Italians Do The Stanky Leg, Too

We did it again.

Considering there has not been a new post in well over a month, some people might consequently deem this blog “lazy,” “effortless,” “unintelligent,” “defunct,” “stupid,” or other derogatory descriptors.

Well, that’s not nice. Stop it.

Three-fifths of the current writing staff are currently studying abroad, whereas the other two are assuredly busy at work doing what college students do. Needless to say, this is reason enough for the abrupt and probably inevitable stoppage in posting.

Until now. (Cue the fanciful fanfare.)

Having been more or less immersed in Italian culture for the past five-plus weeks, I thought it would be an opportune time to answer the most burning question that everyone wants to know about my experience in Italy: How’s the tunes, brah?

It was certainly a mystifying topic that I pondered before departing for my semester abroad in Italy for four months. To be honest, I really was unaware of what to expect to hear over here. I mean, did this semester spell the end of all English-speaking tuneage for a whopping (almost) four months? Would Italians share America’s penchant for overplaying to-be-classic American tunes like “Poker Face” and Flo Rida’s ubiquitous “Low”?

No and um, yeah, sort of, respectively. Surprisingly, there has been an overwhelming amount of American music being played here. Perhaps it is the limited number of public locations with music that I have been to that has skewed my perception. However, just like with my lovely previous employer, here is a novel-sized dissertation on what I have discovered thus far.

In essence, the most adequate summation of the music here would have to be some combination of a small sample of recent, popular songs, coupled with arbitrary, sometimes forgotten pop gems from the past, spiced up with a dash of left-field gems to provide some pizazz. Let me explain.

The music should probably be divided into two categories: Nightlife and Not Nightlife. In the smaller Not Nightlife division, we have “21 Guns” by Green Day. That’s about it. Seriously, I must hear this song every place I meander around here. It could be a lot worse, but “21 Guns” is 21^st Century Breakdown’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”: Melancholy, extremely crossover, beyond over-played, and, um, not what I would call “Green Day’s magnum opus,” to put it über-lightly.

The award for “Most Pleasantly ‘Popular’ Song of ‘09” may have to go to “Daniel” by Bat for Lashes. Not only did it infiltrate the otherwise stagnant Kohl’s playlist, but I have heard it in three different locales here in Italy, including the supermarket of all places. I always thought the song was just one degree away from being just another pop song with a female singer, but “Daniel” is still one big degree away from being lumped in with the rest of the scrap heap. Two Suns, and especially “Daniel” in particular, are some of my favorites of the year, and if weren’t for those pesky instant classics by those other hyped indie darlings, “Daniel” could have a shot at Song of the Year. It is such a strange feeling to hear such a good song in such a bizarre place (that is, anywhere but your iPod or iTunes.) I’m not going to complain, because it could be (pick your favorite Top 40 female pop artist), but it is almost like the song loses its extraordinary aura when it is played at a supermarket with the utmost nonchalance.

One of the cool things about living in Italy is I live with a host family, including a college-bound host brother and a 10-year-old one. On several occasions, the 10-year-old one has sung some American songs, despite knowing basically no English. The reverse situation would be kind of funny: What if your 10-year-old American brother started singing or was simply bombarded with all Italian music? Here, it is kind of expected, considering America’s surprising influence on almost all forms of media (a lot of the TV is just dubbed versions of American classics. I Simpson, for one.) Anyway, Katy Perry’s “I’m not just a one-hit-faux-lesbian-wonder” follow-up to “I Kissed a Girl,” “Hot N Cold”, has been uttered by my little host brother, as has the inescapable “Poker Face” by the ambiguously hermaphroditic Lady Gaga. It is a shame that this is the music that gets imported, but did I really expect Dominico to be humming “My Girls” by Animal Collective? Alas, only in a perfect world.

Most of the other instances of music in Italy have come at a variety of bars and clubs throughout the country. The trend seems to be the same, however: It’s the same shit you would find at a typical American bar or club. You’ve got your Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, you’ve got your Flo Rida and Soulja Boy, and so on and so forth. And that God forsaken new Pitbull song. If it was “Bojangles,” I’d let it pass, because it has a sick beat. But, instead, every 19.3 seconds, he feels compelled to count to four IN TWO LANGUAGES. How talented! Fuck Pitbull and fuck that song, especially because it has an infernal capacity to remain stuck in one’s head for hours. Also, for whatever reason, almost every place I have been has been treating DMX’s 1999 pop crossover classic “Party Up (Up in Here)” like it is going to go out of style. A random aberration among the otherwise typically recent music played, but it is definitely noticeable to a meticulous music nerd like me.

True story: One of the more popular rendezvous points for nighttime bar hopping is one bar that plays its music from a 24/7 music video channel. I have seen some videos multiple times in only a few visits (despite the song, Shakira’s “She Wolf” video is hot as shit) but most of them are “meh” at best. One time, Daft Punk’s “Around the World” came on, though. I was super-stoked. No one else seemed to have a clue who they were or what the song was. I died a little on the inside. True story. This is a microcosm of why Flo Rida will always be on the airwaves and a catchy-as-fuck band like Passion Pit will not. I might as well make this my college Honors Thesis.

I have cracked the 1,000-word barrier, which probably means I should stop furiously clacking away on my laptop. Whatever, this is the first entry since August. Savor it, because at this point, no one knows when the next one could be. Don’t think of us as “dead”, we prefer “consistently hibernating.” Until next time (?), stay golden, Ponyboy.

Live Review: Green Day, 7/25/09, Albany

This is unacceptable.

As I worriedly look around the landscape, it appears as though I may be the last man standing among this grandiose attempt at musical blog stardom. Or something.

Here is an admittedly half-assed attempt to at least get one post in the month of July.

Green Day, Saturday, July 25, 2009, Times Union Center in Albany, NY: Within the first few days home from college, it was just a lazy Monday afternoon at home. By chance, I turned on my favorite local radio station, WEQX, and long story short, I won two tickets to Green Day before they went on sale. Shit like this simply does not occur every day, so I try to rub it in people’s faces when I am presented the opportunity.

Unnecessary back story aside, The Bravery opened their last show of the year for Green Day at this show. They garnered attention not quite by blowing the audience away, but by instilling utter confusion in the fans that were there. During “Believe,” a half-dozen men and/or women in various animal suits stumbled upon the stage, doing distracting acts as the supposedly surprised band attempted to continue their set. It is simple and slightly juvenile, but sometimes those types of things are what garner laughs, especially from an opening band in front of many anxious Green Day fans.

Those fans were certainly not disappointed. From the first song right up until the end, Billie Joe made absolutely sure that the band/audience bond was always there and that everyone was into the set. It grew a bit thin toward the end, however, with his obnoxious “ALBANY!!!” screams in almost literally every song that it became like clockwork. It is also fun to do the “call and respond” interactions prompted by the band, but by the umpteenth time, reluctance to participate starts to settle in. Regardless of the overuse of these clichés to keep an audience into a show, the band was simply energetic and entertaining for the entire duration of the stunning two-and-a-half hours that they played.

Considering that it was, after all, the 21^st Century Breakdown tour, it is apropos that they play some cuts from their latest, decent album. They frontloaded the set list with new tracks, and delved into a variety of favorites for the rest of the show, a solid mixture to keep new and old fans alike entertained. The large screen behind the band corresponded to most of the songs played, which was a nice touch but somewhat expected for an arena show. At a few major points of the show, extremely loud pyrotechnic explosions occurred, some of them fitting (e.g. the “bang bang” of “Bang bang goes the broken glass, man” in “Holiday”), others just startling.

The coolest part of the band’s successful attempt at maintaining a bond with the audience even at a big arena show was having several fans on stage at different parts of the show. Billie Joe sounded like a pedophile as he requested a small child on stage, only to get “stage shot” as the loud explosions went off and the kid fell over pretty believably as if he had been shot. Later on, during fan favorite “Longview,” three different fans sang the three verses of the song after a thorough search by Billie Joe. Even cooler, during the impressive five-song encore, Billie actually had a girl play guitar during the standout, nine-minute-and-change “Jesus of Suburbia.” That type of opportunity for fans is unforgettable, and it is great to see a band as big as Green Day still do things like that.

The song selection was pretty solid, again touching upon all of the requirements and big hits, and performed with sustained enthusiasm while maintaining accuracy and clarity. They covered The Isley Brothers’ “Shout”, leading to the band wearing costumes, all of which was a fun change of pace in the show.

As much as it makes total sense to do so, closing with “Good Riddance” rubbed me the wrong way. After a long, energetic show, “Jesus of Suburbia”, the second song of the encore, was truly the encapsulation of the night, a long, engrossing epic of sorts. However, slowing it down at the end for “Last Night on Earth” and “Good Riddance” to be performed acoustically and solo by Billie Joe can definitely be construed as the perfect capper and change of pace for the show. Maybe it is the painful ubiquity associated with the song that annoyed me or something, but idle musings aside, it did not detract one bit from the show.

Green Day have come a long way from their humble punk roots (the random Woodstock ’94 banner trotted out during a post-’94 song certainly was a humbling reminder), and are now playing big arena shows with their brand of pop-punk. Say what you want about their recent musical endeavors or about their large-scale notoriety, the band can still connect with its audience even in a big venue. A second-to-none live presence coupled with an entertaining mix of songs certainly led to one of hell of a show.

> Full set list via setlist.fm