Fearing Americans

The Best Comics of 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 07:12:00 +0000

The general sentiment of 2010 was that it was a shit year. The BP Oil Spill, Wikileaks, Republicans taking back The House, unemployment, and other global issues have dampened spirits. Not all was bad, however, looking over this list of art, I'm generally more excited about what was created this past year than I was at the end of 2009.

I should note that I'm woefully unknowledgeable about comics and music this year compared to past years because so much of my focus has been on Dark Horse Comics and Banana Stand Media. It's been a blessing and a curse. I'm actively involved in the production and promotion of art, but it limits the amount of time I have to enjoy everyone else's great work. Still, I hope this list is useful if you're looking for some quality entertainment.

The list is in no particular order.

The Best Comics of 2010 (In My Opinion)

2010 by Josh Burggaf

This self-published collection shows a lot of promise, and a strong sense of design. Burggaf spends a good deal of time creating animation as well. I encourage you to check out his blog, here.

Revolver by Matt Kindt

While I didn't enjoy Revolver as much as Super Spy or 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man, it's a really solid book that compelled me to continue reading with every page. A unique take on a post apocalyptic world, conspiracy theory, and an Inception style mind-game - you won't be let down.

Marvel Strange Tales by Various Artists

The second issue stands out almost entirely on the basis of Raphel Grampa. Grampa's cover and Wolverine story make characters decades old amazingly fresh. Hell, the Wolverine story alone might be one of the best things Marvel has produced in years. Add a hilarious Nicholas Gurewitch strip and a host of other great independent creators, and the single issue comic is easily the best title from Disney's newest acquisition outside Cassanova.

Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition by Stan Sakai

A giant, two volume hardcover edition with a solid slipcase, this excellent collection features the first seven volumes of the series and a ton of extra content. Probably the most beautiful book on this list.

The Bulletproof Coffin by David Hine & Shaky Kane

I picked this book up almost entirely on the fact that it was the only comic on the mainstream racks that looked different in anyway from the others, which is a sorry reflection on the industry today. Image has been doing some great new stuff, including Cowboy Ninja Viking, and although The Bulletproof Coffin isn't what I hoped it would be, it's still original in a nice way.

Daytripper by Gabriel Bá & Fábio Moon

The world Daytripper creates is so deep that word fail to describe the levels. Dave Stewart's colors are out of this world. Daytripper showcases three of the best talents in modern comics firing at the highest caliber. Buy the single issues; the covers and pauses between each chapter enrich the experience.

Stumptown by Greg Rucka & Matthew Southworth

I'm skeptical of anything that uses Portland, OR as a backdrop for a story. I'm a transplant to the city, but still protective of how it appears in media. Brain Michael Bendis is trying the same thing and failing with Scarlet, but Stumptown pulls off an engaging story that doesn't seem forced. It's not that Scarlet is overtly bad, but next to Stumptown it feels less genuine as a crime-drama featuring a strong white female lead, who loves guns, set in a moderately sized Northwest city.

Unknown Soldier by Joshua Dysart & Alberto Ponticelli

A radical take on the classic character, Dysart has been creating what I believe is the most important comic series in the last two years, and probably longer. Apparently DC Comics didn't think the same, and unfortunately the series was cancelled at issue #25. Dysart spent sometime in Uganda to research the book, and his blog about the politics of the country is very interesting. You can find it, here.

Hellboy: The Wild Hunt by Mike Mignola & Duncan Fegredo

A lot of comic fans are clamoring for the return of Mignola to drawing duties in 2011 for the popular series, but I for one will miss the action and style Fegredo brought to the book. Mignola's influence in the pencils is so obvious it might as well be tracing, but Fegredo works in some subtleties I find charming. Plus, bringing in the classic English mythology of King Arthur is a pretty easy way to get me interested in a title.

Howl by Eric Drooker

I have to admit, I was a little let down by this book, but only because my standards were ridiculously high after Blood Song. It's a very nice collection that I was happy to purchase from Drooker himself, who was kind enough to sign it. I haven't seen the film yet, and I feel foolish.

Achewood: A Home for Scared People by Chris Onstad

It took a while to come out, but the third collection of Onstad's webcomic is gorgeous and features some of my favorite strips that balance nicely between blooming character development and high-brow dick & fart jokes. The introduction shorts and in-character voice are also gold.

The Goon: Fancy Pants Edition Vol. 3

Eric Powell is a mad genius, and this collection of The Goon with colors by Dave Stewart features the most consistent story-line of the series to date. Funny and dark, absolutely marvelous, it renews my faith in the medium.

Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin & Jill Thompson

The hardcover collection finally brings together the scattered shorts and the new mini-series. The writing is superb, the art is top-notch, and even the hardest of hearts will fucking weep at the shocking humanity of some of the stories. Dorkin feeds off your glass case of emotion, let him taste your tears of sad and happy.

Orc Stain by James Stokoe

Stokoe may just be the creator with the most potential in comics right now. His style is familiar, but unique, and the world he's built with Orc Stain is marvelous. A modern fantasy for adults, the creatures that inhabit it are as bizarre as they are often unexplained. Like most great fantasy stories, Stokoe doesn't reveal a history of back information, and instead lets the reader inhabit a strange land for the sake of being bewildered.

Well that's the list for comics. I tried not to include too many Dark Horse books, but it was unavoidable considering they are the bulk of what I read these days. I want to note that Dresden Codak is probably the best webcomic around as of late. And a special tip of the hat to Hark A Vagrant and Octopus Pie for being consistently great.

Although I didn't read it, I've heard good things about Mighty Thor, and it was a shame to see Marvel cancel that book, one can assume to not saturate the market before the movie release. Finally, for an aging licensed property Zack Whedon and Andy MacDonald managed to create a really solid series with Terminator 2029 & 1984. I recently picked up Ducan: The Wonder Dog and have been promised that is amazing from reputable sources, so, check that out if you so desire.

I purposefully didn't include links to purchase these books online. If you're purchasing comics, I recommend you get them at Floating World or Cosmic Monkey if in Portland, and at Bergen St. Comics or Desert Island if in New York.

*Coming Soon - The Best Music of 2010*

Live from Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 01:57:00 +0000

The Space Needle is head-level against the setting western sun as I type this, the entire city of Seattle before me.

The Space Needle, like the public transit train, are both an offspring of the 1962's World's Fair. And their design and style, no doubt extraordinary at the time, are out of place in today's modern setting. Funny even, in a strange, familiar way, like a retro comic-book made real.

The above ground subway, faded red and stream lined like the bastard of a 1950's silver diner, enters the cave of some child's abandoned sculpture, better know as the EMP. A gypsy grave yard to the best and most famous unfortunate musicians in the region.

Meanwhile, lesser versions yodel off-key on the streets, begging with their songs. Another with a face tattoo screams to anyone not willing to donate that they are, in fact, greedy Americian capitalist pigs.

If only he and his wandering lady could afford tickets to another country . . .

Where It All Went Wrong

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:41:00 +0000

Orlando, Florida as my driver described it, is "just another southern city that wouldn't be shit without Disney." The south is the south, he told me, no matter where you go. And for all its lights and TGI Friday's, Orlando is merely a swamp, swarming with polo-wearing crooks, tired servants, and plastic memorabilia with a half-life of less than two weeks.

Yes, the east cost tourist destination is Las Vegas for families horrified by the notion that their prepubecent son might stumble upon a discarded advertisement for a professional escort named Sandy. It is a city that makes sure Dayton Beach is a completely separate idea for fear of reprisal from church groups and Midwestern reunions; a conglomerate of hotels and chain restaurants so cleanly scrubbed that even Universal Studios lives in constant paranoia, careful to stay in the shadows of Master Mouse. Disney World is a planet you cannot leave, and there is no gambling, only paying The House for a chance to stare blankly at the action while you wait your turn in line.

On the flight back to Portland I sat next to a 62-year-old woman so large that arm-rests were no longer an option, and a seat-belt extension a necessity. She and her brood were down in New Orleans on a Christian Retreat, "working" as she called it, when a flash flood encroached on an already broken city. Hurricanes threatened the fragile community once again, and Big Momma prayed to be delivered back to the heathen grounds of Portland, OR.

She gobbled down a double-cheese from McDonald's as she told this story. Not wanting to delve into a philosophical discussion, I told her my grandparents were recovering in Haiti after the violent earthquake some months earlier, struggling to continue the missionary work they started years earlier. Her faced became solemn, although I couldn't tell if it was from my story or the fact that her large size didn't permit her to use the tray-table in front of her intruding stomach, forcing her to eat her salt-storm french-fries three at a time before sucking the ketchup directly from the single serving packet.

The problem, she told me, is that the people of New Orleans, Haiti, and presumably any other location suffering from tragedy, haven't repented from their sins. And her prediction is that those places will continue to suffer the wrath of Almighty God until they do. Portland, as well. I mean, Sweet Heavenly Jesus, did I know how bad Black Ice got during the winter of 1978?

I was aware of the Willamette flooding in the mid-90's, and as the waters rose into the downtown area I knew that hundreds of Stumptown's citizens arrived, unprovoked by government or religious order, to created a sandbag pseudo-dam, an act that caused President Bill Clinton to visit the city and commemorate a landmark along the waterfront, praising the sleepy town his predecessor labeled "Little Beirut".

But in any case, we both agreed man-made structures were ultimately futile in the face of nature. Although, I suspect we differed on the details.

As Big Momma drifted off into what I can only assume was a diabetic induced nap, I casually asked the aging homosexual flight attendant if I could relocated to the back of the plane where an empty, employee-only aisle beckoned my pinned elbows. Of course, the flight attendant could haven been straight, perhaps his interest Men's Fitness is the first step on the path toward reversing his doughy physique, just in time for his 53rd birthday. It didn't matter. But my slinking back to the rear of the aircraft caused much a rumble among the other passengers who protested at the still lit seat-belt-sign.

What will Big Momma think when she wakes to find the seat beside her empty? The Rapture, perhaps? But why is she still 35,000 miles above the Devil's Playground with the rest of the Sodomites? Is this some sort of punishment for praying for deliverance from flooded New Orleans instead of praying for the waters to subside? Had she slighted the awesome power of the Lord by thinking American Airlines would prove a more concrete savior?

It was 102 degrees during my week in Orlando, and leaving from the 101 Dallas toward the 90 night temperatures of Portland made me all the more weary. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the cheap food and long hours I had endured for over a week. Or maybe it was the fact that I was sick of humanity - myself included - at our collective ignorance and inflated self-importance.

If the television news is any indication of where we're heading as a race, Israel will attack Iran over The Bomb, North Korea will invade its southern brother, and America will be so strained and bankrupt the nation will be forced to sell its battleships to any foreign dignitary with enough gold bullion to buy a few more weeks of air-conditioning in the White House. And with any luck, by this time in 2012, looking out at the wasteland, we'll all finally pinpoint just where we took a wrong turn on the evolutionary road. Because Orlando is merely a result of our materialistic, bland vanity, and by no means where it all went wrong.

The Battle of Toronto

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:42:00 +0000

The following is my attempt to understand, in detail, what happened on the streets of Toronto during the weekend of the G20 Protests. After interviewing eyewitnesses, compiling reports from the free press, watching hours of independent YouTube footage, and marking the series of events on a map of the city according to the most plausible time-stamps I could gather from the various sources - I wrote this article to piece everything together, in order.

Special thanks to firstascents.wordpress.com for their help. I would recommend opening a Google Map of Toronto to follow along, that way you can see how people traveled from street to street in relation to the fenced G20 Security Zone.

As Americans all over the country enjoyed civil disobedience in the form of driveway firework shows over the weekend, our neighbors to the north celebrated their own holiday. But in Toronto, the day of national homage was surely met with mixed feelings, as the lingering effects of the G20 protest still mar many people's sense of Canadian pride.

To prepare for the safety and security of the city and the G20 delegates, including President Obama, $900 million and 19,000 police officers were allocated for the week's events. In addition, the Ontario government gave police special detention powers, including the ability to arrest anyone within five yards of the G20 security fence who refuses to identify themselves or anyone attempting to enter a public section without officer consent as defined under the obscure law, by extending the 1939 Public Works Protection Act.

Although protests happened over the course of the entire week, it was Saturday and Sunday, the 26th & the 27th, that caused the most chaos.

The major demonstration began peacefully at 11:00am on Saturday. Roughly 10,000 protesters, comprised of several different factions – labor unions, NGO groups, UNICEF members, Women's and Human Rights organizations - gathered at Queen's Park, the designated protest zone, located near the University of Toronto and the Provincial Legislature, just over a mile and a half from the G20 security fence. At 1:00pm the march starts south down University Ave, then turns west on Queen St.

Confrontations break out at the corner of Queen St and Spadina Ave, police have blocked Spadina Ave to the south, preventing the marchers from getting any closer to the northwestern corner of the G20 security fence, a few blocks away at the intersection of Windsor St and Wellington St.

Around 3:00pm, the crowd splits; the more organized and peaceful protesters decide to head back north to Queen's Park, while others stay to challenge the police, hoping to make it farther south to the the G20 security fence where delegates will actually see their presence.

As the crowd forms smaller factions, marchers prevented from heading further south towards the G20 security fence seek to leave through side streets, and are confronted by police who insist they travel back along the original route.

During the splintering of the crowd, and amid the confusion of marchers debating to challenge the southern police line or rally back north at Queen’s Park, eye witnesses claim roughly one hundred so called ‘black bloc’ members take off east, back down Queen St to destroy and vandalize corporate symbols, including a police car with a lone officer traveling near the back of the marchers, who are still traveling west en route to the intersection of Queen St and Spadina Ave as designated at the beginning of the rally roughly two hours prior from Queen's Park.

There has been a lot of debate among those who witnessed the march on Saturday as to if the 'black bloc' were smart enough to avoid police, who were attempting to halt the march to the northwestern corner of the G20 security fence, or if the police willingly allowed more radical protesters to destroy banks and high-end shop fronts in the Financial District to justify using excessive force later in the day. There is, however, no debate that $900 million in security funds and 19,000 officers were unable to stop roughly one hundred people, out of a crowd of 10,000, from smashing windows in heart of Canada's largest city.

Several eyewitnesses and journalists have reported that, although riot police prevented marchers from traveling any further south along the main route on Queen St near Spadina Ave, once the 'black bloc' moved far enough east, past University, they were free to travel south on Bay St towards the Financial District and closer to the northeastern G20 security fence.

As the 'black bloc' proceeds south, at the intersection of Bay and King, only one block from the northeastern corner of the fenced G20 area, three police cars are found empty and quickly vandalized, with one set on fire. The 'black bloc' continues to move east on King, but quickly changes course and starts heading north on Yonge St, back towards the center of the demonstrators rallying at Queen's Park. Around 4:00pm, the vandals traveling north have nearly reached the southeast corner of Queen's Park along College St.

As people begin to filter back into Queen’s Park along University Ave, members of the ‘black bloc’, now done with their destruction only two blocks over, change into plain clothes and hide among the peaceful protesters. Soon, police, who had followed the original marchers, and now the 'black bloc', begin tear-gassing the crowd in Queen’s Park, shooting rubber bullets, and advancing toward the center of the protest. Seemingly random people in the crowd are rushed by police and literally dragged back behind police lines, beaten, and then sent to the make-shift detention center at the Toronto Film Studio.

Police descend further into the crowd gathered at Queen’s Park, which is now blocked by riot squads from the south. The crowd, once peaceful, is now confused and unable to move freely. Police respond with more rubber bullets, some of which hit journalists, and more rounds of tear gas. Mounted troops charge the crowd; those unable to run away fast enough are trampled. Police are seen throwing an old woman to the ground who attempts to ask questions of the riot squad, and arresting old man who, apparently, wasn't leaving the scene fast enough. Several journalists on the outside of the police line, looking into the crowd at Queen's Park, are chased away with threats of arrest. As of 7:00pm, Queen's Park, the designated free speech zone, is shut down and surrounded by riot police.

By nightfall, several major streets in downtown Toronto are now blocked, and the metro shut down. Unorganized confrontations happen sporadically across the city from protesters and bewildered citizens attempting to move freely through their city on a Saturday night.

One such citizen is Tommy Taylor, who has given permission for his story, originally posted on his Facebook page, but now syndicated on sites across the Internet, to be used for this article.

Taylor and his girlfriend attempted to go to Queen's Park to check out the free speech zone after 7:00pm, six hours after the original march started, heading west from their home near Allan Gardens. Finding Queen's Park locked down at University Ave by riot police, they travel south at 9:00pm to get slushies from a vendor outside City Hall at the corner of Bay and Queen St. Enjoying their treats, they soon find a swarm of riot police telling them to move west. However, not wanting to travel back north towards Queen's Park, nor farther west toward Queen and Spadina, and eager to avoid whatever was about to happen, the pair heads south down Bay to try and find a side street where they can safely pass to get back to their home only a few blocks to the northeast.

Unfortunately, south on Bay St. is towards the G20 security fence and amid some 200 protesters at the corner of King St, where just hours before, a police car was set on fire. Riot police herd the crowd along the border of the security zone, south, down Front St to The Esplande. The crowd then marches two blocks east on Esplande to the up-scale Novotel, where delegates are staying, and the workers are on strike.

As riot police start to close in from the east and west on the tiny, no exit street of Esplande, the crowd begins to sing "Give Peace A Chance" in a unified voice. By 10:30pm no one on the street without an official media badge can leave. As Taylor is being arrested by Toronto Constable Caesar for "mischief", he notes the official time of his arrest is 12:48am, Sunday, June 27th. Around 1:30am, Taylor and others are sent to the make-shift detention center at the Toronto Film Studio.

In his note now circulating through the media, Taylor describes the conditions at the detention center in great detail. The center is set up in a giant warehouse where metal cages, roughly 12' by 20' with one bench and an exposed port-o-potty toilet, each hold 40 people. Water was denied for hours, while police hurled insults, many racist and homophobic, at those in custody, and sexually assaulted female detainees. Sometime around 10:00am on Sunday, Taylor passes out while in custody due to lack of sleep and dehydration.

On Sunday, June 27th at 2:00pm Tommy Taylor is still in a version of hell, but roughly 100 protesters have gathered at the Toronto Film Studio, located nearly 4 miles away from Queen's Park in a residential neighborhood at Pape Ave and Eastern Ave, as a handful of those arrested from Saturday's demonstrations are released. By 3:00pm riot police storm the crowd, shooting tear gas, clubbing those in their way, and grabbing seemingly random individuals from the crowd, taking them away from the scene in black mini-vans.

Two hours later and a few miles west, roughly 300 protesters - a combination of people attending a planned bike rally and prayer vigil - march west on Queen St towards the intersection of Queen and Spadina where confrontations broke out the day before on Saturday. The tone of the march now less about protesting the G20 summit, and more about talking back the streets of Toronto. At first, the police line is opened to allow marchers to continue on, however, by 6:30pm riot squads kettle the protesters, blocking the west, east, north, and south streets. The police announce that everyone in the crowd, including individuals going about their daily business will be placed under arrest. Riot squads break up the crowd into smaller groups as protesters sing "O! Canada!", pushing them into a literal wall of police shields. Then, plain clothes officers rush in and grab individuals to be arrested. Journalists with official press badges, like Braden Goyette, are allowed to leave, but told they will be arrested if they continue to document the event.

Journalist Stephen Davis was still covering the events at the Toronto Film Studio when he heard about what was happening at Queen and Spadina. He took a cab to the location, and like many journalists that weekend, came equipped not only with his camera, but with a bandana and swim goggles, knowing the police may use tear gas as they did on Saturday at Queen's Park. Trying to get a closer look at was was happening between police and protesters earned Davis a trip behind police lines where he was searched, his equipment left in the rain, punched in the groin, and told, "Didn't you notice that all the Black Bloc guys were carrying cameras," before being pushed to the ground outside the police line, and finally allowed to leave. Davis finds entrance to an apartment balcony close to the action, and documents the nearly four hours police detain the crowd at Queen and Spadina in the pouring rain before letting the vasty majority go.

Tommy Taylor was finally released from the Detention Centre around 9:30pm, one hour before those at Queen and Spadina were set free. He walks to a bar in the rain to find a pay phone to see if his girlfriend is okay. She was released a few hours earlier, roughly around the time the marchers gathered at Queen and Spadina for a second time in as many days. Taylor was detained by police for "breach of peace" for nearly 24 hours, but never formally charged.

Police also raided the University of Toronto on Sunday, arresting nearly 70 people who were allegedly connected to black clothing, bricks, rocks, and sticks that had been stashed in the bushes around Queen's Park. Over the course of the weekend, more than 900 people were arrested of an estimated crowd of 10,000, not counting the hundreds of people searched and detained on the streets during the protests. In contrast, roughly 600 people were arrested during the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle, where 50,000 people brought the city to a near standstill.

Four police cars were set on fire over the weekend in Toronto, and over $1 million worth of property damage inflicted. In contrast, during the 2008 NHL playoffs in Montreal, at least five police cars were set on fire, an additional nine smashed, with only sixteen arrests made. None of the confrontations at Queen's Park, the make shift detention center at the Toronto Film Studio, Queen St & Spadina Ave, or on The Esplande were within the special, five yard law of the G20 security fence that would have granted police the powers detailed in the 1939 Public Works Protection Act, making arrests and detentions in those areas legally questionable, at best.

While Toronto police have blamed the weekend's violence to "thugs", it should be noted that the 'black bloc' isn't a group, but a tactic used by uncoordinated, veiled individuals to create chaos during non-violent protests in order to expose the inherent hypocrisy and violence they see in a capitalist system. In a YouTube video posted by Kriss Bacon, the person who it seems is responsible for setting the police cruiser ablaze at the intersection of Bay and King isn't wearing black at all, instead he's in jeans and a button-down shirt. The man stands on top of the car before setting it on fire, in plain view of cameras everywhere. On one anarchist forum, a writer by the name 'Oshipeya' has this to say, " . . . it appears that the reality of many people, black bloc and otherwise, finding joy in the trashing, burning and mocking of police vehicles is an inconvenient truth . . . "

On Monday, following the end of the G20 summit, and the expiration of the Public Works Protection Act, Toronto Mayor David Miller said, "In the very big picture, our police did a commendable job." He also told reporters that the city of Toronto will ask the Canadian federal government to compensate the businesses that were vandalized over the weekend. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has dismissed calls for public injury into police misconduct.

-Aaron Colter, July 5th, 2010

Edit: This article was originally to be published online by The Portland Mercury. However, the alternative weekly wanted, not surprisingly, to cut the lengthy piece down by seventy percent for a broader, online audience. Compounded by holiday office delays, and my subsequent bike accident, these factors made revision deadlines impossible to meet so that the article could be published in time to be relevant to an American newsweekly audience.

13 More Albums You Shouldn't Be Without

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Sun, 23 May 2010 03:29:00 +0000

This is the second part of a continuing series that started with this post.

1) In An Aeroplane Over the Sea -- Neutral Milk Hotel

The shy, yet overpowering, stream-of-conscienceness songs of Jeff Mangum manages to be universal and touchingly personal all at once. Like, Avery Island, the songs of In An Aeroplane Over the Sea reveal the inner religious conflict of their writer, this time with more clarity and within a seemingly single context framed by the album as a whole.

2) The Grey Album -- Danger Mouse

Not only a tribute to one of the best hip-hop albums of all time, Danger Mouse created the perfect mash-up in the face of constricting, and very public, copyright laws. More fun than the recent online sensation Wu-Tang Clan vs. The Beatles, but equal persecuted, The Grey Album refused to be squished by outdated legality, and stands as a testament to online freedom. Find it if you can.

3) Honky Chateau -- Elton John

From the opening light, soul-inspired "Honky Cat" to the classics like "Rocket Man" and the perpetually moving "Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters", Elton John was mid-stride in 1972, and in perfect form.

4) Paul's Boutique -- The Beastie Boys

With the help of The Dust Brothers, the Beastie Boys were able to craft pure genius, sampling so many famous riffs that no artist until Girl Talk could reproduce the density. And still, the complex layering of Paul's Boutique creates a brand new musical experience, unlike the strung-together songs of so many of its successors, and all together different than of so many vinylphiles that try with less astonishing results.

5) Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! -- Devo

Devo suffered an odd fate, their debut, produced by Brian Eno, certainly suggested potential near or equal that of fellow new-wavers The Talking Heads. But, much like The Violent Femmes, the band could never top the brilliance of their first release. "Uncontrollable Urge" carries an intensity like few songs ever recorded, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" one of the greatest covers, and "Gut Feeling / (Slap Your Mammy)" flat out one of the best songs ever laid to tape during that, or any, era.

6) Fever To Tell -- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Highly sexual, classy in the direst way, and snobbish on all the right levels, few records have as much punch as Fever To Tell. Reminiscent of the energy from powerhouses like The MC5, The Stooges, The Cramps, and even Mission of Burma, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were a welcome addition to limper contemporaries like The Strokes. More about love than anything, the album spans the raunchy flavor of "Man" to the gentle embrace of "Maps". Critics may argue the historical worth of Fever To Tell, but when garage rock revival happened again (again), the Yeah Yeah Yeahs emerged as the only ones to make any real musical progress.

7) (Come On Feel the) Illinoise -- Sufjan Stevens

A 22 song epic to the great state of Illinois, the break-out album by Sufjan Stevens seems to have been a giant nail in his popular music coffin. Part of Stevens' failed 50 state album project, and the last, Illinoise brought the shy musician to into a very uncomfortable spot light. Performing awkwardly in front of ever growing crowds, Stevens went underground in a way, pouring himself into more and more obscure projects, like the recently released classical soundtrack to The BQE. Stevens will no doubt continue to make moving music, the genre unknown, but I doubt the magic and broad appeal of Illinoise will come together in his career again.

8) The Dark Side of the Moon -- Pink Floyd

Yes, really. You have to own this and Michael Jackson's Thriller because no other albums have had such a global embrace.

9) Sigur Rós -- ( )

Moving, universal, powerful. All these things and more define the third release, and untitled album, from the Icelandic group. Gibberish because meaningful, single notes completely fill the soul, and even the silence has sound. This able has a single goal, to invoke emotion, and it does it well.

10) Stevie Wonder -- Innvervisions

During a period of only five years, Stevie Wonder produced six, truly amazing albums, my favorites being Music of My Mind, Innervisions, and Fulfillingness' First Finale. Get them all.

11) James Brown -- Live at the Apollo

This is the quintessential live album. If you follow @bananastandpdx, then you can see examples of several other great live albums. If you only get one from the list, let it be this one.

12) Neil Young -- Zuma

Like Dylan, Wonder, Elton John and host of other musicians, Neil Young put out several terrific albums over a short time, Zuma being one of the last in line. The only reason I have Zuma on this list over the others is because I think "Cortez, The Killer" is one of best songs ever written. Whatever misguided hippiness you might think about the song, it's the epitome of the 1960's social awareness and love with Native culture, culminating to an epic of spaced-out southern rock that, ultimately, singles the death of both periods.

13) Can - Tago Mago

The band that made Radiohead has influenced just about every serious musician since 1980. This is my favorite, but anything they released prior to 1975 is worth owning. Imagine if The Beatles stayed together after 1970, did more drugs and recorded far more complicated and strange music, and were from Germany.

I am lazy.

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Sat, 08 May 2010 02:10:00 +0000

I know it's been a while since I've put any meaningful content up, and unfortunately, it's going to be even longer. In the meantime, check out Banana Stand Media for some free music. Be sure to stream full, live albums on our new Band Camp page, too. If you like one, please considered paying $5 for a download. It's hard hosting, recording, and distributing live music every month for free, and we could use your support.

If you want an update of some cool stuff I've been doing, read this updated I wrote for Dark Horse Comics. The piece has some fun links and a general update of my life this spring.

Thanks for reading! Come back soon, and hopefully I'll have something more substantial to say. Or, read some of the back catalog on here; I'm sure at least a couple are entertaining...

Recommendations from ECCC

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:57:00 +0000

Just returned from Emerald City Comic-Con. Cons are about equal parts fun and work for me. I'm on my feet for about 12 straight hours, and being a personable marketing man isn't always a pleasured. However, it's great to see so many people who love comics in one place.

Unfortunately, there's zero time to get to talk to everyone I'd like to catch up with. Example: I rarely get to chat with Keith Knight, one of the most consistent daily artists in the industry, it's great to say hi, but that's about as far as conversation goes.

I did get to have dinner with Jeff, Sandeep, and Robin from The Guild, so there are nice exceptions to this rule. If you're unfamiliar with the show, do yourself a favor and check it out. And if you're a super fan, no, they're not like their characters - that would be horrible.

Once working is over, the night is late, and lips are loose. Coworkers become friends during these times, and honesty is the bond. Honesty and apparently crazy glue in my condition. I blame the Wild Turkey.

In any case, one of my favorite parts of the short trip was picking up some great new books I'm excited to read.

In order of my excitement:

5) Far Arden - Enthusiastically recommend to me, it looks like it has all the trappings of a great tale.

4) Octopus Pie Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 - I really enjoy the the comic, but I'm not big on reading it online for some reason. It's been almost two years since I got Vol. 1, so I'm embarrassingly behind in the story.

3) The Unclothed Man - The IFC shorts are amazing, can't wait to read the other stories in the collection

2) Super Spy and Super Spy: The Lost Dossiers - 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man is one of my favorite graphic novels of all time; it's a shame it's taken me this long to read the rest of Matt's work.

1) Weird Fishes - Jamaica Dyer is simply fantastic. I've been waiting for this book to come out, thinking it would be more enjoyable in physical form rather than online. So, I bought SLG's print version instantly. Then, I opened it. It's not in color. Shit.

Would Your Love Life Be Better or Worse Inside Comics?

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:05:00 +0000

I know this is a little postmortem, but no one seems to like Valentine's Day. Either you're complaining that you don't have a significant other, or complaining that your significant other didn't do enough, or generally complaining about all the crap that goes along with what should be the purest of holidays. Love, bleh.

Still, you can be thankful your love life doesn't include alternate universes, reversed histories and super-powered villains attempting to destroy your beloved. Unless you're Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer. Then you might; at least I suspect that you do.

Let's run down some famous comic couples and see if their relationships are better or worse than yours, which I suspect is pretty, well, umm . . . average; you don't have super powers.

Jean Grey and Scott Summers (a.k.a. Cyclops) - Worse

Perhaps the most classic of comic book couples, but also the most annoying. Are they together, are they not? Did they father the assassin of their mentor, or not? Do they appear in the same universe, or not? Combine that with the fact either seems ready to hop in between the sheets with anyone from Wolverine to Emma Frost at the first sign that the other is gone, and you've destroyed my ability to care what happens to the relationship.

Superman (a.k.a. Clark Kent) and Louis Lane - Worse

I quote Mallrats: "Only Wonder Woman has a uterus strong enough to carry Superman's child." I think we all know why.

Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman - Better

Sure they're boring, and the Venture Brothers parody is probably the only thing that will make them interesting, but they're like Ward and June, aren't they? And the 50's were so awesome. There's something classic in their simplicity that I just can't hate. That much. (Oddly, there is more Fantastic Four porn than there is of any of these couples.)

Batman and Catwoman - Better

This is the comic couple everyone wants to be. For women, it's clear that Catwoman is in complete charge of the relationship and has Batboy wrapped around her little figure. For men, a hot chick in a spandex cat costume, 'nuff said. They fall into the same pitfalls as other famous comic couples - together, not together, trying to kill each other, etc., but for the most part it's not a story perpetrated ad nauseam.

Harley Quinn and The Joker - Worse

While you may want to love it, the dysfunctional and abusive relationship created by Mr. J is not something you want to be involved with, unless it's one of those one-night only things at Dragon-Con. That's different.

Colossus and Kitty Pryde (a.k.a. Shadowcat) - Better

They're adorable in the way you want an X-Men relationship to be, plus the built-in-ability to watch the couple evolve over time. Marvel had a Joanie Love Chachi thing going for a while, but then... (Oh, and to be fair to the Fantastic Four, there is lots of metal penis out there if that's what you're looking for.)

Ultimate Colossus and Ultimate North Star - Worse

Now I'm all for positive gay role-models for kids in comics. Yes, you read correctly. It's hard enough trying to go through puberty without the added pressure of a repressive society, and having fictional characters adolescents can relate to can help them feel comforted, and possibly even give them insight into how they can overcome personal barriers. Fiction can be more than entertainment, it can be a personal journey. Which is probably why Ender's Game is still so popular even though it was written by a hateful, homophobic jackass.

But the point I was trying to make is that this relationship seemed like pandering. Maybe that's because I'm old and it didn't affect me as much as it might a younger reader. Any gay teens want to comment?

Ultimate Quick Silver and Ultimate Scarlet Witch - Way Worse

Ewww. Eww. Eeewwwww! Worst. Couple. Ever. It's like something you'd see in Alabama.

Daredevil and Elektra - Better, Kinda

Probably the best comic couple. Plus, Elektra herself inspired several great designs that are still mimicked to this day. The tragic tale defined Daredevil almost much as the story of the runaway radioactive waste. Now that I think about it, I wish it did define Daredevil more than the story of the runaway radioactive waste, because damn, that is a lame origin story.

Gambit and Rogue - Worse

This untouchable love bullshit is the reason Twilight happened. Plus they always had some lame accent that writers could never decide was Creole or Inbred Hick.

Katchoo and Francine - Better

Admittedly Strangers In Paradise is completely over-the-top on many levels, and possibly a highly fantasized piece of pulp for literature-inclined males on a very base level. But that doesn't make the love decahedron any less enrapturing, and might even make the characters all the more real.

Jesse and Tulip - Better

The relationship between Jesse and Tulip is much like Texas - totally fucked up with lots of people gettin' their heads shot clean off in between drunken hotel nights. At least that's how I remember Texas. Preacher could make a great movie if Robert Rodriguez and David Lynch teamed-up, but hopefully Sam Mendes will do a good job with the characters. Someday. I hope.

Apollo and The Midnighter - Better

Definitely down-played, but the couple proves that gay men can kick your ass. And if you want more proof that you shouldn't judge people by the costumes they wear, then watch this video.

Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spiderman) and Mary Jane - Better Then Worse

Marvel... I don't even want to look at you right now. We can talk after you fix this mess. (Also, didn't realize there was so many Mary Jane as sexy Spiderman fanandom out there. It's a little weird.)

Jessica Jones and Luke Cage - Worse Then Better

When we first met Jessica Jones in the pages of Alias, there was a delightful scene where Brian Michael Bendis explains why and when some ladies want some of that back door lovin'. Excuse me...

Alright now, that I've gotten over the trauma of reliving that experience again, I should point out that Luke and Jessica have since gotten married. And apparently figured out which parts go where, because they have a darling post-racial baby who just might grow up to be President of the United States as long as people don't start claiming she's Kenyan. Either way, we can all be happy that she doesn't have to grow up in the South.

Well, we've all learned a lot today, mostly that "love" doesn't mean shit in comics if there's a plot-twist ready to be deployed. Which goes double for the Hellboy movies. Liz and Big Red aren't a couple in the comics. Get it right.

Homemade Mashup

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:04:00 +0000

In my last post I said Alex Goose's Blueprint 3 Outtakes was one of the greatest album's of 2009. Jay-Z has yet to release the a capella version of his latest album, but bet that once he does someone, somewhere will lay those vocals over Goose's outtakes to create the album everyone wishes was released in the first place.

Until then, I've found a poor man's way to give you a taste of what the collaboration could sound like.

To start, you'll need to download the outtakes, which you can find here.

Then, you'll need to bring up this YouTube video:

Get ready to hit play on track one of the outtake album titled "On My Soul" ("What We Talkin' About" on Jay's verion).

When the YouTube video gets to the 0:30 mark, click play and you'll get a good idea of what could have been, but might still happen. Play around with it, depending on your machine you might want to hit play on the 0:28 or 0:29 mark.

Dig it.

Best Albums of 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:12:00 +0000

Of 2009! As I discussed with Comic Alliance Editor Laura Hudson, the decade isn't fucking over! So, no grand Top 50 list. Deal with it. (Edit: Turns out you dicks got me to name my favorite albums of the decade in the comments section below. So, titties for you, I guess.)

With out further or do, here are my Top 10 albums of 2009, guaranteed to make you a better person.

1) Bitte Orca - The Dirty Projectors

Recorded here in Portland, the band played Bridge City three times this year, opening for TV On the Radio, then headlining a strange, all-ages show on the 4th of July at the Holocene, and finally at The Aladdin Theater with Little Wings (another band worth checking out). Each show was progressively more aggressive and experimental. It seems as if the band has reached a comfortable position musically, and is ready to evolve to the next level. Let's hope so, because Bitte Orca's success rides not so much on its daringness, but on its ability to perfect a usually splintered hipster-pop crowd. Still, I cannot be something I am not, and the album remains in the #1 spot for the simple reason that I've played it more than any other this year.

2) Know Better, Learn Faster - Thao with the Get Down Stay Down

This almost made the #1 spot, but I'm careful enough to listen to it only so often, so that it keeps its surprising charm and energy. Thao with the Get Down Stay Down may just be my favorite band at the moment. That should be enough for you to seek this band out. But, if, for whatever reason, it's not. Let me spell it out for you, "I, Aaron Colter, as your musical, political, sexual and spiritual advisor encourage you to get this album."

3) The Satanic Satanist - Portugal. The Man

Another Portland gem, the band has become fairly popular in Europe, but retains its NW weirdness while combining a variety of popular sounds that please crowds across the globe. Imagine if MGMT spent more time jamming in lofts and basements, and less time channeling The Beach Boy during acid trips. The band is highly revered in town, usually playing back-to-back shows when headlining, or opening for a major out-of-town act and drawing as many fans. I'm still waiting for their songs to be in car commercials, but it may never happen as the band seems to be riding comfortably on its current success. Surprise your friends and break out this album while you're getting pre-party high.

4) The Blue Print 3 Outtakes - Alex Goose

I enjoy the outtakes better than the actual album when listened to as a collective. Probably because of the cohesiveness of a single musician, but also because it gives the Jigga Man necessary boundaries in which he can adapt his style. Because while D.O.A. rocked, and collaboration with Santagold proved fresh, not everything on the latest album did.

Legal download here:

http://theblueprint3outtakes.com/

5) Popular Songs - Yo La Tengo

Yo La Tengo continues to be one of the hardest working bands today, not only by playing some of the most crowd-friendly shows I've ever seen, but by cranking out albums after album, year after year, each professional and finding the band in a different temperament. Their latest album isn't the best thing they've ever produced, and it's by no means the worst (which is still better than the best of their contemporaries), but it's solid from start to finish. Something, in the day of singles, means quite a bit to this hater. If nothing else, Yo La Tengo deserves your support for nearly two-decades worth of awesome.

6) Apples Acres - Nurses

Nurses are set to be the next break-out band of Portland along with Explode Into Colors because the pair can create an entire world of music with fairly limited resources. Most of the album was recorded in an attic over a period of months, but manages to sound like a softer, yet equally complex Animal Collective. I'm a bigger fan of the other Portland-based bands on this list, but I notice talent when I see it, and believe Nurses have the potential to play in the big leagues, provided their hit-single lands in a movie trailer and not on Gossip Girl. Don't sell out, guys, please. Hold out for for that mainstream angle that still gives you indie-cred and you'll be alble to record the next album in a proper studio.

7) Forest Field - Experimental Dental School

XDS holds a special place in my heart, but it makes me sad they may never have the success of less talented bands in Portland. Forest Field is a great album, however, its consistent quality doesn't allow for much distinctiveness as the band tries to incorporate the best elements of Built To Spill and Modest Mouse, still missing the final definitive piece to a break-out album.

Download the album, legally, here:

http://www.experimentaldental.com/free/

8) Dark Night of the Soul - Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse with David Lynch

By now, you probably know the story of how copyright issues limited the release of this album, and that Danger Mouse attempted, with far less success, to cause another Grey Tuesday. Still, I'm sure you can find the album out there somewhere, and Danger Mourse does too, because you can purchase a collective of photos that pair nicely with the music by David Lynch, along with a blank CD. Tell the man to fuck off and find it. (I'm excited to hear Danger Mouse's collaboration with ex-Shins frontman James Mercer, who is, apparently, a huge dick that fired all that was left of the original band. The way-uncool act left drummer Jesse Sandoval with nothing else to do but open a taco cart called Nuevo Mexico on N Mississippi and Skidmore. Ouch.)

9) White Lunar - Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

No, not that Warren Ellis, comic nerd. The musician. White Lunar is comprised of songs from the film The Road, The Assassination of Jess James by the Coward Robert Ford, and The Proposition (perhaps the greatest Western of all time). Most of the tracks are short, but true to movie form, can make you weep with a single violin swell. Plus there are over thirty of them, so you get your money's worth. Nick Cave is a man of many talents, and this release is only a sample of his work. I'd recommend albums Tender Prey, Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus, and Digg!!! Lazarus Digg!!! for other greatness.

10) Embryonic - The Flaming Lips

I have to be honest, I don't even own this album yet. But I will. I'm waiting to purchase the deluxe edition like a super fan. In the meantime, the free downloads I have from purchasing tickets to their Portland show have kept me satisfied. My only concern is the legitimate complaint that the album's gain seems to be maxed for the duration. The influence of Cohen's nephew is a welcome addition as it added an element of harshness and wandering jam-like riffs not heard since the early days of the band's more sloppy sound. But, the constant assault of noise is something they should have grown out of in the last twenty years. Let's hope that they don't make the same mistake on the upcoming, complete cover of The Dark Side of the Moon.

Bonus Album: Gone Fishing - The Cools Kids & Don Cannon

Not as good as Bake Sale, but still poppin', I'm a big Cool Kids fan and remain one with this latest release. Mixtapes seem to be the way for smart hip-hop groups to stay current while avoiding the bullshit of trying to push a mainstream release in the face of contracts, torrent-spoilers, and national tours. Rhymefest did something similar with El Che, but while his mixtape was a reaction to an album delay, a record cancellation, and media fire, The Cool Kids & Don Cannon's mixtape sounds a lot more relaxed, just something to keep fans happy until a proper album of new material.

Download, legally, here:

http://whenfishridebicycles.com/

Well, that's it kids. I even added a bonus album. I really wanted to add Black Moth Super Rainbow's Eating Us to this list, but couldn't. The band's latest album shows great promise, and their show at the Holocene was absolutely insane (thanks for the birthday present guys). But, in the end, the album wasn't as diverse as the rest of the albums on this list. So while BMSR remains one of my favorite groups, and Eating Us one of my favorite albums, I couldn't, in good faith, include it. Sorry. It's worthing buying though, find it where you can.

If you want a grip of free, live tracks from some of the best bands in Portland, then visit BananaStandMedia.com, where you can find over 50 free tracks, many recorded in 2009.

A Lap Dance Is So Much Better When the Stripper Is Crying

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:32:00 +0000

I'm trying to keep some sort of schedule on this whole blogging business.

The boys and I over at Banana Stand Media are in the process of redoing our website. Evan Thompson will be designing it. And as you can see from his page, he's a far, far better designer than I.

The new Banana Stand site is going to be filled with lots of free music, gear-reviews, show info, photos, political rants, and art of all kinds.

So, I should be writing something new to keep up the creative juices following. Eww.

But, I'm not.

Instead, here's a conversation between me and Chris Onstad, who's a far, far funnier man than I.

Chris:

What is a woman's motivation to give a free hand job to a man?

Me:

Maybe you've been dancing for and hour and a half. Only got $6 in sweaty singles to show for it.

The place is empty, save the bartender who quit noticing tits three days into the gig, and the old man whose eyes are locked on the video poker machine.

In walks a young man with a kind face and slight build. You know there's no way he'll rough you up. No, not like last time . . .

He spends more on tipping your half-assed display than his drink, and doesn't once complain that "She Talks to Angels" by the Black Crowes has played twice in the twenty minutes he's been there. Doesn't even seem to mind the irony of the lyrics.

So just this one time, you tell him your real name and ask if he wants to sit in a private booth. Without asking he orders you up a Red Bull Vodka. Your favorite. How did he know?

The loneliness brings you together for that short moment when his eyes close and roll back and your the only thing in the world he cares about. The bartender disappears. The old man and his poker machine fade. The stage is gone, the booth too. For a moment it's just you and him. It feels like love.

And yeah, you're pretty sure you'll run into him the next morning outside the Screen Door. Your mascara gone, the platform shoes traded in for a leash and a pug named Barry.

He doesn't let on about last night. Doesn't even have that tone of arrogance when speaking to your friend Julie, who, bless her heart, still thinks you're "just a server".

As he waves and walks back toward his friends, you think, maybe next time I'll ask home.

But what he want with a girl like me? Just another story for his accountant friends. A good way to brag between downs while he grabs a beer with friends watching football on Sunday.

And besides, you've got to butter up to the cook for free mimosas. No time to think about what might have been.

END SCENE

Top 10 Concerts Ever. For Me.

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 22:10:00 +0000

Yeah, I know it's a little lame. A Top 10 list, really? What am I, fucking David Letterman? No. I am not.

But, I am writing this as an exercise to write something. Apparently, anything.

So here it goes you beautiful babies, you.

10) Dan Deacon - Holocene, Portland, OR. January 19, 2008.

The Holocene has become my favorite venue in Portland, for several reasons. Chief among them is that I was allowed to be piss-drunk on stage for my birthday with Black Moth Super Rainbow, walked into a sold-out show with friend-of-a-friend Four Tet, and seen Prefuse 73, School of Seven Bells, and MGMT there, all for under $20. Plus, they make great drinks for being such a busy bar.

But it was Dan Deacon's show that made me really love the place. I went alone, something I hate doing, but ended up having the time of my life. Deacon involves the crowd like no other performer I've ever seen. From setting up in the middle of the floor and allowing the stage to be a dance-zone, to the game of musical snake that stretched outside the building and back inside, he really knows have to make everyone have a good time. "Crystal Cats" made the warehouse go insane. Not a single body not moving. Throw in the complete darkness and strange green-glowing skull . . . What more do you need?

9) Modest Mouse - New City YMCA, Chicago, IL. August 14, 2004.

This show was the Q101 Block Party of that year with The Ponys, The Walkmen, and Death Cab for Cutie opening up. For some reason Q101's Block Party has gotten lamer each year. Originally starting with The Flaming Lips & The Violent Femmes, 2009 features 311. What the fuck?

Anyway, with a little help from my friend's Jott and Mo, we made it to the YMCA baseball field relatively early. Enough time to see most of the opening acts before the crowd started to get packed when Death Cab took the stage. Lucky for me, two cute girls were kind enough to share some buds towards the end of the Death Cab set, making my first experience with Modest Mouse a great one.

The make-shift venue swayed with people, and by the time Modest Mouse took the stage my feet were hardly touching the dusty diamond. Modest Mouse seems to have gotten lamer and lamer each time I've seen them. And while I didn't have a religious experience (literally hallucinating the inner-dimensional form of the Buddha in radiant crystal glory existing outside and yet through me) like I would that December at The Aragon, it was a better performance. Perhaps they rocked extra hard because The Helio Sequence's Ben Weikel was drumming for them at the time. Hard to say, but the experience was unparalleled - great friends, good city, rocking music. "Doin' the Cockroach" from that night is burned into my mind.

8) My Morning Jacket & Wilco - Palace Theater, Louisville, KY. June 30, 2005.

For some reason I seemed to be the only person in the Palace Theater that gave two shits that My Morning Jacket was opening up for Wilco. I went with my girlfriend at the time, but her friend ended up puking during Wilco's last song, a cover of Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper". Such is life.

Wilco was solid, as always, and yes Jeff Tweddy cried. In fact, poor Jeff has cried twice on stage when I've seen them perform. At this show it was because the band had barely stayed together following the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and it was their last show after all that had happened. He tearfully thanked his bandmates, who then came up one by one to hug him.

The second time was just two days after Tweddy mother passed away. The show at Purdue had under-sold and there was talk of cancellation. But that day they drove down from Chicago to play because, as Jeff stated when coming on stage, "I'm sure you have all heard the news. And the last thing I wanted to do today was come here and play this show. But, my mother told me if I wanted to do music, then I would have to treat it like a real job and not just something I did. This is my job, and she would have wanted to me keep that promise."

Tweddy broke down a couple times during some tender songs, but then turned the energy into one of the hardest rocking performances I've ever seen from the band. Before leaving the thanked the crowd, "I'm glad I came. It was cathartic, and I feel a lot better. Thank you."

But in the end, My Morning Jacket was better than Wilco. I had listened to a bit of My Morning Jacket around the comic and record stores I worked in, and in the apartments of Midwestern stoners, but seeing them live solidified their place in my mind as one of the best bands of this decade. Each album has progressed, some more than others, but no matter what they seem to get better live with each passing year, even releasing a few live albums, the highlight being Okonokos. In 2008, they played for hours at their midnight show at Bonnaroo, hours.

7) The Black Angeles - Bonnaroo, Manchester, TN. June 14, 2007.

Speaking of Bonnaroo, seeing The Black Angels open the festival in 2007 was simply amazing. A sky of falling glow-sticks burst from the back of the crowd when the first song kicked. The whole week seemed to be a bad, sexy trip. I know, how? You just had to be there.

Somehow The Black Angels knew, and ended their set with "I Wanna Be Your Dog" - bad mushrooms, good mushrooms, The Roots covering a mash-up of Hendrix's "Machine Gun" and Dylan's "Master's of War," nudity and dirt, Tool's freakout, heat waves, cold streaks, Fiest and love, moonshine and acid, Spoon and confusion, bright colors, endless shadows, The Flaming Lips covering Sabath's "War Pigs" and 10,000 lazers, tears and smiles, Kings of Leon, and The Hold Steady, and The Decemberists, whipits and strangers, White Stripes kinda, Gorgo Bordello maybe, screaming and crying, fucking and eating, opium to curb the hunger and numb the feet, DJ Shadow was somewhere out there . . . someone stole Led Zeppelin's bass . . . maybe it was Sting . . . - a time to always barely remember.

6) Pearl Jam - DeltaPlex, Grand Rapids, MI. October 3, 2004.

This was a once in a lifetime performance. My buddy Jott and I had taken to the road with little money and zero plan to see the Vote for Change Tour for the Kerry campaign. And after meeting some great sisters at a Ben Harper show the day before, we hauled ass from Lafayette to Columbus to Grand Rapids and back in two days, freezing and sleeping in his van.

The place was basically a high school gyms that held maybe 2,000 people, smushed. Our "tickets" where in the bleachers, and seeing that the other seats were folding chairs, moved to the third row. Eddie Vedder came out and played some acoustic cover songs for a handful of us that showed up early.

During one part someone held up an American flag right behind us. Vedder told them to pass it up, made a passionate speech about wanting to be proud again, his voice straining to what was no doubt one of the smallest crowds they had played to in years. I remember he made a joke about arriving to the venue, saying he thought it was going to be a disaster, but that he'd never forget the energy of such a tight audience. The bluest rockin' liberals in the greater midwest.

And with the flag held up, the entire building shook with the chant "USA! USA!"

I had never heard that chanted and been proud before. And, I wasn't completely comfortable with my country even then. But I finally had proof of a room of people who believed in a lot of the same things I did as a young man, and that despite what insults were thrown at us in that part of the country, we still loved America.

It brought tears to my eyes. Thankfully, they rocked it immediately and we all went back to pumping our fists in the air.

This might have been the best show ever had it not be associated with so many bad memories by proxy. Four more years of George W. Bush, watching basic human rights get rolled back state by state, and seeing Bob Dylan in his decrepit state, more war, more lies, more ignorance . . . well, it tarnished it a bit I suppose.

Here's some video proof of how great it was though. Whoever shot this was about where we were supposed to be, it's about the edge of where you could be, so that should tell you how small the place was:

5) !!! - Metro, Chicago, IL. May 23, 2007.

!!! is the funniest damn band alive. Amazing dance music constructed from a crew of live musicians. It's incredible. They graciously moved out of the early rave scene sound with more funk and groove lately, and, I'll be honest, a dash of hipster. Anytime they are in town I will see them.

This show was a birthday show, which always means I'll have a good time and anyone who knows me will be embarrassed. Since I had briefly lived in Chicago, going back felt a bit like home every time, especially the Metro, the place where I've seen more shows than any other. Several bars later and double bars at the show, I emerged danced the hell out and happy. It was like an adult version of Chucky Cheese.

4) Battles - Union Park, Chicago, IL. July 14, 2007.

I had always wanted to make music like Battles, but never knew how it could be done until I saw them at the Pitchfork Music Festival. Battles melted my face. Could have been all the items that were easy to sneak in . . . I had never heard the band until I saw them, waiting for Mastadon and then Cat Power on the same stage.

The entire festival was unprecedented: Slint playing Spider Land, Gza playing Liquid Swords, Sonic Youth playing Daydream Nation, De La Soul, The New Pornographers, a crazy fuckin' mosh pit for Mastodon that ripped apart my sandaled feet immediately turning into Cat Power leaning down and singing "New York, New York" straight into my eyes, Yoko Ono, The Ponys, Clipse, Jamie Lidel, and an insane party with Of Montreal that included glitter, bowls and bowls of red apple sauce, the Kink's "All Day & All of the Night," and enough joints to land the first ten rows in prison. Despite all of that, Battles melted my face, and so they take top spot.

3) The Wu Tang Clan - Randall's Island, New York, NY. July 28, 2007.

Seeing Gza perform Liquid Swords in Chicago at the Pitchfork Music Festival was bittersweet. Awesome opportunity, boring crowd. Seeing the entire crew (sans O.D.B. - R.I.P.) not too far from their neighborhood in a crowd of New Yorkers was incredible. Their live motto is "Whatever you give to us, we give it right back to you" and it was true, every ounce of that crowd's energy was channeled right back, and this was Holy-Shit-Rage Against the Machine-Is-Returning-And-Playing-Next-Engery, so you can imagine . . . Mos Def, Talib, Cypress Hill, The Roots, EPMD, Immortal Technique, Pharoahe Monch on top of all that.

It was a potentially revolutionary show, a riot show.

The first thing I noticed was that the New York Police Department had planned for this and worked with the concert promoters. One bottle of water per person despite the late July heat. No bathrooms or water fountains, food stands or anything near the main stage. You had to walk through two roped off sections to get near anything that could help sustain life. Security was backed by actual officers in near SWAT gear, complete with dogs. I was saved by a kindly concert worker who say nothing, nothing, and convinced the pigs to leave.

By the time Rage came on, no one had left for hours and hours, not wanting to leave their spot and miss seeing the returned band. And while mosh pits opened up, people were too weak to cause any real damaged. Zach de la Rocha called for George W. Bush and Dick Chenney to be tried, and if found guilty, hung and shot on the White House lawn for war crimes. He said America could only sustain the lie it has become by acting as an imperialist state and called for us to fight against the government at home the way the Iraqi people fought against the US occupation.

We all walked to the buses and waited patiently to get back to Harlem in a semi-orderly fashion, like drained zombies.

2) Reel Big Fish - Murat Centre, Indianapolis, IN. August 3, 2001.

I was 16 and rushed the stage to sing "Mabelle is the Bomb" with Goldfinger who opened for them. The show wasn't even inside, it was in the Murat parking lot. Again, I was 16.

1) The Flaming Lips - Grant Park, Chicago, IL. August 5, 2006.

Imagine being practically destitute in Chicago for the whole summer, but this great girl you're seeing finds a way to score Lollapalooza tickets. The last day of your shitty job you meet Wayne Cohen. Then, imagine waiting in 110 degree heat and dropping acid for the first time through Built to Spill and Sonic Youth. Imagine organizing a mass sit-in community with other freaks to share materials and gain shade from the sucker left standing in a sea of 50,000. Imagine standing up to see the craziest shit ever on stage orchestrated by your favorite band. A giant freak parade for 50,000 people under the setting sun and Chicago skyline. Followed by Thievery Corporation and Kayne West, all part of a weekend with Death Cab for Cutie, Of Montreal, The Raconteurs, Eels, Fiest, Andrew Bird, and Wilco. All with the best friends a person could ask for. I imagine it would be the best time of my life.

Shark In the Water

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Now, I might be a little twisted after drinking so much DayQuil, but watching a young, clean-cut white guy, a representative for Peoria, Illinois, talking about buying real-estate in when he was 16 -- "Who likes making money?" No hands are raised -- to a group of D.C. high school kids is the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Thank you, CSPAN.

He's 27 and will be a major figure in the Republican party in the coming years. He's a business whiz who will continue to win because he's good at making money. Lots of it.

Aaron Schock is no doubt smart, and his election is both due to his brilliance and what will continue to be a distrust of the Old Guard in Government. He is young and completely capable of answering any question as if it's actually on his intellectual level in the pitch-perfect, hollow political way.

I don't want to say this man is soulless. Perhaps making money, building, selling, investing and making sure you get to decide who makes the rules is an admirable thing. The boy's got drive, after all!

He started his political career after complaining to the school board that he should be able to graduate early, even though he hadn't completed his fourth year of P.E..

Maybe the locker rooms were awkward?

Time and time again, Schock answers questions with a subtle undertone of enjoying power.

"Be prepared for opportunity," Shock says about his future. And soon he's mentioning Blagojevich and the history of corruption of the Illinois Governor's Office.

"Education is a great equalizer, public education. But, there's nothing more important than a growing economy."

It's unsettling.

Like when he praises working class families and agriculture, then quickly notes that it's the wealthy, investment class that creates jobs.

Tech savy, if he continues to becoming a ranking member in important House subcommittees, he may be able to make a household name for himself. Recently, he traveled with President Obama to the embarrassing Caterpillar Plant speech, and later made his first over sea's Congressional journey, all within his first year in Congress.

Something tells me he'd be put-off by Meghan McCain's strong sexuality, despite his love for her father. But, if he bares the cross, so to speak, they could be a real power couple. MySpace photos suggest he isn't totally uncomfortable with full-chested women, good luck Meghan!

But it's not all fairy-tale, as the two will have to reconcile their opposing views on homosexuality.

A terrible fight will break out while he's meeting Big Daddy Maverick at one of the many vacation homes.

They'll quietly dismiss themselves from the main gathering, back by the pool house.

"Come on, Meghan! You don't want to be out in the desert fighting terrorism, worrying about if your buddy's gonna try and stick it DOWN THERE."

The horror, Mr. Schock, the horror.

Chameleon Nation

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:17:00 +0000

I'm sitting in a hotel I could never afford. Seattle. The view is nice. In the heart of downtown. The Pacific Ocean and Pike's Place to my right. The mountains and suburban traffic to my left.

After a quick smoke and a a few vodka drinks I could stand to listen to Bill Mayer.

He's hilarious but too much of a dick. Perhaps there's too much of a reflection for me to enjoy Mayer on a personal level. Like Jon Stewart without the boyish charm.

He pissing all over religion again, and the right-wing nutcases still occupying the House. But his guests are intelligent members of the conservative media. He's not engaging them in a serious discussion, not completely anyway. He could, but that's not why people watch HBO. Go to PBS for that shit, if you can find it.

He talks about the 3.5 million ton island of trash floating in the Pacific. The same pitching mirror to my right as the sun sets on the horizon of the Earth's mightiest body of water. Somewhere out in its vastness there is a plastic giant, twice the size of fucking Texas bobbing along, sweeping up curious sea creatures and seaweed.

We've ruined this place.

And why not? We're simple creatures, finite in this world. Too often we forget that we are of it. The soil, even the Bible thumpers agree, is in our skin, coursing through our veins, and the air of God in our lungs.

We've taken to space and littered it too. So much garbage falling around our planet that we can hardly launch new satellite or send up space shuttles.

I'm not worried. We're resilient little bastards and if there's a way to make money, if there's a way to get ahead, then we'll find a way to continue to devour whatever possible.

That's our edge. The fact that we can acknowledge evolution and alter ourselves is what gives us the ability to progress. Scientists have found the molecule they believe is necessary for memory, knowledge, power. We can increase our capacity to remember. A larger data bank to draw from. And as we improve our computer technology we will improve ourselves.

We'll swing satellites off Mars, Venus and then to the outer gas giants. Bouncing signals, carefully timed to the rotation of each planetary cycle. Trash collectors will have a huge market cleaning up all the shit in Earth's orbit.

That's why the Mob's so connected to Waste Management. That and prostitution. And drugs.

No one wants to do the dirty work, the systems that keep our self-inflated existence puttering along, right down stream and off a fucking waterfall, and into the ocean.

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

What of this prophesied misery?

The trend of emerging, widespread doomsday paranoia could be attributed to the rapidly downward shift in the average person's income. The United States has the highest inequality and poverty. Just above Mexico. Our drug-lord, corruption invested brothers.

Meanwhile, the illegal economy seems to be increasing steadily, right along side the unemployment rate in terms of GPD for the good ol' US of A. With a black market accounting for almost 10% of the GDP and imports accounting for 20%, we'd better learn to make friends.

As the divide grows between the rich and poor, more and more citizens will expect the worst, always planning for fallout, poverty, starvation.

Let's increase the fear. We hold 2% of the world's oil, yet consume over 25%. Our biggest conglomerates are small time players in the international market. If our foreign energy line were cut off, food distribution across this expansive county could nearly halt in less than a month. 94% of our transportation requires oil. Where would you get clean water? The grain for the bread? The corn that makes up almost 69% of our diet? The Consumer Price Index has risen nearly 250% since 1975, and 12% of food expenditure could be attributed transportation cost depending on where it originated. The lesson here: Buy local over organic.

There are nearly as many vehicles as there are people in the US. Your car will be a dinosaur. Get ready for the cold and the darkness. Over 50% of our energy use is spent on heating and lighting. Those will be the first to go as we struggle to keep corn and rice trucks flowing into the diseased, cannibalistic cities. Then air drops, because its more cost effective, and the supplies less likely to be raided by savage hoards living in transient tent communities. Nomadic like the ghosts of the Great Plains come to visit us in our waking sleep. The flies will wallow in our death.

America's optimistic spirit can be flipped so easily, and with it the ability of others to manipulate our common goals and dreams. This ill-gotten territory can be the single greatest chameleon nation in the history of the world. The color is up to us.

(Thanks to Julia for the wine & My Morning Jacket's Dawn, particularly "Honest Man".)

The Psychology of America

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:32:00 +0000

The latest volume of Lapham's Quarterly contains an excellent introduction by the senior editor of the same name.

Lapham argues that corruption is not only tolerated by Americans, but expected through out every aspect of our lives.

The notion of the underdog, the rebel, is ingrained into the fabric of our society, from birth to present day.

Bastard Children of England. Angry sons and daughters of insubordination. We are proud of our antagonist history.

From flipping the bird to the homeland, to taking one of the most vast and diverse landscapes on the planet from the original inhabitants, to meddling in nearly every nation in modern history, we have done what we believe is right. Shooting from the hip, directed by gut.

Americans expect the game to be fixed. And today, perhaps more than ever, as we teeter on the cusp of an undetermined new era, we should examine the strange dichotomy of our collective consciousness.

I recently had the pleasure to spend some time with Kieran Hebden, who's spending the next few months Stateside under his flagship name to tour sold-out venues despite releasing his last full length "Everything Ecstatic" almost four years ago.

The British look at us with a very skeptical, troubled eye. To understand the actions of a child, you need only to analyze the parent. And we have become the boisterous embarrassment of Great Britain.

Picture an old neighborhood, some houses are grand, others meager. Some residents are friends, others do not wave and lock their doors and keep their blinds shut tight.

A new kid moves to the block. He's wealthy, loud, and indignant. Late into the night and on holidays you can hear the bass rattle the walls and windows; somewhere muddled in the thick sound all the neighbors can hear, "I'm the greatest motherfucker in the universe!"

Hebden seemed puzzled, still, by America. "There are no women at my shows here," he said. "Just guys who don't seem to dance and want to talk to me about software."

Although he sold-out Portland's Holocene on a night when the Blazer's played a crucial home game to the Suns, I suspect it's odd to go from playing to 20,000 people in London to only 400 in a town narcissistically know for music.

After the show several fans assaulted him with pleas for pictures, "for my buddy in Fort Collins" while others demanded that he "check out their music".

America is loud to foreigners. Louder than they expect even though entertainment paints of vision of shinny skyscrapers and crowded streets to those abroad, instead of the reality that we are scattered huddles quietly afraid that the axe can come down at any moment from a powerful, greedy hand. Only yelling to mask the insecurity of our fragile country.

We are aggressive to the point of overcompensation. And there hides the duality of America that makes us such a fascinating creature.

My poetry professor at Purdue, a delight full British women who fell in love in America and never returned home, once commented that "Americans always seem to believe their luck will turn at any moment, that fame and fortune is right around the corner . . . " She paused, cocked her head slightly to the ceiling, and smiled in a way that one might look at a mischievous sibling. "It's odd," she laughed quietly and shook her head.

The hubris. The closest example we have as a country must find us as a toddler. There is a point in every child's life when it believes the entire planet functions to cater to its every whim. The Sunsetless Empire now confined to a single isle. Have we learned nothing?

So many of my friends experience a greater culture shock returning from Asia than they do arriving.

The deafening audacity of our culture is too much even for those born of it.

Art imitates life imitates art. Our greatest heros exist outside of the system.

Tom Sawyer is adored, the scamp, but it's Huck that we want to be. The faux cowboy mindset of the lonesome crowded west. Billy the Kid. Jesse James. Batman. Clint Eastwood. Rocky. Vietnam. Iraq. Lawlessness. Freedom.

Whether it's the cop that goes outside the law to become judge, jury and executioner, or the venture capitalist that cuts throats for a once in a lifetime windfall, we cheer.

We applaud those we fear the most. Sights set on the horizon and let God sort 'em out. Mavericks.

Hunter S. Thompson once said that he believed the Law really was on our side. Yet, he knew that had he won Sheriff of Aspen, he'd have been assassinated. It's hard to see justice because of all the fat faces that profit off fear and greed. But when you get to the bare bones - the law is written to protect harmony.

So when we're shocked that the President of Sudan defiantly travels the world while the U.N. prepares to bring him to The Hauge, we should consider the irony that George W. Bush is polishing his accent somewhere in Texas.

We teeter on at the cusp of an undetermined new era. It is time for us to mature as a nation. The rebellious spirit that founded this country is fine, but useless when we live in fear of a corrupt individuals that strangle our vitality. This state of arrested development cannot exist to infinity; we either accept the savage nature of greed and power to become a rouge continent of dark experimentation, or we embrace the idea that working within a system is necessary if the system is grounded in universal humanity.

We are injured animals, both fearful and dangerous. We know the system is crooked, the police are on the take, and the politicians are lying. We're doomed but optimistic. That easy break, that chance, it's coming, you just know it. Any day now.

Ah, but the muse is fickle and there are taxes to pay.

Listen, Click Click Click . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:22:00 +0000

I've been worried since May 19, 2008.

Barack Obama gave a speech on the downtown side of the waterfront in Portland, OR. Over 70,000 people came to see him speak. The Decemberists played one of the best shows I've ever seen them play.

People stood on bridges, came out on boats. Portland is very beautiful in May.

There was an overwhelming feeling of hope.

But, after hearing The Man, Barack Obama speak, I couldn't help but feel a little let down.

It was the same speech I had heard already. And this was his chance! The biggest crowd he had ever seen at that time.

"Wow. Wow . . ." he seemed lost in a sea of people.

Remember he's only been at the Federal level since 2005. This was unprecedented number of people, eager to hear what he said, nearly twice any crowd he had seen before.

He seemed scared.

And although the speech was good, it wasn't great. I was still going to vote for him, sure. But, I wasn't enraptured. There were no specifics.

Still, what was I going to do? McCain? Come on.

********

Now Barack Obama is the President of the United States. I'm still proud that Americans carried a message of hope and change, in yes, the only real way possible, completely flipping the balance of one party to the other.

That said, President Obama's last week has disappointing at best.

Kudos for stopping torture (although we all know that's not the way the world works, there's no need for barely literate combat troops or hopped-up jock-monkeys to be water-boarding some dumb bastards who were so bad at being terrorists that they got caught), closing the embarrassing and illegal prison in Cuba, boosting educational funding, and helping children get health care.

I can't overlook, however, that the economic stimulus plans is terrible.

Obama traveled to the highest unemployment town in America to try and prove to that the plan was good. Ah, back home in Indiana.

Bad news.

Elkhart, you're fucked. Revel in Obama's glory because he's not going to be able to reverse a 15% unemployment rate.

Now, Mr. President, get back to the White House and do your fucking job!

You're the President, man! You don't go Elkhart, Indiana. You go outside the White House, or inside the fancy hallway if it's cold, and you give your speech to the American public LIVE, on a respectable network like NBC, or at least ABC. Christ!

I had to search and suffer through at least an hour of crap and chug some Rolling Rock tall-boys before finally finding the speech FROM THE GODDAMN PRESIDENT ABOUT THE FAILING ECONOMY on C-SPAN at like 9:00pm. Shit!

********

At least, between some help US New articles, the President's Elkhart and Fort Meyer speech, and his answering questions for press -- I think I figure out where all of our tax dollars are going to go. Kinda.

The Plan:

1) "More than 90% in the private sector" -- says Obama about where the jobs will come from as a result of the stimulus plan.

So, settle down capitalist! The revolution has not yet come. I doubt it's going to be 90%. It's 90% on paper, in the real world it'll be a lot less, which means a lot less jobs across the board. If they're, for whatever stupid reason, planning that 90% will come from the private sector, then we're all up shit creek without a paddle, so to speak.

2) One plan is to offset payroll for the first $8,100 on every worker in America. I think it's a good start, but even as the proud, Portland peace loving hippie I am, I don't believe it's enough. Make it $30,000. These are the jobs that are the easiest to let go. At $8,000 the hope is to keep, I guess, part-time employees. At the very least make it $15,000, roughly the amount made by a full-time employee at minimum wage for a year.

3) 45% of the billion is in the form of tax cuts. The majority of which stems from that the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) will not be collected. Which, with all of its flaws, isn't necessarily an awful idea. It's not a good idea either. Adjusting the AMT for inflation with smarter exceptions is a good idea.

There are other tax cuts.

$300 immediately to taxpayers. $300 per child. More than likely, the average, single worker will get $600.

So, thanks...?

$600 is nice. I might be able to take a vacation with some additional saving, but more than likely it'll just trickle back into all the same places it already does -- basic necessities that aren't collapsing like other businesses.

Families with two children can hope to get around $1,200.

4) There is also a proposed 50% deduction on new equipment. Why not 100%?

5) $250 to Social Security recipients. Fair's fair. But, eliminating Social Security for anyone under 30 is still a dream of mine.

6) At least $10 billion goes to try and renegotiate bad loans from homeowners. Not bad, but likely not too do much. The problem is that the homes are too expensive for those living in them. The success rate on this program will most likely be poor.

7) Freddie and Frannie get to purchase homes up to $729,750 hoping to get about a 20% down payment. Well, that's fucking stupid. Let's hope there are better regulations or we could wide up more defaulted, this time more expensive, mortgages.

8) Rebuilding the roads, is, and has been, a mantra in Obama's plan to create jobs and stimulate the economy. This is one of the most frustrating points for me, because I find it so irrational. Despite it's irrationality, a large chunk of this stimulus bill will go towards our roads, and some to our general transportation. The exact number is going to be hard to pin down with so many millions of dollars going hundreds of places, but, trust me, it will be a huge portion of this bill.

9) Public Water Works. Quite honestly, if this can be well regulated and run efficiently, I give the government a blank check. It's water.

9) Green energy. Sure, great idea. I propose no payroll taxes on companies that want to set up green factories and no federal taxes on any materials that are proved to be sustainable or go into making buildings up to something equivalent to the Gold Leed Standard. But, we'll have to train those people.

10) Same for health care costs. If you're going to electronically set up all the records, good luck training all the people who are computer illiterate, especially when it comes to adapting new software. A plan, by the way, that's not going to do much to lower health care costs.

11) $6 billion to bring high-speed internet to areas with little connectivity. If Comcast in any indication, then government broad-band will be all but useless.

12) Extend unemployment insurance. Sad, but necessary. The massive, sudden lay-offs call for some sort of net. Or, we could let hundreds of thousands of people slip into almost complete poverty. People that won't have money to eat if they miss a paycheck. The cost of this plan will increase in 2009 as more people will be dependent on unemployment, and, equally sad, a selective few will make the claim that being dependent on unemployment is okay.

13) This is the strangest of the bunch: weatherizing homes. What the fuck? Strange, but maybe effective. It will offsets energy costs. It will probably be some sort of manual, simple work that can easily be done by those with little education and looking for immediate work. A spray? What the hell is going to be in this? Mark my words, whatever this turns out to be it will be horribly corrupt and probably give thousands of people cancer. And, where is the money going? What company? With what ties?

One important question that came up during Obama's Elkhart and Meyer performance, and only one from what I heard. Thanks, America.

The question was about Mandate Renewable Energy Standards -- A solar electric company's owner asked this in Elkhart. His rate selling back to the grid is terrible. But if the government set a percent produced, or outage level that had to be renewable, they would have to buy this back from this solar electric company owner to meet the mandated standards.

I'd agree to mandated standards for none necessary upgrades if using money from the new stimulus package. Compromise!

A better idea would be to allow for more independent companies to try and sell renewable energy to home owners, tax free. Let more people try, let them compete. Then, mandate a cap on the ratio for energy being sold from these independent companies back to the grid, that way the smaller companies get a better rate to encourage them to be more than just adequate, but also doesn't complete screw the electric company that is still set to government standards for the mass population.

*******

"Right size." says Obama, about his package. Funny, I say that too.

He also likes to say that "we have the most productive workers." Is it true? 14 year-old Korean children in a soccer-ball factory, I'm almost positive, are more productive than myself, or anyone in my office, your office, or any office. But maybe he's counting the production hour's dollar value. Theoretical capital shifted from one place to another. Then sure, I guess. But, to what extent does this rest on the manufacturing of goods in a cheap, unregulated market with poor environmental and workers rights standards? Doesn't this change, or at the very least, drastically modify the value of the service level jobs?

None of this solves a huge problem. One that will hopefully be somewhat settled by an extra $350 billion. Hopefully.

Banks are "effectively insolvent," according to Nouriel Roubini of NYU.

People have no money because the banks have no money. And directly giving people money from the Federal Reserve won't mean anything if it's just paper at that point.

Of course banks don't want to risk money, after too many people wasted and/or borrowed it all and then went...oh shit... We gotta pay that back? Damn, I'm broke. My bad.

For example, if I were to pay my students loans at a comfortable affordable rate adjusted to my income, it would take me until I was 82 years-old to be free and clean. Now, the goal is to get better jobs and start paying more. But, in this economy?

From what I've read, banks are somewhat more stable than before, however, they are no where near coming out of the giant, money sucking black-hole that makes this entire mess all the more dire.

My biggest problem with Obama's Elkhart Speech was that it was like he was on the campaign trail. Again. Shady shots on McCain, for no reason. Talking about what he's going to do when he's President. I think he actually said, "that's what I wanna do as President". You are President! No get to it!

Recommended listening: Sons and Daughters -- The Repulsion Box -- "Rama Lama"

What We Could Do

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 21:26:00 +0000

The Holidays.

I prefer to be alone on Christmas. I don't know why, but there's something about being outside the hustle and bustle that is the best gift.

It's not that I don't love my family, it's simply that I like to see them on regular days. Shopping, trees, gifts, running here to there, lame parties, people you share little connection with but feel obligated to see . . . No, no it's not for me.

It's snowing in Portland, OR. It's been snowing for hours. Several inches have accumulated outside the dinning room bay window, and I live near the river dividing the city.

I'm told this never happens by those who've lived here longer than a year.

It's beautiful.

Heavy snow, people still walking out in the cold to get to Genie's for breakfast, still crossing the icy bridges to get downtown for last minute shopping, the Prius-driver going 10 miles-an-hour and scared for every inch, while the bearded man in the '92 Ford truck is cursing all over his Carhard jacket. Young couples huddling their snow covered heads toward each other's chests . . . it's all very peaceful.

And while I sit listening to Broken Social Scene on vinyl like a true hipster, the fumes of the incredible whiskey I sip has cleared my head.

I remember when economic analysts started to predict the down turn. Don't worry, they said, you're going to college soon, by the time you get out it'll be back up again.

Even in high school that sounded like bullshit. Then, in college, studying economics at one of the best programs in the country, it became very apparent that the entire system is bullshit.

That's bound to fuck a person up. But the joke's on me because I settled for an English degree. Oops.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not an expert on the subject of how to stabilize a country's economy. But I'd like to believe I'm not completely blind to what could be done.

One of the worst culprits in our current meltdown is the Federal Reserve. While there are some who would like nothing more than to take down this hideous beast, I'm not convinced dismantling it would be the best course of action right now. I'll save that fight for another day. It is a dragon that needs to be destroyed. But, I'm not yet ready for the battle.

Let's forget about all the terrible shit our leaders, our consumerism, ignorance, and even our good intentions have gotten us into as we pave the road to hell with our own flesh.

If the government is going to buy rotten assets, then it's going to buy rotten assets. The least we can do is to make sure that we don't continue to lose money, only to sell those assets back to a different company under the same corporate-umbrella in the future for less than what we paid for the sour material in the first place.

My advice is this:

1) Try and resettle what homes and property you can. Then, because I'm sure there are many, you're going to have lots of properties empty and unfinished -- for those, create a selective process where people in the military, public works, and education can apply to move into one of these properties. Make renters into owners.

The properties will be marked down to cost and the occupants can even enter into an agreement where they pay for materials or put in work on the unfinished properties to help alleviate the cost. Invest in well-educated, young people in these institutions as well. The children are the future.

While it's definitely socialistic, we'd still be encouraging work, home ownership, and strengthening the core of the people who serve in the military, teach our children, make us safe, and keep our cities running. Investing in the younger people in these areas will ensure that the basic necessities of society are stable in the future.

Since we're bailing out private transportation, banks and financial institutions, less do it in a smart fashion.

Immediately lower top management salaries to $250,000 for any company that receives federal money. That's still a fuck load of money folks, don't bitch. When those companies can start functioning on their own, they can pay themselves whatever they want.

The workers and factories at auto-makers will be trained and converted to continue to make parts, but not for new cars, they will finish the recalculated orders and begin making parts for more public transit systems.

Public transit is increasing, and it needs to be more cost effective and energy efficient. If Obama wants to allocate money for that, let's include it in this package so that the auto industry in America moves toward making mass transit systems.

Limit this program to 5 years. Renewable license possible, but this should only be a temporary push until the government can go back to being a pragmatic tool and not a crutch.

2) Make a deal with the devil and help T. Boone make his giant wind farm stretching from Texas to Canada. The guys is creepier than a dead man breathing a cloud of dusty moths, but he's got a good idea. There's your job creation. People will flock to the edge of the west creating jobs and housing. And hell, there's probably even some of those bad assets in those areas that need rebuilding.

Limit the life of this program as well. Once these programs can stand on their own they should leave the hands of government.

3) Immediately remove all combat troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. That's right, all of them. It's time for us to tell the world that we either a) didn't know it was going to be this bad, oops, we're really sorry b) tried to tell people! or c) weren't paying much attention . . .

People in the field can stay on for defense and aid work, but only if they want to.

We're going to have to cut a lot of aid to other countries as well. Thousands of people will probably dies because this decision. And, Iraq and Afghanistan might get worse for a while.

We'll say we're sorry. It was those other guys fault. We're different now. We've changed! Oh we've changed!

4) Stop the embargo to Cuba, North Korea, and any other country unless it's going to drastically threaten the safety or economy of America. Porn, Rock and Roll, Rap, and American brashness will bring down threatening governments. With a beer in one hand, a joint in the other, little bit of bling and the promise of a blow-job at the end of the night gives a man the courage to tell any President, General or Warlord to get fucked.

5) Speaking of, stop the War On Drugs. It costs tons of money, it's bankrupted a large population of our youth by putting them in prison, and it's completely stupid.

Many of the released young men will probably go back to selling drugs, but with drugs being decriminalized there will be more competition. Again, many people will probably die in violent clashes, but not as many that die during the current system that keeps people criminals.

If a man can make a living selling cocaine, then I don't think the government should make it legal, but I don't think they should throw him in jail. It doesn't just make sense morally to decriminalize drugs, it's also a great economic stimulator!

We've been outsourcing our drug making and dealing to other countries for too long, and I think we can do it better here in our own borders. Plus, less need for border security.

6) Cut Social Security. If you're under 30 years old, then you don't get any social security. But, you also don't pay for it. Immediately change the eligibility age to 75. You're going to have to start cutting expensive benefits and medications. Again, people will probably die because of this change.

I keep pointing this out to note that we're so entrenched in providing care for people at the federal level that changes to policy aren't just changes on paper, they mean lives.

7)Cut Military Spending by 50% over the next 20 years. No more new fighter planes and bombs, that money will be allocated towards building solar technology and planes for commercial travel, specifically between cities in the US to encourage mobility in such a grand and vast country.

More attacks may happen. In some regards our bad foreign policy is responsible. But as we continue to show strength through peace we will not only win protection from out allies, but also to the youth of the world who will stop growing up to hate our country.

8) With new, clean technology, set up small community farms that encourage scientific research and host educational seminars to the public. Start teaching individuals everywhere how to best use the new technology we create, how to grow food, and how to save energy. Think of it as a hands-on library.

9) Make immigration into America easier, but require stricter standards on what materials can be imported. We want the best and brightest from all over the globe to come to America. Let's import people, not goods.

10) Bring more material based learning into middle and high school. Not everyone needs to go to college. We should be teaching out children to fix trains, build homes, rewire electrical systems, and interact with parts and tools. This gives people the ability to get a job and to manufacture actual things. It beats working retail, trust me. And hopefully these programs will inspire some of them to create the future of sustainable technology.

Bonus ideas:

1) Rewrite the rules for 700 mhz Spectrum auction so that while access fees can be charged, AT&T and Verizon can not block open-access companies from creating competing products that utilize the network.

Online retail is a growing business, one of the few. It should be protected so that good and services can be exchanged on a very free, open market where anyone can create and compete. Any business that is non-profit or makes less than $50,000 a year shouldn't pay taxes on the goods and costs of running that online business.

(I'll finally be able to sell my kitten calenders!)

2) Declare Peace with the entire world. Seriously.

Have Obama publicly make a much-to-do speech about how we understand the world is a diverse place, we're not always going to agree, we apologize for years of misdirection and want everyone to know we still want to be the beacon of freedom and equality for the world, but that we're going to focus in on our own problems now. And while it may mean we won't intervene as much as we have in the past, we aren't going anywhere, we're just making some repairs.

We invite anyone and everyone across the plane to join us in making basic changes so that the planet can be a safer, more tolerant, cleaner place. We intend to follow by example and only give direction when asked. While we encourage everyone to join in this revolution, we can only give our support in spirit as we are currently under going one ourselves.

Well, that's all. I've been enjoying the sounds of Minutemen, Jay-Z, and the new The Flaming Lips soundtrack while writing as well as Broken Social Scene. Music is universal. Pick up some good vibrations.

I'd love for you to comment on why you think these programs would or wouldn't work. Who knows . . . maybe someone important will listen, or maybe the ideas will drift into the collective unconscious little by little until adopted . . .

Exclusive, Uncensored Stainboy Video!

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:30:00 +0000

Stainboy Video

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:28:00 +0000

Hey everyone,

I know I posted this before, but I had to take it down and do some editing. I promise to put up the unedited version sometime, but for now you'll have to deal with the censored version that should be appearing on the Dark Horse website in the near future.

Big thanks to Curious Hands for letting us use their tunes, and to Banana Stand Media for hooking up the awesome live tracks. Most of all, a huge thanks to Greg "Stainboy" Reinel for being such a good sport with this little project.

-Aaron

(P.S. -- I know the updates have been super lame lately. Please check my facebook for more recently bullshit rants, or better yet, go over to BananaStandMedia.com and see all of the music work I've been doing.)

Freedom?

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:07:00 +0000

The Minnesota State Police prevented Rage Against the Machine from playing a free show outside the Republican National Convention. No surprise.

In the fall of 2000 the band a free in show outside the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California.

Here's what happened at the DNC in 2000 --

In 2007 at the Cochella Music Festival --

Again at Lollapalooza in August 2008 --

Here's what happened at the RNC --

Obviously Rage Against the Machine are often shocked by their ability to ignite a crowd into clashes that often turn violent. I think they're unable to control the anger of the people they inspire.

But, what is freedom? If thousand continuously show up to vent their frustration with the government in a physical way, then shouldn't we take the necessary steps to dismantle the damning parts of our flawed system?

So why haven't we?

Maybe because you're too busy reading this blog, and I was too busy writing it...

I Made This

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:11:00 +0000

Obama's Choice

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:47:00 +0000

Joe Biden is good for Obama, but it still may cost him the election.

Joe Biden has always been one of my favorite politicians. And I think if you're a true addict of American politics, then Joe Biden is one of your favorites too. He has to be.

The man is probably crazy, but in some of the best ways.

The reason Biden is good for Obama is because the man, the one, the honest Barack we all used to love has taken a sharp turn toward middle of the road when it comes to both policy and straight talk speeches McCain once gave.

Joe Biden isn't afraid to be human, to be an American. He's got a sweet gig, so why give it up? The man's been a senator for decades. And yet, he cracks jokes that can be seen as border-line racists, sexist, and crude. Hell, he's even made a 9/11 joke during a debate. He's honest, almost to the point that it's hard to choke down; but he coats the disgusting taste of our reflection with humor. So when Biden gives us a shit sandwich about what's actually going on in Iraq, then you can take a bite knowing he's not telling you it's roast beef.

Meanwhile, there's the following story about a guy who isn't running, but might as well be considering the spotlight he's under. Poor bastard gets treated like an alien for making sense.

Here's a write up from the Huffington Post:

-- As Comedy Central's "Daily Show" descends on Denver for four days of coverage, Jon Stewart took after the "established" media for getting too cozy with candidates and regurgitating campaign spin when it comes to political coverage.

In a breakfast with reporters, Stewart directed most of his ire at the 24-hour cable news networks, which he called "gerbil wheels," and said the media at-large had "abdicated" to what he called the "slow-witted beast."

He said the never-ending television news cycle creates a "false sense of urgency" and forces reporters to "follow the veins that have been mined," instead of pursuing serious and in-depth reporting.

Jon Stewart ripped the cable news networks Monday as a "brutish, slow-witted beast" and castigated Fox News as "an appendage of the Republican Party."

Wearing a gray T-shirt and a healthy stubble, the "Daily Show" host told reporters that Fox's fair-and-balanced slogan is "a (expletive) you to people with brains" and that only "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace "saves that network from slapping on a bumper sticker . . . Barack Obama could cure cancer and they'd figure out a way to frame it as an economic disaster."

"I'm stunned to see Karl Rove on a news network as an analyst," he said of the Bush White House aide-turned Fox commentator. --

Check out the well written piece in the Washington Post here.

Still, despite the thirst for honesty in politics, Joe Biden may cost Obama the election.

Biden doesn't bring anyone new to the Obama camp. While the V.P. Candidate solidifies the base, he's not bringing in voters from the Midwest or the South.

I'm glad Joe Biden will have the opportunity to keep Barack Obama on the level, more so than the level of foreign policy experience he brings.

I just hope it works.

13 Albums You Shouldn't Be Without

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 04:20:00 +0000

I'll admit this as a pretty shallow post. But whatever. It's still true! If you don't own these albums, then you're missing out on entire worlds of audio bliss.

1) Clouds Taste Metallic -- The Flaming Lips

There's nothing else like the feeling of taking an acid trip even if you're not. This album is truly crazy, but in a very touching way that makes you question and love humanity all at the same time. There are some very emotionally intense moments in the album if you really get into what the group is trying to accomplish. You're on the bus or you aren't. There's really no other way to describe it.

2) Kind of Blue -- Miles Davis

I don't know if there's anything other album that's equally as perfect for sitting alone on a rainy night or for a romantic evening for two. There haunting sounds leave a person wanting intangibly more and more and more. Miles Davis is a force, like electromagnetism.

3) Give Up -- The Postal Service

This album makes me smile even while it breaks my heart. There's no secret to why this maybe SubPop's best selling album. My only suggestion is that this be listened to while moving; by bike, by car, bus, train or plane, whatever. The album requires travel of some kind.

4) London Calling -- The Clash

I don't think any other album on this list makes me as happy as London Calling. I want to cheer, scream, smash, build, and burst every time I hear this record. This is an album I only own on vinyl, and like certain films it's used in times of intellectual, existential emergency.

5) Rza as Bobby Digital in Stereo -- Rza

I don't get this album. It's too brilliant. This should be made 100 years from now when our great-grand-children have computers fused with their brains. When I listen to this album I feel immortal. It's insane.

6) What's Going On -- Marvin Gaye

If you can listen to this entire album and not have to fight back tears, then you're a heartless human being. Marvin Gaye's poetry and sounds are so beautiful there isn't anything else on its level. What's Going On is truly timeless and the goal of any serious artist.

7) The Moon & Antarctica -- Modest Mouse

I'll always hold these songs in a special, twisted part of my mind. There is so much agony and universal loneliness in this album it's almost like a maze. I think Isac Brock might be one of those people, like Tome Waits, that I would have nothing to say to if I ever met. I would just stare at him in a really creepy way until he felt awkward and left.

8) Yankee Hotel Foxtrot -- Wilco

I simply love this album. You will too if you listen to it all the way thru at least twice. It's strange, but familiar in many ways. If, after listening to this album twice thru, you don't believe it's one of the top ten albums to have been released in the last twenty years, then . . . I don't know. I'll like to see the ten on your list.

9) Blonde on Blonde -- Bob Dylan

If you don't own this album, then you need to finish reading this post, collect at least $20 and proceed directly to the nearest record store. You're not a real American if you don't own this album. Blonde on Blonde is culturally significant to every pop song ever recorded after its release. Not owning this album is like not liking pizza.

10) You Are Free -- Cat Power

This is the only album on the list that makes me feel nothing. And that's why it's amazing. Chan Marshall has created an album full of emptiness. If you're feeling so sad that you don't think you'll ever feel the same again, listen to this album all the way thru, take a deep breath and start life again. It's like taking a bath in the purest salt. You don't exactly feel clean, but you're washed in a harsher water, making you ready for whatever is next.

11) Are You Experienced -- The Jimi Hendrix Experience

A total mind-fuck. Jimi Hendrix was an alien trying to cope in a human body. I am experienced. I think you should be too.

12) Black Mountain -- Black Mountain

I've been listening to this album more and more lately. It's equal parts Jefferson Airplane and 80's Metal; this combination makes it a fireball of a recording. There's no screaming, but don't let that fool you, this album rocks. You just have to accept that darkness can be melodic.

13) Daydream Nation -- Sonic Youth

At this point it's probably clear that my favorite albums are the ones that create and inhabit tiny, make-believe worlds inside my head. Daydream Nation is like floating in an outer-space of sound. If London Calling makes you want to set fires, then Daydream Nation will make you want to drown in the ocean. If there's a soundtrack to apocalypse, this will be playing.

Make Ya Dress Sweat

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:02:00 +0000

Pittsburgh DJ, Girl Talk performed at Portland's Roseland last night.

It was packed, rowdy, hot, and deliciously under-age.

If you haven't checked out Girl Talk's new album, get it by clicking here. You can pay from $0 to $10 for the album.

I highly recommend downloading the album for free, but be sure to buy tickets when he's in your city. A killer show you won't regret.

Why Am I Not Surprised?

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Colter) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:09:00 +0000

Banana Stand Media (www.banananstandmedia.com) occupies most of my free time lately, but I was reminded that, holy shit, it's been a long time since I've updated a blog that only a tiny fraction of the human population reads.

The Political Crystal Ball is starting to look quite murky.

Obama, Obama, Obama! Congrats!

And what do you do?

Fuck us. But, hey, it's not personal, it's Chicago. It's politics. Like having to work for that lowly cock sucker Mayor Daley. It's just politics. You do some things you aren't proud of and chant that it's for the greater good before resting your head to dream of a better way.

And Obama knows the score. He can see the figures.

I'm not upset that Obama has created the most incredible president building machine in my life time. I'm disappointed because he pretends that he's still going to dramatically change the rules in the world's dirtiest game.

I always respected McCain and Obama for raising the level of honesty in how Americans debate and respond to the internal structure of what is basically a series of absurd grudges fueled by out of touch values that produce untimely, ignorant solutions to problems that the old men ranting about have never personally struggled to change.

So if Obama wants to claim greater transparency, then he needs to come clean and be honest about wanting to win at the cost of a few ideals like removing all lobbyists, public campaign financing, ethanol, and the fact that many Americans are ashamed of the actions we allow too many corrupt systems within and without our borders to opporate under the banner of stars and stripes.. No, it's not gonna be pretty. But we're big boys and girls, or should be, and can handle an fist fight come November.

After 2004, when, if it wasn't for Bob Dylan and a lovely young woman, I would have splattered the back of my skull into a snowy field with detailed instructions to send my earthly remains to Canada -- well fuck, after seeing a country lose it's slim margin of justice, it's hard to be truly touched by Obama's lack luster choices of late.

He's got my vote, cautiously as always, but more by default tonight than a proud American should be comfortable with during the Nation's Holiday.