Top 3 hip hop albums of the moment:
1. King Geedorah - Take Me to Your Leader
2. Anti-Pop Consortium v. Matthew Shipp
3. Prefuse 73 - Extinguished: Outtakes

This Black Flag page is key. (via gava)

Julian Cope (yeah, that Julian Cope) pays healthy homage to early Van Halen in his excellent Head Heritage album of the month piece on an 1982 bootleg -- Atomic Punks. It's well worth your time.

Also check this ridiculously extensive VH bootleg page I found: Van Halen Bootleg Discography

Ween interview in the Onion - some highlights:

I still do a lot of drugs, but in the beginning, there was that period when you first start smoking pot and doing a lot of hallucinogens. That had a big impact, like a burn that never goes away, and it kind of changes your whole shit.

Our music generally appeals to children and retarded people, and I'm into that. In a way, we've been making children's records for years.

No one's trying to make records, because it's all about a single. And they want to know why no one is sympathetic that their music is getting stolen off file-sharing sites. It's because if you fucking throw shit in people's faces long enough, they're going to give you the finger right back. I think it's funny. They're getting what they deserve.

Phish bassist, Mike Gordon, was arrested after being found alone with a 9-year-old girl. Story

"The defendant stated he wanted to take 'art photos' of the victim."

As if you needed another reason to dislike Phish.

Dead Kennedys Invite Biafra to Reunion: Jello Says, "Over My Dead Body!"
(Two out of three dead Kennedys prefer assassination to accident)

Last Tuesday, August 12th, the aging remnants of archetypal Southern California hardcore heroes, the Dead Kennedys, issued a press release inviting former frontman, occasional political candidate and current defendant, Jello Biafra, to "bury the hatchet" and rejoin the band for their 25th Anniversary concert at Los Angeles' Key Club on August 19th. On Friday, three days later, Biafra issued his own statement that read, in part:

"To put it mildly, this reeks of false advertising. They obviously aren't serious or they would have called me on the phone. Instead, their message came through their lawyers and their publicist. What's the matter, not enough Hot Topic bozo teens flocking to stuff cash in their bikinis? Are they having that much trouble selling tickets to a bar that holds less than 600 people? If they really want to, 'bury the hatchet,' why won't they stop suing me? They have been dragging me through court for almost six years now, and have refused attempts to compromise and settle. I feel sorry for anyone duped into paying top dollar for a ticket because they heard, 'I might be there'. But I hardly think I'm 'letting fans down' by refusing to be part of a nostalgia scam."

Now we know why this reporter wished that Biafra had secured the Green Party's nomination for President in 2000 instead of Ralph Nader. Of course, had that happened, George W. Bush (in concert with his Florida governor brother) wouldn't have had to rig the election in that state because he would have lost by a landslide and writers, political pundits, psychoanalysts-- and Halliburton-- would have had a lot less "material" to work with today.

For their part, the Dead Kennedys feel that the time is ripe for their anti-authoritarian brand of punk. “This isn’t about nostalgia,” said guitarist East Bay Ray. “There are serious problems in the world right now and Dead Kennedys’ message of questioning authority and thinking for yourself is more important than ever before. Maybe we could settle our differences and play together while we are all still able to do so.”

The current incarnation of the Kennedys includes founding members East Bay Ray and Klaus Flouride, early entrant D.H. Peligro, and Jeff Penalty taking over the vocal duties for the estranged Biafra. The band made news in 2001-- and presumably sold some tickets to trainwreck enthusiasts-- when they reformed and hired former child television star and Dr. Know vocalist, Brandon Cruz, to attempt fill the gaping void left by Biafra. Cruz left the band last month.

The 2000 Presidential election wasn't the first political flirtation for Biafra. In 1979, he ran for mayor of San Francisco and finished fourth. And if you think Biafra's without opinion in regards to the current California gubernatorial fiasco, then... well, you are mistaken. Not only does Jello frame the DK reunion mess in context to his home state's free-for-all, but he drops an endorsement on yo ass in the meantime: "It makes even less sense than the California Recall election. Sorry I'm not running, folks, but I didn't want to take votes away from Gary Coleman. No, seriously, I'm supporting the high-quality Green Party nominee with the vision and skills to govern - Peter Camejo! Please vote for him."

Links:
Alternative Tentacles
Dead Kennedys

Wanna cyber?

We received our September issue of Harper's Magazine in the mail on Saturday. (As an aside, I instantly devoured the cover story, "Against School", and demanded that my wife do the same. It is a searing indictment of the public school system in the United States and a huge eye-opener for those who would believe that it grooms individuals and independent-thinkers rather than consumer automatons. But I digress...) This morning as I was sitting down to my bowl of CTC (Cinnamon Toast Crunch -- best cereal ever), I dove head first into the Readings section and was pleasantly surprised -- okay, jaw-droppingly surprised -- and very amused to find that the venerable periodical (since 1850!) had included re-published excerpts of mock cybersex chats that were originally posted on PFMS (the PitchforkMedia Smackdown!) webboard. The piece is entitled Beware of Dogg and the Harper's introduction reads:

The following cybersex scenarios appear on the PitchforkMedia Smackdown! message board. They were composed by a poster named Dr. Ninjaforkian and are based on the exploits of J-Dogg, "a highly evolved cybersex denizen."

They are hilarious.

There is a current thread on PFMS that notes this odd cross-media marriage and points to this page where some of the Dr. Ninjaforkian posts have been archived (but not necessarily the same ones that were reprinted in the magazine).

It made me a little sad to see a big blurb on the Exploding Hearts in Rolling Stone -- not just because of the circumstances of their demise, but because it seems that in order for a small band to get any press nowadays, someone's gotta die.

Sellout Watch:

Mark Mothersbaugh has altered the lyrics to Devo's "Whip It" for a television commercial hawking Proctor & Gamble's Swiffer. Instead of "Whip it good," the lyric is now "Swiffer's good". I just lost my breakfast all over the monitor. You can read the story -- complete with Mothersbaugh's flimsy revisionist rationale -- and view the trainwreck of a spot here. (Thanks, Robert!)

Sellout Watch:



Madonna appears, with Missy Elliot, in a Gap television commercial: "Get Into the Groove"

Toro, toro
Last week the Denver Post ran a story about Matador Records. Any piece about the venerable indie label that speaks to its history without mentioning Pavement is instantly and irrevocably rendered moot.

According to tinymixtapes.com, a brand new Descendents album is in the works and going to be released by Fat Wreck in March 2004. How can you not look forward to this?! (Story here.) Despite the fact that their last release, 1996's Everything Sucks, was a bit of a disappointment next to such high-water marks as Milo Goes to College, I Don't Want to Grow Up or Enjoy, I can't help but wetting myself (just a little) over the news. I mean, "seminal" doesn't even begin to cover their career.

Sellout Watch:

The Who's "Happy Jack" in a television commercial for the Hummer H2. This is the second recent appearance by the Who. Hey, Townshend's got legal bills!

Sellout Watch:

Independently verified by Charlotte Foley: Nissan Minivan/SUV hybrid contraption of the moment commercial features Modest Mouse's Gravity Rides Everything. And this isn't the first time...feh.

Though it's far too early for me to proclaim Ween's just released album quebec their best (as some people have already done on the various boards I like to lurk), it is pretty safe to say that the record's third track, "Transdermal Meditation", is instantly my favorite song of theirs.

Sellout Watch:

I recently discovered (I don't watch much network TV) that much to my dismay, the Who song "Who Are You" is being used as the theme for the CBS television show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. You fooled us again, eh Townshend?

Sellout Watch:

Steve Miller Band's "Keep On Rockin' Me Baby" in a television commercial for Wrangler jeans. Pfft... whatever.