Tofurkey's on Fire

FROM November 26, 2003

Our Swiss correspondent, Ethan Swan, sent holiday wishes this morning:

"The China-men built the railroad, the Indians saved
the Pilgrim/And in return the Pilgrim killed em/
They call it it Thanksgiving, I call your holiday
hell-day
(from Stillmatic)"

Ethan used to play in a superb Portland punk band called Emergency, which pre-dated last season's "no-wave explosion" by about four years and, Ethan being somewhat of a no-wave/artpunk archivist, wrote better songs than most, too. They released a split w/Numbers, back when nobody knew who Numbers were, on Ethan and Paul Dickow (ex-Emergency, current Strategy, Nudge, DJ P-Disco)'s label Archigramophone.
(Other Recommended Archi-Titles: Mesozoic-era Nice Nice, Mome Raths [before that crappy PDX yuppie jazz band swiped their name], and especially Washington DC's Meltdown, who had a major influence on Erase Errata and were perhaps the best high school punk band that ever existed. We should also give them credit for being a high school punk band in the mid-'90s without employing a pun moniker, like "The Sleazecake Factory" or "Melinda Sclerosis" [apologies to Robb, Steph, and Bob formerly of Laramie, WY.])