Kurt
Hernon:
April,
2004

Liner Notes: A Real Life Guide to Independent Living

1. Poker: Texas Hold 'em to be exact; tournament style to be very exact. No-limit, all-in, like you see on TV (which is a bit grating to us long time players…but hey, more amateur chips to be won!) This isn't about "gambling", it's about competing. Against yourself, the cards, the chip count, the odds, the math, and all of the other punks around the table. Probably the finest game ever created!

2. Marah: They were an absolute miracle of a band when they were mimicking Greetings-era Springsteen and giving the form more bite than the Boss could have (Philly is a much tougher neighborhood than Asbury Park) - Let's Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later On Tonight and Kids in Philly not only hold up over time, they get better and better. They moved to England and recorded a disaster called Float Away with the Friday Night Gods in 2002 and I wrote them off. But word is they are back in the States (in the Yep Roc fold) and back in true form. My hands are clasped together in hopeful prayer.

3. Varnaline: Anders Parker is God. Well, a demigod at least. Ahh fuck it, a God of some sort and the full body of Varnaline work that he's so graciously reissued by his lonesome (Cloud Records) are his old and new testaments. Essential listening for the spiritually challenged…if you can't believe in this stuff, you can't believe in anything.

4. Neal Pollack: I hate, hate, hate, and hate him. So why do I love, love, love, love him? I dunno, he's just one of those sorts of dudes I suppose. His silly Never Mind the Pollacks: A Rock and Roll Novel is as stupid as it is silly. And stupid-silly is better than 97.3% of most published drivel about music these days.

5. My Rio Karma: I figured I had no real use for a hard-drive based MP3 player, but I bought one anyways. The Rio Karma is fucking cool…I have no real use for it, but damn it's cool!

6. Schlitz Beer: They still brew the shit! And it still tastes like shit. But it's soo 70s that it's rocknroll liquefied. Fuck Pabst; grab a can of the beer that dominated the 1970's!

7. Dave Hill: my friend and head honcho of Uptown Sinclair has this set of demo tracks…this set of phenomenal demo tracks…this set of tracks so goddamn good that I wanna quit writing about rockroll and just listen to this guy do his thing 24/7. Yeah, they're that good.

8. Ennio Morricone's soundtrack to Once Upon a Time in America. I loved the film, but don't really need it anymore now that I own this. Very likely the most moving music I own.

9. Niki Sullivan - He riffed like a mad Texas muthafucka in the Crickets. I liked Holly's tunes, didn't like his voice, but the rhythm and lead work that Sullivan did on those early tracks was special. He's gone now (4-7-2004), but you can sure hear what he did in the work of Keith Richards, that's for sure.

10. Spaulding Gray: R.I.P. Life was a bitch for Spaulding Gray, yet he was so goddamn eloquent at explaining that to us. I, for one, feel grateful to have experienced his painful genius while he was still with us. Good night, Spaulding. And, if there is a God, rest in peace!

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