It's Gonna Be A Children’s Psychiatric Hospital Christmas!

Pastor McPurvis sez: "For the past two years around Christmas, I’ve shared this wonderful album performed by the children in the Inpatient Music Therapy Program at the University of Michigan’s Children’s Psychiatric Hospital." But this year he presents an interview with Charles Whiting and Ken Michalik, two of the music therapists responsible for the concert.

By all means, if you don't have this one yet, grab it here. It's true outsider gold.

"Mr. Whiting still hears from the saxophone soloist, who credits the program with saving his life, every year around Christmas."

Pikachu Orchestra

I'm a bit too busy with holiday action to post much now, but you gotta check out Japanese madman Kaseo and his circuit-bent orchestra of Pikachu toys. Not only did he rig one of these talking (now squawking, screeching & squeeling) toys with a theremin, he even sells them - if you can read Japanese.

Kaseo - Pikachu Orchestra (video)
Kaseo - circuit-bent Pikachu (mp3, different performance)

His site has tons of pictures of his custom-altered electronic toys, and mp3s, like this Hello Kitty telephone "tune." Noise, glorious noise!

HOLIDAY FREAKIN

Thanks to one of the Grand Poobahs of maniacal music, Otis Fodder, we're walking in a weirdo wonderland with the release of HOLIDAY FREAKIN, one of the most deliriously bent collections of Christmas music ever.

Somewhere between a DJ mix and a compilation, Otis and pals mix in campy seasonal sound-bites with songs by everyone from Mae West, Raymond Scott, and Oscar The Grouch to such cult figures as French "library music"/Moog legend Roger Roger. Outsider music is well represented by the painfully sincere songwriter Gordon Thomas, Danger Woman's "Sleigh Ride" to Hell, and the kids of the Univ. of Michigan Medical Center Children's Psychiatric Hospital, who come off like a more funky version of the Newhall School District's concert. And then you've got the Chinese Kids Choir, 2 Live Jews, and some French rap to provide a little ethnic diversity. All in all, it's 23 tracks of CD-filling seasonal silliness.

HOLIDAY FREAKIN 2006

An older "Holiday Freakin" collection is available on the page as well.

ERRYMAY RISTMASCHAY

It pains me to admit this but...I think DJ Riko might have more weird Christmas records then I do.

His annual Merry Mixmas mixes are a beloved holiday tradition, and his latest might be my fave one yet, featuring songs like "Senor Santa Claus," one of those amazingly stereotypical Mexican "dialect" novelty records of the '50s (e.g.: "I theeenk").

Alongside favorites from the likes of Mark Mothersbaugh, The Partridge Family, and The Sonics, is a version of Jingle Bells sung in Pig Latin. Apparently it's from a whole album of Pig Latin Xmas songs, but I couldn't find any info about it on the web. Riko kindly sent me this song, though, claiming it's the best thing on the album:

"A Pig Latin Christmas" - "Inglejay Ellsbay"

And don't forget: The King of Jingaling and his elves are back in action over at:
Falalalala, for all your rare and unusual Christmas music needs.



Thanks to DJ Riko!

WILD MAN FISCHER & SMEGMA

Psst! Hey Mac...(looks around) Want some Wild Man Fischer?

I don't know what nice person put this stuff up, or how long it will last, but two of Larry's out-of-print albums are available as zip downloads:

"An Evening With Wild Man Fischer" pt1
"An Evening With Wild Man Fischer" pt2

His first, released by Zappa. Some of you are no doubt familiar with this one, but I had never heard:
"Wild Man Fisher and Smegma Sing Popular Songs" - Recorded between '73 & '75, Larry's "lost years" between Zappa and his Rhino Records releases, only released on vinyl in '97. Features a fantastic 15 minute destruction of Gladys Knight & The Pips' "Midnight Train to Georgia" performed with Smegma, a loose collection of loonies from the Los Angeles Free Music Society, including future Dream Syndicate member Dennis Duck.

Further evidence that pre-punk L.A. was more then laid-back hippie "soft-rock." See also: Capt. Beefheart, The Runaways, Sparks, Zolar X, Morton Subotnick, War, Charles Wright, The G.T.O.s, Kim Fowley, The Watts Prophets...

CHRISTMAS MUSIC THAT SOUNDS LIKE BICYCLES

Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" is a holiday standard, but this version of the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" has to be the finest one I've ever heard played on bicycle parts. San Francisco composer Johnny Random was hired by an ad agency to write Christmas music for a bicycle commercial, with one stipulation: the client wanted the music performed using actual bicycle parts. The 40-second result is a wonderful piece of sampling utilizing the following "instruments":

Glockenspiel & Clarinet melody = spokes.
Cello & Violin pizzicatos = plucked derailleur cables.
Triangle = disc brake hit.
Percussion = shifting, coasting, finger over turning spokes, chain pulls, braking, clipping into pedals, back-spinning, air out of tires.

Johnny Random: "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"

Which reminds me of last year's "Toolbox Christmas" album.

There's a surprising amount of bicycle music out there, as you can see here. Appropriately enough, I'm writing this after riding - just took one of my regular bike exercise trips, so, needless to say, all this has me thinkin'. Don't be surprised if you see me coming down the Burbank bike path on a bike rigged up with, like, tubas'n'shit.

CHRISTMAS MUSIC THAT SOUNDS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE CHRISTMAS MUSIC

"A Singular Christmas" is the work of one Brian Whitman, a smart-aleck from one of America's premier science academies, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As he describes it, "...what is special about Christmas music? Let’s take the objectivist view– that there is something in the composition, construction, timbre or production in every popular Christmas song that makes it fit into the genre...What I could do is try to distill holiday music down to its barest essentials. My hypothesis was that if we could figure out the dominant components of Christmas music...then yes, we’ve cracked the code — we can have Holiday Forever, a Singular Christmas." He then uses computer talk incomprehensible to me to describe what he did, but ultimately "Dozens of holiday records went into the machine, and out came the sixteen tracks you can hear today."

I suspect the song titles reflect the tracks' ingredients, e.g. "Faithful Clear" might have used "O Come All Ye Faithful" + "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear." Upon listening to these tracks, however, I was amused to find that there's nothing "Christmas-y" about them. (So much for "cracking the code.") Nonetheless, it's a nice collection of Eno/Fripp-ish ambient/industrial/drone loveliness.

Brian Whitman: "Currier and rum king" - way too short at 47 seconds - I listened to it 3 times in a row.
Brian Whitman: "Grand hotel pout twice" - beautiful shimmery-ness; also too short (1:26)
Brian Whitman: "Pum pa chestnut pies" - hypnotic drones fade in and out; a kind of "Music For North-Pole Airports"

PEOPLE LIKE US LIKE PEOPLE LIKE US

Vicki Bennett wears two hats: as host of the WFMU radio show "Do or D.I.Y.," home of all things "avant-retard," she spins everything from ethnic music to kitschy novelties to the work of experimental "composers," revealing the musics' connections and obliterating any artificial genre classifications in the process.

As People Like Us, she anticipated the mashup scene by years, creating surreal audio and visual collages that burst with an almost childlike glee, but, as on gorgeous tunes like "SwingLargo," can also be strangely moving.

Occasionally both worlds collide when she uses her radio show as a testing ground for her People Like Us releases. During one segment last Sept. 18, she mixed Hawaiian steel-guitar music, South American Indian chanting, and Carl Stalling's cartoon sound effects to such glorious effect I recorded it off the station's audio stream. When I asked Vicki if I could post it here, she said, "I laughed my head off doing that section, I actually wanted it to go on the whole hour. It is actually becoming a People Like Us track in it's own right on an album I'm releasing with Ergo Phizmiz next Spring." Yay!

People Like Us: "Do or DIY excerpt 9-18-06"

Although Do or DIY is usually a summer-season show, there will be a three hour WFMU-web special on 14th December, 6-9am EST, to be later archived as a Realplayer stream.

SCHOOL BAND FRENZY!!

There's no shortage of school music recordings floating around thrift-store land. Most are fairly tame and ordinary, but there's some real lulus out there, too. And "Newhall School District Spring Concert" is one of them.

This absolutely crazed recording features five-count 'em-FIVE elementary school bands, 157 kids in all, coming together to blow the roof off the sucka. The somewhat apologetic liner notes, presumably by music director Suzette Wenke, explain that they only had one three-hour rehearsal with all the groups together before the show. Almost every second of these performances feature dissonance, suggesting an extremely loud version of the Portsmouth Sinfonia.

Newhall is a suburb just past Los Angeles, and I'm guessing this was recorded late-'70s/early '80s judging by the inclusion of some music from the show "Annie." So big ups to the kids of The Meadows, Newhall, Old Orchard, Peachland Ave., and Wylie Canyon elementary schools. Play this LOUD!

Newhall School District Spring Concert: "The Bugler"
Newhall School District Spring Concert: "Dixie Showboat"
Newhall School District Spring Concert: "Two Minuets (Royal Fireworks Suite)"

'TARD-TRONICA, TROIS

More retarded techno, the last installment I swear! For now. You can actually dance to these, but any dj that tries to spin 'em will probably be pelted with rocks and garbage.

Barbra Streisand - "Shut The Fuck Up": Babs tells off a heckler in concert; remixed by Revo Lucian. Can't find any info on this guy, just got it off the ever-wonderful April Winchell site. Hey, I actually finally really like a Barbra Streisand song!

Baracuda - "Ass Up": The absurdity of the anatomically-difficult instructions of the lyrics makes me LAFF! Baracuda are a German duo - he plays house music, she sings the stoopid words. This track might not be available in the US - it's not listed on American Amazon, but hey look! you can get it from German Amazon.

'TARD-TRONICA, TOO!

More electro-spazz tunes to make a raver poop his pants:

Bruno & Michel Are Smiling: "Faith" - Munich, Germany loonies scream distorted vocals over music that sounds like synthesizers dropped in a bathtub, exploding, and shooting sparks all over. You may hear something resembling Michael Jackson in this one.

Gravy Train!!!: "Titties Bounce" - If a John Waters movie was an electro-pop band it might be this gleefully offensive Oakland, CA quartet. Sometimes the boys in the band sing songs like "You Made Me Gay" but usually the ladies sing tasteful tunes like this one. Somewhere, Rusty Warren is smiling.

ONE BANK

If you watch no other video this year, watch this one.

Mrs. Fab passes on tips to me here at Maniac Central, and she has outdone herself this time. (To quote the old commercial, "My wife..I think I'll keep her!") Today's incredible video shows Jim DuBois (Manhattan Consumer Market Executive) and Ethan Chandler (Manhattan Banking Center Manager) at a corporate function singing a version of U2's "One" with new lyrics commemorating Bank of America's merger with MBNA.

They couldn't be less rock'n'roll with their business attire and banking industry-inspired lyrics. But you can tell they've been playing music for years, maybe were in bands when they were younger, and never lost the dream. They're so darned earnest. The singer is truly trying to wrench out every drop of emotion from a song about...corporate mergers.

I often record the audio from videos I post here, but I dunno, I think this should really be seen as well as heard.

"One Bank"


Thanks Mrs. Fab!

RIAA: "Dirt Bacharach"

RIAA Presents: "Dirt Bacharach," a 15-track download-album pitting the lush, sophisticated melodies of Burt Bacharach's '60s classics vs the sometimes harsh sounds of modern music and life.

Some are straight-ahead mash-ups. In "Birds," The Carpenters' "Close To You" gets twisted into dark satire. Others are complex Negativland-like sound-collages, such as "Magic Moments," in which excerpts from a documentary on inner-city children are ironically juxtaposed against the corny sentimentality of Perry Como. And then there's some silly sound-effects-laden novelties, and Alanis Morrisette gets a long-overdue smack-down.

DOWNLOAD

SONG NOTES: (Many of the Bacharach instrumentals used are from the following albums: "Music Minus One: Bacharach For Pianists," Enoch Light & The Light Brigade "Spaced Out," Christopher Scott "Switched-On Bacharach")

1. Birds: The Carpenters "Close To Me," BJ Thomas "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," "Scientific American" podcast, NPR news stories

2. Always Something Rollin': "Always Something There To Remind Me" vs Limp Bizkit "Rollin'" censored acapella, which sounded dumb, hence the on-line dictionary guest vocals

3.You Oughta Shut Up:
"The Look of Love" vs Alanis Morrissette "You Oughta Know," The Cranberries "Zombie," John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) on drums, a wee bit of Dusty Springfield, sound fx, and Run-DMC saying "shut up"

4.Reach Out for the Queen:
"Reach Out For Me" vs Sex Pistols "God Save The Queen"

5. Bite The Hand That Walks On By: "Walk On By" vs Nine Inch Nails "Bite The Hand That Feeds"

6. Burning Wives: "Wives and Lovers" (performed by Frank Sinatra) vs Ministry "Burning Inside"

7. Str8 Outta San Jose:
"Do You Know The Way To San Jose" vs an AT&T Text-To-Speech version of NWA's "Straight Outta Compton"

8. I Hate Your Little Red Book: "My Little Red Book" (Love and Cal Tjader versions) vs Kelis "Caught Out There"

9. I Don't Give Paper Mache: "Paper Mache" vs the censored version of Li'l John "I Don't Give A..." which sounded dumb, hence the sound effects

10. Say A Little Prayer For Religion:"Say A Little Prayer" vs PiL "Religion"

11. Falling Away From Bond Street: "Bond Street" vs Korn "Falling Away," "Twist"

12. Guys In Love: "This Guy's In Love With You" (Herb Albert) vs Charles Bukowski "The Closing of the Topless and Bottomless Bar,""Love"

13. Magic Moments: "Magic Moments" (Perry Como) vs public radio documentary "Ghetto Life 101"

14. Beware of Poland, Baby: "Beware of the Blob," "Make It Easy On Yourself" (Percy Faith, and Walker Brothers versions) vs Foetus "Meet Me In Poland, Baby," NPR clips

15. Knowing When To Put Down the Guns: "Knowing When To Leave" vs JG "Put Down The Guns," Public Enemy "Make Love F--- War"

JOHN NORTH WRIGHT: UPDATE

We first wrote about outsider musician/would-be screenwriter John North Wright here last June. Today I received a note from FCJ, who writes, "In February of 2004, John North Wright passed away from complications related to leukemia, in a Hawaii hospital. John moved to Hawaii shortly after the release of his last album, White Widow...his personal site and related mp3 sound files were removed from the audiogalaxy servers on the day of his death. Songs from his final album are available to hear at
http://www.myspace.com/ripjnw

Friends Kill Friends issued a DVD of their "hit" movie, Suck the Cool Right Out, with a couple JNW-related bonuses. In addition to the original documentary, a segment of John reading his "Skatin' For Satan and Scratching for Survival" poem before a live audience as well as a recording of a play based off of John's works have been included."

I'm sorry to hear of his passing. But kudos to the Port Huron, MI crew for preserving his crazed rambles - there's some amazing stuff on the MySpace page, from old acoustic "hits" like "Teenage Volleyballers" to some of his last recordings performed on sub-Casio electronics, such as:

John North Wright "Down In The Land Of..." - Has something to do with Satan's, er, "schlong."

Mucho thanks to FCJ.

'TARD-TRONICA!

Say, friend, do you think electronic dance music is sterile, repetitious, and dull? Is that what's getting you down, friend? Well, if anyone was crazy enough to hire me to spin at an electro night, I'd play no-good, low-down, tasteless lunatics like:

Leslie & The Lys: The reigning queen of 'tard-tronics. You may have chuckled at the video for "Gem Sweater," her ode to Midwestern fashion victims, but her live show blows it away. Leslie is a vision in big hair, blue eye shadow, and gold pants, and video clips between songs are a hilarious peek into Middle American culture - infomercials describing how YOU can attach sequins to your sweater, preachers describing the evils of slam-dancing, and plenty more. And she does her own stunts.

Leslie and the LYs: "Gem Sweater"

mmmmyeah: "Chavfeat": This catchy bit of idiocy regarding a girl with a host of diseases is found on this completely uninformative site. (Thanks to DaDa Hokmayen for the tip!)

Captain Ahab, Los Angeles' contribution to the genre, also have no shortage of tasteless humour - check out their filthy sex rap "I Can't Believe It's Not Booty" on their MySpace page.
But "Girls Gone Wild" is genuinely great. It's actually somewhat sympathetic to those exhibitionistic video girls.

Captain Ahab: "Girls Gone Wild"

DJ Scotch Egg was profiled here before we had even heard his music. His album's now out, and he recently played here in L.A. with Captain Ahab for what was billed as a night of "Retarded Electronics." Mr. Egg is a Japanese fellow whose "instrument" is a tricked-out Gameboy which he plays while screaming obcene rants about how much he hates KFC. Could I make this stuff up?

DJ Scotch Egg: "Scotch Chicken"

You've heard of IDM? I'll take 'TDM.

THE HAUNTED BALLROOM

Weird music doesn't end with Halloween. Autumn is upon us, and as the weather gets chilly and the leaves fall, haunting mood music is perfectly appropriate all season, not just Oct. 31.

"The Caretaker" makes eerie greatness out of old '20s and '30s dance band records, playing up the inherent spookiness of old 78s by smothering them under tons of effects (echo, delay, etc), and sometimes sloooowing them down to create the soundtrack to a "Haunted Ballroom." Songs from this 1999 release such as "One Thousand Memories," "Haunting Me" and "Thronged with Ghosts" actually sound like their titles. The follow-up album "A Stairway to the Stars" features more dreamy ambient melancholy nostalgia:

The Caretaker - "It's All Forgotten Now"
The Caretaker - "Masquerade Ball"

LINK-O-RAMA: Star Trek Edition

- MaidenWine: amazingly comprehensive and handsomely designed site dedicated to the musical stylings of Leonard Nimoy. Apart from a detailed history of his musical career, it also has a fascinating newspaper & magazine clippings archive (Nimoy performed at Hollywood Bowl on the same bill as Edward G. Robinson and Richard Pryor? OH for a time-machine.)

- Record Robot, meanwhile, has been posting a lot of Nimoy's old tuneage lately, from the albums "The Way I Feel," "The Touch Of Leonard Nimoy," "The New World Of Leonard Nimoy," so you've got plenty to listen to as you read MaidenWine's archived Nimoy interviews from teeny-bopper mags like "Co-Ed."

- William Shatner rarities unearthed! The almighty YouTube is featuring Shatner performances of songs not on his legendary "Transformed Man" album - songs not heard since their original performance in the '70s. A remake of Harry Chapin's "Taxi," in particular, is a major addition to the Shatner canon - five spellbinding minutes describing an encounter between a cabbie picking up a fare, who just happens to be an old flame. He starts off fairly relaxed, by 2:37 pulls out the crazy facial expressions, and the "stoned" finale is simple can't-miss classic. I recorded the audio for your mp3-ing pleasure:

"Taxi" - live on Dinah Shore's daytime variety show.
"Taxi" mp3

"Keep It Gay" video - Actually singing for 23 inexplicable seconds; with Mike Douglas
"Keep It Gay" mp3

"How To Handle A Woman" video - An all-too-brief 1:22 Barry White-style love rap; don't know what show this is from, but dig Shat's puka shell necklace
"How To Handle A Woman" mp3

"It Was A Very Good Year" video - You may know Bill's recording of the Sinatra hit, but this performance on "The Mike Douglas Show" adds a welcome visual dimension, from the psychedelic intro to an amazing array of facial expression close-ups.

"Incubus (excerpt)" - Esparanto was a failed attempt to create an international language, but at least one film was shot in it. Not a music clip, but you gotta see Shatner in this b&w 1965 supernatural creeper. It's as strange as it gets - imagine if Bergman directed for AIP.

CALLING ALL FIENDS!

Katya from Oddio Overplay sez:

"Halloween is meant to be scary, right? Year after year we dust off the old silly 1950s and 1960s novelty records. While they are fun, they not at all frightening. Oddio Overplay put the challenge to musical artists the world over to create Halloween music that is "frightening, damaging and disturbing." No "Monster Mash," instead creepy soundtracks to a fiendish Halloween. They succeeded with CALLING ALL FIENDS! Some of these pieces will creep you right out of your skin."

CALLING ALL FIENDS!

And while we're at it:

"Night of The Alive Dead" - Whodini's "Haunted House of Rock", The Classics IV's "Spooky" and an instrumental remake by Howard Roberts, little bits of the "Night of The Living Dead" soundtrack & Beastie Boys "Alive," all served over a techno beat stompin' enough to raise the dead.

Hypocritical Disclaimer

You know, Spinal Tap weren't really that bad. If they had been a real band, they would have certainly been considered kitschy, but no more so then any number of real head-bangers. And, c'mon, "Big Bottom" is far more clever then most metal tunes: "How can I leave this...behind?" Classic! Some real bands, however, truly make me wonder. Case in point: Hypocritical Disclaimer.

The website of these Fargo, North Dakota (!) metal/noise mysterios may not have any info on the band whatsover, but it does have plenty of righteous manifestos, e.g.: "We are not music, but a way of life. Our sounds in whole are not for entertainment but are here for an alternate source of living." It also claims that they have many types of fans. Do they really have fans? And what are they like?

Seriously, the amount of drugs it must take to create music this messed-up (they make The Butthole Surfers sound like N'Synch) could medicate entire nations.

Hypocritical Disclaimer: "Filth More Mess"
Hypocritical Disclaimer: "Mastuh"



Thanks to Nick Trey!

James Blunt, You're Pitiful

Weird Al Yankovic's latest album, "Straight Outta Lynwood," will NOT be including his parody of "You're Beautiful," the sap-fest by Oprah's fave new singer James Blunt. LAME. C'mon, everyone (well, except Prince) let's Weird Al do his thing with their music, even when it's ridiculing the song, ala his "Achy-Breaky Heart" parody: "Don't you play that song, that Achy-Breaky Song."

"You're Pitiful" is, actually, not making fun of Blunt or the song, so what's the problem? Didn't you just get here, Blunt? Weird Al's been in the biz for decades - he OWNS you. He could probably have you killed if he so desired. Killed in nasty ways.

Actually, it was apparently Blunt's label that put the kibosh on it. As Al sez here: "James Blunt could still let me put it on my album if he really wanted to, but he obviously doesn't want to alienate his own record company... and my label could release the parody without Atlantic's blessing, but they don't really want to go to war with another label over this."

So Al's put it out over the inter-webs. Take that, suits!

"Weird Al" Yankovic: "You're Pitiful"

This is the greatest crime against parodies since Phil Collins refused to allow Mr. Methane to stink up one of his songs.

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

Australian tabloid fodder Peter Andre and his wife Jordan recently recorded a duet version of the song "A Whole New World," apparently for an upcoming Christmas album. Peter is a professional singer in that boy-band psuedo-r'n'b style. His wife is famous for...er, being his wife. Remember in "I Love Lucy" how Lucy always wanted to sing at the club with Ricky, and Rick never thought it was a good idea? Now you know why:

Peter Andre and Jordan: "A Whole New World" - Not bad for the first minute or so, until she starts singing. WOW.

To make it even more cruel, the vocals are way up in the mix, like the infamous Linda McCartney tape. The Andres, embarrassed by the leak of this song, are claiming it's a hoax. Uh huh.

OKTOBERFEST!!

It's that time of year - put on your leiderhosen, call the beer-wench over, grab a stein, and chicken-dance along to a kind of punk-oompah version of Nena's Eighties smash "99 Luftballons." It's by an Australian professional music sevice, Autopilot Productions, who claim it was done for a corporate event. Huh?! Wouldn't mind working for that company...

Autopilot Productions: "Oktoberfest"

Max Raabe is a German performer of a very different sort - he's dedicated to keeping alive the Weimer-era cabaret tradition. However, when he's not reviving the likes of Kurt Weil, he's doing covers of current pop songs in the style of 1920s Berlin. Nothing released in America yet, but German Amazon lists many albums, like "Hitpalast," in which he smoothly croons hits by Abba, Tom Jones, Britney Spears, etc. Now THESE Queen songs should be played at ballgames:

Max Raabe: We Will Rock You
Max Raabe: We Are The Champions

"A DUMB GUY SHOT MY POOP WITH A GUN..."

So singeth Tammie & Scotty, who were ages 14 and 9 when they recorded a four "song" tape in Detroit circa 1992. These acapella ravings fell into the hands of a Chicago-based radio show, "Hump Day Dance Party" who are hosting a remix contest. Songs about the joys of yelling, the fear of water, and the dangers of excreting in parking lots are awaiting your treatment. Of course, it may not be possible to improve on such wonders as

Have You Ever Been to a Parking Lot?
or
Silence is Golden - Or is it? All 4 tracks here.

UPDATE Nov. 5: Here's "Silence Is Golden" mixed with Ministry's "Stigmata"

RIAA: "I Love Noise!!"

ASIAN POP OLDIES pt.2

Another site dedicated to groovy Asian-a-go-go sounds of the '60s, Tofu Magazine's Asia Beat focuses on Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore 1964-1969. Not nearly as many mp3s available as Asian Pop Oldies, but check out the record cover scans!

"The Beatles concert in Hong Kong in 1964 marked the birth of the golden age of the Hong Kong pop scene. From 1964 to 1969, a great number of bands appeared. They sung in English, as Cantonese and Mandarin songs were considered to be old fashion. These bands normally did cover versions of songs from the UK or the US..."

And KidG sez, "Much of Singapore's music scene back in the 60s & 70s died when the govt clamped down hard on musicians due to the drug connection. Basically in their eyes, long hair hippie = drug junkie. Although it's not as serious as China's Cultural Revolution, much of Singapore's creativity when it comes to music died during that time."

Asia Beat

Our Gang!

What do you get when Michael Jackson and Gary Glitter get together and have some children over? Why, a lovely tune by UK's Bingo Starr, of course!

Our Gang! (Original Von Trapp Ending) - many, many MJ and GG songs mixed quite wickedly with selections from "The Sound of Music." If loving this song is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

Never heard of Mr. Starr before today, but he's got a lot of ace tunes, actually. "Horny As In A Morning Sunrise" makes great use of a scratchy old cha-cha record.

Thanks to Pilchard!

AVERAGE HOMEBOY pt2

Yes!

Denny Blazin Hazen sez: "Guess what? After climbing into the attic last week, I found the Original Recording of my Average Homeboy Video which includes the Intro and missing 3rd Verse!"

Average Homeboy - will try to make an mp3 of this classic available soon.

BRIDE OF MONSTER MASH-UP

"Bride of Monster Mash-Up" now available! A various-artists free download album of old records remixed/mashed-up that's scarier then a Republican boy-lover's e-mails! (All right, maybe not THAT scary...)

Features music from M4M faves like dj BC, Dj NoNo, Pilchard, Cheekyboy , DJ Earlybird, Essexboy, Solcofn, AberNstein and lots more: podcasts, videos, a bonus collection of leftovers, even a shop for shirts'n'stuff. The organizers really went nuts.

WARNING: I'm represented as well, "singing" a song called Cannibal Zombie Mom over trashy '60s rockers The Standells and The Ventures. But the rest of the album's really good.

If you don't want to bother downloading each individual song, you can listen to a mix of the whole darn thing:

Mix Of The Whole Darn Thing

LINK-O-RAMA

A collection of miscellany, including albums I've been meaning to pick up for a while, but who knows when that'll be:

Maxence Cyren: French classical pianist does instrumental versions of electronic faves from the likes of Depeche Mode, Aphex Twin, Massive Attack, etc. Quite lovely.

Teddy and the Frat Girls: From Post-Punk Junk, a site that usually offers more artsy rock like The Fall, Magazine, etc., comes this 1980 collection that makes quite a case for hillbilly punk, and not just the tongue-in-cheek stuff like Mojo Nixon or Southern Culture on the Skids. The homemade sound of the recording, primitive one-chord guitar and obscenity-laden howl of a female "singer" screaming about laxatives is actually one of the more disturbing things I've heard lately. In other words, I love it.

Musics In The Margin: Outsider-music collection features our old pals Wesley Willis and Daniel Johnston, as well as a number of unknown (to me) European artists. Interesting review here.

Your Dogs Horoscope

J.M. Nasim – The Psychedelic Jew's Harp - "As an ancient shamanic instrument, the Jew's Harp continues to be used for healing by the peoples of Mongolia and Siberia...The Jew's Harp's power as a courtship instrument from Bavaria to the Philippines alludes to a potent psychosexual association." A New Age guy plays a jew's harp thru electonic effects processors - hey, maybe some hippie music is cool!

Music From The Voids Of Outer Space

Space Brother, host of KillRadio.org's Radio Mysterioso, hepped me to some amazing stuff recently, such as the music of legendary UK eccentric Desmond Leslie. Leslie's bio includes such as highlights as being a RAF fighter pilot, punching out a film critic in front of millions on TV for dissing his wife, co-authoring one the first books about UFOs, living in Castle Leslie, and creating electronic/tape music in the 1950s. This music was never widely released, but a recent CD entitled "Music Of The Future" compiles his bizarre, fascinating Space Age sounds. Some were allegedly recorded for a film called "The Day The Sky Fell In," some from a collection called "Music From The Voids Of Outer Space."

Desmond Leslie: "Play In/Mercury, Fleet Messenger of The Gods" - Quothe Leslie, "My MUSIQUE CONCRETE is meant to be enjoyed."

I could not find any info whatsover on this Space Age rock/Latin oddity, but it's a, er, blast:

Sam Space and the Cadettes: "Take Me To Your Leader Cha Cha"



Big astro-thanks to Space Brother!

BOB VIDO: THE GREATEST FRIDGENOMETER OF ALL

Quothe Ren & Stimpy: "Happy happy, joy joy" - The Bob Vido album is now available. And you can get the whole thing for $10 on iTunes (it doesn't appear to be available anywhere else). If you're new to Vido's wonderful weirdness, here's my original post about him.

It's a Two-For-Tuesday! Two short songs I stuck together, both had me chortling out loud:

"Las Vegas Jubilee/Girls Delight" - From side one, the "song" side, as opposed to the beserk instrumental side of the album...

Now THIS is what those VH1 "Diva" Specials Should Be Like...

Wing has been busy since we last visited the Chinese/Kiwi songbird - she has two new albums, including a (be still my heart) Elvis tribute. It's everything you want and more - her trademark thick accent, high warbly vocals, and Casio-phonic production.

Wing "Suspicious Minds"

Hello, Autumn is, for now, a young lady named Bethanne from Lansing MI. But she hopes to start a band to play her songs. She claims as influences The Beatles, rappers G-Unit, and '70s punk, but I'll be darned if I can hear their influences, except perhaps the spirit, if not sound, of punk - her no-fi confessionals possess nothing in the way of traditional melody or song structure, but plenty of Shaggs-ian sincerity. Unlike, say, Rhonda or Sondra Prill, she isn't full of herself. Quite the opposite - self-deprecating songs like "You Broke Me" and "Never Getting Married" highlight some serious esteem issues.

Hello, Autumn "Superbubble" - who needs three chords when you've got one note.

And, hey, speaking of Rhonda, bet you'd like to hear another one of her songs. You don't? Too bad.

Rhonda "My Dress Code" - Don't worry, it's over in less then a minute-and-a-half.

THE RAT PACK'S BACK

Two new bits of "tech-xotica" music from RIAA:

"I Only Hustle For You" - Sinatra does The Hustle (Van McCoy); beats and Brazilian percussion courtesy of BossaCucaNova.

"Kick Bob Marley In The Head" - Dean Martin sings with little alien munchkins over Marley's "One Love." Kinda trippy.

Sammy Davis Jr. gets on a bus. Bus driver says, " Go to the back of the bus"! Sammy says, "But I'm Jewish!" Bus driver says, "Get off the bus!"

An old piano-bar lounge singer named Buddy Worth told that joke during one of his shows. That was in the early '90s; don't know if he's still around.

UPDATE: These songs are now available on the album "Tech-xotica!!"

CRAPPERS DELIGHT mp3s

I recorded the audio from the Wendy's training video, and Denny Blazin:

Wendy's training video rap

Denny Blazin Hazen - "Average Homeboy"

Enjoy!



Er, perhaps that's not the right word...how about

Withstand!

CRAPPERS DELIGHT pt2

In all the hubbub over YouTube, I have yet to hear about how it has become one of the greatest sources of strange and outside music. I mean, that's the important thing, right?

Wendys Training Video - learn how to make burgers via a hysterical, vintage-'80s rap song. Classic.

Another one I might rip the audio from to make an mp3.

FUNKY MUPPETS pt 3

Now that Phil'n'Dog's website is back up, we can take you back to the UK, year: 2003, and revel in the splendor that IS "Gay Muppet Bar." After Electric 6 released the acapella to "Gay Bar" there were jillions of mashups and remixes of it, but crossing it with the Muppet Show theme was the most, daddy. (And for some reason I'm not able to link to the mp3 - check their site under "Music.")

PROG-LOUNGE: BLUES FOR PLUTO

So Pluto can't sit in the dining room with all the grown-up planets - it has to sit at the rickety card-table with the kids. And I can't find any songs about Pluto. Are there any? On this page of mp3s, not even any of these wonderful late-'50s "Space Songs" for kids mentions the former ninth planet. Hell, even Uranus gets its own, albeit crappy, song: "Journey To The Seventh Planet," the theme song to a delightfuly bad '50s sci-fi flick*.

At least Frank Sinatra mentions Pluto (in the most disparaging of terms) in this excerpt from his most bizarre recording, "Reflections on the Future," from his 1977 3-record set "Trilogy." All of the third disk was a conceptual song-cycle by Gordon Jenkins, who practically invented the concept album - my 1949 copy of his New York-themed "Manhattan Tower" is the oldest LP in my collection.

Frank Sinatra - "Reflections on the Future (excerpt)" - a groovy trip thru the solar system; and when he sings "Uranus is heaven" he doesn't pronounce it the way you would have.




*Big thanks to the awesome Essential Ghouls Record Shelf

HALLOWEEN DAMAGE

Last year I pointed your way towards the "Ghouls With Attitude" collection of vintage Halloween tuneage. Katya from Oddio Overplay (hosts of the collection) sez:

"Everyone can still download that 2-CD set and the Martinibomb cut at OddioOverplay.com. Also, we have a scary project in the works for this year. All are invited to join us!

Boogity!"

"Ghouls With Attitude" was goofy fun, but they want genuine hair-raising chiller-thrillers this year. And to get you in the mood, they've compiled:

"Halloween Damage" - Spectacular hour's worth of horror soundtrack action.

Crapper's Delight: HC Strache

DJ not-i writes from Vienna:

"The head of an anti-foreigner right-wing party in Austria has made a rap song to reach out to, err, i guess young voters in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The title is "Österreich zuerst" ("Austria first"), sort of a variation on "Deutschland über alles." The lyrics are of course political in a very bad way ("If you don't want to be integrated, I've got a travel destination for you: Go back home, have a good flight, we have enough unemployment here.")

Anyway, you're not missing much if you don't understand German. The wackness of this guy's flow is obvious to the speaker of any language.

As you can imagine, the Austrian hip-hop scene figure he wants beef and are busy cooking up various dis songs. Hell, i might even produce something just to make more fun of this clown."

Neo-nazis always start with immigration, don't they? It's a good mainstream issue that they can use to get their foot in the door.

HC Strache: "Österreich zuerst" - Sorry I ever said anything about Average Homeboy!

THE "IN" SOUND OF JEAN-JACQUES PERREY

Legendary '60s Moog-master Jean-Jacques Perrey, 77 years young, is performing live for the first time on the West Coast this week, in support of his new album, due in September. We first wrote about it here last year.

He's performing along with his new cohort Dana Countryman of "Cool & Strange Music" magazine fame, who's also writing the maestro's biography. See them Saturday night in Seattle (oops, bit too late), at San Francisco's "Recombinant Media Labs" the 29th, and two shows in SoCal: a free(!) event at Analogue Haven in Pomona on the 30th, and the spot your intrepid reporter will be on the 31st: The Knitting Factory in Hollywood. Also on the bill: master thereminist Sukho Lee of Seksu Roba, & DJ sets by Otis Fodder of the Bran Flakes. "His show here - his first ever in Los Angeles - will feature a wealth of Perrey's anecdotes and stories as well as his one-of-a-kind music."

The cultural event of the year, no? I'm off to take my best space-suit to the cleaners - see you all there.

The worst sound in the world

Do your democratic duty and vote for what you consider to be the worst, most unpleasant sound you've ever heard. All in the name of science. Strangely enough, they don't use anything posted here.

The worst sound in the world

To whit: "Fingernails scraping down a blackboard…the scream of a baby…your neighbour’s dog barking: what’s the worst sound in the world? BadVibes is a new science project from Salford University that aims to find out just that. People can log on to the BadVibes website at http://www.sound101.org/ where they listen and vote on a collection of awful sounds, use the horrible sound mixer and even download horrible sound effects as ringtones.

But as Professor Trevor Cox from the University’s Acoustics Research Centre explained, there’s a serious side to the research as well. "The idea behind the project is to get people thinking about the complex way we listen to and interpret sounds. For instance, you can find out why we find the sound of retching horrible. By examining people’s voting patterns we will learn more about people's perception of horrible sounds. We hope to learn about what is the worst sound in the world, and maybe why it is the worst sound. It has been a lot of fun putting together the website, but I’m glad I no longer have to edit horrible things like the sound of my snotty nose!"

The project also includes an exhibit which is at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester from 7th November, and the results from the website voting will be analysed over the next six months."

Warm Bananaphones and Funky Muppets

You probably don't listen to too much children's music if you don't have to. But dig:

This one and (possible only) mashup by PF (who may or may not be from San Francisco) is one of my favorites, a LOL-out loud funny pairing of two of the most unlikely songs to ever be conjoined: The Normal's 1977 dark, droning, proto-industrial classic "Warm Leatherette," and kiddie-music star Raffi's typically cheerful, wholesome "Bananaphone," with a bit of Japan's noise combo Melt Banana thrown in for good measure. It all makes sense. Really.

PF: "Warm Bananaphone"

Another kiddie classic, "Mah-Na-Mah-Na," originally by Italy's sleazy soundtrack maestro Piero Umiliani, popularized by the Muppets, and recently remade by Cake, gets a funny, funky new life thanks to Boston's mash-meister Lenlow:

Lenlow: "Kanye Mahna" - Mr. West's "Golddigger" lesson, now aimed at the pre-school crowd; never too soon to learn about the ladies, eh, Kanye?

If you prefer the Muppet's version, Reading, UK's Pilchard gotcha covered:

Pilchard: "Macamuppet" - in which Animal does the Macarena with the Doors.

So what do professional musicians think about all this "illegal" activity in the music world? Well, Weird Al Yankovic's new album, "Straight Outta Lynwood" (release date: 9/26/06) features a track entitled "Don't Download This Song." Quothe his publicist: "...we are offering "Don't Download This Song" as a free unprotected MP3 in order to generate as many downloads as possible."

Weird Al Yankovic: "Don't Download This Song" - "You might end up in jail like Tommy Chong..."

Denny Blazin Hazen: Average Homeboy

Anyone remember Dee Dee King's album, "The Spotlight Kid"? As Dee Dee Ramone, the late, great Douglas Colvin was one of the world's greatest rock'n'rollers. As Dee Dee King, however, he was one of the world's worst rappers. But that album was "Fear Of A Black Planet" compared to the video output of the self-described "average homeboy" Denny Blazin Hazen, an unpretentious, painfully sincere Midwestern white rapper, e.g.:

"For recreation I
Like to shoot hoops
but not until I've eaten
all my Fruit Loops"

"Average Homeboy" - delivered with as much visual pizazz as is possible on a home editing system.

Again, I can make an mp3 available off the video if you sickos so desire.

HAND-FART MUSIC pt2

Some of you may recall the post last year about The Three Tendons, those clever chaps who make rude music by squeezing their hands together. A new master of manualism, Robert Wilson, was featured in this NPR radio piece, featuring tunes like

"Happy Birthday"

Some pretty incredible videos were posted as well. Gotta laff at:

"William Tell Overture" - Anyone want me to post mp3s of music taken from these vids?

Big thanks to Stymie!

MORE AND MORE NERD-CORE

Been out of state, then catching up at work, but - have no fear! - I'm back. So to make up for my absence, here's a heap o' new atrocities:

Super Mario: The Opera - Written last year by Jonathan Mann (also the voice of Mario), and performed at Los Angeles' CalArts, this isn't your grandpa's opera. Mostly-acoustic rock is more like it, with a sizeable cast playing the various characters.

"Space Crackers" is a similiarly nerdy concept from the Boston band Clawjob, but this isn't your grandpa's space-opera. Crunchy hard rock is more like it, with a sizeable cast playing the various characters.

From "Mario," "Conversation With God" has lovely, lush orchestration, complete with sitar, and existential dialogue between Mario and God, who is actually playing the video game. Huh?! (Thanks to Roman for the tip!)

"Space Pass" from "Space Crackers" features Ramones-y pop-punk, with a '50s kitsch sci-fi angle. Good fun.

THE GREAT RICHARD NIXON

Did anyone have more song-poems written about him then Richard Nixon?

A helpful Maniac emailed me this morning to remind me that on this day in 1974 a disgraced Nixon resigned as President of the United States and ask, "Wasn't there a song-poem about Nixon?" Well, Rodd Keith sang one on the "American Song-Poem Anthology," but there was plenty more - this page has seven, count 'em, seven mp3s available that sing Tricky Dick's praises, as well as dealing with other issues of the day such as the Vietnam War.

Although most would agree that this was truly a dark day in American history, Nixon still had his supporters - at least one song, "Richard Nixon in '76," was clearly written post-Watergate. I wonder if that lyric writer would still feel that way about Nixon now that more taped conversations have been released over the years, revealing Nixon in all his anti-Semetic, devious, dishonest glory. (Actually, he might like him even more!)

Gene Marshall, staff singer for Preview Records of Hollywood, seems to have been the go-to guy for Nixon song-poems, and most of these lyrics were written by one man, the clearly obsessed John Montague. Unfortunately, there's no mp3 available for "We Want Dick, We Want Dick, We Want Dick," and it's flip side "We Want Dick And Spiro, We Want Dick And Spiro, We Want Dick And Spiro."

SONDRA PRILL BLOWS KISSES TO THE UNIVERSE

Oh, this is big news.

Some of you may recall the post about Sondra Prill on Otis Fodder's 365Project. The audio to three of her songs were posted, but some saint has posted the entire oevre of Florida's public-access TV queen, 24 short video clips in all, on YouTube, documenting not only her singing (wildly uninhibited, and not bound by conventional standards of pitch), her Bride-of-Frankenstein hair and performing style, but also her, ahem, comedy talents. She plays several characters, although the biggest character would be Ms. Prill herself, who sadly hasn't been heard from much in the last 15 years.

Every clip is a jewel: decimating everything from "The Star-Spangled Banner" to Robert Palmer's "Addicted To Love," singing a duet with a guy injesting helium (!?), wearing fake plastic breasts, awkwardly flirting with an interviewer, serenading a visibly-uncomfortable caterer who happened to be on the set...the hits just keep coming.

I recorded the audio from a couple of these magical musical moments. I don't know why.

"Nasty Boys" video - Sondra does Janet Jackson with her trademark arsenal of facial expressions; you'll laugh, you'll cringe.
"Nasty Boys" mp3

"Pump Up The Jam" mp3 - proving that it is possible to rap off-key.
"Pump Up The Jam" video - Technotronic's hit set on the beach, with Sondra clad in...what the hell is that? A chain-mail bathing suit?

MORE NERD-CORE: FIRST BAND ON THE WEB

Listened to all those Dr. Who fan songs from last week? Then you should be ready to geek out on this:

A group founded by a secretary with no previous musical experience that sings about science has automatic outside-music cred, but this group can make an actual claim to history.
"Les Horribles Cernettes are the one and only High Energy Rock Band. They sing about colliders, quarks, microwaves, antiprotons and Internet," quothe their website, but they're not your usual nurds - these ladies can honestly boast to being not only the first musical group with their own website, but a picture of them was the first image on the internet. Founded by a secretary at CERN Labs in Geneva, Switzerland, they have a '60s girl-group style, even if the lyrics are incomprehesible to the layman.

Les Horribles Cernettes: "Antiworld" - "He stood up and he walked on the air...With a smile on his face he said "come on hon"/Then we jumped in hyperspace/And inversed my polarity" Aaah, so romantic...


Thanks to The Bobo!

"I wonder what a Kazoo would sound like if it was put through a wah-wah pedal?"

Haven't we all asked outselves that question at one time or another? Fortunately, two British guys calling themselves Ed Kazoo and Jim Wah (WahKazoo) decided to tackle this most pressing of concerns by doing just that. And what does it sound like? Well, as this version of the "Dr Who" proves, it sounds like a sick duck. I imagine a very drunk Donald Duck staggering around a pub singing along to a jukebox when I listen (and giggle uncontrollably) to:

Ed Kazoo and Jim Wah: "Dr Who"

Ed Kazoo and Jim Wah: "(I'm The) Urban Spaceman" - didn't think the Bonzo Dog Band could sound more silly then they already do...

I discovered these guys on this Dr Who remix page which features, apart from the expected techno remixes, some real oddities, like this sped-up acapella version of the theme done in the style of that infernal Crazy Frog. Ha!

Glenn Mullan: Doctor Who - Framster Who

Tech-xotica!

RIAA (Rockin' Internet Art Alternatives) present Tech-xotica!! - Afro-Latin mash-ups & Tiki-beatz for summer. Some old, some (like these) are new:

"It's Like That Summer Samba" - Run-DMC go bossa-a-go-go with Wander Wanderly.

"Armageddon It On (or The Gaye-Pride Apocalypso)" - Bill O'Reilly, Jerry Falwell and a gerbil get it on with Marvin Gaye over the calypso sounds of Blinky and the Roadmasters and M.I.A.'s "Galang" riddim.

"Laid Bamba" - Los Lobos does it with amorous Brit-rockers James.

It's been so frikkin' hot lately, however, I'm ready to post some Christmas tunes...

PRE-SCHOOL ELECTRONICA

A University of Kentucky music professor who invited Boston's djbc to speak at a seminar gave bc this recording of the prof's 7-year-old son, DJ French Fry, who performs solo on a MicroKorg synth. Pretty trippy stuff, and, as it's an instrumental, I have no idea what significance the title has. But I do know I'd like to hear this kid jam with Eyeball Skeleton.

DJ French Fry - I Wonder Why Elephants Have Trunks?

And here's the djbc d'n'b remix that will no doubt propel French Fry to Moby-like heights of stardom. Hey French Fry, when you hit it big, don't forget us little people!

Passion Boys make music about sexy ladie and nice music also, Yes!

Meet Hungary's belated contribution to '80s techno-pop, Passion Boys: "Szia (hello)! We Laszlo and Gyorgy come from small village is call Bataszek, very near from Budapest. We are make some music very much like name Passion Boys. We like make music about sexy ladie and nice music also."

As they say in their song "Passion Boys are Firemans":
"hello, fireman?" "yes." "I feel there is something burrrrrning." "yes." "can you come right away?" "yes, we comes."

Hey, they speak English better then I speak Hungarian: "Real music like is best from 80s. Not like modern rapping musics and no love music of computer mans...Funny story: when boy Miklos is too fat an we name he Miklos Meatlof like famos USA fatmans singer, Yes!"

Their latest tune is "Robot Sexie Time": "We make song about two robot is fall into love for first time an after make sexie!! Is for Miklos becasue Miklos is not have girl friend for so many time an is spend so too many time look picture of sexie robot like new foto!!!"

All this and more is available from their MySpace page. I think I'm the last man on earth who isn't on MySpace. This almost makes me reconsider.

TAMMY FAYE SINGS!

Singing christian puppet records. Need I say more?

Disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker, make-up victim wife Tammy Faye, helium vocals, her puppets Allie the Alligator and Susie Moppet, 6 songs no longer then a minute-and-a-half long available here.

"Praise The Lord" for such terrifying/hilarious entertainment.



Thanks to punkrecords.org!

SYD BARRETT

As I'm sure many of you have heard by now, Syd Barrett has died at age 60. Syd founded what I call the first Pink Floyd, as opposed to the second, Waters & Gilmour-led "Dark Side of the Moon"/"The Wall" Pink Floyd. The first Pink Floyd were, for a brief period in the late '60s, the wildest band in England, roughly equivalent to the Velvet Underground in the U.S. - an amazing discovery for someone like me, a typical raised-on-punk kid who thought Floyd stood for all that was pretentious and dull.

Syd was the first Floyd: singing, songwriting, guitar, heck, he gave the band it's name. When Syd became too acid-damaged/mentally ill to perform with Floyd he went from rock star to one of the first prominent outsider musicians, recording devasting solo albums that were as much musical therapy as art. After 1970, he never recorded again.

I used to listen to the first Floyd album "Piper At The Gates of Dawn" and his solo album "The Madcap Laughs" obsessively. The differences are stark. "Piper" is the world through Syd's eyes: a colorfully-produced wonderland of gnomes, living scarecrows, and spaceflight. The imagery, though phantasmagorical, is lucid.

Pink Floyd: "Arnold Layne" - who else was (is) writing songs about a clothes-stealing cross-dresser?

"The Madcap Laughs," recorded some years later, is like watching a patient through an observation window as he pathetically tries to play a guitar and sing. The meaning (if any) of the now-jumbled word-salad lyrics may befuddle the listener, but the pain comes through loud and clear: there's nothing romantic about mental illness. It's hell, like any other serious disease.

Syd Barrett: "Dark Globe"

Barrett's influence is truly inestimable: his songs have been covered by David Bowie, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Love and Rockets, REM ("Dark Globe," actually), the bands Baby Lemonade and Gigalo Aunt are named after his songs, Sid Vicious was partly named after him, and Robyn Hitchcock practically built his career on Syd's style. But, ultimately, his legacy goes beyond his music - without trying, but by simply being allowed to be himself, he paved the way for the punk DIY and outsider music traditions.

Totom: "Waving My Cactus In The Air" - not as pornographic as it sounds, it's actually Paris' mashup master totom expertly fusing Syd's "Waving My Hands In The Air" with The Pixies' "Cactus."

KOOKY KOVERS pt2: PASTEL VESPA

My GAWD, it's hot here in Los Angeles. If I can't be at the beach, then I'm chillin' to some kool 'n' kooky kover songs from the likes of Pastel Vespa, a swingin' Brazilian blonde babe now living in Australia. Ms. Vespa interpets the likes of Metallica, The Sex Pistols, and Prince with perfect '60s bossa-nova style. Compared to Nouvelle Vague (whose new album is getting blogged all over the place so you don't need me to tell you about it), she's got more toe-tappin' energy, and, of course, more authentic Brazilian flavor.

Pastel Vespa: "Blue Monday": never heard anyone else covering New Order and Joy Division at the same time - "Love Will Tear Us Apart" gets cleverly worked in.

Pastel Vespa: "Livin' on A Prayer" : the Bon Jovi hit; which gets me to wonderin' why all those '80 hair bands were usin' so many apostrophes in all the titles of the songs they were playin' and singin.' You just knew an album or song was gonna suck if it had apostrophes in the title. Would The Clash write a song called "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'"?


Big thanks to Turquoise Days!

KOOKY KOVERS pt1: CREEPY CLARINETS

One writer described the bass clarinet as sounding like "... an old, unhappy Jewish man with the flu." Despite (or perhaps because of) this, classically-trained Edmund Welles formed a bass-clarinet quartet - no other instruments allowed - and proceeded to cover songs like:

"Creep" - Radiohead have never sounded so creepy. My fave of the bunch, but you might like:

"Wild Boys" - Duran Duran have never sounded so listenable.
"Big Bottom" - You Spinal Tap fans can sing over this one: "My baby fits me like a flesh tuxedo/Gonna sink her with my pink torpedo..."

Mr Welles & Co. also cover Nirvana, Black Sabbath, The Doors and the Pixies, as well as blues, jazz, classical and original musics.