Music for a Mid-Life Geek

New(ish) Music Tuesday: Love Parts One and Two by Angels & Airwaves

2012-02-07T23:13:00.000-07:00

Angels & Airwaves - Love Album Parts One & Two

Hey, as far as I'm concerned, it's still Tuesday for another hour. Two if you're on the West Coast. Not that it excuses the additional fact that I'm presenting an album that was released in November, making this three months old. Ah well, it's new for me, and new to all of you who either don't know anything about Angels & Airwaves or, like me, didn't realize that their two part, third and fourth studio album was released in November in a handsome, two-disc for the price of one package.

I've always thought that doing two-part albums is risky. On one hand, it's good for listeners who get 22 songs for the price of one album (though granted, parts one and two of Love were released individually a year apart, with part two coming out in November bundled with part one as a complete album), but on the other if only one part is good, then it'll bring down the whole effort if the other isn't. Sadly, this is the case for Love. Part one is... amazing. Part one of the album is hands down the best Angels & Airwaves album ever recorded. I try not to throw out praise without tempering it with criticism, but the first 11 songs of the Love album are pretty damn good, especially as far as synth-pop rock is concerned.

But the "new" part of the Love album is part two, and that is technically what I'm reviewing. And by comparison, it isn't great. The smooth synth-rock rhythms that drive part one along so nicely are lost, leaving part two feeling dis-joined. Most of all, part one has a clear tone and message from song to song, dealing with loneliness, human connection, and losing your faith, and while lyrically part two tries to build on that, it doesn't seem as natural or poignant. Love part two tries really hard to deliver a message of enduring love, but that message is handled haphazardly and comes out repetitive and lost. This makes me sad. It makes Angels & Airwaves' Love album conflicted: It is both their best and their weakest albums, back to back. I'd give part one a solid A, but part two? It maybe squeaks by with a C-, but only because of DeLonge's surprisingly moving lyrics and a few solid songs. Since this review is of the albums as a finished whole, it forces me to bring the album down to only two stars, maybe two and a half: A solid C+.

Anyway, here are a couple of music videos for you from Love, Part One and Two:

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Monday Morning Pick Me Up: Tangled up in Blues

2012-02-06T11:44:00.001-07:00

While madpoet is away let's get Tangled up in some Bob Dylan Blues:

Super Sunday Live Blog

2012-02-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=bc782a9fd6" &amp;gt;Super Bowl Sunday&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Come Back

2012-02-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

Todays Saturday Song is a little melancholy, from Blind Pilot's very awesome album 3 Rounds And A Sound, The Bitter End.

Friday Pick Six - Six Blustery Day Movies

2012-02-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday, all! TheEffinBear here, unaffected by the dreaded Gomboo that has wracked the rest of Casa White recently. Sorry about the lack of updates on my part - I'll be returning next week with a 10-part epic covering all of the Oscar movies that I'm probably going to hate. In the meantime, here's a Friday Pick Six!

- - -

Winter's in full swing here in Wyoming - after a few months of dinking around, the bitter cold and the snow have staked their claim on our fair state, and you know what that means! Sledding! Snowball fights! Snow Forts! Oh...wait...I'm not ten anymore (a fact which is a source of constant disappointment to me). Well, then that means curling up with a mug of hot chocolate and watching television until work or school forces you into the frigid cold! That's almost as good, right?

Blustery days like today necessitate comfort movies - the kind of movies you can watch over and over again, that take your mind off the bleak reality of the frozen world around you. Comfort movies aren't high art, they're pure escapism, and you know what? That's exactly why we love them.

Check them out after the jump!

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Sorry about the lack of updates

2012-02-02T18:18:00.003-07:00

Everyone at Casa White is suffering from the dreaded gomboo. Lot's of runny noses, sneezing and general malaise going on right now. Look for more updates as this bout of sickness subsides.

Unless this is the start of the Zombie Apocalypse and we are the earliest victims, in which case, arm yourself. Also, can you spare a cup of brains?

Savor life

2012-02-01T21:56:00.000-07:00

Not every dream comes true. Not every dream needs to. Some dreams are discovered after they have come true. What I wanted when I was sixteen is not what I wanted when I was twenty six, thirty six or even forty six. Such is the way of life, with all of it's coming and goings and ups and downs.

I look back at my life and it isn't really just a series of big dramatic moments. Sure I have had some drama. We all do. As much as those moments shaped me, it is the quiet moments that have shaped me more. The discovery of being exactly where you are supposed to be, is as powerful as anything else I have experienced.

I guess what I am trying to say is, savor every moment.

All Aboard, It's Monday Morning

2012-01-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

Have some Live Ozzy - Crazy Train

I am a proud monkey

2012-01-28T20:45:00.001-07:00

A quick random photo, pre sunset near Willard Bay

And a Saturday Song - DMB, Proudest Monkey

When Arena Rock & Album Oriented Radio Ruled

2012-01-27T12:52:00.001-07:00

I come from a magical time when your favorite band came around nearly year. When guitar rock fueled thousands of AOR stations. When nearly every big town had their own summer music festival. I had many nights crammed into a local arena, a cloud of... sandwich smoke filling the air, trying to keep down a little to much cheap beer from a friends trunk out in the parking lot, listening to the bands of the time.

Ah, 70's arena rock. It was a moment in time that will never be repeated. I am glad I was around to experience it. Here is a pick six of Arena rock and AOR standards. Good times.

Surrender - Cheap Trick, Heaven Tonight
Dance The Night Away - Van Halen, Van Halen II
Crazy On You - Heart, Dreamboat Annie
The Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzy, Jailbreak
Smokin' - Boston, Boston
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO), Not Fragile

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We will resume our regular programming shortly

2012-01-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile, have a Random Photo, a bald eagle on a snow fence

As always you can follow my Flickr feed here...

Wednesday Flashback: Remembering Etta James

2012-01-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has been living on the planet for the last few years knows that when Obama took office he and his wife danced, several times, to his favorite song "At Last". While Beyonce did re-record this for the movie she made in which she played Ms. James, it is the original version that speaks to us after all these years.

She is most known for that song perhaps. Known also for being drug addicted, very overweight, down and out. She once said that she was drawn to being bad, almost wanting to shock everyone with her looks and her actions. Never one to 'stay in her place', visually or artistically.

And she was an artist, there is no discussion there. Back when a voice was as much as instrument as any other, hers moves in and out of the song with a rare control and emotion. We lost her voice this week. Here, as part of our Wednesday Flashback, are a few memorable songs by Ms. Etta James.

Keep People Off Your Cloud

2012-01-23T08:12:00.001-07:00

It's your cloud, share it with who you want. Happy Monday all

People On The Internet Who Need To Get A Life

2012-01-21T20:08:00.000-07:00

The internet is full of people who we would all like to see leave. I try not to let them get to me, but some days I just want to reach through the screen and wring their necks. Not just because they had the temerity to waste my day with their poor judgment, also because they are wasting valuable bandwidth that should be reserved for more important things, like sharing your high score on “Words With Friends”.

The first group of people who need to get a life on the internet are those annoying Amazon reviewers who start their reviews with “I haven't read this book but...” then proceed to discuss how the book marginalizes their life by casting aspersions on their politics, religion, sexuality or whatever particular pet cause the book is against. You didn't read the book! You are not going to buy the book! Why does it matter? Besides, no one is going to read your lousy one star review of a book you didn't read. Well, except for me, but I don't have a life. Yet, you don't see me wasting it by writing one star reviews of books I have never read.

Next up are the people who bitch about certain types of computers and or technology. Give that flame war a rest already. You don't like Apple or Microsoft or Dell. Whatever. What those companies did to you to cause such a deep hatred of them is probably something you need to discuss in therapy. Not in some stupid forum or in the comments section of my favorite tech blog. Also, all of you who love your iPhone or Android or Blackberry? I don't care. It's a phone. If you have a Windows phone and you love it, I just feel pity for you. Get a real phone.

Ninety nine percent of all celebrity Twitter feeds need to go. I get it. You are a celebrity. I could really give a shit about whatever random thought just floated through your vacuous mind. Those 140 characters should be used for something important. If I wanted to read the random thoughts of self absorbed ego balloons, I can read my own tweets. Political Twitter feeds gotta go, too. Most political tweets are just as dumb as celebrity tweets with added knowledge that these meatheads make our laws.

People who use internet memes that were outdated five years ago need to get a life. “All your base” was funny for like five minutes so was “rick rolling”. Now it's just sad. I understand that you are still connecting to the internets with your 56.6k modem, but that is not an excuse for using stupid memes that might have had relevance in the previous decade.

I am sure there are other people who are annoying that I am missing. To all those people, ask yourself before you post, “Am I adding something valuable to the internets?” and you honestly think you are, then please, for my mental health, don't post it.

The Righteous Path - Saturday Song

2012-01-21T09:09:00.000-07:00

In keeping with Diane's Friday Pick Six, here is another (sort of) protest song from Drive By Truckers. Have a great Saturday.

Friday Pick Six: A little protest music

2012-01-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

With the political race ramping up there is one thing that almost everyone in America has: an opinion. About who should run the country, who shouldn’t? About who should get married, who should pay taxes, who should be allowed to move here and who should be able to go to school.

We are still talking about whether someone with cancer deserves health care, whether marijuana will make you become a junkie, whether the lack of family values is ruining America.

We have had even the right wing Christians of the day re-define family values to mean that you can cheat on your wife as long as you’re willing to say it was wrong later, even though you did it again and again.

People really are still unemployed, going without, figuring out whether to pay the light bill or buy gas to look for work. People really are still protesting that things are not okay. We live in a country where it’s still okay to do that without fear of reprisal.

Whether you’re for or against, or don’t even care- there is probably a protest song that will fit. Here are a pick six of some good ones to ponder on a Friday night:

· What’s Goin’ On – Marvin Gaye

Protesting the war was popular in the 60’s but Marvin was protesting more than that, he was protesting inequality. Have we really fixed that problem in America? “Picket lines and Picket Signs, don’t punish me with brutality…”

· Minority – Green Day

One of my favorite protest songs, because sometimes I really do want to be the minority- and stand as far away from those in power as I can. “I want to be the minority, I don't need your authority. Down with the moral majority, 'Cause I want to be the minority”

· Fortunate Son – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Some things never change…“Some people are born silver spoon in hand, Lord don’t they help themselves, oh. But when the taxman comes to the door, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes.”

· Washington Bullets – The Clash

It’s still pretty easy for us to decide when to step in, and when to let things fall apart. I still haven’t figured out exactly how we do that…but it always seems to have something to do with oil. “For the very first time ever, when they had a revolution in Nicaragua, there was no interference from America. Human rights in America, the people fought the leader and up he flew, without Washington bullets what else could he do?”

· Bullet the Blue Sky – U2

Best version of this song was the live one- where Bono let the world know that his “…God isn’t short of cash, mister.” “I can see those fighter planes, across the mud huts where the children sleep, through the alleys of a quiet city street…and through the walls you hear the city groan, outside is America.”

· Seeds – Bruce Springsteen

Live in a town where the industry has died up and gone away, where the housing crisis has left you upside down in what you thought would be your forever home. “How many times can you get up after you've been hit?... You ain't gonna find nothin' down here friend. Except seeds blowin' up the highway in the south wind. Movin' on movin' on it's gone gone it's all gone gone gone."

Videos after the Jump:

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Why Don't You Like This? Part 1 - Clone High

2012-01-19T01:43:00.000-07:00

In my last article, I made a cheap dig at cult classic (and all-around cheesy B-movie awesomefest) Buckaroo Banzai, and I didn’t feel entirely good about it. After all, for every commercial success story like Star Wars, Back to the Future, or James Bond, there are a dozen Buckaroo Banzais, who flop commercially and never survive past their first outing. Does that make them bad movies? No, not by a long shot. The term is “cult classic”, meaning that by and large, these films are loved only by a select few. The list is massive – The Big Lebowski, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and ol’ Buckaroo are only the tip of the iceberg.

But what determines something with cult appeal from the rest of the crap that flops throughout the year? Is it all luck? Or is there some deeper reason for these glorious failures? It’s a question I’ll be looking into in my new column, where I seek to answer the simple question…

Why don’t you like this?

Okay, so, how to start this first episode? How about with one of my favorite cult television series?

Way, way back in the 1980s, secret government employees dug up famous guys and ladies and made amusing genetic copies…

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Protest SOPA & PIPA

2012-01-18T07:38:00.002-07:00

Find Out More Here & Here & Petition Congress Here & A good explanation from Balloon Juice here

Laura Marling – A Creature I Don't Know

2012-01-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

A Creature I Don't Know, Laura Marling, September 12 2011

This weeks New Music Tuesday has been out since last September. To be honest, I knew little of Laura Marling, except for her duet on “The Water” from Johnny Flynn's last album, so I am little late to the party as I am with this review. The highly praised singer's latest effort is nothing if not compelling. Ms. Marling plaintive voice and new folk/jazz infused stylings find a way to get under your skin and into your ears.

At twenty one, she expresses a dark world weariness that covers the music in an assured way colored in layers of gray. Reminiscent of Joni Mitchell's middle period work, Laura meanders her way through a collection of stand out songs. “Don't Ask Me Why” is a great example of the Laura Marling's lyrical and singing ability. Feeling like a conversation late at night on the meaning of life and love with the singer;

Those of us who are lost and low
We know how you feel
We know it's not right but it's real
But it's real. - Don't Ask Me Why

In “A Creature I Don't Know” we hear a women struggling to find her way in a world of expectations, as heard here in the song "Salinas";

O cover me up, I'm pale as night
With a mind so dark and skin so white
Is this the devil having fun?
I'd tip my cap to the raging sun

All in all, this is a album of meditations on the struggle for growth and against societal convention. Laura let's all her demons and devils speak as well as her better angels, giving her fans a beautiful and open look at her soul.

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.

2012-01-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

Not everyone in our country celebrates this day as a holiday, or this man as a leader. While studying leadership today I came across this definition of leadership:

"Being a real leader means learning who you are and what you stand for, and then having the courage to act."

I think this exemplifies Martin Luther King very well.

He understood who he was as a man, but also as a representative of many people.

He understood what he stood for, what his followers needed and wanted-both from him and from their country.

And he had the courage to stand up and be a spokesperson for his followers. They knew he was speaking for them, speaking their own hopes and fears and dreams. But no one could speak as he did if he was not also speaking from his heart and soul, from his own pain - and the pain of those who came before him.

Would he like the world we are in today? Would he feel we had accomplished the goals of equality for everyone? Would he feel that we now have a symphony of brotherhood, that we stand for freedom together, that all children can sing 'my country 'tis of thee."? In light of how we have been treating immigrants in this country lately, I would say no.

If you haven't listened to his speech for a long time, you should.

For those who are still oppressed, for those who are trying to stand up for what they believe in at every occupy site in our country-whether you believe in them or not- let freedom ring!

Morning Comes Grey

2012-01-16T11:48:00.003-07:00

I haven't had a random verse for a while. So here goes...

The morning comes

after the night

Dressed in grey

monotone sight

The day rises

with plans set

Brightness hidden

No sun yet

The quiet broken

by a barking dog

Distant are the hills

yet shrouded in fog

The morning comes

after the night

Sliding silently

White on white

Stop me when I'm passin by (NSFW)

2012-01-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday all. Here's a classic pick me up - Van Halen (not Van Hagar) live in 1982 with Ice Cream Man. This is definitely not safe for work because of some F-bombs dropped by David Lee, but it will sure get you going!

Grungy & Rockin

2012-01-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

Since no one here at MfaMLG has an idea for a Friday Pick Six, have five grungy songs and one rockin' song. Rock On! Party On! Have a great Friday! We can all pretend it's the early nineties again!

Dam That River – Alice In Chains, Dirt
Jesus Christ Pose – Soundgarden, Badmotorfinger
Release – Pearl Jam, TEN
Think About You – Guns 'N Roses, Appetite for Destruction
Mudshovel – Staind, Dysfunction
Lounge Act – Nirvana, Nevermind

Videos as always, after the jump...

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Thursday Think Piece: A message to my insurance carrier

2012-01-12T19:43:00.001-07:00

Welcome to our new Thursday topic: Thursday Think Piece.

After spending part of the afternoon swearing like a sailor and hanging on hold for my insurance company, this one was easy to come up with.

How would you feel if your Allstate agent called you and said "Um, I know you planned to buy a new Toyota, but we just can't authorize that purchase for you. We've decided it's a horrible idea. Here is a list of cars we will permit you to buy." Would you allow that? I think not.

What if your State Farm agent called and said "Hi there, we have decided you are not permitted to drive more than 20 miles a day. We don't really care that you work further away than that, not our problem, this is our decision and you'll live with it." You would be okay with that? Um...no.

So why is it okay for us to allow our MEDICAL INSURANCE companies to make all kinds of decisions for us and we sit idly by and allow it? Have you seen commercials for 'ambulance chasing' lawyers on t.v. offering to go after your car insurance company because they are not doing right by you? Probably. Have you seen one for medical insurance companies? No. Why not? Because they are incredibly powerful, and our country has allowed them to become a monopoly that sets their own rules, does what they feel like doing, and do not get challenged. This is not democratic. We are not given choices. And yes, I know I could go out and buy a $1,000 a month policy on my own if I felt like it. I don't. I'm talking about something I PAY for, like I pay for my car insurance and home insurance...and I do not let them get away with telling me shit.

So here is a little message to my Health Provider:

You know the person you pay $10 an hour to to process my claim? They are not a Doctor. I'm pretty sure they never even made it into college. So I do not think they get to tell me that my Doctor cannot order films or blood tests or an explosive inner cavity search if he thinks I need it.
And your prescription approval person? Yeah, they didn't go to medical school either. So they do not get to tell me that the prescription my DOCTOR prescribed for me, is not acceptable to them. They can just keep their trap shut and let me handle my own medical needs, thank you very much.
I'm pretty sure just breathing in and out is a pre-existing condition. So please do not tell me that because I've been sick before I cannot be sick again.
When I drag my butt into the emergency clinic at 4 in the morning because I'm bleeding out my arse or in so much pain I can't crawl to the car or whatever reason I would have to go to a cold and impersonal place that treats me like I have leperosy...you do not get to say it was 'not medically necessary'. You were not there. Next time I'll call you and you can listen to my kid scream for hours on end.
When I get laid off from my job and I am trying to figure out how to keep a roof over my head, you do not get to stop paying my claims because you assume I'm now receiving medical coverage by Donald Trump and you are no longer responsible. If I have other coverage that will take care of the issue, how about we do this: I'll TELL you. Stop making stupid assumptions just so you can decide not to pay. And you know what? While I'm at it, I'm tired, tired, tired of you deciding MY HEALTH CARE based on MONEY. It's not about money here. Not to me. And I PAY you to provide this service. If you don't want to, feel free to take your toys and go home.

Rant over.

Darkness On The Edge Of Town

2012-01-11T09:53:00.001-07:00

Darkness On The Edge Of Town was the first Springsteen album I ever heard and I fell hard for The Boss & The E Street Band's rich Jersey wall of sound. I have a theory that your Springsteen listen is a defining moment in that you either like it or you don't. There aren't a whole lot of casual Springsteen fans.

I have, more than once, had people tell me that they hate Springsteen, mostly for the way he sings. I admit, I don't get that criticism, but like the Jersey mob, you are either in or you are out and mister, I am most definitely in.

The thing that caught me the most was the rich lyrical themes that Bruce was expressing in his songs. The Boss has often said that Darkness was a change for him, in that instead of just asking questions, it became important to him to figure out what questions to ask. I will admit that much of the content of my first Springsteen exposure was a bit over my fifteen year old head.

As I have grown older, the songs seem to resonate with me more. The opening lines of Badlands, the whole of Darkness is a meditation reflecting on what it means to grow up and being a grown up. It is equal parts acceptance and wistfulness of the need to do the right thing and how painful it can be to do it. You may not understand why you need to it, but it must be done.

Lights out tonight, trouble in the heartland.
Got a head-on collision, smashin' in my guts man.
I'm caught in a crossfire that I don't understand. - Badlands

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