2003-06 Vital Source Mag – June 2003
At Swim Two Birds
By Michael Seidel “I stare of your face and I don’t know the first word to say.” With uncertainty — that’s how At Swim Two Birds’ record Quigley’s Point starts off. And that initial utterance sets the mood for the entire record. At Swim Two Birds is Roger Quigley, the vocal half of English cult figures The Montolfier Brothers. In 1998, Quigley — letting his surname stand in place of a proper “band” name — released, via France’s Acetone label, a record of semi-muffled brilliance called 1969 Till God Knows When. After that, he fell silent, presumably to focus on writing, recording and touring with The Montgolfier Brothers. Now Quigley’s back, with a new moniker nabbed from a classic of Irish literature, picking up more or less where he left off. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that the structure and fidelity of his songs have been greatly influenced and improved by his affiliation with The Montgolfier Brothers. The songs, like TMB songs, are stark and unflinchingly honest. Instrumental parts repeat almost into hypnosis, but before they teeter over the brink, they’re lurched back into cerebral groundedness by the lyrics. Oh God, the lyrics! “All I want / all I need is the sun that warms the air I breathe / I am missing you / I’ll get over you.” Whenever anything is so simple, realistic and aching, poetry is can’t help but ooze from it. Despite all the uncertainty that continually pokes the surface of the songs, Quigley’s Point can’t help but convey a mood of optimism because, after all, if the glass is half empty, the only reasonable thing to do is fill it up again.
Jun 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
June 2003
By Jon Anne Willow Dear Readers, With summer just around the bend, the thoughts of many turn to lighter matters. It’s the thing to do, especially for a population whose warm weather days number fewer than national postal holidays. It’s the perfect time to feature one of the fastest growing and exciting sports in the world — kite-boarding. This may or may not be your first exposure, but its’ star is rising, and with good reason. I hope you enjoy the piece, and maybe even take a kiteboarding lesson yourself. I think I might. And even though our realm of concerns expand to vacation scheduling, festivals and backyard cookouts in the summer months, it’s important not to forget that the world is turning around us. We are all weary from endless news of the war, the economy and other harbingers of bad times to come (and some that have already arrived). But as citizens (used in the broadest sense of the word) of both America and the world, it’s crucial we not forget to pay attention to the signs of change around us as acutely as we note the sound of the neighbor’s lawn mower and the birds of early morning. Change is in the air. But how that change is manifested in long term ways is still up to us. Really. One more quick note:Due to the popularity of the Danceworks Kid’s Art and Essay Contest, we’re extending the deadline for entry through the first week of June. Kids from all over the city are entering, so get your submissions in soon. For details, check our website at vitalsourcemag.com, email me at editor@vitalsourcemag.com, or call our offices at 414.370.5351. Peace, Jon Anne From the Publisher:As an immigrant, I often wonder about my role as a member of the society that has accepted me as one of its own. Often, I see myself as an equal in a land that accolades itself as a melting pot embracing every possible racial and ethnic background as its own. Yet there are times that I fear when it comes to it, I will be treated differently because of my Middle Eastern background. Given the current course of events, anyone in my position most certainly feels this way. However, there is this confidence I have always put in the American people, which I have often asserted in past writings. My belief in the fact that an informed America will always side with the underdog has always and continues to form the basis of my strong admiration of this society, despite its sometimes seemingly callous disposition. There are times in the media when the portrayal of people of the Middle East fuels the fire of hatred, and it is unfortunate that there are some who buy into this misrepresentation. I know that fear is the factor that some elements utilize to stir up hatred and I know that lack of understanding leads to fear, and it is only logical to maintain misinformation to upkeep fear, […]
Jun 1st, 2003 by Jon Anne Willow
Buzzcocks
By Jeremy Saperstein Most often, career resumptions are bad. They’re vents to quicken the rise of “I can’t believe I used to like these guys” bile in the back of your throat, full of lackluster performances and tired songwriting as a bunch of can’t-grow-up dudes hit the state fair circuit in search of one more payday. Yeah, that’s usually the case, all right. But someone forgot to explain that to punk-rock legends The Buzzcocks. The only thing lacking here is the youthful bravado/ignorance present on records like Singles Going Steady (released — get ready — nigh unto three decades ago), an absence that is more than made up with increased volume, crunchier chops and smoother production. Songwriting is, as ever, split between original members Pete Shelley’s erudite wordsmithery and Steve Diggle’s anthems. Original ‘Cock Howard Devoto (most recently seen in 24 Hour Party People even assists Shelley with a song or two. It’s hopeful that most of Pearl Jam’s fan base will realize the debt they owe to the Buzzcocks when they open for Seattle’s other grunge band at Alpine Valley on June 21st, but if you don’t feel like finding out, the ‘Cocks play a free gig as headliners in Madison on the 18th, and at Chicago’s Metro on the 20th.
Jun 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Jon Anne Willow gives “A Little Respect”
It was the late 80s, when black turtlenecks and mascara for all ruled the world. On one hot dance floor, two crazy kids find love and a little respect.
Jun 1st, 2003 by Jon Anne Willow
Evan Dando
By Jeremy Saperstein Me, I always thought the idea of Evan Dando was a great one — a pretty-boy pop singer with the right influences, impeccable taste in covers and a band that friends were always telling me I should check out. I did, and aside from some truly great moments (the ramshackle video for the Lemonheads’ cover of “Mrs. Robinson” where Evan is wearing a Gram Parsons t-shirt, or the heart-rending cover of “Frank Mills”), his career left me feeling like I had feasted on a mouthful of cotton candy. Now, after a long stretch in which he seemed bent on following the same self-destructive path so many other talents — lesser and greater — had blazed before him, he releases a full-on solo album (although I had never thought of the latter-day Lemonheads releases as anything but) which shows him to be all that and a bag of chips. The solo setting seems to give Dando room to be a little laid back and rough’n’ready, lightly experimenting with alternative instrumentation & sounds throughout, most notably on the syncopated “Waking Up”. Simple pop gems abound as well: “Hard Drive” (co-written with Australian pop wunderkind Ben Lee) and “In The Grass All Wine Colored,” which sounds lyrically as if it was a first line from Walt Whitman’s Leaves Of Grass. All in all, this CD has been in my car player for most of the first nice days this summer — and it’s been a perfect soundtrack for them.
Jun 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
The Slightly Crunchy Dad
By Lucky Tomaszek My husband loves our kids, and he loves being a dad. From the moment our first child was born, he was a changed man. He is as crunchy as I am, even if he doesn’t like to admit it. The funny thing is, he doesn’t look crunchy. Allen is a former Marine who never grew his hair out when his tour was over. He’s spent almost a decade working a corporate job and he fits the fashion mold; twill pants, polo shirts and dress shoes. He drives a late model car and has learned to golf. He certainly wasn’t raised crunchy. He was a fairly typical latchkey kid with parents who worked outside the home. In honor of Father’s Day, I spent some time talking to a couple of slightly crunchy dads, getting their perspective on parenting. Sometimes it seems like dads are just along for the ride. I must say there are times when I feel like Allen is just going along with my desires to keep the peace. But the time I spent talking to him and to Matt, dad to 3 year-old Maddie and new baby Ellie, made it clear that they support what we do. What kind of dad did you think you’d be? The first thing I ask Allen is something I’ve wanted to know for a long time: What kind of dad did he think he would be before he had kids? His answer: “I didn’t really think about it. I’m a typical guy, I thought about how I was going to support the family rather than the day to day raising of the kids.” Well, that’s not quite what I was looking for, but it seems to be the norm. Many apparently don’t spend hours reading, researching and fantasizing during pregnancy like women tend to do. I asked Matt the same question. He replied, “When we were expecting Maddie, I thought we’d be typical. We’d go to the hospital and have the baby. And then we’d come home and have months of getting up several times a night to feed the baby a bottle. You have to watch them and keep them safe all the time, and I expected that. But this is a lot easier than I expected parenting to be.” Co-sleeping keeps dads close. Matt goes on to share a little of his story with me. “We had a bad birth experience in the hospital and my wife was pretty upset by it. We started sleeping with Maddie as soon as we came home from the hospital, mostly because it made breastfeeding easier. The bottles went right out the window, because breastfeeding became so important to her after the disappointment of the birth. Anyway, we’ve been doing it so long, I wouldn’t want to do it any other way now. It’s adorable to wake up next to her.” Allen agrees with Matt’s last statement about waking up next to the kids. It makes the occasional tough co-sleeping night […]
Jun 1st, 2003 by Lucky Tomaszek
Molly Johnson
By Brian Barney Those familiar with Molly Johnson’s past remember her as the founder of the art-rock band Alta Moda from the early 80’s and as the lead singer for The Infidels in the early 90’s. Following the footsteps of fate has led her to what is most likely her true calling as one of the premier jazz singers of today. Her latest release, Another Day, is a collection of sultry, smoky jazz interpretations where her Billie Holiday-meets-Janis Joplin voice shines through with a captivating style that gives fresh meaning to vocalizing. Stand out tracks "Sleep in Late" and "He’s Got My Heart" display a sweet eroticism that could serve as ambience to any occasion; while the title track picks things up with enough punch to keep things more than interesting. While the record’s flow veers between lush and layered to almost jumpy, the continuity remains true where jazz, blues and soul enjoy a happy union. Johnson’s accomplishments extend beyond the world of music — her Kubaya Foundation’s efforts have raised over one million dollars to date for the care of people living with HIV and AIDS. Her move from alternative rock to jazz has been a successful one, and this latest release is proof positive of a career that should be long and prosperous.
Jun 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Why Should I Care About Clear Channel
By Jessamyn West “Clear Channel Radio is positioned to exploit the synergies of scale in a way no other company can duplicate. We reach over 110-million listeners every week, across all 50 states and through nearly every format.”– Clear Channel Annual Report I like to listen to the radio. My old car has an old radio. It has two knobs. I frequently listen while I drive. Until right after September 11th, I had never heard of Clear Channel. As I drove from California to Milwaukee in the third week of September of 2001, Clear Channel was doing a fundraising drive for the victims of the attack. I suddenly noticed just how many stations Clear Channel owned. In state after state I would hear the exact same fund drive on many different stations, different kinds of stations, even. I thought that was pretty cool. Then came the rumors of the “banned list” of songs that Clear Channel supposedly wouldn’t let their stations play in a post-9/11 world, including works by Bob Dylan and John Lennon. Controlling the media — one Chick at a time. Though the story wasn’t true, exactly (see Further Reading links), it made me, and many people, aware of the power of large monopolistic broadcasters, specifically ones that control news media outlets. More recently, there was the Dixie Chicks fiasco, in which the band’s singer was forced to apologize for saying that she was “ashamed” that our Commander in Chief comes from Texas. While Clear Channel claimed it did not order any of its 1200+ stations to stop playing the Dixie Chicks, many Clear Channel stations still did, declaring themselves nearly simultaneously “Chicks free” coast to coast. Second place station-owner Cumulus Media — who owns “only” 262 stations — directly ordered all its country stations to stop playing the band’s songs. At the same time, Clear Channel was also (ironically) madly promoting the Dixie Chicks’ US Tour; tickets went on sale a week before the controversy broke. Why? In 2000, Clear Channel purchased SFX, the largest and most powerful concert promoter in the country at the time. After these and several other purchases, Clear Channel became “the nation’s No. 1 radio chain, billboard owner, venue operator, and concert promoter” according to Business Week. Like the President, and the Dixie Chicks, Clear Channel also comes from Texas. Their vice chairman, Tom Hicks, bought the Texas Rangers in 1998 for $250 million from a group headed by then-Governor Bush. Clear Channel’s CEO, Lowry Mays, donated over $100,000 to the Republican party. Brave New Business Plan: own the news and make it, too. Clear Channel is the major (possibly only) funder behind “Rally for America,” the group organizing many of the larger pro-war rallies, supplying money for signs, advertising the events on their stations, and then doing “news” reporting on the rallies themselves. These actions smack of creating news, not just simply reporting it. Whether you love, hate, or are indifferent to the Dixie Chicks, or even the war, the consolidation […]
Jun 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
Whirlwind Heat
By Brian Barney The first big thing to come from Jack White’s (of The White Stripes) new label is a hot little art-rock trio called Whirlwind Heat. At first glance, Do Rabbits Wonder? looks pretentious with mod Warholesque art work and songs entitled by color: "Black," "Tan," "White," etc. After a spin or two though, the infectious Devo-meets-Iggy Pop approach shows an irresistible flavor that takes raw intensity and style well into the area of accessibility. The beats have a straight-ahead, nearly house feel with vocals that, while sometimes brash and a little bit scary, are interesting and definitely in the pocket. The overall mood and motivating element, however, is David Swansons’ Moog synth. Undulating, innovative and overbearing, the highly recognizable sound of the 70s dinosaur of keyboards is brought back to life with a subtle aggression giving the disc a flowing theme from beginning to end. Although Jack White’s influence may not be that discernable musically, it is comforting to know that he seems intent on searching out talent that is truly alternative.
Jun 1st, 2003 by Vital Archives
