Gossip #107

BUDDYHEAD’S BEST AND WORST RECORDS OF 2004

Like always, it’s a smidge late (but last time we checked this isn’t homework or anything) but we’ve completed the Buddyhead 2004 Best and Worst albums list. There shouldn’t be too many surprises here. Check it out otters by clicking HERE

Perhaps you’ve spent some time checking out some of the other year end lists. What a bummer it is to find out that “music journalists” well past their 30th birthday who steer the ship for magazines such as Spin, Rolling Stone, NME, etc etc are listening to Green Day and My Chemical Romance. It’s pop punk you fucking twinkies! Since when did music magazines start polling Junior High schools for the year end lists? Spin wins the prize for “most retarded article” where they asked Juliette Lewis what her favorite records of 2004 were! Like we’re all sitting on the edge of our seats to see what some actress is listening to.

Mclusky broke up.

The newest Motley Crue single was actually originally written by that mall punk band Simple Plan for their “Still Not Getting Any” album. That producer dude Bob Rock worked on both band’s albums, and showed the unused Simple Plan song to the Crue. Then Nikki Sixx re-wrote some of the lyrics, and they changed the name of the song to “If I Die Tomorrow”. Awesome, now these idiots don’t even write their own shitty songs.

Speaking of shitty glam rock bands from the 80’s… Bon Jovi just put out a boxset called “100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong” which is “four hours of unreleased Jovi” and includes “no hits”. These statements inspire two motherfucking questions… The first: Bon Jovi has four hours worth of unreleased songs just laying around? The second: Who in the fuck is buying this shit?

Speaking of shitty boxsets, we’re still bummed about the Nirvana one. Jack Endino recently explained in an interview one of the reasons it turned out so wack:

“This past summer, we got word that the box set was going to happen, yes, really truly this time. Having been semi-officially researching material for the box with co-conspirator Gillian Gaar since 1998, it was hard to believe it, but sure enough, the starting gun was fired, and it became a frenzy to make sure we had the best sources, and the correct credits and dates. A deadline crunch happened at the end, with Silva Artist Management (for Krist and Dave) and Courtney’s people (Peter Asher, for Sanctuary) trying to agree on a final track listing for the box set, as the deadline for the booklet art and layout got nearer. That’s why there’s a picture of the FECAL MATTER cassette in the booklet, but no music from it; Courtney’s people decided that it was not really ‘NIRVANA’ (i.e. it’s Kurt and Dale only, so why share it with Nirvana LLC?) and held it back at the last minute, which is why the set starts with ‘Heartbreaker’, which would not have been my choice. At the VERY last minute, Silva Mgmt got access to a trove of ‘Kurt cassettes’ that Courtney has been talking about for years. That’s where ‘Mrs. Butterworth’ and a few other things on the box (mostly acoustic stuff) came from, literally out of the blue in the final weeks of preparation for the box.”

This still doesn’t explain why they held out on a lot of the good Peel session stuff, etc etc. They also apparently forgot to credit Pat Smear for his guitar playing on some of the later era home recordings. And by the way, where’s MTV Unplugged on dvd? Where’s “Sold Out Tonight” on dvd? Where’s Halloween 1991 in Seattle in its entirety on dvd? Where’s a simple collection of all the music videos? Give up the goods you fucking horders!!! I can buy a dvd of Blink 182 making fart noises for 2 hours, but I can’t watch “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on a dvd? What the fucky?

Oasis is in the middle of recording their new album with D Sardy. Homeboy also just finished the new Hot Hot Heat album, which took awhile cos the guitar player quit in the middle of the record. Word on the street is that Sardy played a good portion of guitar on the record by himself.

D Sardy also just recently recorded some Paul Westerburg tunes for some goofy cartoon movie that’s coming out in like, 2007. Apparently Tommy Stinson played on some of the stuff. YEAH BITCH, THE FUCKING REPLACEMENTS! Josh Freeze played drums on the session to give it that Puddle of Mudd and Avril feel.

Speaking of Puddle of Crud, the singer is a smack junkie now. Homeboy is trying to embody his Kurt Cobain fixation as close as possible. Hey dude, do you think Kurt Cobain would have driven around town in a fucking bright yellow Hummer with chrome wheels too?! You fucking moron. Now if we can just get that dude to invest in a shotgun…

PJ Harvey recently announced from stage that it would be her last show ever, and she would be retiring from the music world. That’s a bummer… but not as big of a bummer as that last record she made.

Apparently the Vines will never tour again as well. This is a lot like being told you won’t have to endure anymore anal cavity searches…

Remember that International Noise Conspiracy album that was supposed to come out a year ago? It’s not coming out. Their big corporate major label they signed to has shelved the album. Talk about irony.

Aaron needs a crack for Reason 2.5, and possibly some of the software… anybody wanna trade for a BJ? Email aaron@buddyhead.com

According to a recent mag article that interviewed hip-hop groupies, Jay Z has a massive shlong. Apparently it is, “The biggest you will ever see in your life. Huge. Like a one-liter Pepsi bottle. It could block out the sun.” Yeah, basically Beyonce is squatting on a Pepsi bottle.

We addressed our feelings towards that band Amen on the best and worst list, but for another opinion, here is what a recently departed guitar player named Rich Jones had to say about the band and their singer Karim Chmielinski (aka Crazy Chaos or whatever he’s called):

“Alright, I’ve kept relatively quiet since leaving the band, even tolerating Casey’s bullshit that he was telling people about why I left (wisdom teeth, rehab, etc.). To be honest, I’ve never been interested in mudslinging about this kind of stuff. I truly believed that when I left the band it was my business as to why and mine only. Dwelling on the past is, in my opinion, a colossal waste of time.

“Since then, however, Casey’s constant deception and distortion of the truth, coupled with his feeble attempts to discredit me and other members, have resulted in me writing this letter and telling my side of the story.

“I spent almost 3 years of my life in AMEN, playing in the band because I truly believed that it was an honest, passionate band that was built around the punk rock ethic. Spending years doing van tours in the BLACK HALOS, sleeping on floors and living on next-to no money was something I was used to, and AMEN was no different. Casey always refers to AMEN as a ‘working-class band,’ which is pretty funny talk from a guy who has never actually worked a day job in his life. As I soon found out, Mom and Dad’s money (aka ‘my skateboarding money’) was always there when there wasn’t any money for him to embezzle from the band. At first I never questioned the fact that he would keep all the money and give us nothing, because he apparently had ‘outstanding debts from the old band members ripping him off’ (a story which I’m sure he still throws around to the current guys). However, after a while, the piss-take got to be a bit too much. After receiving a $50,000 advance for the DVD, Casey gives the band $300 each. After bringing in over £40,000 in merch on a tour, we get $800 and he goes home and buys his girlfriend a car and expands his already massive record collection. While we’re sleeping on my cousin’s floor in London, he’s in a hotel in Gloucester Road, taking people out for dinners and spending hundreds of pounds every day in record shops. And when we finally got the long-awaited record deal, no one saw a single penny of it except Casey. As I’m sure you’ve heard, his argument is that it’s all justified because he let us all stay at his house while we were in the band but here’s a fucking newsflash: we had to stay at his house because we couldn’t afford to live anywhere because he was taking all the money from the band!

“So let’s get to the contract. To understand this contract entirely you have to understand the motivations behind why it exists in the first place. So here’s some history:

“When we started the April tour this year, Casey’s pill-popping was at a peak. His self-medicating due to imagined medical conditions made him a deeply unpleasant person at the best of times. And at the worst of times…well, you can ask Ross Robinson or Harry about that. By the time we got to Oxford, we had a drum tech who was ready to walk out because Casey had pushed a stack of amps on him and 2 kids who were hurt when Casey threw a cymbal stand into the crowd. Not big, not clever. We all knew the risks of onstage injuries when we joined the band and we never had a problem with it. But when you start putting innocent kids at risk to prove how ‘punk rock’ you are(n’t), then it becomes a problem. Fast-forward to the day of the infamous Virgin instore and Casey was in top form. He’d already thrown a rock-star fit because nobody had brought his bags upstairs for him. God forbid you do it yourself, eh Iggy? Then he had another little tantrum because people’s phones (including his) were ringing during a Metal Hammer interview. By the time we hit the stage, he was singing as bad as usual and smashing the shit out of the place. All in a day’s work, no problem there. But by the time we got to the signing, he was incoherent, abusive to fans, band and store staff alike. Check out the scar on my arm sometime if you want proof. Finally, after slumping out on the table, telling a fan to ‘fuck off’ and then shouting abuse at John (our tech, my cousin) in front of everyone, I called him a cunt, got up, walked off and quit the band.

“To make a long story short, by the end of that day, the rest of the guys had quit as well, tired of his rock star antics and money grabbing ways. However, we were being besieged by calls from our agent, management and PR person who were all freaking out about the shows that were scheduled. So in the interest of doing the right thing for the people that had worked so hard for us, and the fans that had bought tickets to the shows, we decided to agree to resume the tour and fulfill our commitments. Hence the contract. If we were going to go back on the road, there needed to be a set of guidelines so that Casey couldn’t keep treating people like shit, endangering the audience, and ripping us off in the process. And the only way for us to make him stick to the deal, we had to hit him where it hurts, in the only the thing he cares about: his wallet.

“If you read the contract, you’ll see that we ask for a fair and equal split of the profits amongst all 5 members at the end of the tour (something that we’d NEVER had before. Punk rock values, eh?) and a penalty for Casey if he acted like a cock. Of course, no one expected to get this penalty. I mean, where would the money come from? But we wanted the threat to be hanging over his head and we wanted him to know how deadly serious we were. No more bullshitting allowed.

“So after a late night meeting at Sanctuary Management’s office, we resumed the tour. I was still sticking to the fact that I was leaving after it was done, and the rest of the guys were going to go back to the U.S. and tour home. And that’s what happened. Nobody actually signed the contract, the guys got home, did the Japanese shows (for which they were supposed to get paid and, surprise!, didn’t). Then everyone quit and the shit-talking started.

“So there’s my side of the story. There’s a lot more I could tell but this is long enough and I don’t have a lawyer handy to keep me out of trouble. It’s too bad that it ended like this and left a bitter taste in all of our mouths. Still, I’m sure ol’ Karim Chmielinski (you know…) will continue to stick to his ways in the names of false integrity and punk for profit. Childish behaviour for a 40-year old man. But I’m sure some people will keep believing him and others will let him keep burning his bridges. At this point, I couldn’t care less. If asking for a fair share and not wanting to put up with primadonna antics makes me a sell-out or less punk rock, then bring it on, fuckers.

“I’m not asking anyone to take sides and this is the last I’m going to say about the subject. I’ve always treated AMEN fans with respect and I have no reason to start lying to you now. Think about it…”

Our hippy folky freakshow night went rather well last month at the Hotel Café. Aaron even got up and got his earthdog on, harmonica holder and everything. In case ya missed it, you can catch him playing around town at Sea Level Records on January 28th, which is a benefit for Tsunami victims, or at that club next to the Troubadour that’s usually filled with dudes wearing Fubu on February 20th. Dimitri Coats from the Burning Brides will be performing solo at those shows as well, so come and check it out.

The guitar player for that Liars band quit so he could go back to school. An angel loses its wings every time someone quits a band and goes to school.

Gang Of Four are getting back together. They figured if everyone else was cashing in on their sound right now, they might as well too. Gang Of Four will be playing at Coachella this year, along with New Order, Nine Inch Nails, Coldplay, Wolf Eyes, and a bunch of other bands.

William Reid, one of the Jesus and Mary Chain brothers, is in Los Angeles preparing to record a solo album that is said to be a “rock record”. The other Mary Chain dude, jim, is in a pretty mediocre band with his girlfriend in London called Freeheat. But it’s not really worth checking out, so ignore this.

Fat Mike and Joe Escalante are beefing. Joe is planning on fucking fat boy up with his “smarts”. He is a lawyer ya know… Fatty is just planning on smothering his tiny ass with his massive girth. Joe has a gun though, so he wins.

The new Warped Tour is called “Taste of Choad”. Thousands of metrosexual kids with ties, stupid haircuts, and mascara are stoked.

Shat is playing two shows… in Florida this weekend. Shat also has a messageboard now. So if you’re one of those dorks who’s been emailing us non stop for the past four years crying that we don’t have a messageboard, go here and waste your life away.

Radio Vago is mixing their debut album this week that was produced by slOmar Rodriguez, the fifth sour cream burrito from The Mars Volta. Shit sounds nice from what we’ve heard so far and it only took them two years… lets hear it for Radio Vago! We’ll get it in stores sometime before 2007.

Our friend Tommy Stinson is hitting the road in support of his solo record. Go out and see this dude slay if he comes through your shitty town. Also, check homeboy’s website out. http://www.tommystinson.com/

Jan 21 Fargo, ND House of Rock

Jan 22 Minneapolis, MN Uptown Bar

Jan 23 Milwaukee, WI Shank Hall

Jan 25 Detroit, MI Smalls

Jan 27 Buffalo, NY The Mohawk Place

Jan 28 Long Branch, NJ Brighton Bar

Jan 29 New York, NY Mercury Lounge

Jan 30 Cambridge, MA Middle East

Feb 02 Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live

Feb 03 Brooklyn, NY Southpaw

Feb 04 Arlington, VA IOTA Cafe

Feb 05 Chapel Hill, NC Cat’s Cradle