Month: May 2017
The alternative to “Russiagate”
A couple of months ago, I had written a post here complaining about how “-gate” was an overused scandal term. “Russiagate” just ties Donald Trump to Richard Nixon, while the two presidencies were mired by dissimilar corruption.
Here’s the alternative to -gate that is appropriate here: сговор. It’s the Russian word for “collusion”. Trump сговор would be the appropriate title. There are other appropriate terms best used in Russian to label the situation, but сговор seems like the one most visually appealing (and easiest to type — though I’m using copy+paste). Treason (измена), scandal (скандал) and corruption (коррупция) are fitting but difficult to re-create in English typsets. Then again, I didn’t try the gesture… That’s fun and games for another time. Right now, or focus should be on the disaster that is Trump сговор.
EDIT: To change character sets changes the words vastly –
sgovor. – collusion
izmena – treason
skandal – scandal
korrupcija – corruption
Non-basketball market judged as 2nd worst basketball market. What genius…
In my time as managing editor and lead writer at Raw Charge, I got pushed onto a load of public relation emailing lists with only a fraction of them being relevant. Though my contributions to Raw Charge are now vastly dialed back, I still get all the PR emails from the wide variety of lists that I’m on.
Case in point: Tuesday morning’s lead email in my inbox reads:
Tampa Is 2017’s 2nd Worst City for Basketball Fans – WalletHub Study
And my reaction to that is to roll my eyes while uttering, “Well, duh.”
This wasn’t the first time I had gotten this PR email – a variation of it, with different data had been sent out during 2017’s NCAA basketball tournament (or just slightly before) to declare the Tampa or general Tampa Bay marketplace the 2nd worst college basketball market (via WalletHub), which remains an eye-rolling declaration and a piece o information akin to drought conditions lacking water.
I mean, that’s it, isn’t it? Tampa/St. Petersburg lacks ties to the NBA and the local college basketball team (the University of South Florida Bulls) isn’t engraved on the collective consciousness of the Tampa Bay region like other major schools are in the country. This isn’t trying to say there aren’t basketball fans in Tampa Bay, it’s more a case of saying it’s a shallow market and with good reason: We’re not tied to the game in the way other markets are tied to basketball. The Orlando Magic may be all of 90 miles away, but that doesn’t mean a large fraction of the Tampa Bay metroplex commute that distance to games on a regular basis.
WalletHub’s full report on the Best and Worst cities for basketball can be found here, but personally? I encourage a click-thru. If they thought to put Tampa Bay, a non-basketball market, on the list and send out PR emails to drive home the notion, I put into question the entire notion of why they’re judging specific markets. Do they mark Reno, Nevada as a poor football town or Houston, Texas as weak with hockey? It’d help if the markets were involved in the sport before you push analytical judgment upon them.
The “Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band” anniversary and math
I hate posting this. I do. It’s just that a flaw in a featured piece about the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album anniversary over at Creative Loafing Tampa has an outright flaw quite early in the piece:
Sing it with me, children, all together now …
“It was 50 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play.”
Uh, excuse me? Excuse me… Hi… Uh, I need to make a correction for you here (and for anyone else locked in on the 50th anniversary of the album). Let me quote the writing tandem of John Lennon and Paul McCartney here to point out the issue with history:
It was twenty years ago today
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play— “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” lyrics via Genius
If it was 20 years on June 1, 1967 (the date of release for the album), it’s 70 years in 2017. I realize the intention of the length of time is something to revel in here and the intro attempt by the article author is a rally-point, but add some logic here… Sgt. Pepper (the personality) and his colleagues had been around a while, going “in and out of style” but they remain “guaranteed to raise a smile”.
At any rate, the article touches on the weight of Sgt. Pepper to the Fab Four, it’s worth a click-thru and a read…
A tune to cue the start of “Summer”
Ah, yes, here we are… Memorial Day Weekend 2017. While I could cue Dancing in the Street or Summer in the City or many others from a very broad girth of other pop and rock classics, let me share with you a (mostly) instrumental number by Gypsy Star that you’ve likely never heard before: Summer
At Loss to Moore
(Written with remorse and in memoriam. Rest in peace, Sir Roger Moore)
At Loss to Moore
More today is sad to see
Somber sorrows and infamy
Less renown is our grief
Nostalgic remorse from years gone by
More today is gone tomorrow
To the halls of memory and accolades
Spied upon from days gone by
Revelled in with amounts of majesty
Less be more, the status quo
What comes after is without
Blessings from the might that was the more
Shall broaden the reach of what will be
Refraining from “The Living Years”
You ever encounter something in music that you initially appreciate and hold in high regard but it doesn’t stand? Time passes, you engage yourself in the ditty and it starts showing flaws that start standing out? It’s this realization that both worries you (“Am I a critic now?”) and makes you understand why the song isn’t a broad sensation that passes the test of time?
There’s a number from the 1980’s doing that to me now. In some ways I’m guilt ridden by way of it because the song is highly personal… But it’s not the song itself that gets to me. No, no, The Living Years has its merits. But the flaw is too outright.
Mike and the Mechanics 1988 song didn’t just win a Grammy – it was song of the year. The arrangement is fantastic music and the lyrics are highly personal (the relationship between Mike and his father and his father’s passing). There’s nothing I can say against those key elements and they’re not what’s hitting me the wrong way. Yet these weren’t what drew me to the song as a kid; the music complimented it and I wouldn’t engage myself in the lyrics until adulthood when I came back to the song.
What gets me, what wrings me as wrong, what stands with warts? The refrain, the chorus, the element of songs that pulls the masses in. Read More
“Hush Yer Mouth” by the Pretty Voices (with Lyrics)
Hush Yer Mouth
Better hush yer mouth now baby
if yer talkin’ to me
How the hell you end up some place
ain’t supposed to be
You’re pretending it’s your first time
but I’ve seen you before
I’m pretending I don’t like it
but I come back for more
You shouldn’t be here with me
Don’t think I like what I see
You know there’s no guarantee
Nobody gets out for free
Better keep it on the down low baby
if you know what I mean
We both got our hands so dirty
never gonna be clean
You pretend it never happened don’t you?
Do you sleep through the night?
Try to sweep it out the back door, honey
that ain’t making it right
You shouldn’t be here with me
Don’t think I like what I see
You know there’s no guarantee
Nobody gets out for free
With indie music, what fans say can matter
Are you a fan of an indie band that’s actually got stuff out on the market? I don’t mean tracks-for-purchase on Bandcamp, I mean the major players – iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, CD Baby and the like. Is that small time band you like out there? Have you actually purchased tracks from them?
If your answer is “Yes”, I’ve got a follow up question for you: Have you written a review of the song or the album on those major shopping sites?
It’s something I’ve been noticing all too much with bands that aren’t going to get the hard line, big-time exposure that major record labels bring: They can be appreciated and looked fondly upon, but those same fans aren’t trying to spread the word or share the music to draw others in. A song or album review may just entice someone to at least check out a track that gets a good grade on Amazon. An album review may raise a group by just a notch (well, if the review is positive). And of course, sharing a track posted on YouTube, ReverbNation or Soundcloud on social media is the most direct attempt by a fan to draw in more attention to a group or a specific song.
Some songs need all the help they can get. It’s odd how songs that have been out in public view for several years have only a handful of listens in some cases. Oh, music videos draw people in but bands just getting started aren’t likely to have music videos. They do offer their songs for stream via YouTube, though.
(Side note: It’d help if the artists would properly title their music posts; just going by the song name does not necessarily make the song easily findable in web searches or on YouTube. Titles should be the band name followed by the song title.)
In the end, even if an artist or group have someone promoting their work, the fans and their own involvement at spreading the word to help boost the music. If you’re a fan of music by a certain artist, don’t just sit on that fact. Tell the public why you’re a fan or what you think about the music by a small-time group that you have in your library.
Unseen Sound: The Pretty Voices – Grease Fire)
Grease Fire by Pretty Voices
She’s a self-confessed killer of innocent house plants
Wearin’ business suits and librarian glasses
Hair piled high and a witty reply
Askin’ pointed questions has gotten my attention….
My Love’s a grease fire Baby
It’s getting hotter
My love’s a grease fire baby
Don’t bring me water
Her legs are long and so, so strong
I can ignore that rip in her stockings
Dark brown hair and focused ambition
I’m coming unglued, I can’t keep it hidden
My love’s a grease fire baby
It’s getting hotter
My love’s a grease fire Baby
Don’t bring me water
She drive’s too fast and she’s way to reckless
It’s balanced with grace, and she’s never selfish
She’s a girl of a different stripe
I might get nervous but I know what I like
My love’s a grease fire baby
It’s getting hotter
My love’s a grease fire Baby
Don’t bring me water