Despite my "shin splints" -- the product of about two weeks' worth of running on already painful shins before I finally bought ice packs -- I went out about a couple of weeks ago to the Bitter End to see Special K. (Later 40, aka TOWGAA, aka That Other White Guy At APAture, joined us after biking up from Cupertino.)*
Anyhow, weird bits of musical half-truths and unsupported assertions became the topic of music-geek conversation.
1. The Red Hot Chili Peppers: did they suck or no? (I think they sucked.)**
2. This somehow devolved into a rather pointless RHCP vs Pavement debate, which must have happened while I was in the bathroom. (I think it may have to do with the notion of musical competence.)
3. Pat Benatar's "We Belong" is better than anything Stephen Malkmus ever wrote.***
4. We also came up with a list of "People We Would Probably Never Go Out With," but I'll spare you a specific enumeration. Suffice it to say that Republicans**** were on top, followed by some rather intolerant-sounding categories having to do with food and drink, and finally -- I'm getting to the musical point here -- people with bad musical taste.*****
Up next, if I ever get to it: even more rambling on Filipino Americans and hiphop, or maybe something on music and identity.
*Okay, he didn't, but it sounds cool, and he may have thought about doing it at some point.
**With the exception of "Scar Tissue" and the lines "Sentimental gentlemen / Are not afraid to show you when" from "Show Me Your Soul," but otherwise, the Chili Peppers' crimes -- that cover of "Higher Ground," Kiedis' manboobs quivering in the "Under the Bridge" video, the whole "Give It Away" video aesthetic ripped off from the Beastie Boys' "Whatcha Want" (which may have come from somewhere else too though) -- are unforgivable.
***Completely untrue, even if those Mark E. Smith mannerisms got worse and worse after Wowee Zowee, and so I regretted it instantly, leading me to do penance by putting on "Summer Babe" in the car really loud. It's Pat's best song though.
****There's nothing intrinsically wrong with them if you're say, sharing a beer or something, but the topic of politics will inevitably come up.
(40 really wanted to make a special case for "hippies" -- particularly those with blond dreadlocks -- on the top of his list. I don't particularly mind them (there's actually a cute woman wearing just those, sitting at the table next to me as I type this), and besides, Adam Duritz's dreads (though he wasn't blond or a hippie) clearly got him a lot of Courtney-Winona action when Counting Crows was huge.
*****We thought long and hard about this. People have certain musical thresholds, I guess: would I be able to stand to hear Celine Dion in the car? Maybe -- but just one song. Would I allow myself to be dragged to a Celine Dion concert? Forget it, I'll be drinking in the bar. Would I be able to simply move to another room if Celine Dion were playing at home? Bye, it was great to meet you.
(This actually resonates with more academic concerns I had, but I'll probably save it for another longer entry. Part of an ethnographic project I've been working on, that's been simmering for a while now, has to do with the Filipino voice, mobility and capital, and scattered thoughts about the production and consumption of music in the Philippines.)
Please, Wily, ramble on (I like that, sounds like Led Zep). I'd be really interested to hear what you think about hip-hop and Fil/Ams, and "the Filipino voice."
Posted by: Gladys on August 14, 2005 04:11 PMoh, do not get started on Hiphop being THE voice of the fil am. please. unless you also mean to address appropriation and blackface. there. i said it.
in the meantime, if you ever dated anyone who listened to celine dion, i would be forced to never have another beer with you again.
Posted by: poeta on August 14, 2005 05:09 PMDyno went through a couple of weeks when he was fascinated (I don't know if that's the right word) with Linkin Park. He'd play it in the car. At home during the weekend. While I was cooking. I was just about ready to regret marrying him. I mean, one more day hearing Chester Bennington's whiny pansy-assed voiced and I would've sent him home to LB. Good thing he snapped out of it.
Posted by: bang & blame on August 14, 2005 06:13 PM"We Belong" wasn't actually penned by Pat Benatar, though. I only know this because my brother-in-law (not the Animotion one) was in the band of the guys who wrote it: Lowen & Navarro. They used to do it at every performance, sometimes with the chorus in Spanish (which was especially lovely).
Posted by: ver on August 15, 2005 10:11 AMGladys: more later!
Poeta: you know what I'm going to write!
Bang&Blame: Linkin Park -- now that's a bit of a dealbreaker as well. (More on this later too!)
Ver: Yeah, I looked the song up -- you have way too many musical relatives! Did Pat Benatar actually write her own stuff?
Wait. There's ANOTHER white dude at APAture? WTF?
Poeta: I'm glad you said it.
Posted by: Jesse! on August 17, 2005 09:35 PM you no likee siling labuyo? awww, i love them though. but then again, i am just an average mababaw na music fan. i get my musical tastes from friends with good taste. P always claims that had i not ended up with him, i would still be listening to roxette and nelson. kakahiya.
i am currently listening to kasey chambers and the american music club, courtesy of P. how do they fare?
"hip hop can't stop the brainwash." In the words of J Tan at a Pilipino Queer Conference in the late 90s, "YOU AREN'T BLACK!" x3. Whities with dreads are the ultimate faux pas.
Posted by: brown on September 5, 2005 05:37 PM