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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.

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7/18/2001

PARTY HARDY
No, I haven't heard any news of Ken Barr's condition, sorry. Anyone else heard the latest? In happier news, degenerate WW has photos and even mini movies of the Summertime Blast on his site: http://www.weswilson.com/newpics8/dpress1.html
I got my pictures back and there are a few good ones, but I need more, particularly of the bands and late night festivities 'cause I was too busy and having too much fun to be behind the camera. Send me yer extras!

BLASPHEMY
http://www.afghanradio.com/news/2001/may/may23h2001.html

EAR PLUGS
Friday we arrived at the Star Bar early enough to socialize and get a beer downstairs. A short while later Richard Simmons came running in through the back door, complete with neon blue spandex shorts, a headband holding back his curly hair, and yelled "Are you ready to work out? C'mon everybody!" He rushed up the stairs, leaving everyone laughing in confusion and I was slowly trying to figure out where I knew the face in the costume when his wife, Kalu, walked in and I put it all together - it was Shane, drummer for Lust, in a wig and hilarious 80's workout gear. Upstairs, Lust set up the stage with two exercise trampolines and got to work, with the two girls up front in leg warmers and bad 80's hair, rocking the crowd. They played while bouncing on the trampolines, they played lying on their backs while doing bicycle kicks in the air, they played in all sorts of strange and disturbing positions. They stopped for Shane/Richard Simmons to tell everyone about the benefits of his deal-a-meal program, then charged back into it. The punky, upbeat rock was as much fun as the visuals, particularly with Shane's odd, quirky drumming and Barb's skilled guitar work.
After a break The New Orleans Klezmer All Stars set up. I'd really enjoyed their last stop at the Star Bar so I'd been looking forward to this show since I saw it posted a couple of weeks back. It was a fun night of Jewish wedding music, something like Fiddler On The Roof on cocaine. But Friday the set was more like Fiddler on the Roof on marijuana. The energy just wasn't there and the songs dragged on a bit too long. It was still good stuff. Shane stood next to me and said something like "These guys are about as far on the opposite end of the spectrum from us as you can get. Their musicianship is just incredible." But I wanted less noodling, more umph. The lead clarinet and sax player didn't even seem interested in being there, sitting on the side of the stage and chatting with a fan for a good three songs while the rest of the band grooved, each song lasting a good 15 minutes. Eventually they sucked the life right out of me and I had to beat a retreat, but I hope to catch them again, hopefully when they've got more energy.

In other news, we're about to lose two of my favorite local musicians. Brian Halloran, former cellist of Smoke and booking agent for the EARL, is moving to Sante Fe. And John Dunn, former bassist of Truckadelic and guitarist of Dragline, is moving back up to the Carolina's somewhere to "drink, fish and fuck" or something along those lines.

FILM FLAM
Sunday was the monthly Mondo Movie at Starlight Drive In. Things got started a bit late, it seemed like they were having technical difficulties, but eventually a series of old b-movie trailers started up, a whole mess of nudie pictures from the 50's and 60's with odd titles like "Orgy of the Golden Nudes." Some of them I absolutely must see, they looked hilarious. A cartoon followed, then the first feature, Female Convict Scorpion, a 1972 Japanese "girls behind bars" movie. The cinematography was interesting in some places, reminding me of Clockwork Orange, and some of the scenes were fun. But the surrealistic/symbolic/dream sequences only helped illustrate how alien and incomprehensible the Japanese can be to us Westerners. Someone made the comment that it looked like James Taylor had co-written the film, a reference to Two Lane Blacktop from the Mondo Movie last month. But unlike Two Lane Blacktop, Female Convict Scorpion actually has a plot you can follow, and an ending that doesn't leave you wishing you'd never started down the movie path in the first place. Unfortunately we couldn't stick around for the second

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