WHAT'S A PLEONASM?

Pleonasm is new FREE! 'net label of, as it's proprietor C.Cummings says, "outsidery lo-fi obscure no-genre" and, yup, plenty of the recordings (e.g.: Baker & Abel) are in the fine tradition of kids-goofing-off-into-a-tape-recorder, tho some, like that of Beat poet Bill Bissett, verges on respectably high-brow. Their roster spans from New York to California to Canada. Dig:

The Taints: 3 songs in 4 minutes of juvenile Casio silliness; "I Wanna Get In Your Pants" is my pick-to-click.

Carnivorous Birds "Life Metal": a whopping 27 songs, but I was entertained throughout; some songs like "Acid Squirtgun" really had me laffin'!

Dolphin Explosion: Unfortunately only one song from this gang of unruly six-year-old girls, with one of my favorite artists Mike Kelley somehow ending up on drums

Mannlicher Carcano: pretty intriguing Negativland-ish mix of sampling (inc. a 9 minute meditation on Johnny Cash) and live instrument improv.

Poo Poo Cushion: A fair amount of futzing around, interspersed with songs like "I Don't Want To Go To School" that remind me of classic Cali hardcore, which makes me happy.

Sunday Brunch With Stan: Surprise! Actual pop songs, well recorded and performed - "Juicy" is funky genius.

And there's so much more...
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...AND IRAN...IRAN'S SO FAR AWAY...

"Raks Raks Raks," which means "dance dance dance," is an outstanding new collection of "Garage Psych Nuggets from the Iranian '60s Scene" (who knew?) that's got 17 songs on colored vinyl, including this completely mental version of Otis Redding's "Respect" by the Persian legend Googoosh. Step off, Aretha!

Googosh: "Respect" - her command of the English language isn't perfect, but it's a helluva lot better then my Farsi (is she saying "take PCP"?)

As with so many international rock scenes, surf music seems to be a big influence. The CD version has extra songs, including this incredible Monkees cover sung in Farsi, re-arranged into an undanceable waltz rhythm:

Zia: "Man Kiam?"
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POTS AND PANS PERCUSSION (AND PONG)

Would you like to join a percussion group that is equally at home with experimental instruments, traditional Africana and theater? You can! Anyone can join the Temporal Mechanics Union...but there's a catch. They're based in the unlikely town of Arkansas City, Kansas.

But they do cool stuff like accompany silent sci-fi films, build and play on microtonal instruments, and have a song called "Cookin'" that's played on kitchen utensils. Their album "All Hands" really kills when they get down to African business, performing on a variety of ethnic percussives. Some of the tracks have a loose, drum-circle-in-the-park feel, but then they go way out to left field, like on this track, which features a variety of industrial objects and a "vintage video game":

Temporal Mechanics Union "Technocacaphanon"

If you're wondering what all these implements look like, there's a slew of videos on their site.
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RAP IS FOR SISSIES

I was a bit too preoccupied to celebrate New Orleans's Super Bowl win last month, so let's do it now with a bizarre phenomenon that could only have arisen in this mad, mad, city - Sissy Rap.

A branch of the "bounce" style of N.O. hip-hop, these "sissies" are transsexual/gay rappers with a musical style so brutally primitive they make Miami Bass sound like Mozart. They shout more then rap the campy lyrics, chanted over and over mantra-like, accompanied by intensely dense music/noise: crowd sounds, sirens, shouts, beatz, scant traces of melody, all served with a hyper energy level. The result is an intoxicating party delirium.

Sissy Nobbly: Knockin At My Door - Attention you nasty hoes: Sissy Nobbly's got your man knockin on his door!

Pictured below are two other sissy stars, Katey Red and Big Freedia.

Katey Red "Been Gone For A Minute"
Big Freedia: "Azz Everywhere" ("grab your ankles!")

Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna make dat azz go?
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SONGS FROM THE SEWER

Teenagers in the '50s were all hip rockabilly rebels, while their parents where strictly squares-ville, daddy-o. Right? Wrong. As evidenced by this stupendous collection, compiled by Windbag, a good friend of this here blog, no-one really knew what the hell rock 'n 'roll was all about when it first hit an uncomprehending public. Was it simply swing aimed at teenagers? Goofy novelty records? Easy-listening songs with "rock" in the lyrics? Many of these tracks, all rescued from 45s, came out on major labels based far from Memphis, desperate to get in on the phenomenon, and willing to throw anything at the teen market to see what stuck. Much of it sounds awfully white in it's attempts to bleach out the whole Negro-ness of rock.

SONGS FROM THE SEWER

Apart from this, miscellaneous exotic/novelty/oddities/atrocities are strewn throughout the mix. Windbag's notes [my notes in brackets]:

"Little Blue Man" Betty Everett on Atlantic. Hugh Downs (tv journalist) is the other voice on this disc. Apparently an embarrassment for him. [Classic flying saucer novelty!]

"To Old To Dance The Rock 'n' Roll" Patty Andrews on Capital (of the Andrews Sisters) [Reminds me of Nat King Cole's "Mr Cole Won't Rock 'n' Roll"]

"I Walk The Line" Carole Bennett on Capitol [If Johnny Cash wasn't dead, this woulda killed him.]

"Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" Edith Piaf on Capitol. A Leiber & Stoller song in French.

"The Teenage March" Carlson's Raiders on Capitol

"The Return of a Soldier" Ric King on Capitol. Lex De Acevedo (also known as David Axelrod) on the label credits. A "talky" song along the lines of "Open Letter To My Teenage Son" travesty by Victor Lundberg.

"Cootie Wootie" Tommy Sands on Capitol.

"Tokyo Boogie Woogie" Columbia Tokyo Orchestra on Columbia. I think this song turned up on "M.A.S.H."

"My Baby Rocks Me" Rosemary Clooney on Columbia. This is the "dirty" version before she and Columbia realized that they made a white pop version of a song about f...ing. They re-recorded it after cleaning up the lyrics. Check out the [original] version of the song on the COPULATING BLUES album.

"Song of the Sewer" Art Carney on Columbia. John Lithgow did a passable version of this on a recent CD.

"Rock 'n' Roll Mops" Henri Cording with Big Mike & His Parisian Rockets. A pseudonym for Henry Salvador, well-known French singer (Celine Dion recorded with him not that long ago). Other side of the Columbia 45 is "Hiccough Rock) Rock-Hoquet)" [Aw, man, I gotta hear that!]

"Rock-A-Billy" Guy Mitchell on Columbia. So someone stamped Elvis and all his copiers as perjorative "rockabillies" and this pop artist tried to cash in with a song title. This is to "rockabilly" what square-dance records are to honky-tonk. I didn't include his later "If You Ever Go Away (I'll Go Out And Eat Some Worms)" 45; I thought this was enough.

"Rock Around the Island" The Lancers on Coral. The Lancers vocal group backed Kay Starr on several Capitol sides. This was a song from a movie "The Lieutenant Wore Skirts."

"Rhythm & Blues" The McGuire Sisters on Coral.

"Teenage Meeting" Don Cornell on Coral. Songwriting credit has Alan Freed as the #3 credit on the label.

"Rock This Joint" Lola Ameche on Mercury. I think this is a pop version of a Bill Haley song?

"The Polka Rock" Angele NcNeill on Prep (Capitol subsidiary label). [Reminds me of Annette Funicello's "Rock-A-Polka"...still think '50s teens were such rockabilly hepcats? They wanted to POLKA!]

"Rockin' Shoes" The Ames Brothers on RCA.

"Pineapple Rock" Claude Gordon & His Orch on Warner Bros. Songwriting credit shows Billy May.

"Ko Ko Mo" Perry Como on RCA. Billboard ad at the time: "He Rocks! He Rolls! Perry Como!" or words to that effect, circa 1954. [Hey, it hit #2 on the charts Jan '55, so plenty of kids apparently thought that he did indeed Rock! and Roll!]

"Bad Bad Leroy Brown" Frank Sinatra on Reprise. 1974-ish, charted around the bottom of Billboard. I like the final gruff Sinatra comments at the end of the song. [There's a great version of Stevie's "You Are The Sunshine of My Life" off that same Sinatra album.]

"Rockabilly Party" Hugo & Luigi on Roulette. These guy's schtick was the "cascading voices..." albums on Roulette and RCA. On this turkey, it's one of those list songs - those 1956 rock 'n 'roll artists. [Ha! Maybe the most ludicrous thing on here - Mitch Miller? Andy Williams? Just what is their definition of 'rockabilly'?!]

"Moscow Cha Cha Cha" Kay Thompson on Signature. I only recently found out this c.1959-60 45 was by THE Kay Thompson, Liza Minelli's godmother and author of those Eloise kids' books. From the height of the Cold War, and the flip was "Dasvidanya."

"I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You") Ray Odom on Torino. I believe an indie vanity record. When you play it, you'll know why.

A million thankyous to Windbag, who has sent plenty of other goodies my way that I hope to get to in the future. (Although you might not want to thank him after you've heard the final track on this collection...)

SPAGHETTI STRANGENESS

A few fascinating artists from Italy have recently come to my attention. Coincidence? Or is there a new Italian Renaissance going on?

k-conjog have a new album entitled "Il Nuovo è al Passo Coi Tempi" that I've really been diggin' lately. The tunes range from surf twang reminiscent of his countryman Ennio Morricone to a sad, lovely waltz for ukulele and cello sounds, but the album's bread and butter are funky kooky collages, often with child-like animal themes, that should go over well with any Bran Flakes or People Like Us fans, e.g. this super fun bit of cartoon craziness. Attention all dogs!

k-conjog: Attenti al Cani

§ (I think this is pronounced "section"), on the other hand, have a new three-song collection of beatless electronics + guitar instros that are as intense as k-conjog is whimsical. Imagine an Eno/Fripp project shot full of adrenaline.

§ - C02

I was hoping that Maciste would be more antique-garde then the almost-ska/rock that they are (needs more accordian!), but their circus-like horn-y sound does remind me that they are from the land of Fellini and Nino Rota. Which makes me wonder: why aren't there more Fellini-esque acts out of Italia? (Or are there?)

A New Class of Paranoia

The Everyday Film's album "The House I Used To Turn Into" was, on first listen, one of the most disturbing things I've ever heard (and maybe on second and third listens as well.) Much of it isn't what most people would even think of as music: a vocoder-ized voice pitched way down loooooow mutters cryptic non-sequiturs, interrupted by brief shards of industrial music-like sounds. "Song" titles include: "The Boy In The Wall," "We Don't Exist Yet," "Budgeted Out The Perverted," and "A New Class of Paranoia." The final track on the short album (27 tracks in 15 minutes) is the sound of some poor soul begging for his life while Mr Vocoder Voice mumbles banalities like "relax in the sun...take a vacation...take a 'me' day..." over unsettling electronic drones. That's entertainment!

Not to scare you all off, but it can be a fascinating, sometimes funny headphone experience, and a wicked beat even turns up:

The Everyday Film: The House I Used To Turn Into/Record Breaking Coagulation

A 12 minute follow up CD has just come out. It seems slightly less creepy, and the song titles aren't as twisted. It'll still be dismissed as sick shit by 99.9% of the population, tho:

The Everyday Film: Broken Up Love Channels (excerpts)

But then again, what else would one expect from the land of Jandek, and the Houston Noise scene? The name "Houston" usually only conjures up images of big bland oil industry high-rises, not cutting-edge culture. Maybe all this stuff is a reaction to the city's sterile corporate reputation. I used to think that Austin was Texas' most mental musical city, what with the likes of Daniel Johnston, Roky Erikson and the Butthole Surfers as residents, but I dunno, Houston is starting to make Austin look like Nashville.
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AFRO-SPAZZ

How many African music collections thank Dr Demento in the credits?

The 1995 compilation "Money No Be Sand," on the Original Music label, is one of my favorite albums - it's completely bananas, another example of how Everything You Know Is Wrong. All Nigeria and Ghana rarities from the Sixties, it's nothing like the sterile "World Music" you'll hear oozing out of your local Starbucks. It's own liner notes describe it as "wild-and-woolly" (the review in The Beat magazine prefers the term "nutty.")

It's delights are endless: trashy garage-rock sung in tribal tongues, James Brown rip-offs (complete with, in the song "One Early Morning," a shockingly inept drum break), a cheerful calypso describing a political assassination, curious pidgin-English lyrics, and all manner of twisting and shaking awesomeness. Oh, and a Beatles cover performed on cowbells. Beyond essential.

"Money No Be Sand"

	1	Ewele Aya	BB Band / Prof. Y.S.	2:57
		2	Hold Me Tight Baby	Archibogs / Charles Iwegbue	2:45
		3	Look, Look, Look	Sound Makers / Godwin Omobuwa	2:50
		4	Weeya Weya	Tempos Band / E.T. Mensah	2:48
		5	Eje Ka Jo	Junkers / Jimi Solanke	2:58
		6	Money No Be Sand	Archibogs / Charles Iwegbue	2:57
		7	Cut Your Coat According to Your Size	Apolos Empire Rhythm Orchestra	2:50
		8	I Love You	Young Star Band / Pepsi-Orlando	2:56
		9	You Cheat Me You Cheat Me	Sound Makers / Godwin Omobuwa	2:55
		10	Shake It	Professional Beach Melodians	2:50
		11	President Tubman	Money Be No Sand	2:43
		12	Timber	Eric Akaeze / Azagas	3:01
		13	One Early Morning	BB Band / Prof. Y.S.	2:59
		14	Healthy Be Richman	Eric Akaeze / Azagas	3:04
		15	Jane	Junkers / Clint Eph. Sebastian	2:27
		16	Ride Your Donkey	Ramblers Dance Band	2:39
		17	Baby I Tire	Archibogs / Charles Iwegbue	2:56
		18	Lumumba Calypso	E.C. Arinze	2:42
		19	I Need Your Love	Top Aces / Eddie Okonta	3:00
		20	More Dollars	Eric Akaeze / Azagas	2:44
		21	The Bad Lit Road		2:58
		22	Because of Money	Tempos Band / E.T. Mensah	2:40
		23	Don't Let Me Down John Lennon / Paul McCartney	Charlotte Dada	4:25

Hey gang, just popping in between 3:00am baby feedings to let you know that I am still around, even if my computer is still sick (I'm writing this on the missus' laptop). This here blog will get up to full speed eventually, but 'til then let me hep ya to:

The Post-Punk Junk Film Festival is happening again here in Los Angeles courtesy of my home-slice Bret from Egg City Radio, and, tho it's already half-over, you can still catch (with film-makers in attendance!) "Athens GA: Inside Out" to relive your '80s college-radio days, and the amazing "Liquid Sky," in which junkie space aliens drop into the early-'80s New York underground club scene to get high on human bodies. Yup. If there was ever a "Movies for Maniacs" blog, this one would be on it.

wtfmusic.org looks to be a crucial service - all manner of outsider/strange/experimental musics promoted via a music player, message boards, reviews, requests for for your music. It's new, and they're the first to admit the site could use work, so join the community and help 'em out. I already really like some of the freaky stuff I've heard on their "radio" music player.

There's a Space Age Pop message board so new that no-one's posted on it yet, courtesy of the legendary Basic Hip/Kiddie Records Weekly site(s). Talk about thrift-store records 'n' stuff!

WEB WONDERLAND

Hey, just cuz I'm not around around here much lately (sing it, Ricky) doesn't mean that the internets are no fun any more. Au contraire! I have some amazing amazing stuff lined up for you-alls, but 'til I return, dig:

Badmovies.org not only dishes on zillions of low-budget monster/kung-fu/exploitation/horror/etc cinematic masterpieces, but almost every film review also has - yes! - audio clips. Throw laughable sound bites into your dj mixes, radio shows, podcasts, or ipod random-ness.

Friendly Persuasion has returned to the air and 'net; Otis Fodder has been playing strange music on the internet for a decade now (when he wasn't curating the 365 Project or running a 'net label), and his three hour weekly show is truly an embarrasement of riches, with a special emphasis on French-Canadian oddities, representing his new Toronto home.

Godly Grooves is a near hour-long mix of German Christian '70s funk (just when you think you've heard it all, eh?) A big danke to Oskar for sending this jewel our way: "German DJs called Arok and Scientist did a (digital) mixtape of rare German Christian-themed funk music...this is stuff that was recorded before the commercialization and professionalization of the Christian music scene that's not nearly as big a market in Germany as it is in the US but does exist here as well. The music sampled in the mix is remarkable in its complete lack of the cool/hip that would otherwise be probably considered essential to this genre and yet it's of strange creative appeal - I'm certainly no expert on funk music, but the use of a recorder/children's flute on a funk track strikes me as rather odd...I don't know if this is any fun if you don't speak German. The thing I like most about the mixtape are the lyrics that are often very naive and contain a lot of quasi-liberation-theology capitalist-bashing in the name of equality."

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Crudcrud is in Morocco: a fascinating travelogue + Moroccan vinyl he's picked up along the way. I haven't been this jealous of a fellow music blogger since Radio Clash went to Africa.

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Cinema Terrorisme is a new-ish podcast for these End Times we're living in - a densely packed audio collage of music, sounds, speech, horror and insanity. Weee!

7 Layer Dip, on the other hand, is a North Carolina college radio show that is far more light-hearted, a romp thru bad/weird music (much of it taken from this here blog), and recipes. and here's a New Link.

The Residents are on tour in the US and Europe, which doesn't have anything to do with the internet, really, but since the Beatles of the Bizarre only tour once in a blue moon, and, having been around for over 35 years aren't getting any younger, this might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to catch perhaps the most famous group in weird-music history.

MUSEUM OF OBSOLETE INSTRUMENTS: THE GLASS HARMONICA

No, not that kind of harmonica. The glass harmonica aka armonica, invented by Ben Franklin in the 1700s (yes, that Ben Franklin), and played by dipping ones fingers into a water trough and touching rotating glass cylinders, was said to drive men mad, has an eerie, squeaky sound, and is championed by Linda Ronstadt. The weirdest instrument ever made?!?

In the late 1700 and early 1800s it was part of the classical instrument lineup with heavyweight cats like Mozart and Beethoven composing for it. And this 2002 album by Dennis James features Rondstadt briefly, but don't worry, there's no '70s hippie rock on here. Actually the album has that powdered-wig classy classical feel to it, even on the modern compositions. A weird, outer-spacey classical feel, that is.

Here's one song off it for solo glass harmonica that sports quite a haunting melody:

Dennis James: Adagio for glass harmonica in C major, K. 356 (K. 617a), written by that Wolfgang Amadeus fellow

James is a pretty interesting guy. He accompanies silent films on theater organs (which he also restores), Clara Rockmore herself taught him theremin (which he used for a '20s Russian sci-fi film), and plays a variety of obscure glass instruments that I'd never heard of before.

Got the whole album for you here. But beware! A German musicologist wrote: "The armonica excessively stimulates the nerves, plunges the player into a nagging depression and hence into a dark and melancholy mood that is apt method for slow self-annihilation. If you are suffering from any nervous disorder, you should not play it; if you are not yet ill you should not play it; if you are feeling melancholy you should not play it."

Dennis James: "Cristal: Glass Music Through The Ages"

1. Irish Lullaby, arranged for seraphim & chamber ensemble
   Composed by Dennis James, Amy Crocker
   with John Ellis, Marcia Dickstein, Simon Oswell, Sebastian Toettcher, Julie Gigante, David Shostac
   
   
2. Quintet for Glass & Strings
   Composed by Garry Eister
   with Dennis James
   
   
3. Non temere alma immortale, for armonica, soprano, alto, tenor & harp
   Composed by David August von Apell
   with Marcia Dickstein, Michael Horton, Dennis James, Linda Ronstadt
   
   
4. Allegro for armonica (glass harmonica)
   Composed by Joseph Aloys Schmittbauer
   with Dennis James
   
   
5. Caprice for Glass harp
   Composed by Fred Schnaubelt
   with John Ellis, Simon Oswell, Sebastian Toettcher, David Shostac, Dennis James
   
   
6. Pavane, for orchestra & chorus ad lib in F sharp minor, Op. 50
   Composed by Gabriel Faure
   with Simon Oswell, Sebastian Toettcher, Geri Rotella, Virenia Lind, Gary Bovyer, Dennis James, Linda Ronstadt, Roland Kato, Julie Gigante, Sarah Parkins, Leslie Reed, Terri Koide, Ruth Ann Swenson
   
   
7. Largo in G minor for armonica (glass harmonica)
   Composed by Johann Schultz
   with Dennis James
   
   
8. Il Pompeo, opera O cessate di piagarmi
   Composed by Alessandro Scarlatti
   with Dennis James, Linda Ronstadt
   
   
9. Adagio for glass harmonica in C major, K. 356 (K. 617a)
   Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
   with Dennis James
   
   
10. Adagio and Rondo for glass harmonica, flute, oboe, viola & cello in C minor, K. 617
    Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    with Dennis James
    
    
11. L'Armonica, cantata for soprano, glass harmonic & orchestra Récit Accompagné - Adagio
    Composed by Johann Adolf Hasse
    with Stradivaria Ensemble, Dennis James, Veronique Dietschy
    Conducted by Daniel Cuiller
    
    
12. L'Armonica, cantata for soprano, glass harmonic & orchestra Air - Andantino
    Composed by Johann Adolf Hasse
    with Stradivaria Ensemble, Dennis James, Veronique Dietschy
    Conducted by Daniel Cuiller
    
    
13. Petite Impression for Glass harp
    Composed by Fred Schnaubelt
    with Dennis James

MID-WINTER MASH-TERPIECES

Some excellent music industry-baiting audio collages have come sledding down the hill lately:

When you've got a French/polka/female-rap mashup from someone whose name means "DJ Disgusting" featuring accordions mixed with a song that translates to "dance of the shit," you know it's got to be good. And it is:

DJ Dégueulasse: "Danse Sur La La La Polka" (Prototypes "Danse sur la merde" avec Guy Broucher "La la la Polka")

I Cut People's latest album "The Inside Story" is 30 minutes of hysterical media cut-ups, somewhere between the outrageous humor of Wayne Butane and the morally righteous satire of Negativland. He claims that over 100 movies were sampled and I'd believe it. Great collage artwork and funny stories makes for an all-around handsome package.

I Cut People "The Latest Distractions"

I've raved before about Ireland's Phil Retrospector, and the release of "Introversion," a full length, er, retrospective of his mashups should convince any holdouts. There's a powerful emotional pull to these nearly beat-less meditations on melancholy, often injecting highbrow sources like Philip Glass and soundtrack musics into pop cheese, giving it unexpected depth.

Phil Retrospector "Bluebird Blackout" - Harry Dean Stanton reading Charles Bukowski, mixed with Muse and a bit of Bob Dylan.

The Kleptones have come straight outta the UK with another master- class on mash mixing, with "Uptime / Downtime," a flawless two-disc collection of free awesomeness - the first 76 minutes is a pumped-up party, the second set gets downtempo. It's all enough to make you wonder why people make such a big deal about Girl Talk...

The Ceramic Songs Of The Antenna Repairmen

The Antenna Repairmen are a Los Angeles trio who perform music solely on invented ceramic instruments. Some are pans filled with water that are struck with sticks, some are xylophone-like keyboards, and some look like jugs, as pictured on their cover of their album "Ghatam": (Lots more pics of the instruments HERE on sculptor Stephen Freedman's site.)

The music moves from meditative calm to chugging Mimimalism rhythms, with plenty of ethnic influences giving the whole thing the feel of an ancient ritual. Plenty listenable, and sometimes, as with this mp3, downright catchy:

The Antenna Repairmen: Marvin's Udu Voodoo (excerpt)

HAITI BLUES

Believe it or not, there was a time when Haiti wasn't ruled by a dictator, had a prosperous middle-class, a vibrant night life. Let's go back to those days...well, actually, to a nutty '50s chacha novelty that surely rocked many a tiki bar, sung by a saucy American. This tune used to be a staple of my exotica mixes. Bailey doesn't really sing the inane lyrics so much as do a Mae West-like drawl:

Pearl Bailey "Haiti Blues"

How 'bout we get a bit more authentic? From Haiti's most famous exports (apart from the Fugees), a more recent classic from these compas (pronounced "kome-PAH") legends:

Tabou Combo "Pase Sou Ou" - like they say: "too, too funky"

Compas is more like African styles such as soukous then most Carribean musics, but if I were to compare compas to, say, calypso/soca, dancehall, or salsa, I'd say it's like comparing Al Green to James Brown - it's more smooth and subtle. Must be that French influence. It still rocks the party like a mutha, tho.

The father of compas was Nemours Jean Baptiste, and in the early '80s the Mini All Stars (musicians of the New York-based Mini Records label) covered some of his hits, taking advantage of the modern recording technology of their new American home. This album is a non-stop party, with tracks like the berserk Mardi Gras anthem "Carnaval Compas Direct" comitting total dance-floor mayhem:
Mini All Stars "Fanatiques Compas"
Nemours was sick and blind by the early '80s and died in '85, so I'm glad that he lived long enough to experience these recordings' huge success in the Haitian music world.

Here's an album recorded off of worn vinyl - I cleaned up the audio as much as possible, but this 1970 release features such devastating compas (like the title track and "Le Vrai Bonheur") that cd-quality sound really doesn't matter. Still, I hope the band reunion of last year will spur these guys on to reissue this classic:

Les Gypsies de Petion-Ville "Haiti"
The now Florida-based madman guitarist of the band, Robert Martino, has a seemingly endless bag of catchy riffs at his disposal. Good luck, Haitian peoples!
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HAPPY 75TH B-DAY, ELVIS

I'm only a few days late. And, hey, isn't anytime the right time for a cheesy Elvis impersonator album? Especially one with narration between songs telling us, well, the Elvis Presley story. And how 'bout that snowman background? (Thanks to the person selling this album on ebay whose pictures I swiped.)

ALAN: The Elvis Presley Story

His singing occasionally veers into unintentional parody territory - it gets especially hilarious halfway thru "Heartbreak Hotel." It sounds like he's having a seizure.

This was apparently recorded while The King was still alive. When I went on a tour of Graceland, the guide explained E's death by saying it was due to: "...a dependence on medications, and the pressures of trying to please all his fans." Well put!

MUSEUM OF OBSOLETE INTRUMENTS: ACCORDIONS AND SAWS

There are two bands in America who base their sound on accordion and musical saw. I wonder if they know about each other?

Don't get me wrong - I love rock 'n 'roll like my name was Joan Jett. But having only a couple of sounds deemed "cool" results in a skimpy musical diet. Information is lost, like when a language or culture dies off, and we're all the poorer for it.

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Baltimore's Madagascar and Dreamland Faces from Minneapolis don't use guitars or electro beatz, but have an alluring, haunting, and, well, dreamy sound based on the folk oddity, the musical saw, and that perpetual punchline, the accordion. After sending away for their cds (and a 45 from Dreamland Faces!), there are times when all I want to do is listen to this stuff:

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Dreamland Faces: Ball Buster - kooky kartoonishness (from their "bunnies fighting" album)

Madagascar: Son of a Hunchback Lithographer

Madagascar: Bear Goes Shopping - bear can shop in a brisk 7/8 tempo? Clever bear! (from their album "Forced March")

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Madagascar's sound leans more towards the "garde" side of the antique-garde equation, sometimes getting quite hazy and sloooow, while Dreamland Faces have been know to play up their antique-ness, with guest crooner Randall Throckmorton providing occasional vocals, and even accompanying silent films.

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What's so funny about the squeezebox, anyway? It has a fantastic diversity of sounds and styles, from raunchy Louisiana zydeco, to the moving, melancholy tangos of Astor Piazzolla. And polka is fast and wildly energetic, and uses a two-step rhythm. Like punk rock. But at least one South American country thinks accordions are cool. News website GlobalPost sez: "In many countries, the general public gives little recognition to talented accordion players...Rather than aspiring to be guitar gods, many Colombian children dream of striking it rich with the accordion, a bulky instrument that seems to be the result of a keyboard mating with a cash register.” Watch the video, and see the full article here.

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Let's Polka is a great accordion blog that actually covers sounds far beyond polka. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

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ANIMALS ARE AWESOME!!

"LOL" gets tossed around a lot on teh inter-webs, but I really, really did with this one:

Cast of "Real Chance At Love": Animals Are Awesome

The intensely dumb, supposedly "hot" young ladies sing, er, rap, er, vocalize an original song about our endangered fuzzy friends. No, I never heard of "Real Chance At Love" either. It's on VH1, another horrible "reality" show. But if they keep coming up with musical gems like this one, I may have to start watching. And if you thought the mp3 was funny, check the video (which is proceeded by a commercial, sorry about that):

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