Glen Gets Quoted On Rush Limbaugh? Say It Aint So!

It's true. Rush Limbaugh did quote me on his radio show yesterday. But before my Democratic and progressive friends make plans to run me out of town on a rail as a traitor to the cause, I need to put this into its proper context.

This past New Years, I wrote an article for Blogcritics Magazine called The Obama Disappointment. In the article, I expressed disappointment that the Obama administration hasn't done more to put people back to work -- an issue that is obviously very near and dear to my own heart right now, particularly after "celebrating" my first full year among the unemployed.

I also expressed my disappointment that Obama hasn't shown more of what I will call for lack of a better term, "balls," in standing up to his Republican opposition. I was disappointed then. And yes, I'm disappointed now.

Not long after the Blogcritics article was published, I was interviewed by the Associate Press (AP) for a larger piece about people who likewise feel let down by Obama thus far, after the promises of "hope and change" during the 2008 campaign. That article, which is the same one Rush quoted my comments from, can be read here.

The truth is I am a little disappointed in Obama. But does this mean I yearn for the rosy days of the Bush years...or that I'd like to give the Republicans another try? Absolutely not! They got us into this mess, and I have little confidence that their tired mantra of tax-cuts for the rich are the way to get us out. I just don't see anything or anyone they would sell us as the answer. Sarah Palin? Thanks, but no, thanks.

But I would like to see Obama and the Democrats doing more to put America back to work. And yes, that includes yours truly.

As for Rush quoting me, I don't know whether to be flattered or pissed. I liked it a lot more when Howard Stern did it a few years back...

Pants On The Ground: A Star Is Born

Repeat after me, kids:

Pants on the ground pants on the ground
Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground
with the gold in your mouth, hat turned sideways, pants hit the ground,
call yourself a cool cat
lookin' like a fool
Walking downtown with your pants on the ground
Get it up!
Hey, get your pants off the ground!
Lookin' like a fool,
Walkin, talkin' with ya pants on the ground
Get it up!
Hey, get your pants off the ground!
Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground
Gold in the mouth, hat turned sideways
pants hit the ground,
call yourself a cool cat, Hey, get your pants off the ground!
Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground
Gold in the mouth, hat turned sideways
pants hit the ground
lookin' like a fool,
walkin', talkin' with ya pants on the ground
Boom, yea pants on the ground
lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground!
with ya gold in your mouth, hat turned sideways
pants hit the ground, call yourself a cool cat...

Learn it, know it, live it. Because I've got this really odd feeling that General Larry Platt and his "Pants On The Ground" is going to be with us for a good long little while.

Has it really come to this?

I don't know about you, but I sure hope so.

I'm normally not a big fan of American Idol, but I try never to miss the early episodes in order to see all the really bad singers during the initial audition stages. For sheer entertainment value, the William Hungs and the Bikini Girls of the world rarely disappoint.

But I also have to admit that even the whole bad-singer shtick has started to wear a bit thin in recent years. At best, it's grown tiresome, and at its worst it's just downright cruel, such as when Cowell and his cronies have ridiculed some of the more mentally challenged contestants in recent years. Remember when Simon called that one poor kid a monkey?

When Idol debuted its new season this past week, I feared more of the same, and it looked like that was what I was going to get. You had your token William Hung in that Korean kid who whispered his broken English through "All By Myself." Yuk, Yuk, Yuk.

The freaks were equally represented by some goth-ghoul who looked like a cross between Marilyn Manson and Latoya Jackson. The righteously indignant rejects had their man for the season in the guy who stormed off screaming "Mary J. Blige can't sing a damn lick," middle fingers flying proudly for all of America to see.

Business as usual, right? But then along came 62 year old General Larry Platt with his "Pants on The Ground."


All Rights to American Idol And FOX Television

Basically you can look at the whole "Pants On The Ground" phenomenon in a number of ways. You can see it as the short-term viral joke that it most likely is. You can also view it as a hopeful sign that the whole American Idol circus act may finally be close to having run its course, and that there may yet be hope for the pop music landscape it essentially ruined by reducing it to a game of survival of the fittest karaoke singer.

Personally though, I prefer to see General Larry Platt and his "Pants On The Ground" as a major artistic breakthrough. If we ever needed a Bob Dylan for the new millennium, we need it now. I submit to you that General Larry Platt may be that man. Hell, "Pants On The Ground" even has a ring to it not at all unlike "Like A Rolling Stone."

When you break down the lyrics, Platt also has a message that is every bit as relevant and socially conscious as anything by Dylan, Springsteen, or Neil Young. In fact, when Jimmy Fallon did the song the other night under the guise of Young on his late night TV show, he turned it into a beautiful and haunting plea to the inner-city youth of America. Judge for yourself:



If this version is ever released on CD, I'll be the first to buy it. Neil's just more my speed. But beyond that, the timely message of finding inner-strength and taking pride in who you are is clear in the lyrics "Hey, get your pants off the ground/ Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground/
Gold in the mouth, hat turned sideways/ Pants hit the ground."

This man is a major new discovery who might just be the poet that a new generation has been crying out for. General Platt isn't just a visionary songwriter — he's a true role model for the youth of America.

Besides all of that, the song itself has a hook that is simply unstoppable. Given a choice between Platt's soulful funk and the non-stop parade of faceless singers and irritating-all-over-the-place vocals that Idol dishes up year after year, I'll take Platt and his "Pants" any day.

Like Dylan and his ever-present croak, Platt also clearly understands the art of phrasing and control. A focus on a single turn of phrase for emphasis says more than cramming as many as octaves as is humanly possible into a single line ever will. General Larry Platt knows this.

Put this guy in a studio with someone like Timbaland, and for my money the possibilities are endless, as the numerous amateur remixes already out there clearly demonstrate (one of my favorites of which is featured in the video below). Even without the studio gimmickry, though, the acapella performance from Idol is catchier than anything on the last several Kanye West albums — and Platt doesn't even need autotune.



Personally I still like Fallon's dead-on, close-your-eyes-and-you'd-swear-it-was-him Neil Young version the best — even if it isn't actually by Neil Young. But those crazy kids today will probably demand something a bit more contemporary and upbeat. Whatever it takes is what I say.

Pop music has never needed a new savior more than it does right now, and America could do a whole lot worse than General Larry Platt. With the heart of a poet and the soul of a bluesman, he is the total package. He even has a damn catchy name with that "General" moniker of his. Record industry take note, 'cause this is the answer to all of your prayers these past ten years or so.

Think I'm kidding? Think again. And if it seems like I may be a few days late in coming to the party, I respectfully disagree. The party in Platt's pants is just getting started.

Repeat after me:

Pants on the ground pants on the ground
Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground
with the gold in your mouth, hat turned sideways, pants hit the ground,
call yourself a cool cat
lookin' like a fool
Walking downtown with your pants on the ground...

Has it really come to this? One can only hope.

More Neil Young Hilarity: Southern California Brings Me Down

Neil Young Covers Pants On The Ground!



I have a newfound respect for Jimmy Fallon...

R.I.P. Teddy Pendergrass 1950 - 2010

In Celebration Of King Crimson's Lizard...Sort Of

Music Review: King Crimson - Lizard (40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

I have to be honest here and say that when King Crimson's third album Lizard was originally released back in 1970, I was for the most part pretty underwhelmed by it.

What I remember most about it — and to put things in their proper perspective, I was about fourteen years old at the time — was just how foreign and just plain weird it sounded to me. In fairness, the albums two predecessors were pretty different sounding at the time as well.

But KC's debut album In The Court Of The Crimson King also really grabbed you by the throat from the get-go with the fuzzed-out guitar, treated vocals, and off-kilter sax of "21st Century Schizoid Man." Even after the initial blast of that great opener, it managed to hold you in its grip through the mellower, but gorgeous textures of the title track and "I Talk To The Wind." It was different for sure, but definitely in a good way.

Lizard on the other hand? Well, Lizard just sounded plain weird.


On this latest installment of Crimson's ongoing 40th Anniversary series of deluxe remasters, Lizard still sounds pretty out there. What becomes clear in hindsight forty years after the fact however, is that King Crimson were actually blazing some pretty amazing new musical territory at the time with this album.

Like the other albums in this series, Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson has once again overseen the remastered version (with the blessing of Crimson's Robert Fripp). And once again, Wilson has done an amazing job on the new 2009 stereo mix.

The music itself is still as curious sounding as ever. The saxes blare and the flutes drift in and out of the same songs, and are played in the same strange time signatures. Even now, all these years later, they also often echo every excess and cliche' that could ever be leveled against the seventies prog-rock of the time.

What's different here though is the absolutely stunning sonic clarity of it all. On the opening track "Cirkus," Fripp's flamenco flavored acoustic guitar flourishes in particular really stand out in contrast to the otherwise busy sound of Mel Collins' saxophones and Andy McCullough's drums. Even if the odd time signature shifts and abrupt starts and stops sound as confusing as ever, the fact that Fripp's tasty licks rise to the surface here more than makes up for it. Like I said, Wilson's mix really clears up a lot of the muck here.

Speaking of stops and starts though, "Indoor Games" is still, for better or for worse, the blueprint for every bad Gentle Giant album which followed. The point at the time seemed to be to cram every musical trick in the book into the song but the kitchen sink itself.

As clever as all the backwards-masked vocals and odd time signatures may have sounded then, it likewise reeks of prog-rock cliche today. Sorry guys, but tech-prowess and musical chops aside, there is still something to be said for the art of simple, but effective songcraft. Sometimes less really is more.

The separation in Wilson's remix still makes this track something of a wet dream for guys who make their living selling stereo systems though. Even if the song itself still makes little sense, the recording is pretty amazing. I guess it comes down to whether you prefer the song or the sound.

The title track is likewise kind of all over the place just as I remember it was back then. Jon Anderson's vocal still gives it that sort of mystical Yes quality though. Audiophiles, and David Byrne/Peter Gabriel fans, take note.

So now to the bonus features. No video on the DVD here, but there are high resolution stereo mixes in both lossless surround sound and DTS 5.1 surround. If you happen to own one of those window-rattling high-end home theatre systems, and are dying to wake the neighbors up, then this is the disc for you. Both the DVD and CD also include bonus tracks and alternate mixes.

As a stand alone album, I would still judge Lizard as one of the lesser works in the King Crimson canon.

But that's probably just me. The 40th Anniversary deluxe edition of Lizard hits stores January 19.

Are No-Man Secretly Steven Wilson's Best Guitar Based Band?

Music DVD Review: No-Man - Mixtaped

This is an absolutely fabulous live document, let me say that much right up front.

But I also have to admit that it's a little weird to see Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson playing before a live audience in what amounts to mostly a sideman role. What a sideman he is by the way. But more on that in a minute.

On Mixtaped, unlike his live DVD sets with both PT and Blackfield, Wilson doesn't say two words to his audience throughout this entire DVD.

In fairness, frontman and vocalist Tim Bowness barely does either. Well okay, he does thank the audience a couple times and also intros the song "Days In The Trees" by saying perhaps No-Man should play at least one song that was played during their last appearance at London's Bush Hall (the one captured here is from 2008). But even then, he never smiles.



But it is exactly this undertone of deadly seriousness that works so perfectly within a group like this one. Even the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling suggest high-brow, but in the case of No-Man this is definitely a good thing.

Visually speaking, Bowness is a picture of that earnest sort of seriousness. His eyes are often closed tightly, as though completely engrossed in every word he sings, and he doesn't really move about all that much. You could probably even accuse Bowness of being somewhat wooden onstage.

In terms of his actual voice, the best word I could use to describe it is dramatic — perhaps even to the point of being slightly overwrought. Think of a slightly less gay Marc Almond from Soft Cell and you wouldn't be that far off.

The criticisms end there however. Bowness's voice works perfectly well within the context of No-Man's songs.

Genre-wise, No-Man can be really all over the map — they've incorporated elements of everything from electronic trip-hop to avant-jazz on their studio albums. But the common thread — at least most of the time — is the lush, and yes moody, romantic pop that is at the center of No-Man's best work. In that respect, Bowness's voice is a perfect fit for what they do.

But back to this DVD.

Officially, No-Man exists as the duo of Wilson and Bowness. Onstage, they are fleshed out by a full compliment of bass, drums, keyboard, violin and a second guitarist. The transformation of these songs from their studio creations to the more fleshed-out live versions is nothing short of a jaw-dropper — and Wilson in particular is a revelation on guitar.

I never expected a No-Man concert to be more of a showcase for Wilson's guitar work than a Porcupine Tree show, but that is indeed the case here. Wilson doesn't so much shred the way he does with PT here, but rather just fills the room with waves of gorgeous harmonic sound.

On songs like "Time Travel In Texas" and especially the feedback-drenched workout on "Mixedtape," Wilson's guitar is absolutely out-of-this-world sounding. The sounds that Wilson gets out of that green Les Paul knockoff and those pedals of his — which he plays barefoot! — sound positively unearthly. On a slightly slowed down version of "Days In The Trees," Wilson's guitar textures weave effortlessly in and out of Steve Bingham's very cool looking see-through violin. Second guitarist Michael Bearpark is no slouch either.

I should also make mention of the sound on this DVD. Both the 5.1 and the stereo mixes sound great, and they do a wonderful job of separating the many layers of this very complex music. You hear every single nuance, from the simple jazzy flourishes of the drums, to the colors provided by the synthesized strings and violin, to all of that beautiful noise emanating from Steven Wilson's guitar.

Mixtaped also comes with a second disc that includes an 85-minute documentary film about No-Man's career. Among the more interesting revelations found here are how the "daisy age" hip-hop of bands like De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest influenced No-Man, and the fact that Porcupine Tree was in fact once considered a side project for Wilson. There are also a number of No-Man videos included here.

But the biggest revelation of Mixtaped is the way it reveals a previously unknown, new side of No-Man's sound. You'd never know it from the studio records, but in concert this may just be Steven Wilson's best guitar-based band.