Interviewed by Lisa Haviland (via email)
Text by Less Lee Moore
If you thought you had The Raveonettes pegged as just another Jesus and Mary Chain ripoff, their new album Lust Lust Lust (Vice Records) may change your mind.
Do a search for “Sparks” on YouTube and you’ll find a plethora of links to Jordin Sparks, the winner of American Idol‘s sixth season.
But if you click on a few of the other videos, you’ll be in for a wonderful surprise.
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Interviewed by Less Lee Moore
I first became aware of Vicki Berndt via her Margaret Keane-inspired art for the Redd Kross Third Eye album. Then I started noticing that she was credited on photos for almost every other band I loved in the 90s.
Redd Kross, Third Eye © Vicki Berndt
She’s a devoted fan of music and pop culture, not to mention an innovative visual artist, so I was thrilled when she agreed to be interviewed for this issue of Popshifter. Her DIY attitude towards art and music is inspirational.
Interviewed by Less Lee Moore
Paul Feig is one of my heroes. In this age of cynicism, that probably sounds corny, but it’s the truth. Paul Feig has been a stand-up comedian and an actor and is currently a writer, director, producer, and author.
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By Less Lee Moore
Read Part One of this article here.
This year, I got a copy of Nirvana, a book by music journalist Everett True. Although I own Come As You Are by Michael Azerrad, I’ve never even read it. So to be fair, I read Azerrad’s book first.
In Rebel Without a Cause, Natalie Wood portrays Judy, a tough-talking teenage girl who exasperates her parents. She doesn’t seem to be able to decide if she wants to be a little girl or a grown-up. Her mother tries to placate Judy’s frustrated father by saying:
“She’ll outgrow it, dear. It’s just the age. It’s just the age when nothing fits.”
Interviewed by Less Lee Moore
If you frequently troll YouTube for weird videos or subscribe to WFMU’s Beware of the Blog, you may have already heard of Lasagna Cat, video mashups of well-known songs with three-panel Garfield comics.
If you haven’t, then you should probably watch one immediately.
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By Less Lee Moore
In the eighties, I became a Duranie. I grew fascinated with them after seeing the “Planet Earth” video on MTV. My friend later played Rio for me and I couldn’t get enough of it so I scrounged up allowance money and bought my own copy. Previously I’d been obsessed with Adam Ant, but since I didn’t think Strip was up to the standard he set with his previous albums, my interest began to wane. Enter the Fab Five.
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By Less Lee Moore
“My father is the jailhouse. My father is your system… I am only what you made me. I am only a reflection of you.”
—From the testimony of Charles Manson in the Tate-LaBianca murder trial, November 20, 1970
By Less Lee Moore
When others become misty-eyed with nineties nostalgia, I never know what to say. I’ve often felt like my memories of the decade are far removed from theirs. Although I liked some of the so-called “grunge” music, I resented the media co-opting of the word in an attempt to cash in on youth culture. It’s only recently that I started to feel like I may have been more attuned to the zeitgeist than I realized.