WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Jean-Jacques Perrey & Gershon Kingsley on American Game Shows!

Incapacitants

Making the nature scene, 1981.
Posted via Big Fat Satanist.

French Singer Gigi Gaston's Jean-Luc Godard-Filmed Music Video

What words would you use to describe 1960s French pop sensation Gigi Gaston? With a growing cult discovering her through the dozens of photos, periodicals, songs and videos assembled by Josh Gosfield, some adjectives describing the chanteuse nicknamed the "Black Flower" include "sultry," "elusive," "scandalous," "murderous" and "misunderstood."

To that you must add the word "fictitious" — Gigi Gaston is wholly and entirely a creation of Gosfield, an artist and designer whose exhibition at the Steven Kasher Gallery in Manhattan closes on Wednesday, November 25th after a monthlong run. Not only did he cast Gigi, shoot the period-perfect photos and created the meticulously rendered versions of the covers of actual magazine of the era along with a staggering variety of her record sleeves, he's also responsible for the putative Jean-Luc Godard film short for Gigi's haunting song "Je Suis Perdue," which is presented here for your viewing pleasure.

Josh Gosfield will appear on this author's show on Sunday, November 22, 5-7 pm ET, during which he will expound upon his creation and dissemmination of the singer who put the "no-no" in yé-yé.

Weird NJ contributor Wheeler Antabanez

Billy Jam says:

New Jersey explorer, writer, photographer, filmmaker, welder, artist, skateboarder, avid Passaic River canoe traveler, graffiti lover, urban anthropologist, prankster, high school dropout, WFMU listener, Weird NJ contributor, and as he calls himself "run of the mill trespasser" are all titles befitting Wheeler Antabanez who will be a guest on WFMU today (Nov 20th 3-6pm) on Put The Needle On The Record when he will talk about his passion - New Jersey, especially the rundown abandoned funky parts - and take phone calls from listeners on exploring the abandoned buildings of the Garden State. But in the meantime, as a primer for his WFMU appearance, here are a sampling of video clips of some of Wheeler's adventures plus his interview with Beware Of The Blog (BOTB).



BOTB: Are you NJ born and bred, and when & where did you first start your explorations?

WHEELER: I grew up in Caldwell, which put me in easy bicycle range of the abandoned Essex Mountain Sanatorium. My friends and I happened upon the hospital while we were exploring the woods in North Caldwell behind Matarazzo’s Farm. The first thing we saw was the entrance column with a huge swastika spray painted across the front. It was in the peak of summer, the buildings were completely overgrown, and Overbrook, which is what we used to call it back then, was the scariest thing I had ever seen. It didn’t take us long to grow the balls to enter the building. By the time I was 15 or 16 I knew the layout so well it was almost like I owned the place. In those days I had an M17 BB gun hidden in the rafters above the auditorium. When I walked the halls with that weapon in my hand, I felt like nothing could hurt me, even on the darkest midnights. Looking back, I was lucky to have never been shot by the sheriffs’ officers on patrol, because the gun looked real. The best part was the innocence of our destruction. We found the place long after it had already been trashed by generations of teenagers, so it didn’t seem like a crime to break the windows, or smash the toilets. Over the years I’ve worked many construction jobs and smashed up plenty of plumbing. Somehow demolition has never seemed like much fun compared to when I used to run wild through the sanatorium.

BOTB: Is NJ truly a haven for all things weird and funky and abandoned?

Question Mark Question Mark Question Mark

  

It's been requested that my blog posts for WFMU, from this moment on, pertain specifically to music. It was a lot of fun sharing weird off-beat stories with you, but I guess now is the time to get serious and write about things other than softball, beer, and American concentration camps. Here goes nothin' ...

Free Music Archive highlights 11/19/2009

Here are the crib notes to what's been happenin on the Free Music Archive (if you haven't been keeping up on the Free Music Archive via twitter, facebook, RSS, or the regular ol' home page. Feel free to chime in with more FMA rec's in the comments!

:: The FMA's Anti-Pop Consortium Remix Contest kicked off on Monday, and we've already received some pretty cool entries that we can't wait to share. The contest ends Dec 20th, go here to grab multitracks and get started on your own

 :: ISSUE Project Room's recent adds include new studio recordings from Ashtray Navigations and the Mick Flower/Chris Corsano duo. The venue has also shared recent live performances by artist-in-residence Alex Waterman, including a recent improv set with Ikue Mori (of DNA) and Ned Rothenberg, and a interpretations of Robert Ashley. October also saw an amazing Orchestra Carbon performance of Elliott Sharp's SyndaKit. Most recently, IPR features a live out-jazz excerpt from saxophonist/composer Matana Roberts (pictured at Right)

:: Late-'70s/early '80s UK DIY heroes Animals & Men share a new batch of recordings from their new 12'' on the Convulsive label, plus an unreleased set of songs from a session in Lyon, including "Oh Death" below

:: Dubbed To Death: Pushbin Lou features Volatil, an electronic/dubstep trio out of Argentina and the UK (article)

:: Drummers At the Forefront -- a feature on Zac Nelson's Hexlove project with other percussionist-composers like Black Pus, Soft Circle, and GDFX in the mix as well.

:: Spotlight on New York's premier avant-garde classical netlabel SHSK'H (website), including the track below from Japanese koto player Etsuko Shida

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 42 (MP3s)

Give the Drummer Some's
6 Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere

CASH FOR SPELUNKERS EDITION

We here at Mining the Audio Motherlode know a little something about economic hard times. Why, your very own Miner has gone eight long months without a paycheck ever since getting laid off back in March (smack dab in the middle of WFMU's fundraising marathon).

But did he curl up in a fetal position with one thumb in his mouth and the other jabbing the keyboard for those online unemployment benefits? Hell no! The Miner saw all that new-found free time as an opportunity to spend quality time in the murky deep of MP3Land, excavating free music for the masses. (Talk about turning gators into Gatorade!) And you, dear reader, have been the beneficiary. Over the past 42 weeks, this column has served up a massive free-form mix—over 350 amazing selections in all—of free full-album downloads.

As you take a moment to ponder all the cash Mining the Audio Motherlode has saved you this year, it's crucial that you take some of those beaucoup bucks and make a pledge RIGHT NOW to support WFMU, which finds itself in a major pickle. (For the first time in many years, the station's annual marathon missed reaching its fundraising goal—by over 10%—and that shortfall has left the station in an extremely precarious position.) Until 7:00pm this evening, WFMU is broadcasting an Emergency 24-Hour Marathon to pull in an infusion of desperately need dollars.

Before delving into the half-dozen audio doozies offered below, please take a moment to give a little something to WFMU by calling 800-989-WFMU or making a secure online pledge.Thanks a ton!

What Would MC 900 Ft Jesus Do?
MC 900 Ft Jesus w/DJ Zero  ~  "Too Bad" (and 2 other singles)
(Blog: Look What the Twat Dragged In)
From the single "Too Bad": Shut Up (mp3)

Out on the Urban Prarie
Souled American  ~  "Around the Horn"
(Blog: The More You Think About It...)

Incendiary Sonny
Huey Simmons  ~  "Burning Spirits"
(Blog: Ile Oxumare)
From the album: New Newk (mp3)


 

Hopa!
Petros Pandis  ~  "Songs of the Greek Resistance"
(Blog: A Blog About Post Punk, Anarcho/Peace Punk, Militant Entertainment
and Radical Politics)

   

Dog Gone It!
Riz Ortolani  ~  "Mondo Cane" (O.S.T.)
(Blog: Singers Saints)
From the soundtrack: Hong Kong Cha Cha Cha/Colazione al Colony (mp3)

Mariachi Schmaltz
Various  ~  "La Revolucion y Sus Cantares"
(Blog: Música Popular Mexicana)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

WFMU's 24-Hour Marathon in progress!

WFMU's 24-Hour Marathon began last night at 7pm and runs until 7pm tonight!

We've set aside our pride to interrupt programming this Fall for our first, and hopefully last, 24-hour Marathon. Our coffers are empty thanks to the combined evil forces of the recession and WFMU falling short of our March Marathon goal. Help us raise enough money in 24 hours to stay on the air through the winter months!

Today's festivities will be action-packed, including co-host madness, on-air prize drawings, and all of the fun-loving insanity and surprises you've come to expect from WFMU Marathons. Check out our new Radio Bear t-shirt, as well as a fresh batch of DJ Premiums by Tom Scharpling, Terre T, Evan "Funk" Davies, Marty McSorley, Ken, Maria Levitsky, and Seven Second Delay that are up for the taking. Visit our pledge page for details.

We hope you can help us out with a year-end donation! Pledge online or by calling 800-989-9368. Thanks to everyone who has pledged their support thus far!

Other ways to help WFMU this Fall:

Spread the word about our 24-Hour Marathon!

• Facebook: add our "Support WFMU" app to your profile
• Blogs / Tumblr / Other Sites: add our banner to your blog or site (grab code: orange version | black version)
• Twitter: post a link to WFMU's pledge page (use this short URL http://bit.ly/DpOvl and our pledge line, 800-989-9368), add #wfmuthon to any posts about our Marathon
• Donate your used car: If you can't make a cash donation, you can always donate your car. Call 877-411-3662 to arrange for vehicle pick-up.
• Tell your friends about WFMU's iPhone app!

National Country Music Week 1962 (MP3s)

Here are several radio spots promoting the 1962 observance of National Country Music Week.  I must admit I was a bit surprised to see that they found room for Connie Francis and the Kingston Trio, performers not generally associated with country music, alongside old stalwarts like Faron Young and Roy Acuff.

       

Side A
Faron Young  (:30)    |    Connie Francis #1  (:23)   |     Connie Francis #2  (:32)   |     Connie Francis #3  (:37)   |     Flatt & Scruggs  (:26)   |     Patsy Cline #1  (:26)   |     Patsy Cline #2  (:37)   |     Patsy Cline #3  (:35)

Side B
Roy Acuff #1  (:36)   |     Roy Acuff #2  (:35)   |     Eddie Arnold #1  (:19)   |     Eddie Arnold #2  (:35)   |     Chet Atkins  (:35)   |     Kingston Trio  (:29)   |     Tommy Hunter  (:37)   |     Gordon LIghtfoot  (:24)   |     Jim Reeves  (:38)

The 1961 National Country Music Week promotional radio spots are over here.

Staff Picks: Victoria Vein and the Thunderpunks circa 1974

Tony Coulter recently brought this rowdy video to the attention of WFMU staffers, Victoria Vein and the Thunderpunks performing "Other Things".  VV would go on to greater fame under the Debris moniker.  Tony got word of the video from Karl Ikola, proprietor of Anopheles Records, who recently issued the previously unreleased Victoria Vein 7" (and reissued the Debris LP).

Ghost Moth Haunt the Castle; Live Session 11th November 2009

When you're already in a dance with noise and free improvisation, the Kosmische is less than one membranous step away. And so it was with Ghost Moth, the duo of suitcase electronicist Todd Pendu and multi brass/woodwind blower Daniel Carter.

This was Ghost Moth's third set as a duo (reduced from a trio), continuous play totaling over 50 minutes. So many of my favorite records come to mind upon listening: Bob Ostertag's Getting a Head; Merzbow & Christoph Heemann's Sleeper Awakes on the Edge of the Abyss; Miles Davis' In A Silent Way. But Ghost Moth are really their own thing, and must be heard to be believed:

11/11: The Duality and the Hidden Third

Live audio covered by a creative commons attribution-non commercial-no derivatives license.

Here's some video of the session, from Todd's YouTube channel:

Capitol Production Music Sampler (MP3's)

Here's a fun little seven inch 33 1/3 promo disk , on the Capitol Custom label, which I came across ages ago, probably in the same search that turned up the China Youth Corps EP.

Jack Wagner takes us through the magic that is volume three of Capitol's Production Music Series. I sure would love to have the whole collection.

1.) Capitol Production Music Series Volume Three - Side One (MP3)

2.) Capitol Production Music Series Volume Three - Side Two (MP3)

Record Label (JPG)  -  Record Cover (JPG)

Anti-Pop Consortium Remix Contest

WFMU and The Free Music Archive are incredibly excited to announce a remix contest featuring Anti-Pop Consortium! NYC's legendary hip-hop innovators are sharing hi-fi stems & a capellas from "Reflections", a cut off their brand new album Fluorescent Black (Big Dada). After five exploratory years apart, Beans, M. Sayyid, High Priest and Earl Blaize have re-joined forces to craft what may be their finest work yet. Now they're making multitracks from "Reflections" available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license, and we can't wait to hear what you do with 'em!

You've got until December 20th to get in the running for prize pacakges courtesy of WFMU, the Free Music Archive, Anti-Pop Consortium and Big Dada. The members of Anti-Pop Consortium will pick the winners, and we'll post the remixes on the Free Music Archive for further remixing and deep listening. Materials + details after the jump...

Die Goldenen Zitronen - Die Entstehung der Nacht (MP3s, video)

Two years ago I wrote a short blog post praising the criminally underrated German avant-punk-pop mavericks Die Goldenen Zitronen (The Golden Lemons). Unfortunately, it didn't catapult them to superstardom in the US, so I'll try again... Three years after their last studio album "Lenin" they finally released a new one, "Die Entstehung der Nacht" (The Emergence of the Night), as good or better as their last ones. Here is the strange and spooky video for the instrumental title song, apparently a modern version of the story of The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

As a bonus, here are two of my favorite non-instrumentals from the album as MP3s: Des Landeshauptmann's letzter Weg (with lyrics in the style of a Hölderlin ode about Jörg Haider and the weird way in which a law-and-order politician who liked the Nazis and died in a car accident, speeding and drunk, could become a popular hero in the Austrian state of Carinthia after his death) | Drop the stylist (features Mark Stewart of The Pop Group, Melissa Logan of Chicks on Speed, and some swearing in English, so don't play it on the radio or in church...)

Now if only a US distributor would pick up this album...

Alasdair MacLean (of the Clientele)

In late October Alasdair MacLean, singer-guitarist-composer of the London-based Clientele, crossed the pond for two U.S. appearances—one on WFMU. He was flown transatlantic sans band to promote the new Clientele album, a parlor-pop suite titled Bonfires on the Heath. Bonfires comprises a haunting song cycle graced with falling leaves and foreboding twilight. On his blog, "From Brighton Beach to Santa Monica," MacLean confesses that his work is shadowed by "mental distress and paranoia." There are less benign ways to channel despair.

On my Oct 28 program, MacLean serenaded listeners with a quavery voice over shimmering Rickenbacker. The following night he played Joe's Pub in NYC accompanied by a piano-cello-trumpet ensemble.

About the limited U.S. itinerary, MacLean observed: "A friend once told me that Stephin Merritt was being flown from New York to London solely to 'do press.' This seemed impossibly glamorous. They fly you to a different country and put you in a hotel just so you can talk to people — about YOURSELF! You must have some weighty pronouncements to make to the world if that’s how you're being treated. Better greet the journalists with a faintly melancholy smile (oh, the loneliness of genius, the weight of one's towering intellect) and an honest, if distracted, handshake." In fact, this Prince of Looming Darkness was agreeableness personified: a gentleman and a pro, in good humor.

MacLean's reverb-drenched strumming resonated in some deeper recess, which sparked an epiphany the following day. Speaking to Alasdair briefly after the Joe's set, I asked if he was familiar with the work of Vini Reilly, the legendary Manchester guitarist who performs and records as The Durutti Column. Alasdair smiled and admitted he was a fan. Offered a favorable comparison, he demurred, conceding, "I wish I could play as good as him."

On WFMU, MacLean performed five Clientele songs (mp3s from WFMU's Free Music Archive):

7 Cool Th!ngs on the !nternet Th!s Week

Maybe ! should qual!fy th!s as cool th!ngs ! found on the !nternet th!s week, not necessar!ly th!ngs that were uploaded th!s week - although that !s often the case too.

F!re by Koko Taylor - whatta track

Bob Barker's 1956 TV Debut

Now Appear!ng !n the Lounge - Unf!n!shed Vegas Doc

Soundtrack for D!vorces and Break-Ups

Full 1956 ep!sode of The Grand Ole Opry TV Show wth commerc!als

Tom Snyder gets Pervy - Sex Ep!sode of The Tomorrow Show !n seven parts

Two Hundred and E!ghty Four Stax-Volt S!ngles

Music of CHOTCHKE, part two

We're back with another installment of improvisations and songs from bassooncore legends Chotchke, active in San Francisco from 1993 to 1998 (not counting a later reunion gig). As it happened, last time, I presented a rather bassoon-light batch of pieces (as pointed out readily by my exacting listeners and a band member or two) and so THIS time I strove to pick songs that ALL had a lot of Carrie Barclay's bassoon work on them.
The lineup heard this week features members: Jon Arnold : guitar,drums and vocals, Carrie Barclay : bassoon and guitar, Jon Fellman : guitar and vocals,  Jonathan Hess : bass guitar, vocals, and  Drew Dobbs : drums, percussion and vocals.
Today's selection contains improv.s, half-finished songs, and fully-polished 16-track renditions.
Enjoy ten fine slices of Chotchke history after the bump.

Jingle Bell Not

Back in September, I announced the Potentially Annual 2009 DJs Bronwyn and Kelly Xmas Xontest right here on WFMU’s Beware of the Blog because last year DJ Kelly and I had a competition to see who would be the first to hear Christmas Music Played in a Store. I won! November 10, 2008, in the dark and deserted men’s department at Lord & Taylor. But now I don’t work in Midtown anymore, and I doubt I will ever go to L&T again, so this year we opened the Xontest to All Listeners and solicited your reports, with a prize to be designated later.

Given that Halloween started in mid-August this year, I was certain we’d have Christmas music by late September. But no! So far, there have been just two reports—from Listener Brian C. and Listener Zoe—of Christmas music being played in CD departments where Christmas CDs  are being sold, which is not the same thing as subliminal Buy-Now arrangements wafting over the P.A. Neither Listener Brian C. nor Listener Zoe reported whether or not the CDs were any of the new crap crop of Cynical-Record-Company Christmas albums by, like, Bob Dylan or Sting or David Archuleta (you do too know who!), or even Tori Amos hahahahahahaha.

Listener John-From-NJ-Who-Lives-in-Salt-Lake-City claims to have heard the local ice-cream truck playing Christmas Carols (“Good King Wenceslas,” one of my favorites) in mid-September. But that’s Utah, and it might have been Mormon Christmas that day, for all I know. Another Listener said s/he heard one Christmas song in the grocery store last summer, but it was only one and s/he thought at the time it was just a mistake. I saw faux-Victorian carolers singing “Jingle Bell Rock” in a Disney marketing extravaganza on October 30, but that was just wrong.

So! What does this tell us about the state of the economy, I wonder? Last year, stores started up Christmas way early—this year, not so much. Perhaps they learned their lesson when even the big department stores (remember them?) were staying open 24 hours a day and discounting everything by 97% and still couldn’t unload all that crap. This year I think they are keeping smaller inventories and maybe realizing that people are always going to buy something for someone for the holidays, no matter what. I think retailers are sitting and waiting in their stores, like fat, greasy spiders in their webs, waiting for the helpless little consumer to fly in with his hobo $40 cash horde. Or maybe it’s just that I haven’t had time to walk into a single store since I started my awesome new job. Maybe it’s a mad Xmas bacchanal all over, and I just don’t know about it.

But I do get Christmas catalogs! Ever since the Art Institute of Chicago Museum Store opened the floodgates on August 28, hardly a day has gone by without two or three Holiday catalogs flopping in through the mail slot and driving the dog nuts. I thought print was dead, but apparently not. Catalogs are like the cargo-cult version of magazines, and I look through all the catalogs in the same way I used to look at magazines, when magazines still existed. Okay, here is my favorite one  so far this year: The Vermont Country Store! Everything is so traditional and old-fashionedy, just like Christmas used to be! For example, on page 81, they are featuring a real, old-time clitoral stimulator. Yessiree! Although it’s made of plastic, which is not really like Grandma’s clitoral stimulator that Gramps whittled for her out of a boxwood branch, not even like the store-bought clitoral stimulators you used to see in those big glass jars at the general store, the ones made out of wood that only cost a penny. But still … it’s great to know that someone is still making these, and that some folks are going to have a little bit of real Christmas Cheer in their stockings this year.

As for the Xontest, now that we’re past last year’s winning date of November 10, I think we should call the whole thing off. Therefore, by the powers invested in me as a Former WFMU DJ, I hereby anoint Listener Paul Turkk the Winner-by-Default of this year’s Xmas Xontest. Listener Paul reported that he heard some Christmas music playing on a Glade air freshener commercial on the TV from another room of his house on November 2, which doesn’t have much to do with the contest at all but seems to be the best we’re gonna get this year. Congratulations, Listener Paul! Merry Christmas, and may God bless! (And thanks to Bowling Trophy for that great snowman photo.)

WFMU's Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban Launch Party

Come out to the scenic Lakeside Lounge on Saturday, December 5th to help us celebrate the launch of the WFMU Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban webstream and blog.  We will be broadcasting live during Fool's Paradise and the Cherry Blossom Clinic.  Thanks to Rex and Terre T for giving up their time slots for the blast off .  And thanks to the Hound for hosting us.  DJ sets by Gaylord Fields, Dave the Spazz, Rex, Debbie D and listener Greg G .  Special surprises and swag.  1-6 PM.  Free, Adults Only.  Don't miss it! 

Ichiban (Promo mp3)

Barney Kessel - Honey Rock

Bobby Patterson - Soul Is Our Music  

Nick & The Jaguars - Ichiban 

Happy 9/11 with the Jesus Lizard (mp3 + stream)

Chicago post-punk rawk legends The Jesus Lizard reunited in 2008 and performed at May 2009's ATP vs. The Fans II: The Fans Strike Back in Minehead, England along with the likes of Devo, Killing Joke, and Sleep. By all accounts, and judging by the above photo, it musta been an incredibley intense show.

Fast forward to 9/11/2009. The Jesus Lizard take the stage at the Stardust Ballroom up at Kutsher's Resort in Monticello, NY for All Tomorrow's Parties second annual New York festival. In case we had forgotten, David Yow made sure to wish the audience a happy 9/11 repeatedly, throughout the set. And the reunited 4-piece launched into a blistering set of sharp-edged classics like "Mouth Breather", "Seasick", "Puss", even their TV As Eyes/Abstract Nympho Chrome cover (originally released on a Touch & Go 7''). The whole night, it felt like David Yow was gonna take his shirt off. It just had that out of control energy as he jumped in and out of the turbulent audience. Fans made their way on to the stage as well, and at one point I counted three of them all tearing at Yow's shirt, which had made its way to the elbows. But this time, the shirt stayed on.

The original Jesus Lizard lineup was in full force. Duane Denison's been playing in Th' Legendary Shack Shakers these days, and his razorblade riffs on "Mouth Breather" sliced through the gigantic Stardust speakers with precision. Drummer Mac McNeilly and bassist David Sims are a rhythm section in league with Shellac's Todd Trainer and Bob Weston. Just check out the intro to "Monkey Trick," a classic that brings back fond memories of WPRB Station ID's.

Stream the full set here or after the jump. Touch & Go has new remasters/reissues and a 7'' compilation available here, and if you're anywhere near NYC, you can catch The Jesus Lizard live this Monday November 16th at Irving Plaza.