From the CNN story on the California gay-marriage ban lift:

Groups opposing same-sex marriage also reacted strongly to the ruling.

"The California Supreme Court has engaged in the worst kind of judicial activism today, abandoning its role as an objective interpreter of the law and instead legislating from the bench," said Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues for the group Concerned Women for America, in a written statement.

"So-called 'same-sex' marriage is counterfeit marriage. Marriage is, and has always been, between a man and a woman. We know that it's in the best interest of children to be raised with a mother and a father. To use children as guinea pigs in radical San Francisco-style social experimentation is deplorable."

My question: what the fuck is someone named Matt doing as policy director for a group called Concerned Women of anything? Unless that's short for Matilda, of course, in which case you can write your own punchline.

There's lots to say about the vacation so far. For one thing, it should have been a vacation-vacation and not a working one. (Editors: I'm really sorry.) For another, it's been really great, up till today, which sucked. I'm in Detroit, a city, like Baltimore, which I left yesterday, that I've never visited before, and it couldn't have gone worse so far--a hotel room without soap or shampoo in the bathroom (it took fifty minutes to get them delivered), very cold (they sent up a space heater, quite promptly, but only after I called the front desk for an hour and finally went down to discover--they and I alike--that someone had muted the front desk phone), exposed wiring all over the place, nothing of any note whatsoever around me apart from Cobo Arena, whose ass end I can see from my window, appropriately enough. Not to mention I broke my phone charger and missed my friend Nicole for dinner, as well as spending way too much in cab fare. (My friend Andy had to bail out of dinner as well, to the chagrin of us both.) I suppose things had been going so well I shouldn't have been surprised things would hit a snag, but I'd appreciate it more if it hadn't hit a dozen at once. Room service and catching up with Top Chef have ameliorated things, thankfully, but yeah, I was in one foul mood for a few hours there.

Oddly I'm thinking about nostalgia and the state of criticism more than ought to be healthy for a vacationer. That's largely due to the company I keep, or who've kept me--Alex in Philadelphia and Jess in Baltimore, both of whom graciously put me up over the weekend. Thinking too about the Top 50 I posted below. Jess nailed it--there's no way you could pull a narrative out of that thing, though you could probably arrange some of it to resemble one. That kind of non-focus is one reason the 2007 in the Mix package was a little too diffuse in the end--not terrible, though I'll admit it was uneven, and take responsibility for that. (Cohesion is easier with smaller numbers; the Seattle Weekly packages were far tighter and hung together better because there were only a dozen mixes in those.)

Nevertheless it's instructive to look at something like Mike Daddino's year-end Top 50 from 2002. There's a narrative in there for sure--mash-ups, yeah, but also the bedazzled synth-futurism that accompanied it. I doubt you'll find anything similar in mine, even given that it's an early draft with seven more months of modification and expansion to come. A list is a list is a list, of course, and listening to my selections alongside Alex and then Jess, I was heartened to realize what seemed to me more or less private pleasures traveled pretty well to other ears (even if the ears in question belong to people with whom I share a lot of tastes and values). The Top 10 is one I'd be pretty happy to list at the end of the year, though of course I hope to come across as many records as possible that could knock them out of the running. But even with that in mind, on paper the one-record-at-a-time approach can seem a little runny compared to the great-artist model.

I don't wish to open up the rockist/anti-rockist worm-can again, but that's always what seemed to me its crux. Alex at one point asked if I thought people listened to artists or to songs; I immediately replied artists--which is perfectly understandable but can be too bad sometimes. I didn't just mean that artists-first renders my list sort of useless, since it doesn't follow obvious canonical pathways (this is not a boast, just the way I see it shaking out, with as much distance as I can muster). I just mean artists-first can deafen us to good music, the way genre-first can. If that makes me a poptimist, fine.

Nevertheless I decided to do a little analysis of my own list. I imagine this will seem morbidly self-interested, and to some degree it is, but the patterns that emerged seemed interesting. They were tallied quickly and don't constitute anything more definitive than the list itself, but here goes:

Number of songs by new artists (on first album): 19, including 10 of the Top 15 and six of the Top 10.
Number of songs by recent artists (who've emerged--to me anyway--in the last five years): 11, two of which are in the Top 10 (3 and 4), with the rest occupying slots between 24 and 50.
Number of songs by veteran artists (five years or longer in the game, again to my knowledge): 17, with one in the Top 10 (5), most of the 15-24 slots (7), and none after 43.
Non-album tracks: 10, though the one in the Top 10 (2) is allegedly on an CD I have yet to see after looking for it a few times
Remixes: 11, with two in the Top 10 (6 and 8) and the rest more or less spread evenly through the Top 50
MP3-only tracks: six, two Top 10 (2 and 6) and the rest between 20 and 33.

In short, I like novelty but am not completely addicted to it; keep my ears open to older artists but not at the expense of newer ones (and vice versa); and spend a lot of time on the Internet listening for stuff that will grab my ear. None of this is surprising to anyone who knows me, but it also suggests a potential rut as much as a sonic playground. If there's a through-line here it's how I came across these songs as much as what I get out of them--and I think that's the case with a lot of singles-friendly people who listen pretty widely. The trick is to figure out how to convey their pleasures without being morbidly self-interested--or too morbidly self-interested, at least. More on that topic, and the vacation, after I've gotten some rest and/or hit some (late) deadlines.

Apropos of not much of anything, here's a rough estimate of my 50 favorite tracks of 2008 so far. Everything is subject to massive change, obv.

1. Alphabeat, "Fascination" (Copenhagen/EMI, U.K.)
2. Dear Jayne, "Rain" (Music Line)
3. The Juan MacLean, "Happy House" (DFA) [any mix]
4. Etran Finatawa, "Asistan" (Riverboat)
5. Reba McEntire & Kenny Chesney, "Every Other Weekend" (MCA Nashville)
6. Burial, "Archangel (Boy 8-Bit's Simple Remix)" (MP3)
7. Johnny Foreigner, "Our Bipolar Friends" (Best Before)
8. Zomby, "Spliff Dub (Rustie Remix)" (Hyperdub)
9. Invisible Conga People, "Cable Dazed" (Italians Do It Better)
10. The-Dream ft. Rihanna, "Livin' a Lie" (Def Jam)
11. Soulja Boy Tell'em, "Yahhh!" (ColliPark)
12. Luke Bryan, "Country Man" (Capitol Nashville)
13. Guillaume and the Coutu Dumonts, "Les Gans (Philip Sherburne Remix)" (Musique Risquée)
14. The Mole, "Baby You're the One" (Wagon Repair)
15. Portishead, "Silence" (Mercury)
16. Spoon, "Don't You Evah (Ted Leo's I Want It Hotter Remix)" (Merge)
17. Erykah Badu, "The Cell" (Universal Motown)
18. The B-52's, "Eyes Wide Open" (Astralwerks)
19. Moby, "I Love to Move in Here" (Mute)
20. Al Green, "Thought It Out" (MP3)
21. Hercules & Love Affair, "Blind (Frankie Knuckles Remix)" (DFA)
22. Dop, "Merci" (Orac)
23. The Whitest Boy Alive, "Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix)" (Modular)
24. The Raveonettes, "You Want the Candy" (Vice)
25. Mariah Carey, "I'm That Chick" (Island)
26. Blood on the Wall, "Acid Fight" (The Social Registry)
27. The Thermals, "Everything Thermals (Daytrotter Session)" (Daytrotter.com)
28. Sascha Dive, "Annihilating Rhythm" (Drumpoet Community)
29. DJ Donna Summer, "Sweet Assed Child O' Mine" (Cock Rock Disco MP3)
30. Big Boi ft. Raekwon & Andre 3000, "Royal Flush" (Virgin)
31. Awesome Color, "Eyes of Light" (Ecstatic Peace!)
32. Clinic, "Coda" (Domino)
33. Capone-n-Noreaga, "Sexual Seduction Freestyle" (MP3)
34. Guy Noir, "Flex" (Resopal Schallware)
35. Mary J. Blige ft. Lil Wayne, "Just Fine (Remix)" (Geffen)
36. Drive-By Truckers, "That Man I Shot" (New West)
37. V.I.C., "Get Silly" (ColliPark)
38. Plantlife, "Time Traveller" (Decon)
39. Jill Scott, "My Love" (Hidden Beach)
40. Be Your Own Pet, "Creepy Crawl" (Ecstatic Peace!)
41. Let's Wrestle, "I Won't Lie to You" (Stolen)
42. Gnarls Barkley, "Run" (Downtown)
43. Williams, "Love on a Real Train (Version By Studio)" (Love Triangle)
44. Raheem DeVaughn, "Customer" (Jive)
45. Rodriguez Jr., "Soledad" (Leena)
46. Lawrence, "Sweeping the Stars" (Mule Electronic)
47. Sinkane, "Autobahn" (Emergency Umbrella)
48. The Bug ft. Warrior Queen, "Poison Dart (South Rakkas Crew Remix)" (Hyperdub)
49. The Teenagers, "Feeling Better" (XL)
50. Hot Chip, "We’re Looking For a Lot of Love" (Astralwerks)

Four days in New York and I suddenly remember what I like about this place: most of my friends live here. And I remember why they're my friends: because they're fucking awesome. Angela leaves tomorrow evening; I'm pretty sure I can deal with it. Pretty sure.

Elisabeth tagged me, so here I go:

1. Pick up the nearest book.

In this case it's The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing About the Godfather of Soul, edited by Nelson George and Alan Leeds and just out from Plume. I'm reviewing it for Baltimore City Paper.

2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.

This is from Vernon Gibbs's "James Brown: Back to Africa--Seventies Style (excerpt)" (Penthouse, 1975):

"In Africa, he is king of all he surveys. An African visit from James Brown takes on all the ceremony usually accorded to a visiting head of state. Indeed, Brown does regard himself as an ambassador from black Americans to black Africans."

Nice--I've already begun reading the book and am only on page 45 (vacation + deadlines + soon-departing girlfriend = not reading fast enough), but I'd thumbed through it the other night and this was one of the pieces I'm most looking forward to reading. Looks like it'll be a good one.

I'm going to decline forwarding the tag, but if anyone wants to grab it, go right ahead.

0812

• Ane Brun, “Headphone Silence (Henrik Schwarz Remix/Dennis Ferrer Edit)” (Objektivity)
• Atmosphere, “Yesterday” (Rhymesayers)
• Awesome Color, “Eyes of Light” (Ecstatic Peace!)
• C.L. Smooth ft. Skyzoo, “Perfect Timing” (Coalmine)
• Clinic, “Coda” (Domino)
• Matmos, “Supreme Balloon” (Matador)
• Plantlife, “Time Traveller” (Decon)
• Spoon, “Don't You Evah (Ted Leo's I Want It Hotter Remix)” (Merge)
• Tapes ’n Tapes, “Conquest” (XL)
• V.I.C., “Get Silly” (Warner Bros. late ’07)

Below are some albums I've heard so far this year that I know I like to some degree or other. They're alphabetical, though Erykah is my definite favorite, with Etran, Portishead, Ellen, Hercules, Quiet Village, and Todd Barry close behind in terms of enjoyment/total plays.

Ellen Allien, Boogybytes Vol. 04 (Bpitch Control)
Awesome Color, Electric Aborigines (Ecstatic Peace!)
Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) (Universal Motown)
Todd Barry, From Heaven (Comedy Central)
Be Your Own Pet, Get Awkward (Ecstatic Peace!)
Blood on the Wall, Liferz (The Social Registry)
Booka Shade, The Sun & the Neon Light (Get Physical)
Boys Noize, Suck My Deck (New State)
Cafénéon (Station 55)
Jennifer Cardini, Feeling Strange (Kompakt)
Clinic, Do It! (Domino)
Carl Craig, Sessions (K7)
Raheem DeVaughn, Love Behind the Melody (Jive/Zomba)
Drive-By Truckers, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark (New West)
Etran Finatawa, Desert Crossroads (Riverboat)
Al Green, Lay It Down (Blue Note)
Hercules and Love Affair (DFA)
Moby, Last Night (Mute)
Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis, Two Men with the Blues (Blue Note)
No Age, Nouns (Sub Pop)
Noze, Songs on the Rocks (Get Physical)
Plantlife, Time Traveller (Easy League/Decon)
Portishead, Third (Mercury)
Quiet Village, Silent Movie (K7)
The Roots, Rising Down (Def Jam)
Santogold (Downtown)
Sick Girls vs. Syrup Girls, Shotgun Wedding Vol. 8 (Violent Turd)
Tapes ’n Tapes, Walk It Off (XL)

I'm quite aware of my limitations here. I left off reissues (DJ mixes don't count, which is why I included Carl Craig, a record I'm on the fence about in terms of category); of those, I've most liked the Willie Nelson box, the Steinski double CD, New Jack Swing Gold, James Brown's complete singles vol. 5, the 1969 Motown box, the August Darnell comp on Strut, the Horace Silver's Newport '58, and the first Nigeria Special comp (like the other two so far, too, just not as much), none of which I've given as much time as I'd like. Despite having a small poster in front of me (it was free at the Sonic Boom near my house), and despite liking the singles I've heard fine, I still haven't cracked the shrinkwrap on Vampire Weekend, or on Malkmus or the live Brad Mehldau Trio, and I still haven't played the Magnetic Fields, the Gutter Twins, the triple Jarrett reissue, or the Helio Sequence, just to stick to stuff that seems interesting in one way or other. I'm woefully behind on hip-hop and no serious jazz fan need pay me any mind whatsoever, though I like the stuff and need to hear more of it.

In country I've been trying out singles--basically been doing the new-chart-adds thing a few other writers and bloggers have been up to. As the sidebar indicates, I monitor a number of charts and some reviews and MP3 blogs, and that's made my listening much more singles-centric--something I enjoy a lot, but it can be hard on tracking albums. The two charts I've paid the most attention to have been the Billboard Country Top 60 and the BBC Radio 1 UK Indie Top 30, whose respective level of turnover are pretty different: two or three new songs per week on average for country, around eight to ten for indie. I use a lot of my free eMusic downloads for the latter; it's introduced me to a number of goodies (my favorite being Johnny Foreigner's "Our Bipolar Friends"), and so has the country list (fave: "Every Other Weekend" by Reba & Kenny). I need to dive deeper into Hip-Hop/R&B chart items too. And thanks to Resident Advisor I've heard plenty of good dance 12s so far too. (Probably wrong to call them "12s" when most of what I hear is digital, but you know what I mean.)

For the personal reasons described earlier as well as hearing more singles-qua-singles, this has been an odd year for me musically--probably more impressive overall than 2007, but messier; I have a looser grip on it than I felt like I did last year. My upcoming road trip will probably not alleviate that too much, and that's fine. I do need to work harder on doing longer, better paid work--the great thing about writing lots of short reviews is you get to listen to a lot; the downside is that you're always too busy to relax. Or as Douglas Wolk inscribed into my copy of Reading Comics last year, "Always on vacation, always on deadline."

Oh! The whole reason I started the previous post was to express my irritation at New York people of whatever vintage who smilingly dismiss the idea that you might not possibly want to live there with a "you do too" or "you know you're going to." These people are my friends, but seriously, here's some advice: don't tell anyone, ever, what they "really" want to do, because you sound like the smuggest, most pig-ignorant prick on earth. You might as well be saying, "Don't tase me, bro."

I'm moving to New York sometime early next year. I've known this for a while now: Angela got into Columbia's grad-school social-work program and starts in the fall; I'll follow her sometime in winter, probably during a break between semesters. (Not Christmas, I don't think.) Right now I am preparing my room, as best I can, to be inhabitable by two people for a few days, which will not be easy considering that it's small as is, never mind with all my stuff in it. (At the end of the week, we will fly to NYC and embark on separate trips: hers to Asia and Africa, lasting three-and-a-half months, me to six cities on my way back to Seattle via Amtrak.)

I will not pretend to love the idea of living in New York again. My last time through there remains in my mind a vividly etched eight-month nightmare, from Office Space bullshit to housing bullshit to side freelancing turning into a Catch 22 (laptop dies, can't fix it because I don't have any money since I can't freelance because my laptop died, and because I have nothing left from my job after bills are paid--I'll never forget the night I called my mother in tears for an emergency loan so I didn't bankrupt myself thanks to having been fucked over by so goddamned many people, from roommates to employers). Two people in particular I could happily never speak to again, though I have already in the time since because I'm too nice for my own fucking good. The main relief I had came from playing bridge on Mondays at the Magician and a handful of friends I'd have seen more often if I hadn't been trying to avoid thinking about everything I was dealing with. I didn't enjoy explaining my idiotic circumstances anymore than I enjoyed being in them.

So what better time to return to a city I stopped actively liking years ago than when my profession is dying? It's gonna be great! I'll beg for bylines from people I stopped talking to years ago, when I could afford to be principled enough to not bother pitching those who don't respond to pitches from people who've written for them for years! (Hahaha OK I won't.) I'll get into yelling matches I'd really rather not get into with friends because I can't help myself, and also because the bars are loud! I'll pay more than twice the rent I pay now and have less than half the space! I'll either get to pay for storage for three years or sell most of my belongings in order to move out there in the first place!

I'll also play bridge again, Paul permitting, and I'll be able to pitch stories for real money, not that I expect to sell any of them, and I'll be near the book industry and possibly get this one really good idea I have off the ground and onto the shelves, and I'll be around more friends than I have anywhere else, and I'll be with the woman I love and want to spend the rest of my life with. Fuck you, New York.

Here is a brief interview I did about my book.