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COMMENTS ON THIS PAGE OR ANYTHING ELSE IN iJAMMING!? POST THEM ON THE FORUM
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What's new in iJamming!...
Sun, Sep 21, 2003
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ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN: "Flowers is Echo & The Bunnymen's finest hour since Ocean Rain."
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HEDONISM:
An intrigue of early 90s New York nightlife.
NEW CHAPTER now online
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From the Jamming! Archives:
U2 interviewed in 1984.
"It's not U2 that's creating this great art. . .There's something that works through us to create in this way."
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MUSING ON A SEPTEMBER MOURNING
PART1: My immediate reaction to September 11
PART 2: Messages from friends & family overseas
PART 3: Observations & quotes from others.
PART 4: LINKS
PART 5: COPING - 2 weeks later
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iJamming! Wino/Muso:
JOHN ACQUAVIVA
"New world wines are just too techno for me."
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Featured albums
(Hub, Slumber Party, DJ Harry, Spearhead, The Who tribute)
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Albums that sound different since September 11
(Charlatans UK, Arabian Travels, Cafe del Mar, Sugarcult)
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Featured wine region 3:
SOUTHERN RHÔNE WHITES
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Featured wine region 4:
SOUTHERN RHÔNE ROSÉS
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interview:
Jesse Hartman, aka LAPTOP
"Every New York band knows the meaning of failure"
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MIX Albums:
Who, what and why you should bother (DB, Spooky, Jody, RSW, Bad Boy Bill)
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FEATURED Wines (Langlois Cremant de Loire, Honig Sauvignon Blanc, Campbell's Muscat, Brumont Gros Manseng, Dr Frank Gewürtztraminer, Daubree CoteRotie, Dry Creek Chenin Blanc, Mas Saint Laurent Picpoul, Quivira Dry Creek)
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The iJAMMING! interview: DAVID SYLVIAN
"I don't think people realize that life can become so exciting and interesting that it can draw you away for long periods of time from creating music - & why not?"
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From the Keith Moon archives:
the JEFF BECK interview .
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From Homework to the Disco:
DAFT PUNK
grows up and dumbs down
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The iJAMMING! chat:
MARK PERRY
"If I was asked why Sniffin' Glue was so important, it was the way we conducted ourselves, the style of it, just the attitude. It had attitude in abundance didn't it?"
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The Return of Shoegazing:
DOVES take New York by swarm
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Forgotten Classics:
THE CHILLS: Brave Words
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THE iJAMMING! Book Review:
SNIFFIN' GLUE: The Essential Punk Accessory
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Musing with SALLY TAYLOR:
"I'm not interested in what the major labels have to offer."
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From the JAMMING! archives: PAUL WELLER ON POP
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Featured wine region 2:
CÔTES DU RHÔNE VILLAGES
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From the JAMMING! archives: ALTERNATIVE TV
interviewed in 1978
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TRAVIS.
Fran Healy explains why "you cannot own a song." (And why Liam Gallagher "is going to turn into a really great songwriter.")
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Featured Artist Web Site:
LLOYD COLE
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From the JAMMING! archives: The Story That Spawned Creation
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Featured vine:
VIOGNIER:
Finally, a worthy rival to Chardonnay.
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The iJAMMING! interview:
BOY GEORGE.
"Once you've had your go, what-ever it may be, they want you to piss off, and they can't bear it if you come back, they can't bear it."
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SUPERDRAG
They love rock'n'roll but they don't want to deal with the hassle
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From the JAMMING! archives: RAYMONDE in 1985
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The full iJamming! Contents
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the iJAMMING! Q&A:
LAPTOP
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As the review I posted back in March made abundantly clear, I consider Laptop's debut album Opening Credits no small a work of genius. (You can read the review here.) Jesse Hartman's acerbic lyrics suggest a man of considerable literary merit and sharp wit, and given his subject matter (failed relationships) and career trajectory (failed major label deals), he seemed an ideal candidate for an iJamming! interview. Instinct led me to make it an e-mail Q&A; I thought he might enjoy my occasionally biting and not infrequently sarcastic questions a little more if he had a chance to compose replies as per lyrics, rather than being forced to deliver them off the cuff. Hartman proved a good sport, and responded with an essay's worth of responses within a week or two.
Talking of sport, during the very week of posting this interview (mid-June 2001) Hartman celebrated the UK release of his second album, The Old Me Vs. The New You, by performing in London in full boxing regalia. (Images of the Monty Python sketch in which Graham Chapman boxed against himself immediately pop into the head.) I've yet to hear much of this album and don't feel the need to post a review so rapidly on the heels of Opening Credits. In fact, while I understand Hartman's desire to press on with his career after the years lost to the Universal-Seagrams merger, I would hate to see Opening Credits passed over. Neither would he, which is one reason The Old Me Vs. The New You is not released in the U.S. until August. Laptop links follow at the end; if ever there's an artist who merits an internet following, it's this post-modern, computer-savvy master of what he himself contentedly calls "ironica."
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How are you today, Jesse?
5:00am -- I was awoken by two of my apartment building neighbors having a loud discussion. I told them to shut up and now they think it was me who called the police last night to complain about a domestic squabble they were having. (The man is quite large and tattooed.)
9:15am -- While driving my dirty little Honda from Brooklyn to the East Village, I flipped on shock jock Howard Stern (like not being able to avert your eyes from a car wreck) and had to endure an interview with a rock star who I know personally and dislike heavily. Quote: "Nobody understands that music is my life, man. You know, the band is my family."
11:00am -- A friend called me and told me Lou Reed died which turned out later to be just an internet hoax.
I ask because at least one magazine that listened to Opening Credits concluded that you must be a "miserable bastard." Well, are you?
Not as much as I should be given some of the material. A few more days like this one and I'll get there.
Are Laptop and Jesse Hartman one and the same character, or is Laptop merely your alter ego? If so, does that make you any more easy going in person than you are in song?
On a scale from 1-10, is Jesse as ________ as he is in Laptop songs?
Paranoid - 10
Funny - 8 (how can he be?)
Mean - 5
Romantic - 0 (I'm more so in person)
Competitive - 0
Well-adjusted - 3 (I'm more so in person)
You grew up around the New York rock'n'roll scene, I gather. Do you recall your first gig? How old were you? Did it make you want to become a rock'n'roll star?
Pet Clams From Outer Space at CBGB's in 1978. I was 6 and my older sister thought I should see the inside of that famous club. Made me want to hold my ears more than be a rock star. Seeing the Talking Head's Remain In Light tour a couple years later made me want to be rock star.
You toured with Richard Hell at a very young age? How old were you then? Did THAT make you want to become a rock'n'roll star?
I was 19 or 20 when I went to Japan as the guitarist on a punk rock Spinal Tap-esque Richard Hell tour. THAT made me want to sell all my gear (which I did upon return), swear off rock stardom (Richard told me repeatedly that the rock biz is a "world of pain" - he was right), and become a filmmaker.
You've performed with many other musicians and several bands. What's the closest you've ever come to being a rock'n'roll star?
I am a rock 'n' roll star.
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"American indies have little power these days, American radio is a joke and the place is just too fucking big to make an impact with- out a lot of $."
JESSE HARTMAN ON WHY HE LAUNCHED LAPTOP FROM THE UK. (PIC: Anne Senstad.) |
Continue to part 2
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iJamming! Site Copyright Tony Fletcher 2001.
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