Exhausted and Exasperated

While this may be a little dated, as The Mars Volta’s Bedlam in Goliath was released last year, I still feel it worth my rant. Street Press such as The Drum Media and The Brag raved about the album, but magazines such as Rolling Stone concluded that The Mars Volta are pretentious, Bedlam was only worth one and a half stars, and is ‘exhausting’ and ‘exasperating’ to listen to. I want to encourage everyone to expand your horizons and open your minds!
The Mars Volta’s ‘back’ story has often been ridiculed, their inspiration of the ouija board unleashing the spirit Goliath, insinuating that they are lying. As Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez themselves have said, they come from a completely different culture and often people in the Western world who inhabit a conservative and fairly intolerant value system dismiss their beliefs as crazy. However, when the Ouija story is relayed to people from Latin America, the response is an authentic acceptance of the presence of supernatural forces, and disbelief that anyone would dare tamper with a Ouija board. Even if they are having us on, isn’t it intriguing that they have a story behind their album?
I have often heard complaints of their song names, being too prog-rock for their own good, but what is the harm in using extravagant song names? An active listener would drag out a thesaurus and piece together the significance of the titles, and perhaps, have new meaning created for them. But who needs hidden meaning when we have all these ‘inventive’ bands just bombarding us with the same old clichés?
What troubles me is that magazines prominent in popular culture such as Rolling Stone, dismiss The Mars Volta as ‘pretentious’ but feel that a four page spread is necessary on the ever transparent, money making machine and, dare I say pretentious, band Fall Out Boy. To me, The Mars Volta is anything but ‘exhausting’ and ‘exasperating’ – they are daring, significant, creative and progressive. This strikes very true when attending their concert last year; they played for nearly 3 hours with a set list of about 8 songs. They deserve credit for their inventive and creative ‘jamming’ with their songs, and I have never seen energy levels so high for such a long concert.
At the risk of me now sounding pretentious, I urge people to invest their time in looking at bands that are creative and diverse, who may not fit into the reductive and repetitive expectations of the Top 40, or even the ‘Indie’ scene for that matter.
So keen for the upcoming album!

John Frusciante's The Empyrean

If you haven't already listened - do it ASAP. Completely and totally beautiful.
And read this

Gunners

Guns n’ Roses seem to be one of the definitive rock bands that appeared and eventuated out of the late 80s and 90s. If this is so, one has to wonder why someone like Axl Rose, a man who used to yell out on the Santa Monica Boulevard to homosexuals, “Why don’t you guys like pussy?” is fronting a band that engenders such respect within rock history. Sure, Rose may be able to sing, but to be immortalised as he is, categorised as a ‘legend’ of rock, is something worth asking.

To me, music should be viewed as a vehicle of access to a bohemian way of life, a vastly different option to the traditional and conservative corridors of power that underpin our communities. Axl Rose, however, perpetuates all of the social injustices that exist in our society, such as racism and homophobic beliefs. He claims that, “…I’m confused, I don’t understand it” about the concept of homosexuals. His fans think that he is ‘controversial’ and, therefore, acceptable within the fringes of our society, acceptable because he is in a rock band. I can acknowledge that most rock bands are rock bands for the very reason that they are controversial; The Doors for instance, Jim Morrison, by most accounts, was an alcoholic and a womaniser, however, he also demonstrates a philosophical purview and social commentary that contributes to an insightful reading of human behaviour, reflected in his music. I have yet to find insightful readings from Axl Rose. One of the definitive reasons rock bands are controversial, and thus credible, is because of their anti-authority views; rock music gives listeners an alternative mode of politics than that of Capitalist governments and institutions. Axl Rose may claim that he is providing another option in his controversy, but he is, in fact, just perpetuating the conservative heterosexual, white supremist ideology that western governments strive for. Rose’s popularity is far more terrifying that than Bush or Howard’s subversive political racism. His overt politics are articulated in a brazen and brash manner such as the lyrics of ‘One in a Million’, singing of ‘faggots’ who ‘spread some fucking disease.’

What troubles me even more is that so many music magazines, continue to produce large numbers of ‘re-hash’ articles on Axl Rose, and his time in Guns n’ Roses. This shows me the public fascination for Rose and his band, and, by default, the ideas perpetuated by their music. It worries me – what are music enthusiasts listening to? Does our music community want to uphold a man like Axl Rose in the forefront of the music media, supposedly ‘defining’ rock music and its associated value system?

Why do all the mediums of music, magazines, articles, music shows and countdowns, perpetuate great suspense in waiting for Rose’s solo album, Chinese Democracy? Sydney Morning Herald’s S magazine even did a review on Chinese Democracy when it was released, likening Rose to Michelangelo. The reviewer was attempting to justify why Rose took so long to finally record and release his new album, along the lines of, ‘no-one would have pressured Michelangelo to finish the Sistine Chapel, art takes time.’ Why did Guns n’ Roses fans pay to see a concert that had Rose singing with a band ‘Guns n’ Roses’, a band that has not retained one original member but Rose from the original line up? These questions baffle me, and thus keep me interested – probably, I suspect, part of Rose’s popularity, a fascination with stupidity and ongoing conservatism in the face of our rapidly changing culture.

BDO and Aussie pride

I went to the Big Day Out at the Gold Coast this year - certainly was an experience, if not for the bands, but for the people watching. There were amazing sets from bands that I really wanted to see (even though the sound was pretty poor) but the punters were something else. Big Day Out in Sydney is usually a couple of days before or on Australia Day, but the Gold Coast patriots were out in full force on the Sunday a week before Australia Day. It was more common than not for everyone to have their symbol of Australian pride on them somewhere; whether it was tattoos of the southern cross, outlines of Australia or the Australian emblem. Patriotism was the theme for the day.
This is something I have never understood; I am happy to be Australian, and happy to live in a democratic society but usually to be ‘proud’ of something, you actually have to do something to be proud of and I’m thinking that a piece of land doesn’t really fulfill that. When I also hear about the scenes that happened in Manly on Australia Day, it makes me even more reluctant to jump into the socially constructed pride and celebration of being ‘Australian’. Tony Abbot stated that the group of 80 kids are ‘ratbags,’ rather than racists, although it’s hard to see how the slurs being chanted at Manly Corso - ‘Clap your hands if you’re white’ and ‘Fuck off, we’re full’ - can be misinterpreted.

BUT at Big Day Out, all the acts that I went to see lived up to expectations. I had been told to go and watch My Morning Jacket, and I'm sad to say that I hadn't listened to them before seeing them. But they have inspired me to listen and have been since seeing them - such a good set, and such interesting musicians. Even a bit of theatrics thrown in for good measure - donning a vampire-inspired cape.

Never been the greatest fan of the Arctic Monkeys, but travelled with someone who adored them, so by default, knew most of the songs the played (which usually is the making of a good show). I was happy to watch them, very fun.

I was hanging out for Neil Young, who was awesome - drew a small crowd as most people were at the Prodigy. His guitar playing is incredible - nothing makes me more content, happy, exhilarated and awe-struck than the sight and sound of someone playing the electric guitar well.

The Prodigy were just insane... wandered over there after Neil Young. So so hectic. I was slightly skeptical of them - I tend to group together techno/trance/house/dance, but whatever you label the Prodigy, you can not get their full potential unless seen live. The Presets may consider themselves as dirty, underground music, but The Prodigy have to be the hardest and most intense music, as well as being the scariest people I have ever seen live.