Will and Tortoise are on Your Side, while Boots is on Mine

I've talked about this before, but this recent review of Will Oldham/BPB and Tortoise's The Brave and the Bold in Pop Matters, which rewards it an 8 out of 10, makes me want to reiterate a few things. I find it so infuriating that a man so intent on portraing, even celebrating self-pity and shows no willingness to live and fight is continously being hailed as one of the best "alternative" artists of today. The reviewer of The Brave... says "The strategy for these cover versions tends to be to take each song in precisely the opposite direction of its original conceptualization", citing their version of Springsteen's "Thunder Road" as a prime example of how this works, in his opinion, perfectly. But why would you want to turn songs of hope on its head?!? The notion of self-pity is the worst sickness of the people in Western countries, especially in countries like Norway, where the biggest concern for most of us is how to make dinner now that minced meat might be poisonous. I'm not saying we should be content with the status que of the world, we shouldn't, but giving up is another matter.

Thank f**k, then, for people like Pam the Funkstress and Boots Riley of the Coup. In "LaughLoveFuck" from their forthcoming album Pick a Bigger Weapon, Boots insists that not only is he here to "laugh, love, fuck, and drink liquor", but also to "help the revolution come along quicker". That's more like it.