Nothing Must Be Something

A couple of nothings that seem to be something:

Grammys:

For the second year, CBS aired The Grammy Nominations Concert Live. I was quickly dulled into submission and stared disinterestedly at the television for 25 minutes before, by the sheer power of body over mind, I was able to change the channel to watch something imminently more interesting—a repeat of a televised football game I had already watched! If this was a preview of what is to come at the end of January, I won’t need to make any excuses as to why I didn’t see the Grammys. Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and Lady Gaga—when this is the happening, interesting bunch, you know you’re in for a winner of an evening. P.S. Note to Kanye: Beyonce’s video and song are pedantic yawners. P.P.S. Nomination for Hall & Oates "Sara Smile"? WTF Nomination for David Byrne and Brian Eno Everything That Happens Will Happen Today! OMFG

Adam Lambert and the American Music Awards:

Adam Lambert is trying to sell an album. Hmmmm—what’s the best way to sell something? SEX! Why is sex the best way to sell something? Because repressed American’s want more SEX! And the overblown “controversy” about his “sexually charged” performance is in reality a call for we want more SEX! Every denial is the return of the frustrated desire—even the denial for homosexual sex! P.S. His debut album entered the charts at #3. I guess American couldn’t handle it.

The other day, the USA TODAY ran an article about how some musicians and the Hard Rock International (cafes, hotels, casinos, t-shirts, cute pins, etc) have created the “Imagine There’s No Hunger” campaign, which seeks “to help children and the fight against hunger and poverty.” Part of the campaign to raise money is an album, SERVE4, with songs by the likes of John Lennon, O.A.R., and Elvis Costello among others. It’s hard to be cynical about something that is obvisouly working towards the public good. After all, what nut or free market kool-aid drinker is in favor of hunger and starvation? However, when we look closely there is a problem.

World-wide hunger and starvation is a serious problem. According to the Food and Agriculture Association of the United Nations, 1.02 billion people go hungry every day. That’s more people than the US, Canada and the EU combined! However, the problem is not simply one of not enough food.

On Anup Shah’s website Global Issues, he relates some of the causes of hunger as: land ownership; export-oriented agriculture; war; lack of democracy, etc. Thus, the problem is a structural one. In the end, we need to change the system that causes hunger and poverty. Any system that accepts poverty as a structural imperative is fundamentally flawed and must be changed. Giving money to alleviate a symptom, such as hunger, simply perpetuates the injustices the system creates.

Now, that doesn’t mean that I don’t support such causes—I do. But I want us all to realize that until we change the system that creates these issues, we will continue to pay for them.

The AC/DC Fetish

With about 10,000 other lunatics, I celebrated the ideological and adolescent fantasies of the rock-n-roll monster that is AC/DC. Arriving early, fearing the worse with the new paperless ticketing system designed to thwart scalpers, we had no problem getting through the gate and past the $35 t-shirts, to find our 10th row seats. After removing the opening act’s gear, the stage was set for one of the most popular and enduring bands in rock.

The lights dropped and a large video screen behind the stage displayed a cartoon of the rock-n-roll train engineered by a devilish imp likeness of Angus Young. Of course on this train trouble arrived in the form of scantily clad ladies who distracted the band in various lascivious ways. The antagonists of the intro video, disproportionately built young women, who would make every parent cringe and every young boy anxious, set the tone for the evening. As Angus reached for the guitar that would save the train, the stage exploded with pyro and the screen split in two, as a full-sized steam train rolled onto the stage along with the band launching into the lead single, “Rock N’ Roll Train,” from the new album. “Black Ice” (available exclusively at Wal-mart) was well represented throughout the night with 4 of the set’s 18 songs.

With lyrics work-horse lyrics about the holy trinity—sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll—AC/DC are not encouraging mass dissent or protest. In fact, their brand of escapism keeps us more firmly entrenched in the hegemonic, patriarchal ideology of global capitalism. The video accompanying the concert version of “War Machine,” depicts woman and guitars being dropped out of a bomber outfitted with devil horns and piloted by you know who. They played their hits from “Highway to Hell” to “Back in Black” with brutal volume, guitar mastery, and staging to keep all the ADHD kids enthralled. Which brings us to the idea of “fetishistic disavowal”; the idea of saying, “I know very well, but… .” “I know I should not shop at Wal-mart because it furthers the exploitation of the working class, but… .”
As it relates to AC/DC: “ I know I shouldn’t be enjoying the objectification of women, the reveling in drug use, and the deafening loudness of the music, but…it’s awesome!!!”

Is it political? It's the Flaming Lips!

OK, although the new song from the Flaming Lips isn't the most political, it sure is one of the best musical performances I've seen on TV this year.

With "Watching the Planets," the Flaming Lips have returned to their mischievous mind expansion attack.

Conan gives a shout out for the Lips' upcoming VooDoo Fest

appearance.

If you haven't seen the Lips live, you haven't seen the other side of the rainbow.

Are the Backstreet Boys what is wrong with music?

Over the hill boy band, Backstreet Boys, have released a new single. … ... After a moment or two of silence in order to process such news, most people reply, “So what?” Well, the good folks at USA Today must feel that this is important news. For on Oct. 5, the lead music review was of the new song, “This is Us.” Maybe it was a slow week in music.

Nonetheless, the real problem with the review comes when Elysa Gardner writes: “Certainly, no one expects, or wants, to listen to the Backstreet Boys dissect the conflict in Afghanistan.” And here may be the actual problem with most music: it is afraid to confront the audience and make them think. With market-driven music riding the airwaves into the vacuum between the ears of most “consumers,” it is no wonder most people haven’t a clue when it comes to the realities of our society. Granted, those realities are complex and cannot be adequately addressed in a three minute pop song; however, that doesn’t mean that music has to become empty of all social significance. Maybe if the Backstreet Boys would “dissect the conflict [war] in Afghanistan,” their fans would become more politically active. If more musicians were openly political, then politics wouldn’t be a dirty word. And hell, if the Backstreet Boys released a song about the numerous wars we have recently instigated, I might just buy their CD. Might!

Mr. Magic--Original Rap DJ Dies

This weekend DJ Mr. Magic passed away from a heart attack. Although he was the first DJ on commercial radio to have a rap show and help start the careers of many rap and hip-hop performers, since he was in New York I never heard a show of his. Until his death, I had no idea how influential he was to the burgeoning rap scene.

Many of you probably never heard him either but then again, maybe you have...

Check out this Public Enemy performance from Coachella 2009. The tune is from their seminal album It takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (if you don’t own it—you should).

You can listen to the NPR story about his death here.

Anyone who helped launch Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy (even accidentally) deserves to be remembered.

Coldplay gives more than You!

Let’s face it—in terms of helping people in need, giving money is the easiest thing to do. It only takes a couple of minutes to write or check, or better yet, swipe a card so those poor struggling banks can take a cut also. In the end there is no real sacrifice involved—the giver doesn’t really suffer. Slavoj Zizek states that “a sacrifice, in order to work and to be efficient, must be in a way ‘meaningless,’ a gesture of ‘irrational,’ useless expenditure or ritual…[that] can restore the immediate faith that will deliver us and heal us of our modern spiritual malaise.” Now it would seem that the cold, rational way of picking and choosing whom among the needy to give money to does seem to be a symptom of rational, “enlightened” capitalism. But really how are we to proceed with such a gesture, or does that type of gesture perpetuate the system that creates such problems and horrors in the first place? Is giving to charity any different than buying stock in General Electric? After all, how does giving to charity strike at the root cause of the problem? Isn’t it simply a painkiller given to relieve of ache of a hangover?

Maybe the issue is that we have two issues compounded here? I would like to think that most people would like to see the causes of poverty, injustice, ecological disaster, racism, sexism, etc. removed. But the problem is that the issues and even the system that caused those problems appears harder to change than it is to relieve the symptom. After all, doesn’t the doctor give you a magic pill first and then give you a battery of tests? The problem is you feel better and then the results come in! Does that mean we should allow people to suffer before we deal with the underlying social structures that are the true cause of the suffering?

Maybe here is where the artist comes in. Doesn’t the artist occupy one of the places in society that can address both the symptom and the cause? The artist can be visible in both roles. Look at the good musicians did in New Orleans after the man-made disaster caused the city to flood after Katrina. Because of the way our lives are structured, we don’t know what our neighbor, that “bearer of a monstrous Otherness,” believes. (Is that because we don’t know what we believe?) Thus the possibility of coming together to either relieve a symptom or remove the cause is impossible! (Isn’t that one of the genius moves of capitalist ideology?) However, in their very visibility, artists can act as surrogates for that missing piece of social life. They can act as a point de caption for us, thus maybe their giving, as selfish as it could be, becomes for us a selfless act. So when Coldplay gives over $1.5 million to a charity that helps kids who have make mistakes and found themselves in situations with serious ramifications they should be seen in a positive light. They give more than their money, which is more than we do.

I need to end this post; I need to write a check to WWF and listen to the new Radiohead song.

(Zizek quotes from The Parallax View, MIT Press, 2006)

Obama to Kanye

President Obama has weighed in on the Kanye hates Taylor controversy.
Thanks to the BBC for this one.

A Summary of the Health Care Crisis in Song

Paul Hipp is a singer/songwriter/actor, who recently put out this song about health care in America. After pumping your fist to "Born in the USA," do the same to "We're Number 37." Enjoy.

Kayne vs. Taylor vs. Music

By now we’ve all heard about the Kanye West vs. Tayor Swift debacle that occurred on MTV’s Video Music Awards. If you haven’t seen it, here it is:

For obvious reasons, there hasn’t been much support for West’s display. To add to the criticism, what is fundamentally the problem here is that this award show exists as an advertisement for the media industry. (Not just music, viewers were subjected to three ads, via trailers or videos, for three movies.) Other than being rude and simply a move of one without much savvy, West’s support for Beyonce was ultimately conservative in nature for it was simply support for the music industry machine.

Taylor Swift’s last record, Fearless, was distributed by Universal Music Group. She has even shot a video parody of her hit “Love Story” with the rapper T-Pain called “Thug Story.”

Kayne West’s is on the label Roc-A-Fella. Roc-A-Fella just happens to be Beyonce's husband's record label! And just who is Rock-A-Fella a subsidiary of? Can you say Universal Music Group.

Who lost at the VMAs: Taylor Swift, who solely wrote about half of her last album and co-wrote the rest. Kayne West, who went on Leno the next night, nearly broke down into tears, and needs to worry about becoming so egomaniacal that he will tattoo his face a la Mike Tyson. (Did you notice his hair?)

However, we all know who the big winner was: Universal Music Group as people who feel so bad for 19 year-old Talyor Swift, they’ll be purchasing her album Fearless and buy Kayne West’s records just to hear what kind of music a crazy man makes.

Where’s punk rock when you need it?

Fix It!!!

Now that Obama has finally offered his vision of “Obamacare” (let’s not forget that every plan up until this point has come from congress not Obama), it’s time to get some positive, progressive work done.

Some notes:

Health care spending as it relates to GDP [let’s look at some numbers here]:

Super-powers: Singapore 3.3%; Cuba 7.7 %; Czech Republic 6.9%; Greece 9.5%

Not-to-mentions: Canada, France 11%; Germany 10.6%; Japan 8.1%, and the UK 8.2%

The US—15.3% (more than any country in the world!!!)

What has spending the most money in world on health care gotten us?

Life expectancy—the US is 26^th—behind such super-powers as Singapore, Greece and Puerto Rico (Not to Mention Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK)

Infant death mortality—the US is 29^th—behind such super-powers as the Cuba, Czech Republic, and Greece (Not to mention Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK)

A report out of the University of Maine contains more than a few interesting points. Here are a couple:

The United States is ‘the only country in the developed world, except for South Africa, that does not provide health care for all of its citizens.’

The U.S. health care system ranked 15^th in the world for overall attainment…and 37^th in the world for performance.

Obviously those folks screaming at town hall meetings, calling Obama a liar, and generally decrying health care reform and making claims that ours is the best are more than misguided.

It’s simple. We’ve got a problem, and I say “Fix it!”

And I’m not the only one. One of this county’s best rock bands is now lending their name to the cause of health care reform. Well known for their socially progressive stance, R.E.M. has teamed up with Moveon.org and produced a video utilizing their song “You Are the Everything” and some striking images to further make the point that we need serious health care reform.

Truely, there seems to be few who question the need for reform. The question is what shape that reform takes. It is important to remember that the form of our health care does not define "America." What should define America are the values that we express as shown in how we take care of our citizens. Let's look at those countries that do it better than us. Let's do it better than those health care systems. Let's "Fix it!"

Blake vs. Bunnies

VS.

It’s always fun when musicians and activist groups take each other on—even when I agree with one side more than the other. This case seems pretty innocuous though. Some country performer, Blake Shelton (whom I’ve never heard of, but I confess to not being up to date with the latest sounds coming from Las Vegas Nashville), has been making sarcastic comments about PETA’s tweets. The only problem is that the way the story is written, the author seems to implicitly endorse Shelton’s position over PETA’s. Granted the story come from AOL’s country music page “The Boot,” so we can’t expect much journalist integrity. Let’s do the math (so to speak): AOL is owned by mega-corporation Time Warner. Time Warner owns Time magazine (surprise), Warner Bros. (among other things (and it’s a long list of things) Warner Bros. Records (surprise), CNN, HBO, The CW Television Network, and on and on and on ad nauseam.

Add that to PETA getting a Time Warner Cable store to get rid of an animal display by Paw Prints a company that has repeatedly come under censure from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

So, this isn’t adding up yet, you’re saying.

Well the biggest variable to be added to the equation is that Blake Shelton is on Warner Bros. Records! Warner Bros. won’t be making their artist look like anything but a hero.

So next time you see what appears to be a funny back and forth between two opposing forces, check to see if there’s a conflict of interest in the reporting and whether or not what you are reading is news or public relations.

The Boot story:

[http://www.theboot.com/2009/09/01/blake-shelton-taunts-peta-with-tweets/]

The PETA vs. Time Warner story:

http://blog.peta.org/archives/2009/03/victory_time_wa.php

The Loss of Kennedy

Here's a song for Ted Kennedy--a fighter on our side.

Rolling Stones

Although many conservative pundits continually mocked Ted Kennedy for being ultra-liberal, he was in fact a great compromisor who passed more bills that almost anyone else in the senate. He stepped up for middle and bottom of the class structure and was a voice for justice. Without him, our government looses an ally in the battle for civil rights and social justice. Let's see who will rise and fill the vacuum that Kennedy leaves.

Race and Music

There is an interesting discussion going on at Drowned in Sound about race and music and top ten lists.

http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/music/4195716

Happy Anniversary!