Reflektor

When Alice peers through the looking glass, it is not the illogical whimsy of wonderland that troubles her. It is her growth (or lack thereof). Almost all of Alice's conflicts arise when she is faced with the reduction and/or production of her self.

It is fascinating to observe that "looking glasses" or mirrors are found throughout childhood stories, fables, myths, and even superstitions. (Think of the magic mirror in Snow White, the reflection in the greek myth of Narcissus, Dracula's lack of a reflection in mirrors, Urim & Thummim, etc.).

Why? Why mirrors? Why reflections? Why do these objects and manifestations persist?

Arcade Fire has a hunch. (Maybe more than a hunch--an album...)

The aptly named "Reflektor" was released on October 29, 2013. (You may also note that on 2007's "Neon Bible" the band sings about a "Black Mirror.").

(Before I go on, you should know that I'm unabashedly hooked on Arcade Fire's earnest-anthem-rousing-introspective-emotive rock music, okay? They just really do it for me).

So, they come out with this album and a single by the same name (Reflektor). The single is, by all accounts, a "dancey" number with nods to James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and "Mr. Labrynth" himself, David Bowie.

I love it.

I also love the video (click here to see).

I've listened to it so many times now, I've actually started to hear the words they're singing. (I still don't understand the French part, but, whatevs, right?)

Win Butler and his wife sing about prisms of light and falling in love during the "reflective age." It's all very beautiful.

As the stanzas march forward, an awareness begins to brew...The reality (love?) they have forged may not be reality, but merely a reflection (Win Butler sings: "Our song it skips, on a little disc. Our love is plastic, we'll break it to bits.").

This leads to a sweet new-wave-break-down-of-a-bridge with David Bowie singing alongside Win Butler:

"Thought you were praying to the resurrector, turns out it was just a Reflektor!"

Here, the band introduces a "Reflektor" as sort of this doppleganger character--a mirage of themselves, a mirage of salvation, a mirage of truth and a mirage of love.

Just like Alice, the conflict they discover comes from a reflection. The reflection leads them to struggle with both the reduction and/or production of themselves.

The album veers back and forth from this theme with a fair amount of whimsy, irony, and even humor. (If you haven't seen their genius satire of themselves--and the current "irony state of hipsters" on SNL--check it out now!)


So, why do mirrors represent such chaos and conflict? Mystery and trouble?

The answer is simple: Mirrors provide us with our reflection. What we see, is what we get.

Film Politik....

Obama's IRS scandal got you down?

Still cringe at the thought of "G-Dubya" and the GOP?

Don't worry. As usual, Brad Pitt can solve all your troubles.

(Formal Disclosure: I have a serious man-crush on Brad Pitt.)

Man-crushes aside, Brad Pitt has purposely enlisted his unique charisma and humanistic pathos to a few roles that reach for "bigger than him" topics.

Epic fails:
Seven Years in Tibet (Buddhism, Tibet, Western vs. Eastern Philosophies)
The Devil's Own (Some crap about the IRA)
(The guy cannot hold down an accent to save his life...)

Mind-blowing Successes:
Se7en (Nature of Good and Evil)
Fight Club (Social Malaise, Conformity, the Nature of Mental Illness)
Babel (Universality of the Human Experience)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Cost of Fame & Fortune)
The Tree of Life (Um, Life, and yes, dinosaurs...)

Killing Them Softly falls squarely into the latter category.

Killing Them Softly was directed by Andrew Dominik.

Mr. Dominik is a dude from New Zealand and directed Brad Pitt in one of my all-time favorite movies, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Some of the big questions raised in "Jesse James" were: What is the cost of fame and fortune? How strong are the bonds of family? Why are God's gifts so generous to one and not another?

Jesse James is one of those movies that keeps getting better every time I watch it.

(Essentially, for me, that is the ultimate test for art. Does it get better with time?)

In Jesse James, the characters are not always just the characters. They are representative symbols as well. Additionally, the scenery is not always just the scenery, but masterful cinematic strokes transforming the internal into the external.

Dominik and Pitt (along with captivating portrayals by Casey Affleck and Sam Rockwell) give you levels to work on. It is pure brilliant, nerdy, psychological fun...

So, when I heard that Dominik and Pitt were teaming up again for Killing Them Softly, I expected more of the same.

I was not disappointed.

Where Jesse James was a beautiful throwback to the Western genre, Dominik takes an alarmingly modern--almost post-apocolyptic--take on the pulp-crime-thriller genre.

The film starts out like an alien transmission tuning in to Earth. You follow a shadowy figure out of a godforsaken tunnel into a mess of a world. Trash floods the streets as political ads and "calls for change" are heard and seen in the background.

Dominik takes no time letting you know that this film takes place at the cusp of "the great recession."

My words will pay no justice to the visuals presented. You just need to see the movie, alright!?

Just be warned, if you thought Dominik and Pitt were gonna use their influence to make a film about America's response to "the great recession" as "Obama-ganda," you're dead wrong.

Pitt's character, Jackie Cogan sums it up best:

"I'm living in America and in America, you're on your own. America's not a country. It's just a business. Now fuckin' pay me."

Time Traveling to the 80's? This just happened!

Recent events in my life have made me terribly nostalgic for my youth. It's stupid and pointless, but I really wanted a dose of my childhood in the 80's.

I've read enough Wikipedia to understand the irony of people "looking back on the good ol' days" when we know that the world has always been a hot mess. Ever since I could understand the nightly news, there was a bunch of crap happening to the environment, the economy, and crap in Libya and Iran. I get it.

But recently, I've just sort of longed for my childhood days. They were consumed with cartoons and sugary cereals. I rode my bike for miles and miles across dirt paths. I had mounds and mounds of action figures and thoroughly lost myself in their battles.

Springtime sorta pushed me over the edge. I don't know if it was the dry, sweet aroma of the russian olive tree blossoms, but the longing grew rather strong.

So, as I was driving up a canyon pass, I evaluated my recent new music purchases:

1. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
2. Jim James
3. Eels
4. The Strokes.

Albums 1-3 are good. None of them are great.

Album # 4 by The Strokes is neither good nor great. It's an 80's Comedown Machine.

Every freaking song on this album has a flavor. Music critics will dismiss it as 80's New Wave Redux.

Those critics are not time travelers and have not discovered just what in the hell The Strokes have accomplished.

I have no evidence to support it, but I'm pretty sure this album was recorded inside a Zot, mixed with a Slurpee, in the summer of 1986.

How do I know this? Because I recorded this album inside a Zot mixed with a Slurpee.

In a few years, I will have come across a method of time travel. (I don't know how or why, cuz it hasn't happened yet, duh.)

I will have determined that to help myself get through rough patches, I will most assuredly turn to music in some form or fashion. I will tell myself:

"Ben, you must go to the 80's, plant a sonic treat for yourself to enjoy--on accident--when you're bummed out in the future!"

Then I will respond to myself: "Okay, but, why does it have to be on accident? Like, if I want a sonic treat, I think I'd want it deliberately, right?"

Then I will tell myself: "You don't understand this yet, but deliberate efforts to improve your funks never really last very long. You'll want something that sticks. Trust me."

Then I will respond to myself: "I guess I trust you. That would be weird if I didn't right?"

Then I will tell myself: "This is already weird. Just go to bed."

After this future conversation with myself, I will have used the time-traveling method to go back to the 80's. I will have found the sunny cement wall nearby the local 7-11 where I grew up. I will have waited for 8-year old Ben to purchase a pack of Zots and a strawberry Slurpee from change he scrounged out of the couch.

I will have recorded 8-year old Ben's somato-sensory experience the moment he mixed the exploding Zot candy with his strawberry Slurpee.

I will have calibrated the time traveling method to slow down time so as to allow me to learn to play and record music that sounds an awful like The Strokes in that very moment.

Then I will have kept the recording in my time machine and dropped it off at Julian Casablancas house in 2012.

Pretty amazing, right? You don't believe me?

How do you explain this:

In 2001, The Strokes released "Is this it?" to worldwide critical acclaim.
In 2003, The Strokes released "Room on Fire" to somewhat less worldwide critical acclaim.
In 2006, The Strokes released "First Impressions of Earth" to just a little bit less worldwide critical acclaim than "Room on Fire."
In 2011, The Strokes released "Angles" to considerably less worldwide critical acclaim and were considered by many to be "on the brink" of both creative and critical relevance.
In 2013, The Strokes released "Comedown Machine." This album received modest reviews as a "Strokesian 80's New Wave Redux."

You mean to tell me that a band on the decline is NOT gonna use the material I recorded in 1986 next to a 7-11 while an 8-year old boy mixed a Zot with a strawberry Slurpee? I don't think so.

Exhibit A: the soundtrack of me riding my bike through endless suburbia chewing on some Hubba-bubba?





Exhibit B: The soundtrack of my encounter with rival neighborhood bike riders bragging about guns, and the coolest cars on the planet? I mean, "What kind of asshole drives a Lotus?"





Exhibit C: The soundtrack of my first crush?






Time travel just happened, man!

(And even if it didn't, it worked. These songs have a distinct texture of a talented rock band honoring the sounds of the past by building them up, breaking them down, and making them their own. This process is not unlike entering adulthood/middle age. Thank you, Time-traveling Ben. Thank you, Strokes. Thank you, Zots & Slurpee.)

The Benny Awards 2013!

Celebrating music through the BENNY Awards for more than 33 years, The Ben Recording Academy continues its rich legacy and ongoing growth as the premier outlet for honoring achievements in the recording arts and supporting the music community by blogging about stuff. 

The BENNYs are the only non-peer-presented award to honor artistic achievement, ballstastic proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position. 

As we move ahead in an ever-changing music environment (e.g., liquid music ear drops), The Ben Recording Academy looks forward to the new opportunities of a growing organization. Over the last decade particularly, The Academy has expanded its goals from the important work of recognizing the best in music through the BENNY Awards to establishing itself as the preeminent balls-out-rock advocacy and outreach organization in the country. 

The Academy's mission statement is simple, but represents the heart and soul of the organization's efforts: to positively impact the lives of musicians that I think are cool. The Academy can be proud of its accomplishments on behalf of its constituency(you). Through the efforts of the volunteer leadership and the capable professional staff (my iPod, iTunes, and Amazon mp3s), the music community (country western music is basically ignored cuz its lame), music lovers and inheritors of America's great cultural legacy are reaping the benefit (damn straight).

The recording industry's most prestigious award, the BENNY, is presented annually by The Ben Recording Academy. A BENNY is awarded by The Ben Recording Academy's voting membership to honor excellence in the recording arts and sciences and balls. It is truly a non-peer honor, awarded by and to artists and dudes for artistic or ballstastic achievement, not sales or chart positions. 

Fields & Categories (2012 Calendar Year):

Steady Rockers with Clever Curveballs

1. Song

2. Album

And the BENNY goes to....

1. Dr. Dog--That Old Black Hole

2. Diamond Rugs--Diamond Rugs

Makes You Cry Man Tears of Sensitivity

1. Song

2. Album

And the BENNY goes to...

1. Perfume Genius--Hood

2. The Avett Brothers-The Once and Future Carpenter

Face-Melting-Mind-Blow

1. Song

2. Album

And the BENNY goes to...

1. Jack White--Love is Blindness (U2 Cover)

2. Jack White--Blunderbuss

Heartbreakers

1. Song

2. Album

And the BENNY goes to...

1. Islands--This is Not a Song

2. Islands--A Sleep & A Forgetting (Released on Valentine's Day 2012)

BEST ARTISTS FOR THE PAST 5 YEARS:

Arcade Fire

The Black Keys

Dr. Dog

Islands

Jack White (and His Related Endeavors--Minus his Collaboration with Insane Clowne Posse)

My Morning Jacket

Wilco

Congratulations to all the BENNY winners! Feel free to come over to my house for some spaghetti!

25 Years Later, My Infatuation Endures...

25 years later, my infatuation for R.E.M.’s album, “Document,” endures.

Just gotta start with the songs, man!

11. “Finest Worksong.” I was in 3^rd grade. I had to mow our enormous back lawn. I had a Walkman. I found a cassette tape in our “junk drawer.” I plopped it in. I turned it up. This song came on. The song is firing on all cylinders. Rhythm section, guitar, vocals, horns. Damn. The line “what we want and what we need has been confused” has stuck with me since that day.

22.   “Welcome to the Occupation.” Ah, the namesake of my nerdy blog. WTF does it even mean? I’m not sure but it applies to so many things. Michael Stipe at his ambiguously clever best. Peter Buck’s jingle-jangle guitar is just a thing of beauty. “LISTEN TO ME!” 

33.   “Exhuming McCarthy.” The ends never justify the means. “Sharpening stones, walking on coals, to improve your business acumen.” (Yeah. That’s in a pop song). I wonder if Romney has heard this one?

44.  “Disturbance at the Heron House.” Alt Country. Post Punk. College Rock. Genres that had no place until these dudes.

55.   “Strange.” There’s something going on that’s not quite right. A good song for those type of moments, right?

66.   “The End of the World (And I Feel Fine).” Optimism in the face of annihilation? Clever song. I still can’t keep up with Michael Stipe, but I try.

77.  “The One I Love.” R.E.M.’s quintessential “hit” (prior to “Losing My Religion.”) I was 9 years old. I didn’t know it was a hit. I just loved to sing along. It took a while for the clever contradiction in the lyrics to make me smile: “This one goes out to the one I love/a simple prop to occupy my time. FIRE!” (Ouch).

88.   “Fireplace.” “Crazy, crazy, world. Crazy, crazy, times…”

99.   “Lightnin’ Hopkins.” Post-punk, Pre-grunge sweet spot.

110.  “King of Birds.” I absolutely LOVE the post-civil-war-hillbilly-guitar in this song. Peter Buck is so effing rad. Add Bill Berry’s army-march drums and its just a badass song.

111.   “Oddfellows Local 151.” Post punk/Pre grunge sweet spot. Again. No wonder Kurt Cobain loved these guys…

So glad I found that cassette in our junk drawer in 1987. So glad my older brother Scott left it lying around. Happy 25^th Birthday, Document!

Summer Concert Rating (For Realsies):

Labor Day has come and gone. Summer has finally fizzled out. The Fall Equinox will take place on Friday. Many Sierra Club witches will dance around a bonfire because of it! The End is nigh...

Prior to the fizzle, a few bands I really like decided to stop in the SLC. I was able to see most of them. Below is my systematic evaluation of each of my summer concert experiences. I sorta created a rubric:

Maximum points: 100

Rarely do concerts score 100 points. (I have only ever attended four "100-pointers" in my life).

The first was a Weezer concert at club DV8 in 1997. Weezer was touring for "Pinkerton" and the venue was just right. They had a perfectly underrated opening band (The Pulsars), great T-shirts, and the crowd banter was so intimate, I invited them all over to my house for spaghetti.

The second was a Radiohead concert when they came to the USANA Amphitheater in 2003. Somehow we got excellent seats right in front of the stage. Radiohead was touring for "Hail to the Thief." Stephen Malkmus opened for them and they played most of their unparalleled catalog. I don't know if you've ever had a memory in color, but I did of that night. It was purple.

The third was Dr. Dog in 2007. They played in some side-room at In the Venue and they were touring for "We All Belong." I'd never heard of them before, so it was incredibly amazing to get hooked on their catalog and live act all in one night. They played the hell out of their albums and to see them harmonize live is something special. It was intimate, and I felt like the show was just for me.

The fourth was Wilco in 2008. They came to Red Butte Gardens, they were touring for "Sky Blue Sky" and the Fleet Foxes opened. That concert christened my adult concert-going mojo into what it is today.

Anyhoo....

How to does a concert get 100-points? Here's the breakdown:

Overall Ben Points for Coolness: 20 points

I have to like the band, of course. If I like a band, chances are they're cool. (It's just the way it is, folks).

Venue: 10 points

There's nothing worst than seeing a band you love in a crappy place. By "crappy place," I mean crappy sound, awful facilities, and low-class hooligans that aren't there to enjoy the music.

Mindblowing Setlist: 15 points

Some songs are better than others. It's that simple. When a band brings the mustard to my personal favorites, there's nothing better.

Quality of Opening Band: 10 points

This is sort of a big deal. If I'm gonna go see a band I love, its like, their opening band could be my next love! I guess it's like going on a blind date orchestrated by your best buddy. The potential is crazy!

Radness of T-Shirt: 15 points

Why go to a rad concert if you can't brag about it? Why brag about it if you can't prove it? Prove it with a concert-T. It's that simple.

View of Stage: 5 points

Live music is only cool if you can see your band rocking their instruments. If you can't, just listen to a live record, right?

Tastiness of Encore: 10 points

Encores are basically a formality nowadays. However, in this formality, there's a way for the band to say, "thanks." If the encore is good and rocking, the band is giving you thanks, which is a special thing.

Quality Crowd Banter: 5 points

How do my rock gods connect to a live audience? Are they jokesters? Are they poets? Are they all business? I want to know. Crowd banter helps me answer these questions.

Buddies Present: 10 points

Was I able to enjoy the experience with friends and/or family? Did it bring me closer to folks I care about? I mean, if you're reading this, you know that's one of the reasons why I enjoy live music. The "shared" experience. The witnesses. The proof.

Alright. Here goes, (in chronological order):

The Shins:

Total Points: 83 (score adjusted since we bailed on the encore to pick up our kids.)

Overall Ben Points for Coolness: 17/20

Ever since Zach Braff (who?) crushed on Natalie Portman (wha?) in "The Garden State" (oh...), The Shins have been "cool." However, the talented Mr. Mercer has since transcended that sort of fluffy coolness with some amazing tunage spanning the last four Shins albums.

Venue: 10/10

Red Butte Gardens is my favorite, okay?

Mindblowing Setlist: 10/15

Mr. Mercer played his hits and he played ample amounts of his new stuff. I dunno, though, he didn't drop some crazy cover or provide a jaw-dropping rendition of any of his songs. He and his band played well. The setlist was good. Just not mindblowing.

Quality of Opening Band(s): 6/10

Some dudes called "Blind Pilot" and "The Head and the Heart" opened for The Shins. I thought these bands were decent (good enough for me to research them after the show, anyway). However, besides some minor hype about "The Head and the Heart," they were just that--decent opening acts.

Radness of T-shirt: 10/15

The T-Shirt was mostly rad. It was black with a cool "skull-ish" design on the front with tour dates on the back. Nothing too iconic, but I like it.

View of Stage: 5/5

We were able to sit comfortably right where we wanted. The whole band in view, close enough to see facial expressions. Very nice.

Tastiness of Encore: NA

(We had to take off to pick up our kids.)

Quality of Crowd Banter: 5/5

Mr. Mercer was pleasant and dropped some compliments to us fans. He also let us know that he used to live in Roy, Utah! (Zoinks!)

Buddies Present: 10/10

Val was there. Swallz was there. Good time.

Wilco

Total Points: 94

Overall Ben Points for Coolness: 20/20

I effing love Wilco. They're one of my favorite rock and roll bands of all time, so yeah, they're coolness points are as high as you can get.

Venue: 10/10

Red Butte Gardens is my favorite, okay?

Mindblowing Setlist: 14/15

Wilco played a killer setlist. It was all there, except...

Quality of Opening Band(s): 6/10

Blitzen Trapper opened for Wilco. Blitzen Trapper is like a poor man's Wilco. They sound all "alt-country" and stuff, but yeah, why slurp the gutter when you can go straight to the well?

Radness of T-shirt: 15/15

Black shirt, sweet art-deco-ish airplane. Wilco strongly emblazoned across the chest. Tour dates on the back. Veddy, veddy nice. 

View of Stage: 4/5

I literally wanted to perch right up to Nels Cline, have my face melted away. I was close enough to feel the heat, but yeah, no melting.

Tastiness of Encore: 10/10

Wilco double-encored! They played rarities and their secret hits! Totally gracious and raucous! 

Quality of Crowd Banter: 5/5

Tweedy is really, really good at this. He's deadpan. He's a poet. He hates the bourgeois. 

Buddies Present: 10/10

Miraculous buddy connections and intercosmic vibes!

My Morning Jacket

Total Points: 82

Overall Ben Points for Coolness: 20/20

MMJ are really cool because they are an acquired taste. I happen to believe once you've acquired the taste, they are an epically transcendent rock and roll band for the ages. 

Venue: 5/10

Pioneer Park is for hobos. Let's be honest. The sound was overly "bass-y" but these guys did manage to still rock pretty hard.

Mindblowing Setlist: 13/15

They're only getting a "13" because I guess 3 days earlier they rocked Colorado's Red Rocks pretty hard for 3 hours with rad covers and rarities. (I mean, c'mon...share the love!)

Quality of Opening Band(s): 6/10

Joshua James was a good act. I'd just prefer to hear Ryan Adams sing those songs, I guess...

Radness of T-shirt: 15/15

Dark, navy blue t-shirt with great design featuring all of the bands albums in old-timey mason jars. This might have been my most favorite t-shirt of the summer! Very cool...

View of Stage: 3/5

I was swagging it up in VIP! The view from there was just okay, but yeah, I can't complain...

Tastiness of Encore: 7/10

"Victory Dance" is a helluva way to encore! Victory Dance indeed!

Quality of Crowd Banter: 2/5

Jim James was communing with other worldly beings that night, not the crowd.

Buddies Present: 10/10

Val, dudes from high school. All good. 

Norah Jones

Total Points: 58

Overall Ben Points for Coolness: 10/20

Look. Norah Jones won me over when I saw her live. The thing is, she's not "cool" in the Ben Book of Coolness for the following reason: I worked with this dude named Cecil, and he liked her. In fact I first heard about Norah Jones from Cecil.

Cecil was a complete werido. 

This is why Norah Jones is not that cool in the Ben Book of Coolenss.

Venue: 10/10

Red Butte, baby.

Mindblowing Setlist: 10/15

I don't know her stuff all that well, but I liked it.

Quality of Opening Band(s): 4/10

I don't remember their names. That probably tells you enough...

Radness of T-shirt: NA

I just wouldn't be able to rock a Norah Jones tee, okay. 

View of Stage: 4/5

Val scored a sweet spot. I have to tell you, being that close to her and her voice was pretty amazing. I couldn't believe we share the same type of oxygen. Just crazy beautiful...

Tastiness of Encore: 8/10

Miss Jones and her crew provided a nice rendition of "Come Away With Me."

Quality of Crowd Banter: 2/5

She had weird banter. I thought she was sorta weird--but a good weird.

Buddies Present: 10/10

Valerie.

M. Ward

Total Points: 75

Overall Ben Points for Coolness: 20/20

M. Ward is "the guy behind the guy" cool. His indie-folk-rock cred is pretty damned high. He's played, produced, arranged, and face-melted with just about everybody for the past 10 years. He is a disciple of 50's, 60's pop and knows how to turn it into current sublimity. 

Venue: 5/10

Pioneer Park is for hobos.

Mindblowing Setlist: 10/15

My buddy M. Ward didn't translate "live" for me. I think it was the venue, though. I'd love to see him in some small, burned-out club some time.

Quality of Opening Band(s): 8/10

Devotchka had a lady doing trapeze stuff. That is cool. 

Radness of T-shirt: 12/15

Wonderful gray shirt, quirky design, but no tour dates.

View of Stage: 3/5

Rocked the VIP again, it was nice. But yeah, the sound and stuff was not too hot back there.

Tastiness of Encore: 7/10

I'm still gonna blame the venue on this, but I just couldn't sink my teeth into him live. He played some nice hits, but no jaw-droppers.

Quality of Crowd Banter: 2/5

Sort of vanilla. 

Buddies Present: 8/10

Val couldn't make it, but I did share the VIP with some homies.