I was having a tough time deciding between three very intriguing topics for this blog entry and then i thought screw it, i'll just blog about all three. Fortunately for you though, i plan all in short order to save myself and you time... you're welcome!
1st- Dave Matthews Band is back on the radar!
I bought the new DMB album, Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King and i must say i am quite pleased with it overall. It sounds aggressive and progressive for the band that cut it's teeth playing frat parties and smoke-filled bars and venues. In many ways it doesn't really remind me at all of the DMB i was reared on, but i'm not complaining. There is one key exception though... the lyrics. Dave is singing about weird sh!t again and it's awesome! The only two tracks that disappoint in both lyrically and musically are the last two. They sound like they should be on the more unctuous Everday or Stand Up albums. But i've only listened to the album once though so there is time for those tracks to grow on me. There is also time for the others to sour... but i'm pretty confident that won't happen. If i were rating the album, i'd give it a very solid B and i assure you that isn't a generous rating. I think it's right on the money!
2nd- Can you say vasectomy?!
Did y'all hear about the guy here in Knox County who has fathered at least 21 kids by at least 11 different women?! This is the most ridiculous thing i've heard in a long, LONG time. I know it's probably pretty trendy to bash this guy, but seriously, has the whole world gone crazy?! It gets better though. This guy has a minimum wage job and one of the mothers is only receiving $2 a month in child support. I've said time and time again that nothing surprises me, but this is pushing my limits. A buddy of mine told me this quote and i think it sums up the situation quite nicely: "God is great, beer is good and people are crazy." I'm starting wonder though if i'm the crazy one!
3rd- Cadillac dreams...
Do you remember the days when the Cadillac was the gold standard of the automobile industry? If you owned a Cadillac, no one could tell you nothin' to quote the Kanye West song "Wait til I get my money right." Well apparently GM didn't get it's money right and had to file Chapter 11 last week. Michael Moore says it best:
"It is with sad irony that the company which invented 'planned obsolescence' -- the decision to build cars that would fall apart after a few years so that the customer would then have to buy a new one -- has now made itself obsolete. It refused to build automobiles that the public wanted, cars that got great gas mileage, were as safe as they could be, and were exceedingly comfortable to drive. Oh -- and that wouldn't start falling apart after two years. GM stubbornly fought environmental and safety regulations. Its executives arrogantly ignored the "inferior" Japanese and German cars, cars which would become the gold standard for automobile buyers. And it was hell-bent on punishing its unionized workforce, lopping off thousands of workers for no good reason other than to 'improve' the short-term bottom line of the corporation. Beginning in the 1980s, when GM was posting record profits, it moved countless jobs to Mexico and elsewhere, thus destroying the lives of tens of thousands of hard-working Americans. The glaring stupidity of this policy was that, when they eliminated the income of so many middle class families, who did they think was going to be able to afford to buy their cars? History will record this blunder in the same way it now writes about the French building the Maginot Line or how the Romans cluelessly poisoned their own water system with lethal lead in its pipes.
So here we are at the deathbed of General Motors."
Has the final bell rung for the former heavy-weight champion of the automotive world? Can the Cadillac reclaim it's place as the gold standard for the car industry of the future? Who knows, but one thing is for certain, nothing will ever be the same.
I appreciate your time and attention. Take good care, all of you until next time.
God speed,
-oSLo
Monday, June 8, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Citizen Cope
If you aren't familiar with Clarence Greenwood aka Citizen Cope or even if you are, i encourage you to take another listen to his music. His best album (in my opinion and by far) is the Clarence Greenwood Recordings.
What makes his music so good? To the musically inclined it sounds simplistic and remedial. To the not so musically inclined, it sounds simplistic and remedial. How does he make it work? The answer is simple. Sincerity. He believes in the music he's making and that translates into great music.
Now don't get me wrong. I think there are plenty of artists out there who are sincere in the music they write and play, but Citizen Cope is special. Why? Because he's able to hone in on the emotional content of his music like a laser and doesn't get distracted by the influences that exist when creating music. A lot of musicians have a tendency to veer off course when writing a song or performing music. It's hard to stay focused. You want to impress people with your grasp of music theory or your mastery of a musical instrument that you forget why you should be making music in the first place. Citizen Cope and others like him don't make this mistake.
I get a little irritated with people who think that music has to be complex to be good. Who made up that rule? It's not the complexity of the music that's important. It is the complexity of emotion being conveyed. Without an emotional connection, you're just making noise.
That being said, i encourage you to listen to Citizen Cope with different ears especially if you're someone who thinks that his music is too "simple" to be good. It doesn't have to be hard, my friends. It just has to be real, it has to be sincere and it has to have meaning. Citizen Cope's Clarence Greenwood Recordings meet all of those requirements.
This is the first in a series of posts i'm planning to do on the topic of music so stay tuned.
Below, you will find an entry from Citizen Cope's Bio page on his website. I think the writer captures a lot of my own personal feeling about Citizen Cope and for those unfamiliar may provide some insight as to why people love his music so much.
Thanks for reading, y'all and as the cliche goes, "keep it real."
oSLo
"Something is great about this one." The phrase buzzed around in my head, mixing with the endorphins that cracked and snapped about their different relays, telling me that I liked this music. This music is good. The beer in your hand is good.* You are loving this, aren't you? Aren't you?
Singer/Song Writer, Citizen Cope recently headlined in Towson's Recher Theatre, a large dimly lit room washed in blood red drapes. Two bars, bouncers at the door who think they're funny, an entrance covered in music posters: enough ambiance to make you dream of owning rooms filled with nothing but silk pillows and feathery boas. Brilliance -- all of it.
His music is simple to the point of being stripped down, as if bearing it all was the only way to get our attention. The Spartan band behind him was made up of a drummer, a bassist, two keyboardists, and Cope on guitar. A mix of hip-hop, folk, and blues his songs are mostly beats - mix bass drum, high hat, snare, clap track and repeat - buffed smooth by a haggard, road-weary voice. Uncommon chords for texture and keyboards for lift.
I was there in the middle of a crowd that hung on Mr. Cope's every word. You have probably been in a situation like this one before. If you have seen a favorite artist live, you know the procedure. Stand elbow to elbow with lovers in varied states of decay - high school to golden years - and you reach clumsily into your bag of lyrics, struggling to throw them out in time with everybody else. Nevertheless, you dance, sway back and forth and put your chin to your chest to feel that beat and buzz in your rib cage. Somebody screams, "You're melting my face!" Artist finishes up a song and you try to guess what's coming next. You are loving this, aren't you?
But even as I enjoyed myself like everyone else, the experience unsettled me. Cope is an intensely powerful lyricist. Without useless contemplation or pretension, you sense a plain type of grief laced in his words. A grief at once deeply personal, but one that managed to untether me from the scene, causing me to think about what I was listening to. His song topics range from a laundry list of tragedy in "Let the Drummer Kick That" to exploration of danger of American jingoism in "Bullet and a Target." One of my favorites, his song "Penitentiary" taps into fears for a culture growing more trapped by fear and war: "Well I'm waiting on a time when people walk free to see/From the penitentiary in our mind/When there's no need to bleed/For your father/Or your son."
One Rolling Stone critic called him "a modern day bluesman who paints a plaintive portrait of the human condition." Another, not-so-friendly critic from music and culture website, SoundtheSirens said: "I'm sure there's some soulful guy with a guitar who can write better songs sitting in some coffee shop somewhere who deserves the exposure more than he does." This may be warranted, I just happen to disagree.
As a balding-twenty-something tapped his toe to the beat of "Sideways" against my heal, I was reminded of a perplexing moment a few months prior. I had created a Citizen Cope "station" on an Internet radio website called Pandora. If you have not used Pandora before, its program takes an artist that you give it and plays the music of similar artists based on style and genre.Normally, Pandora is right on, accurate as anyone could hope for. But the artists that Pandora surrounded Cope with -- Damien Rice, Jack Johnson, Ryan Adams, Howie Day, Beck -- sound nothing like him, perhaps Beck being the closest. I won't say that no one sounds like Citizen Cope -- that cannot be justified. However, one has serious trouble placing him in any sort of context. This frustrates me, because I need musical landmarks, but at the same time I don't want them. All the qualifiers, folk, hip-hop, blues, singer/song writer, suddenly seem vapid -- a lame attempt to conjure context out of thin air.
Good artists can recreate the high people get from good music -- that electricity that makes the crowd sway. After all, that heightened sense, so amazingly replicable across cultures, is what makes music a universal human constant. But the excitement that surrounds great artists -- painters, musicians, writers, and doers alike -- is that you as if you are in the presence of someone who is saying what no else is able to or willing to say. I felt the unsettling electricity in Cope's performance -- the feeling that I could not do this, nor would I ever want to. Who could bear being the only one for long? There's something great about this one.
This line of thinking is flawed. I argue that Citizen Cope is great, but that just makes him great to me. To you he could be anything or nothing. But he got a reaction out of me, a departure from normalcy that left me buzzing afterwards, and it's hard to find words that aren't useless contemplation. Words that avoid shameless worship to someone who does not want to be worshipped. But I knew I was doomed to fail when I started this.
Written by: Joseph Johns
Published February 12, 2008 · The Loyola Grayhound
What makes his music so good? To the musically inclined it sounds simplistic and remedial. To the not so musically inclined, it sounds simplistic and remedial. How does he make it work? The answer is simple. Sincerity. He believes in the music he's making and that translates into great music.
Now don't get me wrong. I think there are plenty of artists out there who are sincere in the music they write and play, but Citizen Cope is special. Why? Because he's able to hone in on the emotional content of his music like a laser and doesn't get distracted by the influences that exist when creating music. A lot of musicians have a tendency to veer off course when writing a song or performing music. It's hard to stay focused. You want to impress people with your grasp of music theory or your mastery of a musical instrument that you forget why you should be making music in the first place. Citizen Cope and others like him don't make this mistake.
I get a little irritated with people who think that music has to be complex to be good. Who made up that rule? It's not the complexity of the music that's important. It is the complexity of emotion being conveyed. Without an emotional connection, you're just making noise.
That being said, i encourage you to listen to Citizen Cope with different ears especially if you're someone who thinks that his music is too "simple" to be good. It doesn't have to be hard, my friends. It just has to be real, it has to be sincere and it has to have meaning. Citizen Cope's Clarence Greenwood Recordings meet all of those requirements.
This is the first in a series of posts i'm planning to do on the topic of music so stay tuned.
Below, you will find an entry from Citizen Cope's Bio page on his website. I think the writer captures a lot of my own personal feeling about Citizen Cope and for those unfamiliar may provide some insight as to why people love his music so much.
Thanks for reading, y'all and as the cliche goes, "keep it real."
oSLo
"Something is great about this one." The phrase buzzed around in my head, mixing with the endorphins that cracked and snapped about their different relays, telling me that I liked this music. This music is good. The beer in your hand is good.* You are loving this, aren't you? Aren't you?
Singer/Song Writer, Citizen Cope recently headlined in Towson's Recher Theatre, a large dimly lit room washed in blood red drapes. Two bars, bouncers at the door who think they're funny, an entrance covered in music posters: enough ambiance to make you dream of owning rooms filled with nothing but silk pillows and feathery boas. Brilliance -- all of it.
His music is simple to the point of being stripped down, as if bearing it all was the only way to get our attention. The Spartan band behind him was made up of a drummer, a bassist, two keyboardists, and Cope on guitar. A mix of hip-hop, folk, and blues his songs are mostly beats - mix bass drum, high hat, snare, clap track and repeat - buffed smooth by a haggard, road-weary voice. Uncommon chords for texture and keyboards for lift.
I was there in the middle of a crowd that hung on Mr. Cope's every word. You have probably been in a situation like this one before. If you have seen a favorite artist live, you know the procedure. Stand elbow to elbow with lovers in varied states of decay - high school to golden years - and you reach clumsily into your bag of lyrics, struggling to throw them out in time with everybody else. Nevertheless, you dance, sway back and forth and put your chin to your chest to feel that beat and buzz in your rib cage. Somebody screams, "You're melting my face!" Artist finishes up a song and you try to guess what's coming next. You are loving this, aren't you?
But even as I enjoyed myself like everyone else, the experience unsettled me. Cope is an intensely powerful lyricist. Without useless contemplation or pretension, you sense a plain type of grief laced in his words. A grief at once deeply personal, but one that managed to untether me from the scene, causing me to think about what I was listening to. His song topics range from a laundry list of tragedy in "Let the Drummer Kick That" to exploration of danger of American jingoism in "Bullet and a Target." One of my favorites, his song "Penitentiary" taps into fears for a culture growing more trapped by fear and war: "Well I'm waiting on a time when people walk free to see/From the penitentiary in our mind/When there's no need to bleed/For your father/Or your son."
One Rolling Stone critic called him "a modern day bluesman who paints a plaintive portrait of the human condition." Another, not-so-friendly critic from music and culture website, SoundtheSirens said: "I'm sure there's some soulful guy with a guitar who can write better songs sitting in some coffee shop somewhere who deserves the exposure more than he does." This may be warranted, I just happen to disagree.
As a balding-twenty-something tapped his toe to the beat of "Sideways" against my heal, I was reminded of a perplexing moment a few months prior. I had created a Citizen Cope "station" on an Internet radio website called Pandora. If you have not used Pandora before, its program takes an artist that you give it and plays the music of similar artists based on style and genre.Normally, Pandora is right on, accurate as anyone could hope for. But the artists that Pandora surrounded Cope with -- Damien Rice, Jack Johnson, Ryan Adams, Howie Day, Beck -- sound nothing like him, perhaps Beck being the closest. I won't say that no one sounds like Citizen Cope -- that cannot be justified. However, one has serious trouble placing him in any sort of context. This frustrates me, because I need musical landmarks, but at the same time I don't want them. All the qualifiers, folk, hip-hop, blues, singer/song writer, suddenly seem vapid -- a lame attempt to conjure context out of thin air.
Good artists can recreate the high people get from good music -- that electricity that makes the crowd sway. After all, that heightened sense, so amazingly replicable across cultures, is what makes music a universal human constant. But the excitement that surrounds great artists -- painters, musicians, writers, and doers alike -- is that you as if you are in the presence of someone who is saying what no else is able to or willing to say. I felt the unsettling electricity in Cope's performance -- the feeling that I could not do this, nor would I ever want to. Who could bear being the only one for long? There's something great about this one.
This line of thinking is flawed. I argue that Citizen Cope is great, but that just makes him great to me. To you he could be anything or nothing. But he got a reaction out of me, a departure from normalcy that left me buzzing afterwards, and it's hard to find words that aren't useless contemplation. Words that avoid shameless worship to someone who does not want to be worshipped. But I knew I was doomed to fail when I started this.
Written by: Joseph Johns
Published February 12, 2008 · The Loyola Grayhound
Monday, May 4, 2009
Happy Cinco!
I know it's been a while, folks. I've been busy out here in the "real world" trying to make moves. It's a poor excuse for ignoring you for so long so my apologies. This isn't even a real post which is the worst of it.
Here's a little history behind the holiday we celebrate alongside our Mexican friends. In light of the recent outbreak of so-called "swine flu," a welcome celebration of Mexican history is definitely in order. Here is the history of this joyous holiday we celebrate on the 5th of May each and every year (Thanks to Jennifer B. for passing along the info.):
Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.
This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.
The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day.
The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo.
So now you know.
Happy holidays, folks!
oSLo
Here's a little history behind the holiday we celebrate alongside our Mexican friends. In light of the recent outbreak of so-called "swine flu," a welcome celebration of Mexican history is definitely in order. Here is the history of this joyous holiday we celebrate on the 5th of May each and every year (Thanks to Jennifer B. for passing along the info.):
Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.
This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.
The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day.
The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo.
So now you know.
Happy holidays, folks!
oSLo
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
"Oh one holy day!"
Hello folks! Hope the world is good right now to you. I'm feeling just fine myself in case you were wondering.
It's amazing how quickly things change, isn't it? We've experienced nothing short of a complete and total paradigm shift. It's like cognitive dissonance you could hear coming from miles away. The funny thing is that it happens all the time. Every minute and every second of the day the world changes by that much. The time might seem miniscule "in the grand scheme of things," but the thing is that it isn't. Need further explanation? Join the club!
So we elected Barack Hussein Obama to lead this nation? Might i say an excellent choice! I think he's going to do a fantastic job for us, but here's the rub. He can't do it all by himself, now can he? We have some responsibilities of our own to tend to, do we not? I know i sure do. Jeff Cinnamon always finds the best quotes and here's one of them from Harry Truman "All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway." Let's not make Barack work too hard, eh?
And finally, the good news. We have a lot of living left to do and a lot to live for, too! Now doesn't that feel nice?
See y'all next time,
oSLo
It's amazing how quickly things change, isn't it? We've experienced nothing short of a complete and total paradigm shift. It's like cognitive dissonance you could hear coming from miles away. The funny thing is that it happens all the time. Every minute and every second of the day the world changes by that much. The time might seem miniscule "in the grand scheme of things," but the thing is that it isn't. Need further explanation? Join the club!
So we elected Barack Hussein Obama to lead this nation? Might i say an excellent choice! I think he's going to do a fantastic job for us, but here's the rub. He can't do it all by himself, now can he? We have some responsibilities of our own to tend to, do we not? I know i sure do. Jeff Cinnamon always finds the best quotes and here's one of them from Harry Truman "All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway." Let's not make Barack work too hard, eh?
And finally, the good news. We have a lot of living left to do and a lot to live for, too! Now doesn't that feel nice?
See y'all next time,
oSLo
Saturday, January 10, 2009
I've been sloppy...
I've kind of have been in a tizzy these last few weeks. Maybe it's the cold weather, or maybe it's been the car trouble or maybe it's my general disdain for the holiday season. Whatever it is, i have been sloppy and you've probably noticed... or maybe not. In either case, i thought i should be forthcoming (refer to my post about liars from August) and do my best to be more focused in the New Year.
That being said, i've been fairly productive so far this year and it's kept me off the internet for a couple of weeks. I can't say it's been a bad thing because it's given me more time to be more social with my friends here in town and out of town as well. I hate to be neglectful though so i thought i'd drop in for a minute to say hello before i drop back out again. I do want to leave you with a link to check out. I know i spend a lot of time crusading for things on this blog, but i do like to lighten things up from time to time. I think you'll like this one. That is, of course if you like really goofy yet intelligent humor. Give this link a go. I think most of you will enjoy it.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=665847
My apologies for the hyperlink not working, but it definitely worth the copy and paste! Thanks to Jennifer B. for sending this my way.
See y'all next time,
oSLo
That being said, i've been fairly productive so far this year and it's kept me off the internet for a couple of weeks. I can't say it's been a bad thing because it's given me more time to be more social with my friends here in town and out of town as well. I hate to be neglectful though so i thought i'd drop in for a minute to say hello before i drop back out again. I do want to leave you with a link to check out. I know i spend a lot of time crusading for things on this blog, but i do like to lighten things up from time to time. I think you'll like this one. That is, of course if you like really goofy yet intelligent humor. Give this link a go. I think most of you will enjoy it.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=665847
My apologies for the hyperlink not working, but it definitely worth the copy and paste! Thanks to Jennifer B. for sending this my way.
See y'all next time,
oSLo
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Happy New Year!
Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.
Henry David Thoreau
Thanks for the quote, Jeff. An excellent find!
Happy New Year, y'all! 2008 was great, but 2009 should be just fine.
See y'all next year,
oSLo
Henry David Thoreau
Thanks for the quote, Jeff. An excellent find!
Happy New Year, y'all! 2008 was great, but 2009 should be just fine.
See y'all next year,
oSLo
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Drunken ramblings and such...
So i'm sitting here listening to Dido and you're probably thinking "how typical." And of course i would say "screw you!" Ha, but i kid...
What a crazy year it has been in the world of oSLo, not to mention the world in general. I would take the time to reflect on some of the highlights, but they are entirely too numerous to do that. I recommend a little research for both of us, though. It would probably make for a more informed discussion... if you're into that kind of thing. If not, then f*ck it.
It has been a little over a year since i launched this blog. If you'll remember, it was originally designed to announce my 30th birthday plans, but i had a feeling i'd have more to say after all that. And wouldn'tcha know, i was right! Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy if you will because i would call it that, too.
I told a good friend that this has been the best year of my adult life. I mean that in the sincerest way. That being said, if you have felt offended at all by any of the things i've done or said in the past year, i sincerely apologize for you feeling that way. I am not apologizing however for my actions or my words. I stand by everything i've done and said. I've been wrong and i am not afraid to say that. I've also been right more oftentimes than not, but in either case i've taken a stand. I've had moments of self-doubt i freely admit. It happens more often than i'd like to admit, but ultimately it all evens out. Take solice in knowing that. I know i do.
I could go on and on, but it's the night before my birthday and i feel a need to turn it off for a while. Dido is still playing and i don't want to miss the end.
Take good care, y'all.
oSLo
What a crazy year it has been in the world of oSLo, not to mention the world in general. I would take the time to reflect on some of the highlights, but they are entirely too numerous to do that. I recommend a little research for both of us, though. It would probably make for a more informed discussion... if you're into that kind of thing. If not, then f*ck it.
It has been a little over a year since i launched this blog. If you'll remember, it was originally designed to announce my 30th birthday plans, but i had a feeling i'd have more to say after all that. And wouldn'tcha know, i was right! Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy if you will because i would call it that, too.
I told a good friend that this has been the best year of my adult life. I mean that in the sincerest way. That being said, if you have felt offended at all by any of the things i've done or said in the past year, i sincerely apologize for you feeling that way. I am not apologizing however for my actions or my words. I stand by everything i've done and said. I've been wrong and i am not afraid to say that. I've also been right more oftentimes than not, but in either case i've taken a stand. I've had moments of self-doubt i freely admit. It happens more often than i'd like to admit, but ultimately it all evens out. Take solice in knowing that. I know i do.
I could go on and on, but it's the night before my birthday and i feel a need to turn it off for a while. Dido is still playing and i don't want to miss the end.
Take good care, y'all.
oSLo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
