Some Links
I don't know why, but it's usually pretty lame when e-zines have a "links of the month" section. Probably because they're usually the exact same kind of crap that circulates in forwarded emails, like a cute picture of a dolphin or something. So, I'll try to do better than that.
A web comic that my friend Jeff (not that Jeff) sent me a link to that I've really been enjoying is Cat and Girl. It'll probably go "ziiinnngggg!!!" over a lot of people's heads, but I'm down with that. If you like jokes about NPR and Fluxus zombies, you'll love it.
I've finally been getting into circuit bending/building effects. The Free Information Society's Electronic Circuit Schematic Archive is full of pretty much everything you could think of, with a huge audio section.
On the decay front, a link to Manusell Towers in the UK was recently posted to a mailing list I'm on. These abandoned WWII sea forts are literally the kinds of buildings I see in my dreams. Totally gorgeous and surreal.

Some Music
I guess I sort of have a tradition of writing about the music I'm listening to in Rust n Brique. I don't really feel like writing any reviews -- I do that "professionally" now, and it's starting to become a chore. At the same time, I just haven't been too preoccupied with listening to music recently -- I'm more into creating it.
I've been getting into a few things that are sort of, I don't know, "required listening" as far as the underground post-punk/proto-industrial stuff I'm into. Basically bands everyone else loves that I've never really gotten into. The first one is Cabaret Voltaire. One day, out of nowhere, I just decided it was time for me to listen to "Red Mecca" again -- I somehow knew that it was time for me to like Cabaret Voltaire. So, I dug it and "Mix-Up" out of Jeff's record collection and listened to them and liked them, especially Mix-Up. I'm still not down with the later dancier stuff. I can kind of identify with the earlier stuff, especially with the cover of "No Escape," because they have a Farfisa and are sort of a mutant noise-garage thing, like my band.
The second one of those bands is Wire. A friend of mine borrowed a CD of Colin Newman's "A-Z" off of someone and kept playing it, and I thought it was pretty good, and was weirded out by the fact that I had no idea who Colin Newman was. So, I asked Jeff, and he said, "he's that guy from Wire," and I said, "Oh." I've heard tons of Wire, but the poppier, happier stuff totally turned me off. It still turns me off pretty bad, but I'm discovering the more post-punky, atmospheric creepy songs.
I've been really into post-punky, atmospheric and creepy recently. I mean, even more than usual. Pretty much anything with good bass playing and guitar that's either been chorused to hell or sounds like it's being played by someone who doesn't even know what a chord is. I've actually been really into The Birthday Party for about a year now. I get laughed at for liking them, because they have this image of being cheezmo-goth, but it's really a lot more than that. I also listen to a lot of Ausgang, who are a more obscure deathrock band that sounds like an even more over-the-top Birthday Party with a wackier sense of humor.
As far as music that doesn't make people snicker, a recent discovery has been Essential Logic. It's some of that "art-rock" type stuff that makes stereotypical "punk rockers" whine, and you know that's a good sign. The "star" is Lara Logic, the sax player from X-Ray Spex, but, aside from the vocals, they sound nothing alike. Essential Logic goes their own kraut-rock inspired, post-punk way -- kind of like a more competent and less jazzy Contortions. The bass playing alone is really mind-blowing.
I recently discovered a couple of obscure early industrial/synthpunk groups from San Francisco: Nervous Gender, who have a more pissed-off, broken analog-synth sound, and Factrix, who (at their best) are like a harder-edged "Mix-Up" era Cabaret Voltaire. Factrix worked with Monte Cazazza and Z'ev, if that means anything to you.
The all-time kings of pissed-off are Missing Foundation, who almost defy description. I'll just say it's without a doubt the hardest, noisiest, most aggressive thing I've ever heard -- even more confrontational than early Swans. They make Neubauten look like little girls, but, then again, Blixa Bargeld can do a pretty good job of that sometimes on his own.
It's 7 in the morning, I've been up all night reading Wikipedia (again), and I'm eating some quinoa stew. And I'm about to upload this pile of nonsense. . .