The In December video has arrived! Enjoy the entrancing video images courtesy of the slick online tool Rotor.
By the way, who needs YouTube? If you are in to those fancy new blockchain thingys, like Bitcoin, definitely check out Odysee. It is the next generation of video streaming, and is uncensorable. If you are always getting censored because of your controversial product review, cat, or dance videos, consider moving to Odysee.
Save the date: August 4! It will be a wedding of a massive ROCK sledgehammer to your skull. I am pleased to share a preview of what the song sounds like mixed and mastered along with the album artwork!
For my email subscribers, the link to the song preview may not have come through correctly! Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iacLo4fJbJ8
And here it is again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iacLo4fJbJ8
And just to be sure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iacLo4fJbJ8
I am pleased to share that my new song “In December” will be out soon! I’m pulling out all the stops for this one, having bought some nicer recording equipment and hiring a professional studio engineer*. He recorded the drums, and as we speak he is doing the mixing and mastering. I’ve heard a first draft of his mix, and let me say….you may just want to pre-emptively wet your pants a bit. It sounds so good.
Here is a rough, unmixed preview:
Stay tuned!
*Not to be confused with those engineers who drive trains
It’s been a while, but I thought this was worth sharing with you. I have a new clothing line inspired by my song Send In the Tanks!
Find this shirt plus ladies shirts and several other designs at my CafePress.com store!
Keep watching this space, since I will have some exciting things coming up soon!
During the Christmas season, we are bombarded with Christmas music constantly. But haven’t you ever sat down and pondered how you could apply Mises to “Merry Christmas”?
Is Santa a libertarian? It depends on the song. Check out my latest Spotify playlist to find out. Lots of Christmas tunes plus the all season Libertarian-fermented rock.
| O Holy Night | Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother; And in His name all oppression shall cease. | |
| Hark the Herald Angels Sing | Peace on earth and mercy mild | |
| You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch | There are many Grinches going around this year imposing lockdowns and hobbling the Christmases of many | |
| The Kinks | Father Christmas | A story of a man participating in peaceful commerce, when someone comes and demands his money by force. Hmmm, we’ve seen this movie before. |
| O Come, O Come Emmanuel | Ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here | |
| Santa Claus is Coming to Town | “He sees when you are sleeping, He knows when you’re awake, He knows if you been good or bad, So be good for goodness sake” – Is this not a description of the nanny surveillance state? Santa is apparently some NSA program Snowden has yet to uncover. Super-creepy. | |
| Elvis Presley | Blue Christmas | “You’ll be doing alright in your Christmas of white, but I’ll have a blue Christmas.” It is obviously unjust that one should have a white Christmas while someone else has a blue Christmas. Therefore, the state needs to step in and give everyone a blue Christmas. |
| The Ramones | Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight) | Christmas is a great time to adopt the non-aggression principle. |
| The Beach Boys | Little Saint Nick | Up at the north pole, there are no government roads or speed limits. Santa is able to go “haulin’ through the snow at a frightening speed.” He accepts the risks and reaps the benefits. Santa basically lives in a state of libertarian anarchy. |
| Weird Al | Christmas at Ground Zero | We need a more peaceful foreign policy so this doesn’t happen. |
| John Lennon | Happy Xmas (War Is Over) | War is over over if you want it |
| Spinal Tap | Christmas With the Devil | “The angels are in chains” – don’t let the evils of statism take over your holiday. |
The Christmas Truce
In the spirit of giving, place accept this free download of my song, The Christmas Truce. If you don’t know the story, it’s an amazing true tale that happened during World War 1, involving enemy armies celebrating together.
I wish you and yours a healthy and happy Christmas season, or whatever other holiday you’d like to celebrate!
At long last, my new song Shirley, You Must Be Joking is here! Don’t be conservative on the listens.
I had the great pleasure to go on the Peace Freqs podcast recently! I had a freewheeling, fun conversation with husband and wife team Nick and Lizzy. They have a great thing going there, and I’m very grateful for their digital hospitality. Please check them out on your favorite pod-catcher and subscribe!
Be advised, a few stray words here and there may not be kid-friendly.
I had the immense privilege recently of going on the Bob Murphy Show podcast and talking about the Top 10 Libertarian Rock Bands!
https://www.bobmurphyshow.com/ep-65-matt-bankert-makes-his-case-for-top-ten-libertarian-rock-bands/
Bob is a PhD economist and political philosophy super-hero. For some reason, he agreed to talk to me. I had a blast.
If you are just joining, PLEASE make sure you see my recent post about my new song, Enlighten Me:
Weezer – the Black Album
Spoiler alert: It has been over 22 years since the Blue album and Pinkerton were released. The Black album is different than those albums. Very different – it is pure, unvarnished pop. There is very little grungy, power-chord rock to be found, if at all. Those who expect all of Weezer’s 12 albums to sound like their first two albums from the mid-90s will be disappointed or angry or maybe even feel betrayed. There are apparently many such people. In fact, I admittedly struggle with similar feelings from time to time. Are such feelings valid?
I think this is an important question, and I think the important answer is “not necessarily.” It is probably a little unrealistic and entitled to require Weezer to continue writing “Say It Ain’t So” over and over again. If they want to make different-sounding music, and risk alienating certain fans, who is to say they can’t?
The real question should not be, “does the album meet the genre requirements I have” but “is the album any good?” I think the answer to that is “Yes, it’s actually pretty good.” As a pop fan would want, there are plenty of catchy choruses and lyrical themes to help escape the mundane for a while. There are scenes of everyday life, romance, loneliness, and drugs. Some highlights are the disco vibe of “Livin’ In LA”, the 90’s pop snark of “I’m Just Being Honest”, and the Katy Perry beat of “The Prince Who WantedEverything.” On top of those, the video for “High As a Kite” is hilarious. You’ve never seen Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood quite like this.
Having caught a night of Weezer’s 2019 tour, I’m quite pleased that deep down, they still know how to rock, and they know what the people want. They performed only one song from their new album compared to four songs from the Blue album. They sounded great, and connected with the audience well. Having opened with a barbershop quartet version of their classic hit, "Buddy Holly," it’s obvious that they still have that playfulness that made them so appealing at the start. The Weezer band members are pushing 50. Sure, many of us long for the Weezer from when we were adolescents. But given Weezer’s carefree, good-humored, and "I’ll-make-the-music-I-want" attitude, it looks like they are still in touch with their adolescent side, too.
============