Eminem and Guerilla Network News have unleashed a scathing, darkly beautiful, and powerful video. The song is Eminem's Mosh, and the animated video shows an uprising. A young woman comes home in the rain, groceries in hand and a piece of mail in her mouth, while her children watch TV. She opens the letter to find an eviction notice. On the TV, footage of President Bush's State of the Union address airs with the words "Tax Cuts" underneath it. The young woman dons a black hoodie and joins the masses marching behind Eminem. The video also shows a young Private at an Eminem performance for the troops in Iraq. He returns home with a smile on his face, to a house with a "Welcome Home!" banner on it. His wife and children are at the door with sad faces, and his wife hands him a letter telling him he's been re-assigned to Iraq. The young Private instead says "Fuck Bush!" and dons a black hoodie, joining the growing forces.
Eminem's plea, however, is not to revolt, but to take it to the polls.
Let us set aside our differences and assemble our own army to disarm this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president for the present, and march for the future of our next generation to speak and be heard.
Mr. President, Mr. Senator, do you guys hear us?
Downtown: "Starck designed Wall Street condo complex. Downtown is the name, and the location, for a new luxury condo designed by uber designer Philippe Starck. The former 40-story headquarters for banker JP Morgan has been transfomed into 326 Starck-designed residences."
(Via MoCoLoco.)
I just purchased the new Tom Waits album, Real Gone, from the iTunes Music Store. And while I would like to pretend that I could write a good review of this, I can't. By good review, I don't mean positive, but rather, "a review that could do it justice."
Real Gone is raw rough goodness. The piano is gone, the strings are gone, and a good amount of the percussion is Waits himself - human beatbox style (but in a style you're unlikely to come across anywhere you'd want to find yourself outside of a beer and tequila haze). Waits recorded hours of material himself on tape at home, and wanted to build directly on that. In many cases the band, which features Mark Ribot (who last appeared with Waits clear back on Rain Dogs), plays over these tapes and quite often, the first takes were used. Mics were overloaded. Many of the tracks thump, holler, and spit.
And then there are the tracks Sins of the Father and Day After Tomorrow. Sins of the Father is a ten and a half minute slow rolling dub reggae style piece, with lyrics like "everybody knows the game was rigged / justice wears suspenders and a powdered wig." But it's Day After Tomorrow that's getting the most notice. It's the most stripped down song of the album, reminiscent of Johnny Cash's first American Recordings album (which featured a song penned by Waits). The story of Day After Tomorrow is a letter home from a soldier. It's raw, beautiful, and sad, as the soldier knows that the guys on the other side are probably praying to the same God that the soldier and his side are, and asks "And Tell me how does God Choose, who’s prayers does he Refuse?"