WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Time for Jaye P. Morgan To Come Out of Retirement

I knew my ability to tear a phone book in half was beloved amongst my family (well, at least one nephew who's over it now), but I was more than chuffed to find notification in my inbox today that the new Dave Attel-hosted Gong Show will be holding auditions in New York City, next Thursday, May 22nd. As Joe Franklin once said, there is great talent out there that is the true foam waiting to rise to the top. Surely we will all miss Chuck Barris being around to snort up that foam. And while I hope that there may not be another Oingo Boingo waiting to be discovered by the new Gong Show, I do hope for another Gloria Hunter:

Soggy

Between these guys and Angel Face, I wonder exactly how much of Detroit got into French musical consciousness in the 1970's/80's? "Waiting For the War". Posted to Black To Comm.

Recent Faves from the New Bin

This was a semi-regular post here on WFMU's BotB, but personal craziness leading up to the March fundraiser, working on assorted WFMU concerts, and being sidetracked by other things had me on the bench for a bit. So yes, you don't need me to tell you there are still a mess of very fine documents of recorded music worth seeking, hearing. Here's a few currently dripping some good grease into the station's new bin as we speak:

Warner Jepson's Totentanz was a gurgling slab of primal concrete in LP edition of 300 back in 1967; besides being the result of  hours of tooling around in the SF Tape Machine Center and Mills Collage labs, the record served its purpose well of alienating patrons at ballet performances it was featured at. I haven't seen a proper reissue (though a grey area CDR floated around last year or so), but thanks to Mitchell Brown (aka the excellent KXLU radio host Professor Canteloupe) and his Melon Expander label, Totentanz and more are back. Jepson's works represented here span the years 1958 through 1973 and range from skittery, echoplexed moon rumblings to flat out sinewave scorchings all finding their ways into various theater and ballet peformances, and later onto PBS itself when Jepson got interactive with experimental visual media. Real Audio: "Laughter After" (1958).

The Sic Alps (pictured above) came from another zone of California experimentalism. For the last half decade or so, the zonked atmosphere of pre-Virgin Royal Trux has gone face to face with Nuggets ideology to probably alienate your average bowl-cut Little Steven fan more than anything, yet ably carries the torch of the Elevators, Troggs and more into a cosmic cohesion of faithful rock fandom and flipped-out otherworldiness.  2007's Description of the Harbor is probably one of the most tuneful "out" records ever made in my opinion, and since that thing disappeared rather quickly out of sight (and up the Ebay mountain) it's nice to see it's reappeared courtesy Animal Disguise on CD with other assorted 7" and 12" EP, CDR and 7" tracks from 2006 and 2007 compiled neatly. We're bummed to hear the new tour has been sidelined though due to drummer Matt's broken arm. Get better, Matt! Real Audio: "Message From the Law". Live performance on WFMU 11/6/07.

And while the Alps' SF brethren the Hospitals (whose Adam Stonehouse spent time in the SA's) channel their single-output cavesound in a similar way, the Hospitals' flat out destructo-factor has continually clubbed its listeners in a less subtle (but still awesome) manner. I always still considered the Hospitals a garage punk band in its purest form even as leader Adam Stonehouse changed up personnel around him constantly, but the latest LP Hairdryer Peace shows loftier ambitions.

More Info on the Free Sonic Youth/Feelies July 4th Tickets

River To River, who in conjunction with Downtown Alliance are putting on the free July 4th Sonic Youth/Feelies concert at Battery Park (with special support from WFMU!) have now announced that you may sign up as of today for their email blasts on their R2R Wire page regarding all of their events. The bottom line, however, is that ticket reservations for this July 4th event are hitting on THURSDAY, JUNE 12th at 12:00 NOON at their site. Once your reservation is in, you'll be instructed on how to pick up your passes before July 4th. They are putting a limit of two tickets per person during this reservation process.

A Stretchhead Shout-Out

Seeing how God Is My Co-Pilot's returned to playing live, I got nostalgic for one of my other fave skronk units of that era: Scotland's demented, brilliant Stretchheads issued a handful of LPs and an EP in the late 80s/early 90s, and along with Terminal Cheesecake are definite contenders for overlooked UK gutter-dwellers in need of a good retrospective. The 'heads may not have spread out stylistically over time as cohorts like GodCo, Dog Faced Hermans, Big Flame etc. but they sure hammered the point home gleefully/violently.

Chaka Khan Vs. the Bee Gees

Now that Simon Pegg has gotten somewhat of a foothold in American consciousness, thought it would be a good time again to bring up his great late 90's UK sketch series Big Train. We posted a clip a couple years ago where Chairman Mao rises from his death bed to inexplicably (and quite convincingly) front Roxy Music; here's another of a Wild West shoot out between Chaka Khan and the brothers Gibb.

Besides Simon's ascent to movie stardom, this show should also be lauded for the sheer genius of people like Kevin Eldon, Mark Heap, Julia Davis (whose lead in Nighty Night may have been the single most screwed up character in a show oddly imported by Oprah's channel), and Catherine Tate (currently enjoying her own sketch show on BBC now, here's a clip); this crew all filtered into other great shows like Brass Eye, I'm Alan Partridge, Look Around You and Smack the Pony. May they all continue to thrive, and not move to Los Angeles to be harrassed by Courtney Love.

Another WFMU Free Music Series Concert! The Ex with Gétatchèw Mèkurya, Either/Orchestra with Mahmoud Ahmed and Alèmayèhu Eshèté, Extra Golden: August 20th

(photo left: Konstantin's Flickr page)

When WFMU was first presented with the ability to put on some free NYC concerts via the New York State Music Fund grant, the obvious first notion was "who would we like to see in NYC that has never played before?" So we wound up the ball and sent the pitch over to Lincoln Center's Bill Bragin: how about Holland's greatest punk exports the Ex coming over (which they have in the past on many occasions), but this time bringing over some of their great international musician friends? The ones only Europe usually gets to see (or Ethiopia, if you happen to be there when the Ex make their fabled stops). We passed contacts to Lincoln Center, Terrie Ex got in touch with his fellow travelers, and then the ball was knocked outta the park in a severe way. The result? Lincoln Center's Out of Doors series in collaboration with WFMU's grant giving you all the chance to see the US debut of a major international collaboration for free at Lincoln Center/Damrosch Park Bandshell on West 62nd Street at Amsterdam in Manhattan, Wednesday, August 20th from 6-10 PM. Yes, free. No advance ticketing. On the bill:

The Ex with Gétatchèw Mèkurya (renowned Ethiopian saxophone legend), and if that weren't enough, Lincoln Center added two amazing East African/American collaborations to the bill: Either/Orchestra with Mahmoud Ahmed and Alèmayèhu Eshèté, plus Extra Golden.

If you're a fan of these artists, or Ethiopian/African sounds in general, you know this show is the event you've been waiting for. We've already spoken at length on the joys of WFMU aligning with the Ex in the past; they are among the most freeform and inspiring musicians and people we've had the fortune to experience live and on record. To hear them in full steamroller twin-guitar attack joined by the 73-year old Lion of Ethiopian saxophone is going to be a musical experience we're all gonna remember. More below on the entire fantastic bill (and don't forget the July 4th free Sonic Youth/Feelies show at Battery Park  WFMU is lending support to Downtown Alliance/River to River for!):

Has Andy Breckman Ever Faced a Crowd This Tough?

From Cracked.

I Believe That (Stoned) Children Are Our Future

While Dr. Seuss may have quietly but most assuredly extolled the virtues of LSD, some kids' authors are being a little less subtle when it comes to the Sweet Leaf. Follow the pictoral excerpts from the new publication It's Just A Plant and get involved in your kids' choices. Bryce thinks maybe this kid has already made her choice. However, I think what really should be outlawed is taking your kid bike riding wearing Sgt. Pepper garb, but who am I to judge. (Thanks for link, Tom Lax.)

Knocker Jungle

There seems to be a pretty huge avalanche of beard-rock/psych/folk reissues these days and frankly quite a few remind me why the original records remained in the dollar bins all these years. But with high bar holders in the genre like Comus, early Bolan, Jan Dukes de Grey, Linda Perhacs, Heron and ICB to name a few, there are plenty of contenders left to sort through and some gems still in need of rediscovery. The UK label Acrobat just sent along a reissue of Knocker Jungle's 1970 debut, allegedly left off of store shelves at the time due to an image of one of the two members of the group flippin' the bird on the sleeve. Not much else known about the record other than Fairport's drummer guests, and the album was produced by Tony Cox who had worked with Magna Carta and Tir Na Nog. While the album itself isn't quite a classic, and a bit less outward-looking than some of the above-mentioned high bar purveyors, there's a subtle bit of charm and acid damage going on. Check out the fluttery "I Don't Know Why" (MP3), courtesy of Acrobat.

Is "Cathy" Still in the Market For a Man?

Whitehouse's William Bennett, now comic strip star (Ultraskull via Billy Kiely):

Last Night's Protest Against Varvatos

(pic left from Flickr page of Jeremoss). I for one have grown completely numb to the co-opting of cool culture for nefarious commercial means. If the Strangulated Beatoffs had a song appear in a McDonald's ad, I probably would not bat an eye at this juncture (though if they do decide to do this I sort of fear for humanity what the band would be doing with their check). So, while I am right onboard with everyone who feels that downtown's identity has been clomped over by the high-rent boutiques, wine bars and luxury condos, I can't really feel that the amount of creativity in the city has been scaled down, just sort of displaced (to places with varying degrees of accessibility). I was truly saddened by Tonic's demise, mainly because it was such a central hub of important activity for so many artists who are somewhat more scattered now, but I never got that weepy over CB's. The last show I saw there was the Chain Gang, a good couple years before it's closing, and I think I hadn't been there since 2000 before that. Hence, the fact that John Varvatos decided to buy the old CBGB space and turn it into a fancy retail outlet that happens to preserve the club's graffiti, stage, lights and postered icons amidst racks of $700 jeans isn't as appalling to me I guess as it is to all of last night's protesters down in the Bowery. The difference between 315 Bowery becoming this or a Starbucks is what seems to be really rubbing people the wrong way; I mean, if the current realty office that owns the old Pier Platters space in Hoboken decided to put a box of Flying Nun records on their reception counter I'd probably applaud them. Perhaps someone who has respect for the careers of Graeme and Peter Jefferies may be the kind of person I'd like to rent an apartment from, who knows. Regardless, I'm glad there's still a spirit of protest alive (who's headed down to the LES to get a slab of that Bruce Willis-as-roast pig effigy happening?), though I did get a laugh from a comment on Curbed, whether it be facetious or not (thanks Doron): "I can't wait to protest this abomination, I'll meet everyone at the Whole Foods on Houston at 8PM!"

High School Pierre Schaeffers

Jack Dangers (Tino Corp, Meat Beat Manifesto) just compiled a pretty great CD of assorted electronic music pieces recorded through the years 1968-84 by high school kids. The cover is culled from an LP that seems to be from the Gloucester (Mass.?) Public School's Electronic Music lab from the 1970's, but it's unfortunately lacking any other info besides the names of the kids doing the pieces, and the titles of the tracks. The disc is only available on Meat Beat's tourstops, but will probably be available in limited form thereafter. Check out a few:

Randy Kaplan "Emission-Embossment" (MP3)
David Brown "Willy Reverb" (MP3)
Kenneth Ranales "Mind Clash" (MP3)
Beth Bolton/Mag Johnson "Vietnam-Love It Or Leave It" (MP3)

Rhymin' Simon: Not Welcome in East L.A.

Jambase via Stereogum ran an interview with Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, recounting his band's experience with Mr. Edie Brickell in the studio for the Graceland sessions. It may not be an exact doppelganger to the Don McLean/Andy Breckman experience, but needless to say "American Pie" and "Boy in the Bubble" both will cause some accelerated reflux in this particular throat from hereon:

JAMBASE: Speaking of doing a lot of different records and working with a lot of amazing songwriters, I own a ton of the records that you've done over the years. One, in particular, I'd like to ask you about is Paul Simon's Graceland. I obsessed over that thing when I was young. Do you have anyrecollections of working on it?

STEVE BERLIN: Oh, I have plenty of recollections of working on that one.I don't know if you heard the stories, but it was not a pleasant deal for us. I mean he [Simon] quite literally -- and in no way do I exaggerate whenI say -- he stole the songs from us....And you know, going into it, I had an enormous amount of respect for the guy. The early records were amazing, I loved his solo records, and I truly thought he was one of the greatest gifts to American music that there was.

At the time, we were high on the musical food chain. Paul had just come off One Trick Pony and was kind of floundering. People forget, before Graceland, he was viewed as a colossal failure. He was low. So when we were approached to do it, I was a way bigger fan than anybody else in the band. We got approached by Lenny Waronker and Mo Ostin who ran our record company [Warner Bros.], and this is the way these guys would talk -- "It would mean a lot to the family if you guys would do this for us." And we thought, "Ok well, it's for the family, so we'll do it." It sounds so unbelievably naïve and ridiculous that that would be enough of a reason to go to the studio with him.

WFMU Free Music Concert Series Continues: Sonic Youth + the Feelies at Battery Park July 4

We've been keeping it somewhat of a secret for a while, but you know, bloggers tend to get the scoop before anyone (even if they were off a couple miles by location), so the cat is out of the bag as of this week. Sonic Youth and the reunited Feelies are playing a free show in Battery Park on July 4th which is damn exciting alone, but also the show is being presented by the Downtown Alliance and River to River Festival, with special support from WFMU. We're totally psyched to be involved in this auspicious occasion (and especially glad that one of the bands on the bill happens to be one of the greatest New Jersey combos in history! Go New Jersey!) Besides having a set-up at the show, we'll also be giving away tickets (yeah we know it's free, but honestly, it's destined to be a capacity crowd) so tune in for further details. Our funding for WFMU's contribution towards this event has been culled from none other than the deposed Governor Spitzer himself, and this grant has not only paved the way for WFMU Free Music Archive project but also the two free-to-the-masses Southpaw shows we put on in 2007 (Major Stars / Flaming Fire / Jonathan Kane's February / DJ/Rupture, plus Oneida / Alan Vega  / Simply Saucer / Old Time Relijun). Right now, keep an eye on River To River's website, where you can sign up for R2R Wire ticket announcements (this sign up is supposed to be available to the public May 1st). This is our 2nd 50th Anniversary concert as well, with more in the works in 2008. Visual previews:

Sonic Youth "Incinerate" (live on Letterman)
The Feelies "Away" (live 1988 on Mouth To Mouth)

April 1: We Get Listener Comments

(Yet more Joe Belock public defacement as of today hitting the left coast, photo Maria L.) Samples of WFMU playlist comments Tuesday:

"Is something wrong?"
"I thought Bryce was filling in (for Joe Belock) or something."
"When did the High School Sweethearts learn to sing in Finnish?"
"Is this a parody of the recent WNYE-KEXP arrangement?"
"Try something challenging for a change asshats!"
"If challenging means jazz, then, no,"
"Really, really lame joke. Jeez, what what was the point? To annoy the listeners? Why not just have pizzas delivered to everyone who pledged to the station?"
"The playlist is totally out of sequence today. Anyone else experiencing this?"
"Is it OK to leave notes here if I can only hear KVJC? I am confuzzed."
"The real KFJC show that's on right now sounds like a show for pill heads."
"Where is Eat Skull? KFJC would have played them by now."

Much love to our freeform brothers and sisters at KFJC in Los Altos Hills for our April 1st web/air switcheroo. Hope you enjoyed it, or on the other hand, forgive us both. Sometimes we just can't help ourselves.

Atomic Rooster

Whether or not Atomic Rooster's TV performance this particular day was inspired by Van Morrison's Bang Record contractual obligation sessions (hear "Want a Danish" (MP3) and read more here) is beside the point: when it's time to eat, it's simply time to eat. Clip post by Progjazzfusion.

Blanketship & Qulfus are Murdering the (Motown) Classics

Blanketship and Qulfus are the respective duo of Jared Blum and Dominic Cramp, and for the last few years have put out assorted releases beloved to WFMU (in fact Liz Berg hosted a live set here with Blanketship) full of quirky 60s/70s samples, tasty breaks, jazzy detours and that general kitchen sink aesthetic we have all grown to love. Motown Meltdown is the newest project, in their words:

"A few months ago we were introduce to a special collection of discs called the Motown Master Recordings Karaoke by Singing Machine. Each of these extraordinary discs contains '8 classic hits by the original artists.' Why are they extraordinary? For one, these are original Motown recordings! But it gets better.. The first 8 tracks are separated stereo channels, left and right. The left side; the instrumental, the right, isolated vocals all from the original sessions! "

So basically B & Q decided to do remixes using only these karaoke tracks, nothing outside allowed (drums, basslines etc.). The disc's liners claim Motown Meltdown is free for the taking, though I didn't see anything up as of today offering it on the Gigante website. I assume it's forthcoming, but in the meantime, here's "That Girl's Alright" (MP3) from Qulfus, and Blanketship's "Blanketown" (MP3).

First the Better Beatles, Now the Shitty Beach Boys

via Trentosvig's You Tube page.

Joe Belock Graffiti Extends to Comic World

Extempore

The band Wire have been covered by everyone from fIREHOSE to Fischerspooner, but here's an unusual take on Pink Flag's "Lowdown" from a 1979 live recording by the Czech band Extempore. Actually, the full name seems to be the New Rock and Jokes Band Extempore. The band drew somewhat on Western European art-prog (heavy on the sax), and the album Zabíjacka (translated: "pig slaughtering") this cover was taken from was a sort of rock-opus dealing with a group of pig-faced humans dining on the corpse of a cook who accidentally kills himself preparing an actual pig. Whoa. Not sure how that leads into a Wire cover (it actually seems to be after the main part of the live set) but sources claim they also covered Generation X and Dr. Feelgood too. "Lava a St'ava" (MP3). Much Eastern-European mailorder music greateness can be found, by the way, via Tamizdat.

Look, Mike, an Even Bigger Boat!

Seriously, a big ass boat!

Goom "Massai" 7"

Freaky psychedelic glam Afrobeat recorded in France in 1972, the vocalist almost sounds like Marc Bolan or Roger Wooton from Comus. "Massai" (MP3).

Harvey Milk at WFMU/SXSW/Spiro's March 14 (MP3's)

Harvey Milk are without a doubt one band I am obsessed with, and the funny thing is that most people I meet who are fans of them are also obsessed with them; it seems that there are few casual listeners to their music. Born in Athens, GA in the early 1990's, they issued a slew of records that should have been recognized much more than they were; their non-peggability probably hurt their public/press profile, not to mention the neo-Barrett psychedelia that was emerging from their hometown overshadowing them somewhat in the scheme of collegiate radio. But what amazing records, and thanks to people like Chunklet, Relapse, tUMULT and others, the microscope once again has turned to them in the last few years and they've come back into action fully. I finally saw them for the first time a few years ago at Tonic opening for Khanate, and it remains one of my favorite live show memories. They sucked the oxygen out of the air for minutes at a time; extended passages of silence give way to crushing, Melvinsy swaths of pure majestic overload; singer/guitarist Creston issued forth gutteral vocals like he was fronting Lynard Skynard slowed down to 16 RPM. Muzzy chords would just loom ominously over the room for what seemed like an eternity and then they'd crack open into propulsive Thin Lizzy mode and change bizarre time signatures on a dime and sounded just fantastic. When asked if they could get on WFMU's SXSW bill for March, I couldn't have been more thrilled. We had a close call getting HM on my show a few years back but some crossed signals confused their show-up time with their club soundcheck; my engineer had by then gone home and I was devastated. But now, having the band show up and kick off the proceedings at Spiro's first on the bill (sorry about the club's drink ticketkeeper being AWOL, Stephen!) was a total freakin' dream come true. With Joe Preston (Melvins/Thrones) on 2nd guitar! What a way to start an evening. (Pic: BT)

Enjoy:
Crush Them All (MP3)
War (MP3)
Shame (MP3)
Old Glory (MP3)
The Anvil Will Fall (MP3)
I've Got a Love (MP3)

Entire Harvey Milk set from Spiro's, March 14 (MP3)

These recordings are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Hank IV at WFMU/SXSW/Spiro's March 14 (MP3's)

More MP3's for grabs courtesy of our artists performing at WFMU's first SXSW bash in Austin on March 14th at Spiro's. While the Hank IV may have raised the ire of anyone showing up to see Bocephus' grandson (sorry, these guys have interrupted that particular line) they put on one hell of a rocking performance. Singer Bob McDonald (ex-the Denver hardcore band Bum Kon who have a reissue due imminently) has just become ambulatory after screwing up his knee a few months back in San Francisco with one of his trademark stage pirouettes; while we didn't get the fully unhinged dance party that is Bob (Siltblog once likened his moves to a cross between Sally Can't Dance Lou Reed, Ian Curtis, and the robot from Lost In Space) we saw him pretty amped up there dragging that leg thing all over the place. Though of course he did spend some fair time checking out the floor as well (picture by BT). Terminal Boredom: "What teacher's lounge did these guys meet in?" We love the Hank IV, thanks to them for allowing us to post these MP3s (sans a few stricken from the full set):

Sorry 'Bout the Boat Race (MP3)
Celebrity Virgin (MP3)
Drive the Whip (MP3)
Hole In My Eye (MP3)
I'm Quitting (It's All Right) (MP3)
Dirty Poncho (MP3)
Feeding Me Back (MP3)
Symptomatic (MP3)
I Gotta Get It Straight (MP3)

Full set at Spiros' (sans the two stricken tracks) here (MP3).

These recordings are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.