The album's been in the works for almost two years. It's entirely instrumental and combines over 100 Fugazi samples with a variety of effects. Ian Mackaye (from the band and their label Dischord) has authorized the album's release. And, the profit from will be donated to a pair of charities—one that works with senior citizens in Washington, D.C. and another that provides aid globally to folks impacted by disaster and civil unrest.
Lawhorn started the Case/Martingale label in 1996, while playing drums for the (admittedly Fugazi-influenced) band Cataract Falls. A decade of disastrous tours and middling solo albums followed. Along the way, he became the staff DJ at a spring break company—playing for drunk, college students on South Padre Island each March—and recorded the rap album Pole Position.
This gradual switch from rocking to beat-making isn't exceptionally unique. But, it led to an 18 month stint as the resident DJ for Marie Claire magazine. When that concluded, Lawhorn began work on Fugazi Edits—in an attempt to make something that employed both the musical influences of his youth and his love of cutting up tracks and reassembling them.
Interested folks can visit http://www.chrislawhorn.com to check out samples from the album, the artwork, and so on.
from blip.tv:
Starsuckers is the most controversial documentary of the year... It's a darkly humourous and shocking exposé of the celebrity-obsessed media, that uncovers the real reasons behind our addiction to fame and blows the lid on the corporations and individuals who profit from it.
from ap:
The biggest charity inside the U.S. military has been hoarding tens of millions of dollars meant to help put fighters returning from Iraq and Afghanistan back on their feet. An Associated Press investigation shows that between 2003 and 2007, the Army Emergency Relief grew into a $345 million behemoth. During those years, the charity packed away $117 million into its own reserves while spending just $64 million on direct aid. That's at a time when many military families were struggling with long war deployments and increased numbers of home foreclosures. The Fort Bliss-based charity is tax-exempt and legally separate from the military but really operates under close Army control. The massive nonprofit is funded primarily by the troops themselves. It allows superiors to squeeze soldiers for contributions, forces struggling soldiers to repay loans and often violates its own rules by rewarding donors. AER executives defend their operation, insisting they need to keep sizable reserves to be ready for future catastrophes.
