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Today I'm going to hip you to one of the best albums you've never heard - probably. I mean to say, it's definitely one of the best, but you've probably never heard it. The Ruined Frame is the solo project of one Rick Weaver, who has been in a string of amazing underground bands like the caustic noise-rockers The New Flesh and the cassette-tape-noise all-stars Form A Log. Yet the Ruined Frame is, strangely, an acoustic and (relatively) straight-up singing-and-songwriting project.
I think there must be something to the noise-rock-to-songwriter story, because two of the bands The Ruined Frame reminds me most of are the Failure-era Swans, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Both are projects where the people involved seemed to have made a decision that they could make more gut-wrenching and soul-crushing music with acoustic instruments than with stacks of amps and heaps of distortion. The Ruined Frame is maybe less dark and heavy than those examples, but, well, if you listen... it does get that heavy. Rick's voice will just slay you. And the musical accompaniment, primarily guitar, but also including slide whistles, kazoos, organ, and it seems whatever else was on hand - is just bullseye perfect at every turn.
Really, I'm just trying to convince you to listen for yourself, because I'm posting this entire album here with the artist's permission. Download this ZIP file of the entire album: The Ruined Frame "Breath & Pulse" album (ZIP)
In a just world The Ruined Frame would be regarded as being in a class with Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, or Neil Young. But hey, Rick is a young guy - that world may yet come to pass.
You can follow Rick's various projects at the Human Conduct Records blog - the label he runs and releases some of his own music on. I also found this very nice interview with Rick Weaver at the Aural States website. He is also currently in a band called Dinner Music. And lastly, I was informed that Human Conduct is still selling cassette copies of The Ruined Frame's "Breath and Pulse" - contact rickjweaver AT gmail.
Sean O'Hagan's High Llamas have spent the last twenty years discovering a place in sound that relates brilliant, memorable melodies and lyrics with sharp arrangements and a sense of history rooted in music from all over the world. On an album like Gideon Gaye or 2007's Can Cladders, the Llamas provide such a sense of brightness and craft, it is nearly impossible to not feel enlightened upon listening. This month, the band will release their first album in four years, Talahomi Way.
I am grateful to have interviewed Sean O'Hagan about all of this and more, which you can check out after the jump.
Live on Brian Turner's program between 3-6pm ET, full performance and interview (will be archived at Brian's playlist page for streaming, no download). Two and a half years after headlining one of WFMU's free 50th Anniversary concert broadcasts in New York, Wire appear on Brian's show today for their first ever performance in the station's studios. Formed in 1976, the group immediately staked its place as one of Britain's most celebrated exports of art-punk whose first three records (Pink Flag, 154, and Chairs Missing) are universally regarded as picture-perfect documents of innovative experimentation in songcraft. Traversing the lines between raw minimalist punk and complex experimentations, they've influenced everyone from Minor Threat to Guided By Voices, the Minutemen to the Futureheads, and continue to create new soundways with their latest release Red Barked Tree. Wire's 30 plus years have been marked by constant flux, side projects, regrouping and reinvention, and the 2011 lineup of Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Robert Grey and Matt Simms play live on WFMU while in town for two shows: Music Hall of Williamsburg (April 5) and the Bowery Ballroom (April 6th). Don't miss this major event in our hallowed hallways!
Beyond a few broad, core truths (the Nazis are Evil, the Axis are a Threat), propaganda is by its very nature filled with falsehoods, exaggerations, and lies. It reveals far more about the country that created it than its actual target. In the following cartoons, which cast the most popular animated characters of the time into situations both comic and nightmarish, the concerns of World War II America are laid bare: it's scared, defiant, and strangely obsessed.
Wrath
During a parable about the idiocy of signing a non-aggression pact with a man who is a wolf AND a Nazi, the Three Little Pigs run into the eldest pig’s house, which is made out of bricks and heavy cannons. There’s a sign on the door which says: “No Dogs Allowed”, except “Dogs” has been crossed out and replaced by “Japs”. No other mention of the Japanese is made during this sequence. Frankly, it seems like an afterthought -- like they completed this cartoon and sent it through the editing process, where it was determined that there was just not enough racism against the Japanese. By then, it was too late to add, say, a horrible buck-toothed reptile sidekick for Wolf Hitler, so they slapped the sign on the house and called it a day.
They really went out of their way to portray the Japanese as inhuman, too. Hitler and Mussolini are caricatures of people: Hitler is thin and floppy, while Mussolini is fat and bull-headed. Hirohito, on the other hand, is practically an alien--he’s got bright yellow skin, a face that seems to be composed entirely of buck teeth, long ears, and pinprick eyes. Last time I checked, Japanese people do not possess any of those characteristics (I would say, “anime doesn’t count”, but this doesn’t even happen in anime).
Gluttony
The wolf wants more. He will not use what he gains. It is enough for him that it is there to make his own. He will blow down the house of straw and sticks, and try to blow up the house of cannons. He will eat the pigs. All of his minions are either obese (they have gorged themselves well) or rail-thin (they are starving of their want). He will send his crow after you, to catch your duck. He will fill your children full of death. The wolf wants more.
Lust
How many times are people going to get shot in the ass in these cartoons? There’s something very strange going on here -- you Nazis may have annexed the Sudetenland and made war on civilization, but we’re gonna shoot you in the butt! Wolf Hitler gets chased around by bombs and shells that seem to have been designed to seek out his rear end. Nazi Donald Duck (more on that later) is prodded to his fascist re-education by bayonets that poke him in the ass. In the title screen to his starring role in this rump drama, Daffy Duck shoots a Nazi duck (not Donald) directly in the asshole with a rock from a slingshot.
I understand the need to be aggressive against Nazi Germany, but do we really need to move from invasions to invasions? If you watched The Fog of War, you’ll know that General Curtis LeMay (whose dying regret must have been that he never lived to use a railgun on a communist) never went near recommending anything of this nature (mostly, his strategy was bombs, regardless of anatomical location). I’m not sure exactly what this reveals about the mindset of the gentlemen animating these cartoons, but if I had a communications device that ignored the boundaries of space and time, I’d tell them to cool it down a bit. I would also tell them to make a prequel to Space Jam, this time featuring bespectacled giant and early NBA icon George Mikan, on the condition that they put aside a small percentage of the profits in a trust fund for me.
Greed
It’s perhaps a little vulgar when the three little pigs launch bullets literally full of money at Wolf Hitler. They’re helpfully labeled “Defense Bonds”, which is a nice little reminder to the American public to get crackin’ with the bond-buying. Additionally, the exhortation to BUY WAR BONDS gets repeated an awful lot during the less-subtle cartoons, but this is to be forgiven. Tanks were needed to crush the Nazis, and tanks are not free.
Envy
One very specific type of envy, to be accurate. A hint: observe the number of cannons in these cartoons. Cannons abound. Tanks have two at minimum, sometimes as many as five. Sometimes, the cannons go limp. A pig will feed the cannon vitamins, and it is ready once again to fire away.
Pride
There is only the barest mention of Russia in these cartoons. This may be a disservice.
Did you know that, out of the total number of German army soldiers who died in World War II, something like nine out of ten were killed by the Russians? Our image of that war is of America saving the day, and this is not without merit. England alone would have been unable to mount a counter-invasion on its own and would have been forced to surrender eventually had it not received American aid. It’s important to remember, however, that alongside Good Old Fashioned American Know-How and the Legendary British Resolve, the war was won by Millions and Millions of Russian Conscripts, dying in Stalingrad, clogging the gears of a meat grinder.
Sloth
Donald Duck is in hell.
He doesn’t know how he got here. It seems like he’s always been in hell, but the memories of another land flicker across his overworked brain like the last fireworks of the last Fourth of July. He is on an assembly line which stretches into infinity. His tormentors want him to build shells. His tormentors want him to hail the Fuhrer. They are not satisfied with the slightest delay in either of these actions. Earlier, in a different world, the Fuhrer was a wolf, but here, he’s a man. Someday, the wolf will be blown to hell, greeted by a leering band of devils, but Donald will not be there for that.
Donald has been up since four o’clock in the morning. He was awoken by a band of grotesques singing a song about the Fuhrer, and it seems like their chorus ambushes him at the worst possible times.
He is so very good at his job. His wings long ago evolved into hands, and they shame humanity with their quickness and dexterity. Small shells are no problem. Larger ones are a cakewalk. Donald could screw shells together forever, but his skill only encourages his tormentors. They finally trip him up. They may have never wanted him to succeed. If only they would stop screaming at him. If only the music would stop.
One day, Donald will wake up in America. He never left. He was only dreaming. The dream was eternity.
Joe DeMartino is a Connecticut-based writer who grew up wanting to be Ted Williams, but you would not BELIEVE how hard it is to hit a baseball, so he gave that up because he writes words OK. He talks about exploding suns, video games, karaoke, and other cool shit at his blog, The Toy Cannon. He can be emailed at jddemartino@gmail.com and tweeted at @thetoycannon. He writes about sports elsewhere. The sports sells better.
We thought about throwing an anniversary party this year, but at this point there is so much incredible music events flowing through the FMA from all over the world that it would be difficult to sum it up in one cohesive event. We've come a very long way since April 4th 2009. The library has grown from 5,000 to 33,500+ mp3s, all curated by an ever-expanding worldwide curatorial consortium. We have some exciting new features in development including a recommendation engine that will bring the library to life, and an expanded API that will open up a new world of possible uses for all the great music that wants to be shared.
Leading up to the launch of the FMA, we curated two FMA Samplers (volume 1 / volume 2) to hand out at the Free Music Series of concerts, previewing some of the sounds that would appear on the FMA. I think they hold up pretty well as a template.
Here's a new mix of 50+ of the many highlights that've been added over the past two years. As always it's just the tip of the iceberg, so keep on diggin' deep and helping get the word out about good music that wants to be shared!
Two years after headlining a concert in WFMU's 50th anniversary series, legends of art-punk Wire come to Brian Turner's show to perform live in our studios for the first time. It is a can't-miss event! Hear the current Wire lineup of Colin Newman, Graham Lewis, Robert Grey, and Matt Simms this Tuesday 4/5 from 3 to 6 PM. Wire are also playing a couple of shows in the NYC area: they'll be at Music Hall of Williamsburg April 5, and at Bowery Ballroom April 6.
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Underground artist/hero and avid 78 RPM collector Robert Crumb joins Mac on the Antique Phonograph Music Program. He will talk about why no music recorded after the 1930s matters, and provide other nuggets of wisdom gleaned from 50+ years spent collecting records. Links will be provided to video of Crumb's interview! It happens on 4/5 from 8 to 9 PM (part 1 of 2).
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Ken and Andy are back at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre for Seven Second Delay -- tune in or stop by to watch live! Their guests this week will include broadcasting guru and "king of nostalgia" Joe Franklin; professional poker player Shane Schleger; and a special musical performance, Judy Garland Sings the Smiths. 4/6, from 6 to 7 PM. Admission to the UCB is $5, and it's at 307 West 26th Street in NYC.
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Late on Wednesday night, Bennett4Senate will welcome Joel Holmberg, aka DJ Filetype SWF ("Swiff"), for a very special set of internet DJing. Learn more about Holmberg's web-DJing project here, and listen to him manipulate browser windows on the air 4/7, from 3 to 6 AM.
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Then, in yet another exciting turn, the great current chapter of NRBQ grace Bob Brainen's show Saturday morning. NRBQ will make their very-first appearance on the WFMU airwaves, playing songs and chatting about their new album. Hear it all go down as Bob hosts, 4/9 from 9 to 11 AM. Hooray!
Here's a sweet record I picked up many years ago, featuring a group with the unwieldy but very descriptive and specific name of The Medical Missionaries of Mary Choral Group. All I know about this record is that it was recorded in Ireland. The attraction for me here is on the A-Side, "Angels (Watching Over Me)",
Over a very simple but beautiful accompaniment of acoustic guitar and bass, the Choral Group sing their equally pretty song, featuring appropriately heavenly harmony throughout. The song, probably because of how it is presented here, quickly wormed its way into my head, and has stayed there for all these years since.
This record was promoted as a potential hit at the end of 1965, and actually charted for a two weeks on the "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" chart in Billboard in early 1966, peaking at #117. The flip side, also included here, is called "Spring".
Here's a beloved old seven-inch four-song single from Nippon Columbia records. In particular I have been DJing it's 'best' cut The Soba Song for years and years, as it is such a prime example of a mutant country song, wonderful words, arrangement, and that middle-eight Solo Break - Wow! You'll hear what I mean - truly inspiring.
By pure coincidence today's and my next post (April 16th) happened to be about Japanese records, unusual for me - I rarely seem to blog about anything remotely current, so I hope you like this record and the very tasty one coming up next.
I think that this is another Asian record that I bought in San Francisco, many of them brought home by servicemen. I've no idea when this came out, and I like the metal spacer that came with it to fill out that big ol' 45rpm record hole. Indeed - I know you'll be humming that Soba Song in no time at all.
This week was juicy in terms of live shows to attend, I wanted to go to many, but have yet to clone myself and my jet propulsion unit is still at the shop. I cheated a bit, by having a band on the Fun Machine, to be able to provide you, the listener with some tracks aside from these pix, so here's a quick rundown!! Sunday March 27th, I caught Thin Lizzy at the Starland Ballroom. Brian Downey, Scott Gorham and Darren Wharton, all from the Lynott era were joined onstage by Marco Mendoza, Vivian Campbell and Ricky Warwick. The show was great, the set list was very different from the Sykes/Gorham era that ended rather unexpectedly the summer of 2009, and all is well! Here's a few shots from the show! Tuesday, Batillus made their way to Jersey City to douse the Fun Machine with some gasoline, torched
This week, no themes, but plenty of great music to discuss.
John Allen set "All And Everyone" from P.J. Harvey's new Let England Shake album next to 1992 Moles and a Bevis Fond track, "Termination Station Grey," from 1988.
Ken played three songs about New Jersey: I knew the first two: Dave Van Ronk's "Garden State Stomp," and Bob Dylan''s "East Orange, NJ." Then Ken played a strange piece of Garden State easy listening, "New Jersey," by Bob D'Fano, which Ken found in his high school radio station. I wonder how Scott Walker would make this track scary?
Usually, Scott Williams uses an easy listening take on "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" by Frank Comstock And His Orchestra as talk over music. This week he played an obtuse spoken word version by R.W Adam between Blank Realm and Earth Girl Helen Brown. Sugar up the classics, deconstruct the classics.
The free form genre blender: Blues pianist Pinetop Perkins--who played with Muddy Waters, Earl Hooker and many others-recently died. Bob Brainen played "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" next to Frank Sinatra's "Bim Bam Baby," then "Bajabula Bonke (The Healing Song)" by Hugh Masekela.
Tony Coultrer played "Tiruliruli" by Hermeto Pascoal from 1984. In 1971, Miles Davis collaborated with the Brazilian composer for a few short, spacey pieces for the Live-Evil album. Get a Real Player to hear "Little Church" played by Irene Trudel. An organ, a muted trumpet, a bass, and a whistle, the 40 year old track still sounds more inventive than most modern ambient.
Forgive me: I just can't hear "Little Church" without including the Live-Evil track that follows, "Gemini/Double Image." written by Joe Zawinul and played by David on Inner Ear Detour in Real Audio. David segues the piece with a Nurse With Wound Track, "Sea Armchair," but you'll know when the Miles track starts: John McLaughlin plays some of the nastiest guitar ever recorded--as sharp and frightening as a razor in the dark.
