Archive for April, 2005

You know how you listen to a new album a couple of times, it’s okay, but it doesn’t really grab you? You utter the words “I just don’t know if I like this artist anymore”, and feel sad at the thought that your favourite artist may have let you down? Then, all of a sudden, as if it took a particular time, space and mindset, upon the fifth or so listen, it hits you. Full force.

This is Songs for Silverman.

I have been a Ben Folds fan since there was a Five – Jason loved them in high school, and I discovered them when we had broken up. We saw Ben Folds Five at the Burswood Theatre together (even when broken up…let’s just say that things worked out in the long run hehe), then Ben on his own at the Regal. We bought his EPs. My particular favourite album was always Reinhold Messner – melancholic, romantic and yet sarcastically clever all at the same time. Many fans, including Jason, didn’t like the album… but I was different.

Then, history occured and the Five were dropped in favour of Ben Folds in his glory. And out came Rockin the Suburbs – a refreshing effort compared to Messner: upbeat, pisstaking – and yet not without its absolute beauties (Still Fighting It, The Luckiest). I have a particular attachment to that album because it was released the same day that Mina was born. Granted, I’d downloaded it from Audiogalaxy 3 weeks earlier, but still… I had a strong sentimental attachment to it because it became the soundtrack for the first three months of my daughter’s life. Anyway…

With RTS, I got to know Ben as a satirical artist: razor-sharp pisstaker and general ironic shitstirrer. His video directed byWeird Al Yankovic, recording an album with Bill Shatner, writing songs about Adelaide. I had also, somewhere along the line, forgotten the mastery behind Reinhold Messner that made me fall in love with Ben Folds.

So, I put in Songs for Silverman. And, initially, I have to admit that I was disappointed. It sounded like a demo. It was the signature Ben piano riffs – in a different key. Almost formulaic in the way that it delivered. No stand out tracks that I can think of. And I was sad about it, because I so wanted to love it on my first listen. But, I hung in there. Listened to it four times through – to work, from work, to work, from work. Didn’t grab me. For the record, Jason loved it.

Maybe it suffered from “Revolutions” syndrome (or the future Episode 3 syndrome!): it was destined to be hated because the real thing could never possibly live up to the expectations. Rockin the Suburbs was such a brilliantly paced and produced album… that nothing to live up to it. I might add that I had similar issues with the EPs.

At least, that’s what I thought. I don’t know whether it’s because I now recognise some of the music that I get to listen to it in more detail (ie production and detailed lyric, the bass lines and strings – the way I like to listen to music – in detail), or the surge of 3-month-pregnancy-hormones-that-make-me-cry-at-commercials… but I turned it on this morning and it hit me how marvellous this album actually is.

“Bastard” has some of the old funny Ben. “Landed” is a wonderfully crafted song about love and confusion. “Gracie” is a beautiful tribute to Ben’s “other twin” (he sang a song about his boy-twin on RTS that also makes me cry). “Jesusland” is a brilliantly cutting comment on the hypocrisy of Bible Belt politics. The reproduced “Give Judy My Notice” has given the song an amazing quality that has you humming along…

The album reminds me of “Reinhold” Ben. And now, I have rediscovered my love for Ben as a musician as well as a comic. So, despite my initial reservations, the album is a “creeper”. Listen to it enough and you won’t be able to stop.

The wonderful thing about Australian politics is the rarity of the third and fourth-term government. It is pretty much understood that, whilst it is usually pretty easy to grab that first and second term, without major changes (ie of leader, of cabinet, of direction, or of opposition), a third term is difficult – and a fourth practically impossible to achieve. This trend, however, has also made governments a little complacent about the consequences of their policies beyond about 8 years.

It is in this context that I sit – revelling in the imploding of the housing market bubble, the inevitability of the 7-year-business-cycle-that-has-somehow-been-avoided, the non-core promises, and, most of all, the whining of the mullet majority about how Honest John let them down. Shock horror surprise!

John “teflon” Howard inherited an economy that was destined for ‘boom’ after the infamous 90′s recession. Good wages, good investment in services, as well as a refocus into South East Asia meant that Australia was put into a good position by the Hawke/Keating government. Growth was inevitable. But, John Howard reaped the benefits, citing his cutbacks on Medicare, Higher Education and industrial deregulation as the cause. What he effectively did was erode the systems that are in place to protect people from the harshness of the business cycle.

Now, however, with a fourth term under way, and the economic realities of the Liberals’ cutbacks hitting middle Australia, I have to admit that I am feeling at least a little bit of “I told you so” coming on. The Liberals won a fourth term. The Senate has been rendered useless. The cutbacks and compromises are continuing, and yet I feel strangely optimistic. Not because Tony Abbott has egg on his face for the second time in a month, but because now, after stealing the ALP’s economic boom, and mollycoddling the market and preventing the inevitable for 5 years, we are going to see a recession.

And, with cutbacks to every possible area of public spending, and industrial deregulation (and no unions), more people will get fired than ever before, and they won’t be able to access any payments. And god forbid if they are unfairly dismissed – they’ll have no recourse. John Howard is going to have to lay in the pile of shit he has created – and he’ll have to take responsibility, because the ALP haven’t been in power for 9 years.

Had a quick gander at my stats this morning, and, like many of my fellow lefties, have found some rather strange Googling habits that lead people to my site. The two most predominant ones are “I hate breastfeeders” (wtf?!) and “America sucks” (not so surprising :)). So, I always get a bit of amusement out of looking at the kinds searches that lead people to my site.

Recently, since my post about Peter Rowsthorn’s Pizza Hut commercial, searches about him came up. One that intrigued me, however, was a search that came from a Disney proxy in the US.

Is Mr Rowsthorn soliciting himself as the next big teenage superstar, aka Lindsay Lohan and Hillary Duff? Is he taking the Pizza Hut guide to healthy eating to the big screen? Only time will tell, it seems! I thought ET was a Dreamworks thing (ooh nice Aussie reference there! If you know that then you’ve seen more than enough Aussie standup!)?

Anyway, just in case Disney are stalking Mr Rowsthorn for a big budget flick, I HEART you Peter and I am your NuMbEr 1 fAN!!!!1!

I stumbled upon this little news item the other day:

Executives at fast-food giant McDonalds have apparently noticed rappers habits of unabashedly shouting out brand names in their songs. While it’s usual Cristal or Jacob the Jeweller that gets the biggest mention, McDonalds is looking to change that shout-out to “Big Mac”. They’ve started a campaign that will give rappers incentives to start paying homage to the man with the big red afro.

If a rapper includes a mention of a Big Mac burger in their song, McDonald’s is willing to pay them $1-$5 for each time the song is played. No small matter, if someone like 50 Cent decides to jump on the bandwagon, McDonald’s could be paying rap artists millions upon millions of dollars.

I thought it was a bit ridiculous, but hey, it doesn’t affect me, right? I don’t listen to that crap anyway.

Then, yesterday, I was listening to Nellie McKay’s “Sari”, and this line hit me:

Sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t apologize so much
that it’s jive it’s a crutch
I just used when I’m judged
bein’ fudged by a face I can’t erase and can’t see
cuz I misplaced a dossier or Monty Python CD
or somethin’ stupid like that
but jesus is that so bad
to make my ego go splat
like a tire goin’ flat
or fat on a big mac
I’m bein’ attacked
tit for tat
you fuckin’ bureaucrats
you can just apologize back

And then I went ‘hmmmm’. As a dedicated vegan an animal rights activist, I would suspect that Ms McKay is unaware of this new deal. Or is she? If you ever get the chance to hear the album, you might realise that she is probably the least likely person to be in bed with McDonalds. But still, it is a mildly amusing thought…