OWS

I am a liberal, but I don’t usually put my politics front and center in a tiny blog such as this.  I am speaking out now because I feel very strongly about this. I am an Occupy Wall Street supporter from afar, and stand with them on their main message, as well as this one.

Cecily McMillian, an OWS activist, has been in jail for striking a police officer at an OWS protest. On Monday she’ll be sentenced.  Pussy Riot, and others like Spike Jonez and Kim Gordon, have written letters to the judge asking for mercy, as I am doing here.  I read about the trial in the NY Times, and felt Cecily was getting a raw deal, as she might be sentenced to seven years in prison.

You can view the letters here and stand with the writers, as am I, asking the judge for mercy. I feel, like them, that time served and a conviction on her record, is enough.  Sending someone up the river for seven years is way too long a punishment for someone 25 years old. 

http://voiceproject.org/campaign/cecily-mcmillan/

Andrea Weiss

TS

Trophy Scars

Holy Vacants

Monotreme Records

Morristown, NJ's Trophy Scars returns with an album that began as a 35-page treatment for a screenplay.  A treatment can be a one-page synopsis or a much longer combination of an outline and synopsis.  Here, the music and lyrics are as cinematic as a movie.

It is also a pop take and, toward the end, a more metal take on the progressive metal band Mars Volta.  I like this album as far as it goes, but this band needs to develop more of their own sound with a little less of Mars Volta.  Nevertheless, it's a good album -- interesting, thoughtful music and lyrics, and, if you like Mars Volta, you’ll probably like this album, too.

https://www.facebook.com/trophyscarsband

Andrea Weiss

Tune Yards

Tune Yards

Nikki-Nack

4AD

Merrill Garbus’s best yet, and hardest hitting album.  Birdbrain, her debut, showcased some wonderful home recordings.  On WhoKill, Garbus got comfortable in a full-fledged recording studio, and on Nikki-Nack she moved on from found sounds to synths and more percussion.  Now, her sound has also become heavy and complex, and is some of the best danceable rock I’ve heard in a long time.

Always feminist, even when, on “Water Fountain” and “Left Behind," she’s calling out women.  She's always political, even writing about peace and love in a hippie kind of way.  Even her put downs are full of common sense and respect.  These songs have more content than most in this genre. 

Nikki-Nack is probably her breakthrough album, even more than WhoKill which just started the process.   I loved WhoKill, but Nikki-Nack will appeal to a wider range of people, especially if, as I hope, some of these songs get remixed.  If you’re a fan like me, you will thrill to this album. If you’re a newcomer, get out on the floor, dance up a storm, and think while you’re doing it. https://www.facebook.com/tuneyards

Andrea Weiss