THE STRANGE SOUNDS OF THE SONOVOX

When one thinks of electronically altering the human voice, one usually thinks of the Vocoder, which came to prominence in late '70s/early '80s disco, funk, and New Wave records, Zapp's "More Bounce To The Ounce" and Laurie Anderson's "O Superman" being two classic examples. Incredibly, a precurser to the Vocoder was invented back in the mid-Thirties. The Sonovox used small speakers attached to the singer's throat that were patched through music instruments - horns, guitars, etc. The singer mouthed the words of a song, and by changing the shape of the mouth and position of the tongue, changed the sound of the instrument. It created a pretty weird robot-voice-like effect.

Musicians in the '30s and '40s didn't really know what to do with it, so it was usually used on children's records or, as on The Who's "Sell Out" album, radio ads. But, amazingly, one Big Band leader used it to mind-boggling effect:

Kay Kyser & his Orchestra: from "You'll Find Out"

This performance is from a 1940 film called "You'll Find Out" featuring the dream cast of Boris, Bela, and Peter Lorre. But the Sonovox was practically the star of the film, providing music, wind and ghost sound effects.

KiddieRecords.com has posted several vintage children's records that used the sonovox - look for Chug Chug in Lollypop Town, Little People's Band in Forestland, and Whizzer the Talking Airplane. Although you may not want to play them for your kids. As Ford from KiddieRecords says, "The creepy sonovox vocal effects may be a bit much for small fry, so proceed with caution."

EL LOCO NINOS DE meterRruidos

One common complaint about "modern art" is: "My kids could do that!" And what's wrong with that? Children have the purest motives - they don't even think of themselves as artists, they just do.

All kids are naturally, compulsively artistic - drawing, acting out dramatic scenarios (with dolls, army men, etc), and playing music. If child's play is rehearsing the survival skills we'll need as adults (as it is with everyone else in the animal kingdom), then obviously imagination is one of the most important traits we can develop. Most of us lose this as we get older, then have to relearn the "proper" way to make art. Picasso said that it took him years to learn to draw like a child again.

From our amigos at the lirios blog and podcast, chroniclers of all things cool and groovy en espanol: "We have just finished a noise workshop for kids (between 4 and 11) entitled meterRruidos. As part of the workshop the kids made a record..." You might be saying, kids need help making noise?! But this isn't the usual running around, screaming, banging on pots and pans kid noise, but a strangely discipled, almost formal sounding undertaking, performed on unidentifiable "instruments." It's certainly unlike any other children's music I've heard - avant-garde abstractions that could be played by adults. Although the final track is a bit of a giveaway. They really cut loose on this one:

meterRruidos: Group 2-2

365 PROJECT: BACH FOR PERCUSSION

My latest contribution to the 365 Project (daily obscure out-of-print mp3 treats for the year) is up now:

Bach For Percussion

Listening to this fascinating '50s gem makes one realize how formulaic most music is...

MARIMBAS MARIMBAS MARIMBAS!

Marimbas marimbas I love marimbas! Which are like giant xylophones! Masanga are a 7-piece group, who except for a drummer, play all sorts of marimbas - enormous bass ones, baritone, and various smaller ones, creating a veritable marimba orchestra. Are there really people who think this is "weird" and only want to hear guitars and pianos? This stuff is rock'n'roll - three-chord tunes pounded out with mad energy, making me want to jump and dance like a silly person.

Masanga are lead by a music prof from my alma mater Cal State Northridge (go Matadors!) and the band is composed of his students. Don't worry, this isn't bland "World Music" - said band leader Ric Alviso studied in Zimbabwe and brings an authentic African energy and excitement to the music. "Skokiana" is a version of an old Zimbabwean tune that, as "Skokkian," was a big American hit in the '50s.

Masanga: "Skokiana"

Strangely enough, only days before I discovered this group in live performance and bought their album, I had heard a remix of Louis Armstrong's version of "Skokkian" by DJ Dale B. It's a great bit of Ursula 1000-ish lounge-tronica, which you can listen to or download here.

BANANA FREAK OUT

You never know where you might find interesting, unusual music. I certainly wasn't expecting to find anything other then dog food and trash bags when I was shopping at Target recently, but standing at the checkout line, whilst looking at the tabloid headlines, I spied a collection of wild, weird wonders of classic Afro-Cuban sounds from the '60s and '70s released through the "Fania Signature" series. Fania, of course, was the Latin music powerhouse that literally filled stadiums with it's all-star roster: Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaria, etc., and the new "Fania Signature" reissue CDs spotlight different styles like "Salsa," "Latin Jazz," and the oddity I found with the innocuous name "Latin Soul."

A more accurate title would be "The Rock/Soul/Funk-Influenced Psychedelic Oddball Novelty Tracks That Don't Fit On Our Other Collections," but I guess "Latin Soul" was more commercial (and shorter). There's plenty of boogaloo, and that's awesome, considering how little boogaloo has made it to CD. Latin music snobs look down their noses at this stuff - it was raw, wild, 3-chord party music, often sung in English to make it even more "un-authentic." Like '60 garage rock, punk, and Miami Bass, everyone hated it except for the people.

The utterly insane La Lupe demolishes Peggy Lee's "Fever," el maestro Tito Puente sings the praises of his "Fat Mama," the band Harlem River Drive drops by to add some funky flavor to the salsa, and there's a Moog-enhanced instrumental that could be (but wasn't) the theme to a Latino version of a blaxploitation film (but who would have been the star? Freddie Prinz? Ricardo Montalban would have been too old...Cheech Marin? Hmmm...)

The then-raging psychedelic pscene inspired two of the album's most head-scratching (if foot-tapping) highlights: The Lat-Teens "Now You Know," a shing-a-ling sing-along that promotes pot smoking, and drops in a story about a Vietnam soldier who lost his legs that may or may not be relevant; and "Banana Freak Out" by George Guzman. As for "Banana Freak Out"...it's called "Banana Freak Out." What more do you need to know? I'll just say that it lives up to it's title.

The Lat-Teens "Now You Know"
George Guzman "Banana Freak Out"

So there ya go - Target. Anything going on at Wal-Mart I should know about?

DAFFY'S NOT HALF THE DUCK HE USED TO BE

Been getting requests for more Bugs Bunny and friends singing Beatles classics since I first wrote about 'em, so here's a song featuring Daffy Duck. An introspective, chin-stroking Daffy, perhaps sitting at a bar trying to spill his guts to the bartender. However, wacky events and their attendant funny sound effects keep interrupting the Sinatra vibe. It's not easy being a cartoon character.

Daffy Duck: Yesterday

Still don't have the Bugs and Friends do Elvis album but it's on my list. In the Forties and Fifties, Spike Jones used to regularly demolish pop music. Listening to this wonderfulness makes me wish we had more of this kind of creative irreverance. Yes, there's the Weird Al song parodists, but Spike & Co. had a sonic assault - they didn't parody lyrics so much as they rearranged the music for maximum anarchic effect. What song can't be improved upon by dropping in silly sound effects? Bugs and Friends Sing Celine Dion? I'd listen.

HELP ME RHONDA

Now that I have the space, let's post the entire contents of Rhonda's "Fairy Tale Lost" EP. The song "Rage" was mighty popular around these parts, and in case you're wondering if the whole collection can compete with it, believe me, every song is truly mind-boggling.

She's still at it since we first wrote about her back in '05, and her website still makes me want to jab icepicks into my eyes. She's apparently added videos, but sorry, I didn't have the nerve to look.

UPDATE 4/6/10: Individual files no longer work, but here's a zip file of the entire ep:

Rhonda: "Little Girl Lost" ep

Rhonda: Rowdy Girl
Rhonda: Equally Manic
Rhonda: Rage
Rhonda: My Dress Code
Rhonda: Intercepted Kiss
Rhonda: Get Married
Rhonda: Fairy Tale Lost

Speaking of our favorite divas, does anyone have Sondra Prill's videos? Most of them were tragically taken down off of the YouTubes.


Thanks again to Alexis!

KEEPIN' IT SURREAL

Bizarre juxtapositions galore! Day-glo cartoon nightmares, sick humor, cult films, twisted tunes, today all from Los Angeles-based artists for some reason. It's this heatwave, I tells ya - our brains are melting. Now it's your turn:

DJ PaulV might be a top L.A. club and radio spin-meister, but no designer shades, fur coats, and posses for him - he's got a silly streak wide as Sunset Blvd., as evidenced by his latest mix "Din Daa Da Axel." Twink's toy-piano/toy sound-effects version of the '80s instro hit "Axel F" is absurd enough, but mixed with George Kranz's nonsensical "Din Daa Daa" vocals pushes it all into cartoon territory.

DJ PaulV: "Din Daa Da Axel"

The Illuminoids are not just a secret society of conspirators, they're also a crew with ties to both classic punk and lounge-revivalists LuxuriaMusic.com, and their latest tune shows just the kitsch-meets-punk aesthetic you'd expect: John Water's notorious underground film "Pink Flamingos" meets the Beatles over a stomping beat from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. The Egg Lady meets the Egg Man, and Satan dropping by only adds to the whole wrong-ness of it all. 666, sick sick sick!

The Illuminoids: "Satan Said Walrus Eggs"

If any film can challenge "Pink Flamingos" in the controversy department it would be David Lynch's waking nightmare "Eraserhead." Lo! Peter Iver's song "In Heaven" from the film (and sound fx, dialogue) vs The Crystal Method's boomin' "Ready For Action" and one of the most twisted artifacts of the LA punk scene, Geza X's "Mean Mr. Mommy Man" = fun weirdness:

RIAA: "Eraserhead Seranade."

David Lynch is the king of cinema surrealism and I don't want to hear any of you smart-alecks say Luis Bunuel. Yeah, I'll give you his early Dali collaborations, but most of Bunuel's stuff wasn't really surreal - he was primarily a satirist. Lynch usually has no such agenda. MR. FAB HAS SPOKEN!

CURE COVERS CAVALCADE!!

The Cure are a kind of alternative Grateful Dead, inspiring worshipful devotion in their fans, and bewilderment in the rest of the population. Though I admit to being in the second camp, the ones largely unmoved by Robert Smith's tummy-ache vocals, I enjoy a kooky Kure kover, and coincidentaly there have been several coming my way lately:

Rockabye Baby: "Close To You" - From "Lullabye Renditions of The Cure"

The Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra: Robots Can't Cry - "Boys Don't Cry" for the cybernetic age

The Supersonicos: "Killing An Arab" - Surf guitar RAWK, even throws in some "Miserlou." This band is from Uruguay (!), and "The Supersonicos" is how "The Jetsons" is translated into Spanish.

I suppose The Fall could also be considered an alternative Grateful Dead, but I haven't heard any kooky Fall kovers.

MUSIC THERAPY FOR THE MENTALLY ILL

Adriano Primadei is a music therapist from Florence, Italy who has some interesting mp3s with his on-line article detailing his work with a teenage boy named Stefano. "His diagnosis is not clear...His language is very limited, bizarre and non-communicative. He is unhealthily attached to his mother and becomes distressed when she is absent. He tends to favour relationships with mainly soft objects...He shows different types of stereotypy, such as flapping his hands and rocking, and vocal stereotypy...in the form of babbling or small obsessively repeated melodic cells."

Primadei plays guitar lying flat on a table so Stefano can join in. Stefono's haunting, otherworldly vocals can be heard here:

Adriano Primadei & Stefano: Example2

365 PROJECT: ELVIS TRIBUTE SONGS

My latest contribution to Otis Fodder's 365 Project on WFMU's website is up today:

Elvis Tribute Song-Poems

UPDATE: Entire album now up!

TUNES 4 TOTZ Week, Day 5: Mountain Park

Mountain Park was an amusement park in Holyoke, Massachusetts that went out of business in 1987. In it's heyday, which began in the early '50s, it had a number of fun houses and "dark rides" where park-goers rode in open roller-coaster-like cars on tracks through dark rooms past weird pictures and figures and smashed through doors as pre-recorded soundtracks played. A former employee of Mountain Park saved the looping 8-track soundtrack tapes.

The low fidelity sound of the tapes, coupled with the pictures on the site of the park in various states of decay, create a wonderfully weird, melancholy atmosphere.

The Mystery Ride: This ride featured everything from bizarre monsters and dinosaurs to visions of Hell(!) but the sound was "always a mix of incessant drums and various jungle animals."

Out of This World: A sci-fi trip accompanied by '50s-sounding electronic bloops and bleeps.

Pirates Den: This poor-man's Pirates of the Caribbean "had the most elaborate soundtrack, but it never quite worked right."

Zoltan was a fortune-telling machine that played recordings of "fortunes" in a Bela Lugosi-like accent.

"Trip The Light Fantastic" Go dancing. But don't overdo it!




Much thanks to solcofn!

TUNES 4 TOTZ Week, Day 4: TWINK

We first wrote about Twink The Toy Piano Band back in Nov. '05 when Mr. Twink was taking toy pianos to new places by mixing in sampled old kiddie records. He really blasts off into the futuristic future with his new album "Ice Cream Truckin'," which features a different producer on each track, each giving the plinky-plonky sounds of toys an electronic makeover (except for the last song's unexpected blast of guitar rawk).

As the title suggests, ice-cream truck music is the album's inspiration - all titles refer to frozen treats, and the album's lead-off track is a version of the theme that plays from the Mr. Softee truck's loudspeakers, letting the kids of the neighborhood know that the ice cream man is here.

I'm not familiar with any of the mixers involved except for Ergo Phizmiz and Mochipet, but if you've heard those two loonies then you know we're not exactly dealing with some slick Paul Oakenfold-type affair. There's a wide, wild diversity of styles here, including the psychedelic psounds of "Sugar Cone," which feature not only trippy echoing toy piano, but a little munchkin alien voice crying out "Ice cream! Ice cream!"

Twink: "Sugar Cone" (produced by Don Limpio)

On the pop side, here's a top bit of techno-pop that Chuck E. Cheese should spin if they ever hold raves:

Twink: "Fizzy Peach" (produced by Rainbow Maze)

TUNES 4 TOTZ Week, Day 3: Adolescence

Here's some school marching band versions of popular favorites performed by the youth of Litchfield (MN) High School:

"She Shook Me (All Night Long)"
"Mr Roboto"
"Crazy Train"

AC/DC, Styx, and Ozzy have never sounded so, well, polite.

TUNES 4 TOTZ Week, Day 2: Ages 5-10

"Da Hip Hop Raskalz" is an album of slammin' jointz written and performed by Harlem schoolkids ages 5-10 years old. Dave Soldier, the guy who got actual elephants to play music, provided the instruments, showed them how to program the drum machines and synths, and let them do the rest. It's like grown-up hip-hop but better - instead of bitches and bling, they rhyme about dinosaurs and candy, two subjects I certainly find more interesting. They designed the cover art, too, on computers.

I especially like the trio of eight-year-old girls calling themselves Sweetness. They got the dance sensation that's sweeping the nation, a genuinely catchy bit of bubblegum. Just don't tell your dentist:

Sweetness: "Do The Lollipop"

I used to love rap, but have found it increasingly depressing since the early '90s. Ah, but Da Hip Hop Raskalz are wonderful. I hope they never grow up.

TUNES 4 TOTZ Week, Day 1: Infancy

Here's a phrase that made me snort a laugh and exclaim "Wha...?"

"Lullabye Renditions of Metallica"

And that's not all. Recently the market's been flooded with a series called "Rockabye Baby." Each album is dedicated to the music of a single artist (The Cure, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Green Day, among others), all played as low-key instrumentals. Chime-like glockenspiel and vibraphone, and toy piano are predominately featured, with very little percussion.

But I don't know how effective they would be as lullabies - the music of folks like Metallica and Nine Inch Nails sometimes feature jarring chord progressions and dissonant intervals that, when played "lullabye" style, sound more suitable for an "Omen"-like evil-kid horror movie soundtrack then anything you would actually want to use for lulling your beloved tots to sleep. These are quite nice, though:

"One" from Lullaby Renditions of Metallica
"Hurt" from Lullaby Renditions of Nine Inch Nails

I have no idea who's doing these, or who the intended audience is. The chill-out/ambient crowd? Novelty-loving weird music fans? Actual kids?

WE'VE HAD SOME "WORK DONE"...

...as the Beverly Hills housewives say. Do we look as young as Joan Rivers?

This October will be the 3rd birthday of this here web-log, and I was getting a little tired of the old look. The facelift is a little easier on the eyes, no? And then there's the cryptic "24" up on top with pictures of unknown objects (maps? diagrams?) to confound and amaze you as you listen to the music...

WHAT'S POLISH FOR "CREEPY'?

Here's a video clip from a 1965 black-and-white Polish film called "Salto" featuring a band playing a truly nerving-wracking instrumental piece. It starts off with a bass line as creepy as the theme from "Jaws" and, as the other instruments come in, it all becomes increasingly disturbing.

The dancers look groovy in their boss '60s suits and beehive hair-dos, but they move around like zombies performing some black magick ritual. Truly the reason why the letters "wtf" were invented.

Wojciech Kilar: Salto theme (video)

Wojciech Kilar: Salto theme (mp3) - You axed for it!

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