Wednesday, January 26, 2005

This Year's Model: Buried Back In Belgium The headline in today's Copenhagen Post read like this: Costello´s debut opera in Copenhagen. Then came the facts: "Elvis Costello will perform his H.C. Andersen-inspired opera in Copenhagen´s new opera house. Rock legend Elvis Costello´s debut opera, "The Secret Arias," will premiere at Copenhagen’s new opera house. The opera is based on famed adventure author Hans Christian Andersen’s romance with the Swedish soprano Jenny Lind. It will be performed on the opera’s experimental stage during the 2006–2007 season. " Somehow, I think the essential stuff of the short piece is buried inside the last line: "Costello recently gave a well-received rock concert in Copenhagen." Cheers. posted by TommyT @ 11:46 pm | Permanent link

Monday, January 24, 2005

The Wire - Reality TV So this item comes from William K. Rashbaum at the New York Times via RJ via Oliver, and it settles the question as to whether or not HBO should renew The Wire. For the record, I think these folks would've done better if they'd gotten their hands on review copies and done the crimes before Sunday night. What follows is Rashbaum's piece from the NYT, reprinted with much respect but without permission. "Call it a case of crime imitating art imitating crime. That's what the police say happened with a drug ring in Queens whose members honed their trade and learned to evade arrest by watching the HBO series "The Wire," a gritty, realistic police procedural about a crew of drug dealers in Baltimore and the police and prosecutors who use wiretaps to try and take them off the street. The accused leaders of the Queens gang, whose arrests were announced yesterday by Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and District Attorney Richard A. Brown of Queens, mimicked the practice of characters in "The Wire," using disposable cellphones to make it more difficult for the police to eavesdrop on them. Each time the suspects switched phones, investigators and prosecutors had to go back to court and seek approval for a new wiretap from a State Supreme Court justice, a labor-intensive and time-consuming process, said Sgt. Felipe Rodriguez, a supervisor on the case. "Believe it or not, these guys copy 'The Wire,' " said the sergeant, who is assigned to the Organized Crime Investigation Division. "They were constantly dumping their phones. It made our job so much harder." Sergeant Rodriguez said several members of the gang were big fans of the HBO show and talked about it constantly. He said that the investigators could catch up on the latest developments in the show, if they hadn't seen it, when members of the gang talked about it the next day. "If we missed anything, we got it from them Monday morning," he said. The investigation, which grew out of another drug case in southeast Queens in 2002, led to the seizure of 43 kilos of cocaine, 18 handguns and nearly a million dollars in cash, officials said. Mr. Brown said the ring, which included a city correction officer and a sanitation worker, annually distributed cocaine he valued at as much as $15 million. Thirteen people have been arrested in the case and charged with felony drug possession, conspiracy and weapons charges, Mr. Brown said. One of the defendants started his own clothing line to help launder the proceeds of the drug business, Mr. Kelly said. And when he went to a menswear convention in Las Vegas in August 2003, police detectives followed. One of the detectives, Carlyle Preudhomme, engineered a meeting, saying he had stores in Queens at which he wanted to sell the line. He was not the only member of the ring who had an eye for fashion, Sergeant Rodriguez said. One woman, in whose name many of the ring's cars and apartments were leased, had roughly a hundred pairs of shoes in her apartment, when the police executed a search warrant there. "You name it, Prada, Gucci; it was an amazing amount of shoes," Sergeant Rodriguez said." posted by TommyT @ 1:12 pm | Permanent link

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Jeff Chang: Ten Blurbs That Shook The World My colleague and friend Oliver Wang referred to our colleague and friend Jeff Chang as the godfather of Asian American writer/DJ/scholars, which seems about right to me. I got to know him during the years he wrote Got It Bad, a bi-weekly column, for the S.F. Bay Guardian during the decade and one-half I worked there as Arts Editor. I learned as much editing Jeff's work as I have from any writer I've worked with, and I value is friendship to this day. In any case, Mr. Chang is about to drop his first book, Can't Stop Won't Stop. Subtitled "A History Of The Hip-Hop Generation," the book is a great read, it's thorough, and full of political insight and challenge. But since my judgement is colored by my personal relationship with Chang, check out what the godfather of L.A. writers Mike Davis has to say about the book: "An exuberant and revelatory history of the inner-city cultural revolution that still rocks the world. Jeff Chang is hip-hop's John Reed." More, later. posted by TommyT @ 1:47 pm | Permanent link

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Toto Guitarist Rants, Robs, Runs, Snickers Okay, Toto sucked, we all agree on that. And no one has ever owned a copy of Toto IV. Now that we've got that out of the way, we should honestly consider whether or not it was fair that Toto came to embody everything that sucked about L.A. session rock? Did that sound deserve its rep as soul deficient, empty, and so boring it was tough to stay awake while listening long enough to figure out how boring it actually way? Did other musicians resent the fact that those who played it made a bundle of money? Did Toto - let's get down to cases - ruin the quality of life of the entire San Fernando Valley? Or did life in the Valley spawn Toto, while ruining itself in the process. And while we're on the subject, who bought all those Toto albums? And all that cocaine? Well, Steve Luthaker, Toto's guitarist has had it up to about here (neck-high, I think) with all the whiners, haters, and Pro Tools addicts. He's mad as hell and not only is he not going to take it any longer, he's going to serve up his kids as cannon fodder. I mean, hold the line brother! I'll bet he doesn't believe in sampling even. Check it out, a message from a genuine ex-rock star, kind of like the Dead Sea Scrolls or something. TEEN FEEDBACK- FEEL FREE TO POST THIS IF YA WANT Right the fuck on! Hey I got 2 kids, 17 and 19. They grew up with MY collection. He has an open mind but his faves are my band, he couldnt help it. He grew up in the studio and at live gigs listening, but he LOVES Van Halen, Def Leppard ( Rick Allen was my next door neighbor), Aerosmith, Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd, AC/DC, ALL the great shit, he fell in love with Beatles 1 etc etc.. My daughter came ask me if I dug Bob Marley...this of course after I found her bong pipe. hahahaha Payback is a bitch! She digs all the old stuff too but she is more R+B and reggae, she went to college so you know she is not alone. My son Trevor digs alot of the new stuff and is ALWAYS subjecting me to new pro-tooled to DEATH so called NU-metal. I know I am 47 years old BUT fuck me if they dont all sound pretty much the same, or at leat the sound and production does. Sum-41, Blink 182..IS IT THE SAME BAND??? Its like you can interchange the guys in the band and NO ONE would notice, alot like Backstreet boys and N'synch. No offence as Justin seems to have emerged as a kid that can really sing and play, not my groove 24/7 but hey... he can PLAY and sing. I am in the most hated band in history and they said "these guys suck, too slick. LA bullshit session players, no soul etc 'BUT WE FUCKING SANG AND PLAYED EVERY NOTE ON EVERY RECORD! NO PRO-TOOLS or any other help..just a great take! Imagine if that was a criteria these days??? I own a recording studio. many famous "modern bands" work there. I shall NOT name names as I will still take there money, haha, BUT I cant tell how many times I here from the second engineers that work there " these kids suck." They do 3-4 takes and the drummer " who usually sucks ASS and has NO time" says.."hey thats fine JUST PRO TOOL IT" Guys..this is a disease. THATS WHY OUR KIDS AND THEIR FRIENDS DIG CLASSIC ROCK. IT'S REAL. ITS REALLY PLAYED AND SUNG with guys that have spent YEARS and YEARS learning to be great players! You cant fucking pro tool THAT! When I was young you had to be a GREAT musician to even think about making it. Now all you need is a fuzz tone and drop D tuning or just tune the guitar to 5ths and put one finger across the fret board and voila..INSTANT K-ROQ. Not to mention the WORST thing to EVER happen to music ..MTV. It turned art into a Mcdonalds-Coca-cola commercial and only MTV MAKES ANY MONEY. THEY DONT EVEN PAY ASCAP-BMI!!! They found a loop hole. I got a hole for them. hahahaha! I took the mystique out of rock n roll and made into a bad commercial for the artists. A few great video's for sure but most of it was total SHIT and you all know it! hahaha I guess I am just getting old. I am NOT being bitter or hateful, its just the truth! I have had an amazing career, still do really, but I am quite proud that REAL music is making its way to our young. They need something to believe in. I think the next generation of recording artists will bet better and more real. My son is getting signed and he writes really cool riffs and lyrics and d oesnt tune down to low A and he doesnt scream at you like you gargled with draino expounding the virtues of satan. hahahaha I mean some of this shit cracks me right the fuck up! haha I can DIG it man, BUT after 2 tunes you want to jump out of the car as you are driving the freeway. hahahaha Well thats my rave..long live the REAL music! Luke posted by TommyT @ 11:53 pm | Permanent link

Dave Alvin, the Ashgrove, the American Dream Dave Alvin recently paid tribute to the Ashgrove, the long-gone L.A. nightclub where he learned to love music as well as what music to love. He wrote a song about the place, and made it the title cut of his latest album I sat down to interview him last week at Filippes near Union Station in L.A., and within a minute he was singing the praises of local writer D.J. Waldie. Waldie wrote Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir, a wonderful, intricate evocation of his greater L.A. hometown, Lakewood. The writer is connoisseur of the forces that birthed and shaped L.A.'s post-WWII sprawl. Alvin has his own unique take on it all, and he continues to make music that is as rich, vital, and unmistakeably L.A. as can be found. Our conversation - which covered among other things the fate of unions in non-union L.A., the city's rich, hidden history, and the work of California writers like Waldie and Gerald Haslam - didn't spend as much time on his music as I had anticipated. That was ok, when I thought about, because I have the new album, which is a good as any he has recorded. Besides, I have plenty to write about, catch it next Wed. in the S.F. Bay Guardian, or, probably, right here. posted by TommyT @ 9:23 pm | Permanent link

Friday, January 7, 2005

We swim alone! I came across a song recently whose essential element was as unequivocal and single-pointed as an arrow shot into a beating heart – listen for yourself: That’s a baleen whale -- in this case, like Ahab turned inside out -- lost and alone except for a posse of eavesdropping scientists, mad scientists, and admirals. So just point, click, and hear a warm-blooded soul in the throes of existential agony. We’ve all been there, but not like this - freeway swimming om a one-way river, no exit like you wouldn't believe. Sound is all you need, but if details matter, the liner notes can be found at kuro5hin.org. You'll find yourself in the science section at the Kuro5shin.org, and the story begins here: “For the last 12 years, a single solitary whale whose vocalizations match no known living species has been tracked across the Northeast Pacific. Its wanderings match no known migratory patterns of any living whale species. Its vocalizations have also subtly deepened over the years, indicating that the whale is maturing and ageing. And, during the entire 12 year span that it has been tracked, it has been calling out for contact from others of its own kind. It has received no answer. Nor will it ever.” The star of this submarine Truman Show sings the same old blues day in and day out, a variation on the theme “Where are you?” And in response, the universe offers a screaming silence; a nothing that is something, proof to this creature that existence begins and ends within the confines of one large, aching, solitary heart. 2005 is upon us, and surely the fractured fabric of daily life begs the comfort and support of the human family. I know that signs of resistance to America’s vulgar imperial designs have spiked – that many of us shudder as bovine corporate, spiritual, and military interests lurch through unsuspecting and even innocent lives like a posse of drunken thugs. Why then – if we need each other to survive – is it so difficult to find and trust the collective embrace, especially since the stakes of the moment may be nothing short of survival. As a supporter of resistance to a fascist future, I recognize and welcome positive, collective energy; hip-hop in your face; controversy and challenge courtesy of artists, outlaws, and ingrates from all walks of life. And with all of that, I have moments when the only song that matters concerns the cosmic loneliness of a whale wandering the north Pacific. I am not out to save whales or souls - were the devil to offer cash for mine, I’d hire an agent and demand a lot of it, up front. That said, I know a broken heart when I hear it, and at the end of the day it’s the only currency I respect. I’ve spent the past 24 hours trying to remix my baleen blues – a project I jump-started by going all Falluja on anyone within earshot. “Get Crunk,” by Lil Jon and the Eastside Boys (that would be Lil Bo, Lil Joe and Big Sam - and Lil Scrappy's up in there someplace, too, although I don't think he's officially an Eastside Boy - who can drink, fuck, and fight with the best of them) would obliterate my troubles, or so I thought. I turned it up to ten: “Everybody prouda their mothafuckin’ city? What’s that shit goin’ on (Eastside Eastside)? What’s that click that you represent (Westside Westside) – until the bottom end blasting outta my trunk shattered the passenger window and took the relative peace of a Wednesday morning in South Central with it. I opened my eyes, brushed chunks of auto glass from my lap, and nodded to the crowd crossing Vermont St. The Johnson's who live around the corner were staring at me as if I’d crashed landed like a hijacked plane. I went back to the drawing board, and since supplies were indeed endless, to quote Conor Oberst in “Lua,” "I had energy to burn. Oberst - a man with a guitar and in the case of "Lua," a cynical message - was high on my personal 2004 top ten. That song is from folk city, except it's smart, razor-sharp, and in a quiet way, savage: “I’m not sure what the trouble was/ that started all of this/ the reasons all have run away/ but the feeling never did. It’s not something I would recommend/ but it is one way to live/ cause what is simple in the moonlight by the morning never is.” He was playing my song, but by the time the city rose from the night, I’d been back to the whale well more than a time or two, and I needed more music. Amoeba’s doors weren’t open, Limewire was infected, and I was pointing and clicking like a shit-scared Marine. Welcome to iTunes, the future of music, as flexible and funky as a month-old rust spot. “What’s poppin’?” A voice – straining to find the requisite Brooklynese - filled the room. “This is ya man Winta aka Big Youth and I want to welcome you to the iTunes street official mixtape Vol 1 where I will be ya host and DJ every month and bang the hottest joints in the iTunes music store. This is a new day in hip-hop and it’s time for hip-hoppers to start representing this thing correctly…” I fled the scene of that crime in a hurry. Morning had replaced moonlight, and all I knew was that I was bound for a baleen world, and a stranger’s strange communion; it wasn’t water but it was deep. posted by TommyT @ 10:12 pm | Permanent link