Flaming Pablum

Word on the Street

Shellacattack!

Greatly enjoyed Gothamist's interview with the mighty and ever-cantankerous Steve Albini this week, particularly this passage:

"I’m an exceptionally lucky man in that I’ve never heard a note of Lady Gaga’s music and you could sit her on my lap and I wouldn’t recognize her. I know that she’s a cultural force at the moment but I’m quite satisfied in have dodged that one. It’s like a truck drove by spraying shit from a nozzle over the entire neighborhood and I happened to be under an awning. You know?"

To read the full interview, click here. Below is some footage from the Bell House performance they discuss in the piece.

"Degeneracy Without Consequence"

Yep, it's another documentary about another closed NYC club. It seems like part of this story has been told a thousand times before, but having spent several evenings at the venue in question myself, I'm certainly curious to check this one out.

Put Down That Kindle

Via This Isn't Happiness.

Better yet, GO BUY A BANNED BOOK!

Shania Not Sheena

By some strange confluence of the fates, I'm "friends" with lauded Ramones/Talking Heads/Plasmatics producer Ed Stasium on Facebook (although -- to be fair -- I should point out that I'm evidently only one out of 3,519 "friends"). In any case, Ed put up an article today about Arturo Vega's iconic Ramones t-shirt design. If you've ever had the taxing misfortune of spending any time around me, you've doubtlessly heard me spout off venomously about the woeful misappropriation of the band t-shirt. Nothing triggers my easily-riled rage quicker than someone flying the colors of a band they're not genuinely a devoted fan of. It's a silly hang-up, I admit, but a tenacious one. Inarguably, no single band t-shirt has suffered this indignity more than the classic Ramones design.

A number of years back on the I Love Music boards, someone started a discussion thread about Shania Twain's Ramones t-shirt (see above). I believe my first entry on said thread was simply: "SHE DIES NOW!" I then went on to call her a "sparkless careerist" who made music that was "banal, inconsequential and rife with meaningless cliche" and that she was "limply trying to imply some affinity/appreciation for individuals who actually make music of quality." It got worse from there. A lot worse. Nice, right?

In any case, here's the article in question. Give a read, do.

Sailin' On in the Subway

I've mentioned it before, I believe, but any time you see a preponderance of YouTube clips here on Flaming Pablum, that invariably means I'm either crazy busy or grappling with a debilitating lack of inspiration. Both seem to be the case at the moment -- I'm juggling a lot of stuff these days. In any case, I spotted the clip below whilst looking for a video to post on my dear friend Danny's Facebook page (he's recovering from a serious bike accident). Not only is the message of "Sailin' On" by the unstoppable Bad Brains appropriate, but you know I can't resist any olde timey NYC footage. This clip was evidently taken from a full film (!!!) called "My Picture in the Movies, Baby."

Enjoy. And get well soon, Danny.

It's Nick Cave's Birthday

54 today, evidently. Crank it.

A Crowning Achievement in the Pantheon of Meaningless Milestones

This is my 2000th post on Flaming Pablum. If you've already read all previous one-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine posts, treat yourself to a nice root beer float today. If not, click here and get cracking.

Word on the Street

Smash Retro

In the 1980's, I propagated Alien Sex Fiend's battle cry of Fuck the Sixties, Let's Bring Back the Eighties! In the 1990's, I adopted the credo of my beloved Cop Shoot Cop, that being Smash Retro! But here in the ought-tens (or whatever), you're invariably not likely to find a bigger, less apologetic nostalgist than myself, in terms of music and pop culture, at least. Personally speaking, though, I genuinely feel the music of my generation to have been light years ahead of the bullshit that's championed these days. I mean, honestly, how is one supposed to respect that taste of a youth weened on insipid piffle like Justin Bieber, Ke$ha and LMFAO?

In any case, estimable rock critic/author Simon Reynolds was on The Sound of Young America this evening discussing all thing retrophilia, and I was totally rapt. Do give it a listen.

The Sound of Young America