The following need to hit up Boston ASAP, but not when I am away!
No Age (last seen April ’09)
Mark Sultan (May ’09)
King Khan & The Shrines (May ’09)
Animal Collective (May ’09)
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart (Sept ’09)
Hunx and His Punx (Oct ’09)
King Khan & BBQ Show (Oct ’09)
amongst others…
These Hunx vids are always hilarious and queer as fuck, but what else would you expect? If they weren’t, it would be like seeing a bloodless Tarantino flick! For those unfamiliar with Hunx, you may have heard this number in a Lens Crafters ad. THAT WAS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT!
Enjoy
As you all should know I have championed Michael Azzerad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life as one of the finest books on music and particularly 80s underground music. Many of my favorite bands are chronicled here and I’ve seen a good chunk of them live. Reading all of their stories and the historical background Azzerad shares with us truly inspired me in various ways. Being a massive fan/supporter of several modern underground bands I have considered writing my own little ditty. Now, how would I go about this? Save the obvious dedicated work of researching, interviewing, writing, etc. I’m not referring to that. I mean how would I tell a general story with an overall theme like Azzerad does? Which bands would I choose? If I leaned more towards my favorites would I be featuring artists with too many similarities, i.e. Garage Rock sound? Is it too soon? Most of these bands have not broken up or jumped to major labels or what have you, so their stories haven’t really ended like those in OBCBYL. He also had years behind him to observe the influence of the groups he was studying and the fact that the era he was focusing on was the first era of a unified, anti-corporate, underground. I’m not really looking for someone to tell me what to write or how to write, I guess these are more like questions I’m asking myself. Either way, what are some bands you would like to read about or think is important enough to be chronicled?
Full Title: The Shield Around the K
Director: Heather Rose Dominic
Year: 2000
Comments:
The title says it all. The metaphorical shield truly represented K’s mythical way of battling the corporate ogre in a unique and highly confrontational manner. For those sad souls out there that are unfamiliar with K, here’s a brief breakdown. K was and still is a defiantly and charismatically independent label; one of the greatest models for how an indepedent label can successfully operate. Calvin Johnson (K founder and Beat Happening frontman) challenged his audience and contemporaries by creating and documenting music that was unabashedly simple, coy, and as far away as possible from the mainstream. These kids challenged the mold of expecation of what a Punk band should look, sound, or act like. By making poppy, “twee,” love rock (as some call it), artists like Beat Happening distanced themselves from not only the corporate world, but also the oft-macho hardcore scene, which was dominating underground music at the time. All in all, this doc does a great job of articulating this important aspect of K Records as well as offering some great archive footage, interviews, and music videos and ultimately a detailed, informative backgound of said topic. One thing I (sorta) didn’t like was the fact that the film focused too much on Beat Happening; after all it was supposed to be about the K label and not about Beat Happening solely. Then again, they and their history are obviously vital to the K tale and since they are one of my all time favorite bands, I don’t mind seeing them on screen. Lastly, this doc features various key figures including, Ian Mackaye, Gerad Cosloy, Slim Moon, John Foster, amongst others. So, if you dig cutting edge (well, then cutting edge) Punk Rock or want to learn more about seminal, underground music then grab some black candy and check it out.
Grade: B+
1) Black Lips
2) Jay Reatard
3) King Khan
4) Mark Sultan
5) No Age
6) Box Elders
7) Hunx and His Punx
8) Walkmen (for Glen)
9) Animal Collective
10) Bradford Cox
11) Harlem
12) Nobunny
13) Girls
14) Pains of Being Pure At Heart
15) Almigthy Defenders
16) Wavves
We feature many artists here, some far more than others, but these very few guys hold the highly prestigious title of “honorary klaymers,” even if they don’t know it.
Chris
Not too focus solely on his death, because he led an incredible life, but here are two videos I just discovered on Jay’s passing. The first being Anthony Fantano of the Needle Drop and the second being Fox News, which I didn’t know his death ever reached the big news stories as it should have, albeit Memphis Fox News.
and
Chris
For the fallen soldiers.
Chris
and
Their full length LP The Suburbs will be released in August.
Chris
Legendary actor, filmmaker, and wildman, Dennis Hopper passed away today at the age of 74 from complications due to prostate cancer. RIP Dennis, you were one of the finest and one my favorites. Here’s a brief clip of one of Hopper’s greatest performances as the psychotic gangster, Frank Booth in the film Blue Velvet (1986).
Chris
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 