ASK XHUXK

um..."Bambi"???

what is your favorite Dylan song?

um...."Positively Fourth Street"???

what is your favorite Angel City song?

um..."Take a Long Line"???

Do you own any albums by Riot?

Yes! Maybe even two!!

What was your favorite rap album from the 90's?

Great question! Um...Lordz of Brooklyn, *All in the Family* maybe? Though there are probably better ones I'm not thinking of right now.

do you think Cyrus is a good name for a boy?

yes! he would be an achy breaky baby!

baby on monday if all goes well. wish us luck!)

good luck, scott and maria (and rufus)!!!

what was the last work of fiction you read?

um...jonathan lethem, *fortress of solitude*? but if i think of one i read after that, i will let you know.

what is your definition of a good music critic in 5 words?

Scott Seward, Cyrus's future dad

isn't Decibel the coolest magazine in forever!!??

it is certainly way up there!

----------------

And now: NO MORE QUESTIONS!!!! (Or okay, people can ask them if they really really want, but I may or may not answer them this year.)

Fosters, at least this month. I will have to think for a couple years about the albums, though.

>why are so many people who love music so caustic when discussing it? <

hmmmmm....inability to properly schedule lunch breaks?

1. Why do you like Tina Marie so much? Why her and not, say, Taylor Dane? Same shit.
2. Who is "The Long & Winding Road" about?
3. Why must you continually deny the greatness of the early Misifts?
4. Is it fashionably acceptable to wear a brown shoes with black pants?
5. When was the last time you actually listned to a Kix record?
6. Glossy or Matte? What's your preference?
7. Who was your favorite Bond girl?
8. Throbbing Gristle or Iron Maiden. Pick one. Cite reasons.
9. In your estimation, when did Hardcore die?
10. What was the first record you ever bought in your life, and where did you get it?

Typed as if sung by Mark E. Smith

I DO like Taylor Dayne! Just not as much. Teena (at her best) uses louder guitars, has more Caribbean rhythms, and has way funnier words. Among other things. Why do you always spell her name wrong?

>4. Is it fashionably acceptable to wear a brown shoes with black pants?<

Maybe? I am wearing brown shoes with faded blue jeans now. I have one pair of black pants at home, but rarely wear them. My brown (earth!) shoes are new, so I have not yet worn them with those black pants.

>8. Throbbing Gristle or Iron Maiden. Pick one. Cite reasons.<

Throbbing Gristle, at least until Iron Maiden do a song about hamburgers. (So Throbbing Gristle vs. Focus or Jimmy Buffet or Michael Hurley would have been a tougher choice.)

>9. In your estimation, when did Hardcore die?<

When Henry Rollins joined Black Flag? Okay maybe not. But maybe when they grew their hair. Or when the first Flipper album came out, and made hardcore bands seem really dumb in comparison.

>10. What was the first record you ever bought in your life, and where did you get it?<

"In the Year 2525" by Zager and Evans. Cincinnatti, which I probably just spelled wrong.

What do you think of the Ying Yang Twins song "Wait (The Whisper Song)" and what do you think of this review of said song?

xp

I like "Wait" okay, but way less than most of the songs on the Ying Yang Twins first two albums, and other ones on a couple DVDs and EPs by them I've heard. I have never been very much of a whispering fan, in general. I probably won't read that review for a while.

I played "Get Your Monkeys Out" during a DJ set in the past couple months. Last summer I played a live bootleg CD by them in a rentacar. I wish I had more time to play old albums I love, but I really don't, since I spend almost all my time keeping up with new stuff I just got.

>Have any of the artists ever responded directly to a review that you wrote? Do you think it is fair play for a musician to respond to criticism, or is it obnoxious behaviour? Have you ever hoped to provoke such a resonse?<

I wrote about this on this board sometime last month -- There's a thread about it, starting with a link to John Darnielle's website I think. I write about responses I've received from Henry Rollins, Lydia Lunch, and John Waite. But nope, I've never provoked such a response on purpose, honest!

Worst: That the Tragically Hip's publicists actually believe they're important enough here that U.S. critics will come to a pre-release listening session of their new album in a record company office. (Honorable mention: That people think Moxy Fruvous were ever funny.)

Should Emilio Estefan change his name to Emilio Estefonz?

I'll take my answer off the air.

The one on the right, I think:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:60q6g4kptvoz

>why did they get rid of jockbeat?<

no idea! i used to think the voice music section should be way more like the voice sports section. (though since I got here, I think it's a lot more like the voice sports section than it used to be.)

>have you ever thought about running more, er, thinkpiece (hear me out!) type things a la john leland's old singles column or the occasional xgau 'rock & roll &...', something outside of 'record reviews' (not counting the sounds of the city/industry sections obv)?<

have i ever thought about it? sure!

> why is there a bright eyes tourblog on the voice site?<

because the web editor assigned it, i would assume. (i keep meaning to read it, but i haven't yet. i hope some people like it, though.)

>jets or giants?<

who cares?

THANK YOU. TELL IT LIKE IT IS.

see also: Barenaked Ladies

who would be the American equivalent of Boney M?

which may mean: who is gigantically popular in the states (in that they are played in stadiums or at sporting venues), and yet completely unknown outside of the US? since no-one in the US seems to know about Boney M, yet every European is familiar with them.

I'm not Xhuuxxkxkuhxk but Milli Vanilli was the closest, if we're talking being popular in the U.S.

(ok, I should shut up and let xhuxk answer.)

xp

And yeah, I think there are TONS of American Boney M's (or American Slades etc.), as this board makes clear pretty much every day.

One last note on record reviews as think pieces:

(The trick, if you really wanna know, is to assign the piece, and then when the page is designed, quasi-arbitrarily stick the names of a couple records mentioned in it up at the top. For a recent example, see Tom Hull's excellent and fairly unprecedeted smooth jazz essay.)

In one piece, I believe you wrote an article on songs that used fake live audiences in singles. You notably left off probably one key track.. Sweet's "Teenage Rampage". Was this simply an innocent overlooking? Or is there something you have against that song? If the latter, why don't you like the song?

(Which came first, though, "Blockbuster" or "Teenage Rampage"? The Sweet were very skilled at ripping off themselves, either way.)

I agree this totally stinks. I've pestered the web people about it REPEATEDLY, and they tell me techno mumbo jumbo about, um, Pavement being obsessed with surfaces or something. You can now always link to the most recent Consumer Guide from the ticker at the top of the music webpage, though, and his last several from the bottom of the Consumer Guide itself. But regardless, I am crossing my fingers that Xgau's columns (Rock&Roll& too, right?) will be scrolldownable soon.

is that what you did as a young man, george?

A certain amount of drinking and less brawling, yes. Part of the overhead of conducting business in biker bars.

I remember not long after I 1st moved to Hamilton 18 years ago, Dumpy's Rusty Nuts played the local heavy metal pub(long gone btw). Never seen so many bikers. Hundreds of bikes going all down the road. I wonder if any locals got in at all.

Some bar owners in my old neck of the woods -- southeast Pennsy -- liked bikers as patrons. And that was because they always spent much much more than the average shlub on beer and whiskey.

I think it was Chuck who once suggested that had the PSB been around in the '70s, Neil Tennant would have been strumming an acoustic guitar and singing folk songs (which is how their last album sounds, and why it sucks).

Tennant was in a folk rock band in the early 70s called Dust, apparently he's a massive Incredible String Band fan.

Xhuxk, are you familiar with The Blackout Crew and their hit 'Put a Donk On It'?

See #10 single

http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/critics/2008/684436

Tennant was in a folk rock band in the early 70s called Dust

Ha ha, just like Marky Ramone! Sort of.

xhuxk - do you know of a 70s hard rock band called New England? i have one album of theirs on cassette, it's produced by paul stanley i think and there's a song called "P.u.n.k. (Puny Undernourished Kid)"

See #10 single

http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/critics/2008/684436

Should've known that you'd heard of it and like it.

Matt, I comment on New England and "P.U.N.K." at these two permalinks:

Rolling Past Expiry Hard Rock 2009

Rolling Metal Thread 2007, Part II

ah yeah cool figured it would be up your alley i bought it at a truck stop on cassette years ago...good stuff...real high energy

Tennant was in a folk rock band in the early 70s called Dust

Ha ha, just like Marky Ramone! Sort of.

xhuxk, any country picks this year for people who don't like country (along the lines of Miranda Lambert, say)? Or are you sick of that question?

Sorry if this is too OT, but where are you living these days? I'm just curious, as I've seen you make references to moving. (Also, one of these days I'd like to send you some of my famed salsa mixes.)

xhuxk, do you believe in life after love?

I belive both sides were against me since the day I was born.

And Rockist, I'm in Austin, the alt-country capital of America. (Been here since late February or so.)

And nah, not sick of the question, though I can never tell which country country-haters will like.

I'd probably shuffle these lists a little now (Charlie Robison album would move up a few notches, Toby Keith's "American Ride" single would land somewhere near the top despite being despicable), but these links list my half-year-gone favorites:

Rolling Country 2009 Thread

Rolling Country 2009 Thread

Rolling Country 2009 Thread

I did like some of Taylor's Swift's Fearless from last year, but the songs I like are most clustered in the first half. ("White Horse" gets me all choked up--WTF?!)

And Rockist, I'm in Austin, the alt-country capital of America.

EVERYBODY is moving west. Well, that makes two anyway.

I am all excited about this new release by a Philadelphia salsa band (so is stuff going to start heating up there now that I've left?). You should check it out before I actually hear it and decide it sucks like every other new salsa release. (Not that I think that is going to happen.)

dear chuck, what are your top 5 irish rock bands? i might have asked u this before.......

I'm in Austin

Welcome -- you've chosen a fine city, xhuxk!

your top 5 irish rock bands?

1. Thin Lizzy
2. Boomtown Rats
3. The Pogues (if they count as Irish -- they formed in London, right?*)
4. Them
5. Virgin Prunes

Honorable mentions: Phil Lynott solo, Van Morrison solo, Horslips, Starjets, U2 (through Under A Blood Red Sky only) Gilbert O'Sullivan, Stiff Little Fingers, Rory Gallagher, Therapy?, Undertones, probably lots of others I'm not thinking of right this second.

* I assume Dropkick Murphys and House Of Pain definitely don't count.

Oh yeah, left off Cruachan -- They're good too. Guess they're my Irish faves of the '00s. (Not sure off hand if any other jig-metal bands I like come from Ireland; hard to keep their nationalities straight.)

like that list. yeah id count pogues as irish, mcgowan was born and raised in tipperary. boomtown rats suck though sorry. i just despise bob geldof, but 'banana republic' is a great tune nevertheless. Starjets! never even heard of em. ever heard Stars Of Heaven? maybe a bit alt country for you though but it love em.

tonic for the troops is klassik.

boomtown rats suck though sorry

No way, first two albums are new wave the way it was meant to be made before synthesizers messed it all up. Thin Lizzy/Bruce/Sparks ripoffs pretending to be punk rock; how anybody could not love that is beyond me. Starjets were poppy fake punks, too -- teens who couldn't decide whether they wanted to be the Beach Boys or a metal band; you really owe it to yourself to check out "War Stories" and "School Days" off their debut (and only) album from 1979. Never heard Stars Of Heaven; I dunno what sounds less promising, Irish alt-country or Philly cheesesteak salsa (Hi there Rockist), but I promise to give both them and Bannakumbi a listen if I ever have the chance.

Protex were a awesome punk band from Belfast. actually there was a savage punk scene in Belfast.Radiators from Space, a very chuck friendly band too.

Philly cheesesteak salsa

Like there aren't plenty of Puerto Ricans in Philly. (Okay, my dance teacher came from South Philly, but that's just me.)

Yeah but I'd probably get my hopes about their r&b-inclusive "Philly-Rican hybrid" and hope they were channeling Gamble & Huff into salsa (which might actually sound really cool) (even cooler: "Double Dutch Bus"!), and then I'd just be disappointed...

That's true. I'm one their myspace and I don't hear anything that sounds like that.

What do you think of the new Hakim album?

hi xhuxk

i was watching the new "behind the music remastered" (whatever remastered means) on metallica on VH1 classic and during the part around when master of puppets came out and they went platinum, they showed a magazine cover - BAM Magazine i think it was - where the cover story was "Metallica: Top 40 The Radio Won't Touch" written by you...

anyway i was wondering if that's online anywhere and i was also curious as to why you wrote it cuz i never got the impression that you loved metallica all that much (though i know they do make stairway to hell's list iirc)

what is your favorite '00s hip-hop album?

man i would read the hell out of old BAM Magazines. Loved it when I was a kid. Pre-internet, I think it was my main source of music journalism. It was free, you see.

Ha ha, I did love Metallica then! Thought they were saving the world from hair-metal; no kidding. That was an interview with Ulrich that came out when Master Of Puppets was climbing the charts, and yeah, it was a cover story for BAM. Not readable online anywhere, as far as I know. May well be included in a book that should hit the stores sometime in the next couple years. (Cross your fingers.)

Favorite '00s hip-hop album: Probably The Marshall Mathers LP, unless Bring It On: Music From The Motion Picture counts.

thanks xhuxk....your name gets a pretty big closeup in the shot actually

xpost

i used to read Request a lot, which you got free at Musiclands, it was pretty good

in the 80s, BAM had the most amazing hair metal band want ads of all time (LA edition) -- someone should compile a book of them.

xp Also included David Banner's Mississippi: The Screwed And Chopped Album, Field Mob's From Tha Roota To Tha Toota, K'Naan's Troubador, Trick Daddy's Thug Matrimony: Married To The Streets, and Ying Yang Twins' Me And My Brother in a best-of-decade Top 50 list I put together for Rhapsody, fwiw.

But Tyler, you'll never be as cool as:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/hair%20metal/Ami4203/randyrhodesspelledwrongtattoo.jpg

hey how did a picture of my back get on the internet!

Oh NOW you claim it's you.

I DON'T SEE ANY HISSY POISON DEMOS ON DOOM AND GLOOM FROM THE TOMB, MISTER.

actually i saw a vinyl comp of some LA Guns 86 demos at the store the other day, wouldn't mind hearing them...

friend of mine actually had a bootleg of really early Crue recordings. Was pretty awful iirc.

xhuxk, which of the "Big 5" prog bands from the 70s is, in your opinion, the most musically worthwhile?

(for reference, the "Big 5" are Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, ELP and Jethro Tull)

xhuxk:

How does freelancing from Austin compare to doing so from NYC?

no King Crimson?

xp

Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, ELP and Jethro Tull

Don't know about "musically worthwhile," but Tull are probably my favorites, though I probably own more Yes albums. Should probably listen to more ELP. Have never loved Floyd. (Crimson might beat all of them, but I've never listened to '80s Crimson much at all.)

How does freelancing from Austin compare to doing so from NYC?

Less stressful, somehow. (And I'm writing for pretty much the exact same outlets.)

Are you hanging out with Jeff S while you are down there?

Is this not xhuxk-bait? Do you already know this band?

https://soundcloud.com/themdsrock
http://www.reverbnation.com/TheMDsOfficial

80s Puerto Rican punk/post-punk/(maybe even pub rock?) band. Okay I'll stop spamming the board, not that I knew anything about this band before fifteen or so minutes ago.

(All lyrics in English so far.)

First I've heard of them, Rudi -- Thanks. I'll try to check them out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhhkPugC58Q

You better put your sunglasses on
this is 1981