Slowblog

On Dustin O’Halloran and Rachel Grimes

A piece I wrote jointly with LEO Weekly’s Music Editor Peter Berkowitz ran today just ahead of Dustin O’Halloran’s and Rachel Grimes’ performance at St. Francis of Assisi in Louisville this coming Friday. I’m driving up from Nashville with my wife, Marta, and Patrick Copeland, a longtime friend and co-conspirator in the band Southern, which we’ll be unveiling any day now. 

I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about the live performance abilities of both Dustin and Rachel. Can’t wait for Friday night. 

[Photo via]

Why We Look the Other Way

Chuck Klosterman asks if we’re ready to take a sober look at what is likely a widespread drug problem in the NFL, or if our wish to bear witness to extra-human theatrics on Sunday incentivizes us to look the other way. And, of course, he brings it back to Dylan and The Beatles:

“It’s a subtle paradox: People choose to ignore the relationship between performance enhancers and the NFL because it’s unquestionably the league where performance enhancers would have the biggest upside. But what will happen when such deliberate naïveté becomes impossible? Revelatory drug scandals tend to escalate exponentially (look at Major League Baseball and U.S. track and field). Merriman, Sauerbrun and the other 33 players suspended by the NFL since 2002 could be exceptions; it seems far more plausible they are not. We are likely on the precipice of a bubble that is going to burst. But if it does, how are we supposed to feel about it? Does this invalidate the entire sport, or does it barely matter at all?

This is where things become complicated.

It can be strongly argued that the most important date in the history of rock music was Aug. 28, 1964. This was the day Bob Dylan met the Beatles in New York City’s Hotel Delmonico and got them high. Obviously, a lot of people might want to disagree with this assertion, but the artistic evidence is hard to ignore. The introduction of marijuana altered the trajectory of the Beatles’ songwriting, reconstructed their consciousness and prompted them to make the most influential rock albums of all time. After the summer of 1964, the Beatles started taking serious drugs, and those drugs altered their musical performance. Though it may not have been their overt intent, the Beatles took performance-enhancing drugs. And this is germane to sports for one reason: Absolutely no one holds it against them. No one views Rubber Soul and Revolver as “less authentic” albums, despite the fact that they would not (and probably could not) have been made by people who weren’t on drugs … The question, ultimately, is this: If it turns out the lifeblood of the NFL is unnatural, does that make the game less meaningful?”

June 6: The Caretaker’s ‘An Empty Bliss Beyond This World’

James Leyland Kirby’s Caretaker project holds a special place in the Slowblog universe, as Persistent Repetition of Phrases, the record that preceded his latest, An Empty Bliss Beyond This World, was the subject on one of my first posts here. The scope of this blog has changed dramatically since then, becoming more of a running list of clips published elsewhere, but what hasn’t changed at all is how big a fan I am of Kirby’s work. So, needless to say, the announcement today of a new Caretaker record is a welcome surprise.

I’m really hoping Forced Exposure will be distributing An Empty Bliss in the States. Otherwise, hello import duties. I’m sure the transparent blue vinyl will make the extra fees worth it, though.

A bit about the record, typically full of hyperbole (somehow I mean this in a nice way), from Boomkat:

“Seeping to the surface two years since his cherished and widely acclaimed ‘Persistent Repetition Of Phrases’ LP, ‘An Empty Bliss Beyond The World’ returns our doddering protagonist to the deserted ballroom, wandering its waxed floor and dilapidated grandeur in an attempt to capture an era which has long since disappeared but still haunts the atmosphere. In the meantime he’s accessed an alternate set of memory banks with his derivés into Leyland Kirby land, but back in The Caretaker role, James Leyland Kirby conjures a quieter, more introspective spirit, lost in his own mind amidst a low-lit labyrinth of ever-decaying and antediluvian shellac phrases. Sourced from his mysterious collection of 78s, these vague snippets of archaic sonics reflect the ability of Alzheimers patients to recall the songs of their past, and with them recollections of places, people, moods and sensations. The effect is subtly amplified by the chronic vinyl cut at Berlin’s D&M, allowing each memory to segue seamlessly and unpredictably into the next for an otherworldly and disorienting experience. Coupled with another deeply enigmatic artwork commission from Ivan Seal, ‘An Empty Bliss Beyond The World’, is a highly potent transmission from one of the most singular characters operating in music today.” 

New DJ Mix for Nighttime

WUT (Ryan Scott Burleson’s 2011 Night Mix) by ryanscottburleson

It’s been years since I made a new DJ mix, so last night I just sort-of up and made one without much preparation, other than pouring a glass of red wine. Feel free to download, embed, share, etc.

Some of these songs are older, some are brand new. All have impacted me in some way recently.

Please do support the artists.

Tracklist:

1. Show Your Teeth — Nils Frahm & Anne Müller

2. You Always Start It — xxxy

3. Love Cry (Joy Orbison Remix) — Four Tet

4. Blind Night Errand — Mount Kimbie

5. Hookid — Morgan Zarate

6. WUT — Girl Unit

7. Night — Benga

8. Purple City — Joker & Ginz

9. Like You Mean It — Matthewdavid

10. Def Surrounds Us — DJ Shadow

11. Things Fall Apart — Zomby (Ft. Noah Lennox)

12. Try It On (Salem Remix) — Interpol

13. NYC — Burial

Photo: Troy Stains

Palin’s achievement was to pull Alaska out of a dire, corrupt, enduring systemic crisis and return it to fiscal health and prosperity when many people believed that such a thing was impossible. She did this not by hewing to any ideological extreme but by setting a pragmatic course, applying a rigorous practicality to a set of problems that had seemed impervious to solution. She challenged supposedly inviolable political precepts, and embraced more-nuanced realities: Republicans sometimes must confront powerful business interests; to govern effectively, you have to cooperate with the other side; you sometimes must raise taxes to balance a budget; and doing these things can actually enhance rather than destroy your career, whatever anybody says. True reform—not pandering to the base—established Palin’s broad popularity in Alaska. This approach is sorely absent from most of what happens in Washington these days.

Grizzly Bear Recording a New LP (Soon)

disconaivete:

Earlier today, Grizzly Bear informed us they have been writing songs for a new album and will start recording it by the end of this month in Texas. That’s all information for now, but I will definitely keep you posted!