- 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.
Dave Asher of (is) Melody Nife (and) makes the schemes of the rest of the DIY
contingent look pretty paltry. A mainstay at Chicago’s IO Theater (formerly known as Improv Olympic) where he, most nights of the week, provides a musical backdrop for the players (all improvised, of course), Dave is also the brains, looks and muscle behind the multi-media juggernaut that is Melody Nife.
His highly professional (and hottie-rific) video ‘Babydoll‘, which looks like a George Michael-Beck hybrid, has garnered quite a bit of attention, not to mention praise, across the Internet, and screenings for critics at venues like the IO, where no one gets off easy. That’s on top of his debut album Sci Fi Sol, the official vehicle for his ridiculously catchy and attention-grabbing cuts (as if he needed to emphasize this, a 9-minute disc of clips from 30 of his songs spliced together is also available). An interactive, futuristic jukebox - magically self-aware and sensitive to vinyl-worshiping anachronisms - interacts with a running narrative and theme related to something about meaning and authenticity in an age of digital overload.
But overload is his thing, and he works it well. If things get too cluttered it’s because they’re supposed to be, and it’s funny, by God! He doesn’t improvise for comedians for nothing! This is melody driven, psych-pop that floats on layers of distortion, video game blips and clever lyrics; and it sounds like it should be played on vinyl, if only that were 
possible.
Advice to heed: go to the IO to watch any number of the excellent teams do their acts as backed-up by Dave (or the other talented players, ahem…) and pick up a copy of Sci Fi Sol from the bartender while ordering your favorite craft beer. Or get it from iTunes if Chicago and/or comedy isn’t your thing. Meanwhile, Dave provided answers to the 5 Questions for us to feast on:
1. When historians listen to your CD 1000 years from now, what will they say?
“Why won’t this thing play on my iHead?”
2. If you could play a show w/ any band/musician living or dead, whom would you pick and why?
Michael Jackson. The crowd would be enormous and they’d be optimistic that music can bring about good things, even if from an unusual package. Melody Nife would open, of course, but maybe I could sit in on Thriller, haunt out from behind a ten foot grave stone…
3. What is the strangest band-related dream you have had?
I’m eating pancakes at 4 AM in a run down all-night diner. I’m alone and focused on the music which comes from a 30 year-old jukebox. The sound is vibrant and five dimensional. Songs that I’ve heard before sound different. I check the other patrons to see if they are likewise occupied. That’s when I realize, the diner is run by the mafia and the juke box is one of their prized secrets: the music is all being played live, piped in from the land where rock stars live forever, their songs expanding with the universe.
4. What do your fans look like?
Rich, hot, supermodel pilots and their slacker stoner dates.
5. What bullshit do you run into at most every show that makes you think, “Man, this Bullshit again?”
The hot tubs back stage are too hot.
Writer’s note: I implore you, the reader, to go see Melody Nife at Martyr’s in Chicago on Wednesday, July 18th. I would attend if I weren’t committed elsewhere, but it was simply unavoidable. Go on, see for yourselves!
I’m not a fan of Britney Spears and this is after repeatedly looking at her baby hatch (usually, a pretty easy sell on liking someone is seeing their twazzer). But I am a fan of meltdowns and boy, has this former Mousketeer had a pretty good one (as meltdowns go). Who better to give us an opinion on what we already know than someone who once had to stand between Britney and the vagina-hungry, paranoia-inducing public? Here, in its unedited glory, is an interview with Britney Spears’ former publicist. …And when you speak of Superstarcastic.com, speak well.
NOTE: It’s already been suggested that this is parody. I can assure you that if it were parody, you’d be laughing your ass off instead of just giggling. I’ve been friends with Britney’s former publicist for over a decade and haven’t had the opportunity to ask him about her until now, when she went all Sinead on us (and doesn’t look nearly as good as Sinead does). This is the real deal here.
1) Do you want me to mention your name and relationship with Britney?
Let’s just say I was the person who got her where she is today… I was her first publicist for “Baby One More Time” when I was at Jive Records. For the first two years, I was always with her… at parties, photoshoots, interviews, TV appearances, you name it. She was my kid and I was her babysitter… of sorts.
2) How well do you know Britney?
I used to know her really well… I was even thanked on a few of her albums.. but these days? I used to think that Christina Aguilera was the nutso one. Seems like I got it all wrong.
3) In your professional opinion as a publicist, has Britney gone batshit crazy?
At first, I thought she was becoming the new Tara Reid, but then *BA BAM* hello Margot Kidder. If I was her publicist, I would have pulled her back from the FIRST crotch shot because I’m sorry, but flashing your kibbles once can be intriguing, but more than once? They become nasty bits.
Has she gone “crazy”? Nah. At first, it was a typical response to fading pop fame… the “publicity at any cost” tactic. We’ve seen it with Lindsay Lohan… We’ve seen it with Nick Carter… We’ve even seen it with Macauley Culkin. But with Brit, her main problem was that not only was her fame falling, but she also took on too much responsibility JUST as that started to happen, otherwise known as “kids”. She doesn’t have the slightest idea what it means to have kids. And one of the problems that kids bring to pop music is that everyone once thought of her as smokin’ hot… but now that she’s dropped placenta, ummm… not so hot. And she saw that happening, so instead of going into “mom” mode, she retaliated and went into Crazy Whitney mode.
Now looking at this in a publicity angle, this is the PERFECT set-up, sad to say. She’s hit rock bottom. She’s back in rehab as of yesterday (we’ll see how long THIS lasts) and she has a lot of rebuilding to do. And what better “symbol” to do it with, but with her extreme haircut. As she gets her life back together, she’s going to go through different hairstyles. People are gonna be ravenous for this info… and if I were still her publicist, I would be building this up as the triumph of the year. By year’s end, her hair will be back and she’ll release a new album. But the set-up getting there is perfect. Every time she takes a positive step, it’s worth a press release. Soon, she’ll be an advocate for alcoholism, drunk driving, unfit mothers, etc. You name the dysfunction, she can be spokesmodel. By end of the year, if this all works well, she’ll be on Oprah, Leno, Letterman… She’ll have covers of Seventeen, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair. I’d be psyched to be her publicist right now.
4) On a scale of Cate Blanchette (1) to Tom Cruise(10), with Michael Jackson being Tom Cruise with bonus points, how crazy is she?
I’m gonna go conservative and give her a 3. She’s having a mental breakdown, but she’s not psychotic… She’s just misguided (haha, I’m not even her publicist and I’m being protective of her).
5) If you were still working as her publicist, what would you advise to repair this situation?
Hmmm… I’d make sure it was a looooong, drawn out and successful recovery. No one believes a short recovery. Look at Lindsay. She was branded a freakazoid party drunktard. Pics of her boozing and drunk everywhere were all over Perez Hilton and Pink Is the New Blog. And she went into rehab and stayed there for a few weeks (not long enough). So now she’s out and pics of her at parties are surfacing but she’s not drinking alcohol or drunk. Gossip mongers are waiting for her to slip up because it wasn’t much of a struggle because it was too short.
If Britney draws out her recovery to, say, four months, then it’ll be much more of a triumph in the press. It’ll look like she had deep demons to battle and the longer it takes, the more sympathy you get.
But she should start keeping a blog where people can go and read about her progress. And hell, I’d advise her to be overly melodramatic in the beginning… And each time something good happens, herald it with a “tearful” entry.
As more people get involved with her “personal thoughts”, the more sympathy she’ll gather and the more forgiving people will be. Three months into therapy (and not sooner), she should write an entry about how she had an epiphany and realized the downward spiral she was on could have killed her.
However, she should NOT become overly religious or overzealous cuz then people will think she’s a bible banger… and that’s not a good look. Look what it did for Kirk Cameron.
At six months, she should re-emerge and try to re-integrate back into society… BUT keep writing in the journal and start talking about how hard it is to resist temptation…
Then eight months, she should have a relapse, but not a bad one… Just a minor one. And let the paparazzi have a field day with it, so she can come out the next day and in a tearful confession, talk about falling off the wagon, so she can reappear to be human again.
And then around Christmas time, she should be on Oprah, Leno, Letterman, Ellen and talk about how recovery and the support of her fans was the BEST Christmas present she could have ever gotten, or some other happy horseshit like that… and then announce that she’s releasing an album in February.
And then *BA BAM* she’s back on top.
6) Was K-Fed’s baby batter keeping her sane?
Dude, I’ve hung out with K-Fed… Let’s just say that guy should NOT be having babies. Nice enough guy, but wow…
7) Seriously, what’s going on? Was she trying to start a new trend or just going through some sort of cokehead paranoia?
It’s called “failure”. The album she delivered to Jive Records was reportedly HORRENDOUS. So that, coupled with K-Fed, coupled with kids and all that responsibility, coupled with the gossips saying that she’s over, pushed her waaaaay over the edge.
God, I hope it’s not a trend.
I’m pretty lucky. In less than 2 weeks Marky Ramone, drummer for The Ramones (and Richard Hell & The Voidoids), will be the guest DJ at the night I host here in Denver, Lipgloss. I’m pretty amped about this because I’m a Ramones fan and have been for as long as I can remember.
Joiezabel and I have been talking a lot about interviews in the last couple of days and I was going to try to hit Marky up for one… and then I remembered, I’d already done one. Over 10 years ago. I originally wrote it for my “never seen the light of day” zine, Indie Anna. It then ended up on Fallout Magazine, one of the web’s first magazines. I ended up as the editor for that and merged it with Hybrid Magazine - so it may exist in the archives of that fine magazine these days. Or not - maybe this is its home for now.
Anyway, I remember at the end of the interview I told Marky I had to get my shit together and go to a job interview. He wished me luck on it. I don’t remember if I got the job or not. Here we are 10+ years later. Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee have all passed on, CBGB is closed and moving to Las Vegas (!?) and despite claiming to loathe dance music and disco 10 years ago, Marky is going to be the guest DJ at our night at a dance club…
GABBA GABBA… Goodbye.
An interview with Marky Ramone
by Tyler Jacobson, Sometime in 1995
Yes. It’s true. The Ramones have finally called it quits. Let me share with you my favorite Ramones memory: We were waiting for the band to take stage. My friend, Mike, grabbed me by the shoulder and asked “What the hell are two nine-year-old boys doing at a Ramones show?” I shrugged. It was a bit odd. The didn’t seem to really mind that they were surrounded by hundreds of geezers. I couldn’t help but eye them for more clues as to how they’d gotten there. One of the boys turned. He was wearing a shirt that said something like “Orgasmic Dildo Squad” with about 20 naked women on it. It was really weird now. Then, these two little “boys” started sticking their tongues in each others’ mouths and grabbing each others’ asses. Suddenly, it hit me. “Mike,” I said, “Those aren’t little boys…. They’re midget lesbians. How weird!” Now that the Ramones have broken up, I doubt I’ll ever run across those pint-sized lovers again.
In 1974 four guys from New York that wore ripped jeans and leather jackets started playing music that sounded like the Beach Boys on speed. They were loud, hyper and called themselves the Ramones. They all pretty much looked the same; black hair, blue jeans, black jackets. They all shared the same last name. There was Joey Ramone on vocals, Johnny Ramone on guitar, Dee Dee Ramone on Bass and Tommy Ramone on drums.The Ramones started a movement that was dubbed “punk” by the media. The punk audience formed quickly. They also wore black jeans, blue hair and…. Hell, who can afford a jacket when you’ve got drugs to buy? Suburban mothers were shocked. Religious figures cowered. Kids wanted mohawk haircuts.
The Ramones went through some personnel changes: Tommy left the band and was replaced by their new drummer, Marky. Dee Dee was replaced by their new bass player, C.J.. The sound didn’t change despite the changes. The Ramones were still doing what they’d always done: they played Punk Rock.
The Ramones were one of the hardest -working bands. They put out several albums, toured constantly and still found time to make a cameo appearance on “The Simpsons”. 21 years after the Ramones’ start this writer spoke with Marky Ramone on their last headlining US tour in support of their last studio album, appropriately titled “Adios Amigos.”
Over the last 21 years what’s changed?
Well, CJ joined the band and I, of course, joined in ‘78 and then I left in ‘83 and came back in ‘87. So, those are basically the main changes in the line up and we still get along the same way we always have. Y’know, Joey and John don’t really get along too well. I get along with both of them. I was close friends with Dee Dee. So, when he left the band around ‘89, I was in the middle of John and Joey and up until now I’d get along with both of them at a different level. But, in every band after 20 years there’s always something that rubs somebody else the wrong way. But, that’s what makes the Ramones play the way we do. So, I guess we just let it out on our music, our intensity when we play the shows. Read more »
Ever stood in line at a venue for an hour only to discover the show had already sold out? Or worse, had your one of your “friends” mention the next day that someone “dragged” them to the show as their +1? Or, worse still, realized, a month after the fact, that instead of going on the ill-fated date that involved an absinthe-fueled discussion of back hair removal techniques, you could have been seeing Lloyd Cole? (Okay, so maybe the last one was just me.) The point is, no matter how much we love seeing our favorite acts live (the ones that are still together, that is), all of us music aficionadoes slip up every once in a while. So, how does one navigate the delicate balance between not wanting to feel like a loser for missing shows and not wanting to be the kind of loser who spends all their free time figuring out what band is playing when?
Boston music fans Mike Champion and Gary Elliott felt that vigilant groupiedom wasn’t the answer. Says Champion, “We were tired of hearing about shows too late, or having to read too many websites. We thought it should be a lot simpler for lazy folks like us.” So they created a website that would do the work for them–tourb.us, a free concert search service whose bots crawl venue and ticket sales sites to find live shows in Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. “Anyone can search for shows, or use the RSS feeds,” says Champion, but signing up for a (free) tourb.us account means extra perks. Registered users can link with each other for showgoing purposes, so it’s great for stalki–errr, networking. Users build a profile that lists their location and favorite bands; based on the information entered, tourb.us then compiles and updates a calendar of upcoming shows. It’s like having your own personal scenester secretary… although, when the site emails you every thirty minutes to remind you about a show you’re undecided about, it feels a little more like your mother (if your mother cared about Minus the Bear). Unlike your mother’s nagging, however, you can turn the reminders off.
The site just went public in June; according to Champion, it’s “still young, but it’s scrappy.” And, as is evident from the rest of my interview with him, it’s run by snarky dorks like us. Read more »
