Still gets me every time:
All posts by G. Gordon Gritty
Columbus (Howard Zinn)
The Indians, Columbus reported, “are so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone….” He concluded his report by asking for a little help from their Majesties, and in return he would bring them from his next voyage “as much gold as they need . . . and as many slaves as they ask.” He was full of religious talk: “Thus the eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities.”
Because of Columbus’s exaggerated report and promises, his second expedition was given seventeen ships and more than twelve hundred men. The aim was clear: slaves and gold. They went from island to island in the Caribbean, taking Indians as captives. But as word spread of the Europeans’ intent they found more and more empty villages. On Haiti, they found that the sailors left behind at Fort Navidad had been killed in a battle with the Indians, after they had roamed the island in gangs looking for gold, taking women and children as slaves for sex and labor.
Now, from his base on Haiti, Columbus sent expedition after expedition into the interior. They found no gold fields, but had to fill up the ships returning to Spain with some kind of dividend. In the year 1495, they went on a great slave raid, rounded up fifteen hundred Arawak men, women, and children, put them in pens guarded by Spaniards and dogs, then picked the five hundred best specimens to load onto ships. Of those five hundred, two hundred died en route. The rest arrived alive in Spain and were put up for sale by the archdeacon of the town, who reported that, although the slaves were “naked as the day they were born,” they showed “no more embarrassment than animals.” Columbus later wrote: “Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold.
From A People’s History of the United States.
CD Review: Mo Beauty
Band: Alec Ounsworth
Label: Anti-
Release: October 20, 2009
1. “Modern Girl” – 8.3
2. “Bones in the Grave” – 7.9
3. “Holy, Holy, Holy Moses” – 9.2
4. “That Is Not My Home” – 9.5
5. “Idiots in the Rain” – 8.2
6. “South Philadelphia” – 8.4
7. “What Fun.” – 8.2
8. “Me And You Watson” – 7.8
9. “Obscene Queen Bee #2” – 9.4
10. “When You’ve No Eyes” – 9.0
Comments: Flashy Python > Alec Ounsworth. How can an alter-ego of a man be better than the man himself? It’s possible and evident on this album. There seems to be a lot more dispiriting nooks and crannies on Mo Beauty; a greater dichotomy of styles than on Skin and Bones. The quasi-minimalism that reigns on tracks like “Obscene Queen Bee #2,” “That Is Not My Home,” and “Holy, Holy, Holy Moses” is Ounsworth at his best. For such a highly anticipated album, I am disappointed.
Grade: 8.6
No Age Sneaks!!!
LINK
The members of No Age walk an interesting line. They’re some of the biggest proponents of DIY all-ages spaces out there, but they’re also fully willing to play shows with corporate sponsors. They clearly know their Fugazi, but they’ve adapted the punk rock ethos for an age when even your mom is on Twitter. It’s kind of inspiring.No Age’s latest enterprise fully fits in with that dichotomy. That shoe you see pictured above is No Age’s very own sneaker. Alongside artist and skateboarding legend Ed Templeton, the L.A. dream-punk duo designed the shoe for Emerica, as Sub Pop’s website reports. It’s a special edition of Templeton’s own Archer sneaker.
They look pretty sweet:
Concert Review: Rural Alberta Advantage
Bands: Rural Alberta Advantage, Lovely Feathers, Arletta
Venue: Middle East Upstairs
Date: October 8, 2009
Arletta
Good band! Unfortunately the front-man’s high E string broke during the first song. Fortunately, a middle age dude named Spencer volunteered to restring the guitar. He got that done by the end of the second song. Arletta continued to play their brand of folk, except for one “arena rock” tune (jokes) that sounded more like Built to Spill than Kings of Leon. They were enthusiastic the whole time and made good conversation between songs. The attractive off-gray jumpsuit wearing violinist did a spectacular job on a couple of songs. They just finished recording an LP in a Charlestown studio.
In-House Music: The Supreme Genius of King Khan and His Shrines. Amazing.
Lovely Feathers
I’ve been a Lovely Feathers fan since summer 2005, when I heard “Pope John Paul” on WMBR after leaving the North Shore Mall. That song stuck with me for a while…I remember writing about it for my freshman portfolio. Heck, two weeks ago I had a crazy dream that I altar served a mass and this was the opening hymn. But the opening riffs to the song about the late Polish holy figure were never played! Bummer! Nor did they play the classic faux-glam pop track “Rod Stewart.” They did play 6 songs off Fantasy of the Lot. Don’t get me wrong, FotL is a very good album, but it pales in comparison to their past work. I never actually realized how instrumental the keyboard was in the Lovely Feathers until last night. Songs like “Gifted Donald” and “Family That Doesn’t Know The Game” are okay, don’t get me wrong, but come on…they don’t have the live flair like “Pope” and “Rod” probably would. Of course, if any song was recognized it was “Lowiza,” which is about the singer’s cheating old bastard grandfather who isn’t quite into his wife (grandmother) any more. It was awesome! “Are you sexual?” sang the amped-up keyboardist. Unfortunately the backing vocals weren’t really noticeable on a lot of the other songs. That was a tad disappointing. “In The Valley” was great with both singers belting out the lyrics. The keyboardist really nailed this song right on the money. “She says hi to the man in the house. She says I am the man of the house!” “Frantic” is another one of my long-time faves that got me and the rest of the room going. “Wrong Choice” was pretty damn awesome as well. Overall, I was happy to finally see them in concert. Do I really wish they played my two faves? Of course. Next time, maybe.
Set List
1. Long Walks
2. Gifted Donald
3. Family That Doesn’t Know The Game
4. Finders Fee
5. Lowiza
6. In The Valley
7. Frantic
8. Wrong Choice
9. I Don’t Know!
Rural Alberta Advantage
So basically I only knew four songs from RAA prior to going to see them. I really don’t know how to describe them. It’s a dynamic trio, in that the drummer also plays the keyboard, the front-man plays guitar and keyboard, and there is another drummer. I guess the best way I could put it would be an epic Page France. I couldn’t get too into many of the songs because I didn’t recognize them. Most of the audience recognized all the songs and appropriately bobbed their head or just flat out danced. Anyway, they played the Middle East two months ago. Guess they love it! They were sure appreciative of everyone coming out. The front-man did a solo acoustic of “Eye of the Tiger” after asking the audience: song from the 70s or the 80s? 80s won. It was awesome to hear the tales of Alberta. Especially of the late “Mr. Barnes.”
Set List
1. “New”
2. “Rush Apart”
3. “The Ballad of the RAA”
4. “Jungle”
5. “Luciana”
6. “Frank, AB”
7. “Eye of the Tiger” — The ’70s song was going to be S.O.S by Abba!
8. “North Star”
9. “Drain The Blood”
10. “Four Night Rider”
11. “Edmonton”
12. “Summertime”
———-Encore———
1. “Mr. Barnes”
2. “Sleep All Day”
3. “Don’t Haunt This Place”
Concert Grade: B
Competition: Songs With Same/Similar Titles (#-C)
100
100 Percent (Sonic Youth) vs. 100 New Fears (Black Lips)
Age
Age of Aquarius (Mamas & Papas) vs. Age of the Understatement (Last Shadow Puppets)
Ain’t
Ain’t No Deal (Black Lips) vs. Ain’t No Easy Way (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) vs. Ain’t No Reason (Brett Dennen) vs. Ain’t No Sunshine (Al Green) vs. Ain’t With Being Broke (Geto Boys)
Continue reading Competition: Songs With Same/Similar Titles (#-C)
IDK
Kinda Large Budget Deficit
WERS News
1.4 trillion is the amount of the budget deficit for the 2009 fiscal year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). This deficit, the highest in our economy in over half a century, was estimated for 2009 until September 30th.For the month of September alone, the U.S. ran an estimated deficit of 31 billion.
Patrick Yoest for Dow Jones Newswires said that “The fiscal 2009 spending is equal to 25% of the nation’s gross domestic product, which the CBO states is “the highest level in over 50 years.”
Yoest said that “The CBO in its monthly budget report states that the fiscal 2009 deficit was estimated to equal 9.9% of gross domestic product in the U.S. – the largest deficit relative to the nation’s gross domestic product since 1945.
So much for fiscal responsibility!
Barefoot Burglar
CNN
…Although he is only 18, Colton Harris-Moore has been on authorities’ radar for years. “Colt,” as he is called, was first arrested for burglary at age 12, said Detective Ed Wallace, a spokesman for the Island County Sheriff’s Office. The break-in at a local school earned Colton a few weeks in a juvenile facility, Wallace said.Local media reports tally nine arrests for Harris-Moore before the age of 15. Now police in five counties in Washington state are looking for him.
Harris-Moore dropped out of high school and, according to Wallace, police believe he spent his teens burglarizing unoccupied homes on Camano Island, a vacation community of about 15,000 people off the Washington state coast. He became known as “the Barefoot Burglar,” because, investigators say, he preferred to prowl shoeless.
Gradually, Wallace alleges, Harris-Moore moved onto more sophisticated crimes.
“He will typically break into a home or vehicle and copy down the credit card numbers,” Wallace said. “He then leaves the credit cards behind so people don’t realize they have been stolen.”
This kid’s messed up yo!
CLYHSY Side Project…
![UM01 2pnl_insert. [Converted]](https://klyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/um-nature-is-a-taker-cover.jpg?w=300&h=295 "UM01 2pnl_insert. [Converted]")
That doesn’t involve Alex Ounsworth! Shocking…I know. I dig receiving updates via e-mail from these side projects of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Thanks to an update in September, I was informed of Flashy Python. His LP turned out to be one of my favorites. Ounsworth is also releasing another solo album on October 20. I’m really looking forward to that! Now, we have Uninhabitable Mansions. The group is made up of the likes of Robbie and Tyler from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Annie Hart from Au Revoir Simone, Doug Marvin from Dirty on Purpose, and Chris Diken from Radical Dads. Their album Nature Is a Taker is available now for digital purchase! They are also playing at TT The Bears @ 11 PM on October 25 for 10 singles.
1. “The Speed Is Deceiving” – 10
2. “Big Kick” – 9.7
3. “Do You Have A Strategy” – 9.8
4. “Midnight Topography” – 9.6
5. “Maps Not Accurate” – 9.9
6. “The Brain Is A Slow Wave” – 9.7
7. “Static State” – 9.6
8. “This Drift” – 9.9
9. “Ex-Explorers” – 9.9
10. “We Already Know” – 9.9
Comments: This album is very Pains of Being Pure at Heart sounding. It’s, in fact, becoming status quo to use Pains as a reference point for bands of this “throwback-pop” sound. What really does it for Uninhabitable Mansions are two things in particular: vocals (lead and backing) and keyboards. That’s not to downplay the good old gui-tar, which is the principal instrument in “Midnight Topography.” Lyrics, which CLYHYS and its well-received side projects like Alec Ounsworth and Flashy Python have always been masters at, are just as beautiful as you could imagine. “Only you could make me believe your masterful eyes which you pass off as business as usual…it’s just just just society’s way,” a voice speaks on “Maps Not Accurate” in a tone only a teeny notch above a whisper. Tracks like “The Speed Is Deceiving” and “The Brain Is A Slow Wave” are mind-blowing. On many occasions I conjured up sounds of Galaxie 500 — an awesome slow-core band to be compared to. If you have an hour or so of boredom, just play these songs. Sit back and relax. If you fall asleep, that’s fine. I don’t think I’ve felt as much of an emotional connection to any band as I have with UM. And I’ve only known them for an hour. This is the album I’ve been waiting to hear all year.
Grade: 9.8
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 