The Best Thing About The Republican Party in 2009 Outside of Ron Paul

Irish milkshake.

Nat Finkelstein 1933-2009

Another great figure of American culture has passed, as Nat Finkelstein, revered house photographer for Andy Warhol's infamous Factory, died in his home in Upstate, NY, on October 2, it was recently confirmed. Please enjoy this sampling of his amazing photo gallery, which can be viewed on his Web site at www.natfinkelstein.com.

Velvet Underground live


Andy Warhol with Bob Dylan


Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison and John Cale waiting for the man


Andy


Edie


VU Again

R.I.P. Captain Lou Albano

The wrestling world lost one of its cultural icons today, as Captain Louis Albano passed away at his Staten Island home this morning at age 76. He will be greatly missed. Needless to say, Carmel, NY, will never be the same.

Captain Lou vs. Jimmy Snuka at MSG 11/22/82


Captain Lou vs. Gorilla Monsoon 1973:


Captain Lou vs. Roddy Piper on TNT:

TOM WAITS TO RELEASE LIVE ALBUM 11/24/09

TOM WAITS is set to release Glitter and Doom Live, a collection of outstanding live tracks from his 2008 sold out US and European tour. This two CD set contains 17 live recordings from ten nights along the tour including, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Tulsa, Knoxville, Atlanta, Paris, Milan, Jacksonville, Dublin and Columbus. The second CD entitled, Tom Tales holds nearly 40 minutes of Waits quixotic ruminations on topics ranging from romantic spiders to injured vultures. The CD will also come with a booklet of live photos.

The vinyl version of Glitter and Doom Live will feature gatefold sleeve with live photos from the tour and contain all 17 tracks but no Tom Tales. Inside the LP, Anti- is providing a card w/mp3 download instructions, which will enable the buyer to download Tom Tales as well.

Musically, the live discs encapsulate Waits in all his chug, boom and steam. His shamanistic vocals, innovative arrangements, visionary lyrics, pounding rhythms and emotional melodies are all here. There are dark swampy tribal rhythms, ominous hymns, and cautionary tales all swirling around Waits’ unmistakable howl and croon. The CD has a dead man singing to his widow, a convict’s last words, an instructional dance number, lamenting sword swallowers and bragging pirates. All of the tracks were personally selected and sequenced to give you the feeling of one great night on tour.

On October 12, www.tomwaits.com is set to go live. You are invited to wander and roam through the first ever official website for all things Waits: news, updates on recordings, new releases, tours, films and more. A resource for lyrics, photos, wit and wisdom, strange but true tales, and more imponderables on topics as far ranging as the origin of consciousness, the sexuality of Christ and the lonely journey of the male seahorse.


Track listing is as follows:

1. Lucinda / Ain't Goin Down (Birmingham - 07/03/08) - 5:37
2. Singapore (Edinburgh - 07/28/08) - 5:00
3. Get Behind The Mule (Tulsa - 06/25/08) - 6:26
4. Fannin Street (Knoxville - 06/29/08) - 4:16
5. Dirt In The Ground (Milan - 07/19/08) - 5:18
6. Such A Scream (Milan - 07/18/08) - 2:51
7. Live Circus (Jacksonville - 07/01/08) - 5:04
8. Goin' Out West (Tulsa - 06/25/08) - 3:48
9. Falling Down (Paris - 07/25/08) - 4:21
10. The Part You Throw Away (Edinburgh - 07/28/08) - 5:07
11. Trampled Rose (Dublin - 08/01/08) - 5:06
12. Metropolitan Glide (Knoxville - 6/29/08) - 3:10
13. I'll Shoot The Moon (Paris - 07/24/08) - 4:25
14. Green Grass (Edinburgh - 07/27/08) - 3:20
15. Make It Rain (Atlanta - 07/05/08) - 3:58
16. Story (Columbus - 06/28/08) - 2:02
17. Lucky Day (Atlanta - 07/05/08) - 3:47

Fan footage of the Glitter and Doom Tour in St. Louis:

R.I.P. Mr. Magic

A true NY radio legend. For anyone who ever tuned into WBLS back in the day, he will be missed.

Check the touching eulogy by DJ Premier, released shortly after news of Magic's untimely passing was made public:

I want to send out the utmost respect and condolences to the memory of John Rivas — aka Mr. Magic.

He passed away this morning of a heart attack.

True hip hop heads know that his history is so long due to him being the first rap mixshow to ever be on commercial radio on New York’s WBLS (107.5) with Marley Marl and Fly Ty in 1982-1984. Then went on to to WHBI in October 1984 and then back to WBLS in 1985 and WDAS in Philly. Simultaneously he paved the way for all radio stations that ever did mixshows and also sparked the career of Boogie Down Productions due to the ids he showed when they came to shop their demo to him and was turned away which then sparked “South Bronx” and “The Bridge Is Over”. He was known for his direct and sarcastic attitude on the air and every artist wanted his approval when it came to breaking new records. He even had songs dedicated to him by the legendary Whodini (”Mr. Magic’s Wand”) which was surprisingly produced by one of my favorite artists, Thomas Dolby.

Shouts out to Marley Marl & Fly Ty for the correct information on this. Rest in Peace Mr. Magic.

- DJ Premier

New Vampire Weekend Song: Horchata

Check out the new Vampire Weekend song here.

The Afro-pop loving preps' new album, Contra, comes out January 12, 2010.

"Horchata":

Re: Thom Yorke's New Band

Check out this great blog, Apartment 41, for some MP3s of Thom Yorke's recent, much-ballyhooed show at the Echoplex in Los Angeles, where he debuted his new band featuring Flea on bass, Joey Waronker on drums and longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich on assorted odds and ends. Hopefully a full recording of the complete show will surface soon, but for now, enjoy the taste this great blog provides for us.

UPDATE! Look what I found.

Thom Yorke performing "Skirting on the Surface" at the Echoplex in Los Angeles 10-02-09: