WFMU's Beware of the Blog

Alice Cooper's Fall Fashions Are A Hit!

Alice Cooper's show at the Community Theatre in Morristown could have been a fashion event! The first  item revealed was the "Spider Jacket" (right), with performance of Black Widow accompanying it, the extra arms may be ineffective for some, but Alice wore them elegantly, and stylishly. Throw in some sparklers for good measure, and Alice is on his way to a stellar fashion season! There was the "New Song" jacket, which I failed to get a photograph of - Alice's runway technique is a little to fast paced...let the audience savor, Alice, savor!! It was a black pleated denim jacket with the words NEW SONG spray painted in stencil lettering on the back in large white letters. Here is a photo of the shirt underneath, which reveals the title of said new song.."I'll Bite Your Face Off" (pitcture disc out soon).....Boas are back, but not the feathered kind. Alice adorns himself with a live creature...much more attractive than the minks and foxes of old!

Studded oversize top hat. This is an example of an article for high end fashionistas: only the daring can really pull this off, Alice Cooper included, but not many others. While it may look great on the runway or on the stage, the combination of spikes and the size itself ranks it right up there with Fergie's daughters hats at the royal wedding. NOT the regular guy look, although Alice wears it well. Do not try this at home, or even at a Destruction or Watain show.

My Birthday Veil; Alive and Kicking with Lady Piss, 8.5.2011

In a creative universe where everything but everything is postmodern, where citation of creative influences is unnecessary and irrelevant, where "might appeal to fans of ____" doesn't go the mile or two that it used to, what impassions me personally about a band? Why this one and not so many others? I'll try and delineate.... It's the casual earnestness, for one, the way Lady Piss just do, simply lay it down, jumping from one well-written, expertly crafted song to another, with notions of "rock" or "punk" or "metal" or "heavy music" casually abandoned in the face and favor of free-flowing creativity. This is what they do, this is who they are, and miles-above-average song composition and arranging is so very key to their presentation, and sets them obviously apart (to my ears) from the mass of bands on myspace, or Facebook, or wherever. Noel's intelligent, gloomily animated, on-key and fully immersed horror-host delivery of the lyrics and vocal element of the band also propel Lady Piss forward, in a way that simply eludes many bands of their ilk. It's just the right alchemical balance of everything—a perfect moment in time in the form of a rock band.

I hear echoes of The Birthday Party, The Jesus Lizard and many of my historical favorites in these seven songs, though none of that would matter a whit if the songs weren't so damn good and rendered with the irrefutable oomph of a mass UFO sighting. Any band that drives from Baltimore to New Jersey to play an unpaid session at 12:30 a.m., on a moderately popular show on a widely beloved radio station (that and one gig in Brooklyn two nights later) has the right stuff in carefree abundance, and the need (because to "want" is childish) to put their stuff forward in a forum like The Castle, where I made it very clear that I believed in them, supported what they were doing, and felt wholeheartedly that they had the ability to reach greater heights in their field. By now, it's my hope that most regular Castle listeners know that the invitation to an artist to perform live on the show is never extended flippantly, or without this core belief. Like many who have come before me, I choose to believe in music, and its performers, rather than God or such other misty intangibles.

So, enough leaden praise—you've got the point; here now are the songs. 

Expert and enthusiastic live engineering by Diane "Kamikaze" Farris. Colorful, high-impact manipulation of my band photo as always by Tracy Widdess of Brutal Knitting. You can pick up a copy of the Streaming e.p. (all six songs are featured in this set) by writing to Lady Piss on myspace, or through bandcamp, where you may choose to purchase a record with a free download code, or just grab the digital album—such greatness to be had for three measly American dollars. Endless gratitude to the band for making my birthday number 47 something more enjoyable than it otherwise would have been.

Archie Comics Puts On Kiss Makeup

Announced at the recent Comic-Con, Kiss will be teaming up with Archie Comics for "In your face tales of Kiss/Archie". Apparently Kiss will come to Archie's hometown of Riverdale in the pages of Archie #627, that will kick off a 4-part "Archie Meets Kiss" storyline. Yes, to the left is Veronica, Jughead, Betty and Archie donning Kiss makeup. I don't know about you, but the phrase "in your face" was not exactly a phrase that I equated with Archie Comics or any of those characters at all. To my surprise, it looks like others have visualized grown up versions of Archie as well. Here's a trailer for a fictitious movie called "Riverdale," with a new take on the Andrews clan - it doesn't have the naivete and lightness that I remember from the original Archies years ago, but I think it's well done in teen/vampire network style.

My path happened to cross with Mark Barkan, who authored the B-side of the Sugar Sugar single; a song called Melody Hill. I was awestruck at my discovery - he also wrote the Banana Splits theme as well as She's A Fool for Lesley Gore, and he was kind enough to autograph my copy of Melody Hill/Sugar Sugar on the Calendar/Kirschner label. That single was the number one song in Billboard in 1969, and to this day I still think Melody Hill is the superior track. Just days after getting Mark's autograph, Archie was back in the news with the Kiss team-up announcement. I haven't kept up with Archie as of late, and think I'll leave it that way. My bubblegum pop history and B-sides are all I need. If I want, I can gawk at the cast of Archie in Kiss makeup- at least we know what they look like without it already! My dark side might watch this trailer a couple of times. Am I not getting with the program? I don't think so, certain things I'd rather not revisit, I'll stick with my original preference... I'll take Melody Hill anyday!

Not Pretend; Raspberry Bulbs LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, 7.15.2011

Taking into account all my years on WFMU, including my original tenure doing the weekly Hip Bone program (1984-1999), this live performance, a world debut by the Raspberry Bulbs 4-man combo, is one event that I shall place among the highest, most gratifying events I have ever had the decided privilege of presenting on the radio. Infused as it is, with a taste of the original rock 'n' roll energy, spirit and earnest delivery that made parents in the 50s fear Gene Vincent, and corporations in the 70s suppress the efforts of The Sex Pistols, this RB set is music + power defined. Something to spring on my hopefully appreciative grandkids.

I purchased the Raspberry Bulbs' debut cassette, Finally Burst...With Fluid, in 2009, from the man himself, long-time Bone Awl drummer, founder/proprietor of Seed Stock records, also known as He Who Crushes Teeth. My intense Bone Awl fandom re-ignited, as he described the tape as a solo project of his own, and my need to be on tap with all things Bone Awl was further satisfied, when I got home, and played this little motherfucker of a tape. The similarities to the parent project were there, sure, but the songs struck an instant chord of originality as well, owing more to first-generation punk, Oi!, and garage rock, and goddamn if the songs weren't catchy as hell.

Thus began a casual email discourse between Mr. RB and myself, I knowing that the tape (and the others that followed) were a one-man effort. I nonetheless threw it out there that were he to ever organize a combo to render this material live, the My Castle of Quiet program would be a welcome place to roll the dice, the invitation was open.

Fast forward to the first third of this year, and much to my pleasant surprise, a Raspberry Bulbs appearance on the show, not only a live set but a sheer *debut* of the newly formed RB combo, was now in the planning stages. And here it is, fulfilling and surpassing any expectations I might have had, like human gunpowder, well-rehearsed and ready to take the world over. Saying "thanks" at this point seems trite, despite my earnest gratitude, as RB & Co. surely know by now that they killed it, bagged it, and took it home.

What to say? Live appearances will follow, and I can't encourage you strongly enough to attend one or all (Saturday 6/30 @ Red Light District, as part of Burning Fleshtival III, and Sunday, 8/21, as part of a great bill @ Secret Project Robot.) Much credit must go to WFMU's own Diane "Kamikaze" Farris, who engineered the set, and lent her expertise, while at the same time being open to input from the band, and myself, as the live sound was fine-tuned. Thanks also, as always, to Tracy Widdess, for rendering my abysmal-as-ever iPhone capture of the band, making it something worth looking at more than once.

All hail the 'Bulbs, finally burst.

The Art of Standing In Line

I'm not a shopper. I can't stand indecision. Shopping for clothes for me goes like this... does it look good? Yes! Buy 2 in different colors. Leave, and hopefully never come back. It's not a process I enjoy, unless I am shopping for music. So my food shopping experience is done late night for the reason of swiftness. I'm sure you can understand this. This evening, I went to my local weenie mart for provisions. It took me about 5 minutes to select the food and  beverages I needed and I went to check out. There was a line of 6 people, and I saw there was only one automated checkout aisle open. The only employee was bagging and dealing with the malfuction of said checkout aisle. I decided to wander around instead of stand on this ridiculous line at such a late hour. After familiarizing myself with all the cooking utensils, plates and felt floor/furniture protectors and all the cakes in the bakery--who knew someone would want a Bastille Day cake-- I circled around to where the registers were, only to find there were now 11 people in the line, which I joined begrudgingly. As a notorious multitasker, standing in line rubs me the wrong way, in a BIG way. All I could do was joke about the ridiculousness of the line with my new neighbors suffering the same fate as myself. And then I remembered. About a year ago I was in the Shop Rite nearest to WFMU. I don't remember what I was purchasing. I had been in the express lane and was about 5 people back and a huge guy cut the line. You would think that he had murdered someone. He pushed past myself and all the others straight up to the cashier, and said something like "I know I'm an asshole, but I got to go!". The cashier didn't want to ring him up because he clearly cut the line in front of us, but he wouldn't leave. My companions in line were pissed and flipping out on him. It was very confrontational, and for some reason I found it really interesting.

Fun Items; keeping up with Vancouver's DOA

One of my favorite hardcore records back in the day was DOA's "Hardcore '81". This was the Vancouver band's 2nd lp, and has was recently reissued on colored vinyl along with their first LP: "Something Better Change". Both are on vocalist Joey "Shithead" Keithley's label: Sudden Death Records. To order either LP or Keithley's most recently released book: Talk-Action=0, go here.

I'm always on the lookout for fun merch, as my collection of T-shirts got boring a long time ago. It's always great to see something inventive a band has cooked up to offer up to the fans. From eons ago, here's a shot of the DOA Beach Ball that I still have. Now this is a beach ball I'd be proud to bounce around at an outdoor fest! Over Memorial Day weekend, I attended Maryland Death Fest in Baltimore, and with 2 outdoor stages, a few beach balls managed to show up.  Impaled Nazarene's vocalist Mika Luttinen, seemed exasperated at seeing the multicolored objects floating through the air during their brutal set of Finnish black/punk/metal, and accused the audience of being hippies in the middle of a Woodstock flashback. Snicker.

Here's a video of DOA as a 3-piece performing "World War 3"

Here's a video made for Impaled Nazarene's (unairable on FM) "Armageddon Death Squad"

The Wondrous World of Bosch or Welcome to Hell!

Recently I went to The Netherlands for the Roadburn Festival. Thanks to Duane Harriot for running the Fun Machine for a week and not wrecking the gears! Last weeks episode was a full three hours of music and photos from the most enjoyable fest I have ever been to, and if you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it (not because it's my program, mind you - it is my taste, but it was really programmed by those who put Roadburn together- thank them, not me)!

Since last year's festival was disrupted by a pesky volcanic eruption, I thought it would be wise to take an extra day ahead of the festival and eliminate the stress factor. I made my ever important sleeping bag connection ahead of time, and decided to head over to the town of 's-Hertogenbosch to check out the Jheronimus Bosch Art Center.

All of Bosch's works are in name museums, so I was not sure what to expect. This town probably would have no one paying attention to it except for their famous, intensely talented son. I'm not going to even go into describing his artwork here; if you are unfamiliar, go check out a link or two and get the scoop on this man.

The Art Center is housed in what had once been a church. It looks like a church, but when you step inside, all your senses tell you nearly right away (there's a large red curtain that separates the entrance from a lot of the exhibit area) that you may have actually stepped into a delightfully quirky version of hell. There is a telltale sculpture outside as well to tip you off, that in most ways, this was not going to be a religious experience, at least of a churchgoing nature.

The helpful women at the desk were concerned with the size of my backpack and could see I was being taxed by it's weight. They took it off my hands immediately although there was no coat room. The entrance fee was laughably cheap and I was given an audio guide to boot.  It was when I got to the other side of the curtain that I thought to myself "I'm going to be here for hours and hours"...

 

 

At the Edge of the Volcano; Castevet LIVE on My Castle of Quiet, 4.22.2011

Castevet are a powerful band, pulling in elements from all types of unexpected corners of the musical spectrum. That said, they are very decidedly and inescapably a black metal band in sound and approach, all the same, it's rare that names like Ligeti come up in black metal interviews, or that touches of Yes, Magma or even Fugazi are brought to mind as part of one's impressions of a black metal band's live set.

It was clear from my brief contact with Andrew, Ian and Josh that they simply do not limit themselves, and why should they? They're talented players, so why suppress their chops? Speaking more generally, it was inevitable that aspects of the genre, like the wearing of corpsepaint and strong anti-Xtian rhetoric, eventually subside, leaving less-easily-deciphered, more eloquent and abstruse musical and ideological facets rise in their wake. Point being, you can bring the "art," without sacrificing one ounce of ferocity, as this session bears out.

After over a decade of black-metal fanaticism, I'm learning that what really matters, when a band is called to the mat, is songwriting—original, interesting, "catchy," powerful or all of the above—it's the songs that separate the good from the great, and these songs exemplify top-shelf black-metal songwriting and arranging.

Don't miss an opportunity to see Castevet live (May 7th at Mother Pugs in Staten Island, and May 8 at The Acheron in Brooklyn, both shows with Richmond natives Bastard Sapling and Inter Arma.) In the meantime, you have their full-length debut, Mounds of Ash (Profound Lore) to explore and enjoy. There are layers of great shit happening on that record.

Tremendous thanks are due to Diane Kamikaze Farris, for showing up under the weather and pulling off a great job engineering this live session, to Tracy Widdess of Brutal Knitting for collaging and photostomping Johanna's band portraits, and to Johanna Lenski for taking pictures, hanging out, and essentially making the event happen.

The Week In Live Music Photos

This week was juicy in terms of live shows to attend, I wanted to go to many, but have yet to clone myself and my jet propulsion unit is still at the shop. I cheated a bit, by having a band on the Fun Machine, to be able to provide you, the listener with some tracks aside from these pix, so here's a quick rundown!! Sunday March 27th, I caught Thin Lizzy at the Starland Ballroom. Brian Downey, Scott Gorham and Darren Wharton, all from the Lynott era were joined onstage by Marco Mendoza, Vivian Campbell and Ricky Warwick. The show was great, the set list was very different from the Sykes/Gorham era that ended rather unexpectedly the summer of 2009, and all is well! Here's a few shots from the show! Tuesday, Batillus made their way to Jersey City to douse the Fun Machine with some gasoline, torched

 

SXSW 2011: A Visual Landscape

I'm trying a new approach for this post. For multi-band events, my posts tend to be very very long, and the time it takes to do seems to make the effort moot, because they publish so far after the fact. So here are photos of some of the bands I took in at SXSW: bad vantage points are why some bands didn't make the cut. Here it is chronologically!    Below: 1/2 of Italy's The Secret, Keith Morris of Off!, Easy Action

    

At The MET- Guitar Heroes Exhibit

Currently there is an exhibit entitled "Guitar Heroes" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It runs through July 4th, and if you have any thought about a music exhibit "fitting in" to the premise of an art museum, think again. The show is put together with the utmost detail, and my accompanying photos are going to focus on that exact thing, in a different way; detail...after all, you all want to visit the MET and behold the show for yourselves- from the craftsmanship of the luthiers of northern Italy years ago right up to the Four Seasons guitars created by John Monteleone, I'd hate to spoil all the up close opulence with some quick pix.

The exhibit is divided into 5 parts: two historical eras; and then focusing on three primary Italian-American craftsmen in New York: John D'Angelico, whose New Yorker guitar model Chet Atkins likened to owning a Rolls Royce; James D'Aquisto, who offered special innovations like sound holes that can be opened and closed to create tonal differences; and John Monteleone, whose varied background in his father's design workshops opened his mind to liquid design sensibilities, as shown here on 2 detail shots of the Sun King guitar.

 

70,000 Tons: Metal Mutiny on the High Seas

1 cruise ship, 4 days, 42 bands, 2,000 people. Welcome to my recap of the 70,000 Tons of Metal "vacation event!" Check out the giant photo album, and this week's edition of Diane's Kamikaze Fun Machine with 70,000 Tons of tuneage! When the cabin was booked, about 20 bands were listed for the cruise. The promise was 40; it was so far off that it didn't feel like it was real. At that time, Death Angel (photo at right), Iced Earth, Fear Factory, Agent Steel, Testament, Exodus and Forbidden were some of the already confirmed bands. I don't remember worrying  if they would really book a full 40. The lineup was already more than adequate! The crap weather hit the Northeast just in time, and a Miami/Cozumel retreat looked like a pretty damn good idea. I had my misgivings, of course...this whole concept was such foreign territory in terms of how things were going to work in the collision of the cruise and metal worlds-and I thought it might not be pretty. I anticipated fights, things getting broken, people and suitcases going overboard, lots of vomit ... there definitely were things that lent themselves to going wrong. 

Remembering Ari Up; FMA Tracks Posted; Punky Reggae Birthday Party (Sunday)

As a large percentage of you probably know, Ari Up (Slits, True Warriors, and a/k/a Medussa) passed away this past October, but not without leaving this planet with an abundance of music, memories and occasions to remind us of her soul. Ari struck me as someone who couldn't be "turned off"; sadly with her passing, we know that is not true, and it still seems unreal, in reflecting on the vibrancy she had. Those of us who witnessed her perform, witnessed her living life - exclamation after exclamation, present to every second she had. She would have turned 49 on Monday, and at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday 1/16, will be the "Ari Up Punky Reggae Birthday Party", featuring members of the Slits original and current; the True Warriors, a later group that Ari fronted, and many many more guests.

The show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday is a benefit and proceeds will go to The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Tickets are available here. Leading up to that, there were 2 special programs aired on WFMU this week;

On Miniature Minotaurs with Kurt this past Wednesday, we heard a set from the Ari Up & the True Warriors' performance from Santo's Party House from October 2008, courtesy of Punkcast.com- the playlist from that program here. 

On the Fun Machine on Tuesday of this week, I aired a True Warrior's set that I had the pleasure of engineering when they played on Pat Duncan's program May 8, 2003.

Dianekamikaze's 2010 Best of List

Amazing Releases::

Ludicra - The Tenant

Kylesa - Spiral Shadow

Tinsel Teeth - Trash As the Trophy 

Hail of Bullets - On Divine Winds

White Drugs - Gold Magic

Electric Wizard - Black Masses

Child Abuse - Cut And Run

Triclops! - Helpers on the Other Side

Horseback - The Invisible Mountain

High on Fire - Snakes For The Divine

 

 Amazing Experiences::

Easy Action LIVE on WFMU

Hugh Cornwell LIVE on WFMU/and interview

Coliseum LIVE on WFMU

Bleeding Ears Fest on WFMU (Wizardry pictured below)

Batillus and Kowloon Walled City LIVE on WFMU

Iron Man LIVE on WFMU

Away from Voivod interview

Justin Broadrick interview

 

 

Amazing Opportunities::

Engineering: The Sights on WFMU- Evan "funk" Davies program
Engineering: Rapp's Boat Yard on the Passaic River/Billy Jam special program

Engineering: The Communion on My Castle of Quiet

Engineering: Oblivians on Cherry Blossom Clinic w/Terre T

Engineering: Styrenes on Cherry Blossom Clinic w/Terre T

Amazing Live Performances::

Accept and Kings X

Laurie Anderson

Sleep, Doomriders, Unearthly Trance

Thrones and Christian Mistress

Watain and Goatwhore

Amazing Festivals::

SXSW: Dark Castle, Roky Erickson, Torche, Voivod, Weedeater, Coffinworm, Blower, Motorhead, Salome, Iron Man, Pierced Arrows, Sons of Hercules, Hickoids, Withered, Fucked Up, Jim Jones Revue, Tombs, Batusis, Goatwhore, Dixie Witch

see blog posts on SXSW here and here and here

High Voltage Fest: ELP, Opeth, Down, Focus, Gary Moore, Cathedral, Saxon, High On Fire, UFO, ZZ Top, Argent

see blog post on High Voltage Fest here

Posted by dianekamikaze on January 01, 2011 at 12:00 PM in Art, Billy Jam's Posts, Diane Kamikaze's Posts, Live at WFMU, MP3s, Music, Photography, Radio, Travel, WFMU Annual Favorites Lists, WFMU in General, William Berger's Posts | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

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Not long ago I picked up on a gig announcement that Easy Action would be playing The Acheron in Brooklyn on Monday, November 15th...yay! I contacted them immediately and inquired if they'd be interested in playing live on the Fun Machine on the next day; Tuesday the 16th. And so it was. The band, with John Brannon of Negative Approach and Laughing Hyenas on vocals, has a perverted blues-punk sound that is so mesmerizing you could set your own face on fire and never notice. I've had the pleasure of seeing them play over a dozen times (6 of those shows at SXSW 2 years in a row), and can honestly say there is no pretense or even intention of having, wanting, or needing a stage show with these guys. Brannon is as terrifying as he was in Negative Approach, and sounds even more caustic now, possibly because he's all grown up, and he still howls like an animal fighting for it's life, but this time you know it's premeditated and not simply a reaction to teen angst. EA features the rhythm section of Tony Romeo on bass and Matt Becker on the drums, and Harold Richardson's sick, greasy and intense guitar sound to round off the spectacle. Easy Action just get down and dirty and give their performances the Detroit treatment: 100%-period. They rule, and really-- they can't help it; it's so authentic that it shows. Here is the set fresh off the Free Music Archive; yours to download, yeah, Christmas is early this year.  Easy Action also graced the WFMU airwaves in 2005 on the Pat Duncan program, hosted by Andrew Listfield that particular night, and John and Harold also were here in Negative Approach for their appearance on Brian Turner's program in 2008.

On Tuesday, they arrived at WFMU early, "That's how we roll"; set up their gear, played and left the studio begging for mercy... and at the end of the afternoon after all was said and done, John Brannon, the fiercest voice in the universe, turns around and says to me "here's your pen, Diane." It may not seem like much of a gesture, but this is coming from a man who'd basically bitten off the head of your mother, or would have if she was here; paid homage to and fistfought every drunken gambler, pimp and derelict either side of the Mississippi; successfully and creatively edited his vocals for the live performance (I said Easy Action are great, but yeah, they're dirty... in the just the right way), and pulled off the most burnt out sounding cover of 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" - remembered that I lent him a pen to write out their set lists with about 4 hours before. Shucks, what do you say about that except, come back soon! It's a crime these guys aren't huge. Send your friends to this site, check out the playlist from the show itself -more photos there- and have them check out Easy Action. It can be your own dirty secret and hopefully one day it will be everybody's. Accompanying are a few shots from the WFMU studio as well as the Acheron show on November 15th. From Richmond? Well get your ass out to see them tonight; Saturday November 20th at the Triple. Obey.

 

Halloween weekend has passed us, and I had to update you on my exploits at The Chiller Theatre Expo! Check their website, as many fans contribute their own photos-my interests may not be the same as yours! I got my Paul  Revere and the Raiders- Greatest Hits LP signed by Mark Lindsay (at right)! There was an I Dream of Jeannie reunion that I did not partake in, but had to walk through and take a look at Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman and Bill Daily. I also did get to meet Richard Roundtree (photo below), Patricia Quinn- photo below (Magenta from Rocky Horror), Zacherley the Cool Ghoul, Ernie Hudson, Patty Duke, and Gomez Addams himself-- John Astin! He and I had a lovely conversation about headstands; here's what he told me..."I was always pretty good at doing them, so whenever the story called for it, I just popped up and did one. Every so often if I was tired or not feeling 100% I would have them put one of those donut shaped pillows under the carpet, but for the most part, I did all my headstands without a worry." He said it had been awhile since he'd done one, but wouldn't rule out ever doing one again, "never say never, there's no fun in that!" He is heavily associated with the John's Hopkins Theatre Department in Baltimore, and Mr. Astin performs a one man Edgar Allan Poe show from time to time that I have not gotten a chance to see, but would love to. Keep your eyes peeled for this guy, upside down, or right side up! Below is a YouTube clip of him reading Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" a couple of years ago. I had Chiller originator Kevin Clement on the Fun Machine a couple of weeks ago because Chiller celebrated it's 20th anniversary this year, check the archive here- and here's a pic of the cake! 

I was also thrilled to see that one of the sharks from JAWS was there, and proceeded to ham it up... you're welcome!

Hugh Cornwell (yes, Hugh Cornwell formerly of the Stranglers) made a visit to the Fun Machine and WFMU studios this past week. In tow was drummer extraordinaire Clem Burke; known to some as Elvis Ramone, known to (probably many more) as the drummer in Blondie; and Steve Fishman on bass. They banged out 4 numbers, and Hugh spoke with your hostess long enough for me to carve out a 3-hour Hugh Cornwell/Stranglers special which can be found here. Hugh's album, "Hoover Dam" has been offered as a free download on his site since it had been released, as he is always doing something special for his fans! As of about 15 minutes ago, were are proudly hosting ALL of Hoover Dam on the Free Music Archive site- here is that specific link! Along with that, dear listener, give your ears a treat by checking out all 4 of the live tracks they performed here in the Love Room at the station. To the right is the band killing it at the Mercury Lounge on Oct. 26th; and here is the Hoover Dam album in it's entirety, woo hoo, thanks, Hugh!

While driving earlier listening to an AM health-centered show, the doctor/DJ/host, asked his assistant if he liked "thrash music", their banter sort of went off into space, as the assistant seemed to have a grasp on some metal genres: "glam metal, death metal, viking metal, grindcore", yet the doctor had nothing to ground himself with, and at some point mentioned the Yardbirds, Barry Manilow and Phil Ochs ... regardless, he referenced this study, which reports that no matter what kind of music you listen to, if you're studying, it's still detrimental to your final outcome, especially if you're memorizing. What was amazing was that they kept on playing excerpts of Death Angel's "Thrashers" over and over again, repeatedly asking the question "do you like thrash music?" and joking. It's wonderful when the unexpected pops up, especially this 1987 gem, much like the first time I heard Peaches by The Stranglers opening the movie Sexy Beast...well, actually that was cool; this radio experience was just funny. Of course, I do need to mention here that former frontman of the Stranglers, Hugh Cornwell, will be gracing the WFMU airwaves by way of the Fun Machine on Tuesday, Oct 26th, and he's touring on a new release: New Songs for King Kong, note: even King Kong should not study wearing headphones, but I am not going to be the one to tell him! In another study about exercise and music, a study linked here relates the findings that although music is a great motivator in exercise, there are limits to it's benefits. The piece is not the shortest piece in the world, but I found it interesting that the average human (not the WFMU listener) liked the same music more JUST because it was sped up. To go back to the question of "do you like thrash metal?", well maybe some do and they don't even realize it! To conclude, when we really get into music itself being exercise, like these conductors pictured above (study from 2007 here), or the theory that Slovenian outfit Laibach had, that Bach's "Die Kunst der Fuge' was intended as an (intellectual) exercise rather than for performance- so they used it in their performances with physical exercise being performed, just makes a brain wonder, or at least start doing push-ups. And if you think the guys up top in the B/W photo are not exercising, think again! Note: Death Angel also has a new record out, it's calle Relentless Retribution out on the Nuclear Blast label. It's been awhile for releases from Barry Manilow, Phil Ochs, and the Yardbirds! Laibach is doing some live dates in Europe and the UK at the end of 2010.

There were about a million great shows that I missed this week: Goatwhore at Europa (friend review: "One of the best bands I've seen this year"), Buzzov'en at Public Assembly (friend review: "pretty close to great"), The Vibrators at the Bell House, etc. However I did have the extreme pleasure of attending several shows. I got out to see Accept and Kings X at BB Kings on Monday. As expected, Kings X went on at 7:53 for an 8pm time slot. Vocalist Doug Pinnick (pictured right) requested the AC be shut off for the sake of his voice; the club complied and we all got sweaty! But in the mood of the set, they were upbeat and spot on. Kings X reminds me of a mellower, more heavily grooved Queens of the Stone Age, but originating years and years prior. They are a band that probably never made a ton of money, but are amazing players and always put their heart into their shows. Satisfaction level: 4/5, Surprise level 2/5. Next: Accept took the stage with new vocalist Mark Tornillo. This could have been wrong, jokelike, corny, cover band-ish--I mean it really had the potential to be terrible. I know Tornillo has been with them for more than a year now, and by the way, their new album Blood of the Nations is GREAT but a presence like Udo Dirkschneider's gotta be missed, no? Hell no! Purists, don't sell yourself short of a great time, expand your horizons and go see Accept- you'll have a blast!! Tornillo, who hails from NJ; has pulled this off perfectly! He had been the vocalist for TT Quick - a band that never really got it's due back in the day.

It would not surprise any of you to know that I am a record collector. Many of us here at WFMU would lead much more spacious and comfortable lives if our record collections didn't take up the square footage it did. So be it. I am always reading the latest articles on how to take care of these precious pieces of vinyl better; how to resurrect a bit of warped garage sale vinyl, and the safest way to re-stick labels to said round flat plastic pieces. I read this article a little while ago about using wood glue to remove dirt from records. My brain kept bugging me to try it, so after about a year of dawdling, I did. Read the entire article if you wish, it's very informative as to why wood glue won't adhere to vinyl, and other questions you might have before diving in. As interesting as it was to do, I heard no difference on my subjects! I could see a bit more of a sheen to them, but I recorded each record before and after and found no real noticeable difference. I did this experiment with a couple of garage sale 45s, and maybe they were as clean as they were going to get. Regardless, I thought I'd show y'all some of the progress pix I took-of course, the result could have been far better, but you, dear reader, get me with failure as well as with triumph. The first pic is the glue application before the "easy removal tags" have been added. The second photo is (yes, eagle-eye, it's a different record) how the record looks in it's drying state: glue smoothed out by use of a credit card, and easy removal tags in place. The last two are before and after shots of one of the 45s I used in the process. Slight difference in sheen. As for my garage sale "finds", I'll share with you this week's lot: a Phil Silvers die-cut cover of the Broadway show Do-Re-Mi, which was about jukeboxes and part of the "music industry". The record is in great shape, and I love the Hirschfeld-esque illustration of Silvers on the cover. A second art-related find is the album by Sailcat, with cover art by none other than Mad Magazine's Jack Davis - see an amazing collection of his works on this Flickr album I found. As far as 2-pieces go, Sailcat pales in comparison to Dark Castle- live pics here, who are on tour with Nachtmystium and Zoroaster into October. Photos taken from the Knitting Factory show this past week. Top pic = Dark Castle, bottom pic = Nachtmystium. And, no, the vocalist for Nachtmystium does not sport a mohawk; it's just one of those action photos! Dunno if you'll hear Sailcat on a future edition of the Fun Machine, but you can be sure there'll be some Dark Castle, Nachtmystium and Zoroaster soon! Out of the three, Zoroaster has the most recent release (their third), is called Matador and is on the E1 label.

Easy Action: Reducing the Live Room to Rubble Reliably - FMA Tracks Up!

Not long ago I picked up on a gig announcement that Easy Action would be playing The Acheron in Brooklyn on Monday, November 15th...yay! I contacted them immediately and inquired if they'd be interested in playing live on the Fun Machine on the next day; Tuesday the 16th. And so it was. The band, with John Brannon of Negative Approach and Laughing Hyenas on vocals, has a perverted blues-punk sound that is so mesmerizing you could set your own face on fire and never notice. I've had the pleasure of seeing them play over a dozen times (6 of those shows at SXSW 2 years in a row), and can honestly say there is no pretense or even intention of having, wanting, or needing a stage show with these guys. Brannon is as terrifying as he was in Negative Approach, and sounds even more caustic now, possibly because he's all grown up, and he still howls like an animal fighting for it's life, but this time you know it's premeditated and not simply a reaction to teen angst. EA features the rhythm section of Tony Romeo on bass and Matt Becker on the drums, and Harold Richardson's sick, greasy and intense guitar sound to round off the spectacle. Easy Action just get down and dirty and give their performances the Detroit treatment: 100%-period. They rule, and really-- they can't help it; it's so authentic that it shows. Here is the set fresh off the Free Music Archive; yours to download, yeah, Christmas is early this year.  Easy Action also graced the WFMU airwaves in 2005 on the Pat Duncan program, hosted by Andrew Listfield that particular night, and John and Harold also were here in Negative Approach for their appearance on Brian Turner's program in 2008.

On Tuesday, they arrived at WFMU early, "That's how we roll"; set up their gear, played and left the studio begging for mercy... and at the end of the afternoon after all was said and done, John Brannon, the fiercest voice in the universe, turns around and says to me "here's your pen, Diane." It may not seem like much of a gesture, but this is coming from a man who'd basically bitten off the head of your mother, or would have if she was here; paid homage to and fistfought every drunken gambler, pimp and derelict either side of the Mississippi; successfully and creatively edited his vocals for the live performance (I said Easy Action are great, but yeah, they're dirty... in the just the right way), and pulled off the most burnt out sounding cover of 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" - remembered that I lent him a pen to write out their set lists with about 4 hours before. Shucks, what do you say about that except, come back soon! It's a crime these guys aren't huge. Send your friends to this site, check out the playlist from the show itself -more photos there- and have them check out Easy Action. It can be your own dirty secret and hopefully one day it will be everybody's. Accompanying are a few shots from the WFMU studio as well as the Acheron show on November 15th. From Richmond? Well get your ass out to see them tonight; Saturday November 20th at the Triple. Obey.

 

Chiller Theatre 20th Anniversary

Halloween weekend has passed us, and I had to update you on my exploits at The Chiller Theatre Expo! Check their website, as many fans contribute their own photos-my interests may not be the same as yours! I got my Paul  Revere and the Raiders- Greatest Hits LP signed by Mark Lindsay (at right)! There was an I Dream of Jeannie reunion that I did not partake in, but had to walk through and take a look at Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman and Bill Daily. I also did get to meet Richard Roundtree (photo below), Patricia Quinn- photo below (Magenta from Rocky Horror), Zacherley the Cool Ghoul, Ernie Hudson, Patty Duke, and Gomez Addams himself-- John Astin! He and I had a lovely conversation about headstands; here's what he told me..."I was always pretty good at doing them, so whenever the story called for it, I just popped up and did one. Every so often if I was tired or not feeling 100% I would have them put one of those donut shaped pillows under the carpet, but for the most part, I did all my headstands without a worry." He said it had been awhile since he'd done one, but wouldn't rule out ever doing one again, "never say never, there's no fun in that!" He is heavily associated with the John's Hopkins Theatre Department in Baltimore, and Mr. Astin performs a one man Edgar Allan Poe show from time to time that I have not gotten a chance to see, but would love to. Keep your eyes peeled for this guy, upside down, or right side up! Below is a YouTube clip of him reading Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" a couple of years ago. I had Chiller originator Kevin Clement on the Fun Machine a couple of weeks ago because Chiller celebrated it's 20th anniversary this year, check the archive here- and here's a pic of the cake! 

I was also thrilled to see that one of the sharks from JAWS was there, and proceeded to ham it up... you're welcome!

Hugh Cornwell (ex-Stranglers) joins FMA with Free Album & WFMU session! (mp3's)

Hugh Cornwell (yes, Hugh Cornwell formerly of the Stranglers) made a visit to the Fun Machine and WFMU studios this past week. In tow was drummer extraordinaire Clem Burke; known to some as Elvis Ramone, known to (probably many more) as the drummer in Blondie; and Steve Fishman on bass. They banged out 4 numbers, and Hugh spoke with your hostess long enough for me to carve out a 3-hour Hugh Cornwell/Stranglers special which can be found here. Hugh's album, "Hoover Dam" has been offered as a free download on his site since it had been released, as he is always doing something special for his fans! As of about 15 minutes ago, were are proudly hosting ALL of Hoover Dam on the Free Music Archive site- here is that specific link! Along with that, dear listener, give your ears a treat by checking out all 4 of the live tracks they performed here in the Love Room at the station. To the right is the band killing it at the Mercury Lounge on Oct. 26th; and here is the Hoover Dam album in it's entirety, woo hoo, thanks, Hugh!

Thrashing to Fitness and Good Study Habits

While driving earlier listening to an AM health-centered show, the doctor/DJ/host, asked his assistant if he liked "thrash music", their banter sort of went off into space, as the assistant seemed to have a grasp on some metal genres: "glam metal, death metal, viking metal, grindcore", yet the doctor had nothing to ground himself with, and at some point mentioned the Yardbirds, Barry Manilow and Phil Ochs ... regardless, he referenced this study, which reports that no matter what kind of music you listen to, if you're studying, it's still detrimental to your final outcome, especially if you're memorizing. What was amazing was that they kept on playing excerpts of Death Angel's "Thrashers" over and over again, repeatedly asking the question "do you like thrash music?" and joking. It's wonderful when the unexpected pops up, especially this 1987 gem, much like the first time I heard Peaches by The Stranglers opening the movie Sexy Beast...well, actually that was cool; this radio experience was just funny. Of course, I do need to mention here that former frontman of the Stranglers, Hugh Cornwell, will be gracing the WFMU airwaves by way of the Fun Machine on Tuesday, Oct 26th, and he's touring on a new release: New Songs for King Kong, note: even King Kong should not study wearing headphones, but I am not going to be the one to tell him! In another study about exercise and music, a study linked here relates the findings that although music is a great motivator in exercise, there are limits to it's benefits. The piece is not the shortest piece in the world, but I found it interesting that the average human (not the WFMU listener) liked the same music more JUST because it was sped up. To go back to the question of "do you like thrash metal?", well maybe some do and they don't even realize it! To conclude, when we really get into music itself being exercise, like these conductors pictured above (study from 2007 here), or the theory that Slovenian outfit Laibach had, that Bach's "Die Kunst der Fuge' was intended as an (intellectual) exercise rather than for performance- so they used it in their performances with physical exercise being performed, just makes a brain wonder, or at least start doing push-ups. And if you think the guys up top in the B/W photo are not exercising, think again! Note: Death Angel also has a new record out, it's calle Relentless Retribution out on the Nuclear Blast label. It's been awhile for releases from Barry Manilow, Phil Ochs, and the Yardbirds! Laibach is doing some live dates in Europe and the UK at the end of 2010.

Semi Social Calendar This Past Week

There were about a million great shows that I missed this week: Goatwhore at Europa (friend review: "One of the best bands I've seen this year"), Buzzov'en at Public Assembly (friend review: "pretty close to great"), The Vibrators at the Bell House, etc. However I did have the extreme pleasure of attending several shows. I got out to see Accept and Kings X at BB Kings on Monday. As expected, Kings X went on at 7:53 for an 8pm time slot. Vocalist Doug Pinnick (pictured right) requested the AC be shut off for the sake of his voice; the club complied and we all got sweaty! But in the mood of the set, they were upbeat and spot on. Kings X reminds me of a mellower, more heavily grooved Queens of the Stone Age, but originating years and years prior. They are a band that probably never made a ton of money, but are amazing players and always put their heart into their shows. Satisfaction level: 4/5, Surprise level 2/5. Next: Accept took the stage with new vocalist Mark Tornillo. This could have been wrong, jokelike, corny, cover band-ish--I mean it really had the potential to be terrible. I know Tornillo has been with them for more than a year now, and by the way, their new album Blood of the Nations is GREAT but a presence like Udo Dirkschneider's gotta be missed, no? Hell no! Purists, don't sell yourself short of a great time, expand your horizons and go see Accept- you'll have a blast!! Tornillo, who hails from NJ; has pulled this off perfectly! He had been the vocalist for TT Quick - a band that never really got it's due back in the day.

The Great Glue Gimmick and a Bit on Graphics

It would not surprise any of you to know that I am a record collector. Many of us here at WFMU would lead much more spacious and comfortable lives if our record collections didn't take up the square footage it did. So be it. I am always reading the latest articles on how to take care of these precious pieces of vinyl better; how to resurrect a bit of warped garage sale vinyl, and the safest way to re-stick labels to said round flat plastic pieces. I read this article a little while ago about using wood glue to remove dirt from records. My brain kept bugging me to try it, so after about a year of dawdling, I did. Read the entire article if you wish, it's very informative as to why wood glue won't adhere to vinyl, and other questions you might have before diving in. As interesting as it was to do, I heard no difference on my subjects! I could see a bit more of a sheen to them, but I recorded each record before and after and found no real noticeable difference. I did this experiment with a couple of garage sale 45s, and maybe they were as clean as they were going to get. Regardless, I thought I'd show y'all some of the progress pix I took-of course, the result could have been far better, but you, dear reader, get me with failure as well as with triumph. The first pic is the glue application before the "easy removal tags" have been added. The second photo is (yes, eagle-eye, it's a different record) how the record looks in it's drying state: glue smoothed out by use of a credit card, and easy removal tags in place. The last two are before and after shots of one of the 45s I used in the process. Slight difference in sheen. As for my garage sale "finds", I'll share with you this week's lot: a Phil Silvers die-cut cover of the Broadway show Do-Re-Mi, which was about jukeboxes and part of the "music industry". The record is in great shape, and I love the Hirschfeld-esque illustration of Silvers on the cover. A second art-related find is the album by Sailcat, with cover art by none other than Mad Magazine's Jack Davis - see an amazing collection of his works on this Flickr album I found. As far as 2-pieces go, Sailcat pales in comparison to Dark Castle- live pics here, who are on tour with Nachtmystium and Zoroaster into October. Photos taken from the Knitting Factory show this past week. Top pic = Dark Castle, bottom pic = Nachtmystium. And, no, the vocalist for Nachtmystium does not sport a mohawk; it's just one of those action photos! Dunno if you'll hear Sailcat on a future edition of the Fun Machine, but you can be sure there'll be some Dark Castle, Nachtmystium and Zoroaster soon! Out of the three, Zoroaster has the most recent release (their third), is called Matador and is on the E1 label.