why sk are so great

Photo by
eliah.

Okay, one of the mental blog entries I've had is to try and explain why sleater kinney are so great. Let me first say - I am not a music critic. I think in my head, like many lovers of music, I think o sure, I could write about music better than [insert name of actual music critic here] but in fact, my knowledge of music is not as great as i would like, nor do i have any practice at writing about music.

Nevertheless, I love sleater kinney, they are my favorite band, and I want to tell the world in my own words why they are so awesome. So here ya go-

1. They have integrity. Their first six albums were on small indy labels (Chainsaw & Killrockstars). Number seven was released by sub-pop, still a relatively cool label. I have never paid more than $15 to see a SK show (I think I've seen 6 or 7). When you can pay $35 or more to see some (crappy) big name act, I think it's awesome that SK continues to play killer shows for a price their target audience can afford.

2. Corin's voice. Okay, you either love or hate it, I suppose. You certainly can't ignore it :-) It's a big, gorgeous voice in my opinion, but often in a sort of get-under-your skin, finger nails on chalkboard kind of way. Carrie and Janet have great voices, too, but Corin's intense, vibrato-laden pipes are what makes the sound.

3. The music (duh). Probably the first time you hear SK it sounds like punk rock or grunge, or just plain rock & roll. But after the fourth or fifth listen, focus on the guitar parts. The elements are spare (just two guitars, no bass, only occasional overdubs) but the result is truly greater than the sum of the parts. I listen to their records over and over, but I never cease to be amazed at the interplay of the guitar parts, which is nothing like the cliche rhythm and lead of 99% of rock & roll. If Sleater Kinney consisted of nothing more than Carrie & Corin's guitar playing, it would still be amazing.

4. Janet f*cking Weiss - SK's drummer. Janet joined the band on the third album, Dig Me Out. The earlier drummers were good in their way, but Janet quite simply rocks. Obviously if you're going to have a power trio type sound, you need to have a great drummer. Janet is totally in the same league as Keith Moon, John Bonham and Ginger Baker. She is totally dedicated to her art. Janet's drumming is intense, but nothing is wasted, every beat is tasteful, on the money, and contributes to the song. She also sings great backup vocals, and on the new album even plays harmonica on one song. Also worthwhile is her "side project" Quasi. Check it out.

5. The music - part 2. Okay, I already mentioned the deceptively simple sounding, yet sophisticated guitar interplay above. They also write great songs. While they are capable IMHO of a fairly broad range, we love them best for the kick-ass, anthemic masterpieces like Call The Doctor, Turn It On, The End Of You, #1 Must Have, Entertain, and so on. Even though the instrumental break comes predictably after the second verse, it always reaches beyond the ordinary, the guitar parts shift rhythmically, harmonically, the intensity builds, the vocals interplay and layer, and for a moment time stops and all that exists is beauty...

Alright, there's nothing else I can say. And anyway, this post is way too long already. Check SK out and let me know what you think.

Tapeworm

This week's entry is dedicated to one of my heroes, Catherine Austin Fitts. I first heard Catherine on KPFA's Flashpoints. (The interview was several years ago, but here is a link to the earlist archived CAF interview I could find.) She was talking about how our government, hand-in-hand with drug dealers, and corrupt bankers, uses our tax dollars to destroy our communities, and suck up all the assets in an endless, insatiable cycle. Catherine was Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Bush I, so she has first hand knowledge of how the corrupt system works. Later, when she tried to reveal this corruption, she and her company were attacked and nearly destroyed by Justice Department lawyers.

In one of her most powerful and chilling pieces, she describes the unholy alliance of corrupt governments, banks and powerful corporations as a tapeworm, which devours its host from within. If allowed to grow unchecked, ultimately the host and the tapeworm will die.

However, unlike many critics of our corrupt government and capitalist economy, Catherine has a real plan for how communities can reverse this deadly cycle, and take control of their own resources and financial destiny. Basically, her idea is to create local investment circles or Solaris. By investing (& borrowing) locally, we can make our resources work for us instead of being used against us by Citibank, Bechtel, Halliburton or whoever.

I'll confess I'm not really putting her ideas into practice in my life yet, but it's one of my goals. And I suggest you take a look at some of these links and find out more about Catherine Austin Fitts' writings and her radical ideas for how we can fight the tapeworm. Check it out!

My Better Self

I bought a new cd this weekend which is always a big event for me. As much as I love music and feel, as Wim Wenders, Lester Bangs and so many others that rock & roll makes life liveable, I can only afford a music splurge every couple of months or so. So there is pressure to make each purchase count. I went into Rasputin Records to get Aerial, the new Kate Bush cd, for my wife and something for myself. I was thinking maybe Dressy Bessy, an indy pop band Yahoo!Music introduced me to.

Anyway, I walked out of the store with Aerial and My Better Self, the latest cd by Dar Williams. I've been hearing about Dar, Cry Cry Cry, etc. for some time, and My Better Self was set up on the listening station. I listened to the first two cuts, Teen For God and I'll Miss You, and decided to go with the impulse.

I've listed to it about 3 or 4 times and I'm pretty happy with it. I think with the stuff I'm dealing with in my personal life at this moment in time, plus the general f*cked up state of the world, this soulful, somewhat poppy, sometimes sad, and irony-tinged cd is good for me now.

Dar has full, bright and beautiful voice. No screeching or guttural sounds like some of my faves. The songs have good melodies and high quality musicianship. It reminds me a little of Jewel, sound wise, but the lyrics are a lot more sophisticated. Teen For God is a catchy number about a girl at the Peace Branch Horse and Bible Camp. Trying to reconcile her desire to be a good Christian, and the other desires coursing through her teenage frame:

But God made love, God made the river run,
And cowboy boots and bathing suits
and the boys' skin dries in the sun.
Help me God.

Another song that's grabbed me is Empire, a stinging deconstruction of the horrors of the American juggernaut. Random line:

There's nothing that can harm me,
Cause the sun never sets on my dungeons or my army.

There are also covers of Neil Young's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, and Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. Devotees of Dar would probably say that some earlier classics are where I should start, but I think it supports the artists better to buy what they're doing now. Anyway, I recommend this cd and would probably buy more by Dar.

Take Care Gentle Reader!

Depleted Uranium

My goal is to post at least weekly. I'm a little late this time. I was listening to KPFA's Flashpoints on my way home from work today. The host Dennis Bernstein was interviewing this retired Army Major about depleted uranium (DU). It seems like I am reminded multiple times a day of the criminal blindness of the people who run this country. How anybody could think it's okay to use a chemically toxic and RADIOACTIVE munition, spraying it all over Iraq, where it not only poisons the environment FOREVER, but evens poisons our own troops!!?! It totally defies the imagination. Yet new revelations of the criminal insanity of the Bush administration come to light almost daily -- torture centers, Valerie Plame, the FTAA, etc. Unbelievable.

So as an antidote, I put on Sleater Kinney's 2002 CD "One Beat" as I drove across the San Mateo bridge. One Beat is the last John Goodmanson produced album and the last on their former label Kill Rockstars. One of the most overtly political SK albums, forged as it was in the post 9/11, Afghanistan invasion period. It's a brilliant CD, and I highly recommend you buy it if you like kickass rock & roll. I will leave you with a quote from the anthemic opening song, One Beat:

If you think like Thomas Edison
could you invent a world for me
now all that’s on the surface
are bloody arms and oil fields
could I turn this place all upside down
shake you and your fossils out? oh oh