Crib Notes

WITHIN THESE WALLS: Times New Viking gives Born Again Revisited the business.

Noise rock has never been mainstream; instead, it has historically targeted a narrow base of dogmatic fans and been released via small boutique labels on home-dubbed cassettes. In recent years, however, a larger crowd has taken notice, and as goes the crowd, so go those who want to sell ‘em stuff. In 2004, for example, indie giant Sub Pop released Burned Mind, a harsh, uncompromising record by Michigan trio Wolf Eyes. Concurrently, such tastemakers as Pitchfork began to pay closer attention. It all seemed to signify a paradigm shift: Noise, it would appear, was the new big thing.

Continue Reading “Noise innovators Times New Viking raise the roof”

(Photo Courtesy Michael O’Shaugnessy)

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Before there was grunge, there was Bleach, Nirvana’s harsh, ‘89 debut that dragged punk’s contemptuous sneer through the mud to churn out one damn fine album. Bleach isn’t the voice of a generation that came two years later with Nevermind, but it’s an infinitely better record. “Blew,” “School,” “Love Buzz,” “Negative Creep” — they’re all raw classics that were too visceral for the masses. Cobain’s half-baked yowls still sound like they’re going to fall apart every time he opens his mouth, and the remastered job makes the album’s highs higher and lows lower. It’s a dirty album, and the production needed to be touched-up. A booklet of photos and a live show from the era are nice add-ons, but it ain’t the bells and whistles that matter here. The songs themselves make Bleach a ramshackle work of perfection. (Sub Pop) 5 stars out of 5

(Photo Courtesy Sub Pop)

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Tiny Vipers’ sole songstress, Jesy Fortino, has a voice so strong and captivating it softens her existential quandaries, but resolves nothing. Life on Earth takes a heavy-duty trip into candle-lit depression via songs more concerned with asking questions than providing answers. In “Time Takes,” Fortino muses “am I crazy for feeling this way?” while strumming into a void of loneliness amid booming layers of texture. “Dreamer” climaxes with a slow, rhythmic gallop filled with dark intonations and a plea: “I’m dying for a way out.” But as each song bleeds into the next, there’s no sanctuary. The 10-minute title track is an ominous testament affirming that the only way out of hell is to tread right through it, and it’s a long, dreary ride indeed. (Sub Pop) 3 stars out of 5

Tiny Vipers with Balmorhea, Ben Trickey. $7. 9 p.m. Wed., July 1. 529. www.529atl.com.

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Welcome to 1984! According to The Arthur Blog, Last week No Age drummer Randy Randall was told by a random stage employee at CBS that he would not be allowed to wear a a pro-Obama T-shirt, just minutes before he was to perform for “some sort of Craig Ferguson/CBS TV thing that was to be broadcast October 27.”

According to Arthur editor Jay Babcock’s story, “…the CBS person said, the Obama shirt was on-air editorializing–a possible violation of some FCC edict which this person claimed called for equal time to be given to opposing political viewpoints.”

But CBS person was wrong.

Babcock continues, “One problem: the last remnant of the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” was repealed in 1987; the repeal was upheld by court ruling in 1989.

Since then, corrollary rules of the Fairness Doctrine–the “personal attack” rule and the “political editorial” rule–have also been struck down in the courts, with the last court ruling (and subsequent FCC order) coming in 2000.

In short, there is no fairness rule. Randy’s Obama shirt was perfectly broadcastable under every existing law.

But neither No Age nor their people at Sub Pop were aware of the Fairness Doctrine’s long-ago demise, and took CBS at their word.

After much deliberation, Randy put on another shirt, which said ‘Free Health Care,’ the band played, and the show will, apparently, air.”

Read the full story here.

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