A Spoonful of new songs + Marit Larsen talks

I for one am eagerly anticipating the new Spoon record, due sometime in June. The live mp3's and 'tube video of new material posted by You Ain't No Picasso today were therefore very much appreciated.

Also, an interview with the precious Marit Larsen today at Stylus Magazine.

I reminisce with bliss of when we was closer

I just found out that Main Source's legendary and long lost Golden Age gem Breaking Atoms is available as a Japanese import, albeit not cheap. The best deal I've seen so far is at HipHopSite for a whooping 30$. Instead of me telling you why you should buy it, I'll give you a taste of what these cats were up to.

• Main Source - "Lookin' at the Front Door" (mp3) from Breaking Atoms

They have concerns

Matana Roberts

Interesting post, links included, on be.jazz concerning the apparent shortage of a younger black audience for avant garde/modern/free jazz music. Reminds me of an article in the Village Voice a few years back about Black-conscious Hip-Hop's mostly white audience.

Though I believe greatness in music transcends color/ethnicity/sex/whatever, no doubt the experience of being part any group will most likely influence the music. I also understand the need/urge to communicate that experience with someone who shares it (as opposed to e.g. telling/making people understand). Hence, if there were to be a shortage of black American voices in jazz in the future - regardless of which experience they chose to express - it would be a crying shame.

Life's knocking right at your door

Currently enjoying - nay - jumping around to the incredible punch of this:

The West Wing: Bite My Wire

I honestly cannot remember how it happened, and I don't know why it matters, but in trying to explain my affinity for the West Wing, I cocked up on the terminology (tho' I blame the alchohol).

Still, the reason why I hold The West Wing, seasons 1-4 in particular, in such high esteem is that in addition to the snappy dialogue, nudges at current events, intriguing story lines, and quite possibly the best casting in TV-history, it maintained a willingness to include details in the processes of policy making (which is what I meant by "realistic". Bad choise of words, I know). Of course the Bartlet administration itself is too good to be true - too positive or naive, even - but that's why at the end of a legislative victory you end up punching the air along with them. I don't think we would have if they circumvented too much of these processes and had them waving around a magic wand instead (even if nay-sayers may say they do that too), or if the Bartlets were dull a**holes.

I am Man: how a feminist anthem became a cry for meaty food

When Helen Reddy released a re-recording of "I am Woman" back in 1972, it soon became an anthem for feminists and tired housewives across America. Now, I'm not a big fan of the track, but I can understand how it worked: in a style similar to the protest songs of the late '60s, the track has a simple verse with an easy-to-follow tune and lyrics that invite you to sing along, building up to a big chorus. The song rejects common notions of the female sex, and lays a claim to strength both as individuals ("I am woman, hear me roar") and as a group ("In numbers too big to ignore"). For the many women sick of being labled as the weak sex and frustrated by being second to the male in society, one can understand how the ideas of the song were appealing.

Last year, a Burger King commercial which takes a spin on "I am Woman" began to roll across American TV screens, and it has recenently come to Europe.

The commercial starts with a camera shot from within a posh restaurant, where a guy is being served a small plate of vegetables/finger food ("Chick food") and he's not happy about it. Instead of "I am Woman", we get "I am Man", and as a MAN he wants meat. He strides out of the restaurant in search of the nearest burger joint, and is joined by more MEN in his call for meaty food.

Where Helen Reddy's song tried to prove notions of the female sex wrong, the BK commercial tries to reaffirm outdated notions of the male sex as "honest", uncomplicated beings instead. And that real men need meat. It has a certain "Me Tarzan, You Jane" feel to it, and while I find some of it funny (the burning of underpants as a parallel to burning bras), more than anything it is quite dumb. I don't know whether the European audience will get the spin on the feminist anthem, 'cause I don't know if the original had any impact over here, but hopefully they'll think their take on the male sex is as silly as I think it is.

Leroy Jenkins, RIP

Fine tribute to the great man at Destination: Out.