Song of the Day XVI: John the Revelator

I've been slowly watching Sons of Anarchy on Netflix, and after about 6 weeks, I finally got to the season finale of season 1. When I got to the end of the episode, I heard a song and couldn't concentrate on what was happening in the show, because I recognized that song and couldn't place it. Then I remembered. It's a new version of a song I used to hear playing a lot in my house as a kid, "John the Revelator." The song is a classic blues song dating to the 30s, but the version I knew as a kid was by Son House. And it is awesome. Here he is doing it live. Enjoy.

Marcuse On the Origin of Culture

Being is essentially the striving for pleasure. This striving becomes an "aim" in human existence: the erotic impulse to combine living substance into ever larger and more durable units is the instictual source of civiliation. The sex instincts are life instincts: the impulse to preserve and enrich life by mastering nature in accordance with the developing vital needs is originally an erotic impulse. Anank which seek pleasure, not security. And the "struggle for existence" is originally a struggle for pleasure: culture begins with the collective implementation of this aim.

Herbert Marcuse, Eros and Civilization: A Philosophical Inquiry Into Freud, p. 125

Sketches: The Cult of the Last Man

The cult of the American founding, which is the religion of both side of our fucked up American political system, even if one side likes to flaunt it more, is the cult of the last man.

Because of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, everyone has a flat screen and an SUV (or at least a bus pass).

Song of the Day XV: Rock & Roll

The Clutters, "Rock & Roll." Rock on.

Song of the Day XIV: Going Back Song

OK, so there are no videos of this song, that I can find at least, but I refuse to be denied, so click here, and then click on "Going Back Song" in the Grooveshark app thingy. It's worth it, I promise.

An interesting band from Denton, TX only reminds me that Austin hasn't really produced a band worth listening to in a really long time, though.

The Ass Arrives

There is a point in every philosophy at which the "conviction" of the philosopher appears on the scene; or, to put it in the words of an ancient mystery:

Adventavit asinus, Pulcher et fortissimus.

Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Part 1, 8

Song of the Day XIII: Roadrunner

Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers, "Roadrunner," one of the quintessential songs of the mid-90s, as the book says. I'm in love with the modern world.

Song of the Day XII: How It Ends

The weekend of songs that get stuck in my head ends with another song that gets stuck in my heads for days, not entirely unwelcomely. I like Devotchka, and that whole gypsy punk crowd. Anyway, "How It Ends," if for no other reason then to get "Heart it Races" out of my head:

Song of the Day XI: Heart it Races

OK, if yesterday's song gets stuck in my head for an evening, this cursed song gets stuck in my head for days at a time. The original version, by Architecture in Helsinki, is fun, as most of their quirky stuff is:

But it's not that version that gets stuck in my head. The Heart it Races EP has a couple covers and a couple remixes. One cover, by Hey Willpower, is OK. You can listen to it here. The one that gets stuck in my head, though, is the Dr. Dog cover. Argh, it's already stuck in my head again: