Blog: Disco:Very

Sometimes, I'm not the fastest bunny in the race when it comes to obscure Swedish psych rock, having only finally listened to last year's universally-acclaimed Ta Det Lugnt by long-haired freak boy/cotton draw-string pants wearing Dungen in the last month or so. While I initially enjoyed its soup of one-thirds power mixed with one-third pop, you'd have thought each cd came with a fucking Lexus for all the heaps of praise it received from various music writers. For every two (Matthew) sweet tracks such as Gjort Bort Sig and [...]

There are hundreds of songs in the thrash/noise marketplace hoping to make your eardrums bleed, but 55,000 Flowers For The Hero (from the new Birchville Cat Motel cd Our Love Will Destroy The World ), is probably the only one which ruptures you internally, where it can do the most damage. Personally, I lose a little interest in this track after the 5-minute mark, when the pulsating beat gives way to some off-kilter random drum fills (just imagine how torn up your head would be if they'd kept the same aural attack for the [...]

Did you ever get a CD because you heard it weeks ago while listening to WFMU while at work? And, because you were drowning in piles of stressful ulcer-inducing uncompleted projects, this song somehow injected you with a fresh new sense of purpose? And then some days later you get home with the CD and the song you remembered hearing (in this case, Symphony of Treble by Blonde Redhead ) revealed itself as just so-so? And then you listen to the rest of the [...]

Did you ever get allergies so bad you had to drink a little Nyquil Cold & Flu Medicine just so you could get a good night's sleep? And then the kick-ass alcohol content made you good and drunk? And then your dreams twisted the day's events into one another? And earlier that evening you had watched disc one of The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder wherein a young Elvis Costello peddles his forthcoming single from his then-brand-new 1981 LP Trust ? [...]

When it rains, it pours. Let's all bow our heads in silent memory of Buck Owens and Nikki Sudden , both of whom died over the weekend. If you're clueless enough to only know of Owens as the co-star of Hee Haw , I hate your guts. Listen to Before You Go and Getting Used To Loving You and get back to me when you've paid proper respects to the King God of Righteous American Honky Tonk. If you have [...]

Let's Roll is the kind of sample-infused creation Dickie Goodman would have concocted were he still alive. And a harboring a severe case of 9/11 Denial . The Oakland, California provocateurs Porest have been associated with more than a few CDs over the years which have challenged the American politico status quo, but this particular track might just finally get them sent off to Guantanamo for good.

It seems somewhat misplaced to title your I'm-head-over-heels-in-love song after the (admittedly brilliant but) troubled soul of choreographer Bob Fosse . Stranger, still: spelling it as an acronym ( B.O.B. F.O.S.S.E. ) Being that I openly admit to having had a perverse fixation surrounding All That Jazz throughout my high school years, there is more than a little excitement in my loins when I hear Black Lipstick tack Fosse's name onto such euphoric subject matter. Maybe Fosse's estate will see an upswing in revenue as a result of this [...]

When my Moms died, oh, five years back or so, my eldest sister and I had a few discussions about what happens when you die. My take: end of story. Her take: the spirit lives on and protects its loved ones forever and ever, Amen. Personally, I don't need anyone watching over me like that: my morning bowel movement is first and foremost about privacy. Why not do something useful such as, say, stealing for me from my favorite record store ? Or perhaps give George Bush [...]

The bluesy guitar/drum duo is soooo 1999. And sorry to be the one to say this, but man lipstick and striped tights doesn't make you Kurt Weill . The only twosome catching my interest (be they brother/sister or not) is Deadboy & The Elephantmen , if only because they retreat into softer, quieter corners (on tracks such as No Rainbow , Dressed In Smoke and Walking Stick ) where even Exene Cervenka and John Doe where too afraid to hide. Even better, [...]

I'm getting very nervous. Normally by this time every year, I've already discovered dozens of new (and not so new) acts whose music makes my receding hairline stand on end. But so far, 2006 has left me wanting--there isn't a single band at the moment about whom I'm urinating in glee. Where are all the good new bands for us to obsess over? After such a non-stop ride in 2005, is there something in the water supply keeping worthwhile bands from forming? Please don't tell me to name check The Arctic Monkeys and [...]

In what is probably the Whitest of all the tracks on The Spanish Trip--a collection of psych rock numbers from 60's/70's-era Spain--the tot in Café Con Leche singing The Land Of Light maintains an upbeat Michael Jackson-style utopian funk pop sound, even when he's nearly buried alive underneath 10 tons of production theatrics. I was lucky enough to find my copy of this album in Austin, TX

My time spent at the 2006 South By Southwest (or, as the locals call it, Crap By Southcrap ) has yielded the following stats: Number of Celebrities I Spotted: 3 (Comedian-who-makes-me-laugh Brian Posehn , Filmmaker-who-makes-me-cringe John Sayles and Film-Reviewer-to-whom-I-am-fai rly-indifferent Harry Knowles , who was being pushed around in a wheelchair) Number of Celebrities Spotted By My Intern: 1 ( Cherlize Theron , attending as Producer of Cuban rap documentary East Of Havana and looking, I'm told, her usual beyond-gorgeous self.) [...]

It's bad enough I've been blatantly shirking my posting duties, now you won't see any on-line musings for the next six days while my glamorous job flys me to the SXSW Film Festival , held in good old Austin, TX, whose automobile population holds the largest concentration of anti- Bush bumper stickers I've ever seen in one place. If you happen to be attending, you'll almost certainly find me most of the time at booth I-13 of the film festival trade show, so do drop by and pretend you're interested in what I'm selling. Or just [...]

Bret B. , close personal friend at Post-Punk Junk , don't be a hater for what I am about to spew: Citay , a new side-project of Ezra Feinberg ( Piano Magic ) and Tim Green ( The Fucking Champs ) is everything I violently despise made manifest--harmonic multi-tracked guitar solos with pompous overdramtic rock flourishes a la Queen , cribbing from Heart rather than Led Zeppelin , lyrics which are probably about, fuck, I don't know, leprechauns and wood sprites and moon goddesses or whatever the fuck, [...]

My assumption has always been that Fraidy Cat and Little Hitler --the two stray felines that showed up on my doorstop recently--were brother and sister, mostly by their markings and their inseparable nature. So imagine my surprise when I found Fraidy Cat digging into his in-heat sibling last night like a Rototiller . Little Hitler seemed pretty content, acting all like Do You Wanna Scratch It? The mere sight of this "Incest Is Best" performance shocked me to no end, and I Can't Stop Thinking About It . As [...]

The female of the two feral neighborhood cats that I reluctantly adopted 4 months ago (lovingly christened Fraidy Cat and Little Hitler ) has gone into heat. She spends all day and night arching her back and exposing her genitals, which makes all the balls of the nearby male cats quiver and groan, bringing forth presumptuous purring and howling noises from all interested parties. This song, Psychedelia by The X'Lents has the same effect on me. The clunky circular repetition makes me hot and dizzy, and I find myself exposing [...]

Can anyone tell me what the hell ever happened to Q-Tip ? His fantastic debut solo album ( Amplified ) was released in 1999, so what's been taking his time up since then? You can't tell me he's still working on films such as The Visiting . And why does his record label continue to list the still-not-released follow-up Kamaal The Abstract on their website? Is this thing ever going to come out? Until these mysteries are solved, I'm going to curl up into a dark corner and play [...]

Let's get one thing perfectly clear: I do not like the taste of hot grits. I do, however, like the song Hot Grits by Elijah & The Ebonites (from Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label ). And another thing: I do, indeed, like potatoes. I also like the song Mo' Taters by The Earthworms (from Las Vegas Grind, Volume 2 ). One more thing: I do not want to see any of you doing that "Good To Go" crooked arm gesture from those annoying Taco Bell [...]

I Feel Like The Mother Of The World by Smog ( buy ) 36" High by Nick Lowe ( buy ) La Valse Du Bambocheur by The Balfa Freres ( buy ) Get Your Girl In The Mood Quicker by King Tee / Ice Cube ( buy ) Teenage Head by The Flamin' Groovies ( buy ) Subsequence by Mouse On Mars [...]

Back in the '80's, I used to loathe all those goths who dressed in nothing but black, listened to nothing but death-synth and inhaled clove cigarettes. Everytime I saw one on the street, I wanted to punch their lights out. But now? I find them cute and cuddly. You might even say, like my man Steven Spielberg says, I'd like to lay some liquid love on them. The always-reliable crate-digging of Post Punk Junk has uncovered a warm-'n'-chewy mope fest on-line and he's postin' it like there's [...]