Am I a traitor to my nation (culturally)?

To which the simple answer is: YES. This simple answer coming of course from certain frameworks quick to brand people nationalistic or not. But I feel that asking this question is important, and it brings up a number of very interesting issues. 

The Importance of Not Censoring Cee Lo When He Sings “Fuck You”

(A downloadable version of this is available on my scribd feed)

Censorship is and always has been a concern. What we can allow in film, television, music, print, and other media is always something that is negotiated by social norms and mores, values, and usually what we would be willing to expose others to. There are some things, I believe, which will always be wrong and taboo (snuff, child pornography, other similar things) and then there are other things which are commonly available but based on my aesthetics and personal values I find disgusting and would much rather not ever see.

Arcade Fire’s Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountain)

Arcade Fire’s new album, The Suburbs has a great mix of different styles of music, that familiar way that Arcade Fire has of building up into massive movements, and the ever-intelligent lyricism.

The standout for me has been “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains).” Though it could be argued whether this is the album’s best track, it’s very clear that its placement, and how it comes into the album, is perfect. After an album of a range of emotions, the sad and happy, the lonely and bright, and after the dirge-like “Sprawl I (Flatland)” that precedes it, “Sprawl II” breaks through the whole thing, punching this massive light into the depths. It operates, effectively, as a crescendo. Though there is a track that follows it, that track serves almost like a score, that denouement to the climax of “Sprawl II.”