MP3: Black Flag - Live 7" #1 bootleg

Here's a nice find from alt.binaries.punk, a five-song, live 7" bootleg by Black Flag.

Soundboard recording circa '82 or '83 with Hank on vocals.

MP3: 1. Black Flag - Spray Paint the Walls
MP3: 2. Black Flag - Room 13
MP3: 3. Black Flag - Rise Above
MP3: 4. Black Flag - Six Pack
MP3: 5. Black Flag - Life of Pain

Flex discography review of Black Flag - Live 7" #1 bootleg

'Mean Girls' sucks out loud

Oh, so I promised I would tell you how that flick "Mean Girls" was. I think there was one laugh throughout the entire flick. Don't even waste your time.

As my grandfather once said, "I wouldn't walk across the street to see those bums," (referring to the Rolling Stones concert in Philadelphia in 1981.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I wouldn't walk across the street to rent this movie (but in fact, I regrettably did drive to the video store), even if Lindsay Lohan would personally check out my copy.

If you're looking for a dumb and mindless, yet funny teen flick, try "The Girl Next Door," which was retarded in all the right ways.

It gets my personal "Dude-who-is-35-but-still-watches-shitty-teen-movies seal of approval."

I really dug the flick "Open Water," which will be out on DVD soon and I had countless laugh-out-loud chuckles and snorts while watching, "Shaun of the Dead."

So, my new favorite TV show is "Dead Like Me." The pilot of that show is amazing and draws you in completely. Really well done stuff.

I still don't have Tivo (yet) and Comcast (sucks) still hasn't installed their DVR which they called me about two months ago and said it was available in my area.

I've been catching up on the TV phenomenon that is "Arrested Development." Like my pal Dave said, "Who knew Jason Bateman and Portia De Rossi could be so funny?"

Good question indeed. I was able to snag the entire first season online at a site like this.

Which brings me to a small rant.

Is downloading the TV show "Arrested Development" from the Internet wrong?

In my case, I would say no.

Simply because I already paid to have this content delivered into my home via cable.
True, I wasn't watching when it was broadcast nor did I tape it on my vcr for personal use. Instead I downloaded the shows which were already delivered into my house via a paid service. I just accessed them through a different medium.

Still OK?

Why not. I'm essentially using the Internet to download the shows as an alternative to the VCR in a way. It's as if a pal taped it for me and lent me his copy to watch.

If Tivo has told us anything, its that people want to watch TV on their own terms. And with the success of Comcast's On-Demand, people want the ability to watch shows when they want.

Like I said, I already paid for the content ... so what if I rely on the Internet instead of my VCR to watch a recorded copy of the show.

Low self-esteem kicks in ...

Blah. I know you don't care about any of this. That's fine.

I just like hearing my own voice shouting into the endless galaxy of blogs.

McG's top 10 new release CDs

In my column this week I wrote about my pick for top 10 new CD releases including albums by Hot Snakes, Brian Wilson, The Clash and more.

I also reviewed new CDs by Mono, Mastodon, The Delgados and the awesome new CD by Social Distortion.

Read the column: New CD releases (phillyBurbs.com)

McG's MP3 recommendations

Some crazy Russian pinheads have the Ramones' first album which you can download for free here.

I really liked Neal Casal's "St. Cloud" which you can grab over at
Fargo Records along with tracks by several other artists.

Tychonaut has some great songs on their site including "Half Mast" from their album, "This Is." Tychonaut official site.

Register over at the Stern Fan Network and go into their file sharing section. You can find some cool stuff there including the new Eminem single and a cut from the new U2 album.

McG's obligatory MP3 commentary

I've noticed that U.K. and European bands often only post snippets of songs in MP3 instead of full songs.

I can sympathize with the "giving-it-away-for-free" argument, but bands have to realize that free MP3s has pretty much replaced the days of singles and getting your record played on the radio.

Another John Peel ass kiss

I listened to John Peel's show from this past Thursday and loved it. The Delgados were in session and Peel played a ton of cool stuff. Can I just say I love listening to this friggin radio show.

Peel says he's working on an auto-biography. That will be a must-read.

And by the way, the new Delgados album, "Universal Audio," is awesome.

Cheesey movie update

I rented "Mean Girls" today and can't wait to check it out.

Kelly was with me and she asked the video chick if any copies had been returned and one had just come back.

I would have really been embarassed to ask for that one myself.

Paris Hilton: Prepare to be blown

This high-larious article brought to you by Paris Hilton who released her first CD, "Screwed."

"Please, my album is so insane, people are going to be blown away."

Correction: People are going to be blowing themselves away.

F U Friday

When something makes me laugh out loud, it's usually really twisted, something dark or just something that is insanely funny. This story is all three:

Hi, My Name is Jeff and I Sometimes Smell Like Poop

Jonathan A. Zdziarski conducted an interesting experiment to test the theory that file-sharing benefits the music industry.

Jonathan's impressive and not-boring report on file-sharing

Listen up. Loo and Placido have done some interesting bootlegs. They have a couple of tracks you can download as well as some demos that you can stream. My favorite was:

MP3: Loo and Placido - "Get Your Green On"

Which mixes Green Day's "Stuck With Me" and Missy Elliott's "Get Your Freak On."

The result sounds kinda like The Bellrays.

First there was dirty dancing. But dirty dining? That's just gross.

Fave dirty dining quote: "After eating at this McDonalds in Erwin, Tenn., last March, one hundred people became violently ill. Some ended up in the hospital, dehydrated and even hallucinating."

Can you imagine tripping after eating chicken McNuggets?

That would freak me out.

Sometimes you get lucky on the Internet and stumble across great blogs such as Blogjam.

Other times people tell you about funny blogs such as Tard-Blog where special education teachers blow off steam.

Through Tard-Blog I found Stokie Jaye's Slow Children at Play which recounts his experience working in a group home for emotionally disturbed boys for the past decade.

Through Slow Children at Play I found Tucker Max's Web Site. This guy sounds like a real a-hole. He's got a lot of cool sites linked on his page though.

Oh, and the reason I called this "F U Friday" (other than I'm running low on ideas on what to call my posts) is that I work on the weekends.

So on Fridays I always hear people say, "...well, at least it's Friday!" and for me it isn't. I feel like saying to them ...

Well, you get the idea.

Have a good friggin' weekend.

MP3: Dan Rather gets pranked

Here's a good prank call by Kidd Chris who called up Dan Rather to discuss the whole CBS memo incident.

MP3: Kidd Chris calls Dan Rather (right click, save as)

I'm officially overwhelmed and sickened with the pre-election coverage. I guess this is how people become apathetic.

With empty debates about candidates' credibility, actions during and after Vietnam and hardly a discussion about key issues (economy, jobs and prosperity) it's no wonder many Americans tune out politics.

That said, I will be voting in November. Hope you will too.

Download this

If you're like me and are a torrent fiend, then you should check out Protowall. It's much like Peer Guardian, in that it blocks out unwanted IPs from connecting to your computer when it downloads.

It requires a few setup steps before you use it, but its easily to get up and running in no time.

How does Ali G do it?

One of the few shows that makes me laugh out loud is Da Ali G show.

If you haven't seen the show before or want to catch episodes you missed, the place to go is Lando's Stinking Hole.

Here's an article that reveals how he's able to score so many killer interviews.

How Ali G keeps conning famous guests

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New column this week

I reviewed CDs by Rogue Wave, The Lovekill and Mike Keneally in my column this week

I still have a lot of CDs on my desk that I need to review for next week.

Coffee drinking Mike checks in

I got an e-mail from my friend Mike the other day.

I remember one morning at college I was riding my bike on Main Street in Newark at 7:00 a.m. putting up flyers for my band and I saw Mike walking to work.

He was drinking coffee. Since then I've always associated him as being a coffee drinker.

Some people associate Mike as the dude who tried to break a baseball bat by slamming it against a telephone pole. Of course, the bat bounced right off the telephone pole and back into Mike's face.

Anyway, here's what Mike had to say:

"Just thought I'd tell ya Fran and I saw Nels Cline the other night, quite impressed. I never thought that monkey'n around with yr effects pedals could garner a crowd -- and he did it w/ a jazzy style, very inspiring.

It reminded me of shite that occasionally burbles out of my amp here at home with Debbie going "that's weird" and me digging it but thinkin this would never hit it off w/ the kids at clubs.

Fran and I have started a new two-piece project doing some of the mellower folk-psyche-noisey Lettuce Prey material. We jammed last weekend and it sounded damn good. He's using two floor toms, kick, snare hat, cymbals and I'm using two amps through some crazy-ass effects I've collected over the years. We hope to incorporate Debbie on accordion. Sounds like a more lively Dirty Three meets Sonic Youth meets VU and Donovan (not his candy-ass shit though).

Heard Zen Guerrilla is releasing a new record soon -- anxious to hear that. Not sure if the new Zen record will be live or if they recorded new material. I doubt the latter. Andy is going to send me a copy soon -- I'll let you know.

Debbie and I plan to get a new dog after we move and have a park or backyard. I think Ben would dig it too. We miss Stevie so much, but as George says "All things must pass."