Courtesy Atomic Benn.

A foregone conclusion, I’m sure.

Burly, Northwestern, Rockin’ Music. (With Jared from Karp and Joe Preston. Started 2002 and ended 2003 when the drummer died.)

Hefty. Hefty. Hefty.

Pasty, English, Electronic, Disco, House Music.

The (original) Whip demo attached. Discuss.

Oh, on a related note, Joe Preston’s playing with Harvey Milk both on their upcoming album and tour this Spring! Get stoked!

Wimpy. Wimpy. Wimpy.

The Whip – Stone Cold Crazy

The Whip – Freelance Liason (demo)

The Whip – Wolf & Sheep Judgement (demo)

The Whip – untitled3 (demo)

The Whip – untitled4 (demo)

Worst list of the top 100 stand-ups I’ve ever seen. And let it known that I think C&L is one of the best blogs out there. Including John Pinnette in the list is bad enough, but putting him above Groucho Marx? Bill Hicks below Gilbert Gottfried? I’ll leave the comments section for discussion.

There’s nothing I like more than browsing eBay for shit that I clearly don’t need and about five days ago, I hit paydirt! Jeff Nelson (drummer for Minor Threat, High Back Chairs, 3, et al./pre-computer typographer bad ass/half owner of Dischord Records/overall decent dude/Iraq war hater) is selling boatloads of primo 80’s relics from his own personal collection. Many gorgeous silkscreened posters, Dischord rarities and even Minor Threat and Bad Brains flyers all in pristine shape. It is a bummer that their price tags are now far out of my price range because his design and silkscreen work is exceptional especially considering it was done in an age before computers. And who wouldn’t want a poster showcasing a show with 3, Happy Go Licky and Bastro? Jeez louise!

Drummers like Jeff Nelson always make the best packrats!

Additionally, Jeff’s background information on each piece he’s selling is informative, insightful and, at times, amusing. He includes histories of silkscreening and even the provenance of each piece. A great relief from work for a few minutes to read the stuff.

A legendary sample that’s on the choppin’ block…

In honor of this, I’m including a live Minor Threat show from this bootleg I snagged that was a split with The Faith. Of course, the between song banter is priceless.

Minor Threat – In My Eyes (live)

Minor Threat – Small Man Big Mouth (live)

Minor Threat – It Follows Me (live)

Minor Threat – Bottled Violence (live)

Minor Threat – Look Back And Laugh (live)

Minor Threat – Straight Edge (live)

Minor Threat – Filler (live)

Very recently, the wife and I were giving a Mancunian guitarist a ride to a downtown airport hotel after he had just played the big arena north of Atlanta. When he saw that Van Halen were scheduled to play at the same venue in February, he proceeded to tell a very funny story about when he met Van Halen in the year after Diamond Dave was kicked out of the band in 1986. Names and places to this story are unimportant (if I were telling the story in person, they obviously would though) but he tells of Sammy Hagar being overly friendly, Eddie Van Halen looking like a smiling retard the entire time on stage and Alex being the worst drummer he’d ever seen. Utter hilarity.

Then again, if Van Halen just kept with what worked, the "dark years" (aka "Anything With Sammy") would never have happened. Sure, they had number one songs and albums, but dammit, Dave was the soul of the band! The zen-cum-slapstick comedian of the group! I defy you to prove me otherwise.

If life’s a stage, I want the brightest spot…..

To prove my point, listen to this mp3! PROVE! ME! WRONG! BITCHES!

Diamond Dave – Runnin’ With The Devil

Yuki battles Vice President Dick Cheney after he parks in an "expectant mothers" spot at the mall.

For the movie Juno.

From the "It’s Been Sitting On My Office Desk For Too Damned Long Department" it’s the legendary Leroy Mercer tape.

Judging from the accent, you’re talking about people from around Knoxville, Tennessee. Yeah, real down-home country types who are probably a stone’s throw from where The Carter Family recorded their first records And in the age before caller ID, being able to trace a call or even getting the cops involved, a simple guy could harass endlessly. And God bless him.

Yes, that’s the font-that-can’t-be-named….”Sand”. Hate that damned font.

The liner notes to this CD are rather dubious, so I’ll just let the recordings speak for themselves.

Thanks to Billy for snagging this for me. Sorry it took so long to get around to posting it.

John Mercer – Eddie’s Auto

John Mercer – C&C Auto

John Mercer – 357 Shells

John Mercer – Lt Gentry

John Mercer – Pigs

John Mercer – Thom McCann’s

With the last few weeks around the old Chunklet electro-water cooler being one delicious hissy-fit I though I’d up the bitchfest a notch or ten. This is a trickier question than one might think. I suspect everyone is going to go leaping to the rap or metal world at first, but wait just a one smug second (besides, I got dibs). You got your NASCAR, Fox News, & Dane Cooks floating around out there, so who says we must stay in the music realm to find our answer? Also, the flat out dumbness of the fan(s) might not necessarily be a reflection of the object of affection. For instance, I can say that I really like The Smiths, but put me in a crowd of Smiths fans and I’m ready to leap into an active volcano. But the inverse can be true as well. Everything Crypt Records has ever released is purely and proudly retarded, but I find their devotees to be pretty smart cookies. 

And before you even formulate that lame joke…Chunklet doesn’t have fans, only groupies and stalkers. So vote away with whatever reasoning you deem worthy.

(I’m sure they all have 6-8 conjugal visit offsprings in their futures)

In a move that completely boggles the mind, the afro-mative action front of Mars Volta fans (all 13 of them in 2008) can buy their new album as a USB drive for $32.49!

The spirits say to just download this garbage….

Let me repeat that…..THIRTY TWO DOLLARS AND FORTY NINE CENTS!!!!

And this isn’t due to hit stores until the end of the month. So hurry because supplies will surely not last long. Then again, I said the same thing about the band about seven years ago. Yes, the record is $33 and comes as a wood planchette.

And hey, why is TMV a seven piece, but they only show the two surly dudes who were in At The Drive In for all press photos?

Come up with a good headline for this. Me? I’ve gotta jet.

I swore I was going to include books and DVDs, but there were just too damned many that I can’t remember them off the top of my head. Maybe in the comments section I’ll get around to it.

And the records I’m most looking forward to in 2008? The new Mastodon, Torche, Atlas Sound, The Selmanaires, Harvey Milk and R.E.M. (the songs I heard from the Dublin live shows, at least) are being awaited with baited breath. Holy shit, all of those are either local or semi-local! Am I a lucky Georgia boy or what? Also stoked to hear the Volcano Suns reissues that (I hear) Taang! is reissuing. Also, I’m also looking forward to the "official" Replacements reunion. Let’s just say that MBV will need somebody to play alongside at all the festivals this summer.

Top Fifteen Albums I Was Either Given By Publicists, Record Labels [Or The Bands Themselves] in 2007
Yeasayer – All Hour Cymbals
Wooden Shjips – Wooden Shjips
Om – Pilgrimage
Major Stars – Mirror/Messenger
Pissed Jeans – Hope For Men
Big Business – Here Come The Waterworks *
Jesu – Conqueror
Battles – Mirrored
Times New Viking – Present the Paisley Reich
Deerhunter – Cryptograms
Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends
Magik Markers – Boss
Burial – Untrue
Part Chimp – Cup
Thurston Moore – Trees Outside The Academy
(*also goes for the entire Hydrahead label. Fuck, I swear they released like ten great albums that I heard this past year.)

Top Ten Albums That I Only Heard In Passing [And I’m 99.99% Sure Can Fuck Off] in 2007
Dan Deacon – Spiderman of the Rings
Panda Bear – Person Pitch
Feist – The Reminder
Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
Blonde Redhead – 23
Interpol – Our Love To Admire
Peter Bjorn & John – Writers Block
Devendra Banhart – Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
The National – Boxer
Dungen – Tio Bitar
Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position

Top Three Reissues That Made My Happy Parts Tingly Inside In 2007
Hubble Bubble – Self Titled
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Jukebox Explosion
Pylon – Gyrate

Top DVD Release [Providing You’re A Fan Of Theirs] of 2007
AC/DC –  Plug Me In Special Edition 3xDVD set

Top Seventeen Albums I Bought At Least Once* In 2007
Busy Signals – Self titled
Carbonas – Self titled
Jay Reatard – Night of Broken Glass 12"
Earth – Hibernaculum and Europe2006 live CD
Psychedelic Horseshit – Magic Flowers Droned
Bottomless Pit – Hammer Of The Gods
Grinderman – Grinderman
Fucked Up – "Year Of The Pig" 12"
Shellac – Excellent Italian Greyhound
Boris and Michio Kurihara – Rainbow
Black Lips – Good Bad Not Evil
Cynics – Here We Are
No Age – Weirdo Rippers
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights
Torche – In Return
Growing – Vision Swim
Metalocalypse 2xCD & DVD
*I have a lot of friends I buy records for. Call it a curse.

My Favorite Video from 2007
(click youtube link below)