How much longer must we tolerate mass culture?

Looking at the Books

nobody@vox.com(Maxvan) — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 07:37:32 -0800

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer

Chris Salewicz

Got some Books, too. These two, to be exact. Klein? I haven't really started, yet. I know I'll like it, because No Logo was "change your life" type good. The Strummer book I've started, and well, it's really good. I'm a fan of biographies (I think people are interesting) and i'm a fan of Joe Strummer, and I think his story is interesting. That's about as deep as it is. That's enough for me.

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We're The Hives and We're your New Favorite Band!

nobody@vox.com(Maxvan) — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 20:19:07 -0800

Black And White Album

The Hives

Just got the New Hives record, and once again, they are FANTASTIC!!!! If you like Garagy rocknroll, you already know and love the Hives.

Are they sold out? Yes. They aren't trying to be sub-Bob Dylan protest singers. They're trying to be Sub-Rolling Stones rockers. They succeed at that, AND manage to be subversive, on the side. From the word go, their concept is a satire. Y'see, supposedly, they're a "pre-fab Boy Band" under directives from a shadowy figure called "Randy Fitzsimmons". They even do "wind up toy' routines on stage, of doing stuff like pausing mid-song for an extended period, like they're robots with the batteries removed.

But the music they make is so primal, raw and garagy that it's obvious the whole thing is a put on. If you can't see how that's a satire on the late 1990's, you must not remember that time, at all. So, you're either under 7, or you're just out of rehab after a twenty year bender. In either case, don't worry, you'll like the Hives, too.

But, if, like me, you like your Rocknroll raw, and feral, like the "Little Red Rooster" Rolling Stones, the "My Generation" Who, or the "You Really Got Me" Kinks, mixed with really good Punk Rock, like The Ramones, or The Misfits, the Hives are a beautiful thing. Highest praise, as always!

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In case you forgot...."CBGB's" is a brand name, too

nobody@vox.com(Maxvan) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 07:49:35 -0700

I'm behind the curve on this, but I just heard that the site formerly occupied by CBGB's is supposed to become a Varvatos store.
I guess what I'm supposed to feel is some kind of outrage, or something like it. But, I don't. I've only been there once, and I can't say I ever felt any kind of rush to go. So, I ask myself if I'd feel any different if it was a club I went to, all the time? What if this were Rajis, Fender's Ballroom, or The Fleetwood. Well, I'm pretty sure that two of those are already demolished, and I don't think I could even remember how to drive to Raji's at this point. So, I don't think I'd care. I never connected to a place that way. I've connected to people, but not to buildings.
Also, I'm not prone to that kind of mythologizing. I don't care if on this spot or that spot Joe Strummer once got ill. I might care to know when or why, but the where just doesn't register that much with me.
But, beyond all that, we're talking about one business replacing another. What's to get impassioned about, there? One was a rather overcrowded, filthy rock club, and the other is a high end boutique. Perhaps I'm supposed to feel some kind of class consciousness? If so, I have to ask why? The bands who played CBGB's were as likely as anything else to be the Art School reject sons and daughters of nice, white bread upper middle class East Coast families, just as the kind of people who shop at Varvatos are just as likely to be nice, white bread upper middle class East Coast people. So, it's supposed to tweak my class sensibilities that Johnny prefers heroin while Jimmy prefers scotch? Because if we're going to be honest, that's pretty much the difference.
Besides which, I actually use some Varvatos products ( under their Vans, Wrangler and Lee brands). Unlike Hilly Kristal (the now-deceased owner of CBGB's) Varvatos actually paid Iggy Pop handsomely. I can't really get too mad at somebody who pays my distant relatives.
So, sorry to all the Punk Rock Purist historians, but I'm fine with the boutique in the Bowery…

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