Real Ultimate Power

Today, I was handed a seventeen year old's iPod. She wanted me to load it up with music. I gave her a rather dubious look.

"You don't listen to the same music I do."
"Yeah, but you introduced me to the White Stripes and I like them!"
"You ran from the room screaming when I tried to make you watch that Killers' video."
"I'm sick of all the music I have, though. I need new stuff."

And so, with no direction or input from her, I had a blank slate to fill up with whatever I liked. I hadn't opened up iTunes in a while, being a Winamp kind of girl, so was pleasantly surprised to find just how much music I had to choose from on this hard drive: 6.7 days worth. Oh yes. I could find some mind expanding experiences for this kid.

This had to be one of the most entertaining afternoons I've ever had, just picking random songs and tossing them at somebody to see what sticks. It wasn't like making a mix CD for someone, since I wasn't trying to "say" something or share things that had personal significance for me. It was just this big, gorgeous orgy of musical experimentation. I'm particularly looking forward to what her response will be once she makes it through everything I put on there. Will she discover a sudden love for Nickel Arcade? Will the Flaming Lips be a transcendent experience for her? Will she realize Franz Ferdinand is a band named after an archduke and not a solo-artist?

And most importantly of all: will she regret having handed the iPod to me?

(The highlight of the whole thing, for me, will be when she finds this song:

)

The White Stripes Are Weird

Yes, the above title for this entry is pretty "duh", but it needed to be said, because this video is such a fabulous reminder of that weirdness. The White Stripes' video for Conquest has been out for a while, but I just hadn't gotten around to watching it until recently. After having been fairly bored by You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told), it didn't seem like it was worth the effort to keep up on any other videos they might be releasing from Icky Thump.

Boy, was I wrong.

There's nothing quite like the love between a man and his bull, right?

New Video: White Stripes, "You Don't Know What Love Is"

The White Stripes have released a new video for "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told)". The song will soon be available as a single. The video was directed by the Malloys, who also directed the videos for "Icky Thump" and "My Doorbell". They also worked with Jack on the the race car concept version of the Raconteurs "Steady, As She Goes."

Frankly, as much as I love the Stripes, this video isn't doing much for me. Maybe my mind has been permanently warped by such atrocities as "For Reasons Unknown" from the Killers and "Build God, Then We'll Talk" from P!atD (warning: their video contains pornomime) that anything that doesn't leave me twitching and asking "WTF?" bores me. But, I don't really think that's it--though the video might have been improved with the addition of barbecuing singing human heads on chicken bodies.

Instead, it's just sort of...generic. It's like something I'd expect to see in a retrospective on the 1980s, when the art of music videos was still new and simply having your favorite band strolling along on a beach while singing was novel. It's not bad. It's a pretty setting and has some nice cinematography, but it is rather bland.

I suppose when everyone expects something weird and shocking from you, the best way to shock people is by being unspeakably mundane.

Icky Thump

[Icky Thump cover, picture credited to Autumn de Wilde.]

Is it actually possible to be a pimp and a prostitute, too? Why do redheaded women have it out for Jack White? Can you really turn the effect into the cause? These are the deep, philosophical questions that the White Stripes new album Icky Thump will make you ponder.

Well, they might if you're stoned while listening to it, anyway.

I pretty much fell in love with the album from the first few chords of the title track, though there isn't a single other song on the album that sounds even vaguely like it. This is a good thing, in my opinion. The album works as a whole, but there's no unified sound theory driving it. Their cover of Conquest has a delicious mariachi twist, while Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn is very obviously going for a Scottish theme. They're not going to shock you unless you're completely unfamiliar with the duo, but they won't bore you, either.

My main complaint about the Stripes has always been the lyrics. While I love listening to Jack sing, what he's singing about is pretty secondary to how it sounds. Which hardly makes a song unworthy to listen to. I'd rather go for a lyrically weak song that sounds good than somebody's political treatise set to a triangle and bongos. Unless the drummer is really good, anyway. The fact that the lyrics are a little more complex than usual without sacrificing the music helped a lot with this album and are why this is probably going to end up being my favorite White Stripes album of all.

As I really have no great passion for the Raconteurs--Jack White's new band--this album gives me a special sort of joy. The classic elements of the Stripes are all here, but it doesn't sound like fan service to try to wring a few more dollars out of our pockets. It truly sounds like it was a hell of a lot of fun to record. Years of experience have added a robustness to their sound that was lacking in the early days, but it doesn't have the cynical, formulaic vibe that might be expected from a group that was essentially entirely defunct last year.

This is the audio equivalent of hooking back up with your hot ex-boyfriend. You know each other. It's comfortable and fun, with the added bonus of him having learned a few new tricks since last time.