The Carrier

Joe Satriani has been on the music scene for more than 20 years, storming the spotlight with his groundbreaking album, “Surfing With the Alien,” which changed the instrumental guitar album forever. Known not only for his wizardry on the guitar, but for teaching other great guitarists, such as Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett and Alex Skolnick, Satriani, or “Satch” as he is referred to by his fans, is still putting out fantastic material. On April 1, his 13th solo album, “Professor Satchifunkilus and the Musterion of Rock,” hit the shelves.

Unlike some musicians who have been around for a while and peaked years ago, Satriani continues to mature and to produce music of excellent quality. “Professor Satchifunkilus” is an excellent testimony to that fact, exploring a number of epic themes, and is one of Satriani’s most interesting journeys yet. He said in an interview with the Web site Myplay that he whittled the list for the album down from 30 or 40 songs, as per usual, saying that he wanted the songs on the album to be ones that he could continue to explore night after night, and that he wanted to find something new inside of him.

The album begins with the track “Musterion,” which refers to a slight mistranslation in the Bible from Greek to English, in which the word “musterion” was translated to mean mystery when the meaning is closer to secret. Satriani said he found two chords and a melody that came to him one day, and he couldn’t figure out exactly how they were connected, thus resulting in the title. The track itself sounds very secretive, giving off the aura of something locked away somewhere.

The album then goes to the track “Overdriver,” a more straightforward hard rock song about a car with a mind of its own, and then to the album’s big single, “I Just Wanna Rock.” This track explores Satriani’s interest in science fiction and the human facets of robots by telling the story of a robot’s experience of finding a purpose in life. The song is another upbeat hard rock track, and a great display of Satriani’s technical mastery. The album’s title track, (featuring Satriani’s son ZZ on the tenor saxophone) is next. This track, as its title suggests, is a funky style song about a cartoonish mack daddy, according to the Myplay biography.

The next two songs are great examples of Satriani’s ability to convey lyrical ideas without using words, but simply through the expressiveness of the guitar. The next song, “Revelation,” is a personal ballad about the recent passing of his father. The song has a reflective sound to it in the harmony and melody, with more than just a hint of sadness. The song comes to an emotional climax during the solo of the song in which Satriani pours out his feeling into every note he plays. It is the third song he has written for his father, the last two being “Cryin’” and “Into the Light.” 

The next track is a love note to his wife Rubina, titled “Come On Baby.” This is another fantastic example of Satriani’s ability to express emotion. The song ranges from a quiet intro to an more expressive middle section in which he captures his affection for his wife perfectly. It fits in well with the songs he has already written for her, most notably “Always With Me, Always With You” on “Surfing With the Alien.”

The next track, “Out of the Sunrise,” demonstrates Satriani’s skill not only as a musician but as a storyteller and as an artist who paints pictures with music. The song’s introduction paints a perfect picture of what the title suggests. The song is about a man who has been up all night, looks at the sunrise and, in that moment, realizes all the evil things he’s done; at the same time he realizes that it’s a new day and that he has a chance to change. It’s a track that almost anyone can identify with and makes for a very good touch.

“Diddle-Y-A-Doo-Dat” is the next track, and is more of groove song in which the guitar line introduction mimics the title and continues through a mad dash of swing. The last two tracks are a tribute to Turkish saz (a four-stringed instrument) player Asik Veysel. The first of these two, called “Asik Veysel,” is a song in which Satriani celebrates hearing Veysel’s music for the first time. Satriani uses a slightly different guitar technique where he plays more lightly to achieve a more saz-like sound. The album’s closing track, “Andalusia,” is written in memory of Asik Veysel and is also inspired by the beauty of Spain’s countryside, where Satriani paints vivid pictures of the country’s natural beauty.

All in all, the album is a project of truly epic proportions: deep, personal and heavy despite being only ten tracks long. Satriani pays close attention to every aspect of this album, tightening up every loose end and making sure that it is a great experience all the way through, and he succeeds brilliantly. His virtuosic playing and brilliant use of word-painting and melodic themes to express lyrical ideas, though instrumental, make this album another great achievement for him.

Video games are, and have been for some time, fairly controversial. There are plenty of parents who think that video games are destructive, that video games are responsible for a lot of the violence among young people, that video games are a waste of time and that video games serve no other purpose than to rot away kids’ minds. They have also served primarily as entertainment for those who condone and indulge in them. However, video games have become a new art form.
In this computer age, in which we have the technology to make computers render dozens of frames per second in higher and higher resolutions, graphics have become a bigger and bigger selling point of video games for years. The development of 3-D graphics with the Nintendo 64 was a big turning point for games graphically. More recently, fans have gotten excited over other developments in graphics, such as the rendering of individual blades of grass in Microsoft’s, “Halo,” or giving characters the ability to move fingers independently, as seen in “Halo 2.” With the development of better graphics capabilities, art in video games has become a much bigger selling point.
The “Final Fantasy” series by Square Enix, released primarily on Sony’s Playstation series, is in large part responsible for artistic shifts. The series’ more intensive character designs and cutscenes gave the games a much more artistic feel. Numerous series have followed in the footsteps of “Final Fantasy” .
Cinematography is as important in video games as it is in actual movies, as seen in a series like “Final Fantasy,” where videos are used to pull players into the world the programmers have created: full CGI sequence videos with multiple camera angles. It’s come a far way from early games like “Super Mario World” or “Metal Slug.” “Final Fantasy” was also one of the first franchises to hire professional writers to work on the storyline and dialogue.
Games have also taken on art themes that could almost be called decors. The 2007 Game of the Year nominee “Bioshock” is styled to look like something out of the 1940s, and Bethesda studio’s Game of the Year winner, “The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind,” features an otherworldly art style with giant mushrooms and roots growing from the ground with a creatively developed culture.
Video games have also become the new medium for storytelling. The man behind video game company Nintendo’s creative drive and longevity, Shigeru Miyamoto, said that he created games to tell stories. A great example of this is the “Legend of Zelda” series. Miyamoto drew upon experiences he had as a child that he wanted to convey to others. In particular, the first game in the franchise, “The Legend of Zelda,” was one of the first games to include a world that was free to explore, reflecting on Miyamoto’s experiences exploring the woods as a child. The games also borrow from traditional folklore and legends to tell their stories.
A genre of games centered around the storyline has also sprung up. Games like the “Myst” franchise and “Dreamfall” have a very close tie to the story of the game. Gameplay primarily features puzzle-solving and relies on the story to keep players interested, rather than the action focus of shooter or arcade games. Other games focus more heavily on the beauty of the environment, much like looking at paintings. “Shadow of the Colossus” involves a lot of exploration, during which the main focus is the landscape and environment. Bethesda’s most recent release in the “Elder Scrolls” franchise, “Oblivion,” has a very highly-developed environment that holds enough beauty to make a gamer stop and enjoy a virtual sunset. Movies and books are also frequently made into video games. In recent years, a good percentage of major motion pictures have resulted in the release of a video game that tells the story of the movie.
Another art form, music, has also been extensively incorporated into video games. Games started off with simple, catchy themes, like Nintendo’s “Super Mario World,” the theme for which is arguably one of the most recognizable tunes in our culture. Music in games has progressed from these simple tunes to full scores. You can purchase the “Halo” soundtrack in stores. The more recent “Final Fantasy” games feature dozens of orchestrated pieces composed by Nobuo Uematsu.
Video gamesare comparable to a movie version of a choose-your-own adventure book. They are a blend of literature, cinematography and music, combining to form a new art form entirely.

Not all good music is easily labeled, or falls neatly into one category. Fusion is a concept that has consistently paved a way for new and interesting music to be created: taking the best aspects of two or more genres and fusing them into something entirely different. Two rising stars in the fusion world are Mexican guitarists Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero.
The pair met in Mexico City while playing in a thrash metal band called Tierra Acida. However, they grew frustrated with the limited musical scope that was offered to them there, and moved to Dublin, Ireland after hearing it was a welcoming place for musicians. In 2006, the duo released a self-titled album, “Rodrigo y Gabriela,” which hit the number one spot on the Irish Albums Charts.
The album is a mix of rock and Spanish guitar styles. For the most part, only the two Mexican guitarists are featured on the album: Rodrigo playing lead and Gabriela playing rhythm, both on classical guitars. The music has a Spanish or flamenco rhythm to it, while maintaining the kind of energy and phrasing that one would expect from rock or metal music. A lot of flamenco and Spanish guitar techniques are used; the rhythm guitar involves a lot of percussive striking of the body of the guitar and strings that fills in for drums very nicely, while still playing chords underneath the lead lines. The lead is generally played with a pick instead of classical fingerstyle.
The duo cover Metallica’s “Orion” and Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” on the album; they have cited those bands as influences, along with others such as Megadeth, Amigo Vincete and Overkill. The album begins with the tracks “Tamacun” and “Diablo Rojo,” each high energy and very percussive, and both easy and fun to listen to. “Vikingman” and “Satori” are the next tracks, and they shift toward the rock side of the balance. “Ixtapa” starts fast, but brings the energy level down to let the audience rest, then picks back up with an extraordinarily fast violin solo.
The next tracks are “Stairway to Heaven” and “Orion.” Each keeps the original piece intact to satisfy fans of the bands while embellishing just enough to give them the artists’ own spin. Both are well-crafted compositions. The album finishes with the energetic songs “Juan Loco” and “PPA.”
Both guitarists featured are excellent musicians and composers. They have created an original, exciting blend of styles that is easy and fun to listen to. Rock, jazz and world/traditional music fans alike will be satisfied by the album. It is well worth a listen by anyone looking for something a little new and different.

In the tradition of modern satirical fiction, possibly best popularized by Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series, comes another series in the same genre. Not nearly as well-known in America, but definitely on the same level of comic genius is Terry Pratchett’s “Discworld” series. While Adams used a world of science fiction for his satire, Pratchett uses fantasy as a backdrop for his parody of our world.
There are 36 books in the “Discworld” series to date, beginning with “The Colour of Magic” in 1983, the latest being “Making Money,” published just last year. The series takes place on a planet called Discworld.
It’s a flat planet (a disc), resting on the backs of four elephants who, in turn, are standing on the back of a giant turtle called the Great A’Tuin flying through space. The books frequently parody Tolkien, Lovecraft, Howard and Shakespeare, as well as myths, folklore and fairy tales.
Each book in the series has a different subject of satire. For example, the book “The Last Continent” satirizes Australia and Australian culture, while “Guards! Guards!” satirizes fairy tales about dragons threatening cities and heroic princes killing them and saving kingdoms. “Thief of Time” is a satire of the tradtional mad scientist setup: a mad scientist inhabits an old castle with a servant named Igor and performs bizarre experiments.
Pratchett said that, “Every aspect of life — modern and ancient, sacred and profane — is both celebrated and satirized, from religion and Christmas to vampires, opera, war and everything in between.” He added that opera and war often sound quite similar.
Discworld is a fantasy world that often mirrors our own, where, Pratchett said, our problems look a lot different and are a whole lot easier to cure.
The books don’t have to be read in any specific order, for the most part. Many of the books share characters, and some main characters almost have their own mini-series inside the series, in which their development is shown. Other characters often have cameos in books where they are not the main character.
If new readers want to get into the series, however, a recommended first read is in fact the first book of the series, “The Colour of Magic.” It helps to explain some of the physics of “Discworld,” and to set up the whole environment.
The first book is a satire of tourism. It follows the story of the tourist in question, from Terry Pratchett’s version of China. The tourist’s name is Twoflower. He employs a man named Rincewind to be his guide. Rincewind is a failure of a wizard, and a coward.
He has cowardice down to an art, and has never managed to successfully do magic. Despite this, he manages to save “Discworld” over the course of the first two books, and then again in each of the books that he stars in.
In addition to the books, there are two video games based on the series, as well as a movie adaptation of the book “Hogfather,” which was made for the BBC. Rumors of a movie adaptation of “The Color of Magic” have also circulated.
Pratchett is highly regarded as one of the best satirists of our time, and should be thought of along with the likes of Douglas Adams, Mark Twain and Jonathan Swift.
Each book in the series is a  great pleasure to read, and can be enjoyed by anyone. The parallels between our universe and “Discworld” make each book uproariously funny, and they have a habit of stealing one’s spare hours away. I would highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys fantasy, humor or to anyone who wants something good to read.

Primus, Praxis and Parliament — three utterly unique sounds came together in 2002 to form something unlike anything the world has ever seen: the supergroup called Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains. The name is a combination of all of the members’ names. The band features an eclectic style of music that is largely improvised.
Bassist/singer Les Claypool, known for his funky slap bass lines and narrative style vocalization heads the band. Claypool also is the front man for the alternative band Primus. Drawing influence from Stanley Clarke and Larry Graham, Claypool has mastered a variety of techniques on the bass and has headed multiple bands. Bernie Worrell plays keyboard for the band. Worrell hails from George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic and Praxis. A true prodigy, Worrell composed his first concerto when he was 8 and is known for his playing in the funk genre.
Buckethead, the mute virtuoso giant, plays guitar for the band. Some of you may know him from Guitar Hero II and the song “Jordan.” Buckethead is known for always wearing a white mask and KFC bucket on his head, for his eclectic playing and blisteringly fast solos. He has played in a number of bands including Praxis, the Deli Creeps, the new Guns N’ Roses and has also released numerous solo albums.
Drummer Bryan Mantia, known as Brain, has been a member of several bands including Praxis and Primus, has collaborated with Buckethead on several albums and is known for his eclectic percussive style.
The band formed in 2002 at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Buckethead, Worrell and Brain were there to perform with bassist Bill Laswell as Praxis. Laswell was unable to play, and the three ran into Claypool there. Claypool invited them to jam with him. They proceeded to play an entire set at Bonnaroo without preparing any real material. They formed the band Colonel Claypool’s Bucket of Bernie Brains and continued to push the improvisational envelope on their tour. On the tour, they did not rehearse and did not prepare any material to perform, but rather made up the material as they played. On one occasion, they prepared sandwiches on stage for the audience members to eat. They released one studio album titled “The Big Eyeball in the Sky.” The album features both written songs with vocals and instrumental, improvised songs.
The genre of the group’s music is difficult to classify; it features elements of jazz, funk, blues, rock and metal. It is alternative in every sense of the word. Don’t seek this album out if you’re interested in the conventional, but if you’re looking for something new and different to listen to, this is a must. The talent of each individual member is immense, and the four work together impeccably to create an utterly unique sound.

Start off with an electric bass. Pretty standard, right?
Never mind that the man playing the bass is Victor Wooten, one of the best bassists to ever grace the earth and, quite possibly, the funkiest man alive.
Add in percussion. Still a pretty normal set-up, even though the percussionist, Future Man, plays the drumitar, a vaguely guitar-shaped drum machine, with one hand and a regular trap set with the other. Now add in saxophones, clarinets, oboes, flutes and penny whistles all played by the same man, Jeff Coffin. So, maybe some sort of jazz ensemble, you’re thinking? Now throw in a classical banjo, played by Béla Fleck.
This rather odd assortment of musical talent makes up a band that is somewhat known, but sadly, rarely talked about: Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.
So what kind of music does this assortment play? The closest description I’ve come up with is a combination of jazz, world, bluegrass and funk.
But in Best Buy or Circuit City, you’ll usually find them in the ‘jazz’ section.
It is largely instrumental. The band first formed in 1988 to play once on a PBS series called “Lonesome Pine Specials.”
However, they stayed together, have been touring and releasing albums since and are on tour right now. They often play over 200 shows a year. The front man, Béla Fleck, plays acoustic and electric banjos, adding a bit of bluegrass and folk flavor into the Flecktones mix.
According to the Flecktones’s Web site, www.flecktones.com, Fleck has received Grammy nominations for performances in the jazz, bluegrass, pop, spoken word, contemporary Christian, gospel, classical and country categories.
He is the only musician so far to receive nominations in so many diverse categories. He is also a very good cook and collects candies and pictures of telephone booths.
Jeff Coffin, saxophonist extraordinaire, also plays just about every other reed instrument on the planet. He joined the band after former keyboardist Howard Levy left and has played on every album since and including “Left of Cool.”
He is known for playing two saxophones at once (tenor and alto).
Roy (Future Man) Wooten is the percussionist for the band, known for his Synthaxe Drumitar, a MIDI controller shaped like a guitar that he plays with one hand while playing a trap set with the other.
According to their Web site, he is known not only for his percussive skills but also for his inventions. Future Man has recently developed a new electronic instrument called the RoyEl. The RoyEl resembles a piano, but plays notes that are not found in the traditional western music scales. It is based off of the periodic table of elements and the golden ratio.
Victor Wooten, Future Man’s younger brother, is considered by many to be one of the bass virtuosos of our time. He, along with his brothers, toured as the Wooten Brothers when he was five, and he was a full professional by eight.
He is known for his hyperkinetic slap and pop technique, and his mastery of a wide variety of other techniques.The result of these four musicians coming together and playing is astounding.
They have created a genre of music that is all their own, an eclectic blend of anything they want. Each song is different and moving. The band can convey lyrical ideas without words and the energy of each of the musicians can be heard in their playing.
The composition and musicianship of each one of the members is incredible. The entire experience cannot be accurately expressed in words. It has to be directly experienced.
Any album is a good choice, but I would recommend “Flight of the Cosmic Hippo” and “The Hidden Land.”This is a band that more people need to know about. No matter what you like, there is something for you during the course of any of their albums.
Visit www.flecktones.com, and join the list to get a free song download or to check out tour dates.

On Sept. 10, I, like many other Americans, watched General David Petraeus’ report on the progress in Iraq, and like many Americans, was disappointed.
I was desperately hoping for something along the lines of “The United States has accomplished its goals in Iraq and will be withdrawing shortly,” or “The Unites States has enough resources and manpower to press forward with the surge, and its objectives will be completed within a year.”
Either one of these would have been fine. Even something to the contrary would have been fine. I would have even appreciated if Petraeus had told us things were going miserably in Iraq, and they would either be pulling out or changing tactics in order to get something done.
I was hoping for some sort of definitive course of action or status check, something that could tell the American people how things really are there.
As I interpreted it, though, Petraeus was very vague. Extraordinarily vague. He said the number of “incidents” has apparently decreased, and we’ve dealt major blows to al-Qaida.
That sounds good.
Yet, Petraeus then elaborated that the United States had reached a “satisfactory status” on only one of 18 benchmarks.
That sounds bad.
I’m not really sure where all this is going. I’d really love it if he’d give more of a straight “good or bad” kind of evaluation. I suppose I should have expected it, however. Most of the reports on Iraq so far have been vague.
The circumstances surrounding the report are admittedly suspicious, as well. I’ve seen conflicting reports on who actually wrote General Petraeus’ report to Congress.
Some point fingers at the White House. They say it was actually someone in Bush’s administration who wrote the report. These people are viewing Petraeus as being just a lap dog spitting out whatever the White House tells him.
I’ve also heard that Petraeus actually wrote the report himself, which is what he claimed on television. While I cannot prove he did or didn’t write it, the speculation in itself does not bode well.
This message of “honesty” loses value, I think, even in being questioned.
We also must be aware of the timing of this report. The White House is trying to ride the tides of high nationalism that come in around September 11 (keep in mind this report aired on Sept. 10).
Are they trying to cover something up with this? I don’t know.
I think the bottom line is that the American people need, and deserve, a clear, honest report on what is going on in Iraq, be it good or bad. I think the generals and the White House need to let everyone know exactly what the status there is, without any of this benchmark report card stuff. Just tell us directly what’s going on.

Lobbying has been a large part of campaigning for political office for decades. Candidates receive funding for their campaigns by interest groups, political action committees and organizations, often in large sums. While this certainly helps the candidates in carrying out their campaign (which requires a rather staggering amount of money), it has another effect as well. Sometime down the line, these candidates end up owing people something.

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A recent headline read, “Britney Spears marries goat, adopts 27 children from Guam.” OK, that is a bit of a stretch.

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