Category Archives: Music

CD Review: We Be Xuxa


Band:
Mika Miko
Label: PPT
Release: 2009

1. “Blues Not Speed” – 9.4
2. “Turkey Sandwich” – 9.3
3. “I Got A Lot (New New New) – 9.6
4. “Wild Bore” – 9.2
5. “Sex” – 9.5
6. “Totion” – 9.5
7. “On the Rise” – 9.6
8. “Beat the Rush” – 9.7
9. “Johnson R. Cool” – 9.1
10. “Sex Jazz” – 9.4
11. “Keep on Calling” – 9.3
12. “Turkey Barnyard Mix” – 9.5

Comments: Sounds like an all-girl version of early Black Lips material, except a little bit more punk and a little bit more catchy. It’s no wonder why Ian St. Pe said this is a band he is really digging.

Grade: 9.4

CD Review: Bromst

Band: Dan Deacon
Label: Car Park
Release: 2009

1. “Build Voice” – 9.7
2. “Red F” – 9.4
3. “Padding Ghost” – 9.2
4. “Snookered” – 9.5
5. “Of the Mountains” –8.7
6. “Surprise Stefani” – 8.4
7. “Wet Wings” – 7.1
8. “Woof Woof” – 9.0
9. “Slow with Horns/ Run for your life” – 8.2
10. “Baltihorse” – 9.3
11. “Get Older” –8.6

Comments: This album is quite the experience on headphones! It’s weirdly catchy. That means there are some songs that you might not dig at first, but that you quickly gain respect for. You could argue that Deacon suffered from the disease of “over-doing” it while making this album. The symptom was mostly quality music being made. The Alvin and the Chipmunks cover (not really), “Baltihorse,” is strangely amazing. You know what I mean?

Grade: 8.8

GG Allin Manifesto


The wise words of the messiah…..

GG Allin Mission Statement

If you believe in the real underground of Rock ‘N’ Roll, then now is the time to do something about it. The time is now to overthrow the current situations and declare war on the record companies, radio stations, publications, clubs, and anyone who promotes the whole so called “scene” as it now stands. We need to destroy it all and take it back from the corporate phonies and conformist. But action must be taken now and blood must be spilled.

First let me tell you who I am. I was born Jesus Christ Allin in 1956 in Lancaster, NH. The Jesus Christ they preach about in the Bible is a phony imposter – just a crutch for the cripples to lean on. Fuck that weak shit! I am the man to deal with. I created myself inside the womb from the fires of Hell. There are no separations between Jesus Christ, God and the Devil, because I am all of theme. I am here to take Rock ‘N’ Roll back & prove to the world that I am the real king through the powers I have acquired.

When I was born in 1956, Rock ‘N’ Roll first started taking off. Why do you think that was? Because I created it. I created Elvis. I made it all happen. Even before I was born I was plotting. But through the years everyone has let it all go. That’s why I am ready to take it all back. Nobody has held on. Nobody has had the indurence to finish what they were set out to fucking do. They all let me down or I took their lives for a purpose. I was the one who was throwing all the monkey wrenches into the gears. But money and commercialism made them all sell out. Even Iggy let me down. The Sex Pistols let me down. Sid let me down when he fell in love (that’s why they are all dead). And now we have the Ramones praising bands like Guns N’ Roses, which runs against everything they were set out to destroy.

But now it’s 1991. This is the decade for the final bloody mutilation. Time to get Rock ‘N’ Roll out of the hands of the masses and back to the people who will not accept comfort or conformity at any cost. Then I will commit suicide on stage and the blood of Rock ‘N’ Roll will become the poison of the Universe forever. Take a look around and see what’s happening. Spineless record companies kissing the mainstreams ass, being pressured by the money media and politicians. So called cutting edge radio stations as fucking lame as the stations they oppose. Censorship publications kisssing the monkey suits asses, who in turn, are kissing someone else’s ass. Even so called “underground” publications have no fucking desire to get blood on their hands. They are too busy crying about how we can make the world a more wonderful place and how politically correct they can be. Talk is fucking cheap.

It’s time to fight. It’s time for revenge. We need to overthrow Rock ‘N’ Roll as it now stands. We must bring down record companies by not buying their products. A boycot. If you have to have a record, steal it. That way they wont get your money. We’ve got to stop feeding them. Your support must now go to me – GG Allin, the commanding leader and terrorist of Rock ‘N’ Roll. Why do you think I am in prison right now? Because they know who I am and they fear my reality. Our society wants to stop my mission. They want to brain wash you and keep you locked into MTV, and their stagnating, safe worlds. It’s a plot to kill Rock ‘N’ Roll. I am the savior. Thats why I am considered a threat to society.

This is what you should do:
Go to your record store and buy all the GG ALLIN recordings you can find. If they dont have any in stock, tell them to order some. If they refuse, then do what you have to do. Call radio stations and demand GG Allin. Spray paint “GG ALLIN” everywhere. Make them aware that the disease and the Scumfuc tradition is still spreading. Write “GG ALLIN” on all your dollar bills. Any bills you have. People do not throw money away, so it would be a free way to get the message out. You must do it every day of your life. We must live for the Rock ‘N’ Roll underground. It CAN be dark and dangerous again. It CAN be threatning to our society as it was meant to be. IT MUST BE UNCOMPROMISING. And with me as your leader, it will happen. I am ready to lead you, my allies, into the real Rock ‘N’ Roll underground. Let’s get started.

Too bad, you died GG ahha ohh well. Gonzo indeed!

Chris

“Beatles: Rock Band” Will Kick Ass

That sound you hear is me, Chris, Ramsden, and all the other Beatles fan boys having an orgasm after reading this article.

GILES MARTIN WAS conjuring spirits, or perhaps summoning gods. The tools for this ritual included a pair of omnidirectional microphones, a digital mixing console and a hastily-procured set of teacups and saucers, but the magic was in the room itself. Studio Two at Abbey Road in London has changed very little since 1969, when Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison recorded together for the last time. The Steinway upright McCartney played on “Lady Madonna” still stands in one corner, its middle keys worn to the wood. Sound-absorbing quilts hang in wide stripes down the whitewashed brick walls. The view from the control room on the second level is much as it would have been for George Martin, Giles’s father, who oversaw the creation of nearly every Beatles album from this room. Giles held a slender finger to his lips, which turned up into a playful grin. He handed cups and saucers to three people nearby and mimed a sip. The others followed his lead, and a few feet away the microphones captured the small clattering sound of four people drinking tea.

The odd recording session in March was one very small contribution to what Apple Corps — the company still controlled by McCartney, Starr and the widows of Lennon and Harrison — hopes will be the most deeply immersive way ever of experiencing the music and the mythology of the Beatles. The band that upended the cultural landscape of the 1960s is now hitching its legacy to the medium of a new generation: the video game.

CD Review: The Great Escape

Band: The Rifles
Label: 679 Recordings
Release: 2009

1. “Science Is Violence” – 9.6
2. “The Great Escape” – 9.8
3. “Fool To Sorrow” – 9.7
4. “Sometimes” – 9.8
5. “Toerag” – 9.5
6. “History” – 9.3
7. “Winter Calls” – 9.6
8. “Out in the Past” – 9.2
9. “Romeo and Julie” – 9.7
10. “The General” – 9.5
11. “For The Meantime” – 9.6

Comments:
The Rifles from London, England put out a fine album three years ago in No Love Lost. After all was said and done, five singles were released and brit-punk enthusiasts from near and afar began calling themselves Rifles fans. The band’s strain of alt-rock — somewhere between post-punk revival and Britpop — is particularly likable on The Great Escape. That’s mainly because the songs are upbeat, catchy anthems. Songs like “Fool To Sorrow” and “Sometimes” could easily hold their own as singles, reminding the ear of commercially successful 21st century revivalists like The Killers and Franz Ferdinand. The Rifles do not exactly venture into new territory with this album, but stay true to what they have always done best. The result is eleven songs that won’t scare away big fans and will certainly bring in new ones. The near amateurish simpleness of songs like “History” and “Winter Calls” might have you thinking the Rifles are your average up-and-coming British mod wanna-bes.  But that’s not the case; the band have been playing gigs since 2004 and have established themselves all the while. This album exceeded my expectations.

Grade: 9.6 out of 10

My Favorite Writers

1) Noam Chomsky- Manufacturing Consent:The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988) with Edward S. Herman, Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy (2006), Chomsky On Anarchism (2005), Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda (2002)

2) Howard Zinn- A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present (1980)

3) Hunter S. Thompson- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream (1971), Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century (2003)

4) J.D. Salinger- The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

5) Michael Azerrad- Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 (2001)

6) Lester Bangs- “Let Us Now Praise Famous Death Dwarves,” (1975) “The Greatest Album Ever Made,” (1975)

7) Chuck Klosterman- Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs (2003)

8) Charles R. Cross- Heavier Than Heaven (2002)

9) Chuck Palahniuk- Fight Club (1996)

10) Abbie Hoffman- Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture (1979), Steal This Book (1972)

11) Jerry Rubin- Do iT!: Scenarios of the Revolution (1970)

12) David Dellinger- From Yale to Jail: The Autobiography of a Moral Dissenter (1993)

13) Mumia Abu-Jamal- Live From Death Row (1995)

14) James W. Lowren- Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong (1995)

15) Gary Webb- Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, and The Crack Cocaine Explosion (1996)

16) Stephen King- The Shining (1977), Carrie (1974), The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999)

17) Roald Dahl- Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (1964), The Twits (1980) The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More (1977)

18) George Orwell- 1984 (1949), Animal Farm (1945)

19) Jack Kerouac- On The Road (1957)

20) Ken Kesey- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962)

21) William Shakespeare- Macbeth (1611), Hamlet (1601), Romeo and Juliet (?), Julius Caesar (1599)

22) Richard Wright- Black Boy (1945)

23) Bill Hicks- Love All the People: The Essential Bill Hicks (2004)

24) Judge James P. Gray- Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It (2001)

25) John Steinbeck- Of Mice and Men (1937), The Grapes of Wrath (1939), The Pearl (1947)

26) F. Scott Fitzgerald- The Great Gatsby (1925)

27) Ernesto “Che” Guevara- The Motorcycle Diaries (1993 published, written in 1952), Guerrilla Warfare (1961)

28) Ralph Nader- Crashing the Party (2002), Cutting Corporate Welfare (2000)

29) Susanna Kaysen- Girl, Interrupted (1993)

30) Michael Cart- My Father’s Scar (1998)

31) Walter Dean Meyers- Monster (2001)

32) Markus Zusak- I Am the Messenger (2002)

33) Robert Cormier- The Chocolate War (1974)

34) Stephen Chobosky- The Perks of Being a Wallflower (1999)

35) Harper Lee- To Kill A Mockingbird (1960)

36) William Golding- Lord of the Flies (1954)

37) John Knowles- A Separate Peace (1959)

38) S.E. Hinton- The Outsiders (1967)

39) Emma Goldman- Anarchism and Other Essays (1910), My Disillusionment in Russia (1923)

40) Alexander Berkman- Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism aka What Is Anarchism? (1929)

41) Bill Ayers- Fugitive Days (2001)

42) Anthony Burgess- A Clockwork Orange (1962)

43) Henry Rollins- Get In the Van: On the Road With Black Flag (1994)

44) Timothy Leary- Flashbacks (1983)

45) Carl Jung- Two Essays on Analytical Psychology (1966)

46) Sigmund Freud- The Ego and the Id (1923)

47) Friedrich Nietzsche- The Antichrist (1888)

48) Bobby Seale- Black Panthers Speak (1971)

49) Huey P. Newton- Black Panthers Speak (1971)

50) Eldridge Cleaver- Black Panthers Speak (1971)

51) Martin Luther King Jr- “Letter From Birmingham Jail” (1963)

52) Malcolm X- The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965),
Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements (1965)

53) Alex Haley- The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965),
(1965)

54) Thomas Jefferson- “The Declaration of Independence” (1776)

Chris