I've had it with Senator Hillary Clinton.

It's clear she won't win the Democratic Party nomination, so now her supporters complain that her loss and the calls for her to stop campaigning are sexism. Really? The math says otherwise, and what about the racism that Senator Obama has faced? Racism, by the way, she has willingly stoked and supported indirectly (consider her remarks that "hard-working white people" don't support Sen. Obama, giving tacit permission for those same people to exercise their prejudices against a black man). Meanwhile, she practices the most odious form of political spin, claiming she has won more of the popular vote. That's true only if you count the disqualified votes (that's a technical term it means "illegal under party rules") and ignore caucuses (meaning my own vote didn't count). This is what Professor Frankfurt of Princeton calls "bullshit". Everybody knows she's being disingenuous, but it's somehow okay because we all know she's lying.

Her stubborn unwillingness to set aside politics for the sake of a larger goal has really turned me off and if she runs for president in four or eight years, I find it hard to imagine I could support her after this unseemly display of vanity and frustration. Perhaps she's doing this to further her own interest, establishing her position as the leading presidential candidate next time or the leading vice-presidential candidate for this election, which I find utterly selfish, considering the stakes. Ironically, this is the sort of behavior that ended Senator Ted Kennedy's presidential aspirations, in my opinion.

CDs listened to today:

• Various Artists: Trojan Ska Box, disk 2
• Bill Watrous: The Tiger Of San Pedro
• Metric: Live It Out
• Steven Winteregg: Visions And Revelations
• Various Artists: Pop Ambient 2007
  

I generally enjoy onomatopoeia, but I'm not a fanatic.

I think it's different when you learn a foreign tongue and see a particularly good example. And I was reminded of this when I saw a bit of standup comedy from Brian Regan. He was complaining--in a very funny way--about how the words we use to describe animal sounds aren't terribly accurate. Saying "hoot" to describe the owl's call was a particular target and it reminded me of one of my favorite German words.

The word for "owl" in German is "Uhu" (pronounced oo-hoo). How cool is that?

CDs listened to today:

• Arnold Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder, disk 2
• Various Artists: Best Of Techno, Vol. 3
• Test Icicles: For Screen Purposes Only
• John Speight: Symphony No. 2
• Emma Lou Diemer: Concerto In One Movement For Piano
• Charles Wuorinen: Genesis

I'm gonna talk about new pop songs in the spotlight...

There are still a lot of songs out there and I'm finding that I'm not enjoying writing a mini-review of every new song. I'm shifting directions this week to broader commentary where I'll still comment on the songs that most interest me.

• The iPod ad effect strikes again with the Ting Tings, who debut at number one on the BBC singles chart. While their song "Shut Up And Let Me Go" is on the Apple ad, they debut with "That's Not My Name" here. What's up with that?
  
• Meanwhile, Foo Fighters introduce "Let It Die", which confuses me terribly some days since Feist had an album with the same title.
• It looks like now that I'm using the Billboard Bubbling Under chart, I'm going to be talking about country music more. Tim McGraw is this week's addition with "Kristofferson".
• Usher's "Love In This Club Part II" isn't nearly as distinctive as the first part, despite Beyonce's presence.
  
• In case you have a high school graduation this season, Mariah Carey has an ill-suited bit of sentimental dreck: "Bye Bye". It's not really a propos for graduations since it's more about a bigger transition (death), but I'd be willing to bet you'll hear it this year at those graduations.
• OK, speaking of Mariah, it's more noticeable when Ms. Carey is on the charts, but isn't it very clear that Leona Lewis has grown up listening to a LOT of Mariah Carey? She's just a pale clone without the magnificent voice...
• And I've now realized that Estelle's song, "American Boy", is a novelty hit. she recites American lingo and place names while Kanye West indulges in British lingo. It turns out that Mr. West is well-suited for goofy novelty hits. Besides, listen to his performance on his "Homecoming" single. The dude can't even figure out when to breathe.

CDs listened to today:

• Bohuslav Martinu: Nonet
• Radiohead: OK Computer
• Deerhoof: The Runners Four
• Harry Partch: The Bewitched
• Spoon: Girls Can Tell
• Paula Diehl: Right Of Way
• Arnold Schoenberg: Gurre-Lieder, disk 1

I've said this is the world's dullest blog and this posting is your proof.

I've been watching my gardening projects, mostly now two-and-a-half weeks old, and some of my successes and failures are now apparent. Why did I think that I could start anything from seed? That was a total disaster and so the Johnny jump-ups, Shasta daisies, sage, and oregano are missing in action. Let's just say I have a greenish-brown thumb...

The peony in the front garden looks like it didn't mind the transplant, so I'm optimistic about its long-term prospects (big shaggy pink blooms every year! yay!). The main thing about the front garden is that the soil needs work. Maybe this fall, I'll add to the retaining wall and then work in a bigger amount of peat moss or something.

The window box in the back is so-so. I planted impatiens, lobelia, and some volunteer Johnny jump-ups (from the side window box); the impatiens look shaggy, the lobelia isn't blooming yet, and the volunteer crew are too tall for their placement. Still, it looks lively! My herbs in the back yard--except for the seeds--look pretty good. The basil didn't like the snowstorm we saw a few days after planting, but nothing serious.

The big success is my side window box. I went conservative, planting only petunias and pansies, and the big blossoms look fantastic! Here it is:



CDs listened to today:

• David Diamond: Symphony No. 2
• Aimee Mann: Bachelor No. 2
• The Earlies: These Were The Earlies
• Karel Husa: Music For Prague 1968
• Oasis: Be Here Now
• Franz Schubert: Piano Quintet In A, "The Trout"
  

It figures.

So I buy edamame at the store now and then--the frozen kind. It's such a healthy snack and all, is it any wonder that I get the organic? It's not like the Hostess Cupcakes I buy are organic, but of course I get the organic when it's good-for-you food...

That just makes no darned sense...

CDs listened to today:

• Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1
• Billie Holiday: The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Volume II
• Rand Steiger: Hexadecathlon: "A New-Slain Knight"
  

Gotta catch up on the CD reviews...

The title of this one is Bang On A Can Classics, but I file this as Nick Didkovsky's Amalia's Secret. Bang On A Can (BOAC) is a New York-based collective that supports contemporary music with considerable success (including their own recording label--where you can buy this recording). In fact, co-founder David Lang won the Pulitzer Prize for composition this year. I've always thought of BOAC as something of a "downtown" New York group, where they favor grit and a fusion of rock, jazz, and classical styles.

This disk is performed, like many of the BOAC disks, by the collective's all-stars, meaning a melange of member composers and regular performers. At times, they play like formidable amateurs, meaning that some of the subtlety and polish of serious pros is missing. It seems like the rock music influence sands down the musicians' ability to make more sophisticated music.

Mr. Lang's work, "Cheating, Lying, Stealing" opens affairs with a clanking, urgent rhythm that aptly demonstrates the BOAC's general predilection for drones and lengthy, repeated pulses. He builds drama by layering longer tones over the rhythms, letting both surge and fade. A couple of the other works, like Julia Wolfe's "Lick" and Lois Vierk's "Red Shift" use both rock drums and rock guitar, although both are pretty aimless and, well, poorly integrated (although Ms. Wolfe's piece works toward a kind of fun psychedelic freakout, everybody playing loud and fast at once).

In fact, except for Mr. Lang's piece, most of the works on this disk seem more like jams than fully-realized compositions. I'm a big fan of avant-garde music, but this disk shows the dark side: musicians who appear to lack the interest or ability to create more meaningful structures. It's funny, I've been holding off for years, not checking out the BOAC works. Now that I've gotten this disk, I'm disappointed.

3 out of 10

CDs listened to today:

• Nick Didkovsky: Amalia's Secret
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonatas for Piano
• Either/Orchestra: Across The Omniverse
• The Joggers: Solid Guild
  

I've been hearing about this for years.

With the recent explosion of premium chocolate brands and the increased availability of these fancy-pants items, I've finally found that I can get a regular dose of the really good stuff. One brand I've been hearing about for years is Scharffen Berger--they have an enormous reputation. My sister and I have frequent discussions about high-end chocolates--she likes the dark stuff (partly so she can claim it's a healthy habit) while I like milk chocolate--and I had mentioned that I had spotted this stuff, but was too cheap to go buying a small bar for nearly three dollars.

After that, you can see why it was so thoughtful of her to give me a couple of the Scharffen Berger milk chocolate bars for my birthday. The first bar I tried was rich and complex, with hints of carmel--but sadly, there was an aftertaste that was closer to rotting baby diapers (I think it was supposed to be a milk-flavored finish). In fact, the finish was so odd that I wonder if the bars came from a bad batch?

CDs listened to today:

• Dominick Argento: From The Diary Of Virginia Woolf
• Andrew Bird: Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production Of Eggs
  

Another opinion today!

My pal N responds to my recent posting about guns:

I wouldn't say I am on either side of this issue, I'm more somewhere in between. I think it is important that people can own weapons yet I do think they are too easy to obtain. When I first went hunting 3 years ago I just barely received gun safety, went into Gander, walked out 45 minutes later with a high-powered rifle already laser aligned. Now I think I was prepared to own a firearm but I don't think that a third party could conclude that which leaves it up to my word? Anybody can check the right boxes on the form. Now this isn't even looking at the different categories of firearms: 50 cals? Maybe if you are planning on shooting somebody through a building in self defense. Machine guns? Join the army.

We recently observed the murders at Virginia Tech, when an obviously deranged student was able to buy enough firepower to kill 32 people in a single morning, so his point about the lack of barriers is a sound one. And that's roughly the time of year when we also mark the Columbine murders, which seem to have been some kind of watershed in American killing spree history (an incomprehensibly ghoulish thought). Meanwhile, the gun lobby works to weaken the processes and protections to make sure any lost, deranged soul can either buy a gun from a dealer, steal it from their parents, or buy it from a neighbor--with no protections for the public.

Shoot, they'll let N have a rifle. How good an idea is that? OK, bad example... Licensed hunter, clean record, responsible enough to take a course on safety...

By the way, my boss is an enthusiastic hunter who shares that tradition with his sons. But it drives him a little crazy that I refer to his hunting guns as "weapons". I always say, "tell that to the elk...

CDs listened to today:

• Various Artists: Trojan Ska Box, disk 1
• Emma Lou Diemer: Concerto In One Movement For Piano
• Metric: Live It Out
• Steven Winteregg: Visions And Revelations
• Various Artists: Pop Ambient 2007
  

Can you believe it's time for another CD review?

Like you care... The disk is Vu-Tet, by Cuong Vu, a trumpet player from the Seattle area. This is a quartet outing with electric bass, drums, and sax/clarinet--plus a heavy dose of electronic manipulation. It seems that Mr. Vu, like a lot of musicians these days, is looking for a way to make and sell recordings without the big record labels. This disk was made with some arts funding and the support of a group called Artist Share, so the related web site has an extensive list of interactive goodies that come with the disk. As for me, I don't see a reason to care about the extras--please just give me the recording and leave out the story of how it was made.

While all but one of the tracks was "composed" by Mr. Vu, they seem like fairly bare-bones harmonic structures for improvising and I promise you there's no memorable melody here. A couple of the melodies are expressed in unison between the trumpet and clarinet, reminding me a great deal of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew as they have a mournful quality that seems to hang in space over vague harmonies. Other melodies are more like Mr. Vu's improvising: repeating very few notes in intricate rhythms, weaving up and down and relying more on changes in velocity than dynamics or the shape of the phrase to carry matters forward. And underpinning the affair are studio echoes and reverb exaggerated to the point of playing a fifth part in this quartet.

Interestingly, Mr. Vu's solos don't substantially grab my attention, but bassist Stomu Takeishi dominates extensive sections of other people's solos with his big sound and strong power lines. Like Bill Frisell, sometimes he gets in the way of the people he accompanies. I complain about these two musicians, but truthfully, both are strong soloists--but the real find is Chris Speed and his clarinet work. His wide-ranging solos are artful constructions that pull you along in the drama that can even overcome Mr. Takeishi's occasional interference. The group plays together with great clarity of purpose, but several of the tunes have an aimless feel that sabotages them, making this a good, but not great, album.

7 out of 10

CDs listened today:

• Paula Diehl: Right Of Way
• John Phillip Sousa: Marches
• Test Icicles: For Screening Purposes Only
• Charles Wuorinen: Five
• Bill Watrous: Manhattan Wildlife Refuge
• Various Artists: Pop Ambient 2007
  

I found a new site that tracks videos.

It's called Viral Video Chart and it tracks buzz about web video. It's kind of fun to use it to see what's being discussed. That's where I found this one (I seriously still don't think of myself as a Mac fanboy):



CDs listened to today:

• Arvo Part: Tabula Rasa
• Spoon: Gimme Fiction
• Deerhoof: The Runners Four
• Arnold Schoenberg: Die Gluckliche Hand
• Various Artists: Best Of Techno, Vol. 2
• Various Artists: Pop Ambient 2007
  

So many new songs, I have two posts about the pop spotlight this week.

• Coldplay's new release has spawned different singles in the US and the UK. "Violet Hill" is the BBC hit. Coldplay? I've never seen why they are so hugely popular--and you can multiply that by a factor of five in Great Britain. This is a big, theatrical number that even has some roaring guitars and singer Chris Martin still hasn't figured out how to use that dreadful voice of his.
• From megastars Coldplay, we go to an obscure debut from We The Kings: "Check Yes Juliet (Run Baby Run)". I think we can safely call this "power pop", a favorite genre of mine. The singer is a little anonymous and the peppy melody is a hair sing-songy (in a bad way).
• Frankly, after Nine Inch Nails has gone years and years between releases, I felt a little surprised to see mastermind Trent Reznor release first a project of remix tools, followed by a full album, free on the web. He's even managed a single without major label support, "Discipline". A shambling, funky groove, this isn't one of those NIN songs that reach the heights of drama, but you know, almost anything he does is distinctively good.
• I recently read that Kylie Minogue is the best-selling female artist in Europe over the last two decades. In the UK, she's enjoying her third hit single from her most recent album, "In My Arms". It's better than "Wow", but not as good as "2 Hearts". Still, she's a charming performer and the song is solid.
• The other Coldplay debut is the title track from their new CD, "Viva La Vida". It's a nicely syncopated string arrangement under a soaring melody and Chris Martin sings in a more comfortable part of his register for a change. Coldplay still isn't on my favorite list, but this one is better than anything I've heard from them in the last couple of years.
• The new Kelly Rowland song is a re-tread of an old Bobby Womack hit that I barely recall, "Daylight". Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes has a proinent guest role that seems to fit, given how many times that act has taken vintage songs and re-purposed them. I generally enjoy Ms. Rowland's singing and this is a strong song, but her phrasing choices here are odd and mannered (perhaps a result of a good song revealing her weaknesses?), making "Daylight" easy to enjoy but hard to love.
• In the UK, Duffy is already enjoying her second big hit from her debut album. "Warwick Avenue" is a tasteful ballad that balances her tart voice against soft, dry guitars with piano and strings. Like a lot of the British charts' recent big hits, say, Amy Winehouse or Adele, there is a strong mood of 1960s Motown classicism here.
• Also from the UK is James Fox singing "Bluebirds Flying High". It opens with a soccer-stadium sound and then a pulsing harpsichord (1960s, yes; Motown, no--think Beatles). This is an anthem suited for soccer--er, football--crowds with a broad, easily singable chorus that's so syrupy it's painful to listen to.
• From 1960s classicism, we now meet 1980s classicism from Metro Station in the form of "Shake It". It seemed like the most memorable sound of the early '80s was a steady rhythm of eighth-notes over a simple beat, some sunny synthesizer colors and body courtesy guitar power chords. This is a sunny, accessible tune sung by a woman with all the energy and subtlety of a cheerleader.
  
• It's always a little hard to remember the last Nelly hit, but he's back again, featuring Fergie in "Party People". Gee, is this supposed to be a club hit? I love the taught, slow-burning beat, but golly, neither performer is in good form here.

CDs listened to today:

• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 29 for Trombone and Band
• Oasis: (What's The Story) Morning Glory
• The Earlies: These Were The Earlies
• Bob Margolis: Terpsichore
• Queens Of The Stone Age: Songs Of The Deaf
• Various Artists: Pop Ambient 2007
• Franz Schubert: Piano Quintet In A, "The Trout"
  

A few weeks ago, my nephew let me know my car "stinks".

He didn't mean it smelled bad, just that it's a lousy car. I didn't really have the time to explain to him that a car won't make you cool, it won't make you better-looking, it won't make you happy, and it won't make you rich...

But a car can make you poor!

CDs listened to today:

• Nick Didkovsky: Amalia's Secret
• Johannes Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem
• Billie Holiday: The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Volume I
• The Joggers: Solid Guild
• David Diamond: String Quartet No. 3
• Various Artists: Pop Ambient 2007
• Rand Steiger: Hexadecathlon: "A New-Slain Knight"
  

New songs in the pop spotlight to talk about!

I've been constructing my personal top hits playlist using Fuse TV's "Oven Fresh" program's playlist as well as MTV's "TRL". Sadly, "Oven Fresh" has been canceled and "TRL" airs daily, but like most of MTV, they can go weeks without airing a top 10 list. I continue to use the Billboard top 20 from the Pop 100 and Hot 100 singles charts, plus the top 10 from their Modern Rock and Adult charts, but these charts tend to be a little dull and lack the freshest acts. I've partly solved that with the MTV and Fuse TV charts, because they push the newest, coolest stuff before they arrive on the Billboard data. As a fun addition, I've been using the BBC top 20 singles--which definitely gets me some songs long before they break in the USA (I was fed up with Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" long before it broke in the States). But the really good college charts in Billboard and the bible of college/indie music, CMJ, are premium content. You gotta know I wouldn't pay for that!

So, how to solve? Outside of firing MTV and Fuse TV, I've added Billboard's "Bubbling Under" chart's top 10. This seems to be a list of early adopters' hottest tracks, so we'll see how that goes. I'm also not sure I want to keep the Hot 100 and the Pop 100--there's frequently no substantial difference between the two. I'm intrigued by the Pop 100 Airplay and may replace the Pop 100 chart with it, hoping that I'll get some fast-moving songs earlier! I've been trying to consider using the BBC Indie Singles Top 10, too, but so many songs on that are not released in the US and are just so hard to find, that I don't think that's going to work (I dearly wish it would, it would get me cool songs that we never hear in the States).

This means there's an unusual number of new songs to talk about this week.

• Rihanna has another big single debut this week, "Take A Bow". It's an easy tempo and a plaintive melody that doesn't suit her unexceptional singing. I really prefer her more up-tempo numbers where the singing is less important.
• The new-to-me Bubbling Under chart at Billboard is topped by Marvin Sapp's "Never Would Have Made It". A live single recorded with a full gospel choir, the performance is a bit florid for my tastes. Mr. Sapp is a minister, so this is a for-real gospel single, so at least it makes for a nice variation from the usual pop.
• Lyfe Jennings' debut, "Never Never Land", is another one of those smarmy boudoir jams that I rarely enjoy. It's not in the same league as J Holiday or r kelly's work, which isn't saying much.
• Meanwhile, Keyshia Cole joins The Game for "Game's Pain". It's kinda cute, the way he quotes a bunch of ancient hip-hop titles in his rhymes, but this isn't exactly a major achievement.
• Another set of guest appearances bolster the latest from Ne-Yo, "The Finer Things". He's joined by Jermaine Dupri, Fabolous, and even Kanye West. None of this makes the recording an outstanding item, although the rhythm track from DJ Felli Fel is notably subtle and sophisticated.
• Not all of the news from this week's big hits is bad. French DJ David Guetta borrows a few tricks from Daft Punk's bag to bring us "Love Is Gone". He brings a stomping dance beat and a huge synthetic bass leading tone that are hard to resist. The song itself is a classically urgent club melody from a brawny tenor, although the groove is the real find.
• I'm surprised to hear a new single hit the charts from The Offspring. The Bay Area band hasn't changed much in the last decade-and-a-half and "Hammerhead" is good, but not up to their best work. I like the energetic tempo, but The Offspring's songs seem to have a stale sameness to them after a while.
• OK, I don't listen to much country music, so I'm not familiar with Josh Turner until now. Wow, that is one huge bass voice with incredible range. The tune itself is a standard, regretful Nashville weeper. Since country music plays by such different rules, it seems unfair to complain about how slick this stuff can get.
• And this week's shout-along hip-hop party track belongs to... Three 6 Mafia! Even if you just say the title rhythmically, "Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body)", you can hear it. I was chanting along by the end of the first listen. It's charming, but I'll bet you won't remember it in a year.
• I think I'm on record as not being a fan of Simple Plan and their new track, "Your Love Is A Lie", doesn't give me a chance to reconsider. This is the worst kind of emo music: a whiny, self-pitying lyric and a cheesy melody with a big anthemic chorus. The best emo bands have much better lyrics...

This is only half of this week's debuts, so I'll follow up with a few more comments in a day or two.

CDs listened to today:

• Test Icicles: For Screening Purposes Only
• Emma Lou Diemer: Concerto In One Movement For Piano
• John Antill: Corroboree
• Big Pig: Bonk
• Cuong Vu: Vu-Tet
• Metric: Live It Out
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonatas for Piano, disk 9
  
• Steven Winteregg: Visions And Revelations
• Dressy Bessy: (eponymous)
  

Guns don't really protect you, but they're awesome anti-personnel weapons!

I read a tale originating in the recent sectarian conflicts in Lebanon (quoted from the New York Times):

As the pallbearers approached a store owned by a Shiite man, some mourners rushed in and urged the man to close it out of respect. He refused, and the mourners began smashing his windows with rocks and chairs. Enraged, the man got his AK-47 assault rifle and began firing into the crowd, killing two mourners and wounding others.

How on earth is that gun for protection? Isn't this the more likely outcome when people purchase weapons for self-defense? After all, the shopkeeper might not have been so emboldened to resist the intimidation by the mob had he not been armed. And really, what's so bad about locking the doors for a couple of hours instead of escalating a disagreement to the point of death?

It's this kind of tale that leaves me opposed to widespread, nearly unregulated gun ownership in the United States. I believe that the people who support unfettered firearms access are honest in their views that they can use the cursed things to protect themselves, their families, and even their property. But I also believe that these are military-grade anti-personnel weapon systems that are more likely to create crime and mayhem than prevent it.

CDs listened to today:

• Charles Wuorinen: Concerto For Piano No. 3
• Konono No. 1: Congotronics
  

A CD review is a great writing exercise!

Alfred Schnittke's Symphony No. 8, performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra with Gennady Rozhdestvensky, is a disk that also includes his sixth Concerto Grosso. Both of these works are from later in his career--each is the last example of its corresponding form in his oeuvre--and show a composer who is at the pinnacle of his career and his skills. Like Gyorgy Ligeti, I see the late Mr. Schnittke as a musician whose biography mirrors the tumult of life in the latter two-thirds of the twentieth century in central and Eastern Europe. Born to German-Jewish parents fleeing the Holocaust, his family landed in the Soviet Union where I feel it's safe to say he was never the kid who fit in. His musical approach was hardly conducive to state support--his eclectic mix of styles (some call it "polystylism") fit right into the official Soviet anti-semitism of the times.

So why would we think of this odd term, polystylism, when we speak of Mr. Schnittke's music? His concerti grossi are probably the best example of this: the form itself, largely ignored since the 1700s, is one thing; frequent appearances of the harpsichord, relic of an even early time are another; and imagine a composer who manages to switch between atonal polyphony and florid Romanticism with a strong Russian accent in the same phrase!

The Symphony is the larger work here, and like nearly all of Mr. Schnittke's pieces, he has such a distinctive approach to harmony and the colors of the orchestra that if you know his other works, you'll recognize his sound instantly. There's a tartness to his harmonies and it seems that all of his works have a mournful hue--even when the intensity ratchets up (and there is considerable intensity here). Both orchestra and conductor have a good feel for the material, although notably less scintillating than the Russian orchestras provide.

Overall, the Concerto Grosso is the stronger work and the more pungent performance. No harpsichord here, the soloist group is pianist Viktoria Postnikova and violinist Sasha Rozhdestvensky (yes, he's related and so is she--but the story behind that seems a bit complicated), and the younger Rozhdestvenksy plays beautifully. I always enjoy the late Mr. Schnittke's concerti grossi, they often drift into a histrionic mood I find engrossing.

8 out of 10

CDs listened to today:

• Various Artists: Best of Techno, Vol. 1
• Deerhoof: The Runners Four
• Bedrich Smetana: Ma Vlast
• Various Artists: Totally Hits 3
• Paula Diehl: Right Of Way
  

I read a blurb in a New York Times graphic that every month, the US government adds 20,000 names to the terrorist watch list.

I'd better hurry and get added before they add every human on the planet...

I might be the last one to get listed. How embarrassing!

CDs listened today:

• Oasis: Definitely Maybe
• Rand Steiger: Hexadecathlon: "A New Slain-Knight"
  
• Queens Of The Stone Age: Rated R
• The Earlies: These Were The Earlies
• Arvo Part: Stabat Mater
• Metric: Live It Out
  
• Sponge: Rotting Pinata
  
• Steven Winteregg: Visions And Revelations
  
• Franz Schubert: Piano Quintet In A, "The Trout"
  
• Alfred Schnittke: String Quartet No. 4

Ya know, this doesn't improve anybody's morale.

I work for a company that's not doing great, so they cut corners. The corner they've cut that bothers me today is this: They reduced the frequency of visits from the housekeeping staff. Now the trash at my desk (including food trash) sits for a few days at a time. Ick!

Well, at least they still clean the mens' room every day! Then again, the fixtures in the restroom are all decrepit and ramshackle...

CDs listened to today:

• The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday
• Nick Didkovsky: Amalia's Secret
• Fernand Desprez: Triptyque Pour 3 Trombones
• Albert Mangelsdorff: Three Originals
• Metric: Live It Out
• The Joggers: Solid Guild
• Steven Winteregg: Visions And Revelations
  
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 17 (Symphony For Metal Instruments)

So I've been better about my finances lately.

After a protracted calamity involving a USBank error that cost me dearly in terms of financial stability, savings, peace of mind and credit history, I've been very disciplined the last eight months with my money. As I recover financially, I squeeze my money enough that I wind up exceeding my plans and coming under budget with almost every paycheck--except for the stupid car expenses (even that problem has a reserve).

Here's the funny thing: I find that when I get careful with my money, my financial luck seems to get better. Not really, but it feels that way. For instance, I overspent a bit on the weekend and just figured I'd be cutting it close on the budget--then found I needed to spend more on garden supplies. So what happens Monday? I get a reward card at work for a job well done that covers the extra garden supply costs. It makes me feel like fortune is smiling on me!

And if I were broke, it wouldn't feel that way at all...

CDs listened to today:

• anonymous: Mass for Christmas Day
• Big Daddy: Cutting Their Own Groove
• Alfred Schnittke: Symphony No. 8
• Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonatas for Piano, disk 8
  
• The Donnas: Spend The Night
• Metric: Live It Out
• Cuong Vu: Vu-Tet
• Steven Winteregg: Visions And Revelations
• Johannes Brahms: Concerto For Violin In D
  

More gardening stupidity...

As I mentioned on Sunday, I planted my flower bed. Since my garden store didn't have any violas, I decided to try planting some from seeds--the logic being that they self-sow a lot in my window boxes and happily sprout in the spring. While I was hunting for those seeds, I found Shasta daisy seeds. The picture on the front was pretty, I've heard good things about them, and the package said they liked a sunny location. So I planted a bunch of the seeds.

Now, I keep having a thought: Having never seen a Shasta daisy (seedling or otherwise), how will I know whether I've got weeds or daisies?

CDs listened to today:

• Various Artists: Totally Hits 2
• Deerhoof: The Runners Four
• Robert Wilson: Symphony No. 1
• Paula Diehl: Right Of Way
• Test Icicles: For Screening Purposes Only
• Emma Lou Diemer: Concerto In One Movement For Piano
  

Once again, new songs in the pop spotlight this week!

We're encroaching upon summertime now, when we should see the big music labels promote acts that they think will appeal to their traditional key audiences: high school and college students who get their summer jobs and have a little extra time to listen and cash to spend. Sadly, this is the group most likely to use file sharing to acquire music, leaving the music industry promoting a product their most coveted customers won't buy. So far, the acts that have started the summer season are Mariah Carey, Usher, and Madonna, but I'm sure we'll see more major acts over the next month or two. This week doesn't have any of those big acts breaking:

• Disturbed has the top debut this week with "Inside The Fire", a compact metal track with the usual features of that genre: pummeling drums, roaring singer, booming guitars... It's not bad, but has some of that clumsy metal approach to the arrangement. It seems like a rare thing for a metal act to manage to be at all graceful in that musical sense. For what it is, this track isn't bad.
  
• The Script: "We Cry". It's a hip-pop number with a sing-songy, layered arrangement. It's the sort of tune that R Kelly or Usher might be able to make something of, but it's just weak in the hands of this Irish act.
  
• We haven't heard from Plies in a while and he's back with "Bust It Baby (Part 2)". He's unleashed a syrupy concoction of sweet keyboards and breathy backing vocals and it's pretty weak (and it uses a hug chunk of an old Janet Jackson song). He's barely even rapping on this junker!
  
• "Maybe" debuts this week from Jay Sean. Is it just me, or are we seeing a lot of performers with similar names lately? This isn't bad. It's a wistful item over a lively beat and a rarity on R&B tracks: a guitar solo!
  
• The UK charts are buzzing with the debut of Australian Gabriella Cilmi. The Brits are big fans of these dry-voiced singers à la Amy Winehouse and Adele. "Sweet About Me" is hardly as enjoyable as Ms. Winehouse's work, but it's OK.
  

CDs listened to today:

• The Earlies: These Were The Earlies
• Alfred Schnittke: Symphony No. 8
• Various Artists: Bare Essentials, Volume 1
• Franz Schubert: Piano Quintet In A, "The Trout'
• Nikos Skalkottas: Concerto For Violin And Orchestra
• Emma Lou Diemer: Concerto in One Movement for Piano

Today, I did what I always try to do at this time of year.

I gardened!

I freely admit that I love flower gardens, but don't really enjoy gardening. But every spring, I go down to the local garden center and buy up a bunch of flowering plants to put in the raised bed at the front of my house. There's also the matter of the two window boxes and the two hanging baskets... This year, I'm trying to watch my finances pretty carefully and bedding plants aren't cheap. The first year I lived here, I think I spent about $220 on flowers without window boxes and the front bed looked great along with big red geraniums in the hanging baskets. This year, I only spent about $92 and that turns out to have been a mistake: the front bed is only half-full and now I need to return to the garden store and buy more flowers.

Still, I've learned a few things over the years. Like how nothing will ever grow in the narrow part of that flower bed except snapdragons. Naturally, I keep trying and this year, I've planted petunias there. Hey, they're tough, they're cheap, and they have great colors.

CDs listened to today:

• Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies, disk 10
• Pulp: Different Class
• Rand Steiger: Hexadecathlon: "A New-Slain Knight"
• Andrzej Panufnik: Sinfonia Votiva
  

How about a second opinion?

My friend C recently emailed me some comments about TV shows (we both agree that Lost is picking up steam). He disagrees with me about the Fox Terminator series that I reviewed and I enjoyed his comments, so I want to share them:

The Terminator series would have been a lot better with just about any actress other than Lena Headley. She calmed down a bit after the pilot, but her "Everything! I! Say! Is! The! Most! Important! Thing! Ever!" acting was irritating,to say the least. I disliked the actor playing John not just because he was a weak actor, but also because his agent pulled him out of "Heroes" because the producers wanted to make the character he played on that show gay, and the agent thought that would interfere with his auditioning for John Connor. An actor who goes along with that does not get my support. The show hit some potentially solid notes, like when John argues with his mother about letting him be the hero he's supposed to become, but each step forward in that direction was subject to two steps back in things like the "Kyle's brother" storyline. The more I think about that show, the more I think about things I didn't like, so I'll just stop here. Time to wrap up anyway.....

CDs listened to today:

• Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies, disk 9
  

I learned one of those really obscure life lessons the other day.

It turns out, you shouldn't fill glasses and cups inside the refrigerator. I have a spacious fridge--way too much room inside for a single guy who almost never cooks. It's also a pretty high-end machine with a bunch of those sturdy, adjustable glass shelves that can hold considerable weight. Naturally, when I have such huge real estate inside the icebox, I figured I could set my cheap plastic cup on a shelf and fill it up with milk and make a few less steps.

It turns out, the cup was so cheap that when I grabbed it when it was full, the sides split, flooding the fridge with milk!

Lesson: don't fill cups or glasses inside the fridge, the counter and the floor are a lot easier to clean up...

CDs listened to today:

• Norman Dello Joio: Meditations on Ecclesiastes
• Ludacris: Chicken*N*Beer
• Nick Didkovsky: Amalia's Secret
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 15, Silver Pilgrimage
• Paul Oakenfold: Bunkka
• Test Icicles: For Screening Purposes Only
• The Joggers: Solid Guild
• Emma Lou Diemer: Concerto in One Movement for Piano
  

It's time for another video posting...

This one is a classic from a few years ago, not safe for work or children, but I still find it funny after all this time:


CDs listened to today:

• Derek Bourgeois: Trombone Concerto
• The Hives: Tyrannosaurus Hives
• Cuong Vu: Vu-Tet

It's a CD review day!

Dogs Die In Hot Cars is not only a public service reminder, it's also a band and their only release, Please Describe Yourself, was issued in 2004. From Scotland, the band explores a genre that we usually like to call Brit-pop, meaning an act that mines the heritage of the Beatles and other UK groups who play a highly evolved form of pop with tuneful songs, a broad battery of production techniques to polish the sound, and a sort of cheery emotional distance from the material (other people have their views on the subject, but now you have mine).

The most striking thing for me when I first heard this disk was how much the sound resembles that of XTC, a Beatles-obsessed band that flourished in the 1980s. Even a song title like "Godhopping" manages to simultaneously evoke XTC's 1986 album, Skylarking and the track "Dear God" from that same disk. Singer Craig Macintosh's voice has a startling resemblance to XTC's singer, Andy Partridge--you may find that if you know the sound of XTC, you'll have a hard time adjusting to the sound of this band without automatically thinking of XTC. This isn't a bad thing. XTC did some sensational work back in the day.

Still, Dogs Die In Hot Cars stand on their own as a band and they play irony-laced songs like "I Love You 'Cause I Have To" with it's relaxed ska rhythm and keyboard touches in an effortless, easy approach. There are energetic songs, but the band makes it sound like it was no trouble to make these. In spots, songs like "Apples & Oranges" (OK, XTC as an album called Oranges & Lemons--I'm not making this up!) and "Who Shot The Baby?" reveal an awkward way with more complex rhythms that offset the better tracks. There isn't much loud electric guitar, making this a pleasing listen shot through with piano and carefully rhythmic guitar patterns--if it lacks a little intensity, there's a yearning quality running in Mr. Macintosh's delivery that makes up for that.

8 out of 10

CDs listened to today:

• Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonatas for Piano, disk 7
  
• Dogs Die In Hot Cars: Please Describe Yourself
• Alfred Schnittke: Symphony No. 8

My sorry love life is my own fault.

I think a woman was seriously flirting with me today, but I'm not sure--I never am. I was at the haircut place, chatting with a couple of the staff members after my haircut, and at one point in the discussion, this woman asked to feel if my skin was as soft as it looked. Hey, I'm a single, straight guy living alone and I'm not going to say no (yes, please touch me--you're female!). I've checked with a few female advisers and they all tell me that this was a clear sign to ask her out! I didn't even realize this was a signal until about 90 minutes afterward.

I gotta say, if a woman wants to let me know she's interested, it's gonna take a lot more than obvious hints. Here's an actual example of the kind of flirting it takes to get my attention (and even then, I'll still wonder):

SHE: Wanna see my boobs?
ME: Oh, no thanks. I'd probably just want to sleep with you if I saw them.
SHE: OK! Wanna see them?

Even after that, I still wasn't certain what was going to happen. I'm never gonna have a girlfriend again, am I? Even if a woman offers, how would I ever know?

CDs listened to today:

• Dana Wilson: Piece Of Mind
• Paula Diehl: Right Of Way
• anonymous: Gregorian Chant
• Belly: Star
• Bill Watrous: The Tiger Of San Pedro
• Test Icicles: For Screening Purposes Only
  

I get excited about the most trivial things.

I see in the news today that Riccardo Muti has accepted the maestro position at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He's a scintillating conductor and the Chicago has lacked a leader like him since Sir Georg Solti left (Daniel Barenboim wasn't that good, in my opinion). This is great news for American music lovers to see Mr. Muti back as a maestro, something he hasn't done in the USA since 1992. It's a thrill to see a great orchestra that needs a great leader get one.

CDs listened to today:

• Franz Schubert: Piano Quintet In A, "The Trout"
• Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 2
• Various Artists: Totally 80s, disk 2
• Kenny Wheeler: Music For Large & Small Ensembles
• Test Icicles: For Screening Purposes Only
• Deerhoof: The Runners Four
• Emma Lou Diemer: Concerto in One Movement for Piano
  

New pop songs in the spotlight this week!

• Chris Brown puts a third song of his in my top hits playlist this week, "Forever". Thank heavens, it's not another syrupy ballad like his duet with Jordin Sparks, but it's not a gem. Set on top of an oddly stilted, old-fashioned disco beat, the song itself is OK, but I can't tell if he's intentionally mimicking T-Pain's heavy use of vocoder style or if the auto-tuner his producer used is so heavy-handed due to Mr. Brown's weak singing.
  
• Weezer has returned to the top 20 with "Pork And Beans". They've been a reliable source of good indie-rock tunes for a long while, but this one is a mixed bag. I like the groove and the underlying guitar riff, but the song is marred by a monotonus melody and weak lyrics. The chorus also seems like a retread of a bunch of other Weezer standards--in a bad way.
  
• Wiley is an act I haven't encountered before, entering the UK top 20 with "Wearing My Rolex". I'm pretty sure I've heard him perform on The Streets' A Grand Don't Come For Free--and with Dizzee Rascal--but this track is more classically grime than The Streets (grime being a UK hip-hop style that blends synthetic drums and synthetic bass in a more obvious style than the American styles). The subject matter of this track is a little American-style shallow for my taste, but I still enjoy Wiley's rhyming. The wordplay is first-rate and there's a pleasing galloping quality to the beat.
  
• "Leavin'" marks the latest top 20 hit from Jesse McCartney. It's a curious mix of a stomping rhythm and a chirping synthesizer accompanying Mr. McCartney's unfortunately reserved, whispy-voiced singing. There's not a lot to enjoy from these odd choices and some unremarkable songwriting.
  
• In a way, Gavin DeGraw is a lot like Jesse McCartney: a carefully marketed male songwriter with a so-so voice (and reasonably good-looking). "In Love With A Girl" rocks a little harder than I recall Mr. DeGraw usually does, but it's so dominated by studio musicians that it rocks like a Garth Brooks tune (yawn).
  
• Pendulum is an act I haven't heard before and they debut in the UK with "Propane Nightmares". This song is another pastiche of styles that you only hear on the BBC and it makes me cringe. After a mariachi-tinged opener, the tempo picks up into a cheesy, cheesy minor-key figure that dominates the recording to the point where I can't tell if there's a song here.
  
• "Cold Shoulder" marks a new single from Adele. She comes to us on a wave of hype and has the kind of voice that the British seem to favor: dry and a touch husky, as if it's a relic from the 1960s. I wasn't a big fan of her last hit, "Chasing Pavement" and this doesn't impress me, either. Perhaps the British press likes to push her voice quality as if she's the next Dusty Springfield because she's not an attractive woman, but I also don't think much of her singing. This song is a dusky, shuffling blues number that very much recalls Ms. Springfield's work.
  
• Colby Odanis debuts in the USA with "What You Got", which also marks the return of Akon to the top 20 after an unusually long absence (it seems like either Akon or T-Pain has been on the charts continuously for the last couple of years). It's a dreary love song with a peculiar sense of urgency that doesn't suit Mr. Odanis' soft voice and delivery (Akon's brief appearance makes that much more obvious).
  
• The Last Shadow Puppets are a UK side project for a couple of domestic stars (if you don't know the Arctic Monkeys, you won't care). "The Age Of The Understatement" must be an homage to Ennio Morricone's soundtracks to the old Sergio Leone spaghetti Western films of the seventies. It's more of a novelty than a lasting work, and not a bad one.

I started to do some math lately.

With gasoline at roughly $4 per gallon, my car gets roughly 25 miles per gallon--a conservative estimate that means I'm paying about 16¢ per mile just for fuel. Ouch! My morning commute is now 50¢ for gasoline! A bicycle is more pleasant and cheaper, but a bus ride is $1.75 for that same distance. I'll still drive now and then, but the bus is hardly a great option!

CDs listened to today:

• The Earlies: These Were The Earlies
• Alfred Schnittke: Concerto Grosso No. 4/Symphony No. 5
• Various Artists: Awesome 80s, disk 2

I feel sorry for Senator Obama.

As the Democratic nomination campaign continues, people criticize him for presenting himself as too cool, too cerebral. Meanwhile, Senator Clinton gets to play the fiery populist (she's not). After the controversy surrounding the Mr. Obama's now-former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, it should be obvious that if a black man shouts and appears angry, white voters will flee from the scary, angry black man. It's a shame he has to walk that line and can't turn on the heated rhetoric like Ms. Clinton. Those who complain about the man's continuing discipline and willingness to remain calm just aren't considering the racial prejudices he's fighting.

CDs listened to today:

• The Joggers: Solid Guild
• Public Enemy: He Got Game
• Rand Steiger: Hexadecathlon: "A New-Slain Knight"
• Andrzej Panufnik: Arbor Cosmica
• Spinanes: Manos
• Test Icicles: For Screening Purposes Only
  

Just a thought about emissions testing for cars.

I hate emissions testing, which must be done on every car in my area, every two years. At the very least, I'd like to see them add a test while they're at it: check for illegally noisy mufflers.

I hate the tuners and wannabes who put exhaust systems on their cars that just produce way too much noise, ruining my ability to quietly enjoy my home, my city, and the outdoors when I'm in the mountains. The worst are the motorcyclists who love their noisy machines so much, regardless of what the rest of us want. Every city has noise ordinances, but they never get enforced.

How about we check the noise levels on those cars while we check pollutants?

CDs listened to today:

• Cuong Vu: Vu-Tet
  
• Claude Debussy: Estampes
• Nick Didkovsky: Amalia's Secret
• Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 2 (Mysterious Mountain)
• No Doubt: Tragic Kingdom
• Gustav Mahler: The Symphonies, disk 8