June 2010
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Archive for June 2010

Meanwhile, the insane war in Afghanistan continues in its 9th year

27. June 2010 by admin.

We’ve now been in Afghanistan so long, that we don’t even think about it that much. People want to forget that we have this unending war in a country far far away, and that we are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on it at the same time that we have 40 million+ Americans on food stamps, 1/5th of our children living under the poverty line ($18,000 for a family of 4), and we rank 26th in the world in education.

Our country is falling to pieces, and we are wasting our resources (human, financial, governmental) on a conflict that most Americans don’t want us in.

Here’s a great NYT Op-ed piece by Bob Herbert on this topic. If you’re not already mad, hopefully this piece will make you so.

Our biggest danger is complacency and acceptance of this unacceptable state of affairs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/opinion/26herbert.html?scp=2&sq=bob%20herbert&st=cse

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Massive Attack current tour & the highlight of the show, “Atlas Air”

26. June 2010 by admin.

I saw Massive Attack on their current tour recently. They did a mix of songs from the current album, “Heligoland” and some of their back catalog. The song they didn’t do that I wish they had was “Protection”. I wasn’t thrilled with all of their song selections and the sound system at the venue I saw them wasn’t the best, but that wasn’t really their fault.

Massive had a great lighting setup and stage set. They had an LED (I think) ribbon display behind them and used it to great effect—using it to make statements about peace, world affairs and U.S. affairs. While the mixing of political activism and entertainment may annoy some people, I thought it was actually well done and welcome. People need to be aware of what’s going on in the world.

While most veteran bands build towards a climax in their live shows, saving the best for last, as it were, Massive really did a grea job of not only building to a climax but of taking their songs to the next level within the songs themselves.

Case in point was “Atlas Air”, one of their final encores. First, the song, though great on record, was much better live. Second, they kept a plateau in the song that was at ‘10’ on the energy dial from the start. Third, about a 1/3 of the way into the song, they raised the level to ‘12’ and then again halfway in, to ‘14’, and then kept the energy going at a level I didn’t know they could reach in the first place.

Here’s a version that approximates what I heard live, though nothing recorded is going to do it justice. It also gives you some idea of how the led display was used.

I look forward to the next album/tour, but echo what some reviewers have said about ‘”Heligoland”: more hits please—some of these songs are too esoteric.