Disqus - Latest Comments for jackfear

Re: Bookshelf: “The Mental Floss History of the World”

jackfear — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:57:00 -0000

It taught me a lot of being a professiobal, I'll tell you that - especially with regards to noting the editorial "voice" that a magazine projects, and learning to write within that voice. What made the story work, I think - what attracted me to it in the first place - was the smart-assed, can-do, anti-authoritarian spirit of the fraudsters. In that sense, it would've been easy to write it as a rollicking story of the Little Guy sticking it to The Man.

But m_f is also determinedly nonpolitical, and - especially at the time that the story ran, when tensions were particularly high about this very issue - Editorial had to tread the fine line of not appearing to take a stand in favor of widespread immigration fraud.

So yeah, there's a mandate to be snarky, but to not actually ever offend anyone. It's a very tough mission the magazine has set for itself, and a very tricky tone to pull off. To that end, the editors rewrite pretty much everything, sometimes pretty heavily. Nothing personal; it's just that they've got a voice to maintain.

You can read the piece here, if you're at all curious. To be honest with you, it passed through so many drafts that I no longer remember which bits I wrote and which were added in the various edits.

Re: Bookshelf: “The Mental Floss History of the World”

jackfear — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:05:53 -0000

I wrote a piece for mental_floss a couple of years ago, all about the Chinese Exclusion Act (one of the most nakedly racist pieces of legislation in our nation's history), the great San Francisco earthquake and fire, and the massive-scale immigration fraud that happened in their wake; I remember endless back-and-forths with my editor about the need to keep the tone light and frivolous, even while talking about injustices that would make any fair-minded man want to vomit blood.

Re: Fluxtumblr

jackfear — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 01:03:50 -0000

OMG Teh Joker is actually HP Lovecraft!

Re: Michael Crichton (1942-2008)

jackfear — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:35:36 -0000

Frankly, I don't know that it matters; all the stuff that made EATERS OF THE DEAD an interesting read was unfilmable anyway. A film can really only show *what happens,* but the whole effect of the book depends on *how* the story is told. It's very much a literary exercise.

Although I suspect Dunphy is right about the strategic murk covering stand-ins.

Re: Michael Crichton (1942-2008)

jackfear — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:16:21 -0000

Crichton was never much of a stylist, and his late-life descent into right-wing crankitude (esp. STATE OF FEAR, a book-length screed of global-warming denialism masquerading as a novel) was disappointing - but I'm still fond of EATERS OF THE DEAD, a deeply strange, mock-scholarly, sideways retelling of BEOWULF. It's a fascinating stylistic departure, an ambitious European-style metafiction, utterly unlike anything else he ever wrote.

Re: Fluxtumblr

jackfear — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 01:21:20 -0000

Wow, is it that time again already?

Re: Lost in the ’70s: The Skids, “Masquerade” | Popdose

jackfear — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:00:52 -0000

Amazing, amazing band - they put out some fantastic New Wave-style singles. "Working For The Yankee Dollar" is just as good.

Have you heard Jobson's post-Skids band, The Armoury Show? After Adamson hit with his new band, Jobson roped in John McGeoch from Magazine (later in Siouxsie and the Banshees, later still in PiL) to make a one-off record that out-bigs Big Country. Definitely a candidate for Lost In The 80s...

Re: The Friday Mixtape: 10/3/08 | Popdose

jackfear — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:39:22 -0000

That Eno/Cale disc is made of win - probably my favorite record of the last OH HOLY SHIT IT'S ALMOST TWENTY YEARS NOW

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 27 | Popdose

jackfear — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:20:17 -0000

The key to understanding the industry reaction to Dylan in the 80s is actually in his output from the late 70s - when he announced his conversion to born-again Evangelical Christianity. SLOW TRAIN COMING introduced the religious themes, and it was a damned fine record - but the follow-up SAVED was hectoring and obnoxious.

A lot of people, frankly, thought Bob had lost his mind. Many old fans of young, iconoclastic Dylan took his conversion as some kind of personal insult - and it was that feeling of betrayal, I think, that made him toxic to radio. The conversion was as effective a piece of career suicide as I've ever seen.

INFIDELS and EMPIRE BURLESQUE got some good reviews, but they were ambivalent - "a partial return to form," that kind of thing. Dylan's commercial and critical rehabilitation didn't really begin until the Traveling Wilburys record and his association with Daniel Lanois, respectively.

Re: Mix Six: “Bloody Hell” | Popdose

jackfear — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:06:22 -0000

That Cure song is not just good for listening to in an altered state - that's actually the subject matter. It's about getting smashed on a cheap Spanish red wine, sold locally under the name "Blood of Christ."

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 23 | Popdose

jackfear — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:26:39 -0000

I'm astonished that "I Still Want You" charted, but that "Don't Run Wild" - which had heavy MTV exposure, and was to my ears a much better song to boot - did not. Funny old world.

Then again, I grew up in the Boston area, so no doubt hometown pride led us all to believe that the 'Fuegos were a lot bigger than they really were.

Re: The Popdose Guide to the Pogues

jackfear — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:13:42 -0000

Isn't that a beauty? So much better than the version with Sinéad O' Connor that's on MacGowan's solo record.

Re: The Popdose Guide to the Pogues

jackfear — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:27:02 -0000

I don't know why, to be honest. Maybe it's out of deference to MacGowan, maybe out of deference to Strummer's estate or his memory; for all his rock 'n' roll bluster, Joe was a pretty humble guy when it comes down to it.

For that matter, it might be that the Strummer period represents about six months out of a 25-year history. It was a brilliant fluke, but a fluke for all that.

Re: Jesus of Cool: What’s It 2U?

jackfear — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:10:39 -0000

Like you, I was alittle underwhelmed by "With or Without You." But when I first heard "Where The Streets Have No Name" on the radio - a Boston DJ with an advance copy of Joshua Tree slipped it into a regular set, unannounced, late at night - with that vaporous intro and then that spacy guitar part, I remember I turned to my then-girlfriend (now my wife, and the woman who first turned me on to U2, back in the day) and said, "Is this Pink Floyd?" And then, just before the bass came in, the guitar got scratchy-scratchy just for a second or two, and we simultaneously turned to each other and screamed "HOLY SHIT IT'S THE NEW U2!!" and we laughed and then I think I cried a little.

Re: Mix Six: “Radio Days”

jackfear — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:03:52 -0000

"a la the Beatles"? That should make me snort with derision—Yeah, you only wish, pal—but somehow it's kind of adorable; like watching a little kid trying on his father's clothes. Oh, Robbie, you scamp!

Terrific mix this week, Ted.

Re: Chartburn: 7/18/08

jackfear — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:01:11 -0000

And also Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Put 'em on the Glass."

(THINKS: If I can come up with three more, I can get a Mix Six out of this...)

Re: Chartburn: 7/18/08

jackfear — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:59:20 -0000

Matter of fact, the only song about a nudie booth ever.

With Primus's "Glass Sandwich" do I refute thee!

Re: Mix Six: “The (Last) Last Airbender”

jackfear — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:59:59 -0000

Huh. I definitely have 'em on cassette, under the "Ryko Analogue" imprint. There was a bit of a foofaraw when Ryko Analogue started up in '88 or so — up 'til that point Ryko had been a CD-only label, and Analogue's material was supposed to be exclusively vinyl-and-cassette. Not sure what the point was supposed to be, except perhaps as a loss-leader.

Re: Mix Six: “The (Last) Last Airbender”

jackfear — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:23:54 -0000

And if you've never seen the show, get a taste by checking out this trailer on YouTube.

Re: Mix Six: “The (Last) Last Airbender”

jackfear — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:54:46 -0000

Thanks, Ted. I should probably say something about the songs themselves, eh?

The ambient bits here include environmental sounds from the BBC sound effects library and One-Minute Vacation, chanting sampled from Yungchen Lhamo’s Tibet, Tibet (Real World), and a snippet of a long tamboura meditation by Thomas Ashley-Farrand.

Libana are a women’s world-music collective based in Cambridge, MA. Their presentation bears a heavy weight of second-wave feminist politics and New Age spirituality, but the music—traditional songs and chants, unearthed and newly-arranged—is direct, lively, and highly accessible.

In the 1990s, Rabbit Ears Media paired celebrity narrators with an eclectic array of composers, and turned them loose on some classic children’s books to create a series of animated videos and a public radio program. In the original Rabbit Ears Radio production, the Mark Isham music underscored a reading of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor and the Nightingale” by the actress Glenn Close.

The Lords of Percussion seem to have been a one-off group, appearing on one 1974 single. It’s obviously a product of the same cultural moment that gave us Carl Douglas, but with a tougher, funkier sound, probably due to the involvement of the late synth-pop oddball Mort Garson.

If you slept on either Eggstone or Cowboy Bebop, I feel bad for you. If you missed Hex, though, it’s hardly surprising. A turn-of-the-90s collaboration between Steve Kilbey from The Church and Game Theory’s Donnette Thayer, Hex went cassette-only, on the ill-fated Ryko Analogue label. Much of it sounds pretty dated and/or silly, but there’s some great, atmospheric dream-pop spread across their two releases.

I’m having a blast doing these mixes, by the way—it’s a great format for addressing personal and cultural moments as they go by, especially for people like me who tend to use mixtapes in lieu of keeping a diary; I hope to have the opportunity to do some more.

Re: When Good Albums Happen to Bad People: Ted Nugent, “Cat Scratch Fever”

jackfear — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:07:43 -0000

Much as I hate to defend the Nuge, he's got a point about GW Bush. While Bush is a very vocal cultural conservative, he has expanded the scope, size, and intrusiveness of the Federal government, presided over a huge increase in Federal spending and national debt, created massive unfunded mandates like No Child Left Behind, and conducted an overreaching, interventionist foreign policy.

The core tenet of the conservative movement has always been that, as Thoreau put it, "That government is best which governs least"—and whatever you think of Team Bush, it' safe to say that diminishing the influence of the Federal government is not high on their list of priorities.

Re: Mix Six: “Dog Days of Summer”

jackfear — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:42:58 -0000

A couple of notes, for those who like that sort of thing.

Not Drowning, Waving were an Australian band, active through the 80s and 90s, best noted for their album Tabaran, which basically did for the music of Papua New Guinea what Graceland did for South Africa. I first heard them on the soundtrack for Jocelyn Moorehouse’s Proof, which is probably the best movie ever made about a blind photographer. Bandleader David Bridie is now in My Friend the Chocolate Cake.

The Choir should need no introduction ‘round these parts.

New to the work of wack-a-ding-hoy English pop genius Joe Meek? Imagine a gearhead Phil Spector, only on a much lower budget, and much, much crazier.

I think I started planning a mix like this at about the same moment we seriously decided to get a dog; it would have had the Stooges on it, and Jane Siberry, and that Eggstone song, and it would have been about what you’d expect — kind of pat and obvious. But the reality of it turned out to be lot harder to write about.

Re: The Friday Mixtape: 6/27/08

jackfear — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:04:13 -0000

"Some Guys Have All The Luck" was originally performed by the R&B group The Persuaders in 1973 - the same guys that did the original "Thin Line Between Love and Hate."

Re: White Label Wednesday: Tracey Ullman, âBreakawayâ

jackfear — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:55:07 -0000

I'll admit that, yeah. Tracey's arrangement is leaner and the production crisper. Kirsty's first couple of records tend to sound overly-busy, to my ears; for my money it wasn't until Kite that everything finally came together perfectly.

Re: Listening Booth: Fleet Foxes, “Fleet Foxes”

jackfear — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:21:39 -0000

I like the reverb on the vox, myself: it makes the group sound less like a rock band with harmonies, and more like a choir with instrumentation, if you get my meaning. Rather than backgrounding the vocals, I think it tends to spotlight them—it's the sound of a small vocal ensemble in a big concert hall; the instrumentation, as good as it is, is definitely in a supporting role.

That's how it works in my ears, anyway—and if anything it reinforces those Beach Boys comparisons. I heard somewhere that the Beach Boys were one of the first groups to record in a 16-track studio—and their method was to bounce the instruments down to a single track, and use the other 15 for harmonies. A choir with instruments.

Disqus - Latest Comments for jackfear

Re: Bookshelf: “The Mental Floss History of the World”

Re: Bookshelf: “The Mental Floss History of the World”

Re: Fluxtumblr

Re: Michael Crichton (1942-2008)

Re: Michael Crichton (1942-2008)

Re: Fluxtumblr

Re: Lost in the ’70s: The Skids, “Masquerade” | Popdose

Re: The Friday Mixtape: 10/3/08 | Popdose

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 27 | Popdose

Re: Mix Six: “Bloody Hell” | Popdose

Re: Bottom Feeders: The Ass End of the ’80s, Part 23 | Popdose

Re: The Popdose Guide to the Pogues

Re: The Popdose Guide to the Pogues

Re: Jesus of Cool: What’s It 2U?

Re: Mix Six: “Radio Days”

Re: Chartburn: 7/18/08

Re: Chartburn: 7/18/08

Re: Mix Six: “The (Last) Last Airbender”

Re: Mix Six: “The (Last) Last Airbender”

Re: Mix Six: “The (Last) Last Airbender”

Re: When Good Albums Happen to Bad People: Ted Nugent, “Cat Scratch Fever”

Re: Mix Six: “Dog Days of Summer”

Re: The Friday Mixtape: 6/27/08

Re: White Label Wednesday: Tracey Ullman, âBreakawayâ

Re: Listening Booth: Fleet Foxes, “Fleet Foxes”

Re: White Label Wednesday: Tracey Ullman, âBreakawayâ