I guess I could've just texted this to a couple of guys, but I'm sitting here with a killer case of writer's block and trying to reverse jinx the Red Sox by sort of ignoring the first game of the ALDS, so...anyway.
Those of you who dig Drive-By Truckers undoubtedly know about their new record, American Band. NPR Music, which, if you haven't heard us say it enough, is one of the best outlets on the internet for killer music of all kinds, got the band to play the new tunes in front of a live audience. Though the P stands for public, they don't let you embed the video, which is a bit ironic. But you can find it here.
The Houston Press hails the record as not just another terrific rock album, but the culmination of the Truckers' political evolution into the progressive voice of the modern South. From the review, "And some might say that we should have seen this one coming. The Drive-By Truckers have never shied away from pissing people off or addressing the tough issues, but this album represents something much bigger than political ideology or commentary on the state of the South. With American Band, the Drive-By Truckers are ultimately redefining the Southern identity."
"What It Means", the first single from the record pulls no punches, going in straightaway on Trayvon Martin and racial inequality. Judging from social media, it pissed off a lot of Truckers fans. Which may well have been expected. But as The Houston Press concludes, "...being “Ever South” doesn’t have to mean being quite so ass-backwards."
I've been scooped! I was going to write a stupid post positing that Hood and Cooley listened to "Edutainment" and "Return of the Boom Bap" non-stop for a week, then they sat down and wrote the lyrics for "American Band." The new album doesn't rock as hard as "Dirty South" or "Brighter Than Creation's Dark," it's more thoughtful and introspective like "Decoration Day" (which in some spots actually rocks pretty hard).
ReplyDeleteThe two songs rob mentioned are the two that immediately stood out to me upon my first listen. "What It Means" addresses the Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin shootings with specificity but the song resonates strongly for the issue in general. As I commented earlier, "Ever South" is straight hiphop complete with a boom-boom-bap,bap-ba-boom-bap beat and a story of ethnic pride.
It's damn good stuff, but as KRS-ONE said of "Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop," "number three wasn't for the dance crew." This is music for headphones, not your block party.
Consecutive Fridays with American Band. Dig it.
ReplyDeleteNot to be confused with Grand Funk.
Morning all. The storm wasn't that bad (for this area) after all. The last minute shift to the east just a bit saved us as the eye stayed offshore and kept winds lower.
ReplyDeleteI'm told I still have power in my neighborhood and have minimal tree damage (trees down but not on my house).
Excellent, Mark. Dan?
ReplyDeleteJust starting to get breezy in my hood. As of now the power is on though it has gone out periodically fo short periods of time. That right shift of the cone has changed our moods considerably. Woke up at 4am thinking nuclear. Not so at moment. Looks like damage will be limited to flood but that could be significant depending on location. But don't forget we did open a retail spot smack dab in the middle of.
ReplyDelete...wait for it...jax beach. Will be here in Panama City Bch through tomorrow morning. Danimal reporting live from you know where.
Slight update: they opened up the causeways to the island so I'm home now. No damage and, according to my neighbors, we never lost power. Two huge sea grape trees badly damaged and we're lucky they fell away from the house. Two other trees (including the mango tree...noooooo) partially uprooted. Hope to save them. Time to get to work with my chainsaw.
ReplyDeleteThat is huge. How much would you have paid for that outcome 24 hours ago?
ReplyDeleteJack Urbont and Sony settled. No more JUANTFW filler.
ReplyDeletethat's excellent news, mark. glad to hear it.
ReplyDeletealso, huge multimedia news for gtb today. bigtime exposure for your boy. post to follow.
We have a tree down in front of our house that is blocking the road. Power still on.
ReplyDeleteI would've paid quite a bit of money for this result yesterday, Dan. Glad your power is still on too. Looks like the worst of it has passed you by. Hope it turns out well.
ReplyDeleteI'm sitting on my couch, watching baseball and drinking a beer. No way I would've thought that was possible at this time yesterday.
how much more deep oppo does the clinton campaign have? we're gonna get video of trump grilling and eating a baby before this is over, right? every time i think this dude can't get any more disgusting and unelectable...
ReplyDeleteWhat is deep oppo? Nice timing on that comment, btw.
ReplyDeleteoppo is political nerd speech for opposition research. meaning the clinton campaign has a lot of shit on trump that's worse than today's, theoretically.
ReplyDeleteOppo Preminger?
ReplyDeleteMichael Tribiani is in The Night Of?!
ReplyDeleteIf you like movies you should be watching Vice on Film, by the way.
ReplyDelete