Somehow the new White Stripes record hasn’t been leaked yet. In lieu of MP3′s, Scenestars.net has provided a stream of the full record, “Get Behind Me Satan.” This is a very different, more mellow, more sparse White Stipes almost completely devoid of Jimmy Page riffs. (Though “Red Rain” — one of the album’s highlights — does sound like a Led Zeppelin III outtake). The good news is most of the record is more inspired than the cheesy Lenny Kravitz-sounding single “Blue Orchid.” Start with “Little Ghost,” a carefree bluegrass-inspired hoedown. “As Ugly as I Seem” is a lovely confessional on accoustic guitar, accompanied by Meg on bongos. Upon first listen, “Get Behind Me Satan” sounds like the proverbial “transitional” record. Most notably, many tracks are piano-driven, a break with their tradional guitar-heavy sound. Vibes, banjos, and xylophones are added to the mix on several tracks. Regardless of your opinion of their new sound, one question will linger; what’s up with the Zoro costume, Jack? [The record is due to be released June 6]
Listen to the record by clicking here
Let us know what you think. Start your reviews here in comments.

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From moveonpac.org
Senator Bill Frist has pulled the trigger on the “nuclear option.” We now have less than 72 hours to stop him from seizing absolute power to stack the courts ‚Äî including the Supreme Court. The vote is still too close to call. If we raise our voice, we can win.
We’ve launched an emergency petition we’ll be delivering to congress every three hours, from Monday morning until the final vote is complete. Our allies will read your comments on the Senate floor, and every senator will know the American people are standing ready to hold them accountable.

To do tonight:
33Hz at Rothko. This is pure dance music reminiscent of early eighties Prince. Their new self-titled CD is the best pop release so far this year with the best hand-claps this side of LCD Soundsystem. Check them out tonight, Friday 5/20, at Rothko (band goes on at 12:15)
Rothko
116 Suffolk St. (Lower East Side)
at Rivington St.
212-475-7088
Check out 33Hz’s site here

You can read all about it here

Let CEO Reed Hastings know what you think. We did some research and found his email:
reed.hastings@netflix.com
COPY AND PASTE AND SEND:
I enjoy the service your company provides, but please rethink your cross promotional deal with Wal-Mart. Otherwise, I will have to reconsider giving my money to your company.
Sincerely,
INSERT NAME
Here’s their phone number:
(408) 317-3700

Our friend Pete sent us this one and we had to share:
E-mail exchanges between Lance, the King of Black Metal from Gary, Indiana (aka Dave Hill) and Mathias, a Norwegian black metal guy. [Gary is some Brooklyn writer in on the stupidity of these morons] An excerpt:

okay, let me break it down for you. first of all, i don’t think anyone who is truly into black metal would start an e-mail by saying “hi!” you are not working at a smoothie shop buddy, you are representing black metal. pull yourself together! i should know- i’m the king of black metal…do you guys have stickers? you should put them up around town and maybe put something under the band’s name that says “definitely not a bunch of pussies”

click here for more

by Monte Holman

From the Drake Tungsten album and Telefono to Girls Can Tell and Kill the Moonlight, we’ve known Daniel to be a sonic scientist, layering vocal track upon vocal track and mixing sporadic, uneven guitar solos with Eno’s surefire drumming, all in the name of wholesome, solid pop. Gimme Fiction takes those familiar Spoon antics and throws them into conversations with the band’s predecessors, nodding to Bowie, the Stones, Motown, Brit pop, and indie gods like Yo La Tengo.
The opening track, “The Beast and Dragon Adored,” establishes the tone of the record. It begins with studio chatter and tape hiss that usher in one of Spoon’s greatest assets: Jim Eno. He’s a gem of a drummer, producer, filter, adhesive, weapon. He knows when to restrain himself and when to let loose, no silly fills or cymbal wanks. He announces his huge presence on this record with a booming, almost distorted, simple tom hit. On top of Eno’s foundational rhythm, Daniel builds a slinky Bondlike theme with powerful low-end keys and distorted guitars, complete with his characteristic “ah yeahs” and “awrights.” Throughout, the bass and drums move the song while clips of shrill and distorted un-solos spew and spider. This track unleashes the record’s rock and roll spirit: “When you don’t feel it / it shows, they tear out your soul / when you believe / they call it rock and roll.”

Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t usually read The New Republic, so I can’t vouch for the usual quality of their content, but I was astounded by the stupidity of their response to my recent New York Times article on BurningAngel and alt-porn. Here’s an excerpt of Rochelle Gurstein’s prudish, reactionary, and irrational article; “On the Triumph of the Pornographic Imagination”:

“My usually robust sense of the absurd was overwhelmed by the many grotesqueries of the “Styles” article that, in the end, meretriciously recast the humiliation and degradation of women, even if it is self-inflicted, as forms of self-expression…. Had any of those college-educated, alt-porn promoters ever heard of them [Baby Boomer anti-porn crusaders] or of the radical feminist slogan, “Pornography is the theory, rape the practice”

She goes on to suggest that Lynndie England was a victim of the “pornographic imagination”

“[Lynndie]England’s sadism, along with the fact that she and Graner not only made but circulated pornographic videos of themselves, speak to the coercive and brutalizing nature of the pornographic imagination so prevalent in our world today….. Pathetic Lynndie England, shown in another article awkwardly cradling her infant boy (her child with Graner, who is now married to another woman involved in Abu Ghraib)–here, I thought, was the Linda Lovelace of our times.”

Read the whole embarassing article after the jump

Read the rest of this entry »

George Galloway called the oil-for-food scandal the “mother of all smokescreens” during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. He also had this to say:

Have a look at the real Oil-for-Food scandal. Have a look at the 14 months you were in charge of Baghdad, the first 14 months when $8.8 billion of Iraq’s wealth went missing on your watch. Have a look at Halliburton and other American corporations that stole not only Iraq’s money, but the money of the American taxpayer.
I told the world that Iraq, contrary to your claims did not have weapons of mass destruction.
I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to al-Qaeda.
I told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to the atrocity on 9/11 2001.
I told the world, contrary to your claims, that the Iraqi people would resist a British and American invasion of their country and that the fall of Baghdad would not be the beginning of the end, but merely the end of the beginning.
Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned out to be right and you turned out to be wrong and 100,000 people paid with their lives; 1600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths on a pack of lies; 15,000 of them wounded, many of them disabled forever on a pack of lies.

Watch the video. It is worth your time!

David Cross has an hilarious list of fake reviews on Pitchfork, a clever attack on their inane skewering of him as a “nauseatingly smug… giant fucking asshole.” Cross proves once again he’s the funniest man alive.

“May I suggest listening to Elegant Nuisance by ButterFat 100. With this, their second album since signing with Holive Records, ButterFat 100 return to their psychobilly/emo core roots. Let its volcanic rapture overwhelm you like a 19th century hand-woven blanket made of human hair might have done back in the days when they enjoyed such things.”

go to pitchfork [thanks to Kevin at Catch for bringing this to our attention]

Is it just us or does Kenneth Tomlinson
look a lot like Lon Chaney’s Wolfman?
The Republican-appointed head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Kenneth Tomlinson, is on a campaign to end “liberal bias” at NPR and PBS. Clearly, this self-proclaimed conservative has no bias of his own. Before the appointment, he was the editor-in-chief of the reactionary geriatric staple known Reader’s Digest. If you haven’t read it lately, it’s ultraconservative politically and the journalistic equivalent of Family Circus. Before that, he was director of the Voice of America in the Reagan administration.
CommonCause.org has put together a petition to:

* Stop efforts to influence programming decisions at National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
* Eliminate the two ombudsman positions recently created to evaluate and critique public broadcasting programs for bias. This is an inappropriate role for the CPB and is contrary to its mission of serving as a “heat shield” to protect public broadcasting from political influence.
* Support the appointment of board members to the CPB who have demonstrated expertise and commitment to public broadcasting as opposed to the current system, which favors the appointment of partisans.
* Publicly assure journalists working for public broadcasting that they can conduct fact based investigative reporting critical of government without fear of reprisals.

Click here to sign the petition