The Zimmermann Note

The Scotsman 

There’s life in the legend yet as Led Zeppelin hit new high
JULIA KUTTNER
AT THE O2 IN LONDON
ALMOST 20 years since they last took to the stage together, Led Zeppelin drowned out the commotion accompanying the most hyped concert in a generation with a blistering two-hour set.

More than 20 million people had applied for 18,000 seats for the charity gig at London’s O2 arena and one Scottish fan was rumoured to have paid £83,000 for two tickets.

The legendary band’s 12-year reign of guitar blues and rock earned them worldwide worship in the shape of 300 million record sales.

And last night Led Zeppelin landed their mothership and fulfilled their promise.

Before the event, guitarist Jimmy Page had implored fans not to compare the charity show to others in the past and had insisted the concert would be a one-off.

Surviving members Page, singer Robert Plant, and bassist and keyboard player John Paul Jones were joined by the late John Bonham’s son, Jason, on drums.

The fundraising event was for an education project in memory of Ahmet Ertegun, the Atlantic Records boss who signed the band in 1968.

After the lights went down, newsreel footage of a 1975 performance in Tampa, Florida, was projected onstage.

With thousands of fans worked into a frenzy, Bonham began thumping the skittering beat before the surviving founders joined in on Good Times, Bad Times.

In jeans not quite as famously tight as they were 27 years ago, Plant still had the energy to strut his 59-year-old body across the stage. However, he mercifully kept his shirt buttoned up.

The 20-minute long Dazed and Confused raised stadium rock to a new level.

With tickets featuring a face value of £125, if you thought the audience had dug into their pension funds for a big night out you may be right.

But there was plenty of punching the air by fans who wouldn’t have been walking in 1980, the year John Bonham died.

Since then, Led Zeppelin have performed only a handful of gigs, including Live Aid in 1985 and an Atlantic Records anniversary show three years later.

By their own admission, each reunion was a shambles, so anticipation ahead of last night’s set at was high.

It was chance to revisit a time when rock was king, the record industry was at its peak and Led Zeppelin were its all conquering leaders.

After more than an hour the bulk of the fans got what they seemed to want most – a rendition of Stairway To Heaven.

Plant seemed to shake away the years and get livelier as the show went on. And two hours in the band were still running on full engines as they launched into the shuddering opening of Kashmir.

Whole Lotta Love had the crowd screaming out every word along with a passionate Plant. And the furiously fast finale of Rock n’ Roll had the arena whipped into a frenzy.

An emotional Plant thanked the fans, but had Led Zeppelin enjoyed the experience as much as their 18,000 lucky followers?

This morning millions of rock fans will be crossing their fingers and hoping for a positive answer to that question.

THE SET LIST
Good Times Bad Times

Ramble On

Black Dog

In My Time Of Dying

For Your Life

Trampled Underfoot

Nobody’s Fault

No Quarter

Since I’ve Been Loving You

Dazed And Confused

Stairway To Heaven

The Song Remains The Same

Misty Mountain Hop

Kashmir

Whole Lotta Love

Rock’n’Roll

From everything that I have heard about this, it sounded like an amazing evening. 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,315194,00.html

You have to love this story, however, it makes me sad that someone that is so out of it is able to land themselves a Nationally Syndicated Television show like the view.

Mitt Romney wants to be the religious conservative that is not a religious conservative.  Mormonism has also become a very difficult issue for Americans and Romney to deal with. While Kennedy might have had problems being a Roman Catholic in the 60s, I think that the difference between Catholicism and Mormonism is that Mormonism is slightly askew in its beliefs, especially the issue of Polygamy, as well as some of the views of the Mormon Religion which is not truly Protestant or Catholic but falls outside both of these groups. Mormons in their own way are looked at as a “Cult” in some sects of the Christian faith and by these same people not really considered Christians whatsoever.

While all three groups do share the bible as a source for their beliefs, Mormons also use the book of Mormon and that is where the problems truly exist.

How do you pretend to be a man of faith within a party of faith that does not trust your faith?

I have to be honest with you that I am not much of a hockey fan or I wasn’t but I ended up sitting around and watching the Blackhawks play Phoenix today and was visibly surprised just how good they were. What was even more special was watching the Hawks on their home ice on television, something that hasn’t happened as far as I have been alive.

It is something to be excited about in this city where the Bears are struggling and the Bulls look like a farm team.

Facebook Dilemma

Why does someone else need to know where I am going on Amazon, Overstock, etc. This is a great reason why I am not going to sign up for sites such as this, Myspace or anywhere else.

What if I was on Amazon purchasing something for my mother? Do I need the world or even my closest friends to have complete access to where I am going?

As much as it can be said for the writer’s guild strike, I will be curious to see just how much America will end up missing the writers. While a couple shows have some merit on television, for the most part it is something that can be readily avoided at all costs.

However, I think it can be stated that the Writers Guild strike is more than entertainment but information. The future of America is wrapped up in data, information systems and a way to distribute said data.

It is not the idea that these shows only exist on Television or the Movie Theatre, but on DVDs and the Internet as well. The Writer’s Guild’s argument is that they want a bigger piece of that pie.

However, I think that this idea is just a microcosm for the Information Age in general. As distribution methods change, those that are creating that data have to be mindful of all these aspects (see Radiohead). Radiohead realized that there are different distribution networks and instead of allowing Corporations dictate what their profits would be, they decided to do that on their own.

It doesn’t cost corporations as much to put into distribution the cost of a show, performance or album on the internet as much as it costs them to distribute those same elements in a CD, DVD or other medium. What corporations are complaining about is that they do not have numbers as far as profits are concerned with new media and claim they have been losing money. However, they fail to realize they still need to put money into that aspect of distribution, i.e. Technology and in the long term they will lower costs.

I am not sure who to believe anymore, whether, the CTA should just go away completely, whether IL Speaker Michael Madigan is right, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley or Rob Blagojevitch.

 First things first, Blago is short on balls and has shown already that he is weak when playing with these powerful people. I can only imagine that a Governor like Jim Thompson or Edgar would have the same problem. Secondly, what is the problem with the infighting that is going on amongst Democrats. With all the power they are unable to come up with a solution to this crisis and the sad part is that now there is talk about the CTA striking over the states “Pussyfooting” around this issue.

The last we hear, both Daley and Madigan walked out of the meetings held by Blagojevitch in regards to the CTA feeling that the meetings had more to do with other things rather than the transit problem in Chicago.

And as I stood in the bus in my morning commute as the regular pedestrian members of the Chicago population became sardines I looked at the bus driver trying to hold it all together in a crowded bus and thought, this is not the problem of anyone in this bus and we have been left in a situation where there is consistently not enough transportation and too much complaining.

This should be something that we could take care of pretty quickly but instead we are going to find out come January many of us will be stuck in the cold waiting endlessly for a bus that will take us twice as long to get to work and Chicagoans are going to get angry and fight back.

Japancakes – Loveless

This will probably end up on my list albeit with some of the problems that are associated with this disc. While obviously there are issues when you take a seminal album like My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless and turn it into your own there is that inevitable comparison/contrast and even moreso with a masterpiece such as this. First the issues. With some of the more exotic tracks on the album such as ‘Touched’, they miss a beat in regards to offering the level of depth and darkness that these tracks display on My Bloody Valentines version. Other tracks have a tendency to remind me too much of muzak or midi files such as ‘When You Sleep’, and ‘To Here Knows When’.

The band succeeds in creating that southern depth and feel however on tracks like “Only Shallow” and “Sometimes” among others. The key to the Japancakes over the years has been to promote their own vision of droning guitars, pedal steel and all and at the same time provide a unique listening experience that exhibits a side of the south that bands like R.E.M. have so wonderfully created throughout these years. No they are not your Skynrd-Red Neck version of the south. Rather than layering the music in fuzz the Japancakes make the notes deliberate and bring the music out of Kevin Shields symphony.

At the end of the day, if you are not a fan of the Japancakes, I am not sure I can wholly recommend this unless you are willing to break yourself from the forces of Loveless. The problem with putting your own take on an album is that it has been seen through fans in one distinct manner, the reverb, the droning guitars and muddled vocals. The Japancakes have produced this version in a manner with the sleepy strange south where everyone moves at half speed, words and notes are drawn out.

Admittedly, I have been a fan of the ‘cakes for years and their music takes me back to Athens everytime I listen to them. At the end of the day this album will probably get more disparity among fans than most of the music that comes out this year.

Okkervil River reminds me of what Wilco was back in the old days. They are original and yet sound like those great old alt-country bands that we all came to love and adore.  Some might see the similarities with Neutral Milk Hotel, but it is often Will Sheff’s lyrics about the Rock and Roll Lifestyle. 

Whether it is the 6 and a half minute country ballad, ‘A Girl in Port’ or the climax suicide note ‘John Allyn Smith Sails’, with the Beach Boys ‘Sloop John B’ written as his ode there is plenty to absorb.  

Well before I start writing music reviews, I figured I would create a little podcast of some of my favorite tracks. The length is slightly over 60 minutes and jam-packed with music.You can download it here.This is a good way to start putting together your Christmas Lists. Here is a list of the stuff played.

1. Flight of the Conchords – If You’re Into It

2. Panda Bear – Comfy in Nautica

3. Sea Wolf – Leaves in the River

4. Of Montreal – We Were Born the Mutants Again With Leafling

5. Caribou – Melody Day

6. PJ Harvey – Silence

7. Sunset Rubdown – The Mending Of The Gown

8. The National – Green Gloves

9. Deerhunter – Strange Lights

10. Glen Mercer – Whatever Happened

11. Robyn Hitchcock and The Venus 3 – (A Man’s Gotta Know His Limitations) Briggs (Live)

12. Robyn Hitchcock and The Venus 3 – Queen of Eyes (Live)

I am going to be writing small reviews of some of the albums that I have enjoyed over the past year which will lead up to a full length best of list for the year.