GENESIS!

Update - Oh yeeeaaah, it's official now. 'Turn in on Again - The Tour'.
There's also word that there might be new material too, which has gotten me thinking, what do they need to do to make it work?
Good question Brett! A very tricky situation indeed, but a very straighforward answer from me...Here's what they need to not do...sound like Coldplay, or one of the hundred million variants of them in existence today, I don't want to hear piano OR acoustic guitar on this record, and the drum beats better be phat, heavily gated and complexly rhythmed, the minimalist angsty crap needs to go. Anyway, trying to sound like contemporary music was one of 'Calling All Stations' big mistakes. What Phil, Tony and Mike should do, if they decide to do this, is just go balls out and remind the world why Genesis is one of the greatest bands of all time. To accomplish that, and have a new record that will be taken seriously, they MUST find a timeless middle ground. If they try to just outright duplicate one of their previous albums all it will do is instantly raise comparison between the two and draw focus away from itself. I know it would be interesting and or hilarious, but I'm pretty sure we can forget about a straight up classically inspired prog-rock album. Because, unless they've had a recent, amazing stroke of artistic genius then it just wouldn't work anymore, it would only sound forced and cheesy (but who knows, maybe they could surprise us). I also think they've learned their lesson from Calling All Stations and realize that a generic Genesis template placed on a modern pop sound has less than stellar results. To find that solid middle ground I've gone through the different Collins era albums and picked out certain songs that seem to have stood the test of time better than others, not saying that makes them better, it just means that some of their song's productions are noticeably 80's or noticeably cheesily. So, what I think would work best for them now is this, an album that is stylistically in-between Abacab and Trick of the Tail, but that has the focus, structure and earnesty of Duke, a more inwardly reflected album, something that doesn't feel like it's pandering to the audience; old, new, of a certain era, whatever it may be. This way they can achieve a work that has a balance of the elements that made pop oriented Genesis great, and will create a rich (but not overly nostalgic) palet for the more matured band to explore.
Huzzah! I've emerged from my cave to bring this wonderful news to the world...
http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/1180945

Genesis to tour next year

Artists: Genesis

Prog-rockers of your dad's youth Genesis are to reform next year, albeit without original singer Peter Gabriel. Which isn't all that surprising, really.

Rumours of the reformation have been circulating for many a year, but now reports suggest it is definitely on: The Sunday Mirror yesterday stated that drummer and vocalist Phil Collins is particularly keen to get things moving.

Collins will be joined by both Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks for a series of gigs across America and Europe; expect their pockets to be bulging with hard cash come its conclusion. Gabriel hasn't totally ruled out joining his former bandmates, either, although he won't be able to play with them again until 2008 at the earliest.

Collins recently split from his third wife, and the aforementioned tabloid implies that this comprised something of a catalyst in the decision to go ahead with the reunion tour.

Well it's not a Gabriel-style Genesis reunion, BUT, I love everything they did, so any form of a reunion is just great with me. So Mr. Collins, would you like my life savings in cash or check?

I Didn't Mean to Turn You On, or Did I?

Dearest most fair journal, my only confidant, that which is precious unto me, on this date being the eighteenth of the Lord's month of October I beseech that ye give me ear. The forces of darkness in this realm have thus stripped of me my powers...
...Ah, stop it! I always have to catch myself before I begin writing self indulgent, ye olde English journal entries, giving ye olde updates on the events of my life. Sometimes I feel I'm being absorbed into the blogging masses who turn their banal musings into publicly available clutter...oh wait, I do.
Oh well. I remember back in the olden days of this website, back when it was on geocities I could write about the most uselessly intriguing things. I used to spew out so much crap with so much regularity, it was amazing really, and I wonder where that went, or if I really want that back. Probably for the best. Now the only things that really pass through my mind are meandering images of the movement of life; clouds, colors, shapes, ambiance, it's like I'm living in a Pink Floyd's Animals record. However I'm fine, so don't send pills to me out of concern just yet, but do mail them out of generosity. That's enough of that, I'll save the rest of this boring explanation of my deep seeded neurosis for the book I got comin' out, it's called "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Prime Time Television, Celebrity Gossip and Happy Hour"
In other news I have some ratings for you, some suggestions for you, etc etc etc etc etc....
I recently watched a brilliant documentary by Matt Stone and Trey Parker called "How's Your News", yes, the guys who do South Park and Team America: World Police. It's a documentary about five mentally handicapped men and women who embark on a road trip from New Hampshire to California simply to ask people the question: "how's your news". What I love about this film is how, as you watch it, your expectations begin to change immensely. As it starts out you get the impression that this is probably going to be nothing more than a mockery of the handicapped and you sort of just stare, wondering what exactly you're supposed to be thinking in regards to this. But as it goes on you start to completely lose all those things that get in the way and you begin to see them for who they are, extremely unique people. Another thing I really enjoyed about this was how it gave an amazingly honest look at the "average" people who make this country. In most other documentaries you know that the "professional" film crews inherently affect people's behavior in some way or another. But with this, the interviewees often had no idea how to respond or what to expect from the various hosts of this movie, some of whom couldn't actually put together a discernible sentence. So often we're left with everyday people just kind of standing there, speaking the first thing that comes to their mind. It's very touching, and does a good job of changing perceptions and giving honest glimpses into the lives of common people. Yes, all this from the creators of "Baseketball".

A couple new albums came out recently that I just wanted to give my quick opinion on, Sting's "Songs From the Labyrinth" and Robert Randolph and the Family Band's "Colorblind".
Sting's new album is a side project based on the music and writings of 17th century composer John Dowland. I had good idea of what to expect from this, but I was really surprised how moody and focused it is, considering it's English lute music. What I like most is how elemental and basic the music is, especially when performed by someone known for slick pop production like Sting. In a way it's like the stripped down origins of much of Sting's music, specifically The Soul Cages, which has much of the same Celtic structure. Also, dispersed throughout the album are letters written by Dowland that are read by Sting. I had heard about this beforehand and didn't really know how well that would work but in the end it helped Labyrinth play through almost as a concept album of sorts, and a haunting one at that. I think Sting accomplished what he set out to do with this album, it pays homage to Downland first and foremost, but creates a mask that Sting seems to don, channeling Downland and giving the listener the uneasy feeling that we're being transported to the past, where we can do nothing but appreciate, for the first time most likely.
8.452/10
Robert Randolph and the Family Band's new album is a massive letdown, but I should have seen it coming, basically anything Mark Batson touches (outside of the pop/hip-hop world) turns to poo. The production is exponentially thicker and more elaborate than Unclassified and the band's sound is now compressed and packaged into unmemorable arrangements that grasp desperately for radio airplay. Instead of the stripped down, gospel driven, repetitive power and joy that was so evident on their first record we have a mish-mash of songs that cover a narrow spectrum; 70's superfunk, generic inspirational R&B and b-sides from Dave Matthews Band's last record. Robert Randolph, who generally overflows with excitement and passion, comes across as extremely stifled and forced into a mold here. His signature sacred steel is virtually non-existent and his vocal delivery is stiff in comparison to his usual call and response, free form style. Overall, don't bother.
5/10

and finally, I leave you with some MS paint masterpieces I recently created: David Byrne's 'Feelings' album cover and Peter Gabriel's 'So' and 'Security' album covers.
Until next time, stay frosty!

"And when the wombat comes, he will find me gone..."

I was thinking about Wombats today, about what they really are, what they do, what they mean in the overall scheme of things. I don't know. But I do know they're very underrated creatures, so underrated in fact that no one really cares about them, not even Google - who gives the first search result to the Women's Mountain Bike and Tea Society...even better, if you type in just "Wombat" and hit the 'I'm feeling lucky' button you get the Australian search engine Web Wombat which currently outranks South America's Slothsearcher.com. Type in a search there and the engine pokes at your inquiry for a while, then takes a cube shaped crap on it.
All this lack of appreciation started to concern me of a possible conspiracy to suppress the wombat. A question arose...why are all the other Australian marsupials so popular and loved, while the wombat, not? Kangaroos: they get their own brand of shoe, co-star in the Winnie the Pooh cartoons and books, get over fifty songs written about them (only 3 about wombats), thirty tv shows and movies...including Captain Kangaroo and their starring role in this gem "The Warriors of Virtue" aka 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: The New Age Kangaroos'.Next are Koalas: they get their own delicious chocolate filled cookie, the classic nickelodeon cartoon 'The Noozles' and its ripoff 'The Little Koala'.
Wallabies? They're even smaller, cuter and more loveable than kangaroos, 'nuff said there. People love em! They want em!
Bandicoots - Crash Bandicoot. That ring a bell? No? Remember Sonic the Hedgehog? Yeah? Well Crash was the 3D Sonic ripoff for the Playstation, quite popular too, lots of crappy spinoffs.
And finally...opossums, well, they get plenty of attention due to the fact that they're hideous, stupid, disgusting and always laying dead on the side of the road. One day I was driving along and one of these things was just standing there in the middle of the road, perched on its hind legs, just staring at my oncoming vehicle. I was just about to hit the gas because I hate them, but I also feel sorry for them, and there's no way I could bring myself to (knowingly) run over any creature, even a stupid possum.
Anyway...
WOMBATS...they get nothing! "Why"? you say. Why do they deserve any attention? Who cares anyway? It's just a fat, dumb animal...possums down under...
WHY!?!...BECAUSE! I had a dog once as you might remember, his name was Watson and he was part wombat. Well, Watson was the wisest animal I've ever met in my life. That's right, he was fat, he was slow, he had short legs, he liked to dig with his snout...See the resemblence? Even our other dog looked oddly similar to another famous Australian monster.
My very loosely supported argument is THIS...if wombats are even half as wonderful as my old dog was, well, then they deserve twice as many shows, twice as many shoes, twice as many video games, twice as many cookie brands and twice as many songs as the other marsupials who get hit by cars FAR more than the wombat, fact. So who's fat and slow now? Jerks.
That is all. Good day sir.

Patrick Bateman's "Song of the Day":
Today's Song: Take Me With U by Prince.
"I think this is one of Prince's more brilliant pop songs that isn't included on any of his greatest hits, which I find highly regrettable. For me, too much of his later work was overy sexualized and catered to the heavy R&B scene, which I find difficult to relate to. Along the lines of his classic 1985 hit "Raspberry Beret" this elegantly arranged tune is one of his rare acoustic-rock driven numbers. It starts out with a rousing drum roll that gently carries the listener down into the vocal harmony accompanied by a bouncy string section and acoustic guitar. At first the lyrics and tune seem absurdly simple and sing-songy but it quickly manages to find sharp focus thanks to Prince's consistent vocal delivery and backup vocals by Apollonia Kotera, who contributes an innocent and sharp quality, as well as added dimension. Here, Prince and his lover, Appollonia, sing of the simplicity of romance, really getting to the heart of the matter in their plea to one another that time, location and subject matter are frivolous. All they truly need is one another. Profound, to say the least.


Photos From
"Holding the Wombat" http://astro.berkeley.edu/wombat/wombat2.jpg
"Tazmanian Devil with Babies" http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d84/JohnCampanelli/TasmanianDevil01.jpg
"Wombat Peeking Over Log" http://www.dbmi.columbia.edu/~elc7001/pics/australia/wombat.jpg

Here I Am...Rock You Like a Hurricane

Hey y'all, I'm back, from outer space.
Anyway so yeah, I got a new deodorant recently, true story...
Let me just turn off the lights and project my thoughts for a moment...
It was two or three months ago that I had settled on the "fresh" scent of invisible solid Right Guard as my antiperspirant of choice. In fact I liked it so much that I bought two of them, because once the first ran out I didn't want to wait (and Paula Cole agrees). Then, a few mornings ago I was winding down to the last little bit of the stick, desperately wiping my underarm to prolong its glorious life. But then before I could give it one last hurrah it fell off the stick, gliding gently to the floor, to its death. So, a few sad days later I made a special trip to Wal-Mart with only one thing in mind, to see if they started carrying Maxim again, BUT ALSO to stock up on my own, my deodorant, myyyy preciousssssss. I scoured the aisles for it, I wanted it, I NEEDED it. I began fervently looking everywhere for that black stick with the cool blue writing; "fresh"...ohhhhhh yeaaahhh! My eyes were directed to the small Right Guard section...but...but, where is it? Turns out the A holes at the Gillette company discontinued that certain scent...so I look for whatever appears to be the closest new-version substitute and all they have is "Sport". Generally I steer clear of any products that have the suffix 'sport', or 'xtreme', especially when it comes to deodorants since my last experience wasn't good, and since I don't usually "sport". I swear the stuff is like paint primer. When you're in the shower washing your pits there's no getting it off, it's there to stay, it's disgusting. I wasn't going to get it but I decided to sniff anyway... and, what I smelled nearly changed my life, it's like every beautiful smell of life combined into one scent. A perfect Irish spring morn, dancing with hundreds of leprechauns all singing the 'Safety Dance' while being showered in golden rain. It's like if Yankee Candle made a deodorant and called it "smell 'O' heaven". It's like a thousand fresh laundries with a thousand Snugglebears reenacting the battle of Endor. And so now, I have a new "my" deodorant, until they change it to Xtreme, which is always the next unavoidable stage of the Right Guard cycle. Right Guard>Right Guard 24 hr>Right Guard shield>Right Guard sport>Right Guard Extreme protection>Right Guard Xtreme Maximum Power>Right Guard Everlasting Sweatstopper>
Repeat cycle.

Uh huh, I told you it was a good story.

In other news, I finally listened to Genesis' 'Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' all the way through WHILE reading the lyrics carefully. In general I'm a pretty crappy listener when it comes to music. I rarely pay attention to lyrics, especially if they aren't blatantly obvious. I've heard the album numerous times and, of course, it's a story about a Puerto Rican kid in New York City named Rael who is "magically" transported to an alternate dimension within the city. This other "reality/existence" is filled with strange and unsual things ala Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland...the problem for me was that I never actually followed the happenings of the story lyrically or payed much attention to subtle themes and commentary, which it's loaded with. This time, however, I experienced the story as a whole and can now see the important dimension I missed before, the real brilliance of the work, which lies in clever and insightful way that of spirituality and self-image are dealt with. Before, I simply enjoyed this as loosely connected and good songs...like I do with too many other records, always missing the message...but now it's almost a cinematic experience for me. The climax and finale function just like a movie really, and there's a part toward the very end during 'In the Rapids' when Gabriel sings
And when the waters slow down
The dark and the deep
have no-one, no-one, no-one, no-one
no-one left to keep.
Hang on John! We're out of this at last.
Somethings changed, that's not your face.
It's mine - it's mine!
which immediately segues into the last song "It" to create a genuinely moving moment. So good.

Ergo, visa vi, concordantly...if you have not heard this masterpiece then you need to check it out. Even if you're not a fan of Genesis it's still a fun-filled and imaginative experience, not to mention it's just a classic album that any music fan should hear at some point.

Welp, that's all I got for now, so to quote some Christian band, "you've got the choice, you get to choose, so go ahead and have fun" Or somethin somethin. Oh yeah, if anyone's having trouble seeing all of the blog, please tell me, I widened the margins but I'm not sure if that fits into everyone's monitor, not sure how that works.
Buh-Bye