Date: Wed, 21 Jun 1995 22:55:19 -0400 From: "cholera" <rockie@neurosis.wariat.org> CAMBODIA : A ZINE FOR PEOPLE WHO FIND MUSIC TOO SLOW VOL 1 #5 Welcome to Cambodia. CONTENTS Art is not a Game Reviews, etc. Cleveo hardcore fest announce ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -the jesus lizard may be taking major labels a little more seriously this summer. if they sign, depending on what kind of music they release (i.e. hopefully better than 'Down') this could prove to be a good thing for the indie scene. of course i could be stupid and naive, too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ART IS NOT A GAME Irony is the refuge of the educated -fugazi Because I'm a musician in a working, touring indie band, it makes sense that I focus on the music industry as a great example of what Mass Media and Corporate Global Franchises have done to today's culture (or lack thereof). I'm gonna back track here cause I don't think that the original intention of this is clear. This is not simply an anti-Major Label/Music Industry bitch sheet. The BIG BIG picture is this (not that its that tough to figure out) ... Given the power of authority, be it government, dictatorship, corporate or anything else, those who have it take full advantage of their positions by manipulating what has been called the tribal conciousness, or mass conciousness, obviously the antithesis to private and personal identity. Understanding our surroundings no longer happens, we simply experience our environments because thats how its been set up for us. There of course is the need for a certain amount of external authority to take care of huge economies, etc., but they should always be subject to interrogation. And since todays authorities in the guise of Big Business, and very much like todays government, have gone unchecked and unconfronted for so long, every question thrown in their direction comes back referencing themselves. Let big business handle it, let the government handle it. And nobody thinks anything of it. Fawcett's book (which I am stealing from heavily) uses as its main example to represent his argument the Khmer Rouge era circa the mid seventies. The primary result which the Khmer Rouge succeeded in bringing upon the people of Cambodia was complete and total loss of identity, history and education. Those who spoke up were killed. Those who knew a different language were killed. Their goal was to bring Cambodia out of todays modern culture and plunge it back into the dark ages of simple peasantry. And they basically succeeded by executing over those 3-4 years one of the biggest genocides ever seen by man. Alright, lets look at the specifics - Absolute Authority, loss of identity, lack of education, authoritative answers to questions (in this case the answers were death) and a complete white out of history. Result: Genocide. A perfectly executed cleansing of conciousness. So similar are the two working sets of Khmer Rouge and Media/Franchises its scary, with the same set of rules to achieve essentially the same things. Although the result of genocide at this point in time would be slightly overstating the Media/Franchise scenario, it's not really that much different. SET RANTMODE=ON Everything in today's society whether you like it or not is a consumable commodity of style. The urge to cash in on it as a "generation X"er is huge. Especially when given access to this "superhighway" you're reading this off of. It gives us a level of interaction within the system where previously we could only watch and drool. Since now our letters to the editor can now be electronic, it seems, the obvious and unavoidable dangers that come with rearranging human life around the cultural needs of business are, well, insignificant. Since 'democracy' means having more consumer choices, and information technology will vastly increase the power of our channel changers, hey, presto! More democracy! - T. Frank Dark Age from Baffler #6 And if you believe that, heres another one. Compact Disk technology is superior to analogue recordings. Quieter, indeed, put just pick up any audiophile publication to get the real specs on it. Why do you think no true classical music freak/audiophile listens to music on cds? In short (very short) there is a ceiling and a floor in the sampling rate which if a recording's frequencies surpass them, the recording as a whole must be compressed to fit in these ranges, which changes the recording as a whole which sucks. Vinyl may be noisy but a sure as shit is an accurate repersentation of what was actually recorded. Information on CDs even decay over time. Sony didn't mention this, did they? Just illustrating the circular self referencing which enables the Franchises to manipulate the tribal conciousness into believing just about anything. As much as I wish I could say I had answers to these problems, I don't. We are dependent as a sub-culture to the mass culture indutry itself. There are an awful lot of good ideas floating around, from the die hard DIYs to the usage of corporate tools for your own benefit. As far as I'm concerned, being the indie freak that I am, of course you should stay indie. But that might not stop my band from jumping the fence if a perfect deal came around, one that didn't promise loads of money, etc. cause I know a band like mine couldn't possibly sell that much product to warrant huge budgets. Unlike many of my indie contemporaries I believe that it is indeed plausible to eventually see major label contracts specifically geared for indie bands such that the bands are not only granted total freedom to record whatever, whenever, etc., etc., but also had control over promotion, bookers, roadies, management and all the other shit that we could really do without but big league labels seem to think its necessary. Recently on some indie e-maillist a large discussion about indie philosophy broke out and ran wild. Some very interesting thoughts, etc., but quite a bit of clued out people too. Like for instance those who chastise others simply for purchasing a recording that is on a major label because of the economic factors which supports the evils of the corporate music industry. Now, I recognize these evils just as clearly as the next person but going to the point of not buying a recording simply because its on a major is pretty out there. If someone is gonna take that strong a standpoint they better be prepared to back it up. Do you drink pepsi? wear levis? drive ford trucks? use at&t? have a hitachi cd player? run microsoft software? you can't be that indie towards one thing and not towards others and expect people to take you seriously. And nobody can avoid supporting the corporate evils of the world unless they are living in some commune without utilities growing cabbage and raising pigs for methane fuel. get it? There are too many fine points to all of this that it sucks. just keep in mind that the purpose here is not to solve all our problems but to educate because education creates an appetite for creativity and complexity and is the singlemost useful and obvious hindrance to franchise consumerism. --- continued next ish --- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff McLeod from SUBVERSIVE WORKSHOP NEWSLETTER (send a couple of stamps to the below address to receive it), the fantastic band bert and regular Cambodia submissor writes this - When I think about music, the stuff I like, the stuff I hate and the stuff I write and play in my own band my mind reels with questions and possibilities. Why do I like certain bands and get sickened at the sound of others? Why did I nearly pass out when I received a Xmas card from Dazzling Killmen's vocalist/guitarist Nick Sakes telling me of the death of his amazing band . . . when at the same moment I would have not even flinched at hearing that, perhaps, Green Day's van/limo/tour bus/whatever they enjoy travelling in at the moment had crashed and disintegrated, killing all three cutie-pies on the hot pavement of Florida's I-10? Just personal taste, I suppose. Would Nirvana'a IN UTERO have been better if they had left Albini's recording alone and had not gotten the "let's make sure this record is successful, OK?" jitters . . . subsequently making them tamper with the raw product? Maybe. Still, it's probably more accurate than NEVERMIND. Does a band's personal preference make a difference anymore? If Jawbox say that they went to Atlantic strictly for "better distribution and promotion," then why did they still sell just about the same amount of records as when they were on Dischord? Disregard the fact that FOR YOUR OWN SPECIAL SWEETHEART was better than any of the Dischord stuff. Will they change as a result of the move to the "big time?" The NEXT release will be the proof. Look at Helmet. MEANTIME, even though more of a lavish production than STRAP IT ON was, did rock and had its own bludgeoning point and appeal. Ah! The proof was in BETTY! Helmet streamlined. Paige less of a barker and more of a crooner (if Ozzy could ever croon, I guess). More melody. More of the FORMULA. I see them do this, and I go YES . . . majors do make you sell out in your own certain way. Maybe Helmet had this in mind all along. Who knows but them. They'll never tell, I bet you that! On the other side of the coin, I see Melvins getting better and better--although I'm sure there are folks out there who would argue like motherfuckers over this point. Just what do major labels see that they will gain when they sign a band with non-commercial marketability? What do these bands hope to gain? Are their goals just different from a band like mine, who only wants to be able to get shit written, be happy with it and get it our in people's hands adn get our asses on the road? We got to record with someone who I never thought we'd never have the privilege of doing that with. I mentioned him earlier, and, although many other bands have recorded with him and maybe felt like "whatever" about the session, being able to go to Chicago and put our stuff to tape with Steve Albini was a peak experience and a goal that I never realized, I suppose, or envisioned my band doing. Would someone write CAMBODIA and discuss the different ways bands think? If you'll get the ball rolling, I will definitely continue!!! Jeff McLeod THE SUBVERSIVE WORKSHOP NEWSLETTER 219 So. Capitol Pkwy. Montgomery, AL 36107 75321.2755@compuserve.com EDITOR's NOTE - Jeff's band, Bert, BTW completely smokes and has a just recorded a batch of new songs with everyone's friend and ours, steve al bundy. hopefully he will get the new recording here in my hands so i may be so kind as to give it a large thumbs up to all our readers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- REVIEWS, ETC. SEASON TO RISK - IN A PERFECT WORLD: A sure sign of a band coming into its own, finding itself, if you will, is when they go from "pretty good," as on Season To Risk's previous self-titled release, to "pretty goddamned frightening," seen in great, reckless-abandoned excess on IN A PERFECT WORLD. Where Season To Risk once tempered grunge-like riffs and melodies with some dissonance, they now take the bitter mix of hate, ash and acid that simmered there completely over the edge. You'll think Cop Shoot Cop and Craw and Johnboy and about beating that guy at work that you can't stand into an unrecognizable state. Marvelous guitar work will gnaw away your spinal column with its supreme ugliness and heaviness. "Timebomb"'s nasty and perfect arrangement and cb radio vocals will be a disease in your head all week. You'll break things, grind your teeth a bit lower to the huge mean sounds overwhelming you and smile at the birth of a great new thing. Finally, in the age of all the really good bands breaking up under the shitty fist of popular alternative culture--a lovely gem of screaming, misshappen malcontent in music. (Red Decibel, Inc., 2217 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55404) UNWOUND - THE FUTURE OF WHAT: Unwound are everything that Sonic Youth used to be (and more) and everything that Sonic Youth should be now (instead of the lazy rehashing alternative dinosaurs that they've obliviously become). Jesus Christ, they're a three-piece too--and STILL more aggressively innovative than the aforementioned band!!! THE FUTURE OF WHAT is more mid-to-slow paced than the masterpiece that was NEW PLASTIC IDEAS, but does harken back to the group's earlier (and, in it's own way, brilliant) FAKE TRAIN material. Sarah Lund is a monstrous drummer to judge all other drummers by. She propels Unwound's complex songs and wall of white-hot noise through diverse grounds of beauty, drone and hard-nosed progressive punk. I've always thought that punk rock should've matured a long, long time ago. Unwound is proof-positive that it really HAS happened. I just wish more groups would take notice. Here's to the future. (Kill Rock Stars, 120 NE State Ave. 418, Olympia, WA 98501) FORK - Tapeworm Begat Tapeworm/Big Meth 7": Fork is an ass-beating three-piece from Arizona. They deal in meaty, caustic chunks of distortion and abrasion--and they rock at the same time. "Tapeworm Begat Tapeworm" has hooks and hurts that nay AmRep band would pay good money for. Howling vocals and plenty of aggression. "Big Meth" scoots with caffeine overdrive through a haze of hardcore noise and hateful punches. Potent, abusive music. (Medical Records, 61 E. Columbus, Ste. 102, Phoenix, AZ 85012) Jeff McLeod e-mail: 75321.2755@compuserve.com ------------------------------ LiveReviews, BinaryScale 1=good, 0=bad 7000 dead rats 1 boulder 1 chum 1 engincore 1 fuzzhead 0 you would if you loved me 1 grain 1 philo beddow 1 beel jak 0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1995 CLEVELAND HARDCORE FESTIVAL AUGUST 11-13, 1995 Assfactor 4 Autumn Bisybackson Cable Channel Common Bond Dahlia Seed Deadguy Despair Empathy Falling in Line Fifteen Fracture Fragment Frail Franklin Garden Variety Grade Gregor Gruff Gus Hot Water Music I.I.G. Introspect Jihad Los Crudos Mainspring Minnow Prevail Splinter Threadbare Tired From Now On Transcend Transit As of now, it's at the Phantasy Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio. The Phantasy is located on Detroit Avenue, one block west of W. 117th on the West Side of Cleveland. Take I-90 to the W. 117th St. exit, go north to Detroit, Left on Detroit, park in lot behind/next to Phantasy. CALL AHEAD TO VERIFY LOCATION!!! Don't blame me if it gets moved and you didn't check it out. I'll leave the info on my answering machine as the show date nears. All proceeds (past paying bands, rent, insurance, and sound) will go to the Genesis Home, a Cleveland Battered Women's shelter. If you'd like hotel info, i'll be making a post about that later. Hang in there! The show is full. Period. We will not be taking any more bands. We have four alternates, and that is all. The cost of the show has yet to be determined, but it's looking like ~$20 for the weekend for over 30 bands at a good venue. If you don't like it, set up your own damn fest. For More Info Phantasy: 216-228-6300 Randy: 216-391-7809 Julie: 216-749-5745 Justin: 216-984-3213 or email Randy at: rht3@po.cwru.edu If you feel you can get post a flyer or 3, please contact Randy. I'll xerox a bunch and send 'em to you. If you'd be kind enough to run an ad in your zine or put this info in, please feel free! I'd love you forever! Randy 3206 Prospect #4 Cleveland, OH 44115 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VERY SMALL CRAW TRIP JUNE 24 NYC Coney Island High 25 Rutgers for U.S. vs. Columbia in U.S. CUP 26 Philadelphia somewhere 27 Baltimore Club Midnight 29 Norfolk somewhere else 30 Richmond Twisters i won't even call this outing a tour. we're so lame but we all have jobs and such. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Booking info for craw mail me or call 2162312907 and ask for dave. booking info for morsel and hairy patt band call 5139610357 ask for lucia. booking info on JAKS call 3132131457 or 3132131280 --- rockie@neurosis.wariat.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Back Issues at FTP 141.214.4.135 under the directory /docs/choke. WWW stuff located at "http://kzsu.stanford.edu/uwi.html" under Shopping Maul ... Thanks Jon. -- Renewal. Americans are crazy about renewal. - R. M. Nixon