My Fill-In-the Blanks. Et Tu?

This morning I was looking at Carrie Bronstein's blog over at Monitor Mix where I noticed an interesting fill-in-the-blanks music-informed exercise.


Here's HetPer's own version:




1) I've had to defend my love of _____________________ over the years.

2. As far as I'm concerned, ______________________ nearly ruined music.

3. One of my favorite live performers ever? That's easy: _______________________.

4. If I could go back in time and dance like crazy, crowd surf or join a mosh pit, I would do that at a ___________________ show.

5. If I could choose to name a concert that truly changed my life, it would have to be _______________________.

6. The one clothing item that's musically informed and I value above the rest would have to be ___________________.

7. If there is one musician I would choose to see live even though such a choice would mean that I would be skipping out on my loved one's birthday, it would have to be ___________________.

My answers:
1) The Killers
2) Bono. And it doesn't mean that I don't listen to U2.
3) Keane
4) 30 Seconds to Mars. Blame it on Leto. Featured in the picture with C. Farrell
5) Muse. It was a life-changing experience.
6) Easy! My vintage Bob Dylan t-shirt.
7) Kelly Jones. It's true. I'm sorry. I am flawed.

Yours?

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New Videocast: A Review of Green Day, The Killers, and the Text of Punk

In this new episode I review Green Day's new album, 21-st Century Breakdown, The Killers' recent concert, and the recent collection of photographs entitled Punk is Dead, Punk is Everything.

I talk about the connection between image and popularity as well as the hierarchical nature of success in punk rock culture.

You can view this new episode here.

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The Killers: A Concert Report

Two nights ago I saw The Killers in concert in Cleveland. I will be discussing it in next week's videocast, as well.
My right ear is still not at full capacity thanks to our standing in close proximity to six giant loudspeakers.
One has to sacrifice for music, after all.

Frontman Brandon Flowers is the main reason behind the band's cache. And he has much of it. Flowers is always in sync with his music and his band members. Like an involved conductor, he makes sure all the instruments are attended to and, thanks to his quick movements, he managed to have eye contact with his band members as well.

Flowers does not stay put in one spot.
Those who are hyperactive by nature will especially get his modus operandi. When in his element, singing or playing the keyboard and guitar, he accompanies his vocals with constant movement. What's truly amazing about this performer is that regardless of the constant sprint-like moves on the stage, his voice quality doesn't suffer.

And then there was the stage. It looked like a spot of Vegas had been extracted from the Strip and had been planted in Cleveland. His initial getup was also oh-so-Vegas. It looked like a showgirl helped him with the extravagantly bejeweled jacket which he kept on for the first few songs. The rest of the time, the band's outfits fit comfortably with their sound and stage.

A few times Flowers looked a little perturbed at the mic as it evidently wasn't behaving the way it needed to. He left the stage for a few seconds to talk to the behind-the-scenes powers that be about said mic.
He re-entered the stage at the loud welcome of his eager fans.

I like The Killers not only because of their definite role with the post-punk revival. That, after all, is not a primary reason to like any act as, in my case, at least, it's not what informs my taste primarily. I like their music because since they entered the scene and my radar over 6 years ago, their work has fueled mine most exquisitely. And, at the risk of narcissistically quoting a previous audio piece of mine, after all, one needs to be a 'grateful receiver' of such musical favors.

The concert experience lasted about 1.5 hours and it felt like 1.5 seconds. I never have the urge to play with my iPhone or check my watch or even think about anything else of substance or inconsequence when in the presence of their music. And to me, that's something. Something novel.

The Killers do seem to have gotten to the point of comfort with their level of popularity. It might just be that they believe they are deserving of it. I most certainly think so and those who object to their music/performance style need to make a good case for themselves for this band has created the pattern, I think, of what it means to translate 80's SynthPop, Electronica, and Punk into the reality and consciousness of the twenty-first century.

In sum, you should try and watch them on their current tour promoting their last album, Day & Age. It will be nigh impossible for you to take your eyes off the stage.

Kudos, Killers, kudos.

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Brandon Flowers and Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan

Black Book Magazine has a gripping bit on The Killers' frontman Brandon Flowers and Depeche Mode's main guy Dave Gahan. It tackles both artists' unique performance styles, overall artistry, respective religions, music/lyrics choices, and much more.

Those of you who like Depeche Mode, will especially react well to this piece as it places much attention on the music of Depeche Mode and how much they have influenced so many new acts.

A bit says:

"Adorable and grandiose, Killers frontman Brandon Flowers maintains a contradiction that matches any to which Depeche Mode can lay claim: he is a resolute Mormon, a religion not exactly known for turning out glamorous rock ’n’ rollers. Gahan’s only significant rival in the rock-star-as-Christ-figure stakes is probably Bono. But while Dublin’s finest unwaveringly professes his faith in the only Son of God, Gahan, especially in the lyrics to the deliciously blaspheming “Personal Jesus” (“Someone to hear your prayers / Someone who cares”), has offered himself up as an earthly substitute, a heresy you surely won’t find any of his worshipping public objecting to, no matter their religious affiliations."

Read more here.

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New Podcast: Indie Art and the Music of The Killers

In this short podcast I provide a reading of the music of the West-based band The Killers as well as general observations about indie art.

I also include a musical review of The Killers' last album Day & Age which I initially posted when the album first came out.

Tip of the hat to Liam for our joint review of the band's recent album.

The music the podcast features comes from my artist friend Camille Nelson's new album First Words. The album is now available on iTunes as well.

You can hear the podcast here.

It will be available on iTunes today under the podcast series: "Gendering the Media with Brikena Ribaj."

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Brandon Flowers Scrutinized Again

I've already outed myself as a bona fide fan of The Killers. Most of my playlists have at least one song from their albums and just today I gave "Uncle Johnny" a listen. And the past six years have been richer musically on account of my fondness for the band and my renewed appreciation for and continued visitation of the solid artists who have informed them artistically. Whether you like their music or not, The Killers reveal as much about the 'scene' and culture of indie rock by virtue of how they perform, what they wear, and who they like musically as they do via their own art.

The Rolling Stone has a bit about frontman Brandon Flowers and his penchant for not always expressing rightly what he feels, per them.
Frankly, I don't understand why Flowers' speech is worthy of such continued scrutiny. As an artist he needs to express himself. Some journalists are more fascinated by his eye for couture and his personal religious beliefs than they are about his influence on contemporary rock and his own art. To me it makes full sense that Flowers would be the kind of rocker he is. Like basically everyone else, he is multilayered and influenced by various things. Maybe my experiential knowledge of the West has something to do with my unequivocal acceptance of the band's music and Flowers' lyrics. Their music, after all, feels much more authentic to me when I play it out West.

At the end of yet another year, I am grateful to the The Killers' many contributions to my music experience. And to Brandon Flowers' ear and eye for the right indie, synth-pop, rock sounds and 'mad' couture.

Here are two snippets from the piece. The entire article is here.

"Brandon Flowers is having trouble explaining himself. Maybe it's because nothing about him adds up: a couture-wearing synth-pop fanatic who wants to be Bruce Springsteen; a devout Mormon who sings in a decadent Las Vegas rock band. Maybe it's because when Flowers talks, he tends to get in trouble — like when he bragged that Sam's Town, the previous album from his band, the Killers, was "one of the best albums in the last 20 years" before anyone heard it."
...

"What does he mean by the line that provides his album title, "I want the new day and age," in the song "Neon Tiger"? "It means, I want a new day and age — I think that things could be better," Flowers says, then pauses for nearly 10 seconds, looking down at the table. "I don't feel like I'm allowed to say some of the things that I feel." Why? "I'm too handsome."

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The Killers' Official Tour Dates Photograph

Per Spin, this is the band's official picture for their new tour date announcement.
I give it my vote as picture of the week. Yet another example of the band's mastermind rocking to his own tune.
Flowers' ensemble suggests that he cares to couple his own creativity with informed textile choices. I cannot say the same for the cave-echoing combinations, however.

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Liam and Brikena Review The Killers' New Album: Day & Age

Granted, I'm a fan of The Killers. Their music has influenced my tastes from 2004 to the present time quite a bit. I adored them when they were not very well known and I keep adoring them now that they are mega huge. However, a good lover of music is (or perhaps needs to be) also an informed and critical appreciator.
Having said that, I enjoyed Day & Age for the most part. It's not Hot Fuss and I'm not sure it's fair to compare their senior project to their freshman stroke of genius, but I couldn't help it.

I'll be reviewing this album a little differently. This time I'll post a conversation I had with my music expert friend, Liam of the Salt Lake-based band Calico.

Liam: joy ride instantly made me think of new york with the latin/puerto rican funk groove. it's very 70s. i actually wondered for a few seconds if the strokes had taken a slightly broader approach to music, but then it became apparent that it was flowers singing. i still think it's very new york

losing touch borrows from some 80s synth pop with just enough pre-grunge 90s rock. the killers are so obvious to me with their influences, but they always manage to avoid any sense of anachronisticity.

Brikena: Agreed. What I do like about them though, which I think goes unnoticed more often than not, is their ability, well, Flowers' ability really, to masticate the existing 'music canon' thoroughly and in an undiscriminating fashion. Granted, artists have to be mimetic, by virtue of their artistic compulsions. These guys, however, innovate 'traditions' almost too effortlessly.
They remind one of really good plagiarizers. It's as if they are saying: "Yes, we copy. Now, you need to prove where the copying ends and the innovation begins."

Should you check out this album?

Most definitely. If nothing else, they pay such good homage to rock&roll. They're the ultimate example of the studious student who is not afraid to try to surpass the teacher.
Ah, and they innovate. Quite dexterously.

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Are You Homosocial?

Here is the audio piece entitled: Are You Homosocial?
Click here to listen to it.

This is a piece I created for the purpose of expounding the concepts of homosociality, homoeroticism, and identity.

As always, there are many literary references, much music, and many more pop culture things.

I re-discovered Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh just the other day. Let me quote from it. It goes well with my premise.

"I did not consider myself, as a rule."


Graph via previous post on female DJ's. Find here.

Brandon Flowers Is Ticked Off!

Granted, the lyrics of Human are a tad odd. Well, for lack of a better word, they are grammatically problematic. Flowers uses the noun 'dancer' in the predicate which is, well, not the best of choices.
The chorus says: 'Are you human or are we 'dancer'?'
Many people are speculating that he's actually saying 'denser.'
I am not one of these folks. While I did find the lexical choice odd, I did some research and found out that he is actually making a deliberate reference to Hunter S. Thompson's quote: 'We’re raising a generation of dancers.’ The only problem is that Thompson couched the noun 'dancer' correctly. Flowers not so much. But then again poetic license might be worth something here.

Here's the a bit from the RS on the topic:

The Killers’ Brandon Flowers continues to be frustrated by fans being frustrated with the lyrics to the chorus of his new single “Human.” “Are we human, or are we dancer,” Flowers sings, imploring that the ambiguous word is the grammatically-incorrect “dancer” and not “denser.” “That sucks a bit. I don’t like, ‘Are we denser?’ as an alternative,” Flowers said. “I really care what people think but people don’t seem to understand ‘Human.’ They think it’s nonsense. But I was aching over those lyrics for a very long time to get them right.” Part of that time aching was evidently spent reading books by Hunter S. Thompson, as Flowers himself has admitted the “dancer” line was inspired by the former Rolling Stone contributor.

Read more here.

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Which Tracks Do You Privilege?

Had this conversation a few weeks ago. A bit said:

"So, any particular music you listen to over and over again?"
Rather economically, I said, 'ja.'
"Oh, cool. Like what?"

I looked at my watch as it's always the first I do so I can gauge what kind of answer I was to give.

Here is the answer and the reasons that back each choice.

Stereophonics: Rainbows and Pots of Gold

Because Kelly Jones, the mastermind behind the UK band, has that lucky talent of coupling great lyrics with incomparable sounds. I do think that it takes a certain kind music lover to truly get this sound. They sort of live this ars gratia artis thing.



Marco Masini's "Perche lo fai?"

I remember seeing this live as a very young teenager. Marco Masini won the first price in San Remo's music festival's 'young performers' edition. What I found particularly contagious was this never-before-seen-on-stage collage of angst, anxiety, inadequacy, and shear skill. This song has that 'it'. Just how many times have I heard this? By now, thousands and thousands. And, alas, those who share life with me have too, by association. And many of them even know the words by now.



The Killers: All These Things That I Have Done.

If you have not seen The Killers live you are missing out. These guys are Indie to the core. Those of us who have been following them since long before the mainstream loved them up and turned them into elevator music, get what makes them timeless. To me, they are this poetic blend of solid Americana, the indomitable spirit of the Wild West, pure rock 'n roll, androgyny, and unapologetic lyrics.

I once drove from Grand Junction, CO to Aspen and then from Aspen to Denver. My iPod played this song a total of 8 + hours. When I arrived home the next day I was asked if I had enjoyed the playlist that was prepared for me. 'Yeah, yeah, great track!'
-Track?! Just one?
-Ja. didn't see the need to go past the first one.



Muse: Sing for Absolution

I first saw them in concert when they were still promoting in small, intimate venues before they made it uber-big in the States. That first concert remains, to this day, the best rock 'n roll experience of my life.



Keane: Nothing in My Way

Because I find this song in basically every playlist. Every album of theirs delivers. And as for their latest, Perfect Symmetry, I believe my review of it was was unabashedly laudatory. Theirs is a kind of melancholy I have yet to see better and less affectedly presented by any other modern performer.

Music Info

Anticipated projects include Keane and The Killers.

I will be reviewing the much-anticipated album by Keane, Perfect Symmetry, during the second week of October.

Here is a list of all the new Fall releases.

The Killers are also scheduled to release their third, full album in November. Read more about the RS coverage of their recent pursuits here.
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