- teecomb in Pitchfork Leaks Some of the 2008 Lineup Animal Collective rocks so hard. It’s has great melodies and most people who hate on it have only heard one era of them that didn’t...
- Mark in SonicBids & CMJ 2007: Anatomy of a Scam? …Meh. Sonicbids is a total scam. Our band was stupid enough to fall into it to. It didn’t take us long to figure out that they keep...
- Matt K in Just a small complaint… Agreed whole-heartedly. Nice observation.
It’s a dark moment for the printed word. I learned today that the always-inspiring Punk Planet magazine is ceasing publication. They’ve fought the good fight for 13 years, but distribution problems that began over a year ago have finally taken their toll. The website will continue, as will Punk Planet Books, home to Joe Meno’s recent output and other great reads. The magazine, however, will end after it’s next issue, #80.
Also in trouble is McSweeney’s, the publishing company started by literary hipster Dave Eggers. They’ve also been hurt by distributor woes, and in order to scrape up cash, they’re holding auctions of rare and interesting items, as well as putting everything in their store on sale. Go drop a few dollars in their hat - they deserve it, and the world will be a poorer place if they fail. (I would personally recommend Eggers’s You Shall Know Our Velocity and Nick Hornby’s The Polysyllabic Spree.) Rise up, fellow members of the electronic music media, and help our print brethren!
The thing that annoys me about comic books? They never show what the super-villains do in their off time. Sure, we get the occasional glimse of Peter Parker struggling with his love life, or Batman engaging in some corporate merger. But what about the bad guys? What are they doing with all that stolen filthy lucre? Surely they have hobbies.
Well, allow me to let you in on a secret. Lex Luthor, BraÃniac*, Mysterio and Ra’s Al Ghul commit their dirty deeds to pay for their band.
That band is called IfIHadAHiFi, and they will rock you with SCIENCE!
Sure, they pretend to be four clean-cut boys from Milwaukee, but that’s just them being smarter than you - they get you to let your guard down, then twist your brain until it bends to their booty-shaking will! Everything about the band is smart - the palindromes, the so-tight-you’d-swear-it-was-computerized rhythm section, the Albini-esque guitar chime, the synths that aren’t new wave so much as no wave…
But this is knowledge used for Sinister Ends! Heck, the chorus of “(The HiFi Vs.) Potential Energy”, the first song on 2004’s No More Music, clearly states their criminal intentions: “WE WANT TO STEAL YOUR POTENTIAL ENERGY!!!”** Your only defense is to pogo until you drop!
Nowhere is their mad science more obvious than the stage. You know shoegazers? IfIHadAHiFi are whatever the opposite of shoegazers are. You will witness acrobatic feats of pure rock at the Beat Kitchen on June 2, the likes of which may never be repeated.
It’s a shame that there’s probably some fire code that keeps them from having a Tesla coil on stage, as it would seem to be the most appropriate accessory: electric, noisy, chaotic and potentially dangerous. But really damn cool.
* When I was writing this, I hadn’t yet seen hotshotrobot’s post in loving memory of the BAND Brainiac, but now this reference seems even more appropriate.
** They really do sing in all caps, bold and with exclamation points, I swear. Hit their myspace page and see for yourself!
It seems like Bruce Springsteen is the latest indie-rock touchstone. The Hold Steady are constantly compared to Mr. Boss (a Google search for "The Hold Steady" Springsteen turned up 213,000 results). The Killers have talked about how they wanted to incorporate more of a Springsteen flavor on Sam’s Town. Even Neon Bible from The Arcade Fire has drawn Bruce-y comparisons. Springsteen may be to the 00s what Neil Young was to the 90s.
I enjoy all of the aforementioned bands. (Yes, even The Killers, on occasion.)
But I CAN’T STAND Springsteen.
I can’t say I ever really enjoyed him. Born in the USA was all over the radio during my formative years, and I’m sure some pop-burnout led to my initial distaste. Like Bob Dylan, I can appreciate his songs when other people do them. (Patti Smith’s “Because the Night” is great, and yeah, I even like Manfred Mann’s versions of “Blinded by the Light” and “Spirits in the Night.”)
However, the point at which my “meh, whatever” attitude turned to outright hatred came my freshman year in college. I blame my roommate. His music collection consisted of everything Springsteen had ever written, sang, produced, or even looked at.
And an Andrew “Dice” Clay album.
And nothing else. Read more »
So the almighty fantabulous and super-underrated Poster Children of Champaign, IL are finally putting out new music! And the best part? It’s FREE!!!
They’ve begun a semi-regular series of downloadable singles, “Singles of the Moment.” The first one is available now, “Machines (Take Good Care of the).” It’s available here.
You don’t have to sign up for anything, you don’t have to give your credit card number–all they ask is for an entirely voluntary donation. Passing the internet hat, if you will.
Santa was good to Joiezabel this year. He got her a brand new hat.
UPDATE: It keeps her toasty for her fireside chats.
Joiezabel told me I’d better post this here, and there was a threatening edge to her voice that suggested consequences if I didn’t…
The one-and-only-super-fantabulous Tom Waits is making the late night television rounds this week. Tonight (11/27) he’ll be on Late Night with David Letterman on CBS, and tomorrow he hits The Daily Show with John Stewart on Comedy Central. Can’t wait to see him and Stewart try to out-funny each other.
