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2008:01:30:21:02. Wednesday. THE SMILER AND THE BEAST.
Running against him is a Senator that Jerusalem calls "The Smiler." He's a charming, young figure, pushing for unity and reconciliation in the wake of the Beast's divisive approach. He gets Jerusalem's endorsement largely on the strength of not being the Beast, but it's not long before Jerusalem discovers the superficial campaign hides and much more authoritarian and power-mad approach than anything the Beast had to offer. It's too late, though; the Smiler wins and Jerusalem unleashes his anger by throwing hand grenades off his balcony. Ellis modeled the Smiler on Tony Blair, New Labour and the Third Way -- an optimistic style and a generational shift at the end of a reign of terror, with no mind being paid to what it all will mean in terms of governing. But I'll be honest: It's hard not to think of the Smiler every time I hear Barack Obama speak. He sounds like a well-meaning man whose greatest quality is that he's Not George Bush. I've been thinking of Obama as a new Jimmy Carter, but maybe Blair is the better analogy. I got on this line of thinking thanks to Avedon who recalls a lot of what the Obama people are expressing coming from young Labourites in 1997, only to see it fizzle as Blair and his party suddenly had to deal with the reality of governing. Avedon, in turn, jumps off this post by Roz Kaveney which ends as such:
What I do think is that I would rather have a battered pragmatic public servant than an untried personable spinner of wonderful empty words; I see the idealism that has focussed on [Obama] and I remember how many of my friends had real hope from Blair as opposed to voting for him because it was important to get the Tories out.
A Clinton Presidency is going to be unexciting, not especially idealistic and only better by comparison with Bush. But it will break no one's hearts. I look at my friends list and see a lot of wonderful ideals and I worry that Obama will break your hearts if he attains power. I hope that I am wrong. Me too. One way or another, 2008 is probably not going to be the only time he runs for president.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:30:08:00. NO!: WHITE RABBITS (#354, JAN 19 2008).
Fort Nightly opens with a charge with this song. It was one of the high points of both White Rabbits sets we saw and really drove home their seemingly experienced showmanship. Piano player Steve Patterson's sing-along yells really got things moving in the crowd, a pretty decent segment of which seemed to be quite interested in the band. We didn't stick around for the Walkmen, and I'm curious how many other people just came to see White Rabbits. The response they've gotten here has been really strong, hopefully they make Madison a regular stop.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:28:08:00. Monday. NO!: WHITE RABBITS (#353, JAN 19 2008).
The first of Madison's high-power club bills happened on a freezing night a week back, featuring a big name indie rock act (The Walkmen) and two openers who could have easily carried their own shows. Our interest was the middle band of the night, White Rabbits, who blew us away last summer and recently landed at #1 on my list of top 2007 albums. We got to the High Noon about 15 minutes after the posted show time, and the line had already begun stretching down the parking lot. This only seems to happen at winter sell-outs -- a couple years ago, Andrew Bird actually apologized to everybody for having to stand out in the below-zero temperatures. Surprisingly, the show started close to on time, and by the time the will-calls had cleared through the line we only got to hear the last couple songs from SXSW favorites White Denim, who were pretty good. I bought their 7", but haven't gotten around to getting my turntable hooked back up right to listen to it. Unlike a lot of High Noon sell-outs, everybody seemed to get there early for this show and the place was basically full before White Rabbits came on. They opened their set with this new song -- one of a few they played -- and it sounds like they have a good base for their next album. The only problem is that we wound up so close to the stage as people filed in behind us that my audio started to get a bit blown out. I think this was the closest I'd been to the stage since I started using this camera and my little bootleg mics, except maybe the Jail show I shot at Mad Planet last year, which was also blown out. It's the only limitation I've found with them, but worth dealing with if only to get out of the big front-of-crowd press.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:26:08:00. Saturday. NO!: THE BIRD AND THE BEE (#352, JAN 11 2008).
So, some things that were kind of weird about this show, or rather, the venue. The ticketed show area is separate from the main bar, and though there is a small bar in the back of the room, there's also wait service throughout the room. This seemed reasonable during the intermission, but it was really odd to have a couple of waitresses squeezing in and out of the sold-out crowd while the show was going on. It was less noticeable during the opening set by acoustic singer/songwriter Charlie Wadhams, since fewer people were in the crowd, but that set was greeted by maybe the least attentive audience I've ever seen. Basically nobody even noticed that the guy had started his set and everyone just continued to chit-chat -- much worse than some of the loud High Noon shows in recent years. But anyway, the end of the Bird and the Bee set. I'd started to think they weren't going to play anything from their recent EP, but late in the evening they pulled out this opening track, which is another one with the Grey's Anatomy seal of approval (this makes me think I may need to recalibrate my taste-meter). Their encore was also taken from the EP -- their cover of the Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love -- with the other three tracks left for next time, hopefully to be coming soon.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:25:08:00. Friday. NO!: THE BIRD AND THE BEE (#351, JAN 11 2008).
I don't know if being a two-piece band makes recording more efficient, but the Bird and the Bee are really cranking stuff out. They've already followed up their debut LP with a new five-track EP and a holiday single, and we learned at this show that they'll release another new EP on Valentine's Day, which will feature this song. This is only their third crack at it live, but the recorded version is available on their MySpace page for you to enjoy.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:24:08:00. Thursday. NO!: THE BIRD AND THE BEE (#350, JAN 11 2008).
After the show, Emily said she was really impressed with how Inara George used the microphone not just as an amplifier, but as an instrument. You can really hear it on this slowed-up, hyper-expressive version of "I'm a Broken Heart," in which her voice carries 90% of the tune. You can also hear somebody's phone ring in the near-silence of the song's beginning, and that somebody get yelled at by somebody else.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:23:08:00. Wednesday. NO!: THE BIRD AND THE BEE (#349, JAN 11 2008).
I knew early on that this would be a special show. During this Grey's Anatomy-approved song I pulled one of my fancy camera moves -- especially important when there're only two people in the band and not much visual variety -- pulling in tighter and tighter as Inara George approached the end of a verse. Then, just as I get all the way in, she looks up, looks right into the camera, and smiles on the last word. Now, at that zoom level it's entirely possible that she wasn't looking exactly into the camera, but still, it's rare that I get a live shot I think looks so terrific.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:22:08:00. Tuesday. NO!: THE BIRD AND THE BEE (#348, JAN 11 2008).
We were in Chicago for something last year, maybe a craft show, and realized on the way home that it's really a quick two and a half hours down from Madison and we should maybe take advantage of that more often. So over semester break we decided to head down for a weekend, and scheduled it based on good show availability. The most attractive club show in January was this appearance by the Bird and the Bee at Schubas, which I was kind of surprised to realize was only my second Chicago show ever. Schubas turned out to be a pretty nice venue -- I could certainly get used to spending a lot of time there if the opportunity came up -- and it was a really good all-around show experience. This first clip features a bit of weird coloring, as my white balance settings were out of whack, but it's nothing too distracting. This whole set also features my first title card experimentation of the year, which didn't come out that great -- it looks a lot better at DVD resolution than at podcast/YouTube resolution. Next week's clips will have some different stuff with them, and so on, until I come up with something new that I like.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:21:16:13. Monday. MUSIC IN 2007: TOP 15 ALBUMS.
We saw White Rabbits play an early-evening show this summer and I couldn't believe I wasn't seeing a band that had been at the top of their game for a decade. Not only is their songwriting strong, but their tight musicianship and ability to play as a group belie their beginnings just a few years ago at the University of Missouri. For once, this is a Pitchfork-hyped band that I really want to see succeed, and I never thought I'd say that about an act that seems to derive from the impulse to write indie rock sea shanties. From the beginning, the band uses the bass end of the piano and a set of sing-along choruses to draw you in. Having multiple vocalists and multiple drummers allows the opening double-shot of "Kid on My Shoulders" and "The Plot" to get things off to a raging start. With the melody being driven by two guitars and a piano, it's a thicker sound than you would expect, almost Spector-like at times. The next few tracks introduce a rhythmic swagger to the album, leading up to the pounding drums that open "I Used to Complain Now I Don't." Everything is brought to a head on the tropical, bouncy closer, "Tourist Trap," which sounds transitional as much as anything else. They've got more to say, clearly; their Daytrotter session features two unreleased originals and a cover, and their current live set has more new material in it. As good as they sound and as green as they are, I expect this is a band we'll be paying a lot of attention to over the next few years.  Watch "I Used to Complain Now I Don't," live in Madison, WI
2008:01:17:08:00. Thursday. NO!: THE DIALS (#347, DEC 31 2007).
This title track from the Dials' debut LP is somewhat unusual in their catalog in its length and subdued sound. But in the way it stands out it sets up a nice atmosphere for the rest of their material, constructed out of coos and keyboard rhythms. This is also my last clip of 2007, with the new stuff coming next week. I'm putting a lot of mostly wasted effort into screwing around with Final Cut and Motion, so the graphics that come with it may be... strange.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:16:08:00. Wednesday. NO!: THE DIALS (#346, DEC 31 2007).
Of the new stuff the Dials played, this one was my favorite, and it's conveniently available at their Myspace page. I tend not to notice the difference between songs sung by the two singers on their records, but when Patti Gran takes the lead live, as she does here, she brings a kind of crazy punk pixie energy to it that's really invigorating. This song plays it up really well, too, with a bit of rawness to it.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:15:08:00. Tuesday. NO!: THE DIALS (#345, DEC 31 2007).
Although the Dials were the third band of a six-band bill, they were the last one we saw. After their set, but before the clock flipped over to 2008, we got to the point of Too Much Crowd and headed home. Shows like this always bring out a ton of people who don't really care about live music, and those are the sorts of crowds that drive us nuts -- if all you want to do is stand in a circle with your friends and chit-chat, or take pictures of every possible two- or three-person combo in your group, why wouldn't you do it someplace a little quieter that didn't cost $10 to get in? The good news is that you can see in this clip what looks like a small core of Dials fans near the stage who are really getting into it. Despite leaving early, our main thing at this show was seeing the Dials, and I'm sure we'll make a point of getting to another Pons show sometime soon.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:14:08:00. Monday. NO!: THE DIALS (#344, DEC 31 2007). About two years and over 300 podcast clips ago, we went to the Dials' Madison release show for their debut LP and had a great time. Them being on the High Noon New Year's bill was one of the big draws for us, and they didn't disappoint. With a new album -- Amoeba Amore -- coming out in a few months, they had a bunch of new material sprinkled throughout their set. I'm guessing this set-opener is called "Antonio," but I'm not going to put song titles in their mouths, so to speak.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:11:08:00. Friday. NO!: TRANSFORMER LOOTBAG (#343, DEC 31 2007).
This one I think is new -- it's not on their LP, it's kind of short and is instrumental for its first half, so I'd guess it's a work in progress -- and I like where they're going with it. There's an angularness to these guys that's kind of disappeared in the last few years that I'd like to see come back. Coincidentally, I'm listening to White Denim at the moment, in advance of their upcoming High Noon appearance, and they've got a bit of it. The one thing I really wanted to mention, though, is the beard on bassist Steven Riches. If you go looking for info on this band you may see older pictures of them featuring a much smaller beard; what once was plain is now truly a sight to behold. While they were setting up I told Emily that I wanted to have a tenure beard like that one day, and it's true. The only problem is, unfortunately, my facial hair doesn't grow quite that straight, so it may not work. I can dream, though.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:09:08:00. Wednesday. NO!: TRANSFORMER LOOTBAG (#342, DEC 31 2007).
I'd sort of forgotten how noisy Transformer Lootbag were until they got to this song. They're pretty noisy, as it turns out! It got me wondering what the Madison scene might've been like around the beginning of the decade, though -- with these guys, System and Station, Hum Machine, old Rainer Maria, among others, I suspect it was generally more ramshackle and forehead-poking than it is now. This is pure speculation, of course, as I guess there could've been a wave of folk acts controlling the city right up until I moved here, but I doubt it.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:07:08:00. Monday. NO!: TRANSFORMER LOOTBAG (#341, DEC 31 2007).
A bit of digital media nerdage first. Since I have a bunch of footage from this show -- three Transformer Lootbag clips, four from the Dials -- I'm going to use it to experiment switching to Final Cut Pro. The first thing I've noticed in doing this, which I've noticed on other occasions as well, is that the Final Cut interface sucks. Indeed, I find it inferior to AviSynth, which I'm switching from, and that has essentially no interface at all. Doing it in Final Cut allows me to more easily incorporate Motion and streamline the whole process, though, so I think I'll stick with it. More commentary to come as I fiddle with it. Moving on... I've sung the praises of the Madison public library before (probably with the first of my System and Station clips), but I'm going to do it again. Our library is great! Among the many terrific things they have is a fairly well-stocked local music section, which I went through pretty thoroughly after moving here. Transformer Lootbag was among the local acts that I discovered in that exploration that had split up or largely gone on hiatus by the time I found out about them. In fact, this show may have been the first time I ever saw their name on a bill. I don't know if they've got new material on the way or what, but this tune from their self-titled album helped get things going in a way the crowd seemed to respond to.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:05:20:09. Saturday. DEBATE THOUGHTS. My guy quit the race after Iowa, so I'm paying a bit more attention to tonight's debate than I have to the others held in recent months. These are some thoughts on it. 8:09 CST - John Edwards looks like he's aged more than four years since the 2004 campaign. I'd hoped he might call bullshit on the "If you know where Osama is" question, which is about as reasonable as ticking clock torture questions, but he didn't. No one's actually talking about nuclear weapons, which is ostensibly what Charlie Gibson's question was about, though even he quickly veered into the bin Laden stuff. 2008:01:04:08:00. Friday. NO!: AWESOME CAR FUNMAKER (#340, DEC 31 2007).
This is another that I suspect is new, although at first I was positive it was one of the quick hits toward the end of Of Lovers and Monsters. It's a nice example of how they're refining their approach, and hopefully it indicates that a new album and more local shows will be upcoming. Madison needs an influx of nerd rock, and though the German Art Students are now off hiatus I think they're more nerd pop than rock.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:03:21:22. Thursday. IOWA. There's been a lot of talk in the last couple days (and generally over the last few months) about the badness of the Iowa caucus system, but how's this for odd irrelevance? Checking out CNN for full results I find that the caucuses are responsible for choosing 45 Democratic and 37 Republican convention delegates. That's out of totals of 4,049 and 2,380, respectively. Barack Obama, for winning, gets 14 delegates, compared to 13 for Clinton and 12 for Edwards (CNN has Edwards in second, but Iowa has some kind of undemocratic delegate allocation scheme). So, to recap: about six months of light campaigning, about three months of heavy campaigning, about three months of really heavy campaigning, tens of millions of dollars, dozens of columns from east coast pundits about how "real" Iowans are, a couple handfuls of petty scandals, and a one-delegate lead for Obama that will be spun as several orders of magnitude more important. (While I was writing this post, CNN took down their projected delegate allocations, but I dare say the point still stands even if Obama heads to New Hampshire with, for example, a four-delegate lead.)
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:03:08:00. NO!: AWESOME CAR FUNMAKER (#339, DEC 31 2007).
There were a number of catchy songs that I liked on Awesome Car Funmaker's last album, but this one was my favorite. It's mixed into a run of terrific quick bursts of melody and Aquabats-style weirdness in the record's first half, which is an approach they seem to have zeroed in on pretty well. The next clip from this set demonstrates it even better, I think, clocking it at about two minutes of nothing but pop bounce.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2008:01:02:08:00. Wednesday. NO!: AWESOME CAR FUNMAKER (#338, DEC 31 2007).
Man, I hate the winter lulls. I know nobody wants to tour small-ish upper midwest cities in December, but I bet this was the longest show drought since I moved to Madison. As you can imagine, New Year's Eve is an easy way to end such a drought -- this year the High Noon put on a six-band/$10 showcase, which is pretty hard offer to refuse. All the bands were local except for the Dials, who are up here from Chicago often enough to be quasi-local. Starting things off were Awesome Car Funmaker, who were probably making more fun than I've ever seen them do before, and that's saying something. They opened with what they said was a Screamin' Cyn Cyn & the Pons cover, then this tune which might be another cover, or something new, or something that's otherwise not on either of their records. It sounds like their kind of tune, so I suspect it's a new one, or a really old one.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra |
One of the most generally overlooked pieces of recent political fiction is Warren Ellis's and Darick Robertson's comic book series 
White Rabbits / Fort Nightly