music

>Top 40 albums 1991 – 2008

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>When Close-Up Magazine celebrated their 100th issue they published a list of their favourite albums released since 1991 (when issue #1 was released). I love lists of all kinds, so of course I had to do one myself.

One rule: One album per band.
Note: The list is only sorted somewhat by genres, otherwise in no particular order.

Indy’s Top 40 albums 1991 – 2008

01. Wu-Tang Clan – Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
02. Smut Peddlers – Porn Again
03. Dr. Octagon – Ecologyst
04. Gang Starr – Moment of Truth
05. Mobb Deep – The Infamous
06. The Goats – Tricks of The Shade
07. The Terror Show – S/T
08. Dissection – Storm of The Light’s Bane
09. Deathspell Omega – Si Monumentum Requires Circumspice
10. Funeral Mist – Salvation

11. Mayhem – De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
12. Darkthrone – A Blaze In The Northern Sky
13. Nifelheim – Servants of Darkness
14. Watain – Sworn To The Dark
15. Master’s Hammer – The Jilemnice Occultist
16. Dinosaur Jr – Where You Been
17. Stereolab – Switched On
18. Björk – Homogenic
19. Beck – One Foot In The Grave
20. Svarte Greiner – Knive

21. Proiekt Hat – Lebensunwertes Lebens
22. Erik Enocksson – Farväl Falkenberg
23. Flesh Quartet – Love Go
24. Morte Macabre – Symphonic Holocaust
25. Plastikman – Sheet One
26. The Sabres of Paradise – Sabresonic
27. Entombed – Clandestine
28. Autopsy – Mental Funeral
29. Opeth – Still Life
30. Repugnant – Epitome of Darkness

31. At The Gates – Slaughter of The Soul
32. Mastodon – Leviathan
33. Neurosis – Souls At Zero
34. Today Is The Day – In The Eyes of God
35. Faith No More – Angel Dust
36. Primus – Sailing The Seas of Cheese
37. Turbonegro – Ass Cobra
38. His Hero Is Gone – Monuments To Thieves
39. Swans – Soundtracks For The Blind
40. Jex Thoth – S/T

And here are another 40 albums that could’ve easily made it onto the first list. I know it’s cheating, but who cares…

01. Earth – The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull
02. Brainbombs – Urge To Kill
03. Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works II
04. Sunn0)))/Boris – Altar
05. Godspeed You Black Emperor – f# a# oo
06. Deutsch Nepal – Benevolence
07. Brighter Death Now – Great Death box set
08. B12 – Time Tourist
09. Goldie – Timeless
10. Massive Attack – Protection

11. Souls of Mischief – ´93 Til Infinity
12. Group Home – Livin’ Proof
13. Nas – Illmatic
14. The Pharcyde – Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
15. Kool Keith – Sex Style
16. Loop Troop – A Modern Day City Symphony
17. Rage Against The Machine – S/T
18. Seigmen – Total
19. Pearl Jam – Ten
20. Nirvana – Nevermind

21. Candlemass – From The 13th Sun
22. Audionom – Retrospektiv
23. Fingerspitzengefühl – Happy Doomsday
24. Voivod – Phobos
25. Celtic Frost – Monotheist
26. Murder Squad – Unsane, Insane And Mentally Deranged
27. Morbid Angel – Blessed Are The Sick
28. Brutal Truth – Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses
29. God Macabre – The Winterlong
30. Archgoat – Whore of Bethlehem

31. Immortal – Pure Holocaust
32. Witch – S/T
33. Counterblast – Balance of Pain
34. Disfear – Soul Scars
35. Loud Pipes – The Downhill Blues
36. Arsedestroyer – Teen Ass Revolt
37. Poison Idea – Blank Blackout Vacant
38. Antony & The Johnsons – I Am A Bird Now
39. Stina Nordenstam – People Are Strange
40. bob hund – S/T (the 1994 album)

politics

>Propaganda for war

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As Israel once again threatens Iran over the nuclear program we get to read those well known words again (I read them in Dagens Nyheter today): “Iran’s president has stated that he wants to wipe Israel off the map”.
No, he has not.
Let’s think about it; how many times have you heard about this quote? If you read the international news you’ve probably heard it almost every single day for about two years or so. That’s a great way for the Israeli and U.S. warhawks to sell yet another war in the Middle East. The warhawks repeat this propaganda over and over again and the smaller media units just follow. No time for research here.

The fact is that New York Times has backed away from this false translation, as did BBC, but you never hear about that, do you? Instead the warhawks keeps pushing people in the wrong direction, using these words as a slogan for a new war.
Studying four different translations from professors to the BBC to the New York Times to pro-Israel news outlets they’ve come to the conclusion that the word “map” wasn’t even used. And Ahmadinejad was actually quoting the words of the late Ayatollah Khomeini…

Ahmadinejad was actually saying “The regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time”, of course meaning the corrupt occupying power that is the Zionist regime. He was not suggesting a physical genocidal assault on millions of people, as you might think when hearing the words “wipe Israel off the map”. Simply put, he expressed his future hope that the Zionist regime in Israel would fall. He wants a regime change. And again, he was actually quoting Khomeini’s decade old speech, and has thus been credited falsely.
But you won’t read that in the mainstream media. There’s no time or space for explanations or excuses there.

And hey, what if Iran really was trying to wipe Israel off the map? Well, they wouldn’t last very long. Like somebody said: It would be like Paris Hilton picking a fight with Mike Tyson. Israel has an arsenal of about 200 launch ready nukes and are backed up by the mighty US of A who’ve about 6.000 active warheads… Compare that to Iran who virtually has nothing. The CIA estimates that Iran are five to ten years away from being able to produce one nuclear bomb. International inspectors have found no evidence of a nuclear program. CIA satellite imagery shows no proof of nuclear arms. People are full of shit.

And once again, mass media spreads its lies.

More info:
Caught Red-Handed: Media backtracks on Iran’s anti-Israel threat
Ahmadinejad and honesty
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s blog

Now watch the idiots:

philosophy

>Intelligent misanthropy – Part 1

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”Intelligent misanthropy” is a way of looking at people that I stumbled upon when reading Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton. I believe it suits my personal philosophy perfectly, since it’s free from pessimism and pride. After all, I’m a pretty happy guy, you know.

Once you start dissecting the opinions of others you’ll soon realize that the vast majority are very confused and most of the time in total error on the majority of subjects. “Public opinion is the worst of all opinions”, as the great philosopher Nicolas Chamfort put it.
Common sense is actually common nonsense, since it suffers from simplification, prejudice, unintelligent thinking and a supreme lack of knowledge. People usually tend to rely on emotions, old habits and intuition, instead of rational examination. Thus “one can be certain that every generally held idea, every received notion, will be an idiocy, because it has been able to appeal to a majority”, in Chamfort’s words.

In today’s sick society it’s obviously very important to be looked upon with love and respect from just about everyone you meet. If people despise you, you will not feel great. It will hurt your status. This is when the intelligent misanthropy philosophy comes in handy.
Before you let them hurt you, examine their opinions, their behaviour, their intellect, and most certainly you’ll come to the conclusion that they are fuck ups not worthy of your respect. Only when their words are damning and true is when you should start worrying. If they curse you with false and unintelligent bullshit, why bother? Instead, without aggression or pessimism, just sit back and let misanthropy rule. They suck.

Arthur Schopenhauer said: “Whoever attaches a lot of value to the opinions of others pays them too much honor”.
When we realize that most people’s values in life are futile, superficial and plain stupid, we’ll become uninterested in what’s going on in their minds and concentrate on our own thoughts and what people we respect are discussing. As Voltaire put it: “The earth swarms with people who are not worth talking to”.
Schopenhauer again: “Would the musician feel flattered by the loud applause of his audience if it were known to him that, with the exception of one or two, it consisted entirely of deaf people?”.
In short, why take the majority of people seriously? Why waste the energy and space? They are the ones who rely heavily on traditions and shallow thinking, and yet they ask themselves “Why do the Hottentots eat grasshoppers?”. Because it’s tradition, baby. Once again it’s you who are the ignorant fool.
As the old saying goes: “Never underestimate the power of people in large groups”.

literature, quotes, religion

>Prayin’ hard – Jim Goad

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“Let me get this straight – your religion preaches that two thousand years ago, a Middle Eastern virgin was impregnated by a ghost. And the spawn of this ethereal sperm grew up to walk on water and multiply bread loves and heal the sick and raise the dead and cast out literal demons. And this Love Child wasn’t just any ordinary spud, it was God incarnate who willingly submitted to a bloody S&M crucifiction to pay for OUR sins, when it would have been much easier (and less messy) if He’d merely made us sin-proof in the first place. And this Miracle Baby, son of a (cough) virgin, rose from the dead after three days and now gets very upset when heavy metal musicians slander His name. And Moses parted the Red Sea, Noah had an ark, God rained frogs on Egypt, and Joshua made the sun stand still. And even though Adam and Eve only gave birth to two boys (one of whom killed the other), the human race somehow fruitfully multiplied while avoiding the sin of incest. And remote Polynesian islanders will boil in molten lava eternally if they don’t embrace the gospel, even if they’ve never had a chance to hear the gospel. And the God who gave you a weenie will also zap you with a lightning bolt if thou darest toucheth the weenie which he didst create.
Is that it? Did I miss anything? Is this the horseshit you’re trying to peddle me? That’s not the Greatest Story Ever Told, it’s the craziest. And you tell me perhaps a third of the people on earth believe this fairy tale? Many of them are willing to kill or die for it? That’s frightening. You’re sure this isn’t some sort of sci-fi novel or supermarket-tabloid conspiracy theory?”

Jim Goad, The Redneck Manifesto

interview, music

>Interview: Jex Thoth

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I reviewed the magical debut album from the mighty Jex Thoth in the latest issue of Sweden Rock Magazine. I rated it 9/10 and got to do a short Q&A with Jex Thoth herself. Here are her words.

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I hear some Amon Düül 2 in your works. Have they been a major influence? Other musical influences?

Amon Düül 2 is a huge influence on us, as is Amon Düül 1. We are also influenced by many classic psychedelic bands, classic doom bands, krautrock, and even some pop music. My personal influences are Slapp Happy, Glenn Danzig, Kate Bush, T2, Blue Cheer, Can, and Catherine Ribeiro. This band shares more influences collectively than any other band I know.

How important is symbolism to Jex Thoth?

Symbolism weaves its way in and out of our lyrics, but overall, we like to keep things fairly direct.

What’s your agenda? Why are you here doing what you do?

I do what i do because it’s what I do. I’d be doing this whether or not anybody cared. It’s nice that people do, though. I plan to recuit all of those I can recruit, and shake the souls of those I can’t.

Do you have a theme or message that is present in everything you do as a band?

Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality, but there is, unseen by most, an underworld – a place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit – a dark side.

Can you name some non-music influences, like authors, directors, poets and so on?

There are a number of things that influenced me during the writing and recording of this record. One of them being the harsh weather conditions we endured during recording. I was also watching a lot of Jan Svankmajer films at the time, I love his films on so many levels. His worlds mix live action with sculpture, stop motion animation, puppetry, animals and so much more. Not only is he an amazing filmmaker but an outstanding visual artist as well. All of his works are super imaginative, dark, and surreal, with a clear message.

How come you ended up on I Hate Records?

Ola from I Hate reached out to us via our Myspace, and we were all very excited at the chance to work with him – we are all fans of the label.

Why the name change, from Totem to Jex Thoth?

There were already several other Totems, and in between the two recordings, we had a major lineup change, with Ezekial Blackouts moving overseas and Silas and Johnny Dee joining the lineup. At this time, it became obvious to me that we use my name, because I wanted a name that reflected my leadership of the band. All of the members have contributed tremendous ideas that can be heard on the record, but ultimately, it is my vision we execute.

When performing live, do you do anything special on stage or is it like watching an ordinary band?

There is nothing ordinary about this band, but we don’t enter on horseback or travel with a guillotine if that’s what you’re asking.

What are your interests besides music?

I like to garden, I like to build things, and I enjoy puzzles.

What about the song Son of Yule? What can you tell me about that particular track?

Silas wrote this one, it deals with closed mindedness and an unwillingness to change. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album, it’s a lot of fun to sing and I was able to take a lot of risks – vocally – with this one.

And what about the Equinox Suite? Any comments to that song?

This came about organically, as several of the pieces grew into one. My hope is that everyone listens to the album as I intended, from start to finish, but this is most important in Equinox Suite. This album wasn’t meant to be listened to on ‘shuffle.’ However, I do feel that each phase of the suite stands on its own, and that is why they are indexed individually.

What about the cover art for the album? What’s your relationship to Albert/Reverend Bizarre?

Albert Witchfinder liked our band and offered to draw the cover. Of course we were flattered and psyched. I love how it turned out. We also love Reverend Bizarre.

Finally, how would Jex Thoth have sounded if you’d skipped the drugs and alcohol?

Just as brutal but maybe more punctual – ha ha ha!

Now listen to The Banishment and then go buy the album.

politics

>Fucked by the mainstream – Part 3

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In the mainstream media you have people who’ve applied to the rules and who know that there are certain things that are not proper to say. They’ve probably been filtered out since their education days. A large part of education is actually based on understanding that there are certain things that are not proper to say and to think. If you do, if you’re too independent, you won’t go very far. That, and to be able to pass some exams after you’ve memorized some “good books” they’ve thrown at you, is education. All according to plan.
Perhaps you’ll learn what wine to drink as well.

The result of this filtering process is an uniformity of ideology in the intellectual culture. The people in the mainstream media are pretty much in agreement, and they believe what they are talking about. That’s very important, because it’s very hard to believe one thing and say another. So these people truly believe what they are saying, and thus they are very obedient to the system. They serve power. Of course, they don’t like to hear that. They want to hear that they question power, which they sometimes do – but only within that chosen framework.

Mass media’s main function seems to be to marginalize as large a part of the population as possible, so they don’t interfere with decision-making. That’s why you get shitty sitcoms, soap operas that never end, endless exploitation articles about Jozef Fritzl, shows about babies with five heads etc etc… Crap that makes you occupied, cut away from thinking for yourself.
Sure, we have media that express different views than those of the business community, but they cannot attract capital, so they won’t live that long. The business community have no problem with that (some Rolex ads and they’re done) and thus they have the real power. Of course, people are interested in “real” issues and would hopefully read Stockholms Fria, Oskorei and Counterpunch, for example, if they knew about it and weren’t distracted by that crap on TV, but there’s no market for that kind of journalism. The market and the money are within the business and entertainment industry, the capitalist industry. Issues that matter to working people are no fun. And again, writing stuff to educate the masses to overthrow the people in power is not good for business, so no money there either. Dissident voices in dissident media are not able to survive in this arena where cash is king.
Still, the dissident voices won’t ever shut up.


For more info on this topic you might want to read Understanding Power by Noam Chomsky.
It’s available in Swedish here and in English here.

Also check these YouTube videos:

politics

>Fucked by the mainstream – Part 2

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These are the cold hard facts: The major media units are huge corporations dictating what should be discussed within a certain framework. These institutions naturally work in their own interests, thus dissident opinions have no say here because that would undermine the corporation’s capital interests. The smaller media units will have to adapt to the agenda set by those in power, because they lack resources to act differently.

Knowing this, let’s look at the sources reporters use. Since they work within this framework, the sources they use are not unbiased expert sources, but rather sources that represent already established opinions and that work in their (the corporation’s) own interests. Many times the reporters are not even aware of how this works, due to the illusion of open debate mentioned in Part 1 (only pre-defined opinions within chosen subjects within a chosen framework are allowed).
If you chose to go outside these established opinions you will face major resistance. You will realize that the level of evidence requested all of a sudden is extremely high. If you’re reporting about vested interests, you hardly won’t need any verification at all. If you’re writing about atrocities carried out by the guerilla, all you need is one hearsay witness for confirmation and then you’ll be able to write endless shitty articles about it without anyone questioning you. If you want to write about torture carried out by an American military officer you’ll need videotapes, tons of witnesses and a whole goddamn mountain of evidence to back it up – or else you won’t get through in major media. One quote from a “high U.S. government official” is good as reliable evidence, while ten quotes from a dissident voice are worth nothing. Knowing this, and knowing what it’s like to work where things have to happen fast, it’s easy to understand why most journalists choose the easy way out. They have neither the time nor the pride to fuck with those in the major league. Naturally, the big boys won’t even let you do that because that would be undermining the core of the corporation. Also, a journalist simply cannot afford to lose his job…

Major media consists of a few mega-corporations and when it comes down to it it’s all about increasing profits and market shares. That’s how corporate capitalism works. It’s nothing new, it’s nothing odd. That’s the way it is. And if you’re not in there to play the game, to help your corporation to increase profits and so on, then there’s no place for you in the game. You’re voice will not be heard if you’re raging against the system. Simple as that.
You’ll have to take your work elsewhere, and sometimes not even the alternative media will be good enough. When dealing with certain subjects you’ll be forced to take your work underground, which is exactly quite the opposite of what society should want you to do, had it practised what it preaches: freedom of speech, democracy and justice for all.
Sadly, that’ not how it works and ultimately this false representation of virtues and moral will end in conflict.

by Mattias Indy Pettersson