Excerpts from Electric Degeneration, Degenerate Press' semi-weekly e-zine, free and ad-free. A full episode contains sections for music reviews, upcoming events, blasphemy, classifieds, and anything else we feel like saying. If you'd like to subscribe just contact us.
You can surf the entire archive.
2/6/2000
EAR PLUGS
Thursday we hit Echo Lounge early, expecting a reasonable kick-off time for
a school night show. We should’ve known better but the dead time before
the show let us socialize a bit and play with the glow in the dark advertising
crap someone had littered the place with. The walls were decorated in Clash
posters for the Clash tribute night, celebrating the rerelease of the Clash
catalog on CD.
An MC got on stage and gave away some Clash stuff, posters and Cds for those
who could answer Clash trivia questions, then 6X got up and mixed in a Clash
tune or three with their usual set.
More giveaways, then The Rent Boys got up and did an entire set of excellent
Clash covers, with little or no deviation from the originals. The genuine sound
was a true crowd pleaser. We had to skip out and miss X-Impossibles due to the
workaday lifestyle the DP staff must endure to keep this little effort free
and ad-free.
It would have been a great show but for the usual complaint about Echo Lounge
- FIX THOSE DAMN LIGHTS. There's no use for the row of lights behind the drummer
that A) form a curtain of light blocking any view of the drummer, and 2) shine
right in the eyes of the crowd making the few visible people on stage mere silouettes.
It's impossible to shoot a decent picutre there without a huge flash.
Saturday we hit the Star Bar a little late. The long Rockabilly Rumble lineup
means things have to kick off at 7 and we just couldn’t get our shit together
and get over there until almost 10. Belmont Playboys were on stage ripping it
up with some raucaus rockabilly, damn fine stuff. Raging Teens, not really Teens
and not really raging, followed with some SUPER genuine rockabilly. I didn’t
even know New Hampshire really existed, much less that it could be the birthplace
of such a superior act.
Blacktop Rockets hit the stage right at midnight, sans Johnny Knox. I don’t
know if this is a permanent lineup change (though a very familiar one) or if
it was just a temporary thing. Regardless, it was the usual good set from the
local heros of rockabilly, and organizers of the fest.
Due to a Degenerate Press staffer’s efforts to quit smoking we had to leave
the show early. The second hand chemicals in the air were teasing her into full
blown withdrawal and she just couldn’t take it. Let that be a lesson to
the viewers at home - quitting smoking can ruin your life!
FILM FLAM
A new irregular feature here on Electric Degeneration, Film Flam will feature
reviews of the moving picture films that are so popular with the kids these
days, written by degenerate SW:
"Magnolia" Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Starring
almost everyone in Hollywood young and old. Rated R for RENTAL.
I imagine it like this. DURING production, Paul Thomas Anderson goes to
see the latest Robert Altman film, Cookie's Fortune. He loves the movie.
He wishes he'd made the move. Then he realizes, he can change his current
project, "Partridge's Family" to resemble Altman! Brilliant!!
He calls up his buddy Bill Macy and sure enough, he's available. He quickly
writes another vignette about an aging, repressed-homosexual, has-been quiz-show
whiz kid. He then changes some of the other story plots to lengthen his
running time, adds a bit of biblical allegory with a plague of frogs, and changes
the title to "Magnolia" which alludes to Altman's beloved South as
portrayed in Cookie's Forune. He's a genius. He completes the movie,
albeit a little rough and patched together, releases it to much anticipation
and is hailed as a cinematic master. Hooray for Mr. Anderson. As
for you and me, Mr. and Ms. Moviegoer, we are highly disappointed and a bit
confused by what we have witnessed on screen. "THIS is supposed to
be masterful!? It didn't completely suck, but it blew quite a bit.
Wished I'd waited for video."
BLASPHEMY
If you want to get yourself worked up into a bother check out this report on
CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/02/04/drug.test.controversy.ap/index.html
Of particular interest are quotes like:
"I think it's an excellent policy," said Bobby Hall, a business professor
at Wayland Baptist University who has a daughter in the Lockney district. "I,
for one, would like to know if my children were involved in drugs because it
gives you a chance for intervention."
"And if you do it across the board it's fair for everybody," added
his wife, Laurie.
I'm reminded of the Zappa CD "Joe's Garage", a satirical play in which
the government decides to make everyone a criminal since it's the only way to
be fair, not to mention it makes control of everyone that much easier.
Take me to Degenerate Press' home page!
There's no place like home... no place like home...
All content on this site is owned by Degenerate Press and cannot be used without our permission. We have lawyers for friends with nothing better to do than cause trouble (no kidding), so play nice. Copyright © 2002, All Rights Reserved