Here at ETS!, we've worked hard these past ten long years to establish a reputation as a bunch of doctrinaire, angry, humorless cookie-cutter lefty old grumpies. But, alas, our inevitably absurd senses of humor, as well as our honestly superb tastes in cultural fare, keep getting in the way of that lofty goal. Case in point being the following lofty proposal I have for Seattle's lofty city mothers and fathers:

Tell the Sonics to go to hell, and instead use our taxpayer money to bring Sonic Youth to Seattle.

Let's face the civic facts: Sonic Youth, New York City's truly finest, have now accomplished the considerable feat, like no other rock band before them, of going an entire twenty long years without making a single lousy record (counting from their 1986 breakthrough EVOL). Their latest, Rather Ripped, is among their best ever, as well as, yes, a return to the form of their halcyon songform-flirting Daydream Nation/Goo/Dirty heyday, in which they have once again tightened up their infamous explorations of modernist sonic mischief into brilliantly pithy and profoundly electric pop-rock jewels along the lines of 1990's "Kool Thing" and 1992's "Sugar Kane." Buy it, download it, steal it, anti-capitalistically acquire it somehow, right fucking now.

Why should the latest work from the essentially apolitical SY matter to ETS! readers? Here's the activist angle: It's quite simply high time, if Seattle retains any lingering dreams of being a (koff koff) "world-class" city, that we finally forego further public subsidizing of private sector stupidities such as basketball teams, and instead invest in the grand civic project of stealing other cities' great musical artists. For a mere fraction of the mega-millions the Seattle Sonics once demanded from taxpayers for a ridiculous revamp of Key Arena, we could pay Sonic Youth, The Only Band That Matters, to permanently relocate to Seattle. (Then, we'll steal the White Stripes from Detroit and the Coup from Oakland. And come to think of it, wouldn't a cool taxpayer million convince Portland's dear departed Sleater-Kinney to promptly reform and relocate here as well?)

Quite simply, our fair city will not survive unless we fully commit our public millions to such a worthy cause! Hey Nickels, Licata, Steinbrueck et al.--are you listening? In the meantime, Rather Ripped grandly awaits both longtime and nascent Sonic Youth fans among the ETS! faithful who need a sweetly hooky aesthetic and cathartic break from the political. Play loudly, of course, for maximum effect. --Jeff Stevens

A great compilation of music for a great cause was released early this summer by Iamedia, a Seattle-based organization that promotes the connection between art and activism. This time, Iamedia teamed up with Jubilee USA, the US wing of a 60-country movement calling for the cancellation of debt paid by the Global South to the IMF/World Bank, to produce Break the Chains! The disc includes international artists Daara J (Senegal), Femi Kuti (Nigeria), Oliver Mtukudzi (Zimbabwe), Israel Vibration (Jamaica), and Zona Marginal (Colombia) and US artists Thievery Corporation, The Gift of Gab, Sweet Honey In the Rock, Corey Harris, The Welfare Poets, Ras K'Dee, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, David Rovics, Utah Phillips, Kate Campbell, and Stephan Smith. A few local artists are represented, too, with Blue Scholars, Joules Graves, and Mariide. Despite mixing musical genres--world beat, hip hop, reggae, and folk--the commonality of the message helps the collection hang together well. An educational booklet is included that explains the issue of international debt and what we as artists and citizens can do about it. Great music for a great cause, available from www.iamedia.org.