Shepard Fairey at Tufts

While giving me a tour of the Tufts campus last night, my friend Jess showed me the mural that Shepard Fairey had set up back in January. (If the name Shepard Fairey isn't ringing any bells, he's the artist who designed the Barack Obama "HOPE" poster and, less recently, the "OBEY" posters featuring the face of Andre the Giant).

After seeing it last night, I made sure to set some tim

e aside today to go back and take some pictures. I tried to get the best angles for close-ups of each section, but a van parked right by the mural's left side prevented me from getting ideal shots of some areas, as well as a good all-encompassing shot. Either way, I hope you enjoy as much as I did. (For all of the pictures at full size, just head to my flickr page)

Garfield Minus Garfield

This website completely redefines my memories of one of my favorite childhood cartoons. In a good way:

"Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb"

Birthers

Ok, so the more I hear about this ridiculous movement, the more angry I get. For those of you who don't know, the "birther" movement is the belief that President Obama is not legally the President of the United States because he was not a naturally-born citizen. Never mind that a birth certificate has been produced and a House resolution passed declaring Obama the legal 44th President of the United States, these hard working Americans will not rest until a democratically-elected President has been run out of office.

Now, most of the birther arguments just make me chuckle, since about 95% of it is just repeating "there is no birth certificate." However, it seems as though some critics such as Orly Taitz have become so distant from reality that their legal actions may have some very negative consequences for our nation as a whole. Take, for example, the fact that Taitz is now representing army personell who are claiming they do not have to report for duty because President Obama is not their commander in chief. Worse yet? The army apparently agrees.

It's people like Taitz that are really starting to anger me. With quotes like "In Nazi Germany, if soldiers and officers questioned orders from the commander in chief, maybe 65 million people wouldn't have died." Seriously? Ok, I get it, you really don't like Obama's presidency. Still, though, likening his policies to the holocaust is too inflammatory to even be considered humorous. On the other hand, the full source interview of that quote is entertaining by at least showing that this movement's leaders don't have any idea what satire is.

In the end though, I agree with White House Press Secretary Gibbs in saying that there isn't a single thing that will satisfy this movement. It's clear this is just a fringe movement of people who are upset about Obama's election, and are willing to use any cray loophole necessary to overturn a democratically-elected commander in chief.

Movits!

Watching the Colbert Report last night, I got my first exposure to the Swedish hip-hop/jazz/swing fusion band Movits!. If you missed it, these guys have a sound that can best be equated to a mix of Cab Calloway and Run DMC but, you know, in Swedish. I was instantly hooked by this band the moment they started up their one-song set of Fel Del Av Garden; both for the band's sound as well as the visual awesomeness of a turntable/drum machine, saxophone, upright bass and microphone all being played by very well dressed and well coordinated Swedes (giving The Hives a run for their money).

The interview itself wasn't all that memorable, which is understandable considering this is their first US TV interview. The goal wasn't insight, it was just to make them likable to the viewers. Still though, I'd definitely be interested to see a more serious interview with this band at some point to hear them actually talk for more than one minute about their music.

Anyway, here's the video for the song performed last night, Fel Del Av Garden

I can't understand a single word of what they're singing, but I'm sure I'll be listening to these guys for quite a while now.

There and Back Again: A Greece Story

Instead of updating the blog every so often with a trip update, like I have in the past, I opted to just keep a personal, handwritten journal for this trip. I think this works out better for a couple reasons. 1. I didn't have to worry about finding internet or taking a computer around with me. Only a pen and paper. 2. I've grown to slightly dislike the idea of personal update blog postings, just because it diminishes the importance and fun of one on one conversations and storytelling. So, I'm gonna save the specific stories of day to day Greece trip stuff for my journal, but that doesn't mean I won't tell you about the trip if you ask.

I will say this, though. I had a blast. I ate great food, with a record 5 consecutive meals of gyros at the same place in Athens. I saw amazing things, ranging from the Parthenon to the volcanic caldera and black sand beaches of Santorini. I made new friends, from the people I stayed with to the people I met down in the bars. I was able to fully unplug and relax, with no cell phones, no internet, and plenty of time on the beaches. Oh, and I can now say I worked in a hostel. The things you'll do when you run out of money...

Here's a small selection of pictures from the trip. If you want to see the full reel, check out my flickr page (linked on the right).

Belated Beirut Review

It's taken me a while to get around to thinking up a review for March of the Zapotec/Holland, the latest double-EP from Beirut; mainly because I've been playing the hell out of a vinyl copy of Gulag Orkestar that I just got a hold of. A bit ironic, but I'm sort of glad I listened to the debut album before giving a proper listen to March of the Zapotec/Holland, just because it gave me a new and interesting perspective on both the two albums and the feel of Beirut's music as a whole.

When I first listened to Gulag Orkestar, I got the impression that Zach Condon (originally the only member of Beirut, now the leader) was a true international; someone who embodied and cherished the Balkan culture that he was performing with. A man without nationality, if you will. Listening to Gulag again, though, I realize this was very shortsighted of me. Rather than sounding like a native, Condon's vocals overlay the sounds of distant lands like a genuinely curious traveler. Someone who is interested in the culture, wanting to infuse himself with his new surroundings, but ultimately someone who will leave and take what he has learned back with him.

This newfound take on Beirut's music was greatly reinforced when I listened to March of the Zapotec. This EP doesn't sound like the New Mexico native's renunciation of his old home and culture and subsequent love affair with his new home in Mexico. Instead, it sounds like the lingering memories of a small town in Mexico harbored in Condon's creative consciousness. The instrumentals, like any material souvenir one might bring back from a trip, sound like authentic samples (with just a subtle hint of American perspective) taken from the local music of Oaxaca, Mexico, where Condon traveled to before making this album. The track "My Wife" is a prime example of this. His vocals, however, reveal the instrumentals to be no more than a backdrop for the music of a foreign traveler. Condon met the locals, interacted with their music, but in the end, cannot write songs as one of them; only as an outsider who met them.

The second half of this double EP, Holland, is an entirely different creature. Originally credited to Realpeople, one of Condon's pre-Beirut pseudonyms, the electronic sound of Holland feels like a stranger's account of a long and lonely night on the euro-trash club scene. Like March of the Zapotec, Holland's vocals carry the sound of a foreign traveler set to the backdrop of what this traveler remembers hearing in the local music scene. At its best, Holland can be pleasantly haunting, such as in the track "Venice." At its worst, however, it sounds like Condon stumbling out of a European club at dawn, slightly drunk, and trying to sing like David Bowie while an organ grinder plays in the background. At least, that's how "the Concubine" sounded to me.

Overall, this double-EP release from Beirut is solid. You'll be interested for at least a couple of listens, as long as you accept Beirut for what it is: the musical travel diary of a wanderlust American.

TV on the Radio on the TV

Last week, TV on the Radio made several TV appearances to promote their album "Dear Science;" which was by far one of the best (if not the best) albums of 2008. Now, having seen TVotR live a number of times as well as an owner of all their albums, I had high hopes for their performances.

Unfortunately, not all of their performances delivered. On the Colbert Report (below), the vocals seemed to race ahead of the drumming, causing the beat to accelerate to the point where Tunde Adebimpe, lead vocals, was more concerned with spitting out all the words in time before the song ended. The band's SNL appearance (not available due to NBCs copyright) was no more satisfying, either. Performing their song "Golden Age," TVotR seemed to be plagued by a combination of bad acoustics and terrible soundboard management. Either way, these two live performances fell well short of what I had hoped to be a great opportunity for TVotR.



That isn't to say all of their TV spots were bad, though. Their appearance on Letterman playing Dancing Choose" was pretty awesome on its own merits, not to mention the very cool stage location of a fire escape outside the studio building.



Whatever. At least nothing this band could ever do will ever be as painful as watching the Ting Tings perform live.