The Bedlam in Goliath

I’ve been hooked on The Mars Volta since De-Loused in a Comatorium blasted them into the music scene in 2003. De-Loused was the perfect rock album for the 21st century, an ominous, violent, and defiantly postmodern fusion of punk’s manic energy and the majestic weirdness of Pink Floyd. Unfortunately, with each passing album they sound more and more like ADHD kids who just happen to have access to a multi-million dollar recording studio. Thankfully, their latest, The Bedlam in Goliath, is a return to form. I’ve had it on repeat since at least yesterday. Bedlam manages to distill TMV’s influences–dub, post-punk, Latin jazz, and Pac-Man beeps–into something listenable. No more 32-minute King Crimson wankoffs.

Predictably, Pitchfork doesn’t like it.

“Apocalypse Tourism”

CTheory.net has an interesting look at the efforts of local bloggers, artists, and electronic musicians to revitalize inner-city Detroit. They bring with them a cyberpunk aesthetic that seems like a perfect fit for Motor City’s ghost-in-the-machine, all-purpose urban burnout. Unfortunately, that may be part of the problem. As Marcel O’Gorman inquires in the piece, do the digerati see themselves as part of a grassroots urban revival or as digital Hunter S. Thompsons, liveblogging from the 9th circle? Do they seek to construct something new and exciting with the aid of local artists and musicians, or use Detroit as a outsized canvas for their own narcissism? O’Gorman has guarded optimism, but his piece reveals a profound ambivalence.