intellectual properties

an open letter to Lady Gaga

to date, i have not been a Lady Gaga fan. i mean, obviously her visual aesthetics are awesome, but i find her music unbearable. as big of a Madonna fan as i used to be, i find the modern sound of techno-pop unlistenable. i don’t like house music or trance music, and someone singing over it just makes it worse.

but it’s kind of made me a little sad that i don’t like Gaga’s sound, because i want to like the rest of her. i saw her play piano with Elton John at the 2010 Grammys and was like….she CAN play and she CAN sing….so why does her music sound so standard and pop?

Gaga visited Google last week and gave a 1-hour interview. i watched the entire Google goes Gaga video, and have some thoughts and a question for the Lady.

i was impressed by the person i saw in the interview. i would like to be friends with Gaga. obvi we have a mutual love of couture fashion and really BEING a character and costuming. her positive attitude is special and her candid demeanor was attractive. but i am still confused about what feels to me like a disconnect between the artist i see visually and the person i heard speak and the music that comes out in the end.

during the google interview they show this amazing clip of a little girl playing piano and singing Born this Way. she’s right. it’s a beautiful song. i like the messages in her music. the lyrics, albeit cheesy sometimes, are literal and honest. i like that. but again, it’s the SOUND. for example, the Scissor Sisters, who i LOVE LOVE LOVE and have tix to see in SF on 4/15, have been opening for Gaga on this tour, and i think it’s the same kind of thing – campy, cheeky, and dancey but full of message. but their sound to me is much, much more organic and soulful.

Gaga talks about how when she parties with her friends she likes to listen to AC/DC and the like, and there’s a lot of punk rock vibe happening with Gaga. so when i imagine the sound, i imagine something that sounds a lot different than other pop-techno/house-dance music on the air, either more in the direction of Scissor Sisters or in swinging the harder-edge way toward Marilyn Manson or NIN. i imagine something with a more ROCK AND ROLL edge to it. but to me, her sound doesn’t have that edge. Gaga says she co-produces every single track and spends hours and hours in the studio with the sound engineers coming up with exactly what she wants to hear, so i have to believe this is the sound Gaga wants, not something imposed on her by a label/producers because that’s what they think will sell. she says she’s a musician at heart, not a performance artist.

i was thinking about this through the whole 1-hour+ interview, and then she gets to a point where she talks about how women are underestimated and we live with low expectations. and that’s when i was really feeling this disconnect. because to me, she’s playing right into that place. perhaps that’s presumptive of me, and maybe i really just don’t get it.

so my question(s) for Lady Gaga is: do you also feel this dissonance? do you spend a lot of time listening to a lot of other techno-pop/is that the genre you really dance to? if yes, then i guess i understand and it’s just a question of taste/preference. but that’s not the sense i get, that you really connect with other music in this genre. so if not, why isn’t your sound more organic? why aren’t you more rock and roll?

songs that make me cry

in the past week i’ve heard the Neil Young song “Helpless” twice, playing in the background in random places, and although i don’t have any particular personal memory attachment to the song, it about makes me cry.

other songs with instant tear-jerk factor:

1. pictures of you – the cure

2. wish you were here – pink floyd

3. hallelujah – jeff buckley

4. bridge over troubled waters – simon & garfunkel

5. hold on – sarah mclachlan

i am getting really weepy and sentimental in my old age.

music saves

i don’t know if it was the anniversary of John Lennon’s death last week, or hearing “Watching the Wheels” off the exquisitely remastered “Double Fantasy: Stripped Down” (as they put it: they “took all the 80s out”, leaving just the vocals, piano, guitar, drums, bass on most tracks, leaving out the synths and other studio effects, and it sounds *amazing*), or what, but lately i’ve been thinking a lot about the musicians i love and their impact on the world.

so this morning i was delighted to see 2 uplifting stories in the news about musicians using their powers for good:

1. local (Corte Madera) indie band band Pomplamoose is offering their christmas album as a free mp3 download for those who donate 1 book to the Richmond book drive – Richmond school district has received 5,000 books worth $40,000 already. i think that’s pretty awesome.

2. christian rock band Jars of Clay succeeds in getting 1000 clean water wells in 1000 villages in Africa.  nice job, guys.  is 10,000 next?

QOTD: M.I.A. on Gaga

“People say we’re similar, that we both mix all these things in the pot and spit them out differently, but she spits it out exactly the same! None of her music’s reflective of how weird she wants to be or thinks she is. She models herself on Grace Jones and Madonna, but the music sounds like 20-year-old Ibiza music, you know? She’s not progressive, but she’s a good mimic.”

—M.I.A. to the NME on April 7, on Lady Gaga.

– Interview Magazine, June 2010

i’m not much into M.I.A.’s music either, but this perfectly sums up why i’m not into Gaga. her costumes? fantastic (but i’m giving a lot of credit to her costume designers there too). her music? horrible, to the point that it annoys me so much that i can’t bear the thought of listening to it just to see the performance art.

lots of other good quotes in there too, such as the opening one:

“I find the new Justin Bieber video more violent and more of an assault to my eyes and senses than what I’ve made.”

—M.I.A. to NME.com on May 12, responding to the furor over the video for her new song “Born Free,” which was yanked from YouTube.

thoughts from last night’s concert

[the first opening band] is like Neil Young, as played by Ben Affleck. they are so *sincere*, and if there is even a hint of irony it is unintended. that could be a compliment.

2 girls in the bathroom with total 80s Flashdance getups on said (very loudly) they didn’t like Ezra Furman’s voice. “the music is OK but his voice is not very good. i just don’t like the way he sings”. they probably would have said the same thing about Bob Dylan in 1963.

Delta Spirit was just a bit too….plaid for me. we left before it was over.

tonight’s musical menu = delicious

tonight’s musical menu:

• appetizers: ill gates + sh1pwr3k @ Equity happy hour in SF (5:30-9:00)
  
• main course: ezra furman & the harpoons @ the Independent, SF (opening for Delta Spirit, whom i have never seen or heard)

amazingly hand-crafted electronica elaborately woven with organic sounds driven by undertows of dance-able bassbeats followed by live poetic raw guitar+vocals music that will make you dance, laugh and maybe cry? honestly, using only current music being made in my circles of friends, i couldn’t have scheduled a better music menu for myself if i tried.

unrelated but musical note:

• i learned this morning that Metallica’s “Unforgiven” = length of my commute to work if i drive the car.  i bought this song as a cassette single when it came out, and listened to it hundreds of times.  remember cassette singles? 1990-1991 was a really weird year for me for reasons i won’t go into here, so it makes sense that i *totally connected* to such a lame song. oh, metallica.  so much cheese for such a hard rock band.

• the fact that i just tagged this post “ezra furman” + “metallica” + “ill gates” + “sh1pwr3k” speaks volumes about my current and life-long musical tastes.

(concert resume has been updated)

(concert resume: n. A complete and comprehensive list of concerts that one has attended. Often casual conversation between fellow concert goers.)

tiny posts that somehow evolved into live-blogging american idol

• there are certain songs that when i hear them on the radio, in my head it gets replaced with the high school marching band/jazz band version (i was in band from grade 6-12, was 1st clarinet and played sax also).  i am not enjoying the HS jazz band version of China Grove in my head right now.

• i still listen to “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley all the time.  that song makes me so happy.

• last night i resuffered the dream that i wasn’t passing calculus again (IRL i got an A), and this time (the nth time) i noted that the lack of achievement in that respect directly correlated to lack of hooking up with the boy i had a crush on, who is also usually in the dream.

• when we were in europe, there was, in Prague, a clash with some local street vendors over a purchase. someone made a deal they shouldn’t have, and then they tried to force jay into paying more for it afterward.  i got very nervous and freaked out and sort of ran away, especially when more appeared out of the shadows and we were obviously outnumbered. i slipped into another shop and then down the street while J&J worked it out.  i was randomly thinking about this last night and in retrospect, i should have probably stood with them, as most men will not do anything to a woman, and the situation probably wouldn’t have escalated and then dragged out the way it did. especially not on a crowded tourist street. if i would have been the one to forcefully say “WE ARE LEAVING RIGHT NOW”, what would they have done? or maybe that’s a stupid idea.  more to the point is the fact that i run away when scared.

• we are going to see Ezra Furman and the Harpoons again soon.  I can’t recommend this band enough. i am way more into Ezra than Lady Gaga (even though this little piece of Gaga reporting is awesome).

• WARNING: i am currently typing this while watching the American Idol finale, so there are going to be tweet-like comments interjected into this otherwise totally cohesive blog post.

• last night i watched the Biggest Loser finale.  i have watched the whole season.  i enjoy this show.  it teaches people things that are hard to learn.  losing weight is hard.  nutrition is not complicated, but it isn’t necessarily intuitive either. i was really rooting for Cheri to win. oh well. footnote: i think Australia’s Biggest Loser is better (which you can, um, find somewhere on the internet), particularly because of the mini-nutrition seminars . and motivating yourself to exercise?  that’s a whole other animal.  i like BHJ’s approach.

• i also watched the last 1/4 of the Dancing with the Stars finale.  i’ve only seen about 1/20th of this season. it’s not that i’m not impressed;  it’s just superfluous.  as is this American Idol thing.

• this AT&T ad with the orange silky looking things is very rip-off of Christo.  oh, wait!  there at the end of the ad there is some fine print that says Christo had nothing to do with it.  interesting.

• who sold David Bowie’s music to Lincoln commercials?  fuck.

• this ad where the girl eats KFC on the bus to help her ignore the loud talking cellphone guy?  i’d be just as annoyed if someone sat next to me eating a bucket of KFC.

• oh, Xtina! hot.
• oh, wait. this is boring.
• where was i?

• ok, so on April 30 i went to the ER with neck/shoulder pain and then on May 4 jay crashed really hard on his mountain bike. we are both currently recovering and doing mostly well, although we do both complain like a couple of senior citizens about aches and pains. i am repeating this as a way to explain all of the television watching referred to above. there’s not a lot to do when you’re on painkillers.

• i really don’t care that Simon Cowell is leaving American Idol.  i’d rather see Billy Idol in his seat anyway.

• tonight we went for momos at the Cafe Tibet on University in Berkeley. and then i had an incredible eggplant dish, although next time i’d rather have the wild rice than that weird cinnabon-textured bread ball thing. never had a momo?  they’re little steamed tibetan dumplings filled with all kinds of delicious things. you’re missing out.

• fruit, vegetables, yogurt, eggs, cheese, beans, lentils, rice, nuts, coffee, wine.  all as organic as possible. moderate: soy/tofu/fake meats, popcorn, tater tots. avoid: bread, pasta, sweets. never: meat or fish. that is basically my diet.

• what is this, YACHT ROCK IDOL??
• this should stop…..

• this dreadlocked Idol finalist reminds me: not long after we first moved to California, i went out in L.A. wearing baby blue corduroys and phish t-shirt in matching baby blue. we got made fun of by some LA bimbo at the door of a club. i was indignant.  do you ever look back at photos or remember versions of yourself and wonder who that person was?

• this Idol finale is watching people sell out in real time.  it’s terribly sad.

• ok i will admit i still have a soft spot for bret michaels.  esp after Apprentice.

• despite being laid up for a couple of weeks, both jay and i have been trying to get back in shape. that’s a weird term, “in shape”, but you know what i mean.  to feel better. to live longer. to look hotter. me, since December, him, the past several months (i don’t know exactly). i haven’t lost much weight (i don’t think i had much to lose, but let’s not discuss that here, ok?) but jay has.  my boyfriend looks hot.  the larger point is that when you start really paying attention to your body it’s fascinating, all the fluctuations in energy,hunger, weight, satiation.  it’s easy to get obsessed.  the funny thing is it’s also easy to fall off the wagon.

• 2 dudes from Foreigner were on a local program last night singing “Feels Like the First Time” acoustic.  i was pretty impressed, actually . it was way better than this Chicago number on Idol.

• oh! yes, jeez i knew i was forgetting something.  saturday night i went on a bus party for a friend’s birthday.  the rest of that story is fairly unpublishable. except at the end we all sang “Don’t Stop Believing” really loud from the shores of Treasure Island while some people did gymnastics in their underwear on a wet lawn. i am not making that up.

• sunday was the 4th annual False Profit “Spring Training” outdoor party-picnic in the oakland hills.  i was there for 9 hours. it was super fun.  neva and i had a great time. aforementioned hot boyfriend also played a killer set.  lucky girl.

• in wanderlust news, i have the following in mind between now and mid-September: Utah, Chicago, Chile, Peru, Burning Man, Bali. we shall see how many come to pass.

• i guess i can just come totally clean now and admit i’ve also been watching the 2010 Giro d’Italia.  i feel like there’s nothing lazier than laying in bed watching other people do sports.  the bike races intrigue me though, and there aren’t tons of really annoying commentators or guys with light pens or beer commercials.  it’s very simple: ride bike fastest.  through incredible scenery. i like that.

• dude, Paula Abdul is totally wasted. i also can’t believe what she is wearing.  who made that atrocity? and it’s like NEON fuschia too.  file under: “i was high when i got dressed”.

• i heard a punk rock version of Billy Joel’s “my life” on KALX yesterday, and it was great. i wish i had looked to see who it was, actually. on the contrary, these group sing-a-longs in Idol make me want to hurl. i can’t believe this isn’t over yet.

• Janet’s surrogate is looking good. except it sounds a lot more like Michael than Janet.

• Obama was here in SF yesterday, and even here in the “bluest city in the nation” there was a whole crowd of protesters, everyone from central valley tea partiers screaming (with good cause) about the state budget debacle to environmentalists wanting to know what Obama was doing fundraising when the entire Gulf Coast is in a state of emergency. retort: you need Dems in office to deal with oil reform. i have no idea who you need in office to fix California.

• some days i feel highly dysfunctional on a lot of levels.  today was one of those days.  this blog post is making me feel better.

• i have no investment into which one of these humans win idol.  oh, wait….well now that it’s announced i guess i was sort of rooting for the girl.

• and that is probably the most i will blog in a while.

the end.

god never speaks in his own voice

- Ezra Furman & the Harpoons , “I dreamed of Moses”
http://www.last.fm/music/Ezra%2BFurman%2B%2526%2BThe%2BHarpoons/Banging+Down+The+Doors

I dreamed of Moses
He wanted to put my hair into cornrows
I said, I thought you were born way before
Those came into fashion

He said, Don’t be silly
Your dreams never follow the chronology of history
And the purpose of dreams is still quite a mystery
Even to me

So I pulled up a lawn chair
Took of my sword and shield and I laid ‘em right down there
He braided my hair in the shade of a bare branch
Of a beautiful sycamore tree

You people are singing to me
‘Cause God never speaks in his own voice, you see
You people are singing to me
And your song says what it says

I was born for singing
At the top of my lungs over church bells ringing
And bringing confusion to those disillusioned
By fighting against the mainstream

We were born for dying
Short time to prepare for long time in the sky and
No matter what you believe you must admit
Some things are not like they seem

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doctor, my eyes

Doctor, my eyes have seen the years
And the slow parade of fears without crying
Now I want to understand

I have done all that I could
To see the evil and the good without hiding
You must help me if you can

Doctor, my eyes
Tell me what is wrong
Was I unwise to leave them open for so long?

–jackson browne

hot dates

i have few hot dates coming up that i’m excited about:

– dinner tonight with @brittneyg. i like meeting new people from the internet. some of them have become my bestest friends.

– i am thinking of going to see The Coup – awesome conscious bay area political hiphop – tomorrow night @ the Independent. i’ve been a fan for years, but here’s the thing: their bass player was randomly shot while driving Tuesday night on I-80. no shit. fuck gangstas. instead of cancelling the show, it’s on, and i bet it’s gonna go OFF.

– i’m going to be a fashion judge at the Fashion Feud SF finale on January 26 (fb event here). i am so not qualified for this.

–Feb 1 is me&jay’s 12 YEAR anniversary.  yes. i know, right?

– i’m gonna be a fashion model at the 3rd annual LoveSick fashion show on Feb 14, with lots of my favorite designers.  it’s a pretty hot valentine’s event. (fb event here).

– Erykah Badu @ the Oakland Fox Theatre on 2/19. oooo yes. it’s been a long time i’ve been waiting to see her.

there’s a whole other lotta crap on my calendar in the next 5 weeks, but those are some of the things i’m looking forward to most.