I live here for now.

A cool colour map of the island of Montreal. c/o Google and Spacing.

Stream Bon Iver’s new EP nowish.

Justin Vernon, aka Bon Iver has given me and millions of others extreme joy in 2008 by releasing For Emma, Forever Ago.  I talk about him too much, but his new EP is streaming for free on MySpizz right now, called Blood Bank.  Two tracks through, so far so jiminy crickets.

It follows the same vibe as his LP, but the arrangements seem much beefier this time around – a bit more drums, piano, electrified country guitars so far.  And AutoTune?  It’s like a joke between Imogen Heap and every hip hop star that feels like it.  Potentially a good sense of humour, potentially dammit.

Eno and Israel.

Brian Eno, one of my primary musical heroes, godfather of ambient music, of all people has his .02 on the current Israel/Palestine/Gaza situation.

“Gaza is now an experiment in provocation. Stuff one and a half million people into a tiny space, stifle their access to water, electricity, food and medical treatment, destroy their livelihoods, and humiliate them regularly…and, surprise, surprise – they turn hostile. Now why would you want to make that experiment?”

Now this is a quote a bit out of context, but he raises some valid points in his speech.  One automatically feels stifled in North America when questioning the actions of Israel, and we are a product of the bias in North American, pro-Israel anti-Islam media.  I feel some publications actually do some good in questioning Israel’s decisions, albeit extreme at times.  Israel has one of the strongest militaries in the world, and it’s misguided to think they have done everything correctly. [see Iraq].   Hamas is not a lollipop sort of group either – they deny the Holocaust, refuse to accept Israeli rights, and use extreme violence.

I can’t comment too intensely on the issue – we all know that both sides are at fault.  What’s even more awful is that as a citizen of a country not steeped in military, I feel my empathy is drained when I hear about more deaths on the strip.  I think it’s because I just don’t understand how conflicts can go on for so long with little relent or compromise.   Is religion the main culprit?  Not to me.  I think a better word for the problem is fundamentalism, not religion.

Here’s Eno’s speech at a rally:

[via Stereogum]