SPIN on Google Books

Oh and an early (American) Simon Reynolds fave: The Ten Most Underrated Albums Of All Time

xpost Although it's fascinating how Lauren Spencer (?) situates Nevermind not with SST or The Pixies or whoever but with contemporary albums by Rush and Guns N' Roses.

Biafra first comments on the amazing house, and asks who did the decorating.
"I did," Ice-T growls. "I broke into enough houses to know how people decorate."

http://books.google.com/books?id=tAU7_ejzzoYC&lpg=PA1&lr=&rview=1&pg=PT74#v=onepage&q=&f=false

I know you could say this about any number of people, but it's really weird seeing someone talk about Eazy-E in the present tense.

A profile on James Brown after prison called "Free At Last."

My eyes nearly bled after spending hours reading these on Thursday morning and afternoon. Luckily my boss was outta town.

Here's where I interview Flaming Lips before anybody else did:

http://books.google.com/books?id=FL-rqqrDxb8C&pg=PA16&dq=flaming+lips+chuck+eddy&rview=1&cd=2#v=onepage&q=flaming%20lips%20chuck%20eddy&f=false

Ha ha, now Scratch Acid:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ym2SY9Ha5AIC&pg=PA23&dq=chuck+eddy+scratch+acid&rview=1&cd=1#v=onepage&q=chuck%20eddy%20scratch%20acid&f=false

This is too fun.

I found the Disco 2 you've alluded to many times, xhuxk.

It's fun to see what albums were being reviewed at the same time. In the first issue there were The Velvet Underground- VU, John Fogerty- Centerfield, Sade- Diamond Life, 'til Tuesday- Voices Carry, Husker Du- New Day Rising--as well as Mick Jagger, Fela Kuti, Bronski Beat, Lloyd Cole (and in the Underground column Butthole Surfers and Scraping Foetus.)

The prose in some of those early reviews is worrisome.

And those record ads: "If You Don't Like the AC/DC Album "Fly On the Wall...Buzz Off!!"

the Disco 2 you've alluded to many times, xhuxk.

I have??? I am drawing a blank on what this is! (Though I'm sure it'll be obvious if you post a link.)

Oh man, thanks Matos for posting this!

This was one of the articles that got me into Wilco: http://books.google.com/books?id=9IgWp27kuBIC&lpg=PP1&lr=&rview=1&pg=PA84#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Real good summing up of John Prine's career, care of a review of the anthology: http://books.google.com/books?id=1XjH458f108C&printsec=frontcover&lr=&rview=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Oh, chuck, here ya go:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZURL7ud3IwsC&lpg=PP1&lr=&rview=1&pg=PA96#v=onepage&q=&f=false

xp Oh wait, Pet Shop Boys, right? No idea what I would've said in that one. (I figured I allude to my Introspective review from the Voice and Behavior interview from Request more, but who knows?)

xxp thanks Alfred!

Reading that link (especially given a lot of pages are out of order) and seeing all the ads is making me even woozier than I was. The Drum Club I ask you.

Something an editor told me they wanted who was then dismissed so it was killed by some replacement and I forgot about for a couple until someone at a party told me they're read my Stryper thing in their latest subscription copy.

http://books.google.com/books?id=5oyYjDeNc_AC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=George+Smith+stryper+spin&source=bl&ots=3p7L6VUQrU&sig=xocMXmddcRPnr3zkpkKhONjGY-o&hl=en&ei=tnySS7zcCYSEswPUo5n7CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

good lord ... feeling like I'm 14 again here. it feels funny.

Best albums of 2003!

http://books.google.com/books?id=dJ7nHM_LvUUC&lpg=PP1&lr=&rview=1&pg=PA40#v=onepage&q=&f=false

er, 1993

In a gaffe they continue to apologize profusely for at every oppportunity, Spin names Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque Album of the Year over Nirvana's Nevermind:

http://books.google.com/books?id=5zrzfgLFgUYC&lpg=PP1&rview=1&pg=RA1-PA56#v=onepage&q=&f=false

This is AMAZING, btw.

And here they actually reviewed my record, a year earlier. They they fired that guy, too.

http://books.google.com/books?id=VVODZz_egcEC&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=Dick+Destiny+spin&source=bl&ots=B6Xa9RLZGG&sig=STd6LAXys8L4Jg83DcO2loPwUo4&hl=en&ei=X4CSS9FGmLq2A9ikocsI&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CA8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=&f=false

A subscription to Spin is $9.99. That's insane. Is it still worth it?

Actually, Amazon says $9.95.

Jayzus. I have to leave the house to run errands. Instead I'm reading Jim Greer on why Robyn Hitchcock's "She Doesn't Exist" is the greatest song Hitch ever wrote.

OMFG! I've been trying to find John Leland's Singles column on Public Enemy for years. This thing totally changed my life. I remember where I was when I read this and then when/where I bought the tape of Bum Rush the Show then popping it into my Walkman to go out for run and having my white suburban mind blown.

http://books.google.com/books?id=baaFL4PyjS0C&lpg=PA1&lr=&rview=1&pg=PA34#v=onepage&q=&f=false

This issue was huge for me when I was in college: Spike Lee guest edits. No idea if it holds up now, but anyway:

http://books.google.com/books?id=hV6_z7r2zQMC&printsec=frontcover&lr=&rview=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

It also gives readers an opportunity to see when the originals when the magazine was one of the leading AIDS deniers.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Peter+Duesberg+AIDS+SPIN&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

yeah I remember Spin's irresponsible coverage of AIDS/HIV - appalling. tho to be fair the John Leland stans on the thread probably didn't read the magazine's non-music articles.

Yeah, did they ever address that era of their AIDS reporting and, I guess, apologize? I remember it was very confusing at the time.

No, we stopped reading them. (xpost)

Honestly it was that AIDS conspiracy coverage that kept me from looking at the magazine at all outside of the briefest of glimpses. No question I missed some excellent writing on music but even so.

haha in my case I think I made it through half of one of the Celia Farber pieces. even before I knew they were irresponsible or whatever they just seemed impenetrable. but I was a teenager, which is probably why.

I wouldn't have articulated it this way at the time but in high school ('89-'93), Spin > RS for music pieces and RS > Spin for non-music pieces.

no those Celia Farber pieces were impenetrable (insert Bob Guccione Jr joke here)

hey GORGE - and chuck too - i got the official word that there will be a book coming out compiling all the issues of andy shernoff's teenage wasteland gazette. hopefully sooner rather than later. worth it for meltzer's non-music stuff alone, but even without that stuff they are a serious kick in the head.

I've never seen an issue so it'll certainly be worth keeping the old eye peeled.

Holy shit @ that AIDS article :(

I didn't ever read one of their AIDS articles. No interest.

First Annual Swimsuit issue w/ Susanna Hoffs!! A++++++

Another genius Leland Singles column, this one pitting Prince against Bruce.

I wonder if they ever reviewed Vodka (the [not bad] band that Celia Farber drummed for...)

Interesting to revisit this review of Christmas:

http://books.google.com/books?id=B_38rmDqlLQC&pg=PA30&dq=christmas+in+excelsior+dayglo&ei=KNqSS63sCY6ENv7X2OsM&rview=1&cd=1#v=onepage&q=christmas%20in%20excelsior%20dayglo&f=false

I still remember the time when reading that something was the best album ever would send me running to the record shops! (To be fair, it is a pretty great album.)

Another genius Leland Singles column, this one pitting Prince against Bruce

That's the best piece written about one of my least favorite Prince singles. I'm gonna play it right now.

KJB, have you gone out today? My contact lenses dried from reading this shit all Thursday.

Nope not at all. I'm genuinely exhausted right now.

dlp, it's searchable but vodka + "celia farber" turned up nothing.

To stop the sausage train a bit, I always loved this 1995 feature by Elizabeth Gilbert (anyone know her?) on the morons populating MTV Spring Break. Given that I surrounded myself with such morons at the time, this astounding passage hit me hard: "They're like a species evolved on an island without natural predators. They never learned how to be shrewd." (56)

"Genius Lessons" by Sean Landers, oh man.