SPIN CYCLE:

It’s somehow refreshing to see there’s still one mainstream rock magazine with a healthy sense of outrage--and outrageousness. That’s--of course--Spin. Its new February issue is crammed with parental-advisory material, including a funk-drunk interview with the Red Hot Chili Peppers (“Sexual frustration is the single most powerful force in the world,” says member John Frusciante), excerpts from dead junkie/trumpet wiz Chet Baker’s unpublished biography, and a rambling drug-hysteria meditation from beat guru William S. Burroughs. The issue also offers a scatological chat with Miami hip-hop hero Luke Skyywalker, who defends his X-rated raps. But the best pop appreciation comes from a section devoted to the future of new music (labeled “Nineties in Effect”). It opens with alleged Brooklyn mob boss (and rock fan) John Gotti explaining why “Document” was his favorite R.E.M. album: “Finally I was able to understand what the (heck) Michael Stipe was saying.”