Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Read til it hurts, baby.

Copped these via Beats n Rants. Worth a lookee.

Mr. Babylon -
Do you really want to know how fucked up our kids are? Then check out Robert's weblog, Mr. Babylon. Robert is a school teacher at a shitty high school. His thoughts on teaching, kids and inner-city life are thought-provoking, and, at times, humorous. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I read his posts. In the end, his words keep me coming back to his blog. Link him up now!

Music for America -
Hip-Hop is more than just getting crunk or droppin' it like it's hot. It's also a movement to inspire social change. Hip-hopper DL Chandler mixes hip-hop with social commentary/consciousness. That's a hard feat to achieve on a blog, and DL does it with such wit and insight. Whenever you have free time, visit his blog and read what he has to say.

Hardly Art, Hardly Garbage -
Pop music/culture writer Sean Fennessey has the one job that I would love to have -- he's the staff writer at Complex magazine, one of the best music/gear/style magazines on the newsstands, right now. I'm not going to playa hate on him, though, because he has a cool blog. (I still want his gig.

The Fabolous and Funky World of a Diva -
All you divas out there don't have a thing on Jazz. She is a radio DJ who recently quit her job and is now in transition toward a new gig. She has plenty of drama in between as she tries to maneuver her way through in the male-dominated radio industry. A great coffee-break blog. Link her up.

Friday, November 26, 2004

Teddy bear antics
Kanye West's debut album is easily one of the most exciting records to come out this year. It's certainly the most unconventional-sounding hiphop record to make it big on the charts. Recently West has been getting a little uptight; witness his antics at the American Music Awards, where he didn't win Best New Artist and stormed out in protest...

from My Stunted Growth...
[West said] "I think that as Best New Artist, I feel robbed. I won't be giving any politically correct answer to that. I was the best New Artist this year so get that other bullshit outta here. I walked out when they announced Best New Artist. If I'm not here for political reasons next year, you'll still be hearing my music...something real."
Okay, so Kanye loses to this country artist Gretchen Wilson at the AMA where Usher won 4 awards and Bon Jovi got a special merit award ( I guess for trying to remain relevent after the 1980's) and he's upset?!? He should be happy, but instead he throws a little tantrum like a little bitch."
Read the whole piece here. Its titled "Kanye West is an overrated, egotistical hack and he wears shirts with Teddy Bears". Owww!

In Exciting Rock News, the band formerly known as Thin White Rock Gods have picked up some aging folk singer's engineer to mix their new album... the headline in the Dom Post reads "Shihad uses Bob Dylan's engineer". Just as well the gent in question, one Chris Shaw, has worked with the likes of Public Enemy, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Cheap Trick. Bet it was the latter that swung the lads, right? Bah.

'I always thought we'd be as big as Radiohead'
What happens when a group £1.2m in debt tours for the last time? Dave Simpson joins the Beta Band to find out...

Thursday, November 25, 2004



Dignity and celebrity
Check the great Jack and Meg White interview over at the Observer - the edited version is here, longer transcript here.

OMM: Dignity and celebrity are two words that don't really belong in the same sentence.
JW: Yeah, but they used to. They really used to. I think Frank Sinatra was dignified. But it's been lost. We don't have a Frank Sinatra nowadays, or a Patti Page nowadays. What do we have? Ashley Simpson instead of Patti Page! I mean look at those people - Hilary Duff and Ashley Simpson and Paris Hilton! Who are all these skanks, man! Little girls are looking up to these girls, and it's gross, so gross.
Those girls have no dignity at all, and parents are letting their kids dress up like those skanks. But what else have they got? What are the other choices? Oh well, hahaha. (uncontrollably laughing) Somebody had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to play guitar Lindsay Lyons'[Lohan] album! Hahahaha! She's another one of those sixteen-year-old actresses, and she's making an album. 'Like, No', hahaha!"

But wait, there's more...

Comic Steve Coogan and White Stripes frontman Jack White worked together on Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes, but never actually met. Here's what happened when they were offered the chance to meet online.


Last week I fired some interesting questions that Act MP Deborah Coddington was throwing round in Parliament about TVNZ over to Russell Brown - in this morning's Herald there's some more TV related news from Ms Coddington - could they be connected?

"Claims that a TVNZ manager was dismissed from television production company South Pacific Pictures after allegations of financial mismanagement had no substance, Mr Fraser told the committee. Act MP Deborah Coddington had made the claim about the head of commissioning and production Tony Holden.
Mr Fraser said TVNZ knew there had been a dispute over "money and content rights" between Mr Holden and the company, but it had been rapidly settled.
Mr Fraser said TVNZ had a robust recruitment process for checking prospective employees, and an enormous amount of checking had been done on Mr Holden. "No one was charged, there was no conviction for any crime."

Friday, November 19, 2004



One drop
When The Clash reissued London Calling recently, they followed their longstanding tradition of adding value for money for their fans, giving them the original album, a bonus CD of demos for the album, and a DVD of the making of the album, including previously unseen footage (mainly of the album’s producer Guy Stevens going nuts in the studio, throwing chairs round and swinging a ladder).

The flipside of this trend is the abhorrent practice of artists/bands releasing their album, then re-issuing it a year later with bonus tracks/remixes/instrumentals, making the fans go out and buy the same songs a second time. I got stung when Jurassic 5 did this with their debut Quality Control and ended up paying for the same album twice, when they reissued it for their 2002 Australian tour with a bonus disc of instrumentals. I traded in the first copy, but still made a loss on the deal. Just as well their gig here earlier this year was kick ass.

P-Money did the same thing with his debut album Big Things, reissuing it with a second disc of instrumentals and new tracks (to his credit, his second album Magic City comes with a bonus disc of instrumentals for early purchasers of said product). P-Money isn't the only local example, of course: other culprits include Mareko, Bic Runga, Dimmer, Brooke Fraser, and Golden Horse, who released their debut album three times. Sure, it’s a marketing tool to drag in new fans and bump up sales (nothing wrong with that), but if you went out and bought an album when it first came out and then you find out there's a 'new improved' version of it, you’d feel ripped off, right?

Which is why I got to send out maximum respect to Salmonella Dub – their latest album One Drop East has just been reissued (out Nov 29) with a bonus disc of remixes. But they have also made the second disc of remixes available as a mid-price single disc for their fans who already have the album. Niceness. Let's hope this starts a trend, known henceforth as "Not Ripping Off Your Fanbase". Remixers of the Dub include Mu, Digital, Concord Dawn and Mad Professor -I went to a workshop with Mad Prof back in October last year when he was out here working on this remix. One question - One Drop East came out with copy protection, which didn't impress some folk. Will the reissue be the same deal?

UPDATE: Stinky Jim reviewed the London Calling reissue in this week's Listener, saying that it "remains a stunning record, even with its dirty laundry now on parade", adding that "everyone's got to make a living, but let's hope that this is the last of the attempts to remarket a group that went out of their way not to rip off their fans when they were active." More here.





One of the world's most exciting DJ's Mr Scruff comes to our town this Saturday night playing at The Studio on K Rd, and I can't wait. He's doing one of his 5 hour sets (his preferred set length).
"He rates drinking tea and eating pies as the things he does most besides collecting, playing, and listening to music... He says he made the connection between his favourite band, 80s ska outfit Madness, and the ska of Prince Buster early on, but he's not so sure how important musical history is to people today. It's something that fascinates him, but do others care? "It's reliant on what you're exposed to as a kid. If all you see is MTV and listen to the charts you're just going to think it's supermodels who make music and all you need to do it is jewellery and cigars."
More of this interview (via NZH) over here . [update: The Herald has redesigned their site, and moved their content round the place, making this link dead. Stink - hang on, fixed it.]

He's playing in Wellington tonight (Friday) at Subnine, and after the Saturday night gig in Auckland, according to Mr Scruff's website, it's "Australia, here we come! Mr Scruffs "Keep It Solid Steel" continues to Australia where Scruff plays a series of dates, beginning on Sunday 21st November at 'Dux de Lux' in Christchurch." Dude is a wicked DJ, but somewhat geographically challenged. Any Mainlanders out there impressed at being lumped in with Australia?

Oh, and cruise on over here to hear the new single from the D4, called Sake Bomb, in English and Japanese versions - it pisses all over the Datsuns latest. Cambridge cissies!

PLUS: Catch Te Radar’s Dispatches from the Holy Lands – hear it on National Radio, 4 parts starting Saturday 20 November at 1.30pm (repeats Thursday 8.30pm). Join Radar as he attempts to shoot the seminal work on the Arab-Israeli conflict, his film called Christmas in Bethlehem: A Naivety Story

Thursday, November 18, 2004



Get mashed
Latest from the nutty world of musical mashups - Queen - "A Night At The Hip-Hopera" bought to you by the Kleptones. Grab it quick - Disney (who own the rights to Queen thru Hollywood Records) are chasing after it. There's mirrors here of the audio, plus cover. Klepshimi has a list of all the samples used for it (also check the live Pixies recordings on same blog).

Remember all the fuss about the Grey Album? Beatles vs Jay Z from DJ Dangermouse? Well, now someone's done a video for it. Check it here. Very funny, brilliantly executed. (both via Boingboing)

Tourist fun
The king of abandoned skyscrapers, found in Detroit. This fella and his mates went in and had a lookee. Check the pics here. This looks like a whole lot of fun.


Simon Grigg kicks some shit and comes out punching for the Car Crash Set...
"... Realistically its probably about time to stand up and say that the most interesting and inventive stuff coming out of these isles in the eighties, aside from The Headless Chickens and Fetus Productions, came from outside the Flying Nun catalogue... The early Flying Nun stuff sounds like the past whereas things like the CCS sound like the present and the future in 2004. Sorry, but its true."
The other FNun acts that I reckon still sound fresh are Bailter Space and the Skeptics, easily one of the most important and under-rated bands on the Nun.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004


ET
From Jeff: "Ryan Moore from Twilight Circus brought this to my attention: the great reggae engineer and dubmaster Errol Thompson passed away this weekend. He was behind the boards on some of the most thrilling roots and dub records like the African Dub Almighty series, Dennis Brown's Words of Wisdom, Yellowman's Zunguguzungguguzungguzeng, and Culture's Two Sevens Clash.

This from Ryan:
"Errol Thompson must have recorded many 1000's of albums and singles in the 70's. IMO he was the all time greatest recording engineer of reggae & one of the very best on the mix. Clear, open, FAT and well balanced..
He worked at the legendary Randys studio in the early 70's and then later at Joe Gibbs studio..
Anybody here who has heard some vintage reggae has heard his work - he worked with everybody.
The last I heard, from a reliable source who was there, ET was working in the supermarket owned by his former musical production partner Joe Gibbs. Thus, no longer in the music business."

Errol is centre in above photo, working the phone. Augusus Pablo on right.


I know you got soul.
Entertainment Weekly
ranks the "25 best rap albums of all time".
On to the list:
1. Eric B & Rakim Paid In Full (1987)
2. De La Soul 3 Feet High And Rising (1989)
3. The Notorious B.I.G. Ready To Die (1994)
4. Public Enemy Fear Of A Black Planet (1990)
5. RUN-DMC Raising Hell (1986)
6. Dr. Dre The Chronic (1992)
7. Wu-Tang Clan Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
8. Nas Illmatic (1994)
9. A Tribe Called Quest The Low End Theory (1991)
10. Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique (1989)
11. Outkast Aquemini (1998)
12. Cypress Hill Cypress Hill (1991)
13. Gang Starr Daily Operation (1992)
14. Ice Cube Death Certificate (1991)
15. Jay-Z The Blueprint (2001)
16. LL Cool J Mama Said Knock You Out (1990)
17. Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
18. Lauryn Hill The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill (1998)
19. The Pharcyde Bizarre Ride ll The Pharcyde (1992)
20. Mos Def Black On Both Sides (1999)
21. Boogie Down Productions By All Means Necessary (1988)
22. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five The Message (1982)
23. Missy Elliott Miss E...So Addictive (2001)
24. Dr. Octagon Dr. Octagonecologyst (1996)
25. Aceyalone A Book Of Human Language (1998)

O-Dub notes a few glaring omissions... "where is Pete Rock and CL Smooth's Mecca and the Soul Brother? Where is NWA's Straight Outta Compton?" The Shrimp crew drop the same list, but they "took the liberty of bolding the titles of the albums that aren't even any good." See what you think.

UPDATE: Nelson George weighs in on the above list, and talks about ODB's passing.
"... to name Eric B. & Rakim's Piad in Full the greatest is just plain wrong. They picked the wrong Public Enemy album for their top ten. There are a bunch more crazy ideas in their list..."

Tuesday, November 16, 2004


Arafat to Pope: Yo, nice Xtian bling bling you got dere,
my homie. Where can I get me sum a dat?
Pope: Yo, quit buggin'. can't you see I'm on da mic, homie?


Mo money.
So, Yasser Arafat died, and turns out he was a billionaire. He lived in bombed out buildings, when he coulda been high rolling.

... For 12 years, until 1996, Mr al-Ghussein was the treasurer for the Palestine Liberation Organisation. It was his duty to keep track of the billions of pounds that were donated to Yasser Arafat, the PLO leader, by sympathetic organisations, such as the European Union.
Eventually, Mr al-Ghussein realised that he had been handed an impossible task - tracing Arafat's billions required a detective, not an accountant. "I just hope he has left some sort of a will," he told The Sunday Telegraph, on the eve of Arafat's death on Thursday. "Or at least some detailed information about all the accounts and the assets, because that money belongs to the Palestinian people, not to him."
... Meanwhile, Mrs Arafat and the Arafats' daughter, Zahwa, allegedly spent an entire year living on a floor of the Hotel Bristol in Paris, at a cost of £8,700 per night, before buying an expensive flat in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe. French authorities have discovered that Mrs Arafat, who moved to Paris in 2000 to avoid the second intifada, received $11.4 million in money transfers from Switzerland, between 2002 and 2003.
More news stories here.


Oh yeah, and Roger Harper - WTF?
"... we don't like the negative messages this particular product gives so we thought, 'How could we turn a negative into a positive?'
"We thought, 'Why don't we make a significant donation to Women's Refuge and youth suicide [prevention] because these organisations help the victims that suffer from Eminem's world view'.

UPDATE
Roger Harper, manager of the CD and DVD Store appeared on TV Ones nightly current affairs show Closeup on Monday night, talking about his actions. He was filmed outside his store in Vulcan Lane in central Auckland. The programme's host Susan Wood pointed out to Harper that the irony of his campaign against Eminem would have the effect of drawing even more attention to his album, which Harper agreed with, saying that the CD had already sold out in some of his 25 stores.

The Herald reported that Harper’s stores displayed a poster “in shop windows to discourage people from buying the new Eminem album, Encore. If people do choose to buy it from the store then it will donate $6 to Women's Refuge and youth suicide prevention charities. The posters claim Encore is more "verbal porn" from Eminem and his "annual pile of refuse" that he releases on record. It goes on to say: "We'd rather not make money selling you this stuff but if you do want this album, buy it here and we will donate $6 for every copy we sell."

The stores will not have the album out on display, but will keep it behind the counter. I went down there at lunchtime today, and they have albums of similar explicit lyrical content on display from the likes of Missy Elliot, Snoop Dogg, Lil Kim and Tupac, to name a few. There are 12 music retailers in the central city area - 5 of them focus mainly on chart CDs. Now what's interesting about the CD and DVD Store is it is the only one of the 12 music retailers to feature a Christian music section - it's right next to Punk/Alternative. Harper’s own religious views didn’t come up during his TV interview.

As one irate letter writer in this morning’s paper observed, “We cannot discriminate on ethnicity or gender, but this store is being allowed to judge on our choice of music. This is juvenile and unfair. I know that I would rather buy products where I am not being judged and criticised for being who I am, no matter what my choice of music.”

MO UPDATE: This story has made it offshore, and is getting coverage on Billboard, MSNBC and Allhiphop.com. We are a bunch of hicks.

Monday, November 15, 2004



Wellington crossdresser masquerades as librarian, wins award.

So, it turns out that Natalie Biz (Bizgirl) is in fact a he. "James" aka "Noizyboy" turned up to take credit for said blog at the Netguide Awards on friday night, when it won best personal blog. What a genius media hoax. I haven't laughed that hard since the middle of last week. Top work, "James" or whoever you are.
Netguide had an expert judge the local blogs, and she had some comments on all the finalists, including a major diss aimed at Public Address; "... what's it about? Or does it matter? They are all good writers with important stuff to say ... clearly the movers and shakers of New Zealand's blogosphere. A little intimidating though." She didn't like David Farrar's Kiwiblog either, but he wasn't fazed. "I think it is hilarious that Natalie is actually James Guthrie of Noizyblog. Makes me feel like Paul Henry when he lost Wairarapa to Georgina Beyer :-) "
The Scavengers played on the weekend - I missed em, choosing Roots Foundation instead, which was a mighty fine night of reggae and dub , tho the poor ol PA at Safari Lounge wasn't up to the task of pumping out some serious bass - shame. Simon Grigg went along to see the Scavs - he was closely involved in the early punk scene in AK, with his record label Propellor, and his association with Suburban Reps.
"... The show itself...short (12 3 minute songs), anthem filled (I was touched to be the only person to get a song dedicated to them), and loud (vastly better sound than I've ever heard the Scavs...we used to throw the vocals thru the guitar amp back then)..."
I suspect the song that was dedicated to Simon was "Born to Bullshit" which got a belated release as a single a few years back, with Simon's photo on the cover, with a black strip tastefully pasted across his eyes to give him some vague level of anonymity. Touching.
Simon also noted that Dion from the D4 did a fine job of filling in for absent bassist Brendan Perry, who is otherwise engaged in prepping a tour with Dead Can Dance from a former church in Ireland (his home and recording studio), where he also runs samba workshops for the locals. Speaking of the D4, check out this MP3 from a group with the same name, from back in the 80s (warning: file is huge, 16MB). from Stickershock.

I caught the tail end of Flashbacks last night on C4, a special looking at a bunch of old Flying Nun vids in honour of the new FNun DVD 'Second season' that's just come out. James Coleman's guests were Dave Yetton (JPSE, Stereobus) and Chris Knox, who rubbed jelly into his arms and face towards the end of the show, while Coleman was trying to intro the next vid without laughing. The jelly was on set as a tribute to Superettes Killer Clown video which features a party with much jelly and other party food. Knox called in "conditioning jelly", and then was surprised when told that you could eat it - "oh really?" Classic Knox antics, reduced Coleman to uncontrollable laughter.

One of the final clips was Bike's "Welcome to my world" vid (directed by Jonathan King), which I worked on as a production assistant. The vid features a family going on holiday, towing a caravan where Bike are playing inside, while they drive down the road. Anyways, my job involved driving back to town to pick up Shayne Carter, who played a policeman in the vid, then drive him back out to Maraeti, about a 2 hr round trip. He wasn't very talkative on the way out (too early in the AM for him?), but on the way back to town after his cameo, we got talking , and ended up raving about Sly and the Family Stone - Shayne had just scored the Sly box set for a bargain at Real Groovy. I remember thinking that was real cool, as it marked him out as a fan.
UPDATE: Watch out for the Second FNun Pub Quiz, Wednesday Nov 24, 8pm at the King's Arms - free! More info here.




RIP Russell Jones
AKA ODB, Ol Dirty Bastard, MC with the Wu Tang Clan. Died in the recording studio on saturday after complaining of chest pains. Dude was 35. Sad news. Last time I heard from this cat was earlier this year, after he'd signed to Rocafella Records, and dropped an exclusive preview of his latest recording, a duet with Macy Grey, the Kiki Dee/Elton John clunker 'Don't go breakin my heart'. You can still hear it over here. He had skills, but he aint no Elton. Here's a 2002 interview with him: Portrait of the artist in jail.


Check out Reinventing Elvis: The American Sound Studio Sessions. It's a fascinating insight behind the sessions that delivered In the Ghetto and Suspicious Minds, produced by former Stax alumni Chips Moman. It aslo reveals how Elvis was tied to his publishing company, who sound like a bunch of money-hungry evil little men. They hound Chips to give up some of the publishing on In the Ghetto, which belongs to him, and he is not impressed. His response? "Gentlemen, I thought we were here to cut some hit records. Now if that's not the case, let me tell you what you can do. You can take your fucking tapes, and you and your whole group can get the hell out of here. Don't ask me for something that belongs to me. I'm not going to give it to you."

Friday, November 12, 2004



Back to the roots.
A few gigs in town tonight worth checking, if you're in the AK...
Legendary Wellington reggae crew Roots Foundation Sound System return to AK for a set at Safari Lounge toonight (Friday Nov 12) from 9pm. Koa, Lemon, Goosebump and Mu have been plugging roots music since the early 90s -here's a good interview from today's NZ Herald.
Mu reports that his other project - Fat Freddys Drop - have a new single out next month and their album is due early next year. Wouldn't hold your breath for that one, tho. It was supposed to be out in October this year. Still, good things take time, just like those cats say in the cheese ad.
The other gig is by Wing - she's performing instore at Real Groovy Auckland this evening, at 6.30pm. Who is Wing? She is a local singer (originally from Hong Kong) who is famous/infamous for her 'original' intrepretations of well-known tunes. Check the bounds of what you think is good taste and have a listen to some samples on her site. I dare you. Backgrounder from the Listener over here.




Surprise!
I've been picking up references on various US blogs to Bush's backdoor draft, but haven't really heard too much detail about it til now. US writer Jeff Chang has been concerned about his cousin David Miyasato...

"... David enlisted in the army in 1987. You enlist when you're 18 for a lot of reasons. You do your time like they tell you--3 years through a war to an honorable discharge, 5 more on inactive duty. At that point, by contract, by rules that the Army has established, your obligations are finished.
In the 8 years after that, you start a family, try to provide for them, and then the Army wants to come back at you like they own you. It ain't right. It's the exact opposite of what this country is supposed to be about.
David was an ammo-supply driver. If you haven't been up on it, here's a taste of what kind of work that is.
But David is not trying to duck difficult, perhaps deadly work--like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and all these other chicken hawks who refused to serve. David is asking to be treated justly and fairly, according to the rules the Army set forth at the beginning. That's not unpatriotic, it's the most American thing to do.
Whether or not you agree the war is unjust and wrong, David has done his time."

More press coverage Here's and here. (More here.)

It looks like they've had some success getting him out of this nightmare, thanks to some help from his Senator.

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

Concord Porn
Via Dodgy Sam on Twisted: "An unnamed D&B duo...*coughconcordedawncough* was approached by a small German adult entertainment company to use a certain track as backing music for a soon to be released movie. After much deliberation and chit chat the duo said yes but only if they could use parts of the vid as a music video to be screened here in NZ...a Yes was struck so all was well... UNTIL the movie was eventually finished and sent to said duo for their use.
The problem with the video was that it was a hardcore mens anal fisting video...(oh dear) The duo are unsure how to approach C4 with their newest music video."
Tip of the hat to Ms Behaviour for this gem. Pass it on.

UPDATE: after checking this with a knowledgable source, it seems this story is true - their song was used in a hardcore video - this happened a while back. The bit about getting it on C4 is unlikely, tho.

Monday, November 08, 2004

Paul Holmes: "I'm not whining like a little bitch - really I'm not".
Paul Holmes got maximum coverage out of the weekend papers, and sure, he didn't say the above words, but he did come out with some gems. He said staying at TVNZ was "eroding my mana". Just like that time you called Kofi Annan a cheeky darkie, Paul? That eroded your mana, aye? Holmes praises Alison Annan, (the woman who closed her school library because it was being replaced by students using the internet) but disses Kofi Annan. Meanwhile, over at TV3, their current 7pm slot is filled by the Simpsons. This week they've just started replaying the very first series, from 1990. Man, it's clunky. Tune in and have a look. The drawing is nowhere near as slick as it is now, and the pacing is way slower.

Friday, November 05, 2004




Working for the clampdown.
The 25th anniversary reissue of London Calling finally came out here last week, and damn it's good. I was surprised at how well it's aged. I remember first hearing it when I was at school - one of my friends had a copy and I went round to his house one weekend to listen to it. I went back to his place the following weekend and taped it onto cassette, but didn't manage to fit it all on one C90 tape, so when I hear it now there's songs on it that I barely know, cos they didn't make it onto my cassette copy. In retrospect, even tho I heard this album around ten years before we recorded the first Hallelujah Picassos album, I can definitely see the influence this album had on me, as a music fan and musician. Connects a few dots, you know? Aint hindsight grand?

C4 played the DVD [that comes with the 25th Anniversary edition] on the making of London Calling earlier in the week, and are screening it again tonight at 10pm. There's some great tales of The Clash taking a break from rehearsing when their record company would come down to visit - they'd go off and play 5 a side football with the record execs, and apparently the games got pretty brutal, with The Clash belting the ball (and the opposition) round the field. Paul Simenon compliments his fellow band members on their footie skills, and describes his own skills by noting that when he got the ball everyone would run away, as what he lacked in skill he made up for with agression. Rolling Stone magazine voted London Calling as the number one album of the 80s; Joe Strummer's reaction? Watch it and find out, I aint giving away all the good lines.


After a week in Jesusland covering the US election, Radar sounds keeen to get home...
"All I could think was that with the result decided I could return home to a country where I can eat at a restaurant without having to look at myriad people with plastic oxygen tubes protruding from their noses and attached to industrial size oxygen tanks." Read his latest column here.

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Sartorial wisdom

Tshirt guy

check the guy's t-shirt, top left. (Tip of the hat to O-dub)

A few months back I was speculating with some friends on what Bush would do after declaring 'mission accomplished' in Iraq - I suggested that if he wins re-election, he'd shift the troops next door and invade Iran. Now Bob Mould brings this up in his latest post... "I fear there will be a reinstatement of a draft, particularly if we choose to invade Iran next year..." Hans has a great map of the United States of Jesusland (via Daily Kos). It's a much better arrangement of the red and blue states - the latter become part of Canada. Boing Boing reader Pete Setchell says, "There is still one chance to get him [Bush] out of the White House - send him a pack of pretzels to celebrate his victory. I've just sent some via Amazon."
Q-Burns Abstract Message sent this to Boing Boing: "Bill Hicks once told a story about an American friend of his who complained about the USA. When told, "well, if you don't like it then move somewhere else" the friend's reply would be, "What? And become a victim of our foreign policy?"

Wonkette's Post-Election Media Glossary (First in a Series)
What reporters really mean (whether talking to colleagues, boss, or you):
"The internet propagated bogus information." = "We fucked up."
"Bloggers let the cat out of the bag." = "We believed those polls, too."
"Oh, that room service bill includes laundry." = "I emptied the mini-bar."
"That was quite a night, huh?" = "What's your name again?"
"Truly, this is a divided America." = "I am planning on resorting to tired red/blue stereotypes for another four years."
"President Bush is has a mandate." = "We didn't believe that 380 ton thing either."
"We're all just glad it's over." = "Mr. McClellan, you look tense, can I rub your shoulders?"
"This is a vindication for Karl Rove's strategy" = "We won't tell criminal prosecutor about your Plame leak."
"Will Bush govern from the middle?" = "Will I have to talk to Christians?"
"President Bush is joined by his family." = "I can see Jenna's Barbara's nipples."

UPDATE: Greil Marcus looks into the future and writes up George W Bush's obituary.
"Policy Review, October 5, 2018--George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, died today at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. He was 72. .." The last line is hilarious.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

You like to watch?
The NZ Herald mentions the tv coverage available here on the US election. If you're in Auckland, skip TV One; your best best is Triangle TV, who are taking feeds from Voice of America and others from 8.30 pm till 11 pm. Their website also lists the following coverage... US ELECTIONS COVERAGE: Midday from TV5 France, 1PM from CCTV4 China, 2PM from DW Germany, 2.50PM from NHK Japan, 3PM Journal, 4PM PBS USA, 7PM Journal, 9PM Journal, 10PM Voice of America.
TV One has coverage all afternoon from 2 til 6pm, but this is probably going to be pretty lightweight as the final polling booths don't close in the US til 6pm our time. Still, might be fun watching Mark Sainsbury and co making a little go a long way.
Meanwhile, sleaze gets the thumbs up at the Whitehouse...
UPDATE: Mystery Pollster has the lowdown on what the exit polls really mean.

Monday, November 01, 2004

romanowski

Steady Rocking, Bay Area Style.
Romanowski is a San Francisco DJ/producer (pictured above, rocking it Mickey Mouse styles) who "considers sneaking into his mother's liquor cabinet and record collection his introduction to the DJ lifestyle. Booze and Beatles albums gave way to old school rap and early electronica, a combination he spun together at the age of 14 in his native Zurich, Switzerland." He moved to San Fran in 92, and his debut as a producer was a collaboration in 2001 with graffiti artist/producer Doze Green on the Future Primitive Sounds label under the name Aromadozeski Therapy (check his bio at the Future Primitive site).
He debuted earlier this year with the 'Steady Rocking - Romanowski in a Jamaican stylee' EP - there's a few very tasty samples you can download over here - check out 'Why' and 'Speaking Of', a few downtempo reggae groovers, thoroughly reccomended. Scissorkick has some samples from his next EP over here, more uptempo funk malarkey. It's a party in my pants, like the man says.
Peter Urlich: Oh, the screaming silence.
The Herald On Sunday had Ben Lummis as one of its cover stories yesterday. It talked about his second single from his first album flopping, the trials of building a career (he's playing school fairs these days), and what he's planning next. The story continues inside the paper, under the title "Fallen Idle: Is Ben's dream over?" The cover headline said "I wish people would take me seriously". Boo hoo. Poor starving artist.
According to HOS reporter Amanda Spratt, Lummis is currently working on his third album. What happened to his second album, then? Slight factual inconsistency there. Still, Spratt runs the numbers on Lummis' album sales, and notes that revenue from his 30,000 album sales would be negligible, "as artists do best if they've written the song". After promotional costs, videos and BMG and Idol creator Simon Fuller take their cut, she suggests that Lummis is probably even. (I wrote about this back in May, when BMG marketing manager Jake Shand said to the Sunday Star Times that the winner of NZ Idol would be well rewarded: "For them not to make any money is not a reality. I'd be astounded if they didn't." He aint out buying houses, tho, is he?)
Lummis doesn't know how much he earns each week, but says its better than what he was getting as a teacher's aide. Several NZ music biz movers and shakers pitched in their thoughts, including Peter Urlich. 'New Zealand, say music industry gurus, is a tough crowd to serenade. Urlich, depite his screaming silence when told of the success, or lack thereof, of Lummis' follow-up single, has faith... "You have to leave, have some success in another market. It's going to be an uphill battle. It comes down to songs. You need great songs."' Just watch out for that screaming silence.




Isn't it ironic?
The Beastie Boys are on the cover of the latest issue of Wired magazine, with the entertaining headline "The Beastie Boys; fight for your right to copy", which is hilarious, coming from a group whose latest album was copy protected, much to the chagrin of their fans. Wired comes with a free cd featuring music distributed under the Creative Commons license. Looks like a good read, apart from the dodgy cover line. Public Enemy, Dangermouse, Thievery Corp and Gilberto Gil feature also. There's more about the CD here.
"Rip, mix, burn. Swap till you drop. The music cops can't do a thing - it's 100 percent legal, licensed by the bands. Call it copyright for the 21st century."


"I'm the old git with the chick, the Roller and the rock band'" - Iggy Pop interviewed by the Guardian's Miranda Sawyer. She gets a look round his house in Miami.
"...Iggy takes me on a tour. His place is small but stuffed: Haitian love goddesses battle it out with Mexican madonnas on Italian marble tops and Chinese antique dressers, which cuddle up to cow-skinned chairs, curly mirrors, a cartoon of the serial killer Carl Panzram, a 'cut-up' work by a contemporary of William Burroughs, Brion Gysin. There's an Iggy painting of a Stooges gig on one wall; a Shirelles CD sits like a single on the old record player..."

Allhiphop.com interviews Olu Dara, musican and father of Nas. Dara features on his son's new album, on the tune Bridging the Gap. Wicked tune.