Hopefully this MP3 will serve as a detailed demonstration of why you will not hear sicker drumming on a record this year than that perpetrated by Jon Theodore (at left) on the self-titled EP by One Day as a Lion.One Day as a Lion -
If You Fear Dying
A more-formal review is forthcoming via more-official channels, but I felt I needed to give early warning here, given that I have listened to this five-song compact disc roughly 30 times through since I acquired it just two days ago. I must have completely slept on the advance word, because this is in many ways a Major Release, due to the presence of one Zack De La Rocha, of Rage Against the Machine fame. The band is *only* him and Jon Theodore (the latter of whom did some time w/ the Mars Volta, which seems to be kind of a magnet for the most badass drummers working today: ex-Dazzling Killmen/Laddio Bolocko madman Blake Fleming worked with them prior to Theodore). Anyway, this is a completely, utterly vicious release, with not even the faintest hint of a weak song. More info here, and a different track is hearable here (it might serve as some illustration of the caliber of EP we're talking about here to note that the song linked to just above, "Wild International," and "If You Fear Dying" may actually be the two weakest songs of the five). In short, Jon Caramanica's lukewarm appraisal of the record in the Times baffles me to no end.
*****
Equally as sick, but in a somewhat different sense: Tucked away near the back of this week's New Yorker is a Personal History from none other than Charles Van Doren, otherwise known as the Dude Played by Ralph Fiennes in Quiz Show, otherwise known as the Best Movie Ever Made. Anyone who knows me well knows I'm completely obsessed with that flick in all its 1950s WASPy-intellectual glory and this unprecedented insider glimpse into the events that inspired it is awesome to read. Many of the facts will be familiar to folks who have seen the film, but there's a really painful yet muted poignancy to the piece that could only have come from someone who was there.
1 comment:
Give me a break. You make getting high sound like playing spin the bottle. Many, many adults enjoy the benefits of weed without obsessing over it's place in their life, or the world (hint:it was probably put on earth for a deeper purpose than laughing a lot.) You just never got beyond that, other than arriving at the 'morbid self-obsession' you described, which is more just a symptom of your narcissisticaly self-focused generation. I was at that ween show and I got high and drunk as hell and had a mini freak-out afterwards. Lighten up Francis. Or maybe just light up. I can't stand people who pontificate about pot as a means to illustrate their personal growth. I smoke it all the time and I'll still never be as clueless as people like you.
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