'81 by Joanna Newsom

Joanna Newsom just released a triple album, Have One on Me, on which each disc has but six songs and most of the songs are in the 6 to 10 minute range. That's a lot of music and I've only listened to about 20 minutes of it, but included in those 20 minutes were 3 minutes and 51 seconds of bliss in the form of the song "'81." I heard that this album would be more straightforward and less weird than Newsom's previous work and it seems to be so far. "'81" is one of the few conventionally-lengthed songs and boy is it pretty. Newsom removes her quirkiness from the foreground and just gets down to business. Her voice sounds a lot better too.

Bottom Line: Listen to "'81."

Dust It Off pick: Bringing Down the Horse

This is a new feature for Critical Condition. I often listen to an album or watch a movie that I haven’t listened to or watched in a while and will be reminded just how good it is. As I receive those reminders, I will document them on “Dust It Off” to urge the lovely people of the world to take it off the shelf and dust it off as well.

My first entry is for the 1996 Wallflower’s album Bringing Down the Horse, the most memorable album of an unfortunately forgotten band. The fact that the Wallflowers have gone relatively unnoticed while continuing to make good music since the release of Bringing Down the Horse is not one that I will explore… today.

What I will discuss is how downright majestic Bringing Down the Horse is. It also brings down the “sophomore slump" notion. The album starts off with a bang – the band’s signature song “One Headlight” - and keeps the momentum going. “6th Avenue Heartache” and “Three Marlenas” bring down the tempo, but keep you just as mesmerized. The tempo picks up again on “The Difference,” the most upbeat song on the record, just before taking a huge breath with the precious “Invisible City.” The rest of the album continues to alternate upbeat and laid back tracks, but never ceases to enchant. Bringing Down the Horse is also a great soundtrack for driving at night (FYI).

Super Star

For me, the most memorable Super Bowl moment was not Tracy Porter’s interception of Peyton Manning, any of the million dollar commercials, The Who’s halftime performance, or Drew Brees cradling the Lombardi trophy in his arms. The most memorable moment of Super Bowl XLIV came on Matt Stover’s missed field goal in the fourth quarter. The forty two year-old kicker missed a 51-yard kick with the Colts up 17-16. The Saints took over and scored two more touchdowns to win the game.

Some consider the missed FG to be the turning point of the game. It’s possible. Though that is not what makes it memorable. After the miss, with Peyton Manning obviously frustrated on the sidelines and all the Colts fans very disappointed, Stover lifted his head to the sky and pointed to the heavens.

When I saw that replay I thought “they must be showing his reaction to the field goal that he made in the first quarter,” but the announcers assured me that it was not. “Stover, a very spiritual man, points to the sky after every kick. Make or miss.”

It took a while for that to sink in. I had never seen that before, but it had such power. Stover, though he won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens, was not a member of the 2007 champion Colts team. He must have wanted to prove himself to the rest of the team, but he realized there was something more important. He acknowledged that there is something bigger than that kick, bigger than the game (even the biggest of all games). Stover acknowledged that, win or lose, God still reigns. It’s great that players are so passionate about what they do and work so hard to foster their gifts, but at the end of the day there are bigger things in this world. To see that on display, on the biggest of stages, was the brightest spectacle of the night.

The Simpsons Address Sexism

An episode of The Simpsons titled “Duffless” features a hilarious ad for Duff beer. The commercial opens with a group of women picketing outside of the McMahon and Tate Advertising building chanting “down with sexism.” Two young male onlookers lean against a Duff truck. One of them scoffs “Look at all those feminists." The other responds by asking “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” The two males each grab a bottle of Duff, shake it up, and spray it on the protesters. The women are then transformed to dancing women in bikinis and their signs now read “Party Down,” “Get Me Drunk,” and “I’m Easy.”

The ad is a highly funny exaggeration of the sexism that exists in American culture, especially beer advertisements. A few moments after watching the ad, I began to feel guilty for laughing at it. Since the ad does reflect the unfortunate reality of the world, is it appropriate to laugh at? Do the writers consider sexism and the objectifying of women laughing matters? Surely not, The Simpsons can do no wrong! Right?

While no television show is morally infallible, I believe that this particular ad serves as appropriate social commentary as well as satire. The ad begins with the frame on the sign of the building “McMahon and Tate Advertising.” You may recognize the name as the agency that Darrin worked at in the 1960’s television show “Bewitched”. The allusion to classic television gives the building significance – old-school beliefs. Because of progress we’ve made such as women’s suffrage and Title IX it is not hard to consider sexism a thing of the past. The women are protesting those “notions of the past,” but after being sprayed down with some beer they become objects themselves. The ad is a reminder of how little progress has been made in valuing women, especially in the media.

Decade Playlist

It's about a month late and a pretty weak excuse for my first entry in two weeks, but here is my twenty-song playlist for the past decade. I'm not claiming that these are the 20 greatest songs, but simply twenty of my favorite songs in no particular order. I took into consideration some of my favorite songs at the beginning of the decade (when I was 11) though they had to have some staying power to make the list.

Highlighting the list is my pick for song of the decade: "Stacy's Mom." The song was unfortunately absent on so many "best of" lists. No other song this decade was so simultaneously fun and catchy. The chorus is killer, absolutely killer. It also embodies the milf/cougar element of the decade. People will listen to this song 30 years from now and feel the 2000's. It also took to the mainstream airwaves like no other power pop song. Everybody and their mother loved Stacy's Mom.

"Once Around the Block" Badly Drawn Boy
"Stacy’s Mom" Fountains of Wayne
"This Modern Love" Bloc Party
"War All The Time" Thursday
"Do You Realize??" The Flaming Lips
"My Number" Tegan and Sara
"Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" Editors
"I Wish" R. Kelly
"Let Me Love You" Mario
"I Get Wet" Andrew W. K.
"Only For the Weak" In Flames
"Feel Good Inc." Gorillaz
"Only Time" Enya
"American English" Idlewild
"Emily Kane" Art Brut
"You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" Josh Groban
"Recovery Room" The Jealous Sound
"Teen Angst" M83
"Dry Your Eyes" The Streets
"Alive" P.O.D.