Category: Blogs A-J

Just Say YES !!

    Time for another round of Virtual Musical Word Association!

Wherein we join Mr. Fandango himself Jason NeSmith as he and main cookie Kay S. Stanton, d.b.a. Casper & The Cookies, spend Some Time in gray New York City and live to return to Athens to sing and play for us all about it.

Yes, The Optimist’s Club is the name of this most positive disc in question;  but Hurry and order your very own copy so as to grab the accompanying limited-offer mini graphic novel, overly optimistic bonus CDR, sticker and button set and maybe even tasty CookieShirt to boot (mine was an absolutely Tee-rrific 100% heavy cotton Honduran Fruit-o-the-Loom in stunning day-glo green and pink!!)   

so Let the Crumbling begin…..

1.  KRÖTENWANDERUNG…..makes Sheryl eat crow!

2.  KISS A FRIEND…..You Boettcher Life, to be perfectly curt.

3.  BARKING IN THE GARDEN OF ILL REPUTE…..Great Title!!

4.  DuCHAMP’S CAMERA…..the better to capture all the subway’s shooting stars…

5.  SID FROM CENTRAL PARK…..”Ring tha bell.  Hold it up to ya ear.  Now make ya wish.  You’re learning bell music – any language.”

6.  HEY MR. SUPERSTAR…..How To Succeed In Music Business, in a mere five-minutes-twenty-four!

7.  LEARN HOW TO DISAPPEAR…..coz Some people really have to go…

8.  THE OPTIMIST’S CREDO…..L-u-v means never having to say No.

9.  NEO DADA HEY DAY…..Friends, busy doin’ nothin’, went to sleep with a little bird at my window as radio plays wind chimes

10.  SEA FINGERS…..T. Hex !

11.  THINGS TO DO BEFORE WE DIE…..Casper’s List.

High Hat #7, ready for the public.This issue, th…

High Hat #7, ready for the public.

This issue, the Potlatch section is an assessment of Robert Altman, good and bad. There’s also articles on pop culture artifacts as widely-flung as:

  • In music: Schoenberg, Bonnarude, and death metal
  • In literature & art: comics continuity, drunken novels, Charles Schulz, Prayer, and Pryor
  • In movies: Artificial Intelligence and monkeys; and
  • In TV: Deadwood and The Wire.

Corwood 0786

                                     JANDEK

                              AUSTIN SUNDAY
______________________________________________

                                   DISC ONE

1.  THROW ME AWAY                                               (9:13)
2.  UGLY MAN                                                          (7:12)
3.  LITHE BODY                                                       (9:25)
4.  THE POLICE                                                       (7:21)
5.  RUN AWAY                                                         (5:32)
6.  IF I WANTED                                                      (5:45)

                                  DISC TWO
1.  WINE YOU DEVIL                                               (8:50)
2.  YOU HOLD ME UP                                               (5:37)
3.  YOU JUST ABOUT KILLED ME                              (6:53)
4.  LITTLE WHILE                                                    (5:36)
5.  LONELY DOG                                                      (6:51)
6.  LET ME TRY AGAIN                                           (12:54)

RECORDED LIVE:  SCOTTISH RITE THEATRE  AUSTIN TEXAS
AUGUST 28, 2005
_______________________________________________

(C)(P) 2006 CORWOOD INDUSTRIES
                  P.O. BOX 15375
           HOUSTON, TEXAS 77220
                          U.S.A. 

  

Review: Dr. Dog – Easybeat

Dr. Dog – Easy Street (National Parking)

I love to check out bands on Myspace. That’s how I find music these days. It’s a perfectly egalitarian system. You get a few pictures & four songs, whether you’re Sting or The Hangnails. During one of my semi-inebriated late-night trowels I stumbled onto Dr. Dog. What I heard really intrigued me, so I bought their cd, Easybeat. While waiting for it to arrive I read some reviews that mentioned their overt Beatle-ness. A few really slagged them for it, like saying, ‘We’re so over this, dude’. Well it arrived today and I’m on listen number six. I suppose it can be called Beatle-esque in that it has harmony, melody, & unexpected juxtapositions of musical elements (i.e. string quartets giving way to garage-band breaks, sing-alongs that pop out of nowhere, feedback over augmented chords). There is nothing here that is ripped from the fabs, save for one tossed-off Obladi-ish bass line on the opening number. Mostly what is Beatle-esque is an obvious striving to make something that’s going to stick around. Not to say it’s pretentious or precious in any way, it’s just that it’s obvious these guys are shooting for something. There is intent here that goes beyond writing a good or even catchy song. And like the Beatles, it walks the line between melancholia and jubilation, often in the same song. Mostly, it sounds like a band in a room dicking around and having a lot of fun. Sonically, It has the weird lo-fi weirdness of the Basement Tapes. No high end at all, which is kinda neat. Gives the ears an unexpected rest. It was recorded on a 1/4″ 8-track, probably the same Fostex I have in my closet. It’s a magical little machine that may have contributed to the discs hazy mood. There are correlations between Easybeat & the two Simon Dawes EP’s, which have a similar fly-by-the-seat sound of the Kinks recording in a tool shed. Like the Dawes records, vocals distort, people go off microphone, and ragged harmonies are left in with the spot-on ones. Such a simple act, and one that could be interpreted as a careless one, but the bravery of leaving the grit in results in a sound that’s soothingly human, a sound you can snuggle up to. Couple that with the great songs these guys write, and you got something that’s essential. I hope no one gives them a budget for the next record, either.

www.myspace.com/drdog

The Next Big Rave

What ever happens
when the Dave Edmunds of Canada
reunites with, yes, the Nick Lowe of Canada
right there On Stage again ?

In order to kick straight off
the Sixth annual New York
International Pop Overthrow
Festival to boot ??

For the answer to these,
and oh So many other merry musical questions,

simply Meet Us at around 11 PM
on the night of Thursday, November the 9th
within The Baggot Inn,
right there at 82 West 3rd Street
in Greenwich Village.

MANY splendid Seconds of Pleasure are guaranteed for all !!
 

Thenceforward

   Those sorrowfully not as fully aware as they certainly should be now of those two most undersung American musical heroes known still as Rick Harper and Tom Staley at last have one fabulous chance to meet them both, right there squarely together again for the next time, on this single great CD from our friends over at HiVariety Recordings.

Namely,

 1.  INSIDE OUT…..NRBQ head headstrong crosstown atop the (Guess Who?) “Bus Rider.”

 2.  RHINO IN THE ROOM…..startlingly, so subtly so very very R. Harperesque.

 3.  TIME BOMB…..sets every single one’a Jerry Reed’s kissful cousins straight off.

 4.  A THING CALLED LOVE…..Byrds, Buddy, Burritos even Beat big-time!

 5.  THE CANYON IN THE HEART…..If Chris Isaak’s dogs ran free…

 6.  BRAND NEW DAY…..one absolutely pitch ‘n’ picture-perfect three-minutes-forty-eight.

 7.  ONLY TO LOSE YOU…..the more we hear, the more we know.

 8.  WALKIE TALKIE ROAD…..taken wordlessly towards Papa Nez’s true magnetic southlands.

 9.  MR. SUIT…..and there’s two L’s in Halliburton, just remember… (he’s so heavy)      

10.  EVERY TRICK IN THE BOOK…..Magic City music !!

11.  WE NEED LOVE…..if they only knew…

12.  WAITING…..trippin’ round the good day sun.

13.  CALLING YOUR NAME…..while your song gently fades…

A meme borrowed from the inestimable David Schwart…

A meme borrowed from the inestimable David Schwartz at Mumble Herder:

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here’s how it works:

  1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
  2. Put it on shuffle
  3. Press play
  4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
  5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
  6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool . . .
  • Opening Credits: “Chatterboxes” – Deerhoof. A jittery song without a rhythm section, basically a pretty melody over percussive guitars. The lyrics are about passing stories through generations, and I like this as a good opening credit song. To wit: “Set sail, seaworthy vessel/Fill your holds with the sound/Of daughters and sons/Wagging their tongues.”
  • Waking Up: “Dr. Schwitters Snippet” – Faust. An optimistic, Moog-driven, 49-second snippet from The Faust Tapes ending with a theremin and the beginning of an explosion. Sounds like a hell of a day.
  • First Day At School: “Lisbon” – Six Organs of Admittance. Wow, this is pensive stuff. This track is solo acoustic guitar, in the style of Robbie Basho or John Fahey, all minor-key moody mood music. I guess the first day at school is a sad one. This track calls for a half-speed montage. Now!
  • Falling In Love: “Always” – Tom Verlaine. Kinda rockin’ post-Television Verlaine track that sounds like many kinda rockin’ post-Television Verlaine tracks. I have no idea what he’s singing about, but “think it over” is repeated in the chorus. Killer guitar lead.
  • Fight Song: “I Love You So Much It Hurts” – Ray Charles. Hey, is my iPod off by a song? Maybe I’m just a lover, not a fighter.
  • Breaking Up: “I Summon You” – Spoon. Damn, I take it back. This is a perfect break-up song. Consider: “Where are you tonight?/And how’d we get here?/It’s too late to break it off/I need a release/the signal’s a cough/but that don’t get me off/I summon you to appear, my love/Got the weight of the world/I summon you here, my love.”
  • Prom: “Elevate Me Later” – Pavement. Built on a fantastic riff, this is a kiss-off to, well, somebody. I know every word to this song — in fact, it’s nigh unto irresistable to sing along — but I have no idea what it’s about. “Those who sleep with electric guitars/range-rovin’ with the cinema stars/well, I wouldn’t want to shake their hand/because they’re in such a high protein land.” Yeah, you tell ’em, Stephen.
  • Life is Good: “Der Vaum” – Faust. OK, more Krautrock from The Faust Tapes. This has a jaunty little melody, with lots of dramatic pauses, but it also has two heavily-reverbed competing vocal lines that appear to mix German and English. All I know is that something is “breaking my head.” I guess that’s good.
  • Mental Breakdown: “Holy Train Wrecks” – The Weird Weeds. Remember when I went to see Jandek and made a bad joke about one of the drummers being in Jandek’s death-cult youth group? That guy was Nick Hennies. This is his band, and they’re freakin’ great. Another sign of alignment between the current assignment and my iPod, because this song is strange and beautiful enough to cause the fragile to experience hallucinations.
  • Driving: “Needing Someone” – Gene Clark. Alright, a bit of 60s folk-rock for driving. I’m guessing that the movie would just appropriate some of the groovier motorcycle scenes from Easy Rider for this.
  • Flashback: “Dog” – Sly and the Family Stone. Maybe this part of the movie is an extended Walter Mitty segment where I imagine life as a late 60s hippie hepcat. Maybe I could be a hoofer hoping to break into a supergroovy production of Hair. Or did that come later? I have no idea. ‘Cause I’m not young, but I was born years after this song came out.
  • Getting Back Together: “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow” – Brian Wilson. Ha! OK, then. No, wait! Ha! Cue the fireman’s helmets! This is going to turn out well.
  • Wedding: “Yellow” – Okkervil River. Wow, a sad song about people who love each other but break up, anyway. That’s harsh, iPod. There’s some beautiful moments in this song, I have to say: “Our paths and our futures are hidden in mists that are stretching out over impossible distances/totally obscured/And I really do think that there’s probably more good than anger or selfishness, sickness, or sadness would ever completely allow us to have in this life/I think I’m sure/But that doesn’t mean it’s bad.” This seems better for the next category, so maybe I fell asleep through one song.
  • Paying the Dues: “Victory Garden” – The Red Krayola. Oh, I love this song. I was familiar with the Galaxie 500 cover first, but the original is just great. It’s a bit more 60s psychedelia instead of the late-80s psychedelia of the G500, but man, this is great stuff. Less than two minutes long, too.
  • The Night Before The War: “The Sweet Sounds of Summer” – The Shangri-Las. Yeah! I’d rather hear teenage symphonies to god before holy hell rains down on me.
  • Final Battle: “We’ve Been Had” – The Walkmen. I have a Walkmen song on my iPod? Really? I’m stunned.
  • Moment of Triumph: “A Song About Walls” – The Geraldine Fibbers. A rather upbeat song, but the lyrics, all fractured fairy-tales, are most decidedly NOT upbeat. A girl junky (with a “needle in her eye,” yikes!) hurls her addiction through the walls. Well, that’s ok, I guess, but there’s a lot of darkness about boyfriends and sex with dealers and stuff like that. The noise-to-melody ratio is about 1:1, and that’s freakin’ awesome.
  • Death Scene: “Le Grande Illusion” – Television Personalities. Niiiiiiiiiiice. I’m going out to the sound of a forlorn teen implicitly comparing his secret love to one of Renoir’s greatest films. How are you going out?
  • Funeral Song: “NightEndDay” – Pelican. Superbombastic funeral, ja! Jesus, I hope they’re setting my death-boat on fire, releasing a flock of endangered birds into the wild, razing and salting the land, and sending my body over Victoria Falls to justify using this music. Even then, it may not be enough. This song’s over 10 minutes long, so they should probably intercut some scenes of rampaging marauders setting villagers on fire to keep people into it.
  • End Credits: “Now That I Know” – Devendra Banhart. Well, this song seems to say, “Thanks for watching this downer of a biopic. Hope you don’t slit your wrists much on the way home!” Lovely stuff, but sad, sad, sad.

More Required Viewing !!!

    There was a time,

believe you me,
long ago and far, far away,
when all the best boots were Beatle,
trebly white Vox six-strings cooly matched your best gurl’s plastic mini,
and the words “Garage Band” had not yet become just another registered Apple trademark.

Well, it isn’t only those Hives who care to dwell to this day in such defiantly monophonic, tight-legged times:  
Coz, believe it or knot, those otherwise empty Eighties and Nineties were positively littered as well with Levi and Rickenbacker-clad mopheads singing and playing up wholly frug-worthy storms for all who would listen

…whilst, alas, the vast majority of mankind were told to dig Hall and Oates or even that Fred MacMurray of “rock and roll” [sic!!] instead, I must most sadly recall.

But if you’d really like to hear and see what all the fuzz SHOULD’VE been about back then
(not to mention trace the socio-musical routes of either White Stripe straight on down),
simply take the next eighty-odd minutes to sit and spin with Purple Cactus/Dionysus’
utterly woofer-rattling Knights Of Fuzz DVD + ROM.

Yep, it’s all here, now, and forevermore:
Classic, cutting clips full of wholly-living-colour Cynics, Fuzztones, and tons more Untamed Youth
including vintage (1983!) Cheepskates,
their upstate New York brethren The Chesterfield Kings
(always the out-of-their-headed Stones to the C-skates comparatively tamed Fabulous Four);
why, even K of F mastermind Timothy Gassen dons his very own psilocybin-dipped Marshmallow Overcoat for not one but – count ‘em! — two vibe-riddled vids.

Lo, lest we neither forget Toronto’s towering 10 Commandments
featuring our sweet James Lord on Crampy-indeed lead vox
…..and Speaking of O Canada,
Montreal’s groovy Gruesomes are more than fully represented via their Monkees-on-methamphetamine “Hey!”
(very personally speaking, one of my fave pure pop clips OF ALL TIME).

But that’s still not it !!

Besides all this anarchic archival footage also comes hours more read-only memory content, including 300-plus pages of Tim’s criminally out-of-print Knights Of Fuzz encyclopedia-lysergic, twenty-six full ‘n’ frantic audio clips, and tons upon anti-trendy tons of additional articles, photos, reviews and data galore both old and retro-new!   

You can get completely fuzzed up right now if you’d like,
by dragging it into the virtual garage for your fully day-glo all-media preview.

But I heartily recommend taking the whole paisley plunge
by grabbing the real thing
right here
right now.

So!
Ready?  Steady?

Then GO Already !!!