Hailing from the post-authenticity capital of America, Rage Against The Cage answers the age old question – “What do you get when you boil down the absolute essentials of STP, Candlebox and Collective Soul?”

Full streaming action and lyrics – http://www.myspace.com/rageagainstthecage

Patrick Hughes “Sunlight”

When Chris comes to London, he stays at the Chelsea Arts Club, for some ridiculous rate like £36 a night. He does get a tiny garret room with the bathroom down the hall, but it comes with original Patrick Hughes works hanging next to the bed, and an incredible bar with a massive snooker table, and full of eccentric English types getting totally hammered.

The club was founded by James McNeil Whistler in 1891 as a reaction to the stodgy Arts Club in Mayfair, and cultivates a generally raffish, no dress-up personality. It is crammed to the gills with amazing artwork. Members include Peter Blake (who designed Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band), Glen Baxter, Gerald Scarfe, and others. It’s in a low, unpretentious white stucco building on a side street in Chelsea, with a small and inconspicuous door.

Much as I hate to poke fun at the brave men and women who constitute our nation’s armed forces, Max Impact — a self-described combination of “today’s hip-hop, pop and urban sounds-and everything in between” — might be the first entry in a genre I like to call, “Bands That Can Form The Basis For A Future Earles & Jensen Phone Call”.   From the M.I. bio  (link swiped from Wired)

Max Impact answers the call to motivate and inspire the newest generation of professional Airmen. To achieve maximum results Max Impact stays on the leading edge of the ever-changing pop music scene while projecting the highest standards of Air Force professionalism. Optimal delivery is the name of Max Impact’s game when it comes to serving its audience. With innovative style and boundless energy, Max Impact commands the stage encouraging every Airman to embrace the spirit and join the fun. 

(work crews feverishly prepare for the announcement of just what we’ve been watching and eating in 2008)

Every December I send out a rambling, somewhat desperate electronic message to the Matador artist roster (well, most of ‘em) along w/ label staff and our Beggars’ colleagues, begging for their favorite people/places/things/records/memories from the year about to conclude. We’ve got our longest list of best-of’s so far, though keep in mind, if Gabe and Dave’s submissions were edited, we’d be back to our mid ’90’s brevity all over again. Read ‘em and weep, after the jump – G.C.

(more…)

Carefully stamped by diligent interns. If you’re lucky, you might find one at a record store near you.

So we already brought you a teaser of info about the forthcoming triple-fun-shot-fest that is SHREDYRFACE. Now here’s the full lowdown :

WEBSITE:
SHREDYRFACE.COM
This will be regularly updated on the road by all bands, showing you exactly what goes on on tour. So keep heading back there for updates and exclusives.

LOGO:

INFO:
Times New Viking, No Age and Los Campesinos! travel across the UK in a big old bus, singing show tunes and making noise. Often individually, occasionally together. We’re pretty sure a bit of Kumbaya will be going down.

DATES :
October
14 Brighton, England – Komedia
15 Liverpool, England – Academy 2
16 Leeds, England – Irish Centre
17 Dublin, Ireland – Whelans
18 Glasgow, Scotland – School of Arts
19 London, England – Pure Groove (in-store) (3 p.m.)
19 London, England – Beyond Retro (in-store) (5 p.m.)
19 London, England – Rough Trade East (in-store) (7 p.m.)
20 London, England – Electric Ballroom
21 Bristol, England – Fleece

7″ ACTION :
The three bands have got their collective heads together for a limited edition tour 7″ that will be available from the Coalition group of indie stores in the UK.
Tracklisting :
01 Los Campesinos!: “Death to Los Campesinos! (Napoleon III Remix)”
02 No Age: “Revolving Credit for Kitty”
03 Times New Viking: “Anything Could Happen” (The Clean cover)

INSTORE(S) :
As well as all this, there’s gonna be some super hot instore action where you can get up close and personal with each band. Maybe you’ll even get sweated on by Beth?

October
14 Brighton Resident – No Age
16 Leeds Crash – Times New Viking
19 London Pure Groove (3pm)
19 London Beyond Retro (5pm)
19 London Rough Trade East (7pm)
22 Manchester Piccadilly – Los Campesinos!

So this is where it gets a little confusing. You’ll already get TNV up at the Leeds Crash store, but as well as that, all three bands will play a store of their choice around London on October 19th. They’ll hit Pure Groove at 3 p.m., Beyond Retro at 5 p.m., and Rough Trade East at 7 p.m., but its currently a big secret as to who plays where. So why not go to all?

ONE LAST THING :
Seattle artist Carlos Ruiz has designed a t-shirt and a limited edition silkscreened poster for the Shred Yr Face tour, both of which will be available at the shows and at Coalition stores. So get down there early and bag your own piece of history.

video swiped from Boing Boing. Had someone done it at 78rpm, at least the clip would be over faster.

Pretty awful, sure, but no worse than whatever Steve Perry’s cooking up. 

…it occurs to me there’s little point in purchasing the entire Soul Train library if it doesn’t include Don Cornelius’ finest performance.

I found this pinned to the wall of the Beggars flat. A parting gift from Times New Viking in the form of a ponytail sported by the formerly-long-haired Beth Murphy.

Not being one to pass up on any opportunity to make some drinking money on the sly, I’ll flog this to the highest and most foolish bidder. Cash preferably please. Sterling, not dollars (this is London after all).

Every Sunday at midnight, or at least first thing Monday morning, I On-Demand (my verb) the next Wire episode. So, this morning while I’ve been trudging through other concerns, the 2/3 episode has played twice in the background. I won’t give anything away, but let’s just say that McNulty offers his critical take on Dead Meadow. No, let’s just say that Marlo’s people make a buy at a Dead Meadow show. No, let’s just say that Dead Meadow play a secret show at the mission. No, let’s just say that Senator Clay Davis rocks some Dead Meadow in the car. No, let’s just say that I’m more than a little stressed about this Just Farr A Laugh legal problem. For real.

NSFW. Unless you work at home or a piercing shop.  From the inexplicably delayed Earles & Jensen presentation ‘Just Farr A Laugh, Vol. I & II’.

Though this isn't Matador Records & Filmworks related in the slighest, I submit you'll see few videos this year (or any other) as jarringly beard-tastic as Zach Galifianakas and Will Oldham's star turn for Kanye West's "Can't Tell Me Nothing". 

Though Chris Lombardi has been flooding in-boxes worldwide with the clip below, it took the analytical chops of Early Man's Mike Conte to really capture the essence.

Admittedly I don't really know the dude from a hole in the ground, but: If Doug Aitken had any balls whatsoever he'd take down those Konica/Minolta commercials he made for MOMA (I'm standing in the freezing cold with Richard Hell's daughter and 7 kids from Bard for THIS SHIT? Thank god Prime Burger is up the street) and project a real piece of art like this here. Step it up a notch, guy. You only live once.

[coolplayer width="360" height="280" autoplay="0" loop="0" charset="GBK" download="1" mediatype=""]http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=679120070[/coolplayer]

(link swiped from Boing Boing.net)

C'mon Time-Warner, bail this guy out, already.

To the elected officials of Boston and Massachusetts who are knocking themselves out with their crazed grandstanding, I can only hope that none of you are ever placed in Frylock's Cloner.

(UPDATE :  A nice way to cash in on the lunacy, though I would hope some of the dough could go towards the defense fund of the poor schnook the Boston Police have made a scapegoat out of. )

A recent post on unrelated bulletin board reminded me of a genius New Hampshire band with a long history, The Queers. They finally rose to national prominence in the mid-'90s and released a bunch of albums that I haven't heard since then. But their early work is sui generis, and the high point is probably the 1984 EP 'Kicked Out Of The Webelos.' I can't remember whether I have this record somewhere, so will hold off on paying massive buckage to obtain it from eBay or similar. Hunt it down.

And read a fascinating history and discography of the early Queers by Boston character Mr. B.

…though perhaps he could've saved his neck had the above clip been tacked onto Janet Jackson's most recent opus, perhaps as a bonus DVD.  (link courtesy WFMU's Beware Of The Blog)

From the BBC :

Hundreds of Paris Hilton albums have been tampered with in the latest stunt by “guerrilla artist” Banksy.

Banksy has replaced Hilton’s CD with his own remixes and given them titles such as “Why am I Famous?”, “What Have I Done?” and “What Am I For?”

He has also changed pictures of her on the CD sleeve to show the US socialite topless and with a dog’s head.

A spokeswoman for Banksy said he had doctored 500 copies of her debut album Paris in 48 record shops across the UK.

She told the BBC News website: “He switched the CDs in store, so he took the old ones out and put his version in.”

But he left the original barcode so people could buy the CD without realising it had been interfered with.

Banksy is certainly capable of the improbable – finding a creative use for the Anti-Nowhere League, for instance (Quicktime required)