Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Giving up is unforgivable.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

One way or another, he’s a liar.

This is dead girl, live boy, a goat, two wetsuits and a dildo territory.  oh, and pink furry handcuffs.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sometimes It Moves So Fast

Reader Interactions

49Comments

  3. 3.

    xenos

    Not a huge AF fan, but I do like ‘Reflektor’.

    Lorde is getting a lot of airplay on the EU pop stations. Not much else new or noteworthy this month, except maybe the new album by the Wombats. So the AF does not have to be great to be worth listening to, I suppose.

  4. 4.

    cleek

    i didn’t hate Reflektor as much as i thought i would, when they played on Colbert (since AF usually bores me to anger). and they were charming as interview subjects. i might listen to the rest… might.

  6. 6.

    Mustang Bobby

    Well, after the almost turning my 1988 Pontiac station wagon into a Pontiac Flambeaux last Sunday, I’ve just heard from the car guys at the AAMCO shop in Sebring that it will be ready on Monday.

    Despite my grizzled and cynical exterior, I’m a softie at heart and feel a tad sorry for the poor old GOP as they do their own immolation routine. Oh, wait… no I’m not! Screw them and the horse they rode in on.

  7. 7.

    Ash Can

    The original soundtrack to Black Orpheus is so outstanding I can’t imagine any other musicians even wanting to get near it. Why bother?

  9. 9.

    Paul in KY

    Saw Arcase Fire at Bonnaroo back in 2011. What a night that was, with My Morning Jacket on right before them. Beautiful nite & beautiful music.

    Arcade Fire is baaaadddaaasssssss.

  14. 14.

    shelly

    Ha-ha, is someone deliberately messing with the Wingnut mind? Yesterday there was a story that Obama was looking to make Marine hats a more unisex design. All the usual suspects, Fox, Wash. Times and Newsmax (the headline is still up there!) had hissy fits. And it turns out to be completely false.

  16. 16.

    handsmile

    Well then, how about listening to some Antonio Carlos Jobim, the composer of much of the soundtrack to Black Orpheus:

    youtube.com/watch?v=0CYpukkQo04&list=RD25oHlKjeHKIYI

    (Bossa nova is always good for what ails one)

    All the marketing research would suggest I should love Arcade Fire, but try as I might, i really find its music unappealingly coy. Their tune “Sprawl II (Mountains beyond mountains) is a particularly nasty ear-worm.

  18. 18.

    Violet

    @ruemara: Yeah, I think they just want to be angry. I don’t understand that. There’s a lot of good stuff out in the world. Why spend all your time being angry and afraid?

  19. 19.

    mai naem

    @xenos: I listened to a few of Lorde’s soings. I think shes incredibly talented,esp, for a 16 yrs old but I just think all her songs sound the same.

  25. 25.

    xenos

    @mai naem: When I heard ‘Tennis Court’ on the radio a couple months ago I thought it quite interesting and original. ‘Royals’ feels like an affected pop song with a good hook and gimmick, and is already overexposed, sadly. Good prospects, though, and a lot of talent.

  27. 27.

    nastybrutishntall

    @cleek: check out the vid, and let your worries be assuaged. Honestly, it’s the best album all year. Not all of it will be agreeable the first listen, and there is one song that I had to delete because it was just terrible, but it’s the most ambitious hour of music, and the most novel, you’ll hear this year. I’m a dance music guy, so it was kind of a surprise to me to love them so much. On Stones Throw Records, if that means anything to you (it should!).

  28. 28.

    ? Martin

    @handsmile:

    All the marketing research would suggest I should love Arcade Fire, but try as I might, i really find its music unappealingly coy.

    Yeah, whenever I discover that, my next discovery is almost inevitably that it’s a Canadian musician. Perhaps there’s a tiny something to be said about the human meat grinder which is the US music industry.

  31. 31.

    FlipYrWhig

    @handsmile:

    All the marketing research would suggest I should love Arcade Fire

    I’m the same way. I was _on_ college radio in 1990. It should summon up all my favorite stuff. But it doesn’t. I just don’t get it at all.

    Better than Radiohead, though. That’s just some ugly nonsense right there.

  33. 33.

    DFH no.6

    @handsmile: Godspeed You! Black Emperor – yes! Absolutely sublime music (if I had to pick one favorite, their music would be it). Particularly awesome playing their recordings late at night on my backyard speakers under the stars. Certain substances can and do augment, no doubt, but are not really necessary.

    Caught them live in concert twice (last time just this past September, in fact). For an atheist like myself, as close to church as possible for me anymore (in much the same way, while the music is not at all the same, as Wolves in the Throne Room live; only the one time so far for those guys, though).

    Over more than 40 years attending hundreds and hundreds of live music performances of all kinds (starting with my first symphony – Cleveland Orchestra at Severance – and first rock concert – Led Zeppelin at Cleveland’s Public Hall – both in ’69) and GYBE and Wolves rank at the top.

    But not liking the wonderful Arcade Fire? Yeah, de gustibus and YMMV and all that, sure, but still. Good to great on much of their recorded stuff (including Reflektor) but just fantastic live. Sometimes catching a band live makes all the difference (it did for me with Muse, for which I am ‘meh’ on their recordings, but live they were surprisingly pretty damn good).

    Lot of really good new music out there, and Arcade Fire ranks highly in that regard, IMHO.

  35. 35.

    Mnemosyne

    I should have a special edition Halloween post for my blog this weekend about The Black Cat, a 1934 Pre-Code chilller starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. If the people who suggested it will remind me who they are, I’ll be happy to tip a hat to you.

    (I think one person was one of the Maxes, but I can’t remember which one.)

  36. 36.

    Spaghetti Lee

    I loooove AF. “Intervention” is one of the few songs that makes me tear up every time. So much passion.

  37. 37.

    Jebediah, RBG

    Not music related, but TPM says Rand Paul (R-Youfuckingkiddingme) plans to put a hold on Yellen’s nomination. They also say he wants a vote on his audit-the-Fed bill. I think he should get that vote, provided he agrees to free the ferret trapped on his head.

  40. 40.

    handsmile

    @DFH no.6:

    Thanks for such a generous reply, though I must admit to hating you just a little bit for your ability to “play…recordings late at night on my backyard speakers under the stars.” :)

    Emphatically agree with you that “Sometimes catching a band [or orchestra or jazz trio] live makes all the difference.” Living in the urban hellhole of NYC, I go out to hear live music (now mostly classical or jazz) at least once or twice each week (e.g., solo violin recital of 20th-c. music last night, Sexmob on Saturday, Bach cantatas on Sunday). One trade-off, I suppose, for no backyard or – most nights – even stars.

    Being gentlemen (I presume), we’ll agree to disagree on the merits of AF. But Wolves in the Throne Room is a band utterly unknown to me, and that is ignorance I will remedy quickly! Cheers!

  41. 41.

    Howlin Wolfe

    Tao bonita! Que lindo!
    I can’t hear the sound track. Is Arcade Fire’s music a cover of the original from the Orfeu Negro or new compositions?

  42. 42.

    TG Chicago

    @shelly: Yeah, I only learned about that one from the Newsmax headlines on this site. It’s so transparently bogus. They really think Obama is sitting around designing hats in order to make the Marines look more girly? Who would ever believe such nonsense?

  44. 44.

    rikyrah

    this were excellent segments from Rev. Al

    PoliticsNation 10/24/13

    GOP Obama disrespect gone too far?

    Rev. Sharpton is joined by Ryan Grim and Joe Madison to discuss how the disrespect for President Obama has gone so far.

    on.msnbc.com/1hf9v7a

    PoliticsNation 10/24/13

    Exposing Obama derangement

    Rev. Sharpton is joined by Karen Finney and Goldie Taylor as they discuss Sarah Palin’s latest antics and the ongoing derangement over Pres. Obama.

    on.msnbc.com/1hf9v7a

    Understanding the right wing talking points

    Jonathan Capehart and Karen Finney join Rev. Sharpton to discuss Capehart’s interview with one of President Obama’s big critics, and where some of his false talking points come from.

    on.msnbc.com/1hf9v7a
    Right wing unfiltered, part 2

    In part two of his interview with Jonathan Capehart, North Carolina resident David Jackson explains why he hates the Affordable Care Act, and doesn’t believe the president loves America.

    on.msnbc.com/1hf9v7a

  45. 45.

    BobS

    @DFH no.6: This exactly- I won’t listen to anyone tell me they don’t like Arcade Fire unless they’ve seen them live. Since 1968 I’ve been to hundreds of concerts in just about every genre of music- by the way, I’m going to see Brian Wilson & Jeff Beck tonight- and Arcade Fire is one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.

  47. 47.

    DFH no.6

    @cleek:Quite a few good to great Canadian bands these days.

    I like Broken Social Scene and the New Pornographers, too, and have caught several live performances of each (including BSS right after they replaced Feist with someone not nearly as good a singer).

    Arcade Fire blows both of them away, live (I also prefer AF’s recorded stuff, but live they are way more fun than the other two).

    On the topic (contemporary Canadian bands): Purity Ring – on the strength of just one album from 2012, but also very trippy and entrancing live performances – is really good stuff, and Austra (somewhat similar style) even more so. Austra’s of the best new bands out there, I think. Lead singer Katie Stelmanis has an absolutely beautiful voice.

  48. 48.

    DFH no.6

    @handsmile:Hey, I’d trade my north Snobsdale, AZ digs (clear dark skies and outdoor speakers by the pool and all) for your NYC urban hellhole if I could. Culture and all that, very much including all the live music available to you. Much more limited in that here in Joe Arpaio County.

    Wolves in the Throne Room are not very many people’s cup of tea, I’m afraid. “Black metal” is their genre (though I find them far better than any other band I’ve ever heard of that ilk). Primarily two brothers who live on a farm in the woods in western Washington who are also into “deep ecology” (fairly extreme environmental philosophy).

    Most of their songs run well over 10 minutes. With appropriate titles like “Vastness and Sorrow” and “I Will Lay My Bones Among the Rocks and Stones”. I’d suggest testing them out with the relatively short “Dia Artio” from my favorite album of theirs, “Two Hunters”.

    Caught them live only once, way in the woods in Vermont, fall of ’11, with a few hundred others (from what I could tell – it was damn dark, and not easy to find). They played last, around midnight, under candlelight and a nearby bonfire. Pretty much just what you’d think from that description. Physically uncomfortable, but their music (not so much the opening bands) was transcendent.

    But not for most people, no way (and not because I have superior hipster taste in music or something, but because I recognize their stuff is really out there with minimal appeal, like, I don’t know, gamelan or Tuvan throat singing or something).

    Let me know what you think of them someday on one of these BJ open threads.

  49. 49.

    Ked

    I don’t have a lot of tolerance for pure “black” metal, but Wolves is a hell of a great head trip and I so want “Lay Down My Bones” played, at proper volume, at my funeral.

    …and I love Arcade Fire. Their last album took about five listens before I really dug it, but I like that sort of art-rocky challenge as long as the musicianship is worthy. In my top five albums of the current decade. I’ll check out this teaser link later tonight.

    I’ve seen Godspeed… in my amazon recommendations. Maybe I’ll have to get a couple.

    Someone mentioned New Pornographers – their last album was transcendent but I haven’t seen a live performance from them which I’ve enjoyed. Musicianship DOES matter and they just don’t seem in tune on stage. And what the hell happened in that last Neko Case album?

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