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June 30, 2004
Bunnies Don't Make Good Pets
In an unfortunate bit of news, Loretta Lynn has had to cancel some recent engagements because she is recovering from double pneumonia.
In even more unfortunate news, the Massachussettes First Court of Appeals has upheld the ruling that an email provider did not break the law when he intercepted and read thousands of his users' emails to gain a competitive advantage in his bookselling business. Granted, he may not have broken the law according to the strictures of the Wiretap Act, but should electronic mail not be afforded the same protection under the law as traditional mail?
Posted in Private Eyes Are Watching You | 30 June 2004 at 03:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (32) | Link
June 29, 2004
Rock 'n' Roll Around My Head
A blogger I greatly admire posted a list of his top albums (thus far) of 2004. I was disappointed with his selections, so I thought I would make a list of my own to honor all the great releases that have come out this year.
My picks for the top five albums of 2004, January-June, in alphabetical order:
01. Battles—EP C
"Hi/Lo," "Hi/Lo," the only song you need to know.
02. Jay Farrar—Stone, Steel & Bright Lights
And all this time I thought he'd drowned his talent in beer.
03. Loretta Lynn—Van Lear Rose
If you don't own this, you should be ashamed.
04. Morrissey—You Are the Quarry
I gave up on him after Kill Uncle but this album reaffirms my faith.
05. Maritime—Glass Floor
It's a great album if you like your music really poppy.
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 29 June 2004 at 11:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (4) | Link
Infinity in Old Blue Jeans
Proving yet again that they are not the prissy purveyors of feel-good pop songs they are oft made out to be, the Pet Shop Boys are back with a new project: a score to the 1925 Eisenstein film Battleship Potemkin, which will be performed live in London's Trafalgar Square on September 12. To make this tidbit even stranger, "The soundtrack will be orchestrated by German composer Torsten Rasch, who recently launched his live work, Mein Herz Bernnt, based on the music of hard rock band Rammstein." Um, okay.
Salon contributes to Jeff Tweedy's ego with a profile of his career from Uncle Tupelo through Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Is there a day that goes by where someone is not talking about this guy?
Apple has officially announced the impending release of Tiger, OS X v10.4; new functionality includes Dashboard, Spotlight, Automator and Safari RSS. I haven't decided if I'm going to upgrade again, but that RSS reader does sound awfully nice. I wouldn't scoff at a new 30-inch Cinema HD Display, either.
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 29 June 2004 at 03:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (52) | Link
June 28, 2004
Burning Down the House
The Kinks are getting even more re-release treatment: as previously reported, Village Green will be reissued this year, and to honor the 40th anniversary of the band, thirteen other albums are on the way to Super Audio reissue glory!
Oh boy! Another essential Talking Heads collection! We really don't have enough of those already. Thanks, Rhino!
A super limited edition Shellac LP sold for $810 on eBay. Apparently there are other Shellac fans out there still holding the torch aloft for the magic that is Steve Albini.
If you are an iTunes shopper who desires a more flexible backup option than just burning CDs, iTmsBackup is here for you. (For Mac OS X only.) {Via Signal-to-Noise}
Suddenly Deep Red makes so much more sense. Argento is among the masters of the Italian giallo, a specific kind of murder/mystery/suspense tale based on pulp fiction of the 1930s.
Cinematically the giallo, even from the earliest Bava-films up to Dario Argento’s latest, has always been highly stylised. Much attention is paid to photography and editing, which renders most gialli exciting mise-en-scene and narrative structures. Experiments with point-of-view-shots are common and much work often go into the murder scenes which unlike in most horror/thriller cinema have an active part in the story’s development and in the portraying of the killer. The soundtrack also plays a vital part in most gialli.
Forgive the grammar; the content is very enlightening. {Via Bitter Cinema, or blog-by-Sean-of-the-excellent-content}
Michael Moore will sleep well tonight: Fahrenheit 9/11 broke documentary sales records this weekend, beating out his own Bowling for Columbine to take top honors as the highest-grossing documentary of all time. And showing further proof that there are people with principles left in the world, some theaters flat-out ignored the MPAA and refused to enforce the R-rating on F9/11.
A bereaved mother in Sacramento purposefully disobeyed Pentagon policies regarding photos of caskets—namely, that they should not be taken nor published—and invited the press to be on hand when she picked up the body of her son at the airport. She openly encouraged those present to photograph the coffin and publish the pictures in protest against Pentagon policy and the war in Iraq.
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 28 June 2004 at 04:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (30) | Link
June 25, 2004
Better Than DJ Keoki
Everyone's favorite smug asshole—Vince Vaughn—is set to play Racer X in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of Speedracer. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. It could go either way. {Via Out of Focus}
Controversy generated by Fahrenheit 9/11 is heating up, as are box office receipts. The film has already broken sales records for two theaters in New York, which promises more rabblerousing to come.
In honor of the 25th anniversary of The Clash's London Calling, Epic will be re-releasing the album on September 21. Included in the reissue will be previously unreleased demo material that didn't make the original album, as well as a bonus DVD featuring "a 45-minute documentary that chronicles The Clash at the time of London Calling’s release. The bonus DVD includes recording studio footage and interviews with Jones, Topper Headon, Paul Simonon, the late Joe Strummer and a rare conversation with manager Kosmo Vinyl. Full song lyrics, a new essay and rare photos by The Clash band photographer Pennie Smith will be thrown in for good measure."
Color me excited!
This summer's Warped Tour, though suffering from a severe lack of talent, is at least acknowledging the use of file-sharing networks as a legitimate avenue to build a fanbase. Starting today, fans can purchase DVD-quality videos of Warped Tour bands and burn singles being distributed through AltNet. As a promotional item, this might have been better implemented a few months ago; I also fail to see why people who are already interested in going to the Warped Tour are going to pay more money to see videos of bands that they are already familiar with.
But I digress. At least they are trying.
Speaking (in a roundabout way) of copyright infringment, Wilco have been very bad boys.
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 25 June 2004 at 02:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (20) | Link
June 24, 2004
The Perfect Weapon
Oklahoma judge Donald D. Thompson has been given the boot because he was a little bit too friendly while on the bench. And by friendly, I mean shaved, oiled and pleasured himself. In court. Under the robe. During a trial.
The US Government is now attempting to hold P2P networks, among others, responsible for the unknowingly illegal acts of file traders.
In a prepared statement, Hatch compared peer-to-peer networks, which allow people to exchange any digital content over their computers, to villains of literature and film, including a character in the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang who lured youngsters into danger with false promises of free lollipops. He said the networks should be held liable for creating technologies that enable often unwitting consumers to house pirated materials on their computers.
We are, obviously, looking at a very black-and-white situation of good versus evil. P2P software developers are intentionally creating software that will lure the innocent public into doing illegal things. These are bad people who make good people do bad things.
Logically, this idea has so many holes it wouldn't even make a decent sponge. If I were to follow this line of thought, that would mean that my parents are responsible for the car accident I was in when I was 17 because they bought me the car that enabled me to be in the accident. This means that bar owners are responsible for drunk drivers because they sold them alcohol. This means that gun dealers are responsible for shooting deaths because they enabled the discharge of the weapon. Hell, even cows are responsible for being made into the hamburger meat that so vexed Morgan Spurlock and the legions of litigious McDonald's victims. Nothing that anyone engages in, knowingly or unknowingly, is actually their fault because we no longer have any personal accountability!
"Today, Kiss has become the worst possible parody of itself, a traveling Vegas act located at the intersection of nostalgia and bloated bombast. The band's contempt for its audience is palpable."
A former Kiss Army member makes a list of the ten worst moments in Kiss history. With so many to choose from, I can't believe he only picked ten. {Via largehearted boy}
For those who might be interested, former Jane's Addiction/Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist and Mr Carmen Electra Dave Navarro has a new project called Camp Freddy. It's a cover band featuring Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction), Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver), Billy Morrison (The Cult) and, uh, Donovan Leitch as band members, as well as a revolving cast of singers that appear with the band at will. It doesn't sound all that exciting to me, but I'm only here to serve.
Visit the blog for Dave's newest new project (not Camp Freddy).
Anyone who ever claimed that rock 'n' roll saves lives could be more right than they know. Thermoacoustic refrigeration is a process that uses soundwaves to generate a heat transfer in a chamber of noble gases. The process eliminates the need to use CFCs as coolants, thereby removing the environmentally hazardous by-products of current refrigeration techniques.
Just imagine: Judas Priest's "Hell Bent for Leather" chilling your beer. It's almost too good to be true.
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 24 June 2004 at 02:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (65) | Link
Let Me Go, Boys
More coverage of the DRM/software installation scandal surrounding To the 5 Boroughs, from Slashdot and The Register.
Apple, courtesy of meglomaniacal czar Steve Jobs, has been hard at work on patenting DRM technology, all the while keeping it a secret and professing to have no interest in it. And now they are actively working against creating a positive rights management solution. Bad Apple!
Meanwhile, the lucrative assets Apple is trying to protect sold 800,000 songs in the week since iTunes Europe opened for business.
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 24 June 2004 at 12:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (2) | Link
June 23, 2004
Just Like California
Beat Takeshi Kitano in a period samurai picture directed by Takashi Miike? My ears just perked up, though no significant details have yet become available.
Whoa! I usually don't go in for sequels, but apparently I was asleep at the wheel when Battle Royale II: Requiem was released.
Universal UK announced plans this week to revive the dead CD single. Such singles became defunct because the small size was not compatible with many CD players, rendering the discs useless. Universal's foray into necromancy relies upon some nifty cross-marketing: each disc will contain three songs and be enhanced, allowing the owner to download ringtones corresponding to the songs.
Because what the world really needs now is more annoying ringtones.
This seems to be the decade for intellectual property disputes. First came the RIAA and multiple lawsuits over copyright violations, then SCO Group's lawsuits over Linux, and now Fender is claiming that it owns the rights to the signature shape of the Stratocaster—which means that Fender is claiming common law trademark ownership for every guitar that has borrowed that shape, and is currently seeking legal ownership of those rights.
For other guitar makers like Gibson or ESP, this is a serious problem. The Stratocaster is such an icon—and one that has been repeatedly copied for 50 years—that the shape of virtually every electric guitar is descended from the Strat.
The Harvard Business School journal Working Knowledge followed up on the March paper by two researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, which contends that file sharing does not in fact damage record sales. An interview with study author Felix Oberholzer-Gee investigates the present and future of file sharing and its implications. {Via Blogcritics}
Reasons I hate Pitchfork, part 274: Corey & Corey.
From the website: "'Corey & Corey' is a staged, fictitious documentary detailing the exploits of two wannabe writers, Brent DiCrescenzo and Ken Shipley, as they strive to create and sell a fictional television show about the hypothetical lives of two washed-up teen stars, Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. The two couldn't be more different. Brent holds a degree in film production, but currently works in a chain bookstore. He is the pragmatic, rational superego of the duo, fastidiously keeping the television show on track. Ken thinks big, talks big, acts big, and rubs people the wrong way. He's constantly three or eight steps ahead, if not completely off the course. While Brent fact checks space-time theories for an episode where C+C dream of making a time travel sequel to License to Drive, Ken practices on a putt putt course, honing his career safety net - a membership on the Miniature Golf Association tour."
I hate to be the one to break the news, but mischieviously ironic representations of the '80s have been done so many times that there is no humor left to be had. Besides, aren't the Coreys already enough of a well-worn joke? Further—and more annoying yet—the fact that Brent is playing a dissatisfied, overeducated college-graduate-cum-struggling-writer strikes me as more fact that "fictitious." We are, after all, referring to the guy whose antics and falsified reporting forced Pitchfork to issue a retraction just two days ago.
To paraphrase The Ramones, gimme gimme shock treatment (with electrodes attached to Brent DiCrescenzo and Ken Shipley).
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 23 June 2004 at 12:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link
June 22, 2004
Sleep Around the Clock
Lollapalooza has been cancelled, citing lack of ticket sales. I am unsurprised by the news, citing a redundant festival lineup and the guarantee of overpriced water.
Wilco continues with the nefarious plot to merchandise their fans into a coma.
I take back any of my marginally forgiving comments about the RIAA, as they have gone ahead with a new round of 482 suits against alleged filesharers.
The Zombies 1966 album I Love You was re-released today, featuring extra tracks!
Halloween has to be the best possible setting for a horror convention, particularly when Horrorfind is set in the middle of the Arizona desert.
The only thing they are missing is the amazing celebrity lineup that will be at this summer's Maryland Horrorfind. Highlights include: George Romero; Jeffrey Combs (the fucking Re-Animator!); Rob Zombie; Kane Hodder; members of the original cast of Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead; Tom Savini; Bill Moseley, Sid Haig and Irwin Keyes of House of 1000 Corpses; and Angela Bettis of May.
Conventions like this are fun, if it is for no other reason than watching the obsessive fanboys who come along for the ride. My only complaint is the obvious lack of Gunnar Hansen.
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 22 June 2004 at 02:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (45) | Link
June 21, 2004
Bungalow Envy
Architects I would cut off an appendage for if they would design a house for me (death not withstanding); or, how I know Frank Gehry is a no-talent hack:
01. Charles & Henry Greene
02. Richard Neutra
03. Samuel Mockbee
04. Frank Lloyd Wright
05. A. Quincy Jones
06. R.M. Schindler
07. Charles Rennie Mackintosh
08. Pierre Koenig
Posted in General Nonsense | 21 June 2004 at 05:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link
Trash, Me and You
Proving themselves to be the unreliable journalists I have long said, Pitchfork posted a retraction this afternoon, setting the record straight on a falsified story that appeared in Brent DiCrescenzo's review of the Beastie Boys' To the 5 Boroughs.
Despite the fact that I own two Beastie Boys albums, I've never been a big fan. (Both albums were the result of my rather tragic tastes between ages 14 and 16.) The past few weeks have done much to underwhelm even my mediocre regard for them, beginning with the news that To the 5 Boroughs was locked against any potential copying via digital rights management technology. I don't particularly care to be treated like a criminal preemptively, so that tidbit didn't do much to bolster my opinion of the B-Boys. Now I've found that the CD, when inserted into a computer, installs software without the knowledge or permission of the computer's owner. This seems more than just a little bit sketchy to me. {Via kottke.org}
The internet is all right, especially if you like Merge Radio.
Because of the heightened media awareness of the nonsensical policies of the RIAA, it's easy to get down on the music industry as a whole. I oppose the RIAA's tactics on every level but the largest chunk of my resistance is based solely on fact that they are struggling to reinforce an outdated business model which can no longer support the weight of its own infrastructure. My annoyance with them for suing people over MP3s is just an outgrowth of that frustration. Cheesy as it is, I love music and I would really like for the RIAA to stop fucking things up in a field I happen to care about.
So it warms my heart a bit when I hear about things like the Digital Rights Agency, a group dedicated to streamlining the distribution of digital media and turning out a viable business model for our increasingly complex technological advancements. Sure, they aren't the only answer, nor probably even the best one—but they've recognized one important fact: all our base are belong to us.
The music industry is dead. Long live the music industry!
Very rarely do I ever make it out of the house and into a movie theater. It is primarily an issue of money—why pay $10 to see one movie when I could rent two or three for the same amount?—and secondarily the fact that I don't like being crammed into a movie theater with lots of people. I have personal space issues and I don't particularly like anyone I don't know coming within a foot of my person for more than a brief moment. Movie theaters, theme parks and airports upset me most in this respect, as they are full of PSIs (Personal Space Invaders).
Last night I overcame my dislike of such situations and waded through the hordes of teenage fashion victims to see Dodgeball. I was really looking forward to the movie beforehand in anticipation of seeing Rip Torn, Gary Cole and Stephen Root share the screen, but I was completely unprepared for the amazing string of cameos. I won't spoil the surprises, but the cameos are nearly as good as watching grown men get pummeled with wrenches and red rubber balls.
For all you spaghetti cinephiles, have a Fistful-of-Leone. {Via Bitter Cinema}
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 21 June 2004 at 03:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (4) | Link
June 18, 2004
Can't Live My Life Like a Pop Song
The 1968 Kinks album, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, is soon to be remastered and re-released by Sanctuary Records.
Ronnie! The Reagan State Funeral Drinking Game. Mmmm-mmmm. Gipperporn.
Amuse yourself with cubism, courtesy of Mr Picassohead.
And if one dead guy isn't enough to amuse you, check out The Wit and Wisdom of Martin Van Buren. {Via [information leafblower]}
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 18 June 2004 at 02:51 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (30) | Link
Psychos With Drum Machines
Another American hostage has been beheaded, this time by Al Qaeda militants in Saudi Arabia.
The pharmaceutical industry is already sitting pretty, raking in billions of dollars in profits each year through cozy associations with doctors and pharmacies. President Bush apparently intends to further line these ever-deepening pockets by instituting mental illness screening for the entire country. The initiative is aimed primarily at diagnosing and medicating children as early as possible in order to "change their trajectory" from aggressive to passive.
I would be one of the first people to admit that mental illness is widely misunderstood and stigmatized, but screening an entire country of people just to hand out more prescriptions for Prozac is a bit too close to Brave New World for me.
Antitrust legistlators in the EU are close to approving the merger that would unify Sony and Bertelsmann music groups into the world's largest music empire and make the Big Five into the Big Four. The deal was formerly opposed by the EU—which previously shut down the proposed merger of Warner Brothers and EMI music groups—and, if approved, means that Sony BMG will be the source of one out of every three CDs sold.
Speculation is brewing that 20% of Miramax's staff will be let go this year. It seems the brothers Weinstein have already exceeded their $700 million production budget, and will have to tighten the belt before the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
Sprint seems to be following suit, and will be cutting 1,100 jobs by mid-July.
Posted in Damn Nation! | 18 June 2004 at 11:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (58) | Link
June 17, 2004
Wealthy and Intrepid
Good news, sports fans! Johnny Ramone is not close to death, as previously suspected. Rather, it was complications from his cancer that put him in the hospital, and he could be released as early as tomorrow.
Bono, rockstar and social justice pioneer extraordinaire, has once again opened his big mouth (and wallet) to become a partner in the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Elevation Partners. The firm intends to put their money behind media and entertainment projects.
In other Silicon Valley news, Apple resellers have lodged a suit against Apple over the allegedly unfair competitive advantages given to Apple Stores. The suit also maintains that these tactics are driving independent retailers out of business.
I have some knowledge of this area, being acquainted with some Apple resellers, and the slow push that is taking out most independent retailers has been a long time coming. Apple started changing terms and renegotiating contracts last year and most of the changes reflected the priorities of Apple's direct sales efforts. Despite the complaints, most independent retailers signed on, so I can't say anyone should be surprised by Apple's favoritism—least of all the people who are being pushed out.
Stoners of the world, rejoice! I've found your ultimate vacation destination: the Jam Cruise.
Just the thought of being trapped on a boat with bands playing improvisational jam versions of "Another Brick in the Wall" makes me break out into a cold sweat.
Since reading this means that you probably have time to indulge in aimless meandering, check out The Illustrated Smiths. {Via [information leafblower]}
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 17 June 2004 at 12:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (20) | Link
June 16, 2004
Falling to Pieces
Exene Cervenka, frontwoman of X and ex-wife of Viggo Mortenson, has petitioned the courts to force Viggo to increase child support payments for their teenage son to six times the current amount.
Imagine how many hobbits you could buy with that kind of money.
It is apparently a bad week to be a former punk in LA—Johnny Ramone was hospitalized earlier this week and is reportedly in critical condition due to some sort of liver problem.
[Editor's note: Johnny Ramone has prostate cancer, not a liver problem as previously supposed.]
All over LA, protesters are getting cleverer and cleverer. {Via Cult of Mac}
10 Questions for David Sedaris from Time.
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 16 June 2004 at 12:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (8) | Link
June 15, 2004
Anna Get Your Gun
Here's something that's bound to stir up conversation. Please feel free to post your own lists in the comments. {Via [information leafblower]}
01. Your favorite song with the name of a city in the title or text.
"West Texas Teardrops" — Old 97s, Too Far To Care
02. A song you've listened to repeatedly when you were depressed at some point in your life.
"Street Spirit (Fade Out)" — Radiohead, The Bends
03. A song you purchased an album for, and wound up liking nothing but that one song.
"What Reason" — Deckard, Stereodreamscene
04. A great song in a language other than English.
"Bura Bura Bushi" — Eastern Youth, Eight Teeth to Eat You split
05. Your least favorite song on one of your favorite albums of all time.
"Cajun Song" — Gin Blossoms, New Miserable Experience
06. A song you like by someone you find physically unattractive or otherwise repellent.
"Beat On the Brat" — The Ramones
07. Your favorite song that has expletives in it (that's not by Liz Phair).
"Steve McQueen" — Drive-By Truckers, Gangstabilly
08. A song that sounds as if it's by someone British but isn't.
"Love and Death" — The Stills, Logic Will Break Your Heart
09. A song you like (possibly from your past) that took you forever to finally locate a copy of.
"Dancing in the Dark" — covered by Ted Leo
10. A song that reminds you of spring but doesn't mention spring at all.
"Easy" — Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, Honky Tonk Union
11. A song that sounds to you how being happy feels.
"Losing Light Fast" — Peter Searcy, Could You Please and Thank You
12. Your favorite song from a non-soundtrack compilation album.
"Grunge Couple" — that dog., DGC Rarities, Vol 1
13. A song that reminds you of high school.
"Good" — Better Than Ezra, Deluxe
14. A song that reminds you of college.
"King of Wishful Thinking" — Go West, Indian Summer
15. A song you actually like by an artist you otherwise dislike.
"Art Star" — The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, S/T
16. A song by a band that features three or more female members.
"Mission Bells" — The Aislers Set, How I Learned To Write Backwards
17. One of the earliest songs that you can remember listening to.
"Billie Jean" — Michael Jackson, Thriller or
"The Gambler" — Kenny Rogers, 20 Greatest Hits
18. A song you've been mocked by friends for liking.
"Waterloo" — ABBA, Waterloo
19. A really good cover version you think no one else has heard.
"Carmelita" — GG Allin or
"Stay A Little Longer" — Bob Boyd & Neko Case
20. A song that has helped cheer you up after a breakup or other difficult situation.
"Uncle Fucka" — Terrance & Phillip
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 15 June 2004 at 07:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (5) | Link
How Black is Your Heart?
Breaking News! Evil Dead, The Musical
The news that Beulah will break up this summer has already been heavily circulated within certain circles, though not as heavily as the new Spoon songs that have been made available for download. (If there is a band more uninteresting to see live, I don't want to know about them.) I'm relatively saddened by the news that Beulah will be disbanding; I loved When Your Heartstrings Break, and still think it is one of the better modern pop albums I have heard.
I've said it before and I will say it again: 2004 is a damn good year for records. Tuesday is new release day, which brings us Communique's Poison Arrows. Despite my intent to be a good girl and not blow my brand new paycheck on records, I think today might be an Amoeba day.
Austin is a great city for music—just look at Austin City Limits, SXSW and all the bands that have emerged from Austin's particularly nurturing musical womb. This year's Austin City Limits Festival is an example of that, though I would like to know who the hell invited Sheryl Crow to headline, and why are Dashboard Confessional performing? And who actually thought that adding Slightly Stoopid to the bill was a good idea?
That aside, if I hadn't already given up festival shows I might be tempted to go for no other reason than to hope that Patterson Hood will punch Chris Carrabba in the face, and that I'd get to see it. Well, that and to see The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Drive-By Truckers, Old 97's, Neko Case, Sloan, The Gourds, and Centro-matic—though out of 130+ acts that's a pretty low ratio of good to bad. And where are Robbie Fulks or Cory Branan or Lucero or Slobberbone on the list?
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 15 June 2004 at 02:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link
Big Sky Country
First things first. You should run, not walk, to see Bukowski: Born Into This. I saw it over the weekend and found it to be a profoundly interesting and moving film—and, ultimately, one of the best documentaries I've seen.
I, much like the rest of the purportedly neanthropic alt-country fans, love Uncle Tupelo; unlike my fellow troglodytes, however, I don't bear Jeff Tweedy ill over the increasingly meandering pop compositions from Wilco. I've generally leaned more toward Tweedy than Farrar in a post-Tupelo world, but Jay Farrar's new album could be really, really good judging from the songs available here. Steel guitar and piano! I've died and gone to heaven.
As a child I didn't spend much time watching television, but there were certain highlights: "Fraggle Rock," "Rainbow Brite," "Thundercats" and "Masters of the Universe" are early memories, followed by remnants of my sister's Nickelodeon fetish during my latter childhood. We watched a lot of "The Adventures of Pete and Pete." I'd be hard pressed to describe anything about the show except a few small details: both stars had red hair, the younger brother had a sailor's tattoo on his forearm, the dad was bald and bumbling, and the opening credits featured some weird nerd-pop band playing on a lawn.
All these many years later, I've found out that that band is Polaris and they write some damn catchy pop songs, like "Waiting for October."
"We sacrificed everything," he says. "Maybe that was dumb, but it was a great story about an important band that no one understood. The Ramones just wanted to be a band and follow their passion. And that's what we did." Though plagued by legal and financial difficulties and the untimely death of Joey Ramone, End of the Century has a tentative release date of late summer 2004.
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 15 June 2004 at 12:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (29) | Link
June 14, 2004
Maybe Nuclear War Isn't So Bad
It's a slow news day, so I thought I would post a topic that encourages comments. Hopefully this will incite response. If not, I'm doing a piss-poor job with this blogging thing.
Bands that should be disbanded, by force if necessary, though I wouldn't be opposed to death by firing squad:
01. Palace / Bonnie "Prince" Billy / Will Oldham
The king of all jackassery, Will Oldham is perhaps best known for his role as Baby Jessica's father in the made-for-TV masterpiece Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure, though he has produced sounds that some say pass for music under the monikers Palace, Palace Music, Palace Brothers and, most recently, Bonnie "Prince" Billy.
Willie is particularly worthy of painful death and/or dismemberment for his charming patronization of American music, writing in old-timey speak and appearing on stage in overalls, performing songs like "There Is No One What Will Take Care Of You" from a rocker while chewing a stalk of wheat. You live in the twenty-first century, Willie ol' boy, and we have the chemical weapons to prove it.
02. Atom and His Package / Adam Goren
03. Har Mar Superstar / Sean Tillmann
These two are lumped together primarily because they are guilty of the same crimes against music, but it doesn't hurt that they are friends and partners in crime. They are both annoying, overeducated elitists who weren't talented enough to make it as real musicians; as such, they now spend their time writing songs only Weird Al could truly appreciate. I could come up with a lengthy tirade against them both, but I think the opening paragraph of an Atom review from the Village Voice does it nicely:
It's hard to say who will squash this obnoxious fuck first. Atom Goren, lead singer, programmer, founder, sometime guitarist, and one-half of Atom and His Package (the other half, his package, is a synthesizer), offends everyone (his friends included). On the third track ("Hats Off to Halford") off his third long-player (Making Love) he gives former Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford the thumbs-up for coming out of the closet, and hopes that Halford will set a precedent. "I'd love for everyone in heavy metal to be homosexual," he whines, "if not just to make the Nazi fucking pricks in Slayer a little uncomfortable." So will it be the entire metal community, not known to be the most tolerant on subjects of sexuality, or just Slayer who hunts Atom down? Or maybe Pantera: "Statistics say, chances of being gay are one in 10. So that means there's a 40 percent chance that one of the guys in Pantera likes men." Personally, I'm rooting for Phil Anselmo and the Cowboys from Hell in this battle.
Smug, self-righteous and vengefully dorky, these morons deserve whatever beatings they are going to incur with their antics. Here's hoping one of the guys in Pantera is gay, and Adam and/or Sean drop the soap.
04. Eighteen Visions
05. AFI
06. Dashboard Confessional
These three are being lumped together because they are all sides of the same terrible coin. There is a reason Eighteen Visions released an album called Vanity; though not solely responsible for the change, EV is working hard to take the "hard" out of "hardcore," while AFI is trying their best to do as much for eyeliner as Robert Smith did. As for Dashboard—well they just suck unabashedly at everything but mugging for the camera.
These bands represent everything that is wrong with music today, from their ridiculously contrived images and weepy, condescending songs to their absolutely soulless music. Everything about them screams insincerity, while the essence of their facade is one of total honesty. Case in point: AFI stands for A Fire Inside. If the world was fair, those assholes would spontaneously combust.
I hate nothing so much as a hypocrite, though hypocrisy is the only defining talent of the entire bunch.
Posted in Quoi? | 14 June 2004 at 02:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (68) | Link
June 11, 2004
Giving the Dog a Bone
Once again, the RIAA is set to persecute and alienate more visitors to the marketplace—with a new grievance this time. The world is now hearing the weeping sounds of the violin as the RIAA opines digital radio, the new pirating frontier.
We, the reckless and degenerate masses, cannot be trusted to use digital radio technology. We are bad apples who will take advantage of the technology to record radio broadcasts, then divvy up the recordings and redistribute songs online. We are bad, malicious people out to harm the poor, downtrodden and much-maligned recording industry. We must be stopped!
I think I've heard this song before, way back when cassettes were invented. And didn't the movie studios try this one when Sony introduced the BetaMax? Obviously consumers are terrible people who must be stopped. Repent, sinners, and be saved!
Posted in Corporations and Creativity | 11 June 2004 at 03:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1) | Link
Have a Drink on Me
Finally, the riddle of who to vote for is solved!
I doubt the movie would be as funny as the skit, but anything that gives us more Dave Chappelle moments like "I'm Rick James, bitch!" can't be all bad.
The David Levine Gallery is responsible for all of the caricatures featured in the New York Review of Books for the past 40 years, and the gallery has been made available online. There are a few pieces of genius in there, including Picasso as a bull.
Posted in General Nonsense | 11 June 2004 at 03:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (27) | Link
June 10, 2004
Social Butterflies
Next week certainly looks busy:
ANDY CRUZ OF HOUSE INDUSTRIES @ MOCA
Wednesday, June 16, 2004 | 7:30PM
AIGA LA is pleased to have Andy Cruz of House Industries speaking at the MOCA on June 16. He will be talking about the challenges and triumphs his company has had and how they broke into such a wide variety of creative endeavors.
Register at aigalosangeles.org/house.
TIKI 'TIL DAWN PARTY @ LACMA
Thursday, June 17—Friday, June 18 | 7PM—7AM
Show up for free entry to the two current exhibits: "Beyond Geometry: Experiments in Form 1940s—1970s" and "Inventing Race: Casta Paintings and 18th Century Mexico," plus bar and BBQ. Oh, and Robbie Conal is going to be there.
Posted in General Nonsense | 10 June 2004 at 06:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1) | Link
Flowers By the Door
It always comes in threes: Ray Charles passed away today at the age of 73.
In happier news, I've heard an unsubstantiated rumor from a reputable source that Ted Leo is going to be married. I can't think of a better present than for you all to rush out (figuratively speaking) and buy his albums. I would too, if I didn't own them already.
Holy. Fucking. Shit. Will Ferrell + flute solo = mad genius!
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 10 June 2004 at 03:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (6) | Link
V-D Day
I consider myself to be a bright, well-educated, independent woman. I wouldn't call myself a feminist, nor do I hate men; I'm more often guilty of misanthropy than sexism, but every now and again there are occasions when I feel it necessary to point out the absolutely ridiculous inherent in us all. In this post, "us" refers to womankind.
That said, why must reasonable, assumably well-intentioned women parade around making a mockery of themselves (and the rest of us) by championing empty gestures, simply because those gestures happen to have something vaguely female about them? Case in point: the self-appointed playwright for the double X-chromosome set, Eve Ensler. Ms Ensler is once again on the vagina warpath, urging those of us who possess them to vote, using—you guessed it—our vaginas. I'm pretty sure she means that metaphorically.
Ms Ensler's vagina rally in New York featured Kathy Najimy and musical stylings with relevant, pointed lyrics, such as "V is for vote because my womb is aching for peace." Thank you, Rha Goddess. That is just barely poetic enough to earn you another turn through a community college poetry workshop. See you in the trenches.
Aside from being a silly and condescending campaign, she is also promoting generalizations against the Bush administration which muddy up the waters currently clouded with real issues, rather than nebulous rantings about the analagous raping of a country and a woman. Perhaps both have the same root motivation, but foreign policy has little to do with domestic rape convictions, sister.
Worse, at least at the moment, is that such generalizations reflect badly on all women. Because they are delivered by a representative of our sex who, though she probably means well, didn't bother to ask the rest of us before running off her mouth, I get to look like an idiot right along with her.
On the topic of generalizations, why does Rolling Stone even bother with album reviews? While browsing through a recent issue, I noticed an alarming trend in the rating system: out of twenty-eight reviews, sixteen rated three stars. Roughly proportional to each other were the two and three-and-a-half stars albums, with six and four total albums, respectively.
The only two albums to receive higher ratings were the Judas Priest Metalology box set, with four stars, and the reissue of Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline, with five. Not that both albums don't deserve the kudos, but I sincerely doubt that anyone with half a brain or a reasonable interest in music couldn't have written those reviews. It doesn't take much thought or journalistic ambition to write a glowing review of a Dylan album, fellas. Way to go out on a limb.
Even worse, someone actually wrote in to defend the new Blondie album: "With 'Shakedown,' Blondie take rap in a new direction, just as they did in 1981 with 'Rapture'—the first rap song to hit Number One."
Blondie also have not been musically relevant, on the charts or otherwise, since 1981. Who the hell are these people, and where do they come from?
Posted in Quoi? | 10 June 2004 at 02:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (3) | Link
Shameless
I've finally gone over the edge, thinking that a stereo is sexy.
Is it wrong to relentlessly covet items that—while useful and of noticeably higher quality—are not absolutely necessary in my day-to-day existence?
I drooled the first time I saw the Titanium PowerBook; you might think I'm kidding, but there was an actual puddle below my slack jaw. My iPod fetish is rather mild; I really like them, but the technology hasn't reached a point where I can't live without one. (Though the thought of an iPod radio transmitter for use in the car is awfully tempting.) And that new AirPort Express, which is bound to improve considerably with time? Yeah, I want one of those, too.
But man oh man, what I wouldn't give to have a Bose DVD/Audio player (PDF). One that stores up to 350 CDs digitally; that remembers what songs you like to hear together, and plays songs according to your mood. With an LCD display and a remote that controls audio, video, TV, DVD; it even figures out where in the room your speakers are and automatically adjusts sound output to provide the best quality for the room. Did I mention that it saves lots and lots of CDs?
I'm going to have dreams about a black box with an LCD screen. I'm a very sick person.
< /geek >
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 10 June 2004 at 12:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (7) | Link
June 09, 2004
Be My Decline and Fall
Correction: Clear Channel has not, as previously reported, acquired the patent for DiscLive. It appears that they purchased a patent from a lawyer in Texas, though it is unclear whether the technology has even been tested. According to Immediatek, the company which controls DiscLive, "the patent acquired by Clear Channel does not give it exclusive rights to the business of creating recordings of live performance" as CC has claimed.
You've probably already heard that Morrissey—in his own sweet, charming way—declared on stage that he wished Dubya had died instead of Reagan. Not that I dispute the source of the sentiment, but wishing the President dead is just a bad idea unless you really like guys in black suits crawling up your ass. Then again, with Moz you never know.
Pop goodness now available, courtesy of AC Newman. Clips on his website, two full songs available at the Matador website.
Link of the day: Look, they're making the same face! {Via Anonymous Outsider}
Posted in General Nonsense | 9 June 2004 at 02:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link
June 08, 2004
Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Extra! David Hasselhoff arrested for drunk driving!
In more bad news for somebody, Warner Brothers Records—which recently laid off 1,000 employees—is expected to seriously slash their roster. Stereolab has already been dropped, and Depeche Mode, New Order, Barenaked Ladies, Green Day, Deftones and Built to Spill are all tentative casualties of the fallout.
No doubt inspired by some overblown hysteria stemming from news like that mentioned above, the RIAA has rubbed off on the rest of the world. Lawyers in Europe are preparing to level 24 suits against file sharers in Denmark in another futile attempt to save a sinking ship.
Mike Watt remembers Bob Quine.
Listen to David Sedaris' recent appearance on NPR to promote his new book, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.
There must be something in California's water (aside from the flouride and other assorted heavy metals) that make people here physically incapable of dating without a computer.
"No, I can't stop yelling because that's how I talk!" Mash it up with Dave Chappelle, bitch. {Via donewaiting.com}
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 8 June 2004 at 02:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (25) | Link
June 07, 2004
The Unhappy Mondays
Superstition be damned, it always comes in threes. Robert Quine, of Richard Hell and the Voidoids fame, passed away at the age of 61.
Further proof that despite the questionable ethics of founder Steve Jobs, Apple is people friendly: the new AirPort Express base station. Not only does it set up a wireless network in your home, it picks up streaming audio from the new version of iTunes, which can be easily set up to run through a home stereo. Man, oh man, do I need one of these.
Sounds like Apple is readying iTunes for a mid-month UK launch.
Occasionally, the startling similarity of real life to science fiction creeps up on me. For example, Veritouch is working to release an MP3 player that prevents file sharing by locking the device using the fingerprints of the device's owner.
This strikes me as a very stupid idea, primarily because it does nothing to address the issue at hand—ostensibly, to halt file sharing—but instead solidifies the culpability of the device owner. Someone else is found with one of your files? It can only be unlocked using your prints, so obviously you consented to the trade. This is all fine and good for the RIAA and their merry band of corporate lawyers, but any consumer who buys this is asking, in big black letters, for proof of their guilt to be presented in court.
Stemming the tide of the file sharing backlash isn't always easy, but in an effort to restore choice to musicians wanting to harness the positive possibilities of file sharing GarageBand.com and Creative Commons are teaming up to provide GB.com users a legal way to share music with fans.
A wee bit of art education from PBS: Margaret Kilgallen.
Rumor has it that Disney is considering the possibility of selling Miramax back to the Weinsteins.
Interesting link of the day (courtesy of Kierin): the Movie Title Screens Page.
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 7 June 2004 at 04:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (5) | Link
Facts Are Stupid Things
Hey, did you hear that Ronald Reagan died? I'm sure it comes as a shock but I want to do my part to console a nation blind with remembrance. Thus I extend my condolences for his family, and my sympathies to those who haven't yet come to terms with the fact that death doesn't make you a better person, it makes you a corpse. I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but I'd rather be honest than a hypocrite. After all, it wasn't my life. I'm already headed for my own reckoning. {Via Out of Focus}
Schadenfreude is a word most Americans should be well used to. After all, we are a nation of voyeurs, loving nothing so much as watching others being gagged and tied, humiliated, violated, or otherwise exploited. I can substantiate this claim by falling back on the old capitalism dictum of supply and demand, but anyone who sits down with American media of any sort—TV, radio, film—is guaranteed the opportunity to bask in the discomfort of others.
We are a nation of sadists and libertines who pretend allegiance to morality, grasping at the wisps of salvation as they sparkle and fade, all the while hungering to see Christ hammered to the cross again and again and again, peevishly wishing that we could really feel redeemed through that suffering. We delight in witnessing pain of all sorts, reveling in the the knowledge we are safe and unharmed, escaping from the rest of our pains through the degradation of others. I'm not claiming that no other nation suffers from these same tendencies—these are human traits, not strictly American ones—but it is reaching a fever pitch.
These behaviors are now so universally internalized here that depiction has become the aim of such behaviors rather than a by-product, a shift which is turning out more horrors all the time.
Posted in Damn Nation! | 7 June 2004 at 03:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Link
June 05, 2004
Those are People Who Died
In a new and utterly disgusting display of greed and an absolute void of compassion, there are rumors floating in Washington DC that the IRS is trying to shut down the reality show "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" which, among its apparent faults, improves the quality of life for orphans, widows, firefighters, little old ladies and entire neighborhoods of the poor and downtrodden. Their crime? Well, according to the wife of IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, they give away too much stuff for free to people who don't know what to do with it. This charming creature has been overheard making derogatory comments to her friends, such as:
"What’s a poor mother with too many kids and one bathroom going to do with a stainless steel kitchen?”
“Why don’t they makeover houses in good neighborhoods for people who know how to treat nice things?
Nanette, the aforementioned exceptional being, has been observed making many such remarks about the undeserving people who have their homes renovated on the show. When she heard that the production team was using a tax loophole to prevent the families from having to pay taxes on their renovations, she reported it to her hubby at the IRS. As a result, the familes featured on the show have been served with letters detailing the $120,000-$175,000 they own the government for their home repairs.
Congratulations, you fucking bitch. You've just ruined the lives of people who were able to enjoy a little bit of happiness that they could never have otherwise afforded and saddled their great-great-grandchildren with debt.
May all that spite and bile you're hoarding develop into a malignant cancer that slowly eats away whatever is left of your heart. I'll come to your funeral to pass out party favors and dance on your grave.
Post script: When digging for more dirt to corroborate this hearsay, I've stumbled upon some interesting information:
• As Associate Council to the President, Mrs Everson—a lawyer—"oversees ethics in the White House counsel's office." Oh, irony, you are so bold.
• Among his other qualifications, IRS Commissioner Everson did a stint as a CPA at Arthur Anderson & Company. Sound familiar to anyone?
• Everson also served as Special Assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese III during the Reagan administration.
Posted in Another Bloody Fucking Wanker | 5 June 2004 at 01:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (7) | Link
June 04, 2004
Treading Water
A few years ago I was at Koo's Cafe (as I was two or three nights a week) to see Forstella Ford and The Assistant play a mid-week show. I only vaguely remember the night except for one kid in a black trenchcoat, seen from the back as he was walking away, with a Charles Bronson patch on the back and CHARLES BUKOWSKI written boldly in white to the left of it. It seemed apt, and I think Buk would have approved.
All that is merely a lead-in to mention the new documentary, Bukowski: Born Into This. From the NY Times review: Without straining, the film makes a strong case for Bukowski as a major American poet whose work was a slashing rebuke to polite academic formalism.
Not that I mind formalism, but there's no way around Bukowski.
Speaking of writers, here are five terribly clever alternative names for The Decemberists.
Juvenile it may be, but it is still the list of the100 Worst Porn Movie Titles.
Thus far it has been an excellent year for new releases, with even more great albums slated for the summer and beyond. Happily, it also seems that this is going to be a great year for re-releases:
• Far—Water & Solutions | Re-release with bonus DVD and extended tracklisting. You can preview the album here.
• Refused—The Shape of Punk to Come | Re-released and re-mixed in Dolby 5.1 DVD audio.
• Jawbox—For Your Own Special Sweetheart and Jawbox | There is word that these re-releases could include live DVDs.
Warm and comfy might be how the designers feel but we'll all have to wait and see if Strange Flavour, the new Mac-only gaming company, will manage to stay afloat in the sea of PC games. {Via Cult of Mac}
Congress makes an unflattering discovery about the Department of Defense, which in turn refuses to acknowledge the findings! The General Accounting Office announced that computer modeling methods employed by the DoD to determine which soldiers were at risk from exposure to chemical weapons during the Gulf War were flawed, and should not be used for future analysis. The DoD responded that Congress is wrong; the methods were and are accurate, according to the DoD, and discontinuing their use would be reckless.
On this end, I sincerely doubt that discontinuing the use of such programs—which estimate more than 100,000 soldiers were exposed, while 700,000 have reported inexplicable illnesses and physical problems—could be any more damaging than giving troops false information which could lead to their deaths.
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 4 June 2004 at 02:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (11) | Link
June 03, 2004
Half Sharkalligator, Half Man
I preordered my copy of Battles' EP C on Monitor Records, due for release next Tuesday, June 8. A bargain at $9 with shipping, everyone should order one right now because Battles are here to rock you.
Though I lack the timeless elegance of thought that we all expect of Kool Keith, I have a thing or two to say about the LA Weekly Music Awards 2004. The overall synopsis about the plague-of-locusts state of music in Los Angeles was well recorded by Han from I Hate the Kids, who had this amazingly insightful paragraph about Mike Watt's inclusion on the list of honorees:
So while I love it, the scene here lacks real definition. You know what's definitive though? MIKE WATT. Any time anyone asks me about music here, I just point to Mike Watt. Obviously, he's a legend from his days in the Minutemen, but if you ever check the listings he's still playing in about five bands almost every night of the week. On Fridays and Saturdays it's not rare to see him play a jazz show at 7pm in San Pedro and then haul ass in his Econoline to play in a cover band in Santa Monica at 10pm. I caught him one night on one of his off nights... you know what he was doing? He was trying to sneak backstage at the Sleater-Kinney show. He was turned away for not having a wristband, which prompted me to yell "FREE MIKE WATT" at the security guy for a few minutes. He ended up getting a wristband and heading back a few minutes later, because nobody's going to stop Watt for long. The guy rocks 24/7, and his recognition for lifetime achievement is well deserved.
To sum up the LA Weekly's picks, however, I would like to add my opinion: The Icarus Line and Dance Disaster Movement suck. And I don't mean that in the usual banal way. I am not tossing out "suck" as an adjective to indicate merely that neither band is very good. I use "suck" in the sense that it is constantly surprising that all of the members of both groups are not travelling in a pack, wandering the public restrooms of Hollywood clubs sucking up shit and assorted filth off the eternally disgusting floors through the black hole that is their complete and utter lack of talent.
Posted in A/V Dorkout | 3 June 2004 at 06:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (2) | Link
The Heart of an Old Punk
First off I'd like to send out some more love to Mike Budai, who—aside from being a very talented illustrator—has turned out to be a very kind one, as well.
Will Pitchfork, "the wildly popular indie-centric news-and-reviews Internet portal of evil", be the end of real rock journalism? I certainly hope not. Between all of them they still can't come up with a reasonably intelligent review, nor one lacking the smug, bloated self-awareness that characterizes so m