FOLLOW US ON:
GET THE NEWSLETTER
CONTACT US
States where Chick-fil-A can legally fire gay employees
08.03.2012
04:14 pm
Topics:
Tags:

image
 
That graphic speaks volumes, doesn’t it? Via Gay Rights Maps.

If you haven’t seen this hilarious and epic anti-Chick-fil-A rant from former HUGE Chick-fil-A fan Jackson Pearce, you have to watch it. Stay with it all the way to the end. This woman is a star. Jackson Pearce could conceivably be the “new Molly Ivens.” She’s that good.

It was Pearce’s call for protesters to videotape their interactions with Chick-fil-A that caused Arizona man Adam Smith to be fired from his job when he posted a YouTube video of his low-key, innocuous—yet ultimately misguided—protest. Smith has since had to go into hiding with this family (including two adopted special needs children) due to all of the death threats he is receiving, many of them coming from readers of the white supremacist website Stormfront.

Jon Stewart’s commentary on the Chick-fil-A controversy, “Fast Feud Nation” last night on The Daily Show was Stewart at his very best.
 

 
Via Joe.My.God.

Posted by Richard Metzger
|
08.03.2012
04:14 pm
|
Zen rockers: Talking Heads performing at CBGB in 1975
08.03.2012
03:21 pm
Topics:
Tags:

image
 
Seven months after their first gig at CBGB (an opening slot in June of 1975 for The Ramones), Talking Heads were videotaped performing a set at the legendary club.

1. Psycho Killer
2. Tentative Decisions
3. With Our Love
4. I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That
5. I’m Not in Love
6. 96 Tears
7. No Compassion

When we were performing at CBGB’s alongside Television, The Ramones, Patti Smith, and Blondie, there was never any doubt in my mind that something unforgettable was going on. To me it was obvious that history was in the making; in no small part thanks to Hilly Kristal who owned CBGBs and gave these bands a stage to play on when no one else would.” Chris Frantz.

David Bynre, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz still finding their feet as a band but the essence that made them great is all there.
 

Posted by Marc Campbell
|
08.03.2012
03:21 pm
|
Feel the punk rock fury and get a ‘Divorce’
08.03.2012
03:18 pm
Topics:
Tags:

image
Photo by Stella Wan

Pussy Riot fans, check this out - Divorce have just released a three track teaser for their upcoming, self-titled debut album, and damn, it’s good!

If you don’t know Divorce, then let me direct you to the links at the bottom of this post for some introductions. In a nutshell, this majority-female band make a ferocious racket that takes all the best bits of experimental music, noise-rock, thrash and doom and blends it into a unique, powerful sound that is guaranteed to blast the cobwebs out of your ears.

Divorce will be released on vinyl and download through Night School label on September 17th, and the limited edition records run will be printed half on purple vinyl, and half on green vinyl. The label says:

“Divorce” is the culmination of four years of uncompromising noise-rock brutality. Long-time friends of ours, it is an honour to be releasing the debut full-length statement from a band who have set new standards in underground extremity. Since their formation in 2008 they have progressed from no wave dirge practitioners to an unique cult that blurs the boundaries of what ‘punk’, ‘noise-rock’ or ‘metal’ are presumed to sound like. Remaining slippery in definition but relentlessly focused, Divorce have evolved into a singular, incomparable unit.

Recorded by Ali Walker at Glasgow’s Arc Studio & Devil’s Own Studio, “Divorce” finds the band pushing their furious sound further than ever before; a torrent of pummeling rhythms and serrated, overdriven riffs, extended freak outs and ecstatic push and pull dynamics. They have also explored their experimental tendencies more, incorporating power-electronics, white noise and, on the track “Stabby (Stabby) Stab”, free-jazz saxophone (courtesy of guest musician James Swinburne). All this, combined with an over-arching determination to take their music to new limits structurally and sonically, makes “Divorce” a unified audio experience. Divorce are Jennie Fulk (vocals), Vickie McDonald (guitars), VSO (bass) and Andy Brown (drums).

Divorce are one of the best live acts in the UK just now, and if there is any justice in the world, they will make their way Stateside to slay you guys pretty soon. These debut album recordings have done the trick of capturing a great band’s live energy, which is no mean feat. You can pre-order Divorce from here, and in the meantime, here’s some tracks to whet your appetite:
 

  Selections from: DIVORCE - ‘Divorce’ LSSN013 by NightSchool 
 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:

A Girl’s Best Friend Is Her Guitar: ‘Horseheads’ by Divorce

Screw the Royal Wedding - listen to Divorce instead

 

 

Posted by Niall O'Conghaile
|
08.03.2012
03:18 pm
|
New Republican SuperPAC claims Obama is racist ‘against white folks’
08.03.2012
03:12 pm
Topics:
Tags:

image
 
Stephen Marks, the well-known Republican provocateur and author of Confessions of a Political Hitman is back. Marks’ latest stunt is FightBigotry.com, an FEC registered Super PAC that aims to stick it to President Obama for “his disturbing, yet crystal-clear pattern of tacitly defending black racism against white folks before and since being elected president.”

He/they have an ad:

The Obama administration has injected race into the presidential campaign. Obama Attorney General Eric Holder recently said – with no argument from the president – that their white critics are motivated by race. Implying whites are too stupid to have honest disagreements with the president without being racist is in-and-of-itself racist against whites, reinforcing Mr. Obama’s disturbing pattern of tacitly defending black racism. …

Obama’s attorney general said pursuing the New Black Panthers does a great disservice to whose “who risked all, for my people.” So it’s okay for his people to commit racial crimes? In 2009, President Obama defended his friend Henry Louis Gates after a racist altercation with police, telling a white officer he wouldn’t speak to him but would speak to his mama. Mr. Obama’s response? “The Cambridge police acted stupidly.” …

Mr. President, you ran as the candidate of change. But one thing has not changed—your tacit defense of racism against white folks, despite receiving nearly half the white vote to win the presidency.

How many undecided voters do you reckon this ad will sway? It’s aimed squarely at a red state demographic that the GOP has had in the bag since the day they were born and weaned on Chick-fil-A and is unlikely to make ANY converts. As in none, zero, zip. It’s a complete waste of effort and money.

On the flipside, how many people will watch this and roll their eyes at how craven and desperate the GOP seem to be getting?

I don’t think this ad is going to have quite the effect Stephen Marks anticipated, unless a torrent of ridicule was what he was aiming for! If anything, it helps Obama!

Second-rate Lee Atwater wannbe Marks claimed that he was retiring from politics in 2008. He should have stay retired if this is the best thing he could come up with. Pathetic.
 

Posted by Richard Metzger
|
08.03.2012
03:12 pm
|
A rarely seen documentary on Arthur Lee
08.03.2012
02:43 pm
Topics:
Tags:


 
Arthur Lee died six years ago today. Here’s something from the Dangerous Minds’ archives to commemorate his passing.

There’s very little information to be found on this 1991 “documentary” on Arthur Lee. The three key people involved in its creation are dead or, in the case of Crimson Crout, nowhere to be found. Directed by the mysterious Crout from a concept by Arthur Lee and compiled by Los Angeles writer, deejay and garage/punk/psychedelic promoter Frank Beeson, the video has amateur production values overall but is redeemed by laid back interviews with Lee (conducted by a barely present Beeson) and some decent live footage of Lee performing with latter day Love members Melvan Whittington and Joe Blocker as well as two members of The Knack, Bruce Gary and Berton Averre.

The film was made during Lee’s tentative re-emergence as an artist after a long dormant period during the 1980s. His return to the public eye was interrupted when he was incarcerated in 1995 for possession of a hand gun.

The live footage is taken from a series of gigs in 1989, during which Lee was regaining his footing as a performer.

The documentary, like Lee, is a bit ramshackle. The good news is that a decade after it was shot, a re-invigorated Arthur Lee returned to the stage for some of the best live shows of his incredible life, receiving the accolades he so richly deserved.

I can’t find anything on director Crimson Crout other than he released a 45rpm record in 1975 with two songs, “10,000 Years” and Redneck Ways.” John Einarson, author of the excellent Arthur Lee biography Forever Changes Arthur Lee And The Book Of Love was unable to track down the “elusive” Crout in researching his book. Who is this mystery man? Beeson?
 

 
Photo: Andy Willsher.

Posted by Marc Campbell
|
08.03.2012
02:43 pm
|
Machine Head: Deep Purple in concert, 1972
08.03.2012
12:54 pm
Topics:
Tags:

image
 
Admittedly Deep Purple are a bit of a (slightly) guilty pleasure for me, and one I indulge in from time to time (several times a year). They’re basically a deeply unhip band, of course—I blame David Coverdale—but no matter, I’ll always take Machine Head and a good greatest hits with me on each and every road trip, thank you very much.

In this 94-minute set shot in Denmark in 1972, the proceedings start off right with an amazingly ferocious version of “Highway Star” that sounds exactly the way you want it to. A true barnstormer of a concert in support of the then new Machine Head album (oddly no “Smoke on the Water” performed here). Featuring the classic “Mark II” incarnation of the band—Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Ian Gillan (vocals), Roger Glover (bass), Jon Lord (keyboards), Ian Paice (drums).

I listened to this in the background three times yesterday. It’s the tits, seriously, one of the best live Deep Purple sets you’ll ever hear (notice I wrote “hear” as the camerawork is not great). Available as part of the Deep Purple Live in Concert 72/73 DVD.
 

 
I can’t embed the full concert, but you can watch it here.

Posted by Richard Metzger
|
08.03.2012
12:54 pm
|
He Walks The Line: The Johnny Cash 24-Hour Money Machine (1985)
08.03.2012
12:19 pm
Topics:
Tags:

image
 
Yesterday I posted about something that I did not know about until that morning, thanks to one of our readers: Iggy Pop’s guest appearance as a Vorta on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Today brings another “I did not know that”: The JohnnyCash Money Machine courtesy of Canada Trust Bank. This short-lived promotion happened in 1985.
 

 
One more JohnnyCash Money Machine commercial after the jump…
 
With thanks to Robert Dayton!
 

READ ON
Posted by Tara McGinley
|
08.03.2012
12:19 pm
|
Free Pussy Riot: A statement by Nadya Tolokonnikova

image
 
An extraordinary essay by Pussy Riot member Nadya Tolokonikovoy has appeared on the Free Pussy Riot website. You can follow a blow by blow description of what is taking place at the Pussy Riot trial on Twitter. Kafkaesque? It’s that in spades, see for yourself. I thought it was important for this to be read by as many people as possible, so I am reproducing it here in full (but not block quoting it, because it would be a mile long)—RM

Art and the Human Manifesto of Nadya Tolokonnikova

The punk band Pussy Riot, which I belong to, is a musical group that conducts unexpected performances in different urban spaces. Pussy Riot’s songs address topical political issues. The interests of the group members are: political activism, ecology, and the elimination of authoritarian tendencies in the Russian state system through the creation of the civil society.

Since its origin in October 2011, the band played concerts in the subway, on the roof of a trolleybus, on the roof of the detention center for administrative detainees, in clothing stores, at fashion shows, and on the Lobnoe Mesto on Red Square. We believe that the art should be accessible to everyone; therefore we perform in diverse public spaces. Pussy Riot never means to show any disrespect to any viewers or witnesses of our punk concerts. This was the case on the roof of the trolleybus and on the Lobnoe Mesto, and this was the case at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

On 21 February 2012 Pussy Riot band performed its punk prayer “Hail Mary, Expel Putin” at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. In the early March 2012 three members of the group were imprisoned because of the music and political activism. The themes of our songs and performances are dictated by the present moment. We simply react to what is happening in our country, and our punk performances express the opinion of a sufficiently large number of people. In our song “Hail Mary, Expel Putin” we reflected the reaction of many Russian citizens to the patriarch’s calls for vote for Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin during the presidential election of 4 March 2012.

We, like many of our fellow citizens, wrestle against treachery, deceit, bribery, hypocrisy, greed, and lawlessness, peculiar to the current authorities and rulers. This is why we were upset by this political initiative of the patriarch and could not fail to express that. The performance at Cathedral of Christ the Savior was committed not on the grounds of religious enmity and hatred. Equally, we harbor no hatred towards Orthodox Christians. Orthodox Christianity worships the same as we do: mercy, forgiveness, justification, love, and freedom. We are not enemies of Christianity. We care about the opinion of Orthodox Christians. We want all of them to be on our side - on the side of anti-authoritarian civil society activists. That is why we came to the Cathedral.

We came with what we have and can: with our musical performance. During this performance we intended to express our concern: the rector of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church - the patriarch - supports a politician who forcefully suppresses the civil society, which is dear to us.

I would like to emphasize the fact that, while at the Cathedral, we did not utter any insulting words towards the church, the Christians, and the God. The words we spoke and our entire punk performance aimed to express our disapproval of a specific political event: the patriarch’s support of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, who took an authoritarian and antifeminist course. Our performance contained no aggression towards the audience, but only a desperate desire to change the political situation in Russia for the better. Our emotions and expressiveness came from that desire. If our passion appeared offensive to any spectators, we are sorry for that. We had no intentions to offend anyone. We wish that those, who cannot understand us, would forgive us. Most of all, we want people to hold no grudges against us.

READ ON
Posted by Richard Metzger
|
08.03.2012
11:14 am
|
Self-cannibalism ice cream commercial
08.03.2012
11:11 am
Topics:
Tags:

image
 
Philadelphia ice cream shop Little Baby’s Ice Cream has a rather strange marketing ploy to grab your attention: autocannibalism. It’s memorable, I’ll give it that!

Apparently no bath salts were used in the filming of this commercial. I’m glad that it’s not “Little Babies Ice Cream.” I was worried there, at first.
 

 
One more commercial after the jump…
 

READ ON
Posted by Tara McGinley
|
08.03.2012
11:11 am
|
Scottee’s ‘Follow’: how to gain more Twitter fans (or not)
08.03.2012
09:41 am
Topics:
Tags:

image
 
Scottee’s a bit of a legend in British performance art and cabaret circles, even though he’d hate to admit it himself. The 26-year-old writer/performer/director has already worked with some of the biggest names in this field and won a host of prestigious awards, not to mention a bunch of notoriety and some serious critical acclaim. 

While there’s more than a hint of Leigh Bowery to Scottee’s persona, he denies seeing himself as a “drag queen,” even if that’s how the staff at Marks & Spencer refer to him. What Scottee Scottee is, beyond the messed-up make up and torn stockings, is a performer, as his involvement with London’s Duckie collective, and his own Eat Your Heart Out troupe, proves. From his own website:

He has broken limbs, been questioned by Police and lost 100’s of pairs of high heels in his determination to please and challenge his audiences. Scottee has been critically compared to variety and music hall greats with his unique practice of light entertainment. 

His brash, clumsy and obnoxious approach to performance has left audiences confused, annoyed & covered in glitter. Whatever you think of Scottee - he probably won’t care.

But still, all this is not enough. Scottee wants more.

His latest project is called Follow and traces his efforts to attract more followers to his Twitter account. The end goal is for Scottee to have more followers on that social network than the British TV psychic Russell Grant, tho whom Scottee bares a passing resemblance, and often gets compared (it’s those sweaters, dear).

So far, so self-indulgent, I can hear you thinking. Well, yeah. All performance art is self-indulgent. What’s more important is what the viewer takes from the experience, and what light the artist can shed on cultural, and political, phenomena. And surprisingly, a project about attracting more Twitter followers is actually pretty good in that respect.

Who is real? What is real? Why should that really matter? Are online relationships as valid as real-world contact? Even if it’s with a robot? If they’re not as valid, then why not?

Scottee is open in proclaiming that social networking is the best invention in the history of humankind, and he makes for a compelling voice on our journey through Twitter’s seamy underbelly. Here is part two of the ongoing Follow video series, but if you’d rather watch Follow chronologically, part one is here:
 

 
Follow is running in conjunction with the Abandon Normal Devices festival, and you can follow Scottee Scottee on Twitter here.

Posted by Niall O'Conghaile
|
08.03.2012
09:41 am
|
Page 1319 of 2338 ‹ First  < 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 >  Last ›