Father John Misty Claims Lou Reed Appeared to Him in a Dream, Doubles Down on Overtness

His "statement," from Consequence of Sound:

I had a very strange dream that I abruptly woke up from around 3am early this morning. I was crab-walking around a neighborhood in New Orleans that, though it does not exist, is a recurring location in my dreams. My childhood friend Brian Kawamura was was telling me I still owed the tennis rental place $7000 when the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan was suddenly standing over me, saying over and over, “The only thing crazier than a peasant who believes he is King, is a King who believes he is a King.” He put one of those birthday Burger King crowns on my head and out of the clouds a sort of “Switched on Bach” version of “Ode To Joy” began to play. A crowd which had formed around me began to sing along, with tears streaming down their faces. The crowd was obviously hypnotized and I assumed if I crept away discreetly no one would notice. The earth become a sort of treadmill, and though the locations (The Great Wall of China, a McDonald’s where I had my 3rd birthday, the town from Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon, Vignola’s restaurant in Rockville, Md.), “Ode To Joy” and the crowd remained all around me.

All of a sudden it was time to soundcheck, which I was late for, and Barack Obama offered to give me a ride on Air Force One. He told me he needed urgent advice regarding some important policy decisions, and we spent the day in Hawaii playing basketball, petting his dogs, golfing and the like when I, gripped with anxiety, told him I really needed to get to soundcheck so we needed to discuss the ruling of the free world. By this time he had turned into an obscene visage of my Father and said, “I have one injunction for you, son: That you enjoy life. It is by this mandate that all is ruled. It is the true tyranny; the equalizing force that binds us all.” I jumped out of Air Force One and landed on top of this massive pink, sparkly, glowing blob that stretched for miles beyond miles, covering entire cities, and I had to keep gulping down chlorophyll because the thing was emitting insane levels of EMF’s, so my mouth and hands were stained dark green.

Down inside the blob I could see thousands of familiar faces and one of them was Lou Reed on a catwalk hand-cuffed to supermodels who had adopted babies handcuffed to them and Lou said, “Delete those tracks, don’t summon the dead, I am not your plaything. The collection of souls is an expensive pastime.” Then I woke up.”

 My statement: this is really, really Overt.

Snoop Dogg's Startup to Merge Cannabis and Pop Culture, Finally!

From The Guardian: 

Entertainment icon Snoop Dogg and media entrepreneur Ted Chung have launched what they say is a marijuana-based media company.

The co-founders presented Merry Jane, a “premier media platform at the intersection of cannabis and pop culture” at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on Monday.

Merry Jane plans to publish information on every facet of cannabis, including a video interview series called Deflowered that will profile innovators in the industry, cultural and lifestyle features and the latest news on cannabis policy, business and economics. Information about marijuana products and a location mapping service for dispensaries will also be made available

"After watching where the cannabis industry is headed, I wanted to create a platform that will take this movement further by creating a destination where people could find fresh content,” Snoop Dogg said. “Merry Jane is a game-changing platform for pop culture. It’s a new frontier y’all!”

Seth Rogen is also involved, but you knew that already. 

Father John Misty's Cover of Ryan Adam's Cover of Taylor Swift Is Overt

I haven't decided how to categorize Ryan Adam's cover of Taylor Swift's 1989 (I think it was just a straight-up fun thing to do), but Father John Misty's "reinterpretation of the classic Ryan Adams album 1989” is Overt. Spin gives you a listen of the song, which they say features a melody "inspired by Lou Reed’s drawling, disinterested vocal rambling circa the Velvets’ 1967 debut album." I would have rather heard the Pizza Underground's version.

Sorry, not buying it!

John Malkovich's Collaboration with Ric Ocasek: Good Old-Fashioned Weirdness

Not Advanced, necessarily, but I'm down with this:

John Malkovich: actor, director, portal vessel, sonic explorer. The performer has teamed with an eclectic group of musicians – including Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon, the Cars' Ric Ocasek, OMD, Young the Giant, Dweezil Zappa and the Dandy Warhols – to create Like a Puppet Show, a Record Store Day Black Friday vinyl exclusive. The album finds Malkovich reciting classical musician Eric Alexandrakis' version of Plato's Allegory of the Cave over original material composed and produced by Alexandrakis, paired with bizarre photos of Malkovich taken by Sandro.

 An eclectic group indeed! I just don't know how David Byrne wasn't involved.

Musicians Love Professional Wrestling, Amy Winehouse Edition

There is just something about professional wrestling musicians love, including Advanced ones. Amy Winehouse never got the chance to Advance, but if she had, we might look at this clip below (source: NME) as early evidence of her ascendancy. In it she "shows off a number of different accents and expresses interest in visiting The World, a WWE themed restaurant open in Times Square between 1999-2003. Winehouse appears particularly impressed that female wrestler Chyna had dined in the restaurant as had The Rock (Dwayne Johnson)." It's sad she never got to Advance or see The Tooth Fairy.

Stereogum Has a Dickish Take on a Potential New Rolling Stones Album

"Threaten." Get it? Such Overtness.

Metallica Making Limited Edition Beer with Budweiser

Let's let Metal Injection tell us all about it:

To commemorate their two shows in Qubec City on September 14 and September 16, where they will close out the Colisée Pepsi on the 14th and open up the new venue, Centre Vidéotron, the band will be giving out free cans of Metallica-branded Budweiser beer, brewed in Canada by Labatt. The beer will be available in cans, coming in cases of 15 and 24 with over than 91,000 black cans being printed.

At first I thought it would be better if they had chosen a better beer, but then I realized that this is the right partnership because it is the most American beer and is being brewed in Canada by Labatt and given to Canadians. Plus, you have to image that the guy in this photo would have thought it was pretty awesome to have his own brand of Budweiser.

Someday this will have my name on it!

Blues Magoos Version of "Tobacco Road" the Most Influential Song of All Time?

Maybe not, but I hear a lot of music I love in this song, including VU, David Bowie, Camper Van Beethoven, and so on. I think this is known by some, but I just discovered it recently (the record, not this live version) and was struck by how similar it is to my favorites. Another reminder that things that sound like they came from nowhere have some precedent that will make you question everything you ever believed. Luckily Advancement lets me live with that.

Velvet Underground Matrix Tapes To Be Released

From Music Tap:

On October 30, Polydor Records will release a 4CD The Matrix Tapes set with over 40 live performance tracks. Some have been heard on various prior releases including the Quine Tapes Box Set, the Super Deluxe Edition of The Velvet Underground, and 1969: The Velvet Underground Live. But there are a few previously unreleased tracks as well here.

Check out the site for the track listing!

Miss You, Lou!

Prince Is Better at Guitar Than Everyone

This is old, but I hadn't seen it until this morning. Note how he throws the guitar up in the air at the end.

Trainspotting 2, or Please Hammer Don't Hurt Me

Danny Boyle has confirmed that Trainspotting 2 is coming:

Up until this point in time, no concrete plans have come to fruition but speaking to Deadline at the first public screening of his latest film, Steve Jobs, Boyle confirmed that Trainspotting 2 (as it is currently called) will happen soon. In fact, the director is intending to make it his next project.

I'm excited about this for a very specific reason: once or month or so, I wish that someone would hit me over the head with a hammer to erase my memory of seeing Trainspotting so I could watch it again for the first time. Now I can just watch the sequel and save myself that brain damage. But wait, you might be thinking, aren't sequels always terrible? And doesn't this terribleness ruin the first movie for you? And wouldn't it be better to have a completely new original movie?

As for the first objection, some are good and I'm an optimist. I think Danny Boyle will pull it off, and I like that he isn't overly reverent of the original. I don't think Boyle is Advanced, but not being afraid to mess with your "legacy" is an Advanced trait

If it turns out to be bad, that won't affect my feelings about the original. Why should it? If anything it might make me appreciate the first one even more, so I can't lose.

And while yes, I would love there to be another totally new movie as good as Trainspotting, there can be both this sequel and another good movie. A lot of movies come out every year!

Maybe We Can Find Out What Happened to Ziggy Pop

Miley Machine Music (or Dead Petz Sounds)

I don't know about you, but this review makes me want to listen to, and like, Miley Cyrus's Dead Pets:

I don’t want to write the whole project off, because there are actually a few moments where Coyne’s influence benefits Cyrus. A few of these songs, taken out of context, are actually lovely. The second one, “Karen Don’t Be Sad,” is simple, glum, and sweet — a Beatles-esque ballad that sounds like the Lips would have had Miley fronted them circa Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (you know, back when she was 9).

What does "taken out of context" mean here? I guess that means if you don't know who is singing? And is there something bad about her being 9 at some point in history?

The part that really gets me excited about this record is:

But on the whole, Dead Petz is a difficult record to enjoy — or even endure.

That describes a lot of my favorite albums! 

The reviewer seems like she wants to like this album, but she also wants it be something it's not (a noble project, striving for spiritual insight, carnal pleasures, and creative liberation) and wants Miley to mature ("I suspect it’s something Cyrus had to get out of her system before finding a more mature middle ground between shapelessness and structure").  It may be that the album is not good, but I suspect that if the reviewer just listened to it rather than tried to be its producer, she might get more out of it.

Billy Corgan's Embrace of Donald Trump Is Not Advanced and Here's Why

So Billy Corgan is into what Donald Trump is doing for politics, saying

“I think what’s cool, and I’m not saying I agree politically, but I think what’s cool is Trump’s running chaos theory. He’s forcing a lot of things out into the open, so they can’t control this, whatever that control is. It’s like the music business, everybody gets controlled, and somebody comes along that fucks it all up."

This is not Advanced because it's not Trump's policies he agrees with but his disruption of the normal political process. So that's just an Overt "stick it to the man" position if you ask me. Here's more:

“I would argue at this point is there any difference between politics and entertainment?"

Yes, because if you vote for a bad contestant on The Voice, nothing happens. If you choose a bad president or governor, the consequences are real. Of course there is an element of entertainment in politics, but that has always been the case.

I would have expected more from a man with a deep love of professional wrestling, cats, and Disneyland.

You Can Do Better, Billy

Bad News for Keith Richards Fans

This is sort of surprising (from NME):

Ahead of his upcoming solo album release, the guitarist spoke to New York Daily News, saying, "Millions are in love with Metallica and Black Sabbath. I just thought they were great jokes." Turning his attention to hip-hop, Richards added, "Rap – so many words, so little said. What rap did that was impressive was to show there are so many tone-deaf people out there." "All they need is a drum beat and somebody yelling over it and they’re happy. There’s an enormous market for people who can’t tell one note from another."

This is some major Overtness coming from someone I thought was closer to Advancement. I know he has a history of slagging groups, but this seems just out of touch. The Advanced find good in the new (rap used to be new and might seem new to him still, like Supergrass seems like a new band to me), and certainly don't broadly condemn a genre, especially when your complaints are so completely off base and outdated. Luckily he will never die, so he has plenty of time to discover the error of his ways.

C'mon Keith!

 

Morrissey Does Waylon Jennings

This belongs here, I'd say.

What Kind of a Phil Collins Fan Am I?

Like the British Empire, the sun never sets on the music of Phil Collins. He was everywhere in the 1980s, and he has earwormed himself into regular rotation on the "why did I wake up with this song in my head" playlist for anyone who lived during that era. But of course before that he was in Genesis, an authentically weird band, then was in Genesis again, changing them into a differently weird band.

Authentically Weird

Differently Weird

He is a great drummer, but people who don't like him tend to focus on his drum machines. And there are some who appreciate his solo career more because it is more commercial and therefore more satisfying.

As for me, I think I've eventually liked every one of his singles. Whether that is just Stockholm Syndrome, I can't say, but I do know that he is a lot more interesting than people tend to give him credit for. Because of that, I have no idea where he fits in the world, Advanced or otherwise. Is he a joke? A genius? Who knows?

Anyway, he is reissuing some of his albums, complete with "hand-selected demos and b-sides" that show how the work evolved from demo to studio to stage. There must be a market for this, but I don't know who is in it. Shouldn't I be, since I like all his songs? Is this (land of) confusion a sign of his greatness or a sign that on some deeper level I think I shouldn't like all his songs? The more I think about Phil Collins, the less I understand him. And the more I learn about him, the more I learn about the Alamo.

Spin Doesn't Believe that the New PiL Album Is Good on Purpose

The headline Spin uses in its review of PiL's new album: "Public Image Ltd. Accidentally Make an Enjoyable Record With ‘What the World Needs Now…’" Rather than rant about this--"accidentally"?--I'll just give you some promising bits:

“The toilet’s f–king broken again / I repaired that, I told ya / Get the plumber in again and again and again” is no nostalgia trip; that’s age and decay all the way. More importantly, his band of whoevers — this time containing an ex-Spice Girls sideman and an ex-Neneh Cherry husband — plays rock, with permutations ranging from spy-surf-Goo licks under “Bettie Page” and ’70s boogie rock on the literal and qualitative centerpiece “The One,” which is a love song, brought home by an ersatz Edge guitar hook that should offend Pistols and PiL fans alike.

I like the sound of all this! But there's something even better:

The bending synths that underscore “Know Now” recreate the over-incanting title histrionics of the Sex Pistols’ “Liar?” Piece of cake. This whole record is, really, even the burbling, eight-minute “Big Blue Sky,” which flirts with reggae Peter Gabriel.

Spice Girls, boogie rock, offended fans, and reggae? Now that sounds like some classic Advancement to me.

I guess a lot of people, not just Spin, would be surprised that this would be good. But we know better.

Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard Making a Move Toward Advancement?

I'm not a fan of Alabama Shakes because I'm old so I don't like new things or people making loud noises. But a lot of people think a lot of Brittany Howard, and I do recognize that she is an original voice (but why so loud?). So I was intrigued when I read this in Consequence of Sound:

Alabama Shakes frontwoman extraordinaire Brittany Howard has dropped a new album under her Thunderbitch side project. The group — which also features members of Fly Golden Eagle and Clear Plastic Masks — surfaced back in 2012, but this self-titled effort marks their first proper full-length release. Among the 10 tracks included are “Leather Jacket”, “I Just Wanna Rock n Roll” (which we know Howard can do, no problem), and “Wild Child”. It also includes the band’s early cuts “I Don’t Care” and “My Baby Is My Guitar”.

 A black leather jacket is one of the hallmarks of the Advanced, as is embracing rock 'n' roll, especially in song lyrics. Now if she can go truly solo, I'll really be intrigued.

shhhh