WFMU's Beware of the Blog

The Week in WFMU: 5/31 - 6/6

On Memorial Day, Monday, 5/31, DJ/Rupture and Trent will be collaborating on a solar-powered broadcast at New York City's High Line, with the help of green energy education center Solar One. Listen from 7 to 10 PM and later -- Hatch takes over at 10 -- or stop by in person for this free event.

Photographer Janette Beckman, known for her captivating portraits of punk rock and hip-hop icons, and publisher Sara Rosen (American Youth, Who Shot Rock & Roll) both come to Coffee Break For Heroes & Villains on Tuesday to talk with Noah and share their favorite 12" sides. Tuesday 6/1, 9 AM - 12 PM (fill-in for Jason Sigal).

On Friday, Billy Jam hosts a 1980s-technology-themed Put the Needle On the Record. He welcomes Jason Bitner, curator of How I Met Your Motherboard: Tales of Early Computing; Dave Tompkins, author of this new book about vocoders; and Dutch musical instrument maker Felix Visser, who will phone in from the Netherlands to discuss his company Synton, manufacturer of the Syntovox. 6/4, 3 to 6 PM.

Songwriter Mark Bacino joins Michael Shelley on Saturday 6/5, from 11 AM to 1 PM, to discuss his album "Queens English," newly released on DreamCrush. Here is Mark's blog.

Lastly, I'll share the archived material that most moved me in the past week -- Pavement's live set at Primavera Sound, which I listened to at work, far far away from Iberia. (This link takes you through all the sets WFMU was permitted to archive from the first day, including Mission of Burma, Monotonix, the New Pornographers, Wilco, and Wire.) Many of these archived sets will be up for only a short time, so listen if you haven't already, and do read the playlist comments for a lovey virtual-festival experience.

Access archives for any on-air event that has already passed via the show's "Playlists and Archives" page. http://wfmu.org/playlists

More info on the week's happenings can be found in the list of WFMU's Upcoming Special Programs.

LP Cover Art, and Ronnie James Dio

I was at my brother's for his birthday celebration and BBQ earlier today. His house was where the bat "situation" occurred that I wrote about in this forum some time ago.  We discussed the recent losses of Gary Coleman, Dennis Hopper, Art Linkletter, Frank Frazetta and Ronnie James Dio, whose public memorial service was held yesterday in Los Angeles. My cousin hipped me to the fact that Hopper had photographed the Ike & Tina Turner lp cover "River Deep Mountain High", right, and of course, we are all aware of Frazetta's contribution to (record cover) art -here's a pic of the Dust lp from '72. Speaking of album art, I remember being told about DIO's logo being flipped upside down to read DEVIL, that I thought was cool at the time, which explained to me why it was a little clumsily put together--an observation I had from a graphic artist's point of view. See here! The Ronnie James Dio "Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund" is where his wife requests donations be sent if anyone wishes; the goal of the fund is to reduce the risk of developing life threatening cancers by offering access to preventative medical services. His death was almost 25 years to the day after the Hear'n Aid project he launched recorded it's song "Starz", as a heavy metal answer to Live Aid, and raised over $1million to donate to relieve famine in Africa. See Dave the Spazz's post on Dio's early recordings with old pix to boot! Check out Sue P's Solid Gold Hell playlist that has a Dio Tribute also. I personally have not been able to deliver a Dio tribute on the WFMU airwaves, due to being away, and the scheduling of the merged Kamikaze Fun Machine and Solid Gold Hell "Bleeding Ears Fest" last week, so this post will suffice until Dio's birthday, which will be when I honor him through his music. A big thanks to The Bloody Muffs, Napkin, Wizardry, Gorod and Mortals for playing the on-air fest, the proved to be a huge onAir fest weekend for WFMU!

Who was this grandiloquent 'Iconoclast'?

The town of Hadley, Massachusetts, lies between Amherst and Northampton.  It is one of the last remaining vestiges in New England (or anywhere) of "open-field farming."  It might also be the place where the young man who recorded two records called ICONOCLAST and ICONOCLAST TWO lived.  A box of these albums was found at a Polish Farm sale in the area, but there was no information on them other than a catalog number, song titles, the word 'ICONOCLAST' on some, "ICONOCLAST TWO" on the others.  Unfortunately, almost all of vinyl was trashed, but two copies turned out to be playable.

The word 'Iconoclast' (someone who attacks long-held beliefs, especially religious ones) reminds me of ponderous high school poetry (including some doozies I was responsible for) and studying-for-the-SAT's.  The youthful-sounding singer on both these albums--which sound late sixties/early seventies--uses an arsenal of SAT words, a clear admiration of Bob Dylan, and unrelenting anger at organized religion to deliver 20+ songs both tortured and tortuous [yeah, kinda like this sentence].

Although I do like Bob Dylan, I strongly dislike the legion of 60's-70's singers who worshiped at his altar.  Mr. Iconoclast, though, breaks the mold; while he's clearly emulating Dylan, he's simply too nerdy, earnest, and imprecise with his lyrics and delivery to make the attempt sound anything but endearingly flailing.  Also, for someone who could be just-out-of-high-school, he is sanctimonious almost beyond belief. 

But who is/was he?  No information on the lp, as I said, no year, no names, nothing except those catalog numbers.  Still, various lyrics definitely date this during the Vietnam War, like this gem:

For what you think is blessed you will reckon soon as cursed

And what you think is greatest you will reckon soon as worst

You still believe that structures can revive our universe

And better arms control can set the war trend in reverse

But don't you be surprised when life goes from bad to worse

And the victory bandwagon turns out to be mankind's hearse

So, here's to hoping that maybe someone who sees this post can fill in the MANY blanks about who was this erstwhile  'Iconoclast', what the circumstances were that surrounded the recordings, any information at all, really... Meanwhile, here's a couple of songs that demonstrate this lost-to-history Iconoclast's specific talents and predilections rather well.

01 Looking At Men's Faces

02 Holy Reverend Cleric

 

Politics in the I-countries

Israel and Iceland both in the news this morning: Israel for sending masked commandos to attack and kill aid workers on ships in international waters, Iceland for the victory of the Best Party in local elections in Reykjavik. Only one has a campaign song, though.

The Fabulous, Fascinating Fable Label

I first discovered the 1950’s, Hollywood-based Fable label through my collecting of Song-Poem records. But I quickly realized two things: First, as indicated by the song-poem archives website’s Fable page, most of the label’s output was not of the song-poem variety, although there seem to have been at least some vanity records and hybrids among the releases, and second, many of the non-song-poem records released by Fable are really great and/or fairly (or very) odd, particularly those featuring the guitar and band-leading of label head Sandy Stanton.

Today, the first of at least two posts featuring 45’s from the mid-to-late ‘50’s, all of them from the Fable Record Company. Some of these may be song-poem records, but most, if not all, are not. It’s a bit difficult to determine, at times.

First up is someone named Whalen J. Jones (Music by Sandy Staton’s Panics), with a couple of rock and roll rave-ups. Mr. Jones apparently also released at least one record as “Wailin’ Jones”, which is not surprising, given the sound of this single. What is surprising is the recording effect employed on the B-side.

Whalen J. Jones - I've Got On My Rock and Rollin' Shoes (MP3)
Whalen J. Jones - Dee Dum Dee (MP3)
Whalen Jones A-Side (JPG) - Whalen Jones B-Side (JPG)

Next, a two act 45, including Sandy Stanton on the A-side, with J. D. Langford on the B-side (my preferred of the two), both accompanied by the Fable Label Orch, and both sides credited to the wonderfully named Danny Rhythm, who audaciously seems to have been claiming to have written “Oh, Susanna“, based the b-side‘s melody. This record was released on translucent red vinyl.

Sandy Stanton - My Western Home (MP3)
J. D. Langford - I Want to Be a Lover (MP3)
Sandy Stanton A-Side (JPG) - J. D. Langford B-Side (JPG)

A particular favorite of mine is the A-side of this Little Donnie Lane 45, “Go Away”. On most other Fable records from this era, the publishing is by “Happy Music”, but someone has carefully blacked out the name of the publishing company on my copy of this record.

Little Donnie Lane - Go Away (MP3)
Little Donnie Lane - Foolish (MP3)
Donnie Lane A-Side (JPG) - Donnie Lane B-Side (JPG)

Another winner now from Jodie Decker, accompanied on two self-penned tunes, with “Music by Sandy Stanton“. There are some similarities between the two songs on this 45, but I’m partial to “Teenage Blues”, due to some wonderful stereotypical ‘50’s lyrics, as well as Jodie’s food-related cure to the title malady.

Jodie Decker - Heartbreak Joe (MP3)
Jodie Decker - Teenage Blues (MP3)
Jodie Decker A-Side (JPG) - Jodie Decker B-Side (JPG)

Probably my favorite record of this batch turns up on the A-side of the single by the “Honey Sisters”, “Dream of the Teens”, which features some great close harmony, and more great 1950‘s lyrics. The B-side is pretty fun, too. And of course, Sandy Stanton on the guitar.

Honey Sisters - Dream of the Teens (MP3)
Honey Sisters - Fast Fast Beats My Heart (MP3)
Honey Sisters A-Side (JPG) - Honey Sisters B-Side (JPG)  

Finally, a true change of pace. I don’t particularly enjoy this novelty single by the Bobby  Roberts Trio ( in fact, I have no clue what they are parodying on the B-side), but it’s worth hearing, just to give a sense of the different styles of records being released by Fable. 

Bobby Roberts Trio - Russian Bandstand (MP3)
Bobby Roberts Trio - Mister Grilione (MP3)
Bobby Roberts A-Side (JPG) - Bobby Roberts B-Side (JPG)

Sandy Stanton eventually closed down Fable and went on into the song-poem business, with the marvelously odd Film City label and its offshoots. But that’s a story for another day.

The Myths and Politics of Grandpa Munster by Kliph Nesteroff

"My father has created a huge myth about himself." - David Lewis

"Yeah, I met The Beatles ... Ain't no big fuckin' deal." - Al 'Grandpa Munster' Lewis

There are two surefire ways to start a fight in America: you can call someone a socialist or you can call someone a liar. Al Lewis, known to millions of television viewers as Grandpa Munster, was both. Had Al Lewis ever written an autobiography, it most certainly would have been marketed as a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book. Lewis was an outspoken progressive, a chronic cigar smoker and a life-long social activist. He was also an expletive-laced teller of tall tales, embellishing every facet of his life with a steady stream of ludicrous proclamations. He was an actor onstage and off, constantly amplifying his own legend. He would always strive to be larger-than-life and generally achieved the objective. "Charles Manson babysat my kids," he once bragged. "He didn't chop no heads off. He was very nice with me." 

 

How the First Letter Was Written / read by boris Karloff

"Brothers shall fight and fell each other,
And sisters' sons shall kinship stain;
Hard is it on earth, with mighty whoredom;
Ax-time, sword-time, shields are sundered,
Wind-time, wolf-time, ere the world falls;
Nor ever shall men each other spare."
   -the Poetic Edda

Celebrating the ongoing collapse and composting of language(s) here is a Just So Story from Rudyard Kipling, as read by Boris Karloff, who for years had a recording nook at his house with his mic and reel-to-reel all set up to roll, where he would fulfill the endless requests for his readings of all sorts of subjects. (I love to picture him being served tea with his typewritten scripts on their stand and Boris in his Bermuda shorts and glasses) Karloff did many lps of Kipling readings for Caedmon records from the 1950's onward.
Enjoys Kipling's fanciful take on the origins of the written word.
Word up.

How the First Letter Was Written

MONDAY: WFMU Live on the High Line f/ DJ/rupture, Minusbaby, DJ Trent + live stargazing

Hey.  Are you sick and tired of spending all weekend mourning Gary and Dennis, having your ears blistered off by all the hot, hot sets from Barcelona, and getting a little (a lot) jealous you don't get to actually be there?  Me too.

Get your WFMU fix this Monday, live and in person, at the amazing High Line.

DJ/Rupture, the Friends of the High Line, and myself are teaming up to bring you a solar-powered broadcast from the most beautiful public space in New York: disused elevated railroad tracks that rise thirty feet above the meatpacking district transformed into magnificent viewing platforms for the greatest city in the world, Jersey City, and its close cousin Manhattan.

Featuring a live set of interstellar 8-bit crunk by Minusbaby + live stargazing (with telescopes!) by the Amateur Astronomers Association.  And, of course, beats from this and other dimensions from Rupture and me.

Join the fun in person - for free! - Monday 7 - 10pm on the High Line under the Standard Hotel between 12th and 13th Streets (map). Or, if you really can't make it, you can always tune in on 91.1, 90.1, or WFMU.org.  Powered by the sun with the help of Solar 1 (Hatch takes over at 10pm).

HOPE 2 C U THERE!!!  :)

PS - As if you needed any more audio to shove down your ears, I made you a mixtape.

The Fine Art of the Summer Jam Vol. 1 by tront

Rick K. and the Allnighters, give the drummer more than some

The previously posted live at Knoebel's Grove in 2008 taken down, but this one's pretty stellar too (thanks Mark Morgan) .

Creative Music Studio and Braxton, Part Four

 Dan Plonsey was part of the CMS student sax section that summer of ‘79 (Mars Williams and Fred Hess were in there, too.). Plonsey recalls, “Braxton had us reading his graphic scores, the ones that are just a rising and falling line, like the stock market. He first had us use the graph to indicate pitch, then perhaps volume, and then he had us gradually turn from left to right, leaning forward and back, along with the graph. He was so pleased with this effect that he went running to get Roscoe [Mitchell] to see it. Roscoe came in, and I remember him watching us with arms folded, utterly impassive.”

 Roscoe’s method was two-pronged. Every other day, the orchestra would work through the score of his four-‘cello version of Nonaah, as parts were assigned and read through. Alternate days were given over to free improvisation. Those sessions were the best training I ever received in a week’s time. He’d sit at a little red table with naught but a stopwatch, cueing the orchestra in and out — nothing more. The hand would go up, then down. We’d launch, a room full of late-teens and early-twenties hotshots all out to prove just how hot our licks were. The hand would go right down again. There was a stillness, a Terminator-like sense of purpose around the man, that made us shut up instantly. Roscoe would patiently explain that You don’t all have to start playing when the sound space is opened. Listen first. And if you don’t have anything to add to what’s happening, Lay out.

Flicks From Eye And Ear Festival III

Aside from throwing weekly dance parties, regular noise shows and playing a suitcase crammed with pedals in bands like Chaos*CM*Magik and Ghost Moth, Todd Brooks has this teensy little side project...the Eye And Ear Festival, a two-day blowout with 39 local NYC bands held at The Knitting Factory.  The third year of the annual festival, held last weekend, included a healthy slice of the city's infamous, soon-to-be infamous and too-good-to-become-infamous bands.  Given a complete familiarity with Brooklyn's underground and curated with great taste to boot, Eye and Ear is a wake up call both to music nerds and to any industry d-bags who thought LCD Soundsystem was the "now NY sound".  Which is not to say that any one sound or style was represented in the festival.  Todd Brooks told me that after moving to New York several years ago, Carlos Giffoni's noise-centric No Fun Fest inspired him to do a similar project including a greater variety of musical styles.  Below's a slide show from day one, and you can also download a mix of the festival's bands here.

The more abstract acts of the night really underlined the fact that noise in NYC right now is anything but harsh (guess the New Yorker missed that memo, btw).  Hexbreaker Quintet is one of the better known bands spearheading the trend of mellow, spacy, synth-heavy explorations with imagery of science fiction and mysticism.  C. Lavender has been getting some attention lately with similar sounds, and performed with a beautiful Soviet era synthesizer. I really loved Human Resources' set too.  This guy sampled live radio static and cut it apart into beats and then just went way out on these awesome stoned jammer solos for a while.

A lot of the dancy acts of the night were totally Italo-ed out.  Love Like Deloreans' synth jams were a pair of spandex pants away from Giorgio Moroder.  Konnichiwa had a similar vibe, but with a ton of ridiculous drum samples, synth patches and charismatic vocals.  Though Fostercare was just as much indebted to the 80s, his dark songs were infomed more by industrialists like Skinny Puppy or SPK.

Bands like Pop. 1280 and Twin Stumps seem to be the currently acceptable forms of hardcore for non squatting crust bags.  To me, it really feels like these bands are coming from a nerdy, esoteric musical mindset and then deliberately deciding to make primitive music...or possibly the singer from Twin Stumps just needs an outlet for his really really sadistic bent.  Liturgy sounded like Burzum minus the mental illness - even though drummer Greg Fox uses blast beats for the entire set, the band paradoxically manages to sound slow and light...like they're not even playing black metal at all but chanting buddhist prayers.  I missed the second day, unfortunately, and was particularly bummed to miss No Fun Acid, Carlos Giffoni's new acid house project.  On the whole though, I saw way too much good music to digest in one day.  Kudos and thanks to Todd for throwing this event and supporting emerging NYC music.

Photos: Street fair nextdoor w/ sick bmx action; C Lavender (foto by Wm. Berger); Fostercare; Living Days; Hexbreaker Quintet; Twin Stumps; Human Resources; Passions; Twin Stumps; Liturgy; Konnichiwa; Konnichiwa; Love Like Deloreans; Follower; Dubknowdub; Dubknowdub; Pop. 1280; Eli Keszler; Todd Brooks in a pensive moment...

WFMU Primavera Sound coverage begins at Noon with Mission of Burma

(left: Monotonix attempting to play all five Prima stages in the course of one set, photo Liz Berg) WFMU's second year at the phenomenally-booked Primavera Sound starts up today (Friday) at 12 noon running live until 11PM and continues Saturday from 1PM til Midnight with a hefty chunk of the festivities (two dozen acts!) We've already clued you in here, but a quick reminder of today's schedule:

12:00n  Mission of Burma

1:20pm Sic Alps

2:15pm Monotonix

2:45pm Crocodiles

3:30pm A Sunny Day In Glasgow

4:45pm Thee OhSees

5:40pm New Pornographers

7:00pm Ganglians

7:30pm Wire

8:45pm Pavement

10:30pm Marc Almond

Some of these sets were recorded during our first hours here last night, and I'll go on the record as the guy sitting our recording board at Pavement that it was the most exhuberant, loose, masterful, and flat out rockin' form I've ever seen the band, in any year. Malkmus, Ibold, and Spiral also stopped by the FMU tent earlier and told us how they got to ride in the hotel elevator with Mark E. Smith, Colin Newman, and Mission of Burma, so that in itself should induce quite a few blogworld wet dreams if this broadcast won't! Play by play throughout the day and into the night and again, please check out the schedule for tomorrow, it continues to boggle our minds that we get to not only see by broadcast the Clean, Van Dyke Parks, Diplo, Cold Cave, Endless Boogie, Rother/Shelley/Mullan playing Neu, Roddy Frame, Liquid Liquid, the Condo Fucks, Major Lazer, and the Almighty Defenders! Stay tuned to WFMU's home page, Twitter, and Facebook for periodic updates (and time changes if any) during the two days. WFMU's Flickr page will also have some pix from our camp beside the Mediterranean.

The CIA Needs Our Help

What the hell is going on with the CIA? They seem to be screwing up everything these days - they can't seem to figure out which folks they should be disappearing and which folks they should search before letting into the secret bunkers. But a new report suggests that things are REALLY bad at Langley, somehow that guy who wrote FAG on everyone's locker in high school is now in charge!

According to the Guardian our secret service came up with the brilliant plan of making a Saddam Sex tape. A few young brown-skinned agents were to be shown having sex with a Saddam look alike! Someone pulled the plug before the cameras rolled "but that did not stop a CIA video being shot of a fake Osama bin Laden sitting around a camp fire, drinking booze and boasting of his own gay conquests." !!!
Our psyops are clearly bereft of good ideas.  Feeling generous this morning I am going to offer them a free idea.

How to deal with Osama Bin Laden/Taliban/Al Qaeda for once and for all:
Denied the opportunity to go goth, many youth in the middle east turn to Jihad to deal with their angst and Osama is still one of the top google results. I say keep the video, guys in turbans sitting around a camp fire drinking is a good start. But instead of a gay thing, make it a secret meeting of the top Taliban and Al Qaeda commanders paying tribute to their supreme leader Osama Bin Laden. But then have Osama remove his rubber beard and reveal that he is actually George W. Bush! Now let me explain why this is the most awesome idea ever and not a five year old stale photoshop joke: The CIA uses the REAL ACTUAL George Bush for this video - and they film it on his ranch in Crawford, Texas. I think George would be totally down for this, he's not really doing much anymore, plus it would totally go to #1 on youtube. I mean Americans would know it is fake of course, but no Muslim kid would ever ever want to join Jihad again.

Ok, now that I have typed this up - maybe it is the most stupid idea ever, perhaps you have a better one? But we need to do something, the CIA needs our help!

Ichiban!

 

Be sure to check out the Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban blog for J.R. Williams' weekly compilation downloads of Monsterous tracks!  And stay tuned for Kogar's weekly Jungle 45 download!!  While you're there, be sure to check out the 24 hour webstream of obscure hits from the 50s and 60s, DJ sets from Mr. Fine Wine, Dave the Spazz and Rex, as well as vintage movie trailers, radio jingles and promos!

  

 

Straight into the Sun

Tony Coulter back at you, with yet more recently found sounds -- plus a few of my favorite album covers. 

And now: Jump! Jump! Jump!

Art Linkletter 1912-2010

Listen to the album here.

Listen to the 45 here

Find some Art Linkletter television footage here

Primavera Festival on WFMU: Broadcast Times for Friday and Saturday

WFMU returns to the fabulous Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona, Spain from May 27th-29th! We'll be carrying full sets this Friday from Noon to 11pm, and Saturday from 1pm to Midnight, and the lineup resembles a who's who of WFMU Heavy hitters. Again, we're not only uber-honored that the organization has made us their official American radio station, but that so many incredible acts have given us their permission to carry their sets (Pavement, pictured left, are giving us an exclusive opportunity to simulcast their current reunion tour). WFMU staffers live in Barcelona giving play by play, talking with the artists, rejoicing as well we're not in a soccer riot this year! More info on the fest on the Blog here.

Broadcast schedule (subject to change, keep an eye on WFMU's Twitter and Facebook for updates on set-times!

FRIDAY (eastern time)

12:10pm Mission of Burma
1:20pm Sic Alps
2:15pm Monotonix
2:45pm Crocodiles
3:30pm  A Sunny Day In Glasgow
4:45pm Thee OhSees
5:40pm The New Pornographers
7:00pm Ganglians
7:30pm Wire
8:45pm Pavement
10:30pm Marc Almond

SATURDAY
1:10pm Condo Fucks
2:20pm Cold Cave
3:00pm Diplo
3:20pm Major Lazer
3:45pm Endless Boogie
4:25pm Michael Rother/Steve Shelley/Aaron Mullan play NEU
5:40pm The Clean
6:30pm The Slits
7:25pm Van Dyke Parks
8:00pm Roddy Frame
8:30pm Gary Numan
9:40pm Liquid Liquid
10:50pm Thee Mighty Defenders

You can also check on last year's streaming archives, plus some downloadable sets via the Free Music Archive.

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 69 (MP3s)

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

After disappearing more than forty years ago, pioneering improviser Giuseppi Logan, who made two iconic free jazz records in the mid-1960s, recently stepped out of the mists and began playing again, busking regularly in Tompkins Square Park. (Read my previous post about Logan from last year.)

Quick to share tales of his hard-knock intervening years, Logan nevertheless is forging ahead, improbably—stunningly—adding a sunny chapter to a story most assumed had ended grimly ages ago. With a new record under his belt, Logan, on the eve of his 75th birthday, stopped by WFMU to play live on Give the Drummer Some. (Here is the playlist for the show.) Give a listen to this historic broadcast, then head over to the northwest corner of Tompkins Square Park, Logan's usual spot, and give this living legend some dead presidents.

Kazutoki "Kappo" Umezu  ~ "Seikatsu Kojyo Iinkai"
(Blog: Big in Japan)

Holy Grail
While issue #2 of Grand Royal Magazine, published in 1995, boasted a scholarly treatise on the mullet, it also contained an annotated discography written by Thurston Moore called "Top 10 from the Free Jazz Underground." Reprinted on countless sites online, Moore's blissful descriptions of out-of-print rarities have been revered by crate diggers the world over, who've studied the list as though it were part treasure map, part Talmudic text. Last year, Root Strata smartly posted Moore's original piece, along with links to blogs that had posted downloads for albums on the list. Tantalizingly, all but one recording was found. Until now. This item here is the final piece of the puzzle!

Jerry Rayson  ~  " The Weird Thing in Town or Let's Go Man Rocbuafro"
(Blog: . . . którędy pójdą dzicy święci)
From the album: Mama Lim Papa Limbo (mp3)

The Answer Is Blowing in the Mind
From Acid Archives: "...spaced out fringe folk with unusual inner-city vibe and Puerto Rican tangents."

From the cover: “My theory of music is to explore in the unknown vibrations of sounds, to create psychedelic ways of thinking which I make mostly with primitive sounds by adding them together…If you enjoy the weird and the new, this is for you”

Various  ~  "Classic South African Jive"
(Blog: Electric Jive)

The Mbaqanga's All Here
Another vital trove of jive stompers from South Africa has been curated by collector Nick Lotay. As with his previous mbaqanga compilation (and must-read historical essay) for Matsuli Music, this sizzling set for Electric Jive includes crucial offerings from the collection of Siemon Allen.

Peruchin!  ~  "The Incendiary Piano of..."
(Blog: Listen to Your Ears)
From the album: Redencíon (mp3)

No Justiz, No Peace!
Simultaneously brash and elegant, Cuban ivory tickler Pedro "Peruchín" Justiz spent many fruitful years playing and arranging for Orquesta Riverside, collaborating with vocalist Beny Moré, and anchoring the descarga jams led by Julio Gutierrez.

Les Luthiers  ~  "Sonamos, Pese a Todo"
(Blog: Mutant Sounds)
From the album: El Alegre Cazador Que Vuelve a Su Casa
con un Fuerte Dolor Acá (mp3)

P.D.Q. Bach Meets Monty Python. In Buenos Aires.
Mixing masterful playing of traditional and homemade instruments with absurdist sketch humor, Argentine music-comdey troupe Les Luthiers have been continuously performing for more than 40 years.

Perry Robinson 4  ~  "Funk Dumpling"
(Blog: Que Parte No Entendiste?)

Licorice Shtick
Clarinet mystic Perry Robinson's debut recording from 1962—reissued once, but shockingly no longer in print—features his good friend Henry Grimes on bass (who wrote three of the tunes, including the title number), exquisite drummer Paul Motian and 19-year-old pianist Kenny Barron.

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

I Have Friend in You

Found this little gem at a record fair last year, only now got around to posting it.  It's sort-of-story-and-song about friendship and well...friends.

It features Kim "Tootie" Fields and her friend Paula Brooke (I cannot find anything directly connected to her now), and the concept (along with the songs) was created by Kim's mom Chip Fields (who also played her mom on Facts of Life).

The wikipedia article on both of them never mentions this album, and I can find no mention of it anywhere.  The best part is the music, which has a Waiting For Guffman quality to it. 

Click to listen/download:

1. Side One
2. Side Two

And here's the artwork:  Front | Back

Drinking From The World's Cup

I've officially caught World Cup fever (after seeing this yesterday), and perhaps there's no better way to reflect the joy of this month long festival of sport than through song.  Besides food and sport, music is probably the easiest way to begin to immerse ourselves, albeit sometimes superficially, in each others' cultures.  I'm not the only one who feels this way.  To get in on the fun, head over to the Pop World Cup a game of musical discovery that often reveals something about our own perceptions of different parts of the world.

Also, for an interesting exploration of what hosting the cup means for Africa as a continent, check out some of this two-hour long panel done at The New School in New York recently.

The run up to the cup has seen it's share of controversy, and like the Beijing olympics, there seems to be an anticipatory but critical eye leering at Africa's first hosting of an international gathering. One of those controversies has centered around the FIFA official concert celebration which had booked a slew of international artists, but seemed to leave out local representation in a country that has one of the most interesting musical histories in the world.  Of course in a country with such a storied activism, FIFA has since seen the error of their ways and has begun to rectify that and a few more of their mistakes.

Another musically related topic that has drawn criticism is FIFA's choice for the official cup song.  The one they've chosen, Shakira's Esto es Africa, (a version of the tune Zangalewa explored here not too long ago) was met with harsh opposition by some.  Again, this is working itself out for the best because a South African Kwaito hit is becoming a contender for unofficial song, JR's Show Dem (Make the Circle Bigger):

I think this tune is perfect for a celebratory football atmosphere, and can't wait to see players make the circle bigger after a goal in the cup.  While I could probably get carried away with too much drunken optimism, I really dig the message that South Africa is going to show dem (the world) by making its circle bigger.  The cup may be taking place in South Africa, but it really is the continent's chance to show the world how bright it can shine.

Update:

I just saw and couldn't help but post this performance by Trio Madjesi in 1973.  They're wearing Soccer uniforms to celebrate Zaire's 1974 appearance in the World Cup, the first one by a sub-Saharan African team. The song itself is a reference to James Brown's Sex Machine.