The Contrarian

Blog Recommendation.

I've been meaning to mention the series of excellent posts at Blog Sothoth about Baltimore's sketchy school system. It's a little like "The Wire," in blog form.

The author, Geoff, also writes about other subjects, namely literature, film, music and how much he hates the current administration. All good stuff, but it's his bird's-eye reporting on our decaying educational infrastructure that sets the site apart.

Sometimes I feel like I'm indulging in morbid rubbernecking. Then I remember how important it is for people to know what's really going down in our country's learning institutions.

New Newsy Newsness.

It's been a period of exciting growth here at The Contrarian Media; we got a new office pet, opened a South Bronx branch (hello, gentrification!) and even learned/invented a few kitchen recipes.

Today's news is especially thrilling.

The URL Fairy has gifted us with a brand-new address: TheContrarianMedia.com. That means no more pesky backslashes to remember! You don't even have to enter a "www," but can if you want. Go ahead, try it — your browser will surely be tickled.

For those of you too lazy to update your bookmarks, the old address will continue to work. But if you ever find yourself on a strange computer in some foreign land, just remember TheContrarianMedia.com and you'll be back on the information superhighway to happiness. Or something.

Oh, and ProgBlog has just been updated! All in all, an electrifying day for The Contrarian, with many more to come.

A Real Kick in the Crotch. For (Im)Mature Readers Only.

Back when I was still an angry young man (read full account here), I maintained an up-to-the-minute Balls Kicking List.

What's that, you may ask? Well, it's just what it sounds like: a complilation of individuals who had crossed the line from merely annoying to potentially detrimental to society, and from whom retribution was due. Curiously, they were all musicians, which shows you where my head was at.

And the grand tradition continues: Chunklet wants you to share your own BKL with the rest of the world. You're not restricted to pop artists, so feel free to get creative. All aboard the nut-knocking train!

For me, acts of fantasy sac-vengeance no longer have the same appeal as they once did. But my inventory circa '92-93 is pretty telling:

Dave Pirner and Soul Asylum

Anthony Kiedis

Scott Weiland

The wee lads kids of Silverchair

Madonna (Don't tell me she doesn't have testes).

Lenny Kravitz

Candlebox

Natalie Merchant

Bush (The band, not the president[s]. Although they're all fair game, really).

Blind Melon

The Flaming Lips

Hanson (Of course, it's debatable whether or not their balls had even dropped by this point).

Ugly Kid Joe

NYC Hardcore

Popular House Music

The Crow Soundtrack (Line the guilty parties up against the wall of a fog-shrouded urban alley at midnight).

It's interesting for me to consider which of these offenders still deserve a good marbles-mauling and which would be absolved due to irrelevance.

Were I to make a list right now, I'd likely target my toes on the bollocks of piano-plunking momthrobs and mascaraed "emo" acts. Oh, and Dane Cook. But that goes without saying.

The (E. Howard) Hunt for Answers.

The Many Moods of E. Howard Hunt.

It's been a rough decade for conspiracy nuts. The Kennedy assassination, having been served on an Oliver Stone Party Platter in the '90s, seems to be veering back to a single shooter scenario in the minds of many. It can't help that Charles Manson prosecutor and Helter Skelter author Vincent Bugliosi recently published a 1632-page doorstop which aims to invalidate JFK conspiracy chatter once and for all.

There are still holdouts, however.

Last week, I discovered a wonderfully titled Baltimore-based web journal called Blog-Sothoth. It's published by a fella named Geoff, who works in the city's notoriously troubled educational system. He posts about all kinds of stuff, and often includes pretty pictures of B-More that go some way towards erasing the creepy/tragic images put in my mind by The Wire.

But back to the JFK murder. A recent entry on Blog-Sothoth concerns the taped deathbed confessions of E. Howard Hunt — ex-CIA station chief, Nixon hatchet man, spy novel author and longtime Person of Interest in the Kennedy killing. Prior to his own death at the beginning of the year, he instructed his son, Saint James, to record a few of his innermost thoughts.

This, in itself, is no longer news; Rolling Stone reported on it not too long ago. But other media outlets have been slow to pick up on a story which should be a fairly big fucking deal — maybe even more sensational than Lindsay Lohan's substance abuse woes.

On the tape, Hunt names names, plainly implicating Lyndon B. Johnson in the conspiracy to whack the President:

"Let me point out at this point, that if I had wanted to fictionalize what went on in Miami and elsewhere during the run up for the big event, I would have done so. But I don't want any unreality to tinge this particular story, or the information, I should say. I was a benchwarmer on it and I had a reputation for honesty.

I think it's essential to refocus on what this information that I've been providing you — and you alone, by the way — consists of. What is important in the story is that we've backtracked the chain of command up to. . . the doorstep of LBJ. He, in my opinion, had an almost maniacal urge to become President. He regarded JFK, as he was in fact, an obstacle to achieving that. He could have waited for JFK to finish out his term and then undoubtedly a second term. So that would have put LBJ at the head of a long list of people who were waiting for some change in the executive branch."

Seems George Herbert Walker Bush may have been involved as well.

There exists within occult circles (you know, the kind with big ol' pentagrams at the center?)  a time-honored ritual called The Killing of the King. Said ceremony — with its countless variations — is meant to pave the way for psychic/spiritual rebirth through the forced (and typically metaphorical) capitulation of a crowned head. Perhaps the JFK players were involved in a more literal working of the ritual, the culmination of which took place in Dallas. There can be no doubt this grisly event ushered in an era of cynicism in regards to government from which we've yet to recover.

A population is more easily controlled when they're not paying attention. Goodbye idealism, hello, New World Order.

Listen to me. I sound like one of them. Time to break out the tinfoil hat.

MP3: The Misfits — "Bullet"

Birth of a Blog.

Over time, I've noticed that my interest in music hasn't so much waned, as gotten more particular. I started The Contrarian blog as an offshoot of Solidstate, which was, ostensibly, a music journal. Of course, I also had a lot to say about other subjects.

That's why it seemed perfectly natural to expand at the new digs; inviting other contributors was my way of further heightening the experience. I mean, don't you feel heightened?

Still, the mission statement remains the same: to offer entertaining and occasionally provocative views on music, media and metaphysics — three of my favorite subjects about which to wax enlightened.

But let's skip the State of the Blog address and cut to the chase.

Recently, I've come to the conclusion that the sounds I'm most interested in can be broadly categorized as "progressive." And I'm not talking about hairy men in capes surrounded by a dozen keyboards — well, not exclusively, anyway. There's surely room for wizards and elves in my musical multiverse, but not at the expense of psychedelic, krautrock, avant-garde, non-dance oriented electronic and technical metal styles — all of which I'd personally classify as progressive.

So I decided to start an adjunct site to The Contrarian, which will serve as an outlet for music of such specialized interest. It's simply called ProgBlog. Kind of beautiful in its succinctness, dont'cha think? Note the link at the top right corner of your screen, and bookmark it if you're so inclined.

ProgBlog will feature a wide variety of text and audio. But there are some things you won't ever encounter there, including:

Pop-prog, such as Flower Kings, XTC and so on.

Berklee-prog, such as Dream Theater, Spock's Beard and their ilk.

Avant-jazz or fusion. I enjoy those genres, but folks like The Le Duo and Spitting Out Teeth are covering them far better than I ever could. Of course, there might be the occasional exception.

Jam-prog. Yeah, I liked Zappa in high school, too.

Dance music. If it's clubbier than Plastikman, forget it.

I'll also be largely keeping away from noise genres. While I'm not averse to this stuff, I prefer to focus on music with more of a compositional center. GD will no doubt have plenty to say about that last statement...

Now for what you will find:

Vintage/historical progressive rock, including acid, art and other sub-styles.

Psychedelic pop, folk and otherwise — antique and modern varietals.

Electronic music ranging from ambient to post-glitch.

Technical metal.

Heavy-psych.

Various world styles, mostly archival.

Mixtapes and podcasts.

ProgBlog probably won't be updated as frequently as The Contrarain, which is pretty much every day. But you can toss us in your RSS feeder and delight in each new post. I know I will.

Stuff.

Greetings.

Here's what's up on this Day of Our Lord, Friday, June 8, 2007.

My review of the latest Boredoms EP is over at Dusted.

If you pick up a copy of the new Signal to Noise, you'll see my piece on sound sculptor Greg Davis. To tell you the truth, I barely remember writing the thing. I think I like the pictures best.

In between packing boxes, I'm writing a review of Starline Rhythm Boys' latest, Red's Place. For those of you who aren't familiar with them, know this: they're one of the finest Western Swing/Honky-Tonk/Rockabilly acts in the country, if not the world. Great guys, too. Look for it in next week's Seven Days.

Speaking of 7D, you Vermonters should vote for the 2007 Daysies. Not sure if The Contrarian counts as a "local" blog, but if you felt like giving us props, we certainly wouldn't mind. Of course, you've got your own damn web journals to vote for.

I've previously made mention about the soon-to-be-legendary Hank & Dad album. What is H&D, exactly? Picture a cross between Kurtis Blow, Afterschool Specials, child abuse and rainbows. Musically, it features gospel, old-school hip-hop, "Beverly Hills 90210"-style incidental music, Tin Pan Alley, ragtime, smoov jazz, "Doogie Howser MD"-style incidental music, Huey Lewis-style rock and a capella.

Here's but a taste:

Hank & Dad — "Stuff It"

Hank & Dad — "Pass the Test"

Hank & Dad — "Grown Up Now"

Sure, it might seem like a comedy record. But listen closely, and you'll hear your own inner child being flame broiled with a side of rancid mayonnaise.

Frere-Jones and Caldwell: BFF.

Intrepid Contrarian contributor and Big Apple-dweller James Caldwell has big-time balls. He recently decided to cut to the chase re: Sasha Frere-Jones' online beg-a-thon to repair a faulty hard drive. The following is their e-mail exchange in its entirety.

James writes:

Sasha -

Look, you're probably a very nice guy. And you're a public target and
I'm not, so, granted, I've got protection and don't have to endure
strangers emailing me. But I've got to say, asking people for money
for your hard drive is shitty. Money? Actual money? I'm not trying to
be a dick, but man, think about that...Unless you were kidding, in
which case it was fucking funny.

Here's Sahsa's reply:

Well, today's post is pretty much a full admission--in the guise of
light comedy--that it was a truly dumbass idea. Having learned my
lesson, I now intend to save my dumber moments for private, intimate gatherings. Like, when I'm asleep.

Yours,

Sasha

Let it never be said we can't get to the bottom of Important Issues.

In other news, you can pick Hillary Clinton's campaign song. I suggest you post your suggestions in the comments, and James will forward them to Ms. C. 'Cause they're still pretty tight, even after the whole Vincent Foster affair. I mean, um, nothing.