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.

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

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...

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?

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!

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?

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"?

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"!

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!

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!

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

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.

THE HISTORY OF POPCORN

No-one really knows how the song known to millions as "Popcorn" originated. Yes, ancient people, but which ones? Even native American Indians who have performed the song for ages admit that the Great Elders brought them the song. Who were these Great Elders? Indian ancestors? An ancient, forgotten race? Some have even interpreted this to mean that space aliens gave mankind the tune, claiming that no human artistry could produce a song so catchy. In any case, when Western settlers first arrived in America, they heard a version that sounded something like this:

Cab City Combo - Indiancorn

Explorers quickly took the song back to Europe, where it became a drawing-room favorite. The song was known by many names at first, but the phrase "Popcorn," a phonetic version of the Indian words, become the most commonly used.

Trios corpo di Bacco: "Popcorn" (European folk version)

Meanwhile, rural American musicians, upon hearing the Indian versions, started performing the song on folk instruments. It became a hillbilly standard.

Tom Adams "Popcorn" (banjo version)
GlasBlasSing Quintett: "Popcorn" (jug-band version, excerpt)

In Europe, it was spreading from the drawing rooms to the most elegant ballrooms and concert halls. The king of Luxembourg demanded it played at all royal festivals.

Boston Pops: "Popcorn" (orchestral version)

As the 20th Century dawned, New Orleans-based musicians playing a new style called "jazz" adopted it for trumpet. Supposedly, Louis Armstrong would play it, but only after smoking far too many reefers.

Vincent Malone: "Popcorn" (very retarded trumpet version)

Performances of the song were getting increasingly upbeat and danceable. In the Big Band era, it was an a oft-requested dance orchestra number, one of those "songs that got us through World War II."

Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra: "Popcorn"

By now, a snack (made from corn kernels) named after the song was becoming popular, and in the '50s and '60s, the youth were going mad for a new hard-driving style called "rock'n'roll." Once again, "Popcorn" was said to be the driving influence behind the movement. Even as greasy-haired rockers proclaimed "Popcorn is the MOST, daddy-o," politicians were investigating the song's powerful hold. Some even declared it to be a Communist plot. But that didn't stop it from being the soundtrack to countless beach parties, toga parties, hullabaloos, and shindigs.

Treble Spankers: "Popcorn" (surf version)

The invention of the synthesizer brought the song a new burst of popularity in the late '60s and early '70s. One electronic music pioneer, Gershon Kingsely, even gave himself writing credit when the song appeared on albums by his First Moog Quartet. Previously, it had been considered folkloric, "traditional."

First Moog Quartet: "Popcorn" (Moog version)

The '80s and '90s brought r'n'b, rap, techno, and reggae dancehall into the clubs. Not surprisingly, "Popcorn" was considered the inspiration: Afrika Bambatta insisted that "Popcorn" was the blueprint for hip-hop. In Chicago, clubs would play the song over and over for as long as six hours each night, waiting for house music to be invented.

RIAA: "Here Comes The Hot Butter" (Ini Kamoze's "Here Comes The Hot Stepper" vs Hot Butter's electro version of "Popcorn")

Even Britney Spears has the song to thank for one of her biggest hits:

Master Cylinder: "Oh Baby, More Popcorn"

"Popcorn" is, of course, still poppin' to this day. This was only a very rough sketch of the song's development. Hopefully, the recently announced Harvard University Department of Popcorn Studies will shed further light on the immortal tune.

(The preceding work of fiction was inspired by the amazingly thorough Popcorn-Song website, which details everything you need to know about the song. WFMU's Popcorn page doesn't have much info, but it does have alot of mp3s.)

BOOTWERK - A Bastard Pop Tribute To Kraftwerk

Here's a various-artists mashup collection inspired by one of my favorite boyhood bands (not to be confused with boy-bands!), techno-pop pioneers Kraftwerk. Germany's finest really are one of the most visionary groups in history. For decades they were cutting-edge, anticipating a remarkable number of genres and movements - starting with '70s prog, on to New Wave, hip-hop, and eventually rave, they were always relevant and seemed slightly ahead of their time.

Times have caught up with them - home computers aren't quite as futuristic a concept now as they were in 1979 - but those old records have aged very well, if ya ax me.

"Bootwerk" features a host of internet stars (and M4M faves) like Earlybird, DJ Zebra, Dunproofin', ATOM, and ToToM dragging Ralf, Florian and the gang into the new millennium.

RIAA: (Models Gotta) Fight For Their Right (To Mambo) - Kraftwerk - The Model vs. Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right vs. Tito Puente - Oye Como Va. Probly sounds better after a few mojitos.

Beach Blanket Bootlegs

Here's A non-stop dance party mix of the best surf music mashups the web has to offer.

Beach Blanket Bootleg

(intro) RIAA - Holiday Inn: Cambodia
LCO - Rock Lobster Taffy
Party Ben - Wipeout Taffy
RIAA - Tricky Wipeout
The Who Boys - Fun & Bass
RIAA - Can't Touch This Surfin Safari
Pilchard - High5Music
BuG - Wiggle in Hawaii
The Who Boys - A Song Called Bob
King Cutters - Surf Route Dub Down 101
MarkJ - John B's Holiday
Instamatic - Godlife
DJ Entropy - Rockin Down The Girls
dublxero - Energency of Kokomo
SlackJawedLocal - You Know My Number
Eve Massacre - Red Alert Bird
Messur Chups - Trashmen Upgrade
JetSetAlex - I Like Nitro
DJ Clive$ter - Hawaiian Krupa
RIAA - Aloha Rock

REQUEST: MOOG BREAKBEATS

Had a request to put this back on line. I did...last week. And I forgot to mention it here. DUH.

Here is the original post. Or if you just want the music, here's a zip file of the whole album:

"Moog Breakbeats"
I didn't remember exactly how the original album went, but here's how it goes now:

01 Electronic Concept Orchestra - Grazin In The Grass
02 Walter Sear - Love Child
03 Enoch Light - Pass and I'll Call You
04 Herbie Mann - Pick Up The Pieces
05 The Moog Machine - Jumpin Jack Flash
06 Jerry Styner and Larry Brown - Orbit III
07 John Murtaugh - Slinky
08 les baxter - rachmaninoff prelude in c# minor
09 Robert Byrne - Donna
10 Zeet Band - Gimme 5 Cents Worth Of Love
11 Martin Denny - Yellow Bird
12 claude denjean - na na hey hey kiss him goodbye
13 Enoch Light - Sittin On The Dock of the Bay
14 Hugo Montenegro - Yo Yo
15 Sounds Galactic - Spinning Wheel
16 The John Keating Space Experience - Solitaire
17 Electronic Concept Orchestra - Mah Na Mah Na

For something I just threw together after hearing Robert Moog had died, this certainly has been popular. Perhaps that's not too surprising considering how criminally little of this music has been reissued on CD.

COWBOY SOUL

A black country band?

Cowboy Soul are just that. Some might call these guys the worst kind of Uncle Tom sell-outs. But I think they're keepin' it real, dawg: as we discussed back on the Cowboy Troy post (see the comments), an examination of early American folk music shows plenty of back-and-forth between black musicians and their hillbilly neighbors. The music industry's practice of segregation created the artificial distinction between blues, cowboy and hillbilly styles, or, as the music biz renamed them "race" and "country/western" musics.

From Leadbelly's "I Am A Western Cowboy," to Ray Charles, Charlie Pride, and Los Angeles' own Cowboy Soul, black folks keep butting into country music whether it likes it or not. It's still weird, though, seeing five bruthas, including one in dreads, sporting cowboy hats, string ties and vests, and singing country songs. I just saw these guys today as part of downtown LA's Pershing Square free summer concert series (how's this for rapid reporting, folks?) and I can assure you - they're no joke. No "crossover" rap or drum machine songs, no gimmicky novelties. Just straight-ahead gee-tar twang.

Cowboy Soul - "Worse 20 Minutes": Funny, and quite catchy actually.

PORN FOR THE BLIND

"Porn for the Blind is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to producing audio descriptions of sample movie clips from adult web sites."

Eighth Street Latinas

From Cambridge, MA - home of Harvard University...

BUGS AND FRIENDS SING THE BEATLES

For some utterly silly reason, Tim from Radio Clash asked if I had a copy of "Bugs and Friends Sing The Beatles," a collection of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, and other Warner Bros. cartoon characters singing the Fab Four. Why would he think I could possibly own such a ridiculous album? I mean, I do, but that's besides the point! Honestly, I've been meaning to trade it in for something serious. Maybe some Leonard Cohen. That's how serious I am.

Well, since I went to the trouble of pulling out this album and ripping some of the tracks to mp3, I may as well post one. And so, with a scowl, I present this very serious Beatles song, disgracefully obliterated by an Acme truckload of cartoon sound effects.

The Roadrunner: "The Long and Winding Road"

I shall now return to reading Nietzsche. Good day.

KISSES FROM VENEZUELA

Everyone thought that the Internet would bring a wealth of variety to the culture. Yeah, well, there's a million music blogs out there now and they all write about the same things. People are still sheep - that hasn't changed. For instance, who else is writing about the Venezuelan electronica scene? WHO, I ax ya? Just Music For Maniacs. Damn straight.

HUGE Hefner is the hombre who hepped us to the kooky cumbia cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" a while back (for which there is now a video). Now he unleashes _HELIOS.EXE on us gringos with an on-line EP courtesy of the 'net-label FanZinatra. Supposedly, all the songs are remixes of the same song "Kissing Time" ("Besande el Tiempo") but since each track has such a radically different sound you'd never know it. The first "tune" obliterates the sweet female, almost Chipmunky, vocals with such a blizzard of insane electronics and video-game bleepiness I felt like I was riding in a washing machine. I love the contrast between the cute lyrics about kissing and the unpredictable weirdness of the music:

_HELIOS.EXE: Abriendo El Tiempo (Lets_Go_Kissing_Pepper-C64-EOW_Mix)

This one focuses more on the vox and less on the crazy:

_HELIOS.EXE: Pachekando El Tiempo (Pacheko_Mix).mp3

and Boleteando El Tiempo (Dont_Break_My_Core My_Love_Is All_You_Wanted_Mix) has
jagged bits of Manu Chao, Xtina Aguilera, and REM sticking out of it. Yummy like flan.

sshhaakkeeyyoouurrrruummpp

The internet IS the new CBGBs. And you are all as cool as Joey Ramone or Debbie Harry just by being here. Fave new toe-tappin' copyright-violatin' sound collages as follows:

The Bran Flakes have a new odds 'n' sods collection on-line called "Bubbles" that certainly has whet my appetite for their long-awaited new album. Has it really been 5 years since the last one? Well, Flake-in-Chief Otis Fodder has been a busy little beaver lately, what with the 365 Projects and Comfort Stand Records keeping him out of the studio. This tune is a great example of their thrift-store plundering trashy mashups:

The Bran Flakes: Countdown To The End (Choo Choo Mix)

David Schafer is a New York-based contemporary "sound-artist," which suggests someone perhaps using "concepts" as an excuse to not make listenable music. Well, this track is both a great concept and a sublime soundscape: "Kenny G's music is ubiquitous and represents an idea or state of mind of being on hold, in the waiting room, or in an elevator. It also might suggest a kind of anxiety of empty spaces and technology, a pathology that is manifested regarding the need of filling spaces, and the fabricated desire to sooth, and to be pacified at all times..."Forever and Forever in Reverse" is the superimposition of the forward version with the reversed version of the song played at the same time."

David Schafer: Forever In Love In Forever The blandness of Kenny G miraculously transformed into Eno/Fripp-ish droney loveliness.

And finally, RIAA presents two Afro-groovers for summer: The reggae standard "The Harder They Come" performed by Rocker's Revenge over some smokin' Afro-disco courtesy of Manu Dibango - "Aloko Party":

RIAA: "The Harder They Party"

and some fonk-ay jazz: The Beastie Boys' "Shake Your Rump" over a sorta-remake of it by Hammond organ cat Ruben Wilson and P-Funk legend Bernie Worrell.

RIAA: "sshhaakkeeyyoouurrrruummpp"

Both tunes take the acapella and chop it up like a dj scratch attack. Nothing conceptual with these - just bootie-shakers.

419 State of Mind

Section 419 in the Nigerian criminal code refers to internet scams, and a recent trend in that African nation's large hip-hop scene is songs about perpetrating such frauds. They are often told with the same bravado as American gangsta tales, although, of course, coming from a completely different cultural perspective.

Mode Nine is one such group, and their song "419 State of Mind pt2" offers a lot to chew on - it's funny (I like their British victim: "Cor blimey!"), informative, and serves as a warning to potential suckers even as it offers a morally questionable rationale for these crimes based on the old con man's excuse "You can't cheat an honest man." The effect is ultimately chilling. And I don't mean "chillin'."

Mode Nine: "419 State of Mind pt2"



Thanks to africa.visual_media.nyc

THE DEFINITIVE "SGT. PEPPERS"

In all the hoopla this week over the 40th anniversary of The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper," lets not forget the greatest version ever of the album's title song: by actor/comedian Bill Cosby.

I bought this album (which came out on CD last year) at a church rummage sale for a quarter 15 years ago or so, and honestly didn't think the Cos would actually try to sing. I figured he would do a kind of comedic talk/sing kinda thing. I put the needle on, he started singing, and my jaw hit the floor. I knew then and there that this was the one of the all-time great celebrity records. We're talking Shatner-riffic. At least he had the good sense to use Charles Wright's Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band, one of the great underrated funk outfits of the '70s.

Listen/download HERE.

Of the seven notes in the Western music scale, he hits all six wrong ones.

The liner notes of the album say that fans walked out of his music shows because he didn't tell any of his usual comedic stories. Uh, you sure that's why?

CZ-CZ-CZECH IT OUT

Thank God(zilla) for the internet. Otherwise, if I wanted to hear rare oddities and obscurities from the Czech Republic, I'd have to actually go there, spend hours in thrift stores and not now what the hell I was looking at. Fortunately, we've got a fascinating new blog called:

Petasonic

Scroll down to the bottom for an early-'80s Czech version of Pink Floyd's "Just Another Brick In The Wall," a song I normally associate with nothing more important then Valley stoners, but hearing it from the perspective of people living behind the wall of Communism certainly gives it more profundity. There's also a horrible bit of disco, some "official" Commie music and the funniest thing I've heard lately, a ridiculously upbeat Heino-like version of the reggae standard "By The Rivers of Babylon." If there are Oktoberfest celebrations in Jamaica, this is what they play.

THE PUNK GROUP

Was DEVO one of your favorite bands? Are they NOW? If so, all my fellow DEVO-tees are hereby directed to The Punk Group website's "Music" section and commence listening/downloading. They do an excellent job covering The Spud's "That's Good," but really shine on originals like the "Blue Velvet"-quoting "Heineken", the video-game worshipping "Atari 800" and "My Best Friend Is My Son." And "Toby Keith" simply MUST be heard.

G.I. JEW

It's Memorial Day weekend here in the U.S., time to remember all our fallen soldiers. Like:

G.I. Jew

I'm assuming Jon and Al Kaplan are Jewish. Who else could get away with lyrics like:

The Catholics blame him for murdering Jesus (G.I. Jew is there!)
He cuts the skin off the tip of your penis. (G.I. Jew is there!)

I actually like this tune, apart from it's comedy value. Perhaps it's not in the best taste, but what do you expect from the guys who wrote Why Can't Chinese Women Drive? And then there's their masterpiece "Silence!" - "Silence of the Lambs" - The Musical.

RIAA: "Sounds For The Space-Set"

A mashup tribute to the pioneers of electronic music...A glamorous excursion thru the solar system...RIAA (Robotic Intergalactic Astro-Artists) presents a 22-song free download album of Moogs, children's records, ill beats, Salvador Dali, lounge, disco, a robot narrator, surf, scientists, scratchy old novelty records, and at least one theremin. Robot servants mix cocktails for Sun Ra, Esquivel, and Bruce Haack in the observation deck of the space cruise ship heading towards the domed city of Las Vegas, Mars.

And in the most ludicrous example of pitch-shifting abuse in mashup history, Joe Meek stretches Celine Dion on the rack to get her to sing "Telstar." At least Devo and The Dazz Band come along to get everyone on the dance floor.

"Sounds For The Space-Set"

               "If you find Earth boring..."

1.Lift Off: Sun Ra "Outerspaceways, Inc," Four Tops "I Can't Help Myself," David Bowie "Space Oddity," Sun Ra Moog solo

"Our first stop will be the International Space Station..."

2. Follow The Planet Man: Mort Garson "Walking In Space," Eric B & Rakim "Follow The Leader," "Planet Man" (old-time radio)

"Be sure to visit the Meatier Steakhouse..."
3. Shining Sun Flash: Moog Machine "Jumpin' Jack Flash," Tom Glazer "Why Does The Sun Shine?," Earth Wind & Fire "Shining Star"

4.Telstar Will Go On-Let It Whip It: Joe Meek & The Tornadoes "Telsar," Celine Dion "The Heart Will Go On," Devo "Whip It," Dazz Band "Let It Whip"

5. Antenna Rock/StroboNews: Kraftwerk "Antenna," Queen "We Will Rock You," Dick Hyman "Strobo"

"There is a rave in the discotheque..."

6. Why Don't You Psych-Out?: Pierre Henry "Psych Rock" (Fatboy Slim remix)," The All-Night Workers "Why Don't You Smile Now," radio ad

7. ttiippssyy: Tipsy "Hey!" (Messur Chups remix) vs "Tipsy" by J-Kwon

8. Salvador Dali Teaches Rex Harrison How To Say 'Butterfly': Dick Hyman "The Moog and Me," Salvador Dali interview, Chicks on Speed "Wordy Rappinghood"

"We have planned a Lunar Party..."

9. Pon de Re-Entry to the Moon: Jean Jacques Perrey and Harry Breuer "Re-Entry To The Moon," Rihanna "'Pon De Replay," "Bobby & Betty go to the Moon"

10. Mechanical Robot Man: Bent Bolt & The Mechanics "Mechanical Man," Daft Punk "Robot Rock"

11. Robo-Spies Must Die!!: Forrest J. Ackerman "Music For Robots," Los Straightjackets "Squad Car"

12. Lunar Luau: Marty Gold/Walter Sear "Good Night," Frank Sinatra "Fly Me To The Moon," Portishead "Wandering Star," drums: John Bonham, fake Portishead bass synth: Mr Fab

13. Sexy Caravan: Three Suns "Caravan," Justin Timberlake "Sexy Back"

14. Bonnie & Clyde In Orbit: Jean Jacques Perrey "E.V.A." (Fatboy Slim remix), Brigitte Bardot & Serge Gainsbourg "Bonnie & Clyde," tbc!

15. Put Your Miniskirt On: Esquivel "Miniskirt," Schooly D "Put Your Filas On"

"...the domed city of Las Vegas, Mars..."

16. Intergalactic Centerfold: John Keating's Space Experience, Beastie Boys "Intergalactic,"
J. Geils Band "Centerfold," beats: Mrs. Crackburn!

17. Head Like a Moog: Mocha Beans "Hot Dog," Mr Fab & His
Bargain Slacks "sing" Nine Inch Nails!

18. OK Robot (remix)/Wendy and Delia: Bruce Haack "OK Robot,"
Wendy Carlos "Musique Concrete plus synthesizer," Delia Derbyshire
"Chromophone Band," "Moogies Bloogies"

19. Virginia's Tears: Roxy Music w/Brian Eno "Virginia Plain," Smokey Robinson "Tracks of My Tears,"
Eno synth: Nico "Innocent and Vain"

20. The Wonder Is All Around Us: Vangelis "Alpha," Dr. Michael Shermer and James Randi interview
("Skepticality" podcast interview), Ken Nordine "Satellite"

21. Rewind Lady Rewind: Claude Denjean "Lay Lady Lady," Cylob "Rewind"

"We now blast off into Deep Space..."

22. Star Trek To Nowhere: Universal Robot Band "Disco Trek (Star Trek theme)," Ella Fitzgerald "Out Of Nowhere," Cosmos "Summer In Space"

robo-narrator, additional beats and fx: RIAA

HOPE THEY DIE BEFORE THEY GET OLD

They are "the oldest and greatest rock band in the world - meet The Zimmers and their amazing cover of The Who's "My Generation". Lead singer Alf is 90...there are 99 and 100-year-olds in the band!...Documentary-maker Tim Samuels has been all over Britain recruiting isolated and lonely old people - those who can't leave their flats or who are stuck in rubbish care homes...The song is released on 28.05.07 and coincides with the TV show 'Power to the People' which started it all!"

The Zimmers MySpace Page - "My Generation" plays automatically

Yes, the "My Generation" video is funny - a 90-year-old croaking his way thru a rock classic - but it's also unexpectedly touching when members hold up signs describing their lives like "I haven't left my flat in 3 years." Well, now she has not only left home, she's touring the world.

We in Western society don't really know what to do with our old people, so when a Buena Vista Social Club-like phenomenon comes along, it relieves our guilt somewhat to see old folks getting some glory. We wish them the best, but haven't the foggiest how to give it to them. And the Zimmers do indeed appear to be an instant phenomenon: the bandwidth on their new site is already exceeded.

Aparently they perform a Beatles tune in concert, re-written as "When I'm One Hundred and Sixty-Four."

Wookie Wookie, Lend Me Your Comb

Just when I think I've heard it all...

While listening to today's mp3 I thought, "No..it can't be..it is...a song about having sex with someone in a Wookie costume." Happy birthday, "Star Wars"!

Yep, it's been 30 years since the first "Star Wars" film opened, and what better way to celebrate then with music by a fan. Sure, there are lots of "Star Wars" fans, and "filk music" (fan folk music) has been around for decades, but this guy obviously really likes one of the creatures from George Lucas' "Star Wars" universe, the Wookie, quite a bit. Maybe, some would say, a little too much.

"Furries," as you may know, are grown people who like to dress up as animals. No, they're not theme park employees - they do this on their own time. There are Furry conventions featuring artwork, costumes, porn, and socializing, which can, of course, lead to the kinds of things discussed in this most definitely not-safe-for-work song:

MouseTrap: WOOKIEE DRAWS CRACK - a parody of Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back"

Yes, there is furry music, too - whole albums of this stuff for sale, ranging from New Age fantasy to Weird Al-inspired novelties, such as MouseTrap's Monkees parody "I'm A Retriever," and Sonic Blu's take-off on U2's "With Or Without You" entitled "Making a Fur Suit."

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' WomensHealth.gov website has a section promoting breastfeeding, and the Ad Council materials page features print, radio and TV ads. Which is all well and good, until one listens to the "Soul" ad:

National Breastfeeding Campaign "Soul" spot

Imagine Isaac Hayes rappin' about lactating, if you can. Actually, isn't that a white guy doing a psuedo-soul man voice? Probably Don Imus...

No credits listed, unfortunately, and I can't imagine what market this is intended for - the African American audience probably wouldn't appreciate the blackface routine. But, hey, at least it's a lot better then the FEMA rap.

ROCK MUSIC

Back in the post-Cage '60s, composers could get away with writing something like this and calling it "music":

"Make sounds with stones, draw sounds out of stones, using a number of sizes and kinds (and colours); for the most part discretely; sometimes in rapid sequences. For the most part striking stones with stones, but also stones on other surfaces (inside the open head of a drum, for instance) or other than struck (bowed, for instances, or amplified). Do not break anything."

Christian Wolff did just that for his piece "Stones", and more power to him. Los Angeles avant oddball Tom Recchion performs his take on it:

Tom Recchion: "Stones"

There's no information on how this was recorded, but the eerie stereo effects remind me of the binaural recordings that caused such a stir here last year.

Recchion co-founded the Los Angeles Free Music Society, who made the concurrent CBGB scene in New York look as mainstream as "American Bandstand' in comparison. But I first knew him from a radio show he co-hosted on L.A.'s KPFK in the Eighties that played, as they used to say, "avant-garde and rear-garde" music - experimental/improv weirdness mixed with kitschy thrift-store exotica (what People Like Us would call "avant-retard"). I also once saw him do a turntable performance with Christian Marclay where he smashed a record and used a large shard of the broken vinyl to "scratch" another record spinning on the turntable.

THE BEST MUSIC YOU EVER SAW

I originally posted this in March. It disappeared. I don't know why, but let's try this again:

It has been far too long since I've written about musical saw performers. What a wonderous invention is the saw! You can cut down trees with it, then relax afterwards by bowing it to produce nicely eerie theremin-ish music.

Minneapolis' Randall Throckmorton is a crooner in the tradition of '20s idols like Rudy Vallee. He often augments his melancholy, nostalgic ballads with Andy McCormick's musical saw, on such lovely tunes as:

Randall Throckmorton: Always Chasing Rainbows

Randall Throckmorton: The Lamp Is Low

McCormick has his own group, Dreamland Faces, which features Karen Majewicz on accordion. A musical saw/accordian duo. I just love that.

djBC just came back from New Orleans where he "saw" a very different kind of performer: "He plays his boot, a saw, his bass of PVC pipes...he is THAT 1 GUY - one man band. Recent album- SONGS IN THE KEY OF BEEYOTCH. He also has electronic bassdrum triggers and a snare drum and various looping mechanisms and stuff. I was blown away. He also has a sense of humor. Unfortunately I didnt get the part where he hooks a smoke machine up to his PVC bass and smoke is pouring out the top. Or when he removed his hat and a second hat was underneath the first one. Classic."

Some crazy videos here, and bc himself shot this video, and "heres another video of him playing the PVC bass/cello with a bow, and also playing "Somewhere over the rainbow" on a saw."

WAYNE BUTANE'S RECORD COLLECTION

As anyone who's heard Wayne Butane's recordings can tell you, the man has a lot of records. A LOT of records, many of which end up in his outrageous, obscene, hilarious sound-collages. We're still waiting patiently for his next album since we last wrote about him (June 29, 2005), but he's been gracious to share some of the more bizarre records from his closet on his MySpace page:

From the Brain of Wayne Butane - includes his "Wayne's Record Collection" entries.

Outsider recordings, novelties, crank calls...good stuff, but they're up for a limited time, so grab 'em while you can. Thanks, Wayne! Now finish up that album, ya hear?

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In other news...

Rummage Through The Crevices is back! I had just about given up on this wonderful strange-music blog since it hadn't posted anything new since Dec. '05, but it came back with a vengence in April, and Warren's obviously making up for lost time by posting tons o' quality crap since then. The Wee Willie Shantz post alone puts this into the M4M "Highly Recommended" catagory - Mr. Shantz was a crazed hillbilly was works should be of profound interest to any outsider-music enthusiast.

FRED PHELPS IS COMPLETELY HETEROSEXUAL

Rev. Fred Phelps has been busy since we last checked in with him. The "God Hates Fags" preacher's Westboro Baptist Church choir has lots of new tunes up on their site, including newly-recorded versions of their old hits like "America The Burning." That particular song, a parody of "America The Beautiful," has been renamed "Wicked Land of Sodomites" (subtle, eh?) and now features piano, better sound quality, and an outrageous new verse about an alleged homosexual practice that almost made me spit-take on my computer screen.

Westboro Baptist Church: "Wicked Land of Sodomites" - "That's nasty!"

Support the troops? Not this crowd - they have a song for each branch of the American armed forces: "U.S. Smarmy", "Toast Guard", "Air Farce", and, just for the Marines, "Semper Fi Semper Fags." It's easy for me to laugh at songs like:

Westboro Baptist Church: "This Land is Fag Land"

(sung to the tune of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Our Land") but other tracks feature children singing. Yeesh, do we have to drag kids into this? Now that's distasteful.

Phelps and Co. must be happy to know that conservative preacher Ted Haggard, caught with a rent-a-boy, has undergone an intensive three week program to, er, "straighten him out." Which brings us to Roy Zimmerman. Satirical California singer/songwriter Zimmerman has also been busy since we last visited him, and recently posted a video of a wickedly funny new song, with all the bad puns, ludicrous rhymes, and Tom Lehrer-esque sharp wit we've come to expect from him:

Roy Zimmerman "Ted Haggard is Completely Heterosexual" (video)
Roy Zimmerman "Ted Haggard is Completely Heterosexual" (mp3) Recorded off the video, hope it's on his next album.

Now when's Fred Phelps gonna come out of the closet..?

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE WHO BOYS

The Who Boys are an uncatagorizable trio of oddballs based in the UK (including one American ex-pat) whose 'net-albums include spoken-word, singing, electronics, and mashups in various combinations (sometimes all in one track!).

Their new 'net-only release, "The Good The Bad and the Who Boys," features, among it's many wonders, an inexplicable acapella chorus version of the BeeGee's "Staying Alive," a brutal drun'n'bass Elvis remix, a brilliant bit of lounge/classical fusion as Tony Bennett sings over Chopin, and three - count 'em - tracks using recordings of rapid-fire country auctioneers, like the kind we talked about here. This one might be my fave:

The Who Boys: "The Return of Dub Auctioneer" - "...doing his thing with Santana and The Doors, with them essential Who Boys rhythms"

Billie Holiday's chilling description of a lynching, "Strange Fruit," is one of those sacred songs that I wouldn't want to mess with, but this unlikely pairing with Radiohead is nothing short of stunning:

The Who Boys: "Strange Pyramid" - "One to reflect and weep to."

And anyone who remembers British "punk poet" John Cooper Clark is automatically aces in my book.

I Just Called To Say You Are A Rude Little Pig

American media was all in a tizzy over the message Alec Baldwin left to his daughter on ex-wife Kim Bassinger's answering machine that Ms. Bassinger, classy lady that she is, promptly posted on the inter-webs. DJs Adrian & The Mysterious D heard it and knew what had to be done:

A+D: I Just Called To Say You Are A Rude Little Pig

When I first read about the Baldwin call I thought it was appalling. So why is this so funny?

THEY PUT THE HO IN HOEDOWN

What is it with these bluegrass covers of old rock and pop hits? Back in 2001, Hayseed Dixie, who must now be considered pioneers of this genre, covered AC/DC classics in a traditional acoustic folk style for an album that was an out-of-left-field novelty smash. Since then we've had numerous albums by folks like Boss Hoss, Iron Horse, 2 Tons of Steel, Asylum Street Spankers, and The Twang. Even David Lee Roth does hoedown versions of his old Van Halen hits.

Now, an actual country music superstar gets in on the action. Ricky Skaggs, along with Bruce Hornsby (there's a name you haven't heard in a while, eh?) close out their new album with a cover of Rick James' "Superfreak." I guess there's still some mileage left in the genre-clashing exercise of playing a modern electric song in an acoustic traditional style, especially if it's done by top-flight performers like the ones featured here:

Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby: "Superfreak"

PET PROJECTS

A Maniac known as Dj Stairmaster E knows how we loves them animal musics, so he passed along his contribution to a tribute-song website for perennial cult faves NRBQ using - yes! - sampled animal sounds. Now I like NRBQ well enough, even owned one of their albums once, but if you're like me, you probably won't recognize the NRBQ melodies used in this medley. But so what? It's animals!

Dj Stairmaster E: NRBQ Pet Project - "It was inspired by the animal-voiced medley "Sunbaked Savanna" on the Katamari Damashii (Japanese video game) soundtrack."

Reminds me of Gorillas in the Mix, a classic novelty album from 1989 by electronic music pioneer Bernie Krause - original songs played only with animal sound effects samples. Every sound you heard, even the drum beats, were sampled animals. On this tune, the bass drum is a ruffled grouse thumping it's wings, walruses on bass and steel drums, snapping shrimp on percussion, crickets and katydids on ride cymbals, dolphins on piano, along with owls, elephants, horses, etc...

Bernie Krause "Trout From Ipanema" - Good tune, too.

MASHUPS A-GO-GO

It's Friday, or as I call it, "Fride-YAY!." Two upbeat LOL-out loud bits of silliness to kick off your weekend and make you feel ridiculously cheerful:

Bingo Starr: "Freakin' In St Tropez "- Brigitte Bardot's "St. Tropez" gives Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On" a groovy '60s discotheque feel; added beatz help.

JonasMedz: "Herb Albert Made You Look" - It's been over a decade since the Evolution Control Committee's legendary "Whipped Cream Mixes" first hooked up Herb Albert with hip-hop, but this Swedish dude may have topped it - Nas is in perfect synch with Herb's tune "Peanuts," with milk-out-your-nose laffs results.

No, Not THAT Slick Rick

YouTube time: an absolutely horrific slice of '80s fake-rap performed by two hosts of the San Francisco teen show "Home Turf." It's got it all: Slick Rick's (don't worry, not Doug E. Fresh's partner) "Miami Vice" sportjacket-over-t-shirt look, public access-worthy special effects, arrhythmic rapping, corny lyrics. Fresh!

Lady Dominique and Slick Rick (1985)



Thanks again to Karl.

The Rap Canterbury Tales

Saturday's post about the giant squirrel rapping classic poetry reminded my friend Karl about seeing a live performance of a rap version of Chaucer's medieval masterpiece "Canterbury Tales." A quick inter-webular search revealed Baba Brinkman's site, a chap from Vancouver who has an M.A. in Medieval and Renaissance English Literature, and whose thesis "drew parallels between the worlds of rap music and literary poetry."

His album "The Rap Canterbury Tales" puts a modern hip-hop spin on the tales - if eminem had a graduate degree in classical literature it might sound a little something like this:

Baba Brinkman: The Miller's Tale - about a dirty Medieval gurrrl.
Baba Brinkman: The Pardoner's Tale - some drunks in a bar want to beat up Death; kinda reminds me of "Billy & Ted's Bogus Journey" (now there's a high-brow reference for ya).
Baba Brinkman: The Wife of Bath's Tale - another pretty interesting story about a knight who has to have sex with a scary old lady.

You must admit: not many hard-core MCs can claim to have a "Teaching Resources" page on their website.

M.C. NUTS

News item:

"A giant red squirrel named M.C. Nuts belts out a Hip Hop version of the Wordsworth poem, "Daffodils" in honour of its 200th anniversary.

The music video was created on behalf of the Cumbria Tourism board in Northern England and it was designed to appeal to the next generation of Lake District visitors.

William Wordsworth is considered by academics and writers alike as one of the greatest poets of all time; M.C. Nuts is hoping to ensure that the youth of today show their respect for the English poem in the future."

M.C. Nuts: "Daffodils"

But you have got to see the video to truly appreciate this - nothing says hip-hop like a guy in a giant squirrel costume, eh?