Albany's Altamont Fairgrounds will host Justice, MGMT, the Whigs, and others for a free show courtesy of the Southern Comfort Music Experience on September 13th. Doors open at 2 p.m, and you must be over 21 to enter. Justice are festival vets, so it promises to be a tremendous show. For directions to the Altmont Fairgrounds, go here: http://www.altamontfair.com/directions.html. For any other querries on how to get the event, check www.dt-mag.com.

It's about a three-hour drive from New York City. It's worth it. I mean, think about how many times you've wasted three-hour intervals this summer. Probably a lot. If you saw or Tropic Thunder or The Hulk, well that's two right there. Come out and make up for it. - SB

It was a gigantic empty pool filled with half-drunken revelers, over-serious dodge ball games, oddly relaxed sunbathers, enthused slip n sliders, local fashion designers, ballpark-style food, and most importantly, indie rock bands old and new, blasting tunes on a massive stage, and it gave us the finest Sunday afternoons any Brooklynite could hope for.

Yes, the last of the infamous McCarren Pool Parties has finally taken place, and this one, packed to capacity with Titus Andronicus and Yo La Tengo supplying the parting graces, both epitomized and bode farewell to what the great outdoor celebrations were all about.

The line wrapped all the way around the colossal pool structure (about a decent-sized city block) and an air of both giddy anticipation and incredulous melancholy mingled with the dance-punk tunes being blasted by the early afternoon DJ. This was the spot, after all, that many of these folks waiting in line had returned to, summery Sunday after summery Sunday, for the last three years to see the likes of TV on the Radio, MIA, Blonde Redhead, Band of Horses, the Liars, MGMT, the Hold Steady all for free, and all in a casually twisted, state fair-meets indie rock show environment. Even the New York Times could not help but get a little glum about the series drawing to a close.


I must admit, I found myself getting a little nostalgic as YLT spewed their sonic chaos from the stage. The distortion wafted into an awed, sun-drenched, drunken, appreciative crowd, and maybe it was just because I myself was a little sun-drenched and drunken too, but I kept expecting the emcee to come out at any moment and say, "We are on for next summer!" like he did the year before.

No such luck. After Titus Andronicus joined Yo La Tengo onstage for a joyously charged cover of the Misfit's "Where Eagles Dare," the dazed crowd was left with the somber synth sounds of YLT's classic "Autumn Sweater" to wind down not just the day, but the best concert series ever to come to Brooklyn. - Brian Merchant / Photos by Aaron Cansler

Or at least that's what my room mate just emailed me. ...and I have to agree with her! Vice President nominee, Joe Biden's speech last night was one goddamn tear jerker. That shot of his eldery mom? Fuh-get about it. Tears were streaming down my face. They might as well have followed that up with puppies and orphans. D+T loves Obama but part of me wants Biden to be President too. Can we change the constitution and have co-Prezes? Hmmm? - SK

For those of you that made it to the First Annual D+T Scavenger Hunt, we applaud you. It was certainly a day not to be missed. 13 teams met us at McCarren Park at the very early (for a Saturday) time of 1pm. They then spent the next 4 hours scouring Williamsburg for items including gay porn, pizza crust, a photo of Michael Phelps and even a photo of a team member high-fiving a Hasidic Jew. And, of course, mayhem ensued. Let's just say one team was detained by the police while another two teams got into a friendly fight. We partly blame ourselves for the latter, considering our only instructions were, 1) meet at Union Pool at 5pm sharp, and 2) sabotage is encouraged.

The after-party at our favorite bar, Union Pool, was even better then the hunt, as teams relaxed with free tacos provided by El Diablo Taco Truck and free beers provided by PBR, while judges tallied scores. (To see who won, check out Issue 16, on stands 10/27.) And, if that weren't enough, participants even got to enjoy a free show featuring The Suckers, The Blacks (who kindly flew out from SF just for the event) and Amazing Baby.

If you missed the mayhem this year, be sure to get your shit together next summer as we're obviously going to be doing this forever ever.


The Blacks


Amazing Baby


Finger on the Pulse - official D+T DJs at this point


The Suckers - eyeliner never looked so good


Enjoying free tacos


After party at Union Pool - we took over the place


Deliberating before starting the hunt


Mandatory patriot shots at Clem's in Williamsburg

Not sick of these skinny Frenchmen yet? Neither are we. They'll be headlining a new festival called the HARD Haunted Mansion. It's in L.A. and sounds like it's going to be a great party. Also performing are Simian Mobile Disco, Crystal Castles, Boyz Noise and more. It takes place on October 31st. Yes, it's Halloween. Hmm... wonder what Justice will be wearing. Probably black shirts with Warner Bros. cartoon characters on them. What's up with that?

For more info on HARD Fest, visit: www.hardfest.com

Sub Pop artists, Grand Archives, will be playing a free show in New York City tomorrow at the South Street Seaport. It's the second to last show in the Seaport Music Festival series, which we're always said to sea (zing!) go. Grand Archives play a mix of Americana (they are on Sub Pop) and train-wrecking rock. They will be accompanied by Violens, who appear to be a lot people's favorite band all of a sudden.

Had enough festivals this summer? C'mon, how about one more? If you're up for it, and are down to road trip it to Colorado, the Monolith Festival is a great way to cap off your music-filled summer. Headlining the event will be Death+Taxes favorites Justice alongside many more like CSS (who are our current COVER STORY), TV on the Radio, Cut Copy, The Whigs, Silversun Pickups, and The Kills. (Vampire Weekend are playing, too, if you're willing to suffer through their set.) For ticketing info and how to get there, click HERE-SB

Against Me! and Ted Leo & The Pharmacists are hitting the road this fall. The AM! record, New Wave, made quite a splash as I'm sure you're well aware. It wasn't exactly Dookie, but it did garner enough mainstream attention for the band to be accused of "selling out" by the fanbase they had developed over the past eleven years. Rather than get all insecure about it, they said, "fuck you" and hopefully have made tons of dough. As for Ted Leo, jeez could you think of a better guy to be touring with Against Me!? The shows are sure to be awesome, and the dates are listed below. - SB

10/01 Atlanta, GA, Masquerade

10/02 Hilton Head, SC, Stages

10/03 Tampa, FL, Jannus Landing

10/04 Orlando, FL, House of Blues

10/05 Gainesville, FL, Common Grounds

10/07 Greensboro, NC, Greene Street

10/08 Washington, DC, Black Cat

10/09 Philadelphia, PA, Electric Factory

10/10 Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom

10/11 New York, NY, Webster Hall

10/12 Boston, MA, Wilbur Theater

10/14 Cincinnati, OH, Bogart's

10/15 Des Moines, IA, People's Court

10/16 Minneapolis, MN, First Avenue

10/17 Chicago, IL, Riviera Theatre

10/18 Detroit, MI, Majestic Theatre

10/20 Omaha, NE, The Slowdown

10/21 Denver, CO, Gothic Theatre

10/22 Salt Lake City, UT, In the Venue

10/23 Boise, ID, Knitting Factory

10/24 Seattle, WA, Showbox at the Market

10/25 Portland, OR, Roseland Theatre

10/26 Sacramento, CA, Empire

10/27 San Francisco, CA, Grand Ballroom

10/28 Los Angeles, CA, The Wiltern

Midnight Club: Los Angeles, the latest from Rockstar Games, the folks that brought you Grand Theft Auto, is being released in the U.S. on October 7th. The game follows a similar theme to the other MC installments - build super-fast, custom cars and terrorize the city streets - but hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Los Angeles is a big city, but Rockstar have gone the extra mile and built in a highly detailed, super-intuitive map, allowing you to race anytime, anywhere. And, by the way, the game looks A LOT like L.A. I think I even saw a Pinkberry...

Death+Taxes party tonight at Cha Cha Lounge in Silverlake! 2375 Glendale Blvd. 9 P.M.- 2 A.M. There will be drink specials but nothing for free, but you know what? We think we've provided you fools with enough free alcohol at this point. How about you do something for us for a change?

Here's the video we made from our last trip out to the SoCo Music Experience. This one was shot at Denver, CO on June 28th and, as you can tell, it was a blizz-ast. The next SoCo Music Experience Event is this weekend in San Diego, so check it out if you're in the area. Common is headlining!

New reviews added to the reviews section, and more on the way. Click HERE (And look how crazy Jay Reatard is. Who cares - the next LP is supposed to be great.)

The latest issue of Death+Taxes, featuring Brazilian Sub Pop recording artists CSS, is on stands now. The issue also features in-depth interviews with Fleet Foxes and The Faint as well as former governor Jesse Ventura. Also in the issue is a fall fashion feature with pro skater Spanky Long and a ten-page photo feature by lauded photographer Tod Seelie. Some of the issue's articles are available on-line. Click HERE to view them.

Listen here:

That's right gang, D+T is getting a break from summer in NYC and heading for the greener pastures of sunny California. If you're in LA next week, come out to our D+T party at Cha Cha Lounge for drink specials, D+T Issue 15, and, as our flier indicates, general mayhem. See you there!

The new record from spacey, brit-pop vanguard act, The Verve, will be released on August 26th. It's supposed to be quite the come-back record, but nowadays what isn't? We haven't had a chance to listen to the record here at the office because the CD said the artist's name was Colombo or something so we just threw it in the trash. The Verve are great, though. And Richard Ashcroft is still devilishly handsome. As for the "Bittersweet Symphony" video--they just don't make them like they used to:

So the film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk' s Choke is supposed to be the best movie ever. What you maybe didn't know is that the flick has a booming soundtrack, curated by the film's director, Clark Gregg. Here's what he had to say about the soundtrack:

Ben Kweller - "The Rules"

Ben Kweller kicks ass. These lyrics feel like Victor Mancini's rowdy, pissed-off subtext. I love that it starts off the soundtrack with some slamming indie rock and that it comes in during the colonial village while we're looking at all the puffy shirts and bonnets.

The Natural History - "Don't You Ever" (rare)

I only found this band recently, but I listened to them all through post. Max Tepper's vocals are superb. I actually prefer this version to the one by Spoon and I'm a huge Spoon fan. The band broke up a few years ago. I'm going to picket their houses until they get back together.

Fiery Furnaces - "Navy Nurse"

This groove just takes your breath away.

Radiohead - "Reckoner"

Like most people, I am a huge Radiohead fan. The adaptation took me years to write so I wrote it first to Kid A, then Amnesiac and then Hail to the Thief. Later, I learned from Chuck Palahniuk that he had written the novel while listening to their song, "Creep." In Rainbows came out while we were editing and I used almost every track in my early temp cuts of the movie. They all fit really well, but I particularly loved "Reckoner." The tension between Thom Yorke's keening vocals and Phil Selway's brilliant, driving drum track fit so perfectly that it worked almost like score. I was truly dreading the day when we'd have to take it out. Somehow ATO Pictures producer, Johnathan Dorfman persuaded their manager to show the band some footage and to our shock they were generous enough to let us use the song. It's a monumental addition to the movie.

Alap Momin - "Sin Terror"

I love this jam. We needed music for the strip-club scenes and music supervisors Lyle Hysen and Ken Weinstein knew Alap Momin from the band Dälek and he was kind enough to cook this up just for the movie. He even tailored the tracks to the scenes. The driving discordant build they layered into this piece feels like it's feeding the tension between Denny and Victor.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Satan Said Dance"

I loved their first album and we needed something dark but not too heavy for Victor's sudden rollercoaster ride back to the dark side. Hysen and Weinstein pitched this song and when we saw it over the scene it was just right.

Buzzcocks - "Orgasm Addict" (rare)Publish Post

This is the anthem. I sort of grew up loving The Buzzcocks, moshing my way through their songs in the East Village. I must have played it every day I was writing "Choke." I always thought we'd open the movie with it, but it didn't work out. In any case here is a cool alternate version with a more deadpan feel and at least it made it on to our soundtrack.

Death Cab For Cutie - "No Sunlight"

What can you say, they're just really, really good.

Blitzen Trapper - "Wicked" (unreleased)

We listened to a lot of Blitzen Trapper during the crazed five-week summer shoot. It just seemed to fit with spending your 18-hour days in a sweltering mental hospital. They've got some excellent chaos going on.

Ms. Tyree Sugar Jones - "If You Feel It"

This plays in another tricky scene where everything we tried felt wrong. And then I got turned on to the soulful sexy stylings of Ms. Tyree "Sugar" Jones. You put this on and you know some clothes are coming off.

My Morning Jacket - "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt 1"

We're all big Jacket fans. Listened to them constantly during the shoot. Very proud to have them on here.

Shout Out Louds - "Bicycle" (rare)

Nothing like a little kick ass Swedish indie rock. They're like The Shins' attitudinal Scandinavian cousins.

Twilight Singers - "There's Been An Accident"

One of the producers, Contrafilm's Beau Flynn, and I have been Greg Dulli fans for years. I listened to The Twilight Singers a lot when I was writing the script. The song is really moving in a haunting, portentous way that really works for the movie.

Nicole Atkins - "Crystal Ship" (unreleased)

Brilliant. She's got a great torchy, Peggy Lee sound with just enough tongue in cheek to feel like a perfect citizen of the Palahniuk world.

And check out the trailer:

If you're in town this weekend definitely come to Williamsburg and take part in our first annual scavenger hunt and after-party. The winning team gets free sneakers courtesy of Sneaux, but all participants get free tacos courtesy of El Diablo Taco Truck, free beers courtesy of PBR, and a free show courtesy of The Suckers, The Blacks and Amazing Baby.

If you can't make it to the scavanger hunt definitely come to the after-party at Union Pool regardless. El Diablo Taco Truck has been killing it since it first opened about a month ago. Here's a photo of taco guru and truck owner Greg Matthews along with his numero uno chef, Mario. With Union Pool's newly expanded back yard and delicious tacos, what more could you want? Oh, I know! A show featuring some of the best local (and SF-based) bands around today.

For more information on how to enter the scavenger hunt, click HERE.

El Guincho's celebrated album, Alegranza, is being re-released on October 7th through XL Recordings. The album is a collection of not-overtly hipster songs with Latin rhythms and an engaging tropical feel. You can listen to El Guincho's music HERE, and read about an interview with him in the next issue of Death+Taxes, which hits stands late August. El Guincho hails from Barcelona, Spain, and he enjoys windsurfing.

Metallica are hitting the road in support of their new album, Death Magnetic, which streets on September 12th. They are crazy old, but not so old that it's uncomfortable to watch them play. The dates and supporting bands are listed below.






With support from Down and The Sword :
October 21 Glendale, AZ Jobing Arena
October 23 Albuquerque, NM Tingley Coliseum
October 25 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
October 26 Des Moines, IA Wells Fargo Arena
November 1 Portland, OR Rose Quarter
November 3 Salt Lake City, UT Energy Solutions Arena
November 4 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
November 6 Omaha, NE Qwest Center
November 8 Moline, IL iWireless Center
November 9 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center
November 17 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
November 18 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
November 20 Houston, TX Toyota Center
November 22 Little Rock, AR Alltel Arena
November 23 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena

With support from Lamb of God and The Sword:
December 1 Seattle, WA Key Arena
December 2 Vancouver, BC GM Place
December 4 Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome
December 7 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
December 12 Ontario, CA Citizens Bank Arena
December 13 Fresno, CA Save Mart Center
December 15 San Diego, CA Cox Arena
December 17 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
December 20 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena

With support from Machine Head and The Sword:
January 12 Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center
January 13 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena
January 15 Washington, DC Verizon Center
January 17 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
January 18 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Center
January 26 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
January 29 Uniondale, NY Nassau Coliseum
January 31 Newark, NJ Prudential Center

So we're on Twitter now if you'd like to keep up with us even more. Check us out at www.twitter.com/deathandtaxes or click HERE

Of course he does. According to the Associated Press, American Glenn Eller won the gold medal with score of 190 points. But honestly this isn't even really a fair fight, given that the silver and bronze runners-up both come from countries that actually have gun control laws. Francesco D'Aniello of Italy and Hu Binyuan of China placed second and third, respectively. Both hailing from countries with zero private gun ownership outside the police force, it's hard to imagine how they could have held their own against Eller, from a country that clocks in 30,000 gunshot wound deaths every year. True, they had their work cut out from them against a Texan - but god help this sport if guys from South Central Los Angeles get Olympic fever in 2012. - AM

Words by Aaron Schoonhoven
Photos by Sunny Shokrae

When I head that Eye & company would not be leading the NYC installment of 88 Boadrum (88 drummers playing an 88 minute compositions kicking off at 8:08pm on 8/8/08) I was a bit anxious. The involvement of corporate giant, Nike, and a setting amidst the half finished condo apocalypse of the Williamsburg waterfront also filled me with trepidation. Fortunately Gang Gang Dance was more than up to the task and rocked the "spiral of sound," delivering a blistering set that integrated their own aesthetic into the Boredom's vision.

While last year's 77 Boadrum composition used the spiral of drummers to create swirls of crescendo-ing sound to awesome, wave-like effect, 88 was characterized by a steady, driving pulse. Over the beat Gang Gang Dance layered their brand of eerie, dub influenced effects. In contrast to last year's sun-drenched affair, the vibe, both visually and musically, was closer to "Blade Runner" or the horror/prog soundtracks of Goblin. The epic drum freakout at the end was nothing short of transcendent. I can't wait for next years, or better yet - four years from now on 12/12/12 when the Boredoms perform with 112 drummers on Mars and Phil Collins fills in for them in Beijing.

The future of cars is a toaster ...and I want one.

The boys of Noah & The Whale are young. They don't have any wrinkles and reference the films of Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach in their work. They may not wear beards or thick-rimmed glasses to show their intellectual prowess, but the songs speak for themselves. Harnessing Belle & Sebastian's joyful orchestrations and lyrics (both cutesy and profound), this lot is definitely wise beyond their years.

How old are you guys?
Doug: We range. Less than a hundred. Average age about twenty-two. And the range is nineteen to forty-three. Eighty-eight combined.

How long have you been around as Noah & the Whale?
Charlie: A year and a half, but really about eight months. Maybe a year. It's actually our anniversary today.

Happy Anniversary!
All: Thank you!

When I first found out about you guys I thought the band name was an amalgamation of bible references, but I'm pretty sure due to your choice in font and colors that it's meant as a nod to Noah Baumbach and The Squid & The Whale.
Charlie: I guess we're really big fans of the film and liked how the words sounded together. You've obviously sussed it and for the people who don't immediately suss it, it's a nice little puzzle for them.

And the other thing is you guys wear Life Aquatic colors.
Charlie: It's our favorite Wes [Anderson] film. Between that and Rushmore.

So is it a secret ambition to be a part of the Zissou Society?
Charlie: That's no secret. It's the only reason we started this band.

Tell me abut the record.
Doug: The difference on this record is that it was all written and ready as soon as we went in. So it was quite a quick recording process. Maybe three weeks in the studio.

The instrumentation is pretty intricate. There's a lot going on.
Doug: On the record-it's not that far removed, but it does have a different sound when we play live. There's a bit more distortion and percussion.

Are there any cymbals? I notice you don't use any live.
Doug: No, never. No need. My hi-end is my tambourine.
Charlie: There's kind of two reasons. One is that it's too annoying with cymbals. I can't bear to play in a band where he plays cymbals.
Urby: If you rehearsed with Douglas Fink and cymbals you'd understand.
Charlie: He seems to basically want to play the soundtrack to everyone's conversation with his drums. The positive flip side is that when you're forced to limit yourself you always get a bit more inventive I think. I think by only having three things to hit, you've got to think of interesting things to do with them.

Would you ever want Noah Baumbach to find out about your band?
Charlie: I don't know, he'd probably think it was really lame. They named a band after me? What a bunch of losers.
Doug: I think it's important to emphasize that while we agree with the spirit of the film, I wouldn't say that his influences inform the songs' messages. That's a whole separate idea. We don't want to say that we agree with everything he's ever said. That we want to be like Noah Baumbach and live in New York or whatever, it's more a kind of atmosphere.

-IL/SK

Metallica has just announced the release date of their new album entitled, Death Magnetic. The album, their first in five years and the follow up to the multi-platinum St. Anger will hit shelves and Internet worldwide on September 12th. We haven't heard any of the album yet, but we're hoping Rick Rubin worked some of his magic, since the band has had a handful of topsy turvy releases since 1991 when they released their 15 times platinum self-titled album.

Metallica, originally an enemy of the Internet thanks to the litigious nature of drummer Lars Ulrich, seems to have fully embraced the new world order of Web 2.0, launching a website called missionmetallica.com, which is a documentary-style site chronicling the band's look at making the record. Also, the Midnight Mass, a staple of Metallica releases, has moved to the web as well, as fans will be able to purchase the album at midnight on September 12th on missionmetallica.com - SB

Sure, you can't pronounce the title to their latest record, and they speak in tongues, but Sigur Ros know how to put on a show. Here are some shots of them for their latest show in New York City. Photos were taken by Frank Corva.

Fans of Jonathan Lethem's novels are well aware of his infatuation with music. His magnum opus, The Fortress of Solitude, is peppered with musical references and quotes, and its hero, Dylan Ebdus, grows up to become a music journalist. His most recent effort, You Don't Love Me Yet, follows the romantic and professional foibles of a struggling indie-rock band in L.A. So it should come as no surprise that Lethem is now making music of his own. After meeting one of his heroes, Walter Salas-Humara of seminal rock band The Silos, at a small Silos gig in New Orleans, the two began writing songs together. They dubbed the superduo I'm Not Jim, and You Are All My People, a collaboration with the production team The Elegant Too, is the result of their immediate creative rapport.
I got a two-for-one deal on this interview: luck would have it that Salas-Humara was hanging out with Lethem when he called the D+T office, and I got to speak with both of them about I'm Not Jim.

So how did you and Walter hook up and how did I'm Not Jim come together?
Jonathan Lethem: It's really from the embarrassing world of fandom. I was just a listener, and I have been for three decades, and I never thought there would be anything more than that. But my wife Amy and I were in New Orleans–it was kind of a honeymoon–and we were classic tourists, just wandering through the city in this almost enchanted state. So we turn a corner and the Silos were playing at this little club. I was just in total disbelief. I'd seen Walter and the different versions of the Silos at clubs in New York and San Francisco a bunch of times, and I would never have otherwise presumed to break the "fourth wall," but finding the band playing this tiny club and we were already in this weird little dream state…no offense Walter, but it was a sparsely attended affair, and we were drinking at the bar cheering on the band. So afterwards, it was impossible not to say "Hey, I'm your fan, I've been following your band forever." And I kind of insisted myself upon him and sent him a bunch of books later on.


That all sounds pretty serendipitous. So how did things progress from there?
Walter Salas-Humara: I read the books and I was totally blown away. Then we ran into each other again at a club in New York called the Living Room: I was going to see one of my friends play and he was going to see one of his friends. We were talking at the bar, and I said, "Hey, if you want to write some songs together, let's do it."
JL: Right. I didn't know how seriously to take it. I've thrown lyrics at a few musician friends before, and had some results, which has been fun, but I mostly think that the kind of musicians I like–and Walter is certainly a preeminent example–don't really need the help or interference of a literary writer. Walter's a pretty genius songwriter on his own, and his lyrics always hit home for me. It's not like I thought he was crying for help. But nonetheless the idea sounded really fun for me. By the nature of my past experiences, I thought it would just be a couple of experiments or collaborations, but Walter suggested that we make an album's worth of stuff.
WSH: Once we started talking about it, we started conceiving it as a project that we could put in a theater or on an album. Something a little broader in scope than just getting together and writing a few songs; something that wouldn't be, "Oh, let's write a few songs and have the Silos record them." We wanted to make a voice that had its own identity.

Jonathan, you're a successful writer, and have been doing that for a long time. What inspired you to make an album now?
JL: There was no master plan. It was just so flattered and charmed to have Walter propose it, and I've always had long simmering fantasies, that are purely vicarious, about being a filmmaker, or a painter, but especially a musician. It was really just for fun. We were hitting it off…for me, it reminded me of being a teenager, when a lot of my friendships were based on something like, "Let's draw a comic book together." It seemed like the way for Walter and I to be friends was to make stuff.

Do you think fans of your novels will be drawn to I'm Not Jim?
WSH: [laughter] That's the great hope!
JL: [laughter] I've been very reluctant to disenchant the extremely generous and optimistic hopes at the record company, but good sales for a book wouldn't be a blip in the world of records. It's really funny, the idea that one could have a hit record by selling it to a writer's fans, because books sell a microscopic amount. I also have different readers for different books. I think readers who liked You Don't Love Me Yet, the most recent one, would be the likeliest of my scattered readers. It's not like playing in front of a live audience where you know exactly who you're gratifying, where you know what about you they like; my readers are still mysterious to me.
WSH: I think the bottom line is that the project is really good, and if there's an interesting story behind it, people will find it interesting enough to seek it out and listen to it, and hopefully enjoy it. -Jed Cohen

If there was an award for "Most Recognizable Brooklyn-ite," I would nominate Tim Harrington. He's just one of those guys, you know? Here he is lookin' all rad with publicist extraordinaire Kip Kouri. I ran into them at (where else?) McCarren Pool yesterday. -SK

Hey everyone, we've posted a new video up in our video player over there to the right. It's about our time at the SoCo Music Experience in Denver, Colorado. Everyone check it out! All you have to do is click on that teeny little picture of Kazu from Blonde Redhead. SB

The latest issue of Adbusters has a riveting (yawn) cover story titled "Hipster: The Dead End of Western Civilization." Here are some choice excerpts for your reading pleasure:

"Weve reached a point in our civilization where counterculture has mutated into a self-obsessed aesthetic vacuum. So while hipsterdom is the end product of all prior countercultures, its been stripped of its subversion and originality..."

Lovers of apathy and irony, hipsters are connected through a global network of blogs and shops that push forth a global vision of fashion-informed aesthetics. Loosely associated with some form of creative output, they attend art parties, take lo-fi pictures with analog cameras, ride their bikes to night clubs and sweat it up at nouveau disco-coke parties. The hipster tends to religiously blog about their daily exploits, usually while leafing through generation-defining magazines like Vice, Another Magazine and Wallpaper. This cursory and stylized lifestyle has made the hipster almost universally loathed."

But so I have no intention of refuting this or supporting people who sport "a number of predictable stylistic trademarks: skinny jeans, cotton spandex leggings, fixed-gear bikes, vintage flannel, fake eyeglasses and a keffiyeh," but in all seriousness, really?

I never know how to react when people talk trash on hipsters in an intelligent/glib manner because they're usually describing themselves or at least half of their employees. Either that or they just come off as bitter. D+T contributor Gavin McInnes puts it best - "I've always found that word ['hipster'] is used with such disdain, like it's always used by chubby bloggers who aren't getting laid anymore and are bored."

Let's face it, we all fall under a few of these categories. Personally I like to ride a bike (not a fixed gear, but still), I wear flannel on occasion, I read Vice now and then, I drink PBR, I attend an art opening here and there, I sometimes DJ with an iPod (eep! Don't kill me!!!) and YES ok, I read blogs, and obviously write one, too. There! Are you happy?!

I really don't see what all the big fuss is about, nor do I care to try and figure it out. I like to have fun, and the above things that I just mentioned obviously encourage that. And (to be perfectly honest here) it's these sorts of activities that contain the highest amount of cute boys in any given area. SO SUE ME! There you have it - I like to have fun and I like cute boys.

If that makes me a hipster then bring on the loathing, you bitter Bettys. But don't blame me if you can't get laid. - SK