WFMU's Beware of the Blog

In case you didn't feel like showing up - Volume 52

Earcandy for your eyes

Hoax playing live at The Acheron in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City on January 12, 2013.

After the break: Dysrhythmia, Planning for Burial and Wreck & Reference at Saint Vitus.

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 197

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

The flipping of the calendar has brought flippin' great developments in Blogland with the rumbling back to life of some favorite sites that had been inactive for too long. Today's Motherlode welcomes back this quartet of music-sharing shrines with hopes for a robust 2013:

 •  The rare and private-press avant offerings from El Reza
 •  Likembe's magnificent African explorations
 •  Fifties and sixties hipness from jazz purveyor Sic Vos Non Vobis
 •  The miraculous mess of twang dished out by archivist Hillbilly-Researcher

 

 

    
Sphere  ~  Inside Ourselves
(Blog: El Reza)

Stratified
The fantastic El Reza has rumbled back to life with this offering from Detroit's long-defunct Strata Records. Predecessor to the groundbreaking Strata-East, Strata recorded three dozen LPs' worth of material, but released only six. This offering being one of them.

DJ/historian Amir Abdullah is heroically relaunching recordings from Strata on his label 180 Proof—reissuing some of the previously released discs and issuing, for the first time, some never-before-heard masters from the Strata vaults. (The album shared here is not among those currently planned for re/release.) Abdullah appeared on John Schaefer's "Soundcheck" show on WNYC radio last month. Listen to their conversation. Learn more about Abdullah's Strata reissue project here.

 

Thurl Ravenscroft: The Story Continues!

Just three months ago, I wrote of the end of a 30 year search for an elusive record by Thurl Ravenscroft. With that record added to my collection - the last Thurl 45 that I knew about, but didn't own - I wondered whether there would be any further great Thurl finds - prior to that one, it had been quite a while.

The answer fell into my lap barely six weeks later when I stumbled upon another great Thurl 45, one I had never heard of, and which wasn't listed in the tremendous discography at the equally wonderful All Things Thurl website. After enjoying this record mightily for a few weeks, my next move was to share it with the world. 

The record is dated November, 1955, and technically, the artist billing is Teddy Phillips Orchestra, vocal by Thurl Ravenscroft & Phillipaires, but the story on each side of the record is primarily Thurl, front and center. Already, I've gone back and forth on which of the two songs I like more.

On the A-side Thurl and the gals sing about the thrilling story of "Pocahontas", with a downright goofy chorus built out of the repetition of part of the name of that "Indian maid". The b-side is a more typical 1950's love ballad, "My Love For You", but Thurl's delivery is great, and there is also a very nice, unusual instrumental section halfway through the record, where individual horns play one note of the melody in succession, sort of like a big band version of The Chordettes.  Enjoy!

Teddy Phillips Orchestra, Vocal by Thurl Ravenscroft & Phillipaires - Pocahontas (MP3)  |  Label (JPG)

Teddy Phillips Orchestra, Vocal by Thurl Ravenscroft & Phillipaires - My Love for You (MP3)  |  Label (JPG)

WFMU Benefit Concert + Mini-Record Fair Sunday, January 13th

Mark your calendars for Sunday, January 13th! WFMU is hosting a Mini-Record Fair and blowout benefit show at The Bell House in Brooklyn! The fair happens 11-5pm (no admission after 3pm due to space constraints), and at 7:30 we'll be kicking off a night of music mayhem with Arrington Di Dionyso of Old Time Relijun, followed by the Dot Wiggin Band (of the Shaggs!), the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and Texas psych/gospel dynamos The Relatives!Jonathan Toubin spins! Tickets for the Music Benefit at this link here, and more info below.

Tix are $10 for the fair (tickets at the door only) and $20 for the concert, with advance tickets for sale here!! All proceeds benefit WFMU in its post-Hurricane Sandy Recovery.

The fair and concert are both separate events, and the inner hall will be cleared out at 5pm to reopen for the show at 7:30. Set times:

7:30 Arrington Di Dionyso
8:10 Dot Wiggin Band
9:00 Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
10:00 The Relatives

In case you didn't feel like showing up - Volume 51

Earcandy for your eyes

Dag Nasty played a one off reunion show in Washington DC at the Black Cat on December 28, 2012. Below is their full set with original singer Shawn Brown. Set List: Can I Say,Under Your Influence, I've heard, Thin Line, Circles, Another Wrong, What Now, One To Two, Justification, Pressure's On (Red C Cover), Never Go Back

After the break: Magic is Küntmaster at Saint Vitus.

WFMU Staff 2012 Year End Lists

A smattering of our sound slab selections for the slid-away '12:

 

SCOTT McDOWELL (The Long Rally, Fridays 9-Noon)
C S Yeh - Transitions (De Stijl)

Muscles of Joy - Muscles of Joy (Watts of Goodwill)

Vanessa Rossetto - Exotic Exit (Kye)

The Trypes - Music for Neighbors (Acute)

Agali Ag Amoumine - Takamba (Sahel Sounds)

Mark Fell - Periodic Orbits of a Dynamic System Related to a Knot (Editions Mego)

Jason Lescalleet - Songs About Nothing (Erstwhile)

Various - Time To Go - The Southern Psychedelic Moment: 1981-86 (Flying Nun)

Rev. Charlie Jackson - Lord You’re So Good (50 Miles of Elbow Room)

Helm - Impossible Symmetry (Pan)

Morton Feldman - Crippled Symmetry (Frozen Reeds)

Eric Lanham - The Sincere Interruption (Spectrum Spools)

Sean McCann & Matthew Sullivan - Jackpot (Ekhein)

Andy Stott - Luxury Problems (Modern Love)

Mary Halvorson Quintet - Bending Bridges (Firehouse 12)

Lewlewal De Podor - Yiilo Jaam (Sahel Sounds)

Various - Fanafody: A Collection of Recordings and Photography from Madagasikara Volume II (Mississippi/Cultural Knot)

David Kilgour - Here Come the Cars (De Stijl)

Various - Laila Je T'aime (Sahel Sounds)

Eli Keszler - Cold Pin (Pan)

TROUBLE (This Is the Modern World, Tuesdays 9-Noon)
Peaking Lights  - Lucifer
Pure Bathing Culture  - s/t
Allah-las  - s/t
Tia Blake and her folk group  - Folksongs and Ballads
Angel Olsen - Halfway Home
Melody's Echo Chamber  - s/t
Personal Space: Electronic Soul 74-84 - v/a
Just Tell Me What You Want -  v/a tribute to Fleetwood Mac
Josephine Foster  - Blood rushing
Brenda Ray - D'Ya hear me: Naffi years 1979-83
Julia Holter - Extasis

FAYE (Hello Children, Thursdays 9-Noon)
Maxine Funke- Felt LP
Pheromoans- Does This Guy Stack Up? LP
Boomgates- Double Natural LP
Swearin'- Swearin' LP
Thee Ahs - Thee AHs AHttack! 7"
V/A - Songs On Conceptual Art Compilation LP
Scott & Charlene's Wedding- Para Vista Social Club LP
Evening Meetings- Evening Meetings LP
Tennis- Young & Old LP
Novella- Novella EP

BRIAN TURNER (WFMU Music Director, Tuesdays 3-6pm)
Divorce s/t (Night School)
Lee Ranaldo - Between the Times and the Tides (Matador)
Tropa Macaca - Ectoplasma (Software)
Solid Attitude - BB Gun Picnic (Rotted Tooth)
Maxine Funke - Felt (Epic Sweep)
Peter Hammill - Consequences (Fie)
Blues Control - Valley Tangents (Drag City)
Frank Rosaly - Centering and Displacement (Utech)
Joshua Abrams - Represencing (Eremite)
Letha Rodman Melchior/Tretetam - Moon Mountain (Robert & Leopold)
BB Jr - How To Fuck All Your Coworkers in One Sitting (Captcha)
Mohel - The Second Temple (Verdura)
Arnaldo Antunes / Edgard Scandurra / Toumani Diabate  - A Curva Da Cintura  (Mais Um Discos)
Crazy Spirit - s/t (Toxic State)
Thomas Koner - Novaya Zemlya (Touch)
Spectre Folk - Ancient Storm (Vampire Blues)
FNU Ronnies - Saddle Up (Load)
Willie Lane - Guitar Army of One (Cord-Art)
Ali Ag Amoumine - Takamba (Mississippi)
Seven That Spells - The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock (Beta-Lactam Ring)

7"
Hot Lunch, Satanic Rockers, Circle X, Secret Museum of Kind Men, IV Eyes/Schiller Killer split, Manateees, Orgone Toilet label stuff

Old But New:
Sedition Ensemble - Regeneration Report (S-S)
Wicked Lady - The Axeman Cometh (Guersen)
Noh Mercy - Noh Mercy (Superior Viaduct)
Null and Void - Possibilities (Bunker Pop)
Coven - Worship New Gods (Shadow Kingdom)
Francis Bebey - African Electronic Music (Born Bad)
Metz - Metz (Ossining)
Rev. Charlie Jackson - Lord You're So Good: Live Recordings Vol. 2 (50 Miles of Elbow Room)
The Max Block - Air Ache In the Belly of the Leech (Siltbreeze)
Northern Haze - Sinnaktuq (Supreme Echo)
Sonic Youth - Smart Bar Chicago 1985 (Goofin)
Can - The Lost Tapes (Mute/Spoon)
Jim Shaw &  Mike Kelley - Duets 1975-76 (Compound Annex)
Various - Time To Go: The Southern Psychedelic Movement 1981-86 (Flying Nun)

Live:
Pussy Galore, Maxwells, Hoboken
Van Halen, Cafe Wha? (David Lee Roth's uncle's place!) NYC
ZZ Top - Beacon Theater, NYC
Watery Love, Cake Shop NYC
Bone Awl - St Vitus, Brooklyn
Leonard Cohen, Barclays, Brooklyn
The Pop Group - Primavera, Barcelona
Les Morts Vont Bien - La Cantine de Belleville, Paris
Michael Chapman - The Captain's, Glasgow
Sightings/Gnaw - Littlefield, Brooklyn
Supreme Dicks - Beerland, Austin
Gay Witch Abortion/Hammerhead/Melvins/Seawhore - Lit Lounge NYC
Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Barclays, Brooklyn
Alvarius B - Union Pool, Brooklyn
Peter Brotzmann/Jason Adasiewicz & Joshua Abrams - Le Poisson Rouge

Live radio sessions on the show w/feedtime, Lee Ranaldo Band, Suzuki Junzo, Blues Control, Black Dice, Michael Chapman, +DOG+, Jandek, Twerps, Gay Witch Abortion.

DAN BODAH (Airborne Event, Mondays 9PM-Midnight)
Swans -- The Seer (Young God)
Colin L. Orchestra -- Col (Northern-Spy)
Lonnie Holley -- Just Before Music (Dust-to-Digital)
Om -- Advaitic Songs (Drag City)
Pauline Oliveros -- Reverberations: Tape & Electronic Music 1961-1970 12xCD (Important)
Jim Coleman -- Trees (Wax & Wane)
Blues Control -- Valley Tangents (Drag City)
Sabbath Assembly -- Ye Are Gods (Ajna Offensive)
Date Palms / Expo 70 / Pulse Emitter / Faceplant -- untitled split 2xLP (Immune)
Hildur Guðnadóttir -- Leyfdu Ljosinu (Touch)
William Basinski -- The Disintegration Loops 9xLP + 5xCD + DVD + book (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
Samara Lubelski -- Wavelength (De Stijl)

BILLY JAM (Put the Needle on the Record, Fridays 7-8pm)
1) El-P "Cancer 4 Cure" (Fat Possum)
2) Kid Koala "12 Bit Blues" (Ninja Tune)
3) Aesop Rock "Skelethon" (Rhymesayers Ent)
4) Homeboy Sandman "First of A Living Breed" (Stones Throw)
5) JJ Doom "Key To The Kuffs" (Lex Records)
6) Casual & J-Rawls "Respect Game Or Expect Flames" (Nature Sounds)
7) Lushlife "Plateau Vision" (Western Vinyl)
8) Killer Mike "R.A.P. Music" (Williams Street)
9) Serengeti "C.A.R." (Anticon)
10) E-40 & Too $hort "History: Mob Music" (Heavy On the Grind)

(more lists after the jump)

 

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 196

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

The music-sharing scene took a beating in 2012, what with the demolition of Megaupload, the neutering of Rapidshare and Mediafire, and the immolation, self- and otherwise, of countless shrines to music adoration across the blogosphere. But through it all, the hits just kept coming and we here at Mining the Audio Motherlode were mighty chuffed to celebrate the best of the choicest postings in this space on a weekly basis.

Before we turn our earlobes to the torrent of brilliant recordings to come in 2013, let's take a look back at the Miner's favorite offerings in the past year of Motherlodes. In case you missed them the first time, the download links to these wonders are still working, so get your clicks on. Happy Old Ears!

 

    
Timmy Thomas  ~  Live in Africa
(Blog: Electric Jive)

From Motherlode #170
"It is a good time to revive that anthem that made Timmy Thomas so special to millions of South Africans. Milner Park Stadium, Johannesburg in December 1978 was an edgy place for thousands of black South Africans to sing songs like “Why Can’t We Live Together” at a live concert. The song again became a big hit on the eve of South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. For many, the song still holds relevance today, in South Africa and elsewhere in the world.  (Description from Chris Albertyn, at Electric Jive)

The Evil Eye, Swarming over 101112; Lea Bertucci and K-Salvatore on My Castle of Quiet, 10.12.2012

It was a night of true magic, back in early October, when some of Brooklyn's finest improvisers gathered at WFMU / My Castle of Quiet, to offer unique, exclusive performances, on a double-bill to support the station's pre-Hurricane-Sandy, Web-only fundraiser for that month.

First, Lea Bertucci, a master of spacious atmospheres, and gloomy, contemplative soundscapes, on her trademark combine of physical, open-reel tape and electroacoustic bass clarinet. Lea's two sets from this night evoke The Grand Canyon, and Utah's wide-open spaces, where she'd spent several months earlier in the year on artist's retreat. Lea has been performing solo for many years (see her bio, at Broken Diorama, linked above), as well as in the hometown-favorite duo of Twistycat.

 

Second, K-Salvatore, the duo of Jason Meagher and Pat Murano, coming off the high of their landmark LP, Tsar Ova Elk, a veritable shoe-in for the My Castle of Quiet end-of-year music list (like I said, glaring omissions; this one very worthy of inclusion and just slipped off my mental radar at the time the list was being compiled.) Pat has appeared twice before on the show, both solo as Decimus, and in 2010 with Malkuth; both Jason and Pat are founding members of the No-Neck Blues Band. Their set hummed and shook our building; as "top shelf" as anything from the aforementioned newest LP. 

Huge thanks to Ernie Indradat, for engineering two live artists in one night, with his usual cool head and cosmic sensitivity. Thanks again to Lea, Pat and Jason, for their ample talents.

Liz Berg's Top Picks of 2012

Here are some of my favorite releases from the past year, in no particular order, plus a big-ass mix of my favorite songs from the Free Music Archive that I discovered in 2012:

Stacian  Songs for Cadets  (Moniker) - perfect soundtrack for a robot dance party | listen
Eric Copeland  Limbo  (Underwater Peoples) - sounds from the ghettos of outer space | listen
Jonathan Kane’s February  Live at Issue Project Room  (Issue Project Room) - rocking at a steady pace | listen
Household  Items  (Dull Knife)* - fans of Rough Trade lady groups of the '70s take note | listen
Moonmen On the Moon, Man  Maan  (Cape Shock) - bratty bedroom punk | listen
XRay Pop  The Dream Machine  (Dark Entries, reissue) - minimal synth pop | listen
9th Ward Marching Band  Sneakin Up the Street  (Rhinestone) - giant marching band plays the hits | listen
Mazes  Mazes Blazes  (Parasol) - melodic pop gems | listen
Laurie Spiegel  The Expanding Universe  (Unseen Worlds, reissue) - epic, spacey synth journeys | listen
Mark Sultan  War on Rock and Roll  (In the Red) - multi-song meltdown | listen

*technically this came out in 2011, but it didn’t hit my eardrums until 2012, so I'm counting it here, dammit.

 

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 195

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

Ah, the sweet scourge of "Christmas music." As with gruesome highway mayhem, you just can't avert your ears! Whether it's so bad it's good, or just plain so good, sonic seasonal fare is here to stay, so we might as well wallow in it. And wallowing in it is Mining the Audio Motherlode's organizing principle. (To prove it, check out our Xmas music features from 2009, 2010 and 2011.)

Of course, if the music-sharing blogs didn't go all Christmas-y, there would be nothing to blather on about here. Of all the holiday-related offerings in Blogland this season, the most satisfying comes from the sublime site Feel it, where host Darcy is posting a new track each day, advent-calendar style. Thanks Darcy!

 

    
Various  ~  Darcy's Amazing Musical Advent Calendar
Days of December: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20
(Blog: Feel It)

Daily Treat
Darcy's got four more treats leading up to Xmas Eve. I trust you will be able to find the offerings for December 21-24 at the Feel It.

In case you didn't feel like showing up - Volume 50

Earcandy for your eyes

Sannhet played live at Saint Vitus in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City on December 09, 2012.

After the break: Vaura at Saint Vitus.

The Films and Music That Made My Year

The films listed below could all be considered "horror," the great bulk in the genre sense, with a significant few in the true-to-life, human-drama sense. Entries are by no means intended to be up-to-date or contemporary, though many are. A dozen-plus gems near-guaranteed to rock any cinéaste's watch list and/or Netflix queue.

Attenberg - A Greek drama, with a minimum of quirk and a lot of (tortured) soul; an alternately heartbreaking and humorous drama about two female friends, one who's deeply socially and sexually repressed (her closest connection being with her dying Father), while her girlfriend is basically the town tramp, continuously attempting to school her in the ways of love and men. Their stories arc, collide and intertwine, to a thoughtfully employed, rousing score of classic Suicide songs. Great, inspiring, slice-of-life stuff.

V / H / S - My favorite horror film of the year, with Kill List coming in at a very close second. V / H / S churns the handheld-shaky-cam technique to its most clever heights, with what's barely seen, or seen in a peripheral blur, to be the scariest material therein. The premise is also terrific, such that this collection of shorts are all presumed to be on unlabeled VHS tapes, found by some thieves in the house of a man who has either expired, or been rendered unconscious, in an easy chair, faced by a stack of snowy televisions. I love ideas; that's what keeps me coming back again and again to horror films, and V / H / S is simply overflowing. The film was a collaboration, a mash-up of sorts by some upper-echelon undergorund-horror writing and directing talent, people like Oren Peli, Ti West and Joe Swanberg. A tense and harrowing ride throughout. Don't try too hard to figure it out, or apply conventional narrative sense to the proceedings; just let it wash over, and prepare to be genuinely scared.

WFMU Benefit in New Orleans tonight!

Calling all WFMU fans in the Crescent City and environs! WFMU pals Euclid Records, WWOZ, WTUL, and a bunch of fabulous bands are hosting a benefit event on our behalf at Siberia (2227 Claude St, New Orleans) TONIGHT!

Quintron & Miss Pussycat
Die Rotzz
Guitar Lightnin' Lee
and more!

Hurricane Sandy caused tons of electrical damage to our equipment, and proceeds from this show will fund WFMU's efforts to prevent future electrical problems. We hope to purchase generators, power conditioners, etc.

Huge thanks to our supportive friends in New Orleans!

 

Check out this video of Quintron and Miss Pussycat to get pumped:

 

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 194

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

Continuing my crusade to lighten the end-times pall occluding the blogosphere, I use this space to remind sonic explorers to check the archives at your favorite sites, for there's golden sounds in them thar pages. Take for example the lead off item in today's Motherlode.

A private press recording from '74 of black-positive musical theater from Chicago, this rarity has earned big bucks on the auction sites for years, but the LP has been posted, free for the taking since August 2011 at Digging for Diamonds in Mountains of Mediocrity. (How could the Miner not love a blog with such a name?) Most blogs provide easy-to-navigate links to archived pages. Use them!

 

    
La Mont Zeno Theatre  ~   Black Fairy
(Blog: Digging for Diamonds in the Mountains of Mediocrity)

Fairy Tale
"'Black Fairy' was the second play at the Lamont Zeno Community Theater, a cultural program of the Better Boys Foundation, a family agency located in North Lawndale in Chicago. Many of the youngsters who perform in the play are members of our Youth Theater Development Program which is partially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Under the capable guidance of Pemon Rami and his staff, we were able to take youngsters who had no previous theater experience and train them to become competent performers and also teach them other technical theater skills. The result of this effort has made 'Black Fairy' a favorite among both children and adults who have had an opportunity to see it. During the summer of 1974 'Black Fairy' was performed for over four thousand children in Chicago. And, in April of 1975, it played to over two thousand children in Detroit at Mercy College. 'Black Fairy' is the only the first of many children's plays we hope to produce at the Better Boys Foundation. There is an Afrikan proverb which says "Children are the reward of life." We at Better Boys Foundation are dedicated to this belief, and feel that helping children to appreciate their heritage is one means of showing our concern for their development."  (Asante Sana Eugene (Useni) Perkins, from the liner notes)

[Note #1: This LP marks the first appearance on record of saxophonist Chico Freeman.]
[Note #2: The production that preceded Black Fairy at Lamont Zeno in March '74 was the premiere of Oscar Brown Jr.'s musical Slave Song.]

GROUP IMAGE 1969

This is a cooker. Thank you Eddie Flowers for passing along.

A Christmas Song-Poem Corny-Copia (MP3's)

Early this year, I began putting aside any song-poems I acquired that had to do with Christmas, and doing the same with any from my existing collection that I came across, with the intent of having the best of all possible Christmas oriented song-poem material for my song-poem blog, come December. Well, December is here, and I have found that I have an overabundance of material for that once-a-week website. And so this forum is the lucky recipient of ten examples of the finest Christmas offerings from the hardworking song-poets of yore, and the sometimes equally hard-working folks who toiled at the various song-poem factories, way back when. 

I'll start with the one I think to be the best of the batch, and it's from our friends at the fabulous Fable Label. Label head Sandy Stanton sings this one himself, along with label stalwart Patty Wheeler. It's the sad, yet hopeful story of the author's "Christmas Tree". Although this record goes on more than a minute longer than it should (almost four minutes, a real rarity among song-poems AND among 45's from 1958), there is some nice guitar work in there, and the general off-kilter feel of the typical Fable release:

Sandy and Patty - Christmas Tree (MP3)  |  Label (JPG)

 A close second would have to be this offering from two of my favorites from the song-poem world, Rodd Keith (heard here in my favorite era of his, the one-man-band Chamberlin era of the Film City label) and song-poet extraordinaire Edith Hopkins (my choice for the best writer of song-poems ever, and about whom I really need to do a full tribute to, one of these days). This record was undoubtedly contracted via Film City, but like most of Hopkins songs, it was released on her own "Inner-Glo" label: 

Rod Rogers: Smile, It's Christmas (MP3)  |  Label (JPG)

Norm Burns is perhaps my favorite song-poem singer, at least based on his best work compared with the best work of other song-poem heroes. But he had his share of clunkers, too, and "Christmas With You", from 1973, is closer to the latter category than the former: 

Norm Burns - Christmas With You (MP3)  |  Label (JPG)

There are few relatively few records which have been discovered on the small Stylecraft label - it was one of the earlier labels, with releases stretching back to the 78 era, and the performances on their records show a level of thought, preparation and focus quite a bit higher than most of their cohorts at other labels, particularly the later labels. From Stylecraft, here's Lynne Richards with "Christmas in Ireland":

Lynne Richards - Christmas in Ireland (MP3)  |  Label (JPG)

Six more song-poems after the break!

Walter Brennan's "He's Your Uncle! Not Your Dad..." (part two) and Vick Knight and the KEY Records Story

 

"A fella in the lobby asked me if we were going to record this album in stereo. I told him absolutely not. Stereo has two loudspeakers, one on each side of the set.  The one on the right is OK, but I refuse to listen to anything coming from the left.    Seriously though, if I brought home a record machine with a speaker on the left, my wife wouldn't let me in the house.  Now there's a patriot for you!"

(from side two of "He's Your Uncle!")

Today we're presenting side two of this bizarre ultra-right-wing album from 1967, luridly written and directed by Vick Knight and voiced with gusto by Walter Brennan, in continuation of the first post on this subject two weeks ago. Since then I've tried to uncover more information about the KEY records label and its strong predilection towards hyper-conservative and inflammatory spoken-word albums. Join me after the jump for this entertaining record (via mp3) and the related facts and pictures that have turned up about this under-documented Los Angeles company.

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 193

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

Given the ever shorter shelf-lives of download links in free-music blogging,  it goes without saying that the recordings shared in this space might not be around too long. I suppose it could be considered a minor (miner?) miracle if the music referenced here remains accessible during the entire week of each Motherlode posting. My best advice: Lunge don't linger.

But thinking about all the old links decomposing in the nearly four years' worth of Motherlode posts makes me sad. This column is meant to be a celebration, not a cemetery. To rectify this, I plan to reanimate great old shares from past Motherlodes by finding new blog posts with working links. Of course, these new offerings will go extinct sooner than later, so (referencing Manny Maris' beloved Prince Street record store of yore): Lunge—for your ears!

Kicking off this Frankensteinian effort is our lead item below, a fantastic compilation of Aboriginal country music first featured in the second-ever Mining the Audio Motherlode.

    
Various  ~  Buried Country: The Story of Aboriginal Country Music
(Blog: Washerman's Dog)

Re-unburied
"Buried Country debunks the dominant myth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as exotic and tied to traditional music. The reality is that many are country people, and like rural and working class white Australians, have long found solace and creative expression in this American musical form. Buried Country shows how indigenous Australians have taken this cultural import and made it uniquely their own."  (Description from Pluto Press)

 

In case you didn't feel like showing up - Volume 50

Earcandy for your eyes

Led Er Est played "Port Isabel" live at Wierd at Home Sweet Home in New York City on November 21, 2012.

After the break: Belgrado at The Acheron, EYEHATEGOD at Saint Vitus and The Mob at Bowery Electric.

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 192

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

Once again, I feel like a lonely voice, cackling cheerfully into a chill wind regarding the free-music blog scene. Just this past August, in "The Rise & Fall of MP3 Blogs" posted in these pages by Casey Rae—and during a subsequent Radio Free Culture discussion that aired on WFMU—the death of online music sharing was stirringly eulogized. Now, the long faces have surfaced again in a widely circulated piece by Mark Allen in The Awl (note the almost identical title: "The Rise and Fall of the Obscure Music Download Blog.")

I'm as likely as anyone to wail like a newborn at the loss of favorite blogs (read my own words in Gary Sullivan's Brooklyn Rail obit for the dearly missed Holy Warbles.) But from where I sit, the blogosphere remains a bewilderingly robust bazaar in gratuitous music discovery. Though blogs come and go and file-sharing services get ever restrictive (check out Rapidshare's brand-new strangulating terms of use), the opportunity to dig up endless musical epiphanies online for free continues at a gladdening pace.

So while some observers of the scene are resigned to reminisce about some golden-age past, I encourage you to hang out right here in the present as your mirthful Miner slings his pick-axe at the sonic Motherlode on a weekly basis. Don't mourn, download!

    
Abu el Leef  ~  Super Leefa
(Blog: Bodega Pop)

Somewhere (Way) Above Tahrir Square...
"Born Nader Anwar Gaber in Alexandria in 1968, el Leef is a relatively late bloomer, having recorded his first album (which includes the hit single 'King Kong') in 2010, when he was 42. His music divides audiences: in Egypt, you apparently love him or hate him."  (Description by Gary)

[When the big-eared Gary at Bodega Pop calls something "without question, my absolute favorite album of 2012," well, you know what to do...]