keep on feeding them sugar

until you see their eyes all white.

this greenspan business is really good for a laugh. it's a satisfying moment when Waxman asks him: "do you feel that your ideology pushed you to make decisions that you wish you had not made?" greenspan was palling around with actual time-lapse ideological terrorists (remember: reagan appointed him but he's not a reaganite; reagan was him-ite) like Ayn Rand before most of us were the teensiest eye-twinke. it's infuriating because the idea that markets, by definition governed by greed & narrowly-thought self-interest, function most healthily when left to regulate themselves -- & that's an axiom now to the majority of the idiots running the country -- is as basically ridiculous as the idea that evolution & intelligent idea are two competing scientific theories. it's inane & it has never happened. alan greenspan to me is a maestro as ridiculous as the Maestro of television's Seinfeld.

anyhow, the one thing everyone seems to think is that the economy's in bad shape. I have heard of some persons unemployed. I thought it might be nice to hear some songs about poverty. my opinion is that Lonnie Johnson is one of the greatest musicians of his century. "hard times don't worry me -- I was broke when it first started out". his timing's wonderful & intriguing. his phrasing is wonderful. he has a wonderful sort of sense of line & gets a sound out of his guitar that's almost like a woodwind, almost like a goose in fog. anyhow this song if from 1937 & it seems perfectly current. & it's a fucking jaw-dropper. I suggest opening a BEER when you listen to this.

click here to hear &/or download hard times ain't gone nowhere by Lonnie Johnson.

lonesome for mother's prayer is a beautiful gospel song recorded in detroit in, I think?, the 40s. the name of the group hasn't survived. come on over here is by the same group. they're really just fucking going for it. they have a kind of fervid doom around them, & there's something sort of -- I don't know, pure? -- about not knowing who they are. were. probably men with hard lives. (that's what television's mad men would suggest.) it's as sad as this margarine package, & this is the saddest & most dramatic margarine package I can ever imagine seeing.

click here to hear &/or download lonesome for mother's prayer.
after that, click here to hear &/or download come on over here. the ending of this one's a real killer. brutal.

(by the way, here's a song I'm trying to make up my mind about. it's called jack & it's by the backsliders. I think I like it it sticks to its guns what do you think of it?)

I've been spending a lot of time in greenpoint lately, & hearing a lot of skalpel. a lot of it's really great. flying officer is a lot of fun & makes interesting choices.

click here to hear &/or download flying officer.