Every month, Cosmik Debris brings you many CD and record reviews, but the writers manage to find a little time for other pursuits, like reading, going to movies and watching videos. That's where Everything Else In Review comes in.


BOOK: In Cold Sweat - Interviews
With Really Scary Musicians
Author: Thomas Wictor
Publisher: Limelight Editions
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

As a person who has interviewed his share of musicians, let me tell you that sometimes they can truly give you ulcers, cause the veins in your temples to throb and basically make you wish you were under ten comforters watching an old Bogie and Bacall movie. It's rare. Most are cooperative and even kind, but on occasion you run into a powder keg. This is a book about such experiences.

Tom Wictor, a fine music journalist from Bass Player Magazine and other musician-oriented publications, has given us the full, un-edited text of four interviews in this book. This is something you never really get to see. By the time you see an interview, it's been sanded and buffed and polished and made as close to perfect as it can get. Here, we get every word said by interviewer and subject, with plenty of narration by Wictor along the way to make it all make sense. We find out (surprise, surprise) Gene Simmons, of Kiss, is not somebody you want dating your daughter. He's rude, pushy, sexist, and oh-so sure that his every utterance is gospel. On the other hand, we also learn that the fire spitting demon with the ten foot tongue has an ultra-sharp mind. If only he'd use it for good instead of evil. But no, Simmons would rather use it to play mind games with whoever happens into his domain - in this case Wictor - and mercilessly pick him to pieces until he just wants to go home!

Almost half of the 300 page book is devoted to an interview with former Zappa bassman Scott Thunes. In case you're unaware, Thunes has an industry-wide reputation for the kind of behavior that would land a person in a book subtitled Interviews With Really Scary Musicians. It's long been accepted as fact that Zappa's entire 1988 touring band quit because they refused to work with Thunes any longer. In this book, Thunes doesn't just brush over the subject as he has often done in the past. He goes into page after page of detail, giving his side of the story. Whether you choose to believe it or not isn't the point. The point is that this long text gives you insight into a complex person and his issues and thoughts without editing them into easily digested bites. As if there could be easily digested bites.

Wictor isn't afraid to admit when he's afraid, and it's clear he was more than a little nervous during these interviews. You feel the tension. When he tries to dig information out of former Joy Division and New Order bassist Peter Hook, he does so knowing of Hook's legendary short fuse, and to make matters worse, everything that can go wrong with the logistics of an interview already has. And when he meets up with Devo's Jerry Casales, he finds a bright, intelligent man with a caustic outlook on many issues and a capacity for falling so deep into thought that he almost falls out of the interview. Wictor earns his money, that's for sure. He's lurched at, challenged, and Peter Hook even farted next to him approximately every 90 seconds for 26 minutes. If you think being a music journalist is a piece of cake, kick back in your safe and cozy Laz-y-Boy and chew on this for a while.

(Available at Amazon.com. Also be sure to visit Thomas Wictor's website at www.thomaswictor.com.)


(C) 2001 - DJ Johnson



MOVIE REVIEW: K-PAX
Starring Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges
Directed by Iain Softley
Written by Charles Leavitt
Music by Edward Shearmur
Universal Pictures
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes

No, K-PAX is not the call letters for a Christian music station; it's a fine movie, a story of Outer Space and Inner Space. It's centered on a man who claims he's from another world, Prot (pronounced like "Prote"), played very convincingly by Kevin Spacey. Just as compelling is Jeff Bridges in the role of Dr. Mark Burrows.

Early in the story Prot is found by police and sent to a mental hospital in New York. No, let's call a spade a spade. It's a looney bin, a dumping ground for all kinds of cast-off people that no one seems to be able to help. In a way Prot fits right in, but he starts helping the patients more than the doctors do. Enter Dr. Mark Burrows who doesn't relish taking on another charity case, but he at least wants to find out who Prot really is. Here the movie becomes more of a detective story as the doctor tries to unravel Prot's past. It's also concerned with Burrows coming up against the barriers of his own beliefs as Prot argues convincingly that he actually is from another planet.

It's interesting to note that Bridges got an Oscar nomination years ago playing a similarly displaced being in Starman. Since then he's dabbled in so many different kinds of roles, from the befuddled Dude in the Big Lebowski to the President in The Contender that it's hard to imagine a role he couldn't handle. He's not about to steal Spacey's thunder here, but Bridges actually has been given most of the film's important moments.

Iain Softley directs the movie in a very capable, understated way. The best thing may be the cinematography for the way that he uses light as a metaphor (light travel is how Prot says he got to our planet) and flashes from conveniently placed crystals and colored panes of glass keep an undertone of beauty bubbling throughout the movie. The soundtrack by Edward Shearmur also adds a lot to the overall effect. It's suitably modern, electronic and handled very well in a Moby sort of way.

It all adds up to an excellent, touching move, a story of great humanity. In a nutshell K-PAX is almost like Starman meets One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Anyway I can't give away too much without spoiling the movie for you, but this may well show up as an Oscar contender, if not for the story then certainly for the performances.


(C) 2001 - Rusty Pipes



BOOK ON CDROM: THE KNIGHTS OF FUZZ
The Garage & Psychedelic Music Explosion, 1980-2000
Author: Timothy Gassen
Publisher: Purple Cactus Media Productions
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

It may be a bit difficult for me to be unbiased about this particular item. Timothy Gassen's book, The Knights Of Fuzz, was one of the most important books in my reference library when I began Cosmik Debris. We weren't as musically diverse back then and our main coverage was surf and garage music. When I needed info on a garage band, there were two main sources on my shelf: The Knights Of Fuzz and Vernon Joynson's Fuzz, Acid & Flowers. Both were indispensable, but when I needed in-depth info, I reached for The Knights first. That's the first reason it's hard to be unbiased. The second is that the author, Timothy Gassen, was coaxed by yours truly in 1997 to write a column for this magazine, which he did for two years and change. It was called Psychedelicatessen and it was one of our reader favorites. Eventually Mr. Gassen, who also fronted two bands (The Marshmallow Overcoat and The Purple Merkins) and did radio play-by-play for his local hockey team, had too much on his plate and had to give up Psychedelicatessen, much to our sadness. He was also planning and working on this CD-ROM version of Knights Of Fuzz, it seems. When he slept... I don't know.

Here's how it works. Pop this thing into your CD drive (PC or Mac, don't matter which) and it loads your web browser, which it uses as both an interface for the CD material and a standard browser for accessing updatable material from Purple Cactus Media Productions' Online site. The table of contents offers you several choices. On the CD itself is the original book, with information on garage bands and music from 1980 to 1995. The original color photograph section from the book is there, as well. Then there is the update section, which is made up of many articles and columns Gassen has written in the years since the book was published. The majority of these are his Garage Nation columns and articles, but half a dozen are Psychedelicatessen columns from Cosmik Debris (which he accidentally spelled "Cosmic" but we forgive him for the most part). He chose the name of his Cosmik Debris column because he had run a zine of his own by the same name, and there are several interviews and articles from issues 1 through 5 of that zine here as well. To finish off the new section Gassen's added a "new photos" sub directory that has four parts: album and 45 covers, North American groups, European groups and The Cavern Club, which is just a few shots of the author, Bomp honcho Greg Shaw and other garage heavyweights hanging out at a club in 1986.

This would have been impressive enough, especially for those who want it as a reference work and not as casual reading material, because everybody knows reference material is much more desirable in a copy and paste format for researching. No, Gassen went two steps farther by tossing in ten extremely entertaining garage rock videos (including one by his own band, The Marshmallow Overcoat, which just happens to be one of the best of the lot) and a 26-song garage compilation in MP3 format. Great stuff, too, like The Leopards' "Psychedelic Boy," Crimson Shadows' "What I Want," Sick Rose's "Nothing To Say," The Lears' "Then You Want," Miracle Workers' "One Step Closer To You," Creatures of the Golden Dawn's "The Golden Dawn Is Near," Green Telescope's "Make Me Stay," and, of course, The Marshmallow Overcoat's "(We're The) Knights Of Fuzz." 128 kbps sound, CD quality, no skimping. There's also a section of fan-supplied updates and a small section of links. Quite a nice package. Yeah, it IS hard to be unbiased, all things considered, but with all this packed into a CD ROM, I don't care if the guy wrote for our chief competitors. It's the easiest bottom line ever: you love garage music? You get this.

(You can find more information and order The Knights Of Fuzz at www.purple-cactus.tv.)


(C) 2001 - DJ Johnson



DVD: Rush - Chronicles
(Mercury)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

This is a very basic DVD without any extras. What you get is a collection of Rush videos that go back only as far as the Farewell To Kings album ("Closer To The Heart") and lean heavily on later period material such as "Subdivisions" and "Lock and Key." As a video companion to the Chronicles double CD set, it fails in that it ignores the early career of the band, leaving out important work such as "Bastille Day," "Anthem" and everything from 2112. There are live concert films of the band doing these songs that could have been used on this DVD. My other bitch is that there are no special features worth getting excited about. You can select different sound schemes and you can select continuous play on/off. That's it. An interview would have been nice. A behind the scenes short. Anything. Throw us a bone. Guess what we do when we shop for DVDs: we look at the back and read the special features list. That doesn't mean we won't want this, because what is here is worth having, but if I've got just enough to buy one DVD today and I'm at the store with this one in my right hand and the one in my left had has vids plus an interview plus a "making of" plus a discography, there's a good chance I'm getting that one. Spoiled? Maybe, but hey, music industry, you're the one that spoiled me. Don't give me steak six days a week and then expect me to be happy with a corn dog on Sunday.

Track List:

Closer To The Heart * The Trees * Limelight * Distant Early Warning * Tom Sawyer * Red Barchetta * Subdivisions * Red Sector A * The Big Money * Mystic Rhythms * Time Stand Still * Lock and Key * The Enemy Within * Afterimage


(C) 2001 - DJ Johnson



CONCERT REVIEW: The Damned
VENUE: The Showbox, Seattle, WA
DATE: September 22, 2001
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

The Damned brought their unique brand of dark punk to Seattle's Showbox Theatre this past September, and the show harkened right back to the mid-70's when this London-based band was ascendant alongside such acts as The Sex Pistols, The Clash, New York Dolls, Culture Club, Iggy and the Stooges, or labels like I.R.S or Stiff Records.

Unlike most of those bands or record labels, though, The Damned have prevailed.

They've released over 60 records or CDs, including two three-CD boxed sets, The Damned Boxed Set (1999) and Neat, Neat, Neat, five years ago. They've also released a "Best Of" collection more than 20 years ago as well as two singles collections of their work on Stiff Records (produced by Nick Lowe) and MCA.

This year's line-up features founding members Dave Vanian on lead vocals complete with his own ascot and Elvis hairdo (Presley, not Costello), and the stud-collared Captain Sensible on guitar. Both were decked out noir, of course. Monty Oxymoron played keyboards with Pinch behind the drum kit. Patricia Morrison on bass was every inch "the Goth babe" and the band's website has referred to her as "queen of the dark corset." Together, The Damned transformed Seattle's Showbox into a dungeon that alternated between brooding, Goth- influenced rock to blaring original punk. Despite the best efforts of bands like Green Day, I prefer my punk original, vintage 70's thank you, and tonight's show seared with all the best from The Damned's career.

The majority of the show highlighted their August, 2001 release on Nitro Records, Grave Disorder. Since it was an all-ages show, Captain Sensible joked about how they weren't allowed to joke about the story behind "Absinthe" or swear onstage. "Democracy" held new meaning just eleven days after the tragic events of September 11th, and the band had recommitted themselves to tour despite those world-changing events. True to form the band worked through other new songs that were very dark, not only musically but also in subject matter. Take "Thrill Kill" or "Would You Be So Hot (If You Weren't Dead)," for example. The former could be sung by out looking for an adrenaline rush that would be fatal for someone, and the latter broaches a difficult subject many Beatle fans consider sacrilegious: Vanian and Company have the audacity and sheer gall to question the collective props society gave John Lennon after his murder. However, that's what The Damned do damned well: shock us and point us in new directions that aren't entirely comfortable, but aren't entirely uncomfortable either.

Vanian was his crooning best on "Eloise," perhaps one of their most accessible songs from their MCA days. My favorite of the evening, though, was "Songs.com," a true anthem to the Internet age. This jewel is a tongue-in-cheek nod to Surf City-type harmonies for those of us who "gotta hit the sites, 'cause we're always surfing, always surfing..."

Check out the band's website for a tour diary from Captain Sensible online at www.officialdamned.com . Click on the News section, and then Tour Log, and we're on the tour bus for the Fall tour from California through Wyoming to Montreal and NYC, and the Captain's wit is as sharp as his licks on his new SG 301 guitar.

I could just see these guys attracting attention in downtown Casper, Wyoming, but I'm damn glad I caught the Seattle stop on their tour supporting Grave Disorder.


(C) 2001 - Eric Steiner



DVD: Oingo Boingo - Farewell:
Live From The Universal Amphitheatre
Halloween 1995 (A&M)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

Dazzling! Stunning! Entertaining beyond compare! I'm not kidding here. I'd never seen the video version of this concert and had only heard scattered Oingo Boingo songs here and there, usually at the homes of friends. Nothing prepared me for this. It's a 2-disc set that has the concert on disc one and a series of short and very odd documentaries - more like raw footage from backstage and one discussion of the history of the band, but totally engrossing nonetheless - on disc two. According to the box, there are also a pair of videos, "Little Girls" and "Insanity," at the end of disc two, but I couldn't find them. To be honest, I don't feel the least bit cheated. After 200 minutes of Oingo Boingo I feel amazed and exhilarated and I just need a little break of a few days before I'll be ready to watch that astounding concert again.

Lead singer Danny Elfman (the same Danny Elfman who is THE man in Hollywood when it comes to film and TV music composition) performed like a man possessed, which was perfect because he was on a stage filled with men possessed, puppets-on-the-walls possessed and 20-foot-tall-inflated-skeletal-guitarists possessed, all facing thousands and thousands of costumed fans who were equally possessed with the spirit of the music and the occasion. The concert was filmed with the house lights on, a fact I didn't know until Elfman spoke of it with great excitement during the post concert party shown on disc two. He could see the entire house and it seems to have inspired him to give his all. Neither Elfman or anyone else on stage seemed to take a breather during the 32-song set. All action, all intensity, every song played for all it was worth. It's saying a lot to point out that while "Dead Man's Party," their best known song, did get an excited reception, it wasn't necessarily the crowd favorite of the evening. They sang and chanted and wailed and hopped with total abandon on almost every song.

The sound is fantastic if you're not into surround sound. I don't have that kind of gear yet, personally. I watched it on my computer system, which is hooked up to my regular stereo system, so 2 channel Dolby is as fancy as I need and as fancy as this DVD offers. In that configuration, it rocked. The picture is either sharp as a razor or upside- sideways, depending on the moment. That's by design. At least some of the cameras seemed to be un- manned units that spun and twisted and shot back and forth across the stage, capturing and sometimes countering the frenetic motion this band was always in. I'd imagine you could get motion sickness sitting too close to the screen in a theater watching this one.

Disc one begins with a black and white film, which is being seen by the concert crowd, showing three dead men sitting up from the dirt in their graves and singing a short ditty to open the show. Disc two ends with the band making their way to the stage. The stage manager tells Elfman they're just waiting on him for the go ahead to start that film. After a few moments he gives his okay and another few moments later the crowd roars out front and you know those three worm feeders are starting the show. You've come full circle in 200 minutes with the most entertaining music DVD I've seen yet. This one is really something special.

Track List of Concert Disc:

Intro (film) * Insanity * Little Girls * Cinderella Undercover * Controller * Burn Me Up * Insects * No One Lives Forever * Hey! * Reptiles and Samurai * Water * I Am the Walrus * Nothing To Fear (But Fear Itself) * Piggies * We Close Our Eyes * Mary * Can't See * Helpless * I'm So Bad * Change * Just Another Day * Stay * Who Do You Want to Be * On the Outside * Ain't This the Life * Wild Sex (In the Working Class) * Dead Man's Party * Nasty Habits * Clowns of Death * Grey Matter * Whole Day Off * No Spill Blood * Only a Lad


(C) 2001 - DJ Johnson