Common Sense

Album Review: "Le Noise" by Neil Young

Neil Young nearly succeeded in making one of the least accessible albums with his appropriately titled solo work. The album opens with heavy, distorted electric guitars. Just heavy, distorted electric guitars. For some reason Young that it was a good idea to perform songs solo without a band and on top of that play with dense electric tones that sound like they recorded through a direct input.

The effect is not very pleasant.

The first songs contain more distortion and generalities than you can (or want to) shake a stick at. In the first two tracks, Young manages to sing two songs without actually saying anything (anything of value, anyway). Not only are these songs bland lyrically, they aren't catchy musically. Luckily, the third track on the album manages to save the ship from sinking with a half-way interesting riff.

The electric fuzz suck-fest is broken up mercifully by "Love And War", the first listenable track on the album. Again, Mr. Young really doesn't say a lot here. His musings are summarized at the beginning of the song: "When I sing about love and war / I don't really know what I'm saying." The thoughtful guitar work on this song and the absence of electric guitars make this song passable.

The listener is dumped back into the heap of slogging leaden guitars with the album's first single, "Angry World". The lyric "It's an angry world / And no doubt everything will go as planned" is the only thing that keeps this song from being total bollocks.

After the autobiographical "Hitchhiker" comes "Peace Valley Boulevard", a sparse acoustic number about America's expansion and the consequences of industrial progress. This is easily the best song on the album in terms of lyrics. Thankfully, the album ends on a fairly strong foot. "Rumblin'" is easily the best of the electric numbers and actually expresses some potent sentiments. It's a shame it wasn't placed earlier on the album. A gem isn't always appreciated when you have to wade through a seemingly endless swamp of dreck to get to it.

Needless to say, I was not impressed with this album at all. Young performs an incredible feat, making an album of only 8 tracks that sounds desperately repetitive. The songwriting is widely uninspired and the production, in most cases, is grating and nearly unbearable. It seemed like Young wrote bland pop songs and then set about stripping away anything that was even remotely appealing.

I understand that Young might be going for a deconstructed rock sound but without the constructive framework of a rhythm section the songs just collapse on themselves, crushed under their own immense weight.

If you're a Neil Young fan, you'll probably want to get this album. If you're not, then I suggest you avoid this buzzing bumbler.

The Egret of Regret

Offomatopoeia on Urban Dictionary

The Egret of Regret

Movies: The Social Network

This movie is the dramatic retelling of Facebook's origins and the lawsuits involved with its development. Now if that sounds really dry and boring, I assure you it's not. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin manages to find the humor and emotion in a story that, on the surface, would appear to be a bore.

The story is augmented by all-around good acting by the cast. Proving that he isn't merely Michael Cera Mark II, Jesse Eisenberg is perfect as the brilliant, borderline-sociopathic Zuckerberg. Andrew Garfield also gives a stirring performance as Zuckerberg's beleaguered partner.

Possibly one of the best parts of this movie is the excellent soundtrack by Trent Reznor. The electronic, borderline industrial score acts perfectly as an emotional counterweigh and indicator of tension throughout.

See it when it comes out in theaters!

French Ban on Islamic Veils

When I first heard about this issue a couple months ago it really grabbed my attention. I was surprised when I read today that the bill to ban burqas and niqabs passed in France's senate yesterday. Now the bill awaits President Sarkozy's signature, who stated in 2009 that the veils were "not welcome" in France.

Estimates report that a slim minority, only about 2,000 women, will be affected by this newest ban. While some have speculated that the ban is just another example of Western mistrust towards the Muslim community, the "burqa ban" is by no means an isolated incident.

This ban is just another step on France's path to complete secularization. Similar bans have also outlawed crucifixes, yarmulkes, and turbans. Despite outcry from religious groups the bans continue.

Since no religion is being favored over another and all religions are being equally restricted, this bill is anything but unfair. Of course, I don't agree with France restricting its citizens' rights but if France wants to be a secular nation, that's their prerogative.

However, the justification for this latest ban is that burqas and niqabs are oppressive to Muslim woman because their religion (and by extension the men involved with their religion) force them to wear those garments. While this may certainly be the case for traditional and fundamentalist practitioners, one shouldn't assume that none of the women are wearing burqas by their own volition.

So, when Sarkozy said the new law "is to protect women from being forced to cover their faces and to uphold France's secular values" he means the new law is to uphold France's secular values. There's no reason to adopt the guise of protecting women's rights because that's not what this ban is truly about.

To France's credit, however, the new law does attempt to address the issue of fundamentalist abuse towards women. Though there's a €150 fine for women who violate the law (including foreign tourists) but there's a penalty of a €30,000 fine and one year in jail for anyone who requires another person to wear a veil.

So, it's not all political posturing.

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