January 2013
5 posts
11 tags
My Favorite Albums of 2012 (cont.)
03.) Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
The big story for me this year was my growing interest in rap, hip hop and R&B music, a trend spotlighted here in the top three. New York rapper had a breakout year with both his own Cancer for Cure album and the El-P-produced R.A.P. Music, but I preferred Killer Mike’s southern approach over El-P’s record. The first song “Big...
8 tags
My Favorite Albums of 2012 (cont.)
09.) Swans - The Seer
Swans - The Seer
Understatement of the year: this album is heavy, man. It’s two hours of sludge metal and crackling fire and raw grandeur. The Seer will pummel you into pulp. Somedays I convince myself that I don’t even like this noise, that it’s just too much. But I keep coming back, and it grows on me more and more. It’s a commitment that repays all dividends, and...
8 tags
My Favorite Albums of 2012 (cont.)
14.) Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
These guys made an unexpected return in 2012 to remind us that yes, they can thrash and grind hard. Moments of peace and fragile beauty also flit by during these 20-minute soundtracks. I somehow missed the political context of GY!BE; during the run-up to the 2012...
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My Favorite Albums of 2012 (cont.)
19.) Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory
What do Pinkerton, In Utero, and Surfer Rosa have in common besides being some of my favorite albums of all time? Steve Albini produced all three, and this year he brought his signature sound of loud-as-hell drums and scratchy distorted guitars to upcoming act Cloud Nothings. He apparently didn’t do much else, which...
12 tags
My 25 favorite albums of 2012
After a much too long hiatus from posting here, I’m afraid Casa Cabrones has sat dormant for quite some time. Well, I’ve been working on a few projects here and there, and what better place to post them than my old stomping grounds? I want to write a lot more in 2013, and I hope to post all kinds of interesting things here at Casa Cabrones in the future. But before we step into...
October 2011
1 post
30 tags
Marines vow solidarity with Wall Street... →
The NYPD has received a massive donation from none other than the criminal oligarchs themselves, JPMorgan Chase!
We can presume it was a donation that would tighten municipal powers and further the injustice and misuse of perceived ‘power’ of the New York police force. This couldn’t have come at a better time?
March 2011
1 post
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Nuclear Energy. What We Need to Know, Now.
For the past four days I have been anxiety ridden, sleep deprived, and absolutely glued to my laptop. But that doesn’t change the fact that right now I am sitting comfortably in my warm home, with abundant food, clean water, access to electricity, and have close contact with everyone I love. There are human beings in Japan who have lost everything, including homes and loved ones, and they...
December 2010
6 posts
6 tags
(Formerly) 12 Days of Christmas: Class of 2010...
8.) Surfer Blood - Astrocoast
I loved Weezer in high school. If I went to high school now, I’d hate Weezer. Good thing Surfer Blood is here to take the reins when it comes to anthemic power-pop. Simple three chord ditties about the girl who left. I saw these guys twice in 2010, and they put on a show that is just as consistent in person as on record. With songs so fully formed, that’s all...
5 tags
(Formerly) 12 Days of Christmas: Class of 2010...
19.) Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
This album completely caught me out of the blue. I’ll be the first to admit that I steer more towards indie rock than rap and R&B. But when I started hearing good things about this record, I slapped it on my iPod shuffle and headed to Alabama. Little did I know that a classical overture would introduce such an epic record. This is not one simple...
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12 Days of Christmas: Class of 2010 Countdown!
My Favorite 25 Albums of 2010
21.) The Walkmen - Lisbon
The Walkmen reek of weariness; you can hear it in the lead singer’s voice in nearly every song. But they learn to relax at least a bit during Lisbon; what’s the difference when “today’s a day like any other,” as the lyrics attest in “Angela Surf City” before blowing up with one of their trademark furious choruses. This is a relaxing...
11 tags
12 Days of Christmas: Class of 2010 Countdown!
My Favorite 25 Albums of 2010
23.) Wavves - King of the Beach
Before the likes of Radiohead, Bob Dylan and the Pixies, I was an eighth-grader obsessed with Blink-182. If it wasn’t for the simple pop-punk of those days, I probably wouldn’t be able to play guitar. When I first heard the classics “Cool Jumper” and “So Bored” from Wavves last year, I aligned myself with the scuzzy production...
11 tags
12 Days of Christmas: Class of 2010 Countdown!
My Favorite Albums of 2010
Here we are: the 12 days of Christmas, the last days of 2010. I’ve wasted a lot of days this year, maybe even weeks. But one thing I have accomplished is a year-long feast on music. I have devoured so many albums that I had a working top ten back in February. So once again here we are, and it is time to tally up the results and to roll out my favorite albums of 2010...
12 tags
Film in 2010
This round: THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Two college students sit facing each other in a crowded bar over the guitar blasts of the White Stripes’ “Ball and Biscuit.” The boy refuses to make eye contact with the girl across from him and talks rapidly without watching his words about his date, pushing her over the edge ever so slightly. The conversation blows up and the girl dumps him and leaves....
November 2010
1 post
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Wait For It...
With Election Day rapidly approaching, conversation is buzzing about California’s Proposition 19, an effort to legalize possession and consumption of marijuana for people over the age of 21. Proponents of the measure say marijuana is no worse than alcohol and cigarettes, two harmful drugs that are legal already to adults 21 and up. Eventually every state will have to address the issue of...
October 2010
2 posts
10 tags
Would you care for a cup of tea?
The 2010 midterm elections are rapidly approaching, and Republicans are poised to recapture a majority in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. The Democratic Party has held that distinction since the 2006 midterm elections, but the recession has made a shift in power likely. However, the Tea Party movement looks to shake things up as the wildcard in this year’s elections. The...
16 tags
Class of 2010
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
In the past three years Deerhunter has released four albums, two EPs and three solo albums, two from side project Atlas Sound and one under the name Lotus Plaza. Lead singer Bradford Cox is one busy songwriter, and one might worry that quantity would triumph over quality. There is certainly no issue with their newest release, Halcyon Digest. The band has...
September 2010
3 posts
30 tags
America in Denial
Since the recent and appalling escalation in the scale of violence associated with drug-running criminal syndicates in Northern Mexico, culminating in the discovery by Mexican authorities of the bodies of 72 Central and South American migrants in a ranch house in the state of Tamaulipas last month, officials on both sides of the border have been desperate to create the illusion of effectuality in...
17 tags
Classic Albums: More Songs About Buildings and...
1978 was a wild time in music history. CBGB’s was hopping with rollicking tunes from the Ramones, Television, and Blondie. Punk rock was coming together as a cultural movement. In through this scene sauntered David Byrne and his Talking Heads, introducing dance and funk rhythms into the scratchy punk consensus.
On their 1977 debut, the Heads established themselves as a group of...
30 tags
Pakistan: World's Largest Focus Group?
Reading the press coverage of the flood in Pakistan these last few weeks, one might think our nation’s top journalists and government officials were discussing a fickle consumer demographic, rather than a country of some 170 million people facing an imminent crisis of famine and disease.
Among the most ubiquitously cited statistics, along with the fact that around 20 million people have been...
August 2010
5 posts
30 tags
Idaho National Lab: America’s Nuclear Epicenter
Last week I traveled to Idaho Falls along with PopAtomic Student Advisor Jim Bowen to tour portions of the Idaho National Lab and give a short presentation about PopAtomic Studios. I was invited by Todd Allen, Scientific Director of the Advanced Test Reactor, and he was kind enough to take us all over the campus which starts in the city and sprawls out into the desert, surrounded by monolithic...
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Art-Based Nuclear Outreach Proves Successful
We here at PopAtomic have been formulating ways to use art to effectively reach young people with critical information about nuclear energy for some time now. I am excited to report that our first major Educational Outreach effort at Chattahoochee Technical College in Atlanta confirmed our theory that art can make learning about nuclear energy a fun and empowering experience.
As a part of their...
28 tags
“Wall Street Subsidiary Open for Business!” (It’s...
Anemic growth in economic indicators has a number of savvy observers worried, most notably the Federal Reserve. The July jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics looks bad enough, but dig beneath the statistical obfuscation and our situation appears downright dire. Last month saw the loss of 131,000 jobs, and job losses in June were revised up from 125,000 to 221,000. The...
25 tags
Classic Albums: Blood on the Tracks
There are breakups, and then there are Breakups. If you’ve encountered the latter, the kind where you sit in desperate silence longing for a way out of the daily misery that stings your soul every time you think about your ex, well, then you can feel the pain in Dylan’s voice on Blood on the Tracks. I’ve had a few breakups here and there, but only one can measure up to...
23 tags
'Nothing New' Doesn't Mean What it Used to: The...
Government officials, abetted by a complicit media, have repeatedly denounced the disclosure of the “Afghan War Diary” documents, made available by the organization Wikileaks, as an irresponsible and largely irrelevant act, since excerpts first appeared in print last Sunday. I can only suspect that the assorted Secretaries and Pentagon brass who have gone on record as stating that the leaks...
July 2010
8 posts
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If you want to be a part of a meaningful...
Last week in London members of Greenpeace attempted to shut down several dozen BP stations in protest of their handling of the oil spill. Consequently, commuters couldn’t get gas and there were traffic jams and upset citizens, but I would venture to say that BP didn’t bat an eye. So, I wonder what the goal of their actions really was? If you want to send a message to a corporation, why would you...
30 tags
The Murder of Oscar Grant
(Man assembles peacefully, Oakland, Ca.)
(The Streets of Oakland deliver their own verdict, Oakland, Ca.)
(Police become involved after assembly turns to rioting, Oakland, Ca.)
(Crowds gather as assembly goes from peaceful to fiery in no time at all, Oakland, Ca. Jessica Illichmann, Photographer, http://www.mad-dame.com)
During the morning hours of New Years 2009 in a relatively vacant...
19 tags
Class of 2010
Vampire Weekend - Contra
It turns out that the image above perfectly complements the music found inside Vampire Weekend’s sophomore release, Contra. It also turns out that the same image may cost the band $2 million.
The news blew up in the past two weeks that model Ann Kirsten Kennis never gave the band permission to use her likeness....
9 tags
Class of 2010
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
I remember walking the grounds of the Andersonville Civil War prison back on a 7th grade field trip and thinking it was just a bunch of hills featuring the occasional grave or old cannon. All these years later, I’ve still managed to keep my distance with the expansive history of the Civil War. With all the...
11 tags
Exploring the Relationship between Fine Art and...
I have long wondered why traditional advertising has not been well utilized to promote nuclear energy in America. The conclusion that I have come to is that the science, history and plethora of social issues surrounding nuclear are far too complicated to be summed up in a 30 second commercial or half page ad. This has led me to wonder what can effectively give context to the intricacies and...
9 tags
Class of 2010
Spoon - Transference
For the past 10 years Spoon has consistently released an awesome album filled with lean rhythmic rock every other year or so, and a fresh decade brings the latest addition to their stellar discography. Their last release, 2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, propelled the band further along into the spotlight with appearances...
10 tags
Class of 2010
The National - High Violet
When I first saw all the good reviews spring up for The National’s newest LP, High Violet, I was pissed. I didn’t see all the commotion over a few decent songs, and I remember telling a friend that the album was a boring waste of time. Over the next couple of weeks I’d put the album on as I went to...
10 tags
Class of 2010
Class of 2010 will be a cozy little place where yours truly reviews the latest albums worth keeping around for a bit. Though the focus will be on “indie” and alternative music, other styles will be given a fair chance and I’m open to suggestions. Since I’m already half a year late, we’ll start by catching up.
Beach House -...
June 2010
6 posts
14 tags
Not Quite in Defense of Revolution
“These are the times that try men’s’ souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” -Thomas Paine As an unabashed atheist, socialist, anarchist (I really ought to qualify this, but I’ll refrain here), and generally comfortable...
10 tags
Classic Albums: Loveless
This is some mind-blowing stuff, very heavy and very potent. My Bloody Valentine’s album Loveless comes bleating out of the speakers from the moment “Only Shallow” begins, smashing the listener over the head with feedback, and never lets up. They call this genre of music “shoegaze”, because when you listen to it you often find yourself mindlessly staring...
22 tags
WatchDark Horizon: A Documentary about the Gulf Oil Disaster ( via: http://vimeo.com/greenermedia ) The time for a cleaner energy was years ago, but the present is better than a decade down the road. I don’t imagine BP and their cohorts realise the colossal and long-standing effect that will percolate into the lives of our children and maybe their own. Only now do the persons of America...
9 tags
The I.S.O. is Counterrevolutionary: A Critique of...
I recently discovered, to my own disappointment, that the International Socialist Organization maintains an officially Leninist posture. In the “Study Packet” literature, Paul D’Amato acknowledges the criticism of Lenin that exists on the Left, and then proceeds to commit the intellectual equivalent of sticking one’s fingers in one’s ears and humming ‘la la la’, a tactic long held dear by...
9 tags
Flotilla Update: U.N. Makes Stipulations for...
U.N. Special Rapporteur Philip Alston made a statement today regarding the requirements of any inquiry into the Israeli attack on a humanitarian aid flotilla that is to meet international standards. Alston said an investigation must be conducted independent of Israeli government machinations and the final report must be made fully public without official interference. Platitudes and tautology...
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Kristof’s Cynicism: Israeli Assault on...
In the aftermath of the IDF raid on a flotilla of boats carrying humanitarian aid to the beleaguered residents of Gaza , the official Israeli claims that passengers were armed and attacked soldiers has been discredited to the point of being completely laughable. According to articles by George Bisharat and Jonathan Cook appearing in CounterPunch, all vessels, carrying nationals of over a dozen...
