stuff

[hsu@uicsrd.CSRD.UIUC.EDU (William Tsun-Yuk Hsu)]

Miscellaneous rambling...

Re: music for revolutionaries
I heard this story about the popularity of Scriabin in the Soviet Union.
Somebody asked your typical "comrade in the street" why he liked Scriabin
(specifically the Poem of Ecstasy, which the PMRC should certainly look
into.) The response was sth. like "I don't understand it, but it
makes me feel like a young stud again." 

Re: Big Black
Joe, where did you get the idea that Albini had an attitude problem?
(He probably does, but that's beside the point.) Atomizer is one of
the most direct and to-the-point albums I've heard. I don't see how
complaining (albeit very loudly) about things we're angry about
has anything to do with some "we're so cooool" attitude. 

Re: favorite *core album
My favorite drugcore album is probably the Scratch Acid EP. I really
like Beefeater's Plays for Lovers too... does that count as hardcore, Hof?

Re: SPK
I agree with Earle, that track with the piano was terrible. They
could at least have prepared it or sth...

Things I read/heard recently:

1) POOR innocent Greil Marcus. He gets so upset by Impotent Seasnakes'
   "too cool for rock n roll" he makes some vague remark about
   censorship and forgets to tell us it's great hardcore to
   skank/dance/slam/eat frozen dinners to. Maybe he should start
   reviewing Pampers commercials instead. (BTW, the Seasnakes album
   IS incredibly offensive... makes Mentors sound like Sally Fields
   and has great music to boot. I thought it was hilarious.)

2) zines: Chemical Imbalance has a free 4-song EP with Sonic Youth
   live doing Marilyn Moore. The sound is really thin and weezy;
   for completists only, I guess. The other 3 bands on the EP are
   pretty wimpy. The zine itself is great tho, with interviews
   with Naked Raygun, Minimum Wage (yawn) etc., lots of reviews,
   including Matt Howarth's record reviews in comic strip form.

   Non-stop Banter is a Chicago area semi-prozine with lots of reviews
   and interviews. The latest has a silly Meat Puppets interview 
   (waste of paper, guys, tho I liked MP when they played hardcore)
   fun Squirrel Bait interview (tho I thought their album was not
   terribly exciting) and one with Jazz Butcher. 

3) Bands for noise freaks: Boy Dirt Car is pretty raw, basic noise
   attack, without even a beat you can tap your foot to. The next
   Swans? F/i is actually less boring than some of their tracks
   indicate. Their better stuff is kind of like Jesus and Mary Chain
   but with grungy garage stuff underneath the noise instead
   of wimpy pop songs. Some decent guitar. These guys share an album
   from RRRecords.

4) Well, Hunters and Collectors was here. Club Crack opened, but I
   thought they mixed their sound badly because I couldn't hear the
   neat percussion and spacey synth because the guitars were too loud
   (I like loud guitars, but their guitarist and bassist weren't
   too special.) H&C played well, I guess, but it's so sad to hear
   them play this semi-commercial stuff after their neat first album.

Bill