Tea Party or Rock Party? There's A Mood Brewing For Both

Posted today at 2:00 am by Krist Novoselic

Krist Novoselic's column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on Reverb. Check back on Friday when he writes about what he's been listening to.

​Right on the heels of my column last week regarding the Rock Party, the big political news of the weekend was the Tea Party convention in Nashville. Sure, these folks have momentum right now, but Tea Partiers shouldn't feel too special. Like Tea Partiers, Americans from across the political spectrum share an anxiety about the economy and feel disconnected from Congress. Ask almost anybody and they'll tell you how there's too much special-interest money in elections.

The Tea Party is the latest political phenomenon resulting from the powerful tools provided by the information revolution. It's good when common people become invested in our democratic system; it adds balance to the privileged financial interests who have done the same for too long. When a movement grows to the size of the Tea Party, they have a real chance to affect change on a local and national level. But is it really about change or more business-as-usual?

Continue reading "Tea Party or Rock Party? There's A Mood Brewing For Both"

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (3)

Duff, We Don't Need More Politicians, We Need the Rock Party

Posted Feb. 2 at 2:00 am by Krist Novoselic

In Rock, Or, Sweet Child 'O Time. Krist Novoselic's column runs every Tuesday on Reverb. Check back on Friday when he writes about what he's listening to.

​Dear Duff:

Thanks for including me on your political ticket. I like the idea of a McKagan /Novoselic candidacy—but I must respectfully decline. I don't believe we need more politicians—we need more people to become personally invested in the political process.

The ticket you propose would have a lot of name recognition. And that works in politics, but the hard part is actually changing things. Mentioning change is cheap talk anymore. Voters are constantly electing these supposed "agents of change" who, as lawmakers, manage only to fit as cogs in the political machines that actually run things.

Continue reading "Duff, We Don't Need More Politicians, We Need the Rock Party"

Topics: Duff McKagan and Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (31)

Krist Novoselic: Rock & Roll Jihad, and the Unifying Power of Led Zeppelin

Posted Jan. 26 at 7:57 am by Krist Novoselic

Krist Novoselic's column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on Reverb. Check back on Friday when he writes about what he's been listening to.

​Junoon—which in the Urdu language means passion—is the name of the Pakistani band led by Salman Ahmad. Ahmad's new autobiography, Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star's Revolution, is the story of his passion for making music and of rock as a force to unite people.

In the early 1980s, Ahmad spent his high school years in the United States, listening to Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Van Halen, and other rock bands—just as I did. And in Rock & Roll Jihad, his take on the American youth culture of that era comes from the perspective of someone who also had lived in other countries (just as I did). In 1980, I lived in Yugoslavia for a year; in the U.S., I grew up in a household of immigrants and non-English speakers.

The pretext of Ahmad's book is one I can relate to as well as anyone else: A tune like Zeppelin's "Black Dog" rocks no matter where you live or what language is spoken.

Continue reading "Krist Novoselic: Rock & Roll Jihad, and the Unifying Power of Led Zeppelin"

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (18)

Krist Novoselic: I've Been Listening to Muslimgauze, and Contemplating the Composer's Politics

Posted Jan. 22 at 10:59 am by Krist Novoselic

Krist Novoselic's column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on Reverb. He checks back in every Friday to write about what he's been listening to.

​Muslimgauze  "Exit Afganistan" (Speaker of Turkish): I first heard Muslimgauze in 1999 with the CD United States of Islam. The combination of driving and esoteric beats was mesmerizing. Muslimgauze is the work of the late Bryan Jones who hailed from Manchester, England. He was a prolific composer who, on a lot of his arrangements, could take Middle Eastern beats and sounds as far out as he could go. I mean really far out, with disjointed drum sounds buried under harsh distortion.

I have to cock my ear, but it becomes somewhat clear, in my mind at least, what he's up to. Sometimes this straining can wear a listener down, therefore I find Muslimgauze releases can be hit or miss. However, Speaker of Turkish is an excellent, and quite satisfyingly clear blend of Middle Eastern sounds and rhythms with Jones' daring style of mixing.

Another aspect of Muslimgauze is how political the titles and art work can be. Notice that I didn't say music, because it's instrumental, except for murmurs and mysterious voices that often emerge from the many layers of sounds and rhythms. Jones, who was a Brit, took a pro-Arab position in the conflicts in the Middle East. But there are no long liner notes about politics, it's the song titles and artwork that convey the message / image. This aspect can be the subject of an entire other column, if not more, but let's not open that can of worms - which I've probably done anyway.

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (3)

Krist Novoselic: My Journey to World's Greatest Dad

Posted Jan. 19 at 8:53 am by Krist Novoselic

Illustration by Krist Novoselic

Krist Novoselic's column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on Reverb. Check back on Friday when he writes about what he's been listening to.

​As more people see the film World's Greatest Dad, I get messages about my cameo in it. It stars Robin Williams and is written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. I want to tell you about my experience with Bobcat and my unlikely opportunity to do a movie scene with Williams.

I first met Bobcat in 1990. Nirvana was in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and before our show we did an interview at the local college radio station. To our surprise, there was Bobcat. I knew him as the crazy character from those Police Academy films. It was Kurt Cobain who had a more nuanced knowledge—he owned a vinyl copy of Meat Bob, Goldthwait's comedy record. He asked about our band, and he was an easygoing dude. But when he went live on the radio, he turned on and cracked everybody up. We parted ways, and years later Bob told me he thought "good luck with your little band," as if he'd never see us again!

Continue reading "Krist Novoselic: My Journey to World's Greatest Dad"

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (12)

Krist Novoselic: I've Been Listening to DJ Shadow, Ministry & G.O.L.

Posted Jan. 15 at 3:59 pm by Krist Novoselic

​DJ Shadow "6 Days". DJ Shadow mashed B-52's 52 Girls with late '60's early '70's obscure Brit rockers Colonel Bagshot. Col. Bagshot lament geopolitical situations and B-52's are always fun. An example of a mash-up creating awareness of a band (Colonel Bagshot) I have never heard before.

Ministry "Eureka Pile" (The Dark Side of the Spoon). Heavy industrial rock. Hypnotic journey with a cold steel rhythm.

G.O.L., (Angelica In Delirium): Gods Of Luxury evoke Old Testament sensuality. Straight ahead ambient/electronica with passionate desire.

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (5)

Free Music, Free Political Association, and Fugazi

Posted Jan. 12 at 8:13 am by Krist Novoselic

Fugazi

Krist Novoselic's column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on Reverb. Check back on Friday when he writes about what's circulating through his headphones.

​I've written before about anarchism as a political philosophy and the role it played in punk rock. Anarchism tends to conjure images of violent protests against government. But in its classic sense, it's about people with shared needs and values voluntarily coming together to build their own peaceful structures of mutual cooperation.

Those of you who followed my column on The Daily Weekly (I'll be posting on Reverb from here on out. Yes, still plenty of politics AND music.) know I'm passionate about protecting the rights of individuals to associate in political parties, and that political parties should be allowed to control their image, unlike what the state of Washington does on our ballots.

After reading many of the reader comments to last week's column about intellectual property rights, and thinking over my replies, it dawned on me how similar are the issues of free association (political parties), and free music on the Internet. If an artist wishes to make their music free on the Internet, nothing should stand in their way (the inverse is true, too). And if a political party wants to control whom they nominate, they should be allowed to.

Continue reading "Free Music, Free Political Association, and Fugazi"

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (8)

In Praise of YouTube

Posted Jan. 7 at 11:07 pm by Krist Novoselic

​In a celebration of free music on the internet, here's a some of my current YouTube Fav's.

Nine Inch Nails "March of the Pigs" NIN are recorded live with an excellent example of punk for the modern era. Trent Reznor seems hard on mic's - good thing there are roadies to help pick them up after he throttles them to the ground. The montage is the camera's lens but Reznor breaks up the tune by going easy on the microphone after all with the line / hook "Doesn't it make you feel better?"

Abba "Chiquititia" En Espanol - Las estrallas brillan por tí allá en lo ALTO!

Image of the Beast - The Antichrist Speaks The Computer is denounced as "The New Golden Calf" "Hundreds of millions of people will worship that intimate object." And why not give praise - free movies and music!!!

Tiny Tim - Earth Angel - Ed Sullivan Show. Tiny gets intense. He doesn't have a ukulele but the all girl band backing him is hot!!!!!

Nirvana "You Know You're Right" (Bass Only) I stand naked before you. Somebody took the bass track off a video game and uploaded to YouTube. Nobody asked me but I don't care! See, I really am not against free music on the internet!! But hey, it sounds way better with Kurt and Dave playing with the song anyway - this is for diehard fans or fellow bass pickers. No harm no foul.

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (28)

Why I Agree With Bono

Posted Jan. 5 at 9:45 am by Krist Novoselic

Krist Novoselic's column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on Reverb. Check back on Friday when he writes about what's circulating through his iPod.

​When I logged onto Twitter yesterday, I discovered U2's Bono going down in Tweeted flames. Turns out the singer/philanthropist wrote a forward-looking Top-10 list for The New York Times in which he states, "A decade's worth of music file-sharing and swiping has made clear that the people it hurts are the creators." Bono just ripped the lid off the tension between a free and open Internet and the natural course of commerce that drives our information revolution.

I love Twitter, and it's disappointing to see the service manifest itself as a lynch mob. Bono is the latest in a line of good people who get trashed in the continuing file-sharing controversy. Hilary Rosen, Lars Ulrich, Prince, and Howard King are some of the most prominent of those who've gotten flamed by rhetoric more suited for the revolutions that brought in the 20th century.

Venture capital, risk, and the promise of wealth is what makes our networks expand and our processors speed up, to provide all the wonderful free content available at our fingertips today. Remember the old song "Working in a Coal Mine," with the line "How long can this go on?" The song alludes to the toil of the working man, but I'll put it another way: How long can free Twitter and YouTube go on?

Continue reading "Why I Agree With Bono"

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (142)

Heavy Funk Hendrix New Years Gig

Posted Jan. 1 at 2:22 pm by Krist Novoselic

​Happy New Year everyone! I had a pretty mellow New Years at home. That means I busted out some vintage vinyl. It's always a good time to listen to Jimi Hendrix and I put on my old Capitol Records copy of The Band of Gypsies. The group was Hendrix, bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles. They brought in the decade of the 1970's with a New Years Eve gig at the Fillmore East in New York City.

Band of Gypsies was released later that year. Six songs were taken from the concert that resulted in an album of heavy funk with amazing jams. The centerpiece of the release is the epic "Machine Gun". Hendrix does this thing with the guitar that locks in with the snare drum and it sounds like a machine gun firing! The jam / song is twelve and a half minutes and listening is like watching a war movie with the minds eye.

"Who Knows" and "Power of Soul" are also some of my favorites. Here is the essence of the band's sound - Cox lays down bass riffs in a certain key, Miles is totally straightforward hammersingthe kick and snare. That's the groove - then there's Hendrix! What can I say? Fireworks, stratospheric? It must be experienced by the human ear to understand!

Band of Gypsies played the next night too and that was also recorded. Both complete shows are currently available through Experience Hendrix.

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (8)

Meanwhile on the Daily Weekly, Krist Novoselic On the Soundgarden Reunion Rumor, and Our Seats in D.C.

Posted Dec. 29, 2009 at 12:01 pm by Chris Kornelis

​In case you missed it last week, columnist Krist Novoselic addressed — and put to rest — the rumor that Soundgarden was going to reunite for Coachella, and talked about Nirvana's role in getting Ben Shepherd into the band.

"Their 1990 major-label debut, Louder Than Love was great," Novoselic says. "Soundgarden left the indie/underground sphere to tour with big-name rock bands. For a while, Nirvana was a four-piece with Jason Everman on guitar. That didn't work out, and after Hiro left, Jason joined Soundgarden to play bass. Nirvana did a tour of the Midwest, and this Bainbridge Islander named Ben Shepherd came on the road with us to help with gear. One thing led to another, and Ben joined Soundgarden as the bassist!"

In this week's column, Krist goes long on the possibility of a new congressional district in Washington, and how partisan gerrymandering has played a role in 21st Century politics.

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (0)

Knights In Satan's Service Goats Head Soup

Posted Dec. 11, 2009 at 2:00 am by Krist Novoselic

Pinball Wizards & Demons - (Click for larger)

​KISS were not only a great rock band, they were the kings of merchandise. They had every kind of tchotchke imaginable. I got lucky and came across a KISS pinball machine for $100. It was in a back yard, under one of those blue tarps sitting on the ground next to a stack of firewood. I looked at it, and what the hell, I bought it.

I cleaned it up, had a tech do some repairs and the machine worked great!!

One day, I was playing some pinball with a friend. In the middle of her turn she stepped back startled and gasped.
"What's up?", I said.
She replied, "There's a devil's head on the board, right in front of the flippers!!!".

I looked. There was a big mushroom cloud of flames with serpents coming from the top. Then it all came into view; it was Baphomet - a goat headed figure of Satanism! Here's another clue for you all - notice the band pointing at the goat's head, with Gene "Demon" Simmons making the "Il Cornuto" hand sign. (See for yourself in the photo!)

Subliminal Satanic message, prank or coincidence -I don't know what it means. All I know is the makeup and the merchandise would be nothing without the great rock music!

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (10)

Change and Pains, 10 Years After the No WTO Combo

Posted Dec. 1, 2009 at 1:30 pm by Krist Novoselic

Krist Novoselic is a weekly contributor to Reverb and the Daily Weekly.

​There are many recollections of Seattle's hosting of the 1999 WTO ministerial meetings/riots. It's been called the Battle in Seattle, and when I look back, I think about the rock show I was part of at the Showbox.

The idea came from a discussion I had with Jello Biafra. There was buzz about Seattle hosting the meeting, and being the rock and punk musicians that we were, we thought it might be a good time to put a one-off band together. I had already been jamming with Kim Thayil (Soundgarden) and Gina Mainwal (Sweet 75). They were into it, so it was just a matter of setting it up.

Jello sent up a list of tunes. "Let's Lynch the Landlord" is a Dead Kennedys classic—I love the bass line, so I immediately agreed to play it. There was "Full Metal Jack Off," a big riff number that Jello had already recorded with Canadian punkers DOA. Kim knew how to do big riffs, so it was easy. Jello sent up a cassette with a couple of demos he did with a guitar player. Jello can conjure a whole tune in his head, and he'll hum the music to those he's playing with. Good thing this process was already done, and it was Kim's ear that picked out the way to play the tunes "New Feudalism" and "Electronic Plantation."

Jello came to town a few days before the show, and we started rehearsing. Most of us had already been jamming together, so the group was already somewhat of a unit. Soon after we started, there was no doubt we were going to pull it off. But we almost didn't—for reasons beyond our control.

Continue reading "Change and Pains, 10 Years After the No WTO Combo"

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (12)

Meanwhile on the Daily Weekly ...

Posted Nov. 24, 2009 at 2:11 pm by Chris Kornelis

​... Blogger/bassist Krist Novoselic wonders aloud whether or not there's really a difference between pornographers who are into politics, and politicians who get their freak on.

Speaking of Novoselic ... his former bandmate, Dave Grohl, recently said that, "I thought Nirvana's Reading Festival show would end our career," a sentiment that echoes Novoselic's musings in his piece, "Nirvana's Reading 1992 Gig Could Have Been a Disaster."

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (5)

Before You Go See Them Crooked Vultures, You've Gotta Give The Sporting Life a Spin

Posted Nov. 20, 2009 at 1:08 pm by Krist Novoselic

Krist Novoselic is a regular contributor to Reverb. His column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on the Daily Weekly.

​With Them Crooked Vultures coming to The Paramount on Saturday, everybody's talking and writing about the members previous musical associations (Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana). I need to mention the work that Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones did with vocalist Diamanda Galás.

Released in September of 1994, The Sporting Life is passionate and violent. It's a rock record to the core with Pete Thomas on big drums and Jones on bass. The first track, "Skótoseme," establishes a rock-groove rhythm section you'd expect from Jones, and this keeps consistent throughout the record. Galás gives a voice that wails in precision over the bass and drums.

There's no electric guitar and perhaps that would have been redundant - or even stock - considering the unique instrument that is Galás' vocals. It's piercing and intense. Put all these parts together and you've got a heavy rock band that not only has you bobbing your head to the groove, you also recoil from the sheer ferocity.

Galás plays keys also. There's soul with the old tune "Dark End of the Street". The songs are compelling and tend to menace. Galás wields a knife on the cover of the album and you'll find out her intentions with the tune, "Do You Take This Man?"

If you're grooving to Them Crooked Vultures and haven't heard The Sporting Life - check it out!!!!!!

Topics: Krist Novoselic

Permalink | Comments (5)