Good Reason

It's okay to be wrong. It's not okay to stay wrong.

Category: music (page 1 of 5)

My most-listened (and therefore favourite) albums of 2014

13 December 2014 / / Comments Off on My most-listened (and therefore favourite) albums of 2014

This year I’m doing my annual music review by the numbers. I figure my favourite albums are the ones I’ve actually listened to the most, so here I’m ordering them by average play count, according to my scrupulously kept iTunes stats. Merciless, unbiased statistics!

This isn’t to say that the albums I’ve listened to the most are the best, or even that they’re my favourites. There are some fairly new albums that I haven’t had time to get into yet (but I’ll add those at the end). There are also some great albums that, for one reason or another, I rarely feel like playing. But in general, the principle holds: if I’ve played it a lot, it probably has something to do with how much I like it. And doing it this way removes the temptation to try and appear cool by recommending albums I haven’t been listening to. You might find some of my guilty pleasures, as well.

I’m releasing these by fives, so new updates will be at the bottom.

25

Hotel Valentine by Cibo Matto
Average 4.8 plays per track

A most welcome return to form from these two. It’s been far too long.

Cibo Matto brings its usual sense of fun and zaniness, but this time it’s framed by a visit to a hotel, from check-in to check-out. There are parties, banter from the housekeeping staff, and a ghost girl who appears mysteriously throughout.

Standout tracks include “Empty Pool” and “10th Floor Ghost Girl”.

24

Mandatory Fun by “Weird Al” Yankovic
Average 5.3 plays per track

Even though I’ve enjoyed his work off and on since the 80s, I’ve never really had a “Weird Al” phase. But then I guess this album has attracted a lot of new fans. It went to #1 on the Billboard charts; the first comedy album to do that in fifty years.

“Weird Al” songs fall into three broad categories: polka medleys (“Now That’s What I Call Polka!”), songs that parody the style of other artists (“My Own Eyes”, “Mission Statement” , “First World Problems”), and straight parodies of existing songs (“Word Crimes”, “Tacky”, “Foil”). These latter are useful because, really, did you want to buy the original?

There are laughs to be had throughout, but the real accomplishment here is “Jackson Park Express”, a brilliant Cat-Stevens-style story of a romance that plays out through meaningful glances across the aisle of a bus. But also great is “Word Crimes”, which I discussed in two recent episodes (170 and 171) of Talk the Talk.

23

Opening by Christopher Willits
Average 5.4 plays per track

I’ve always enjoyed Christopher Willits’s clicky-yet-smooth ambient style, so I had high hopes for this album. I haven’t listened to it as much as I thought I would, though. It’s pleasant enough, but it’s all a bit indistinct for an album that should be his big breakout. It does benefit from the influence of Scott Hansen of Tycho.

I think I just need to put this one on at work more often.

22

You’re Dead! by Flying Lotus
Average 5.5 plays per track

Endlessly inventive and active. This may be the best album on my list, but for some reason I find it exhausting and more than a little bit grim, which is why I rarely reach for it. It’s my problem, I know.

One good memory though: I was waiting for the lunar eclipse earlier this year, sitting on my roof for a better vantage point, and listening to this album. It was so insane and enveloping that I thought I could fly. Good thing I didn’t try it.

Love this video, too. What fantastic young dancers.

21

Brand New Love by The Go Find
Average 5.7 plays per track

There’s something odd about every Go Find album (and no, we’re not talking about OK Go). The songs are enjoyable, and I can listen to them a lot, but I can never remember the tunes when the record stops. This album is no exception.

I do remember one thing, though: that damn saxophone on “Japan”. Is there any pop song a sax can’t ruin? It cemented my hatred for that instrument on everything but jazz and ska.

19 (tie)

Shriek by Wye Oak
Average 6.4 plays per track

I first ran across Wye Oak when they did their cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”. Watching the clip, I was impressed by Andy Stack playing the drums with one hand and the keyboards with another, but what stands out on this album is Jenn Wasner’s voice, which makes me think of Annie Lennox. The songs seem simple, but can take unexpected and deeply involving turns, as with the title track.

19 (tie)

Sylvan Esso by Sylvan Esso
Average 6.4 plays per track

It’s fitting that these two albums appear side by side, because they’re very much of a piece. Sylvan Esso is Amelia Meath (of Mountain Man) and Nick Sanborn (of Megafaun). Again, electronica merges with listenable songwriting. “Coffee” is one of my favourite songs this year.

18

Barbara Channel 3 by Tom Ellard
Average 7 plays per track

You know Tom Ellard from Severed Heads, and if you don’t, you should. Though he’s turned in his Severed project for an academic job, he still can’t stay out of music, and Barbara Island series is the kind of music he wants to make now.

And what music. Is it ambient? Maybe — it’s certainly good to work to — but there’s enough of an edge to remind you who’s in charge here.

17

Saudade by Thievery Corporation
Average 7.5 plays per track

This is, if not the album ThievCorp was born to make, certainly a very comfortable addition to their collection. This album gives a Latin spin to their chilled-out grooves, and when you’re in the mood, it’s the only thing that will suit.

16

Syro by Aphex Twin
Average 7.9 plays per track

It’s great to have a new AT album after so many years, especially when the artist brings his consummate skill to every track. As famously prickly as Richard D James is, this is a surprisingly accessible album, and seemingly polished to a sheen.

14 (tie)

Black Coral Sprig by Talk West
Average 8.3 plays per track

Introspective ambient guitar from Oklahoma’s Talk West. I would start the album, and — oh, look — another hour’s gone by. Utterly enveloping.

14 (tie)

1979 by Deru
Average 8.3 plays per track

For a Deru listener, this album comes as a bit of a surprise. There’s not a beat to be found. It’s all texture, and the texture is dark and warm, fuzzy analogue. Maybe I’m too suggestible to titles, but 1979 is a good year to describe the mood here. For me, 1979 was sitting in suburban houses, waiting for something to happen, everybody somewhere else. Yes, very apt.

13

Buffalo Buffalo [EP] by Soop
Average 8.6 plays per track

You might get stuck on “Ostrich of War” because it’s a fabulous glossy piece of music, but you also need to hear what awaits on the other tracks: dreamy pop tunes suffused in John-Hughesy nostalgia. These are tremendously talented guys who don’t take themselves or their music too seriously.

12

Everyday Robots by Damon Albarn
Average 9.8 plays per track

This album reached me in a way that very little else has in Albarn’s catalogue. Boy, is it bleak. Its opening line is a perfect way of describing weary commuters on the bus. “We are everyday robots on our phones / In the process of getting home”. The rest of the album has a similarly exhausted feel, and there’s a really deep sadness that settles over it, despite the attempts of “Mr Tembo” to keep things light. But despite that, the tracks really are beautiful, and they have a depth that sustains many listenings.

11

Our Love by Caribou
Average 11.3 plays per track

What’s going on with Caribou? Last we heard, Dan Snaith had eschewed the sunshiny pop of Andorra for a solid dance groove on Swim. Our Love keeps going down this same road, but with an even more marked — dare I say younger? — EDM sensibility. There’s something of a summertime vibe, too. Going for the youth festival crowd? Who cares, when the groove sounds like this. You just have to realise that he knows what he’s doing.

10

Atlas by Real Estate
Average 11.5 plays per track

Love this album. I don’t think anyone else today has quite their sound, except perhaps The Ocean Blue. Rockish, but not too much, with gentle reminiscences folded in.

As a music guy, I like how together they seem. Even when there are tempo changes, they’re locked in together. As an example, try “The Bend”, which breaks into a wonderful wide-open coda.

9

Passerby by Luluc
Average 11.9 plays per track

The cover of this album is a good guide to the contents. Luluc is good music for curling up with a cat on a sleepy afternoon. (In fact, the artwork is done by singer Zoë Randell’s sister Fleur, and it’s a photo of Zoë, age 5, and the family cat.)

One of the highlights of the year for me was Luluc’s gig at the 4Five9 bar, which is tiny. It was just Zoë and Steve, weaving their folky magic. Chatting with them afterward was fun, too.

Luluc is just about perfect.

8

Morning Phase by Beck
Average 12.8 plays per track

Calling this album Sea Change 2 is missing the point. Beck’s not redoing an album, but rather revisiting one of his modes (and we’re lucky he has so many great ones to visit). What’s different about this album is the luminosity Beck brings. Every track is covered in dappled sunlight, except for ‘Wave”, after which you might need a hug.

7

Reachy Prints by Plaid
Average 13.2 plays per track

Some albums are on this list because I’ve listened to every track over and over again, and then some are here because one amazing track has dominated my listening. This album is one of the latter. It’s great all the way through, but the standout track is “Hawkmoth”. Probably track of the year.

6

Arterial by Lusine
Average 13.8 plays per track

A Lusine release is always welcome (and in fact I missed last year’s excellent The Waiting Room). Jeff McIlwain has done it again; smooth grooves and subtle beats.

5

The Nightday by ZHU
Average 15.5 plays per track

So I’m at the Listen Out festival in Perth with Oldest Boy. There’s a bit of a gap before Flume, so we decide to stay in one place and check out Zhu. I’ve never heard of Zhu, and I’m not likely to find out who he is; a screen comes down to obscure his identity. (The Internet thinks he might be electronic musician Steven Zhu; so much for anonymity.) As the projection show starts, I do note that I’m familiar with his Z-flag device, which I love; I’m a sucker for a great graphic concept.

When the music starts, though, it’s all different. Oldest Boy and I realise at once that not only is Zhu’s music danceable, it’s moody, extremely stylish, and polished to a sheen. Never mind that it’s a bit more for the younger folks; this is someone who really has their sound together. I haven’t stopped listening since.

4

Salad Days by Mac DeMarco
Average 18 plays per track

Another artist that Oldest Boy told me about. It’s odd finding out about Mac DeMarco. You think, “Who is this gap-toothed Canadian youngster?” Then you put the album on, and you realise, “This is someone who knows how to music.” Behind the strange instruments and odd production, true talent shines through. I’m a fan, and I hope he does a lot more.

3

Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes by Thom Yorke
Average 21.3 plays per track

Thom Yorke has another solo album? Nigel Goderich produced it? Then sign me up. I’m a bit atypical in that I’ve always preferred Yorke’s solo material to Radiohead, just because it’s a bit more on the smooth ambient side, and that’s how I roll. I feel like this album has been flying under the radar for a lot of people, which is a shame because it contains one of the most compulsive tracks I’ve heard in a while: “Guess Again!” which did actually throw the average playcount for this album up a bit.

2

Psychic 9-5 Club by HTRK
Average 21.5 plays per track

A friend recently asked me if I could suggest any good sex music, and without thinking, I named this album. HTRK’s music is often described as David-Lynchian, which in this case evokes Mulholland Drive more than Twin Peaks; the tracks drip with hypnotic urban neon.

I think this is something close to a perfect album.

1

Awake by Tycho
Average 31.6 plays per track

Back in the solo days of “Dive”, Scott Hansen (another graphic designer) wore his Boards of Canada influences on his sleeve. But since making his touring band his actual band, Tycho has grown into an amazing new sound. The decayed analog is still there, but now it’s combined with guitar and drums to create something altogether more muscular and invigorating. It’s a fantastic summertime sound. I coud never get tired of it, which is why Awake has been in my ears far and away more than any other album this year.

Listen to the music

8 October 2014 / / Comments Off on Listen to the music

Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit speaks on atheism, doubt, and life

8 February 2014 / / Comments Off on Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit speaks on atheism, doubt, and life

I recently got the chance to speak with Scott Hutchison in an interview for RTRfm. He’s the frontman for the acclaimed Scottish indie band Frightened Rabbit.

I’d noticed that some of their songs discuss atheism, most recently the song ‘Late March, Death March’ from the album Pedestrian Verse, with its lyric “There isn’t a god, so I’ll save my breath” and “So unfurrow that brow, and plant those seeds of doubt.”

So I decided to ask Scott about it. This part didn’t make it into the interview, so here it is.

Your browser does not support the audio element. Upgrade your browser to one that does

Link to file, if the player isn’t working.

If you’d like to hear the rest of the interview, it’s on the RTRfm website.

Best music of 2013

5 January 2014 / / Comments Off on Best music of 2013

Yes, it’s a little late, but this year’s rundown is still fresh. And so much good music this year. Here are my picks.

Best Electronic Album
Moderat – II

This is the album I listened to most this year. Moderat is a Berlin-based trio consisting of Modeselektor and Apparat, and they run this album confidently. On “Versions”, they bring the mood down so steadily that you may not notice it until the drum fill brings it back up. “Bad Kingdom” deserves all the attention it’s gotten, but also check out “Let In the Light”.

Honorable Mench:
Jon Hopkins — Immunity

If you listen to some of his early work, you may be surprised to find it a little on the new age side of ambient. Not anymore. He’s found his edge, and lost none of his songwriting talent. Immunity is jagged and beautiful, and Hopkins can work the Kaoss pads like a maniac. Very enjoyable live show, too. Here he is at the Boiler Room.

Best Unguilty Pleasure
Lorde — Pure Heroine

I was lucky to come into this album knowing nothing about it, beyond the barest mention of its 16-year-old New Zealand protagonist. I had no idea of its origin, its intended audience; in short, where the album was situated socially. Thank goodness; it freed me up to listen to the music. And musically, I’m still amazed by it. It’s cool, electronic, and minimal. It glitters, but it’s a shimmering of stars, not makeup on eyelids. What’s most amazing about it, though, is how easy she makes it look. Ten unhurried, effortless songs. Check out that shadowy choral part on ‘White Teeth Teens’ or the misty opening to ‘Buzzcut Season’.

Now, of course, I’ve heard ‘Royals’ a hundred times like everyone else (and in fact I was surprised to hear ‘Team’ at the grocery store). I suppose it’s too pop. So what. I don’t care who this album’s for, or if Lorde is supposed to be Ke$ha without the alcohol, or Miley by way of Fiona Apple, or whatever. Most of the music aimed at me isn’t as good as this. I’m an unironic Lorde enjoyer, and I can’t wait to hear what she does next.

Best Psychedelia
Unknown Mortal Orchestra — II

This is kind of psychedelic-sounding but with a light touch. Combine light falsetto vocals with psychedelic guitar and a drummer who loves his fills and breaks, and you’ve got it. Can’t believe how catchy this is. See if you don’t agree.

Song of the Year
Tycho – “Awake”

This should finally put those Boards of Canada comparisons to rest. Not that it’s a bad comparison, or that it wasn’t deserved, but Tycho has come a long way since following in the spangly decayed template that BoC laid out years ago. This time, the guitar is doing the rhythmic driving, with Tycho’s signature analog touches coming in to add flavour. Such smooth. Wow. Can’t wait for the album, due out on 18 March 2014.

Honourable Mench:
Bibio – “À tout à l’heure”

I’ve always been off and on with Bibio, but Silver Wilkinson is where he finally hits the mark for me. And this break-out track has earned its place all over the indie airwaves.

Best Album from Last Year That I Missed
Deerhoof — Breakup Song

Deerhoof has always packed 20 ideas into a song, and this means that the album takes a little longer to get into, for each songs to let its character be felt. For this album, it’s worth it. It’s still a high-energy noise pop album, but Deerhoof sounds more polished and focused than on previous albums. Check out that nod to Perez Prado on ‘The Trouble With Candyhands”.

And if you’re curious, here’s an interview I did last year with drummer Greg Saunier.

Album of the Year
The Paper Kites — States

It was worth the wait. I was really to call this talented Melbourne five-piece the second coming of the Lilac Time, but there’s a lot more to this band’s sound than their previous EPs would lead one to believe. They’ve added touches of rock here amongst the folk — a somewhat controversial choice that works — and lovely swirling orchestral arrangements besides.

The word that fits this album is ‘beautiful’. It’s actually so beautiful that I don’t like to listen to it too much. At times, it demands a careful listening. You don’t so much listen to it as you are In Its Presence. I think they’ve really found their sound, and they deserve all your listens.

I love your band. You’re doomed.

13 June 2013 / / Comments Off on I love your band. You’re doomed.

Hey, that was a great set! You guys are fantastic. Your sound reminds me a little of the Lilac Time. Oh, you haven’t heard of them? Right.

Look, I’ve got some bad news. I love your band! Yes, that’s usually a good thing, but you see, when I really get into a band, it means that your music appeals to bookish 40-somethings like me, and not to great numbers of young people who go to shows or buy a lot of recorded music. And that means that your appeal is probably going to be quite limited, no matter how good you are. You’re going to be critically adored, but criminally underrated. Sorry about that.

I don’t know what it is, but for some reason when I like bands, they never seem to do very well. Like this band on this t-shirt I’m wearing? Yeah, it’s too bad they were never able to break out before their guitarist quit. Great band though. You should check ’em out.

How much for one of your t-shirts? Never mind, I’ll check it out at the merch desk. Hey, thanks for the show, and keep going! I can guarantee you that whatever you release, a tiny group of middle-aged men will be ready to snap it up.

Best music of 2012

31 December 2012 / / Comments Off on Best music of 2012

Best EP
Young North by The Paper Kites

I confess: I have fallen in love with the Paper Kites. This unassuming but talented band from Melbourne has discovered the heart of folk in a way I haven’t heard since the Lilac Time (who Sam, the lead singer, had never heard of). But the comparisons are obvious. Same gentle bucolic folk, right? Same iconography, right? It’s not just me, is it?

I was in for a surprise in concert though. Much as I was expecting a Lilac vibe, I began to get a strong Fleetwood Mac vibe. Which is funny, because halfway through their set, they busted out ‘Dreams’.

Here’s the video for ‘A Maker of My Time’. Listen for the quiet bit near the chorus. There are three chords, and they keep that F# ringing throughout. That makes it. It’s perfection. I haven’t felt anything like that since the Icicle Works.

They’re working on their first full album. I’m already calling it the best album of 2013.

Best Electronic Album
Smalhans by Lindstrøm

Lindstrøm has never been shy about going for the 80s synth cheese, but there’s something more going on here. More mathematical. I don’t want to invoke Bach because Bach is totally different, but as an example, check out this track “Fāār-i-kāāl”. Beyond the incredible joyousness of it all, there’s a method to it. The bass line just keeps climbing up and ever up in an unusual seven-part pattern, like a spiral staircase. Even so, watch out for that choir coming down. It’s upbeat, yet meticulous and precise. Never boring — he knows how to mix things up.

Second place: Pink by Four Tet

I really enjoyed the new Four Tet. Where “There is Love in You” was hiccupy, this is smooth and enjoyable.




Best Album by a Band With “Bear” in Their Name
Shields by Grizzly Bear

This album beat out all other bear bands, including Boy and Bear, Minus the Bear, and Bear in Heaven.




Most Interesting Story Behind an Album
SSSS by VCMG

VC is Vince Clarke, and MG is Martin Gore. Yes, that Vince and that Martin.

Daniel Miller describes it thus:

Vince Clarke left Depeche Mode after the first album and subsequently didn’t have much contact with the rest of the band. But about a year ago he emailed Martin Gore out of the blue and just asked if he fancied making a techno record. And that was it.

This is the album that my teenaged self would have squealed over, but he probably would have been disappointed because it doesn’t sound like Depeche Mode or Erasure. My older self thinks that’s just fine.

But how does it sound? Like this.


Best Jazz Album
Further Explorations by Chick Corea

The title is a play on Explorations, an album by legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans. The set features bassist Eddie Gomez and the late drummer Paul Motian, who both played with Evans back in the day, so this is an extra-special treat.


Best Song
“Offspring Are Blank” by The Dirty Projectors
from Swing Lo Magellan

I can’t stop listening to this amazing track. The opening throat-clearing serves as punctuation, setting you up for what’s to come: soaring vocal harmonies and jagged rock. Just when you expect a blast of electric guitar, you get acoustic. Then it all comes crashing down in the best possible way.



Best Ambient
LUX by Brian Eno

At last! Another ambient album from Eno. Suitable for play in your favourite airport, library, or cathedral. Soak it up.

Better still, open this in two windows, and play sections from both at the same time.

Best Artist I Missed Last Year
Helios

Since I’m such a fan of electronic ambient music, it’s surprising I hadn’t discovered Helios. I can’t pick out any particular album; one, because they’re so similar in texture, and two, because they’re all great.

Here. I picked this song at random.

Hold the phone: Keith Kenniff from Helios has made his new album ‘Moeity’ available for free on the Unseen Music website. There are also some beautiful interpretations of Boards of Canada songs. Go get them all, and make a donation.

Best Album
Bloom by Beach House
Lonerism by Tama Impala

Both my picks for best album have a lot in common. They’re both transportive in their own way. They’re both easy to listen to. And they both follow on from a previous album that was remarkably similar in tone and in some respects slightly better.

Tame Impala’s Lonerism has earned a lot of love on top 10 lists this year, and deservedly so. The best albums (and movies and books) are like a place you want to visit again and again, and that’s true for Lonerism. You find yourself wondering why someone didn’t write this before, or have they?

But I can’t give Lonerism the nod for Best Album for a couple of reasons: first, Innerspeaker was better (which isn’t a very good reason). And second, the songs on Lonerism seem more like half-thought-out ideas, dressed in Tame Impala’s wonderful signature sound. (Which is a pretty good reason.) Whereas every track on Innerspeaker was a revelatory composition, the tracks on Lonerism are just really great tunes. Still great summer listening.

The new Beach House album doesn’t differ markedly from 2010’s Teen Dream, and that’s a good thing. They don’t have to make the same album over and over, but I hope they don’t ever change. It’s just a beautiful ride.

What did I miss? What should I be listening to? Put your picks in comments.

Wedding

14 December 2012 / / 4 Comments

I am pleased to announce that Miss Perfect and I are married!

The wedding was on a lovely Saturday afternoon, just a couple of weekends ago. The bride was radiant in her dress, the groom dashingly handsome in tails. After photographs and dinner, we danced all night. It was a beautiful day with family and friends.

I used to have a hypothesis about weddings, and it was that they’re intended as a stress test for the relationship. If your relationship could survive the planning, the organisation, and the negotiation of a thousand details, then you passed the qualifying round. But this wedding wasn’t like that at all, mostly because Miss Perfect did such a great job of organising things, and we fully agreed with each other on colours, typefaces, flowers, cakes, and music. We worked together to make invitations and menus. There were only a couple of times throughout the process when we asked each other: Why are we doing this again?

Why were we getting married? Secular atheists don’t need marriage. We’d been living together, sleeping together, building our home together for the last five years. We were already both committed to each other for the rest of our lives. We won’t change, we told each other. We won’t start acting ‘married’ — wait, is that a bad thing?

Okay, so if nothing is going to change, then why go through an elaborate wedding and become married people?

And the answer was simple: It was a chance to throw a really great party. No, really; great clothes, a choir, music, pomp. Especially the pomp. What a great opportunity to gather a whole bunch of people together (even family and friends from America) and have a whole day to celebrate love and relationships.

But the thing about that — after the wedding, for a couple of days, we were on a huge high from the outpouring of love from everyone and from each other. It was like being on a serotonin water-slide, riding on waves of affirmation from everyone.

We noticed another thing after the wedding. We felt like more of a couple. Of course, we walked around the house saying, “Hello Mr” and “Hello Mrs”, enjoying that unfamiliar strangeness. But we also felt more solid somehow. More established and grown-up. Our relationship was official. Society approved. Which is silly, but that’s how it feels. It feels like being real.

Marriage equality has been on my mind. Washington’s gay-marriage initiative passed last month (and I was pleased to have voted for it). However, in Australia, it’s still not legal. The marriage celebrant even had to include this little gem in her bit:

Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life …

which discriminates against not only my gay friends, but also my polyamorous friends. Seriously — isn’t that the kind of thing adults can decide for themselves? We have a long way to go, it seems.

So amid the wedding buzz and all the friends and the food and the love, and above all, my beautiful bride and I entering into a new stage of our relationship with a shiny new official status, I thought: Screw anyone who would try and prevent someone – anyone, I don’t care who – from having this, from feeling this way. It’s too wonderful to stop. Seriously — find me someone who thinks this. I’ll slap them upside the head and ask what’s wrong with them. Consenting adults in a loving relationship shouldn’t be allowed to have this amazing experience? Just because you don’t like their kind of relationship? Get out of town. This attitude isn’t just bigoted; it seems to originate from a kind of viciousness that’s worse than mere bigotry.

There are many arguments for marriage equality. Some involve hospital visits and wills, and some involve basic fairness. I’d like to add one to the list. Having a wedding is wonderful. So is the way you feel about your partner and your relationship afterward. That should be for everyone.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Our wedding booklet contained this snippet:

Marriage is a vital social institution. The exclusive commitment of two individuals to each other nurtures love and mutual support. Civil marriage is at once a deeply personal commitment to another human being and a highly public celebration of the ideals of mutuality, companionship, intimacy, fidelity, and family. Because it fulfills yearnings for security, safe haven, and connection that express our common humanity, civil marriage is an esteemed institution and the decision whether and whom to marry is among life’s momentous acts of self-definition.

It is undoubtedly for these concrete reasons, as well as for its intimately personal significance, that civil marriage has long been termed a ‘civil right.’ Without the right to choose to marry, one is excluded from the full range of human experience.

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 2003

You know, like Judas Priest.

25 October 2012 / / 2 Comments

This is basically what it was like growing up in the 80s in Eastern Washington.

Tim Minchin’s Xmas song: Woody Allen Jesus

22 December 2011 / / 5 Comments

If you liked “White Wine in the Sun“, you’ll be sure to enjoy his new offering for the season: Woody Allen Jesus.

Sadly cut from the Jonathan Ross show, due to an unscheduled failure of courage from some contemptible executive.

She’s just a

23 November 2011 / / Comments Off on She’s just a

Is Michele Bachmann a lyin’-ass bitch? The Roots (of Jimmy Fallon fame) seem to think this is an appropriate assessment; the other night, they used the amazing Fishbone song of the same name to play her on.

But isn’t that a little harsh? Whether she’s a lyin’-ass bitch depends on whether she actually believes the insane things she says. If she sincerely believes them, then she’s a crazy, wrong-headed, god-soaked, log-stupid, vicious, callous, deluded, vaccine-denying, dangerous historical revisionist that has no business sitting on a local school board, much less voting in Congress or running for President of a major country.

But not a lyin’-ass bitch.

Well, she might be a bitch.

I’m just glad they played the song because I haven’t thought of it in ages.

Hey, why don’t we throw it on?

Older posts

Meta

© 2024 Good Reason

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑