File: December 2008
The Burnt Bush
Fifty more days of Bush — exhale. The world has expressed its relief that one of the most tumultuous American administrations punches out in January. We, too, will close a door, this on the most disheartening protest-music era pop music has ever seen. Ever. Where’s our “For What It’s Worth”? Our “Ohio”? Has Neil Young been picking his nose for the last eight years?
Hopefully scholars will piece together reasons for the void. Recording is easier than ever; the Internet provides instant distribution. Yet, aside from a provocative nugget like Steve Earle’s “John Walker’s Blues,” we’ve heard zero timely Alberto Gonzales allegories and met few Sam Stones. Anyone seen a recession around here? Snarky, “Bush sucks” dead-horsing (see Ministry) was passé by ’04, and no one stepped up to swift-boat it. Ashamed George Bush is from Texas, Natalie Maines? Way to work the ol’ noodle and contribute to the debate, you pandering fop. People get upset when musicians talk politics, and this millennium’s tepid sloganeering will provide that argument with solid evidence for years to come.
New Year’s Resolutions
So let’s give it to the new guy, shall we? With a sympathetic Congress and robust electoral-college tally, Barack Obama has a pretty broad mandate and few excuses for failure, right? Rhymefest could compare the black-SUV caravan making the president-elect feel safe to the ones that riddle Englewood and Austin with bullets. Maybe we can pay Zack de la Rocha a retainer to blast the White House each time it appeases the Neocons or Joe Lieberman. Let’s have Lucinda Williams base an album on Hillary Clinton, beginning with her walk-of-shame out the convention hall (Ludacris could drop a cameo verse). Nuge! Make sure he doesn’t take your crossbows! Earle! Campaign for capital-punishment abolitionists on the benches! Let’s have an era of musical activism, not reactionism. Talk about a change . . .
The Day The Drum Sound Died
The energy he used to rap at his kit in the ’60s, it would’ve been fair to assume Mitch Mitchell would have been the first of the Jimi Hendrix Experience to expire, though from pure exhaustion. A quick glance at his age, 62, should have meant he was the first of them to go, but, alas, Mitchell ended up being the old man. November 12th, five-and-a-half years after Noel Redding and 38 post Hendrix, Mitchell was found dead in a Portland, Oregon hotel room. Dormant for a number of years, he was touring with Jonny Lang, Billy Cox, Eric Gales, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and others on the Experience Hendrix tour that hit the Chicago Theatre on October 26th. But, if anything, Mitchell should be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame by himself because of “Fire.” Clearly a monster song anyway, his fills and the way they pop in the speaker channels . . . oooooh, man, to have been there that day.
I Shall Be Released
Shopping malls start thinking Christmas in July — maybe that’s what crossed up Geffen Records and Common. Universal Mind Control has been on release schedules since midsummer, and now it calls December 9th home. As Chicagoans, we need a whole lotta White-Out for our day planners: Kanye West (from December back to November 25th), Kid Sister (debut bumped from the 25th to January 27th), Lupe Fiasco (remember his debut?), Rhymefest (spring ’08 to March ’09?), and Cool Kids (“definitely not before 2009,” according to their publicist) must get vertigo when looking at calendars, so volatile have street dates been to them. Poor Qualo are waiting three years for Universal to make a move on their debut. Speaking of Common’s release date, some major-label suits are gonna get canned once the CEOs figure out they also picked the fraction 12/9 for the new Brandy, Busta Rhymes, and Jay-Z albums. That leaves little reisistance for Kanye, Britney Spears (2nd), Fall Out Boy (16th), and Eminem (23rd) on the charts during their respective weeks.
— Steve Forstneger
