“The phase of your hallucinations reminds me of those balmy days when the championship mould was breeding, when the fish were long, and so were the valued floats of men we drank through narrow straws…”

This was the first return I got from the Surrealist Compliment Generator.

So… would that do it for anyone? Should I write this one down for future reference?

np – Emmylou Harris / Red Dirt Girl

Still bummed about the Strummer news. 50 is still young, and he was still so creatively vibrant. I saw him with the Mescalaros three years ago, and it was an intense rock-n-roll experience. Such a shame. Rest in peace, Joe.

The lineup for the Los Angeles All Tomorrow’s Parties is up. Matt Groening is doing a pretty damn good job – here’s the list of confirmeds so far :

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead…….

Bangs

Blonde Redhead

Boredoms

Brave Combo

Breeders

Neko Case

Coldcut

Danielson Famile

The Fall

Daniel Johnston

Jah Wobble

The Magic Band

The Melvins w/ Cameron Jamie

Melt Banana

Ooioo

Moris Teper

Wire – (NEW ADDITION)

Yo La Tengo

Good luck to Malkmus topping this. How much is a flight to LA in June?

np – Buffalo Tom / Besides

Joe Strummer passes away at 50.

WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?!

God, this sucks so hard.

So the Pitchfork Best of 2002 is up, and I may as well cash in my hipness chips cause my collection doesn’t represent too well… 6 out of 50. 7, if you include Sleater-Kinney’s One Beat, which I’ll be getting on Boxing Day. Granted, Pitchfork does make efforts to include offerings from genres I don’t listen top (hip-hop, hardcore, IDM), but still. 6 our of 50? I usually do a little better than that. I guess I can take solace that five of them are in the top 10. I am going to have to review their picks as well as go through the reviews in the new BTO to see if there’s anything I should be adding to my list for Boxing Week.

Oh yeah, Soundscapes’ sale is 15% off everything.

Last week I noticed a movie poster for Femme Fatale that declared director Brian De Palma as ‘Master Of The Erotic Thriller’. Excuse me? When did this happen? The Untouchables wasn’t terribly sexy. Scarface neither. Carrie, maybe, if that’s your particular kink. Carlito’s Way? Mission: Imposisble? Geez, talk about making up your own accolades. Here is the man’s complete ouvre – judge for yourself. And I’m sorry, unless you’ve directed at least a half-dozen Shannon Tweed films, you’re not even in the running for ‘Master Of The Erotic Thriller’.

np – Paul Westerberg / Stereo

Caught a matinee of One Hour Photo this afternoon. It wasn’t on my ‘must-see’ list by any means, but I wasn’t avoiding it – I needed something to do this PM, and it fit the schedule.

I was not overly impressed. The direction was very art-house, stylized and stark, the score overbearing. I found Robin Willims’ performance vacant rather than sinister, his testament to the banality of evil was far more effective in Insomnia. Maybe playing against type in the same way twice in a year wasn’t such a good idea. Anyway, beyond that, what suspense was there just didn’t deliver. I don’t demand psychosis, but the climax of the film was both perplexing and uninteresting. Mark Romanek tries a last minute curveball to further explain Williams’ motivations, but it comes off as cliched and desperate. No recommendations for this film are coming from me.

np – Superdrag / Last Call For Vitriol