by JACK OATMON

Would that be the wine-slicked promise we make to ourselves on New Year’s Eve as we croon away all the gravel and potholes of roads past, lament the waning sheen of days gone by and peer bleary-eyed toward coming glory? The resolve to be better. Perhaps it’s the final stamp of unanimity we place on the conflicts and discord that have challenged and refined our intellects and civilization over the course of time. The resolving of problems. Or is it the clarity and bit-rate at which we view the future careening at us, full of incredible potential for both prosperity and tribulation? The resolution of our vision.

Disco Volante is coming back with some room for resolution this year, complete with a computer and an Internet connection (finally! On that note, I’d like to thank everyone who read the low-tech, pants-seat flown Disco Volante of 2006), not to mention a few exciting new espionage tools. Aside from the toys, I’ve also had the time to re-think my strategy and come up with some clever ideas for innovative mischief and journalistic shenanigans over the coming months. In that spirit, I’ll boldly purport that this column will be approaching its resolutions from all three aforementioned angles, attempting to present yet more relevant news and insights while exercising a sharper perception of developments in pop culture and its subsets, thanks to the ironing out of various wrinkles in its fabric.

If what’s been revealed to me so far of 2007’s music is any indication of things to come, we’re in for a ride this year. Over the not-so-mysteriously warm holidays, I managed to hornswoggle some leaked copies of albums pending from some of my favourite bands. Although I’m still on the hunt for a full, working copy of Bloc Party’s A Weekend in the City, I do happen to know that, at very least, the available remixes are tantalizing. Furthermore, LCD Soundsystem’s second full-length, Sound of Silver, turns out to be a bold foray into pop territory, with fully fleshed-out grooves that shed the band’s former rawness without compromising too much artistic ingenuity. The real gem, however, is !!!’s fourth proper release, Myth Takes, wherein they wield their emotive psychedelia to its fullest potential yet, combining their uncanny control over ambient change-ups with genre blends even more ambitious than their previous releases. They’ve also happily bumped up the philosophy factor. The rate at which this band gets more listenable, without becoming socially rational, is mind-boggling. Do everything in your power to obtain Myth Takes, but remember to buy the disc when it comes out to get the full spectrum of sound quality (you’re gonna need it), and support !!!’s under-sung efforts.

I sincerely wish you a wonderful new year, and hope you take your resolutions and mine for what they’re worth, in all the seriousness you can muster, buffered by as much foolishness as you can afford yourself.

BIG IN 007… jack.oatmon@gmail.com

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