The good folks of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have learned nothing from the verbal ass-razing they took at the hands of “Milkshake” hitmaker Kelis earlier this week. The animal rights group has another R&B crooner is their sights. PETA has penned an open letter to “Yeah!” star Usher, imploring the singer [...]
Posts Tagged ‘animal’
PETA Asks Usher Not To Replace Stolen Fur Coats
January 17th, 2010 |
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The good folks of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have learned nothing from the verbal ass-razing they took at the hands of “Milkshake” hitmaker Kelis earlier this week. The animal rights group has another R&B crooner is their sights. PETA has penned an open letter to “Yeah!” star Usher, imploring the singer [...]
Animal Collective: Life After Merriweather
December 8th, 2009 |
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By: Mike Bookey
 Animal Collective |
David Portner, perhaps better known as Avey Tare, the name he goes by when playing with his band, Animal Collective, finally has a little bit of down time. He’s had a busy 2009 that started with the release of his band’s record Merriweather Post Pavilion, which has shaped up to top many Best of Year lists (JamBase review), and is being capped off with the unveiling of another disc, the five-song EP Fall Be Kind (out December 8 on Domino). In between releases, Animal Collective hit the road hard, becoming a mainstay on American music festival stages while adding new faces to their already strong fan base.
During a week at home before Thanksgiving, Portner took some time out from working on new music to talk with JamBase about Animal Collective’s new EP, their first legal use of a Grateful Dead sample, the band’s Australian tour and what’s next for the surging act.
JamBase: Is this Fall Be Kind material from the Merriweather sessions?
David Portner: Three of the songs are. A lot of it is from that era, but we never really worked on it until after we started touring for the record. It feels like it comes from that time. “Bleed” is from a little bit later, but most of the stuff is from that time period.
With the past two records we’ve done, we’ve kind of felt out the material and then halfway through the recording process we had to decide if we were going to put this song or that song on the record. Because it was only three songs [leftover] we weren’t really sure what we were going to do with them. We definitely thought they were all strong songs, so it was more like we knew they weren’t going to go on Merriweather, so we put them aside until we had time to make them all work together.
JamBase: Even though some of these are spare tracks from the last record, the Fall Be Kind EP has a very cohesive feel to it. What is your idea of the EP, is it a snack to hold people over?
 Animal Collective |
David Portner: Not really. I think it’s like the 7-inch, which I guess people don’t do so much anymore. We’ve spent so much time working on the record that it’s cool to just think about an EP. There’s something to say about four songs that just pack a punch and work well together but couldn’t have gone anywhere else. And it seems like it’s just not that popular of a thing. It’s definitely not something that makes record label people happy.
“What Would I Want? Sky” features a sample of the Grateful Dead’s “Unbroken Chain.” Is that, in fact, the first legal sample of a Dead song?
I guess so. Maybe there’s been some live thing that’s been used before, I’m not really sure, but in terms of being used for a studio recording, it is the first. I can definitely say that.
How did you come about using it?
I was interested in the rhythm of it at first so I just wanted to grab a little bit of it, but it was hard for me to grab a piece of the rhythm without grabbing the rest of the song. I just picked this one out as the best one that I could use to write a song. It has this weird bell part to it and it turns into a really weird time signature, which made it a little odd, but you can still bob your head to it.
Have you always been someone who listens to a lot of Grateful Dead?
 Animal Collective |
Oh yeah, probably since I was 9 or 10. I was really close to my cousins growing up and they were really into the Dead, so from there one of my best friends and I got really into them. This was the early ’90s, toward the end, but I was still able to see them probably 10 times or so. My brother would take me to go see them at RFK in the summer. I never really lost my taste for them. It’s always a standby for me, you know, I love ‘em.
That’s funny, it seems that every Dead fan from a younger generation has some sort of story about an older cousin or brother like you do.
Yeah totally, it’s always passed down somehow. In high school there was this guy who worked the cash register in the cafeteria and he would always come out of the line and talk to us about the Dead. He started lending us – Brian [Weitz, known as "Geologist" in Animal Collective] and I – all these bootlegs, so we amassed a pretty big collection back then.
You’ve played plenty of festivals this year and have another in Australia. Do you like the festival scene?
 Animal Collective |
Some of them. I think the best thing about them is that the festivals themselves have a personality and we can kind of pick and choose based on that. We played a lot more this year than we’d played in the past. I think we get so used to playing in clubs and in our own world and having our lights set up a certain way that when we have to play in the middle of the day at a festival it feels really weird. We do our best, but they aren’t always our favorite shows. But they can still be awesome.
It seems that the jam band community – which appears to be shrinking, or maybe just changing state – has really jumped on with you guys. Why do you think that is?
With our more recent stuff I think maybe it has to do with the groove and the positivity – the upbeat nature that we try to convey – I think that all kind of fits into that scene. We approach things in a more electronic manner than a typical jam band would do, but we do it in a way that is jammy, if that makes any sense. There are elements of improvisation.
With the new EP out and the non-stop touring you’ve been doing, what’s next for Animal Collective? It seems you’re always changing from album to album.
I’m sure the next [album] will be somewhat different. I think we’ll move away from the electronic for a little bit and find a more organic way of playing. I mean, it’s still pretty organic what we’ve been doing, but it’s been very sample heavy, so maybe in the future we’ll take a different turn.
JamBase | Collectivized
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China Animal Healthcare rated accumulate
December 2nd, 2009 |
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AmFraser Securities in a Dec 1 research report says: “The Company manufactures and distributes nearly 300 types of treatment and non-treatment drugs for poultry and livestock in China. We arrive at a fair value (FV) of 28 cents using our earnings model, representing 13.2 and 10.3 times FY2009 and FY2010 forecasted earnings respectively. The higher valuation than other S-chips takes into consideration the potential high growth from the Biwei Antai and other acquisitions.
Stella McCartney Leona Lewis Clothing Line
November 23rd, 2009 |
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Vegetarian Leona Lewis is considering launching an animal friendly fashion line with designer Stella McCartney.
The “Happy” singer, who in 2008 was voted the “World’s Sexiest Vegetarian” by animal rights group People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals, met with designer Stella – who shares Leona’s views on the use of animal products in fashion [...]
Animal Collective: New EP Features Grateful Dead Sample
November 9th, 2009 |
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ANIMAL COLLECTIVE TO RELEASE NEW EP: FALL BE KIND IN STORES DECEMBER 15, 2009
 Animal Collective |
Animal Collective is set to release a new five track studio EP on November 23, 2009 (digitally) and December 15, 2009 (physically).
Recorded by Ben Allen at Sweet Tea in Oxford, MS in February 2008 and at Mission Sound in Brooklyn, NY August 2009, Fall Be Kind includes recent live favorites “Graze” and “What Would I Want? Sky” (featuring a sample of “Unbroken Chain,” the first ever licensed Grateful Dead sample). Fall be Kind will be available worldwide on CD, 12″ vinyl and via digital download.
The EP comes less than one year after the band’s critically acclaimed album Merriweather Post Pavilion which wowed fans and critics across the globe. Merriweather has already been named one of the most important albums of the year by Q magazine and Spin in the U.S., and of the entire decade by Uncut and Pitchfork. Expect to see Merriweather Post Pavillion named one of the year’s best by fans and critics as the year comes to a close.
For more on Animal Collective’s use of the Grateful Dead sample, including a version of the song, see our previous story here.
Track Listing
1. Graze
2. What Would I Want? Sky
3. Bleed
4. On a Highway
5. I Think I Can
Camel cull – Australia plans drastic solution to outback problem
August 13th, 2009 |
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By Nick Bryant
BBC News, Sydney
The Australian government has proposed a budget to implement a long-standing plan to cull the country’s camels by shooting them.
Animal welfare supporters reject the plan, but people sharing the outback with the camels call them a menace.
Unlike the kangaroo or koala, the camel is not an animal automatically associated with Australia,
They were first brought here in the mid-19th century to help explorers traverse the desert.
But there are now thought to be over a million roaming the outback.
That is roughly one camel for every 20 people, and the population is set to double over the next decade, unless some form of action is taken.
In remote communities they are seen as a troublesome menace, trampling vegetation and occasionally ripping up water pipes, as they search for food and water.
So the Australian government has set aside $16m (£9.7m) to contain the problem and one proposal is to shoot the camels from helicopters or on foot.
Animal welfare groups are opposed to a mass slaughter.
They have suggested another more humane alternative: birth control, giving animals a drug to render them infertile.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Menagerie of Animal Bots Ranges From Snuggly to Irritating
July 29th, 2009 |
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Product: Pet Shop Toys Manufacturer: Roundup:Wired Rating: 0
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#item_specs {display: none;}
When Ugobe folded, Pleosaurus electronicus became an endangered species. If Pleo goes, which fake pet will steal his hypo…
America’s faltering livestock industry: Animal welfare
July 23rd, 2009 |
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As exports tumble, America’s pig and cattle farmers are stumbling
THE Pipestone System, which manages sow farms in the Midwest, has an upbeat motto: “Helping farmers today create the farms of tomorrow.” Of course, the farms of tomorrow may be decidedly smaller, if they survive at all. America’s pork producers have lost money in 19 of the past 21 months. Pipestone is selling some of its sows. Randy Spronk, a Pipestone owner who serves on the National Pork Producers’ Council, has seen neighbours quit the business. Corporate outfits are struggling too. In June, Smithfield, the world’s largest pork producer, announced its first annual loss in more than 30 years. Beef, poultry and dairy farmers are not doing much better.
Only last year the world’s appetite for meat and milk seemed insatiable. In May 2008 exports of pork were almost double the level of the year before, thanks to ravenous demand from China. Beef reached its own peak in August, with exports up 66% in a year. But even then, the exorbitant price of corn was denting margins (feed accounts for about two-thirds of input costs). …
What Will the Future Hold for Michael Vick?
July 22nd, 2009 |
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For six years Michael Vick savagely electrocuted and beat dogs to death after they lost their brutal fights, demonstrating a startling lack of moral character and judgment.
UK medical tests on animals rise 14%
July 21st, 2009 |
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Animal rights campaigners round on government as expansion in biomedical research triggers ‘biggest increase’ in medical tests
The number of medical experiments involving animals has shown its largest rise since modern records began, the latest government figures reveal.
Nearly 3.7m experiments were performed on animals last year, a rise of 454,000 or 14% on the previous year, the Home Office said. The increase marks the greatest leap in animal use in medical research since 1986, when the government introduced new auditing procedures.
The growth in animal experiments reflects an expansion in biomedical research in Britain and is driven by advances in genetics and the development of new drugs that must be tested rigorously in monkeys before they are allowed to be given to humans. The experiments range from small procedures such as taking blood and tissue samples to invasive brain surgery and inducing incurable diseases such as Parkinson’s and cancer. Substantial numbers of animals are used to test the safety of new drugs before they are allowed to be used in human trials.
Animal rights campaigners deplored the latest rise, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of landmark proposals to find alternatives to animals in medical research.
Judy MacArthur Clark, chief inspector of the Home Office animals scientific procedures inspectorate, said the rise reflected an increase in “ethically justified research” in Britain. “If the research is ethically justified and has funding, it’s not our role to say you can’t do it, we’ve used too many mice this year,” she said.
More experiments on rodents and fish account for the vast majority of the rise and make up 97% of all experiments on animals. Of 197,000 more experiments on mice last year, most involve breeding genetically modified rodents to help scientists understand the role of individual genes in development and disease.
The figures reveal large falls in experiments on rats, domestic fowl, guinea pigs, rabbits and beagles, which together decreased by more than 40,000.
Britain has a longstanding policy that bans the use of great apes such as chimpanzees and gorillas in medical research, but the use of macaques and marmosets rose by more than 600 experiments, up 16%. This masks a reduction of more than half in experiments on marmosets and other new world primates, but the use of old world macaques in 1,000 more experiments, a 33% rise. Macaques have similar immune systems and physiology to humans and are increasingly being used to test advanced antibody-based drugs that target diseases with far more precision than older drugs.
Testing in monkeys has become more extensive after the disastrous clinical trial of an antibody drug at Northwick Park hospital in north London in 2006. The drug, which had been tested in primates, triggered a catastrophic immune reaction in the six trial participants which led to widespread organ failure.
Home Office inspectors investigated 45 cases where scientists had infringed their licences to do animal research. The most minor cases involved poor record keeping and retaining animals after licences had expired. Of the more serious cases, the worst occurred when mice in one study unexpectedly developed gangrene in their legs, causing greater suffering than the licence permitted. Two researchers involved in the study surrendered their licence before the inspectors’ investigation was completed.
The figures were met with dismay by animal rights campaigners who rounded on the government and called for a concerted effort to reduce the number of animals used in medical research.
“With the scientific expertise this country has to offer we should have seen far greater progress to replace animals with more advanced techniques,” said Dr Sebastien Farnaud of the Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research. The organisation called on political parties to agree to a “roadmap to replacement” to drive the use of animals in research down.
The animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), said it was “profoundly disappointed” at the statistics and called on the government to be open about the fate of every animal used in experiments. “We have seen increases year on year in contradiction to public sentiment, but the numbers in this year’s statistics are shocking by any standards,” a spokesperson said.
The science minister, Lord Drayson, defended the figures and said the government was committed to reducing the use of animals in research where possible. “Britain has a high reputation for its standards of regulating research which uses animals. This work, described in today’s report from the Home Office, is critical to the development of new medicines and increasing the level of understanding of diseases,” he said.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Michael Markarian: Obstructionist Lawmakers Harm Animals and the Economy
July 18th, 2009 |
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If they were truly concerned about the economy, self-described fiscal conservatives like Boehner, Bishop, and King should have been the first to line up today in support of the mustang legislation.
Animal Collective Score: First Legal Grateful Dead Sample
July 17th, 2009 |
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Animal Collective Get Rights To First Legal Grateful Dead Sample Ever
 Animal Collective |
We’ve long known that Animal Collective‘s roots run deep into the jam world, and now we have serious proof! JamBase just got word of a Tweet from the band’s management which said: “Animal Collective confirmed to get first officially licensed Grateful Dead sample! Phil Lesh loved the track please pass this to the guys.” Sick! So not only is AC sampling the Dead but Phil loves it!
The track in question is “What Would I Want Sky” which includes a sample of The Grateful Dead‘s “Unbroken Chain.” No word yet on if the song will be released, but you can check it out right now at http://iguessimfloating.net/assets.mp3 (that’s the best version we’ve found on the ol’ interweb). You can also just go to the blog post if you’d prefer at: http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com. Dig Phil‘s voice floating around amongst the angels and digital weirdness… so cool!
Animal Collective is on tour now in Europe, dates available here. And for more on AC, check our recent exclusive feature/interview here.
Man battles mountain lion with chainsaw
July 17th, 2009 |
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‘Starving’ mountain lion attacks man camping with his family in Wyoming but he fights back
A man used a chainsaw to fight off an apparently starving mountain lion that attacked him during a camping trip in north-western Wyoming with his wife and two toddlers.
Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-US marine from Windsor, Colorado, said he was alone cutting firewood about 100ft from his campsite in the Shoshone national forest when he saw the lion staring at him from some bushes.
Britton said he raised his chainsaw and met the lion head-on as it pounced – a collision he described as feeling like a grown man running directly into him.
“It batted me three or four times with its front paws and as quick as I hit it with that saw it just turned away,” he said.
Wildlife officials said the attack on Sunday evening was highly unusual because mountain lions are generally reclusive by nature. Only eight cases of mountain lions acting aggressively toward humans have been documented in Wyoming over the last decade.
“It’s very, very rare” for lions to attack, said Wyoming game and fish spokesman Warren Mischke. “We’re still trying to investigate why this lion would behave this way.”
The wounded animal retreated after Britton inflicted a gash on its shoulder, leaving him with only a small puncture wound on his forearm.
“You would think if you hit an animal with a chainsaw it would dig right in,” he said. “I might as well have hit it with a hockey stick.”
After Britton’s confrontation, he and his wife, Kirsta, decided to spend the night in their pop-up camper with their two children.
The lion was shot and killed on Monday after it attacked a dog brought in to track it. Authorities say it was in poor physical condition and appeared to be starving.
Tests for rabies and other diseases came up negative, but officials said they were continuing to analyse the animal for other potential diseases.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Michael Markarian: Strong Federal Law Brings the Hammer Down on Dogfighters
July 13th, 2009 |
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The flagrant disregard that dogfighters routinely show for society’s norms was replaced by the snap of handcuffs and the slap of 30 or so arrest warrants.
Cute/Ridiculous Animal Thing Of The Day: Guinea Pigs Eating Watermelon (VIDEO)
July 12th, 2009 |
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Yeah, um, I don’t know how to describe how amazingly adorable this video is. All creatures should aspire to be this cute when they eat. Well played, guinea pigs, well played.
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Colombia kills former drug baron’s hippo gone wild
July 11th, 2009 |
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Colombian bounty hunters have shot and killed one of three hippopotamuses which escaped from a private zoo owned by former drugs baron Pablo Escobar.
The African-born hippos broke out of the zoo, called Napoles, in 2006 and thrived in the nearby Magdalena valley.
But officials said they were a threat to people and crops, and that all three would have to be destroyed.
Escobar, once one of the world’s richest men, was shot dead by police in the city of Medellin in 1993.
He had amassed a collection of hundreds of exotic animals at his large ranch near the city of Medellin.
The ranch was transferred to state ownership after his death and remains home to about two dozen hippos.
On Friday, Colombian television broadcast pictures of the carcass of the fully grown male hippo, surrounded by hunters and soldiers.
The animal, which locals say was respectively the mate and father of the two hippos still on the loose, was reported to have been shot dead last month in the Antioquia province.
Animal charities have reacted angrily to the killing.
"They could have been captured and kept in a safe place until a permanent refuge was found for them," said Marcela Ramirez of the local Animal Protection Network group.
But Environment Minister Carlos Costa said it was "only a question of time before those animals hurt someone.
"After more than two years of trying to capture them, the decision [to kill them] was a sound one," he said.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.