Damn...

I'm assuming everyone's seen this already, on Deadspin maybe, or the AJC (which put it on the front page on Saturday..he he he). Either way, it deserves a spot on 4KS. Jamison Stone, who attends Christian Heritage Academy, killed this 9 foot, 1051 pound hog, point blank with a .50 caliber revolver after following it for three hours through the woods, pumping it full of lead along the way. The story suffers a bit with the revelation that his dad and others were waiting alongside with assault rifles in case it charged. Where does this kid go from here?
The hog harvesting sparked renewed interest in Hogzilla, which is a good thing I guess.

straight GQin' at the mimosa party...

thanks to all who made it out.

lotto madness.

the hometown atlanta hawks got a bit of luck when it came to tuesdays draft lottery. by getting into the top three, they were able to keep their pick (which otherwise would have gone to the suns in the joe johnson trade). at the time, i must admit i was disappointed. when they went to the commercial before announcing the order of the top three picks, the hawks had about a 50% chance of winning the oden sweepstakes. but ce la vie.

now i just hope the hawks to the smart thing, ignore what they see as "value", and grab oden's running mate, particularly since the next best center dropped out of the draft. i pray that they don't make the mistake of drafting the next anderson varejao. seriously, the comparison goes way beyond the afro puffs and ugliness; only different is that he's scrawnier. i wouldn't mind picking this guy [and then shooting for this gentleman at the eleven pick], but i don't think the prior has real all-star potential. merely a solid four, which shelden could still end up being. no, the pick has got to be conley.


in an unrelated note, pitchfork gave some ink today to some ATH-related acts we know and love. the review of je suis france's new joint is not totally glowing, but has plenty of props. catch these steely dan loving cats in full force at the drunken unicorn on 7/14 or at the caledonia on 7/21. who knows, if pitchfork is writing about them they could blow up. if so, couldn't happen to the better group of guys.

also getting some press there is personal fave phosphorescent. there's a link to a free download of cocaine lights, from the upcoming third LP. give a listen.

FREE SHIT!

I finally got an Ipod. Here are some of my downloads…

LCD Soundsystem 45:33: Nike Original Run-James Murphy made this specifically for Nike to promote…running. Not sure how it really compares to all the records he’s done recently, wet with critical drool. Housy, krauty electo-stuff that makes me run a few more laps up the hill. I spent $9 on ITunes and I guess it was worth it.

Antiopic The Allegorical Power Series- “The Allegorical Power Series is an ongoing series of freely downloadable audio meant to address the possibilities and roles of abstract or experimental music as social and political response.” OK. They say it better than I ever could at the label website. A collection of free mp3s loosely centered around civil dissent in the early days of the Iraq war. Instrumental, electronic, often minimal, fleeting stuff. My favorites: William Basinski, Atelia, Ultra Red, Project Qua Project, Okkyung Lee, Tim Barnes and David Daniel, We’re Breaking Up, Blevin Blectum, Kaffe Matthews, Barry Weisblatt and Annette Krebs. “Free Music, Literally,” as they say at the site.

Je Suis France “California Still Rules”-This thing opens up the way lot’s of their songs open, with a guitar that seems to fly into the sky, and then moves into this bass riff that makes you wonder if they’re just gonna take it uncharacteristically mellow, and then builds into this crescendo drum roll, aided by more guitar, that explodes into a ridiculously infectious few minutes of deliciously distorted vocals, France-style name checking, and more guitars. My favorite thing they’ve done since that early 7” where Jeff Griggs was talking about “dollars, dollars, dollars.” You wonder if Afrikan Majik will sustain the momentum. I’ll be there to find out.

“M_1_11_20” and others. Found this stuff when I googled “field recordings.” Some guy basically recorded the sound of radio waves out in the mountains or desert or whatever. The results sound as eerie as EVPs and sometimes as familiar as the pops and crackles of liquid ear cleaners.

Stones Throw podcasts-Stones Throw is about the coolest label around that I own about zero records from, which should change soon but…until then these guiltily free nuggets should tide me over. The Tribute to James Brown is an hour long education in some of Brown’s finest via Peanut Butter Wolf, J Rocc and Egon. Thank You Jay Dee is a 54 minute mix that samples stuff from A Tribe Called Quest to Public Enemy to stuff that I’m not really cool or informed enough to identify…either way, though, great stuff. Both demonstrate the strengths of matching 70s guitar lines and drums so funky and kinetic they could break with stuff you would have heard on late nite Saturday Album 88 hip hop jams in the late 90s. Count on both as soundtracks for that first cookout of the summer. Stone Cold Psychedelic Soul and Madlib’s Jukebox 45s Mix I haven’t listened to yet, but, given the titles, how could they not be awesome?

School of Seven Bells “My Cabal”-My old roommate’s band with one guy (ex-Secret Machines), the Dheza sisters from On!Air!Library! (and some Prefuse73 records) and a pretty ridiculous drummer who plays with Rhys Chatham. Kind of shoegazer, kind of 4AD, krauty, with subtle blips and industrial sounds that interact and move in and out of the groove with a compelling synchronicity.

Blackalicious/Nirvana “Feel All Apologies”-Inspired by MB’s recollection of a Coolio/Nirvana “Come as You Are” mashup I took my chances on this one. Only problem is that it led me to FFWD past the real “All Apologies” tonight when I was rocking Unplugged.

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks- Live at the Matrix, Portland, OR-For basically the last two SM records people have been predicting some sort of jam record, but we still haven’t really gotten one. We might with the next one. Most of the new songs at this show clock in at around 7-10 minutes and are constructed with lots of guitar, keyboard noodling and structural segues that depart from the main form and then come back. At times the guitars sound just like Led Zeppelin II and other times Moby Grape. Maybe we’ll finally see what Brighten the Corners could have sounded like if they had made the album like they played the songs on tour, with jams.

Barcelona

Just returned from a much needed trip to Barcelona with the lady friend. Here are some highlights:

1. Discovering that the Catalunyan people have a national fixation with the act of taking a dump. I am not making this up and it is well documented. One example: at Christmastime they make nativity scenes of the entire city of Bethlehem (not just the manger and the wise men) with little figurines of all the city people doing their thing. In it, they always hide a little guy called "the shitter" doing, what else, the deuce. There are tons of other examples.

2. Exploring the insane genius of architect Antoni Gaudi. Best known in the US as the guy behind the church that graces the cover of every single Barcelona tour book, he was by no means a one hit wonder. Imagine a city where the weathliest citizens compete to have an architect design their townhomes and apartment buildings, which the architect then turns into huge undulating forms of stained glass and mosaic. If you live in Atlanta, this is probably literally impossible.

3. Renting an apartment in Barcelona's version of Buford Highway - La Ramba de Raval. Despite being an impossibly old-world city of narrow streets punctuated by charming plazas, in 1996 Barcelona decided to give Jane Jacobs a giant middle finger and carve out a huge, sterile modernist square to house its Museum of Contemporary Art two blocks from our apartment. The Museum was designed by the same guy who designed Atlanta's High Museum and they bear an uncanny resemblance to one another. The square, of course, killed any hint of neighborhood life on that block. A completely unintentional side effect was that the multi-level entryway to the Museum makes an excellent skate park. At night, a hundred or so hipsters hang out around the museum skating and buying single beers off dudes in turbans who walk around with sixpacks. An excellent way to spend an evening after a week of somewhat overly cute cafes.

4. Barcelona is packed with tourists this time of year. Like, standing on the bridge outside of Sanford Stadium after a football game packed. Although I would guess only 2 or 3 percent of these were American, they were straight up fannypack wearing, short shorts with calves white as egg shells having, talking in church while stuffing their fat fucking faces with ice cream touristas. It's reassuring to know that your own kind are not really any worse than average.

5. Going to the Salvador Dali museum in his home town of Figueres an hour and a half away. Like most of you probably, my main opinion of Dali was that he is the guy who decorated the apartment of every American male between the ages of 18 and 25. He was big on the melting watches and such, of course, but also really into huge Dada-ish multimedia installations that are much more interesting, if also much harder to reproduce as a poster. Also, very much into poop (see #1).

I would post some photos, but I still use film so you will have to wait until I get a scanner or something.

Also

Not to cheat on 4Ks or anything, but I started a new blog the other day, centering on going places, and going places-related stuff. Some of it is really long, and probably not worth your time. Some of it may be worth your time. Check it out if you want. And link it to yours if you owe me any favors. Thanks.

Rock and Jock

3rd Annual Rock and Jock Wiffleball Game
Sunday, June 24th
1 PM
Meet at the small park behind/in front of the old jail on Meigs (unless someone tells me that's not a good place anymore)

I may try to make t-shirts (though I said that last year too), so if you want one let me know.
Bring beer, friends, whiffleskillz

I'll be really mad if you don't show up
JK

Announcing the (3rd Annual) Magnificent Memorial Day Mimosa Party

WHAT: champagne, orange juice, and good times
WHERE: big pink
WHEN: next monday (5/28) from 1pm til sundown

all 4KS contributors and readers will be readily welcomed.

miscellany:

pitchfork has a fairly scathing review of the new wilco record, which comes out tomorrow. to wit: "Sky Blue Sky nakedly exposes the dad-rock gene Wilco has always carried but courageously attempted to disguise. Never has the band sounded more passive, from the direct and domestic nature of Tweedy's lyrics, to the soft-rock-plus-solos format." and this from a website that gave YHF a rare 10.0.


big announcement: the big cat returneth. il gato grande has found new employment back in the classic city, and will be residing here within the month. we are exceedingly happy to have him back.


thinking about going west again in september to hang with the brownbear and scope this. the lineup is quite strong. not yet sure if it'll happen, but if it does any of 4KS's staff or loyal readership is welcome to join us.


congrats to mr. bloggins on completing his specialist degree. friday's celebratory barbecue was an excellent time. hope he enjoyed the cookie.


this weekend i saw both 28 weeks later and fracture. the prior was excellent, much better than i expected for a sequel with a new director and all new cast, etc. the latter was a solid traditional "thriller". gosling is cool. i admit it, i even liked the notebook (but mostly for the other star).


knasselhoff started a cool photo blog where he takes a picture every day for his ladyfriend's perusal. ah, the sweet lengths that one must go to in order to maintain intercontinental love. he said that everyone is welcome to take a look.

the cost of war in Iraq

http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

our condolences...

...to the sauce for his accident this weekend.

Christina!

My friend Melissa sang "What A Girl Wants" on Star 94 and won two free tickets to see Christina Aguilera at the Gwinnett Civic Center Wednesday night. She kindly invited me along for this monumental experience. We sat in the second freakin' row. It was amazing. Here's why:

1. There were no less than 20 wardrobe changes.
2. Christina Aguilera never wore pants. She had the hottest back up singers ever. They didn't wear pants either.
3. There was confetti.
4. The bass rocked so hard it rattled my internal organs.
5. I got to witness, on multiple occasions, fat, middle-aged men trying to flirt with 15 year old girls.
5. During the Moulin Rouge song and others, they had a circus onstage. A man juggling fire. Hot chicks on death defying swings. Dudes on stilts. Carousel horses. A man from the crowd was strapped to a huge, revolving wheel and Christina nearly dry humped him. Etc. Etc.
6. During "Dirrty," there was pole dancing.
7. Christina has some serious moves and some serious pipes. In another life, she would've made a great public address announcer.
8. She put together a much better performance than most of those candy-assed indie rockers I spend my hard-earned money on. At least give me a video screen to look at for 25 bucks a pop for god's sake!

I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in Atlanta (or in the history of the world) who saw Ira Glass and Christina Aguilera in the same week. I'm not going to get into which performance I enjoyed better.

said it before, i'll say it again: don't blame the lawyers.

my pops sent me a good article on the medical system. makes a lot of sense, and not just in the familiar "sad stories of the uninsured" way.