She gon’ get, get, get, get you drunk
Alanis Morissette wants to talk to you about her lovely lady lumps
Anthony Augustine


Alanis Morissette My Humps video — www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91sqAs-_-g — Former teen TV star Alanis Morissette steps outside her comfort zone with a reinterpretation of the Black Eyed Peas’ My Humps — and it’s almost as weird and creepy as Xiu Xiu’s version of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car. Already viewed over two million times, this clip is just another example of how video is being reborn thanks to YouTube.

Movement/Mutek—www.demf.com, www.mutek.ca — Along with Decibel in Seattle, Detroit’s Movement (May 26-28) and Montreal’s Mutek (May 30 - June 3) have established themselves as the premiere electronic music festivals in North America. While Movement has struggled to define its own identity, Mutek has always struck a balance between avant-garde sound art and forward-thinking electronic artists. With a lineup that includes Germany’s Wighnomy Brothers, Brazil’s Gui Boratto and Agnes from Switzerland, Mutek clearly bridges a gap between the type of underground audio art you find at Winnipeg’s Send + Receive and the throbbing pulse of late-night post-rave techno.
Since taking over the reins only a few months before the start of last year’s event, long-running promotion company Paxahau has reinvigorated Movement and proven that an outdoor electronic festival can be successful in an urban setting. Detroit is now known as much for the city’s contribution to techno as for the birth of Motown, and the latest incarnation of Movement showcases Detroit’s rich musical history with artists such as Jeff Mills, Moodyman and Juan Atkins, also connecting the dots between Europe and North America by featuring performances by Hardfloor, Michael Mayer and Matthew Dear. Although the main festival runs 12 hours a day in Hart Plaza, it’s the endless stream of after-hours events that really sets a trip to the Motor City apart. Last year over 100 events were spread out over the weekend, ranging from large-scale parties to underground warehouse shows, making it tough to decide what to see. As at the Winter Music Conference in Miami, post-festival events feature a bunch of unannounced performances, marathon DJ sets fueled by an endless supply of booze, and track after track of white-label techno. Most sets from the main festival last year are available on the D.E.M.F. site in streaming RealAudio.

Wardrobe Remix— www.flickr.com/groups/wardrobe_remix/pool/ — Sure, you could spend all your extra cash on boring fashion magazines featuring clothes you can never afford, or you could subscribe to this Flickr photo feed and get a DIY version of Vice’s Dos & Don’ts without the funny put-downs.

Dick Dale interview— www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJNnLIPZ_n4 — Seems as if hard-nosed producer Steve Albini isn’t the only person willing to speak out against the music industry and the evils of signing with a major label. Dick Dale, The King of the Surf Guitar’, recommends that new artists forge their own path and not rely on music-biz machine, suggesting that musicians actually become more like businesspeople. While Dale probably never thought his music would be floating around on peer-to-peer networks, he does understand that building a fan base is central to a band’s success.

Anthony Augustine is a freelance music, technology and pop culture writer. He can be heard every Tuesday morning at 9:00am on Hot 103 discussing the web. Got a site you think he should see? E-mail him at anthony.alloneword@gmail.com.