Idolator: ian mackaye

"The Believer" Music Issue: Can We Please Ask Ian MacKaye Some New Questions Already?

Michaelangelo Matos — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EDT

I've read two Q&A's in The Believer's 2008 Music Issue (there are three). One was illuminating, one less so. One of the issue's two Andy Beta pieces is a ripping Q&A with Sun City Girl/Sublime Frequencies co-founder Alan Bishop (there's more on Beta's blog as well). While I'm not fond of the "schema" format in which Beta jokingly lays out his unsuccessful attempts to find Molam music in Laos, the Bishop interview crackles: lots of clearheaded talk about the motivations behind Sublime Frequencies: Bishop is punk as fuck, right, whatever, but he's also someone who thinks through ethical questions even if you disagree with his answers. If only the other Q&A I read had the same kind of thrust.

You have to work hard not to get a decent interview from Ian McKaye, but the one in this issue is surprisingly and disappointingly one-note: all about Dischord's ethics, just like every other Q&A with Ian McKaye you'll likely read this year and decade and century. I don't blame Alex V. Cook for asking the questions he did, but I wish there had been more dimension—maybe some of that got cut out from the manuscript. Still, will someone interview this guy about music, please? Songwriting? All that fallback shit you trot out when the new album sucks but you need a few hundred words to fill the space? I bet he's got a huge record collection. I bet he knows shit about doo-wop that would blow your mind. I bet he can name all of Miles Davis's bands from the '50s to the '70s. I bet he's read more about rock history than most of us have. I bet he's a pretty interesting thinker about subjects you wouldn't expect. Somebody should really find out—and if someone has, please link it in the comments.

The Believer: July/August 2008 [The Believer]

ZZ Top Is Rick Rubin's Latest High-Profile Comeback Production

Anthony Miccio — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:00:00 EDT

ZZ Top! Of course! The trio will celebrate its 40th anniversary by herding into the studio with Rick Rubin later this year, after they wrap up a co-headlining tour with Brooks & Dunn. The band is aiming a sound more "La Grange" than "Sleeping Bag" (aw, can't they do both?), and Rick Rubin does seem the painfully obvious choice for a high-profile authenticity move. The band has also signed to Rubin's American Recordings, which heightens the prospect that its forthcoming album will get his full attention, rather than being one of eight projects he watches through a large telescope from inside his ashram. In recent years Rubin has worked with the Dixie Chicks, Linkin Park, Metallica, Weezer, U2, Kanye, Green Day, the dude from Semisonic... is there any respected figure in music that Rubin has yet to work with? I was able to come up with five who would be definite collaboration coups for both sides.

1. Paul McCartney
"Well, Paul... I think... we should go back... to Ram..."

2. Ian MacKaye
If the Evens ever break up, with Jeff Nelson not even in D.C., I'm sure the god of authenticity cash-ins would be happy to come down to Inner Ear and console Ian. "Maybe Henry... could fly in and join you... for some duets. I want to capture... your friendship."

3. Nickelback
"I want to hear... Canada... in you. I want to bring out... the Randy Bachman... in Nickelback."

4. Bruce Springsteen
They're both associated with Columbia, you know. And judging from Magic, the Boss could really use a fresh pair of ears. "Bruce... I only want... one song... about a motorcycle. But make it... definitive."

5. The Beastie Boys
Everyone's older, everyone's wiser, and the Beastie Boys clearly need help from somebody.

Plus, there's always Ray Stevens.

Exclusive: ZZ Top Signs To American Recordings [Billboard]
In The Studio With Rick Rubin And Ray Stevens [YouTube]

Three Indie Rock Nightmares Guaranteed To Break Your Glasses

Anthony Miccio — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:30:00 EDT

NME news editor Paul Stokes shares three "indie rock nightmares" on the magazine's blog, but they're along the lines of "I live with Julian Casablancas" and "this guy from the Klaxons is looking at me!" The world of indie rock has infinitely more disturbing horrors, and while I've never actually had the three dreams I describe below, maybe you will once you've read them. Prepare to Touch And Go...to hell! Eee-heheheheheheheeee!

1. Having been shrunk to microscopic size, I am accidentally inhaled by Antony and must cling to his moist uvula during a concert tribute to Lou Reed's Mistrial at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music. I dare not let go, lest I fall down his esophagus. Despite the deafening warbling that surrounds me, I can still hear Vampire Weekend's sprightly rendition of "The Original Wrapper." Occasionally, Antony's mouth opens wide enough that I can see Brian Eno (in full Roxy uniform), blowing into a melodica as a big-suited David Byrne shouts about "Video Violence." Rufus Wainwright and Elton John see how many notes they can fit into "Don't Hurt A Woman," while Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson lock tongues backstage. During the closing all-star performance of "Tell It To Your Heart," Antony hits a high C and I am finally flung from his trembling uvula, falling into the chasm below.

2. Brian Baker, Jeff Nelson and Lyle Preslar force Ian MacKaye to rejoin Minor Threat for the 2008 Warped Tour, in order to pay back royalties that MacKaye does not believe he owes. MacKaye is legally enjoined from stopping songs to call out moshers, or to announce that the festival, the advertisers or anything else, is "bullshit." I am working for Getback.com, handing out fliers to the parents of festival attendees. I have been told that if I can't get Ian to sign over the rights to "Salad Days" for the company's TV ad campaign ("Do you remember when? Yeah, well so do we!") my family will be killed.

3. I'm stuck in a world where indie rock has slowly transformed from amateurish, enthusiastic rock with zine-fueled anticonsumerist, small-community leanings, to anonymous art-folk twaddle by musicians who can think of no greater accomplishment than getting their song into a phone ad or winning a PLUG Award. And I can't wake up.

In The NME Office: Indie Dreaming... [NME]

Ian MacKaye: Not Dead

mjohnston — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:16:10 EDT

In case you were wondering, Ian MacKaye is still alive and well, despite spurious Internet rumors that sparked a flurry of e-mails, Wikipedia updates, and Google searches earlier this evening. The "obituary" that was floating around, which I'm not going to repost for reasons that will become obvious, not only spelled MacKaye's name wrong and misused the comma about eight times, it said that he got hit by a car outside of a Fugazi show (!) in New Jersey before being taken to a hospital in Baltimore (!?). A note to the Dischord offices asking after the "news" elicited the following response: "Thanks for your concern, Ian is fine and all is well. Just an internet rumor." Hooray! To celebrate MacKaye's continued existence, give a listen to his agit-folk duo The Evens, because both their albums are terrific, and criminally underrated:

The Evens [MySpace]
Ian MacKaye is alive. Elvis is still dead [baltmoresun.com]

Ian MacKaye Lends His Ears To Kent State Investigation

Brian Raftery — Mon, 07 May 2007 10:30:37 EDT

This is going to take a while to set up, but trust us, it's worth the trip: Last week, Alan Canfora—one of the survivors of the 1970 Kent State University shootings—released a newly enhanced audio snippet featuring 13 seconds of National Guard gunfire. The material was originally recorded by Terry Strubbe, a KSU student who had a reel-to-reel player on his dorm window, and according to Canfora, you can hear the words "Right here. Get set. Point. Fire" being spoken on the clip. Compelling stuff, to be sure—but you'll have to read way down to find a rather intriguing indie-rock connection:

Canfora, who is director of the Kent May 4 Center, released two versions of the 20-second audio clip: a copy of Strubbe's unaltered recording, and a digitally enhanced version in which the volume was boosted and some background noise was removed. Ian Mackaye of the band Fugazi analyzed the recording for Canfora at Dischord Records in Washington, D.C.

There's no explanation of how MacKaye got involved with all of this; perhaps Canfora thought he'd found a political ally in the Minor Threat mastermind, or perhaps he was just really impressed with the remastering job on In On The Kill Taker (which, incidentally, is still way underrated). Either way, we can only hope that this incident prompts a newfound investigation into the shootings—and maybe a Fugazi reunion, to boot.

Casualty wants new probe of KSU shootings [Akron Beacon Journal]