by Less Lee Moore
“Ron’s lyrics are humorous, but they have a deeper side. Though they make you smile, there’s a darker undercurrent.”
—Sparks’ Russell Mael in Current Planet Sound, May 2008
By Less Lee Moore
Although Redd Kross recently reformed with its finest line-up to date (Jeff McDonald, Steve McDonald, Roy “No Relation” McDonald, Robert Hecker) and although they have been playing shows all over the world for the past few years (UK, Spain, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago. . . to name a few) I’ve chosen to focus on ten older videos (plus one honorable mention).
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Interviewed by Less Lee Moore
Because the United States tends to dominate the entertainment industry, frequently one will hear entertainers referred to as another “version” of a well-known American pop culture icon. That’s what makes Vancouver’s Nardwuar the Human Serviette so special. There is no American equivalent. He is unabashedly Canadian.
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“He had been a tool in their hands, his childhood image had been used as bait to condition him, he had lived up to their expectations, he had played his part. Now he only waited to be liquidated with, somewhere inside him, the memory of a twice-lived fragment of time.”
—From La Jetée, written and directed by Chris Marker, 1962
“If they could give him plastic surgery,
you think they could’ve fixed the scar on his hand?”
For those of us who were Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans, the new riffing-over-bad-movies venture of Joel Hodgson (and original cast members Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Mary Jo Pehl, and J. Elvis Weinstein) is like the second coming of Crow T. Robot.
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Intro by Less Lee Moore
Recently I was listening to The Vines’ Highly Evolved album again. My history with this album is intriguing, and proves my theory that some music needs to be fully digested before you can appreciate it.
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My mom and grandma were big fans of Jerry Lewis movies, but I don’t think they had any idea that I harbored secret desires for him during my numerous viewings of Cinderfella and The Errand Boy. What was it that I so admired? In all honesty, I think it was just that he was a big goofball who made me laugh. I loathed the movies he did with Dean Martin, who I angrily dismissed as “that old drunk guy”. How dare he take screen time away from my Jerry?
Interviewed by Less Lee Moore
Although it’s amusing to poke fun at MySpace (and if you’re The Fresh, you can make such mockery especially hilarious) it remains fascinating and fertile ground for discovering new music.
Several months ago, Popshifter was friended on MySpace by New York’s Autodrone, a band which combines some of the best elements of psychedelia, pop, post-punk, darkwave, and Goth while still remaining distinct from all of these influences.
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Intro by Less Lee Moore
Harry Potter questions by Hanna
Art questions by Sandy
One day, while checking the Fatal Farm website, I saw some amazing Lasagna Cat fanart from someone named Emmy Cicierega. Intrigued, I looked her up on deviantART. I was impressed, amazed, and amused by her wicked talent and sense of humor. She graciously consented to answering some questions about her art and involvement with Harry Potter fandom (via her participation in her brother Neil’s Potter Puppet Pals creation).
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Interviewed by Less Lee Moore
A few weeks ago, I saw Dan Kennedy on our local morning TV show talking about his new book, Rock On: An Office Power Ballad. I’d never heard of him, but the book, detailing his 18-month tour of duty and disillusionment at a major record label, sounded amazing. And despite the fact that it was freezing outside and quite early in the morning, Dan’s great sense of humor was obvious. So I requested a copy of the book and an interview from Dan’s publicist and amazingly, it worked!
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