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 ROTATION Ice Cube Lyrics Born Rachel's Death Cab For Cutie Rob Swift Apples in Stereo Jurassic 5 Sleater-Kinney Nirvana Sonic Youth Amon Tobin Dirty Three Cat Power Pixies Fugazi Frank Black Breeders Three Mile Pilot Mogwai DJ Shadow Chuck D Shipping News Black Heart Procession White Stripes Built To Spill Los Straitjackets Jon Spencer Blues Explosion AND MUCH MORE! 
 
 "There
was some-thing truly visceral about Cube's voice that made his ever-present snarl that much more serious. As he barked on Death Certificate and Amerikkka's, he was the nigga you love to hate as well as the wrong one to fuck with."  "Even
though Sonic Youth grabbed Cobain by his hypodermic needles and
helped foist him into the spotlight, alterna-fans du jour didn't
return the favor when the New York noisemakers lobbed this bottom-soaked
missile their direction."
 "There's
some thing in our psyche, this kind of right or privilege to
resolve our conflicts with violence. There's an arrogance to
that concept. To actually have to sit down and talk, to listen,
to compromise, that's hard work. To go for the gun, that's the
cowardly act."
 "Word
comes that brother Cat Stevens refuses to lend his support to
our virtuous jihad. May this turncoat's Peace Train be laden
with explosives and rammed into the Mountain of Mohammed, peace
be upon him."
 "The
surreal-ists wouldn't know what to do with Harvey Birdman. Its ingenious brand of adult animation owes as much to absurdists like Ionesco and Duchamp as it does to Bugs Bunny and Bullwinkle. Same goes with the other shows in Adult Swim's lineup. ."  "The
recall provision itself was designed as a way for
the people of the state to get rid of a governor who
had disappointed them. Not a bad idea on the face
of it,. but then about 90 years later, reality sets
in."
 "Well,
well, well. President George was in one hell of
bind when it turned that that Saudi Arabia funded
Al Qaeda, not Iraq. Realizing we'd invaded the wrong
country, Bush did the honorable thing: he's come
out against gay marriages."
 "Can
you believe these guys? A third grader can tell
you that crack is to pot like an Uzi is to a banana.
Crack kills, pot giggles."
 "There
is no one thing to know in Lord of the
Rings more important than the fact that
everything is disappearing, and disappearing
fast. Jackson's final film in his peerless
trilogy tenaciously latches onto this theme
and never lets go."
 "By
the time this page fully loads, Guided By
Voices' Robert Pollard will have probably
composed, performed, mixed and pressed yet
another tightly coiled pop-rock nugget."
 "Unless
his friends and neighbors turn bitch and
completely bail on him, the hyperskilled
Lyrics Born will be here later this day,
that day or whatever day, until he's too
old to physically rhyme or sing anymore.
In that, perhaps he can take some solace,
dropping that baggage off at the door
in the process."
 "The
idea -- if we may use so flattering a
term -- was that the Pentagon would monitor
the site and the betting, and thus get
a jump on terrorist acts to come. After
all, as the theory goes (and never mind
the whole dot.com fiasco), if people are
willing to put money on something, they
must have a pretty good idea what they're
doing."
 "Gregory
Peck, in what may have been divine justice
died comfortably in his sleep, old age
finally having caught up with him. His
soul, like his formidable legacy, was
one of peace, so it is poetic that he
left this world in such a manner. But
the times he has left behind for his
unknown sons and daughters resembles
the dystopia of Boys From Brazil
more each day." |
…and Five Reasons Why It Did. by Scott Thill Democratic Sellouts The result? Gore lost the election but not the vote; whether that was because of shenanigans or the sheer fact that he is a pussy who gave into the Supremes doesn't really matter anymore. What does matter is that Gore forgot who the hell he was and Lieberman knew who the hell he was, and neither of these walking downers could galvanize a cockroach. Fast forward to 2003, and Gore suddenly has his memory back -- endorsing populist hero Howard Dean, railing against Ashcroft and his ass-backwards Justice Department, calling out Bush's Iraq escapade as an overproduced oil grab -- but it's too little too late, because he's already irrelevant. And Lieberman? I actually heard him say this the other day: "If you're not sure about Dean or Clark, I'm your guy!" The dude can't even give himself a ringing endorsement. In short, he's a joke -- although one favored by conservatives on MSNBC and Fox News, who encourage his Dean-bashing. Which is itself -- for all involved -- an act of desperation that will not, and has not, worked. That, my friends, is called a sign from Da Lord. As for the other entrenched Democrats like Kerry, Gephardt, Edwards and company -- but not the excellent Kucinich, who definitely knows which way the bullshit is blowing -- they need to stop taking the brown acid. They have endlessly lamented the way Bush has "misled" Congress into giving him every power other than that which allows him to mandate that citizens wear their underwear outside of their clothes, but if Bush has zero evidence of actual WMD now -- real ones, not half-assed programs to build them -- then he didn't have any back when it really counted. Which means that those losers simply let him lie his way into this war and demanded nothing of him. Are those the kind of spineless tools we want running the country? Look, the choice is clear: Dean is the only guy who knows what the hell he's doing these days -- and he's totally new to it; the latecomer Wesley Clark may get there, but only because the Clintons will hold his hand. In other words, the wimpy Demos need to take their cue from the audacious Republicans -- raise up, shut up and get in line if you want to win. Dean may not be the guy to beat Bush in 2004, but he's undoubtedly the people's choice. That used to mean something; the Democrats, especially the clueless Lieberman, might want to think about why it doesn't anymore.
Iraqmire! So he gassed the Kurds along the way; we could give two shits, as long as the Middle East, an explosive hotbed of religious fundamentalism, was under his iron fist. In fact, according to recently declassified but nevertheless well-known information, our own senile Donald Rumsfeld (remember the "unknown unknowns" speech? classic!) shook the guy's hand and all but told him to keep on keepin' on (gassing his enemies, that is). There's video of it, for Christ's sake. Like Ferdinand Marcos, Augusto Pinochet, Manuel Noriega, Pervez Musharraf, Joseph Stalin and onward, Saddam is simply one in a long line of dictators the United States supported in hopes of fortifying American business as usual. But then he overstepped his bounds, most notably by threatening the monarchs of Kuwait (and by extension, Saudi Arabia) who we call friends, even though they also happen to operate some of the most oppressive regimes in the world. Poppy Bush got mad, and then Junior got even, by bombing the shit out of and then occupying Hussein's country, killing, as of this writing, anywhere from approximately 8,000-10,000 civilians (not soliders; they don't get counted) on the way. That's almost three times as many civilians that died on September 11th, a harrowing historical event that Dubya invoked as he hammered his way to Baghdad (noting, much later when it became convenient, that the two had nothing to do with each other). Which begs the question -- What ultimately led the United States to kill three times the amount of people that were lost on 9/11? WMD? Nope, we haven't found any (although some knobs on Capitol Hill proclaim this is the reason they signed off on the excursion). Because of the so-called War on Terrorism? Nice try -- while almost all of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis, none were Iraqis, and no concrete connection between Saddam and 9/11 has been unearthed. OK, how about, er… preemptive retaliation? Fat chance -- Saddam couldn't weaponize chemicals if he had Enrico Fermi chilling in Basra. So what's left? Get this -- democracy. Some fundamentalist policy hacks named Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and more figured that the best way to counter other fundamentalists on their home turf and spread the democratic seed was to invade Saddam's country and kill thousands of innocents in the name of freedom. They figured that both Iraqi Muslims and secularists would drop to their knees and praise U.S. soldiers and the bombs they dropped as liberators, and Iraq's thousands of years of history and culture would melt away like Bush's WMD evidence (well, the culture in Iraq's museums did melt away, but from the heat of the fires). Along the way, they enriched their friends at Halliburton (who overcharged America millions to supply Iraq, not the U.S., with oil) and Bechtel, privatized Iraq's social net (hey, it didn't work here; might as well try somewhere else), and laid off half the country. OK, that last one might be an exaggeration, but the whole scenario is so cartoonish that Bugs Bunny would be suing for infringement if it wasn't for the fact that the dead bodies could populate every room in the lavish palaces that now conveniently function as American bases of operation. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, indeed. No matter where you stand on Saddam, he is a red herring. The true meaning of the war on Iraq lies in….
Saudi Arabia:
The Magic Kingdom Why? Because Saudis are rich, very rich, and also because Bush is friends with them. We all are, don't you know? Forget that they're Wahabi fundamentalists who would like nothing more than to lower Mohammed's sword on the necks of infidels everywhere, or that they're not even a democracy -- they've got money and they've got oil, therefore they are untouchable. And they, not Saddam, are the reason we're killing and dying in Iraq. See, Saudi oil is untouchable, Iraq's is not. Bush has friendly biz connections with the Saudi royals (who helped fund all of his pre-White House business failures), while he has nothing to like about Iraq, except its oil reserves, the second largest in the world. James Baker, the guy he sent to beg nations to forgive Iraq's debt? Attorney for Saudi Arabia. 9/11 hijackers? Mostly Saudis. Terror sponsoring nations? Start with the Saudis. The evidence for bombing the shit out of Saudi Arabia is practically incontrovertible; no country in the Middle East has done more to encourage the type of murderous invention we suffered on 9/11. But we went to Iraq instead, and took on a pitiable regime in an easy-to-predict cakewalk; in fact, the Iraq contest was so predictable that we didn't even bother planning the aftermath, which to date has been an unmitigated failure. And that, if you can follow this, makes us the kind of undemocratic occupiers we like to invade in the name of democracy. The incestuous circularity of the whole thing can make you crazy. Although Saudi Arabia's moment of triumph was found in the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center over two years ago, it is quite possibly the most important story of 2003. If anyone was actually paying attention, that is. Too bad no one was.
My 50 Cent Worth
Sure, African-Americans buy his stuff, but their sales percentages alone couldn't propel a naked Beyonce (her time will come) to the top of the charts without massive help from the rest of the world. Which leaves us with the same tired Horatio Alger shit we've seen before, this time featuring probably some of the worst rhyme skills this side of Vanilla Ice and more video-hos-for-rent than a Dirty South convention. It's a good thing that 50 wears that Kevlar vest -- in an act of genius publicity, he also bought one for his son -- because if Biggie Smalls ever comes back from the dead, he'll probably want to fill him with holes for degrading hip-hop's lyrical tradition. But 50 is far from the problem, he's just the latest wack rapper with no talent to receive massive industry backing. No, the real problem here is the continuing collective support of hip-hop violence, especially in a year that saw some amazing releases -- Outkast's double joint, Diverse's One A.M., anything Madlib touched, anything Def Jux released, the list goes on -- in the genre. Didn't any of these cats learn anything from the Tupac-Biggie blood feud? I'll share a secret with all of you: 50 Cent is not bulletproof. One well-placed shot -- or rhyme from an opposing rapper -- will take him out so quickly that no one will ever remember he existed. The way things are going, that could happen as soon this summer. Disney's Tramp Factory
Wrong! They're taking over the freakin' world -- and Internet porn too. Christina Aguilera, who actually can sing, had a unofficial porn featuring Justin Timberlake floating across Kazaa, as well as an official one, called "Drrty", on MTV, BET and every channel you can think of. Both sucked ass. Meanwhile, Spears, who can't sing a lick, took a page from her idol Madonna and started showing some ass to move product -- and it worked like a charm. Then there's Hilary Duff, who's next in line for a public sexual maturation; think I'm crazy? Punch "Hilary Duff nude" into Google and see what happens. All of which begs the question -- what the hell is going on over at Disney? Is this Eisner's work? What happened to the family in family entertainment? The answer is simpler than you think. Of course, the Internet has bolstered if not outright legitimized pornography for the next generation, if only because it's now so accessible, so culture itself has changed its mind to an extent when it comes to sex; unless, of course it's homosexual, in which case it's akin to bestiality, at least according to Rick Santorum. But that would be letting Disney off the hook. Since giving Ariel tits in The Little Mermaid, Jasmine a sexy midriff in Aladdin and Esmerelda the whole hot package in the awful Hunchback of Notre Dame, Disney has significantly if stealthily altered the sexual landscape of girlhood. And if you ask them, they'll deny it to their graves. But that pissed-off cartoonist who discreetly painted a cock into The Little Mermaid's poster art knew which way the wind was blowing. For decades, Disney has riffed on the theme of female sexual awakening (Snow White? Sleeping Beauty?), and the 21st century's in-your-face cultural vernacular has merely paved the way for them to shrug it off. And I'm not bitching about it, understand that. But Disney should just come clean and say that it's interested in building up massive facades of sexual purity and romantic love only so it -- or its various products -- can tear them down. Honesty is still the best policy; well, that and ass, evidently. Wasn't that the point of Pinocchio's phallic nose in the first place? 12 January 03  Five
Reasons Why Global Culture Didn't Suck in 2003...
"In
2003, Colbert and Stewart were the finest one-two punch on television,
while the whole sick crew (to paraphrase Thomas Pynchon) was rewarded
for their penetrating insights with two Emmys."
 Scott
Thill usually finds the time to write on everything that does not include
those fearsome words, "boy band". He's also a gainfully employed
editor who writes for Salon, XLR8R, Popmatters, All Music Guide, AOL and
others. His first novel, The Dangerous Perhaps, should be done
by the time the War on Terrorism is over.
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Copyright 2001-2003, Morphizm.com. All Rights Reserved. |
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Insert iron fist into iron mouth. "Like Ferdinand Marcos, Manuel
Noriega, Pervez Musharraf, Joseph Stalin and onward, Saddam was
simply one in a long line of dictators the United States supported
in hopes of fortifying business as usual."
(Photo: Reuters)
It's good to be the King (Fahd). "Forget that they're Wahabi fundamentalists
who would like nothing more than to lower Mohammed's sword on
the necks of infidels everywhere, or that they're not even a democracy
-- they've got money and they've got oil, therefore they are untouchable."
(Photo: AFP/Rafael Diaz)
Fashion victim. "The real problem here is the continuing collective
support of hip-hop violence, especially in a year that saw some
amazing releases." (Photo: AP/Jim Cooper)
We are living in a material world -- full of hot ass. "Honesty
is still the best policy; well, that and ass, evidently." (Photo:
AP/Julie Jacobson)
