It was only a throwaway line in a Guardian column by former New York Times editor Howell Raines, but it was an intriguing one. "Such is the promise of [Obama's] future that a Gore-Obama dream ticket has emerged as a significant threat to [Hillary] Clinton's frontrunner status," he wrote.
"Significant" may be a stretch since, as things stand, Al Gore is not even running for president and the closest a Gore-Obama ticket gets to a presence in the real world is an unofficial website. Still, with 10 months to go before so much as a single nominating vote is cast in the US presidential election process, a little speculation can be fun.
And how tempting a prospect is Gore-Obama. It would be the perfect blend of youth and experience, Gore's gravitas compensating for Obama's meagre two years in the Senate. Meanwhile, Obama could make up for the charisma deficit that still, even after a blockbuster movie and an Oscar, bedevils Gore. Obama has also built up a serious war chest - at $25m, just behind Hillary's - and established the network of operatives and field workers on which a presidential campaign relies and which Gore, by not running, lacks entirely.
Obama's machine and wow factor, coupled with Gore's authority and policy heft, would surely leave them unbeatable. What's more, as Paul Krugman pointed out when he first floated the idea in the New York Times back in December, both men would have the moral authority of having opposed the Iraq war all the way back in September 2002. Not a boast Hillary or John Edwards can make.
But there are several buts. First, Obama has not gone to all these lengths simply to settle for the number two spot. He might accept that role once he had tried and failed to win the Democratic nomination, but there's no reason for him to surrender now. Yet if he waits till February or March 2008 to fold, it will be too late for Gore to enter the field. If Obama ends up as anybody's VP, it will most likely be Hillary's...[READ MORE]
The Sopranos: The Guts to Stay a Comedy?
[NO SPOILERS AHEAD: I haven't seen or read anything about what's going to happen in the final season, which starts on Sunday. There are spoilers about the previous seasons, though.]
The Sopranos, certainly one of the greatest series on TV ever, has always been a comedy. I don't just mean that it's so often funny. Rather, the flaws of its hero put him into incongruous positions.
And unlike a cheap sitcom — Hetero bachelor has to pretend to be gay! Loutish mother-in-law emasculates man in front of his hetero work buddies! White man tries to act black! — the incongruities make fun of our own foibles: Our reliance on babble (psycho-, business-, family-), the irrational and even silly roots of actions with big consequences, our inability to control the character of our children. With a perfect sense of timing, the show then beats us up for accepting the comedy by reminding us of the thuggishness of the protagonists. We are, like the Mafiosi cast, too easily amused...[READ MORE]
SPORTS
Since the baseball season has officially started, I figured it was about time I mentioned my Milwaukee Brewers.
This weekend was particularly exciting for me, not because of the 100% milk chocolate rabbits floating around our kitchen and stomachs, but because I went out and picked up a Milwaukee Brewers Rickie Weeks jersey. The Brewers' second baseman is only hitting .133 this season but things will pick up for him and the 2-2 Brew Crew once the cold start to the season wears off. Milwaukee stands a chance this season in the NL Central Division with the way Houston and St. Louis have gotten off to bad starts. The upstart Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates will be much improved this season, especially with how well the Reds' starting rotation has done so far (1.75 team-average ERA). Unless the Cubs put together a stellar season under Pinella, and they've got the firepower to do it, the Brewers should be right there in the hunt come playoffs time for a wild-card spot.
NL Central breakdown at SI.com.
MUSIC
Featured Album: Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Let me preface this by saying I've never been the biggest fan of Modest Mouse.
I've truly enjoyed their musical library, and I even own Moon & Antarctica, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, and now We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. And with the new album, they might make a fan of me yet.
I've been thoroughly enjoying We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, listening to the record twice on the way to bring Felicia to work today. It seems to have some that intrigues my musical tastes more than their previous work, whether it's apt comparisons Pitchfork points out to a Talking Heads type sound on "Education" and "Invisible," or the unpredictable post-rock sound of "Fly Trapped in a Jar." Whatever the special ingredient may be, it's one that I'm subscribing to whole heartedly as a music fan, and now, a Modest Mouse fan.
Snippet from the Pitchfork review:
The album that gave birth to "Float On", Good News for People Who Love Bad News, was similarly unmitigated down to its mouthful title, but indicated that Brock wasn't treading water either, tweaking his sound to incorporate a touch of programming and the Tom Waits worship of his Ugly Casanova side project. We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank continues that measured consistency, preserving the core Modest Mouse sound despite the recruitment of historic guitar figure Johnny Marr while gently nudging toward new directions.
Ironically, the most successful track on We Were Dead is the one that pushes hardest against the group's established formula: the almost gaudy single "Dashboard". With Modest Mouse's trademark itchy guitars all but drowned out by brass fanfares and slurring strings, "Dashboard" is the Vegas version of "Float On", and it works as an experiment to see just how far they can push the dissonance of Brock's multi-tracked barking against slick, commercially ambitious surroundings.
Had the rest of the record gone further down this path of orchestration indulgence, it would've been either a classic or a disaster (just ask Trail of Dead, who've spent their time since Source Tags and Codes trying and utterly failing to create a similar kind of symphonic indie hard-rock). But instead of that dice-roll, We Were Dead continues to refine Brock's aesthetic, producing another solid (if not necessarily great) record. The development is clear in the way "Parting of the Sensory" smoothly evolves from foul-mouthed acoustic lament to boxcar-hobo hoedown, or on tracks like "Fly Trapped in a Jar", which takes an abrupt left turn halfway through from a dark, bristly screamer that echoes their earlier work to a jagged but dancey post-punk groove. Those latter moments are likely where Marr's much-anticipated influence is most obvious, but even then it's subtle; rather than impossibly sounding like the Smiths all of a sudden, the band has fun pilfering the rhythmic sheets of mid-period Talking Heads on songs like "Education" or "Invisible"...[READ FULL REVIEW]
Modest Mouse - "March Into the Sea"
Modest Mouse - "Fly Trapped in a Jar"
Modest Mouse - "Florida (ft. James Mercer of The Shins)"
Purchase We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank at the Sony Music Store.
The Televangelist + The Architect Release Full Catalog of Songs for Free
Note from the band's website:In these days of ever changing forms of music distribution, we thought we'd experiment with a new approach to distributing our music. One of the easiest ways for people to hear music is to make it accessible online for free. While we'll also continue to sell our CDs and mp3s through more traditional means (if you are interested in purchasing it), We've decided to make our catalog of songs available on our website for free download in mp3 format and flac (free lossless audio codec) format. While we have no commercial motivation for making the music that we make, we admit that it would at least be nice to be able to make back the money we spent making it. So, if you enjoy our music, we gladly accept donations so that we can afford to continue to make the music we make. In an additional twist, while this might be unnecessary, we have also decided to make our production cost and earnings for each of our albums open to the public by listing it on our website, half as an appeal for support and half to demonstrate that we are not interested in making a profit. This way a person is fully informed about whether he/she would to want to chip in or just mooch. Either is cool with us.
The Televangelist + The Architect - "Nationalism"
The Televangelist + The Architect - "The Secret Life You Lead"
Download the rest of the songs and show your support here.
New MP3 From Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! - "Prefab Nation"
"Prefab Nation" feature on Spin.com.
Featured Artist: Machine Go Boom
Browsing through my inbox I discovered Machine Go Boom, an indie/pop/experimental group from Cleveland, Ohio that surprises with their incredibly eclectic sound and artfully crafted album Music for Parents...a very welcome surprise for any Saturday morning.
Press Release: Machine Go Boom creates enjoyable, eclectic, and hooky indie pop. Such a statement may hold true for a lot of bands out there at the moment, but Machine Go Boom's sound is something completely new, yet still very familiar. It's music that should have been created by now-- it feels refreshing and long overdue. Songwriter and frontman Mikey Machine has been producing his unique brand of homemade pop for quite a while, and shows his talent and genius for handcrafted tunes with pop sensibilities. Music for Parents presents a relentlessly addictive collection of brilliant and mostly upbeat tunes that are certain to become indie hits and classics. While the album's title may indicate the songs are intended for a more mature audience, these tunes are made for you kids in the indie world.
Machine Go Boom - "Build Me a Ladder"
Machine Go Boom - "All the Way to PA"
Machine Go Boom - "Captain Obvious"
Machine Go Boom - "The Kazoo Star"
Machine Go Boom - "This Song is a Secret"
Machine Go Boom at Myspace
Featured Artist: Coffinberry
Like Interpol after an espresso bong, the guitar-driven From Now on Now jangles, rattles, and rocks. Frontman-guitarist Nicholas Cross warbles and wails infectiously, just out of harmony with guitarist Tony Janicek's gentle discord. As contemporary as it sounds, the EP has a timeless quality. "Eva" is the edgy kind of post-new wave that modern-rock radio played when "modern rock" referred to artsy pop like Sonic Youth and Grant Lee Buffalo. Flat-out ecstatic, songs like album closer "Seven Months Gone By" should bring back Coffinberry's buzz louder than ever. - Cleveland Scene
Coffinberry - "Write This"
Coffinberry - "Earthworms in the Sun"
Coffinberry - "Cruise Control Psycho"
Coffinberry at Myspace
Featured Artist: The Cripple Lilies
Chad Bishop and Elizabeth Lopiccolo, the central songwriting team of The Cripple Lilies, return froma year's sabbatical from the studio with this fine offering, La Bete. Gathering momentum from the release of a live EP early in 2005, the duo began writing for this new album and rigorously thumping local venues, stirring up public attention and honing the stripped-down live sound that signaled a definite departure from their earlier projects. Along the way, they collaborated with longtime friend and co-conspirator Aaron Finley and gifted local musicians Sean Petersen and Brandon Warren. The resulting quintet was widely acclaimed locally and regionally, and after much research and forethought,they recorded in Athens, Georgia with acclaimed Indie producer David Barbe of Chase Park Transduction. These sessions from September 2006 provide the corpus of the new album...[READ MORE]
The Cripple Lilies new album "La Bete" will be released nationally May 1st, but you can stream some of their music at their website.
Last but not least...
Around the Blog Block
If none of this suits your Saturday musical tastes, delight in any of these great songs recommended by Rachel from The Underrated Blog, who put together a stellar list of MP3's for your ears. I particularly enjoyed the Peter Bjorn & John track.
Philadelphia-favorite Dr. Dog featured on Obscure Sound. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't yet.
Stop by Eric's pad and check out the Chicago bluesy shoegaze band The Goddamn Shame and Norwegian jazz-noise band Shining recently featured on Can You See the Sunset from the Southside?