I love weird music. But how do you define weirdness? You don’t usually define it, you just know it when you hear it and Primus take weirdness to new and unusual levels. First of all, what is Primus? The answer to that is simple: Primus is a band. A trio, in fact. What kind of music do they play? That is a much more difficult question to answer. If I had to guess: Psychedelic Funk Rock with a lemon twist and a dash of Metal. They’ve had highs (Pork Soda) and lows (Antipop) and continue to stride forward, unabashedly bouncing, shredding and pounding their way through all known catastrophe and calamity. They’ve tasted popularity, been the idol of millions and yet have managed to maintain their creative soul and unique personality. This is no small feat in this age of manufactured pop and arena rock bullshit. When asked what kind of band Primus is I simply say “Primus” because that’s what they are.
They’re not a Metal band (though they’re heavier and thrashier than Metallica when called upon) and they’re not funk (but Bootsy Collins is probably green with envy at Les Claypool’s thumping bass lines.) They can play both these genres and many more, but their sound remains simply Primus.
The center of Primus’s music, though, is, without doubt, Les Claypool’s bass. Not content to sit in the background, the sound jumps up and grabs you by the throat. It bounces, it thumps, it rumbles and it pops, once you’ve heard it you will always know it and it will always be a part of you. It is this sound that defines Primus more then anything else. Great as Lalonde and Alexander are, they will always be over shadowed by Claypool and his incredible bass work.
The music that these three men create is certainly weird, but it is Les Claypool’s nasally voice and genuinely bizarre lyrics that give Primus songs their character. And they’re filled with characters. It’s as if Claypool lives on another planet and comes by from time to time to let us all know what’s going on there. Professor Nutbutter, John The Fisherman, Tommy The Cat: All of these characters have surfaced at one time or another in Claypool’s music, each one bringing an odd tale or adventure to spice up the mix.
Despite these busy schedules, Primus re-unites here and there to tour. These tours often take the structured music of their records into new and unexplored regions of jams, to great success. Primus doesn’t kick out the jams; it builds them up into colossi: mountains of music and oceans of sound that they then navigate like intrepid explorers. Is Primus weird? Definitely. Do they sound like any other band out there? Probably not. Does Les Claypool have carpal tunnel? Almost certainly. Should you listen to them? Yes, yes and yes.
Obama Closes Guantanamo Bay
Written by Jared Laird
We were all there watching Obama as he was inaugurated, and it was pretty amazing to watch history be made, except for Chief Justice John Roberts messing up. But that’s no biggie.
Since Obama’s inauguration he’s already starting to make some major changes. For example he’s signed orders to close Guantanamo Bay. When I read on CNN that Obama was closing Guantanamo Bay, it made me think, “How did we get a base there in the first place?” I did some research, and apparently way back in 1903, when the US and Cuba were allies, they signed a lease for that area. Then in 1934 the U.S. and Cuba signed a perpetual lease. The U.S. still continues to send money to Cuba. The most recent payment was $4,085. But Cuba hasn’t cashed the checks for some time. They think the lease is illegal, but they’re stuck with it because the lease can only be terminated by mutual consent, meaning both nations have to want to end it.
One of the big reasons why the previous governments wanted to keep Guantanamo Bay is because it’s not on U.S. soil. Meaning U.S. laws don’t apply there. So detainees could be tortured and not given a fair trial.
Obama also signed an order banning the, “harshest interrogation methods” meaning now all interrogations must go by the U.S. Army Field Manual, which is being renamed The Manual for Government Interrogations. Dennis Blair, Obama’s pick to oversee the nation's intelligence agencies, said that the new Manual for Government Interrogations would be reviewed for possible change. It now outlines 19 legal techniques and bans nine. This isn’t all of what Obama's done, he’s done more and we can expect more promising actions in the future.
Parenting, Pleasant or Painful?
Written by Gracie Morton
Rebecca Morton is fifty-one with three kids. Why three? She said “because I wanted to see if the second one would be better than the first, but the third wasn’t any better so I gave up”. Three kids is an exceptional amount of work, so I asked her what was the hardest thing she had experienced being a mom with three children. “Pushing out a ten pound baby with no pain medication” she replied. What is the easiest? “When they visit their grandparents,”
I questioned if she dreamed of being a parent when she was younger and she said “If only I knew what I know now I would’ve spent a little more time making that decision.” I wondered if she disciplined her kids, she nodded like I was stupid. “I tell them if they do that again they’re going to grow up to be like me”. Finally, I asked what she was going to do after her kids are out of the house. “Change the locks”, she answered with a smile and a giggle.
Keep it Simple, Stupid: There’s Nothing Wrong With Boom-Chuck
Written by Josie Olney
Most people I know can easily pick their favorite Beatle: Paul for his active and melodic bass lines and pop sensibility; John for his roughness and badassery; George for his shy presence in the band; almost nobody picks Ringo. I like to think of the Beatles as my four precious children, and all my love is spread evenly between them, but I must confess to a certain soft spot for Ringo, being the most underrated of them all. Way too many times have I heard him ridiculed, for both his personality and his drumming. I will not tolerate any such criticism, because most of the time it’s the product of ignorance and vast underestimation of Ringo’s importance to the Beatles.
First, people talk as though a basic and simple drumming style is a bad thing. There’s no arguing that basic drumming is what Ringo does, but he’s damn good at it, and there is endless creativity and variety of his beats and patterns within that simple structure. He’s not a rigid drummer, and he always played exactly the right thing to support the other band members, adapting to all three of their musical ideas and styles as they morphed and stretched the band. He was the glue that held the band together, keeping excellent time and providing a steady beat that sometimes is the only thing keeping John, Paul, and George from falling apart.
In the studio, Ringo has been reported to be the most consistent and reliable one, almost never being the cause of musical breakdowns, which the other, more glorified band members were at fault for much more often. His modesty is also often spoken of, with his less-is-more approach to drumming complimenting the music the other Beatles wrote, rather than searching for glory for himself. Drum solos were never something he wanted, and he had to be persuaded to do the only one he ever did with the Beatles (it’s on “The End,” at the end of Abbey Road, for those who are curious).
And then there’s his personality, which completes the band. People say that anybody could have taken Ringo’s place without much consequence to the Beatles, which is dead wrong. Without Ringo, the Beatles would not have been the Beatles, and Lennon stated after the band’s split that Ringo was the “underappreciated soul” of the group. His comic persona added a certain humor and affability to the group’s character, and his easygoing personality had a calming effect on the other strong personalities of the band, and often eased tensions between them in the later years.
Ringo’s influence on other drummers has been considerable, with many citing him as an influence. Among them are Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters, Orri Páll Dýrason of Sigur Rós, Max Weinberg of the E Street Band, Danny Carey of Tool, Liberty DeVitto of Billy Joel's band, Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden, Eric Carr of Kiss, Phil Rudd of AC/DC, Phil Collins, Mike Portnoy from Dream Theater.
Admittedly, Ringo’s not so hot either as a songwriter or a solo artist, but his drumming and presence takes up a huge space in the Beatles and in popular music as a whole. He is an undervalued gem of a rock icon, and is a fantastic representation of less is more.
Profile: Kellen Fujimoto
Written by Alex Kahn
Kellen Fujimoto is a student at PSCS and is planning to graduate this year. He has a deep involvement in the world of Parkour. Parkour is a fairly new martial art/sport. The easiest way to describe Parkour is an activity of moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using the abilities of the human body. This proves to be harder than it seems. The art of Parkour becomes a new way of seeing the world as new challenges.
Kellen has been learning Parkour for about two and a half years. Kellen been taught by Tyson Cecka a volunteer at PSCS for multiple years, recently Kellen and Tyson have teamed up to teach Parkour together at PSCS.
Kellen helps to teach Parkour at Northwest Crossfit, and is working towards becoming a certified Parkour instructor. When he completes the certification requirements, Kellen will be one of the first certified Parkour teachers in the Northwest. He teaches ages 16-30 with varying abilities. Kellen hopes to one day make a living from teaching or practicing Parkour.
48 Hrs.
Written by Tynor Fujimoto
48 Hrs. is a cop movie with no real unusual twists. Kind of vanilla, it's about Jack Cates, a drunk cop in San Francisco who has to work with Reggie Hammond, his former partner now in jail, to stop an escaped convict who tries to get away with stealing $500,000 that’s been stashed in Reggie’s car. And there is a time limit as suggested by the title: 48 hours.
It seems like Walter Hill (the director) tried too hard to make a cop movie that would stand out. I'll admit, the movie did come out in 1982, so maybe I have an unfair perspective on cop movies (I’ve seen a lot before this one). They may have been hip and new in the early '80s. But I highly doubt it. True, it has Eddie Murphy, so it was funny. But it would be more worth your money to see another Eddie Murphy movie. I would not advise anyone to see this movie unless you are a cop movie fanatic. It did not impress me in the least
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