Avril Does Ke$ha

Avril, it's hard for me to defend you to your detractors when you pull a stunt like this.



While she does an admirable job with the song, the subject matter still blows.

Primal Scream, "Country Girl"

From 2006, here's Primal Scream's "Country Girl."

Enjoy!

Tramp The Last Mile: Our Interview With Henry Rollins

CREDIT: Chapman Baehler

The image of brown-eyed, heavily-muscled Henry Rollins as a screaming, glowering malcontent has persevered in the eyes of those who haven't been following his career as closely as they should have. While others who have stood in his rarefied position now lie in a dung heap of spent force, he seems impossibly alive with more to talk about than ever before.

Most things written about his long career are either fawning or unnecessarily critical, further confirming the belief that he provokes powerful responses from those he comes in contact with.

Through the years he's expressed no allegiance to any particular medium, subculture, or movement, preferring instead to move between music, film, TV, radio, publishing, and spoken word concerts with such rapid fire succession that it makes fans prone to whiplash.

On February 13th, Rollins passed the fifty year mark and his current series of spoken word engagements see him taking an unflinching look at life, rage, and age with the same honesty and humor that busts myths, ignites conflicts, and puts the spotlight again on his showmanship.

As soon as you think you've got Henry pegged down. off he goes again. I was bowled over by his winning charisma and immediate likability of the guy. What follows is our conversation on an early weekday morning fueled by four cups of rocket fuel coffee on my end and probably fifteen on his.

Free SXSW Sampler

Since I'm bitter I'm not going to SXSW, I was delighted to see a free sampler up on iTunes this morning. It's 22 tracks - free!

This year's conference is crazy big. I mean, I think there are more than 1000 musical guests alone. The list is amazing.

Are any of you Brats headed south to catch the festival?

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Super Looks Super!

Rainn Wilson as an Every Man who decides to fight crime?

And enlists Ellen Page as his sidekick?

And it co-stars Kevin Bacon?

April 1st can't come soon enough.

Culture Brats Live Ep VIII Tonight

Please join us for Culture Brats Live tonight on Talk Radio Unlimited. To listen, please visit Talk Radio Unlimited at 10 PM ET and click the "Listen Live" button. To call us on the air, dial 612.293.4262.

Tonight's topics will include:

• R.E.M.
• The Motley Crue/Poison/New York Dolls tour
• Phil Collins
• Henry Rollins
• Ke$ha
• INXS
• And more!

Please join us tonight at 10 PM for Culture Brats Live on Talk Radio Unlimited.

The Children Of The '80s Are Reclaiming Pop Culture The Airwaves.

Review: The Shoe's At Lem Jay's Garage (EP)

The Shoe is billed as "an improvisational music collaboration" rather than a band. This was the first thing that piqued my interest.

The second thing that piqued my interest is the fact that The Shoe is a collaboration between actress Jena Malone (Contact, Saved!, Sucker Punch) and musician Lem Jay Ignacio (who, according to the PR folks at their label has performed and recorded with artists including Zooey Deschanel, Moby, Cypress Hill, Kelly Osbourne, Adam Levine, and Seth MacFarlane, co-produced the song "The Man with the Big Sombrero" for Quentin Tarantino's film Inglorious Basterds and in 2006 he was the musical director and keyboardist for a production of Hedwig And The Angry Inch).

The third thing that caught my eye is the fact that The Shoe is also a traveling musical instrument built into the back of an old steamer truck. Basically, Jena and Lem Jay are street performers. They set up their gear at night in unusual places (abandoned store fronts, parking lots, under billboards) in L.A. and do impromptu performances.

Today they release their first EP to iTunes.

Overall, there's some stuff that I like but it's a little too experimental for my tastes. It reminded me of Amanda Palmer a little bit. I really wanted to like it, but it gets a little too pitchy and avant garde for my liking. I think I'd actually like to see them live though. I did rather like "Raccoon" and this is wisely the track that they're releasing for free download.

So if you're curious, try "Raccoon" and then head on over to iTunes to check out the rest of the EP. If you're in or near LA you might want to try to catch a show. Their website has information about upcoming shows.

Edie Brickell And New Bohemians, "Circle"

From 1988, here's Edie Brickell and New Bohemains with "Circle."

Enjoy!

Top 25 R.E.M. Songs (5-1)

On the eve of the release of R.E.M.'s fifteenth studio album, Collapse Into Now, we thought it might be fun to rank our favorite R.E.M. songs, so we compiled our top 25 for this week's Ranked! Here are the Top Five:

5. "Losing My Religion"

Top 25 R.E.M. Songs (10-6)

On the eve of the release of R.E.M.'s fifteenth studio album, Collapse Into Now, we thought it might be fun to rank our favorite R.E.M. songs, so we compiled our top 25 for this week's Ranked! Here are numbers 6-10:

10. "Man On The Moon"