Wild Man Fischer: "Wildmania!"

Paranoid schizo/sometimes homeless outsider legend Larry "Wild Man" Fischer sang the first ever release on L.A's pioneering maverick indie label Rhino Records, "Go To Rhino Records" in 1975, when Rhino was still just a record store, not yet the music-biz monster it would become. A version of that song is included on this 1977 album, the first LP Rhino ever released. And this Thursday here in L.A., Beyond Baroque is hosting a 2nd Annual (there was one last year, why was I not informed?!) Wild Man Fischer Pep Rally, which promises "live readings, performances, and rare film clips." Not sure what that's all about (readings?), but it's free.  Doubt I'll be able to make it, so if any of you-all do go, I expect a report, all right?

The late, great Fischer is in a good mood here. Parts of this album were allegedly recorded in the stands of Dodger Stadium during a baseball game.  Hmmm... Tho there's some crude rock backing on a few songs, many of these songs are sung acapella, just the way Frank Zappa discovered Fischer in 1968 when he was walking down the Sunset Strip hollering his songs at the top of his lungs. The 2-disk album that resulted, "An Evening With Wild Man Fischer" (never digitally re-issued) can be found elsewhere in blogland. In '75, Fischer hooked up with crazed pre-punkers Smegma for an awesome album, available HERE courtesy of PCL Linkdump. Then came the Rhino era - after this release Fischer hooked up with those wacky "Fish Heads" kids Barnes and Barnes for some excellent late '70s/'80s albums. Most of Wild Man's stuff seems to be out-of-print.  Actually, a lot of that wacked-out early Rhino stuff is OOP - we may have to focus on 'em in the future. So much weird music out there, and I am but one man!

Wild Man Fischer: "Wildmania!"

1. My Name Is Larry

2. Jimmy Durante

3. I Light the Pilot

4. Josephine

5. Do the Wildman

6. I'm a Truck

7. Sir Larry

8. Who's Your Favorite Singer?

9. Go to Rhino Records

10. Handy Man

11. Disco in Frisco

12. Do the Wildman (And Other in Dances)

13. I'm Selling Peanuts for the Dodgers

14. I'm the Meany

15. Wild Man Fischer Impersonation Contest

16. Guitar Licks

17. What Do You Think of Larry?

18. Young at Heart

19. My Name Is Larry (Reprise)

The Country/Eastern Music of Shoji Tabuchi

If you are a good, decent person, you will not laugh at a Japanese guy sincerely trying to sing American country hits.  The Dalai Lama (or Adam Yauch, were he alive) would probably comment that, hey, can YOU sing in Japanese?  Could YOU come over from a country with a radically different culture than the US and master a foreign music style? Could you, like, learn to play the koto or some shit? 

Well, obviously, I am not a good, decent person - I LOL-ed out loud upon hearing poor Mr Tabuchi sing "make loom in your heart for a flend." And you probably will, too, ya sick bastards. The debut album of this collection of country (and a couple easy-listening) hits by a Japanese fiddle player/singer does, at least, feature slick backing by Nashville pros to maintain some semblance of musical quality.

The night I was ripping this from vinyl I was musing aloud to the missus about how could this album have been released, by a major label, no less (ABC/Dot), and she suggested that it might have been a deliberate ploy, like the tax scam in "The Producers."  Which reminded me of record biz sleaze-bag Morris Levy. Otherwise, I have no explanation for the existence of this album.  But, hey, Tabuchi is having the last laugh on us - he's had a long-running show in that Vegas for old folks, Branson, MO.

 Shoji Tabuchi: "Country Music My Way"

A1 Orange Blossom Special

A2 Put Your Little Hand In Mine

A3 Uncle Pen

A4 Love Letters In The Sand

A5 Devil's Dream [instrumental]

B1 Lovin' Girl

B2 The Words Mean The Same

B3 Make Room In Your Heart For A Friend

B4 Time Changes Everything

B5 Somewhere My Love [instrumental]

This has been another wonderful Windy contribution.

What's 'Nilbog' Spelled Backwards?

LA's own Nilbog are the world's only horror-movie soundtrack cover band. Which is a cool concept, but they can also really play, they skip the cliched tunes (no "Psycho" or "Halloween" themes here), and bassist Bret is the man behind the Post-Punk Junk and Egg City Radio blogs. So good they should do real soundtracks.  Listen to 'em here..that is, if you ain't chicken:

Niblog The Band

Don Wardlow: The King of Casio Country

 

Here's something unique: a serious, heartfelt tribute to funnyman "Weird Al" Yankovic, performed by one guy on an electronic keyboard + drum machine (a Yamaha, actually, not a Casio), recorded onto hissy tape.

 

Don Wardlow is a blind, middle-aged Southerner who has uploaded over 150 songs onto his YouTube channel, mostly covers of country-western oldies. It's all pretty charming, but his originals are special - as technically crude as any outsider music, but genuine and sincere, and surprisingly catchy at times. "American Idle," a commentary on jobs being sent overseas and his own resulting unemployment, sports an excellent earworm of a chorus: 



 

Dig the Latin drum machine groove on another sad-but-true tale from Wardlow's life, about his "Miami Girl," "A song about a girl I dated from 1991-95, with an emphasis on her habit of spending everything I had."

 

There's lots more that I haven't had a chance to check out yet. Come on, Don, lay some mp3s on us, daddy-o!

 

Cz-, Cz-, Czech It Out: The Prague-Rock of Už Jsme Doma

Už Jsme Doma (that's easy for you to say) is the greatest Czech band that I know. Granted, they're just about the only Czech band that I know, since I have never Czeched out (sorry, I'll stop now) The Plastic People of the Universe, tho I know I should.  (Robert Christgau says that The Plastic Peeps are his favorite prog band, so that probably put me off them a bit.)

These crazies hit the American college radio scene with this 1990 release and subsequent tours, and appear to still be going strong. "Uprostøed Slov" is an ADD-riddled affair that unpredictably veers from complex prog, to Residential high-voiced silliness, to hardcore punk - and that's just in the first song. What sounds like chimes, penny whistle,  violin, and marimba compete with aggressive rock instrumentation, and vocals that range from operatic to punk shoutiness. There's a humorous air to the performances that leads me to think that their lyrics are probably pretty funny, too. (Can anyone confirm?) Listen to, say, "Soubor opatøení" if you think you don't like "progressive" rock. It is some whacked-out, fun stuff - prog you can pogo to.

Už Jsme Doma: "Uprostøed Slov"

Central/Eastern European pop/rock seems to be either the cheesiest of Eurovision/schlager pop and techno disco, or, on the other hand, complex classically-inspired metal/prog rock and jazz. Is there nothing in the middle? Poland's Gameboyzz Orchestra spring to mind with their nutty video-game pop, but otherwise I'm stumped. Maybe the trashy fun of (some) American music is a reflection of our trashy culture. Or maybe we're just too dumb to know how to dance in 14/8 time...

Gershon Does Gershwin

Moog synth versions of Gershwin classics sounds like a pretty goofy excuse for an album, especially considering that album title, and the ludicrous cover art of George G. looking like an ABA player with that gi-normous 'fro. But this 1970 release is actually really good, reworking those tired old songs like "Summertime" with unexpectedly fresh, Space-Age arrangements. (Gershon Kingsley would write an oft-covered standard himself, "Popcorn.")  Bob Moog even stated in an interview that he thought that this was one of the best Moog-sploitation albums of that period, and I would agree - especially side two's "Porgy & Bess" medley (Proggy & Bess?).

Kinsgley clearly learned a thing or two about using sound effects in novel musical ways from his old partner, tape-loop wiz Jean-Jacques Perrey, when they were the duo that practically invented electro-pop with their groundbreaking 1966 classic "The 'In' Sound From Way Out."  On this album, Kinsgley is joined on some cuts by pianist Leonid Hambro.

Gershon Kingsley & Leonid Hambro: "Gershwin: Alive & Well & Underground"

Bobby Jimmy And The Critters‎– "Ugly Knuckle Butt"

Looks like I'm the only person in the world dedicating to preserving '80s rap novelty records.  I mean, someone's gotta do it, right?  There's a million histories of jazz, rock , punk/alternative, etc.  Will there be no-one to tell the story of L.A. radio DJ Russ Parr and his def comedy band Bobby Jimmy And The Critters?

"Big Butt" was the big hit, and it still amuses.  It should be noted that founding member of NWA (recently nominated for the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame!) Arabian Prince, and none other than Dr Dre himself are responsible for some of the songwriting here.

'80s electro beatz, a guy rappin' in a funny voice about big butts - come on, admit it.  It's fun stuff. Even if it's actually kinda awful. But that's funny, too.

Bobby Jimmy And The Critters ‎– Ugly Knuckle Butt

UPDATE 10/11/2012: Aw, durn, the song "Just 4 The Hell Of It" is a bad copy. Sorry. I'll see if I can record a better one.

A1		Knuckle Draggers Backing Vocals, Written-By – Kim Hairston	6:01
A2		You're My Women Written-by [Music] – Arabian Prince	4:28
A3		And The Flygirls Scream Written-By – Jeff Page	4:59
B1		Big Butt (Remix)	4:08
B2		Just 4 The Hell Of It Written-By – Arabian Prince	4:11
B3		Ugly Knuckle Butt Written-By – Dr. Dre

Captain Beefheart Karaoke Party: "Clear Spot"

As with the "Lick My Decals Off" post from a couple years ago, here are the instrumental tracks from a Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band album. In this case, it's the 1972 release "Clear Spot." An oddity in the good captain's catalogue, this one alternates the usual mad genius of songs like "Big Eyed Beans From Venus," (one of my favorite songs ever, not just by Beefheart) with attempts to be normal and commercial, tho there's nothing as egregious here as his mid-70's "Tragic Band" period. My eyes popped out when I was scanning the booklet to a recent Buckwheat Zydeco album, and saw a Captain Beefheart writing credit.  Yep, Buckwheat covered the perfectly presentable soul 'n' horns workout "Too Much Time" (tho the instro version is not featured here.)

In any case, it's another opportunity to revel in the complexity of the musical arrangements. Sing along with the Cap'n!

Captain Beefheart: "Clear Spot" Instrumental Tracks

1. My Head Is My Only House Unless It Rains
2. Clear Spot
3. Crazy Little Thing
4. Dirty Blue Gene
5. Big Eyed Beans From Venus
6. Frying Pan
7. Sun Zoom Spark
8. Nowadays A Woman's Gotta Hit A Man
9. Low Yo Stuff
10. Booglarize

Hey Gals! Still Single? Go To 'Charm School'!

Gurlz nowadays, look at em!  Swearing, tattoos, wearing men's trousers instead of purty dresses.  Bring back the charm school, I sez! Like what Bess Rothman used to do in the '50s and '60s: have girls walk around with books on their heads so that they could learn to move gracefully, like proper ladies.  As Miss Rothman's authoritative male announcer sez on her "Charm With Cents" record:

"Poor posture habits might even be keeping YOU from getting dates.  Or be the reason your husband is looking to trimmer, slimmer figures."

This is one of my all-time favorite spoken-word records.  It's an amazing time-capsule of the pre-Women's Lib era, as well as an entertaining production, what with it's lush piano music, and occasional use of dramatic echo on the announcer's voice.  I've used it in sound collages, mash-ups, and dj mixes from the moment I bought it for a buck or so at a garage sale in the '90s. And it's a good thing I did buy it then, because I certainly couldn't afford it now. It's one of my secret weapons, but now I pass it on to you, dear Maniacs. And ladies, when you nab Prince Charming, remember who to thank, 'nkay?


Bess Rothman's Charm With Cents

1. Intro
2. Importance of Speech
3. Visual Poise
4. Theory of Color

ZOMBIE JAMBOREE 2012

WFMU's Twitter thingie posted a link to our collection of Caribean Hallowean from a few years ago, which was very nice, except that the album was off-line.  Since some of you have been looking for it (it is one of our most popular comps), I've put it back up, adding a number of bonus tracks in the process. After all, Devil's Night isn't too far off. Stagger over here: 

ZOMBIE JAMBOREE

Stormy Weather: The Meteorological Music of Nathalie Miebach

Continuing the concept for our last post of science data transformed into music, here's a remarkable project by Boston artist Nathalie Miebach that turns weather data into stunning sculptures and crazy musical scores.  And somehow the Violent Femmes are involved.  

Some of the scores have been brought to life by another gal from Bean-Town, pianist Elaine Rombola.  An album is planned, but 'til then, there are four free mp3s up for download on this page:

Sculptural Musical Scores

The piano pieces are short (around two minutes) and pleasant. "Storms" is busy, as one would expect, and "Journey" thankfully sounds nothing like "Don't Stop Believin'," but rather is low-key, reminiscent of Cage's "In A Landscape."

The other two downloads are both 17 minute-long interpretations of a hurricane. One is by the 6-member Axis Ensemble. I quite like the version by the Milwaukee chamber group Nineteen Thirteen, for cello, percussion, and drums. Really nice 'n' moody, like a waterlogged Gorecki Symphony No. 3. Produced by and performing on percussion is none other than Victor DeLorenzo of the Violent Femmes.  Sounds nothing like Lena Horne.

 

 

Particle Man, Particle Man...

So what's the big deal about scientists claiming that they think they've found the Higgs boson particle? It was the missing piece of the Standard Model of physics, and now that it's been (hopefully) found, it means that our general understanding of how the universe works is correct.  So that's pretty awesome. Let's celebrate by listening to music made by taking the mathematics of it all and assigning each number a musical value. The result is a very peppy tune for piano, bass, marimba, percussion, and xylophone sounds.

I find it kind of hard to believe that a sub-atomic particle sounds like a lounge mambo, but, hey, I'm no physicist. (And if sub-atomic particles really do sound like lounge mambos, well then the universe is far more wonderful than I ever imagined.) It's not very long - only about 2-and-a-half minutes - but the boson is a pretty small particle.

Domenico Vicinanza: Higgs Boson Sonification

This is not the first time we've featured music from the CERN/Large Hadron Collider posse. Four years ago we wrote about the "Large Hadron Rap," and back in '06 we covered the first band on the web. Brooklyn? Austin? Feh!  The CERN scene is where it's happenin', baby.

(This is still the only music blog with a 'science' category, right?)

Help A Brutha Out

Let's check the in-box, shall we?

"Dear Mr. Fab,
      Good day! I'm a reader of your blog and an ardent lover of exceptional music. For the past year, I have been on a relentless search for a very unusual band, and I am hoping that perhaps you could help. In short, about a year ago I chanced to hear two short songs that have haumted me ever since. The music was simple, strange, like a primitive Velvet Underground, with the words sung in a depressive monotone. It was definitely the lyrics that caught me the most, deadpan honest and sad, like a suicide note set to music- somewhat in the vein of Jandek. I wasn't able to catch the name of the band, but the primitive truth of it definitely fit the criteria of 'outsider' music. Despite a wide and varied knowledge of music, and a year of searching, I've yet to find them- my only hope is that by some chance another connoisseur will have been lucky enough to know of them. Is there any chance that you know the band I'm talking about? I seem to remember the lyrics were something like 'Everything I felt in life was someone else's bad joke', with the chorus 'All I wanted was a place in the sun.' This was the kind of music that changes your life, and I would be eternally grateful for your help in this. Thank you, and please keep up the good work.

Best regards,
Z. Colombino"

I wrote back: "Your description of the music/singer sounds like Beat Happening, but I don't remember any really depressing songs of theirs like that, the lyrics don't ring a bell" and he replied: "Yeah they are very reminiscent of beat happening, definitely similar to the twee-pop school musically. I've come to realize they defy classification- for any similarity they have with another band, they're completely different in ten other ways. If I had to guess the era I'd say late 70's-80's...I'd thought maybe Edinburgh post-punk at one point? Orange Juice is another very similar band."

And so we turn to you, dear readers. Anyone?

ZOOGZ TOOZDAY

The six hours of Zoogz Rift & His Amazing Shitheads mega-post from earlier this year is back on-line.

Country Music For Fat, Unpopular People

Meade Skelton is an outsider musician from Richmond, Virginia whose album  "They Can't Keep Me Down" mostly deals with his struggles with weight, and how no-one likes him, e.g.: "I Love To Eat (And It Shows)" and "It's Hard To Love Yourself (When Everybody Hates You)". He feels left out of the music world, loves mom and God, and doesn't like sleazy, degenerate rock 'n' rollers or too-cool hipsters (e.g.: the song "Proud To Be A Square").  His lightweight electric piano-driven songs lean towards the slick, commercial side of country music, and when he stays within his vocal range, he actually has an okay voice, tho hardly worthy of his own Elvis and Sinatra comparisons. Trouble is, he doesn't always stick to his range.

This album, so I'm told, is strongly influenced by Laura Branigan, of all people. Remember her, she did that "Gloria, I think they got your number" song?  Supposedly "Beautiful Lady" is a reworking of Branigan's "Solitaire," adding new lyrics about (of course) being fat and unwanted. 

There is some weak singing here and the songwriting occasionally gets terrible indeed, so it's easy to laugh at this guy, but there is also pathos in "They Called Me Porker," about the taunting he endured as a child. And some pretty smooth session musicians keep it all sounding almost respectable.

On "Songs of Love" he goes lounge - it's an album of mostly amateurish covers of standards, e.g.: "My Funny Valentine," but includes some originals, like the stalker-ish ode to actress Nicole Kidman, "Nicole, Will You Marry Me?" Wow, is this one a head-scratcher. Kidman may want to consider a restraining order. An unnerving yodel/voice-cracking vocal style pervades this album, and the stripped-down production reveals his uncertain piano playing. Oh, my ears! If "They Can't Keep Me Down" has you feeling sorry for the poor sap, "Songs of Love" will make you want to join the haters.

Skelton has gained somewhat of a reputation on the internets thru his relentless self-promotion, often going by other names, claiming on message boards to be a "fan" of Skelton with a "need for Meade!" when it's pretty obvious that it's Skelton himself. Some are annoyed by this behaviour, others amused. But that's what's great about him - he has unwavering faith in his talent, and maintains an upbeat attitude towards life. No whiney goth or sensitive singer-songwriter stuff for Meade - despite the unfortunate circumstances of his life, he keeps a grin on his face.

He has some albums that he's selling independently, and since they're in print, I'm only gonna take a couple/few songs apiece from these two abums (the only two of his that I have).

Mead Skelton Sampler

1. Beautiful Lady
2. What's So Great About Rock N' Roll?
3. Your Old Hay
4. Nicole, Will You Marry Me?
5. My Funny Valentine

Want to hear more? 'Course you do!  Preview his albums on iTunes. And join the Mead Skelton Fan Club while you're at it! 2215 Floyd Ave., Richmond, VA 23220; (804) 359-0219.

UPDATE 9/24/12: We heard from the man himself: Meade would like you to know that he has a new album, likes and is influenced by Laura Branigan but not on this particular album, and does not go around spamming boards under assumed names. So there. I stand corrected.

From one of his other albums, here's the "hit" single, "Hipsters Ruin Everything":

The Dubuque Strange Music Society

The excellent Neon Lushell album that I wrote about recently was my first clue that strange things are afoot in Iowa. Turns out that it was just the tip of the iceberg: Dubuque experimental music maven Bob Bucko Jr. (aka BBJr) sent me a shoebox's worth of cassettes (and one vinyl), as well as a couple of 'zines, that all make a persuasive case for the Iowa experimental music scene. None of it sucks, much of it's exceptional.

You've got yer "A" list music cities that might be major (New York, LA, Berlin, London) or towns with smaller populations that, nonetheless, boast outsized musical reputations (Athens GA, Austin TX, Sheffield UK). And then you got yer "B" cities that no-one's paying any attention to, tho they have folks just as creative as can be found in any of the big boys. Dubuque falls into the latter - noise, ambient, drone, improv, rock, found sounds, all get thrown in the blender whilst steadfastly avoiding cliches. Mr. Bucko has prepared a sampler cd for free download for y'alls:


Personal Archives Digital Mixtape

This collection starts off with a track that resembles "rock" music, before moving into thoroughly unpredictable territory by such artists as Implied Consent, Dead Man's Lifestyle, Distant Trains, and more from BBJr. Instrumentals predominate, veering from crunchy distortion to chilled electronics, sometimes both. BBJr's "At The Bar" recalls '70s cosmic Moog records; Aisle's "crest, fallen" could be one of Nurse With Wound's abstract, but humorous collages, with Chipmunk-y vox over unidentified sounds. The Floating Cave track is an ominous drone that really did make me feel like I was in a deep, dark cave. And Aural Resuscitation Unit's "Dubbing An Arab" isn't the reggae remix of The Cure that one would expect from such a title; it does sound like a (heavily processed) skipping record that might be the Cure, but who can tell? Whatever it is, it's 16 minutes of trippy amazing-ness.

Some of my fave stuff from this scene is only for purchase, like this one:

"On and On We Sing Our Song"

Well worth the mere few bucks it costs for BBJr's fascinating loop-driven sound collages. The industrial-strength funk of "Time is Something" is also worth your pennies. And another band not included on this cd are the Glimmer Blinkken, whose downtown New York c. 1981 sound comes closest to "normal" music.

The history of the scene outlined in the "Ruix" 'zines reveal that many of these cats come from a typical metal/rock background.  So how did they end up here?  To quote from the zine's new blog: "Like most river towns, Dubuque is teeming with personality, and its residents utilize the cultural vacuum of the midwest to great effect. Without an academy to report to or the bored shrugs of scene- conscious youth to deflect, folks in Dubuque have cultivated a diverse portfolio of artistic expression." Do scenes like this exist all over?  Is there some crazy stuff in, say, Missoula, Montana that I should know about?

For further exploration:

http://personalarchives.bandcamp.com/merch
Captcha Records
Dubuque Strange Music Society
http://centipedefarm.com/
http://lation.org/feltcat/ and http://feltcat.bandcamp.com/

The Greatest Things I've Ever Seen

The greatest thing I've ever seen (lately) is this excerpt from "Multiple SIDosis," a famous short from 1970 by outsider filmmaker Sid Laverents that was just posted on-line two weeks ago. Laverents uses ingenious home-brew technology to create a cinematic one-man band performance of the bouncy tune "Nola" on such instruments/noise-makers as the metronome, ukulele, banjo, ocarina, jews harp, beer bottles, pipes, and cymbal, while sometimes inexplicably dressed like Mickey Mouse. Restores my faith in humanity. 

There are full-length versions of "Multiple SIDosis" on the YouTubes of poopy quality.  This is just a minute-and-a-half, but it looks really good:

 

The other greatest thing I've ever seen lately is a large Japanese avant-jazz band who, for reasons known only to them, dress up like shrimp, with glow-in-the-dark eyes. I'll just let you think about that for a moment...

 

They're called Autopsy Report of Drowned Shrimp (sure, why not?) and there is, lucky you, a number of live vids up of their skillfully performed music, which ranges from percussive-heavy tribal grooves, to trippy noise drones, to something that resembles funk/jazz, all mixed with inscrutable ritualistic theater: 

 

 

 

The other other greatest thing I've ever seen happened a couple of weeks ago, when I was emerging from a subway station on my way home from work: A black man dressed like a lady in a hot-pink skirt and a short-haired silver wig was standing around, which, in itself, is not so unusual around here.  But then, then, when a Mexican mama and her two kids walked by, the kids ran up to the ladyman shouting: "Gaga! Lady Gaga! Gaga!"

 

To a man. 

 

A black man. 

 

S/he smiled and waved at them, as I quickly walked to the parking lot trying to stifle my explosive laughter.  And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why living in L.A. rules. Think they see stuff like this coming from work in Missouri? They probably just see, like, Walmarts 'n' shit. I should keep a camera on my person at all times...

Rodney On The ROQ vol. 5

When I created and posted "Rodney on the ROQ Vol 4", a reader commented: "This is one of the greatest compilations ever created by man, woman, or beast." So there! I probably shouldn't try to top that, but a super awesome reader named L9 sent me the Ventures/GoGos collab song "Surfin' and Spyin", thereby making a follow-up necessary. So, once again, here's a sampling of (for the most part) rare, obscure punk, power-pop, synth, novelties, oldies, reggae, and experimental oddities that legendary freeform radio DJ Rodney Bingenheimer used to play in his 'late '70s/'80s heyday on KROQ Los Angeles. Lot's of non-lp 7" singles/EPs here.

Took quite a bit of doing trying to track down some of these tunes that I remembered fondly from my youth but had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth. (The Untouchables tune, in particular was a real bee-yatch to find.) But, no matter, here 'tis - Radio as it should be! 


Rodney On The ROQ vol. 5 (Zippyshare)

01 Longarm - Wall of Voodoo
02 Want You - The Bangles [They used to be good, really!]
03 Little G.T.O. - Rodney and the Brunettes [Rodney himself sings (sort of) this surf oldie]
04 Surfin' & Spyin' - The Ventures covering, and joined by, The Go-Gos
05 Shes Fallen in Love With a Monster Man - The Revillos
06 Beyond and Back (Live) - X [From "The Decline of Western Civilization" soundtrack, I believe]
07 Helium Bar - The Weirdos
08 Beer - Unit 3 And Venus [feat. 8 year old lead singer!]
09 Too Young To Date - D-Day [There was a lame censored version of this song, as well]
10 California Paradise - The Runaways [in a Runaways doc film from a few years ago, Kim Fowley revealed that Rodney would cruise the Starwood club where he dj-ed to recruit future members of The Runaways by approaching young girls and asking them if they played an instrument]
11 Kookie's Mad Pad - Edd ''Kookie'' Byrnes
12 Sit on my face Stevie Nix - The Rotters [Rodney said that he had to get special permission from station management to play this naughty tune]
13 Janitor - Suburban Lawns [Where in the world is Su Tissue?]
14 Shoulder Pads - The Fall [Rodney would play this song, then offer his assesment of '80s fashion by opining: "I like this song, but I don't like shoulder pads!"]
15 Vox Wah Wah ad - feat. The Electric Prunes
16 Blues' Theme - Davie Allan & the Arrows [theme to the classic '60s biker-sploitation flick "The Wild Angels"]
17 The General - The Untouchables
18 Punky Reggae Party  - Bob Marley & The Wailers [co-written by Lee "Scratch" Perry]
19 Anything, Anything (I'll Give You) - Dramarama
20 Disneyland - The Eyes [feat. future Go-Go Charlotte Caffey]
21 Springtime for Hitler - Mel Brooks [Rodney would say that every time he played this, some girl would call up to complain; he never stopped playing it, tho]
22 Pay To Cum - Bad Brains
23 I Hate The 90's - Rodney & The Tube Tops [another single featuring Rodney's vocal , er, "skills," this one featuring Thurston from Sonic Youth]
24 Porpoise Song (theme from "Head") - The Monkees [Rodney's traditional closing theme]

REPOST: RMI Harmonic Synthesizer Album

'Twas requested a while back that we re-post this extremely obscure bit of '70s electronica, but - alas! - the file was lost.  Sorry for the delay, but many thanks to kind reader Aaron for sending us this.

RMI Harmonic Synthesizer And Keyboard Computer

And thanks again to Jake Lion for sending us this album in the first place.

HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY, JOHN CAGE

Tomorrow, Sept. 5th, would have been John Cage's 100th birthday. Perhaps the most monumental figure in experimental music history, Cage and his legacy are being explored all over the world right now - tho, we here in L.A. can crow that we birthed the guy. The pieces on this album do go back to his early years, 1939-1943, to be exact. And what wonderful pieces they are, ranging from prepared pianos - pianos with stuff stuck on the strings - merrily plinkety-plunking away ("Amores"), to what could be African tribal music played on kitchen implements ("Double Music," featuring fellow California maverick Lou Harrison), to the haunting female vox of "She Is Asleep." "Imaginary Landscape no. 2" is scored for "tin cans, conch shell, ratchet, bass drum, buzzers, water gong, metal wastebasket, lion's roar and amplified coil of wire."  It's all performed with verve by fine French folks the Helios Quartet.

Cage's conceptual breakthoughs were still a few years down the road, but, on a purely musical level, these works clearly established him as a stunningly original talent. His place in history was already assured, and this was just the warm-up.

John Cage: Works for Percussion (1991)

Second construction [1940] (7:29)
Imaginary landscape no. 2 [1942] (5:22)
Amores [1943] (9:43)
Double music [1941] (4:39)
Third construction [1941] (10:06)
She is asleep [1943] (11:40)
First construction (in metal) [1939] (10:03)

New to Cage? There are a number of other great albums out there (that I won't post here because they are either in print or shared on other blogs) that I highly recommend:

"Indeterminacy" (1959) - Zen stand-up comedy; this is where Laurie Anderson got her schtick.

"Williams Mix" (1953) and "Fontana Mix" (1958) - deftly edited sound collages, ages before sampling/hip-hop/mashups, etc; and far more complex.

"In A Landscape" - more early works for gentle pianos; ambient music starts here (bonus points for, on one track, using a toy piano)

"Radio Music" (1956) - does what it says on the tin - performers "play" radios, and no other instruments.

There's plenty more, but that's off the top of my head. So...how are you celebrating?  Getting together with friends to put on 4'33" ? I'll try to make it to one of these shows - anyone gonna make all 24 hours of Satie's Vexations?