Tuesday, July 31, 2007

THE COACH-POTATO EXOTICA OF M'LUMBO

You gotta wonder how many bowls New York group M'Lumbo were smoking when they came up with this idea: "Dude, I got it! [do they say 'dude' in New York?] Let's play exotic/African versions of classic TV show themes!" Amidst much giggling and Keanu-esque "Whoah"s (or so I imagine) they did just that.

Their album "Sacrifices To The Neon Gods" is a kind of fake cargo-cult hymn collection, as if a primitive African/islander/someplace-dark-and-mysterious people picked up TV signals and began worshipping The Flinstones, The Addams Family, and Mickey Mouse. Hey it could happen! There actually is a South Seas island that still worships Prince Charles. I'd take James Bond any day.

There are horns-aplenty in this 6-man combo, and much improvising, but don't expect your local jazz station to spin it unless their djs do things like play a Tom Waits record at 78rpm on one turntable and a platter of Pygmy field recordings on the other at the same time. And if you think I'm exaggerating that level of hectic-ness, take a listen:

M'Lumbo: "Medley: The Addams Family Theme/Jingle Bells/I Dream Of Jeannie/Perdidia/Night On Bald Mountain"

"Hawaii Five-O," "Get Smart" and "I Love Lucy" are among the other themes that get creatively demolished. Headache-inducing if you're not in the mood, but otherwise, as much fun as a ride on a souped-up merry-go-round while goofin' on cough syrup.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Folkloric Bootlegs & Mashups A-Go-Go

FOOLKLEGS: From France comes this various-artists collection of international folk songs mixed and mashed with modern pop stylings guaranteed to piss off hippie folk music purists (yow, if they were upset when Dylan went electric, wait 'til they hear this.) It's not so unusual, though - it's basically the Moby "Play" concept, only stretched to include everything from Tuvan throat singing to the once-trendy (but still glorious) Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares gals, now merged skillfully with the likes of Beck, Timbaland, Cream and Peggy Lee.

Fred Doest "Hacid freak for my peops" Missy Elliot raps over a frantic Hasidic dance from Romania that reminds me of the "Benny Hill" theme; just so mental, it makes me laugh.

Funky Belek "J'entends le loup, le renard et Beyonce - The album's organizer contributes this gem: a traditional Brittany French tune vs. Beyonce's "Crazy" instrumental.

RIAA:
"Revelation Fever" - Representing the U.S. of A: bluesman Son House sings an old spiritual over Peggy Lee.

And, in case you didn't see it on BoingBoing, also check out:

"Forgotten Hits," compiled by Simon Iddol, is another various-artists mashup collection exploring forgotten regions of the music world, this time old surf/soul/sleaze/jazz '50s/'60s instrumentals - out of print thrift-store vinyl obscurities mixed with the pop crap you thought you didn't like. But, see, even those maroons in Maroon Five sound as cool as Tom Jones with a groovy '60s go-go beat behind 'em:

DJ Earlybird - This Love Gets Lost

Friday, July 27, 2007

MoogSwings

There's a new album sharity blog specializing in old Moog synth records called:

MoogSwings

It's only been up for 5 days, yet it already has 5 albums posted. Good ones too, like Dick Hyman and Ruth White. Meanwhile, another blog has posted a real obscurity by Synthesizers Unlimited, a British project from 1974. Awesome space-age bachelor-pad sleaze, available

here.

And while we're at it, a couple of days ago Brett at EggCityRadio posted six count-'em SIX Mort Garson classics here and here, including "Electronic Hair Pieces," one of the first Moog records I ever bought: 48 cents at the now-departed Record Trader in Reseda in the late '80s. Aw, the 48 cent bin - that's where all the good stuff was...

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra - 5 Disk Album

I first wrote about the Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra back in '05: "I don't detect anything particularly satanic about this good-natured band, nor are there any puppets in evidence. For that matter, it's not much of an orchestra - one man largely handles the music, a "mad scientist" whose robot creation sings lead. Therefore, it's the perfect name for this bizarre, funny bit of musical dada."

It all gets far more funny, bizarre, and dada-esque with the release of their debut four-disk (plus secret bonus disk) self-titled album. Apart from the music, the sheer amount of stuff that comes with it is
insane, e.g.: a giant booklet with "An essay by Popular Science's music editor, Gene LaMont, our Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame Acceptance Speech, actual lyrics to all of our songs, and details about our Songwriting Contest for Artists and Musicians," as well as track-by-track audio commentary on enhanced CDs, like those DVD tracks where actors and filmmakers comment on the movie as it progresses:

The Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra "I Stole Your Daddy's Time Machine (Commentary)"
The Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra "I Stole Your Daddy's Time Machine"

The music is simple electronic pop, and almost every song made me laugh. There's no point in trying to explain the deadpan, absurdist humor. You either laugh hearing a robot speaking in tongues or you don't:

The Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra "
Speaking in Tongues"

A list of influences that includes Andy Kaufman, Wesley Willis, They Might Be Giants, master Surrealist Rene Magritte, and Monty Python should tell you where these San Diegans are coming from.

A few commercials appear from apparently actual businesses sponsoring the album. The conceptual joke of the bonus fifth disk will not be revealed here, but I will say that the live disk consists of what appear to be the same studio recordings featured on the previous disks, only with crowd sounds dubbed over it! And what a crowd:

The Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra "Ornithophobia" "Penguins might be poisonous birds"

Overall, one of the most over-the-top feats of silliness I've encountered lately. What are they gonna do for the second album?


Tuesday, July 24, 2007

ANTON MAIDEN

Checking out the thoroughly excellent, if rather unlikely, Iron Maiden mashup album, "Number of the Boots," I was reminded of Anton Maiden. Some of you might remember this Swedish teenager when he gained a bit of internet "fame" in the late '90s/early '00s singing earnest, if inept, versions of Maiden's headbanging '80s metal over the most low-tech electronic backing tracks possible.

Anton Maiden: "Children of the Damned"

This stuff's a real crack-up, but Anton really did crack up - like so many outsider musicians, Anton had mental problems, and he killed himself in 2003.

Iron Maiden's music really is the kind of over-looked kitsch most in need of creative recycling, and "Number of the Boots" organizer Celebrity Murder Party have crafted a really impressive track: it first turns the goofball satanism of Maiden's "Number of the Beast" into cheezy house music (sure to infuriate metal-heads). That would be amusing enough, but it then develops into a mixture of the thematically-connected "Sympathy For The Devil" by the Stones with George Michael and, gulp, George Bush. I'm telling ya, it works a treat:

Celebrity Murder Party - Sympathy for the Soul of the Beast



Thanks again to Radio Clash!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

HEAVEN IS A WONDERFUL PLACE

Just heard that Tammy Faye Bakker has died. Well, she's been "Messner" not "Bakker" for a while, but she'll always be Bakker to me.

Most people think of her as the free-spending wife of a crooked philandering televangelist, but in our little corner of the musical world, she is fondly remembered for her contributions to the rich field of Christian children's puppet records, where grown adults sing
the praises of the Lord in weird voices. These '70s/'80s records have been amply chronicled here, here ("Praise The Lord" is a particular favorite of mine), here, and this tune from Cool and Strange Music Magazine's Thrift Store Compilation:

Tammy Faye Bakker: "Oops! There Comes a Smile"

No new music here - some of you are probably well aware of these tunes - but spin 'em one more time for Tammy Faye. And ask yourself the question, is "There Comes a Smile" good grammar?

Friday, July 20, 2007

EYE-DISEASE ARIA

I felt kind of bad laughing at this song, since it is courtesy of the Association of International Glaucoma Societies, who, I'm sure, are doing good things to help people with eye diseases. It's called the "Glaucoma Hymn" and is sung with great drama by soprano Melanie Grev, and sports the inspirational lyrics "Glaucoma, Glaucoma, Glaucoma/Constricting vision slowly/Halted by progress/Progress of science/Vision of a world united/Beyond all science knowing." The one-guy-with-a-Casio production doesn't help matters much, either.

Erik Grev: Glaucoma Hymn

"Beyond all science knowing"?

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

You Gotta HAND It To This Guy...

Another "manualist" squeezing his hands together to make fart-sound music:

Gunecologist

I may have to record audio off some of these videos - he does AC/DC, "Fart of the Bumblebee," James Brown, Iron Maiden, even yet another version of "Popcorn"!

Friday, July 13, 2007

POOR HAMSTER

What's a sure-fire way to get a novelty hit? Write a song about dead animals. Think of all the chart-toppers on Dr. Demento's long-running syndicated novelty music radio show: "Fish Heads," "Dead Puppies," "I'm Looking Over (My Dead Dog Rover)," "Dead Skunk In The Middle Of the Road," etc.

Louis Gentile's "Poor Hamster" will probably be a smash on Dr. D's show, if it isn't already. It's got everything you need in music: it's very funny, gross, throws in sound effects and witty musical quotes, and is done in an oom-pah style with kids singing with a German accent (which is fitting since they are German).

Louis Gentile: "Poor Hamster"

I first heard this song on Gentile's Garageband.com page, where I learned that he is an opera singer. Does he mind that this might be the music that he's most remembered for?

Gentile's site has a page with a German language version on the bottom of the page: Für unsere Deutsche Fans, könnt ihr die original version von "O Hamster" hier anhören!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

365 PROJECT: ART CASARA

Otis Fodder asked me to contribute to the year-long festival of out-of-print audio weirdness known as the 365 Project, which caused me to pause: for every day I contribute, that's one day of something I already have. See what I mean? Selfish of me, I know, so here's today's post I contributed:

Art Casara - Hell's lounge singer

And I will endeavor to contribute more, so keep watching the skies!

Saturday, July 07, 2007

REQUEST-O-RAMA: DAVID KORESH

Another request to re-up an old post, this one for failed singer/songwriter turned successful doomed cult leader David Koresh. Unlike God, I can answer your prayers:

David Koresh

Thursday, July 05, 2007

TOY MUSIC

Strap The Button are a free-wheeling avant/psych/improv group from Wales, but even those not inclined towards such hippie-isms gotta love their piece "Toy Music," which, yes, uses toy instruments (this crew have been known to use curcuit-bent toys as well) in a lovely hypnotic bit of minimilism that suggests Philip Glass for the pre-school set.

Strap The Button: "Toy Music pt1"

Courtesy of the 'net-lable My Formica Table, which has loads of free mps3 of largely instrumental experimental pleasing oddness.