MUSIC! 'Horehound' by The Dead Weather

This is a band for Jack White to play drums. Some of it is quite good. I must say I'm sorry because there was a show last night in Linkoping of bands that were not that loud. Somehow there was a lot of Absolut being drank and I had my share of the bottle. 'Horehound' is the kind of recording to play the day after just such an evening. It plays out as an ideal cure for the hangover.

There's much to like in the old sound of this recording. Jack White sings only on some of the tracks but the woman singer is pleasant. Some of the songs have a more hip hop flavor which is interesting as there are no African American members of the group. Some of this is reminiscent of the other works of White including The Ranconteurs (which makes sense since the bass player of Dead Weather is also in that band). Some of this is to be expected as Jack White can get funky evidenced in his work with The White Stripes.

Overall as I am hungover I am not very cognitive but I will say I like this record and will probably like it more as time goes on.

MUSIC! 'Contra' by Vampire Weekend

Everyday there is something new related to blood sucking. Granted Eastern Europe may be to be blamed for this, however the obsequiousness of vampires in the last few years has caused me nausea. This band is hailing from New York City. The first listen it was amazing how loud this record is. The singer sings so quickly and seems to be talking to me but he doesn't know me at all. Odd.

Further in the disc it became apparent that these were in fact pop songwriting. Unfortunately, things changed so quickly in the arrangements that barely could I keep up! Strings, then drum machine sounds, then guitar, then drums, then a bass, and on and on. If this is a 4 piece band, they must drink an awful lot of coffee or maybe something stronger perhaps espresso or Red Bull and Vodkas that are popular in New York.

It is difficult to put into words how this recording affects me because it goes by so fast that I'm having a hard time understanding any of it. The song 'Cousins' in pretty good I suppose. A lot of it makes me think of Peter Gabriel's late 80's work, or Paul Simon's 'Graceland', both records by two of the whitest guys to ever make music playing African rhythms for a white audience. This may bode well for Vampire Weekend, as vampires are some of the palest of the species for sure.

BOOK! 'Fargo Rock City' by Chuck Klosterman

This American tale of growing up with 1980's music with hair has a level of extraordinary! More people of this age might not understand Klosterman's eyes. In it, the protagonist feels that the music of power hair has magic and is not fully greeted with integrity by the critical consumers of the time. The book has enlightening on being of an age to be satisfied with very little culture outside of 'strip malls' and the anticipation of the glam of new music recordings by the likes of Motley Crue and Cinderella.

The novel is sometimes uneven but the writer's indefatigable belief that hair music be considered seriously caries the reader through. Often Chuck discloses his love of alcoholic drink as a parallel to which band the writer is hearing. Much discussion of Guns N Roses amalgamation of punk and hair is thoughtfully presented. Overall, the author makes a significant angle for the inclusion of metal of hair for serious consideration, and since publishing much more metal has been at the forefront of media (VH1, movies called 'Rock Star' with Marky Mark), so Klosterman was ahead of the bend. Rumor is out on a movie version of the tome, though it may not be the academic sort as this book.