Note: one song title on the playable list below includes an F bomb.Music in the wrong context can be painful, which anyone who has been through a painful romantic breakup knows (this explains why I can’t listen to Joni Mitchell anymore), and this tactic amplifies that pain several more notches. There’s been a movie centered around the concept; in Death and the Maiden, Sigourney Weaver’s character flashes back to a past as a political pisoner, when guards raped her while playing the Schubert piece for which the film is named. And the U.S. military has done this before, repeatedly blasting Van Halen’s “Panama” at that country’s deposed dictator, Manuel Noriega, in an eventually successful tactic to force his surrender.

The Germans have an actual word for it: “ohrwurm” or earworm, a song that burrows into your brain like that slimy creature digs into Chekov’s ear in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. That would explain some of the simply annoying items on this list like the Meow Mix song, which as long as a decade ago was so well known that Dr. Evil sang it to his hairless feline Mr. Bigglesworth in Austin Powers.

Any song can be torturous when repeated too often, and any parent who’s ever had a three year old bill certainly understand the inclusion of the Barney theme on the Mother Jones list. In classic rock radio, this is known as the “Stairway To Heaven” effect, after the Led Zeppelin masterpiece that has been overplayed into a cliche. Sometimes that doesn’t work, though: I could stand to hear AC/DC’s “Shoot To Thrill” a few thousand times without complaint, except perhaps for a request that the guards turn up the volume a notch to eleven. I like to think so, anyway, but then I’m sitting comfortably in my home and not lying naked on a concrete floor at Gitmo.

We have the rah-rah patriotism element represented, although in several cases that’s misinterpreted. The torturers clearly aren’t listening to lyrics beyond the choruses, which explains the inclusion of the radical-left sentiments of Rage Against The Machine. It’s a fate that befell the Clash back in my youth — and still does, as their biggest hit, “Rock The Casbah,” is transmuted from a nuanced satire on Iran’s ban in western music into a Let’s Kick Some Ay-Rab Butt anthem.

Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The U.S.A.” saga of an unemployed Vietnam vet disowned by his country has been abused as a patriotic anthem ever since it was new, when Ronald Reagan tried to appropriate it for his 1984 campaign. Springsteen, who wasn’t endorsing anyone back then but is officially backing Barack Obama these days, objected, and Team Reagan dropped it. If you want to catch the deeper meaning of the song, skip the familiar version and listen to the acoustic original, an outtake from the Nebraska album that’s included on the Tracks boxed set.

The torturers must have also included Eminem’s “White America” only for its first mock-patriotic lines. Near the end of the song, Eminem directs an F bomb at Second Lady Lynne Cheney and her predecessor Tipper Gore. Mrs. Gore would likely have slapped a label on Christina Aguilera’s “Dirrty,” the main representation of hyper-sexualized pop culture on this list.

The last song, Prince’s “Raspberry Beret,” naturally wins this list a special place for me, as it’s my own accidental blogging theme song.

Bur my main regret is that the torturers who put this playlist together included Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” Maybe we’d all be better off if they’d taken the anti-war message of the group’s “One” to heart instead.

See the Mission Freak Web site for more bands and MCM events.

Essayist and fiction author Ben Marcus is MCM’s featured keynoter on Saturday afternoon at The Mill. Marcus is the author of “Notable American Women,” “The Father Costume” and “The Age of Wire and String” and will likely draw a local writerly crowd into the classic Iowa City venue.

Mission Creek Midwest is a local version of a west coast music expo that began (and still flourishes yearly) in San Francisco. MCM began when local founders Andre Peery and Tanner Illingworth came to Iowa City and started their east-central Iowa version with the Mission Creek brand name.

The fest has expanded its team of show producers. There are now five MCM producers plus a “street team.” Together, they organize shows, create posters, and deal with venues, booking and bands.

Some people have compared MCM to the legendary (and epic) SXSW fest in Austin, Tex. But SXSW is a music expo put on by the music industry for the music industry, so the comparison falls short.

Illingworth told the Iowa Independent that, “With Mission Creek, we are trying to put on a festival for Iowa City.  It’s a celebration of the arts and culture we have right here at home, not to mention all around the Midwest.  People come to Mission Creek to have fun for four days and experience some music that they aren’t going to see other places, not even SXSW.”

The Mission Freak Web site is the official space for festival news. Those interested can purchase festival passes on the site.

As part of the festival, Iowa City-band Illinois John Fever is playing at The Mill on Saturday night.

A year ago at Public Access Television’s studio in Iowa City, I.J.F. played “Biological Radio”:

Several thousand visitors sampled traditional foods from an array of cultures, tried new dance steps and listened to musical performances. Families were in abundance at the kid-friendly event which included performances and demonstrations from Filipino, Argentinian, Turkish, Indian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Mexican, and American singers, dancers, and martial artists.

Turkish, Mexican and Indian music and dance videos are below the foldA balladeer from Columbus Junction, Iowa, by way of Chiautla, Mexico, Valentin Ruiz dedicated this song, “Una Cartita,” to his two daughters:

Ruiz is an organizer of the Hispanic Cultural Festival held annually in Columbus Junction.

Another musician, Bahri Karacay, played Turkish songs on the festival’s World Stage.

A pediatric neurologist at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Karacay played an eight-stringed lute-like instrument called a saz with his band Turkana.

He translated his song’s lyrics, which he said was about the end of a relationship:

Although I miss your beautiful smile and the way you used to tell me you love me, I am very happy now. I cannot be with you anymore because I learned how to laugh. I can’t cry anymore.

The Noopur Dance Troupe entertained with Indian dances on the festival main stage. Here is one of their dance performances:

Here is another Ruiz song, with scenes from the event, which was held in the University of Iowa Field House.

Find out more at the festival website: http://www.uiowa.edu…

]]> http://iowaindependent.com/1992/videos-international-festival-celebrates-cultural-diversity/feed 0 http://iowaindependent.com/1921/videos-daytrottercom-sets-the-record http://iowaindependent.com/1921/videos-daytrottercom-sets-the-record#comments Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:42:23 +0000 Adam Burke http://iowaindependent.com/1921/videos-daytrottercom-sets-the-record A van rolls into the Quad Cities on the way to a gig in Omaha, Minneapolis or Chicago. After parking in downtown Rock Island, a few musicians get out, stretch their legs and amble up to a third-floor recording studio.

In the performance space, a drum kit is already in place. The band browses a collection of effects pedals and shiny guitars, stopping to play a few notes on the piano or vintage keyboard. Microphones are placed and checked; often a cigarette or two will be burnt.

The sound engineer loads a reel of tape and a backup CD. A photographer snaps some portraits of the band, and a writer pecks at his laptop in a tiny room just off of the main recording studio. He types a few notes of his first impressions of the band.

The sound check is over, tape is rolling, and the drummer counts off the tempo: “1, 2, 3, 4 …”

Welcome to Daytrotter.Offering original, live recordings from up-and-coming bands, great writing and reviews, and a wide array of original, hand-crafted artwork, the Quad City-based Daytrotter.com has transformed the way people listen to independent music.

Daytrotter, for those not in the know, is the music and arts Web site founded by writer Sean Moeller with some Quad City friends. Since early 2006, the site has offered an expanding library of independent music available for download from past sessions.

Independent bands are invited into the studio for a no-cost recording session engineered by masters Patrick Stolley and Brad Kopplin. Stolley is the songwriter/producer/engineer associated with Future Appletree Records. In each recording session, four songs are chosen for publication on the Web site, accompanied by original, hand-drawn artwork and Mr. Moeller’s poetic, stream-of-consciousness insights on the band and music.

And the best part, if you didn’t catch this before, is that all of the songs can be downloaded. For free.

Moeller has had an easy time promoting the site due to its fresh style. He recently inked a deal with Wolfgang’s Vault to share material from concert promoter Bill Graham’s collection. The deal has already resulted in the release of some Vault concert recordings from the 1960s and 1970s on Daytrotter.

I interviewed Moeller, who sometimes refers to himself as “Mr. Daytrotter,” last year during a session at the recording studio.

(Music that accompanies this video is by The High Strung.)

It’s not always a rock band cranking out power ballads and heavy riffs in the studio. Last summer, Laura Gibson dropped by and accompanied herself on acoustic guitar; her gentle folk songs are intoxicating.

After her session, she drove to her uncle’s farm in Iowa to go horseback riding, which is a perfectly Daytrotterly thing to do.

As the site has expanded, their space above a popular pizza parlor has been updated. A dusty couch was eliminated from the main performance studio, and down the hall a lounge space was cleaned up and a mini-fridge, stocked full of beer, was humming. In other rooms, additional musical instruments were on display and ready to be brought to sonic life.

Caleb Engstrom was handed one of those instruments after he informed Stolley he had sold his gear to finance a trip to India. When the Iowa City songwriter laid down some tracks last month he said it was the first recording he’d done outside of his home. Here’s an interview (and some music) with the recent University of Iowa graduate:

Missouri band Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin was there two years ago when the recording revolution began at the studio. In January they were back for more recording. They noticed the updated digs but settled in quickly and started cranking out rocking songs for their encore session.

SSLYBY drummer Philip Dickey sat down for an interview after their session. He was more excited to talk about Daytrotter’s Web site than his own band’s mySpace page!

Last year the Daytrotter crew recorded over 20 bands during the Austin, Texas music extravaganza known as SXSW. Two Daytrotter engineers, a photographer, and a chief writer camped on the concrete floor of Austin’s Big Orange Studios for the week. They let me follow their adventures (through rainstorms, power outages, and late-night recording sessions) with a video camera.

At the time, songwriter Red Hunter was living just around the corner from Daytrotter’s makeshift SXSW camp. Hunter writes and plays songs as Peter and the Wolf.

If you like exotic instruments, check out this video:

Hunter is playing a two-stringed Tuvan igil for his song, “The Fall – (Tuvan Igil version).” Since his SXSW session, he came through the Quad Cities to record an encore session.

The first thing you notice when you visit Daytrotter.com is all the varied and interesting drawings accompanying the features, reviews, and sessions. Artist Johnny Cluney’s work accompanies the band sessions and write-ups. Working from photos taken during the band’s recording session, his unique style has been a mainstay of the site since the first days. Like Moeller and Stolley, he’s a musician too.

Paintings by Johnny Cluney for Daytrotter: “High Strung,” “Broken West,” and “Skursula.”

The site taps almost 15 freelance artists to illustrate reviews and features. There is no band press imagery, which means no generic posed shots of the band standing against a brick wall. In fact you’ll struggle to find photographs anywhere on the site these days; all the imagery is originally created by hand for Daytrotter.

Daytrotter artist Ryan Flynn went to high school with Moeller in Bettendorf. He said Daytrotter has changed how he listens to music.

What’s in store for the ground-breaking site? Moeller and crew are working on bringing more bands to the culturally quiet Quad Cities for recording and have also started booking live shows. Plus they’ve probably got a few more ideas to keep the music, and all that goes with it, flowing and growing.

Did you get enough Daytrotter? Maybe you’re looking for more music videos?

Try this video for High Strung’s “Beautiful Summer,” minus the talking from Mr. Daytrotter.

Iowa City’s Skye Carrasco, Ursula Dial and Harlan Muir perform as Skursula. Here they are at the Moeller family farm for an outdoor Daytrotter concert in the summer of 2007:

SSLYBY’s Philip Dickey made a video about riding bicycles, a road trip to Russia, and recording his band’s new album. The video is called “Pershing.”

A candidate-programmed music player would certainly include Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” and U2’s “Beautiful Day,” because almost everyone played those at one time or another.  Once you get past those cliches, though, there’s definite distinctions.

Ron Paul wins the no-prize for his way-too-into-it custom recorded music, in rock, rap and country genres, with lyrics encompassing his name and platform.  (Typical lyric: “We need Doctor Paul to make a presidential house call.”)  The rewrite of “New York, New York” made me briefly think of Rudy Giuliani before it reached the chorus of “Ron Paul, Ron Paul,” and the re-written lyrics to the Beatles’ “Revolution” made this old-school Lennonist cringe.

Hillary Clinton comes in next to last, mainly for the much-promoted song contest that wound up with an unfortunate Celine Dion victory.  The Dion song “You And I,” written for a Canadian airline ad, was occasionally heard, but was mostly abandoned for the song that was probably supposed to win the contest, KT Tunstall’s “Devil Wears Prada” anthem “Suddenly I See.”  Team Hillary also played Clinton 42 era “Right Here Right Now” by Jesus Jones, with its non-subtle making history chorus.

Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich lose some points for using cover versions.  Richardson walked on stage in June to a remake of “Not Fade Away,” originated by Clovis, New Mexico’s own Buddy Holly.  Kucinich used a generic cover of John Lennon’s “Power To The People.”

While Democrats parse rally music lyrics for political message, Rudy Giuliani blasted the Iowa Memorial Union in October with a mix of apolitical classic rock for the aging frat boy in all of us: AC/DC, Aerosmith, and Guns N’ Roses, with no discernable message other than kick ass.  (Kind of like his campaign.)

Joe Biden and Mitt Romney weren’t so big on music the times I saw them, though once in a while at cattle-call events Biden took the stage to John Fogerty’s “Centerfield,” the “put me in coach” song.

Sam Brownback of Kansas brought the band Kansas to the Ames Straw Poll, while Duncan Hunter — campaign slogan: “No, I’m not a cake mix” — brought an Elvis impersonator and kept a straight face while maintaining the fiction that it was actually the real Elvis.  Just before Ames, at the candidate-saturated State Fair, Alice Cooper got into the act, closing the set with his 1972 classic “(I Wanna Be) Elected” and announcing his candidacy.

Mike Huckabee rocked the house himself at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, playing bass with his own band Capitol Offense.  While I never saw a large Huckabee event, we had a pleasant conversation back in his asterisk era.  “The Stones, of those that are still around

After a short concert on the campus of Grinnell College, Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne introduced former senator John Edwards who spoke and took questions from the crowd of mostly college students and community members.

Raitt and Browne played four songs before bringing out the smiling presidential candidate.

Videos and music from the event are available below the fold.

In this video, Edwards talks about his plan to ensure a universal health care plan. He said, “the president of the United States’ greatest power is the bully pulpit,” which he would use to pressure members of congress to pass health care reforms.

He said he would visit the districts of congressional representatives who are not in favor of universal health care to speak directly to voters about passage of universal health care legislation.

He said that the goal of of his plan, “is not to take congress’ health care away, the goal of this is to get universal health care passed.”

Edwards was also asked about the border between the U.S. and Mexico.  Here is what he said about immigration and securing the border:

For more on a similar event in Iowa City, read Iowa Independent reporter John Deeth’s coverage of  an Iowa City campaign event: Raitt, Browne Rock Caucuses for Edwards.

]]> http://iowaindependent.com/1520/videos-edwards-on-immigration-and-universal-health-care/feed 0 http://iowaindependent.com/244/this-weeks-news-clippings http://iowaindependent.com/244/this-weeks-news-clippings#comments Fri, 01 Jun 2007 11:49:38 +0000 John Deeth http://iowaindependent.com/244/this-weeks-news-clippings Earlier this week Gov. Chet Culver signed and/or vetoed the last bills from the legislative session.  Election law followup: he signed off on opening the absentee envelopes early and ending the ballot courier system.

Never mind: Looks like neighbor Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo., is staying in Congress after all as the University of Missouri presidency goes to someone who makes trash bags and duct tape.

Change of plan:

University of Missouri curators today decided to start over in their search for a new president of the university system after their top choice for the job withdrew from consideration.

Curators must be like regents although it makes the University sound like a museum.

This one took the Show Me State media by surprise too.  Hulshof is still in consideration, and thus a special election is still a possibility.

Two items on the Hillary Rodham Clinton front: An almost believable Kos diary parodies an evasive answer.  And TalkLeft has an incredible series of sexist, too much information excerpts from Carl Bernstein’s Hillary Clinton book.

The Hill notes that Barack Obama is not coming to this weekend’s Democratic Hall Of Fame dinner in Cedar Rapids.  Hardly a Screw Iowa strategy, but…

National Public Radio political trivia guru Ken Rudin looks at how well skipping the caucuses has worked for Presidents Clark, Lieberman and McCain.

Why didn’t I think of that: A refrigeration system that uses cold outside air to cut winter energy bills.  And Norway installs a bicycle lift, sort of a cross between a ski lift and an escalator, for a killer hill.

And twenty years ago today, it was twenty years ago today that we first heard “it was twenty years ago today”.  To put it another way, Sgt. Pepper turns 40 today.
]]> http://iowaindependent.com/244/this-weeks-news-clippings/feed 0 http://iowaindependent.com/160/hillarys-playlist-what-no-rage-against-the-machine http://iowaindependent.com/160/hillarys-playlist-what-no-rage-against-the-machine#comments Wed, 16 May 2007 20:28:27 +0000 John Deeth http://iowaindependent.com/160/hillarys-playlist-what-no-rage-against-the-machine (Commentary) I actually thought this was an Onionesque joke when it landed in the in box this afternoon – “Pick Hillary Clinton’s campaign theme song?!?”  But lo and behold, it’s legit:

Humor sells – witness the praise lavished on Bill Richardson’s ads this week – and the video itself is a passable attempt at both viral campaign humor and I’m Just Regular Folks, Especially In Person (as we keep hearing, but as few non-Iowans will ever get a chance to experience).  She even incorporates her own (in)famous vocals on the national anthem and solemnly pledges not to sing – but then fumbles at the end by adding an unnecessary “until I win” that weakens the punch line.

Of course, the concept of “pick Hillary’s theme song” presents endless humor possibilities, and you can insert your own punch lines.

A musician only has to appeal to a niche, while a major league politician has to get to 50% or so.  Cutting edge music should be challenging, and can often alienate or polarize audiences.  This can be smart politics in the intellectual sense (see the collected lyric sheets of the Clash and Rage Against The Machine) but risky in the electoral sense.  Even innocuous bland pop hits have the occasional lyric that can be parsed or taken out of context for unintentional humor.  Or the artist has a controversial statement or lifestyle foible – musicians are good at those! – that you get attacked for.  Or there’s another song that you didn’t even play at the rally and which you or your junior level staffer who actually picked the music has never heard of, and you get held liable for that too. 

If you try too hard you get caught looking phony, as when Jerry Brown dropped Midnight Oil lyrics into his speeches in 1992 without attribution.  (Somehow, you got the idea that Jimmy Carter actually listened to Dylan.)

And while artists lose a lot of control once music is released, they don’t lose their voices and can bite back if they think you’ve misused their song.  This most famously happened in `84 when the Reagan campaign mistook the grim lyric of “Born In The USA” for a rah-rah anthem and Bruce Springsteen, at the very top of his career arc, quite loudly corrected that interpretation.

So we are left at rallies with bland cliches, and the list Hillary gives us to choose from is typical.

City of Blinding Lights – U2

Beautiful Day – U2

I’ve been a U2 fan since “October” and even I never ever ever want to hear “Beautiful Day” at a political rally ever again.  Some of Bono’s “am I bugging you” speeches from “Rattle and Hum” would be fine; Bono in his self-righteous prime was a wonder to behold, singing about the Central America war and turning the spotlight right back on the audience.  But instead we are offered the watered down and latter day version.

Fortunately there’s no John Mellencamp on this list.  As progressive and as active as he has been, two or three of his songs are just so damn all-American that he’s become a campaign trail cliche, killed by overplay just like “Stairway To Heaven.”

Suddenly I See – KT Tunstall
The sleeper of the bunch which means it’s probably already been picked. 

I’m a Believer – Smash Mouth
A cover of a song by a cartoon band (the Monkees) remade for a cartoon movie (Shrek).  Should lock up the six year old vote (and perhaps their voting moms) in the summer of Shrek 3 marketing, but if movie marketing were a factor they could have gone with the Ramones version of the Spiderman theme.  Of course that doesn’t have the line “then I saw her face, now I’m a believer.”  And with that in mind…

Get Ready – The Temptations
“Never met a girl that makes me feel the way that you do” indeed.

Ready to Run – Dixie Chicks
While the political pun of the title is too corny, “Landslide” would have been even worse.  At least this would have the advantage of pissing off Republicans.  In fact, this may be one of the few things that could make Republicans hate Hillary even more.

Rock This Country! – Shania Twain
I heard Robert John “Mutt” Lange’s other proteges Def Leppard on the radio the other day and realized that if you twanged up the guitars and changed a couple gender pronouns you’d have Shania Twain.  Now, if Lange (aka Mr. Twain) got her in the studio with AC/DC, that’d be really interesting.  Anyway, she’s Canadian and as for her singing, well… uh… she looks real purty in the videos.

As we close out the southern state country music appeal department, why not go hell-bent alt-country and get Steve Earle on board?

So come back Woody Guthrie
Come back to us now
Tear your eyes from paradise
And rise again somehow
If you run into Jesus
Maybe he can help you out
Come back Woody Guthrie to us now

So come back, Emma Goldman
Rise up, old Joe Hill
The barracades are goin’ up
They cannot break our will
Come back to us, Malcolm X
And Martin Luther King
We’re marching into Selma
As the bells of freedom ring

Let’s see: lifestyle foibles, controversial public statements, controversial songs… sorry, Steve, three strikes.  Back to Hillary’s playlist:

Right Here, Right Now – Jesus Jones
Might have been kinda hip for the first Bill Clinton campaign.  Actually, an ironic choice, since the context of “watching the world wake up from history” was all about the “end of history” that was in vogue for about a year as the Soviet Union collapsed.  I think in this context “history” is vote-for-the-woman vote code for It’s Time.

I’ll Take You There – The Staple Singers
I’m not going to say anything snarky about this damn fine soul classic.  Just proves that you don’t have to be cutting edge to be cool.

---

So in my dream-world, filled with voters who are political versions of John Cusack and Jack Black in High Fidelity, what’s my All Time Top Five list of Songs I Would Like To Hear At A Political Rally But Never Will?

We’ll start with the cynical:

“Elected” by Alice Cooper – wouldn’t you respect someone who had the nerve to take the stage to “I wanna be elected”?

“Vote For Me” by Joe Walsh, the theme to his goofball 1980 run for vice president.

“Looking For The Next Best Thing” by Warren Zevon.  The ultimate compromise song:

Don Quixote had his windmills
Ponce de Leon took his cruise
Took Sinbad seven voyages
To see that it was all a ruse

(That’s why I’m) Looking for the next best thing
Looking for the next best thing
I appreciate the best
But I’m settling for less
‘Cause I’m looking for the next best thing

More seriously, here’s one that almost works:

“We’ll Inherit The Earth” by the Replacements.  From their slightly overproduced 1989 album “Don’t Tell A Soul,” this underrated song both expresses rage at the system and confidence in change:

We can’t hold our tongues at the top of our lungs

We’ll inherit the earth but don’t tell anybody
It’s been ours since birth, and it’s ours already

But the top of my list is mimimalist.  I’ll immediately endorse any candidate who takes to the stage to the tune of…

“New Day Rising” by H

]]> http://iowaindependent.com/160/hillarys-playlist-what-no-rage-against-the-machine/feed 0 http://iowaindependent.com/104/hispanic-folk-fest-in-columbus-junction-saturday-sunday http://iowaindependent.com/104/hispanic-folk-fest-in-columbus-junction-saturday-sunday#comments Thu, 10 May 2007 13:54:07 +0000 John Deeth http://iowaindependent.com/104/hispanic-folk-fest-in-columbus-junction-saturday-sunday Columbus Junction is hosting its fourth annual Hispanic Cultural Festival on Saturday and Sunday.  This year, the event is in conjunction with the Midwest Folk Festival.

Mallory Smith of West Liberty is the festival’s financial chair.  She says the festival attracts more sponsors each year which is good testament to community support.  Smith also notes that notes that Columbus Junction, a Louisa County town of just over 1800, has residents from over a dozen countries.

I see the Hispanic community, especially in Columbus Junction wanting more meaningful community involvement and achieving it by building new organizations and getting involved in existing ones.  over the years we’ve developed much new leadership capacity and confidence.  Many of the people on the committee are new to community projects and their abilities have grown right along with the event.

Chicago-based Puerto Rican act Africaribe  is headlining the three-state festival.

“The Arts Council has supported our festival for 2 years and had a representative here last year,” said Smith, “and suggest we apply to host the Midwest Folk Festival.”

A full schedule of events, including a dance, church services, and children’s music workshops with Iowa City’s Dave Moore, is available on the Civic Society of Columbus site.

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