Seven Red

Judiciary Committee Republicans, a note. I’m sure it must be very sad to sit in the minority on such an important committee, with nominees coming at you left and right, and nothing to do but grumble and delay. I get it. I think we all sit on non-functional committees at some point, or occupy roles on other committees that simply cannot move an agenda forward. And yes, we all get run over by the opposition from time to time. So I know where you’re coming from.

That said, a piece of advice. I have no doubt that legitimate differences on legal philosophy may exist between you and the late Thurgood Marshall. I have no doubt that legitimate debate could be had with his adherents and admirers about the role of the Federal judiciary, and the conduct of sitting judges, and the criteria for ruling on cases. Have at it, for reals. However, if your intent on any given day is to call Justice Marshall’s judicial conduct into question, it’d probably be a good idea not to place Jeff Sessions (or as Joan Walsh calls him, hilariously, “Jefferson Beauregard Sessions”) at the tip of the spear for that attack. When you’re roughing up the cat that argued Brown v. Board of Ed, you probably don’t want to put the good Senator from Alabama – who looks for all the world like he’s just stepped out of a lodge meeting featuring Bull Conner as the guest speaker – in the lead position. Two cents, people.

You just knew that The Roots new album would be excellent, and it is. As a bonus, the first single remixes a song from the Monsters of Folk album, and features Jim James in the video. Plus, reworking Nas throughout. Nice. Enjoy.

I know a sports post should be on anything but mid-season baseball. The Blackhawks here just won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 49 years, and the city is berserk about it. The World Cup is on the teevee upstairs, and will be for the next month. So, yeah, mid-season baseball seems like small stakes next to all that. But still. I want to say a couple of things: first, the Mets jumped the Phillies last night in the NL East standings. There’s a reason for that; for the last four weeks or so, the Mets have been a better team than the Phillies, and it’s pretty hard to deny. The Phillies are the far better team on paper, and I have no doubt they’ll be the better team at year’s end, but for the last few weeks, the Mets have been better. Why? Pitching. I also think it’s hard to deny that the Mets’ pitching – such a thorn in their side the last few years – is tight as hell. Pelfrey is having a career season; where he’s been a weak link in the past, he’s completely stepped it up: impressive at 8 and 1. Santana’s record doesn’t reflect his ongoing quality, though he’s been a little skittish from time to time (that inning against the Phillies in Philadelphia was a nightmare like I’ve never seen from him). Even Nieve – with a terrible 6.00 ERA – has started to light it up; it went largely unnoticed, but he damn near threw a perfect game the other night, retiring 27 of 28 in a one-hit complete game shut out. And Dickey even looks like the real deal with that wacky knuckler. And, and, and, the relief hasn’t completely collapsed: the Mets have actually won some extra inning and one-run games, which is a relief after last year’s endless late inning shenanigans. The Mets have the best home record in baseball by far. Hypothesis: we’re seeing so many triples and odd doubles at Citi Field that it’s clear many teams don’t know how to play outfield in the big park. The problem is that they have one of the worst road records. If this team can start winning on the road, they’re going to be trouble. I still think that Ike Davis can’t save us, as it were, at least this season. But the Mets actually look good, which is, to say the least, a surprise.

Dang. Missed a whole month. What will the archive think?

Looked at the page a few times over the last month or so. No energy for it. So I’m forcing myself to rev up the engine again with something easy here, as I’ll do from time to time. As is well known in Seven Red Land, I’m a complete fanboy of The National, so I just wanted to post a little about High Violet. Needless to say, I’ve given it more than a few listens since its release a couple of weeks ago, and of course I love it. I also loved the review on Pitchfork that says it’s a good album, even if you’re not an “upwardly mobile stiff with minor social anxiety,” a pretty hilarious description of what might be presumed to be The National’s fanbase. The Pitchfork review also notes that Matt Berninger sometimes seems to be auditioning to replace the current Dos Equis “Most Interesting Man in the World,” which made me laugh. Yeah, dude.

Yeah, but even so. I remember having Alligator on a loop when I was first working up the diss – and Boxer on a loop as I was finishing, so there’s just a history there for me. I can’t hear “Daughters of the Soho Riots” without that sinking feeling I had when I basically trashed most of the first version – haven’t told many people about that yet, either. Now, High Violet, and I think most of the reviews bear this out, is a very different record than Boxer, even if it plays out a consistent trajectory. I guess it’s a cliche to say it’s darker, but it is – slower, driven by repetition in a way even Boxer wasn’t, where the delayed adolescence that really drives Boxer thematically hits the wall, maybe. But maybe that’s it. If I was right there with Boxer, I’m probably right there with High Violet, too, as much as I hate the identification model. I wouldn’t, like the Pitchfork snark (hey, it’s good snark) call Berninger’s lyrics cryptic so much as aphoristic. You have to follow them out: “I defend my family, with my orange umbrella.” What a comedy of contemporary middle class fatherhood! And I think there’s refreshing honesty in even saying “I’m Afraid of Everyone” in a culture that promotes fearlessness as if it is some kind of trump virtue.

Part of the hype around High Violet has gone something like this: here’s a band that still makes albums in the age of the download, and by albums, they mean a kind of coherent aesthetic product at the larger unit level, supposedly a by-gone product tied to vinyl and then CD distribution models. I’m so-so on this claim, mainly because a lot bands still make “albums,” just like a lot of people still write novels, despite the various kvetching, celebration, and other New Media fetishism that sees them as a “print-age form,” or some other such gun-jumping declarations. So, I don’t think it’s anything remarkable as a formal matter to have crafted a well-ordered and arranged album – but High Violet certainly is one. Anyway, here are two off High Violet, both of which I’d rank pretty high, though I can pretty much listen to the whole record without interruption. Enjoy your upwardly mobile stiffdom. And your minor social anxiety.

This live version of Sorrow from Berlin is great.