Archive for March, 2007
John Cale
by teabog on March 29th, 2007
John Cale
“Antarctica Starts Here” (From the album Paris 1919)
Paris 1919 was recently re-released and I will be goddamned if every review that was less than a perfet 10 didn’t piss me off. Sure, all the 9.5s and 4 and ½ star reviews were great—and there were usually sure to how Cale’s early stuff beats the everloving shit out of Reed’s wonderful solo stuff—but they weren’t PERFECT dammit, and this album is PERFECT.
Buy this. Buy it now. I own two copies just in case one breaks.
As for this song, it’s one of the more underappreciated one the album. It closes things out on a rather soft, somnolent note, only it feels a lot more genuine than any other “lullaby” rock track I’ve ever come across.
Once I was driving along rural Illinois, high as a kite. I was 17 years old and had taken several different Very Dangerous drugs. I drove into a ditch, and rather than try and get myself out of it I just rolled up the windows, turned up the stereo as loud as it would go, and played this song over and over again for an hour or so. Then I gunned the motor, made it onto the road, and drove safely home.
Buy Paris 1919 off of the Amazon
Bent Bolt and the Nuts “Mechanical Man
by teabog on March 25th, 2007
Bent Bold and the Nuts
“Mechanical Man”
I picked this one off the WFMU blog awhile back, but I heard of it long before then. It was reference a whole bunch in 1999, when wacky rock critics were busy making their lists of the top XXX Worst songs of the millennium (which, oddly enough, were all recorded after 1950…). Anyhow, nearly all of those songs were easily downloadable on Napster and included some camp classics like “Pac Man Fever” and “Disco Duck,” both of which made their way into several of mix CDs.
Some of those songs—those that had never been released on a Dr. Demento Compliation–seemed lost to history, released only once on 45 RPM by novelty acts that wound up selling their recording equipment for heroine.
For the life of me, I can’t remember any of those songs. I should have written them down. But I know them when I see them. Inexplicably, Negativland’s (now easily found) “Car Bomb” was one of them. And another one was this little ditty by Bent Bolt and the Nuts.
I love this song, and not for any campy or perverse reasons. I think it’s good. It’s messed up—it completely and totally fucked, actually, but I’ll be damned if it hasn’t aged well.
Frank Cathey “Witchapoo” (ooooold 45)
by teabog on March 21st, 2007
Frank Cathey
“Witchapoo”
I’ve past four years in an exceedingly liberal environment, pursuing an exceedingly liberal profession in which I am considered a conservative in spite of numerous threatening e-mails calling me a “liebral” and a “demoncrat” that I would hope would prove the contrary. During this time, I’ve learned that although we leftists might get a lot of flak for having ruined American culture with our Political Correctness, it’s really not our fault. Political correctness—like racism—is something that idiots on both sides of the political spectrum are to blame for.
Sometimes, offensive things can be quite brilliant, so brilliant that their offensiveness—which is usually more a product of their time, not due so much to any particular ill will—can be ignored. It’s true. Seriously. Liking a book that has the word “nigger” in it doesn’t make you a racist, especially if the book’s really good. It’s also okay to still like the movie Dumbo, even though it contains caricatures of negroes, and it’s okay to like Fantasia, even if some of the dancing mushrooms have squinty Chinaman eyes.
And I bring this all up because “Witchapoo” is the kind of “hoo-wa hey-aw, hoo-wa hey-aw” rock and roll treat that belongs to the genre that was once popularly called “injun music.” It even starts out with the band saying “Rock and Roll, Injun Style!”
“Witchapoo” is one of the very best standalone 45s to come out the 1950s, and if you listen to it I’m sure you’ll agree with me. And even if you’re the type who gets offended by popular stereotypes of Native Americans (which I’m not), I hope that the bounty of its rockingness is enough to make you forgive its subject matter.
Blitzen Trapper “Whiskey Kisser”
by teabog on March 13th, 2007
Blitzen Trapper “Whiskey Kisser”
“Whiskey Kisser” (From the albumBlitzen Trapper)
If you’re judging bands only by the quality of their recorded output, Blitzen Trapper is easily the most unfairly ignored American group of this decade. I liken their releases to early Beck in that they manage to blend and bend dozens of different genres while producing distinctly American rocks that’s both easily accessible and completely unique sounding. It’s not only good music; it’s appealing music, the kind of music that hepsters would initially attach themselves to and then all sorts of college kids would pick up on. This is like Modest Mouse or Spoon, only better than the recent releases of either group. Simply put, it’s very good music that everyone can enjoy.
Why, then, does no one listen to it? As far as I can tell, it’s only because they’re self-released, and the band’s meager budget doesn’t buy them much press coverage. Their self-titled first album, from which the tobacco-soaked, sun-stained “Whiskey Kisser” was taken, wasn’t reviewed anywhere. Their second album, Field Rexx got a fair amount of overwhelmingly positive press coverage, but received little support otherwise. Yeah, a good review in Music for Robots might encourage a few people to check for the group at Amazon, but few are going put forth the kind of effort that tracking down a reasonably priced copy of a self-released album requires.
Anyhow, here’s Blitzen Trapper. They’re really, really good, and you should do what it takes to find and buy their albums.
Blitzen Trapper’s official website
Acoustic Ladyland “Glass Agenda”
by teabog on March 4th, 2007
Acoustic Ladyland
“Glass Agenda” (From Skinny Grin)
A few things about Acoustic Ladyland:
-They started out as a Jimmie Hendrix cover band. This explains both their silly name and their silly level of technical proficiency.
-Since stopping playing Hendrix covers, the band released a couple of jazz fusion albums that were a little metal influenced. If such a mélange of styles sounds difficult to pull off, it’s because it is, and their previous albums weren’t that great.
-Skinny Grin, the group’s latest LP which is yet to be released in the U.S., blends some elements of electronic Brit Pop in with the Jazz, Rock, and Metal. What’s left is something that sounds like a mixture of Passport, Herbie Hancock, Squeeze, Isis, Pulp, and early solo Zappa.
-I haven’t posted anything from this album until now because every track sounds so different from the rest. The one I’ve posted here, “Glass Agenda” is very Brit-Poppy. Go to their myspace to listen to more. And buy the album, even at the import price. It’s worth it.
Acoustic Ladyland’s official website