album review: mastodon – crack the skye

Concept albums can be tricky – just ask Jethro Tull. Or, God forbid, Styx. Atlanta’s Mastodon, however, don’t seem to be bothered by the idea. Take their ‘94 album Leviathan, for example. A ten-song opus of sludge metal gone berserk, it was loosely based on Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick. With songs like “I am Ahab”, “Seabeast” and “Aqua Dementia”, the 4-piece band was able to assault the intellect as well as the ears.

And on the recently released Crack the Skye, the Mastodon boys are at it again, although they’ve set their sights much higher. There’s no logical way to explain the concept of this album, so I’ll just let drummer/primary lyricist Brann Dailor do his best (brace yourself):

There is a paraplegic and the only way that he can go anywhere is if he astral travels. He goes out of his body, into outer space and a bit like Icarus, he goes too close to the sun, burning off the golden umbilical cord that is attached to his solar plexus. So he is in outer space and he is lost, he gets sucked into a wormhole, he ends up in the spirit realm and he talks to spirits telling them that he is not really dead. So they send him to the Russian cult, they use him in a divination and they find out his problem. They decide they are going to help him. They put his soul inside Rasputin’s body. Rasputin goes to usurp the czar and he is murdered. The two souls fly out of Rasputin’s body through the crack in the sky(e) and Rasputin is the wise man that is trying to lead the child home to his body because his parents have discovered him by now and think that he is dead. Rasputin needs to get him back into his body before it’s too late. But they end up running into the Devil along the way and the Devil tries to steal their souls and bring them down…there are some obstacles along the way.

That’s right, we’ve got wormholes, astral travel, Russian cults and Rasputin all blended into one heavy metal concept album. And yet, somehow, it all makes sense when you listen to the seven (incredibly) long tracks.

15 ways to know your a journalism major

15. There’s an AP Style book on your nightstand.

14. You read more than you watch TV.

13. There are currently more newspapers in your house than there are DVDs.

12. You actually know what the hell a lede is.

11. There’s a notepad in your pocket right now.

10. You tend to speak in questions rather than statements.

9. There’s at least one tweed jacket in your coat closet.

8. You have mixed feelings about the word “editor.”

7. You think in word counts instead of page numbers.

6. You believe Public Relations is an evil occupation.

5. You realize that blogging does not immediately equal journalism.

4. Perez Hilton makes your skin crawl.

3. You don’t believe that the printed word is dead.

2. You’ve ever been called a “wordiac.”

1. You caught the error in the title of this post.

album review: pearl jam – ten (deluxe edition)

Album reissues are generally a tough sell. They already have two strikes against them, as most people have already heard them in their entirety and all the real fans already own the original release. The only selling point they offer is that the existing recordings have been tweaked – a certain song’s opening riff may be featured a tad more prominently or the vocals may have been processed more. There’s nothing new about a reissue that a casual listener would probably even notice.

Pearl Jam have decided to tackle those very concerns with the new reissue of their debut album, Ten, by releasing a “Deluxe Edition” and literally cramming as many extras as they can into the package. Along with the original and reissued versions being offered on both CD and vinyl record, they’ve also included a rare, early performance from ‘92 (also in CD and vinyl versions), a DVD of their previously unavailable MTV Unplugged performance (with a never-before-aired version of “Oceans”), a reproduction of the cassette tape demo that was responsible for the bands formation, a copy of one of lead singer Eddie Vedder’s lyric journals and a ton of pictures, stickers and other odds and ends. You even get a Mookie Blaylock rookie card.

For $150, it would be natural to expect a lot of bang for your buck, but the set is so completely detailed and so obviously catered to die-hard fans, opening it for the first time is nothing short of astonishing. In fact, the reissue itself is actually the weakest part of the collection.

write passionately, get rich

One of the most difficult things about being a writer is often the subject matter, or even finding inspiration for a topic.

Grammar can be learned, a voice can be developed and with the invention of laptops, most writers have, at their disposal, an arsenal of tools to ease the physical act of writing.

Yet, even with all of these amenities, many writers stumble when it comes to the inspiration for a work. This is not the case for Bill Bryson.

Bryson is a renowned author of several best selling works, with topics ranging from travel, science, history, linguistics and memoir.

He has received the James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin and the lauded Aventis Award for best general science book with his A Short History of Nearly Everything.

He has travelled the globe, from Middle America to Britain and Australia, and has even hiked the Appalachian Trail for his A Walk in the Woods.

This is a man who likes to see and know everything, and who is not content to be labeled as any one particular type of writer.

“Quite often writers will get pigeonholed to a certain style or a certain book,” Bryson said, “but what ends up happening is the person just writes the same book over and over again.”

Bryson was in Houston on Monday for the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series at Wortham Center.

music snobbery 101: the journalists

Being a music snob, I am often asked about my favorite bands, albums or songs, but never about my favorite music journalists. This is unfortunate, for without them the casual music fan would be in the dark as to new music, record reviews and sordid band histories. So without further ado, I present my pick of the 5 music journalists any self-respecting music snob should be in the know about.

1. Chuck Klosterman –

Long before Klosterman became famous for his quirky pop-culture writings (Fargo Rock City, Killing Yourself to Live), he was a journalist for Spin Magazine. His column, My Back Pages, was a forum where he explored the conspiracy theories on Kurt Cobain’s death, reviewed albums from A Perfect Circle and Liz Phair and covered Disneyland’s annual “goth day”. Klosterman was always at his best, however, when he was being the cheeky and condescending music snob he would eventually perfect with his book Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, which has even garnered him speaking engagements on university campuses. This is never more apparent than in his 2006 joke-review of Guns N’ Roses’ album Chinese Democracy – a full 2 years before it was actually released.

2. Michael Azerrad –

Much like Chuck Klosterman, Azerrad was also a writer/reviewer for magazines such as Spin, Details and Rolling Stone. It is Azerrad’s biographical writings, however, that make him stand out as the music authority that he is. Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana was published in 1993 and was quickly hailed as the definitive biography of the Seattle grunge band. His second book, Our Band Could Be Your Life, was a collection of profiles of 13 of the most infamous indie rock bands of the ‘80s and ‘90s, including The Minutemen, Fugazi and Sonic Youth. In 2006, Azerrad, using audio clips from the interviews he conducted during his research for Come as You Are, co-produced a documentary about Kurt Cobain entitled “Kurt Cobain About a Son.”
He is currently editing an upcoming biography of Husker Du leader Bob Mould, to be realeased in 2010.

Prohibition Repeal: The Answer To Our Economic Crisis?

Uncle Sam, fighting the good fight for all of us.

The current economic crisis can not be denied. It’s in every newspaper, every news broadcast and on everyone’s lips. It’s getting plenty of coverage.

But in this unsure time, when money is short and futures uncertain, one issue that’s not getting so much coverage is America’s “drug war” and it’s costly and continued failure.

In a recent article in the Huffington Post, Norm Stamper, a retired Seattle police officer and member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, argues that America has spent $1 trillion on this fruitless pursuit since 1971.

We’ve arrested tens of millions of Americans for nonviolent drug offenses, most for simple possession of marijuana,” Stamper says. “We’ve damaged or ruined the lives of countless citizens who’ve lost school loans, publicly subsidized housing, and jobs. And yet, drugs are more readily available.

And amid all this, drug use has never waned – especially marijuana use. A 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse showed that 83 million Americans aged 12 or over had tried marijuana at least once. The same study stated that among 10^th graders, 40 percent had tried the drug and nearly 20 percent were current users. And yet the “war” rages on, wasting dollars that could be spent to much better purpose in other areas.

monday music maelstrom #3

Alright, so I realize that it’s no longer Monday, but this one will be worth the wait.  At least in that “huh?” kind of way.

Here is everyone’s favorite soulful singer/songwriter, Jason Mraz, doing his best cover of the Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop.  I told you it was gonna be a weird one.

He does a loooong setup, but eventually gets to the music.  Oh, and check out those fingernails!

Obama’s Plan Still Lacking Details

Martin Luther, the father of Protestantism, once said, “You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.”

With these words in mind, I settled down to listen to President Obama’s first speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.

Only 44 percent of Americans anticipated President Obama’s speech to be “good,” according to CNN Opinion Research Corporation survey conducted on the eve of the occasion.

However, in another CNN ORC poll taken just minutes after Tuesday night’s speech, nearly 85 percent of viewers felt “more optimistic about the direction of the country.”

The question remains, though: did our new president say enough?

monday music maelstrom #2

In honor of the 81st Annual Academy Awards, today’s installment of MMM is from Elliott Smith – arguably the coolest person to ever appear on the Oscars (including Mickey Rourke).  Enjoy.

a picture is worth a thousand disputable words

A clever cartoon could make this the perfect protest sign. That, and some proper grammar.

Dr. Seuss, the beloved children’s book writer, once said, “be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

These are words that Sean Delonas might need to hear these days.

On February 18, the New York Post ran a cartoon by Delonas which has since caused much uproar all over the Interwebs and, indeed, the country.  In the single-cell cartoon, Delonas depicts two officers standing before a bullet-ridden monkey lying in a pool of blood.  One of the officers, his pistol still smoking, listens on as the other officer remarks, “they’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”

Perhaps a little background information is needed.