The Unusual Electric Shocks of Roger Ruskin Spear

In this blog's world, The Great British Band Of The Sixties isn't those loveable mop-tops from Liverpool (good as they were), but of course, the Bonzo Dog Band. Tho comparing them to the Beatles isn't quite accurate, as the Beatles were pretty much a straight-ahead (if wildly creative) rock band, and the Bonzos were a Dada/ jazz/ comedy/ psychedelic / performance-art / avant-'tarde / rock band. And Roger Ruskin Spear - he of home-made robots, fanciful stage props, explosions, and performing on a theremin hidden in a mannequin's leg - carried on the band's traditions perhaps more faithfully than his two more celebrated band mates Viv Stanshall and Neil Innes, both of whom went off into some rather non-Bonzo-like (tho frequently rewarding) directions. Spears' two solo albums in the early '70s following the band's dissolution sticks with the original Bonzo plan of playing crazed "trad" jazz, rock parodies, covers of forgotten old novelty records, and wildly inventive original creations, all drenched in good-humored absurdity. When I first came across a copy of "Electric Shocks" in a thrift store in the '90s, I'd had no idea that Spears had made any solo albums. I certainly wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was.  Originally it's follow-up album "Unusual" was posted here as well, but something, er, unusual happened to the files, so we're only posting "Electric Shocks." Hopefully I'll get a good uncorrupted copy of "Unusual" cuz it's a goodie. But to make it up to you, three bonus tracks have been added.

Roger Ruskin Spear "Electric Shocks"

1. All by Yourself in the Moonlight

2. I'm a Fly

3. Mattress Man

4. Blue Baboon

5. The Liberty Laughing Song

6. Doctor Rock

7. Patrick Moore

8. Make Yourself a Happiness Pie

9. Livin' Doll 10. Call Of The Freaks  (BBC radio flash 10-08-1971) 11. Drop Out (single b-side) 12. Trouser Freak (single)

Let's Go In A Cave And Watch Weird Videos

More odds 'n' ends today. First of all, radio dj Mister X is requesting help from the maniacs community. He's looking for "...a song from the early/mid 60's, a truckers song, one of the earliest perhaps, it's about a trucker losing his brakes on a long downgrade and "runnin' wild"...and the Chorus went like this: "Downgrade, downgrade, 20 Tons of diesel running wild". (cool guitar riff at end of chorus)." It was played on L.A. radio. I have no idea. Anyone?

Had a request to re-post this remarkable oddity: 

 

Music Recorded In A Cave on "The Great Stalacpipe Organ"

 

Let's watch a little telly, shall we? Buttress O'Kneel passed this nightmarish/hilarious video on to us, and it's probably just some kids goofing around and not the work of a horrific Lovecraftian cult, but I'm not entirely certain. The, er, "band" is called АНСАМБЛЬ ХРИСТА СПАСИТЕЛЯ И МАТЬ СЫРА ЗЕМЛЯ (ENSAMBLE OF CHRIST THE SAVIOUR AND MOTHER EARTH).

 

Speaking of videos, I've been diggin' the works of Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin, and her creepy rinky-dink electronics. She could have slipped into affected art-school-chick territory, but fortunately fell on the right side of weird (e.g.: more Residents than Bjork.) Her new video is about dead fish, and appropriately features Art Barnes of Barnes and Barnes fame, the goofballs that sang "Fish Heads" back in the day. It's all so '80s public-access cable, so annoying.  And I'm so glad it exists.

Petunia-Liebling MacPumpkin video channel

And dig this brand new Sun Ra youtube channel, put up to coincide with the new iTunes releases of remastered legit releases of over 20 of Sonnys' album, as there were far too many poopy-sounding bootlegs floating around. If you are unfamiliar with the finest jazz bandleader that the planet Saturn has ever produced, this is a great place to start:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/explore-cosmos-vol.-3-exotica/id877071840

Four Re-Posted Albums To Brighten Your Weekend

By request, now back on-line:

The Flying Dutchman One Man Band Show

Classic Schlock: A Kitsch-Ass Rock Mix

The Toilet-Bowl Cleaners

Brown-Skinned Mormons A-Go-Go

Oh, and when I wrote the other day about great shows happening around L.A., I neglected to mention that Airway is playing tomorrow, featuring an all-star L.A. Free Music Society line-up inc. Dennis Duck, Joe Potts, Rick Potts, Tom Recchion, Juan Gomez, Joseph Hammer, Vetza, Ace Farren Ford, many more. See ya'll there. (And if you don't know these cats 'n' chicks, I'll be reviewing a number of LAFMS-related albums soon.)

Les Dauphins: Just Another French/Algerian '60s Rock Band

One of the first French-language rock groups was this intensely obscure band with a near-unsearcheable name.  Look up "Les Dauphins" and you'll get lots of French sites about actual dolphins. I did find one site in Russian that offered this brief blurb:
"Dolphins" - a group of French Algerian port city of Oran (Oran). Created brothers Gerard and Robert Shatelenami together with Alain Martin, Andre Castro and Gilbert Hullo. Existed in the years 1964-1966, longpleya not released, was 4 EP's, released via Columbia ... Almost all of the band's work has been collected in 1993 on this compilation. Vocals - exclusively in French." Thank you, Google Translate!

It's another curio from the days when non-Anglo-American cultures were grappling with the rock 'n' roll behemoth that had just washed up on their shores, and were struggling to find a way to integrate it into their culture. At least these guys didn't try to sing in English. But French just isn't a rock 'n' roll language, even when sung Elvis-style. Tho on one of the best songs here, the Isley Brothers-esque "Ne Pars Pas," they do sing the word 'baby' a lot.

It's all a lot of twistin', rockin' fun, with some recognizable covers strewn amidst the originals, e.g.: "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," and the Gene Pitney/Ricky Nelson hit "Hello Mary Lou." "Le Voyageur" is Nelson's "Travelin Man." Highlights include the early-Beatles-ish "L'Amour Nous Dira Oui," the wtf? harpsichord solo on "Celle Qu'il Me Fallait," "Non, Ne Me Dis Pas" (fuzz garage rocker) and, my fave, "Serrons-Nous La Main."

A big merci to Count Otto Black!

Les Dauphins "Tout, Tout, Tout"
 
01. Baby, Pleure Pas (1964)
02. Hello Mary Lou (1964)
03. Après La Pluie (1964)
04. Tu Brises Mon Cœur (1964)
05. Le Voyageur (1964)
06. L'Amour Nous Dira Oui (1964)
07. Celle Qu'il Me Fallait (1964)
08. Ne Pars Pas (1964)
09. C'est Pour Demain (1964)
10. Pas Aujourd'hui (1964)
11. Je Ne Peux L'oublier (1964)
12. Je Ne Veux Pas (1965)
13. Tout, Tout, Tout (1965)
14. Petite Fille (1965)
15. Ça Serait Trop Beau (1965)
16. Tu Marches Et Tu Pleures (1965)
17. Je T'Écris Ce Mot (1965)
18. Avant De La Rencontrer (1965)
19. Il Y A Tant De Chemins (1965)
20. Non, Ne Me Dis Pas (1966)
21. Va T'En Maintenant (1966)
22. Priez Pour Moi (1966)
23. Serrons-Nous La Main (1966)
24. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On (1964) 

Personnel:
- Gérard Chatelain - lead vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
- Robert Chatelain - bass, piano, guitar
- Alain Martin - lead guitar
- André Castro - rhythm guitar, percussion
- Gilbert Gullaud - drums


 

News, Updates, Traffic, Weather, Sports...

Delete your copy of "The Great Celebrity Sing Off"! Its compiler Mad Jon has sent us a new superior version, with the missing Burt Reynolds track restored, and higher quality copies of some of the more scratchy old rekkids. Download the remastered version here:

"The Great Celebrity Sing Off"
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Had a re-post request for Gershon Kingsley's Moog synth versions of Gershwin classics, so here 'tis:
"Gershwin: Alive and Well and Underground"
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An amazingly in-depth article on the singing hobo that we featured here a few years ago,   Marlin Wallace and his "Weird, Weird Music":  

"The Musical Journey of Marlin Wallace"

As the mp3 page appears to now be gone from Wallace's site, I've put up some mp3s on Divshare of a few of his classics, like "Thing From Another World." Scroll towards the bottom HERE.
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Hoo, boy! Coming to the L.A. area this summer: Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra, Messer Chups, Omar Soulyman, Lee 'Scratch' Perry...not all on the same show, tho.

Brain In A Box: 5 Disks of Science Fiction Sounds!

You don't get the beautiful 3D hologram packaging that originally enclosed this stupendous set, but hey, it's out of print, so better to have lots of good listening than nuthin', eh? And I've been too busy (and will probably continue to be so for the foreseeable future) to update this blog as regularly as I'd like, so hope this will keep all my li'l maniacs happy 'til I get back.

WARNING: these tracks (113 in all) are encoded as m4a (a lossless file),not mp3. They're bigger, which is why I had to split up the disks, and I don't know if m4as play on everything.


An astronomical amount of thank-yous to maniac James C. for sending this our way.

Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection [Disc 1] : Movie Themes pt 1
Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection [Disc 1] : Movie Themes pt 2
Brain In A Box_ The Science Fiction Collection [Disc 2]  TV Themes pt 1
Brain In A Box_ The Science Fiction Collection [Disc 2] TV Themes pt 2
Brain In A Box_ The Science Fiction Collection [Disc 3] Pop pt 1
Brain In A Box_ The Science Fiction Collection [Disc 3] Pop pt 2
Brain In A Box_ The Science Fiction Collection [Disc 3] Pop pt 3
Brain In A Box_ The Science Fiction Collection [Disc 4] Instrumental/Lounge pt 1
Brain In A Box_ The Science Fiction Collection [Disc 4] Instrumental/Lounge pt 2
Brain In A Box_ The Science Fiction Collection [Disc 5] Novelty pt 1
Brain In A Box_ The Science Fiction Collection [Disc 5] Novelty pt2

Disc: 1
1. The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Science Fiction/Double Feature - Richard O'Brien
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Introduction) - The City Of Prague Philhamonic/Nic Raine
3. Forbidden Planet: Main Titles - Overture - Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection
4. The Day The Earth Stood Still: Prelude/Outer Space/Radar - Bernard Herrmann
5. It Came From Outer Space: Visitors From Space - Dick Jacobs
6. Creature From The Black Lagoon: Main Title - Hans J. Salter
7. The Incredible Shrinking Man: Main Theme - Dick Jacobs
8. The Time Machine: Main Title/Credits - Russell Garcia
9. Them!: Main Title - Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection
10. The Thing Aka The Thing (From Another World!): Prelude - The National Philharmonic Orchestra/Charles Gerhardt
11. First Men In The Moon: Main Title - London Studio Symphony Orchestra/Laurie Johnson
12. The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms: Main Title - Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection
13. Fantastic Voyage: Radio Spot Announcement - Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection
14. Fantastic Voyage: Main Title Sound Effects Suite - Leonard Rosenman
15. Planet Of The Apes: Main Title - Jerry Goldsmith
16. The Andromeda Strain: Desert Trip - Gil Melle
17. Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: The Conversation - John Williams
18. Aliens: Ripley's Rescue - The London Symphony Orchestra/James Horner
19. E.T.The Extra-Terrestrial: Three Million Light Years From Earth - John Williams
20. Robocop: Robo Vs. Ed-209 - The Sinfonia Of London Orchestra/ Howard Blake
21. Robocop: Main Title - The Sinfonia Of London Orchestra/ Howard Blake
22. Terminator 2: Judgement Day: Trust Me - Mark Ayres
23. Outland: The Mine - The National Philharmonic Orchestra/Jerry Goldsmith
24. War Of The Worlds: Main Title & Introduction - The City Of Prague Philhamonic/Nic Raine
25. Predator: Main Title - Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection
26. The Fly: Main Title - London Philharmonic Orchestra/Howard Shore
27. Mars Attacks!: Main Title - Artie Kane
28. The Matrix: Anything Is Possible - The City Of Prague Philhamonic/Nic Raine
Disc: 2
1. The Twilight Zone, Main Title: First Season - Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection
2. Lost In Space: Main Title/Main Title - Season 3 - John Williams
3. My Favorite Martian: Theme - The Warner Bros. Orchestra/Carl Brandt
4. Doctor Who: Dr. Who - Eric Winstone & His Orchestra
5. The Jetsons: Theme - Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection
6. The Time Tunnel: Main Title - John Williams
7. One Step Beyond: Fear - The Berlin Symphony Orchestra/Harry Lubin
8. The Outer Limits: Control Voice Introduction - Vic Perrin
9. The Outer Limits: Main Title - Dominic Frontiere
10. Men Into Space: Theme - The Buddy Morrow Orchestra
11. The Thunderbirds: Theme - Barry Gray
12. Stingray: Theme - Barry Gray
13. Astro Boy: Theme - Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection
14. Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea: Main Title - Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection
15. Land Of The Giants: Main Title - Season 1 - John Williams
16. Star Trek: Main Title & Closing Theme - The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Fred Steiner
17. Star Trek: The Next Generation: Main Title - The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Daniel Caine
18. V (The Series): Main Title - Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection
19. Babylon 5: Main Title - Christopher Franke
20. The Simpsons: Treehouse Of Horror I (Kang & Kodos Medley): Holy-Moly/We Offered You Paradise - Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection
21. The X-Files: Main Title - Mark Snow
22. Changing Channels - Brain In A Box: The Science Fiction Collection
Disc: 3: Pop
1. Telstar - The Tornadoes
2. Blast Off - Jimmie Haskell And His Orchestra
3. Out Of Limits - The Marketts
4. Have You Seen The Saucers - Jefferson Airplane
5. Waiting For The UFO's - Graham Parker & The Rumour
6. Spaceman - Nilsson
7. Space Child - Spirit
8. Flying Saucer Safari - Suburban Lawns
9. UFO - Soul, Inc.
10. Rocket - Jow Bennett & The Sparkletones
11. Rocket To Nowhere - Webb Wilder
12. For Science - They Might Be Giants
13. Machines - Lathar & The Hand People
14. Beyond Tomorrow - Stan Ridgway
15. Theme For The Creature From Under The Sea - Milton DeLugg
16. Humans From Earth - T-Bone Burnett
17. One Step Beyond: Fear - Main Title - The Ventures
18. Rocket Ship - Vernon Green & The Medallions
19. Radar Blues - Chris Conner
20. Creature With The Atom Brain - Roky Erickson
21. Rocket Ship - Kathy McCarty
22. After The Gold Rush: Prelude - Prelude
Disc: 4
1. Frozen Neptune - Russ Garcia & His Orchestra
2. Lunar Rhapsody - Les Baxter
3. Man From Mars - Ferrante & Teicher
4. On The Dark Side Of The Moon - Frank Comstock
5. Saturday Night On Saturn - Les Baxter
6. Welcome To Tomorrow - Attilio Mineo
7. Space Reflex (Blues In 5/4) - Dick Hyman
8. The Planets: Mars, Bringer Of War - The City Of Prague Philharmonic/Nic Raine
9. Theremin Solo - Dr. Samuel Hoffman
10. Guitars In Space - Billy Mure
11. Nova (Exploding Star) - Russ Garcia & His Orchestra
12. Space Is The Place - Sun Ra
13. Twilight Zone - Raymond Scott & His Orchestra
14. Cosmic Ballad - Perrey-Kingsley
15. Moon Gas - Dick Hyman
16. Monsters Of Jupiter - Russ Garcia & His Orchestra
17. She Likes Me - Jerry Goldsmith
18. Tone Tales From Tomorrow - Frank Coe
19. Alien - Leonard Nimoy
20. On Planet X - David Garland/John Zorn
Disc: 5
1. The Flying Saucer (Parts 1 & 2) - Buchanan & Goodman
2. Beep! Beep! - Louis Prima
3. The Blob - The Five Blobs
4. Martian Hop - The Ran-Dells
5. Music To Watch Space Girls By - Leonard Nimoy
6. Planet Claire - The B-52's
7. Gigantor - The Dickies
8. Two Little Men In A Flying Saucer - Ella Fitzgerald
9. Flying Saucer Attack - The Rezillos
10. Flyin' Saucers Rock 'N' Roll - Billy Riley & His Little Green Men
11. UFOs, Big Rigs & BBQ - Mojo Nixon & World Famous Blue Jays
12. We're Going UFO'ing - Jimmy Durante
13. Surf Trek - The Rubinoos
14. Mister Spaceman - The Holy Modal Rounders
15. Meet Space Pilot Jones - The Satellite Singers
16. The Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley
17. Knocked Out Joint On Mars - Buck Trail
18. Tiny Space Man - Bill Carlisle
19. (When You See) Those Flying Saucers - Buchanan Brothers & The Georgia Catamounts
20. Unfunky UFO - Parliament
21. You Came From Outer Space - The Kirby Stone Four

Happy 80th Birthday, Bob: MOOG BREAKBEATS 2014

Tomorrow, May 23rd, would have been Robert Moog's 80th birthday. When Mr. Synthesizer died in 2005, I quickly went thru my '60s/'70s Moog-sploitation vinyl and started slapping platters on the turntable, digitizing all the songs with the ill-est drum breaks and the most head-nodding beatz. For a while I'd been thinking about putting together such a mixtape, but Bob's death prompted me to finally do so as a tribute. It proved to be pretty popular, getting mentioned in some prominent music websites. I even heard 8 tracks from it in a row when I just happened to be listening to the radio one night. Of course, I had to call up the station and say: hey, I'm that guy! So here's a new edition, with some slight track changes, and higher bit rates.

Not included: the most famous/sampled Moog funk song, Jean-Jacques Perrey's 'E.V.A.', as it is in print, and I have decided to focus on OOP rarities taken from vinyl. Hard to believe that most of these classics have never been digitally re-issued. So let's blast off! And thanks again, Bob.

MOOG BREAKBEATS 2014

00 Gershon Kingsley's First Moog Quartet - Shank [pre-Kraftwerk live Moog band; song inspired by Isaac Hayes' "Shaft" theme]
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 [w/Herbie Hancock on piano]
08 Les Baxter - Rachmaninoff: Prelude in c# Minor [the song The Beastie Boys sampled for "Intergalactic"]
09 Robert Byrne - Donna
10 Zeet Band - Gimme 5 Cents Worth Of Love
11 Dick Hyman - Give It Up Or Turn It Loose [James Brown cover]
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
(dubious bonus track: a perhaps not-so-funky, utterly ridiculous bit of 'tard-tronica)

PRAISE THE LORDS: 3 ALBUMS OF GERMAN BEAT/PSYCH

Recently we posted an album by "The Rattles," a curious early German take on rock-n-roll. The Lords were another band from the '60s pre-Krautrock era, very famous and successful in their homeland, but more likely to rise eyebrows and cause mutterings of "WTF..?" from elsewhere. Their English lyrics in particular are, er, interesting. And how 'bout those fashion-challenged album covers?

"Some Folks By The Lords" (1967) is largely a collection of covers, many of them strangely inappropriate for an alleged rock band to be performing. Perhaps they and/or their audience simply didn't know enough about American music to make genre distinctions. Or maybe they were geniuses who realized it didn't matter: "Miss Otis Regrets" may be a Cole Porter showtune, but it's still a great song.  Much of it, like "East Virginia" and "Sing Hallelujah," are inspired by 'down-home' folk and gospel. "San Miguel" is sung in a ludicrous Spanish accent on top of their usual sometimes-thick German accent. And I must admit: "Greensleeves" made me giggle.

"Ulleogamaxbe" (1969): No more fake-folk Americana covers - it's fake UK psych this time. Tho it's two years after the fact, they finally betray a 'Sgt Pepper' (or at least a BeeGees) influence, what with all the strings, horns, and "poetic" ambition. After six songs of this, we get an unexpected proto-metal garage fuzz blast in the excellently apocalyptic "The World Is Falling Down". The frantic "Fire" could be a Roger Corman exploitation film theme song. Musically, "Poor Chin-Lee" is a Pet Sound-alike; vocally and lyrically, however, not even Brian Wilson was this weird. On "Cut My Hair" they "get back" to basic rock n roll, tho I don't recall Little Richard ever penning lyrics that detail instructions to his barber. The bonus single "John Brown's Body" goes back to the American folk/gospel of the first album, but now with added flutes and intrusive sound-collage elements. And it's b-side is a cover of Eddie Cochran's "Somethin' Else" that out-punks the Sid Vicious version of a decade later. Apparently, these guys will do any style at least once, and do it strangely. Does anyone have any idea what that album title means?

"Shakin' All Over '70" is a bit of a hodge-podge, with a few tracks repeated from "Ulleogamaxbe." The title track recasts the rockbilly swinger into a "heavy" acid-rock-with horns biker stomper. "Feeling Chicago" is a response to modern bad-man ballads like "Rocky Racoon" or "Bad Bad Leroy Brown." "Four O'Clock In New York" is a swell bit of Bay City Rollers-ish bubblegum, while the chicken-squawking "Talk About Love" from 1970 might be the most ridiculous thing these guys did, and that's saying something. Needless to say, it's one of my favorites. 

Elsewhere, the flower-power sounds continue as if it were still the Summer of Love. The fact that they cover not one but two songs from the "Hair" soundtrack suggest that they either never really understood what rock'n'roll was all about, or they were just went straight for mainstream commercialism. I actually love "Hair," but it's purely musical theater, hippie culture depoliticized and sensationalized for tourists. In any case, it's pretty awesome to hear 'em try to wrap their accents around the wordy nugget, "Manchester England." 


A big danke to Count Otto Black!

THE GREAT CELEBRITY SING-OFF

Remember the wildly popular "Golden Throats" collections of singing celeb records? 'Twas one of the few areas where the strange-music world and the mainstream met. Those comps, the gods' gift to "morning zoo" radio shows, reveled in recordings by misguided (mostly) actors who probably shouldn't have had any business singing. Record collector extraordinaire MadJon, the man who bequeathed the "Disco Sellout" and "Come Suck With Me" collections unto us, has picked an amazing assortment of Hollywood fruits for us, continuing the "Golden Throats" tradition. There are some straight novelties here by actors who were not trying to be real singers, e.g.: Jim Backus' classic "Delicious," in which he and a lady friend get gradually rip-roaring drunk, and Frank Gorshin's utterly nutso appearance as his "Batman" character, The Riddler.  But most of these sincere attempts at musical art range from unintentionally hilarious to just appalling. The Bruce Willis track in particular will make you want to punch the guy should you ever meet him.

The Brady Bunch's version of the usually interminable "American Pie" is one of the best recorded - it's only 3 minutes long! Why does Pat Boone get so much crap for his Little Richard cover? After all, Gale Storm's take on Smiley Lewis' "I Hear You Knockin" is just as jaw-dropping. Both Rex and son Noel Harrison are repped here, and the Burl Ives song is actually called "The Tail Of The Comet Kohoutek." Was great to finally get a copy of Bert Parks singing the traditional "there she goes...Miss America" pageant theme. And what the hell is Richard Harris on about? Even if you're not familiar with all the names here, the tunes, in styles ranging from rockabilly to schmaltzy lounge, are a sick treat.

MAD JON'S GREAT CELEBRITY SING-OFF

Much thanks to Mad Jon!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

¡Hola, amigos! Let's celebrate today by re-upping (is "re-upping" even a real word?) this collection of strange new takes on trad Mexican musics:

PunkmMariachi

and an album of Chicano parodies of punk rock classics:

Manic Hispanic "The Recline of Mexican Civilization"

and finally, 2 collections that have absolutely nothing to do with Mexico, but were requested to be re-posted, so here 'tis:

Seattle World's Fair 1962 Postcard Records

Ray Schmitt's music for tree-huggers
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The Big Beat A-Go-Go Sound of DYMAXION

This intensely obscure band recorded these songs between 1995-1998 using methods I cannot quite figure. Clearly, there's a mixture here of sampled sounds, low-tech electro beats, and live instruments...but the samples are all instrumental, and of things I can't identify. And I'm not even totally sure that there are live instruments. I'm just assuming, as the same twangy-surfy guitars do seem to pop up quite a bit. One song covers The Fall's "U.S. 80's - 90's," and indeed there's a bit of off-kilter post-punk influence here, too. Bloops, bleeps, peppy beats, and the afore-mentioned guitars give the whole thing a retro '60s discotheque feel, but the somewhat lo-fi sound removes any Space Age optimism from these tracks.  Rather, there's a gritty, black-and-white feel that negates any Technicolor beach party atmosphere. Bummer in the summer. 

This, their only album, collects everything they did. They thank Stereolab in the liner notes, which isn't too surprising, but otherwise, there's no info, tho according to Internet sources, two New Yorkers named Jeremy Novak and Claudia Newell are the responsible parties, and Newell dropped out half-way thru, and has not returned to music.

Pick Hit: "I-Man Transport", the one song with (sampled) vox, apparently from a dance instructional record, mixed with a synth reminiscent of Pere Ubu's "Blow Daddy-O."

Dymaxion x 4 + 3 = 38:33

STOLEN SOUNDS pt 2

More music made out of other peoples' music:

Was very happy to see that Martinibomb's oldies from 1998-2004 are now collected onto one big name-your-price album. All kinds of lovely snippets of groovy '60s bossa/lounge/surf-a go-go sounds get sampled, with modern beatz tying it all together. Faves include the Bollywood-meets-bubblegum "Dizzy Ke Peeche" (a staple at my mashup DJ sets), and the self-explanatory "Munster Beat." And anyone who samples Don Knotts (as in "The Love God") automatically gets on my good side.  

Martinibomb "A Girls Bike"

But wait! There's more! A new-ish 3 song release shows them back at their game, e.g.: the zesty Latin title track:

Martinibomb "Mambossa Fever"
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Michael Intergalaxon's "The Art of Bird Mutation" crams 27 tracks in just over 30 minutes. It's a highly caffeinated rush of guitar metal, electro beatz, and corny pop crap, married at gunpoint and spinning at 100 rpm, until it flies apart and audio shrapnel goes whizzing past your ear. Some samples are only seconds long, if not shorter, reminiscent of John Oswald's "Plexure" - that is, if Oswald was a teen-age headbanger abusing his medications.

Michael Intergalaxon "The Art of Bird Mutation"
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Also from the Mutantswing posse is a split release featuring 20 minutes of entertaining insanity from Mythoklash (the second half of the album, by Unimates, is unremarkable techno disco). Mutantswing has many other releases that I haven't had a chance to check out yet. Maniacs!  Investigate and report.

"Classic Sounds Of The New Post-Avant-Garde" Pressed for time? Try out the 1:20 track "The Measurement Problem"
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And finally, this oddity from BOK Darkord (the BOK in question is Buttress O'Kneel) crafting an entire album out of Metallica and Lou Reed samples, but nothing from the actual Reed/Metallica collaboration "Lulu."

BOK Darkord "Lulu"

Don't know much about Metallica, but I recognized Lou's "Dirty Blvd" in "The View," "Heroin" in "Iced Honey", and "Sweet Jane" in "Frustration." "Little Dog" seems to feature not Reed music, but an interview with him, dropping bon mots like 'I hate journalists.' Have no idea what the sources are for "Dragon" but it's excellent lo-key creepiness.

Stolen Sounds pt1

New on-line releases that make music out of other peoples' music:

- People Like Us' newest album "Don't Think Right, It's All Twice" continues the prolific audio-collage queen's string of super-swell sample-sourced sounds. This time out, she actually uses lots of "classic rock" and familiar soul oldies, instead of her usual obscure charity-shop polka records, ethnic obscurities, and radio chatter. It has a nice, low-key feel to it. Restraint - uh oh, this isn't a sign of maturity, is it!? I'm not complaining - this is state-of-the-art sonic thievery. Get it. Listen to:

 Music Sounds Better With Me [Velvet Underground-Otis-Doors/David Lee Roth vs "Disco Inferno" + a bit of Beatles]

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But if it is audio whoopee- cushions you want, check out:

- Roger Species "Never Tickle A Sleeping Strawberry"

for krude komedy kut-ups a la Wayne Butane or Cassetteboy. Only not nearly as good.  Still, there are so few people making these kinds of stupid-joke collages that I feel I should give the guy a mention. Even if taking a media figure saying the word "country" and cutting off the last syllable gets old after the 100th time, there's still some good stuff here. Try tracks #4, 7, and 11. And 23 for some nice gabber/yodeling.
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Back to the really good stuff:

- ZootBoot vol.2 is described as "16 new mashups and remixes with pre-1950 sources." Mashup-masters like Pilchard, pomDeter, G3rst, oki and DJ Useo do a great job of mixing old jazz, big-band, etc with more modern sounds. It's the bee's knees, kiddo.

 
 

CLIFFIE STONE "COOL COWBOY"

("Better Than The Beatles" is back on-line)

As a companion piece to the "How The West Was Swung" album by Vegas crooner Pete Brady that we posted here a few days ago, here's another unlikely cowboy/modern jazz combination collection. Some of the same Western standards that Brady interpreted are featured here, as well. But this one comes from the other side of the fence: Cliffie Stone wasn't a Rat Packer heading out west like Brady, but a major country music figure (Capital Records A&R man, radio and tv host, and some recording success as well) putting down his lariat, and picking up a martini glass. 

This album is fun one, but it's def not as hip as "How The West Was Swung" - the jazz on songs like "Ragtime Cowboy Joe" is more Dixieland than bebop, and the vocals are by a pretty white-bread co-ed vocal choir. Still, Stone's take on The Sons of The Pioneers classic "Cool Water" swings like a rusty saloon door, dad. And dig the nutty cha-cha version of "Don't Fence Me In."
Better yet are the originals, like the title song, a hysterical number about a cowboy so cool, he'll "build a dude ranch on the moon." The like-minded "Cool Cow Boogie," concerns a hep-cat who's "got a knocked-out western accent with a Harlem touch."

CLIFFIE STONE "COOL COWBOY"

1 Cool Cowboy
2 The Streets of Laredo
3 Don't Fence Me In Cha-Cha
4 Tumblin Tumbleweeds
5 Cool Cow Boogie
6 High Noon
7 Jingle Jangle Jingle
8 Blood On The Saddle
9 Along The Navajo Trail
10 Cool Water
11 Sierra Sue
12 Ragtime Cowboy Joe

Muppet Christ Superstar

Finally!  "Jesus Christ Superstar" the way it was meant to be done: with Muppets.  Not "real" Muppets. But mock-Muppets are better than none at all, no?

Muppet Christ Superstar

Happy Jesus Zombie Day, everybody!