Let’s check in with the irreverent mind behind Uncensored Interview’s blog, The Shark, for another installment of Uncensored Thursdays…
Never before in most of our lifetimes has the need to maintain employment been so dire. People are literally clinging onto their jobs for dear life, hoping the bloody recession axe slices just above their heads and takes out some other unfortunate douchebag.
I was walking by the unemployment office the other day when I noticed three hookers and a coke dealer waiting in line. You know things are bad when hookers are being laid off! Now who will suck the dicks of all of those greedy, coked-up Wall Street execs who piloted their companies into the ground? Certainly not their wives! It’s a sad, sad situation for America.
Last month I propositioned that being Indie means having a crappy job, but what is an indie kid to do when employment is unavailable at even the crappiest of crappy jobs? Even in a recession, bills still have to be paid, debt still has to be taken care of and new tight pants and newspaper-boy hats have to be purchased:
READ ON for the rest of this week’s Uncensored Thursdays…
If you ever wonder what sets apart the folks who successfully pave thier way through creative endeavors, Jesse Jarnow cut his teeth “beginning in 2nd grade, when he edited ‘2nd Grade News’ by writing it out longhand and Xeroxing it,” and worked on homemade ‘zines and school papers ever since.
His first published piece ran in John Dwork’s now defunct Grateful Dead fanzine, Dupree’s Diamond News, and his first regular gig began with the early days of jambands.com. Jesse Jarnow has now graced the pages (both pulp and processor) of Relix, Paste, the London Times, the Village Voice, the AP, Salon and many more. While it ain’t easy given his prolific output, you can try keep to up with his frenzied pace at the Frank and Earthy blog, his Frow Show radio program on WFMU or his Twitter feed. As longtime readers and fans, we’re excited to have Jesse at HT today to shed some light on the ins and outs on his life as a music scribe.
Ryan Dembinsky: More so than the vast majority of music critics out there, you seem to really strive to carefully construct your record reviews, no matter how long or short, often crafting elaborate sentences, including deep references and devising thoughtful comparisons. Could you walk us through the process of reviewing an album from start to finish?
Jesse Jarnow: Thanks! It’s a bit different each time, depending on how long before deadline I get a copy of what I’m reviewing. Ideally, it’s about a month. For albums I’m psyched about, I’ll first listen straight through on headphones. But, most new music I get goes into a thousand-or-so-song playlist that I run on shuffle most of the time. It’s a combination of everything I’ve gotten recently — music by new bands, random downloads, live stuff, outtakes, compilations, old stuff I’m just discovering… just, everything.
READ ON for more of our Writer’s Workshop with Jesse Jarnow…
Yesterday, after a couple of tracks from Animal Collective’s forthcoming album Merriweather Post Pavilion leaked, an email surfaced purportedly from Brian Weitz aka Geologist imploring their fans to assist in
Former HT Blips featured artist Alby Cohen has spent the last few months working tirelessly at Rough Magic Studios in Brooklyn on a brand new batch of original songs. Cohen
Jack Johnson and an assortment of musicians on his Brushfire Records roster pitched in to create a debut holiday album called This Warm December.
Zach Gill – Johnson’s keyboardist, solo artist and front man for the Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO) contributed to the Brushfire holiday compilation with a solo track on the album and another one with ALO. Gill has been keeping himself busy lately touring with Mason Jennings after releasing an impressive new solo album entitled Stuff
Jack Spilberg: What’s better, naughty or nice?
Zach Gill: Naughty is usually very attractive at first, but I’ve found that nice works a lot better in the long run.
JS: Which do you prefer, real or fake Christmas trees?
ZG: I like living Christmas trees the most. We have had the same tree for the last few years- she lives outside for most of the year. It is always exciting when we bring her inside for the holidays and decorate her up. She is tiny compared to standard Christmas trees though. If she ever grows too big to come inside we will plant her permanently outside.
JS: What was the best Christmas gift you ever received?
ZG: My parents got me a puppy (a beagle named Frisky) and tickets to see Huey Lewis and the News when I was nine years old. That was a good year.
READ ON for more of Jack’s holiday interview with Zach Gill…
Brooklyn’s Yeasayer has had quite an impressive 2008. The quartet continues to play to bigger audiences each time they return to a city thanks in large part to their fantastic
With original songwriting and an innovative new bluegrass sound, Town Mountain has all the right ingredients to become the newest young bluegrass band sensation.
Pollstar reports the legendary ’80s group, fronted by Morrissey, and rumored to be reforming for Coachella is unlikely true. “The stories circulating about a Smiths reunion are as usual untrue,”
Widespread Panic and Yonder Mountain String Band are celebrating the New Year with two nights at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO, December 30 and 31. The New Year’s Eve
