WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Holy Crap These Kids Covering Venom

via NucearGnormElimator

Annai Kaligambal

Kudos Herb Diamante!

Ice Age at WFMU (MP3's)

This Copenhagen quartet averaged age 17 when composing their debut LP "New Brigade" for Dais Records release stateside (now reissued on What's Your Rupture) who describe the release as "uncontrived, pure – this record is a youthful assault of downer no-wave hardcore, wise beyond it’s years." Indeed, there's a fresh breath of air in this mix of Pink Flag/Wire-style compact energy and '81 downtown NYC guitar nods (not to mention the frosty flurry of Darkthrone at times) but Ice Age's average 2-minute jams overflow with very original approach to youthful aggro-rock that has already won them a legion of stateside fans. They played live on my radio show in a no-nonsense 25 minute blast (MP3s from the Free Music Archive below), had a slew of big NYC gigs that week with the likes of Fucked Up, Prurient, Cult of Youth and others, and return to the states for more shows July 15-August 21 (listed here). More info at their blog.

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 123

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

Few things in the prevailing political climate enrage me more than the Republicans' obscene slashing and burning of governmental structures with the capacity to do public good. Given the current governor of Florida, it's a marvel that the Sunshine State still has a shred of a budget line supporting the archival activities of its state library's Memory project. A large component of the effort has been the conscientious work of archivists, folklorists and historians, cataloging and making accessible a considerable trove of sound recordings and photographs from 58 years of the Florida Folklife Festival.

My favorite manifestation of their work so far has been the four full-length CDs of blues, gospel, folk, old-timey and ethnic immigrant musics that the state has produced (here, here, here, and here). You can avail yourself of digital downloads posted on the Florida Memory website, or request physical copies, which will be mailed free of charge! Now a fifth must-have CD—an all-blues collection—has been forged from the Florida archives, and that compilation is the lead-off item in today's Motherlode.

 

 Drop on down in Florida...

 

Various  ~  "Where the Palm Trees Shake at Night"
(Site: State Library & Archives of Florida)
From the album: Apple Farm Blues (mp3) by Moses Williams

Your Tax Dollars at Work
"The music presented on Where the Palm Trees Shake at Night was selected from hundreds of hours of Florida Folk Festival performances and field recordings spanning 25 years, from 1977-2002. Alongside the down-home folk traditions of Emmett Murray, Richard Williams, and Moses Williams are performances of standard Blues by Albert “Buck” Thompson, Charles Atkins and Martin “Tampa Blue” Locklear. The Piedmont finger-picking style of North Carolina guitarist Etta Baker was captured at the Florida Folk Festival, as was the renowned Washington, D.C. duo Cephas and Wiggins’ more modernized interpretation of Piedmont Blues."  (Description provided by the Memory Project at Florida's State Library & Archives)

 

Bill Dixon  ~  "Considerations"
Volume 1  |  Volume 2
(Blog: Inconstant Sol)

Dixon's the One
"The six minute trumpet solo “Long Alone Song” is quite lovely and evidence of what Taylor Ho Bynum notes as Dixon’s desire to make his trumpet sound like an orchestra. There’s a richness of tone and expression here, but also a naked intimacy that comes from the format. In this week’s New Yorker, Marc Fisher’s article on WBAI legend Bob Fass (article not online, but there is some audio here) at one point cites Miles Davis’s line on choosing “not to play all the notes you could play, but to wait, hesitate, let space become a part of the configuration.” Though Dixon might blanch at the Miles reference, it’s incredibly apt, as Dixon fearlessly embraces hesitation, and makes space an integral part of his musical framework."  (Description by Destination Out)

 

Jeanne Lee  ~  "Conspiracy"
(Blog: Free Form, Free Jazz)
From the album: Sundance (mp3)

I Dream of Jeanne
"Her first solo album, Conspiracy (Earthform, 1974) displayed her creative style, which expanded the jazz vocabulary with gestures borrowed from Tibet and India, inspired by Yma Sumac, taking advantage not only of the "voice" but also of lip and throat sounds."  (Commentary by Piero Scaruffi, at Sunnyside Records)

 

 

Various  ~  "A Bottle of Wine and a Ginger Cake"
(Blog: Allen's Archive of Early and Old Country Music)
From the album: Pick and Shovel (mp3) by Clay Turner

All Hail Peanut Cantrell
"The back country of southeast Tennessee, though not as celebrated or documented as east Tennessee, has in the past provided some of the best old-time music to come out of the state. Modern times have done a lot toward breaking down and diffusing this once-thriving folk music culture, but a surprising amount of the old music does survive for those who have the patience and resources to seek it out....All too often we hear today that the genuine old time music is all but extinct in the grass-roots South, that it is played only by folklorists and self-conscious revivalists. Here is proof to the contrary—proof that at least some of the wellsprings of traditional music still flow."  (Charles Wolfe, from the liner notes)

Helen Carr  ~  "Complete Bethlehem Collection"
(Blog: Sic Vos Non Nobis)
[Click here for password]

A Great Unknown
"She was born in 1922 or 1924 in Salt Lake City. Carr recorded "Say It Isn't So" with Charles Mingus in 1946 in Los Angeles. She married pianist-arranger Donn Trenner and worked with him in a group called The Donn Trio and Helen. She sang for short periods of time with the big bands of Charlie Barnet, Georgie Auld, Chuck Foster, Skinnay Ennis, Stan Kenton and Buddy Morrow. She sat in with Charlie Parker a couple times and made two albums for Bethlehem; one in a quintet with trumpeter Don Fagerquist, altoist Charlie Mariano, Donn Trenner, bassist Max Bennett and drummer Stan Levey, and one with a trio comprised of trumpeter Cappy Lewis, guitarist Howard Roberts and bassist Red Mitchell. These are either from 1953 and 1954 or both from 1955, depending on the discography one looks at." (Scott Yanow, on a message board at Jazz Corner) 

Listen to my radio show Give the Drummer Some—Tuesdays 6-7pm, on WFMU and Fridays 9 to noon—on WFMU's web stream Give the Drummer Radio.
Send your email address to get on the mailing list for a weekly newsletter about the show, the stream and Mining the Audio Motherlode.

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

 

Southern California Earthquake (1971) - MP3

    

Jimmy Bryant  -  Southern California Earthquake

Jimmy Bryant's Southern California Earthquake tells the story of the February 9, 1971 San Fernando earthquake, also commonly known as the Sylmar earthquake due to the fact that the city of Sylmar was the location of some of the quake's most intense damage.

What makes this release a bit more interesting than most topical records detailing various disasters is that it was written and recorded by one country music's most spectacular guitarists ever, Jimmy Bryant.  Bryant made a name for himself playing guitar in various country and hillbilly bands on the Los Angeles bar circuit in the early 1950s.  This led to his status as a sought-after session musician, one who cut some of his most memorable work playing alongside the great steel guitarist Speedy West.

As for the Sylmar earthquake, it was, as are most earthquakes in heavily populated areas, a complete disaster.  Sixty-five people lost their lives, but hundreds of thousands of residents of the San Fernando Valley suffered the disruption of electricity, telephone service, gas, and water.  According to one source, one-third of all buildings in the San Fernando Valley were damaged by the quake and thirty schools were so badly damaged they had to be demolished and rebuilt.

The documentary video below, sadly plagued by egregious re-enactment scenes, memorably describes the quake as "shaking most of Southern California like an angry parent shaking a screaming child." Now there's a phrase I'll wager you won't hear again any time soon.

Primavera Sound 2011 New Adds: Aias, Glenn Branca, Fresh & Onlys, Moon Duo, No Joy, Soft Moon (mp3s)

Last week, we kicked off a collection of recordings from WFMU's two days of Primavera Sound coverage with Prince Rama, Swans, Oneohtrix Point Never, Suicide, Pissed Jeans, The Monochrome Set, Ducktails, and Half Japanese.

This week, we bring you six more from Barcelona's incredible multi-day / multi-stage music festival! Check out free artist-approved mp3s by...

Aias  ::  Glenn Branca Ensemble  ::  The Fresh & Onlys  ::  Moon Duo  ::  No Joy  ::  The Soft Moon

(( click for mp3s or listen after the jump... ))

Jan Halen

Eddie Van Halen vs. Jan Hammer to the death.

Watch a Bunch of Drunk Hicks Jump Over Fire

Many thanks to John Fell Ryan for showing me this one.  As Davy Rothbart, of Found Magazine, says on the back of the cassette, "Memorial Day 2000 is the finest find in the history of found stuff."  Twig Harper and Carly Ptak apparently found this home video at a Michigan yard sale of a memorial day bender in the woods.  Watch drunk hicks drive around in the mud in their trucks, jump over fire, set things on fire, wrestle in the mud, force each other to puke...every moment is magical....oh yes.  Twig and Carly, of course, are Baltimore's noisegods Nautical Almanac, and used to sell this video at their merch table.  Watch this one again and again, "the fuckin whip shit of all fuckin shitter bongers".

Uhhhh.....NSFW.

 

 

Eno's "China My China"

Here's a recently surfaced promo video for "China My China" from Eno's 1974 LP 'Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy).' Appearing as Brian's "band" are Judy Nylon and Polly Eltes (Polly appeared on the album as guest vocalist on "Mother Whale Eyeless"). Thanks Matt Laferty!

Alcoa Wrap Does Everything! So Have a Sardine Sandwich! (MP3's)

Here are a couple of 12" records featuring commercials for radio airplay which I came across recently. The first contains 15 ads, each approximately 45 seconds long, for Alcoa Wrap. This product seemingly does just about everything - at least according to spokeswoman "Ann of Alcoa". In each ad (eight of them on side one, 7 more on side two), the phone rings, and Ann answers, then helpfully leaves a few seconds for the radio announcer to ask whatever the appropriate question was (undoubtably on a cue sheet provided, although I don't have it), before she answers the question with the rest of the commercial.

 Alcoa Wrap "Ann of Alcoa" Ads, Part One (MP3)

Alcoa Wrap "Ann of Alcoa" Ads, Part Two (MP3)

Alcoa Record Label (JPG)

Then there's this curious record, from the Maine Sardine Council. As much as I love sardines (and I do), I can't say I've ever had a sardine sandwich, or even that I've seen one listed on a menu. Wherever these conversations take place, however, sardine sandwiches seem to have been all the rage. This record contained 12 tracks, but these consisted of the same four, 30 second ads, each repeated three times.

Four Maine Sardine Council "Have a Sardine Sandwich" Ads (MP3)

Sardine Council Record Label (JPG)

Bob

Boris Karloff / Tales of the Frightened, volume two, part 2

The cover of this curious 1963 Mercury record brings back fond memories of cheap comic books, paperbacks, and horror mags from Warren Publishing and others. Many a youngster must have hunkered down to play these corny tales over and over and I can't help but join 'em. I never acquired Volume One of Tales of the Frightened, so I've been milking the material on this one for years.It's terrific (I almost typed terrorific! - sorry, Forry!  - {gratuitous Forrest J. Ackerman reference} ), though, so I don't mind.

Today I bring you two more cuts from this somewhat creepy lp, one track was presented previously at this post, and I'll dole out some more in the future (the distant, spooky future). The definite highlight of this record is the (sadly uncredited) use of sounds and music of Tom Dissevelt and Dick Raaijmakers, Dutch electronics experimenters and electro-noise pioneers (not to slight my other faves like Raymond Scott!) throughout the project (I wonder if Mercury Records had a tie-up with Phillips Records or how exactly this went down - if anyone can identify the pieces used as 'scoring' for this record from existing Raaijmakers/Dissevelt compositions I'm sure some of us would be glad to know more details. (This just in at press time  - more info about the music HERE)

The other folks involved, such as producer Lyle Kenyon Engel and writer Michael Avallone are interesting as well, and I've placed the front and back cover art here. Perhaps it's the string of endless and violent thunderstorms that brought me to pull this out this week, in any case, crank up the thunder and lightening and some sturm und drang and turn down the lights and listen (if you dare) to a bit of Boris-pal.

The Vampire Sleeps    and     Never Kick a Black Cat

 

 

 

Dynamic Duels and Embattled Bromances: Spy Vs Spy

By David Colosi

In The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, the Joker’s catch phrase to try to convince Batman not to kill him is “we complete one another.” Batman can’t morally bring himself to kill the joker because that would make him a villain too, but as he says, he doesn’t have to save him. Presumably, he lets the Joker die. We’ll see what the sequels say. So ends the Joker’s theory that if one dies, so too does the other. The fact is that once the Joker goes, many other villains will fill his shoes. This narrative trope has been repeated recently in the non-comic world by talking heads debating the death of Osama Bin Laden, the closest person we’ve had to an evil villain with a vision for world domination. Jokers come and Riddlers go, but there is always Batman. The hero perseveres. Well, unless you’re Captain America who was killed by one of his own on a simple walk into a courthouse – so much for the resilience of superpowers.

I’m driving at a point – the Joker does not complete Batman, just as Elmer Fudd does not complete Bugs Bunny, or Melamid complete Komar, or Garfunkel complete Simon, or Ulay complete Marina Abramovic (though for a time becoming a united self was the couple’s goal). Pairs such as these, whether combative or collaborative can split up and each individual can attempt a solo career or, in the case of superheroes, find new villains to rascal around with. Bugs had that construction worker, Yosemite Sam, and the Tasmanian Devil. Since 2003 Vitaly Komar has been making art independently, and - well - I don’t quite know what Alexander Melamid is up to. Marina Abramovic, since her collaborative’s poetic end on the Great Wall of China, went on to much success culminating in the first ever retrospective by a performance artist at the Museum of Modern Art in 2010, and Ulay - well - I don’t quite know what he is up to either (though, in a touching moment, he did appear in the chair opposite Abramovic in The Artist Is Present). Paul Simon went on to a fully blossomed solo career, and Art Garfunkel’s career has continued as well, but not to the same commercial success. The pair, though battling over business issues for decades, has revived their friendship on occasion to continue touring as a duo. In some cases a star is born and a superhero grows out of the collaborative and, unfortunately, the other can never step out of their shadow, remaining the perpetual sidekick.

But I have yet to get to my point. Unlike the pairs I’ve mentioned, there are some dynamic duos that are absolutely co-dependent. Without the one, the other would simply not function. These seem to occur best in dynamic duels where the relationship is uniquely tied to one’s need to destroy...

DJ Handi's Archive Picks: The Deep Caverns Of Free Form's Brain

Each WFMU DJ's show has a very specific sound. I often wonder how each DJ creates this.

Example: this week, Duane did a set composed mostly of soul. He used the band Odyssey  from the compilation Motown's Mowest Story 1971-1973, and included Ruth Brown and Willie Hutch. Soul sounds fresher than most "oldies" genres, and Duane's soul set particularly so: this music is not worn by decades of radio overkill.

But Mr. Finewine also uses soul on Downtown Soulville, as does Small Change on Nickel and Dime Radio. Why is each different? Well, listen to this Downtown Soulville Set of Frank Frost, Billy Watkins, and The Mixtures. Mr. Finewine uses 45s featuring stripped-to-essentials, gutbucket soul sound.

Small Change uses a far more eclectic approach on Nickel And Dime Radio. In this show-opening set, he starts with "Lesson 2" a mix of classic funk by James Brown and Sly And The Family Stone by Double Dee and Steinski . But he then uses 1960s psych-blues-rock by the Turtles, "Buzz Saw," and beautifully obnoxious 1970s hard rock, "Bad Talking Lady," by Left End. Why does it work? Any good set has to have a thread, and here, it is the driving tempos and rhythms.

Here is another way to unlock the mystery of what gives each WMFU DJ their sound. How is the same song used differently? Let's take what may be the first progressive rock song labeled as such, King Crimson's 1969 "21st Century Schizoid Man"  Hot Rod thematically linked it with Hawkwind's' Sonic Attack. The two tracks are very different, but are in the same British Rock Undergound ballpark. In a second archive, Hot Rod deconstructs the peice, editing the chorus into Kanye West's "Power." after playing Crimso's whole track. Against this modern backdrop, Crimson's early FM science fiction nightmare takes on a completely different aura. Mike Sin played a low-fi version of Crimson playing the song at a ''69 Filmore East show, contextualizing the track on Optical Sound as garage next to The Chocolete Watch Band. Scott Williams did the most risky deconstruction, playing the studio backing track as a bed for sped-up veteran radio announcer, Paul Harvey

When flying without the nets of playlists and formats, context and nuance are everything!  It teaches a lot about why each WFMU DJ's show is unique when hearing the archives with this in mind. 

 

Kind of Bloop cover art lawsuit

A few years ago, Andy Baio over at waxy.org put together a great 8-bit tribute to Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue," which enjoyed a bit of airplay over here at WFMU (click here to listen to the 8-bit cover of "So What"). The album's music was fully licensed from Davis' publisher, but Baio recently had to shell out $32,500 for an out-of-court settlement because of the tribute album's cover art (shown below next to the original album art). You can get the full details of what happened right here, in addition to an excellent overview of Fair Use and some recent examples of other similar cases.

It seems like every few months some story like this pops up and reminds me that the U.S. is in desperate need of clearer guidelines and a stronger legal precedence for Fair Use. The current state of affairs encourages predatory lawsuits, while examples like Baio's case produce a chilling effect on transformative creativity and remixing. Props to the EFF for fighting the good fight in this dept.

 

I don't need to point out the fact that new art has always been built by borrowing and reinterpreting existing ideas. Or do I?

World's Largest 8-Track Collection

via Aaron Dilloway:

In case you didn't feel like showing up - Volume 11

Rare archival footage from one of the greatest bands of the early 80's, The Sisters of Mercy. Enjoy

London 1983

Glasgow 1983

More videos beneath the fold...

Mining the Audio Motherlode, Volume 122

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

Today, Mining the Audio Motherlode sings the praises of the online jazz site Destination: Out on the occasion of its 5th birthday. Having risen from the ashes of an unrequited book project, this thoughtful, passionate blog quickly established itself as an essential destination in the ever-expanding universe of online music-sharing sites.

Co-proprietors Chilly Jay Chill (Jeff Jackson) and Prof. Drew LeDrew (Jeff Golick) take their time crafting richly satisfying explorations of the music and musicians they love, sharing a song or two from overlooked or under-appreciated recordings, along with commentary of uncommon eloquence.

To celebrate five years of Destination: Out, I have highlighted a number of my favorite posts from the site's first half decade. Because the audio offerings on these archived pages are no longer extant, I have provided links to other blogs where downloads are still active.

 

 Five more years, five more years...

Ric Colbeck  ~  The Sun Is Coming Up

From August 24, 2010 (reposted from 12/17/06)
"It’s always satisfying and not a little surprising when one of the grails of avant jazz turns out, when finally found, to deliver the goods. It’s as if, for one brief, blazing moment, one’s faith is restored, and justified (if not one’s dorkiness). This quartet session has been canonized by none other than ecstatic noise connoisseur Thurston Moore."  (Destination: Out)

[The Sun Is Coming Up is available at Hominis Canidae.]

 

Ornette Coleman  ~  Lost Tones: Hyper-Rare Recordings

From March 13, 2011
"What can we say about legendary saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman? He’s among the most important living musicians of any genre. His contributions to jazz are incalculable and the titles of early albums such as Change of the Century and The Shape of Jazz to Come now seem less like marketing hyperbole and more pedestrian statements of fact. His harmolodic concepts have altered the very way we hear music."  (Destination: Out)

[ A download of "Man on the Moon" isn't available, but you can hear it here (pop-up player)]

 

Brotherhood of Breath  ~  "Brotherhood of Breath"

From September 11, 2006
"Brotherhood of Breath is an easy band to love. The proto-Brotherhood, leader McGregor’s Blue Notes, formed in South Africa: the very existence of this mixed-race ensemble was an affront to apartheid. Unwelcome and unable to secure gigs, the band headed north, eventually ending up in England, where they quickly fell in with a Who’s Who of late ’60s UK jazz players – the more adventurous among them, anyway." (Destination: Out)

[Brotherhood of Breath is available at Brian.]

 

Marion Brown  ~  Memorial Post

From October 25, 2010
"While the passing of any great jazz musician saddens us, the death of Marion Brown hits especially hard. There was such a palpable warmth and intelligence to his composing and playing that you couldn’t help but feel like you knew something of the personality behind the horn. His playing was never showy, insisting on shadings and subtleties. He had a rare ability to ground abstract ideas in earthy tones, and vice versa. His compositions were often full of ellipses and evasions – not to outsmart the listener but to invite you to listen more closely. Above all else, Marion Brown’s music insisted on communicating. It wanted to forge deep connections."  (Destination: Out )

[Juba Lee is available at Free the Music.]

 

The John Betsch Society  ~  "Earth Blossom"

From January 11, 2011
"A lost classic of spiritual jazz, we’d wager that Earth Blossom is more familiar to groove fiends than free jazz aficionados. But fans of adventurous jazz – of whatever stripe – need to know this record. It’s brimming with surging horns, percolating polyrhythms, soulful guitar lines, and just enough ragged edges to keep things honest. The textures sometimes even verge on the kozmigroov and psychedelic." (Destination: Out) 

[Earth Blossom is available at African Gospel Church .]

Listen to my radio show Give the Drummer Some — Tuesdays (6-7pm) and Fridays (9 to noon) — on WFMU's web stream Give the Drummer Radio.
Send your email address to get on the mailing list for a weekly newsletter about the show, the stream and Mining the Audio Motherlode.

Check out every installment of Mining the Audio Motherlode

 

An Interview with Bill Fay, Part Two: Starting a Career, Deram Records

 

About three weeks ago, I posted the first part of my interview with Bill Fay, where the respected artist spoke of his early childhood and how he first began to play the piano. You can check that out here. Now, we will go a bit further into Bill's life, seeing his first connections with the Deram/Decca label, which would first release his amazing music.

    

After the jump, Bill tells the story of writing his first song and getting label attention, thanking each and every person who helped him along the way. It's truly a joy to read Bill tell his story in his own words. This is only the second chapter in a story that continues to unfold, as Bill Fay was kind enough to answer these questions I e-mailed to him with such care and consideration... so there will be more on the horizon. Check it out after the jump.

recommended music: Mincemeat or Tenspeed

Yes, Mincemeat or Tenspeed is one act, and in fact one person. And though Mincemeat or Tenspeed has received a shout-out from the WFMU blog in the past, I felt that the music is so innovative and awesome that a feature post was well-deserved.

Davey Harms, the man behind Mincemeat or Tenspeed, famously proclaimed that his music was made without synthesizers, samplers, computers, or musical instruments. Though he's recently added a sampler to the mix, I can reassure you that his sounds still appear to be made by some form of mysterious wizardry. Davey starts with a simple feedback loop or a simple rhythmic sample and runs it through a table of effects pedals, looking much like any harsh noiser's table circa 1999 but with rather different results. Some effects double-up the sound, some mash it back together, others shift things in hard-to-comprehend ways. Contrasting rhythms and tones fight for dominance and you're swept into the sonic wormhole. The results are something like the audio equivalent of the classic Dr. Who opening effects (no disrespect intended to the actual Dr. Who theme) or perhaps falling into an infinite fractal picture (mute that video and play some Mikncemeat or Tenspeed instead).

Some listening, free downloadables, and links after the jump...

Primavera Sound 2011 MP3 collection kickoff (mp3s)

Primavera Sound held its eleventh-annual festival in Barcelona Spain last month, and we are proud to present mp3 highlights from what is truly one of the world's most incredible live music events. This year, a record-setting 120,000+ attendees were treated to several stages'-worth of top-notch headliners, special reunion performances, and many up-and-coming artists who you might not expect to see in the festival setting.

For the third year in a row, the freeform-inspired folks at Primavera invited WFMU to broadcast live [playlists here and here], and we are kicking off the PS11 Free Music Archive collection with sets from...

Prince Rama  ::  Swans  ::  Oneohtrix Point Never  ::  Suicide  ::  Pissed Jeans  ::  The Monochrome Set  ::  Ducktails  :: Half Japanese