somewhat of a manifesto.
I am typically a responsible consumer, buy local and recycle and such. But, recently I realized that I don’t do nearly enough. I always believe I have at least as much integrity as the average guy, but I have always known that I can never do enough. This feeling was inspired by any one of the several recent violent acts and, if I am not lucky, will probably inspire someone to want to kill me for being too much of a hippie or whatever misconceptions people have.
Not the tragic act itself, but the discussions following the Connecticut school shooting made me, more than usual, see that people are lost. And I am not even talking about whoever the fool that did the act. No one knows what is going on, much less how to do anything about it. People wanna talk about various things that are the problem, such as guns being the problem. People wanna talk about tv, video games, rap music, hell even Mike Huckabee blamed it on god, or the lack of god, in our daily lives. In short, people blame problems and focus that blame onto things they don’t understand, yet feel they can still somehow change. Forget any of the arguments so far and recall that the way bucks get passed is by people blaming, which invariably gets nothing accomplished. Society stalls. Maybe even keeps a more tense atmosphere, more likely to keep people frustrated and driving them to do extreme things. Expecting a democracy to solve social ills is democrazy. Society can't even get to second base with all the change that continually happens in government. Once we get someone elected, someone else starts to push them out and then a few short years later all the change that was accomplished is then reversed. Since at least the 70s, we've just been having back and forth discussions about the same crap and society is no better off. Meanwhile, since Vietnam, ugly warfare has become the norm. No one talks much about how that influences people. People want to say that Japan doesn't have guns, so there is no violence. I say those people haven't lived in Japan. That country has historically been extremely violent, with guns hardly ever being a factor in the violence. Now that Japan hasn't been at foreign war in 80 years, people are suddenly more peaceful. You can withdraw $3000 from an ATM on payday and walk straight to the bar in the roughest part of Osaka and not feel in any danger then or when waling home drunk at 2AM. I haven’t read anyone yet talking any realistic measures to try to stop these violent modern American insane things from happening.
We live in society in which people get pissed when others lie to them, but then we all turn around and do something misleading to someone else. That’s called staying ahead. But what puts you ahead of the human race, brings the human race down in general. The highest paid trash-talking player brings his team down and helps them lose. We humans need to be more honest, and humble, especially with ourselves. We have to understand that we are the problem. Modern society = modern problems. Simply put.
Think about the difference between when a person lives a simple vs. complex life. Most people know that things left simple and less dramatic make for a more peaceful existence, but more people still tend to make their lives unnecessarily complex.
We have a society where everyone is always trying to tell someone what to do, but really bad at taking advice. A democracy is not necessarily just an allowance for everyone to be their own authoritarian. And certainly government structures that have been in place for as long as the human race are ingrained into us from birth. But modern society has become so numb to mistreatment that it has damaged our psyche, creating our “modern problems.” I feel safe in assuming people are of a mutual understanding that the rate of incomprehensible acts on an extreme level has been accelerating rather rapidly. I will work to a couple examples of modern problems, but start with the main thing. Some junk dealer sold mother nature a lot of meth. She’s totally tweaked out.
Why hasn’t anyone stopped to think about the environment that has created horrible minds and actions; the social environment and the natural, and how these two are interchangeably connected?
People don’t even care about themselves. Beyond that, they don’t care about the world they must live in and keeping it clean and respecting natural law. How are people supposed to care about others? For every person outraged by the actions around the country these past 2 months, can you look back and say you have cared enough about yourself, your health, and been active enough in the community? I am saying that caring about yourself must come first before you can possibly care about someone else. In this, Americans are severely deficient.
Each individual person doesn’t do enough. The government doesn’t do enough. Corporations do the exact opposite of good enough.
Think about this? Soda. Tastes great. Refreshing. Relaxing. A nice treat right?
Pepsi and Coca-Cola are two (though not to overly pick on them, because there are definitely many as bad or worse) companies hugely responsible with everything that is wrong in the world. To start with, they contaminate all the land around their processing plants to such a great extent that many third world towns have no clean drinking water. And the problem is likely worse than merely drinking water. But then they take this artificial drink, which is a corrosive agent and full of all kinds of things our diets don’t need, and put it into a toxic container made with plastic lined in some ungodly cancerous material. Not to mention how much the air was polluted to make the plastic container, and will be further polluted (in the optimistic case of the ten percent that will be recycled) and melted down, burned into the air again. The winners free to enjoy the product, run into other smaller problems like diabetic symptoms and obesity. So, in most practical terms, you have a company responsible for polluting water and air and our bodies. We should be outraged. Instead, we drink this crap on a ridiculous level.
How many other companies destroy the world on such a level?
Hospitals have achieved a lot of success through the use of plastics. Yet, for every one person saved by the hospital, how many life forms die because of the convenient equipment? I worked in a 60 bed psychiatric facility that threw away the equivalent of a semi trailer full of garbage every week. This only begs the question, how much do real hospitals throw away? Where does it all go? At that rate, it can’t be an overstatement to say that all the hospitals in Oregon throw away enough to cover the state in at least one coat of garbage every year.
Consider the hurricanes that have ravaged the East and South. It’s taken a huge toll on most coastal communities. But mother nature is untamable, right? Well, yes and no. There is a such thing as karma, whether you are religious or not. Hurricanes, by their purpose, are heat seekers. Tropical storms that form in the ocean get bigger partially in response to their need to cool off the land. So, when there is a city crammed with 50 million people living in miles and miles of concrete, steel and glass jungles with no trees or grass, that has got to get pretty damn hot. So if a hurricane is trying to act as a fireman putting out the flames, it is most likely going for the epicenter of the burning. That is why so many hurricanes go so far inland and only seem to hit hardest in urban centers. It’s a natural act, but still a metaphor for something created. Every action has a consequence. Something always acts as an equalizer whether in our daily lives or in the weather.
Is it any wonder that without clean air, pure food, or any semblance of responsible living, that neurons are wired all backwards and people can’t act right? And then, with modern pharmaceutical and insurance companies, who can get real mental help? Those just aggravate problems even more. Why in god's name do we still give kids Ritalin? With such a harmful environment, it should be no wonder that craziness happens. That’s the response, the fighting back, the equalization. But what can we do? Just keep being shocked and angry. No. Ask questions. How much does that hospital throw away? How much do you throw away? There are ways to make pain less. Start making a difference today. Complaining about particulars, like how hard it would be to do this or that, doesn’t do anything. It’s not right to cut down all the trees on the mountain and then apply for government aid when a landslide takes your house out.
In Oregon, we have a 5-cent bottle/can return deposit. It’s a joke! That was a good start, in 1974, when 5 cents meant a little more than it does now. For 5 cents, people are just as likely to throw the stuff away. Give them some incentive. Charge $1. I realize consumers would throw a hissy fit, but something has got to wake people up. If you had to pay $1 per container, wouldn’t that make you think twice about whether you picked up that extra 24-pack of soda you don’t really need? Wouldn’t that make you care more about taking back the recycling to get your dollar back? And charge that for every container. Not just for all drinks, but for all containers, period. You buy a plastic jug of laundry detergent, pay $1 deposit. A jug like that could justify a $10 deposit. If you knew you had to pay $10, wouldn’t you take your own container to pick up the laundry detergent? I realize that there are cons and reasons to brush off such ideas, but the world is running out of time for excuses. Something drastic needs to be done soon. We have passed the point of discussion and friendly debates and petty shows of concern. Billions of plastic laundry containers in landfills or burned into the air every year are not a very good start. We need to have people bringing their own container to purchase laundry soap and other products, not just trying to remember to bring bags to carry everything out. Yeah, sure, it’s great to not want to use that extra plastic bag, but what’s the point in worrying about the straw that broke the camel’s back, in comparison to everything inside the bag?
(Note: as I am writing this, I hear a news report that Concord, MA has outlawed plastic bottles!)
I’ve been thinking about how I want to eliminate the use of plastic and styrofoam from my consumption. Funny, but the first thing I realize is that it will be harder for me to drink soda, but doesn’t affect my ability to drink beer. Beer comes in glass and cans. Not that those are perfect either, but just to consider some start… The fact that beer is in better packaging seems appropriate on a hierarchical level because soda, consumed at the same rate, is more harmful than alcohol to a person’s health. Then I look at the price of beer. I think it’s gotten more expensive, especially over the last 2-3 years. And from what I have been told, there is keg tax legislation in the works to make beer much more expensive. Sounds backwards, considering I can still find two liters of soda for not much more than a dollar. As it stands now, I can go to the convenience store and buy a six pack of quality crafted local beer in glass bottles for $8-$10. In the same state, I can also go to an arena for a concert or sporting event and buy one single small plastic cup of cheap mass produced watered down beer from 2000 miles away for the same price as the above six pack. Does that not seem backwards? On every level of daily life, you can find the same thing. Everything is just backwards at a very fundamental level. And don't even get me started about inflation and why American has a worse problem than the rest of the world.
One example of modern society creating problems is in that impossible to assess quality of integrity. It’s like humility. If you got it, you don’t talk about it. But I do try to imagine the concept of integrity several times per day and ask myself, “Why am I doing this?” And I imagine myself on the receiving end of the transaction. Nowadays, the modern business model doesn’t really seem to care enough to self-reflect. Everything from insurance to fast food or anything online is about convenience, and about the bottom dollar. Not just for the consumer, but for the merchant as well. I wasn’t around in the first half of the 20th century, but from what I have heard, things didn’t used to be this way. Things used to be about providing a quality service or product. You didn’t do a job cheaply. The merchant didn’t make things that would break by next year, so that the customer had to buy the new, expensive version 6.0. Things were built to last. And people had pride in that. Now people want to just take the money and run. As if karma doesn’t come back to haunt us. If a job is done cheaply, that just made the quality of life cheaper. What is that extra buck you made a minute faster worth now? It’s not just ripping one person off, and having to live with a monkey on your back. It’s about the cumulative effect on yourself and society. Like the difference between laws that cops enforce and laws that mother nature enforces. Which one is more important? Yet, which one do people care more about?
Natural laws vs government laws:
Coveting thy neighbors car, cell phone, wife, and whatever else, is so natural to every person’s way of thinking. Whether we want to admit it or not, we all are trying to keep pace with someone else. If people can’t get past lusting after other’s material possessions, how do we ever expect people to care about what cops or politicians say? The first act is much more dangerous than the second. Who should be scared of jail or a fine more than a jealous fit of rage or other irrational acts of desire and passion? Then consider that one is personally capable of controlling in the first instance moreso than the second. With the law, people are totally helpless. What the authorities say is what happens. Even if a cop were acting unscrupulously, what he says the judge is still going to respect more than the perpetrator. But there is so much lawbreaking going on these days that no one is afraid of human laws. Cops seem to be so overwhelmed with fighting crime that they have to let a lot of stuff get past them and set their priorities. It is clear no one has any respect for laws when I see half the drivers in town talking on their cell phone.
What’s a law or a policy supposed to do? Supposed to create order, stop one party from exacting change on another. So, you can build walls, such as a fence to keep Mexicans out of the United States. You can put metal detectors in schools to keep guns out. But does this work? Is it even worth trying or does it just create a worse situation? When all you’re doing in either case is dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit, maybe it’s best to let the rabbit lie. The most irritating people don’t have to “win” an argument. They just try to get you riled up. So, to win those battles, we just don’t respond or respond in a way that undermines their attempts to affect us emotionally. A wall and army at the Mexican border can only serve to further drain the economy. If 100 million Mexicans want into the United States, there isn’t anything we can do to stop them. The Berlin Wall didn’t keep communism in Eastern Europe. The Great Wall of China is so big you can see it from space, but it still didn’t keep the Mongols from conquering China. The lesson these places learned was that, when you build a wall, it just makes people on the outside want in more. The same to be said for policing guns in schools. You can put in a metal detector, persecute villains, whatever steps you want to take. But it only makes the game more appealing. Whether it’s a nation flaunting their wealth in the face of misery, or whether it’s a person showing their emotions instead of a poker face. In both cases, society leaves itself vulnerable. People get concerned with all the wrong issues and then get duped on things that really matter most.
And besides, even if a person wanted to be honorable, there are too many laws to even keep track of, so how would someone know to care if they’re breaking a law? Every minute we are breaking some law. There’s laws against everything. And for all the laws we have, they sure aren’t helping create much order. We can trace these kinds of things back to the beginning of time and the nature of the illusion of democracy and the concept that people have control of their lives, even though it is apparent that a large number people are not capable of controlling themselves. And the ones who are often are too busy trying to control other people to be expected to control themselves. Instead of human nature’s perpetual catch 22, here’s an example of age-old practice in modern problems…
(As I wrote this next piece, out came the story of Sean Payton’s contract extension with the New Orleans Saints to become the highest paid coach in football. For real? This dude gets suspended for the entire year because he ran a bounty hunting operation on opposing players and what the suspension means is that he gets a yearlong vacation before he gets to start making over $8 million per year. Roger Goodell, you're scum.)
Why don’t have any system to penalize celebrities? These people are completely out of control, even the ones who have an appearance of respectability. Most every actor or athlete has a charge of at least one of: domestic violence, sexual assault, drug conviction, driving under the influence, improper use of firearms, and the list goes on. And what kind of punishment do they get? At most, some prison time and/or a fine. With very few exceptions, they always come back. (Even crappy players like Tammarick Vanover did.) A slap on the wrist is what they collectively get. And these cases are the ones the media spends most time on. In the end, it promotes their brand. They become even more noteworthy. And they still get to make millions of dollars. (Even if all of that goes to pay debts – at least they get to pay their big debts.) If I get charged with any such crimes, I’d be fired without a second thought. Yet some people can get fired, only for that to open the door to get a better job. People love to see Robert Downey more now than before he was drug addled alley cat. The more of an idiot Charlie Sheen or Tom Cruise or Mel Gibson are, the more relevant they are in the Enquirer. They stay rich and get to keep acting like kids. What does this mean to society overall? What does this teach people? Does it teach people that it pays to be accountable? Or do people find it more rewarding to live the exciting life? Unless the owner/agent releases a bad athlete/actor from duty, and that is followed by the league/union/studio banning the performer from participation, then there is really no consequence to any actions. The bosses need to be faced with fines equal to that they pay to hire the entertainer, so then even out the ridiculousness, then maybe a serious example would be set on several levels. The cumulative, exponential effect on society seems needed. The major flaw in this thinking arises with leagues like the NBA and NFL, where it is obvious that the main problems start from the top.
Nevertheless, people need to be more accountable. Notice I say people need to be more accountable. Not, as the message of the last lesson, people need to hold others to accountability. People have to start with themselves, if it can ever be expected that the human race in general could do so. Who among us can say that we’ve done enough? And what is required for accountability but integrity? And how can we judge integrity within others or ourselves?
Over and over I can see places where I would ideally want a law, but then I see how much laws are interpreted in the favor of the people doing favors for the prosecutors. We just need fewer laws. Not to keep harping on people’s inability to know or care, but when people can’t even get the finer laws like natural laws and the ten commandments right, then there is no ability to follow a more abstract system that requires they also pay a lot of taxes as well? Instead, a tragedy happens and we have people start talking about more laws, as if more restrictions are going to keep a man sane. In Washington and Colorado, marijuana was supposedly legalized. A lot of people think that was a good thing. I guess it was. It was 74 years too late, but still… It’s just a tiny step. A big step would be, say, legalize marijuana nationally and exonerate every person convicted of marijuana related crimes. But that would be too extreme to expect. Even our “liberal” president works harder than anyone in fighting the war against weed. And besides, it took until 2012 for the windfall on gay rights. At that rate of public reason, we have another 200 years before the president can freely admit to inhaling or not hypocritically enforce the law against someone else. Because for every one law that it takes a century to get past, we have established thousands of new laws that don’t do anything except raise more money that the government is going to waste anyway.
I readily admit that various drugs work to various levels on different people and stuff like marijuana may work well for some people and can be very harmful for others. This is true, but for every person there is something that gets them where they need to be, feel how they need to feel, whether its weed, or soda, or mountain climbing, or whatever you have to do. Why can one way of getting to this level be more acceptable than another? Successful people have their way legitimized through laws. Unsuccessful people get arrested. Some get both. Few get neither. Everyone must participate because that is the fuel for the race. If you just go back to 1937 and let anybody choose what they want, then they won’t need to overindulge in the next thing that doesn’t work well and probably just makes them more psychotic. Legalize it, don’t criticize it.
And speaking of gay rights, why can’t people shut up about gay marriage and otherwise discriminating the way people want to live their lives, be it from what they eat, to how they talk, what they watch on tv, and all kinds of gossipy talk. What if someone targeted you because it was illegal to be heterosexual? There are people that learn to have the opposite feeling simply because you hated something, and you felt that for whatever reason. And that shit doesn’t feel good. And it doesn’t contribute positively to society. Do you like it when other people talk about you or tell you what you should do in your own private life? We can’t progress as a society if we’re busy hating other people for whatever reason, whether it’s their skin color, body parts, or if they voted for the guy you loathe. When does any of this ever change? [br]Remember when we used to not let black people play in the “big leagues?” Black and Latino baseball players had to play in the Negro Leagues. Eventually, through the stressful, racist 50s, they integrated into the big leagues. We progressed right? Well, we currently have professional women leagues in soccer and basketball. That’s called segregation! The same damn problem still exists! What the hell have we learned or changed? The “whatever” reason is the bigger piece we need to change about ourselves, to make a good impression on the overall situation. We can only control our own actions (barely) without needing to try to control others, or even be productive if we are busy being worried about others. We must focus on our own lives and respect others lives and trust others in their abilities to live responsibly (whatever it takes to do so). Instead of still fighting a race war, or class war, we need to be using the laws we do have fairly across the board.
It turns out to be a joke if I say, “penalize lawyers, lawmakers and rich people.” But it’s funny in a sad but true way to the proletariat. I mean, people can only get on top by ripping someone else off, right? The whole yin yang? In order for me to have one dollar, someone had to part with a dollar. Man, when you get a whole lot of money on your side of the fence, there starts to be a lot less for people on the other side, with a growing number of mouths to feed and a maximum number of natural resources consumed to do so. That seems like a volatile situation. Accountability needs to come at any point when people start to feel ripped off. It all goes back to integrity and holding yourself accountable. We used to have ways to keep high ranking people in check. They were called unions. But then big business started shacking up with the government. Then the unions and the media came over for a big orgy. Things haven’t been the same since. Just like we didn’t learn anything about segregation, we didn’t respect workers rights. The “authorities” are out of control and full of lies. They can deny it all day long, but that really gets people pissed off. And that disrespect of people filters down to all levels of society, including your kid that broke into your gun cabinet before he went to school.
How does society pull off a change on that level? Let’s penalize the people that decide our fates! (This is why I live my life close to independence of money. Money is a cruel vortex to fall into.) We need penalties for harming the earth to any degree. Not just littering on the highway or peeing in the reservoir. Do corporations get penalized for pollution? Technically yes, but if they have a great accountant and move to the right country that is WTO friendly they can probably work a polluting situation into a tax break. And on more personal levels, if we want laws against drugs, why wouldn’t we want laws against fast food? Laws against Sysco, Monsanto, Con-Agra, the WTO, etc, etc? Modern farming, as it’s corporate scheming, has basically co-opted our agricultural system and tried to control our diets and mother nature. Not smart. Not responsible. Not accountable, especially when you purposefully try to cover up actions to get a break. Own up! These people become the government. They wouldn’t penalize their own kind. So we can eat fast food, drink soda, smoke cigarettes and lay around watching tv, but we have to be 21 to drink a beer and can’t smoke a joint? Marijuana, as it is harvested much more purely, without the tars and resins put into commercial tobacco is a viable medical benefit, whereas tobacco kills. Yet, which one is legal? Soda, again, drank at the same quantity as alcohol, is way way worse for your health, yet we sell soda in vending machines. We give it to kids freely. Diabetes, obesity. Yeah, our country really fucking cares about its people, doesn’t it?
There is so much that is just backwards. For instance, people can be turned off by the fact I used a four letter word than stop and think, “You know? I’d be really pissed off too, if I thought about how much I allow myself open to being ripped off.”
How about a law against voting for a republican or democrat? When was the last time either one of these parties did something good besides for their own cronies? This isn’t about competence, or intentions, or theories. No matter how you feel about government process or which party you support, you can’t deny that the question of disingenuous political actions is always being asked at any point. And it’s certainly a sign of a corrupt, rigged system when the major parties refuse to debate outside competition, i.e. third parties. Why wouldn’t we want to hear meaningful questions being asked by more different viewpoints? When we have a society so backwards, and we allow it, we allow tragedies to occur. Who should I blame, the dealer or the user? In general, I think the minion carries the operation, so I will blame the user, in this case the voter. Have you ever been intimidated into voting for one person for this reason or that? Have you ever voted on something without really knowing very deeply which side you were voting for? Have you ever voted with the belief that there was a such thing as differing levels of evil? You thought you at least voted for the lesser of the two evils. As if there were only two forms of evil and as if either evil wasn’t still evil. There is no varying degree of evil.
But radical steps don’t work well with humans. Humans need change to be induced slowly. The only problem is that, with slow change, more things go wrong faster than we can get around to fixing one thing. Like, how is the government supposed to get anything meaningful done when they meet less often than Oregon kids go to school and are generally busy filibustering, ie loafing off taking recess, than actually being as productive as the benefits of their job produce? By this point in history, problems have exponentially outgrown the resolutions, saying that the human race doesn’t have time for slow change anymore. When it comes to industrial technology and modern convenience, we accept change at a rapid pace and humans continue to drive the planet closer to extinction at a pace our conservative values can’t turn around fast enough.
It’s much easier blame problems on god, or lackthereof, or guns, or tv, or video games, or rock and roll, or whatever other else can’t answer back. That’s superb. Blaming something on an inanimate object sounds useful. Americans love to pass the buck. And how sadistic to take the good word and change it in to your own political agenda. What about the people who use God to further hate and harm? Hitler did it. Fred Phelps does it. Every religious zealot also does it. What about all the churches that don’t allow people to use contraceptives or have abortions? Over-crowding isn’t even a talking point right now. Try counting the cost of kids born out of an irresponsible situation. They likely will have issues of their own that tax the economical structure of society at very basic levels. So, when a baby is born into poverty to parents that never had their heads screwed on straight to begin with, who can’t learn how to take care of their kids, there goes the future of everyone’s social security! I’m not saying that I support abortion or that some people don’t deserve to be born. I concretely believe that every person who is born has the same rights to life. But I am also saying that there are a good number of parents that have no business having children when they can’t even take care of themselves. So all in one fell swoop, the church allows over-crowding, while we continue to tear up the eco-system and social security system. Sounds useful. And that’s just in the birth process. That’s just the beginning of life right there. There are a whole other 80 years (if you’re lucky) to see it get worse. So, a lot of babies (at exponential costs to the earth), and you expect me to believe that’s God’s plan? Maybe if God is anything like Dali.
Excuse me for expecting that a few rotten apples are going to regret growing in up in their environment and feel like they have nothing to live for. Like mother nature, they will fight back, they will be the equalizer. It’s a great environment for violent bacteria to grow. And this isn’t even to say that the offspring of a certain trait will be predictable. The result on society may be seen through someone else entirely. It’s just the idea that one bad lesson results in one bad action. Besides all of that, how powerful are people supposed to feel about making positive change in the world when they have people telling them it’s all part of God’s plan? Talk about feeling helpless. What’s the point?
I seriously wonder if I can live to be 80 years old before the human race is done. If that’s funny, it’s still in a sad but true way. Our civilization seems to need impending doomsday scenarios all the time, much more frequently (with immediacy) than in the past. If those don’t come, they’ll create some. Why do people always have to think they are living in the most important time period in history? Why has it become so vogue to think we are living at the end of times? Maybe because people are starting to feel it more and more. The main point being, if you can have even a halfway serious discussion about the world coming to end, there is a problem on some level that people have never dealt with before. To seriously talk about the world might be done in 40 or 50 years, even if you turn out to be wrong, still is a bad deal because it must be pretty damn close. Are people feeling pre-apocalyptic tension? Is that what’s driving them to irrational acts? If I am not careful, I will start to sound like Mike Huckabee.
80 years is significant. John Lennon lived only half that number of years. Because he cared. The Kennedys, Martin Luther King only lived half that. Because they cared. Like the celebrities mentioned before, our society has a good track record of punishing people for doing good things and letting people run scot free for doing bad things. These people didn’t get to be the true leaders they needed to be, yet for some reason Charles Manson does get to be 80 years old. The message here is that it pays to be bad. Kids learn these lessons, not because hateful talk against “bad” people affects them, but because they notice the actions more than words. They notice the results and how to be coy.
How else do we reward bad people? Start with CEO salaries! How else do we punish good people? Start with minimum wage! We can’t even pay a decent minimum wage, say $15 per hour. I figure that is about what it costs to scrape by but have a little extra to put away. In other words, $15 to be able to stay a quarter step ahead, and hopefully be lucky enough to take a vacation after a few years. But in states that have a high minimum wage, we still barely even pay half that! How is anybody supposed to raise a family on $8.80? That’s the biggest reason we have for seeing irrational acts happen. Remember how you can only have nice green grass on one side of the fence at the expense of having the rain cloud in your own neighborhood. Do you not see how pointless it is to have a death penalty if people like Charles Manson are still alive?!?! You might as well have gotten rid of the death penalty for good because it doesn’t work. And the other ways we kill people we don’t like, in courts and with other financial advantages. Society is so fundamentally rotten at the roots. We just know (true or not) that we are at the breaking point of human society and feel pretty helpless. People are so greedy and selfish and reckless, every last damn one of us. Nobody cares enough. Nobody sacrifices enough. We are all guilty for what happened in Connecticut. If we can’t be sorry when we hurt someone else or advantageously use someone, we can’t hurt when something bad happens to someone else.
Say you are in your car at a traffic light texting and you get rear ended because you didn’t realize the light was green. If no one saw you texting, would you report that to the police? I doubt people’s overall sincerity at this. If it’s going to save you thousands of dollars, since you can pin the accident on the poor sucker that hit you because he expected you would go on the green light, then he has to pay to fix your car. Is that right? If you even could convince yourself that you would do the right thing in that instance, there are still many similar things you would do to be sly. This is what I mean about integrity and owning up. People just ain’t no good. They seek out advantages at every turn and no one unscrupulous act is more honorable than another.
So don’t listen to me because it hurts to hear. Don’t listen to me because I have an extreme opinion, a minority opinion. Keep following what you do because 100 million people believe it. After all, that’s a democracy right? 100 million can’t be wrong. For sure. But most people can be stupid. A 100 million can be brainwashed by HDTV, Newsweek and other modern weapons at other’s will and coersion, guilt tripped into supporting a flawed system, which only supports a few at the top. More successful people don’t work harder, they work smarter. So if they can get people to do the hard work, the dirty work, they can convince people it is for their own good. 100 million can be told what is right. So, keep believing you are following the right way, that you are asking the right questions, that you are the righteous one. With that, keep being shocked and pained when violence happens and gets worse and worse everyday. Because it will. As long as each person alive isn’t trying to do enough to make the world better, the world will keep getting worse. As long as every person isn’t living responsibly, consuming responsibly, etc. there will be wastelands.
This earth has an extreme problem when it comes to population vs. available resources. If you don’t believe there is a problem with over-production, over-consumption, over-population, over-pollution, then there is little discussion to be had. If you don’t believe that you are contributing to these problems, then there is not much discussion. If you are offended by the thought of that, then you are missing the point. The point is that people, in general, are so selfish, they can’t see how destructive they are. Throwing away a plastic bottle seems pretty innocent, especially if you are responsible most of the time or in other areas of life. The point is that people need to be more selfless and shouldering the burden, feeling guilty. The point is that we can do very little about others, but we can do a very lot about ourselves. And that is what affects others the most.
I am not saying you have to be an environmentalist. I don’t even think I am. But I am saying that if you don’t care about such things, it’s hypocritical to care about things like psychotic human violence. One problem necessarily contributes to the other.
But, alas, the ranting ends. It is more destructive than productive to bash every person on earth for every problem they have. I need to work on myself being responsible. Suffice it to say, until you change your issues and be honest with yourself in your daily life, then none of the other talk that you can’t do anything about matters.
Until we stop listening to “we can’t ______,” or “we can’t ______” and realize that yes, we can, then we gain some power, to which we can exact some change. Since that change only comes from within, I have my own rules to follow. My own new year’s resolutions.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
r.i.p 2012 ~ part 2
susana clark (73, june 27) singer/songwriter wife of guy clark; painter, include album covers for guy clark, willie nelson and emmylou harris.
ossie hibbert (61, july 1) jamaican keyboardist; the aggrovators & the revolutionaries
ben davidson (72, july 2) washington huskies, oakland raiders defensive end. made an illegal play on len dawson in 1970 that was nullified by a personal foul on kansas city. after the season, nfl rules changed to penalize personal fouls after the play.
andy griffith (86, july 3) the sherriff of small town america, griffith was the esteemed sherrif of mayberry, and of course the lawyer in matlock. but not so remembered, he was a pretty accomplished singer. he sang a lot of the songs for his shows & movies, including the theme song to the andy griffith show. in some of the episodes of andy griffith, there was a band called the darlings. in real life, they were called the dilliards. earlier this year, dilliards singer/guitarist founding member andy dilliard also passed away.
jimmy bivins (92, july 4) hall of fame boxer
maria hawkins coleman (89, july 4) jazz singer; wife of nat king, mother of natalie
uncle batiste (81, july 8) singer; treme brass band
ernest borgnine (95, july 8) legendary actor who only ever won one grammy ~ the 1955 film “marty.” started on stage, including, as the gentleman caller in the 1948 version of “the glass menagerie.” tv roles included “mchale’s navy,” which brought him an emmy in 1962, the 80s action show “airwolf” & won another emmy, at the age of 92, for his role in “er” in 2009. of his movie career, he was in the super awesome “from here to eternity” with clift, lancaster, sinatra, keer & reed. ernest played famously in “vera cruz,” with lancaster & cooper. then won the best actor grammy for “marty” in 1955, awarded to him by princess grace kelly. that film has also been given the award for cultural, historical or aesthetic significance by the library of congress. then came the western “the wild bunch” with william holden, “the dirty dozen,” with lee marvin. ernest played the sherrif in “convoy” alongside kris kristofferson & was in the cult classic “escape from new york” with kurt russell. most intriguingly, he was in a b-movie starring william shatner called “devil’s rain.” other fun odd stuff , he played vince lombardi in a 1973 film “legend in granite,” narrated a documentary called “american hobo,” and on the show “fox & friends,” ernest tells steve doocy the secret to long life. see the long-lived legend in the upcoming film “the man who shook the hand of vicente fernandez.”
zach booher (22, july 8) singer; “while we’re up”
dennis flemion (57, july 9) keyboardist for the frogs; drowned
perry baggs (50, july 12) drummer; jason & the scorchers
sage stallone (36, july 13) son of syvlester stallone
maurice davis (71, july 13) trumpeter; the funk brothers (see below babbit)
kitty wells (92, july 16) they call her the queen of country. she was one of the very few country stars that were actually born in nashville. in 1952, kitty became the first woman to chart a #1 single on the country charts (not to take away from pre-chart singers like jeanie shepard or patsy montana), but being well-loved wasn’t enough to secure kitty an extension of her record contract in the days when the boys made the scene. nonetheless, “it wasn’t god who made honky tonk angels” went on to become one of the most recognizable country songs of the twentieth century, covered by everyone. kitty was one of the five female country singers who had royalty status, along with dolly, loretta, reba & tammy. 1976, kitty was inducted into the country music hall of fame & received a grammy lifetime achievement award in 1991. her career went more than 75 years, the same amount of time as her marriage to legendary singer johnny wright (of johnny & jack) who passed away in 2011. then queen has gone home to the big country.
jon lord (71, july 16) the founding member & organist for deep purple. at a time when moog keyboards were the standard of the scene, lord opted for organ which, along with his orchestral training & blues roots, made deep purple a unique early heavy metal band. they are one of three flash acts: with led zeppelin & black sabbath, though dep purple is somehow not in the rock and roll hall of fame. lord began playing classical piano at age five & got his first pro training with bill ashton in london. one of lord’s early credits was playing keyboards for the kinks’ “you really got me.” his early bands were the artwoods, with art wood & keif hartley (d. 2011) & santa barbara machine head, with art wood’s brother ronnie (the rolling stones guitarist since 1972).
bob babbit (74, july 16) bass player for the funk brothers, a somewhat underaapreciated group of studio musicians hired to give the backing sounds to some of motown’s greatest albums. rarely did the backing musicians even receive credits. the book “standing in the shadows of motown” said that the funk brothers played on more #1 hits than the beatles, the stones, elvis & beach boys…combined. babbit himself gave some nice bass lines to edwin starr’s “war,” marvin gaye’s “inner city blues,” & the temptations “ball of confusion” among his career highlights. and to jimi hendrix, frank sinatra, phil collins & many others in a session career.
stephen r. covey (79, july 16) a professor in utah, wrote the massively influential book “seven habits of highly effective people.” covey died after suffering injuries from a bicycle accident in idaho falls. sad, but amazing. maybe effective people still ride bicycles for fun & sport at the age of 79.
nelson lyon (73, july 17) writer for saturday night live
ms. melodie (43, july 18) rapper, boogie down productions; ex-wife of krs one
tom davis (59, july 19) saturday night live writer
omar suleiman (76, july 19) ousted egyptian general & vice president
half of the syrian government (july 18)
aurora movie theatre mass shooting (july 21)
veronica moser-sullivan (6)
gordon cowden (51)
matthew mcquinn
alex sullivan
micayla medek (23)
john larimer
jesse childress (29)
alexander boik
jonathan blunk (26)
rebecca ann wingo (32)
jessica ghawi (24)
alexander teves (24)
alexander cockburn (71, july 21)
the co-editor of counterpunch, alexander wwas one of the most hard-lined, go-to sources for cutting edge news in a market otherwise owned by rupert murdoch or ted turner. everyone in cockburn’s immediate family were writers. his father wrote a book called “beat the devil” which became the name of alexander’s own column for the nation. at the time of his death, he was writing for counterpunch, the nation and the week. his early career was spent writing for new york review of books, esquire, harper’s and the village voice. he was controversially fired from village voice for being accused of anti-semitism. this tag became his trademark & he wore it with pride, often referring to himself sarcastically as anti-semitic. in fact, one of his great statements in arguing against a quote in which rev. billy graham advised president nixon that if the paris peace talks failed, the u.s. should cut off irrigation to north vietnam. such would have caused the deaths of at least a million vietnamese, which cockburn recognized and said infamously that it was p.c. to say something like that because they “didn't say they wanted to kill a million jews. that's what graham said about the vietnamese and no one raised a bleat.”
sally ride (61, july 23) first female astronaut in space
sherman helmsley (74, july 24) actor; george jefferson
larry hoppen (61, july 24) singer; orleans
john atta mills (68, july 24) president of ghana
thelma glass (96, july 24) secretary of women’s political council; organizer montgomery bus boycott
neil reed (36, july 27) indiana hoosier basketball player; famously choked by bob knight
pat porter (53, july 27) olymic long distance runner; plane crash
lupe ontiveros (69, july 27) actress; “goonies,” “el norte,” “as good as it gets”
darryl cotton (62, july 27) singer; zoot, cotton, keays & morris
sepp mayerl (75, july 28) mountineer; climbing accident; much the same as with stephen r. while an accident took the life of mayerl, it is an honorable death. amazing that in this age of apathy, laziness, obesity, etc. that someone at the age of 75 was still climbing mountains, still following their true passions.
sluggy ranks (44, july 25) jamaican dancehall singer; "95% black, 5% white” “ghetto youth bust”
gore vidal (86, july 31) novelist & talk show person
eduardo quesada (70, august 1) singer; lost fronterizos
tony sly (41, august 1) singer/git; no use for a name
abdi jeylani malaq marshale (43, august 1) comedian, journalist; shot
bill doss (43, august 1) singer; olivia tremor control & the apples in stereo
keiko tsushima (86, august 1) actress; seven samurai
mihaela ursuleasa (33, august 2) romanian pianist
jimmy jones (82, august 2) 50s pop singer; “handy man”
marguerite piazza (86, august 2) southern soprano; amazing life story
johnnie bassett (76, august 3) bluesman
arnie risen (87, august 3) boston celtics hall of famer
stuart swanlund (54, august 3) guitarist; the marshall tucker band (later)
joan stein (59, august 3) theatre, tv producer
jason noble (40, august 4) guitarist, lead singer; rachel’s; the shipping news; rodan
stephen hill (55, august 5) gospel singer
marvin hamlisch (68, august 7) composer, conductor; won emmy, grammy, oscar & tony awards; “the way we were”; “nobody does it better”
marvin lee wilson (54, august 7) murderer? maybe, but legal issues always baffling
carl davis (77, august 9) record producer; “yr love keeps lifting me (higher & highger)”
mel stuart (83, august 9) director; “willy wonka & the chocolate factory”
gregory ulas powell (79, august 12) convicted murderer of “the onion field”
gary cox (59, august 12) guitarist; artful dodger
dan hosker (46, august 12) guitarist of holy terrors; intensive care since may car wreck
johnny pesky (92, august 13) boston red sox hall of famer
phyllis thaxter (92, august 14) actress; “30 seconds over tokyo” & “superman”
ron pallilo (63, august 14) actor; “welcome back, kotter!”
bill tillman (66, august 15) sax; blood, sweat & tears
lou martin (63, august 17) keyboardist; rory gallagher
scott mckenzie (73, august 18) singer, songwriter; “if you’re going to san francisco”
tony scott (68 , august 19) director "top gun"; producer "numb3rs"
meles zenawi (57, august 20) prime minister & ex-president of ethiopia
phyllis diller (95, august 20) actress; comedian
mika yamamoto (45, august 20) journalist; shot
james fogle (75, august 23) author; “drug store cowboy” “a career criminal & writer who blew every chance he ever had to go straight, including the brief period after his manuscript about a band of outlaw junkies “drugstore cowboy” ~ made later into a well regarded movie [featuring william s. burroughs] ~ died in prison in monroe, washington. he died of a type f lung cancer often assosciated with asbestos exposure. he was serving a 16-year term for robbery. it was the only novel he ever had published out of 11 he wrote in prison.””he only had a sixth-grade education. but i thought his novel was amaxing, because of the uniqueness of the world he wrote about, an alternate world where there are just a different set of rules.” most awesome quote of all-time: “most people don’t know how they’re gonna feel from one minute to the next. the dope fiend has a pretty good idea. he just has to look at the labels on all the little bottles. it’s almost like having a future.” talking about his early life of crime beginning “when he stole a car at age 12, he spent his youth in a series of reformatories which he described as being like going to school to learn to be a thief.” his father beat him, so he stole cars to escape. that career ended in redmond, washington, when, at age 73, he was caught leaving a pharmacy with a pink bandana over his face, rubber gloves & two trash cans full of pharmaceuticals. -- from los angeles times, august 26
steve franken (80, august 24)
neil armstrong (82, august 25) first man to walk on the moon
george gallacher (68, august 25) singer; the poets
chris lighty (44, august 25) hip hop manager
hal david (91, september 1) songwriter; songwriters hall of fame; hollywood walk of fame; collaborator with burt bacharach & dionne warwick; lyricist for “raindrops keep falling on my head” “what the world needs now is love” “there is always something there to remind me”
lillian lopez (76, september 4) singer; odyssey; “native new yorker” “inside out” “use it up & wear it out”
joe south (72, september 5) grammy 1970 “games people play” & nominated 1972 “rose garden”. started career with “the purple people eater meets the witch doctor”, was staff guitarist for national recording corporation with ray stevens & jerry reed. south played guitar on aretha franklin “chain of fools”, tomy roe “sheila” bob dylan album “blonde on blonde” & simon & garfunkel “sound of silence”. wrote “walk a mile in my shoes” & many hits for county singers, including lynn anderson.
art modell (87, september 6) owner, baltimore ravens; scumbag to cleveland brown’s fans
dorthy mcguire (84, september 7) singer; the mcguire sisters
lance legault (77, spetember 10) actor; airwolf, a-team
homer joy (67, september 11) songwirter; “streets of bakersfield”
obo addy (76, september 13) african drummer from ghana; one of 55 children; lived in portland since 1978, teaching at lewis & clark college, lincoln high school james “sugar boy” crawford (77, september 15) singer; sugar boy & the cane cutters
steve sabol (69, september 16) nfl films host
andy williams (84, september 25) singer; had a string of success with cadence & then columbia records, that included 3 platinum & 18 gold records, only sinatra, elvis & johnny mathis had more. andy also had his songs done by the likes of the everly brothers, but the most famous was undoubtedly “moon river” though the song never charted, it did become his signature song after winning a 1962 oscar in the film “breakfast at tiffanys.” andy was the host of his own variety show for 10 years, during which time he formed his own record company called barnaby records. barnaby signed an unknown singer/songwriter in 1970 named jimmy buffett. andy later went on to open a club called moon river in branson, missouri, which has been a leading club in that scene for a few decades.
johnny lewis (28, september 26) actor; sons of anarchy; runaways
raylene rankin (52, september 30) co-leader of the rankin family, canadian irish folk group
terrance conner (26, october 1) drummer of total slacker; hit & run on his bicycle
nick curran (35, october 6) rockabilly, blues guitarist/singer; toured with kim lenz, then joined the jaguars for a spell (“the one & only” & “it’s all true”) always used vintage equipment to get his tone & sound compression; formed nick curran & the nitelifes; played with fabulous thunderbirds, deguello, the flash boys
amanda todd (15, october 10) canadian teen committed suicide after cyber bullying
gary collins (74, october 13) actor of a pretty famous talk show; star on the hollywood walk of fame; 1983 emmy as outstanding talk show host; also hosted the miss america pageant from 1982-1990; worked from 1962 – 2012, recently in dirty sexy money.
alex karras (77, october 10) defensive tackle for the detroit lions from 1958-70; made the all decade 1960 NFL team & the college football hall of fame; karras led iowa over oregon state in the 1957 rose bowl. one of only two linemen to ever finish as high as runner-up in heisman voting. later career in acting: played in m*a*s*h*, played mongo in blazing saddles, the adoptive dad on webster & the film for plimpton’s paper lion. And many others as well as a colorful way of bending his way around the law.
bobby load (42, october 19) punk singer of load; breifly the psycho daisies, among others; “a drinker with a singing problem”
joel burrows (october 28) drummer: the minders; guitarist: the thermals, from portland, joel was hit by a van last year & spent several months in ICU
blake mackey (25, october 28) portland singer/songwriter/psychedelia musician
tim johnson (52, october 21) noti, oregon; country songwriter for daryl singletary, diamond rio, kellie pickler, etc. producer for blaine larsen.
george mcgovern (90, october 22) south dakota congressman (2 terms), senator (3 terms); george grew up a shy kid, poor athlete, poor student, often scolded by his strict family for going to the movies. he grew up in poverty level dust-bowl north dakota & then served in ww2 as a way to fight insecurities & psychological pain. trials made the kid who could hardly speak into a great orator, made the poor athlete instead recruited for debate, the poor student turn it around & graduated in top 10% of his class. dust-bowl life connected him to farm life. and no doubt his distinguished flying cross for recovery of crew in a pretty nasty landing over german occupied europe must be one of the most enduring experiences in human history for a person to have experienced. mcgovern was well rounded & esteemed such that bobby kennedy endorsed him early in ‘68. experience made him a very peaceful man, starting the idea “bleeding heart liberal.” his presidency would have meant a better resolution to vietnam no doubt, but we the people elected nixon in a landslide in ’72 versus mcgovern (who had been the only choice among of democrat field of completely inept human type but heartless and gutless bastards if you could ask hunter s. thompson, supporter of mcgovern, writer of an unparalleled book on political campaigns “fear & loathing on the campaign trail ‘72”). other mcgovern projects were “food for peace” & the “mcgovern report” which discussed hunger & set up new dietary guidelines. he was definitely the kind of person people hope politicians could be but almost never are, taking care of homeless and hungry and making a peaceful empathetic enviroment. if everyone had been given their vote back after watergate, there is no doubt mcgovern would have been president. it would have been prudent to offer him the presidency after nixon’s resignation. one of the few politicians that kid yoshida can love, mcgovern was a perfect father figure & statesman.
bill dees (73, october 24) songwriting collaborator of roy orbison
emanuel steward (68, october 25) trainer of 41 world champion boxers, including thomas hearns, lennox lewis, klitchko & tucker. his own boxing record was 94 wins & 3 losses. he trained fighters to a record 34 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie in title fights. steward is a member both of the international and world boxing hall of fames.
jo dunne (43, october 26) fuzzbox guitarist (aka we’ve got a fuzzbox & we’re gonna use it!); an 80s birmingham area indie band of songs like "xx sex" "rules and regulations" "international rescue" "pink sunshine"
natina reed (32, october 26) rapper with blaque (808, can’t get it back, bring it all to me); cousin of farrah franklin (destiny’s child); had a son with kurupt; natina died two days before her 33rd birthday after being hit by a car. neither the driver nor natina were paying attention as she tried crossing the street while talking on her cell phone.
terry callier (67, october 27) jazz vocals, guitar 60s, 70s (“ordinary joe” “you goin’ miss your candyman”); massive attack “live with me”
russell means (72, october 22) oglala sioux activist; pine ridge reservation, supporter of international indigenous communities; appeared in “last of the mohicans,” “natural born killers,” & “pocohantas.” wrote “where white men fear to tread.” as a member of AIM, staged controversial protests at mayflower II in boston, mount rushmore & wounded knee; not well known but means was the running mate for larry flint in a bizarre presidential run in 1984; in 1988 race he ran for libertarian nomination finishing second to ron paul with 31% support. means died of esophageal cancer.
mitch lucker (28, november 1) singer for suicide silence; died after a motorcycle crash on halloween night; apparently he was under the influence and his wife couldn’t stop him from getting on his motorcycle.
kirk reeves (56, november 4) porltand street musician, mainly trumpet under the hawthorne bridge
cleve duncan (77, november 7) doo wop singer for the penguins (vocal group hall of fame); “earth angel”; duncan died while casting vote for presidential election
major harris (65, november 9) philadelphia soul singer; member of the delfonics; “love won’t let me wait”
john napier (november 11) drummer for ethyl meatplow, e coli, buccinator
martin fay (76, november 14) fiddle; a founder of the chieftains
billy scott (70, november 17) r&b singer “i got the fever”
austin peralta (22, november 21) jazz pianist, mostly in japan; his two albums have featured ron carter & buster williams respectively on bass; son of z-boy skater stacy peralta
art ginsberg (82, november 21) chef “ooh, it’s so good!”
larry hagman (81, november 23) j.r. on dallas
hector "macho" camacho (50, november 24) boxer; died from brain damage sustained following a car jacking
chris stamp (70, november 24) music producer; the who, jimi hendrix
mickey baker (87, november 27) blues guitarist; half of mickey & silvia (sylvia robinson died in 2011)
jovan belcher & cassandra perkins (december 1) kansas city chiefs linebacker & his girlfriend in murder suicide
rick majerus (64, december 1) basketball coach for marquette; ball st; utah; saint louis
dave brubeck (91, december 5) jazz legend passed away the day before his 92nd birthday. most well known for “take five” brubeck brought in a higher tempo jazz, which brought criticism among swing fans, but later became the hot thing. brubeck, like many musicians, took a stand against racism by refusing to play in segregated clubs. brubeck, unlike others, took a stand with an considerable amount to lose. the square framed glasses white bread boy in the 50’s wasn’t necessarily expected to make noise. but his gambles paid off and his generation ushered in a newer age of acceptance thinking.
sarah kirsch (42, december 5) guitarist – pinhead gunpowder; torches to rome; fuel
huw lloyd langdon (68, december 6) original guitarist for hawkwind
ed cassidy (89, december 6) rock drummer for spirit; jazz drummer with rising sons (w/taj mahal & ry cooder)
irene hughes (92, december 7) psychic
jerry brown (25, december 8) dallas cowboys player killed in car crash by drunk teammate
norman joseph woodland (91, december 9) drexel university alum; inventor of barcode
clackamas town center (december 11)
stephen forsyth
cindy yuille
the shooter also committed suicide, but no one should give a shit what his name is
ravi shankar (92, december 11) world music legend; introduced sitar to the western world; trained george harrison on sitar in the 60s
eddie “guitar” burns (84, december 12) legendary detroit bluesman; wrote "bottle up & go" "notoriety woman"
willie ackerman (73, december 13) drummer for willie nelson, loretta lynn, louis armstrong, “hee haw”, marty robbins and all kinds of others
jack hanlon (96, december 13) oldest living member of original “our gang”; last surviving actor of the genereal (with buster keaton); retired from acting 80 years ago
sandy hook elementary school, connecticut (december 15)
allsion wyatt
benjamin wheeler
avielle richman
jessica rekos
caroline previdi
jack pinto
emilie parker
grace mcdonnell
james mattioli
jesse lewis
chase kowalski
catherine hubbard
madeleine hsu
dylan hockley
ana marquez-green
josephine gay
olivia engel
daniel barden
charlotte bacon
rachel davino
dawn hochsprung
anne murphy
lauren rousseau
victoria soto
jimmy mccracklin (91, december 20) post ww2 so cal jump blues legend; wrote "the walk" and "stsomp"
spencer cox (44, december 20) prominent a.i.d.s. researcher & activist
lee dorman (70, december 21) bassist during the significant era of iron butterfly; also bassist for captain beyond with larry “rhino” rhinehart after they had been in iron butterfly together. rhino passed away early this year.
harry carey, jr. (91, december 27) character actor; a pretty versatile actor who could pull off stunts. guys like this are the ones that make john wayne look good. which only begs the question, why was john wayne so damn famous & harry carey just a bit player that no one really knew?
mike auldridge (74, december 29) master of the dobro; pioneer of acid grass and founder of seldom scene
ossie hibbert (61, july 1) jamaican keyboardist; the aggrovators & the revolutionaries
ben davidson (72, july 2) washington huskies, oakland raiders defensive end. made an illegal play on len dawson in 1970 that was nullified by a personal foul on kansas city. after the season, nfl rules changed to penalize personal fouls after the play.
andy griffith (86, july 3) the sherriff of small town america, griffith was the esteemed sherrif of mayberry, and of course the lawyer in matlock. but not so remembered, he was a pretty accomplished singer. he sang a lot of the songs for his shows & movies, including the theme song to the andy griffith show. in some of the episodes of andy griffith, there was a band called the darlings. in real life, they were called the dilliards. earlier this year, dilliards singer/guitarist founding member andy dilliard also passed away.
jimmy bivins (92, july 4) hall of fame boxer
maria hawkins coleman (89, july 4) jazz singer; wife of nat king, mother of natalie
uncle batiste (81, july 8) singer; treme brass band
ernest borgnine (95, july 8) legendary actor who only ever won one grammy ~ the 1955 film “marty.” started on stage, including, as the gentleman caller in the 1948 version of “the glass menagerie.” tv roles included “mchale’s navy,” which brought him an emmy in 1962, the 80s action show “airwolf” & won another emmy, at the age of 92, for his role in “er” in 2009. of his movie career, he was in the super awesome “from here to eternity” with clift, lancaster, sinatra, keer & reed. ernest played famously in “vera cruz,” with lancaster & cooper. then won the best actor grammy for “marty” in 1955, awarded to him by princess grace kelly. that film has also been given the award for cultural, historical or aesthetic significance by the library of congress. then came the western “the wild bunch” with william holden, “the dirty dozen,” with lee marvin. ernest played the sherrif in “convoy” alongside kris kristofferson & was in the cult classic “escape from new york” with kurt russell. most intriguingly, he was in a b-movie starring william shatner called “devil’s rain.” other fun odd stuff , he played vince lombardi in a 1973 film “legend in granite,” narrated a documentary called “american hobo,” and on the show “fox & friends,” ernest tells steve doocy the secret to long life. see the long-lived legend in the upcoming film “the man who shook the hand of vicente fernandez.”
zach booher (22, july 8) singer; “while we’re up”
dennis flemion (57, july 9) keyboardist for the frogs; drowned
perry baggs (50, july 12) drummer; jason & the scorchers
sage stallone (36, july 13) son of syvlester stallone
maurice davis (71, july 13) trumpeter; the funk brothers (see below babbit)
kitty wells (92, july 16) they call her the queen of country. she was one of the very few country stars that were actually born in nashville. in 1952, kitty became the first woman to chart a #1 single on the country charts (not to take away from pre-chart singers like jeanie shepard or patsy montana), but being well-loved wasn’t enough to secure kitty an extension of her record contract in the days when the boys made the scene. nonetheless, “it wasn’t god who made honky tonk angels” went on to become one of the most recognizable country songs of the twentieth century, covered by everyone. kitty was one of the five female country singers who had royalty status, along with dolly, loretta, reba & tammy. 1976, kitty was inducted into the country music hall of fame & received a grammy lifetime achievement award in 1991. her career went more than 75 years, the same amount of time as her marriage to legendary singer johnny wright (of johnny & jack) who passed away in 2011. then queen has gone home to the big country.
jon lord (71, july 16) the founding member & organist for deep purple. at a time when moog keyboards were the standard of the scene, lord opted for organ which, along with his orchestral training & blues roots, made deep purple a unique early heavy metal band. they are one of three flash acts: with led zeppelin & black sabbath, though dep purple is somehow not in the rock and roll hall of fame. lord began playing classical piano at age five & got his first pro training with bill ashton in london. one of lord’s early credits was playing keyboards for the kinks’ “you really got me.” his early bands were the artwoods, with art wood & keif hartley (d. 2011) & santa barbara machine head, with art wood’s brother ronnie (the rolling stones guitarist since 1972).
bob babbit (74, july 16) bass player for the funk brothers, a somewhat underaapreciated group of studio musicians hired to give the backing sounds to some of motown’s greatest albums. rarely did the backing musicians even receive credits. the book “standing in the shadows of motown” said that the funk brothers played on more #1 hits than the beatles, the stones, elvis & beach boys…combined. babbit himself gave some nice bass lines to edwin starr’s “war,” marvin gaye’s “inner city blues,” & the temptations “ball of confusion” among his career highlights. and to jimi hendrix, frank sinatra, phil collins & many others in a session career.
stephen r. covey (79, july 16) a professor in utah, wrote the massively influential book “seven habits of highly effective people.” covey died after suffering injuries from a bicycle accident in idaho falls. sad, but amazing. maybe effective people still ride bicycles for fun & sport at the age of 79.
nelson lyon (73, july 17) writer for saturday night live
ms. melodie (43, july 18) rapper, boogie down productions; ex-wife of krs one
tom davis (59, july 19) saturday night live writer
omar suleiman (76, july 19) ousted egyptian general & vice president
half of the syrian government (july 18)
aurora movie theatre mass shooting (july 21)
veronica moser-sullivan (6)
gordon cowden (51)
matthew mcquinn
alex sullivan
micayla medek (23)
john larimer
jesse childress (29)
alexander boik
jonathan blunk (26)
rebecca ann wingo (32)
jessica ghawi (24)
alexander teves (24)
alexander cockburn (71, july 21)
the co-editor of counterpunch, alexander wwas one of the most hard-lined, go-to sources for cutting edge news in a market otherwise owned by rupert murdoch or ted turner. everyone in cockburn’s immediate family were writers. his father wrote a book called “beat the devil” which became the name of alexander’s own column for the nation. at the time of his death, he was writing for counterpunch, the nation and the week. his early career was spent writing for new york review of books, esquire, harper’s and the village voice. he was controversially fired from village voice for being accused of anti-semitism. this tag became his trademark & he wore it with pride, often referring to himself sarcastically as anti-semitic. in fact, one of his great statements in arguing against a quote in which rev. billy graham advised president nixon that if the paris peace talks failed, the u.s. should cut off irrigation to north vietnam. such would have caused the deaths of at least a million vietnamese, which cockburn recognized and said infamously that it was p.c. to say something like that because they “didn't say they wanted to kill a million jews. that's what graham said about the vietnamese and no one raised a bleat.”
sally ride (61, july 23) first female astronaut in space
sherman helmsley (74, july 24) actor; george jefferson
larry hoppen (61, july 24) singer; orleans
john atta mills (68, july 24) president of ghana
thelma glass (96, july 24) secretary of women’s political council; organizer montgomery bus boycott
neil reed (36, july 27) indiana hoosier basketball player; famously choked by bob knight
pat porter (53, july 27) olymic long distance runner; plane crash
lupe ontiveros (69, july 27) actress; “goonies,” “el norte,” “as good as it gets”
darryl cotton (62, july 27) singer; zoot, cotton, keays & morris
sepp mayerl (75, july 28) mountineer; climbing accident; much the same as with stephen r. while an accident took the life of mayerl, it is an honorable death. amazing that in this age of apathy, laziness, obesity, etc. that someone at the age of 75 was still climbing mountains, still following their true passions.
sluggy ranks (44, july 25) jamaican dancehall singer; "95% black, 5% white” “ghetto youth bust”
gore vidal (86, july 31) novelist & talk show person
eduardo quesada (70, august 1) singer; lost fronterizos
tony sly (41, august 1) singer/git; no use for a name
abdi jeylani malaq marshale (43, august 1) comedian, journalist; shot
bill doss (43, august 1) singer; olivia tremor control & the apples in stereo
keiko tsushima (86, august 1) actress; seven samurai
mihaela ursuleasa (33, august 2) romanian pianist
jimmy jones (82, august 2) 50s pop singer; “handy man”
marguerite piazza (86, august 2) southern soprano; amazing life story
johnnie bassett (76, august 3) bluesman
arnie risen (87, august 3) boston celtics hall of famer
stuart swanlund (54, august 3) guitarist; the marshall tucker band (later)
joan stein (59, august 3) theatre, tv producer
jason noble (40, august 4) guitarist, lead singer; rachel’s; the shipping news; rodan
stephen hill (55, august 5) gospel singer
marvin hamlisch (68, august 7) composer, conductor; won emmy, grammy, oscar & tony awards; “the way we were”; “nobody does it better”
marvin lee wilson (54, august 7) murderer? maybe, but legal issues always baffling
carl davis (77, august 9) record producer; “yr love keeps lifting me (higher & highger)”
mel stuart (83, august 9) director; “willy wonka & the chocolate factory”
gregory ulas powell (79, august 12) convicted murderer of “the onion field”
gary cox (59, august 12) guitarist; artful dodger
dan hosker (46, august 12) guitarist of holy terrors; intensive care since may car wreck
johnny pesky (92, august 13) boston red sox hall of famer
phyllis thaxter (92, august 14) actress; “30 seconds over tokyo” & “superman”
ron pallilo (63, august 14) actor; “welcome back, kotter!”
bill tillman (66, august 15) sax; blood, sweat & tears
lou martin (63, august 17) keyboardist; rory gallagher
scott mckenzie (73, august 18) singer, songwriter; “if you’re going to san francisco”
tony scott (68 , august 19) director "top gun"; producer "numb3rs"
meles zenawi (57, august 20) prime minister & ex-president of ethiopia
phyllis diller (95, august 20) actress; comedian
mika yamamoto (45, august 20) journalist; shot
james fogle (75, august 23) author; “drug store cowboy” “a career criminal & writer who blew every chance he ever had to go straight, including the brief period after his manuscript about a band of outlaw junkies “drugstore cowboy” ~ made later into a well regarded movie [featuring william s. burroughs] ~ died in prison in monroe, washington. he died of a type f lung cancer often assosciated with asbestos exposure. he was serving a 16-year term for robbery. it was the only novel he ever had published out of 11 he wrote in prison.””he only had a sixth-grade education. but i thought his novel was amaxing, because of the uniqueness of the world he wrote about, an alternate world where there are just a different set of rules.” most awesome quote of all-time: “most people don’t know how they’re gonna feel from one minute to the next. the dope fiend has a pretty good idea. he just has to look at the labels on all the little bottles. it’s almost like having a future.” talking about his early life of crime beginning “when he stole a car at age 12, he spent his youth in a series of reformatories which he described as being like going to school to learn to be a thief.” his father beat him, so he stole cars to escape. that career ended in redmond, washington, when, at age 73, he was caught leaving a pharmacy with a pink bandana over his face, rubber gloves & two trash cans full of pharmaceuticals. -- from los angeles times, august 26
steve franken (80, august 24)
neil armstrong (82, august 25) first man to walk on the moon
george gallacher (68, august 25) singer; the poets
chris lighty (44, august 25) hip hop manager
hal david (91, september 1) songwriter; songwriters hall of fame; hollywood walk of fame; collaborator with burt bacharach & dionne warwick; lyricist for “raindrops keep falling on my head” “what the world needs now is love” “there is always something there to remind me”
lillian lopez (76, september 4) singer; odyssey; “native new yorker” “inside out” “use it up & wear it out”
joe south (72, september 5) grammy 1970 “games people play” & nominated 1972 “rose garden”. started career with “the purple people eater meets the witch doctor”, was staff guitarist for national recording corporation with ray stevens & jerry reed. south played guitar on aretha franklin “chain of fools”, tomy roe “sheila” bob dylan album “blonde on blonde” & simon & garfunkel “sound of silence”. wrote “walk a mile in my shoes” & many hits for county singers, including lynn anderson.
art modell (87, september 6) owner, baltimore ravens; scumbag to cleveland brown’s fans
dorthy mcguire (84, september 7) singer; the mcguire sisters
lance legault (77, spetember 10) actor; airwolf, a-team
homer joy (67, september 11) songwirter; “streets of bakersfield”
obo addy (76, september 13) african drummer from ghana; one of 55 children; lived in portland since 1978, teaching at lewis & clark college, lincoln high school james “sugar boy” crawford (77, september 15) singer; sugar boy & the cane cutters
steve sabol (69, september 16) nfl films host
andy williams (84, september 25) singer; had a string of success with cadence & then columbia records, that included 3 platinum & 18 gold records, only sinatra, elvis & johnny mathis had more. andy also had his songs done by the likes of the everly brothers, but the most famous was undoubtedly “moon river” though the song never charted, it did become his signature song after winning a 1962 oscar in the film “breakfast at tiffanys.” andy was the host of his own variety show for 10 years, during which time he formed his own record company called barnaby records. barnaby signed an unknown singer/songwriter in 1970 named jimmy buffett. andy later went on to open a club called moon river in branson, missouri, which has been a leading club in that scene for a few decades.
johnny lewis (28, september 26) actor; sons of anarchy; runaways
raylene rankin (52, september 30) co-leader of the rankin family, canadian irish folk group
terrance conner (26, october 1) drummer of total slacker; hit & run on his bicycle
nick curran (35, october 6) rockabilly, blues guitarist/singer; toured with kim lenz, then joined the jaguars for a spell (“the one & only” & “it’s all true”) always used vintage equipment to get his tone & sound compression; formed nick curran & the nitelifes; played with fabulous thunderbirds, deguello, the flash boys
amanda todd (15, october 10) canadian teen committed suicide after cyber bullying
gary collins (74, october 13) actor of a pretty famous talk show; star on the hollywood walk of fame; 1983 emmy as outstanding talk show host; also hosted the miss america pageant from 1982-1990; worked from 1962 – 2012, recently in dirty sexy money.
alex karras (77, october 10) defensive tackle for the detroit lions from 1958-70; made the all decade 1960 NFL team & the college football hall of fame; karras led iowa over oregon state in the 1957 rose bowl. one of only two linemen to ever finish as high as runner-up in heisman voting. later career in acting: played in m*a*s*h*, played mongo in blazing saddles, the adoptive dad on webster & the film for plimpton’s paper lion. And many others as well as a colorful way of bending his way around the law.
bobby load (42, october 19) punk singer of load; breifly the psycho daisies, among others; “a drinker with a singing problem”
joel burrows (october 28) drummer: the minders; guitarist: the thermals, from portland, joel was hit by a van last year & spent several months in ICU
blake mackey (25, october 28) portland singer/songwriter/psychedelia musician
tim johnson (52, october 21) noti, oregon; country songwriter for daryl singletary, diamond rio, kellie pickler, etc. producer for blaine larsen.
george mcgovern (90, october 22) south dakota congressman (2 terms), senator (3 terms); george grew up a shy kid, poor athlete, poor student, often scolded by his strict family for going to the movies. he grew up in poverty level dust-bowl north dakota & then served in ww2 as a way to fight insecurities & psychological pain. trials made the kid who could hardly speak into a great orator, made the poor athlete instead recruited for debate, the poor student turn it around & graduated in top 10% of his class. dust-bowl life connected him to farm life. and no doubt his distinguished flying cross for recovery of crew in a pretty nasty landing over german occupied europe must be one of the most enduring experiences in human history for a person to have experienced. mcgovern was well rounded & esteemed such that bobby kennedy endorsed him early in ‘68. experience made him a very peaceful man, starting the idea “bleeding heart liberal.” his presidency would have meant a better resolution to vietnam no doubt, but we the people elected nixon in a landslide in ’72 versus mcgovern (who had been the only choice among of democrat field of completely inept human type but heartless and gutless bastards if you could ask hunter s. thompson, supporter of mcgovern, writer of an unparalleled book on political campaigns “fear & loathing on the campaign trail ‘72”). other mcgovern projects were “food for peace” & the “mcgovern report” which discussed hunger & set up new dietary guidelines. he was definitely the kind of person people hope politicians could be but almost never are, taking care of homeless and hungry and making a peaceful empathetic enviroment. if everyone had been given their vote back after watergate, there is no doubt mcgovern would have been president. it would have been prudent to offer him the presidency after nixon’s resignation. one of the few politicians that kid yoshida can love, mcgovern was a perfect father figure & statesman.
bill dees (73, october 24) songwriting collaborator of roy orbison
emanuel steward (68, october 25) trainer of 41 world champion boxers, including thomas hearns, lennox lewis, klitchko & tucker. his own boxing record was 94 wins & 3 losses. he trained fighters to a record 34 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie in title fights. steward is a member both of the international and world boxing hall of fames.
jo dunne (43, october 26) fuzzbox guitarist (aka we’ve got a fuzzbox & we’re gonna use it!); an 80s birmingham area indie band of songs like "xx sex" "rules and regulations" "international rescue" "pink sunshine"
natina reed (32, october 26) rapper with blaque (808, can’t get it back, bring it all to me); cousin of farrah franklin (destiny’s child); had a son with kurupt; natina died two days before her 33rd birthday after being hit by a car. neither the driver nor natina were paying attention as she tried crossing the street while talking on her cell phone.
terry callier (67, october 27) jazz vocals, guitar 60s, 70s (“ordinary joe” “you goin’ miss your candyman”); massive attack “live with me”
russell means (72, october 22) oglala sioux activist; pine ridge reservation, supporter of international indigenous communities; appeared in “last of the mohicans,” “natural born killers,” & “pocohantas.” wrote “where white men fear to tread.” as a member of AIM, staged controversial protests at mayflower II in boston, mount rushmore & wounded knee; not well known but means was the running mate for larry flint in a bizarre presidential run in 1984; in 1988 race he ran for libertarian nomination finishing second to ron paul with 31% support. means died of esophageal cancer.
mitch lucker (28, november 1) singer for suicide silence; died after a motorcycle crash on halloween night; apparently he was under the influence and his wife couldn’t stop him from getting on his motorcycle.
kirk reeves (56, november 4) porltand street musician, mainly trumpet under the hawthorne bridge
cleve duncan (77, november 7) doo wop singer for the penguins (vocal group hall of fame); “earth angel”; duncan died while casting vote for presidential election
major harris (65, november 9) philadelphia soul singer; member of the delfonics; “love won’t let me wait”
john napier (november 11) drummer for ethyl meatplow, e coli, buccinator
martin fay (76, november 14) fiddle; a founder of the chieftains
billy scott (70, november 17) r&b singer “i got the fever”
austin peralta (22, november 21) jazz pianist, mostly in japan; his two albums have featured ron carter & buster williams respectively on bass; son of z-boy skater stacy peralta
art ginsberg (82, november 21) chef “ooh, it’s so good!”
larry hagman (81, november 23) j.r. on dallas
hector "macho" camacho (50, november 24) boxer; died from brain damage sustained following a car jacking
chris stamp (70, november 24) music producer; the who, jimi hendrix
mickey baker (87, november 27) blues guitarist; half of mickey & silvia (sylvia robinson died in 2011)
jovan belcher & cassandra perkins (december 1) kansas city chiefs linebacker & his girlfriend in murder suicide
rick majerus (64, december 1) basketball coach for marquette; ball st; utah; saint louis
dave brubeck (91, december 5) jazz legend passed away the day before his 92nd birthday. most well known for “take five” brubeck brought in a higher tempo jazz, which brought criticism among swing fans, but later became the hot thing. brubeck, like many musicians, took a stand against racism by refusing to play in segregated clubs. brubeck, unlike others, took a stand with an considerable amount to lose. the square framed glasses white bread boy in the 50’s wasn’t necessarily expected to make noise. but his gambles paid off and his generation ushered in a newer age of acceptance thinking.
sarah kirsch (42, december 5) guitarist – pinhead gunpowder; torches to rome; fuel
huw lloyd langdon (68, december 6) original guitarist for hawkwind
ed cassidy (89, december 6) rock drummer for spirit; jazz drummer with rising sons (w/taj mahal & ry cooder)
irene hughes (92, december 7) psychic
jerry brown (25, december 8) dallas cowboys player killed in car crash by drunk teammate
norman joseph woodland (91, december 9) drexel university alum; inventor of barcode
clackamas town center (december 11)
stephen forsyth
cindy yuille
the shooter also committed suicide, but no one should give a shit what his name is
ravi shankar (92, december 11) world music legend; introduced sitar to the western world; trained george harrison on sitar in the 60s
eddie “guitar” burns (84, december 12) legendary detroit bluesman; wrote "bottle up & go" "notoriety woman"
willie ackerman (73, december 13) drummer for willie nelson, loretta lynn, louis armstrong, “hee haw”, marty robbins and all kinds of others
jack hanlon (96, december 13) oldest living member of original “our gang”; last surviving actor of the genereal (with buster keaton); retired from acting 80 years ago
sandy hook elementary school, connecticut (december 15)
allsion wyatt
benjamin wheeler
avielle richman
jessica rekos
caroline previdi
jack pinto
emilie parker
grace mcdonnell
james mattioli
jesse lewis
chase kowalski
catherine hubbard
madeleine hsu
dylan hockley
ana marquez-green
josephine gay
olivia engel
daniel barden
charlotte bacon
rachel davino
dawn hochsprung
anne murphy
lauren rousseau
victoria soto
jimmy mccracklin (91, december 20) post ww2 so cal jump blues legend; wrote "the walk" and "stsomp"
spencer cox (44, december 20) prominent a.i.d.s. researcher & activist
lee dorman (70, december 21) bassist during the significant era of iron butterfly; also bassist for captain beyond with larry “rhino” rhinehart after they had been in iron butterfly together. rhino passed away early this year.
harry carey, jr. (91, december 27) character actor; a pretty versatile actor who could pull off stunts. guys like this are the ones that make john wayne look good. which only begs the question, why was john wayne so damn famous & harry carey just a bit player that no one really knew?
mike auldridge (74, december 29) master of the dobro; pioneer of acid grass and founder of seldom scene
Thursday, January 3, 2013
new year's resolutions!
1 purchase nothing that comes in plastic or styrofoam containers
2 carrying my own silverware & chopsticks & to go containers to restaurants
3 do not take anything that comes in unnecessary packaging
4 one load of laundry per week, no dryers
5 throw out 4 or less bags (grocery bag size) of trash in the calendar year
6 not buy more than 12 newly made products during the year (with the exception
of vinyl records or handmade cds by local bands and the exception of food, in case you count that as a product.)
7 never voting for another republican or democrat, period.
8 not putting gas in my car until march 21 (that would be first day of spring
& exactly 3 months since the last time)
#8 seems rough, but doable. #7 is a foregone conclusion & a cheapo resolution. #6 is probably going to be the hardest to interpret, much less pull off. #5 & #4 are no big deal, i already do that as it is. #3 is somewhat vague, but not too difficult to pull off. #2 is going to be funny the first time i walk into a restaurant. hell, it'll be funny the fiftieth time i walk into a restaurant.
#1 is, of course, #1. i'd rather eat that crap than try to throw it away.
that’s my contribution to the world in 2013. and i know it’s not enough. but i’m trying my godamnedest to care and be responsible. so let me work on this and i’ll get back with even better goals in 2014.
2 carrying my own silverware & chopsticks & to go containers to restaurants
3 do not take anything that comes in unnecessary packaging
4 one load of laundry per week, no dryers
5 throw out 4 or less bags (grocery bag size) of trash in the calendar year
6 not buy more than 12 newly made products during the year (with the exception
of vinyl records or handmade cds by local bands and the exception of food, in case you count that as a product.)
7 never voting for another republican or democrat, period.
8 not putting gas in my car until march 21 (that would be first day of spring
& exactly 3 months since the last time)
#8 seems rough, but doable. #7 is a foregone conclusion & a cheapo resolution. #6 is probably going to be the hardest to interpret, much less pull off. #5 & #4 are no big deal, i already do that as it is. #3 is somewhat vague, but not too difficult to pull off. #2 is going to be funny the first time i walk into a restaurant. hell, it'll be funny the fiftieth time i walk into a restaurant.
#1 is, of course, #1. i'd rather eat that crap than try to throw it away.
that’s my contribution to the world in 2013. and i know it’s not enough. but i’m trying my godamnedest to care and be responsible. so let me work on this and i’ll get back with even better goals in 2014.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
2012 ~ albums of the year!
2012! ALBumS of THE YEAR
this list is dedicated to stevie nicks, who said in the last rolling stone that album rock is dead! thanks to lindsey buckingham for not believing such horse s***.
laura gibson – la grande
gregory rawlins – elwha
diamond rugs
ty segall band – slaughterhouse
mike surber – the long con
faithless saints – state dependent learning
zz ward – til the casket drops
strangled darlings – red, yellow & blue
sassparilla – magpie
todd snider – agnostic hymns & stoner fables
aaron mark brown – realities of grandeur
king elephant – exhaust
cloud nothings – attack on memory
hillfolk noir radio hour
galactic – carnivale electricos
drunken prayer – into the mission field
ani difranco – which side are you on?
the mutts – separation anxiety
the missionary position – consequences
santigold – master of my make believe
laura gibson – la grande (barsuk records)
putting this laura gibson album in a mantle display next to some of the classic albums, gives a certain gravity to the experience. listening in that vein, i feel the same power in essentially only one instrument: the voice of laura. it is a complex mix of glottal vocal action, and keys that intertwines in perfect harmony throughout with flowing patterns. she has enough tenderness to carry some dark, soulful messages without having to use too much range and thus making the dark seem tolerable, even intriguing. she still has the range when needed. the extra bias factor: in the live show, it proved every bit as visually pleasing to watch her pull off a slightly uptempo version. named after la grande, we were thus lucky enough to get a promo for it in la grande. that happened on march 1st, the opening night of the arts center at the old library on penn. a magical night complete with a little blizzard keeping a good many out of town fans from making it over the pass (and laura barely squeaked past the police closing the road). a packed house nonetheless and ambiance to every last candle flame, dark streak for dark streak, with the eeriness of the video filmed at hot lake the previous october. this was a highly anticipated release, the concert even moreso, neither disappointed on any level. i am happy that this music and good sprit was felt all over the world, in europe and at sxsw. la grande life, baby!
gregory rawlins – elwha (la grande music)
until this year, i had seen rawlins play solo twice, and both of those featured a lot of unreleased stuff. by the time of elwha, things had taken a dramatic upswing and right about now a music industry executive needs to take note with a contract in hand. thinking purely of the cd, and not even considering the interstellar overdrive cover he killed on guitar with the best crew of spliced together musicians ever, this tribute to his first son holds more emotion than an entire soap opera season. the actor in greg adds a special dimension. but mostly, it’s the guitar work seen live that makes the disc infinitely more appreciated. a visual experience indeed. rawlins comes purely to entertain and then hopes you like the songs as well. and, oh, by the way, they’re masterful. for orson.
diamond rugs (partisan records)
side project of deer tick member john mccauley, who accidentally created a supergroup with steve berlin (los lobos) and other members of deer tick, six finger satellite, dead confederates and the black lips. this is a “debut” record inviting you to get drunk like a gangster on christmas. allmusic.com says “the songs have a ragged swagger that lurks somewhere between a stones tribute act and the second-best garage band in town and this group tears into their makeshift tunes with commendable vigor,” going on to compare it with golden smog and various offshoots. diamond rugs might turn out to be a one-off project. hopefully not, but if so at least they left one hell of puke stain the next morning.
ty segall band – slaughterhouse (in the red records)
garage phenom segall has put some of the more incredible lo-fi doom and space rock from an impressive scene in san francisco. after several “solo” recordings, this is the “debut” as a full band. recorded in 3 days back in february, released in june, there was not a minute wasted, about the most efficient operation in a true punk manner. pitchfork says this record “opens with a scorching double shot of motor city burning rave ups…heavy and hooky…and redrafting the [stooges’] fun house floor plan for their own devious devices…there’s that evocative title…and both albums end with extended free-form meltdowns…unapologetic grimness, blast-furnace heat and panic-attack inducing lack of oxygen.” this may turn out to be segalls own fun house, but you owe yourself the slaughter.
mike surber – the long con
sons of guns made the best album of 2011, which still sounds every bit as perfect, and then splintered into three other bands for 2012. and then all three get props on the year end list? who could guess that? at this point, you could just say that one of these guys released a record and it would be on the list before i hear it. all three are not just complete albums, but chock full of sing-a-long songs. i suppose the best albums are full of sing-a-longs. what should i even say about it? the songs are crafted like 70s era folk songs, but clearly produced with a modern alt bent. but with equipment to bring listen, for starters, to a way with words, western endeavors and the song about climbing trees in the forest. you’ll be hooked and ready to pay this rising star however much he asks to play your private party.
faithless saints – state dependent learning (irican productions)
these songs are so etched into my head from seeing them live so many times over the last 4 years, that having the disc in 2012 seemed a bit of an afterthought. watching the birth of songs like lord, the lube! finsihed thru to a well produced cd, not unlike the well rehearsed live sets. that's not to say they're perfect. they'll still get drunk and fall off the stage, especially for a tip. on some level, it can feel overproduced compared to the spontanaeity live, which I prefer. but after letting the cd take the place of the fact that i can’t see them live anymore, its a solid reminder to make a trip to the nearest city to see them one more time in 2013. and let's not forget classic properties in the lyrics that add to the staying power. it’s offensive. and anything offensive makes people think in a different way. that’s enduring. but that’s all the more i should say about this lest i piss off uncle bobby.
zz ward - til the casket drops (hollywood records)
i rarely find myself listening to love songs. it’s triply rare that i would freak out over an entire album of love songs. this woman from roseburg, oregon went down to l.a. a couple of years ago and quickly made a collision with greatness. til the casket drops is her debut album released back in october and she’s already got kendrick lamarr and freddie gibbs singing on a it? how does that happen? she’s that good to hit the big time that quick. if her second album is even half as good as this, people will never remember adele or lykke li at all. not that that’s zz ward’s intent, but there can be no other result when she starts breaking all the grammy records. see her now while you can still shake her hand afterwards, tomorrow she will be on the cover of all the magazines at the supermarket newsracks.
strangled darlings – red, yellow & blue (mudfarm records)
even when a band can reproduce their live sound onto disc, it is still hard to visualize seeing the live show by hearing. with strangled darlings, hearing gives a complete mental picture of the live show, such that you can probably even guess what hat george will wear on stage. devil in outer space made the year end list last year as well, but strangled darlings sticks to the success formula with a little less rigid structure and a little faster tempos that makes red, yelow & blue as compelling as the last. this band may or may not ever make it big time. i would expect not, because they’re too good. and that’s the tragedy that falls onto most good bands and why commercial radio always sucks.
sassparilla – magpie (fluff & gravy records)
they say they wanted to make a pop record. they sort of did step away from a harder driven couple of past albums. but the message is just as hard. this is perhaps the hardest, loudest jug band, likely to perform in a small town. with bo diddley style cigar box guitar, 50 plus harmonicas in a case, a wash bin/broom stick bass, kick pedal tambourine, and an infectious smile of the accordian/keyboardist (and i mean the smile is infectous in the recording) this stuff is for keeps, exactly what the rabble rouser is about.
todd snider – agnostic hymns & stoner fables (aimless records)
american songwriter gave this #11 of the year, rolling stone #47, what more am i supposed to add? “good things happen to bad people” could well be the catchphrase of the century if this “recession” holds out another 9 decades, and right now do we have any reason to think otherwise? the only sad part of this being ranked highly by anyone and everyone is that his tribute album to jerry jeff walker is bound to be overlooked. a tragedy since jerry jeff walker needs exposure as a songwriting hall of famer in his own right. todd snider is surely bound for the songwriter’s hall of fame as well, which should put him securely as one of the top 5 best musicians to ever come from oregon. this album is a fresh piece of that pie.
aaron mark brown – realities of grandeur (sunless sea recording company)
one of the coolest things is to interview a legend of his local scene over an hour long lunch. one of the most heartbreaking things is to then lose the file before having a chance to play it on air or transcribe it. but being able to have lunch with aaron and see his cd release party, which happened to be the start of the treefort music festival back in march was the kind of times we bust our butts working all week every week for. realities of grandeur (despite my calling it birds in the night on the last podcast) was an early year fave so much that by summer i had played it out and then sort of forgot about it until dj yeti started using it for the intro to his show and i was thus re-introduced to what i had originally introduced. it borders between sounding like the soundtrack to the next rocky movie (though hopefully there isn’t one) and sounding like a soundtrack for disney movie. aaron is a master of showtunes. full of nuggets of wisdom like “all people are the same age when you’re out of time.”
king elephant - exhaust (minor bird records)
these guys came out of nowhere (well, missoula to be exact) only a year and a half ago, and i am still not sure how i was lucky enough to come across this. props go out to kentaro, formerly of kuoi, for turning the world onto great stuff that would otherwise be obscure. exhaust is the closest thing to garage as you’ll find in the northwest. it’s that pure. i am hooked. the hit song getaway driver grooves, but is not indicative of the rest of the album. be prepared to gently put your face through plate glass.
cloud nothings – attack on memory (carpark records)
cleveland's cloud nothings come back with their third album in three years. it was engineered by steve albini, though one review said that "he played scrabble on facebook most of the time." that is to say it's pretty much their own product and when you read all the other best of lists from major publications, you will find this somewhere towards the middle to end. not because it's not great, but because the major publications have to put the over publicized crap that their close friends coerced them into putting up high, lest they lose their financial backing. then, when the writers get an extra spot to put what they really like, they put this. this is not unlike a killdozer album. it will be a long standing classic.
hillfolk noir radio hour (self-released)
might be the best hillfolk to date. a lot of concert favorites, including some redux of older songs. a little narration for extra flavor. the sound of hillfolk noir can only be explained as junkerdash. if you don't know what that means, then you have to see it live to get it. if you do know what that means, then you have seen them live, perhaps many times, and you definitely get it. if you can't see them live, this is about as good a representation of the hillfolk brand. plus, it comes in a choice of a 10" or a cd. tough choice as the cd has 4 or 5 more songs, but the 10" is such a retro throwback, your grandfather will think you stole this from his grandfather's artifacts. it's that legit. then the music will wake your grandfather's grandfather.
galactic – carnivale electricos (anti-)
the liner notes give an explanation of how midaevil churches banned dancing in a way that gave birth to the carnival. it then goes on to explain how every different section of nola celebrates mardi gras. then the album gives a different feel for the various customs with loads of guests like mystikal and cyril and ivan neville. if you want a real jamming cajun party at your house, this record is a must have.
drunken prayer – into the mission field (fluff & gravy records)
morgan christopher greer could get lost in the singer/songwriter jungle of portland, or he could find the outlet to make a difference. let's hope for the latter. these songs are simple and you might feel like you even wrote them. not because it's easy, but because you can relate to the heartfeltness. i know nothing about the guy and had never heard of him before, but was apparently inspired from a couple conversations with tom waits when he was still down in california. we were lucky enough that fluff and gravy records sent the cd to us and then i just played it time after time. then heard a portland radio appearance and the guy is the real deal as a musician.
ani difranco – which side are you on? (righteous babe records)
some good things are even better because of timing. that is the case with this cd. the first ani cd i have heard in years, it has a classic throwback with the title track cover song, but surely seems spawned from occupy protests in 2011. on the other hand, some people like ani difranco will find their niche market and record the same comfortable styles with their fans. i don’t know if ani’s career has been like that since the last time i saw her in concert eons ago, but the utter force of this makes me think not. it does have her rabble rouser attitude, which is always good for lots of extra listens.
the mutts – separation anxiety
funk, blues, driven rock has all the sounds of the classic midwest garage, complete by being filtered through the manifold of a '66 GTO. terrific production channels the fierceness of natural grooves into something related to pop music that i feel in my skin. it’s a mid melter for sure. but a lotta funk in these guys too. very much worth owning, especially since they give away all their music on the website for free.
the missionary position - consequences (boredom killing business)
all i can really say about the missionary position is that this guy is from seattle, has a lot of soul, and is rather introspective. he can make a rocking chair without even sitting in it, too. i expect. this cd was very frequently played on my computer. santigold – master of my make believe (atlantic records)
punk singer santi white changes her tune to disco and goes gold, literally, figuratively and in name. listen once and you will have dj panda to thank. request it at keol – we have it – on vinyl only.
i never considered ep's before for a year end list because it starts to get closer to being a single many times, but i was reminded this year that an ep can have a good many artisitc merits. these especially:
correspondence school
finn riggins – benchwarmers
linden wood – thoughts & mumbles
kory quinn & the comrades – angels & outlaws
fools rush – expired
the music wrong
blasted canyons – 2nd place
edmund wayne
fidlar
as i have listened to perhaps a record number of records/cds this year, i have to say the pool from which to pick was enormous. it's not possible to listen to enough music to be able to truly know what the best is, only what i like enough to listen to over and over. here is an extra list of albums that i liked, and wanted to hear more than once or twice, but just didn't have the chance to...
nomads – solna
off!
spyrals
gonjasufi – mu.zz.le
jerry fels & the jerry fels – evil is the root of all money
evans the death
justin robinson & the mary annettes - bones for tinder
caustic casanova – someday you will be proven correct
james dean kindle & the eastern oregon playboys
uncle lucious – and you are me
jeff the brotherhood – hypnotic nights
plug – back on time
a killing dove
king tuff – bad thing
jon spencer blues explosion – meat & bone
various artists – repo man (soundtrack redux)
various artists – lost notebooks of hank williams
various artists – new multitudes (songs of woody guthrie)
bobby conn – macaroni
mynabirds – generals
first aid kit – the lion’s roar
redd kross – researching the blues
the asteroids galaxy tour – out of frequency
current swell
mosley wotta – kinkonk
andre williams & the sadies – night & day
hospitality
lost satellites – the war will end
viva voce – the future will destroy you
killer mike – r.a.p. music
chrome cranks – ain’t no lies in blood
black bananas – rad times express iv
…and you will know us by the trail of dead – lost songs
aesop rock – skelethona
terry malts – killing time
neil young – psychedelic pill
messhuga – koloss
the cult – choice of weapon
roberta flack sings the beatles – let it be roberta
phenomenal hand clap band – form and control
japandroids – celebration rock
eliza rickman – o ye sinner
ambush party – you are not safe without us
melvins – freak puke
isodore – life somewhere else
big boi – viscious lies & dangerous rumors
rayLand baxter – feathers & fishooks
steve sullivan & the factory – evil is a man made thing
bloody knives – blood
fanny alger – yellow monster
cursive – i am gemini
sound of curves – cast of the charade parade
heartless bastards – arrow
dirty ghosts – metal moon
soul rebels – unlock your mind
air – le voyage de dance la lune
forgotten citizen – scylla & charybdis
ultraista
eddy current suppression ring – primary colours
these united states
torche – harminocraft
the oppressed – antifa hooligans
pond – beard, wives, denim
foxy shazam – the church of rock and roll
this list is dedicated to stevie nicks, who said in the last rolling stone that album rock is dead! thanks to lindsey buckingham for not believing such horse s***.
laura gibson – la grande
gregory rawlins – elwha
diamond rugs
ty segall band – slaughterhouse
mike surber – the long con
faithless saints – state dependent learning
zz ward – til the casket drops
strangled darlings – red, yellow & blue
sassparilla – magpie
todd snider – agnostic hymns & stoner fables
aaron mark brown – realities of grandeur
king elephant – exhaust
cloud nothings – attack on memory
hillfolk noir radio hour
galactic – carnivale electricos
drunken prayer – into the mission field
ani difranco – which side are you on?
the mutts – separation anxiety
the missionary position – consequences
santigold – master of my make believe
putting this laura gibson album in a mantle display next to some of the classic albums, gives a certain gravity to the experience. listening in that vein, i feel the same power in essentially only one instrument: the voice of laura. it is a complex mix of glottal vocal action, and keys that intertwines in perfect harmony throughout with flowing patterns. she has enough tenderness to carry some dark, soulful messages without having to use too much range and thus making the dark seem tolerable, even intriguing. she still has the range when needed. the extra bias factor: in the live show, it proved every bit as visually pleasing to watch her pull off a slightly uptempo version. named after la grande, we were thus lucky enough to get a promo for it in la grande. that happened on march 1st, the opening night of the arts center at the old library on penn. a magical night complete with a little blizzard keeping a good many out of town fans from making it over the pass (and laura barely squeaked past the police closing the road). a packed house nonetheless and ambiance to every last candle flame, dark streak for dark streak, with the eeriness of the video filmed at hot lake the previous october. this was a highly anticipated release, the concert even moreso, neither disappointed on any level. i am happy that this music and good sprit was felt all over the world, in europe and at sxsw. la grande life, baby!
until this year, i had seen rawlins play solo twice, and both of those featured a lot of unreleased stuff. by the time of elwha, things had taken a dramatic upswing and right about now a music industry executive needs to take note with a contract in hand. thinking purely of the cd, and not even considering the interstellar overdrive cover he killed on guitar with the best crew of spliced together musicians ever, this tribute to his first son holds more emotion than an entire soap opera season. the actor in greg adds a special dimension. but mostly, it’s the guitar work seen live that makes the disc infinitely more appreciated. a visual experience indeed. rawlins comes purely to entertain and then hopes you like the songs as well. and, oh, by the way, they’re masterful. for orson.
side project of deer tick member john mccauley, who accidentally created a supergroup with steve berlin (los lobos) and other members of deer tick, six finger satellite, dead confederates and the black lips. this is a “debut” record inviting you to get drunk like a gangster on christmas. allmusic.com says “the songs have a ragged swagger that lurks somewhere between a stones tribute act and the second-best garage band in town and this group tears into their makeshift tunes with commendable vigor,” going on to compare it with golden smog and various offshoots. diamond rugs might turn out to be a one-off project. hopefully not, but if so at least they left one hell of puke stain the next morning.
garage phenom segall has put some of the more incredible lo-fi doom and space rock from an impressive scene in san francisco. after several “solo” recordings, this is the “debut” as a full band. recorded in 3 days back in february, released in june, there was not a minute wasted, about the most efficient operation in a true punk manner. pitchfork says this record “opens with a scorching double shot of motor city burning rave ups…heavy and hooky…and redrafting the [stooges’] fun house floor plan for their own devious devices…there’s that evocative title…and both albums end with extended free-form meltdowns…unapologetic grimness, blast-furnace heat and panic-attack inducing lack of oxygen.” this may turn out to be segalls own fun house, but you owe yourself the slaughter.
sons of guns made the best album of 2011, which still sounds every bit as perfect, and then splintered into three other bands for 2012. and then all three get props on the year end list? who could guess that? at this point, you could just say that one of these guys released a record and it would be on the list before i hear it. all three are not just complete albums, but chock full of sing-a-long songs. i suppose the best albums are full of sing-a-longs. what should i even say about it? the songs are crafted like 70s era folk songs, but clearly produced with a modern alt bent. but with equipment to bring listen, for starters, to a way with words, western endeavors and the song about climbing trees in the forest. you’ll be hooked and ready to pay this rising star however much he asks to play your private party.
these songs are so etched into my head from seeing them live so many times over the last 4 years, that having the disc in 2012 seemed a bit of an afterthought. watching the birth of songs like lord, the lube! finsihed thru to a well produced cd, not unlike the well rehearsed live sets. that's not to say they're perfect. they'll still get drunk and fall off the stage, especially for a tip. on some level, it can feel overproduced compared to the spontanaeity live, which I prefer. but after letting the cd take the place of the fact that i can’t see them live anymore, its a solid reminder to make a trip to the nearest city to see them one more time in 2013. and let's not forget classic properties in the lyrics that add to the staying power. it’s offensive. and anything offensive makes people think in a different way. that’s enduring. but that’s all the more i should say about this lest i piss off uncle bobby.
i rarely find myself listening to love songs. it’s triply rare that i would freak out over an entire album of love songs. this woman from roseburg, oregon went down to l.a. a couple of years ago and quickly made a collision with greatness. til the casket drops is her debut album released back in october and she’s already got kendrick lamarr and freddie gibbs singing on a it? how does that happen? she’s that good to hit the big time that quick. if her second album is even half as good as this, people will never remember adele or lykke li at all. not that that’s zz ward’s intent, but there can be no other result when she starts breaking all the grammy records. see her now while you can still shake her hand afterwards, tomorrow she will be on the cover of all the magazines at the supermarket newsracks.
even when a band can reproduce their live sound onto disc, it is still hard to visualize seeing the live show by hearing. with strangled darlings, hearing gives a complete mental picture of the live show, such that you can probably even guess what hat george will wear on stage. devil in outer space made the year end list last year as well, but strangled darlings sticks to the success formula with a little less rigid structure and a little faster tempos that makes red, yelow & blue as compelling as the last. this band may or may not ever make it big time. i would expect not, because they’re too good. and that’s the tragedy that falls onto most good bands and why commercial radio always sucks.
they say they wanted to make a pop record. they sort of did step away from a harder driven couple of past albums. but the message is just as hard. this is perhaps the hardest, loudest jug band, likely to perform in a small town. with bo diddley style cigar box guitar, 50 plus harmonicas in a case, a wash bin/broom stick bass, kick pedal tambourine, and an infectious smile of the accordian/keyboardist (and i mean the smile is infectous in the recording) this stuff is for keeps, exactly what the rabble rouser is about.
american songwriter gave this #11 of the year, rolling stone #47, what more am i supposed to add? “good things happen to bad people” could well be the catchphrase of the century if this “recession” holds out another 9 decades, and right now do we have any reason to think otherwise? the only sad part of this being ranked highly by anyone and everyone is that his tribute album to jerry jeff walker is bound to be overlooked. a tragedy since jerry jeff walker needs exposure as a songwriting hall of famer in his own right. todd snider is surely bound for the songwriter’s hall of fame as well, which should put him securely as one of the top 5 best musicians to ever come from oregon. this album is a fresh piece of that pie.
one of the coolest things is to interview a legend of his local scene over an hour long lunch. one of the most heartbreaking things is to then lose the file before having a chance to play it on air or transcribe it. but being able to have lunch with aaron and see his cd release party, which happened to be the start of the treefort music festival back in march was the kind of times we bust our butts working all week every week for. realities of grandeur (despite my calling it birds in the night on the last podcast) was an early year fave so much that by summer i had played it out and then sort of forgot about it until dj yeti started using it for the intro to his show and i was thus re-introduced to what i had originally introduced. it borders between sounding like the soundtrack to the next rocky movie (though hopefully there isn’t one) and sounding like a soundtrack for disney movie. aaron is a master of showtunes. full of nuggets of wisdom like “all people are the same age when you’re out of time.”
these guys came out of nowhere (well, missoula to be exact) only a year and a half ago, and i am still not sure how i was lucky enough to come across this. props go out to kentaro, formerly of kuoi, for turning the world onto great stuff that would otherwise be obscure. exhaust is the closest thing to garage as you’ll find in the northwest. it’s that pure. i am hooked. the hit song getaway driver grooves, but is not indicative of the rest of the album. be prepared to gently put your face through plate glass.
cleveland's cloud nothings come back with their third album in three years. it was engineered by steve albini, though one review said that "he played scrabble on facebook most of the time." that is to say it's pretty much their own product and when you read all the other best of lists from major publications, you will find this somewhere towards the middle to end. not because it's not great, but because the major publications have to put the over publicized crap that their close friends coerced them into putting up high, lest they lose their financial backing. then, when the writers get an extra spot to put what they really like, they put this. this is not unlike a killdozer album. it will be a long standing classic.
might be the best hillfolk to date. a lot of concert favorites, including some redux of older songs. a little narration for extra flavor. the sound of hillfolk noir can only be explained as junkerdash. if you don't know what that means, then you have to see it live to get it. if you do know what that means, then you have seen them live, perhaps many times, and you definitely get it. if you can't see them live, this is about as good a representation of the hillfolk brand. plus, it comes in a choice of a 10" or a cd. tough choice as the cd has 4 or 5 more songs, but the 10" is such a retro throwback, your grandfather will think you stole this from his grandfather's artifacts. it's that legit. then the music will wake your grandfather's grandfather.
the liner notes give an explanation of how midaevil churches banned dancing in a way that gave birth to the carnival. it then goes on to explain how every different section of nola celebrates mardi gras. then the album gives a different feel for the various customs with loads of guests like mystikal and cyril and ivan neville. if you want a real jamming cajun party at your house, this record is a must have.
morgan christopher greer could get lost in the singer/songwriter jungle of portland, or he could find the outlet to make a difference. let's hope for the latter. these songs are simple and you might feel like you even wrote them. not because it's easy, but because you can relate to the heartfeltness. i know nothing about the guy and had never heard of him before, but was apparently inspired from a couple conversations with tom waits when he was still down in california. we were lucky enough that fluff and gravy records sent the cd to us and then i just played it time after time. then heard a portland radio appearance and the guy is the real deal as a musician.
some good things are even better because of timing. that is the case with this cd. the first ani cd i have heard in years, it has a classic throwback with the title track cover song, but surely seems spawned from occupy protests in 2011. on the other hand, some people like ani difranco will find their niche market and record the same comfortable styles with their fans. i don’t know if ani’s career has been like that since the last time i saw her in concert eons ago, but the utter force of this makes me think not. it does have her rabble rouser attitude, which is always good for lots of extra listens.
funk, blues, driven rock has all the sounds of the classic midwest garage, complete by being filtered through the manifold of a '66 GTO. terrific production channels the fierceness of natural grooves into something related to pop music that i feel in my skin. it’s a mid melter for sure. but a lotta funk in these guys too. very much worth owning, especially since they give away all their music on the website for free.
all i can really say about the missionary position is that this guy is from seattle, has a lot of soul, and is rather introspective. he can make a rocking chair without even sitting in it, too. i expect. this cd was very frequently played on my computer. santigold – master of my make believe (atlantic records)
punk singer santi white changes her tune to disco and goes gold, literally, figuratively and in name. listen once and you will have dj panda to thank. request it at keol – we have it – on vinyl only.
i never considered ep's before for a year end list because it starts to get closer to being a single many times, but i was reminded this year that an ep can have a good many artisitc merits. these especially:
correspondence school
finn riggins – benchwarmers
linden wood – thoughts & mumbles
kory quinn & the comrades – angels & outlaws
fools rush – expired
the music wrong
blasted canyons – 2nd place
edmund wayne
fidlar
as i have listened to perhaps a record number of records/cds this year, i have to say the pool from which to pick was enormous. it's not possible to listen to enough music to be able to truly know what the best is, only what i like enough to listen to over and over. here is an extra list of albums that i liked, and wanted to hear more than once or twice, but just didn't have the chance to...
nomads – solna
off!
spyrals
gonjasufi – mu.zz.le
jerry fels & the jerry fels – evil is the root of all money
evans the death
justin robinson & the mary annettes - bones for tinder
caustic casanova – someday you will be proven correct
james dean kindle & the eastern oregon playboys
uncle lucious – and you are me
jeff the brotherhood – hypnotic nights
plug – back on time
a killing dove
king tuff – bad thing
jon spencer blues explosion – meat & bone
various artists – repo man (soundtrack redux)
various artists – lost notebooks of hank williams
various artists – new multitudes (songs of woody guthrie)
bobby conn – macaroni
mynabirds – generals
first aid kit – the lion’s roar
redd kross – researching the blues
the asteroids galaxy tour – out of frequency
current swell
mosley wotta – kinkonk
andre williams & the sadies – night & day
hospitality
lost satellites – the war will end
viva voce – the future will destroy you
killer mike – r.a.p. music
chrome cranks – ain’t no lies in blood
black bananas – rad times express iv
…and you will know us by the trail of dead – lost songs
aesop rock – skelethona
terry malts – killing time
neil young – psychedelic pill
messhuga – koloss
the cult – choice of weapon
roberta flack sings the beatles – let it be roberta
phenomenal hand clap band – form and control
japandroids – celebration rock
eliza rickman – o ye sinner
ambush party – you are not safe without us
melvins – freak puke
isodore – life somewhere else
big boi – viscious lies & dangerous rumors
rayLand baxter – feathers & fishooks
steve sullivan & the factory – evil is a man made thing
bloody knives – blood
fanny alger – yellow monster
cursive – i am gemini
sound of curves – cast of the charade parade
heartless bastards – arrow
dirty ghosts – metal moon
soul rebels – unlock your mind
air – le voyage de dance la lune
forgotten citizen – scylla & charybdis
ultraista
eddy current suppression ring – primary colours
these united states
torche – harminocraft
the oppressed – antifa hooligans
pond – beard, wives, denim
foxy shazam – the church of rock and roll
Saturday, December 29, 2012
first, another 15 great albums of 2011...
it's really hard to listen to all music that comes out. in fact, it's not possible to listen to much more than about 500 new cds in a year, and that's only if you have no other life and you only give most of those 500 a quick once over.
but i would suppose that at least 3000 cds get released across the usa every year. this. as i get ready to unleash my best of 2012 list, here's a look back at some that would be on the list, only they were a year old by the time i got to hear them :( still great though, check em out!!! and if you want a flash back to the best of the best of 2011, here's that blog.
snake rattle rattle snake – sineater
an immediate fixture of the denver underground, this is the kind of thing that gets me going. i did not hear this until they played at treefort in march 2012, otherwise it would no doubt have been in the top 10 of 2011.
brother dan – the orb
brother dan is a side project of the guitarist for atomic mama, this is almost better. But then when atomic mama plays versions of these songs, then is when everyone in the world wishes they lived near boise. Lets not forget to mention that the atomic mama “bodies in the sun” ep wasn’t on the list either for some reason, presumably because i didn’t include eps last year.
radiation city – color of the industry
the first time I saw these guys. It was in 2011 & I was only a few blocks away in pendleton when I saw the fb update saying they would be playing. However, i saw the post as they were playing & saw only the last song. the next chance at the same venue in p-town was absolute magic.
tim blood & the gutpanthers – summer of our discontent
i wish i somehow knew what albums were released everywhere. how is anyone supposed to know about something in a tucked away corner of idaho? if only you could see these guys & then meet tim blood, they’d be your favorite band without any doubt. i mean, take it from dj panda, who has no interest at all in punk rock. she still wants to marry tim blood.
miwa gemini – fantastic lies of grizzly rose
dark mythmaker music that is somewhat like disney, if disney made music. thinking about that, it probably doesn’t sound like a compliment, but it really is. you’d think she’d be huge in japan, instead she is rather obscure. japanese music fans only turn obscure musicians into heroes when they’re from other countries. homegrown musicians have to pack 20k seat theatres to be legit. that’s ok, kid yoshida give big hugs to miwa. if panda gets to marry tim blood, kid yoshida better get to marry miwa gemini.
death songs ep
don’t know why they call it an ep with 8 songs on it, but phenomenal output by portland singer/songwriters formerly of shaky hands.
japanese popstars – controlling your allegiance
don’t let the name fool you, they’re from northern ireland. this album features appearances by members of the cure, jon spencer & m83. as such it won some awards, none better than being on the second mention list by kid yoshida.
lykke li – wounded rhymes
what else can I say about her, everyone already knows. she was the second most famous musician last year next to adele. but then i don’t listen to famous musicians all that much so it took me a while to get around.
kory quinn & the comrades – waitin for a train
not that this is a one-hit wonder album at all, but the song “only a hobo” is one of the few songs that can make me cry. especially when he played it live in union. then when the guy gets together with bitterroot to make up the low down whiskey rebels, there aren’t much better shows to see live.
helms alee – weatherhead
seattle hard rock is not dead. it lives on the shoulders of helms alee. all hail! the rest in jail.
bootsy collins – funk capital of the world
a return to the mothership! the funk god comes for real!
fool’s rush – turn all your bad feelings into good ones
this is like portland’s version of tim blood & the gutpanthers. when in p-landia, look see them at the bomb shelter. you won’t be safe anywhere else.
gringo star – count yer lucky stars
hotlanta rockers bring it with a raw passion. they will blow up into superstars, very soon.
sallie ford & the sound outside – dirty radio
her appearance on david letterman (the same week as typhoon) gave a lot more credibility to portland music scene. and she sure smoked it! it almost made me get a tv, but nothing will likely ever make that happen, not even the hippest hipster in all of hipsterville, usa.
stevie nicks – in your dreams
usually i prefer christine to stevie, but man this is as close to the old school fleetwood mac as you can get. of course it helps when dave stewart & lindsey buckingham are on the record, but still stevie in a return to old school form.
snake rattle rattle snake – sineater
an immediate fixture of the denver underground, this is the kind of thing that gets me going. i did not hear this until they played at treefort in march 2012, otherwise it would no doubt have been in the top 10 of 2011.
brother dan – the orb
the first time I saw these guys. It was in 2011 & I was only a few blocks away in pendleton when I saw the fb update saying they would be playing. However, i saw the post as they were playing & saw only the last song. the next chance at the same venue in p-town was absolute magic.
tim blood & the gutpanthers – summer of our discontent
dark mythmaker music that is somewhat like disney, if disney made music. thinking about that, it probably doesn’t sound like a compliment, but it really is. you’d think she’d be huge in japan, instead she is rather obscure. japanese music fans only turn obscure musicians into heroes when they’re from other countries. homegrown musicians have to pack 20k seat theatres to be legit. that’s ok, kid yoshida give big hugs to miwa. if panda gets to marry tim blood, kid yoshida better get to marry miwa gemini.
don’t know why they call it an ep with 8 songs on it, but phenomenal output by portland singer/songwriters formerly of shaky hands.
japanese popstars – controlling your allegiance
what else can I say about her, everyone already knows. she was the second most famous musician last year next to adele. but then i don’t listen to famous musicians all that much so it took me a while to get around.
not that this is a one-hit wonder album at all, but the song “only a hobo” is one of the few songs that can make me cry. especially when he played it live in union. then when the guy gets together with bitterroot to make up the low down whiskey rebels, there aren’t much better shows to see live.
seattle hard rock is not dead. it lives on the shoulders of helms alee. all hail! the rest in jail.
a return to the mothership! the funk god comes for real!
this is like portland’s version of tim blood & the gutpanthers. when in p-landia, look see them at the bomb shelter. you won’t be safe anywhere else.
hotlanta rockers bring it with a raw passion. they will blow up into superstars, very soon.
her appearance on david letterman (the same week as typhoon) gave a lot more credibility to portland music scene. and she sure smoked it! it almost made me get a tv, but nothing will likely ever make that happen, not even the hippest hipster in all of hipsterville, usa.
usually i prefer christine to stevie, but man this is as close to the old school fleetwood mac as you can get. of course it helps when dave stewart & lindsey buckingham are on the record, but still stevie in a return to old school form.
80? my ass!
Dear Judge,
Please examine the above picture. That is Obi Wan Kenobi on my dash. He sits with the top of his head at 71-72 mph. It is therefore quite noticeable when I am driving over that speed. Moreover, when I get any faster than about 75, Obi Wan rattles off onto the floor. When I saw your highway patrolman south of Prosser the other day, I looked down and saw the peg of the speedometer right at the top of Obi Wan’s head. This is to say that there is no way I was going 80 miles per hour.
I understand the system needs to acquire money somehow, so I will pay even though I’ve done nothing wrong. But, I will not pay more than $40 per month. It already took me two months to save enough money to even afford the gas to get to Yakima for Christmas. I can’t pay the full amount at once. I hope that’s fine. The system works. It made its point. I will stay in Oregon now.
kid yoshida
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