June 6, 2013 – LonelyMachines

This Is Where Party Loyalty Gets You

I’m sure everyone’s heard that FISA granted the NSA authority to collect Verizon call records. Let’s all do jazz hands and scream at the top of our lungs. Oh, the indignation!

Now let’s calm down and look at who voted to extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Here are the tallies for the House and the Senate. That’s an awful lot of red in the yea column, isn’t it? There’s Chambliss and Isakson voting for it. There are Kingston, Westmoreland, Price, Linder, Broun, Deal, and Gingrey.

Blasted Democrats! I mean…oh, wait. The only Georgia representatives to vote against it were Hank Jones and John Lewis.

This is proof that party loyalty gets us nowhere when it comes to civil liberties. You have to know your legislators’ records, you have to vote intelligently, and you have to hold their feet to the fire. That, or you can check the pretty boxes by color and see where that lands us.

Music

Review: Tomorrow’s Harvest by Boards of Canada

It’s been seven years since we last heard from Boards of Canada, and not much has changed. At least they’ve ignored the whole dubstep thing.

It may be selfish to expect progress or surprises, but Sandison and Eoin can be understood for sticking with what works. They pick up right where the excellent Trans Canada Highway left off. Overall, it’s less bland and rambly than The Campfire Headphase and less scattershot than Geogaddi.

They take their time building momentum, leading off with two intro tracks. “Reach for the Dead” is a mournful piece that doesn’t really pick up speed until the halfway mark. “Jacquard Causeway” feels like an odd waltz until the melody coalesces and you realize you’ve been listening to a lurching 4/4 beat the entire time. It’s the most unique thing they’ve done in awhile. “Cold Earth” is impeccable track, but it’s nothing we haven’t heard from them before, and this is part of the problem.

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