Once you have finished staring at the cover art, above, please read the text below... we can wait... anytime now...

By Blurt Staff

The new Diplo EP is called Express Yourself, featuring contributions from the likes of Datsik, Elephant Man, GTA, Excision, Sabi, Nicky Da B, Billy the Gent, and Lazer Disk.  This week he offered a free track, "Moombahton," and you can check it out below.

Meanwhile, read about Diplo's recent foray into film elsewhere on the BLURT site.

DIPLO express yourself EP sampler by diplo

Anatomically correct where it counts - just like Barbie's boobs.

By Fred Claus

Hey kids! Itching to burn through that Toys ‘R Us gift card you got from Aunt Effie for Christmas? Or just needing to go to the mega-store and exchange some of the wack junk that your parents gave you so you can score some real swag? (For some reason adults still seem to think that Leap Pad, with its "educational" element, makes for a fun experience, not realizing that in 2011, kids are looking to see iPads and iPod Touches under their trees.)

Well, we have the perfect thing for you: an Iggy Pop Action Figure, by NECA. For just a mere $13.98 you too can have a replica of the original streetwalkin' cheetah, in all his tight-jeaned (so tight you can check out his "package," yo), bare-chested glory. He'll make your Batman or Band toys look positively tubercular by comparison.

According to the manufacturer, "The godfather of punk, the legendary Iggy Pop is finally immortalized in action figure form. This highly detailed figure stands 6 3/4" tall and comes with microphone and display stand." Additional accessories, such as peanut butter jar, sold separately.

Oddly, at the Toys ‘R Us product page, some "related items" that you might also want to consider include a Hannibal Lecter Action Figure, a Freddie Krueger Replica Glove, and an Iron Maiden "Killers" Action Figure.

For more of BLURT's holiday gift exchange ideas, check out our recent installment of "The Goods."

Our band could be your life... or at least those naked clowns on your computer screen!

By Fred Mills

This ain't your grandmother's social networking, that's for sure. As 2011 comes to a close, one of the year's big success stories has to be Is Anyone Up?, an oftentimes (though not always) XXX website operated by a California twenty-something named Hunter Moore. It's basically a twisty - some might say, "twisted" - version of a social network whereby users upload naked photos of themselves, of their friends, and sometimes of their frenemies or outright arch-rivals.

Clearly NSFW, you can take a look at it here; a casual scroll down the front page will unveil all manner of boobs, butts, cocks and cunts, sometimes in, er, "repose" mode, sometimes "in action" (translation: poking something or being poked). It would be nice to say that Is Anyone Up? is in some way shocking, but the only thing that will truly give you pause is the realization how un-porn - in the traditional implant-centric sense - the images are and how routinely unappealing most of the people are. That the median age appears to hover around 18, 19 or 20 is only disturbing if you happen to be a parent and suddenly spot your little Amber or Josh there on your computer screen, poking her tits or waving his dick at the mirror while holding a digital camera or phone with the other hand.

Well, that, and also if you happen to be some gal who had a nasty breakup with your boyfriend and he retaliated by posting those "private" photos you sent him to the web...

Ultimately, Is Anyone Up? is just numbly repulsive, since there's not really a whole lot of reason to look at naked pictures that ain't gonna arouse you, unless you think of them as art portraits, which is unlikely in the case of most iPhone-generated images. Maybe social psychologists will figure out a way to extract research data!

Still, this would be apropos of nothing, since at this stage of the game we're way beyond gnashing our teeth over "that younger generation's sense of morality and decency" (they did, after all, invent sexting), except that among some of the more intriguing music news of 2011 was the notation that rock ‘n' roll musicians have apparently discovered Is Anyone Up? as a new, "edgy" means of marketing themselves and their "brand."

Earlier this month the L.A. Times profiled the site and founder Moore, accurately noting that, "Far from being an issue, some artists are viewing Is Anyone Up? as a way to get their bands heard - and seen. The 1-year-old site generates more than 1.6 million unique visitors per month, according to Google Analytics stats provided by its proprietor, and has posted hundreds of nude photos of band members from the middle and lower echelons of hard rock. The photos are often paired with promotional images from Facebook or the band's own websites."

That's a lot of potentially free publicity. Several musicians as well as record label owners and music publicists are quoted in the article as saying they view it as an inevitable part of the evolution of the internet, and therefore something that might as well be exploited rather than be resisted. "On Warped Tour," said musician Melissa Marie Green, "when you're in a band and you drink, you show these [photos] to your friends as a joke. When you're in a band, you understand why these pictures are up. To the general public, it might be extreme, but to people in the industry, it's not uncommon."

Added Josh Grabelle, of indie label Bullet Tooth, "Would I like a site like this to not exist? But it does exist, and this is the world we live in. I'm marketing to kids aged 16 to 30, and that's the site they're going to. I know that because I cannot go anywhere - anywhere - without this site being brought up." (Grabelle bought ad space on the site.)

Fascinatingly, Wikipedia notes, in its entry on the site, that a German "metalcore" band, Eskimo Callboy, and that a New York pop-punk outfit called Forget Me In Vegas" have releases singles about the site, each titled "Is Anyone Up?"

Anyhow, you can check out the site at the above link (there are separate sections for Girls, Guys and Bands, plus some very enlightening editorials penned by Moore, who apparently is enjoying making money at this and "getting my dick sucked"). For that matter, just enter "is anyone up" into Google images and you'll see way more than you probably need to see. Also read the entire LA Times story - and watch for all this to snowball in the new year as more and more bands decide that getting ones name (and image) out to the public, no matter the method or the long-term effects, is paramount while pursuing a career in music.

We'll take a Lemmy, a Grohl, a Bruce, and two Angus babies...


By Blurt Staff


So we're thumbing through the latest issue of Britain's Uncut mag (December, with the Tom Waits cover - not so coincidentally, Waits is our Best Album of the Year 2011 recipient), and in the back of the book, directly across from those XXX Live Sex Chatline ads that we are fond of, uh, analyzing, was a colorful ad for Bathroom Wall teeshirts. The ad depicts 'toon stylizations of Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen in a kind of Beavis & Butthead motif; for some reason, Frank Zappa is hanging upside down in the corner of the picture too.


At any rate, while we're not certain if we can afford to order our rock tees all the way from England - particularly since we can order 'em direct from our very own Blurt merchandise store and not worry about airmail postage -  the British company does have some awesome designs and even awesomer ads. For no better reason than we told you to, check out a few of 'em, below.

If you love someone, set them free!

By Perez Mills

It's been a tough year for rock ‘n' roll lovebirds, what with the dissolution of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon's marriage (which took Sonic Youth down in flames with it), and of course those other folks... Demi & Ashton... no, that's not it... oh yeah, big ballers Kim & Kris.

The latest to "pull a Kardashian": Sinead O'Connor, who announced this week, just 18 days after getting married in Las Vegas (that should have been an early warning signal, yo) to one Barry Herridge, that the thrill is already gone. Spinner.com is reporting that the Irish singer blamed "unnamed people that were close to her soon-to-be ex for putting pressure on him to end what was her fourth marriage." (Warning signal #2.)

In a long rambling statement, O'Connor wrote on her website, "Within 3 hours of the ceremony being over the marriage was kyboshed by the behaviour of certain people in my husband's life. And also by a bit of a wild ride i took us on looking for a bit of a smoke of weed for me wedding night as I don't drink," she wrote. "It became apparent to me that if he were to stay with me he would be losing too much to bear. And that being with me was not going to serve him positively, career wise or any other wise. I saw his life leave him because of how people close to him reacted. And I can't take anyone's life. And a woman wants to be a joy to her husband. So.. U love someone? Set them free."

Quoting Sting, of course, is warning signal #3. The Pope had no official comment...

Multiply" taken from Tarheel band's recent album Starfruit.

By Blurt Staff

Very stoked to present this brand new video from one of our favorite NC bands, stephaniesid of Asheville (who were also one of BLURT's "Best Kept Secret" picks a couple of years ago). Titled "Multiply," it's a tune from their 4^th full-length Starfruit (Nine Mile Records) and it filmed by Michael Oppenheim and directed/edited by frontwoman Stephanie Morgan.

Appearing in the clip are Aislin Freya Pax Thompson, Billy Sheeran, Daisy Benshoff, Jonathan Scales, Rachel Harris, Isaac Richmond, and Xandy Chelmis.

Music: Chuck Lichtenberger & Stephanie Morgan

Lyrics: Stephanie Morgan

Vocals/synth:  Stephanie Morgan

Rhodes:  Chuck Lichtenberger

Guitar:  Jonathan Pearlman

Violin:  Sarah Hurd

(Go to the official stephaniesid website for more info on the band, music and videos.)

Lyrics to "Multiply":

i stick out like a sore thumb when i am myself but i'd rather see a lot of sore thumbs than all the ho-hum ho-hum i got brains with a bright orange tan i'm a-carrying jelly beans enough for everyone & i'll still have some for myself ‘cause they multiply all that is me i can be more

Morgan offered these words, about the Starfruit album (which you can check out on Bandcamp):

"this record is the theme music to a universe. it was born over months & months of begging, deep in the bowels of the home, underground in its basement, excavating echoes & running them backward through reverb machines. dehydrated, hazy-eyed. craving fruit. into the dim passed the offering of nine brilliant musicians, gamely entrusting a house-recording experiment with their gorgeously crafted intonations. track by track, a mouthwatering other-world reached into materialization, hovering a few feet above some cheap microphones, a laptop, & the pit of the stormy sea. only some of its characters are mortals; all sport coquettish dance moves or baskets of pineapples. in this universe, it is good etiquette to make friends with the unlikelies, & to serve them yam-blood candy out of your ripped floral handbag. in this hopeful place, it is customary to eat fruit in the shape of stars."  

Key member of the original Mothers Of Invention and longtime Zappa collaborator.

By Fred Mills

Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood of Frank Zappa's Mothers Of Invention passed away on Christmas Day at the age of 69. Media reports at this time have not disclosed the cause of death. Sherwood was a classically-trained multi-instrumentalist whose signature sax playing was an integral part of the early Mothers albums (notably Freak Out! From '66, and Weasels Ripped My Flesh, 1969) as well as Zappa-helmed projects such as Lumpy Gravy and 200 Motels. He was also known for his onstage antics and flashy style of sax-wielding.

Sherwood, a lifelong automobile aficionado, got the nickname "Motorhead" from his fellow Mothers as an affectionate tribute. In more recent years he performed with Mothers alumni in the Grandmothers project and projects by Ant-Bee (Billy James) and Don Preston.

Giant Sand mainman is never at a loss for words when you're talkin' music.

By Fred Mills

National journalist Frances Figart recently interviewed Giant Sand's Howe Gelb about his long, illustrious journey through music. It's a lengthy, in-depth discussion - and well-worth reading at Figart's blog.

Of particular note: Gelb reminisces about two late friends and collaborators, Tucson slide guitarist extraordinaire Rainer Ptacek, and Georgia iconoclast Vic Chesnutt.

Of Ptacek, Gelb notes, "All Rainer and I ever verbally agreed to was to make a music that would not embarrass us 20 years into the future. So we took our cues from strident elements of historical proportions and mixed them up with a state of exploratory endeavors that would serve the future the way we noticed it had gone on long before us." Which, if you know Gelb (or knew Rainer, as I'm proud to say I myself did), makes absolute sense.

Reflecting on Chesnutt, who passed away 2 years ago on Christmas, he says, "Vic was the greatest American singer songwriter I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was the only true definition of the term I have ever witnessed. His songs were monsters, meaning massive wondrous plunks of existence, and his voice was impossibly enormous and soulful beyond measure." Amen to that as well.

Check out the full interview right here.

More recent Gelb/Giant Sand at BLURT:

The Story of "Chore Of Enchantment"

Review of "Chore Of Enchantment" 25^th Anniversary Edition

Virginia-based power trio opts for new approach on February 21st album, due on Thrill Jockey.

By Blurt Staff

Pontiak has been one of the more prolific indie artists in recent years, cranking out a new record each year since 2006. But for their upcoming record they completely re-envisioned their approach to song writing.  Eschewing the "plug and play" approach of their previous records (recording hours of jams and then just putting together the best pieces), they set out to record a proper album, one with a shared mood and direction.  They rebuilt their entire farmhouse studio in the process. 

The result is Echo Ono and probably one of their most straightforward and concise records to date.  Their influences are still present (little bit of Sabbath, little bit of Doors, little bit of southern rock) but they sound more like themselves then ever before.  If you like guitar rock - not that limp guitar indie-pop that we can't seem to get away from nowadays - that hits hard but isn't completely lost in a haze of punk noise or metal posturing, then this note's for you, pal.

Check out the new "Lions Of Least" MP3

You may be out of luck if you live in the US, however...

By Fred Mills

Back in the summer of 2010 the Cocteau Twins reissued their first three, seminal albums Garlands, Head Over Heels and Treasure (1982, '83 and '84 respectively) as a limited edition 5LP vinyl box. Now comes word (via Slicing Up Eyeballs) that Beggars Archive is prepping a white vinyl, 2LP reissue of 2000's Stars And Topsoil: A Collection (1982-1990) , which cherry picked 18 key tracks from the band's 4AD label era.

It's due Feb. 6. Bizarrely, however, only the UK edition will be on white wax; the corresponding US release will be on garden variety black. Bummer. Well, that's what they made Amazon.co.uk for, eh fans? And the exchange rate is pretty good at the moment...

Tracklisting:

LP 1
1. "Blind Dumb Deaf"
2. "Sugar Hiccup"
3. "My Love Paramour"
4. "Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops"
5. "Lorelei"
6. "Pandora"
7. "Aikea-Guinea"
8. "Pink Orange Red"
9. "Pale Clouded White"

LP 2
1. "Lazy Calm"
2. "The Thinner The Air"
3. "Orange Appled"
4. "Cico Buff"
5. "Carolyn's Fingers"
6. "Fifty-Fifty Clown"
7. "Iceblink Luck"
8. "Heaven or Las Vegas"
9. "Watchlar"