Creativity Through Sampling?

A Look at the Inventive Use of Sampling in Popular Music of the Past Nineteen Years:

I find that the stigma associated with sampling is that it's a tool for the uninspired - a legal (sometimes) form of plagiarism of sorts, abused by the likes of Eminem, and that low sort of ilk. After all, why should Vanilla Ice have to write a catchy bassline when Queen's "Under Pressure" is so convenient?

But, this isn't always the case. Now, I present to you four brilliant albums in which sampling plays a vital role, debunking the negative stereotype aboot sampling.

The Beastie Boys - "Paul's Boutique" (1989): While I think I'll always prefer the live jazz grooves of "Check Your Head" (by a teensy margin), this album virtually reinvented sonic hip-hop production, with a little help from The Dust Brothers. I mean, for Christ's sake, there's an entire site dedicated to identifying every goddamn sample and obscure reference on the thing! Of course they were gonna alienate the MTV crowd that latched onto "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)", but it was worth it to experience this psychedelic smorgasboard of 70's stoner vibes, sampling everything from Paul McCartney to Sly & The Family Stone. And the songs are just fantastic - "Johnny Ryall" is a groovy ode to a local bum, "Looking Down the Barrel of A Gun" is a badass fantasy built around Pink Floyd's "Time" chords, and "Egg Man" is self-explanatory...with the added bonus of Drew Barrymore's scream in E.T.! Listen close to the ping-pong game at the beginning of "3 Minute Rule". The centerpiece, however, has got to be the Beatles'-worshipping "The Sounds of Science"; an entire book could be written about that song, but I suppose that's why there's an entire site listing every fucking sample on the album!

"I'm just chillin', like Bob Dylan
Yeah I smoke cheeba, it helps me with my brain
I might be a little dusted but I'm not insane
People come up to me and they try to talk shit, man
I was making records when you were sucking your
mother's dick"


DJ Shadow - "Endtroducing..." (1996): "Guess who's coming!? Guess who's coming!?" So, if I'm not mistaken, this little record made it into the Guiness Book of World Records as the first (paraphrased) "album made entirely from samples." I have no idea how it's done, but I know I'll never get bored soaking into the textures of "Endtroducing...", ever since I bought it at some shady shop in Toronto that summer. The samples however, are taken out of context and incorporated into a haunting melting pot, somewhere in between hip hop, pop and jazz (let's call it Trip Hop!) Shadow supposedly has one of the largest private vinyl collections in the world, so it's only natural that an achievement like this would be possible. As for highlights, I love the haunting moaning melody and drum manipulation on "Building Steam with a Grain of Salt", or the absolutely sublime textures of "Midnight in a Perfect World" (perfect title, by the way.) "Organ Doner" (a pun!) also rules; check out the way the come in at 20 seconds, totally reinterpreting the downbeat of the rhythm. Recommended to all fans of......music, I guess.

The Avalanches - "Since I Left You" (2001): It's no wonder that these Australian masterminds have been unable to get a follow-up together after six years or so - this recording really is a unique piece of work. I've always viewed all 18 songs as really one long dream-sequence of sorts. It all flows as a unity, sort of a mess of influences and samples and implied melodies and...golly gee, I really can't describe it. "Frontier Psychiatrist" somehow became a left field hit, in all its twisted, therapeutic glory. "Two Hearts in 3/4 Time" is like a Disney waltz on mars in 2029. The rest is really up to you to describe, though. It's a planet of sound, with layers reaching China and back. Like "Endtroducing...", I believe it was created 100% from samples sounds. Probably one of the five or ten greatest records of the millenium so far, and I expect music fans and archeologists alike will still be gazing at its scope in another thousand years.

"Flight 22 is off to Honolulu!"

The Go! Team - "Thunder, Lightning, Strike" (2004): 35 minutes, and they're filled up with a sonic palette smothering your headphones with....happiness! Smiles! Cheerleader samples! Horns! Innapropriate exclamation points! It's all a bit gross, but irresistable. I guess these guys just had nothing better to do than make music just for the sake of music, and we should all be thankful. "The Power is On", "Ladyflash" and "Huddle Formation" are better than you! Give the Go! Team a chance to swallow your soul in this super-saturated high-fat noise!

"One, two, three, four!"



Good night.

'70's Glam Rock

It was a decade of glitter, my friends. And I am just the chap to give you a brief overview. Brief indeed, as Glam Rock only ever really took place in England, although some more educated scholars may perhaps argue otherwise. Do not recall the American Glam Rock of the '80's, as those were dark days for the great nation, but rather, take a little trip back to the '70's and steer that damn Mayflower ship on back to Mother England, because we're about to boogie down real horrorshow and then some! Firstly, let's make clear that the original Pink Floyd Mad Cap Syd Barrett himself was very much a precursor to this arguably experimental genre of Rock, and let it be put on record that Marc Bolan of T-Rex and David Bowie of David Bowie were huge Syd Barrett fans. Now then, even filmmaking legend Stanley Kubrick factors into the equation, it's true! 2001 inspired Bowie to write a catchy tune that I need not point out to you, and A Clockwork Orange very much inspired Bowie's Ziggy Stardust era fashion, and yes, fashion was an integral part of the genre, at least on a superficial level.

They all seemed to shoot out at us at once at the beginning of the '70's, and being born in 1980 myself personally, just take my word for it, matey. Dig, Roxy Music, David Bowie, T-Rex! These are the real monsters of Rock, and the beauty about the original English Glam Rock, unlike Metal, is that not only was the music often well played, but that Glam Rockers could actually come up with some worthwhile lyrics to boot. T-Rex started out as Tyrannosaurs Rex for Marc Bolan, a sort of trippy Syd Barrett inspired Folk Rock duo, but later, became a full on Rock outfit, albeit, with the trippy Syd Barrett lyrical stylings conveniently still intact. Of course, then there's Bowie. I am of the opinion that his greatest material was actually released in the late '70's, and quite a lot of which was produced by fellow Glam veteran Brian Eno. But I am also of the opinion, that had not Bowie fully gone through his Ziggy Stardust fiasco, then he would have never reached those great creative heights that closed out his recorded output at the end of the '70's.

I mentioned Brian Eno in the previous paragraph, clever, aren't I? Now then, Mr. Brian Eno was an original member of the quintessential Glam Rock band appropriately given the moniker of Roxy Music. Wowie Zowie, were these guys ever tight, and this might very well be the best out and out musically talented band of the Glam Rock era. I'm telling you, those sparkling glossy gentlemen in Roxy Music could really Rock with some genuine gusto, and Phil Manzanera was a totally rad-assed guitarist to be reckoned with once upon a midnight dreary. Sure, Phil Manzanera may have not exactly been Robert Fripp, but it all boils down to personal taste, my little angel! And perhaps, the less said about cheesy game show host Bryan Ferry the better, hmmm? All of the twerps mentioned released some killer material, and even inadvertently influenced an inferior genre called Punk Rock. I suggest you research your little heart out and find the best of the best by the bands that I have mentioned to you.

T-Rex!



David Bowie!



Roxy Music!



Take that, Margaret Thatcher!

Bubblegum Pop!

An important genre in music, quite probably the best. Do keep in mind that Bubblegum Pop runs the gamut, as it's not just The Archies, if you catch my bleedin' drift, matey. Bubblegum Pop also encompasses Baroque Pop when Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys is in fact Sad, Sunshine Pop when Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys is in fact Happy, and finally, Psychedelic Pop when Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys is in fact High. Now then, we've got The Beach Boys covered. Great! As we all know "Pet Sounds" contains a great many Baroque Pop jam, and it goes without saying that Bubblegum Pop is essentially Vocal Pop, Proto-Carpenters, if you will. The hilarious duo known as The Turtles had their share of Sunshine Pop singles, and even got out and out Psychedelic on a few numbers. The Beatles "Revolver" is in fact Psychedelic Pop at its finest, and even The Monkees themselves explored this genre with a fair amount of success as well.

Often times, Bubblegum Pop artists were one-hit-wonders and then some; just take The Ohio Express with "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy," for example. Of course, some Bubblegum Pop outfits scored multiple hits, such as was the case with The Association. Australia's The Seekers had a great hit with the title cut from the film "Georgy Girl." America's own The Cyrkle had an awesome hit of the Psychedelic Pop genre with "Red Rubber Ball," and who can forget "The Rain, The Park and Other Things" by The Cowsills? Answer me! Christ, do I love this genre. If you find out that you have terminal cancer, just put on "This Diamond Ring" by Gary Lewis & The Playboys and all negativity will simply wash away 100%, guaranteed! Of course, you don't have to be dying of some incurable disease to enjoy the virtues of Bubblegum Pop, and here's hoping that the Banana Splits eventually make an appearance on ye olde DVD format. Even the background music to various Brady Bunch episodes keeps that fantastical Bubblegum Pop ideal convienently intact, and that's a show available on DVD right now, my friends!

Dig in, mates. Turn that frown upside down forever and ever, forget about Sonic Youth's "Bull In The Heather," as Bubblegum Pop is the genre for you!

Yes!



Super Yes!



Thanks for stopping by!

Journey Through the Past: Live Neil Young Albums Through The Ages

From the bottom-of-the-ocean depression of "Tonight's The Night" to the timeless singer-songwriter nostalgia of "After the Gold Rush", it's really no secret that Neil Young's lengthy careet (more like Neil Old! LOLZZZ!!!!!) produced some of the finest records of the twentieth century. However, any big Neil fan (I'm only about 120 pounds myself) can attest to the fact that much of his best (and worst) work stems form pure spontaneity - a recent example would be "Living With War", his 2006 protest album, written, recorded and released within a month, with the simplest of lyrics and melodies. Thus, it's really no surprise that so many of his greatest accomplishments can be found on his many, many live albums (often with the mighty Crazy Horse). In honor of his most recent archives release, "Live at Massey Hall", I present to you a look at some of his greatest and most essential live recordings.

-"Time Fades Away" (1973) Despite the internet petitions circulating around, Neil's first, and long out-of-print live album has, to this date, never been released on CD. (Thank you, dad's vinyl collection!) When one listens to the album (on that handy-dandy family turntable, of course), it's really no wonder ol' Shakey refuses to give in, considering the memories this much bring back for the guy. "Time Fades Away" is generally regarded as the lost installment in the Ditch Trilogy; if "Tonight's the Night" is the fuckig Irish Wake funeral of an album, expelling all the demons, and "On The Beach" is the worn-out comedown (no doubt, aided by the presence of one Rusty Kershaw), then "Time Fades Away" is the descent into the ditch: a documentation of Neil's depression and frustration during the disastrous tour following the deaths of Horse guitarist Danny Whitten and roadie Bruce Berry. In his own words:

"My least favorite record is "Time Fades Away". I think it's the worst record I ever made - but as a documentary of what was happening to me, it was a great record. I was onstage and I was playing all these songs that nboody heard before, recording them, and I didn't have the right band."

I'd say this is one of those albums where the tension, the bad vibes, the mood, the out-of-place backup vocals - it all fits and becomes something bigger than the sum of its parts. In 35 minutes, it's an album of true rawness and frustration that still sounds relevant in 2007. In a typical "fuck you" to the fans waiting for "Heart of Gold", Neil begins with the title track. We get our rock and rollin` piano and polka-ish rhythm, as Neil drunkenly moans about "14 junkies too weak to work." "Yonder Stands the Sinner" is a similar blues-rocker ("This will be kinda experimental..."). The album also includes the autobiographical "Don't Be Denied", three lovely ballads ("Love In Mind", "The Bridge" and "Journey Through the Past") and the epic closer "Last Dance", which just seems to epitomize the burnt-out mood, as Neil just sounds more and more fucked-off and apathetic at the bitter climax ("Monday morning, wake up, wake up, wake up! It's time to go to work! No, no, no! No, no, no!") It's not an easy listen, but it's an essential document in this madman career. (For those who haven't heard it, and obviously ain't gonna find it at their local Walmart, I'd be glad to upload the album. Just ask.)

"Rust Never Sleeps" (1979): A stunning return to form (though it's not like he went anywhere...). Total perfection, this is. "Rust Never Sleeps" is in the same format as Dylan before him, with an acoustic and electric side, yet somehow it's even better. It's bookended by dual versions of "My My, Hey Hey"/"Hey Hey, My My", both classic rock staples, quoted in Cobain's suicide note. Side one also boasts the gorgeous and reflective "Thrasher", the catchy Napoleon Dynamite theme song "Ride My Llama", and Native American tribute "Pocahontas". On Side Two, Crazy Mothafuckin` Horse turns the distortion up to ten.

"And I just turned 22. I was wondering what to do. The closer they got, the more those feelings grew."

"Powderfinger" is a brilliant amalgamation of storytelling lyrics, fuzz gee-tar, and "oooooooooohhhhhhh" backing vocals. "Welfare Mothers" rocks with the swagger of a war protester on crystal meth, with bonus handclaps. "Sedan Delivery" is better than you. I apologize for over-using the word "brilliant". Everyone should own this album.

-"Weld" (1991): Alright, flash back to 1991. The gulf war is ragin`, The `Horse is touring behind "Ragged Glory" (a rockin` return to droney, beautiful guitar jams) and I'm rolling around my crib in a wet diaper. But can you name another rock `n roller in his mid `40's who's released a live album this intense, noisy and flat-out badass? I dare you to try. Can ya? All two hours of this double disc are, in a word, relentless. Full-on sonic assault for the Crazy Horse fanatics out there. On the political side of the spectrum, there's even a distortion-laden cover of "Blowing in the Wind", with bomb sound effects. For shits `n giggles, check out the blissfully profane "Fuckin` Up". And then there's the stunning rendition of "Cortez the Killer", a 9:46 lesson in all that can be done with that magnificent six-stringed instrument. "Like A Hurricane" is every bit as triumphant as it sounds in your dreams. "Tonight's the Night" and "Roll Another Number" bring us back to the hazy, fucked-up Ditch trilogy vibe.

But my favorite song on this glorious package? Check out the punkish intensity of "Welfare Mothers". Fast forward 3-4 minutes, the solo comes to a close (how does this guy noodle around with the distortion and yet it never gets boring?). The song descends into a noisy bass drone, as Neil and Billy scream at each other through the racket.

"PUT THE KIDS IN THE STATION WAGON, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"
-"HEY MOM!!! I'M HUNGRY"

This leads into a psychotic moaning chant: "Welfare mothers! Make better lovers! Aaaaaaaaahhhh!" Pound the overdrive! Swallow the noise! Bite into the chicken leg! Argh.

"Live At Massey Hall 1971" (2007) This brings us to the newest release in his archive project, a concert recording from 2007. Neil has regarded this as a missing link between "After the Gold Rush" and "Harvest", as Neil performs an intimate solo set including many tracks from both albums, and a ton of other songs to appear in new forms on his later albums. Backed with only an acoustic guitar or piano, Mr. Young converses with the crowd pleasantly and plays a 67 minute set of much richness and beauty. Check out the rare acoustic version of "Down by the River" and "Cowgirl in the Sand" (acoustic? Naw!). Listen to his awkward photographer-scolding at the beginning of "Old Man". Opener "On The Way Home" introduces the to that high, shakey voice and haunting melodic tendency. Even two of "Time Fade Away"'s mellow tunes make an appearance, along with an early version of vaguely mysognist anthem "A Man Needs A Maid", with different lyrics. The special edition comes with a DVD bonus, fo` yo` info`mation.

Also recommended:
"Live Rust": "When I get big, I'm gonna get an electric guitar. When I get real big."
"Live at the Fillmore East": Crazy Horses' smokey 2006 archive offering, smothered in Danny Whitten's unique presence.
"Unplugged" Acoustic re-interpretations of electric chargers, or familiar versions of familiar songs, it's all good.



Good night.

The Turtles and Flo & Eddie

The music of The Turtles is the most delicious Bubblegum Pop in the history of dry land. The vocal harmonies of duel vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman are perhaps only second to The Beach Boys at their finest, and arguably, The Cowsills. We all know and love "Happy Together," but The Turtles were by no means a one-hit-wonder by any stretch of the imagination, heavens no. Between the years of 1965 thru 1970, The Turtles had puttin' near ten Top Ten hits, how 'bout that, huh? Better than anything you could do, wise guy! Other classic gems include "You Baby" and the Howard Kaylan penned "Eleanor." The very best record by The Turtles is in fact their final, and it's an awesome gem of the Psychedelic Pop genre that was produced by none other than Ray Davies of The Kinks! The record in question is entitled "Turtle Soup," and do try your best to find the original vinyl LP because the sound is absolutely delish!

Another little interesting curiosity in The Turtles catalogue is their 1968 epic concept record called "The Turtles Present The Battle of The Bands." This record kicks genuine goose nards all night long and then some, my sweet, sweet treasure. On each cut The Turtles play the role of a fictional band, and on one tune they pretend to be Acid Rockers with a little jam called "Atomic Enchilada." You really ought to give these guys a shot, because The Turtles are Bubblegum Pop with a wee bit of Sophistication, because we're not talking about The Ohio Express here, ladies and gentle bears! So don't even front with that noise, because daddy likes to boogie. And so, there you have The Turtles. Although, the journey does not end there, because in the next paragraph I will introduce you to the post-Turtles career of The Fluorescent Leech & Eddie.

Hello, and welcome to the next paragraph! (They sure don't get this irreverent over at Mark Prindle Dot Com, do they, tough guy?) Now then, The Turtles got their collective buttocks into a legal scrap with their label to where they no longer owned The Turtles trademark, but it was Frank Zappa to the rescue, and the second Mothers of Invention were then birthed real horrorshow. Things got really strange with Howard and Mark around this time, as they now advertised themselves as Flo & Eddie respectively. Just watch Frank Zappa's 200 Motels to get a vague idea, in short, a lot of drugs, mate...quite a lot. Flo & Eddie are the chubby duo that gave the amazing backing vocal performances for Zappa in the early '70's and in 200 Motels they take a little trip to Centerville (A nice place to raise your kids!). Indeed, The Turtles were given a bit of street cred at this time, and celebrated by opening gigs for the original Alice Cooper group in '73 that was on "The Billion Dollar Babies" tour at that time.

Once ultimately parting ways with Zappa then, Flo & Eddie released a handful of Comedy Rock albums throughout the majority of the '70's and into the '80's. That's right, Ween wasn't the first duo to get genuinely wacky with massive drug use and the weird music that came out of it. And being such quality and diverse Pop music vocalists, The Turtles offered their services to a great many artist of Rock Royalty, such as John Lennon, and most notably with Marc Bolan and his T-Rex Glam Rock outfit, as it is Flo & Eddie you hear screaming the high-pitched backing vocals on Mark's smash hit "Bang A Gong (Get It On)." In fact, they are all over T-rex's "Electric Warrior" and "The Slider." These days, The Turtles have long since settled their legal jargon and now own their rightful name, but unfortunately, they've been pretty much on the Oldies circuit since 1985. However, dig in and investigate the music of The Turtles and Flo & Eddie, because I think you are going to find something substantial buried underneath the surface. Are they in fact underrated? Oh, yes, indeed they are, my friend. Indeed they are...

And here they are getting weird on the old Mike Douglas show:



It was just drugs and fun back in those days, mate.

Michael Nesmith - "Magnetic South."

And you thought that he was just a Monkee, huh? Well, you're wrong! Good old Papa Nez practically invented a little genre in music called Country Rock, and certainly made it a hell of a lot more tuneful than Dylan could ever hope to. And no question that he made it far less boring than that snore-fest known as The Eagles. Michael Nesmith is the high priest of the Yodel and Southern Drawl backwards hipness to this very day, but I like totally digress or something. We all know the very best and most enduring cuts by The Monkees weren't penned by Neil Diamond, hell no! Cuts like "Sweet Young Thing" and "You Just May Be The One" are what it's all about, my babies. What I am going to do for you at this particular juncture is take the time to give you a brief overview of Mike's second record that was given the title of "Magnetic South," his first record is not really legit in my mind, since it was just some little Country leaning side project deal he recorded while still very much a Monkee Man.

Check it, can you believe that this chap used to refer to himself as Michael Blessing? 'Tis true as all get out, but his short-lived existence as the Jesus of the '60's Folk revival was not destined to last, and so, the rich Texan creep, the son of the woman who invented Liquid Paper got bit by the acting bug real horrorshow upon his relocation to Los Angeles, and a Monkee was born. His background in music was quite useful, with Mike being a more than apt rhythmic guitarist, songwriter and vocalist. And so, The Monkees did in part play at least some of the instrumentation on their records, and by the time that 1967's "Headquarters" saw the light of day, they were very much in full control of their unique blend of Bubblegum Pop and Country-tinged Psychedelia. Even before Papa Nez was a Monkee Man, he had some success in the songwriting department in the mid '60's when a tune he penned called "Mary, Mary" became a hit for a chap named Paul Butterfield. Later, the Stone Poneys had a big-ass hit with a tune Mike penned called "Different Drum."

Now that you have a better idea of this underrated talent, let's discuss "Magnetic South" in some detail. Graham Parsons don't mean a thing to me, see? Michael Nesmith is diverse as hell, and here comes the REAL Country Rock! Do you remember 1970? Dig, after tiring of being a Monkee and being forced to use the restroom after Davy Jones and all the goofy episodes of the TV series that ruled late '60's teenage life; Mike was then more than damn ready to put on the cowboy boots and a shit-eating grin to match, while making clear to all listeners that we would be going for a little ride in the motherfuckin' country, playa! This groovy little opus opens with the Jazzy Acoustic Rock vibes of "Calico Girlfriend." Keep in mind that Mike has a smooth vocal delivery and a top-notch backing band of veteran Country players referred to on this and subsequent albums as The First National Band. Track one blends seamlessly into the trippy Folk ballad stylings of "Nine Times Blue," and right from there we are transported to the fun little Rocker called "Little Red Rider." One musician in particular on this album is just astounding, and I am referring to a steel guitarist by the name of Red Rhodes. This is not typical steel guitar playing by any stretch that one might hear on a George Jones record, as with Mike and his music, the instrument is put to great use in terms of creating a majestic quality and it is almost as if it is actually used at times as a replacement for what would normally be a lead guitar break on a traditional Rock song.

Mike even landed a bit of chart success as a solo act with the somber Folk of "Joanne." To make clear, this is not some novelty artist. And it is especially by this point that Mike knew his way around a recording studio. In fact, it is quite likely that Mike essentially produced this record himself in his deluxe home studio, of which, the late Folk Pop artist Judee Sill recorded most of the tracks for her unreleased third album. Michael Nesmith and his First National Band would go on to produce critically enjoyed Country Rock variations until the end of the '70's, at which point Mike focused upon motion picture and video production, and quite probably invented a little something called MTV as well. Since his days as a big cheese wearing the goofy cowboy garb, Papa Nez has kept more than busy creatively as well, as he produced the hilarious cult film of the '80's called "Tapeheads," and promoting his own unique musical humor with the curious "Elephant Parts" video extravaganza (Now available on DVD!). In more recent years the occasional album has been released for apparently just the hell of it and PBS has been sued, most recent updates on the Brainy Monkee can be found here: Video Ranch.

Zappa meets Papa Nez:



It's all good...

Super Furry Animals Work On Their New Album

Watch & Hear Super Furry Animals as they work on their new album. The two songs are "Semi-Pro" and "Hot Nutz"

Rapid Eye Movement (R.E.M.): Four Essential Albums

As for R.E.M., there's really no introduction needed. You've already been there right? You've flossed your teeth while watching the "Losing My Religion" video, you've chortled along with "It's The End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)" in the Barber Shop, you've gagged while seeing "Shiny Happy People" on Sesame Street...




...perhaps you've even had the pleasure of rubbing Michael Stipe's bald head.

But, when we step back from the vehicle, I feel that, no matter how uncool and dull R.E.M. has been as of recent albums, there are a few (four, in fact) albums that I deem essential and, due to my violently random R.E.M. kick this week, I think I'll share them with you, dear reader. In chronological order:

-"Murmur" (1983) Ha! Ha! More like "Mumble"! Ha! But, really, I find that it doesn't matter that I can't understand a friggin` word young Michael Stipe is saying, and if ya read the lyrics, it all seems pretty meaningless anyway ("They called the clip a two headed cow"??). The truth is, the guitars bristle and shine with that familiar Byrds-ey twang, Mike Mill's gleeful backing vocals provide a lovely counterpart to Stipe, the drum's back everything up with that post-punk groove, and the melodies smother everything in a tuneful sense of timelessness; it all adds up to one of my favorite debuts in rock history. But most of all, the melodies! From the wonderful reverb-covered chorus/bridge of "Pilgrimage", to the call and response of "Catapult". There's the almost-funky swagger and guitar arpeggios of "We Walk" and the winding piano ballad of "Perfect Circle". Even the awkwardly-sincere Velvet Underground cover, it's all here! A perfect beginnning to their career...

-"Document" (1987) It was always my favorite, as a kid. I remember first being fascinated by the catchy, yet mysterious "The One I Love", my first R.E.M. song. Often misintrepreted a love song (and even used as a wedding some for some couples), Stipe claims it's about betrayal. "A simple prop, to occupy my time. This one goes out to the one I love....FIIIRRREEE!!!!" Probably my favorite R.E.M. song to this day. I remember being entertained by the free-association singalong of "It's The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" ("Leonard Bernstein. Leonid Breshnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs.
Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom!"). I remember my first exposure to Wire being the "Strange" cover, and I remember falling in love with the oddly upbeat horn-infected "Exhuming McCarthy", about the senator of the same name. Such a wonderful album, and often pinpointed as their transition from college folk rock group to high-profile rock group. Worth the dough. It even has a cool cover!

-"Automatic for the People" (1992) Yeah, yeah. This is the one everybody has had on their CD racks since 1992, the one that got R.E.M. respect all over the board, from the elevator music programmers to the flannel-wearing indie/grunge kidz. But it ain't none of the above - it's a sobering collection of songs on mortality and loss, with strings arranged by Pope John Paul Jones and a title named after a Georgia restaurant. More than anything, it's nostalgic for me, as I remember my dad playing it quite a bit growing up, in between the early Zappa and the Steeley Dad. "Try Not To Breathe", "Drive", "Find the River", these songs are all haunting, familiar, and, once again, timeless. But, despite popular misconception, it's not all death ballads. Other highlights include a rocking Montgomery Clift tribute ("Monty Got A Raw Deal") the quite beautiful piano ode to skinny-dipping ("Nightswimming"), an song about Andy Kaufman later used in the movie of the same name ("Man on the Moon") and one nifty organ instrumental ("New Orleans Instrumental No. 1"). While I will probably always prefer the aforementioned `80's records for personal records, I can't deny the sheer beauty this album holds.

-"New Adventures in Hi-Fi" (1996) I guess this would be the unpopular choice here, since there's never much love for this eclectic 65-minute 1996 effort, which was recorded all over the place during the "Monster" tour. I have no idea how a tour for such a weak album could produce such inspired songwriting, but I would certainly point to this as their last truly great record. It might not be as groundbreaking as the early indie classics, but these are just damn good songs. The band has described this as being inspired by Neil Young's "Time Fades Away", since it was recorded often onstage during soundchecks, whenever they could. It's a sprawling length (for this band, at least) but there's nary a weak song on here. From the jazzy opener to the lovely closer, it's a joy to listen to. Some highlights:
-The haunting chords and voices "E-bow the Letter": "This fame thing, I dont get it...
I wrap my hand in plastic to try to look through it

I would lick your feet
But is that sickest move?
I wear my own crown and sadness and sorrow"
-"Leave", which happens to be the longest, and one of the strangest and most rocking songs of their career.
-"New Test Leper": another perfect acoustic ballad.

Bonus feature: Top three R.E.M. records to avoid at all costs:
-"Monster": We have guitar! Distortion! Tremolo! We can rock like the hip kids! We forgot to write any good songs!
-"Reveal": (Hey! No drummer!) *snore*
-"Around the Sun": *snore* *snore* *snooooooooorrrrrreeeeeeeee*



Good night.

Frank Zappa Essentials, both Mothers and Non.

We all know about Frank Zappa, so I will skip a detailed biography for your perusal, but rather, will list what I feel are Zappa's essential albums, both solo and as a Mother of Invention. You will absolutely want to peruse my selections to the utmost, as the case might be. If you do not happen to own the albums that I am about to list, then by all means...locate yourself a third job, slacker. I work 40 hours a week to provide for my family, so don't act like you are better than me just because you graduated from college! Now then, here we go...

Freak Out! - This is the record that started it all back in the year of our Lord 1966, which was incidentally when The Monkees released their first album as well. Coincidence? Highly probable that it is, yes. Even those cranky drunks in Ween have no issue with the first offering by Frank and his filthy Mothers. Tunes like the hilarious "Wowie Zowie" simply can't be beat, and is a song that is certainly superior to an album by Pavement that sounded the same but was written slightly differently. While this album does not make obvious Zappa's epic guitar heroics, it clearly points him out as a contemporary composer of note. The Doo-Wop vibes on the record are sincere, as Zappa was reportedly quite a fan of the genre, which is essentially the music of his youth. The experimental streak, however, was there from the onset and is made obvious on such bizarre numbers like "Who Are The Brain Police?" It's a bit manifesto, a bit social commentary, and a whole lotta Doo-Wop, so dig in!

We're Only In It For The Money - Quite probably the most celebrated record by the original Mothers, and rightly so. Mocking Hippie values may have been commonplace in the more so rebellious forms of music in the late 70's, but in 1968? Sure, the Velvet Underground had a very subtle way of making clear their collective indifference to the Hippie juggernaut of the time period by essentially inventing the Goth look, but leave it to Zappa and his band of ironically long-haired anti-Hippies to spell out their disgust of the culture in plain English. When thinking about these bizarre little ditties on the record, such as "Flower Punk" and "Let's Make The Water Turn Black," one can't help but be quite aware that Zappa and his Mothers were literally decades ahead of their time. Also, I hear a lot of early Ween on this record, and perhaps much to their chagrin. Various weirdo twerps who rose to prominence in the corny Alternative Rock of the 90's essentially owe their very souls to this record. As always with Zappa, a lot of thought is put into the music. There is such a cohesion to these 19 cuts that it stands the test of time as to what the power of the album format can mean creatively, and is certainly better than the Beatles painfully overrated Sergeant Pepperoni.

Uncle Meat - Shucks, I would even think that Stereolab themselves owe at least a little something to this tasty and bizarre Jazz Rock masterpiece, keep in mind that Frank Zappa was essentially one of the accidental founders of the very genre. The epic monster that is "Uncle Meat", was actually the film score for what was ultimately and now quite obviously an unreleased film. This could very well be Frank's most powerful musical testament with the original Mothers. It is purely a musical experience that no established musician or casual music fan would want to ever dare make light of. Frank's compositional work on this record is complex as hell, and appropriately was a sort of sampler in a great many respects as to the sort of sound that he would feature on the best of his solo outings, and keep in mind that this is the last real legit original Mothers record as well. You seem to get the best of both worlds on this album, which could very well be argued as Frank's finest, as the weirdo humor of his merry band is well intact, but yet, there's a great deal of instrumental bliss throughout, and this is where Frank tends to shine best in his music.

Hot Rats - Indeed, Frank takes to being a solo artist like Condi Rice takes to being extremely ugly. Jazz Rock is born, my babies! You can't even front on this record, that is, if you had enough gumption to front in the first place, playa! Let's examine the Captain Beefheart contribution "Willie The Pimp." Damn good track, and it is here where Zappa really let's the listener know that he is in fact an inventive guitarist on par with the very best of them, no question. The opening cut is one of Zappa's most endearing and musically worthwhile compositions, and I am of course referring to "Peaches en Regalia." What a delicious record, I mean, it's practically fucking editable! GET YOUR MUNCH ON! The rest of the album unfolds like the masterpiece that it is, with one amazing extended Jazz Rock composition after the other. Simply tasty as fuck, and arguably the best.

Weasels Ripped My Flesh - Now this is when an album mishmash actually works, for this is when pubic hairs actually shave themselves and I totally shat you in a manner that is not! Here we have splendid live material of bizarre avant garde gems with such charming titles like, "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Sexually Aroused Gas Mask." Of course, there's the familiar Zappa sense of humor tossed in for good measure on cuts like "My Guitar Wants to Kill your Mama." Personally, for me, the best cut on the record is a little Bubblegum Pop jam tossed in simply entitled "Oh No." One of the last cuts on the record is a great jam called "Orange County Lumber Truck," and as always, Zappa knows how to structure an album, and to the point where the live cuts mingled with the studio material merge together in what can almost be referred to as musical bliss. You should really dig on this record, or chances are I might have to pummel upon your furry buttocks with my rancid caveman fists, and nobody wants that...

So, that's how I feel. I am one of those abstract conservative Baptist blokes who feel that Zappa was at his most musically worthwhile during the late 60's and very early 70's. I know many a man who will have qualms and say, "Dude, whereabouts Over-Nite Sensation?" But whatever! As for me, it isn't about the Zappa humor, which mainly appealed to Hipsters of the time period, but rather, I am observing Zappa when he made his mark with a sort of music that was timeless, and to where it was not 100% anchored to a certain time and place due to painfully dated humor. The records I have listed cannot be denied or ignored, so like I say, if you don't own them already, do indeed get your purchase on real horror show, mates.

Zappa & Beefheart set to some animation and the like as "Willie The Pimp" plays like all get out, my babies...

Belly of the Heart, Belly Full of Bats: The Top Ten Flaming Lip Songs Ever

Detailed introduction:

The Flaming Lips are my favorite band ever and these are their top ten songs ever. Is that okay with you, pumpkin?

The Top Ten (in sort-of order):

1. "You Have To Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)" Ever since I first heard it on the audio section of the band's website some time in 2003, I've been awed by this achingly-beautiful acoustic track, an uncharacteristically quiet song off of 1992's "Hit To Death in the Future Head". Instrumentally, it's mostly just an acoustic guitar, string samples and some bongos, and yet I wouldn't hesitate to call it Wayne Coyne's greatest accomplishment as a songwriter. It has a haunting quality of a Stones or Neil Young ballad, with an eerie echo effect on the vocals and a bizarre strings sample at about the two-thirds mark. Lyrically, it seems to capture a reaction to something so horrific and unbelievable, Wayne's in denial. "You have to be joking...they wouldn't do such unspeakable things." The epiphany comes during the bridge, when he declares, "Seems to me that God and the devil are both the same." Please seek out this song.

I was reminded of my love for this song while in the front row, when the band unexpectedly performed it as the second encore at a show in New York, last September. Wayne prefaced it by saying that they hadn't performed it for at least ten years, and then proceeded to play an amazing version of the song, with only a keyboard backing him. I only regret not mentioning my gratitude when I met him afterwards. Here's a video of the event:



2. "The Gash" I've often proclaimed The Lips' "The Soft Bulletin" to be my favorite album ever and it most certainly would not be the same without this freakishly epic ode to perserverance. Essentially, it's a combination of what sounds like a church choir on crack, a climatic orchestra and some booming, echo-drenched drums that makes this song beyond description. Wayne takes a accusatory lyrical approach, demanding to know why this gash on your leg has caused you to "lose all the will to battle on."

Will the fight for our sanity be the fight of our lives?
Now that we've lost all the reasons that we thought that we had

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

(Even the last second of this song is beyond brilliant, as these Oklahoma weirdos end it with a amazingly effective piano ting.)

A performance of the song from Webster Hall, 3/31/06:



3. "Slow Nerve Action" Oh, and speaking of booming drums, I think these are my favorite drums in any song, ever. It begins with an indescribably "bwwwwoing!", but I could write a four-page thesis paper just attempting to describe the significance that that first second has for me. I truly believe that drummer/multi-instrumental genius/God Steven Drozd should be declared Pope, win a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award solely for his performance in this song. The drums burst out of the speakers with enough intensity, distortion and, well...sound to kill a moose. Jesus Christ, those drums....But the actual song itself! Incredible Lips' albums like "Transmissions from the Satellite Heart" (from which this song is pulled) seem to be all about contrast to me; the way the sweet innocent xylophone line contrasts with the insane noise-guitar riff, or the way the catchy vocal melodies fits against those aforementioned drums. Oh, and listen to that feedback-guitar solo (that word doesn't begin to describe it) at 2:57. Ronald Jones, I salute you! Where the fuck have you gone? The lyrics are typically confusing:

She had a cool invisible dog that she called Paul
We'd always sit around the house watching her feed the dog.

The song ends the same way it started: a full-on static assault of satanic drumming. A lo-fi mini-masterpiece.

Performance from 10/23/1999:



4. "Satellite of You" There are songs, and then there are songs. "Satellite of You" (no, not the Lou Reed tune) is a real song, the type of song that you feel and love and want to have sexual intercourse with. Due to the divine nature of the sessions for "The Soft Bulletin", even the surplus material (found on "The Soft Bulletin Companions") is godspoken and better than your favorite band's best work. This incredible outtake from said album has been described by the band as a "cross between Frank Sinatra and Led Zeppelin", though it sounds like the type of music I'd imagine God himself would listen to. Drenched in gorgeous strings, booming drums (sensing a pattern here), gorgeous harmonies and just the right amount of harmonica, this is the type of song that makes me think I can jump into oncoming traffic and land in an ice cream sundae.

`cause your the earth
And I'm just the moon
In orbit so faithfully...
A satellite true

The Sinatra/Zeppelin (hey, more of that contrast theme!) is heard most clearly during the last minute or so, as the booming drums reach some sort of epic, cosmic agreement with the floating harmonies, letting the song fade out gracefully.

5. "March of the Rotten Vegetables" Some say that the band's ambitious (an understatement, no?) 1997 album "Zaireeka" is one of the most brilliantly unique recordings ever; others describe it as pointlessly pretentious and impractical (*cough*PITCHFORK REVIEW*cough*). I've always been firmly in the former camp, as listening to this record on four CD players the way it's meant to be heard is truly one of the most unique and engaging musical experiences I've ever had. If "Slow Nerve Action" is my favorite drum intro, then I suppose this is my favorite drum solo. (I might as well just marry Steven Drozd at this point.) Allow me to give you Wayne's description of the song, found in the liner notes:

"I envisioned this as music for a cartoon about a group of determined vegetables who feel like the place where they're growing is.. no good. So they uproot and head for better soil.. encountering hardship and heroism along the way.. as they parade through Meatville they are BOOed, then they are attacked by bats, but eventually, before they rot, they must find better ground.. CD No.1 plays the main theme. CD No.3 takes over during the "here come the bats" part and all the CD's join in as the bats "attack." You may hear this as a freakish drum solo."

Yeah, no shit, pa! After the creepily foreboding piano + synth melody subsides, the obnoxious drums fully hijack the track, with only a cute little piano melody for accompaniment. I'd imagine Mssr. Drozd was fuckin` gasping for air after a solo of such epic proportions. Oh, and it descends into pure white noise, at one point. You know, because those are the bats. Wayne said so. That makes sense, right? God, I love this band.



6. "Enthusiasm for Life Defeats Internal, Existential Fear" It's a crime that so many casual Lips fans have been robbed of the oppurtunity to hear this beautiful ode to life's innocence. It's a crime that this song was left off of the band's most recent album, "At War with the Mystics", though the band's claim that it just don't fit is reasonable enough. It's a crime that Phil Spector killed that prostitute that one time in 2003. But enough about that.

Because, even if the documentary The Fearless Freaks (add it to your Netflix pronto if you haven't viewed it) consisting of nothing but Michael Ivins making burping noises for 90 minutes straight, it'd still be worth it to hear this song during the credits. (And yes, every time I hear the song, I think of those credits. Those wonderful credits, since, for about a year, they were my only soource of hearing this song.) The song has a raw, laid-back, acoustic acid-country feel to it, reminiscent of the soundtrack to "Okie Noodling". Somehow, this musical backdrop manages to invoke pure, unadulterated nostalgia and reflection. Slow, now honey, keep it slow. The tune manages to make beautiful usage of a banjo solo, as well, and eventually fades out to the tune of an oncoming train. But not a menacing train; a calm, reflective train, if ya catch my drift. I don't care if you have to tackle a helpless, old woman on the way, please find a way to acquire this song.

Last night I had a horrible dream
But the dogs barking in the morning came and chased it all away

7. "When You Smile/Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles" Fun fact: This is the only time I can recall seeing "fetus" and "smile" appear together in the same song title. Anyway, this 12-minute live medley appears on "The Fearless Freaks" soundtrack. Like, there was this, like, guy named Ronald Jones and he made incredible noises with a guitar that no one else could and then he went insane and left the band. The end.

This live recording isn't of great sound quality, yet the intensity oughta be illegal. It begins with a noisy rendition of "Clouds Taste Metallic"'s gorgeous ditty "When You Smile". Just listen to the sounds coming out of that amplifier at the 3:14 mark! This segways into a lengthy introduction to "Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus" (yeah, that's actually the title). The bass grooves on and on as the guitar moans and groans all over the top. It builds up and finally explodes into orgasmic bliss at about 7 and a half minutes with enough noise-driven madness to wake Terri Schiavo.

The chromosomes seem not to want the feeeeeeeeeeeeeettusssssss!!!!!!!!!

8. "Jesus Shootin` Heroin" The amateurish chaos of the Lips` first three records certainly needed some representation over hurr, and I feel that this song, more than any other, demonstrates Wayne's early potential and unique vision as a songwriter. It begins with three moody, reverb-drenched minor chords, as Wayne muses on the mystery of religion.

I've never really understood religions
Expect it seems a good reason to kill
Everybody's got their own conceptions
And you know, they always will.

The chorus pulls us headfirst into a slow-burning, noisy battle cry of "Aaaahhhhhh-Aaaaaaaaaaaah", like a bunch of heroin-addicts invading a church. The quietly creepy "aahhhhhh" refrain lends a background to the confusing guitar solo and final verse narration about a tragic police accident in New York City. A song like this may not have the polished sheen of "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots", or the one-of-a-kind fractured noise rock genius of "In A Priest Driven Ambulance", but it most certainly shows that the genius of this unique group was there from the beginning, albeit in a different form.

9. "Bad Days (Aurally Excited Version)" "Bad Days" (originally found on the "Batman Forever" soundtrack) is the type of song that you just can't imagine anyone frowning during. Because you have to sleep late when you can. It's true. All your bad days will end.

The band's prevalent optimism shines through here. Oh, and remember that old theme of contrast? Who the fuck else sings of blowing a boss's head off over a musical backdrop of yippy xylophones and upbeat "oooohh--ooooh" harmonies? Of course, it's a Drozd/Jones party, and the fuzzy guitars and insanely-loud drums are invited as well. But not an exercise in wankery; it's an exercise in pure sugar-drenched melody and happiness and upbeat whistling. Even up to that obnoxiously catchy coda and xylophone solo (!), this song is pretty much perfect, and that's that.

Don't miss out on the disgustingly happy video:




10. "Do You Realize??" Ahahahahahahahahahaha! You thought I was gonna neglect this double question-marked gem in favor of my obscure, indie elitism. Disclaimer: I'm not too cool for "Do You Realize??" No one is. It doesn't fucking matter if you first heard it in a car commercial, a radio in Starbucks or from Wayne Coyne himself at a concert. This song, in all of its mellotron-soaked, key-change glory, is better than all of us. Because everyone you know someday will die.

And, no, I'm not even gonna bother trying to describe the song. You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again. But, in the meantime, why not watch the video for the thousandth time? After all, it's just an illusion caused by the world spinning `round.



Honorable mention: Track 11 on "Hit To Death in the Future Head" Because we're red-blooded Amrrrrrricans and we like 29 minutes and 16 seconds of speaker-jumping sonic chaos after a delicious, 1992 noise-pop album!

Good night.

CPE Bach

Is there really much of anything in this life better than a Handel opera? Regardless, this article pertains to the son of Johann Sebastian Bach, whom was a decent enough bloke that went by the name of Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach (CPE Bach for short). This gentleman was a bridge if you will, as his progressive approach to the Classical form not only waved in the legit Classical era from the previous Baroque style of his very gifted father, but in some respects was even a precursor to the Romantic era bliss of the Classical form that chaps like Beethoven are best known for. CPE was Da Bomb, which is really the most educated way possible of describing all the musical ground of the Classical form that this trailblazer drug his massive buttocks across.

CPE Bach offers something for everyone, regardless of your taste in Classical, excluding perhaps the Renaissance era. Much like his father J. S. Bach, CPE was a master keyboard player. In fact, later in life, he even wrote a book entitled Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments, and needless to say this is probably someone you wouldn't want to encounter in a dark alley at night. There is no question that my main man CPE would quite probably fuck your shit up if you looked at him cross-eyed, oh my brothers, and rather hardcore at that, player! Ha-ha! Deal with it! Anyhow, CPE Bach was no doubt very well schooled in the playing of keyboard instruments, as he learned from the master of Baroque era Classical, his father Johann. I want to present a few quotes for you, and as taken from CPE's Music Theory text. The first of which relates to the supposed purity of clavichords and the like, "The purest of all instruments, for others may be more purely tuned but they cannot be purely played." He is in fact stating that the tonal control of keyboard instrumentation simply cannot be beat, and regardless of the fact that during the time period, the tuning of said instruments was by no means a simple task as would be the case for a viola, for example.

To get the proper tones then, the texture in which one approaches the instrument is also of great importance, and CPE Bach explains as much thusly, "The keys must be gripped firmly and with strength. However, they must not be flogged; but on the other hand there must not be too much restraint." And while CPE Bach was the second eldest son of the Old Master, both he and his slightly older brother Johann Christian Bach were more widely known and successful during the Classical era and certainly more so celebrated during the later Romantic era, although today, it is the Old Master himself that is given the greatest praise for creating a music so intricate and even mathematically dead on, that when most persons hear the name Bach, they no doubt automatically think of J. S. himself. However, while elder brother J. C. Bach was a composer of note, and perhaps most notable today for his friendship and influence on a very young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, it is ultimately CPE Bach who was the more progressive of the two, and in his way, on par with his father. Wolfgang himself later acknowledged CPE's direct influence when he was quoted as saying, " He is the father, we are the children."

Beethoven admitted to owing a great deal of his dramatic keyboard interpretations to CPE Bach's early exploration of Romantic era Classical terrain. Joseph Haydn, whom had a rather great influence on Mozart as well in terms of string quartets of the Classical era, owed a great deal of his own success to the intense study he gave to the works of CPE Bach. When popular Baroque era Italian composer Georg Philipp Telemann died in the late 1760's, his own godson Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach inherited his respectable position in Hamburg as music director to a series of local churches. CPE Bach continually progressed in leaps and bounds both as a composer and keyboard player during this time period, until his own eventual death in 1788. A man once vaguely described as an intense sweaty frog on the harpsichord, thought that music should be a highly personal revelation for the respective listener to indulge in, and often went against the more clinical and arguably emotionally anonymous approach of his father. And when you do hear the best by Wolfgang or Ludwig, do realize that CPE Bach was not too far from their collective minds.

I suggest purchasing the following double-cd collection that is available for under ten dollars:

CPE Bach: Symphonies (Wq 182, 183); Cello Concertos (Wq 170-172) /Bylsma * OAE * Leonhardt

Godspeed, you filthy mongrels.

Syd Barrett is out-gunned, what is the outcome? Will they do him like Malcolm?

Word up, me droogies. I am here to review Syd Barrett's second and final solo album, a little jaunt through a fractured psyche simply given the moniker of Barrett. On his solo debut which was released earlier in 1970, Syd was a bit all over the place at times, but there's a tight cohesion on this record that is truly beneficial to the listener. No doubt, having old chum David Gilmour along for the proceedings and helping out to the best of his ability by playing additional pieces of instrumentation really did make the whole affair seem like a Pink Floyd album of sorts, and especially on mesmerizing numbers like the eerie and atmospheric "Dominos." Syd gets to showcase his erratic acoustic guitar playing and fractured lead guitar work in great abundance, but as mentioned, the professional quality and delicious musicianship of the gentlemen backing him helps to anchor Syd's musical insanity. In a lot of respects, even the casual Rock fan could find something to enjoy on this record. On a personal note, I have heard few songs in my life more haunting and sincere than "Love Song," it has such a lovely little melody and a rather sad sack vocal by Syd that it simply cannot be denied.

Syd's lyrics have always been outstanding and universally strange, but they really glue themselves to the listener on this record in particular, I feel. It is as if Syd is essentially saying good-bye and knows very well that he means it. While later attempts to get things cooking in the old Abbey Road studios were labored over as late as 1974, it is unfortunate that nothing did come of these sessions. Some say it was only really during a few years in the late '60's that Syd wrote all of his Psychedelic gems in a fit of creative frenzy, and perhaps all of the material on Barrett essentially represents this time and place from just a few years previously near 100%. Songs like "Rats" no doubt make clear that Syd is a lyrical master on par with the greatest in the history of Pop, but the sense of drama in his vocal delivery is truly unmatched. His strange music was no doubt equally as sincere as his strange mental condition. Some songs almost have a majestic and intellectual quality about them, like the trippy Psychedelic Folk Rock of "Wined And Dined."

Certainly, Syd's material with the Floyd may in some respects be his finest, but to this day, it is obvious that his two solo outings in 1970 are indeed underrated. As to how great his influence, this is something I find to be truly un measurable, there may be entire generations of "weird" Rockers whom are blissfully unaware that Syd's influence on their recorded output is indeed direct. As Syd would say, "It is obvious." Perhaps it is safe to say that Syd's death in the summer of 2006 was a troubling and important event for all those interested in a sort of music in which ideas and imagination reign free, and while Syd was quintessentially English, he was also a very early voice in what can only be referred to as musical freedom and on an epic scale. There are any number of different formats for purchasing the curious little Barrett album, but my suggestion is actually part of the larger CD box set from 1993 called "Crazy Diamond." This wonderful set contains three discs, two containing each of Syd's solo records, the first being "The Mad Cap Laughs," and the third disc is the rarities collection "Opel." And as part of this unique collection, even Syd's two legit solo records contain a wide array of alternate takes, and this genuinely serves as a rare opportunity to crawl inside of Syd Barrett's brain for a few brief minutes.

For there can be no doubt about the sex of this motion picture soundtrack...

The film is Orlando, the star is Tilda Swinton, the director is Sally Potter, and the soundtrack kicks major buttocks forever. The film's director and an English chap created the hauntingly original score to the film adaptation based upon Virginia Woolf's "Biography." There is authentic period music that is very appropriate for the Elizabethan Age in which this delightful little romp based upon gender transformation and living for 400 years does indeed begin. We even have Jimmy Somerville along for the ride, who is a fellow best known for rocking out in such acclaimed Punk bands like Bronski Beat and The Communards. Here, Somerville wails frantically into the microphone about how he is one with the human face, and all the while sounding like a toy poodle in ecstasy. The song John contributes vocals to is essentially the musical theme to the film, a little number referred to as "Coming," which on the soundtrack, also appears at the very end in two different remixed versions. Perhaps Techno-Dance is the right way to refer to this tune? Anyhow, the majority of the soundtrack consists of well orchestrated moaning female voices and cool atmospheric touches on violin strings and icy synthesizers.

Of course, one is best intrigued by the music when actually watching the film, which features an endless array of close-ups of Tilda Swinton's lovely face, and both as a man and a woman, as is the case for this particular film. The film's primary composer, Mr. David Motion, essentially conjures up the Romantic era of Classical music at times, but in such a way that it could almost be referred to as Romantic Minimalism. With such impressive sounds coming from this movie score, it is too bad that Mr. Motion is not somewhat better known, but such is life, oh my doughy little brothers. I rarely speak of album artwork, but this soundtrack contains images to die for. We see Tilda Swinton in a number of different snappy outfits that take place at different points in the film, all of them rather fun to stare at for hours on end. I would like to applaud David Motion as well for some wonderful and period-specific horn arrangements that pop up in places on the soundtrack, truly delightful.

In a lot of respects, this soundtrack reminds me of the one released for Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, and I think you will find it charming and guaranteed to increase your IQ by at least 160 points. All that is left for you to do is to purchase the DVD for Sally Potter's Orlando, and be sure to investigate the impressive filmography of Scottish princess Tilda Swinton, and with a specific interest in reading the novel on which the film is based by Virginia "Hatchet-faced" Woolf, and perhaps even a biography on Woolf herself, if you have the guts? Fear of a Humanist planet? Ha, I think not!

Dig the trailer for the film to get a better idea of what I mean, as merging beautiful music with a beautiful visual is a art unto itself they call The Film Score...



Also, someone out there in the world of mainstream film: Give that poor bastard David Motion another flick to score, as he's not half bad.

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Music

Don Van Vliet is quite probably the most original artist in the history of modern music. He started his career in art appropriately enough as a small child, which was a time period that saw his impressive animal sculptures showcased on local TV in Southern California, which is where Don spent much of his life. As a teenager he was offered a scholarship to study the Fine Arts in Italy, although his parents wouldn't hear of it. And so, the only child was left to his own devices, which included a penchant for collecting old Blues and Hard Bop Jazz records. One of Don's childhood friends was Frank Zappa, and they would often spend time in Don's room playing along to records and sipping Pepsi by the barrelful. The name of Captain Beefheart actually came from an unpublished film script that Don and Frank were working on in the early 1960's, which was given the working title of "Captain Beefheart Meets The Grunt People." A few years later, Zappa would form the Mothers, and it was around this time as well that Don became Captain Beefheart and went about forming his first Magic Band.

While I will spare you a detailed biography, I will in fact hip you to what I feel are Don's top three records under the Captain Beefheart moniker, as Don did eventually retire in the mid 80's to concentrate on painting. It is rumored that Don became relatively independently wealthy with his peculiar and appropriately abstract visual extravaganzas, and this is only right, since his musical career certainly left him unfortunately lacking in terms of a hefty bank account. Now then, here we have what I feel is the good Captain's most magical recorded output...

Trout Mask Replica - So much guitar interplay on this record, which was originally released as a triple LP set back in the year of our Lord 1969. Who knows what many listeners thought when this was first released, but in a lot of respects it fit the time period nicely, while at the same time, it couldn't help but be ahead of its time as well. The absolutely out-to-lunch lyrical content is truly beyond words. The good Captain's growl is in full force and everything he barks into the microphone has an eerie air of truth to it, which is very frightening when some of the lyrics pertain to squids eating dough and someone watching you vomit beautifully. Making use of traditional Rock instrumentation in such an abstract way is indeed inventive, and makes the listener wonder, did Captain Beefheart despise the genre? All of the music is carefully orchestrated and was rehearsed for months, and appropriately, all of the proceedings were produced by Frank Zappa and released on his Straight Records label, which was a label that housed its share of strange and out there music during the time period. Dig into these 28 cuts of surreal poetry and gut wrenching Psychedelic Blues Rock that is turned up to 11.

Lick My Decals Off, Baby - Now you know something is up with an album title like that, and apparently it relates to the Captain's disgust of people labeling themselves as human beings and supposedly painting themselves into a corner by doing so. If "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" isn't a call to personal freedom of some sort, then I don't know what is. Here you have what is essentially a condensed version of "Trout Mask Replica," as it was released just one year later. Instead of three LPs to digest, in this instance we have one to work with. This is in fact the better record, and quite probably Captain Beefheart's best album. Nearly all members of the classic Magic Band lineup were involved in this project, and it is a record that shows just how successfully they have honed their trademark sound within the context of a single year. There is more of a lyrical focus by the Captain, and even an occasional sense of humor on such cuts as "I Love You, You Big Dummy." Other songs express the Captain's sincere interest in the environment and his love for wildlife.

Ice Cream For Crow - Released in 1982, this is the good Captain's musical farewell, and why some might be surprised as to why I did not include the 1980 "comeback" record "Doc At The Radar Station," I happen to be of the opinion that "Ice Cream For Crow" is indeed the best of Don's latter albums. Much of the material here is actually based upon compositions leftover from the Trout Mask sessions. One composition in particular is so sublime and beautiful, it is an instrumental cut that appears early on the record entitled "Semi-Multicoloured Caucasian," and is the sort of song that any music fan could groove on. My favorite number is a nightmarish sea shanty that speaks of Satan's red rolling hatred waters and clinging the vine that choked Mary's only son. The song is paranoia bliss that could give Lou Reed's "Waves Of Fear" a run for its money, the song in question is called "The Host The Ghost The Most Holy-O."

So, there you have it. Do purchase these albums mentioned. Of course, all is personal preference. And I do know that some fans enjoy the original Magic Band on the Blues Rock of their 1967 debut "Safe As Milk," but I tend to prefer the good Captain at his most bizarre, because few in music tackle this frame of mind better. I should make clear nearly all of Captain Beefheart's rather vast catalog of albums has been recently re-released on CD, digitally remastered as fuck and with more bonus tracks than you can shake a trout mask at.

Educate yourself:

The Good Captain Gets funky...



The Good Captain Gets scary...



Fast 'n' Bulbous, indeed!

Proton Proton/Busdriver Busdriver/Deerhoof Deerhoof

So I recently (give or take a month) attended a Deerhoof show at the lovely Irving Plaza in New York. In fact, it was my second time seeing them, since I saw `em open for the Flaming Lips at their now legendary Hammerstein Lazer Pointer Experiment show. So, I saw them twice out of my own free will! How many people can say that?

Indeed, the show rocked my face off (seriously, I needed surgery). However, if you don't mind, I'd like to discuss the very special and unique openers that I witnessed on that fateful night.



After a healthy amount of creepy animation showing, Proton Proton took the stage (I wonder if their fans regularly refer to them as Bi-Proton...?). Proton Proton is a delicious new trio from Brooklyn, formed in 2005. As their myspace describes it:

proton proton began during long spontaneous sessions in a dark carpet-lined room on the mediterranean coast.
aron from a band called hominid.
paul from his solo thing.
gass is a bass and a guitar.


Anyway, I dug this immensely-talented group so much, I was moved to purchase one of the self-titled EPs from their site, but I wouldn't hesitate to say they were better live. Noisy guitars, unusual poly-rhythms, and psychedelic lights swirled around in a intensely melodic stew, underneath a singer who looks like a caveman and sounds a bit like David Byrne on crack. A very high, moaning voice, yet strangely compelling. The most easily-recognizable influences in the music include everything from CAN to Fugazi to the Talking Heads (duh!).

One of my favorites is "Plates": A bleeping guitar leads the beat-driven song, as the singer describes "Sitting around, just to watch plants grow", with a noisy frenzy of a chorus. Then there's "Sand", a blissfully creative show-opener, somehow balancing booming tom-tom drums (a recurring theme) with a xylophone ting.

"Chinese Dancer", however, may be the most memorable number of the set. Beginning with a simple bass riff, singer Paul Fuster lays out the honest and poignant lyrics:

"I wanna be a chinese dancer,
A chinese dancer
I wanna be...a Chinese Dancer
Dancer....Dancer"

(Cue noisy, freak-out frenzy, singer runs around stage wildly with a tambourine)

"I want to see you naked
I wanna see you naked
I want to see you naked
Naked....naked...."

(Lather, rinse, repeat)

(Random xylophone solo, "I love you!", off-kilter bridge)

Yeah, these guys kinda rule in that can't-quite-describe-it-but-instinctively-really-like-it way. I highly suggest listening to the tracks on their Myspace, and perhaps purchasing the EP from there. Or, if it better suits you, check out this lovely video performance of "Aloha" (good song, as well) from the show:



Alright, next up was opener number two: Busdriver.

Anyway, having been completely unfamiliar with Busdriver prior to this performance (I knew he was a rapper, towards the bizarre side of the spectrum, which is what I told the polite young man next to me, who inquired), I can safely say the bloke was a complete trip, an experience to savior. Mr. Busdriver, clad in a Run DMC shirt and christmas lights (!!) managed to rhyme "fender bender" with "chicken tender", sample the Super Furry Animals, and lead the crowd in a chant of "Kill Your Employer!" (seemingly his most popular song), all within the constraints of a 40-60 minutes set. Yeah, I'll stop it with the parantheses. Not really.

While I have little interest in seeking out an album (it just wouldn't be the same), the guy makes Public Enemy sound like Kenny G. Beyond description. A flow the speed of light. Spastic movements. One of my favorite songs feautured the chorus (paraphrased) "I am the first black astronaut...in a hot air balloon." Whoop-de-doo!

`driver interacted with the crowd wonderfully, and really satisfied my quest for insanity. Here's a video for "Imaginary Places", to give you taste:



DDEEEEERRRRRHHOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFF


At some point, San Francisco's own Deerhoof took the stage, promoting their fantastic new album, "Friend Oppurtunity" (seriously, buy it, get it, steal it!). If you're unfamiliar, these guys (and gal) tread the line between soft `n cuddly, and satanically noisy. Deerhoof feautures the Elmo-like vocal presence (and cute dance motions!) of Satomi Matsuzaki, the screechingly-loud guitar manhandling of John Dieterich and the incredibly powerful drum shredding of Greg Saunier (possibly the best drummer since the mighty Drozd). Since early this millenium, this trio has churned out the most consistently unique sounds and melodies to make you grin until your face hurts. I recommend "The Runners Four" as a starting point, though it's hard to go wrong.

Anyway, they came out amid much cheering and performed a triumphant version of "Reveille"'s lovely pop ditty, "The Eyebright Bugler". In fact, 2002's "Reveille" was feautured surprisingly often in the mind-melting tracklist - I was also treated to the wordless bliss of "Our Angel's Ululu", the noisy 1:18 groove of "Holy Night Fever", and, at some point, "This Magnificent Bird Will Rise", I think. I was amazed by the catchiness and intensity to these lil snippets of pop songs.

Throughout the setlist (aboot 20 songs), Greg Saunier broke his bass drum at least twice, most notably during the intro to "Milk Man" (which drew my attention away from this couple near me, doing this bizarre dance movement to the opening guitar chords). Mr. Saunier is a complete animal on the drums, stealing the show, and causing at least half the crowd to shit their pants in indescribable intensity.

Other highlights:
Of course, I'd be remiss not to mention the one-word ectasy of "Flower" (like a nursery school singalong on crack). And how could I possibly attempt to describe the experience of about 2,000 people singing along with the lyrics "Panda panda panda! Panda panda pan...panda!"? Or the raw grooves of "Twin Killers" and "Wrong Time Capsule", making me move in spastic, unpredictable motions that almost, but not quite qualify as dancing...

And I haven't even mentioned the new album tracks, which were truly fine additions to the already orgasmic setlist. They played "Kidz Are So Small", which sounds like a companion piece of sorts to "Dog on the Sidewalk" (actually lyrics: "If I were a man, and you a dog / I'd throw a stick for you!") I love how the guitar replaces the lovely horn riff in newest single, "+81", all leading to a brilliant chorus of "choo choo choo choo, beep bepp!"

"Believe E.S.P" deserves its own paragraph. You think I use phrases like "sick groove!" and "woof! cowbell!" for my own amusement? Easily one of the best songs to ever come out of the warped minds of these three individuals. Deerhoof on a funk kick. No full sentences here. This song. Hot. Hot. Lalala lalalalalalalala...crossing the line....". So good.

The encore included a mesmerizing rendition of 11:45 closer "Look Away". Gooey, noisy Deerhoof goodness. I highly suggest you revisit this show when the time machine appears on your doorstep. However, for now, videos videos videos. Let `em rock your balls off, too:







Dog on the sidewalk! Dog on the sidewalk! Dog on the sidewalk! I saw! I saw!

Good day.

(Copyright 2007 for Hilbert_Cheesecake productions)

Top Ten Noisepop Bands/Releases of the 90's

This list was compiled by Randall noisepop expert. I'm posting it here with his permission.

1. The Flaming Lips - In a Priest Driven Ambulance With Silver Sunshine Stares

Sunkissed explosions of sound, melody, and weirdness. Absolutely perfect and very necessary.

2. Sixteen Deluxe - Backfeedmagnetbabe

Taking their cue from mid-period lips, 16D constructs jubilant and bittersweet pop songs ensconced in layers of reveb and feedback. Not as experimental as Dingus or ronald, but just as satisfying.

3. Helium - The Dirt of Luck

Mary Timony is one of the unsung guitar heroes of the 90's. GKGuitar can attest to this. Her guitar sound is beyond unusual, her voice is at once innocent and paranoid. Creepy noisepop music for yr head.

4. Small Factory - I Do Not Love You

Songs range from the gorgeous cover of Lois Maffeo's "Valentine," to the razor-sharp pop jangle of "What to Want," resting uncomfortably atop the noisy crescendo of album closer "Junkie on a Good Day."

5. Dambuilders - Encendedor

Soild, catchy, and noisy pop anthems for young adults buoyed by Jeff Buckley's most excellent ex, violinist Joan Wasser,

6. Outragreous Cherry - S/T

Sometimes a bit too slavish to the 60's, retro-popsters OC borrows from the books of VU, JAMC, and other underground acronyms.

7. Mercury Rev - See You on the Other Side

The experimental phase that began with David Baker shines in an ecstatic light on this first post-Baker release. Jazz-inflected, soaring, pop songs that are as beautiful as they are loud.

8. Unrest - Perfect Teeth

Another perfect merge of the experimental and traditional pop structure. Highlights are the ecstatic jangle of "Make out Club", to the pop genius of "Cath Carroll." Not as stunning as Imperial f.f.r.r. (An Imperial Full Frequency Range Recording, but "Make Out Club" just kills me. Sorry, Pickle.

9. Th' Faith Helaers - Imaginary Friend

Guitarist Tom Cullinan belongs up there with Ronald Jones. This is one noisy, imaginative, and trance-like pop album. You should also check out Tom's new band Quickspace.

10. Yo La Tengo - Painful

Gorgeous, sublime, stunning, bittersweet, jarring, noisy, amazing. YLT at their best.

Top 10 Bands/Artists Of The 60s

To follow up my list of my favorite 10 Bands/Artists of the 90s I'm moving back in time to the 60s. Again this list will not be in any specific order and only represents my favorites not an argument that these are the 10 most important or the 10 most influential.

The Beatles - My favorite band of all time by quite some margin. I'm one of those Beatles freaks. I don't really feel I need to explain their inclusion on this list. It'd be a ridiculous list without them.

The Who - I think The Who are sometimes overlooked or under appreciated although many of their songs are staples of the classic rock radio stations. Possibly these songs are overplayed and it becomes harder to appreciate them? The Who had some great albums and songs but I think it's live where they really set themselves apart.

The Rolling Stones - I think the fact that they've been constantly in the media for 40+ years has actually hurt the appreciation of their really great music in the 60s (and 70s.) Not to say I'm one of those people who thinks they should have retired 30 years ago. I think it's fantastic that they are doing what they love at age 60+. I think we all should be. But I do think that the younger generations have a harder time getting into them than say the aforementioned Beatles because of the fact that they see The Stones still around looking like their grandfather. Sure you see the same thing with Paul McCartney but somehow that doesn't effect the Beatles legacy because of him being solo and not using the name. Anyway The Stones had many classic songs in the 60s that one cannot imagine rock n roll without.

The Pink Floyd - I love Syd Barrett's Floyd and Pipers at the Gates of Dawn is one of my favorite albums. A totally different Pink Floyd from the one that became huge in the 70s (and I'm a big fan of that Pink Floyd too.)

The Beach Boys - A ton of excellent pop songs and the masterpiece Pet Sounds. Good enough to get on this list. Hell just Pet Sounds alone would probably get them on the list!

Bob Dylan - Essential. You can't have a list of the best of the 60s without Bob Dylan obviously. I was just making you sweat a bit by having him lower in the list. See it's in no specific order. The order of a mad man, perhaps. Anyway Dylan was on fire in the 60s as I'm sure you know. He was releasing album after album of great material. If I had to choose just one it'd probably be Highway 61 Revisited or Blonde On Blonde.

Van Morrison - Unlike most music critic types I prefer Moondance to Astral Weeks. Perhaps thats partly nostalgia as Moondance was constantly being played by my parents when I was growing up but I think Moondance is a pretty perfect album. So many amazing songs. Astral Weeks is very cool but in comparison I have to be in the mood to listen to it. Although I just checked to make sure and Moondance was actually released in 1970. Well you know what, to hell with you. He's going on this list anyway. Astral Weeks came out in '68.

Jimi Hendrix - I think it's a bit hard to truly appreciate Hendrix because he's become so deified. That being said I've got a lot of joy out of listening to his music. I must admit I haven't been able to listen to him for quite some time having been thoroughly burnt out on most of his well known stuff. I do think I may be able to open my ears up to him again soon though.

Frank Zappa - The 60s are definitely my favorite Zappa period. While I enjoy some of his later stuff in smaller doses, it's the really freaky stuff with the Mothers that I really get into.

The Band - Music From The Big Pink and the self titled The Band are both really great albums.

I know I've left off some really great bands and artists but I can't find it in my heart to bump any of these to make way for The Velvet Underground. But I'm considering it. Where are The Kinks? As good as The Kinks are I've never been as into them as any of these bands/artists. Led Zeppelin? I and II were released in 1969 but I think of them as a 70s band. They're also a band I have a hard time listening to lately due to over exposure.

Well hopefully this list will start off some good debate with plenty of people calling me an ignorant knob head. Who's going to start it off?

Top 10 Bands/Artists Of The 80s.

Thinking back on the 1980's, oh my brothers, this is clearly the best decade ever. Just think about it, what other Pop culture era can you conjure up to rival the sheer originality of that 80's production sheen? Let me introduce to you the greatest bands and artists that defined this particular time and place musically, and in no particular order:

New Order - Give me a break, New Order is Da Man! Rising from the ashes of Joy Division and causing one to shake their respective buttocks well into the late evening hours. Please buy "Power, Corruption & Lies" in the very new future, I beg of you!

Devo - Now this is a band that owns the very essence of my taint, and what could be better than that? Their 1980 epic "Whip It" pretty much defined the decade, albeit, a decade that was also kind enough to see the rise of Nintendo.

The Cars - Rik Ocasek and his funeral home friends essentially redefined what Bubblegum Pop music was all about, and went about introducing it to a greasy generation of video game arcade enthusiasts. She is your "Best Friend's Girl" indeed, Mr. Ocasek! Ha! Yeah, you right, me droogie! And is it me, or is the music video for The Cars "Since You're Gone" like one of the most awesome things ever? And I am like so not joking! God, I just love it! It gives me the tingles! Tee-hee! Thanks for the tingles, fellas!

Wall of Voodoo - Say what you will, but thanks to these chaps I am in fact forever on "Mexican Radio," and I totally yet endlessly shat you not! Stanard Q. Ridgway left Wall of Voodoo right at the height of Voodoo Mania, as I like to affectionately refer to it. Mr. Ridgway had solo success with eerie songs about mosquitos and stuff. He still tours, I believe. Isn't that rad? Thanks to the early days of MTV, the fun and sexy "Mexican Radio" video really gave these gentlemen a second life. Wall of Voodoo originally formed as a group of gents with an interest in doing film scores. Bet you didn't know that, did ya? Ha! I'm so sweet.

The Smiths - Let's face it, Morrissey is the high priest of us all. The Smiths are no doubt one of the most rebellious bands in the history of Pop. And boy, could that Johnny Marr ever wail on a guitar or what? The dude is awesome with the string bending hierarchy. Steven Patrick Morrissey is one of the most highly intelligent songwriters in the history of dry land, my babies. He probably does quadratic equations in his sleep. Morrissey solo material that closed out the 80's is very much worth looking into if you haven't already.

Kate Bush - Sure, she came to light at the end of the 70's, and thanks in part to the tutelage of one David Gilmour, but that's another nightmare. Kate Bush is one of the most independent artists I can claim to have an extra special crush on. Too bad more American broads didn't follow Kate's lead into the land of high drama and intense theatrics, you know? Instead, at least for a great many, it was the poor role model of that dastardly and smutty Madonna. Kate Bush is very far from being grodie or a renob, so please seek out her albums, if the spirit in fact moves you...and it should. She's just too rad for words.

Hüsker Dü - Before Nirvana, there was this band. These guys were so ahead of their time, but unfortunately spent much of their time in a not particularly lucrative field known as the American Underground. Wee! Lots of fun that must have been. Needless to say, their cover of The Byrds "Eight Miles High" certainly makes clear that the Hippie era had nothing on Alex P. Keaton. Bob Mould would close out the Back to the Future decade with a pretty gnarly solo album which featured his massive hit "See A Little Light," and boy, is that song ever cool. Contemporary Adult Rock actually mattered in the 80's, my friends, and don't you ever forget that.

PiL - Oh yeah, John Lydon got sick of being rotten once he removed himself from the Sex Pistols finger trap and made his epic debut with a new band. Things turned up roses in 1978 when John Lydon and his mates released the first Public Image Limited record. Two albums would close out the 70's before John gave us a magnificent feat in beat with the terribly underrated gem known as "The Flowers of Romance." While PiL started to lag by the end of the 80's, they did dazzle our collective ears with such minor hits as "This Is Not A Love Song" and "Rise." Give these poor old sods a chance, as I think you'll like their unique brand of Death Disco and Experimental Pop. Post-Punk was a pretty rad genre, no?

Siouxsie And The Banshees - Speaking of Post-Punk! Much like PiL, Siouxsie and her chums formed in the late 70's, but then later went on to some tasty commercial success throughout the 80's and featured various incarnations of sound. First, they were all weird and scary and shit, but then later, they got all Poppy on my cute little furry bottom. Anything by Siouxsie and The Banshees is pretty sweet. Siouxsie has an awesome stage presence and such a haunting voice. This band of Goth creeps really had some eye catching fashion sense, which indeed served them well during the music video heyday.

Butthole Surfers - Such an underrated band, and especially in today's new market of supposedly Experimental Rock. The Surfers are a genre unto themselves, a musical world to get lost in, much like Captain Beefheart. Certainly, the very best band to emerge out of the American Underground, and while they later transformed into a radio-friendly Hip Hop outfit, their 80's output is unrivaled in terms of epic strangeness. Paul Leary could really transform into a screaming elderly woman with his panic approach to string bending. Gibby Haynes delivered effects-laden vocal sermons from Hell, all the while Mr. King Coffey pounded his drum kit as if he were on a perpetual death march. I tell you, little compares to the Butthole Surfers "Locust Abortion Technician," a lovely little album that one is.

So, there you have the epic list of THE most important bands and artists of the 80's. Allow me to leave you with the following Warhol quote, "Making money is art, and working is art and good business is the best art."

Mexican Radio!

"Game Theory" by the Roots: Hip Hop album of 2006

The Roots - "Game Theory"
Rating: 9.00000000001 / 10



With the gusto and enthusiasm of a stereoid-powered hyena, the Roots come pounding through the door on their seventh studio album, 2006's frighteningly apocalyptic "Game Theory", their first for Def Jams records. Of course, at this point, it almost seems as if it's illegal to mention The Roots without mentioning the fact that they are proud to be known as the world's greatest (maybe only,) true HIP HOP BAND. That's right, kiddos. Led by emcee Black Thought and drummer/renaissance man/world leader/afro-the-size-of-cuba ?uestlove (the ? is silent), their usage of live instruments, along with their supposedly extraordinary live show automatically ups their credibility among rock fans. The legendary Philadelphia phinest perfected their jazz-inflected moody hippety-hoppety on earlier classics such as "Do You Want More?!!!!?!??!" and "Illadelph Halflife". With 1999's "Things Fall Apart", they proved that YES! THEY DO WANT MORE?!!!!!!??!! by releasing one of the greatest hip hop albums of the twentieth century, standing alongside masterworks such as The Beastie Boys' "Check Your Head", Nas's "Illmatic", A Tribe Called Quest's "The Low End Theory" and Outkast's "Aquemini". In 2002, them Rootz confuzzled fans and critics alike with the head-spinning all-over-ze-place messterpiece that was "Phrenology". 2004's "The Tipping Point" brought them in a more traditional rap direction, filled to the brim with old-school nods and grooves galore. However, any fears of the group heading too far into bland conservatism are dissolved within a minute of "Game Theory".

Prior to the release date, ?uestlove described the album as "very mature, serious, and very dark", clearly moreso than any past user-friendly Roots record. He wasn't lying. The album is book-ended by tributes to the late producer J. Dilla: the intro, "Dilltastic Vol Won(derful)" and the poignant 8-plus-minute closer, "Can't Stop This". However, in between, there's really no time for eulogies - the first drum claps of "False Media" prove that the Roots are innit to winnit. From the dark, spoken-word chorus to the vivacious (yes) production, the track kicks arse. "That's why I don't rhyme for the sake of riddlin`, false media, we don't need it, do we?" *Orgasm*

The rest of the album never lets up the relentless, yet serious vibe. From the stomach-punching, Sly Stone-sampling, Malik B.-featuring assault of the title track to the Radiohead-sampling downbeat, solemn meditations of "Atonement" (for the record, it's "You and Whose Army"), this album further proves the notion that the Roots are the band to play to convert any of them genrelising, musically-prejudiced cockbags who claim that all rap is crap, or it's just talking over a beat, or any common variations of these ignorant slogans, really. But this album brings ze funk and ze rock and ze paranoia in equal measures. "Game Theory" will touch your heart, tap your feet, blow up your spleen and sleep with your mother in just 46.9 minutes (hip hop albums don't need to be 79 minute epics, you know *cough*Kanye!*cough*). Just listen to "Baby"! Concentrate on those funky "Ooh!"s and "Ahh!"s during the verses? I don't even know who the hell guest-star John-John of Nouveau Riche is, but this song makes me wanna find him and buy him an egg-salad sandwich at noon! "Livin` in a New World" features the same dude, and it's snazzy in a way I can't even begin to describe.

"Today's gonna be the day....we start livin` in a new world."

Poetry poetry poetry. And I don't even have room to describe the head-bumpin` intensity of the unmentioned tracks. It's besides the point. Just buy the album. And that other Roots album! And that other one! You know the one. With the thing on it.

Hip Hop album of the preceding year, fo` sho`.

"In this day and age, I'm kind of noticing that nobody in urban music really has the balls to just stop partying for one second," says ?uestlove. "I mean, partying is good and whatnot, and it's cool to get down, but I really think that 2006 called for a very serious record. This ain't the Debbie Downer record, or the political, save-the-world record, but this is definitely not the MC-based, battle-themed album that the Roots have been known for. This is our most serious record to date."
-?uestlove (Papa don't preach!)

(I feel oddly obliged to post a badass video somewhere around here, but Youtube seems to be down at the moment. Oh my! Good day.)

(c) 2007 by Hilbert_Cheesecake for Hilbert_Cheesecake productions

Sonic Youth Vs. The Doors

Say what you will about the Lizard King, but he is far more Punk than Kim Gordon could ever hope to be. At least Jim Morrison was a feminist on a mission, and very much interested in equal rights for squirrels. Most importantly of all, The Doors collectively as a band always supported their local scene and published more 'zines than Larry Flynt on payday, oh my brothers and only friends. Take that Thurston Moore! Your Ecstatic Peace label is a waste of time. I mean this sincerely, Mr. Moore. Why waste your time producing some musical rubbish by a clan of geeks known as Pagoda? What the hell is your problem, my friend? Answer me. For those of you deaf to musical hubris and asexual tendencies, Pagoda is a "band" led by the talentless actor and former drug addict Michael Pitt, perhaps some of my younger readers remember him best as some random dork wasting space in a sexy little romp that failed miserably at the box office entitled The Village.

Don't get me wrong, though. The Doors did sell out a little movement in music they call Punk. Of course, this was after they invented it. For, you see, there would be no Ramones without The Doors. FACT! That's just how it is. As for Sonic Youth, all they ever offered persons with a musical ear is nothing more than a lengthy discography full of rubbish. The rampant heterophobia that exists in the Sonic Youth camp is unforgivable forever and ever. Kurt Cobain died because Thurston Moore scuffed up his ultra hip Converse sneakers one gray April morn. I totally shat you not, my friends. I would never shat you in any instance. Back to The Doors being superior to Sonic Youth, just think of a little song called "People Are Strange," which is really more than a song if you take the time to really think about it, as it is more so a universal fact! I get so angry with Sonic Youth fans and their respective Grunge garb. What are they trying to prove? Who's baby are they sitting exactly? IS IT YOURS? IS IT!

Some may say that Oliver Stone's movie ruined The Doors precious legacy, and this is true to an extent. Of course, a little band called The Doors of the 21st Century did not help things much either, with the repulsive former lead singer of The Cult doing his best Val Kilmer impersonation on vocal duties. For goodness sake, give me a break already! The Doors keyboard maestro Ray Manzarek has done so much damage to the band's legacy by constantly referring to Jimbo as some sort of spiritual leader sent to Earth from another planet to help us all be at peace with the Troll People. This is Barbershop Quartet bliss, is it not? I am honestly at the end of a very short rope and all is uneasy all up in my jockey shorts this fantasy-driven evening. I do apologize for my wordplay, but it is difficult for me to fully explain just how awful Sonic Youth truly is. I can't think of a single catchy song, all of it is just a terrible racket to my cute little ears. And is it just me, or does Kim Gordon look like an anorexic scarecrow?

Clearly, the creatively fertile late '60's made for some musical bliss. The Doors released a total of six studio albums that took them to the year 1971, which was when Morrison caught his death in a Paris bathtub. My main concern amongst the music elite is the sad legacy The Doors have had thrust upon them in recent years. My advice to you is to view them within the context of their respective time and place. Don't give me any of your Riot Grrrl rewritings of history, because I refuse to read it! Rock out to the Robby Krieger(Doors guitarist and sometimes songwriter)jam "Light My Fire" and free your little Hipster mind before it is too late. Toss your copy of "Sonic Nurse" and replace it with "The Soft Parade." We all know that the very best music is often times released on a major label, excluding Sonic Youth, of course. For you see, Sonic Youth is music for a shabby lifestyle, as where the music of The Doors is music for the music fan. What other band in the history of bandom(just made up that word)can you think of who has mingled Jazz and Rock and Electric Blues tendencies so deliciously other than Jim Morrison and his world famous Doors experience? Excluding Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart, obviously.

Do keep in mind that The Doors really did cut loose live with their Acid Rock drenched improvisational techniques, as where Sonic Youth are perpetual lifeless zombies playing badly out-of-tune stringed instruments. Now, I am going to leave you with something to think about, cadets. I want you to compare and contrast the intellectual prowess of Mr. Mojo Rising Morrison up against an epic fraud affectionately referred to as Thurston. Enjoy!

Clinical Intelligence:



Clinical Narcissism:

Thoughts on "Fab Four Suture"

Interesting, Stereolab follow the more so stripped down approach of the Disco influenced Margerine Eclipse and give it a delightfully mellow twist. Fab Four Suture is wonderfully delicious little slices of ear candy, and quite obviously, fun for the whole La Familia. The album begins with the funky robotic trance sounds of "Kyberneticka Babicka Part 1," which is then followed by the groovy and assured sass of "Interlock." The beats are tight, the bass lines are splendid and the horn arrangements are to die for. The very song structure of "Plastic Mile" is the very definition of a song within a song, truly one of the best songs on the record, and a song that shows Tim Gane's song writing prowess in great detail. The lyrics greet the listener with warning, and the frequent use of keyboards often have a menacing quality. There is a dark humor and melancholy throughout that appropriately displays a highly mature vocal and emotional quality coming from Lætitia Sadier's pipes. The mingling of tiny drum machine beats mingled with the more so reliable live percussive Jazz vibes is truly curious, but somehow works and makes a great deal of sense musically.

Appropriately, the album closes with "Kyberneticka Babicka Part 2," as if the demonic robot spirit that the song summons is somehow waving good-bye. Indeed, Fab Four Suture is a good place to be at musically, and while the tour for which wasn't quite as potent or solid as that of Margerine Eclipse, this awkwardness, if it can be referred to as such, is a clear indication that Stereolab are taking things in a new direction. Of course, the trademark sound is always intact, but what they are beginning to do with it and where they have taken it on this record is simply undeniably good. Think of early Stereolab but with the inclusion of some new unexplainable element that will hopefully more so take focus when they release new material possibly by the end of the year.

The interesting thing about this album is that it is compiled from a series of 45" singles that Stereolab released in late 2005 and in early 2006 just months prior to the release of Fab Four Suture. Of course, it is interesting to note that very few bands specifically go out of their way to compose material for the obscure 45" single format in mind, and that is at least in part why Stereolab is Da Man! I must say that this album is best heard on delicious double 10" vinyl, if you can find it. I will leave you with a great little music video a fan made that looks absolutely 100% legit. This is a sad number the church elders refer to as "Whisper Pitch," so do keep some hankies handy...

Top 10 Bands/Artists Of The 90s.

A lot of people look back at the 90s and think of the grunge era of the early 90s with Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Others think back on the late 90s and the teen pop of N Sync, Britney Spears, and the Backstreet Boys. This is definitly not the case for me.

My favorite 10 bands/artists that were arguably at their "peak" during the 90s (no particular order):

The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin is one of my very favorite albums of the decade and the rest of their 90s output is almost as great. In fact I think every single album they released in the 90s is a great album from A Priest Driven Ambulance to The Soft Bulletin. One of the best things about these albums is how different they are from each other. As different as all of their albums are they all share the same spark of creativity. The same sense of true psychedelia. They were pushing themselves forward into new territory throughout the decade. They never allowed themselves to get into a rut.

For someone who has yet to hear the Lips I would recommend starting out with The Soft Bulletin and 2002's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and then work your way back through gems like Clouds Taste Metallic. If you are more of a noisy rock guitar kind of guy or gal then you might want to start with A Priest Driven Ambulance and make your way towards the newer stuff.

Radiohead - I don't really like their debut album Pablo Honey much at all. To me it sounds too much like all the other bands in tired the "alternative" genre of the time. But The Bends is great and OK Computer is legendary. These two albums I consider to be so good that if I were ranking instead of listing my top 10 they would likely be #1. But choosing 10 is hard enough without putting them in order. My only reservation about placing them on this list is that I'm not really sure I consider the 90s to be the peak of Radiohead because I love their output from this decade so much.

Oasis - While this is an extremely unpopular choice among the type of indie snobs that this blog is aimed at (and I'm sure the other contributers on this site will be turning up their noses at this selection) I don't really care. I think they are an excellent band that writes insanely catchy tunes and certainly they were at their peak with 1994's Definitely Maybe and it's more poppy follow up 1995 (What's The Story) Morning Glory? I also like Be Here Now as much of a mess as it is. It's over the top nature I now find to be quite endearing. Especially in this era of emo nonsense.

Along with Noel Gallagher's perfect songwriting in the 90s his brother Liam brought the perfect rock voice to the band. To me Liam Gallagher is arguably the best rock singer of the decade. In fact I suppose I'm arguing it right now. His delivery can make the most insipid lyrics (and no doubt most of Oasis' lyrics are very insipid) and the most tired tune and turn them into something that grand. When he sings "Tonight I'm A Rock N Roll Star" I believe that he really means that. He's not being ironic, he really means it. To me this sort of attitude is what's missing from so much of the music of the past, I don't know, 30 years.

The Olivia Tremor Control - I didn't start listening to the Olivia Tremor Control until a few years ago but I now consider them to be near the very top of my list of great 90s bands. They've only released two albums and they came out in 1996 and 1999 so clearly they fit the criteria of their peak being in the 90s. While they only released two albums they were both so great and so epic in scope that I consider them to be one of my absolute favorite bands.

Their music is some of the most psychedelic pop rock music I've ever heard. There are seemingly infinite layers of sound going on in their tunes. The arrangements and instrumentation are always surprising. Certainly they take their cues from The Beach Boys and The Beatles and they often called retro but I never feel like I'm hearing any attempt to recreate the magic of an earlier time when I listen to them. I hear something far greater than just some recreation. I hear music that is timeless, from some place where time is just an idea.

If you are new to the Olivia Tremor Control I would start off with their first album 1996's Dusk At Cubist Castle and once that has been thoroughly digested move on to 1999's Black Foliage. I suggest this because if you get both of them at once I think you may be overwhelmed. Both of their albums deserves it's own gestation period so to speak. I think they are equally great with Dusk At Cubist Castle probably being easier to get into at first but Black Foliage being even more layered and intricate.

Beck - Beck was undoubtedly one of the most innovative and important artists of the 90s. 1994's Mellow Gold is widely known mostly for it's hit single "Loser" but it's actually filled with great inventive tracks that have a delicious DIY type weirdness to them. If you want to get really weird and really DIY with Beck then you should check out his lesser known album Stereopathetic Soulmanure which is brimful with insanity.

Of course Beck became known as more than a one hit wonder with 1996's Odelay which was more polished than his earlier work and won much wide acclaim. While my friend Mozart Breath doesn't care for it much I think it's quite a wonderful album and it holds up quite well with time.

Believe it or not I'm one of the few Beck fans who doesn't love 1998's Mutations. For some mysterious reason I've just never been able to get into that album.

Primal Scream - To me Primal Scream is one of the most underrated bands in the world. It doesn't seem like many people here in the US listen to them or even know who they are. Admittedly their last couple of albums haven't been mind blowing but Screamadelica and Vanishing Point are two of my very favorite albums of the 1990s. 2000's XTRMNTR is awesome too, but I'll keep this focused on the 90s, alright?

As you may gather from my list I'm quite the "psychedelic" music fan. Not psychedelic as if it's some specific genre of music from the 60s but in the sense that I enjoy music that tickles the brain a bit. Using this wide open to interpretation definition of psychedelic I'm not sure there are many albums that are more psychedelic than Screamadelica and Vanishing Point. Primal Scream's music is often a trip, even if you're not tripping. Although that may help your appreciation.

Spiritualized - Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space is an album of pure Godliness. It's one of my top 10 albums of all time and it's the main reason I am including them on this list. Like Primal Scream I feel that they have lost the edge that made them great with their recent albums but back in 1997 not too many could touch them.

Their earlier albums are fantastic too and I know they are preferred by some hardcore Spiritualized fans but to me Ladies & Gents is some sort of perfect culmination. Spiritualized is another British band that is too often overlooked here in the US.

Blur - Yes I've got both Oasis AND Blur on my list. Got a bit of a hard on for the "Brit Pop" do I? Aye. Blur is a bit hit and miss for me but I really like a lot of their stuff and I find myself enjoying them more and more as time goes by. I prefer their late 90s albums Blur and 13.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea is just a tremendous album. There's something about it that's magical and timeless. While I'll always choose Olivia Tremor Control over Neutral Milk Hotel when it comes to a clash of the Elephant 6 titans (which I'm sure will be an event at the next Wrestlemania.) I really love both of them for different reasons. I'm not usually someone who cares much about lyrics but Jeff Mangum has a way with words that really draws me in. It's actually a lyric from On Avery Island that may be my all time favorite lyric. It's "How Strange Is It To Be Anything At All." Somehow that sums it all up for me.

Ween - An extremely underrated band. Too many people think they are merely a "joke" band. While some of their songs are funny, they are far more bizarre than hilarious. Bizarre being much more interesting to me. They are the combination of extreme musical talent with even more extreme imagination. This combines to create masterpiece albums like 1997's The Mollusk. If you've never given Ween a real shot before I suggest you really listen to their music with an open mind starting with the aforementioned The Mollusk.

You may have noticed I've named quite a few albums from 1997 on this list and for some reason quite a few albums from that year really stand out for me above all others. Definitely my favorite year of the 90s as far as music goes with albums like Radiohead's OK Computer, Spiritualized's Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, Primal Scream's Vanishing Point, Ween's The Mollusk, The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka, Bob Dylan's Time Out Of Mind, and Cornershop's When I Was Born For The 7th Time.

It Is By Will Alone I Set My Mind In Motion: Stereolab In 2007 And Other Related Information Important To The Collective Conscience.

2007 may be a fantastical and amazing year for Stereolab. Clearly, Stereolab is a focus of mine, much like a delicious mug of Root Beer, oh my brothers. What wonderful treats are in store for us exactly? Well, let us go about taking a look-see then, shall we? I believe we shall. Firstly, it would appear that Stereolab bandleader and hormone guru Tim Gane is finally working on a film score, appropriately enough, and perhaps even more appropriately the film is in fact French. Being a music fan primarily, my knowledge of the film is quite minimal, but the title being advertised is as such: La Vie D'artiste. Wonderful, no? Say, speaking of new French films, there is now one being developed about bitchy 19th century poet Arthur Rimbaud entitled Les Jours fragiles. Can you imagine? Anyhow, perhaps the Internet Movie Database could better clue you in about these specific film projects, because like I say, I am a music fan, so I hope you understand...

Back to the Lab, the soundtrack to the above mentioned film La Vie D'artiste may quite possibly be released via the Too Pure label here in Tha States. Stereolab are collectively tinkering in the studio as we speak and their new LP could quite potentially be released say by...October? No guarantees, but let's hope that this is the case. And for those addicted to sweaty live performance venues, Lab tour dates may very well begin by the end of the fucking year, dork. Sorry, my tourettes has been acting up like mad as of late. The Lætitia Sadier side project known in the hippest of circles as Monade will apparently have a split 45" single released hopefully in a few months time alongside an unimportant band not worth mentioning. Material by Monade is also available on the Too Pure label and more information can be found on the official Too Pure web site.

So, there you have the look ahead for our friends in Stereolab, and indeed, their related projects as well. All information is clearly subject to change, much like the sleeping position of the corpse of John Cage. As always, remember to stay clear of the band Air, and I am especially serious about this in the year of our Lord 2007 because those ultra creepy bon vivants will want to juice your wallet of its precious cash flow with their hideously drab new effort "Pocket Symphony," so yep, you heard it from me first. Allow me to leave you in bliss with the comic stylings of Monade, and to all a good night...



Oh, and the most recent record by Monade is 2005's "A Few Steps More." Please purchase it, I beg of thee. Cheerio, and may the world go well with thee...

Stereolab Give Me Nothing But Sound-Dust

You know, I was just thinking about Stereolab's "Sound-Dust" quite recently. I'm just that kind of ho, you know? It is the kind of record that just captures your mood and puts you to sleep forever. I believe it to be Stereolab's greatest achievement, there is no question. You are living in a dream during the duration of this record; and it is the kind of record I suggest listening to completely through in one sitting. Ideal options are on CD with your finest pair of headphones or if you happen to nab up the limited edition vinyl, if this is the case, crank it on a decent pair of speakers. There is something about the record that is magical and mystical, almost cinematic in its way. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Stereolab were violently beaten by the worst reviews in their career with their previous effort released two years earlier in 1999 and entitled "Cobra and Phases Groop Play Voltage in The Milky Night."

Jazz cuts worthy of a Peter Sellers Pink Panther film were not what the critics were eating up in 1999, and indeed, Stereolab was made to suffer. Their "The First of The Microbe Hunters" EP released in 2000 went by with little fan fair, and even amongst hardcore Stereolab enthusiasts it is viewed upon as one of their lesser efforts. The Groop licked their collective wounds in 2001 and narrowed down the number of producers they made use of, and in essence, essentially produced the album themselves, as was often their custom in the early days. However, "Sound-Dust" is far from sounding like early Stereolab, which was a sort of sound very close to what the Velvet Underground were offering up on "White Light/White Heat." On "Sound-Dust" Stereolab provide the soundtrack to an intense and thought provoking Mystery film on the album opener, a song called "Black Ants in Sound Dust." The second cut on the record has a similar flair for the dramatic and is entitled "Spacemoth."

The Groop that we know and love fully blossoms on the sing-song harmony of "Captain Easychord," which proved to be the album's only single and was very far away from being a chart-topper, the simple fact that Stereolab ceased making music videos at this point didn't help things much either. While "Cobra and Phases..." had complaints waged at it for being a bit too lengthy in spots, as even the album title itself can attest to. Things were nicely brought into focus on "Sound-Dust." They honestly haven't had an album constructed this successfully since "Dots & Loops," which indeed is their second best effort. A few cuts thankfully feature the late great Mary Hansen on lead vocal, as the darkly humorous Pop jingle "Nothing to Do with Me" is an album highlight. Lætitia Sadier is in fine vocal performance as well and shows just a hint of human emotion on the longing and introspective "The Black Arts."

This is the record that is essentially the end of an era for Stereolab, at least in my mind. As fate would cause their music to ultimately take a more stripped down approach, arguably. But on "Sound-Dust" Stereolab somehow amazingly made Easy Listening music interesting, almost ideal. Easy Listening being a sort of sound that they began to explore as early as "Mars Audiac Quintet." Band leader Tim Gane keeps the focus on melody and nothing drags on for too long before an appropriate fade out introduces us to the next infectious piece of ear candy. The final cut on the record is wonderfully dreamlike, and while Stereolab would go on to make some amazing music as the 2000's drug on, nothing at all compares to "Sound-Dust" and I highly doubt it ever will. The strangest thing of all about this record, at least from a highly personal perspective, is that I don't happen to own it...

Cheerio!

Word Up with Yann Tiersen?

He's fantastical! He's wonderful! He did the soundtrack to "Amélie!" HOW CUTE IS THAT??? ANSWER ME!!! Check it out, Yann Tiersen is the master of the whimsical film score. You will be crying tears of joy in no time flat as this master instrumentalist beats your ear canals to death with his toy piano and viola stylings. Yann Tiersen is a master in the traditional art of French Folk music, yet he gives things an experimental and decidedly modern twist. It is often times the case that Yann Tiersen uses antique typewriters for percussive purposes. It does not get any more dainty or beautiful than that. Even telephones for Yann serve as makeshift keyboards. This modern musical genius is so dainty and pure at heart that you will be left thinking about nothing except for Tilda Swinton's forehead. NOW THAT'S GOOD EATING!

Yo, check this out, my main man Mr. Tiersen has been rockin' the bells in the world of film ever since his amazing and hypnotic piece "Rue des Cascades" played during the closing scene in the heartfelt French Indie film "The Dreamlife of Angels" from 1998. I just love that word "Indie," don't you? Tee-hee! I'm so precious and beautiful, much like the music I am introducing to you with my elegant words. Indeed, nab up the original score to the internationally acclaimed corny romantic drama "Amélie," as you'll love those glorious strings. Yann Tiersen is a twenty-first century composer that is very much worth your time. Other albums by Tiersen that I suggest include the following: "L'Absente" and "Les Retrouvailles." In fact, "Les Retrouvailles" contains some beautiful vocal performances by Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins fame. Forget about Air, we all know those two dwarf snobs are nothing more than bad fashion, and superficial as hell. In short, Yann Tiersen is the real French bread pizza that you seek, make no mistake. Add him to your record collection right along side your Serge Gainsbourg records, as there is absolutely no excuse not to. Minimalist composition never had it so good.

The Cocteau Twin + The Frenchman = Le Fucking Awesome!



I'm so precious...aren't you, too?

Review: Tom Waits - "Orphans"

Tom Waits Presents His Orphans… And Not The Type That Madonna’s Been Adopting.

Rating: 8.79999999999/10

Fact: Tom Waits is better than you.

It’s true. He’s cooler than you, cleverer than you, and he has a much more intimidating growl than you. He also looks better in a top hat than you do. Make no mistake, he will rock you, pick you up and drop you, swallow you whole, and regurgitate you back up. After all that, he’ll still beat you at a thumb wrestle war.

Now that that’s out of the way, this is about Tom Waits’ new(es) album of sorts, “Orphans. And no, we’re not talking` about the same type of orphans that your favorite diva’s been hunting for. These are Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards – a three disc set that runs the gamut from demented beat-box jams to gorgeous ballads to monologues about bull penises, and yet still manages to sound distinctly like Tom Waits, and none other. Quite simply, it’s absolutely delicious. True “orphans” served up in bite size portions. (I’m simply making a funny joke at you – we don’t really eat orphans. That can cause salmonella poisoning.)

Perhaps you’re not familiar with Tom Waits. For the uninitiated, Tom Waits’ has been described by my main man/colleague Daniel Durchholz as having a voice that “sounds like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months and then taken outside and run over with a car a few times.” Quite simply, he’s better than your favorite band. Ever since his first record in 1973, the fantastic “Closing Time” (one last call for alcohol so finish…), Tom Waits has proved to be a rarity in popular music – a relic from the classic rock era who has yet to sink into mediocrity and start getting injured falling out of palm trees (*cough*KeithRichards*cough*). Rather, his music has become increasingly extreme, primal and downright beautiful – often sounding like a frenzied wooly mammoth in a cave, using slaves as percussion, yet still finding time to perform on the Daily Show.

So, recently Mr. Waits decided to put out a collection of rarities, outtakes, non-album tracks and the like. Tom wasn’t satisfied. He ended up writing new songs, rerecording old ones, and ended up with 3+ hours worth of music divided into CDs by theme. Fifty-six songs! I’m told 30 of them are new, 14 have been previously released, and the other 6... uh...Tom only knows (where I’d be without you…). We start off with “Brawlers”, a screamin`, grooving`, moanin`, absolutely gnarly collection of Tom Waits' signature rockers. From the funky shuffle of “2:19”, to the insane beat-boxing of “Lucinda” to the lovely “Sea of Love”; when “Brawlers” is on, it’s on. One stand-out track is “Road to Peace”, a strangely catchy track about the Arab-Israeli conflict, seemingly written out of newspaper articles. “They fill their children full of hate to fight an old man’s war, and die upon the road to peace,” Tom moans over a grooving’ polka rhythm. “If God is great, and God is good, why can’t he change the hearts of men?” the song wonders. Then there’s the obligatory religious slow-jam, “Lord I’ve Been Changed”, which even features a separate vocal track devoted to moaning and groaning. Dude!

“Bawlers” is the mellow set. The one to play your mother. The ballads, the love songs, the jazzy cuts, the second Ramones cover(!), the moments in which Waits actually sounds, maybe, 4% sane. As expected, quite a bit of the songs (especially towards the end) tend to blend together, but there are many, many pleasant surprises. “You Can Never Hold Back Spring” is a beautiful, timeless ode to everyone’s favorite (not really) season. “Widow’s Grove” features a gorgeous cello melody, and could very well be one of the downright prettiest (yes, I said pretty)songs Waits has ever written. “Little Man” is a sublime excursion into jazzy territory, complete with the horn fills, the piano teetering on the edge...the melody always reminds me of Radiohead’s “Life in a Glass House”, for some reason. “Little Drop of Poison” is a more upbeat, piano-led cut – is Waits singing or clearing his throat? It’s groovy, folks. I always start to lose interest towards the end of the disc, but disc three, “Bastards”, is enough to wake up a comatose cow.

Essentially, “Bastards” is the excuse for Waits to let his madness run loose, which is awesome for a plethora of reasons. The misfits, the weirdoes, the ridiculous spoken word monologues, the praying mantis mating habits, it’s all here. “Bastards” is my stop for my daily dose of psychotic schizophrenic genius, referencing everyone from Captain Beefheart to Bukowski to Nat King Cole. So, it starts off with the Fiddle on the Roof-on-crack polka of “What Keeps Mankind Alive”, which sounds like it could be a truly bizarre “Swordfishtrombones” reject. “Children’s Story” is the first of the spoken word experiments, a cryptic tale of a sad little boy, credited to Georg Buchner’s Woyzeck. Thanks Tom! Another highlight is “Army Ants” – (insect facts gathered from the World Book Encyclopedia), a ridiculous view into the Discovery Channel through the mind of Tom Waits. More demented beat boxing grooves on “Bone Chain”, and “Two Sisters” sounds like a bible reading by Captain Beefheart. Oh, lord, continue the journey. The Sparklehorse collaboration “Dog Door” is in attendance, with an electronic backdrop that almost evokes “Kid A”-period Radiohead. Not surprisingly, it fits in better on this record than on “It’s A Wonderful Life”, which, in actuality, is a wonderful album. “Spidey’s Wild Ride” sounds flat out inhuman, the closest Waits ever has and ever will come to gangsta rap. “King Kong” is catchier than any Daniel Johnston cover featuring roaring, blues guitar and a King Kong synopsis in the lyrics has any right to be. Oh, yeah, and Waits does comedy. Including a monologue about bull genitalia. Hear it yourself. On a scale of one-to-ten, “Bastards” is the bottom of the ocean, the spicy noodle in the vegetarian salad of life.

“Orphans” is no lame box set and it certainly ain’t fuckin` “Stadium Arcadium”. It’s a truly raggedy, wretched and frightening look at the past and the future of an amazingly unique artist, genital warts and all. Oh, yes – Tom Waits is better than you.

Now, I know I seem like a douchebag for quoting Pitchforkmedia again, but sometimes they get it right. At ease, sargeant!:

"So it makes sense to trisect his style, creating a disc for each faction of Waits' diverse audience: Brawlers for the dudes who dress and groom like Waits' stage character, Bawlers for the SUV drivers who found Waits by way of Rod Stewart, and Bastards for the people who thought the singer's high water mark was his role in Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula."

Here, ye shall find an MP3 of "Road To Peace" (copy and paste the links, my brothers): hxxp://www.sendspace.com/file/vzd9f6

Here, I present to you a crazy-silly video for "Lie To Me":



(copyright 2007 for Hilbert_Cheesecake productions)

Wolf Eyes

If you're a fan of noise, then you'll know Wolf Eyes. This American noise group are as punk as noise can get, with trashy vocals that you have to strain to make out, loud crusht noises, and heavy HEAVY bass that actually tore my speakers apart, and an awesome use of effects. Knob twiddling vocalist Nate Young, guitar fucker-upper Aaron Dilloway and free-noise stylist John "Crazy bastard with the mace" Olson make up the trio, and have managed to churn out about 150 albums, like if Zappa took more drugs and kept on playing weirder and weirder instruments.

Wolf Eyes appeared around 1997 when Nate Young quit the music groups he was in at the time. His musixal style was always experimental, and he started to experiment more, making louder and more violent sounding noises, making instruments out of bits of crap and broken instruments. After that came Dilloway, who was previously a guitarist for the Ann Arbor based droup Galen. Together they'd make some pretty awesome noise, but the band really came together when John Olsen joined up. At the time, he was playing saxaphone with an improv-noise group called Universal Indians. He met Young and Dilloway at a show that they were performing at, and from there, Wolf Eyes was born.

Wolf Eyes record pretty much every thing they play, so there's an abundance of records out there for you to add to your collection, and it's well worth it. Even a few friends of mine who aren't particularly into noise music agree that Wolf Eyes stand out from the crowd, and make some pretty hardcore music worthy of a listen.

For your pleasure, here's Wolf Eyes perforing at Analog Shock. Enjoy!

It Does Not Pay to be a "Cult Band."

It is a rough life, my friend, let me tell you. To be in a "Cult Band," what does this mean exactly? From my viewpoint, it means to be ageing rather poorly under the awful lighting of some random live performance venue in the Cheese State of Wisconsin. The Brothers Flemion are natives of this State, specifically Milwaukee. There lot in this life is a sad one. And I should make clear that The Brothers Flemion are better known in some circles as The Frogs. A controversial duo, and keep in mind that controversy in music isn't going to make you very many pesos unless you have a penchant for rapping, but I digress. The Frogs formed in 1980 and started improvising material on crude reel-to-reel tape. A love for The Beatles, T. Rex, and Bob Dylan often laid the foundations for their blend of Folk Rock and Hard Rock stylings.

Now then, they started playing local coffeehouses in the early '80's and sold tapes at their shows. I mentioned the word controversy earlier because The Brothers Flemion, or specifically, Dennis and Jimmy Flemion AKA The Frogs; were often of the habit of specifically improvising recordings that would then be compiled onto cassette tapes and sold at shows, keep in mind that the improvised lyrical content was often times quite grotesque indeed. Songs about being endlessly evil and killing random people, keep in mind that these songs were often sung in either a phony English accent or some god awful caterwauling, and even as a crusty-throated senior. The Frogs were purely juvenile in terms of song lyrics, at least often times, as other songs in their oeuvre were very much rehearsed and had a sugary Pop Rock sensibility, lyrics to songs of this variety were very wistful and often croaked of longing for love.

The Frogs in a live setting only added to their controversy. Jimmy Flemion thought it best to construct absurd wings that would rival Batman and perhaps even a hint of lipstick would adorn his hideous lips, the older and somewhat more evil brother Dennis would often wear a wig worthy of Harpo Marx and a repulsive pink sailor suit. And just to break it down for you, Dennis is on drums and Jimmy operates the guitar; they both sing and have had a wide array of bassists in their very long and financially unsuccessful music career. Of course, all of this hard work during the '80's did eventually result in The Frogs S/T and self-released debut, which very much offers the musical flavoring of the shiny Pop Rock I alluded to earlier, and indeed, this nifty little record has a wide array of Pop gems, of course, none of them were hits. Finally, 1989 was a controversial year for Jimmy and Dennis, as it saw the release of "It's Only Right and Natural," this being an album in which The Frogs boasted of being Homo Supremacists, whatever that means.

The album in its still unreleased form actually caught the eye of cranky old Indie Rock guru Gerard Cosloy, and he is the chap that released "It's Only Right and Natural" on his Homestead record label prior to finding greater success as the head honcho behind famed Matador Records. After this brief stint in Underground Rock sensationalism that featured "It's Only Right and Natural" getting many a spin on uber-elitist college radio, the boys then dropped out of sight. In 1996 Beck sampled a cut from "It's Only Right and Natural" entitled "I Don't Care if You Disrespect Me (Just So Long as You Love Me)" for his Jazzy "Where It's At" chart-topper. Of course, a few years prior to this The Frogs were actually resurrected by none other than Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan who produced the EP "Starjob," which unfortunately was not released until 1997.

Greater success shined on these sick puppies when name-dropped by the late great St. Kurt Cobain, during ye olde early-mid '90's Grunge/Alternative clothing and hairstyle revolution. The Frogs also found a helpful admirer in drunken Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder, and indeed The Frogs opened a few arena gigs for Eddie and his respective Pearl Jam. 1994 saw The Frogs take second stage duties on the once rolling joke festival known as Lollapalooza with Billy Corgan holding their hand through it all. The enraged Half Japanese fan Gerard Cosloy came back into The Frogs life at around this very time of Frogs mania, and saw to it that The Frogs got to release a 45" single on his Matador label, this was shortly followed by the more substantial "My Daughter The Broad." As an album, "My Daughter The Broad" featured a series of improvised little Folk Rock gems, some of which were greatly descriptive in explaining the lovemaking techniques of elderly persons and the joys of sex change operations gone awry.

As those gloried and nostalgic schoolgirl days of the '90's waved goodbye, The Frogs sadly greeted the early 2000's largely where they started from...in obscurity. Three albums were released during this time period, although, the record labels that released them have long since gone out of business. These days, it would seem that The Frogs themselves are out of business. Two brothers tucked away in their parents' decrepit mansion, each of them well into his fifties with their collective biological clocks constantly ticking. Jimmy and Dennis Flemion(THE FROGS!)are now a pair of deeply troubled and badly aged sad souls, whose dreams of Rock god status were nothing but childish fantasies. They rarely even play a gig these days, not even in their hometown, and there is not a record label on the planet who wants to touch their creepy material. Not even their Pop Rock toe-tapping numbers would get them label interest at this point, because, alas, they are simply too old.

Au revoir, you filthy old bastards!

With a little help from Billy Corgan they made it onto an old Smashing Pumpkins VHS release, they're still poor though...



Good lord...

The top seven and a half coolest moments on Devo's debut album!

Q: Are We Not Nerds? A: We Are Blogging!



Perhaps it's due to the unlikely (and unavoidable) success of "Whip It". Or maybe it's because of the fact that Mark Mothersbaugh wrote the theme song to Rugrats (and if you don't recognize that theme instantly, then there's clearly an essential part of your childhood missing). Is it because of that stupid Devo 2.0 crap? Or is it a result of those funny hats they wore (and they were pretty damn funny)?


For any or all of these aforementioned reasons, there's a moronic rumor that needs t0 be dispelled: Devo was not and is not a joke/novelty group. No, no, no. Even my dog can understand this elementary concept. And if one listen to the 35 minutes (short!) of hilarious and paranoid textures of their debut, "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!", doesn't reveal this instantly, then you may very well be deaf. And so, without further ado (though I like ado), I present to you : The top seven and a half coolest, catchiest and craziest moments on Devo's debut album!


7.5. About 1:25 into "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", Mark's voice (first name basis) when he yells "How white my shirts can be!" It only gets half a number because it's so short...but it rules. Top that, Jagger!

7. The clunky, fast 7/8 (or is it 7/4?) time of the first half of "Jocko Homo". Bum dum bum, dah dah dah dah! Just look up 'awkward' in the dictionary, pumpkin.

6. The build-up at the beginning of "Mongloid". Let's see, you got your simple bass line, subtle synth, spazzy drums, burping guitar, high-pitched synths, and then the vocals.

5. "Praying Hands": "Assume the position....go into doggie submission!" `Nuff said.

4. That epilogue of sorts on "Sloppy (I Saw My Baby Gettin`)". You think it's over at 2:11. Then the drums kick it, the guitar riff returns, and my favorite: "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" How can someting so simple make me so happy?

3. About 2:24 into "Come Back Jonee", the rockabilly riffing after he yells "Jonee be good!" Wait, what?

2. Around 1:29 into "Space Junk", the random and indescribable animal noises that seem to temporarily swallow the track, before the guitar solo. Dude, I can almost smell Eno's scent all over it!

1. The breakdown during the second half of "Jocko Homo", where it switches to 4/4, and they repeat the album title. Like it would be anything else. "We must repeat!" "D-E-V-O!" "We must repeat!" "Okay, let's go!"

Here we have a fuckin` bizarre video for a fuckin` bizarre version of "Jocko Homo":



Good day.

Celebrating 251 years of Mozart, and Why Not?

"Another day, another way! Somebody's had too much to think!" And while that music quote may come from Captain Beefheart and has nothing at all to do with the article in question, it does however very much prove my point that Mozart is the only artist in the history of music that is truly too cool for Med School. My advice for you if you happen to disagree? DEAL! You see, I happen to be one of the few members of my generation that is allergic to the Top Gun soundtrack, as it simply is not in my nature to rock out to that ridiculous shazbot. Word up with all of the Mozart haters? They better be packing heat, because Wolfgang don't play that mess, you heard? Well, any hoodily-doodle, this is the year that we celebrate 251 years of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and do you realize that with the new Netflix "Watch Now" option, subscribers are able to watch Milos Forman's 1984 fictional period piece epidemic known as "Amadeus" until their cute little heads fall off? Well, it's true.

Why not purchase the complete works of Mozart as part of a 170 CD box set? Get your purchase on real horror show, mate: Mozart's Complete Works, now that's good eating! Tell you what, Mozart is all you need. Nothing else even comes close, not even Petula Clark's immortal epic "Downtown." Mozart is the man, a hero in a half shell, COMPOSER POWER! Words cannot express the genius that existed in this frail little twit, it is simply beyond me, my friends, simply beyond the universe. Even Einstein rocked out to Amadeus, and this was long before Falco, oh my brothers. And while Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart may have not been "Punk Rock" and was seriously lacking in street cred, fact is that all of his statements were musical wonders that shall live on forever.

It is as Wolfie himself once put it, and this is some genuine music theory to live by I shat you not: Music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, and thereby always remain music. Genius, I say! The original Kung Fu Hippie, the fool that you pity. Wolfgang knew his way around a piano and harpsichord, no question. And the little desk that this tiny elf worked at cooked up some of the most delicious ear candy this side of Stereolab, again, I shat you not. Cheerio, Mozart! Cheerio, friends and well wishers! Amadeus for life, know what I mean? Oh, don't forget to purchase Peter Gay's cute little pocket biography on Tha Wolf Mon as well: Mozart (A Penquin Life), time to whip out your credit card, mates! Nothing to beat Mozart, nothing to beat him.

Transparent Dreams: The Brain-Melting Animation Music of the Olivia Tremor Control

The Olivia Tremor Control is/was a wonderfully unique (and criminally under-recognized) musical entity consisting of five or six men, all of whom have two nostrils, but only one forehead. A member of the colorful Elephant Six Recording Company (along with friends Neutral Milk Hotel, Outback Steakhouse associates Of Montreal, and infinity-billion other like-minded mid-90s groups), the Olivia Tremor Control remained active throughout the better part of the nineties, recording the type of groovy psych-rock that noise-cancelling headphones were created for. Ignore those who claim that the music requires any illegal mind-altering substances; rather, the music is the mind-altering substance.

The band released their debut album in 1996, "Dusk at Cubist Castle", a brilliant and surreal concept album, supposedly soundtracking a non-existent film. Like their idols, The Beatles and the Beach Boys, the band never sacrifices fantastic popcraft in the name of avant-garde experimentalism. The melodies stick like a gopher smothered in glue. My personal favorite track would have to be "Green Typewriters X", a wonderful come-down after 9.5 minutes of ambient tension. I dare you not to be moved as the swirling harmonies, layered guitar and crackly lo-fi production lead to a stunning musical orgasm. Yet, who can argue with the gorgeous, Beatles-esque melodic genius (and bike horns!) of "No Growing (Exergesis)", or the carnival-like celebration of "Spring Succeeds"? The type of music that never gets old, this album is a rare accomplishment, in which 73 minutes and 53 seconds are truly worth it.

By the way, their 1999 sophomore release, "Black Foliage: Animation Music" is even better. No, seriously. On this extraordinary record, the group turned the tape loops, repeating themes, and genius melodies up to ten, building up to a indescribable cacophony of sonic bliss. Excuse me if I overuse the word genius, as this album is easily one of my top 15 favorites of all time. Of course, I use the word 'album' loosely, since it's really more of an experience, for those who can handle it.

As the liner notes describe:

"The idea as black foliage began was to take a section of the guitar line from black foliage (now called itself) and make a set of animated departures stemming from that bass guitar melody, twisting it to many variations. As time moved on and the animation sections became intermingled with out daily lives, we added new hunks of sound. Everyday, the animation sections began to include pieces of each other. Example: the vocals from 1 were reshaped and sampled into 2. That reworking would be used again, reshaped for 3, etc. As the other songs began to take shape, we began extracting elements from them. Example: horns from "Hideaway" and string part from "A Sleepy Company." As each song became integrated as a whole into the new songs, edits became edits withing edits.. Which birthed "Combinations"- pieces of songs. Melodies, vocal parts, drum fills etc. became electronic interludes that are derived from the songs themselves, all of which are in various states of becoming or drifting back from animation. Including dreams along the way from our "send us your dream" appeal. Careful thought was also considered as to making the music pulse with rhythm of modern life. At times things seem quiet, or multiple sounds merge... Let your environment in..."

The band's schizophrenic musical contrast is also taken to an extreme, as 10+ minutes of avant-garde noise somehow manage to coexist alongside the simple 2-3 minute pop songs. Like a party inside your mind, and the most unusual instruments and wonderful harmonies are invited, floating through your subconscious. And yes, 'float' seems to be the apt word to use - the voices 'float' in and out, the samples 'float' around, popping up at the right moment. Not to mention one of the best tracks, "I Have Been Floated": A chaotic beast with a melody hiding underneath. And then, the flip is switched at 36 seconds. Everything expands in an acid-drenched frenzy, leading to a violin solo, a second verse, a brilliant acoustic break-down. It's a whole `nother dimension, my brothers. More psychedelic than a weasel sandwich on Mars. And, no, your stereo/ipod isn't broken; it's supposed to sound like that. "Hideaway" could've been a top 40 hit in a parallel universe, "California Demise" builds up to a blissful climax, emphasized by fuzzy guitars and horns. Another favorite is "Grass Canons" - I distinctly remember listening to the last fifteen seconds of this song on headphones in a quiet library - no joke, I honestly thought for a second that those drums in the background were being played somewhere in the library.

And then there's "The Sylvan Screen". It begins with just an acoustic guitar and echoey-voice: "everyday I sit and I look at my window/the cars go back and forth and they seem to never stop/no one seems me looking at them from my window/and I can be any one of them I want to be." The gigantic chorus, the explosion around 3 minutes, the completely random transition into Beach Boys harmonies. Just ask me to define "musical orgasm", and I'll hand you this song in a chewable tablet.

The album ends with "Hilltop Procession (Momentum Gained)", a gorgeous acoustic number, in a musical universe somewhere between Elliott Smith and Syd Barret. The layered vocals lead us into an addictive chorus of "don't look to me to validate your dreams!", as the bizarre production warps in and out. And the album ends on a blissful refrain of "da da da da...da da da" slowly fading out.

Then it's over.

"...Black Foliage is their SMiLE — it's an imploding masterpiece, a work teetering on the cliff's edge between genius and madness. Torn at the seams between pop transcendence and noise radicalism, the group attempts to have it both ways...Ultimately, Black Foliage just might be an end-of-the-millennium appeal that speaks directly and solely to the unconscious."

-Allmusic.com

"The first thing you'll need is a box of Q-tips. In order for your ears to have a chance at capturing the 32,486,978 distinct sounds that collectively make up Black Foliage, you'll want those canals to be whistle clean... the outlandish production that makes Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" look like a cubicle divider. "

-Pitchforkmedia.com

How much longer...can I wait?

Take a trip to the surreal kingdom of the Olivia Tremor Control today - order "Black Foliage" on Amazon.com, or visit your local independent music supplier today. Please....do it for the children.

Oh, and for all you hip kids these days doing the Youtube thang, here's a terrible sound-quality performance of "The Sylvan Screen"!

Gary Wilson Makes Out.

Gary Wilson is the guy, right? Covering his face in tape and tenderly singing sweet nothings to a mannequin that he often straps to his back, all the while a fellow band mate repeatedly throws fistfuls of flour into his face. All of this is clearly beyond me, but it accurately describes Gary Wilson in concert. He's had a top notch backing band off and on over the years that he refers to affectionately as The Blind Dates. So, if you are doing your math: Gary Wilson + The Blind Dates = Make Out! Perhaps Gary Wilson primarily became known to us young people when Beck gave him the old name-check in his corny Pop anthem "Where It's At." Fact is, however, Gary Wilson has been doing his thing since the late '70's.

While a child prodigy of sorts in that he started making substantial home recordings at roughly the age of twelve, it was a teenage Gary who met and seriously discussed music with the now deceased and sometimes bearded composer John Cage. John's crazy ideas about Music Theory merged very nicely with those of young master Wilson, and by the time the '70's dawned upon his jet black sunglasses, Gary Wilson was already magically transformed into a fully realized Funk Maestro. Inspired by a series of women in his life that he clearly obsessed over, as his lyrics often referenced to, a 23 year old Gary Wilson set up shop in his parents' basement and began to get down to business.

Writing songs about calling up groovy girls and taking walks into his mirror all spilled into various recording sessions that would eventually make up Gary Wilson's 1977 emotionally deranged Funk epic "You Think You Really Know Me?" To promote the record that came to fruition in a dank basement that was filled to the brim with female mannequins, Gary self-released his debut with a limited run of vinyl copies. Record collectors of the Cult Band persuasion know good and well that original copies of Gary's debut demand top dollar, this is in part because Gary would often smash his albums over his head while playing gigs to promote it. Apparently, his late '70's gigs in such historic spots as the now deceased CBGB's housed some of Gary's unforgettable stage antics.

This bizarre figure in Underground Music eventually disappeared from his native New York. His whereabouts were unknown for the majority of the eighties and nineties among admirers of his debut album and even harder to find singles that he released around the same time period in the mid-late '70's. We know now that he actually relocated to San Diego and found work as a pianist in a fancy restaurant and as a security man in a pornographic theatre, respectively. Enough copies of his debut were not broken over his skull to eventually reach the claws of pasty white Indie Rock radio DJ's all over college radio. It was here that the apparently now defunct Motel Records label chiefs caught a whiff of Gary's Disco-Funk chic.

A private detective was put on the job to locate the man who dropped out of sight decades earlier. Once found in San Diego, Gary was pleased that there was actual label interest, and his first album received a proper re-release, damn it all to hell. A second release through Motel Records was a great collection called "Forgotten Lovers," that contained material from his painfully hard to find 45" single releases that I alluded to earlier. Mr. Wilson found renewed fame and then some in the world of Outsider Art and celebrated with a series of shows that saw him reunite with the majority of his former backing band The Blind Dates. Gary mostly hit the festival circuit for large fistfuls of cash, as he has expressed a genuine lack of interest in an out and out tour due to his age. Too bad, because I certainly don't suffer from ageism! KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

Anyhow, get yourself a musical grab bag of Gary Wilson, because his music makes George Clinton and Parliament look like Sunday church services. Caucasian Funk never had it so good. There would be no "Midnite Vultures" without Gary Wilson, plain and simple. These days, Mr. Wilson is on the Experimental Hip Hop(That is a genre of music, right?) label they call Stones Throw, a kindly and motherly label that released Gary's 2004 return to form, the hair fetish epic "Mary Had Brown Hair." You can visit Gary and get any and all details that I omitted by visiting him legit at: www.sixpointfour.com ,but be sure to return right back here when you're done. Christ, you can even email Gary through his web site, so be sure to ask worthwhile questions...as he will be getting back to you. Finally, Gary is even the subject of a full blown documentary(Take that, Daniel Johnston!), although the documentary is not yet available on any format that I am aware of, but be sure to give it the old Netflix "Save" option, because one never knows.

Gary's in the park, you can stay up all night thinking about it...



Documentary trailer bliss, the Funk is in us all...



Before Prince there was Gary, you know? Huh, do you? Ha! Yeah, you right!

Wilco's new album "Sky Blue Sky"

Wilco's new album Sky Blue Sky is set to be released in the United States on May 15th but you can hear Sky Blue Sky in it's entirity tonight at 10 PM at Wilco World online.

Hear Sky Blue Sky Tonight

BLUES EXPLOSION FOREVER.

We often hear Hipster creeps prattle on and on about the virtues of The White Stripes, but I often pray to my bog in his heaven that they would just silence their collective witches tongue for good because The Blues is number one. Jon Spencer and his respective Explosion have been rocking garages since 1990, and prior to that, Jon was pretty much the king of Trash Rock with his noisy ensemble known as Pussy Galore, which was a band that released such charming efforts like "Dial 'M' for Motherfucker." And while Jon may very well be a sassy trust fund brat with a mouth to match, the man knows Rock inside out. 1994 saw the release of an immortal epic known simply as "Orange." This is a record that defines Power Trio in my mind. You've got bulldog Russell Simins murdering his drum kit and smooth customer Judah Bauer making with the authentic Blues licks, all the while Jon Spencer bellows into the microphone like some sort of Elvis from Hell.

It is in your best interest to believe that The Blues is numero uno for the simple fact that these chaps don't fuck around, honey bunny. They'll slap your furry little buttocks with some insane sounds and you won't know what hit you. The beauty part is, a full ten years after 1994's spectacular "Orange," 2004 saw the release of the absurd Rocker fantasy known as "Damage." Speaking as a young gentile who caught this particular tour, just let me make it clear that Jon Spencer and his Blues Explosion still muster a powerful wallop from Hell, because when I left the venue that night all of my orifices were shooting out bright and shiny red blood. In short, I love this band and am frustrated that the Garage Rock Revival jargon of the early 2000's never paid tribute to the real pioneers of this genre. While The Strokes and their ilk made dainty little Grandma Rock(and no offense to any Grandmas out there)The Blues Explosion were left out in the cold. I really feel strongly about this, as some of those Garage Rock Revival creeps should be cutting the Blues Explosion checks on a daily basis.

Enough ranting, however, and onto the music...

Tha Blues & Tha Beck:



Some classic Explosion:



Cheerio, freedom fighters!

The Eternal Importance of Joy Division.

The Post-Punk era bred some very important music. Bands like Public Image LTD, Siouxsie and The Banshees, and Bauhaus come to mind. And unlike Punk Rock from which it sprang, Post-Punk had a strong creative edge and an almost anything goes approach that could rival the very best of late '60's Psychedelic Rock. However, the most potent and important band to emerge out of Post-Punk would be none other than England's own Joy Division. Joy Division as a band essentially defined Post-Punk. In a live setting, Joy Division could almost be referred to as Black Sabbath fronted by Jim Morrison, and on their atmospheric albums helmed by Martin Hannett, they essentially invented Goth Rock. Joy Division bandleader Ian Curtis often wrote strange poetics that vaguely detailed his medical condition of epilepsy, and it was not uncommon for him to go into an occasional fit on stage.

Just two records and a pair of singles were produced during Joy Division's brief three year existence from 1977 until May of 1980, which was when Ian Curtis decided to end his life. However how troubled he was exactly, and however how short Joy Division as a band existed; the music itself speaks volumes about creatively fertile minds. Ian Curtis possessed a powerful baritone, almost like Frank Sinatra on cough drops, and his lyrical content had a universal world weariness to it that would appeal to any listener fond of treating music as a think piece. Percussionist Stephen Morris had an impressive robotic approach and created some amazing trance-style beats. My favorite member of the band was the great bassist Peter Hook, who was capable of using the bass as a substantial yet highly melodic lead instrument. Rounding out the foursome was Bernard Sumner, a young gentleman who really knew how to shred a guitar and give a moody solo when a song called for it, and later, also provided some keyboard touches for Joy Division's more funeral-oriented moments.

While we all know and love the music of Joy Division, it is my goal in writing this article to serve the purpose of reminding you that good music is always out there, because sometimes we do forget, don't we? What with the world of contemporary Pop rarely offering anything of substance. So, if you are not satisfied with the Rap flavored Country Music videos that appear in abundance on CMT that often preach of family values and gooey love for the old Red, White and Blue. Or perhaps the latest Weezer record left you feeling more than a little empty, shall we say? Then remember: Joy Division is your cure. Just dust off "Unknown Pleasures" and you will be back to your old self in no time. To further investigate the technical specifics of Joy Division, I recommend the Deborah Curtis biography of her late husband entitled "Touching From A Distance." Also, the "Heart And Soul" box set is a Jim Dandy of a purchase.

Look, the director of this music video has made a feature film based upon Joy Division exploits that is supposedly going to be released later this year. And now for something completely Gothic:



Black Sabbath as fronted by Jim Morrison:



Mommy? The baby is getting scared...

Kate Bush: The Legacy of a Woman who brought High Drama to Pop music.

Kate Bush is the greatest female artist in the history of Pop music, bar none. Her fans are so rabid that they even rival hardcore Beatles enthusiasts. The Internet is absolutely swamped with various houses of worship that celebrate her singular sound and unique persona. I will not bore you with her full blown biographical details, as that is what All Music and Wikipedia are for. What I will do however is recommend what I feel to be her finest recorded output...

Firstly, Kate's first album "The Kick Inside" is in many respects her best. The musical talent that shines through on this record is unheard of in a teenager outside of Mozart. Beautiful and majestic cuts like "Moving" and "Kite" are full of such infectious melody and catchy little beats, that one is surprised that they were not equally as successful as the epic and highly dramatic "Wurthering Heights." Probably the strangest cut on this album by this very strange artist would have to be "Them Heavy People," which leaves absolutely nothing at all to the imagination.

I must skip ahead to "The Dreaming," which is the underrated masterpiece in Kate's musical catalog. This is the crucial turning point for Kate, as this is when she began producing everything herself and was safely tucked away tinkering in her then newly established home studio, which is essentially where she recorded all of her future albums. "The Dreaming" really is a nightmare set to music, and includes such frantic numbers like "Sat in Your Lap" and "Suspended in Gaffa." One wonders at what point exactly that the 19 year old who brought us "The Kick Inside" somehow transformed into the twenty-something with such a singular and intense vision, because while her first record was keen on dramatics it also lacked the darkness found in abundance on this album. The final cut on "The Dreaming" entitled "Get Out of My House" was actually a vague musical tribute to Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining."

My third and final album recommendation by Kate Bush is the most obvious choice, and I am referring to "Hounds of Love." Not only is there something eerily seductive about the music on this record, but the album artwork itself evokes a similar quality, as Kate gazes upon the listener from the album cover while embracing what appear to be two well bred dogs. Quite strange, but there is no question about this image being very inviting as well. My favorite cuts are "Cloudbusting" and the title cut "Hounds of Love." It is here where Kate Bush mingles the high drama and nightmares so beautifully that she would never produce a future album even remotely coming close to rivaling it. And while it is nice that she made a bit of a comeback with long term fans in 2005 with "Aerial" after a full twelve years absence from making records, and I recommend the enchanting "Joanni" in particular. However, I am of the opinion that her greatest work is included on those three albums that I have briefly expounded upon, as they chart an interesting evolution of one of the most individualistic artists in the history of Pop.

THE HOUNDS OF LOVE ARE POSITIVELY HAUNTING HER! BARK! BARK! BARK!

Warmth - "Michi-gone-again"

Hailing from Holly, Michigan comes this cassette released on Cherried-Out Merch (which I can't find any official site for, or else I'd link it) this year by one man named Steev Thompson who goes by the name Warmth. Filled with quiet (sorta), but brooding ambience, Michi-gone-again is quite refreshing in the best of ways. It's minimalistic in approach and it's composed very well, but giving an accurate description of the sounds filled within may be a little difficult. From the sounds of it, Michi-gone-again is most likely composed using some sort of delay effects, guitar + e-bow (maybe?), and other various textural layers and loops.

Side A fades in quietly and is filled with loose, haunted, spacious delayed guitar tones and rumbling vibrations. After listening to this tape a few times, you'll notice the use of loops, but its use is executed with a much more effective result than, let's say, some of Eluvium's more monotonous work. Interesting enough, it almost puts me somewhat into a meditative state, even though when consciously listening to the sounds within, you wouldn't necessarily think it's a very logical thought...

It's not all peaceful and meditative though, with Side B darker, even more expansive, unexpectedly loud and climactic. Remaining vague with the description of Side B is purposeful, because it's definitely one of the reasons you'll enjoy this tape. Michi-gone-again ends with some beautifully shimmering, quiet guitar tones akin to, perhaps, Blues Eyes of the March by the wonderful Andrew Chalk. Another reference that comes to mind as an influence for this release is Brian Eno's Ambient 4: On Land, which just happens to be one of my favorites.

Now before you go and write him off as sounding like other good (this is important) ambient artists, Warmth definitely provides sufficient interesting and unique texture and sounds to his work. Steev Thompson has a way of making the listener feel at once, isolated, but somehow he keeps his recordings feeling warm (appropriate band name, I guess) and organic, which is not an easy task. After hearing this Warmth release, I'll be looking forward to hearing more of his work and even backtracking some, in hopes of gathering some of his older material.

Warmth
Warmth's MySpace

-Nicholas A. Szczepanik

Ween's Most Mystical Recorded Moments...

When one thinks of the epic rock duo known as Ween, there is no question that a Simon & Garfunkle comparison DOES NOT come to mind. With that, I present to you what I feel are Ween's most mystical recorded moments, specifically three. I am observing those moments in which the endless sniffing of paint fumes and gasoline paid off in the creativity department. As we all know, Gene Ween is known primarily as the vocal guru of the group, as where Dean Ween is in charge of performing the guitar heroics for the most part.

The first song that transcends space and time, was originally included on their major label 1992 epic with Elektra Records entitled "Pure Guava." The song in question is "The Stallion Part Three," which was a continuation in the epic Stallion Series that started on 1991's "The Pod." What "The Stallion Part Three" has to offer is a painfully high pitched vocal that would no doubt make Geddy Lee blush, and no doubt this is a vocal enhanced by a good old fashioned analog four-track pitch shifter. The lyrical flow, which almost feels improvised, falls out of Papa Gener's mouth like Syd Barrett at his deranged finest, and top it all off with a fractured lead by Deaner that somehow manages to keep the bizarre emotional appeal of the song intact.

"The Stallion Part Three" presented in a live setting:



Song number two, is so mystical that it includes a vague lyrical reference to a talking pig begging some woman to get a dog back on the porch and off the path. I am of course talking about "12 Golden Country Greats" epic album closer "Fluffy." As many Ween fans know, Dean and Gene look back on this record with great fondness. Interesting to note that "12 Golden Country Greats" was recorded in Nashville with top notch and well known session musicians who have worked with many of the greats of Country Music. Even though "12 Golden Country Greats" was released a full eleven years ago, it still very much sustains an air of timelessness to it and is surprisingly light on novelty on the whole.

Observe "Fluffy" in fully realized Progressive Rock glory:



Finally, this brings me to "Mutilated Lips" which was one of the better cuts on one of Ween's very best records, of course I am referring to 1997's "The Mollusk." Dean Ween has been quoted as saying that this very well may be his favorite of all Ween albums, at least thus far. "Mutilated Lips" gives me a warm feeling inside, it lets me know that it is very well possible for Psychedelic Rock to still be a contemporary form of music, and free of any ridiculous retro appeal. The lyrics are gloomy, and Gene's dramatic prose is in full effect. There is a beautiful almost Jazz Rock quality that almost gives the song a gentle feel. Lyrically, all three songs mentioned are pure imagination, almost like a Salvador Dali painting set to words and music.

Enjoy "Mutilated Lips" on a short-lived MTV show before they moved their studio operations to Time Square:



...But what are your most mystical moments by Ween? Do you happen to have a favorite mind blowing cut?

Judee Sill Is The Drug.

Forget about Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez or Judy Collins. Judee Sill is the absolute queen of early '70's female singer-songwriters, but the problem is; she is not very well known outside a circle of devoted fans. She is another one of those cult figures in music, much like a Daniel Johnston or Gary Wilson, the only real difference being is that she passed on in 1979 of a drug-related death. Judee Sill had an ear for melody and a songwriting bent that even included focus on a religion she herself created, which was appropriately given the name of Sillism, and was somewhat seriously explored both musically and lyrically on her final record, 1973's "Heart Food." What's troubling is the simple fact that she was an amazingly talented West Coast singer/songwriter in the early '70's, albeit, one of a great many. She actually had her first real success specifically as a songwriter, when she penned a minor hit for The Turtles in the late '60's, a sort of somber love ballad entitled "Lady-O."

Gigging around Los Angeles eventually got her noticed by David Geffen, who at the time was apparently pleased enough by what he heard to make her the first artist to get a release on his new Asylum label. Simply titled "Judee Sill" and released in 1971, here was an album bursting with melody. This album really showcased Judee's instrumental prowess, as her metric finger picking and Ray Charles touches on the piano were irresistible. The record even had minor chart success with a single entitled "Jesus Was A Cross Maker," a track produced by Graham Nash. However, the album itself sold rather little and held weight most favorably among critics. Part of the trouble was Sill's lack of interest in touring as a support act with various Hard Rock bands of the time period, a genre of music that she apparently detested. In fact, Sill was often quoted that her primary musical influence was Johann Sebastian Bach.

1973 saw the release of her final album, the aforementioned "Heart Food." This is ultimately Judee's greatest musical statement, making it very clear that she wasn't just another Hippie Dippy poser from yesteryear, but a spectacular and highly original composer with a keen ear, because on her second record, she orchestrated it 100% herself, making "Heart Food" the better of her two albums. And while I won't prattle on about the legend that surrounds this obscure musician, such as her being a cliche free spirited, drug-loving Hippie momma, but rather, it is my goal to casually push you in her direction. This was an artist far ahead of her time and one of her best attributes as a musician was actually her singing voice, a voice she used rather effectively as just another piece of instrumentation.

She has generations of fans, and those who were lucky enough to see one of her rare live performances decades ago remember the experiences with a vivid fondness. She also has her well known admirers as well, like Andy Partridge from XTC and Jim O'Rourke. In fact, Jim O'Rourke produced and newly mixed the material that would have largely made up her third album, and this is a rather detailed and impressive collection called "Dreams Come True." Much like her two original studio albums, "Dreams Come True" is also widely available for public consumption on CD, and rather curious in that it was originally recorded in Mike Nesmith's home studio. Dig in and join the faith that is Sillism:



Yeah!

Ravenous: The King of Soundtracks.

"Ravenous" as a film, is a humorous dark comedy and a period piece. A film that is certainly pro vegetarian to say the least. What one best remembers about this film other than the gruesome eating of human flesh, is of course, a film soundtrack like no other. Authentic period music, in this instance, early eighteenth century America. And it took two Englishmen to make it happen. Firstly, the brilliant modern composer Michael Nyman, a gentleman quite probably best known for his neurotic film scores to some of the more well known features by the Martin Scorsese hating Peter Greenaway. The other gentleman that rounds out this collaboration is none other than Damon Albarn from Blur and Gorillaz fame. One certainly hopes that they bring their talents together once again on a future film score, but it would appear that this was one of those once in a lifetime gatherings of musically fertile minds.

The soundtrack starts eerily enough with "Boyd's Journey," and Boyd being the last name of the film's central and cowardly anti-hero. This piece of music is a delight for all fans of minimalist composition. A slight yet ominous plucking of a banjo and a peculiar percussive sound that really serves the purpose of atmosphere rather than a substantial instrumental contribution, but then enter that simplistic little keyboard organ melody and you have yourself a gem. And if memory serves me proper, "Boyd's Journey" was later utilized in a commercial stressing the importance of safety belts, clearly, this is multipurpose music that can easily exist separate from the film that it is attached to. The hilarious piece of music entitled "Run" has an unsettling Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibe to it that simply can't be beat, and this piece in particular has Nyman's touch.

You can't go wrong with music that truly exists in a world of its own, while at the same time belonging to a very specific time and place. But then again, with Nyman's knowledge of music history and Albarn's affection for drum machines, it was almost as if a new genre of music was briefly birthed when this motion picture soundtrack was released in 1999. Who wouldn't want to own a film score with such atmospheric mastery and track titles like "He Was Licking Me" and "Cannibal Fantasy?" So, do yourself a favor; buy the 'Ravenous" DVD and make sure to nab up the CD soundtrack as well, and with the interest of playing it on repeat when you go to sleep at night. Lookout, "A Clockwork Orange," there's a new unsettling film score in town. Bon Appetite!

Alice Cooper(Was Once A Band, Not Just A Man).

Once existed a record label known as Straight, a label headed by none other than Frank Zappa. Experimental Rock fans are no doubt familiar with some of the artists that once thrived on the label, names like Captain Beefheart, Wild Man Fischer, and The GTO's(Girls Together Outrageously). However, Alice Cooper released their first two records on this label, just a few years prior to going legitimately commercial on the Warner Brothers record label. Alice Cooper was very much a group of people when they originally formed in 1968. They relocated to Los Angeles from Arizona and almost immediately found success in a live setting by opening for great big Psychedelic Rock bands such as The Doors, and eventually became regulars at the famed Whisky A Go Go. Frank Zappa liked what he heard and the bizarre theatrics they effortlessly put into their live performances, and the group of high school chums were quickly signed to Straight Records.

The first record to be released on Straight Records was entitled "Pretties For You" and came out in 1969. This is a record that causes the listener to ask the question: Which came first, the Bowie or the Cooper? Much of what the Alice Cooper Group brought to life on this album Bowie himself would later explore during his much celebrated Ziggy Stardust era. Needless to say, Alice Cooper was a precursor to Glam Rock before they were a precursor to Heavy Metal. 1970 saw the second and final release by Alice Cooper on Straight Records, which was an album entitled "Easy Action." While Alice Cooper's first record was essentially self-produced, with Zappa allowing them all of the creative freedom they wanted. "Easy Action" was actually produced by David Briggs, a producer best known for working on some of Neil Young's better known material. Legend has it that Alice Cooper and Briggs were never on the same page while making the album, but the Alice Cooper attitude is in full swing with such gems like "Lay Down And Die, Goodbye." A few of the cuts could almost be referred to as Noise Rock, if not at the very least...Punk Rock.

We all know Alice Cooper the man as a trailblazer in Rock, avid golfer and so forth, but the two "Indie" records by this phenomenal and fun loving Rock group are equally as potent as anything released during their very well known early '70's heyday on the Warner Brothers record label, a time period that saw their live performances turn into full blown operas with nightmarish themes and such chart topping hits like "Under My Wheels" and "School's Out." The good news is this: the first two records by the Alice Cooper Group are now easily obtainable online as made available on CD and as an import on a label based out of Europe. The price is right, and these once obscure early gems by Alice Cooper are just waiting to be rediscovered.

When it was a band, and not just a Republican in mascara who supposedly ate a live chicken:

Q: Popol who? A: Popol Vuh.

Of course, when one really sits down and takes the time to think about any number of the amazing array of bands that emerged out of Germany's Kraut Rock movement of the 1970's, the names that will most likely come to mind would no doubt include the following: Can, Faust, and Neu! While the influence of these three bands is no doubt heard in the Experimental Rock that we have known and loved in more recent years, and perhaps most noticeably in early Stereolab material and latter day Boredoms. Popol Vuh, to their credit, are by no means obscure. Although, amongst music fans today, they are probably most closely linked with some of the better known films by Werner Herzog, many of which starred Klaus Kinski.

So, it would seem World Cinema buffs may be delighting in beautiful sounds that they know rather little about, and that your everyday music fan is entirely in the dark about the beauty and truth that is Popol Vuh. They were led by the late great Florian Fricke, and emerged in the very early '70's and regularly utilized what can only be referred to now as prehistoric synthesizers. However, Popol Vuh switched gears rather early, and by the time this band of Hippie Mind Freaks wrote the score for Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God, they were well on their way. On their way to what exactly, you may ask? On their way to becoming instant meditation and a genuine head trip. Layers of crystal clear guitar soloing mingled with sitar and minimalist live percussion, with Florian Fricke at the piano in full control of his musical compositions, and giving everything just a hint of Classical.

This is the band that gave new meaning to what a film soundtrack could make possible, and while Henry Mancini and Ennio Morricone are nice, the music of Popol Vuh actually had the power to overshadow the film that it was featured in. It is unfortunate that Florian Fricke has passed on in recent years and that the music of Popol Vuh is no more, but their back catalog of sound is quite impressive and worth your time to investigate. In particular, I recommend the soundtracks to Herzog's "Heart of Glass" and "Nosferatu." These two film scores and many others have recently been re-released and re-mastered with worthwhile bonus tracks as well. Make no mistake, Popol Vuh were innovators in the realms of World Music and Experimental Rock, and yes, even New Age. The sounds that they mustered could make one suffer a series of religious experiences, so be prepared to be converted:



And something for the ladies:



Finally, something cinematic and downright creepy: