achtung baby

I think U2's best album is Achtung Baby. Then again that's really the only album of theirs that I have save for a "best of" disc. I love the twangy and distorted guitars, the hurried drums, and here I think Bono's at his best, being sincere in "One" while being flippant and playful in many other songs like "Even Better Than the Real Thing". I love that the band challenged and reinvented themselves and weren't afraid to try something new. And "the fly", of course.

I only started to listen to and appreciate this album about twenty years after its release in 1991. And that only because I picked it up as a used CD back in 2009. I was already familiar with the major hit from the album "Mysterious Ways" as I remember watching the music video as a little kid. I think my fave song though is "Acrobat", especially for its line "I must be, an acrobat, to talk like this, and act like that."

What a wonderful metaphor, for a hypocrite. That line is one of my fave metaphors and showed me how a metaphor can actually reveal truth, much more than a regular flat statement - dressing something up as a metaphor adds a whole lot more dimension. One could say "oh yes, I'm a hypocrite" but to describe as one's self as an acrobat, ie someone who's constantly twisting and turning or going through hurdles, really makes it hit home of how much of a hypocrite Bono thought of himself to be.

Anyway, here's one of the reasons why I still buy CDs - they're like a mini time travel machine. I can open up the sleeve and see in the notes addresses to Amnesty International, Greenpeace, etc. I can see photos of the band during that time. And these guys gave us a good sleeve, with lyrics and lots of photographs. You can't get any of that with a bunch of mp3s, and you'd forget you have these songs since they're just digital files. With CDs, I can see what music I have right in front of me, and I'm a lot more likely to listen to whole albums rather than just random tunes.

While I'm not a huge fan of U2, apart from this album and some other songs of theirs, I do appreciate that the band has been around for so long and that its always been the same 4 blokes. Good for them.

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sidenote - after I watched Melancholia a couple years ago I thought "Until the End of the World" should've been on that film's soundtrack. Woulda been perfect!

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Here's a cool video of the band performing one of the songs from the album, near Detroit, and this was broadcast live during the VMA's, or nowadays, we'd say, livestreamed. Pretty nifty for back then.

- Cross-posted on The Ashraf Obsession

Close Call in The Suburbs

There are lots of popular bands that I've heard a lot about but never made the effort to listen to. One of them is Arcade Fire (who I keep confusing with Arctic Monkeys - shows you how much I don't make an effort to follow this stuff - if you're a fan of either of these bands I'm sure you're laughing at me, go ahead.) Earlier today I listened to the first Arcade Fire song I've ever heard, while ironing. It's their song "The Suburbs" which comes with a very interesting video, which I haven't been able to figure out yet:

I listened to some of the album via Grooveshark (a great site to stream music) and might pick it up someday, I put it on my list.

Another band I've heard a lot about over the years but never paid attention to is Rilo Kiley. I did see them play actually; back when I liked Coldplay, I went to a Coldplay concert many years ago and Rilo were the opening act. I wasn't impressed unfortunately. But things change. A few months ago my coworker was listening to some tunes and I asked what he was listening to. I was surprised he said it was Rilo Kiley, here's a track off the album he was playing:





This album Under the Blacklight is very country-ish (at least to me). I've listened to the album (again, via Grooveshark) a bunch of times now and quite like it and find the country tracks very charming, so this album is also on my list of CDs to get! That's right, CDs! I don't care what year it is.

Have a lot more indie stuff to post about soon.

- cross-posted on The Ashraf Obsession 

Small Delights

Here's the trailer for my latest short film. You can find more info on the film here:

smalldelightsfilm.com
facebook.com/smalldelightsfilm

Thanks for watching! I spent just over a year and a half on this film. I hope to show it to audiences soon inshallah. 

Sufismo

I took this grainy photo from my cellphone a few months ago at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square. I had put the two labels together and my friend watched me do so with amusement. I later put the photo on facebook and it got a fair amount of attention. Months later, I've decided to actually write about why I took this photo.

I've been interested in what is known as Sufism for some time and I'll be honest, I still don't really know what it is. What exactly is Sufism, and what makes someone a Sufi? Does someone have to be part of an Order to be a Sufi? Is it something that someone studies, or is it more of a state of mind? And does someone have to study in order to achieve that state of mind?

I've been having these questions (and other questions about Islam) for a couple years or so now, and along the way I've been to some Sufi gatherings, in an attempt to learn a bit more, and I've continued along in my journey.

What I realized is, is that I kept coming back to this same thought: aren't Sufis basically just trying to get closer to God? Various orders have various means of doing so, but isn't it all just essentially a way to seek God, to become closer to God? And isn't that what Muslims do in general, attempt to become closer to God, through actions and rememberance?

So, why separate the two? If being a Sufi is about seeking to become closer to God, and if just being a Muslim in general is also about seeking to become closer to God, does this make all Muslims Sufis? And if so, then the terms are just redundant at that point aren't they? Thus there's no need to differentiate between Sufis and all other Muslims, since we're all trying to become closer to God. Or we can keep the labels to differentiate between practices if needed, but basically the reason for the practices are the same: becoming closer to Allah.

And so that was my main reason for putting the two labels of Islam and Sufism together on this bookcase at B&N. Because they're not separate religions, Sufism is a part of Islam and indeed I believe, is just Islam.

I could be wrong. I could be very, very wrong and maybe I don't understand Sufism at all. But at least for me, Islam is about our relationship with God, and our relationships with people. And with our relationship with God, we seek to become closer to God. It's not just about the rules, which people get hung up on, both Muslim and non-Muslim. It's about showing gratitude and respect and using the "rules" or commands, such as praying 5 times a day and abstaining from certain things, to show that gratitude and respect to God, and coupled with sincere intentions and reflections inshallah we can become closer to our Creator. And I think that's what Sufis are doing, and so perhaps all Muslims are Sufi Muslims, or we are all just Muslims.

Please feel free to agree or disagree with me. I'm writing and putting this out there in an attempt to gather some of my thoughts and come to a better understanding myself. 


** In case you're wondering, I started using the term "Sufismo" (Sufism in Spanish) a few years ago. I don't speak any Spanish at all. I took a class in Mexican and Brazilian Cinema in college and heard words like "Mexicanismo"and "Machismo" all the time and they got stuck in my head, and so I started to say other words like that, like Sufismo.

RBMA Video: 12 Years of DFA

RBMA has been in town in NYC this month. Unfortunately I've been too busy with life to go to their events (and I'm also a wallflower so I avoid dance parties) and the one thing I was thinking of going to with Lee Scratch Perry is now sold out. Oh well! Life moves on.

I did come across this nifty RBMA video which is about DFA Records in NYC. When the Rapture came out with "House of Jealous Lovers" about 10 years ago I did buy the album coz I thought I'd like it. I didn't unfortunately and its one of those CDs that's gotten quite dusty over the years. So I'm not really a DFA fan, but some of the tunes in the video sound quite nifty so maybe I'll check out some of the artists who are mentioned. Anyway this is a great little film that's very well-made, and is quite funny as well. I think what really makes this film work is the hilarious editing. Enjoy.
Film and music! My two favourite things!
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- cross-posted on The Ashraf Obsession