If you are a copyright owner and believe that your copyrighted works have been used in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, here is our DMCA Notice.
I just can't resist pointing to this film today; I'm hoping I can get a few more unsuspecting people to watch this charming, scary and bizarre little gem (although I suspect a lot of regular WFMU people already know it - it's worth another viewing).
Like a lot of folks, I discovered it via the controversial show Mystery Science Theater 3000, where it became one of my favorite episodes. It stands on its own very well, however, and even though it is sluggish at the beginning, with a long sequence showing "children from around the world" in separate little musical numbers, if you stick with it it rewards with many nightmarish props and scenes that must have warped the minds of lots of matinee-going youth. It holds the distinction of being one of the few Christmastime movies to contain some genuinely creepy images without perhaps meaning to.
I think it qualifies as an essential holiday film, for those who like such things. See the video link below, after the jump.
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!
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:
"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.
With those holidays upon us, we'll be hearing from Mr. Ravenscroft
more than ever, so it was with only slight surprise that I saw and latched onto this clip (as discovered by Mr. Mark Evanier over at his useful blog) recently placed online of a 1952 Kellogg's breakfast cereals commercial. There's no question in my mind that the announcer is Ravenscroft, and he's most likely singing in the chorus as well. Oddly, there is no depiction of 'Sugar-Frosted Flakes' in the ad, which Evanier suspects may be due to the clips mis-dating, or simply that the cereal hadn't been introduced nationally yet. More information about Mr. Ravenscroft's TV commercial work can be perused here. After early ads with voice artist Dallas McKennon (the voice of Gumby, among many others) as Tony the Tiger, Thurl Ravenscroft went on to play the character for 53 years until his death in 2005; quite a respectable run. As a lover of anything Thurl I couldn't resist posting this here, as WFMU and Ravenscroft have a history together at this point, and any new updates should be covered here. Eat up and enjoy!
Death Grips played Villain in Brooklyn on October 19, 2012.
After the break: On The Might of Princes at Saint Vitus, Chain of Strength at The Acheron, Savages at Public Assembly, Virginia Plain at Union Pool, Prong on a boat, Yakuza at Saint Vitus and Theologian at 285 Kent.
The Comsat Angels continue to be one of the most underrated of the crop of post-punk bands who would come to typify the icy detachment and morose beauty of fell under the "goth" banner (i.e. legends such as The Cure, Bauhaus, Siouxsie And The Banshees as well as similarly underrated brethren like The Chameleons and The Sound); their first three albums (re-issued lovingly in the 2000's after years out-of-print by the Renascent label, but now again maddeningly unavailable) are all essential, with their sophomore opus Sleep No More standing as easily one of the most audacious and sonically arresting post-punk "pop" albums to see creation in the 80's. Here we have the group miming said album's title track amusingly behind translucant curtains on Belgian TV in 1981, while following is a lo-fi, but essential live performance of "Be Brave" (one of my favorite songs from the band) from the same year, supposedly in Germany.
The following collection of videos recorded in December of 1990 at an Elektra Records showcase is absolutely indispensable for any fan of classic hip-hop. The lineup is impeccable: Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Brand Nubian, KMD, and Leaders Of The New School. To say that all of these acts were in their prime is understatement; of the four groups, three (Rock & C.L., KMD, and L.O.N.S.) had all yet to release their classic debuts. Thus, all these legends are young, hungry, and have all their creative energies intact, their spirits yet to be hardened by music industry politics and the eventual extreme commercialization of hip-hop as the decade wore on.
Perhaps the biggest treat to get fans salivating over these videos are the appearances of unreleased material in the Rock & C.L. and Brand Nubian vids. C.L. takes center stage (with Rock holding down the decks off-screen) with two still-unearthed gems (to my knowledge, anyway; they don't appear on the 2009 Basement Demos collection, and if they're on an earlier Rock & C.L. demo, I've yet to see it pop up online) bookending the track "Good Life" from the duo's All Souled Out EP which would drop the following year. In the case of Brand Nubian, who are still with Puba in tow following that year's classic One For All LP, the trio perform the unreleased, incendiary cut "The Devil" (which was actually unearthed on the rarities 12" The Now Rule Files), a track ripe with 5%'er anti-"Devil" rhetoric that would no doubt have given the mainstream media more fuel to freak out about regarding the controversial group (their between-song banter no doubt would've sent uptight white media pundits into a frenzy).
As for KMD and L.O.N.S., there are no lost-to-the-ages treasures appearing in their respective sets, but we do get both Zev (who of course would reinvent himself much later as MF Doom) and Onyx The Birthstone Kid working the crowd up with "Gasface Refill" and "Peachfuzz" from their then-current 12" and L.O.N.S. rocking with joyous vigour "Teachers, Don't Teach Us Nonsense" and "Case Of The P.T.A." (which would both appear on their first 12" and their debut album A Future Without A Past). Viewing the L.O.N.S. performance, it's obvious that the young man known as Busta Rhymes was destined to be a breakout star. With that, I give you a bonus Yo! MTV Raps performance of "The International Zone Coaster" at the end of the post.
By the way, if anyone has any info on the two unreleased Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth cuts in their performance (the first rocks the oft-sampled Five Stairsteps "New Dance Craze" break), please let me know! Now to the videos:
Thanks to my pal Jonathan Herweg for this great video compendium, some of which is completely new to me:
Occult Chemistry -- Fire (UK, 1980) Vidéo réalisée par le London College of Printing The Dykes -- 2 Fingers Wide (USA, 1980) Scène extraite du documentaire 'Debt Begins at 20' de Stephanie Beroes Mother's Ruin - Dreamy Teeny (Suisse, 1981) Barchen und die Milchbubis -- Muskeln (Allemagne, 1981) Morceau extrait de l'album 'Dann Macht Es Bumm' Nini
Raviolette - Suis-je Normale? (France, 1980) Vidéo réalisée par
Stéphane Teichner, extraite du DVD 'RVB~TRANSFERT : Images de la scène
indépendante Française (1978-1991)' Q4U -- Creep (Islande, 1982) Vidéo extraite du documentaire 'Rokk í Reykjavík' de Friðrik Þór Friðriksson (1982) Young Marble Giants -- Colossal Youth (UK, 1980) The Waitresses - I Know What Boys Like (UK, 1982) Sort Sol feat. Lydia Lunch -- Boy-Girl (Danemark/USA, 1986)
Big thanks to Dominick Colucci for alerting me to this great video of master electronics expert and synth-builder Jessica Rylan explaining her abiding love for her craft of choice.
For those unaware of Rylan and her numerous fantastic recordings (both solo and under the Can't alias), be sure to check out the following performance videos as well as WFMU blogger Nat Roe's post from last year on Rylan's deranged destruction of 80's soft-rock/pop earworms that make up her Can't Vs. The World CD.
Flick through any glossy fashion magazine today and more-than-likely,
you’ll be faced with the legacy of Guy Bourdin. This maverick French
photographer was no stranger to controversy both in his work and private
life, and he singlehandedly changed the face of fashion advertising due
to his uncompromising and highly innovative style.
I was lucky enough to catch Bill Orcutt and Chris Corsano a few weeks back at Roulette in Brooklyn. Both started out the evening with inspired solo sets, with Corsano performing an incredibly moving and invigorating percussion set that ran the gamut from cathartic free jazz bombast to subtle manipultions of his various drum kit implements (for those skeptical about the concept of a solo percussion performance, Corsano is the person to sell you on the idea) and Orcutt exploring the off-kilter, four-string avant-blues his recent solo work has focused upon to great acclaim (he even bestowed us in the audience with the most bizarre and moving interpretation of "Over The Rainbow" I will ever hear).
But it was when the two came together to perform as a duo that the evening blindsided with a sheer cacophonous rapture that I'd be incredibly lucky to experience again. Being too young to have seen the legendary, untouchable Harry Pussy in concert, seeing Orcutt and Corsano's duo is perhaps the closest I will ever get to knowing that power in the flesh. Orcutt back on electric; Corsano slaughtering the skins. This was by far the best show I've seen this year.
This isn't taken from the Brooklyn show, but it's a clip from their tour stop in Philly; it amply captures the duo at their peak for those who may have missed out.
