We put together a sales slate of perfect balance, and then we go and add something else to throw the whole GD thing out of whack! It’s the Drag City way — and besides, who are we to not release a fantastic new Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy album that we feel super-strongly about? It’s called Lie Down in the Light and it’s coming along on LP and CD in May with these other records that I just described. You heard it here first. Did that just happen?
Oh, yes it did! Not only that, but the label was generous enough to give away a track from the upcoming record. The song is "So Everyone", and it's available in demo version. As long as there are tapes hissing, you can count on me to be a happy camper. And, though hearing the finished product would be good for the sake of comparing/contrast, this demo has the bare-bones quality of vintage blues and folk recordings--as a frame of reference, this track is more Leadbelly than Robert Johnson.
I'm sure of it. I'd be sure of it even if I didn't see her open for St. Vincent wearing a straight-jacket like most people wear hoodies. Now, I've only recently become schooled in the ways of the hobo, due to my exhaustive reading of John Hodgeman's The Areas Of My Expertise. But I think I that, in listening to Scout Niblett's fourth album, I've determined that the only way for Niblett to capture the kind of slow-burn wanderlust and aching solitude (moods which permeate Fool to a great degree) seemingly inherent in the hobo lifestyle would be if you actually spent your time riding in the back of locomotive trains with no one to talk to but a can of beans.
If you don't believe me, then listen to the weariness in Niblett's voice as she delivers the line "And how the hell did I live so long/without you by my side?" in album opener "Do You Want To Be Buried With My People?", her duet with collaborator Bonnie "Prince" Billy. The only way you can feel that desperation is if you're colloquially known as "Stewbulder Dennis."
Another reason why I believe Scout Niblett is a hobo is because in This Fool Can Die Now's quieter moments--moments where the music is disarmingly quiet, as if Kurt Cobain reinvented himself after hearing What Would The Community Think?--you feel as if she is singing right beside you. The timbre of Niblett's voice simply sends shivers down the spine, and she puts that unique talent to great use on songs such as "Kiss", "Elizabeth (Black Hearted Queen)" and "Dinosaur Egg". That last song in particular is an album highlight because of how it is humorous--the absurd image of a dinosaur serving drinks on a Friday night is worth the lyrical price of admission alone.
If there's anything to complain about This Fool Can Die Now, it's that there aren't many moments of levity like that. The album becomes a bit monotonous, though still engaging, around the middle, where a series of more introspective songs dominate the section. However, tracks like "Let Thine Heart Be Warned" make sure that the guitars are plenty heavy.
One doesn't have to carve their own currency into already-existing currency to know that Scout Niblett has a value all her own, and she lets it show on this praiseworthy album.
One last hobo reference:
Marge: Oh, Homer you're not going as a hobo again? Homer: Going where?
So, the above video caught my attention recently. I know Jon usually runs the political racket ‘round these parts, but I’ve got something to get off my chest. I'm going to use it not only as a chance to hop up on my soapbox, but as an MP3 dump.
As some of you probably know, or have surmised to some degree from my other posts, I'm a biologist. Specifically, an evolutionary biologist. From watching that video, you might not see why I'm bringing it up, but my reasons will be absolutely crystalline in a few moments.
The above video shows a crowd of people who aren't just using religion as a rhetorical weapon: They want to bring God down here to fight on their side. Physically. They want a bloodbath.
As I'm sure anyone with brains in their heads (rather than the rocks these people so clearly possess) realizes that the book of Revelation has no bearing on any actual end times, as it wasn't a prophecy. But, to them, it does. And that should scare you. These people control our country. Why plan for the future, why care for the environment, why bother with social security reform if our world won't be here in 50 years? That's how these people think.
That bloodbath I mentioned? It's a looming threat in our own country. Last week, evolutionary biologists in Colorado received threatening messages, followed by threats e-mailed to evil-utionists across the country.
Why us? Some propaganda I got from AnswersInGenesis.org clears that question up: They think evolution is the seed of evil in the world. A while back, a friend of mine said he didn't think fundies would get violent with evolutionary biologists like they do with abortion doctors. Evolution has no religious affiliation and contradicts a literal reading of the Bible (a literal reading never intended by its authors), therefore it is the seed of evil in their view. As an evolutionary biologist, they see me as the reason that there's abortion, murder, gay sex, theft and porn.
They see fighting the enemies of their narrow Biblical interpretation as integral to their plot to bring the Rapture. After all, fighting the enemies of their bastardized warrior god (such an idea doesn't even deserve a capital "g") will get them rewards in heaven. Or so they think. And, as should be clear from the video and the death threats, they'll get ugly in order to get it. They've already started on the homosexuals and the abortion doctors. They've just been warming up, assuming they have the guts to follow through with any of it, which is, admittedly, doubtful.
But society can stop them. I implore you: Don't give these nutcases the time of day. When someone starts in on you about the end times, or fighting "evil" with violence, tell them, in the words of P.Z. Myers, that they are demented fuckwits. Shut them down before they even start. Don't hide your contempt for them. Every time they encounter someone who, in the name of being PC or polite, doesn't tell them where they can shove their ideas, they get bolder. They get stronger.
In the mean time, here are some auditory libations for these troubled times:
