When Ran Shimoni came out sticks a-blazing, sat behind his kit, and commenced playing with flaming pieces of wood shortly after 11pm last night, I felt a spray of liquid and thought it was lighter fluid. I was standing a little close to him and felt a flicker of fear, but it didn't last long, because the throng surrounding Monotonix last night began pouring beer on him. A lot of beer. Like, full cans of beer. Mohawk's outside stage got a strategic workout from the Tel Aviv trio: they played in front of the stage, then to the side of the stage, then it was upstairs to celebrate Yom Kippur, then back downstairs and out the exit into the street for an acoustic set. When an ambulance drove towards Sixth Street with sirens blaring, everyone clapped. It was a surreal night of rock star poses (I maintain singer Ami Shalev is the Israeli Ronnie James Dio) and tiny shorts and hairy asses and shirtless mosh pits that's really better summed up in photos like the ones to the right.

It's something we touched on in the episode of HUST FM below (and mixied it up with a certain Statesman columnist over), but it's positively exploded across the blogosphere in in the last few days: the unhinged hate emerging from the McCain/Palin rallies. We all know what Godwin's Law has to say on the subject, but a certain uncomfortable comparison is fast becoming inevitable, especially when a major party candidate is squarely laying the blame for all their supporters problems at the feet of an alien other. There's been plenty of disgusting, us-versus-them identity politics in Republican campaigns before – shit, it's practically all their campaigns are run-on – but the degree of bile emerging from these rallies ("Traitor! Terrorist! Kill him!") is truly jaw dropping. Here's just a sampling of the thought out there on this:

McCain's attacks fuel dangerous hatred, an op-ed by self-described Republican Frank Schaeffer, urging McCain to dial it down The centrist, "raging moderate" Joe Klein says we are on the edge of some real serious craziness here" One of McCain's former top advisors says "from a purely practical political vantage point, please find me a swing voter, an undecided independent, or a torn female voter that finds an angry mob mentality attractive" Salon's Glenn Greenwald dissects the media's false equivalences: "Over the last two weeks, we have witnessed some of the ugliest and most dangerous attacks by any presidential campaign that one can recall — not from surrogates or from shadowy groups but from the candidates themselves and their campaign. … Honest journalists will describe that fact." Talking Points Memo describes the candidates' complicity in stoking supporters' hate.

In one hour from this posting (at 8pm), Democratic challenger Rick Noriega will be debating incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn on public television, shown locally on KLRU-TV. Frankly, given his lack of name ID and lack of funds to create any name ID, I don't think there is anything he can do to defeat Cornyn. Still, the latest poll showed him at 43% support, only seven points away from Cornyn. So maybe … Given that slim bit of hope, I think there are two main things he needs to do to capitalize on tonight's debate (and the next one, held one week from today): 1. Don't have that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look that he so often has when he gets asked challenging questions. I certainly hope he has really worked hard on the debate prep for all eventualities. 2. Hammer Cornyn hard on his support for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout. Congress may have been sold on it, but the public hasn't. Cornyn has opened up a window of vulnerability. That said, I'm afraid this really isn't that big an opportunity for Noriega. Unlike the zillions who watch presidential debates (shown on multiple channels), I'm afraid there won't be but about 10 people watching a Senate debate on public television. Which is unfortunate, because getting a veto-proof Democratic majority in the Senate could be crucial to Obama having a successful presidency. (EDIT: Oh, duh, I'm an idiot. What I obviously meant to say is that the Dems would need a veto-proof majority in the event of a McCain presidency.) Over the airwaves, KLRU is on channel 18. On cable (Time Warner or Grande), it's on channel 9.

U.S. Senate candidates Rick Noriega and John Cornyn spar tonight at 8pm in a televised debate. Austinites may see the debate on KLRU-TV (Cable channel 9, airwaves channel 18). Over the Internet, it may be heard at kut.org. Noriega is a Democrat and state representative from Houston. Cornyn, a Republican, is a first-term incumbent.

The pause on the other end of the phone line seems interminable, as if filtered through the delay of a satellite connection reaching somewhere beyond the ranges of normal communication. Stephin Merritt, the notoriously wry leader of the Magnetic Fields, lingers, supposedly, on the other end. Finally, his almost abnormally low and scruffy voice responds: “I’m fine. How are you?” Merritt is often regarded as a difficult interview subject, perhaps unfairly. After all, even if the languorous and somewhat impatient inflections of his answers are unsettling, it should be expected from a songwriter who has consistently penned some of contemporary music’s most caustically humorous pop songs, and woven heartache, depression, and longing with steely deadpan amusement. It is often difficult to ascertain whether Merritt’s songs are intentionally coy or, having reached the bottom of a psychological well, laughter is all that is left. Like his music, however, there is an undeniable charm and sincerity to Merritt, even as his measured responses set an uncomfortable distance, and it is impossible to decipher through his stoicism whether he is actually being funny or not.

Four months after its initial encounters with the gentrification of East Austin, the satirical comic Tales of the Really White Vigilante returns with a second issue. Masterfully written and drawn by Michael Schliefke, the masked superhero battles hipster cynicism and Spurtz-thirsty zombies, two of which look strikingly similar to Ghostland Observatory, at some festival called SWXS. Local screen printing kingpins Bearded Lady Printing host a free art show with Schliefke on Saturday, 6-9pm at their new chop shop (3504 E. 4th St.). Personally, OTR can’t wait for the issue when the RWV steps into Club 1808. Chris Davis of We Dream in Daylight was killed while bicycling home on Sept 28. He was 32. A memorial benefit and bicycle forum is taking place this Sunday at the Alamo Drafthouse South, while a tribute show is being planned for Saturday, Nov. 15, at Hole in the Wall. Transmission Entertainment has rounded out the lineup for the third annual Fun Fun Fun Festival, Nov. 8-9 in Waterloo Park, with the addition of the Black Heart Procession, Municipal Waste, and Neil Hamburger, along with locals the Black Angels, Black Joe Lewis & the Honey Bears, the Octopus Project, Golden Arm Trio, and Ume. Other notable adds include James Petralli of White Denim, Spot & Albert, Grampall Jookabox, Camp X-Ray, and Zeale & Phranchyze. Flipper has regretfully dropped from the bill, due to the departure of former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic. Another stellar bumper crop of local talent is heading to the Big Apple next week for the 2008 CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival, Oct. 21-25, including the Lovely Sparrows, Ringo Deathstarr, Tenlons Fort, the Belleville Outfit, the Black & White Years, Black Joe Lewis, and Headdress, not to mention Australian Cattle God’s Lick Lick, Good Times Crisis Band, and the Snake Trap. Safe travels!

She’s no dog. Don’t put her down. For at least one curious Francophile mid-throng last night at Mohawk, a venue stuffed with young hands in the air, Yelle whiffed a faint hint of early, “Burnin’ Up” Madonna, looking totally French actress, however – Vanessa “Mrs. Johnny Depp” Paradis crossed with now Parisian Leslie Feist. One audience member mouthing the singer’s native tongue pegged la chanteuse from the Bretagne region of France as resembling Sophie Marceau. Her electro-pop, for better or worse, banged all of the above. For an hour, mademoiselle Julie Budet and her two sidemen in “Dance or Die” black tees, entreated “Aouse-teen” back across the decades, throngs invited onstage mobbing pure Soul Train from a New Wave age celebrated with fat, 1990s abandon. No subtitles on Yelle’s 2007 debut Pop-Up meant none live either, so the masses danced and did the pogo like they just didn’t care. DJ GrandMarnier and a live drummer beat home the main set with “A Cause Des Garçons,” two tunes for the encore including French hit “Je Veux Te Voir,” a rude sexual putdown put across same as the rest of the evening: ecstatic. As the venue emptied just past 11pm, M.I.A. pumped through Mohawk’s P.A., substance to Yelle’s style. See image gallery.

The 2008 VH1 Hip-Hop Honors freight train rolled through Time Warner Cable’s broadcast schedule this week, premiering on Monday and continuing into the next day until every innocent channel-surfer had the chance to see Jim Jones bust out his best B-Real and hear actor Michael Rapaport tell us how he named his son after Maseo from De La Soul. I know, Maseo Rapaport. His Irish grandmother must be horrified. The Hip-Hop Honors are a nice gesture put on by the great folks over at Video Hits One. Every year they select a few OGs who deserve a little recognition, and then they bring out a few more corresponding YGs to pay tribute to the heads who set them on the right foot. This year’s honorees included Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Naughty By Nature, Too $hort, and Slick Rick, and showing them love were myriad current artists, including Ghostface, Bun B, the Roots, Q-Tip, MC Lyte, EPMD, and Kid Rock.