The Elvis Costello “Momofuku” contest ends Wednesday (tonight) at 11:59pm.
And to clarify (and i totally shouldn’t have to.) There are 4 pictures of either Elvis Costello or Elvis Presley. You tell me which of the Elvi (Elvae?) it is and you are entered to win Elvis Costello’s new album “Momofuku” on CD or Big 12″ 33RPM Vinyl Analog LP.
Thanks to Filter Magazine for their support!
MORE CONTESTS COMING SOON!
Filter and MTV have set up 5 summer movies next week for advanced screenings in the L.A. Area.
So iffa yous interested in seeing: You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, The Foot Fist Way, The Rocker, Kung Fu Panda or The Pineapple Express then click on: http://www.mtvsneakpeekweek.com/ and RSVP.
The bonus of all of this is that stars from each of the movies will be there and doing Q & A’s: Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Jack Black, Seth Rogan, James Franco, Rainn Wilson, you get the picture.
I only watch TV one night of the week. I dont really have to watch it at all anymore thanks to Hulu. But if I’m at home, and its Sunday night then I’m watching The Simpsons, Family Guy, et all. So the worst ending to the week comes on after American Dad in the form of Los Angeles’ nightly news. In the meager 8 minutes i let FOX LA stay on in the background there were 4 violent stories, mostly involving the police and their incompetence. The best/worst one involving the Long Beach Police tasering and shooting a 125 lb. terminally ill lung cancer patient with mental illness. Of course the eyewitness testimony was completely different than the police spokesperson. It seems that the cop accidentally popped the guy tasered on the ground and the police made up a bullshit story that they guy had retard strength and withstood batons and tasers to grab a policeman’s nightstick and they had to take him down. In what fucking fantasy world are tasers ineffective? If you have muscles and nerves then they are going to fuck you up because thats what electricity does to you. Are they hiring out-of-work screenwriters as police spokesmen now?
Have you ever seen the 1988 John Carpenter classic They Live starring Rowdy Roddy Piper? It’s amazing! In the story Roddy finds these glasses that filter out what the media is telling you to its base element. For example, a Mcdonalds billboard would just say EAT or CONSUME and politicians are just telling you to OBEY. (Yes that’s where Sheperd Fairy’s mark came from…and they also see aliens in their true form). So what I see for that short period of time before I shut the tv off in disgust is that:
Your police are violent and will fucking shoot you and get paid leave and are never wrong so do what they say. Also, don’t leave the house, here are some car and food commercials. You’ll be safe if you have this car and won’t have to be a responsible driver. This fast food will make you a closer, more happy family; no home prepared meal can. Go into debt to afford things that are newer because that makes them better and that will make you a better person. Here are some tips to save a nickel or a dime off of a 3 dollar purchase as long as you don’t pay attention to how much of your income your many loan payments are. *click*
There are upwards of 17 million people in the Los Angeles-Riverside-Long Beach area. Of course crazy shit is going to happen but should I be watching a completely unbalanced “report” of it? There is no community catharsis or instructions on what you can do about having terrible public servants. There is no advice on how you can make your own community stronger. They are telling you that the viewing public doesn’t want to see that anyway. They’d show that stuff but they’d lose raitings and they’d lose sponsors. It’s bullshit and I’m not going to watch a second of it anymore, ever. I don’t see who it helps for that to be out in front of anybody if it doesn’t accomplish anything. The citizens of the Long Beach community should have beaten those officers critically with their own clubs and tasers and the anchors should have been the people to give them the order. “I don’t know about you Suzi but if some fucking redneck asshole cops killed my unarmed dying family member, I would beat the shit out of them and park their squad car on their throats.”
On top of that its been hot as fuck here. It’s summer, there are going to be a lot of crazy things happening and I know the news will only be painting a more desperate story. I know I sound like a hippie here but where is the Peace and Love, man? I though weed was legal in this motherfucker? And we can marry whomever the fuck we want! Lets fire the cops and fucking celebrate! Gah, its hot… I need a shower.
Don’t take any guff from these fucking swine.
If you can say anything about Ladytron its that their style has always been constant. There will always be great vintage synth sounds, good beats, and some hot Bulgarian-Glaswegian tag team vocals. 604 and Light & Magic are unquestionably hipster masterworks good enough to make anyone dress in black and go to indie fashion shows. It’s certainly what kept me up at 3am sculpture and ceramics labs in art college. But in the last few years I as a fan have been questioning the potentcy of their trademark style. When Witching Hour came out I started noticing less and less scortchers like “Seventeen” and “Flicking Your Switch” leading me to think that Ladytron might be losing their cool. This is more apparent on Velocifero, which seems to work really well as background working music and not the dancefloor ragers of just a few years ago. Maybe one of the differences is that the songs have gotten so much longer. The music that used to seem like a glimmer for dj’s to build off of is now a drone to be swallowed by white noise. Velocifero is not unlistenable, just hard to praise. It comes out June 9th but if possible catch them on tour this summer with Norway’s Datarock. The highlight of the album may be their current single “Ghosts” now available on iTunes with a bevy of upscale remixes. I’ll say this about the simplicity of Ladytrons music, it lends itself very well to remixes. Sometimes, you can hardly tell which was the original.
Ladytron may just be what they’ve always been, an amazing band to shop to.
Ladytron’s Velocifero (Nettwerk) gets a 4/10 with hopes that the next album brings a bit of an overhaul to their sound (like more guitar).
Some albums get better over time. When an album comes out and you really like it you listen to the shit out of it and then you let it go for a while, and then if it’s really good you can come back to it and its just as great as it was. Sometimes those albums reach that “personal favorite” status by some magical form of musical inflation (even in a recession). Elvis Costello does that a lot (King of America, My Aim Is True). And sometimes I forget how good he is because he’s been making amazing music for so long. And I don’t think I’m being premature here but I’ve given his new record Momofuku (on Lost Highway) a few listens now and it’s pretty fucking good. You will hear a lot of that Attractions sound thanks to the keyboard work of Steve Nieve (see Vox Continental Organ in “American Gangster Time”) and the new addition that you’ll really like is the subtle backing vocals from the queen of Silverlake, Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis. (Perhaps most audible on “No Hiding Place” and the final track “Go Away”) When I’d heard they were working together I thought it would be like a duet album but really she is just a backing vocalist like it says in the liner notes. I guess they really couldn’t have called it just an Elvis album if she was any more prominent.
Momofuku has the right mix of moderate rocking in tracks like “Stella Hurt” and mellowness in the latin rhythmed “Harry Worth” and is super solid overall. Because of this, Momofuku has been added to my Saturday afternoon being-lazy-and-pretending-to-clean-my-apartment music. I never notice the lyrics in a piece of music first, I hear them and sometimes I note lines that stick out but I follow the melodies and let the music build in my head until after a few listens I hear the album overall as it is. This makes Elvis’ music last a bit longer to me because after you peel away all the layers of this bloomin’ onion of great musicianship and perfect songwriting there are some AMAZING lyrics waiting to find you. And the great thing about it is that when you get done with it, you can let it go for a while, come back, and it might be even better than now.
So I’m gonna give Momofuku an 8/10.
“…to the bridge”
And now the CONTEST! AvantTrash and Filter Magazine have teamed up again to give away Elvis Costello’s new album Momofuku on CD and VINYL to one lucky reader. Actually though, i think i’ll break this up and give the VINYL to the first place and the CD to the 2nd place winner.
So I’m gonna make this game easy. I’ll show you 4 Elvis’ and you just have to tell me whether its Elvis Presley or Elvis Costello:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Bonus dealbreaker question: What song did Elvis Costello interrupt on SNL to play “Radio, Radio” and with whom did he perform “Radio, Radio” years later on SNL?
Send your ANSWERS ONLY to: contest@avanttrash.com. I will ask for your info if you are a winner. Winners will be selected at random from the CORRECT entries. Dealbreaker is simply for my amusement.
This contest ends WEDNESDAY, MAY 21st at 11:59pm PST.
The Winner of the T-Rex Contest is Elinor Artsy of Somerville, Massachusetts. She was the first person to email me and her name was drawn at random from the 13 correct answers. There were 30-40 some entrants mostly disqualified because some d-bags just emailed their personal info and nothing else. Did they expect free stuff for NOTHIN’? Pa Shaw!
Elinor says,
“Thank you so much for the Wallpaper. goods and the colored disco ball (new dance party backdrop)! I rarely win online contests, so it’s an even bigger thrill to win something I want.
I <3 Avanttrash.com. Definitely in my favorites list.”
Thanks Elinor! And if you didn’t win then FRET NOT because we have 2 contests coming up in the next couple weeks. The next is coming tomorrow and involves some vinyl and and the bespectacled King of America… from England.
Stay tuned…
I must live in the most laid-back State ever. It used to be I could just legally get high*, now i can marry whomever-the-fuck I want.**!
via the New York Times:
The California Supreme Court, striking down two state laws that had limited marriages to unions between a man and a woman, ruled Thursday that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
The court’s 4-to-3 decision, drawing on a ruling six decades ago that struck down the state’s ban on interracial marriage, would make California only the second state, after Massachusetts, to allow same-sex marriages.
So girly dudes and manly chicks, get to hitchin’ before religious assholes in the suburbs try to ban it again.
* With the proper medical malady to do so… which is pretty much anything. And i’m going to say stress.
** Not that I would it’s just a total bonus that I can. It’s just good to know its there, like the knife I keep under the seat in my car.
Because I live where I live, sometimes I randomly catch some awesome events. Tonight for example at the Chinese Theatre I saw a shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark done over 7 years in the mid-80’s by a couple of kids in Mississippi (max age 17ish). Presented by Eli Roth (as in, he was there and talking at length about this film’s journey) Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation was kitsch gold. I wished that all of the Dead Lantern/Grand Horror crew was there to see this DIY masterpiece. It probably won’t ever make it to DVD because of the obvious copyright restrictions but it has been making the indie-theatre circuit for 5 years with the blessing of Mr. Roth who hooked the filmmakers up with a renewed career in film and even a meeting with Stephen Speilberg himself.
Spinning from this amazing backstory is a Daniel Clowes (Ghost World) screenplay and Paramount project in the works based on the kids who made it (now in their late 30s).
When I get to catch things like this, it’s pretty fucking rad to live here.
We’ve had quite a few entries for the T-Rex contest. We’ve also had quite a few CONFUSED people who have just sent their address and info (down to their birthdates).
So to clear up the confusion:
Here is a link to THE WALLPAPER T-REX CONTEST, in order to enter it you must answer the 4 T-Rex questions and send your answers to contest@avanttrash.com. M’Kay? Simple.
You have until 11:59 tonight, good luck.
My Birthday was great yesterday, thank you!
This is a response commented on DeadLantern.com in regards to the parts of “David’s Situation” that we’d missed:
I agree the first scene was a little slow, but you should have stuck around to give an accurate review. Although, in your defense, I’m not sure I would have stayed in an adjascent room either. We got in, but arrived at 5pm to make sure we made it in for the 7pm start. It was absolutely packed and for those of us that got in we were not disappointed.
Some of what you missed: John Ennis and Zach Galifianakis in a fucking hilarious parody of “To Catch a Predator” (BJ did a great job as Chris Hanson). A second stand up set by David even better than the first. A “round table” discussion with the cast and Andy Dick who appeared in a mock video relating to the story of the episode. The mock video may have been the highlight of a great night.
Janeane Garafalo was not in the show, but was on the set with a long list of great comedy minds (Patton Oswalt, Jerry Minor, Michael Blieden, Brian Posehn were among those I saw).
Based on the reaction of the audience I can’t imagine this show will not see more episodes. Bob and David delivered as I had hoped. It was great to see them together again. Don’t judge the show by the first scene. It is not at all indicative of the show. Lump of coal? Hardly. A diamond that could use a little polishing, but a diamond none the less. If you’re a fan of Bob and David you will be a fan of David’s Situation. Anyone else see it?
So my review was premature and perhaps they saved themselves in the rest of the show. HBO doesn’t put out shitty products so I guess they know what they were doing. Sad we missed the rest, sounds a lot better than the first scene. And fuck those fucking fuckers in production that made no mention of over-booking the show, completely ABANDONED the 40 people who got left out and worst of all MADE US WAIT IN A FUCKING LINE FOR AN HOUR before all that shit happened. They should have told us we weren’t getting in within 10 minutes of our being there! For that, fuck those assholes. I’m going to pirate the shit out of this show if it makes it on the air. We probably would have stuck around had they not cut the cameras in between scenes. If we could have watched the details while they were resetting then we might have stayed a little longer. Still, fuck them for not telling us about it being overbooked. When i’d replied to the confirmation email with an angry comment the AUTO-REPLY mentioned that it would be over booked and to arrive early as opposed to the 6pm time listed. Who the fuck would that help if they had to reply to the confirmation message? Only people who had to cancel would have responded to that message. Stupid.
They overbooked the audience for the pilot taping of Bob & David’s new show “David’s Situation” so lucky you, AvantTrash is the first site to review it.
It’s not very funny, sorry. The first scene that is. Sure, pilots are messy, rough, and usually need a LOT of tweaking. In this case I think they’d need to revamp the show altogether. But this snap judgment is only in regards to the FIRST SCENE which we watched 3 TIMES via Closed Circuit TV from JUST OUTSIDE OF THE STUDIO because they overbooked the audience by about 40 people. So after waiting in line for like an hour at CBS they guide us to this craft services room with a 20-inch TV of the show being taped next door. Fucking Lame.
The show’s main angle seemed to be a 4th wall breaking mockery of sitcoms, delivered a bit half-assed with sitcom cliches that have already been parodied a hundred times. Any post-modernism intended seemed to swallowed up by it’s lack of originality. Harsh, I know but it seems to be well worn territory (remember Garry Shandling’s Sitcom?). So could this indictment be because we were bitter about not getting into the actual taping? Not really. I am a HUGE fan of Mr.Show who has sung its praises and done my part to indoctrinate everyone I know about it for more than a decade, and the only thing I could think about while leaving the studio was “my how they have fallen”.
To spoil it for you the plot of the mock sitcom is that David is done with the Hollywood life and moves to “middle America” to write for an in-flight magazine and becomes roommates with stereotypical hippie Matt Besser and a flag waving old guy played by nobody. (Bob Odenkirk is featured in a very short sidebit)
Hippie Matt: “Did you know that every time you hug someone it releases positive ions into the atmosphere?”
David: “Did you know that every time you hug a hippie you kill a practical thought?”
It had a few laughs but overall wasn’t what any of the 20 or so of us watching would call funny. The highpoint of what we saw was an intro delivered as David would in his standup where he blasts Jeremy Piven and the Hollywood Scene. “And I knew that it was too much when I saw that Jeremy Piven’s dog was wearing the same Von Dutch hat as me.” We didn’t stay for any of the other scenes (they killed the feed in between scenes and we’d already waited enough today) but outside of the studio on our way out we saw B.J. Porter, Mo Collins (featured in the first scene) and Jerry Minor. Before the show when we were parking the car we saw Janeane Garofalo walking to the studio, but can’t be sure she’s in the show or not (probably not).
Btw, David, are you done with standup? I think you are due for more. The inevitable failure of this pilot just might give him the opportunity to do so.
The scene did get a little better the more they worked through it so there is a slight possibility that with A LOT more work it could be passable but I don’t think we will be seeing a Bob & David lump of coal turned into a comedy diamond anytime soon.
co-authored by AliUptown.
AliUptown is in town from Chicago this weekend! I’m trying to give her the optimum L.A. experience. She’s having nappy time already, i tuckered her out. Last night we went to Beauty Bar (you’re so great, why are you dying?), Boardner’s (the bar side, not goth night) and finally Tiny’s (where 10 cops walked in and arrested 2 HUGE bikers from the “Mongols” MC. After they passed by I turned to AliUptown and said, “So 10 cops walk into a bar…” and the girl next to me was cool enough to say, “…right!?” and dish the High-5. It was a moment.
So far today we walked by Hollywood & Highland to see the costume freaks and Grauman’s to get our coffee (i live 2 blocks away), we went up Beachwood Cyn by the Hollywood sign, cruised half of Melrose (i finally got a haircut), and had lunch at the Village Idiot. Now its rest time because we are going to CBS in Studio City to check out the taping of the PILOT episode of “David’s Situation” by Mr.Show geniuses Bob Odenkirk and David Cross. Not sure what the plan is for later tonight; maybe Los Feliz, maybe the Strip. I think we’ll hit the beach tomorrow and Silverlake tomorrow night.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Oooooh…tight. As simple as this is I think it trumps the douche-owned Han Solo Carbonite desk. It looks awesome (very well crafted), can be used as very much needed storage for NESessories (i just made that up) and perhaps best of all, IT IS A FUNCTIONAL CONTROLLER! Snap!
Ok I got one more. It holds all of your NESessities. (hire me)
via Unplggd
So with the detoonings of Mario, Homer, and Jessica Rabbit by Pixeloo, its about time someone else got involved. But as opposed to a photorealistic rendering, Essenmitsosse throws down more of a photo-esque re-tooning of Mario’s reptilian nemesis. Click the image and be magically transported down the green tube to see and read more.
I am a beard owner/operator. Here is a beard alphabet. Now here is a beard viral video:
The Demon Beard of Fleet Street - Watch more free videos
Praise the Beard.
OKAY FOLKS! After much ado here is AvantTrash’s FIRST GIVEAWAY! I mean sure, everyday we give away AMAZING links, reviews and commentary on all things entertainment, newsworthy pop culture. But now you get a chance to take home some free music, fresh gear and lightey disco’ey stuff compliments of Filter Magazine and SacramentOakland’s own party-pumpin’ dance rock-splosion, Wallpaper.
So here is the contest… Presented before you are 4 AMAZING T-Rexes (Rexi? Rexae?). Answer the Questions associated with each Terrible Thunder Lizard and you will win (1) Signed copy of Wallpaper.’s T-REX EP, (1) Wallpaper. T-Shirt, and (1) Fancy Disco Light to get your own party started! Sound Great?! Should multiple people answer correctly then I will select a winner at random (probably cointoss, maybe roll a die, or if all else fails, random number generator.
Ready? Here ya go:
| T-Rex #1: Jim Henson made this wacky sitcom neighbor T-Rex. Who is he or who is he eating? | T-Rex #2: This T-Rex might have eaten someone’s prized Red Bicycle in a dream sequence. |
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| T-Rex #3: Name the belated Flying V loving glam-rock dynamo frontman seen below: | T-Rex #4: Name the pint-sized human voice of this plastic T-Rex (Hint: “INCONCEIVABLE!”) |
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Think you got it? This contest ends May 12th @ 11:59pm. The winner will be announced (discreetly if preferred) by next Wednesday. Warm up your Googles and send your answers to contest@avanttrash.com
I find their name insulting, maybe. Like I don’t know, people get off work at 5 O’Clock? It reminds me that I have shitty hours and they probably lay around all day being British doing cocaine and getting free clothes.
There will be a very loud crash when this one stops.
My West Coast conversion countdown has begun. In two days, AliUptown and intr0vert will reunite when I visit my L.A. counterpart for his birthday (which is Mother’s Day, go buy a card). If you’re in the L.A. area, give us a call. If you are in the Chicagoland area…too bad. I can’t wait. Can you?
I was at Sundance last year a few people we all atwitter about the movie “Teeth“, so i’m watching it now and its kinda boring, a little slow, but only half way through. At the part I’m at now she’s doing a web search for Vagina Dentata so I figured I’d do the same (at the least there will be some crazy tentacle hentai or something as a consolation prize). The first and last thing I found was a page selling The RapeX which is A BARBED FEMALE CONDOM TO THWART AND IDENTIFY RAPISTS. I guess you just put the thing in your hoo-hah and let your short skirt and a bad neighborhood do the rest. (Just make sure you don’t have it on inside out)
The next time I have consensual sex even, I will be checking. Nothing personal ladies, safety first.
Certain songs should be protected against being covered. Not by a bar band, not in karaoke, not at Live Aid, NOT EVER!
Drunken Stepfather posted this live video of Madonna’s “Hung Up” and noted that she fucks up at 1:50 because she is a SHITTY guitar player but I decided to watch it anyway because I was curious at to whether Madonna is actually getting better at guitar…she isn’t. She is constantly looking at her hands and worst of all she doesn’t move around AT ALL when she’s playing. I thought she was a dancer? And I also watched because almost ANY girl looks better when she’s playing a Les Paul. She never really could sing so its a good thing she’s finally trying to validate her “artistic” existence with some musician cred. Thats why I play guitar anyway. So I was watching this video and her absolutely horrid guitar skills and it got to about 4:33 they break into the riff from PANTERA’s “A New Level” off of A Vulgar Display of Power! I know its kind of a generic riff for Pantera but that is exactly the riff, is that legal? It shouldn’t be unless it turned gays and teenage girls into Pantera fans. I was just having a conversation with my co-author here about how people shouldn’t be allowed to cover Michael Jackson or Madonna and I think in this case Madonna shouldn’t be allowed to cover Pantera. Not even that 1 simple riff. I’m also jealous because I really want a black Les Paul Standard and thats what she is pretending to play.
While we are on the subject of covers, allow me to turn you on to one of the best podcasts ever. Its called Coverville and it comes from a guy named Brian Ibbott in Colorado and he does like 3 shows a week and they are nothing but covers. Some are absolutely amazing. Some support my argument of “thou shalt not cover” but its worth subscribing to. Where else are you going to hear an hour of Hall & Oates covers?
And now, to wipe your brain clean of any of that anglophilic albino’s recent musical abortion… fucking PANTERA! (Moscow ca.’91. solo @ 3 mins)
R.I.P. Dimebag
