IN THIS ISSUE OF COSMIK DEBRIS: Interviews with Stew of The Negro Problem, James Emery of the String Trio of New York, and Frenchy - a painter of a different color. We continue our series on the abuses suffered by artists at the hands of the record industry. More History of Art Rock, and another new column to add to the mix. 90 CD REVIEWS, DVDs and other stuff reviewed... What? You want more? Start reading!

COSMIK RADIO!: Finally!! Things are whipped into shape around here and there's a brand new Cosmik Radio to listen to, and another one waiting in the wings. You just need a RealAudio Player to listen. If you don't have one, go pick one up. Cosmik Radio is just the kind of Net-Only audio that radio station program directors don't want you getting hooked on. So go ahead. Inhale!

THE STEW SOLUTION - Stew is the leader of The Negro Problem and a solo artist with his own unique kind of audience that hasn't got a checkbox on the demographic sheets. Considered by many to be among the most talented singer/songwriters on the scene today, Stew is continuing to make his music and take it on the road, keeping on playing to find people he makes happy - "the 42 year old guy, the 50 year old guy, who does listen to cool stuff, who wants to keep expanding his or her collection of interesting stuff, to find the other members of that tribe."

INTO THE VORTEXT WITH FRENCHY - Learn all about AcoustiOptics and painting the vortex of sound and energy that's present in a live musical event. When this guy paints a concert, he paints the entire thing, and becomes part of the performance itself.

ARTISTPLATFORM: JAMES EMERY - New this month, we present Glenn Ito's ArtistPlatform series. Glenn talks to a wide range of jazz musicians, each month asking a standard set of questions, hoping their responses will foster greater appreciation and understanding of the important role they serve in the music - for you, the listener, player, producer, broadcaster, journalist.

MUSIC BUSINESS MICROSCOPE - Part Two: Getting NOTICED by the Major Labels and the Contract Pitfalls to Look out for Once you Do. Another article by music attorney Dina LaPolt, exposing exactly how musicians are making money for the labels and none for themselves.

PART 5 OF THE GOLDEN AGE OF ART ROCK - Into The Electronic Wilderness: The Plugged In Pioneers. This month Rusty delves in to electronic music technology and the artists who created and use it.



CD & RECORD REVIEWS - Huge! That's the only way to describe the CD review section this month. 90 - count 'em 90 - reviews!

EVERYTHING ELSE IN REVIEW - And when we say Everything Else, this month we mostly mean DVDs, but there are some books and CDs (or at least their promo stuff) and one Major Motion Picture...



CLOSET PHILOSOPHY - Learn how you, too, support child abuse, murder and terrorism.

COSMIK BLUES - April Fool on you, and a couple corrections on the side.

TUNING IN TIME - DJ Johnson tells you about an incredible event in 1945 - involving New York City, the Empire State Building, and an airplane - and brings you the original news broadcast.

PIGSHIT - So what do you think? Should Pat Boone be inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? See what a far-from-scientifically-surveyed cast of illustrious musical characters had to say about this question.

MASS APPEAL MADNESS - Catharsis in Contemporary Composition is the topic of Jason's column this month. Part one of a two-part series looks at the music your parents found release to.

MEDIA CURMUDGEON - Another new addition to the Cosmik Collection of Monthly Goodies is Media Curmudgeon. Karl Cable is here to tell us all about the media industry, and what you should believe just because it's in the media. This month: All Media Is Local Media.



CREDITS - The names and e-mail addresses of the people responsible for this thing.

COSMIK RADIO - Want an hour of music that fits the personality of Cosmik Debris Magazine? That's right, Sinatra segues into Megadeth into Peter Tosh into Man Or Astro-Man into... well, you get the picture. It's a little something we like to call Genre Whiplash. Or maybe you're in the mood for a trip into The Fog Machine, our mix of music of the ethereal variety. All you need is a RealAudio player. Come on in.

OUR OWN WEBSITES - Many of the Cosmik Debris writers have websites of their own. We have some links right here.



Well we're still standing. After the first installment in our series on shady dealings in the music business, the plush Cosmik Towers haven't been blown up mysteriously, so we'd like to thank the shadiest dealers on that playing field and remind them that equal time will be offered. Oddly enough, what we've actually found is that most of the industry types we've talked to since Dina LaPolt's first article went online a month ago don't bother to deny any of it. The attitude is simply "that's the way it's always been and always will be." They don't try to explain any of it because they don't feel they have to. This is the reason we're doing what we're doing. We're doing this to educate the public to some degree, but especially to educate all of the musicians out there who sweat out set after set in the clubs, honing their sound and dreaming of that big day when someone in a suit hands them a pen. Follow this series, and if you learn nothing else from it, learn that when that day comes you should get a qualified music industry attorney to represent you and go over your contract with a fine toothed comb. We welcome contributions to this series from both sides. Just drop a message to microscope@cosmik.com.

We hope you enjoy the April issue. Our forte is diversity, and you're getting that this month for certain. Singer/songwriter Stew, jazz guitarist James Emery, painter extraordinaire Frenchy, part five of The History Of Art Rock, 90 CD reviews, several DVD reviews and some other goodies, plus columns and the aforementioned part two in the series on the music business. Last month it had a different title: Major Label Microscope. This month we've changed it to Music Business Microscope because shady dealings can happen at the indie level, as well. It seemed like a more honest title.

Enjoy the issue and we'll see you next month.

DJ Johnson
Editor

Did you miss an issue? We now have many of our back issues online, including sound clips and extras. Check out interviews with The Witches, Electric Frankenstein, the Vampire Beach Babes, Jeff Berlin, Curve, Michael Shermer, Steel Pulse, Transglobal Underground, Mark Helm, The Southern Rock All-Stars, Ottmar Liebert, Jason Noble of Shipping News, Phil Vassar, Joel Dorn, Mark Cline of Love Tractor, Texas Terri (of Texas Terri & The Stiff Ones), Mike Keneally, Chris Shinn of Unified Theory, Alley of Wise Monkey Orchestra, Mario Escovedo of The Dragons, The Clarks, Big Ass Truck, Richard Cheese, Paul Krassner, Tony Iommi, Ron Dante...