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June 20, 2006
Shorties
The Long Winters' John Roderick blogs his Bonnaroo experience for CMJ's Relay blog, and recounts his guest solo during Death Cab for Cutie's set.
Still the audience cheered madly, and cheered again when my “solo” reached its epic heights. I broke a string, bloodied my hand, and at the end just handed the guitar off to the guitar tech, waved to the crowd and reverted back to being a journalist. Maybe they thought I was Trey Anastasio.
PETA interviews Built to Spill vegetarian frontman Doug Martsch, and is giving away a copy of the band's latest album, You in Reverse.
One of the messages that we have at peta2 is to question authority and to think for yourself. Do you have any suggestions for kids who are trying to cut through the BS?
I really like the program Democracy Now. It's an hour-long news program that's more inclined to tell the truth because it's not sponsored by anyone. It's real free press. They're not just reading PR from the White House or from different corporations. Most of what you get from mainstream media is mostly paid for and it's giving you one message. I also learned a lot from watching the movie Manufacturing Consent about Noam Chomsky. That really fired me up about politics and distrusting authority.
indieWIRE interviews Lian Lunson, Director of Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man.
Singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer talks to the Halifax Chronicle Herald about her acting debut.
"You know, you always wonder if you could. You watch great actors — Kate Winslet is someone I have huge respect for, and Gwyneth Paltrow too, talking about big name actors — it’s something that I watch other people and thought, wow, I wonder if I could really do that."
It helped that shooting began within months of the script being written.
"So there was a lot of energy and excitement around it on a very small scale, small budget. It was kind of guerrilla-style filmmaking, that was exciting to me," says Harmer, an ardent environmentalist whose latest side project involves saving the Niagara Escarpment from industrial development.
Harvey Danger has signed to Kill Rock Stars.
Luna's Dean Wareham talks to Entertainment Weekly about the band's documentary, Tell Me Do You Miss Me.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Until I saw the movie, I didn't realize the extent to which a band like yours has a tough time actually making a living.
DEAN WAREHAM: Yeah. I mean, we made money touring the States. But that trip [in the film] to Europe, we made no money. Japan, we made no money. Certainly, it's not like we were getting rich off it. And I think, with people's perceptions, they'll see us at Irving Plaza [in New York], and there's a thousand people there, and they're like, ''Yeah, they gotta be raking it in!'' We're not! Maybe we're pulling $10,000 that night, but after commissions and expenses, it's not a lot of money. And you can't do that every night.
Greg Kot reviews Radiohead's Chicago show for the Chicago Tribune.
The Drowned in Sound community discusses the future of the album format.
The Arkansas Democrat Gazette discusses the Paste list of the 100 greatest living American songwriters.
One thing about the Paste list is encouraging; while the artists may be old, most of them are still active, having found a solution to the problem of how to remain vital while aging in the candy trade.
Popmatters watches Amerca watching the World Cup.
Paul Westerberg talks to the New York Times about the Replacements' greatest hits collection, Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?.
"It probably isn't Interview 101 to say so, but I haven't really listened to it," he said. "I guess you should know what you are hyping, but I could say that I know there are a handful of good songs on there, and it may introduce some young people to what we did."
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer offers summer reading suggestions, including the book I've enjoyed most all year, Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic.
Bechdel's book is also the Globe and Mail's "Book a Day" today.
But for all the kept secrets and moments of rage and years of complete puzzlement, Fun Home manages to remain a delightful story of growing up not quite right. Alison Bechdel's own butch tendencies, which emerge first as a spartan home-decor aesthetic before bending to a brush-cut, muscle-shirt style of sexuality, add neatly to the complications of a small-town American life more wonder-filled than wonderful.
The Walton Tribune previews Athfest, which starts Wednesday in Athens, Georgia.
Suicide Girls interviews author Ross Campbell, creator of the graphic novel, The Abandoned.
I always wanted to do a zombie book or comic because I’m a big horror nerd. I’m into all the George Romero stuff. Also I was really poor at the time. I’m still really poor but I was poorer before and living with my parents. Then TokyoPop came and asked me “hey, do you want to do a three volume series thing?” I was like, “good God, yes.” I was just like, “how about a zombie book?” and they’re like, “whatever.”
The Observer Music Monthly lists the "50 best music books ever."
The Boston Globe editorializes in favor of iTunes DRM.
