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Aug. 5th, 2010
One of the ways in which the Music Business didn’t “get” the Internet in the days when Napster was a threat to democracy and freedom everywhere was its function as an invaluable preview tool for breaking new bands. After all, no one is going to buy new music based on the album art (mostly), and with radio and MTV no longer dependable channels for trying anything new, streaming and downloads were a great and flexible way for people to discover new stuff.
We’re kind of there now, thanks to iTunes, MySpace and (to a lesser extent) YouTube, but of course discovery remains something of an issue. Supposedly iTunes functions like Genius can help, but it hasn’t been much help to me. Consequently, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of listening stations in music stores.
Which brings me to Kaki King.
I’d never heard of her before, but she’s been around for quite awhile, knocking them dead with her unusual (if not 100% unique) fret-tapping guitar style.
Like so.
She’s also been applying this to 4AD-style shoegaze music, which is as good a description of her fifth album, Junior, out now – and which I discovered via a listening station, yes.
It’s pretty good, though like a lot of shoegaze, you come away with it with an overall impression rather than any specific memories, but King’s guitar chops and incisive lyrics help save it from being too generic.
Here's the current single from the new album: "Falling Day".
King of the hill,
This is dF
We’re kind of there now, thanks to iTunes, MySpace and (to a lesser extent) YouTube, but of course discovery remains something of an issue. Supposedly iTunes functions like Genius can help, but it hasn’t been much help to me. Consequently, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of listening stations in music stores.
Which brings me to Kaki King.
I’d never heard of her before, but she’s been around for quite awhile, knocking them dead with her unusual (if not 100% unique) fret-tapping guitar style.
Like so.
She’s also been applying this to 4AD-style shoegaze music, which is as good a description of her fifth album, Junior, out now – and which I discovered via a listening station, yes.
It’s pretty good, though like a lot of shoegaze, you come away with it with an overall impression rather than any specific memories, but King’s guitar chops and incisive lyrics help save it from being too generic.
Here's the current single from the new album: "Falling Day".
King of the hill,
This is dF
THE FRIGHTENERS (2010 MID-TERMS EDITION)
Aug. 5th, 2010 09:28 pmIt’s August, and it’s an election year in the US. Which means the Big Fear Juggernaut is running on all cylinders, aimed at the usual bugaboos: teh gays, teh Islams and teh foreigners having foreign babies on American soil as though they belong here.
The good news, I suppose, is that Big Fear seems to be losing.
Prop 8 has been overturned, for example, though technically that one won’t really be decided until the Supremes decide to hear it. Still, for a judge to rule that civil rights aren’t something you can award by popular vote (something I’d have thought would be obvious, but apparently not) is a promising step forward.
Then there’s the vote to allow a mosque near Ground Zero, which is one of the stupidest debate topics in the history of stupid debate topics, as Michael Bloomberg put rather well (even if he had to resort to tired old “9/11 was an act of war” rherotic to do it).
That said, the whole sorry episode DID shine a badly needed light on a key fact worth knowing: many Americans STILL live in utter abject fear of Islam itself and anyone who practices it (whether they actually do or not). The Ground Zero Mosque debate made that perfectly clear. And it’s a good sign that this argument didn’t play in NYC. (For what it’s worth, that dog didn’t hunt in Rutherford County, TN either, where they had a similar debate, so don't tell me this kind of dithering is limited to significant and emotional 9/11 memorial sites.)
Naturally, Pat Robertson isn’t going to let it go at that. Which just goes to show.
As for the Republican meme about repealing the entire 14th Amendment simply to keep foreign babies from being granted citizenship (because foreign babies steal jobs from American babies), it says a lot that even Lou “Mexico is Terrorism” Dobbs isn’t prepared to back that up.
So, you know, that’s progress. I guess.
Still, we’ve got three months until the mid-terms, and you’ll be seeing a lot more appeals to Big Fear between now then, and probably for as long as Obama remains president.
In fact, the mid-terms will probably serve as a benchmark for how well the Big Fear vote is doing. As will several governor races – such as the one in Colorado where GOP gubernatorial candidate (and Tea Party favorite) Dan Maes says that public transportation and bicycle sharing programs are part of a plot by the United Nations to enslave America under a One World treaty.
If Maes wins the governorship, that may just be the ball game.
Fuck fear,
This is dF
The good news, I suppose, is that Big Fear seems to be losing.
Prop 8 has been overturned, for example, though technically that one won’t really be decided until the Supremes decide to hear it. Still, for a judge to rule that civil rights aren’t something you can award by popular vote (something I’d have thought would be obvious, but apparently not) is a promising step forward.
Then there’s the vote to allow a mosque near Ground Zero, which is one of the stupidest debate topics in the history of stupid debate topics, as Michael Bloomberg put rather well (even if he had to resort to tired old “9/11 was an act of war” rherotic to do it).
That said, the whole sorry episode DID shine a badly needed light on a key fact worth knowing: many Americans STILL live in utter abject fear of Islam itself and anyone who practices it (whether they actually do or not). The Ground Zero Mosque debate made that perfectly clear. And it’s a good sign that this argument didn’t play in NYC. (For what it’s worth, that dog didn’t hunt in Rutherford County, TN either, where they had a similar debate, so don't tell me this kind of dithering is limited to significant and emotional 9/11 memorial sites.)
Naturally, Pat Robertson isn’t going to let it go at that. Which just goes to show.
As for the Republican meme about repealing the entire 14th Amendment simply to keep foreign babies from being granted citizenship (because foreign babies steal jobs from American babies), it says a lot that even Lou “Mexico is Terrorism” Dobbs isn’t prepared to back that up.
So, you know, that’s progress. I guess.
Still, we’ve got three months until the mid-terms, and you’ll be seeing a lot more appeals to Big Fear between now then, and probably for as long as Obama remains president.
In fact, the mid-terms will probably serve as a benchmark for how well the Big Fear vote is doing. As will several governor races – such as the one in Colorado where GOP gubernatorial candidate (and Tea Party favorite) Dan Maes says that public transportation and bicycle sharing programs are part of a plot by the United Nations to enslave America under a One World treaty.
If Maes wins the governorship, that may just be the ball game.
Fuck fear,
This is dF
MALTESE IN THE HOUSE
Aug. 5th, 2010 11:04 pmWe have a houseguest.
That’s Bonbon, who has appeared on this blog before. Her owners are on vacation for the next week, so we’re looking after her.
Which should be fun, seeing as how she’s not housebroken yet, despite being six months old (long story). We hope to correct that by the time she’s ready to go home. Is it possible to housebreak a six-month-old dog in seven days?
Anyway, it’s all about squee, discipline and towels for the next week here at the Def Citadel.
Good dog,
This is dF
That’s Bonbon, who has appeared on this blog before. Her owners are on vacation for the next week, so we’re looking after her.
Which should be fun, seeing as how she’s not housebroken yet, despite being six months old (long story). We hope to correct that by the time she’s ready to go home. Is it possible to housebreak a six-month-old dog in seven days?
Anyway, it’s all about squee, discipline and towels for the next week here at the Def Citadel.
Good dog,
This is dF