IRT Magazine

Just  another reason why Sean Penn is the man (of course beyond Jeff Spicoli):

Message from Sean Penn to October 2, 2006 to an emergency organizing meeting held for the Oct. 5 protests to drive out the Bush regime in NYC’s Cooper Union.  Message read by Mark Ruffalo.

Watch:  [wmv]  [mov]

Listen:  [mp3]

Transcript:

The arrogant, the misguided, the cowards would argue that an immediate pull-out of our troops from Iraq would inspire lack of confidence and the lost credibility of the United States.  President Bush and his functionaries indeed have lost enormous credibility for the perception of our country internationally.  Perhaps more damaging than that, they have created the greatest cultural, religious, and political divide domestically since our own Civil War.

We the people of the United States have a unique opportunity.  We can show each other and the world that what the Bush administration claims is their mission is not ours.  And, by leading our country as a citizenry and demanding of our government an immediate end to our own military and profit investments in Iraq, display for the entire world that democracy is a government of the people.  What more powerful message to send the world than that we ourselves can choose – in policy, in peace, and in humanitarian support.

In fascism, one serves the State.  Let’s show the world that with democracy, we can make the State do our bidding, and that such bids would not be the blind ones, given exclusively to the friends of power.  But rather, the domain of the people of freedom everywhere.  This is an administration that advocates torture, deceives the public, spends billions of dollars on a failed war.  This is an administration where in the year of Katrina, Exxon Mobil claimed the highest profit margin in the history of world business.  It is an administration that belittles, demeans, deceives, and indeed kills our brothers, our sisters, our sons, and our daughters.

At the U.S./Mexico border, we panic at the notion of illegal entry, without blinking an eye as our elderly line up every Saturday morning with wheelchairs, walkers, canes and joint pain, queued up in the desert heat to enter Mexico where they can purchase affordable medication.  In the human family, this President is indeed pushing his wheelchair-bound grandmother down the stairs with a smile on his face.  Everyone knows that these are true statements.  Everyone.  Some are ashamed of where they’ve put their support in the past, their passivity in the present, with the courage of their minds and hearts at bay.  What an exciting thing to reverse this as one America and show the world who wears the pants in this house.

Stand up as an American and join World Can’t Wait and those demonstrating this Thursday, October 5^th.

Out of Iraq.  And out with Bush.

TOM WAITS

JOINS KRONOS QUARTET, PHILIP GLASS

AND HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA

FOR ‘HEALING THE DIVIDE: A CONCERT FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION’

LIVE CD OUT JULY 10 ON ANTI-

TO BENEFIT HEALING THE DIVIDE’S

TIBETAN HEALTH INITIATIVE

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, composer Philip Glass, sitarist Anoushka Shankar, the throat-singing Gyoto Tantric Choir, and TOM WAITS – performing with the Kronos Quartet and Greg Cohen – are among those featured on HEALING THE DIVIDE: A CONCERT FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION, out July 10 on Anti-. HEALING THE DIVIDE will be available both as a CD and online at the iTunes Store.

Culled from a September 21, 2003 benefit concert at the Lincoln Center ’s Avery Fisher Hall in New York ­– during His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 20-day tour of the U.S. – HEALING THE DIVIDE is a musical meeting of East and West. Transcending cultural boundaries through music, the performances on HEALING THE DIVIDE range from meditative to theatrical; guttural to beautiful; and always powerful and purposeful in support of a very human cause.

All of the artists, Anti- Records, and Healing the Divide are donating all their proceeds from sales to Healing the Divide’s Tibetan Health Initiative, a program that provides health insurance and medical care to impoverished Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns living in refugee settlements. Each CD purchase provides one year of health insurance.

In this recording of the 2003 event, His Holiness the Dalai Lama affirms, “It brings me great happiness to see artists and musicians gathered together here in support of the people of Tibet and in support of peace and reconciliation. We have to make every effort to promote human affection.”

TOM WAITS headlined the evening in a night that featured a rich mix of musical traditions and cultures from Native American flute to West African kora. Four songs from his 50-minute performance are on the CD, most significantly the previously unreleased “Diamond In Your Mind.”

For fans of WAITS, it’s a pleasure and surprise to hear his voice large and dramatic against the spare, angular and expressive string arrangements that “worked ingenious variations on Mr. Waits’s waltzes and hymnlike tunes, skewing the oom-pah-pah to various places around the beat,” according to New York Times critic Jon Pareles.

When asked how he found himself sharing the stage in what was primarily an evening of sacred traditions in music, WAITS replied, “I’m no fool. It’s a spiritual insurance policy. Hell, at my age, the next group I put together, everyone may be playing a harp. All kidding aside, I owed His Holiness a favor. He did all my papers in school.”

Healing the Divide, a nonprofit organization founded by Richard Gere in 2001, is dedicated to collaborative solutions to humanitarian crises. “The release of this CD helps us raise awareness about the worsening condition of Tibetans both inside and out of the region,” explains Gere. “The funds raised not only allow us to positively change the lives of the Tibetan people, but will also allow us to promote invaluable Tibetan Buddhist concepts of peace and compassion.”

Track listing for the CD is as follows:

ARTIST TITLE

His Holiness the Dalai Lama “His Holiness the Dalai Lama”

The Gyoto Tantric Choir “Invocation”

Anoushka Shankar “Nivedan”

Nawang Khechong and R. Carlos Nakai “Peace Chants”

Philip Glass and Foday Musa Suso “The Gambia ”

Tom Waits and Kronos Quartet w/Greg Cohen “Way Down in the Hole”

Tom Waits and Kronos Quartet w/Greg Cohen “God’s Away on Business”

Tom Waits and Kronos Quartet w/Greg Cohen “Lost in the Harbor”

Tom Waits and Kronos Quartet w/Greg Cohen “Diamond in Your Mind”

Recently some good graphic novels have come my way that are worthy of mention.

God Save The Queen – A hardcover graphic novel written by Mike Carey and illustrated with beautiful paintings by John Bolton. Of course the title is referring to the Sex Pistols song which is fitting as a great deal of the plot takes place in London’s junkie-punk scene and the rest of the plot takes place in Fairy. Anybody familiar with Neil Gaiman’s work will recognize some of the characters such as Queen Titania, Oberon, Puck, Nuala and Cluracan from the Sandman and Books of Magic comics (as well as from Gaiman’s original source of inspiration Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Sex, drugs, rock n roll, magic and darkness all abound in this little story that follows a young London punk as she discovers her true destiny. Mike Carey is very talented writer and does a magnificent job of both capturing the nuances of punk youth (at one point Linda dismisses the Sex Pistols as “her father’s music”) and weaving in the characters Gaiman created in ways that won’t make readers unfamiliar with the Sandman feel lost. But the true stand out feature of this book is John Bolton’s photo-realistic paintings. Each character has facial features that are unique and the use of shading provides a better use of mise-en-scene than most Hollywood films. Go ahead and get a copy for your goth girlfriend, but don’t be surprised if you like it so much you keep it for yourself.

Y The Last Man Vol. 9 Motherland – The adventures of Yorick and his monkey Ampersand, the last surviving male mammals are almost to an end. Writer Brian K. Vaughn is trying to break in to Hollywood now with a gig as a writer on Lost and screenplays for Both Y and his other comic masterpiece Ex Machina. At least Y seems to be going out with a bang. In the penultimate graphic novel of the series, Motherland, we learn what caused every male mammal to spontaneously die as well as why Ampersand’s monkey feces protect both him and Yorick from the same fate. Along the way we also learn a lot more about Dr. Allison Mann’s family. Although I felt the ultimate cause for the plague was a bit anticlimactic it does not take away from the story as a whole or this graphic novel. A lot of loose ends are tied up and the only remaining unanswered question is whether or not Yorick will be reunited with Beth in Australia. Of course if you are not familiar with the series jumping on with this graphic novel is not a good idea. I recommend you start with the first volume – Unmanned.

Hellblazer The Devil You Know – The latest collected edition of Hellblazer collects some of John Constantine’s earliest hell raising. Writer Jamie Delano’s run on Hellblazer is part of Vertigo’s first golden along with Sandman and Swamp Thing. Edgy occult stories aren’t exactly an easy sell especially when told in a medium that is often dismissed as children’s stories, but John Constantine has always been one of adult comic’s success stories and tales like this are why. Also included in this volume is the Horrorist originally published as a two issue miniseries and illustrated by V For Vendetta co-creator David Lloyd. This collection is a must have for any Hellblazer fans and also a good jumping on point for new readers.

Re-Gifters – Re-Gifters is one of the first releases for DC comics new Minx line. This fun little graphic novel is easily some of Mike Carey’s most accessible work. Telling the story of a Korean-American high school student and what she does for her first love. Of course there are annoying brothers, martial arts tournaments, school work and over protective parents. But it’s all in a days work for our hero Jen Dixon (her friends call her Dixie). This graphic novel is begging to be made in to a movie. It would be the perfect “family” picture truly appealing to young and old alike. Plus you’ll learn some really neat facts about Korean culture.

The Plain Janes – Also part of DC’s Minx line, The Plain Janes a re a group of high school girls who are fed up with the lack of creativity and encroachment of big corporations in their small town neighborhood create the P.L.A.I.N (People Loving Art In Neighborhoods). guerilla art clique. Part Pump Up The Volume, part Heathers and part Mean Girls this graphic novel should be required reading for the young creative type in your life. The art pranks that writer Cecil Castellucci comes up with are ingenious. All of us who know the redemptive power of art can relate to the books mantra – art saves

- Brad Filicky

Posted by my homeboy on another website that you people know nothing about. Its about time somebody spoke up about this nonsense.  Jeez Louise, no wonder these mainstream stores are closing. I’m just waiting for FYE to tank! -Ed.
Some interesting news on what Trent Reznor said about people “stealing music”…

The NIN frontman rails against overpriced music in his band’s latest blog posting.

You know I think a band really shows its true character when it comes down to a battle over either profits or creativity. It’s when a bands back is up against that the wall that heart & soul really comes out.

Sure Metallica, for instance, was a great band but, as soon as Lars started griping that his band was unable to get every penny that it deserved, that his million-dollar billfold was a bit light, it really made you see them for who they were. Rather than propose an alternative or show at least some kind of empathy for teenage kids unable to otherwise afford to buy all their albums, they railed against file-sharers & never seemed to miss an opportunity to reiterate RIAA talking points. As a fan of Metallica it was very painful to watch.

It easy for a band to say that they’re as rebels, or try to say to their audience that they’re free wheeling, creative souls but, as always the proof is deeds not words.

We saw it with Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam where they took Ticketmaster’s high ticket price monopoly to task & worked for years to try & change it.

The Dave Matthews Band allows fans to post & share live concert recordings & footage on their Ants Marching site in the spirit of the Greatful Dead & other artists whose main focus was on the music itself & not what the music put into their pockets.

NIN is a band that seems to be in tune with its listeners & what the future holds for music distribution & its ability to stay relevant. It has posted tracks from Year Zero on The Pirate Bay, & even made some tracks, clips, & snippets of material available for download on its band’s site.

Now, I think Trent Reznor, NIN’s lead singer, has made an even more startling revelation than any previous, observing the high price of physical CDs & realizing why it is that people steal music.

He writes:

As the climate grows more & more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more. A couple of examples that quickly come to mind:

* The ABSURD retail pricing of Year Zero in Australia. Shame on you, UMG. Year Zero is selling for $34.99 Australian dollars ($29.10 US). No wonder people steal music. Avril Lavigne’s record in the same store was $21.99 ($18.21 US). By the way, when I asked a label rep about this his response was: “It’s because we know you have a real core audience that will pay whatever it costs when you put something out - you know, true fans. It’s the pop stuff we have to discount to get people to buy.”

So… I guess as a reward for being a “true fan” you get ripped off.

* The dreaded EURO Maxi-single. Nothing but a consumer rip-off that I’ve been talked into my whole career. No more.

The point is, I am trying my best to make sure the music & items NIN puts in the marketplace have value, substance & are worth you considering purchasing. I am not allowing Capital G to be repackaged into several configurations that result in you getting ripped off.

We are planning a full-length remix collection of substance that will be announced soon.

To be fair “Year Zero” is being sold for $9.99 on Amazon.com, but it has a list price of $17.99 & heavens knows how much it retails for elsewhere. If it really is $30 bucks in Australia I don’t why anybody in that country would buy a CD ever again. Can you imagine shelling out $30 bucks for an album that has maybe 2 or 3 good tracks? It’s insane, & it’s nice to finally see a music artist say as much. When was the last time you heard J-Lo or any of the other “top” acts like Usher or Justin Timberlake complain about high-priced CDs? It’s the high price of physical CDs that has made people to turn to free methods like P2P & file-sharing programs like BitTorrent, KaZaA Lite, etc..

Anyways, it’s always refreshing to hear an artist acknowledge the plight of his fans & the insanity of trying to bleed them dry for $30 bucks an album.

Source of news taken from http://www.zeropaid.com

FIRST AESOP ROCK FULL LENGTH IN 4 YEARS

NONE SHALL PASS OUT AUGUST 28th on DEFINITIVE JUX

Responsible for all but revolutionizing the entire face of underground hip-hop in the early portion of this decade with a slew of potent and influential releases such as 2000’s Float LP, 2001’s monumental Labor Days LP, and 2003’s Bazooka Tooth to his most recent EP/book, 2004’s Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives, Aesop Rock (aka Ian Bavitz) has proven that resting on his past laurels is all but forbidden. In the last year alone, Aesop has released a 45-minute workout mix for Nike+, a short story in collaboration with visual artist Jeremy Fish, and scored music for two short films. 2007 finds Aesop delivering his next full length album, the highly anticipated None Shall Pass on Definitive Jux.

Created over a 2 year period following his last release, None Shall Pass documents not only a vast amount of personal change that Aesop experienced over this time, but deftly depicts scenes and stories relative to all ages of life. Production is a vital strong point on this album, with the majority of production duties handled by Aesop’s longtime partner Blockhead. El-P and Rob Sonic each make offerings, while Aesop himself confidently produces a large portion of his own tracks as well. The duality of Aesop’s hectic stream-of-thought coupled with the complex production on this album makes no exception to Aesop Rock’s consistent pedigree, blazing a trail far ahead of his peers with an album that will be followed for years to come.

track listing for None Shall Pass:

1. Keep Off The Lawn
2. None Shall Pass
3. Catacomb Kids
4. Bring Back Pluto
5. Fumes
6. Getaway Car (feat. Cage and Breeze Brewin)
7. 39 Thieves
8. The Harbor is Yours
9. Citronella
10. Gun For The Whole Family (feat. El-P)
11. Five Fingers
12. No City
13. Dark Heart News (feat. Rob Sonic)
14. Coffee (feat. John Darnielle)

Story: Ed.

Back on September 11, 2000, if you were to tell me that in a few years, I would be writing once again for the magazine that plucked me mere days upon my graduation from SUNY New Paltz and thrusted me into a world where I would be interviewing my heroes, much less smoking blunts with them, only to spit me back out into the cold, cold world just as fast, I would’ve probably thrown something at you. Well, now that I just about finished eating what’s left of my hat, I would like to take this opportunity to let you fine readers know that I have since returned to my roots in rock journalism, and can now be found once again within the pages of the College Media Journal’s New Music Monthly. Big thanks to Kenny, Rev. Moose and Bobby for believing in a brotha!
Check out my official re-debut here:

http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=35547342

And make sure to pick up the upcoming CMJ New Music Monthly Issue #147 and find me in there as well!

Awww shit!

Thank you.

Ed.