Remember When We Learned The Truth About Martin Luther King Jr.'s Assassination?

Over the past couple months, a few of you have heard me talking (rambling) about conspiracy theories and/or purposeful dissemination of false information by the government. The 9/11 conspiracy, The Sandy Hook conspiracy, The government plan to disarm the public...etc. It's not that I necessarily believe in any of these idea exactly, but given their scope and prevalence, I think it's important to at least be aware and somewhat knowledgeable of them.

One of the most interesting stories (or lack there of), was that of the Martin Luther King Jr. civil trial in 1999. The trial was unquestionably one of the biggest stories of the century, yet there was virtually no press coverage. The civil trial brought to light some of the most damning conspiracy charges ever leveled against the government, and revealed a large scale cover-up operation, ultimately pinning the blame (and murder charge) on the infamous James Earl Ray. Turns out, he was just a patsy.

Given the fact that King is hailed as a national hero, and that there are chapters devoted to him in our scholastic history books, you'd expect that any new revelations about his story, would be front page. Christ, we have a national holiday devoted to him! But, as the story shows and goes, the public is utterly clueless to this next chapter in the story, and its already 15 years past due at this point.

Thus, I figured I'd share an article with you, as I think my preaching has run its course:


http://www.examiner.com/article/dr-martin-luther-king-assassinated-by-us-govt-king-family-civil-trial-verdict

Drive By Truckers - Birthday Boy - Later 27.4.10

SOD: Vulfpeck "Rango"

Right away, I thought to myself Stuff. The band from the 70's. It's funky, it's instrumental, and though the color of their skin may not match, they're feeling similar grooves.

The beauty and bite to a lot of Vulfpeck songs is the space between. Tasteful playing will blow a noodler out of the water any day of the week. It's that space between the notes in Rango's guitar solos and rhodes licks that let it breath and keep it interesting. Many of their songs have a nice gradual grow to them. They don't take on too many different shapes, as it's a cumulative build based on the same progression. That's not to say it isn't complex. Best of all, they pass the "Bunny Test," which says, If you can dance to it, then that's half the battle won. Towards a good song that is. And you can definitely tap your toes to these guys.

They're all multi-instrumentalists, and you can tell they know what they're doing. They're all over the beat and definitely rehearsed, but you sense the experimentation in every track. It feels as if any one of the instruments can go off, take a solo, or change directions at any time, and the rest of the group would follow without missing a step. They have great chemistry, and best of all they're having fun. 

I want more. I was listening to these songs a while ago, I'd say almost a year. A buddy recently asked me If I had heard what Theo Katzman was up to, because he had discovered Vulfpeck for the first time. "I think they're my new favorite band" he said to me. We had both gone to high school with Theo, though he was a couple years younger than I. He was always into music, and a nice kid by all accounts. It always feels good (at least for me), when someone you knew from "back in the day" winds up making a name for themselves in the arts. I hope the ball keeps rolling for these guys, because in my humble opinion, they're worth the time. 

Vulfpeck — Rango

SOD: John Grant "GMF"

First of all, Later... with Jools Holland is one of the most marvelous shows on television (Channel: Palladia). It's just pure music. Live performances by 5 or more artist each week who hail from a variety of musical persuasions. Just watch it, and get hooked. They're always playing reruns, and I've learned about a lot of present day artists I normally wouldn't have stumbled on. After all, there's so much out their to trip over these days, it helps when someone tries to focus a little of your attention in one direction.

John Grant is known mainly as one of the founding members and front-man of Denver Alt-rock band The Czars. Though I'm not a big fan of theirs, I'm also admittedly not familiar with their entire body of work. However, I was skimming local concerts yesterday and John Grant was playing in the area and I truly considered running over to buy a last minute ticket. But alas, an HBO Documentary on public defenders got the best of me, and I was glued to the tube. But that documentary itself is worth a whole separate post.

John Grant has a great voice. Sometimes that's all it takes. I find that his lyrics are odd, and his cadence even stranger. But after listening to his songs repeatedly, it grows on you like a carpet moss. The more you listen, the more it makes sense, and the more comfortable it feels when you're walking with or to it. Listening to this song again today, certainly gives me a hint of regret for not having seen him live, but I'm hoping there may be another shot at it. Hey, he looks pretty good for someone who's HIV positive.

He has two solo albums since his group format ended, and this song happens to be off the most recent one, Pale Green Ghosts. There's really some interesting work done on the album. It was recorded in Iceland where he was living with a plethora of different musicians. The warm and full sound that is on this track lives on the album as well, and I thought they did a great job of replicating that sound live. There are definitely some more experimental and electronic numbers on the album as well, but they're all strung together by his deep, haunting, tone. I'd give it a listen, you'll probably figure out pretty quickly if it's not your thing.

And though he may not be the Greatest Mother Fucker I've ever met, he's certainly got me humming that line to myself with a smile on my face, and a swagger in my step.

John Grant - GMF - Jools Holland