I’m so proud I could almost cry. Anecdotal? Cherry picking? I wish that were the case. At  least that hot lil’ honey wanted Hillary on the ticket. Her side-men I like to think of as a rootys, heartland, version of Hannity & Colmes. You can determine which is which. (My apologies for some of the language, but there in lies our glimpse into such a beautiful world.) I know, I know, I’m an elitist snob mocking an easy target.
YES, I AM! WHOO-HOO!

Courtesy of old pal, Athens kid, film maker and chronic archivist Lance Bangs. Looking at this issue is like a band looking at their first clunky demo tape. Regardless, I’m really proud of everything that stemmed from this "goof" fifteen years ago.

Chunklet.com is proud to announce the release of two herculean Harvey Milk albums on double vinyl.

First up is Harvey Milk’s "My Love Is Higher Than Your Assessment of What My Love Could Be". Yes, this is the first time it has been issued on vinyl. Early purchases are rewarded with a special color that is available only for the first hours of its release.

This is ground zero for one of the nineties’ last true cult bands; now legendary for churning ghostly wailings, unearthly bellows, and gentle whispers together into one soaring, crawling, ugly and beautiful blend of brilliance. My Love… is essential listening for all fans of hard and heavy post-rock, and stands as the official starting point for your Harvey Milk education.

And next up is Harvey Milk’s "Courtesy & Good Will Toward Men".

Recut and remastered by Masterphonics. Repressed on two 180g dark grey 12" records. Exquisite jackets and insert letterpressed, die cut and embossed at Interrobang in Massachusetts. The epic "Courtesy & Goodwill" double album is being reissued in a third edition of 500. There’s only about 300 available for sale.

"Brutally heavy, painfully slow, and heartbreakingly beautiful! Amazing double LP of slow motion dirge and obfuscated experiments in rhythmic tension swaddled in old school Melvins style pummel, interspersed with the occasional whisper of a song, delicate and lilting. Even at its intended speed, it almost sounds like you’ve accidentally set a 78 on the turntable and set the controls for 16rpm. Epic and absolutely essential." — Aquarius Records

Get ready to have an awesome fall with these incredible albums in your collection.

The Chunklet 15th Anniversary is next weekend in Athens with Mastodon, It’s Casual, Brian Posehn, Deerhunter, Gentleman Jesse & His Men, Twin Tigers and Brent Weinbach at the world famous 40 Watt Club! DON’T MISS OUT!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, the Zach Galifianakis/Ted Leo 7" is being pressed this week and will ship very shortly. Sorry for the inconvenience.

This has been sitting on my desktop forever courtesy of Billy.

I still think one of these days I’ll assemble a book of punk/noise/rawk flyers from the 90’s showing the progression of graphic design through the decade. In the meantime…..

So you don’t need to hear me say this again (because I’m sure it gets tedious) but I’ve been insanely busy. The new issue. The book. The 15th anniversary coming up. On top of it, my bestest buddy Garth came to town for the weekend and I was schlepping him around and Atlanta was lucky to get all the runoff from Gonerfest this last week (I got to see Tyvek, Psychedelic Horseshit, Eat Skull, Black Time and Vivian Girls in the course of 3 days!).

But I’ve been plowing through a stack of unwatched DVDs (I just finished the HBO series about John Adams which I strongly recommend for fellow history nerds) and a mountain of books as well.

One book that has more than kept me consumed here and there is Japrocksampler by Julian Cope. As many will remember, his book Krautrocksampler is an indispensible and enthusiastic study on music from Germany from the 60’s through the 70’s. Mr. Cope’s newest book is more of the same. However, whereas before I had a pretty solid knowledge of Can, Neu!, Faust and the lesser known K-rock bands like Witthüser & Westrupp and the Cosmic Jokers, from page 1 in Japrocksampler, I felt like I was being schooled in an as of yet discovered permutation of psych/noise rock that has eluded me. That is, until now….

The band that has stood out in the book has to be the Flower Travellin’ Band. You can read an in depth story here. What has always enamored me about Japanese rock is their ability to take an artform from the west and put it through a blender and bring it out the other end more extreme than anybody else. Give this video a listen. I think you’ll dig it. Rumor has it that they’ve reunited this year. Anybody got news on this?

As with with Julian Cope’s other books, I couldn’t reccommend this book more strongly. And while I’m at it, does anybody have a spare copy of Krautrocksampler? I  gave Jerry Fuchs my copy about 8 years ago. Stupid. Stupid Stupid.

I’ve been thinking about the new AC/DC record and the fact that no indie record store in the country can sell it (sold exclusively through Wal-Mart), and then I get in my car with Sirius Radio that has (I shit you not) an AC/DC radio station promoting the new record. And listening to the band on their own, they’re untouchable. Dumbed down 12-bar boogie, but jesus christ. No peer comes close.

This video both made me happy, but also sad to know Jack White’s this desperate to get Meg outta the picture. Or isn’t he?

I just got back from court in downtown Atlanta. Spent $10 on parking, but I successfully got a local hobo off the street for a week. Don’t say the justice system doesn’t work.

Anyway, there was another gentleman before the bench who was accused of being drunk and disorderly. Apparently he was arrested as he was loudly screaming at people in a liquor store parking lot and called 911 and asked them to "protect and serve his nuts."

I later saw this same gentleman out in the parking garage yelling at his girlfriend/wife about losing his parking receipt.

"Protect and serve his nuts." Priceless.

So I came across this article, and I was immediately taken aback by a number of really startling picks for the top 20 hardcore bands from America.

Now, I certainly don’t consider myself an authority, but to think that Mr. Sherburne does is a bit unnerving.

I sent this link to Billy from Shake It, and his response was:

For starters:
THE GERMS
Not HC and that album sucks (No. 1 !?).

POISON IDEA
RECORD COLLECTORS ARE PRENTIOUS ASSHOLES  – great band , lousy record. Everybody picks it for the title.

MINUTEMEN
DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE DIME – In NO WAY HC, not even close in any "intellectual" stretch…and one should not use intelligence and HC in the same sentence.

HÜSKER DÜ
ZEN ARCADE  – once gain not a HC album. Was this list made by some 24 year old putz? And if you’re going to play the Dü card you play Metal Circus anyway, duh.

RITES OF SPRING
Okay, this is getting OLD. Not a HC record, nor band. A great band, but NOT a hardcore punk band, no matter how many ‘zines this guy read.

BIG BLACK
SONGS ABOUT FUCKING – Now he/she is just being a dick?

EYEHATEGOD
TAKE AS NEEDED FOR PAIN – I shouldn’t even have to explain this to a Pitchfork writer? Plus everybody knows "Dope Sick" is the shit for EHG.

BIKINI KILL
THE CD VERSION OF THE FIRST TWO RECORDS – Obviously now we’re dealing with a Liberal Arts major, somewhere on the Western seaboard, dunce.

BORN AGAINST
BATTLE HYMNS OF THE RACE WAR – "Legendary" and "Virginia" in the same breath? That’s a big "NO" unless you’re talking about Thomas Jefferson.

HEROIN
HEROIN – Oh for Christ’s sake, I give up.

Die Kreuzen?! HELLO?????????????

And upon sending the link to the kids in Sex/Vid, RJ’s response was even more harsh:

That list is the WORST! Jesus Christ!
1) Bubba Dupree did NOT SING IN VOID! How can someone who does not even know the singer of a band feel qualified to make a "top ___" list of ANYTHING?! That would be like me saying "when Jimmy Page screams ‘I’ve been dazed and confused,’ it’s so powerful!!!"
2) Yes, the Negative Approach 7" was mega-influential and its importance cannot be understated, but NYHC would have happened without it. The Bad Brains were already there doing their work. It would have been better for him to say something like "good hardcore MIGHT not have happened without the FIX" aka best band ever.
3) NO BOSTON HARDCORE? XCLAIM! Released some of the the best records of the era. They did not have a bad release, SSD both 12" DYS brotherhood, FU’s both 12", JERRYS KIDS is this my world. Also, bands like Negative FX , Last Rights, fuck, I mean wtf?
4) That is the wrong Born Against album. He should have put the singles collection.
5) THE DEAD KENNEDYS  SUCK DICK.
6) MDC is good, but boring as fuck. And by ‘good’ I mean, play it once every year and be like "why am I jamming this when I could jamming…..(which leads me to lucky number 7)
7) DRI DEALING WITH IT IS THE BEST RECORD EVER!
8) COC dude. Where the fuck is Eye for an Eye? Not EYEHATEGOD. EYE FOR AN EYE.
9) I reiterate: BUBBA DUPREE DID NOT SING IN VOID. "Man, when Keith Richards screams ‘please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and fame" it just GETS ME EVERYTIME!!!
10) He picked the right Misfits album. THAT’S ALL HE HAS. He picked the best Misfits LP. Hooray for him.

Discuss.

I’m certainly not insensitive to this woman’s loss, but the context and her priorities are just…… I don’t know. Horrid? I dare you to make it the whole way through.

Courtesy of Mogwump. It sure is cold in the D.