Will Oldham-Tortoise Cover Record Track Listing

Via CMJ:

Tracklist for The Brave And The Bold:
01. Daniel (Elton John)
02. The Calvary Cross (Richard Thompson)
03. That's Pep! (Devo)
04. It's Expected I'm Gone (the Minutemen)
05. Cravo e Canela (Milton Nascimento)
06. Some Say (I Got Devil) (Melanie)
07. Pancho (Don Williams)
08. Love Is Love (Lungfish)
09. On My Own (Quix*o*tic)
10. Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen)

Black Hole review

What a treat to start my morning with Ben Schwartz in the Washington Post reviewing Charles Burns' new graphic novel Black Hole:

The story takes place in Seattle in the 1970s, where Burns spent his own teenage years, and our sympathies to him if the tale he delivers here is autobiographical. This is not Cameron Crowe's Seattle of peppy coffee houses and space needles but the Pacific Northwest of David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" and the sonic gloom found in the music of Eliot Smith or the Screaming Trees. Black Hole covers the high school years of a group of kids who find themselves catching a venereal disease known as "the teen plague." After sex with an infected partner, they deform and mutate. The infected person might develop a tail, like Eliza, who encourages lovers to grab it during sex. Or there's Rob, who develops a second mouth on his lower neck. Some can hide it, but others turn into freakish social pariahs and join a teen leper colony in the woods. "It was like a horrible game of tag," writes Burns. "Once you were tagged, you were 'it' forever."

Spanking Steve

Blue's Clues former cult leader STEVE's website has attracted sickos that he influenced in their early years. Via Nashville Scene. Grown-up fans now include Steve in their sick fantasies:

a couple years ago, he resurfaced, of all things, with a solo album featuring the assistance of that great kiddie band, The Flaming Lips. His website, at http://www.steveswebpage.com, will tell you all about it. But take our advice and skip straight to the link marked “Correspondence,” where all manner of Blue’s Clues fans have written in, most with some sort of sexual fantasy to relate. Sample missive: “Hi Steve. I am a 24 year old married mom of two and I would LOVE to spank you. I know you've heard this plenty of times, but I REALLY, REALLY want to. You don't understand, I can't even look at Joe. I want you. Please come back to me baby. I need to see you.”

What's New This Week For Your Punk-New Wave-Indie Yuppie Lifestyle

BLACK DICE: Smiling Off CD (ASW 38114CD) 6.50
"The boundary-shattering new single from sonic adventurers Black Dice features a diverse selection of remixes, plus the explosively rhythmic primitivism of the original version. Luomo (aka Finland's Vladislav Delay)transforms the song into a minimal house masterpiece, while the DFA throw down one of their inimitable dancefloor burners, and ZZ Pot (Matt Brinkman of Providence avant-noise conquistadors Forcefield) cooks up a sound collage at once brutal and beautiful. Something for everyone, and essential listening for modern ears. CD includes enhanced video directed by Danny Perez, who directed the Animal Collective video."



KRAFTWERK: Ultra Rare Traxx 1 2LP (KFT 001LP) 25.00
Repress of the first volume in this series. "Superb 2LP compilation of hard-to-find classics by German electronic legends Kraftwerk. Still sounding fresh today, every cut is a killer and illustrate beautifully why this influential band are held in such high regard. All tracks are full 12" versions and cut loud for DJ play. Essential." Track Listing: Side A1. The Model 2. Pocket Calculator 3. Computer World Side B1. The Robots 2. Techno Pop Side C1. Tour De France (FK Mix) 2. Showroom Dummies Side D1. Trans -Europe Express 2. Numbers




via bomprecords.com

UNION CARBIDE PRODUCTIONS- In The Air Tonite
-reissue Radium Debut ' 87 w. bonus.Iggy Pop has
always insisted that the Stooges were really a
free-jazz band in rock drag. If you accept that,
then you'll likely find Sweden's Union Carbide
Productions to be the best - or at least the most
authentic - band mining the Dee-troit vein of
sonic scrunge. The first album's top tracks
("Financial Declaration", "Cartoon Animal") could
play hide'n'seek on any late-'60s Michigan
compilation tape you'd care to make, while the
furthest out (like the epic "Down on the Beach")
owe more to Sun Ra. By adding howling horns (two
members double on sax) and a non-traditional
rhythm section that rarely functions as just a
timekeeper to the wah-wah heavy rock on In the
Air Tonight, UCP neatly sidesteps any charges of
revivalism. IMPORT CD $18

Breeders Cup Picks (Live Blogging)

My picks (this will be updated before each race). If you have no idea what I'm talking about - here's a link.

My handicapping approach - I like to look at trainers (if I ever retire, I'd love to spend time trying to figure out owners as well) first, track condition, horse condition (workouts, last race - I'm not great at post parade watching) and post position last. I create a betting line where I take up to about 6 horses and try to divide 80 percentage points between them and then look for overlays and bet them. I try to ignore Speed/pace and "race shaping" (trying to determine rider strategies and horse running styles in the race ). I think speed and pace figures are unreliable and I figure if I am factoring the trainer-owner into my calculations that he or she will take care of the "race shaping" and riding strategy. But they can't control post position, track conditions, etc. My philosophy is to bet to win because a) most of the data I use is based on winning not coming in second or third and b) the track takes the least amount of money off win bets. I did dabble in Pick 3s when I was active and an occasional exacta or trifecta if I'm feeling foolish.

1:22 PM - Juv. Fillies - Sensation - Diamond Omi - Adieu (not neccesarily in that order). The big news will be that Folklore will be out of the money. Or maybe I just hate D. Wayne.

Ms. Chapel's "hunch" is Along the Sea and I agree this is an overlay but I want a horse that's going to win not just in the money. Maybe put 'er in there for your fantasy trifecta but not to win.

Post-race: Oh well, Folklore proved better than I thought. Wild Fit may have been the better horse, though. Glad I'm not betting money.

1:53 PM - Juv Colts - First Samurai - Private Vow - Sorcerer's Stone - Stream Cat. I'm thinking First Samarai is an underlay here as there are some questions about his form. Stream Cat is an interesting longshot horse who got in trouble last time but has shown some talent and has great connections. The speed boys like Sorcerer's Stone in case 1st Samurai craps out so who am I to argue with them. I'm betting against Steve Wonderboy as not being up to the challenge of a long layoff. I may be wrong though as I heard he had a stellar workout this week. Does anyone else get the vibe that Merv Griffin wants to eat the jockey?

Post-race: *Sigh* I'm now 0 for 2. Private Vow broke a rein and pulled up! 1st Sam got the show. Stream Cat never a factor. Merv Griffin and the convict jockey have won (and who else hates those maudlin TV segments about druggy jockeys?). Maybe I should just make my picks and then select every horse but the ones I like. Glad I'm not betting...

2:41 PM - Filly/Mare Turf - This is a wide open race. The overlays are Luas Line - Film Maker - Megahertz and Intercontinental. The underlays are Ouja Board and Wonder Again. Luas Line is the biggest opportunity here and hence going to be my pick but Intercontinental has reportedly been a beast in morning workouts and that seemed to be the biggest factor for Stevie Wonderboy. I'd throw them all into a Pick 3 with one or two sprinters and Leroidesanimaux in the Mile. Pulling Hair is going with Sundrop and he may have a point as well. Like I said, Wiiiiiide open....

Post Race: Well, one of my top picks finally won and decisively. Intercontinental was at 15-1 when I last checked which means that if I bet $2 win on all my picks ($6 in the 1st race, $6 in the second and $8 in the third for a total of $20) then I'll be around $12.00 ahead. Yes, I'm a $2 bettor - well, I used to be - now it's just fantasy play. Filmmaker came in the money and Ouija Board (not a pick but an identified underlay) were also there.

3:16PM - Sprint - I would put Lost in the Fog in a Pick 3 ticket but he's a big underlay here and I'd never bet him to win as such. I would prefer 8-5 on him and he's at 3-5. The overlays are Taste of Paradise - Silver Train and Lion Tamer. They are all at 13-1 in the betting right now and that's too much of an opportunity. Part of the reason for this opportunity is that Wildcat Heir is also seriously overbet.

Post Race: It's either Taste of Paradise or Silver Train or both! Either way, I win. ALL THE EFFING HYPE FOR LOST IN THE FOG... as Nelson would say, "Hah hah"... my thoughts about Wildcat Heir seem to have been proved as well - I just don't think Ben Perkins is world class trainer material and that's a big factor in my selections. Gomez has launched an objection against Edgar Prado and lost. Hope he doesn't go back to the drugs, huh? My investment of $6.00. They didn't show the prices but if Silver paid 13-1 - that's a $20 profit. I'm up $30!

3:49 - Turf Mile - My druthers are with the favorite but he's way too low-priced at 3-2 (he should be more like 7-2 in my mind). I'll instead go with the overlays in Funfair - Valizar - Host (again a two buck win on each). The latter (Host) has a bad post position & a so-so jock - but then so does Leroid. Leroid had a great work this week but so did Host. Funfair seems way under-rated here what with hot jock Edgar Prado (Ms. Chapel also prefers him) and Valixar, the multiple BC race winner Andre Fabre shipper, is also a Steve Crist pick and is going off at 8-1. There are two other horses here that while they aren't underlays, they aren't overlays - they are Artie Schiller and Singletary.

POST-RACE: Disaster. Fun Fair taken off the track in an ambulance and his vet said he'll probably be put down. Artie Schiller (one of my possibles) won. My current "win" count is $24.00.

4:25 - Distaff - I have four horses in my top picks and they are hardly surprises: Stellar Jayne, Ashedo (the presumed favorite), Happy Ticket, and Sweet Symphony. Stellar Jayne appears to be training well and may be the spoiler. The key race here for many is the Beldame which Ashedo won by a 1/2 length over Happy Ticket and several more over the young Sweet Symphony (Jerry Bailey chooses her over Ashado, incidentally, although this may be trainer politics at work - Bill Mott being the more established trainer of the two). My "line" is Ashedo at 4-1 (she's going off now around 2-1), Stellar Jayne at 9-2 (she's going off at 9-2), Sweet Symphony at 5-1 (the only real overlay at 9-1), Happy Ticket at 5-1 (going off at 4-1). So I'm also going to look at Pleasant Home (28-1!), the Shug McGaughey horse and the Nick Zito horse (In The Gold). But the latter trainer is very cold these days and the overlay is only slight in my mind. So my final selections are Stellar Jayne, Sweet Symphony and Pleasant Home.

POST RACE: Whoo-hoo. My last minute overlay selection Pleasant Home brings it home at 30-1!!! I'm up about $80!

4:35: Turf Classic - I always pass this race. Too many furrin' horsies for me. And my rule is that when I look at the charts and see 12 horses that could all win it, maybe its time to take a break. I'm gonna go empty the dishwasher and focus on the final race.

5:40 - The Classic - I'm looking closely at a number of horses:

• Borrego - he's hampered by his post position but has been having good workouts. My line is 4-1.
• Post parade odds - 2-1 (no bet)
  
• St. Liam - Another 9-2 - Bailey's swansong? Well, at least that will be the NBC hype. But he's also supposedly having great workouts leading up to this and Dick Dutrow is not to be trifled with.
• pp odds - 5-2 (no bet)
  
• Choctaw Nation - Not my favorite connections here and a claimer but he's proven. 5-1.
• pp odds - 13-1
  
• Flower Alley - I put him at 6-1
• pp odds - 10-1
  
• Perfect Drive - 7-1 - again don't like the connections
• pp odds - 15-1
  
• Sir Shackleton - 7-1 - Zito is stone-dope (ahem) cold but this horse ran up good in his last.
• pp odds - 34-1 (wow, this new york crowd is hatin' on Zito)
  

So my bets are on Choctaw Nation - Flower Alley - Perfect Drive and what the hell, Sir Shackleton

POST RACE: Well - St. Liam won after a pretty thrilling stretch duel with Flower Alley - one of my choices. So I feel pretty good about my choices even as I lost $8.

Final tally - I made $72 (of fantasy money).

Rollerderby/Suckdog Review

Paper towels - don't leave home without it

Drink with "The Bunk"

Fat Tuesday
HBO's The Wire is teaming up with Sonar to bring a little bit of New Orleans to Baltimore. The cast and crew of the show will all be on hand to help celebrate All Saint's Day with some of the Big Easy's best bands. All proceeds go to helping the victims of hurricane Katrina. (The ticket price is a tax deductible donation.)

The Wire & Associated Black Charities Present a Hurricane Katrina Benefit
FAT TUESDAY HOODOO THROWDOWN featuring
The Subdudes • Rebirth Brass Band • The Iguanas
Hosted by Wendell "The Bunk" Pierce
This Tuesday!
November 1
@ Sonar • 407 E. Saratoga St., Baltimore, MD
6pm Doors • All Ages!

link
tickets are like $50...

Gary Pig Gold Reviews Jandek Show

Love him or hate him, the President of Corwood Industries brings out the best in writers.

Soon the Yoo-hoo's gone -- a feeling like no feeling. The line begins to move and we're eventually inside and into seats.

It's dark, but not musty in there. The screen is lit, but only shadows up on it. A Scotsman welcomes us, but scolds over unauthorized use of electronic devices. Everyone is very, very quiet.

Afterwards, the wind outside has lifted considerably, and lines now lead in opposite directions towards either Chinese or Mexican diners.

h.t. BF Mowat, e-mole list

Chris D on The Flesh Easters DVD

Fans of Chris D (of the band Flesh Eaters) might be interested in his web comments on a DVD Talk review of the 1964 movie The Flesh Eaters.

2. Contradictory information from "Chris D", 10/14/05: Hi, Glenn. Your recent review of The Flesh Eaters DVD release mentioned Tim Lucas' assertion that the flashback sequence where the nude concentration camp women (carefully blocked by protruding objects) were forced to jump into the swimming pool of flesh eaters was not in the original release.

I can tell you most certainly it DEFINITELY WAS in the original theatrical release. I saw it as a child at the Rubidoux Drive-In in west Riverside in the week it was released in southern California (I had harassed my parents into taking me). My mom loved horror movies but was a definite Catholic prude when it came to even a hint of sex in the cinema. This flashback sequence was definitely in the version we saw. I remember it very vividly, and it was something my partents were not happy about. My mom almost convinced my dad to start the car and haul our shocked asses out of there. But my obsessive film-o-philia, even then, was able to turn the tide and convince them to stay. When the movie later turned up on TV, that sequence was conspicuously missing. I was wondering for a while if maybe it was my imagination until I purchased Sinister's unauthorized release (where it's included.)

Hope this clears up the issue. Of course, there's a good chance that the sequence may have been omitted in theaters and drive-ins in the Bible Belt down South or more conservative areas of the USA.

An interesting footnote - writer Arnold Drake also scripted many stories for DC Comic's BLACKHAWK and DOOM PATROL comics in the 1960s. I was a huge fan of both. Drake had one of the more deranged imaginations at DC in the 1960s (as if he'd been schooled working at FOR MEN ONLY-type pulp rags). and he most certainly pushed the envelope as far as what was acceptable. He quite often would work in borderline sleaze/sadism elements (especially in BLACKHAWK) as well as villains that were either Nazi or Japanese war criminals (I remember thinking even as a kid that the Nazi experimental atrocities back story in The Flesh Eaters was Drake's doing. ----- Best, Chris D., American Cinematheque

Cam'ron: Police "Uncertain" it was a Carjack

Appears that Cam'ron's manager's story that he was the victim of an attempted carjacking is starting to fall apart (also it appears that at least part of his entourage was nearby when it happened) ... one cop is talking anonymously:

The actions of the gunman and the proximity of Giles's friends are among the reasons police do not believe carjacking was the motive, investigators said.

"If you are going to carjack a car, you don't shoot first. You try to get the driver out of the car," said one police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the case is under investigation. "You also wouldn't do that in front of people."

The rapper's manager, Joseph "Big Joe" Sherman, said Sunday that Giles's entourage became separated from the Lamborghini and was not nearby when the shooting occurred. Sherman also said Sunday that the assailant was trying to steal Giles's expensive sports car.

It also said that the assailants were chased by officers from the Federal Protective Services (unclear whether they just happened upon it randomly or what) and that the owner of the SUV was contacted and he said he had lent it vehicle to a friend. Police said there was plenty of evidence in the car (yesterday's article said a cell phone had been recovered).

Another Band Tries to Ride Yo La Tengo's Coattails

Althoug news is sparse about our favorite Hoboken band these days (although go see the movie "Junebug" if you can find it), we might as well pass on what other folks are saying.

F'rinstance, EMI Recording Artists and Tweemo Swedish Pop band, The Shout Out Louds' guitarist has declared his love for Yo La Tengo and a desire to "collaborate":

Who are your biggest musical influences?
Carl: Right now I'm really listening to a band, Yo La Tengo, my favourite band. I've got all their albums.

((snipped))

Are there any bands you'd like to tour with or collaborate with?
Carl: I'd like to collaborate with Yo La Tengo! It would be fun to collaborate with some different kinds of music, like maybe an electronic band; something different to what we're doing.

Rapper Allegedly Shot; Plugs New Album

Mere minutes after I drove the jammed Saturday night lanes of New York Avenue, NW, "Cam'ron" was allegedly shot by alleged carjackers who were allegedly pursued by a "protective services officer" (bodyguard) and allegedly ditched their SUV. Police are allegedly "investigating" but wouldn't offer any opinions as to motive.

Cam, who wears pink and diamonds (reportedly he wore $200,000 worth of jewelry which the alleged carjackers failed to steal) and is in an alleged rapper "war" with the allegedly retired Jay-Z was shot in the "arms" and released almost immediately from the hospital. Cam'ron, who "likes to hang by himself" (did we mention he wears pink and diamonds) and known for his "flamboyance" was allegedly seperated from his 30-man entourage after leaving a Diddy sponsored party at famed DC club H20 in Southwest.

Giles, driving his royal blue 2006 Lamborghini and wearing what a friend later described as $200,000 worth of diamonds and other jewelry, was shot in both arms after stopping at a red light on New York Avenue NW, police said.

"I got shot three times and my album comes out Nov. 22," Giles said as he left Howard University Hospital yesterday afternoon with an entourage of friends, fellow rappers and bodyguards. ...

Giles's forthcoming album is called "Killa Season."

New (or Re-Issued) This Week

There's stuff here from FE and Bomp! (at the bottom)

Via Forcedexposure.com

BORBETOMAGUS: Barbed Wire MaggotsCD (AGARIC 1983) 14.00
CD reissue of what was the 4th Borbetomagus album, originally released on LP by Agaric way back in 1983. The trio of Jim Sauter (reeds), Don Dietrich (reeds) & Donald Miller (guitar). Recorded at In-Roads, NYC. May 7, 1982. "Barbed Wire Maggots is a motherfucker, even now, 23 years after it was recorded. Recorded at In-Roads on Mercer Street, BWM documents a gorgeous evening of extreme sonic dialogue. Sauter and Dietrich's reeds skinny-dip into virtual classicist free mode at times (think 'Trane having an erotic dream of Frank Wright), but more often they tangle like electric eels dropped like tampons from the poop hatch of a 747. Upper register bowel tingling never felt so good. Miller's guitar joins them up in the stratosphere, plugging raw current into metal bowls, sizzling like a wok full of stewardess jiz, just creating and distorting and worrying the fabric of the cosmos like some idiotic terrier-god from a lost part of the Upanishards. Everything just moves so beautifully here. All of the early Borbeto hallmarks are on display: the ducks-attacked-by-lawnmowers thing; the Wilhelm Reich Busts Another Cloud scenario; the angel-wire-thimble connection ; the part about the cop car getting crushed by a bulldozer inside a maelstrom in a sewer drain -- it's all here. What is most remarkable about the music on BWM is how fresh it still sounds. There're no clichés brunted about here, nothing that's time-coded in the least; it's even difficult to really categorize the music inside any genre. Jazz, industrial, rock, free...there are elements of all of those here. And they are blended and/or smashed together in ways that will make yr hair feel lighter than feathers, lighter than maggots, lighter than anything." -- Byron Coley

BLUE CHEER: Vincebus Eruptum LP (AK 99011) 13.00
Akarma's all-time vinyl bestsellers now on 120 gram standard black vinyl. The first Blue Cheer album from 1967, originally issued by the Philips organization. Features their "hit" cover of "Summertime Blues" and the beginning of their documentation to be the loudest/heaviest rock band ever.

FELT: Felt LP (AK 99127LP)13.50
Akarma's all-time vinyl bestsellers now on 120 gram standard black vinyl. Originally released by Nasco in 1971. "Turn of the decade psych rock from Alabama USA. Melodic Floyd-like progressive flourishes but with blistering acid guitar, soulful vocals and shimmering keyboards. Crashing riffs and peaceful waves abound. Originally on the same label as Electric Toilet."

DRONES, THE: Wait Long By the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies... CD (ATPR 018CD) 14.50
Based in Melbourne, this second release from The Drones is a magical but terrifying ride toward the edge of danger... sometimes chaotic and stern, sometimes melodic and joyful. Summoning the dirge/garage grime of The Cramps, and the hollow bellow of Nick Cave or Jon Spencer, The Drones aren't afraid of hiccups and raw, explosive guitar scrawl. Emerging as one of the best new bands in Australia, the combination of Mike Noga (drums), Fiona Kitschin (bass), Gareth Liddiard (vocals/guitar) and Rui Pereira (guitar) first began their beautifully chaotic journey in 2001, with the release of their manic, but poetic debut album, Here Come The Lies. It was an exuberant, soulful, harshly beautiful and darkly comical affair in garage/blues howlers. It also received huge praise all over the world and is now heralded as an Australian classic. The Drones' music can be compared to early Green on Red, fellow Australians The Scientists, early Birthday Party, Suicide, Hank Williams, Towes Van Zant, Black Flag, and Dirty Three with their live performance conveying an unmatched intensity. Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By, is proof that The Drones are well and truly of one of the most intense and gifted bands in the world, on stage and record. This is the distillation of Australian rock n' roll history condensed in one perfectly-formed album. This is Down Under voodoo.

HARVEY, MICK: One Man's Treasure CD (MUTE 9303CD) 16.00
"Mick Harvey -- celebrated arranger, multi instrumentalist, producer, film soundtrack composer and co-founder of the Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and The Birthday Party --moves with total ease to the centre stage for the superlative One Man's Treasure. One Man's Treasure is an inspired and moving collection of classic songs. The basic album tracks were all recorded by Mick Harvey at his home studio. Some are original compositions, some of these songs once belonged to songwriters such as Lee Hazlewood, Tim Buckley and the late Jeffrey Lee Pierce of The Gun Club. What links this enduring material is a spirit reminiscent of the best urban Australian alternative country music and the fact that Mick Harvey felt a passionate, personal connection with every song."

VA: Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up CD (NUMERO 006CD) 18.00
"Samba Soul. Afro-beat. Reggae. What were once loose-fitting descriptions for American influenced homegrown R&B, are now but common parlance in the lexicon of genre classification.These regional movements all yielded monumental sonic innovations that returned to America with tidal force, eventually flooding the world with third world treasure. The music of Detroit and Memphis were quite possibly America's largest cultural export of the 1960s, spawning imitators with every radio wave that whispered 'I've got sunshine... or Sittin' in the morning sun... into the fertile ear of the uninitiated. For every Nigeria there were ten Ghana's, and every shiny Brazilian soulster had his counterpart in Peru, Argentina, and Columbia. Good news travels fast, and as the gospel of American soul hit the beaches of Trinidad, the Bahamas, and in this case, Belize, it was as though the Gods had not just spoken, but sung. A Cargo Cult is what happens when one culture begins worshipping the byproducts of another. Cult Cargo is the unexpected result of that devotion. It is here in these sixty odd minutes that The Numero Group unveils a style of music completely unknown to the greater world before we dragged it from the beaches of Belize. The national dish of Belize is made with a diverse mixture of ingredients, pig's tail, potatoes, plantains, bananas, boiled eggs, yams, whole fish, thrown in a pot, and boiled to perfection. They call it a Boil Up. The music of this collection combines equal parts of R&B, calypso, disco, funk, reggae, bruckdown, soul, folk, and whatever else can be found back on the bottom shelf of the musical pantry. This too is called Boil Up, and it's anything but leftovers."

via Bomp!MailOrder

GUN CLUB - Mother Juno. An amazing crash between
punk rock, blues, country and pure rock'n'roll.
Classic. CD $12

JEFFREY LEE PIERCE Wildweed. Second solo album
by Gun Club's lead singer, produced by Craig Leon
in 1985. Includes 'Love And Desperation'. CD $12

STOOGES Telluric Chaos. (SKYDOG ) Amazing live
album of the reunited Stooges. 'Telluric Chaos'
was recorded in Tokyo last year, and features The
Stooges still in electrifying form, playing many
of their classics plus some new Stooges numbers
from the "Skull Ring" album and the world
premiere of a brand new Stooges number, "My Idea
Of Fun". Down On The Street' never sounded so
potent, not even on record. 'I Wanna Be Your
Dog', 'No Fun' & TV Eye' are so fresh that it
sounds like they wrote them in the back of the
van on the way to the show. A truly amazing live
album! RON ASHETON, SCOTT ASHETON, MIKE WATT,
STEVEN MACKAY, IGGY POP. (IMPORT) CD $20

Two New Jap/psyche Records from Chapter

Australia's Chapter Music who released Songs for Nao earlier this year are now releasing two live records from Tenniscoats and Maher Shalal Hash Baz. If you like Deerhoof but wants something even more crazy and actually more listenable (at least to me), I can't recommend the Tenniscoats more. MSHB is more an acquired taste and seem to change with the seasons but worth a spin if you like to get a spike in the naive improv psyche vein.

http://www.chaptermusic.com.au/ shows the cover art and here are the descriptions:

CHAPTER 50 - MAHER SHALAL HASH BAZ Live Aoiheya January 2003 CD EP A live EP recorded coincidentally at the first MSHB gig that Chapter boss Guy Blackman saw in Japan. Cult figure Tori Kudo has lead MSHB since the mid-80s, playing music based on spontaneity, melody and inquisitive experimentation, with an always changing lineup that favours untrained over professional musicians, although Kudo's wife Reiko is a constant throughout.

CHAPTER 49 - TENNISCOATS Live Wanderus CD A compilation of live recordings over the last five years from Tokyo's outstanding Tenniscoats, one of the most incredible live bands in the world whose intensity, encompassing ideas of extended, meditative improvisation and a kind of innocent darkness, has never really been captured on their studio recordings.

No idea what outlets in the States will be carrying them although FE has carried Chapter releases in the past. Label owner Blackman also has a release of songs he played with various Jap bands including the above and the wonderful Andersens and My Pal Foot Foot:

CHAPTER 48 - GUY BLACKMAN Guy Blackman In Japan CD EP Finally some musical evidence that Chapter boss Guy Blackman did actually live in Japan for 18 months, did play gigs and did do a modicum of recording, albeit all in one afternoon and with only one microphone. With guest appearances by members of wonderful Japanese bands Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Tenniscoats, Andersens, My Pal Foot Foot, Kinutapan and Pervenche, Guy Blackman In Japan contains 5 studio recordings and 3 live recordings, something of a lo-fi teaser for the album Guy is working on to be released later this year (or next, or the one after...)

Gary Lucas on Peel

Lucas (G&M) writes:

In any case, I only met Peel once when The Magic Band played on his show a year or so ago at Maida Vale Studios in London, we had a good chat (told him I was a big Dandelion Records fan, citing Siren, Stackwaddy, Principal Edwards Magic Theatre and Bridget St. John as amongst my faves; he seemed apologetic as the label hadn't exactly set the world on fire, but hey, they certainly promulgated some classic sides plus there is that excellent label sampler "There Is Some Fun Going Forward" featuring Peel's naked bod in the bath with a young nubile on the cover...a model, "definitely not the Pig", he told me)-- and I laid a selection of my solo albums on him (handed him a bunch in a polythene laundry bag from the Swiss Cottage Hotel with the words: "Here's some of my dirty laundry...". He smiled, and later spun both "The Mad World" from The Edge of Heaven and "It's Like a Wheel" from Street of Lost Brothers on his show before passing onto that great gig in the sky...)

Gira: "Akron/Family are the best band I ever had worked with, and that includes Swans."

It's them and no one else backing Gira on his latest album, The Angels of Light Sing 'Other People'. Improbable as it is, some of Akron's sunshine rubbed off on the notorious misanthrope Gira: "Other People" is the jangliest, prettiest, most accessible record of his career. In an interview with me, Mr. Gira said without the slightest hesitation: "Akron/Family are the best band I ever had worked with, and that includes Swans."

The guys themselves are a little shocked to find that they have retroactiely rewritten a huge swath of New York rock history without even trying; but, as with everything else, they take it in stride. Backstage before the recent sold-out show at North Six (as both Akron/Family and Angels of Light), the band ruminated happily about their unique situation: they are, fater all, the first group ever to release and promote its own album while serving as a backing band to a more famous act, also with a current album. The closest comparison, they point out, would be the Band -- but Rick Danko and Co. didn't get serious about their own music until after working with Dylan.

The Deli

Henry Rollins Idiot Fan Base

It's surprising how much abuse some people will take from celebrities and still think its "pretty cool" -- the link is at:

http://jaredlive.blogspot.com/2005/10/weekend-tastic.html

here's the clip:

Ok, so Henry comes out starts signing stuff and talking to the people. He gets to me and my brain decides to go take a smoke break...as he signs my CD, I try to explain my offerings to Henry... "My friend really liked what you said about teachers and he wanted me to give you this..." He looks quizzically at the folded papers... "It's a stand-up comedy class..." This guy just got finished a 2+ hour show where he had the crowd rolling, and I'm implying he needs lessons...at least, in my mind that's how it sounded. I felt like a shmuck.
I sent the following email to Basil the next day...
Hey Basil...

I gave Henry your class thing...when I told him what it was, I believe the thought that went through his head was "hey, fuck you buddy". I'll be emailing him later to explain myself.

--Jared

Basil apparently replied on my behalf...
Henry: My sister and I are teachers and we liked what
you said about teaching. Jared handed you what I
teach - http://www.basilwhite/comedy workshop - it's
the psychology and neuroscience of how people get
jokes.

-Basil White

To which Henry replied...
Basil / Jared. It's really not for you to assume what goes through my head, fuck you or otherwise. I have the writing, the CD, all of it and I'll check it out when I get a chance if I get a chance. Thanks. HR

...Pretty cool, eh? I thought so.

Beautiful Mutants

Two Suitors for Honeysuckle

Mark Mothersbaugh's amazingly simple to do art is opening in Boston this week.

He takes old photos and basically just puts them up against a mirror to create his mutant images in the middle. Anyone can do it but then again not everyone has his eye for total weirdness (see below).

Here's the tour dates and links to galleries...

All Eye 'n' Ears

Clap Your Hands, Say Ya Wohl Backlash Continuestunin

here and here:

From Nashville Scene:

if you don’t find Alec Ounsworth’s caterwauling whiny and affected on record, check him out live. Last Friday at The Basement, he came off as the poster boy for arty pretentiousness. True, we were among the five or six people who were unimpressed, while about 150 rabid fans seemed to feel it was the second coming of The Beatles in Hamburg. Still, we’re not buying it. Talking Heads, you say? Well, yes, he’s clearly aping David Byrne, but we hear a bit of William Hung in there too. To us, Ounsworth was all quirk and no substance.

and from DCIST, while not so negative (William Hung?), comes this:

Given the praise heaped at the feet of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and the very palpable pleasure their album can induce, it's not unreasonable to hope for some of the rascally fun so vibrantly captured on record to come across live. But between the dead air, the false starts, the seeming lack of rehearsal, and the passive, inert black hole that formed in the middle of the set, that hope was dashed. These guys have the songs, but they don't have the chops. The hype rolls onward, but transcendence will have to wait.

UPDATE: This just in from Tuning Fork where Pitchperfect sees a bright side:

I went home happy because I realized something; CYHSY is like a fly strip. They can distract, collect and trap all these diehard fans and this in turn will free up the rest of the scene for those of us with taste. Ba dum bump. (Thank you, I will be here all week.)

Sorry I missed it (heh), I was rehearsing with my "band"...

Okkervil River - Buy Them a Pabst If you See Them

Former Austin music writer and Okkervil River vox/lyricist Will Scheff on his crappy life over the past three years:

“You make about one-tenth what the headliner makes. You load in and see that the headliner has smoked salmon with capers and a sushi spread and a bottle of sake in their dressing room, and the promoter forgot your 24 cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon,” he jokes. “You get no soundcheck. You’re not allowed to play at the same volume as the headlining band. The audience is made up almost entirely of kids who just want you to get the hell off stage. But it’s helped us a lot.”

With Black Sheep Boy, however, the word-of-mouth is getting louder. It’s Scheff’s favorite Okkervil album, but he suggests their emergence is a product of spending three years on the road. Last year, he didn’t even bother paying for an apartment.

Drugs R Nice Tour Dates

Don't ask me how she expects to do Philadelphia and Baltimore simultaneously. I am told skits will be done with audience members. There's a big invitation bash-only in Williamsburg later in the month sponsored by those reprobates at Nerve.

Updates will appear at one of those annoying Myspace sites (at least it doesn't blare music at you). The address is myspace.com/drugsarenice.

Oct 22 2005 3:00P
AS220 Providence, RI

Oct 23 2005 8:00P
Robin's Philadelphia, PA

Oct 23 2005 10:00P
WMUC Baltimore?, MD

Oct 24 2005 8:00P
Warehouse Next Door Washington, DC

Oct 25 2005 7:00P
KGB New York, NY

Oct 25 2005 10:00P
Galapagos Williamsburg, NY

Oct 31 2005 8:00P
Club Europa (Buzz) Boston, MA

Nov 10 2005 9:30P
il corral Los Angeles, CA

Nov 11 2005 7:30P
Modern TImes San Francisco, CA

Nov 12 2005 8:00P
Dunes Portland, OR

Nov 13 2005 6:00P
Confounded Seattle, WA

Letters to Lisa

Dear Lisa,

So I was just thinking - isn't it great that Swing Dancing is over? I like Zoot Suits but not on 20-somethings (well, now they're 30-somethings). Then there was that Country line dancing craze 10 years ago. That really sucked. I remember watching some guy with a cowboy hat spreading sawdust on the bar floor. He wore a Garth Brooks style get-up and was so self-important about his role in this (then very hot) bar. I was reminded of Roadhouse. But back then it was hard to meet girls unless you did that crap.

I hope they bring back bird-cage dancing, now. At least just for guys only. And they have to wear mascara and mini-skirts or none of the girls will talk to them. I'd do that, yeah. Or maybe French Sun God solo dancing where you dress up in gold frills and vogue as if you are in an 18th century portrait.

Oh, I saw a dead body today along the highway. He, obviously a he, was laying in the back seat of a car that was scrunched up and flattened and the door was off. He was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and had white socks and sneakers on. All you could see was his torso and bent legs, the rest of the body was prone and apparently had flown back into the trunk area with the omni-directional violence. I cut off the CD and drove the rest of the way to work in silence. The image is still with me and people at work asked me what was wrong even though I didn't think I was outwardly showing anything.

I see hundreds of people get killed on TV in a week and can hardly remember this beheading from that disembowelment to that stabbing but that boy with his bent legs probably driving around with his friends or Mom before school...

See you soon,

Jim

American Analog Set to break up?

I guess the cooler kids don't keep together after all...

Christian Neuman says it ain't so bad, tho...

A movie and more from Steven Van Zandt

here's the link:

The film is a 3-D version of the 2004 "Little Steven's International Underground Garage Festival." That's Little Steven as in Steven Van Zandt, actor/guitarist/radio personality/producer.

The movie was directed by Chris Columbus and among its participants were Bo Diddely, Iggy Pop and the Stooges and the New York Dolls (making their first national appearance in more than 20 years).

The movie has had a few token screenings, but for the moment, it is sitting on a shelf.

"It's a financial thing," Van Zandt says, adding that "it's a long story. But what it comes down to is that our financing fell through so right now we can't do much with the film because it's going to take $3 million to get it released."

Has a Music Critic Ever Been Stalked By a Blogger?

Coolfer asks that question about me! Moi! I only want the best for J. Freedom.

If you think I'm bad (I'm not), check out Chris Stigliano and his most recent vitriol and wild-spitting spew against Jay Hinman and Dave Lang of Agony Shorthand and Lexicon Devil, respectively - here's some excerpts - read the rest here:

AGONY SHORTHAND-Some of you readers may think I have a bee in my bonnet about not only this particular blog, but its "creator" who goes by the moniker Jay Hinman. Well, you readers certainly are astute. Yes, Jay has said some pretty vile, unsubstantiated and downright nasty things about me and egged on his legion of toadies who follow his every butt-drip with regards to spreading some downright falsehoods about myself, my tastes and my personal life based on some gross exaggerations I'll be mentioning later on, but somehow I just can't fault the guy. After all, being an "intern" for the flaming drug-hazed socialists at SOUND CHOICE would have a dangerous impact on a young and impressionable brain such as Jay's, and it's pretty obvious that Hinman's stay with this "legendary" OP spinoff has warped him to the point of no return.

(snip)

But maybe I shouldn't be that hard on the guy even though he seems like the total wuss what with a wife and kid and a job/life straight out of some Peter Bagge comic. Like Fredric Wertham said about even the lowliest crudzine, there may be something of worth in there somewhere, and I'm sure that if you comb through AGONY SHORTHAND's massive archives you might find something an average BLOG TO COMM reader would want to learn about. Of course you'll have to fight your way through hundreds of posts on such lightweights as Mission of Burma and Come mixed in with the obligatory c&w and black music posts which are presented just so's Hinman can come off multicultural and all, but they even found a few good people in Sodom and you just might find a few good reads therein as well.

LEXICON DEVIL-Hoo boy, what else can I say about this living fart personified? Here I go, being so aw-shucks innocent enough as to actually THINK that old Dave here was a true-blue dyed-in-the-wool and whatever other hackneyed cliche you can come up with fan of me and my magazine, sending him mags and tapes while actually honoring his supposedly valued opinions on things both music-related and not, and what does the ol' sphincter go 'n do? None other than write up some big hate-filled screed attacking me and my mag for a slew of modern-day group-sins like racism (yeah, especially with all that racist avant garde jazz coverage I've given over the years), sexism (which makes me wonder what part of the body Dave's wife whips him with) and homophobia (which I never thought was a sin, at least compared with the rampant homophilia that's all the rage these days) but that was long ago. I'm still mad about it, not only because once you get down to it I don't think Dave would be any more of a "man" about these things than I am (though I dunno, since he might come off like that liberal white guy in some R. Crumb comic who, when being murdered by a gang of blacks, can only mutter "I can understand where you guys are coming from"), but because getting the "Et Tu Brute" treatment from him dragging up old feuds of the past (re. the YOUR FLESH flack which he purposefully misrepresented) and all that crap on his part really stung. And after all that brouhaha, the dil still doesn't get it as to why I was totally unhinged by his betrayal! Dave, since you're always mentioning just how the "fire will never go out" in my mind all I have to retort is...why should it?

(snip)

At least the boy isn't posting as much as he used to, though right when I get all excited thinking that Dave has done the most honorable thing he could and hung himself the marsupial either posts a silly retort on some site or enters another useless entry on his blog usually regarding some disc we've heard about for years on end that he swiped from his brother! If Australians were any real sort of he-men they'd capture this great menace to their national pride and treat him with the same care and handling that their forefathers used to give to rabbits. I dunno, but I wouldn't mind a Dave Lang pelt hanging on my wall...howzbout yours???

Wait there's more!

From ForcedExposure.com - of course, better prices/shipping may be found elsewhere.



ANIMAL COLLECTIVE: Feels CD (FAT SP011CD) 13.50
"Following last year's widely acclaimed Sung Tongs album and more than a year of snowballing momentum, Animal Collective return with an eagerly-anticipated new album -- a truly stunning, inviting, often heart-warming experience. Feels is the band's seventh album to date -- their sophomore effort for FatCat -- and sees them again kicking off from their previous release to explore another different direction. Where Sung Tongs was largely acoustic-based and the product of just two members of the Collective (Avey Tare and Panda), Feels is in contrast a full group effort (also including Geologist and Deakin). Moving further away from the suggestion of folkish affinities; it is electrified, rhythmically more urgent, and overall a considerably denser work. Those sweet melodies and big catchy hooks remain intact, and the songwriting is once again bold, brave and adventurous, as ever indelibly stamped with their own unique personality. Hugely inventive and tightly focused, Feels simply sounds like nothing else right now."



ESPERS: The Weed Tree CD (LOCUST 073CD) 14.00
"When discussions were first taking place for a teaser album before Espers' next 'proper' studio full length, it didn't take any of us long to agree on the timeliness of an album of cover songs. Over the last few years while out on the road supporting their self titled debut, audiences were floored by renditions of traditionals like the bittersweet 'Black is the Color' or the intergalactic take on master traveler Michael Hurley's 'Blue Mountain.' An album of covers & traditionals was a perfect plan. Simple, no big deal. Selections were made: Hurley, Nico, Durutti Column, Blue Oyster Cult, trad cuts inspired by Bert Jansch & the Famous Jug Band & a new original called 'Dead King' -- a single dispatch from the future -- would fill out the album. We could call The Weed Tree yet another exemplary example of acid folk, baroque psych or sunshine pop with a sinister edge but none of this brings us any closer to giving meaning to a mess of unexplainable tears -- the result of the old happy/sad life humdrum that, by now, is a personal blueprint for an album gifted with the arch beauty of the Weed Tree. So, The Weed Tree is an album between the stations but, as transitions go, this is just further proof that Espers are at the nadir of what makes music meaningful & meaning matter in music today."



BOARDS OF CANADA: The Campfire Headphase CD (WARP 123CD) 16.00
"We are extremely proud to announce that Boards of Canada have finished their new album -- their first release since 2002's Geogaddi. The album is very much classic Boards, building on themes and sounds that can be heard in their intervening remix work for Beck, cLOUDDEAD and Boom Bip."

More New Stuff

These from Darla.com

CALVIN JOHNSON	Before the Dream Faded...	cd	$12.00
K 789856117024. Ten new songs from Calvin Johnson, compiled on his second album as a solo artist. Calvin's first album, What Was Me (KLP117) is a Spartan kalang of guitar and voice; Before the Dream FadedŠ is a collection of collaborations, with a slate of guest producers including Khaela Marricich (the Blow), Mirah yom tov Zeitlyn, Johnny Jewel (Glass Candy) and Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie) livening things up the with their ideas about arrangements and textures. Other guest players, including Adam Forkner (Yume Bitsu, VERSION), Jona Bechtolt (Y.A.C.H.T.), Warren Lee and Devin Welch (Chromatics, Shoplifting) add a psychic twist, dramatizing all that is unholy in the Olympia underground schematic. This album was recorded at the Dub Narcotic studio in Olympia, Wash., except "I am without", recorded by Johnny Jewel at his D/E/A/T/H D/I/S/C/O studio in Portland, Ore., and "Delverance", recorded by Phil Elverum, Nowhere, Anacortes, Wash. Calvin Johnson is the founder of K and operates the Dub Narcotic Studio, where he has recorded such stalwarts as Mirah, Tender Forever, Yume Bitsu, the Gossip, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Old Time Relijun and Fitz of Depression. He has released numerous records with the bands Beat Happening, Dub Narcotic Sound System and the Halo Benders, and toured across the United States scads of times, and will continue to do so after Before the Dream FadedŠ is released.

GAY FOR JOHNNY DEPP	Blood : The Natural Lubricant	cd	$9.75
Captains Of Industry (UK) 5060074030247. 6-track CD mini-album, limited to 1000 copies. For fans of: Converge, Instruction, The Locust, Blood Brothers. This release features a number of guest vocalists including members of The Copperpot Journals, Instruction, Hundred Reasons & Codeine. This is the world’s first ‘homocore’ release – an all-male punk/hardcore band singing explicity pro-homosexual anthems! Gay For Johnny Depp feature members of popular US bands Instruction, Garrison and Errortype:11. Band to tour the UK in October 2005 to coincide with this release. Cover art is done by legendry punk photographer Bert Quierioz and features an image of a teenage Ian Svenonius (Nations Of Ulysses, Make-Up etc). Press: Their 2004 release ‘Erotically Charged Dance Songs For The Desperate’ (2004) received great reviews in Kerrang!, Rock Sound, Metal Hammer, Terrorizer DrownedInSound, Punktastic expect the same here. The label has been promised a feature on the album by The Sun and is also targeting the British tabloids (who may deem the songs controversial) and the gay press. Emma Johnston has guaranted the release airplay on Steve Lamacq show (Radio 1), on which she guest. We’re also targeting Zane Lowe, The Lock-Uop, Radio 1 Rock Show, Total Rock etc. Reviews to run or already ran in Kerrang (3k), Rocksound, NME, Terrorizer, Spill, Bizarre, Playlouder, CMU. The Fly and loads of Fanzines. More still TBC. Marketing: Rock Sound CD cover mount. Terrorizer cover mount cd in Oct. A number of humerous marketing ploys including fake prostitute’s calling cards, spoof gay chat-lines, a fictional ‘back story’ press release from an avid Johnny Depp fann. We also hope to receive words of encouragement from Johnny Depp himself! www.gayforjohnnydepp.com “One of the best punk outbursts of the year….” – KKKKK / Kerrang! “ A brilliant mess - imagine a precision mathcore act without the precision..” – Metal Hammer.

SKYGREEN LEOPARDS, THE	Jehovah Surrender	cd ep	$8.00
Jagjaguwar 656605209227. The Skygreen Leopards present Jehovah Surrender, a six song EP that documents the changing of seasons in a world of whippoorwill moans. Electric guitar howl like a farmers hound, fuzz bass stampedes, and drums trot and gallop like the finest of wild horses. Donovan & Glenn write: "Not long ago the band was visiting a friend in Port Costa, California. After sharing a bottle of wine and enjoying the moonlight dances of his two daughters-the friend wanted to share a secret. He pulled an oversized key out of his overalls pocket and lead them out back to his shed. In the shed was an ancient drumset and a cobwebby electric guitar. The man said he knew Arlo Guthrie and that he was once in a band called Hobo Splendor.Well that's all it took for the Skygreen's to lose their hearts and heads to a new muse.We played All the Young Dudes and Hobo Jesus Blues all night long and the daughters danced ballroom. This e.p. is inspired by the man from Hobo Splendor-get better my friend!"

Phantom of Burma

Tired of standing around at clubs waiting for bands to start and sucking in other people's smoke, cell phone conversations (or watching that text messaging diddling) or trying to reserve that aural/visual "sweet spot" and having some galut and his shrill wife stand in front of you yammering on during the set? Wanna instead sit inside a theater and still listen to some cool music?

Well, there's Alloy Orchestra - Roger Miller (Mission of Burma)'s side project to provide live musical soundtracks to movies. He was doing it long before Kim Gordon made it cool (although in her defense, she also produces the films she accompanies).

They're on tour - alas, no DC dates - we are so culturally impoverished (he wrote mere steps away from the Kennedy Center) but I'm sure they'll get back here someday. They're covering Phantom of the Opera, Hitchcock's Blackmail and Speedy.

From the Cornell Sun:

Ken Winokur [founding member, clarinet, junk percussion] describes Blackmail as “the best of Hitchcock’s silent films” because “it’s fabulous in the way that Hitchcock films are: incredibly tense and on the edge of your seat. The story has a slow development, which inspired one of our first more subtle scores.”

And the score for Phantom? Winokur admits, “This film was unlike any that we had done before.” Because music was already such an established portion of the movie, the ensemble found that they often had to build off of pre-existing, determined aspects of the storyline. According to Winokur, “There was one scene where everyone is dancing to the opera, Faust and it seemed obvious that we needed to utilize that music. So we decided to use several scenes from the opera by Gounod and rendered our own orchestrations to it.”

“The biggest challenge,” explained Winokur, “was not to overwhelm the movie with junk metal procession. We’re playing a lot more melodic stuff but when the big chase scenes come, we’ll definitely bring out the big drums again.”

Phantom of the Opera on DVD

Aquarius New Releases

Here are some releases from Aquarius that have caught my eye. My comments are in italics/bold.

Leviathan aren't your normal underground metal - more noise/wierdness quotient to them...

LEVIATHAN Howl Mockery (Moribund Cult) cd 14.98
Everyone wants a glimpse into the blackened Leviathan vaults, containing the legendary 20 or so cd-r's and cassettes recorded and released during the years 2000-2002, early demos that played more like full-on proper albums, hell they WERE full-on albums, highlights of which were released as the two disc Verrater (soon to be repressed!) on tUMULt a few years back. But Wrest from Leviathan has made it clear that those were then, and averaging a new release every few months, including full lengths and splits, is now. Well, that is, except for this. Probably your only chance, outside Verrater, to hear where it all began. Howl Mockery At The Cross is an essential shard of the mysterious obscured blackened history of Leviathan, and while sonically a bit rougher than the more recent records, it's still a dark and twisting, buzzing and howling serpentine trip through the black, bleak and brutal sonic world of Wrest and Leviathan. Some of these tracks were actually first choices to be included on Verrater, but at the time Wrest had planned on re-recording them. But with each new record, and after a few aborted attempts, the idea of going back to old songs seemed less and less appealing. So this is now the only place to hear those amazing tracks. Lots of that blackened buzz we love so much, but as with all Leviathan records, there are plenty of distinctly un-BM parts all over the place: dense mathrockisms, blissed out droning breakdowns, sludgy doom, bizarre times signatures, impossibly complex drumming, mournful minor key melodies, that immediately recognizable heavily affected demonic howl, all twisted into a gorgeously dark and demented, moody and murky blackened squall. Even includes a Death In June cover, properly drenched in buzz and blackness, so much so that it sounds like it could have been penned by Wrest himself. Striking metallic silver cover with the Leviathan upside down cross and dripping moon logo.
MPEG Stream: "Lycanthropus Rex"
MPEG Stream: "The Axis And Maw Of Inferno, Mine"

My stomach rarely agrees with a lot of the Pitchfork/Stereogum/Fluxblog crap-hype (even if it's not always record industrie hype) but Dungen's "Panda" is among my fave cuts of this past summer (and Ta Det ain't no slouch overall) so I'll probably take a swing at this reissue of their 2nd release even if it seems a bit TOO retro - and probably this and their first release is where they got that tag - Ta Det in my mind is NOT retro but a whole new beast.

Not to take away business from Aquarius but CD Universe has a much better price for Dungen if you aren't feeling too philantropic towards the best music store in San Francisco.

DUNGEN Stadsvandringar ( Astralwerks) cd 15.98
Huzzah! This is not only finally available again, but it is now also a much more economically priced domestic release! We used to stock the Swedish import, back before Dungen got popular enough to have US releases, but it went out of print pretty much exactly just before most people over here realized they wanted one. For all of you who have been digging Dungen's much-hyped third album Ta Det Lugnt or the recent cd reissue/expansion of their self-titled debut, but haven't yet had the opportunity to delve into the psych-pop wonders found on Dungen's second album Stadsvandringar, well here it is at long last!! It's probably our favorite Dungen release, at least as good or better than those other records. Here's what we said about it back in 2003 when we first listed it as an import:
Dungen's Stadsvandringar is Allan's new favorite cd (favorite new cd?). After a couple listens, he was well and truly hooked. Dungen is a Swedish band and what they play is Swedish retro psych-pop. Really really good Swedish retro psych-pop! This disc is, apparently, Dungen's second album after a vinyl-only effort that started a buzz. It looks and sounds perfectly '60s (or early '70s) with a front cover photo-collage in which wunderkind bandleader/singer/guitarist/songwriter Gustav Ejstes could be a dead ringer for a long-haired Owen Wilson. Musically, it sure casts a spell that that's definitely not-of-our-era... with sugary vocal refrains, wild fuzz guitars, Hammond B-3 organ riffing, lush arrangements, and some quite lovely flute bits (gettin' a bit proggy there, nothing wrong with that). Hints of trad Swedish folk music show up as well, not unlike that Arbete Och Fritid, one of Dungen's Svenska psych-prog-folk forefathers. The vocals are all in Swedish, and are sorta nasal, but good. Overall, this disc is just magical, convincingly retro yet standing on its own songwriting-wise. Melodically it's just as irresistable as the latest from Dungen's pal Bjorn Olsson, also reviewed here recently, but of course Dungen is more of a psychedelic rock thing. Imagine, maybe, if you can, something somewhere between the Kinks and Caravan, circa '69, with Swedish singing... Or just take Allan's word for it, this is great!
MPEG Stream: "Stadsvandringar"
MPEG Stream: "Solen Stiger Upp Del 1 & Del 2"

MONO / PELICAN split (Temporary Residence) lp 11.98
As some of you already probably know, this limited 12" is a split release on both NYC based post rock label Temprorary Residence, and now-L.A. based thinking man's metal label Hydra Head. Accordingly there are about 7 or 8 different versions, some on Hydra Head, some on TRL, some with different colored labels, but you know what? That's just tough. We have to draw the line somewhere, and it's now right here. We have about 30 copies of the Temporary Residence version, which is already out of print. When we run out of these, we might get some of the HH version(s). Not sure which ones. This collectable vinyl business is beginning to obscure the whole reason we all buy records, because we love music, and we love to hear amazing music, and this record is absolutely fantastic. So try to stop worrying about the color of the vinyl or the number pressed or any of that stuff and just pick this up because it's so damn beautiful. Pelican deliver a massive slice of gorgeously grandiose post rock, sweeping and emotional, melancholy and but weirdly hopeful with its minor key arrangement. Not a trace of 'metal' to be found here. Which is fine by us. Imagine a slightly heavier version of the song that plays during the final scene at the end of the movie, after the boy has gotten the girl and we finally realize everything is going to be okay. It sounds a little like that. Really beautiful. The second track makes up for it though, as James Plotkin (Khanate, Joy of Disease) takes Pelican at their dirgiest / sludgiest and adds tons of extra grind and grit and grrr and effects and crumbling distortion and malfunctioning electronics. Like your favorite Pelican song dipped in blood and rolled in the dirt. Wow.

Mono, who are often touted as being metal, stick closer to their mighty epic post rock sound with a sidelong track that is as Godspeed You Black Emperor as a non-Godspeed band is likely to get. Brooding and melancholy, building to a huge explosive coda, before drifting back into a creeping maudlin dirge, that sort of drifts and fades into the dark. So nice. And as we mentioned before, far too limited.

BELIEVER October 2005 (McSweeney's) magazine 8.00
Latest issue of what is quickly becoming one of our favorite magazines (for all things political, musical and all the other stuff we like to read about). This time around: the eerie similarities between the '20's horror masterpiece Nosferatu and the Bush administration, Mamet examines three unlikely geneologies of bastard idioms, some popular 'meat writing', the story of John T. Smith's legendary biography and his quest for vengeance, interviews with Bob Mould, David Sedaris, Peter Fitzpatrick, Lorrie Moore, Nick Hornby reads Voltaire, how to build a golem and so much more!




FALL, THE The Complete Peel Sessions 1978-2004 (Castle / Sanctuary) 6cd 67.00
Besides the Sun City Girls, Guided by Voices (in the nineties) and Elton John (in the early seventies) few artists have been as prolific as The Fall. Legendary radio man/music enthusiast/art supporter John Peel once mused that the only thing he feared about death, was that he would miss the newest Fall release. Point blank: HE LOVED THE FALL. And since his BBC weekly radio show always featured a live recording by a band of his choice, he showed his love by featuring The Fall more than any other band EVER. For over 25 years he had The Fall on his show more than the Undertones, more than T-Rex (and everything Marc Bolan), more than any other band. And what's so interesting about The Fall, is that there are so many different versions of the band within that quarter century, shifts in lineup, sound, outlook, but always remaining obviously and distinctly The Fall: the early years, the Brix years, the post Brix "disco" years, the return to form yearsÓ and yet, with every era, Peel was able to capture a rawness and immediacy that, in a way, defined the band better than any of their recordings. Thus, this relatively inexpensive six CD set with 47 page booklet is a true treasure. Not all the hits are re-recorded here, but each and every version of the band is represented and the sessions scream off of each cd with a freshness that will certainly and permanently convert any non-Fall enthusiast and cause any and all Fall enthusiasts to stay indoors listening for the next month or two. Beware...some of the versions of your favorite Fall songs are blissfully extended and completely twisted and there just may be some songs you have not heard elsewhere. This box set is a must-have item (right up there with the Stooges' Funhouse Box).

Pollard Signs to Merge

From Soulshine -- described as Canada's Essential Guide to New Music -- and here I thought that was Said The Gramophone.

GBV’s Robert Pollard Signs With Merge Records

Published: 2005-10-14

Now that Guided By Voices have officially packed it in, former frontman Robert Pollard has signed a solo deal with Merge Records, the Chapel Hill indie run by half of Superchunk and current home to Montreal’s Arcade Fire. Appropriately, given Pollard’s notoriously prolific songwriting facilities, his first release for Merge will be a double album.

Entitled From A Compound Eye, the two-disc set will be released on January 26 next year, with Pollard telling Billboard that the opus contains “all four P's: pop, punk, prog and psychedelic.” The album, a 26-track affair, will be followed by a tour; details for that have yet to be revealed.

the rest is here

Image swiped from Off Records

Jack White: He's Totally Diesel

VV Blogger: Status Ain't Hood (whatever) played tall Conan in a White Stripes - Michael Gondry video, gave cigarettes to Meg, observed Conan's age lines and says Jack White is "dorky" and paints on his 'stache - writes about it here:

Jack White: I was vaguely hoping that he'd be as weird and introverted as he seems, but no, he's pretty normal and sort of dorky. He was always excited, always running around the set and asking Gondry questions and eagerly watching the playbacks of the takes. I didn't hear him talk about old blues records or furniture or the evils of technology once. His wife, the model Karen Elson, was there, and she kept asking me if I wanted to sit down whenever she saw me clomping around in those bigass shoes. Near the end of the shoot, my brother ran up on her and blurted out: "Yo, are you Jack White's wife?" She walked away without saying anything, and Jim was pissed about it for the rest of the night. Jack's pencil-thin Vincent Price mustache is either mostly or entirely painted on, so he doesn't look all that freaky when he doesn't have makeup on (though he did end up looking like a Scandinavian metal dude in the cell-phone pictures that my brother took with him). He's also totally diesel; it's not so surprising that he was able to beat down that dude from the Von Bondies so hard.

More on O'Rourke/Sonic Youth Break Up

Billboard confirms - and says O'Rourke wants to go into film? Being in the group didn't seem to stop the other members from doing film... but whatever - as I've said before much as I dig O'Rourke's solo stuff and other collaborations, I was never really sure what he added to the group and the anti-change gene in me always looked askance at a five-person config for this band.

Sonic Youth will record its next studio album without the aid of multi-instrumentalist Jim O'Rourke, who has been part of the band on stage and in the studio since 2002's "Murray Street." Guitarist Lee Ranaldo tells Billboard.com O'Rourke is planning to devote his full energies to his own recording projects as well as forays into film.

"Jim is going through a lot of different stuff personally and about where he sees his future," Ranaldo says. "He's really interested in pursuing stuff outside the musical arena, particularly film work. Not necessarily soundtrack work, but making films and getting involved in that community."

Would Someone Please Kill Punk Rock Now?

Special to the Journal-World

Unknown Stuntman singer Nic Beck performs a song from the band’s new release, “Natural Male Enhancement.”

The members of Unknown Stuntman know all about old school punk because they were there to see it.

“We wanted to play music like what we grew up on, maybe a little more refined, but nothing over two minutes long,” says guitarist Jeremy Sturgell.

During the year it took to craft the new record, “Natural Male Enhancement,” one member of Unknown Stuntman got married, then divorced; one’s wife had a baby right before recording began; and one had a child while the band was in the studio. The CD release will be celebrated today with a live show at The Replay Lounge, 946 Mass.

“The main themes are anti-Bush, substance abuse and our genuine love of punk,” Beck says. “The rest of the guys don’t necessarily share my political views, but they let me write what I wanted to.”

“Just because we knew you’d sing it anyway,” drummer Travis Alderson says, laughing.

Beck’s struggle with substance abuse appears in the song “Give It Away,” which includes a sample from Burt Reynolds’ “Smokey and the Bandit.”

Sigh...

Dance of Death Radio show

Felix Havoc, ex-DC Scenester, now of Minneapolis-based Havoc Records has a great tribute/history show to DC Hardcore here (RealPlayer - Oct 11 2005) - I've been listening to it this morning, great mammaries... both real and imagined...

playlist should be posted soon on the Radio Riot homepage

(h.t. Pete Scholtes who review the 9:30 club film which is showing in Minneapple - click on photo for link).

Punker responsible for Hoax of the Year/Decade?

JT LeRoy - the author who took the literary world by storm with his hardluck short stories, was given a high-vis profile in the New York Times, partayed with Madonna, Courtney Love and more is a big skinny phony and his aclaimed writing apparently the work of hardcore punk band denizen Laura Albert (Thistle, Daddy Don't Go). The hoax may have had roots in a song by SF punk Daddy Don't Go ...

Links
Wash Post
Museum of Hoaxes
Thistle band page (JT Leroy is listed as lyrics writer, Albert used to be "Speedie" the lead singer but has since been replaced)
LeRoy website
Laura Albert was also a contributor (photographs, oral history) to this book
From the article that broke the story: Who is JT LeRoy:

But Thistle is not precisely a new band. Years before Thistle emerged around LeRoy, it had played around San Francisco as Daddy Don’t Go. This history is never acknowledged in JT’s interviews, stories in which he takes on a central role in the impetus to form a band. The members of Thistle themselves use pseudonyms: Astor is the stage name of the guitarist Geoffrey Knoop, and his wife, Laura Albert, goes by Speedie. She, however, is just the original Speedie, more recently replaced as singer by a new Speedie, Jennifer Hall, an actress who starred on HBO’s Unscripted.

If you’re confused already, it’s probably intentional. It is the original Speedie, Laura Albert, who is referred to as “Emily Frasier” in the New York Times article about LeRoy, where she is described as an outreach worker “who survived the streets herself” and rescued him around 1993, when she found him wandering into traffic in a psychotic haze. She turned him over to Dr. Owens and, not having the best sense of boundaries for a social worker, invited him to live in her “converted squat.” Although Eric Wilinski also knew Laura as Emily Frasier, the only other traces I could find of the name are reviews she left on Amazon.com. “We Demand a Sequel!” she says about Sarah. “This is the most extraordinary and lucid book I’ve read in a long time.”

This is a group that delights in playing with identities. Although the band’s Website claims Geoffrey is 30, he was born in 1966 and attended Lowell High. ... Daddy Don’t Go recorded one number, and another, “Vicious Panties,” was performed by Laura and “Jeffrey Kaos.” The scenario involves Laura calling Kaos her little girl, her little boy... enacting a relationship so similar to JT’s descriptions of his relationship with his mother, Sarah, that it is startling. As opposed to the “outreach worker” Emily Frasier, Laura says about herself in the bio: “Laura Victoria Albert, singer/songwriter for the San Francisco band Daddy Don’t Go, is a published writer, actor, ... Brooklyn girl, and not a waif.”

Smog/Newsom Tour Australia

Glistening ... Joanna Newsom sang some odd lyrics in a lovely voice (show review and more photos at Sydney Morning Herald - reg required).
photos by Dom Postiglione

King of France visits Arlington

Author/drummer Mike Azzerrad is covering his own band in his blog. Here's his take on DC's own Iota:

Steve asked me how the show was for me, and I said that I tossed my sticks in the air a lot, which is the sign that I’m happy, confident and relaxed on stage, having a good time. I could tell Steve felt the same way, too – he was kidding with the crowd, noting that one side of the audience was better looking and the other side was better dressed, which went over really well

If you've been to the Iota I think he's talking about the fact that it is a split restaurant-bar where one half of the place is a sort of yuppie restaurant (the well dressed side) and the other half is the brick-walled hipster side (the better looking side). He also notes that the food is very good - and I would second that. Arrive early for dinner and you guarentee you'll get into the show (which is first come, first serve). Next big show there for me is the return of Akron/Family in December.

Peel Tribute at UK Guardian

All month the Guardian is running articles on John Peel who died 10/26/04.

Here's a breakdown of Peel's top 20 albums (originally compiled in 1997).

Peel includes Big Black in his list:

Steve Albini's late 80s band's ear-shreddingly brutal, mechanical garage rock contains a gripping version of Kraftwerk's The Model. Peel enthusiastically embraced all Albini's later incarnations, notably Shellac. But he is best known as a producer - his credits, which include Nirvana, Pixies, Wedding Present, read like a Peel alumni. Albini strips down his artists' sound to the bare minimum, eschewing studio effects in favour of revealing the band as they actually are. An aesthetic he shared with Peel, as he recalled in a recent interview: "John Peel said something that I thought was really profound. He said when he gets a record from somebody and he doesn't like it, he assumes that it's his problem and that the band would not have made that record if there wasn't something valuable about it."

After a long hiatus...

Miss McDonald is back. Hola!

Can I Be The First To Say "Big Whoop"?

Secret's Out
Can't very well call it ROCKtober without a real rock show, right? So we're bringing in rock's golden boy, Dave Grohl, and his band for a secret show at the 9:30 Club this Sunday. Details are below (please read carefully!), and be prepared for tickets to sell out faster than you can say "Stacked Actors".

FOO FIGHTERS
This Sunday!
October 16
@ 9:30 Club
10pm Doors