DISNEY DOES DEVO...

...Or is Devo doing Disney? Devo, one of the greatest, most influential bands of the original punk era, made a career out of weirdness, but this is pretty insane, even for them: producing a group called Devo2.0 for Disney who are children, ages 10-13, performing old Devo classics. The five-piece co-ed combo, hand-picked by the Spuds themselves, clad in Devo's trademark energy domes (do NOT call them "flowerpot hats" thankyouverymuch) received instrumental assistance from Devo on the album, but will be playing their own instruments when they hit a shopping mall near you. This is either the most brilliantly subversive or depressingly corporate thing Devo has ever done.

Disney has plans for kiddie versions of other classic band line-ups - coming soon, The Go-Gos.

Release date: March 14, 2006. Sound clips on the Disney website. So if you've ever wanted to hear a 12-year-old girl sing about her "uncontrollable urge," now's your big chance.

ROLLER-SKATING, BIRD-PUNCHING THEREMINIST

Pamelia Kurstin plays the theremin. But she doesn't just flail around and make wacky noises. Armed with delay foot pedals, she performs stunning solo theremin improvisations similiar to what Robert Fripp did on guitar-and-tape-effects "Frippertronics" recordings like "Let the Power Fall." She used to perform with her then-husband as The Kurstins, a Moog-theremin-drums trio, who I saw perform in 1998 at a tribute to the man who built her "ax" - Bob Moog himself, who gave a nice talk. I shook his hand that night. Anyway.
In case you didn't catch her in-studio performance yesterday on Irwin's WFMU show, check out this nine-plus minute:

Improvisation

Irwin played records as well, such as Led Zep's "Immigrant Song," and two Beach Boys tunes while Pamelia improvised over them, displaying a keen sense of pitch on her notoriously difficult instrument:

God Only Knows

I don't know what that bird-punching business means, though. That's just what her website says.

AUCTION ROCK

What's the fastest, most energetic music you've ever heard? Ivo Papasov's Bulgarian wedding music? Napalm Death's speed-metal? Yeah, well then you've never heard that pride of American folklore, the auctioneer. Technically, he's not a musician or singer - he has a job to do, and that's sell things at an auction. A real auction, not this eBay jazz. And we're not talking snooty silent city auctions either. Country auctioneers that sell produce, farm equipment, family estates, or, in today's case, livestock. I attended one auction in rural Colorado that sold anything that wasn't bolted down. The guy I saw there was good, but today we're celebrating the champs - the winners of the Livestock Marketing Association's annual World Livestock Auctioneer Championship. You can buy CDs and DVDs of entire shows, or just listen to mp3s of champs like 1964's

Cecil Ward - If you think this guy's insane, brace yourself for 2000's

Max Olvera - All acapella performances. Who's up for doing a remix?

SHRIMP ATTACK!

Don't be alarmed: Shrimp Attack is simply the name of a Stuart Hyatt's music and visual art project in collaboration with developmentally disabled youngsters from Florida's Eckerd College Ransom Arts Center. As many as fifty people are part of this collective - artists and musicians as well as the students, who write and sing their own lyrics, which range from the positive ("I'm Okay") to the Halloween-worthy "House of Dead Bodies." Unlike other similar projects like The Kids of Widney High or the How's Your News gang, the "special music" from these "special kids" is, well, more musical, with the vox/lyrics almost taking a backseat to the tunes. Which, as in the case of today's mp3, are very tuneful indeed:

Shrimp Attack: "Good"

LENNON GOES LOCO

From Venezuela comes "Cachicamo con Caspa y Leiko el perro de la IIIII dimension", which I believe translates to "Cachicamo with Caspa and Leiko the dog of the fifth dimension." The Fifth Dimension? The '60s group that did "Up Up and Away?" Nope, these nuts do off-kilter piano merengue versions of well known Latin-American tunes, and a few internationaly known ones like John Lennon's

"Imagine"

You can download the entire album here. Limp Bizkit and Sublime also get the treatment. Ay yi yi!

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO HOWARD FINSTER

Although Rev. Howard Finster, a preacher from rural Georgia with little formal education whose paintings went so far as to become REM and Talking Heads album covers, may be America's best known folk artist, he also had a little-discussed musical side. The album "The Night Howard Finster Got Saved" is largely dedicated to spoken-word tracks, but there's some ace tunes on it as well. Singing in a high'n' lonesome twang, playing guitar, harmonica, and, in this case, piano, Finster's music should sound familiar to anyone who's heard the "O Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack. Or perhaps, considering the berserk piano stylings of today's mp3, Bob Vido.

Howard Finster, Man of Visions, Now On This Earth - "Some of These Days"

Makes me wish I'd bought that Finster painting I used to see for sale at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Hollywood. I wasn't in the position to spend hundreds on art but it was great - a portait of a young Elvis with the painted caption "Elvis At Three Is A Angel To Me." The fact that it's "A Angel" and not "An Angel" is the clincher.

RIAA: "Recording Industries Are Archaic"

An album's worth of wacky mashups by RIAA.

"Recording Industries Are Archaic"

1. Intro: Bessie Smith "Me and My Gin," media clips
2. Obligatory Rap-Metal Mashup: Lyrics Born "Calling Out" vs Black Sabbath "Paranoid"
3. Here Comes The HotButter: Hot Butter "Popcorn" vs Ini Kamoze "Here Comes The Hot Stepper"
4. Itsy Bitsy Short Dick Man: 20 Fingers "Short Dick Man" vs Elektro-Sonic Orchestra "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini"
5. Gold and Iron Mambo: Kanye West "Golddigger" vs The Lounge Brigade "Ironman," with Cypress Hill, Black Sabbath
6. Beastie Butt: Beastie Boys "Root Down" vs The Butthole Surfers "Sweat Loaf" with kiddie record, Lee Scratch Perry
7. Chris Rock's In The Place: Chris Rock "Defending Rap" vs Prodigy "Everybody's In The Place"
8. Setting Sail: Enya "Orinoco Flow" vs Chemical Brothers "Setting Sun"
9. It's Whiskey: Run DMC "It's Tricky" vs The Dubliners & The Pogues "Whiskey In The Jar"
10. Kraftplay: Kraftwerk "Computer Love" vs Coldplay "Talk"
11. The Shah Turns In His Grave: The Byrds "Turn Turn Turn" vs The Butthole Surfers "The Shah Sleeps In Lee Harvey's Grave"
12. Forty Days And Forty Nights: The Doors "Riders On The Storm" vs Michael Jackson "Billie Jean"
13. I Love Disco and I Hear It's Making A Comeback: Herbie Hancock "Bring Down The Birds," Petra Hayden "I Can See For Miles," Dee-Lite" Groove Is In The Heart,"
Vijay Benedict "I Am A Disco Dancer," media clips
14. We Want Your Ska: The Specials "A Message To You Rudy" vs Freeland "We Want Your Soul," Khia "My Neck My Back," Annette Funicello & Fishbone saying "Ska!"
15. There Is Not An Unusual Light That Never Goes Out:
Mr Fab sings! The Smith's "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" over Tom Jones' "It's Unusual"
16. Mad Confusion Time: The Temptations "Ball of Confusion," Beastie Boys "In A World Gone Mad" vs Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra "The Last Time"
17. Rise Above Circumstances: Black Flag "Rise Above" vs Elgar "Pomp and Circumstances"
18. Have You Seen Forever: Chi-Lites "Have You Seen Her," Beach Boys "Forever," Public Image Ltd. "Radio 4," MC Hammer
"Have You Seen Her," media clips
19. The Joy of Noise: Apollo 100 "Joy" vs Public Enemy "Bring The Noise"
Recorded on AcidPro mixing software 2004 - 2005.
Additional production (beats, sound effects, etc) by RIAA

PUNK ROCK ORCHESTRA

If you liked yesterday's post (or even if you didn't), here's more Bay Area zanies playing punk classics, classical style this time: The Punk Rock Orchestra. Their album isn't out yet, but tantalizing mp3 snippets are good for a few sniggers:

"Pretty Vacant" - The symphonic grandeur of the Sex Pistols
"I Hear The Rain" - The Violent Femmes for flutes
Schwartzenegger Über Alles - Like yesterday, The Dead Kennedys updated

DEAD KENNEDYS: THE ACCORDIAN ALBUM

Oakland, CA's Aaron Seeman plays accordian, for your weddings, parties, bar mitvahs, etc. He's in a Romanian folk music group, can play waltzes and polkas. Oh, and as Duckmandu he's recorded a note-for-note remake of the entire first Dead Kennedy's album, the punk rock milestone "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables." Completely solo. Yep, just squeeze-box, and singing that's a darn good impression of DK's vocalist Jello Biafra.

Form the album "Fresh Duck For Rotten Accordionists":

Duckmandu: "When You Get Drafted" - Note the updated-for-Iraq lyrics

THE HENDRIX OF THE JEW'S HARP

There are millions of great guitar and piano players in the world, but, quick, name a great jew's harp player. The jew's harp? That thing you stick in your mouth, pluck, and go boing boing boing? With the vaguely anti-Semetic name? The same! Meet Tran Quang Hai (also spelled Tran Hai Quang), Vietnamese-born music professor, folklorist, and jew's harp hero. (Hey, if there can be guitar heroes...)

His album "Jew's Harps of the World" does indeed survey various international jew's harp styles, though it mainly features those of Vietnam. Perhaps not melodic in the traditional sense, jew's harps are nonetheless capable of producing surprisingly diverse sounds and rhythms, sometimes suggesting electronic effects like distortion, wah-wah, and phase-shifting, though, of course, it's all acoustic.

Tran Quang Hai - "Souvenir A Alexeiev Et Chichiguine"

KASIER CHIEFS VOCAL CHOIR

Apparently the mother of one of the members of "indie-rockers" (whatever that means anymore) The Kaiser Chiefs is in a vocal choir, and they recorded this acapella version of one of their recent hits:

"I Predict A Riot"

A hoot if you're familiar with the original, just a really really strange church-type choir recording if you're not.

UPDATE: Thanks to Dave "Inhibitor" Hughes for sending us his "semi-mashup" of the original and choir versions of:

"I Predict A Riot"

which he recorded for a gamer's station WoR Radio. Apparently, they've been diggin' the sounds we lay down around here.

A TOOLBOX CHRISTMAS

"Your favorite carols performed on your favorite hand and power tools..An extraordinary orchestra of hammers, saws, drills, ratchets, 2x4s, pipes, planers, and much, much more...You may even hear the occasional mandolin, dulcimer or oboe adding their voices." So says the folk music label, Gourd Records, about woodworker/musician Woody Phillips's debut album "A Toolbox Christmas." Imagine, if you can, Einstürzende Neubauten recording for Windham Hill...

Woody Phillips - "The Twelve Days of Christmas"

I'll be taking a little time off, so thanks for all the tips, comments, and CDs sent my way - this has truly become a community effort. I'm always amazed when I check my web stats to see how many visitors I get every day. See you next year!

TRANSEXUAL SILVER HELLS

The King of Jingaling, he of the crucial Christmas music site Falalalala.com, posted an album yesterday by a singer I wasn't familiar with, Wendy Rose. I listened, I was amazed, I asked His Highness who this woman was, and where has she been all my life? All he knew was a friend sent him the CD, and Ms. Rose is apparently a transexual street performer from Toronto, Canada. Her website features photos of Miss Thing in her librarian glasses (Warning! Bathtub shot on the bottom of the page!), as well as a few mp3s of original songs, but, like the Christmas album, the no-fi recordings all feature her Casio-esque music, and her singing, which is sort of a cross between Neil Young and Yoko Ono.

Wendy Rose "Silver Bells" - Not as off-key as the rest of the album (she's maybe batting .500 here), and dig that electro groove! Unless, of course, you sickos want to hear the really painful tracks...

POT-BELLIED PIGS SING HOLIDAY FAVORITES

Pigs. "Singing" Christmas songs. Well, why not? Don Carlos' Singing Dogs' "Jingle Bells" is one of the all-time classic holiday novelties, and the "Jingle Cats" albums did well. So, in 1994, Texas musician Bobby Breaux took advantage of the then-popular potbellied-pigs-as-pets fad to record a short album of sampled pig squeals and grunts set to holiday standards.

The fad didn't last long, as pig owners soon found out that those cute little piglets grew into 200 lb beasts with monster appetites. But at least it inspired this (now out-of-print) CD "The Jingle Bellies."

The Jingle Bellies "Joy To The World" - a more disgusting, almost flatulent version you'll never hear. Which, of course, coming from me is a compliment.

THE DEFINITIVE "THE FIRST NOEL"

Ladies and gentleman, prepare thyself for the most jaw-dropping rendition of this holiday chestnut you've ever heard. What's it like? Well, let's just say I hope this isn't coming too soon after Wing's ACDC interpretation.

Johnny "Bowtie" Barstow: "The First Noel"

And there's more where that come from - a whole album's worth, in fact. Can't find much info on Bowtie apart from producer/keyboardist Larry Golding's notes. Although the album came out a year ago, it's apparently been in the works for some time: "In the early 1990s, when John Barstow first performed at The Angry Squire's open mic night in New York City, I knew he was something special. We soon became friends, and he agreed to let me record him in my home studio, which consisted of a 4-track cassette recorder and an electric keyboard." I think you'll agree it was well worth the wait.

MAE WEST'S WILD CHRISTMAS

Dana Countryman has posted the entire Mae West "Wild Christmas" album from 1966. The screen sexpot was 73 years young, still chasing the boys and shakin' it to a groovy mid-'60s go-go beat, as she performed songs made famous by Eartha Kitt, Elvis, and The Beatles, as well as custom-fitted creations like "Santa Come Up and See Me".

Mae West - "New Years Resolution" Mae purrs over a "Hang On Sloopy" rip-off riff, "I'm gonna have goodwill towards men...and the more men, the more I will." I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it sounds dirty.

Don't wait til New Years to download this, though - that's when it's coming down.

WING GOES AC/DC

You say you love Mrs. Miller? You cheerfully sing along with The Shaggs? Forget that noise, mac, 'cause nothing, I mean nuthin' can prepare you for Wing's latest.

Wing, a middle-aged-verging-on-elderly Chinese woman now living in New Zealand, who has so risen in stature in the hearts and ears of strange-music fans in recent years that she even appeared (in animated form) on "South Park," has moved from Celine/Streisand/showtune-type balladeering to a more pop/rock orientation (she's done entire albums of both ABBA and Beatles covers). Throughout, her high-speed-drill singing style and English-as-a-second (third?)-language delivery have remained constant. Her latest releases: two classics by fellow Down-Under-ers AC/DC. Yep, there's nothing like hearing AC/DC's suggestive crudities sweetly uttered by the grandmotherly Wing, accompanied by what sounds like a guy with a Casio who takes such long solos that, by the three-and-a-half minute mark, Wing kills time by singing "Yeah" about 50 times.

Wing "Back in Black"

and since 'tis the season, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" - If you're new to Wing, you may want to start here, before working your up to the more advanced material.

I LIKE STINKY CHEESE

I LIKE STINKY CHEESE

SATANIC PUPPETEER ORCHESTRA

They're called the Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra, but 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.

Sure, it's someone's idea of a gimmick, but a strangely believable one - "ReMax," in which our hero describes being kidnapped by the Re/Max real estate company because he wouldn't sell his home to them, and is held hostage in their hot-air balloon, is the sort of randomness a robot really would write if it could.

Said robot, SPO-20, sings melodically over the rinky-dink electronic backing (with occasional toy piano), but his melodies seemingly come from a completely different song then the one accompanying him. Said mad scientist Professor B. Miller says they are in midst of preparing a four-CD (!) box-set debut album. Hmmm...

Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra - "ReMax" - Hey, it makes me laugh.

EXPLOITATION MOVIE ADS

A site called ToeStubber is offering up an amazing collection of old exploitation movie radio spots. Such titilating titles as "The Naughty Stewardesses" ("if a groovy soul-sister is your dish..."), "Frenzy of Blood," "Females For Sale," and "Dr Tarr's Torture Dungeon" are featured.

"Ginger" "...her weapon is her body!" The groovy music drowns out the dialogue. Which is probably just as well.