Jesse Elliott, These United States

“2 of us were driving across the rainy black West Virginia night, from DC to Kentucky, to pick up 2 other of us. By the end of the night, 2 am, when we finally hit Kentucky, the sky was clear for a million miles off, and all those good stars had finally started to sink in.” Pictured from left to right are J. Tom Hnatow, Robby Cosenza, Jesse Elliot, and Justin Craig of These United States, in Chicago the day after the election. You can read Jesse’s thoughts on Obama over at Largehearted Boy’s Why Obama column.

These United States will be playing The Knitting Factory on November 19th, and you can bet I’m excited! This past Saturday, the band made a wonderful appearance on NPR’s All Things Considered. Listen to Jesse discuss the band’s name, influences, coping with too much information, and lyrics, amongst other things.  J. Tom Hnatow and drummer Robby Cosenza were present as well, and the three played a few songs live. mp3 mp3

Emily Blong of My Velcroe

“I was sitting with my roommate in the basement of a house in Echo Park where we live, in his room on a pile of his smelly clothes watching the action online on his laptop.  We were drinking sifters (?) of brandy and hi-fiving each other every time another state on the map turned blue… what an exciting night. Maybe I’m just a little emotional right now, but I still tear up when I hear that speech. Seeing the cynics become patriots is a rare and beautiful sight–and to feel hope for the first time is almost frightening… I just hope the flame won’t die so easy and the people will take this new fire to empower themselves in political action, because Obama will disappoint us if we let him…” mp3

Tom Inhaler

“I was in NH, volunteering for Obama. I had picked up my friend Jared Paul on Monday, volunteered all day on Monday, found a place to crash in Manchester, NH on Monday night, and spent all day Tuesday volunteering as well, canvassing and bringing people to the polls.” mp3

::: This is a follow-up to Where Were You When Obama Won? Part 1 :::

Cory Chisel
“I had a bottle of wine for the stress… and then I either got pretty drunk or the news station I was watching was beaming in holographic correspondents to tell me my prayers had been answered…” Download Cory’s cover of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come”

Darcy James Argue
“On Nov. 4, I dragged my ass out of bed early, hopped on a bus to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and spent the day canvassing on the South Side. The energy and organization were incredible, the people I talked to were all very excited about voting, and by the end of the day I was feeling guardedly optimistic. On the bus back to NYC, we learned that Obama had won Pennsylvania and there was much rejoicing–McCain had gambled everything on pulling off an upset in PA and we’d done our bit to make sure that didn’t happen. The bus dropped us off in front of a midtown bar and my fellow canvassers and I set to drinking. Bourbon never tasted so good.” mp3

Luke Rathborne

“You know, I had the weirdest experience when the election results were announced. I didn’t even know it happened, but I had a feeling something happened. I was listening to a song I was working on in a studio, and looking at a composer’s score that was sitting right in front of me. And when I walked out onto Broadway 5 minutes later I realized something had happened. That Obama had won.” mp3 | Luke’s playing a show at the lovely Le Poisson Rouge on Tuesday, November 11. Members of Antony and the Johnsons will join him. Get tickets.

Eric of The Secret Life of Sofia

“We had just recently finished up at our rehearsal space… Kyle went out to a bar to watch the results. I was at home eating leftover candy corn in front of the tv. Fraser and Chris were getting a ride home from Steve, who was trying his best not to run people over as they were screaming on the streets.” mp3

Todd Zuniga of Opium Magazine
“I was at Stephen Pierson’s (of Canteen Magazine), soused on wine, and eager for champagne. I was butterfly-stomached and nervous, reticent to believe. Then it happened, and wild cheering broke out, hugs. I called my mom, who sounded so happy. I loved that part of it, the most important woman of my life so hopeful and thrilled.”

Opium is hosting “the biggest, greatest, weirdest, most brilliant” installment of Literary Death Match on Tuesday, November 11. This event is free. See details.

Lucian of Fiasco

“It’s actually kind of lame. I was on facebook and my mom called me and said “MCCAIN CONCEDED!” and I ran downstairs and freaked. Then I called Julian and I confirmed for him that McCain conceded.” mp3

Brad and Jessica of This Frontier Needs Heroes

“We were recently at the South Carolina State fair while on tour, and we actually got the chance to meet Obama. He was very interesting and answered all our questions. We were very sad to hear that South Carolina didn’t go to Obama, but we played a really awesome show at the Whig in Columbia a really super cool underground bar underneath the television station right across the street from the statehouse!” mp3

Karl of Loudest Boom Bah Yea

“Unfortunately, Loudest Boom Bah Yea was divided by the mighty Pacific Ocean on election night. Chris is on an Asian tour with +/- (plus/minus), and I was blowing my nose at home in my jammies watching the results with a sinus infection. Officially, we are ecstatic!!! And for more than just the obvious reasons… We know that Obama likes double drumset bands, and even talked about forming his own with Nancy Pelosi. I guess he’s trying to give Bill Clinton a run for his money with his Sax playing. ‘Change we can believe in,’ Obama said. I’m sure he was referring to the double drumset band idea.” mp3

Amanda Stern, author, and organizer/host of Happy Ending Reading Series
I was with friends watching at my friend Laurie’s in our neighborhood of Fort Greene, Brooklyn and then we took to the streets with hundreds of other people and danced and greeted incoming cars in front of Moe’s on Lafayette Avenue and then in front of Madiba on Dekalb Avenue.

Zach Glass of Bugs in the Dark

“Bugs in the Dark was chillin’ at our producers’ spot in Brooklyn with some wine and pregnant ladies! We were SO excited – so were the pregnant ladies!” mp3 | The band’s playing at the Delancey on December 13th.

Christina Courtin

“On election night, I was at my good friend Johnny Gandelsman’s house. We celebrated the Obama victory into the night. Everyone was all smiles. The pictures really say it all…” mp3

Björn Sonnenberg of Locas In Love (Cologne, Germany)

“I woke up at around 4 am in the morning (which would be 10 pm in NY) and checked the score on several websites; it was looking good for Mr. Obama and I went back to bed. When I woke up again 40 minutes later, McCain had scored more points, so I kept hitting the renew-button in the browser many, many times because I found the thought too unsettling to go back to sleep that McCain might win after all. This went on and on and I opened new websites constantly, hoping to find the one that would deliver the information quicker than all the others. And preferably the information that I craved to see. Suddenly Obama had 287 points and it seemed that he had won. I rushed to the other room, turned on the TV and switched channels all the time settling on CNN where it was declared that Mr Obama just had been elected. I immediately called Peter in Brideport, CT and asked: Peter, is it true what I just saw on TV? And with so much relief in his voice he said: yes, Bjorn, it’s over. It’s done. This is a good day, we have done it. And I said: I am so happy for you personally, I know it would have broken your heart if this again wouldn’t have worked out. And he said: yes, my head would have exploded.

Then I saw the speeches McCain and Obama gave and was touched by everything, but that happens when I am very tired and excited at the same time, I get emotional. I sent emails to all our friends in America who all replied very excitedly and relieved. I woke up Stefanie and told her that Mr Obama had won, that it wasn’t close at all, how happy Peter is and how overwhelming the moment was. I feel it was most appropriate that Mr Obama mentioned the fall of the Berlin wall in his speech: I recall this as a defining moment in the part of history that I have witnessed, too, being a 9 year old child in Germany. The excitement of the moment, the feeling that things can change and the hope that they might even change for better. I didn’t think so much about how this would affect the world or me but I knew that this is an important moment for our friends in America, a cleansing moment and that made me so happy that now, after two days I still get all sentimental thinking about it. It’s as if young Boris Becker returned and won Wimbledon again but 20 times as big: maybe the world won’t change so much, maybe idiots will stay idiots – but there is a lovely potential in clinging to the thought of for once not having been defeated by the powers that be, the backwards, evil, conservative forces, the bad guys that almost always win.

And if welcoming Mr Obama makes me and my friends here in Germany and in the USA Socialists and terrorists, then so be it and I welcome my comrade Mr President with my fist clenched in the air!”

Posted is a song about “starting anew”, according to the band. Download it here.

Thom of Bon Savants

“I planned to be at the North Miami Obama campaign headquarters where I’d been volunteering November 1 – 3 to get-out-the-vote. But by election night I found myself unexpectedly in Salem, Oregon at the Marion County Democrats party, a few blocks from the hospital where my grandmother was spending her final days. The entertainment for the evening was a handful of lip-syncing performances by burly cross-dressers, and when that finished my youngest sister and I kept glued to the only working television in our corner of the room. After the west coast polls closed and the election was called we sprinted back to the hospital to listen to the acceptance speech with our grandmother, father, and 4 other siblings. I missed the electric exuberance of the celebration in Miami, but it meant much more to share the moment with family.” mp3

Eliot of Glassghost and Flying

“I was in a cab on my way to a bar called Soda Bar in Fort Greene. When we got out of the cab we heard a huge roar coming from the corner of the street. Then, I saw a mass of people running towards me in PURE ELATION. Then I heard roars from other parts of the street. Then someone started blaring Aretha Franklin’s ‘RESPECT’ from their house stereo. Then people started dancing and drinking in the streets. It felt like there were no rules for a short period of time. LAWLESS. As the party was happening, a cop car came by. To everyone’s surprise, the car honked, as if they approved of the LAWLESSNESS. Awesome! It felt like a sports event, which felt a little weird at times, because of the sensationalism of it. But the fact was it WAS sensational, and emotional and deeply moving. I did shed a tear and the spirit of Love did appear.” mp3

Aerial East

“On election night I was stuck serving drinks to dispirited americans. I stayed glued to the television from seven until eight forty-five when I had to hop in a cab and head to the bar where I make my living. When Obama was announced I sat in a kitchen in a dark basement in the west village tuning in to 77.something AM with the few co-workers of mine with voting privileges. I had some tequila to celebrate and defended Obama against the mild dampening cynicism that seemed to be the staff consensus. The big crazy profitable election celebration party we were hoping for never really showed up and I spent the night wishing I was at the campaign party in PA with my ecstatic boyfriend, one of Obama’s volunteers. The night was sprinkled with some toasts to Obama, some excited text messages, some stories of celebrations in the streets, some blue and red pins, dancing, alcohol, and I went home with some tax free cash in my pocket, dreaming of healthcare and peace.” mp3

Jon Alvarez of the Loom

“On Election Night, [wife] Nancy and I hosted a Keg-Lection Party at our house. We wanted to be around as many people as possible, and have as much alcohol on hand as possible – we figured both would serve us well in either victory or defeat. We invited 30 people. By 8 or 9pm, there were almost 40 people in the house, our living room was packed, the music was getting louder, and people were getting drunker. We watched our tiny TV with bunny ear antenna, and everytime a state was called, we would either cheer or boo, and then we posted results on a giant homemade US map hanging on our living room wall (we put a picture of obama or mccain on each state they would win). When they called Ohio for Obama, we went crazy. We knew it was close, but we were still anxious as hell. Pretty soon people were standing on chairs to see the TV. We turned up the music. Then they called Virginia, and we all screamed louder. It was really going to happen, wasn’t it? At this point, isn’t it math? Nail-bitingly close. Agh, just keep watching! Then it happened. They called the whole election. We went completely freaking insane. Everyone yelling. It was that kind of yell that produced a volume that couldn’t possibly get any louder, like the whole room was filled up with sound. We stood on tables, chairs, couches, jumping up and down, dancing, hugging, laughing, crying. Nancy said she yelped like a winner of a game show – 5 successive screams with all those crazy jerky body movements to go with it. We all just lost it. It was an awesome moment. We played Dan’s iPod “election mix” with songs like “The final countdown”. The party spilled into the streets and people started skateboarding down the block on China’s Ninja Turtle Pizza Thrower. Dan and I skated all the way down the hill to the end of our block, then to the next block, all the way screaming Obamaaaaaaaaaaaaa! A wonderful night.” mp3

Todd Goldstein of Arms

“Eating soup dumplings in Brooklyn, watching the election results on a tiny TV. Free beers when Obama won!!” Arms is currently on a mini European tour. mp3

::: Update: Where Were You When Obama Won, Part 2 :::

Ronnie ‘Woo Woo’ of the Chicago Cubs fame is a popular local figure:

The mother and daughter on the left came all the way from France. Woman on the right wears “Alaskans for Obama” button.

And then, victory!

Heading back home:

The morning after… newspapers sell out fast.

Ah, bliss:

Let’s pretend “American” means “humanist” and we’re all good. Go Obama.

Animal Collective: For Reverend Green
Múm: They Made Frogs Smoke ‘Til They Exploded
Beirut: My Family’s Role In The World Revolution
Au: RR vs. D
The Books: Tokyo
Broken Social Scene: Our Faces Split The Coast In Half
Sufjan Stevens: Your Land
Kocani Orkestar: Siki Siki Baba

Photo credit: “A grief stricken American infantryman whose buddy has been killed in action is comforted by another soldier. In the background a corpsman methodically fills out casualty tags, Haktong-ni area Korea.” By Sfc. Al Chang, August 28, 1950. National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer

Buy music from these fabulous bands, artist names are linked to albums.

Obama, Clinton and What Has Been Achieved

The longest, most demographically-difficult and highest-turnout campaign ever for the presidential nomination of an American political party was settled Tuesday night when Barack Obama — the son of an African immigrant and a daughter of rural Kansas — secured sufficient delegate support to assure that he will be selected as the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.

Carter tells Barack Obama not to pick Hillary Clinton

“I think it would be the worst mistake that could be made,” said Carter. “That would just accumulate the negative aspects of both candidates.”

Barack Obama claims the Democratic nomination, but Hillary Clinton has not yet conceded

Strangely, Mrs Clinton said she would make no decision on Tuesday. It is anyway out of her hands. As the polls closed in the two western states, superdelegates announced their support for Mr Obama in droves, giving him well over a majority of all delegates.