culture. ish. page two

The Concert

Labels: concert, live, music

Labels: emily colledge, number twenty-one, playlist

Rarely do you get to experience a concert from on stage, looking out at the audience. Apparently, arriving late can have its advantages. The last available place to sit in Club Café, a small lounge/bar in Pittsburgh’s Southside, was a speaker just off of stage left. It made for an awkward crick in the neck for the two hours of stories and songs with David Wilcox…but oh, it was so worth it.

Labels: david wilcox, gpv, live, music, number twenty-one

Labels: cc, live, music, number twenty-one, the hold steady

Labels: number twenty, playlist, terry thomas

I am Dutch and a Calvinist (more specifically a neo-Calvinist). The obligatory joke here is that God decided this before the beginning of the world. Words like "Calvinism" make people feel uncomfortable; people are suddenly confronted with theological conversations that seem to mean everything and nothing at the same time. Lucky for us, in contemporary times getting burned at the stake for small distinctions is unlikely. But we also shouldn't be lazy when it comes to knowing what we believe about the "ultimate things."

Mouw takes his book title from a scene from the Paul Schrader film, Hardcore. This film focuses on a Dutch Reformed man from Grand Rapids who goes to LA in search of his daughter, who has run away while attending a Christian youth conference. He ends up in the Las Vegas airport with a prostitute who has a lead on where his daughter might be. They have a brief conversation about their beliefs in which he can only manage to say that he believes in TULIP—the five points of Calvinism. The film suggests that in the emerging postmodern world, TULIP is a shabby antique of a theology.

Mouw has written this small book (127 pages) to show that the Calvinist heritage does indeed speak to a diverse and pluralistic culture. Using clear and concise language, he gives a brief explanation of the five points of Calvinism, and then goes on to apply them to contemporary conversations about God's sovereignty, the basis for cultural renewal and evangelism. Mouw is always reiterating the need for humility and compassion along side of conviction, in order to change the stereotype of Calvinism as an arrogant view that can be used as a pedestal and hammer—or in the case of South Africa, apartheid. For all of its downsides, Mouw also points out the valuable contributions that Calvinism has made to thoughtful Christianity, and a Christian engagement with culture and the public sphere.

I recommend reading this book, you might be surprised to find that God had you listed a Calvinist the whole time.

Labels: books, gpv, number twenty, richard mouw

Labels: kll, number twenty, respond

In this 4 hour documentary, made for HBO, Spike Lee investigates the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. Lee looks at all the angles: the natural, social, governmental, and human disaster that Katrina created in its wake and aftermath. It is an eye opening film, and tries to ask more questions than it is able to resolve about the stakes and impact that Katrina had and has on the lives of those who were born, raised and continue to call New Orleans home.

The documentary starts with the events leading up to the storm, and the government's failure early on. The second part focuses more on the media, and the good and bad that resulted from information on a mass scale. Lee does a good job of weaving together the big picture with the lives of individuals and the personal stories that those at the center tell about their experience. This film made me realize the filter and blinders that I have as a person who has never been to the southeastern US, and the difficulty of discerning the info-glut of CNN and the Internet.

The best insight of the film is not that we have a race problem in America (which is true, and may be the reason Crash won best picture immediately following Katrina), but rather the film points out the integral nature of human relationships that are mediated by social institutions. A personal disruption of your everyday life can be traumatic, but this can be exponentially damaging when social structures also start to fail in helping people recover a sense of normalcy and meaning. We all want personal freedom, and often times we overlook our intimate connection to the reality of a social world, involving a massive web of relationships. What we need is a politics that takes into account the reality of both.

Labels: gpv, movies, number twenty, spike lee

In his latest novel, Dave Eggers undertakes a bold task, presenting a lightly fictionalized account of Sudanese refuge Valentino Achak Deng. Fortunately, Eggers proves himself to be up to the task.

Deng’s wild, tragic journey across Sudan and into refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya is framed around a tale of suffering induced in the one place Deng should allegedly feel safe--the United States. He tells his life story to the audience while lying on the floor of his own apartment, bound and gagged by robbers claiming to teach him a valuable lesson.

The stories of Deng’s hardships in both his native Africa and in America become a compelling--if emotionally draining--yarn in Eggers’ hands. He manages to mix in a measure of lightness into the heavy meditations on death and torment, keeping the book from becoming unbearable.

Eggers successfully presents a picture of the very real suffering of individuals in war-torn Sudan, and he does it without hitting a strident or preachy note. His honesty and earnestness give this novelized autobiography an unimpeachably authoritative voice. “Read this” isn’t quite strong enough a request.

Labels: books, dave eggers, nc, number twenty

Modest Mouse are an unlikely success story--quirky band on a tiny label, gains a following, gets picked up on a large label, has a hit record, doesn't alter sound too much in the process, still together after nearly 15 years.

We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank--their fifth full-length album--shows the band tweaking their approach, if only slightly. While the lyrics are hued with nautical tones, the music is a juggling act between the radio-friendly ("Dashboard"), the challenging-yet-hummable ("Fire It Up"), and a few riveting tunes that might only appeal to the adventurous ("Spitting Venom").

But even with the addition of legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr to the line-up, We Were Dead... is missing a lot of bite. It's a good album, with brine-soaked instrumentation and bluntly introspective lyrics. But as good as it is, the band could've done a little better.

Labels: jp, modest mouse, music, number twenty

So here’s the thing about whipped cream: it’s very difficult to develop a strong reaction to it, either positive or negative. Sometimes that added bit of white froth makes an otherwise mundane hot drink just perfect. Other times, the bit of additional sweetness is cloying and unnecessary. But ultimately, the cream is just a bit of white foam, and not really worth getting worked up over.

Hello Goodbye has created a bit of whipped cream with their album, Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! As the title lets on, it seems that these guys had a lot of fun creating these songs. The album is light fare, full of bright-eyed love songs, exploding with positivity and optimism. The electronic music buoys the tracks along quite nicely, keeping the pace bubbly and discouraging the listener from looking at the generic lyrics too closely. Ultimately the album is sugary fluff, pleasant enough to listen to, but not filling or deeply satisfying.

Labels: hellogoodbye, music, nc, number twenty

Going back to the '90s for a TV show that didn’t even air a complete season isn’t always the best idea, but in some rare occasions it’s worth it. Freak & Geeks is the reason I came up with that ridiculous sentence in the first place.

Freaks & Geeks is about teen angst and whole lot more. The show centers around Lindsay and Sam Weir, two high school kids who fall into two specific categories in their high school: the freaks and the geeks (yeah, that only happens in high school). Their two parents, Harold and Jean, stereotypically cannot understand either of their kids, yet at times are just what they need (Harold: "She's hanging with a bad crowd. She's lying and cheating and next thing you know, she's Patty Hearst with a gun to our heads").

The topics range everywhere from friendship to just trying to fit in (Lindsay: "All my new friends think I'm a goody-two-shoe and all my old friends think I'm throwing my life away. What am I supposed to do?"), but no matter what the show covers, there’s bound to be something hilarious in every episode, and something very descriptive about life even beyond the high school years.

The show was canceled for who-knows-what-reason (TV shows I watch have a habit of doing that), but you can pick up the complete first season on DVD from Netflix or from the store.

Labels: cc, movies, number twenty, pail feig, tv

This film is about originality of dialogue and story structure--OK, I can't say that with a straight face. This film could not be further from it. Most of the lines are cliches and or slightly plagiarized from other works (there are actual clips from Gladiator in this film!...almost). However, this film is a cgi marvel, allowing the viewer to enter into a fantastical ancient culture, where gods, men and wild beasts struggle for survival and honor.

Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller (Sin City, Batman: the Dark Knight Returns), Zach Snyder adapted and directs this film about the Persian/Greek battle at Thermopylae in 480 B.C. The Spartan warriors are the inspiration of this film about the human struggle for honor and courage in the face of death. One of the films best qualities is its take on the religious structure of the time, with the Persian King Xerxes speaking and acting like a god among men. The visuals are stunning and the blood flies, splatters, and many other verbs. The sub-plot of family in Sparta actually gets in the way of the action-packed bloodbath. This is a film where you get a little history-lite and learn not to take yourself too seriously.

--gpv

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Labels: gpv, movies, number twenty, zack snyder

Labels: number nineteen, playlist

Former DC Talk member Toby Mac is dropping his sixth solo effort. He has been a solo artist since 2001. Toby albums are full of diverse elements and mixes of pop, hip hop, rock and gospel music.

His new album Portable Sound is a real treat. He has added a blend of reggae to the mix, including the pure reggae track "No Signal." That creates a lot of styles for the ear to hear at once, but it's mixed just right so it's not distracting. If you're worried about his skin color he has soul and rhythm. He is very lyrical, skillful and tasteful with the choice of topics he chooses. This is a good album for most ages.

Toby’s albums have a dominating pop sound, but this album has a darker tone than the rest of his albums. This album has something for everyone and if you are a fan of hip hop it is a must buy. However, be prepared to be slightly disappointed at the length of the album. But trust me, this album still worth the money spent--the message of the album is awesome.

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Labels: js, music, number nineteen, toby mac

Cost of a Well: $5,390.00
Still Needed: $3,673.30

We’re going to take this opportunity to yet again say THANK YOU. We’d have zero bucks without you.

However, we still could use some more. Keep it coming. It’ll help.

Labels: number nineteen, respond, the well fund

Why culture. ish.?

Because that question has to be asked. In an atmosphere where every action is expected to be circumscribed and propped up by mission statements that read like the credo printed on top of bathroom hand dryers, where every endeavor is required to submit a financial plan and detailed cost analysis, where some new and trendy vision of the beloved community is always around the corner, asking to be made immediately real, culture. ish. seeks to make its place somewhere else.

We don't aim to be in conflict with those things, but to exist outside of their tightly-knit world, subsisting in joyous practice. Our aim is not to communicate facts and bits of data. Rather, if we are looking to educate, it is in a deeper and more interactive sense - a mutual education that is found in sharing of ourselves and earnestly listening as we seek to practice a Christian relationship with art and culture, and in drawing those around us into that same ecstatic dance.

--ap

Labels: ap, number nineteen, respond, why culture ish

If there is a defeatist attitude underlining You Can't Win, it's easy to miss. The Portland, Ore. band's breezy folk rock--reminiscent of the Band or Neil Young--drifts along on bright melodies and frontman Al James' tender voice.

But the lyrics betray sunken hopes, capsized relationships and scuttled dreams. The hypnotic opener has the band--in full harmony--repeating the album title over a growing bed of lush instrumentation. "Beachcomber Blues" evokes the image of an aimless, shuffling mediation by the sea. And despite James' pretty vocal part, "Buffalo Gal" packs uneasiness into benign lyrics.

But the record hinges on "My Still Life," the final track. James lists the seemingly mundane aspects of his day to a loved one, but the delivery suggests something better--he's fine with what he's been given. You Can't Win is a disarmingly pleasant album, and is a great aural soundtrack for the shift from winter to spring.

--jp

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Labels: dolorean, jp, music, number nineteen

Infinity on High is a compulsively listenable artifact of the culture that arises from the ruins of a centerless worldview. In lieu of any higher authority, we tend to establish ourselves as the be all and end all of our existence. Fall Out Boy’s lyrics reflect this narcissism.

The album is not just a celebration of celebrity culture, although it certainly comes off as that. There is a pain in these lyrics hidden beyond the poppy tunes that are an enjoyable departure from the pop-punk formula that permeates the band’s previous efforts. “I'm a stitch away from making it and a scar away from falling apart,” cries “the (After) Life of the Party.” While there might not be anything revolutionary about their pain, it is palpable. They are, through their skillfully produced versions of shoddy myspace poetry, declaring themselves to be the voices of a generation of moderately disaffected suburban youth.

While there is much to revile in the hymnody of these self-proclaimed prophets, the fact that it has the potential to be the new Psalter for a large percentage of the youth population is enough to warrant careful listening and consideration.

--nc

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Labels: fall out boy, music, nc, number nineteen

So this is how a logical syllogism works: there’s a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion that follows if both premises are true. Something like this: bands who whistle in their songs are always good. Menomena whistles in their songs. Menomena is good. It’s a true story–the syllogism proves it, and syllogisms don’t lie.

This album has a bizarre feel; xylophones and saxophones and all sorts of other instruments mix with affected vocals differently from song to song, creating an otherworldly atmosphere. It’s music that’s easy to get lost in, and difficult to find your way out of once you start. This world that’s so difficult to get out of, though, has a dark undertone, and a grotesque underbelly – and, as the lyrics portray, the grotesqueness is our own, the product of our modern society. It’s a society that creates people who wish “O, to be a machine / O, to be wanted / to be useful” ("Evil Bee"); a society that creates people who twist speech into a tool of destruction: “I've got a stranglehold on this decision / All those opposed can rot in hell / Any day now the words will form a sentence / You'll be reduced to nothingness” ("Rotten Hell"). It’s an intriguing album, if unsettling or jarring at times, and rewards repeated listening.

Labels: ap, menomena, music, number nineteen

“I’m living in an age that calls darkness light.” There’s some capital-T truth for you.

The Arcade Fire’s highly anticipated follow-up to Funeral, Neon Bible, could be one of the most looked forward to albums of the year (next, maybe, to Modest Mouse). The album is clearly a biting critique of the modern age. It snaps at everything from government to church, and it’d be hard to find fault with many aspects of their appraisal.

The pessimism of the album is sharp as the Arcade Fire laments everything, summed up in the phrase “the poison of our age." From planes crashing into buildings two by two, to the prayer of a father asking the Lord for a famous daughter, to asking if maybe he is the Anti-Christ, Win Butler has serious questions (and concerns) about the society and world in which he lives.

The sound of the album is as emotionally distressing as the message, and it is beautiful. Neon Bible (an overtly modern and blasphemous title) features a church organ and the typical Arcade Fire symphonic sound.

Despite the overwhelming sense of hopelessness Butler allows himself (and others) to dream of the place where no ships/cars/spaceships/subs go. It’s the place “us kids know” and it’s “between the click of the light and the start of the dream.”

--cc

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Labels: cc, music, number nineteen, the arcade fire

Nick Hornby--author of High Fidelity, About a Boy and Fever Pitch--likes to read. Hornby likes to read so much that he writes about it monthly in the Believer, a literary magazine released by publishing house McSweeney's.

Housekeeping vs. the Dirt is a collection of 14 book review columns. Each month, Hornby lists the books he bought and the books he read. He may not read the same books he bought that month; in fact, he may not ever read some of the books he bought. The Believer staff also told Hornby avoid negative comments about the books; a madcap writer at heart, he manages to find ways around this.

The reviews don't stick to any format; he says what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. He's frequently funny, usually insightful, and possesses an eclectic taste in books. He spent one month reading as much Truman Capote as he could; he spent another trying to figure out why he can't understand science fiction; he spent another being freaked out by the Motley Crue biography the Dirt. Hornby makes it an entertaining read, but also succeeds in making you want to read what he's reading.

Labels: books, jp, nick hornby, number nineteen

As biopics go, this film is as good as Walk the Line and Ray. Amazing Grace is about the life of English politician William Wilberforce, especially his work in bring about the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807. The movie chronicles a small part of his life as he grows more and more confident of his convictions and influence in the political sphere. The film highlights the people that were around him that kept him going, especially his live-long friend William Pitt.

Amazing Grace mentions a few other important parts of his life in passing: the Clapham Sect that he was a part of, his friendship with former slave-ship captain-turned-composer John Newton, and his fast romancing of his wife, Barbara. I feel like I had an advantage in knowing a lot about Wilberforce before seeing the film--viewers with less background may need to do some research following viewing in order to fully understand the film, but the movie is a much-needed introduction to a great example of a man struggling and eventually finding his vocation.

Labels: gpv, michael apted, movies, number nineteen