Messages

676

Non-Music Shit / Re: Pussy Riot

« on: August 17, 2012, 11:27:53 AM »

"in some countries where there are serious protests, like our friends in bahrain for instance, if a doctor treats someone who has their skull smashed in by the police they get sentenced to 15 years in prison.  of course we dont hear about that in our media, because bahrain is our friend at the moment."

In Manufacturing Consent, Chomsky address this topic. He breaks it down into "Worthy" and "Unworthy Victims", citing the people in Cambodia suffering under the pseudo-Communist Khmer Rouge as being in the former group and the people of East Timor getting massacred by the Indonesian Army in the latter.

The United States has always acted according to its own needs in regards to treating countries/regimes in the media. So when Stalin was taking out the Nazis he was "Uncle Joe" ("Stalin wasn't Stallin'). Gorbachev and Yeltsin were "fearless reformers." The latter plunged Russia into chaos. Then the old Soviet Union was forgotten be the Western Media as promised capital for a change to a market economy never came through. Life expectancy for males plummeted to 57 (from 64 in 1990 -- if I remember correctly). There's a good documentary called My Perestroika that address this. The BBC did a good one too, that was less personal and focused on the rising AIDs epidemic. In a recent poll, Russians rated the pre-revolutionary years and the Khrushchev years the highest. Which I understood not to be a look back on  some fake halcyon time, but reflective of how bad the post-Communist years have been.

677

Non-Music Shit / Re: Pussy Riot

« on: August 17, 2012, 11:11:54 AM »

I truly believe that this is perfectly illustrative of exactly what's wrong with our country. This is pretty much exactly what I've been fighting against my whole life. It's a cultural trait of our people that allows us to dominate the rest of the world, and allow corruption and tyranny to happen at home. THIS is what is wrong with this country, more than anything else.

You should read Rosa Luxemburg. It's not solely an American trait.

678

Worse than Pop Punk / Re: "Fuck Scion and fuck In The Red Records"

« on: August 08, 2012, 07:06:20 PM »

I don't think it's working. Isn't Scion out of garage rock now? Or are they just trying to save face like Chevy with the Corvair by letting the campaign slowly burn out over diminishing returns?

 

It's not likely a tax write-off in the purest sense tho.  I'd bet its a calculated investment....a loss-leader.  Like you said, why pay Wilco $200,000 for a commercial spot when you could pay like 40 bands to do records for that...creating an instantly pervasive campaign that....ahem....doesnt aim for YOU....but rather aims for THE KIDS WHO THINK YOU'RE COOL that have the money to buy a car.  They are not trying to sell Timmy Vulgar a Scion.  They are trying to sell the trust fund kid who is "slumming it" at a Human Eye show a brand new Scion because, hell, he needs one for his 16th birthday anyway...why not get the COOL car since I'm trying to escape my rich parents? 

I would only really get behind Scion if they paid True Sons of Thunder to burn a Scion behind them while playing.  I've got a great image in my head of a roped off Scion surrounded by fire marshalls and cops quarantining the anarchy for our safety and enjoyment. 

I agree with what TTT said about the demo/psychographic. The weekend warriors of garage punk being the group marketed to. There's no way anyone who's put in years would be so thickheaded as to buy into their campaign. They're going for the easy pickings. 

679

Worse than Pop Punk / Re: "Fuck Scion and fuck In The Red Records"

« on: August 08, 2012, 05:53:34 PM »

It works because the bands Scion scoops up make budget, off-brand commercial rock.  The big-name, professional artists are too expensive, and legitimately underground / "radical" / vanguard musicians are too elusive, or uncompromising, or impossible / pointless to market.  The Conquest of Cool was a '90s phenomenon.  This Scion business smacks of tax write-off, or executive pet project, or some retardo scheme hatched by a summer intern.  Figure in some dicksucking in there somewhere too, why not?  It's totally lame, but you get what you deserve.

If you're tryina make a living by playing "underground music," you're doing it wrong.

Agreed.

680

Worse than Pop Punk / Re: "Fuck Scion and fuck In The Red Records"

« on: August 08, 2012, 04:56:16 PM »

It's not so much about the money or the politics.  I think Scion sucking has a lot more to do with the fact that it's just a cheap swoop.  Anyone who puts in blood sweat and tears into this shit should know to one degree or another when the "outside world" starts to peer over your little world's shoulders.  All the cash arguments and ethical arguments are kind of circular, but one thing that's truly undeniable is that these people APPROPRIATING SOMETHING ELSE into their own vision at the last second IS SHITTY and CHEAP.  It's the bands decision I guess.  It has no staying power.  It is obviously seen as a cheap move.  The weird thing is....it works.  Which makes me realize how fucking dumb the world is.

For me it is -- money and politics. That's just me. I saw this happen with skateboarding. Nike is now a "legitimate" skate shoe.

I agree with you though. I can't believe Scion had the nerve to think they could just instantly buy their way into this. It wasn't even a slow but steady campaign. It was sudden and anything but sincere. Fake zines, festivals. Ridiculous. I still wonder who on their marketing team figured this was a good demographic/psychographic to try to tap.   

681

Worse than Pop Punk / Re: "Fuck Scion and fuck In The Red Records"

« on: August 08, 2012, 03:09:23 PM »

You can simply refuse to work with Scion and other corporations. People do it all the time. I work at a cabinet shop. Put out records. Lose some bucks. Repeat the process. My work's anything but easy. But I sleep okay most nights. Records come out at a glacial pace. But that's a trade off I'm okay with. I absolutely hate corporate involvement in music. But if others work with them, that's fine. Live and let live.

If you look at Germany during the Weimar years or the West German years -- a lot of noncommercial projects went ahead because of public sector funding. Someone I interviewed recently mentioned the film Wings of Desire could never have occurred without the support of the Goethe Institute -- and the participation of Nick Cave and Crime and the City Solution. The United States more than any other industrialized nation believes the market should judge what succeeds and what fails. No mystery there. And if Scion can associate itself with "cool," build a new market, then the funding has been worth it. I'll just keep doing what I do anyway, as I'm sure will all of you.       

682

Worse than Pop Punk / Re: "Fuck Scion and fuck In The Red Records"

« on: August 04, 2012, 02:14:30 PM »

Scion is absolute garbage. They're bottom feeders looking for a new demographic to boost their bottom line. They couldn't care less about rock 'n' roll. That's what corporations do in this era of late capitalism. It's not about the use value of products anymore (and anyway manufacturing left the US a long time ago). It's the manufacturing and control of "cool". Thomas Frank and Juliet Schor have written about this quite a bit. Guy Debord and Marcuse are the intellectual heavyweights of late 20th century consumer culture. Scion fills the vacuum a lack of funding for the arts creates. 

In The Red Records: Larry Hardy is a good friend who has incredible taste in music. He's built long lasting relationships with bands over the years. I've interviewed a lot of groups on his label and they have -- with one exception -- nothing but great things to say about him. While I don't back working with Scion, I don't pass judgment on Larry for working with them. Normally I stay out of stuff like this -- the dude at Lucky Lacquers could have a totally legitimate gripe with Larry and Scion. But I feel Larry has more than paid his dues and treated people fairly. He's done a lot for music. I don't like seeing the dude dumped on in a public forum.       

683

Non-Music Shit / Re: Alexander Cockburn RIP

« on: July 23, 2012, 10:51:27 AM »

Great, great journalist. Really liked End Times.

684

Music Shit / Re: PETER GUTTERIDGE is pretty amazing these days ( SNAPPER / GREAT UNWASHED / NZ )

« on: July 05, 2012, 02:03:47 PM »

Celia Mancini was great too. There's a lot of stuff floating around NZ on cassette that's been unreleased -- Axle Grinders, etc.

685

Music Shit / Re: PETER GUTTERIDGE is pretty amazing these days ( SNAPPER / GREAT UNWASHED / NZ )

« on: July 05, 2012, 02:01:28 PM »

Shotgun Blossom is overlooked. Really great album.

686

New Releases For Sale/Distro Updates / New stuff for sale now -- White Mystery and The Bloody Souls

« on: June 28, 2012, 11:49:49 AM »

White Mystery - "People Power" 7" on Perpetrator Records $7.50

http://spacecaserecords.com/Mailorder/White-Mystery---People-Power.html


The Bloody Souls - Tapes - Odds & Sods 2002-2012 CD on Kato Records $10.50

http://spacecaserecords.com/Mailorder/The-Bloody-Souls---Odds-and-Sods.html


Both are New Zealand imports from Andrew Tolley at Perpetrator/Kato

687

Non-Music Shit / Re: Baseball Thread 2012

« on: June 21, 2012, 08:53:24 AM »

Knuckleballers and submarine pitchers made baseball games interesting. You never knew what was going to happen.

688

Non-Music Shit / Re: what are you reading?

« on: June 21, 2012, 08:46:58 AM »

Eric Laursen -- The People's Pension: The Fight to Defend Social Security Since Reagan

Long but necessary read.

689

Music Shit / Re: Forced Exposure mag and post-FE mags

« on: April 15, 2012, 07:56:18 PM »

The issue with the Gun Club rules. Really great one. Ira Kaplan did a great write up.

What's cool is that they were really looking for stuff at NYR. Like that same issue has a write-up on The Bloods and just happens to mention the guitarist played in Peter and the Wolves (with Peter Laughner). Those were different times.

690

Music Shit / Re: What are you listening to and what do you have to say about it? Part V

« on: April 15, 2012, 07:54:28 PM »

Some collector liquidated his record collection at the store down the street from me. Picked up $15 to $90 records for $5.00 to 7.00. Dropped over $100 for the the first time in years. Been listening to Lydia Lunch's Queen of Siam and the A&M Bootleg double album for the past two days.