It's the Worst Blog
Living the good life, fighting the good fight, and writing the worst blog.
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Fanfarlo - “These Walls Are Coming Down”
I first heard about Fanfarlo when NPR highlighted their song “Fire Escape” just before 2008’s SXSW. The English band with a Swedish frontman finally hit the studio this past fall to record their debut album, Reservoir, and I’ve been holding on to this post for a while until it was closer to the release of the album.
True to the cut I heard back in 2008, Fanfarlo makes upbeat pop music that employs a few lesser-used instruments (such as violins, mandolins, and trumpets) which often give their music a grandiose, hopeful quality I find very appealing. This track settles into the middle of the excellent debut record, which I believe was released in May (although finding an official date has been harder than I would have expected), and is available now directly from the band for a measly $6.
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“God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent — it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks, please. Cash and in small bills.
Robert A. Heinlein (via vruz)”
Heinlein’s objection is serious, common, and ancient. Theologians even gave it its own word. It’s the theodicy question. If God is all he’s cracked up to be, how can he allow such horrible things to happen? Over the centuries, people have given a slew of possible answers.
One answer was that we indeed live in the best of all possible worlds. Voltaire brilliantly mocked this answer in Candide when the ever optimistic Dr. Pangloss teaches Candide that he thus lives in the best of all possible castles. As you might imagine, Pangloss’s life doesn’t go to well. The castle is burned by the best of all possible raiders. His ship is sunk by the best of all possible hurricanes. Etc..
Another answer (by somebody who was genuinely a serious theologian who will roll over in his grave by my mangling of his views) is essentially, “We suffer because it builds character.” It’s sort of like, “Eat your vegetables boy, they’re good for you.” Perhaps we weren’t created simply to be coddled. Maybe the world is an immense machine to bring out the best in us.
Another answer might have to do with balance. Is it possible to have joy without suffering? Would we want it? Maybe we’re happier when the stakes are a bit higher.
Back when I had the answers to everything, my explanation involved free will. Can we truly make meaningful choices if the result is always, “Yay! Everybody gets a puppy.” I suppose God could have created a mechanistic happy land where nothing is ever less than perfect. But maybe God had something in mind other than a scaled-up version of the It’s a Small World ride. Isn’t pain a necessary consequence of free will? Would we want a world without pain or would we simply want a world with less pain?
And yet…my elderly professor of Jewish law told us, “If you have to have that many reasons, none of them are right.” We could spend hours discussing each of these—but at the end of those hours, nobody would be persuaded much one way or another. People have struggled with this question for a few thousand years and continued to believe. Cleverly restating it won’t change anybody’s mind.
I’ve written on the topic before. Then as now, I noted that noting the flawed nature of the world requires the assumption that one possible world is better in some substantive way than the others. To me, this would strongly hint that we’re more than a bunch of atoms clumped together in a morally irrelevant way.
For now, I’ll simply add that the whole endeavor is rather presumptuous. It certainly assumes that we have the moral authority to complain about something. It also assumes that, despite our actions, we actually know what is best for us. In many ways, the problem isn’t really the suffering. It’s that we don’t understand why we have to suffer. Does the thought that God could know everything when we know so little offend us?
(via squashed)
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Mos Def with The Roots on Jimmmy Fallon. The Roots are so amazing live. They’re the closest thing to a rap jam band, and it’s fantastic.
Mos Def Guest Stars On Late Night With Jimmy Fallon | Live Show
Deastro - “Parallelogram”
Two words I don’t generally use together are “anthemic” and “dream-pop”, but in Deastro’s case, both are apt. Detroit-based Deastro, also known as Randolph Chabot, produces upbeat, synth-driven electro-pop that’s sometimes dream-poppy, sometimes anthemic, and sometimes even a little shoegazey. This song, the first single from Deastro’s upcoming full-band album Moondagger, has a kind of Russian Futurists cum m83 feel to it and is a prime example of that anthemic dream-pop that’s so elusive. Moondagger will be released in June on Ghostly International, but if you can’t wait until then, I highly recommend Deastro’s debut album, Keepers.
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I can’t think of any other way to describe the Coral’s music except to call it fun. The UK band’s music style varies fairly wildly—at times it’s poppy, other times a little psychedelic, and I’ve even detected a hint of sea shanty before—but it’s always fun and upbeat. This song, a perennial Monday favorite, comes from The Coral’s 2005 LP, The Invisible Invasion. If you can keep still while listening this song, you might want to check your pulse.
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Ezra Furman and the Harpoons - “We Should Fight”
I don’t come across enough music like this these days: clever, storytelling lyrics with a heavy dose of rock-and-roll. So when Josh dropped these guys into our submission queue, my immediate reaction was jealousy. I was jealous that Josh had been enjoying these guys for who knows how long and I’d never even heard of them. Well, that’s all fixed now, and I’m well on my way to overdosing on the Bob-Dylan-mixed-with-Clap-Your-Hands-Say-Yeah-mixed-with-pure-rock-and-roll-energy that is Ezra Furman and the Harpoons.
Picking a song from Furman’s latest album, Inside the Human Body, was really difficult, so when you’re done with this gem, do yourself a favor and check out anything else you can get your hands on.
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One Day International - “Miss Your Mouth”
It initially seems a bit counterproductive to be listening to such a somber song on such a beautiful spring day but it’s a beautiful somber song so it all works out in the end. Irish band One Day International has somehow flown under the radar despite these gorgeous and haunting heartbroken lullabies they create. However, thanks to an appearance at this year’s SXSW, they are starting to get a bit more attention stateside. I can’t recommend them enough - especially if you’re having problems in the love department (check out their song “Not Over You” on their Myspace). Their album, Blackbird, is also available on Amazon.
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zoee:
Leonard Cohen - “Closing Time”
Yeah I missed you since the place got wrecked
By the winds of change and the weeds of sex
Looks like freedom but it feels like death
It’s something in between, I guess
It’s Closing Time
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The year 2008 in photographs - Boston.com
Lightning bolts appear above and around the Chaiten volcano as seen from Chana, some 30 kms (19 miles) north of the volcano, as it began its first eruption in thousands of years, in southern Chile May 2, 2008. Cases of electrical storms breaking out directly above erupting volcanoes are well documented, although scientists differ on what causes them. Picture taken May 2, 2008. (REUTERS/Carlos Gutierrez)
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