Spitball Army

• Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said this in her resignation speech on Friday, 3 July 2009:
  

  In fact, this decision comes after much consideration, and finally polling the most important people in my life – my children (where the count was unanimous… well, in response to asking: “Want me to make a positive difference and fight for ALL our children’s future from OUTSIDE the Governor’s office?” It was four “yes’s” and one “hell yeah!” The “hell yeah” sealed it – and someday I’ll talk about the details of that…).

  If my mother had asked us this question as kids, or something similar (like “Want me to make a positive difference and fight for ALL of South Oceanside children’s future from OUTSIDE of our kitchen?”), we would have just looked at her as if she had sprouted a second head on her shoulders.  Then, maybe then, one of us would have felt really bad for her and said, “Hell, yeah!” just to make her feel better.  But do you think we would have meant it?  Hell, no!

• And I may have been selectively listening, but I have heard no one among the TV talking heads draw the parallel between Richard Nixon’s 1962 loss in the California gubernatorial race (which ended with his “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore…” speech to the media) and subsequent Presidential win in 1968, and this Sarah Palin circus.  Anybody who thinks she’s not angling for a phoenix-like rise from the ashes of this absurd confusion and a run for the nation’s highest office is relying too greatly on the notion that events run a sensible course.  This woman is planning a fancy pageant walk right through the front doors of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

• Essayist Joel Stein’s weekly column for Time magazine this week is about the culinary possibilities of placenta.  I am SO not kidding.  I read it twice in a row after it arrived in my mailbox, laughing so hard (out loud, with no one – sadly – around to hear), and cringing and grimacing simultaneously.  Crimacing, gringing.  Here’s an excerpt:
  

  Though I am exceedingly squeamish, when my son was born, I was shocked that I saw only the beauty of childbirth. Until the placenta came out. There are many normal human reactions to seeing a placenta, ranging from screaming to vomiting to warding it off with a cross. For those of you who have never seen one, the placenta is to the baby what Stephen Baldwin is to Alec Baldwin. It’s what your liver would look like if it got into an accident on the autobahn with one of those aliens from Mars Attacks! and their bloody carcasses threw jellyfish at each other.

  You can find the entire column here.

• This past weekend, on the 4th of July holiday, I was really looking forward to a nice, big, juicy steak, grilled on the patio – slightly charred and crispy on the outside, with a pink, only slightly bloody center.  The beautiful cut of beef that I purchased at V. Richards was a little over an inch thick, slightly marbled, but sturdy.  I let it marinate in oil, pepper and rosemary most of the day.  The finished product was cooked perfectly, and it tasted just as good.  I should have allowed my brain to override my desire, however, as I haven’t eaten a true cut of red meat in months, maybe even since last year.  A couple of hours after the meal, I experienced the pain and contortions that accompanied a rebellion by my gastro-intestinal system.  I will spare you the details, but the memory of it came rushing back to me after I read the Joel Stein column about placenta (excerpted above).  In the future, if you ever hear me express an interest in consuming red meat, please direct me to the chicken section of the menu.

This film caught my eye as I scrolled through the recommendations on the Netflix website.  I had recently given Patton a five-star rating, and a gaggle of World War II movies began making appearances on my list.  Irwin Rommel is a mysterious figure in Patton, a wily military opponent who is rarely seen in person, but whose most memorable “appearance” in the film is when George C. Scott (as George Patton) shouts, “Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!”  I was eager to find out more about him, particularly through a cinematic psychological prism similar to Patton‘s.

The Desert Fox delivered, and it didn’t.  The Henry Hathaway-directed film sets Rommel up as a man of mystery; he walks in and out of the beginning of the picture without introduction, quiet and brooding.  When James Mason as Rommel does finally speak, he exudes the air of a philosopher.  Such is the stature of the man, as we have come to accept it from a distance.  The first third of the film establishes Rommel’s reputation as a brilliant military tactician without delving very deeply into his specific strategies.  I found this to be a weakness.  To make matters worse, the few battle scenes seem to be heavily supplemented by stock footage.  Perhaps this is symptomatic of post-War Hollywood and budgetary contraints, but it adds an air of unbelievability to the historical drama.

The last section of The Desert Fox concerns itself with a plot to assasinate Adolf Hitler and Rommel’s somewhat reluctant participation in it.  He takes some convincing, being the loyal military officer and cheerleader for Hitler, who has cultivated a strong reputation that he’d prefer not to tarnish.  Eventually he is coerced by the family doctor (played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke) into peripherally taking part in the plan, and the inevitable failure of the plan and tragic denouement of the main characters play out over the last thirty minutes of the film.  The film becomes a minor potboiler at this point, rather than a resonant drama of virtue and redemption, toward which it had seemed to aspire.  Nonetheless, Mason’s noble portrayal maintains consistency throughout the duration of the picture.

Client: Hi.

Therapist: Yep. (fast, almost sounds like the same voice saying, “Hiyep”)

Client: How’re ya doin’?

Therapist: Fine, what’s up. (curt and quick, telegraphic)

Not much. I’m feelin’ pretty good.

Why is that? (in a monotone, followed by an impatient sigh)

I dunno, I had a really good week…

Mm hm, what happened?

Um. Well not too much, um. Just work, like, as usual…

Mm hm.

…and, everyone seems to like me at work, you know I’m in that new job, and everyone’s really nice to me. And it’s different than my last job where they’re, you know, they’re giving me positives. My last job, they just, you know, sort of let me work and told me every once in a while that I was doing okay, but here I’m feeling a lot of warm fuzzies all the time, so it’s really…

Warm whats?

Warm fuzzies?

Oh, okay. Good feelings, huh?

Right. (therapist chuckles) I was just, I was just really looking forward to coming, just wanted to let you know that I was doing okay.

Fantastic. (pause, chairs squeak) Good.

Yeah, I feel good.

So, how do you think that makes your future look?

It’s looking pretty bright. I’m really excited about it.

Yeah?

Yeah, it’s only been a, you know, one real good week, but, um, I’m sort of looking ahead positively.

What is it besides all these “warm fuzzies?” Is there something that really stands out in the week that really was, ah, made it so “super?”

I don’t know, I think it started, the whole week started, um, toward the end of our last session last week.

Mm hm.

Um. Just some things that we went through, um, you know, some things you told me, made me feel really good about myself.

Mm hm.

And, uh, you know, things that…I’d just been sort of down on myself, and you sort of brought me up and, um, made me feel like I was an okay person. And, um, I don’t know, I’ve just been thinking about that session all week, and thinking about, um, what you said, and it was, it was just really nice.

[Read more →]

He was friendly to excess – everywhere – greeting store clerks, passersby and unclothed men in the locker room with equal vigor.

List time!  Here are my favored music releases for the year so far, with a proviso: though these records have been introduced to me during the first half of 2009, they were not necessarily released in 2009.  As always, please share your lists and thoughts in the comments below, as I (and other readers here) am always on the lookout for something new and good to tickle my eardrums.

Great Lake Swimmers  Lost Channels
This is the strongest contender for my favorite album of the year.  I never tire from listening to it.  Here is what I said about Lost Channels in my post of 7 April 2009:

Every Great Lake Swimmers album – and there are four of them now – has seemed to show growth, despite the fact that they still sound just like the same band from Album #1.  The signs of a sonic break-out from the lo-fi, acoustic, dreamy somnolence of Great Lake Swimmers and Bodies and Minds were apparent on 2007’s Ongiara, where the lo-fi was turned down and the drums and bass were turned up (ever so slightly).  Lost Channels begins with “Palmistry,” sounding like a cousin to REM’s “Losing My Religion” with its chimy guitars and gentle backbeat.  The album flows gracefully from these pop-flavored moments to the more familiar quiet ones, such as “Stealing Tomorrow” and “Concrete Heart,” in which vocalist Tony Dekker sings a chorus of conversational poetry:

This is the place where I felt
Like the world’s tallest self-supporting tower
Or maybe number two
At least for a little while, anyway.

It is a joy to listen to a band grow steadily while they keep a firm hold onto their musical identity; I’ve been doing so in my truck for almost an entire week now.

[audio:Great_Lake_Swimmers___Palmistry.mp3]
“Palmistry” by Great Lake Swimmers, from Lost Channels (2009)

[audio:Great_Lake_Swimmers___Concrete_Heart.mp3]
“Concrete Heart” by Great Lake Swimmers, from Lost Channels (2009)

Blitzen Trapper  Furr
This was recommended to me via the Amazon robot and, after listening to the online samples, I was in complete agreement (as much as one can be in agreement with a computer program).  Furr reminds me of an earthier version of Supergrass: some hippie twirling, some balladry, some psychedelic touches, and a great pop sensibility.

[audio:Blitzen_Trapper___Sleepytime_In_The_Western_World.mp3]
“Sleepytime in the Western World” by Blitzen Trapper, from Furr (2008)

The Damnwells  One Last Century
While the rough edges have worn off the Damnwells’ sound somewhat over the last few years, their later recordings have only gotten better, more polished, and infinitely more rewarding with every listen.  Frontman and songwriter Alex Dezen has put his soul into these lyrics, which approach Dylanesque at their best moments.  While there is not likely to ever be a contender to “I will feed you fries with steak sauce” (from 2004’s “I Will Keep the Bad Things From You”), this album’s phrases and images are resonant and its melodies infectious.

Some samples from the lyrics of One Last Century:
•  “You crawl to me and I crawl to you / And in the middle we meet / You drink from me and I swallow you / Cause in my heart the rent is cheap” from “Come to Me”
•  “You’re so high-strung, baby, you could wind up the world” from “Jesus Could Be Right”
•  “Destination’s never known but I’m always there on time / Money’s on the heartbreak / My hands are on the wheel” from “Dandelion”

The last time I checked, this album was only available as a download through the band’s website.  And it was free. 

[audio:Damnwells___Bastard_of_Midnight.mp3]
“Bastard of Midnight” by The Damnwells, from One Last Century (2009)

Pat Metheny & Anna Maria Jopek  Upojenie
This is a fascinating collaboration between jazz guitarist Metheny (known to most) and Polish singer-songwriter Jopek (known to few, at least in these parts).  They cover his songs, they cover her songs.  As Metheny is an instrumentalist, and has written no lyrics that I am aware of, Jopek used his melodies and song titles to pen words in her native language.  Those are sung here in what I can most easily describe as a modern-day Getz/Gilberto style collaboration without the bossa nova.  The music is airy and seamless, and floats above the ground, often above the clouds.

[audio:Pat_Metheny_and_Anna_Maria_Jopek___Zupelnie_Inna_Ja.mp3]
“Zupelnie Inna Ja (Always and Forever)” by Pat Metheny & Anna Maria Jopek, from Upojenie (2008)

Phoenix  Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
A terrifically fun record, great in the car and perfect for a party.  With its electronics and jerky rhythms, Phoenix seems to have embraced the 1980s spirit of Devo, and imbued it with 21st Century production values.

[audio:Phoenix___Lasso.mp3]
“Lasso” by Phoenix, from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)

Jeffrey Foucault  Shoot the Moon Right Between the Eyes
The mission of this album is summed up simply by its subtitle, “Jeffrey Foucault Sings the Songs of John Prine.”  Foucault’s rustic Wisconsin soul is perfectly suited to the folksy portraits penned by Prine.  The interpretations are different from Prine’s in that Foucault rarely delivers the stories with the wry humor that is one of Prine’s trademarks; instead, his musical vignettes are sung with a soberness that tends to emphasize the poignancy of the characters’ situations.  The album is available on CD or as a download at the website of Signature Sounds, a fierce independent label if there ever was one (and the career launching pad for one Mr. Josh Ritter).

[audio:Jeffrey_Foucault___One_Red_Rose.mp3]
“One Red Rose” by Jeffrey Foucault, from Shoot the Moon Right Between the Eyes (2009)

Neal Casal  Leaving Traces 1994-2004
I found this CD almost by mistake.   It was inside of a paper sleeve in the bottom of a box of paperwork.  I almost threw it away.  Thankfully, it sparked a memory of one of my best former customers, who raved insistently that Neal Casal had written some of the best songs he’d recently heard.  And, believe me, this guy’s several-hundred-dollar-a-week music buying habit indicated that he’d heard far more than I could ever fit into my schedule.  So, years later, I listened to it.  And I found that his assessment had great merit.

I know little about Casal, aside from his involvement in Ryan Adams’ band since about 2005.  Listening to this collection, I am reminded of Ken Stringfellow’s voice, and the 1970s California country-pop stylings that have captivated me since my youth.

[audio:Neal_Casal___Just_Getting_By.mp3]
“Just Getting By” (2000) by Neal Casal, from Leaving Traces: Songs 1994-2004

Bob Dylan  New Morning
The re-issue arm of the music business sometimes seems that it practices toward needless excess but, in this case, I am glad to have one of my favorite Dylan albums (and, hence, one of my favorite albums, period) sounding better than ever.  I scribbled these notes about New Morning on 31 March 2009:

Several years back, Columbia Records remixed and re-issued 15 essential Bob Dylan albums, or what they felt were the 15 essential Dylan albums.  Sadly, they left untouched a few that are true classics, including The Basement Tapes and this, my personal “second favorite” Dylan record.  It has languished on barely-listenable compact discs for decades, but this new incarnation – released this week – will truly open your ears.  The sound improvements are subtle until the fourth song, “Went to See the Gypsy,” kicks into gear with a shuffling boogie spotlighting Al Kooper’s organ, David Bromberg’s electric guitar, some inspired syncopated comping on the piano by Dylan, and a rough-but-honeyed vocal that is one of this album’s sonic trademarks.  New Morning’s lyrics seem to be bathed in a mulled brew of American myth that is steeped in simple living and simple values, typified by these closing lines from “Sign on the Window:”

Build me a cabin in Utah,
Marry me a wife,
Catch rainbow trout,
Have a bunch of kids who call me Pa –
That must be what it’s all about.

[audio:Bob_Dylan___Went_to_See_the_Gypsy.mp3]
“Went to See the Gypsy” by Bob Dylan, from New Morning (1970)

[audio:Bob_Dylan___Sign_on_the_Window.mp3]
“Sign on the Window” by Bob Dylan, from New Morning (1970)

I am also looking forward to hearing, upon their release:

Wilco  Wilco (the album)
This was released yesterday, and I am expecting great things.

Hem  Twelfth Night
Band member Dan Messé has been tossing out occasional tweets (@hemmusic) about Hem’s score for the current production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in Central Park.  Then, earlier this week, the New York Times gave a rave review to the production, calling it the best Shakespeare-in-the-Park in a decade, and giving special mention to the music.  The band proceeded into the studio and recorded the whole thing, with cast members Audra McDonald, Raul Esparza, Anne Hathaway (and others, I presume) reprising their parts.  Apparently, a healthy batch of compositions that didn’t make the cut for the play have made the cut for the album, which is due in late July or early August.

Yim Yames  Tribute To
An EP in which Jim James of My Morning Jacket pays tribute to George Harrison by playing acoustic versions of six of his songs, four of them from the classic album All Things Must Pass.

Gil Shaham plays Sarasate
Some of the material for this recording was premiered on public television last Fall in an intimate chamber-style setting and was lively and engaging.

The Beatles remasters
I have mixed feelings about this project at the moment, as I am made keenly aware by every media outlet that part of the purchase price of every Beatles recording goes directly to the Michael Jackson estate.  On the other hand, the entire Beatles catalog has languished with the same sub-standard sound quality on CD since the 1980s.  This roll-out of remastered versions of every single Beatles album can only be a revelation.  The real question is: how much of a revelation will it be?