WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Live at WFMU: Cryptacize (MP3)

Liz B broadcast a live set from Cryptacize today on her new afternoon timeslot. Cryptacize is the new project of Chris Cohen (ex-Deerhoof), Nedelle Torisi (Kill Rock Stars solo artist), and Michael Carreira (YouTube cowbell player extraordinaire).

Taking its roots from Cohen's earlier project The Curtains, Cryptacize crystallized across from the C&H Sugar Factory in Crockett, CA. Their sweet mini-pop elements get twisted around as Chris Cohen's guitar chops weave their way around Nedelle's vocals, punctuated by Michael's percussion grab-bag.

Cryptacize is touring their way through Tennessee and Texas towards Los Angeles, then flying to Europe for some more shows in early July. Tourdates are posted on their myspace. They'll have copies of their Asthmattic Kitty debut Dig That Treasure, and their Unusual Animals Vol. 4 split 7'' with Why? (featuring a great cover of "Peg" by Steely Dan!).

Cryptacize live on Liz B's show 6/16/08 (playlist and archive w/ interview)
Engineered 6/13/08 by Richard Rusincovitch
Cryptacize - Full Set (mp3)
1. Cryptacize - Heaven is Human (mp3)
2. Cryptacize - New Spell (mp3)
3. Cryptacize - Cosmic Sing-a-long (mp3)
4. Cryptacize - No Coins (mp3)
5. Cryptacize - Jail + Mane (mp3)
6. Cryptacize - We'll Never Dream Again (mp3)
7. Cryptacize - Say You Will (mp3)

The mp3s in this post are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States license

A Few Song Poems

Here are a few obscurities from the world of the song poem. The most notable entry here may be "Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Potassium", in that it is the second version of this song that I have found on vinyl. The first, on a different song-poem label, was available for download for years from the song-poem website, and featured a loose, rockabilly styled combo fronted by a male singer with an attitude in his voice. The second version, heard here, couldn't possibly be more different.

Bob Purse

1.) Lynne Richards with the Jimmy Etta Orchestra - Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Potassium (MP3)

2.) Phil Celia - The Atom Dynomic Dance (MP3)

3.) Sammy Marshall - Be Optimistic (MP3)

4.) Frankie Day - The Grinder Man (MP3)

5.) Barney Spencer - Beginner's Luck (MP3)

The Kind You Won't Take Home to Mutha'

I am an ace parallel parker.  It is one of the small, but at times not so meaningless skills I have honed over many blissful miles.  Last week while nailing a spot on a busy city street a livery car lent particular urgency to my craft as he screeched to a halt an inch from my gas tank.  He pulled up alongside me once I was parked and I imagined he was going to say something rude, as this was New Jersey and that is the quaint way we locals greet fellow drivers.  Instead he offered up his commendations on my "powerfully sexy" parking ability. 
     Is that sexism?  Do we know how to recognize sexism?  Can women be sexist?  The answer to all three questions is yes.  While I am not a fan of Hilary Clinton, I felt days of front page media coverage of her cleavage and/or tears to be a truly pathetic excuse for journalism.  When a television news commentator remarked that when Hillary speaks he involuntarily crosses his legs, that is pre-judging a candidate by what you expect or better yet fear from women.  That man needs a shrink.  Did Hilary lose because of ancient sexism that won't loosen it's arthritic grip from a quickly changing world?  No.  I believe she lost because she didn't think the public could handle the plain facts, and chose instead to cloak them in platitudes that she couldn't quite back up.  Those political wranglings ensnared her in a back-room politics web that wasn't particularly visionary or feminist for that matter.
     Have there been male candidates who were similarly swimming in the political sea but who miraculously escaped the media sharks?  Oh yeah.  They fade into the woodwork without special gender condemnation or resentment.  We may not like Hilary Clinton's politics, but her politics often took a back seat to her personality, caricatured by many as the age old vagina dentata monster.  Hilary was never a candidate, she was a female candidate.  And some of her supporters were just as blind.  In their eyes she just HAD to be the first woman president, no matter how screwy her platform or lack of it. 
  While Hilary was storming through small town America in search of headlines, another side of old school sexism was begrudingly grabbing front page column inches.  Those crazy photos of the Gibson girl coiffed, multiple-wife-swapping, Texas Mormons showed us an over the top visual of hard core sexual fetishism cloaked in religious garments.  I missed that part in the Bible where God says 'doth must coif your hair like a Gibson Girl before I lay down with you, and you, and you...'    
     It's truly hard to explain sexism or racism or any kind of prejudice to someone who doesn't see it.  Sort of like telling an alcoholic they have a drinking problem, your words fall on drunk ears.  But I imagine the first step is to stop referring to her as the ex wife, nagging wife, shrill, fatal attraction-esque, etc.  In these cases, I tend to side with Sun Ra and refer to myself as extra-terrestrial.

Great Moments in WFMU History, Your Turn!

In case you missed out, I've been posting tidbits of WFMU history on this blog for the past few months as the station celebrates its 50th year on the air. I know there are countless more memorable moments in this great station's history, so I figured I should throw the ball in your court. Please share your favorite WFMU moments in the comments section, they can be on-air or off-air moments from recent years or the distant past.

For inspiration, I'm reposting a few incredible WFMU stories from ex-DJs below the jump.

Oh, College.

Archie Club News #20 (plus bonus Club Member Comment)

Throughout the nineteen sixties, seventies and eighties, most issues of Archie Comics featured a two-page spread titled Archie Club News. The banner at the top of the page announced, "ARCHIE CLUB MEMBERS send in your reports and be eligible to win cash prizes in the Archie Series Magazines." The results of this venture were generally irrelevant notes sent in like, "Dear Archie, I want to tell you about my cat Winnie." Often what was sent in appeared to be part of a class project. Elementary school children were in the process of learning how to write letters and encouraged by a teacher to send something Riverdale way. Sometimes the letters were weird or even profound and other times prophetic or just silly. This letter originally appeared in Reggie and Me #27, January 1968. This one is NOT profound or prophetic. It is, perhaps, the single most mundane Archie Club News letter I have come across. I imagine this child was one of those drab unpopular children that grew up to be a hipster - or maybe a description writer for the Sears catalogue.

Dear Archie,

This year great attention has been shown towards stockings. Years ago nylons were a synonym for stockings. Today there are whole stores devoted just to the selling of stockings.

The newest fad in stockings is the window-panes. They are similar to fishnets, but the holes are larger. They are more practical than fishnets and nylons. Fishnets tear easily, nylons run, but window-panes are less liable to tear and in my opinion attractive. Fishnets are still in style, but they will probably fade out slowly. Although many people might disagree, we will see what next year's fashions bring.

Maury Grabel
343 East Chester
Long Beach, N.Y.

Maury's letter won first prize of five dollars for this issue.

As a special bonus, here is my favorite opening paragraph from the many Archie Club News I have read this week. I misplaced the issue, however, before writing down what issue it originally appeared in (I am  literally surrounded by several thousand Archie comics in this place).

Dear Archie,

Since summer is here you should know a little about butterflies. The reason I picked this topic is because one day I caught a Spicebush Shallowtail Butterfly. I had it for only two days and it died. Now on with my report!

Mary Zeuner
Phila., Pa

 

Also my oft-linked-to piece about Spire Christian Comics and Al Hartley's line of 1970's Christian Archie comics has been revised, updated, expanded and completely revamped. You can read a new and improved piece about Christian Archie comics over here.

Dinner?

OR

2 choices on Main Street in Jacksonville, Florida.  Photos by Jimmy Fountain.

Flag Day - Saturday, June 14 (MP3)

Flag Day, celebrated each year on June 14, was established by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916.  In addition to Flag Day, Wilson, who served as New Jersey's governor from 1911 - 1913, was also responsible for establishing another notable annual event; Mother's Day.  Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day celebration two years earlier in 1914. 

The largest Flag Day parade in the nation takes place in Troy, New York, home of Samuel Wilson whose name is believed to be the source of "Uncle Sam."  The parade takes place on the Sunday preceding June 14, so if you weren't there you already missed this year's parade, which was held on June 8.

The Flag was written by Louisiana rockabilly wild man Dale Hawkins, vocalized by by Maurice Ogden, and released on Gene Autry's Challenge label in 1964.  Ogden's other memorable cultural contribution was authoring a poem called The Hangman, the sinister story of an executioner who arrives in town and starts stringing up innocent people.  His mission is eased by the fact that none of the town's citizens confronts him because everyone is afraid to speak up for fear that he will be the hangman's next victim.

Maurice Ogden  -  The Flag  (2:47)

Spare a Bang? Special on Billy Jam's show today

Billy Jam says:

Today (Friday June 13, 3-6PM) live on WFMU radio, along with Bryce, Scott, Ken, Megan, Liz and who knows who else, I will be leading an aural assault of drumming, sound effects, and twisted melodies for the informal WFMU Bang-On-A-Jam session - intended as a cacophonous catharsis to help all involved kick out the old (schedule) and herald in the new summer season (starts Monday) as well as say goodbye to our good friend Megan.

But we need the help of you - the dedicated WFMU listener. Can you join in the mayhem and spare a bang? All you have to do is be ready to call in on the designated on-air studio, call-in line (201-209-9368) and play over-the-phone your sound or noise or quote.

Tune in at 3PM for more details but be ready to phone in your sounds from approx 3:30PM (EST) onwards. Thank-you - Billy "Bang" Jam

Codgepiece

Once upon a time, The Old Codger made such a menace of himself around here that he actually tricked us into turning him into some sort of WFMU mascot for a little while.  We snapped out of his damn spell, but not before he'd hijacked half the record library and insinuated himself into as many album covers as he could find a place for himself, just to spite the medium!  My apologies for the really ugly ones, but what do you expect from a guy whose idea of arresting visuals is a snazzy wall-calendar?

Next time: The Codger as Zelig, strolling through history like it was goin' outta style.

Lots more below!

Ratas Del Vaticano

More scabby art-punk from Monterrey, Mexico (which has already hit a double play with XYX and the unforgettable Los Llamarada who scorched/confused WFMU's SXSW show in Austin this past March). Ratas Del Vaticano bring to mind fast-n-scuzzy remnants of Desechables or Crime, though "Ta de las Ratas" (MP3) sounds like an amazing wedding between Psychedelic Underground-era Amon Duul and the Monks at their most primal. "Olvido" (MP3) almost has some sinister Euro-Eastern leads you'd expect on some prime early Plastic People stuff. But in general, they set their controls on pure punk. You can check out more tracks from their LP Moscos Patheticos at their My Space.

"Pornography, fast food, cheap beer, vandalism, onanism, inconformity and frustration are the main tags of this blurred emotions corktail mixed on these guy’s minds that seem to be trapped in a nothing full of possibilities, each one of them radically fun. Destroy and Forget about everyone else being just yourself / That ain’t a message, it’s just the cavemen’s yelling on modern times survival."

Sonic Youth / Feelies Show Sold Out in Minutes

River To River's site got major action at noon and tickets for the July 4th Sonic Youth / Feelies free concert at Battery Park vamoosed in about 13 minutes. After much screen refreshing, a bunch of us here were successful, some of us were not. If you weren't, don't discount your luck yet: keep it tuned to WFMU as we've been given some pairs for on-air giveaway. They'll be popping up in the weeks ahead.

Great Moments in WFMU History #35

Punching for Pledges - by Megan Murphy

On March 17, 2004, The Best Show on WFMU super-rival listener call-in personalities Purple Shirt (a Brooklyn artist) and Officer Tom (a tattooed New Jersey cop, who closely resembles Mr. Clean) donned large green "Hulk" fists made of foam and pummeled each other in exchange for pledges from listeners. The match went on for 4 rounds, escalating in violence as webcam viewers from around the world cheered on the gladiators. TBSOWFMU host Tom Scharpling covered the action from the Phone Room blow by blow, as the men rained destruction upon each other with their mighty green hands. By the end of the night, Officer Tom proved victorious. Purple Shirt lay wounded upon the floor as the host's faithful dog, Dogmo, licked the blood* from his face.

*ketchup and water.

Listen to the infamous fight, archived here (real audio).

Artwork by Aaron Zimmerman

I Got Millions of Images

I've developed a bad habit thanks to Mister Internet, and that involves quickly capturing every image I find that amuses, intrigues, and excites me (in the non-porn way). Like casually ripping pages out of teen magazines, I've been tossing these images into a folder on my desktop, which is now bursting at the seams with about 2000 random jpegs. And now I'd like to share some with you.

Unfortunately, I don't label where the images come from, but I do know that I frequently hit Big Happy Fun House for found photos, The Percy Trout Hour for cheesecake, and Vintage Ads for, well, you know. And a random word search on Flickr or Google Images can lead to hours of fun.

Also, I don't care much for writing comments above my images, but if you have a good one for any of the following, please toss them in the comments section.

The Most Important Event of the Year (MP3)

The Most Important Event of the Year (9:34)

If you've never heard this one, I don't want to spoil the surprise. All I can say is that it's an antidote for the late-spring heat wave that's made the Northeast a very unpleasant place to be for the last few days and that the purple pellets and the dial could be sinister.

This 1965 production was part of a series written and produced by Bert Tenzer. You'll hear the unmistakable voice of Mason Adams as the father of the Jacoby family. Each of the albums uses a mystery-drama concept to conceal the identity of the product being advertised, which is revealed with much fanfare near the end.

It's one of the most unique forms of advertising ever employed. Dealers were given a stack of these records, and customers could take them home and listen to them. In exchange for brining the record back to the store, the customer would receive a discount coupon for the product advertised. I've only come across three of them in my travels, but it's possible that more exist. Information on Tenzer and the records themselves is scarce, although this one turns up fairly frequently at record shows.

I'll post my other two Tenzer tracks next Wednesday. In the meantime, if you've got any additional information about Tenzer and his advertising records, leave a note in the comments.

WFMU Logo Contest

Graphic designers, we need your help! Come up with a snazzy new logo for WFMU and win a messenger bag full of swag. We're looking for something that just says "WFMU" (in all caps) with some cool but simple graphic elements or eye-catching type treatment. Send your submissions (jpg or pdf preferred) or questions to me (lizb at wfmu dot org), the deadline is June 20th. There are some good logo design basics on this site.

If I Had Just A Little Time Acetate

"Lucie--you sounded great. No sense in doing another take. No, really, kid. This is the one, I'm tellin' ya. The glitch at the end? What glitch at the end? I didn't hear any glitch. What the hell's a glitch? Came out perfect, baby. Yeah, someone bumped into the machine but it's fine. Vinnie's sorry. Now wouldja grab your stuff? We gotta get this on Sol Rothman's desk by three-fifteen, we gotta scramble. It's fine. Look sugar--we're outta time! It's fine and it's a hit. What more do you want? This is the one, baby. Now c'mon--getcher things--let's get outta here!"

If I Had Just A Little Time (MP3)

WFMU in Signal To Noise: Their Favorite Things

The current issue (#50) of the excellent experimental and improvised music magazine Signal To Noise prominently features a terrific article on your favorite Freeform Radio avatars (that's us).  Writer Jesse Jarnow spent some quality time with us during our 2008 fundraising Marathon back in March, earned our trust, and got some choice quotes to accompany his keen observations (and largely accurate historical details).  A few of us even got our pictures in the paper, thanks to the very pleasing photographic efforts of Caroline Bell.  Not Station Manager Ken though - he got cut out of the group shot, probably because of the ridiculous slogan on his "funny" t-shirt.

The entire article, as jpgs:
Table of Contents  |  Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  | Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8

And here's the whole thing as a single pdf (thanks Doron!)

Honey, have you seen the mothballs?

if you like your Euro 2008 soccer players 10 meters high, quickly hop on a plane to Zurich, or just click here.

Obama-Kucinich 2008

It's so perfect! He could deliver Ohio. Or Saturn. Or something.

Someone at my dayjob read me a headline last week about how Mrs. Clinton (Iron My Shirts!) sent an e-mail at 2:00 AM saying she was going to bow out of the race—after she'd lost it. The 2:00 AM time indicates to me that she probably had to get smashed before she could bring herself to write it. The one thing I'm going to miss about that whiney, nagging, self-entitled monster is the way she made her drinking problem a big part of her campaign. Whenever she wanted to show that she was just a regular guy, she'd get her picture taken chugging a brewski or knocking back shots or visiting a big distillery. I don't blame her for drinking, though—look who she's married to.

Is Ron Paul still running?