Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Stream Of Conciousness Synth Blows Minds


Mark Mothersbaugh's music is something that is truly dear to me. I love his whimsical compositions. His music can be found most notably in Wes Anderson's films. Rushmore has some of the best original compositions for a soundtrack that I have heard. I will always equate alot of the unique stringed instruments with Max Fisher & the awkwardness of adolescence. The Royal Tenenbaums score is equally poignant. Mark had access to full string arrangements which added a new depth to the quirky songs. The thing is, I can close my eyes and play a lot of the songs in my brain from beginning to end.
What else? Mark was the front man of Devo. He wrote the theme song for The Rugrats. He did the music for Pee Wee Herman's Playhouse. His latest project is doing the music for the sequel to the popular video game The Sims.
"And I just wrote my own five-CD collection. Do you know those organs people used to have in their living rooms, with a beat box and sound effects and organ sounds? They were popular in the ’60s and ’70s. Well, for Royal Tenenbaums, I thought I was going to use some of those synthesizer organs. And these organs, that once cost thousands, you can now buy for $50 or $100 at piano stores like West L.A. Piano. I thought Wes would be interested in that sound, but we ended up not using them. I’ve used them in a couple other movies, but just very short bits so far. But I had the organs because of that, and had been playing them in my studio. And three months ago I started doing stream-of-consciousness Muzak with them, and very rapidly, I had about five-and-a-half hours’ worth of music. So that’s what I am listening to in my car these days. "

So go ahead & check out the five discs. They are a lot of fun. There is something strangely grand about feeling like you are in an elevator for more than five hours.

disc one disc two disc three disc four disc five


here's a little film on Mark
http://www.markmothersbaugh.com/
and make sure to stay till the end to learn how to take care of your lawn without getting into a financial hole!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Looking For a Certain Ratio?

This is a compilation put out by the folks at soul jazz records.
I am really surprised that this band wasn't more successful. I guess they were doomed to be stuck in the shadows of label mates New Order. Regardless of said speculation, they play some seriously dark, funky, post-punk, electro, rhythmic disco. I love the way that the drums and bass sound beneath the jagged guitar playing and reverb-drenched vocals. The opener, Do The Du, is a favorite of mine as well as Knife Slits Water. Their most successful single, Shack Up, is great too. I guess the song was already a funk hit in England when the band recorded it, but their version is rearranged quite a bit. Ok, look out for some more stuff coming up soon...

Here's what Soul Jazz has to say about the band and the compilation...

"A Certain Ratio was one of the first groups to sign to the legendary Factory Records in Manchester. Whilst many people credit New Order and The Happy Mondays as the groups who brought Dance music into the sound of Manchester (later Madchester!), it is in fact ACR who were there in the beginning.

Formed in 1978, the initial line-up comprised Simon Topping (vocals), Martin Moscrop (guitar and trumpet), Peter Terrell (tape loops) and Jeremy Kerr (bass). Their debut seven-inch "All Night Party" was Factory Records fifth release. Soon after this Donald Johnson joined on drums. After a cassette only release "The Graveyard and The Ballroom" containing early versions of future ACR classic tracks like "Do The Du" and "Flight".

After this came "Shack Up". This single originally came out in Belgium, on a new Belgium subsiduary, Factory Benelux, and consequently was only available on import. This release became an underground dance record in New York (Billboard chart position 52!). This would lead to their first gigs in New York at places like Danceteria and The Roxy. On their first gig in New York they were supported by a young Madonna!

"Shack Up" had originally been recorded by Banbarra in the US and had been a Northern Soul/Funk favourite in the UK. Unlike many bands of this period, ACR were happy to mix the two traditions of their collective Manchester upbringing (Punk and Northern Soul). "Shack Up" manages to be one of Punk's funkiest ever products ­ dancefloor material, sly humour, and Northern post-industrial alienation all in one go!

ACR was the first UK band after Punk to record in America. This signified a shift in focus of many UK bands as they started to look towards American music and culture for inspiration. The album "To Each" was recorded in New Jersey in 1980. Produced by Martin Hannett, the sound was a mix of urban US Funk/Dance music rhythms with a cold, isolated Northern sound that made it sound unique. It was here that ACR came into closer contact with their influences.

After completing the LP they invited New York group ESG (who they had recently played with) to use their remaining free studio time to record some material. This resulted in the first ESG release, which came out on Factory in the UK and 99 Records in the US. These tracks were the revolutionary "Moody", "UFO" and "You're No Good".

It was while in New York that ACR first came across new musical styles. ACR first heard Nu Yorican Latin percussion Street music in Central Park. The following day ACR brought Bongos, Whistles, Congas and a Cuica and didn't look back!

By the time of their next album "Sextet", ACR had all the ingredients of their sound in place. "Gum", "Knife Slits Water" "Skipscada" are from this album. At this time ACR would end their live sets with a ten-minute percussion workout (that would become Si Firmo O Grido) and had also taken to wearing Brazilian Football gear on stage!

By the time their next album "I'd like To See You Again" was released, Factory Records had in a sense come round to ACR's musical philosophy. Rather than ACR falling in line with Factory's grey-trenchcoat set, the opposite was true. The front cover of "I'd Like To See You Again" showed the band standing in Factory's new pride and joy, the Hacienda night-club. Factory was re-inventing itself as purveyors of Dance culture, with Joy Division changed into the more dance-orientated New Order (after the death of singer Ian Curtis) and The Happy Mondays, Madchester and rave culture still to come. At this time ACR were still moving into new areas such as the arch Disco/Funk of tracks like "Touch".

Shortly after this Simon Topping decided to leave the group to study Congas in New York. Tony Quigley was brought in on Saxophone and Andy Connell on keyboards. Tony was also a member of Manchester Jazz/Funk group Kalima, and this led to many ACR members also moonlighting in Kalima. Many new Manchester dance bands sprang up at this time. Simon Topping went on to form T-Coy with Mike Pickering who would later find fame in M-People. Andy Connell would also later find worldwide success with his pop group Swing Out Sister!

At this period the once mighty Factory Records was beginning to fall apart. After ACR recording one more record for Factory (Force), Factory closed under the weight of crippling costs from The Hacienda and New Order and Happy Mondays recording costs (The Mondays ran up a bill of a quarter of a million pounds in the Bahamas!).

This CD covers this period of their career (from 1978-1985). At this point ACR entered the next phase of their career, signing to a major (A&M) to try and find some of the mainstream success that many of their imitators would achieve. But ACR were always too unique and musically ahead of their time to fit into the mainstream and it was not to be. ACR would leave A&M two years later.

Hopefully this CD is a testament to one of the most influential groups that the UK has ever produced in the last 25 years!




Download it HERE

Monday, November 5, 2007

Black Merda!



The Psyche Funk of Black Merda is a compilation of this Detroit band's aggressive rock blasts. They call themselves the first black rock band. Clearly influenced by Jimi and Funkadelic, they play...yep, funky psychedelic music. There name doesn't mean Black Shit like I immediately thought. Merda is a misspelling of "murder" (mispronounced maybe?) meaning Black Murder. OK, so grab this HERE and enjoy!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Kind Kool, Kinda Kinks

























There are some classics on this album. The opener, "Look For Me Baby", is a fantastic tune with an addictive hook. "Come On Now" is a great one with a great melody. "Everybody's Gunna Be Happy" makes me smile every time I hear it (I imagine Jack Black as weirdo record store clerk from the High Fidelity film). This edition has some songs that weren't on the original issue...I'm not exactly sure which songs are added though. It really doesn't matter. The album is great for a new Kinks fan and all the Kinks lovers already have it. Lola Vs. Powerman, Village Green, and Muswell Hillbillies are more essential, but this is right behind those. Dig it.

check it out HERE.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Monkey-Pockie-Boo




Well, this is really intense. The avant-guard and influential Sonny Sharrock lays down some spazzzzzzz distorted guitar in lieu of the usual skronk horn lines weaving solos in free jazz while his wife Linda lays down some waaaiiiiling vocals "aye - ya - ya - ya - la la la la - eueueueueu - ayayayay", Ben Guerin lays down bass (nothing too special) and Jacques Thollot plays drums.



The LP is called Monkey-Pockie-Boo and it came out in 1970. I just bought the reissue put out by BYG Records on 180 gram vinyl
I am just now starting to explore free jazz. I can't say I know anything about it (i wasn't even fucking born when it was happening, let alone around to hear it in clubs).
All I can really say is that the intensity is beyond compelling. And the deal breaker is Sonny's serious guitar playing.

check it out Here, put on some headphones, and dig it.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Acid Mothers Guru Guru Invasion

Acid Mothers Guru Guru Psychedelic Mani
Mani Neumeier is the drummer from the classic kraut or prog or whatever band from the seventies. He fits tremendously well with the Acid Mothers. In fact, his performance makes this disc stand out from the discog of the hyper prolific Acid Mothers.

Even further, I just saw Acid Mothers Guru Guru live, and Mani's energy, skill, and intuition were a pleasure to experience. He had the entire room entranced. This collaboration is a killer psychedelic set. I call it a collaboration because Kawabata and Atsushi tailor their playing to Mani's jazzy, kraut drum playing so expertly. It is a great merging of styles. Hopefully, if you enjoy this, you will search out some of Guru Guru's seventies long players to catch Mani in his youth with his original band. Or maybe I'll have to post a Guru Guru album next.
from important records website:

Acid Mothers Guru Guru features Mani Neumeier from the legendary and influential German Krautrock group Guru Guru as well as Kawabata Makoto and Atsushi Tsuyama from Japan's holy Acid Mothers Temple. The result is a fiery fantasy filled, loud/soft, colorful trans-generational psychedelic collaboration.

The Acid Mothers Guru Guru started in a spontaneous session in March of 2006 in Nagoya, Japan. When the improvisation commenced the passionate excitement was clear to all in the room and it was then that this special psychedelic trio began. A Japanese tour was planned, an album was recorded and this recording is the fruits of this mutual musical admiration.
While all involved will admit that this is a dream collaboration, it was the Acid Mothers Temple guys who were worshiping Guru Guru in their teens. The Acid Mothers Guru Guru is two generations of psychedelic rock joining forces for the 21st century.

download here

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Musique Des Grenouilles


This album is breathtaking, sensual, and cool. Its sexy, provocative, and complex. Gainsbourg's voice and style are present, but its Jean Claude Vannier's subtle and original fusion of rock, funk, and jazz in the arrangements that make this LP a masterpiece.

To download the album, go to the comments page. You can do that by clicking the title of this post. Then copy and paste the link into your web browser. Just follow directions and you will eventually have it.

Here is a little summary on the artist:
"Serge Gainsbourg was the dirty old man of popular music; a French singer/songwriter and provocateur notorious for his voracious appetite for alcohol, cigarettes, and women, his scandalous, taboo-shattering output made him a legend in Europe but only a cult figure in America, where his lone hit 'Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus' stalled on the pop charts -- fittingly enough -- at number 69."

Here is a professional review of the album:
"You don't need to speak a word of French to understand Histoire de Melody Nelson -- one needs only to look at the front cover (with its nearly pornographic portrait of a half-naked nymphet clutching a rag doll) or hear the lechery virtually dripping from Serge Gainsbourg's sleazily seductive voice to realize that this is the record your mother always warned you about, a masterpiece of perversion and corruption. A concept record exploring the story of -- and Gainsbourg's lust for -- the titular teen heroine, Histoire de Melody Nelson is arguably his most coherent and perfectly realized studio album, with the lush arrangements which characterize the majority of his work often mixed here with funky rhythm lines which underscore the musky allure of the music. Perhaps best described as a dirty old bastard's attempt to make his own R&B love-man's record along the lines of a Let's Get It On (itself still two years away from release), it's by turns fascinating and repellent, hilarious and grim, but never dull -- which, in Gainsbourg's world, would be the ultimate (and quite possibly the only) sin." by Jason Ankeny

here are the translated lyrics to the first song:
http://www.eggparm.com/gainsbourg/melody.html
Its about Serge and his Rolls Royce running into the subject of the album, Melody Nelson, while she is riding her bike.
You can read the rest of the translations here: http://www.eggparm.com/gainsbourg/monproprerolecontents.html#Melody

Enjoy!

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

sunburned hand of the man




Sunburned Hand Of The Man is an incredible band. They are incredibly prolific too. I count something like 35 or so albums since late nineties. That is a whole lotta music. I don't know a ton about the band and haven't gotten a chance to see em live, but they're brand of funky psyche tribal free jazz drone spit is beyond infectious. It is absolutely spell binding. It makes you feeeeel like your heads a balloon man - isn't that what psyche is supposed to do? They are sometimes described as part of the new weird america or free folk. Both these terms sort of make me cringe. They are irrelevant and not quite an appropriate or poignant label for an expansive expression such as that of the sunburned hand. They have their own label called Manhand which puts out all their records and those of their collaborations.




The album I want to share with you is called Anatomy Vol. 1
It was released as a CDR in 2005. This is one of my favorites. It begins with a spoken word sort of thing that plays throughout the album. A man's voice, in warped fashion, tells you to "close your eyes, I'm going to teach you to concentrate, listen very very carefully & follow the instructions". The voice leads you in a far out exercise in concentration & self-awareness that makes me smile evry time. The sounds that follow are like an incredible glass of whiskey. You'll feel warm and you'll start to feel loose.

I really dig what this band does. I also dig the bands that are doin the same kinda things: no neck blues band, jackie-o motherfucker, starving weirdos, avarus, et cetera. I will start to share stuff from these bands in the future. I hope you enjoy this though.
Love, tickle polyester

check the comments for the link to download

Friday, July 27, 2007

Surf!



I'm really enjoying this album, so I figured I had to share it with you. I hadn't heard of Tamam Shud previously, probably because this is the first time an album of theirs had been reissued for the ol' compact disc.

EM records of Japan are the weirdos responsible for this reissue along with a bunch of other obscurities. This is part of the Under Water Series of four or five surf albums that they reissued. They've also dug up and reissued saw music from the twenties, a krautrock gem from the 70s (Moolah - I will post this later), minimal electronic wizardry, experimental tape music + etcetera
.

check the comments for a link to download!

Here is the website: http://www.emrecords.net/

and here is their blurb about this album:
"Featured the songs for another classic Australian surf movie "EVOLUTION" filmed by Paul Witzig in 1969, played by Australian group called TAMAM SHUD. This surfer quartet featured Lindsay Bjerre and Tim Gaze, both of them were successful for their solo career.

Tamam Shud was one of the most original and innovative Australian groups of the late 60s and early 70s. They played a very important part as pioneers of acid-rock and progressive music. For many years after they split they were something of a cult, and their original recordings were (and still are) very hard to obtain. But thanks to a gratifying 'comeback', and some commercial success with their 1994 album Permanent Culture, and the driving, bluesy single Stay, there has been a significant revival of interest in this outstanding and original group, and it sparked interest in this classic band with younger listeners as well.

The evolution of Shud was typical of many groups of the era, beginning as an instrumental band, through 'beat' pop group and psychedelia, to progressive rock.. From the original line-up (The Sunsets), through to Evolution, Goolutionites, Morning Of The Earth and Permanent Culture line-ups, the lingering "surf band" tag linked them with Sydney's northern beaches surf culture. In reality, they established their major fan base on Sydney's university and college dance circuit, and with the 'hippy' audiences at inner city underground venues like the Mandala Theatre in Darlinghurst and the Beacon Theatre in Newtown.

A bonus track, Bali Water (M-12) is featured Richard Lockwood (from Tully) and played his ethernal flute for this aesthetic & mystic psychdelia instrumental tune which became one of highlights of this CD.

----------------------------------------
Evolution burst explosively on the surfing world in 1969, heralding a period a dynamic change which has never been repeated. The raw energy of the film, the surfing and the music came together to blow away old film & surf music styles, & seeded a youth culture which has swept the world
..... Paul Witzig
----------------------------------------

TRACKS:

"EVOLUTION" album (1969)
1. (a) Music Train (b) Evolution *
2. I'm No One *
3. Mr Strange *
4. Lady Sunshine *
5. Falling Up
6. Feel Free
7. It's a Beautiful Day
8. Jesus Guide Me
9. Rock on Top
10. Slow One And The Fast One
11. Too Many Life

(* feat. on Evolution movie)

-BONUS TRACKS- "BALI WATERS e.p" (1972)
12. Bali Waters
13. Got A Feeling
14. My Father Told Me"

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

X-Ray!



Here is the latest set of tunes around which to wrap your soon-to-be-melting-and-dripping-out-of-your-ears-onto-the-floor brain. You will find yourself taken back to the days when garage bands ruled the world of rock & roll with their brand of raw, blues-based songs played dirty & distored & loud & aggressive. You can call it punk, pre-punk, british invasion, rockabilly, etcetera but the name or label matters not (and I know I don't have to tell you that dear reader). You know that its the soul that counts. Bands on this mix don't come from one era, instead they come from bands from the fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, and present because garage is still alive and flourishing today (The White Stripes are all over the damn place).

The mix starts out with a tune by Link Wray whose Rumble is oft considered to be one of the first garage songs, or at least the first song to use distortion so perfectly. There are a couple songs by Hasil "The Haze" Adkins who is reputed to have created over 9000 songs in the backwoods of West Virgina . I put on a Monks track that is actually used in the movie The Big Lebowski (playing when Walter breaks his piece out on the lanes). The band were a sort of anti-Beatles group made up of American GIs based in Germany during the sixties with music as heavy as the times. Radio Birdman made it on the mix, a band credited as being the first punk band out of Australia. There is a lot more worth mentioning but you gotta get listening.

Download the songs HERE and either burn the songs to a CD or play 'em on your computer. You're going to have to unzip the file, so hopefully you can figure that out.

Here is the track list and a shiiiiiitload of information to go along with it.
Click the Artist's name (the one on the right) to read about the artist.
Click on the track name to read about the album.

1| The Shadow Knows| Link Wray & His Wray Men
2| I Wish You Would| John Hammond
3| Can't You See I Do| The Astronauts
4| Help You Ann| Lyres
5| Little Latin Lupe Lu| Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
6| Hard Headed Woman| Wanda Jackson
7| Chocolate Milk Honeymoon| Hasil Adkins
8| The Devil's Rumble| Davie Allan & The Arrows
9| Death Cab For Cutie| Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
10| Breathless| Jerry Lee Lewis
11| Caribou| April March
12| Stop & Listen| The Dwarves13| I Hate You| The Monks
14| Roadrunner| The Modern Lovers
15| Super X| Supercharger
16| Descent Into The Maelstrom| Radio Birdman
17| Whittier Blvd| Thee Midniters
18| Scratchy| Davie Allan & The Arrows
19| Mindrocker| Fenwyck
20| Losing Touch With My Mind| Spacemen 3
21| Boo Boo The Cat| Hasil Adkins

Friday, June 29, 2007

How To Discover What An Hour Of Music Would Sound Like If I Had Control Of A Radio Station



I think I am going to start posting an hour radio show once a week. You can download it and play it with your mp3 player or burn it right on to a compact disc. I might start having a theme in the future, but for now it will be sort of a hodgepodge or mish mash if you will. Put some suggestions, praise, or angry rants in the comment box so that I can feel validated. Thanks!!!1!







You can find the link to download this on the comments page. You can find the comments page by clicking here.

I'll post the tracklist later. Dig It.

Spaaaayyyyyysssssss Meeeennnnnnnnn 3eeeeeeee




Sound of Confusion - way out infectious psychedelia, relentless and unforgiving drone. This is what happens when you're into things like heroin, the stooges, wearing dark sun glasses in doors, and super fuzzy amplified guitar noise. This is what happens when you really tap into that honest rock & roll sound. Things slow down and the sound begins to move which is what music should be period. The drums prod and pound with much thanks to Mo and VU and the chords are chunky and repetitive and vocals loooooonnng and drawn out like a big breath. Everything is honest and minimal because that's the way it is. I really can't recommend this album enough.

Click here to go to the comments page. You will find the link to download this album there.

Tracklist:
1Losing Touch With My Mind5:30
2Hey Man4:49
3Rollercoaster7:40
4Mary Anne4:23
5Little Doll5:25
62.353:08
7O.D. Catastrophe8:54
8Walking With Jesus5:52
9Rollercoaster17:03
10Feel So Good4:57
112.35 (Demo)3:40

Thursday, May 17, 2007

a confederacy of dunces





There is plenty of criticism about this album saying that Phil Spector ruined the songs with reverb (listen to the snare hits on Iodine), the arrangements are nostalgic doo-wop crap, and the title track is nine minutes of tortuous mumblings. In reality, this sort of criticism ends up missing the point. This isn't an album to put up against a Beatles album. The delivery of the quasi-corny arrangements with beautiful poetry is what gives the songs power. Sometimes I swear I can hear the irony in his sneer, "I was booooorn in a beauty saaalon, my father was a dresser of hair". Sometimes it sounds dead-pan serious. The non-sequitur quality of it all keeps you in the dark as to whether Cohen is trying to be serious or not. And thats what makes the album indefinable and interesting as a whole. You are left with six pieces that beg to be interpreted. Why did Cohen ditch his old sparse acoustic arrangements? Why are there backup singers cluttering the songs with harmonized ahhing? I don't want to say that the music isn't important but that criticism shouldn't solely focus on the arrangements without the lyrical context. While the tunes might be reminiscent of old rock & roll, the lyrics play out like with complex themes rather than teenage angst or love. The stories are incredible. The way the revelation about love comes in Paper Thin Hotel still gives me the chills. I find it to be one of the most moving songs I've heard.


Tracklist:
A1True Love Leaves No Traces4:23
A2Iodine5:02
A3Paper-Thin Hotel5:40
A4Memories5:57
B1I Left a Woman Waiting3:24
B2Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On5:34
B3Fingerprints2:58
B4Death of a Ladies' Man9:20