May 2003

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Country songs, nothing but country songs...

Filed under: Imported

The irony is too rich, and too much at the expense of Darin Wald, for me to not say anything. I'll spill only this much: Having suggested below that the singer of Big Ditch Road write country songs about my life, I learned only hours later that he had actually made my life more like a country song--and I mean in a personal way, albeit unwittingly and indirectly. For a detailed explanation, I look forward to future songs by Big Ditch Road.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 30, 2003 8:28 PM

 

Cheers to I'm All Ears

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Cheers to I'm All Ears

Besides celebrating her birthday tomorrow, Melissa Maerz has an excellent essay on the Coup's Genocide & Juice in a handy new book edited by Oliver Wang, Classic Material: The Hip-Hop Album Guide.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 28, 2003 5:32 PM

 

My life is a country song

Filed under: Imported

I believe Sarah Sawyer when she tells the singer of Big Ditch Road in today's City Pages: "Honestly, Mr. Wald, if depression and heartbreak moves you to write like this, I'll come over there some Sunday and break your heart myself." Viva interventionist music journalism!

Big Ditch Road are so good, they make you glad your life is like a country song. (See them Friday at Lee's.) In fact, I have some ideas for new songs myself, and hereby challenge Mr. Wald to write them:

1.) A friend of a friend decides it would be a good idea to bring a sandwich to his "current ex-girlfriend" working at a strip club. Apparently she looks like a Suicide Girl. Anyway, he shows up, but forgets to bring any cash, or a cash card, so he is asked to leave by the staff (they do pass along the sandwich, though).

2.) On the phone sex line the other week, I get a message from a 71-year-old woman... (read the rest here)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 28, 2003 3:31 PM

 

Girl Trouble perfected this stuff...

Filed under: Imported

Girl Trouble perfected this stuff...

...and the White Stripes updated it. But hell if sexobilly legends the Cramps didn't invent it (read the rest here)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 28, 2003 12:31 PM

 

If you haven't seen Chuck Olson's "Blogumentary" trailer

Filed under: Imported

...it's totally hilarious, from the opening Shatner narration (look for a brief glimpse of Complicatedfun.com) to the bickering blog couple near the end, who really deserve their own documentary: http://chuckolsen.blogspot.com

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 27, 2003 11:31 AM

 

Cartoons

Filed under: Stories

I'm selling my Lost Cause cartoons, or at least six out of nine of 'em (Mark Baumgarten can't find the rest!). Most aren't as smeared as the above. They are still on display at the Spot Art Gallery (1828 Marshall St. NE), though I sold three of them during the Art-A-Whirl art-and-music festival in Northeast Minneapolis May 16-18. They were $25 a piece, including frame, except for "Freshman Disorientation," which was $45 (sold).

At least six other artists were featured at the show, along with lots of great live music, including Lonesome Dan Kase (named Best Acoustic Performer by City Pages) and Bill Patten. Three of my drawings are still there, so check out the web site http://www.SpotArt.org for details, including online gallery samples from the other artists, weblinks, driving directions, and contact information. 1828 Marshall St. NE Minneapolis, MN; info@SpotArt.org; 612.272.1602

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 23, 2003 11:08 PM

 

Lost Cause cartoons

Filed under: Stories

I'm selling my Lost Cause cartoons, or at least six out of nine of 'em (Mark Baumgarten can't find the rest!). Most aren't as smeared as the above. I sold three of them at the Spot Art Gallery (1828 Marshall St. NE) during this weekend's Art-A-Whirl art-and-music festival in Northeast Minneapolis on Friday, May 16-18. They are $25 a piece, including frame, except for "Freshman Disorientation," which was $45 (sold). At least six other artists were featured at the show, along with lots of great live music, including Lonesome Dan Kase (named Best Acoustic Performer by City Pages) and Bill Patten. The other pictures are still up (and I'll make the others available, too), so check out the web site http://www.SpotArt.org for details. 1828 Marshall St. NE Minneapolis, MN; info@SpotArt.org; 612.272.1602

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 23, 2003 11:07 PM

 

Clear Channel rumors that just aren't true

Filed under: Imported

When attacking a media giant, try to get your facts straight. False Rumor #1: City Pages is owned by Clear Channel. (I get this all the time.) (continued...)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 23, 2003 9:46 PM

 

Ani DiFranco press release

Filed under: Stories

Righteous Babe press release:

March 20, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
FREE SPEECH CHALLENGED AT ANI DIFRANCO'S NJPAC APPEARANCE ON THE EVE OF WAR

On Wednesday, March 19, as the United States readied Tomahawk missiles in the direction of Baghdad, audience members gathered in the lobby of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, New Jersey for a performance by Ani DiFranco. The singer/songwriter, who plays over 100 concert dates a year, typically allows non-profit organizations to set up information tables and display literature at her shows. For the first time in DiFranco's 12-year touring career, the venue management forbade such "tabling" by the peace organization Not In Our Name (NION). They even refused to allow NION's literature and posters to be available at the Righteous Babe merchandising table.

"Rather than argue," said Scot Fisher, Ani's manager, "we offered Miles Solay, the representative from NION, the opportunity to address the audience from the stage."

However, the administrators of NJPAC threatened to pull the plug on the concert if anyone other spoke "advocating their cause." Fisher discussed the situation with Ani and subsequently told the promoter, "If the venue stops the speakers from addressing the audience, Ani will not perform."

NJPAC administration backed down, and the show went on as scheduled. Solay, who was joined by Amy Goodman, host of Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now! program, and Jeremy Scahill, a journalist who had just returned for Baghdad, took the stage and voiced their resistance to the impending war. Along with a call for action, the speakers also expressed outrage at the repression of free speech engaged in by the venue. In defiance, Scahill tossed handfuls of informational leaflets into the cheering crowd. DiFranco then performed her solo concert without interruption. Throughout the rest of the evening, repeated references to the incident were met with waves of loud approval from the audience.

Ani summed up the confrontation score with these words: "In this time of war, when all major media sources are co-opted and controlled by the military-corporate monolith, it is especially important that we disobey any attempts to silence us. They tried to shut us down tonight, but once again we have proven that there is power in numbers. So it's People - 1, Random Knuckleheads - 0 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center."

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 23, 2003 7:06 PM

 

Har Mar Superstar: Don't stop

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Har Mar Superstar: Don't stop till you get enough

Either you find Har Mar Superstar hilarious or you don't--personally, I love the way he calls his crotch the holy land and lives his life accordingly. But even haters here in Minneapolis/St. Paul admit that local music will be more boring without him: The frizzy-haired R&B loverman is relocating to London in June, where he'll fly to Ibiza every week this summer for a Monday night residency at the Manumission (known for its live sex shows).

"It's sort of a burlesque show," he says when reached on his cellie in St. Paul. "This year it's a murder mystery theme. I get kidnapped by a thief and trapped in a cage held over a pool." (read the rest of the story here)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 23, 2003 6:01 PM

 

What could be romantic to Mike Watt?

Filed under: Imported

I don't normally cotton to fusion, but I love the new Mike Watt organ trio, the Secondmen. They're sort of a Medeski, Minutemen, and Wood, or maybe Watt's punk version of the Meters. At the Turf Club last night, they played Minutemen's "One Reporter's Opinion" alongside the frenetic new songs. With Minneapolis guitarist Terry Eason (who opened), they ripped through Blue Oyster Cult's "The Red and the Black," a favorite Minutemen cover. Yeah, D. Boon is an inescapable presence in Watt's show. Stickers of the late singer hung on the organ, drums, and bass.

Before the Secondmen were finished they played Television's "Little Johnny Jewel" (I didn't recognize it, but hey, I got geek-fan points for knowing Watt's cover of Daniel Johnston's "Walking the Cow"). Oh, and Watt launched into an ad lib rant about... um, something about not letting anyone else tell you what to be, about being in the state capital ("St. Paul," Watt said. "Governin' town"). Something about love.

"Now go start your own band!" he yelled at the end of it all. And as strains of "A Love Supreme" rose from the PA, he went about signing every last damn one of those stickers and tee shirts that fans were buying. On my poster, he wrote: "Love and bass, Mike Watt."

"This is 20 years for me," I told him. I figure he'd heard that before. Later I was making my way out the exit, and he reached over and shook my hand again. "20 years!" he said. "20 years!"

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 22, 2003 5:55 PM

 

Baobab to play First Ave!

Filed under: Imported

There's been a venue change for the Orchestra Baobab show in Minneapolis on June 20. Here's the press release from the Guthrie, and what I've already written about the band on this site.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 22, 2003 5:11 PM

 

Press release from the Guthrie

Filed under: Stories

May 22, 2003                                                                                                        

PLEASE NOTE: VENUE / TIME CHANGE!

ORCHESTRA BAOBAB

Legendary African/Latin Pop band from Senegal delivers dazzling guitar work, soulful vocals and a brilliant, inventive horn arrangements.

Friday, June 20th, 2003 at First Avenue

Performance Previously Scheduled at the Guthrie Theater

Tickets: $20.00 Advance / $25.00 Day of Show

6:00pm Doors / 7:00pm Music

21+ Show

Tickets On Sale Now!

Tickets available at all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 651-989-5151, by visiting the First Avenue Box Office, and at all First Avenue ticket outlets.

Patrons holding Guthrie tickets may return them to the Guthrie Theater Box Office and be issued new tickets with the difference refunded to them or receive a full refund. 

All Guthrie Theater tickets will be honored at First Avenue.

Contact the Guthrie Theater Box Office at 612-377-2224 or toll free at 1-877-447-8243.

Brought to you by Sue McLean and Associates and the Developing Arts & Music Foundation.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 22, 2003 5:02 PM

 

Um, he's back in the band.

Filed under: Imported

Low's Zak Sally called and wouldn't say anything on the record except, "Hey, check out the web site."

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 22, 2003 4:16 PM

 

Skip this if you hate hip hop

Filed under: Imported

Two narcotic new Rhymesayers releases are reviewed in this week's City Pages by some asshole, one CD from Los Nativos, one from Brother Ali. But contrary to the print edition, Los Nativos don't perform at the Dinkytowner (Minneapolis) on Tuesday, May 27.... (continued here)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 22, 2003 3:26 PM

 

Exchange after seeing "No Skin Off My Ass" with a date, 12 years ago

Filed under: Imported

Her: "So what did you think?"

Me: "I thought it was terrible. The acting was bad, the dubbing was bad, the script was bad. What did you think?"

Her: "I had an orgasm."

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 21, 2003 10:26 PM

 

Oppose the FCC vote

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John Nichols and Robert McChesney in The Nation: "Cheered on by the Bush Administration and powerful media conglomerates, Federal Communications Commission chair Michael Powell is pushing ahead with a June 2 vote to gut longstanding rules designed to prevent the growth of media monopolies."

Check out the magazine's new ActNow weblog for links, plus this page of instructions on how to contact your representatives in Congress.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 20, 2003 7:35 PM

 

Support "Vinnie�s Law"

Filed under: Imported

...to extend bar hours to 2 A.M. A press release from Vinnie & the Stardüsters.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 20, 2003 5:37 PM

 

Vinnie's Law

Filed under: Stories

From Vinnie & the Stardüsters:

Support "Vinnie�s Law" to extend bar hours to 2 A.M.!! Write Gov. Pawlenty and tell him to sign the bill into law!

SUPPORT JOBS, SUPPORT DRINKING! The farmer grows the hops and barley; the brewer makes the beer; the barkeep serves the liquor; the barfly cheers the band; the drunkard attends the alcohol and drug rehabilitation center. "Vinnie�s Law" is about keeping this cycle alive in Minnesota where we have the greatest farms, fresh-brewed beer, smoke-filled bars and treatment centers in the world!

WHY IS IT NICKNAMED "VINNIE�S LAW"? Most journalists have assumed the name stems from an ironic reference to a fictitious Italian bootlegger working for Al Capone and fighting Prohibition and the subsequent blue laws. In fact, the moniker probably stems from legislators who dubbed the bill "Vinnie�s Law" because of the unending lobbying put forth by local band Vinnie & the Stardüsters to convince state representatives to pass this law.

The present bar close time of 1 A.M. exemplifies the injustice reaped upon this rock ensemble. Drummer Nick Hook complains bitterly about his limited drinking time, "I often get off of work at 9:30 and only have about three hours to do shots at the bar. I thought Prohibition was repealed in 1933!" Guitarist Eric Dregni laments that Minnesota audiences are insufficiently intoxicated to appreciate the Stardüsters� mock rock, "Do you know how humiliating it is to perform dirty site gags to a bunch of prude, sober-roller teetotalers?"

Stardüster singer John Perkins put his disgust to song in his new rock anthem "3.2 For You To Buy (324U2 Buy)" about his fury of early bar close in Minnesota and the paltry level of alcohol in near beer. Ironically, John moonlights as an alcohol rehabilitation counselor and is alarmed at the local decrease in addicts, "Why should we import out-of-state alcoholics, when we can produce our own right here at home? Make no mistake, this is a common-sense law for keeping Minnesota as a treatment leader. What�s right for Vinnie is right for Minnesota!"

SPUR THE ECONOMY! FIGHT TERRORISM! In these hard economic times, unemployed workers are desperate for a place to turn and need the local pub now more than ever. By spending their unemployment checks at the corner watering hole, not only are displaced workers undergoing counseling by bending the barkeep�s ear, but they are fighting terrorism by spurring the economy with each drink they buy. These are modern heroes who deserve our respect. Let us unite for tax cuts for drinkers!

KEEP DRINKING IN MINNESOTA! Over the border drinking has become an epidemic, so Vinnie & the Stardüsters wrote a song about our beloved drunk Duluthians who desperately search for more beer after 1 a.m. in Superior, Wisconsin. After 2 a.m., these poor inebriated souls struggle into their cars to drive home to Minnesota and tragically (but also somewhat comically) drive off the bridge and drown in the greatest lake in the world. An avoidable tragedy if only our governor would sign the bill into law.

Call or e-mail Governor Pawlenty today!

(e-mail) tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us (telephone) (651) 296-3391 or 1-800-657-3717

Concerts to celebrate 2 A.M. Bar Close: June 6th at the Turf Club, 1601 University Ave. St. Paul. $5 UNTIL 2 A.M.!! Vinnie & the Stardüsters w/ King of France; June 14th at the Bryant-Lake Bowel, 810 W. Lake St. Mpls. $5 UNTIL 2 A.M.!!

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 20, 2003 5:33 PM

 

Mint Condition, R.L., and Ali Shaheed Muhammad walk into a bar...

Filed under: Imported

It took him a little while to loosen up, but R.L. rocked First Avenue last night as surely as he set foot there. Kicking off his medley of hits with a sample of the "Dearly beloved" intro from "Let's Go Crazy" was a little obvious--a First Avenue-Purple Rain ref that only underscored how strictly pre-recorded his backup was, and at a show headlined by the best live R&B band this side of D'Angelo's, Mint Condition. Still, the gesture was ballsy. This was not a Next-worshipping B96 crowd. This was not an audience enraptured with "I Got Me a Model" (my get-a-drink song). It was the kind of room where the only girls screaming his name were the ones who knew his Christian one: "Robert! Robert!"

So R.L. kept his shirt on, and I'm sure fewer fans than he liked would have had it otherwise. But his strenuous attempts to reconnect with his hometown (where he rarely plays) were touching. He shouted out his childhood address. He shouted out the north side, south side, St. Paul. He dedicated a song to a lady he said he was going to marry "one week from today across the street." This is his home, he said, don't get it twisted. Everyone sang along with "Wifey" and "Too Close."

He namedropped his famous collaborators, of course, and also paid brief tribute to a number of performers--Aaliyah, Biggie, others--who had died before "Lil" Roger Lynch Troutman, Jr., the object of the night's tribute concert. Did R.L. feel he needed to elevate Troutman to that legendary level? Maybe. More likely these big names mean something more to him than big names.

I suppose I should back up and say that the preceding set by "Roger's Friends"--local musicians who had played with the guy--was entirely dedicated to the late musician (and son of Zapp's Roger Troutman). I found it damn moving, God talk and all (this was a New Orleans funeral). I loved Shirley Murdock getting back up on stage--she needed the competition to really fire up.

Before that was a DJ set by Ali Shaheed Muhammad, who spun my second favorite A Tribe Called Quest track, "Find A Way" (my favorite being "Electric Relaxation") and had the floor spontaneously breaking into line dancing. He didn't say much. He didn't say anything, at least that I heard. Just stood there and bobbed his head slightly, a cool mystery under his shades and snow hat, his physique looking muscled and health-food healthy. Didn't De La Soul's Mase just a few weeks ago say, from the exact same perch: Time for a Tribe reunion?

Ali came back and DJed the entire set with Mint Condition, who looked similarly alt-R&B in beige and brown casuals. They started out with a rock song, and kinda sounded like they'd been playing together regularly ever since their last First Avenue reemergence... which, wow, was at least three years ago. Back then I found them a little forced--sort of like R.L. tonight. But now they seemed to be enjoying themselves,and spun out an appropriate tribute to their DJ lifting the changes from "Electric Relaxation." When R.L. joined them, he was smiling, too. Trading vocals with Stokely, he seemed elevated by the occasion, rather than elevating it. Around me, every last person knew every last word to "What Kind Of Man Would I Be," and the floor became the show. It felt like Minneapolis's best face forward. It felt legendary. By the time KMOJ's Q Bear kicked a little freestyle with the band for an encore, it had become the memorial party that any late musician could be proud of.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 20, 2003 1:16 PM

 

I initiated an orgy last night

Filed under: Imported

...but left before it really got going. It was more complicated than that, of course, fun always is. But I hesitate to go into details. Christ, what good are these "blogs" anyway when you can't be intensely personal/truly all-revealing/incriminating/embarassing? What a sham.

If someone will set up the software, my idea for a new blog is this: The Scholtes Five Years Later Blog. I write absolutely everything down about absolutely everything interesting that happens every day, and it shows up five years later, unedited, in a blog that I'm bound by law to publish day by day. By then, I'll have squared with everyone involved in this crazy weekend (which I do plan to summarize in some form when the hangover wears off--Thursday, say).

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 19, 2003 6:48 PM

 

We on a "Lil" tour with Muhammad my man...

Filed under: Imported

Rain be damned, I'm not missing A Tribe Called Quest's Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Mint Condition (pictured), R.L. (of Next), or anyone else performing at tonight's one-of-a-kind First Avenue party, a benefit for the family of "Lil" Roger Troutman, whom I wrote about here.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 19, 2003 3:50 PM

 

Time for a movie

Filed under: Imported

It's crap outside. So to help out, here's a revised movie links page for you complicatedfun.com readers, including Cameron Crowe's blog, complete film listings in Minneapolis/St. Paul, links to cool theaters here such as Oak Street Cinema, and much much more...

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 19, 2003 3:42 PM

 

While searching for Lady Hard-on, I found this:

Filed under: Imported

Ask Father Hardon: "A person's guilt in masturbating is always conditioned on the mental awareness of what he is doing and the emotional factors may also lessen the subjective guilt. This principle applies to all moral actions that are inherently grave sins."

Thanks Father Hardon!

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 16, 2003 3:57 PM

 

Velveeta-cheap slices of local rock history

Filed under: Imported

Hey, Sean, you should buy this:

For more info, go here.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 15, 2003 8:01 PM

 

Ol' Yeller's Rich Mattson writes:

Filed under: Imported

Hey Peter;

Thanks for such a nice article. I almost shaved the muttonchops a couple days ago, but now I think I will keep them forever.

Cheers,

Rich

(The band plays Friday, May 16, at the Turf Club in St. Paul.)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 15, 2003 6:28 PM

 

Spectors publicist Kelly O'Brien writes:

Filed under: Imported

Another thing you might want to add to your Mod Resource List is that the Funseekers will be headlining Mod Chicago on June 14.

(The Spectors, whom I interviewed last week, play an early show on Friday, May 16, at First Avenue in Minneapolis; go see them before Ol' Yeller.)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 15, 2003 6:27 PM

 

Kai Benson, of the Doomtree Collective, writes:

Filed under: Imported

Appreciate the kind words re: P.O.S. and Cecil Otter. Thanks for being able to grasp the symbiotic nature between punk and hip hop. It seems that it should go without saying, but it's amazing how many ignorant peckerheads there are on either side of the fence. We at Doomtree are constantly aware of this, and despite our still new local presence, we have been both helped and hindered by, well, our identity crisis. I could go on, but I'll save it for my fanzine.

Anyways, sort of on the same note: If it pleases you, my "punk band" the Swiss Army (otherwise known as Local rapper Slug's Favorite Local Punk Band) will be opening for NYC's Calla (recently played with Interpol in the mainroom... insert punk-hop reference here...) on May 18th in the Entry. We wear Fubu. No, no, we are endorsed by Fubu. No, Triple 5 Soul. The Swiss Army wears 555 Soul exclusively. Available wherever fine cross-cultural clothing is sold.

P.S. FIY the name P.O.S. originated in our junior high punk band, its meaning being Pissed Off Stef (P.O.S. being the nom de plume of the more Christian Stefon). In recent years the pseudonym has come to mean Promise of Skills, Promise of Stress, and yes, Cecil Otter's preferred device of passive aggressivity, Piece of Shit.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 15, 2003 6:27 PM

 

Can I just say:

Filed under: Imported

The light rail stations in downtown Minneapolis are barely skeletal, and they're already really, really ugly.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 14, 2003 11:44 AM

 

A stake through its big heart in one week...

Filed under: Imported

Here's why I've always thought Buffy the Vampire Slayer (on UPN tonight, 7 p.m. Central; and also next Tuesday) was the best show on television. (It sure resulted in the best soundtrack CD.) Here, also, is my roommate Simon Peter Groebner's fond farewell in the StarTribune, and how he rates the seasons.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 13, 2003 5:44 PM

 

Comics: better than rock&roll?

Filed under: Imported

For complicatedfun.com regulars, here's a revised COMICS page with more than 50 links: including the brilliant Scott McCloud, the Japanese cartoons of Go-Girl Lab!, Tom Tomorrow's blog, some smut, and the endlessly groovy creators of the Atomics, Mike and Laura Allred. (Rhymesayers fans might especially dig "The Slug" below.)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 13, 2003 5:10 PM

 

Intercontinental Video: We're back!

Filed under: Imported

The Minneapolis store Intercontinental Video is reopening in July after burning down last year on June 12, the day of its 20th anniversary. The fire destroyed a giant collection of rare foreign videos, and owner Om Arora says his insurance didn't cover the full loss (which he puts at $1 million).

Still, Arora has been able to scrape together enough to open a new store at the same West Bank location, 521 Cedar Avenue S., so he won't be forced to rent videos to students out of his car, anymore. "That was my labor of 20 years," he says of his old store, "so it won't be the same after just two months. But it's my dream."

For a membership, drop by the address now between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., call 612.333.6666, or email aalok@usfamily.net.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 13, 2003 4:24 PM

 

Forget Bert

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 The Arby's oven mitt is evil. He looks like the Hamburger Helper hand having a bad trip.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 13, 2003 3:48 PM

 

On Mike Watt...

Filed under: Imported

who's playing twice next week in Minneapolis/St. Paul:

A friend of mine says guitarist D. Boon was the heart of the Minutemen, and bassist Mike Watt was the head. But I don�t think so. In the days after 9/11, the notoriously effusive Watt fell back on the only mantra that made sense to him--"a love supreme"-- quoting John Coltrane to anyone who looked to him for answers. Watt leads with his heart almost to a fault, which is one reason his shows feel so heroic: On bass and vocals, he defibrillates any song he covers, whether it's Big Star, Sleater-Kinney, or one of his own. I don't think he has made a great record since D. Boon died. But this, too, might be heart-related: As great (and underrated) as Boon was on guitar, his greatest role might have been as a muse for his best friend, who may yet have it in him to be supreme at more than love.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 12, 2003 7:16 PM

 

From Paul Hilcoff's pages:

Filed under: Imported

From Paul Hilcoff's pages: a 1982 Goofy's Upper Deck t-shirt (I thought anyone who knew what the Spectors were talking about in the interview below would appreciate this). Can you identify the musicians? (That's Hüsker Dü on the left.)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 12, 2003 6:56 PM

 

Top Ten blurry highlights of the Homegrown Festival in Duluth, from Saturday, May 3...

Filed under: Imported

10. Father Hennepin on the NorShor mezzanine, midnight. Singer Scott Starfire (below) shaves his Aquaman hair into a mohawk, then rocks Shakopee prison clit with his country band.

9. Sunny Wicked on the NorShor Mainstage, 10:00 p.m. I walk in and they stand there for three minutes doing nothing. No words. No music. Nothing. The drummer is leaning over, maybe tying his shoe. Finally the singer pipes up: "Um, I guess the hi-hat stand is broken. Could somebody please help?"

8. Boy Girl Boy Girl at the Red Lion, 9:00 p.m. With Brad Nelson on drums, Jen Jones on keyboards and vocals (both below)...

...Tim Nelson (Brad's brother) on guitar and vocals, and Nikki (I forget her last name, but I bet she did, too that night) on bass (both below)...

It's the band's first gig, and they don't suck. (Did I mention I'm friends with Brad and Tim?)

Even better are the fans, who sing something I don't recognize during the 45-minute-plus power outtage that affects only the PA. Presumably, this lull involves a Red Lion employee finding the fuse box in the basement, unscrewing the broken fuse, traveling a distance to the fuse factory, hand-manufacturing a new fuse, bringing it back to the Red Lion on horseback, etc., etc.,...

Hey, there's Baby Grant Johnson (below)! The only Twin Citian to participate in the annual Homegrown kickball game, one more indication of his status as an all-around honorary Duluthian. Note the sign in the background for  $1.25 Black Labels.

7. Bill Nailer on the sidewalk outside the NorShor Theatre, 11:00 p.m. Below, singing, "Stick that cell phone sideways up your ass." Real name: Simon Grey. Ha ha! Poser!

 

6. Mr. Lindquist at R.T. Quinlan's, 11:30 p.m. Singer Mark Lindquist (below) doing an emo cover of Atmosphere's "Party For the Fight to Write." In conversation, he compares Slug (of Atmosphere), to Craig Finn (Lifter Puller) and Rich Mattson (Ol' Yeller).

5. Bathroom graffiti at the NorShor: "Linquist is not Bob Pollard. More like Bob Denver."

4. The Queen of Geek Prom shows up in her crown. "Starfire was going to make me wear the crown and sash all weekend but I said no way."

3. Doogla gets me one of these t-shirts--thanks! Doug (below) shows his love with a garment designed by the accordian-punk band Fattypants.

2. Duluth cops stake out drunk drivers, I swear, 1:00 a.m. Maybe I'm imagining this, but the police seem to have nothing better to do. Are the friendlier cops going to follow potential offenders to their cars and plead with them not do put the keys in the ignition, I wonder?

1. Body Passing in a freaking pizzeria, at Pizza Luce, 1:30 a.m. Sorry, ran out of film and notes. Like their namesake, ska-soul rockers the Black Labels are free-flowing, bubbly, and all over the floor.

Here's another account of that night (scroll down), and another, and another.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 12, 2003 6:20 PM

 

City Pages resident polymath

Filed under: Imported

City Pages resident polymath Michael Tortorello shoots a heck of photo--check out The Cyclops.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 12, 2003 2:52 PM

 

         Old Indonesian album

Filed under: Imported

   

    

Old Indonesian album covers from the Irama Records Collection.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 10, 2003 3:55 AM

 

The Rock&roll Clash of Civilizations, Part 2: A nation backs that azz up...

Filed under: Imported

(from the Jakarta site Rileks.com)

Like I said, the defining battle of our time isn't "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue," it's "Rock the Casbah": a struggle within each country that will take more time (and less lives) than war--something closer to Iran, where the pop-fueled cultural sea change was just about prophecied by the Clash.

Look at Indonesia. Civil war and economic catastrophe there are no match for a dangdut singer named Inul Daratista (born Ainul Rokhimah), who has a hot new dance called the "drill" (ngebor) that's "thrusting seismic rifts throughout Indonesian society," according to the Asian Times Online.

Inul has been denounced by Rhoma Irama, another pop star who defies American conceptions about where the battle lines might be drawn in Islam. He's a conservative cleric, an ardent rock capitalist, and a metalhead pig all in one. According to the Times Online:

"His highness reportedly lashed into Inul, characterizing her ngebor as 'pornographic,' and forbade her to sing any of his songs. He further accused Inul of 'throwing dangdut music into the mud, tearing apart the nation's social fabric and encouraging illicit sex and rape.' The Indonesia Council of Ulemas, the nation's second-largest Muslim organization, supported Rhoma's call for Inul to abandon drilling, as did the Alliance for Anti-Pornography Society."

But hey, guess what? Inul is huge! Drilling is all the rage! And now the Western press has dubbed her the Asian Eminem (or Elvis, depending on how old their readers are). I still haven't heard her music, though Time Asia says her voice wouldn't last a second with Simon Cowell. (Maybe that's why she hasn't put out any CDs.) Ever hear of the right person at the right time in the right place? As the London Guardian observes, we're not the only country longing to care about stupid bullshit again. (Check out Inul on Indonesian TV, this Indonesian fan club, this photo, and this Yahoo fan page.)

More Inul Daratista links: Inul Daratista: Freedom Fighter, The Indonesian Eminem. Send other links to pscholtes@citypages.com

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at May 10, 2003 3:36 AM

 

SPECTORS REUNION!

Filed under: Imported

An exclusive interview with the most sardonic motherfuckers in rock&roll...

Last time I saw the Spectors, I was wearing a pink dress (long story) and thinking that the band might be the closest thing to the Clash that I'd ever see. (Seriously.) I'd written off that 1993 memory to drink until I saw the band practice last night in the Conquerors' basement studio, and began wondering where that dress ever went missing to...

The news is that the Spectors have reunited to play an early-evening concert at First Avenue on Friday, May 16, promoting the release of their new retrospective Beat Is Murder (Get Hip). (The show also features an appearance by members of the Monks, the great obscuro '60s rockers whom the Spectors helped revive.) Before practice, I asked guitarist Dan Boardman, bassist Keith Patterson (Funseekers, Conquerors), drummer Adam Fesenmaier (Conquerors), and guitarist Devin Waterman about what it all means--and what they think about the murder investigation of their namesake:

Q: So... Phil Spector: guilty or innocent?

Dan Boardman: Guilty as hell. He's been guilty for years--he just got caught. He's killed a number of folks. [bursts out laughing] I'm totally...

Keith Patterson: No, haven't you heard? He just got exonerated. According to him.

Q: Has Spector ever heard your music?

Patterson: Not that I know of. There's another Spectors, though--a '50s cover band. There's a newer one from San Francisco, too.

Q: "Beat is Murder": What does that mean?

Patterson: It's a tough job but someone's gotta do it.

Boardman: Those were exactly the words that Phil Spector said as he was putting the slug in that 20-year-old... [laughter]

Q: Who was the first mod band in Minneapolis after the '60s?

Patterson: The Suits. That was before the Funseekers, in '79 or '80. But [turns to Boardman], do you want me to say the Dig? Because 504, my high school mod band, was around before the Dig, in '81.

Boardman: What about the Battson brothers [Hypstrz/Mighty Mofos]? Or were they garage?

Patterson: Well, at the time, 504 sort of melted into the Dig. And then the Funseekers sort of came out of that. The whole genesis of the Funseekers, originally, was that we all sort of met through Hypstrz shows in '82. And we came across Ed Ackerson's people in the Upper Deck in '83. That's where we all met and it sort of came together. '84-'86, that whole thing coagulated and it sort of petered out by '89.

Boardman: Long story short, there was nobody before Patterson.

Patterson: Actually Johnny Ray, the drummer in the Hypstrz, and I found each other through want ads looking for mods to be in a band. I was already a complete '60s fanatic from '76 on. I sort of rediscovered my sister's early '60s records, the Beatles and the Stones. I remember seeing the Jam's record in '77 and thinking that was cool. "I don't know about this punk rock thing, but this looks cool; it looks like the '60s."

Boardman: At the same time, [motioning to Patterson] he knows more about heavy metal than any of us. Seriously, all those metal guys came from mod bands.

Patterson: Status Quo were the Spectres in the '60s. Bon Scott had a band called the Spektors in the '60s, too, a mod band, but with a K.

Q: Are the Sonics the greatest band of all time?

Patterson: Fuck, no.

Q: Then who is?

Adam Fesenmaier: My guilty pleasures are Deep Purple, number one, and Led Zeppelin, all the obvious hard rock stuff.

Boardman: Led Zeppelin?!

Fesenmaier: But then what's great is all the stuff that influenced that stuff.

Patterson: The bands that those bands came out of were all invariably great.

Boardman: Look at that bass [points to Patterson's futuristic bass, which has a couple of shiney things that let his hand rest above the strings]. Let's talk about that bass. That's totally amazing.

Patterson: I just hope the cord works. [Patterson's usual cord was "stolen" by the band sharing the room next door.]

Boardman: Best band in the world every? The Hang Ups.

Patterson: What about me?

Baordman: That should have been our answer from the beginning.

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