by Blogbot
So you’ve recovered from your turkey/Tofurky coma, and you’ve just finished pimpin’ your pad out with Christmas lights. You’ve got a little creative, you’re feeling smug – then don’t watch the video below, which seriously ups the ante on domestic decorations and will likely make the baubles you were so proud of 5 minutes ago look, quite frankly, slightly shite by comparison.
“From the heart and honest.”
– Vera Ramone King
Vera Ramone King’s book Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone documents her 17-year marriage to the bassist and lead songwriter of seminal punk rockers The Ramones. In vivid and loving detail, she recounts the rise and demise of her lover and best friend, who succumbed to a heroin overdose in 2002. She offers the untold story of how she continually kept him alive even amidst bouts of terrifying abuse from her husband, illuminating a vital link in the band’s masterful and enduring legacy.
“We were fans of the Smiths and Morrissey.”
– Nina Diaz: Girl In A Coma
Morrissey and his legendary former band The Smiths continue to have a far-reaching impact on music and style, reaching artists and fans across international and genre boundaries alike. Some, such as San Antonio-based rock trio Girl in a Coma (sisters Nina and Phanie Diaz and Jenn Alva), who are second-gen fans, have paid the ultimate homage by naming their group after one of his songs – in this case, 1987’s “Girlfriend in a Coma.”
“Yeah, maybe I am a little crazy, but whatever.”
– Marilyn Manson
There’s nothing half-hearted about the new album from Marilyn Manson, The High End of Low, which explores love, hate, revenge, loss and despair. Off stage, many find Manson’s passion disconcerting, but the singer/songwriter considers anything that veers towards apathy to be inherently “worthless.” It’s therefore not surprising to hear that during the recording process Manson pushed himself and his band to extremes, the resulting album returning him to the kind of form he’s not seen in a decade.
There are many opportunities to have an extraordinary experience that can transcend your expectations of a traditional event. Case in point, my adventures at an Erasure show – featuring UK crooner Andy Bell and synth-pop legend Vincent Clarke (very formerly of Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and The Assembly) – during their Phantasmagorical Entertainment tour of 1992.
When it was announced that a residency of ten nights would descend upon the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, my extreme state of fandom naturally predetermined that I would attend a minimum of five nights. This was not an option (in my mind) as per usual with the bands I’m into, it was a mandate that would lead me to an experience that I would still be talking about a mere 18 years later…
by Blogbot
Bobby Alt, Adam Alt and Frank Zummo of Street Drum Corps can bang the shit out of anything and make it sound good – really fucking good. As if to prove this point, during the opening night of their month-long weekly residency at The Roxy this past Tuesday, they stuck a pair of beat up household pans in an audience member’s hands and proceeded to make them sing with their sticks.
“The raging snark.”
– Moby
Moby could be described as a reluctant celebrity. He first found his way into the collective consciousness with the 1992 rave anthem “Go.” In the faceless world of techno culture success remained within his comfort zone. For the remainder of the decade he released his increasingly hybrid electronic-based music with little fanfare outside of the dance world. His 1999 album Play, barely made a ripple in the ocean of record sales when it first came out.
However, after a series of high profile film, TV and ad licenses, Play was propelled into the mainstream and Moby into the media maelstrom with it. Track 5 from the album, “South Side,” a little duet with Gwen Stefani, subsequently gained momentum, becoming an MTV staple for many months. It reached number 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 and number 3 on the Modern Rock singles chart in 2001. Play went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide.
As film director David Lynch succinctly puts it, “Success is just as dangerous as failure, maybe more.” In the years since “South Side” graced the charts, Moby has not exactly been chasing similar commercial success — far from it — however many automatically assume he has. After all, money and fame are the goals of every artist right?
