Robot Roll Call

Sometimes the best way to get back to it, is to do just that. I’ve been listening to quite a lot of new and old music of late. Here’s a quick round-up of current faves, keep in mind we have had a very mild spring in Chicago. As such my musical tastes have been on the darker/louder side of the pool.

Archie Bronson Outfit - Coconut
A tough selection of 60’s style British Garage fuzz with some strong krautrock leanings. Check out the video for Wild Strawberries below and I dare you not to feel the bombast in this song. Key tracks include Shark’s Tooth, Wild Strawberries & You have a right to Mountain Life.

Archie Bronson Outfit

Harlem - Hippies
Not a perfect album but worth a nice afternoon lounging perhaps with a cool drink in hand. These energetic and breezy pop songs will get stuck in your head. Key tracks - Someday Soon & Number One.

Joker
To anyone even remotely interested in the Dubstep scene Joker is a monster. If you’re like the rest of the world then you have no idea who this brilliant young producer is nor what he can do with a synth and drum machine. He has no album but plenty of singles, check out these youtube clips of two of my favorite Joker tracks.

Joker - Purple City

Joker & Ginz - Re-Up

Sad Lovers & Giants - Colourless Dream 7″
Not a new band but rather an old band i just recently discovered. SL&G were formed in Watford, England around 1981. They have a Joy Division/Cocteau Twins sound. Their songs are full of atmosphere which mixes well with their rhythm section. The title cut is good but the b-side of this 7″ “Things we never did” is the real gem. Check out the video below.

Sad Lovers & Giants

Liars - Sisterworld
Liars never seemed like the monster they have become. Every album gets better, weirder and more beautiful. I can not recommend the entire Liars collection more and Sisterworld is no different. I can not wait to see them this summer. Key Tracks - Scissor, Scarecrows on a Killer Slant & Proud Evolution.

The Bird and The Bee - Interpreting the Masters Vol. 1 - A Tribute to Hall & Oats
I went through a serious Hall & Oats obsession in 2003 to the misery of my neighbor when we would blast “Family Man” drunkenly at 3am. The Bird and the Bee have not done too much to these modern classics. Mostly they have perked up the sound with more synth (somehow) and changed the breakdowns here and there. This a perfect album to put on for a first date, their reaction will tell you everything you will need to know about them. Key Tracks - I Can’t Go for That, Private Eyes & Kiss is on My List

Photo by PRI’s the World

Today the New York Times has an Op-Ed Article by Enrique Krauze titled “The Mexican Evolution”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/opinion/24krauze.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

The opinion piece is about how the U.S and Mexican media has been focusing on the violence and drug trafficking occurring in small regions of the country. And how this has caused the U.S. state department to issue a statement that Mexico along with Pakistan are on the verge of becoming a failed state. Krauze’s argument is that Pakistan is much more likely to fail than Mexico, he even goes so far as to make a laundry list of the differences between the two countries. Comparing religious issues, foreign policies, Guerrilla groups and how the country has changed from the one party political system which had a strangle hold on the country for more than 70 years.
These are all very valid points and I understand the point of the opinion piece is to show Americans that Mexico is not a “failed” state as so many others are quick to point out.
Perhaps Mexico is not a failed state however, it is dealing with an enormous plague of crime. The almost overwhelming number of murders, kidnapping and random violence is so large that it eclipses almost everything else. Mr. Krauze’s article barely hints at these issues. While his opinion piece may be focused on the positive aspects of Mexico, to glide over the violence and to blame the media for only covering the brutal aspects of Mexican news makes his article seem very misguided. Of course we all tire of yellow journalism but to ignore the countries problems and then to seemingly push the blame on to the news gathers is achingly naive and ignorant. Of course like all opinion pieces this article has a goal, and that goal is to give Mexico a much needed positive P.R. push. I am sure it is no accident that the vacation season is just around the corner. Of course I doubt anyone will be visiting Juarez Mexico this summer as last year this city of 1.5 million which occupies 72.6 sq miles had 1,600 murders in 2008, this year the city has already had 200 murders as of late February. This is not something one sugar coats with finger pointing and smoke screens in the guise of nationalism. Mexico may not be in the same realm as Pakistan when it comes to failed states, but when one is comparing predicaments on these levels the point almost seems moot.

For some more information about the situation across the border I recommend these two videos. The first is merely a recent news story about Juarez Mexico and the second is a troubling piece by Current TV for their Current Vanguard Series. The Current video titled “Narco War Next Door” is one of the best pieces I have seen on Current.

Videos
http://www.ktsm.com/local/murder-numbers-quickly-approaching-300-juarez

http://current.com/items/89845362/narco_war_next_door.htm#comments

Fidelity Investments rolled out a new ad campaign this week with the slogan “Turn Here”. I saw the ad yesterday and was initially impressed by the creativity of the ad and slogan. That sentiment lasted about 45 seconds, then I became deeply troubled by this. What seemed clever and unique quickly turned to silly and pretentious. I’m sure when the ad concept was pitched the people responsible were beaming. But “Turn Here” is so subjective, almost to a fault.
Perhaps “Leading the Pack” would have expressed the same sentiment without the confusion. Turn Here?, to where, why and I’m almost certain the person who came up with the slogan has a TOM TOM or some other voice navigation system. They may as well say ‘Turn here to savings” which is something you would see in a cursive font below a giant sun-burnt supermarket sign.
In the end the slogan fails to impress, mostly it annoys and confuses, check the link below to see the micro-site and make your own judgment.
Is “Turn Here” a solid concept of a half baked idea rushed out to save an investment company?
I vote for the latter.

http://personal.fidelity.com/misc/gettingstarted/flash/turnhere/index.shtml

Review by: TV!

The Watchmen have been a topic of many a fan-boys conversation for a long time. Long before Zack Snyder decided he would take a stab at producing the un-producible film for “Watchmen”. He is not the first to attempt the mountain of expectation which is the Watchmen movie, but he is the first to complete a product for the general populous to experience. Of course it has not lived up to expectations, surprisingly it was not the legions of comic fans but rather the average viewer. I find it surprising for Warner Bros. to release a film so clearly directed to a closed audience, particularly an audience it has shunned again and again. Do I need to mention the travesty that was Catwoman or the half-assed update of Superman. But here we are in 2009 with a Watchmen film aimed with laser sights directly on the fanboys, don’t get me wrong I am happy the film is so true to the source material. I am just very confused why Warner Bros choose now to allow a filmmaker to do so and more importantly why this piece of work. Perhaps it is Mr. Snyder’s cannon which has demonstrated his ability to adapt the sequential frames of others into his own. Perhaps it was Warner Bros. themselves, fresh off “The Dark Knight” enormity thought they could just follow the template of adapting graphic novels. After the number of people I saw leaving the theater during my viewing of Watchmen I already knew Warner Bros. made a mistake by attempting to convert such a dense piece of work into a two and a half hour film.

“Watchmen” is an amazing interpretation of the graphic novel titled “Watchmen”, It is not a film you can lazily walk into and expect to be handed all the mythology and answers of the world. It is a mystery first and foremost and not just an action film with Superhumans. Perhaps the marketing campaign should have been directed toward the mystery aspect of the film rather than the hype of a Watchmen film. At any rate it is too late now, the word has spread and people are avoiding the film, it lost 50% of the sales it made opening weekend. The new Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson vehicle made quick work of Watchmen this past weekend and by next weekend it will be forgotten, which is a travesty to the Watchmen. The film succeeds on every level if you have the fore knowledge and patience to experience the story, of course expecting every viewer to read the graphic novel before viewing the feature is a ridiculous expectation however in my opinion it is a necessary to fully appreciate the intricate detail embedded into every frame and to fully understand what has always been a deep and literary story. Do yourself a favor and watch the video below, pick up a copy of the graphic novel watchmen, then wait for the DVD deluxe release with the omitted 20 minutes and then you can understand why “Watchmen” may very well be the greatest superhero film ever made and simultaneously a perfect failure.