I Have It!

Yo La Tengo is playing at the Granada on April 11. This the most excited I’ve been about a show since, uh, Sonic Youth last summer. As such, I have entered hardcore fanboy mode; they have constituted about 95% of my recent listening. This, however, is by no means a bad thing. The band has been a favorite of mine since I first heard I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One; I have very fond memories of listening to their fuzzed-out cover of the Beach Boys’ “Little Honda” while cruising in my friend’s, yep, little Honda. And I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass was one of my favorites of last year, and is one of the most awesomely titled albums of all time.

Dig “Beanbag Chair,” one of the best tracks from Beat Your Ass.

And “Little Eyes” from Summer Sun. My current favorite song, I think.

Idea.

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader: The Drinking Game.

Piracy.

I recently saw This Film Is Not Yet Rated, a great documentary about the de facto censorship of the MPAA and the incestuous nature of the conglomeration of big studios that we call Hollywood – you’ve probably heard of it. Very interesting stuff.

The film also touches briefly on the issue of the organization’s vendetta against online movie piracy. This is an issue I’ve explored quite a bit recently, and I think the MPAA’s war on “piracy” offers a very interesting parallel to the US government’s war on “terror.” Both attack a very fuzzy concept practiced by a very abstract group of people. The MPAA has tried to create an enemy which is in direct moral opposition to everything good out of the prepubescent pirates of the world in the same way that the Bush administration has villified, you know, everybody residing in the Middle East. Take a look at this press release released by the MPAA after the raid of Swedish BitTorrent giant The Pirate Bay and tell me that it doesn’t sound like the pompous, militaristic prose of the current US government. “Huge Worldwide Provider of Illegal Movies Told No Safe Harbor for Facilitators of Piracy!” Are you kidding? There may in fact be some very political factors behind the raid, as explored in the amateur documentary Steal This Film.

Of course, both of our generation’s great ideological wars boil down to money. The movie industry is a multi-billion dollar corporation in the same league as the oil and arms industries, every bit as steeped in the art of public relations and deception, and sporting ties to the government every bit as strong. Make no mistake: the MPAA does not care about the blue-collar workers of the film industry, and they most definitely do not care about art.

As much as I love seeing films on the big screen, I’ve been having a hard time morally justifying handing over 8 bucks to see a movie when I can download it with a few mouse clicks, with the added pleasure of knowing I’m doing my small part to disempower some of the biggest slime in the country.

Of Montreal + Elekibass @ Granada / Lawrence, KS [2/20/07]

My review/pictures are up over at Patchchord. Czech it.

False memories.

Had a conversation with a friend the other day. She is taking a trip to Disney World for the first time for her 18th birthday. She has never been to Disney World before, yet she distinctly remembers having done so.

I wonder how many kids think they’ve gone to Disney World but haven’t.

I went to Disney World in grade school. I think.

Racism.

My boss offered me the purest form at the origin of racism the other day at work. You see, we have a problem. And that problem is an awful odor which emits from our world class sink array in the back of the restaurant. My boss has a deep disdain for this smell. Wondering aloud about the origin of this dreadful stench, he mused (this is an approximation), “You know, now that I think about it, it started as soon as that Filipino place came into the strip mall. I don’t know what they’re doing down there.”

Apparently, J. Mascis can still shred.

My initial reaction to the leaked new Dinosaur Jr. album, Beyond, (due out for real May 1): “What the hell, it’s actually good!?” Just as follow-ups to uber-hyped albums suffer from an inability to top its predecessor, sometimes ridiculously low expectations can work to a band’s advantage. I guess hearing this album has restored a little bit of hope for the new Pixies material.

Listen to “Been There All The Time.”

Also been psyched off the new Ted Leo + the Pharmacists album, Living With The Living, their Touch & Go debut, due out March 20. I will therefore be the last blogger on the internet to post their new song, “Sons of Cain.”

TV show.

I have this idea for a television program, and I think that, if realized, it would be one of the most wildly successful shows ever conceived.

The basic idea: every episode, a different team of leading experts in the security field lock an item within the most complex, novel security system they can devise. Half of each hour-long episode follows the team debating, planning, and constructing the challenge. Then, a team of experienced thieves, each with a unique area of expertise (acrobatics, lockpicking, hacking, DEMOLITIONS — this could even be the same people every episode), is assembled, and must organize a plan to beat the system and secure said item.

Basically, this embodies everything “It Takes A Thief” could have been but isn’t.

Don’t even try to tell me you wouldn’t watch this show religiously, because you would.

If you are an executive interested in creating this show, please see the “About Me” section for contact information.

When listened to through a decent pair of cans, many classical recording become, at least for one who is homocidally irked by mouth noises, utterly unlistenable, due to the clarity with which the numerous coughs, sneezes, and assorted other odious sounds are reproduced. Digital removal, if at all possible without damaging the integrity of the recording, would be welcomed.

Allen Ginsberg & Paul McCartney – Ballad of the Skeletons

Directed by the wonderful Gus Van Sant. So good.