INXS

Last night while doing dishes I ignored the tiny, nagging voice of reason in my head that kept whispering No, no, oh God, please no… and watched a bit of Rock Star: INXS. I’m not entirely sure why, as there was a perfectly good episode of Mythbusters on at the time, but I watched, and that’s twenty minutes I’ll never get back.

It’s not that the performances where that bad, and I could almost tolerate the aura of ample cheesiness cast by co-hosts Dave Navarro (of Jane’s Addiction fame, and little else) and Brooke Burke (the vapid, sexed-up, eye candy). I reckon it’s the whole concept of the show that bugs me.

I’m not sure what Paula Yates (original INXS frontman Michael Hutchence’s widow) had to say about the deal, but it seems kind of a slap in the face of Hutchence himself. I just can’t fathom the scenario where Michael pulled his bandmates aside and said: “Alright, fellows, I just want you to know that, should I ever accidentally suffocate myself while whacking off, you lot have carte blanche to replace me via a poorly constructed television show.”

I hear that the surviving members of TLC are doing a similar show to find a suitable replacement for Left Eye, but that doesn’t exactly strengthen the argument for it.

INXS was a great band, and I was a fan. I was bummed when Michael Hutchence snuffed it, but this just seems a bit too silly a way to “revive the group and court a new generation of fans.”

Burninating the countryside!

And in other news, the Trogdor AIM screen name is up for sale on eBay. No shit!

For those of you not hip to the jive, Trogdor info is available here, here, and, most importantly, here.

Mid-Week MP3

With this, the inaugural week of Hipster, Please! well under way, I have opted to add what I hope to be a regular feature to my blog. The Mid-Week MP3 will be an opportunity for me to provide a little aural treat to the world at large. However, I want to do this without creating any sort of controversy, so let me take a moment to drop the following disclaimer:

1modernboy humbly requests that you use these MP3s solely as a means of evaluation. If you like what you hear, please buy records, CDs, t-shirts, or other merchandise to support this band/artist and his/her/their label-mates. Seeing them live probably wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
Should the features artist, or the related label or distributor take issue with my inclusion of the song file, please don’t hesitate to contact me, so that the offending file can be removed.

With that being said, this week’s track is Sweepstakes Prize by Mirah. It's freely available elsewhere, so I doubt there's any harm.

Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn is a singer/songwriter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania currently residing in Olympia, Washington. She is presently on the K Records roster, along with artists such as Beat Happening and Dub Narcotic Sound System. This track is from her first K album You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This (available at Amazon).

Sweepstakes Prize is a song that is breezy, minimalist, and solidly beautiful. It features a vibrant, concussive, but almost understated guitar lead, and very little other instrumentation aside from Mirah’s own sugary vocals. For more on Mirah, proceed to the K Records Web site. Download and enjoy.

Mirah -- Sweepstakes Prize (zipped via Winzip)

Excuse me, while I kiss this guy...

Now here's a chunk of randomness--

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SEATTLE - Jimi Hendrix might have stayed in the Army. He might have been sent to Vietnam. Instead, he pretended he was gay. And with that, he was discharged from the 101st Airborne in 1962, launching a musical career that would redefine the guitar, leave other rock heroes of the day speechless and culminate with his headlining performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Woodstock in 1969.

Hendrix's subterfuge, contained in his military medical records, is revealed for the first time in Charles R. Cross' new biography, "Room Full of Mirrors." Publicly, Hendrix always claimed he was discharged after breaking his ankle on a parachute jump, but his medical records do not mention such an injury.

Link

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Since the military records belong to a “collector the author won’t name” the crux of the argument is foggy at best, but it’s still a fairly odd allegation. Even so, I really doubt the legacy of the Jimi Hedrix Experience and Jimi’s contribution to music will be tarnished by this “revelation.” Anyway, it just seemed too weird not to share.

At any rate, you gotta love biographical weirdness. I probably won't pick up the book, but the AP link damn sure makes for some fun cocktail conversation!

cheap clothes

I have been called many things. Among them, cheap twat seems particularly telling. It explains, in essence, my love affair with Target. Target sells inexpensive, durable goods at a fair price, which is nice. It’s also not Wal-Mart, which is a definite plus.

While I’m the first to admit that the whole young gent in a blazer thing has become a bit worn, I was pretty happy to find a nice, brown, sweetly casual pinstripe jacket at my local store for $35 -- compliments of our old pal Mossimo Giannulli. Most certainly not high fashion, but, if you can ignore the ubiquitous screen printing on the liner, not a bad coat for the price.