Posted by kira on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 9:00 PM (EDT)
Tonight's "We'll do it Live," where we give our readers the opportunity to engage in a live question and answer session with a variety of artists, features Larry Livermore. Livermore just released his memoir Spy Rock Memories on June 4, 2013. Here's a brief description of the book:
In 1982 Larry Livermore, ex-greaser, post-hippie, burnt out and disillusioned by the Bay Area punk scene, journeyed north into an off the map, off the grid mountain wilderness that lay at the heart of California's Emerald Triangle in search of something "real." Things got way more real than he'd bargained for, as he ended up confronting blizzards, droughts, floods, fires, marauding bears, skunks, rattlesnakes, and a posse of ornery pot growers, all while launching a magazine, a solar-powered punk rock band, and the DIY record label that introduced the world to the likes of Green Day, Operation Ivy, and Screeching Weasel. As he learned valuable lessons in self-sufficiency, taking responsibility, and how to avoid (for the most part but not always) getting punched in the face by irate hippies, Larry also found his place and made his home in the far-flung, disjointed and eccentric community he encountered in the anarchic realm that begins where Highway 101's tattered tarmac dissolves into the dust of Spy Rock Road.
So if you have a burning question for Larry, post it in the comments section and look for a response via username LarryLivermore.
FYI: Editors may delete comments that are harassing or unnecessarily rude or offensive. Please play nice and everyone can get something cool out of this.
Contributed by alex101. Posted by aubin on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 7:00 PM (EDT)
Vice has put together an interesting (and potentially a little inflammatory) article about the word "punk" and what the author describes as it's rapid descent into meaninglessness:
"Punk" is a totally stupid word. [It is] an ethos or set of ideals, so anything that falls under this gigantic, safety-pinned umbrella gets labeled as "punk." Then, there are all these subgenres of punk, all with equally gross-sounding names.
I asked for input from my friend Brendan Kelly, a notable punk rocker who has been punk rocking for the last 15 punk years in the punk band The Lawrence Arms (very punk). Take it away, BK: "If Crass is punk and Good Charlotte is punk and Madball and Fifteen and the Misfits and Shelter and the Cro-Mags are all punk (and they all are, because no rules, bro), then it's pretty meaningless ideologically, which means it's just another way to sell something, and 'ways to sell something' are either lame marketing strategies on one hand, or propaganda the other."
So basically, if everything is punk, then nothing is punk. At this point, I'd like to point out that punk is the only genre of music where this sort of discussion occurs. You never hear fans of motown at each other's throats about what is or is not "motown" BECAUSE THE TEMPTATIONS ARE NOT REAL MOTOWN YOU FUCKING POSER GO BACK TO HOT TOPIC.
Posted by aubin on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 6:00 PM (EDT)
Night Verses have released the song, "Whatever Makes You Hate Me," as well as a 10 minute sampler of their new full length, Lift Your Existence. It's due out June 25, 2013.
Check out the song here. You can click Read More for the sampler.
Posted by aubin on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 4:00 PM (EDT)
Debbie Harry & Chris Stein, both of Blondie, recently visited The Red Bull Music Academy to deliver a 90 minute lecture about their time in New York in the 70s and 80s and how the iconic city's melting pot of punk, wave, reggae and hip hop, informed the band's eventual success.
You can click Read More for video of the entire lecture.
Posted by aubin on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 3:30 PM (EDT)
Whirr - the shoegaze outfit which shares a member with Deafheaven - have announced some summer tour dates beginning on the last day of July. The shows kick off just two weeks after Deafheaven completes their tour in support of Sunbather.
Whirr is planning to release their new album, Around, on July 9, 2013.
Posted by chris on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 3:00 PM (EDT)
NJ's D'arcy (featuring members of Static Radio and Fierce Brosnan) have released a video covering the classic Joy Division track "Disorder." In honor of the period of the original release, the band opted to record the video in analog - using an old VHS video recorder. The track is also available as a free download at the group's BandCamp page, along with a free download of an EP released last year titled Shoot My Love.
Posted by aubin on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 2:30 PM (EDT)
South Carolina hardcore outfit Apart have posted one of the two songs from their upcoming 7-inch. It's titled A Bright And Clever Hell and is due out September 24, 2013 via Mayfly Records. It's the follow up to Gray Light which was released in 2012.