Awesome Awesome Awesome
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
Living Thing Doesn’t Die
The immortal jellyfish as described on Wikipedia:
Jellyfish usually die after propagating; however, the Turritopsis nutricula has developed the ability to return to a polyp state. This is done through a cell change in the external screen (exumbrella). The cells revert to a different state. The medusa is transformed into a stolon and the polyps into a hydroid colony.[3] The umbrella turns inside out; middle section and tentacles are reabsorbed before the polyp spawns. Stolons form two days before the polyps differentiate.[3] The ability to reverse the life cycle is probably unique in the animal kingdom, and allows the jellyfish to bypass death, rendering the Turritopsis nutricula biologically immortal. Lab tests showed that 100% of specimens reverted to the polyp stage.
Song of the Day!
The Vaselines- Slushy (1990)
Chris
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
A Sign of the Times
When 30% of all new visitors (one day) arrive at this site after conducting an online search for “Harry Potter sucking dick.”
SAVE YOUR SOUL!!!
The Almighty Defenders will save your soul with their highly anticipated, upcoming, self-titled debut this November. Imeem.com has written the perfect description of the band:
In a world of Segways and wraparounds, some would say that all hope is lost. When Ipod DJ’s get 3 x the money of most rock’n’roll bands, you could say if there is hell below – we’re all gonna go. Alas! SALVATION IS FINALLY HERE!!! The Black Lips have teamed up with their long-time brothers King Khan & BBQ to offer 11 spirituals that are sure to shave the hairs right off your tongue.
This self-titled album was written, recorded and mixed in one week following the Black Lips rude expulsion from India. They flew directly into King Khan’s legendary Moon Studios in Berlin where he and Mark Sultan were cooking up their own new album. It was both bands’ first major collaboration since a US tour 4 years earlier. It could be argued that this isn’t a ‘gospel’ record in the traditional sense, sure. But this is a record of pure spirituals from six wise magicians. This isn’t a tribute to a ‘god’, but a testimony to good taste – a church of the mind brimming with soul. How such demonic dudes can sound so angelic, I have yet to comprehend, but they somehow manage to bring the true spirit of gospel and make it as raw and beatific as the likes of the Velvet Underground. Exactly how two of the most respected and influential rock’n’roll bands of this decade would do it up.
Imagine the Rev. Charlie Jackson drinkin’ Robo at a Factory party with Alastair Crowley doing security. Timeless and true – an amazing testimonial to 5% who can bridge the gaps and do something original. The Almighty Defenders are here to show you the Holy Way is the spirit that lies in the gutter of your mind. 11 songs, including a Mighty Hannibal cover! Hallelujah!!!
Chris
Glen’s Note: A new song has popped up on the web. It’s “Cone of Light,” the fourth song off Almighty Defenders (September 22) and it’s good. Listen/download: http://downloads.pitchforkmedia.com/Almighty%20Defenders%20-%20Cone%20Of%20Light.mp3
Red Sox Suck, Make Big News
The top story on newsmap is how the Red Sox suck. My Yankee-loving bosses must be overjoyed.
Nearly a full month has passed since the All-Star break, and over that span the Red Sox rank among the true dregs of the league. Only the Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, and Kansas City Royals have worse records than the Red Sox’ 8-14.
Visit WERSNews.org or else you suck
Book Review: Love All The People
Full Title: Love All The People: The Essential Bill Hicks aka Letters, Lyrics, Routines
Author: Bill Hicks
Year: 2004
Foreword “The Goat Boy Rises” By: John Lahr
Being one of the biggest Bill Hicks fans in the world it was a must that I read this work of incendiary material. With that being said if any of you, fellow readers aren’t little Goat Boy children aka Die Hard Hicks fanatics, I would not recommend reading it. Most of the book consists of word for word transcripts of his classic stand up routines, including, but not limited to: Dangerous CD, One Night Stand HBO Special, Relentless CD, “The Worst Show Ever”aka The Flying Saucer Tour Volume One CD, Revelations Channel 4 UK Special, Arizona Bay CD, and the Rant in E-Minor CD. Interviews, lyrics to Hicks penned tunes, poems, rants or brief manifestos, short stories, letters and response letters to David Letterman, Jay Leno, offended audience members (including priests), amongst other rare gems. I really enjoyed the short stories because they showcased even more of my hero’s talent. In some of these stories Bill appeared and then in others it was completely fiction. I particularly enjoyed a story in which he documents the day-to-day lives of writers for an underground newspaper known as, The Observer. The overall, recurring theme of the book is Bill’s humanistic, though misanthropic at times, approach to comedy and especially to life. Bill takes us on a journey through his mind in which he opines his deepest feelings on the evils of the world: Dogmatic, fear inducing religions (particularly Christianity), corrupt, War profiteering, Governments, Corporate shilling, Coke hawking, pop sell outs, and ignorant, flag waving, conforming Americans. It is rare in entertainment and even rarer in the comedy world, to see someone that threatens the status quo with a message and mission outside of making money and gaining some cheap chuckles. Honestly, how many comedians can you name whose mission is to evolve the human race? Maybe a few others. In conclusion,I, as most do, prefer comedy routines and Hicks in particular on videos (especially!) or on CDs, rather then in print, but I always enjoy learning more about Hicks and his philosophies and laughing my ass off simultaneously.
Grade: B+
P.S. There is one intriguing essay in which he proposes gun control, as Hicks fans should know he completely championed. Being, against gun control myself, I always wanted him to elaborate more on his stance rather then a few jabs about American violence and the NRA, which were hilarious of course. So, anyway, Hicks makes the point that if guns weren’t as easily available as they are there would be less violence in America. Well, whether that is true or not to me doesn’t matter because it violates a basic concept of freedom, it evens violates Hicksian logic! Ok, if you apply Hicks’ logic on drugs, which I completely agree with: people should be able to put whatever they want in their bodies as long as they don’t harm anyone else. So, if drugs were available to the public, there is a good chance that there would be in an increase in drug use (initially) and if you took his logic on guns and applied it here by banning drugs then there wouldn’t be as many people on drugs or dying from drugs. Now, even a novice in drug war knowledge could tell you that’s ludicrous.
Chris
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 