Back in action, yo

No excuses, just an article about a guy who’s reviewing 1000 albums before the end of 2009.

Best to take his words re: how & why.  I will say though – we need things like this, even if it is just an internet stunt.  Weingarten’s project is like performance art; its statement is much larger than the albums its reviews.  Music criticism, like all criticism, is being crowdsourced by the internet, and tastemakers are now expected to deliver lifestyle rather than commentary.  We’re losing true expertise as a cultural value, and the @1000timesyes project is protest against this.

In a world of foxes, maybe we need more hedgehogs.

Paul Westerberg

There’s a great (kinda old) interview with Paul Westerberg of The Replacements on pitchfork.  In it, he tells a great story about the moment that catalyzed the band’s breakup:

It was that one fucking poster in Europe…if they ever make a movie about us, that was “the moment.” The German promoter comes in and shows us the poster with me, “Paul Westerberg and the Replacements.” In German or whatever. Tommy ripped it in half and said “that’s fucking it” and stormed out. I thought, there it is, we’re done.

The Replacements were a phenomenal alt-rock band during the 80s who were known for their constantly changing sound and unpredictable live show.  If you don’t know, now you know.

Make sure to watch the video above- its from the band’s one appearance on S.aturday N.ight L.ive.  They play very tightly and with a lot of energy, which is impressive since the band was blacklisted after the performance for swearing at the camera, stumbling around on stage, and generally just being absurdly drunk.  The video is pretty hard to find since above variety show is assholes about their video clips (hence the period breaks).

Bonus: Free Album!