Archive for the ‘Music’ Category.

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I Listen to Some Bizarre Stuff…

7th June 2007, 02:00 pm

The older I get, the more full-blown eccentric I become. For example, I still listen to some of the downright weird stuff I liked back in the 1980’s. Worse, I subject the Kid to it. Hey, if he wants to listen to Green Day, he’ll have to drive his own car.

Until then, he’ll have to put up with this:

Kraftwerk:



This is true techno music.

Legendary Pink Dots:



Modern psychedelia. Beautiful, hypnotic and freakin’ weird.

Sisters of Mercy:



Rocking goth. I think part of me will always want to be Andrew Eldritch.

The Cult:



More rocking goth. I remember when this song cleared the dancefloor at Chicago’s Club Medusa in October 1985 for being too “rock”. Ian Astbury continues channeling Jim Morrisson after all these years…

Skinny Puppy:



I still have a Skinny Puppy sticker on my car.

I’m a card-carrying member of the Republican Party. A strong supporter of the NRA. I continue to support President George Bush, the war in Iraq and the Global War on Terror. I am pro-Life, pro-Choice and believe that a strong family is the bedrock of a civilized society.

But I still have a Skinny Puppy sticker on my car. And I love this music.

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Strange Musical Kick

20th October 2006, 05:57 pm

I’m on an odd musical journey right now. I’ve been listening to a lot of techno trance but augmented with classic Severed Heads and Cabaret Voltaire. I’m also curious about rappers like J Dilla – who passed away just this year. Digital Imported Internet Radio is a good place to check out when the Kid has taken over the PS2 - like he has now.

There is a heavy psychedelic vibe to all these tracks, which may coincide with a deep love of surrealism, Dada, and Discordianism. All of these genres resonate with an innate appreciation I have for Zen. Zen has been there for me at some pretty tough times. I turned to it when I sobered up, and learned to rely upon it in my college days.

Too bad I suck at it. I think of Zen the same way a poodle imagines itself as the pitbull. I appear to be the very antithesis of Zen, yet when I imagine the person I would love to be, that person is inevitably a Zen roshii.

Perhaps Zen’s Truth in non-thought is a natural desire for someone who thinks too much.

Or not.

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American Infidel

22nd February 2005, 01:46 pm

Sung to the tune “American Idiot” by Green Day

Don’t wanna be an American infidel.
I want a nation under Islamic rule.
Can you imagine Paris Hilton in a Burka?
The Islamic Republic of America.

Welcome to a new kind of religion.
All across the Left Wing spectrum.
Now hating Jews has become okay.
All our dreams are now meccan.
Martyrdom attacks now beckon.
Where is the nearest pizza shop?

Well maybe I’m the jihad America.
I’m now part of a Bin-Laden agenda.
Now everybody read the Koran and shari’a.
But don’t sing ‘cuz music is now banned.

Welcome to a new kind of religion.
All across the Left Wing spectrum.
Now hating fags has become okay.
All our dreams are now meccan.
Martyrdom attacks now beckon.
Where is the nearest disco?

Don’t wanna be an American infidel.
One nation controlled by Saudi mullahs.
Convert the Christians, close the girls schools.
I’m calling out to Islamic America.

Welcome to a new kind of religion.
All across the Left Wing spectrum.
Now hating fags has become okay.
All our dreams are now meccan.
Martyrdom attacks now beckon.
Keep your bomber belt handy.

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I Laugh Alone – at Green Day

1st February 2005, 08:49 am

I wrote about why I dislike this band in this post. Just in case you think I’m some old fuddy-duddy, here’s what’s been rocking my gas guzzling SUV:

1. Christopher Lawrence – a master of trance techno
2. Joshua Ryan – a discovery after using Music Map , one of the most original music search sites I’ve ever found.
3. Minor Threat – I’ve got straight edge…
4. Jethro Tull – Okay, sometimes the gnomes and the elves of the forest take over my CD player. It’s not something that I’m proud of but it happens, no matter how many “no-elf” strips and gnome traps I leave in the car.

Green Day has made yet another song that irritates me like the musical equivalent of poison ivy: “Walk Alone”. If ever there was a song that was ripe for a Weird Al parody, this has gotta be it. It’s the song that every 18-21 male whose girlfriend has ditched him listens to right now. It’s got the heavy lyrics that can only be appreciated by kids whose hearts have been mildly plucked…

Not ripped out of your chest, stomped on, and thrown into a vat of acid suffered. No, that only comes after decades of dealing with the “fairer” sex.

My response to Walk Alone is gestating, but until then I can only say:

Get over it.

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American Idiot – Proof Punk Is Dead

7th December 2004, 11:06 am

I’ve been trying to figure out just what the hell Green Day is singing about in the song “American Idiot”, so I googled and found the lyrics here.

I figured it was some kind of Lefty, Moore-ish rant. Truth be told, I can’t make heads or tails of it.

Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Everything isn’t meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We’re not the ones who’re meant to follow.
Convincing them to walk you.

Who’s the idiot: Americans who support Bush and the War on Terror, the kids who buy their CDs or the songwriter who can’t get his message across? Convincing them to walk you? What, is that supposed to mean that I’m a poodle? Can I be a Rottweiler? But you said “we’re not the ones who’re meant to follow”. So… WTF?

Punk is about being direct. I thrashed at an Exploited show where the British hardcore band sang “F*** the USA”. You can’t get more direct than that. The lead singer got hit in the head with a beer bottle during that show too. One has to love Freedom of Expression.

I still listen to the Dead Kennedy’s and Minor Threat. I’ve pared back on the Goth because honestly, I’ve got plenty of drama in my life without needing to make more up. And I love my trance techno – even if it is the musical equivalent of a jackhammer. And there’s still the odd moment when I crank Ozzy Osbourne or Ted Nugent. Yes, an idiot I know once said something wise once: “The music you listen to at 16 will be the music you’ll listen to for the rest of your life”. Smart man, that idiot.

Every time I hear about how Left American university campuses are, I think of this lyric from the Dead Kennedy’s Holiday Classic, “Holiday in Cambodia”:

Play ethnicky jazz
To parade your snazz
On your five grand stereo
Braggin’ that you know
How the niggers feel cold
And the slums got so much soul

Yep, Jello Biafra used plain speech to get his point across. So what is with Green Day’s artsy crap?

Punk is sure dead if Green Day claims the mantle of “Punk Band”.

Update: 12/21/2004
It just dawned on me this morning who the true American idiot is: The kid who listens to Green Day, whines about Bush – then doesn’t vote.

If you want change, you have to do more than listen to a song about it. You have to do more than slap an anti-Bush bumpersticker on your car or post at SmirkingChimp.

Why didn’t these kids vote? I think it’s because their parents couldn’t do it for them.

Go ahead. Listen to Green Day. Whine about your world. Then do absolutely nothing about it.

Category: Music  |  1 Comment
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