Shook Twins Saturday

To all my folk loving friends, if you haven't checked out the Shook Twins, I recommend that you do and quickly. With instrumentation ranging from moody to psychadelic to fun-loving three chord pop-folk and vocals showing the same range, they're definitely worth the listen.

This won't happen often, but I've decided to post two videos to show their incredible range.




Enjoy the rare Double Song of the Day!

Modern Man by Gatsbys American Dream (From Upcoming Album)

Following a band for almost a decade tends to warp your perception of them. Fortunately, Gatsbys seems to get better with age. With every album, the band shows growth while staying true to their aesthetic. After a nearly five year hiatus they're back and putting the finishing touches on a highly anticipated album.

Enjoy!

March Into The Sea by Modest Mouse

Something about the way Mr. Brock belts this out gives me chills. Part of it is most assuredly the subject matter. Lines like "Give me forced health until I wish death on myself" and "Treat me like disease, like the rats and the fleas" evoke such a powerful sense of bitter nostalgia (like most songs composed by Modest Mouse). The switch between screaming and whispering vocals create a stunning juxtaposition. First there's anger, frustration, and desperation. Then, without warning, exhausted acceptance sets in. Rinse, wash, repeat.

Honestly, the way the song is put together reminds me of every fight I've had with a significant other. To describe such a passionate (not all passion is good) scene musically is difficult, to say the least. However, Modest Mouse pulls it off while making it seem easy.

Now you can debate the "true" meaning of the song, but unless you are Isaac Brock or have a psychic link with him, it's really open to interpretation.  As is all music, literature, art, film, and whatnot. Though I wouldn't mind hearing what the song means to you.

Enjoy!

Update #001

Good morning my fine feathered friends. After days of pondering, considering, and thinking, I reached a conclusion concerning this blog. Everyday, a Song of the Day will be posted. Instead of random thoughts associated with it, I will be discussing thematic elements of lyrics and overall composition. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I will post essays on a variety of subjects including, but not limited to, politics, art, literature, local (Austin) events, and things that piss me off.

Hopefully, as the days turn into weeks, and the weeks into months, things here will become more cohesive. If you have any ideas, feel free to email me at mijlocke@gmail.com.

Twilight Rant Concerning Politics

I love listening to the talking heads spout nonsensical opinions about as much as I love a trip to the dentist. The dawn of the 24 hour news network should have ushered in a golden era of government transparency. Instead it birthed a cesspool of uneducated punditry and propaganda. While I'd love to blame the media and the government, the fault lies with us.

Our society is built upon instant gratification, consumerism, and ceaseless entertainment. We've allowed ourselves to be drugged, dumbed down, and systematically divided by a ruling class that wants us to “go to the store, cook the food, and put it in front of [them], but [they] won't let [us] sit at the table with [them]”. Like dogs, we happily eat scrapes from their table. It's sickening. We've been taught to forget that the power lies with us. We outnumber them. They depend on us to do their cooking, cleaning, childrearing and various other tasks, yet we have the smallest piece of the pie and put more into the communal pot. They use buzz-words like “Job Creators” and “Risk Takers” in order to explain away this fact.

In addition to the lying and scheming, they have actively engaged in a war against the working class. They make unions out to be evil and then slash health-care benefits and pay for teachers, state employees, and military personnel. All the while, we just nod our heads, forgetting unions are there to protect the rights of the working class. They've successfully turned “socialism” into a four letter word. Ignoring that public education, a volunteer military, social security and US highways are all socialist programs. They have effectually turned us into a culture that fights against what would benefit us. Activists are ridiculed. Those who speak out against corruption and wage slavery are ignored.

The state of the union is diseased and because we rather watch Jersey Shore or rack up credit card bills buying things they tell us we need, we perpetuate this cycle. The American Elite have transformed our representative democracy into neo-feudalism. We have the power. We have the numbers. We hold all the cards. We just need to wake up and take back what's ours. It's only a matter of time before this ship sinks. What's happening to our nation is not in anyway sustainable and it's time to do something about it. It's either that or one day wake up wearing shackles and feigning surprise.

The choice is ours. Live as slaves or live as individuals in a truly free society.

Guarantees by Atmosphere

Apparently the economy is in rough shape. Everyday the talking heads line up behind their favorite mouthpieces, is another day the suffering of the middle and lower class worsens. While they're busy with making false campaign promises, the nation crumbles.

A Meandering, Rambling Twilight Rant

Sleep deprivation is a bitch. When the stress piles up and your plate is much too full, the rejuvenating hours dwindle. Once refreshing dips in somnolent lakes become naught more than pitiful splashing through drowsy puddles. Poetics aside, Insomnia's a bitch.

It's been a problem since before my first memorable moments (at least I assume it has). One would think that I would have developed some sort of coping mechanism. Short of straight out substance abuse, I have not found a reliable method of lulling myself to sleep. Weeks of practicing near-perfect sleep hygiene left me in the same state as sleeping pills and alcohol. Herbal remedies are about as useful as wishful thinking. In short, I am pretty sure I'm unequivocally fucked.

At times like these (and believe me when I tell you, friends, there are plenty of them), I tend to write. Instead of succumbing to the haze brought on by lack of sleep, I put on a pot of coffee, smoke too many cigarettes and get to work. My best ideas are birthed by Insomnia's solitude. My shining moments climb from the proverbial primordial ooze that is mental exhaustion. My inability to sleep is, indeed, a double-edged sword.

Will I always be forced to make the choice between a night of sleep or a night of prose? I haven't the slightest. What I do know, though, is this: The more I try, the harder I fail.

Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta by Geto Boys

No time to gab. I'm off to put my time in as a malnourished piglet suckling at the corporate teat. Yay, wage slavery! Now, enjoy the smooth rhymes of the Geto Boys (Originally spelled "Ghetto Boys).

Moonlight Sonata Performed By The Human Abstract

Today's choice is for those classical music fans with a metal slant. For years I've said that if the great classical composers would have been born in our time, they'd all be playing with metal bands. Bands like Between the Buried and Me, Protest the Hero and Mastodon are full of musicians who are constantly crafting epic albums rife with technicality, creativity and intensity so often found in the works of the Greats.

Enjoy.

Baby, I'm an Anarchist by Against Me!

Ouch, I fell behind for a few days. I've been incredibly busy, but that is no excuse. Everyday should mean just that.

Against Me's "Baby, I'm an Anarchist" should be our war anthem. At a time where two corrupt parties battle it out for the right to further the enslavement of the working class (each in their own way, of course), there should be an outraged public taking to the streets. Instead, we've allowed ourselves to fall into their well-laid trap. How are we ever to topple such a diseased system, if we cannot unite?

The parties demand undying, unthinking loyalty, as they toss their constituents peanuts (declaring support for same-sex marriages, promising to fight for the rights of the unborn), all the while, lining their pockets. A call to arms is necessary. Through educating and breaking ties with all pre-established parties, we can, and will, over come.

Song of the Day #001

Tragically, today's media is saturated with attractive teen beasties doting on socially awkward high school girls. This song is a beacon of hope to those old enough to recall the true essence of a werewolf. In the light of a full moon, the curse would take hold. A case of wrong place, wrong time would transform the victim of circumstance into an apex predator capable of naught else but mindless slaughter.

Enjoy.