DIG THIS REAL 15

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soundscapes Two brothers on a mission as a freestyling, famĂ­lia rolante

Kalibur of DieNasty Records trades verses with DTR’s Jose Ho-Guanipa

Capoeira: Not the latest exercise craze found at your local gym, people

by Juliette Hernandez

Wendy and Lisa

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Echo & the Bunnymen

www.digthisreal.com

Kiko Klaus

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Dig This – pencil this date into your calendar: April 18, 2009, Indie & Unsigned Artists Network, unite!, The second part of Angelica’s wonderful tale of an Ecomony goin’ down the toilet, read this book and obtain oodles of Indie Marketing Power, The Lonely Soldiers Monologues, if you have music, submit it here, A Virgin’s Guide to All Things Genesis, Tina’s Laugh Out Loud-a-Rama and DieNasty Records; the interview starting on page 7 Dear Cthulhu by Patrick Thomas. Have a dark day page 20 Features – The Stevenson Ranch Davidians, The Suicide Denial, The So So Glos, Kiko Klaus and Anthony Giambrone page 21 Dig In – “Making it a big thing would have been a good idea…” page 25 Book Reviews – The Subway Diaries by Heidi Leone and Rock ‘n’ Roll Wisdom by Barry A. Farber. page 27 Jack of All Trades – Squatting never looked so good page 29 Zine Corner – surprise! We’ve sold out/bought in page 30 From the Foam Finger Committee – And I thought “diving” was the dumbest hockey penalty ever. page 31 Special Musical Feature – Wendy and Lisa page 32 Cover Story – The Soundscapes. page 33 Discovering Capoeira – Ladies, it’s no use. You will not find a Spanish husband here or get Madonna body… page 35 Dig This Reel – Metalcore, hardcore and highway robbery starting on page 39 Release Reviews – 1Undread, Amy LaCour, Ansata, Barefoot Truth, Bruce Springsteen, Davina Robinson, Deerhunter, El Soter, Forcefield On, Hour of the Shipwreck, Luthea Salom, Maria DeMaio, Morrissey, Noise Within, Rich Driver, Patrick David Koch, Rivers Cuomo, Rustcycle, Scott Paris, Social Clash, The Dead Trees, The Homosexuals, The Killers, The Orange Velvets, The Sort, Umphrey’s McGee and Wake of the Titan starting on page 41 Live Reviews – Van Morrison, Reel Big Fish, Marcus Very Ordinary, Hollywood 77, YaHoWa 13 with Billy Corgan, Asa Ransom, Todd P’s Brooklyn vs.

Baltimore Showdown, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Fluid and moe starting on page 49 Poetry Corner – an event best served up “live”. page 55 Kulture Shock – This ain’t no disco, this ain’t no Ohio… page 56 Fashion & Style – join an old, new group of Fashionistas. page 57 Chilled & Ready – relax. No, really. page 59 Political Pundit – and why weren’t we invited? page 60 Kind of a Big Thing – Don’t stop those kids from licking each other. Somehow it will save humanity. page 61 Health & Fitness – He may be disgraced but he is still a sports hero. page 62 Short Story – it’s true. For real. page 63 Cover photo of The Soundscapes by Luidi Hara Photo of Wendy and Lisa by Steve Parke 5

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What’s different about this issue, you ask?

This issue does not include our DTR compilation cd, nor is it shrink wrapped. This decision was not influenced by the numerous complaints we have received about the magazine being kept hostage in plastic. It was also not influenced by the fact that some crazy person in Georgia was going around to the various Barnes and Nobles and purposely ripping the magazine out of it’s polybag, while kicking the cd under the bookshelf (hey buddy! I know who you are).

This decision was made primarily based on some upcoming “big” plans I have.

And I just can’t tell you yet, so, with that said, you, dear readers, will have to wait. Details will be posted on our website soon so be sure to stop by and join our mailing list. Plus, for some strange, perverted reason, I do want people to actually get their finger prints all over these pages! Having the zine in the bag made this impossible…

In this issue, I am very proud to present a special story called, “Discovering Capoeira.” A couple of months ago, I found myself wondering around the streets of Salvador, Bahia. While there, I found that walking these streets made me feel dizzy at times. One of these dizzy spells led me to my own personal Capoeira experience. Capoeira chooses you. It’s not the other way around. Countless times, folks tend to mistake this ancient practice for Tai Chi or yeek! Tae Bo. Capoeira has nothing to do with the latest craze happening at your local Ballys. Juliette Hernandez was bold enough to brave this journey out with Contre Mestre Reco Pontes. Read about it starting on page 35.

Another heavenly experience I would love to share with you all is Wendy and Lisa. The gals have dropped one breathtaking cd called, White Flags of Winter Chimneys. Read all about it on page 32.

Dig This Real is all about the DIY musician and in this issue we offer a ton of info about the movers and shakers of the new, new Music Industry.

Starting on page 12 you can learn about all the services and resources mbsolutions.com has to offer musicians. If Internet Radio is your thing, read page 7 for info on uaRadio.net. musicSUBMIT.com is another company that offers tools for today’s musician to help advance themselves. Read Jose Ho-Guanipa’ s interview with musicSUBMIT.com’s Michael Corcoran. If you feel you are just too hardcore for all this internet crap, then travel to page 27 and read how one musician makes her living as a busker in the New York City subways.

We are also debuting another new column called Chilled & Ready.

Myles Padilla will be doing the honors by reporting his musings on all things “chilled.” His intro starts on page 59.

Other gems here that I know will make you smile start on page 56 with Evan Bleier’s trip to the Rock and Roll Annex. And don’t forget to check out his hilarious “true” Short Story on page 63.

Issue 15 Publisher Editor-in-Chief Samantha “edie” Collins graphic Designer Dig This Real Webmaster Jorge Leandro Rodrigues Office Manager Cathie Kooney DTR Staff Writers: Lauren Piper, Evan Bleier, Kevin Walsh, Malcolm Y. Knotte, Angelica Wytch, Jose Ho-Guanipa, Nelson Heise, Denny, Cindy Chisvette, Nicholas Miller, Dean Massey, Christian Recca, Thomas Page, Juliette Hernandez, Alexandra Kain, Alison Kooney, Jeff Hassay, Mark Christopher Lee, Matt Giegerich, Jorge Leandro Rodrigues and Myles Padilla.

Contributing Editors: Tina Peden, Patrick Thomas, Sebastian and M. (don’t call me) Shirely Photo Credits: The Soundscapes / page 33 & page 34 Luidi Hara Wendy and Lisa / page 32 Steve Parke

244 Fifth Avenue Suite 29037 New York, NY 10001-7604 www.digthisreal.com

Polybag Perpetrator #1 Mr. “big idiot” Goonmeister somewhere in Georgia

Polybag Perpetrator #2 Fruit Salad “Frida” Hose somewhere in Mexico

Corrections: In issue #14 – we accidently omitted the writer’s name on the Live Review of Fleet Foxes. This was written by Kevin Walsh.

Also, in this issue – we accidently switched “Graces,” in the Book Review section under “Creem.” The correct Grace is Slick, not Jones. - ed

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Record Store Day 2009 For musicians and the music industry, this is a very strange time: compact disc sales continue to decrease and inversely, digital music sales and piracy are on the rise. Many musical artists are being forced to consider any and every other possible avenue to generate revenue, such as merchandise sales, licensing songs to films and television, and even making their songs available for sale as ringtones for cellular phones. I think that most musicians must occasionally mourn the fact that the days of albums like, Michael Jackson’s, Thriller, selling 50 million copies are long gone and not because they all think that, Thriller was a brilliant album, but because one album being that successful implies that any album (even your album) could be that successful with the right set of variables. Even for the indie world, where no one admits to aspiring to moving that many units, it would be nice for the cream of the crop to be able to make a decent living as musicians. So, in these unusual times, what can be done to improve the economical climate for artists, both large and small?

It appears that the folks behind Record Store Day (www.recordstoreday.com) have set out to bolster not only the love and respect for, but also the appreciation and pa-

tronage of, record stores throughout the country.

On Saturday, April 19, 2009, hundreds of independently-owned music stores will band together “with the purpose of celebrating the culture and unique place that they occupy both in their communities and nationally.” As you may imagine, there is a ton of work and collaboration that goes into promoting and synchronizing an event that is as bold and far-reaching as this, but apparently it was a success in 2008, and the organizers are planning on making this year’s Record Store Day even bigger and better.

A stroll through the RecordStoreDay. com website will reveal, among other things, interesting quotes from, “famous friends and customers,” in regard to the importance, impact and meaning of the record store, past, present and future. Some of the contributors include Cameron Crowe, Chuck Berry, Henry Rollins, Joan Jett, Sam Phillips and Ziggy Marley. Also, the front page highlights some of the more recent and/or notable entries, including Ronnie from The Killers talking about, “a boy,

his dad, and their indie record store,” placing an emphasis on “family.” There is also a video featuring We Are Scientists where they urge viewers to, “do their civic duty and shop at indie record stores.” Another page of the site (www.recordstoreday.com/Venues) reveals a map of all of the participating locations, so you can find one near you!

Honestly, I plan on celebrating this event. And I truly hope that these efforts, though not entirely grassroots, will encourage a better climate for both indie artists and indie record stores. After all, the big record labels did get one thing entirely right: the music business is just that, a business and without generating revenue, that business will cease to exist. I think we can all agree that the world would be a lot less enjoyable without the impact of the influential musical artists that we all know and love. – Nicholas Miller

uaRADIO.net

As of late, it has become increasingly apparent that we’ve officially entered the digital information age. Global communications and information are being transmitted instantaneously at the click of a button thanks to Internet technologies. I can now hire an online digital personal assistant in India to do paperwork and research for me for less than minimum wage. One particular sector in which digital information technology and the Internet have made a very salient impact on preexisting business models is the music industry. Physical record sales have virtually disappeared in the last five years and iTunes is the new de facto record store for kids growing up today. As the music business continues to

rapidly evolve, new technology driven channels are emerging for purpose of conveniently and innovatively distributing music to wide audiences. Enter uaRADIO.net. Also known as the underground artists radio network, this website offers a venue for independent artists to gain wide exposure through Internet radio and interact with an online community of listeners. Gone are the days where record labels and the corrupt practices of payola control what DJs spin on the radio. There are no barriers to entry to uaRADIO.net, whether financial or political. Artists from around the world can submit their music to the website and it quickly enters rotation on the station.

Songs are then voted up or down by a community of online listeners and placed on the station’s music chart. The staff of uaRADIO. net also produces written press kit materials for many of the artists on the site and reviews submitted content. In addition to the streaming radio station component of

the site, there are also sections with videos, artist interviews, blogs and a forum for users to interact with each other and discuss music and other related topics. The most promising prospect of the emergence of sites like uaRADIO.net is that they might foster the creation of grassroots online communities that will effectively let people find and access the music they enjoy and want without corporate interference. Members of these communities will also be able to interact with other music fans and hopefully their favorite artists as well.

Music and musicians will no longer be seen as something out of reach and inaccessible to the average person. The democratization of the music industry is happening as we speak and uaRADIO.net is at the forefront of this movement. Won’t you ditch your addiction to corporate radio and record labels and hop on the internet-radio train to the future with me? http://www.uaRADIO.net – Jose Ho-Guanipa 7

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The Collapse of the Economy and Who’s to Blame Part 2 - By Angelica Wytch

CREDIT CARD EXTORTION AND FRAUD

Budd Hibbs, (www.buddhibbs. com) consumer rights advocate, reports bank fees for late/over limit charges back in the 80’s was around $15. Now, the fees go up as high as $43. Also, attached to those fees are interest rates. I have seen up to 29.99% on legitimate cards and loan shark rates on payday loans up to 367%.

Budd has published documentation from former employees of lending institutions, who have admitted they were TRAINED to convince overburdened consumers to take out additional lines of credit even though they were struggling to pay their current obligations.

Reports as published by Americans For Fairness In Lending (www.affil.org) have evidence stating that employees were trained to offer only the highest interest rate on cash advances, even when customers qualified for a lower rate. They would deliberately fail to inform spouses of active military personnel when they were entitled to benefits under the Soldiers and Sailors Act. They also were taught to aggressively sell the overpriced “credit protection plans” by providing false and misleading information and many other unfair revenue generating practices.

Because of the political buy out’s, State Attorney General’s, the Better Business Bureau’s, and various other consumer groups have been cut off at the knees. Former Acting Comptroller, Julie L. Williams (Office of Comptroller of Currency) essentially gave the banking and financial industry the green light telling them they did not have to respond to these various consumer groups. This interview can be seem at (http://www.pbs.org/ wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/view/).

We must believe that Ms. William’s position is still upheld as consumers report their letters are still being circumvented and/or disregarded.

RECURRING CHARGES WHAT IS FRAUD?

Another issue with the financial industry is this convenient day and age of recurring charges. Supposing you order some guitar strings and you authorize a $15 charge. What do you do if they start billing you sending you more strings that you didn’t ask for and don’t want every 30 days? What happens if you buy an exercise machine and you are offered a recurring order product? Say you don’t want it, but the company starts sending it and billing you anyway? What happens if you have a insurance policy and the insured dies, but the carrier keeps billing anyway?

You call, you write, you dispute the charge, you tell them to stop but they won’t answer the phone, they won’t return your calls. So you call the credit card company and tell them these charges are not authorized. Because you permitted one charge, the credit card company will not assist.

I had a conversation with Mark Mumma (www.whyprovidiansucks.com) who has detailed documentation on his website. The credit card company violated laws already in place by refusing to recommend the consumer file a fraud affidavit and once they finally decided to offer it, the company never sent it. Mark’s comprehensive site highlights years of ongoing lack of support on fraudulent charges to his card. The bank refused to intervene on behalf of the consumer and government agencies were not responsive to requests for assistance in resolving the bill.

I myself had an insurance policy where the insured passed away. Due to a clerical error on the part of the insurance carrier, charges on a Barclay’s credit card continued with not only the regular premiums but various unknown amounts.

The bank was called and I notified them of the error and continually requested a physical mailing address to send evidence that the charges were fraudulent. The bank refused a mailing address.

They refused a fraud investigation so I escalated the complaint to the Department of Banking and Insurance in New Jersey.

The NJ Department of Banking told me that Barclay’s was not legal to do business in New Jersey and recommended I close the account to

avoid further charges. They also recommended I contact the Comptroller of Currency to report the issue with the bank. The State was more than happy to help on the insurance end, but refused all assistance on the banking end stating their hands were tied. When questioned what they meant by, “their hands were tied,” they just kept repeating the bank was not licensed to do business in this state.

Bottom line, the account was paid in full minus the disputed charges. The insurance carrier finally straightened out the clerical error with the State’s involvement and apology letters were sent as well as a credit initiated on all the premiums. Barclay’s failed to credit predatory fees in excess of $750 to date.

Here’s the problem that all consumer groups have overlooked - My FedEx package was marked REFUSED return to sender. How can a lending institution be allowed under the law to refuse written correspondence? Why won’t the law see this as admission of circumventing consumer protection laws? It’s simple, the financial industry has been controlling Consumer Rights through political power.

This 18+ month saga involved predatory fees, a phantom fish tank, bank employees who intentionally incite an adversarial atmosphere, incompetent lawyers, and bought politicians. This is a financial soap opera for your entertainment.

After 18 months of disputing unauthorized charges, and two collection agencies finding that no money was due, you have Barlcay’s Bank customer service grabbing at straws to justify the predatory fees. Introducing to this saga, there was an alleged purchase of a fish tank for $39.95 purchased from a mall over 1,000 miles from home. This is the excuse for not writing off the predatory fees on the closed account when the insurance carrier corrected their mistake. I believe it to be a shady justification of predatory fees in excess of $750. Well within consumer rights, I ask for a sales receipt for this unrecognized purchase. Ms. Customer service refused so I ask for a supervisor. I had to repeat the request over 16 times and finally she said, “You won’t

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like what the supervisor has to say.” Here is the question, why do you have to repeat yourself 16 times and be interrupted by some arrogant snot? It’s simple they want you to lose your temper on their recording so they can say you are the arrogant snot.

They want you to start shouting over on top of them and they find it a game to see how far they can push you.

In this case, the supervisor’s ultimate comments reflect that I am too stupid to understand what the validating evidence is, while refusing proof of the debt and validating evidence. And to add more confusion, the supervisor then tried to extort $1,149 by direct withdrawal from my checking account claiming that this was the balance due. Surprisingly, I remained patient despite the two hours wasted on trying to reason with a complete moron. I was finally vindicated because it was she that ends up frustrated and pops off before I do.

Partially to prove/disprove allegations that these consumer protection agencies are “bought” by the financial industry, and partially as a cathartic exercise I write to the State Attorney General in New Jersey and track down the General Legal Counsel of Barclay’s, Mr. Clint Walker requesting evidence the alleged unpaid balance was incurred legitimately.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s office passed the buck to the Delaware Department of Banking. Mr. Walker passed the buck to an Executive Assistant. Do we see a pattern? I see no accountability for action.

Mr. Walker and his staff feel that a letter outlining the charges is valid proof of the debt. The letter does not mention the fish tank so I guess it is somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, but does say the unknown balance consists of charges at gas stations, hotels, and storage. They don’t know the dates or the exact dollar amounts of these charges and they don’t know the balance of the amount they claim I owe. They also claim payments were received that were never issued, so now I am really scratching my head wondering if someone else’s account got somehow mixed up with mine or maybe there is some fraudulent activity and the number was compromised? Instead of answering the questions and getting to the bottom of the bill, they keep changing the charges incurred, the balance due, and they also encourage me to contact their collection agency to arrange for payment of the mystery amount. The problem is, this is the same agency that already tried to credit the entire balance and said the bank pulled it back. This just shows the bad bookkeeping and record keeping on the part of the bank and I am stuck in the middle of this shit!

The State of Delaware is definitely siding with the bank because they feel the letter is valid evidence of the debt and of course, they can’t explain this unusual accounting method either. What I really want to know is - what Clint Walker bribed E. Quinn Miller, NDIC Assistant Administrator with to allow this kind of bullshit and confusion to persist in favor of the

bank and to hell with the consumer.

In a final illustration, a consumer reported that a Citibank account was opened fraudulently and the consumer kept disputing the account for several years. Not knowing the process, they kept sending statements back saying, “I don’t have a Citibank account with you.”

Not the best way to deal with it, but there are copies of the notes sent back. Citibank went away. A few years later, the consumer moved and Citibank lost track of the consumer, but not for long. A judgment was filed (illegally because the consumer was never served), a wage garnishment established, and a house foreclosed.

Two weeks after the foreclosure and the bank seizing $8,000 in assets the consumer received a letter of apology admitting their error and sending her the fraud affidavits. They admitted error by removing the judgment, and promised to provide reimbursement for the stolen assets but the consumer NEVER SAW A CENT.

Government officials did not want to get involved so the consumer tried for legal representation. The consumer already financially damaged could not afford substantial retainers and was forced to give up her consumer rights.

Consumer groups that have in years past alleged to protect us have fallen short because they have sold out.

OTHER SCAMS and MYSTERY FEES TO WATCH

Banks have also been known to charge fees for telephone payments, and “in person” payments at a bank branch. The fee is not disclosed and is considered a “courtesy fee”. There are new regulations being addressed that would prohibit this action.

A consumer also needs to watch for double-cycle billing. What does this mean? Very simply, if you were to charge $100 on your card and pay $90, the next month instead of paying interest on the remaining balance of $10, your get nailed for the full $100 of interest.

This is significant and damaging to consumers where you are told that the first 12 – 18 months are “interest free”. If the entire balance is not paid in full before that grace period, the fine print will ultimately share with you that the creditor will retroactively bill interest for the entire balance from the loan inception.

To see in dollars and cents how this affects consumers look at the following example that typically solicits people looking for medical payment installments:

Example: Jane Doe enters into the credit agreement to charge $2,000 out of pocket costs for medical treatments with a 12 month grace period to pay the bill in full without interest. At the end of the 12 months, Jane has only paid $1,200. On the 13th month, the interest at 29.99% (common for this type of agreement) is applied to the entire balance since the loan’s inception. $2000.00 × (1+0.0249917)12=$2689.52

This calculation the lenders use reflect $689.52 interest is added to the remaining $800 providing her the credit for $1,200 in payments.

Jane’s new balance of $1,489.52 would incur monthly interest at the compounded monthly rate. Depending on the wording of the contract it could be the actual balance she is paying interest on, or it could be back to that initial

$2,000.

This is one common example of the confusing and deceptive business practices. It takes a lawyer, to analyze most credit card contracts and understand all of their sometimes bizarre terms and conditions.

CHECK CASHING/PAYDAY LOANS/CAR TITLE LOANS/TAX REFUND LOANS/ Rent To Own

This is the poor being targeted. The military is also targeted. What these companies practice is up to 400% interest on short term loans.

The check cashing preys on the poor that may not have the resources to open a bank account. They need their paycheck immediately to feed their family and can’t wait for the “holding period.” The fees are eating away up to 25% of the family’s income.

Payday loans are up to 400% interest. A recent study by the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society shows that soldiers coming home from a mission have been targeted by unscrupulous lenders sucking them into long term, high interest debt. 64 out of 167 soldiers in Norfolk polled admitted to taking a payday loan because they could not wait for the money to clear the bank to have a place to stay, feed their families, or some other necessity. 13 of the 64 stated in the survey they had to take a second loan to pay off the first loan. In one extreme case the military personnel was sucked in being forced to take 40 – 60 payday loans and couldn’t get out of the rat race.

Identity theft being one of the top white collar crimes affecting people in the US today, unfair collection practices, illegal seizure of assets, every day it seems to be growing worse and contributing to the decline of not only the US economy, but the quality of life across the United States.

Another film, In Debt We Trust, shows a hidden camera of a guy going into a Car Title place to get a loan. Blue book value of the car is $9,000. The offer an $1,100 - 30 day loan and this is how it breaks out. $1,100 $65 25% ($295.86) TOTAL

Loan Principal Loan Fee Interest – 30 days

$1,461.38

If you don’t pay inside 30 days, you are assessed another finance charge of $388.62 for a total of $1,850 payback on a $1,100 loan.

After 60 days, they own your $9,000 car.

Tax refund loans are another joke by H&R Block and Liberty Tax as well as a few other tax preparers. The loans funded through HSBC are again at 371% annual rates for these short term loans. HSBC had refused to comment on this practice. The fees range from a flat rate of $30 to $115 plus a mandatory electronic filing fee of $25 - $60 to the preparer. When it is filed electronically, the refund is typically processed and paid within three to four weeks. What does this 9

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mean? Anywhere from $50 - $175 is going back to the financial industry for a two to three week loan.

Rent to own is another scam targeting low income families. Bad Credit/No Credit No Problem is the tag line to watch. A typical Rent to Own TV as found in retail stores for about $195 is stretched out for 78 payments with interest, deposits and origination fees making the total cost inflate to $795 or more. You should really wait a month or two and save the money paying in cash. You are better off in the long run.

This culture the media created of instant gratification along with the greed of the financial industry has resulted in a spendthrift economy.

As a victim of corporate crime, you are told by every governing agency they will “log” the complaint but they will not take action on your behalf to ensure your rights are upheld. It is recommended you hire an attorney to take these corporate criminals to court. So unless you have enough money to pay attorney retainers, you are pretty much out of luck unless you have the resources, time, and ability to pursue the legal system on your own.

COLLECTION AGENCIES:

The collection agencies also get away with extortion and blatant illegal practices. Again, an industry driven by greed.

As debt starts to accumulate, people are pushed for any number of reasons to use the plastic and they get into a bind and can not pay.

Some of the collection agencies out there are just doing their job and following the laws under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. However, there is the new breed of collection agencies that are La Cosa Nostras of the new millennium. I recommend looking at www.buddhibbs.com for a complete list of the predators out there and the violations of existing laws.

One such listed agency, Weltman Weinberg and Reis poses as a law firm, but they are not. This Limited Liability Corporation is a professional association attorneys can join, but they themselves are not a law firm. The company has been sued a hundred times over from countersuits to harassing the wrong person, for using court documents downloaded on-line to illegally fishing for consumers personal information.

If you EVER get a document that says, “YOU ARE BEING SUED,” don’t panic just yet.

There are a few things to look for to see if it is a real suit, or just a terroristic threat. If it were legitimate, a court date would be on the document. You would have an opportunity to defend yourself. If you were subpoenaed for your financial information such as property, bank account numbers, you would receive the document by regular mail and by certified mail. You have to sign for the document. The judge would sign the document and there should be a docket number.

Always check with the County Court House to make sure the Docket Number has been properly filed.

The problem is that these bottom feeders will call your neighbors. In one case the woman they were harassing was the wrong per-

son yet they terrified her by stalking her at work, assaulting her on her own property and calling neighbors and asking co-workers in the parking lot of the woman’s habits. CREEPY! If you hear reports of this call the police and file a report.

This goes well beyond the “collection laws” and moves into stalking laws.

Another tactic of disreputable collection agencies is to extort money for old outdated debts that are well beyond the statute of limitations. They will pretend to be the original client and even report this on the credit reports to manipulate the system.

On Budd Hibbs site, I read a consumer report about a negative item on a credit profile they did not recognize. It was two accounts, one with Sprint and the other with MCI, both phone companies the consumer said they never had accounts with. They wrote to Trans Union to alert them about these fraudulent accounts and requested they conduct an investigation. Both accounts were held with the collection agency AFNI, Inc.

After Trans Union conducted their investigations the Sprint bill was taken off but the MCI bill was not. Sometime later the consumer received a collections notice from AFNI, Inc. regarding this fake MCI account in the amount of $1,077.00. She contacted AFNI, informing them that they had no knowledge of these account(s) while reporting that they never received any bills from MCI regarding the phone line. AFNI told the consumer, ‘good luck.’ trying to prove it wasn’t them who opened the account in the first place!

Somehow it was claimed that proof was evident that this very consumer had, ‘ok-ed,’ this phone line via a phone call with MCI but refused to share that with the consumer. The consumer questioned Budd Hibbs asking, “could it be that Trans Union and Experian are down with this scam! How could that be!”

The sad reality is that the credit reporting agencies get more money by reporting bad information than good information.

In a conversation a few years back with former Fleet Bank employee and vendor relationship specialist Tammy Holt, I learned how credit banks are billed by the reporting agencies to participate in their “service.” They are billed a “block” of accounts to be reported. It winds up costing about a penny for every 10 good account listings and a penny for 1 negative account listing. Costs for credit reports are available to the banks, collection agencies, or any other firm purchasing a $600 software package anywhere from $9.95 to $39.95 depending on the number of reports pulled each month.

The way Holt described this; the benefit of the lending institution is to use the negative report encouraging the debtor to pay the bill.

CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES?

By now you can easily see how corrupt the system is, so what other tricks are out there designed to deceive you? You have seen the guy singing his tunes on TV, about working in the seafood restaurant, driving in the crappy car and getting married only to end up living in the

basement of his in-laws. The sad story is – this commercial hits home with an ongoing problem that just scratches the surface. Just as a side note you can get your free annual credit report at www. annualcreditreport.com without signing up for a monthly service.

Lawmakers will not answer how it is that private industry took control of our lives.

Why is it that Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian (two of which are not even US based companies) have that much control over our lives? Don’t kid yourselves because unless you hit the mega millions, these agencies decide how much money you can earn, how much insurance carriers can charge you, who gets the big house, who receives funding to start a business, produce a record, or go to school. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU and he driven by greed!

The lack of response from the government has inspired and created a new feudal system matching very closely to the days before the Fall of the Roman Empire.

What about FICO scores? Everyone has heard the term, but did you know FICO is the acronym for Fair Isaac and Company. The consumers I talked to were shocked to learn FICO is actually a privately held company and not a government agency. This is private industry hired by the credit reporting agencies to take their data they collect about you, run a proprietary formula to determine how responsible and creditworthy you are. Each credit reporting agency has its own unique formula. So when you hear someone going on and on about FICO scores, just dig a little deeper and you’ll probably find they are on Fair Isaac and Company’s payroll to promote their products.

On paper, it sounds great. FICO is pitched as the mathematical formula to determine responsibility to keep everyone on a level playing field. What’s wrong with it? As usual nothing in and of itself except for the fact that the formulas used are TOP SECRET. How could this possibly be good for consumers? How are we to know that FICO is not “adjusting” the formulas? Don’t laugh; it was in the news in the summer of 2007 that Fair Isaac was guilty of changing the formulas at random to adjust scores unfairly.

Now what about the credit reporting agencies and the integrity and accuracy of information reported?

I have evidence that all three credit reporting agencies have lost information previously sent to them. I have a paper trail showing where they share information with anyone who pays the fee, but will not provide information to the consumer.

With all three reporting agencies, I put it all together and this is how my most interesting life laid out: they had me living all over the United States and Canada. While living in the NY Metro area (according to the credit reporting agencies) at one time I also commuted to Dallas to work in a jewelry store. I was married to my father first, yet at one point, I didn’t even exist because I was my mother. Apparently I was also incarcerated somewhere in England and despite that it’s listed I married again, I still have not figured out to whom. Since I can’t remember the wedding, the only logical conclusion one can make is that I must have been abducted by aliens.

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In all seriousness, under the law most people know you write a letter of dispute and the credit reporting agencies are obligated to investigate within 30 days.

Whether it is an address issue, a bad trade line, or some other error, this is a process that is in place.

So you file your dispute, you sit back and wait. You get a form letter back either refusing to investigate, asking for copies of your personal information which could be a driver’s license, military ID, passport, lease agreement, bank account information, copies of your social security card or any number of personal documents. Why does private industry need this information? Furthermore, who safeguards this information?

I have evidence that all three credit reporting agencies have received information I feel they had no business with in an effort to expedite investigations on inaccurate information. They responded by asking for the information all over again. We’re are not talking just once, but monthly over the course of four long years. How safe is the information these data clearing houses hold? How do we know that the employees of these agencies are reputable?

The Federal Trade Commission and all law enforcement agencies urge consumers to only provide their social security number to employers, your bank and to be careful with this information. If this is a recommendation to protect yourself from fraud, why is it that hard copies of this documentation is asked for? And when they lose that

information, what liability do they hold when the information is compromised.

So what happens if you have proof beyond any shadow of the doubt that there is something wrong on your credit report and you have letters, recorded telephone calls and stacked evidence that the credit reporting agencies had been instructed to delete a trade line and they don’t do it alleging they have some evidence their information is accurate that supersedes all of your documentation.

The credit reporting agencies do the bare minimum to keep lawmakers off their back.

I have written and emailed the CEO of Trans Union, Mr. David Emery. Until I announced to Mr. Emery that this article would be published, I received nothing but a long list of stonewalling tactics. I received a response from Ms. Konnie Maxwell on behalf of Mr. Emery’s office. Ms. Maxwell’s letter is quite enlightening and was carefully written. In this document, Ms. Maxwell claims two of my three questionable accounts were investigated and I somehow had nothing better to do with my time than to fake corporate letterheads and recorded telephone calls confirming the letters were accurate. I wonder if Ms. Maxwell realizes how ignorant this sounds? I even had the original creditors initiate three way calls to Trans Union to confirm the documents were valid and I am not the person who opened the account and not responsible in any way. That went over like a ton of bricks.

The problem is, the credit reporting agency can say whatever they want. They don’t have any obligation to produce any documentation of evidence to support any adverse reporting

by the original creditors. This is the point where consumers really are held hostage by the banks.

So a predatory lending institution can re-age an account and report anything they like as long as they pay their fees. The laws are not going to protect you.

I am just using Trans Union as the example but Equifax and Experian are also doing business the same way.

HOW TO CREATE POSITIVE CHANGE:

Consumers need to band together and support local groups that are fighting this uphill battle. You need to let your voice be heard by calling your local representatives, writing letters and being persistent.

You can get active! You can start by visiting www.affil.org:

• You can learn about the principals of Americans for Fairness In Lending

• You can share your story whether you are a ripped off consumer, or a current/ former bank employee

• Find a ton of information on deceptive credit card practices. Learn to protect yourself from the common tricks and traps

• Host a, “Maxed Out,” party to promote awareness in your community

And of course, you can always e-mail me at angelica@digthisreal.com.

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Dig This Real chats with Peter Spellman

about all things mbsoutions.com

MBS (mbsolutions.com) is a website dedicated to helping those who have deemed themselves foolish enough to get involved in the music biz. The site has resources for anything and everything related to the business and is a great source of information for both artists and executives. MBS offers consulting services for both music career and music business development. They have extensive directories which can help artists, CEOs and music therapists find sources where they can get an expert’s opinion about their specific field. With a few mouse clicks you can look up articles about starting your own record label, career planning and even find advice about choosing an attorney. Theses articles are all written by the director of MBS, Peter Spellman. In between running MBS, writing books and playing drums for improvisational group, Friend Planet, Spellman finds time to serve as the Director of Career Development at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

One of his more recent works, Indie Marketing Power: The Resource Guide for Maximizing Your Music Marketing, discusses current trends in the music marketplace and the impact of digital music, the internet and other factors which are changing the face of the industry. Spellman talks about how both artists and record companies alike must focus on giving fans direct and easy access to the music that they like and are willing to pay for.

With so many artists and labels emerging onto an already crowded playing field, hitting the target audience, no matter how big or small, is essential for getting a specific musical products into the hands and ears of people who will enjoy it. He also stresses that music is not just a product in and of itself, but also a device by which other products (movies, pharmaceuticals, software) can be marketed. Fans now are blessed with “previewability” – having the chance to hear something before purchase – which enables them to be much more selective about what they choose to buy; relying on what they hear for themselves rather than hype and marketed expectations. Via ITunes and other services, music consumers can download singles instead of complete albums and therefore spend far less to get the music that they want. This puts pressure on companies to identify and capitalize on alternative ways to generate revenue from their recording artists. Likewise, bands have found success in letting fans “choose” what they pay for an album (Radiohead, Saul Williams, GirlTalk) and making the profits up through concert tickets,

collectors editions and other means. The terrain of the music business and business in general, is changing, and this book serves as a navigating tool for those who are trying to find their way. Luckily, I had the chance to ask Mr. Spellman a few questions about his work.

Read on.

Dig This Real: In your own words, could you educate our readers a little bit about your background?

Peter Spellman: I am an artist development specialist, helping musicians apply their entrepreneurial instincts to create success. I am also Director of Career Development at Berklee College of Music and founder of Music Business Solutions, a training resource for music entrepreneurs.

In your book, you discuss the barriers of entry to the music industry (because of advances in home recording, the relative ease of creating and printing one’s own album, etc.) as being greatly reduced for new and unproven artists.

Do you think that this occurrence will change what listeners will accept as “quality” music?

People have been calling all kinds of sounds, “music” for as long as the word has been around. So, low barriers for entry haven’t changed this much. It’s one of the things I love about the world of music – one person’s noise is another’s symphony. Of course, “quality” music is often associated with music that measures up to a particular set of standards – standards handed down by tastemakers and critics of various stripes. But “music,” like “beauty” is in the eye of the beholder, or the ear of the listener. That’s not to say, however, that a lot of what passes for music today isn’t rushed, half-baked productions that could certainly use some more development. I do get concerned about the market pipelines getting clogged with recordings that aren’t ready for their potential audience. I’m fond of telling recording artists that, like a fine wine or good brew, they should only come out when they’re ready.

It is already almost impossible to walk around in New York City (and probably most other major cities) without someone trying to get you to listen to, and purchase, a copy of their “demo.”

With the line between major and indie labels becoming even more blurred with

each passing day, is this practice the next phase in independent music marketing?

Next phase? I grew up in Queens, New York and remember artists hawking their vinyl 45’s on street corners in the 60’s! Hip Hop and Rap artists inherited the practice and also spawned the whole “street team” phenomenon. I think these grassroots practices reflect a powerful trend in artist/music marketing today: direct-to-fan promotion. This is not only evident on the street, but the whole net dynamic is enabling a paradigm shift from the domination of the “music business” to that of the “musician business.” In a strange but wonderful way, the networked computer sets the music business back 300 years when artists played directly to their audience without intermediary. This, for sure, is the next phase of independent music marketing.

With all of the changes and new technologies infiltrating the music industry, how do you account for the fact that vinyl record sales are on the rise and do you see this trend continuing or dropping off as time goes by?

Yeah, vinyl sales grew 15% in 2007 over 2006 and a whopping 70% over last year. This doesn’t surprise me at all because

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ever since Amazon launched its vinyl store, I’ve been watching all sorts of albums sell out before their release date. Vinyl is certainly a niche, very popular with DJs and in classic rock & hip hop but now gaining momentum in almost every genre. I think it’s partly a reaction to digital music production which does tend to violate the physics of true sound. Let’s fact it: digits can’t compare to waves. With vinyl you also get 2 square feet on which to express yourself. This appeals to artists with a strong visual tendency. It’s cool that there is a format for everyone. Different collectors will forever enjoy vinyl, or CDs or even 45’s and this will continue for as long as collectors exist.

Since band’s now need to be complete marketable, “products,” is it now more important than ever for artists to pay attention to everything thing about themselves, (appearance, quotes, positive personal background) than just the way that they sound?

In the immortal words of Uncle Ben, “With great power comes great responsibility.” There are powers in the corner of artists today that are unprecedented. Today’s artists need to understand they are as much business-builders as music-builders. They will find greater success if they can figure out ways to create effective forms to hold their passions – forms that can help carry their art out to the

world with the minimum of time, money and energy expended.

The forms I’m talking about provide management of all the myriad tasks an artist must attend to: communication with fans, teammates, business allies; creative marketing tactics, smart contract arrangements, financial and tax strategies. And if you think management isn’t important, just remember that most businesses that fail do so because of management incompetence. All of my books are written to help artists and their teams understand and build these forms. It’s not rocket science, nor too difficult to put into place. The key is to get started with them and then consistently practice them. Success breeds success, and the more artists pay attention to these forms, the more success they will see.

Where do you see all of this going? Are the days of band plays at local club- gains local following – moves onto regional venue – gains regional following – moves onto national scene – gets record deal going to be replaced by band writes song for company – company uses song to market product – product becomes big seller- band becomes popular. Were the Rembrandts (the “Friends” theme song band) an eerie foreshadower of things that were to come?

Well, we’re seeing all of the above and everything in between. There is no single

right way to spark a music career today. In the words of Clay Shirky, we’re experiencing the “Big Flip.” It used to be a handful of “music executives” determined what music got to our ears and how it would get there. Now that’s been flipped, and instead of a top-down dynamic, it’s bottom-up. The market is now driving the music business, not a monopoly of CEOs. So the options for music discovery, development, promotion and marketing have multiplied beyond our wildest dreams. This presents a challenge to artists and their teams as they try to decide on the best paths to take amid all the available options. But, despite all the changes and with all the amazing technology developments, some things don’t change at all. I believe if you focus on these things you’ll be able to effectively navigate whatever waters you find yourself on. You still need great songs, strong performances of these songs, smart business chops, creative marketing and nurturing communication with your fans to ensure long-term career success. Technology just extends and enables the reach and efficiencies of these. The core music assets, however, remain the same - as ever.

For more info or to purchase Spellman’s books, please visit www.mbsolutions.com – Evan Bleier

William Electric Black directs The Lonely Soldier Monologues A new play entitled, “The Lonely Soldier Monologues (Women at War in Iraq),” is coming to NYC this March. Written by Helen Benedict (based on her book) and directed by William Electric Black, the play provides an intense, unwavering and often disquieting view of women in today’s military. This play forces the realities of war and sexism on the audience. Despite the fact that the Iraq war has more women soldiers than any prior war, females are still outnumbered 9 to 1. They must face not only the heartbreak and hardships of war but must also constantly struggle against

sexual harassment and sexism. Forbidden from the tight units of camaraderie common amongst male soldiers, female soldiers can find themselves lonely and scared. In, “The Lonely Soldier,” the lives of five women are followed from childhood through service in the army. Benedict enlivens the struggles and challenges not only on the battlefield, but from enlistment, to training and back to the States where homelessness and poverty often await. She delves into and humanizes the complex issues of war: misogyny, class, race, homophobia and more. The writing is honest and unapologetic and often quotes the five women word for word. Their stories have not been changed and all but one woman has agreed to be identified by name. Black has an extremely diverse resume. He has directed and written many plays, which have been produced throughout New York, Boston, Chicago and LA. A professor at NYU’s Tische School, he also teaches performance techniques of plays based on literary works. Surprisingly, he has also won seven Emmys as a writer for Sesame Street (working under the pseudonym Ian Ellis James). Black has also written, directed and produced two feature films.

Benedict is similarly accomplished as an author. She has written five works of non-

fiction. And her recent articles on women in Iraq won the James Aronson for Social Justice Journalism. Further, her novels have received citations for best book of the year from both the LA Times, and the Chicago and New York Public Libraries.

“The Lonely Soldier Monologues,” starts its run on March 5, 2009 at the Theater for the New City on 155 First Avenue (at 10th Street) in New York City.

It is running Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 3:00 pm. Tickets are $15 and $10 with a student ID. Call 212.254.1109 or visit www.theaterforthenewcity.net to purchase yours today. – Matt Giegerich 13

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musicSUBMIT.com musicSUBMIT.com started as an idea a little over 4 years ago by musician Trevor Lyman. Lyman, like other numerous musicians out there was looking for ways to promote himself over the internet. And soon it was quickly becoming obvious that promoting his music on the internet was becoming a full time job. Lyman created musicSUBMIT.com to help himself and musicians get back to doing what they love to do most – creating their music. As he states, “no one ever picked up a guitar, or sat down at a piano or banged out a drum beat with the hopes and aspirations of one day being able to spend 40 hours a week promoting themselves on the internet.”

Four years later, musicSUMBIT.com is successfully surfing the waves of the internet, offering a ton of options for musicians: you can set up your own account on their submission page, have your music submitted to radio stations, as well as achieving exposure on Online ezines, Blogs, Directories and Podcasts.

The possibility of promoting your music is endless. Dig This Real’s Jose Ho-Guanipa sat down with Michael Corcoran, Marketing Director. Here’s the lowdown:

Dig This Real: For those who don’t know, what exactly does musicSUBMIT.com do for the artists you work with?

Michael Corcoran: We submit indie artists’ music to online radio, music webzines, and other music sites. The idea is to get indie artists some airplay on internet radio, college radio and some FM stations along with reviews in music magazines like Dig This Real.

When did musicSUBMIT.com first open its doors for business?

We opened for business in January 2004. musicSUBMIT.com was the brainchild of Trevor Lyman, an aspiring singer-songwriter. He recorded a few tunes and wanted to send them to sites on the web so he looked up and found 50 music sites that he thought might listen to his music. He sent his mp3’s to the sites and basically, “saved,” his research. He then started doing it for other bands and it eventually evolved into an actual business and here we are now.

What kind of experience did you have personally in the music industry before joining the musicSUBMIT.com team?

I was just as a huge music fan. I went to shows, concerts and clubs. I joined musicSUBMIT.com in March 2005. Trevor and I worked together at the same restaurant in South Beach in Florida a while back.

My background is in information technology (I have an MBA in I.T.), so he asked me to help out. In 2008, Trevor decided to go work on a political campaign and so I’ve taken over the reigns of musicSUBMIT.com

How do you effectively promote your artists and get their materials distributed to publications and distribution mediums such as radio and music television outlets?

Basically, it works like this: artists come to musicSUBMIT.com and create an artist campaign.

An artist campaign is a one-page artist profile, similar to a MySpace page. The campaign page has a media player with 3-4 of the artist’s songs on it, pictures, a biography, press release, video and other music related materials. Some call this page an EPK, or an electronic press kit, but we call it a music press kit. The page also includes links to EPKs on other sites like SonicBids, PureVolume and MySpace. This page is what gets sent to the music reviewers, such as radio stations and music webzines. Some of these stations and sites will review the artist and if they like them, they can contact them to get a CD or a download for airplay or review.

Do you have any success stories of musicSUBMIT.com artists who have made a big splash with their music thanks to your promotion?

Yes, we’ve submitted some indie artists that made their way onto regular rotation on internetradio and college radio, which led to interest from indie record labels. A few examples are JJ Voss, an Americana singer-songwriter, Diablo Royale, a New York hard rock band, Alexa Wilkinson, an LA-based pop singer and Rebel, another New York-based artist, a rapper that wound up on a Bad Boy Records tour. Those are just a few out of the thousands of artists we’ve submitted in the last 5 years. The whole idea, really, of musicSUBMIT.com, is not to give an artist their, “big break,” but rather to get the artists some good traction on the internet and small to mid-market radio. They can then start building up a fan base and for cheap! musicSUBMIT.com is evidently part of a wave of digital era music promotion companies based on utilizing technology to promote artists.

What role do you think technology will play in the changing business landscape of music in the coming years?

We think technology will play an even bigger role than it already has and will continue following that trend. Back in the day, an artist would need to hire a publicist or promoter and spend thousands of dollars just to get their stuff out there and then hope that a station actually opens up their package and pops in the CD. Now, with the internet, it’s a much easier process and it costs much less too. We’ve obviously benefited from technology’s expanding role in the music business, as have many other companies. The old-style ‘record labels’ are now scrambling to figure it all out. I guess we’ll see what happens.

Do you think technology will have an effect on the existence of mediums for music promotion i.e., the death of the CD, album and big budget MTV music videos and the creation of other new forms of promotion for artists?

If so, how? Which mediums do you think will remain or disappear and which new ones will emerge as more salient?

Well, we’ve already seen CD sales plummet from their record highs in 1999 -2000 and CD production costs have gone from 50k to 100k per album, down to 10k-20k to produce a top quality record. And you really don’t see too many 500k videos on MTV anymore. I think the new mediums will drift more and more towards online specialization and niche markets, including podcasts and music video channels for specific genres of music. Rather than being force-fed whatever the music giants give him, a music fan of any genre of music will be able to easily find exactly what they’re looking for.

role with its artists or expand into other mediums?

Our core business is to submit music to radio and webzines and a natural extension of that is submitting to stations and sites in a specific region, like, say, the, “Pacific Northwest.” We’re going to call this service, “TourSUBMIT,” and it provides radio and magazine promotion for touring bands. We’ve also tentatively begun a service called, “LabelSUBMIT,” which will submit music to indie record labels. Artist management and booking are also on the horizon for us in late 2009.

What is your forecast for the future of the music industry, as it exists today? Will there still be major labels 5-10 years from now or do you think that model is dead?

There are only 4 major labels left today: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI. It’s similar to the car industry of the 1920’s, where there were hundreds of companies and eventually the industry whittled itself down to 3 major players. The same thing is going to happen with the recording industry. The 4 major players will probably continue to plod along and put out the Britney Spears’ and U2’s of the world, but we all know where it eventually ends up. The car industry is on life-support today. I’m guessing in 5-10 years it will pretty much look the same for music. The real exciting stuff will originate in the independent scene.

What would you recommend to young artists that are starting out now in this type of music climate where music sales are rapidly diminishing and there are so many new options in terms of marketing, promotion and distribution?

Every artist out there has to be willing to compete against almost 3 million other artists, all with new albums out. I know it sounds daunting but there’s lots of new creative ways to promote yourself. You just have to be willing to work at it for little or no money and be persistent. I know festivals are getting bigger and bigger every year so get out there, tour with other artists you like, play live as much as you can and try to meet everyone in the audience. Supplement that with a strong online presence, which makes you easier to find when the music fans go home that night and if you’re talented, you’re going to see some action come your way.

More info can be obtained at www.musicSUBMIT.com – Jose Ho-Guanipa

Do you think the days of the millionaire rock star are numbered?

That is a possibility, yes. I would say the “gazillionaire” rock star, or, the huge, larger-than-life artists and bands’ days may be numbered. Instead, there will be more artists simply making a decent living from their work. In other words, the same money that was going to support ridiculously lavish lifestyles for mediocre artists will now be spread around to a larger number of artists, which is a good thing.

Does musicSUBMIT. com plan to expand its services in the future and take on a more managerial

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A Virgin’s Guide to all things Genesis Though Genesis was an amazing and talented group, during any of their incarnations, they were pretty weird. Forming around 1967, when there was so much left to be done in rock music, the group seemed to fear and/ or know no boundaries: They wrote some short, radio-friendly tunes, but they also created singular compositions that spanned in excess of twenty minutes; they used a wide variety of instrumentation, including piano, mellotron, flute, synthesizer, drums and alternate percussion, all in new and interesting ways; they are one of the only, if not THE only, group of this level of fame to have replaced their original lead singer (Peter Gabriel) and yet to have gone on to sell more records and become bigger as a result. In addition, this replacement lead singer was an internal candidate: drummer Phil Collins took over the role of frontman and helped Genesis to reach even higher plateaus of both monetary and critical success. And, with at least 15 studio albums, this is a fairly prolific cast, even though it was not always comprised of the same individuals.

In celebrating their history and catalog, they have released three jam-packed box sets to commemorate their career, including their studio albums, rare recordings, live concert footage, interviews and more. Think about that.

Not many bands exist long enough, let alone write enough music, to be able to distribute this much music in the box set format and

have it received with any sort of fanfare.

I was fortunate to have been granted the opportunity to indulge in and review the most recently-released of the box sets, which actually happens to contain older material than the previous two released sets. Many fans and critics alike will agree that “the early days” of many bands are often the most interesting, because the group tends to be at their hungriest and sometimes their most creative (in some cases, some would even say that there is a certain purity at that stage as well). Ironically, the debut Genesis album was not included in this box set due to legal constraints, so allow me to begin with, Trespass, which was originally released in 1970. This interesting collection of six songs sort of served as a template for the early era of the band, with complex arrangements, dynamic changes, and sometimes operatic composition and execution.

One thing that struck me with this cd and especially with the first track, “Looking for Someone,” is the pleasant but unusual vocal contributions and writing of Peter Gabriel.

There are long periods of music without any particular melody emerging in the instrumentation, and yet Gabriel manages to stay fairly melodic and he generally creates a rhythm for his lines that is all his own. As a singer and songwriter, I find that that can be very challenging and Gabriel impresses me with this ability on many occasions. The lyrics are often esoteric and hard to pin specific meanings to, but the feel is generally right on and the band knows how to set one mood and then either intensify it or shatter it depending on their intent. For those of you (“Virgins”) who are familiar with the band’s hits from later years, you can hear all of the basic ingredients as early as this 1970 release. My favorites are “Looking for Someone,” and the almost nine minute epic closing tune, “The Knife.” “The Knife,” has many intriguing vocal effects (including some spacey spoken word stuff), a good, pulsing energy to it and some classic-rock sounding guitar riffs that never stagnate due to continual permutation.

The bass playing is also so solid and interesting on that track. I think that it definitely foreshadows where Gabriel and Company would head on their next release.

The band’s third album, Nursery Cryme (which is the second in the box set) is the first featuring drummer Phil Collins, the same guy who would later take

the vacant front man position left by Gabriel upon his departure. Collins was the group’s fourth drummer, I believe, replacing John Mayhew. Nursery Cryme was a step in the right direction: Gabriel is even more odd, unique, haunting and to my enjoyment, more raw. At some points he almost reaches a scream and this added edge makes the somewhat-sterile nature of the band’s productions more human and alive. This disc also has seven songs and my guess is that by including one super-long track, there was rarely room for more than seven tunes on a Genesis record (on this album, the first track is the ten-minute-plus adventure called, “The Musical Box”). We can hear Collins doing backup vocals from the get-go on Nursery Cryme, but you have to listen very closely, because as one critic said, “Collins sounds more like Gabriel than Gabriel does.”

Around 6:38 in, “The Musical Box,” there are so many awesome things going on, including raunchy, distorted keyboard sounds, guitar squeals and bends and a general gallop that a lot of people probably would not expect. “For Absent Friends,” is Collins’ debut as lead vocalist and again, if one did not know better, they might think it was just Gabriel being a little more unusual than usual. “The Return of the Giant Hogweed,” is a ridiculous title, but this is one of my favorite musical moments, opening with a gritty sounding guitar that duels with a keyboard on some arpeggios until the band breaks into a funky little verse.

This is one of the tracks on which the vocals get more raw and between that and the riffage, it is probably my favorite from this disc.

I guess that I even like my Genesis to come with a little more punk attitude thrown in. I would like to take this time to say that I am not much of a fan of Gabriel’s antics on the flute; I could do without that, sorry, die-hard Genesis lovers! Around 8:46 there is a really cool part that I think is a distorted, palm-muted, chicken-picked guitar, but then again, it could be a keyboard and I just cannot be sure!

Whenever I cannot be sure what something is in a song, I think that is when I know that the band was really onto something. In general, I quite enjoy the thick lead guitar tones that are employed throughout these early recordings and the playing includes very ahead-of-theirtime licks including arpeggios and finger-tapping that would later be improved upon and made world-famous by guitar-slingers such as Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen (see around 3:28 in, “The Fountain of Salmacis”).

“The Fountain,” also closes in a very orchestral way that is hard for most rock bands to even attempt.

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lease (and the third in the box set; are you keeping count?!), they start to really go off the deep end with what has become the more well-known staples of “progressive rock,” including the funky, odd time signatures, the interesting syncopations and the off-the-wall accents. Collins really branches out in terms of his drumming, as compared with the previous album and the drum sound is also better itself, so I really dig it. In fact, if you have not heard this album, you might not believe how good and funky Collins can be behind the kit. Even on the first track, he is all over the place, and for me the drum playing is actually a focal point of the tune. “Get ‘Em Out by Friday,” is also a fun song and the more I write, the more I am realizing that I like the upbeat, off-the-wall, funkier tracks a lot more than the calm, quiet, ethereal tracks. The songs with movement, well, they just have so much more movement, and although the band is throwing in everything but the kitchen sink, the faster tempos allow all the madness to somehow make more sense for me.

Perhaps the band’s longest song, “Supper’s Ready,” is the closer of Foxtrot, and at 23:05 in length and having been impeccably composed and produced, I might go so far as to say that it is a masterpiece, unless of course I learn later that it was actually several individual songs that they just sandwiched together, in which case I would be a bit less impressed.

This song runs the gamut, with the drums entering at around four minutes after a long, mostly-acoustic opening, children chanting at around five minutes, another big drum-driven section after that, and from there, the song just does not quit. It has to be heard to be believed and this was 1972, before the parents of the guys in The Mars Volta had even begun having sex (don’t quote me on that)! Speaking of The Mars Volta, there are so many kids from my generation and younger that are so floored by the schizophrenic compositions of those guys and yet they have never heard any of this truly-progressive Genesis stuff. There is not too much that The Mars Volta have done that is not right here in the Genesis early days box set, aside from the fact that The Mars Volta does infuse more of that punk-y fire (but in Genesis’s defense, punk didn’t even happen until the late ‘70s!) I wish I could ask Gabriel or Collins what they think about Volta and all of the credit that people give Omar and Cedric for being so “progressive” in these current times!

The follow-up to, Foxtrot, is, Selling England by the Pound, and they managed to pack eight songs into this one and in the process still refined both their sound and compositional style and abilities. The first track is the title track and at 1:20 or so, there is a funky little guitar line that is played in such an interesting tempo in relation to the backing track, in that it almost does not fit, but it does sound intentional, like they just had a sort of stock guitar lick and they decided, ‘why not fuck with that and play it off the beat?’ Awesome! At 2:28 they break into a loud guitar riff that almost sounds like a James Bond sort

of theme and then there is a wicked sounding lead guitar part that shows advancement in the shred department. The drums are alive and well and the cymbal work that Collins employs is the kind of super-pro stuff that most would never expect out of the guy who sang, “Sussudio.” The longest tune on this album is, “The Battle of Epping Forest,” and the sort of chorus chant of: “the battle of epping forest,” is supported by a great, low-tempo groove.

Some bands who try to release these extended-length songs fail because they do not keep them moving or fail to keep them interesting, but for the most part, when these guys decide to flesh something out to ten minutes, they pack a lot of punch into those ten minutes and I am sure that their ability to pull off these epics is part of the reason that people loved and admired them during those early years. As for lyrical content, there are plenty of references to the history and struggles of the lads’ homeland of England (most of which I do not fully understand) and Gabriel seems to employ a number of different characters, sometimes within a single song, to deliver his quirky tales. One line in particular from, “The Cinema Show,” jumped out at me from the thick musical underpinnings: “Once a man/ like the sea I raged/Once a woman/like the earth I gave/but there is in fact more earth than sea…”

Last, but certainly not least in this five-album collection is, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, which is actually a double album and a concept album, no less! It was the band’s sixth studio album, and the last one that features Peter Gabriel. Even from the first track, (which like the track, “Selling England by the Pound,” on the previous release, is the title track), there is the trademark “progressive” sound that the band had been perfecting on previous efforts, but in addition there is a certain melodic or pop quality. It is said that band tensions were at an all-time high, with Gabriel insisting on writing all of the lyrics and melodies himself, yet music was almost exclusively created without Gabriel. Occasionally other members altered a lyric or two to fit the music and this added to the alreadystrained relations in the group. Not only did Genesis craft this huge, epic, dense concept album, but they performed the album in its entirety on the tour that followed. Get this album and you will see how this feat borders on mind-blowing. I know a lot of musicians who cannot memorize a five minute song, let alone two discs worth of very dynamic and ever-changing tunes like this. This was 1974, Virgins! Some of my favorites from disc one include, “The Cage,” which has a very tense, driving feel and some wild keyboard playing in the background; “Counting Out Time,” which has a nice, distorted guitar hook; and on, “The Carpet Crawlers,” the vocals are some of the best in this box set and Collins delivers a very cool drum pattern, accented by some handdrumming.

Disc two (is there really another disc?) starts off with, “Lilywhite Lilith,” and a low, groovy guitar riff (or is that keyboard?).

One thing that I have noticed throughout these albums is that these guys know how to pick an opening track for their releases! Many, if not all, of the opening songs are amongst my favorites. “Lilith,” also has this cool guitar chord pulse on the downbeats that is similar to Led Zeppelin on, “Kashmir,” and between the influence of Genesis and Zep, this type of thing can be found all over tons of rock records from the late 70’s on, including a Jay-Z song that features Lenny Kravitz (“Guns and Roses”).

“The Waiting Room,” has some super-spacey analog synth sweeps, pads and general noise, again, pretty far ahead of their time, and doing stuff that most big rock bands (both then and now) would never try. On this track, “the rock band” that is Genesis emerges right into the synth-provided madness with what seem to be some incredible mixing techniques. The interweaving of the synth stuff and the band’s driving track are flawless. And they did this all with TAPE! They have achieved such fluid results that would challenge even the best of today’s mixing engineers using DIGITAL, fullyautomatable systems. Amazing. “Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats,” is more of an orchestral or chamber ensemble-sounding piece than a rock song and it would set the stage well for theater, film, even a sappy commercial about saving animals or trees. It is very soothing and does not over indulge, despite my expectation that they would take it overboard.

“The Colony of Slipperman,” is downright experimental sounding, both for 1974 and even for today! They were using sounds and sort of random-sounding composition choices that remind me more of early electronic music than that of a progressive rock band.

Looking back at my initial claims at the beginning of this document, I think that I was more right than I had imagined! These guys truly were weird, ahead-of-their-time, pushed all boundaries and pulled off so many different musical styles and tempos without much of a hitch! While I did not get to touch upon the extras in this box set, I will leave well-enough alone. There are a handful of additional DVDs and such, but describing them would infringe upon your right to discover them on your own, Virgins. Not only that, but it would also cause me to reiterate the many admirable and enviable strengths of this legendary group (and just think, these are their early albums!). While they may have often been imitated, they shall never be duplicated.

The Genesis Box Set 3 (1970-1975) is available now. – Nicholas Miller

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28/2/2009 12:12:55

HOW TO BECOME THE BEST BINGO ANNOUNCER OR TELEMARKETER FOR A PET CEMETERY THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN!

By Tina “Knowledgeable” Peden

Hey, Dig This Realstas, consider this shizit!

The next time you see a photographer discreetly taking pictures of a couple, casually strolling through a busy park seemingly like they don’t have a care in the world or see an individual dressed up like a stereotypical rockstar, i.e. fringed, leather jacket, hot pants, faded t-shirt, shit-kicker boots, ray-ban sunglasses topped off by a tacky-ass lavender hat with a giant pink feather stuck in it with matching boa, in other words, dressed like a pimp

P.S. At this time I would like to send a shout out to Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler. anyhoo, back to the show! ....exiting a limousine at a very popular nightclub while a bunch of photographers snap away, be not only aware and prepared to laugh your ass off at the ridiculous fashion choices of Steven Tyler, pimps and faux rockstars in general, but be afraid of something far more worse, because all may not be as it appears.

The reality is that you may have stumbled into one hell of a devious plot concocted by a total nincompoop and got played big time! For those of you out there wondering what the hell I’m talking about and wish that I would quit beating around the bush and just spit it out, give me a minute, will ya? I’m trying to build some suspense here! For god’s sake, work with me! Impatient ones, here comes one hell of a loogie hawked up your way: it has come to my attention that there are some total yahoos out there so desperate to get their 15 minutes of fame or live the life of a D-List celebrity for a night, that they will actually pay a photographer to take pictures of them paparazzi-style pretending like they are famous in hopes that people out on the street, the general public, will do some of the following things:

• ask these impostors for their autograph

• offer these impostors the red carpet/V.I.P. treatment such as the, “best table,” in the house, a bowlful of pretzels untouched by a bunch of nastyass drunken patrons or at the bare minimum, a complimentary blow job.

At this time, I would like to send another shout out to Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.

Hey Steven, you know that you love the perks of being a rockstar! I know how much you just looove those pretzels!

• have photos of these impostors taken with cellphones or cameras, in

hopes that they are emailed to a newspaper or magazine, while praying that they will be printed.

In essence, these wannabes will hire anybody be it a photographer, limo driver or proctologist (Yes. Read - ass inspector) to do whatever it takes to “get famous” or get their names and photos in print even if it means having a millimeter of space about themselves printed in the local supermarket rag. I know, sad and pathetic, but oh so funny to the average Dig This Real Magazine reader! And Dig This Realstas, you may think that actors and musicians new to the game are the only ones stupid enough to hire a photographer or limo driver to help them pretend that they are famous in order to get more famous like washed-up, past their prime hacks like Vanilla Ice have been known to do along with people from all walks of life, various ages and from many different places all over the world!

And one of the most frightening parts about this devious plot is the startling amount of companies sprouting up just to cash in on this hopefully temporary fad.

But people, to tell you the truth, I don’t harbor any ill will against these companies, because to me a buck is a buck. Meaning, if there are people stupid enough to hire somebody to help pretend they are famous in order to get famous then they deserve what they get. So, for any enterprising individuals out there reading this article, be smart and make some money, honey off of a pathetic fame seeker wannabe by opening up your own photo or limo business to the faux stars.

Do it today!

All you really need is a limo or camera, Craigslist ad and one pathetic fame seeker wannabe. Don’t worry! There are so many people out there in a variety of professions desperate for fame that you’ll never run out of paying customers. And remember to begin slowly. For instance, try this: once you receive a sucker, oh I mean, client such as a bingo announcer from your ad, if you are too broke-ass, use your income tax refund to simply rent a limo in the color and size of your choice. Then give the bingo announcer a lift to the hottest elderly/old fart hangout in town, example - the local hospital emergency room. Open the limo door for our bingo announcer at the emergency entrance and watch them loudly and proudly say through their bullhorn: B 11, I 25, N 37, G 59, O 74, BINGO!

In other words, let them strut their stuff and watch the false teeth fall out of the old bags mouths, the shitty diapers pile up and the granny panties fly! Ahhh, fame at last, to a pathetic fame seeker wannabe!

Hooray!

To really make some big money off of a pathetic fame seeker wannabe, be sure to offer your photo or limo services to the following people: telemarketers for pet cemeteries, jelly donut fillers, phone psychics, eye glass buffers, rodeo clowns, notetakers for college students and urinalysis observers because these are people so desperate to be famous while the general public is so desperate to see them on the red carpet.

Until next time!

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28/2/2009 12:12:57

DTR’s Jose Ho-Guanipa chats with DieNasty Record’s Kalibur We’re sitting in a dimly lit room with several computers and audio equipment decks stacked on top of each other. There are beer cans and cigarette buds scattered everywhere and the pungent odor of a particular illegal substance is pervasive throughout the space. Across from me sits, Kalibur, arms covered in an elaborate tapestry of tattoos, lighting up a cigarette. He nonchalantly offers me one but I decline. This is the headquarters of DieNasty Records, an underground hip-hop label based in La Mesa, California, a town in the eastern part of San Diego County.

Dig This Real: This is your first official release as a record label; tell us how you guys first started rapping and got together making music as part of the San Diego hip-hop scene. How long has this been in the making for you guys?

Kalibur: Well it’s been a long road. I’ve been rapping since middle school and I’ve known these guys for about the same amount of time, but we’ve been doing the DieNasty thing for about 5 years now, so this album is the culmination of that period of work. We’ve experienced a lot of growth and encountered a lot along the way and it’s helped make this album the best product, even though it took longer than we hoped. If we had released it three years ago though, it would have been an entirely different album, so it’s all good. As far as being in the scene, I don’t even know if we are. We kind of got our own niche and circle and we do our own thing, so aside from the people in the industry who we are associated with and respect, I wouldn’t say that we really are part of the scene. We’re over here on Planet Nasty. You ain’t really heard us on the radio yet nor on TV and I’ll be the first to admit that if it wasn’t for the Internet and social networking and shit like that then our options would be even more limited than they already are, being an independent alternative hard-core rap label in this day and age.

Why try and build an independent scene in San Diego?

You could have easily moved to LA or even New York and try to knock at the doors of the major labels. What do you think needs to be done to grow the San Diego hip-hop scene?

It’s that it’s all been done there. Those places are oversaturated with hopefuls. I kind of had my choice when I left Washington State at 17 of where I wanted to go set up shop and San Diego seemed to have it all.

It was close to LA, Vegas, Phoenix, Mexico, in case I needed to duck out real fast and the weather was beautiful. You haven’t heard of many rappers from San Diego besides Jayo Felony or maybe Lil Uno and I knew that we didn’t have to knock on label’s doors to make them aware of us. We choose to do it through other means because I had been doing that from a far more remote location than San Diego for some time already. As far as what I think needs to be done to help the San Diego hip-hop scene: who can call it, you know? There needs to be a revolution in hip-hop itself, let alone any particular region. I feel that the average consumer’s priorities are all reversed. Not to sound like the mad rapper or anything, but public opinion speaks volumes. I just know that it’s no secret that public opinion is often easily swayed and manipulated. If you’ve seen the movie Zeitgeist then you know that there is a massive scheme to dumb humanity down so we won’t be aware or even fuckin’ care about what has been done and is being done to us. I believe the intentional manipulation of public opinion through the control of pop culture, which, right now, is strongly tied to hip-hop, is just another device that they’re using to take away our voice. So when I hear dumbed-down rap, I take it as a personal insult on multiple levels. I am sorry to get carried away, but back to the original question; the San Diego

scene is preoccupied with gangbanging and when you talk about banging too much, it doesn’t transcend regionally as well as when you’re saying something people can relate to regardless of location. So you have to think bigger than your local, ‘scene.’ People in New Guinea don’t get the significance of your street name. That’s why I’m starting to avoid all references to time or location in recorded works, because it ain’t where you’re at, but where you’re going. Don’t limit yourself.

You guys have made a point of keeping the independent spirit of hip-hop both in your music and your business dealings.

How do successfully manage that?

Well, that’s really easy for us right now because there aren’t many outside influences pulling us in different directions. We don’t have any outside managers or label heads trying to tell us what to do so we kind of just do what we’ve been doing, because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We are constantly trying to polish our music, though. Not that we wouldn’t be open to opportunities that may arise in the future in terms of dealing with executives, but it is no secret that the only option for aspiring unique artists these days is to stay independent. Sure, plenty of celebrities are as rich as hell, but plenty of them aren’t. And I’d rather be down here swimming with the sharks than hostage on a pirate ship. I’m good at finding my own food down here. As far as the music goes, I’ll probably still be spittin’ with the passion of a hungry underground cat even if I had a gang of money because I’m one of the few who does it 85% for the love of the music and 15% for the money, which also happens to be the same ratio of what I get back for doing it. So I guess it works out.

What was the first record that you listened to that made you say, ‘That’s it, I’m going to rap?’

There were actually two of them. If you bought the cassette tape version of the “Above The Rim,” soundtrack, it had two bonus songs by Tupac that never appeared anywhere else. They were called, “Pain,” and, “Loyal To The Game,” and they had Treach and some dude named The Riddler on them. I used to rap those two songs constantly, especially the fast part in The Riddler’s verse. That’s what first got me flippin’. When I got to that part in the verse and I start flippin’ on them I remember people’s eyes started popping open in amazement. Now I’m always striving to get that reaction when I write and spit. And when trying to rap Tupac’s verse in, “Pain,” you had to come straight from the gut and spit those words out like they were the bitter truth and it sort of felt good to vent like that.

People would trip when I kicked those verses at parties in the eighth and ninth grade, so I decided to start writing my own stuff so I could keep getting those reactions from people. I wasn’t good at sports. I wasn’t good at school, but when I saw people’s eyebrows pop up like that I knew I was on to something and I decided to keep working at it. I had a couple landmark verses and experiences along the way that confirmed to me that this wasn’t something I should give up or dismiss in any way.

What are some of your influences musically, both past and present?

Shit, I’m sure I won’t say anything new. I have the same influences as everyone else. I could make a list of 40 or 50 artists or songs that I remember making a lasting impression in my memory, but then we’d be here all damn day. I’ll generalize by saying, I like music that’s angry and passionate, gives you goose bumps and makes you want to punch someone. But that also describes what kind of sex I like.

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28/2/2009 12:12:59

Who are your top 5 MCs, dead or alive and why?

In no particular order, Tupac, Eminem, Tech N9ne, Crooked I and Chino XL. Tupac has to be named, if nothing else, for the bright flash that was his short existence and the impact it had on the world. He opened a lot of doors for a lot of people and became bigger than hip-hop after his death.

On top of that, he had a tendency to murder mics. He was a habitual mic murderer. Not that he always batted a thousand, but when he was on, he was on. Eminem for obvious reasons, his rhyme schemes and sense of humor and punch lines are just ridiculous. On top of that, he’s got the delivery and the versatility to make you laugh or cry. I liked his first two albums the best but the third and fourth were also bangin’. Tech N9ne, is of course, the most unique and otherworldly talents that music has ever seen and has earned the numbers to back that up, yet he still doesn’t get the recognition that he deserves. He outsells many of the biggest acts major label acts on his own independent label and still can’t get his name in half as many places for some reason. So he’s definitely on there. Crooked I, because he’s been murdering mics for so long and managed to become one of the undisputed greatest rappers of all time without even putting out an album, and that’s some shit right there. That dude raps in his sleep. 647,000 bars later and he’s still got a fresh punch line for your face every time. And Chino XL man, that dude probably breaks pencils when he writes. Chino is that dude.

What is your favorite hip-hop music video of all time?

It would have to be Tech N9ne’s, “Im’ma Tell,” video because it shows me all wasted in the back of his tour bus and it was the first time my face showed up on B.E.T. and national television. It’s just a good video, so I’ll probably have to go with that. But I still have VHS tapes of, “YO! MTV Raps,” from back in ‘95 and ’96. That shit is far better then what I see when I occasionally flip through the music video channels. GZA’s, “Shadowboxing,” Busta Rhymes’, “Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check,” Lost Boys’, “Renee;” those were good videos. Shit, even Marilyn Manson’s, “Beautiful People,” video - that shit was fuckin’ nuts. You don’t see crazy shit like that on TV anymore unless you’re watching the news.

What do you hope to achieve socially, politically, or personally by putting out your music?

Socially, I’d like to use my music to put myself in a position where I can help open the eyes of the masses to what is truly going on in the world. We are in a real-life movie where we are being controlled and manipulated as a society. We are being intentionally undereducated to serve the interests of a greedy few. We’re like hamsters on a wheel and nobody really has a clue about what’s going on. Ignorance is bliss, so a lot of people don’t even want to know, but for the rest of us, knowledge is power and we ain’t trying to be weak. Even though, in all honesty, there really is no way to stop what’s happening to us, at least a few of us need to be conscious and aware of the truth. Politically, there’s nothing. I look at politics like theater because that’s basically all it is. None of those motherfuckers are independent from the influential elites that control the world. Politicians are just vehicles for conveying propaganda. I don’t buy into that shit. We’re bombarded with enough subliminal manipulations in the popular media; I don’t need to subject myself to any more. Personally, like anyone else, I want to make a living and be comfortable doing what I love, that’s really all it boils down to on a personal level.

Some of the songs on your album like, “Solution,” seem highly personal in the nature of their content. What inspired you to write that song and other similar ones?

I was drunk by myself in my home studio and I had just finished structuring the beat and tracking it out when the concept came to me. Not that it hadn’t occurred to me before, being that mind altering substances are such prominent forces in my everyday life, but right at that moment, with that beat, I just knew what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it, so I just jumped in the booth and knocked it out. Then I just put it in the vault and sat on it for a while until the rest of the album was done. I wasn’t sure if it was an appropriate track for the album, but as the track listing started coming together, I realized that with all the various textures in the album that, “Solution,” would be a perfect addition to the tapestry.

But yeah, it’s definitely the most personal song I’ve ever written. Normally I just put on the superhero costume and start trying to rip off heads, but that song was definitely just myself, as a human being getting some weight off my chest. But three verses just aren’t enough. My romance with intoxicants is pretty much the most dominant force in my everyday life and I definitely have more to say on the subject and will continue to have more as my own story progresses.

What advice do you have for aspiring rappers or musicians? What are some hurdles you guys have had to overcome?

Shit, I’m not really in a position to give advice. I’m a bigger piece of shit than most the people reading this right now. But I guess, in a nutshell, I would say to do something big, throw caution to the wind and stay independent. Find investors and if necessary, invest in yourself. You have to pay to play, but don’t hustle backwards. Turn the radio off, switch off of the music video channels, educate yourself to the realities of the world that we are living in and use your music as the powerful tool that it’s meant to be.

As for hurdles, shit. My feet have never even touched the track. I just jump from hurdle to hurdle. Such is life. Maybe someday, my circumstances will change and I’ll be able to stop swimming upstream. There’s really no point in listing all of the hardships you have overcome or are facing because no matter what you’re going through, somebody else has been through way worse than you and they’ve turned it into more than you have, so I won’t insult those people by listing all my own personal setbacks up to this point in life. Just keep it movin’ until you die, that’s all any of us can do. Do you plan on promoting/touring for the album, and if so, where will you be headed?

We are going to go all the way up the West Coast and make sure every city along the way gets touched. We’re then heading to Vegas, Reno, Arizona, Texas and Colorado. What I really would like to do, though, is hit that 15hour flight and start making something happen across the pond. I’ve never been able to go over to Europe or anywhere outside of the Americas and I heard it’s poppin’ over there, so that’s on my agenda. I don’t even want to make plans or anything - just hop on a plane and see what happens when I get there. Start spreading the Nastiness around. http://www.myspace.com/dienastyrecords

What is your take on the current status of the hip-hop game?

I think the consumer’s priorities are out of whack and that artists are stooping to the lowest common denominator. I think that music in general, let alone hip-hop, is best when it is passionate self-expression or in-depth and enthralling storytelling and I think all those values have been replaced by catchy jingles lacking substance. That shit on TV and radio is fast food and I’m a porterhouse man. But the hip-hop game as a whole is full of substantial and relevant artists whose work I admire. I am only referring to what the mainstream feeds us. Hip-hop isn’t dead or beyond reprieve. I see it more as a separation. I think the tight-pants-wearing, ringtone-selling, elementary school rappers are going to go in one direction and the lyricists and artists who come with fresh talent and unique viewpoints will go in another and it will eventually evolve into separate genres. I just hope we get to keep the name, ‘Hip-Hop, in the divorce.

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28/2/2009 12:13:00

DEAR CTHULHU,

My grandmother recently became a widow and my grandfather didn’t exactly provide for her. She was at a family barbeque and told us she might have to move into a nursing home and she didn’t want to. I jokingly told her she should rob a bank. Everyone laughed, but later Grandma pulled me aside and told me I was her favorite granddaughter. She liked my idea and asked me if I’d like to help her knock over a bank. I figured she would back out long before anything happened, so I said sure.

Grandma was transformed by the challenge, staking out banks in neighboring cities, learning when they moved their money, researching things on the Internet. I hadn’t ever seen her so alive.

The day came. She decided on a bank. Her plan was to hit it about two hours before the armored car came to transfer money to a larger bank. She decided to use her age to her advantage and stole a motorized wheelchair from one of her friends, and an oxygen tank and mask from another. Grandma topped it off with a wig. She got me a padded nurse’s outfit, my own wig, sunglasses, and shoes with lifts to make me look taller. She even put cotton balls in our cheeks to make us look heavier.

The bank didn’t know what hit them.

First we cut the phone lines so they couldn’t sound the alarm. Grandma even found out that the alarm system sent out an alarm if it didn’t get a signal every twelve minutes, so she knew how long we had. Grandma motored in, pulled a 12-guage from under the blanket on her lap. I had a pistol. Everyone listened and gave us their cell phones. We got the cash from the vault where it was already packed and waiting, avoiding any paint packs. We had a foldable dolly cart on the back of the wheelchair so we were able to get it all out in one trip. We put everyone in the vault and shut it, figuring it would keep them from following and block any cell phone signals that we missed. We even grabbed the surveillance video on the way out as we had covered the ATM cameras with black spray pant on the way in.

We loaded the loot into a stolen van—Grandma learned how to hotwire it on youtube. She drove up the ramp, pulling the dolly up behind her. I put a closed for Arbor Day sign on the door. Grandma figured nobody really knows what holidays banks closed for and nobody really knows when Arbor Day is, so it would prevent people from getting suspicious about the bank being closed. I jammed the doors for good measure and drove us away.

We went a few miles to the back of a house on a quiet road that she knew the people were on vacation. We loaded the cash into the trunks of our cars into new duffle bags.

I dumped the van two towns away, having changed my nurse’s outfit for a running suit, but otherwise keeping the rest of the disguise.

Grandma picked me up, we went back for my car, returned the wheelchair and oxygen tanks with no one being the wiser. We then burned the costumes.

When we got to her house, we counted up the cash. We got away with over three hundred grand. Grandma would not have to go to a nursing home and I could pay off my student loans and put a down payment on a condo.

We had gotten away clean or so we thought.

It turns out one of the customers on the floor had managed to snap a picture with his cell phone. We hadn’t taken them because of the GPS some have and didn’t want to waste time destroying them. The picture didn’t get more than my legs, but it got the oxygen tank and wheelchair. The FBI lab was able to blow up the picture and get their serial numbers. They used them to track down the friends Grandma had borrowed them from and they were been arrested.

I feel we should confess rather than let two innocent people go to jail. Grandma says we’d be better off pulling another robbery with the same methods so the cops know it wasn’t them. I just think she’s becoming an adrenaline junkie. What’s the right thing to do?

-Bank Robbing Granddaughter In Delaware Dear Bank,

It is odd, but I so rarely get a question asking about what the right thing to do is. The best, certainly. Cthulhu is not sure how to answer. Turning yourselves in appears to be a foolish choice. It serves no real purpose other than to soothe your guilt. The two friends did not keep a good enough watch over their things, so they are partially to blame. And although Cthulhu is not an attorney, I doubt they will be able to charge them without witnesses who can identify them or at least some of the cash

The second robbery idea has much more merit.

Although Cthulhu notes some hypocrisy in your question. You stole and threatened others with deadly weapons. As I understand this so-called right, neither of these things applies. Why the sudden concern now? It seems self-destructive. The best idea for the two of you would be to plant a small number of bills at each of their homes for the cops to find.

This would end in their being convicted, but the two of you would not have to live with worry until the seven-year statue of limitations ends. Or if you truly feel guilt, wait until the seven years, then confess.

The bank may sue you, but at least you would not have to go to prison.

Dear Cthulhu,

My brother and I need you to help

settle a bet for use. We’ve always been competitive. Add to that we were raised in an abusive home and you can see how we got to where we are today.

We have a bet over which of us is the more accomplished serial killer and we want you to be our referee.

A while back, the stress of life was getting to me. I hated my job, my girlfriend was cheating on me, and my car was in the shop more than it was out. Sex and drugs weren’t taking away the edge anymore, so I started killing people. At first it was just to see if I could get away with it. I did. Then it was the guys my girl was sleeping with, then her. I have sixteen confirmed kills to my credit. (Actually, I think I have seventeen, but one was one a camping trip and the woman jumped over a cliff to get away from me. Her body was never found. I think it should count anyway, my brother says no.)

My brother has always been lazy, but competitive. When he found out what I was doing, he decided to get in on the act to try to out do me. He’s a lazy SOB and couldn’t be bothered going out and killing his victims one at a time. Instead he attacked a small frat party. Yeah, people croaked, but poisoning the keg instead of getting up close and personal is kind of whimping out. Twenty-one people died, which he thinks makes him better than me. Really twenty-two, but one was a guy who was rushing his girlfriend to the emergency room and died in a car crash. Since it wasn’t a direct result of the poison, I don’t think it should count, especially since he won’t count my falling woman.

I say he’s not even a serial killer.

He’s a poisoner, which means I win. What do you say?

-The Real Serial Killer In Santa Barbara Dear Real,

Cthulhu feels like he is always repeating this, but people should not kill people. That task is reserved for Cthulhu himself or his designated agents.

That being said, as your chosen referee, I would count each of your disputed kills. The man in the car died as a result of the chaos your brother caused, so he is responsible. And if your victim does not return to her home and family within six months, I believe it is safe to assume she died in the fall.

As for the bet itself, I agree with you. Your brother is not a serial killer. He is a mass murderer. The difference being his victims were all killed in the same time frame, not interspersed like yours. So you win the bet.

Unless of course, your brother does it a couple of more times, in which case he would qualify as both a serial killer and a mass murder and his body count would far exceed yours and thus he would win. Hopefully for your sake the bet takes that into account.

Have a Dark Day.

Dear Cthulhu welcomes letters and questions at DearCthulhu@dearcthulhu.com.

All letters become the property of Dear Cthulhu and may be used in future columns.

Dear Cthulhu a work of fiction and satire and is © and ™ Patrick Thomas. All rights reserved. Any one foolish enough to follow the advice does so at their own peril.

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28/2/2009 12:13:02

the Stevenson Ranch Davidians Recently Dig This Real’s, Jose Ho-Guanipa had a chance to sit down with Dwayne Seagraves, lead singer of the Stevenson Ranch Davidians. They chatted about fringe religious cults in the 90s, existential philosophy and music. Read more of this interview:

Dig This Real: First off, why did you guys decide to pick the name, The Stevenson Ranch Davidians as your band name? Was it your intent to associate yourself with David Koresh and the Branch Davidians?

Dwayne Seagraves: The name actually started off as a joke, really. When we got together, I turned our drummer onto the Brian Jonestown Massacre. We were trying to come up with a name and he threw it out as a joke. For some reason it stuck. Basically we couldn’t think of anything better. We didn’t have any intention of being associated with Koresh or the Davidians.

Are you aiming for a spiritual feel with your music?

No. A couple of us were raised in strict religious families but this band was actually a statement against those types of things.

We’re not even trying to be religious per se. We’re not into the ideals of anything supernatural. We’re naturalists. In a nutshell, I don’t see any reason to believe in anything you haven’t seen in yourself and stuff that there is no absolute proof of. Personally I have not experienced anything supernatural or spiritual thus far in my life. I think all that type of stuff can be attributed to your senses; if you feel something spiritual or natural it’s nothing more than a feeling or your senses.

Musically, who has influenced your sound?

The first thing that came to mind after listening to your release was an American spin on Oasis.

There are also strong similarities to the Verve,

though you still manage to maintain a fresh sound. How did this come about?

We get that a lot. People say we sound like the Verve and they did have an influence on some of our band members. I’m not saying we are as good or as great as the Verve, but I’m saying there are certain similar base emotions or experiences that you tap into and it kind of happens to come out the same. It all comes down to our roots. They were into the same music. They were also Stone Roses fans, 60’s psychedelic music and Blues fans. The roots of gospel and that stuff’s all connected and we just took the same path as those kind of bands. That might have more to do with our similarities musically.

Can you explain your philosophy that you espouse in your music to those that are not familiar with it?

We’re very, ‘go with the flow,’ kind of people. I feel if you don’t go with the flow, you are going against Nature in a way. If you go against the flow you’re forcing it. You can’t force it. It’s not always going to turn out well, but it’s not necessarily going to turn out badly either. I think the key is to accept how things turn out and be able to handle that. I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to shape your future or try to change your circumstances, but oftentimes there are outside circumstances that you don’t have control over. I think we’re Naturalists in that way and we try and stay pure. I think purity is something that is hard to hold onto these days and I don’t know if it is even possible to hold onto purity anymore.

Your record deals with very existential topics. What authors, philosophers or books have influenced you in subscribing to such a particular world-view?

We do read a lot and are influenced by a lot of things but I don’t like to name them because it pigeonholes people. Every free spirit out there likes to say, ‘I read Jack Kerouac.’ I love Kerouac, but we read a lot from everything as we try to take everything in and put it in a filter to try and determine what we believe in and what we don’t. For those unfamiliar with your hometown, Stevenson Ranch, California is a quaint suburban neighborhood north of Los Angeles.

How has this environment influenced you as a group and philosophically?

Everything we’ve done has had an impact on us, philosophically. Once again, I don’t like to peg that down too much. Even things you don’t like can sometimes influence you more than things you do like. I think it’s about taking everything in, going with the flow and putting it through your personal filter. I believe that’s how you should view the world.

What is a live show experience like with you guys?

It’s different for us than it is for the audience. I’m not sure how our audience perceives it exactly. I know people feel good at our shows. Sometimes, I don’t necessarily feel good at our shows because I’m still trying to get used to playing the songs live and being confident with our sound. We’ve played with quite a few local bands and made friends with them despite that we’re not the most social band either. We’re more comfortable on an individual level of meeting people and making friends with individual people.

The Stevenson Ranch Davidians are currently in the studio recording their next EP and making plans to eventually embark on a fullfledged tour sometime in the future. Visit http://www.thestevensonranchdavidians.com for more info. – Jose Ho-Guanipa 21

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28/2/2009 12:13:04

The Suicide Denial “I’m starting to feel like Myspace is turning into MTV. Cheesy, flashy and no love,” states Chad Gerber, voice/guitar/piano of The Suicide Denial, on the band’s blog. This is a statement coming from a musical duo that (the two members of the band state that both their names are Chad) could easily conquer that very avenue of music lovers yet I am not sure if even half of the kids are truly going to get what The Suicide Denial is all about. Sounding more like they escaped from the head of Athena, the duo Chads (the other is known as Chad McKinsey, percussion), mastermind their compositions by weaving rock, punk, funk and god knows what else, into the mix.

This can all be experience on their bold release, I am Sorry LA. Whether it’s the song, “Fat America,” where Gerber laments over a bombastic electronic groove, “simple minds congregate around the TV/don’t leave your chair when the fridge if near,” the song begins in one genre but ends up elsewhere as the chorus settles down into a acoustic guitar making melody with a person whistling. By then, the song sounds more like a soundtrack to an Old Western. While music lovers and critics may hail this brilliance of partnering in sound and vision, let’s not forget that these two also have a thing for gas, as mentioned plenty of times on their web presence. Chad Gerber: “I may have just farted loud enough for my neighbors to hear…”

The band also states, “You want to buy our music?

You can’t, it’s free. And always will be.” Having partnered with Target Stores nation wide and of course on their websites, free downloads are available and I suggest you snap to it. In the song, “Someday,” Gerber is pounding away diligently on a piano, singing, “I will surely miss you someday.” It’s a melancholy, longing number. As the song moves along, I glanced over the artwork of the cd thinking, wow, this is a cool abstract water color but when I inspected more clearly, it’s really two dead birds on a cracked pavement. Surprise. Dig This Real had a chance to speak with Chad Gerber. Read on.

Dig This Real: Guitar (and piano) are the main forces in your songs and both are used to extremes. Please elaborate on how these instruments influence your song writing.

Chad Gerber: It’s weird. Up until recently I never played the piano. Right as Chad M. and I began working on the first song of the album, I was asked to score an indie film. I taught myself how to play the piano to write the score and found that it opened up a new world of melodies to me. I could play a simple G-C-A on the guitar, but once on the piano it felt like perfection in a bottle. All beautiful. Guitar on the other hand is my first love which I started playing when I was eight and Chad M. and I grew

up loving guitar driven rock, so it’s just home for us.

Writing (this album) alternated from guitar themed, to piano themed per song, depending on what type of emotion needed to be drawn out. And we kept the guitars more on the simple side so as not to distract from the other elements going on.

You use tons of synthesizers and effects to flesh out the sound of The Suicide Denial. Is this calculated or orchestrated?

Both, actually. The band Mindless Self Indulgence pushed me over the edge (in a good way) as far as synthesizers and rock go. While writing the songs between guitar and piano, I found that a synthesizer was the perfect “topper” per song and sometimes the full meal. Wow. I’m not even a big food person and just compared our entire album to food.

Anyway, I would get bored with the typical guitar accents, or piano accents and just needed something to make it more The Suicide Denial. Plus, I’m a huge fan of “sounds” in general and probably watched too many Discovery Channel folly film specials on Star Wars. I started carrying a recorder around with me and just left it on record to pick up whatever random sounds I liked throughout the day. Chad M. thought I was insane. One of my goals was to make him laugh or scratch his head when I brought my freakish recordings for him to do his beat mastery for. At one point we were actually putting ghost EVP’s in songs, but they didn’t flow well. We’ll be trying again next album though.

Do people confuse the two of you, being named Chad and all? Do (and how do) you two use this to your advantage(s)?

It’s always a topic for live interviews. Fans get it and sometimes refer to us as “The Chad’s,” but on the radio it can be really confusing. We don’t help much either. It’s kind of funny watching Dee Jays try to conduct an interview when we don’t give them any nicknames to help or anything. Personally, depending on the question directed at me, I’ll pause until Chad M. answers it if I don’t feel like answering it. So that’s cool. If they’re like, ‘so Chad, worst road story?’ I’ll just stare blankly till Chad M. answers (laughs). We sort of treat the whole thing like twins.

What were some of your expectations on, I’m Sorry LA? Please elaborate on the good, the bad and the ugly.

To be uninhibited in our creativity. We didn’t ever want to have a moment of, “but you need a bridge after that verse,” just because that’s how it’s usually done. I hate patterns and music is all about patterns and can get worse and worse the more you think about them. Even that last sentence freaked me out because I said. “patterns” and “worse” twice!

Sometimes writing can turn into, ‘this song needs more distortion because that’s just what you do,’ or ‘the percussion needs to be less busy because it might confuse people.’ Rock isn’t complicated, so it can quickly lean towards a been there done that sound. We did our best to avoid it, but it’s a fine line between creative bliss and creative retardation. I also wanted to convey my deepest darkest emotions onto the album, regardless of how people took it. That turned out good….. and bad. Some people really connect, some people not at all (luckily most have connected). It was what we were going for though. We told people from the beginning, you’re either going to love it or hate it, but we didn’t compromise anything. As far as the ugly? While we were in the studio, our friend would bring this mutant, micro Chihuahua that his porn star girlfriend gave him. It constantly quivered and peed everywhere. Not so much ugly… maybe just gross?

You state that this cd was recorded, “on a location in a nightmare.” Please explain.

Usually when you record an album, you pour your emotions into a song and then you head into the studio to drop the tracks at a later date. Well,

in the time between writing the song and recording the song, I think feeling can be lost. Kind of like getting into a huge fight with someone, then trying to recall that anger two weeks later. It’s just not as intense. With this album, we put together a portable studio with the help of our engineer to track the basic things that didn’t need major studio gear. I was able to drop vocals or guitars on the spot as I was feeling the emotion. It made for some very strange song writing sessions in dark rooms and closets, but I wanted to make sure I brought my element of the music straight from the emotions I was going through. Let’s just say that at the time, I sort of lost everything that ever meant anything to me and was going weeks without much sleep. Majority of the album was recorded in Montana during a cold, dreary winter oddly enough.

And why are you apologizing so much on this cd?

In going along with the whole ‘loss’ thing that I was experiencing, the album probably leans more towards a regret vibe than a apologetic one. I mean, the single, “I’m Sorry LA,” is very much apologetic, but the rest of the album (in my opinion) is more regretful, or sad. “I’m Sorry LA,” (the song) was written with two meanings. The first is apologizing for leaving my home in Los Angeles for a short period.

Kind of like a love song to a city that’s just as weird as me and has always been good to me. The second meaning of the song is that “LA” is the name of someone who was wronged.

The song, “Chalky Eyes,” despite its electronic composure, feels emotional and human. Do you agree and if so, how did you achieve this?

I strongly agree. In fact, I’m impressed you heard that in the song. It’s the most emotionally connected song I’ve written to date. I felt bad cause Chad M. didn’t get to drop any beats on it, but it was the most perfectly translated song I had ever written and the more we added, the cloudier it became. So we left it as it is. I think the electronic element helps to somehow pull you from the music side of it and enhance more of the feeling. I am not sure if any of that makes any sense at all (laughs). I just remember how cold and robotic I felt while writing the song and what better way for robots to express themselves than to drop a load of synth onto a track.

At times The Suicide Denial can sound like the Foo Fighters but you describe your sound as, “a fart in a bathtub.” Who else do you think The Suicide Denial’s sound is likened to?

I always get annoyed when bands answer this type of question with, ‘we don’t know who to compare ourselves too,’ and now I’m about to say the exact same thing (laughs)! We don’t know who to compare ourselves to. Chad M. came up with this whole, “love child between White Stripes and Foo Fighters, with a pinch of electronica,” comparison, but I don’t know if that still works. His beats are a monster. So that element alone makes me think of Billy Corgan’s old band, Zwan. What Chad M. does alone is like an album in itself. We do have the same name, so that makes me a little biased I’m sure. Me, personally? I’m influenced by film composers, slow motion scenes in movies and those really weird Indian music videos on Youtube (laughs). Maybe a hint of Danny Elfman (who is my idol) and Jack White’s ability to make Lo-fi sound so cool. So, The Suicide Denial sounds like Danny Elfman and Jack White playing in Zwan while watching a Youtube video of the guy who did all the sound effects in Star Wars playing around with recorders and synthesizers while dancing with the cast of Slumdog Millionaire.

I’m Sorry LA is out now. For more info visit www.thesuicidedenial.com - edie

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28/2/2009 12:13:06

The So So Glos Bringing it Back Where it Counts

While on their most recent tour, the So So Glos’ van broke down the night before the Presidential Inauguration. They were reenergized the next day and inspired to move forward with new hopes for the future. Also, on tour it was revealed that some band members got over zealous with matches and burnt their lashes while waiting for the bus in LA.

The Brooklyn-based four-piece is made up of three brothers, Alex and Ryan Levine by blood, Zach Staggers by divorce and re-marriage and honorary brother/real guitarist Matt Elkin.

“It’s intense being in a band with mostly brothers. Even if we’re not all brothers we pretty much act like it at this point. There’s that strange energy that’s kind of great but also frustrating simultaneously, ” comments bassist/singer, Alex Levine.

Their family style dynamic certainly has proven effective in their musicianship as well as their live show. The energy is flying and their sound is consistently refreshing

with catchy riffs and poignant lyrics.

Their newest album, Tourism/Terrrorism, was recorded in a week (it was released between a time while Bush was still President and a hopeful elect of Obama into the White House was what the future held). Reasons being, the title of the album and the cover art have much to do with the Country’s current state. While they feel maybe it could have been less rushed, the band is proud of what they created and excited to record a third, less frantic, but just as meaningful album.

Alex Levine says, “We felt the urgency on the album and I hope it comes across.

I’m proud of it and I think it’s a great moment in time. It represents where we’re at, where we’re about to go and where we’ve been.”

Throughout the spastic percussion, melodic guitar and spitting lyrics, there is a political emphasis on the unfortunate importance of money, the economy, and the band’s views of

war.

It’s exciting to think that there is still meaningful music being made, not just to the people writing it, but to youth everywhere and that it might actually reach them. Their music is a statement and a message that in the recent past has gotten lost in an image of what certain types of music should be. The So So Glos are bringing it back to reality, keeping it real with a bus that runs on vegetable oil, and of course, slightly singed eyelashes. www. myspace.com/sosoglos . - Lauren Piper

KIKOKLAUS A true genuine Brazilian artist from Pernambuco yet makes his home in Minas Gerais, Kiko Klaus is getting noticed as one of the most promising artists of the Brazilian musical scene. Klaus is the owner of a great voice and has a unique style that easily mixes Afro-Brazilian rhythms like Maracatu, Ciranda, Samba with percussive elements from Candomblé and Umbanda rituals. Too much for you? Still, you will find even more amazing ingredients in this delicious musical salad, such as Flamenco, Rock, Electronics and Folk music from Minas Gerais and the final result couldn´t be any better!

Klaus has 10 years of a successful career under his belt and he is always marked by innovations. He also adds sound engineer and musical producer as well as singer and performer to his ever-growing resume. He has worked with some of the biggest names in Brazil, like Nana Vasconcelos, Lenine, Nação Zumbi and Mundo Livre S/A. Klaus has

also won awards for his soundtracks as he finds ways to continuously make his music more innovating. Sometimes, his work seems to take a walk through unknown roads, while adding new elements to his music as he comes across different paths on his journey.

Another great characteristic this musician displays is the constant search for fruitful collaborations, which end up making his music bigger, larger than life, while adding a certain quality to his work and inputs. In 2005, he joined Carlos Jaramillo (Colombia) and launched the musical project Mesmalua. From this project came a cd with an auctorial repertoire that drank in the popular Brazilian Music form, but adding technology and synthesizers to the Samba, Bossa Nova, Baião, Afoxé and Maracatu. One could easily catch the Mesmalua concerts since they covered a lot of Brazilian cities, like Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Salvador, Brasília. This group also traveled to European cities like Barcelona and Paris as well.

In 2008. Klaus launched his latest work called, O Vivido e o Inventado. This collection of music seems to effortlessly consolidate Klaus’ lushful and successful career, bringing his multicultural experiences to create something of no borders.

Klaus represents the diversity of the Brazilian musical universe and the force of his compositions can be measured when we define the presence of his friend and master, Nana Vasconcelos, whom he worked with in 2002 and brought the capacity to construct, “sonorous images,” from peculiar instruments. More info at www.myspace.com/kikoklaus3 – Jorge Leandro Rodrigues 23

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28/2/2009 12:13:08

Anthony Giambrone Anthony Giambrone is a piano-rock act based out of Toronto, Canada. Although you may not have heard of this solo-act, Giambrone is a veteran music-man with tons of experience. He has played in and toured with many Canadian bands and has been honing his solo craft since 2000.

Classically trained in piano, it is no surprise that Giambrone shows some impressive chops on the ivory on his latest EP entitled, My Mind Is Made Up. On the opening track, “Put Up A Fight,” his jazzy, ragtime styling’s are reminiscent of some of Ben Folds’ more intricate compositions. To top it off, Giambrone’s unique tenor is memorable and moving.

He sings, “There’s nothing you could do to stop me/ let it begin,” and is clearly eager and ambitious about the next chapter in his career.

Anxious to learn more about Giambrone, we pounced on the opportunity to ask him a few questions and this musician didn’t hold back. Read on…

Dig This Real: I read that you are a classically trained pianist. When did you begin your studies, and are you still interested in playing or performing classically? What’s your favorite piece/composer?

Anthony Giambrone: I took my first piano lesson at age seven and was playing Minuets and Sonatinas by Mozart and Clementi within a couple of years. I’m definitely still interested in playing classical music and once in a while I still pull out a few Chopin pieces. Chopin is definitely my favorite classical composer – the big powerful chords, the sometimes somber, sometimes playful pieces. I really love his 24 Preludes, but playing classical music has become more of a private affair for me now. I do give props to classical music for sure though.

It gave me the tools I needed to create my own music while helping me to expand into other genres like jazz and blues, which are now a rather large influence on me.

Do you write your songs out on sheet music?

I used to do that more often. Now, I memorize as I create. I’ve found that writing out the music (aside from basic chord structure once in a while, or melody riffs I don’t think I’ll remember) really confines the song to particular melodic ideas, at least initially.

Are you also trained as a singer?

I took some vocal lessons as a teenager for a short time and had some informal vocal instruction when I had the lead in a musical in high school.

But other than that, I was not really trained as a singer.

How do you feel about your latest cd? Is there anything you would change if you could?

I actually am really happy with, No Need to Go So Fast. There might be a couple of things I would change, particularly in terms of some instrumental aspects that I would improve, but overall, I feel like I ended up with what I set out to create – a simple collection of meaningful, vocal and piano driven songs.

Is there a particularly song, mo-

ment, verse etc. that you’re proud of?

I particularly proud of the vocal layering on, “My Mind Is Made Up.” The choruses of that song have a particular effect on me, but there are little harmonic details in the second verse that I love to listen for. The drive of, “Put Up A Fight,” is something I’m pretty proud of as well. It seemed like the perfect way to end the EP.

What are you listening to right now?

What’s cued up on your favorite iPod playlist?

Right now, I’m listening to The Acorn (a cool indie band from Ottawa), Death Cab for Cutie, Travis, Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions, The Stars (from Montreal), a little Rage Against The Machine, Radiohead’s newest stuff and John Coltrane, Live at the VillageVanguard. So wicked.

Do you have plans for gigging in ’09?

How about telling us about a favorite gig?

I’m definitely excited about the gigs at Zemra Lounge. I’ve never done a monthly show at a consistent venue so I’m interested to see how things pan out. I’m currently booking some festivals for Spring and Summer and will likely do some gigs with my band, The Flat Planets. I’m thinking about some solo touring options, but they are only tentative. My wife and I just had a beautiful baby in October, so we’re taking things as they come. In terms of venue, my favorite has to be The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. Bands like the Rolling Stones and The Tragically Hip have played there, so besides the incredible sound, it has a pretty cool history. I’ve played there as a solo artist and with my band. It’s one thing to play the place as a hard rock band, but I got some slack from fellow musicians when I mentioned I was going to play my solo stuff at such a ‘rock’ venue (I played with a bassist and drummer backing me up).

Well, about three quarters into the set, this heavily tattooed, huge biker bouncer guy at the front bar got up and starting to dance to one of my songs. It was pretty cool! Heavily tattooed, huge biker bouncer guys like piano music too.

Do you ever play any covers at your shows?

Usually I keep them to a minimum. Perhaps I’ll play an obscure Beatles tune or some Radiohead, while paying homage to some of my influences. For my upcoming gig at Zemra, I might have to do a few more covers in order to hook people in whom have never heard my original music before.

What has been your biggest challenge on your solo career?

There have been many challenges, but you’ve asked ‘the biggest.’ I would have to say getting press and some simple reviews of my stuff. It doesn’t seem like it would be that hard, but there are so many musicians out there that to get noticed, especially when you’re an indie artist and doing your own promotion and managing? Well, it’s tough.

What’s your song-writing process like? Lyrics and then music? Vice-versa, or maybe some sort of combination?

Most of the time, the music comes first.

It usually comes out of the magical process of fiddling on the piano, improvising different melodies and chord progressions and improvising vocalizations over what happens on the piano. It’s quite an

organic process. I’ve consciously sat down to write quite a few times, but it’s never the same as when it just comes out of fooling around with the different sounds I can get from a piano. Once I get some workable stuff, it becomes like fitting the pieces of a puzzle together. Sometimes they fit together quite well, but sometimes the edges need to be modified, shaved off, stretched, or reshaped in order to make them fit. The lyric writing process for me is a little more planned. Once I have the bare bones of the music set out, I might get some lyrics from my improvised vocalizations or sometimes I can get some good ideas that I end up having to build on and they usually reflect what I’m feeling in those moments.

This could be a reaction to something personal or political, a story I want to tell, or a message I want to communicate. A lot of the time, I end up in a conversation with someone, or more of a monologue from a certain perspective or role that that I put myself in, but at the core, it really ends up being me.

Favorite band of all time? Favorite song or album?

That’s difficult to answer. Only one? I have to give you three. Innervisions by Stevie Wonder. This is just incredible, inspirational,

“Living For the City,” just kicks. Renegades by Rage Against the Machine. There’s some rage in my piano music believe it or not and, “Renegades of Funk,” is my favorite off of that album. And finally? OK Computer by Radiohead, particularly, the song, “Karma Police,” which I guess, I will have to admit is my favorite song of all time.

Why are you a musician? What has drawn you to sharing your music and inspired you to continue in the future?

You know how you can listen to something really good, really powerful and it gives your body a strange yet wonderful sensation? Like it actually has a physiological impact on you? Well, sometimes I get that when I’m banging away at my piano and singing. I love it. It makes me feel something beyond description. Why do I share it? Because I want other people to feel that too. Music is powerful.

It can stir emotion, make people aware of something beautiful, change their minds, get them indignant about something they’ve never thought about, or just make them smile. I’ll probably keep playing as long as I feel like that’s happening for even a few of the people who listen to my music, including me.

Worst day job you’ve held down between rehearsals?

Drilling door hinges onto doors for eight hours a day. 15 minutes for lunch. One 10 minute break…

Clearly, Giambrone is ready to take his music to the next level and is eager to share his talents with as many listeners as possible. His ambitious drive, down-to-earth sensibilities and raw talent will surely take him far in this business and you can look for big things from Anthony Giambrone in the future. Visit http://www.myspace.com/anthonygiambrone for more info.

- Matt Giegerich

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A Rider. What is it? Well it’s basically a band’s touring contract which spells out what the band’s requirements are for the gig. So as well as the boring science bit (sound systems, monitors, lights, hairdryers) it also more interestingly includes the bands pre and post gig culinary requirements. And we all know how important that is. Do you remember the scene in the famous “rockumentary” known as Spinal Tap where band member Nigel Tufnel is throwing a paddy (getting very wound up) because his little mini breads won’t fold like he wants them to, while addressing that some of the craft

table olives have pimentos and some do not, stressing out his manager, who at this point, is worried that this might affect his performance? This is ‘Classic Tap,’ but it also shows you how important it is to get it right for these precious folk we call Rock and Pop stars.

My band has been around the lower rungs of rock for 10 years and we’ve only ever had one rider, at the Borderline, in London, where we were over the moon at getting a free bath of beer bottles, which kept being replenished. Needless to say, we made the most of it and got hilariously drunk. All we needed to make this complete would have been cheese sandwiches and some salt and vinegar crisps.

Tenous link…Oasis played the Borderline in early 90’s and had more than just cigarettes and alcohol backstage if you know what I mean.

The golden age of the rider was definitely the 70’s and early 80’s when musical pomposity was as its greatest and such egos demanded extravagance and waste of epic proportions, notably Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and then later Van Halen.

For example, Aerosmith used to demand a Thanksgivingstyle, roast turkey backstage before every gig even though they were more interested in partying with Mr. Brownstone and Mr. Daniels than eating the bird. They also had an M&M thing where they requested a 4 gallon jar of them with all the green ones taken out.

Another band with an M&M thing was Van Halen, who had it written into their tour contracts that they be provided with bowls of M&Ms with all the brown ones taken out. Apparently the logic behind this was that if they turned up at a gig and saw that there where no brown M&Ms then they knew that the contract had been read and that all their technical sound stuff would be right as well. Then the Stones heard about this and demanded only brown M&Ms. It was basically a power ego thing - “we are the gods and you must provide us with what we demand however silly.” Talking of silly, Iggy Pop apparently used to request 7 dwarves backstage and lots of broccoli.

He hated broccoli and just wanted to be able to throw it away. God only knows what the dwarves were used for, maybe as body doubles for his best mate Lou Reed!

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A website has recently compiled a list of riders from all sorts of bands and here you can see the actual contracts themselves and their slightly ridiculous demands. Check it out at: http://www. thesmokinggun.com/backstagetour/index.html.

This shows us that the majority of band’s riders are a mishmosh of the same things; alcohol, snacks, token fruit, mineral water (get the wrong brand for the Red Hot Chilis’ and they’ll subject you to a 10 minute version of, “Under The Bridge!”) and oversized condoms (for oversized egos of Hip Hop!) but some riders stand out.

For instance, Meat Loaf likes a little bit of luxury pre gig, requesting a roast pork tenderloin with sautéed green beans almandine in his backstage rider, all to be washed down with some of the finest wines known to man. That’s not bad for someone named after a simple cheap American dish made popular in the great depression.

Also, haggard country legend Willie Nelson likes loads of healthy, organic, free-range yummies like, “butterfly cut organic free range pork chops,” and two gallons of distilled aloe vera (good for ulcers, irritable bowels, chronic constipation, chronic heartburn and acid reflux).

The Future of the Rider?

What with lean times and the so called credit crunch and us all supposedly feeling the pinch, will concert goers still pay up the ridiculous prices to see our favorite stars and will corporate sponsors still fork out for backstage extravagances? (Rolling Stones could be the hardest hit). Maybe they should take a leaf out of The Pocket Gods’ book and be grateful for a bucket of beer and some cheese sandwiches. Talking of sandwiches, tenuous link number 2, the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley used to like a good sarnie or two after a gig, sometimes eating up to 15 of his favorite Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches in one session. Here is the recipe but don’t try it alone in case of instant artery seizure!

Van Morrison likes well done hamburgers and soup, but put cream in it and be prepared to face the wrath of Van (“the wrath of van” actually sounds like a film)! Mr. Morrison states there must be NO cream or cheese anywhere backstage! Bruce the Boss Springsteen has finger food prepared backstage for his kids whilst his sax

player Clarence Clemons likes a whole roast chicken waiting for him after a gig!

Shania Twain likes Silken Style Soft tofu and orange cheese popcorn as well as 10 pounds of carrots which are to be juiced backstage before her gigs and I always thought it was a fake tan!

Let’s talk about Divas. When I was working at Tower Records in London, we had Mariah Carey come in to do a signing. Six months before we got her rider which stipulated that all the backstage areas be painted a certain shade of yellow as it was her favorite color. Her rival in the supreme Diva-stakes, J-Lo, has had all her backstage areas (Ooh-er missus) sofas and cushions be painted white, with a request for plenty of white roses. My God! It must look like heaven or worse still, the set from John and Yoko’s, “Imagine” film and we all know how tedious that was. Anyone for chess?

Rhianna is weird. Her rider demands, “24 buffalo wings, HOT sauce (on the side!), and one bag of FIRE HOT, crunchy, CHEETOS BRAND cheese doodles (or something comparable). One large bag of buttered/salted popcorn. Micro is fine - so long as it is already popped. On occasion we may ask for hard-boiled eggs, turkey bacon and turkey sausage at any time throughout the day. Please be prepared!”

Also on the male Diva front is Peter Gabriel, who insists on a masseur backstage but not a sports physiotherapist but an old hippy one as he says in his rider, “a relaxed artist is a happy artist.”

Maybe he’s suffering from wearing all those extravagant costumes from the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway Genesis era. Talking of progbands, Yes’ Rick Wakeman used to like a good curry backstage and even brought one on stage at a gig in Manchester. Still with Tales of The Topographic stuff, he had plenty of time on his hands. He could have even cooked one on stage on a camping stove and still had time before Steve Howe finished his guitar noodles.

Elvis Presley’s Fried Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich • 2 slices of white bread • 2 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter • 1 small ripe banana mashed • 2 tablespoons butter

Spread the peanut butter on one slice of bread and the mashed banana on the other. Press the slices gently together. Melt the butter (or to be truly Elvis-like, melt bacon fat!), over low heat in a small frying pan. Place the sandwich in the pan and fry until golden brown on both sides. Eat it with a glass of buttermilk.

To conclude, hopefully this has been a useful and interesting guide to the world of riders and may even inspire some of you budding musicians to think of what wild and wacky things you would add to your own rider for that day when you climb aboard the rock and roll express. Now, purple M&M’s anyone?

- Mark Christopher Lee

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The Subway Diaries

by Heidi Leone RSB Press The Subway Diaries by New York City based musican, Heidi Leone is an extremely interesting account of the life and times of a busker in the New York City Subway. What is a busker, you ask? I was wondering, myself. Dictionary.com says: busk – verb 1. chiefly British, to entertain by dancing, singing or reciting on the street or in a public place. 2. Canadian. To make a showy or noisy appeal. Or there is this definition:

busker - noun: a person who entertains people for money in public places (as by singing or dancing), usually while asking for money.

After reading, The Subway Diaries, I think that Ms. Leone has probably exercises all of these definitions! Based on my singular experience of playing my acoustic guitar and singing on Hollywood Blvd., in which I raked in a whopping five dollars, it turns out that I too, have played the role of the busker. But, as this reader will realize, Leone is much more committed to this way of life.

The book itself is surprisingly wellformatted, including a short biography and a table of contents page. The biography reveals that, Leone is well-educated, having received a BFA from Wesleyan University, an MPA from Oklahoma City University and having also studied voice at the Aspen Conservatory. After all of that training, she moved to New York City to pursue music, but you know what they say, “One thing leads to another,” and in taking up songwriting, she ended up learning to play the guitar, which led to a three-year stint of performing, “in, under and above ground in the city.” These experiences gave birth to, The Subway Diaries.

In regard to content, the book is very well-written and honestly, the term, ‘interesting,’ could not begin to do it justice.

Leone explores a wide range of emotions as she creatively describes her background, her initial desire to try busking in the New York subway and her continual pursuit of this method of supporting herself. While many may assume that someone who tries to make a living doing these seemingly impromptu street performances is a slacker or lacks real employable skills and/or motivation, Leone flies in the face of all of this, as her skills, intellect and ambition are all very potent and genuine. Just her writing style alone is very entertaining and this is evident from the opening chapter in which she humorously describes a particularly intense encounter with members of the NYPD, a force that she will reckon with again and again as she continues on her journey.

To go one step further, not only does Leone see the subway as a place to generate revenue, she notes on many occasions how the underground would call to her and beckon her back down below. She says that there were times where she would genuinely miss being immersed in this en-

vironment, a place that many people see merely as an unpleasant means to an end.

Over time, the subway moved from being Leone’s workplace to becoming her world, while the other local performers became her family.

Here is one excerpt that I think is a good example of the book’s tone and sentiment:

“Why does everything above ground seem to resolve solely around money and power whereas beneath the streets of NYC… an entire community of artists exists and flourishes, when left to our own devices, based solely on the premise of kindness and generosity? This precious artists’ community is based completely on the concept that, ‘I will help you without question and I know you will help me later… I have no doubt.’ ”

Luckily for those of us who may not be bold enough to become regular performers on the street or in the subway, as well as for so many other open-minded musicians, artists, writers and adventurers, Leone has managed to document this period of her life with very detailed but engaging (and often heartfelt) anecdotes. Her book offers a very three-dimensional perspective of this unique community of artists and their way of life, something that would be impossible for an outsider to comprehend, let alone attempt to explain. I feel pretty confident in conjecturing that if you are reading Dig This Real, you will most likely marvel at the work of art that is Leone, and her baby, The Subway Diaries.

Travel to Leone’s epk at: http:// www.thesubwaydiaries.com/epk.htm, to view some amazing photos by Tolga Adanali. Here you can also listen to sound clips of Leone’s bluesy acoustic music as well as listen to audio of her talking about busking and her book or take a visit to www.thesubwaydiaries.com. – Nicholas Miller 27

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Rock ‘n’ Roll Wisdom

by Barry A. Farber Praeger Publishers I took the assignment to review, Rock ‘n’ Roll Wisdom, without knowing exactly what it was about. I did know, however, that I like the following things: rock music, learning and wisdom. So, I wondered, how would the author, Barry A. Farber, combine rock music with wisdom? I had initially hoped that maybe it was going to offer some advice on songwriting, the music business, or music marketing, but I ended up finding out that this book is all about the concept that some of the greatest lyrics in rock hold some valuable nuggets of wisdom and some even cross into being what the author calls, “psychologically astute.” And therein is another key fact: The author has enjoyed a full-time academic career in the clinical psychology program at Columbia University. Farber also notes that he has long-since possessed and employed what he describes as an uncanny ability to remember and recite a plethora of song lyrics, often utilizing an uncommon precision to recall a passage from a rock song that would fit a given situation. To be honest, I am not sure which would qualifier as “dorkier,” the career as a psychologist or the unrepentant quotation of lyrics from Top 40 songs!

But that is just me poking fun. Over the course of his book, it becomes clear that Farber truly has a keen insight into which lyrics are appropriate and qualified to describe and explain the most important stages and emotions that the majority of human beings go through during a lifespan. The book is actually arranged into five sections that correspond to common life experiences: “On Friendship and Love,” “On Pain, Uncertainty, and Despair,” “On Sex, Drugs, and Money,” “On Coping with Life,” and “On Aging and Growth.”

One of my complaints about the book would be the lack of quotes from certain artists who I like or whose lines I thought would have been fitting to describe or analyze an important life experience, but Farber was smart to include a disclaimer in the introduction to explain the absence of readers’ favorite lyrics.

Also, it seems that he drew a bit too heavily on certain classic songwriters such as Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan and while I respect their contributions and talents, I think I have heard enough about Joni Mitchell for awhile. On the plus side, I did appreciate the fact that Farber offered a short analysis of various other critics’ opinions on the value of looking at rock lyrics without

their musical backdrop. Farber stands up for the concept that lyrics can be just as valid as any other form of written expression and goes further to say that since many individuals will automatically hear the appropriate musical accompaniment his or her head, the lyrics can then actually be far more potent than a poem that had never shared the audience’s attention with a good musical composition.

But, interestingly enough, perhaps the part of the book that I liked the most turned out to be the clear and succinct way in which Farber was able to describe and break down many things that seem “simple” on the surface, but are actually difficult to articulate for the non-psychologist, such as the role of friendship in a person’s life. I suppose that I should not be too surprised that a professional psychologist can explain love, friendship, pain, despair and aging, but I found myself almost more eager to read Farber’s dissection of these life ingredients than I was in and which lyrics fit with the various scenarios.

I presume that because he was writing about rock lyrics, he wanted his prose to remain accessible to a wider audience than just his colleagues and so he was able to discuss the psychology of these important topics using language that is much easier for the layperson to digest. While I did enjoy the lyrical comparisons and I do believe in the power of song lyrics when applied properly to one’s situation, I (hate to admit the fact that I) found so many great excerpts to explain my own feelings, reactions and needs (in regard to friendship and love, in particular).

Though I took a couple of psychology courses during college, their principles never rang quite as true for me as they did while reading, Rock ‘n’ Roll Wisdom.

As you may have guessed, Farber does professionally cite which psychological studies back up his arguments. Before or after presenting his sources for the arguments, he quotes the song lyrics that he has chosen to illustrate or explain the psychological phenomena. Reading this book has had two positive effects: First off, it has helped to solidify my personal belief in the power of poetry, poetry set to music and lyrics of songs from all genres (especially rock); And secondly, (and again, most surprisingly), I am now much more interested in these seemingly-simple and rational explanations that academic psychology has to offer for the most complex and important parts of being a human being.

– Nicholas Miller

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Are you feeling down about the economy? Savings all dried up? Never had any savings to begin with? Have you tried everything, but just can’t seem to live in our capitalist, materialist society? Well, there may be something you haven’t tried: Homelessness. It’s not as uncommon as you might think and there are actually a lot of creative ways to live life for cheap.

Dwelling Portably is book that actually comes in a two-part collection and is packed with advice for campers, wanderers, hobos, slackers and all enterprising and intelligent alternative living individuals. Both volumes should be keep by their side. Originally distributed in zine format, this useful information has been compiled into two chap-books, organized chronologically: 1980-89 and 2000-2008. Edited by Bill and Holly Davis, it is drawn together from many reader letters and stories and obviously compiled over the past 29 years.

Each book is teeming with useful advice for living both in wilderness and urban environments. While a large majority of the information is unique and valuable, there is also a lot of advice that seems to just be common sense. For instance, one article details the merits of an, “EasyPee Pot,” while traveling without access to a bathroom.

However, this concept is pretty basic and if you embark on your camping journey literally without a pot to piss in, I’m pretty sure you should keep the apartment. More questionable advice is listed as, “Backpack Birth Control.” The author writes that, “a condom can be reused dozens of times, reducing weight and cost.” I understand thrift and I understand the merits of saving wherever possible, but this advice is simply negligent. Taking a newborn out on the road is much more costly than buying a new pack of jimmy-hats when needed.

Despite these odd tidbits scattered throughout, most of the advice offered in these

books is innovative and insightful. One article provides a detailed how-to guide to develop a homemade water filter. Other segments warn readers against dangers of the lifestyle like carbon monoxide, snake bites and what not to eat. Often, readers write in with questions, like: “when is treatment for rabies advisable?” or “how do I build a small cabin without getting hassled?” Contributors also offer advice specific to their experiences: “more on nomadic dairy goats,” and, “our experience with various storage totes and barrels,” are two example headings. Interestingly, there is also a great deal of information about how to live in cars. Contributors from around the world detail their experiences living in old buses, minivans, sedans and RVs. Apparently, Wal-Mart is a great place to overnight in your car, as parking-lot security there is typically easy going or non-existent.

The expansive parking lots in and around Disney World are also ideal.

One of the most interesting sections in the 2000-2008 volume is written by a man, “living lightly in the Chicago area.” I, like many readers, am a city-dweller. I found this information easy to relate to and intriguing for this reason. Follow his advice carefully and you too can succeed as an ‘urban camper.’ “Kurt,” the author of this section, advises readers to avoid eating out of garbage cans. He notes that although he scavenges most of his food, he is picky about cutting off spoiled portions and saving the rest. I have learned that it is useful to add turmeric or curry to scavenged food as it kills viruses, bacteria and can delay rotting. He also notes that when dwelling portably in an urban environment, it is important not to raise suspicion. Thus, do not travel or live with groups of other campers, and do not carry a sleeping bag with you through the streets. Only keep one set of spare clothes with you and utilize public showers and libraries for bathrooms and warmth. Police

do not bother “Kurt,” because he has learned how to avoid the wrong kind of attention.

One final tip for urban camping: always stick to alleys when you can. Walking through alleyways can lead to extraordinary finding opportunities and items salvaged can be sold for good money.

So now you have some basic information on dwelling portably (both the book and the practice). If you’re fed up with the confines of normal life, quit your day job, buy these books and hit the streets, paths, or forests. You will no doubt be well-armed for almost anything that comes your way.

You can purchase both copies of Dwelling Portably at www.microcosmpublishing.com.

- Matt Giegerich

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The UK Metal Underground Online “UK Metal Underground is the Webzine of Union Black - bringing you all the latest news, reviews and interviews from the best UK metal talent, whether it’s bands, promoters, venues, radio stations or magazines... the list is endless. We support and promote the UK Metal scene both within the UK and abroad. So pull up a chair, get comfy and explore what we have to offer... “

If one were to put his fingers on the pulse of the current heavy metal scene by taking a look at the Billboard Hot 200 charts in the last few years, it would be easy to say that heavy metal has flat lined and is clinically dead. The only metal album in the past year to debut anywhere near the top of chart and sell a respectable number of units was Metallica’s, Death Magnetic. Contrary to this widespread belief, metal is actually still alive and well, but it has gone underground. The boys and girls at UK Metal Underground are doing their part to keep the movement alive across the pond in the United Kingdom with their monthly online zine.

Choosing to go the paperless route in order to reach a wider audience and reduce overhead, UK Metal Underground provides a platform for fans of British metal to stay informed with features of up and coming UK metal bands with candid interviews with them. This online zine also features album reviews and editorial features by the staff regarding topics pertinent to local metal scene in the UK. Overall, UK Metal Underground is quick and effective way to spread information and opinion on the metal scene in the United Kingdom and create a scene for the bands and listeners out there. The metal community is alive and well. Rock on! http://www.myspace.com/ukmetalunderground - Jose Ho-Guanipa

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Although this might conjure up images of large, toothless, Canadian men wading through four feet of water angrily, Underwater Hockey is actually quite an elegant, non-contact sport that was first played in the 1950’s but has attracted more attention in the 2000’s.

t is played with a 3 pound led puck and 12 inch long stick (that looks a lot like a ‘Knock-Hockey stick”) – at the bottom of a pool. The athletes wear an underwater cap (as worn by polo players), a snorkel and fins. They must maneuver around the bottom of the pool, using their sticks to shoot the puck into the opposing team’s 9 foot wide goal. The puck slides across the bottom of the pool with a flick of the stick and with practice, a great degree of accuracy can be achieved.

The rules to the game are pretty simple. The stick cannot be used inappropriately. It must only be applied to the puck and not to another player, for instance. Play must always stay in bounds and penalties are distributed to those that don’t adhere

to the rules. Sometimes penalties result in a penalty shot, like in ice hockey. Other times, the penalized team is placed at a disadvantage to the puck (3 meters back). Of course, the rulebook goes on for pages of intricacies, but the general idea is easy to follow.

In essence, the game plays a lot like soccer or ice hockey. Teams are split into offensive and defensive squads and passing and teamwork are essential. Because the game is played at the bottom of a pool, a single player cannot influence the outcome of a game as drastically as in other sports. No athlete can stay submerged forever and players must coordinate both offensive and defensive efforts so that coming up for air does not derail their objective.

Underwater Hockey is extremely demanding physically and is great exercise.

The sport requires excellent free diving and swimming skills and thus (like swimming) strengthens must essential muscle groups.

The most successful players are in incredible shape. They are excellent free divers

and have the ability to remain under water for large stretches of time (or greater than 30 seconds).

Still, you don’t have to be in pique physical shape to play this sport! There are tons of recreational and official leagues across the country. The Underwater Society provides manuals and starter kits for any aspiring underwater hockey leagues and is always happy to answer questions about the sport. To create a team, the interested party merely needs to send dues to the USA Underwater Hockey League. They are then eligible to play in national tournaments and competitions and potentially compete on the international level.

Underwater Hockey is just one of many trends which now also includes, Underwater Football and Underwater Rugby.

Who knows? Maybe one day we will see inaugural Olympic Underwater Teams.

To learn more, check out http:// www.underwater-society.org/uwhockey.html - Matt Giegerich 31

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There is a lot to be said about musicians that in a span of over 30 years have only 5 releases under their belt, yet have weathered a curvy road of musical accomplishments that can be likened to a flannel blanket of respectability. And then to couple the previous sentence with the fact that the two musicians I am talking about are childhood friends, both, whom know nothing more than this life since they were spawned from musical families of royalty, could only make this review almost unbelievable. But similar to McCartney and Lennon, Wendy Melvoin (guitar, vocals) and Lisa Coleman’s (keyboards, vocals) friendship has by far conquered the true test of musical collaboration in time. There is no pause in their musical resumes, so when the legendary duo known as “Wendy and Lisa,” drop their latest release called White Flags of Winter Chimneys on their own label this year, nothing less than the quiet hush of a pin-dropping scenario should be followed by immediate fanfare and some nice strong charting in support of such an opulent collection of music. While Melvoin and Coleman have been busy conquering everything a career in showbiz could handle; flexing their muse muscles with a Minneapolis musician who was more punk rock than most give him credit for (and most of that credit is due to Melvoin and Coleman), a shot at solo careers and countless collaborations with everyone from Eric Clapton to Joni Mitchell, it’s understandable that the level of musicianhood that both of these women extend would only be of the

purest intent because after listening to some of the tracks on White Flags of Winter Chimneys, it’s quite apparent that it’s so in their blood it can’t be trivialized as a blank rock and roll statement and it’s not even close to being a cliché. But if you think back, while reminiscing about seeing these two musicians along side of Prince, during his “Revolution” days, it was clear that Melvoin and Coleman held complete command, even under the hot, purple lights of the 80’s. We really shouldn’t be surprised at all of the fresh, alluring, spontaneous and excitable vibe that Winter Chimneys offers. “Not having to answer to a record label, White Flags of Winter Chimneys is the record that we wanted to make, on our terms,” quotes Melvoin and Coleman with this offering.

Here the gals, who are also known as The Girl Bros., (http://www.myspace.com/gbnmusic) display such precision when mixing up the sonics where pop and organic sensibilities are concerned. And all the while the two reinvented themselves, concentrating on scoring music for TV and movie projects, Melvoin and Coleman’s knack for making personal and accessible music has only grown stronger. Underneath their countless influences of funk, pop and alternative grooves, I am now proven that only a certain type of musician can still truly “wow” their audience. Wendy and Lisa fit this bill. Songs like “Balloon,” may sound predicable but only for a split second, until a guitar track cuts through the somber, cold piano and wobbly vocals of Coleman.

The song morphs into a spacey, drifting number

that is similar to a lullaby as she sings, “Here in my balloon, I can see things my way…” In the song, “Invisible,” the mulling voice of Melvoin is stopped in its track by a broad, unwavering, effervescent musical landscape that screams, “risky.” Yet Melvoin stands firm while singing, “I will not be invisible/I am victory.” While listening to this magnificent piece of music that questions the exact influence of these two musicians (Pink Floyd, early Elton John, The Beatles?), it’s Melvoin that shines as she sings, “like when you were mine,” making it apparent that she is, indeed, hurting. It’s obvious that a broken or disappointed heart is where this song sprung from. In the song, “Niagra Falls,” Coleman’s voice shimmers like the Veruca Salt girls meet Liz Phair, as a dragging drum line opens the song, only giving way to crashing cymbals and a crawling guitar track that slowly becomes suffocated by a distorted bass line. Coleman continues in a la-dee-da fashion, musing, “it looks so small from here.” This very vocal approach allows the song to feel safe amidst the unchartered patterns the instruments are moving in. But it doesn’t really matter for in the end, the song completely combusts into a cloud of noisy, glittery smoke. White Flags of Winter Chimneys is available exclusively from Melvoin and Coleman’s website (www.wendyandlisa.com). If you purchase it directly there, you can score four never released bonus tracks. After March, White Flags of Winter Chimneys will be available through iTunes, Amazon MP3 and Rhapsody. - edie

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Brothers On A Mission The Soundscapes came into existence when two brothers decided to leave the confining music scene of São Paulo, Brazil and explore their opportunities in New York City.

Though Rodrigo and Raphael Carvalho had always played in bands together, they had not planned on playing primarily as a duo. Their move to New York intended a third member and involved several craigslist bands, but their search stopped when they realized that their strength was in the

hard to find connection the two of them share.

In Brazil, the brothers played in several bands that opened for acts such as Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Superchunk. They were doing well in the scene because there basically wasn’t much of one.

“We were always playing among the best indie music being done there but there’s not this big scene. There’s just people who want to foster it,” comments guitarist, Rodrigo Carvalho. While São Paulo was able to make the dream of music a reality for them, they always asked American bands who they met, what it was like here and always dreamed of something more.

Their love of music and creating goes above and beyond being well-practiced musicians. The Soundscapes live, breath and consume it in large quantities. It bleeds through their bookshelves and is evident in their massive DVD collections of biographies of bands. The Carvalho’s inhale music culture for breakfast, lunch and dinner and they exhale everything they learn in a twisted, contorted version of what they’ve created themselves. That being said, their influences are spread far and wide between all the music they adore. From listening to Kiss as kids and playing along on tennis rackets to the inspiration they gain from listening to New Order, The Clash, My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth, they aspire to instill aspects of all they love into their own music.

“We live through DVD’s and books, we are the ultimate fans. We love the music subject and are inspired by the life of a musician,” drummer Raphael says. “We aim for collaboration and try to cover everything in our music,” adds Rodrigo.

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They also use other art forms in their music, particularly live. They display projections behind them in a slide show created by friends of theirs. The images are a collaboration of photos of themselves in the city, playing outside of Chinese restaurants or just walking and smiling, as well as clips from old movies and just created images. The flowing projections blend perfectly with their scenic, artistic music, creating the perfect soundtrack to these visuals.

The two only took lessons on their instruments for a year if that and mostly learned how to play through listening to American bands like Pavement and Nirvana. They formed a strong connection to America and American culture and as their passion for music grew, they dreamed of coming specifically to New York. They finished high school and became interested in subjects such as film (Rodrigo) and photography (Raphael), but music was still their main goal. When asked about hobbies Raphael says, “Oh no, school is the hobby.” Rodrigo adds, “I was reserving a time in my life to really deal with music seriously.”

The time came in 2003, when they were in their early/mid-twenties and finally made the move to New York. The transition was difficult; it took them three years to form as the Soundscapes. “It was a period of watching, learning and absorbing the city,” commented Raphael. At the beginning, they knew no one in New York and just networked frantically to start getting out there. They met people through friends in Brazil and charmed many with their eagerness and passionate energy. Living in cramped oneroom apartments in Harlem and the East Village, all they cared about was living out their dream.

Through breathing in the plethora of music in Manhattan and Brooklyn, The Soundscapes style, which they have been cultivating and developing for years, began to flourish. The brothers create and play in a call and response manner. They use just their two instruments and vocals to communicate with each other; their sound reverberates and passes through its audience as sonically as possible. It was difficult to find other members because of how tight knit their playing style is as a two-piece, so they just went with it. Since it is sometimes a struggle as just two people playing music in the studio that would sound good live as well, they try to fill in their sound with amps and pedals and use Raphael’s drum beats to fill in some of the empty space.

Despite the difficulties, they thrive off playing with each other, jamming on pieces one has heard the other experimenting with and then going back to listen to them and see what they think. Their sound blasts through the speakers

with thick-coated, blistering drum beats and semi-dissonant guitar swells. Rodrigo’s vocals are pleading and innocent as he sings about beauty, love and experience. The words blaze vibrantly along the twinkling, jangly guitar that combines multiple layers of sound.

The band finally recorded their album at The Bunker Studio and will be releasing it through BNS Sessions earlier this year. While they have not yet had a real tour, the plan is to finally start with the release of Freestyle Family.

The release is a perfect display of the separation between their live show and the album. Their raw desire and passion, as well as their artistic creativity and the sweat and blood they put into making their music sound perfect.

Both aspects are a constant reminder of how the two of them work as a team, connected by something much deeper than their sound. Their brotherhood is the definition of The Soundscapes and their goal is to continue defining their sound together. “It’s a mutual dream that we play together.

I wouldn’t enjoy success as much without my brother,” concludes Rodrigo. http://www.myspace.com/thesoundscapes.

- Lauren Piper

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Discovering

CAPOEIRA A Tool of Freedom

by Juliette Hernandez

I must confess that I did not really know what Capoeira was at the time this was assigned to me, but I automatically jumped at the opportunity. I thought, “yeah, I’ll try Capoeira,” and all I could think was, “when do we get to fight?” What I didn’t know and would not find out until much later is that we do not ever fight, we play. This is a lesson that sets in motion the path to discovering and understanding Capoeira. The first day I arrived at the South Bay Capoeira Academy (located at 2221 Artesia Blvd., Redondo Beach, California; 310 809-8842), I could hear music outside before I entered the school and as I walked through the door, I saw children dancing to the rhythm of the “Berimbau.” A berimbau is an in-

strument with a single string connected to a bow that can make resonating sounds. I introduced myself to Contra Mestre Reco Pontes and greeted a few of his students.

I was then introduced to the Ginga, known as the path to Capoeira learning, which is the movement or rhythm you keep, making it “appear” as if you are walking in the same place. The movements seemed so easy, to sway back and forth, but soon after moving continuously for an hour, it was not so easy anymore. I soon realized that this was definitely strenuous exercise. I also learned fairly quickly that I do not have very good body consciousness, which means my mind, in a way, cannot tell my body what to do. In these instances Reco says, “You have to let

go, no worries.”

Still, I had no idea why we were doing the exercises or when we would begin sparring. It seemed as if everything was a mystery. Especially, the day I brought my camera and was promptly asked to leave.

I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, yet I found myself just happy to be there.

But, as Reco began closing the curtains to the windows facing Artesia Blvd., it seemed even more intriguing and I simply became more and more curious about what would be happening behind those closed curtains.

I asked Reco how he became a Mestre. He said, “Time grants you with wisdom. I like Capoeira and Capoeira likes me. I use Capoeira and Capoeira uses me. I use Ca35

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poeira to become more conscious of the dynamics of life. Capoeira uses me as a bridge to other people. It is a tool of freedom.” So, I went home to do some research on my own. I looked at several websites.

I watched Capoeira videos and looked for books on the subject, only to find that most of the titles were already out of print. All the websites I traveled to unfolded the same story in almost the same exact words, the videos were mostly involving rough fighters in an environment with little music and loud crowds screaming and yelling for a winner.

I asked Reco about these circumstances and he said, “Capoeira has no violence.

The violence is inside people’s minds. It is not a competitive sport. There is a lack of information in today’s times especially due to the English/Portuguese language barrier.

Capoeira needs connection, communication and respect.” He advised me to never “play” when feeling negative because it will turn to a fight. I felt completely singled out, like an outsider who was unable find a path to discover the sacredness of Capoeira due a barrier built by language. And after all this, I still wondered, “so, when do we fight then?” Weeks later, I returned to find there were much respected and admired Mestres visiting from Brazil. Mestre Onca Negra (Laurindo Daria do Santos) and Mestre Deputado (Walce Souza) had arrived from Brazil and were visiting Reco and his students. Mestre Onca Negra welcomed me with a smile and a few words in Portuguese when I walked in. I wasn’t sure what he had said, but I smiled and nodded twice. I sat at the end of the couch he was sitting on and watched him chant the chorus alongside the bateria, which are the performers of the musical accompaniment who lead a system of singing characterized by the singular format of call and response frequently used in African culture.

He seemed to really enjoy watching Reco’s pupils, laughing and smiling joyously when they completed the sequences they were practicing well. Soon, the students began playing in the roda. There were two players of pandeiros (tambourines) and Reco played the berimbau. The players outside the roda began chanting and clapping along with the bateria and the two players at the top of the roda entered the circle and danced as if they were fighting, reading each others body in a language to know how to react.

The chanting and the rhythms of the music became entrancing as it slowed or speed up.

Listening to the berimbau and the chanting, I would enter into a trance where my mind wandered from thought to thought, streaming life before me in my imagination. Sitting there entranced by the music, watching the students play, I realized that I did not have the discipline to really learn Capoeira at this point in time. I could see it in everyone, how closely knit they were, like a family who practiced and played together.

They knew and trusted each other. There were cartwheels, kicks, the exercising of muscles, smiles and laughter. The reality was simple, yet hardcore all the way. There was acceptance and learning. All I could do was sit and watch. I became more aware of this family-like nature when I was invited to a going away party for Mestre Onca Negra and Mestre Deputado at the house of a young student named, Cai Cai, and her family, who were also students of Capoeira at Reco’s academy. When I arrived, I received a very warm welcome from her and was led to the backyard where her father, Cesar, was cooking several different kinds of skewered meats and other delicious tasters. I was presented with choice beverages such as freshly homemade sangria and a drink made from a liquor called cachaca, which is very popular in Brazil. I treated myself to both and had a colorful plate of food along with it. I tried just about everything they offered me and it was all so mouth watering. As more students arrived everyone ate, drank, talked, laughed and swayed to the music playing in the background. It was a very joyous occasion filled with smiles and laughter. I was very grateful to have been invited to see everyone outside of the academy interacting and having fun together, but most importantly celebrating the honor of having present two very great men who were able to experience one of the most important and critical times in the history of Capoeira Regional training with Mestre Bimba himself. The following day I arrived at the academy and was able to see Mestre Onca Negra and Mestre Deputado for the last time before they continued on their journey throughout America. I watched Mestre Onca Negra train the class as the students tried to perform what was being told to them in Portuguese. One could see the students struggle to under-

stand, but through their bodies it became visible that they were able to communicate.

That night before I left, Reco presented me with a book titled, The Saga of Mestre Bimba, by Mestre Itapoan. I took it home and read it a few times over the following weeks. After this time, I finally felt that I had a better perception of what Capoeira really means to the people who practice it and I knew that at last I was prepared to have a one-on-one with Reco to get to the core of his ideas. And, after having read this book, I also realized what an honor it was to have met Mestre Onca Negra and Mestre Deputado, two men who contributed to the Capoeira movement in Brazil and I hadn’t really even comprehended this when I was able to interact with them. As Capoeira became more alive to me, I became more conscious of what Reco was trying to instill in me from the very beginning, which was the fact that you can bring change to the game by overlooking the music, with new clothing, hostility and aggressiveness, competition and animosity, but really that will never be what Capoeira truly is. It is respect, family, friendship and culture, a tool to help guide you through life by introducing you to your mind and your body, joining them to work together. It is something that is not for sale. It is not the exploitation of a cultural practice that inevitably transforms into a business or a job.

Reco considers himself unemployed, yet he feels that Capoeira is what he wants to do. He also wants to help to continue on the legacy of Mestre Bimba and the ancestors before him who struggled in captivity, but still fought for their future and for the future of their children. This kind of understanding is what is needed today to rescue Capoeira from everything that it was never meant to be, except simply like Reco

says, “a tool of freedom.”

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How did you get your nickname?

“Reco,” in Brazil, is what they call a “soldier” in the Army and I was one, doing Capoeira. So, my Master at that time gave that to me.

When your students are playing, do you, at times, get frustrated that they do not have the right frame of mind about how they are to play in the roda?

No. They get better every time. There is a saying of Mestre Bimba that is, “the fruit doesn’t get ripe out of the time.” You see green bananas in a banana tree, yet you know if you want to eat, you have to wait until they’re good to eat. There is nothing that you can do to make the fruit ripen. You can hit the tree, yell at the tree, you can whack the tree, but the fruit still will not come until the right time. So this is one of the basements of philosophy of Mestre Bimba. People are like different fruits, they have different timing. So, I just wait until they get ready to learn.

Mestre Bimba

Dig This Real: We would like to have your take on the history of Capoeira. Please explain in your words.

Contra Mestre Reco Pontes: Capoeira was prohibited by law until the 1940’s. It was practiced hidden, on the streets by people from the lowest of society, those without routines or methodology. Capoeira Regional comes from Mestre Bimba in the 1930’s called the CCFR; Centro de Cultura Fisica Regional (Regional Physical Cultural Center) not named as Capoeira so that the police would not close it down. In 1941 Mestre Bimba was able to open the first Academy of Capoeira, without the prohibition, called Capoeira Regional.

What do you teach here?

I do my best to show my students my understanding of Capoeira Regional made by Mestre Bimba. Mestre Bimba brought his knowledge, folkloric of fight and rituality. His students from the University of “Salvador” (capital of Bahia, Brazil), brought the format of the ceremonies. They helped him to form a system. This is what I teach here.

How long before a new student can be introduced into the roda?

Depends on the student and the time that is spent training. Without learning the sequence, Mestre Bimba would never allow students to interact or ‘improvise,’ because they could get hurt. This sequence teaches the student about dodging, rhythm, aerobic endurance and the body dialog. The sequence is a Capoeira game without improvisation. That’s the difference between the sequence and the Capoeira game - the improvisation.

Do you have a ceremony celebrating the bestowment of nicknames to your students?

Yes, but it is not a ceremony. It is simple act of an initiation when the students play Capoeira for the first time. Usually after the game, the teacher gives the student a nickname to be called after then. Mestre Bimba’s called this moment the baptism of the student (“Batizado” in Portuguese). Today, the Batizado has different formats and most schools adopted a belt system, being part of a new Capoeira starting in the 1970’s. Mestre Bimba’s batizado was very simple. Once the student knows the sequence “by your heart,” as he used to say, “by your heart,” means, you’re not thinking, you’re just reacting. Once you do that, you can start playing slow while developing your understanding about what you can do. The only ceremony that we have is when the students graduate. When that happens, the ceremony is a beautiful moment of Capoeira where the student performs what he has learned since the beginning of his training, for all the guests.

When someone walks in here and they say that they want to begin learning, what kind of things do you go through with them before you accept them?

In the past, Mestre Bimba had a rough exam but he lost a lot of students because not so many people passed. So, some of his students requested that he stopped giving this exam. Mestre Bimba used to grab the students in an arm choke and tell them to hold for two to five minutes, to see if they could handle the training of Capoeira. This is something that cannot be applied today. Imagine if you came to me, stating you wanted to learn and then I grabbed your neck and said, “You hold there!” We both know what you’re going to say to me next, “You’re crazy and I‘m going to sue you!” These are very different times.

Even Mestre Bimba changed some of those rough ways through his lifetime. Today, I have different context, different environment. Anyone who will step in this school is welcomed to try. Any age, I don’t care.

The student will do what they can as I work with what I have from them.

So, then, when do you decide to show your students more?

When their body tells me that they are ready for. Capoeira is a body language. If I teach body language, I have to at least, be able to read my students body communication. I can tell when they are ready (or not) for their next lesson. Capoeira gives me that ability.

Today in our fast world, people loose patience too easy with each other.

They also loose patience with themselves and this makes any learning come slower. Capoeira is a language and to learn it, we need to be able to accept that new things will come. “Willingness” is the key of everything. That’s how I teach my students.

What is the proper way?

Today, I think that people do not have as much time as they use to. This means that the learning will be slower and we need to understand this before thinking about starting to learn Capoeira. Once you understand that you won’t become a master overnight, you can find a teacher that you identify with. When you do find this teacher, you should exercise in class, not just your body, but exercise also your humility, your patience with others and with yourself. You should also respect the art form. The training of Capoeira is not easy, especially if you do not work out because your body is used to the extreme. This is the Capoeira dynamic. You have to increase a lot of physical aspects such as strength, flexibility and rhythm.

So, in your eyes, what is Capoeira?

The essence of Capoeira is the disguise. It was created as self defense, as a tool of freedom. Unfortunately, today, we see a lot of aggressiveness. Capoeira in the past was less aggressive but more dangerous. Today, Capoeira is more aggressive, but less dangerous.

The training is rough and hard, but when the berimbau beats, the roughness goes away, giving space for the science of the game, mixing strategy, timing and placement. Capoeira is everything. Capoeira for me is one of the languages of life, of nature. It is a tool to express ourselves and what we truly are. It is a good way to get to meet 37

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us and reach our nature. Today, we keep making judgments about right or wrong without actually knowing who we truly are. Capoeira gives us that knowledge, guiding us to the path of humility and an everyday rebirthing process. We are all different as people and that is the true magic. Capoeira is a mystery. It is hard to describe. The best way to understand it is to try to understand the master. It is easy to understand something that you can touch but Capoeira is such an abstract.

Is it an academy? No. An academy is just walls with a roof and floors. Is it energy?

I can’t really see it but I can feel, just not enough to understand. But if it’s a person who you can actually observe, it becomes easier. The master who does Capoeira for a lifetime becomes a source of knowledge, a source of Capoeira. In Capoeira, we call it, “Agua de beber,” water to drink. It is the fountain of Capoeira. I became a fountain of knowledge for people learn and understand from. This is the aspect of the oral tradition and fundamental on Capoeira. Mestre Bimba’s parents were Africans and he was raised by that. This oral tradition is a tribal tradition, similar to the old Indians with all their tribes sitting around, listening to the elder stories passing on the wisdom. Today, we take away our old people and put them in nursing homes, thinking that we are doing the best for them. Capoeira is the respect for the elders as a fountain of experience, legacy and wisdom.

When do you actually fight?

You don’t.

So, all those people that you see on videos, fighting each other while using Capoeira, are not doing the right thing?

There are different understandings about Capoeira. I am not here to say who is right or who is wrong. But as far of my understanding in Capoeira Regional, or even Capoeira Angola, which is the traditional and older style, there is today, a misunderstanding about

how Capoeira should be practiced. Capoeira for me is an agreement between two comrades to help each other improve their skills, hoping to reach a higher level of performance. There should be no competition between them. Of course, there are some schools in the world that promotes tournaments, but I am not able to talk about that because it is not part of my path of Capoeira. The involvement of the game needs time and patience. You can’t play too fast. That’s why Capoeira has rhythm. It has to be followed. It’s like chess. Your kick goes 10 miles per hour, but your mind runs 200. A good player has patience, timing and placement and to do that, you need much more than fast kicks.

You need to learn the science of Capoeira, from the old masters by oral tradition.

So, when is Capoeira utilized?

Like Mestre Bimba use to say, ‘Capoeira wasn’t made to beat the capoeira player...it was made to beat bad guys,’ (this is a rough translation, but it pretty much explains that there is no violence in this art form). It is supposed to be used in a needful moment or when your life is in danger. Capoeira had its time of violent and was considered more of a street fight. That’s why some people still bring that into their practices. But it is good to remember that in Capoeira Angola (the old style) and Capoeira Regional (Mestre Bimba methodology), the Ritual, the Rhythm and the Respect are essential part of the practice.

Tell me a little about the music.

Musicality is more important than the movement itself. Music creates better energy and better environment. There is the rhythm and a cadence. The music guides your body to flow during the game.

A good game in Capoeira needs good music. The influence of good music can help the student’s movements as it is mystic and impressive as well. The variations of the berimbau guides the variations of the movements. It’s like you are connected with the instrument. You can define and apply it’s variations in the game of Capoeira. The music in Capoeira is the language that the student’s learn. They learn how to decipher it. When that happens, the master can start the teaching and training through his berimbau. Isn’t that sublime?

For more information please visit: Contra Mestre Reco Pontes at www.capoeirasouthbay.com

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Hatebreed

Live Dominance At Harpo’s in Detroit Koch Records For those unfamiliar with the hardcore metal scene that the band Hatebreed currently reigns over, going to a hardcore show is a one of a kind experience. It is not for the weak of heart and you will most likely leave with a few cuts and bruises but nevertheless you’ll be happy you got in the mosh pit and when you got knocked over someone was there to help you up. The band’s first live concert DVD Live Dominance attempts to capture this unique experience in an approximately two hour disc, with live footage from their sold out show at Harpo’s in Detroit and bonus footage including extra songs from other tour stops in Philadelphia and interview footage with band members such as their front man Jamey Jasta. The film crew does a decent job attempting to capture the spirit of a live hardcore show using several high definition camera angles and occasional cuts to a mosh pit camera. The cameras feel a bit distant at time and removed from the crowd and the pit camera is not used nearly enough as it should be. If you are a Hatebreed fan or just someone who appreciates hardcore metal music you will definitely enjoy this DVD, but for those unfamiliar with this type of music, you would be better suited checking out the band live to really feel what it’s like to be inside the maelstrom that is a circle pit at a Hatebreed show.

– Jose Ho-Guanipa

Idleheist

Written and directed by Joshua M. Dragotta Jerseyboy Procutions with Streamwest Audio and Video Starring: Greg Stuetze, Guy Castonguay and Jennifer Elise Gould Brink Media’s offering of indy flick, Idleheist, is about four guys setting out to what seemed a foul-proof convenience store robbery but ends up like a car crash too good not to witness. This short film has everything: weird, abstract, dream sequences, artsy cinematography, action, sex, emotion, a great soundtrack, and, well, at times, bad acting. Don’t get me wrong and dismiss this flick, because it’s way too good not to view. But at times, one must differ between the lack of relationship between the actors here, making it seem a bit too unconvincing and that’s the complete charm of this film. Because of this element, the viewer is allowed to fully embrace these bumbling, untrustworthy characters as family and this is the salt that produces such memorable low-brow films like Idleheist.

The film opens in a panic of sequences and pictures that has the viewer scrambling to try and fit a plot into place. Sadly, this doesn’t happen until the film gets underway. At times the film falls into a narrative, coupled with an abstract manner, it works wonderfully because it’s so unexpected. This builds a certain tension around what is really happening in this film.

As the film zeros in on four friends with clown make-up smeared on their faces, the acting here sets the tone of the entire film and despite that the make-up depicts these men more demented that a threat, the first 16 minutes showcases the first of the important murders (including one to a harmless lap dog), the taking of a hostage and the eventual trip to a women known as “Rachel.” The film plateaus for just a second as Alex and Jake make it to the “reliable,” Rachel, who is not all happy when they show up, despite that they come bearing two metal cash boxes. There are a lot of little things going on in the film that could have been turned into side stories, but quiet frankly, I was satisfied with the film as is. I felt that after viewing, I obtained a certain type of connection with these characters. Take the scene where our main character and ringleader, Alex, is shot.

I found myself anxiously hoping he would make it out of this but Idleheist doesn’t really offer any real answers as the film comes to a close. All I could accept was the scene were Alex slips in and out of consciousness due to his injury. Bleeding and barely able to get up and walk, we get to witness more amazing cinematography as he dreamscapes in a desert, eventually accepting his own fate.

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The soundtrack to Idleheist is also included in this package and well worth it. Everything from Mexican Mariachi music to somber, acoustic numbers, edgy instrumentals and sound bytes from the film can be found here. It’s a fitting collection of songs and a great soundtrack. For more info, go to www.brink.com or contact David Pike/Brink DVD at david@brinkdvd.com. - edie

Vision of Disorder Dead in New York Koch Records

Vision of Disorder was a band from Long Island, New York and though they disbanded long ago, they decided to release a posthumous DVD cleverly titled, Dead in New York. Their press release informed me that the DVD was about “showcasing the band’s frenetic live shows” as well as footage from behind the scenes, and it also described their sound as melding “traditional east coast hardcore alongside thrash metal.” I like intense music and I have been known to get down to some “thrash metal” so I popped in the DVD to see what all the fuss was about.

I should say that I was foreign to the band’s sound and history going into this experience; I did not really know if this was just a really well-known local band or if they had a regional/national/ international presence. Despite the press release’s description of frenetic live shows, I did not see the over-the-top crowd antics that it promised. I mean, I bet those pits were pretty intense to be in, but to watch, they did not seem all that tumultuous. Other than a couple of circle pits and some basic moshing, there was nothing unusual.

But, the venue(s) on the DVD were pretty packed, even though the band had long since broken up, so that says something for them.

In terms of production, the sound quality on the disc is really pretty good, especially for a loud, live, raucous hardcore concert setting. Kudos to whoever captured the audio for this release! The video is also of a good quality, but it seemed to me that the cuts were too fast and too often, and my guess is that the editor thought that this would enhance the intensity, but to me, it made the film a little harder to watch and even perhaps harder to really see how intense the pit was. Overall, though, this is a quality production and the majority of local and regional bands would be happy to be able to release a DVD of this caliber.

As for the music itself, the playing is also surprisingly good for a live setting and the band rarely makes serious mistakes. To play that well on camera and have the audio and video production turn out so well is very enviable for a musician such as myself.

There are some really cool riffs throughout the set and some of them would be very challenging for most rhythm guitarists. The drumming is also very tight and very “on,” and actually, the drumming is probably the element that is the most consistent and well-executed, song-after-song. Musical highlights for me included the riffs on, “Imprint,” a great Pantera-esque riff on track six; a cool, open-sounding groove on track seven that is reminiscent of Soundgarden; a very funky bassline on “Beneath the Green”; and “Through My Eyes” has a very heavy opening, a rad distorted-bass breakdown and some really great tempo shifts. Speaking of tempo-shifts, the majority of the songs feature the “fall into half-time” technique that is such a staple of “hardcore music.” While I really do love that sound and that feel, it is so common in these songs and this music that it borders on

being cliché, but then again, I think the half-time breakdown thing is a big part of what sells this kind of music to its devout fanbase.

Since I have not touched upon the aspect of the vocals on, Dead in New York, let me “break it down for you” (I’m sorry, I had to!). Anyhow, on most songs, vocalist Tim Williams utilizes a lot of screaming, and the screaming is not too low (a la death metal) or too high (metalcore) but I guess it is right in the “hardcore” zone. I have never been a huge fan of the hardcore vocals, but I do appreciate the music, so I guess it is no surprise that I felt the same way about this DVD, in that I did not really get into the vocal performance that much. There is some singing on some of the songs and that is generally a bit weak and out of key, but perhaps that is related to going back and forth from the guttural screaming to the “normal singing.”

Also, in between songs, Williams tends to yell some really obnoxious, cliché, and even misogynistic things, including: “So, how’s everybody doin’ tonight, man? I wanna hear some fuckin’ noise, motherfuckers. Y’all check out Saturday nights - I heard they’re pretty hot, naked bitches and shit…” But, maybe this kind of talk is par for the course? On the positive side, Williams does have really good stage presence, he knows his audience and he knows how to work them.

There is another part on, Dead in New York, that gives a brief explanation of the band’s history, rise and fall, and I think that I enjoyed this more than the live performance footage. In fact, I wish that I had seen the history montage before I saw the live element, because then I would have realized that this band was actually pretty huge at one point, and even toured overseas, including Japan. I think that for many viewers, knowing the level of success that the band had attained would allow them to take the concert segments more seriously and to appreciate this tribute to the group’s past. On the other hand, it is kind of nice to view the concert without the bias of their previous success.

Overall, the audio and video quality is stellar. The music is well written and performed and the whole production is very entertaining - and I was not even a fan of this group! For an actual supporter of Vision of Disorder, Dead in New York, would be a real treat and would surely allow them to relive the hey-day of this ensemble as well as indulge in their reunion.

- Nicholas Miller

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1Undread Revolutionary Dub Type Thing I always thought the point of electronic music was so that people could dance to it. I cannot even begin to imagine dancing to, Revolutionary Dub Type Thing, by the duo, Nicola and Brian Swan, known as 1Undread. The couple shares more than just a loving bond with one another, but also a passion for experimental, electronic dance music.

The beats are erratic and there is no melody or harmony in their songs. Brian Swan, on keyboards, bass guitar, double bass and samplers, sounds like a young child playing with a keyboard and some sound effects. There is no consistency whatsoever. Each song on the 10 track album blends together, impossible to decipher from one horrible beat to the next. Vocalist, Nicola Swan, whines and moans periodically throughout, in an eerie tone. The music is not big on lyrics and most of the songs are just a repetition of the same one or two lines. She hardly even sings in tune.

The pair seems to have expertise in sound effects and DJ equipment but the music lacks any decent melody. This cd sounds like it should be the soundtrack for a B-horror movie or an amateur porno flick. I honestly can’t think of any other use for this type of music, other than backround or soundtrack music. http://www. myspace.com/oneundread .

- Cindy Chisvette

Amy LaCour Bitter Suite Ever fallen in love in a cocktail lounge with a stranger across the way? Or maybe just wanted to lose yourself in the sweetness of a slow selfexplanation? Amy LaCour is an artist that is no stranger to such an atmosphere. Evoking

a gentle, yet powerful persona in her latest EP, labeled, Bitter Suite, she speaks to the listener in a kind and honest manner.

Starting in track one, “Bittersweet,” she woos her audience with a bit of an admonition in a gentle lounge jazz piece. LaCour is both a surgical vocalist and a piano player with a great sense of the openness of musical production.

The five song EP is very well musically organized and clean, yet constructed in a minimalist and explanatory sense. She has been compared to Alicia Keys, which does have some accurate semblance, however she moves in a different direction. To describe a similar sound, it would be easy for fans of Tracy Chapman to find a wise comfort in her lower range as well.

Throughout this EP, the mood continuously shifts in a fluid and concert-like manner.

It feels very much like a clean live performance that the listener can bring to his or her home or personal space. “One Man’s Stone,” stands out with this feel and serves as a strong follow-up to the title piece.

The movement of the album is strong and versatile throughout its well-structured set.

In “Fool’s Love,” the artist employs a musically soulful gospel-style vocal chorus, which compliments the artist’s voice with a subtle strength and wisdom.

The release finishes with a piano and vocal piece that leaves the audience waiting for the next. There is a great sense of comfort and longing that comes from this five-song EP that leaves the listener wanting more and wanting to be part of a live performance atmosphere. Amy LaCour is rising to a powerful space among an audience that will only continue to grow as she produces further tracks that will transfix and move others. Visit her website at www.amylacour.com.

– Thomas Page

Ansata CRUX ANSATA “Please take my heart/Make justice, forgive my sins/Let me live eternally/Now I can see/ How heavy the truth is”.

With words of true poetry like these, there’s no doubt what the future has in store for Brazilian rock and theatrical band (think South America’s answer to Dream Theater), known as Ansata.

With their debut cd

entitled, Crux Ansata, all the songs here are weighty, melodic and rhythmic. Having formed in 1997 while only playing covers of the biggest names of the metal, Ansata’s acceptance as individual musicians was so great that the band members (Ansata is: Malagueta on vocals, Rafael Romani on guitars, Thomas Barcelos on keyboards, Daniel Defavari on bass and Thiago Siqueira on drums) soon discovered that the necessity of their own music would have to suffice.

Their signature sound soon appeared.

With influences as Dream Theater, Rush and Journey, Ansata had to surpass some formation exchanges before launching its first release of original songs. The launching of the song, “Above Them All,” in Brazil and Germany proved the force behind the band while generating numerous interest with the rock industry community. Then after a split it up Ansata returned to the stage in 2008. And thank goodness for that. VIVA! Visit their website at www.ansataonline.com.br – Jorge Leandro Rodrigues/edie

Barefoot Truth The Barefeet EP I only had to hear one song by Barefoot Truth before I agreed to join my friends on a road trip from New Jersey to South Bridge, Massachusetts to see them play a benefit show for Soles 4 Souls. Soles 4 Souls is an organization that takes donations of shoes and uses them to aid those less fortunate. Upon entering the venue, we presented our unwanted pairs of shoes and received a free, six track cd in exchange. The cd titled, The Barefeet EP, is a live compilation of songs from their 3 full length, recorded albums combined with two newer songs that have not yet been recorded on an album. This particular cd is not available in stores or online because it was exclusive to the Soles 4 Souls benefit, however, all of the songs are available on iTunes.

Most of them can even be heard for free on the band’s My Space.

Barefoot Truth consists of four talented musicians and the sounds of less common instruments such as a stand-up bass, played by Andy Wrba and the harmonica, played by Garrett Duffy. Their music is similar to that of many popular rock bands of the 60’s and 70’s. They are what I like to call a, “hippy jam band.” These guys really know how to play their instruments and exhibit genuine talent with every song they play.

A wide array of styles can be established throughout the six songs. It would be impossible to assign one genre of music to this band. The cd starts off with one of their lat41

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est and most popularly downloaded songs, “All Good Reasons.” The relaxed and pleasant guitar intro makes way for a Southern sound, similar to bands like O.A.R. The next song, “Drink To You,” has a more serious tone but the pace picks up for the third and fourth tracks. These songs, “Threads,” and, “Eagle Front,” bare a striking resemblance to bands like Sublime and 311.

The last two songs on the EP are what I would consider Barefoot Truth at their finest.

They are perfect examples of what this band is really about; playing music and playing it well.

“Mama’s Minstrel,” has praise worthy guitar solos that clearly show the exceptional guitar capabilities of Jay Driscoll and Will Benoit. Driscoll and Benoit both master in the art of guitar, percussion and vocals for the band. The harmonica is at its best in the last song, “Reelin’.” The band recorded a video for this single and it can be viewed on YouTube. On the EP, “Reelin,’” becomes an eighteen minute long jam session as the end of the song trails off into a percussion solo that lasts several minutes, followed by a bass solo, lasting almost as long. After the percussion and bass solos, the harmonica and guitars chime back in to wrap up the song and the cd.

Barefoot Truth is a unique band with an extraordinary talent and passion for the music in which they play. It is unfortunate that there aren’t enough bands out there like this. They include a variety of style and flair in their songs, producing a soothing and pleasant sound. Music

by Barefoot Truth can by downloaded on iTunes and also found at www.barefoottruth.com or www.myspace.com/barefoottruth. More information about the organization Soles 4 Souls can be obtained at www.soles4souls.org.

– Cindy Chisvette

Bruce Springsteen Waiting on a Dream Columbia

People more insightful than me might be able to exult the sonic significance of Stone Temple Pilots, Limp Bizkit and Korn.

I find all three to be mucky low points from the 90’s and not particularly proud moments for humanity in general. For some reason in 2001, Bruce Springsteen enlisted the man who mixed and produced these metal/grunge corporate monstrosities (Brendan O’Brien) to lend his shit-strewn ears of tin to the Springsteen juggernaut.

If some time ago, on the cusp of stardom, Springsteen made the symbolic deal to, “trade in these wings on some wheels,” to become a powerhouse messiah bringing the religion of Rock and the runaway American dream to the masses, then this new deal with O’Brien involved trading in the aforementioned wheels for roller skates: Not the shiny, pretty ones that Melanie sings about but the rusty, dusty, silly ones that are being gnawed on right now by shifty eyed vermin in your parent’s attic.

Waiting on a Dream, O’Brien’s fourth

album as producer for Springsteen, is a tug-ofwar between Springsteen’s no nonsense stripped down working-man aesthetic and O’Brien’s version of a loud, shiny, digital wall of sound. Thankfully Springsteen emerges victorious, though O’Brien’s radio fart sheen is evident throughout.

“Outlaw Pete,” gets things off to an epic start, not quite in the, “Thunder Road,” vein but then again it isn’t trying to take that route. The string section and stadium reverb are straight out of a Killers song, sucked-in metronomic drums remove dynamics and any live feel from Max Weinberg’s astonishing hands—and overly pumped bass barf all over the mix courtesy of O’Brien.

Springsteen, however, is in good form, both as a writer and as a singer. His barrel chested, Roy Orbison (sans operatic cat shrieks) mode is somewhat akin to Dylan’s Nashville Skyline reinvention that articulated clarity and high drama.

The Roy Orbison ghost keeps haunting corners of the album especially with the heavy symphonic orchestrations, rockabilly stories and underlying tinge of sadness throughout.

Though the album talks of lucky days, happy dreams and shining love through shimmering pop melodies and angelic strings, I distinctly hear a darkness. Maybe all the optimistic talk seems a bit too much like one trying to convince themself of something. Plus the addition of, “The Wrestler,” with its hopeless underdog nihilism plays a little like the end of The Tim Robbins film Bob Roberts where the title character’s hidden lie is revealed in the closing shot. Robert’s tapping foot is Tim Robbins’ way of winking at us, letting us in on the con and here, “The Wrestler,” is Springsteen’s capitulation of some cold, hard truth.

The two highlights are the, ‘Girls In Their Summer Clothes’-esque poppy gem, “Queen of the Supermarket,” and, “The Wrestler.”

“Queen,” is a mix of, “Lost in the Supermarket,” and, “Waterloo Sunset.” It contains Springsteen’s coolest lyric in years; “I turn back for a moment and catch a smile/it blows this whole fucking place apart.” It has a cacophony of strings, an irresistible chorus and makes me want to go buy something right now.

“The Wrestler,” oddly enough, sounds different from the rest of the album, more rich and sonically full, like O’Brien didn’t get his grubby hands on it. I don’t mean to go on and on about the producer; maybe Springsteen likes what he brings or welcomes the syrupy din that O’Brien creates and the adulation and young audience that the collaboration has seem to have brought. Maybe he has simply relinquished some control, quit trying to be some Stanley Kubrick, triple thinking every move. I can’t read The Boss’ thoughts but he does seem revitalized and O’Brien should receive some of the credit for that.

Considering Springsteen’s tendency to leave great songs off of albums or to finish an album and then write a superior song only to remain unreleased or to be used in a film (“Lift Me Up” vs. The Ghost Of Tom Joad, “Streets Of Philadelphia” vs. Lucky Town & Human Touch, “Sad Eyes” vs. Tunnel Of Love etc.) it is fortunate that he included, “The Wrestler,” on Waiting on a Dream. It is also fortunate that the song is so well received considering that it leans toward Springsteen’s better albums/ songs and away from O’Brien’s 90’s goop. Here’s hoping that The Boss keeps wining the fight.

- Jeff Hassay

Davina Robinson The Blazing Heart Davina Robinson is a Philly-based musician with musical career roots in Japan.

She has been successful in a very important thing; rounding up the Japanese audience and making them her biggest fans. She has done so by making a stance as a screaming rockand-roll icon that people relate to and want to be around in a club atmosphere. Ms. Robinson talks about adversity, pain, and the positive example that rises above rocker stereotypes.

Previously there has been some great rock females that have broken boundaries for the pop/rock culture in the States, which is certainly a much more difficult space to overcome than it has been in more open cultures. This is not the truth in places like Japan, which has taken some of our coveted rockers and made them great again. It has also given other artists the chance to have a positive audience and a decent reception.

As a rocker, a female artist has several things to overcome. The first is gender, which consistently creates a different image between men and women. Another is edge, and that is scrutinized by our media and youth in an almost unbearable fashion.

This woman defies these challenges and stands up to the public in an honest and powerful way. With a four-song set that rocks hard from the start, Robinson employs hard drum beats and guitar riffs to describe her feelings about life, death and the possibilities that lie beyond.

Each song has its own unique rhythm and timbre that carries out the overall spirit and urgency of rock. Opening with, “Making Love To Your Girlfriend,” the artist somewhat inspires irony in the rough edge and pace. Throughout the next two songs, “Never Good Enough,” and “Conversations In My Head,” she pulls through with a powerful spoken word-style hard rock that blasts the listener.

What is the most striking piece, however, is the third track, “Keeping Me Sane.” Suddenly there is a wonderful piece of Robinson’s humanity that comes through and gives a fantastic and personal view regarding the difficulties in living and the burden of endless working and overcoming. This track will be the most recognized on the album in the future for this artist.

The construction is excellent, and the content is breathable. There is much yet to be learned of the mind of Davina Robinson and we are listening. www.davinarobinson.com - Thomas Page

Deerhunter Microcastle Kranky Deerhunter’s newest disc, Microcastle,

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is an impressive sonic experience. The band departs from the darker sounds of previous releases and explores new and interesting avenues. Guitars swirl, swell and sink, comfortably cushioned by throbbing bass and driving drums. And vocalist Bradford Cox sings mesmerizingly, as if floating, trapped between your iPod walls. He sings like he desperately is looking for a way out – an escape – but knows it is something he will never find.

The album fuses an angsty calm reminiscent Sea Change era Beck with cacophonous distortions, pointed guitar solos and memorable melodies. It harkens back to 90’s indie-pop (Pavement and the oft compared My Bloody Valentine come to mind), while forming a sound and message with a modern twist. The band invites their listeners to find inspiration and experience in this disc – one that preaches both nihilistic beliefs of nothingness and explores the transient experience of life.

On, “Nothing Ever Happened,” Cox sings, “only when I dream but there’s no way out/focus on the depth that was never there/ nothing ever happened to me.” His lament on the stagnancy of life is juxtaposed with his artistic desire. Cox and his band create something real and beautiful in this disc and cannot argue that, ‘nothing has happened.’ Microcastle is a classic album, bending genres and contesting the typical lyrical and musical approach of its contemporaries.

The bonus disc, Weird Era Continued, takes more experimental approach. Often forming fragmentary and experimental sounds into songs, the production is rougher and less influential here. The band takes a lo-fi approach, carving out edges on these songs that are fewer and farther between on Microscastle. Tracks like, “Backspace Century,” march forward determinedly, organically ebbing and flowing.

Indeed, the band spends much of these discs slowly building and collapsing; mastering the manipulation of dynamics. They strive towards explosions of energy and character, only to back down and begin construction once more. In this way, the songs keep us interested throughout – they rarely follow a set course or pattern and are wonderfully unpredictable without being abrasive.

Well-crafted and moving, Microcastle, is an enjoyable listen. Dripping with effects laden guitars, delayed vocals and arpeggios, the music suspends the listener in time. This album is an experience in restricted vitality. Listening to it is like being frozen in a block of ice, while the world explodes around you. Somehow, there is serenity in the chaos. – Matt Giegerich

El Soter Apple Tree of Discord Neversun Records Brought to you by Neversun Records, Apple Tree of Discord, by El Soter is an industrial project, pioneered by Blaz Erzetic. The album

is dark and predominantly instrumental, upholding a gothic theme. Infused with poetry from Emily Dickinson, the lyrics also touch on various social issues effecting today’s world.

The instrumentals are heavy, yet melodic and the music sounds beautiful despite the clashing tone of Erzetic’s voice. El Soter’s sound is quite similar to that of bands like Nine Inch Nails and Orgy. Although the mood of the album is completely dreary and even spooky at times, there is no screaming in the vocals, which is something I had expected after listening to the first few tracks. Instead, vocalist, Erzetic, keeps up a deep, monotonous tone throughout the songs, making the music sound even creepier. Erzetic’s mumbling makes it almost impossible to understand any of the lyrics, which is unfortunate, because he has a lot to criticize about the world in which we live. Helen Fillipcic can be heard reciting the Dickinson poems on the tracks, “Pre-Initiation,” the introduction and again at the end in, “Post End.” The musical introduction in, “Post End,” is also phenomenal. The poetry that begins and ends on this release provides originality as well as insight to some of America’s most famous poetry.

Some of the most meaningful songs on the cd are, “Blaming The Moon,” which is about scapegoats, but even more meaningful is the song, “Chaos Based Directions.” The first verse, which is, “Scared by the future/stressed by the past/ no progress at all,” speaks for itself.

El Soter clearly has a lot of points to prove and the only way to hear them is to give the album, Apple Tree Of Discord, a chance by checking out their web site at www.elsoter.com.

– Cindy Chisvette

Forcefield ON Llipspill Called, ‘a teeny, tiny indie rock orchestra,’ Forcefield ON compliments it’s music by paring standard guitar, bass, drum and piano with a blaring horn section bringing a tear to my eye as I reminiscence on how brilliant Duncan Kilburn’s saxophone worked so well with The Psychedelic Furs. What happens a lot in the band’s release, Llipspill, is that the sometimes ubiquitous brass instruments slum it by becoming just as gritty as the guitar sounds alongside the shoe-gazing pondering of vocalist (and guitarist) Jesse Wilder. Taking the road less traveled can not always prove positive but it materializes some great songs on Llipspill, as well as offering the poetic frustrations of Wilder as he sings, “There you are/I would hope you would follow/ but I don’t know how many drugs you have swallowed/I know my opinion won’t make a difference now,” in the song, “Time It Gets Good.”

In this song, the horns compliment the wall of

guitars by playing along with the drum and bass line, blowing the music completely out of proportion. Forcefield ON states, “everything created by this band is orchestrated from the inside to the outside.” Chasing this statement could only mean one thing – the more blood/sweat/tears, the better. And the more band members, the bigger the emotional vortex. Next to Wilder (who also plays piano), there is Jake Berrey on bass, John Sisk on guitar, Brandon Laws on drums, Matt Guy on trombone (and backing vocals) and Corey Rudolph on trombone and this line up offers only the most stellar compositions that have others calling it a slew of made-up musical genres. I find it quietly bold and dramatic. It’s got drive and soul, it’s got killer hooks and it’s loud and oh so very rock and roll, without the empty pretentiousness. I guess the ‘music with heart’ thing is true with these guys. In their bio, Forcefield ON admits, “the group’s name comes more from a secluded feeling than an outer space adventure.

Turning your force field on at the end of the day and concentrating on yourself…” My advice? Turn yourself on to Llipspill. And turn yourself ON. www.myspace.com/forcefieldon - edie

Hour of the Shipwreck The Hour is Upon Us. According to their Myspace page, Los Angeles’s Hour of the Shipwreck is influenced by, “Anything that takes you somewhere and makes you want to stay there forever.” The band lives up to its word, creating an alluring world on its new album. Richie Kohan’s 12-string and Aaron Arntz’s organ anchor most songs. A dramatic rhythm section, a spooky choir, and occasional electric guitar and strings fill out the ensemble.

This band sounds unique, with influences ranging from Bach to Metallica. But they sound most like Radiohead. Like that band, Hour’s chords sound exotic but jarring, their rhythms sophisticated and syncopated. Kohan sings like Thom Yorke on valium, his voice ranging from whispery baritone to whiny falsetto. But he never gets as pissed off as Yorke does; the band never matches Radiohead’s explosive climaxes, either. Primarily, they are more interested in creating musical trances. The band’s message echoes Radiohead’s as well. Kohan feels like an outcast. He sings that, “I’m not wanted here inside this world.” Not wanted here, Kohan flees to a fantasy world. At times, he catches himself feeling self-pity. I sense more than a little irony, in the lines, “If I could start all over again it’d be okay I swear.” He even suggests fantasy can be destructive, perhaps because it distracts him from the real world. However, in the end, Kohan continues to fantasize even though he knows better. This cd merits a listen, especially for those who feel like Kohan does. On the other hand, most of its songs go on a bit too long. As mentioned before, the band’s dynamic level is always set between soft and medium, never getting truly loud. Some songs seem under-produced: in instrumental sec43

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tions, melody lines are buried underneath a wall of sound. Having only formed three and a half years ago, the band has plenty of time to develop its sound. In that time, its large fan base is sure to grow. Spend an hour in this band’s world and you may want to stay there longer. www.myspace. com/houroftheshipwreck - Christian Recca

Luthea Salom Sunbeam Surrounded

by Winter Luthea Salom is a nomadic singer/songwriter with a guitar in hand.

Her bohemian melodies take on somewhat of a sweetened version of Alanis Morissette. And not surprisingly, Salom actually opened for Morissette as a teenager while living in London. After spending her childhood in Canada, teenage years in Barcelona and a stint in London Salom currently calls New York City her home.

Her contagiously melodic tunes draw vibes from her Spanish upbringing with a little SoHo in the late 90’s thrown in. The self-proclaimed, “helpless observer,” fits in seamlessly at a stay-all-night coffee shop or up as loud as the stereo goes on a girls only road trip. Her cover of David Bowie’s, “Rebel Rebel,” is the highlight of this cd and a favorite sing-a-long, though the poetic lyrics on her other tracks are not to be overlooked. All in all, Salom’s got a powerful voice and a knack for harmony. Grab a copy of Sunbeam Surrounded by Winter for your little sister’s birthday or throw it on the stereo system at work. All and all it should be an easy pleaser. http://www.lutheasalom.com -Alexandra Kain

Maria DeMaio Maria DeMaio’s new self-titled cd is a disc decorated with sultry, moving vocals, rich piano and bluesy guitar.

Each well-written song leads to another and the album rarely disappoints.

Backed by strong rhythm and horn sections, ‘The Fellas,’ DeMaio fuses blues and funk with a little bit of country and a whole lot of rock n’ roll.

Tracks like, “Her Side,” feature driving piano, drums and well-placed blues riffs from a crunchy guitar. DeMaio’s delivery is reminiscent of John Mayer in its rhythmic crooning and Fiona Apple in its raspy, yearning desperation. Lyrics lilt from the front-woman, who challenges her listeners, singing: “You don’t have to know right now/but you’re the one who opened up the door.” She begins the cd eager to be judged and confident in her craft.

DeMaio’s confidence continues to erupt throughout this disc. Another standout cut, “Swell,” is exciting, funny and quirky. DeMaio’s hands take staccato hops around the keyboard and the bass

holds down a great groove. Horns chime throughout the tune to add rich layering and valuable sonic complexity. A perfect example of her song writing prowess, “Swell,” is happily unpredictable. It moves from funky grooves, to a horn-riddled chorus, to solemn guitars and back again.

It is no surprise that DeMaio has achieved high recognition in the music world. She has not only been nominated for, ‘Best International Pop CD,’

by Toronto Exclusive Magazine, but has also been named a finalist in VH1’s International Song of the Year contest.

To hear more, head over to www.MariaDeMaio.com or head out to club near you.

– Matt Giegerich

Morrissey Years Of Refusal Lost Highway Three years between records, moving to yet another record label, more misunderstanding in the press (and with the FBI), living, “in the absence of your love,” and an abundance of refusal have put Morrissey in a frisky mood.

His new album has an up-tempo distorted swagger with Ennio Morricone spurts of Mariachi, T Rex guitar chords, tommy gun drums and crooner orgasm synths. It’s basic Morrissey flair. It focuses on the rockier end of the spectrum with added dramatic flourishes — in short he continues to be the glam rock Leonard Cohen; a permanent moping bachelor sporting a tailored suit who talks of gloomy eternal truths.

Like Cohen, Morrissey uses insouciance and dry bawdy humor to deliver his sermon. He’s like a sad clown in reverse: the tears are on the outside and hidden just beneath the surface is the goofy makeup and coy smile. The subject matter gets pretty grim. “When Last I Spoke To Carol,” is about hopelessness and death (suicide even?), “That’s How People Grow Up,” is about disillusionment and spinal injury and as far as I can tell, “It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore,” (the album’s best track) is about pretending to be nice to someone on their birthday and then raping them the day after. Aside from that minor detail it is pretty catchy and could be a hit.

Like every Morrissey record that will ever be recorded (and generally misunderstood), the darkness on this one is equally matched and even surpassed by a sharp witted gallows humor that borders on stand up comedy. Sure, “It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore,” infers sinister things but the title is playful and silly, like the Smiths’ “Unhappy Birthday:” “I came to wish you an unhappy birthday/because you’re evil and you lie/ and if you should die/ I may feel slightly sad but I won’t cry.” His Oscar Wild-ian turns of phrases are so well calculated and humorous that it is sometimes difficult to take them seriously.

Take the aside in, “Sorry Doesn’t Help:” “Sorry will not bring my love into my arms (as far as I know).”

This is the wise cracking role that Morrissey seems most comfortable playing, adding one quick line like, “I may feel slightly sad but I won’t cry,” or “…as far as I know,” like a T.V. comic winking at the camera.

The very hubris of the song title, “All You Need Is

Me,” deserves a rim shot. As does the album cover.

Moz holds the little fat baby like it’s a rubber chicken or a machine gun. And is it inappropriate to notice that his hand is on the little guy’s private parts? Morrissey’s hand, which held the microphone phallus on the cover of, Your Arsenal, has morphed into some sort of chastity belt for the young lad.

What this amounts to is, of course, a terrific record. It is layered and dense and suggests that repeated listens will uncover secret treasures. It doesn’t soar to the heights that, Your Arsenal, or Viva Hate, does but then again it far surpasses, Kill Uncle, and, You Are The Quarry.

It’s good to see Morrissey enjoying his revival and he seems to want to rock out more than chill out which is somewhat of a shame. His strengths in singing and turning lyrical phrases are best suited in slow burners like, “I’ve Changed My Plea To Guilty,” “I Know Vey Well How I Got My Name,” and “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want.”

The tempo slows down on Refusal but basically for the weakest, slightly jazzy number, “You Were Good In Your Time,” which plays like a mix between, “Rubber Ring,” and, “Driving Your Girlfriend Home,” and would have been better relegated to a b-side or oblivion. Still, even his weakest, most complaining songs are interesting. Here’s hoping that Morrissey continues to get beaten, battered and refused.

-Jeff Hassay

Noise Within So, I have been listening to this 5-song promo cd by the band, Noise Within, out of Hollywood, California. They made a smart move in choosing, “Opportunity,” for the first track, as first impressions are so crucial, especially for bands/demos. I think I am realizing, just now, how true that is: If the first track hits me in a positive way, it sets a good tone for the rest of the cd (though it simultaneously creates expectations that may not be met on later tracks). “Opportunity,” is a very highenergy, rocking track that begins with a driving drum part and bass-line, builds with a melodic, descending guitar passage and then explodes with a radical heavy guitar riff. Between the constantly pulsing beat, the high quality of the engineering and the production, and the frequent changes of the music, it is clear that the group is very experienced and has been around the block a few times.

I should take a step back and note that the band included a “one-sheet” with a headline that reads “Motorhead meets Pink Floyd”. As I have acknowledged in previous reviews for Dig This Real, I love Motorhead, so I had to see if this group could deliver on their claim. The first loud guitar riff of, “Opportunity,” and the drive of the tune definitely give me a Motorhead vibe, so I guess that part makes sense. As for the Pink Floyd comparison? I do not know if that was meant to be a joke, but that part is not really coming through. The one-sheet also provides some background on the members of Noise Within and as their tunes indicate, they are not new to the game of being in a band or making records. Singer Boris Bouma was a member of the band Epidemic on Elektra Records, bassist Josh “Tumor” Fahnestock was a founding member of Snot,

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and drummer Tommy Sickles was in Nothingface.

All of the lessons that these guys had learned in previous projects are surely being put to use on the Noise Within demo: As I mentioned, the production and engineering are very high-quality; the playing of all members is very tight; and in particular, the drum engineering and playing is more or less flawless. I visited their MySpace page (myspace.com/noisewithinband) and between the blogs on the page (written by Bouma) and the onesheet, it is clear that these guys have fully realized and embraced the fact that the music industry is in an entirely different mode than it was before internet file-sharing changed everything. One of the blogs notes that Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, is giving his music away for free, and so, intelligently, Noise Within admits that to ask fans to pay for their music, when Reznor’s is free, would imply, “delusions of grandeur.” By typing this, I almost feel that I can finally and fully embrace my long-growing criticism and skepticism of “the new version of the music industry”: there is no turning back!

In a related note, the version of, “Opportunity,” that is on the MySpace page sounds weak and thin when compared to the cd version, further affirming my belief that streaming audio through the web is an inferior medium (aside from the fact that it makes so many songs instantly available). Furthermore, it is incredibly saddening that THIS is how the youth are finding, ingesting and digesting new bands and media! AND THERE IS NO TURNING BACK!?

Anyhow, speaking further of Nine Inch Nails, Bouma notes in another blog (aptly entitled, “The beginning of my great adventure in Buttfuck, Germany”) that he saw Trent and Company open for Guns and Roses and it was a key moment in inspiring him to become a musician. All of this information would then help to explain why I hear a noticeable similarity between Bouma’s vocals and those of Reznor (especially on the opening verse of, “Opportunity”).

On the whole, the music is very good, though sometimes it crosses over into “mainstream/ modern radio rock” a little bit too much for my taste.

However, there are very intense guitar riffs and drumbreaks that would be too much for modern rock radio. I am reminded of bands like Chevelle, Breaking Benjamin, etc., but the sound of Noise Within seems to be more genuinely angry, more passionate and hungrier than those groups. Then again, Bouma and friends are smart to include those radio-friendly choruses/hooks; again, showing evidence of lessons learned. The cd also has a handful of short but interesting samples and noises that spice up production but are perhaps too abrasive or surprising for a radio rock band. Lyrically, the themes seem geared toward criticizing Hollywood, America, capitalism, etc., as on the chorus of, “Opportunity,” “Sleep well tonight/ the money’s on your side’the mortgage is paid.” Some of the words are hard to make out, so it is hard to understand the full story, but this is the general vibe that I get.

The rest of the demo is almost equally solid with interesting riffs, rhythms and vocal contributions. Aside from the fact that they delve into the radio-rock thing, the one other criticism that I have is I would like to see them push the musical envelope a little more. The band has its own brand of rock, there is no doubt about that, but I feel that they could go further into uncharted territory. Despite my nitpicking, I am impressed with the overall package, and pleased that the group sounds so passionate and is producing music of this quality, even though they are well aware of the current state of

the industry. - Nicholas Miller

Rich Driver There is so much promise in the opening track of Rich Driver’s self-titled debut that what follows is only a let down in comparison.

“Holiday,” the opening song, is a hangover soaked tune about loss and regret. The presentation is stripped down and the delivery is honest. It builds a lot of expectations for what follows and while what follows has a lot of energy, most the tunes don’t capture the same quality as the opening track. The next two tracks, “Flexible,” and “J Street,” have a Barenaked Ladies vibe to them, which come across too glossy and miss the uniqueness of the first track. The song, “Free Time,” brings back some of his uniqueness while he proclaims, “Free time always makes me nervous.” And though he also claims that he will take things, “One day at a time,” this allows the listener to get closer to Driver.

The problem is, when you get closer, you tend to get further pushed away and a song like, “Messages,” is a rant of society’s mass consumerism. While it’s easy to agree with Driver’s point, it tends to feel bland, although the guitar riff attached to the song is pretty cool. It’s at the midway point of the disc where Driver displays his alt-country side with a couple of raggedy tunes and then a jazzy/rock tune, “Alive and Well,” which presents some interesting dynamics, although the song is a bit boring. The disc concludes with the second best track which is, “Falling Down,” that has a nice Stone-esqe swagger of self-loathing. www.richdrivermusic.com – Nelson Heise

Patrick David Koch Recipe What shot out of the speakers on the initial track of Patrick David Koch’s, Recipe, was a rambunctious Paul Simon-sounding gentleman singing, ”goddamn she’s beautiful/the daughter of our sweet inspiration.” Okay, this was going to be a rowdy, self-reflective, line turning singer-songwriter entertaining me for the next ten tracks and for the most part it was. There are a lot more high then low points on this follow up to Koch’s 2005, Songs for Sale- Vol. 1. The aforementioned first track entitled, “Mine and Yours,” is an upbeat little romp that does sound like a 1970’s Paul Simon, with a nice hook and horn parts that create a solid opening number. The third track, “A Song before the War,” also has the same feel. The second tune, “True Blue,” slips more into the alt-country realm.

Throughout the entire disc, Koch’s slips in and out of contemporary sounds from bluesy folk to shiny pop. The title track has a Kurt Cobain songwriting vibe to it, that falls off the 1, 4, 5 chord pattern to

give it a little mystery. “Thanks for the Photograph,” was a tune that did not resonant well for me. It came across too poppy and Koch sounds better when he’s taking on a more traditional folk sound or early 70’s pop. This was one of the more contemporary tracks that felt generic. In the song, “Tonight,” Koch’s voice has an eerie similarity to Coldplay’s Chris Martin. This tends to add to the somber tone of the song.

Koch is definitely a well-versed songwriter that has picked up a lot of elements and influences to incorporate in his music. He has certain genres that seem to suit his voice and style better, but no one can criticize the man for stretching his musical ambitions.

While not every track is outstanding there are 4 or 5 that really make an impression and display Koch’s talent and appreciation for his musical influences. www. myspace.com/patrickdavidkoch - Nelson Heise

Rivers Cuomo Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo Geffen Records Picasso is a terrific artist. He is world renowned and respected by all. Over his career, he explored many avenues of expression. His journey took him from the Blue Period through Cubism, into Surrealism and beyond. However, as his style developed and transformed his support waxed and waned. Although we respect each of his phases today, he did not always enjoy such unconditional love.

This is how we must understand Rivers Cuomo - a modern day Picasso. As he has moved from his own Blue period, through Pink(erton), Green and Red, the master song craft has suffered much criticism for the direction his art has taken.

However, Cuomo’s recent foray into the solo world has silenced his fickle critics. His newest disc, Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo, is a logical extension of Cuomo’s similarly titled 2007 effort. It is raw, refreshing and full of quirky goodness. The album represents the singer’s hand picked selections from over 800 songs written and recorded over his illustrious career. It allows the listener a peak into Cuomo’s complicated mind and takes us in many directions a Weezer cd won’t.

The album fittingly opens with a proud declaration. “Victory on the Hill,” is a cacophonous collision of many trumpets, all calling out at once.

No, the horns aren’t in tune, in time, or particularly harmonious. Still, this track is the perfect introduction to the more traditional collection of songs that follows. These are not Weezer songs. They are unproduced and under scrutinized and this is what makes them magnificent. We are allowed a glimpse into the laboratory of a mad genius.

On, “I Was Scared,” Cuomo uses a simple, four note bass riff that would fit well on an early NFG or Nerfherder album and transforms it into a labyrinthine demonstration of song writing prowess. The singer moves freely from spoken word to his characteristic strain and sings in the chorus, “I was scared/I was terrified/I was lost and so I let you down”. Just like he always does, Cuomo makes the simple lyrics sing with honesty and desperation in a 45

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way few artists can and this track is certainly no let down.

The collaboration with Jermaine Dupris, “Can’t Stop Partying,” is similarly revealing. The song, which might be a top 40 club hit in the hands of N.E.R.D., instead assumes a quiet meekness in Cuomo’s hands. A stripped-bare acoustic guitar accompanies the vocals as he explores the insecurities of life in a material-world. Lines like, “I gotta have Pedron/I gotta have the E/I gotta have the pretty girls around me,” take on deeper meaning than one might assume. What some artists might tout as evidence of success, Cuomo identifies as weakness and vice.

An integral step in the ladder that is Cuomo’s career, this disc is a must listen. Weezer fans will value rarities like, “Jonas,” and, “Come to my Pod,” and general music enthusiasts will relish inimitable and enjoyable songwriting.

Bonuses: Extensive liner notes and a Beach Boys cover. – Matt Giegerich

Rustcycle Daisho From the artist’s website: “Rustcycle is the pseudonym used by musician / artist / professional geek Adrian Johnson. Adrian completed a Masters in Computer Science, focusing on automatic generation of audio and video through evolutionary computation techniques. He continues to seek ways to combine his passions for tech and creative expression.” While I primarily love styles of music that were originally meant to be more aggressive and subversive (such as punk rock and heavy metal), I did go to music school, I did study computer science and I did explore the application of technology to music and other artistic mediums. So, if you couldn’t already tell, this Rustcycle stuff is right up my alley. Even before I read the bio, but had only heard fragments of the first few tracks on the album, Daisho, I knew that I would really enjoy this cd. Not only do the techniques used to create the music remind me of some of the musical production experiments that I embarked upon while in college, the music itself reminds me a lot of a couple of tracks that I did during that time.

But enough about me, Daisho, is described on the artist’s website as follows: “This avante garde album uniquely bridges the gap between progressive electronica, progressive rock, and classical influences.

A cohesive work with each track written as a movement in a greater whole.” While I can not authenticate the claim about “progressive electronica”, I think that this description is actually pretty accurate! The album does feel pretty cohesive and each track sort of melts into the next. Now, don’t get me wrong, if you don’t like these styles of music, you might totally hate, Daisho. But I would guess that if you like any kind of electronic music and especially if you also like guitar playing, then you will appreciate this disc. It kind of gives me the impression of what a Joe Satriani album would be like if Satriani were to remove all of the overblown, self-indulgent guitar parts and then add a few large helpings of more avante-garde electronic music.

Okay, maybe not…

The majority of the music has an engaging, emotional quality to it, despite the fact that it

may have been made with electro-techniques. A big problem that occurs with music that is made on electronic instruments or through non-human-controlled means is that it loses its human quality and that can lead to a lack of connection between the audio and the listener. Rustcycle avoids falling victim to this trap in many ways, including interjecting interesting, somewhat-lo-fi timbres and also breaking up certain patterns with jittery rhythms. The real, human guitar playing also helps, because although the playing is good, it is not perfect. The tracks that lean more toward more standard dance music, those are my least favorite moments of the album, but nonetheless, still enjoyable. Highlights include: the short, but very sweet opening track (“Yin and Phonic”), which is a great way to begin the project; track two (“Reverse I”) features a very melancholy but soothing string arrangement; “Wazikashi – Part II” (track eight) has some very glitchy grooves and beats; “Inner Reservoir”, number 11, is made up almost entirely of vocal “oohs” and “ahhs”; and the last track, thirteen, which is marked as “untitled”, is a hidden track and sounds like a stray synth groove from a Britney Spears song but with a very unusual and minimalist composition. http://www.myspace.com/rustcycle - Nicholas Miller

Scott Paris Inti-Matter Canton, Ohio Renaissance man, Scott Paris, is in a good place. He claims to be a “fulltime musician,” making a decent living while recording at his home studio and garnering weekly gigs. In a world where the musician is probably better off doing things DIY, Paris has quickly settled into this realm, with his offering called Inti-Matter.

Sounding more like Ian Thornley (of Big Wreck fame), yet penning songs that were slightly influenced by Paris’ own claimed muses, The Flaming Lips, Inti-Matter showcases exactly what a musician can do when left alone to their own devices, may it be chancing one single idea for a song. However, the larger than life band feel found in this music here may not be a full representation of Paris, who tends to perform solo. And when he takes these tunes out acoustically, they stand strong even though they are stripped bare of their production, thus proving that it’s the composition that must be good enough to begin with. Paris is in his mid-20’s and has been writing music since he was 12, so he does tend to carry himself as a seasoned veteran and it can be heard in songs like,” Contagion,” where, it probably took him two seconds to write it but sounds like to should have taken over a year. You can also catch numerous videos that Paris has organized called, “Random Acts of Music,” on his web and myspace locations. At these locations, you get to experience two Paris’. Take the song, “Red Herring,” from his release and then see him perform it live on myspace. The song comes up completely different in sound, feel and delivery, proving that this is a sign of a critical musician who should probably lock himself up in a studio and just record forever. I can bet only engaging listens will be produced, nothing less.

“Never, never, ever push me/in front of that mirror again/I can’t see clearly/that you are distorting,” Paris desperately sings in, “Skeleton Key to A Wormhole,” as the speedy paced song offers a dramatic coda, as

he continues singing, “please don’t change for me/ you might not like who you end up to be.” The final track of this release is the reprise of, “Skeleton Key to a Wormhole,: but by the time you get to this final track, you find the song has slowed up a bit and Paris’ singing sounds more relaxed and calmer. As he coos, “Do you feel like you belong?” in the final track, I find myself ready for another round with this cd, hoping to catch even more of its ever-changing musical scenery. www.myspace.com/scottparis – edie

Social Clash Social Clash is an aggressive pop punk band from Toronto, Canada.

The band consists of five guys; Frank Piro (vocals), Carlos Fachada (guitars), Mike Husiak (guitars), Davin Kiss (bass), Jon Husiak (drums) and one six track demo. Despite the name, they are hardly a clash in the music scene - they fit right in with the other pop punk bands that have been hitting mainstream air waves lately. MTV just hasn’t found them yet. They have a hefty fan base in the Toronto area already and have the potential to take it further.

This six song demo features tracks with fast, forceful guitars and vocalist, Piro belting out his frustration into the microphone. He sings from the heart, in his scratchy, yet melodic voice, with a furious passion. The lyrical content is mostly cries of angst and regards typical, life struggles. Husiak and Fachada, on guitars, make notable use of effects pedals to give the songs that extra something.

The first three tracks, “Give Me A Chance,” “Count You Out,” and, “One on One,” are immediate attention grabbers. The songs are catchy and full of life, especially, “Give Me A Chance,” because it’s easier to understand the lyrics and sing along to. “Count You Out,” and, “One on One,” are both distinguishable for their guitar techniques and skills. The music gets heavier for, “Manners Matter,” and the last song, “Restless.” They slow it down and Piro stops screaming, at least a little bit. In, “For More,” Social Clash sounds almost like a completely different band. Who knew Piro could hit those high notes!

They are nothing I haven’t heard before, but Social Clash is on the road to success, so far. If they keep it up with those creative guitar effects, strong vocals and lyrics that most people can sympathize with, then they are on the right track. Their music is available on their web site at www.socialclash.com and their demo is often handed out for free at their live performances.

– Cindy Chisvette

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The Dead Trees King of Rosa Milan Hailing as last year’s best kept secret, Portland’s (via Boston) quartet, known as The Dead Trees offers their latest release, a collection of 10 songs that are chock-full of sweet and sticky guitar-alt tunes, alongside of somber psychedelic loud numbers and twangy pop. The bands cd entitled, King of Rosa has something familiar for everyone. Having much hype to live up to since their extremely uncalculated emergence and “legendary” debut ep release called Fort Music, King of Rosa, gives the fans something they should be thrilled about and will undoubtedly start to collect more and more fans. Songs like “Shelter,” and “New England Skies,” are easy, breezy and interesting to listen to compositions, yet when the song(s) come to an end, you may find yourself a little intrigue on what exactly you might have missed during the song’s duration. The Dead Trees work within this medium of smoke mirrors. Offering a basic approach to songwriting, they have this ability to take the simplest notion to a song and orchestra it to gigantic proportions of sounds, even if it’s a honky-tonk sounding saloon piano line or vocals sung in harmony. Some songs sound like they are lost in time, like “Killer In Me,” which slips and slides out of the stereo speakers in a full-out glam rock and pop feel, yet the song seduces the listener as the verses roll in. At this point, the song sounds as if it’s a completely different tune.

I just love that. Don’t you? Here you also find a nicely crafted instrumental called, “Instrumental.” In this song, the listener partakes in a smart and quick jam, one where Noah Rubin (drums, vocals) flexes his beats a bit unexpectedly. The rest of the band members; Matthew Borg (guitar), Tad Dahlhoff (bass/vocals) and Michael Ian Cummings (vocals, guitar) bring a no nonsense feel to their music and this very element is actually why this is the best kind of music out there today. http://www.thedeadtrees.com - edie

The Homosexuals Love Guns?

Serious Business Records The self described art-punk trio The Homosexuals who have a slew of amorphous releases but only one actual album (1982’s The Homosexuals) have stepped out of the ether from whence they disappeared 25 or so years ago to release Love Guns? Of the original members; Bruno Wizard, Anton Hayman and Jim Welton, it seems that only

Wizard has returned, making this somewhat akin to Big Star’s 27 year studio album hiatus with only Alex Chilton helming the ship or Axel Rose’s latest incarnation of Guns ‘N Roses. The striking difference between Wizard and the others is that instead of feeling like a pale and watered-down, this version of the Homosexuals picks up exactly where the previous one left off.

Without getting too mired in terms like art-punk or post-punk or prog-garage D.I.Y. slack rawk, Love Guns? essentially sounds like a rock and roll record that draws on influences from a vast record collection (albeit heavy in Television, Sparks and Feelies disks). It never quite delves too deep into punk noise or art rock though it blows through them with dub loops, spook echoes, 70’s stadium choruses, polish and grime. The song, “3AM (Pink Pony),” delves into all of these in a manner both fractured and coherent that create something out of time. If you didn’t know when this song came out it would take a wild guess to place it in 2008. It easily could have been written in 1994 or 1974.

The other two proper songs with lyrics and lacking the swirling chaos noise of the first and last tracks (ok, these may get a little too art-punky for their own good but they do serve as good indicators that the band will boldly go wherever the fuck they want to go) are, “Slow Guns,” and “Don’t Touch My Hair.” The band sound is so full of ideas and avenues to explore, that it is hard to believe The Homosexuals have limited themselves to a mere three near perfect rock songs.

“Slow Guns,” takes off like a rocket propelled by a manic bass and hits overdrive in its infectious chorus. Then the song slows its guns down like a weary dragon after a hearty rampage. “Don’t Touch My Hair,” is a loopy, syncopated dance song pleading the listener to please, don’t touch the singer’s hair.

It is akin to the Residents covering something off of O.M.D.’s Dazzle Ships in a dingy garage with garden gnome backup singers and bright, bright disco lights.

The Homosexuals are touring now and from the sound of it they feel revitalized. Here’s hoping that we don’t have to wait another quarter decade to get a new full length album. www.myspace.com/ thehomosexuals. - Jeff Hassay

The Killers Day and Age Island Records The Killers made a name for themselves in 2004 with their 1980’s retro revivalist record, Hot Fuss, and have been a mainstream synthloving hipster favorite ever since. Their second record, Sam’s Town, took a slight departure from the melancholy heartbreak of, Hot Fuss, but still retained most of the emotional essence of the first record that made it so infectious. It successfully moved the band’s sound into a slightly new direction while still retaining what made them appealing in the first place. Day and Age, is another ambitious attempt by the Vegas desert rockers but falls a little short of their last two efforts. It starts and ends off strong with the first two tracks, “Losing Touch,” and “Human,”

and the last two tracks, “The World We Live In,” and, “Goodnight Travel Well.” The middle of the album however, is a highly experimental departure from the Killers we are familiar with and is a hit or miss effort.

Maybe these tracks will grow on me but for now they just seem very out of place. – Jose Ho-Guanipa

The Orange Velvets Cherry Lemonade Records After listening to this ep, I was struck by an overall happy feeling that resonated from the music. The first track, “Hotels On Venus,” as well as, “Every Time I Fall in Love with You,” have a distinct sound that harkens back to a certain alternative band from Atlanta, Georgia in the 80’s.

Questioning whether it truly was the music or simply my projection onto it, I subjected the Drexel interns with whom I work at Profit M*tivated Lab+ratories to a listen (or two or three). They concurred, with the most outstanding interpretation given by Sebastian, whose insight is matched only by his gift for the vernacular:

“Somebody’s getting laid. No, really, I mean someone is SERIOUSLY getting laid here.

You don’t make music this happy unless you are getting healthy doses of pussy, which is to say, MASSIVE TRUCKLOADS! Even the obligatory, so-called ‘depressing’ songs reek of someone getting laid.”

So there you have it. Given that Sebastian is a working musician, I have no immediate reason to doubt the veracity of his statements.

A second of that opinion is also given by none other than M. (don’t call me) Shirley:

“They’ve got that jangly, upbeat sound to a few of their tracks like the early R.E.M. did. But they have the happy thing down already. R.E.M. didn’t achieve that until, “Shiny Happy People,” on the Out of Time LP. [These songs are] what R.E.M.’s first two albums would have sounded like if they didn’t have that giant stick of bitterness shoved up their collective ass.”

We also agree that the sound of certain songs reminds us of other artists as well. The tracks, “The Sun It Always Shines on You,” and, “Surfer Girl,” (not a Beach Boys cover) have the feel of the Dead Milkmen around the Bucky Fellini era and “6 AM,” has everyone singing, “Superman, yeah,” ala SR71’s “Kryptonite.”

So, in short, the sounds are accessible, if perhaps a bit too derivative. And the optimistic feel could go either way. Given the new wave of optimism sweeping the nation, the Orange Velvets may be poised to capitalize on the regime change in progress.

Then again, we are reminded of the words of Bart

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Simpson who said, “Depressing teens is like shooting fish in a barrel.” The optimism has hurt many a band as well.

The most annoying aspect of the ep is the self-referent, “CLR Theme Song,” and, chronic, “Cherry Lemonade.” The label is supposed to promote the band, not the other way around. I must again defer to Sebastian: “Yes, your record company is Cherry Lemonade Records. We get it. Ha ha. Enough with the fucking Cherry Lemonade. If I see a lemonade stand on my way home I’m going run it the fuck over with my fucking car.” Did I mention the interns were subjected to repeated listenings?

Don’t get the impression that we absolutely hated the album. We didn’t. We merely subjected ourselves to too large a dose at one time. Had I not done that, however, I would not have noticed how good the production and recording are on this album.

There is an excellent sense of space on this album that reminds me of Jack Douglas’ work on, Who’s Next. It was also very well mastered, with a good separation of spectrum given to each of the instruments (particularly the vocals).

To sum it all up, this is a nice disk to stick in your Windows Media JukeBox at work, provided that it is not the ONLY album! www.theorangevelvets.com - Malcolm Y. Knotte (& friends)

The Sort Resentment, Despair and Other Amusements The Sort’s debut album, Resentment, Despair and Other Amusements, is a familiar exploration of post-punk rock. However, singer Laurlam Thomas and her band actually have a refreshing sound. In a world that is being populated by more and more indie college vampire rock bands, a nice emo group with a hardcore twist really takes me back to the good old days.

Tracks like, “Remnants,” start off with some seriously heavy riffing. Exacting and punctuated guitars and pounding, tribal drums surely lend to some serious mosh-pitting and rightfully so. Like early Senses Fail, the band relies on palm-muted and melodious verses and catchy, sing-along choruses.

They never get too heavy and although often dark, the songs favor hooks over screams and harmonies over head-banging.

Thomas floats her alto expertise effortlessly over the dropped D-stylings of her band. Like her female punk rock predecessors (Andrea Zollo of Pretty Girls Make Graves comes to mind), Thomas’ singing is memorable not for technicalities sake, but for its emotional vitality. Her voice brings the songs to life.

On their Myspace, the band warns potential fans: “We are not putting together an acoustic set any time in the near future and you should bring earplugs to every show,” and this is exactly why you should check them out. Unapologetic, unpretentious rock is getting harder and harder to find in a musicscape dominated by forced, image-obsessed acts.

Happily, The Sort do not fit this mold. http://www.myspace.com/thesort . - Matt Giegerich

Umphrey’s McGee Mantis Sci Fidelity Records For the first time, Umphrey’s McGee has released an album with original music and not heard at their live performances before its release date of this year.

Complete with access to exclusive bonus content, Mantis, is delivered in a manner, a bit different to earlier work done by Umphrey’s McGee. Although they are considered a “jam band,” this album was up front and straight to the point. The new approach is working for them, though.

Sounds of rock, funk, jazz and even classical, filled my ears as I turned up the volume for my first time hearing Mantis. The variance in musical tastes was astounding. They sounded like an entirely different band for every other song. Even in the middle of songs, the sound and style will shift and sound completely different at the end than it did when it began. Is this still the same song? I often found myself asking. Strategically, they make the transition between moods with grace and ease.

Mantis starts off with two short songs, but by the time the song, “Mantis,” begins, Umphrey’s McGee has gotten into their groove. “Mantis,” is an eleven minute song which goes through several changes in style, ending with an incredible series of guitar solos. This display of music is typical of them. More lyrical than the others, “Cemetary Walk,” is played in a similar fashion but it’s predecessor, “Cemetary Walk II,” is a short, danceable tune that is solely instrumental.

Jake Cinniger and Brendan Bayliss are skilled guitarists with tremendous chemistry together.

Between the two of them, a number of solos can be heard throughout the CD. Cinniger is also responsible for the funky tunes of the synthesizer, as Joel Cummins backs him up with the key boards. Cummins holds his own with a few solid piano solos, as well.

Harmony is achieved with every note. The finished product is vibrant, emotional, and a style all to its own.

I have not heard a band that sounds anything like Umphrey’s McGee. There is simply no comparison. They are truly one of a kind. For more than a decade, these Chicago based rockers have been experimenting and creating masterpieces in music and sounds and are still breaking barriers. Visit www. umphreys.com to order a copy of Mantis and also check out up coming tour dates. The tour dates, I will emphasize because this is the type of band that you haven’t heard until you’ve heard them play live.

This kind of music reaches the soul when you hear it. – Cindy Chisvette

ants who ruled the earth before being overthrown by the Olympian gods, led by Zeus. Ever since, they have been imprisoned in the underworld until, supposedly, this band came along. According to this name, Wake of the Titan should have a gigantic sound and they should rule.

Their sound can be gigantic at time, with distortion-infused guitars battling screaming vocals.

But they know how to cool it down as well, as you can hear on almost any of the songs here on Goodnight Cold Earth. This dynamic quality is one of the band’s most appealing. But do Wake of the Titan rule?

Can they rise beyond their Atlanta roots? I, for one, could easily imagine hearing their excellent song, “If We’re Quiet,” on modern rock radio. But they haven’t replaced Incubus yet, so the band’s name might seem a little pretentious for now.

However, these guys aren’t cocky. Rather, they are all about the hope that persists even at the end of a long, hard day. The lead singer (identified simply as “Jake,” on their myspace page) lives in a world where, “It’s not fair and it’s not fun,” a world of “Taking showers when the water’s cold.” Jake tells us to be quiet so that, “they won’t know we’re alive.” We may not know what, ‘it,’ is but it cannot be good. The next track is called, “Maybe Tomorrow.” Jake hopes that tomorrow he may be able to, “leave this place.”

This place could be any town, your town perhaps. In the breakdown, he softly repeats the title over and over. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. All we have it maybe.

Indeed, one day Wake of the Titan may become the titans they aspire to be. Their debut, Goodnight Cold Earth, is a worthy effort.

– Christian Recca

Wake of the Titan Goodnight Cold Earth Wake of the Titan is an ambitious band with an ambitious name. The Titans were mythological gi-

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Van Morrison

performing Astral Weeks @ The Hollywood Bowl Hollywood, CA Astral Weeks was recorded in a short blitzkrieg session in 1968. According to John Cale (who was recording in the adjacent studio), Morrison was so hard to work with that the band added their parts later, after his vocals and guitar were laid down oh so sparsely and Morrison was out of the room. This is probably untrue. The weird voodoo magic that summoned an album like this will never be revealed. The amorphic, liquid-y songs that emerged are still shocking and vital to this day. The album still looms as a psychedelic, folk-jazz inter/outer-galactic masterpiece that is indescribable beyond any reviewer’s means to add or detract. Elvis Costello said, Astral Weeks is “still the most adventurous record made in the rock medium, and there hasn’t been a record with that amount of daring made since.”

Van Morrison’s attempt to recreate the album live had the same impossible hurdles that the album had; primarily its overwhelmingly unlikely chances of succeeding. Some guy doodling on guitar, scatting about Belfast with a hippy band predominately featuring a flute player and Jazzy asides is not the typical formula for success, nor is attempting to recreate the noisy spontaneity especially 45 years later. Sure Lou Reed is revisiting Metal Machine Music and Brian Wilson finally got around to dusting off Smile but Morrison one-upped the gimmick of playing an album in it’s entirety and on a warm November night he transcended any semblance of nostalgia and brought lightning back into his Frankenstein.

An opening set loaded with winners (“Wavelength,” “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Gloria”) started with an oddly miniscule volume that annoyed the packed audience. The songs ever-so-slowly increased in volume. This was either a happy accident fixed when the soundman readjusted the volumes gradually, or it was deliberate. If it was deliberate and Morrison and his band started softly to really make the audience listen, to doubt the Man and think that maybe this evening’s music might not be stunning, then to have the music ease into focus like a sun emerging in the morning sky, then this is one more reason to salivate

over Morrison’s towering genius. By the fourth or fifth song, the volume was up to normal concert loudness and unlike the first or second song, Morrison wasn’t drowned out by the din of the audience or the sound of one’s own breath.

After a brief break and change of band (literally—he used two different bands, one for the opening set and one for the Astral Weeks set), Astral Weeks was played in it’s entirety (though slightly out of order—but who are we to decide which order the songs should be in). The rearrangement added to the drama. The audience was left not being sure what would come next or if something would be omitted completely or added. The line from, “Cypres Avenue,” couldn’t help but resonate throughout the performance; “to be born again/ in another world/ in another time.” This is beyond some hippie prayer, it is a prophesy, a self-fulfilling one.

Like the album, the performance of it was fluid, sounds emerged and faltered, songs whittled away, becoming the next song and Morrison sang with the same pristine clarity that he did when he was 22 (but sounding more like 134 or 15 or somewhere permanently in between).

“Beside You,” built into a swagger that the song only ever-so vaguely hinted at. It was elongated and the end stretched out to allow the band to play. Morrison blew the harmonica with a sustained moan sounding like God furiously tripping on acid-laced manna. Jay Berliner the guitarist, who played on the album, sounded like Thurston Moore cum Charles Mingus morphing into Pete Townshend on a bender--jagged and slightly atonal. Richard Davis was back playing bass, as he did 40 years ago on the same songs exactly

as Lester Bangs described: “There is something about it that more than inspired, something that has been touched, that’s in the realm of the miraculous.” Like the Jazzman that he is, he (and Morrison, and the band) never adhered too close to the template of the record but rather used it as a vague map that shows what neighborhood the songs are in.

Large lamps surrounded the band illuminating them like streetlights would, throwing off a sepia glow with a steady fog machine haze that when photographed probably looks nostalgic but fresh, eerie and dreamlike. Morrison told the Los Angeles Times that he wanted to play the album outside so that it could mix with the, “cool fall breeze,” and so that, one would assume, like his oft repeated line, “you breath in/you breath out/you breath in/you breath out…” (from “Beside You”) music, air and lyric could become one.

The occasion of the performance (aside from its 40 year anniversary) is to release it as a live album and dvd (released February 10, 2009). As Springsteen once warned, “You can get to a place where you start to replay the ritual and nostalgia creeps in.” Maybe this is what kept Morrison away for so long but on this night he summoned Astral Weeks out of the ether like it was (and is, and will keep being) new. - Jeff Hassay

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28/2/2009 12:15:22

Reel Big Fish

with Street Light Manifesto and Tip the Van @ Roseland Ball Room - New York, NY On this evening, Ska fans around the metropolitan area gathered at the Roseland Ballroom for Reel Big Fish, featuring Street Light Manifesto and Tip The Van. After the ladies from Tip The Van warmed up the crowd, Street Light brought out the rest of the pent up aggression, leaving Reel Big Fish to seal the deal and officially celebrate the release of their new album. Lead vocalist and guitarist, Aaron Barrett, introduced the new album as Fame, Fortune, and Fornication, which was released that same day of this very performance (and is now available on itunes and in stores).

They started off with, “The Kids Don’t Like It,” and went on to play other classics such as, “Don’t Start A Band,” getting their eager fans revved up for the next forty five minutes. They went on a bit of a mean streak when they played the songs, “Your Guts (I Hate ‘Em),” “The New Version of You,” and “You Don’t Know.” Those familiar with the words, participated by waving their middle fingers at the stage and called out obscenities.

At some point during the set, I was approached by a rather large man, who scooped me up and tossed me into the crowd, sending me crowd surfing completely against my will. After landing, head first, in the arms of a security guard and getting over the astonishment of being tossed like a tennis ball, Dan Regan on trombone and Scott Klopfenstein on trumpet raised their hands in the air and made the heavy metal sign, as the drums steadily pounded with suspense. Reel Big Fish has been known to cover, “Enter Sandman,” by Metallica at their live performances and they did not disappoint the masses with this concert tradition. Believe it or not, they do a terrific job playing this song. Metallica would be proud. They also covered, “Take On Me,” another live tradition of theirs.

Unfortunately, one tradition they did not stick to was their live version of, “Suburban Rhythm.” When they play this song live, they play the album version first, and then proceed to play the song in various different styles. There is a “metal” version and an “emo” version, and so on. It was disappointing not to have heard it but forgivable because they invited the ladies from Tip The Van onto the stage to sing the female vocals in, “She Has A Girl Friend Now.”

When they all walked off stage after, “She Has A Girl Friend Now,” I knew it couldn’t be over yet. After listening to the audience chant, “one more song!” for a few minutes, they came running back out on stage to play their last few songs of the evening. They certainly saved the best for last, though and after much anticipation, they finally performed their 3 most popular songs. They played, “Sell Out,” and then began to hint around at what the next song would be, which to any Reel Big Fish Fan was obvious at that point. “It’s about a popular beverage...tequila!” Barrett shouts, as Klopfenstein trumpeted a few notes from the song, “Tequila.” Of course, Barrett was only joking and they immediately launched into the song, “Beer.” They closed out the evening with an old, but still popular song, “Where Have You Been?”

Future tour dates and music from Fame, Fortune, and Fornication can be found at www.myspace.com/reelbigfish. – Cindy Chisvette

Marcus Very Ordinary @ Canter’s on Fairfax Hollywood, CA

In a very casual way, I popped into Canter’s on Fairfax in Hollywood at a friend’s invitation. I had no idea who or what I was there to see, other than there would be music. I ended up seeing two short musical performances. The first featured a young man playing the banjo and singing, with another guy backing him up a little bit on a keyboard. I am sad to say that I do not have the name of the young banjo player, but he was very good!

He had a good vocal range, good melodies and he sang very passionately and his command of the banjo was stellar. I wonder how a guy in his early 20s would happen across the banjo and decide to perform live with it? His songs were generally kind of short and sweet and I enjoyed the music.

Then came the band that I guess I was actually invited to see, a trio called, Marcus Very Ordinary, featuring a bandleader guy on vocals, keyboard and switching to guitar later in the performance; another young man playing upright bass and a young lady playing violin. This is not the typical makeup for bands of young people, and I can only assume that by putting “ordinary” into the name, that they do not really want to be ordinary, or at least not ordinary in any negative way. It could mean that they want to be “ordinary” by comparison to other good, solid, harmonious music!?

The overall sound was very pleasant, with a pretty open vibe and the group meshed well and was obviously well-rehearsed. Though the lead singer’s mic could have used some low-frequency roll-off (the sound was a

bit unclear), his voice was very soulful and fit well with the musical backdrop. The second song of their set caught my ear in particular by starting off with some very gnarly, guttural harmonics produced by the bass player on his upright bass. Some snippets of the vocal that I caught in this second song include, “I’m like an Eskimo/my blood runs cold/my blood runs colder every day,” and these sentiments seemed to fit well with the music. On subsequent tunes, I noticed a strong compositional style that included memorable punctuations and more than a few creative vocal hooks. On an unrelated note, at some point, I made the observation that the lead singer looks a bit like the guy from Maroon 5 and I am sure there are some ladies out there who would be into that!

Throughout the evening, the bass player showed great skill and command of his instrument with tasteful fills and he also displayed a flair for playing harmonics which really added an extra dimension to the overall sound. You can tell that he must be formally educated with his solid technique and great choice of notes, song after song. The violin player also exhibited good technique and stellar intonation. The lead singer, though talented and a great performer in his own right, is very blessed to have these two well-trained musicians to back him up, because it adds such richness to the sound, and also helps to give the group a professional tone and edge that many other young ensembles could only hope to imitate. All in all, this is a very well-polished, pleasant-sounding group, and if you factor in their ages, the instrumentation, and their above average playing, I think that many music lovers would be inclined to agree that they are indeed something other than, “ordinary.” www.myspace.com/marcusveryordinary – Nicholas Miller

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28/2/2009 12:15:24

Hollywood 77 @ The Cat Club Hollywood, CA

It was a Friday night in Hollywood and I was invited to the Cat Club to see a couple of bands. The one that I ended up seeing most of was Hollywood 77. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am all for band names that are catchy or memorable or even names that represent the band’s hometown in some way, but it seems to me that calling yourself “Hollywood this” or “Hollywood that” when you are primarily playing in Hollywood is a little weird. Does anyone else agree!?

Actually, I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio and I can think of at least a couple of bands from that area who named themselves “Hollywood this” or “Hollywood that” and that always kinda tweaked me out. I mean, for a bunch of young kids who can’t even afford their own gear, let alone get themselves a flight to LA, I don’t know, it just seems lame for them to call themselves “Hollywood.” But at least in Ohio, it could maybe inspire some sort of mystique or some extra attraction, like, “Wow, these guys are so glamorous! They could really make it big; maybe they will go to Hollywood and make a record.”

I guess that is why a band in Ohio would put “Hollywood” in their name, right? Just the term “Hollywood” carries implications of fame, fortune and

stardom.

And of course, so many great bands have come out of the Sunset Strip, so I guess this makes sense for an Ohio band, especially a young, somewhat-ignorant Ohio band.

But then flash back to the Cat Club, which is actually on the Sunset Strip and I find myself watching a band called Hollywood 77! In this band’s defense, the band members all look the part and have the Sunset Strip rock ‘n roll image dialed in, whereas the Ohio-“Hollywoods,” probably just looked emo!

After the show, I took a look at the band’s MySpace page and I felt a little embarrassed when I read that Hollywood 77 is, “the ultimate tribute to 1977 era punk rock!” It all finally made sense! They are a tribute band! As for their performance, it was fittingly loud and surprisingly raw and aggressive. The most memorable elements of the set were the Ramones’ “Rockaway Beach,” “Search and Destroy,” by Iggy and the Stooges,” and my personal-favorite of the night: “Where Eagles Dare,” by the Misfits. “Rockaway Beach,” was the third number in the set and I think it got the best overall crowd reaction. The lead singer, though he showed some good stage

presence, proved to be better at screaming and bouncing around than singing. His range was a bit limited, but he sounded pretty authentic on, “Rockaway Beach.”

The band also played Cheap Trick’s, “Surrender,” which I thought was a good choice for the band in terms of diversifying the set, but a bad choice based on their personnel. The song is actually sung pretty high on the original recording and has some long and high notes that the guy from Hollywood 77 screamed, which I think was due to the range issue. One of my first bands when I was 17 covered this same song and the singer, for lack of vocal technique and training, raspy choked out those last notes in a way that was not that much different from that of the singer of this band. But, Hollywood 77 sure do have the look and the attitude and on this night they bashed it out real loud and hard, just like punk rock from 1977 was meant to be.

– Nicholas Miller

YaHoWa 13 with Billy Corgan @ Spaceland Silverlake, CA

YaHoWa 13, the jam-crazed, psychedelic shamen who for some 35 years now have sought transcendence via sonic fire and brimstone are still on the same focused path. I’m not sure where this path leads exactly, and it sometimes weirds me out. YaHoWa is an offshoot of the Source family which was a Los Angeles cult led by the portly and scruffy “Father Yod,” who stressed rigorous meditation, communal living, improvisation, vibrations, vegetarianism and getting the groove on through the creative force in lust. Sounds like something

Prince would be into. But with more facial hair.

YaHoWa is now a three piece; drums, bass and guitar. The bass player, Sunflower Aquarian, looks like Fred Dryer (circa the 80’s cop show Hunter) with a ponytail and the ability to ravage notes out of his instrument like a dark witch doctor coming out of the bog. Octavious Aquarian on drums (looking like a mix of Flea and Ian McClellan) would fit better into the Stooges than Phish—he played simply, tribal, never getting jazzy and abstaining from fills. Djin Aquarian on guitar tooled with feedback and reverbed squeals more than melodies or solos.

The improvised songs sound a lot like YaHoWa’s records; sort of Mogwai gone minimal mixed with a cranky Sonic Youth composing their own raindance. It was hypnotic and unsettling. Odd notes and dissonance would gather from a calm groove into a thundercloud.

It is no wonder that a previous name for the

group was The Savage Sons of YaHoWa.

After three songs, probably averaging eight minutes apiece, two friends were called onstage from the audience (which consisted of around 50 people). One played a massive gong to make the thunderstorm vibe complete and the other called “William” (Billy Corgan) played guitar with the band for four songs. Upon picking the guitar up, Corgan unleashed notes like he was getting warmed up but then meandered in the back for two long songs looking bored, contributing an occasional slide of the guitar or sustained chord.

He might as well not have been there. The third song, called “Fuck Yea Frog” (because that’s what someone in the audience yelled out when asked for a suggestion) brought siren wails out of Corgan’s guitar which seemed to waken him from his daze because the fourth song had him soloing and exploring melodies like someone with the power to summon sounds from the netherworld (like him or not, one must admit that Corgan can get the occasional otherworldly sound out of a guitar).

These guys are a long way from the kumbaya sunshine hippy folk chants one would expect from a full-fledged cult and equally as far from the jazzy, bouncing noodling that one would expect from a jam band. They practice some pure, lost art. It didn’t completely make sense to me and I certainly didn’t walk away humming anything played but it was something that I had not seen before, different but familiar. - Jeff Hassay 51

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28/2/2009 12:15:27

Asa Ransom

with Muggabears Sigmund Droid and Nymph @ 92YTribeca New York, NY 92YTribeca is a new music space that just opened up in Tribeca and Showpaper sponsored a show featuring Asa Ransom, Muggabears, Sigmund Droid and Nymph. While I only caught the last song of Nymph, they had a great atmosphere and the lead singer was wearing a crazy shirt.

I enjoyed what I heard and wished I’d caught more but weekends in Brooklyn can cause the trains to stop working properly.

Sigmund Droid is a two-piece of drums and bass from Brooklyn. The bassist/singer yells spastically into the microphone, sometimes in a British accent. The drums splash in rhythm with the drone-y, dance-rock bass lines as the singer screams/sings very haughtily. They’re level of eccentricity equaled the air of professionalism they carried on stage. With songs like “Liverpool Sluts,” Sigmund Droid definitely had a great sound and energy to them. They made the crowd dance and kept everyone hanging on for the next song.

The following act was Muggabears, with bass, drums and guitar. Muggabears chose to cover Marilyn Manson tune, which I found a bit exciting. The lead singer was chatty and entertaining and the mix of male/ female vocals was pleasant and refreshing. Their sound was a mix of sweltering, blues-y guitar riffs with booming, hollowed out drums and quivering bass lines. It was melodic and swift moving, with a slight alt-rock, drone-y feel adding to the indie-rock sound.

Asa Ransom, a Brooklyn four-piece with the high-energy awesome stage presence, closed the show. They came on stage bouncing up and down from the excitement of this being their last home before a large tour. The lead singer was wearing a big furry white hat, which looked like it should not be worn under hot lights, but it also looked pretty excellent. With stag-

gering drums and bleating keyboard sounds, the excitement of their music was blinding. Their form of baroque circus jazz combined with a post-punk, feel gives room for a lot of different styles and sounds. Displaying aspects of The Pixies to that of Man Man, Asa Ransom’s diverse range and superb sense of style made for a great headliner.

It was a fun show, jam-packed with dancing, crowd pleasers and funny facial expressions. It’s always nice to discover new venues and I look forward to seeing more from these artists as well as from the place itself. – Lauren Piper

Todd P’s Brooklyn vs. Baltimore showdown somewhere in Brooklyn, NY It’s difficult to write about a show when you can’t see anything, either on stage or off, but I’ll try. Todd P of NYC fame threw a Brooklyn vs.

Baltimore show that was moved last minute to a venue no one had heard of. It was a large dark warehouse with two huge rooms and the lights only came on every so often as a fluke or something. These were the times people actually looked at who they were talking to and decided whether they were worth associating with in the light. Despite the lighting issues, there was a stellar line up of bands from both B’more and Brooklyn.

The night started out with a surprise performance by Vivian Girls, a Brooklyn-based, all-girl three-piece with lulling harmonies and chugging drums. I could not see a thing and only caught the last couple of songs. Unfortunately it did feel energy-wise, like Vivian Girls is the type of

band you listen to on headphones as their shoegaze-y, mild-mannered rock really doesn’t translate live.

DJ Dog Dick followed suit with some dance music that heated up the entire building, which was huge. Granted the darkness made it difficult to enjoy one’s self as bumping into drunk people in a battle situation could be bad news. If you’re from Brooklyn and they are from Baltimore skulls could be smashed. Maybe.

Woods was up next, playing on the stage versus off the stage, which was how you could tell that the band was from Brooklyn and not Baltimore. This didn’t help because you couldn’t see, nor did it continue through the night. Woods’ sound was not well suited for the type of organic, basement noise-rock that they create. They have the feeling of a band that just jams in a dank, cat infested basement with dim lighting or uncovered bulbs and thrive off of that type of energy. With high-pitched, melodic vocals and a surf-y, folk-pop feel, Woods sound was too focused to get across in such a widespread venue. In a small intimate atmosphere, or a venue with more sound control, Woods’ haunting, head boppers would have shown through much better. Their songs are amazingly beautiful with the use of old microphones and tape recorders being manipulated back and forth with different tapes.

They are definitely worth seeing, but seeing more than just hearing their sound echoed through un-controlled speakers.

Future Islands from Baltimore came on next. Their dance-y, sedated synth-pop blazed through the venue and though it was completely dark, I know dancing occurred and smiles appeared. The lead singer’s vocals were soulful and clinching as they strung themselves through the noodling keys and eccentric, vein-pumping drumbeats.

The next band was Brooklyn’s, These Are Powers, who hit the stage with with psycho, blippy dance beats. It was hard to pay attention with all the people as it was crowded as hell by this point. That being said, it was a really fun time dancing and knocking into people I would never see again or know if I’d ever seen before.

There were a lot of bands this night and I couldn’t last till the end, it just wore me out.

So the last band I caught was Baltimore’s Double Dagger. The group’s dynamics were fast and upbeat, with spattering vocals and hollowed out drums. The instruments played and how many people, I could not see in the least bit, but later learned that they are three people, bass, drums/ microphone, and vocals. They rocked the crowd with winding loops and spastic bass lines, the energy was unbeatable, so much so that I couldn’t take anymore after they played.

Though I missed The Usaisamonster and Dan Deacon, it didn’t seem to matter, as I knew they’d put on a great performance and I discovered bands I hadn’t seen before in the process.

So it was totally worth it.

– Lauren Piper

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28/2/2009 12:15:30

Echo & The Bunnymen @ Radio City Music Hall New York, New York One of the most precious sonic gems of the 1980’s was a band from Liverpool known as Echo & the Bunnymen. I must admit that despite I was late to the game (in becoming a rabid fan), I never had the chance to see them perform live during their heyday. When their tour of the “Ocean Rain,” rolled into New York City a couple of months ago, not only did I go, I opted to witness the show from the first row. I felt that since I owned every album by this band and spent countless hours staring into their album covers while spinning their discs in my bedroom, I so deserved it. On this evening, the band was scheduled to perform the entire collection of songs on Ocean Rain, in order and with a backing Orchestra.

Echo & the Bunnymen released Ocean Rain in 1984, during their ever- growing hype and world exposure. It would be their fourth album. Being known more as a punk band, by the time Ocean Rain graced the college radio stations States wise, the band was more often found penning poetic moments surrounded by a more deep and soulful adeptness. The Bunnymen were no strangers to strings at the time since they had added some here and there in the past, but on Ocean Rain, an entire orchestra was invited. Ocean Rain was hailed as the greatest work the band had ever achieved while simultaneously being panned by some music critics who scoffed at its lack of focus. Some went as far as calming it unlistenable. To us, who got it, Ocean Rain meant everything. We adoring fans understood the sidebar mixture of strange musical composition backed by a large Orchestra. And it was we who lapped up every maniacal lyric front man, Ian McCulloch had to offer, including the ultra-strange, “C-c-c cucumber/c-c-c-cabbage/c-c-c-collie flower/men on mars/April showers,” found in the song, ”Thorn of Crowns.” Echo & the Bunnymen would go on making some more listenable albums until McCulloch’s departure in 1988. The band never quite gained momentum after this period, though, countless reunions happened as well as numerous walk outs (Bassist Les Pattinson would eventually leave the group for a second and final time). So on this evening, McCulloch performed this body of work, while steering the ship alone since some of the original musical backbone were no longer present.

To my surprise (and after a forgetful opening band from Glasgow), the current members of Echo & the Bunnymen climbed on stage as McCulloch tagged behind, literally bouncing in his shoes. He looked almost misplaced within the walls of one of the finest of Theaters in New York City. He looked a bit unkempt, sporting a creepy looking ankle length, black raincoat, which he would wear for the entire night, giving his performance an awkward sense of tension. His hair was all disheveled and he sported dark sunglasses, which, like the raincoat, he never took off. The band actually opened up the show with songs not on Ocean Rain, and offered a mixed bag of fan favorites like, “Rescue,” “Bring on the Dancing Horses,” and “Back of Love,” as a sold out audience jumped to their feet in pure excitement. I took a look around this audience and it was almost surreal. Everyone looked straight-laced and business ‘proper.’ Gentlemen sat politely next to their wives or girlfriends who were also dressed in skirts and suits. I was dressed like a complete slob. It then hit me that despite that I have this blank memory with age, everyone in this audience was coming from their 9-5 jobs and would probably travel to the outreaches of the Suburbs when the show was over. The mischievous music of the Bunnymen had, indeed, bred some strange bedfellows. And the more corporate the fan looked, the crazier they acted when a favorite song was played. Sitting next to me, the gentleman looked like an investment banker, clad in a suit and tie. But it was he that nearly climbed up on stage and was forced back into his chair by security (which he stood on, waving his arms in the air like a madman) during the song, “Back of Love.”

The show was not totally unpredictable because the band was scheduled to perform in its entirety, Ocean Rain. But McCulloch did prove as unpredictable as a child left alone. He would kick and throw things around the stage in a playful matter. If a stage hand gave him a towel, he would promptly throw it into the audience, along with his semi-drunk water bottles and whatever else he would find on the floor of the dimly light stage.

Sometimes he would gaze at the ground while singing, see something, walk over to it, pick it up, look at it and then promptly put it in his coat pocket.

McCulloch could not keep still. Yet, his presence was a powerful one, despite these compulsive antics. Ocean Rain is about longing, loneliness, all things sea and ocean. A once through listen and I swear you can taste salt water on your lips while being enveloped by darkness of some shore line. Call it a concept album in the line of many (the Bunnymen tend to call all their albums conceptual or “themed”), Ocean Rain will always be a beloved collection of songs that offer the best kind of salvation, while allowing the songs to mean something different to everyone who embraces them.

After the band did a handful of songs, not related to Ocean Rain, they exited the stage, passing an Orchestra of musicians, looking a bit more bewildered and more out of place as McCulloch looked. The group of men and women mounted the stage, sitting tightly close in what looked like a semi plexi glass emplacement. Not once did they truly look into the audience, as the conductor positioned himself. Then the band came back on stage and the opening track, began. “Silver,” arrived on its upbeat scale, complete with the accompanying orchestral swaying behind the guitar. “The Killing Moon,” then followed, as McCulloch’s baritone vocals shook the walls and thousands of hearts in the room remembered their own personal heartbreak and ache. By now, the band was performing the songs in a steady fashion, as the orchestra fidgeted uncomfortably on stage. Meanwhile, McCulloch was pulling stuff out of his pocket and throwing it into the air, as his vocals offered a more mature sound, a bit weathered and scratchy while everyone started to get up on their feet, some, teetering in their seats. Couples started dancing cheek to cheek as an overhead TV monitor flashed black and white photographs of the band circa late 70’s and the early 80’s. Hearing all nine songs from Ocean Rain back to back allowed me to come to the conclusion on exactly how timeless these songs truly are. And in an insignificant defiance, allowing us fans to stick by our belief that this band earned, “the greatest album ever made,” title. - edie 53

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28/2/2009 12:15:32

The Fluid @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY

moe @ Terminal 5 Manhattan, NY You’ll often hear people say that everything is about, “location, location, location,” and in the realm of live music, this could not be more true. A venue can be the difference between a good show and a great one and can also ruin your night. Even if you are lucky enough to score tickets to see your favorite band, chances are that you are not really going to enjoy the show all that much if you have some huge, drunken, sweaty person in front of you the entire time, continually stepping on your feet, sloshing beer on you, blowing cigarette smoke in your direction and generally making your personal space a joke while simultaneously ruing your good time. It’s extremely difficult to get into a song and focus when you are using every ounce of your mental being on stopping yourself from knocking the person in front of you in the back of the head. (Note: I am not necessarily blaming the proverbial, “person in front of you,” for this problem). More often than not, I think the blame rests with greedy concert promoters who oversell the house and have no reservations about turning their place into a sloppy, crowded cesspool.

The reason I bring all this up is that it would not really be fair or accurate to compare these two concerts to each other on a musical level. The bands, their fans and the, “scenes,” that surrounds each are totally different; apples and oranges. I also am quite familiar with moe and know hardly anything about the Fluid. Therefore my expectations (and subsequent disappointments) with one were quite high whereas with the other, they were practically nonexistent. Suffice it to say, moe took their Saturday night Valentine’s show a little too seriously, played far too many ballads and didn’t really seem to get warmed up until the encores. On the other hand, the Fluid did everything they could with their Saturday night headlining gig, doing an excellent job of engaging an audience who were probably not too familiar with their catalog.

Given all of that, the best way to really compare the two concert experiences is by discussing the two venues.

Terminal 5 is located in some sort of old warehouse or storage building on the far west side of Hell’s Kitchen. It looks dark and dismal on the outside and the inside doesn’t do much to alleviate that impression. Everything about the place is industrial and cold; the stairs, the sight-obscuring beams that pop up all over the dance floor and even the sound. The place is divided into a dance floor and two balconies and the sound and sight lines only get worse the farther up you go. However the main bar and main set of bathrooms are also located on the balconies, so invariably you are almost forced to head up at some point. There are a decent number of televisions scattered around the upper floors which allow you to keep up with what’s going on onstage, but there is something very disheartening about going to a concert and then being forced to watch it on television. Maybe Terminal 5 would be good for raves or death metal, but for a warm, bouncy sounding band like moe. It was all wrong and the overcrowding only made it worse.

On the other hand, the Music Hall of Williamsburg was all that a smaller sized venue should be. Granted I was only there for a little bit more than an hour, but it seemed like the kind of place I could spend an evening in. The Hall boasts a solid sound system, a large stage for a venue its size and two bars. The first bar is right near the stage area and is nothing to write home about but the second one is an entirely different beast. Located in the basement of the Hall, the second bar wraps around the center of the entire room, its classiclooking brightly polished wood making the entire space seem comfy and inviting. This would be a great spot to have a drink and relax during set break and probably be tough to leave once the music resumed.

Also given is that the place is located in the heart of Williamsburg and I would only give it a five out of ten on the hipster scale which isn’t really all that bad. In the battle for venue superiority, the victory goes to the Hall.

– Evan Bleier

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28/2/2009 12:15:35

ery a certain type of myst To some, poetry emits alizing and a few quick verses. Enter the tant due to its existence of imagination where nt, eve an e Poetry Brothel serves as bordure of The Poetry Brothel. Th and “johns.” in a setting that involves, “whores,” ks wor ir the form per and d rea ts poe st ter and the poets are some of the fine The “Madame,” is usually the presen experietely seductive, this is a new way to mpl Co r. offe to has y Cit rk Yo w Ne ding with led as a standard, bookish poetry rea ence what would otherwise be labe ed around ractive performance art loosely bas inte also is It al. visu e mor ing eth som are the the poets and those in attendance a brothel. The actual “whores,” are y memo“incognito,” making these events trul nd atte to d age our enc is It ns.” “joh tained r private, one-on-one readings in cur rable. This is because the poets offe d with e type lap dance, where skin is replace eat laur t poe a like of kind as, are off last gig ally happens in New York City (the prose. A Poetry Brothel event usu per ay, October 25th, 2008 at The Zip turd Sa had s site ir the of one on d liste With your ewhere between $10.00 - $15.00.

Factory). Admission is usually som this Tourment Vert absinthe completing poetry you can also score some Le sites web el oth Br ted on one of The Poetry surreal saloon experience. Also sta red l) is that this group is now, “a sponso (www.myspace.com/thepoetrybrothe ions but ntri Co n. fit arts service organizatio project of Fractured Atlas, a non-pro and las be made payable to Fractured At in behalf of The Poetry Brothel may and any iate rec mitted by law. We really app are tax-deductible to the extent per site ne through the Fractured Atlas web all contributions. You can donate onli il.com gma el@ roth king here. Email thepoetryb using your debit/credit card by clic of ns ey order. We also accept contributio mon or ck che ding sen ut abo ire inqu to ck, van or hing, jewelry, antiques, vehicles (tru physical property such as fabric, clot and other e, musical instruments, poetry books bus preferred), liquor, beer and win g breed. e artform of poetry reading is a dyin literature, and any art supplies. “ Th poetrybrothel@gmail.com for

om or email the Check out www.thepoetrybrothel.c more info. - edie

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28/2/2009 12:15:38

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex 76 Mercer Street, New York City Mercer Street in Manhattan is about as “SoHo” as it gets. Its boutique-lined cobbled streets are walked each and every day by everyone from the socialite upper crust, to students from the nearby film academy, to the guys who sell the infamous street nuts. There are some major differences between the groups, with one of the major ones being who can actually afford to shop in the boutiques, but like a weird mixed drink, they blend together making this small part of New York both incredibly busy and writhingly frantic. To me, it seemed a curious choice for the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex to be placed in a neighborhood more famous for expensive shopping and Hollywood sightings than rock clubs and secondhand records shops. After my visit to the Annex however, much of my curiously had been put to rest.

Immediately after walking down into the R&R H.O.F. Annex (hereafter referred to as the Annex) you are confronted with a box office and a coat check. Much to my dismay, I had to check my backpack and even with a student discount, my entrance fee was more than $20 bucks - nothing very punk rock about either of those things.

After you buy a ticket, the museum staff funnels you into this room that has the name of every person their band, their signature, and the year that they went into the Hall, up on the wall. It is pretty entertaining to go around and see who got in, what year, what their handwriting looks like. The other really cool thing about this particular room is that music written by the hall’s inductees is constantly playing and when a particular inductee or group has a song coming over the speakers, their name(s) light up on the wall. This happens for a while as the room fills up with museum goers, then happens faster and faster, culminating with a strobe light going off and you being allowed to enter the gallery. Or so you think. First there is the movie.

Like so many museums nowadays, the Annex boasts a movie. I remember going to museums as a kid and movies were not a part of the equation. Might have something to do with our diminishing attention thingies; brave new world.

In any case, the movie that they show at the Annex isn’t really any different from something about the history of Rock and Roll that you would see on PBS or VH1. It starts off by showing some early blues performances, moves onto Elvis, then the Beatles and the Stones, ending up with shots of Bruce Springsteen, U2 and the like. What makes the film stand out is that it is shown on 5 screens, with the middle 3 being mostly concert footage and the outer screen on either side showing a relevant concert poster or otherwise pertinent, historic image. This gives the whole experience a “in the round” sort of feel that is probably intended to pump you up for the walk around the gallery. You see a quote from Keith Richards right before the lights go on: “Rock and Roll is music for the neck downwards.” I guess it’s also music for the parts of your body where it‘s easiest to shoot up as well. Just jokes.

Upon entering the gallery itself, you don a pair of headphones that are connected to an I-Pod like device which serves as your musical guide. Basically the thing plays music related to whatever you are looking at. I noticed that if you were somewhere in between two exhibits or in a very crowded spot it would get mixed up and play the wrong thing, but overall it worked fairly well. Add another feature to the modern museum experience.

The first part of the gallery is a hallway lined with banks of televisions with four screens at each. Before each bank there is a little paragraph describing a specific type of Rock and Roll: blues-based, art-influenced, and so on. After (hopefully) reading the description, the first television starts showing a band which exemplifies that style, then the second screen shows another group, etc. The bands go in chronological order so, for example, the “artrock” groups began with the Velvet Underground and ended with Coldplay.

Obviously a band (Coldplay) does not have to be in the hall to be featured. This little exhibit was not particularly informative and had a little too much flash and not enough substance for my liking. I could see it being attractive

though because of the new age sort of look, the flash of the plasma TVs and all that.

Similarly the rest of the permanent gallery was much of the same. There were lots of flashy things and bright lights to look at (One of James Brown’s capes, a Janis Joplin dress, Michael Jackson’s handwritten lyrics to “Billie Jean”) but not a whole hell of a lot of backing material or in depth information to go with all of the pretty stuff. It is one thing to be able to look at a guitar but it’s quite another to hear the story behind it.

The next area of the gallery was the NYC collection room. In it, they had lots of stuff from CBGB, John Lennon’s piano from his New York days and enough Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen stuff to make all of New Jersey and Long Island aroused. This part of the exhibit did have some more detailed information and included a full scale floor model of Manhattan that you could view historic musical spots on. It was interesting to see how music history was spread all throughout the city and, since you would press a button and a colorful light would come on, it was great for ADD too.

Probably the best all around part of the Annex was the Clash exhibit. It combined artifacts, photos, instruments and other notables with a succinct, but detailed history of the band, allowing one to review the Clash’s entire career from the inside out. This would probably be somewhat more pleasurable for someone who was a big fan of the band but it was interesting enough that I think even a casual listener would enjoy it. My favorite things in the Clash portion were looking at the original backstage passes that they would design for each tour and also checking out all of the old vinyl singles that were produced for sale in other countries. These are both examples of things that it would be fairly difficult to find somewhere else and helped make the exhibit much more intimate.

On the way out, the gift ship was selling the usual collection of over priced T-shirts and knick-knacks, including some Yellow Submarine ice-cube trays. (The place is in SoHo after all.) All in all, I think the Annex is a good place to go if you are not expecting to be “wowed” by anything and don’t mind forking over 20 bucks to learn less than you probably would from watching VH1 Storytellers or something along those lines. I have never been, but I would wager (and hope) that the real Hall puts this little offshoot to shame. Check it out here at: http://www.rockannex.com/home. – Evan Bleier

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My family didn’t have a whole lot of money when I was growing up. Coupled with the usual teenage angst and awkwardness of the time, I absolutely dreaded the end of summer, not because it was school time again but for mere fact that I would have to watch my Mom magically conjure a new wardrobe with the little bit of money she had, in hopes that I looked presentable on my first day back. With cash being tight in our household, school clothes meant one pair of jeans, two shirts and a pair of shoes.

I clearly remember one specific year, I was lucky to own two outfits and a pair of hand me down shoes, which were – yeek! – moccasins! But I took it all in stride because a) I was so into Neil Young and b) at this stage in life, I was already carrying the moniker of “tortured artist” over my head and we were supposed to dress like this. But a chance experience helped change all this.

An older “Bohemian” friend of the family took me to The Salvation Army on 8th Avenue in New York City one faithful day. We went trolling for second hand paperbacks but after checking out the clothing racks, I was soon using my “new” clothes as a baseline, while craftily interchanging everything to make it appear I had just stepped out of a walk-in closet fit for the most popular cheerleader in school. Soon I was sneaking past my parents, traipsing right to the Salvation Army and once inside, I would get to work. I would usually go on a Saturday due to school, starting on the first floor in the front. I would hit every rack. Without breaking, I would then head downstairs to the basement, where one could find kitchen appliances, golf clubs, board games and books. I was such a fixture at this Salvation Army, that no one barked at the fact that I could be found sporting elbow length rubber gloves (due to the dirt and dust found on the clothes) while labeling the place “Le Sallies.” It was my secret. No one knew. I scored so many amazing things there. But back in the day, no one admitted that they shopped at the Salvation Army because it

meant you were poor. Now? The Salvation Army is the new Saks Fifth Avenue, where you are more likely to score a vintage Halston-looking number for under $10.00.

Recently I attended a family function. I chatted up Lulu, a family friend who I noticed was dressed impeccably. Later Lulu disclosed to me that everything she was wearing (including the brand new cowboys boots, paired with a Ralph Lauren tweed riding jacket) were all purchased at her local Salvation Army.

She laughed under her breathe by saying that the jacket was snagged for $3.00, while flashing me the designer label found on the inside pocket.

Rhonda Rowley, is publisher and editor of wee-zine, “Restyle Thrifty Chic.” Producing this zine (which is half the size of a digest), in eye popping color, Rowley bases ReStyle around the chic-ness of secondhand shopping yet it reads more like an Alloy catalogue, complete with clothing descriptions and pricing listed alongside models. Most of the finds are from Thrift stores like Goodwill that are mainly located in the Midwest. Most outfits range in or around $9.00 (one includes a bright orange/red sweater worn over lavender corduroys). One can’t help but think that some of these models look like they just stumbled out of a blink-andyou’ll-miss-hot-new, Soho boutique. Rowley states that some stuff, “doesn’t look brand new, it IS brand new! It came to us wearing its original $50.00 price tag.” She does all the fashion editing and layouts, while also doing the photography. In one photo, we find Rowley in a shirt (I would just love to rip right off her back!) at the smart price of $3.99. In this particular fashion spread, she muses, “neutrals are always in style and are almost foolproof to match.” Here with her wispy gaze, Rowley looks like she belongs on Seventh Avenue and not at the Goodwill in Missouri that she is posing in.

Throughout these pages, she offers tips on how to dive into that mountain of used clothing. She also states that patience is key because, “even the most seasoned secondhand shopper sometimes walks away empty-handed…”

Dig This Real had a chance to chat with this frugal Fashionista. Here’s what she had to say:

Dig This Real: What was the inspiration to launch ReStyle Thrifty Chic?

Rhonda Rowley: I’ve actually wanted to start a zine for most of my life.

My first attempt was around age 12, but I was really unfocused and didn’t get very far.

There were many failed attempts over the years. Some friends and I ran a monthly newspaper for eight months, but that fell

apart. ReStyle is the first publication that’s been solely my own that I’ve seen through to completion.

I picked thrift store fashion as my topic because it’s something I have a passion for. I know so many people who say they never find anything when they go to Goodwill. I almost always find something.

Usually I find so much that I have to put things back! What they don’t understand is, it’s not like going to Macy’s. You have to dig and hunt, but that’s what makes it so much fun! I want to pass my knowledge and techniques to others so that everyone can look great even when they only have five bucks to spare.

Do you normally stay loyal to one particular Goodwill location?

Have you ventured to other cities?

My favorite store is actually my local Salvation Army. They have so many treasures there! And their prices are incredible. They even have a sale once a month where all of the clothes are 50 cents or less! The staff there is alot of fun too.

They have gotten to know me and they’re always happy to see me walk in the door because they know it’s time to play! (I love to re-dress the mannequins!)

But I’m a sucker for any thrift store.

One friend and I actually go on thrifty shopping spree road trips. We’ll each budget a set amount and take off for a day, stopping at every resale shop we see along the way. Traverse City and Grand Rapids, both in Michigan have some awesome shops and are a nice daytrip.

What are our chances of ever seeing a “Home & Decoration” version of ReStyle?

I’ve actually toyed with the idea.

I recently picked up a huge art deco lamp for my living room and a cute, springy flo57

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ral tablecloth for my entryway table and I think I paid about $5.00 for both. I think it would be fun to attempt to makeover an entire room for $100.

Have you ever wondered about the origin of a favorite piece of clothing purchased at a thrift shop?

(Like the person behind the piece of clothing?) The history of the piece?

I used to have this incredible psychedelic polyester shirt that I got for a dollar. It always surprised everyone to find out it was actually handmade. I’d have to turn it inside out and show them the seams.

I wore it threadbare over many years. I always wanted to meet the person who made it and tell them how much I adored it.

How do you feel when a piece of clothing is labeled ‘vintage’ and displayed in a “vintage boutique” with a price tag tripled?

It usually makes me gasp to see what people want for a lot of vintage finds.

Granted, some are genuinely very rare and valuable. But most people I know who love the vintage look don’t have a huge disposable income. Hell! We’re in a recession! I often resell my finds on my Etsy site, mainly

because it gives me an excuse to buy really cool things even if they don’t fit right. But I can’t, in good conscious, charge $30 for a skirt I bought for $4. Basically, people pay those trendy boutiques a hefty sum to do the hunting for them. We’re an instant-gratification society and putting together an entire wardrobe from thrift stores takes a lot of patience. I think that’s why they can get away with it. And if people are silly enough to pay the inflated prices, then so be it.

How often do you go shopping?

I have to drive past Goodwill every day on my way to and from work, so it’s hard not to stop at least three or four times a week. It beckons me. And the Salvation Army is about two blocks from the coffee shop I work at, Goody’s Juice and Java. So I go there on my lunch breaks a couple of times a week. The inventory has a constant turnover, so you can go every day and find something new.

Tell us about a favorite score purchased at a thrift stores?

Aside from the deceased trippy shirt, I have this awesome pair of Doc Martens I got at a resale shop in Grand Rapids about ten years ago. They are a dark purpley-blue snakeskin print. They were in brand-new condition when I got them, and they cost me all of $20. It was a splurge for me, but I HAD to have them!

You can purchase ReStyle Thrifty Chic Issue #1 (January – February 09) at junkstop.ETSY.com.

- edie

AJKArtistry.etsy.com handmade cards, invites and gifts original art, gemstone jewelry & more AJKStudio.etsy.com

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It starts my day, every day. It’s my cell phone alarm. At that point it’s Boards of Canada’s Tears from the Compound Eye, which at 6:30 am holds my hand from the dream world to the real world and walks me slowly from one to the other so that I’m neither shocked nor disappointed. It just happens. Sometimes it’s around when I’m shopping for clothes and it’s The Thievery Corporation. I hardly notice and it doesn’t upset me and I’m able to find the right shirt without aggravation. It just happens. I hear it in my car, it’s Trentemoller, and it lowers my blood pressure in traffic and keeps me from speeding when the road opens up. I drive without worry. It just happens. It’s what I hear when I settle for sleep and then it’s William Orbit, which holds my hand again to take me back to the dream world, slowly and with ease. It just happens. It’s chill music, music to chill out to.

People have all sorts of names for it…Downtempo, ambient, electronica, trip-hop, lounge, easy listening?…there are many names but let’s codify it and say it combines four elements: electronic sounds, melodic arrangements, little to no vocals and if they are present are often incomprehensible or in a foreign language, and a slow tempo or subdued percussion that leads to feelings of calm and sublime recollection. The first chill group I fell for was Air; a French band that was made to help lovers unite. At the time I was without love and so their music set my mind dreaming of beautiful women with European looks and beautiful fantasies with European backdrops that I did not know. That’s the attraction of chill music to me; the imagining. The music may sound simple and sleepy but that is the point. It’s for the mind to wander. All music lets us imagine but much of music contains lyrics that guide our imagination or have instrumentation which is fast paced and loud and can make a mind frenetic. Chill music is background music. It doesn’t announce itself.

It doesn’t have a message. It’s there to make you comfortable. If chill music was a host it would serve you the lightest and tastiest food, would put you in its most comfortable chair, fan you when you got hot, and would not be upset if you took a nap during your visit. Chill music wants you to drift away, to relieve your stress, and go your own way. It wants you to make your own world out of what you hear. It’s there to relax you and to brush away your anxieties.

I may be heavy handed in my interpretation, which is the opposite intent of the music itself, so let me make some suggestions so you can form your own interpretation. I’m sure everyone has some chill music in their home. There are always those few tracks that you put on your iPod before you go to sleep, during dinner parties or when you want to read but also want to mask the sound of the neighbor’s dog. Many of those may fall under the rules described and you may already have a fine collection of chill music but let me suggest three titles that I particularly enjoy and revisit often. 1. Any Boards of Canada release, and they have three full-length releases, Music Has the Right to Children, Geoggadi, and The Campfire Headphase. All three titles were released

by Warp Records. 2. Thievery Corporation’s The Mirror Conspiracy, available from Eighteenth Street Lounge Music. 3. William Orbit’s Hello Waveforms available from Sanctuary Records. I suggest putting on one of these records at the end of the day, when you are alone and ready to unwind.

Get comfortable and close your eyes. It may just happen. – Myles Padilla

Bands that produce Chill genre type music can forward to Dig This Real, 244 Fifth Avenue, Suite 29037, New York, New York, 10001-7604; attn: M. Padilla for review.

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28/2/2009 12:16:00

Who Dropped the Inauguration Ball?

It was suppose to be a historical moment. Even though I’d graduated from college half a year ago and made a concerted effort to remove myself from the bubble that is a college campus, there I was sitting in a crowded hall with a few hundred ecstatic college students and custodial workers at the UCLA campus watching the nation’s first black President being sworn in on a jumbo projection screen. Aretha Franklin and her bizarre hat were performing; so was world-class cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The Hispanic custodial worker in front of me started crying tears of joy as Barack Obama began to recite the presidential oath. For some reason, though, I didn’t really feel anything, at least nothing close to what that crying lady in front of me was feeling. That night Obama and his wife Michelle attended the white house’s lavish presidential inauguration ball in honor of his presidency.

Despite Obama’s no-nonsense attitude and his dislike for wasteful conjecture in politics, this whole tradition still seemed a bit wasteful to me, especially considering the circumstances our country is currently in.

Had I become a bitter soulless drone permanently enslaved to the corporate machine? Nah, that couldn’t be it, I’ve been unemployed for several months now. Maybe I’m just subconsciously prejudice against our first black president; doubtful, since I spent the last 4 years of my life studying in North Caro-

lina, living and befriending many African Americans from all walks of life and learning more about black culture than I did about the stuff I was suppose to be studying in my classes. Then it must be the skepticism that I’ve developed over the past decade I’ve spent living in America observing what politics are really about.

Don’t get me wrong; I love Barack Obama. As soon as I saw him make his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 I knew he had a legitimate shot at become the first black president and the go to guy for the 2008 election. I even joined a Facebook group showing my support for him (that’s as far as political activism goes for most people in my generation).

My real concern, however, is that, despite the fact Obama is a thousand times more qualified than the exiting Bush 43, more articulate, seemingly genuine and free from corruption, none of that could matter. See what I’ve come to realize as I’ve grown a bit older and worked in a few different fields is that one commonality has become glaringly apparent to me. In order to reach the top level of any arena, sacrifices must be made and more often than not included among those sacrifices is the loss of your integrity. Us adults

like to call it compromise, a necessary evil, or playing by the system’s rules. And even when you do make it to a position of power, there are always and I mean always, other much more powerful removed people that control your actions. Barack Obama just might be the one to save our asses and bring out country out of the profound hole we’ve dug ourselves into over the last eight plus years and I really hope he is, but the more likely reality is that he is just a figurehead, a face for the public to look up to and praise or blame for the decisions that a much more powerful group of elites are making. I’m just crossing my fingers and hoping that I can get a tax break or some of that stimulus money; a job would also be nice. - Jose Ho-Guanipa

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Tra La La, connect the dots…

From my kid’s face to yours.

A point-counterpoint on the growing epidemic of chicken pox parties.

With all of the controversy surrounding government and state requirements of immunizations for children, it’s no wonder parents are creating their own set of rules regarding what chemicals go into their kids. The chicken pox vaccine, in particular has been linked to various childhood afflictions, including autism, ADD and God knows what else. The State of NJ requires every child age 3 and under is to have this immunization if they are attending a daycare facility or preschool. The only way around it? Give your child the chicken pox and there’s no need for the immunization.

This is where my point-counterpoint argument comes into play. While I, as a mother of a 3 year old, is completely against many of these “necessary” vaccines, I do it because my daughter is in daycare. I have to work, so I have no choice in the matter. The vaccines she’s had have kept us in compliance with the facility’s (and the State’s) rules and thankfully, she’s had no adverse reactions to any of them. On the other hand, the idea of purposely infecting my child with an uncomfortable illness completely disgusts me.

Chicken Pox Parties are set up in the home of someone that’s suffering from full-blown chicken pox. The idea is to let a bunch of kids go crazy, sharing tableware, sippy cups, napping together, etc… anything to get the virus from one child to another.

While a successful ‘infection’ voids the need for the chicken pox vaccine, is it worth it?

There have been so many stories on these parties lately, it’s scary to think that parents feel this is their only way to go.

Some have even been disappointed that their child DIDN’T contract the virus after attending a party. What? Are they serious? My understanding is the goal of a parent is to keep your kids happy and healthy. It amazes me that somehow that ideal has been lost. I understand the concern with some of these vaccines and a parent’s desire to be the one that makes these kinds of decisions for their child, but upon researching for this piece, I was happily surprised by the amount of information that’s available online. Everything from top pediatrician’s opinions, to actual test results from drug companies, even blogs written by moms offering opinions and experiences. It’s all there for the taking. I would almost guarantee that if these skeptical parents put some time and effort into really looking for answers, some of them may change their minds.

– Alison Kooney Useful liks to weary parents: The CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/varicella/ BabyCenter: http://www.babycenter.com/0_the-chicken-pox-vaccine_1725.bc Kids Health.org: http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/chicken_pox.html Alison Kooney is owner of AJKArtistry, an online resource for handmade cards, art and more (and the mom of a 3 year old that has had the chicken pox vaccine). Visit www.ajkartistry.com 61

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28/2/2009 12:16:11

Culture vs.

Compassion I had a rather disturbing conversation the other day.

Some friends and I were lightheartedly discussing the profession of veterinarians and animal cops. Then the Michael Vicks dog fighting case was brought up. I heard only a little in headlines so a friend, let’s say Amanda, enlightened me with all the gruesome details. Vicks, a former NFL player had been arrested for running a brutal dog fighting ring. Dogs are ruthlessly trained to be fighters and often times spend hours in fights until one of the two can no longer stand. The winner goes home and continues training, while the loser is either left for dead or killed. After all, no one likes loser.

Hearing words like ‘rape-stand’ made me cringe so much I refused to conjure up an image. Instead we moved on to other repulsive topics. Horse fighting in Cambodia; cock fighting in Puerto Rico; bullfighting in Spain and so on. And after any amount of heavy conversation a short pause is in order. I let out an embittered puff hoping to blow away the Michael Vicks’ of the world.

After our moment of due silence, I detachedly turned to Amanda.

“So, how was your trip to Europe?” and a new conversation was under way. If you’ve ever talked to someone having recently returned from Europe you’ll know the conversation begins with either art, food, or debauchery. In this particular case we started with food. She preempted her story with: “Well, I don’t really call myself a vegetarian, but I pretty much am. I just eat chicken on holidays and stuff.” I let her continue. “Well, I guess I eat tuna usually. But, anyway the food in Europe was soooo good.

We went to this little store that had wine tastings and plates of cheese and big pepperonis and I just had to try them.”

“Where were you? Italy? Spain?”

“Um, I don’t know, probably one of those. I think Italy, yeah.”

“What countries did you go to anyway?”

“Oh, well we went to so many. I think Spain and Italy, Poland, Germany, Vienna, Prague. Oh, and France and Greece. And some other places, I don’t remember”

“How was Greece? Were you in Athens?”

“Yeah. It was really nice. Acropolis was really cool. And I

don’t usually eat lamb but I had to try a gyro.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Its Europe, you know. Its, like, the culture there. It was really fun, though. I wanna go back.”

“Yeah”

This is what we call cognitive dissonance. The inability to connect two conflicting thoughts or actions. Say, petting your beloved pooch and gnawing on some beef jerky. Or perhaps cringing over the exploitation of Michael Vicks’ dogs while salivating from memories of authentic Greek gyros. It’s a complete inconsistency in logic, though so often overlooked by the great majority of people.

It’s no secret how the meat industry works today; we’ve all seen the pictures of factory farms with animals shoved in dirty, cramped cages. We already know that chickens get their beaks cut off and while cow hooves are treated without any sort of painkiller or local anesthetic. And you might know that the label, ‘free-range,’ only means that the animal has ‘access’ to a window, albeit from inside its cage on the other side of the warehouse. This isn’t how meateating began. People like to imagine their T-bone steak starting at a little family farm where the animals graze lush pastures and live a dignified life before their humane and inevitable death. Nope.

Sorry. That T-bone was just as abused as Michael Vicks’ dogs. Both exploited, tortured and made a spectacle for human enjoyment.

Haven’t we evolved yet?

It’s time we started treating animals like what they really are - living creatures. A pig is not a cog in machine and a chicken is not just another ingredient in a Waldorf salad. These animals live and breathe and have emotions and personalities just like your cat.

So if you still decide its okay to eat meat why don’t you go out and buy that cow or that chicken and raise it in your backyard the way it started hundreds of years ago. Don’t pump it full of hormones or feed it a diet it wasn’t intended for, let it graze and roam out of a cage or manure pile. And when the time comes to eat it, kill it quick and painlessly, the same way you’d put an old dog to sleep. Then you won’t be a hypocrite.

- by Alexandra Kain

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Don’t hit that delete button yet...

I don’t know about you, but there is nothing that I enjoy more than opening my private email account and seeing all of the exclusive offers and sweet products that have been selected just for me! These companies almost know me better than I know myself and the sweet deals that they have specifically tailored to meet my tastes are increasingly difficult to pass up. It truly is amazing. How did boner.com know that I was interested in Angelina Jolie getting it on with a mule that looked like Lindsay Lohan? And how did hornyholidays.com know that I would be interested in sending out pictures of the infamous Janet Jackson Super Bowl boob shot as my “gag” holiday greeting card? (A little dated I know, but they were in the discount section. Times are tough.) The only thing I can’t figure out is how I got on this “natural male enhancement” list. Clearly someone in their research department dropped the ball on that one…

Seriously though, online spam is at an all time high and the stuff that people are trying to pull is hitting all time lows with each passing day. Some of the stuff that gets sent out nowadays is far beyond the point of being annoying and is just plain wrong.

I realize people need to make a buck one way or another and if the way they choose to go about it is by selling sleazy stuff, I guess that is their choice; clearly someone must be buying it or else they would have no market. The new spam trend that really bugs me is the one where someone pretends to be a prince, a saint or some other irreproachable figure, and asks you to help them rescue an amount of money from a their long lost savings account. If you have email you have probably encountered something like this.

For some reason, these people all seem to need your contact information, including name, address, social security number, in order to recover their missing fortune. They are always willing to pay quite handsomely for your help and are very quick to remind you that God will bless you for doing so.

This scam is paper thin but it must be working on someone (the elderly?) or else you would think these people would give up. There is something about how this scheme preys on a person’s good intentions that I find especially distasteful. Also some of the cover stories that are used are just so ridiculous that they make this entire practice laughable. This shit is bush league.

Anyhow, I got a letter one day from someone in Iraq. He really wanted my help to get some treasure out of the county. I thought it would be fun to see how much I could “help” him without actually doing anything: Dear Sir/Madam, My Name is Sgt.Mark Edwards. I am an American soldier, serving in the US Military of the Army 1st Armored Division in Iraq. I have a very desperate need for your help. I am seeking your kind assistance to move the sum of US $5.5 million out of Iraq to you in United States or another country of your choice. It will be kept with you until I complete my service here in Iraq.

Source of Money: Some large amount of money in various currencies were discovered in barrels at a farm house in one of Saddam Hussein’s old palaces in Tikrit-Iraq during a rescue operation, and it was agreed by myself and staff Sgt. Richard Buff that some part of this money be shared between us before informing my brigade commander in Iraq. I know this is not morally good thing to do, but I tell you what? No compensation can make up for the risk we have taken with our lives in this hell hole of a place, of which my brother in-law (Spc. Peter G. Enos) was killed

by a rocket-propelled grenade. (SEE WEBSITE: http:// www.militarycity.com/valor/257175.html) Please assist us to bring this money out of Iraq. I will give you details when you reply. If you have reasons to reject this offer, please destroy this message as any leakage of this information will be too bad for the US Soldiers here in Iraq.

Sgt. Edwards ---------------------------------------------------------------I wrote back: I have recently been blessed with winning the lottery and would love to help out some of our boys overseas. Please send me more information about how I can get involved.

Best, Evan ---------------------------------------------------------------Hello Evan, Thank you so much for your reply. I was born in Albany, New York to Richard and Phyllis Edwards. They lived in a small town near Albany called Westerlo. My parents moved to Florida when I was three. I lost my loving Dad, who died of Chronic Leukemia on the 30th of Dec.1964.

He knew he wasn’t going to survive of the cancer since Doctor Kent Jones ,said his chances of survival is 20% as its symptoms which are the enlargement of spleen ,liver and lymph nodes. I grew up in Rockledge Florida, which is near Cape Kennedy and Cocoa Beach .

I had an airplane that I paid for myself in high school and the first 2 years of college. I went to pilot training at Moody US Army Base in Valdosta, Georgia. I was hired

by Southern Airways out of Atlanta on April 3rd, 1978.

Three mergers later, I have one grown boy and is 10, living in the Orlando area with his mother. I have been divorced since October of 2004, an American soldier serving in the 1st Armored Division in Tikrit, Iraq. You understand our situation here being attacked by insurgents. The personal informations I need from you is as follows: your full name, full address, direct telephone/fax numbers, date of birth and occupation (what you do for a living). I will also want you to know that this transaction is 100% risk free and will want you to maintain utmost confidentiality.

I hope this helps, Sgt Mark Edwards.

---------------------------------------------------------------Sgt. Edwards, I am utterly impressed with your credentials.

You seem to have led quite a majestic, yet turbulent life. I have spent some time in the Albany area myself. I remember going to see Lynyrd Skynyrd up there at the Palace Theater back in the old days. I never drank so much Jack Daniels in my life and boy howdy! Were those high school girls friendly! I am sorry to hear about your divorce but it sounds as if you have a lovely child and we all must count our blessings. I myself am counting mine. Although I currently have no permanent address and am, at the moment, unemployed, my recent lottery winnings have show a beacon of light into my world. I am glad things will remain confidential because I vastly prefer the down low.

Best, Evan After that, I didn’t hear anything for a while. I thought that I had scared them off or they had forgotten about me. Not so. About a week or so later, I got this quick email:

Dear Evan, How are you doing?

Are you still interested?

From Iraq, Sgt Mark Edwards.

---------------------------------------------------------------Game on, I quickly replied: Yes I am. It’s just that things are in such turmoil over here and times are very uncertain.

I don’t know how you keep up your strength and courage in the face of such mounting odds.

Please give me some words of advice or a vote of confidence to raise my spirits.

Good Luck, Evan ---------------------------------------------------------------Hello Evan, Further to our letter conversation I must let you know that I was a bit surprised at your letter and the impression you’ve created so far in this transaction. Having known our situation here in Iraq and how the insurgents are putting all their efforts to sweep us out the earth planet, you still doubt us when I had in mind you’ll be nice to me.

What I’m trying to say is that your expression in your other letter is rather, disappointing after all the details been told to you on email. You still have the doubts that it’s a game or something? Well let me bring to your notice that i will not like to subject you to what you do not have interest in, but i believe this is a good opportunity for you to make some good morning, since we cannot handle the transaction or make any move out of here until the war is over.

You don’t have to nurse any bad impression in this at all as a matter of fact. I did not force you into the 2nd option but rather thought that the first option will rather be too much for you to carry, because definitely the security company may demand for some charges some where along the line, whereby you cannot open the consignment before making the payment and also i cannot do anything from here as i am not in possession of any funds right now.

UNDERSTAND? I just thought i should make this appointment an easy and stress free one for you. I have no intention of taking from you but rather getting this funds through your kind assistance.

Having known that i do not have access to this funds but you alone as my appointee and what i have longed asked for is your sincerity to have my own share put down for me ,so by the end of the war, I can start life with it...You know i am on a mission here and do not have access to funds nor can make any transfers from here.

THINK ABOUT THAT!!! You must have to reconsider the option as it’s better. I believe this elaborated details will clear your curiosity. I will await your further response and please transmit to me a copy of the letter from the SECURITY COMPANY as soon as you hear from them.

God bless you, Sgt. Edwards ---------------------------------------------------------------Sgt. Edwards, Let me assure you that I have the utmost faith in your ability to suppress the insurgents and create a good opportunity for all to make some good morning delight. I know that it is your desire for me to insure the sturdiness of your financial transaction, and to do so would give my heart wings and bathe me in light. However, it is difficult for me to fathom the best way for me to do this. Perhaps I could send you some sort of offering or a token of my lottery winnings? If this will not be sufficient, please send me the details of your plan in which I will become your benefactor. Remember, the strength of virility and fire blossoms ride on 63

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your shoulders and the winds of change blow strong with your essence. Fly high and I will pray for your safety.

Send Word, Evan ---------------------------------------------------------------Dear Evan, I think we handling this venture through a diplomatic courier would serve us right to avoid any form of questioning in your bank once the package is delivered to you. You can now make a little by little deposit of the funds to your receiving bank account at your convenient. Through a Diplomatic Shipment system the consignment will be shipped through a courier service as a diplomatic package with immunity coverage. That means it cannot be inspected at any port of entry or exit. I believe this trust will not be betrayed when this funds arrives your destination .On the other note, you must note that the shipment of this consignment to your receiving address is risk free as the Diplomats has been tested and trusted. Furthermore, as soon as we have finalized with the due process, then you shall then receive your own copy of the Deposit Certificate and also a copy of my US ID for your own record and perusal.

Please note that any expenses on the course of this venture will be our sole 50/50 responsibility, that is if there is going to be any at all and if this option its accepted by you, please indicate by contacting the woman diplomat with the below contact info introducing yourself as the beneficiary One thing I’m much more cared about is your uprightness at the end of this project. I will await further response from your end. .

Mrs El Sy (MME) Email:securelogisticscompany@ymail.com Cell:+44 70457 67932, +4470457 67945 + Please send her an email now. I will expect to hear from you soon. God Bless.

Sgt Mark Edwards.

Hello, I was advised to contact you about extracting some funds from Iraq. Are you the gate keeper? I am the key master.

Deliciously, Evan ---------------------------------------------------------------Hello Evan, MY NAME IS MADAM EL SY AND IT IS A PLEASURE TO WORK WITH YOU ON THIS PROJECT. HONESTY AND MUTUAL TRUST, AS YOU AUGHT TO KNOW, ARE THE ONLY SINE-QUA NON FOR A SUCCESS IN ANY TRANSACTION. Furthermore, there is no risk what so ever as regards the box, I have a very good, trusted and reliable diplomatic courier contact, that can send goods easily through diplomatic way, to anywhere in the world, without them being checked at any port of entry. I know a few leaders that have used this means, to convey goods, without being checked because of the diplomatic immunity on them. I am very sure you will know the best way to receive and handle the package , when it gets to your base. Please kindly confirm your secured receiving address where you want the delivery. As soon as I get it, I will start making arrangements as to pushing the box through the bowels of diplomacy. I have open talks with the transport company through the diplomatic organization that will act as the shipper. If all is good, I expect the Box to leave by next day or two. I will need to talk with them to know how much the shipment cost, in order to expedite a speedy delivery at your doorstep without delays. Please forward me your information: Full name, Address, Cell/House numbers, scan a copy of your id.

You really have to try your best and make such you pay the charges.

Thank you for your support Mrs. El Sy

Madam, My sincerest apologies for my delay. I have been on a New Year’s bender that would make Keith Richards quake within my presence. I may finally have the ability to inspire awe. In any case, it is with the utmost anticipation that I wait for your box to squeak through the diplomat’s bowels. I feel that this sort of squeaking is truly the best way to deliver a package and makes the contents so much more fresh and effervescent upon arrival. The sights and smells will be grand and I cannot wait to make this dream into a reality.

I cannot wait to continue my support. Soon the gold will be ours and the lucky charms will be in our bellies.

Send word with Paul Revere at the next full moon, Evan

Unfortunately after this letter, I just got the same response that that, “she” had sent previously. Still, despite the outcome, I consider this experiment somewhat of a success. It makes me a little bit warm on the inside to think of some scheming bastard pouring over my emails and trying to figure a way to respond so that I would send them all of my information and they could steal my identity or whatever they were trying to do. If nothing else, at least it made them waste a lot of their time and it was probably extremely frustrating from their end. I was the one that got away.

- Evan Bleier

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