WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Germs in NYC Live, Actor From E.R. on Vocals! Don't Have a Cow!

It's just about 25 years to the day since they last played, as well as the anniversary week of Darby Crash's OD, but lo and behold, news hit last week that LA's legendary Germs were reuniting for two sets at Continental on December 10th (with appropriate openers the Magik Markers, whom we've extolled about in the past). Almost everyone I mentioned this to bristled in horror when it was revealed that joining Lorna Doom, Don Bolles and Pat Smear would be actor Shane West, of ER TV show fame, and also the guy who happens to be playing Darby in the forthcoming Germs biopic What We Do Is Secret. West, who looks like a young, even more All-American version of Tim Robbins, had his hands full to be sure, I mean, considering Darby was a speed-times-heroin-times-alcohol-drenched trainwreck on stage, barely coherent through the band's chaotic assault, and, needless to say, an extremely huge reason the Germs were the Germs. Live, West threw himself into the role and had a fairly good invocation of Darby, though a somewhat straight Darby. Smear's guitar (which had been keeping busy in the 90's with Nirvana and Foo Fighters) sounded awesome, slicing, buzzing and riffing his way through a big chunk of the Germs' catalog, Bolles pounded away on twin kick in his SS hat and platform shoes, and Lorna (who, by the way, was SO incredibly nice when I met her!) held down the steady, yet weird and woozy basslines that were a huge trademark of their songs. Throughout, Smear, Bolles and Doom were smiling incessantly like lunatics; this was the first time they had played as the Germs in New York, and they couldn't have looked happier.

Townes Van Zandt Documentary

Despite Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Emmylou Harris achieving #1 hit success with his songwriting, Townes Van Zandt never ascended to the upper eschelon of celebrity bestowed upon so many of his peers, no matter how lauded he was. The reason was clear: Van Zandt never settled into the familiar promotional avenues that so many others who did achieve success traveled, and instead chose an endless loop of travelling, playing his songs, and racking up more experiences to put into them. Plus, he wasn't easy to categorize: folk, blues, country were all factors in what he did, but he'd be a marketing man's nightmare, even despite a growing reputation. Hence, he relied on a good friend to put out his records and do what he could to spread the word, while Townes did what he only knew best.

Margaret Brown's documentary, Be Here To Love Me (premiered at Angelika here in NYC December 2nd) is a long overdue look at his music and life, which was ceaslessly tempestuous. In his 20's he was administered shock treatment after being committed for falling from a four story window willingly ("to see what it felt like"), and the result erased much of his childhood memories. This inability to cement connections in his life led to a continual wandering, and the film takes a very intimate look at the people, friends, and family who all were affected by this. In Townes' own words, his own sanity and life itself depended on the ability to "blow off everything and go." Despite this, Brown's interviews with Townes' children and ex-wives reveal a true reverence towards him despite the darkness of their relationships; his little daughter sings his songs, his sons even reckon that their personal relationships may have not been able to happen any other way and not lessen the impact of what he did musically. Sadly, hard living drained him by the 1990's, though his fervor to create never lessoned. Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, who was set to record Van Zandt at Easley Studios in Memphis after a label deal was struck with DGC, recounts the tragedy of the aborted 1997 session which happened right before the man's demise, despite his insistency to crank out one more record.

The film is a well-done telling of his story, there's some great live clips and TV interviews, and riveting testimony from the likes of Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark and others. Our own Hatch interviewed director Brown on his show last night, and you can check it out here. (real audio). You can also check out a trailer of the film here. 

MP3 Download Dinner Bell for December

Olde Frothingslosh  (MP3's)
In the 1970's my brother was an avid collector of independently brewed beer, he belonged to a club that sent monthly samples of the stuff. Well, having read in a book about Olde Frothingslosh, the "Pale Stale Ale" and proudly-self-proclaimed worst beer in the world, 8-year old me was hopping up and down at the prospect of it arriving in the mail like Ralphie in A Christmas Story waiting for his Red Ryder BB Gun. And sure enough, a can of this stuff did arrive for my brother, and I set upon drinking it immediately. The company claimed the "foam was on the bottom", which I didn't quite see, but I was in awe of the picture on the can, a photo of an enormous woman in a bathing suit lying on top of a bear, who had clearly been crushed by her. Turns out the stuff was just really a joke repackaging of Iron City Beer for holidays/collectability, but still, was like Mad Magazine crossing over into real life. Here's a "plea" (MP3) from the company spokesman, and also an excerpt (MP3) from an "official" Olde Frothingslosh newscast, chronicled from a site dedicated to Pittsburgh DJ Rege Cordic who wrote this history of the beer and sort of was the point man of steamrolling the "foam on the bottom" myth.

Worst Audition Ever (MP3)
Tyler and Perry-in-waiting going over their mutual repertoire. 25 goddamn minutes. Thanks to Listener Greg.

Leland Stanford University Marching Band "White Punks On Dope" (MP3)
From Scott Soriano's great Crud Crud blog of vinyl lost treasures comes this stab at the Tubes from an 1979 self-released LP titled Starting Salary $22,275.00. These guys apparently were somewhat of the Animal House of marching bands, though as Scott eloquently explains, they were more or less a "scatter band": "A scatter band is different from a marching band in that it spells out words or makes shapes, instead of marching in formation. In the Stanford Band's case, that meant doing a tribute to the recently kidnapped, Cal student Patty Hearst at the Big Game against Cal (UC Berkeley) by making a formation of a hamburger bun which was missing a patty. During the 1971 Rose Bowl game half time show, the band first spelled out OHIO STATE and then quickly rearranged themselves to spell OH SHIT. This was broadcast on NBC to a national audience. They were banned from the next year's bowl game. In another spelling fiasco, the band first formed HI FOLKS and then shifted the top of the O to the top of the L to spell HI FUCKS. This, too, made it on TV and got them banned." 

WFMU Heavy Airplay List

WFMU Top 30 compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner
(click on artist name or compilation title to hear a sample tune in real audio)

Various - Dark Holler: Old Love Songs and Ballads (Smithsonian)
Various - Searching For Soul (Luv N' Haight)
Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain (Load)
Wanda Sa - Vagamente (Dubas)
Dirty Three - Cinder (Touch & Go)
Lori Burton - Breakout (Rev Ola)
Various - The Midnite Sound of the Milky Way (Big Beat)
Various - Invisible Pyramid: Elegy Box (Last Visible Dog)
Michael Waisvisz - In Tune (Sonig)
Various - Coconut FM: Legendary Latin Tunes (Essay)
Greg Davis and Sebastian Roux - Paquet Surprise (Carpark)
Zelienople - Ink (267 Latajjaa)
Riz Ortolani - Cannibal Holocaust O.S.T. (Grindhouse/Coffin)
Animals and Men - Revel In the Static (Hyped 2 Death)
Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having (Rhymesayers)
Matthew Herbert - Plat Du Jour (Accidental)
Geraldo Pino & the Heartbeats - Heavy Heavy Heavy (RetroAfric)
Mahalara Rai Banda - Mahalara Rai Banda (Crammed Disc)
Nurse With Wound - Livin' Fear Of James Last (Sanctuary)
Fireball - Blessed Be (High Roller Society)
The Hospitals - I've Visited the Island of Jocks and Jazz (Load)
The Gasman - The Grand Electric Palace of Variety (Planet Mu)
Koenjihyaekkei - Angherr Shisspa (Skin Graft)
Danger Doom - The Mouse and the Mask (Epitaph)
Various - Rolas de Aztlan (Smithsonian Folkways)
Bush Chemists - Raw Raw Dub (ROIR)
Hanin Elias - Future Noir (Cochin)
Fourtet and Sa-Ra - Sun Drums and Soil (Domino)
Various - Bread, Beard, and Bear's Prayers (Bastet)
Red Dirt - Plus (Audio Archives)

Recent Faves From the New Bin

PSYCHATRONE RHONEDAKK - Disturbs the Air (Black Plastic Sound/Summersteps)
TODD TAMANEND CLARK - Nova Psychedelia (Anopheles)
Growing up in a valley in Eastern Pennsylvania, one gets used to long days without much sunlight in the winter; you go to bars, you hang out, you would drive to New York or Philly for the odd show as a real music scene hadn't quite begun to flourish as of yet given the odd AOR radio hitmaker. Not much else to do except immerse yourself in whatever your kick was. Psychatrone Rhonedakk hung out a lot in the record store I worked at and could spiel for hours on Zappa, Chris Knox, Robyn Hitchcock, Barrett, Roky, and he knew his stuff inside out and always was digging deeper into the seeds of the underground to tie the new and the old together. In fact one time we left a bar at 2am while he was having an intense parking lot conversation with another Zappahead, and he was then spotted the next morning by a friend on his way to work in the same spot still talking. So when he finally got a moog and started recording at home and sending out CDR's, it seemed like a logical progression. Gradually the heads and mags of the underground psych scene started to take notice despite his continued hobbit-stance of never playing live; Acid Mothers-related collaborations happened, contribution to a Jandek tribute, and this year he dropped quite a bomb of a record, Disturbs the Air. Prime-era Ash Ra, Tangerine Dream, and other electronic pioneers who have been oft-quoted find a very unique phrasing in Psychatrone's music; in the past his recordings were often full of warm and fuzzy sketches of analog om-ness, but now distilled into cold, freezing nuggets of dark, fully-structured songs that include perfectly adapted covers of Gandalf, Bill Martin, and Warren Zevon bathed in a stark vocal performance. Good comfort sound.
Meanwhile, on the western side of the state, Todd Tamanend Clark was hanging out at Jerry's Records in Pittsburgh and committing to now-collectable vinyl his psychedelic music of a somewhat different weed. Clark coalesced his Native American activism, love of analog synths and home-fi recording, cosmic poeticism and big ol' Jim Morrison fixation into tons of recordings now encapsulated on this 2CD set.  In the years from 1975-85, Clark's weird and wooly sounds featured collaborations from Cheetah Chrome, Allen Ravenstine (Pere Ubu) and William Burroughs, dominated by theremins, moogs, modulators, assorted percussion and total bedroom-metal axe action (the weirdly 80's cyberpunk take on "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night" kills). He covered his body in silver paint, performed theme music live at comic book conventions, and basically lived the rock and roll life (and still records). It's fellows like these two that really make me appreciate the unique personalities that form in often-backwater locales. Everyone these days is splitting the big cities to head out to the countryside to become the next Current 93 or Tower Recordings, but somehow the artists that have originated out yonder doing their interpretations of what they perceived was already going on in the big city have won me over again and again creating and following a muse that they can't deny, and this is where our Barretts and Roky's really originate in many ways. Here's Psychatrone's "They Moved the Moon" (Real Audio) and Todd Clark's "March of the Legion" (Real Audio).

Z Channel's Freeform Movie Mayhem

Seeing Xan Cassavettes' recent documentary Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession I became somewhat jealous that I didn't grow up in LA and have the access to this amazing independent pay-TV service that programmed the most eclectic films imaginable. Z Channel, started in 1974, was freeform defined, broadcasting everything from never-seen-on-TV foreign films to celebrated Golden Turkeys to kitschy softcore, often showcasing single directors or actors for a given week. They were unafraid to air the epic 15 hour Berlin Alexanderplatz. Ratings were not an issue, quality was. And it worked; Z Channel reigned supreme (kicking both HBO and Cinemax's collective asses in the LA area), influencing many minds and breathing life into many overlooked films that the promo machine just didn't work correctly the first time around.

Cooking With Brother JT

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania's Brother JT is a man of much talent, as we have seen in his almost 20-year discography both solo and with the Original Sins (who, by the way, reunite on WFMU December 13th for a live set). We all knew JT could bring the psychedelic soul, but how many of us knew that his greatest talent was in the kitchen? Thanks to JT for allowing us to put up an excerpt (17 MB wmv file) of his rejected program submission to the Food Network (you guys are real rubes for passing him up). The entire DVD Someone's In the Kitchen With JT (which also features as 2000 tour documentary called Southern Discomfort), is available along with many of his non-visual confections at his site.

Amon Duul II TV performance

Teutonic titans in a rare 1971 clip performing on the Beat Club. The song "Eye-Shaking King" (48MB wmv file) comes from one of the group's most godlike records Yeti, and while female member Renate seems to be AWOL here, this is still an awesome performance. After graduating from the late 1960's Amon Duul I incarnation, the group evolved from an initial commune that performed extremely non-structured tribal bashing to a highly organized progressive rock ensemble that captured some of the greatest elements of free rock spirit that the era had to offer. Yeti, and their preceding record Phallus Dei (their first as Amon Duul II) are considered by many to be their peak moments, full of tranced out, multi-culti-influenced jams head to head with throttling and very heavy rock. Follow up 70's albums like Tanz Der Lemming, Carnival In Babylon, and Wolf City are also full of great moments. Dig the clip, it's actually the only time I've seen this one in a non-shortened mode.

Sonic Reducer, Used By Cruiser

A while back Station Manager Ken posted the saga of an Army Sergeant stationed in Iraq who contacted us for some Happy Flowers music to use against the Iraqis in what seems to be a fairly open campaign of sonic weaponry. The first time I heard of such a thing was when grating rock was used against the Koresh compound in the Waco standoff (which wasn't that effective, seeing that the cult was probably used to its own guru was making his own bad music), and again in Panama where apparently squealing pig sounds were piped towards a holed-up Noreiga. During Summer 2004's Republican National Convention in New York, it was again speculated by the media that an actual, specifically-constructed sonic weaponry device of a non-lethal, but pain-inflicting frequency would be employed should the demonstrators get out of hand. When grinning pirates shot rocket launchers at the passenger liner Seaborn Spirit this weekend off the coast of Somalia, it was reported that the cruise ship merely gunned the gas and sped away. But today, CNN reports that the crew actually employed an onboard LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) to use as a repellant. I'm glad it worked, but it just seems a bit sad and a little bit odd that we're at a time in history where pleasure ships have these things actually on board.  But thankfully the well trained crew (pictured above) were able to employ it, most likely having it handy in case Charo tried to stow away again.

Please help DMBQ and Michelle Cable

We're all extremely sad to hear the news of the tragic van accident that befell DMBQ Friday, injuring the band, tour manager/friend to WFMU Michelle Cable, and taking the life of drummer Mana "China" Nishiura. The accident happened as they were on their way to their Brooklyn show; they were scheduled to appear at WFMU's Record Fair Saturday. Please take the time to read the missive below, feel free to link and forward, and help if you can, thank you. -Brian

On Friday afternoon, the Japanese based band DMBQ and Michelle Cable of Panache Magazine were involved in a horrible car accident, while driving to Brooklyn to play a show that night. Mana "China" Nishiura, DMB & Shonen Knife's drummer, did not survive the accident. She was a great talent and will be missed dearly.

Michelle Cable of Panache Magazine and Booking, who had been managing DMBQ's tour, had to undergo emergency surgery on her head and is expecting a 6 month recovery period. The rest of the band remains hospitalized but are expected to be released soon. We mourn the loss of China and our hearts go out to DMBQ, Michelle, and their families.

With the help of Jen (Shellshag/Starcleaner), a paypal account has been set up to benefit our friends in DMBQ and Michelle Cable to help pay for medical expenses.

Please forward and post this information as much as you can.

Donations can be made to DMBQ and Michelle Cable by paypalling them at  dmbqpanache@lovepumpunited.com or by sending checks to:

Lovepump United
PO BOX 3241
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

The Fall Vs. Jools Holland

BBC's Later With Jools Holland (which can be seen on BBC America as well) often features an eclectic variety of live music performances, though, to be honest, the average viewing finds usually about one or two bands I really care enough to watch. It's such a weirdly formatted show as well: the taping runs pretty much without pause while Holland points to the bands in a P.T. Barnum-like way to play, while they are enclosed in cubbies as part of a large semi-circle before the studio audience (some of whom intermingle in cafe-like surroundings around said artist). Usually when the performance is done, Holland will pop out and may or may not really address the act, though if it's someone like Alicia Keys or Robert Plant he'll plop down next to them and they'll probably be granted two songs. But it's certainly better, I guess, than being forced to lipsync on Solid Gold around their dancers. Enter Mark E. Smith and company on a May, 2005 show where they performed a medley of "Pacifying Joint" and the Move's "I Can Hear the Grass Grow", as well as a follow-up track "Blindness." (rm video file for download). Under giant hulking letters spelling out "Fall", Smith warbles, barks, tampers with his wife's keyboards, and is, in other words, great. The band's lumbering, repetitive din quickly takes command of the BBC set and for seven minutes takes it outside the parameters of your average-act-promoting-new-hit-on-TV, and no doubt that both the audience and fellow guests all knew something quite different was afoot that day.. Allegedly there was an off-camera advisory from MES to Jools to "not join in on any boogie-woogie piano" and fellow guest Robert Plant supposedly got called "c***ty" out loud. Ah, Mark. But cheers to the show for giving up 7 minutes of time for the Fall; amidst a sea of flash-in-the-pan bands aping their moves these days, it's heartwarming to see the Fall still great after 28 years of riding several peaks but no valleys whatsoever. Their newest LP Fall Heads Roll (Narnack Records) is enjoying some heavy WFMU airplay not surprisingly, and Castle/Sanctuary continues to roll out deluxe reissues of some classic albums like Room To Live and Hex Enduction Hour with extra discs of bonus material.

Hey, Defiance Sells

Nice of Apple to equate an historic event that heavily influenced the African-American civil rights movement with being your own style guru and using their product. With the advent of this new photo featuring the late Rosa Parks (left) on the Apple website, the question of tribute, or yet using another respected figure as a prop for advertising comes into mind. I tend to say the latter, since they resurrected their "Think Different" ad slogan from a few years back for the picture. So who can blame this site for it's logical updating of what Apple coulda done with it (right). (Found via Breaking the Fourth Wall).

Sun Ra Vs. Saturday Night Live

The Ra's mothership lands on SNL, 1978 (rm video file for download), introduced by Buck Henry. Excuse the grainy quality, great performance though. I asked Andy Breckman if he was around the set to sit in with the Arkestra, but alas, was before his time. Thanks to Derek Erdman.

MP3 Download Dinner Bell for November

Detsorgsekalf - "The Embers of Your Church Burn So Bright" (MP3) / "Keyboard Solo" (MP3) Grimness from the frostbitten land of...Canada. There was some spirited debate on a recent show of mine with Andee Connors and Allan Horrocks (both who work at Aquarius Records, the former here is putting out an album by this band on his tUMULt label) over whether this band should be considered "Joke Black Metal." While the in-your-face growling and subject matter going on here is ridiculous without doubt, there is still some real vision and an amazing, crusty lo-fi sound of guitar gristle and drum blast beats that could rank this band up with the likes of Striborg, Bathory, and Darkthrone at times. Then again, their EP is solely conceptualized about being a Black Metal band hated and threatened by other Black Metal bands. Wasn't the spirit of the genre to be truly outsiders living by their own musical blueprint in the first place? Is it not within reason for this step to be taken? Who can say for sure, I surely ain't the keeper of the Rule Book. But I can easily remain in awe of Detsorgsekalf. and you will too. See their brutal video here.

Pyha "A Tale From the Haunted House" (MP3) Andee also kindly gives us this, an MP3 of a seventh grader living in South Korea, making the most tortured music I've heard in ages. It's certainly playing by the same game plan of such soul destroyers as Abruptum and Burzum (the latter especially in the complete blanket of home-made buzz that envelops this music), but whereas those artists drag you down into a dark place and infiltrate your very being, this kid is not content to just do that. He takes you there then smashes you to pieces by maximizing every single recording channel used to utterly destroy everything in sight. The idea of a mild-mannered person sitting in his bedroom on the computer (which is the likely scenario) to make music that sounds like it is a total upheavel in Hell itself is really an odd juxtaposition of images. I mean, at that age, I was upset if cartoons weren't on as scheduled. There is something far more nefarious than that at play. Or maybe not. Apparently this kid sent a demo to bible-of-metal mag Terrorizer in the UK and got a 10 out of 10.

Charles Bernstein "1 to 100" (MP3) A longtime staple on Kenny G's show, here's the infamous Charles Bernstein taking you to the top as only he can. Recorded in 1969.

Ween "Rejected Pizza Hut Jingle" (MP3) I've never been a big Ween fan, but I have to say that Pizza Hut would have gotten my respect if they had accepted this, the band's proposal to promote the company's then-recent "cheese hidden inside the crust" pizza.

WFMU Heavy Airplay List

WFMU Top 30 compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner
(click on artist name or compilation title to hear a sample tune in real audio)

Various - Choubi Choubi! Folk and Pop Sounds From Iraq (Sublime Frequencies)
Jason Forrest - Shamelessly Exciting (Sonig)
Albert Kuvezin & Yat-Kha - Re-Covers (Yat-Kha)
David Axelrod - The Edge (Capitol)
Kevin Blechdom - Eat My Heart Out (Chicks On Speed)
The Fool - The Fool (Rev-Ola)
Hobart Smith - In Sacred Trust (Smithsonian Folkways)
The Kallikak Family - May 23rd 2007 (Tell-All)
Modey Lemon - The Curious City (Birdman)
The Answer Tapes - The Answer Tapes (Heresee)
Mean Red Spiders - Still Life Moving Fast (Clairecords)
Lau Nau - 2005 US Tour CD (Lau Nau)
Bob Dylan - Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction (Legacy)
VVV - Resurrection River (Mego)
Chrystal Belle Scrodd - Belle Du Jour (Klang Galerie)
Nortec Collective - Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3 (Nacional)
Evie Sands - Any Way That You Want Me (Rev-Ola)
Miss Alex White & the Red Orchestra - s/t (In the Red)
Soundtrack - Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Vol. 1: 1963-69
(BBC/Mute)
Ilk - Canticle (VHF)
Baby Washington - I've Got a Feeling (Stateside)
Afrirampo - URUSA In Japan (Gyunne Cassette)
Beautiful Skin - Everything, All This, and More (GSL)
Hurdy-Gurdy - Prototyp (Northside)
Jonathan Kane - February (Table of the Elements)
Times New Viking - Dig Yourself (Siltbreeze)
Art of Flying - As If You Were the Sea (Discobolus)
Dandi Wind - Bait the Traps (Bongo Beat)
Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk- Vitagen (Essence Music)
Little Howlin Wolf - Brave New World (Heresee/Ehse)

Recent Faves From the New Bin

JONATHAN KANE - February (Table of the Elements)  Fife and drum Downtown? In many ways this new LP by former Swans percussionist and Rhys Chatham ensemble member is much closer to his work with Dave Soldier's rootsy Kropotkins than any of the more drone-inspired outfits he's been in. But don't get me wrong, February is a drone-inspired record in a big way; massive walls of chugging Chatham/Branca-leaning dissonant single guitar chords lead the way through long, and at times bluesy workouts. But like the 15.45.60 (aka the Numbers Band) record Jimmy Bell's In Town reviewed in these pages a couple years back, there's a modern melding of blues tradition with Terry Riley-esque flights of lengthy repetition, something that in fact even predates Riley by decades in classic fife-and-drum Mississippi hill music. That music is clearly a big inspiration to Kane, who channeled his mighty wallop birthed with the Swans into true grit snaredrum workouts in the Kropotkins, a group that actively visited spiritual Mississippi kin like the late great Otha Turner (and also featured ex-Velvets Moe Tucker, who knows a thing or two about repetition in percussion). On Kane's new record, that crisp, sharp snare sound looms right over it all, which at first strikes you as a bit odd (considering most 'heavy' psych bands rely on a fatter drum sound) but within minutes you're totally hypnotized. Highly recommended. "Sis" (Real Audio) here.

LAS MALAS AMISTADES - Jardin Interior (Psych-O-Path)  Formed by art and film students in Bogota, Colombia in 1994, Las Malas Amistades get together sporadically to create a fascinating miniature sound world with minimal means. Having said that, there's a pretty stunning range in their musical vocabulary: traditional Latin American rhythms, out-there forays into Fluxus (and it's effect on both North American camps like the LAFMS and Residents as well as South Americans like Rogerio Duprat, Caetano Veloso, and Gilberto Gil's sound-poem forays), and UK post punk Rough Trade aesthetic (Young Marble Giants often get namedropped and one can see why with the use of drumboxes, organ and disjointed guitar notes). It's a beautiful mix that comes together rather cinematically and seamlessly here, and again while so many familiar ideas emerge, you continually get the feeling throughout the entire record (recorded in 2005) that it's something entirely new you have yet to hear. Thanks to Psych-O-Path for this MP3 of "El Country."

VARIOUS - Lagos Chop Up (Honest Jons)  Along with Ouelele and Nigeria 70, two of my favorite African retrospectives in recent memory, the newly released (and stunningly packaged on vinyl especially) Lagos Chop Up puts the spotlight on the 1970s golden age of Nigerian dance music while it remained truly in its own voice (despite the obvious Western influence of electric guitars and such that had filtered in). By dance music, we mean Juju, Afrobeat, Highlife, and Fuji represented here in some well-chosen and definitely raw selections from such heavies as Dr. Victor Olaiya (aka the Evil Genius of Highlife), Kollington Ayinla, and of course many musicians that have crossed paths in Fela's groups (the Nigerian Army Rhythm Band for example features Fela sideman Ojo Segun Okeji). This music was extremely important to the culture, as music was an powerful expression of the Nigerian people, so much that it intimidated the rulers themselves (as seen in the saga of Fela). With the ascension of Nigeria as an oil resource after the 1940's Lagos became a petri dish of culture and ideas from around the world, yet all these forms of music that sprouted forth could remain diverse while exhuding strong nationalistic identity. The side long track here by Shina Williams and His African Percussions (who also were featured on a killer Nigeria 70 track) is rife with pumping organ and a groove the JB's would kill for. Cardinal Rex Lawson's "Owuna Derina" here (Real Audio from Hatch's show).

VARIOUS - Malpractice (Birdman) - This CD release compiles five years of assorted sounds on the UK CDR label Fflint, which has during that time become a well-beloved staple in WFMU's new bin and airwaves. My friend Andee stayed with these gents in the UK back in the late 90's, raved about their releases and the connection was made. It's sure been a pleasant connection as well, the label even combed WFMU's search engine and noted every song played by various FMU DJs and compiled them into a love letter disc for a marathon prize called "To Effem You" a few years back. But besides the mutual backrubbing going on here (heh), the music is fantastic and sadly overlooked by much of the experimental-music-supporting media. It's not too hard to understand why; the 21st century glut of CDRs took hold over our mailboxes, and the stack of esoteric-looking packages with oblique titles continues to pour in, and to be honest, it's a chore separating the meddle from the muddle. What's most intriguing about these Fflint recordings though is that they don't sound like anything else. There's remnants of weird 80's DIY tape loop experimentation, Autechre-inspired electronica, dark ambient soundscapes, but totally unlike the multitudes who are also doing it. It comes from a very personal place, from Berkowitz Lake & Dahmer's electronic frog-croaks amidst metallic lillypads to Pendro's weird, Terry Riley-esque cyber-bagpipe workouts to Oleum's haunted ballroom sounds, I sense this whole gang is an introspective lot with more design on getting inside hidden recesses of your cortex than being on the cover of some hip IDM magazine and getting in at the Sonar Festival. And wasn't it supposed to be that way all along? Berkowitz, Lake & Dahmer's "Locate and Cement" here (Real Audio) from Liz's show.

Lucas Abela: live video clip

  I touched base with Australian noise/performance artist Lucas Abela last week, sharing the indelible memories of Singing Sadie's live set on Irwin's show  (Abela released Sadie's disc on his wild and wooly Dual Plover label, a perennial WFMU fave). He kindly offered some footage (avi file, 45 MB) of his own recent tour, which was deemed "Justice Yeldham and the Dynamic Ribbon Device" and circled the globe. Said Sadie to me: "it's a bloody drag having to take him to the hospital all the time."

Paul "Wine" Jones R.I.P.

Only weeks after the world lost the great R.L. Burnside, another stellar light of both the Fat Possum label and music in general has passed away; Paul "Wine" Jones died of cancer in Jackson, Mississippi on Sunday. He was age 59. His two discs Mule (1995) and Pucker Up Buttercup (1999) were pretty much in the similar vein of so many of his labelmates also plucked from obscurity and saddled in Oxford, Mississippi studios by FP chief excavators Matthew Johnson and Bruce Watson: raw, blazing display of an ever-dimming continuum between the roots of Delta jukejoints, Fred McDowell-style ass-shaking repetition and today's primitive blues done with pure spirit. With Junior Kimbrough, Asie Payton, RL Burnside and now Jones gone, that thread gets sadly thinner. Wine's sound was all his own vocabulary, and in the end influenced really by no one but himself and his surroundings. Buttercup is a fractured and odd blues record which at times rips speakers to shreds; it's the sound of someone barely familiar with a studio telling his story (joined by a fellow named Pickle on drums) in distortion-flecked sketches right down to the finale, appropriately titled "I Guess I Fucked It All Up." We at WFMU had the distinct pleasure of witnessing the man in action as he joined Kenny Brown and T-Model Ford for a hard-to-believe-they-were-rocking-AND-drinking-at-9AM live performance on David Suisman's Inner Ear Detour show back in 2004. Listen to his 4-song set here! (Real Audio) And also check out Pucker Up Buttercup's "Goin' Back Home" from another Inner Ear Detour show here (Real Audio). And, if you get a chance, do check out the excellent DVD documentary You See Me Laughin', which traces the story and the intertwining lives of many of these, the very last of the Hill Country Blues men. A third Jones album was in the works according to the Fat Possum catalog page that was originally due in January.

Bunnybrains, singing about WFMU listeners

When I was a tyke, I got a birthday present of a book about myself. That is, for $12.99, some publishing company writes a kids' book that inserts you as a character (in this case I was led by a talking giraffe whose name was mine backwards into a world dominated by giraffes), citing your family and friends as other characters, obviously culled from a data printout your own parents provided. Well, for the 2004 marathon, listeners who pledged a certain amount to my show (and wanted the prize) got the distinct honor of being the subject of a Bunnybrains song, mailed out to them on a CD compilation of all the winners' songs. The Bunnybrains have provided such amazing memories for me since the early 90's: seeing them all burst into tears during a set at Under Acme while my friends consoled them and took up instruments, holding Dan Bunny's baby at a WFMU benefit at the Westbeth Theater while the band played an hour longer than the theater's personnel were being paid to be around for (performing in front of a screen showing dog porn films nonetheless,  the Westbeth owners were thrilled about that needless to say), Dan breaking my borrowed guitar when my band played with them at the Cooler while their smoke machine belched so much smoke upstairs and out the door to 14th street that the NYFD came, and stayed to watch the set. But maybe the greatest moment was them opening for Hawkwind (!) at Coney Island High. The tiny place already had half the floor taken up by Hawkwind's tons of laser show/light gear, and was also overstuffed with psychedelic hermits just coming out of their homes for the first time since 1977. Many of them dosed, not a good idea during the Bunnybrains' set, lots of people were abusing the 'brains verbally for their ensuing "bad trips" and I saw at least 4 of 'em drop to the floor. Whoa. Anyway, I hope these songs warmed the winners' hearts, I especially love "Art Carlson" myself. (Not safe for work).

"Jeff Kling" (MP3)
"Martin Nieusteadt" (MP3)
"Chris Montoya" (MP3)
"Art Carlson" (MP3)
"Frank Scanlon" (MP3)
"David Slotnick" (MP3)

MP3 Download Dinner Bell For October

Los Punkrockers "Holiday In the Sun" / "Pretty Vacant" (MP3s)
If you recall the glory days of K-Tel hit compilations, there were always wanna-be K-Tel's out there (I want to say Ronco for one off the top of my head) that would also cram like 50 modern-day hits into the grooves of some cheaply-cut vinyl platter as thin as a potato chip. But since half of these fly-by-nights couldn't license the actual songs, you'd get some generic in-house band doing versions of them! I remember I had one with some definite Long Island accents buried within the Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night." And of course such was the value of the commercials' catch-phrase "hits by the original artists". Well, someone in Spain seemed to think it was a good idea to have an entirely different band do the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks album in its entirety and slap some cheezy model in faux-punk garb on the cover. But I honestly have to say that this version of the record (titled Los Exitos De Sex Pistols) might be even better than anything the Pistols or McLaren could have produced! Thanks to Strange Reaction for posting.

Barbara Bush "Reflections" (Dirty Duck remix) (MP3)
Dirty Duck has been absent from the FMU Blue page as of late, and has been reported to have been hanging out at Teanie with Moby. This MP3 makes it obvious as to why; he has been soaking in production skills from the Mobe, and has become somewhat of a remix auteur. So, bravo, and the DFA may contact him via this radio station for that Janet Jackson project if they need him.

Kookie Cook "Workin' Man" (MP3)
A while back Station Manager Ken waxed poetic about the insane Dean Carter disc out last year; a compilation of 1960's psychobilly I picked up for the station on the recommend of Major Stars/Twisted Village impresario Wayne Rogers (a man who knows a thing or two about overloaded distortion used tactfully himself). Carter's sound was what might have happened if Elvis hooked up with Chrome stepping off a time-travel machine, totally zonked and unlike anything else in the genre (with possible comparisons to the Michael Yonkers 60's stuff). Thanks to Alec Palao, the roots of Dean have been dug into a bit more on another Big Beat UK reissue called the Midnite Sound of the Milky Way, which compiles more crude and overdriven sounds from the same midwest studio Carter did his dirty work in. In fact, Carter is credited with writing lots of this material under his real name Arlie Neaville with partner Arlie Miller (the two also co-owned the studio). The acts that came through dabbled in both rocking roots and Brit Invasion sounds, but the limited technology the Arlies were able to offer (refrigerator cardboard boxes nailed to walls for soundproof, souped-up two track recording machines) made for some primitive, crusty sounds. The Cobras were kids around 12 years old almost eclipsed in view by their guitars, and Kookie Cook was almost as wild as Carter in many ways cutting solo sides as well as with his band the Satalites (sic).

"King Diamond and Anton Lavey, They Were Tight Bros From Way Back" (excerpt, MP3)
The band Tight Bros from Way Back apparently got their name from this legendary tape floating around of two buddies on the phone together, one of which goes on for 10 minutes about his need to beat up a guy who owes him $20, but then gets deeply into his favorite topic, R.O.C.K. After animatedly explaining the degrees of evil of various metal acts (it's decided that Deicide are pure evil, but King Diamond and Anton Lavey were, as we mentioned "tight bros"), he then amazingly sums up the greatest guitar moments ever, and clearly they are ranked meticulously as you will hear by the MP3 excerpt above. Tom Scharpling provided me a dub of the tape, which I edited out the obscenity from to play part of on the air, and lo and behold and email drops in my inbox from a guy named Sean, the one who recorded his pal's rants, happily having heard it blare out of an office co-worker's WFMU stream. Sean assured us that this thing will get released someday, but for now, put your guitar down, shake your head, bow, and walk off the stage in the presence of this greatness.

The Dirtbombs "Sun Is Shining (live on WFMU)" (MP3)
The sockodelic sounds of Mick Collins and company have landed on Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic twice, once in 2003 and again in 2004. Detroit's finest purveyors of pure garage-punk soul have just released a long-awaited compilation of singles called If You Don't Have a Look (In the Red Records), and they cover ESG for crying out loud. In more exciting news, there's going to be a three-way love fest CD co-released by Birdman, In the Red, and WFMU in the near future to benefit musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina; it's a disc comprised of all the bands on those labels' rosters who have done airtime in the mighty Moose Room here, including the Cuts, Brother JT, the Hospitals, and many more. Stay tuned for more details soon.

Roberto De Simone "Secondo Coro Delle Lavandaie" (MP3)
La Gatta Cenerentola was a radical reinterpretation of the Cinderella tale, done in Neopolitan dialect in 1976 by De Simone, who, since the 1960's, organized groups like Italy's NCCP to reinterpret and reinvent enduring folk tales from his country's (and Europe's) culture and history. What De Simone uncovered in his deep anthropological studies was a Neopolitan equivalent to the Wicker Man of sorts; a pagan culture unaffected by the vast reaches of Catholicism that would consume Italy later; a matriarch-based shepherd/farming community with complex ritual-based relationships with pure and unqiue musical communication, brought to life in this stage performance excerpted here. By far "Secondo Coro Delle Lavandaie" made for one of the wildest moments of the mini-opera, almost taking on the skeleton of some downtown NYC No-Wave, or comparable to the Slits or Kleenex in some ways This track was also featured on a premium a few years ago courtesy Fabio's Strength Through Failure
and recently a kind listener donated a copy of the entire album to the station's library.

Velvet Underground "I Can't Stand It" (from Rarities 66-93) (MP3)
Once when Lou Reed was on MTV in the 80's doing one of his patent freakout guitar solos (on a live version of "The Original Rapper" or something at Farm Aid), he got a snotty comment afterwards behind his back from vee-jay Dweezil Zappa, who demanded that someone must atone for the "worst guitar solo ever performed on MTV." No surprise, considering that Poppa Frank did some stinkbomb-lobbying himself when the Velvets hit the west coast in the late '60s on Mothers of Invention bills, but needless to say the glory of those kinds of solos is well encapsulated in this featured MP3, And Dweez will surely be aping that approach himself someday at the Viper Room, mark our words. Anyway, it's from the best Velvets boot by far I think called The Psychopath's Rolling Stones; besides featuring a haunting version of "Chelsea Girl" recorded with Lou on electric guitar and Nico on vox in her Chelsea hotel room, and a version of the "Star Spangled Banner"(!), it features some insanely great Lou guitar rampages at the height of the band's live power. "Run Run Run" goes beserk for ten minutes in a pure orgiastic feedback frenzy, and this live version of the great album outtake "I Can't Stand It" (which was eventually released in studio form on the legit odds-n-sods collection VU in the 80's) has one of the best Reed-invoking-Ornette on electric guitar moments in any of the band's live archives.

Johnny Boy "You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes and You Get What You Deserve" (MP3)
Johnny Boy is actually the UK duo of Davo (guitars, loops, vocal) and Lolly (ditto) and this single succeeds everywhere that the Raveonettes, unfortunately, do not. From the reverb soaked Shangri-Las/Spector drum intro it's a pure bubblegum wedding of Northern Soul, Jesus and Mary Chain scumsurfing and pure pop bliss. Their full length is due later this year, and bands like them and the Long Blondes might be reason enough to start picking up the NME again. You gotta love that song title though; and check the very cool video on the site as well.

Radio Pyongyang "Start 'Em Young" (MP3)
The latest batch of Sublime Frequencies' globetrotting audio documentations features not one but two releases from the Axis of Evil (as our President would have you believe). Radio Pyongyang: Commie Funk and Agit Pop From the Hermit Kingdom rawly captures, as they say, "a healthy dose of hagiography for Dear Leader Kim Jong-il", and also bills itself as the "Now Sound of North Korea". As with many SF releases, you're not getting a Nonesuch/Smithsonian Folkways-like exploration into the roots of music and culture framed in a National Geographic-like manner, but rather a snapshot in a dreamlike way of everyday sounds you would hear as someone passing through, the veil of mystery and wonder preserved. This particular volume is basically culled from a cassette recording Christiaan Virant made of intercepted broadcasts, samples of CDs he found along the way, demonstration field sounds, news reports between 1995 and 1998. This particular track brings up some images of kids dressed in revolutionary garb, singing under a 6-story tall Kim Jong-il, the accompanying music state-sanctioned and sterile.

Oxbow "Girl" (live on WFMU) (MP3)
Recording the Bay Area group Oxbow "unplugged" so to speak isn't as easy as one would think; under normal circumstances (i.e. electric), the band teeters in the mix with a delicate blend of tension, eerie ambient drones, explosions of math-rock mayhem, and stumbling-down-the-stairs blues, all dragged along by the rather unconventional vocal approach of frontman Eugene Robinson. Eugene, a bona-fide competitive bodybuilder, takes harrowing subject matter and creates high theater (in live situations especially) quite often physically dragging the audience into one psychodrama or another; you'd expect something like this from say, Darby Crash, but could Darby pull off an effective Nina Simone cover or duet with Marianne Faithfull? When Eugene and Oxbow guitarist Niko Wenner played an acoustic set on Brian's show back in November 2004, the dynamic of host-behind-the-glass-watching-performer took on a very new kind of vibe; engineer Gil Shuster needed to accomodate Eugene's most whispered moents and chaotic, slobbering outbursts into account in the mix, he could be in your ear quiet one second and pinning the meters running around the room the next. But it worked, and the particular mix in this session is one of the more fascinating excercises in live music recording here in recent memory. Hear for example, the Beatles' la-la ode "Girl" turned into what sounds like a person caged in confined quarters about to knock a hole in the wall, while Niko balanced the song's delicacy with downright disturbing tension you could cut with a knife.

WFMU Heavy Airplay List

WFMU Top 30 compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner
(click on artist name or compilation title to hear a sample tune in real audio)

Ari Up - Dread More Dan Dead (Collision)
Husky Rescue - Country Falls (Minty Fresh)
Soundtrack - Broken Flowers (Decca)
Richard Hell - Spurts (Sire/Rhino)
Amadou & Mariam - Dimanche a Bamako (Nonesuch)
The Greenhornes - East Grand Blues (V2)
Cobra Killer & Kapajkos - Das Mandolinenorkester (Monika)
Various - Boobs: The Junkshop Glam Discotheque (RPM)
Volcano the Bear - Classic Erasmus Fusion (Volcano the Bear)
The Fall - Complete Peel Sessions Box (Castle)
Susumu Yokota - Symbol (Lo)
Various - Dimension Mix: The Music of Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson (Eenie Meenie)
Nurse With Wound - Sililoquy For Lilith (United Jnana)
Various - Vertigo Mixed by Andy Votel (Family Recordings)
The Holy Mackerel - The Holy Mackerel (Collectors Choice)
Hot Fire - Hot Fire (Vibe Theater)
Rogerio Duprat - A Banda Tropicalista Do Duprat (El)
Waco Brothers - Freedom and Weep (Bloodshot)
Mutamassik - Definitive Works (Soundink/Traffic)
Zuco 103 - Whaa! (Six Degrees)
Curse Ov Dialect - 7 Song Demo (Curse Ov Dialect)
June Carter Cash - Keep On the Sunny Side (Legacy)
Death Sentence: Panda! - Puppy, Kitty, Or Both (Upset the Rhythm)
Drinking Electricity - Overload (Survival)
Endless Boogie - Volume 1 (Mound Duel)
Various - Rough Guide To Balkan Gypsy (WMN)
(International) Tall Dwarfs - In the Dying Days of Helen Young (Tall Dwarfs)
Philip Blackburn - Habanera: A Soundwalk Through Old Havana, Cuba (Innova)
Hexa - Hexa (Hexa)
Various - I Like Yellow Things: MSR Madness Vol. 5 (MSR)

Recent Faves From the New Bin

HOBART SMITH - In Sacred Trust (Smithsonian)
Mountain music virtuoso Smith played a vast array of instruments (banjo, fiddle, guitar, piano) with blurring intensity and density, jumping from blazing breakdowns to hypnotic blues guitar to Tin Pan Alley tunes at the drop of a dime, holding total authority over anything with a string involved. His career started when his sister contacted Alan Lomax, declaring "my brother can play anything", and recordings started to pop up around 1948. In 1963 he was living with a heart embolism that caused him great pain, yet continued to tour, do radio appearances, teach, and with fellow banjo player Fleming Brown (the documentarian here) whipped out 9 hours of music onto tape, two discs worth preserved here on this amazing collection. Smith never needed back-up musicians, his was a universe of sound so in his command that frankly there may have not been space for them, and besides, the show was all his even without the instrumentation. In between the flying notes there was storytelling, clog-dancing, and more.. Most excellent detailed booklet of course, thanks to Smithsonian, as well. Hear Smith accompany himself clogging on "Railroad Bill" (Real Audio from Hatch's show)

CARTER/CHESTNUT/JACKSON/VEAL - Gold Sounds (Brown Brothers)
Mike Lupica has coined the term "Judgementnightcore", a rather apt description of the clashing of two musical genres you normally wouldn't expect to hear, if you remember that 90's soundtrack where Helmet, House of Pain, Mudhoney, Sir Mix-A-Lot etc. all got chocolate in each others' peanut butter so to speak. Well, I don't know what exactly is happening here, but for some reason there now exists an album of Pavement covers, done up by proper jazzbos James Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Ali Jackson and Reginald Veal. According to the liners, the producer Alan Suback posed the musical question "what album would we buy that doesn't exist?" then goes on to detail picking out the fantasy team (Reginald Veal was spotted backing up Wynton Marsalis for example), but doesn't quite explain why exactly Pavement covers seemed like a suitable fantasy project other than "we were avid fans since Crooked Rain Crooked Rain."  Perhaps the Dave Brubeckisms of "5/4=Unity" from that record lit the fuse? Who knows. But the end product is fascinating, I guess, especially if you're a Pavement fan, though I don't know if the fans of the artists performing these songs would run out and buy a copy of Slanted and Enchanted. It's very peculiar to hear the tres-uptown-SNL-band treatments some of these songs get into considering some early Pavement originals were buried in lo-fi hiss; "Cut Your Hair" starts with some free-yet-restrained Carter sax skronk before settling into a funky organ groove and "doo wah's", "Summer Babe" is a slick jam around a three-chord Rhodes loop, and Chestnut's solo piano take on "Trigger Cut" somewhat preserves the ominous intro. If anything, the record definitely highlights the fact that Pavement themselves were masters of sublime melody amidst loose, dissonant pop structures that could allow for this kind of treatment; they started out very much about sifting through the static so to speak, but gained an elegant maturity themselves towards their break-up while still walking sideways with conventional guitar-based rock. There's a live showcase October 7th at Joe's Pub in case New Yorkers want to check it out; the label's site is quite unusual too, offering up images that include Michael Stipe's face, and links to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Derek Jeter, saying "if you still hate him, that's your problem." MP3 of "Cut Your Hair" here.

DANNY AND THE NIGHTMARES - Freak Brain (Sympathy For the Record Industry)
For my money this is as harrowing as Daniel Johnston gets in many ways. Billed as his full-time "horror rock" combo, the Nightmares' new record stares Lucifer in the face not unlike Roky Erickson (a self-professed hero of Johnston's) while trashing up the proceedings like a farfisa-happy Mummies burning in the pit itself. More songs inspired by women, Satan, and Jesus Christ (listed as producer of the album), but for the first time Daniel really sounds at home leading a band sharing his own vision (as opposed to say, the Paul Leary-produced Atlantic thing where somewhat proper musicians joined forces with him). It's a giant mess of a roller-coaster ride, check out "The Lord Loves You" (Real Audio) in it's belch-enhanced splendor.

Announcing the Fall/Winter WFMU Schedule

The new WFMU Schedule is up, kicking in Monday October 3rd, and running through June of 2006. Some new shows, new DJs, and old ones returning to the fold, and also a new twist to things: while JM in the AM continues to broadcast from Monday through Friday from 6-9 AM, we will be offering internet-only freeform broadcasting as well. This means basically there will be 15 new hours of 6-9 AM internet programming featuring some rotating slots and weekly shows from hosts like Chris T., John Allen, and the Cosmic Cowboy. We should also note that these web-only shows are free of FCC language restrictions since they won't be going out over the airwaves. Have a gander at the schedule in table form here, and as a long list with show descriptions here.

Arthurfest in LA: Photo Roundup

Had the severe pleasure of getting to spin records through mighty megawatt stacks outdoors this past Labor Day Weekend at Arthur Magazine's two day blowout in Los Angeles, land of L Ron Hubbard and a thousand taco stands and wanted to share some pics (see the L Ron HQ left, which I snapped walking to the show). For the uninitiated, Arthur has grown to be a staple for free-minded noise/folk/psych-loving heads everywhere over the last few years, and after a successful showcase at SXSW in Austin last year it seemed like a natural progression to do a two-day blowout with names near and dear to the mag's readers: Sonic Youth, Yoko Ono, Spoon, T-Model Ford, Comets On Fire, Sleater-Kinney, Cat Power and Devendra Banhart were among the stars that studded the line-up, with many many more also turning up as well on three stages scattered around the hilltop loveliness that is Barnsdall Art Park in the Los Feliz section overlooking Hollywood.

Bearded Lady at Megastore

Devendra Banhart ad for September 13 Union Square Virgin Megastore performance, now keeping Yo La Tengo good company in the Name-Oft-Mangled-By-Promoters Sweepstakes. Though as far as I know, Ira, Georgia and James never had their genders reassigned (however they did do a cover of the man who wrote "Lola" at their Virgin store appearance). One can see some confusion on Richard Branson's part; after all, he has employed quite a few questionable-gender-in-appearance artists (Boy George, David Bowie, Geri Halliwell), but come on. Spend less money on building that Megastore on the moon and keep some copy editors around for your ads.

Excuse Me, Jandek?

Shopping at Mondo Kim's this afternoon, snapped on cel phone by Brad Truax.

Laura Cantrell & Jason Forrest Make Beautiful Glitch Together

In the tradition of Lindsey and Stevie, Elton & Kiki, Captain & Tennille, Mitch & Mickey, and Shields & Yarnell, a classic male/female artistic duo has collaborated once again to make lovely sounds (or in Shields and Yarnell's case, non-sounds). In possibly the first commercially-available musical team-up of two WFMU DJs, Jason Forrest AKA Donna Summer (of Sunday night's Advanced D&D radio extravaganza) and Radio Thrift Shop Proprietess Laura Cantrell have released "Nightclothes and Headphones" (MP3) as a track on Jason's new Shamelessly Exciting CD (Sonig label) hitting the streets now. Laura's sweet pipes add some nice sheen to our boy's music, but don't worry, he gets back to blowing up David Essex in a digital blender and spitting his carcass out at 300 BPM shortly thereafter and we love him for it. Laura, as many of you may know, is basking in the glow of many fans and critics alike with her new full-length album on Matador, Humming By the Flowered Vine, played a fantastic set in Battery Park on July 4th on a bill with Yo La Tengo and Stephen Malkmus, and she may be playing in your neck of the woods sometime soon.

MP3 Download Dinner Bell For September

Steve Bent "Going To Spain" (MP3)
Mark E. Smith has always had an ear for the perfect covers for the Fall to do, and since this breezy ditty got remade of 1993's Infotainment Scan LP, I've always wanted to hear the original. Lo and behold Irwin spun it last week and directed my attention to a Yuk/K-Tel compilation from 1978 title The World's Worst Record, compiled by UK DJ/comic Kenny Everett. This song was penned by Steve Bent, who performed it on a British TV show called New Faces in 1974, a sort of primitive precursor to American Idol where contestants did their own compositions. I love the whole naive tourist vibe, where the protaganist sings "Cousin Norman had a real fine time last year", being kept company by "tapes of Elton John" and says "I hope I can quickly learn the language", before the totally weird reverbed falsetto leap into the chorus. Makes a good segue to Three Dog Night's "I've Never Been To Spain", which coincidentally, I played on my last show before I, uh, went to Spain for the first time. I didn't quickly learn the language, but had a real fine time!

Reverend Charlie Jackson "Live" (MP3)
Kevin Nutt, host of WFMU's Sinners Crossroads started the Case Quarter label a few years back and has been sanctifying souls young and old with some powerful releases, the first of which was a collection of 1970's gospel singles by the Reverend Charlie Jackson. This disc packed so much raw power that everyone from Mojo to Rolling Stone was zapped by the holy thunderbolts delivered by the snakecharm guitar, ragged amp and booming voice of Jackson; garage rock gurus Crypt Records even put it out on vinyl, and singer Grey DeLisle recently did a cover song. Live documentation of Jackson (said to be at his peak in the 80's when the only place you could hear him was at festivals or gospel programs) is spotty at best, but thanks to Kevin we have an unreleased track for your Gawdfearing pleasure.

Patrick Sean O'Brien "Archie and Edith In the Fifth Dimension" (MP3)
The Bunkers get the turntablist treatment. Also check out the animated vid here.

Black Lodge Singers "Spongebob Squarepants" (MP3)
More Kids Pow Wow Songs (Canyon Label) unfortunately falls way short of the Singers' jawdropping Kids Pow Wow Songs some years back, but this is a nice addition to your MP3 collection. If you can't get enough 'bob, check out Jonny Blaze's take on the tune as well (Real Audio), culled from the DJ Technics collection of Baltimore Club Tracks we blogged about here earlier this year.

Health Hen "Drive She Said" (MP3)
If you ever wondered what Laverne DeFazio singing in a hybrid of Essential Logic and Mars might sound like, Health Hen might give you an idea. Oddly, this band gets left off your 80's Downtown/No New York-style compilations, which is too bad; not a whole lot of information except that their EP was on the Twist-O-Flex label, somewhat related to the East Village Rant imprint, another fine of some scratchy new wave sounds.

Mark Savage "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" (MP3)
First heard this on Otis Fodder's 365 Days MP3 Project, now immortalized further on the new Schoolhouse Funk Volume 2 CD on DJ Shadow's Cali-Tex label. It's heartbreaking that this cuts short after 1 minute 36 seconds, this might be the greatest thing ever.

Blaster Al Ackerman "The Pepper Young Translations"  from I Am Drunk (MP3)
Ehse Records is offering up complete MP3s of assorted releases on its site (we've sung the praises of the great Little Howlin' Wolf in the past, his most recent LP is there); one in particular features the spoken recordings of Baltimore's Blaster Al Ackerman, a spoken-word artist who has been referenced by Throbbing Gristle. Says Ehse: "This listener's prediction:  the muffled voice of Blaster Al Ackerman reading his "Pepper Young" translations with a presumed bar of soap in his mouth followed by tree frog belches will replace the sound of a passing steam locomotive as the poetic sounds of indescribable mystery and high lonesomeness. This audio icon of the 21st Century can be found on Ehse Records' LP release of Blaster Al Ackerman's "I Am Drunk".  And indeed at times he does sound drunk, but not just on booze, also on language and human absurdity. Featuring live as well as "studio" recordings, "I Am Drunk" also has two Blaster classics that raise the humdrum world of the workplace to the giddy heights of Philip K. Dick in Munchkinland - "The John Eaton Recommendations" and "The Crab".  Another prediction: copies of this album with its linguistic hijinks and squat and thrusts will be played far more times and enjoyed much more than any mothball enshrined Caedmon LP of T.S. Eliot or Robert Frost intoning.

Hubble Bubble "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" (MP3)
In our never ending search for weird punk rock, listener Phil H. in LA has put into our hands at long last a full album's worth of music from Belgium's Hubble Bubble, which featured none other than Plastic Bertand of "Ca Plane Pour Moi" fame on drums. Damn, it's good, the perfect concoction of fried DIY weirdness and structured songs. It's not quite punk, it's not quite new wave or mininal synth, but all of those elements bubble up in the mix. Some have compared them to Germany's Pack (who existed as well around this time, 1978), but that band was a bit monochromatic compared to HB. Some of this could be the Screamers mixed with Raxola, or even the Damned at times, and there's an awesome dirt-shovel on the hippies with a cover of "If You're Going To San Francisco". Here's their take on the Kinks' "I'm Not Like Everybody Else."

Baby Washington "Think About the Good Times" (MP3)
From a killer Stateside collection spanning 1963-69 that showcases Dusty Springfield's all-time fave vocalist. Baby (calling herself this after a stint as "Jeanette" though her real name was Justine) started out in 1956 with the Harlem group the Hearts but came into her own after signing to the Sue label in 1962. Her style varied from punchy soul to more tranquil jazz evocative of Dinah Washington, and her uniquely rich and earthy vocals seem a natural to inspire the likes of Dusty (who covered "Breakfast In Bed" and several other of Baby's tunes.) This track comes from her 1968 Veep LP With You In Mind, which comes its entirety on this CD I've Got a Feeling, which also includes her two Sue LPs.

Cindy & Bert "Der Hund Von Baskerville" (MP3)
I am not saying Germans are Nazis, and I am not saying Sharon Osbourne is a Nazi for her terrible treatment and public abuse of Iron Maiden on her own concert stage, but here's a German take on Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", sort of.

WFMU Heavy Airplay List

WFMU Top 30 compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner
(click on artist name or compilation title to hear a sample tune in real audio)

Various - Thai Beat A G-Go Volume 3 (Subliminal Sounds)
Marc Brierley- Autograph of Time (Castle)
Creme Soda - Tricky Zingers (Radioactive)
Cat Box Quartet - Running Uphill (Radio Khartoum)
Cause Co-Motion - EP (What's Your Rupture?)
Afrirampo - Kore Ga Mayaku Da (Tzadik)
Merry-Go-Round - Listen, Listen (Rev Ola)
Various - Nightmares at Toby's Shop (Toytown Productions)
Mike Wexler - Mike Wexler (I and Ear)
Shantel - Buccovina Club Vol. 2 (Essay)
Hannibal and the Sunrise Orchestra - Children of Fire (Universal Sound)
Scavanger Quartet - We Who Live On the Land (Acidsoxx)
Klimperei - Baboler (Acidsoxx)
Ed Askew - Ed Askew (ESP)
White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
Spacious Mind - Rotvalta (Goddamn I'm A Countryman)
King Khan & BBQ - The King Khan & BBQ Show (Goner)
Rod Lee - Vol. 5: The Official (Club Kingz/Morphius)
Excepter - Throne (Load)
Fifths of Sevens - Spry From Bicer Anise Folds (Les Disques du Soleil)
Mike Rep & the Quotas - Black Hole Rock (Old Age/No Age)
Crystal Belle Scrodd - The Inevitable Crystal Belle Scrodd (Klang Galerie)
Icky Boyfriends - A Love Obscene (Menlo Park)
Toyah - The Safari Records Singles (Safari)
Pernice Brothers - Discover a Lovelier You (Ashmont)
Differnet - Come On and Bring Back the Brjoken Sounds of Yore (Friendly
Noise)
Black Helicopter - That Specific Function (Traktor 7)
Fire - Could You Understand Me (Skyf Zol)
Various - Funky Funky Houston (Tuff City)
Encre - Flux (Clapping Music)

Recent Faves From the New Bin

Reviews By Music/Program Director Brian Turner

BEAUTIFUL SKIN - Everything, All This, and More (GSL)
I always bemoaned the fact that bands like the Stiffs Inc.and Beautiful Skin were in NYC at the wrong time; both added a unique, artful slant to 80's aesthetic in the 1990's, but it was, unfortunately in some ways for them, a decade indie rock was riding high with the ripple effects of alternately-tuned guitars, K, Amphetamine Reptile and Sub Pop in popular corners of underground music. Of course, this doesn't detract at all from the reason these bands should have existed, they were both great and certainly had fans who "got it" regardless of what was hip for the time, it just would have been nice if some of the scene's prejudices towards particular influences didn't hamper more people hearing them. Just as Beautiful Skin busted up in 2001, Interpol hit the scene and really blew the doors open on a revisiting of certain sounds, all of a  sudden the Cure, Joy Division, and 80's Wire weren't so off the map in terms of influence again. Formed in 1997 by Nick Forte (who had previously been in punk band Rorschach and the also-predating-a-revival dance punk outfit Computer Cougar) and Brazilian ex-pat Rossano Totino, Beautiful Skin sunk their teeth into both the pop and abstract: the definite Cure/Wire vibe was there, but there were also textural explorations of vintage drum machines and synthscapes that echoed Chrome, SPK, Grauzone and Krautrock in general. When the duo added on Mitch Rackin and Charles Burst, the band locked into a new kind of power, and I have great memories of a 2000 summer show at the Cooler which I think showcased BS at their peak. This new disc digs out some recordings from the quartet period never released, adding on an early demo as a duo and the band's 7".

DANDI WIND - Bait the Traps (Bongo Beat)
And speaking of the Nylon Revival, here's a newbie appropriating some 80's synthblatt with a good sense of invention, danger, Germanic humor and definitely leaning heavily on the substance as well as style. Dandi Wind is actually one half of a duo (Szam Fidelity plays and writes the music), and I don't know about you, but the WFMU mailbox is stuffed daily with a more-than-generous share of Electrobrats making the scene with atonal synths, too much rouge, and the declaration of nothing more than "I am a robot." We know, we know, you are robots, we believe you. No really, calling your band "I Am A Robot" on top of it isn't necessary. So when someone like Dandi comes along totally tossing a bomb full of living/breathing aggro humanity (the bizarro video tacked on to this CD is basically three minutes of her convulsing, screaming and barfing all over a garbageheap in an alley and nothing more, not even music) one knows that they are in for a bit more than a round of regurgitated Siouxsie-isms. Real Audio here from Bill Zurat's show for "Todo O Dia".

MOONDOG - The German Years 1977-1999 (Roof Music)
A beautifully packaged overview of a period in Louis Hardin's grand existance that is unjustly and unfortunately glazed over (though to be fair, competes with quite a preceding saga that is nothing to sneeze at.) It would amaze me to see copies of his final studio work, 1997's Sax Pax for a Sax (Atlantic) floating around in dollar bins all over town while people would be dropping big bucks on various out jazz reissues; it was a stunning document that shouldn't have been discounted for its lateness or mainstream connections, and this collection captures a great snapshot of a still vital legend. First noticed as a blind street musician in New York in 1943, the Viking-garbed, poem-selling Moondog may have been considered an eccentric, but he was quickly taken in by New York's Carnegie musicians, making the scene with Toscanini, Stravinski, and Bernstein and learning orchestration while guest-appearing with ensembles. Alan Freed allegedly swiped Moondog's monicker to promo his rock and roll shows, Jimmy McGriff dedicated songs to him, Charlie Parker was supposedly a fan, and avant-minimalists like Philip Glass and Steve Reich profess that it was indeed Moondog that set them on course. Though he certainly relished his sphere of influence on the Out composers, Hardin was a classicist at heart, but one with high adaptability. He disappeared and reappeared in the 90's at BAM and then in Germany, even gravitating to using samplers (one 1991 show even included a Mouse on Mars member), and this 2CD set really shows Moondog's continuing open ear to adventure while carrying on tradition (with a 44 page book to boot). Hear him trot out the oinkers on the track "Pygmy Pig" played on Ken's show (Real Audio).

VARIOUS - The Answer Tapes (Heresee)
Well-described as "a sociological document of discarded human existance", here is a whole CD-R of found answering machine tapes, collected between 2000 and 2005 in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania by Michael Barker. Alternately hilarious and heartbreaking, you get the details of urinary tract infections, someone displaying some extreme bravado over his crabcake-making prowess, assorted personal threats,  pleas to have heating oil delivered that segue into profane rants, conversations from the commode, admissions to overfeeding the fishtank, discussions on Britney Spears and more. The ultimate eavesdropping document (at least since the "Cellular Hellular" cassettes and our own Audio Kitchen show). Real Audio excerpt here, more info to be had at sendhelp.org (though at time of this review the server is being changed).

VARIOUS - Can You Jack? Chicago Acid and Experimental House 1985-95 (Soul Jazz)
One of thee best Soul Jazz releases ever! And there have been some killer ones (Studio One stuff, No New York, New Thing, ESG) without doubt. But getting your brain erased by several hours of that Roland drum machine is pure pleasure indeed. This is without doubt the definitive (of many) comps trailing the history of the Chicago House scene, mainly because it ties such snug knots between the hits and flat-out experimental weirdness that flowed through several waves of artists in this scene. I love this stuff for the same reason I have dug the Baltimore Trax as of late; absurd limitations and one-trick pony items like the TR-808 required a creative mind, and the simple layers of structure on tracks like Marshall Jefferson's "Virgo" or Maurice's "This Is Acid" flick your synapses on and off like a light switch while you totally bug out on the repetition. Originally just dismissed as a cheapo variation on disco, Chicago Acid House quickly was reassessed when it took over clubs (not to mention the UK pop scene), but again, the limitations of the cheap gear and basslines that could only be varied on so much made this a limited genre. Some may get fried out easily on it, but those with a love of gurgling synth beats, and lacking in any of this stuff should just go for it. Here's some Real Audio of Tyree's "Acid Crash".

Jodorowsky On His Unmade "Dune"

The idea that 1984's sci-fi epic/cash-sucking black hole Dune starred Sting and was scored by Toto when it could have involved Alejandro Jodorowsky (Santa Sangre, El Topo, Holy Mountain), Salvador Dali, H.R. Giger, and scoring by Magma is one of the best reasons for cinephiles to thud their heads repeatedly against hard surfaces and curse the Hollywood machine. Arthur Magazine's blog just put up a few postings on this, including an interview with Jod on the prep work he did before getting booted from the project, why he felt it was important for Dali to get $100,000 an hour to play the lead in Dune, Giger's work, and some of the fantastic spaceship designs Chris Foss worked on:

“Dune had to be made. But what kind of spaceships to use? Certainly not the degenerate and cold offspring of present day American automobiles and submarines, the very antithesis of art, usually seen in science fiction films, including 2001. No! I wanted magical entities, vibrating vehicles, like fish that swim and have their being in the mythological deeps of the surrounding ocean. The ‘galactic’ ships of North American technocracy are a mouse-gray insult to the divine, therefore delirious, chaos of the universe. I wanted jewels, machine-animals, soul-mechanisms. Sublime as snow crystals, myriad-faceted fly eyes, butterfly pinions. Not giant refrigerators, transistorised and riveted hulks; bloated with imperialism, pillage, arrogance and eunuchoid science."

More on this Dune Info page as well, and here's some Real Audio (played on WFMU) of an excerpted segment from one of Jodorowsky's most incredible films, 1973's the Holy Mountain.

Luc Ferrari 1929-2005

Only a day after we lost Robert Moog, another major wheel-inventor in the scheme of electronic music has passed. Paris-born composer Luc Ferrari has earned himself the title of true pioneer in music concrete, found sound usage and avant-garde music in general. He founded the Group de Musique Concrete in 1958, and along with the likes of Pierre Schaeffer advanced the possibilities of recorded sound by huge leaps and bounds, continuing to discover new and unexplored terrain even up to today. He died Monday in Arezzo, Italy. I've asked musician David Grubbs, who has been much under the influence of Ferrari throughout his own career (and has released recent Ferrari discs on his own Blue Chopsticks label), to express some of his memories here, and he kindly obliged:

Luc Ferrari possessed a sparkling sense of humor and quality of focus or presentness that, for anyone lucky enough to have enjoyed his company, will be impossible to forget.  In this lifetime, you might meet a handful of individuals whose work really speaks to you.  Really sparks you . . .(Right now I¹m thinking about periods spent listening to "Presque Rien No.1"and "Tautologos 3" and "Unheimlich Schön" over and over again.)  But when you meet one of those people, how often do you find that person¹s company an equally profound pleasure?

When I think of Luc, I think of his laugh and the musicality with which that laugh punctuated his storytelling.  I think of his profound irreverence, his constitutional opposition to any kind of pomposity or pretentiousness and irreverence and an opposition that, as far as I could tell, were part of the fiber of his person.  I think of the directness and concision with which he talked about music.  I think of him as setting the terms by which his work succeeds or fails, and of him as being almost comically (hilariously, excellently, inspiringly) impervious to competing ideologies in contemporary music.  I think of how he enjoyed traveling, I think of how he enjoyed meeting and working with much younger musicians (so long as they were secure in what they did, having one foot in music and the other in the business of sociality and knowing how to enjoy themselves), and I think of what a force of nature he and his wife Brunhild together constituted.  I think of his pleasure in finding a decent bottle of wine behind bullet-proof glass at a liquor store in Brooklyn so that we could make the most of lunch at a diner. He didn¹t criticize the grilled cheese.  I loved the way he dressed.  If I get started, I¹m not going to want to stop.  His music meant so much to me, and then I came to enjoy his company every bit as much and ultimately even more. 

"Impossible to forget" is a tall order, hope against hope . . . but it¹s a way of saying that I want to be able to continue to savor the lovely, resolutely one-of-a-kind person that Luc Ferrari was.  An utter original. Damn if I¹m not hearing that laugh this very instant . . .

-David Grubbs

An interview with Ferrari by Dan Warburton here (with lots of links on the bottom to other articles).

Real Audio of "Numero Quatro, Ronda, Spain 2001" taken from Les Anecdotiques, aired on David Suisman's Inner Ear Detour show here.

Courtney and Coogan breed

Far be it for Beware of the Blog to become the source for seedy Hollywood gossip, but the Guardian's confirmation of the coupling of Steve Coogan (star of Factory label honcho Tony Wilson's fantasy/biopic 24 Hour Party People, and the extreme genius Alan Partridge BBC series) with the former Mrs. Cobain is enough to turn our heads today. Courtney reports that a baby is on the way, as of posting, Coogan's management denies all.  The couple are rumored to have had an affair for two weeks in July after meeting in a Hollywood hotel, and according to the article Love (who just re-entered rehab this week) alledgedly told friends "What does it make me look like that I have slept with Alan Partridge? Given the grade A stars I've dated it's embarrassing. I mean...Alan Partridge?" One can only guess that the wooing of the Widow Cobain included taking personal, large dinner plates to all-you-can-eat buffets, and a bedroom display of air bass guitar mime to Level 42 songs.

UPDATE 8/24: COURTNEY NOW ANNOUNCES SHE IS NOT HEAVY WITH PUP

Mime Goes Gospel

Forwarded by Nick Sakes. Hold on to your hats for the animated site intro.

Which Doobie You Be

DJ Hatch alerts us to U Mean Competitor, a blog oddly preoccupied with Michael McDonald, Cam'ron's Dipset crew and Disney Epcot. If you can fathom what the hell is going on, you'll find links to some great freestyle, mashups, remixes etc. There's even an R. Kelly video with its five parts synched up and played on top of one another. Not for the epileptic among you.

Group: Xex, the Story Told

Xex were a band that stuck out like a sore thumb in South River, New Jersey, deep in the heart of metal-lovin' Middlesex county (not far from Bon Jovi's Sayreville stomping grounds). They garnered little press during their early 80's excursions to New York, where it seemed they had hoped to fit in with the downtown scene; though Xex's synth-weirdness might have been out of time and place even then. To Live and Shave in LA's Tom Smith was doing some shows on WFMU some years ago and discovered their Group: Xex LP in our library, hunted down the band for a reissue CD, out in 2004 on the Smack Shire label. The story of Xex gets told in great detail here, (and I mean detail, there's even a link to the Pathmark on Route 1 in Edison) thanks to an extended interview with Waw Pierogi by Mike Appelstein. Check it out and also take a listen to "Fashion Hurts" (from Mike Lupica's show).

Wreckless Eric Speaks, Presumably After Chris Martin Pisses In His Cheerios

Some musings from Wreckless Eric's site, reposted under the assumption we can say bye-bye to Gwyneth Paltrow ever coming to our Record Fair.

18 July 2005

Make Wealth History

After the Live 8 fiasco and the annual Glastonbury tripe-fest I felt compelled to put something on the site about it all. I'd got halfway through writing what follows when the London bombing happened. I didn't want to carry on, it didn't seem appropriate at the time. I'm very sad and sorry about what's happened. But we have to carry on and the bombings haven't changed the way I feel about Live 8 and all the rest of it. It might make me hugely unpopular but here it is:

Cold Play might be a good starting point. Who the hell likes them? Personally I can't stand them and I don't know anybody else who likes them either. They must be the most self-important group that ever was. I could forgive Chris Martin for his horrible haircut, his naff trainers, his poncey clipped Oxford graduate accent, for the way he prances around holding a microphone like a closet gay handling a cock for the first time wailing into it with faux-passion, for his stupid dancing, and even for that un-shaved chic which makes him look, from a distance, as though he's been dipped in egg white and had Rice Crispies tipped over him.

I could forgive the rest of them for being tubby, nondescript and badly dressed. And as to the music - if I was going to be reasonable I'd just say it isn't my cup of tea so I don't go out of my way to listen to it - but I'm not so how about boring, grim, pretentious and contrived. I'm even prepared to tolerate the sight of Chris Martin's big square arse - a feature he shares with Tony Blair and, come to think of it, Elvis Costello. None of them can help their big square arses but it's not the kind of feature you want to see in a pop star. I suppose they all got it from sitting down a lot - writing songs, passing exams, becoming all-powerful, and generally working out how to make a lot of money and appear disgustingly clever. But Chris Martin's pomposity I find unforgivable. At Glastonbury he went through a whole routine during the obligatory acoustic part of the set explaining that, if they messed up the number they were going to play, everyone should ask Michael Eavis for a fifty pence refund on their ticket, but if they liked it they should donate fifty pence to Live 8. Cute. He went on to say that Cold Play supported Live 8, which is fair enough, but then he said: '...and anyone who doesn't is, in our opinion, a knobhead.' Well, maybe I'm a knobhead, but Chris Martin is, in my opinion, a silly cunt.

Where There's Apocalypse, There's Genesis

Khanate/Sunn o))) guitarist Stephen O'Malley checks in on being in the UK the week of the London bombings, with a somewhat symbolic footnote to the cancellation of a show he was scheduled to play with Masami Akita (Merzbow):

"Just returned to NYC!!! Birminham festival was evacuated by the police 10 minutes before Masami and I were to play... bomb scares. The entire city center was also evacuated and they actually found and exploded 2 "suspect packages". Long night of finding a place to stay, retrieving equipment from a locked up building, etc. When we finally got back in to the venue we found Genesis P-Orridge in a room playing a white piano in full drag!!! That sort of made the entire thing seem like a remake of 'Threads'."

"Phil Collins Minus One" And Other Promo Scams

MP3s: Collins on Collins, David Bowie Idents (1 | 2 | 3), King Coleman ID, Homer Simpson ID, Weezer ID, Weezer and Peaches Remix

Back in the days before Clear Channel owned every other station in the country, record labels were forced to do a little bit of legwork in order to promote their releases. Throughtout the 70's and 80's, one technique in their arsenal was to mail an "interview records" to every station in the country. Interview records were essentially spoken word karaoke interviews with rock stars, so that a local station could pretend that its own jocks had landed the big one. Stations received a record with the rock star giving answers to interview questions, which were supplied to the station on a script.

An hour or so in the production room with reel to reel tape and a razor blade, and voila! even the lowliest station in the country could air that exclusive interview with Jimmy Page! We still have one such interview record in the mighty FMU record library, "Collins on Collins," in which Phil Collins knowingly chuckles to your insighttful questions, and waxes philosophical on "Philmania" and the difference between "pop fans" and "music fans." Here is an MP3 of the Collins on Collins record which came out in 1985. If you really want to play along at home and ask Phil the questions so he can knowingly chuckle and reply to you, here is a pdf document of the script that accompanied the record.  Another variation on this theme were rock star "indents," in which a celebrity introduced his or her new single. Here are a few David Bowie idents we still had laying around: Bowie Ident 1 | Bowie Ident 2 | Bowie Ident 3 (Station Manager Ken)

The Wisdom of Victor

Victor the Budgie is dead, but chronicles of his complex grasp of the English language lives here, thanks to his owner Ryan, who recorded his detailed conversations, and now works with Victor's parrot mate Betty (who's learned quite a bit from Victor). There's a page of audio excerpts of Victor's assorted stories, including some addressing his impending passing to the afterlife. If you can't quite make out the words amidst the squawking, the Quicktime player scrolls subtitles so you can follow along. The author has also links to assorted Nostradamus quotes that predict parrots talking = arriving doom for mankind, and apparently owners of the birds in this guy's internet group were squawking about the December tsunami in the month before it happened.

Victor explaining his feelings for new cage mate Betty:

"Ryan yes. Victor complains, don't busy. Want to play because you poo in your cage. Tell a me Ryan. Where her bin? Who's like Betty? What is she use to doing? What is the part in computer that's deflect her heat? Your boy Anthony. That's a mic. Ryan. Betty likes to try and play pick up a penny. Ryan OK she try and talk...nice. Betty's a buddy, Victor. I should marry her maybe. Gimme some."

MP3 Download Dinner Bell For August

Tall Dwarfs "Crush" (live on WFMU 1992) (MP3)
One of the more exciting bits of live music news in New York for the summer is the return of the mighty Tall Dwarfs from New Zealand, slated to open for Olivia Tremor Control at the Bowery Ballroom August 2nd and 3rd. Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate helped herald in their country's punk scene in groups like Toy Love and the Enemy, but with the 80's advent of the Flying Nun label and it's near-flawless roster (which informed a large chunk of the American and international underground; your Pavements, GBV's Yo La Tengos and Sonic Youths have bowed quite dramatically towards the Southern Hemisphere) the duo coalesced an amazing vision into a simple TEAC 4-track recorder and created a musical output unlike any other. Somewhere between T Rex, Pierre Schaeffer, Brian Wilson, Beefheart, and the kitchen sink came inventive, experimental pop with often dark undercurrents; they made their own videos, sleeves and commanded a musical universe unlike anyone else. Live, they remained a duo, utilizing live tape loops, drum machines, omnichord and guitar, buoyed by Knox's often-hilarious stage presence (his solo shows through the years have caused many an audience member to hide in the back for fear of molestation, though he kept his hands off everyone performing at a 1997 WFMU benefit). In honor of their return to New York (for the first time together since 1992), the above MP3 is "Crush" performed in the WFMU studios on David Newgarden's show, and found on the station's They Came, They Played, They Blocked the Driveway compilation from 1993. As a bonus, Here's a little taste of the studio wizardry of the Dwarfs in its lo-fi glory, "Dare To Tread" (Real Audio) from their 1992 Fork Songs LP.

Los Shains' "El Monstruo" (MP3)
If, for some reason that certainly may be too personal to discuss, you've longed for a Spanish take on the ultra-primitive Nova's hit "The Crusher", well here's it's your lucky day. If you've never heard "The Crusher", it's simply one of the greatest songs ever featured in the whole Back From The Grave series of ultra-obscuro garage trash from the 60's, and also covered by the Cramps quite faithfully. I am not sure how faithful this version is, or if it even replicates the same lyrics; what's Spanish for "do the crusher you turkeynecks" anyway?

Christ Child "Star Whores" (MP3)
My friend Mark brought a bunch of records over recently and I wound up taping a bunch of stuff, but I screwed up the pause button on the deck so right on the middle of Arthur Brown, this mysterious, unknown-to-me-as-I-didn't-write-it-down heavy jam pops up in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, I wound up playing Arthur Brown on the air recently off said cassette, and when unexpectedly dropped in, listener Sue P. emailed me flipping out because I was playing her latest obsession, Christ Child. Who the hell are they? Neither of us didn't really knew, except this was a major label release on Arista in 1977, they were from Malibu (!), and may have been that label's hope to follow, I dunno, Patti Smith who was then being marketed as both "punk" and "new wave" (in 1977 USA, it was kind of a blur as to what was what). I dunno, though, this thing kills as it whoodles in with weirdass minimal synth that goes into a total thuggy bug-out riff that burrows itself right into your head.

Elton and Betty White (assorted MP3's)
Don't really know the story behind "Elton and Betty White" (an unmarked CDR came from a listener), and whether or not these are actually recordings of the famous Betty White. It sure sounds like her, and knowing the potty-mouthed possibilities she demonstrated in Lake Placid, who the heck knows. Here's a smattering of MP3s alternating between her vocals and Elton's: "Climaxation", "God's Basketballs", "I'm In Love With Your Behind", "Menopause", "Woman Your Smell, It Makes Me Well", and "Bitch".

The Long Blondes "Autonomy Boy" (MP3)
With all the 80's throwback going on in the world of indie pop/rock, here's a refreshing nod-of-sorts to the great Dolly Mixture and Kleenex/Lilliput from a current UK band called the Long Blondes who could teach a thing-or-two to the fashion circle popsters dipping into their own 80s well no deeper than say,  Frankie Goes To Hollywood. This is out on the excellent up-and-coming NYC label What's Your Rupture, which has been batting a solid 1000 with recent singles by Love Is All and the Cause Co-Motion, whom you will surely hear more about in the future. For now, here's "Autonomy Boy" (MP3), a great song from a new 12" EP that hits the spot just right. Thanks to What'sYour Rupture for letting us post this.

Kelly Harrell's "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (MP3)
One of the lovelier residents of WFMU's Cassette Library (we still keep 'em and play 'em from time to time) are tape collections called Victrola Favorites, put out by Seattle experimentalists and sometime WFMU guests the Climax Golden Twins. This amazing series of tapes floated around like a midway point between Yazoo's Secret Museum series and the Sun City Girls' recent Sublime Frequencies series; wedding old time jazz, pop, novelty tunes from the early 20th century with super 78s from exotic locales around the world (some of my favorite moments are taken from various comedy/theater 78s from the Far East). The Twins have posted a few MP3 here, one of my favorite being Kelly Harrell's "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (MP3), a hillbilly gem from 1928. Kelly being a he is probably the key point in question here, and hence possibly also explains the 1927 song "My Wife Done and Left Me Again"?

Gurdjieff "No. 1, Mesoteric Series, July 22, 1949" (MP3)
Boy, there sure have been some real completist-friendly box sets over the last few years: Merzbow's 50CD's, Albert Ayler's 10CD's on unreleased material, giant Yahowa and Tomokawa boxes, etc. Basta's newly issued collection of Russian mystic G.I. Gurdjieff's complete improvisations is definitely catered to the enthusaist of long, extended drone pieces, and is beautifully packaged with 2CDs and a huge, intricately laid-out book with a disk of home movies. Add the MP3 disc that's also included, and you have nineteen, yes nineteen solid hours of material herein. It's all home-taped recordings of harmonium, a haunting instrument somewhat akin to a portable pump-organ, capable of creating long, sustained drones, and this featured outtake from 1949 (all the tracks here are recorded between 1948 and 1949) is just a sample of what one can become fully immersed in with this set.

Spaz "Spaz" (MP3)
Donna Summer/Jason Forrest solicited unsigned breakcore freaks to send him stuff for his last WFMU Marathom premium, and one MP3 from someone merely named "Spaz" made jaws drop. No info whatsoever, this is possibly the most retarded thing ever conceived by a laptop musician. We want more.

Lust Control "The Big M" (MP3)
Christian punks definitely one-upping the str8-edge band Crucial Youth's album (where they are depicted on the cover running over Gene Simmons and kids with beer with a streamroller). I don't think I need to see the cover of this record, based on the subject matter.

Juri Camisasca "Un Galantuomo" (MP3)
Creepy, eccentric folk track from an amazing 1974 Italian LP sent to me by listener Jamie in the UK. Supposedly not a big seller, but nonetheless one of the more out-there singer-songwriter efforts from Italy in any decade; reminiscent of the dark folk of Comus or even some early Tyrannosaurus Rex, with the voice definitely used in an avant-garde sense as an instrument within itself. Famed experimentalist Franco Battiato also appears on here, adding some fractured electronics over the stoned vibe.

Recent Faves From the WFMU New Bin

Reviews by Music/Program Director Brian Turner

ZIPPER / Zipper (Whizeagle)
Screw the American Idol aesthetic, Fred Cole's ragged pipes are among the world's most heavenly despite what many naysayers have to say (the same people probably hate Ron House and Jad Fair too). Cole's current trio Dead Moon continue to thunder around since the 80's, and while they got left behind in the big green Northwest Grunge cash-in, you would no doubt have seen Mark Arm, Kurt Cobain, and Eddie Vedder all worshipping at Big Fred's altar at various DM gigs. The recent Dead Moon biopic is truly inspiring, not just for the fact they are rockin' grandparents still doing it, but for their conviction to the whole DIY-ethic, building their own house, studio, guitars, and even vinyl-press while fearlessly rocking the world as only they know how. Before Dead Moon, Cole was in the Rats, and before that (but after his very Arthur Lee-inspired group the Lollipop Shoppe) came the band Zipper, circa 1975 but recently in WFMU's new bin. Needless to say, those with low tolerance for total dude rockist lyrics won't be amused (some of this stuff would make Jim Dandy do a double-take maybe), but this is righteous rock to the max, full of chunky, proto-punk riffery and blowout solos that never stray too far from a punk aesthetic despite the cock-rockery leanings. Some Real Audio linkage to: "Ballbustin' Woman" and "Scars" to get you on the Harley.

ENCRE / Flux (Clapping Music)
A few years ago Mark Hollis (who is best known from the 80's New Romantic chart-toppers Talk Talk) re-emerged with a fragile solo record that combined airy, jazz-inflected passages of live instrumentation with an undercurrent of deep, organic electronic ambience that may not have turned too many heads initially, but slowly became talked about as a turn-of-the-millenium musical landmark of sorts. It was subtle, yet in many ways groundbreaking and indeed echoes of it can be heard in recent Radiohead forays, and texture-oriented indie labels like Montreal's Constellation. I also hear it a lot in this recent disc by French artist Yann Tambour, aka Encre; what may initially seem like another installment in a long line of instro-oriented postrock releases takes on much richer definition upon repeated listens. Even though the production is sparse and instruments/samples very much breathing their own space, there's a density to what's going on that's very intriguing. Loping cellos, distant underwater drums, intimately-whispered vocals (by both Tambour and sibger Noak Katoi) all move in opposite directions yet coalesce perfectly with almost erotic-cinematic vibe. Like elements of Gainsbourg, Encre takes on some lessons learned in more experiemental, electroacoustic studio scenarios (a large chunk of which were realized in 1960's France) and brings them in a pop realm. The dynamic arrangements benefit from the element of cut-up, and multiple layers of structure, while never becoming crowded. One can listen to and appreciate Encre on many levels, which to me makes for a fascinating release. Here's "Us" (Real Audio) from Dan Bodah's Airborn Event show.

DEATH SENTENCE: PANDA! / Puppy, Kitty, or Both (Upset the Rhythm)
At first I heard some MP3's of this band and thought they were from the UK, but they are indeed a trio of SF spazzmodics (featuring one member of aggro-synthpunks Crack: WAR), whose 10" EP was mastered by the Flying Luttenbachers'  Weasel Walter but released on a UK label. Which hopefully won't make this difficult to get, because it's a dynamite slab of wax. Imagine the Magic Band stripped down to a trio with just drums, flute and clarinet (which sounds totally distorted and can be mistaken for a guitar) making a raging shitstorm of confusion, fast n' bulbous indeed. Deerhoof and Lightning Bolt seem to be somewhat compatible bands to share bills with (they have), and while there may be a ton of bands popping their corks to the neo-no wave sounds these days, DS:P! are one that I'd be psyched to see live.

ENDLESS BOOGIE / Volume One (Mound Dual)
Hell yeah! After choogling around NYC since 1997, finally two slabs of wax are birthed by the righteous Boog. One of 'em has landed here, and it's as great as you would expect from a band named after the most blowout John Lee Hooker song (with Steve Miller doing feedback destructo-guitar on it, nonetheless). I discovered Australia's great Coloured Balls through one of the fellows in this group, and the fact that whatever that band soaked itself in reigns through Endless Boogie's vibe in a big way is certainly reason enough to celebrate. Live, they make no pretensions, vogueing or fashion-conscious quotations-rock irony, just a pure love of playing rollicking, ballsy, serious stuff for the true connoisseur. . The dirty quality of the album's production is perfect, and the side-long jam "Stanton Karma" sprawls out like a Lower East Side Trad Gras Och Stenar, only to then have your asses completely kicked home by "Dirty Angel" and a locked groove that says "Jam!" over and over. Everyone else not onboard should go the hell home and curl up with their Jet records. OK, I'm going next door now to pick a fight with the construction crew putting up the condo next to FMU, the wrecking ball just missed our window here by a few feet and it's clobbering time.

BRIAN ANEURYSM / Das Element Des Menchen (Spectral Sound/Ghostly International)
Very cool and damaged slab of 12" mutant techouse from this Texas DJ born in Austria. I've been pretty obsessed with the recently-issued Soul Jazz Acid comp of underground Chicago stuff from the 80's-90's, and a lot of what makes up the grooves on this one seems like a logical continuum of what was going on there, with a big dose of Berlin darkness to boot. Totally razor-sharp hi-hat, pulsating distorto beats and vox, it's scary and evil dance music in a way that Richard Devine is doing ominous electronic soundscapes though going right to the cortex a bit more directly.

WFMU Heavy Airplay List

WFMU Top 30 compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner
(click on artist name or compilation title to hear a sample tune in real audio)

VARIOUS - Molam: Thai Country Groove (Sublime Frequencies)
TOY LOVE - Cuts (Flying Nun)
MARY LOU WILLIAMS - Mary Lou's Mass (Smithsonian)
CONFUSIONAL QUARTET - Confusional Quartet (Elica)
JAMES BLOOD ULMER - Birthright (Hyena)
BETTYE LAVETTE - Some of Her Best Songs (Anti)
FOURTET - Everything Ecstatic (Domino)
MARISSA NADLER - The Sage of Mayflower May (Eclipse)
MEADOW HOUSE - Tongue Under a Ton on Nine Volters (Alcohol)
SHUKAR COLLECTIVE - Urban Gypsy (Riverboat/WMN)
ZIPPER - Zipper (Whizeagle)
VARIOUS - History of the Hip Hop DJ Vol. 4 (HHS)
THE EVENS - The Evens (Dischord)
MARC BOLAN/T. REX - Born To Boogie Sdtk (Sanctuary)
EDDA DELL'ORSO - Dream Within a Dream (Cherry Red)
ED SHEPP - Five (Ed Shepp)
GAINSBOURG/VANNIER - Cannabis (Universal France)
THRONES - Day Late, Dollar Short (Southern Lord)
BUDDIE EMMONS - Steel Guitar Jazz (Verve)
VARIOUS - Swissotic Commune Document (Chocolate Monk)
SOUNDTRACK - Dirty Harry (Aleph)
LEE RANALDO - Music For Stage and Screen (Les Disques Du Soleil)
VARIOUS - Dub Massive Vol. 2 (Trojan)
VARIOUS - Radio Sumatra: The Indonesian FM Experience (Sublime Frequencies)
WAYNE BUTANE - Imbalanced (Flaming Canine)
OIL TASTERS - Oil Tasters (Lexicon Devil)
GNOUA BROTHERHOOD OF MARRAKESH/MASTER MUSICIANS OF JOUJOUKA - Moroccan
Trance II: Sufi (Sub Rosa)
MACROMANTICS - Hyperbolic Logic (Macromantics)
CHARLIE POOLE - You Ain't Talkin' To Me (Legacy)
DIANE CLUCK - Macy's Day Bird (Diane Cluck)

Quincy Core: No Scum Like the Human Race

"Why would you listen to music that makes you hate, when you can listen to music that makes you love?" This was the question posed by Jack Klugman's famed Quincy character to Dr. Emily Hanover in the now-legendary Next Stop Nowhere episode in 1982. Yes, network TV's depiction of the relatively new phenomenon of punk rock remains one of the more hilarious moments in dated cultural observations, but as Jay Hinman's Agony Shorthand blog points out, it was only one of quite a few instances of the mainstream media looking at punk through skewered goggles. Giving the goofball punk band Mayhem from Quincy a run for their money was the aptly-titled Pain, who made a mortifying showing on an episode of CHiPs (documented a bit here), where apparently Erik Estrada gets the crowd to stop moshing when he sings Kool and the Gang's "Celebration". Jay's piece on the media's view of punk rock also reprints a great Time Magazine article from 1977 that served to introduce Mom & Dad's America to punk, and also cites LA intolerant TV ranter Wally George for doing punk a good service by adding fuel to the fire with guests like the Mentors' late El Duce. But without doubt, the Quincy episode reigns supreme, with some Quicktime video and Real Audio clips for the uninitiated here, as well as an article written by an actual extra from the episode. I also throw in a vote for the punk club scene in Valley Girl with Nicholas Cage  (people slam to the Plimsouls?) and Dennis Hopper's great Out of the Blue (where his delinquent underage daughter takes up with a Rollins-looking meatheaded drummer). SCTV's Queen Haters performance of "I Hate the Bloody Queen" is without a doubt my all-time fave. And don't forget Nelson (above), ready for that upcoming Misfits show at CB's.

Star Wars 3 Mistranslations

A reposting on Matthew In Beirut, originally from winterson.com, depicting a Chinese bootleg DVD subtitling misadventure of Star Wars 3 (thanks to Robin Edgerton).

I'm Sorry, Son, We Don't Have Money To Send You To College, But We Have Great Seats Behind Ginger Baker's Ass

Thanks to Becky Lewis for this clear demonstration of Capitalism/Supply and Demand at its finest. Hope it buys Ginger (left) some legs, or a bigger drumkit (thanks Mike Lupica for photo).

My Roomie the Robot

Congrats to our own Wednesday late night DJ Mark Allen, whose article I, Roomate: The Robot Housekeeper Arrives ran this past Thursday in the New York Times. Mark's great radio show, new to the schedule, slogs through the wee hours of the morning here, though he may be a famous drive time DJ in Japan, as that country sent him Nuvo, a real live robot to live with for a few days. Mark, you should have brought Nuvo down to file that big stack of records someone left lying around in the library! Click here to see the article (you have to register with the Times), or just read below.

Just Say No To Outdoor Summer Concert MC's

The summer means lots of outdoor free music events, but of course, they're never really "free" in the true sense when you examine closely. That's right, people sponsoring the event whether it be Snapple, Budweiser, or NAMBLA will always figure out a way to insert their agenda repeatedly into your experience, which of course, makes perfect sense, and is something we have pretty much accepted in our daily lives in this consumer-driven world. At the risk of going Andy Rooney, I have to say for some reason this year I find all the people MC-ing before, between, and after sets to be particularly prickly to my ears. I don't know why. Is it having absorbed all the recent SCTV box sets and realizing that Bobby Bittman (pictured) was somewhat of a harbinger of things to come, even though he was a parody of the past? Or is just that hearing a cheesy guy come out to pump everyone up and say things like "Give it up for my maaaaaaaaaan, J Mascis" in Central Park last night after Dinosaur Jr. finished is just downright annoying?. Or is it just the timing in these stressful times, where your entertainment should be a modem for escaping information-overload, thus making the usual routine of annoying interruptions amplified. I dunno, but the WFUV plug at a show involving the Magik Markers (who opened for Dinosaur Jr.) was pretty out-of-place too, one has to admit, and having Yo La Tengo's quieter moments interrupted by the buzz of the "Jack" plane overhead had me thinking of the blimp in Black Sunday crashing into the Super Bowl. These Jack people hate Matador, I know it! Anyway, I shouldn't vent, nothing could have been as bad as this guy (MP3). Says our friend Bill W.: "I'd like to 'put my hands together', with his neck intervening." I expect responses to this post from this weekend's Siren fest, especially if the US Army has that sponsorship booth there. Will Don Rickles don his CPO Sharkey garb and introduce Dungen?

Hipsters: Buying In To Marketing

Interesting article by Jon Fine in BusinessWeek Online (heads up from CSTB) on the relative success of new-breed marketing firms like Cornerstone and others utilizing the so-called music subculture to further the agendas of its many clients. Indeed, the idea of outcry over hip songs being used in corporate ads is pointless (unless you're, say, the Brainbombs not getting paid for use of "Bleed" in Red Cross spots), though I'm still rattled (for other reasons I'll just have to learn to deal with) everytime I hear Snap's "I've got the power" hook utilized to bolster the idea of child crapping diaper=having the world in one's pocket. Fitting bands for Levis at convention events, placing strategic cases of Sparks at Vice-related concerts, networking every DJ and scenester in major cities, all somewhat easier that some would think in 2005. Above: Brigitte said to be working out exclusive Timex sponsorship so her protegee Falco can wear a clock around his neck for his 2006 SXSW comeback.

Harrowing Goddamn Airports

I've been fortunate enough to visit five countries and a bunch of far-away US cities in the last few years, mainly due to the relatively cheaper airfares that have been available (though who knows for how long). Flying has always been a love-hate affair for me; I mean it's exciting and all, but for every event like seeing the Grand Canyon at 35,000 feet in clear weather like I did two weeks ago, there's been a screaming kid who would begin shrieking the second our flight pulls back from its gate at Newark and stops the second the plane pulls up to the gate at London's Gatwick 6 hours later. It's a real test of nerves, and I can never ever sleep, let alone focus on such great epics as Starsky and Hutch (and for some reason Iberia is very fond of Simone). I have a relatively good understanding of aerodynamics, so I know that a plane isn't just going to fall out of the sky, but the cold hard reality is that you are basically sitting in an unnaturally bouyant metal can filled with bodies and luggage, breathing other peoples' recycled air, while enormous amounts of flammable liquid are gobbled into more metal cans that droop from a wing to hopefully belch air fast enough to push the whole deal fast enough to take flight and stay there. And landing is the worst part, especially when you consider some of the quirkier aspects of some of the world's airports.

Don Bradshaw-Leather

Who the hell is Don Bradshaw-Leather? Not much is known about him, but his self-released LP Distance Between Us (Distance Records, 1972) is certainly one bizarre egg. It's on the infamous Nurse With Wound list of Steven Stapleton's favorite weird records, so it's no wonder that this was brought to my attention by David Late Tibet of Current 93 (and sometime NWW collaborator). David sent me a copy and described it as a strange DIY horror symphony beyond words, and it indeed is dificult to describe. There's hardly a thing about this double LP on the web besides want lists and offers for sale (it seems to be averaging around $200 for original vinyl), though rumor has it that Don was a wealthy hippie (some say a member of Barclay-James Harvest, which David refutes) who was squatting around London in the early 1970's, whereabouts unknown now. The four lengthy tracks here ("Distance Between Us" Parts 1 & 2, "Dance of the Goblins", and "Autumn Mist") are dense, swirling, and hellish tapestries of blurred instrumentation, squawking voices buried in the mix, and seemingly no layout of progression from point A to point B in various movements (i.e. it's all a giant progression, but almost like a dog chasing its tail in a mad frenzy). Tracks have the leanings of some epic Messaien pieces in some ways, though imagine Bradshaw-Leather taking his symphony and filtering it through some kind of lo-fi source like a boombox or something and then just went bananas in the post-mix. And if the front cover wasn't insane enough, he's again in Wolfman-garb on the back with a screaming topless woman. The whole sleeve package seems to be hand-cut and stitched as well. Here's a Real Audio excerpt from a recent airing on WFMU. Thanks to David for dropping this befuddling thing into our realm.

Magma video clips

Sing along in Kobaian to some wild clips of French prog masters Magma in live performance. These clips (Windows Media) from 1977 are a bit grainy but still pretty hot. Listener Alan Blattberg who sent them my way points out that the non-Christian Vander drummer is eerily similar to Deputy Junior from Reno 911. There's also this bizarre 1972 outtake (also Windows) from a film where Magma make a cameo performing in a futuristic church, while the priests sit calmly looking on, only getting a little riled when Vander goes apeshit at kit near the end. Finally, a more recent clip (Quicktime) of Vander playing solo and being interviewed in French. Incidentally, their first new studio disc in 17 years, K.A. rules, and here's a Real Audio excerpt of "K.A. III" from Bill Zurat's show.

MP3 Download Dinner Bell For July

As if being humiliated in an interview as sell-outs on video by Extreme Elvis wasn't enough, this prank phone call (MP3) to Gabe from costumed hardcore mutants the Locust comes courtesy of a Buddyhead compilation CD (the same disc with the Iggy Pop song where he inexplicably focuses on beating up Moby). Slipknot's "manager" offers a more-than-willing Gabe an opening slot on his client's upcoming South American stadium tour, prattling on about "mask rock" taking over.

Taken from the Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God label comp Industry Wannabes and Radio Anomalies a few years back (but heard for many many years on WFMU and elsewhere), there is little in the way of words to describe the J & H Productions guy. Except that many of you who work in the "recording industry" are familiar with messages "pertaining to" this kind of biz (MP3).

Jobriath was Elektra's big attempt to replicate Ziggy Stardust, and was a financial disaster for everyone involved. Relegated to being a footnote in rock history, only recently has attention turned to this strange and charismatic artist who fell between the cracks; Morrissey even produced a retrospective compilation for Sanctuary in the UK last year. Here's a rare live excerpt of Jobraith in front of an audience of mostly industry cronies toasting their hopeful Future of Rock, his song "Good Time" live at the Bottom Line in NYC, 1974 (MP3).

We've been enjoying a whole lot of recent South African female vocalists lately in the library, in particular Dorothy Masuka, with a great disc called Hamba Notsokolo donated by our own Doug Schulkind. Here's an MP3 of the track "My Parents", taken from another appearance of Masuka on a 1950's collection on the BB label of Hot Jazz and Dance from South Africa.

Another soul-stirring voice from another land is Gurmeet Bawa, a Punjabi vocalist with total power, emotion, and as you can here on this MP3 of "Bolia" from her 1988 album Love and Life in the Punjab, one hell of an ability to hold a note. I often think of Bawa everytime American Idol is on, wondering what it would be like to watch Simon, Randy and Paula dive under the table and render the whole contest nil, but perhaps she is somewhat of the Indian equivalent to Kelly Clarkson after all? Or so you might ascertain by reading this recent quote from a review of one of her homeland concerts: Rajni and Sandeep, third year engineering students said, “She is too good. She expressed deep feelings. Her songs were as soulful as those of Celine Dion in Titanic. She has bound us to our culture.”

Chubby Checker may have told us to do the Twist, but while we were doing that, he went to Holland, smoked a lot of pot, and recorded a single called "Stoned In the Bathroom". The flip, "My Mind" (MP3) is found on the new Toytown compilation of obscuro psych, called Nightmares At Toby's Shop, findable via Forced Exposure.

The Japanese artist known as Yann Tomita records under a lot of different names, including Pardon Kimura. Here's a track by Yann, aka Pardon, called La Strada, (MP3) not to be confused with the Fellini movie of the same name.

Another artist who makes up recording pseudonyms faster than we can keep track of them is Lassigue Bendthaus, aka LB, aka Senor Coconut, aka 386 DX. As 386 DX, he records cover versions of western and russian pop songs. Fans of Ken's new automated co-host Julio may enjoy this version of Erik Clapton's Layla.

On a recent show, our own Mike Lupica did a nice collage of Glenn Miller's In The Mood along with a hilarious segment from an unidentified Joe Frank episode. So overwhelmed was Mike with inquiries over this fine radio moment that he has excerpted it in MP3 form for your downloading pleasure: In The Mood For A Prayer (MP3).

In honor of Nike ripping off Minor Threat and then apologizing over the incident, here is a cover version of Fugazi's Waiting Room by Germany's Mambo Kurt (MP3).

Finally, in our new download offerings for the month of July, here is Go Home Productions' mashup of the Velvet Underground and Christna Agui!era: Girl Just Want to Say Goodbye to Rock and Roll (MP3). It's not new, but it sure is great.

WFMU Heavy Airplay List

WFMU Top 30 compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner
(click on artist name or compilation title to hear a sample tune in real audio)

Various - New Thing! (Soul Jazz)
Electrelane - Axes (Too Pure)
Jack Nitzsche - Hearing Is Believing (Ace)
Various - Nao Wave (Man Recordings)
Oneida - The Wedding (Jagjaguwar)
Julia R. Masterman School - Moog School (NL)
The A-Lines - You Can Touch (Sympathy)
Various - Cold Heat: Heavy Funk Rarities (Now Again)
Milk n' Cookies - Milk n' Cookies (RPM)
Various - Everything Comes and Goes: Tribute to Black Sabbath (Temporary Residence Limited)
Eyeball Skeleton - #1 (My Pal God)
Letta Mbulu - Letta Mbulu Sings/Free Soul (Stateside)
Davie Allan & the Arrows - Cycle-Delic Sounds (Sundazed)
Nurse With Wound - Shipwreck Radio Vol. 1 (ICR/United Dairies)
Debashish Bhattacharya - Calcutta Slide-Guitar (WMN)
Iva Bittova - J.H. (Indies)
Forest - Forest (Radioactive)
Luke Vibert - Lover's Acid (Planet Mu)
Alu - Autismenschen (C.I.P.)
Penetrators - Basement Anthology (Swami)
Wevie Stonder - The Horse of Wooden Troy (Skam)
Mitchell Akiyama - Small Explosions That Are Yours To Keep (Sub Rosa)
Delta Rhythm Boys - Guldkorn (Metronome)
Eric Malmberg - Den Gatfulla Manniskan (Hapna)
Kylesa - To Walk a Middle Course (Prosthetic)
Grachan Moncur III Octet - Exploration (Capri)
Somatic Responses - Pounded Mass (Hymen)
Insiememusicadiversa - Insiememusicadiversa (Die Schachtel)
Skullflower - Orange Canyon Mind (Crucial Blast)
We Are Wolves - Non-stop JE Te Plie En Deaux (TMC)

Magik Markers at Tonic last night

Here's some pics I took of the most awesome Magik Markers experience last night at Tonic in NYC (with WFMU sometime-fill-in DJ Russ Waterhouse's great duo Watersports also on the bill). As far as liberating rawk in 2005 goes, I'm with this trio all the way home. All the Teenage Jesus comparisons aren't really fair; sure, there's a no-wave ethic at work in the mix but it only scratches the surface. Singer/guitarist Elisa Ambrogio's free-spoutings are more confounding than Lydia Lunch has ever been and her nervous mix of power and vulnerability is quite distinctly its own unhinged animal. Guitar-wise, Instead of copping Lyd's open-tune slide stance, Elisa pretty much treates the thing as anything but, holding it under her arm like a notebook while it howls, playing it from above holding the neck floor-down while swinging it like a golf club, and more often than not, just letting anyone else in the audience mangle it. "Fill in this horseshoe of cowardice" she demanded of the crowd before the set's beginning as they stood in a curving arc away from the stage, somewhat prepared for the experience. Amidst her universe-destroying guitar and vocal spew came the groovy rhythmic detuned-din of second guitarist Leah Quimby and drummer Pete Nolan (who got in a full cymbal/stand fight with Elisa by show's end), with Elisa getting more manic and jittery as the set went on to its eventual destructo ending. Climbing inside the bass-drum, crawling to audience members' feet, balancing herself upright on a seated onlooker's legs, I couldn't help think of Adris Hoyos of Harry Pussy via Piper Laurie in Carrie for some reason I can't quite reckon, maybe just the factor of just not knowing what the hell was about to happen next. Oh, I dunno, go seem 'em!

Check out the Dusted article here, visit their site here, two vidclips from 2004 here (Quicktime),and hear a track from their recent Ecstatic Peace LP from Hatch's show here (Real Audio). Oh yeah, check this letter from Elisa's dad, who was quite chuffed to have filled in on drums for the MM's recent NYU show.

PFFR & Wonder Showzen: More Biting Than the Tics On Grover's Fur

Years ago I picked up an odd-looking CD called Rock, Rocker, Rocketh by a group called PFFR in a 99 cent bin and was curious about who they were; there was a definite post-Butthole Surfers ethic at play with absurd, dark, monsterlike, and potty-fixated songs while utilizing the cheapest in cheapo gadgetry. It became revealed that they were from Brooklyn, and in 2002 released another disc called United We Doth on the Birdman label which quickly became a heavily played FMU hit (some real audio samples from Charlie's show here and Terre T's show here). We almost had them out to play as well, though schedules didn't gel unfortunately, and then the band got busy on producing an MTV2 show.

Well, the show debuted in March, stuffed away into a Friday 9:30pm Eastern slot, and not only is it a more elaborate continuum of what the band sought out to do with its albums, it's one of the most what-the-fuck things to happen on TV since the early Ren and Stimpy shows (I dare say often bypassing South Park in jawdrop factor). Wonder Showzen, written by PFFR's John Lee and Vernon Chatman, is the satanic TV equivalent to Greasy Kid Stuff, and the big fat disclaimer coming on after each commercial break warning to keep your kids away from the set "or else you're a terrible parent" could be damn well some kind of statement to support. The theme song is even a bunch of youngsters singing/taunting: "kids' show...kids' show...change the channel...".

Kathy McGinty is Waiting to Talk to You

Hamburger Records has happily made the Kathy McGinty CD available once again, which is, for the uninitiated, one of the most genius of the prank call CD's of all time, period. The premise is simple: horny guys meet "Kathy" on the internet, and are invited to call her up, but wind up unknowingly speaking to a sampler hooked up to the phone triggering some appropriate and not-so-appropriate responses to the dudes in question ranging from "you have a sexy voice" to "I'm a burn victim". Even as some guys figure out that they aren't speaking to a real live breathing gal (which often becomes evident when the sampler goes crazy "malfunctioning"), it doesn't seem to matter to them, which is one of the more disturbing aspects of this collection. The new deluxe reissue features extra tracks, liners, and a now a photo of "Kathy" (above). Thanks to Derek of Hamburger (also pictured above as the "Kathy Robot Operator") for letting us put up this MP3 (super X-rated just FYI). I'm not sure I anticipate a Comedy Central puppet interpretation on this one.

Yat-Kha covers Motorhead, Joy Division

First heralded by Brian Eno after judging a 1990 musical festival in Kazakhstan, Yat-Kha have been enduring purveyors of traditional khoomei (throatsinging) sounds of its native land of Tuva in South Siberia, while being aware of the western worlds of rock and experimental rock (claiming Deep Purple and Sonic Youth as faves). Leader/bassist vocalist Albert Kuvezin has steered his group into much acclaim over the years and to much larger audience, thanks to hooking up with the Chieftains' management. Kuvezin even has made it to the WFMU studios, once in an in interview on on Rob Weisberg's program (real audio link to the show archive as a whole) and again on Ken's show for a short live performance with Yat-Kha (pre-archives, sorry!). Their new disc Re-Covers finds them taking on songs by Hank Williams, Kraftwerk, the Stones and more. Here are MP3s of their versions of Motorhead's "Orgasmatron" and Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart."

Gainsbourg meets Whitney

In honor of the June 30th premiere of Bravo's Being Bobby Brown series, here's a short clip (realvideo download) of pop icon Serge Gainsbourg meeting the future Mrs. B. on a French TV chat show in the late 80's. After the events that transpired here, Gainsbourg would never be invited to appear on live TV again, while Whitney, needless to say, would go on to make Serge's behavior seem pretty fucking sedate in comparison. Funny how the pop biz can be.

Chairman Mao fronting Roxy Music

Thought everyone would enjoy this video clip (realvideo download) of Chairman Mao, inexplicably rising from his deathbed to perform a rather faithful rendition of "Virginia Plain", taking Bryan Ferry's place in Roxy Music. Well, it's not really Chairman Mao, nor Roxy Music, but rather the troupe from the BBC comedy series Big Train, one of the best and weirdest sketch shows to come out of the UK in the late 1990's. Kevin Eldon (Mao) and Mark Heap (Eno) later appeared in the incredible Chris Morris series Jam, and Heap was also a character in the sitcom Spaced which also featured Simon Pegg (the Phil Manzanera of the band) who's also gotten some notoriety for his Shaun of the Dead film last year. Big Train is also worth seeing for no other reason than the sketch where Islamic terrorists kidnap George Martin, who continues to incessently prattle on about his experiences in the studio with the Beatles, even bound and stuffed underneath a transport truck and thrown in a cell. They also recreate the birth of Frankenstein in another skit, with the monster awakening to reveal himself as Kevin Rowland of Dexy's Midnight Runners.

Finland's Underground Jack-of-All-Trades

Laja Aijala was a key figure in the foundation of Finland's modern underground alt-punk scene. Back in 1979 inspired by Stockhausen and Throbbing Gristle he started up Aavikon Kone Ja Moottori, a primitive and spaced out industrial combo that was Finland's first in the genre. However, Aijala's interests swerved around like a caribou on crank, next diving headfirst into an alien rockabilly combo called Billy Boys, then an insane Discharge-inspired hardcore outfit called Terveet Kadet, which inspired legions of fans in a country now teeming with punk disciples. The problem was, the rigid guidelines that punk also dictated in many cases did not fit in with Aijala, who was quickly disowned from the scene when he continued to experiment in other genres. Passions of Laja Aijala (out on Finland's enduring Bad Vugum imprint) is a reissue of sorts of an early retrospective on the man called Golden Greats of IKBAL, which focuses on 7" singles of his assorted combos, adding more to the heap.

Rock Jack

Rock Jack is Ezra Lux, the 3-year old son of Aesop, the drummer of Bay Area heavies Ludicra. Jack worships Andrew WK, has been compared in vocal styling to the Germs' Darby Crash, and sings about such important topics as Darth Vader, cannibalism, and the toilet. Impressive, considering some of the things Fred Durst has sung about, and he's all grown. Two of Jack's songs are up on his My Space page, and here's another MP3 of a cover of Van Halen's "Get Me a Doctor." Aquarius has his CD Belly Bones for sale as well.

Spain-loving Hedonist, Satan-loving Hispanics hit NYC

We haven't covered much in the form of live gig-type stuff here on BOTB, so here are two shots from events from the last few days. First off, a Saturday night of Black Metal in Queens featuring all bands flown in from various Latin American locales: Mortem (Peru), Gnosis (Ecuador), Discordia (Mexico), and the amazing Inquisition (Colombia, Real Audio link) were a few of the acts packed into a sweltering Woodside basement. Not even sure of the venue name (it was just marked by an upside-down cross on the window), but people were talking about it being the kickoff of much more in the way of metal gigs in NYC, so here's hoping. Unfortunately, I only made it through a couple bands before lack of air and fear of my bike being ripped off behind the video joint next door took me away, but pictured is the pipe-wielding Gnosis, who preached Peruvian tribal tradition in between making a fuzzed cloud of grimness (and doing so even though their singer was AWOL for a reason unknown to them).

Secondly, in another borough, genuine living-breathing UK legend Kevin Ayers made an in-store appearance at Other Music Monday night. Ayers, a founding member of the Soft Machine, went on to make solo LPs as well as playing with the likes of John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico on the live LP June 1st, 1974. Records like Joy of a Toy (here's a real audio link to "Stop This Train (Again Doing It)", Whatevershesingswebring and Shooting at the Moon are absolute classics, melding understated Velvet Undergoundish simplicity, progressive stylings, lounge, and free jazz with accomplished lyricism in a seamless way. He's in town recording in Brooklyn and doesn't have an official gig scheduled, but he's appearing on WFMU! Dave Mandl's June 22nd show at 8 PM to be exact!

Come experience the pleasures of the WFMU Old Bin page

The Addrisi Brothers (pictured) beckon you to shed the Towel of Indifference and join them in the Tub of Life that is known as the WFMU Old Bin. WFMU's library contains a box of LP's and CD's where various staffers pluck forgotten nuggets out of the wall both obscure and known and drop them in to turn on their fellow DJ's to sounds that may have evaded them. We've been keeping a page on our site chronicling the years of entries to the Old Bin, and the short reviews various FMU-ers have given them, and it's built up into quite a little database of lost grooves. It's also a little bit buried on our site. So, have a gander, (sorry, no MP3 or audio links, maybe someday) bring a towel, and some hair care products for the Addrisis.

The CD-reading table

If your reasoning behind having an I-pod is to avoid the annoyance of pulling out a CD case and turning it over to look at the tracklist, or worse yet, have to OPEN the case and look at the booklet itself (I know, you're already exhausted thinking of this), then designer Michihito Mizutani has your solution. You put the CD case down on the table, and voila, it reads the tracklist onto the surface, and allows you to point the mouse and select a song. He's also created a cup for couples that illuminates when one of the partners' toothbrush is not in it.

Don Campau and the Roots of Madness

One of the more fascinating records in the endless pile of weirdness that flowed into WFMU's PO box this month was the Roots of Madness reissue LP, recently put out on Minnesota's DeStijl label in conjunction with the Child of Microtones imprint (run by the Tower Recordings' Matt Valentine). Originally issued as a private press LP in 1971, the Roots of Madness was a collective of San Jose, Calfornia heads centered around a fellow named Don Campau who was clearly marinating in the remnants of ESP Records' lysergic freedom explorations in jazz, concrete, loose folk, and sound manipulation. The recordings breathed with a total musty basement air vibe, and were a defining bridge in many ways between the lost minds of the 60's and the high weirdness of the 70s that was yet to peak (think Residents, Faust). This particular LP Girl in the Chair is chock full of both the skronky and the sublime with an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to musicmaking interspersed with the odd over-the-top beatnik spoken passage ("The Old Man's Ass" is particularly memorable one). Campau touched base with us recently and pointed out that some other recordings from this area are available on CD-R at his site.  It's continually amazing that so many locales have their own subculture of weirdos with sprawling bodies of recorded output from this era yet to be examined. We've thankfully been given retrospectives from the LAFMS, midwest freaks like MX-80, Chinaboise, Debris, and so many other ensembles that have added local flavor to their worship of Stockhausen, Stooges, Beefheart etc., that one can only wonder how much more lurks in the sub-underground of America yet to be put into the spotlight. Thanks to Clint from DeStijl and Matt Valentine for casting one on this camp in 2005. Here's an excerpt (MP3) of "Realisation II" (with shortwave, walkie-talkie, trumpet, trombone, percussion) and a spoken piece that follows called "Nihility In Being."

WFMU's Summer 2005 schedule

WFMU's Summer 2005 schedule goes into effect on Monday, June 13th and runs until October 3rd. There are two ways it can be viewed, in easy table form, or a comprehensive list that includes individual program descriptions, home page and playlist links, and more.

We Interrupt This Mind Control For More Mind Control

Well, it seems Clear Channel is on a real quest to distance themselves from their notoriety as Evil Corporate Bully Boy Pants by embracing the um, community. I noticed tonight the subway exit on the R/W 8th Street stop now features a big ol' ad for their Pixies/Interpol/LCD Sound System show this summer because, hey, that's where the East Village begins (and they probably wouldn't be zoned to put it on the side of the St. Mark's Hotel.) It's just like all those Von Lmo fliers that used to be pasted along the wall behind what's now Starbucks in St. Mark's. In other smoothing actions of the evil CC monicker, WFMU ticket winners for Irving Plaza shows now get their names reported to someone with an "@rondelsenerpresents.com" email address, even though six months ago that same person was "@clearchannel.com". Though the unhip shows still go to the Clear Channel email. But hey, at least someone's getting something good out of that situation, i.e. eight of you got to see Gang of Four last week. But, no amount of good in the world can undo the utter evil of the fact that Clear Channel has set up a faux pirate radio station in Ohio, and are EVEN TAKING PLEDGES FOR SUPPORT.  Radio Free Ohio (whose site is down as of today, but some text has been mirrored thanks to the sharp-eyed eagles at Stay Free) has made a point to declare its overthrow of the corporate ogre, even bashing Clear Channel itself and bleeding its signal onto other CC stations to crow that the revolution is coming. WOXY outed them on their message board, with someone pointing out how the IP address for Radio Free Ohio points to CC. Needless to say, Radio Free Ohio's message board is hopping more than ours on a particularly hot topic day. Raad Man, could you get over there are slap those dudes into shape?

Angelo Vs. Branca

He's not yet Michael Angelo, the four-neck shred king of Nitro (pictured left), but Glenn Branca (pictured right) is working on it. Branca photo courtesy of Rummage Through the Crevices.

Dylan turns 64

And the station's cassette still sits in its "Break Glass In Case of Bob Dylan Death" box in the 3rd floor hallway. Happy birthday to Bobby Z. and enjoy this MP3.

Konono No. 1 video

WFMU first played a Konono No. 1 demo from an MP3 back in March of 2003, and we've eagerly anticipated full-recorded outings from this mysterious Congolese outfit championed by (and covered by) the Ex. Hearing them for the first time is a truly mindblowing experience: traditional instruments like the likembe (thumb piano) are souped up by electric pickups jerry-rigged to car batteries, mics are hand carved out of bamboo, percussion isn't too far from Einsturzende Neubauten scrapyard material. The groups' intent is surely to be more ass-shaking than avant-garde, but apparently Fat Cat Records  is emphasizing the meaning of the latter by dumping them onto a split 12" single with New Zealand's free-rock explorers the Dead C this month, and I've already seen other indie rock labels touting forthcoming Konono singles. For now, two great releases are out, a live album Lubuaku on the Ex's own Terp label, and a studio album Congotronics on the European Crammed Disc imprint (Aquarius' store site has been the only place I've seen carrying both). Both are stunning, though I find the live album to be a more exciting example of the pure electric power of this band, and am psyched to see this video being streamed on the Crammed Disc site giving us our biggest visual glimpse to date.

The most influential musician of all time

Mark E. Smith can grumble about Pavement and every other band out there he claims lifted its sound from him, but Animal from the Muppets remains quiet and dignified about the fact he has infiltrated more press comparisons than the Velvet Underground. We're all guilty of it. Even me. See assorted clips from various sources below (I googled for the phrase "Animal from the Muppets"), and enjoy this link to Animal Vs. Buddy Rich, served up on Quicktime via Milk and Cookies.

On the VON BONDIES: "... fiery howl combined with Don Blum's manic pounding of the skins (much like Animal from The Muppets)."

On KEANE: "The pianist Tim was described by a friend like Animal from the Muppets on a piano and it was surprising that he never fell off of his stool!! "

On the FOO FIGHTERS: .".. He looked like Animal from the Muppets; all you could see was his hair flying and the blur of his arms banging away."

The Picture of Everything

Looking at Carrie McLaren's Stay Free Daily blog today I was reading about artist Howard Hallis, who was slapped with a takedown order from Chick Tracts for his parody of one of their comics. What really blew our minds was his ungodly detailed Picture of Everything, which literally IS. I mean, it makes the Sgt. Pepper's cover look like a work of minimalism. Click on sections to see upclose details of individual corners of the universe, and positioning your browser over a topic gets a pop-up TAG of what it is (see the Current 93 band logo in one closeup depicted here). We spent the entire afternoon marvelling at the array of stuff: band symbols, every comic character under the sun, every spaceship that's ever been on TV or in the movies (including the bone-shaped one from Spaceballs), and just everything other absurd image you can think of ("my mother next to Christo's Umbrellas"). And then you can go underwater in the pic and a whole new universe opens! Jump in, spend an hour. Or a week.

The most awesome Who cover ever

The Hospitals are a duo originally from Portland, relocated to San Fran, pretty much consisting of Adam Stonehouse and a few rotating guitarists over the last couple of years. Cutting to the chase, they're aptly summed up on the In the Red Records site as the Sound of Passing Kidney Stones. and if you ever wondered what Greg Ginn and the Electric Eels joining forces to cover "Happy Jack" would sound like, well, here you go (MP3). It's from their latest Yakisakana label 12" The Rich People, and if your earholes can take more, there's a whole live session on WFMU from the Hospitals here.

Aging, pasty rock dinosaur git attempts to invoke supernatural to help Time Warner stock, fails

Time Warner execs got their toupees dislodged from the volume of Jimmy Page playing "Whole Lotta Love" this morning at the New York Stock Exchange. In the first day of trading, the Time Warner IPO fell and made a bigger splat on the floor than that shark getting hauled up at the Edgewater Inn; without doubt the suits were quickly asking Page to get out his Crowley books and "do some voodoo or something." They should have asked Neil Young to play "Piece of Crap" instead. Or Ken Freedman to reprise his version (Real Audio) of "Whole Lotta Love" with the Hoof N Mouth Sinfonia from the finale of the 2005 WFMU Fundraising Marathon .

For those who can't afford Bob Rock

Khanate/ Sunn O))) guitarist Stephen O'Malley emailed me today from California, where Sunn O))) is recording a new LP, attaching this pic with this update: "We used a casket in the studio this week while recording our new  album BLACK ONE. We brought in a vocalist (Scott from the band Xasthur) and had him do this thing from inside the casket, placed in a hearse. There was a handheld mic, a contact mic taped to the bottom of the casket, and a mic outside the casket. The results are bone chilling." Well, it definitely one-ups Venom's session where they shoveled dirt down a stairwell onto a microphone to give the effect of being buried alive. (Band links all Real Audio from Stefan's and Mike Lupica's shows).

Simple Minds' aggro days

Before they were John Hughes movie staples and inevitable stadium draws for a brief time in the '80s, before the singer fathered a kid to Chrissie Hynde, moved on to future Mrs. Liam Gallagher Patsy Kensit, and followed in the footsteps of messianic bretheren U2, Glasgow's Simple Minds had quite a few beercans lobbed at them as under the not-likely-to-be-endorsed-by-Greenpeace monicker Johnny and the Self Abusers. The band cut one 7" on the Pickwick label in 1977, "Saints and Sinners" b/w "Dead Vandals" and singer Jim Kerr dodged loogies while guitarist Charlie Burchill played in a pair of shoes covered with an erector set. The single was called by the NME "a drab parade of New Wave that jerks off aimlessly into the void" and the band was short-lived until Richard Branson signed them as Simple Minds to Virgin to follow a definitely more artrock/Roxy-inspired muse on their first album Life In a Day. Here's an MP3 of  the never-released Self Abusers track "Pablo Picasso".

Happy Birthday, Keiji Haino

Thanks to Stephen O'Malley  for pic. Some Real Audio links here (from his latest PSF release featuring his digital theremin performances) and here (a collaboration with the Japanese group COA).

GISM still hates you

God In the Schizoid Mind, Guy in Suicide Mission, Guerilla Incendiary Saborage Mutineer. No is is quite sure what GISM stood for, or if it was true that singer Sakevi Yokoyama stabbed a fan for wearing a bootleg T-shirt. But as "KI-2" (real audio) from their last album SoniCRIME Therapy (2001) can attest, they were Japan's most insane hardcore band, maybe the world's.

Red Hash Revisited

I'm extremely excited about the forthcoming reissue of Gary Higgins' Red Hash, one of the pinnacles in lost-soul beardo psych/folk records out there. Tony Coulter's been playing this record for years, and more recently I've been hearing its praises sung to me by several of the people whom I generally sit up and take note of when they crow about something they deem a musical treasure, namely David Tibet of Current 93, Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance/Comets On Fire, and my friend Zach Cowie. Zach, one of the most passionate dudes I know when it comes to music, made it his mission to track Higgins down after Chasny gave him a burn of the LP as a gift. Higgins' soulful acoustic opus Red Hash was born in 1973 after years of kicking around the NYC folk-rock club scene, backing up people like Gary U.S. Bonds, even playing with Simeon pre-his Silver Apples days. After an unfortunate pot bust, Higgins was sentenced to two and a half years in the pen, and as a direct result of that, a 40 hour recording session ensued in the time prior to his incarceration. One listen to "Thicker Than a Smokey" (MP3) and you immediately are sucked into the world of someone who feels a last chance at getting his feelings down in his music, maybe forever. It's gorgeous, pure, ultra-personal stuff that I became immersed more and more in with each listen. Last year Zach excitedly told me "I found him!" He not only called every Gary Higgins in the phone books of Connecticut where he allegedly resided, but wrote to every Gary Higgins he could find in the country. Band members have been reconnected, Higgins made a quick one-song appearance during a recent Six Organs show at Tonic, and word is a full-fledged release show with members from the original band line-up is in the making. Drag City (the label which thankfully Zach has landed at) reissues the disc July 26th.

He hunches in Heaven. Hasil Adkins dead at 67.

Few people can really claim to be the "Wild Man of Rock & Roll." Hasil Adkins walked the walk as well as talked the talk, and hearing "We Got a Date" for the first time with it's lo-fi, distorto  pounding and maniacal shrieks and cackles over the prospects of cutting his impending date's head off (only *one* of the decapitation-themed songs in his repertoire) quickly set the bar to which anyone else claiming to be "demented" had to rise to. Below is the sad news as reported by the AP. Sad news for us, good news for chickens and women who want to keep their heads.

SOME RECOMMENDED RELATED LINKS:
Interview with Miriam Linna of Norton Records on Haze, originally from Maximum R&R.
Rocktober Magazine article.
Hasil's last radio appearance on WFMU, interview with Dave the Spazz on his Halloween show, 2004.(Real Audio).
Deuce of Clubs interview with Hasil from 1995

Next up: Updated "Simon" game that shreds your eardrums with Merzbow music

From our good neighbor Tom Moody's excellent art blog: this image of the Japanese kids' game Kaba Kick, seemingly simulated Russian Roulette with a pink hippo-shaped gun that boots you in the head.

The History of yelling "Freebird"

I just finished compiling a premium for this year's marathon comprised of waffling stage banter from various artists. I thought about the next volume being the audience's heckling back, but honestly, wouldn't 50% of it be people yelling "Freebird?" Jason Fry of the Wall Street Journal recently took an extended look at the daily invocation of Ronnie Van Zandt that doubtlessly takes place on hundreds of concerts, and not just for artists whose music might be moronic enough to attract morons. Though I'm sure it helps:

It's Hulk's world, we are just Puny Humans in it.

Beware of the the Blog should just hang it up in the presence of this genius.

Jack radio format kicks in nationwide, WFMU opts to continue popular Joe format

Business Week Online's Joe Helm reports on the March of the Robo DJ's:

This is the so-called Jack format that's riding radio waves all across the U.S. In the last three weeks alone, the format, or a close variant, has debuted on stations in five major metropolitan areas -- Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Indianapolis, adding to the half-dozen or so that had switched since Denver inaugurated the format in the U.S. a little over a year ago.

Will the new format be enough to rescue broadcast radio from its creative doldrums? I have my doubts.

The rules guiding a Jack-formatted station are simple: Unlike a typical radio station, which regularly plays 300 or 400 hits of a particular genre, programmers on Jack stations select 700 to 1,000 songs of completely different genres. Then, they sequence them to create what radio programmers call "train wrecks" -- Billy Idol will follow Bob Marley, Elvis after Guns N' Roses, and so on. And Jack stations often (but not always) use a smart-alecky recorded voice, rather than a live DJ, to make short quips between songs.

The New Wave past of Ricky Gervais

On the Office, David Brent was "a friend first, a boss second, probably an entertainer third", but in real life Ricky Gervais is not only a comedy Renaissance Man, but in 1982 a New Romantic as well.

McMother

Found at Stay Free, from a real European McDonald's ad.

Clear Channel starts color-coding music ala Dept. of Homeland Security

From the FMQB Radio Industry News website:

In an ongoing effort to clean up its airwaves, Clear Channel has taken to the task of flagging its internal music library with a new color coding system for users with access to the 63,000+ titles located on the Clear Channel Audio Delivery System. The alert system was implemented as a self-preservation maneuver amidst the current climate regarding indecent content by the FCC and to make sure its stations are doing everything possible to prevent the airing of material in songs that would violate the FCC's rules between the non-safe harbor hours of 6 a.m. - 10 p.m. "The songs have not been edited and the flagging is just now getting underway," explained a Clear Channel spokesperson to FMQB. The exercise won't be completed for several months and the spokesperson added that a Clear Channel memo cites a couple of reasons behind it: "The 'radio edit' versions of some songs being supplied by the labels still aren't meeting the FCC's indecency standards; and local program directors and DJs play songs that either aren't on the system and/or upload songs to the system on their own and the company wants to be sure people are paying full attention to what they're airing between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. If a song has what could be seen as indecent material, the memo says a 'daypart restriction' flag has to be placed on the song." The flags are in the form of color codes: "Blue" songs are "no problem if aired from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.," while "Yellow" songs "should be reviewed for indecency issues if a PD or air personality wants to air it between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m." "Orange" songs "cannot be played from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m." If "Yellow"' or "Orange" songs are aired, the station's GM and PD will get an e-mail informing them of a possible problem if played outside of safe-harbor hours, but the decision to the air song will remain with the local programming staff. The CCADS library provides the actual audio used at Clear Channel radio stations on a day to day basis.

The pattern is clear...

First Reagan, then Pope John Paul II. ALL OF THE CHARACTERS OF GENESIS' "LAND OF CONFUSION" VIDEO ARE DYING. Phil Collins, watch your ass .

Bass Wolf, 38, RIP

Barring a Dwarves-like PR prank, the news seems all over various garage boards that Hideaki Sekiguchi, a.k.a. Billy, a.k.a. Bass Wolf of Japan's legendary Guitar Wolf has passed on of a heart attack. He died in Tokyo yesterday and was only 38. In a mountain of garage punk combos hitting the road these days, few have totally risen to the bar set by these guys, whose basic Ramones/MC5-inspired formula became a mere tip of the iceberg of the pure insanity one was sure to experience at each and every show attended. Besides being the live rock equivalent of a screaming monkey being put into a boiling pot, their first album sounded like someone playing through gauze down a hallway, and the "quality" of the production over on ensuing LPs on Matador, Narnack etc. dipped and rose to confound you even more.. I wish I saw them more than I did over the years; my fondest memory is from a 1996 Mondo Kim's instore back when I was a buyer there where the leather-clad maniacs in full force with Billy tattooed up and holding it all down while guitarist Seichi was leaping off of display counters and racks, going totally ballistic before busting into the back office and collapsing under the desk as if completely dead. Today's news is sad indeed. Here's an interview from Motor City Rocks, and a Real Audio snippet of a track from their Loverock CD, played on Stefan's Belly of the Beast. Sure hope they carry on. 

Getting Genghis Khan on your ass

Thanks to John Neilson for alerting us to the hot rappin', crotch-grabbing sounds of the Mongol Hordes, carrying the frontline in Mongolia's continuing hip-hop scene that sprung up around 1991 upon the Soviets' exit. Along with democracy, Mongolians apparently also re-embraced Genghis Khan as a national icon and the group Black Rose especially waved GK's freak flag pretty heavily. Here is a bit where the group's leader Amraa professes his admiration for the historic figure, right down to the hairstyle. Lots of MP3s for download here.

Coachella for the Noise sect (aka "I Will Disembowel You For Your Bacon Cheddar Ranch")

With the WFMU marathon finale the following day, I got home from the station Saturday planning on a relaxing night of TV to save up energy. However, by the 7th airing in a half hour of the Burger King Bacon Cheddar Ranch ad with Hootie done in pseudo-psychedelic-Old Navy style, I knew I wouldn't last, and having no movies on-hand as an alternative I figured on going to check out the 2nd annual No Fun freakfest in Red Hook. Plus Mr. and Mrs.Janitor From Mars offered a lift which was a big nudge.

Teacher Prefers Judas Priest

Somehow I envision this kid's notebook to be full of artwork of Eddie ripping his teacher to pieces.

Ring Modulators Vs. Tricky Dick

In June, 1972, the Vietnam War was going on and the group Love Cry Want took up residency in Lafayette Park with the sole intent of levitating Richard Nixon's neighboring White House.

(No picture of Richard Nixon available, but here's Cynthia Nixon, moments before being levitated by Cedric the Entertainer).

Components of Lucifer Refraction

So far the one-man entity known as THERIOS has only released two discs on the world (I and II), but I'm already thinking someone needs to do the documentary-style expose treatment recently thrown down at the reclusive and enigmatic Jandek. Based in Ohio, these two discs arrived at WFMU in 2001 sporting simple, toxic titles of songs like "Electrocution","Lobotomy","Drugs", and "Punctured" (Real Audio) and as soon as they hit the CD deck I knew I was hearing a new pinnacle in trash sound coupled with a diseased mind at work. Blaring, overmodulated metal can rhythms with piercing treble, loops of guitars put through a blender via some kind of computer editing, swallowed-microphone gutteral vocals again burying EVERYTHING in the mix and just one of the most evil vibes of any record period. Whenever it airs, it's almost pure electric shock from whatever the segue is, and it NEVER fails to get commentary via phone or email (usually by folks going crazy over it or hating it). I can't decide whether it's taking black metal to a whole new lo-fi realm it's yet to go to, or if it's just  a simple document of insanity. The first album definitely sounds like some of the early Yamataka Eye noise-trash experiments (Hanatarash especially comes to mind), but it's much more rhythmic despite the chopped up samples (which all seem to be based on actually instruments played by Therios himself). The second album definitely has more nods to traditional black metal, but again, I think this shit would scare even the Norweigians. They both emanate from the Hollenden label, run by a fellow named Keith Knudson. I do not know if he *is* Therios, if Therios has ever performed, or ever will. But years down the line, it still totally blows my brains out when I put it on. I also recommend it to my record store employee friends who can't get customers to leave at closing time. If anyone knows more about this dude, do tell.

Please, no straw/butt jokes

One day I will commission this for a marathon tee-shirt premium, perhaps riding a unicorn through a waterfall with Rhiannon. In the meantime, here is where you can go to have an artist draw a portrait of you with Stevie Nicks.

Sad stuff

Having just watched The Saddest Music in the World, I started to loosely poke around in my collection to come up with artists that could also be feasibly judged in a contest by a legless Isabella Rosellini. A few years back I was asked by Index Magazine to come up with such a list, but being a wiseass I put stuff like Lionel Richie's "Hello", Kiss' "Beth" and Lou Reed's "The Kids" (which probably IS one of the saddest songs with all those toddlers crying at the end) figuring everyone else would be putting Scott Walker, Nick Drake and such.

Admittedly, my goofball list was also due to the fact that I was asked relatively late to come up with something, but ever since, I wondered what I would have put if I had given it serious thought. Last year I picked up a CD reissue of a 1972 record by a Viennese group called Paternoster (real audio sample) which was totally amazing; sobbing goth-prog with some definite Krautrock leanings and whoa, an ultra-bummer lyricist with a voice like Ian McCulloch having just witnessed his dog being run over. There's a song called "The Pope Is Wrong", another that turns lunchtime into a desolate peon to isolation, and possibly the clincher, "Blind Children", sporting the lines "Rotten eyeballs feet between/hanging down the cheese machine". Makes Nick Drake look like that elderly dude dancing to techno on the Great Adventure ads.

I am also recently blown away by Luciano Cilio's Dell' Universo Assente,  recently issued on CD on Italy's Die Schactel label; a stunning statement of inner turmoil and sheer weight-of-the-world-transmitted-through-music as valid as your Big Star Sister Lovers, Skip Spence Oar, or Gary Higgins Red Hash. Like all the best composers, Cilio draws on so many subtle influences to create some kind of new music, something not done before. But unlike the records mentioned above, this disc (containing Cilio's 1977 LP Dialoghi del Presente with extra tracks) takes the song structure into its barest essence; rather than chords and verses there are stretched out basic elements painted like colors providing texture and pure emotion, while still touching on recognizable elements of experimental folk, prog, and classicism. The pureness of the spirit of this record comes mostly from Cilio himself on all instruments, though he is aided by musicians from both academic and non-academic backgrounds going through his mix. Wordless female vocals loom over gorgeous drones, chamber instruments loop basic figures over what sounds like a grey rainy surf in the distance, loping piano lines in unusual settings all contribute to this record's lonely vibe. And the untimely suicide of Cilio in 1983 even during critical acclaim adds yet another sad coda, but the fact remains that  document is a work unlike any other, a true personal vision depicted vividly and colorfully. It's also great to see the nicely packaged reissue done so well. Here's a real audio link from Bill Zurat's show. So, what's your saddest record?

Dysfunction, amplified

At first, I figured this BBC 4 show had earned its title due to the fact you were often looking through the various characters' eyes and hearing their thoughts, but quickly realized that in fact the monicker is well earned because more often than not you are covering your eyes in sheer uncomfortability. Peep Show at times makes the Office look positively cozy: it's the depiction of two London flatmates Mark (portrayed by David Mitchell, a human being with seemingly no irises and the most massive pupils) and Jeremy (Robert Webb) living in pure dysfunction. The former is a Type-A office drone, the latter a would-be Chemical Brother slacking off and spending too much time with his brainless collaborator "Super Hans". They're clearly the Bizarro World "Friends" revelling in passive-aggressive antics towards each other (show 1 opens with you-through-Jeremy's eyes pissing all over the toilet seat) and despite the sleazy, loathing (and self-loathing)  nature of their out-loud thought balloons, they're strangely dependent on each other. Whereas the Office often remained mired in the sheer depth of horror its characters achieve (with faint rays of light) Peep Show harvests the characters' boneheaded tendencies with more occassions to cheer them on for one reason or another. Though, yeah, it's usually the depth of horror thing. Mark's continued pursuit of his co-worker Sophie brings out his more bizarre behavior; leaving his daily office cartoon post-it for her he decides to get "kooky" and "out there" by inexplicably drawing a swastika inside the valentine heart. It's dark, twisted stuff, and needless to say the episode Mark grapples with his feelings for a male business partner who has taken him on as an apprentice while Jeremy struggles to find out what awful thing happened to him before a drug binge blackout is simply one of the most insane things ever on a so-called "edgy" TV series. Up there in my book with Chris Morris' Paedophilia special on Brasseye. CSTB put it the best: "Cringe City has a new mayor."

Gaahl heads to jail

From Blabbermouth.net:
GORGOROTH frontman Gaahl was sentenced to 14 months in prison for beating a 41-year-old man and threatening to drink his blood.

"Turning Air to Cottage Cheese..."

...if I may quote an old Forced Exposure review of the Melvins. I just wanted to say that the legit reissue of Randy Holden's (Blue Cheer/The Other Half) Population II is finally out. Autographed by the man himself on the front cover in gold marker nonetheless. This 1970 piece of heaviosity was recorded by Randy and drummer Chris Lockheed in an opera house with walls of Sunn amps (pictured below) and stands as a singular vision of poetry and pure guitar beauty able to even stand up to Jimi's finest moments at times. It also kicks major ass. Click to hear "Fruit and Iceburgs" (Real Audio).

Obviously GG's estate isn't granting musical licenses

I'm sorry, but am I the only person who is utterly fucking disturbed by the current Huggies commercials featuring the repeated, booming hook from the 80's Snap hit "I've Got the Power"? Whose idea was it to sell diapers using this? Is it a call to arms for children of today to rejoice in their inability to use a toilet, thus setting the pattern for a life to come where you are commended for your disregard for tradition and hygiene, celebrated for wielding excretory strength above others? Is this where society has landed? Will the future Donald Trumps have their character shaped because of this techno diva's call to arms, emboldened by the female announcer in the commercial who coos at the end "you're the MANNN!" ? I am not a parent, but still feel the need to speak.

Only the Lonely...deserve to be wrapped in clingfilm

Thanks to Listener Mark Allen for sharing this site. Apparently someone who wants to preserve the one-time Travelling Wilbury, but not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Addition: hear an interview from Bronwyn's show regarding this very topic at: this URL.

The Real Tasmanian Devil

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that weather and location certainly affects my listening habits in travel or commuting. My sojourn through the green hills of Wiltshire's burial mounds and sacred sites last year found me armed with lots of Comus and Shirley Collins; California of course featured driving to sunny West Coast 60s psychedelia, while flying across the Atlantic on a cloudless day the discman was armed with lots of minimal, cold electronic soundscapes courtesy of the Touch label as I watched the sparse landscapes of Newfoundland roll past. So, during the recent deep-freeze in January I was digging out all kinds of appropriate commuting music, and possibly the iciest of the batch was Striborg. Striborg is actually Sin Nanna, a one-man black metal outfit from Tasmania whose CDR "Minsanthropic Isolation" was recently reissued with another LP "In the Heart of the Rainforest" on the Asgard label. Striborg is some brutal, messed-up weirdness; songs of desolation, forests, and of course the cold are buried in a total sheet of lo-fidelity hiss with drums, melody, vocals, and chord changes barely poking their heads above a frozen river of fuzz that streams nonstop. One reviewer had proclaimed this music the sound of a lo-fi washing machine and it's quite a fitting call; this disc (especially the 1st half) is a misery-soaked continual blastbeat of sub-sub-demo quality. The ambience somewhat resembles the ultimate feel-bad vibe of some of those Burzum discs, and I have to say that the vocals are definitely akin to those of the Tasmanian Devil of Bugs Bunny fame. Here's a taste from real audio archive. Sin Nanna will never be asked to join the Polyphonic Spree.

Not a Party Until You Join In

Just a moment to point out the most frightening record cover in my collection (click on image to enlarge). The Addrisi Brothers wrote the Association hit "Never My Love" (featured in this special-for-WFMU Mike Lupica remix) and had a 70's hit on their own with "We've Got To Get It On Again." This album features "Does She Do It Like She Dances" and features percussion from Hal Blaine. They beckon you to their watery love world.

Do the Doo Dew

Ah, the rush of hearing something so outta left field, and out of step with the progression of musical trends is something we all seek. And these days music, no matter how marginal, finds easy avenues of access, which only stokes you up to be thirsty for more, more, more. DFA remixes of African bands who build their own instruments? Yeah, yeah. Church choir of kids doing Radiohead songs? Whatever! But a recent on-air session I had with noiseniks To Live and Shave In LA  led me down the path to discovery when band members Tom Smith and Andrew WK excitedly relayed tales of going bonkers after one of their shows in Baltimore. It seems the in-house DJ piled on sets of total Attention Defecit Disorder craziness that locked in on almost randomly selected passages (or pronounced hooks) that pounded with Gabber-like intensity ad infinitum. I wanted to hear it, but I already knew Tom's tolerance for Gabber was way over mine.

Finally getting my hands on the DJ Technics' comp and a slab of 12" singles put out by Balto's Clubtrax Record Store, I can fully agree that this is officially the shit, and it has been on my in-transit headphones nonstop for days, freezing phrases like "lookin' for the hoody-hood rat" in my cranium to the point of complete obsession. Baltimore Tracks, or "Doo Dew" as it's sometimes called, is totally raw and lo-tech. The straightforward beats at high-but-not-overpowering BPMs and the samples accompanying them will at first hit you as ridiculously overused, even obvious (sometimes way-familiar soul classic bits like the "baby baby" from "Where Did Our Love Go"), but by the third minute of the stuck groove of Johnny Blaze's looplock of kids screaming the Spongebob Squarepants theme I was totally had, for the entire duration of the mix CD. As long as I was moving that is; the second I came home and put it back on it didn't work and quickly drove my missus up the wall. Understandably.
After a long day of work, the last thing she needs to hear is house music thumping with Debonair Samir's loop of South Park's "Unclefucker" song.

Aside from the immediacy of the mix, the ad nauseum phrase repetition is the real punk rock element to this. The DJ has a loop and sure as hell is gonna use it to drive you nuts. Or at least to a lost-mind state on the dancefloor, though the sheer ridiculousness of people all losing their minds to "Unclefucker" rather than your usual sample is totally befuddling. I would give anything to be on a balcony watching a crowd during this moment. But not to discount the music: it is crafted amazingly to add progression to what could just be an otherwise stuck track. The use of noise is as spine-tingling as the first time you heard PE drop it into their old records, and when the mix isn't quite flowing, a big, distorto voice comes on and yells DJ Technics' name to sew the divide almost to cover up the fact that the transition has to happen. One track dispenses with the drums track altogether and replaces it with gunshots (with a leftover beat in the measure devoted to recocking!) and works pretty damn amazingly.

I'll just tie it up by saying it's not for casuals ears, and it may not be the future of dance music, but it
sure as hell is a formula that is truly a warped concoction. I dunno what the IDM listoids have to say about it, either, I am sure there is a lot of overintellectualizing going on somewhere. I did read an article called "The new Dylan" which was a hilarious thing to say, and even makes sense. It's something
way out of left field for sure, and it's genius.