Longform electronic psychedelia evocative of Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" and Brian Eno and David Byrne's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, both made years later. Hard to get a fix on Popol Vuh or Florian Fricke, the German composer behind them. Their first album, this one, is prophetic electronic music, incorporating a Moog synthesizer and world music polyrhythms. The rest of PV's albums, or the ones I've heard, anyway, are piano or guitar based. Fricke was pals with filmmaker Werner Herzog. I want to call Popol Vuh a great soundtrack band but, really, only five of the over twenty albums they've put out are identified as soundtracks. What I've heard, though, is always cinematic, unfurling bucolic ambient settings, often dark, somber, spooky, radiating an earthy beauty, religious piety, peasant fertility rites, etc.
Swellsville
How does it feel to be on your own with no direction home?
The Rich Conspiracy Against the Poor, exhibit evidence:
"SpaceX’s lawsuit could serve as a potent wrecking ball in the right’s push to weaken and perhaps demolish the administrative state – the network of federal agencies that the US Congress created to, among other things, promote workers’ safety on the job, prevent fraud in financial markets, protect workers’ right to unionize, limit environmental hazards, make sure consumer products are safe and administer social security for seniors."
Again, "administrative state" = Deep State = The only thing between us and these miserly crypto fascist corporate plutocrats running everything.
Trader Joe's, Starbucks, and Elon Musk, The Guardian
And now,
Meet the Big Donors supporting Trump, Popular Information:
And I kid you not, group profile: Slavers, rich guys who abuse women, predatory landlords, massive tax evaders, loudmouth bigots, anti-liberal libertarian cranks, and anti-tax and regulations, Techno-Optimist, Big Shot corporate monopolists.
IOW, all the best people, as we've come to expect. And another reason to root against the Cubs and Jets.
"Bohannon's Beat," Bohannon (1975)
Hamilton Bohannon was first the band leader for Motown's top touring acts in their late '60s heyday; Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, Temptations, Four Tops, etc. But when Motown moved to LA Bohannon stayed behind to become the Bo Diddley of the classic Disco Era. His thick propulsive funk a staple of the underground discos. TGIDF!
Women Can Vote for Women's Rights
So, in 1864, a legislature of 27 white men created a body of laws that discriminated against Black people and people of color and considered girls as young as ten able to consent to sex, and they adopted a body of criminal laws written by one single man.
And in 2024, one of those laws is back in force in Arizona.
Now, though, women can vote.
"When It's Over," Wipers (1981): Punk Rock Tuesday
My first exposure to live punk rock. Not NYC punk. Not Brit punk. Not LA punk although maybe some west coast family resemblance. The Wipers of Portland, Or, 1980-ish. The lead singer, Greg Sage, had a post-apocalyptic look; like a punk rocker in a Road Warrior movie. His lyrics were blunt declamatory identity crisis; "I Don't Know What I am," "Potential Suicide," "Pushing The Extreme," like that. The drum and bass kick up a spirited class of '77 punk rock force-beat but Sage's driven guitar distortion and effects always steal the show. Link Wray as Alien Boy.
Middle East on Edge
Israel and Palestine have been stuck in a violent stalemate, with lopsided results favoring Israel for going on 3/4 of a century now. Here's an interesting discussion giving context to the Iran's massive assault over the weekend. It was provoked by Israel's recent hit against an Iranian general in Syria but the scale of Iran's barrage of bombs shot at Israel was unprecedented.
Only two things seem relatively clear to me about Israel vs Palestine: Israel cannot be trusted to honor a two-state solution and the Palestinians cannot be trusted to build a state that won't make its primary directive the military destruction of Israel. Israel has fought to forestall a two-state solution for decades, and the Palestinians fight to save their claims to statehood from Israel's efforts to erase them.
It would seem inescapable at this point that if any two-state solution is salvageable it would now necessarily involve some large, independent, international peace-keeping force. This is something I'm guessing Israel would not welcome but a wider war in the Middle East, with Iran, would almost certainly guarantee. On the other hand, Netanyahu and Israel have been goading the US into a wider war with Iran for years.
Anyway, this has a Cuban Missile Crisis kind of geo-political tension about it. There will be a lot of pressure on Biden to handle it, while still not clear how much influence over Netanyahu or Israel he has. This has been an area of strength for him, though, so far. (BTW, Trump would escalate the crisis, don't be ridiculous.)
Back to central paradox of the situation: Israel has a right to exist and defend itself but its ongoing dehumanizing treatment of Palestinians also guarantees it will continue to be attacked by Palestinians and those sympathetic over the rotten deal they get from Israel.
Curiously, a lot of observers I know seem to think getting rid of Netanyahu could deescalate the violence-- and it certainly seems worth a try, Netanyahu is a smooth-talking thug and crook-- but the Israeli in this discussion thinks Benny Gantz (who looks like Netanyahu's little brother, no?) would make little difference in quelling the violence against Palestinians or Iran.
Anyway, it's a mess and here's hoping the violence in Gaza and the West Bank stops and cooler heads, on all sides, prevail. Seems pretty clear Iran and US don't want a wider war. Not yet sure about Netanyahu and Israel.
"Make That Move," Shalamar (1980)
Shalamar on the Soul Train Line Dance. Thank God It's Disco Friday!