Friday Music

Here we go:

First, a new group from NYC, whose performance I managed to catch on LOGO earlier this week. I’d first heard of them via Warren Ellis, who described them as: “PJ Harvey’s younger sister kicking electroclash back towards glam with big stompy boots while waving a chainsaw.” Hells yeah. The Fire and Reason — “Do It Again.”

Next up, Mute Math, a group that The Minion has been gasping about since her return from college. A little on the shoe-gaze-y side at first, but pretty… and once the drums kick in, the whole thing comes together. Mute Math – “Stall Out.”

I just found out that Muse has announced their new album will be released in September. No word yet on a title, or any advance singles. As soon as I’ve got something, you’ll hear it. In the meantime, here’s one of my favorite tracks from their last album, Black Holes and Revelations: Muse – “Starlight.”

Speaking of advance singles, here’s the single from the debut solo release from Del Marquis of the Scissor Sisters. This track moves away from the Sisters 70s-elton-john-plus-bowie-plus-bee-gees sound, and more into something like early to mid 80s pop-soul stuff. Del Marquis – “Any Kind of Love.” If you’d like to download the entire EP (Litter to Society), Marquis has offered it for free, here.

Thanks to a Craig Ferguson video making its rounds through my friends’ pages, I’ve had this song stuck in my head for a bit, so I’m throwing it out to you: They Might Be Giants – “Instanbul (Not Constantinople).”

And lastly, in honor of my turning 40 last week, a song from my misspent youth: Fear — “Let’s Have A War.”

Enjoy.

Why Iran Matters

I could paraphrase, but Sullivan’s post nails it, in every way.

I am especially fascinated by the implications for media — the fact that we’re seeing, as Al Giordano says in a blog post quoted by Sullivan (and well worth reading on its own):

“…a great day when the corporate media got pushed out of the way by authentic media from below. What is occurring worldwide, with the Iranian crisis as catalyst, is the emergence of the very kind of media from below that the human race – particularly the working class and the poor – so desperately needs.”

There are very few events in one’s life where you can literally feel the shift of history. This, to me, feels very much like one of them.