snickersnicker

This is a pretty lame thing to do. Either way, why would you want to get her into music which is just as shitty? Skip the indie and go straight to 80s hardcore and thrash.

91.7FM Ann Arbor is one of two stations programmed to my car stereo's presets. This American Life is fantastic; Ira Glass came to my school a few months ago but I had a show to attend. Despite the fact that I hate cars and only finally got one a couple months ago, I've loved Car Talk for years. Fresh Air, The Next Big Thing and Studio 360 are also great. The only show I don't really enjoy is the Diane Rheams (spelling?) show. Her voice grates on me, which sounds terrible because it's the result of some horrible disease, but I can't stand it enough to listen.

(By the way, the other station, of cours, plays Tigers and Red Wings games.)

dude, portraits of past fucking ruled/rule.

I can say with a pretty straight face that Portraits of Past was and still is the best hardcore band ever. Funeral Diner is definitely among the best active bands, too.

I'm presently rather fucking hyped about Envy touring the UK in November

I drove across Michigan for three hours with two friends in the frigid cold in a car with no heat to see Envy a few years back. No regrets.

Drone in general. Or really most music that tries to be "epic" but just ends up being a snoozefest. I think Envy is a great example of a band that has a lot of epic songs, but doesn't get boring (with the exception of the newest album which drags a bit at points). Portraits of Past, the band from which I took my screen name and from which semi-recent Envy material took its cues, is another example of a band which had an epic, slightly droning LP that didn't get boring at all (and they did it in 1995, to boot). There needs to be some loud/soft, fast/slow dynamic to keep things interesting.

Wait...have you listened to Pink? That album is brilliant.

I would be far more apt to call it "boring" instead of "brilliant." Vein, on the other hand, is probably their best recent work (but that's more in the style of Japanese music I particularly enjoy). The band tries waaaay too hard to pull a Boredoms and it just backfires horribly as far as I'm concerned.

I'm going to have to go against everyone in this thread who mentioned Boris or Mono. Honeslty, that stuff is awful. It's bad enough that every other American band is jocking that style, but now so many Japanese bands are doing that instead of being in awesome raging hardcore or thrash bands the way they should be. Put down the bong and chuck that Orange or Sunn amp for a shitty Gibson and some GISM records.

EDIT: I forgot to include them on my list above, but Forward is the best Japanese hardcore band today (with a member of Deathside, how couldn't they be?). They're not as intense as a lot of their influences, so they're a good band to look into if you're currently into more mainstream Japanese bands but want to get into Japcore. "Fucked Up!" isn't hard to get ahold of.

Everything Partytaco said, but you'll probably hate it all. Add Paintbox to that list, too.

Japanese stuff I dig:

Envy (hardcore punk turned post-hardcore turned post-rock..."All the Footprints..." and "A Dead Sinking Story" are crucial modern Japanese hardcore records...to this day the single most musically stunning show I've ever attended)

Toe (mostly instrumental math-rock)

Bloodthirsty Butchers (melodic Japanese punk; "Banging the Drum" is fantastic)

Luminous Orange (female-fronted shoegaze/dreampopish stuff; very good)

Endzweck (fast, fast raging Japanese hardcore with a sort of poppy feel, if that makes any sense)

LITE (sort of At the Drive-Inish...very mathy and explosive; I have the album "Filmlets")

Nice View (try to get "Thirteen Views"; more modern Japanese punk/hardcore with a sort of rough edge)

One-Thousand Travels of Jawaharlal (dynamic, fast Japanese hardcore)

Popcatcher (melodic, laid-back pop-punk/rock)

Spiral Chord ("Nonai Friction" is great; alternately gritty and melodic Japanese punk)

Nine Days Wonder (criminally underrated very melodic mid-90s style post-hardcore; "The Scenery is in Disguise There" is a good album)

Hope that helps. If you need any help finding any of those, shoot me a PM and I'll upload some next time I'm on a decent connection.

It's not technically out yet. The release date is late September, I believe, but a leak of the completed recordings is floating around the internet.

Shit is good. Real good. There's only one weak song on the album, "Relative Surplus Value," but it's still on-par with Fallow and Left and Leaving, and loads better than Reconstruction Site. I'm led to believe that the last song, "Utilities," was actually recorded in the same session as Reconstruction Site, but it would easily stomp nearly all of the songs that made it onto that release. The centre part of the album ("Tournament of Hearts" to "Bigfoot") is probably the best streak of songs the Weakerthans have ever had. Hopefully they press this album on decent vinyl, unlike the first two.

New Era x Tigers

Prada

Thrift

514

Payless

Fuck the Yanks

Tofu x Peppers x Tomato x Apples x Teryaki

You never know when you'll need to mosh some faces, too. I always keep my pair within arms length.

No mate; these jeans came pre-creased. I'm all about creases; my 501 STFs are two years without a wash and there isn't an inch of them that isn't creased to shit. I just don't like pre-creasing because it doesn't look natural at all.

Goggle searched and browsed the encylopaedia, a few pages of the forum and all tags but didn't see anything about this. My apologies if it is a repost, though.

I picked up some raw 514s way cheap last week. They fit perfectly with a small cuff and I love the feel, but they have some pre-creasing in the lap area which annoys me.

I tried turning them inside out and ironing them with and without a towel over the area, ironing them rightside out with and without a towel, and they've only slightly softened. Is there any way I can fully lose the wrinkles? I'm not bothered by it to the point that I wouldn't wear them, but I would prefer to get rid of the creasing if it won't be too much work.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

I own a lot of tee shirts, mostly because I play hockey and racquetball pretty regularly, and bike quite often. I'm not going to wear a sixty dollar shirt to do any of those, so I have around fifteen or twenty shirts I use just for that or if I don't mind looking like a scrub one day out of the week. I also work in restaurants every summer, so I have some shit I wear for that. Anyway, essentials:

• Five pair of jeans (slim dark raw, slim flat raw black, regular-fit raw, slim worn-to-shit, regular worn to shit)
  
• Three pair of dress pants (olive dress cords, dark brown chinos, beige linen)
  
• Four pair of shorts (short British kahki, regular white, regular dark green, camo)
  
• Two outdoor jackets (dark raw denim, old dark brown corduroy sherpa)
  
• Two blazers (dark brown corduroy, tweed)
  
• Four sweaters (black, brown/beige striped, navy v-neck, blue cable-knit)
  
• Six core jackets/hoodies (for layering in Michigan winters; black/gray wool zip, peppered grey zip, brown/pink thermal zip, heather grey zip, blue pullover, red track jacket)
  
• Three dress shirts (white/gray/black striped, brown/creme striped, light blue)
  
• Three longsleeve casual shirts (black/brown/red flannel, white/yellow/red/blue western, red/blue/green plaid)
  
• Five longsleeve tees (eggplant slubby, heathered beige, olive multi-striped, dark brown, dark blue)
  
• Three polos (baby blue soft cotton, bright yellow soft cotton, brown pique)
  
• Ten core tees (blank v-necks and crew necks, a couple striped, punk/hardcore/metal band shirts)
  
• Four pair of sneakers (yellow vegan Tigers, obliterated chequered Vans, two pairs of simple white canvas ladies shoes)
  
• One pair of dress shoes (really, really old black leather...looking to buy some nicer, more stylish vegan ones, though)

That's all I fit into my regular rotation of clothing. Of course, I've got underclothing, socks, a swim suit, raincoat, track shorts, suit, etc but everyone should own those. I would like to own more pieces of dress clothing, but I'm sure I'll accumulate those out of necessity over the next six years of college.

i say rock it. and grow a beard while you're at it, i can't do either

I may grow a beard again soon. I was working as a cook up until Sunday, but quit since I'm moving back to school. Had I not recently cut my hair and turned my giant porkchop sideburns into long straight ones, I would grow a beard for sure, but since I'm going for a cleaner look, it's up in the air.

is that this whole fuzz was about? I had expected something more chest hair epic.

Naaaah; like I said earlier, no furry shit. I'm sure in ten years or so, there will be. My pops is a bear.

Doesn't look bad. Being skinny helps too as fat hairy guy is kind of a stereotype you'd want to avoid. If it bothers you, it's not much area to wax or shave every once in awhile.

I'm not skinny, though. Not fat enough so that I would fit the "fat hairy guy" stereotype, however.

Doesn't show up as well because of blur and my shitty camera, but you get the idea. Not too bad, I think.

I think the second time I saw him was on his moving trip from Massachusetts to California. I'm seeing him again on the 28th, and this will be the first time I've seen him that won't be in someone's basement. Incredibly nice guy and incredibly good music.

Prada

American Apparel x An Arrow in Flight

All-Son

Payless (white canvas sneakers; not shown)

First WAYWT...unfortunately, it's pretty boring.

The more the better. There is something good from every genre. Except southern rap.

If you haven't heard that One AM Radio album yet, give it a shot. Awesome electronic-inflected singer-songwriter folk/indie. "The Hum of the Electic Air!" is also fantastic. I've seen him/them four times and have always been blown away. On tour in a little while. http://www.theoneamradio.com

word to all of that, and i completely respect it, but by being so opposed to these issues, would this entail that you would even refuse the study of them?

No, not at all. I was raised Catholic, attended my first three years of school at a private Catholic school in Detroit, and have read the bible many times, both as an Catholic who didn't know better and as an atheist. However, I'm more interested in the sociological, psychological and philosophical aspects of religion. The existence of god is of no importance to me...it's an unknowable thing. My opposition to religion and spirituality is on the basis that it is damaging to both individials and society as a whole; certainly more damaging than atomic bombs or handguns ever have been or ever will be. As far as reading material written by people interested in drug culture, I don't have any feelings either way. I think Hunter S. Thompson is a fucking hack, though. As far as I'm concerned, nearly all literature that has come about since the creation of "drug culture" isn't worth opening the cover. I mostly keep it old school (500 BC to 1800s), but Haruki Murakami and Kurt Vonnegut are great. And everyone loves Harry Potter.

its sort of "fundamentalist" straight edge.

I don't think that's "fundamentalist straight edge," just close-minded idiot kids who don't like to challenge themselves.

Thankfully, the Michigan straight edge scene is pretty open-minded, with the exception of XTYRANTX and their associates, who everyone else thinks is a total joke.

Get the kid with the sideburns.

The story behind that song is so awesome. I was never into Reversal of Man too much musically, but they had some good lyrics and the packaging of the Revolution Summer 10" is dope. There was a fantastic band from Michigan in the mid-90s named Jihad who fucked with Earth Crisis every time they came to the state. Lots of funny stories surrounding that feud.

Anyway, picked up some dope records today, straight edge or otherwise:

Down to Nothing / Thin Ice 7" on clear

Elliott - As Arson 7"

Elliot - In Transit 7"

His Hero is Gone - The Dead of Night in Eight Movements 7" (second copy)

The Hope Conspiracy - Escapist 7"

Party of Helicopters / S Process 7"

This is Hell - Self-Titled 7" (Michigan represent)

Unbroken - Live in Dagenham 7" (Life. Love. Regret. chest piece coming soon)

Black Flag - '83 Demos LP (bootleg, obviously)

Damnation A.D. - No More Dreams of Happy Endings LP

Forward - Fucked Up! LP (crucial Japanese hardcore)

Struggle - Self-Titled LP (second copy)

Paint it Black - Demo CD

The Hoff is my ideal look, but due to veganism I can't rock a leather jacket or leather thong. Maybe I'll find fake ones eventually...

Anyway, I have to go to Ann Arbor today to pick up my glasses, so I will have a pic of me in the shirt soon.

Lifetime - Self-Titled

The One AM Radio - This Too Will Pass

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour (just leaked!)

Marduk - ROM 5:12

I'm sure once Darkthrone - FOAD comes out, it will blow all of those away, though.

despite your outlook on humanity, don't you ever feel at times that you have lost out on certain experiences?

Some might view it as missing out; I view it as something I don't need in my life. I explained most of that in my first response to Icarus. I don't need drugs or alcohol in the same way I don't need god. I don't want a crutch.

wouldn't it be more productive to not emulate and follow a mentality that was dictated by an song released in 1981 that has been so overshadowed by what it has become? its truly one of the ultimate signs of conformity and social complancency, don't you think?

I'm not emulating or following any mentality by choice. I've made the choice not to smoke, drink, do drugs, or participate in promiscuous sex. To me, that just happens to be straight edge. I'm a firm believer in civil liberties, free dissemination of thoughts and feelings, and personal responsibility, and that makes me a libertarian. I didn't actively make a choice to label myself either of those things, but I did choose to prescribe to a set of beliefs which just happens to have a title to go with it. If the term "straight edge" didn't exist, would I still be drug free? I'm sure of it.

i mean, only our thinking sets us apart from one another, and wouldn't your thought process be severely restricted by following such a lifestyle?

Once again, that comes down to whether you want to call it missing out on something, or simply not needing or wanting something. I don't think it's hard to view being a drug or alcohol user being restrictive to one's thought process. To take it a little further, I'm an atheist (or, more specifically, antitheist). Am I choosing to limit my thought by refusing to believe in gods or religious scriptures, or would someone who chooses to put faith in such things be limiting their thougt by refusing to believe in rationality or logic? It all depends in what you think is right, or which choice will yield the best results for you.

(Won't respond to the rest of the post because I think the above do a sufficient job.)

I don't think it's very fair to associate straight edge as a set of beliefs with "the straight edge scene as a whole" in the same way that it's not fair to associate punk/hardcore as a social-ideological movement with "the punk/hardcore scene." The two are separate, and couldn't be further removed from each other. However, for some reason, a lot of toughguy dudes associate themselves and their bands/scenes/whatever with the belief system. Shoe collector hardcore kids are just trendhoppers who got sick of Everytime I Die and decided to jock Fight It Out instead. They're the equivalent of dudes in patched leather vests and bullet belts sitting on porches drinking 40s representing punk.

If you look at it historically, it's sort of a rise-and-fall thing: Minor Threat brings up the idea of abstaining from vices as a way to be more productive and socially/politically aware; three years later SSD bring it to Boston and make it a Bruins-jersey-wearing-slugfest that is basically totally against what Minor Threat was writing about. In the later-80s, Youth of Today and Gorilla Biscuits write songs about staying productive, serving your community, and vegetarianism; a bunch of toughguy bands (Slapshot, Madball, etc) come out of the woodwork a few years later and nearly start race riots. Turning Point releases a few songs that change the lyrical focus of straight edge hardcore to introspective positivity in 1991; by 1993, shitty, fluffy crossover metalcore bands rule the coasts. Then things get a little murky and ethically questionable with stuff like Earth Crisis, Vegan Reich, etc in the mid-90s and by 1996 straight edge has sort of fallen off the map, only to have a huge revival of politically and socially active hardcore in '97/'98, replaced by mosh metal and cheesy mall metalcore. It just so happens that the dominant mode of the American straight edge hardcore scene right now is flat-brims and Bruce Lee shit at shows. There are still bands with great messages, and plenty of bands whose lyrics and actions are directly opposed to toughguy shit. You just have to dig a little deeper.