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This what's ridiculous...

Icky Thump

OK, so I'm finally ready to share my thoughts on the new White Stripes album. In brief, it's fucking amazing. There are not many bands or groups out there that can get me excited for the release of new material like the Stripes. I'm not even a rock fan, but I hang on every word that Jack has to say through his work. The thing that comes through each time out is that Jack is a capital-A Artist who understands the responsibility that a creative person has to his work. No one is writing lyrics that affect me the way Jack White's do.

But the songs themselves; these little gems of composition, arrangement, and production. There were several moments on this album when I thought I was in for a rude awakening, that Jack & Meg had gone off in some direction I didn't care to follow. But each time, they bring it right back to where I first fell in love with them. An example: You Don't Know What Love Is. It starts out with some guitar that makes me think it's gonna be like a country kind of thing, but then the organs come in and the guitar fucks off for Jack to start singing and the song is right where I want it to be.

Even when the record gets it's weirdest on the Irish drinking song-sounding Prickly Thorn But Sweetly Worn or on Conquest, two numbers that clearly tell us that the Stripes are going off in directions we would never have imagined, it works within the context of a singular whole. Jack seems to be aware of the dramatic continuity of his albums more than most other artists out there today. It reminds me of the rap records of the early- and mid-90s, but without the skits.

And will all of this praise for Jack, I have to mention Meg. People give her shit for her drumming style, but it's jut that: her own style. And it's an integral part of the Stripes sound, which is why I didn't get into the Raconteurs when that was happening. There's something about the magic that these two people create together that's greater than the sum of the parts.

So there is it. Icky Thump: brilliant. A great time. Perfectly harmonious flow from Elephant, through Get Behind Me Satan, and into this. Jack will easily make whatever 'greatest artists of the century' lists that get compiled in 2099.

EDIT: I do have to admit that I was disappointed at the absence of a song where Meg sings lead. After the ones on Elephant and Get Behind Me Satan, I was really looking forward to it!

ODB represent

This morning I was interviewing Aaron Brophy, 'the boss' at Chart Magazine. He's cool. I knew we were homeys when, apropos of nothing, he quoted Ol' Dirty Bastard in one of his answers. After the interview, I told him how my two biggest musical influences are The Beatles and O.D.B., and then we daydreamed together about how great it would be if Ol' Dirty would have lived longer, and if he and Paul McCartney teamed up on a remake of Say Say Say!

Off to Peterborough for the first out of town performance for Sean Ward & the Realness!!

Nothing much, really. Just some home decorating and computer talk.

I got the new White Stripes album yesterday, the day it came out. I went to the store early, I might have even been the first to get it that day! Anyway, I am not ready to share my thoughts on it yet, and I am still up in the sky just taking it in. I'll come with that soon enough.

My bed is finally the crayon box that I wanted!! I bought new pillows, new pillowcases, and a bunch of cushions. All of it is bright crayon colors, and the little Spider-Man cushion sets the whole thing off!!

Here is the most exciting news of the day: I think I am ready to kick my PC to the curb! Thanks to a new friend whose acquaintance I only recently made who has packed my Macbook with all of the programs I need to get work done, I don't think I need my PC tower for anything any more, and I am looking forward to packing it away and being a full-time Mac enthusiast!! It did not take long for me to turn into a big Mac nerd. I am looking forward to Leopard coming out like it's a big movie that I want to see real bad!!

Taxicab Driver

So last night, after spending the evening laughing and bullshitting with Human Kebab and Ebony and Chris B. Chicken, I caught a cab home. The guy's driving was crazy, I felt like I was in the backseat of a racing car. I loved it, it was great fun. By the time he dropped me off, the meter was at $17 and change. I complimented him on his driving skills and handed him two twenties, and said I needed $15 back (I'm a big tipper, it's just something I enjoy). He handed me back $25, my $15 with an extra ten. I noticed it, said to myself "score!", and shoved the bills in my pocket. But after he handed me the receipt, I pulled the bills back out and brought attention to his error. He was very thankful as I gave him back that extra ten bucks. The old me would have kept that ten, but that's not what I'm on about these days. The feeling of good karma going out was worth way more than ten dollars.

Changes... and Monterey Pop

Today is the 40th anniversary of the first day of the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. This was the pre-cursor to Woodstock, beating it out of the gate by two years. It was the very first rock festival, the first event of it's kind, the first such event to draw an attendance in the hundreds of thousands. The diversity of the acts on the bill is nothing like the rock festivals we see nowadays. You've got The Who and Jimi Hendrix, but you've also got The Mamas & the Papas, and even Ravi Shankar.

I'm listening to highlights of the festival in my earphones as I type. I'm spending the day doing absolutely nothing, as my plans got cancelled on me. Which isn't so bad, I've got a huge backlog of viewing material that's now overdue at the video shop (thank God for no late fees!). It's a weird time right now, everything is so in flux. My relationship ended earlier this week with one company with which I was engaged in a big project. The big merger between two super-empires is going to impact another of the projects I'm involved in whichever way it goes. Between last weekend's Comicon, recording the album, and all of the content I have to create for all of my jobs, it's been pretty breakneck for a while. I'm quite happy to take today to just lounge and do fuck all.

What's your connection to the mysterious forces like? Do you ever know that you're getting a message but you can't quite crack what it is?

And now to lighten this entry up, here's my performance of Brooklyn Zoo from Hip Hop Karaoke Toronto on June 14th:

new songs in process

I just got the rough mixes of the work from the last sessions. Dan Branco is a genius, we are the best there is!!

Disturbing trends

I'm not much of a complainer, but here are a few of this season's trends that I take issue with:

1. Crocs. Not to be worn outside. They are the least flattering footwear ever. Well, almost. The worst is...

2. Flip-Flops. I am on the subway, I see a super=hot babe, and when I check her out she's wearing flip-flops. And if they're not the dollar-store kind, they're those really ugly ones that have like the leather piece that sits on top of the foot. No good.

3. No make up. Ladies, if your thing is that you don't wear make-up then that's fine, but either women are giving up make-up en masse, or I'm just noticing it a lot more when women don't have any on. Women who are always on the ball with this sort of thing are starting to show up to stuff, or put pictures on their Facebook, with no make-up. Come on, maybe just a little eye-shadow or something?

4. Earth Tones. Don't it figure that the year I can finally afford to dress myself and buy clothes is the year that everything is in colors that I don't want to wear? Everything is greens and browns all over the town!! At least there's a few nice mint green item around, but often I'm totally ready to part with my money except everything is in colors I don't want!