Leftist Christian

Some of the best albums I heard this year are (not in any order): Deerhunter – Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. Somewhere between the pre-verbal psychedelia of Cryptograms and the airy pop of Atlas Sound comes this beautiful and surprisingly accessible album, which, unfortunately for them, was leaked long before its official release. TV on the Radio – Dear Science, In which the band continues toward becoming one of America's greatest offerings. I preferred Return to Cookie Mountain a bit more, but as someone said, this may be the best Peter Gabriel album in a number of years. Boris – Smile Somehow they channel the metal while working with Ghost's Michio Kurihara to make, well, airy psychedelia (twice in one post). Somehow in my first couple listens, I didn't realize that this was entirely in Japanese--the lyrics are sung in a way that doesn't matter. One of my fonder memories this year is the drummer shouting and leaping into the crowd at the Pitchfork Festival, then ...

Several times growing up, I joined the Columbia House Music Club. The first time, the choices were more driven by my parents (Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac). The second time, my brother called the shots--this would be more in the metal phase, and we received our selections in vinyl format. (I should mention that the standard course of action at this point would be to reap the rewards of joining then never pay for anything, unfortunately. Oddly, though, they would make us the offer again after a couple of years). I made my own selections for a batch as a freshman in high school, coinciding with a decided shift in musical taste. I hadn't heard much of anything from the cassettes I was ordering, save from 120 Minutes, a weekly MTV program focusing on what was then unapologetically called alternative music. One of the selections was New Order's Substance. Immediately I liked it, leading to a friend's purchase of Joy Division's album by the same title (very different--pr...

I drove back up to Chicago from Northwest Indiana on Tuesday to vote--surprisingly small lines. Picked up a free coffee from Starbucks on my walk home. I kept arguing with myself over the next couple of hours--should I get on a bus and go to Grant Park? I decided to watch the first couple returns, and the first few states went for McCain. I had told a few others that if McCain wins, we'll know it's been stolen. There was also the fact that I felt that I'd seen a lot more McCain-Palin signs than Obama. I was getting a little nervous. Didn't take much to talk me out of going although I was well aware I was missing something important. Pennsylvania went for Obama--really good sign. Several key states stayed undecided for a long time, but somewhere around 9:00, California was called, and can you believe it? America actually elected Obama! After getting so mentally invested in Gore's and Kerry's campaigns, somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought it woul...

I've been thinking about voting early, as I might be out of town next Tuesday. As I looked closely over a mailing concerning that, though, I realized that I won't be able to since it requires a photo ID. As of right now, my license is somewhere awaiting my check for the ticket resulting from my speeding on Lake Shore Drive. Hopefully it arrives before Election Day. I've been worked up about things and have written several letters to a local newspaper. At this point I'm ready for it all to be over. It feels quite odd, but it looks like Barack Obama might actually become our next president, and that will be a beautiful moment in history. Let's face it, too, righties, he will better handle "our current economic crisis." Why are you so worried about the top 5%'s taxes, anyway. And don't tell me, "That's socialism." Adam Smith and our Constitution both posit the need for a progressive tax system. You confuse capitalism with democ...

I listen to Air America Radio religiously (via WCPT in Chicago) more religiously than I've attended church recently. Love the lineup quite a bit here. Not appreciating how the occasion of naming Sarah Palin seems to have invited a lot of criticism of people of faith. This isn't coming from the candidates themselves but rather media personalities. It comes in referring to "End-Timers," "Creationists," "Pray Away the Gay" folks and other issue-related labels that pit faith against science. I wouldn't personally attend Palin's church, but I listened to a pastor on Ed Schultz from that denomination express political views almost identical to my own. What happened to Howard Dean's stated goals of bringing in many different groups into the Democratic party? Either a lot of radio and television personalities don't ascribe to those same goals or the goals have been neglected/abandoned. It would seem to me that the major group that th...

Looking closely at the issues and looking closely at the candidates, one wonders how something could happen like Bush's being elected a second term. If you consider that most people don't follow or care about politics, understanding becomes a bit easier. The "Barack Obama is a secret Muslim" e-mails started circulating nearly a year ago, and even after countless debates, speeches and feature stories, maybe something so foolish winds up being all a lot of people needed to know. Then again, how many people really vote? Maybe you have the abortion people (both sides), the money people and maybe the gun people show (that favors Republicans) showing up for elections. Maybe not. How many people watched the Democratic convention last week or the Republican one this week? (Truthfully, I don't want to watch the Republican one this week--maybe just some analysis will do?). At any rate, in my subjective point of view, the Republican convention feels rather different fr...

The Democratic National Convention, and immediately John McCain announces a running mate out of left (not politically) field. I drank the whole week in, watching day after day on PBS for the fullest coverage (I suppose there's also C-SPAN). Couldn't have asked more from the Clintons--they acknowledged their efforts in the primaries but made clear cases for Obama. Joe Biden, an excellent VP choice, spoke directly and passionately (we haven't seen a lot of that in recent years). The spectacle was much to behold for the final night, and Barack connected both his inspirational capabilities with clear delineations of his positions and how they differ from the Republican platform. Earlier this summer, I dragged my niece to see the opening notes of Wilco at Lollapalooza just because Obama was rumored to introduce them. He didn't, but a couple of days later, my sister-in-law called to say that he was at a small diner in my home town. My father and I hurried there, arrivin...