WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Three POE Readings by James Mason

 
According to Hesiod, Dreams are the children of Night, and brothers and sisters of Death and Sleep. Deceptive dreams issue from a gate of ivory, true dreams through a gate of horn.
The spirits of the departed, too, so long as they are not in the kingdom of Hades, have the power of appearing to the sleeper in dreams.
Later poets call dreams the sons of sleep, and give them separate names. Morpheus, for instance, only appears in various human forms. Ikelos, called also Phobetor, or Terrifyer, assumes the shapes of all kinds of animals as well as that of man: Phantasos only those of inanimate objects.

Today we serve up half of this round, black inanimate object, known as DL 9062, specifically the delicacy presented on side two: Three dramatic readings from Edgar Allan Poe as performed (with no directing credit) by James Mason, with creepy and dramatic organ stylings by Buddy Cole, who no doubt wore an Inverness cape for the occasion.

Rather than wax eloquent about Mr. Mason or the dear Mr. Poe, let us simply enjoy the delicious tones of his words as read by a master appreciator of same.

A larger copy of the full cover art for this gem is found HERE.

And the MP3s on display are:

The Tell-Tale Heart
Annabel Lee
Silence

Happy Hallowe'en All!

If I Had a Hammer

Here I am in Ye Jolly Olde UK, looking out my window at a glorious Halloween morning with its varied hues of orange and red, crisp leaves on the ground, bright snap in the air. Autumn in England is a beautiful thing – when you’re watching one of those old Pathe newsreels where people talk like posh Cockneys and everyone has the Blitz spirit of cheer and gumption.

In reality, it’s raining, grey, cold and decidedly miserable out there. I don’t mean to spoil any of your forthcoming dream holiday plans, but there you go. We live in a temperate climate, which sounds rather lovely and mild on paper, but is actually just cold and damp. Very cold and very damp.

News of the Dead: Dead Me

Just in time for Halloween, I discovered my own grave today. Apparently I died in November 1918, age 31, and am buried in some little town in Pennsylvania. Sluggo and I are planning a road trip to go visit Dead Me very soon. If you'd like to find Dead You, then I recommend searching your own name at FindAGrave.com, one of my favorite websites. (My thanks to Find a Grave Member Beth for locating Dead Me, and to Patty Matthews for the photo of Nanticoke Cemetery.)

People usually think of cemeteries as peaceful places. Or maybe not, maybe they think of cemeteries as creepy repositories for dead, rotting corpses. Either way, I don't think most people think of the cemetery as the place to go for some hot hetero action. But that is because most people do not live in South Carolina, home of Roland Corning, 66, the former deputy assistant attorney general. Mr. Corning became a former etc. when he was found in a cemetery with an 18-year-old stripper, some Viagra, and a bag of sex toys. He claimed he was on his "lunch break," and I suppose he just must have grabbed the wrong bag—you know, he accidentally took the one with the crusty black strap-on instead of the one with the ham sandwich. Plus, he's in South Carolina, home of Governor Mark Sanford, who prefers "hiking the Appalachian Trail" to "hanging out in the cemetery with barely legal strippers." Also that douchebag who heckled the President is from South Carolina, and who knows what he's been up to. I guess if you want to have sex outdoors with old white guys, South Carolina is the place to go. South Carolina, home of the Gamecocks! South Carolina's got it goin' on!

Christmas Contest Update: Okay, so the special Disney's Christmas Carol AmTrak train was in Grand Central today because it's the day before Halloween, and I went through it mostly just because it was there and I think it's interesting the way the "property" has gone from being A Christmas Carol to   Dickens' A Christmas Carol to Disney's A Christmas Carol, and just before the exit from the train there were 4 people in Victorian costumes singing "Jingle Bell Rock" because that is what counts as a Christmas carol nowadays, I guess. But our contest is to be the first person to hear Christmas music being played in a store and I don't think being subjected to anachronistic performers on a marketing train counts. I did notice stores in Grand Central with all the Christmas stuff up, making this the first year I have ever seen totally Christmas-themed store windows before Halloween. Surely the Christmas music will not be far behind. As soon as you hear Christmas music in a store, email me at [email protected]. The winner will receive some not-yet-determined prize.

Thanks for reading my blogpost this time, and Happy Halloween.

Dia de los Angelitos Update: Not My Grave. The Nanticoke Historical Society has a helpful list of locals who died in the 1918 influenza pandemic, among them "Bronwyn Charleton (Mrs. John)." And the Wilkes-Barre Record of May 17, 1905 has an announcement of the marriage of Bronwyn Davis of Nanticoke to John Charleton of Alden. So it looks like that Nanticoke grave belongs to Bronwyn Davis Charleton--close, but not my grave.

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 39 (MP3s)

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

All treats and no tricks from the Miner this week: If you could count all the great "out" vibes records on one hand, this one—from Philly's Khan Jamal—would be the thumb. Magma founder Christian Vander plays drums here under the pseudonym Hassan Rashid.  •••  Beijing Opera–trained singer Grace Chang (Ge Lan) made more yuan as an actress than as a chanteuse. She appeared in over 30 films in career spanning just over a decade. Occasionally she landed a role where she got do her singing on camera. Check this freaky Youtube vid of her in 1959's Air Hostess.  •••  Refer-reeking garages of 1960s Uruguay, Peru, and Argentina were overflowing with mop-head maestros mashing en Inglés, but Spain's Cheyenes croon exclusively en Español. ••• Though "Ice Cream Man" was his biggest seller, Chicago bluesman John Brim ran a dry cleaners when he wasn't on the road. When he was touring, he took his wife with him. She was his drummer. ••• This "Indian"-themed blues compilation includes the one and only tune ever recorded (in 1929) by a mysterious performer billed as "Freezone." (MP3 provided, below.) Nobody seems to know who the hell this guy is!  ••• At 13, Junior Reid cut his first record with the great Hugh Mundell. (For an extra treat, go here.) At 17, Reid, now calling himself Junior Progress (with the backing band Voice of Progress), had a regional hit with "Mini Bus Driver." At 18, Reid was a passenger in a car with Mundell when Mundell was shot and killed.

Go Phillies!
Khan Jamal  ~  "Give the Vibes Some"
(Blog: The Growing Bin)
From the album: Pure Energy (mp3)

Star of '50s Hong Kong Cinema
Grace Chang  ~  "Pathe 100, Vol. 15"
(Blog: What's in My iPod)

If the Kinks and Pretty Things Had a Baby. In Spain.
Los Cheyenes  ~  "Sus Singles y EPs en RCA"
(Blog: Garage Music)
From the album: Eres Como un Sueño (mp3)

The Original Ice Cream Man
John Brim  ~  "1950-1953"
(Blog: Oldies But Goodies)

What You Me "We," Kemosabe?
Various  ~  "Cherokee Boogie: Indians and the Blues"
(Blog: The Devil's Guitar)
From the album: Indian Squaw Blues (mp3) by Freezone

No, Not Mini Driver
Voice of Progress  ~  "Mini Bus Driver"
(Blog: JeckrootsDJ)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Helping Hand for Prince Rama of Ayodhya

We hosted a broadcast (and Free Music Archive MP3s) a while back here on WFMU, and found the Ramas to be three of the sweetest people who we've had the fortune to fill our hallways with music, so it was heartbreaking to hear from Taraka today that their tour had been cancelled due to all their gear and merch being swiped in Philadelphia this past week. I'm sure they'd appreciate all their fans and WFMU listeners to spread the word in getting some help their way so they can continue making their otherwordly sounds. Paypal link here, and more on this great trio here.

New Podcast: Choking on Cufflinks

Introducing a new podcast: Choking on Cufflinks with Michael Goodstein!

Michael is taking a break from the air schedule, but he's still delivering the goods: DIY pop, shitalo, & the other "fun" stuff from Brooklyn, Jersey City, Manchester circa 1980, and everywhere else the DIY impulse took root.

Click here to subscribe to the Choking on Cufflinks podcast via iTunes, or visit our podcast page for more options.

A Few Pointers From Ted Williams

Ted Williams was indisputably the greatest hitter in the game of baseball. The last player in MLB to bat over .400 in a single season (.406 in 1941), he was a two time American League MVP winner and still holds the highest career batting average of anyone with 500 or more home runs. Over the course of two decades Williams quietly advanced to the top of his profession earning accolades from his peers on and off the field.

Red Sox fans applauded their hero's multi-tiered success but on occasion turned on the thin-skinned slugger, booing and heckling him at the slightest sign of weakness. This bugged the hell out of Williams and he would mutter under his breath and eventually stop tipping his cap to these idiots. What the hell was this all about? Nobody ever booed Hoot Gibson or John Wayne. What kind of world had he landed in? Maybe a .344 career batting average might be better appreciated somewhere else. Perhaps in the future, away from the drooling slobs of Fenway Park, there dwelt an appreciative civilization where attaining everlasting life and eternal gratitude is only slightly more complicated than joining Netflix. Pumped up with steroids to end all steroids, a sports legend could roam the earth like a king--living, loving and playing ball with only the finest merchandising deals laid like rose petals at his frozen cleats. Ted squinted into the left field bleachers and with the saint-like fortitude that he often brought to the plate, sucked in his breath and waited.

The Way Out, A Portrait of Xentos Jones (video excerpt)

This excerpt of the 2003 film "The Way Out, A Portrait of Xentos Jones" by Kosten Koper and Luke Fowler recently popped up on YouTube. I hope that the whole thing will be released on DVD some day...

YouTube: [link] | More info on Kosten Koper's blog: [link] | More Xentos on the WFMU blog: Die Trip Computer Die - Flowerball (a whole album for free!) | King Leopold Of All The Belgians (weird half-improvised radio play)

DJ Steinski Presents: Southern Preachers On The Radio

Head on over to the WFMU Ichiban blog for a guest DJ set from Steinski entitled: Not A Cloud Upon The Name Of The Lord.  It's an hour's worth of "old-fashioned, holy spirit anointed preaching from the word of God".  Perfect for Sunday morning coming down.

Praise The Lord! (mp3)

8 Cool Things on The Internet This Week

Okay, okay I admit it. Whenever I post something like this it means I am being extremely lazy. Whatever happened to those lengthy articles I used to post here every other week? Oh, right I went and got a job. Unemployment was a boon to prolific pop culture blogging. Well, I have half-written articles about Howard Morris, Billy Strange, Elisha Cook Jr, Harry Lucey and Frankie Darro going on and they'll be completed sooner or later. But for now... enjoy some laziness.

A complete night of programming from WKBK Buffalo, Halloween Night 1973

The Bob and Ray TV Show - Full Episode

Write up on The Twonky - Bizarre Film About Possessed Television aired on TCM Today.

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (Complete)

Leif Garrett on The Dating Game - Halloween Episode

Psych Band The Merry-Go-Round on The Dating Game

18 Versions of the Shaft Theme - Part One - Part Two

Haunted Beer Ad

Things Can Only Get Better

I've had a pretty shit week if I'm honest with you. One funeral, one anniversary of a friend's death, and the news that another friend was murdered have left me feeling as low as it's possible to feel. There have been days when I didn't even want to get out of bed. I felt like a shadow was hanging over me all the time.

Hey Los Angeles, This Is Called "Autumn"

Hi, Beware Of The Blog readers. I flew East for a week to visit family and work for my store (Rockaway Records) at the WFMU Record Fair this weekend. Stop by and say hi if you'd like. Tell me I'm not a shitty blogger.

Being in New York and New Jersey affords me many opportunities Southern California does not. For example, it's autumn right now. We don't have autumn in Los Angeles. We have couple days of sometimes warm, sometimes cool weather. It might rain or become foggy one night. Other than that, it's in the low 70s and sunny. It gets cold at night I guess, but definitely not cold enough to wear a scarf like most Eastside hipter douches do. Two years ago I bought a winter coat, and it's been hanging in my closet ever since. That's LA autumn/winter for you.

We don't get foliage! We have palm trees. So, after spending some time with my father in his small New Jersey town today, I drove to the South Mountain Reservation and hiked around for a few minutes. It was creepy and nice, and pretty warm outside. There was a yellow labrador retriever splashing in a creek, and then it ran over to me and jumped on me. Afterwards I drove to the Riker Hill Art Park, which was something of a second home for my friends and I before I moved west. I was going to watch the sunset there, but I decided to buy some wine and grab a quick dinner with some friends instead. Oh well. Here are some of the photos I took today judged to be the most interesting by my friends. Bonus points if you can spot either a Sasquatch or the Jersey Devil...

WFMU's Record Fair - this weekend!

Get your game face on and your vinyl flipping fingers warmed up: WFMU's annual Record Fair hits the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan this weekend! Besides 10,000 square feet of amazing CDs, LPs, DVDs and artworks, there will be live broadcasts all weekend long, and live music from the Trashmen, People Like Us, Kevin Blechdom, Heavy Trash (w/ Jon Spencer) and more (full schedule here). Check out movies in the A/V Lounge or deface your favorite record sleeve at the LP Modification Booth!

Location:
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th Street, NYC

Hours and Admission:
Friday, October 23rd, 7-10pm, $7
Saturday, October 24th, 10am-7pm, $7
Sunday, October 25th, 10am-7pm, $7
Early Admission: Friday, October 23rd from 4-7pm, $25 (includes re-admission all weekend)

Download this flyer (PDF), print it, and present at the ticket booth to receive $2 off admission.


Live Bands and Guest DJ sets

Saturday 10/24

• Chip Taylor (11:30am), wrote "Wild Thing," "Angel Of The Morning;" live acoustic set.
• The Trashmen (2pm), best known for their smash hit "Surfin' Bird."
• Heavy Trash (4pm), rockabilly love child of NYC rockers Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray.
• New York Night Train DJ set (6pm), with Jonathan Toubin spinning rock and soul.

Sunday 10/25

• Electric Chaircuts w/ Nelson Loskamp (noon), electrosonic haircuts.
  
• Kevin Blechdom + BARNWAVE + special guests (1pm, A/V Lounge).
• People Like Us (2pm, A/V Lounge), audio/visual collage... avant retard!
  
• Chris Brokaw (3pm), of Codeine & The New Year; 12 string guitar trio.
• Damu the Fudgemonk (3pm, A/V Lounge), an Akai MPC 2000 and turntables.
  
• La Cumbiamba eNeYé (4pm), European, African, and Colombian sounds.

(photo by the junes, CC by)

HOLY SHIT! THE RECORD FAIR STARTS TOMORROW - FRIDAY

One day to go to the start of the highly anticipated WFMU record fair with the first ever WFMU DJ Petting Zoo featuring pettable pet Bryce (watch out though - he sometimes bites) at the Metropolitan Pavilion Friday, Saturday, & Sunday.   And all this week WFMU DJs have been preparing the record fair mood via SINGLES GOING STEADY -  the by now hella popular annual singles event in which FMU listeners fully embrace the fact that near every DJ plays their 45's in non-intended ways - generally slowed down, but sometimes speeded up, and more often played (with the spindle taken out of the large hole and played off center and at the RPM not intended a la Scott Williams. Me I am going to play 45 7-inch singles at 45 RPM in 7 minutes exactly. It will be all be conducted under an Olympics stop watch operated by DJ NOAH the guest
7 inch Top Five spinmaster. Meantime DJ ALF will be laying down beats with scratches with The Genie on scratch guitar for  Friday's 3 hour live broadcast from the Metropolitan Pavilion while guest emcees and DJs stop by and jump on the air. He will also do a Pixies Scratch Guitar remix. Also on hand to guide the numerous guests will be WFMU DJ Marty McSorley the unemployed, 7 inch and 40 ounce loving, toilet paper on Turntable Three FMU DJ with a full Fall concert guide to  Paula Poundstone, and how to live and die in LA on 45RPM. Below here is a taste of what San Francisco's The Genie (recorded this minute) will be doing on Friday afternoon's WFMU live remote from the WFMU RECORD FAIR on Put The Needle On The Record.

Also scheduled for the weekend's WFMU Record Fair are The Trashmen (10/24, 2pm), Heavy Trash (10/24, 4PM) People Like Us (10/25, 2pm), Chris Brokaw (10/25, 3pm), Kevin Blechdom + BARNWAVE +Special Guests (10/25, 1pm), New York Night Train (10/24) La Cumbiamba eNeYé (10/25, 4pm), Electric Chaircuts w/ Nelson Loskamp (10/25)!.

Oh yeah? Yes......Oh and on a 45 platter too.  Ya smell me? Jeayeah. Hells.

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 38 (MP3s)

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

Mining the Audio Motherlode mourns the passing of South African saxophonist Winston "Mankunku" Ngozi, who was silenced by heart disease on October 13. While many fellow musicians coming up in the 1960s expatriated themselves and garnered international attention, Mankunku and many others remained home to carve out a musical life in the belly of the apartheid beast. Life was no cakewalk for those who chose exile, but the soul-crushing indignities experienced by artists who stayed put were just devastating.

Born in 1943, Mankunku explored piano as a child, then switched to sax in his teens after falling under the spell of John Coltrane. When he was 19, the same year his hero recorded A Love Supreme, Mankunku performed as a soloist with an all-white big band, but laws forbidding inter-racial mixing forced him to play behind a screen while a white musician mimed a pale imitation. In 1968, Mankunku recorded a track expressing his anguish over Coltrane's death. The tune's title, Yakhal' inKomo, which translates from Xhosa as "Bellowing Bull," was a direct reference to the hideous sound cattle make as they approach the slaughterhouse. Less obvious to the apartheid censors was the song's symbolic reference to the defiant cry of an oppressed people. The song made Mankunku a hero of the townships and the album it appeared on became South Africa's greatest selling jazz record.  • • •  Listen to Yakhal' inKomo (mp3)

Leading off our half dozen offerings is a lovely LP from 1975 showcasing Mankunku and the jazz funk combo The Cliffs.

Mankunku Will Make You Smile
The Cliffs  ~  "Alex Express"
(Blog: ElectricJive)

Con Corazónes Tristes
Raphy Leavitt y La Selecta  ~  "Jibaro Soy"
(Blog: Global Groove)
From the album: La Cuna Blanca (mp3) sung by Sammy Marrero

Na Fidhle Álainn
Bobby Casey  ~  "Taking Flight"
(Blog: Ceol Álainn)
From the album: The Drunken Gauger (mp3)

Conakry Men
Balla et Ses Balladins  ~  "Balla et Ses Balladins"
(Blog: Oro)

Hooray for Kitschywood
K.V. Mahadevan  ~  "Vasantha Maligai" (O.S.T.)
(Blog: Tamil Film Story)
From the soundtrack: Irandu Manam Vendum (mp3) sung by T.M. Sounderarajan

Our Lady of Hearts and Flowers
Mahasti  ~  "Del o Del"
(Blog: Snap, Crackle & Pop)

Listen for music from these and other incredible finds on
Give the Drummer Some, Fridays on WFMU, 9 to Noon (ET).

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

Frank Sutton Appreciation Society

What the hell, I'm going to presumptuously nominate myself to be president of the Frank Sutton Appreciation Society.   In his role as the bombastic Sgt. Carter on the CBS program Gomer Pyle - USMC, Sutton produced a richly hilarious body of work that deserves to be remembered. 

I know the reference books all list Jim Nabors as the star of the show, but I'm going to have to disagree and assert that Sutton was main reason to tune in.  I don't want to slam Nabors, who did a fine job with his role as an irritating moron with a good heart, but I think Sutton's contributions to the program cannot be overestimated.  Without Sutton's blustery and explosive reactions to Pyle's relentless stupidity, the show would have been lifeless and dull.  But Sutton was nothing if not versatile within the limited confines of the Sgt. Carter role.  Witness one of his trademark slow burn double-takes in the clip below.

And since Friday will mark the 85th anniversary of Sutton's birth I figured that this would be a fine time to salute him by sharing a bunch of magazine and newspaper clippings about him that I acquired via eBay.  Seems that some guy was auctioning off his dad's archives and his father just happened to have been in the publicity business in the 1960s and 70s, so he was making room for what I can only imagine was clutter of a far lower caliber.

Liturgy Live on My Castle of Quiet, 14th October 2009

Black metal doesn't always have to be a wallowing in vitriol and hatred, or a focused venting of negative emotions, and Liturgy are a case in point. Remember the first time you heard Enslaved's Frost album? Or to stretch genre definitions only slightly, Don Caballero's What Burns Never Returns, or King Crimson's Discipline? Think soulful exactitude, with a profusion of spiritual power.

Liturgy are energized players—and their music is definitely black metal—but to listen to them is to take flight on wings of ever-arcing melodic and trebly crescendos. Not so much shoveling shit on the grave of Christ here. There's a decided uplift to Liturgy's songs and performance.

A magnificent set, and engineered with expert ears and hands by Jason Sigal. Jason, Jed and myself were somewhat in awe of the musical spectacle happening on the other side of the double glass—and here it is—on mp3, from WFMU and the Castle, to your hard drive or portable listening device.

Pagan Dawn
Mysterium
Ecstatic Rite
Behind the Void
Arctica
Renihilation

Liturgy members:
Hunter Hunt-Hendrix/vocals, guitar shimmer
Bernard Gann/guitar shine
Tyler Dusenbury/shuddering bass vibrations
Greg Fox/blizzard drumming

Liturgy's new album is called Renihilation, available on vinyl and CD from 20 Buck Spin. You can catch Liturgy live on All Hallows' Eve at Brooklyn's Market Hotel, with other local NYBM giants Malkuth (coming soon to the Castle), and the great Tara Jane O'Neil.

Live audio shared/covered via a creative commons attribution-non commercial-no derivatives license.

Let's Have a Party! (MP3's)

On Wednesday, February 6, 1974, a party was held in Houston, Texas. Perhaps this party was in honor of Mrs. Harry D. Wilson (AKA Olivet Toadvin Wilson), or perhaps she was just a guest who was in attendance, and who was encouraged to play the piano for 40 minutes or so.

Regardless of the details, her performance was captured on tape, given way too much echo (perhaps in an effort to simulate stereo), and pressed into records for family and friends. A simple cover (the back is blank), a just a bit more information on the label itself gives one all there is available to know about this recording.

Mrs. Wilson clearly knew quite a few old timey songs, and may even had been quite the pianist in her younger days. If I understand the conversation correctly, she was the composer of a few of the instrumental pieces she played. Her performances here display a knowledge a variety of styles, although age appears to have affected both her memory and some of her ability.

I don't mean that as criticism - I found this album to be greatly enjoyable and even inspiring - she clearly loved to play, and those around her loved to hear her play. And the places (beginning about half way thruogh the first side) where Mrs. Wilson and others sing with her playing are magical.

I hope I can still play and sing when I'm in my golden years, and that someone thinks enough of those abilities to have me entertain at their party.

Special thanks to my pal Stu for having found this album for sale and pointing me in its direction.

1.) Mrs. Harry D. Wilson - A Party - Side One (MP3)

2.) Mrs. Harry D. Wilson - A Party - Side Two (MP3)

Album Cover (JPG) ---  Record Label (JPG)

RIP Elizabeth Clare Prophet (MP3s)

This Thursday Elizabeth Clare Prophet (aka Guru Ma), the former leader of the bizarre new age doomsday cult Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT) aka The Summit Lighthouse, died at the age of 70 in a nursing home in Bozeman, Montana, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease since 1998. The Summit Lighthouse was started in 1958 by Mark Prophet in Washington, D.C. He later married Elizabeth, they moved it to Colorado, and she took over the leadership after Mark's death in 1973. Under the name Church Universal and Triumphant they eventually moved to California in 1976, and finally to Montana in 1986, where they bought a 12,000-acre ranch just north of Yellowstone Park. Being convinced that the end of the world was near, they built a 756-person underground bomb shelter in a pristine alpine meadow and stocked up on firearms. When everyone assembled in the bomb shelters on the date of the predicted apocalypse on March 15, 1990, nothing happened, and eventually CUT members started to lose faith in the prophetic abilities of Elizabeth Prophet, and left the church in droves.

4 Cool Things I Found On the Internet This Week

The Most Prolific Dadaist in Golden Age Hollywood
Hal Blaine: Psychedelic Percussion
Failed Pilot for 1967 Dick Tracy TV Series (with Ventures Theme Song)
Gallery of Hand Painted Movie Posters from Ghana