So, maybe Hunter S. Thompson was right...perhaps Ralph shouldn't write. I expected quite a bit from The Joke's Over, Ralph Steadman's account of 30+ years of working with the late Thompson. But I didn't really get a sense of what kind of relationship they had. Nor did I get a sense of the kind of guy Thompson was. It was pretty bland overall. However, wedged halfway through the book, Steadman was able to spit out the best assessment of Thompson's writing abilities ever. Witness:

"All [Hunter's] heroes like Joseph Conrad, Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner wrote paper stories and then there was Hunter, this magnificent outlaw, with jangling spurs on a pair of Converse Low basketball sneakers, whose prose style was peerless, but whose ability to write a novel eluded him to the end. He was his own best story."

That pretty much sums it up. Too bad the rest of the book couldn't follow suit.

Anybody else heard the new Stooges song yet? Whatcha think?

 

It's true, it's true. The Shins' Wincing the Night Away debuted at Number 2 on Billboard this week. Congrats to band and label. That shit is insane! Full story here. 118,000 copies?!?!?! God. Damn. And damn that Pretty Ricky!

I find it hard to believe that this is true, but if Courtney Love becomes a judge on American Idol, I'm definitely tuning in. The mind reels.

Things are looking fresh in the Seattle club night department this week as. . .

Rags to Riches calls it quits at the War Room (the finale is this Friday), with the folks behind it setting up shop at Havana with Hotel Motel, a new weekly (starting next Tuesday, Feb. 6th) featuring DJ Curtis and rotating guests.  Word is, if you score one of their special keys, you'll be able to breeze through the door each week for free-  Just like Clipse who "gets in for free, eight days a week. . . " at all of the club nights they go to.

The War Room aims to be a new Sunday spot to post up after supper with Slow Ride whose flier claims "Rockin' beats, hipster freaks, cheap ass drinks and industry peeps".  Holding down the decks will be rotating DJs Cherry Canoe, Hank Rock, El Toro, DJ Curtis, Ouija, and Cuts Like A Knife. It debuts this Sunday after the gorge/commercial/beer fest.  Oh, and football.

Just as there's always hope that donning Air Jordans will somehow increase your armspan to ridiculous porportions and up your dunk prospects, there's a chance that if you go to more club nights you might be more like Clipse. Like Clipse, if I could be like Clipse. This is a good week to start.

Well, I'm just not sure what to make of this. From Warp Records comes this pieced-together video for the first single from !!!'s forthcoming Myth Takes (out in March), "Heart of Hearts." I've listened to the album five or six times--it's totally energizing on long walks or while tearing shit up in the kitchen--and "Hearts" is immediately recognizable as the killer track. For one thing, white boys are funky, but it's the only song that has a real diva on the chorus ("'Cause we're all just fumbling baby, fumbling in the dark/For our heart of hearts"). I'm just saying.

Pitchfork has remarked on singer Nic Offer's pelvic thrusting and Christ-like pose at the end, and I concur. What's up with the pole-dancing, the sweaty American Apparel-looking attire? Well, !!! gets an A for enthusiasm. They clearly want to start a riot at their shows, or at least a dance party. Remember their Magnetic Fields cover from 2005, "Take Ecstasy With Me?" I think it's bizarre to drop E at a rock show, but some friends of mine took the dudes up on it at their Crocodile show last year, and had a blast.

For me, nothing will compare with now-defunct !!! side-project Out Hud's tour for their first & superior album, S.T.R.E.E.T.D.A.D. Obnoxious, yes, but the thing was gloriously groovy and unbelievably danceable. Bring the cello back!

'Til they come back around later this year, get yr psychedelic picture LP of "Heart of Hearts" on February 19th.

I could go on and on and on about the little ray of light called Lavender Diamond. The band's EP Cavalry of Light, has seen it's official release today via Matador. It'll take you right back to the days when your mom played Linda Ronstadt records on Saturday mornings while pouring Friday night's wine down the sink with the sun coming in at a slant through the kitchen window. Or something close to that...

It's official, the rumors of Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers being holed up in Vancouver brushing up for a gig at the Grammy Awards are true.

The Police will be opening the evening of long speeches and smoke breaks on Feb. 11. This is perfect because, like going to a show to see the opening act, we'll be able to tune out early and skip performances from Beyonce, Carrie Underwood and Justin Timberlake. OK, maybe I'll stay sober long enough for a little Gnarls Barkley. It'll at least be entertaining to see what characters they'll come dressed as.

And if the rumor mill is as accurate as it has been of late, The Police will a launch a full-scale tour this year.

If you want to see a true punk-rock legend in the flesh Tuesday night, get thee to Studio Seven.  That's where Only Crime -- the quintet that features drummer Bill Stevenson of Descendents/Black Flag/All fame -- will be headlining.  I spoke to Bill over the phone last week for a piece I wrote on the Lemonheads (he played drums on the most recent Lemonheads album, and co-wrote a couple songs, too), and he was gushing about the new Only Crime album, Virulence, which came out a week ago on Fat Wreck Chords, so I gave it a listen and it is indeed pretty damn good.  Stevenson's primal thwacks and signature, speedy fills are in full effect, and the other four guys -- veterans of such bands as Converge, Bane, GWAR, and Hagfish -- are no slouches, either. If you like to be sweet-talked with nice melodies and bashed over the head with crunchy riffs and brutal rhythms by old-school hardcore icons , this is a show for you.

Mississippi label Fat Possum is working hard at broadening its roster these days. Aside from releasing the Fiery Furnaces' Bitter Tea and the next Dinosaur Jr. disc, they've just announced they'll be reissuing Townes Van Zandt's first four records. Townes was, without a doubt, the finest lyricist America ever had and his first four records contain some of the most gripping songs he ever wrote. Thank you, Fat Possum, thank you.More >>