Love,
John

Attempting to lean back...

When I began going to Xavier, my leftist leaning were seen as crazy and slightly hippie-like. (This isn't to say people were jerks. For the most part it's been nothing but love between us.) Bush's recent blunders and flubs have been making people second guess their allegiance to the party of the parents, it seems. I've been noticing quite a bit less flag-waving. People are less quick to say they love him or associate themselves with other conservatives.

However, the Xavier Republicans club has long been a thorn in my side. Ever since their infamous "9 out of 10 terrorists vote for Kerry" t-shirts during the 2004 elections, they have been on my, pardon my language, shit list. Unwilling to sit down and talk issues out, they are the kneejerk reacting thorn in my side. It seems that they are beginning to get worried about the lowered blind allegiance to the Republican party and are ready to take half-scary, half-hilarious, all-maddening steps to try and win people back to the Emporor's side.

This brings me to their most recent foray into conservative love-fests. I found a flier above the urinal I was using which proclaimed that March 27-March 31 was going to be Conservative Week. Before I go on, I will list for you the various events which will be happening throughout the week. Without any glimmer of humor on the flier I present to you "Xavier College Republicans First Annual Conservative Week" (my notes, obviously, are in the red):

Monday: Second Amendment Day - Learn about your second amendment rights, and (this part really isn't a joke) free water guns.

Tuesday: Bias in the media day- Come watch Fox News (to learn what bias is?) and learn about the widespread liberal media bias. (Sure, we have so much power in this country)

Wednesday: Support the Troops Day- Wear your camoflage, write a note to the troops (to apologize, right?), and support the troops wristbands (WOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!)

Thusday: (This one is my personal favorite) Fiscal Responsibility Day- Enter to sin a $50 savings bond and read about the merits of fiscal responsibility. (Why is this just a conservative ideal, shouldn't this be for everyone? I bet their fiscally respnsible plans don't have much room for the less fortunate. I hate that liberals are so irresponsible with their money, what with buying all of those SUV's and big houses.....hey, wait a second!!!!!)

Friday: Conservative Day- Wear Red to show your support of conservative and (again, not a joke) mock gubernatorial primary. (I don't even understand that part. If you get it, please explain. In my bleeding heart, liberal head, that just seems like conservatives being mean. I hope they are better than what I'm thinking.)

So, that's it. I'll let you figure out what to do with that information. I chose to laugh about it knowing, and sort of praying, that this whole this will be viewed as silly by the whole school and belly flop for the rest of the week.

Love,
John

Popcorn Politics

In the past week, I viewed the film V for Vendetta. Before going into the movie I talked to my parents and they asked me to make sure I told them how I felt about it on the basis of the negative reviews it was receiving. This actually started out as the e-mail I sent back to them when I got home. It started as a short review but then slowly morphed into a slightly longer piece. So, without further ado, here is me doing my best to write passionately. I know it’s long, but please try and make to the end. Before that though, if it isn’t obvious, I really loved the movie…

In an effort to understand people’s issues with V for Vendetta, I decided to come home and read a few of the negative reviews of it. It seemed like the two major pieces of dissatisfaction lies in two camps. The first is the idea that it is dissent via pop culture. The second point that comes up over and over is the fact that it is entirely heavy handed. There is no real way to persuade a person that it is indeed a false claim, because that is simply not the case. The film is in fact a heavy-handed, blatantly obvious piece of pop-culture dissent.

As for the first point, the idea that it is a less valid voice due to its backing by a film studio, more aptly a film corporation, this seems somewhat unfounded. Film, as a medium has a long history of using its power and voice to make statements. Are the issues raised in Apocalypse Now any less valid due to its release by Paramount? Hell, Fahrenheit 9/11, an oft praised piece of political dissent, was put out by Lions Gate Films, the very same people who brought us high-brow fare such as Saw I and II, as well as The Punisher. When it has felt like it, pop-culture has been the greatest place for people to make a message know. Why? Well, now more than ever, it is the best place to reach people. When people have started following "Dancing With The Stars" closer than they follow the things that really effect them and their country, it seems to me that the best way to say something is through those very same fast cuts and highly stylized shots. Of course, the way Hollywood manipulates our fashions, the way we talk, or what we love, is certainly a little dodgy, but should we really put that burden upon a film that managed to slip through the cracks? The Matrix brothers have used their own power in Hollywood to play the very system they work in. They used their name to push a film through that is highly critical of a government that is not too fond of trash talking. Which brings me to the trash talking, itself.

Most of the reviews have criticized its blatantly obvious caricature of the American state of affairs. I, personally see no wrong in that. Did they lift scenes almost directly from Abu Gharib? Absolutely. I think its obviousness is necessary in these times. For a group so happy to bash Bush, the bulk of the media seem only pleased when doing so under the radar. Newspaper articles drop little disdainful references here and there. Also, most media outlets seen as "Liberal" has praised the Daily Show for being a wonderful piece of political satire. This sort of thought has always made me think back to the days when I was first learning what exactly a piece of satire was. To make sure I wasn't crazy, I looked up the definition. I found this: “Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity." (American Heritage) While the Daily Show undoubtedly falls heavily in to the "caustic wit" end of the spectrum, V for Vendetta can easily fall into this spectrum as well. No more or less obvious than the Daily Show, there is a strain of firm tongue-in-cheek running through the film. (Exhibit A: The cartoonish Guy Fawkes mask V wears.) To put to use my philosophy training, one can turn to Richard Rorty for a fine definition of an ironist. While he is not necessarily my favorite, his definition really does the form of criticism good. In his essay, Solidarity and Objectivity he says, to paraphrase, that an ironist is a person who radically doubts the system and set of words that men use to justify their actions and their lives. I think this quite clearly places V in the realm of satire, and no matter how serious its accusations, we should not let this fact escape us.

This is a time where everyone from the dreaded George W Bush to Bill O'Reilly literally swing their heavy-hands at me on FoxNews, I think it was downright brave for a studio to take a chance on a film that swings a heavier hand back and makes absolutely no apologies about it. While the terrorism message is a gutsy move, it must be remembered that this was a Thatcher-Era comic book. This was a time when the actions of V was the act of terrorists not the act of The Terrorists, that shape shifting blob which the "Coalition Of The Willing" has created. The film is an over-the-top cautionary tale. This could be a bit much for a group of reviewers who must be discrete in the governmental defiance, but for a society and culture that apparently needs to hit in the face with our own faults, "V For Vendetta" is a perfect film at perfect time. What might shock and startle timid reviewers in the perfect, to make a necessary Matrix connection, proverbial “red pill” for these times.

Whether everyone would like to admit it or not, we are entering the very same situation that occurred during the Vietnam War. People really are becoming displeased with the actions our country is taking. People are slowly realizing what we did might have possibly have been unnecessary. Our children, our husbands and wives, their children, their husbands and wives, are now dying not because of a dictator contained in his country but due to the over-zealous actions of a government. After the State of the Union Tim Kaine gave his rebuttal to the State of the Union address from the posh, pastel, and pillared interior of his home in the Virginia Commonwealth. For a young person like me, his words, no matter how powerful they might have been, were delivered from his ritzy house in the traditional flat Democrat speaking style. We wonder why the Democratic Party always seems behind? It is because we have lost everything this movie contains. We've lost our fire, we've lost our guts, and most importantly we've lost the down-home brashness that has attracted so many people to the Republican Party. The film ultimately asks for dissatisfied, disaffected populations not to simply leave your woes to the ones you say you trust, but to pick up your causes and do something about them yourself.

Up until now, most political pieces of art have seemed to take subversive approach: be subtle about it and perhaps a few people might catch on and marvel at just how clever you are and maybe tell their friends about it. This is as easy to love but also easy to dismiss as too abstract in the eyes of those who never really learned how to dig into the words and images of a subtle piece. This is dissent made for the hoi polloi, something that borrows its aesthetic and messages from more recent counter culture movements like punk or hip-hop. The whole world has become more in your face and this movie is moving right along with it. It's not intended as a low budget piece of high-art, it is meant to be more a big-budget cattle prod for an apathetic nation.

So, anyways, that's all I have to say about that. Perhaps these are the ramblings of a still idealistic youth, but if this inspires just one of the people who made Ohio a "red-state" to see that there is something truly unfortunate happening, then I think the film might have served it's purpose. I think the final scene as well as the song in the credits makes the films motive clear. I'm not about to give it away to you, so you should most likely go see it. Plus, on top of all of this debate, the movie is just damn exciting and well done as an action-thriller/superhero movie alone. Who doesn't like popcorn alongside their political dissatisfaction?

The Resurrection

So, I said I would be back before midnight, and I never ever lie. So here is the triumphant return! Of me! A few things have led me to my renewed interest in all of this junk. I won't be getting into those. If you really want to know, ask me, but that stuff don't belong here.

There are going to be a couple little content modifications making their way into the blog. Don't worry, there will still be free music, but I'm gonna focus on a few other issues as well. So, now you'll get to hear about all of my interests in the entertaining and oh so infomative manner I am known for. Plus, I'm uppity!!! I bet you're all excited, so just contain yourself.

For all this talk of content change, though, I am still going to start things off right, the way you want things started off: MUSIC!!

At this very moment I'm uploading an EP onto RapidShare for all y'all. It's actually more of a mini-album than an EP. Clocking in at a shade over 30 minutes The Most Serene Republic's tour-only EP Phages is actually everything I wished their debt album would be after I saw them open for Metric. Live, they are a dynamic force to be reckoned with. The drums pummel, the handclaps inspire, and the shared vocal duties are fantastic. When I brought home their album, however, it felt a little flat. The drums I loved so much had been pushed really far down into the mix. Hell, one of the songs I love live due to its drums barely had any at all on the CD. I found myself saying "I hope their live presence creeps into their next record a little."

Well, my hopes were answered. The production and song-writing on this EP blow their previous effort away. Don't get me wrong, Underwater Cinematographer was a thoroughly enjoayble record, but the band had more to share. Adam Nimmo's busy jazz-on-speed drumming is fantastically present, and every other last piece of this EP seems really together. I can make refernces to label mates, but I think that it's pretty unfair to do so. This band doesn't share in the collective nature of all of these people, they are out there, creating these spastic, accessible, cracked out pop epics all by themselves. Phages has gotten me extremely excited to see what these canucks will give me next. Most Serene Republic, my offer to let you stay at my house next time you come through Cincinnati stands, so long as your drummer divulges his secrets to me. Is it just drugs?

Seriously, though. If you havent heard them before, dowload it. If you have heard them and didn't really dig 'em too much, download it. If you loved Underwater Cinematographer, download it. These guys are really coming into their own. The percussive nature of their performances is really starting to spill over into their studio works. It's a beautiful, shape-shifting, sonic assault of arty pop. Adjectives be damned, though. It's just great.

Most Serene Republic - Phages

Love,
John

For Next Time:::: I'm punching up a piece about "V For Vendetta" I wrote. Being that it originated as an e-mail to my parents the grammar and spelling are a bit dodgy at points. So, I'm going to do that, maybe put a few more quotes and facts in the piece and unleash it upon you. I was fairly proud of the piece when I finished it at 12:30 last night, we'll see what you think.

Thanks for having me back.

I must ask again....

This is the last time I will ask for your patience with me. I will be returning soon with a reboot and reformat. I'm going to have to regain your attention, but I've missed you guys.

Talk to you soon!

Love,
John