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Negativland Christianity is Stupid. Give Up. (black lettering and green Monopoly house on gray Anvil preshrunk 100% cotton). This comfy item is a fine example of what a t-shirt can be. Naturally, it's first and foremost a promotional device, but also stands alone as a statement even taken out of that context. That the name of the band does not appear anywhere will reinforce further the noise know-it-all's sense of intellectual superiority. True to form, Negativland here understand the strengths and disadvantages of the format and push it as far as possible. 1920 Monument Blvd. MF-1, Concord, CA 94520.

Here's a way for you to pull your very own media hoax. Call up the local college radio station and request something from Negativland's new LP, Helter Stupid. Aside from a swell written and recorded chronology of their own media hoax initiated with nothing more than an SST press release, the record's also got a 70s collage unrivaled by anything outside Over The Edge that reveals how radio got so unbearable and why it shall remain so forever.

Tell the DJ that you want to hear it because read in SPIN magazine that the CIA used tape of this very album to drive Noriega from hiding. Make sure you remind the Part of the Problem (the DJ) that you (Part of the Solution) are talking about General Manuel Noriega, "that guy from Brazil or something"; otherwise the DJ will think you're talking about a baseball player and it won't make sense. Do it over and over. Pretty soon they all be announcing it on the air. Granted, it's not nearly as noble an effort as Negativland's, but if you want gems, go to South Africa.

NEGATIVELAND AND YOUR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA LINCOLN-MERCURY DEALERS SALUTE 1976 MERCURY MONARCH 1986 COME AND CELEBRATE WITH US

Also available are edited versions of Over The Edge released by SST on cassette only. Personal favorite would be the profound illumination and white-knuckle stupidity of Volume 3 -- The Weatherman. Though he admits to being totally confused and to having had sex with electronic equipment (admissions that should certainly cast him in a sympathetic light), the few callers capable of voicing anything but homothropic insults do so tempered with disbelief.

The Weatherman invites listeners in that inimitable laconic drawl to join him in the joy of coming out of the closet and eventually participate in some sort of fantasy involving the Chlorox Cowboy, but no one will. The callers, damaged by years of exposure to talk-shows, distance themselves from The Weatherman, who they don't know could be the best friend they'll ever have. It's kind of fascinating. Negativland / 1920 Monument Blvd, MF-1 / Concord, CA 94520; SST / PO Box 1 / Lawndale Rock City, CA 90260.

Typed by Cheryl Vega 4-28-95