• For those of you who are interested in either the life and music of Frank Zappa, or the history of LA's freak scene, you should check out From Straight To Bizarre, a new documentary detailing the independent label ventures of Zappa and Herb Cohen. There's plenty of Alice Cooper, Beefheart and Tim Buckley info in [...]
WFMU's fundraising Marathon is officially underway! Tune in now through March 13th to join in on the fun with your favorite DJs spinning their favorite hits, special co-hosts ,and prize giveaways galore. We've also put together a fine batch of DJ Premiums : any of these handcrafted CDs are available for a pledge of $75 or more. Check the blog daily to sample what's available from today's DJs and don't forget to support WFMU ! Monday's lineup [9 AM - Noon] From [...]

In the world of classic postpunk it seems every act was "seminal", and the fewer releases they had to their name, and the quicker they fizzled into two decades of obscurity, the greater their allure. But our generation can only look at postpunk in retrospect, and save for the handful of Joy Division-level players, looking back it was not the individuals, but rather the sound of a movement and the atmosphere of a time that earns the "seminal" tag. Amongst these forgotten players adding their bricks to the tower of postpunk (slash new wave) was French quartet [...]

Over the last couple of weeks I've been incredibly fortunate to find digital versions of several songs/albums that have been on my digital wish list for years. First and foremost is the Beckies' album, about which I've already posted. But there are a couple of other things I've found recently, and I'm happy to be able to write about them and offer them up as MP3's. Marie et les Garcons was a French post-punk group. When I discovered the 12" of "Re-Bop" (in 1978 or '79)) I was working at Bleeker Bob's record store, and I brought it home only [...]

The action-packed first round of this year's French presidential race ended yesterday. Highlights of the last few weeks of campaigning included horseback riding, bikinis, campaign offices in Second Life , and off-handed comments about masturbation and pedophilia. I hope USA's '08 run can compete. Here are some punk/DIY tunes en francais to get you pumped for the final runoff: Marie Et Les Garcons "Re-Bop" [ MP3 ] Les Olivensteins "Euthanasie" [ MP3 ] Bulldozer "J'suis Punk" [ MP3 ] [...]