Friday, September 26, 2008

The Problem With Obama



Interesting take on the Obama campaign by Matt Taibbi:


"What's confusing about Obama is that he's so successful at projecting an air of genuineness and honesty, even as he navigates the veritable Mount Everest of fakery and onerous bullshit that is our modern electoral system. And the reason it's confusing is that we've grown so used to presidential candidates who fall short of the images they present in public, we don't even know anymore what a man worth the office would look like. Is this him? Or is this just a guy with a gift for concealing the ugliness of the system he represents?"


In part, it seems like what America has at stake in this election is more than just the issues, which are dire enough to make the decision about the incoming commander-in-chief absolutely vital. The promise of Barack Obama (who i obviously, though sometimes reluctantly, support) is as much about a contract with reality as it is about any evaluative criteria for a governing body. The people's hope in his candidacy correlates to that old religious stalemate; faith. But rather than a superstitious kind of faith (though perhaps some could justifiably dismiss it as such), Obama's supporters' faith is a belief in the power of iconoclasty to come alive, and simultaneously self-destruct. The hope is that Obama, by gaining the most title of perhaps the most artifice, will become a symbol of the death of artifice.

Obaama's campaign may use "Hope" as a kind of PR shorthand to huddle the masses behind him, but the emotions behind it, even if exploited for political gain, are real. In the broadness of the theme, Obama and his campaign have allowed for a multiplicity of meanings, all of which can be genuine and empowering. You almost get the sense that Obama's kind of adept at the game. As an insider, he knows he can never overthrow the machinery. But since only insiders can get elected, he can still empower the populace to become the changes they want to see in the world and swing politics out of their current, and perhaps perpetual, corrosiveness.


"The challenges we face will not be solved with one meeting in one night... change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. WE are the change that we seek."

What is perhaps most remarkable about this election is the hubris with which Obama (or candidate Obama, the hope simulacrum- take your pick) acknowledges his inconsequentiality. What he represents is far more important than what he is. In an age where cynicism is not so much a choice as a prerequisite, Obama's campaign represents a desire to one day become a civilization that actually is who it says it is.



Of course, the saccharine music in the above video betrays the politicking involved in this election, the ways in which it is working within the superstructure of a hyperreal culture. However, the very message of the video is about transcending the noise of the political climate and becoming something more than just perception. It's ten shades or irony, of course, but that doesn't mean that it's not working.

Martin Luther King Jr's call to "keep hope alive" swept through the 1960s like a mad rush, exploding throughout the civil rights, antiwar, and free speech movements and beyond. It was a note struck in the midst of apocalyptically tumultuous times. Nations were collapsing, atomic war loomed large, assassination was commonplace, riots were omnipresent. It took a while, but the power structure eventually collapsed that hope. It embedded in us a notion that the system would never change, that we should always vote for the lesser of two evils, that the best we can hope for in minor incremental improves which dull and damage the momentum of hope. Obama's compromised policy initiatives don't promise a severe change from that political disconnection (though his platform's the most progressive that the democrats have run on since the 1970's), but his rhetoric is undeniably populist and people-powered. You really do get the sense that he believes America is a land for all people, where masses can rises and mold government. Whereas with most politicians, you only get the sense that democratic government for them is whatever they say it is (witness John McCain's behavior during this whole bailout fiasco).

You get a lot of senses with Barack Obama. The sheath of political ambivalence and falsehood looms so large its hard to tell what's if any public statement all could be anything but a mirage. It's perhaps the cold-hearted skeptic, the one whose consummate distrust has colonized all but a small margin of my being, that wants Obama to succeed the most. It's a suicide plea for him to at least be granted the possibility of becoming who he says he is.

Because oh sweet lord almighty, I'd love to be wrong about America. I'd love to believe that all the horrible shit we've done to ourselves and to the rest of the world stems from some deep-seeded cynicism, from a belief that the best we can do is grab at straws while the almighty oligarchical overlords decide our fates, that we're not really so cold, shallow, individualistic, materialistic, that deep down we're more than just the products we buy, the color of our skin, the presidential candidates we pick. Because if Barack Obama can really turn us into the ones we've been waiting for, maybe it is possible that he is the light that shines through. Because if not, we are truly fucked.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Spooky Mixology



My review of DJ Spooky's new audiologue of the Sub Rosa archives, released in tandem with his new book (which I haven't read yet) is up over at PopMatters.
Unbeknownst to me, the editorial board decided to turn the review into a feature under the headline "Why Does the Mix CD Still Exist?" Had I known about this, I probably would have changed the wording slightly. I think the question is misleading. It's not a matter of why the mix CD exists. I think the mix CD is a robust form, one that's deeply ingrained into DJ culture and has every right to exist. My question is what does the mix CD still have to offer in a commercial format? Pirate copy and bootleg mix tapes are abound and you're more likely to see a widespread dissemination of material on the internet both in the form of mixes and podcasts than you would with a physical CD, something that most can agree no one seems to be buying any more.

It's a question I'm not really sure I can answer, because I do think they offer something more than just the material artifice of possession and the quasi-mystical allure of intimacy associated with private ownership. But I also agree with Spooky's thesis that the Sound is unbound. It's part of culture that any of us can and should freely remix, making the latter point about possession and intimacy moot.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

RIP


Richard Wright, Pink Floyd


Norman Whitfield, song writer and producer extraordinaire.

For an incredible article of what Whitfield did with the Temptations, check out this archived one at Stylus

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Sunday, September 14, 2008

The Problem With Obama



Interesting take on the Obama campaign by Matt Taibbi:


"What's confusing about Obama is that he's so successful at projecting an air of genuineness and honesty, even as he navigates the veritable Mount Everest of fakery and onerous bullshit that is our modern electoral system. And the reason it's confusing is that we've grown so used to presidential candidates who fall short of the images they present in public, we don't even know anymore what a man worth the office would look like. Is this him? Or is this just a guy with a gift for concealing the ugliness of the system he represents?"


In part, it seems like what America has at stake in this election is more than just the issues, which are dire enough to make the decision about the incoming commander-in-chief absolutely vital. The promise of Barack Obama is as much about a contract with reality as it is about any evaluative criteria for a governing body. The people's hope in his candidacy correlates to that old religious stalemate; faith. But rather than a superstitious kind of faith (though perhaps some could justifiably dismiss it as such), theirs is a faith in the power of iconoclasty to come alive, and simultaneously self-destruct. The hope is that Obama, by gaining the most title of perhaps the most artifice, will become a symbol of the death of artifice.

"The challenges we face will not be solved with one meeting in one night... change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. WE are the change that we seek."

What is perhaps most remarkable is the hubris with which Obama (or candidate Obama, the hope simulacrum- take your pick) acknowledges his inconsequentiality. What he represents is far more important than what he is. In an age where cynicism is not so much a choice as a prerequisite, Obama's campaign represents a desire to one day become a civilization that actually is who it says it is.



Of course, the saccharine music in the above video betrays the politicking involved in this election, the ways in which it is working within the superstructure of a hyperreal culture. However, the very message of the video is about transcending the noise of the political climate and becoming something more than just perception.

Apparently....



We're living in the 1930's....

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

The State of Pluxembourg


There's a review of Solid State over at theme there PopMatters, that was written by me. Their name, which has a history that long precedes them (they used to make bubbly analogue music- the kind that got them on Suction Records' excellent Snow Robots comps), sounds a bit like a portmanteau of PLUR and Fluxus, though their music hardly sounds like what you'd expect from a name like that (come to think of it, what would a band like that sound like?).

Here's some interesting news:

As if the noise community wasn't alienating enough to the rest of the country, a new group has emerged :Noise for Obama. It's thus far a modest effort- very basic HTML, statements from members of Lightning Bolt, No Age, Deerhoof, etc. , and calls to get involved.

In a related story, No Age and Deerhoof are now considered noise music.

Seems kind of micro in scope, but wouldn't it be great if Obama made a surprise appearance at the No Fun Fest (I know that was several months ago, shhh) like his infamous Wilco appearance? "I love Macronympha..." Imagine what kind of ammunition an association with noise music would give Republicans?

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Some Things Just Can't Stay Buried



I've got a feature article over at PopMatters about the bloke pictured above. Who he is and why not knowing who he was mattered.

You can read it here: Some Things Just Can't Stay Buried



Univers Zero


I also have a review on the rerelease of the incredible French Chamber prog group Univers Zero's debut LP. It's probably not as overall solid or conceptually taught as the followup, Heresie, but this stuff sounds amazingly forward-thinking in the age of Zorn.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Just to be fair and balanced....

Let's see what Barack Obama's military escalation in Afghanistan might entail....

RIP

Democracy

The RNC continues martial law and its "preemptive riot" arrests. This time around, they've arrested an AP photographer, a NY Post Photographer, and three crew members of Democracy Now including host Amy Goodman. Luckily, their footage survived, but something tells me you won't see it on CNN.





Of course these are just tiny infractions, little pieces of the abuse that's happened so far. And this is only day two of the convention. I think the straight talk express just hit a busload of kids...