Posse Incitatus

Wherein the Posse discusses the music of Britney Spears & etc.

We don’t do much music criticism on this blog, which is kind of strange since I’m very much into music. Admittedly, my tastes are somewhat more exacting than most (just as I’m a notoriously picky movie-watcher), but having high standards shouldn’t be a disqualifier.

I don’t drive much (what with living close to work) but when I do, the radio comes on and I hop from station to station looking for something decent. During this process I came to hear “Womanizer” by Britney Spears.

Let there be no mistake, I don’t think Spears will ever go down as a great musical talent. She is, as the phrase goes, a “pop tart,” but for all that, she’s a good one.

That is to say, her tunes tend to have excellent production values. I recall an earlier song by her – “Toxic,” I think, that basically used a string/guitar riff right out of a 60s James Bond score by John Barry. Her vocals were essentially irrelevant. Indeed, I have no idea if the woman can sing. But for overproduced pop, it’s pretty good. Better than the Kelly Clarkson shriekfests that seem overpopulate the airwaves. Clarkson is Celine Dion with the accent.

Speaking of female vocalists, I’ll put a plug in for Jo Stafford, who passed away this summer in her 90s. I’ve got her Christmas/Winter album and it is outstanding. My grandparents had “Ski Trails,” on vinyl, and we listened to it every year on Christmas Day – usually late in the day as the guests were leaving and things were winding down.

“Ski Trails” wasn’t strictly a Christmas album, but rather a bunch of winter songs – a genre that has pretty much disappeared these days. “Baby It’s Cold Outside” is still heard from time to time, but “Moonlight in Vermont” and “By the Fireside” are much neglected. Indeed, some aspiring diva should cover booth of these – Nora Jones would do a good job – and sell a few million copies. I will warn our readers that “By the Fireside” pretty much requires a low-burning blaze, an armchair – and, if possible - a partner.

Blog becomes convention-free zone

I haven't watched the Dem convention and can't really bring myself to start.  Besides, it's what everyone else is blogging about.

So, as an alternative, I offer...Johnny Cash singing Trent Reznor.

Sithkitten has been on a big Nine Inch Nails kick of late, so she's the one who tracked this down. I'm old enough to remember when "Head Like a Hole" hit the scene and it was very popular in my crowd in high school, but I'd kind of lost track of Reznor in the years since. I guess he's doing well and judging from what my nephew says, has a new following amongst the young folks.

My thoughts on this are that Cash now owns this tune, just as Whitney Houston took "I will always love you" from Dolly Parton. Great stuff.

Death from above!

As a former bando with eight years’ marching experience, I can deeply respect the military musicians who remained at attention as a parachutist crashed own on the low brass section.

The great thing about this article is that it lists the damaged instruments before the human toll.

Two tubas were destroyed, said Mike Keating, assistant chief of the post's Fire Department. MacDonald said a trumpet was also damaged.

Harsh.  I know I speak for music-lovers everywhere when I say:  Couldn’t you have landed on the saxophones?

Band member Sgt. Rachel Boggs was knocked unconscious and had a fractured jaw, hospital spokeswoman Lisa Medrano said. Sgt. Andrew Spinazzolla suffered minor neck and head injuries and had a fractured ankle, Medrano said. Staff Sgt. Mark Lucero sustained what Medrano called a minor leg injury.

Damn.  The parachutist wasn’t hurt – apparently because he landed on these guys’ heads.

Anyhow, my sympathies – and admiration – to the Army musicians who got these rather unusual Line of Duty injuries. 

You Call This a Bounce?

Robert Musil has the goods on the non/negative Kerry "bounce."

The Posse isn't surprised by this news at all: Kerry has all the raw passion of a warmed-over corpse. His campaign seems to think the answer to every question is: "I served in Vietnam."

We will not be surprised if Bush opens a double-digit lead heading into October. Kerry has shot his bolt, he's thrown everything he has at this point and it hasn't worked.

As the election drags on, expect the looney Dems to start breaking from the Kerry campaign's program of discipline and go on the all-out irrational attack. The simmering hatred barely held in check last week will uncontrollably boil over as the prospects of a Bush re-election solidify.

At this point, the Kerry train wreck will only accelerate. Candidate Kerry will be forced to fight two fires at once: distancing himself from his rabid and insane supporters while trying to bring Bush down to his level.

Kerry won't manage to do either, but will continue to straddle and prevaricate, losing even more support.

The Bush landslide looks even more probable.