Oscar for best recycling of vintage porn

It's SFW.

Aural crap = moral crap

Should certain forms and formats of music and musical expression be banned, not because of their non-conformism to the accepted western forms of music, nor because they are are mere sounds or noise, but because they are akin to illegal drug taking and induce immoral behaviour?
That's the question that vexes Roger Scruton in a lengthy article for The American (the house organ of the American Enterprise Institute).
His answer behoves his epithet as Margaret Thatcher's favourite philosopher: if young people like their music which old people cannot stand or bear to listen to, then it automatically follows that the young are wrong, stupid, self-indulgent, and worse, prone to addiction and immoral behaviour, by insisting on producing, listening to, dancing to and singing along with their generational music.
So there. The western classical canon stands supreme and no amount of political correctness or moral relativism is going to stop him from dissing any form of popular music.
He is bemused by the fact that since the last century "pop music" (a generic term that he uses that encompasses jazz, Elvis, boy bands and death metal - go figure that one out) has been in the ascendancy as the favourite cultural expression of contemporary generations. Worse, even politicians now want to hang out with pop stars and write legislation with them in mind (wot? gay civil unions?) - it must have been the sight of Blair hanging with Bono that made him apopleptic (it made me vomit too, but for entirely different reasons).

But another thought-provoking article I came across (thank you, Arts & Letter Daily) should induce the final heart attack in Scruton The Crouton: the British state and its law enforcement agencies have been using masterpieces of the Western musical canon such as Mozart to drive away youths from venues where they tend to hang out such as shopping malls, bus stops and other public places. Quite rightly the author berates Britain for turning a whole generation against superb classical music, Clockwork Orange-style.
And it's not only music they use. Irritating noise of certain frequencies that only young people are able to hear clearly is flooding public places too.
Until they will find out that you can dance to any noise, even police or alarm sirens.

Vostok Lake

Last night the choice for showbusiness lovers was a tough one in Auckland: AC/DC or Vostok Lake.
So off we went to the Indie Club in Hobson Street for the CD launch tour of Daphne Lawless's latest music project of Small Group Psychosis.
A coterie of hardcore fans were summoned to the upstairs bar room and the $10 entry charge got you a copy of the CD too. (I bet AC/DC fans who forked out $160 for their ticket only got a wet beer towel in the neck).
So it's Daphne onstage with her assortment of keyboards and laptops to produce an eclectic array of vaguely 1980s synth-pop sounding songs, but with more angst. Sort of Stranglers' organ meets inter-generational and sibling issues.
Well worth checking out. Tour itinerary and dates here.

UPDATE: Encore gig at the Indie Club, 68 Hobson Street, Aukland, on Thursday 18 March 8.30pm

Channeling Marky Mark

Via Naked Male News: NYC go go boy and his crew rap and strip. Who says men can't multitask?
Video and lyrics NSFW!

The 100 gayest albums of all time

A fairly predictable list compiled by Out Magazine USA. The usual Anglosaxon, gay party boy bias. Notable absences: The Virgin Prunes, The Sex Pistols, Kraftwerk, Pete Shelley, Sinead O'Connor, Jane Birkin and Maria Callas. But I am surprised and pleased by the number of Smiths and David Bowie entries.
And the #1 and #2 are absolutely spot on.
Any entries in bold are albums I own(ed) or liked.
(List via Bjørn's Blog)

100 The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
99 Joni Mitchell - For The Roses
98 Ferron - Testimony
97 Janis Ian - Between The Lines
96 Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
95 Culture Club - Kissing To Be Clever
94 Hair Original Broadway Cast - Hair
93 Sade - Lovers Rock
92 Morrissey - Viva Hate
91 Grace Jones - Nightclubbing
90 Kate Bush - The Kick Inside
89 Fifth Column - To Sir With Hate
88 Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade
87 Madonna - Confessions On A Dance Floor
86 Madonna - Madonna
85 Nina Simone - Anthology
84 Cyndi Lauper - True Colors
83 Bette Midler - The Divine Miss M
82 Cher - Believe
81 Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah
80 Rufus Wainwright - Want One
79 T. Rex - Electric Warrior
78 Various - The Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack
77 New Order - Substance
76 Ani DiFranco - Imperfectly
75 Carole King - Tapestry
74 Michael Jackson - Off the Wall
73 Various - Fame Soundtrack
72 Donna Summer - Once Upon a Time
71 Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
70 Rent Original Broadway Cast - Rent
69 Frances Faye - Caught In The Act
68 Nirvana - Nevermind
67 Hüsker Dü - Candy Apple Grey
66 Soft Cell - Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret
65 Le Tigre - Le Tigre
64 Patti Smith - Easter
63 Björk - Debut
62 Jeff Buckley - Grace
61 Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
60 R.E.M. - Automatic For The People
59 Bronski Beat - The Age of Consent
58 Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville
57 Prince - Dirty Mind
56 Team Dresch - Personal Best
55 David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
54 Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
53 Culture Club - Colour By Numbers
52 Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
51 Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasuredome
50 Rufus Wainwright - Poses
49 Patti Smith - Horses
48 Cris Williamson - The Changer and the Changed
47 The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
46 Madonna - Ray of Light
45 Bikini Kill - Pussy Whipped
44 Pet Shop Boys - Very
43 Prince - Purple Rain
42 ABBA - Gold
41 Melissa Etheridge - Yes I Am
40 Pet Shop Boys - Behavior
39 Laura Nyro And Labelle - Gonna Take A Miracle
38 Dusty Springfield - Dusty In Memphis
37 Blondie - Parallel Lines
36 Madonna - Erotica
35 Yaz - Upstairs At Eric's
34 Donna Summer - Bad Girls
33 The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow
32 The Smiths - Meat Is Murder
31 Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstacy
30 Diana Ross - Diana
29 Pet Shop Boys - Actually
28 Queen - The Game
27 Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
26 Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
25 k.d. lang - Ingénue
24 Sylvester - Living Proof
23 Deee-Lite - World Clique
22 The Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control
21 David Bowie - Hunky Dory
20 Queen - A Day at the Races
19 The B-52s - The B-52's
18 George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. I
17 Lou Reed - Transformer
16 Queen - A Night at the Opera
15 George Michael - Faith
14 Erasure - The Innocents
13 Ani DiFranco - Dilate
12 The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico
11 Various - Hedwig And The Angry Inch Soundtrack
10 Antony And The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
9 Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
8 Madonna - The Immaculate Collection
7 Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
6 The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
5 Judy Garland - Judy at Carnegie Hall
4 Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls
3 Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
2 The Smiths - The Smiths
1 David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars

When you turn 18, everything is fabulous

Inspired by Diamond Geezer's 18th birthday song chart, I was intrigued enough to go looking at what was #1 in the (UK) charts on my 18th birthday.
And guess what.
You are not going to believe this!
It was Abba's "Dancing Queen". Honestly!. (We shall ignore, as usual, the US Billboard chart where "You Should Be Dancing" by the Beegees was #1 then, blegh! On my actual day of birth "Volare" was #1, so much better!)
You surely know me not as an Abba queen, but I do remember seeing them win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974. When you're sweet 16 you don't want anything else.

Of course there is only one more interesting entry in that 18th birthday week's chart - if Top 40 music can ever be called interesting - and this was before punk assaulted it: Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel "Here Comes The Sun". I presume that was a Beatles remake. Steve Harley has always been intriguing and probably the only artist I would buy still.