ZOOGZ TOOZDAY 9: Torment

New to Zoogz? start HERE. We're in the home stretch - I only have one more album of his after this.

Torment is right. This 1989 release kicks off with a track by a clearly frustrated Rift bemoaning his increasingly diminished place in the music industry, and other songs boast primo pissed-off rants. "Dead Planet Earth" features a plethora of ethnic percussion and even a rain stick - Zoogz goes "world-beat"! "The Secret Marines Sex Kitten Beach Party," one of the most uproariously surreal spoken-word + music tracks Rift has ever done, recounts a boy's hilariously gruesome trip to the doctor.

The Tom Waits-ish "Meet Me at Stinky's" is a new direction for Rift, as is "Low Life," for overdubbed pianos (and no other instruments). "Let A Man Come In And Eat The Popcorn, Pt. 47 & 93" is a James Brown parody/tribute. And "Defecation Rainbow" is a helluva title, isn't it?

Apart from the usual furious punk/jazz instros with their blistering guitar work and Jonathan "Mako" Sharkey's synth mayhem, there are some songs that could almost be normal rock ballads. The instro "Candy Girl" is as happy and catchy as it's title would suggest - bubblegum fusion?

Zoogz Rift & his Amazing Shitheads - "Torment"

THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH

Jimmy McMillan, representative (and possibly only member) of The Rent Is Too Damn High Party, is running for governor of New York. He'd get my vote. He's got a lot going for him:

- his super-fly facial hair.
- the fact that he once walked all the way from Brooklyn to Buffalo.
- his prodigious use of clip art.
- his funky synth-and-drum-machine tunes. Every song is about how the rent is too damn high. ("You Never Cared" has a particularly illin' groove.)

Jimmy McMillan - The Rent Is Too Damn High (10 songs)

The election is this Nov. 2. Don't let me down, New Yorkers!

A PIANO POSSESSED

Who's that? The voice seems to be coming from...no, it can't be...the piano is talking!

Peter Ablinger: Deus Cantando (God Singing)

Fortunately, this is a nice possessed piano: it's reading from the "Declaration of the International Environmental Criminal Court," not telling you to "Get out!"

Thanks to computer trickery by Berlin-based composer Peter Ablinger and technical assistance from Winfried Ritsch, the piano only appears to be talking. If you can't quite make out what it's saying, check this page with a video where you can read the text along with the music. Ablinger used to write original music for sampled recordings of speech (fascinating audio tracks on the bottom of this page) until he hit upon the idea of piano and speech intermingled. Just in time for Halloween.

ZOOGZ TOOZDAY 8: "Murdering Hell's Happy Cretins"

(New to Zoogz? Start HERE) If you thought Zoogz was getting soft with last week's offering, this 1988 release should reassure you that Mr. Rift has not mellowed. The first half of this smokin' album is live in Europe, reprising favorites like "Heart Attack," "Mongoloid Middle America," and "When My Ship Rolls In."

Then the studio half: the lovely instro "Puke Island Paradise;" then the title track, one of Rift's trademark rants, this time directed at the likes of pretty-but-empty-headed bimbos; "Tender Romance Sequence," more of a skit than a song, is nutty x-rated surrealism; the film "Freaks" gets sampled; "A = a" is one of Rift's most furious rockers; trombones, vibes, and shrieking guitars prance merrily about and a good time is had by all. Zoogz himself has said that it's "containing some of my best studio work." It certainly makes this cretin happy.
Zoogz Rift "Murdering Hell's Happy Cretins"

OKTOBERFEST A-GO-GO

While it's still October (or, as I like to call it, 'ROCKtober'), here's a whole beer garden's worth of German "schlager" music for a maniac's Oktoberfest. Most of these songs are remakes of Anglo-America hits. They're sometimes sung in German (or inaccurate English), and performed in a gleefully tasteless, absurdly upbeat party-ready delirium. The closest analogy in American music would be Vegas-type lounge music, but even the cheesiest of those swingin' cats had a bit of jazz in them. This stuff is more like oom-pah tarted up for the '60s and '70s, trading in lederhosen for eye-poppingly colorful wide collar shirts and bell-bottom flared pants. It's quite ridiculously entertaining, and it all comes from my collection of used vinyl. Vee hef ways of making you LAFF! [original artist's name in brackets]
OKTOBERFEST A-GO-GO

1. Bernd Spier (not to be confused with reggae band Burning Spear!) "Memphis" [Chuck Berry]
2. Chris Roberts "Rock and Roll Music" [Chuck Berry]
3. Rolf Kühn "Paranoid" [Black Sabbath] - clarinet instrumental!
4. Rex Gildo "Speedy Gonzales" [Pat Boone]
5. Chris Robert "La Bamba" [Richie Valens] - absolutely absurd English lyrics
6. Rolf Kühn "I Hear you Knockin" [Dave Edmunds]
7. Ruth Brandin "Warum (nennt man dich Sunnyboy)"
8. Rex Gildo "You Call Everybody Darling"
9. Bernd Spier "Danke Shoen" [Wayne Newton...or was this a German original?]
10. Tanzorchester Schwarz-Weib "Kleines Haus am Wald"
11. Jo Ment "Get It On-Sweet Hitchhiker" [T.Rex/Creedance Clearwater Revival]
12. Rolf Kühn "Apeman" [The Kinks]
13. Pumuckl's Kinder-Party "Pumuckl Rock n Roll"
14. Chris Roberts "Blowin In The Wind" [Bob Dylan] - play this for any Dylan fan, and watch smoke come out of their ears
15. Lolita "El Paso" [Marty Robbins]
16. James Last "HeyTonight-She's A Lady-What Is Life" - [Creedance Clearwater Revival/Tom Jones/George Harrison]
17. Gunter Hapke "Fur Gaby tu ich alles" - from 1963; early electronic keyboard?
18. Rolf Kühn "Black Magic Woman" [Santana]
19. Ruth Brandin "Papagei-Twist"
20. James Last "Be My Baby-Immigrant Song-Have You Seen The Rain-My Sweet Lord" [Ronnettes/Led Zeppelin/Creedance Clearwater Revival/George Harrison]
21. Lolita "Wenn der Sommer Kommt (Theme From A Summer Place)" [Percy Faith]
22. Rex Gildo "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" [Shirelles]

HEY KIDS, IT'S STORY TIME!

If 15 hours of Ergo Phizmiz's "Faust Cycle" still wasn't enough, and you've been seeking out even more eccentric British humor and surreal storytelling mixed with sample-based experimental music, look no further! Series One of

the Frunt Room

show is now up in it's 6-episode (roughly 2 hours) entirety. Members of long-time M4M faves Pilchard and The Who Boys are the humans behind these ongoing madcap misadventures of a robot-like couple. Episodes 3 & 4 are particularly hilarious.

Musically, expect an entertaining mix of '60s e-z kitsch, modern beatz, and oddballs of the Zappa/Residents variety.

Brent Wilcox was an early radio hero of mine. His KCRW show "F.R.G.K." ("Funny Rock God Knows") was as fearlessly weird as any I've heard. And he's finally put his own music on-line. The standout stuff for me is the two-part (roughly 38 minutes) "Pops Science Story," which was originally released on cassette in 1987.

It tells a mind-meltingly strange and funny story that could make for an especially freaky episode of "Fringe." Wilcox's musical backing is a low-techno stew of tape-loops and Casios and drum machines pushed to their limits. Brian Eno, no less, praised it.

The "Pops" Science Story - Part One (1987) by Brent Wilcox
The "Pops" Science Story - Part Two (1987) by Brent Wilcox

ZOOGZ TOOZDAY 7: (Nonentity) Water III

Don't know Zoogz? Start HERE! But even if you do think you know him, you'll be surprised by this 1988 album - there's no spoken word surrealism, no screaming fits, no rude language. There is alot of nice singing, some Tim Buckley covers (!?), and plenty of instrumental action that is no longer zigging and zagging at break-neck tempos. No, The Amazing Shitheads come off almost like a loose jam band here.

The eminently hummable "When My Ship Sails In," written by band member John Trubee, is as gorgeous a melody as Zoogz ever recorded. The closeset thing here to the old surrealism is the title of the 20+ minute jam "The Enigmatic Embrocation Of Mrs. Compost Heap," and the fact that accordionist Rocky Howard keeps derailing the proceedings to quote from songs like "The Godfather Theme" and "Beer Barrel Polka." Accordion polka on a Zoogz Rift album? That might be the most shocking thing he's ever done. But I guess even misanthropic paranoid cynics have their good days.

Zoogz Rift: (Nonentity) Water III
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OBAMARAH

Don't know who this Radio Crack fella is, but he's got lots of media cut-ups/sound collages. And they don't get much funnier then this one, featuring the world's most powerful person. And Barack Obama.

Radio Crack: Obamarah

A 26-Second Long CD

The Everyday Film is the Jandek of electronica: secretive, musically unique and disturbing, and completely in his own universe. I don't even know where he (they?) are from anymore - every package I get from 'em seems to have a different return-address. And the most recent CD is 26 second long. Yep, he went to the bother of making a cd, packaging it, mailing it...all that work for 26 seconds. Top that, Jandek!

The track makes up for it's short length in sheer shock value. As usual, vocals are so distorted it's hard to tell what's happening, but apparently he's in surgery: "That's me on the table."

The Everyday Film: "Multiple Women" - It's a sneak-preview of a forthcoming album.
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ZOOGZ TOOZDAY 6: Water II (At A Safe Distance)

Don't know Zoogz? Start HERE! Otherwise, let's dive into a 1987 release that, although it's pretty quirky by the usual standards, is as close to a straight-ahead punk/rock album as anything Zoogz & His Amazing Shitheads ever did.

A few songs are pretty out there, however. And the nearly-7 minute epic "Ah Peek In Duh Devil's Secret Hell Files" is waaaay out there, one of the nuttiest things I've ever heard from Zoogz. At one point, he even parodies Beefheart and Zappa's style to most amusing effect. And the impressive title song, for (at least) three electric guitars and no other instruments is some kind of demented string quartet/chamber music.

Zoogz Rift: Water II (At A Safe Distance)

We're only skimming the surface with all these Zoogz posts - he released far more music then I have in my collection. Although this stuff is out of print, Rift himself, thru his son Aaron, is selling for ridiculously low prices a data cd and dvds containing most everything he ever recorded. Faithful reader Steve took the plunge (all right, no more water puns) and sent away for them: "I've received everything from Aaron as advertised! ...I've found that the dynamic range is a bit better than the generally available album rips." He also reports that there are numerous bonus tracks for each album, although, strangely, one track that was originally on an album might be missing (or was it's title changed?). It's bare-bones (no art work), but considering how much you get for so little money, I'd still say it's a great deal. And since Zoogz has so many health issues, I'm sure he could use the money.

(Thanks, Steve!)

The Return Of The SATANIC PUPPETEER ORCHESTRA

How do you follow a debut 4-disk (plus bonus disk) boxed-set album? By not even putting out an album, but an on-line musical game.

The Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra first graced our pages years ago when I wrote: "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."

Their latest project is a multiple choice Name That Tune game, featuring hilariously devolved covers of pop hits, performed as only a mad scientist and his random-sense-of-pitch singing robot can perform them. Thanks to the SPO themselves, we offer here EXCLUSIVE!!! mp3s of some of the songs featured in the game. Otherwise, there are no downloads (yet).

Who did the originals of...

Blaze of Glory - with toy piano!
Werewolves of London (It is getting to be Hollow-Weenie time)
I Can't Go For That
Where Is my Mind

Are there prizes if you guess correctly? Why, of course - you win the greatest gift of all. No, not love: free mp3s of weird music! What more could you want?!

There's plenty more good listening on the three (soon to be four games) that are up now. Thanx to Professor J. and SPO-20!

ZOOGZ TOOZDAY 5: Water

Start HERE! (If you haven't already).

As Los Angeles has just experienced the hottest day in our recorded history, an album called "Water" sounds mighty soothing, doesn't it? Aaaaah, water... And this one kicks off with a song called "I'll Rip Your Brains Out." Hi, Zoogz!

The afore-mentioned song is another example of Rift's trademark outrageous surrealism, in this case sending the TV show "The Beverly Hillbillies" into a Caligula-like orgy. The music ends up as a kind of punk version of the old American folk song "Shortin' Bread."

Much of this swell, well-produced 1987 release is instrumental, which is great as it gives his prog/punk/jazz/weirdness musicians a chance to shine (Richie Haas' marimbas always make me happy), tho I would love to hear lyrics for songs with titles like "World of Depravity." One instro segment, based on the "Oh Pretty Woman" riff, is named "Roy Orbit's Son" (get it?). But the few songs with lyrics are good ones, e.g.: the vituperative "Burn in Hell," and "Mongoloid Middle America," which posits a theme park ride far more terrifying then the Haunted Mansion.

Two excellent instros are only a minute long: "Diver Dan vs. the Worm Gobblers" has a funky poppin' bass trying to keep up with a drum machine that keeps playing faster and faster, and the all-electronic title tune sounds like easy-listening music for robots. A spoken word track featuring a woman recounting a (hopefully fictitious) encounter with a pedophile isn't anything you'll want to hear much, but it does break up the instrumentals.

Dive in! (sorry)

Zoogz Rift: Water

WE WANT BIG DICK NIXXXON

'Twas exactly 50 years ago that Richard Nixon debated John F. Kennedy. He lost the debate and the election, but an unknown citizen who sent his home-scribbled lyrics and a check to a song-poem company was not discouraged:

Gene Marshall: "We Want Dick, We Want Dick, We Want Dick"

Gene Marshall: "We Want Dick and Spiro, We Want Dick and Spiro,We Want Dick and Spiro"

This fascinating article describes how Nixon recovered from his loss by recruiting help from the TV comedy show "Laugh-In," thus ushering in the era of image over substance.

Would Nixon have been a fan of this blog? After all, he hated all that "decadent" modern art (as did so many others before him.) But we've posted so many songs about him! And they're usually sung by this groovy cat, Gene Marshall:

Thanks to Chris G.!

ELVIS VS THE TERRORISTS

The facts:

- E-Cousins are two Philippino Elvis impersonators who sing duets.

- They don't cover Elvis songs, they write original songs about Elvis.

- Some of their lyrics are simply strung-together Elvis song or movie titles.

- Their lyrics usually don't rhyme, or have much of a musical flow.

- The music is very low budget, sounding like it's played on Casios

Is a review even necessary?

E-Cousins: "Elvis Movies"
E-Cousins: "Elvis On Terrorism"

And as long as we're in the Philippines, here's your WTF?! video of the day:

ZOOGZ TOOZDAY 4: The Island of Living Puke

Start HERE! (if you haven't already)

Hoo boy, we've got a live one here - this 1986 release is one of Zoogz Rift's most confrontational releases, and not necessarily one I'd recommend to those of you new to Rift's weird world. It features more non-musical tracks (almost like skits) then usual, and some of Rift's most pained, ranting vocals.

The opening track sports The Amazing Shithead's new toy - a sampler. But rather then looping James Brown break-beats, we've got various voices screaming obscenities, in particular, a woman shouting out: "It's the island of living puke, you ASSHOLE!," over noise/ free music. It's almost as if Rift is daring the audience to continue listening. But don't wuss out!

The title track follows, and it's a swell bit of haunted-house keyboard-driven punkishness. "A Very Pretty Song For A Very Special Young Lady" almost lives up to it's title until the douche-bag from the "Ipecac" song "Sit Down and Shut Up" returns...and returns again on "Nightclub Sequence," where this time band member John Trubee gets a rare vocal - not singing, but acting in a skit (and, yes, he did include prank phone calls on his solo releases). "The Mo-Fo's Are After Me" would almost be laid-back jazz-rock were it not for the anguished paranoid vocals.

"Torture Sequence" is simply a litany of voices complaining about Rift, and it's followed by "You're Killing Me," a great bit of New Wave From Hell, featuring some zany synths and drums machines (another new toy). "The Secret Marines" is dada spoken word + Zappa-esque horn rock.

In "Shiver Me Timbers," an album highlight, and "Escape From The Island Of Living Puke," the band gets down to utterly wacked-out (mostly) instrumental business - spazz-rock at it's finest.

"The Breather" is - hey, whatdoyaknow! - a downright catchy hummable melody, with philosophical lyrics, and a synth solo that sounds like doorbells ringing. And who's "I'm Happy" came first, Zoogz' or Ivor Cutler's?

It can all be a bit startling at first, but repeat listens reveal the humor and musical brilliance.

Zoog Rift - The Island of Living Puke
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WRAP YOUR DREAM IN WALTZ

Originalljudet are indeed original. From Sweden, the land that gave us Tor Johnson, comes this five-piece who make dreamy/nightmarish modern antiquities out of sad accordians, spooky musical saws, acoustic bass, and horns that whisper rather then honk. Tispy violins and pianos occasionally show up to crash on the couch. One song starts off just like Screaming Jay Hawkin's "I Put A Spell On You" before it goes off and joins a broken-down traveling carnival.

A reader named Antov (thanks, dude!) who tipped me to their new debut album described it as "weird but beautiful." Yup. My favorite new late night/early morning cool-out record.

Originaljudet: Wrap Your Dream In Waltz

ZOOGZ TOOZDAY 3: Ipecac

Start HERE! (If you haven't already)

This is the 1984 album (named after a medicine used to induce vomiting) that got me into Zoogz, so it's a sentimental favorite. And I owe it all to the track "Sit Down And Shut Up," which was a bit of a hit on L.A. radio at the time, and a good place for neophytes to start.

We begin with the title track instrumental: a synth & vibes duet followed by some free-jazz guitar skronk that, amazingly, was sampled by rapper The Game. The synth & vibes dueting continues on "Sunday Brunch With Fuad Ramses," a song named for a character in the exploitation film classic "Blood Feast.""Sit Down And Shut Up" is 8 minutes of syn-drums, catchy tunes, some of Zoogz' finest singing, and a devastating parody of a frat-boy knucklehead encountering Zoogz & co. It's also a bit of an '80s time-capsule, with references to KROQ, the Club Lingerie, Pac-Man and numerous trendy bands of the time.

Followed by: dada spoken-word; a relaxing instro that becomes increasingly psychedelic; and then another fave, the 11-minute "I Was The Only Boy At The Teen Girls' Slumber Party." It's as juvenile as it's title, but the music, based on Eric Burdon & War's "Spill The Wine," is a stone-cold groove. Slide guitarist Scott Colby's dobro, and Indian tabla percussion add some unexpected colors to the mix.

Then: "No Use," an almost straight-ahead rocker, with typically pained whining vox; a Christmas carol that Johnny Mathis will not be recording; and finally a vein-popping Rift screaming "you fucked up!" over furious punk-jazz. Phew!

Zoogz Rift "Ipecac"

BAD 9/11 TRIBUTE SONGS vs. BAD 9/11 CONSPIRACY SONGS

There are LOTS and LOTS of sincere, well-meaning, awful songs by amateur tunesmiths commemorating the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. They're usually sappy, melodramatic ballads. Sometimes, as in songs that feature child narrators pining for their dead parents, they're almost downright tasteless, reducing an epic disaster to the level of a tv movie tearjerker. These kinds of songs often invoke patriotic or religious themes. Hey Christians! Did you know that Islam is based on the Judeo/Christian tradition? Yep, they believe (and the Koran reiterates) Bible stories. Therefore, Christianity is not the opposite of Islam, atheism is. No-one sings about that, tho. Anyway. Some of these songs are so inept that they're quite entertaining:

Jay2d "Freedom Fell" - Just when you think it can't get any worse, a guitar solo wanders in, seemingly from another song.

Kevin Fortin "I Still See" [UPDATE 9/11/10 9:00am-dude asked me to remove his song; damn, how'd he find out about it so fast? But it's available elsewhere on the web] - Unintentionally funny song-poem-esque lyrics on this one.

At perhaps the other end of the political spectrum, there's the more recent phenomenon of songs by 9/11 conspiracy kooks claiming...oh, who the hell knows? Their grasp of engineering is about as flabby as Creationists' understanding of biology and they're just as illogical. Actually, I would think that only a Republican would buy these ideas - who else would think that the thoroughly inept Bush administration could pull off such a massive conspiracy? They could barely tie their own shoes. At least this guy's funny:

The Free Bees "9/11's A Lie" - To the tune of "Stayin' Alive." He's the Weird Al of kooks!

Zan Overall "I Want To Believe You Mr President" - This guys was 83 years old when he recorded this Sinatra-ish finger-snapper. And he doesn't believe Jews died in the Holocaust either. I admit, I'd love it if he did a whole album.

ZOOGZ TOOZDAY 2: Amputees In Limbo

Read THIS first! (If you haven't already.)

Proceeding chronologically, here's a collection from 1982 that kicks off with Zoogz screaming "I'm having a heart attack!" over a '60s Vox organ rocker that sounds like a psychotic version of ? & The Mysterions' "96 Tears." Then: an atonal dismantling of Iron Butterfly's "Inna Gadda Davida;" a sax-led instro in 5/4 time featuring some truly warped guitar mayhem; "Evil Eye" is reggae (!) w/frightened lyrics; "Buffy & Jody" obscenely defiles sitcom characters; "My Daddy Works For The Secret Marines" is one of my faves, due to it's distorted funk groove. "Searchin' For Clams Under The Glass Bottom Boat" is an instro duet for vibes and sax. He loses me with some free-improv/noise messes towards the end, but brings it all back home with an attack on an "Art Band"...but isn't Zoogz an art-rocker? If not, then what is an 'art band?'

Another of the more accessible (tho still with grotesque moments), and successful, outings from Mr Rift And His Amazing Shitheads.

Amputees In Limbo

HEAVY METAL + MARIACHI =

Metalachi.

Yep, metal classics (Ozzy, Iron Maiden, etc) played in a Mexican folk style, from this L.A. combo who not only came up with this ridiculous concept, but followed thru with songs, costumes, websites, videos, live gigs around town. Got to give 'em credit, especially since Judas Priest actually sounds pretty damn good like this:

Metalachi - Breakin' The Law

The loco kids these days - what'll they come up with next?

ZOOGZ TOOZDAY 1: Idiots On The Miniature Golf Course

Every Tuesday for the next couple of months I'm going to try to post a Zoogz Rift album. That's the plan, at least. Even if I post every album of his that I have, it'll still only be scratching the surface - the man released 39 albums! (That's of original material - he's released a number of comps as well.) Since Zoogz is retired due to health issues, now seems like as good a time as any for a career retrospective.

If you know anything about Zoog Rift, it's that a lot of people don't like him. He's known for his loud, obnoxious, immature sense of humor (e.g. his band was named The Amazing Shitheads) and for his constant paranoid ranting...and that's what his fans say. But his fans also point out that his wildly original music owes nothing to any typical genre cliches, and he has refused to cater to the public almost to the point of commercially shooting himself in the foot.

Rift is usually compared to the likes of Zappa and Beefheart, and he does share their love of complex compositions that, unlike many too-precious proggies, still rock out with a vengeance. His instrumental lineup, often including the likes of trombones and vibraphones, can be reminiscent of Beefheart. But while Zappa sneered, Rift howls in pain. And if Beefheart came out of the blues, Rift sounds like he was caught up in the punk scene exploding around him at the time. He's from L.A., in case you didn't guess.

Yes, there are going to be tracks on these albums that you're not going to like. When someone won't stop screaming about the "idiots" of the world without getting specific, it can become it's own kind of idiocy. But don't let that stop you. For one thing, there are lots of instrumentals that demonstrate the tightly-rehearsed near-virtuosity of Rift and his bandmates, especially the also-infamous bassist/guitarist John Trubee, and the late drummer/vibeist Richie Haas. And these albums boast some great songwriting - funny, rockin', rollin', even cathartic. There are musical places that you've never been to before.

Idiots On The Miniature Golf Course

This is a good album to start with - for one thing, it is one of his first albums, from 1979 (has not aged at all). He actually sings a fair amount, and quite nicely at that, instead of just hollerin'. And except for a little bit about urination, it's not really obnoxious or offensive, despite titles like "You Can Go Fuck Yourself" (it's an instrumental). It is pretty frantic tho, from the demented childrens circus music of "I Did So," to the mutant funk of "The Night They All Came Out," to rockers that aren't too far removed from, say, Devo or Oingo Boingo, but played with such effortless twists and turns that whiplash could result. Start-to-finish enjoyable, consistent like Ex-Lax (ah, see, now Zoogz's got me getting scatological!)

So don't be scared! Come on in, the water's fine!
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"WHEN MARIMBA RHYTHMS START TO PLAY..."

When I read the liner notes to this 1963 Capital release - " 'Marimbas Mexicanas' will appeal to those who seek the unorthodox, the rare" - I thought: "Hey, that's me!"

I don't usually think of Mexican music as danceable as, say, Cuban mambo or Columbian cumbia, but there's some seriously jammin' stuff here, e.g. "Ven Carinito Ven." And hearing "Quien Sera" was a bit of a shock - the melody is one you Dean Martin fans will recognize. Had no idea that it was originally a Mexican tune.

Marimba Chiapas - "Marimbas Mexicanas"

Oh, how I love the thunkety-thunk sound of marimbas. I also love how, in the '60s, the idea of an all-marimbas instrumental tribute to Glen Campbell wasn't looked at as some weird experiment, or conceptual joke. It was, as alien as it may seem to our modern sensibilities, a perfectly mainstream release. After all, The Baja Marimba Band were cranking out hits for A&M Records at the time.

Living Marimbas Play Galveston and Others

This is not as raw as "Marimbas Mexicanas." It's generally nice summer chillin'-in-the-backyard kinda tuneage, sometimes approaching funk ('approaching' being the operative word here). But "Gentle on My Mind' is anything but gentle - it's so frantic you could pogo to it.

1. Galveston
2. Gentle On My Mind
3. Honey
4. Wichita Lineman
5. Dreams of the Everyday Housewife
6. That's Not Home
7. Little Green Apples
8. By The Time I Get To Phoenix
9. Let It Be Me
10. Hey Little One

THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TYPEWRITTEN

The Boston Typewriter Orchestra, who do exactly what you think they do, have a new free download single out. As usual with this bunch, it's as funny as it is rhythmically awesome.

Get it HERE.

You Gil-Scott Heron fans will recognize their inspiration.

"Fight the power. And while you're at it, please return my stapler."

X BLACK SHEEP

For those of you who liked Geoff Leigh's brand of prog/punk/jazz/weirdness we wrote about a couple months back, here's a new 7-song free online EP of tracks from his band X Black Sheep.

Pick hit: "Cosmetic Surgery," in which a rather sinister-sounding doctor gleefully describes how he loves "Cutting! Slicing! Sucking fat!" over Space Age synth pings and pongs and Leigh's soprano sax. Also: the whacked-out "Superman" from 1981, which could be by a German female-fronted Residents, and "Tongue Tied in Tibet," an Eastern drone meditation rescued from the New Age by a nut shouting "bad karma for the Dalai Lama!"

X Black Sheep "Out of Quarantine"

OUTSIDERS COME INSIDE

Two very obscure outsider oddities are coming to town. I definitely recommend:

Rotate The Completer, a New Zealand street performer who would hand out cassettes of his wonderful deformed blues guitar + Gomer Pyle vocals. His admirers would mail out tapes and I was about willing to send all the way Down Under for one of them when the good people at Roaratorio records announced that they're issuing it on vinyl. Release date: Sept. 21, 2010. (Check Roaratorio's catalog for other goodies from Rodd Keith, Pauline Oliveros, free-improv madness...)

Rotate The Completer "track # 6"

Michael Farneti is an unknown Floridian who in 1976 made an attempt at MOR sophisticated listening, but ended up with something far stranger. Since we've covered just about every other release on the crucial outsider reissue label Companion Records, why stop now? Farneti's "Good Morning Kisses" LP is coming out on vinyl soon. Let's get exotic:

Michael Farneti "In The Jungle"

DON'T BE SUCH A SOUR KRAUT

A commenter on the swell Schadenfreudian Therapy blog requested Fritz Guckenheimer and his Sour Kraut Band. What the heck, I have one of their albums, which I believe I downloaded off of Dr Forrest's Cheese Factory site before The Man told him to take down all his files. Unusual for me, I don't typically repost stuff I get off of other blogs, so it's not a high bitrate, but hey: do we really need berserk Spike-Jones-goes-to-Oktoberfest oompah action in the highest of fi?

"Music For Non-Thinkers"

VULCAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Doesn't get much goofier then this: an entire album of grungy rock instrumentals with "vocals" courtesy of "Star Trek" dialogue samples.

Vulcan Freedom Fighters also throw in plenty of "Trek" sound effects. Each song seems to deal with one "Trek" episode at a time - the original series, of course. Although guitars dominate, occasional electronics pop in to give the album a fair amount of variety, from heavy metal to slightly chilled. Harmonica is used on the funny Old West-set "Horse-Stealin' Scurvy Crew." How Kirk and the gang ended up in the old West I do not know - haven't watched the show since childhood. But it's that kind of randomness that makes this album entertaining even (perhaps especially) to non-Trekkies.

Obviously this is part of the long tradition of "Trek" fan music, but the unique sample-based approach, and the whole pop-culture oddness of it all makes this one fan project that weirdo-music lovers in general can enjoy.

Pick hits: "Horta," whose chorus features Spock screaming "the pain!" "We Are The Metrons" had me banging my head and throwing up the Vulcan sign, not the devil horns. The sound-effects-laden (and possible pornographic) "Argelius" is pretty brilliant, too.

The entire album is available as a free download:

Vulcan Freedom Fighters

There isn't much biographical info on their site, but apparently they are a duo who have a Louisville, KY address, recorded the album in Barcelona, Spain and, judging by the pictures posted, they play (surprise!) conventions.

'THROW YOUR HAMS IN THE AIR!'

If the idea of Jewish rappers named Ice Berg and Dr. Dreidel (and whose manager is named Meshugge Knight) makes you laff, then M.O.T. (Members of the Tribe) have an album for you: "19.99," which actually came out in 1998. As usual, I'm decade behind. The music's pretty basic, but abundant lyrical cleverness rewards repeated listenings. They even go gangsta:

M.O.T. "Kosher Nostra"

and reference old-school jams like "Double Dutch Bus" and "Cars With The Boom" while rapping about fine deli meats:

M.O.T. "Double Dutch Lunch"

M.O.T. featured members of Martini Ranch, a band with a pretty weird history. One of their members, Bill Paxton, became a succesful actor, so with the doors of the entertainment world opened to them, they got the likes of Cindy Wilson of the B52s, Devo, and Judge Reinhold to appear on their lone album. James Cameron, no less, directed one of their music videos.

SCIENCE GONE TOO FAR?!?

Some recent musical mad scientists:

"The Chipophone is a homemade 8-bit synthesizer, especially suited for live chiptune playing. It has been built inside an old electronic organ." Yep, Linus Akesson of Sweden can play those bloopy-bleepy video game sounds on a proper keyboard, the kind of two-level organ your grandma might have in her living room. A helluva lot of work went into building his contraption. Dig the 7 minute demo video:



And check his original song:

Linus Akesson "Spellbound" (not the Hitchcock theme)

It's pretty obvious by the number of robot musicians we've covered here that mechanical music is a growing phenomenon, and now that veteran jazz star Pat Metheny has embraced it, maybe other music journalists will finally start to take it seriously. We're here, we're gears, get used to it! (sorry.)

Metheny's The Orchestrion is truly a marvel - it isn't just one robot playing pre-programmed music, it's a whole orchestra. And the level of performance is remarkable. Much robot music is understandably a bit stiff - machines can't really "swing" - but this stuff comes as close to passing a musical Turing Test as any, where you can't tell if you're dealing with artificial or human intelligence.

Musically, he's favoring percussion instruments like xylophones. Easier for robots to play, I guess. And that's fine by me, I like percussion music.

Pat Metheny - "Orchestrion" (excerpt) - Metheny's guitar is the only live instrument here.

It still sounds like typical Metheny fusion jazz. But the Los Angeles-area KarmetiK crew have built a Machine Orchestra with more of an eclectic bent. They are from CalArts, after all, so they have to get all ethnicky 'n' stuff. No albums or mp3s, but there's a video on their site, and another one HERE of their fascinating mixture of robo-rockers and humans.





Thanks to Richard E. and Joshua U.!

WOLF VS. WHALE! SPOCK VS. THE SUNDANCE KID!

Yes, it's a steel- cage death match between two celebrity-narrated "singing" animal eco-kitsch albums. In this corner:

From 1984, inspired by a "Star Trek" film, Leonard Nimoy on ponderous narration, humpback whales on vocals, Paul Winter and Roger Payne on jazz/orchestral music:

"Whales Alive" - rather nice and soothing undersea sounds for these dog days of summer

And in this corner...

From 1971, Robert Redford on indifferent, occasionally incorrect narration (wolves have never killed man?), wolves on vocals. Halloween spooky.

The Language and Music of the Wolves

Who will win? Why, you the listener, of course!

Both of these fine selections are courtesy of one of this blogs best-est pals, windbag. Thanks, dood, live long & prosper and whatnot.

I'LL TAKE LAS VEGAS: A LOUNGE COMPILATION

As I wrote last year, "Here's a repost of a lounge singer's original ode to Vegas (Mike Hudson - "I'll Take Las Vegas") and a slew of brilliant and/or hilarious lounge versions of rock hits performed by totally unknown (well, except for Louis Prima, of course) performers' private press releases that were probably only available at their shows (often autographed), which I have lovingly ripped from vinyl. I've been collecting these for years, searching used record store bargain bins, garage sales, and thrift shops."

These are tunes that I've posted here over the years, and since they got knocked off-line, I've thrown 'em into a zip folder, along with stuff like Paul Anka's version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," though it is most certainly not a lounge record in the strictest sense - it was released on a proper label, not a private press, and Anka is, of course, a main-room headliner, not an obscure lounge cat playing 3 shows a night, six nights a week.

New! Some very brief TV production tunes by Moog-master Mort Garson, a swingin' instrumental cover of the Kinks' "All Day & All The Night," finger-snappin' singers doing CCR's "Proud Mary" and The Who's "I Can See For Miles," a non-surf version of "Miserlou," and another jaw-droppingly hideous medley from Art Casara (by request!), a guy I first featured on the 365 Days Project.

It's always special when a lounge album features, amongst the predictable standards, original compositions, and we have a few here: the title track, and songs about tennis, and Los Angeles.

Let's be honest: there's often a reason why these cats never made it out of the lounge to the big time. These albums can be a bit bland sometimes, but they're worth picking up for those occasional amazing, transcendental tracks (as featured here) that reward the patient crate-digger, and because these albums have no collector's value and can be had for next to nuthin'.

I'll Take Las Vegas

01 Mike Hudson - I'll Take Las Vegas 02 Paul Anka - smells like teen spirit 03 Mort Garson - TV Production Music4 04 Frankie Randall - I Can See For Miles 05 Chet DeMilo - Sunshine Superman-The In Crowd 06 Carmen D'Oro - Something 07 Mort Garson - TV Production Music2 08 Louis Prima - Mrs Robinson 09 Keith Williams Big Band - Proud Mary 10 Black Diamond - I'm a Believer 11 Mort Garson - TV Production Music6 12 Kathy & Tony Rich - Miserlou 13 Camarata (feat.Tuttis Trombones) - All Day and All The Night 14 The Note-ables - Roll over Beethoven 15 Mort Garson - TV Production Music5 16 Dick Burns - Bad Bad Leroy Brown-All of Me 17 Everett Covin - Everybody's Playing Tennis 18 Mort Garson - TV Production Music1 19 Jose Maria Band - Light My Fire 20 Candi - Philadelphia Freedom 21 Don Ho - Hawaii5-0 QuietVillage 22 New York New York - Bill Lamphier 23 Murray Ross - You've Got It L.A. 24 Mort Garson - TV Production Music3 25 Wayne & Marin Foster - (Can't Get No) Satisfaction 26 Art Casara - Medley No.1 (If You Really Love Me/For Once In My Life/Who Can I Turn To)

AVANT MARCH: Infernal Noise Brigade

Last December, I wrote about a new crop of experimental marching bands. No Sousa cliches from these guys, but pop covers, free jazz, ethnic influences, and humor abound. And Seattle's Infernal Noise Brigade seems to have been way ahead of the curve, forming back in 1999. The now-defunct band released a few albums in their day.

This is their debut, and it certainly lives up to it's name - none of the usual brass band sounds here. No brass at all, in fact, just percussion and vocals. And odd vocals at that, sometimes seemingly sung in foreign tongues, real or imagined, but so distorted (as marching band p.a. vox often are) that it's hard to tell. Occasional stray sounds and abstract video-game-ish electronic effects pop up as well.

Pick hit: "Gas? No Gas," a mad riot of tribal drumming in an unusual tempo, large crowd chanting, and techno/dub-ish production, all smothered in weird sound effects. Awesome.

Infernal Noise Brigade - Insurgent Selections for Battery and Voice

The song "Goat Eyes" expands on the usual marching band drum corp by incorporating what sounds like traditional Moroccan percussion - I forget what they're called, but they're like giant metal castanets. Two "PSAs" are humorous mock radio commercials for the band. And "Fulminate" features what sounds like vuvuzelas. Very obscure.
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