Although this isn’t music related news, it’s important enough for me to post up here. This summer, a bunch of people called the RNC Welcoming Committee got together for a few months (years, actually) to plan ways to disrupt the RNC Convention ‘08 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Before and during the protests, organizers were harassed non-stop, beginning with a police raid on a convergence space which was hosting a free food sharing (via Food Not Bombs) and film screening, but ended up with parents, children, and tons of others lying on the pavement in plastic handcuffs for no reason. After the St. Paul police admitted during day one of the conventions that they had “lost control” of the city due to the well-planned mayhem of autonomous anarchists and organized protest efforts, eight members of this RNC Welcoming Committee which helped facilitate the planning for such disruptions were arrested and charged with “conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism,” a charge put in place by Minnesota’s (you guessed it!) PATRIOT Act. Now, after months of politicking the main prosecutor (who is not coincidentally running for governor as well) has decided to drop the terrorism charges completely! Yay!

Unfortunately two charges of conspiracy still remain, proving that in this country organizing dissent is considered a crime. Solidarity with RNC 8 and all political prisoners!

Full story here

For more info on the organizers, the case, and how you can help: Defend the RNC 8

April 8th was the fifteenth anniversary of the passing of Kurt Cobain, a musical genius who was (probably) murdered by Courtney Love. Whether or not it was a suicide while on heroin or an assassination doesn’t matter - even though I was only four when he died, his music still left an indelible mark on my emotional and musical maturation, and he continues to influence artists and thinkers around the world. Nirvana means Peace through Enlightenment - I hope he’s there.

Today? On April 1st? I’m seriously skeptical, but I’ll give it a listen and keep you posted.

As for now, it is titled Tumbleweed and has a Resplandor-esque cover.

Regardless, we should be hearing a new MBV record by the end of the year, at least if Kevin Shields keeps to his promise and doesn’t get caught up touring and remembers to sleep!

UPDATE: As expected, it is an April Fools joke, and a snide one at that. The album included in the MBV - Tumbleweed link (to be found at deek media is actually the new album Occult Radiance from CA shoegazers Fleeting Joys, who admittedly sound ridiculously similar to MBV.

BOOOO bad April Fools jokes, quit playin’ games with my heart!

Hey all - sorry for the lack of new posts for a while..we (who run this site) all had a pretty BIG weekend and didn’t quite have the time to update, even though weekends are the time to do it. Expect a whole host of balearic synth pop and disco releases coming from me soon (including Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas’ brand new sophomore album, II, as well as a NEW Daniele Baldelli album), along with some dubstep, minimal, shoegaze, IDM, psych/folk, hip-hop, and other stuff later (depending on what I listen to to get me through this week). If there are any requests, even for new things (too new to be on the shelves, for instance), drop ‘em in the comments and I’ll do my best to get it to you.

NOTE: I will never post any Prince albums because the blog will be gone the day I do so - the new album(s) are available to purchase at Target for $12, which is totally worth it, but if you need a link just let me know and I can point you in the right direction.

Cheers!