THIS IS AWESOME YOU SHOULD LIKE IT

I Love My Bicycle DVD Release Teaser from BAD BREAKS on Vimeo.

F'ED UP OF THE DAY

Peruvian police have arrested a gang which allegedly killed scores of peasants, drained their bodies of fat and sold the liquid abroad as an anti-wrinkle cosmetic.

Three suspects have confessed to killing five people for their fat, said Colonel Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru’s anti-kidnapping police, but the number of victims was believed to be much higher and to date back decades.

READ MORE VIA

BAND OF THE NIGHT

Basczax is a British post-punk band that was formed in Redcar in late 1978, including in the lineup vocalist Anne Cahill and drummer Jane McGrath.

Starting out as an anti-punk, almost anti-music noise band, it supported the Gang Of Four, amongst others in the early days. The band saw changes in lineup in early 1979, with Mick Todd (bass), Jeff Fogarty (saxophone), and Alan Savage (guitar–vocals), being joined by John Hodgson (keyboards) and Alan Cornforth (drums) from the punk band Blitzkrieg Bop.

Within days, Basczax was playing with The Damned at Cleethorpes Wintergardens. The blue fluffy jumper, worn by Captain Sensible on the “Love Song” single sleeve and numerous TV appearances, was stolen from the Basczax dressing room. It has never been returned. Basczax appeared on Fast Product’s “Earcom 2” mini-LP, alongside Joy Division and “Thursdays” (1979). The band also released a 7” single on the Pipeline label: “Madison Fallout”/”Auto Mekanik Destruktor” (1980).

Basczax toured with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), and appeared on the Check It Out TV show in 1980, performing “Ego Therapy”. This lineup split in September 1980, with Hodgson and Cornforth going on to form “Makaton Chat” with ex-Deja Vu members Anthony Lindo, Graham Lipthorpe and Martin Alderdyce. A CD compilation of tracks recorded by Basczax entitled The Eyeliner Years 1978-80 is being prepared for release in 2009. John Hodgson now records under the name Fast Cakes, who released an album in August 2007 entitled LIVEYOUNGDIEFAST (excerpts of which can be heard here: fast cakes). The three remaining members regrouped and continued. Eventually, after many lineup changes, the band mutated into “Jank Mamba”, and then “The Flaming Mussolinis”, which released two albums in the mid-1980s for Portrait Records (CBS).

Savage went on to form a band called “Zoom”, and released a solo CD in the 1990s on Darlington-based “Northern Sky”.

Basczax - Karleearn Photography

via

Band of the Day

VIA

Clean Equations could easily be Messy Equations with seven band members. But in the age of the indie-pop collective (at least for me), they pull off a solid and tempered group dynamic. Musical hysteria be damned, you’re losing in the big bands battle!

Minimalist percussion and layers upon layers of rippled keys and guitars make Clean Equations a captivating listen. At times brooding and foreboding, they seem to have a predilection for mystery. Enchanting backing sounds and carefully plucked strings lead into full, dark crescendos wrapped in distortion. Lead vocalist Michael Nyhan and frequent partner Gretchen Lohse haunt us with their hushed, dainty voices, which complement poignant and emotive lyrics.

From Philadelphia, Clean Equations are just getting started – the songs featured below are taken from their debut six-song EP (s/t), released Oct. 12, 2009. They’re beginning to work on an upcoming full-length for State Capital Records, so if you’re a fan of illusory, sonic experiences (who isn’t?) be on the lookout.

Clean Equations – “Hotel on the 5″ [MP3]

Clean Equations – “Alison” [MP3]

Purchase the Clean Equations EP

[thanks to Dave Rawkblog for the intro]

FROM MICHAEL TO SAMMY?

BEFORE

NOW

READ MORE VIA

NEWS OF THE DAY:POT SCHOOL?

It goes without saying that there’s no smoking in class. But there is a good deal of sniffing of leaves, discussion of the finer points of inhaling and debate over which plant gives the biggest hit.

Welcome to Detroit’s cannabis college, recently opened with courses on how to grow marijuana – and harvest, cook and sell it too – after Michigan legalised the drug as a medicine.

Students get instruction from horticulturalists, doctors and lawyers as well as hands-on experience cultivating plants and guidance on how to protect their stash from the criminal element.

“Growing pot by chucking seeds in the garden is fine for the recreational industry,” says the college co-founder, Nick Tennant, whose wholesome and youthful appearance, including acne-covered cheeks, startles some of the more ragged-looking students. “But when we’re using this from a medicinal standpoint, you really need to document your strains and your genetics. The horticultural process is very complex. If you want to do it right you’re going to need to learn. There’s a lot of money in this if you do it right.”

With more than 1,000 medical marijuana certificates issued each month in Michigan for users and growers to sell to them, there is demand for places at MedGrow Cannabis College, located in a small office block.

MORE VIA