Grand Funk Railroad: The Sounds of Secret CIA Torture Prisons
I have on good authority that this song was played at something called the “Jihadi Bar,” a place where CIA interrogators working at a Black Site went to unwind. That and other secrets of undisclosed torture prisons are found within my interview with ex-interrogator Glenn Carle for Danger Room.
Imagine Free Thought (Video)
Holy macaroni, read the full comment thread here and comments -> there. I guess most over at Facebook, throw an open mind out the window.
For Those Sharks About To Swim, AC/DC Loves You … (Video)
What can I say, true believers, it is science. Daniel Fraser reports on ABC News:
Eyre Peninsula’s Matt Waller has added another tip to the ‘don’t get eaten’ handbook with his discovery that Great White’s are much less aggressive when listening to AC/DC: particularly ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’.
A South Australian charter boat operator has made a fascinating discovery whilst conducting research into what kinds of music affect the behaviour of Great White Sharks.
‘Gimme Shelter’ As You’ve Never Heard Before (Video)
Really enjoyed this find from Jesus Diaz at Gizmodo. From the folks behind Playing For Change:
February 19: The Death Day of Bon Scott
Joseph Allen raises a toast to Australia’s finest young man at RockStarMartyr.net:
A man’s testes are many things to many people. They are objects of affection to be delicately caressed, vulnerable targets for an enemy’s swift boot, or bulging fashion statements in designer briefs. These throbbing organs generate a man’s ultimate purpose — they fuel aggression, propel the pleasure principle, and bestow a masculine pronoun. If his aim is true, future generations will revere his potent orbs as the very wellspring of Life itself.
AC/DC’s greatest frontman, Bon Scott, was extremely proud of his balls. He wore high-waisted skinny jeans to accentuate their curvature, and described them to his wife-to-be as “two hard-boiled eggs and a sausage.” He even wrote a song about them, tastefully entitled, “Big Balls.”
That’s just how Australians are, mate. It isn’t hard to find a bourbon-swilling brawler ready to prove his pair in the land down under. How…
Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” Censored In Canada
Normally I’m against censorship for almost any reason, but now that Canada has found a way to censor Dire Straits I’m having second thoughts … Reuters reports:
Canadian radio stations have been warned to censor the 1985 Dire Straits hit “Money for Nothing,” after a complaint that the lyrics of the Grammy Award-winning song were derogatory to gay men.
Billy Corgan Talks Chemtrails (Video)
First Beck and now Billy. Maybe Rock isn’t dead after all.
Watch Sunshine Melt A Rock!
From BBC’s Bang Goes The Theory: “If you had three people sun-bathing, they would collect that amount of sunshine, [and] despite having to travel 93 million miles, [that amount of] energy from the sun can melt rock.”
Moogfest: Remembering Robert Moog
Moogfest, a celebration of music made with the unique and wonderful Moog synthesizer, just wrapped in Asheville, NC, the place inventor Bob Moog called home for the last 30 years of his life.
The New York Times‘ lead music critic Jon Pareles has written an excellent account of the three-day festival, which you can read here, but I thought fans of Moog music might enjoy the liner notes written in 1999 by Bob for the first (and only) disinformation CD, Best Of Moog: Electronic Pop Hits From The 60’s & 70’s:
We began making electronic music instruments in 1964 and began calling them “synthesizers” in 1967. Back then, most of our customers were experimental composers in universities and conservatories. Their music was “at the fringe”, to say the least. Meanwhile, out in the mainstream of our musical culture, record producers and performing musicians tended to think of the Moog Synthesizer as an instrument that could make…
Keith on Keith (Richards)
Via Joe Nolan’s Insomnia:
Inside the dust jacket of his new book, Keith Richards has left an inscription:
“This is the Life. Believe it or not, I haven’t forgotten any of it. Thanks and praises, Keith Richards.”
Perhaps the most highly-anticipated rock autobiography ever, Life is the most detailed account we have yet of the legendary guitarist/songwriter.
Richards has lived his life in public since his early 20s and he’s always lived it in the full-glare of the media — bad publicity be damned. That said, this book is not a confessional reassessment in which a public figure offers explanations — or excuses — for past sins. Richards greatest music and worst behavior are a matter of public record and Life doesn’t offer a new version of events so much as it delivers his version, and it’s full of crazy wisdom, smirking sarcasm, raspy rambles, heart and soul.
While other volumes — like Victor Bockris’ excellent Keith — have revealed the man through the eyes of friends, family and Rolling Stones insiders, it’s Life’s first-person candor that sets it apart. Not only does Richards give us the straight-dope on Keith, he also illuminates the rise of rock ‘n’ roll and the ’60’s counter-culture from inside the eye of the hurricane. Life is also about the creative life of one of rock’s most important guitarists and songwriters, and the book’s rich detail is at least partly due to a life lived on the look-out for the next song, the next riff.
A Brief History Of Science Fiction In Rock Music
Rock music and science fiction each shaped the culture of post-World War II America. But only occasionally have the two have been successfully combined (usually, thanks to some ambitious and/or drugged-out musical visionaries). Clarksworld Magazine has a nice historic overview of the use of science fiction themes in pop music. David “Ziggy Stardust” Bowie makes the cut, as does some prog rock. (Prog and sci-fi both share a high nerd factor, of course.) More surprising are the notable finds of sci-fi funk, hip hop, and metal. It’s hard to get deeper and geekier than Rush, though:
Scientists To Map Ozzy Osbourne’s Genetic Code To Find Out Why He is Still Alive
Silly scientists, Ozzy’s still alive because he’s a werewolf. We’ve known this since the ’80s. Elizabeth Scott writes on Sky News:
Scientists are to map Ozzy Osbourne’s genetic code in a bid to find out how he is still alive after decades of drug and alcohol abuse.
The former Black Sabbath frontman is only one of a few people in the world to have his full genome analysed. It is hoped the results from the £27,000 test, which takes three months, will provide information on how drugs are absorbed in the body.
Ozzy, 61, has lived a life that would presumably kill any ordinary person. Even the singer himself cannot understand how he has survived this long, recently describing himself as a “medical miracle” after going on a “bender” for “40 years.”
Messages Hidden In The Grooves Of Records
Decades ago, morality watchdogs feared that Satanic messages were hidden in the music and lyrics of rock records. In fact, they were hidden in the records’ matrices (the portion of the vinyl near the center) where nearly-invisible messages can be printed. The Public Collectors site does a nice overview of the hidden-matrice-message tradition:
Black Flag – “Damaged” (SST)
Side A: COMIN’ AT YA – THE NEOLITHIC GELATINOUS THINK
Side B: SIZZLED THAT NEO-ORTHODOXY RIGHT INTO MY UH, AAAH… WHAT THE HELL!Led Zeppelin – III (Atlantic)
Side A: blank
Side B: Do what thou wilt
Was Jimi Hendrix’s Ambidexterity the Key to His Virtuosity?
Instead of “virtuosity” I would say “genius” … a very interesting article from Sean Michaels in the Guardian:
Was Jimi Hendrix’s ambidexterity the secret to his talent? This is the question explored in a new paper by psychologist Stephen Christman (via TwentyFourBit), who argues that Hendrix’s versatility informed not just his guitar-playing – but his lyrics too.
According to Christman, who is based at the University of Toledo, Hendrix was not strictly left-handed. Although he played his right-handed guitar upside down, and used his left hand to throw, comb his hair and hold cigarettes, Hendrix wrote, ate and held the telephone with his right hand. He was, Christman argues, “mixed-right-handed”. And this “mixed”-ness, signaling better interaction between the left and right hemispheres of the guitarist’s brain, suffused every part of his music.
Florida Residents Near Super Bowl Stadium Told to Watch Out for The Who’s Pete Townshend
Jose Lambiet writes in the Palm Beach Post:
The homes and schools close to Dolphins Stadium are receiving “sex offender advisory” postcards this week warning residents to watch out for The Who’s Pete Townshend, who’ll be performing at halftime of Super Bowl XLIV.
By next week, 1,500 homes will have received the postcard, sent by the Brevard County-based Protect Our Children. The non-profit acts as a community watchdog when it comes to sex offenders and sends similar cards to Melbourne residents where known pedophiles live.
Townshend, 63, was arrested in England in a 2003 roundup of alleged pedophiles accused of cruising online sites for photos of child sex. Townshend said he was just doing research for a book at the time. He wasn’t convicted of anything but was placed on that country’s list of sexual offenders for five years.
