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The most remarkable thing about Yo La Tengo might be the band’s sheer consistency. After 25 years and a dozen albums, they continue to crank out carefully crafted, abundantly creative tunes. Their latest album, “Popular Songs,” shows no sign that they’re slowing down.
Art Brut is one of the more divisive bands in indie rock. If you’re new to them, I can guarantee that some of you, upon hearing Eddie Argos’ tuneless talk-singing, will ask “What is this junk?” and immediately go back to Fleet Foxes or Grizzly Bear or something else with pretty vocal harmonies.
Of the brief dance-rock explosion in the first half of this decade, Franz Ferdinand’s 2004 debut was the movement’s apex.
The 2008 Lotus Festival brings the world’s music to Bloomington
The end is nigh! Robert Frost suggested the world would either end in fire or in ice, and T.S. Eliot postulated it would end not in a bang but in a whimper. They’re both wrong: It ends with a click! This week, the mad demigods of technology have unveiled an “advance” that holds the potential to destroy humankind and all we hold dear. Once activated, there will be no stopping it, no negotiating with it, merely the icy hand of death as our world is ripped apart by forces beyond our comprehension. Oh, sure, they might claim that this is all doom-mongering, that their intentions are benevolent and the experiment harmless, that everything is under control. But such arrogance shall reap naught but tragedy, and the piper will demand payment of us all!
With all the political conventions and hurricanes and introductions to oddly named vice-presidential offspring, many people seem to have overlooked the single most important news story of the entire week. In a landmark study discussed by the New York Times’ Freakonomics blog, economists Peter Leeson and Claudia Williamson showed that a significant and positive relationship exists between the places where unidentified flying objects are spotted and where America’s most mysterious cryptozoological species, bigfoots (er, bigfeet?) are observed. In particular, the researchers said, the two are both frequently reported in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, New Mexico, Washington and Wyoming.
WEEKEND investigates: With cars becoming more inconvenient to drive, could the bike take the car’s place in rock ’n’ roll?
Ahh, wasn’t that a marvelous school year? Who’d have thought that 2008-2009 would turn out to be so filled with momentous change? Would crackle with such boundless energy? Would turn out to be such a roller coaster of terrifying lows and soaring highs?
It all begins again Tuesday: classes, homework, projects, exams ... Some of you might be asking: What is there to look forward to in fall of 2008? A few campus groups tipped WEEKEND to new and unusual offerings they are planning for the upcoming semester (and, in a couple of cases, beyond).
Before going any further, I want to make one thing clear: I have nothing against bicycling. It’s good for you, it’s good for the environment, it reduces Bloomington’s perennial parking shortage, it gives the rest of us an excuse for a week’s worth of parties every April – all great things. There should be more bicyclists around here.
Local band Prizzy Prizzy Please rocks a major outdoor festival
Bon Iver brings Midwestern sensibilities to B-town Tuesday.In case you haven’t heard it already: after breaking up with both his band and his girlfriend, and recovering from a bad case of mono, Justin Vernon retreated to his father’s cabin in the Wisconsin woods for three months.
This week, The New York Times revealed that the Meredith Corporation, which owns 12 local television stations across the country, has incorporated product placement into its news programs – specifically, placing cups of McDonald’s iced coffee in front of their anchors during their morning news broadcasts. And all I can say is: It’s about time!
Throughout the summer, a wide variety of Bloomington concerts take place before the sun goes down. WEEKEND compiles 4 must-see day concerts.
Two weeks ago, British Broadcasting Corporation columnist and BBC World News America anchor Matt Frei complained about the failure of the United States to lead a global charge against the autocracies in places like Zimbabwe, Burma, the Sudan and Iran.
Henry David Thoreau once wrote “It appears to be a law that you cannot have a deep sympathy with both man and nature.” But while sitting alone all day staring at some pond might sound like fun if you’re a transcendental philosopher, what do you do if you want to be both environmentally friendly and … well, friendly?
I don’t like criticizing The Associated Press. Normally, I think the AP does a laudable job. While cable networks, for example, obsess over Hollywood starlets and minutiae from the presidential campaign, the global network of AP stringers seems to cover everything and anything – one has only to check, say, Google or Yahoo News for loads of substantive stories. All that said, this week the AP published a story that was simply stunning in its wrong-headedness – an extraordinary combination of a bizarre concept, poorly supported speculation and even disservice to the public. And while such things might have their place (say, in some of my columns), they really shouldn’t be labeled as hard news.\nThe story I’m talking about is June 22’s “Everything seemingly is spinning out of control” by Alan Fram and Eileen Putman. The article opens by asking if things are, indeed, “spinning out of control,” then proceeds to list every bit of bad news it can muster (many in the opening paragraph): floods in the Midwest; global warming; gas prices; falling home values; expensive air fare, college tuition and health care; war in Afghanistan and Iraq; the earthquake in China; the cyclone in Burma; Hurricane Katrina; rising food prices; thunderstorms causing electrical outages; drought in California; the weak U.S. dollar; the winter writer’s strike; the internet killing newspapers and video rental stores; steroids in baseball; crooked referees in basketball; and doping in bicycling. No matter that the connections between many of these things are highly tenuous at best.\nThe article then speculates about whether Americans will be able to deal with all these simply unbearable problems, and reaches the implied conclusion: no. The highlight of this section is when, after comparing current problems to past crises such as the Great Depression, the article quotes historian Allan J. Lichtman as saying “All those periods were followed by much more optimistic periods in which the American people had their confidence restored ... Of course, that doesn’t mean it will happen again.”\nOh, give me a break!\nI’m not trying to say that nothing’s wrong or to promote a sense of false optimism. There are plenty of big problems that need to be tackled. And some issues we can strive against, but will probably never solve: intolerance, violence, the dilemma between economic growth and economic equality, etc. And, sure, the present is rockier than some periods of the past. But we’re supposed to believe that the present is worse than the 1970s – home to Vietnam, Watergate, high unemployment and prices due to stagflation, and out-of-control violent crime? Or the 1940s – with millions upon millions killed in wars and genocide? Or the 1930s – with 25 percent unemployment in 1933, unchecked racism and sexism, the rise of totalitarian regimes throughout the world and, again, raging crime?\nAlright, so things aren’t at their greatest, but past generations faced far greater challenges, and they got through them. Sure, there are problems today – but to tackle them, we need the information that comes from honest reporting, not manufactured hopelessness.
How does a rock show come together? WEEKEND goes backstage to find out
Thunder, lightning, torrential rain, tornadoes, floods ... Southern Indiana’s weather has been going bonkers lately, and it looks like it’s far from ready to take a break. But while you and I have been staying indoors, sipping cocktails made from fermented beets and yelling obscenities at the neighborhood chipmunks, the politicians have been busy ignoring the facts behind this sudden, dramatic shift in the local climate. There is a clear, scientific, logical and totally rational explanation for all of this:\nThe gods are angry at Bloomington. \nNo, not “God.” Gods. As a matter of fact, that’s one of the reasons they’re mad: All those license plates with “In God We Trust” have them wondering which one you’re talking about. And they don’t care for the other license plate, either. It doesn’t even have a slogan! And as if you didn’t see enough farms outside your windows, they had to put one on the plate too.\nBut I digress. Yes, the gods are mad. But no, not any gods you’ve ever heard of – in fact, they prefer to keep low profiles. All that they care about is that you know that they speak through me and, therefore, that you give me whatever I want. Or else they’ll become very wrathful. Very wrathful, indeed!\nWhat’s that? How many gods are we talking about? Um ... 72. Yes, 72. What? Name them? I can’t name all of them. I mean, yes, there’s, um, Velouria, goddess of pixies. And Impala, goddess of economical luxury. The dread god Tarragon and Baracus, god of pitying fools. And, uh, 68 others who shall reveal themselves in time!\nBut first, these gods must be appeased! They care not who you marry, or who owns that desert-looking bit of turf stuck between Africa and Asia, or whether you covet your neighbor’s labrador. No, they care only for those things that truly affect the human spirit.\nFirst, they demand that IU set their people free by canceling exams and giving everyone “A”’s. And by doubling the wages of any graduate instructors, for the wretched of the earth are beloved in their eyes.\nNext, they say that automobiles are the work of the devil; or rather, devils. Yes, many devils. And therefore, only one who has their blessing shall be permitted to drive one (traffic and a lack of available parking being mortal sins). As one so blessed, they demand I be rewarded with a totally sweet ride, to be disclosed in a revelation as I peruse the local car dealerships.\nAnd, lastly, the gods say I must be provided an Xbox with a divine host of games, including the sacred discs of “Guitar Hero” so that I might perform Foghat’s “Slow Ride” in their honor. And no one shall be allowed to play against me until I get really, really good.\nIt is with a heavy heart that I accept these burdens, but it is only by following their commandments that the storms will cease. Unless they don’t, in which case there must be more commandments. Their ways are mysterious, after all.
This weekend's Stop I-69 Pledge Camp and Music Festival seeks to combine music with environmental activism
