Do You Believe In Miracles?

Four years ago, with the specter of the most totalitarian regime in American history keeping its lock on the White House, I was a very manic, paranoid, and angry person. Fortunately, it turned out W. Bush was more of a lazy oaf who just enjoyed winning elections more than he truly believed in what he preached and what was preached on his behalf (though the effects of what he has done on the down low in terms of our rights and freedoms is something that has to be carefully examined in the coming years). For all my screaming and ranting of "DIE NAZIS DIE!", the great Right Wing Balloon just sort of had its air taken out by its own ineptitude. And at the same time, with the breath of distance, I looked at some of my more extreme leftist cohorts and had to take a step away from their even more manic attitudes.

So comes Obama. Suddenly, the raging anti-intellectualism of the decade is made moot. Suddenly, sound judgment, temperament, rationality, reason, all that good stuff, was made acceptable again. While I don't really regret the rage I felt towards the Right Wing in 2004, I do regret not having the grace and composure of Barack Obama.

And while I do still champion progressive, dare I even say "liberal", ideas, I am more infused with the practical realism that Obama brings to the table. To be uncompromising in our ideals, but practical in our application, is as stable and correct one can be in governance, politics, and society. And also, a little dose of "get a grip" is a healthy thing. Now when my like-minded patriots on the left scream "It'll be fascism if McCain wins!", I know better.

John McCain shamed himself with his campaign in the last couple months but I won't hold it against him, in part because - should he indeed lose on Election Day - I assume he will go back to being John McCain of years past, and he will have a spot at the table in the new Washington that Obama will attempt to forge.

I amaze myself that I have consistently avoided a personal repeat of 2004. I don't find myself screaming at the people at the McCain rallies. And even with all the anecdotal and statistical stature of the racist and the ignorant and the hateful and the paranoid, I'm not full of blood boiling rage. I am more about my guy than I am against them (probably a first in my adult political lifetime, and maybe contrary to what I said earlier). And while I do fear, do worry, that all my bitter cynicism following 2004 may very well be justified on Election Day, I still have the hope, the positivity, that this all may very well just happen as it should.

If Obama wins, does he win because the American people saw the light? That except for the extreme nutcases on the right, the great muddy middle finally saw the goodness and nobility of progressive ideas as embodied by Barack? Probably not. Americans are just extremely fickle. But in the grand scope of American history, in all its complicated and multi-layered roads, to be at this moment in and of itself constitutes a little miracle. One doesn't have to believe in anything divine to believe in miracles. When human nature time and again outdoes itself after years of expected behavior, that's a miracle. For all the flaws and hypocrisies, what happened in Philadelphia in 1776 was indeed a little miracle. And despite the horror of what's been done to peoples on this (and other) continents since, every step forward taken by people (as complicated and difficult as they have been and can be), is a miracle. Slowly but surely, despite all our machinations, we continue to show the ability to make progress. Times are very tough right now, and even though the last four years didn't prove to be the second coming of Hitler, America always stands at the danger of not just falling backwards but veering off onto dangerously wrong avenues of thought and action. An Obama win (and of course hopefully a good Obama administration) would not only steer the ship of state back away from those dangers, it would mark another great miracle in the complicated and often tragic story that began all those years ago.

Yesterday, I wrote we're gonna do it for Studs. And we still will. But we're also gonna do it for Joey. Talk about miracles - he got his former friend and political enemy Johnny to play on this song (as well as "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down"). And even now, as the political and personal background to the sad Ramones drama still plays out, it remains a little miracle that someone like Jeffrey Hyman was able to succeed in his life, a life that was cut way too short. So let's do it for him. And Strummer. And Cash. And for all the rest - Neil, Dylan, The Boss, Billy, Costello, Bragg, John and Exene (and though he disagrees with us, the good spirit that is Billy Zoom because we love him anyway), and all the others who are responsible for me being a pathetic mush I am right now. But above all, let's do it for ourselves and for this country and idea that - at least for me - Barack Obama has made me give one last chance on.

The Triumph of Generation X

Jeff Gordinier has written a book that evaluates the history and present status of Generation X, which he more or less loosely defines as those born between the early 60's and mid 70's. He is inclined to include Barack Obama as a Generation X-er but he more distinctly points to those like the Google founders and filmmakers like Richard Linklater and Quentin Tarantino as proof that the generation issued a very productive field of talent and success - in stark contrast to the slacker image the generation was emblematic of in their early-mid 20's some 15 years ago. In politics and social rights, in business, in culture, he makes the case that this is the generation that can save America from itself.

It's a compelling argument in terms of consistency of talent and output but it really relies on the multi-generational concept of "My generation is better than your generation...why in my day...". Of course Generation X looks fantastic compared to Generation Y, also known as the (really awfully-termed) Millennial generation (I assume that's my generation, the generation of delaying adulthood) that wants everything handed to it on a silver platter without making any effort. At least the X-ers didn't want anything at all while they sat around.

But for as fantastic as the Google guys and YouTube guys and Linklater and Tarantino and Wes Anderson have been, the Baby Boomers - for all their flaws - gave us people and talent of equal measure - especially those later baby boomers like the Coen Brothers, and the Ramones. And in fact, the rarely categorized Depression-era born and War-time born Generation may have given us the greatest talent of all - filmmakers and actors (Woody, Marty, De Niro, Pacino), and musicians like Bob Dylan. They aren't quite baby boomers, they came from this void of American description and they, aligned with those late boomers, may have produced the grittiest, most independent, and most raw art the American people have ever known (note I am focusing on popular culture, Gordinier probably has it right on business).

Politically, as with business, Gordinier may be onto something. The X-ers, by and large, retained the spirit of the liberal 60's but without the hell-bent need to fight like it was still the 60's...in other words, there is more practicality with X-ers. And maybe Obama indeed best defines that outlook...then again that may just be taking the Obama image and slapping it onto a generation.

Whatever. All I know is, I miss Daria and the early days of The Simpsons. And for all the overpraise given to Nirvana - the band that represents Generation X - when you think about what was popular before Kurt (the hair bands) and what was popular after Kurt (Britney), it is amazing to think that for a brief time, this was the popular music, a moment when the underground and the mainstream came together...only to be killed by a suicide and the O.J. Simpson madness:


But for my money, give me the days of dirigibles and Einstein and Edison and Louis Armstrong. Now THOSE were some generations. Why in my day...

Return of Double Giggage: Electric Six, Uncle Monk, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir

Electric Six; The Willowz
@ Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY - November 16, 2007

It could not be resisted. With the previous gig being so early, and the Bowery Ballroom so close, how could a seventh Electric Six show be passed up? Sure, Horton Heat was in town, sure VHS or Beta were doing their own dance-rock thing, sure there were a ton of great gigs in the night but there is only one (or six, rather, or actually when you really think about it, nine or ten) Electric Six. It was well worth going. For possibly the first time in seven reviews, not counting any possible drunken blackouts, Valentine and the gang did "Electric Demons in Love". From the first record, the second track, the one that truly establishes the band as Disco Metal and arguably remains their finest song. Forget "Danger! High Voltage!". This is the track that should have been the hit and should have made this band as big in the U.S.A. as it is in Europe, if not bigger. But speaking of bigness, for the first time in about four or five reviews, the show was not sold out and packed to the gills, and the mosh pit (featuring only some of the regulars) was more subdued for larger portions of the show than previously. Could the U.S.A. Six Success have peaked? Or was everyone home because of the news Valentine broke? That Larry King had died? (Dick did seem actually serious about it but of course as we know now, Larry is alive and well. Cleveland, Hello!) Anyway, this is one of the best, if not the best, Electric Six performance ever reviewed and not just for "Demons". Exuberant, extra saucy highlights also include the new "Dance Pattern", the classic "Dance Epidemic", "I Buy The Drugs", "Future is in the Future", "Improper Dancing", and "Rock n Roll Evacuation", which had Valentine's latest political ramblings, that while New York will have to (probably) pick between its current senator and its former mayor for President, that as poor as that choice is, it's all better than Bush. And finally, after years of ranting by D.V., we got one good, fist-shaking wail of "Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuush!" Loved it.

Dude, I don't know what it is about the Willowz man. They look like they should be doing some country bumpkins from hell thing, some Little House on the Prairie meets Black Sabbath type deal, but they really just do garage. Maybe it's the singer's voice? Maybe it's a lack of substantive follow through on the opening licks? I don't know. They aren't that bad, but there is something definitely missing. But kudos to them, they were fun to laugh and dance with in the balcony during the Six set. But word of caution guys: When people in the audience heckle you, do not taunt them and threaten to fight them. It is unbecoming. Especially when you have a charming gal in the band.

Uncle Monk; Scotland Yard Gospel Choir; Used To Be Women; Alec Scott
@ Knitting Factory Old Office
New York, NY - November 16, 2007

So yeah this is the first review of a living, breathing Ramone. The last original Ramone no less. Tommy Erdelyi performed his sincere, fun, and frankly, good, bluegrass duo material. There's not much to wax on about it. It was straight forward mandolin and acoustic bluegrass. By Tommy Ramone. You can't beat that.
Scotland Yard Gospel Choir are a great Chicago bar band that do it in a folky and stompy fashion. Lots of Indie pop sensibilities but with a nod to the more basic elements of good live rock. It's official by the way, Chicago has arrived. The city is now teeming with great bands and its an eclectic brew. The next few years ought to be a lot of fun.
Used to be Women seem to want to be an alt-country, contemporary hard rock mix but they sound more like the latter and it's a little unorganized and not in that good, punk way. It's kind of hollow.
Oh, Alec Scott. Alec, Alec, Alec. You are true to your soul, I'll give you that. It was something to hear this young acoustic soft pop-folk performer talk in length to the audience about his songs, especially when he lectured the crowd about the merits of Michael Moore and how he was inspired to write "The White House Is Corrupt" because of the big man. Now, political debates about Moore aside, the point here is that Mr. Scott talked to the crowd as if the crowd had no idea who Michael Moore is. This was the first clue that young Alec has a lot to learn. Later, he feebly tried to get the crowd to sing along. And then finally, he nervously rambled on about the sound guy, his two bandmates on bass and sax respectively, and himself. And that's just it. He was nervous. I hope. Anyway, this Dave Matthews thing he's going for needs more metaphor and poetry if it's going to work. If you're going for a Woody Guthrie, tell-it-like-it-is approach, just do that. Pick and choose, young friend. Pick and choose.

Punk Turns 30

No, not Theresa K's awesome photo blog (though that is a great site to visit, especially right now), but a look back at the year in which the punk rock era hit its critical apex. WNYC's Soundcheck did two segments on punk yesterday, one with Spin Magazine, and another with Handsome Dick Manitoba:


And just because they tease you with snippets of music: