WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Musical Memories of Chalk Hills Camp

Here's a sweet album I picked up years ago. It's called "Musical Memories of Chalk Hills Camp", and the insert that came with it dates it to 1961, and places its recording in the Appleton vicinity, although the camp itself was just over the border into Upper Michigan.

Having long been in love with the "Musical Memories of Camp Bryn Afon" album, I looked at this cover and wondered if lightning had struck twice in northern Wisconsin during the 1960's. The first listen showed that, while I wouldn't put this record quite on a par with the Bryn Afon collection, it has its own charms. I love the sound of kids singing together, there's a lot of nice harmony (if a bit tentative in places), and plenty of great old songs. The album contains 37 tracks (the same number as the Camp Bryn Afon album!), ranging from under 30 seconds to upwards of 2 1/2 minutes, over the course of about 40 minutes.

I'm particularly fond of track 22 (Living in Tents and Cabins), which for my money is the standout track, and track 23 (Swinging Along), a counterpoint piece which was heard in our car during every vacation we took during my childhood. I do cringe during "Christopher Robin" (track 7), as this is a song which was in my mother's repetoire, and the girls on this album had been taught a glaring error in the melody at one point (coincidentally, the album was recorded at my mother's Alma Mater, Lawrence). But this is an exception, as most of the album is a joy to experience.

Chalk Hills Camp was closed by the Girl Scouts after the 2001 season, but there is a nice website about and for former campers and staff, here.

The files before are listed by number, to save time and space. The names of the tracks are attached to the files themselves, and they are tagged with the names as well. These song titles can also be viewed on the record labels and the insert.  

Bob

Track 1 - Track 2 - Track 3 - Track 4 - Track 5 - Track 6 - Track 7 - Track 8 - Track 9 - Track 10 - Track 11 - Track 12 - Track 13 - Track 14 - Track 15 - Track 16 - Track 17 - Track 18 - Track 19 - Track 20 - Track 21 - Track 22 - Track 23 - Track 24 - Track 25 - Track 26 - Track 27 - Track 28 - Track 29 - Track 30 - Track 31 - Track 32 - Track 33 - Track 34 - Track 35 - Track 36 - Track 37

Album Cover (JPG) - Record Label Side A (JPG) - Record Label Side B (JPG) - Insert (JPG)

Shirin Neshat - Turbulent (video)

This 1998 video installation was directed by Iranian-American visual artist and director Shirin Neshat. The singers are played by Shoja Azari (though the voice is that of Shahram Nazeri) and the amazing vocalist and composer Sussan Deyhim. If you want to watch the same video on YouTube, go here: [link] And to help you make sense of it all, here is a great essay about the piece by director Atom Egoyan: [link].

Just this year, Shirin Neshat won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for her feature film debut "Women Without Men", co-directed by Shoja Azari (who also wrote the screenplay).

Georgia Slop

Get ready for round three of Whacked Out Hillbilly Night on Music To Spazz By.  Listener Greg G will be stopping by our Jersey City studios this Thursday to bring you more of the hillbilly hangovers, rubber room wig outs, hippies from Mississippi, fuzzed out instros, and head scratching cover versions and answer songs that you silly Citybillies (Jefferson County) have been missing.  As if that wasn't enough, see Greg live and in person at the Lakeside Lounge this Saturday, December 5th at the Ichiban Launch Party !  Here are a handful of GG approved 45s to get you in the mood.

WPLO - Atlanta My Home Town

Tomahawk - Tom Brown & The Tom Toms

James Brown   -  James Brown's Boo-Ga-Loo

Delmore Brothers - Peach Tree Street Boogie

Big Al Downing - Georgia Slop

Jean-Jacques Perrey on American Game Shows #2

Old Drum and the "Eulogy on the Dog"

Growing up mainly in the small Missouri town of Warrensburg, one couldn't help but become acquainted with the town's famous canine 'mascot'  Old Drum. Over the years I've heard many incarnations of and references to the eulogy written about him in 1870 by George Graham Vest.
The oft-recorded "Tribute to a Dog" text was originated by Mr. Vest after he took the case in Sedalia, Missouri, working for a farmer who was suing for the top dollar of the day- $150.00, because his prize foxhound had been shot by a neighbor, who had warned him, by the way, that he'd better keep his dawg at home.
Vest's closing arguments in the case became known as his much-quoted "Eulogy on the Dog". Mr. Vest was a Missouri secessionist who served on the Confederate Senate at one time, and in 1853 had defended a young African American man accused of murder, later acquitted, the poor fellow was burned at the stake anyway by an angry mob. From 1882 on Vest was well-known for his spirited defense and political protection of Yellowstone Park.
I recently came across yet another recording of the text (or at least the pertinent part of it that everyone seems to quote) as well as an a capella rendition of the Old Drum story on a seven-inch single, produced in Kansas City on the Damon label and performed by the Dockery Four (Bill Grace, Jerry Fuchs, John Chronister and Ed Grace). It went a bit higher than most singles that I buy, and I hoped that it would be in playable condition. I wasn't disappointed- it's actually rather nice. On the personal side, I was also interested because during my mother's singing career in the late 1940's and early 1950's, she had recorded a number of sides at Damon, and they were the only records that I had on that obscure label up to the present.
Sadly, I couldn't track down much info about the Dockery Four themselves, although I haven't searched on their individual names. The label informs us that this version of Old Dog Drum was originally titled Old Dog Tray. Well, be it tray or drum, I'll always give a listen to any songs about dogs or food. I had expected that this would be some snappy little country song, but was pleasantly surprised with the actual style and content of the single.
To flesh out this subject a bit, I have included another version of the "Triubute to a Dog" text, by my main man Walter Brennan (some people used to say that I could always steer any subject back to Brennan eventually), and a bonus tear-jerking dog song as well: Old Shep.  I learned recently from experience that it IS actually easier to write a tragic dog song, rather than a happy-go-lucky dog song. Oh yeah, these pieces are from Walter's brilliant Dutchman's Gold lp, really his best work, in my opinion.  I hope y'all enjoy these melodramatic servings of Dawg Music.                   The MP3s:
OLD DOG DRUM

TRIBUTE TO A DOG  - The Dockery Four version

OLD SHEP     TRIBUTE TO A DOG  - Walter Brennan version

Punks Who Would Never Think To Wish You A Happy Thanksgiving... (videos)

...because they don't speak English and are too punk to honor conventional holidays anyway.  Shit, they definitely don't care that we once dined with the people from whom we eventually stole land and then slaughtered mercilessly...whoops...sorry for being unfestive, dudes!  What I meant was, "Only 28 days left until the birth of the one, true Son of God! Get shopping!"

Chris T.'s Holiday Fill-ins

Mark you calendar. My wife Janet and I will be filling in for Shut Up, Weirdo (Fridays, 6 PM) on the following dates:

Friday, Nov. 27 (Black Friday): Crappy Crafts & Penny-Pinching Parties
Did you ever wish you could turn a lowly coffee can into a beautiful piggy bank via some artful crochet? Would you like to know how to throw a rockin' holiday party for a few thin dimes? On this Black Friday we'll keep you out of the stores and help you save a few bucks while we share Crappy Crafts and Penny-Pinching Party ideas.

Friday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day): Trim-a-Tree with Janet & Chris T.
If you celebrate Christmas you've probably agonized over the multitude of approaches to the Christmas tree: Real or artificial? If you favor a real tree do you go and cut it down yourself? Or head off to the nearest corner lot? And is it a Noble Fir or nothing? If you prefer artificial do you want a realistic-looking one or something that screams FAKE, like those shiny aluminum trees back in fashion? What about lights? Clear? Colored? Flashing? Steady on? And then there's garland, tinsel and ornaments... Jesus Christ! We'll also ask what a WFMU Christmas tree would look like.

Friday, Jan. 1 (New Year's Day): Two Year Warning
The world is officially scheduled to end in 2012. What will YOU do with your last two years?

Christ T. hosted WFMU's first regularly-scheduled phone-in talkshow, Aerial View, for sixteen straight years beginning in 1989.

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 43 (MP3s)

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

It's your pre-Turkey Day edition of Mining the Audio Motherlode and this week's platters are piping hot. Please help yourself to each course, then pass them on to the next set of hungry ears. As the universe of free-album download blogs keeps expanding, you can spend an absurd number of hours hunting and gathering the rarest of musical morsels, or just pull up to this weekly smorgasboard here at Beware of the Blog. Gobble gobble hey!

Turkey
Various  ~  "Beyond Istanbul 2"
(Blog: World Music)

Gravy
Lou Donaldson  ~  "Gravy Train"
(Blog: RFCCBH)

Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry Kisses and Strawbery Hugs (mp3) by Rosalie Allen
Children (Save the World) (mp3) by Heroes of Cranberry Farm
Cranberry Blues by (mp3 ) Robert Williams

 

Mashed Potatoes (and Green Onions)
Booker T & the MGs  ~  Best Of..."
(Blog: What's in My iPod)


   
Stringbeans
Stringbean  ~  "Back Yard Banjo Pickin'"
Disc One  |  Disc Two  |  CD Art
(Blog: Johnny One-Note's Earcandies)
[Note: The blog is dead but the links are still active
Enter the password "one-note:]

 

Pumpkin Pie
Jay & the Techniques  ~  "Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie"
(Blog: Dream Never Gets Old)

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

New Zealand's Axemen at WFMU (MP3's)

It's a chore enough these days for any kind of overseas band to land a U.S. tour on any scale, so its was nothing less than a pleasant surprise when we learned that New Zealand's Axemen had a pretty extensive one lined up with Columbus, Ohio's Times New Viking this fall. The Axemen started in Christchurch in 1981, a time when New Zealand and Flying Nun records in particular were stirring up a major musical waves (ones that were felt in countless 1990's US indie bands and are still being felt today especially disciples like TNV), yet the sweeping, strummy pop element that was evident in many of the Nun's stable was only a part of the fuzzy picture that was the Axemen. The band's central core of (Little) Stevie McCabe, Bob Brannigan, and Stu Kawowski recorded in both cheapo home mode and in traditional studios, but setting had little to do with the wide-swing of directions that are evident wherever you drop a needle (or cue up a tape). There's tons of basement weirdness nodding to the more antisocial Velvets and Swell Maps moments, scatterings of drunken White Album recreation attempts, even moments where they sound like Royal Trux way before their time. When they played at Union Pool in Brooklyn last week I could swear they were going for a Stackwaddy/Doors thing, but then they became Half Japanese with Stevie playing sax solos on guitar. In Axemen recordings, they have one song about Elmer Fudd that sounds like Psychic TV, and another that is totally inspired by Grandmaster Flash. They even did a full album of Elton John songs. I have a feeling that if Flying Nun gave them the giant studio budget like they did Straitjacket Fits they would have come up with an album just as great as their Big Cheap Motel and Scary! Part III cassettes that Siltbreeze thankfully reissued in 2009. Check out the clip below (and more after the jump) of the band on a 90's NZ kids' TV show (promoting their Peter Wang Pud album!), and dig in to their November 20th visit to my radio show, engineered by Jason Sigal and Alex Yockey.Thanks for Terre T for leaving us all the food the Reigning Sound didn't eat earlier that day, there were some fancy pastries!

Grass Widow Live at WFMU (mp3s)

Wow, is NYC lucky! A few weeks back, San Francisco's finest purveyors of angsty punk slash girl-group harmonies Grass Widow flew across the frickin' continent just to play a few New York shows.  Now wasn't that nice of them?

Sandwiched in between concerts with Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts and The Beets, Grass Widow took the time to visit my radio show for a live set and interview.  Between BSing with the band about the Yankees parade that nearly delayed the recording and a totally aggro recording session, November 6th is officially on the books as my favorite Friday of 2009.

Unfortunately, listeners won't get to hear the tune Grass Widow warmed up with in the studio, a cover of The Urinal's "Black Hole".  To hear that, you'll just have to check out their new 12" on Captured Tracks.

Great Men Repeat Themselves

 

Homer and Jethro  Great Men Repeat Themselves

Home Blitz is Back!

Even bros chilling in Ireland were stoked on jamming Home Blitz during their first go round, and for good reason. Daniel DiMaggio, totally hunky Jersey-guy from Princeton started Home Blitz in 2006 and went on to record an awesome album and play sick shows from then until August 2008. After that, the band got de-railed and DiMaggio focused on song writing, solo performing, and briefly, getting his high school band Great Excape back together for a few gigs, including Woodsist/Caputured Tracks fest on 4th of July in Brooklyn.

Well now, after an extensive search for a band he can rely on, DiMaggio has relaunched the epic Home Blitz and I am super excited! The new lineup features WFMU's own Jason Sigal on bass (Lame Drivers, Great Excape), super smoking chick Theresa Smith on guitar, and, for now, the punkest 15 year old drummer you've ever seen. You will love Home Blitz. Poppy punk with a noisy edge. Love this band, love you too. Check out "Two Steps" from the recently released "O.ut O.f P.hase", available now in CD, soon to be out on 12 inch vinyl!

Home Blitz - Two Steps

Jean-Jacques Perrey & Gershon Kingsley on American Game Shows!

Incapacitants

Making the nature scene, 1991.
Posted via Big Fat Satanist.

French Singer Gigi Gaston's Jean-Luc Godard-Filmed Music Video

What words would you use to describe 1960s French pop sensation Gigi Gaston? With a growing cult discovering her through the dozens of photos, periodicals, songs and videos assembled by Josh Gosfield, some adjectives describing the chanteuse nicknamed the "Black Flower" include "sultry," "elusive," "scandalous," "murderous" and "misunderstood."

To that you must add the word "fictitious" — Gigi Gaston is wholly and entirely a creation of Gosfield, an artist and designer whose exhibition at the Steven Kasher Gallery in Manhattan closes on Wednesday, November 25th after a monthlong run. Not only did he cast Gigi, shoot the period-perfect photos and create the meticulously rendered versions of the covers of actual magazine of the era along with a staggering variety of her record sleeves, he's also responsible for the putative Jean-Luc Godard film short for Gigi's haunting song "Je Suis Perdue," which is presented here for your viewing pleasure.

Listen to the archive of Josh Gosfield's appearance on this author's show, which aired on Sunday, November 22, here, during which he expounded upon his creation and dissemmination of the singer who put the "no-no" in yé-yé.

Weird NJ contributor Wheeler Antabanez

Billy Jam says:

New Jersey explorer, writer, photographer, filmmaker, welder, artist, skateboarder, avid Passaic River canoe traveler, graffiti lover, urban anthropologist, prankster, high school dropout, WFMU listener, Weird NJ contributor, and as he calls himself "run of the mill trespasser" are all titles befitting Wheeler Antabanez who will be a guest on WFMU today (Nov 20th 3-6pm) on Put The Needle On The Record when he will talk about his passion - New Jersey, especially the rundown abandoned funky parts - and take phone calls from listeners on exploring the abandoned buildings of the Garden State. But in the meantime, as a primer for his WFMU appearance, here are a sampling of video clips of some of Wheeler's adventures plus his interview with Beware Of The Blog (BOTB).



BOTB: Are you NJ born and bred, and when & where did you first start your explorations?

WHEELER: I grew up in Caldwell, which put me in easy bicycle range of the abandoned Essex Mountain Sanatorium. My friends and I happened upon the hospital while we were exploring the woods in North Caldwell behind Matarazzo’s Farm. The first thing we saw was the entrance column with a huge swastika spray painted across the front. It was in the peak of summer, the buildings were completely overgrown, and Overbrook, which is what we used to call it back then, was the scariest thing I had ever seen. It didn’t take us long to grow the balls to enter the building. By the time I was 15 or 16 I knew the layout so well it was almost like I owned the place. In those days I had an M17 BB gun hidden in the rafters above the auditorium. When I walked the halls with that weapon in my hand, I felt like nothing could hurt me, even on the darkest midnights. Looking back, I was lucky to have never been shot by the sheriffs’ officers on patrol, because the gun looked real. The best part was the innocence of our destruction. We found the place long after it had already been trashed by generations of teenagers, so it didn’t seem like a crime to break the windows, or smash the toilets. Over the years I’ve worked many construction jobs and smashed up plenty of plumbing. Somehow demolition has never seemed like much fun compared to when I used to run wild through the sanatorium.

BOTB: Is NJ truly a haven for all things weird and funky and abandoned?

Question Mark Question Mark Question Mark

  

It's been almost a week since I posted this CDr to the WFMU blog, and since then I have been ransacked by e-mails and comments crying "hoax" or "bubble boy," from everyone from random passers-by to the higher-ups at WFMU. Rather than address all the theories being espoused by readers from around the globe, I simply want to aver that this is indeed a true story, and is in no way meant to be a self-promotion tactic. Any alterations to the WFMU blog entry post-publication -- or my own personal blog -- were done in an attempt to quell the uprising of cynics. Had I known that my actions would only add fuel to the fire, I would have simply let things stand as they were. Clearly I've learned a valuable lesson in controversy control.

Free Music Archive highlights 11/19/2009

Here are the crib notes to what's been happenin on the Free Music Archive (if you haven't been keeping up on the Free Music Archive via twitter, facebook, RSS, or the regular ol' home page. Feel free to chime in with more FMA rec's in the comments!

:: The FMA's Anti-Pop Consortium Remix Contest kicked off on Monday, and we've already received some pretty cool entries that we can't wait to share. The contest ends Dec 20th, go here to grab multitracks and get started on your own

 :: ISSUE Project Room's recent adds include new studio recordings from Ashtray Navigations and the Mick Flower/Chris Corsano duo. The venue has also shared recent live performances by artist-in-residence Alex Waterman, including a recent improv set with Ikue Mori (of DNA) and Ned Rothenberg, and a interpretations of Robert Ashley. October also saw an amazing Orchestra Carbon performance of Elliott Sharp's SyndaKit. Most recently, IPR features a live out-jazz excerpt from saxophonist/composer Matana Roberts (pictured at Right)

:: Late-'70s/early '80s UK DIY heroes Animals & Men share a new batch of recordings from their new 12'' on the Convulsive label, plus an unreleased set of songs from a session in Lyon, including "Oh Death" below

:: Dubbed To Death: Pushbin Lou features Volatil, an electronic/dubstep trio out of Argentina and the UK (article)

:: Drummers At the Forefront -- a feature on Zac Nelson's Hexlove project with other percussionist-composers like Black Pus, Soft Circle, and GDFX in the mix as well.

:: Spotlight on New York's premier avant-garde classical netlabel SHSK'H (website), including the track below from Japanese koto player Etsuko Shida

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 42 (MP3s)

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

CASH FOR SPELUNKERS EDITION

We here at Mining the Audio Motherlode know a little something about economic hard times. Why, your very own Miner has gone eight long months without a paycheck ever since getting laid off back in March (smack dab in the middle of WFMU's fundraising marathon).

But did he curl up in a fetal position with one thumb in his mouth and the other jabbing the keyboard for those online unemployment benefits? Hell no! The Miner saw all that new-found free time as an opportunity to spend quality time in the murky deep of MP3Land, excavating free music for the masses. (Talk about turning gators into Gatorade!) And you, dear reader, have been the beneficiary. Over the past 42 weeks, this column has served up a massive free-form mix—over 350 amazing selections in all—of free full-album downloads.

As you take a moment to ponder all the cash Mining the Audio Motherlode has saved you this year, it's crucial that you take some of those beaucoup bucks and make a pledge RIGHT NOW to support WFMU, which finds itself in a major pickle. (For the first time in many years, the station's annual marathon missed reaching its fundraising goal—by over 10%—and that shortfall has left the station in an extremely precarious position.) Until 7:00pm this evening, WFMU is broadcasting an Emergency 24-Hour Marathon to pull in an infusion of desperately need dollars.

Before delving into the half-dozen audio doozies offered below, please take a moment to give a little something to WFMU by calling 800-989-WFMU or making a secure online pledge.Thanks a ton!

What Would MC 900 Ft Jesus Do?
MC 900 Ft Jesus w/DJ Zero  ~  "Too Bad" (and 2 other singles)
(Blog: Look What the Twat Dragged In)
From the single "Too Bad": Shut Up (mp3)

Out on the Urban Prarie
Souled American  ~  "Around the Horn"
(Blog: The More You Think About It...)

Incendiary Sonny
Huey Simmons  ~  "Burning Spirits"
(Blog: Ile Oxumare)
From the album: New Newk (mp3)


 

Hopa!
Petros Pandis  ~  "Songs of the Greek Resistance"
(Blog: A Blog About Post Punk, Anarcho/Peace Punk, Militant Entertainment
and Radical Politics)

   

Dog Gone It!
Riz Ortolani  ~  "Mondo Cane" (O.S.T.)
(Blog: Singers Saints)
From the soundtrack: Hong Kong Cha Cha Cha/Colazione al Colony (mp3)

Mariachi Schmaltz
Various  ~  "La Revolucion y Sus Cantares"
(Blog: Música Popular Mexicana)

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

WFMU's 24-Hour Marathon in progress!

WFMU's 24-Hour Marathon began last night at 7pm and runs until 7pm tonight!

We've set aside our pride to interrupt programming this Fall for our first, and hopefully last, 24-hour Marathon. Our coffers are empty thanks to the combined evil forces of the recession and WFMU falling short of our March Marathon goal. Help us raise enough money in 24 hours to stay on the air through the winter months!

Today's festivities will be action-packed, including co-host madness, on-air prize drawings, and all of the fun-loving insanity and surprises you've come to expect from WFMU Marathons. Check out our new Radio Bear t-shirt, as well as a fresh batch of DJ Premiums by Tom Scharpling, Terre T, Evan "Funk" Davies, Marty McSorley, Ken, Maria Levitsky, and Seven Second Delay that are up for the taking. Visit our pledge page for details.

We hope you can help us out with a year-end donation! Pledge online or by calling 800-989-9368. Thanks to everyone who has pledged their support thus far!

Other ways to help WFMU this Fall:

Spread the word about our 24-Hour Marathon!

• Facebook: add our "Support WFMU" app to your profile
• Blogs / Tumblr / Other Sites: add our banner to your blog or site (grab code: orange version | black version)
• Twitter: post a link to WFMU's pledge page (use this short URL http://bit.ly/DpOvl and our pledge line, 800-989-9368), add #wfmuthon to any posts about our Marathon
• Donate your used car: If you can't make a cash donation, you can always donate your car. Call 877-411-3662 to arrange for vehicle pick-up.
• Tell your friends about WFMU's iPhone app!