WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Top Ten Orwellian Moments of 2006

For all the talk about the threat of "Little Brother" this year (youtubers and bloggers ready to distribute celebrity and citizen malfeasance within minutes), Big Brother still got some life in him yet. Here are some of his finest moments from the last year:

1) Fox News airs an infomercial for torture. On the November 3rd Greta Van Susteren show, reporter Steve Harrigan submitted himself to waterboarding, declaring:

As far as torture goes, at least in this controlled experiment, to me, this seemed like a pretty efficient mechanism to get someone to talk and then still have them alive and healthy within minutes.

Download 10 meg video, mpeg format or youtube it.

2) Federal semantics eliminates the hunger problem. In November, The United States Department of Agriculture replaces the word "hunger" with the phrase "low food security" in its annual report on hunger in America. Problem solved! Link.

3) Defending the First Amendment by proposing that we scrap it. At a New Hampshire event dedicated to freedom of speech, Newt Gingrich declares that the United States will have to re-examine that particular constitutional right as it fights terrorism. Link. Said Newt: "This is a serious, long-term war. It will inevitably lead us to want to know what is said in every suspect place in the country.  It will lead us to learn how to close down every Web site that is dangerous."

4) Halliburton contracts to build large detention camps in the US. In January, KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton was awarded a 385 million dollar contract from the Department of Homeland Security to build "Detention and Removal" facilities to help "in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs that require additional detention space." Links:  1   2   3   4

5) The Inexorable Worldwide Rollout of RFID Chips. Although it's not moving as quickly as the RFID industry would like, 2006 saw the addition of electronic ID chips to US passports, Nikes and iPods, Florida pythons, Japanese schoolchildren, German hospital patients and boozing Brits.

Frank O'Toole's 2006 Top Things (more than a few)

Not necessarily in order of preference... music encompassing #'s 8, 9, and 10.

1. The recent national elections (reason for optimism, which has been missing since 2000).

2. Doing a weekly webcast.

3. This season's "The Wire". Can't explain it, but was both moved and haunted.

4. In a similar vein, "The Departed". Jack & Marty, in top form.

5. The Office. Both versions. 

6. Martin Short on Broadway. Scoring half-price tickets.

7. Finally mastering the technique of indexing and burning vinyl & cassettes to CD-R. It took 2 sessions to get it, thanks to Lupica & Liz Berg.

8, 9, & 10. New music releases:

Serena Maneesh (S/T)

Ros Bobos (Uncharted Universal Euphoria)

J. Dilla (The Shining)

Adem (Love and Other Planets)

San Francisco Mashups (Vol. 2)

Karen Dalton (In My Own Time-reissue)

Four Tet (Four Tet Remixes)

R.Stevie Moore & Lane Steinberg (Save R.St.)

Nouvelle Vague ( Bande A Parte)

Mary Larose (The Blue Guitar)

Oakley Hall (Gypsum Strings)

Subtle (For Hero: For Fool)

M.F. Doom (Nastradoomus, Vol. 2)

Mr. Lif (Mo' Mega)

The Last Town Chorus (Wire Waltz)

Last, but certainly not least, Andy Partridge (Fuzzy Warbles - box set). 

and much, much more...

See all the 2006 top 10 lists here!

Station Manager Ken's Ten from 2006

Here are ten new records that floated my boat in '06.. All artist names go to the band's website and listen links are streaming Real Audio from the WFMU Archives.

	Satanicpornocultshop .aiff Skull EP (Vivo) Listen to "Wholepole - The Discotheque of Erotic Misery remix"		Felix Kubin & Coolhaven Suppe Fur Die Nacht (Korm) Listen to "There Is A Garden"
	Elakelaiset Humppasirkus (Humppa) Listen to "Humppaneitsit"		Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Moa Anbessa (Terp) Listen to "Ethiopia Hagere"
	Native Hipsters Songs To Protest About (Double Snazzy) Listen to "Flowers R Machines As Well"		People Like Us All Together Now (Self) Listen to "Blue Bayou"
	Kid Koala Your Mom's Favorite DJ (Ninja Tune) Listen to "Slew Test 3B / 3C / Paper Route Days"		Yoshida Brothers III (Domo) Listen to "Passion"
	Music Fur Allum Twice (Trum Trum) Listen to "Manolito - Bungen Va Malmo"		RIAA Dirt Bacharach (download it) Listen to "I Don't Give Paper Mache"

Check out all the Best of 2006 lists!

Guess The WFMU DJ Personal Article: Part 3

It is once again Thursday, and so we resume our game of Test the Smartypantses among you on your knowledge of the WFMU air staff.

Whose copy of The Iraq Study Group Report is this?

This is a tough one, huh?  Winner gets a bumper sticker (and prior winners are ineligible).  If you can't guess, you haven't really lost, because everyone gets a consolation prize!  Here's a piece of the mythic WFMU mp3 library: [download] 4.7 megs

Is it a hint?  Is it ever a hint?   I don't know... probably, in some tricky reflection of my own subconscious, who is occasionally hideously apt with, I shudder to say, a pun.

Follow the game so far by looking back at earlier rounds (internal links).  Perhaps it is at this point that I should tell you two important things:

• no DJ shall ever make more than one appearance
• currently off-schedule DJs may make an appearance, as long as they have, at some point, had a regular show

So... whose copy of The Iraq Study Group Report is that?

Tony Rettman's Top Twenty

1. Elemental - 'Deep Under'/'Sparkle' 12" (Hot Flush)

2. Loefah - 'Goat Stare'/'Root' 12" (DMZ)
    Listen to: "Root" (Real Audio)

3. Fucked Up - 'Hidden World' CD (Jade Tree)

4. Shackleton/Gatekeeper - 'Skull Disco #4' Split 12" (Skull Disco)

5. Violent Students - 'Bitchy Woman' cassette (Maim & Disfigure)

6. Magik Markers - 'For Sada Jane' LP (Textile)

7. J Dilla - 'Donuts' CD (Stones Throw)

8. Distance - 'Traffic'/'Cyclops' 12" (Planet Mu)

9. Home Blitz - 'Live Outside' 7" (no label)
Listen to: "Feeling Cold" (Real Audio)

10. Armas Huttamo - 'Autinko On Kaunis Asia' 7" (LalLalLal)
   

Scott M's Top 14

Ornette Coleman - Sound Grammar (Sound Grammar) - Two basses and son Denardo on drums; my favorite small group Ornette since At the Golden Circle.

Otomo Yoshihide New Jazz Orchestra - Plays Eric Dolphy's   'Out to Lunch' (Doubt Music) - Twisted, intelligent and humorous. I'm pretty sure Eric Dolphy would love it.
Listen to "Gazzelloni" from John Allen's show. (Real Audio)

Jazzfinger - Autumn Engines (Rebis) - Dynamic, lo-fi, some of the best noise happening.

Nuru Kane - Sigil (World Music Network) Senegalese desert blues + Moroccan Sufi trance, ancient to the future.
Listen to "Diarama" from Give the Drummer Some. (Real Audio)

Bill Hicks Infamous "Loses It" Show (MP3s)

I enjoyed a glorious, peaceful Christmas Day with my family. After years of resisting its more onerous trappings, I've finally made peace with the big day - all the more of an achievement considering that I'm a paranoid self-hating Jew of the glass-half-empty variety - apocalypse-obsessed and paranoid to the bottom of my black little heart.

And so it was Christmas evening, with all the kids playing the Wii, the non-ironic Christmas music still playing in the living room and the spirit of Jesus in my heart that I sought an antidote, and found my forgotten cache of Bill Hicks MP3s on my laptop. I stumbled across an infamous show of his which I previously had heard and seen parts of, but had never actually heard beginning to end - his infamous "Bill Loses It" show from 1989.

Besides being an incredible performance that veers well off the edge, yet somehow careens to a reasonable conclusion, the "Bill Loses It" show also serves as a reminder of how much has changed since 1989. If Hicks had given this performance in a post 9/11 America, he would've faced far worse than Michael Richards did when he lost it onstage. Hicks might've been deported or jailed.

First, here are the MP3s of the "Bill Loses It" show - these appear to be edits from a more complete bootleg of the show called "I'm Sorry, Folks."

Jackie's Ass   |   It's All So Real   |   You Suck   |   I Have Feelings Too   |   You Suck II

You're Fucking Great   |   Jacking Off   |   Facial Burn   |   One Drunk Bitch   |   There's My Dick

It's Over   |   I Could Be Satan   |   I'm Gonna Leave   |   Hours of Dick Jokes   |   Comedy Hell

Dick Clark   |   Mediocrity   |   Get The Fuck Out   |   Freebird   |   Wash Me

Fabio's Best Of, 2006

(Listen links take you directly to the WFMU realaudio archives.  Many other DJs' best faves can be found here.)

FILM.
Volver - Director: Pedro Almodovar
L'enfant - Director(s): the Dardennes Brothers
The 3 Burials of Melquiades Estrada - Director: Tommy Lee Jones
The Proposition - Director:  John Hillcoat, written by Nick Cave (listen to songs from the soundtrack here and here)
El Aura - Director: Fabin Bielinsky
Sympathy for Lady Vengence -  Director: Park Chan Wook
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - Director: Larry Charles (written by Sacha Baron Cohen) (listen to songs from the soundtrack here and here)
Babel  - Director:  Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu
Science of Sleep - Director:  Michel Gondry (listen to songs from the soundtrack here | here and here)
The Departed - Director:  Martin Scorsese
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints  - Director:  Dito Montiel
The Last King of Scotland - Director:  Kevin Macdonald
Inland Empire - Director:  David Lynch

Fabio Faves galore, just jump over the cow...

MP3 Truffles - "I'm going away tonight", RIP James Brown

The music blogs were supposed to be relatively quiet this week, catching up on the last of the Christmas music explosion, or completely ignoring it and doing their own thing. But then the unthinkable happened - the Godfather of Soul passed away on Christmas. I heard the news not long after basking in the glow of JB's own Christmas album and couldn't help but feel a little shiver of loss head up my spine. Of course, a lot of rock and soul music legends have passed away in the past few years, as we're hitting that time when old age is catching up to pop music. But James Brown was one of the most ever-present musical legends - they didn't call him the Hardest Working Man in Show Business for nothing - and he was still performing constantly, even booked to take over New Years Eve this year in New York City.

Update: New Yorkers had one last chance to say goodbye to JB, as he lay in state at the Apollo before his funeral. Gothamist has details on the honorary parade and viewing along with photos of Brown in the open coffin. Even in death he looks pretty darn funky.

It's not every day that a musical genius takes his bow, so this week let's just look at Mr. Please Please himself, James Brown.

But first, here's am mp3 from yours truly. This song, appropriately titled "James Brown", is a tribute to the Godfather of Soul by a 1970 elementary school choral ensemble directed by Nancy Dupree and released on the incredible album Ghetto Reality. It's a nice starting point - a bit of a mini-bio of the man himself.

James Brown, Nancy Dupree (mp3)   

Video links after the jump:

Mark Allen's Renewable, Cross-Referenced, Self-Mutating Top Ten List of the Most Popular Top Ten Lists of the Top Ten Best Top Tens of 2006 and Beyond Swirling Forever Into an Infinite Black Hole

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72 MP3 Versions of "Stormy Weather"

Download .zip file (263 megs)

Liners after the jump.

Trent Wolbe's Best Records From 2006 plus Others

The Knife (Mute)  When was the last time you had a favorite band?  Not just a couple of favorite bands, but one band that blew everything else out of the water no matter how many times you played it? The Knife reminded me what this is like.  There were a lot of other good things that came out this year but "Silent Shout" was on a different level than all of them.
http://theknife.net

Shogun Kunitoki - Tasankokaiku (Fonal)  Wait for it...wait for it...wait for it!  Intense synth buildups rewarded by huge psych explosions make these Finns a real "top tinn" for 2006.
http://www.shogunkunitoki.com/home

Carla Bozulich - Evangelista (Constellation) Normally I shy away from people who are this emotive, but she reeled me in right from the start.  Deep deep deep shit and she's funny too.  Performance at Joe's Pub didn't disappoint.
http://www.carlabozulich.com/
LISTEN to Carla Bozulich live at WFMU on Brian Turner's show here. (Real Audio)

Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury (Jive) Holy fuckin' shit.  I dare you to not like this more than anything Timbaland has ever done.  I'm pretty sure Clive Davis had nothing to do with this one.
http://www.clipseonline.com/

Mylo - Destroyrocknroll (Breastfed / RCA) - I could listen to "Drop the Pressure" and "In My Arms" (which features a nice sample from "Bette Davis Eyes") over and over again for days on end.  I think I did once.
http://www.mylo.tv/
LISTEN to "In My Arms" (Real audio)

The Maxim/FHM of Yesteryear

Since Amanda's "Week In Sex" columns on this blog seem to be taking a bit of a hiatus, maybe I can fill the void a bit: my friend Coye alerted me to a delightfuly surreal limerick/photo boob book he discovered in his late brother's bedroom, entitled Treasure Chests. It was created in 1967 by two people named Mel Norman and Arthur Benwood, and published by the Alexicon Corporation (who specialized in sex/humor ephemera during the 60's, 70's and 80's). He handed it over to a friend at the awesomely preposterous LandOfTuh.com, who scanned the entire thing from cover to cover. Hallucinatory, goofy cleavage from yore anyone? Why not. Coye felt that one of it's strongest points of interest was that it was created in the days before Photoshop (although that never stopped Man Ray... or Russ Meyer or Benny Hill, for that matter). You can see the whole thing starting here. Kinda NSFW I suppose.

Dave the Spazz's Top Ten Live Shows from 2006 (in no particular order):

Beach Boys at the Hampton Beach Casino
Brian Wilson & Al Jardine at the Beacon Theater
Jerry Lee Lewis PBS taping
Mighty Hannibal & Archie Bell at McCarren Pool
Ponderosa Stomp in Memphis
Reigning Sound at Union Pool
Black Lips at Southpaw
Sea Monkeys at Union Pool
A-Bones & Little Killers at Magnetic Field
Alarm Clocks at Southpaw

Check out more WFMU Top Ten of 2006 lists right here.

Ergo Phizmiz's Top Ten

Hello ...

Here's my list .......

Vernon Lenoir "Balkan Spezialitaeten" www.vernonlenoir.com

Listen With Sarah "My Little Hula Girl (WWW Mix)" www.listenwithsarah.org

Match My Foot Records "The Pipes Project" www.matchmyfootrecords.com

The Bees (A Band of Bees) "Octopus" www.thebees.info

Martha Moopette "Hedgehogs & Honeybeads" www.moopetals.com

Kumisolo "Work in Progress" www.myspace.com/kumisoloproject

I Love Audrey www.myspace.com/audreyslittlecottage

My Friend Jared www.myspace.com/friendmyjared

Brilliant radio happening all over the place - Marcelle van Hoof, Peter Nelson, Shirley & Spinoza, Bekteshi's Grilltube, Brierley Hills 90210, Radia, Ratio FM, and of course WFMU ......

Felix Kubin live in Cherbourg

Discovering the music of Spike Jones, Paul Lowry & Raymond Scott

Found Tapes & Outsider music blogs

V/A "Billboard Head Soup" www.nunulaxnulan.biz

Cheers!

Other WFMU Top Ten of 2006 lists are here.

James Brown, 1933-2006

James Brown, the one-man Rosetta Stone of Funk, died early Christmas morning at the age of 73. The cause of death is not yet known, although he checked into the hospital with pneumonia on Sunday. AP story here.

Here is Douglas Wolk's James Brown Christmas Special from exactly five years ago - six straight hours of classic, rare, insane and magnificent recordings of the Godfather and his funk revue - guaranteed to include stuff you've never heard before: streaming realaudio link   |   playlist link

Inflatable Squirrel Carcass Top 10+

1. Life with Tamar
Once again this year like all the others which have preceded it no sudden wealth attached itself to my existence but that's fine because the riches this fine lady endows me with on a daily basis make me realize how lucky I am. And I am very happy that we are now homeowners in a part of NYC that's not likely to become hip anytime too soon as there really isn't anyplace for the "developers" to destroy.

2. As I See Boris Artzybasheff http://www.kenspublishing.com/
A reprint of some of the most amazing, screwy illustration ever. Anthropomorphic machinery, Basil Wolverton-like bodies, and the rubber cartoon surrealism of early animation taken to an extreme combine to make your eyes pop like a Tex Avery character while your brain swears off reality for a few hours and tries to remain sober.

3. EM Records
Over the last couple of years there have been a few labels that come out of nowhere and reissue a batch of great, hard-to-find music. In 2004 it was MIO, 2005 had Ad Hoc and this year we get EM. A brief list of this year's reissues, Moolah Woe Ye Demons Possessed, Roland P. Young Isophonic Boogie Woogie, The Pyramids Birth/Speed/Merging, Jim Fasset Symphony of the Birds (not to mention the Barton Smith, David Rosenboom, musical saw records, etc.), justifies and honors their existence.

4. uské orchestra niko et la berlue (Sonig)
This is actually a 2005 release that I found out about after last year's Top 10. There is so much going on in this record that I find enjoyable that it's difficult to describe. If Ross Bagdasarian had turned on, tuned in and dropped out, and alter ego David Seville had taken his band of singing rodents to San Francisco instead of around the world, and eventually, after many misadventures that led to their break up, they decided to get together again and record but determined that they didn't want to live off their already established persona and donned tuxes, top hats and head-covering eyeball masks...no, that's not it, more like if the Teletubbies and Ya Ho Wha merged and purchased a bunch of laptops or maybe it's a giant plunderphonic mashup or maybe its a giant mess...but, it's a glorious mess that puts a smile on my face whenever I play it.

5. Carla Bozulich Evangelista (Constellation)
The sound of bubbling anger beneath a sweet voice grounded by smoke and booze sitting on a porch staring out at a yesterday that hides several shades of darkness but in the distance the first light of tomorrow peeks over the horizon. This would be a great soundtrack for a David Lynch western.

Putting the Ham in MuHAMmad: The Greatest at his Worst

Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest athletes who ever lived and arguably the most charismatic. His trash talking poetics are well documented in both film and print and an always increasing amount of books and documentaries are released on a regular basis dissecting every aspect of his life . Well, almost every aspect.

Between being on top of the sporting world, speaking out against the American atrocities in Vietnam, being demonized by the white sporting establishment, and appearing with the scotch drinking funsters on the 1970s era Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Ali dipped his aching fingers in a number of projects that were absurd in conception and a million times more ridiculous in retrospect. As a showman, Ali never shied away from appearing on television outside of the boxing realm in any capacity. An assortment of cameos on television shows like The Sonny & Cher Show, The Jacksons, Different Strokes, The Flip Wilson Show, The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts and even the occasional appearance in the other ring at the WWF, can attest to this. In this essay we will explore four of Ali's hammiest moments. His short lived Saturday morning cartoon, his vinyl records dealing with battling tooth decay and reciting poetry, the movie in which Muhammad Ali played himself, and the comic book in which he fought Superman.

More Phonoanomalies for Hi-Fi Bugs (MP3s)

As promised last week, here is the second installment in Keith Lo Bue's Phonoanomalies series, 32 MP3 tracks and artwork below, or alternatively a Torrent of the whole thing in FLAC for the real audiophiles. If you don't yet have a Christmas present for your parakeet, THIS IS IT! And no, I am not kidding, we really care about the parakeets of the world here at WFMU, and they should get their presents, too. But humans, canaries, computers, and Zoroastrian physicians will also have fun with this compilation, because it features music by humans, canaries, a computer, and a Zoroastrian physician, the one and only Dr. Adi Tamboli. Of course, there is yodeling, whistling, and prepared pianos, too. And this compilation doesn't shy away from serious issues either, there are two Mike Curb tracks from the soundtrack to the shocking documentary about today's youth, Teenage Rebellion, and a song about the dangers of arcade games. Kids beware, playing Pac-Man, Asteroids, and Galaga will drive you crazy. You should rather listen to these tracks now. Where are they? As always, below the jump.

The Beatles Tribute From Hell

And when I say "hell," I mean of course Rolling Stone Magazine's Ten Year Anniversary TV special from 1977. In a musical production number not even befitting of the Academy Awards, Ted "Jesus" Neeley (of the film version of JC Superstar) hosts a medley of Beatles songs which grow more horrifying and hilarious with each awkward transition. You'll marvel as Patti Labelle sings Polythene Pam from inside a giant spider web, you'll gasp as a Kiss imitator band (surely the actual band would've been too smart to sign on to this) performs a musical tribute to 1970's terrorism with Helter Skelter, and you will surely break down and cry (as I did) as the entire mess slips into embarrassing political commentary with Nixon and Kissinger characters singing Back in the USSR and Jimmy Carter crooning Mother Nature's Son. In the big picture of this debacle, Richie Havens weird duet with Yvonne Elliman on Here Comes The Sun triumphantly ascends to being merely bad. An notice how I didn't even mention the dancing strawberries.

At last, there is a music video which rivals Armi and Danny for sheer butt uglyawfulness, and a Beatles spin-off that pre-dates and way out-shlocks 1978's Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band.

Somewhere down there, a special circle of hell is being chiseled out for Jann Wenner.

Download mpeg video, 72 megs, or stream it via google video.

Thank you Bob Brainen!