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2008-02-24T13:48:00.001-08:00

Never Mind the Bollocks but here's Ron Paul & The Sex Pistols on Jay Leno

2007-11-02T21:50:00.001-07:00

The following video is from NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno, broadcast on October 30, 2007

When Jay Leno's interview of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on the Tonight Show was immediately followed by classic punk-rocker Johnny Rotten performing his song "Anarchy in the U.K." with the Sex Pistols, both men appeared to recognize a common bond.

According to libertarian blogger Todd Seavey:

"But what made the broadcast magic — and Leno himself noted it was fitting — was the Sex Pistols singing 'Anarchy in the UK' right after the Paul interview, with Johnny Rotten, after singing 'I want to be in anarchy,' adding a characteristically menacing but implicitly supportive 'Hello, Mr. Paul.'

"And, as I’d hoped, the two of them shook hands just as the show ended. Since they’d implicitly bonded during the song, the moment avoided being awkward in the fashion of that famous Elvis-meets-Nixon handshake photo, which The Weekly Standard rightly put on its cover a decade ago to accompany an article on the idea that rock and conservatism, all wishful thinking aside, do not naturally mix."

"I am an antichrist, I am an anarchist, don't know what I want but I know how to get it," Rotten's lyrics went. Paul himself, although hardly an anarchist, has become known for his anti-government views, and he received cheers when he suggested at one of his rallies earlier this year that "there may even be an anarchist or two" in attendance.

Paul had previously told Leno, "I would save billions, if not hundreds of billions of dollars maintaining our empire around the world, and I'd bring our troops home and have enough money to cut our deficit. ... It was a mistake to go in[to Iraq]. ... Our national defense is in shambles. ... I don't think we're safer at all. ... Just bring the weapons home. We can defend this country. Nobody's going to touch us militarily. ... Our greatest threat is a threat to our civil liberties here at home."

Antony Gormley at Sean Kelly

2007-11-02T18:55:00.001-07:00

Antony Gormley at Sean Kelly Gallery

The centerpiece of Gormley's ambitious exhibition is a room-sized installation that occupies the main gallery entitled Blind Light. Blind Light is a luminous glass room filled with a dense cloud of mist. Upon entering the room-within-a-room, the visitor is disoriented by the visceral experience of the fully saturated air, in which visibility is limited to less than two feet. The very nature of one's sense of one's own body and its relationship in space to others is challenged.

Sean Kelly Gallery

528 W. 29th St.

Antony Gormley: New WorksOctober 26, 2007 - December 1, 2007

Radiohead to give away new album

2007-10-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

Radiohead to give away new album

By Angela Monaghan

Last Updated: 12:20am BST 02/10/2007

Radiohead, the internationally renowned band, has taken the unusual step of telling fans that they can pay as much or as little as they like for the band's new album In Rainbows.

Shane Richmond: It's been done before, but this time it is Radiohead


	Radiohead Hail to the Thief album cover

In a break from industry tradition the UK band famous for hits including Creep, Paranoid Android and Karma Police, has told fans "it's up to you" what they pay to digitally download the album.

This isn't the first time that an artist has opted to charge nothing for its album, but the move is significant because Radiohead remains one of the biggest bands in the world.

Radiohead is free to sell its album directly from its official website because it is no longer tied to a record label. So far the album is only available to pre-order from the website, where it can be downloaded on release on October 10.

While loyal fans are likely to want to pay the band something, customers could opt to pay as little 45p - the credit card handling fee.

The album is also available separately as part of a £40 box-set which includes the album on CD, two vinyl records, a CD with additional songs, photos, artwork and lyrics.

It is Radiohead's first album since Hail to the Thief, which was released in 2003 after which the band's contract with EMI/Capitol expired.

It is likely that many of its millions of die-hard fans will be unable to resist buying the box-set, available in December, while Radiohead will not be required to share its profits with either a record label or shops.

Radiohead could even benefit from those who ignore the box set and choose to pay nothing to download the album from Radiohead's online shop, where they will be required to register their details and therefore become targets for future marketing campaigns.

Free albums also drive demand for live tours, which translate to pound signs for the artists behind them. A great example of this is Prince, who in July gave away his album 3121 for free in the UK through the Daily Mail.

He subsequently announced 21 tour dates in London, all of which sold out.

Radiohead has the financial welly and is sufficiently well-known to be confident enough that the move is a risk worth taking, but it might also become an answer for those lesser known bands that struggle to be signed by a record label, or are reluctant to share their profits.

The Nuns-- White Slave

2007-09-21T15:10:00.001-07:00

The Nuns were probably the most - if not first - important early punk band in San Francisco. Centered around Jennifer Miro (keyboards), this San Francisco Bay-area group formed in 1976. These days, the band is based in New York, and is still going strong.

The video below was a labor of love for singer Jennifer of The Nuns. Many famous people worked on this CD, including Grammy Award winning producer Narada Michael Walden ex-Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Teddybears at Hiro Ballroom

2007-02-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

Teddybears featuring Iggy Pop - "Punkrocker"

You've all probably heard snatches of this track before - it's featured in a Cadillac ad that's been on TV for a while now. But it's more coolly propulsive than you'd have guessed from hearing a 45 second clip of it, and it stands up as one of the better songs on Teddybears' debut record.

Also, isn't it great to see Iggy Pop? Despite the fact that even Fox News would probably televise his funeral, we're still struck with a huge feeling of disbelief every time we see Iggy Pop on screen. Seriously, how is he still alive? Anybody? Anyone at all?