Heat Death

2004-01-30T22:49:00.000-06:00

I have been away from regular internet access for a long time and coming back to this blog, I just get this feeling that calling some of this sophomoric would be a compliment. I'm thinking of maybe starting another blog but seeing as I forgot most of the HTML that allowed me to make this page, that might take a while.

So consider this a new beginning.

I originally named this blog (heat death) because I had some vague memories of the final stages in the death of the universe being named that.
Before the Big Crunch, the opposite of the Big Bang, the universe will be nothing but burn out stars and the slow death of all chemical reaction.

This is a heat death, and I drew a comparison in my own mind between this theoretical phenomena and what is still happening in the culture of the Untied States.

Basically everything is turning to shit, and I was hoping to find a few things that were worthwhile in the descent of American Culture into a black hole.

2004-01-30T22:35:00.000-06:00

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ghost muzak

2003-05-02T17:07:00.000-05:00

Lone Pigeon

Many of you are aware of the existence of this man but I just discovered him so what else is there to write about?
I guess he was one of the guys who started the Beta Band and produced some of there best music before he had to be institutionalized, depends on who you read but its clear he was ill. Now he has released a cd called Concubine Rice. I urge you to find this, it is very much in the vein of Magical Mystery Tour Beatles and folk. But with electronic elements and what appears to be a sense of humor. And its very weird, but a good weird.

I guess that he has been releasing music on his brother's label fence records for a while. His brother performs under the name King Creosote and also appears to be talented. Go wander around the fence records site. From what I hear about his next record it should be absolutely mindblowing. He's working with the same producer who helped Damon Gough with Bewilderbeast! If you hear these lo-fi recordings you'll begin to wonder what this man could do with an actual studio and a talented producer.

2003-04-20T21:58:00.000-05:00

I got reviewed!

At the Weblog Review!

2003-04-20T21:48:00.000-05:00

mellowdrone

Thank You Jonathan Bates. You made me excited for something and I want to thank you for it. Jonathan Bates is a musician in Los Angeles who records under the name mellowdrone. He recently released an e.p. on artist direct records called "a demonstration of intellectual property". I am excited by this in two ways, one in how he distributed it. He released it simultaneously as a physical c.d. and as mp3's on his site. The cd costs 6 dollars, the mp3's are free. This makes me happy. The fact that the music is extremely good is also producing the happy. Here go to his site.

If it does not make you happy I am sorry. For those of you who need references think one man radiohead, think beck especially mutations and sea change beck, think eels. By the way this music was made on his computer with free software and cheap equipment..... and it sounds great. Really great.

Ok in other pseudo radiohead news, go listen to this song by bad astronaut. It is also producing the happy. The Passenger

2003-03-30T16:05:00.000-06:00

Fuck Cool

I like Garbage, there I've said it now you can ignore me. No really I enjoy Garbage's music, quite a bit actually. I realize that for us people with "good taste in music and no sense of humor" Garbage is at least a sign of something amiss. I realize that its what could be called manufactured pop, but personally I think that Butch Vig is a good musician and a very good producer and fuck you if you can't appreciate a little shiny metallic masterpiece like " I'm Only Happy when it Rains". Plus Shirley Manson is a cute girl who wants to be a boy, which I think is more interesting than you're average "Pop". Three albums of pretty decent songs with the occasional pop masterpiece. '
I like Garbage, and.... Gorillaz...... and um I can't think of anything else that damning. The point being listen to what you enjoy and fuck what everyone else thinks. The best musicians like some deeply uncool music, keep it in mind.

2003-03-23T20:26:00.000-06:00

Dax Riggs

As previously mentioned I have been listenening to a band from New Orleans called Deadboy and the Elephantmen. The lead singer of this band, one Dax Riggs by name, is clearly the driving creative force behind them. His voice is unique and highly memorable and his lyrics have a kind of darkness that the best blues, country and early Goth rock share. This guy is definitely my cup of tea. So imagine my interest when I found out that this is the third band he has recorded with. His first band, Acid Bath, sound like a psychidelic oriented Slayer. Not what I usually listen to but it had its fans. His second band Agents of Oblivion were more palatable but didn't have the kind of pop writing senses that he has since picked up, probably from Iggy Pop or Bowie. But what really interested me about the album by A of O is its cover. For those of you are familiar with the comic book The Invisibles, the album cover shows the Hand of Glory. And Deadboy's album has an image of Ganesh on it. So this may be the first musician that I've heard that was clearly influenced by this comic book. For those of you who give a fuck I find this very exciting in my own little geekish way.

2003-03-14T11:37:00.000-06:00

Going to be away from internet access for a while, so if anyone has been checking this blog posting will be even more spotty. Recently I have been cursing myself for a fool for this very simple reason. With no apparent motivation I have been waiting to acquire a significant part of the Beatles catalogue. I didn't have the White Album or Help and was missing the singles on Past Masters. And it took me about three hours to get pretty much every Beatles song that I didn't own. I've been living without the White Album out of laziness, it took me about three hours to download. I am a fucking moron.

2003-03-11T14:04:00.000-06:00

Deadboy and the Elephantmen

Anyone who has spent any significant time on Mp3.com might have come across this New Orleans band. They come heavily recommended. Go to Mp3.com and find them, they combine psychedelia with a kind of dark country rock, with synths. And their singer has got some serious pipes, the only person I could compare him to would be possibly Chris Cornell, and I'd say Dax Riggs is the better singer. Their album "If this is Hell than I'm lucky is incredible and I find it hard to believe that they haven't gotten more press. Support this band, they are the real thing. Their Site

2003-03-10T11:26:00.000-06:00

I'm thinking of expanding the focus of this blog to incorporate some possible political content as well. Anything to get me writing and thinking about things semi-daily. I still plan to review music and possibly concerts and pontificate on whatever but the government is starting to look like an excellent target for making yelling at. Yeah.

2003-03-08T18:38:00.000-06:00

High Fidelity (why its a bad thing, but a good movie)

I must admit that I have seen this movie around fifteen times, which isn't entirely healthy. Why? Its a good movie and I'm a big John Cusack fan, but I have this tendency to take the movie as some sort of music shop gospel and it leads to unhealthy thinking. For instance I am one of many who checked out the Beta Band because of this movie. And my belief in Rock Messiahs might have something to do with it too. I really need to stop parroting other peoples assumptions about music and really start thinking about it. Any ways the thing is I admit all my musical sins and then have no regret when I totally rip others to pieces. So prepare for some ripping.

2003-03-07T14:29:00.000-06:00

Zack de la Rocha

I must admit that my admiration for this man was forged in my early years when anything angry was incredibly cool. But Zack wasn't just angry, he was angry and smart and he believed that if you yelled loud enough sometimes people will hear you. His three seminal albums with the 90's band Rage against the Machine are widely considered some of the best protest music to come out of that decade. Some of the only protest music. In hindsight their first album starts to lack a little musically, but it will forever be enjoyed by angry teenagers who can scream along with "fuck you I won't do what you tell me". But Rage broke up. It was sad, I made animal noises for a couple of weeks. And they split down the lines of hiphop and rock. The majority of the band became Audioslave, enjoyed by the critics, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin fans and pretty much no one who liked Rage. Zack recorded a couple of tracks with various people that are floating around Kazaa if you've got the time.
Probably the best are

-Burn Hollywood Burn- With Chuck D
-Center of the Storm- Over a Roni Size track
-C.I.A-with KRS-One and the Last Emperor

These are all very good songs that prove that Zack doesn't need Tom Morellos massive guitar noises to kick some ass. And he's been working on a solo album with a series of producers that make me drool. But it hasn't come out yet and there has barely been any mention of it for almost two years. I know that Zack makes political music and I know he is very unhappy about the present situation. I'm just worried that a classic album might not ever get released because his label is frightened of his politics. So here it is, Zack if they won't let you release it, fuck em. Release it online, like Public Enemies been doing.
Zack spent a lot of time publicizing human rights abuses that haven't been common knowledge, well this war might just be my generations Vietnam, and I personally need some protest music.

Oh Yeah, if any of you enjoy Rage against the Machine and haven't heard Minor Threat, Public Enemy,or KRS-One you should really do yourself a favor.

2003-03-07T01:49:00.000-06:00

OK going to try the whole HTML thing here so it might take a xouple of tries.
All of you hypothetical readers need to check out possibly the coolest group of people online at
Barbelith
tell em Mask like a Mirror sent you.

2003-03-06T18:38:00.000-06:00

Rock and Roll is Dead

Wow, I just walked into a shitstorm of cliches and controversy, and some very bad journalism.

Let me clarify, Rock music isn't dead to me, I love Rock. Most of the music I listen to is Rock. Generally Rock is the music I find most meaningful. But I don't see any signs of growth inside this music we call Rock. And a lot of people, especially young people, really love the likes of Good Charlotte and New Found Glory. Or Trust Company. Or whoever you want to villify for being pop or stupid or just damned annoying.
I think its safe to say that rap has taken the place that rock had held a few times over the last fifty or so years. And for the record I think that rap has a long way to go before being obsolete or a cultural relic. Rap isn't safe. Its something that middleclass white kids can rebel to. And rock isn't dangerous anymore.

And when I say that I dont see any signs of growth I definitely need to explain myself. First of all the current combination of pop and punk is about as musically interesting as bubble gum pop. Which isn't a bad thing, it just isn't very interesting or real to me. Secondly this whole emo metal thing. I can see how they got to this point , but why... WHY? I know that this is starting to sound like I watch too much music television, which is partially true. But the kids who buy this music watch a lot more than I do, and it does affect what music they listen to. Ok, now everybody remembers the whole Strokes thing. The whole lets go back to the basics thing is admirable, and I suppose for a couple of bands its a way to push things forward. I really liked the White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But as a general rule cultural graverobbing isn't likely to result in a lot of innovation.
And then there are the old guys. Audioslave, Zwan, Red Hot Chili Peppers. The bands from the last wave of good pop music who are hitting a second wind. But I really truely love Rage against the Machine and Audioslave is a kind of take it or leave it proposition. Underground there isn't a lot happening. As is always true there are bands that are experimenting and creating innovative and essential music. But there isn't that kind of boiling over feel that alternative rock had in 1989. Maybe I'm wrong. I sure hope to hell that I am. And who knows maybe there is someone out there with ideas and the drive to be the next Kurt Cobain or John Lennon, or Iggy Pop or whoever your chosen visionary figure is. But I'm pretty sure what they will be making will not be recognizably rock music. It will incorporate the spirit that all good music has. Whatever that is.

Ok that was a very cursory look at extremely huge subject but its close to what I was feeling so.... thats it.

2003-03-06T17:38:00.000-06:00

OK, One thing I should get off my chest first and foremost is that I am a former and/or recovering music journalism addict. If that needs some explanation, well that's what I'm here for.
What it means is that I needed to have a weekly dose of music journalism, to have them tell me what to think so I wouldn't make horrible purchases that would be socially awkward. Obviously this betrays a deep flaw in my thinking. Music is a multifaceted thing, affecting people on a number of different levels. It was very important to me that I had the best taste in music of anybody that I knew. This is obviously not a love for music in its purist and almost completely uncommon form. I'm not sure whether I can say that I love music even now. But I know that when I listen to certain pieces of music they move me. So if I use journalistic nonthought and talk about "movements" in music or simply repeat what I have been told than feel free to send me polite fuck off messages or better yet go away and never come back. Music journalism has gotten to a point where it has nothing to do with music anymore and that is a bad thing. A very BAD THING. And thats what I hope to change, at least on a small level, here.

And believe me our music culture at the moment is extremely exasperating, but the worse it gets the more likely someones going to come out and tear us all a new one.

Here's hoping that that happens, and very soon.

2003-03-06T17:02:00.000-06:00

First Shot Across The Bow

Hi, Welcome to this Blog oh assumed and highly unlikely reader. Basically Heat Death is about music and culture as seen from my highly limited viewpoint. And since Blogspot has this wonderful free service this is the place where I start what will hopefully turn into an online music journal. I love music and have for as long as I can remember and sometimes I feel like yelling at more than one target other than the television or some friend of mine. I reserve the right break down into guttural animal noises if my rage is great. So thats it. Hi, I am the anonymous writer of Heat Death. We'll see where this goes.

Things I feel like talking about soon.

-Rock and Roll (does it matter?)
-Illegal Music
-and assorted bile towards Viacom