Jack White, perhaps the coolest musical figure of our generation (certainly up there with Andre 3000 and Prince, who may be the coolest musical figure of any generation), performed The Beatles’ classic “Mother Nature’s Son” at the White House. The task alone is impressive and threatening enough, but when the seating arrangement puts the leader of the free world and a knight directly at the performer’s feet, shit, even a professional as traveled and accomplished as Jack White’s got to get goosebumps. He, as expected, performed wonderfully, of course. Enjoy!
Jack White performs The Beatles’ “Mother Nature’s Son” at the White House. Aired on PBS, July 28, 2010
Brought to you by the Public Broadcasting Service, viewers like you and the letter “D,” for Dirtyfuckinghipster.com. -DFH
Nothing to do with music, but everything to do with burritos. Fallen burritos. Burritos destroyed and forgotten.
Things to note before/as you are watching:
1) Men are more badass than women.
2) Listen to what the dude says at the very end of the clip, and imagine you’re the restaurant manager on duty that afternoon. How hard would you be rolling your eyes at this goon?
Also, wouldn’t it have been a lot cooler if it were more racially charged than it was? I heard a “nigga” in there somewhere, but nothing more volatile than that. -DFH
In an effort to both educate the hipster world and what is good and what is not, and to keep myself busy, this site will endeavor its first weekly feature. Every Tuesday we will feature something you simply need to hear or need to see in order to be properly fulfilled. Music being the particular focus of this site, most posts will be of the musical variety.
And so, on this day, Tuesday the 27th of July, 2010, the first installment of Tune In, brought to you by you friendly neighborhood Dirty Good for Nothing Sunuvabitch Hipster highlights one of the great musicians, one of the great characters and innovators of the 20th Century: the one and only Mr. Duane Allman. Enjoy, my fellow brokeass bohemians, enjoy! And, don’t forget, music comes from the soul. Music that comes from elsewhere is nothing more than simulacrum.
If you’ve ever wondered what the Powerpuff Girls would make a one of Bowie’s hardest Rock songs sound like? Well, look no further because this dirty motherfucking hipster has found it for you. It’s Vivian Girls covering “John, I’m Only Dancing.”
This kind of bullshit would have Susan B. Anthony rolling in her grave. “Yeah, we’ve got tattoos and look like tough biker chicks, but really we’re just bubbly little girls with bubbly little girl [lack of] attitude. We wanted to take this kick-ass Bowie song our mommies used to play on the record player and rip its balls off. How’d we do??? @DirtyFuckingHipster ;p”
Grabbed this off Stereogum. It’s a really great track from a British band called The Bees. I’ve begun to hear their name circling a bit lately, but was surprised to find out that their upcoming album is their fourth. Well, anyway, enjoy this track; it’s very good.
I post this with the awareness that DFH.com is on the brink of becoming a Hank & Cupcakes fanpage, and it don’t seem to bother me none.
I happened to be shuffling through Union Square Park yesterday because it’s pleasant to be outside surrounded by concrete when the temperature reaches 140, when I came across a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. He was setting up drum mics on a stage that had been built in the square and I asked him who was playing. “Uh, Hank and the Cupcakes, or something?” Must say, was not a very big surprise, after all, this event was sponsored by Best Buy where the dynamic duo had played several months earlier. And, shit, they seem to play once a week, and somehow garner bigger and bigger crowds each time.
This dirty, sweating, heaving fucking hipster wiped the hair from his burning eyes as he entered the square from the southeast corner to see the silhouette of about 100 people standing or sitting on the steps observing the band playing their initial single, “Pleasure Town.” As the show carried on and picked up momentum, a momentum that could be deciphered from Cupcake’s cheeks, which grew from pink to red in the beating summer sun, the crowd multiplied steadily throughout the set until nearly the entire southern quarter was packed full of children dancing, grown men crying (for real, dawg, for real) and cell phone snapshots going off every ten seconds.
This was certainly the biggest crowd I had seen the band play in front of. On a sweltering New York summer day Cupcakes was the only thing in the universe shining brighter than the fat old sun, and right there with her, playing flawlessly and sliding gracefully around the stage with her as always was Hank, the perfect Edith to her Archie. Whether it was a ballad or a banger, I felt as though I saw hundreds of New Yorkers all falling in love at the same time, and it was a very special site. I couldn’t help but wonder to myself what it would be like to be the band’s William Miller on their first national tour, but for that I’d have to give up my secret identity. Might be worth it. -DFH
PS – The band just released a video for their cover of Joy Division’s “She’s Lost Control.” It’s pretty damn good. Check it.
As the scope and pervasive nature of the internet have increased to a profoundly (overly-?)integrated level we begin to see its direct impact on our music, and, specifically, our musical recordings. A post I came upon earlier today on Stereogum points to a band who seem to be taking full advantage of the rather forgiving (I think that’s a proper adjective to describe what I’m getting at) nature of the music distribution database that is the interweb.
There appears to be a new Brooklyn band on the scene. They’re called Minks, and their tunes are alright. But it’s their production that stands out. It seems to this dirty fucking hipster that the band may not be in possession of a microphone and have recorded their tracks straight into a computer, likely a 13″ MacBook from 2007, the ought’s version of the StarTac. While many purists may reject this method as “improper recording technique,” this opinionated fucking hipster digs it. If the public isn’t going to pay for their music – and they’re not, get over yourselves, majors and distributors – why the fuck should the band pay for it?
It would be great to see this become a common trend. And it’s not a middle finger to the music-consuming public, but, rather, a shake of the hand. “You’ve got yourselves a deal, fans. NOBODY pays for music now!” This, of course, comes with the caveat that if a listener would like to hear what the music actually sounds like, he or she will have to shell out 6-10 bucks to catch a live show. Ain’t that the way it oughta be?
As a hipster it is my duty to both scrutinize and defend my hipster culture. Too many folks take the easy route and point at the artificial nature of the clothing and the quintessential lethargic attitude towards professional and economic progress that rests at the core of hipsterdom, but not enough are pointing out its merits. If nothing else, it certainly endorses an ethic of open critique and investigation, particularly into the arts, and particularly into music. Like Dylan said, and I’m paraphrasing here, a song can’t change the world, but rather, acts as a mirror and bluntly illustrates that which already exists but may go unnoticed. The term P2P was invented, what, 20 years ago? But it isn’t until this very moment that mankind has spent the appropriate time – about one generation – living in a P2P world to have the full realization of its affects on natural cultural reproduction. Kudos, Minks. Let’s just hope that you bring it live, otherwise it may all be for nought. -DFH
Every now and again something happens that puts a big ol’ smile on this dirty fucking hipster’s face. Recently, more and more of these smiles have been entreated by my favorite Israeli-born Indie duo, Hank & Cupcakes. This coming Tuesday, June 1st, the band will be at Mercury Lounge as part of a concert they have arranged to support a fellow scene-blog, Beyond Race Magazine. Like so many others, BRM has fallen on difficult financial times, so, since they have proven to not only be a hip journal that shows love for our talented NYC musicians, but have also proven to be good people, H & C have put together this benefit show. A benefit show that this dirty hipster fully endorses.
They’ve also made a promo vid with tits, really nice tits, in it. Maybe we’ll see tits at the show?!
Some very cool t-shirt (again, incorporating boobies) have been designed by Seasick Mama, and are available both on the Seasick Mama website and will be sold at the show. “The Plastic Shopkeeper,” Alan Lugo, will be distributing prints of his fantastic photography, included in said collection are shots of the evening’s hosts. Danny Ross, another rising NYC star, will be the opening act, and he’s sure as hell worth checking out. Amongst all the Indie brotherhood, an international big-shot has stepped in to join the good cause. Converse will be there, and will be raffling off some of their hot new styles. All you sneaker geeks best get your tickets. And, shit, it’s a Hank & Cupcakes concert! You never know who will show up, but you do know you’re getting to see one of the very best acts this beautiful, ever-warming city has to offer. I’ll be there, for sure. -DFH
For those of you who frequent the mainstream blogosphere, you’ve likely become accustomed to lists and top-10′s and best-of’s, etc., etc. that seem designed to stir up controversy rather than settle debate. Spin’s“125 Best Albums of the Part 25 Years” is no different. Remember when Rolling Stone put out their “100 Greatest Guitarists of All-Time,” and put David Gilmour at 88, I believe? Well, clearly there are arguments that support such an artists ranking far higher than that, but it is difficult to get too angry about their top 3, which were, in ascending order, Clapton, Allman and Hendrix. (If I hear one more person complain about how Clap gentrified the blues I’m gonna shit.) Very difficult to get too riled up those choices.
So, before I begin to opine with irritating aimlessness, I’ll say that these lists have their merit. Never mind who or what gets lumped in the middle, that’s simply a matter of taste. The cream that rises to the top is typically universal – or, as close to universal as one can get. Spin ranked U2′s 1991 masterpiece “Achtung Baby” as their #1 album since 1985. This dirty hipster takes no issue with that in the slightest. What he does take issue with is the article that accompanies the nomination. The author, Charles Aaron, – a brave soul who is not afraid to attach his real name to his work – delivers a difficult message to decipher. With a heavy hand he cites U2 as “bumbling through periods of bloat and self-delusion and irreverence” following the release of “Achtung Baby.” Simultaneously, Aaron asserts that the band were “flailing and directionless” during the time when they released 1988′s “Rattle n Hum.” I wonder if these “serious” music journals, unlike the Dirty Fucking Hipsters of the virtual world, demand that their journalists raise their noses at all costs, if for nothing else, for the sake of letting the artists they cover (and from whom they earn their paper) know who the real boss is.
U2's Achtung Baby
Nevertheless, I think they have hit the nail on the head in giving the nod to U2, even if it may not be the best U2 album of the past 25 years; “Joshua Tree” was pretty goddamn good, and produced one of those sounds, triggered those particular emotions that will never and could never be duplicated. -DFH
