13 BY BLACK SABBATH

(Note: This review refers to the deluxe edition of 13 with three bonus tracks)

I put off listening to Black Sabbath’s reunion album 13 because I assumed it would be awful.  Well, I am pleasantly surprised to report that it is not that bad!

Black Sabbath to me was the first heavy metal band in that it contained in its music all the different components of what we associate with heavy metal – Fuzzy downtuned riffs, horror movie lyrics, wailing vocals, heavy drums.

Black Sabbath was a better version of Led Zeppelin whom I never cared for that much.  Tony Iommi was a better soloist than Jimmy Page, Geezer Butler more of a thumping presence on the bass guitar, Bill Ward like John Bonham only quicker and more nimble, and Ozzy Osbourne whose voice can be a bit annoying is still nowhere near as irritating as Robert Plant.

It is Iommi who sounds the most inspired on 13.  His riffs and solos are big and aggressive and way out in front.  Osbourne sounds no different than he normally does.  Butler comes in and out of the mix.  The drums are handled by Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave.  He does a good job of mimicking Bill Ward’s style.

The best moments on 13 remind one of past Sabbath glories.  Loner, my favourite song, is a speedy barnburner like Symptom of the Universe, Supernaut, and Paranoid (which it also lyrically resembles).  The acoustic overdub freakout Zeitgeist is like an updated Planet Caravan.  The rocking Methademic brings to mind Hole in the Sky.  End of the Beginning makes me think of Iron Man or Into the Void.  Peace of Mind is similar to Killing Yourself to Live.

I have heard some criticism of Rick Rubin’s production and it is a bit too clean at times.  I would have liked the nastier, blurrier tone of earlier Sabbath records.  Still, he does get the large size of Sabbath’s music right, the depths of its heaviness.

Black Sabbath had plenty of brilliant songs but never made a great record all the way through as there was always some dumb filler present (a silly instrumental, acoustic throwaway etc).  13, at over an hour long, is no different but that is also a good thing as this very well could be a Black Sabbath album from their 70’s heyday.     

A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT THE RIDICULOUS, UNFAIR, UNPRECEDENTED TREATMENT OF DEVYANI KHOBOGRADE

A few thoughts about the unprecedented arrest of Indian Deputy General Counsel Devyani Khobograde in New York.

1.) In the past, diplomats from South America and Arab countries have been detained for the same crime involving domestic staff and their wages.  They were instructed to leave the country and were given 48 hours to do so.  This is the appropriate punishment not the overreaction that occurred – Arresting Khobograde in front of her daughter, strip searching and sexually assaulting her through cavity search then throwing her into a cell with drug addicts.

2.) The maid in question attempted to blackmail Khobograde prior to contacting the police.  Her family in India was involved in this

3.) It is customary to pay a domestic servant a chunk of money up front and then littler amounts once they follow their employer to the country where they are posted.  The USA may not like it but that is the policy of a lot of other countries beside India.

4.) Trotting out naturalized Indian American Preet Bharara, New York US Attorney, to defend this action just looks cynical and cheap and doesn’t in anyway justify this overreach.

5.) Khobograde is of the Dalit caste, traditionally the lowest caste in India, not a Brahmin, the highest caste in India, as was misreported by some news outlets.

6.) Recently, the Indian Supreme Court once again criminalized homosexuality which is something the USA objected to.  Could this be payback for that?

7.) If the USA can do something unprecedented and against protocol like this India is well within its rights to remove barricades from the front of the US embassy that slow up traffic, kick out same sex partners of embassy/consular staff ( in keeping with anti-gay supreme court decision), hold up special discounted shipments of liquor and other goodies etc.

8.) The USA owes India a huge apology.  One thing that George W Bush, an otherwise terrible president, did was wisely cement Indian relations at a time when it was important but India is not America’s poodle and they don’t have to go along with unfair treatment like this.

9.) I’d say strip search and cavity search Obama but he’d probably enjoy it too much.

THE GLOBAL INTERNATIONALIST PRESIDENCY VS. THE MILEY CYRUS PRESIDENCY

Two incidents that occurred at the Nelson Mandela memorial service the other week, one good one bad, both reflecting on President Obama.

President Obama shaking hands with Raul Castro was a good thing.  The violence done towards Cuba over the years by the United States from supporting the dictator Batista to attempting to undermine the Fidel Castro government at every step to actual acts of terrorism against that government is disgusting and criminal and relations should have been normalized a long time ago so that was a step in the right direction much like Obama’s handshake with Hugo Chavez after taking office.

Even though Obama has been a complete disappointment in the areas of foreign affairs and human rights what with the continuation of neo conservative policies like drone strikes and other war on terror abuses, Israel, Yemen, Honduras, Egypt etc., this type of gesture still sends a good message.

On the other hand, Obama publicly flirting, carrying on with the blond, vivacious prime minister of Denmark while Michelle looks on disapprovingly and then taking a selfie with the Danish PM as well as David Cameron was disgraceful and disrespectful.

It further pushes the notion that this is a Miley Cyrus president, a self-absorbed shallow cretin.

It is good that the ridiculous conspiracy theories associated with birtherism have been discredited and are now shut out of reputable media.  This allows real, credible, and necessary criticism of Obama to be given without an attack that it is part of a right wing plot or a crazy conspiracy theory.

It is clear Obama loves being a celebrity but he needs to tone that down, tone it down a lot!  The people elect those they feel can solve problems not who can star in a reality show (like the always odious Sarah Palin).      

THE BEST RECORDS OF 2013

Reviews for all the records below can be found over the last 12 months in my blog archives.

ADRIAN YOUNGE PRESENTS THE DELFONICS – Producer Younge’s painstaking recreation of the 70’s Philly soul sound bringing back two of the original Delfonics. Just a beautiful record and my favourite album that I heard this year.

AM – Arctic Monkeys – The record Alex Turner co. should have made after their second album.  Sounds like adult monkeys. Not a bad song here.

DON’T FORGET WHO YOU ARE -Miles Kane – Pure Britpop nostalgia. Short punchy songs.  Working with great collaborators such as Paul Weller and Andy Partridge.

ARC -Everything Everything – Expands their music, slows it down, less frenzied than the debut, great vocals.

BITTER RIVALS – Sleigh Bells – Keeps their highly original sound intact while adding some instrumental diversity.  Very enjoyable.

II - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

LOST SIRENS - New Order

HEARTS AND KNIVES - Visage

BLOODSPORTS - Suede

HESITATION MARKS - Nine Inch Nails

OUT OF VIEW – History of Apple Pie

STRANGE PLEASURES – Still Corners

GRACELESS - Sulk

SUPER DE LUXE - Attic Lights

MBV – My Bloody Valentine

IDIOTS – Electric Soft Parade

THE NEW LIFE – Girls Life

ORES AND MINERALS -Mazes

HONKY TONK – Son Volt

ROCK AND ROLL ANIMALS – Luke Haines

NEW – Paul McCartney

WISE UP GHOST - Elvis Costello and The Roots

CRIMSON/RED – Prefab Sprout

CHANGE BECOMES US - Wire

ELECTRIC - Richard Thompson

UNEMPLOYED MIX TAPE

Well, I am currently unemployed.  The university where I teach opted not to renew my contract due to budgetary issues so I am sitting around with five days growth of beard, eating like a pig, trying to stay positive.  I have had some interviews as well as some coming up and I hope to have a new position soon.

I wrote about prior unemployment experiences here http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2013/01/unemployment-memories.html

In the meantime, here’s a song mix I made in grooveshark.com for listening pleasure....All N All and March of the Gherkins share brass parts and fade out exactly the same way , In My Life and Tramp share keyboard parts albeit different speeds which Separate Beds also builds on melodically.  Listen to The Byrds and The Smiths back to back (Hope to blog more about Gene Clark soon) and the last three songs complement each other in meaning and sound....Time, the measurement and spending of it, is the theme here.  

SPRING HEELED JIM – Morrissey

THE BALLAD OF EL GOODO – Big Star

TOYMAKER – The Association

TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT – Spandau Ballet

ALL N ALL – Al Green

MARCH OF THE GHERKINS – Madness

BIG FOOL OF THE YEAR – George Jones

TRAMP – The Stranglers

IN MY LIFE – The Beatles

SEPARATE BEDS – Squeeze

IF THIS WORLD WERE MINE – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

TEDDY PICKER – Arctic Monkeys

SHE DON’T CARE ABOUT TIME – The Byrds

ONE IN A HUNDRED – Gene Clark

THESE THINGS TAKE TIME – The Smiths

FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN – Paul Weller

SHADOW OF THE SUN – Paul Weller

SOMEBODY’S WATCHING YOU – Sly and the Family Stone

BOTH ENDS BURNING – Roxy Music

PARTY GIRL – Elvis Costello

A FEW THOUGHTS ON THE BIG STAR DOCUMENTARY "NOTHING CAN HURT ME" PLUS THE RASPBERRIES

Since this involves music, I will post my thoughts on the Big Star documentary NOTHING CAN HURT ME here instead of my film blog.

What I liked and didn’t like about this film.

First what I didn’t like

1.) It’s incredible whiny.  It’s too bad Big Star weren’t more successful but that’s life.  It does seem they made some choices about the recording business and their music that caused this.  Granted, they were youngins and didn’t know any better.

2.) People who discuss Big Star are incredibly sanctimonious.  I thought Velvet Underground fans were bad (and I am a big VU fan) but the people interviewed (musicians and others) act like before there was Big Star there was no rock and roll.

3.) After Big Star’s THIRD record it moves ahead awfully quickly.  I didn’t get a strong sense of what happened in between other than Alex Chilton really liked punk rock.

What I liked

1.) Taken as a film, this is an excellent documentary because it thoroughly covers all aspects of the scene, the place where Big Star came together and recorded - Memphis.  One gets a very strong of sense of what was going on around them.

2.) Chris Bell’s contribution to Big Star is methodically listed.  He is given his true place in history.  I also liked how they show what he did afterwards.

3.) This is a detailed, honest, rich presentation that isn’t just for fans of the music of Big Star but for anyone who likes to analyze a work for what fed into it and consequently what it spawned.

I like Big Star’s music....#1 RECORD and RADIO CITY that is.  The third one just sounds like dicking around in the studio to me although there are a few gems like “Thank You Friends” on it.

However, it took me a long time to get into them and they don’t hold a candle to the music of their peers Badfinger and even more so The Raspberries.

The four albums Eric Carmen and company made RASPBERRIES, FRESH, SIDE 3, STARTING OVER are all superb and feature Carmen’s beautiful McCartneyesque ballads in Beatles juxtaposition with other band members writing more rocking tunes.  The Raspberries are the greatest of what is known as power pop because they recognize the completeness of Beatles as founding fathers template and Carmen had a real gift for ballads something many power pop bands including Big Star couldn’t quite master.    

I am hoping and waiting for a Raspberries rediscovery and resurgence.

LOU REED RIP - MORE THOUGHTS

After re-reading what I wrote about Lou Reed the other day, it seemed a bit rough and impersonal so I thought I’d take another stab at what particularly grabbed me about him.

Strip away all the hype and Lou Reed’s greatest strength was his unflinching honesty. His ability to capture a scene and get it down in verse and slip in his own thoughts of what’s happening whether documenting drug abuse or S&M or beautiful, unconditional love or the differing and evolving social conditions of New York City.

I’ve heard a lot of comparisons about Lou Reed and Bob Dylan in the last week since he died.  To me, they are not very accurate.  They come from the same influences but are almost polar opposites.  Dylan is all metaphorical and allegorical and surreal and Reed just told it like it is.

Musically, I think Reed’s high point was THE BLUE MASK/ LEGENDARY HEARTS/ NEW SENSATIONS era where he worked with a smoking back-up band including Robert Quine on guitar and Fernando Saunders on bass.  When he stripped the music down to its foundation, that’s when his music worked best.

Here’s my thoughts on his solo records….

Top tier records – LEGENDARY HEARTS, STREET HASSLE, BERLIN, THE BLUE MASK, NEW SENSATIONS

Second tier – SONGS FOR DRELLA, TRANSFORMER, GROWING UP IN PUBLIC, ECSTASY

The rest fall somewhere below.

Always felt his two best known solo albums were slightly overrated.  TRANSFORMER is a good record but the singles, the famous songs (Satellite of Love, Perfect Day, Walk on the Wild Side, Vicious) are much better than the album tracks most of which seem like filler. NEW YORK finds Reed very inspired and animated but his anger and bitterness are too in your face as he has really stripped down the music.  Very little humor there.  Also comparing Arafat to the KKK is just disgusting.

As far as the Velvet Underground goes, all four VU albums are brilliant with the order of preference being 1^st, 3^rd, WHITE LIGHT/ WHITE HEAT and LOADED.

LOU REED RIP

Without Lou Reed, what would music be like?

Like every generation since 1967, I discovered The Velvet Underground.  I won’t say they changed my life because they didn’t.  I had already been “changed” by what musicians had come after and been influenced by The Velvet Underground.  What’s always impressed me about the VU was they started so many different sub genres – The first record with Nico was your standard new wave album with noisy pop punk explosions thrown in, WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT not only was punk rock it was the later 80’s early 90’s Sonic Youth feedback laden explosions.  The third album was quieter “indie” music of a type that’s still being put out regularly today. LOADED was middle of the road rock slightly left of the dial in what I knew growing up in the 80’s as the type of music played on college radio.

Lou Reed solo was a mixed bag.  He did make a number of great records including LEGENDARY HEARTS, BERLIN, STREET HASSLE but he also made records of such mawkish sentimentality and cornball music as to extinguish the distance between him and Billy Joel.  My favorite solo record was LEGENDARY HEARTS where I think he struck the best balance between that negative sentimentality and his hardened honesty, his powerful directness set to verse.

Lou Reed was the first musical artist to successfully combine the Beat mentality, the Beat style of verse, the Beat way of experiencing life as art.  Dylan predated him but Dylan’s surrealism cancels out his connection.  Worthwhile? Yes but not as immediately relatable.

Without Lou Reed, what would music be like? 

A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT JEREMY SCHAHILL'S DIRTY WARS

Normally I write about movies on my film blog http://www.rgdinmalaysia4film.blogspot.com/

but this film intersects a lot of subjects I have discussed in the past and DIRTY WARS is a documentary so I’ll discuss it here.

DIRTY WARS the good - Jeremy Scahill has done some admirable work most notably his book on Blackwater BLACKWATER: THE RISE OF THE MOST POWERFUL MERCENRAY ARMY.  He hits the all right points here on extrajudicial killing esp. the shadowy Joint Special Operations Command which has been given carte blanche authority in the ever widening global war on terror battlefield.  They are basically a death squad whether killing innocent Afghans (including pregnant women) or using drones that wipe out whole villages in Yemen.  His discussion of US kill lists and the case of Anwar Al Awlaki is pointed and thorough as is the case of Yemeni journalist Abdulelah Haider Shaye thrown in jail in Yemen at President Obama’s behest for reporting on a drone strike on the village of Al Majalah that killed many women and children.

He also establishes that front and center in the implementation of this death squad policy is President Obama.  He is the driving force behind this type of violence done to other countries.  He is a war criminal and should be impeached and then tried for war crimes.

In particular, the last ten minutes of the movie deal with Somalia which is an ongoing human rights disaster caused by the USA.  In order to stop the Islamic group Al-Shabbab(which does have some ties to Al Quaeda) or anybody the US doesn’t like there from coming to power and creating some form of government uniting the country and creating a livable country for its people. The US is paying warlords (gangsters and criminals basically) to keep Somalia in a state of anarchy killing people, raping women, committing other disgusting crimes.  The recent terrorist attack in Kenya is a direct result of this policy.

A little history on the US in Somalia courtesy of http://rinf.com/alt-news/breaking-news/hollywood-propaganda-american-heros-and-somali-savages-captain-phillips-obscures-us-crimes-in-somalia/

In 2006 it came out that the US had been financing warlords in Somalia. These warlords created death squads that terrorized the country by killing or capturing anyone who supported Islamic movements. Some of those captured by the death squads were turned over to the US for money, where they were tortured
In response to the terrorism of the US-backed warlords, religious factions began to unite to fight off the warlords. The factions united under the name, The Union of Islamic Courts. The UIC ushered in a justice system as well as stability, which allowed the unrestricted delivery of aid to malnourished Somalis. By 2006 the UIC had united almost all of Somalia. The top UN official on Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, stated that the time of the UIC rule was the “golden era” and the only break from the steady stream of misery for Somalis. The UIC was the first semblance of a stable central government in 15 years.
A leaked diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks revealed that the US wouldn’t tolerate the UIC gaining control of Somalia. The Bush administration likely believed the UIC would be too independent from US influence and mistakenly saw the UIC as sheltering radical Islamists.
In 2006 the US backed Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia. It was a characteristic US proxy war with US troops on the ground, US intelligence informing strategy, and US air power providing support. The invasion turned into a brutal 2-year occupation, displacing hundreds of thousands and killing 16,000 civilians.
Rob Wise at the Center for Strategic and International Studies says the Ethiopian occupation transformed al Shabaab from a very weak force in Somalia to “the most powerful and radical faction in the country”.

DIRTY WARS the bad – Well this article lays out all the points http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/06/07/dirty-wars-and-the-cinema-of-self-indulgence/

(although I think it goes too far….I’m not going to attack Scahill for appearing on camera too much….It is his film….He’s the one doing the investigating).

But the criticism the Counterpunch article gets right is the lack of historical reference.

The War on Terror, a euphemism for US imperialism and murder, is only different insofar as the technology and the use of US troops.  During the Cold War, the United States participated in genocidal mass killings in Vietnam, Guatemala, Indonesia, and many other third world nations.  US Special Forces sometimes did the killings but often it was specially trained locals (who received their education at that higher institute of horrors the College of the Americas).  Nowadays, due to upgrades in technology, not just drones but everything else, the locals are no longer needed.

So DIRTY WARS ends up being like a long 60 Minutes story.  Commendable for shining a light on US human rights violations but it could have been made better with a bit of history.   The US’s post cold war history is one of mass murder and extrajudicial killings (with tactics borrowed from the defeated Nazis) in the service of capitalistic exploitation whether facing real enemies or not.  The only evil empire left is America.

   

CRIMSON/RED BY PREFAB SPROUT

I have written about Prefab Sprout and Paddy McAloon before http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2009/07/joys-of-listening-to-prefab-sprout.html

There is nothing really I can add to that except to incorporate my thoughts about the newest Prefab Sprout album CRIMSON/RED.

This is Paddy McAloon by himself.  He is a one man band at this point – His brother bassist Martin, chanteuse Wendy Smith, and various drummers having long since departed.

Songs like The Best Jewel Thief in the World, List of Impossible Things, Grief Built the Taj Mahal, and The Dreamer are impeccable – Lyrics filled with clever allusions and sparkling wordplay and music that combines Broadway immediacy with sudden melodic shifts.  As a singer, McAloon has not lost much.  His voice has always moved between different registers for great dramatic effect and he does it here.

There are songs on here that don’t particularly grab me.  McAloon is in his 50’s and is a partial recluse married and raising his children in the English countryside and has struggled with a few health problems.  He has not toured in years but that’s okay.  Many great artists put out wonderful music after they stop touring.  I don’t expect him to continue producing the edgier music of his earlier works.
  

It is nice that someone is still making music like this.  BTW came across a new genre expression I’d never heard before in Wikipedia Sophisti-Pop which as described as  “a sub-genre of pop that flourished in the UK between the mid-1980s and early 1990s, incorporating elements of soft rock, jazz, new wave, and soul. The genre made extensive use of electronic keyboards, synthesizers, and polished arrangements, particularly horn sections”. Sounds like a good description for Prefab Sprout as well as other bands I liked from era such as Danny Wilson and ABC.