it's weird having gone from working in a record store, where my boss totally got me and was, in all honesty, one of the raddest human beings i've ever met, to working in a supermarket, where i have nothing in common with anybody, least of all my boss. the other day i had to explain to one of my co-workers that ween didn't stop releasing music after push th' little daisies. and when i mntioned red eye to him, he said ''what's red eye?'' ''red eye records,'' i said. ''what's that?'' it was weird. my life in sydney was so insular - everybody i had any extended contact with was a music fan. i got to thinking that was just normal, and pretty much forgot that there are people out there who don't care about music outside of what's played on nova (or snow fm, down here).

and when people ask me what kind of music i listen to, it's so hard to give a proper answer that's reasonably succinct. i own literally thousands of albums, and buy more each week. there's no rhyme or reason to what i like - black metal, hip-hop, classical - but if i tell people i like ''a bit of everything'' they usually say something like ''yeah, me too - i like eminem and jet!''

this isn't really about my boss, anymore. it's an early saturday morning rant while i sit here dreading my shift tonight.

heartthrob troubadour ryan adams on xasthur:

''Whoever the guy is, he’s amazing. My listening tastes are absolutely not in tune with the kind of music I make. The music that interests me is a bit weirder. “Defective Epitaph” (Hydra Head) has really far-out guitars; it’s not really lyrical. When I close my eyes and listen, I think of a heartbroken demon sitting beside these ashes in hell and really missing his girlfriend. It’s like romantic death metal. The aggressiveness of his guitar riffs can be quite brutal. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s really clever. His flow is so authentically black metal; he knows how to make it orchestral and gothic. I don’t know all the rules to metal, but he seems to kind of be above them. I think now he has a drummer — who’s not technically bad, because it’s speed metal, but the timing isn’t exactly perfect. It comes off as charming, because you can tell what the ideas are, like indie rock. They’re on top of their game.''

Smashing Pumpkins' Anniversary Tour Is a Shitshow

[Posted by Dave Maher on Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 5:30pm]

Poor setlist choices, awful-sounding music, and confounding sartorial decisions mixed with heavy doses of audience mockery: These are the reports we've been getting about the Smashing Pumpkins' ''20th Anniversary Tour'', and guesses at Billy Corgan's motivations can only confuse and infuriate.

Corgan lashed out at his band's fans once again at a recent Chicago gig, and this outburst comes with a YouTube video [via Stereogum].

I mean, we get it, guy! You released a mediocre album and were disappointed when people thought it was mediocre.

But Billy, let's be clear: You say in that video, ''Last I checked we were in an alternative band. 'Alternative' means 'different than what everyone else is doing,' including those reunion bands that go out and just play the old songs.''

Incorrect! ''Alternative'' means nothing in 2008, and the fact that you don't seem to realize that probably has a lot to do with your confusion over people's disappointment when you don't just play your good songs instead of meandering off into formless noise jams. You can do your own thing all you want, but it's rude, to say the least, to begrudge people their expectations when they pay hundreds of dollars to see you. And you can mock ''those reunion bands'' all you want, but your insistence on ruining people's nostalgic fondness for your band instead of playing to it doesn't change the fact that you're cashing in, just like they are.

Personally, I don't buy that this intentional audience befuddling is some kind of pure pursuit of an artistic muse. It seems like the flailing around of an artist who has declined and is unwilling to face that truth even when his own fans proclaim it so by their reactions to his art.

While Stereogum's hypothesis that Corgan's antics could be ''some Tony Clifton crowd-antagonizing performance art BS'' is certainly interesting, I don't buy that either. The man has been too sincerely whiny and self-indulgent in the past for all of this to be one big joke.

So what do we take from this: Billy Corgan is crazy? We knew that. This ''20th Anniversary Tour'' might not live up to the expectations of longtime Pumpkins fans? We could have guessed that. Do we ''give [them] another chance,'' as Corgan requested in a disingenuous apology to ''those of you we've disappointed''?

It seems to me that Corgan himself suggested the best thing to do when he said, ''It doesn't go anywhere from here. You might as well head to your cars.''

i opted to go back to the old version. i fear change.

hwct posted this in another thread, but i think it needs to go in here as well:

NAZXUL Guitarist Killed In Motorcycle Accident

Legendary Aussie thrashers MORTAL SIN have issued the following update:

''Our long time friend Greg Morelli, guitarist of NAZXUL was tragically killed in the early hours of Thursday morning November 20th in a motorcycle accident. As many locals would know a huge storm hit Sydney last night and Greg was riding his motorbike home and hit a greasy wet patch on Parramatta road North Strathfield.

Greg's death will be a huge loss to the Australian metal scene and of course the international black metal scene. The new Nazxul album had just been completed and Greg was really looking forward to getting back out on the road and we had also talked about the possibility of heading over to Europe for some shows next year. Greg explained to me that the new album was sounding like they finally wanted to sound like, and was really proud of what he had achieved.

I hope all the black metal fans out there will raise their horns tonight for Greg. Rest in peace mate, you're a fucking legend.''

papa was a rollin' stone - the temptations

Getting quotes for vinyl now too...

yes please.

'twas rachel evans.

website? what website?

this one!

i'm the famousest customer of the cooma post office.

but anyhoo...

changes are underfoot here at S&F HQ. we've just given the website a quick nip/tuck, hopefully streamlining things a little more. if you hadn't already noticed, there are fancy flash music players all over it now, allowing you to stream tracks from each of our currently available releases. there are new ''add to cart'' buttons, which are but a taste of some major changes to come very soon.

as well, shoeb ahmad's vinyl sketches and sea songs, dead ends and sleeping pills are now available as a bundle at the bargain price of $15, no matter where you live. this is probably a limited offer, so don't snooze.