The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Line Out: Drugs

Breaking Sublime News

Emily Nokes — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:09:00 -0700

"Set for release on June 18, 2013, the package marks the first-ever complete Sublime concert to be officially released on DVD and CD. This new release also celebrates the 25th anniversary of the seminal Long Beach, CA band, who performed their first official show on July 4, 1988 and went on to release a string of critically acclaimed hit singles."

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Iggy Stooge and The Stooges on Last Night's Colbert Report

Mike Nipper — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:01:07 -0700

Iggy blames Link Wray for everything.

And then the Stooges played "Job," a track off'a their new LP, Ready To Die.

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Wisdom Tooth Weekend: Songs For Percocet and Pain

Megan Seling — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:33:15 -0700

UUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH. On Wednesday I have to get my wisdom teeth pulled and I am NOT excited about it. I've never had a tooth pulled before. I hate going to the dentist. I'm terrified.

Thankfully I have a very radical husband who'll help take care of me by making sure the house is stocked with frozen yogurt and pain meds, and I suppose I could look at the bright side and be stoked about the fact that I can catch up on my Netflix queue (it's excusable, ney, preferable to watch shit like Bridalplasty when high on percocet, right?), but until it's time for naps and drugs, I'm filled with anxiety. What if my teeth don't come out? What if ALL my teeth come out?* What if my whole jaw comes off? What if I wake up during the surgery? WHAT IF I DON'T WAKE UP AT ALL!?

Along with the crippling anxiety, I have also had this song stuck in my head for the past week:

Are there any other wisdom tooth tips and/or songs I should know about? I'll make a playlist to listen to when I get tired of watching crappy TV!

*Seriously. I've had nightmares about this.

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Music Forecast: Cloudy as FCK! BLKHRTS and Keyboard Kid at the High Dive

Sean Jewell — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 10:03:17 -0700

Is that Debbie Harry?

Based Tumblrs unite! Vice President of the Based House Keyboard Kid will be performing a very RARE show at High Dive tonight with goth-rap group and fellow cloud-rap virtuosos BLKHRTS.

Denver outfit BLKHRTS keep showing up in music writers' dreams as the unbelievably musically literate rap startup who sample '80s synth pop and art house films (as if that's never happened before), but what they do differently for me is effortlessly combine the excruciating aesthetic of goth/black metal with rap (an idea which has previously only been fit to set on fire and roll down a hill). Embodying the original spirit of Ice-T's pig-hating hardcore project Bodycount—afropunk sans gutiars, poetic at their densely black center—BLKHRTS' lust for heavy, shortness-of-breath causing synth and percussive raps are establishing them as the gothic architects of the cloud rap church (or CHRCH, as it were).

Keyboard Kid, as you may know, is a local hero and co-founder of the very influential, infinitely positive based movement, who's sensitivity to popular culture invades his every beat. His prolificacy has moved his music beyond the based movement and into the purview of every rapper —from Seattle to Oakland, Miami to New York, and parts inbetween— who hopes to someday release a mixtape, by offering his beats to bidders high and low (true story: I even bought a beat from him once). His latest Based In The Rain 3 and Rare Drops From The Water experiment with his Water God persona and it's control over the foggy sounds that are the life giving elements of the cloud.

Also making an appearance are Jewels Hunter and Iron Mic. 8pm, $7

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Trippin' Balls, The Svelteness of Boogietude, and Other Brother JT Effluvia

Dave Segal — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:05:03 -0700

Mood-elevating psych-garage lifer Brother JT has joined the Thrill Jockey roster and will be releasing his new long player, The Svelteness of Boogietude, May 14. (There will not be a better album title this year; bank on it.) You can check out a track from Boogietude—"Celebrate Your Face"—after the jump. But first, feast your senses on Brother JT's hallucinogenic talk show Trippin' Balls, featuring musician/space case Twig Harper. If you thought The Late Late Show With Tom Snyder was far out, brace yourself for the absurdity banquet that is Trippin' Balls.

Bonus: Thrill Jockey' s provided an illuminating interview with Brother JT (aka John Terlesky, former leader of the Original Sins) after the jump.

JT: You're 50, musically anachronistic and none too pleasant to look at. How the heck did you get on Thrill Jockey?

BJT: I'd be happy to tell you about my latest creative pursuits, thanks for asking! Working on my third volume of semi-automatic writing: a children's book called "Nob Jonni and the Girl From Space". There's a good deal of poisonings and bowel movements in this one. Hope to do some more episodes of my internet talk show, "Trippin' Balls" where we talk about the acid rock sometimes. Recently directed/starred-in my latest video production, "Crocker and Gooch: P.U.D.", a buddy-cop yarn involving a coke sting gone hilariously wrong. Pleased to note that the Brother JT composition "Goin' Off" will be used in the forthcoming Annabella Sciorra thriller, "The Maid's Room". And then there's my painting, my macrame work...

JT: But...

BJT: Well, I placed a magic spell on them [hearty laughter]. But seriously, Drag City, Birdman, Drunken Fish, Siltbreeze, and now Thrill Jockey— I guess my music resonates with these folks, god bless'em. That and the black magic, as I mentioned before.

JT: The new album is titled "The Svelteness of Boogietude". What does that even mean?

BJT: That was a quote from a book [BLACK JOURNAL] dictated to me by what I consider spirits from another dimension. I sense what they meant was concerning the smoothness of feeling when one is 'in the groove', musically or otherwise. Like after I have a good show I love the way my pants hug my legs as I walk with a carefree air from the club to my car—that might be an example of 'Svelteness', I think. Or that zone you can get into while eating salt n' vinegar almonds.

JT: Fascinating. For those unfamiliar with your music, are there any comparisons you could make to other artists, just as a frame of reference?

BJT: Well, every song is kind of different. With "Gliding" I was thinking about what Buddy Holly might have sounded like if he'd made it to 1968 or so. "T. Rex Blues" is self-explanatory. Bowie, Pharoah Sanders, Nina Simone, Flipper, it all sort of gets mashed together. I wish I could say we sounded like Tame Impala or the Black Keys or something and be done with it, but we just don't. Well, maybe the Black Keys if you listen to them with cotton in your ears and on heavy pain medication. Or like Crazy Horse if they got dosed and thought they were Funkadelic.

JT: What is Brother JT like live?

BJT: I definitely feel like we're much better live than we are in person [much laughter]. No, but it's a whole different ballgame, especially if the drinks are cheap or free. Free can be bad news, actually. Everything I do is based on the garage ethic, that is, the shortest distance between two points. When I cook, it's garage. When I love, it's garage. Three chords until they say 'uncle'. So, live it's hopefully like you put the record on the turntable, then douse it with gasoline and set it on fire, and maybe some live badgers are involved, and by the end of the night you have to hose the place down because it smells like burned plastic.

JT: Very impressive. So what does 2013 hold for Brother JT?

BJT: Rest assured, I plan to fire off all of my weapons into the air in hopes of bringing down the Big One, Allah be praised. Of course, I'm joking, there will be no actual gunfire. But some touring, I hope.

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Sizzurp + Revenge of the Nerds

Derek Erdman — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:27:07 -0800

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High or Drunk: YOU DECIDE, Part Deux!

Kelly O — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:20:02 -0800

Why and what?! Click the photo to find out what-the-fucks...

Kelly O

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{{{¡DISTORTIONS!}}} @ Lo-fi Is TONIGHT!

Mike Nipper — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 15:51:35 -0800

I swear to GOD, I think residents Explorateur and Veins' sike/prog/weirdo/rock night, {{{¡DISTORTIONS!}}}, are destined to take over the Emerald Shitty and turn our grey, dank reality into some type of technicolor dream full of sunlight, flowers and smiles. Seriously. They seem to be playing every other night, and thusly are ownin' it like they BONIN' it. It's quite awesome, actually. That said, it is no surprise tonight's {{{¡DISTORTIONS!}}}, at Lo-Fi, is LOADED!

Right, so, in addition to Explorateur and Veins spinning, tonight's Lo-Fi edition features a LIVE music set from space-rock cadets, Tokyoidaho. But...that ain't all!! Tonight's special guest DJ is THEE Don McGreevy, who himself has a Monday night residency at West Seattle's West 5, as well as manning the drum thrones for Earth, Yada Yada Blues Band, and Master Musicians Of Bukkake. ALSO: tonight is acting as a CELEBRATION of THEE Don McGreevy's 40th birthday! Happy birfday and welcome to the club, Mac!

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High or Drunk: YOU DECIDE!

Kelly O — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:45:18 -0800

This comment, was posted to thestranger.com/drunkoftheweek on January 19th, 2013, at 1:46 pm.

Read it "Weenies" and then Rage Against The Machine:

Yo, my alcoholic brothers and sisters, your watering hole is about to shutter its doors soon, so drink up, you weed hating yuppies! Drown those sorrows of fucking up your code writing and passing it off as some new form of art grunge. Face it, you're a weenie if you need to face the day with a Martini (plus one for your pet monkey friend(s), and start smoking as much weed as humanly possible. Seattle needs more THC and less alcohol to keep our local government officials from killing this sleepy fishing village (remember: Free Ballard!), and turning it into some lame cousin to Boston, minus the blue-bloods and landed aristocracy.

Great article about the Zeitgeist of modern day Seattle...home of the Velvet Foam, expensive condos, and a culture of youth who consider anything with a ball played on a field or in a stadium, "art." Yes, that's you, you Martini mamby pambies. Rage against the machine, don't sit at your desk at Amazon and think you're a genius for figuring out a way to take out Barnes and Noble. Turn on, tune in and drop out. Uh, huh! I'm talkin' Timothy Leary here, a real intellectual who was a tenured Harvard professor who would never lower himself to a two Martini high. Go deeper, man! Don't aim for the floor (you inebriated fools) aim for the sky, as Seattle's own Jimi Hendrix implored. That takes an expanded mind, one that is educated, and appropriately filled with any manner of drugs that help you see, you can't make it out of this life alive. Swing for the fences. Roll a fat one, kick back, and turn up Soundgarden's "Outshined" (not "moonshined") to ten, and buck the lemming trend. Free your mind, and your sorry ass will follow.

—Posted by LastSeattleHipsterTurnTheLightsOff

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Antwon: End Of Earth

Sean Jewell — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 11:34:01 -0800

I completely slept on rapper Antwon last year, but thanks to the announcement from Greedhead kingpin Himanshu on "the twitter" that the San Jose native would be releasing an album on his label, I've been listening ever since.

His latest release, End Of Earth, is a pleasant cross pollination of the by-now-practically-patented Seattle drug n' thug style and a mellow-hyphy Bay Area tone. Rapping over production by the likes of the rising Steel Tipped Dove and the recently retired Big Baby Gandhi (sad face) dude paints a typical tough guy persona over horror movie score on one track, then drops a some red cup party rhymes over new jack era beats the next:

Old guard hiphop sentinels have developed the annoying habit of labeling these cats '"Tumblr rap", but I call it enjoyable, and Antwon calls it free over on his bandcamp, so have a listen.

See also: his video for the track "Helicopter" from even earlier last year. Directed by Brandon Tauszik, they're both salutes to pre HDTV era music televison cinematopgraphy, with road trip-inspiring shots of the Yay Area's warmer climes. On "Helicopter", they've even taken the Steve Mcqueen chase scene through the hilly streets of San Francisco from the movie Bullit, and seamlessly integrated it with their own Lalo Schifrin sounding sample.

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Forget Going Platinum or Performing on Ellen, Inspiring a Parody Video Is How Macklemore Knows He's Made It

Megan Seling — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:45:31 -0800

This parody of "Thift Shop" is appropriate, given Washington's new law (it even has an appearance by Mr. "Thrift Shop" himself!):

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Four Bands, One Drummer and a Loud Goodbye

Pamela Sternin — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:12:09 -0800

Poster by Aaron D.C. Edge

Legend tells of a drummer whose talent for remaining upright and functional behind his drum kit after inhaling copious amounts of weed and downing what could amount to a kiddie pool full of Pabst Blue Ribbon, was known throughout the land. His resume consists of being in some of the finer underground punk and metal bands in the Seattle area. Ben McIsaac, the lab rat of drummers, has never been one to commit to a single band. He's always entertaining three or four at a time thus the long running, annual blooper reel event humbly known as Ben Fest, which pits all of McIsaac's bands on one quaint bill for one destructive evening.

Here comes the sad news, Ben McIsaac will be relocating from our little rain-city of a village to the glamorous, yet roach-ridden drags of Brooklyn, New York. Now before you “Booooooo” and throw your rotten tomatoes, you have to hear my good news! All four of McIsaac's bands are burning a hole in his pocket and there's still time for one final Ben Fest! You want crusty, thrash punk? Have a friend babysit your bandana'd dog and get to the show on time for the reunion/demolition of Enforcer. Hopefully they'll bust out their fierce rendition of Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer." Next we have the catchy pop/punk coating over a surf rock candied center which is Sweet Pups. Erica Brunner (McIsaac's better half) lays down the tasty guitar riffs, coaxing your feet to move to the effervescent beat. Did I mention there's a fucking keytar?

Then there's this douchebaggery of a hardcore band called Don Peyote. I highly recommend you save your choice heckling and empty cans purely to hurl at these folks. My only request is that you take it lightly on the guitar player as she, me, is currently undergoing cosmetic surgery to become the next Vanna White and my botox injection sights are still healing. At this point in the evening, those in the gambling community can place their bets on how much longer McIsaac will be able to stay upright under his own power. Perfect timing for one of the most beer-scented, forked tongued, almost seven years strong straight up punk bands, Shit Gets Smashed to take to the streets and play their LAST SHOW EVER. It's gonna be a slobber knocker and it's all going down this Saturday, the 12th at the Black Lodge. Come bid Ben McIsaac bon voyage and bring a plastic poncho, things may get a little weird.

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RE: Is Coloured Balls' "That’s What Mama Said" Oz Rock's Zenith?

Mike Nipper — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:13:13 -0800

Yesterday Mr. Segal asked "What’s the greatest rock song by an Australian band?" His answer, obviously, was Coloured Balls' "That’s What Mama Said." I LOVE that song!! However, it's a tough call to pick the BEST Oz rock track, but I'm gonna TRY - my pick is Zoot's heavy sike jam "Strange Things." It's a bit of spring, 1968 released in 1970.

Also of note: The D-Coys "You're Against" and Robbie Peters' SLAYING of the Zombies' "She Does Everything For Me."

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Today's Music News: Portlandia, Motorheadphones, and Weed

Pamela Sternin — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 11:28:16 -0800

Brutal Vaginas: Author Laina Dawes sheds light on being a black female in the metal scene with her new book, What Are You Doing Here?.

Buy, Buy My Darling: The Misfits are releasing a new live album, Dead Alive on February 5th!

Get Your Snark On: New Season of Portlandia starts this Friday!

Punk Money Burning A Hole In Your Pocket?: Good! Cause for $199 you can purchase the new NOFX box set including ALL released material and a pair of Fat Mike's fudge-tracked boxers* (*Fat Mike's fudge-tracked boxers may or may not exist).

Send Your Eardrums to Rehab: You love Motorhead. You love headphones. Then you'll love Motorhead headphones.

Pot Head: Lil Wayne gets the word "BAKED" tattooed on his head. He's just doing what we're all thinking.

I Can't Drive...65!!!: Driving 90mph in a 65mph zone while possessing marijuana doesn't bode well with CHIP. Watch Frank Ocean sweeten the deal with a suspended license.

Trippy Canvas: What can you make out of ink, white-out and, coffee? This psilocybin of a video.

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Riff Raff Explains The "Versace Baby Rattle"

Larry Mizell, Jr. — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 15:52:06 -0800

Do you remember that rapper Riff Raff, who's coming back to Nectar tonight for all ages (5pm) and 21+ (9pm) shows, made a song about Seattle?

The chorus: "VERSACE BABY RATTLE GOT ME SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE."

When we encountered him at the NADA party in Miami last week, I brought up this 206-centric masterwork, and he very graciously broke down the science.

"Y'all know what 'molly' is? Well when you get really pure molly, from Germany or Australia, it's in little rocks. So when you have a little bottle of those, and you shake it"—here he imitates the motion—"it's a Versace baby rattle. So 'Versace baby rattle'"...he trailed off. "Got me Sleepless In Seattle," we finished, in unison. "Yeah", Riff Raff said. Around his neck was the mixed-fruit colored diamond Cheshire Cat chain Diplo gave him for signing to Mad Decent. His hair was in crisp curls, like translucent blonde bacon, his Miami-hued Brian Bosworth BluBlockers smudgeless, his Picasso jacket very rare. Hit up Nectar tonight, you might see "Griffey Junior, Griffey Senior in the limousine-a."

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Today's Music News: RIP, Hipster Award, and Molly

Pamela Sternin — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:03:36 -0800

Yeah, Boiiii!: Completely overdue for this belated honor—Heart, Rush, and Public Enemy among others are inducted to Rock Hall of Fame.

And, the Award Goes To...: Just a reminder, Seattle beats out Portland as the #1 hipster capitol of these United States. Let's have a big round of applause for our American Spirit spirit.

Down in It: No longer laying dormant, Trent Reznor busies himself with the release of Nine Inch Nails greatest hits collection and, something that may interest you Spotify users, an up-and-coming music streaming service called Daisy.

Get Your Ears Wet: Santa plans on destroying your stocking hung with care by hastily shoving Hot Water Music's Live In Chicago 3 LP/2 CD/1 DVD release into it. Santa will also drop a deuce in the toilet and not flush.

MDMA in the U.S.A.: The hiphop community is reportedly getting their kicks off a derivative of ecstasy called Molly, which is enjoying a popular uprising. Wasn't the Chronic good enough?

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Snoop Lion, I mean, Dogg, I Mean Lion IS SOOOO HIGH

Kelly O — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 12:20:01 -0800

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Who Needs A Pit Bull, When You Can Have An Alligator

Kelly O — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:35:04 -0800

Did you see this in the morning news? The last two sentences are particularly good. Olympia knows how to party.

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"The Pot Smoker's Song" by Neil Diamond

Jason Josephes — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 14:27:27 -0800

Last week, I turned people on (so to speak) to “The Pot Smoker’s Song,” a track off of Neil Diamond’s third album. Velvet Gloves and Spit. It would be relevant given the recent passing of I-502 if it weren't such an aberration. Actually, to call this cut an aberration would be an aberration to aberrations. Judge for yourself.

I know, right? Let’s follow the logic:

1) Neil wants to make an anti-drug song. It was 1968, so he was clearly in lock step with the times.
2) But! He also thinks “Verses? Fuck verses, man. Let’s just use recordings of interviews with former heroin addicts because this song is about marijuana, and that makes total sense.” You’d have to be high to think that, but okay.
3) Then, to Elmer’s Glue the whole thing together — because you can’t get high off of sniffing that stuff, y’see — he exhales a chorus that sounds like something out of HR Pufnstuf, the old psychedelic puppet show that was admittedly fueled by (and named after the Hand Rolled) wacky weed.
4) Satisfied with ridding the world of joints and bongs, Neil goes on to a very successful music career filled with gold records, sold-out tours, HBO concert specials and this classic pose. Oh, and he gets busted in 1976 for possession of marijuana, which proves that you can believe your own press but you still can’t believe your own songs.

No joke, it’s the worst song he ever recorded, and I’m talking about a guy who wrote a song about E.T.* And as he told David Wild of Rolling Stone magazine, “It also confirmed a lot of people’s feelings that I wasn’t hip.” Not hip? Would an unhip performer have the guts to go out on the ledge and do something like this?

Whoops! On second thought, yeah. However, Velvet Gloves and Spit is redeemed by the inclusion of “Two Bit Manchild,” the greatest Neil Diamond song you’ve never heard.

And kids, don’t do drugs. Especially with Neil Diamond.

* That was also the decade that McGruff and Regina undid the Diamond drug damage and rid the planet of hookahs and hypos with this musical K.O.:

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Drunk of the Week: The Halloween Haiku Edition!

Kelly O — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:15:24 -0700

Here's a little brain fruit for your weekend... Write the best haiku, about this photo of "Cheech" & Chong, and win a whole bunch of FABULOUS prizes, after a popular vote on Lineout!

My personal favorite so far:

Ponder the bunny
Sniffing greens on Halloween
Chong’s the Motherlode.

—portland scribe

Enter yours (after you drink some Friday happy hour booze) right here.

Kelly O

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Shirley Clarke's The Connection

Kathy Fennessy — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 13:15:55 -0700

Milestone Films

The Connection
(Shirley Clarke, US, 1961, 35mm, 110 mins.)

"Sordid and disagreeable."
—Bosley Crowther, The New York Times

The Connection is a jazz film, and it's also a film about junkies. Not all jazz films revolve around substance abuse, but many do: Otto Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm, Bertrand Tavernier's Round Midnight, etc.

In her first feature, the fearless Shirley Clarke (Cool World, the Oscar-winning Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World) shuns the heretofore glamorous, Hollywood image of the drug addict. These guys, who frequent the same Manhattan tenement, are a motley-looking bunch, even though den father—and Steve Buscemi lookalike—Leach (Warren Finnerty) prides himself on his housekeeping skills.

Though Leach sports a stylish neckerchief, it's just his attempt to hide a boil. If he can't stop talking, his compatriots spend most of their time nodding off. Soon, fictional filmmaker Dunn (William Redfield) steps in front of the camera to get them to "act naturally," but they see no point unless he pays them more. Since he already gave them cash to shoot up, ethics don't seem too high on his agenda.

Milestone Films
Set design by the great Richard Sylbert (The Manchurian Candidate, Rosemary's Baby)

The film-within-a-film's cinematographer, J.J. Burden (Roscoe Lee Browne), however, comes from their world, but left it behind for greener climes. He serves as a mediator between the self-justifying junkies and the self-justifying director.

Clarke shoots the film, Jack Gelber's adaptation of his 1959 Living Theater play, like a documentary, and the characters address the viewer as they would have addressed a live audience. It's unavoidably stagy, but she has fun with the concept by keeping the camera moving, and when the gents jam on saxophone, piano, drums, and stand-up bass—that's Jackie McLean on sax—it's easy to see why jazz fans embraced the soundtrack, even as the New York State Censorship Board cancelled the Manhattan run after only two screenings for "obscenity."

Clearly, the Board didn't get it. Clarke, a dancer-turned-independent filmmaker, was no finger-wagging moralist. Her depiction of junkies may have been more realistic than most, but the entire film serves as a disincentive to try the stuff. This is spelled out by the tagline: "Men held captive by the power of drugs."

Milestone Films
Blue Note recording artist Jackie McLean (1931-2006) on alto sax

It's ironic that the musicians play with such dexterity, because they move in slow-motion the rest of the time. Some of them, like the dealer Cowboy (Carl Lee), whose neckerchief is purely decorative, even have a "jazzy" way of speaking (he tends to place the emphasis on unexpected words and syllables). Cowboy is "the connection" of the title, making him the real director of the scenario.

This is only the second Clarke film I've seen after 1967's Portrait of Jason, in which she takes an open-minded approach to her subject's homosexuality at a time when such things were either disguised or condemned. Similarly, when Leach's pals mention that he might be gay, they criticize his denial rather than his (possible) nature, though their views on women aren't quite so progressive.

I didn't know this going into it, but The Connection has more to do with junk than jazz, though it's worth noting that Clarke also directed 1985's Ornette: Made in America. In the way the men in her first film look, I can only assume that it made a big impression on—or at least predicted—John Lurie, Tom Waits, and Jim Jarmusch, who have all dressed, played music, or made movies that reflect the same low-rent, bebop-beatnik world of pork pie hats and stained overcoats.

The Connection plays the Northwest Film Forum through Oct 25 as part of the 2012 Earshot Jazz Festival, which runs from Oct 19-28. More information here.

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Today's Music News: Saxophonist, Superbowl, and Psilocybins

Pamela Sternin — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:27:28 -0700

R.I.P.: Apogee saxophonist, David S. Ware, passed away at the age of 62.

Brain Candy: This quick documentary sheds light on how drugs have benefited musicians throughout history and how psilocybins may one day help someone you love. Peace.

Slam the Man!: Lady Gaga slams Die Antwoord via Twitter over the controversial ending to their new video, "Fatty Boom Boom".

Need for Speed: Britney Spears's former manager, Sam Lufti, claims the pop star had a hellacious methamphetamine problem circa her head shaving incident.

Good Bad Apples: Those of you who download music illegally statistically turnout to be the ones who dish out the most cash for legally obtained tunes as well.

The Crowd Goes Wild!!: Attention all the single ladies: Beyonce will be hosting the Superbowl halftime show on February 3rd!!

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Listen to the Starship Enterprise's Engine Ambience... for 24 Hours

Dave Segal — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 16:57:56 -0700

Okay, this Star Trek clip is a year old, but thanks to Matmos’ Drew Daniel, I’m just discovering it now. Sorry for the lateness. This 24-hour recording of the starship Enterprise’s engine is a majestic gust of ice-cold ambient music. It kind of reminds me of Thomas Köner’s isolationist tundrascapes. Let it rumble all day and feel as centered—and as anomic—as you’ve ever been. That’s how Gene Roddenberry would've wanted it.

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Keyboard Kid: Computers x Drugs

Sean Jewell — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:53:05 -0700

COMPUTERSxDRUGS by Keyboard Kid 206

Computers x Drugs is Keyboard Kid's latest 8-bit orchestration featuring Nintendo-hop crashing into industrialized techno. I listened to it this morning and the first thing I noticed (besides my own NES and SEGA Genesis flashback) was the distinct difference in how Keyboard Kid sounds on this album compared to his last few. If you follow the artists imprint you can hear how just this year he's gone from shimmery smooth electro-screwed Based Treasure, to the doped up Digital Blunts, way off into euro-club chip-funk with his skweee effort The Transition on British label Donky Pitch (my personal fave from him in the last year), to Based Soul which blesses the listener with hiphop samples at the church of swag.

In based world, where beats are currency, positivity is oxygen, and music a way of life, variations on the theme have been a good philosophy for Keyboard Kid to have. Being one of the principal architects of the genre has placed the Keyboard Kid in a limelight and landed him work with the likes of Lil B (thanks due in part to Keyboard Kid, Obama Based God is sitting at the top of my hiphop-albums-I-can't-stop-listening-to pile), Himanshu Suri, and Kool AD (Das Racist), and has people all over the world paying positive attention to your town.

Throw in several mixtapes for cloud zines like Fader, Mixmag, and Last Night's Mixtape and arrive here; at Computers x Drugs, where the ominous, almost threatening soundtracks to the dreams of out-of-work industrial rockers meet the rebirth of 8-bit beats, a concept so outlandish it could only possibly work in the based world. Uniquely approachable as always, Keyboard Kid's efforts usually come cheap, and this time you can re-up on Computers x Drugs for five bucks (or more, if you like) over on his Bandcamp.

Keyboard Kid will be at City Arts Festival (doing his live thing with Darwin, which is not to be missed) with Ghostland Observatory, SPORTS, and Gold Fields on Friday Oct 19th at the Showbox SoDo.

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Blue Sky Black Death & Nacho Picasso - "Kickin Out Windows"

Larry Mizell, Jr. — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:08:31 -0700

Right off the bat upon listening to Exalted, this Paul's Boutique-sampling joint stood out, especially when Nacho says the line about youngins shooting each other for Jordan 11's. The first BSBD & Nacho video not via They Shootin AKA BSBD's Kingston—rather, the talented Jon Jon Augustavo did this one, with a full complement of Moor Gang members making appearances. Ever have one of those kinda afternoons where it seems like it takes you & the crew forever just to leave the spot? This is exactly like that.

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Daphni: JIAOLONG

Sean Jewell — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 12:32:28 -0700

Canadian composer Dan Snaith is the maestro behind the icy/ass-shaking synthesis that is Caribou, a live instrumentation, downer disco, psychedelic band/project who have always worn his deeply ingrained electronica DJ ways on their sleeve.

In 2011 Dan began working under the moniker Daphni, an entirely electronic effort that captures more clearly the world beat influences that lay just beneath the surfaces of Caribou's live percussion and keys.

His new album JIAOLONG is available to stream in its entirety for the first time over at Resident Advisor .

Heavy, sustained cello samples clamor with robot winces, claps, and every percussion instrument available on a drum package, from bongos to timbales. The distorted beats become so baptized in their own holy spirit, they break out in sparse vocal sample chants like “Ye-ye-ye.” At times, it’s like a Caribou album played through cheap, tinny computer speakers—that somehow improves their sound—and at others it’s the trance inducing ritual of a tribe of trogloxenes, confined to the darkness of the club, guided by the light of the laser machine, and sustained by the rave cave's slinky, bottomless beats.

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Did The Telescopes Release The Best Last Album of the 1980s?

Mike Nipper — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 17:02:42 -0700

The other day I was SO STOKED to finally find a real copy, not a reissue, of the English band, the Telescopes, first album, Taste. Until then I'd only ever had a "taped" copy. Ugh. When it was issued, late 1989, I looked for it, but I NEVER saw it on offer. Odd, since Taste was issued on the American label What Goes On, buuuuuut maybe the label sent most of the copies to the UK?! Maybe? I was in college in '89 and buying records like crazy, LOOKING for sweet jams like the Telescopes, but some small press runs/imports were hard to find.

Anyway, finding a copy of Taste got me to thinking about the '80s*... hmmmmm, Taste was recorded in June of 1989, and issued later that year, so it could, perhaps, be THE BEST LAST ALBUM OF THE '80s!!! Seriously...and 1989 was a good year for greatness; Pussy Galore's Dial 'M' For Motherfucker (April), the Melvins' Ozma (?????), and Nirvana's Bleach (June), were all issued that year. But, by date, Taste may cap the decade. Dig this track, "Violence."

Obviously the group was in the know; they nod to Jesus & Mary Chain, less J&MC 's Beach Boys affection, Spacemen 3, the Stooges, and early Sonic Youth dirges...but they were their own band, as this record testifies. Taste is a cracked wall of FUCK YOU noise that SOUNDS like what getting bludgeoned by NAPALM covered monkeys must feels like, the heaviness is unrelenting. Even today it has weight. Fuck, the album's sneer alone could challenge contemporary wanna-bes.

The rest of the Telescopes catalog, however is not as tough. Uh, it is often described as (ahem) "baggy." As they continued, they got hopeful for radio play and success, fathom. It's good, but very English. I'd guess then they were the shoegaze type, playing dreamy songs like High On Fire," rather than soundtracks to your nightmares like "I Fall, She Screams."

Anyone got another challenge?! Any other late '89 issued album that can stand up to Taste?! Check release date, tho, it's gotta be from last six months of 1989!!!!

*Looking back now and considering exactly HOW MUCH music happened during the '80s is a bit mind-boggling. While the then contemporary pop culture was full of shameless fucking lameness, the underground was full of FORWARD. In some regards the '80s might top the '60s for VOLUME of innovation, but then there were MORE poeple doing MORE things.

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Tacoma Band Implodes, Throws Sink Through Window, Changes Name

Trent Moorman — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:14:36 -0700

When punk-sludge-metal bands live, work, and play in close confines, sometimes there are “disputes.” Occasionally, the disputes escalate into physical fights. Or when the drinking and drugging have been heavy, the fights are more just a couple of dudes rolling around on the ground with each other while yelling. They roll and yell at each other, and a chair may be knocked over. Weeks of frustration have built up. They aren’t really fighting because one of the guys wore the other one’s flip-flops. Deeper issues are at the core. The confrontation usually ends with one of the guys getting up, taking a bong rip, pulling the sink out of the wall, and throwing it out the window.

This is exactly what happened to Tacoma band Apache Chief. Who have since changed their name to Mole Asses. Singer/guitarist Miles VanMatre spoke about the goings on.

What happened? Why?

VanMatre: Apache Chief imploded. Living conditions in our cave had deteriorated to the point that an actual TPD officer said, "People live like this? Nirvana and the Sex Pistols didn’t even live like this." That’s a direct quote from the Cop when I showed him the place after some bad shit went down. Anyways, months went by and we all figured out that we missed playing music. So out of the earth atop the barrow of the great and terrible CHEIF burrowed MOLE ASSES. More angular, more heavy, and more stonery than before.

Mole Asses demo:

Mole Asses play the Crocodile on Monday, September 17th with the Trasholes, Shogun Barbi, and Bigfoot Wallace.

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Feeding People - Island Universe EP

Sean Jewell — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:40:11 -0700

This week, prodigious LA psych-rock outfit, Feeding People released a five song EP that is better than most albums. The EP is called Island Universe, and is their first since signing with Innovative Leisure Records. Their previous effort "Peace, Victory, and The Devil" was released on Burger Records on LP and cassette, and was an album so good that I lied to my girlfriend about how much time I was spending with it.

Feeding People have been playing every festival and psych rock gathering from LA to Austin the last year, and somehow also found the time to fit in a recording session at Johnny Bell's (yeah, Crystal Antler's Johnny Bell) new home studio. While the fulcrum of Feeding People's music has always been the concussive resonance of lead singer Jessi Jone's achingly beautiful voice, the likes of which hasn't been heard since 60,000,000 Buffalo's Judy Roderick (but which every music writer from Seattle to Austin will say sounds like Grace Slick or Janis Joplin, you get the point), what's special about this new EP is the evidence of especially siginificant growth from the band altogether. Two of the tracks on the EP are instrumental, yet do not suffer whatsoever without the vocals, and I'd say even add the the solidarity of the effort.

Like a good record geek, the B-side is already my favorite, it's called "Silent Violent" and plays like a medley of the last 60 years of music condensed into four minutes and six seconds. It showcases the abilities of the band, from Jessi's delicate, indoor volume, folk songstress voice all the way up to her batshit crazy, "you'll never make it out of this mushroom overdose" banshee wail. The band beats behind her with a force that makes your primal urges stand on end and will likely have that dead animal inside your heart jumping out of its stupid human skin. Then, just when you think you know them, the whole song breaks down into a honky-tonk outro that proclaims, if nothing else, that these kids have been studying hard.

I'd love to drop a clip on you, but Feeding People have gone the way of the ancients they so well represent and made their EP available via vinyl directly from Innovative Leisure or for purchase on that "iTunes" the kids are using. You'll have to dig in the digital record crates yourself to get a listen, or wait until early 2013 to get the whole album. If you don't have time for all that, atleast give their track Big Mother below to get your priorities straight:

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So What Does "Let's Get Weird" Really Mean?

Kelly O — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 12:33:40 -0700

Overheard at Skrillex: "Why is everyone saying they're 'getting weird' right now?"

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