Stump Lane
in the dirt since history began

Still no Friday semi-random music. There’s always living in the past, though.

Here’s a Bonus Awesome Video, nonetheless. “Buena Vista Social Club” with Ry Cooder — Chan Chan:

Sometimes, I could listen to that forever.

Semi-Random Friday Music

This feature really seems to be catching on with our zeroes of readers!

IT’S WHEN Your Montag goes to myspace. I listen to some music, surf from artist to artist and report back with selections for you, Dear Reader, to go listen to yourself. Clicking the red text (links!) takes you to the artist’s myspace music page. (This and previous editions of SRFM can be found by clicking here.)

1. Dischord is not any… — Syqem (Hamburg, Germany) — “Melodic” slow bits interspersed with crunching one-chord “riffs.” The twenty-times-better-than-Korn riffs aren’t quite enough to offset the wailing, less-convincing-than-Incubus yowling in between. “Dischord” is an appropriate pun to have been included in the song title.
2. Fat Life — N.D.LOX (Kassel, Hessen, Germany) — This band has a lot of little things going for it in my book: the term “experimental” in their self-description, a song title of “Troglodyte,” an E.P. album title of “Shit White,” and they get a cool ‘wall-of-sound’ type guitar sound only achievable with a full compliment of effects pedals switched on and off in the correct combinations like the stops on a pipe organ, and heavy on the distortion, but in a good way. Sadly I am left merely lukewarm to the sum of the parts.
3. Suspended Animation — Fantomas (San Franscisco) — Mike Patton, formerly of Faith No More, makes some weird-ass noise with his mouth. I saw these guys open for Tool, and Patton had a hissy fit because they were getting booed off the stage. (Not by me.) I kind of like it. However: not really for the common household music listener. So the remainder of this list will serve as a sort of “camera obscura” so that the faint of heart may avoid listening directly to Fantomas. The following artist come exclusively from Fantomas’ “friend space.”
4. Operate — Peaches (Berlin?! Really? I thought Canada. Fucking internet.) — Another opening act I’ve seen. But that didn’t get booed. Good stuff. I read something about “minimal pumping beats.” Electro, sure, but above all: Punk. [Pictured.]
5. Let’s Go Boogaloo — The 5.6.7.8′s (Tokyo) — Three women from Japan laying down some supercool garage/psychedelic/surf-type jams and nearly, but not quite, ruining them trying to be cute with the vocals. That’s their shtick, I suppose. Still, excellent, in the final analysis.
6. Blue Light — U.S.S.A. (United States) — Unassuming heavy(ish) rock that I believe could grow on me with repeated listenings. The founding members were involved in other projects you may have heard of, (Ministry, Revolting Cocks, The Jesus Lizard, Tomahawk,) if that helps you sort it out. The track Cab Ride II is also worth listening to, despite its slightly unsettling, incongruous beat.
7. Scary Circus — PLASTRON (Philadelphia) — Really cool modern surf.
8. Sunshine On the Tax… — XD WEI (Detroit via Beijing) — OK, my internets isn’t cooperating. I’m posting this ‘sound unheard’ the chosen track is simply the one with the highest number of “plays.” Self described as, “Chinese traditional / Progressive / Fusion”
9. Panasonic Youth — The Dillinger Escape Plan (New Jersey) — The fucking same as above. Self described as, “Metal / Hardcore / Progressive”

Your Montag’s top four: 4, 5, 7 and #whothefuckknows.

Suggestions? If you know of, (or are,) a myspace music artist that might value the exposure that a glancing mention on a D-list blog can bring, leave a comment here or correspond with me via electronic mail.

Bonus Awesome Video: Shiny Toy Guns — Le Disko:

Yes!

Semi-Random Friday Music

WHEREBY Your Montag traverses the myspace music scene, follows the trail of comments from one page to the next and picks out the song I like best from each artist. (This edition and prior examples of this endeavor can be found by clicking over to the category.)

Clicking the red text is to experience the anticipation of crossing a musty threshold and descending grungy stairs to some place, below street level, in the old downtown district, with thick arched foundations crafted from ancient brick, where secret societies once conspired for control of local commerce, which now serves a different purpose: as the artist’s myspace music page.

1. Surfer Girl — Fabs (Scotland) — This music has a certain, as the French say, “I don’t know what,” which make me nostalgic. (Maybe it’s that their list of influences reads like my personal music collection.) Not what I hear in my mind’s ear when I think of “surf” music, but I’m wouldn’t say their self-description: “indie surf pop” is a misnomer.
2. Paul Oh — The Chi Chis (Scotland) — This music is either: 1. Quirky funny party music good for some raucous cutting loose… Or, if this group were to catch on commercially and assault you 15 times a day on the office radio: 2. Inane novelty songs that make you want to gauge your ears out 15 times a day… “Come and dance with The Chi Chis! The Chi Chis got a new song!” No, wait. Upon a second listen: it’s just number 2.
3. Red Lights Stage — Gara™ (Japan) — Japanese Hair Band! After this, if this group were to catch on commercially, you would chuckle with glee 15 times a day because you’d feel like you were in on an elaborate cosmic joke from the beginning. [Pictured.]
4. My Number — Girl (London, UK) — Rock band that I didn’t know of when they were active from 78 to 82, nor until just now. Good one for Land of the Lost: The London Early Hair Band Scene…

   …and there I stopped— what, a month ago? —when I set out to compose this list.

   Rather than continuing today down the path to Hair Rock Proper, (or Butt Rock, whichever you prefer,) let’s follow another hot tip from TNG regarding the construction of world stomping robots…

5. Building A Robot — Robot Makers (New York) — Like a cleverer Jack White with more of a Kraftwerk sensibility. (It’s worth it to bypass the myspace music player and go straight to taking TNG’s further advice to “check out the video for their song Building A Robot.”)
6. Dick Around — SPARKS (Los Angeles) — Listed as a big influence to something as awesome as Robot Makers made me feel like I should know them beyond a vague recognition of the band name… these guys were putting out work over the duration of the formative years of my musical tastes and I missed it. [Pictured.]
7. Ces Chiens Gtr-Solo… — Masahide Sakuma (Yokosukashi, Japan) — Unoffensive, sleepy guitar strumming sounds. And perhaps a mandolin or something.
8. Yellowcake — Kaki King (New York) — Very really quite nice.
9. PS Thanx For Nothing — SPUTTERDOLL (San Francisco) — “Cheering up emo kids one show at a time.” Yeh.

Your Montag’s top four for those of you who just don’t take enough time for yourselves, and won’t stick around long enough for all nine: 5, 6, 1 and 8.

Suggestions? If you know of, (or are,) a myspace music artist that might value the exposure that a glancing mention on a D-list blog can bring, leave a comment here or correspond with me via electronic mail.

Bonus Awesome Video: By way of Our Own Fehlleistungen, here is Pistol Valve:

Yes! [End transmission.]

What I did over my summer vacation:

“So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that’s on the worst day of my life.”

“What about today? Is today the worst day of your life?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, that’s messed up.”

IMDb: Office Space (1999) – Memorable quotes

Also in the world today: Amazon.com emails Your Montag to tell there’s a sale on the CD-ROM “New Classic Edition” of Orwell’s 1984.

[Emphasis (i.e. links) added.] Product Description
Orwell depicts a gray, totalitarian world in which privacy does not exist, news is manufactured according to the authorities’ will, and those with unorthodox ideas are brainwashed or put to death. Orwell’s 1949 nightmare vision of the world we were becoming is still the great modern classic of negative Utopia. [Amazon.com: 1984: New Classic Edition]

What “negative”? I for one embrace our future totalitarian overlords.

This place is not dead yet. But for now there is only new content over at I Miss Fafblog, Spot!

…but forgot.

Just kidding.

To quote a jet-lagged Clive Owen character in Closer:

Time. What a tricky little fucker. My head’s in two places. My brain actually hurts.

Though not exactly jet-lagged, once again, Your Montag is busy. So no new Semi Random Friday Music. Consult the archives to get caught up on past editions of that fun.

Wednesday was the latest edition of Carnival of the Liberals (#38) — though I hadn’t written anything over the past two weeks that would merit inclusion this time.

There is some new stuff at I Miss Fafblog, Spot!

I’m spent.

UPDATE: Yesterday’s Speed Bump was classic.

Spoiler alert!

Well, it’s not so much of a “spoiler” as a half-assed movie review/criticism which won’t really spoil the ending for you, but may, if I’ve communicated effectively, spoil your appetite for watching the movie at all.

(more…)

We survived the storm. Though, many places don’t have power yet. Last evening there were 123,000 customers without electricity. There are a lot of roads closed due to flooding, and there is more flooding expected today at high tide. The wind has thankfully died down.

The national guard is out in force directing traffic at the closed roads and intersections with powerless traffic signals. The humvees they travel in are used to block off the closed roads. I remember the humvees being forest green when I was a kid. They are now painted desert tan in kind of a weird contrast to the evergreens, and the rest of the natural backdrop here as it struggles despite this spring’s weather to turn green again.

Here is a picture of a large fallen portion of a tree, (a near miss!), on the Montag homestead:

It fell in about the only direction it could without hitting anything.

It seems that many people are struggling with flooding basements, and will be dealing with roof repairs over the coming days. Having been through a few hurricanes down south, while the winds weren’t as strong here, locally, the aftermath looks pretty much the same.

Making it especially hard to take, is that this week is school April vacation: the week that has always been remembered by me as the first time each year that fully warm— no jacket required, go outside and get some sun —weather starts. Not this year. We might see the sun and sixty degree temps by this weekend, though.

Mourning Drive

If April Showers bring May Flowers, then what does 18 inches of April Fucking Snow bring? Other than fallen tree limbs, power outages, and seasonal affective disorder (i.e. abject misery.)

1. I’m Deranged — David Bowie
2. Roads — Portishead
3. It Takes Time to Build — Beastie Boys
4. The Gloaming (Softly Open Our Mouths in the Cold.) — Radiohead
5. A New Career in a New Town — David Bowie
6. Higher — The Cardigans
7. Moondance — Van Morrison
8. Romeo and Juliet — Dire Straits
9. Ultraworld Probe Seven Into the Fourth Dimension — The Orb
10. Monkey Gone to Heaven — Frank Black
11. Fluorescences — Stereolab

Bonus #12: Here to Go (Go Mix Version) — Devo

Not scored because Your Montag is apparently incapable objectivity.

Out in meatspace, time is kicking Your Montag’s ass with extreme prejudice. It is a cycle I only hope to break out of in the next 14 years or so. In the short term, it’s going to be especially punishing over the next two weeks. The daily grind is now taking up approximately 26 hours of my time a day. I’ll post when I can, but things will likely be sketchy here for the next few days.

Here’s what’s on my mind that I may or may not ever have time to develop:

• The idea of a Giuliani presidency scares the bejeepers out of me. (And yes, I think it’s possible that things could possibly get worse, presidency wise, than they are now. Like, if someone smarter, with greater authoritarian tendencies, takes up the reigns of this new unprecedented presidential power. You know: police-state-stuff.)
• I wrote about a third of a post, Against Sexism in Our Political Discourse, which I couldn’t manage to finish in time for ‘Blog Against Sexism Day’ last Thursday.
• I still have a problem with standardized testing as the almost exclusive means of evaluating edumacation. Things seem to get worser and worser in this department, as it looks like our local schools’ “literacy” curriculum is going to end up creating a “Writing Standard” based mainly on mastery of the fucking soulless Five Paragraph Essay formula. (I hope to one day write a five paragraph essay on Why the Five Paragraph Essay Formula is SHIT.)
• I think there is something up with congressional districts, whereby they are set up in such a way that if Republicans were to win all the ones they should, they could garner a vast majority of the seats in Congress, without all the mess and bother of having to win the popular vote. Assuming electoral politics is worth participating in and preserving, this doesn’t seem right. (At least I’d hoped to look into that one day.)
• Badiou, Alain. Ethics: An Essay on the Understanding of Evil. — Best. Book. EVAR. But I need to do some more reading and report back to Fehlleistungen— if not you too, Dear Reader —On the Development of Transfinite Set Theory, or at least on whatever feeble sense my feeble mind can make of it, if any, with a little reading. (I somehow doubt this subject will be as accessible as the brilliant essay on Ethics. (Not a five paragraph essay, by the way.))
• Got a letter from the GOP the other day, opened it and read it, it said they were suckas. Well it was an email, and the subject line was, “Master and Commander.” (Guess who.) Anyway, there was a point in there I wanted to ridicule address.
• I miss Spalding Gray. I understand his wife is putting together a show of readings of some of his unreleased work, and that there is a documentary film about him in the works.
• There is more, but I’m not going to go into anymore of it here. This whiny ‘I don’t have time to post’ post has already taken too much time. (Which I don’t have.)

Dear Reader, if you are reading this— and by definition, you are —and you get around to writing about any of the above before I do, holler. We’ll post a link to your website, or if you don’t have a blog, we’ll consider posting it here if you like.

Your Montag will also be neglecting my posting duties over to I Miss Fafblog, Spot! but still, I will do what I can. Honest.

Untitled Poem

we packed our bags
before our welcome expired
but the long goodbyes
were overdrawn

Untitled 7″ Haiku Remix:

we had packed our bags
before our welcome expired
“bye” was overdrawn

[Please see below for a more important post.]

Your Montag railed against the record companies the other day, but the truth is, most of my collection still came from them. Hence, this list is mostly comprised stuff from them. (Next time we’ll see what can be done about that.)

Here are eleven random songs selected by the tiny D.J. inside my nonPod mp3 player:

1. Relax — The Glove — =
2. I Can’t Quit You Baby — Led Zeppelin — +
3. Old School Hollywood — S.O.A.D. — =
4. React — Eric Sermon featuring Redman — +
5. Dear God — Tricky — – (Falls short of the XTC version.)
6. The Happening — Pixies — +
7. The Power of Equality — Red Hot Chili Peppers — -
8. Brena — A Perfect Circle — =
9. Sheila Take a Bow — The Smiths — +
10. Them Bones — Alice in Chains — =
11. 120 MPH (INSTRUMENTAL) — KOMPRESSOR — +

Bonus #12: Midnight by Yaz

By rights I should have given A.I.C. a ‘minus’ but I couldn’t bear to do it.

Score: =, +, =, +, -, +, -, =, +, =, +
Aggregate: +3

This is the Gang Activity post for this week. It’s a fairly standard Bazooka Joe joke. It doesn’t lend itself well to the issues on my mind today: Disappearing reconstruction money in Iraq / 300 children left behind ’cause their schools closed down in New Orleans / Safety and environmental regulations hamstrung by executive order.

I mean this—

“Where was the executive order to amend Executive Order 12866 on regulatory planning and review signed?”

“On the bottom!”

—doesn’t really work, does it?

I don’t even know if executive orders are signed on the bottom. I think they probably are; but who knows? There might be a cover sheet/signature page or some shit like that.

The thing is, I’m running out of Bazooka Joe comics, and the place where I’ve bought them at, doesn’t seem to carry them anymore. I could probably get my hands on “new and improved” Bazooka, but “new and improved” Bazooka comics are for shit. I could probably find old B.J. comics on the web and continue, or just use whatever comic strip works on a given week, sorta like this.

But is it even worth carrying on with this feature? From my standpoint, other than forcing me to post on Wednesdays, it hasn’t served its purpose. Our underpopulated comments section is just as underpopulated as ever. Where you at, people?

Do you, the 200+ visitors who visit here each day enjoy this “feature”? Hell, do the 200+ visitors who visit here each day read this blog? Or are there really just that many of you searching for “Huey from the Boondocks” or “Trent Reznor’s hair“?

NOTE: I am coming right out and asking for some feedback here.

It’s easy to leave a comment. Click the link down at the bottom right-hand side of the post that most likely still says (0) Commentate! and type in your stuff:

1. Make up a fake name.
2. Trust us we won’t sell your email to spammers and it won’t appear on this site.
3. “URI” means web address; but you don’t need one to testify.
4. Write as much as you want in the box. Unless you’re a spammer, it will not be edited or deleted by us. Anything goes from “Stump Lane has changed my life, thank you so much!” to “You suck, your blog sucks, and I hope you die of cancer.” Whatever it is, say it.

Ok. That is all.