tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42192483260639149872024-03-05T12:04:53.120-08:00Vital SoundIntense, surreal, remote, dynamic.
Come along with us as we chronicle the adventures of the soul through psychedelic, drone, noise, experimental, pop music based around Chicago bands in particular and local bands everywhere.Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-24170455685613584442018-06-09T15:17:00.000-07:002018-06-09T15:17:22.154-07:002018 Brewers ProspectsIt's beyond embarrassing that I haven't written one of these in quite some time, but there's no more time to waste: let's take a look at the current Brewers system rankings.<br />
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I compiled this list from Baseball Reference prior to the MLB Draft, and since signings will not be complete for quite some time, I'm punting on including draft rankings in this midseason update. Following last year's custom, I am extracting MLB players from the prospect rankings because even with any particular role concerns or shortcomings, a rookie that has worked in the MLB has quite a different assessment than a player that has yet to make the leap. After all, a true MLB floor, even "last guy in the bullpen" or "Triple-A Colorado Springs shuttle team," is much different than placing a "could be a 4th OF" floor on a prospect at Class-A Advanced Carolina.<br />
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Sharing Link: Prospect List and Risk Approximations<br />
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14btK-3Eb0en6InGnzuILQFJspgdevES_RqyHI8M2wOA/edit?usp=sharing<br />
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Additionally, since the Brewers system is in the nascent stages of developing a lot of low minors talent, I've divided the list into "Top Prospects," "Role Sleepers," and "Depth Roles." I believe there is enough information and risk asymmetry between prospects like Keston Hiura, Tristen Lutz, and Dustin Houle that they deserve to be assessed on their own merits. Really, a ranking is pointless. But, if it matters to you, this is probably how I'd do it (excluding current MLB guys):<br />
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<table border="" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">Rank</th>
<th align="center">2018 Brewers Comprehensive Prospects</th>
<th align="center">Highest Role</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">Corbin Burnes</td>
<td align="center">#2 SP</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">Corey Ray</td>
<td align="center">All-around CF</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">Keston Hiura</td>
<td align="center">Star 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">4</td>
<td align="center">Devin Williams</td>
<td align="center">#2 SP</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">5</td>
<td align="center">Mario Feliciano</td>
<td align="center">All-around C</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">6</td>
<td align="center">Luis Ortiz</td>
<td align="center">#2 SP</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">7</td>
<td align="center">Tristen Lutz</td>
<td align="center">First Division RF</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">8</td>
<td align="center">Mauricio Dubon</td>
<td align="center">Glove-first 2B</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">9</td>
<td align="center">Marcos Diplan</td>
<td align="center">Ongoing SP Development / Elite Reliever (#FreeDiplan)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">10</td>
<td align="center">Zack Brown</td>
<td align="center">Power pitcher projection play</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">11</td>
<td align="center">Trey Supak</td>
<td align="center">Brewers "systemic starter"</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">12</td>
<td align="center">Trent Grisham</td>
<td align="center">Top order CF / Quality 4th OF</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">13</td>
<td align="center">Nathan Kirby</td>
<td align="center">#3 SP / Quality reliever</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
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If you'd like MLB guys who are currently rookies, I'd place Jacob Nottingham (full package C if the power bat comes around, quality half-time C otherwise) and Brandon Woodruff (full arsenal SP) as the long-development curve top MLB prospects. If there's one MLB guy I'm dead wrong on, it's probably Freddy Peralta. I think one could make a great argument that he's the best prospect among the MLB guys.<br />
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**<br />
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Compared to last year's prospect list, this one is a lot less fun in terms of recognizing (relatively) solid impact ceilings at the top of the system, but it's a great proving ground for looking deep into a system and understanding how roles can play out over a decade of development. After the trade involving Lewis Brinson, Monte Harrison, Isan Diaz, and Jordan Yamamoto to Miami (to receive Christian Yelich, which may even have been a bargain return), as well as graduations involving Orlando Arcia, Josh Hader, and others, and the back-pedaling of some of the top prospects of the system in 2017, the Brewers do not have as strong a system in 2018. Baseball Prospectus ranked the system in the bottom of the middle tier of the MLB, which reflects the trades, graduations, and general lack of impact prospects.<br />
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However, I'm not content to simply stop there, because what is clear about the Brewers system is that they seem to have an abundance of high floor, potential MLB types in the advanced minor league ranks, as well as a number of extreme risk prospects in the low ranks. In the former camp, I'm thinking of everyone from Freddy Peralta and Troy Stokes to Jake Gatewood, Thomas Jankins, and even Quintin Torres-Costa, to name a few. Nationally, I do not think many of these prospects would gain notoriety in terms of rank, but Milwaukee's player development and MLB system has shown an ability to extract fantastic value from high floor guys (here I'm thinking of Zach Davies, Hernan Perez, and Jesus Aguilar, to name a few). Freddy Peralta is the best prospect of this bunch, and probably a legitimate Top 10 prospect in the system, but even with that ranking in mind his role is extremely difficult to pin down. NEIFI Analytics said it better than I could in <a href="https://neifi.co/freddy-peralta-and-our-ability-to-self-deceive/">their recent analysis of his stuff and deceptive delivery</a>.<br />
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**<br />
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Lately, I've been obsessed with the time horizons of MLB player development. This is spurred in part by Keston Hiura prospect hype, which is leading me back to reports of previous "can't miss" impact, advanced college bats in the Brewers system. Here I'm thinking of Matt LaPorta, who was scouted as a top prospect in a relatively solid system a decade ago, hailed as a power-discipline bat with some questions about defensive position. Hiura is not LaPorta, for many reasons; Hiura is not a power prospect, and I'd argue to date he's not necessarily recognized as a discipline-first bat, either. Hiura is a hit-tool-first prospect, and the rest will have to follow on his ability to reach power due to his plate approach, bat speed, and use of the hit tool throughout the strike zone. Could power come for Hiura? Absolutely, I would not be surprised if some of that doubles power morphs into home run power with refinement and development at the MLB level; I'd cite Jose Altuve as evidence that even smaller stature players can reorient their approach with MLB refinement and turn a hit tool into a powerful hit tool.<br />
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The problem with Hiura is his positional risk, as well as his elbow injury, and this has kept me from placing him at the very top of the Brewers system, for if Hiura becomes a LF, there are instantly questions about his bat (placing a premium on the development of that power), as well as his path to Milwaukee (where does Hiura crack the outfield in Milwaukee? Is a Hiura-Cain-Yelich outfield, left-to-right, suitable for Milwaukee's current fielding-first system?). If Hiura becomes a DH, there are obvious league-based barriers to entry for the prospect, making Hiura quite a rare advanced prospect with a relatively clear ceiling (perhaps the clearest ceiling in the system and a good route to get there!) as well as an extreme drop off in terms of role risk. Hiura is not an "impact-bat first 2B, but potential utility infield option" Overall Future Potential / realistic risk role type prospect; his value comes from 2B-or-bust. What's interesting is that with Corey Ray potentially finding a mechanical adjustment that suits his tools, as well as Corbin Burnes's solid rotational floor, there are very good arguments to be made that some order of Ray and Burnes are #1/#2 in the system, with Hiura as #3 with an asterisk.<br />
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**<br />
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Looking back at 2007-2008 scouting reports and system rankings for the Brewers helped me to reframe questions and frameworks about development at the MLB level. It is rather clear that player development cycles should not simply include a potential MLB ceiling, as well as a realistic floor with some risk assessment of reaching either of those levels. Here I have Lorenzo Cain in mind, who was a Top 10 organizational prospect in Milwaukee a decade ago, with quite a chasm between his ultimate MLB role (elite all-around center fielder) and his question marks (could he be a 4th outfielder if the CF defense did not stick?). When the Brewers included Cain in the Zack Greinke trade package, the outfielder was no sure bet to even perform as a starting CF in the MLB, let alone an elite CF, and it took Cain years of development and opportunities to reach his ultimate role.<br />
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The Cain development problem, and the decade-long MLB development cycle, is helping me to assess prospects ranking from Tristen Lutz and Jorge Lopez to Demi Orimoloye and Caden Lemons. Keep in mind that years ago, Baseball Prospectus scouted Jorge Lopez as a potential star pitcher who nevertheless might take a decade to reach that level; that places Lopez only about halfway through his development horizon for his ultimate MLB role. Now, it's tough to look at Jorge Lopez, who is a serviceable organizational depth arm that could potentially develop into an impact reliever with his fastball-curveball combo, and say that he could potentially become a star MLB pitcher. But here is a question about opportunity, as well: has Lopez reached an opportunity plateau in Milwaukee? Will the righty ever have a chance to become a starter in Milwaukee's system after losing his stuff / mechanics at Triple-A Colorado Springs? Or is this simply part of his climb back to a rotation role in Milwaukee?<br />
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With this series of questions in mind, Adrian Houser is perhaps the most interesting prospect in the Brewers system right now. Houser's ascent to the MLB after Tommy John elbow surgery recovery has been nothing short of remarkable, and as an MLB depth reliever Houser already has quite a solid floor. But the righty is also displaying multiple off-speed pitches at the MLB level, as well as a wicked fastball, which has produced some rumblings that the Brewers might develop Houser as a rotational arm if possible. In Milwaukee's short-starter set up currently exhibited by Brent Suter and Junior Guerra, Houser's stuff could potentially play-up as a starter, and he could attain an elusive role that may not exist anywhere else: "true classical middle rotation arm that becomes a runs prevented monster in Milwaukee."<br />
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Additionally, while researching recent features at Baseball Prospectus Milwaukee, the primary concern coming to mind is, "Can a two-pitch starter work in Milwaukee?" I don't necessarily mean a two-pitch starter like Ben Sheets was, but rather a two-pitch starter that might grade lower on at least one of their pitches, or command, than Sheets. The reason this question is important is that the current Brewers pitching system under Craig Counsell's management requires basically 16 outs and two full times through the batting order as a starting pitcher. To my mind, this clouds the grades of potential prospects; if a prospect like Trey Supak never gets the third pitch down, but has the stamina and command of his first two pitches, could his stuff play "up" given the requirement for shorter starts? If starting pitchers are no longer expected to work three times through a batting order, their roles arguably change and therefore their qualifications necessary to meet a role can change. There are arguably a handful of pitchers in the Brewers system that this affects: Peralta, Supak, Jankins, Jon Perrin, and Marcos Diplan immediately come to mind. It is curious to think how another MLB club would value some of these prospects in terms of trade requests or other acquisition costs, and how the Brewers value these pitchers within their own system; in each case I'd argue that these arms could see their roles potentially "play up" in the current Brewers organization.<br />
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Finally, if one is using extremely long development windows to assess MLB prospects, the role grade of someone like Brett Phillips becomes quite murky. Phillips is an intriguing prospect because theoretically his defense is so good that he'll probably stick around in the MLB as a bench outfielder long after his bat fades. But he's entirely too young to surrender the bat, and there are many different ranges of roles that Phillips could fill. Within the span of a decade, could he find an MLB team that gives him a chance as a starter? If Phillips's bat comes around, he might not necessarily reach a .250 AVG, but his power and speed would be the tools to watch; with glove and arm, that's a profile that will play. On the other hand, Phillips could <i>p-l-a-y</i> as a "true" 4th outfielder, the next guy behind starters, still managing to grab 400 plate appearances at most. The defense and power are good enough here that Phillips could easily match Keon Broxton's WARP (as one model), although the underlying elements would be different (mostly, better glove and arm, maybe not as much of an impact bat at best). The trouble is, if Phillips has yet to find time on this Brewers squad, a squad that could really use his left-handed bat and bench strengths, one wonders where he will land in any reorganization of the club's outfield / first base surplus (or, roster jam). With this in mind, Phillips may be the current Brewers prospect that I am most convinced will have a chance to be a star elsewhere.Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-52300626426357644362017-03-21T08:39:00.000-07:002017-03-21T08:55:15.150-07:002017 Brewers ProspectsHave I only written about Brewers prospects here, and has it taken me four months to update? Dreadful!<br />
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With spring training winding down for the Milwaukee Brewers, it's time for some system fun: what will the system look like in midseason 2017? What will the system look like with graduates to the MLB, steps forward and backward in the minors, injuries, etc.? For this exercise, I have made a couple key assumptions: (a) there is no draft or international signing period for these purposes (nor are there any trades), and (b) players that make the MLB in 2017 will <i>not</i> be ranked as prospects. After all, if I'm saying "Jon Perrin will surprise as rotational depth and reach the MLB," it does not really matter if I think he's the 10th best prospect or 25th best prospect in the system; he made the show, and that places him leaps and bounds ahead of the system by making the MLB.<br />
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So, this is a pure internal logic measurement: what will the Brewers' own system look like with no additions, no subtractions, in 2017?<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ScPurvgQdhhC30eSwG09CQCW6Z5GZRW3DtYgBjPk-to/edit?usp=sharing">LINK: Brewers Projections</a>:<br />
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ScPurvgQdhhC30eSwG09CQCW6Z5GZRW3DtYgBjPk-to/edit?usp=sharing<br />
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<b><u>(1) MLB Additions</u></b><br />
Assume that a minor league system circulates around 210 players in a year -- approximately 30 players per level, seven levels (DSL / R / R / A / A+ / AA / AAA), including injuries. In this case, graduating even four players to the MLB in a season is solid; that's two percent of the system right there, advanced into primetime. Consider the case of the 2017 Brewers, then, where at least ten players could emerge from the minor leagues: we're talking about players like Lewis Brinson or Josh Hader, who fans love because they could be starting role prospects by midseason, and we're talking about players like Andrew Barbosa, who fit the Brewers' "maximize old players" strategy of recent vintage. There are so many players in between, from Michael Reed to Jorge Lopez, so on and so forth.<br />
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It's absurd to suggest that ten players could reach the MLB from the minors this year, but that's where the Brewers are. In fact, that number is nearly <i>double</i> the minor league rookies graduated by the 2016 Brewers, including Junior Guerra (who was indeed a minor league rookie graduate, thank you very much). So, <i>yes</i>, I suppose the Brewers <i>could</i> graduate even a dozen players, but I stopped myself at ten simply because there is so much MLB depth as it stands. <i>But</i>, the pitching rotation will need at least ten players to complete a season; here Josh Hader and Jorge Lopez could shine, yes, but so too could Jon Perrin catching fire in the advanced minors, and Brandon Woodruff reaching as a September call-up. Why do I like Andrew Barbosa more than, say, Paolo Espino? He's left-handed, which is unfair to Espino, but a reflection of the situational nature of the MLB bullpen; there are more opportunities for Barbosa to make this particular Brewers club.<br />
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Yes, I like Jon Perrin, because he's an advanced profile, has a big frame (like Corey Kluber big), and frankly has the type of "mundane" profile that ranks him behind Luis Ortiz and Woodruff and Hader and Cody Ponce, etc., but could have us shaking our heads two years down the line (cue, "How did we miss Perrin?" features). Similarly, I've thought Ponce could be a fast-riser since draft day, and his big frame, big fastball, fastball/cutter-slider arsenal could carve up advanced minors bats to leap the righty to the bullpen or depth role in Milwaukee.<br />
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There's been a lot of hype surrounding Mauricio Dubon and Ryan Cordell, but I like both as 2017 roster additions because of their utility flexibility. I pegged both for September, but I would not necessarily be surprised if either grabs a bench role sooner than that. It's not clear to me that either Cordell or Dubon has a true starting ceiling or role in Milwaukee, but both have the kind of ceiling and profile that could lead to a Jarrod Dyson-type (sneaky depth that could find 75 percent of games started, and sneak near 10 career WAR. In fact, Dyson is actually one of the very best players in his draft class!). There could be real value to be found for Cordell and Dubon in this current MLB climate.<br />
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With these players graduated to the MLB, <i>plenty</i> of ranking space frees up:<br />
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Ortiz and Isan Diaz are not going anywhere barring injury. So, the burners the Brewers system will see will come from Wisconsin and Carolina, the Class-A and Advanced A ranks, which will serve as proving grounds for approximately two dozen "just interesting" guys to take a step forward. Here I'm betting on those three 60s scouted in Demi Orimoloye on draft day leaping out as the hit tool advances. Corbin Burnes emerges as the top 2016 draft arm, and Mario Feliciano is on Lucas Erceg's tail as best position player drafted in 2016.<br />
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A word on Corey Ray and Erceg, who I have ranked relatively low compared to much fan hype: both players are extremely talented, and have diverse skillsets that can promise a range of MLB roles. But they also have some serious question marks (as everyone on this list does); both could end up as MLB depth roles, Ray especially as a classic 'tweener outfielder (who could certainly have a tough time unseating Ryan Braun from LF if the bat does not materialize in such a way to make a LF profile enticing). Erceg's bat faced weak competition in Wisconsin, so this is simply a cautionary statement about watching that competition level in 2017; even a step back in 2017 does not necessarily dent his ceiling, but it could certainly bring the floor into focus a lot faster.<br />
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As an aside, I can't help but think about Rickie Weeks when I hear prospect hype. Now, Weeks had a successful MLB career, but it is worth questioning whether prospect hype derailed fan sentiment against the power/speed/discipline player. I always wonder about how the hype will affect sentiment about Ray or Erceg should they make the bigs; if both emerge as depth players, or perhaps as regulars that show shortcomings in their toolshed, will the hype derail fan sentiment against them as well? So, throughout 2017, say to yourself "Tweener Corey Ray" and "Depth Bat Lucas Erceg" in order to keep those expectations in check: there's a lot to like here, but neither of these guys are the sure thing (which is fine! They can still be very good professional baseball players without being the sure thing. Like Weeks.).<br />
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Rounding out the Top 15% of the organization (including the MLB graduates), there are a lot of fun players to emerge from Brewers prospect lists past...Joantgel Segovia was a <i>BaseballAmerica</i> Top 30 prospect entering 2015, and if that bat advances with his (hopeful) first full season, there's an exciting type of contact-defense-burner centerfielder that will be worth keeping an eye on. Taylor Williams has been a success in camp thus far in terms of showing off that heat, and while I see a post-Tommy John future as a reliever for Williams, it is worth emphasizing that some scouts viewed Williams as the best arm in the system three or four years ago. If that fastball/offspeed plays against competition, Williams could surge back into the RHP-arguments among Brewers fans.<br />
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Franly Mallen is another guy that I've liked from the get go, and even though it seems like he's been around forever, he's still only 20 and probably entering his first full season. Mallen is a guy that could serve many different futures now, but could especially see value rise in 2017 if a full season solidifies that floor for the middle infielder.<br />
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There's just too much to write about here. So much so that the Top 50 of the system just becomes a holding group, waiting for many of these guys to take the next step (or, waiting to see how others respond to injury). In 2017, many of these guys could answer questions about profile mismatch, be it Wendell Rijo (who's never really performed according to what some scouts have seen) or Kodi Medeiros (yep, he's only 21, I had to check twice, too) or Jake Drossner (who I could really swap with Quintin Torres-Costa), or about five other righties (I'd love to see what Nelson Hernandez can do to build off his zone control demonstrated in 2016).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGXjGs-pnF7Ubtnjn6kTGMcmfwyI3OBgA5Q5CYpRyCG8o2ooLp7zAGsRW1MjTNb_4gzxZ2KL9LchhGbClt2-WSU1fm4d7lx270Dh4sRFNaOERt_kSNXCZHk0GEsx5jin3807cPNsZOLx0/s1600/Top33.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGXjGs-pnF7Ubtnjn6kTGMcmfwyI3OBgA5Q5CYpRyCG8o2ooLp7zAGsRW1MjTNb_4gzxZ2KL9LchhGbClt2-WSU1fm4d7lx270Dh4sRFNaOERt_kSNXCZHk0GEsx5jin3807cPNsZOLx0/s640/Top33.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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By this point, I'm basically picking names from a hat in some sense. Here, I've added many of the Brewers' Independent and Minor League Signings, so this group reflects the "we like old guys" gamble for the 2017 system. Even here, there are some guys who could take off, be it Josh Pennington solidifying a ceiling, or Yhonathan Barrios coming back from injury.<br />
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What leaps out at me after graduating MLB prospects is how incredibly young this system is. I've written about this at BPMilwaukee, and it's worth repeating here: in terms of ranking, the system could really take a step back in 2018, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. This system will have infinite futures after those advanced prospects graduate, presenting GM David Stearns will his most important player development test.Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-56377607997303818292016-12-02T07:48:00.001-08:002016-12-02T09:38:24.585-08:002016-2017 Brewers System RankingsOver the last year and a half during my work with <a href="http://disciplesofuecker.com/">Disciples of Uecker</a> and <a href="http://milwaukee.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/08/02/grading-the-system/">BaseballProspectus</a>, I have worked on an extensive record of the Brewers farm system. This includes collecting information from BaseballProspectus, BaseballAmerica, and other sources where available, and also reading between the lines of scouting reports to guess at grades where they are not readily published. I have tried to keep a conservative standpoint in terms of prospect hype, and I generally attempt to favor overall future potential over floor. But it's obviously an imperfect science to balance these tasks with risk, assessing a player's breakout potential with their tools, or assessing their likelihood of depreciating from a top prospect to a bench player, a starting pitcher to a reliever, etc.<br />
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The Brewers have acquired boatloads of talent via 2015 rebuilding trades under Doug Melvin (see Marcos Diplan, Zach Davies [graduated], Brett Phillips, Domingo Santana [graduated], Yhonathan Barrios, Adrian Houser, Josh Hader, etc.); 2015-2016 rebuilding trades under David Stearns (see most notably Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz, who immediately became the top prospects in the system following the Jonathan Lucroy-Jeremy Jeffress trade); 2015-2016 <a href="http://milwaukee.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/05/23/counterbuilding-trading-drafting/">counterbuilding</a> trades by Stearns (see most notably Isan Diaz, as a part of the Chase Anderson/Aaron Hill return for Jean Segura and Tyler Wagner); and the first two drafts under Ray Montgomery's direction (see most notably Trent Clark, Corey Ray, and Cody Ponce, among others obviously). This even fails to consider breakouts from the late Bruce Seid's scouting tenure, including most recently Brandon Woodruff.<br />
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As a result of this obscene influx of talent, I have found numerical rankings to be pointless. The Brewers system is at a point where there is really not that much of a difference in saying "Trent Clark is #4, and Devin Williams is #11," or "Jorge Lopez is #14 and Jon Perrin is #26." Rather, I find it more useful to split the farm system into segments based on approximations of the total number of players under reserve by the Brewers. Thus, I have found it more useful to judge players by their standing within the Top 25 percent (or so) of the system, which I have estimated around 60-to-65 players or so (counting the 40-man roster down to the Dominican Summer League). Within this framework, I have found it useful to assess players within certain ranks -- to my eyes, Brinson, Ortiz, and Diaz are the very best prospects in the system in terms of overall future potential and floor, and easily rank among the Top One percent of the system. Then, we can make somewhat meaningful distinctions between someone like Diaz and Clark (who has a fine OFP but struggled with injuries in 2016) or Miguel Diaz (who has an excellent OFP but more risk than Ortiz, Brinson, and Diaz thus far). Again, this is not an exact science, and getting hung up on the numbers risks missing more qualitative views of players' roles.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfev1IBcT-0_ninEogQkiJNT5DkN6of3QWcbcGjT4aPqThAAu-D-knfacSWdPKUSyghSEAbpWji7b9NG6Fx3LGundzmsQ9m3LAhVmHyUF7SicfplU-WnE1gRiBwvKmEWoiTuQi0_461XU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-12-02+at+9.06.23+AM.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="407" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfev1IBcT-0_ninEogQkiJNT5DkN6of3QWcbcGjT4aPqThAAu-D-knfacSWdPKUSyghSEAbpWji7b9NG6Fx3LGundzmsQ9m3LAhVmHyUF7SicfplU-WnE1gRiBwvKmEWoiTuQi0_461XU/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-12-02+at+9.06.23+AM.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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One of my favorite aspects of the expanding quality within the Brewers system is the quality of depth. First and foremost, there are prospects such as Phil Bickford, Demi Orimoloye, and others, who have potentially strong tools (a great fastball, or three potential 60 tools in Orimoloye's case), but tons of risk (in Bickford's case, his stuff is backing up; in Orimoloye's case, his distance from the MLB and overall polishing work). It would not surprise me if Bickford or Orimoloye take charge in 2017 and lead the system in next year's rankings. Similarly, I feel like most of my 2016 draft rankings are tenative, awaiting more information and another look. I'm not sure I would be surprised if someone like Corbin Burnes ends up ranking ahead of Corey Ray, or if Chad McClanahan becomes the third baseman of the future; then, there are total sleepers like Zachary Clark, who could have the best total tools package of the entire draft class. This is what makes ranking prospects both frustrating and fun -- there are cases where highly ranked guys will not ever reach those heights, and conservatism ends up making us look foolish on guys like McClanahan or Burnes.
Outside of the 2016 draft, there are other total sleepers in Carlos Herrera and Trey Supak, Wendell Rijo and Franly Mallen (comparing scouting and stats, Rijo simply has never flashed his tools, but way too many reports grade him highly to surrender hope), and there are still a number of potentially talented profiles that are just too young and inexperienced to accurately rank yet (I'm looking at Jose Sibrian and Yohel Atencio here, who could help make the Brewers an amazing catching system behind Andrew Susac, Martin Maldonado, and Jacob Nottingham, among others [for example, I know some are high on Dustin Houle]).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZoF04SraVhwolOnfZ52vdDeYduGz5MGMNQuG53gImZa8SZvxr5kmcygTBSehpsN9BevpXeb-665Gz_VKxxB7SDNRpbVGSxMCgdXFGApqTEP2HpcMhIA5eo8rVNY35zziXtKdC9fPh-w/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-12-02+at+10.03.13+AM.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="568" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZoF04SraVhwolOnfZ52vdDeYduGz5MGMNQuG53gImZa8SZvxr5kmcygTBSehpsN9BevpXeb-665Gz_VKxxB7SDNRpbVGSxMCgdXFGApqTEP2HpcMhIA5eo8rVNY35zziXtKdC9fPh-w/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-12-02+at+10.03.13+AM.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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(Photo Updated at 10:04 AM with corrected 2017 age)
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***<br />
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A word on Luke Barker, who was recently signed out of the Frontier League and has <a href="http://www.brewcrewball.com/2016/11/18/13672682/milwaukee-brewers-sign-rhp-luke-barker-from-independent-leagues">received some attention from my esteemed colleague Kyle Lesniewski</a>. Barker is a just plain fun addition to the system -- the eye test says he looks like Jake Arrieta, and his 6'4", 215-225 pound profile perfectly mimics Arrieta's listing. Translation: Barker looks like a physicality righty, and it's intriguing that he's a biomechanics scholar (which leads me to think of Mike Marshall, among others, as following a profile of baseball mechanics junkies).<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0KXH-OICMFs/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0KXH-OICMFs?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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According to a self-uploaded scouting video (h/t BCB), Barker throws five pitches, and the video shows some sharp stuff and a wrinkly little fastball. Given the Brewers' vast history as a biomechanics system, and Vice President and Assistant General Manager Matt Arnold's noted expertise in that area, it should be exciting to see what a signing like Barker produces. I ranked Barker just outside the Top 30 for fun, because I think it's hard to sleep on the frame and stuff profile. Basically, it's a hedge that the righty could serve as one of the system's big jumps in 2016 (but this analysis could very well be translated to Paolo Espino, as well, as Espino is much closer to the MLB and calls to mind the Junior Guerra pick up prior to 2016 for Milwaukee). It is my mistake not to include Espino here, but he could easily slot into the Top 20 or 24 percent of the system. Hell, by #60 in the Brewers system, there are probably (at least) a dozen guys that could be ranked any which way.Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-80595187293918745472016-11-04T11:12:00.001-07:002016-11-04T11:15:25.353-07:00Most Exciting 7-Game World SeriesThere was a sense throughout the recent Cleveland and Cubs World Series that it was one of the most competitive and exciting World Series I'd seen in some time. The teams played three one-run games, including the absurd extra-inning thriller that closed the series, and those one-run games were piled onto the fact that Cleveland had a chance to clinch with a 3-1 lead (like the 1985 Cardinals, 1979 Orioles, 1973 Mets, and 1972 Athletics. So, pretty good company even if you're included to think that's a choke for Cleveland). Moreover, the series featured two clubs with rather large discrepancies between their regular season win totals, meaning that there was a real chance for an underdog to knock out a big shot club (although these are relative terms, because Cleveland still won 94 games). Furthermore, both teams played so evenly that their final runs scored and runs allowed were tied, at 27 (making the Cubs the lowest scoring seven game champ since the 1991 Twin, and this series the first seven game tie since 1971). So, how does this series compare with other seven game World Series?
<table width="100%" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">World Series (Team Wins)</th>
<th align="center">Final Score (RS / RA)</th>
<th align="center">One-Run Games</th>
<th align="center">Extra Inning Games</th>
<th align="center">Series Narrative Arc</th>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">2016 Cubs (103) d. Cleveland (94)</td>
<td align="center">27-27</td>
<td align="center">Three</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">3-1 Cleveland lead / both teams lost home field / Extra Innings Game 7 (Cleveland had chance to clinch at home)</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">2014 Giants (88) d. Royals (89)</td>
<td align="center">30-27</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">Giants 2 consecutive W to 3-2 lead / 1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression Progression / both teams lost home field (Royals had chance to clinch at home)</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">2011 Cardinals (90) d. Rangers (96)</td>
<td align="center">38-30</td>
<td align="center">Three</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">Rangers 2 consecutive W to 3-2 lead / 1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">2002 Angels (99) d. Giants (95)</td>
<td align="center">41-44</td>
<td align="center">Four</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">Giants 2 consecutive W to 3-2 lead / 1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">2001 Diamondbacks (92) d. Yankees (95)</td>
<td align="center">37-14</td>
<td align="center">Four</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">Perfect Home Field Advantage (2:3:2) / Game 7 Walk-Off Win</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1997 Marlins (92) d. Cleveland (86)</td>
<td align="center">37-44</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field / Extra Innings Game 7 (Walk off Win)</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1991 Twins (95) d. Atlanta (94)</td>
<td align="center">24-35</td>
<td align="center">Five</td>
<td align="center">Three</td>
<td align="center">Perfect Home Field Advantage (2:3:2) / Consecutive Extra-Innings Walk-Offs (Game 6 & 7)</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1987 Twins (85) d. Cardinals (95)</td>
<td align="center">37-26</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">Perfect Home Field Advantage (2:3:2)</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1986 Mets (108) d. Red Sox (95)</td>
<td align="center">32-27</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">Both teams lost home field / Road team won first four games / Infamous Game Six Mets walk-off</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1985 Royals (91) d. Cardinals (101)</td>
<td align="center">28-13</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">3-1 Cardinals lead / both teams lost home field (Cardinals with chance to clinch at home) / Infamous Game Six Royals walk-off</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1982 Cardinals (92) d. Brewers (95)</td>
<td align="center">36-33</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1979 Pirates (98) d. Orioles (102)</td>
<td align="center">32-26</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">3-1 Orioles lead / both teams lost home field / Orioles had a chance to clinch at home</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1975 Reds (108) d. Red Sox (95)</td>
<td align="center">29-30</td>
<td align="center">Four</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field / Consecutive one-run games 6 & 7 with winning runs scored in extras & 9th (Red Sox had a chance to clinch at home)</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1973 Athletics (94) d. Mets (82)</td>
<td align="center">21-24</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">3-1 Mets lead / both teams lost home field</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1972 Athletics (93) d. Reds (95)</td>
<td align="center">16-21</td>
<td align="center">Six</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">3-1 Athletics lead (chance to clinch at home) / both teams lost home field / Reds had a chance to clinch at home</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1971 Pirates (97) d. Orioles (101)</td>
<td align="center">24-24</td>
<td align="center">Three</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">Perfect Home Field first six games / Game 7 was first road win in series (Orioles had chance to clinch at home)</td>
</tr>
</table>
I judged these categories for a few reasons: First, I wanted to use regular season W-L as a basic measure of team strength. I know there are better run-based measurements of team strength, but the fact is that playoff baseball is situational, and if a team wins or loses more games than their run differential or underlying stats suggest, that reflects on their situational play. I also counted final RS / RA (it's interesting that six of 16 winners were outscored by the loser over seven games) one-run games, which I believe is an obvious metric of a closely played contest, extra innings affairs (which are exciting for many reasons, and demonstrate an evenly-played contest), and other specific notes (such as whether teams kept or lost home field advantage, whether a team had a 3-1 lead, whether the series progressed in a 1-game-to-1-game fashion, if a team had a chance to clinch at home, and if there was an iconic game that I know of in Game 6 or 7, and anything else interesting I noted.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxibHbDvRTVKOH0rsrM4FoyZJpNaDlf1iFy82ql36WXvJsMamix6ajFDPGY7Jq9UHl-F4dUSe-9aj0lFvrpbNpwfZrUM3c62Nd5gAt9v2zlHaxjILPsZ9qLd0m12zXHLFc3NEcoJ0kq0/s1600/USATSI_9651093_168381442_lowres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuxibHbDvRTVKOH0rsrM4FoyZJpNaDlf1iFy82ql36WXvJsMamix6ajFDPGY7Jq9UHl-F4dUSe-9aj0lFvrpbNpwfZrUM3c62Nd5gAt9v2zlHaxjILPsZ9qLd0m12zXHLFc3NEcoJ0kq0/s320/USATSI_9651093_168381442_lowres.jpg" width="320" height="213" /></a></div>
These series can arguably divided into a couple of different groups. First, there are three series that are a cut above the rest, for one-run games, game 6 or 7 walk-offs, extra innings contests, teams losing home field advantage, teams losing 3-1 leads, or some combination of those factors. I believe that the perfect home field advantage in 1991 is very boring, but two consecutive extra innings walk-offs to close the series conquers all else. The 2016 series is oddly similar to the 1975 series, both in terms of the difference between team wins, the failed chance to clinch at home, and an iconic extra innings game:
<table width="100%" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">Best Series</th>
<th align="center">Final Score (RS / RA)</th>
<th align="center">One-Run Games</th>
<th align="center">Extra Inning Games</th>
<th align="center">Series Narrative Arc</th>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1991 Twins (95) d. Atlanta (94)</td>
<td align="center">24-35</td>
<td align="center">Five</td>
<td align="center">Three</td>
<td align="center">Perfect Home Field Advantage (2:3:2) / Consecutive Extra-Innings Walk-Offs (Game 6 & 7)</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">2016 Cubs (103) d. Cleveland (94)</td>
<td align="center">27-27</td>
<td align="center">Three</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">3-1 Cleveland lead / both teams lost home field / Extra Innings Game 7 (Cleveland had chance to clinch at home)</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1975 Reds (108) d. Red Sox (95)</td>
<td align="center">29-30</td>
<td align="center">Four</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field / Consecutive one-run games 6 & 7 with winning runs scored in extras & 9th (Red Sox had a chance to clinch at home)</td>
</tr>
</table>
Next follow a group of series that certainly have their iconic moments, but maybe were not as evenly played, had a lot of one-run games but not much else, or had some combination of events that simply was not as exciting or as iconic as the above series (this is rather subjective, of course). For example, although the 2001 series had a lot of historical drama and a great final set of games, both teams followed home field advantage, and the final score of the series indicates that it really was not much of a contest whatsoever, overall; it's quite an odd mix of close games, home field determinism, and blowouts. That's just one example:
<table width="100%" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">Interesting Series (Team Wins)</th>
<th align="center">Final Score (RS / RA)</th>
<th align="center">One-Run Games</th>
<th align="center">Extra Inning Games</th>
<th align="center">Series Narrative Arc</th>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1972 Athletics (93) d. Reds (95)</td>
<td align="center">16-21</td>
<td align="center">Six</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">3-1 Athletics lead (chance to clinch at home) / both teams lost home field / Reds had a chance to clinch at home</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">2002 Angels (99) d. Giants (95)</td>
<td align="center">41-44</td>
<td align="center">Four</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">Giants 2 consecutive W to 3-2 lead / 1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1997 Marlins (92) d. Cleveland (86)</td>
<td align="center">37-44</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field / Extra Innings Game 7 (Walk off Win)</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1986 Mets (108) d. Red Sox (95)</td>
<td align="center">32-27</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">Both teams lost home field / Road team won first four games / Infamous Game Six Mets walk-off</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1973 Athletics (94) d. Mets (82)</td>
<td align="center">21-24</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">3-1 Mets lead / both teams lost home field</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1979 Pirates (98) d. Orioles (102)</td>
<td align="center">32-26</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">3-1 Orioles lead / both teams lost home field / Orioles had a chance to clinch at home</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1971 Pirates (97) d. Orioles (101)</td>
<td align="center">24-24</td>
<td align="center">Three</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">Perfect Home Field first six games / Game 7 was first road win in series (Orioles had chance to clinch at home)</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">2001 Diamondbacks (92) d. Yankees (95)</td>
<td align="center">37-14</td>
<td align="center">Four</td>
<td align="center">Two</td>
<td align="center">Perfect Home Field Advantage (2:3:2) / Game 7 Walk-Off Win</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">2011 Cardinals (90) d. Rangers (96)</td>
<td align="center">38-30</td>
<td align="center">Three</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">Rangers 2 consecutive W to 3-2 lead / 1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field</td>
</tr>
</table>
Finally, a group of series that have much less drama. For a seven game series, 1987 almost objectively has as little drama as possible for a seven game set: no extra innings, no one run games, the home team won every time, and the final score was lopsided, too. It is really interesting to me that each Champion in this category has fewer wins than the team they defeated. Perhaps that places these teams in a singular category, as they certainly deserve credit for that (well, maybe except for the Royals and Giants, who both had almost exactly the same record):
<table width="100%" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">World Series (Team Wins)</th>
<th align="center">Final Score (RS / RA)</th>
<th align="center">One-Run Games</th>
<th align="center">Extra Inning Games</th>
<th align="center">Series Narrative Arc</th>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">2014 Giants (88) d. Royals (89)</td>
<td align="center">30-27</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">Giants 2 consecutive W to 3-2 lead / 1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field (Royals had chance to clinch at home)</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1985 Royals (91) d. Cardinals (101)</td>
<td align="center">28-13</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">3-1 Cardinals lead / both teams lost home field (Cardinals with chance to clinch at home) / Infamous Game Six Royals walk-off</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1982 Cardinals (92) d. Brewers (95)</td>
<td align="center">36-33</td>
<td align="center">One</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">1-1:2-2:3-3 Progression / both teams lost home field</td>
</tr>
<tr onMouseOver="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'" onMouseOut="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'">
<td align="center">1987 Twins (85) d. Cardinals (95)</td>
<td align="center">37-26</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">Zero</td>
<td align="center">Perfect Home Field Advantage (2:3:2)</td>
</tr>
</table>
So, in conclusion, the 2016 series truly will stand the test of time as a competitive and entertaining series. Its great features include a bonkers seesaw final game, a tie score for the series, three one-run games and one extra innings contest, a blown 3-1 advantage for one team, and a blown chance to clinch the series at home. Pretty thrilling!Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-69188319257154775482016-07-10T10:21:00.002-07:002016-07-10T10:29:36.746-07:00Ranking Brewers ProspectsI began <a href="http://disciplesofuecker.com/top-30-brewers-prospects">covering Brewers prospects</a> during Milwaukee's exceptionally disappointing 2015 season, since the big club was doing nothing and it was clear that looking to the future would be more entertaining. The season was particularly interesting because several key prospects took huge steps forward (Orlando Arcia, Jorge Lopez, and Michael Reed most notably), which was a huge boost for the system prior to the influx of talent through an excellent draft (Cody Ponce, Trent Clark, Nathan Kirby, Demi Orimoloye, etc.) and slicing rebuilding trades (Brett Phillips, Josh Hader, Domingo Santana, Adrian Houser, Zach Davies, Malik Collymore, Yhonathan Barrios). Milwaukee even made some quiet International signings that could be praiseworthy as well (Jose Sibrian, for example). From four fronts, the Brewers system immeasurably improved.<br />
<br />
The same development has occurred under David Stearns's watch. In his first season as GM, Stearns has made remarkable low-cost/no-risk moves (Junior Guerra, Jonathan Villar, Garin Cecchini, Rymer Liriano, Keon Broxton, Trey Supak, etc.), which are especially astute for their counterbuilding nature (i.e., Stearns unloaded prospect depth to acquire Villar, Broxton, Supak, and Liriano, for example). A couple of true rebuilding moves netted Freddy Peralta, Carlos Herrera, Daniel Missaki, Jacob Nottingham, and Bubba Derby.<br />
<br />
Stearns adroitly acquired a "bad" contract (Aaron Hill) while moving Jean Segura and Tyler Wagner to the Diamondbacks, which added potential impact talent to the Brewers not once (Isan Diaz) but twice (Wendell Rijo), thanks to the recent pre-deadline deal to Boston. Once again, the Brewers executed a perfectly orchestrated draft in terms of leveraging risk and potential assets, which is beginning to create a signature for scouting director Ray Montgomery (Corey Ray, Chad McClanahan, Lucas Erceg, Zachary Clark, Zach Brown, Braden Webb, Francisco Thomas, and Thomas Jankins, among others).<br />
<br />
All told, Milwaukee has added or developed at least 30 intriguing-to-impact prospects over the last calendar year. This is a bewildering task for judging talent within the system, for even this number hardly accounts for the fact that previous impact-potential prospects are continuing on their course to success, too (Devin Williams, Marcos Diplan, and Franly Mallen, for example). Milwaukee's system is not simply stacked, it is stacked with depth pipelines emerging for Catcher, Second Base, and Shortstop, not to mention the club's glut of outfielders. The low minors may currently feature more true impact potential than the advanced minors at the moment, but several of the advanced prospects are tuning up their games in preparation for legitimate shots at MLB roles. Arcia's glove alone could carry him at shortstop; Brett Phillips is flashing five tools in centerfield; and even through some setbacks, Jorge Lopez adds rotational depth.<br />
<br />
So, how to rank these players? Admittedly, some of these pitchers may still have question marks about whether they will start or relieve, and some of the centerfield prospects are more likely to work at other outfield positions, which digs into their potential impact. Still, there is an impressive array of tools available, and even if some players move off of elite middle diamond positions, they may have the bats to carry an offensive juggernaut. More raw power is appearing throughout the system, and there are several power/speed potential profiles. For this reason, I am inclined to believe that the bats are ahead of the arms at this point, although this could arguably be a reflection of the fact that the system's best potential arms have not yet hit AA.<br />
<br />
I am writing this ranking here because it is too unwieldy, and also has too many question marks, to publish elsewhere. There is simply to way to say, right now, the system's #35 prospect is better than their #25 prospect; after five or six true impact top prospects, there are at least 20 intriguing prospects with tools that could grade into some MLB role.<br />
<br />
I ranked prospects first and foremost on their highest potential tools and roles, giving preference to high probability middle diamond players and starting pitchers. But I do have a liking of big tools on their own, so it's tough for me to pass on Josh Hader's <a href="http://www.brooksbaseball.net/tabs.php?player=623352&time=month&startDate=03/30/2007&endDate=10/15/2015&s_type=2">97 MPH lefty fastball </a>whether or not he starts or relieves. I am also trying to round out the general Top 30 range with high-floor players that could provide MLB impact in starting or bench roles. This is a necessity because prospects like Michael Reed, Jon Perrin, Damien Magnifico, and Garin Cecchini still have immense value, even if they do not have the high ceilings of other prospects.<br />
<br />
For the purposes of this exercise, I mean the following:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>An elite role is a starting contribution that could provide at least 10 runs above average (all around, bat and field) or 10 runs prevented. </li>
<li>An impact role is a contributor that could be average or better (0-10 runs). </li>
<li>A "bench" role is someone that has a tool to make the MLB, but a role that is somewhat uncertain. </li>
<li>Power/speed players are ranked separately because I like them too much to grade fairly against others. I would invariably rank many of these players higher than I "should."</li>
<li>There are other players that I think are interesting, but there is some injury issue or they are simply too far from the advanced minors to grade.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Here's the table:</div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">Elite Roles (6)</th>
<th align="center">Impact Starters (6)</th>
<th align="center">Impact Depth (Uncertain Role) (10)</th>
<th align="center">Power or Speed Loves (10)</th>
<th align="center">Depth (18)</th>
<th align="center">Don't Know / Extreme Risks (14)</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Orlando Arcia</td>
<td align="center">Jorge Lopez</td>
<td align="center">Marcos Diplan</td>
<td align="center">Demi Orimoloye</td>
<td align="center">Trey Supak</td>
<td align="center">Nathan Kirby</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Cody Ponce</td>
<td align="center">Isan Diaz</td>
<td align="center">Freddy Peralta</td>
<td align="center">Lucas Erceg</td>
<td align="center">Bubba Derby</td>
<td align="center">Taylor Williams</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Bertt Phillips</td>
<td align="center">Trent Clark</td>
<td align="center">Kodi Medeiros</td>
<td align="center">Jake Gatewood</td>
<td align="center">Garin Cecchini</td>
<td align="center">Daniel Missaki</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Jacob Nottingham</td>
<td align="center">Devin Williams</td>
<td align="center">Michael Reed</td>
<td align="center">Gilbert Lara</td>
<td align="center">Tyrone Taylor</td>
<td align="center">Aaron Familia</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Miguel Diaz</td>
<td align="center">Corey Ray</td>
<td align="center">Adrian Houser</td>
<td align="center">Chad McClanahan</td>
<td align="center">Damien Magnifico</td>
<td align="center">Jean-Carlos Carmona</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Josh Hader</td>
<td align="center">Franly Mallen</td>
<td align="center">Jon Perrin</td>
<td align="center">Victor Roache</td>
<td align="center">Francisco Thomas</td>
<td align="center">Karsen Lindell</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">Carlos Herrera</td>
<td align="center">Zachary Clark</td>
<td align="center">Zach Brown</td>
<td align="center">Nash Walters</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">Javier Betancourt</td>
<td align="center">Malik Collymore</td>
<td align="center">Braden Webb</td>
<td align="center">Jordan Yamamoto</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">Monte Harrison</td>
<td align="center">Tyrone Perry</td>
<td align="center">Jose Sibrian</td>
<td align="center">Nelson Hernandez</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">Aaron Wilkerson</td>
<td align="center">David Denson</td>
<td align="center">Troy Stokes</td>
<td align="center">Carlos Luna</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">David Burkhalter</td>
<td align="center">Johel Atencio</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">Thomas Jankins</td>
<td align="center">Max McDowell</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">Drake Owenby</td>
<td align="center">Yhonathan Barrios</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">Jake Drossner</td>
<td align="center">Rymer Liriano</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">Dustin Houle</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">George Iskenderian</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">Jose Cuas</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">Gentry Fortuno</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Even with this table of 64 players, I am certain I forgot several interesting prospects. Like Wendell Rijo, for instance (whoops!). <br />
<br />
Additionally, the Brewers have several rookies currently playing in the MLB:<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 50%px;">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">2016 Rookies (WARP)</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Junior Guerra (2.0)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Zach Davies (1.0)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Jhan Marinez (0.3)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Jacob Barnes (0.3)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Andy Wilkins (0.0)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Yadiel Rivera (-0.2)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Colin Walsh (-0.2)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Ramon Flores (-0.3)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Keon Broxton (-0.4)</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
What is especially interesting for the Brewers is the emerging pipeline at each position on the diamond, which should allow Milwaukee's front office to consider more depth trades (alongside the traditional/expected "rebuilding" trades involving MLB players). This chart is based on games played, as of late June, so I excluded Arizona Rookies, given that their team was under construction with draft signings:<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">Brewers Pipeline</th>
<th align="center">C</th>
<th align="center">1B</th>
<th align="center">2B</th>
<th align="center">3B</th>
<th align="center">SS</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">AAA</td>
<td align="center">Pina</td>
<td align="center">Cecchini</td>
<td align="center">Elmore</td>
<td align="center">Middlebrooks</td>
<td align="center">Arcia</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">AA</td>
<td align="center">Nottingham</td>
<td align="center">Cooper</td>
<td align="center">McFarland</td>
<td align="center">Shaw</td>
<td align="center">Macias</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">A+</td>
<td align="center">Houle</td>
<td align="center">DeMuth</td>
<td align="center">Iskenderian</td>
<td align="center">Cuas</td>
<td align="center">A. Ortega</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">A</td>
<td align="center">McDowell</td>
<td align="center">Sharkey</td>
<td align="center">Allemand</td>
<td align="center">Gatewood</td>
<td align="center">I. Diaz</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">R+</td>
<td align="center">N. Rodriguez</td>
<td align="center">J. Ortiz</td>
<td align="center">Mallen</td>
<td align="center">Erceg</td>
<td align="center">Lara</td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">Brewers Pipeline</th>
<th align="center">LF</th>
<th align="center">CF</th>
<th align="center">RF</th>
<th align="center">Depth</th>
<th align="center">Depth</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">AAA</td>
<td align="center">E. Young Jr.</td>
<td align="center">Reed</td>
<td align="center">Wilkins</td>
<td align="center">Pinto</td>
<td align="center">Orf</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">AA</td>
<td align="center">Roache</td>
<td align="center">Phillips</td>
<td align="center">Taylor</td>
<td align="center">Betancourt</td>
<td align="center">O. Garcia</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">A+</td>
<td align="center">B. Diaz</td>
<td align="center">J. Davis</td>
<td align="center">Coulter</td>
<td align="center">Collymore</td>
<td align="center">Ray</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">A</td>
<td align="center">Stokes</td>
<td align="center">Harrison</td>
<td align="center">Belonis</td>
<td align="center">T. Clark</td>
<td align="center">L. Aviles</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">R+</td>
<td align="center">Y. Martinez</td>
<td align="center">Segovia</td>
<td align="center">Orimoloye</td>
<td align="center">W. Wilson</td>
<td align="center">R. Gideon</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
With this type of depth, the Brewers front office can begin trading players that might have similar profiles, in order to maximize high prospect value and turn it into MLB wins (by both trading some prospects and developing others). Each of these players will not make the MLB with the Brewers, so as the big club's roster needs unfold throughout 2017 and 2018, the Brewers will have the deep farm system to (a) withstand injuries, (b) make impact trades, and (c) graduate talent to the MLB.Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-9162214831643849662016-06-02T16:04:00.003-07:002016-06-02T17:04:02.421-07:00The Descent of the 1995-1996 NBALately on my own social media, I've been vehemently defending the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls. Obvious nostalgia aside, the team was a powerhouse that had just returned (arguably) the greatest player of all time to an exceptional supporting cast. I also fondly remember the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, and Seattle SuperSonics, and used these teams to justify personal arguments about the strength of the 1995-1996 NBA. A close friend pointed out that the league added two expansion teams for that season, raising a question about the competitive nature of the league. I hypothesized that ELO, a measurement designed to account for franchise strength based on performance in individual games, would readily account for the strength of the league. Furthermore, the presence of the "tank" (or, sorry, "The Process") in the 2015-2016 NBA would surely equate this years bottom of the league with that bottom of the league in 1995-1996. Or so I suspected.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, ELO provides a clear and intuitive tool for judging the strength of a given league, so I set out to collect the season opening and closing ELO for each 1995-1996 NBA team, and each 2015-2016 NBA team. The 2015-2016 NBA had 30 teams, while 29 played in 1995-1996 (hereafter 1516 and 9596). <i><b>My hypothesis was simple: the 1995-1996 NBA, despite its expansion era, would prove to have stronger teams than the 2015-2016 NBA.</b> </i>My findings challenge this, but there are a boatload of interesting facts and interpretations in-between.<br />
<br />
(1) Elite Teams.<br />
Let's cut straight to the chase: who were the best teams in 1995-1996? Since the <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-we-calculate-nba-elo-ratings/">"average" ELO is 1500 points</a>, I used a 10% above average threshold (or, 1650 points) to define "elite" teams at season's end. The 1516 Warriors could be poised to overtake the Bulls, who are currently the most elite team of the bunch. However, the 1516 Spurs, Thunder, and Cavs all are currently rated stronger than the 9596 Sonics and Jazz.<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">Elite Teams ELO</th>
<th align="center">Opening</th>
<th align="center">Closing</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">9596 Bulls</td>
<td align="center">1592</td>
<td align="center">1853</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">1516 Warriors</td>
<td align="center">1746</td>
<td align="center">1790</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">1516 Spurs</td>
<td align="center">1667</td>
<td align="center">1759</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">1516 Thunder</td>
<td align="center">1567</td>
<td align="center">1744</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">1516 Cavs</td>
<td align="center">1645</td>
<td align="center">1725</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">9596 Sonics</td>
<td align="center">1627</td>
<td align="center">1704</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">9596 Jazz</td>
<td align="center">1604</td>
<td align="center">1687</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This list doesn't tell the whole story, however. Entering the 1516 season, the NBA featured two elite teams (Warriors and Spurs). By contrast, <i>there were no elite ELO teams entering the 9596 NBA.</i> Instead, there were nine "very good" teams, or teams that were 5% to 9% better than average ELO. In the 9596 NBA, those teams were the Spurs, Rockets, Sonics, Jazz Knicks, Pacers, Bulls, Sun, and Magic. Interestingly enough, the 1516 NBA began the season with the two elite teams (Warriors and Spurs) and four very good teams (Clippers, Cavs, Rockets, and Grizzlies).<br />
<br />
As an aside, looking at actual opening and closing ELO development, one can make a better argument for the 1516 Thunder as a comp for the 9596 Bulls, rather than the 1516 Warriors. But that's another day.<br />
<br />
(2) League Picture<br />
So, take your pick: entering the season, the 9596 NBA featured no elite teams, but a ton of very good teams (31% of the league entered the season as "very good"). In 9596, the league finished with three elite teams (see table above) and three very good teams (Magic, Lakers, Spurs, Pacers). By contrast, the 1516 NBA opened with a solid number of elite and very good teams (20% of the league fell under these classifications), and finished the season with four elite teams (see table above) and five very good teams (Blazers, Clippers, Heat, Hawks, Raptors).
<br />
<br />
Elite: 1650+ ELO<br />
Very Good: 1575-1649 ELO<br />
Good: 1500-1574 ELO<br />
Mediocre: 1425-1499 ELO<br />
Bad: 1350-1424 ELO<br />
Terrible: -1349 ELO<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">Category of Team</th>
<th align="center">Opening</th>
<th align="center">Closing</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">9596 Elite</td>
<td align="center"></td>
<td align="center">3</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">1516 Elite</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">4</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">9596 Very Good</td>
<td align="center">9</td>
<td align="center">4</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">1516 Very Good</td>
<td align="center">4</td>
<td align="center">5</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">9596 Good</td>
<td align="center">5</td>
<td align="center">8</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">1516 Good</td>
<td align="center">11</td>
<td align="center">7</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">9596 Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">6</td>
<td align="center">5</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">1516 Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">8</td>
<td align="center">6</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">9596 Bad</td>
<td align="center">7</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">1516 Bad</td>
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">5</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">9596 Terrible</td>
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">7</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">1516 Terrible</td>
<td align="center">4</td>
<td align="center">3</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In the broadest terms possible, or the "Big Picture," the 1516 NBA is almost the exact inversion of the 9596 NBA. First, the 9596 NBA, where five good teams declined and produced one mediocre and one bad team (the Lakers ascended to very good); six mediocre teams split into two good, two mediocre, two terrible teams; and nearly half the bad teams became terrible teams (the Pistons became good, the Warriors and Bullets mediocre). Perhaps most tellingly, the 14 very good and good teams nearly split equitably, producing 3 elite, 4 very good, 5 good, 1 mediocre (#LOLHornets), and 1 bad (#LOLNuggets) teams.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">9596</th>
<th align="center">Opening</th>
<th align="center">Closing</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Spurs</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Rockets</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Sonics</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Elite</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Jazz</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Elite</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Knicks</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Pacers</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Bulls</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Elite</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Suns</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Magic</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Hornets</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Nuggets</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Blazers</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Lakers</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Hawks</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Cavs</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Kings</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Celtics</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Mavs</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Heat</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Bucks</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Nets</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Sixers</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Warriors</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Pistons</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Clippers</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Bullets</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Twolves</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Grizzlies</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Raptors</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In harsh terms, the 9596 NBA saw its teams' talents redistributed throughout the year, where a bunch of very good and good teams scattered in several different directions, all while the bottom of the league flat-out dropped out. The best thing that can be said about the 9596 NBA is that at least its redistribution was balanced, as nearly a third of the league either improved, remained the same, or declined (see table below).<br />
<br />
By contrast, the 1516 NBA was a story of stasis and improvement. While the 1516 NBA opened with more terrible teams than the 9596 league, two of the four terrible teams improved in 1516. Otherwise, teams remained rather steady across categories: the two elite teams entering the season remained elite; the very good teams scattered into elite, very good, good, and mediocre (#LOLGrizzlies) placements; five of eleven good teams remained just that (only the Bulls and Pelicans declined from that category. OUCH!); three of eight mediocre teams remained in place (two teams declined, #LOLBucks & #LOLNets); the Magic, the lone bad team, improved.<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">1516</th>
<th align="center">Opening</th>
<th align="center">Closing</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Warriors</td>
<td align="center">Elite</td>
<td align="center">Elite</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Spurs</td>
<td align="center">Elite</td>
<td align="center">Elite</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Clippers</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Cavs</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Elite</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Rockets</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Grizzlies</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Bulls</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Thunder</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Elite</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Hawks</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Blazers</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Mavs</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Jazz</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Wizards</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Pelicans</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Celtics</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Pacers</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Raptors</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Suns</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Pistons</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Nets</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Heat</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Bucks</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Nuggets</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Kings</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Charlotte</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">Good</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Magic</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Lakers</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Sixers</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Twolves</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Knicks</td>
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
<td align="center">Bad</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Here are how these charts look when they are compared to one another:<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">Teams Remaining the Same</th>
<th align="center">9596</th>
<th align="center">1516</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Elite</td>
<td align="center">0%</td>
<td align="center">100%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">33%</td>
<td align="center">25%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">40%</td>
<td align="center">45%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">33%</td>
<td align="center">38%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Bad</td>
<td align="center">14%</td>
<td align="center">0%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
<td align="center">100%</td>
<td align="center">50%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Overall</td>
<td align="center">10 / 29 (34%)</td>
<td align="center">13 / 30 (43%)</td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">Teams Declining</th>
<th align="center">9596</th>
<th align="center">1516</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Elite</td>
<td align="center">0%</td>
<td align="center">0%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">33%</td>
<td align="center">50%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">40%</td>
<td align="center">18%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">33%</td>
<td align="center">38%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Bad</td>
<td align="center">43%</td>
<td align="center">0%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Overall</td>
<td align="center">10 / 29 (34%)</td>
<td align="center">7 / 30 (23%)</td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">Teams Improving</th>
<th align="center">9596</th>
<th align="center">1516</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Very Good</td>
<td align="center">33%</td>
<td align="center">25%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Good</td>
<td align="center">20%</td>
<td align="center">36%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Mediocre</td>
<td align="center">33%</td>
<td align="center">25%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Bad</td>
<td align="center">43%</td>
<td align="center">100%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Terrible</td>
<td align="center">0%</td>
<td align="center">50%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">Overall</td>
<td align="center">9 / 29 (31%)</td>
<td align="center">10 / 30 (33%)</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
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(3) League Strength<br />
It's tempting to argue that the presence of an even distribution of improving, static, and declining teams makes the 9596 NBA the more competitive league. However, the presence of nine bad or terrible teams (out of 29) simply makes that case more difficult. In terms of basic statistics, the 1516 NBA finished with fewer bad or terrible teams (8 of 30), and had a higher percentage of their preseason bad or terrible teams improve (the Magic, Twolves, and Knicks, here). The 9596 NBA had the Warriors, Pistons, and Bullets improve, but that simply was not enough to tilt the numbers in their favor.<br />
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There's also a grand sense of possibility about the 1516 NBA going forward: 22 of 30 teams are mediocre or better, and it's a top-heavy list (16 of those teams are good). Two of those mediocre teams (Bulls, Pistons) are within shouting distance of the league average ELO, and the Magic are trending upward. These numbers are ultimately close to the 9596 NBA, but just a tick better (I feel like that matters, too, as a mediocre team can sell "trying to win" to its fanbase, and the more teams that can do that, better for the league). It is simply better, or more competitive, if 22 teams can fight for playoff spots, instead of 20.<br />
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On the other hand, there remain arguments in favor of the 9596 NBA. At the very least, since fewer teams remained the same, the league was at least <i>more interesting</i>, arguably, than the current NBA. Furthermore, nearly as many teams improved in 9596 as in 1516, which means that some of the moves within the league were equally as exciting as the current league.<br />
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Isn't it interesting how many franchises have similar arcs within a 20 year span? The poor Rockets: both teams declined from Top 5 openings in 9596 <i>and</i> 1516. That's neither here nor there, really, but still interesting: the 1990s Rockets descending from their Championships, the 2010s Rockets never really succeeding in the playoffs (1st round exits in 3 of their last 4 trips). Teams that were (approximately) within 37 ELO points, or 2.5%, in both their 9596 and 1516 ratings? Rockets (1503 to 1536), Washington (1498 to 1530), Pistons (1528 to 1494), Nets (1327 to 1289), Kings (1431 to 1425), Hawks (1556 to 1593), and Nuggets (1404 to 1427). That's seven teams that have played nearly a generation of basketball, only to come 'round and land almost in exactly the same spot.<br />
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Notably, the Sixers missed the cut, but they were nearly as bad in 9596 (1256 ELO) as their current "Process" (1203 ELO). The current Sixers finished this season with a worse performance than both the expansion Grizzlies and Raptors, which alone should disqualify them form their Draft Lottery. The Sonics / Thunder also missed the cut by a small margin, but they are equally fascinating from the other end of the spectrum: this franchise finished Top Three in both years, elite teams both years, and (arguably) in a transitional season both years. This year's Thunder potentially closed out Kevin Durant's era with the club, closing their attempt at a dynasty; the Sonics weren't quite there in 1996, but they were close to winding down; they wouldn't return to the Western Conference Finals in Seattle.<br />
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It remains to be seen if the Warriors can top the Bulls dynasty of the mid-1990s. One might wonder whether that team will become as universally loved or hated as the Bulls (I wonder if video game programmers will tank the Warriors, a la the hideous Bulls in NBA Jam). The one thing that remains extremely interesting about those 1996 Bulls is the return of Michael Jordan, which adds a completely different arc to the story. Moreover, even in the midst of their dynasty run, even including the "break" from the Finals between 1993 and 1996, the Bulls responded to adversity and rebuilt their club; their ELO climb from 1592 to 1853 (!!!) in 9596 alone proves this. So, one only needs to ask of Golden State, what will their adversity be, and will they beat it?<br />
<br />Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-77412177707464755642016-05-09T05:06:00.004-07:002016-05-09T05:10:24.728-07:00Political Parties & Academia<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e7ha3" data-offset-key="7dg5l-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #373e4d; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span data-offset-key="7dg5l-0-0">Since <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/opinion/sunday/a-confession-of-liberal-intolerance.html?ref=opinion&_r=1">Nicholas Kristof's "A Confession of Liberal Intolerance"</a> will undoubtedly make the rounds, given its seemingly "countercultural" critique in favor of the GOP in academia, it is worth providing at least two specific responses to Kristof's argument. Kristof is merely sneaking power into the classroom, research, and publication through his argument, which is an unacceptable implication in any academic argument. </span><br />
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<span data-offset-key="7dg5l-0-0">In the first place, it's ridiculous that any college professor would be represented by their political affiliation in the two-party system: no one is a good scholar or teacher or representing their scholarly viewpoint because they are GOP or Democrat. Even in "left-leaning" fields this would be absurd: it would matter less if two Sociologists or Anthropologists or Philosophers were Dem & GOP, rather than structuralist, feminist, Marxist, Foucauldian, Weberian, etc. [or not] (ironically, the same even goes for "right"-leaning fields, like Economics, where one can take a striking variety of ideological positions on institutionalism, corporate governance, Monetary policy, etc. It would obviously matter more, anyway, if one followed Keynes in economics, rather than political party). </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="7dg5l-0-0">Speaking especially as someone educated in fields that are publicly viewed as "left," there was not ever a time that I hoped my political theory prof would out themselves as Dem / GOP; it mattered much more what they had to say on Locke / Rousseau / Rawls / Arendt, etc. Philosophically, it would be absurd to suggest that political party affiliation matters in a debate about 20th century epistemology, or the Theory of Ideas from Plato to Aristotle, etc.; even fields colloquially aligned with what the USA calls "the left" have little-to-no-room for State parties in the classroom. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="7dg5l-0-0">Suggesting that academia should correct for "political diversity" as "political party membership" in anyway is a great way to out oneself as an apologist for the State's political order itself, rather than a champion of academic freedom. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="411uo-0-0">In this sense, given the GOP's extreme cultural victories from the ground-up, from roughly the 1970s-to-present, I find Kristof's argument about academic diversity disingenuous. Conservatives threw money at institutions to found right-leaning journals (stacking 2nd Amendment scholarship in their favor), to build law school curriculum and societies (creating The Federalist Society, an actual route to conservative judicial power), all the while even the most "groundbreaking" canonical political theorists of that time were "center" at best (Rawls, even as a welfare state theorist, was quite conservative). If anything, the GOP are a <i>model</i> for how a State-sponsored entity could maximize wings of academia for their agenda, instead of a model for "political academia outsider."</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="f52rm-0-0">Anyway, the GOP has been an absolute force in local-state-Congressional election cycles, and they have effectively used academic infrastructures to create positions of strength in fields of cultural prestige or political monopoly (i.e., the judiciary). Acting as arms of the State, it's shortsighted (at best) to say that either Democratic or Republican views should be represented in the academy, and this point becomes even more dangerous when one considers the success that the GOP has had in the academy in terms of actually building ideology over the last 45-50 years. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="cn1l4-0-0">This is simply shrouded power politics, and the implications for the right (that the GOP somehow is underrepresented in the academy) or the left (that representation as a Democrat in academic work) are both equally untenable. </span></div>
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Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-29059311241305127602016-04-25T07:49:00.001-07:002016-04-25T07:59:29.443-07:00Inevitability, History, and AuthorityThere is a surprising thread that runs through Karl Popper's assault on G.W.F. Hegel's idealism and Karl Marx's materialist philosophy of history: Popper uses his second volume of <i>The Open Society and its Enemies</i> to reclaim philosophy of history from the state. By using history to predict developments, and subsequently leaning on the tool of history to <i>justify</i> or <i>legitimate</i> political developments, Popper argues that (especially) Hegel and (to a lesser extent) Marx surrender freedom/emancipation to the ruling class. Authoritarianism, in this regard, is problematic precisely because it is a form of governance where the State is the source of moral legitimacy; historical predictions and philosophy of history become an arm of the State, meaning that using history as a judge is simply a manner of stating that the authorities of the future will support a contemporary political aim.<br />
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Popper's argument is surprising because I expected to hate his argument about Marx's philosophy of history in particular. Yet, Popper uses a clever tool to argue against Marx's historicism, since Popper himself upholds the normative strength of Marx's actual analysis of history. In this case, class oriented historical analysis, or historical analysis that centers on the "real conditions" of power, renders the need for "historical inevitability" or "historical projections" entirely unnecessary. Here, it's not a stretch to see Popper's argument as a germ for Thomas Kuhn's <i>The Structure of Scientific Revolutions</i>, whereby one scans the history and philosophy of science (in this case) to derive structural conclusions about the scientific method (rather than, say, predicting the next revolutions in science). Kuhn serves as a brilliant leftist commentator and methodologist under this lens (as ridiculous as this claim may seem).<br />
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From Popper's argument, I continuously return to the recent civil rights gains won in the fight for marriage equality. The troubling aspect of this fight was the consistent phrase, "the right side of history." Even in the force of other entirely legitimate arguments in favor of expanding civil rights to include same-sex marriage, the ideal of a "right" side in history added a troubling appeal to authority to the proceedings. It is as though activists were throwing aside their perpetual right to agitate: for, when authority recognizes civil rights, the fight for civil rights will no longer be necessary. This is a grave error, for the fight for civil rights in this case ignores the powerful claims inherent in those rights themselves, and instead opts for an appeal to future authorities. "Future states will uphold the legitimacy same-sex marriage" is not an argument in favor of same-sex marriage; it is an argument in favor of future authorities and judges as the source of legitimacy, rather than the people (the activists).<br />
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Historical inevitability is a yearning aspect of this claim to "the right side of history." There is an entirely understandable reason that some may no longer want to fight for the ability to be recognized and included within categories of basic rights: there is a certain peaceful stasis that consists within the inclusion of civil society. Once one achieves the full status of rights under the liberal capitalist aim, one is "fully free" in the sense that no aspect of consumption will be denied. In the sense that this includes the basic right to sit at the lunch counter or order a wedding cake, this is no small victory. The point, however, is not to turn that peaceful stasis into a desire for inevitability; if a civil rights victory becomes "inevitable," it immediately loses its force to achieve emancipation from civil society, or to reign as one victory in a series of many agitating victories for the authority of people (rather than the State).<br />
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It should come as no surprise that I view the candidacy of Hillary Clinton as problematic in this specific sense: the "inevitability" of Clinton's victory in the Democratic National Convention is precisely and actively the inevitability that future authority, the future State, will view Clinton's presidency as a legitimate source of moral power. Instead of supporting any contender, any ideal that the people may choose a candidate for the Executive Branch, one must implore citizens to stand "on the right side of history" in this fight, and therefore find inclusion in the arms of State legitimation. It should be no surprise, then, that Clinton is campaigning on a vague platform of upholding rights, precisely the rights that have already been legitimized by the State (instead of the rights that are still up for grabs, still in the hands of an activist group).<br />
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A predictive philosophy of history that stands for inevitability, "the right side of history." Unsurprisingly, history moves to the right:<br />
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There is no emancipation in the presidency of Hillary Clinton, nor should there be: Clinton will complete the battle for those that feel civil rights are indeed on "the right side of history," that future authorities will indeed side with these specific rights (and therefore, that the State will continue to build its own authority through its inclusion of these moral aims). Yet, one can find myriad domestic and international conditions that enliven the legitimacy of an activist's claims to continually fight for an expansion of civil rights, to expand civil rights to the point of emancipation (instead of truncating civil rights within the grasps of moral authority).<br />
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This tension should explain the complicated fight for the Democratic nomination: both major candidates stand for civil rights, and both major candidates largely stand for the State as a source of moral authority in crucial ways. Yet, the divisions among people mirror the fight between Popper and Hegel, the fight between (1) the strength of using structural analysis for its own normative strengths and (2) using predictive history and historical inevitability as a moral appeal to future authority. Should authority return to the people, the future source of legitimacy will be entirely inconclusive, for the expansive fights for civil rights will be undetermined; it will be an easier road to side with the historical inevitability of "the right side of history," even if that road promises fewer freedoms. The potential of expected certainty is a powerful political force.<br />
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<br />Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-88043487945139739612016-04-13T08:31:00.000-07:002016-04-13T14:13:30.206-07:00Matthew Desmond, "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City"$17 billion: For nearly 18 months, a figure has swirled in my mind: during the height of the Chicago Contract Buying scam that exploited segregated black neighborhoods during mortgage (and mortgage insurance) redlining, one lawyer fighting the scam estimated that $1 million in wealth was extracted daily from black families on the expansive west and south sides. $1 million, daily, for more than a decade, necessitates quite an astonishing sum when one considers how the City of Chicago might enact reparations for these families and their descendants. The trouble with this figure is that it reduces the crippling reality of racism to a figure so astronomical that no one could possibly take it seriously: if the state of Illinois cannot solve its $100 billion pension crisis to ensure that <i>workers</i> can earn their contractually and constitutionally required retirements, black families that had their wealth extracted simply because they wanted a chance at homeownership stand little chance of redeeming their <i>minimum </i>$17 billion claim in reparations.<br />
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Even worse: as Beryl Satter perfectly captures in <i>Family Properties: How the Struggle Over Race and Real Estate Transformed Chicago and Urban America</i>, the profit motives render reparations even less likely. The dirty secret that grinds through our daily economy in plain sight is that there is a certain type of acceptable logic that acquits those white "businessmen" that secured (illegal) mortgages from lenders only to turnover the houses (but not the Titles) to blacks for inflated sums. They were basically speculating, in the 1960s, that black families would desire a chance at homeownership even though market financing tools were systematically, institutionally forbidden to those families. These criminals correctly surmised that black families would live in dreadful conditions in order to take their chance at calling a home their own (or, at the very least, they knew that families need <i>somewhere </i>to live, even if it's a rat infested fire trap).<br />
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If this ruse sounds similar it is, as mortgage lenders ran a more sophisticated update to this game during the subprime mortgage crisis in the early 21st century (here the punchline is even less easy to stomach, as more than 50% of minority subprime borrowers had credit scores that entitled them to market mortgage products). Similarly, behind this entirely well-publicized subprime crisis, landlords continued to slum, extracting gigantic sums of money from rental properties that produce pages-long violations reports from the City of Chicago. A mother looking for $600 rent on SSI will settle for an infested place owned by a landlord that can continuously play the banks for millions of dollars of equity, because that's exactly how the profit motive is designed to work. (If you disagree with me, ask yourself how it is that a landlord can continuously secure equity financing from a building that consistently racks up violations reports from the City: this is a scenario that replays itself across neighborhoods).<br />
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The contract buying scam worked because it preyed on scarcity (homes in institutionally segregated areas) without presenting risks to the criminals that orchestrated such deals (for, when black families missed mortgage payments, white Title holders could immediately evict them). Similarly, the subprime crisis worked because it preyed on a speculative bubble and that same basic desire for homeownership without presenting risks to the criminals that orchestrated such deals (for, the very institutions that were slicing and dicing mortgage loans into investment instruments were gambling in insurance markets that those instruments would fail).<br />
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So goes private property in the USA: scarcity and speculative ideals have blended perfectly with Americans' deeply-held racist beliefs (or, alternately, their inability to protest racist institutions for fear of losing what crumbs they too are grasping). Matthew Desmond picks at a new aspect of this relationship in his highly praised <i>Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, </i>adding brutal class tourism (at worst), passionate ethnography, and impeccable research methods (at best) to outline the complicated evictions market in Milwaukee, WI.<br />
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When I grew up in Milwaukee, the segregated inner city was routinely (dismissively) called The Core. The sound of locking car doors as soon as one crossed 60th & Center reverberates in my guilty conscience. Desmond explains the logic of segregation in this city in a manner that deeply resonated with my own experiences as a white west sider, as an elementary student bussed deeper into the city during the celebratory multicultural early-1990s MPS, as a son of a Heating & Air Conditioning salesman afforded weekend visits to offices with Dad on Teutonia & Locust, and later serving as a property manager off Marquette University's campus. Mostly, I lived as one whose brief adult experiences in the city (from ages 18-24) came mostly on foot or via Milwaukee County Transit (complete with Executive Walker's mindless austerity). This is my Milwaukee identity, and it is impossible to read Desmond's book without those vivid memories from school buses to the 31 Medical Center.<br />
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I will never forget the feeling of plastic grocery bags slicing into my hands as I attempted to walk from the Pick'N'Save off the 16th Street Viaduct back to The Abode East off 15th and Wells (absent an entirely untrustworthy bus on Walker's once-every-45-minute routes). The length of the 16th Street Viaduct is known mostly for its lore in Milwaukee's past battlegrounds for racial equality, and Desmond deeply describes "The Longest Bridge in the World" to capture the utterly hopeless segregation of my hometown. Given the timeframe of Desmond's survey, unbeknownst to me, I was probably carrying my groceries along that Viaduct while one of his featured renters slept below it.<br />
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In this setting, the evicted renters that Desmond captures are tenacious as they struggle with addiction, hustling, raising children, helping sick acquaintances or family members, domestic and external violence, and substandard living conditions. Desmond holds no punches as he emphasizes the almost complete lack of adequate employment and housing opportunities, and then doubles down with the circumstantial blows that knock these people out of any possible comfort when they do find a job or a decent place to live.<br />
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This aspect of Desmond's work is consistently what I fight with in my mind, for even his well-written prose and sound ethnographical methods do not hide the clear chance for readers to engage in class tourism throughout the book. While Desmond plainly provides policy arguments and methodological explanations at the end of the book, those sections are largely separated from the ethnography itself, which removes many of the most difficult aspects of each person's individual story from any potential for using it as evidence for the necessity of affordable housing reform. It will be easy for ill-minded pundits or even casual middle-class, working-class racists to use these stories to reenforce stereotypes about the poor -- and, in Milwaukee, especially stereotypes about poor black families.<br />
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However, I struggle with this because it may not have been Desmond's intent to present the material in this way; it could have been an editorial demand (outside of an academic press) to separate normative and methodological aspects from the beginning of the book. Instead of a brief prologue that dives right into the stories of these people, Desmond's dynamite methodological explanation (pages 315-336) and good-natured normative analysis (pages 293-313) should have opened the book.<br />
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If you're wondering whether this type of arrangement would stack the decks and immediately spoil the story (spoiler alert: poor people lose), you're right. The benefit of this type of alignment would be that Desmond could orchestrate his ethnographical findings with the well-proven fact that poverty is systematic, institutionally determined, and that racism is malicious and entirely intentional. This type of lens would completely predetermine the individual fates of the story, which would indeed take away from some of the bite of their heartbreaking failures and their inspiring fights against all odds.<br />
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Slumming is exceptionally profitable to landlords, and my critique about the organization of the ethnography, methodology, and policy suggestions should not be taken as a suggestion that Desmond does not acknowledge the systematic nature of poverty. In fact, by the chapter "The 'Hood is Good," Desmond outlines with actuarial accuracy the cashflow afforded to the main landlord that he features in the book. This particular landlord does not operate properties that cannot clear ~$500 in cash (monthly), ultimately resulting in a $10,000 monthly payday once all expenses are accounted for (and this doesn't even consider any mortgage credits or depreciation calculations that this landlord is almost certainly claiming). Desmond admirably maintains some level of neutrality by noting that he refused to call this landlord a "slumlord" when pressed by one of the renters, but the facts laid bare tell the story so Desmond doesn't need to: it is incredibly profitable for a landlord to ignore repairs (documented throughout the book), ignore plumbing and electrical maintenance (documented throughout the book), ignore maintenance requests, self-manage "pest control," and hire drug addicts for easily exploited labor (and fail to pay laborers after they agree to the work). On top of their own enterprises, this landlord also expands business to manage property for Suburban whites inconvenienced by daily maintenance in Milwaukee's inner city, while also operating transportation services to connect family members with loved ones imprisoned upstate.<br />
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This is one central aspect of Desmond's methodology that produces a strength of the book: explaining two common threads related to the study of poverty, Desmond wrote:<br />
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<i>The ghetto was treated like "a city within a city." The poor were being left out of the inequality debate, as if we believed the livelihoods of the rich and the middle class were intertwined but those of the poor and everyone else were not. Where were the rich people who wielded enormous influence over the lives of low-income families and their communities--who were rich precisely because they did so? Why, I wondered, have we documented how the poor make ends meet without asking why their bills are so high or where their money is flowing? </i>(317)<br />
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Desmond's question is not insignificant: he finds shortcomings with previous studies of poverty that focused on public housing, or urban neighborhoods. By inserting wealthy landlords into his ethnography, Desmond specifically investigates the profit motive instantiated in the people exploiting inner cities through slumming, and how poor renters are affected by this motive.<br />
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From this standpoint, Desmond's book is driven by several surveys, which the author completed as a full-time fieldworker while living in Milwaukee (326). By focusing specifically on the relationship between the poor and the wealthy in poor inner city neighborhoods, Desmond found an avenue to complete original research on the impact of evictions on renters and neighborhoods. The Milwaukee Area Renters Study (MARS), the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, and the Milwaukee Eviction Court Study were surveys developed by Desmond to specifically analyze the devastating and complicated impact of the profit motive on poor renters. Through these dynamic surveys, Desmond is able to convey the dangers of evictions to families, noting throughout the book that when families are evicted, they often end up in more dangerous housing moving deeper into more violent neighborhoods. The colloquial term "The Core" becomes a crucial weapon of racism, for it paints over miles upon miles of inner city neighborhoods without drawing distinctions; Desmond surgically slices into the terrain of racism with methods that allow him to show the complicated layers of poverty and poor neighborhoods.<br />
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One of the issues with the layout or sequencing of Desmond's book, then, is that the reader may not be inclined to read the methodology first; the reader may not ever know that the author designed groundbreaking surveys in order to complement his ethnography with specific data pertaining to the scope of renters and their neighborhoods in Milwaukee. This is problematic because Desmond presents Milwaukee in two different lights; in the prologue, "there is nothing special about Milwaukee when it comes to eviction" (5). Yet, Desmond argues in his methodology section that Milwaukee is especially well-suited for a survey of the impact of the profit motive in poor neighborhoods within the USA:<br />
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<i>Wisconsin's largest city is not every city, but it is considerably less unique than the small clutch of iconic but exceptional places that have come to represent the American urban experience. Every city creates its own ecosystem, but in some cities this is much more pronounced. Milwaukee is a fairly typical midsize metropolitan area with a fairly typical socioeconomic profile and housing market and fairly typical renter protections. It is far better suited to represent the experiences of city dwellers living in Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Baltimore, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Gary, Raleigh, Utica, and other cities left out of the national conversation because they are not America's biggest successes (San Francisco, New York City) or biggest failures (Detroit, Newark).</i> (333).<br />
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Like his policy proposals, Desmond follows this methodology with a call to other researchers to continue this project and actually see what these principles of research reveal in other cities. On the one hand, Desmond's work reminds me of the brutal grittiness and bleakness exemplified by other recent urban ethnography, like <i>Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Poor </i>(Sudhir Venkatesh), although Desmond's work arguably offers a stronger and more urgent normative push toward institutional reform. On the other hand, Desmond's template is an unorthodox kin to pioneering economic surveys of the built environment, like Charles Beard's <i>Economic Interpretation of the Constitution, </i>inosfar as Desmond welcomes others to replicate his results while also developing an account of systematic exploitation of the profit motive (or, the impact of the profit motive on actual economic life). It remains to be seen if Desmond's methodological development begins a new genre of study, much like Beard did for the study of situated economics and USA founding policy positions.<br />
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From the methodological vantage point, Desmond's contribution is innovative, which is precisely my concern with the production of this work for widespread audiences. In shorter arenas, such as <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/06/opinion/sunday/the-eviction-economy.html?_r=0">New York Times</a>, </i>Desmond adroitly uses his fieldwork to make succinct and forceful policy points. Throughout <i>Evicted</i>, however, it takes quite a while to ramp up to the normative and methodological impact of the work. In the meantime, readers will need to persevere through teenage sex, misbehaving children, addiction casualties, domestic violence, homelessness, female-headed households, and generally crisis-filled lives to reach the major contributions. Desmond's neutrality ensures that there is not always a structural explanation for an individual event, which leads me to conclude that in many cases, people will use this book to bolster their preexisting opinions about poverty. I gather that my experience as someone who believes the poor are systematically screwed shaded my view of this book just as much someone who believes that the poor deserve their fate will view ethnography. However, one can hope that the press onslaught accompanying <i>Evicted</i> will change some minds and convert some Americans to consider ways to alleviate the affordable housing crisis.<br />
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Here in Chicago, there are at least 50,000 people waiting for Housing Choice Vouchers or other Chicago Housing Authority programs. In terms of privately developed affordability options, there is a waitlist at nearly every building or unit that one can find. And this picture only captures those that are actively looking for those lists and seeking those services. Otherwise, half of Chicago households are rent burdened, meaning that more than one-third of household income is allocated to rent (and rent alone). In the meantime, the CHA and City of Chicago are behind on completing <i>contractually mandated</i> affordable housing units, and as this crisis ensues, the Council and Mayor are taking other <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-lathrop-homes-approved-kamin-met-0219-20160218-story.html">subsidized housing units off the market entirely</a>. The City allows developers of new private housing to "buy out" affordable unit requirements, which ensures that new private units can enter the market with rents that obliterate median neighborhood ranges. This may be happening most visibly in Logan Square and Uptown, but one can be certain these developers will not stop until Chicago's median rents look more like those of San Francisco.<br />
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Ultimately, Desmond gives readers, scholars, and housing or social service professionals a template to tackle this crisis. The loud press associated with <i>Evicted</i> potentially raises the stakes for the affordable housing fight. And, as Desmond systematically shows, it will be a fight, for there is money to be made in slumming, evictions, and generally forcing poor people to live in crisis. Hopefully readers will follow the ethnography by reading Desmond's methodology, policy proposals, and even the notes. A volume of Desmond's sociological and social sciences articles associated with his surveys would also be extremely welcome. Here one hopes that <i>Evicted </i>continues to soar in the press, for it will be welcome to further apply Desmond's revolutionary approach to provide safe, secure, and affordable housing.<br />
<br />Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-47880889700099704192016-02-23T16:42:00.002-08:002016-02-23T16:42:54.243-08:00The Audacity of AudacityYou know, for a progressive, self-identifying Democratic Socialist, Senator Bernie Sanders is rather conservative. Not as conservative as his Democratic Party nemesis, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but conservative nonetheless:<br />
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<li>Sanders, and supporting economists, are operating on the tenets of economic growth.</li>
<li>Sanders is operating a jobs-driven rehabilitation plan for the nation's infrastructure. </li>
<li>Sanders is operating health care reform within the modes of professional health care (and, presumably, insurance, even if it is a single-payer system). </li>
<li>Sanders is designing education reform based around college, rather than alternative forms of education (such as technical school. apprentices, trade organizations, high schools. etc.).</li>
<li>Sanders is even attacking wealth inequality through jobs-driven platforms that will inevitably rely on a financial system driven by private banks (even if they're "broken-up").</li>
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In a liberal society, none of these policy proposals are categorically bad. By contrast, one could even argue that Sanders is aiming to expand the web of institutions that comprise the USA's security net. Even if one desires more progressive solutions than those Sanders is offering, there is a sense (even in resignation) that Sanders's USA would be easier to build upon than other candidates' respective visions....</div>
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...Which hardly makes Sanders some audacious, unrealistic, pie-in-the-sky candidate. In fact, the very fact that Sanders is regarded as -- somehow -- some kind of unrealistic, fairy-tale-spewing communist who won't accomplish anything in office is as much an indictment of the USA's situation as Sanders's very candidacy. </div>
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While thinking about criticisms of Sanders -- that he's basically expanding the premise of a protest vote into an untenable institution, that he's not conservative enough to be a Democrat, that he's going to tarnish the legacy of a President that once deported more people in a single term than any other American President [ever!], that he's a poor bum who never was good at a real job in life so he could only become a politician, that he's not qualified for the USA's highest office despite four decades of public service, that he's going to repeal a massive health care reform act that he helped to craft, that he's not going to accomplish anything with a GOP Congress because he's not as conservative as any other candidate, that he's a single-issue candidate that does not have a well-rounded platform to address the identity politics of the 21st century, and so on -- it occurred to me that Americans are largely mistaken about the role of this particular protest candidate in this particular election. </div>
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<li>If Secretary Clinton is as liberal as she claims to be, she won't get anything accomplished with a GOP Congress, either. </li>
<li>[After the obstructionist Congress that faced President Obama, one must question the potential outcomes of the policies of a practical "Liberal" President that can compromise or "work with" a truly dysfunctional right wing.]</li>
<li>The idea that a worthwhile Presidential candidate should be judged based on the fact that they will "get things done" is largely equivalent to the problematic idea that the populous should be concerned with "electability" (rather than, say, asking an absurd question like, "What are the best possible policies for the USA? Does any candidate offer those policies? If YES -- who should I vote for? -- If NO -- who should I vote for?").</li>
<li>The idea of a populace concerned about "winning an election" and voting for "the Candidate that can win" is a populace that deserves Candidate Donald Trump (and this is the same populace on a smaller scale that was concerned about "voting for the winning candidate" in Chicago, for example, and ended up gladly and handily electing a Mayor that was basically sitting on a [at least] a trio of scandals). Citizens should care less about "winning" than any other electoral issue. </li>
<li>Do you want the Democratic Party to be the Party of Chuy Garcia or the Party of Rahm Emanuel? This is literally your choice this election, again. This is your groundhog's day. </li>
<li>Senator Sanders is slowly expanding the types of questions that can be asked [once again] in large political debates. Free college? Hell yes! Free health care? Sign me up. Maybe this type of society will be one that eventually stops subsidizing sports arenas or mortgage interest tax credits for the wealthy. </li>
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<b><u>Audacious Questions</u><i>: </i></b>How do you want to redistribute wealth? Why should we work at all? How can we build an economy that <i>contracts</i> and <i>declines</i> and becomes <i>sustainable</i>, instead of an economy that grows? How can we get the government out of job creation? How can we get our bosses out of job creation? Why do we need health care at all? Why do we need tax credits? When will the wealthy be forced to refund all of the economic benefits they have received over, say, the last 150 years? Can we, the citizens, recall en masse politicians that refuse to perform their Constitutional duties and replace them? Why do we care about the Constitution at all?</div>
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<b><u style="font-style: italic;">What is the most impossible question you could ask of every politician? What is the most impossible task you want public policy to grant?</u> </b>Ask those questions, and then consider why those questions are important, and where our own assumptions [and therefore values and policy outcomes] lie in comparison.</div>
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And so on. These are <i>audacious</i> questions of <i>audacity</i>, questions that probe monopolies, questions that probe the <i>lure of professionalism</i>, questions that probe the requirements of the government, the assumptions of the economy, and the relationship we have with ourselves, others, and the earth [compounded]. A President Sanders will be conservative insofar as a President Sanders will be working entirely outside of this type of framework -- afterall, he's a socialist that's not even promising to abolish all private property and eventually dissolve that state! A President Clinton won't get us to this point, either. The question you must then ask: how much do I value our current economic, workplace, health, environmental, etc., assumptions? What will I do to change them?</div>
Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-12016272525975169302015-08-18T08:34:00.000-07:002015-08-18T08:34:39.605-07:00Oppose the Bucks Arena<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Dear Common Council,</span><br />
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As a Milwaukee native, I implore you to oppose the Bucks Arena financing plan when you vote on the matter. The arena itself is a prime example of irresponsible public spending, and the corresponding development plan does not address the City's economic and residential segregation. </div>
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First and foremost, given the revenue that the Bucks owners will earn from the forthcoming NBA television deal, and the surge in franchise sale values that will impact the Bucks, the City does not stand to proportionally benefit from the arena. (And, there is not a demonstrable need to assist the owners. Why are they unable to finance their own arena and development?) </div>
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Not only is it questionable whether the arena and development will create jobs that benefit Milwaukee's citizens, but it is also questionable whether the arena and development itself serves a vital role in the city's economy. Access to the arena will be preserved for a small percentage of the regional population, without corresponding gains provided to lower and middle class residents of Milwaukee. It is not clear that the proposed development will also be accessible to citizens from all walks of life.</div>
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Since it is unclear how the State's partial repeal of the prevailing wage law will impact the publicly financed arena, what measures will you enact to ensure that local residents and firms gain valuable, well-paying contracts? Will Milwaukee firms be able to win these contracts?</div>
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What percentage of residential units in the corresponding development will be mixed income, or subsidized for low income families? </div>
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How will the necessary debt collection practices associated with County's portion of the arena legislation affect families and residents within the City? </div>
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How will you amend the proposal to ensure that the City benefits from this project? Will you be able to use future measures to impact the corresponding development to ensure equitable outcomes for the City's residents?</div>
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Without clear answers to these questions that define the City's benefits from this project -- let alone countless other questions about the corresponding development and economic impact for the City -- there is no reason for the City to subsidize the Bucks ownership group and their multi-billion-dollar entertainment industry.</div>
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I understand that the State Assembly's vote places you in a difficult position, but you still have your chance to defend the economic interests of the City and the vast majority of its residents by rejecting this deal.</div>
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Respectfully Submitted,</div>
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Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-71887550500390758532015-07-16T09:09:00.000-07:002015-07-16T09:09:04.512-07:00Circuit des Yeux Haley Fohr’s voice is the first, clearest, most obvious reference point for Circuit des Yeux. Fohr’s delivery is deep, measured, powerful, and fierce. Her potential is fully experimental: my first live experience with Fohr placed her alongside fellow Chicago vocalist Panoptic Prism (Carol Genetti) at Elastic. Here, Fohr and Genetti used multiple approaches, including primal hollers into a wide open piano, which provided the ultimate acoustic amplification and reverberation for their abstract cries.<br />
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I provide this example because it serves as a perfect counterpoint for Fohr’s work under her Circuit des Yeux moniker. On Wednesday, July 15, Fohr led a quartet of supporting musicians at Schuba’s, and atop their polished, powerful playing, Fohr exemplified commanding presence with her powerful voice. Her hollers were unrestrained and sustained, presenting a droning quality that matched the strings, woodwinds, and reeds that stood stage left. While singing, Fohr’s deep, bellowing timbre is singular beyond description, stopping her listener with a wide range and stunning emotional clarity. Fohr effectively uses experimental and traditional deliveries to color her live performance and match the power of her live band.<br />
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The quartet of players paired a range of acoustic instruments stage left, with electric bass and synth duties working stage right. By pairing viola (violin?), bass clarinet, and flute with Fohr’s acoustic 12-string guitar, this live version of Circuit des Yeux performed a hybrid sound that matched the abstract intensity of the latest LP (In Plain Speech) without as much of an “electronic” feel. By manipulating acoustic instrumentation, the band’s drones bled through borders of rock, folk, and experimental tropes, which resulted in a blissful range of reference points. It is as easy to describe Circuit des Yeux as building on the tradition of Mayor Daley or Spires That In The Sunset Rise, or harnessing the classic ideals of what something like Led Zeppelin should have been (during the most progressive, extended midset instrumental performance, the powerful electronic low-end and ornate acoustic flourishes suddenly gave me the feeling that this is the “ideal” that a song like “Kashmir” pushed for: progressive (in the best sense) rock that melded diverse instrumentation into a perfect whole).<br />
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Some of the best surprises of the sets featured an extended introduction that paired reed and strings, and I also found myself marveling at the energy created by Fohr’s guitar work and the electric bass: whether Fohr was processing her 12-string, or was simply locked in with the bass, both players produced a sound that was heavy and intense. Ultimately, the band effectively built on themes established on In Plain Speech, but used their performance to spin that album’s synthetic and folk passages into a well-rounded interpretation. Circuit des Yeux played on the audience’s sense of familiarity with the power of classic or progressive rock, and built their extended, droning, experimental deliveries on that friendly, welcoming feeling.<br />
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<br />Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-10298890757650075542015-06-16T08:25:00.000-07:002015-06-16T08:31:12.575-07:00Autobiography #5: Algiers & ONO @ Schuba's<br />
"We will live again:" so goes the incantations that close "Oxblood," one of ONO's most powerful songs from their most recent album, <i><a href="http://www.secretdecoder.net/reviews/2014/04/18/ono-diegesis/">Diegesis</a></i>. The line transcended its name, or its invocation, to take embodied truth last night, as two fiercely experimental and powerful Gospel / noise acts shared the stage at Schuba's. The deck was stacked against both acts, as more than three hours of nonstop downpour (and funnel clouds!) tormented Chicago, expanding rush hour to 7 pm and flooding out the city. Chicago's beloved Blackhawks were also attempting to win their first Stanley Cup <i>at home</i> in three generations, the significance of which was instantly noticeable in Schuba's external bar (outside the concert area). Against the imminent threat of euphoric sports fan riots -- a palpable display of white privileged professional rage and an open act addiction to a strong entertainment opiate -- Algiers and ONO promised to tend to wounds suffered by those in the name of justice and emancipation. Throughout the show, as each performer's intense and thorough delivery raged onward, I wondered about my own choice of opiate, and why I felt music would get us any closer to achieving emancipation than ice hockey.<br />
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The answer is redemptive in every form. One may be surprised by the easy link between noise and Gospel music, for one form seems so brutal, unforgiving, and impenetrable, while the other may be equal parts praiseworthy and graceful; seeking glory. What Algiers and ONO proved together is that Gospel need not be openly about salvation or even praising God, but rather seeking the word or the truth, or redemption. The idea of redemption readily links noise and Gospel traditions, for redemption is necessarily collective, a collective search for a new start or a new chance. As noise obliterates the senses and therefore cleanses them, Gospel heightens the senses, to perceive injustice, chains, and obstacles to our collective truths. There should be little question why music acts can use noise and Gospel together to produce powerful, affective walls of sound, but where Algiers and ONO succeed is absolutely resonating with the demands that we achieve something greater -- or, at least recognize where our own shortcomings intersect with our desire for something new, or better.<br />
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ONO opened the night with a set that I expected to be "the most ONO set." Since the ensemble will announce their program before hand, it was clear that the group would offer something special with one of the most stripped down line ups I'd seen:<br />
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ONO Opens For ALGIERS</div>
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ONO: For This Performance:<br />
PMichael/Rebecca/DaWei/Ben/travis</div>
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Schuba’s Tavern<br />
3159 N Southport CHGO<br />
773.525.2508</div>
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LINEUP<br />
=8PM =ONO<br />
\u0010=9:15PM =ALGIERS</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12.8640003204346px;">ONO PERFORMING</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12.8640003204346px;">=Introduction / I Been Changed (Traditional)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12.8640003204346px;">=Invocation / The Nigger Queen (ONO1980)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12.8640003204346px;">=Fatima Police (ONO1980)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12.8640003204346px;">=Oxblood (ONO1984)</span><br />
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The traditional delivery instantly flooded the room with vocals that matched the percussive power of the march/dirge, and Franklin James Fisher, singer for Algiers, also offered his own voice alongside that of travis's. From there, Rebecca's keys carried the tunes alongside PMichael's bass, while DaWei's guitar manipulations and Ben's drums added textures to that funky low-end. In this format, ONO was soulful, even playful, with travis jumping from hollered greetings-as-directives ("Greetings from Chicago South Side") and certain testament ("We will live again"). The redemptive spirit of that line answered the bewildering calls that open "Oxblood," and the vocal power of that song took new meaning in a new arrangement produced by the band. PMichael noted that the song was modeled after a popular Drake offering in this form, which amplified the band's underlying soul tensions instead of the noisy, monolithic version that appears on <i>Diegesis</i>.<br />
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ONO once again proved that their beauty and effectiveness is in the moment, and in their undying love for reinvention and exploration. Their soulful song variations added a catchiness, or hook, that gave their work a new dimension. There is always a promise of something new with ONO, which I suspect is one of the reasons that so many of us love and follow the group in their continual resurgence.<br />
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On their self-titled debut album, Algiers use programming, noisy guitar, rhythm & blues structures, and Fisher's voice to deliver their openly political message in textured, intense bursts. In a recent interview with me, <a href="http://vital-sound.blogspot.com/2015/05/radical-spaces-q-with-algiers.html">they explained their live formation and planning</a>, and with the addition of a live drummer, Lee Tesche, Ryan Mahan, and Fisher each were able to double down on the noise. It turns out "the man behind the curtain" not only was Mahan's and Fisher's use of programmed samples, but also what sounded like entirely new patches of manipulation, loops, and synthetic noises. Mahan himself worked on a stack of synthetic noise makers, as well as bass, while Tesche used a range of reverbed-manipulated effects and percussive instruments to attack his guitars (bows added metallic squeals, drumsticks invoked harmonics, and that's before Tesche's own winding playing style took to the instrument!). Fisher added guitar, samples, and other percussion and electronics, alongside his vocal deliveries.<br />
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From show-opening "Black Eunich" onward, it was clear that the group were ready to work themselves to exhaustion on each and every song. Each member danced and shouted and hammered away at their work, collapsing between songs as ambient shrapnel bridged different numbers. One of the most interesting stage elements was the use of slowed-down samples from the album to hold down transitions between songs, where one previous backing album would be slammed through cough syrup sheen and blasted into blissful atmospherics. As a result, there was an unending tension throughout the set, a power that met with successive cycles of release throughout each song's crescendos and breaks.<br />
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While the addition of noise, and the effective use of each possible element on stage, amplified the effectiveness of the attack on "Irony.Utility.Pretext," some of the band's most straightforward rock offerings on the album took on entirely new life live. "Old Girl" was one particular highlight in this regard, as the band heightened every element to its threshold, and Fisher dove into the audience to embrace its members.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From one generation of Gospel & industrial noise to another: travis & PMichael watching Algiers.</td></tr>
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As cheers leaked into the room from the adjacent bar, as the Blackhawks won the Cup, Algiers reminded us that the fight for emancipation will place grand crowds against just ideals. It was impossible not to think about the irony as the crowd overpowered the band at the exact moment Algiers quieted their set for "Games": as Fisher howled about the people that come around to set your house on fire, as we bury our heads in our bottles Bibles, cries of joy continued unabated. Two worlds truly collided, in one of Chicago's most conservative and segregated wards (in this case, segregated for whiteness and power), but they were also ultimately separated by that thin door. The roar of one may have overpowered the cries of the other for a moment, but Algiers answered with a blistering set-closing that overdrove the cheers and ensured that the words of justice reigned.<br />
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This single moment provides an unending cycle of feelings that I am having trouble articulating: the banality of evil. The opiate of entertainment. The honest culpability of many well-intentioned people with injustice. The roar of billionaire entertainment industries that drowns outsiders. Mob mentality. The acceptability of white violence. The acceptable white mob. The necessity of drowning oneself from the stress of capital-professional demands. The absolute power of honest, good intentions that obstruct justice. The complete oblivion of that power wielded by that crowd. It's impossible to make sense of these competing narratives, or feelings, in one reflection (let alone from someone who's happy the Blackhawks won!), but it must be pointed out that this was a fitting and striking moment in Algiers' set.<br />
<br />
And their power overrode those emotions, ultimately upholding the collective power of redemption. One of my favorite aspects of Algiers is that they constantly remind us that we have work to do: there is <i>good</i> work to be done. Through the power of their voice, through the unimaginable confluence of industrial noise and pure Gospel, they indeed express a sense of emancipation that is impossible to explain in thousands of words, but immediately apparent in each five minute song.Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-9869820727539747012015-06-15T08:00:00.001-07:002015-06-15T08:00:35.794-07:00Autobiography #4: Give Me a Break!<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I want to write this while my sinuses can still feel it, for my earplugs were even so terrified that they bore through my systems and numbed my senses. Last night was absolutely the loudest night I've heard at Elastic Arts, and probably the loudest, most aggressive jazz show I've ever seen. That Burn</span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ing Tree and Dead Neanderthals were bookended by Ben Billington/Mark Shippy/Daniel Wyche and Toupee is effective commentary on the flexibility and form of Chicago's outsider/experimental/punk triad. My sinuses disagree, and I'm blessed to experience this internal contradiction of both knowing that I need to go to more shows, while facing the physical reminders of my eardrum limits. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First, I was overjoyed to watch one of my friends play with <a href="http://vital-sound.blogspot.com/2010/01/miracle-condition.html">one of my favorite guitarists ever</a>, if only so that I can carry a torch of jealousy forever. Daniel Wyche and Mark Shippy both played extreme modulated/synthesized guitar to the relentless and unforgiving scatters of Ben Billington. The effect was unclassifiable, which turned out to be one of the best kinds of confrontational sets. Last night, unfortunately, I only was able to say to Daniel "that set was bananas" as the curator looked for Dead Neanderthals before their set; that was the extent of my comprehension last night. However, as the extended technique / physical limitations of those European reed&drum duos sank in, it occurred to me that Wyche, Shippy, and Billington might have approximated the same effect with their instruments. Billington sat behind his kit stabbing anything he could get his hands on, as Shippy was arrested for pummeling a poor Fender tweed amp with as loud a processed signal as he could find. The range on Shippy's effects swept harmonized wackiness alongside physical, percussive reverb slams, while Wyche complemented his mate with lightning trips around his fretboard. Wyche himself was riding his Moog synthesizers and a set of standalone pedals, too, at one point losing all the bones in his body to manipulate a theramin (?) through his guitar cord. I don't know what crimes this trio committed in a previous life, but surely their souls are bound through eternity by some righteous takes on rhythm, shredding, and atonality. Tweet me @spectivewax in about a week to see if I have more to say about this set, because it was a range of improvisation that was difficult to confront and process, which I suspect is exactly how the trio wanted it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I will say this: one of my favorite aspects of improvised sets are these moments of accidental / incidental / momentary grooves. One of the ways to comprehend or process this set is to think about the moments where Billington slowed his attack and changed his pace, or Shippy shifted from shredding to slagging, or Wyche indulged in the wetness of his signal. There was not a single gimmicky moment, as each player showcased their chops through a complete absence of conventional playing. Thank you, eardrum assault #1. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Eardrum assaults #2 and #3 came from Burning Tree and Dead Neanderthals, in that order. Both duos played with reeds and drumsets, and I believe both reeds were saxophones of one sort or another (I don't know if they have different saxophones in Europe, but if someone had told me that someday you'll be able to grow an amazing beard and use absurd, endurance-stretching breathing techniques if you keep playing saxophone, I would have endured all those early lessons of "When the Saints Go Marching In" with glee and anticipation). </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Both duos might be described as aggressive, free, progressive, endurance-testing jazz, of the sort that American audiences who dig Many Arms, New Atlantis Records, etc., would appreciate. However, for their relatively similar elements, both duos played off completely different areas of their instrumentation. Burning Tree was much more abstract than Dead Neanderthals, as it seemed their reedist was using his lungs to their greatest extreme, producing an amazing, unending squeal for, oh, 15 minutes? Against this airy, high frequency attack, the drummer scattered across different beats, in a very playful manner. It was impossible to tell if he was losing the beat or merely changing it, which is an excellent trick to play on an audience that is fixated on the hard-blowing reed. This is not a knock or a criticism, but simply a recognition that closely-appreciating improvised music is difficult because it toys with the listener's expectations and sense of boundaries; instead of clinging to the pleasant security of a beat, the drummer skirted the outer edges as effectively as the reed. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dead Neanderthals attacked the audience from a different angle, as their set appeared to be more "compositional" than "improvised" (I could be completely wrong about this). Anyhow, after the abstract reedplay, Dead Neanderthals created a series of droning cyclicals through their reed, this time appearing in a much larger saxiphone (baritone?). To accompany these notes, the drummer sticked to one pattern or box of beats, which isn't to say that the beats were predictable as much as they were more recognizable or "secure." The listener could cling to these grooves as the saxophone switched registers, closing the set by dropping to the bass-end, in what I presume is the European equivalent of switching on the hydraulics ("and if I hit the switch / I can make the asssssss drop"). This closing sequence proved an effective crescendo, as though the duo saved energy to throw-it-down with complete abandon to close their set. As the absolutely PACKED audience -- that room was packed to the rafters! -- cheered with delight, the saxophone was raised overhead as a tribute to free jazz international superstardom. We all sacrificed our ears to this loud ass explosion, but the tumultuous sets were worth it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dead Neanderthals and Burning Tree ultimately prove that the range and potential of free jazz is endless, so long as one explores technique and also takes endurance to the total fucking brink of exhaustion. For their near collapse from breathing so hard, I salute both Burning Tree and Dead Neanderthals. Thanks for an unforgettable night. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Just in case you thought it was finished, Toupee jumped onstage to close the night, exhibiting an astonishing range of control over their chaotic lyrics and wide-ranging vocal deliveries. Punk rock proved to have more limits than free jazz last night, but this is not a negative thing: Toupee brandish those expectations by building muted, lulled passages that extend trustworthiness to the audience, just as they simultaneously blitz the audience with a full metamorphosis of voices and masks. Singer Whitney began the night on bass, but as their set digressed into darker and heavier material, she handed off her bass to engage with the crowd on her microphone. Churning about through sheets, bananas, masks, and carrots, Whitney shrieked, hollered, and restrained her voice into any form necessary, as varying trios of guitar/guitar/drums and guitar/bass/drums built from controlled, muted beginning to wide-open noise. I cannot convey enough how dynamic this band played: at times, their fine-tuned, modulation guitar muting provided a clear background for the vocals to succeed, while others the band opened their approach to compete with and intensify the vocal deliveries. Punk can be many things, but Toupee's strength lies in their ability to play on the slightest bit of familiarity while they seduce the listener into their world. Their delivery shows that they control every moment, which ironically allows them to produce blistering attacks that can be confrontational and fragile. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Hearing a raucous punk set next to two jazz sets that traced extreme limits and loudness of acoustic instrumentation, as well as an all-out blast of noise, ultimately upheld a constellation of freedom between various musical forms. There is no need for any bullshit theories about the connections between punk and jazz, or the explorations of total freedom in punk versus total freedom in jazz. Obviously there are differences in technique and delivery that separate each of these "genres." The triumph between these forms is in the execution and their adjacent delivery: that one can actively suspend orthodoxy in favor of exploration, love, and challenging listening. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>Photo by Daniel Wyche (I hope it's okay I used your packed audience photo). If transparency matters to you, I have written for Moniker Records, but Toupee are still amazing and everything I said is true, because why would I lie to you?</i></span></span>Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-77078893931929279052015-06-12T13:54:00.001-07:002015-07-20T14:02:46.299-07:00Autobiography #3: Chicago <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Throughout winter and spring 2015, it feels as though Chicago has been bringing their absolute best in performance, recording, and art. Momentum gained in 2014 by the City's throngs of independent labels compounded this year, to the point where one can seemingly turn the corner and run into a fantastic show by Chicago artists. The spring series of ELASTRO at Elastic exemplifies this, but even citing one single space or series feels like a shortcoming. There is simply, obviously, a lot that is noteworthy right now, which is a great for Chicago's labels and artists.<br />
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Recently, a weeknight show at Elastic demonstrated precisely the range of energy and acumen exhibited by Chicago experimenters in 2015. Along with touring artist Snails & Oysters, Gardener, Cinchel (with Neil Jendon), and Muyassar Kurdi ranged from self-styled "power ambient" drives to slow, unfolding waves, and ritual vocal experimentation. While Circuit Des Yeux and Toupee rightfully gain expanded press with recent videos, this show is a great reminder that there is more talent lurking within Chicago's spaces awaiting release. So they churn.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/126079833" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <a href="https://vimeo.com/126079833">Servant Girl</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/erykadellenbach">Eryka Dellenbach</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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From her <a href="https://muyassarkurdi.bandcamp.com/album/white-noise">stunning album <i>White Noise</i></a>, Muyassar Kurdi's most recent video release, "Servant Girl," finds the artist visualizing one of the album's most haunting and difficult tracks. For those seeking reference, one might note that Kurdi's delivery invokes Rune Grammofon's tradition of "abstract" vocalization (from Maja Ratkje to Sidsel Endresen & Stian Westerhus to (/and even) Jenny Hval), or Panoptic Prism on the local scene. While Kurdi's album was song oriented, her recent performance at Elastic was grounded in amplified auto-harp (from my view) and vocal exercises that materialized as tests in range, power, and endurance. The set was challenging in that it forced the listener to be consistently aware and on-alert, which allowed Kurdi to open channels of communication without words. "Servant Girl" bridges the gap between some of the album's more "structural" songs and her recent performance, but this time by playing on the perception of silence, or quiet stabs.<br />
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Kurdi's album is provocative, but where it draws power is through the immediacy of her voice. Even when one expects that her exercises are the of most inward, and self-searching motives, she undoubtedly confronts a listener who now must accomplish the same.<br />
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<u>Muyassar Kurdi Summer Tour</u><br />
July 23: Indianapolis<br />
July 24: Pittsburgh<br />
July 25: Philadelphia<br />
July 26 (noon): Philadelphia<br />
July 26: New York<br />
July 27: Providence<br />
July 28: Boston<br />
July 29: Portland, ME<br />
July 30: Burlington, VT<br />
July 31: Toronto<br />
August 1: Columbus, OH<br />
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In Elastic Arts' new space on 3429 W. Diversey, there is more space between the speakers, and a larger room in general, that allows certain forms of ambient music to simply roll through space. Gardener and Cinchel both took full advantage of this arrangement, the former using synthesizer and the latter pairing his guitar with synth stylings from the aforementioned Jendon.<br />
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Gardener released a limited tour tape called <i><a href="https://gardenermusic.bandcamp.com/album/slabs">Slab</a></i>, and both sides also appear to be drawn from live sets (Bandcamp confirms this). Here, Gardener places to tape what listeners at Elastic experience during this show, which is subtle and unending waves of sound that appear to roll in sequence, gently coming to the fore and retreating. Even when there is a constant hum or base of sound, Gardener plays with textures and frequencies in a way that heightens the stillness of the performance, calling attention to the slightest changes or passageways. This translates perfectly to the live stage, where the power of PA makes Gardener's technique a much more direct confrontation with the listener. <i>Gardener plays June 15 at Beat Kitchen.</i><br />
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<a href="https://cinchel.bandcamp.com/album/worry">Cinchel's <i>Worry</i></a> is a tape that also is a fine complement to his collaboration with Jendon, which the artist aptly names "power ambient." By combining delay/echo-flooded amplification and laptop processing to form his guitar sound, Cinchel effectively used stabs of chords and notes to churn rippling sequences throughout the space. Churning throughout the set, the volume developed its own layers or overtones that enhanced the warmth of the delay. This effect also appears throughout <i>Worry</i>, where Cinchel intensely layers sound, which advances some of his softer or more droning approaches, or playfulness with specific frequencies and more prominent "glitching," on other recent tapes. Live, Jendon colored the proceedings with the slightest synthetic charges that added a "beat" or soft punctures to Cinchel's heavy guitar. <i>Worry </i>aligns with this brand of ambient composition to produce a monolithic vision that may be the artist's heaviest work yet. <i>Cinchel </i>plays at Transistor on July 24, and WNUR on July 31.<br />
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From Denver, Snails & Oysters presented a stark detour from Cinchel and Gardener, which was a welcome and challenging listen. Using looped electric guitar, tape, and acoustic guitar, Snails & Oysters created layers that were more percussive than atmospheric, and much more distorted than delayed. With this naked feeling, compared to the all-encompassing sound of the other sets, Snails & Oysters placed the focus more on lead-playing and technique. At any given point, the listener could work with loops, lead playing, or distorted imprints from the tape and sustain to engage with a wide set of textures.<br />
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This combination of challenging work, heavy, enticing drones, and ranging, abstract vocals is simply one snapshot of a night in Chicago 2015. As exciting as it is to see the recent progression and press related to other Chicago groups, it's even more exciting to see the base camp working harder than ever to maximize their artistic and sonic deliveries.Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-49104108160272999732015-05-26T08:07:00.000-07:002015-05-26T08:07:24.209-07:00Radical Spaces: Q & A with ALGIERS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On December 15, 2012, I finally received a long-awaited delivery in the mail. <a href="http://www.discogs.com/label/243080-Double-Phantom">Double Phantom</a> shipped away my late year order of the powerful single "Blood," a song that stuck in my mind since the first time I saw the video on the label's website. Algiers, a global collective with Atlanta roots, presented their blend of spiritual / Gospel vocals, programming, and noise without shying away from the violent imagery that their name hints. I received the 7" record the day after the Sandy Hook Massacre, which shook me to my core, and this physical manifestation of the music now confronted my ears from my home stereo. At such a bleak time, the emancipatory feeling of the music itself never escaped my mind, and Algiers was an antidote to political and existential sadness that can only be provided by likeminded souls. <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ie4UEGYND4dRsp0j_HooEgc8cygev36gk_bKt3rBMNE/edit?usp=sharing">While writing for <i>Foxy Digitalis</i></a>, I named "Blood" the top song of 2012 in my year-end list.<br />
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At the beginning of 2015, <a href="http://www.secretdecoder.net/blog/2015/01/22/algiers-but-she-was-not-flying/">Matador Records announced that they signed Algiers</a>, and the label is releasing their self-titled debut in June. The album itself advances in each direction initially hinted in the "Blood" video. While most songs follow the dramatic mix of rhythm & blues, Gospel, programming, and noise, several songs trend more in one direction than the other. "Irony. Utility. Pretext" maximizes the political potential of rhythm & blues, leading to a vocal-driven climax that surpasses its industrial scaffolding. On the other hand, "But She Was Not Flying" features bright interludes with keys and "Old Girl" employs rock'n'roll drives, ultimately showcasing the band's redemptive side (rather than their protest or confrontational angles). Yet, it may be the album's closing suite, specifically "Games" and "Untitled," that demonstrate that the Gospel approach is not a front, but genuine exploration of (or rumination on) both "self" and "community" (if either of those can be separated). No single style wins out on <em>Algiers</em>, giving the self-titled debut a depth of production that rewards return listens and gives the audience a chance to have a different set of favorites each time around.
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/120417442?color=db0000&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="https://vimeo.com/120417442">Algiers - "Blood"</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/algiers">Algiers</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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This spring, I spoke and emailed with Franklin James Fisher, Ryan Mahan, and Lee Tesche about their politics, art, and tour. Given the political and historical weight invoked by the mere name Algiers, the self-titled debut arrives at a salient time of protest. Mahan wrote of the name, "we do strive to discuss these historical movements for liberation in the context of neoliberalism, where the dominant ideology has moved on to other insidious methods of suppressing class consciousness and global solidarity." He added during our phone interview, after I apologized for another political discussion, "with the political and historical element, that’s really important, so we’re always happy to have that conversation. Iteration is one of the most important things in the battle for hegemony.” There is no sense in which politics is a facade for Algiers, as the trio openly embraces historical struggle, protest, and emancipation as their armor. <br />
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Fisher firmly placed the band in a politically-minded context, adding, "because everything is politics, you can't extract anything from a greater political context." While music fans may prefer their art to be separated from politics, <em>Algiers</em> arguably could not be released at a better time, since its openly political direction may give listeners a chance to encounter their beliefs in a more productive setting than the news cycle.
Since members of the band are stretched as far as New York and London, their tour dates in 2015 have given Algiers a chance to come together once again. “We haven’t done a lot of touring as a band," Fisher noted, adding, "we’ve been apart for so long, so it’s kind of a new experience for us.”<br />
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Tesche also echoed Fisher's sentiments, noting of the album, "recording this record was the first time that all three of us were in the same space writing and recording and it was a bit of an adjustment period for us." Together, the album and tour both allowed Algiers to confront the political and personal spaces they constructed during their global writing process. Since the band focuses on layered production that incorporates live and programmed elements, the tour will give the group an opportunity to explore new technologies while embracing their live instrumentation. Over the course of the phone interview, discussions about the band's politics, album production, and tour seamlessly portrayed their vision for their music, videos, and art.<br />
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<b><u>ALGIERS JUNE TOUR</u></b><br />
<pre style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', helvetica, san-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">June 5 - <a href="https://www.freshtix.com/events/bowery-south-presents-algiers" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out; color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">The Earl</a>, Atlanta GA
June 7 - <a 832847="" event="" href="http:" https:="" purchase="" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out; color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;" utm_medium="bks"" www.ticketfly.com="">Black Cat Backstage</a> Washington DC
June 9 - <a href="https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/832847?utm_medium=bks," style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out; color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">Mercury Lounge</a>, NYC NY
June 10 - <a href="https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/835575?utm_medium=bks" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out; color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">Baby's Alright</a>, Brooklyn, NY
June 13 - <a href="https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/834257?utm_medium=bks" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out; color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">Silver Dollar Room</a>, Toronto ONT
June 15 - <a href="http://www.lh-st.com/Shows/06-15-2015+Algiers" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out; color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">Schubas</a>, Chicago IL
June 16 - <a href="http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=8299241&cobrand=first-avenue" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out; color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">Triple Rock Social Club</a>, Minneapolis MN
June 19 - <a href="http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=5806175&pl=sunset" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out; color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">The Sunset</a>, Seattle WA
June 20 - <a href="http://www.ticketweb.ca/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=5809385&pl=timbre" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out; color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">Biltmore Cabaret</a>, Vancouver BC
June 21 - <a href="https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/832963?utm_medium=bks" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out; color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">Doug Fir Lounge</a>, Portland OR
June 23 - <a href="http://www.bottomofthehill.com/stubmatic/event20150623.html" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out; color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">Bottom Of The Hill</a>, San Francisco CA
June 25 - <a href="https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/834553?utm_medium=bks" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease-in-out; color: #cc0000; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease-in-out;">The Echo,</a> Los Angeles CA </pre>
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<em>Phone Interview Key: N = Nicholas Zettel, F = Franklin James Fisher, R = Ryan Mahan, L = Lee Tesche. The interview occurred on May 12, 2015.</em><br />
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<strong>N: Your tour seems to be of the time with the open protests lately. You’re touring and your album is very much of the time, how do you feel about that?</strong><br />
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F: I don’t want to trivialize anything that’s happening in the world, but with our personal experience and where we fall, I think that we’re extraordinarily fortunate because it gives us a real world context for people to understand what it is we’re doing and where we’re coming from. Now, touring with Interpol, is a different kind of shade. For instance, last night we played in St. Louis, and we dedicated a song to Ferguson, and ideally, it’d be kind of nice to talk about that kind of thing at length, but we have to respect the fact that it’s not our tour and it’s Interpol’s crowd. But, it’s priming us for the possibilities for June, when we’re doing our own tour.<br />
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R: There’s an element of hope and optimism, because all these injustices are starting to get publicized more and more in the mainstream press. One of the things we’ve always focused on is the historical resuscitation and reminder of injustices, of silencing the minority, of all those types of violent actions, so to see all those actions be recognized and shoved in the faces of figures of authority, surrounded by a very mobilized, from-the-ground movement, that’s very interesting and fits with our diagnosis of the situation. It’s also something when we were writing “Blood” that we didn’t expect, we didn’t expect this outpouring of protest and reaction against the police state and the violence of American society. We had seen it in the historical context, but we were actually feeling quite disempowered. We did not have the type of language to engage fundamentally with the situation. Now, there were things that were going on like “Occupy” that had a class-based approach and an interesting approach to problems and issues in the world, but as far as it goes, we did not necessarily see this renewal of the civil rights, Black Power, and global solidarity. So in that way, it’s really interesting and hopeful for us.<br />
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L: I guess I’ll add, for me too, good art always has the responsibility to question and provoke, and I think that’s always something we’ve been interested in. We’ve been interested in engaging people in general, just as a provocation and interaction you get with people, even with these Interpol shows where you’re playing for an audience that isn’t yours, you have the opportunity to rattle their brains around a little bit. Even if they’re really uncomfortable with it, just that simple act of coming around and provoking a response completes the art.<br />
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R: It goes back to when I was a kid in Atlanta, and I was first getting into “alternative music,” all my favorite bands were speaking in a language I didn’t understand or rexcognize, but it forced me to think, and it forced me to work to actually learn about the world. That was the thing that drove me to punk rock and hardcore in general, just that feeling or expression of not knowing, but being able to discover [its meaning] on my own terms. That’s really a part of our project as well.
The other interesting thing is, I know you mentioned “Blood” in 2012, people have tended to focus on our southernness, but you were actually positioning it in a global context. One of our ambitions is to introduce a discourse of global solidarity.
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<strong>N: It’s interesting to me that people focus on the Southernness, rather than the Global approach, because it seems to me that immediately the name “Algiers” invokes “revolution” and the struggle in Algeria where it was one of the most prominent anti-colonial movements. It just seemed clear from the beginning that with the name and music, you guys had a very clear image to go along with the music. It always seemed to be overtly political. </strong><br />
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<strong>In your experience, do you think people understand what the Algerian revolution was about?</strong><br />
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F: I think it matters which part of the world you’re in, and which population you’re talking about. Obviously, in France, there are very loaded connotations because it’s so close to home, whereas in America it’s much less [loaded].<br />
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R: Even in France, you have a lot of people that struggle with that history, and even in France it’s very repressed. We have interacted and spoken with people in France who have not necessarily come to grips with colonial history. It’s kind of the same way in the United States, people talk about how there’s no class struggle or class warfare in the US, and kind of disavow the history of colonialism in the US, from the destruction of the Native Americans to the war in the Philippines. The whole Algerian Revolution represents so many fundamental things in modernism, in revolutionary thought, in black thought (Franz Fanon wrote extensively about the Algerian Revolution). But also that notion that, after the French revolution after the revolutionary war, those ideals were quashed, that kind of sober moment of failure, because once people were united in Algeria, there was also a violent, destructive, and bloody civil war that followed. Just those forces that were unleashed, not from the people who tell you your house is on fire, but the people who set your house on fire, fundamentally, structurally, in the colonial context it’s very difficult to see any other result than violence.<br />
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<strong>N: I’m wondering if we can transition from that theme about globalism and political conflict to the great distance you guys experienced while living in different cities. How did that distance influence your recording process? Over the course of this album, how have the songs come together with that kind of physical separation?</strong><br />
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R: I guess it goes back to what you were talking about before where you’re looking for people that share similar ideas to yourself, and that you can share ideas and be a part of it. Distance and separation could be something that divides, but it also makes the heart grow fonder. Fundamentally, when we started working on this, because some of the things we were working on were so alien even to us, that being apart, and having that distance to be able to listen to somebody’s contribution without being forced to immediately respond to it or immediately acknowledge it. There is a pressure when you’re in the same space to respond or acknowledge immediately, which puts tension. We’re not against tension, because tension also brings about really positive outcomes, but I think being apart has helped us have that time and space to digest something and do something on our own terms, and be influenced by our own environments. Living in London for me has been quite a complex experience, it has been somewhat a lonely experience, and to be able to do that in a room and exchange without speaking to someone is very powerful. I think Frank has spoken about this a lot, too, with his experiences in New York, but being able to bring those life experiences, and being outside scene politics has helped immensely and helped us grow.<br />
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F: I always talk to people about how being in a band since the time I was 13, to the rest of my life, and in high school that served as a protective shield from all the teenage bullshit you have to deal with. You know, we had our own little world, and our own little bubble, and I think Algiers serves the same function. The three of us have undergone major changes since the existence of this band, we’ve all moved to different places, we’ve all had to deal with different stresses. professional stresses, psychological stresses, relationship stresses, and the tie that bonds has always been our shared passion to music, and the fact that we have this evolving and ongoing project. The fact that we’re writing music together, that’s been one of the major things that’s sustained us, I think, on a very practical psychological health level. That’s reflected in the quality of the work, on this album, and one of the reasons it’s so personal for us. Notwithstanding all the other subjects and issues we pour into it, but it’s also our own blood, sweat, and tears, it’s really been a life-saver, a life-preserver for us.<br />
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L: I think it’s interesting, geography has influenced the sonics to a great extent. if we were all in the same place, or all in the suburbs of Atlanta where we grew up, it would sound very different. It'd be us all in a room, exchanging ideas differently, with different instruments we’d have access to that were dictated by the space we were living in, which would be a lot of live drums, or live instruments. But when you go back to how our lives have been, and in you’re in these urban spaces where you don’t have a lot of space, and you have access to different things, you will work with loops a lot more, or recontextualizing things, or when you’re an individual trying to get ideas across, you get to layering things like vocal harmonies or vocal arrangements. When we were working with “Blood,” for instance, I was still in Atlanta, and I had this idea more of space. Frank had these ideas and loops he’d hand over, and I was struggling with my environment, and I had this kind of underlying tension, where I’d want to shake things up, or challenge, or provoke, so I was really trying to explore these harsh sonics as well to provoke.<br />
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<strong>N: I’d be interested to know, working in these separate spaces, were you actually passing along the recordings and working on them in your own spaces?</strong><br />
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[All] Yes. Absolutely.<br />
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R: I think in a few cases, there’s a few songs where two of us would be together and we would be able to lay a foundation. I know if you look at “Black Eunich,” Franklin and I were in New York together, and we were just working on things, so the basic structures and elements came together. So, it’s not totally about separation, but there’s also that experience of coming together that really influenced us. The things that happened on the record, there were a few songs that we had not written, or there were elements that had been written and brought in, and we had that inspiring moment of working in the studio space.<br />
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F: Just getting us into the studio was interesting, because that was the first time the three of us had been together and working on something in years, in the same room. It was also a learning process, because we were fundamentally different people than four or five years prior when we first started passing things in the mail. It’s interesting how time and place can take on these different waves of meaning, and really add and shape the process.<br />
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R: “Blood” was really the thing that made us think about Algiers in a real sense, that congealed a lot of the ideas. It is a part of that process of throwing something out into the world, and then being forced to respond to it and react to it. It wasn’t something that was contrived, but we had tried so many songs, and once we put “Blood” out into the world, it also spoke to us in some ways and pointed some directions and opened other avenues we wanted to take.<br />
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<strong>N: That’s interesting because I was wondering about the timeframe. So you had other songs, but“Blood” was the starting point of Algiers proper?</strong><br />
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F: Ehhhh….it was Algiers crystallized. Algiers “proper” was around 2007. For me personally, “Blood” came into existence once I saw the video. The video, to me, is inextricable from the song now. Once I saw that, it was like seeing yourself in the mirror for the first time.<br />
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L: It wouldn’t be far off to say that “Blood” was us proper in the sense that we had been working on stuff for three years before that, and in all these different places, it was something that even though we had our adult lives and these other things going on, it was something that was always important to us to have this outlet. A lot of times, we would meet up, at least a couple of times, whether it was London, New York, or Atlanta. With “Blood,” once we did that, that was the first time all three of us had been exposed to the process of how a record was made….I had done that a lot through previous things, and maybe once before with another band with Ryan and I.But it was an interesting thing for us, we had this song and we were living in other places, so the only way to actualize our music if we weren’t performing live at a time was to record something and put it out in the world. We had to assign a visual to it to give context to the pretext of what we were doing, because at that time you could not see us in a live setting. And the video was a road-map that lists the DNA of everything that was making up our sound at that moment in time. Then the three of us did go through to see how it works getting someone to help us mix it, master it, press the records, get the video out there, doing our own press, controlling this entire process gave both Ryan and Franklin this insight into everything that goes into getting your music out there before we got involved with other people who did that.<br />
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R: When we put out “Blood,” when we worked on the video, which Lee is responsible for the design and production of our videos, we were very cognizant of this notion of nostalgia and the issues with nostalgia in popular music that consign things to the past, or rip them from their social situation, without acknowledging that these always bubble underneath the surface. They’re still there today, and it’s important that we acknowledge the words and actions, and failures and successes, of iconoclasts, or people who are working toward something beyond themselves. But also acknowledge that nostalgia is a very dangerous concept, but it’s very prevalent in these postmodern times. I think that’s something we were very cognizant of, and the video helped complement that in some ways, because maybe if you first heard some of our music you might think “this is really rooted in the past,” we were working with those ideas, and within that problematic as well.<br />
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<strong>N: I’m curious, if you don’t mind me taking this thread, I’m wondering with this production you put together, with the layers and the writing process, how did you approach your live set up? How did you approach your current tour?</strong><br />
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R: It’s forced us to work with different mediums that we weren’t necessarily working with in the past, working with drum machines, loops, and samples. There is always going to be an element of a ghost in the machine, and I think that is not only by design but also by circumstance. Since there are so many layered vocals, it almost represents our own…not inability but some of the challenges of bringing ideas to life. We do work with machines and loops with the more organic elements. We have a live drummer, we play bass and synths, but there’s always that undercurrent of maybe a ghost in the machine, a loop, a drum machine, as well.<br />
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<strong>N: With this approach, what kind of reception have you seen during your headlining and opening shows?</strong><br />
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R: The response is different from night to night. People have generally been more receptive than maybe I expected in ways, but there will be an element where it can be polarizing. I think we know that it can be head-scratching, polarizing, or confusing with all these things going on from song to song. <br />
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F: Yeah, the response from people has really run the gamut, and polarizing was a word that I thought of when you asked that. We have to be cognizant of the fact that opening for a band like Interpol, even though they are an indie band, their sound is still pretty accessible, and to come from somewhere as left-field as maybe we are, there’s going to be a lot of mixed reactions from their crowds. On the other hand, we played some underground clubs in London where people have heard things that really normalize our sound. So, I guess it really depends on the audience you’re playing to.<br />
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L: That’s also the exciting part, too, because we’re not in this to make friends or meet girls, or have this great future in music. We want to really challenge people and push the conversation forward on so many different levels, just to make some sort of ruckus.<br />
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R: But to supplement that, I think we are in it to make friends and engage with like-minded people, and share that space together. There are so many like-minded people. There’s been so many discussions in the media of politics in music, and that type of stuff, and there’s actually such an explosion of really interesting and also politically engaging music that influences us. It’s maybe not strung together in any particular scene because of the global situation, I think it’s very difficult to construct physical scenes, I think we are also in it to make friends and be influenced as well.<br />
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<b><i>Algiers </i><a href="https://www.matadorrecords.com/algiers">will be available from Matador Records</a> on June 2, 2015. Email Nicholas Zettel at [spectiveaudio] at [gmail], or follow @spectivewax on twitter.</b><br />
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<b><br /></b>Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-74759425251620543632015-03-09T15:30:00.002-07:002015-03-09T15:36:42.895-07:006 Economic ThoughtsOne of the Chicago Mayoral Election's greatest phantom issues is entering the race: "which candidate will solve the impending economic crisis?" This question sounds innocent enough, for the City of Chicago does face daunting economic issues, specifically with increasing pension payments due. Undoubtedly, Mayor Rahm Emanuel will attempt to paint himself as the fiscally sound candidate, given his background and privileged status as incumbent. On the other hand, even from innocent curiosity, many will pressure Commissioner Jesus Garcia into providing his own economic plan (which is apparently coming this week).<br />
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These economic plans will only distract from the stakes of the Mayoral election, for several reasons:<br />
<br />
(1) Given the decreasing bond ratings in the <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-debt-rating-met-20150227-story.html">City</a> Government (and <a href="http://chicago.suntimes.com/news-chicago/7/71/421152/moodys-downgrades-cps-credit-rating">CPS</a>), <i>anyone</i> can lead this government into economic crisis. There is no guarantee that any plan whatsoever will lead this government out of an impending bond-rating crisis. Furthermore, for his investment background <i>and</i> apparent superiority regarding fiscal matters, Mayor Emanuel has already overseen these recent bond downgrades. So, if the current Mayor cannot currently solve the budget crisis, what would lead anyone to believe that another term will do the trick? (Are bond issues so tricky that they take more than four years to solve?)<br />
<br />
When someone asks "What is 'Chuy''s plan for the budget crisis?," say, "Why did Mayor Emanuel's policies lead to two recent bond downgrades?" There is obviously no guarantee that Commissioner Garcia will solve this issue, but one needs to remember that Mayor Emanuel already <i>hasn't</i> solved it (and, in fact, has arguably made things worse).<br />
<br />
(2) Mayor Emanuel <a href="http://www.wbez.org/news/mayors-borrowing-authority-hiked-council-109644">has already borrowed</a>, extensively, to cover basic municipal bills. CPS <a href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Chicago-Public-Schools--265704191.html">already borrowed 2016 Property Tax</a> money to balance its current budget. Any potential heat placed on Commissioner Garcia's plan, or potential fiscal shortcomings, ought to be redirected to the fact that if the challenger takes ahold of Chicago, he will be replacing a Mayor that could not actually balance the budget.<br />
<br />
I understand that "Garcia can't possibly do worse than Emanuel" is not really an argument, since Commissioner Garcia obviously could fail to solve these issues if he were to be elected Mayor. However, in re-electing Mayor Emanuel, one ought to ask, "if the Mayor could not solve these issues in his previous four years, why will he solve them in the next four years?"<br />
<br />
(3) <a href="https://www.illinoispolicy.org/6-reasons-why-chicago-aldermen-should-oppose-rahms-property-tax-hikes/">It stands to reason that property taxes will rise regardless of who takes office</a>. Sorry. It's not an effective argument for or against either candidate to suggest that property taxes may or may not rise, when <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/chi-emanuel-ally-says-property-tax-likely-in-second-term-20150309-story.html">Alderpersons working on the budget already foresee a tax hike.</a><br />
<br />
(So, you can ask, "If I'm living in a city where my property taxes will increase, whose lifestyle policies do I prefer? Which candidate offers the best controls for citizens?")<br />
<br />
(4) There are allegedly Aldermen arguing that Commissioner Garcia will be unable to solve fiscal issues while abolishing Red Light Cameras, and implementing anything resembling a "reform" government on Tax Increment Financing (TIF) policies (or Property Tax issues). This may be true. However, if one assumes that Chicago's economic issues will be difficult to solve regardless of raising revenue from red-light cameras, issues like red-light cameras become valuable lifestyle issues: if the City of Chicago's budget fails and the bond rating continues to fall, do you want to live in a City that continues to reach into your own pocket, or do you prefer to find alternative solutions?<br />
<br />
(5) The same can be said for an Elected School Board. The honest truth is that if Mayor Emanuel's government has not been able to solve major fiscal issues, taking a chance on a Mayor that may establish an Elected School Board gives the citizens another potential weapon against the power of their government (if that seems futile, look at Mayor Emanuel remove red light cameras already; if the prospect of a new Mayor is scaring Mayor Emanuel into concessionary tactics, imagine what an angry-and-informed electorate can accomplish with the school board).<br />
<br />
(6) Finally, in the context of these issues, pushing TIF reform is arguably the most important of Mayoral issues. First and foremost, as the <i>Chicago Reader</i> suggested after the February election, if Commissioner Garcia can push the TIF issue in debates, he can get Mayor Emanuel to reveal the reality of a reported $1.7 billion TIF surplus. If such a surplus exists, citizens ought to vote for the candidate that is most likely to return those syphoned property tax dollars to taxpayers or municipal bodies (like the parks, schools, etc.).<br />
<br />
Furthermore, as the TIF program continually draws property tax money away from schools and parks (and other municipal services), citizens of Chicago ought to repeat the economic doomsday question: if the next mayor cannot solve budget issues, do you want to live in a city that nevertheless takes property tax dollars and applies them to private, sometimes-corporate interests and projects? Is it acceptable to us, as citizens, to see the Mayor of Chicago continuing a TIF program that draws property taxes away from cash strapped citizens in order to grow an economy that is not creating enough revenue to produce a sound budget?<br />
<br />
(When you think about comments like that of Senator Mark Kirk, who hinted that Chicago would collapse into "Detroit" if Commissioner Garcia is elected Mayor, think about Mayor Emanuel's use of TIF programs to "grow" an economy that is teetering on the edge of collapse <i>in spite of</i> those apparent revenue spurs to "growth").<br />
<br />
These six difficult issues should help voters understand why supporting Commissioner Garcia, <i>and</i> opposing Mayor Emanuel, is a crucial election decision. It is not enough to hint that "Chuy" offers pie-in-the-sky, unrealistic reforms that he can't deliver on. I think we all understand that he won't deliver on everything. But the very potential for civic improvement must be on our minds: Mayor Emanuel's failed budgets, borrowing practices, bond failures, school failures, property tax failures, red-light camera failures, and TIF failures ought to put into perspective why voting him out is crucial for the health of the city. Commissioner Garcia may not solve every problem, but at the very least, the City of Chicago will benefit from the potential absence of the TIF program, the absence of red-light cameras, and an Elected School Board should everything else go south. This is our chance to make sure that should things turn sour, we retain as many controls as possible over <i>our</i> government.<br />
<br />
<i>Please direct corrections or comments to @SpectiveWax on Twitter, or </i>spectiveaudio [at] gmail [dot] com.Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-42009035922222011382015-02-25T15:04:00.003-08:002015-02-25T15:55:17.699-08:00Chicago Election 2015<div>
<br /></div>
Chicago's recent election is one of the most exciting I have ever participated in as a voter, and one of the most important I have ever participated in as a voter. Given the difficult divides in our city, as well as the "Strong-Mayor" system and Mayor Rahm Emanuel's controversial and divisive policy approach, I cannot recall an election with higher stakes in my personal voting life.<br />
<br />
I believe that there are several fascinating aspects of the run-off that will determine whether challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia pulls together the neighborhoods to win, or whether Mayor Emanuel will escape to govern for a second term. Frankly, there are countless dynamics to analyze:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Will 19 confirmed or apparent Aldermanic Run-Offs energize a lax voting body? </li>
<li>To what extent will Chicagoans turn out in early April? </li>
<li>How vocally will the Progressive Caucus support emerging aldermanic candidates that appear in run-offs? </li>
<li>Where will the votes from Bob Fioretti, Willie Wilson, and William Walls go? </li>
<li>Will the three defeated challengers endorse Commissioner Garcia? </li>
<li>Will Commissioner Garcia stick with his recent "Crime Candidate" advertisements, or will he find a new issue to attempt to win-over undecided or moderate voters? </li>
</ol>
<div>
These types of points could go on-and-on. Frankly, there are multiple sides to these issues. For example, Commissioner Garcia could decide to focus on any number of issues that Mayor Emanuel opposes, and attack the race in that matter (given the widespread electorate support for an Elected School Board, Garcia could use this platform as a starting point). He could also challenge Emanuel on education, Red-Light Cameras, the use of TIF surplus, TIF reforms, etc. It remains to be seen whether Commissioner Garcia will benefit from pushing Mayor Emanuel on one specific issue, or whether he will try a multi-faceted approach. While progressives might like to see their challenger tackle Mayor Emanuel with myriad issues and approaches, Garcia could potentially benefit from sticking to one issue (like red light cameras or an elected school board) that appeals to voters across racial, ethnic, and neighborhood lines. If a candidate such as Fioretti, Wilson, or Walls endorses Garcia, Garcia could benefit from using one specific meeting point with those candidates. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Voters have many motivations, so I decided to collect three charts, using DNAInfo.com and NBC.com election data. In some places, the data appears to have conflicting reports, so I add "?" next to those numbers. These charts aim to collect a few key points of voter motivation:</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>How was voter turnout in my ward?</li>
<li>Will my ward have an Aldermanic Run-Off?</li>
<li>How did Garcia and Emanuel fare in my ward?</li>
<li>Which major challengers succeeded in my ward?</li>
<li>Is there a progressive caucus member in my ward? </li>
<li>How many % points are Garcia and Emanuel fighting over?</li>
</ol>
<div>
<b>Chart One: The Battlegrounds</b></div>
</div>
<div>
There are arguably 18 wards that will feature solid battlegrounds: I selected these wards because:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>They feature some of Commissioner Garcia's best performances. </li>
<li>They feature some solid performances by other challengers. </li>
<li><i>Most importantly, they feature relatively low turnout, even in this election</i>. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 80%px;">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">(18) BATTLEGROUND WARDS</th>
<th align="center">Garcia</th>
<th align="center">Emanuel</th>
<th align="center">Turnout</th>
<th align="center">Alderman Run-Off</th>
<th align="center">Remaining %</th>
<th align="center">Note</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">22</td>
<td align="center">70.8</td>
<td align="center">20.8</td>
<td align="center">27.5</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">8.4</td>
<td align="center">Progressive Caucus Alderman (Munoz)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">12</td>
<td align="center">67.1</td>
<td align="center">25.5</td>
<td align="center">27.4</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">7.4</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">35</td>
<td align="center">57.3</td>
<td align="center">33.5</td>
<td align="center">28.4</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">9.2</td>
<td align="center">Solid voting for Fioretti</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">25</td>
<td align="center">56.4</td>
<td align="center">33.1</td>
<td align="center">30.4</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">10.5</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">26</td>
<td align="center">53.9</td>
<td align="center">34.4</td>
<td align="center">26.8</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">11.7</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">15</td>
<td align="center">52.9</td>
<td align="center">29.8</td>
<td align="center">24.5</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
<td align="center">17.3</td>
<td align="center">Solid voting for Wilson</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">14</td>
<td align="center">52.7</td>
<td align="center">37.3</td>
<td align="center">33.1</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">11.0</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">31</td>
<td align="center">51.3</td>
<td align="center">40.5</td>
<td align="center">27.1</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
<td align="center">8.2</td>
<td align="center">Potential Emanuel rally with Suarez push</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">30</td>
<td align="center">49.6</td>
<td align="center">39</td>
<td align="center">22.6</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">11.4</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">33</td>
<td align="center">49.6</td>
<td align="center">39.5</td>
<td align="center">35.5</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
<td align="center">10.8</td>
<td align="center">Meegan challenges with 35%</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">1</td>
<td align="center">49.0</td>
<td align="center">39.4</td>
<td align="center">28.8</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">11.5</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">10</td>
<td align="center">47.5</td>
<td align="center">37.7</td>
<td align="center">35.6</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
<td align="center">14.8</td>
<td align="center">Solid voting for Fioretti</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">36</td>
<td align="center">45.2</td>
<td align="center">39.2</td>
<td align="center">28.2</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
<td align="center">15.8</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">49</td>
<td align="center">44.1</td>
<td align="center">43.6</td>
<td align="center">34.7</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">12.3</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">23</td>
<td align="center">43.6</td>
<td align="center">39.8</td>
<td align="center">42.5</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">17.6</td>
<td align="center">Heavy voting for Fioretti</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">40</td>
<td align="center">42.3?</td>
<td align="center">47.1?</td>
<td align="center">33.8</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">10.6</td>
<td align="center">Heavy voting for Fioretti?</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">32</td>
<td align="center">41.6</td>
<td align="center">47.2</td>
<td align="center">27.8</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">11.3</td>
<td align="center">Progressive Caucus Alderman (Waguespack)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">19</td>
<td align="center">36.1</td>
<td align="center">41.7</td>
<td align="center">51.5</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">22.2</td>
<td align="center">Heavy voting for Fioretti</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Run-Offs in 10, 15, 31, and 33 could be particularly important, given (a) the support for other challengers, (b) the potential for progressive developments in the City Council, and (c) the need for improved voter turnout (specifically in 15 and 31).<br />
<br />
One of the most difficult aspects that Mayor Emanuel will face is heading into wards where Commissioner Garcia performed well, and attempting to sway voters that did not hit the polls. It remains to be seen if those voters that stayed home were already Emanuel supporters ("Oh, I won't vote, there's no way he loses"), or if those voters will be encouraged by Garcia's performance ("Oh, he really is a serious candidate, I'll vote for him"). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Chart Two: Wilson Wards</b></div>
<div>
I think it's easy for a lot of people to joke about Willie Wilson, given some of the reported controversies during the election, and his relatively apolitical demeanor during speeches and debates. Frankly, I was fascinated when Wilson prayed for closing statements, or prayed during his concession speech, and generally appeared to place his political race in the wider context of religiosity and thankfulness. Many of us are cynical, or want to play hard politics, so a Candidate like Wilson may seem less-than-serious, but Wilson's performance in 18 wards was <i>very</i> serious.<br />
<br />
I collected these wards, given that they are (a) wards in which (either) Garcia and (or) Emanuel did not perform particularly well, and (b) wards in which Wilson thrived.<br />
<br /></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 80%px;">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">(18) WILSON</th>
<th align="center">Garcia</th>
<th align="center">Emanuel</th>
<th align="center">Wilson</th>
<th align="center">Turnout</th>
<th align="center">Alderman Run-Off</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">24</td>
<td align="center">23.4</td>
<td align="center">36.4</td>
<td align="center">30.3</td>
<td align="center">26.7</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">37</td>
<td align="center">21.2</td>
<td align="center">41.2</td>
<td align="center">28.2</td>
<td align="center">26.3</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">17</td>
<td align="center">24</td>
<td align="center">40</td>
<td align="center">26.6</td>
<td align="center">28.4</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">16</td>
<td align="center">26.1</td>
<td align="center">39</td>
<td align="center">26.6</td>
<td align="center">22.3</td>
<td align="center">Progressive Alderman Running (Foulkes)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">28</td>
<td align="center">22.2</td>
<td align="center">39.8</td>
<td align="center">25.9</td>
<td align="center">22.9</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">34</td>
<td align="center">20.7</td>
<td align="center">45.3</td>
<td align="center">24.9</td>
<td align="center">32.4</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">21</td>
<td align="center">22.3</td>
<td align="center">42.2</td>
<td align="center">24.5</td>
<td align="center">33.4</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">20</td>
<td align="center">26.5</td>
<td align="center">40.3</td>
<td align="center">24.4</td>
<td align="center">25.6</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">9</td>
<td align="center">22.1</td>
<td align="center">43.2</td>
<td align="center">24.0</td>
<td align="center">32.1</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">6</td>
<td align="center">23</td>
<td align="center">42.5</td>
<td align="center">23.5</td>
<td align="center">30.7</td>
<td align="center">Progressive Alderman (Sawyer)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">8</td>
<td align="center">24.1</td>
<td align="center">43.3</td>
<td align="center">22</td>
<td align="center">35.5</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">29</td>
<td align="center">25.1</td>
<td align="center">42</td>
<td align="center">21.9</td>
<td align="center">30.3</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">7</td>
<td align="center">24.6</td>
<td align="center">43.6</td>
<td align="center">21.2</td>
<td align="center">31.9</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">27</td>
<td align="center">21.7</td>
<td align="center">48</td>
<td align="center">18.9</td>
<td align="center">26.5</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">18</td>
<td align="center">32.8</td>
<td align="center">38.7</td>
<td align="center">16.6</td>
<td align="center">38.2</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">3</td>
<td align="center">21.2</td>
<td align="center">48.9</td>
<td align="center">16.4</td>
<td align="center">30.2</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">4</td>
<td align="center">28.5</td>
<td align="center">44.5</td>
<td align="center">14.1</td>
<td align="center">37.7</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">5</td>
<td align="center">33.7</td>
<td align="center">43.9</td>
<td align="center">12.9</td>
<td align="center">39.0</td>
<td align="center">Progressive Alderman (Hairston)</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
These wards arguably have the most interesting combination of turnout issues / potential turnout increases, aldermanic runoffs, <i>and, of course</i>, endorsement potential for Wilson himself. Should Wilson choose to endorse one of the Mayoral Candidates, <i>and</i> the turnout stabilizes or improves, these wards will shape the results of the election.<br />
<br />
Of course, there is the added bonus of watching Mayor Emanuel head into neighborhoods that his policies have not favored during his term. Will reconciliation be enough for the Mayor, or are residents and voters of these wards finished with the Mayor?<br />
<br />
<b>Chart Three: Emanuel Land</b><br />
The biggest problem for Mayor Emanuel appears when one looks at 14 of his strongest wards: the Mayor (unsurprisingly) performed great along the lake, but those wards already featured some of the best voter turnout performances of the election. Granted, a handful of aldermanic run-offs remain in these wards, and given the relative affluence of some of these wards, one might argue that these wards are more likely to improve voter turnout than other areas of the city. However, some voters in these wards did support Fioretti and Wilson to some degree, which leads one to ask whether the voters that stayed home were progressives who did not feel motivated to vote (given Emanuel's strength along the lake); given Mayor Emanuel's performance, it's difficult to imagine that staunch supporters of the mayor stayed home. So, in the worst case scenario, even if Commissioner Garcia does not improve his performance in these wards, he could still potentially pick up votes from Fioretti or Wilson supporters (if those people return to the polls).<br />
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<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 80%px;">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">(14) Emanuel Country</th>
<th align="center">Garcia</th>
<th align="center">Emanuel</th>
<th align="center">Turnout</th>
<th align="center">Alderman Run-Off</th>
<th align="center">Note</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">42</td>
<td align="center">16.7</td>
<td align="center">73.2</td>
<td align="center">27.3</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">Moderate Fioretti support</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">43</td>
<td align="center">18.4</td>
<td align="center">71.9</td>
<td align="center">33.3</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">2</td>
<td align="center">23</td>
<td align="center">64.9</td>
<td align="center">30.7</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
<td align="center">Moderate Fioretti support</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">44</td>
<td align="center">27.2</td>
<td align="center">64.2</td>
<td align="center">29.7</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">Heavy voting for Fioretti</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">46</td>
<td align="center">31.6</td>
<td align="center">57.4</td>
<td align="center">36</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
<td align="center">Equal Wilson and Fioretti</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">50</td>
<td align="center">32.5</td>
<td align="center">55.1</td>
<td align="center">31.8</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">48</td>
<td align="center">37.6</td>
<td align="center">52.2</td>
<td align="center">37.2</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">Equal Fioretti and Wilson support</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">47</td>
<td align="center">40.1</td>
<td align="center">51.2</td>
<td align="center">36.9</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">Moderate Fioretti support</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">13</td>
<td align="center">37.3</td>
<td align="center">51.1</td>
<td align="center">45</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">Solid Fioretti voting</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">11</td>
<td align="center">32.5</td>
<td align="center">48.9</td>
<td align="center">34.9</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
<td align="center">Heavy voting for Fioretti</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">39</td>
<td align="center">37.4</td>
<td align="center">48.2</td>
<td align="center">38.1</td>
<td align="center">No </td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">38</td>
<td align="center">33.2?</td>
<td align="center">48?</td>
<td align="center">37.7</td>
<td align="center">No</td>
<td align="center">Solid voting for Fioretti</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">45</td>
<td align="center">35.1</td>
<td align="center">47.9</td>
<td align="center">41.8</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
<td align="center">Progressive Alderman Running (Arena)</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">41</td>
<td align="center">31.1</td>
<td align="center">47.7</td>
<td align="center">41.5</td>
<td align="center">YES</td>
<td align="center"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Basically, we have a real fight for Mayor in Chicago. One thing is certain: if you have any grievances with the City government, if you want the City government to reflect a specific political outlook, you have the chance to impact the government. Remember, the City of Chicago is ultimately OUR government. These politicians work for us, and if we believe that the city can improve, we need to vote as such.<br />
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<i>Please direct comments or corrections to </i>spectiveaudio [at] gmail [dot] com <i>or @</i>spectivewax (on Twtter)<br />
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Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-58210412128129364342015-02-19T05:46:00.001-08:002019-03-31T18:56:34.793-07:00Rectal Hygienics and Institutional Violence<i>EDIT (8:49 PM, March 31, 2019): </i>I have never deleted a piece of writing that I have published. This is the first. I want to explain why; there are numerous editorials, analyses, and features I have lying around the Internet in which I no longer fully agree with what I've written. But I believe that part of this is a substantive part of writing: if you write on the web for a decade, your opinion is going to change over time (hopefully), you're going to learn from some things, learn new things, reconsider old facts, etc.<br />
<br />
This isn't one of those cases.<br />
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I've come to understand both feminism and power in different ways, and institutional power in different ways. I no longer think that my original post has a valid point in any of these areas. It doesn't matter that I believe that my heart was in the right place at the time, or that I believe that I had anything valid to say about "feminism" at the time. What I did not fully grasp about the fact that it was not my place to speak about feminism was also that it was not my place to write criticism under any sort of guise of feminism, regardless of whether I believe I was saying anything worthwhile or not.<br />
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So I am deleting the original post. But I am leaving the subscripts that I left, because even that day that I wrote this post, I learned an awful lot and had a lot of good engagements about this post.<br />
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To this day I believe this is the most read post that I have ever written, outside of some Baseball things. But I don't think that's good enough reason to keep it: I now understand feminism, intersectional critiques of power and gender, and gender itself in completely different ways than when I originally wrote this post, so I am pulling it.<br />
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<i>EDIT (8:55 AM, February 20, 2015): After sleeping on it, I thought I'd add another quick note, and reposition the edits I added yesterday (see the end of the original post). As I did with yesterday's update, I have not touched the original words. </i><br />
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<i>I want to add a clarification of why I think it's acceptable to frame this type of debate in terms of "feminism." I understand that it is unacceptable to present male violence as a form of feminism, and I agree with that. However, what I did not emphasize well enough in the original post is that I understand Rectal Hygienics to be delivering an institutional critique, which I first note in the third paragraph. The crucial element of my review is to place the spoken word / found-sound snippets from the LP at a level equal to the lyrics themselves; I believe if we take the band seriously, there is a sense that they are delivering these lyrics from the point of view of institutional-professional male violence. Perhaps it would have been better to call this a "critique of power" rather than "feminism," but I do think it's important to push the boundaries of institutional critiques from a feminist perspective; if we are truly to achieve feminist emancipation, one needs to ask whether that can occur within a professional-monopoly capitalist setting. </i><br />
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<i>I am skeptical that this can occur, which is why I think </i>Ultimate Purity<i> deserves to be taken seriously. I certainly understand that there are people that will not find this LP palatable, I certainly understand that people will feel repulsed, and I do understand that it's a violent LP. I think all of those are reasonable points of view, but I still think those criticisms / feelings can be waged without calling the band "misogynist." I believe a misogynist would expressly endorse male violence, and I find it hard to read </i>Ultimate Purity<i> through that lens. </i><br />
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<i>(I have changed the title to "Rectal Hygienics and Institutional Violence." The original post was "Rectal Hygienics as Feminism"). </i><br />
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<i>I think we need to ask this of feminism: can feminist aims be accomplished within capitalist / professional frameworks? I remain skeptical of this, and I believe that we can read feminism as an extremely effective weapon to also move away from professional-monopoly capitalism. </i><br />
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<i>If you don't think Rectal Hygienics are interesting or worth this consideration, I think that's fine; but, for those that listen to the album, struggle with the album, and love the album, I think it is worth asking these questions. This debate must be important, however, as this original blog post received more than 1300 views -- I find that stunning for an album released to a small scene, pressed in 500 quantities, and especially given that some have freely admitted they will not buy or listen to the album anyway. </i><br />
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<i>***</i><br />
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***<br />
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<i>EDIT (2:08 PM Central, February 19, 2015): I have been discussing this issue with my friends for most of the day, and I have also seen critiques on Twitter that I take very seriously. First and foremost, I want to apologize for coming off as combative, and also for insinuating that "Feminism" is whatever I want to make of it. I certainly do not believe that I can decide what feminism is -- I believe, as I have learned, that feminism is the emancipation of women from gender roles (stated simply), and that there are many other complex historical issues and variations associated with that project. </i><br />
<i><br /></i><i>So, I certainly do not want to make it seem like I believe Rectal Hygienics are feminist just because I say so, or even that they're feminist at all (many people certainly disagree with that notion, and I think that is an entirely valid point). I want to add that, perhaps, a clarification might be that the </i>Ultimate Purity<i> album is valuable as a part of the larger goal of feminism to expose and combat violence. There are points in this article where this simply does not come across as clearly as possible; but insofar as feminists study rape narratives and deal with the realities of gender violence (in many, many different ways), among other projects, I think there are many ways that feminism can address violence. </i><br />
<i><br /></i><i>(Personally, I should also add that I believe that institutional factors impact human behavior as much as, maybe more than, individual motives. I especially believe this to be the case in our current culture, economy, etc. I believe that there are crucial institutional barriers that need to be addressed in order to achieve feminist aims. This does not mean that I do not think individual actions are important -- they are. But, I believe that critiques of power, gender, sex, etc., can be written from individual and institutional viewpoints. This is something I did not explain very well in this article).</i><br />
<i><br /></i><i>It also bears stating that in no way do I condone gender violence, whatsoever. I abhor the very idea. In this case, I think that the challenging lyrics on the latest Rectal Hygienics record deserves some treatment beyond the basic sense of misogyny; I think there is a lot more going on there, and frankly, I'm also quite sick and conflicted about my own love of the album. I think </i>Ultimate Purity <i>is a brilliant noise album, but I have to personally come to grips with what the lyrics mean, or what the implications are.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><i>I want to apologize to anyone I've offended with this, and I also want to reiterate that I do not mean this as some kind of "appropriation" of feminism. For that reason, I've changed the title from "Rectal Hygienics as Feminism." I also apologize if I've belittled or attacked Jes Skolnik. I certainly did not mean this to be a personal attack, but it is my own personal exploration that I've been concerned about since I first heard the album. </i><br />
<br />
<i>Thank you for sharing this and reading it. More people have viewed this than actual copies of the LP were pressed. So, I'm certain that this is a challenging issue a lot of people are thinking about. </i><br />
<i><br /></i><i>With these edits, I did not change any of the original text. I want to admit that I was not as clear as I intended, and what I meant as a potentially empowering critique was not received as such, and that I was wrong in ways I did not intend.</i><br />
<br />Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-91987672667237508732014-12-11T14:38:00.000-08:002014-12-11T14:43:07.708-08:00Experiencing Vinyl #3: "Best of The Rest" 2014For the last few years, I focused my interests and purchases on contemporary musicians. The simple fact is, there are plenty of musicians making good music, and it's fun to go to the record store and look through the New Arrivals for the most interesting or crushing or heartbreaking or emancipatory music. 2014 was completely different. This year, those older records hollered louder, and they outlined many trends or counterpoints to what I purchased from contemporary artists (which was admittedly much less organized -- and perhaps <i>way</i> more fun than any previous year of music collecting).<br />
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I owe plenty of thanks to Elastic in Chicago, and especially the Elastro Series, for providing spaces that expanded my musical interests and experiences in 2013 and 2014. The venue is reliably experimental, and its move for 2015 brings thrilling possibility (please have another clothing and record swap!). With Elastro, I experienced experimental music live more frequently than in previous years, which in part must explain why I've listened to so much old music. At the Victim of Time record fair, I landed a $0.50 copy of <i>The Very Best of the Everly Brothers </i>(WB)<i>, </i>which hit as hard as the exceptional Gross Pointe tape; from scuzzy motorcycle rock to commercial rockabilly, I found shockingly straightforward and even heavy songs. This was the perfect backbone, or grounding, for my free-jazz and improvisational leanings. </div>
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The Everly Brothers reminded me that I had been looking for a vinyl version of "Mystery Train," which has been in the Greil Marcus-dominated sphere of my subconscious ever since high school, I suppose. But that's another therapy session. Anyway, <i>For LP Fans Only </i>(RCA)<i>, </i>sealed and reissued from the 1970s, popped up in a record bin one fine day, and I completed my heavy rockabilly hits from 2014. What I particularly like about The Everly Brothers and Elvis Presley is that their music shines through so much skepticism about cultural appropriation or cynical reappraisals of the golden past. Certainly, these artists straddled boundaries of popular music during a tumultuous time, but their ravaged sense of delivering the song at all costs, and remaining faithful to the brief, sudden encounter is the strongest element of their music. </div>
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Sudden and brief trends peppered my purchases throughout the year, including a full-on dive into the Homostupids. I think I almost landed everything they released, which is <i>way</i> less offensive than the name suggests, and quite focused (for as completely wrecked as it is). I don't know why I didn't spend the entire year we lived in Cleveland listening to this, it certainly would have accompanied the broken glass bike lanes with measured harmony (<i>The Edge</i>, P.Trash pictured here). The Homostupids rush fit perfectly next to my recent Obnox spree, which I gladly indulged in once Thee Oh Sees announced their (false) hiatus. We are blessed as music fans to jump from a band like the "classic" Oh Sees to Obnox releasing multiple discs in a year, and Obnox is only getting better as he moves forward (<i>Canibible Ohio</i>, Slovenly / Black Gladiator pictured here). </div>
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I hated Stress Apes when I first heard them years, and years, and years ago. Well, not hate. But while speaking with my friends about CAVE and everything related, my young ears were afraid to admit that I didn't quite understand Stress Ape. Luckily for me, Bad Drugs, Cacaw, and Rotted Tooth Recordings in general completely opened my ears to bleak, unconscionable noise, and so I luckily stumbled upon a copy of <i>Mergers</i> (Hardscrabble Amateurs). I only wish my noise ears were hardened earlier, for I now face a desire to buy every single Hardscrabble title after the fact. Oh, what we've lived through that we miss -- hell, I probably missed 500 great tapes this year alone. </div>
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Thanks to my family members, I received a batch of delicious tapes and LPs for my birthday, two of which included The Doors <i>Live at The Hollywood Bowl</i> (Elektra) and The Rolling Stones <i>Some Girls </i>(self?). <i>Some Girls </i>is such a ridiculously cringeworthy album at certain points, if only because I find it very hard to believe that Mick was short on "jam" by the mid-1970s. Like the debauchery of the 1970s Stones in general, the notes of redemption shine brighter than the trash, and if you don't get your fix from absurd MXR phasing, Mick's sad-sack country howls on side-B will drive you nuts. I almost fall over every time I hear Mick talk about driving through 40 consecutive red lights once he learns that Jesus is always with him (Hahahahahahahaha!). The Doors shocked me, if only because of their harsh moments that punctuate light, enjoyable jazz-psych moves. I'm really quite indifferent to Morrison, but the honest truth is that it's quite difficult not to "wake up" at the noise that introduces "Light My Fire."</div>
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Trouble In Mind is a label that requires serious back-purchasing into my collection. I finally started this year, as Doug Tuttle's exploitation-psych-wheelhouse pop burned into my brain for the first half of the year (I seriously think that album burned into my brain. I recommended it to a friend who turned me on to <i>Back from the Grave</i>, who promptly reported, "Yep, Nick knows what I like"). Woolen Kits was my first "back purchase," and the CD is preferable to the vinyl only because you can toss it into the dashboard when you're tooling around town. Once you do, you'll hear crystal-clear pop that is outlined by raw nerves and group-vocal oblivion. </div>
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I also owe a lot of thanks to Drew Gibson, both for providing review copies (Josh Millrod review is forthcoming, as is a Daniel Wyche interview/review), as well as providing a copy of Clearing's <i>Tape Drag. </i>As I documented earlier in the year, this was undoubtedly one of my favorite, and most consistent, ambient listens of the year. </div>
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Rounding out the short listens is a whole batch of Geographic North 7" singles, specifically from the <i>You Can't Hide Your Love Forever</i> series. Pictured here is the brilliant 80s pop revival by Psychic Powers, but the series also includes experimental percussion, shortform drones, and both upbeat and downer variations of the best of 1980s pop. Much like Tuttle's release, any music that uses the snare drum as a lead instrument is quite all right with me, and this is one particularly stellar element of the Psychic Powers delivery. </div>
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P.S., "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" is a phenomenal song, and The Monkees are much better than a lot of people might expect. </div>
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Since a lot of my 2014 listens were longer-form artists, I did not add terribly many longform psych oldies this year. However, the two longform performances I dug into were a <i>Neu!</i> reissue (Gronland), and Lyonnais, <i>Want For Wish For Nowhere </i>(Hoss, both pictured below). </div>
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The Neu record was instantly recognizable, if only through the patterns and moves that have been appropriated by contemporary psych artists. It is always fun to hear early sources of inspiration for contemporary musicians, and Neu must hold a specific place among those who appreciate the gang of psych groups that populate current releases and trends. </div>
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Neu showcase two elements of krautrock that are arguably missing from even the best contemporary variations on that scene:</div>
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(1) They exhibit more moments of complete freedom than contemporary variations. This results in some powerful sequences of cymbal scratches, as well as some oddball moments (such as the LP-closing singsong, which I'm still not sure what to make of after all these listens). In between those extremes, the group hammer their repetitive exercises and beats.<br />
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(2) Neu exhibit the light-hand and restraint that matches elements of Can and Kraftwerk, among other early electronic artists. There is a type of "warmth" or softness that counteracts the urgency of the beats and grooves. As a result, the rhythmic exercises feel organic, almost rolling along in a gentle manner, which allows those repetitions to breathe. </div>
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Granted, there are many current psychedelic groups with fine touches and freeform moments, but Neu combine the best of both elements on their debut. </div>
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While I was mourning the closing of the great San Francisco resurgence, given the disbandment of key groups and the mass migration to Los Angeles, I found a new source of inspiration in Jefferson Airplane. Most will call the group a key hippie band, but the honest truth is that this group produces rebel rhythm & blue distortions that almost perfectly coincide with "classic" Oh Sees records (I here have <i>Help! </i>and <i>...Master's Bedroom</i> in mind, but there are other Oh Sees records that fit this argument). "3/5 of a mile in 10 seconds" could have appeared on either one of those records, with only a minimal amount of de-polishing needed to match the rowdy, live timbre of classic Oh Sees. It's all there: boy-girl vocals, prominent harmonies, reverb-clean percussive guitar, untamed leads, you name it. I always though <i>Surrealistic Pillow</i> (RCA) was quite a good record, but I never had as much fun listening to it as I did once I finally found an original vinyl version. </div>
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Finally, I missed the Clone Records resurfacing the first time it hit Permanent Records, so I dutifully obliged this time the records showed up. While I listened to more punk this year than in any other year of my life (probably), I found this 1970s blend of pub rock, progressive moves, and hard rock absolutely stunning. These musicians feel like they're not quite sure what they want to do; it's rather aimless in some ways, or completely without genre. Clone perfectly captures the coexistence of glam, punk, and metal ideals in the midst of the 1970s, which effectively destroys the fashionable orthodoxy for any of those particular genres. What a breath of fresh air! The Teacher's Pet single was one of my favorite recommendations I received all year, and I truly enjoyed it along with these wicked Bizarros and Rubber City Rebels jams.<br />
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<a href="http://vital-sound.blogspot.com/2012/10/experiencing-vinyl.html">Experiencing Vinyl</a><br />
<a href="http://vital-sound.blogspot.com/2013/05/experiencing-vinyl-2.html">Experiencing Vinyl #2</a><br />
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<a href="http://vital-sound.blogspot.com/2014/02/autobiography-1-record-collection-2009.html">Record Collection, 2009-2014</a><br />
<a href="http://vital-sound.blogspot.com/2014/06/autobiography-2-tapes-with-friends.html">Tapes With Friends</a></div>
Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-48478672523106283602014-11-25T09:29:00.001-08:002014-11-25T09:29:49.412-08:00Language of Reconciliation I am guilty. Guilty of taking every privilege I have ever been granted, guilty for being born into a neighborhood secured by insurance agencies and reaped the benefits of urban planning, guilty for being placed into schools that were freely chosen, guilty for having access to solid financial aid for college, guilty for having a family that is able to support that aid, guilty for being able to freely shop, guilty for questioning authority without violent retribution or expulsion, guilty for exerting authority even in situations where I am not the uniformed person, guilty for freely walking, guilty for living in neighborhoods where the violence does not apply to me.<br />
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I am guilty of even more than this.<br />
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This feeling is appropriate. I wish that I could do more. More than writing politicians, engaging with friends, trying my best to be a good person, and working as best as I can to empathize with every person I encounter. This is simply not enough. Feeling guilty is a perfectly rational response to horrendous injustices, especially when those injustices are executed in my name, or rather, for my face, or for my privilege, to ensure my secure status in society. And those injustices burn my eyes, they destroy the value of any security whatsoever, for that security requires that the backs of others carry the absolute weight of sheer volatility, vagrancy, and violence.<br />
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At what point is this security worthwhile? As we become more aware of the startling, violent injustices committed in our names against others, will white Americans be willing to challenge their own securities to improve society? We are insulated from violence: our people conspired to form slums through financial measures and planning policies that designed our neighborhoods-in-fortresses. Our people conspired to perpetuate those slums by lending insecure funds to minorities looking for any chance to improve their lifestyle and gain a piece of security. Our people continually encourage a form of political austerity that forces budget cuts that harm the least among us, and in fact allow us to strengthen our position in society.<br />
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This is <i>unacceptable</i>.<br />
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Encountering our guilt is one way to form a language of reconciliation. We must face ourselves, and truly interrogate our privilege, in order to create an equal society. We can only listen; we must stop our condemnations of "black rioters," and our "outrage" at other forms of black violence. We must listen to pleas that describe specific wrongs, specific transgressions, however large, or however small, and we must urge them to stop. If we are outside of the realm of protest movements, if the comfort of the middle class has swallowed us whole, we must use that power to our advantage: write our representatives, demand changes, or even not that we do not want atrocious injustices committed in our names.<br />
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If these ideas seem convoluted and strange, it is because the institutions that have formed our privileges have also successfully masked themselves and pinned the blame on others. A brief history of racism bears this out: We steal your land; when you don't own property, we point and say, "Why are you so poor and lazy?" We steal your ability to own your labor; when you're unable to apply your abilities in the best possible labor market, we say, "Why can't you get a job?" We impede your access to sound credit, and when you can't own your business, or can't afford college, can't own your home, or default on your mortgage, we say, "Why aren't you able to better your own lot? Why can't you pull yourself up from your bootstraps and make it work?" We take away your access to institutional justice, barring your chance to successfully see your transgressors in court, and when you protest, we ask, "What is the point of this violence?" We declare war on your neighborhoods, call your neighborhoods war zones, and violently enforce those areas, then say, "Why are you so violent? Why can't you accomplish your goals peacefully?"There is more to racism, of course, but it is worth noting that the history of racism can be summarized in five sentences.<br />
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This is <i>unacceptable</i>. This is why I feel guilt. My identity, on the surface, is oppressor. This is accomplished in my name. We must reconcile these wrongs, and we have the benefits to do so: we have the security of police forces, equity, financially sound neighborhoods, open ears from politicians, media, and other privileged and powerful people. Instead of asking for specific gains, it would be telling to write our representatives and tell them that our white privilege is no longer acceptable. We want everyone to be able to share in our open, secure society, to be free from violence, to be able to take the same chances, learn the same theories, work in the same executive offices, hold the same political offices, own the same homes, and have the same access to credit.<br />
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This is our burden. Make no mistake, it is <i>ours</i>. This is why I feel guilty. Yet, by confronting this guilt, by letting it flow through my veins, I understand this much: we must listen. We must write. We must encounter our own privilege, and we must either make peace with it, or demand that others share in it. Our language of reconciliation begins here, with guilt, but also open ears. Are we up to the task to invite others into our circles? Do we want better institutions? If we care for society to improve, this is where we must begin, and we must know that we can improve our society even if we are not on the frontline of protest, violence, or combat.Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-67553036878403038492014-08-14T08:02:00.000-07:002014-08-14T08:02:07.685-07:00American Band Championship Belt: ChallengersSteven Hyden wrote an article on <i>Grantland </i>this week entitled "<a href="http://grantland.com/features/the-american-band-championship-belt/">The American Band Championship Belt</a>," in which he handed out Championship Titles for the most iconic, successful, and/or influential American bands of the last 50 years. Overall, the list is quite good, including exceptional picks like Sly & The Family Stone for 1971. Those types of tough picks exemplify a music fan laboring over difficult decisions about which stories to tell about American music. As an ardent apologist for the last decade of American music, I was stuck on the following entry for Deerhunter (they won the belt for '08-'10):<br />
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<strong style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Harriet Text Bold', 'Harriet Text', Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;">Overview:</strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Harriet Text', Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;"> I love Deerhunter. My favorite album of the ’10s so far is </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Harriet Text', Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;">Halcyon Digest</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Harriet Text', Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;">, and I like </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Harriet Text', Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;">Microcastle</em><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Harriet Text', Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26px;"> nearly as much. But let’s be frank: The last six years are the weakest ever for American bands. It’s not even close, really. There are still good bands, but they don’t matter like the other groups on this list. If you don’t know who Deerhunter is, you’re likely with the majority of readers. Please listen to them. </span>You’ll thank me later.</blockquote>
The Black Keys followed Deerhunter as the Champion from 2011-2014, which is somewhat difficult to stomach in an era that saw the rebirth / re-exposure of garage rock. For example, Thee Oh Sees destroyed all comers, even their own scene, with their prolific output. Pick an album, any album, they're all probably better than The Black Keys. That's not a knock on The Black Keys as much as it's a recognition of the fact that albums like <i>Carrion Crawler / The Dream</i> are pinnacles of garage rock's potential.<br />
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Yet, it is worth noting the difficulties of spreading the message of Thee Oh Sees far and wide: their records are mostly distributed by outfits such as Revolver / Midheaven, which basically ensures they won't ever have to <a href="http://zumic.com/music-videos/86224/fever-bullet-brain-black-keys-saturday-night-live-5-10-2014-videos/">worry about embarrassing themselves on </a><i><a href="http://zumic.com/music-videos/86224/fever-bullet-brain-black-keys-saturday-night-live-5-10-2014-videos/">Saturday Night Live </a>(</i>although, Ty Segall Band proves this "distribution argument" wrong with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpcAbZeAQuQ">their lightning-quick performance</a> on <i>David Letterman. </i>Thee Oh Sees did <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R7BnHqP-2E">appear on Carson Daily's show</a>). This factionalism inherent in American rock represents an earlier era, one peppered with small labels, stacked independent touring caravans, and bands that play raw, breakneck paces. I'm referring as much to the late-1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s as much as I am to the hardcore explosion of the 1980s.<br />
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Curiously, the 1950s are absent from Hyden's list, which could be explained by convenience (50 years of Champions has quite a nice ring to it). On the other hand, America's 1950s bands <a href="http://www.rockmusictimeline.com/1950s.html">exhibit a type of primal rock, rockabilly, or country sound, or flat out rhythm & blues</a>. The divisions between rhythm & blues and rock are unfortunate, and one of the strengths of Hyden's lists is that he masterfully nods to important rock, rap, funk, and R&B acts. So far so good. If one pushes the rhythm & blues tension back to its origins, and stretches the Championship Belts into the 1950s, <i>suddenly</i> factionalism, niches, and small-scale success is not as problematic (although there are certainly some popular artists in the 1950s, too).<br />
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Interestingly, Hyden includes a rule that no "& the" bands can be included in his list of Champions.<br />
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A very important rule that clarifies the process and makes the list more interesting. Without it, the belt winners would simply be the same old familiar list of popular singer-songwriters with celebrated backing bands. While I agree that, say, the E Street Band is a vital organization, its identity is absorbed by Springsteen’s persona. Springsteen is known simply as “Springsteen” whether or not he’s recording with the E Street Band. Therefore, it is not a true band for our purposes. Every band on this list is known first and foremost <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">as a band</em>. <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">(Warning: I violate this rule twice.)</span></div>
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This is not a problem in R&B, where working with a solid leader or revolving corps of backing players was quite normal (this should sound familiar to anyone who follows the line-ups of most contemporary independent bands, who swap players rather frequently depending on their needs, vision, touring schedules, etc.). If the list begins in the 1950s, there ought to be no issue with "& the" bands, for almost everyone is an "& the," from Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters to Buddy Holly & The Crickets (both absolutely necessarily Champions, by the way, or at least serious Challengers). Elvis with The Jordanaires is another interesting -- and chart-topping -- pair, and there's all sorts of backing-band magic, personnel swaps, and intrigue during the girl group era of the early 1960s. Besides, overall, there shouldn't necessarily be an issue with celebrated backing bands following popular singer-songwriters (see The Byrds, one of Hyden's challengers, for several interesting reasons: not only did the group itself cut their teeth recording seminal Bob Dylan songs, but Roger McGuinn played lead guitar and sang in key incarnations, and <a href="http://www.jazzwax.com/2012/09/the-byrds-who-played-what.html">there's always the issues of studio players inserted into the mix</a>). This happens everywhere, including Deerhunter (a Champion) and even popular rock bands like Weezer (where Rivers Cuomo sings lead and plays lead guitar).<br />
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<b>Those 1950s:</b> The 1950s featured some raucous American bands, as well as some delightfully soft pop and folk music. As previously mentioned, The Drifters started their extensive career, certainly playing some of the best songs during the vocal driven R&B era (and backing the inimitable Clyde McPhatter). The Clovers' "Sh-Boom" is a strong enough song to enter them into the equation of Champions. Roy Orbison started his career, Buddy Holly enjoyed considerable success forming a minimal rockabilly sound (as well as more symphonic excursions), and other extremely successful groups included The Kingston Trio, The Platters, The Everly Brothers, and The Fleetwoods. Bandleader Big Joe Turner also provides considerable trouble for the "band" list, as two of his key songs ("The Chill is On" and "Sweet Sixteen") were recorded with Van "Piano Man" Walls and his orchestra. Certainly it is worth extending the string of American Band Champions to 1951 to celebrate Big Joe Turner's rowdy rhythm & blues achievements.<br />
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<b>Girl Groups:</b> Before the American Band Championships begin in 1964, a curious trend occupies the Billboard's "hot" charts. A gang of girl groups, such as The Shirelles and The Ronettes, turned rowdy R & B into lovestruck, empowering, or wistfully short sides. Hyden touches on this with The Supremes, who are a Challenger to The Beach Boys in 1964, but the girl group trend is arguably more significant than a secondary mention (and one sees this if the American bands story is started several years earlier).<br />
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The girl group narrative is important because it can be cashed-out, continuously, throughout American music history. Be it through new wave music like The Go-Gos, R&B like TLC, SWV, Salt-N-Pepa, or Destiny's Child, or rock music like Sleater-Kinney (a Challenger in Hyden's article, but arguably the greatest single band in American music history, for their appropriation of punk rock, their application of feminist scenes in popular culture, and their RIFFS!). Obviously, one can dive ever deeper into this scene of great American girl bands -- in fact, I gather an entire list can be made of girl-centric music from 1964-present, and that such a list would tell a significant story about American bands.<br />
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<b>Influential Patterns:</b> While thinking about The Black Keys and Deerhunter, it struck me that several extremely influential bands were missing from the list of contenders. Of course, this will happen in any list exercise -- I'll miss influential bands in this feature, too. Depending on the story, though, missing influential bands can be an issue, and in this case Deerhunter and The Black Keys owe considerable debt to American bands ranging from The Bassholes and Mr. Airplane Man to The Amps / The Breeders, The Everly Brothers, and The United States of America. In fact, depending on your viewpoint, one could argue that Deerhunter <i>is</i> The United States of America, The Amps, and The Everly Brothers.<br />
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Certainly, one could counter that citing influential groups would defeat the purpose of such a list -- Deerhunter are a great band because of how they churn influences into equally ambient and rocking sounds. Goodness, could you imagine how Nirvana breaks down if you simply look at their influences? Arguably, <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Mudhoney-Superfuzz-Bigmuff/master/58252">Mudhoney released the most important (and best) grunge record with Sub Pop</a>, and The Pixies exemplified college rock, but Nirvana certainly was more than the sum of hardcore underground ("actual"?) grunge and college rock. No, Nirvana were great because of their energy, conviction, and songwriting chops, as much as their exemplification of certain influential independent bands.<br />
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On the other hand, this argument about influence can go the other way, too. What good is influence if the corporate hands turn Nirvana into years of Nickelback (thankfully not American) and Creed (unfortunately American)? Creed is another band that didn't made Hyden's list, presumably because Nirvana and Pearl Jam were already mentioned. That Kurt Cobain's suicide created a power-vacuum filled by clueless executives says more about major labels than it does about Nirvana, but Nirvana's influence must bear the years of Creed and Nickelback, too. Oddly enough, if one is concerned about factionalism or niche markets in contemporary music, one can blame Cobain and major label executives for that, too. It seems difficult to call Nirvana's legacy influential without recognizing that because of the series of events in the 1990s, we now have fractured independent markets (which are GREAT!).<br />
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The way one views influences is significant for developing a specific story about American rock. Perhaps if the goal is to culminate with Deerhunter and The Black Keys, it is indeed important to list The Velvet Underground as the most influential band during the mid-to-late 1960s. But, if one lists The 13th Floor Elevators as the most influential group during that era, perhaps it is less difficult to see small, regional, factional groups like Thee Oh Sees as significant bands in the current era.<br />
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<b>Regions: </b>If one thinks about contemporary factions, one notices strong regional influences. Thee Oh Sees, White Fence, and Ty Segall Band are just some of the artists first associated with San Francisco's scene of musicians and labels, and now associated with Los Angeles. Following that legacy, one can find interesting traditions to mine, from Big Brother and the Holding Company and Quicksilver Messenger Service (both worthy Challengers, if not Champions, in America's band traditions). In this case, an album like <i>Surrealistic Pillow </i>by The Jefferson Airplane might be more important than The Velvet Underground (I should make it clear that I'm not bashing The Velvets. I absolutely love them, especially their grand bootleg series and gnarly guitar tones. But, the point is to really press exactly what was influential and great in the history of American bands).<br />
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One especially interesting region that has (at least) a six decade story to tell is that of Texas (and, specifically, Austin). The 13th Floor Elevators are one of the most significant regional bands in American history, and they spur a series of continually under-the-radar-yet-on-the-pulse group of musicians from Nice Strong Arm to current groups like Spray Paint (who are employing one of the most radical guitar sounds amidst washes of unceremonious fuzz in contemporary American rock). The Texas list of challengers gets even more fun if one expands their reach to Houston, which includes everyone from ZZ Top to Red Krayola.<br />
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Arguably, the same lineage can be traced throughout many other regions; Seattle, Olympia, CLEVELAND, Washington, D.C., Detroit, Athens, Minneapolis, etc. Some of these regional acts appear on Hyden's list -- particularly Minnesotans Husker Du and The Replacements (in fact, Hyden's list includes an excellent Minnesotan lineage from Husker Du through to The Hold Steady). Undoubtedly, those bands tell a significant story about the development of American music distribution from "major labels" back to small-scale, factional scenes. That story is told over, and over, and over again in many other American cities.<br />
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<b>The Monkees:</b> If The Black Keys are the most significant American Band currently playing, there is an interesting logic that can be applied backwards on the list. Specifically, The Black Keys are most important because they are incredibly popular (I remember when they sold out Chicago's Aragon Ballroom for several consecutive New Year's Eve shows a few years back), <i>and</i> one cannot possibly know which underground groups will be most important from the contemporary scene (this is the gist of an argument The Empty Bottle and Hyden conveyed to me via Facebook and Twitter, respectively).<br />
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Yet, if one cannot know which contemporary acts will be most influential, and popular groups therefore are given more importance during their specific time, including groups like The Velvet Underground as Champions tells an incomplete story: if this list was made in 1967 or 1968, The Monkees would probably be regarded as the most popular, significant American band -- certainly, their place on TV, radio, and record sales supports that claim. Why do we use hindsight to forget about, or disparage, or underplay the importance of acts like The Monkees? Presumably, this is exactly what journalists will do when they're writing this list in 2030: The Black Keys will be booted, in favor of someone like Purling Hiss or Bitchin' Bajas or something. And the argument will be, "well, Bitchin' Bajas turned out to be really influential due to their fusion of krautrock, jazz, and experimental music within an accessible rock framework." Or, "Purling Hiss effectively used shred-happy, wide open guitar tones to return rock music to a competent, solo-happy exercises." Or who knows: maybe it will be a Drill group from Chicago, etc.<br />
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(One can make this argument in nearly every American decade. Groups like Chicago, Boston, Journey, Bon Jovi, Creed, etc., have been quite popular to Americans. Obviously, one can argue that they weren't necessarily influential in the way The Velvet Underground, Parliament, or Black Flag were. Yet, if one can note that The Black Keys are currently the most influential American band, it shouldn't be that far of a stretch to praise Creed at the turn of the decade.)<br />
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It simply is not satisfying to say, "we cannot know what the future will bring." This is precisely the type of exercise where one can put their neck on the line and argue about what is most important in contemporary music. I say this as a total apologist for contemporary groups, precisely because American bands are quite good at the moment. Probably better than ever. Factional, regional templates allow musicians to fuse krautrock, R&B, experimental formats, and other sorts of noise in ways that acts like Guns N'Roses never had to do in a large commercial format. So, if we cannot know the future, and can only judge what is influential, important, or great via what is most popular, The Monkees ought to claim their rightful spot as America's finest purveyor of beat music in the mid-to-late-1960s. Just like The Black Keys currently are regarded as quite a popular band.<br />
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<b>Blindspots: </b><br />
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(1) Hyden's "& the" rule seems to create quite an interesting series of exclusions throughout American history.<br />
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If the list is expanded beyond the 1960s, and into the 1950s, Les Paul & Mary Ford are absolutely crucial to American music. In fact, without this duo, it is arguable that other forms of experimental multi-tracking would not have been palatable in pop tastes. Les Paul manipulated tape as much as anyone in music history, and his combo records with Mary Ford are playful and surreal (as much as they are good, clean pop).<br />
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Excluding Simon & Garfunkel in the mid-1960s seems rather strange. Same with The Mamas & The Papas -- they were so influential, they actually helped organize one of America's most important pop music festivals <i>ever</i>. Yet, Simon & Garfunkel <i>were</i> a band; they were a duo, just like The Black Keys. That they needed supporting musicians at times is not really important -- last I saw, The Black Keys play with extra musicians, too. Simon & Garfunkel exemplified American folk tropes in the pop format, and even if some of their jokey attempts to rip off Bob Dylan are tough to stomach, their light, psychedelic stylings on albums like <i>Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme</i> more than make up for the rough spots.<br />
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There are some other uniquely American "&" bands (but not "& the"): Sonny & Cher, Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, and so on. I'm not sure if these groups were all excluded because of their "&," but some of these bands are absolutely crucial to the development of American pop tastes.<br />
<br />
(2) Some factional genres are surprisingly absent from Hyden's list -- this, of course, can be understood, for Hyden appears to be working toward a grand narrative about the development of R&B and rock tastes through major commercial American acts (with some notable punk canon exceptions).<br />
<br />
It may be due to my age, but the exclusion of emotional hardcore groups seems intriguing. I'm not arguing that bands from The Nation of Ulysses to Fugazi, or Alkaline Trio to Braid to Sunny Day Real Estate to Death Cab For Cutie necessarily need to be American Band Champions. Perhaps these groups exemplify American factionalism, which explains why they are not noted as significant influences in the history of American bands. I also remember an era in which every damn one of us were starting high school emo-influenced bands.<br />
<br />
I absolutely despise the idea of "Adult Alternative," but there were a series of soft-rocking bands that appeared once again in the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s: Third Eye Blind, Tonic, Matchbox 20 immediately come to mind, perhaps fulfilling the legacy of Chicago or Simon & Garfunkel (albeit with a louder, slightly more distorted sound). Again, I'm not arguing that these bands are Championship-material, but I do think it's worth asking whose tastes determine what is influential. In the grand scheme of things, "Adult Alternative" might be the rock'n'roll age's answer to the crooners or pre-pop forms of the 1950s.<br />
<br />
Folk music also has a number of serious threads throughout the 20th century, some of which enter pop markets. Here, one can jump from The Kingston Trio or Chad Mitchell Trio to Simon & Garfunkel and The Mamas & The Papas to Fleet Foxes. These types of trends exhibit a rather interesting trait to American music: perhaps American music is fatally factional, and groups are influential precisely according to the type of music one is attempting to make. In this scenario, American bands speak to specific traditions, or communicate via specific codes, rather than attempt to speak to broad audiences. So, obviously, if you're trying to start a band like Fleet Foxes, The Velvet Underground is probably not as important or influential as Simon & Garfunkel. That's not a bad thing; <i>Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme</i> is quite a good record, and so is <i>White Light / White Heat</i>. Those records are talking past one another in a really important way.<br />
<br />
(3) I might be a total sucker, but I remember Boyz II Men as an incredibly popular fusion R & B group. In fact, their album title even advertised their affinity for Philadelphia soul and Motown R&B.<br />
<br />
(4) What does one do with gangsta rap? This probably falls under the same issue of, "What does one do with emotional hardcore"? N.W.A. get a shout-out from Hyden, but perhaps they deserve more for basically launching the careers of an entire set of musicians hellbent on brutal commentary. (I'd argue that gangsta rap might even be more important than punk insofar as gangsta rappers actually spoke to specific injustices and perceptions of violence and authority, rather than producing fashionable angst).<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusions:</b><br />
Ultimately, if one wants to argue that contemporary American bands are weak, one has to retell previous American music history in one specific way. Perhaps American commercial bands really must take off after the British Invasion, which forever holds American bands to a position of inadequacy around the world. On the other hand, one can embrace contemporary American bands by exploring the 1950s, girl groups, and regionalism in American music. American bands are always better than they used to be: they are always great, because they are always speaking to factionalism and regionalism. This story about American bands predates The Beatles, and it begins with everything from Les Paul & Mary Ford to Chad Mitchell Trio to The Drifters to The Ronettes to The Sonics, etc. It is in this spirit that one can specifically understand the influence, importance, and greatness of contemporary American bands. This history of extensive factionalism and regionalism is precisely why I am an apologist for contemporary American bands.Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-11771241736822172592014-08-04T06:28:00.001-07:002014-08-04T06:28:41.832-07:002014 NL Central 8 Week Race<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 70%px;">
<tbody>
<tr bgcolor="#EDF1F3">
<th align="center">Date</th>
<th align="center">Brewers</th>
<th align="center">Cardinals</th>
<th align="center">Pirates</th>
<th align="center">Reds</th>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 4</td>
<td align="center">Off</td>
<td align="center">Off</td>
<td align="center">Off</td>
<td align="center">@ CLE</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 5</td>
<td align="center">v. SFG</td>
<td align="center">v. BOS</td>
<td align="center">v. MIA</td>
<td align="center">@ CLE</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 6</td>
<td align="center">v. SFG</td>
<td align="center">v. BOS</td>
<td align="center">v. MIA</td>
<td align="center">v. CLE</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 7</td>
<td align="center">v. SFG</td>
<td align="center">v. BOS</td>
<td align="center">v. MIA</td>
<td align="center">v. CLE</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 8</td>
<td align="center">v. LAD</td>
<td align="center">@ BAL</td>
<td align="center">v. SDP</td>
<td align="center">v. MIA</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 9</td>
<td align="center">v. LAD</td>
<td align="center">@ BAL</td>
<td align="center">v. SDP</td>
<td align="center">v. MIA</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 10</td>
<td align="center">v. LAD</td>
<td align="center">@ BAL</td>
<td align="center">v. SDP</td>
<td align="center">v. MIA</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 11</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">@ MIA</td>
<td align="center">v. DET</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 12</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">@ MIA</td>
<td align="center">v. DET</td>
<td align="center">v. BOS</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 13</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">@ MIA</td>
<td align="center">@ DET</td>
<td align="center">v. BOS</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 14</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">v. SDP</td>
<td align="center">@ DET</td>
<td align="center">@ COL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 15</td>
<td align="center">@ LAD</td>
<td align="center">v. SDP</td>
<td align="center">@ WSH</td>
<td align="center">@ COL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 16</td>
<td align="center">@ LAD</td>
<td align="center">v. SDP</td>
<td align="center">@ WSH</td>
<td align="center">@ COL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 17</td>
<td align="center">@ LAD</td>
<td align="center">v. SDP</td>
<td align="center">@ WSH</td>
<td align="center">@ COL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 18</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">v. CIN</td>
<td align="center">v. ATL</td>
<td align="center">@ STL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 19</td>
<td align="center">v.TOR</td>
<td align="center">v. CIN</td>
<td align="center">v. ATL</td>
<td align="center">@ STL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 20</td>
<td align="center">v.TOR</td>
<td align="center">v. CIN</td>
<td align="center">v. ATL</td>
<td align="center">@ STL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 21</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">v. ATL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 22</td>
<td align="center">v. PIT</td>
<td align="center">@ PHI</td>
<td align="center">@ MIL</td>
<td align="center">v. ATL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 23</td>
<td align="center">v. PIT</td>
<td align="center">@ PHI</td>
<td align="center">@ MIL</td>
<td align="center">v. ATL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 24</td>
<td align="center">v. PIT</td>
<td align="center">@ PHI</td>
<td align="center">@ MIL</td>
<td align="center">v. ATL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 25</td>
<td align="center">@SD</td>
<td align="center">@ PIT</td>
<td align="center">v. STL</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 26</td>
<td align="center">@ SD</td>
<td align="center">@ PIT</td>
<td align="center">v. STL</td>
<td align="center">v. CHC</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 27</td>
<td align="center">@ SD</td>
<td align="center">@ PIT</td>
<td align="center">v. STL</td>
<td align="center">v. CHC</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 28</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">v. CHC</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 29</td>
<td align="center">@SF</td>
<td align="center">v. CHC</td>
<td align="center">v. CIN</td>
<td align="center">@ PIT</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 30</td>
<td align="center">@ SF</td>
<td align="center">v. CHC (2)</td>
<td align="center">v. CIN</td>
<td align="center">@ PIT</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">August 31</td>
<td align="center">@ SF</td>
<td align="center">v. CHC</td>
<td align="center">v. CIN</td>
<td align="center">@ PIT</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 1</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">v. PIT</td>
<td align="center">@ STL</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 2</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">v. PIT</td>
<td align="center">@ STL</td>
<td align="center">@ BAL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 3</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">v. PIT</td>
<td align="center">@ STL</td>
<td align="center">@ BAL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 4</td>
<td align="center">v. STL</td>
<td align="center">@ MIL</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">@ BAL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 5</td>
<td align="center">v. STL</td>
<td align="center">@ MIL</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">v. NYM</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 6</td>
<td align="center">v. STL</td>
<td align="center">@ MIL</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">v. NYM</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 7</td>
<td align="center">v. STL</td>
<td align="center">@ MIL</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">v. NYM</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 8</td>
<td align="center">v. MIA</td>
<td align="center">@ CIN</td>
<td align="center">@ PHI</td>
<td align="center">v. STL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 9</td>
<td align="center">v. MIA</td>
<td align="center">@ CIN</td>
<td align="center">@ PHI</td>
<td align="center">v. STL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 10</td>
<td align="center">v. MIA</td>
<td align="center">@ CIN</td>
<td align="center">@ PHI</td>
<td align="center">v. STL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 11</td>
<td align="center">v. MIA</td>
<td align="center">@ CIN</td>
<td align="center">@ PHI</td>
<td align="center">v. STL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 12</td>
<td align="center">v. CIN</td>
<td align="center">v. COL</td>
<td align="center">v. CHC</td>
<td align="center">@ MIL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 13</td>
<td align="center">v. CIN</td>
<td align="center">v. COL</td>
<td align="center">v. CHC</td>
<td align="center">@ MIL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 14</td>
<td align="center">v. CIN</td>
<td align="center">v. COL</td>
<td align="center">v. CHC</td>
<td align="center">@ MIL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 15</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 16</td>
<td align="center">@ STL</td>
<td align="center">v. MIL</td>
<td align="center">v. BOS</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 17</td>
<td align="center">@ STL</td>
<td align="center">v. MIL</td>
<td align="center">v. BOS</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 18</td>
<td align="center">@ STL</td>
<td align="center">v. MIL</td>
<td align="center">v. BOS</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 19</td>
<td align="center">@ PIT</td>
<td align="center">v. CIN</td>
<td align="center">v. MIL</td>
<td align="center">@ STL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 20</td>
<td align="center">@ PIT</td>
<td align="center">v. CIN</td>
<td align="center">v. MIL</td>
<td align="center">@ STL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 21</td>
<td align="center">@ PIT</td>
<td align="center">v. CIN</td>
<td align="center">v. MIL</td>
<td align="center">@ STL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 22</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">@ ATL</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 23</td>
<td align="center">@ CIN</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">@ ATL</td>
<td align="center">v. MIL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 24</td>
<td align="center">@ CIN</td>
<td align="center">@ CHC</td>
<td align="center">@ ATL</td>
<td align="center">v. MIL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 25</td>
<td align="center">@ CIN</td>
<td align="center">off</td>
<td align="center">@ ATL</td>
<td align="center">v. MIL</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 26</td>
<td align="center">v. CHC</td>
<td align="center">@ ARI</td>
<td align="center">@ CIN</td>
<td align="center">v. PIT</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 27</td>
<td align="center">v. CHC</td>
<td align="center">@ ARI</td>
<td align="center">@ CIN</td>
<td align="center">v. PIT</td>
</tr>
<tr onmouseout="this.bgColor='#FFFFFF'" onmouseover="this.bgColor='#C7D9EC'">
<td align="center">September 28</td>
<td align="center">v. CHC</td>
<td align="center">@ ARI</td>
<td align="center">@ CIN</td>
<td align="center">v. PIT</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-2396594602356126442014-06-22T10:02:00.000-07:002014-06-22T10:05:14.786-07:00Autobiography #2: Tapes With FriendsThis post is a long time coming. Some of my closest friends have sent me wonderful tapes within the last six months, and several of my current music obsessions have played out on tape. A couple of months ago, I also dove into one of the Sanity Muffin batches, while there are others that are oscillate between meditative, exploitative, and uninhibited.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48tXo2iyhMNeVXfeSYGgl_U1VAjQROyvnaw5ei7BKOQYhlEG-RLAVbqq2fQCF2G023go1p7yANBEaxt9wol-t3qf7cwua-ZUdOYdBrimtYimCuzD7giLoX3qXXtpFsmP4I2knE8AdcCs/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48tXo2iyhMNeVXfeSYGgl_U1VAjQROyvnaw5ei7BKOQYhlEG-RLAVbqq2fQCF2G023go1p7yANBEaxt9wol-t3qf7cwua-ZUdOYdBrimtYimCuzD7giLoX3qXXtpFsmP4I2knE8AdcCs/s1600/photo.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><i>INVOCATION OF MAGNETIC SPIRITS</i>, VOL. 1 (Sanity Muffin)</b><br />
<b>BRE'R, <i>Mobility in Six Parts</i> (Sanity Muffin)</b><br />
In part, one of the reasons I picked up one of the Sanity Muffin batches was the <i>Invocation of Magnetic Spirits</i> series. This volume ostensibly opens a series of rare tapes found around Oakland by Sanity Muffin, although the tape is not necessarily what one expects -- the tape is as much contemporary noise as it is old, lost Gospel worshippers. Part of me expected to hear a tape of earnest Gospel worship and testimony, but heavy industrial noise drives the set. By contrasting enthusiastic -- eschatological, terrifying -- preaching and parish testimony with brutal noise, Sanity Muffin accomplish a troubling dichotomy that reaches equal parts exploitation and exploration. Exploitation, insofar as the honest vision of these worshipers is abstracted from its cultural context and presented for entertainment or artistic purposes. Exploration, insofar as the noise compositions offer a completely opposing structure to the free, improvised statements of faith and devotion. Together, these poles allow for a range of experiences, and therefore, plenty of return listens.<br />
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(It would also be wonderful to simply hear these source tapes -- Sanity Muffin arguably has a mine of valuable glimpses into the worship lives of everyday people. This kind of stuff is golden -- maybe archival stuff is boring to some, and the manipulation and noise makes it interesting, but there is something to be said for using recordings to allow people to speak in a voice that they might not otherwise have. This need not even be viewed as some grand argument about cultural reconciliation or emancipation: even a celebration of the ordinary or anonymous would be worthwhile).<br />
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BRE'R moved me to tears with beautiful, suspended guitar compositions that exude peacefulness and steadiness. This tape perfectly accompanies the Talk West, Bid People, and Clearing tapes -- these slow, unfolding spaces feature suspended beauty and repetition suited for meditation. 2014 is nothing more than a cycle through tapes like this, and thankfully, the pile is consistently growing. There is no other way for me to say this -- it is music like this that convinces me that the soul, mind, and brain are not coextensive; that our experiences cannot be reduced to material explanations, brain scans, or physiology; our reactions to this music cannot be mapped. Rather, each path through these repetitions allows for our soul to fold once more, tracking back over itself, turning inward beyond knowledge and contemplation. Thank you, BRE'R.<br />
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<b>TALK WEST, </b><b><i>Canyon Lip </i>(Notice Recordings)</b><br />
<b>BIRD PEOPLE, <i>Terma </i>(Jehu & Chinaman)</b><br />
<b>CLEARING, <i>Let Go </i>(Solid Melts)</b><br />
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Drew Gibson curates Solid Melts, a label that follows his own musical projects and aesthetic, while also diving into nearby themes or neighborhoods of experimental explorations. This Clearing tape is the newest member to my meditative tape pile, but I am thankful to have it and add to the number of absolutely ethereal minutes of music listening in any given week. 40 minutes of recording time allows Joseph Volmer -- aka Clearing -- to truly extend his vision and instruments, which shifts between woozy and bright electronic landscapes. Incidentally, one of my favorite pop groups, Nada Surf, have an album called <i>LET GO. </i>They actually issued a statement when they released that album, since it is also apparently the title of an Avril Lavigne album. Volmer needs no statement -- one can let go into his compositions, perhaps only wondering why these timbres do not occupy an infinite loop somewhere. </div>
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In the winter of 2013, Notice Recording's set of Talk West and Seth Cluett tapes set me on obsessive drone adventures. Talk West's tape especially clicked with my ears -- a set of warm, organic chiming on side A morphs into a longform drone on side B. The long drone offsets the fragmented chiming with a consistent synthetic theme, emulating the re-emergence of wildlife following a torrential spring rain. Absolutely vital, life-affirming tones. Even suggesting the word "fragments," now that I think about it, is a shortcoming, because the chiming fragments on side A feel complete within themselves, in the sort of way that a just-blooming tulip feels complete before the flower. That first glimpse of life is an awakening, and that is the feeling that leaps throughout <i>Canyon Lip</i>.</div>
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After the turn of 2014, Steve Dewhurst of Jehu & Chinaman (and my colleague at Decoder Magazine) turned me on to this unrelenting set of synthetic exercises. If I had heard Bird People earlier, <i>Terma</i> would have made my year-end list (if that means anything; I guess I'll put it on this year's list!!!), although the reasons almost perfectly clone my motivations to love the Talk West effort. This is steady, purposeful ambiance, at once aggressive / dramatic and tender / fragile. Subtle electronic beats gently propel the synth lines, which offers optical depth that clarifies the battle lines between these fragile and aggressive overtones. In fact, I wonder why this isn't called "space rock;" or rather, anything called "space rock" should really sound like this, given that the structures of the beats do not drive the music into 4x4 oblivion, but instead outline the paths of exploration. Space rock, also, because this sounds like serious music about the future that embraces outer limits without caricature.</div>
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<b>SCAMMERS, <i>A Song That Can Exist </i>(Jehu & Chinaman)</b><br />
<b>EETS FEATS, <i>Trash from Our Lips </i>(Aye Aye Aye)</b><br />
<b>HEAVY TIMES, <i>Jacker </i>(Hozac / Priority Male)</b><br />
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For goodness sake, Phil Diamond's Scammers imprint consistently (constantly) freezes me from the moment the rumbling drums drive "27" into deep crooning and decompressing synth horns. Tension is the name of this pop that exploits easy-listening tropes, 1980s gloom, and blissful rhythm and blues into song-oriented solidarity and earnest working-class expression. There are few moments of release on <i>A Song That Can Exist</i>, which means that Diamond's sense of humor and confessions translate into glorious layers of compulsion that coerce his listener's ear through extremely ambitious production. Make no mistake about it, this is what makes this tape so great and consistently worthwhile on listen after listen -- Diamond delivers everything on his own terms, and takes none of his listener's sympathy (or now budding affection!) to heart. You're going to like this -- it's catchy, it's tongue-in-cheeck, it's self-loving, it's a big pop sound, etc. -- or else. More, please. </div>
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There's a lot to be said about Austin, TX rock music that revolves around Nice Strong Arm, and I feel this way about Spray Paint and (now) Eets Feats. Of course, I owe my Nice Strong Arm obsession to an Implodes blog post, so it's not my insight, but anyway, this Austin band straddled dense goth, wailing-guitar punk, and emotional vocals into a surprisingly relevant 80s sound (they thankfully escaped certain production elements of the time, and I gather a reissue of their albums would go over quite well with contemporary guitar-rock fans). Anyway, I felt that Spray Paint channeled Nice Strong Arm's creepy-someone's-going-to-get-stalked-and-murdered vibe quite well through their (relatively) clean-guitar attacks, and Eets Feats expands Spray Paint's advances into goth ecstasy. There's a pervasive darkness that overrides the bright, surf-oriented "let's play punk songs really fast and loud" vibe on <i>Trash From Our Lips</i>, which incidentally gives this tape crucial flexibility. You may dismiss this tape on first listen, but give it a second (and more!) -- out of nowhere, their dulled goth edges will not mortally wound you, but instead entice you for a second blow.</div>
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Or, in better words, I think I like Eets Feats more than Spray Paint. Thanks, Austin!<br />
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Heavy Times must be my desert island band. I can't shut up about this tape, and I've probably listened to it (on average) once a week since the summer of 2013. This is the inverse of the Eets Feats tape, a solid block of blink-and-you'll-miss-it-pop-punk that will absolutely bludgeon with well-placed guitar licks and frantic group vocals. Pop punk is an entirely redeeming and worthwhile genre, by the way. So, yes, my desert island pick. If I ever have to be stuck on a damn desert island, I want to be dreaming of being stuck in traffic thanks to assholes passing me on the right on the West Side, inching along on a cramped Kimball bus, and the brutal emptiness of staying inside during winter. Heavy Times RAGE with this fury of Chicago as no other Chicago band I've heard. Still can't stop listening to this, in fact, I'd better buy a few other copies before I wear this one out -- this will probably end up in the same pile with my Implodes tape, or, "The Only Tapes I've Actually Broken From Playing Too Much." <i>Implodes</i> was really, really good, but <i>Jacker</i> is better; the difference being that one can say "Implodes expanded their sound and enhanced their rhythm section to grow on <i>Recurring Dream"</i> instead of<i> </i>"If Heavy Times change, I'm going to be pissed."</div>
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<b>NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE, <i>Weld </i>(Reprise)</b></div>
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<b>DAN BURKE & TRAVIS BIRD, <i>Negentropy </i>(Notice Recordings)</b></div>
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For some time, I've been obsessed with Neil Young's 1980s recordings, especially his experimental futuristic communications masterpiece, <i>Trans</i>. Growing up, I always heard Young referred to as the "Godfather of Grunge," but I thought that was more a statement about his legendary status in classic rock in general, rather than a statement about his pulverizing 1980s hard rock. Indeed, an album like <i>Ragged Glory </i>stands up quite nicely to just about any "Seattle" album, but it is Young's noisy, overblown live guitar sound that exemplifies this era of American rock. Oh, those opening notes on "Hey Hey, My My..." Young's amplifier volume, his octave divider, his right-place-at-the-right-time band; Young turns abrasive rock into sugary candy, digging into his listener's ears with promises of treats to come. One can listen to <i>Weld</i> solely on the basis of searching for that first high once again. Perhaps Young and Crazy Horse even surpass those opening moments, be it on the outer reaches of the synthesizer driven "Like A Hurricane," the NASTY bar rock on the back end of tape two, or the riotous breakdown of "Welfare Mothers" (which, as a song on its own, is probably more biting commentary than released on any "grunge" album). Even better, for every moment that is great due to Young's guitar sound, there is greatness from Crazy Horse, which must be one of the steadiest, hardest bands in American history. But, I keep coming back for those overblown first notes, and I stay for the volume and riot every time.<br />
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From these uninhibited guitar tones to the blistering rock of Eets Feats and Heavy Times, I happily returned to Travis Bird & Daniel Burke's <i>Negentropy</i>, which I believe was their debut cassette release. Bird and Burke comprised one of Chicago's most promising guitar duos -- and I speak as an unbiased listener and a completely biased friend -- at the turn of the 2010s, and on <i>Negentropy</i> the pair provide perfect decay to Young's <i>Weld</i> signal. This is not deconstructed rock -- indeed, the lack of structures throughout their debut cassette probably means that Bird and Burke are not playing rock whatsoever. Yet, it's indeed a celebration of the guitar, which in some senses provides an overlap with rock (insofar as some rock is guitar worship). However, Bird and Burke use their guitars for percussive pursuits, resulting in absolutely tooth-rattling distortion tone and steely stabs. Taken with the Talk West tape, Bird and Burke offer the absolute inverse to those organic chimes, as their timbres are much more foreboding and unapproachable. Despite these darker pastures, <i>Negentropy</i> is a rewarding return listen, not simply because it satisfies many of those primal urges that standard guitar rock worship aspires toward (but often fails). This is not guitar worship. A celebration of guitar, yes, but one that is not self-indulgent or structured. </div>
Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4219248326063914987.post-11497474585297247322014-02-10T09:44:00.000-08:002014-02-10T09:47:20.459-08:00Autobiography #1: Record Collection, 2009-2014Over the last few months, I've had the feeling that my record collection is complete. Both my wife and I have a lot of pop titles we like, and over the years, I've traded psychedelic, experimental, and other titles to shape new acquisitions. Over time, our collection shifted with our respective identities and interests, first out of necessity -- it would be impossible to buy new records without trading old ones-- and then for fun. For some time, I felt anxious about whether my new release acquisitions could keep up with release schedules and shifts in taste, but once I became familiar with trading records, I enjoyed that as much as acquiring new titles. Suddenly, our record collection became curated, rather than expansive. Now it's a lean, sharp collection. <br />
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I grew up with music on vinyl, so there's always been a part of me that connects the enjoyment of music with spinning records. My dad taught me how to play records at a young age, and I vividly remember listening to loud James Gang records with him. I started buying records for myself in high school, after my family moved the stereo to the basement, and I loaded up on a few Folk Implosion and Sleater-Kinney records. Unfortunately, after high school I did not have a turntable for quite some time, as I moved frequently between college dorms and apartments, eventually migrating to Chicago in 2008. Around this time, I began searching for records of some of my favorite bands, including The Dandy Warhols (my first "gateway drug" from pop music to psychedelic music) and Darker My Love. This collection began in earnest in 2009, expanded greatly when my wife and I purchased our stereo after our wedding, and then contracted as moves, budgets, and taste changes instigated a period of trades. My feeling that this record collection is complete corresponds quite nicely with the fifth anniversary of getting reacquainted with vinyl.<br />
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Consuming records can be a rich, engaging, and revealing experience, for tastes can lead in many different directions. Our collection follows several threads and identities: records by bands that my wife and I both like (or, records that she turns me onto), pop and rock projects, records by bands related to Chicago and Permanent Records (as well as a constellation of related outsider labels), experimental records following my time with Foxy Digitalis and Decoder, and gifts from others. These threads can reveal contradictory and joyous tastes; perhaps gifts are the most revealing, as friends think about records you might not have, or relatives hunt for Beatles records when they're at flea markets, etc. After five years, it is quite clear that I do not have one musical narrative, and neither does my wife; together, our experience with vinyl is a unique partnership.<br />
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There are so many landmarks one can find within a collection. I remember, to this day, reconnecting with my childhood friend Travis Bird, who once drove me home and said, "I really think you'll like this;" this music came from the CAVE / California Raisins split 10" (and CD!) from Permanent Records. It was the type of revelation that friendship often brings. A lot of music I consumed between 2008 and 2011 matched different conversations and explorations through our musical friendship.<br />
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I've always loved digging for "related bands," ever since I first heard the <i>KIDS Soundtrack</i> in middle school and learned that seBADoh and The Folk Implosion had tons of related projects. After The Dandy Warhols' tour introduced me to Darker My Love in 2008, Darker My Love led to The Strange Boys, All the Saints, A Place to Bury Strangers, Lumerians, etc.; their tour partners in 2008-2009 seemed incredible (and almost unbelievable, in hindsight). Following All the Saints -- one of my introductions to hard psych rock, I learned of The N.E.C. in Atlanta, and began another lasting musical friendship. In some way, records by CAVE and The N.E.C. were the catalysts for my experimental music narrative. Little did I know that California Raisins would also foreshadow most acid or noise punk records I'd come to enjoy. <br />
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I owe an awful lot to my friends along the way. Both Travis and Evan (founders of Notice Recordings), as well as cinchel, provided direct access points of amazing experimental music and DIY spirit. Thanks to them, and The N.E.C., I started 'Spective Audio, a journey of several tapes that spread into a CD (Bird's <i>Bourgeois Treats</i>) and LP (N.E.C.'s <i>Last Point of Radiation</i>). Consuming records always brings surprises, and I also learned that pressing records can bring some personal touches -- in the process for creating <i>Last Point of Radiation</i>, Gotta Groove Records in Cleveland pressed six handmade clear+explosive color records. This record is a reminder of a valuable musical journey and friendships (and, it's a killer record, too!).<br />
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Thanks to my partnership with my wife, there are so many pop records that I never would have known about. One of the best surprises of collecting records is each blindspot uncovered -- Cyndi Lauper's Prince cover that serves as a prelude to Tegan & Sara's latest record, Bowie's <i>phenomenal</i> / polarizing <i>Let's Dance</i>, The Monkees' teen exploitation pop, etc. These threads lead into other areas of our collection -- we love 80s music from Echo & The Bunnymen to Nice Strong Arm, and "exploitation" pysch from Simon & Garfunkel through SRC, Food, Gandalf, and The Common People.Again, the lessons are crucial -- there is no need to tell one set musical narrative, since each thread or series of records can push in its own valuable direction. <br />
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During this period of time, my digging guided me toward Permanent Records, which has become a brick-and-mortar locale for much of Chicago's outsider explosion over the last five years. Through friendships and recommendations forged by their clerks, and voyages into related record labels, I've learned a lot about the history of Chicago's music (and outsider music in general). I've also learned to embrace those disparate threads and narratives that run through a record collection; it's not necessarily a strange thing to have a Destruction Unit record next to a Lee Hazlewood collection.<br />
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Ultimately, at this point, there are so many stories tied into this set of records. Beyond the wax itself, consuming records also allows for the chance to build friendships, sustain local businesses and small labels, and explore the depths of art and music. Concrete places tell their own stories, too, as records from each Reckless Records branch and Permanent in Chicago, Hausfrau, Loop, and Bent Crayon in Cleveland, Deaf Ear in La Crosse, among others, are spread through this collection. In a lot of ways, the narratives of a record collection not only showcase specific sounds, but also the places, projects, or states of mind associated with each acquisition. One might argue that this is a record collecting triviality, but I beg to differ; what one buys in Chicago can differ quite greatly than what one thinks about or encounters in Cleveland, La Crosse, Brooklyn, etc. This is perhaps the most exciting aspect of a record collection -- with no vision or expectations for our future collections, I can already anticipate that our collection in five years will hold another string of stories, friendships, and explorations. <br />
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THE N.E.C.<br />
The N.E.C. / Jovontaes (Double Phantom)<br />
The N.E.C. <i>Is </i>(Double Phantom) <br />
The N.E.C., <i>Last Point of Radiation </i>('Spective)<br />
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GIFTS<br />
The Beatles, <i>Sgt. Pepper's </i>(Capitol) <br />
The Beatles, <i>Abbey Road</i> (Apple) <br />
Filardo, <i>Falling Up </i>(Holy Page) <br />
Hiro Kone, <i>s/t </i>(Bitterroots) <br />
Laughing Eye Weeping Ey<i>e, Beway </i>(Hairy Spider Legs)<br />
Les Rallizes Denudes, <i>Blind Baby has its Mother's Eyes </i>(Pheonix) <br />
Joey Molinaro, <i>The Inalienable Dreamlress & We </i>(Inverted Music Company)<br />
Queen, <i>The Game </i>(EMI)<br />
The Ronettes, <i>Introducing the Fabulous...</i>(Sundazed) <br />
Simon & Garfunkel, <i>Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme </i>(Columbia)<br />
Spires that in the Sunset Rise, <i>Ancient Patience Wills it Again </i>(Hairy Spider Legs) <br />
The United States of America, <i>s/t </i>(Sundazed)<br />
Various Artists, <i>2131 South Michigan: USA Records </i>(Sundazed)<br />
Various Artists, <i>The Breakfast Club OST </i>(A&M) <br />
The Velvet Underground, <i>Quine Tapes </i>boxed set (Sundazed)<br />
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MARRIAGE RECORDS! (All on original labels, no reissues)<br />
The Beatles, <i>Meet the Beatles</i><br />
The Beatles, <i>Yesterday and Today</i><br />
The Beatles, <i>Rubber Soul </i><br />
Pat Benetar, <i>Seven the Hard Way</i><br />
Pat Benetar, <i>Precious Time </i> <br />
David Bowie, <i>Let's Dance</i><br />
Belinda Carlisle, <i>Heaven on Earth </i> <br />
Devo, <i>Freedom of Choice</i><br />
Dire Straits, <i>s/t</i><br />
Duran Duran, <i>The Reflex</i> 12"<br />
Echo & The Bunnymen, <i>Ocean Rain</i><br />
Eels, <i>Wonderful Glorious </i><br />
Elton John, <i>Greatest Hits </i><br />
Cyndi Lauper, <i>She's So Unusual</i><br />
Miami Sound Machine, <i>Primitive Love</i><br />
The Monkees, <i>Greatest Hits</i><i></i><i> </i><br />
Nada Surf, <i>The Proximity Effect</i><br />
Nada Surf, <i>LET GO</i><br />
Nada Surf, <i>The Weight is a Gift</i><br />
Nada Surf, <i>Lucky</i><br />
Nada Surf, <i>The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy</i><br />
The Police, <i>Outlandos d'Amour </i><br />
The Police, <i>Reggatta de Blanc</i><br />
The Police, <i>Synchronicity </i><br />
Lou Reed, <i>Live</i><i></i><br />
Simon & Garfunkel, <i>Bookends</i><br />
Simon & Garfunkel, <i>Greatest Hits </i><br />
Tegan & Sara vinyl box<br />
Tegan & Sara, <i>Heartthrob</i><br />
<br />
CHICAGO / PERMANENT RECORDS / ROTTED TOOTH<br />
Afflicted Man, <i>Off Me 'Ead</i><br />
Bad Drugs, <i>Raw Powder </i>(RT) <br />
Black Math, <i>s/t</i><br />
Black Math, <i>Phantom Power </i> <br />
CAVE / California Raisins<br />
CAVE, <i>Neverendless </i>(Drag City)<br />
Cheveu, <i>Cheveau </i>(S.S. Records)<br />
Cosmonauts, <i>s/t</i><br />
The Dreebs, <i>Bait an Orchard </i>(RT)<i> </i> <br />
End Result, <i>Ward </i>(Ruthless) <br />
Implodes, <i>Black Earth </i>(Kranky)<br />
Jealousy, <i>viles</i> (Moniker)<br />
Lumerians, <i>Transmissions from the Telos V.1 </i> <br />
Mako Sica, <i>May Day at Strobe</i> <br />
Miracle Condition, <i>s/t </i>(Tizona)<br />
Moonrises, <i>Frozen Altars </i>(Captcha) <br />
Obnox, <i>Rojas</i><br />
ONO, <i>Albino </i>(Moniker)<i> </i> <br />
Plastic Crimewave & Djin Aquarian, <i>Save the World </i>(Prophase)<br />
Purling Hiss, <i>s/t</i> <br />
Purling Hiss / Puffy Areolas<br />
Rind, <i>Exhaust Yourself </i>(RT)<br />
Running, <i>s/t</i><br />
Running, <i>Asshole Savant </i>(Captcha)<br />
Running, <i>Vaguely Ethnic </i>(Castle Face)<i> </i> <br />
Steel Pole Bathtub, <i>Unlistenable</i><br />
Toupee, <i>Dinner Parties </i>(RT)<i> </i><br />
Various Artists, <i>Busted At Oz</i><br />
Warhammer 48k, <i>Ethereal Oracle </i><br />
Wume, <i>Distance </i>(RT)<i> </i><br />
<br />
POP / PSYCH / ROCK<br />
All the Saints, <i>Fire on Corridor X </i>(Touch and Go)<br />
Band of Horses, <i>Infinite Arms </i>(Columbia / Fat Possum)<br />
The Byrds, <i>Notorious Byrd Brothers </i>(Columbia)<br />
The Byrds, <i>Mr. Tambourine Man </i>(Sundazed)<br />
The Byrds, <i>Younger than Yesterday </i>(Sundazed) <br />
The Common People, <i>Of..By..and for the Common People </i>(Label Unknown)<br />
Creedence Clearwater Revival, <i>Willy and the Poor Boys </i>(Fantasy)<br />
Creedence Clearwater Revival, <i>Pendulum </i>(Fantasy)<br />
The Cyrkle, <i>Neon</i> (Columbia) <br />
The Dandy Warhols, <i>..Come Down </i>(Tim Kerr / Capitol)<br />
The Dandy Warhols, <i>13 Tales from Urban Bohemia </i>(Label Unknown)<br />
The Dandy Warhols, <i>Earth to...</i> (Beat the World)<br />
The Dandy Warhols, ...<i>Are Sound </i>(Beat the World)<br />
Darker My Love / Moccasin (I Hate Rock n Roll)<br />
Darker My Love, <i>s/t </i>(Dangerbird)<br />
Darker My Love, <i>2</i> (Dangerbird)<br />
Darker My Love, <i>Alive as You Are </i>(Dangerbird)<br />
<br />
Destruction Unit, <i>Deep Trip </i>(Sacred Bones)<br />
Fleet Foxes, <i>s/t </i>(Sub Pop)<br />
Fleet Foxes, <i>Helplessness Blues </i>(Sub Pop) <br />
Folk Implosion, <i>Dare to be Surprised </i>(Communion) <br />
The Food, <i>Forever is a Dream </i>(Label Unknown) <br />
The Fresh & Onlys, <i>Play it Strange </i>(In The Red)<br />
The Fresh & Onlys, <i>Secret Walls </i>(Sacred Bones)<br />
Gandalf, <i>s/t </i>(Label Unknown) <br />
Jacco Gardner, <i>Cabinet of Curiosities </i>(Trouble in Mind)<br />
Bruce Haack, <i>Electric Children's Record </i>(Mississippi)<br />
Has a Shadow, <i>Sky is Hell Black </i>(Captcha; whoops! Actually a "Gift" record) <br />
Lee Hazlewood, <i>The LHI Years: Singles, Nudes, Backsides ('68-'71) </i>(Light in the Attic)<br />
Hot & Cold, <i>Border Areas </i>(Moniker; whoops! Also a "Gift")<br />
Lumerians, <i>Transmalinnia </i>(Knitting Factory)<br />
Lumerians, <i>Horizon Structures </i>(Knitting Factory)<br />
The Men, <i>Leave Home </i>(Sacred Bones) <br />
Nice Strong Arm, <i>Reality Bath </i>(Homestead)<br />
Nice Strong Arm, <i>Mind Furnace </i>(Homestead) <br />
Thee Oh Sees, <i>Single Collection 1 & 2 </i>(Castle Face) <br />
Thee Oh Sees, <i>Castlemania </i>(In The Red)<br />
Thee Oh Sees, <i>Carrion Crawler / The Dream </i>(In The Red)<br />
<br />
A Place to Bury Strangers, <i>s/t </i>(Important)<br />
A Place to Bury Strangers, <i>Onwards to the Wall </i>(Dead Oceans)<br />
A Place to Bury Strangers, <i>Worship </i>(Dead Oceans) <br />
Portishead, <i>Third </i>(Mercury)<br />
Psychedelic Psoul, <i>Freak Scene </i>(Columbia)<br />
Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood, <i>Nancy & Lee </i>(Reprise) <br />
Sleater-Kinney, <i>All Hands on the Bad One </i>(Kill Rock Stars) <br />
Spiritualized, <i>Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space </i>(Plain)<br />
Spray Paint, <i>s/t</i> (S.S. Records)<br />
SRC, <i>s/t </i>(Label Unknown) <br />
Various Artists, <i>Nuggets</i> (Sire Promotional Edition)<br />
Various Artists, <i>Experiments with Destiny </i>(Bomp!)<br />
The Velvet Underground, <i>White Light / White Heat </i>(Label Unknown)<br />
The Velvet Underground, <i>Scepter Studio Sessions </i>(Polydor)<br />
Vivians, <i>Vivicide </i>(Hit & Run)<br />
The Who, <i>Who's Next</i> (Decca) <br />
Wooden Shjips, <i>Volume 1 </i>(Holy Mountain)<br />
Wooden Shjips, <i>Dos </i>(Holy Mountain)<br />
Wooden Shjips, <i>West </i>(Thrill Jockey)<br />
Neil Young, <i>Trans</i> (DGC)<br />
Neil Young & Crazy Horse, <i>Re*Ac*Tor </i>(Reprise)<br />
<br />
EXPERIMENTAL<br />
Cinchel, <i>Stereo Stasis </i>(self) <br />
Cleared, <i>s/t </i>(Immune)<br />
Ornette Coleman, <i>Free Jazz </i>(Label Unknown)<br />
Corum, <i>Beguiling Isles </i>(Psychic Sounds)<br />
G.I. Gurdjieff, <i>Improvisations </i>(Mississippi / Psychic Sounds) <br />
Tim Hecker, <i>Ravedeath 1972</i> (Kranky) <br />
Kraftwerk, <i>Autobahn </i>(Vertigo)<br />
Liquorball, <i>Hauls Ass </i>(Blackjack)<br />
Lustmord, <i>The Word as Power</i> (Blackest Ever Black) <br />
Pharmakon, <i>Abandon </i>(Sacred Bones)<br />
Shampoo Boy, <i>Licht</i> (Blackest Ever Black) <br />
Various Artists, <i>Offstrings: Inventions for Guitar </i>(Complacency)<br />
Various Artists, <i>Drop on down in Florida: Field Recordings of African American Traditional Music </i>(Florida Folklife)Nicholas Zettelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12132359516510061581noreply@blogger.com0