CHRISTMAS IN JULY

No stress! No shopping! No snow! Just an accordian-driven Tex-Mex polka zydeco kinda thing played at punk intensity level from a veteran group who put on a mega-fun live show. Not only will you Chicken dance, you'll Hokey-Pokey.

Brave Combo - Christmas in July
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EXPERIMENTAL KID'S MUSIC

8 year old kids playing microtonal music on their invented instruments? This - THIS - is what this blog's all about. Composer/musician Paul "Ubertar" Rubenstein teaches New York kids how to build one-string guitars, and play in African and Indonesian-inspired scales. Then they jam. Not just a novelty, this is some seriously good, unique unclassifiable music, whose contents are only hinted at by their song titles:

Ubertar + kids: Psychedelic Free Jazz
Ubertar + kids: Heavy Drone Rock - Sonic Youth, step off.
Ubertar + kids: This Is So Great - singing!

And how would you, yes you! like to get in on the action? Why should kids have all the fun? Paul sez: "I'm about to start microtonal music workshops at my music studio in Ridgewood, Queens (Dekalb stop on the L train). The first session will be Wednesday, 7/15 at 6:30 pm, and the cost is $12. People can reserve a spot by emailing me at paul@ubertar.com. It's for all levels-- total beginners through advanced."

DISCO SUICIDE

The Disco Demolition event was 30 years ago tomorrow, so here's a sequel to "Disco Sickness," one of my 365 Project contributions and, actually, one of the most popular internet projects I've done. This fascinating 8 minute video of various Chicago news clips details the anarchic event that put the stake in disco's heart (in America at least).

These tunes are funny, awful, sometimes both. Mad Magazine's "It's A Gas" is downright disgusting. Whether they're humorous parodies, kitschy thrift-store atrocities, foreign interpretations, or downright strange outsider oddities, these tunes are never less then highly entertaining. Some I got off the web, such as a couple of other 365 Project contributions, but they make sense in the context of a big sick disco party. And if you liked Myron Floren's disco polka or the Brazilian disco samba from the first collection (or even if you didn't), there's more here - leftovers I recorded off my vinyl but didn't have room for. Lots of covers, even a Kate Bush tune sung by a Japanese group - a true "wtf" moment. I got the sound off the video (that I can no longer find on YouTube) so audio's a little poopy. But it must be witnessed.

Disco Suicide

Disco Suicide - MAD Magazine (Norm Blagman, Dick DeBartolo)
Get Up And Boogie - Marimba Orquesta Virreynal De Hugo Reyes
Star Wars Theme - The Wonderball Disco Orchestra
R2D2_C3PO_Disco - Music for Children's Disco
Popeye Disco - Pam Todd & Love Exchange
Disco Hotline - National Lampoon
Disco Charlie Brown - Springbok Hits
Disco Communist - Semi-Not
Rolling The Ball (Them Heavy People cover) - Yukari Itô and Hatsumi Shibata
Pinball Playboy (Playboy Theme) - Cook County
Things We Said Today - Joah Valley
Yiddishco - National Lampoon
Barbeque - Joe Cutajar
Love Is Blue-Lovers Concerto - Myron Floren
Height Report Disco - National Lampoon
I Was Born To Disco - Strawberry Shortcake
It's a Gas (disco version) - MAD Disco
Disco samba2 - Freddy Ventura
Disco's in the Garbage - the Incinerators

I'll Keep Writing About Him Until He's Famous...

Introducing the forgotten madcap brilliance of Paul Lowry to the world is one of the things I'm most proud of here at M4M. Thanks to a kind soul named Dok, all four tracks are back up, with additional info about one of songs:

HERE (my original post: Paul Lowry-Unknown Genius)
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THE EVIL HOODOO OF SKY SAXON

Not since Darby Crash died around the same time as John Lennon has a great musician's death been so overshadowed - this time Sky Saxon's death happening on the day as Michael Jackson's. Fitting I guess, since his crucial '60s garage/psych/punk band The Seeds is always overlooked every time Los Angeles' Sunset Strip scene is discussed. Everyone always talks about The Doors, The Buffalo Springfield, The Mamas & The Papas, Love, etc. Some of those bands certainly did some great stuff, but for some of us, it's all about bands like The Leaves, The Standells, and The Seeds. Wild 'n' crazy garage punk at it's finest, all fuzzed-out three chord raunch, hyper tempos, sleazy electric organ, some guy yellin' about puttin' his baby down.

Even in this wiggy world, Saxon stood out. After The Seed's demise, he realized that his initials (S.S.) were the same as Hitler's secret police so he added the middle name "Sunlight." He joined forces with the The Source Family cult, who were headed by a guy named Father Yod who led a band called Ya Ho Wa 13. Their numerous private-press recordings of free-form psychedelia were released by Saxon. I remember listening to an interview with Saxon on the Rodney On The ROQ show in the '80s were he announced he was a "fruitarian." Not a vegetarian, a fruitarian.

In the '60s when fellow Cali garage-punks the Chocolate Watch Band opened for The Seeds one night, they played The Seeds latest album in it's entirety. It was such simple, basic 3-chord stuff, they learned it all in one day. They just thought this stunt would be funny, but The Seeds, fuming, had no choice but to go out after them, play all the songs everyone had just heard, and get booed. Totally fucked-up, wrong, indefensible...but so damn funny.

Nothing funny about their music. Songs like "Pushin' Too Hard" were big hits, but my fave tune of theirs is "Evil Hoodoo," an awesome 3-note fuzz-bass (no doubt played by Sky himself) trippy rocker. It builds momentum so well it's not too long even at a five-plus minute length. Psychedelic in the best possible sense - no meandering mellowness here. This tune is available on this comp, but I have the vinyl:

The Seeds: "Evil Hoodoo"

Turn out the lights, put on a strobe light, crank this up, and dance like a spazz.
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MID-YEAR MASHUP MARATHON

2009 has been a good year for illegally re-arranged music. On the top of my list so far: Muppet Mashup, a various artists collection by Boston's djBC and friends saluting "The Muppets" and "Sesame Street." It's start-to-finish solid. Fun for the whole family! Martinn (from The Netherlands) kicks things off with a brilliant combo of the Stray Cats and the "Muppet Show" theme, but I think this one from da man himself might be my fave:

dj BC: "I'm Happy On Sesame Street" featuring Edwin Starr, Lou Rawls, numerous Muppets and (sez bc) "The lead vocal is an acapella done by a little girl and her friends in a playground or schoolyard. Freaking genius stuff to work with!"

And DJ NoNo would like to remind you that HE is the king of Muppet mashes.

Three strange, surreal, super-fun surf-music mashups for the summer:

g3rst: "Surfbusters" (Ray Parker Jr vs The Tornadoes)
Zo0m: "What'd The Bulldog Say" (Ray Charles vs the Ventures, remembering the recently deceased guitar genius Bob Bogle)
MadMixMustang: "Dizz and The Boyz Getz To The Beach" ('50s bebop jazz vs The Beach Boys - how the hell does this work so well?!)

Foolklegs II comes to us from France, mixing mostly European folk music with some rather unlikely pop sounds. This various-artists collection is, like much great avant-pop, simultaneously both utterly alien and accessible. It's not all computer-made mashups either. Dig this bagpiped take on the Gorillaz:

DJ Zebra: "Dirty Harry"

Zebra's tunes on this collection are performed live. Album organizer Funky Belek sez: "The children's chorus is played on turntables, but it's a real bagad (a traditional band from Brittany / France) and Zebra plays guitar."

Also from France, Totom's excellent Bob Dylan mashup album just dropped. The Pixies vs "Blowin In The Wind" track in particular confirms that Totom is one of the best sound hackers we've got.

DIG THOSE CRAZY BERMUDAS

Rodd Keith was one of the giants of the weird world of song-poems, but his son Ellery Eskelin is no slouch either, carving out a career for himself as one of the primo sax masters to have emerged on the Downtown NY avant scene.

On his 1996 album "Green Bermudas" it's a father and son reunion, with recordings of his late dad popping up via Andrea Parkins' sampler, while Junior blows mad jazz over it. The title song is summer vacation music for maniacs:

Ellery Eskelin & Andrea Parkins: "Green Bermudas"

One of the most hilariously sexist song poems ever, "Yummy Dum Dum" also gets the treatment. But even the non-song poem tracks make for fine listening. Eskelin is at home with both high-energy blowouts, and emotional ballads. The sax/sampler lineup creates all kinds of unpredictable and unique combos (Parkins even samples one of Eskelin's old records on one track), making this one of the best jazz-for-people-who-don't-like jazz albums I've heard lately. (Actually, this album's so crazy, jazzbos might not like it.)

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MICHAEL JACKSON LOVED KILLER RATS

I used to have a 45 of Michael Jackson's "Ben." I thought it was quite moving. But what child wouldn't be touched by an ode to one's killer rat buddies? In this very David Lynch-ian video, Crispin Glover sings from his 2003 remake of "Willard":

OUTER SPACE SUITE

Here's an obscure but fascinating footnote to the career of one of Hollywood's great soundtrack composers, Bernard Herrmann. Herrmann is most famous for his Alfred Hitchcock scores - those shrieking strings in "Psycho" are certainly among the most famous minutes in film soundtrack history.

But this stuff was library music - not available to the general public, but intended for radio, tv, or film soundtrack music, to be rented as needed. All Music sez:

"This little-known suite of 11 short movements, totaling 25 minutes of music, displays Bernard Herrmann's versatility in making music dealing with the Strange.

Bernard Herrmann (1911 - 1975), now a legend among film composers, got his start as a conductor-composer for CBS Radio in the 1930s. His Hollywood career began due to his work for Orson Welles' Mercury Theater. When Welles filmed Citizen Kane, he took Herrmann to work with him.

Even after winning the Academy Award Herrmann kept his "regular job" with CBS for as long as the radio network had its own orchestra and needed a supply of music on a constant basis. Thereafter, he did some other work for the network. Part of his job included writing "stock music" for the network's music library, all-purpose cues that could be pulled out and played, or even simply inserted from recordings, literally on a moment's notice.

Later Herrmann arranged some of this stock music into suites: Western Suite, The Desert Suite, and Outer Space Suite. These are all-purpose cues for television series, written from 1956 to 1959. Outer Space Suite is for woodwinds, harp, and percussion, mostly bell-like. Most parts of its music appeared in episodes of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone. One notable use was in People are Alike all Over, written by Serling after a story by Paul Fairman, starring Roddy McDowell, who finds that Martians are distressingly like humans, particularly in their propensity to put other species in a zoo."

It appeared on an album in 1983, and has never been issued on CD.

Bernard Herrmann: "Outer Space Suite"

1. Prelude (3:49)
2. Signals (1:24)
3. Space Drift (3:13)
4. Space Stations (1:20)
5. Time Suspense (4:22)
6. Starlight (2:49)
7. Danger (1:24)
8. Moonscape (2:26)
9. Airlock (0:51)
10. Tycho (2:00)
11. The Earth (1:15)

Thanks to Chris Swank!

GRAVIKORDS, WHIRLIES & PYROPHONES

It's a durn shame that the ellipsis arts label has gone under. They produced some stellar book/CD packages. And tho I can't give you the color-illustrated book, I can give you the CD of home-made mad-genius musical instrument inventors "Gravikords, Whirlies & Pyrophones."

Compiled by Bart Hopkins, publisher of a magainze dedicated to experimental instruments, with a forward by Tom Waits, "Gravikords" is simply one of the crucial documents of strange music. It's not just "interesting," it's a great listen, from legends like Clara Rockmore's classical theremin, to Sugar Belly's bamboo-sax calypso, to Wendy Chamber's version of "New York New York" on the car-horn organ (which is exactly what you think it is). Covering both the semi-famous (Harry Partch, Don Buchla & Robert Moog) as well as unknown toolshed tinkers, it's an inspiring testimony to human ingenuity and imagination.

Bart Hopkins et al. "Gravikords, Whirlies & Pyrophones"

Click on artist name for info

1. Excerpt From Le Bal - Hans Reichel
2. Excerpt From Pacific 3-2-1-Zero - Phil Dadson, From Scrarch
3. Excerpt From Silence The Tongues Of Prophecy - Qubais Reed Ghazala
4. Luminescence - Jean-Claude Chapuis
5. Excerpt From In The Beginning: Etude II - Don Buchla, Robert Moog
6. Chant De L'Orgue A Feu - Michel Moglia
7. Excerpt From Claycussion - Ward Hartenstein
8. Excerpt From And On The Seventh Day, Petals Fell In Petaluma - Harry Partch
9. Shake Up Adina - Sugar Belly
10. Bamboo Is - Darrel De Vore
11. The Swan - Clara Rockmore
12. Terra Zona - Barry Hall, The Burnt Earth
13. Naiades - Jacque Dudon
14. Instru-Matics - Ken Butler
15. Entomological Effervescence - Tom Nunn
16. Kindred Spirits - Sarah Hopkins
17. Piccadilly - Robert Grawi
18. Aquaknots - Susan Rawcliffe
19. New York, New York - Wendy Mae Chambers

There was a sequel (which I do not have) "Orbitones, Spoon Harps & Bellowphones." Any label heads out there want to reissue these?
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THE AVENGERS & Other Top Sixties TV Themes

Here's an excellent 2-disk set of TV soundtrack themes as rendered by Britain's top EZ bandleaders. Most of these shows never made it to our shores here in the US of A so this is pretty unfamiliar territory for me, but it's hard to go wrong with '60s soundtracks, especially ones of the sci-fi, action and crime genres.

There's some famous names here: jazzman Roy Budd ("Get Carter" soundtrack), John Keating of "Space Experience" Space-Age/Moog fame, and Ron Grainer of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, whose sketch of the "Dr Who" theme melody was eventually realized by Delia Derbyshire.

I cannot stop impulsively singing the "Stingray" theme, much to the annoyance of anyone around me: "Stingraaaaay...STINGray!" You'll be doing it too, I tells ya...

Disc: 1 1. Avengers - Laurie Johnson Orchestra 2. Man in a Suitcase - Ron Grainer & His Orchestra 3. Thunderbirds - Barry Gray Orchestra 4. Dr. Who - Eric Winstone And His Orchestra 5. Old Ned (Theme from Steptoe & Son) - Ron Grainer 6. Who Do You Think You Are Kidding... Mr. Hitler? (Dad's Army) - Bud Flanagan 7. Captain Scarlet - Barry Gray Orchestra 8. Theme from Z-Cars - Johnny Keating & His Orchestra 9. Saint - Cyril Stapleton & The Eliminators 10. Departments - Cyril Stapleton Orchestra 11. Joe 90 - Barry Gray Orchestra 12. Crossroads Theme - Tony Hatch & His Orchestra 13. Lucky Stars [Theme from "Thank Your Lucky Stars"] 14. Light Flight (Theme from Take Three Girls) - Pentangle 15. Stingray - Barry Gray Orchestra, Gary Miller 16. High Wire [Theme from Danger Man] - Bob Leaper Orchestra 17. Champions - Tony Hatch & His Orchestra 18. Hancock [Hancock's Tune] - Derek Scott Music 19. Forsyte Saga Theme - Cyril Stapleton 20. On the Ball [World Cup TV Theme] - The John Schroeder Orchestra 21. Power Game - Cyril Stapleton Orchestra 22. Little Sutie (Theme from Dr, Finlay's Casebook) - Les Reed Strings 23. Fireball (Theme from Fireball Xl5) - Flee-Rekkers 24. Maigret Theme - The Eagles 25. Out of This World - Tony Hatch & His Orchestra 26. No Hiding Place - Laurie Johnson Orchestra 27. Fugitive Theme - The John Schroeder Orchestra 28. Theme from 'Who Dun It' - Tony Hatch & His Orchestra 29. W. Somerset Maugham - Cyril Stapleton Orchestra 30. Happy Joe [Theme from 'Comedy Playhouse'] - Ron Grainer

Disc: 2
1. Scarlett [Theme from 'Scarlett Hill'] - Peter Knight Orchestra 2. How Soon [Theme from the Richard Boone Show] - Jackie Trent 3. THW Willow Waltz (Tim Frazer's Theme) - Tony Hatch & His Orchestra 4. Mr. Rose - Roy Budd 5. Doctors - Tony Hatch & His Orchestra 6. Theme from Sam Benedict - Johnny Keating & His Orchestra 7. Ben Casey - Tony Hatch & His Orchestra 8. Sir Francis Drake - Piccadilly Stings 9. Perry Mason - Tony Hatch & His Orchestra 10. Our House - Piccadilly Stings 11. Who Is Sylvia? - Charlie Drake 12. Latin Quarter [Theme from 'Riviera Police'] - Laurie Johnson Orchestra 13. Ghost Squad - Tony Hatch & His Orchestra 14. Echo Four-Two - Laurie Johnson Orchestra 15. Our Love Story [From TV Series 'Love Story'] - Sounds Orchestral 16. Theme from 'The Naked Story' (Somewhere in the Night) - Tony Hatch & His Orchestra 17. Sucu Sucu [From TV Series 'Top Secret'] - Laurie Johnson Orchestra 18. Casablanca (Theme from Crane) - Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen 19. Oliver Twist Theme - The Eagles 20. Carlos' Theme [From 'The Sentimental Agent'] - Johnny Keating 21. Spies Theme - Cyril Stapleton 22. Deputy - Laurie Johnson 23. Man Alive - Tony Hatch & His Orchestra 24. Memories of Summer (Love Story Theme) - Tony Hatch & His Orchestra 25. Lunar Walk [Theme from 'Thank Your Lucky Stars'] - Johnny Hawksworth Orchestra 26. West End (From Whicker's World) - Laurie Johnson 27. Three Live Wires - Bob Wallis 28. Quick Before They Catch Us - Paddy, Klaus & Gibson 29. That's Me over Here (Ronnie Corbett's Theme) - Cyril Stapleton 30. Theme from 'Peyton Place' - Jack Dorsey Orchestra

THE AVENGERS & Other Top Sixties TV Themes (disk 1)
THE AVENGERS & Other Top Sixties TV Themes (disk 2) .

Thanks to Chris Swank!

MOOOOOOOOO...

Mike Sophia's song "Cow" was one of my favorite songs from the 2007 edition of the 365 Days Project, a wacky ode to our bovine friends sporting lo-fi Casio-phonic production, ridiculous sound effects, and an irresistible sing-along melody. But who was this cracked genius?

Well, it looks like Los Angeles' Mr. Sophia might be on his way to stardom. A month or so ago, he put up a

MySpace page

featuring a few other songs besides "Cow." None are as wonderfully weird as "Cow" but "I Love You" is now my second-favorite Mike Sophia song due it's catchy tune.

And in a new indie film "Adventures of Power" that's apparently doing quite well on the festival circuit he performs - yes! - a new (if too short) live version of his sure-to-be Oscar winning song:



Sophia's method of handing his demo cd to location film crews he sees around town appears to be working.

Or maybe he just cast love spells on the film crews...
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Grand Nutz Da Ladies Man

Our friends at PlusTapes sayeth:

"Here’s the story:

I was working at a record store on the south side of Chicago a few years back, and this kid walks in and asks if we sell local music. So I try to point him towards our local section, but he’s like “naw…I make music.” So I ask him “Oh are you a rapper? Do you make beats?” He replies…”No, I sing R&B.” And he hands me a 90 minute Maxell cassette tape with a photo of himself on the cover and the words Grand Nutz Da Ladies Man on the cassette label. With that, he walked out of the store. So, of course, I immediately put it on.

What happened next was something magical. All the crusty jazz dudes perked up their ears and came up by the counter and listened with me as we heard this cacophony of failed R&B acapellas sung by someone who is most obviously tone deaf. But the thing is….he’s 100% committed. There’s Boys II Men harmonies, ad-lib rubber duckie rip offs, scat sung TV theme song flubs (Flinstones, Scooby Doo) and even a few moments of Karaoke style bliss as he puts on a boombox in the background and attempts to sing along. It’s unbelievably precious."

The pressing is already sold out, but thanks to the generous folk at PlusTapes, we have a copy of it for y'all here:

Grand Nutz Da Ladies Man

It really is as wonderful as that description. Apart from serving as a peek into one bedroom superstar's dreams, the 40 minute collection also dredges up memories of half-forgotten '90s r'n'b stars like Guy, Adina Howard, Boyz II Men, and Luther Vandross. He also throws in oldies like "Money (That's What I Want)", and yes, cartoon themes.

PlusTapes is an awesome cassette label. Yep, some folks are still making tapes. You will definitely want to dig out that old boombox because their catalog is spectacular: early '70s Korean funk, '60 French groovy girls, Singapore surf, Chicago improv craziness, Chris Connelly from Ministry...

HARRY PARTCH VS LLYN FOULKES

Yes folks, this weekend in Los Angeles it's a steel-cage death-match between two California prize eccentrics whose idiosyncratic music is performed on theatrical home-made instruments.

In this corner: Harry Partch, dead, former hobo who spent the '30s and '40s hopping trains, traveling around the country in pursuit of a buck and a meal, composer of songs that sometimes reflected this background, creator of fantastical micro-tonal instruments, the subject of a concert this Fri and Sat downtown at the REDCAT performed on said instruments, lovingly restored.

Harry Partch: "Barstow: Eight Hitchiker Inscriptions"

from the out-of-print '60s classic "The World of Harry Partch," tho a remake from 1982 by his ensemble can be found on "The Harry Partch Collection, Vol 2."

And in this corner, Llyn Foulkes, alive, one of the "Visionary Artists From L.A." featured at the Hammer Museum in Westwood whose non-conformist attitudes have kept the art-world from embracing them, who will be performing original songs inspired by his Spike Jones and swing-infused youth this Friday night on his "Machine," a one-man band riot of honk-horns, percussion, organ pipes, and a bass string.

Llyn Foulkes: "Top of Topanga"
from the mini-album "Lyn Foulkes and his Machine Live!"

"Barstow" is a classic gateway-drug to strange music: catchy melodies, fascinating lyrics and back-story. Play it for your Top 40-brainwashed loved ones.

So, now you know where I'll be this weekend. Who will be the winner? You!
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A SONIC 'TARD-TRONIC COLONIC

Here's a great big ol' mess of 'tard-tronica that no dj who wants to keep his gig will ever play:

British nutters History of Guns have a new 3-song download EP that features a hilarious, profane, totally uncool, possibly litigious mugging of the Spice Girls' "Spice Up Your Life":

History of Guns "Slice Up Your Wife"

Brooklyn's The Gregory Brothers have made a bit of a splash on the intar-webs with their video "AutoTune The News," which makes good use of that plague of contemporary hip-hop, AutoTune. The Katie Couric bit at around 1:22 is particularly successful. Their website also sports mp3s of Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King getting similar treatment. Funny, irreverent, and surprisingly musical. Maybe AutoTune has it's uses after all...

The Gregory Brothers: "AutoTune The News"
The Gregory Brothers: "Lift Up your Hearts"
The Gregory Brothers: "MLK"

The Walkie-Talkie Monster's "Pink Noise" EP is yet another free download release, from Hamburg, Germany this time, and features a wonderfully charming tune scored for what sounds like a Casio drum machine set to "Latin," sweetly funny lyrics, and a winning melody. Yay for free music!

The Walkie-Talkie Monster: "When I Think Of You"

Dynamo's free "Let Us Explore the Starz" EP is a low-down & dirty DIY affair from Winnipeg that features a member named Sam a.k.a Fidel Astro a.k.a. Urethra Franklin performing "weird space music about evil robots, the future," and a dance called the JFK: you move "back, and to the left." I would say crank this noisy little number up, but its rinky-dink drum machine and video-game bleeps probably wouldn't sound appropriate on a boomin' system.

Dynamo: "Madness"


Thanks to Tim, and Joshua!

Sounds For The SWING-Set

RIAA's 16-song mashup collection:

"Sounds For The Swing Set"

takes you on a hallucinogenic trip thru vintage Vegas, timewarping into the Now.

The Rat Pack, Bobby Darin, Tom Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, and the zombie-fied body of Elvis get it on with Lady Gaga, Led Zeppelin, Public Enemy, Cornershop, Fatboy Slim, and a thrift-store's worth of Space Age-Exotica obscurities.

Throw in countless bits from tv, movies, and spoken-word records and you've got the soundtrack to the wildest weekend you’ll ever have, Jack.

Dig this crazy mix of Mel Torme's finger snappin' version of "Secret Agent Man," boomin' beats, Shirley Bassey doin' James Bond, '70s funk, and an almost-unrecognizably tripped-out version of "La Vida Loca." All in one tune. No wonder Hunter S. Thompson gets sampled on this album.

RIAA: "Secret Agent's Weapon Of Choice"

And remember: the password is "beatnik."

INNOVA 6: BOWED METAL MUSIC

Pete Warren & Matt Samolis' album "Bowed Metal Music" does what it says on the tin. The two Bostonions apply heavy-duty bows not to violins, but to cymbals and metal rods, creating a loud powerful strain of ambient music that wouldn't be out of place in a David Lynch soundtrack.

The whooshes, screeches, and hypnotic drones suggest a decayed "Blade Runner"-esque urban wasteland - somewhat dark, but fascinating and quite beautiful. The soundscapes on the dynamic duo's album, which features no other instruments besides the bowed metal, are accessible and highly listenable even to those not usually inclined to listen to industrial "noise" music.

Pete Warren & Matt Samolis: "Bowed Metal Music (excerpt)"

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INNOVA 5: THE INVENTED WORLDS OF RON GEORGE

The late, Los Angeles-based composer Ron George recorded one album before he died in 2006. It features his own invention, the Tambellan, which, as this article says, "...is a modular percussion instrument that consists of a large array of tubular keyboards, disc gongs, tam tams, bell plates, bells of various sizes, bamboo keyboards, tunable tube drums and an assortment of Western percussion instruments."

Damn, which I could have seen this wondrous-looking contraption in concert, especially since I live here in LA where he occasionally performed. Well, at least Innova Music has released "The Floating Bubble," the title track of which is George's own composition which beautifully showcases the instrument. This excerpt begins with shimmering angelic bells tolling across an alien landscape, before becoming increasing energtic, melodic, and hypnotically rhythmic.

Ron George: "The Floating Bubble (excerpt)"

INNOVA #4: BALOONEY TUNES

As we continue our survey of releases on the Innova Music label... New Yorker Judy Dunaway makes music with balloons. If you're like me, you're first response to that might be: "Huh, wha...?" whilst cocking your head like a confused puppy. But, as Dunaway's liner notes point out, balloons have been used in music since at least the '60s. Avant-jazz cat Anthony Braxton even wrote a piece for 250 ballooons divided among 15 musicians.

Dunaway's album title could describe her as well: "Mother of Balloon Music." Throughout it's six pieces she not only rubs ballons, but she releases air from them, and "prepares" other instruments by placing them under the strings. It's all quite wonderfully weird, playful, and funny, in stark contrast to her dead-serious political justifications for using balloons, somehow relating her choice of musical instrument to fighting off oppression and sexism. What?! I read her notes thinking: "You gotta be kidding. 'Take that, Mr. Misogynist Slave-Master Pope, I've got BALLOONS!'" She also claims in her notes that Joan of Arc was transgendered (?!), and challenges the Western classical music hegemeny, even tho she acknowledges that the post-Cage music scene has thrown off that mantle long ago.

And yet every thing about her music career suggest classical orthodoxy, from her academic background, to her choice of writing for string quartets, and compositional modes like "etudes," to her intellectual theorizing. Come on Judy, lighten up - they're balloons! Making music with balloons is silly, in the best possible way. They make funny, flatulent sounds. If you really want to throw off the oppressive Dead White European Male traditions, you should have fun with this. Call yourself Balloonzo The Clown or something. Perform on a unicycle. Anyway. Very inventive stuff, recommended, and dig this wild and woozy mp3 that sounds like the chugging strings from Hermann's "Psycho" soundtrack goofed up on cough syrup:

Judy Dunaway: "For Balloon and String Quartet - Second Movement" (excerpt)

INNOVA 3: THE ED WOOD OF RADIO

In the '60s and '70s, an old-time-radio enthusiast with a thick New Yawk accent named Judson Fountain almost single-handedly created audio dramas (or "drammers," as his announcer/co-star Sandor Weisberger would say.) Using a variety of voices (old hag, insolent young punk, cranky old man), and frequently helping himself to sound effects records and canned music, Fountain spun tales of terror that weren't very terrifying. Actually, they were often hilarious, as well as providing a fascinating peek into one man's obsession.

His private-press records were sent out to radio stations across the country and, incredibly, got some airplay, despite the non-existant production values, amateurish acting, and simplistic stories. Heck, I'd have played 'em. They certainly have plenty of entertainment value, and thanks to reissue co-producer Irwin Chusid of WFMU you can play 'em too: there are two CDs of his collected radio "drammers." These excerpts are taken from the album "Dark Dark Dark Tales (and other Dark Tales!)." Outsider-art essentials.

Judson Fountain: "The Gorgon's Head " (excerpt)

No, I don't know why one character has a German (?) accent, but no-one else in the family does...

Sadly, after Judson (with Sandor) made an appearance on WFMU in 1996 (documented on this album), he disappeared, never to be heard from again. A suitably mysterious end to a life dedicated to mystery.

INNOVA 2: GRAB IT!! MUTHA FU-

Dutch composer Jacob TV writes brilliant original music based around the sounds of human voices. On the album Pitch Black, performed by the all-sax Prism Quartet, samples of interviews with jazz giants Chet Baker and Billie Holiday, an angry street preacher, an 18 month old girl, and an actor reading a Blake poem all help to create energetic, tuneful, Steve Reich-ian music, inspired by jazz, rock, and hip-hop as much as by Minimalism.

He doesn't just drop samples over the music willy-nilly, but rather writes melodies around the contours of the human speaking voice, reminiscent of Scott Johnson, or (again) Reich works such as "Different Trains."

But I was especially excited to see that he sampled "Scared Straight." Hell, yeah! Anyone else remember that show? Real incarcerated criminals screaming at wayward kids about the harsh realities of prison life. Swearing on TV! And our mothers let us, wanted us to watch it.

Jacob TV/Prism Quartet: "Grab It! (excerpt)"

The only non-sample based work is a somber, moving, anti-war elegy. Top-notch stuff, all around.

INNOVA 1: THE "PREPARED" MUSIC BOX

I've reviewed many releases on Mullatta Records, "Purveyors of the Unique and the Bizarre," but for the next week or so I'll be aiming the spotlight on Innova, a label that should be of intense interest to anyone with an interest in unusual non-mainstream musics. Having spent a lot of time with Innova releases recently, I can tell you that the high quality level is matched only by the fearless originality of it's music.

I love it when someones breathes new life into an antique "obsolete" instrument or musical form, and that's exactly what John Morton does on his 2001 debut "Outlier." It's subtitle tells all: "New Music For Music Boxes." Yep, music boxes - those wind-up tinkly-sounding things your grandmother has in her living room. Maybe with a twirling ballerina doll atop.

Morton breaks into music boxes and messes with the machinery, creating a surprising variety of sounds and moods. Sometimes they plink and plunk like an African "thumb piano," sometimes they're electronically treated to create abstract ambient, sometimes they're put thru distortion, suggesting grandma is a headbanger. One piece "White Tara," for sax, upright bass, and music box, is a gorgeous melancholy jazz ballad. In all these pieces, the wiff of haunted memories and childhood nostalgia is never far away.

This excerpt suggests a music box that has been dropped, and stepped on by the grandkids, it's lopsided rhythms creating compelling, somewhat spooky melodies that dramatically build.

John Morton: "A Delicate Road III (excerpt)"

Morton's follow-up "Solo Traveler" features an instrument described as "a set of 17 recomposed and altered music boxes." Needless to say, I have got to hear that one as well.

WHAT'S PLAYING AT THE COCKTAIL LOUNGE IN MR ROGER'S NEIGHBORHOOD...

...the debut album by Holly Yarbrough,

"Mr Rogers Swings!"

Yep, jazzy versions of the songs from America's most beloved kiddie show host. Lovely. Quite funny, of course, but very nicely done.




Holly Yarbrough: Won't You Be My Neighbor

Actually, Ms Yarbrough has sung with her father Glenn, the famous '60s folkie, but this is her solo debut.
And for a fascinating blog dedicated to all things Mister Rogers, proceed immediately to The Neighborhood Archive.

Thanks again to solcofn!

WEIRDPUNK CALI

Hey my Los Angeles peeps! This Thursday is your last chance to check out the PostPunk Junk film fest. Looks like it's gonna be a doozy:

"The first half is a Los Angeles and California-centric program featuring classic footage of local heroes (The Screamers, Black Flag, TSOL) alongside lesser-known-but-equally awesome acts (Nervous Gender, BPeople, The Plugz). The second half mines the Target library for its rarest nuggets, and features footage of bands that will make music nerds squeal with glee."

And the Silent Movie Theater, where the shows take place, has free beer. (There, that'll get y'all coming.) Despite the name of the venue, it won't be silent. You will be able to hear the music, honest. (Caveat: have no idea if they'll be showing anything from the Cramps concert pictured.)

So, to get you in the mood, how's about another batch of rare, out-of-print '70s/'80s California coolness that I've ripped from my vinyl archives? So far as I know, most of this stuff, originating from The Bay Area to LA and all points in between, hasn't been shared on-line before.

This isn't just nostalgia. I love these tunes. There's no typical hardcore. It's all across the map: you'll hear electro-pop, goth post-punk, woodwinds, femme vox + acoustic bass, devolved covers, power-pop, a proto-mashup, and whatever the hell The Fibonaccis were. "Punk" was a big umbrella term in those days.

Weirdpunk Cali

Track Listing below: Click on artist's name for links to info (if any)

The Humans - I Live In The City
Fibonaccis - Second Coming
Baby Buddha - Robot Police
Wild Kingdom - Roma-Destiny
Los Microwaves - Radio Heart
ki-di-me - Mother Is
Jed Gould (aka Jed the Fish) - LACA Perv
Hesitations - Window Love
The Units - The Right Man
The Ophelias - Palindrome
The Bakersfield Boogie Boys - Get Off of My Cloud
Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra - Summertime/Peter Gunn
The Humans - Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
Fibonaccis - Sergio Leone
Alex Gibson - Grey Turns to Black
Strong Silent Types - Fred Cadaver's Accident
The Ophelias - Mr. Rabbit

CREEPY CIRCUS TESLA COIL MUSIC

Today's song has a lot going for it:

1. It's a "Creepy Circus Song"
2. The melody is played on Tesla coils*
3. Robot drums
4. Robot organ made of PVC pipes

Strangely enough, this is the second Austin, Texas-based Tesla coil music group we've featured here. The Geek Group was covered awhile back. Same group with a name change? Or does Austin have some kind of crazy Tesla-core scene going on that I don't know about?

ArcAttack: "Creepy Circus Song" (mp3)
ArcAttack: "Creepy Circus Song" (video)


*"These high tech machines produce an electrical arc similar to a continuous lightning bolt which put out a crisply distorted square wave sound reminiscent of the early days of synthesizers."

DO THE SUFFOCATION! MUSIC FOR WEIRDOS pt6

What, you want more music? Haven't I done enough for you people?! I give and give and give. And what do I get?

Well, actually, I get great music back from you folks. Like our old pal Chris Swank, back with another CD's worth of mostly '50s & '60s oddities that he likes to call:

Music For Weirdos #6 (alternate link)

Like the previous volumes, he'd rather not get into details about it's contents but would rather you just kick back and let it hit you, like a radio show where you don't know what's next and have no expectations. But I will say that there's a couple of familiar classics, some hilarious novelties, audio cut-ups of more recent vintage, and much rockin' and rollin' wild weirdness.

Thanks again, Chris!

A, ER, "TRIBUTE" TO MARIO LANZA

The greatest album I've found in a thrift store recently:

- is jaw-droppingly weird, awful, hilarious and wonderful.
- features not one, but two singers: an unintentionally funny operatic Mrs. Miller sort, and her husband, an astonishingly talentless songwriter with a nerdy nasally voice reminiscent of Eilert Pilarm, 'The Swedish Elvis."
- claims to be a tribute to the great Italian-American pop/opera singer Mario Lanza, though nothing on the album is anything like what Lanza sang.
- has amateurish, vanity-release artwork.
- was released in 1984, but has all the attributes of a '50/'60s easy-pop album
- features remakes of standards like "Sway," "Granada," and the worst versions of the oft-covered calypsos "Yellow Bird" and "Jamaica Farwell" you'll ever hope to hear.
- was recorded at Macola Records, famed for it's L.A. hip-hop, e.g.: pre-NWA Dr. Dre.
- sports lyrics like, "I have been thinking of you, and thinking of you."
- is entitled "Sir Anthony Lanza Cocozza and Contessa Elaine Lanza Cocozza Present This Album As A Tribute In Memory To The Great Mario Lanza" on the front cover and "A Tribute To My Brother 'Mario Lanza'" on the record label
- claims on the back cover that the missus was "Born in Oklahoma City, OK of German and English royalty on her father's side, she was given the title of "Countessa."

"A Tribute To My Brother 'Mario Lanza'"

1. Lolita
2. Sway
3. I Love You I Love You
4. Green Eyes
5. Granada
6. Jamaica Farewell (spelled "Jamaica Far Away" on the cover)
7. If You Really Love Me
8. How Could I Forget You
9. I Want To Love You My Love
10. Yellow Bird

You want this. You do.

DON KNOTTS...DON KNOTTS...DON KNOTTS...

Speaking of Otis Fodder, his wacky electro sound collage/mashup crew The Bran Flakes have a new album, their first in 6 years. It may be their best one yet. As usual, they've raided the thrift shops of ancient unwanted records - children's music, religious, easy-listening, even Dolly Parton - and made brief, up-beat tunes out of 'em.

This one might be the best tune on the album, sampling the kiddie classic "Free To Be You And Me" (and it's a happy sequel to one of their older tunes "I Don't Have A Friend"):

The Bran Flakes : "I Have A Friend"

but for some silly reason I really love this less-then-30-second long tune:

The Bran Flakes: "Don Knotts"

maybe because, like the young artist in the film "Ghost World" who tried to explain to her baffled instructor why she painted a portrait of Don Knotts, I like Don Knotts.

The new album, "I Have Hands," is available as a CD, or download from illegal-art. Name your price!

FRIENDLY PERSUASION

Otis Fodder's web-show "Friendly Persuasion" was my first experience with the wild frontier of internet music way back when (roughly a decade ago?!?), and a big hunk of that glorious smorgasbord of lounge/outsider/strange thrift-store recordings is now available.

Otis sez: "30+ hours (so far) of old radio shows I put together...All MP3s encoded at 320k with full ID3 tags. All radio shows and mixes are without voice/talkover (except for the occasional robot)... so you just have the music and mix. I'll be uploading more in the future."

FodderFiles

30 hours? Should keep me busy for a bit...

THE FAIRGROUND ORGAN

Hurray, hurray! Step right up, folks, and witness the most annoying musical instrument ever invented!

The fairground organ is actually a wonderous, though now rarely-used machine that automatically played back music. It was used primarily for traveling carnivals, circuses, parades, etc. and has that fun/scary vibe that suggests wistful cotton-candy childhood while also being a bit creepy.

After putting in a punched piece of paper for a particular song (like a player-piano) or a rotating wheel (like a music-box) an organ would play, robotic arms holding drumsticks would bang drums, air forced through tubes would blow horns and toot whistles. It was quite a racket. After all, it was designed to cut through the crowd noises, so it wasn't too subtle.

It's a wonder of 1800s technology, and, though organ rolls seem to have ceased production by the 1960s, enthusiasts still collect and restore these often beautiful, highly decorated machines.There's a great wealth of mp3s of the Wurlitzer style 165 band organ rolls courtesy of the hard-working folks at the Wurlitzer-rolls.com site. Fascinating listening, though you'll probably start to go mental after 3 or 4 songs. For some absolutely inexplicable reason, I'm hooked on this version of Sandie Shaw's '60s hit "Puppet On A String," even though I don't remember being a big fan of the song in the first place. Maybe some tunes just sound better played on a fairground organ.

Hammond Fairground Organ Roll: "Puppet On A String"