While ConsoleOne Installs...

Christ. It took what seemed like an hour for Windoze XP SP2 to install on this laptop and now ConsoleOne is taking just as long. Stupid old laptops!

Some more exciting Son Volt news! Their new album is called Okemah and the Melody of Riot. It is to be released on July 12th. Here's the track listing:

Bandages & Scars
Afterglow 61
Jet Pilot
Atmosphere
Ipecac
Who
Endless War
Medication
6 String Belief
Gramophone
Chaos Streams
World Waits for You
World Waits for You (Reprise)

A live version of "6 String Belief" was on Jay's Stone, Steel & Bright Lights album. It's a good tune and I'm looking forward to hearing the super fleshed out SV band treatment. Presumably they'll be doing a proper U.S. tour after the album's release. I'm still trying to link Bob Fripp to Kurt Cobain in the Inner Knots Degrees of Separation quiz. One web page links Cobain to Nine Inch Nails which makes it a cinch. Fripp-->Belew-->Reznor-->Cobain. Unfortunately, I have no idea how Cobain is connected to NIN. The site doesn't specify and I can't find squat about it. Speaking of Mr. Belew, I've gotta say that his guitar wailing on "Deadwing" is fucking awesome. Nice and dissonant in contrast to the more melodic riffing by the rhythm guitar.

Tonight The Dulcinea and I are going to grab a bite to eat at Vientiane Palace before heading over to the kickoff activities of The Future of Folk festival. We'll get to learn about yodeling and hear Mike Seeger and Bill Malone speak & perform. I shouldn't have to tell you who Mike Seeger is but, if you haven't a clue, go here. Bill Malone is an expert on Southern U.S. culture and has written on the subject of country music. His Country Music U.S.A. is considered by many to be the definitive history of the genre. He hosts a radio show here in Madtown on WORT called "Back to the Country". He is also a musician himself to boot and plays around town. Unfortunately, I won't be able to record it. I've still gotta get that Lomax lecture off my recorder. I'll do it tonight so I can document some of the other lectures over the next several days.

The last spiel I wanna give relating to music is a series of links. Here are some rants as well as an interesting tale of a band leaving the mainstream recording system.

Courtney Love's Rant

Steve Albini's Rant

Janis Ian's Rant

Marillion Go Indie

In other news, the Quandary Phase of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio show begins on 3 May. Check out the Hitchhiker's site at Radio 4 for more info and an extended trailer. What else have we got...? Greg Palast has a newish article up at his webpage now about the Wyly Brothers' role in getting Dubya elected. For claiming to hold in such high esteem a book which says, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God," these Christians sure are greedy bastards.

I think I made my first TiVO recording today! If all went well, the little beast in the living room recorded the Doctor Who movie from 1996. I watached part of it in the den while suppin' coffee before leaving for work. It's bad but Paul McGann is cool and, well, it's Doctor Who. I mentioned that I watched "The Unquiet Dead," the latest installment of the new series. I would say that my previous comments about the series hold true. I've gotten used to the good SFX and think Chrstopher Eccleston was a good choice. Rose is hot. I've even acclimated myself to the new theme. However, I still think the episodes need to be longer. The setup in "The Unquiet Dead" was fucking awesome but the mystery was revealed too quickly. It had the usual Doctor Who elements but they were slapped one on top of the other with no breathing room due to time constraints. I wanted to see more corpses rise and for Dickens to be fleshed out. On the plus side, The Doctor was a little short-tempered at one point and Rose continued in her role as one of the most assertive companions ever. Last week The Doctor gave rose a revelation and this week a maid who is endowed with psychic abilities said something horrifying (and interesting!) while looking into Rose's mind. Next week The Doctor and Rose are back in present day London. A UFO crashes into the Thames and all hell breaks loose! Sounds promising.