February Rewind

[February 25th, 2004] The Hit List

MASON JENNINGS Toby Keith aside*, it's not often that a contemporary musician shows anything but contempt for politicians. That fact makes Mason Jennings' "Ballad of Paul and Sheila" off Use Your Voice (Bar None/Architect) all the more striking. In a characteristically gentle manner, the folk singer from Minnesota spills his tremendous heart for Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), who died with his wife in a plane crash Oct. 25, 2002. He sings: "Hey, Senator, I wanna say all the things you fought for did not die here today." As all the venom begins to fly in the presidential race, it's nice to hear a politician inspiring something other than spite.

THAT ROCK-'N'-ROLL BAND THAT PLAYS THE AWARDS SHOWS Enough with the novelty, Grammy people. Sting and Sean Paul doing "Roxanne"? Come on. The only really soul-satisfying moment in the entire ceremony, besides when Celine Dion's mike crapped out, came from the White Stripes, whose two-song set embodied all the recklessness and passion that is increasingly scarce in the legitimate music industry. Playing "Seven Nation Army" and "Death Letter" back to back, the duo proved that they deserve to be the token rock band at all awards shows. Of course, if I only took my musical cues from prime-time television, I would think that Meg and Jack White are the only two people playing rock right now.

CANDI STATON The only time I had heard Candi Staton's voice before this month was on the 1975 disco hit "Young Hearts Run Free." Which is too bad. There's a lot more to this woman than disco, or the gospel albums she's been releasing since those mirror-ball days. From 1963 to 1973, Staton recorded gritty Southern soul tracks for the Fame label. Now Columbia Records has released a self-titled compilation of 26 of those singles, including the pain-twisted "I'm Just a Prisoner (Of Your Good Lovin')," that show a young woman burning the edge of the soul world.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS The fact that the latest offering from the Mountain Goats, We Shall All Be Healed (4ad), is loosely based on a brief period in the mid-'80s that leadman John Darnielle spent in the back alleys and apartments of Portland, should send lo-fi indie pop fans into fits of ecstasy. Fittingly, the album is rubbed with the gloom and sporadic bursts of energy that Portland inspires. Overall it has its dull moments, but songs like "Palmcorder Vajna" and "Mole" show the prolific Darnielle to be an endless talent and Portland to be an excellent palette.

The Shit List

THE FCC AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES As much as I like to hear FCC Chairman Michael Powell talk about Janet's boob, there are more important matters that the Federal Communications Commission should be investigating. For instance, how CBS refused to air MoveOn.org's advertisement criticizing the Bush administration's trade policies during the Super Bowl (see "Crass Bush Servants," The Nose, WW, Feb. 4, 2004). Or maybe how, back in June, the commission paved the way for megacorporations like Viacom--which owns CBS, MTV, VH1, BET and Infinity radio--to own even more of the public airwaves. Speaking of media deregulation, maybe the boobs in the House of Representatives should spend less time chastising the bare-breasted and dig up the bill that could reverse the FCC's June decision (House Joint Resolution 72). The Senate passed it 55 to 40. In the House, though, the bill has been languishing in the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet since October. What's the hold-up? Maybe we should all ask our very own Rep. Greg Walden (R-2nd District), a member of the subcommittee. Contact Greg at www.house.gov/walden/contactgreg and ask him.

MICKEY FITZPATRICK Who doesn't love anti-fascists? You're probably an anti-fascist. So am I. When I see fascism, I am quick to point it out and tell all my friends. So, when WW received a letter signed "DESTROY FASCISM!!!" from one Mickey Fitzpatrick, I read intently. Fitzpatrick, it seems, was rifling through albums at Southeast's Discourage Records when he came across an album by old-school white supremacist punkers Skrewdriver. In his letter, Fitzpatrick urges readers to "Go to Discourage records and demand them to burn or break the fucking albums." Whoa, boy. Skrewdriver was pretty nutty, but you can't make a record store destroy records. A consumer boycott is fine, but what Fitzpatrick demands is censorship. Record stores like Discourage are cultural storehouses. Destroying those records would be denying a very important, if uncomfortable, part of punk-rock history. And to demand destruction of information is, well, fascistic.

*Not that Toby Keith's sentiments aren't appreciated. I just wish he'd ask me before telling a large cross-section of the world's population that we Americans are going to put a collective boot in their collective ass. But that's just me.