WFMU's Beware of the Blog

In Praise of Miller (on Miller)

I work about three blocks from Henry Miller's childhood home: 662 Driggs Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.

I walk by it on lunchbreaks.  Sometimes I stroll by after I clock out.  Outwardly, the building itself has no real significance.  It's an unassuming redbrick three-flat with an unused ground-floor store front.  There's little to distinguish it from any other building on the block, but I keep going back.  I'm in awe of its cultural importance.  I'm in awe of Henry Miller.

The old goat's account of "the neighborhood" is one of many repetitive, hypnotic constants in his writing.  His Fourteenth Ward appears promimently in several of his best works -- in essays, memoirs, novels, etc. -- so whenever I pass the rising redbrick, I immediately succumb to a dizzying carousel of comparisons: Miller's Williamsburg vs. its modern counterpart, his Brooklyn vs. others', his struggle to break through a square existence vs. my looming 5 p.m. beer urge. 

Xeno and Oaklander on E.S.P. TV #14

Xeno and Oaklander played at last week's E.S.P. TV live taping at Present Company in Brooklyn alongside EUC, a 3D video by Ken Jacobs, "Gift of Fire: Nineteen (Obscure) Frames That Changed the World", and "Trans Trans" by Bradley Eros and Tim Geraghty.

Here's a sneak peek of Xeno and Oaklander's performance. The full episode airs next Tues. Mar 27 at 10pm on Ch. 67 Time Warner/MNN4 in Manhattan. More info at www.esptvnyc.com

 

MV Carbon and C Spencer Yeh Live @ Roulette via ESP TV

E.S.P. TV episodes #12 and #13, taped on February 18th for Roulette's Xperimental Love Fest air this week. The shows feature trumpet and electronics drone duo Grasshopper, a kaleidoscopic set with MV Carbon and C Spencer Yeh and a 50 min piece by Little Women.

#13 aired this past Sunday, but you can see them both at the free screening party Tues. Mar 6th at Forlini's on Baxter St in Manhattan. #13 will be replayed at 9pm and ESP TV #12 will debut at 10pm sharp on Ch 67 Time Warner in Manhattan/MNN4 online at www.mnn.org. More info at: www.esptvnyc.com

In the meantime here's a taste of MV Carbon and C Spencer Yeh's set on E.S.P. TV #12:

 

E.S.P. TV Episode #9: Erica Magrey and YOU

Going back a bit, as we prepare the new E.S.P. TV episode #12 taped last week at Roulette in Brooklyn for their Xperimental Love Fest, to bring you this...

E.S.P. TV #9 taped late last year at The Schoolhouse and featuring performances by Erica Magrey and Brooklyn synth duo YOU. Animations also by Clara Kim and Amy Lockhart courtesy of Aboveground Animation and video by Ania Diakoff.

 

From SCREW to Screamin' Jay and Beyond: The Comic Art of Avi Spivak

"That's probably the hardest I've worked on any project," says Avi Spivak, the illustrator behind Norton Records' recent issue of Kicksville Confidential.  And if you've seen Kicksville, released this past October, you'll understand what he means by "hard work" -- the Brooklyn-based artist's painstaking renderings of Norton stars are as detailed as they are funny, and they're clearly the toil of someone with a deep interest in u-ground comics and gutsy r'n'r alike.  In Spivak's enthusiastic scrawl -- part Kaz, part MAD, part G. Panter, part urban daydrunk stupor -- some of the Norton stable's more colorful tales come to life, and we see, for example, Hannibal's fabled ride through Midtown Manhattan on an elephant, a Screamin' Jay Hawkins/Esquerita street-level fistfight and Hasil Adkins's rural shootout.

Spivak's resume prior to Kicksville is no less impressive.  In addition to commercial art and various other projects, like the mural he painted outside of the now-defunct Mars Bar, he's contributed to Maximum RocknRoll, The Scientist, Vice -- and Al Goldstein's SCREW, for which he illustrated a cover in 2006.

FOOD (1972) – Gordon Matta-Clark's Restaurant – Directed by Robert Frank

FOOD is a short film directed by aritst/photographer Robert Frank about Gordon Matta-Clark and Carol Goodden's conceptual restaurant. Founded in 1972 in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, FOOD brought together many factors of the local community, artists and otherwise, becoming a space for dialogue and conversation as well as a living piece in it of itself. 

Demo to London: The Handgrenades / Sponsors Story

In '79, the Handgrenades issued what would become the best UK DIY punk single not actually from the UK: their "Demo to London" b/w "Coma Dos" 45, self-released in an undetermined quantity on the band's unnamed imprint.

The single is a killer.  It was also once a source of profound mystery -- to collectors and wayward punk geeks, at least.  Omitted on the sleeve are the band's roster, their location and where they recorded their material, and the only nuggets of information profferred are a production credit attributed to Bob Levitan and the word "phonographix." Given this anonymity, and in light of the title and subject of "Demo to London" -- not to mention the otherworldly cut-up cover art, production, vocals, and musicianship (or lack thereof) -- many took the band's provenance to be London, or perhaps the outskirts of Manchester.  The flip's manic "Coma Dos" sheds even less light on the single's origin, and the listener's left with a clang-punk artifact of the highest random order, reminiscent of contemporaries like Swell Maps, the Petticoats, Desperate Bicycles, so on, so forth.

Glenn Beck / The Invisible Committee

Oldie but Goodie

Collaboration between Glenn Beck and The Invisible Committee

- - -

Glenn Beck lives and works in Dallas, TX

You can purchase The Coming Insurrection here

E.S.P. TV #11 / "New Dance City" Special with Mutual Dreaming

In case you missed it Sunday night on Manhattan cable access (MNN), E.S.P. TV #11 is now online. The hour long special was taped at Mutual Dreaming's "New Dance City" party (organized by Aurora Halal) at 285 Kent over Halloween weekend and features performances by Vidrio (ex-Ultradyne) and Steve Summers with possibly you or someone you know dancing to DJs Meridian 7 (also known for her modular synths), Ron Morelli (head of L.I.E.S.), and Traxx (prolific Chicago-based turntablist, producer, and owner of Nation Records)...

See it and past episodes at the E.S.P. TV Vimeo channel here: vimeo.com/channels/esptv

The next live public taping is Feb 18th, 8-12 at Roulette in Downtown Brooklyn. Lineup for that night includes MV Carbon and C Spencer Yeh, Grasshopper, and Little Women with video by Amanda Long and the E.S.P. TV team. More info here 

File Under: Boo, Hooray, Boo-Hooray, Art, Not Art, Books

Next Wednesday, Jan. 18, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., the Boo-Hooray Gallery will open its latest/greatest exhibition, Artists' Book Not Artists' Book, an oddball showcase of books artistic, non- and all manner in-between.

For the unfamiliar, Boo-Hooray is the brainchild of kingpin rec collector and art aficionado Johan Kugelberg; he and cohort Jeremy Sanders (of 6 Decades Books) have co-curated the exhibit.  Artists' Book Not Artists' Book promises an array of curious tomes by the likes of Richard Meltzer, William Gibson, Richard Hell and Ed Ruscha, to name but a sampling, and judging from the gallery's previous shows -- displays of Ed Wood's paperback smut, photos and art relative to the Velvet Underground, Crass-related fanzines, etc. -- this one will be another doozy, even (or especially!) if you can't read.

All and sundry are welcome to stop by the gallery's space in Manhattan, 265 Canal Street (6th floor), where the show will run from Jan. 18 to Feb. 12, much to the delight and confusion of artists and philistines alike.  Those wishing to RSVP for the opening should do so here. 

Javelin's New EP is Set To A Short Western

In conjunction with the release of their new EP Canyon Candy (on David Byrne's Luaka Bop label), Javelin with director Mike Anderson made this pretty great short film featuring lots of people getting shot. And in conjunction with that short film, there's a recreation of the film in installation form in Manhattan's Clocktower gallery. The EP goes down smoother than whiskey, I'll tell you this much.

In related news, R Kelly wrote 32 new chapters to Trapped In The Closet.

 

Javelin - 'Canyon Candy' from stereogum on Vimeo.

There's A Super Genius In All Of Us

In February of 1990, I xeroxed 2 pages of the New Yorker magazine, to hold onto what I considered one of the funniest pieces of writing ever. It was titled Coyote V. Acme and was penned by regular New Yorker writer and NJ resident, Ian Frazier. In a nutshell, and I'll post part of it after the jump, Wile E. Coyote, plaintiff sues the Acme Company for product liability and the injuries he sustained over his career at Warner Brothers Entertainment. It's written in legalese and describes so well some of the cartoons and shenanigans involved, that you'll be able to be there with Mr. Coyote when he endures a violent feet-first collision with a boulder. Frazier published a book bearing the same name in 1996; a collection of his short humorous pieces, and has other books to his name, some humor collections like Coyote V. Acme, others full length adventures. I was reminded of the original piece the other day and wanted to share some of it, since it's been sitting xeroxed in my file cabinet in the FUN folder for decades. Ian's books are available through several online retailers. This time of year can be one of reflection and I'd like to look at the attempts of Mr. Coyote to capture his prey over the years, and the purity of his actions. Wile E. Coyote; Genius, and at some point in the Roadrunner cartoons, upgraded to Super Genius, was dedicated and single minded. He'd have made a great employee at the time of his upswing into the public eye. He was inventive beyond belief, and even when the same item would malfunction three radically different ways, he would remain a loyal customer of the Acme Company. Brick and mortars would die for a shopper like him! He is a reminder to all of us that perseverance and hard work pays off, or at least keeps you gainfully employed, and that there's a super genius lying in wait inside all of us. Perhaps it just takes an anvil to the head!  There was a response to the article published in 1995, I'm not certain of the source, which more or less takes the stand that since our beloved Mr. Coyote quite often looked directly at the camera before sustaining injuries that the Acme Company's products caused, that he was faking the extent of his physical damage. Imagine that!

A Germs Whisky Christmas: Cruising For Oki-Dogs

December 23, 1979, Germs play the Masque Christmas Ball at Whisky-Au-Go-Go, performing what would be dubbed on-stage "art" by singer Darby Crash, self-proclaimed "Manimal" and possessor of "television and supervision," who read "every Bible story," and was educated in mind-control by public school Scientologists, an A+ hustler whose world-famous catchphrase was "buy me a beer" and whose demands for "beer and damage" do not go unheeded this night. Watch as Darby, spolight directly in his eyes, eats a lit book of matches, transforms into a panther, demands each audience member "hit the person next to you," sets fire to his (A+) lyrics (balls-on-fire-great teenage Blake) all before guitarist Pat Smear kicks a bouncer in the head (several times+) for crossing number one invisible line in rock n roll: the artists own the stage.

12/15 - WFMU co-presents Psychic TV at Europa

Psychic TV / PTV3 takes the stage at Europa (98-104 Meserole Ave., Greenpoint/Brooklyn) with Cult of Youth and Bryin Dall on Thursday, December 15th. WFMU is co-presenting the show (though it isn't a benefit) and tickets are on sale here. Swing by our table to say hi!

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and company promise a "deeply psychedelic" set, and the show celebrates two new vinyl Psychic TV releases: "Mother Sky vs. Alien Sky" and "Thank You (Parts I & II)" (check out some sample tracks here).

Storytelling In Japanese Art at the MET

Up through May 6th at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is an exhibit entitled "Storytelling In Japanese Art" with a main focus on the Emaki, or Emakimono hand scrolls; some dating as far back as the 12th century. What's interesting about these pieces is that they are physically lengthy, so only certain portions of the scrolls are available for viewing at a time. The scrolls will be advanced during the length of the exhibition, so if you visit more than once, chances are you'll see different sections of the scrolls, which contain illustrations as well as japanese character text. Some are faded and reflective of their age, and some are in phenomenal shape considering the fragility of the medium. The exhibition also includes full views of some of the handscrolls on iPad displays in the beautifully crafted reading room. The current of the presentation of the pieces is very fluid - literally, with a fountain by Isamu Noguchi in the center of the route and a study/bamboo mat room.

When visiting the exhibition, we learn narrative was not only told on the medium of the scroll; visitors will see illustrations on screens, fans, cards, hanging banners, books, kimonos and porcelain as well. Some are showing one or two ideas as a story, and other pieces have multiple scenes and many utilize the stylized cloud formations to separate panels or sections of the stories that is present in Japanese art through the years. Take a look at some of the details of this show in the photos after the jump and see if it doesn't pique your interest!

Thunk Tank Listener Meet-Up Tomorrow

Join Bronwyn Carlton & Jay Bachhuber of WFMU's Thunk Tank for a Meet-Up celebrating the opening of their first ever photography show at the Dino Eli Gallery (81 Hester St, Manhattan) on Saturday, December 3rd, 6-9pm.

The show is titled Thunk Tank: Corpus Absurdum, and runs through December 8th.

Details and RSVP for the Meet-Up here. All proceeds from the show benefit WFMU.

"Hit and Run": Jack Ruby (Finally) Rides Again

"It's weird," says Robin Hall, erstwhile vocalist of formative NY punks/no-wavers Jack Ruby.  "But I actually thought we should have hit records."

They didn't, of course.  How could they?  As early as '74, the toothsome quartet was making quite a racket in Lower Manhattan -- too much racket, really, and the Bowery bohemes flocking to see Television and the New York Dolls were unsure of a band that seemed to thrive on sheets of schizophrenic noise.  Robin and his bandmates considered groups like Television and the Dolls distant peers, and they hoped for some sort of recognition in the Lower East Side, but it was clear that Jack Ruby didn't fit.  They couldn't, and didn't want to.

"Bands like Television had their thing, which wasn't what we were doing," says Hall today.  "We had our own way of doing things.  It was more like, 'If everybody's doing that, let's do this.'" 

Contrarian and abrasive as they were, Jack Ruby had something.  Some of their songs sounded familiar -- at least for the first 30 seconds or so -- borrowing riffs and rhythms from the Stooges, the Velvets, the MC5, various hard rock and garage bands.  But there lurked an unhinged, paranoiac collage of amphetemine noise in each of their tunes, due in no small part to drummer Randy Cohen's cracked synth and manipulated sound loops, not to mention Boris Policeband's equally squalid electric viola.  While Hall would sneer through his lines and sniff at imaginary jailbait, guitarist Chris Gray wiggled out strangulated leads, and Cohen and Policeband attacked their respective instruments, building a mountainous scraping cacophony atop what began as a fairly planar rock/roll number.  In some cases, the sonic bedlam would prove too heavy and unwieldy for the song itself to support, and it would disintegrate abruptly. 

Job Opening: Freelance Web Developer at the Free Music Archive

The Free Music Archive is looking for a freelance eveloper experienced with PHP, MySQL, Javascript and HTML/CSS. If you have the serious web dev chops, bring them to our headquarters in the magic factory that is WFMU. It would be great if you’re local to NYC, but we will consider remote applicants, too.

Please drop a line to dev -at- freemusicarchive -dot- org and give us some idea of your best work with urls, including your github account if you have one. If there are any music sites or apps that you like to use on a regular basis that might inform your work on the FMA, please be sure to let us know.

ABOUT THE FMA: Inspired by Creative Commons and the open source software movement, the FMA launched in 2009 with support from the New York State Music Fund, and has been covered by Billboard, Pitchfork, The Wire, New York Times, Spin, CNET, Mashable and many others. 

We’ve come a long way, but we have even bigger plans on our roadmap including implementing a recommendation engine, mobile-friendly players, social network integration and lots more.

Brooklyn's K-Holes Key Up New Alb

My favorite local band, the K-Holes, are currently mixing their as-yet-untitled sophomore LP, due out this coming April.  The second album's sure to be a great follow-up to their excellent debut on Hozac Records, since this local quintent's recent live shows tell of a compellingly primal mix of Scientists-mach-two drudgery, desolate Western twang and incisive punk.  "Window in the Wall," a serpentine number from their upcoming full-length, also speaks of a band that's learned to exercise a bit of subtlety, a gang that's stretched beyond its own boundaries and moved on to grayer, greater pastures.

But, hey, don't let collected cool of the above fool you -- the K-Holes are still fiery as ever, and New Yorkers can see for themselves this Friday, Nov. 11, at Bushwick's Goodbye Blue Monday, where they'll take the stage with Sediment Club, Monstress, Lobby Art and Geek Skull.

So What IS The True Color of Venus, Anyway? Mister Matthews on My Castle of Quiet, 10.21.2011

Mister Matthews is one of those individuals, to be counted on one or two hands, that can truly be called My Castle of Quiet royalty. Having appeared on the show a total of four times, MM first appeared with Telecult Powers, the duo of himself and Witchbeam, the first band to ever play live on The Castle, and a project that helped to shape my notions of what the radio show itself was going to be. Later on, Telecult returned with Lala Ryan of Excepter, performing the Modern Rites of Pei, a performance that will go down in WFMU history, as they successfully conjured pledges during our 2010 marathon. (This performance was also partially filmed for an eventual documentary film on the station.) Later still, he returned with the Hex Breaker Quintet, a combination of Telecult Powers and Grasshopper, two bands that most definitely have shaped Castle history, and finally, this much-in-demand solo performance, which exemplifies the breadth of MM's work, both as High School Confidential and The True Color of Venus Revue, two very different projects from the electronic maestro; the "head" and the "hard," rendered with equivalent expertise.

Though both pieces deal in the bliss of repetition, they are radically different from one another, the High School Confidential track rooted decidedly in the universe of harsh noise, and the TCoV selection recalling the electronic works of Terry Riley, a 70s-soundtrack-meditation for safe travel of the mind and spirit (though perhaps that latter classification could be argued on behalf of either work, solely dependent on the listener's expectations and needs going in.)

(mp3s below the jump)