Sinister: In this issue: "Jimmy Jack and the Amazon Women of Venus"!
JAMES GILMER
patchworkz7 at xxx.com
Wed Nov 21 03:13:08 GMT 2001
Okay, I suppose Ill try this again. I had spent about an hour earlier
typing out a post only to have hotmail crash on me and eat what Id written.
So here I am, about as tired as an Isobels arse joke, banging out another
version of that post.
Oddly enough, despite it being a bit early in the season, Ive found myself
going through my cds and mp3's for Christmas songs.
When I was younger I always had a strong dislike of Christmas, sometimes
even a hate of Christmas, but in recent years Ive mellowed quite a bit, and
I have to admit Ive come to enjoy the season. I dig the gaudy decorations,
and the lights, and the snow, and the Christmas carols.
Christmas for me isnt really Christmas, its Santy Claus day, and Santy
Claus day isnt even really about presents and such. Its about what I
mentioned before; lights and decorations and hot chocolate and rosey cheeked
girls singing Christmas carols.
Fairytale of New York is the greatest Christmas song ever written.
Its a song to be sung with a grin on your face, a pint in your hand, and
your other arm wrapped around a friend or lover.
Oh, dont look at me like that, even the punky boy gives in to romanticism
sometimes.
Im feeling quite happy because I finally made a big decision thats been
bugging me for the past several weeks. Instead of going to grad school, Im
going back to my first love, the medical field.
Next semester I start on my Associate Degree in Radiologic Technology, which
is a fancy way of saying Im going to become an x-ray tech. After I get my
certification and start working at a real job, I may or may not go back for
Nuclear Medicine, which was what I had originally been going to go to
college for.
Yesterday my best friend since kindergarten announced him and his wife were
having a baby. Its brilliant because I cant imagine any two people being
better parents. The odd thing is, some of our other friends kept asking me;
So, you must really be feeling old, right?
Huh? I have to say that Im not. I think its funny how people say or ask
that at birthdays and weddings and such. Actually, it seems like the older I
get the younger I feel. I think being happy and enjoying oneself is the
secret of youth, and Ive manage to learn how to enjoy myself quite a bit
over the years.
I think the whole age thing (as far as mentally feeling it) is pretty
subjective, and speaking of subjective things...
In my last post I talked about a few bands I didnt like, and I made sure I
mentioned it last time, but Ill do it again before I start in, this is just
my subjective, personal opinion. This is the answer youd get if you walked
up to me in a pub and said; Jim, what do you think of Magnetic Fields/White
Strips?. If you think its too harsh or unfair, fair enough, but
understand that I dont mean to offend anyone, Im just giving you my
honest, very subjective, opinion.
Ken said;
I don't think I've ever thought the Magnetic Fields were
geniuses BECAUSE they did an album with 69 love songs in it, but rather that
did an album with wonderfully written songs
Well, I do think there are some nice enough songs on 69 Love Songs, All my
Little Words, Absolutely Cuckoo, and Come back from San Francisco are
decent enough songs, and many of the others are nice enough tunes, and some
are even fun, but the problem I have with Magnetic Fields is similar to the
problem I have with the White Strips.
My problem is that Merrit acted like an ass and a pretentious lout at the
live show I happened to see awhile back, and from hearing from others,
thats his *thing*. Not only was he a complete dick to the audience, and was
obviously working it to put forth an image of aloof pretentiousness and
talking shit about how brilliant he is, he sang the songs in such an utter
aloof deadpan that he sucked any fun the tunes originally had right out.
My real problem is that the tunes are just pastiches, which is fine in
itself, pastiches can sometimes be fun and Mag Fields do drop in some clever
lyrics here and there, but it doesnt take a fucking genius to knock out
pastiches, and quite frankly pastiches bore me for the most part.
But hey, fair enough, like I said pastiches can be fun if theyre done with
a sense of humour. But acting like an ass and being a dick to your audience
whilst talking shit about what a fucking genius you are and being a
miserable bastard in general is not conducive to a kind view from me.
Ive had friends (hell, Ive gotten emails from list people) tell me; Oh,
yeah, Merrits an asshole, but thats his *thing*
Well, fuck that, I dont have time for assholes in my day to day life so why
should I go ga-ga over some twat who thinks hes a brilliant !Artiste! and
acts like a dick to his audience? Some mildly cleaver lyrics and pastiches
of tunes does not a genius make.
With the White Stripes its a bit different, Ive only ever heard their
albums, but my problem as far as the music goes is pretty much the same.
Theyve got some songs that I really dig, Hotel Yorba is a cool little
piece of pop, and Pretty Good Looking for a Girl amuses me every time I
hear it, but theyre still fucking pastiches!!
Im listening to Fell in Love with a Girl and theres Black Francis
breathless gasping as the song tumbles into the babely-poppy chorus and Im
thinking; fucking pastiche! Its okay, but its still a pastiche! They have
whole albums of pastiches and its annoying as hell.
Im not saying pastiches are automatically bad, but as much fun as they can
sometimes be, theyre just disposable. I just cant get all that excited
over artists who arent giving me much more than pastiches.
Theres a different between using a style and just making a pastiches. Belle
and Sebastian may be grooving in the style of 60's San Fran flower-pop in
their recent work, but theyve got their own vibe and are bringing new
things to the table and actually borrowing elements of style rather than
lifting whole parts.
Ken said;
"69 songs about fucking with knives"
Thats the new Angelina Jolie album, isnt it?
Ian said;
"desmond has a barrow in the market place
molly is the singer in a band
desmond says to molly 'girl i like your face'
and molly says this as she takes him by the hand.... -"
if you know the song, you're already singing it
Yup, just pasting that in put that song back into my head immediately. But
its a great song, eh?
It also has the name Molly in it. Molly is the best girls name ever. I love
all girls named Molly, especially Irish girls named Molly.
Ian also said;
well, vive le difference, my friend
Well, thats the whole point isnt it? Pretty fucking boring if we all had
the same tastes and opinions.
ian then said;
i think tori appeals to those of us who would like to visit the
moon in a big green snow-shoe
Ahhh, that explains it then. See, I dont want to go to the moon, I want to
go to Venus or Mars, and I want to go in one of those old gilded Edwardian
science fiction rocketships, the kind that used to grace the covers of those
old pulp magazines back from the 20's and 30's.
You all know those old pulps, the kind of magazines that had cover blurbs
like Jimmy Jack versus the Madman of Mars!!! and were filled with stories
like Jimmy Jack and the Amazon Women of Venus.
Because Pulp = Punk and that is a Good Thing.
.......
Well, actually, the Amazon Women sound like a Pretty Damn Good Thing too,
but thats beside the point...
Rachel said;
I have a close friend who is trying to tell me that I have to love myself
first and I think he's really smart about these things.
He is smart. I think that being able to love oneself and be happy in those
quiet moments when youre alone with yourself is one of the most important
things in life.
Theres an old saying I like; Life delights in itself
The problem is, in the words of the wise old poet (courtesy of Jack
Kerouac), the secret of life is; Theres a lot of bastards out there.
Its always a trick to know when to keep your guard up or let someone get
close. Theres a lot of users out there, and sometimes they dont even know
theyre doing it. Just like a catapillar tearing through a leaf they keep
plowing on and dont pay attention to the damage they left behind.
Rachel said;
I also thought that the Strokes sound like Elvis Costello meets The
Clash.
Hmmm, if they had sounded a bit more like that I might have liked them
better. To be fair, Ive been listening to the Strokes quite a bit lately
and theyve grown on me. I still think theyre in danger of being Oasis for
this decade, but theyre got energy and you can tell they give a damn. Its
going to be interesting to see how they grow, if they keep using recycled
sounds or if they start breaking new ground.
One last one from Rachel;
I also just want to thank LL for uncovering Jimmy G's secret about making a
swell record
in the 1950's...
Oh yeah, my old heartthrob days back in the 50's before the drink, drugs,
and dames took their toll.
Kirsten said;
none of this is very interesting
Which is funny, because Ive always thought that Kirstens stories are the
most interesting of the lot, usually for the slightly odd beauty of them.
Ive never been to Milwaukee, but from Kirsten descriptions I can only
picture it as an oddly surreal mix of Oz, Narnia, Chicago, and Batmans
Gotham populated by a collection of strange and colourful individuals.
Interesting to say the least.
Much love to the lot of you, and special shouts to...oh, they know who they
are...
......
............
Oh, okay, just to make them feel special; shouts to Elise, Sean, Lovely
Laura Llew, Rachel Fruitloop, Amy Longapplecorejacks (who I owe an email),
and the whole Great Lakes area crew.
A special PUNK ROCK! To ~stine, who deserves to feel a lot toadier than she
has lately.
Jim
Incidentally, children: every time you say "bring the Rock"...the Rock dies
a little bit. And when you saw "rawk", it coughs blood - Warren Ellis
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