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!