Here I am, sitting alone in my bedroom, listening to the totally chillax sounds of Sufjan Stevens' Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State , and I'm wondering...what the fuck is wrong with the world? There's nothing funny happening anymore, people don't recognize what is truly funny because they're too sheltered and dumb and uneducated, the food sucks, I had to pay $4.50/gal for gasoline yesterday, and this fucking whiny-ass wimpy bitch Sufjan won't shut the fuck up! When was the last time you saw something that amused you that was actually intended to amuse you? I'm [...]
Jason Pierce and Spiritualized have been something of an anomaly over the course of their eighteen-year existence. Following the dissolution of Spacemen 3, Pierce assembled Spiritualized to expand upon his "electric blues" pop-songwriting style while former collaborator Pete Kember forged an experimental electronic path. Since 1990, the recorded output of Spiritualized has stylistically shifted -- at times to the detriment of the music -- but always remained true to the simple, repetitive, and effective model that Pierce crafted during the Spacemen 3 years. Sometimes ( Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space and Let It Come Down [...]
As I was leaving work last evening, I checked my cellphone and noticed I had three text messages and a voice mail. This is not entirely uncommon, seeing as how I am an immensely popular public figure who has to constantly deal with the demands of friends and family who often claim to "never see or hear from" me. The messages were fairly standard, your "What are we doing for dinner?" "Yo fag, call me" run-of-the-mill type stuff. The voicemail, though, was completely unexpected. It was from a woman who claimed to be the manager of the Pizza Hut I [...]
Dear Yum! Brands & Pizza Hut, Last evening (Thursday May 29th, 2008) I had a very upsetting experience involving one of your franchise's locations in Los Angeles, California. I feel it is my responsibility to inform you about what happened, and I will try to do so as objectively as possible. For your consideration: Allow me to set the scene. A small group of clean-cut, polite, Caucasian twentysomethings have gathered to watch the season finale of their favorite television program ( LOST , airs Thursdays at 9:00pm EST - 10:00pm PST on ABC). The consensus opinion [...]
"Between Big Black-ack-ack-ack-ack and Shellac-ac-ac-ac-ac, famous record producer Steve Albini led a non-Billy Joel-influenced band called Rapeman. Kind of like Glenn Danzig's Samhain, this short-lived outfit didn't quite hit the watermark as often as his first and third bands. But that doesn't mean they were the worst band ever! I'll have you know that the drummer was the talented Rey Washam (Big Boys, Scratch Acid, Didjits, Helios Creed) and the bassist was the fellated David Wm. Sims (Scratch Acid, The Jesus Lizard)! So even if Steve was experiencing writer's block, how bad could the band be? Essentially Rapeman was the [...]
First of all, Yankees suck. I just thought I'd start by issuing that statement. I don't remember who turned me on to Eric Dolphy, but I swear to God, once I remember who it was I'm going to owe my life to that person. Out To Lunch almost instantly became my favorite jazz record ever. Even though I -- like my idol Mark Prindle -- know nothing about jazz, at the very least I know what I like...and I love this album. Purchasing one of the [...]
FUFKIN writes, "Very little is known of the elusive group Morgen, who recorded a one-off album for ABC's psychedelic subsidiary Probe in 1969 and then apparently vanished. The group's namesake leader was Steve Morgen, and while some reference books actually credit the album to him solely, Morgen was indeed a group, consisting of Steve, Rennie Genossa, Bob Maiman, and Barry Stock, all of whom supposedly hailed from Long Island, New York. Their album made no impact when originally released and has since become rare and sought-after, especially after dealers and collectors began declaring it a "psychedelic classic" [...]
Finally I have a moment to sit and put together a non-travel-related blog entry. Today has been boring thus far, but I'll probably write again this evening once the rest of the day has unfolded. I know you're all dying to read about me opening a new bank account, but you're just going to have to stick your thumb up your ass and wait a few more hours. Tomorrow looks like it's going to include another fun day trip, and Thursday night there is going to be a huge blowout party at one of my favorite drinking spots in New [...]
...If you don't know who Hawkwind are by now, you're not even trying. For those who are unaware, Hawkwind -- they of the constantly changing lineup -- are one of my all-time favorite bands. My fascination with space rock might have begun with Pink Floyd, but they could be sort of pussies, so Hawkwind's heavy rhythms propel them to the top of the prog/psych heap. Their live album Space Ritual is believed to be one of the genre's defining moments. Advertised as "88 minutes of brain-damage," it is a document of the group's 1972 tour, which featured liquid [...]
When I worked at Crescent Golf Range (formerly 2235 Springfield Ave in Union, New Jersey), I had the closing shift. One night I was driving home from work late and listening to Tony Coulter's show on WFMU, and the DJ was going on endlessly about a garage rock band called the Bachs. Tony played two tracks from their album Out Of The Bachs , and I was floored. I'm no garage rock junkie (in fact, the only two LPs I own that I can think of off the top of my head are this one and the Rising Storm [...]
Sunday has been transformed. I guess since the mix tapes went bye-bye, I've replaced them with the rare, out-of-print downloads. It seems natural and easy to do this, because I spend my Sundays working the collectible and high $$$ counter at work, which gives me time to research the various obscure recordings that are either part of my record collection or on my hard drive. This week, Swan Fungus reader Geroge has contributed two of the four albums that are being offered for your listening pleasure. Everybody be sure to say, "Thanks George!" and enjoy the following records. [...]
Until last week, I'd never heard of this album. Ian sent it to me. Maybe he was trying to inspire me to rewrite my list of ten albums he turned me onto, because this one definitely would make that list. I've listened to it a half-dozen times in the last week. It's that good. Mike Prete from Progweed writes, "Comprised of what was then the band Uriel, Arzachel contained some of the earliest protagonists of the prog world using faux names as to not violate their existing contract. What we have here is one of the earliest recordings [...]
I thought I'd use today to bring you some tunes by lesser-known bands from the Emerald Isle.First up is a follow-up to yesterday's posting on The Undertones.After the break-up of That Petrol Emotion, John O'Neill formed another band in his home town of Derry in 1996. It was a band that got a fair amount of press, mainly on the back of John's radical change of direction, but the media coverage
Rare 1972 Jazz Rock Fusion Music Video from The Mahavishnu Orchestra performing "Dawn". The Mahavishnu Orchestra features John McLaughlin (Guitar) - Billy Cobham (Drums) - Jan Hammer (Keyboards) - Jerry Goodman (Violin) and Rick Laird (Bass). This Video is from YouTube . Watch here or go to the YouTube Page . WPvideo 1.10 You can hear music like this great band at Latch Music Radio . Be sure to [...]
In the Red Baron's quest for good alternative music from around the world (OK, OK, I've been concentrating on Japan) I found this compilation video of a great band thats been around for a few years now. Singing in Japanese, yet the energy speaks volumes, I give you the power pop sensation that is URCHIN FARM! Great Japanese Band Urchin Farm - Power Pop Mania (Video) Nice! (Single left click should open Windows Media Player) The search goes on for raw talent!
Well its Friday, and I won't use the cliche, "Thank God Its Friday!" sort of thing, but I guess I just did. This is a pretty extrodinary Friday being that I'm goin to see Sufjan Stevens tonight at the Bowery Ballroom, I hope to get some good pics and stuff to post here on Monday, so more news about that then. Being a lazy hazy Friday in August no new artist today, I'll just rehash on my popular My Morning Jacket post from earlier this week, people really seemed to like the Rocket [...]
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