hushhushATTACK! is cutting it short this week, as we're at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia...but we'll be back in full swing next week with some tasty little tidbits. Peace!

Yours Truly,

The hushhushATTACK! Mouse-Piece

LET’S SEXY FIGHTING: No, it’s not an exciting new Japanese punk band…nor does it involve wrestling in Jell-O or mud. Rather, Let’s Sexy Fighting is a blog written by Dave, “a tech worker searching for an outlet,” that’s been introducing readers to exciting new music for over a year now. “The focus of Let's Sexy Fighting is to introduce people to new (or old) bands I find noteworthy,” says Dave. “A big goal of mine is to try to do this independently of what's big in the blogosphere at the moment. I may or may not succeed at this all the time, but I try.” Among the bands featured in Let’s Sexy Fighting well before breaking were the Cribs, Patrick Wolf, The Bird and the Bee, Oxford Collapse, the Morning Benders, Land of Talk, Professor Murder and Ghosthustler; some of Dave’s current favorites include White Rabbits, Justice, the Forms, the Cribs and Rodrigo y Gabriela. While he’s always open to musical submissions, he does have some guidelines: “I prefer links to mp3s in emails and I like it when bands take the time to craft their emails to the sites directly instead of a mass email designed to hit hundreds of blogs at once. I don't want a big PR bio or anything; if I am interested I will dig for that stuff. Just keep it short, and get my attention--preferably with good music!” Among the other blogs Dave digs: Hard To Find A Friend, La Blogotheqe and Where Is Helsinki?

--THE BASICS--
Name: FRANKI CHAN
Title: DJ, ILLUSTRATOR, OWNER/FOUNDER of IHEARTCOMIX
Company: IHEARTCOMIX 
Hometown: BLOOMINGTON, IN
Current Location: LOS ANGELES, CA
Previous Jobs: Assistant Booking Agent - Graceland, Virgin Mega Store, Video Stores, Resturants, Record Shops, Comic Book Store, Christmas Tree Farm, Pizza Delivery Driver, Movie Theatres, McDonald’s, Burger King

--STARTING TO DIG--
>>How did you get into the music biz?
“i played in DIY punk bands in and after high school. One particular band, OPERATION: CLIFF CLAVIN, had moderate success and we toured constantly and released records.  after doing that for a while, i was really inspired by the kids who made all of it happen, so i decided to start doing my own shows.”

>>What did you want to be when you were 10?
“Stand up comic”

>>..and what did your parents want you to be?
“American”

>>If you had a musical genie that could grant you 3 wishes for the industry, what would they be?
“Free Music, Non Corporate Radio, LESS SUITS”

>>Mentors you’ve had in the music industry:
“Jason Lajunesse - Booking Agent of Nuemos (seattle), Chris Beno - Owner of Graceland (seattle), Chris Clavin - Plan-It-X Records, Bill Badgely - Federation X, Jay Parkin, Mastin Kipp, Brian Schall, Ron Handler, Kirk Sommer, Zane Landreth, Adam 12, Matt & Kim”

>>Top 5 fav bands of 'right now'
Soulwax, Spankrock, Matt & Kim, Dan Deacon, Totally Michael

>>Worst album of all time:
“i don't spend my time listening to bad albums, and honestly, there is so much shit out there, it's hard to pick just one.”

>>Your daily reads (i.e. blogs, ezines, websites)
the daily swarm, dark horizons, news-a-rama, discobelle, big stereo

>>How can people get in touch with you?
franki@iheartcomix.com
www.iheartcomix.com
www.myspace.com/frankichan
www.myspace.com/iheartcomixevents
www.myspace.com/iheartcomixrecords
www.myspace.com/checkyoponytail

>>Parting words?
“I am going to change the industry, watch.”

MEET:
Name: Claudia Sherman

Job Title: photo editor (architecture & celebrity portraiture)

Favorite dance: a proprietary jig called "Stomp Those Pony Hooves" in which you get fairly drunk and then do an Irishy/stompy/prancy bit while your friends yell "stomp those pony hooves! i said STOMP those pony hooves!" to egg you on

Favorite song of the week: Scala Choir & Kolaczny Bros.' cover of "Heartbeats" is the best

Favorite Color / Why: grey, because it's the midpoint of everything: dusk, dawn, the tonal spectrum. it's subtle and balanced but capable of great depth.

The Last thing You ate: a huge box of salad-bar mayhem from the local Hindu temple.

Fun Tidbit: there's only one other "prominent" Claudia Sherman (a terrible comedienne of the "I mean, mothers-in-law...am I right?" ilk) in the world and we've been fighting over the #1 Google hit ranking for like seven years. (this tidbit also informs you, sneakily, that I am a huuuuuuuge nerdlinger.)

SIOUXSIE SIOUX PULLS A COUP: Another week, another format-defining artist atop the Mediaguide Alternative Specialty Song index…but this time the ladies take a turn, as legendary Siouxsie and the Banshees ringleader Siouxsie debuts in the top slot with “Into a Swan,” the first single from solo effort MantaRay (W14/Universal), which also bowed atop the Album chart. Coming on the heels of consecutive #1 appearances by both Beck and Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode fame (who both remain firmly ensconced in the top five of the Song chart), it would appear that the panel is adhering to a “Back to the Future” motif as school swings back into session. Confirming that theorem is the #3 debut on the Song chart from another old-school Alt-fave, Black Francis, with the rollicking “Captain Pasty” (which sounds like either a really pale ship skipper or a strip club morals code enforcer, take your pick). This strong debut propelled the full album, Bluefinger (Cooking Vinyl), to a #4 Album bow…in addition to giving the old-school contingent four of the top five Song slots. Not that the panel is ignoring newer artists, mind you--for ample evidence, simply see the chart moves by San Diego’s Pinback, which takes over the #2 position on both charts with single “From Nothing to Nowhere” and full-length Autumn of the Seraphs. Another relatively new group debuting on the charts this week is dance-happy Canadian crew Hot Hot Heat, whose “Let Me In” (Sire) makes an initial appearance on the Song chart at #12, helping new album Happiness LTD. debut on the Album end at #10 in its week of release.