Showing posts with label david bowie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label david bowie. Show all posts
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Cliff's Cosmos Intergalactic Playlist



I've been all about the new Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey series on FOX. Yes, FOX. Say what you want about Seth McFarlane, but they guy used his Hollywood mojo to get a Neil deGrasse Tyson and Ann Druyan produced update of the Carl Sagan classic made on a network that thanks to corporate synergy insulates it from attacks from Fox News, and that's beyond heroic. More importantly though, it's brilliant television that expands the mind through... get this... the imparting of scientific knowledge, and boffo CGI that's in true Sagan fashion rather trippy. Colbert Report favorite deGrasse Tyson has been hitting it out of the park these last few weeks, and in honor of his service to America and humanity I've compiled a playlist celebrating space and it's psychedelic virtues. Enjoy.


 "Space Oddity" performed by Scott Hadfield on the International Space Station. This dude got everything right for this one, a wondrous fusing of art, taste, and science.


Daft Punk, "Contact." This one is for the die hard Sagan fans out there, fans of the dubious screen adaption of his book with Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughy, Buffalo native William Finchner, and fans of Kubrick.


The Flaming Lips, "Vein Of Stars." This fan made video amazingly makes this already sexy Flaming Lips ode to oral sex under the stars even sexier.


Sun Ra Arkestra, "Face The Music" and "Space Is The Place." Sun Ra's deeply soulful and liberating space jazz is a perfect vehicle for freeing one's self from the static checking and holding you back, a metaphor for the societal backdrop for DeGrasse Tyson's "journey of imagination."


Kate Bush, "Hello Earth." Part of the joy of Cosmos is how it provides a universal context for where our planet and the life on it fit into it, providing a new way to view us. Also, welcome back Kate Bush, who's slated to perform live this year for the first time in decades!


Beastie Boys, "Intergalactic." Another "journey of the imagination," with the Beasties, a giant robot, and Godzilla.


David Bowie, "Life On Mars?" Alas, the answer is no.


Cliff Parks
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buffaBLOG's Best of 2013: Staff Picks - Favorite Albums Part 1



Jon Krol

 David Bowie - The Next Day
Bowie disappeared for nearly a decade before returning with the best album he's released since the 70's. A dynamic, familiar-yet-still-reaching, piece of work that only adds to an already great legacy. Bowie is the representation of all things great and powerful in music. His is art, pop, love, loss, thrill and despair. This album, like Bowie's best, somehow manages to straddle the line between mainstream bubblegum and seedy-city sleaze without compromise. And "Valentine's Day" is one of the best songs he's ever released. Period.


Ryan Wolf

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
I am going to flip-flop what I said earlier in the year. Though I admire Modern Vampires of the City and Push the Sky Away about the same artistically, and both albums have resonated for me throughout 2013, I have to give a slight edge to Vampire Weekend that I granted to Nick Cave a few months ago only because of this: I listened to Modern Vampires more times. The music remains as devilishly catchy as it is profound.

 In the end, what I dub the greatest album of 2013 barely matters. But the bold existence of Modern Vampires of the City seems meaningful. Not only did the album turn a good band great, it brought spiritual questions to the forefront of the alternative and indie music scene in a playful but ultimately sincere way. Vampire Weekend did not simply name-drop biblical references for poetic cred: they dealt with contemporary religious crisis as if their very souls were on the line. When the market gets hip, the hip get hungry for something more than merely being cool.
Runners-Up: Push the Sky Away, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds; Reflektor, Arcade Fire; Perils from the Sea, Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle; AM, Arctic Monkeys


John Hugar

Janelle Monae - Electric Lady
This was not an easy choice -2013 had a ton of albums that could have taken the top honors in a lesser year, but no album in 2013 could match Monae's Electric Lady in terms of sheer ambition and creativity. Imagine if Prince, Outkast, ELO, and Funkadelic all made an album together, and you'd have a rough idea of what were dealing with. Anthems like "Q.U.E.E.N." and the title track manage to be political while not losing anything in danceability, while "Dance Apocalyptic" might be the most purely fun song since "Hey Ya." Really, though, there isn't a weak track on this album. With 19 tracks and a run-time over an hour, the album never drags or ceases to be interesting. A brilliant record from an artist who is probably just getting warmed up.



Nick Sessanna

 Pity Sex – Feast of Love
Almost all of my favorite albums are “growers…” That being said, Feast of Love is an excellent album that I really wasn’t expecting to grow attached to. Looking back, had I not given this album the chance it truly deserves, I really would have been missing out. Between the blissful shoegaze of lead single “Wind-Up” and the more subdued bass fuzz of “Keep,” this is an album truly appropriate for all moods. Call it “emogaze” if you will; it’s dirty enough to get you excited when you are happy and moody enough to satisfy any level of deep depression. The true strength of this album comes from co-lead singer Britty Drake – you’ll never hear her belting it out gospel-style, but her delivery on gems like “Hollow Body” is one of the saddest and unreasonably beautiful things I have ever heard. Recommended for fans of noisy shoegaze like My Bloody Valentine, straightforward fuzz rock like Smashing Pumpkins, or pretty much anything emotive you’d expect to hear at a basement show.



Ailsa Forlenza

 Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II 
Ever twist in circles while sitting on a swing? So tight that it seems the ropes are about to break, and then when you release, the whirred rush of the world undoes itself and perception ceases for a blissful moment. The release is what this album feels like to me. Guitar riffs that blur and swish a daydream paintbrush across a sonic page, and lyrics that push the boundaries of this album into a psychedelic realm. II lifted my subconscious and implanted a sweet reverie that I can access as soon as I hear "I wish that I could swim and sleep like a shark does/ I'd fall to the bottom and I'd hide til the end of time…"

Cliff Parks

Chvrches - The Bones Of What You Believe 
This debut from the Glasgow electronica is pure perfection from start to finish, a smart sugar rush of exquisitely crafted pop songs built around tasteful synths, undeniable beats, and the stunning vocals of steely Lauren Mayberry. While it wasn't a banner year for woman power and feminism in pop music, Chvrches' Mayberry proved to be a fine and much needed exception. Brilliantly sequenced and executed, this freshmen album came out of nowhere, and ended up owning me this year.



Tom Etu

 Tomahawk - Oddfellows
A "supergroup" of musical weirdos, Tomahawk had been silent for years until throwing this rock in the faces of music lovers who like their experimental rock with a side of fucked up. Oddfellows is not the best album of 2013, but it was widely overlooked and light needed to be shed on its grotesquely deformed underbelly. The lyrics take you into the regret of a jailbird and the patience of a sniper, with a few sprinkled references to kinky sex. It almost follows a deranged plotline. Duane Denison can still rock out with his Jesus Lizard out, and Mike Patton can still roar and then croon like a gentleman quicker than you can have a heart attack. The addition of bass player extraordinaire Trevor Dunn to the line-up gives this album a slinky jazz vibe. Sexy and repulsive. 


 For Part 2, click here.
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Tonight: Sound And Re-Vision II



David Robert Jones. Davy Jones. David Bowie. Ziggy Stardust. The Thin White Duke. For more than 45 years David Bowie has gone by many names and explored as many personas as he's explored genres as a musician, actor, and artist. Folk, glam rock, funk, soul, electronic, art rock, unabashed pop, noise metal, and pretty much everything in between except country (although I could be wrong; in any case I'm sure an anonymous commenter will correct me)... Bowie's done it, which is good for music lovers, Bowie fans, and organizers of Bowie tributes like tonight's Sound And Re-Vision II at Nietzsche's. Put on by our good friends at Artvoice, Sound And Re-Vision II: A Buffalo Bowie Tribute Show features Alaysa O'Ballzy, Cowboys of Scotland, David Kane, D.D. Kinsman, Finster, Fredtown Stompers, Jimyn The Singing Mime, Small Smalls, Wooden Cities, The Ifs, The John Peyton Project, Tony Derosa, and more... and you can see it all for $5. 

 Doors open at 8:30, the show starts at 9:00, with proceeds benefiting the Lifeline Foundation at ECMC, and prizes for the pretty things in the best Bowie costumes. With an excellent album this year, his first in 10 years, it's been a good year for the elusive artist, and what better way to honor Bowie than with a hot tribute show on a cold night in Allentown for a good cause.

Cliff Parks
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buffaBLOG's Best of 2013 (so far): Part 2


Editor's note: If you missed any of yesterday's selections, you can check them out here.

 Jon Krol

 Album:  David Bowie - The Next Day

 This pick should come as no surprise to those who know me. I pretty much worship at the altar of Bowie-anything, and, despite his relatively weak output in the nineties and early 2000's, looked forward to this album with hot anticipation. Let's just say I wasn't disappointed. The Next Day hearkened back to Bowie's bygone era, the Berlin Trilogy, which was arguably his strongest moment as a songwriter and creative provocateur. After his limelight faded a bit in the late seventies, Bowie moved to Berlin and released Heroes, Lodger, and Low, three criminally overlooked albums in the pantheon of rock history. During that time, Bowie experimented with soundscapes and angular post-rock. The end result was something rock had rarely seen, a truly unique exploration of the medium. Listening to The Next Day, I felt like Bowie was continuing this journey. The songs were undeniably rock-oriented with pop hooks and guitar crunch for days. They were something more though. Vibe and attitude as only Bowie can pull off, the songs were interesting, and they felt fresh and new. After ten years off, it was as if Bowie re-discovered that inner spirit. Still exploring, in search of that perfect pop song, Bowie pushed himself and the end result was an album that ranks amongst his very finest.

Song:  Ghost - "Year Zero"

Ghost (or Ghost B.C. as the lawyers call them), are undeniably retro. Dressed as faceless, robed monks and led by a ghoul known only as Papa Emeritus, it is easy to write them off as a hokey throwback and a gimmick. However, Ghost is anything but. Their refreshing brand of melodic, proto-metal reminds me of Gypsy-era Mercyful Fate if Mercyful Fate had a pop singer instead of King Diamond. The band's popularity  skyrocketed recently and that is as much due to their unbelievably catchy songs, as it is their persona. Check out "Year Zero" for instance, off the excellent Infestissumam, a creepy, crawling track that is as epic and fun as it is enthralling. Their appeal has no bounds and neither does this song. You either get it or you don't. I grew up with Venom and KISS. I get it.

Michael Moretti

 Album:  Camp Counselors - Huntress

I don’t know if Buffalo has always been this talented or I have just been more in-tune with what has been emerging between writing for this blog and doing the WBNY Local Show but 2013 saw impressive releases from JOHNS, The Malones, Merchants, Bearhunter, Aircraft, Jack Topht, Space Wolves, and Tony Flaminio. It is going to be very difficult for the committee to narrow down the top 20 songs for Buffalo in December 2013. Although all of those albums are strong in their own right, my absolute favorite local release of 2013 is Camp Counselors’ haunting horror-movie inspired full-length, Huntress. Camp Counselors is the side-project of Cemeteries mastermind, Kyle Reigle. Huntress plays out exactly like the score to an 80’s horror movie, at times brave and motivating- at others eerie and sullen. It is almost as if it is a dreamy electro musical for ghosts. I could not understand or tell you one lyric from Huntress, as Reigle ghoulishly wails and doesn’t really enunciate any of the lyrics, but that makes it surprisingly stronger. If you are a fan of The Knife, M83, or the xx, then you need to hear Camp Counselors’ Huntress.


Song:  Smart House - "Car Ride"

I believe fellow buffaBLOG writer, Brian Gorman, clued me in on local electro musician Alek Ogadzhanov and his various projects (Alek Ogadzhanov, Bratya, and Smart House) late last winter. When I first heard Smart House’s “Car Ride,” I remember shaking my head in disbelief that this was coming out of Buffalo. “Car Ride” is a three minute and 32 second , driving instrumental track a la The Cure or Wild Nothing. For some reason, this track reminds me of packing into a car and driving far away to see a show. I picture myself Billy Corgan-ing in the “1979” video to this song.



Jeannette Chin

 Album:  Mount Kimbie - Cold Spring Faultless Youth

 When asked about their second album, Cold Spring Faultless Youth, the newly signed to Warp duo, Mount Kimbie, reported that unlike their first album, the music was largely inspired by elements of live performance, the approach towards songwriting being stimulated by being on tour for months on end without interruption. This difference in approach is easily traceable for Mount Kimbie fans upon listening to Cold Spring Faultless Youth. Brought to the forefront are melodies driven by electric guitars and synthesizers, rhythms that compel listeners to bob their head, and, perhaps the most surprising, the unrestrained use of vocals. That's right, in this album, the duo take turns singing discernible lyrics to discernible melodies. Two of the songs ("You Took Your Time" and "Meter, Pale, Tone") even feature the vocal magic of their music peer, King Krule. 

Despite having gravitated toward song-writing structures that some of us would lightly consider more "traditional," effectively stamped on each track is their unique signature, the sonic template of their style, whose appearance in 2009 had music critics speculating about the end of dub step. The duo was then listed among the list of artists leading what's left of it into a new era. Crackly textures, sudden transitions, idiosyncratic key signatures, scrambled drum patterns, and melodies that take multiple listenings to register, to fully coagulate inside our heads as listeners. It's all unmistakably packed in there. Moreover, their approach to vocals, to lyrics (with the aid of King Krule), is something that will be appreciated by those who pay homage to language considered to be poetry. Personally for me, out of any recent releases, it most closely resembles what I would imagine a Beat-Revival would sound like. Anyways, all this just scratches the surface of why, out of any album released this year, this one continues to be the most interesting for me to listen on repeat. Listen to it yourself and let me know what you think.

Song:  Kurt Vile - "Girl Called Alex"

 For me and many others, Kurt Vile is a significant songwriter because he effectively portrays the voice of youthful indifference. A sort of vague, widespread ideological climate that can puncture a generation. In my mind, his music listens like a halo of apathy; fueled by nostalgia and as tender as it is reckless. It is also impressive, in more ways than one, you can't help but admire his handle on the guitar, his intuitive songwriting, but you're also impressed that he managed to pull himself out of bed to record it.  Overall, "Girl Called Alex" plays like a pure extract of everything Kurt Vile is good at, guitars that lull your head to the clouds, symphony moments, simple lyrics with bursts of rawness, and making you feel as though you are not alone in your strangeness. "I wanna live all the time in my fantasy infinity."



Josh Gordon

Album:  Sonorous Gale - The Total Overcomers:  A Saga

These have been some weird times for the Gale. Rumor has it they joined a cult who forced them to change their name and wear identical blue polo shirts in public. I hear tell they were ready to drink the Kool-Aid and rendezvous with the mothership floating somewhere above the southbound lane of the I-190, but snapped out of it just in time. Thank God (or Marshall Applewhite, if that's your thing). They've lived to tell the tale and their latest four-track EP is the result. Buffalo sludge has never sounded so good.



Song:  Grouplove - "Ways to Go"

Maybe this is why I always get laid never get laid, because I'd be just as happy strapped into hip waders, slogging through the tarry peat bog of sludge rock with the stoners and the punks as I would be in loafers and salmon-pink shorts, drinking cheap beer with the "cool" kids. But neither clique will have me - and that's just the way I like it. I'm a rebel, baby, a real lone wolf. I'm also a sucker for synths, female vocals, and skeleton body suits - and Grouplove have all that in spades. The video for "Ways to Go" is the bee's knees (or the beloved leader's pajamas, if that's your thing). I've been pressing play every four minutes now for weeks. It's been days since I've heard from my family. But that's all right - this my family now. You are all my family. Hey, wait, anyone else feel funny? My eyes are burning. My legs are...No. Stop! This isn'tfunan y !!!more Don'tdoit,..,don't dtringk the Kool-

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Picking Up the Slack for MTV: Chris Hadfield - "Space Oddity" (First Music Video Made from Space)


Yesterday Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut, recorded the first ever music video from space while aboard the International Space Station. The ironic choice of song (and perhaps, best fitting) was David Bowie's classic 67' tribute to the space age, "Space Oddity." It's not the best cover you've ever heard, but there's something transcendent about a tune conceived nearly fifty years ago being actualized in present day, a tune which echoed the possibilities and dreams of those who dared believe we could "get there." Apply your own meaning whatever way you see fit. Hadfield is now a living embodiment of the intersection between pop culture and science, and for that I applaud him. He is, quite literally, floating "in a tin can, far above the moon."



jon krol
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Album Review: David Bowie - The Next Day


I will preface this review by stating that I tried very hard to like the album.  Why?  Because this is Bowie man!  David Bowie has written some of the catchiest, most iconic, and idiosyncratic pop songs out there.  From “Space Oddity” to “Ziggy Stardust,” to “Changes” to “Oh You Pretty Things” (the list goes on for a while), the man has permanently changed the course of rock music.  He has also made quite the impact on image and androgyny.  Clearly, his new record deserves a fare shot at making its way into my memory bank.  So I gave it a shot... and then another... and another... and I have come to a conclusion.  The Next Day is not a great album.  It is not even a contender for a “good” David Bowie album.  I cannot ride the wave of positive reviews.  The recent heart attack survivor may be sixty-six, but he will get no slack from me. 
   
My main problem with The Next Day is that it is devoid of memorable and unique pop hooks, something that was once a staple of Bowie's songwriting.  Let's start with the title track and album opener.  The song sounds like it could have been written as a B-side for the Labyrinth soundtrack.  Bowie barks lyrics about a man being tortured, possibly during Medieval Times.  It could also be a metaphor for Bowie as some sort of martyr.  Who knows?  The song is interesting.  David Bowie's deep vocal delivery during the choruses is exciting and really weird!  Unfortunately, it is still a bland song by Bowie standards. 
   
“Dirty Boys” is a very lethargic piece... and one that I will skip over in this review (I also skip over it when listening to the album).  “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” is the second best song on the album.  Jagged guitars surround Bowie as he sings about some twisted vision of stardom.  The music video is very strong and worth checking out.  Note: it has a wonderful chicken carving scene with Tilda Swinton.

The album's finest moment comes in “Where Are We Now.”  While still an underwhelming song for Bowie, it is the most honest track on “The Next Day.”  Bowie acts his age, recalling time in Berlin, and that he is “walking the dead.”  I liked this song after the first listen, but it gets absurdly better when paired with the music video.  I believe this is one of the best visual interpretations of a song in years.  It is sad, eery, and wonderful.
            
Other album highlights include the unique guitar riff/drum combo in “I'd Rather Be High,” the low key, yet very pleasant “So She,” and the solid rocker “I'll Take You There.”  Nothing on the album is bad per se, unless you compare it to great David Bowie tracks... then this stuff is awful!

Has Bowie lost his touch?  In my opinion, yes.  Lyrically this could be Bowie's most inspired, maybe even profound material.  However, if I want to listen to profound lyrics without pop melodies I'll choose Bob Dylan.  Bowie was best at lodging powerful, resonating hooks into listeners heads and hearts.  There are few traces of that magic here.  Listen to The Next Day to get your new Bowie fix, watch the music video to “Where Are We Now” to be visually stimulated, and then spend the rest of your time with yesterday's Bowie.  Those overplayed songs are still infinitely more enjoyable than anything found on this album.

Grade:  C+



~Dave Muntner
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Top Ten March Album Releases

We've got some impressive releases leading us into the mists this March. Break out the St. Patrick's Day attire and watch the snow melt away while you spin some of these great new records.
10. Suuns - Images Du Futur
Montreal quartet Suuns (who were just featured in our first installment of the Festival Bands, Man! series) came together in 2006 when frontman Ben Shemie got together with bassisst Joe Yarmush, to record some beats, which eventually worked their way into songs. Grabbing two new members Liam O’Neill and Max Henry, the group expanded and released their debut record Zeroes QC in 2010. On March 5, Suuns will unveil their anticipated sophomore record Images Du Fur via Secretly Canadian. The first single off the new record “Edie’s Dream” further exhibits the group’s ability at carefully-crafted psychedelic tunes. Listen to “Edie’s Dream” below:


9. Julian Lynch - Lines
Madison, WI PhD candidate and musician Julian Lynch will release his follow-up to last year’s Terra with the LP Lines, due out March 26 via Underwater Peoples. The first single off the record “Carios kelleyi I” follows in Lynch's signature strand of textured, chromatic folk, with cheerful acoustic riffs coated with Lynch's warm hum. Listen to “Carios kelleyi I” below:


8. Chvrches - Recover EP
The title track off Chvrches' new EP wastes no time as lead singer Lauren Mayberry's vocals deliver a shot of adrenaline with a instantly catchy verse leading into an even more enthralling chorus. The Scottish trio will release the EP via Goodbye Records on March 25. Listen to "Recover" below:


 7. Marnie Stern - The Chronicles of Marnia
Marnie Stern has been in the news quite a bit in the past few months. First, the New York indie-rocker has aparently started a real contest to win a date with her, and more importantly has shared a few tracks from her forthcoming record The Chronicles of Marnia which is due out March 19. The latest single "Nothing Is Easy" doesn't dissapoint with Stern's catchy whine, and convoluted guitar licks and percussion. Listen to the track here.

6. David Bowie - The Next Day
For the past decade or so, David Bowie has been pretty silent. One minute you're reading a story about how he will never put out another album ever again, then suddenly The Next Day is announced. As confusing as that last sentence is, and as bad as some of Bowie's '00-era records are, it's always exciting when a pop legend decides to come out of an apparent retirement and deliver a new collection of songs. Especially when the legend in question is 66 years old. The Next Day is officially out on March 12 in the US, but it is currently streaming on iTunes. Watch the video for "Where Are We Now?" below:

5. Phosphorescent - Muchacho
Phosphorescent, aka Matt Houck, will release his sixth studio record Muchacho, on March 19 via Dead Oceans. The first cut off the record is called "Song for Zula," a languid, floaty track with spiraling strings complete with an echoed drum loop. The New York via Alabama musician traveled to Mexico early last year after a brief "freak out" in order to find inspiration.  When he came back to New York with a clear head, songs for Muchacho poured out. Listen to "Song for Zula" below:


4. Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
Waxahatchee is Birmingham native Katie Crutchfield. Still riding off the energy of her debut full-length American Weekend, Crutchfield will release her follow-up Cerulean Salt tomorrow via Don Giovanni Records. Crutchfield thrives on her unique lo-fi stylings, thought-provoking lyricism, and heart-on-sleeve approach to songwriting that goes unrivaled in today's immense DIY folk scene. Listen to the single “Peace and Quiet” off the record below and stream Cerulean Salt in its entirety over at NPR. 

3. Rhye - Woman
Rhye’s first single “The Fall,” which came out late last year, was a crisp, androgynous track released by an anonymous group that had the attention of the indie blogosphere pretty fast. The sexy, yet minimal, track was intriguing everyone, and finally Toronto-born Mike Milosh came forward as the lead singer behind the duo. As they release their debut record Woman today, Rhye is entering an exciting time; they're only going to get more popular. Watch the entrancing video for “The Fall” below:

2. The Men - New Moon
The Men have decided to stay the prolific course and will release their fourth record in three years with New Moon on March 5. The record is streaming over at Pitchfork right now and upon first listen it immediately sounds a lot more varied and expansive, still exuding a punk influence, but with country and pop underpinnings. The group has maintained all the songwriting perks of last year’s Open Your Heart, with an array of new instrumentals including mandolin, harmonica, piano, and lap guitar. The record is being released by Sacred Bones. Listen to the single “Electric” below:


1. Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse
Youth Lagoon aka Trevor Powers’ record The Year of Hibernation was arguably the best debut of 2011, as it scaled a mountainous terrain of lo-fi dream-pop, and perfected the art of the build with tracks like “Montana” and “July” starting with calm synth textures and peaking with Powers’ ethereal croon. While the The Year of Hibernation was recorded in a friend’s garage in a few days, his sophomore album was done in a proper studio with the help of producer Ben H. Allen (Animal Collective, Deerhunter). And while there is a definite improvment in production and style, Powers is still blowing our minds, this time via a diversity of layered instrumentals and reeling psychadelic imagery. Each track takes on it’s own varied form, with emphasis on tempo changes and whimsical lyrical imagery. The album is out tomorrow via Fat Possum, but you can stream the album now over at NPR. Also, be sure to check out our detailed Songbook Report on the album here.

Tom Dennis
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A Change of Plans



"Love yer brain.. even if it slips down the drain."    - The Flaming Lips

 Sunday my brain didn't work so good. It was shot. A killer week of shows (Blind Pilot, Yeasayer, Black Angels), work, alarming heat, and The Black Angels Saturday night left my brain in a questionable state on the only day I had to write this here post, and what I did manage to crank out showed it in spades. There's a paragraph floating around cyberspace so preposterous and out of control that it's not even funny, and the plan was to try to wrastle it into something resembling coherence for your Monday night amusement. But then I got home from work in time for the last 15 minutes of the USA vs Canada Olympic Women's Soccer semi final, and well, there's been a change of plans.

 Mind you, that incoherent crap will be hammered into shape... eventually (and between us, frankly the coherence of this substitute is debatable too), and my special assignment will see the light of day... soon, once a few facts get confirmed, but for now, my probably still damaged brain is fixated on events in Manchester, and strangely, Mars. Considering our country is a hot mess and awash in crass stupidity, I find myself drawn to stories highlighting human achievement, and NASA successfully landing that billion dollar high tech roving doohickey on Mars was a nice change of pace and a swell affirmation of the virtue of intelligence. Seeing all those nerds jumping around and high five-ing  each other just made my me smile. Good for them. Good for us. But that's not what this is about, and neither is this gratuitous and ironic use of David Bowie's "Life On Mars?"


This is about human achievement of another kind. I'll admit I haven't been completely obsessed with the Olympics (other than that Danny Boyle Opening Ceremony), but other than the women's beach volleyball I've caught a few of the Olympic soccer games, mostly to tide me over until the start of the English Premier League in a few weeks. Except for the US Women's soccer team. Them I've followed with tremendous interest, even if catching all of the games has been impossible, like today. I totally figured that the game would be in the books by the time I got out of work, confident as I was that our ladies team would clobber our neighbours to the North on their inexorable march to the gold medal match, but Canada held on, actually leading the match 3 times before we tied it up, forcing the extra time and potentially the diabolical crap shoot that is penalty kicks. And after watching Great Britain's men's soccer team lose to South Korea on penalty kicks the other day in epic fashion, I really... REALLY didn't want penalty kicks. But with literally seconds left before the full time whistle...


Seriously, Hollywood screenwriters couldn't have written that and not gotten laughed out of the room. That was at Old Trafford, home of the legendary (and hated) Manchester United... known all over the world as "The Theatre of Dreams." I could try to liken Old Trafford to Yankee Stadium, but it's not even close; I mean outside of the US, maybe Canada, Japan, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, nobody gives two shits about baseball. Soccer (or, football) on the other hand... well, people all over the world care about that. So... at "The Theatre of Dreams"... with about 30 seconds of game time left before possible doom during penalty kicks (and Canada dying to stage a colossal upset)... Team USA wins and earns a spot in the gold medal match against Japan... the team that beat them in the last Women's World Cup.... yeah, that could be a bit far fetched. But... like Landon Donovan's winning goal against Algeria in the 2010 World Cup that got us into the knockout stage... it happened. Even a few hours afterwards it still feels like a dream, but yes, amazingly enough it really happened, and again our Women's soccer team are heroes.

Yes, heroes. And yes, I'm using more Bowie. My nationalism has limits, it's the London Olympics, and I don't care if he's not American, it's Bowie (who may or may not be dead according to the Flaming Lips). But as I mentioned earlier, our country is a hot mess, and frankly in many areas attitudes towards women have been moving backwards in the wrong direction. It ain't right, and neither is our nation's exponentially growing institutional anti-intellectualism. Thus it's entirely appropriate and fitting that right now so many of our Olympic medalists are women, and that heroes of the moment are our Women's soccer team, and NASA.


Cliff Parks



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Tonight: Sound & Re-Vision - A Tribute to David Bowie



“Same old thing in brand new drag comes sweeping into view,” Bowie belts on the 1980 fan-favorite "Teenage Wildlife". While his own career has certainly had enough costume and genre changes to make the lyric work on a personal level, the line also encompasses something of the influence Ziggy Stardust, The Thin White Duke, Aladdin Sane and the rest of them have had on us. His shape-shifting nature is always highlighted but his universality often isn’t. Tonight at Nietzsche’s is ‘Sound and Re-Vision: A Tribute to David Bowie,’ an evening to bring together some great local talent to sing from one man’s song catalogue, all in different kinds of drag. From Erie Lackawanna Railroad’s bluegrass renditions to Sea Snake Vs.’s indie rock interpretations, the night should be pretty varied, despite being about the same old thing. You know, the way Bowie would have wanted. Starts at 10; Five Dollar cover.

Full List of Bands:

Jen Whit
Erie Lackawanna Railroad
Sea Snake Vs.
Pine Fever
Bare Flames
Randal and The Late Night Scandals
Megan Callahan
David Kane
The Moves
Irving Klaws 


Zachary Lis
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