WFMU's Beware of the Blog

MP3 Download Dinner Bell for December

Olde Frothingslosh  (MP3's)
In the 1970's my brother was an avid collector of independently brewed beer, he belonged to a club that sent monthly samples of the stuff. Well, having read in a book about Olde Frothingslosh, the "Pale Stale Ale" and proudly-self-proclaimed worst beer in the world, 8-year old me was hopping up and down at the prospect of it arriving in the mail like Ralphie in A Christmas Story waiting for his Red Ryder BB Gun. And sure enough, a can of this stuff did arrive for my brother, and I set upon drinking it immediately. The company claimed the "foam was on the bottom", which I didn't quite see, but I was in awe of the picture on the can, a photo of an enormous woman in a bathing suit lying on top of a bear, who had clearly been crushed by her. Turns out the stuff was just really a joke repackaging of Iron City Beer for holidays/collectability, but still, was like Mad Magazine crossing over into real life. Here's a "plea" (MP3) from the company spokesman, and also an excerpt (MP3) from an "official" Olde Frothingslosh newscast, chronicled from a site dedicated to Pittsburgh DJ Rege Cordic who wrote this history of the beer and sort of was the point man of steamrolling the "foam on the bottom" myth.

Worst Audition Ever (MP3)
Tyler and Perry-in-waiting going over their mutual repertoire. 25 goddamn minutes. Thanks to Listener Greg.

Leland Stanford University Marching Band "White Punks On Dope" (MP3)
From Scott Soriano's great Crud Crud blog of vinyl lost treasures comes this stab at the Tubes from an 1979 self-released LP titled Starting Salary $22,275.00. These guys apparently were somewhat of the Animal House of marching bands, though as Scott eloquently explains, they were more or less a "scatter band": "A scatter band is different from a marching band in that it spells out words or makes shapes, instead of marching in formation. In the Stanford Band's case, that meant doing a tribute to the recently kidnapped, Cal student Patty Hearst at the Big Game against Cal (UC Berkeley) by making a formation of a hamburger bun which was missing a patty. During the 1971 Rose Bowl game half time show, the band first spelled out OHIO STATE and then quickly rearranged themselves to spell OH SHIT. This was broadcast on NBC to a national audience. They were banned from the next year's bowl game. In another spelling fiasco, the band first formed HI FOLKS and then shifted the top of the O to the top of the L to spell HI FUCKS. This, too, made it on TV and got them banned." 

WFMU Heavy Airplay List

WFMU Top 30 compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner
(click on artist name or compilation title to hear a sample tune in real audio)

Various - Dark Holler: Old Love Songs and Ballads (Smithsonian)
Various - Searching For Soul (Luv N' Haight)
Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain (Load)
Wanda Sa - Vagamente (Dubas)
Dirty Three - Cinder (Touch & Go)
Lori Burton - Breakout (Rev Ola)
Various - The Midnite Sound of the Milky Way (Big Beat)
Various - Invisible Pyramid: Elegy Box (Last Visible Dog)
Michael Waisvisz - In Tune (Sonig)
Various - Coconut FM: Legendary Latin Tunes (Essay)
Greg Davis and Sebastian Roux - Paquet Surprise (Carpark)
Zelienople - Ink (267 Latajjaa)
Riz Ortolani - Cannibal Holocaust O.S.T. (Grindhouse/Coffin)
Animals and Men - Revel In the Static (Hyped 2 Death)
Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having (Rhymesayers)
Matthew Herbert - Plat Du Jour (Accidental)
Geraldo Pino & the Heartbeats - Heavy Heavy Heavy (RetroAfric)
Mahalara Rai Banda - Mahalara Rai Banda (Crammed Disc)
Nurse With Wound - Livin' Fear Of James Last (Sanctuary)
Fireball - Blessed Be (High Roller Society)
The Hospitals - I've Visited the Island of Jocks and Jazz (Load)
The Gasman - The Grand Electric Palace of Variety (Planet Mu)
Koenjihyaekkei - Angherr Shisspa (Skin Graft)
Danger Doom - The Mouse and the Mask (Epitaph)
Various - Rolas de Aztlan (Smithsonian Folkways)
Bush Chemists - Raw Raw Dub (ROIR)
Hanin Elias - Future Noir (Cochin)
Fourtet and Sa-Ra - Sun Drums and Soil (Domino)
Various - Bread, Beard, and Bear's Prayers (Bastet)
Red Dirt - Plus (Audio Archives)

DJ Compilation Of The Month: Songs From The Midnight Matinee

MP3s: 26 of them below the jump.

Long before the the great convergence of all media into one, John Schnall was remixing movies for the radio on his WFMU program The Midnight Matinee. The show combined dialogue from movies with music in various ways, and turning such cinematic classics as Jerry Lewis' feel-good Nazi flick The Day The Clown Cried into hour-long radio programs. In the process of remixing, songs were sometimes created out of the dialogue and musical snippets. Many of the the full shows are archived in realaudio on this page. Here are 26 of John's Midnight Matinee songs, along with the title of the episode each song came from, which often suggests the film that provided the original source material.

Off-Mic DJ Activities for December 2005

Ahh, the end of calendar year 2005 approacheth, and where matters of off-mic activities are concerned, we've got the proverbial bizzle in our hizzle, as the kids say. Now that our ceremonial decompression rituals associated with Record Fair recovery (let me just say that Pseu Braun gives one MOTHER of a foot massage...) have passed, we're tightening all the escape hatches for the ensuing end-of-year holiday madness that's on deck, but also pointing our collective bad selves towards tomorrow's horizons and whatever 2006 holds in store.

Take Fabio Roberti for example; erstwhile host of the Strength Through Failure program (currently off the schedule, but enjoying enormous celebrity on in the internet in archive form). Never one to be caught lounging around his stylishly decorated flat wasting time,  Fabio will soon be participating in a film presentation at the Galapagos art space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The weekly "Ocularis" exhibit on December 5th will feature the films of Mr. Roberti, along with contributions from Larry 7, Jim Sharpe, Michael Wolf, and Oscar de la Renta. More info on the specifics of the screenings can be found here.

Later that week (December 8th at 8 PM), catch the L train back into Manhattan and do the thousand-meter-mosey downtown to Burrow (31 Crosby St. between Broome and Grand Streets) for Bronwyn C.'s reading of one of her self described "scary little stories" as part of the inaugeration of Burrow's non/fiction series of readings. Other participants slated to read are Jason Bitner of Found Magazine, and Glen Szabo of Sweet Action and Purple Fiction. Admission is FREE, and will feature delicious beverages courtesy of Sixpoint Craft Ales.

Recent Faves From the New Bin

PSYCHATRONE RHONEDAKK - Disturbs the Air (Black Plastic Sound/Summersteps)
TODD TAMANEND CLARK - Nova Psychedelia (Anopheles)
Growing up in a valley in Eastern Pennsylvania, one gets used to long days without much sunlight in the winter; you go to bars, you hang out, you would drive to New York or Philly for the odd show as a real music scene hadn't quite begun to flourish as of yet given the odd AOR radio hitmaker. Not much else to do except immerse yourself in whatever your kick was. Psychatrone Rhonedakk hung out a lot in the record store I worked at and could spiel for hours on Zappa, Chris Knox, Robyn Hitchcock, Barrett, Roky, and he knew his stuff inside out and always was digging deeper into the seeds of the underground to tie the new and the old together. In fact one time we left a bar at 2am while he was having an intense parking lot conversation with another Zappahead, and he was then spotted the next morning by a friend on his way to work in the same spot still talking. So when he finally got a moog and started recording at home and sending out CDR's, it seemed like a logical progression. Gradually the heads and mags of the underground psych scene started to take notice despite his continued hobbit-stance of never playing live; Acid Mothers-related collaborations happened, contribution to a Jandek tribute, and this year he dropped quite a bomb of a record, Disturbs the Air. Prime-era Ash Ra, Tangerine Dream, and other electronic pioneers who have been oft-quoted find a very unique phrasing in Psychatrone's music; in the past his recordings were often full of warm and fuzzy sketches of analog om-ness, but now distilled into cold, freezing nuggets of dark, fully-structured songs that include perfectly adapted covers of Gandalf, Bill Martin, and Warren Zevon bathed in a stark vocal performance. Good comfort sound.
Meanwhile, on the western side of the state, Todd Tamanend Clark was hanging out at Jerry's Records in Pittsburgh and committing to now-collectable vinyl his psychedelic music of a somewhat different weed. Clark coalesced his Native American activism, love of analog synths and home-fi recording, cosmic poeticism and big ol' Jim Morrison fixation into tons of recordings now encapsulated on this 2CD set.  In the years from 1975-85, Clark's weird and wooly sounds featured collaborations from Cheetah Chrome, Allen Ravenstine (Pere Ubu) and William Burroughs, dominated by theremins, moogs, modulators, assorted percussion and total bedroom-metal axe action (the weirdly 80's cyberpunk take on "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night" kills). He covered his body in silver paint, performed theme music live at comic book conventions, and basically lived the rock and roll life (and still records). It's fellows like these two that really make me appreciate the unique personalities that form in often-backwater locales. Everyone these days is splitting the big cities to head out to the countryside to become the next Current 93 or Tower Recordings, but somehow the artists that have originated out yonder doing their interpretations of what they perceived was already going on in the big city have won me over again and again creating and following a muse that they can't deny, and this is where our Barretts and Roky's really originate in many ways. Here's Psychatrone's "They Moved the Moon" (Real Audio) and Todd Clark's "March of the Legion" (Real Audio).

Blanket Fodder

In honor of my second week of hazy reality following hernia surgery, I present some "previously unreleased" material (i.e., I'm feeling too leaden and lifeless to churn out something shiny and new.)  These then, are my riffing sessions, ideas that might have been full-on essays (or blog posts), had they only jazzed more than 3 paragraphs out of me.  Hope you enjoy.

Don't Show Me Your Shit

One of my personal goals is to make it through life without ever seeing another person's faecal waste.  Well I've already failed, though by no fault of my own.  A holistic M.D. once asked me if I "looked" when I flushed after a dump (I have to assume this was a "psychological" question), to which I replied, "Yes, I look. I look FONDLY."  I say bye-bye.  But only to my shit, not yours.

The arrogance in "forgetting" to flush is staggering.  It's sort of the ultimate fuck you.  "Here, man, here's what I think of you.  Look what I left for you.  Isn't it pretty?" 

So don't show me your shit, OK?  I don't want to see it.  Don't take pictures of it, either.  (And that means YOU, Dave; your camera phone privileges should be suspended for life.)  The image of your brownish-yellow, spiraling doopy-doops will give me a bud of repulsion that will last a lifetime.

On Necromancy

If raising the dead were as easy as lighting a few black candles and reading from a book, everyone would be doing it.  The focus and dedication required to conjure up a spiritual entity within an exhumed corpse, usually for the purpose of divining information, is way beyond a guy like me.

Eliphas Levi, widely believed to have been somewhat successful in such ritual conjurations, most likely didn't have to punch a clock full-time.  Bon vivants such as The Great Beast, Aleister Crowley, were removed enough from ordinary society by wealth and class to afford them the time necessary to indulge in such pursuits.  I can't remember the last time I went on a horseback opium-poppy expedition, crafted a homunculus, or just performed a good ol' black mass.  There just isn't time for these things once your life gets going.

Sites for Sore Eyes

Ahh, the internet. It sucks company bandwidth, blows your productivity at home and in the school library, and there are naked people. LOTS of them. There are also crazy MP3s, weirdo animations, stupid movies, arty things to impress your intellectual pals with, old timey robots, and European football hooligans armed with video cameras. Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby present half an hour of your life that you will never get back.

Mile and miles of vintage arcade sounds
And not just recordings of the games themselves, but the geek-chic ambience of the arcades themselves, which I spent countless hours in as a kid, as I imagine many of you did as well. Left! Left! Bodyblow! Bodyblow! Quickly followed by the buzzsaw gun from some shoot 'em up, and the lame victory music from Tron. Ladies, have I lost you yet?

Cup stacking championship?
Next up, a salad-tossing derby.

Best Rejected Advertising
TV, Radio, Print, you name it -- All of 'em share the common theme of having been complained about by consumers. Says a lot about the national standards of "taste and decency" in the various countries of origin, especially in places like Italy, where you can't sell granola bars, carburetors, or airline tickets without a multitude of nude bodies.

Spray it, Don't Say it
The incredible beatbox stylings of San Francisco's Kid Beyond.

Google News in Map Form
Did your family Thanksgiving dinner feature one of those fist-through-the-wall styled arguments with your Dad about that kooky old liberal media? Did you, at any point summon the crusty specters of NPR vs. Fox News or New Yorker vs. The Drudge Report? This newsmap application (seems to launch best in Internet Explorer) will dazzle you regardless of your good witch/bad witch/cowboy/indian/liberal/conservative leanings.

Sony's Deteriorating DRM Mess: One Month Later

It's been one month since details of Sony's invasive Digital Rights Management rootkit malware came to light.  (See my earlier articles: Nov. 1, Nov. 3, and Nov. 7.)

About 9,777 blogs now mention "Sony rootkit", while a web search for Sony rootkit malware yields 13 million results.  Here's a messy update on this mess:

Sony hired First 4 Internet (one of whose corporate directors spent 12 years as a Sony director) to build the intrusive digital restrictions management software "XCP", which has been quietly installing itself on about half a million computers over the past year, including military and government sites.  Many more Sony CD's install spyware DRM called "MediaMax", made by another Sony-related company, SunnComm.

Some of the bad things the XCP and MediaMax DRM malware do:

• Modifies your OS to hide and embed itself (and helps other malware hide itself).  It masquerades as a real Windows service, to make it harder to notice that something bad is running.
• Interferes with your computer's ability to read the audio on that CD, not letting you use your own audio player.
• Silently interferes with any CD-ripping software you might use, even with non-Sony CD's, adding random noise to your copies.
• Secretly "phones home" to send information about you and your listening habits back to Sony (although Sony originally denied this).
• Runs all the time and slows your computer down.
• Can crash your computer, while being difficult to diagnose and repair due to its self-hiding methods.
• Using advanced tools to try to uninstall the software can render your computer's CD drives completely useless.

Some bad things Sony (and friends) appear to have done:

• Snuck the XCP software onto people's computers, providing nothing but a legal jargon license that never actually explained what the software would do, while claiming it could be uninstalled without providing an uninstall mechanism.
• The MediaMax software may install even if the user clicks "Decline."

Oh My God, You Don't Know What You TOOK?

I was watching the Brian Turner / WFMU-curated episode of NY Noise the other night, and up comes this Public Service Announcement from the Bad Council (who've actually done some cool things - remember The Crying Indian (RM video link)? One of theirs).  Two little kids are having diner dinner with Dad, who's clearly got a scar on his ear where once hung an earring.  The announcer says something to the effect of "your dad had an earring back in the day when only bikers and hippies had earrings" (the dude's only like 30, but whatever).  "And you know what bikers and hippies had in common?  The Drugs."  The remainder of the hour was filled with similarly snarky anti-drug messages from the same source, like the dad who rolls himself up in the rug and tells his daughter he's a joint.  Relating, you know.  A bunch of grownups desperately trying to convince their kids they're hip to the now scene, while maintaining a just-say-no message. 

One of my duties here at the so-called Magic Factory is serving as Public Service Announcement Director, so if some organization's got an anti-drug campaign, they're sending their material to me.  Mostly it's dreadful.  Mostly it's the former mayor of Hillsborough or some such place politely suggesting the kids find something else to do: "Hey kids, my anti-drug is politics!" - in astoundingly low fidelity.  But not the Bad Council!  They're F-U-N!  Sometimes.  No, mostly not.  Here's all the fun ones, enjoy.

(mp3s) A-B-C-D-PCP...  |  Baa Baa Black Sheep  |  Humpty Dumpty

These here all cleverly update some of your favorite nursery rhymes, while the ones that follow get a little more "very special episode" on you:

(mp3s) You Wanna... y'know?  |  You Don't Know What You Took?!

Now let's go back to 1973, when Bill Cosby actually did this kind of thing pretty well (RM link to Kenny G's show). "The Dopepusher" (alright, the chorus blows -- but those shouted verses are great!)

And finally, don't forget: Daddy drinks because you cry.  (mp3)

Radio News You Can't Use

Decency Drool on the Hill
A recent Senate forum on indecency and broadcasting unearthed a wealth of old ideas and opinions from the usual suspects: FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, outraged christians from the PTC, uptight Senator Ted Stevens, and a few TV networks. As predicted, Martin wants to drag cable and satellite TV into the FCC's domain (they already have a bit, as a recent ruling by the commission requires cable and satellite programmers to comply with the nation's Emergency Alert System, EAS), forcing them to offer a-la-carte programming in the name of protecting families (bad news if you're anything like this guy). The pressure is now on for the FCC to levy indecency fines to TV stations with pending complaints before the end of 2005. Indecency fines for radio stations under investigation for infringements, meanwhile, aren't expected to surface until next year.

CPB Shake-Up
Kenneth Tomlinson, the republican former Chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), resigned from the board this November, in light of an investigation that found him responsible for misappropriating CPB funds, violating the organization's ethics code, and breaking federal laws. Earlier this year, Tomlinson secretly hired a "consultant" to uncover evidence of liberal bias in PBS programs, leading to the ousting of veteran host Bill Moyers and the creation of a right-bent news program (more on the debacle here). The republican plan to force a partisan agenda in the venue of public broadcasting has been put at bay, at least for now.

Warner Music Group Fesses Up to Payola Accusations
Another Eliot Spitzer-led payola investigation ends with a multi-million dollar settlement...

Meanwhile, Up North
A malicious radio signal disrupted the band at 390 MHz in Ottowa, Canada earlier this month, disabling remote control garage door openers in a 25-mile radius. Some residents are blaming the U.S. military's new Land Mobile Radio System for the interference, but we suspect that the extraterrestrials have now found our most vulnerable weakness and could launch into a full-fledged attack at any moment.

Energy Drink Disguised as Poison... wait, Poison Disguised as Energy Drink
In Missouri, the gatorade/antifreeze myth finally comes to fruition: a wily radio host was charged with slowly poisoning his wife to death by adding antifreeze to her gatorade.

Upcoming Special Programs on WFMU

December is set to be a heartstopping month in terms of live music and special programming on our webstreams, archives, and ever-lovin' FM signal. Go to our upcoming page to peer through the bug splattered windshield that I like to call "the future" for Townes Van Zandt documentarian Margaret Brown, UK folkie Bridget St. John, MIT Professor Noam Chomsky, Garage Rock legends The Original Sins, Philly-style newcomers Jukebox Zeros, avant noiseniks The Noisy Meditation Band, and early 70s John Peel fave Michael Chapman -- all of whom will be swinging through our hallowed halls this month. Also worthy of special attention is the multi-band extravaganza that will be hosted LIVE on Transpacific Sound Paradise from Barbes in Brooklyn. If you're local to the NYC area, come down and experience some LIVE seat-of-the-pants radio with hosts Rob Weisberg and Irene Trudel! More info on all of these special programs can be found here.

November Blast of Hot Air

Posts from this point on down are from the November, 2005 Blast of Hot Air, WFMU's monthly e-mail newsletter.

MP3 Download Dinner Bell for November

Detsorgsekalf - "The Embers of Your Church Burn So Bright" (MP3) / "Keyboard Solo" (MP3) Grimness from the frostbitten land of...Canada. There was some spirited debate on a recent show of mine with Andee Connors and Allan Horrocks (both who work at Aquarius Records, the former here is putting out an album by this band on his tUMULt label) over whether this band should be considered "Joke Black Metal." While the in-your-face growling and subject matter going on here is ridiculous without doubt, there is still some real vision and an amazing, crusty lo-fi sound of guitar gristle and drum blast beats that could rank this band up with the likes of Striborg, Bathory, and Darkthrone at times. Then again, their EP is solely conceptualized about being a Black Metal band hated and threatened by other Black Metal bands. Wasn't the spirit of the genre to be truly outsiders living by their own musical blueprint in the first place? Is it not within reason for this step to be taken? Who can say for sure, I surely ain't the keeper of the Rule Book. But I can easily remain in awe of Detsorgsekalf. and you will too. See their brutal video here.

Pyha "A Tale From the Haunted House" (MP3) Andee also kindly gives us this, an MP3 of a seventh grader living in South Korea, making the most tortured music I've heard in ages. It's certainly playing by the same game plan of such soul destroyers as Abruptum and Burzum (the latter especially in the complete blanket of home-made buzz that envelops this music), but whereas those artists drag you down into a dark place and infiltrate your very being, this kid is not content to just do that. He takes you there then smashes you to pieces by maximizing every single recording channel used to utterly destroy everything in sight. The idea of a mild-mannered person sitting in his bedroom on the computer (which is the likely scenario) to make music that sounds like it is a total upheavel in Hell itself is really an odd juxtaposition of images. I mean, at that age, I was upset if cartoons weren't on as scheduled. There is something far more nefarious than that at play. Or maybe not. Apparently this kid sent a demo to bible-of-metal mag Terrorizer in the UK and got a 10 out of 10.

Charles Bernstein "1 to 100" (MP3) A longtime staple on Kenny G's show, here's the infamous Charles Bernstein taking you to the top as only he can. Recorded in 1969.

Ween "Rejected Pizza Hut Jingle" (MP3) I've never been a big Ween fan, but I have to say that Pizza Hut would have gotten my respect if they had accepted this, the band's proposal to promote the company's then-recent "cheese hidden inside the crust" pizza.

WFMU Heavy Airplay List

WFMU Top 30 compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner
(click on artist name or compilation title to hear a sample tune in real audio)

Various - Choubi Choubi! Folk and Pop Sounds From Iraq (Sublime Frequencies)
Jason Forrest - Shamelessly Exciting (Sonig)
Albert Kuvezin & Yat-Kha - Re-Covers (Yat-Kha)
David Axelrod - The Edge (Capitol)
Kevin Blechdom - Eat My Heart Out (Chicks On Speed)
The Fool - The Fool (Rev-Ola)
Hobart Smith - In Sacred Trust (Smithsonian Folkways)
The Kallikak Family - May 23rd 2007 (Tell-All)
Modey Lemon - The Curious City (Birdman)
The Answer Tapes - The Answer Tapes (Heresee)
Mean Red Spiders - Still Life Moving Fast (Clairecords)
Lau Nau - 2005 US Tour CD (Lau Nau)
Bob Dylan - Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction (Legacy)
VVV - Resurrection River (Mego)
Chrystal Belle Scrodd - Belle Du Jour (Klang Galerie)
Nortec Collective - Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3 (Nacional)
Evie Sands - Any Way That You Want Me (Rev-Ola)
Miss Alex White & the Red Orchestra - s/t (In the Red)
Soundtrack - Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Vol. 1: 1963-69
(BBC/Mute)
Ilk - Canticle (VHF)
Baby Washington - I've Got a Feeling (Stateside)
Afrirampo - URUSA In Japan (Gyunne Cassette)
Beautiful Skin - Everything, All This, and More (GSL)
Hurdy-Gurdy - Prototyp (Northside)
Jonathan Kane - February (Table of the Elements)
Times New Viking - Dig Yourself (Siltbreeze)
Art of Flying - As If You Were the Sea (Discobolus)
Dandi Wind - Bait the Traps (Bongo Beat)
Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk- Vitagen (Essence Music)
Little Howlin Wolf - Brave New World (Heresee/Ehse)

Web-Only Shows and Podcasts

WFMU Unshackled: With our new Fall-Winter schedule, WFMU unveiled a radical new concept - 15 hours a week of freeform programming which is aired only on the internet. (Since Nachum Segal's JM in the AM already had established it's own 24-hour-a-day webstream, we replaced JM in the AM on the freeform stream with programs that are free of the FCC's incomprehensible language restrictions. JM in the AM is still heard over the air, and online through Nachum's JM website.)

After a few false starts and technical snafus, the web-only slot is now running smoothly, from 6-9am EST Monday through Friday mornings. On Mondays, you can hear John Allen's new show, Thursdays brings you the return of the Cosmic Cowboy and on Friday mornings, Chris T returns to the phones with a three-hour edition of Communication Breakdown (you can call Chris while his show is in progress at 201-536-9368 or toll-free via the internet phone service Skype at "WFMU-FM."). On Tuesday and Thursday mornings you can hear various WFMU DJ's stretching out in the FCC-free zone with pre-recorded web-only shows. Like all WFMU shows, the morning web-only shows will be archived in both mono Realaudio and stereo MP3 formats. Thanks to Bill Zurat and John Fog for their hard work in making this innovation possible!

Podcast Update: With our new schedule, twelve WFMU shows are available as podcasts, meaning that the MP3 archive of each new show is be delivered automatically to your computer and/or MP3 player. Returning to the podcast roster is the found-sound extravanganza The Audio Kitchen, and joining our podcast ranks for the first time is Clay Pigeon's brand new Dusty Show, an analog audio orgasm in its own right. There's more information on our Podcasts, the links you need to subscribe to these showsand instructions for getting started on our Podcast Central Page.

Next up at the geeky buffet: live WFMU streams and archives via internet-enabled cell phones and PDAs. Stay tuned...

Off-Mic DJ News for November, 2005

Oh, sure, I hear you all saying: "What a paltry set of listings for the month of November!" Not even, naysayer. It's just that all of our DJs are saving themselves for the totally majestic and awe-inspiring Record Fair, which will be taking place November 4th through 6th at the Metropolitan Pavilion. Terre T and Dave the Spazz are just some of the FMU-style luminaries who will be appearing live and in the flesh at the Fair; to see who is else there, you'll just have to show up yourself!

If you don't get enough of the Spazz at the fair, however, you can catch him at his regular spin-o-rama at Union Pool, every Sunday night in November. Union Pool is at 484 Union Street (at Meeker) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. If you arrive early, there's no cover. Actually, there's no cover whenever you arrive, but you can use the money you save buying Dave a beer, and then gyrating in front of him. 

DJ Compilation of the Month: The Incorrect Music Companion 2001

MP3s: 22 Incorrect Music artifacts below the jump.

This month's DJ compilation is the Incorrect Music Companion, a collection of Outsider Music compiled by Irwin Chusid and Michelle Boule. Irwin and Michelle did the weekly Incorrect Music hour from 1997 to 2002. You can still hear all their realaudio archives from this page. This collection was their fundraising marathon premium from the March 2001 fundraiser. It includes such Incorrect standard bearers as Mr. Snuggles (MP3), Mother Rage (MP3) as well as an early appearance by the Langley Schools Music Project (MP3). (Illustration by Michelle Boule)

Recent Faves From the New Bin

JONATHAN KANE - February (Table of the Elements)  Fife and drum Downtown? In many ways this new LP by former Swans percussionist and Rhys Chatham ensemble member is much closer to his work with Dave Soldier's rootsy Kropotkins than any of the more drone-inspired outfits he's been in. But don't get me wrong, February is a drone-inspired record in a big way; massive walls of chugging Chatham/Branca-leaning dissonant single guitar chords lead the way through long, and at times bluesy workouts. But like the 15.45.60 (aka the Numbers Band) record Jimmy Bell's In Town reviewed in these pages a couple years back, there's a modern melding of blues tradition with Terry Riley-esque flights of lengthy repetition, something that in fact even predates Riley by decades in classic fife-and-drum Mississippi hill music. That music is clearly a big inspiration to Kane, who channeled his mighty wallop birthed with the Swans into true grit snaredrum workouts in the Kropotkins, a group that actively visited spiritual Mississippi kin like the late great Otha Turner (and also featured ex-Velvets Moe Tucker, who knows a thing or two about repetition in percussion). On Kane's new record, that crisp, sharp snare sound looms right over it all, which at first strikes you as a bit odd (considering most 'heavy' psych bands rely on a fatter drum sound) but within minutes you're totally hypnotized. Highly recommended. "Sis" (Real Audio) here.

LAS MALAS AMISTADES - Jardin Interior (Psych-O-Path)  Formed by art and film students in Bogota, Colombia in 1994, Las Malas Amistades get together sporadically to create a fascinating miniature sound world with minimal means. Having said that, there's a pretty stunning range in their musical vocabulary: traditional Latin American rhythms, out-there forays into Fluxus (and it's effect on both North American camps like the LAFMS and Residents as well as South Americans like Rogerio Duprat, Caetano Veloso, and Gilberto Gil's sound-poem forays), and UK post punk Rough Trade aesthetic (Young Marble Giants often get namedropped and one can see why with the use of drumboxes, organ and disjointed guitar notes). It's a beautiful mix that comes together rather cinematically and seamlessly here, and again while so many familiar ideas emerge, you continually get the feeling throughout the entire record (recorded in 2005) that it's something entirely new you have yet to hear. Thanks to Psych-O-Path for this MP3 of "El Country."

VARIOUS - Lagos Chop Up (Honest Jons)  Along with Ouelele and Nigeria 70, two of my favorite African retrospectives in recent memory, the newly released (and stunningly packaged on vinyl especially) Lagos Chop Up puts the spotlight on the 1970s golden age of Nigerian dance music while it remained truly in its own voice (despite the obvious Western influence of electric guitars and such that had filtered in). By dance music, we mean Juju, Afrobeat, Highlife, and Fuji represented here in some well-chosen and definitely raw selections from such heavies as Dr. Victor Olaiya (aka the Evil Genius of Highlife), Kollington Ayinla, and of course many musicians that have crossed paths in Fela's groups (the Nigerian Army Rhythm Band for example features Fela sideman Ojo Segun Okeji). This music was extremely important to the culture, as music was an powerful expression of the Nigerian people, so much that it intimidated the rulers themselves (as seen in the saga of Fela). With the ascension of Nigeria as an oil resource after the 1940's Lagos became a petri dish of culture and ideas from around the world, yet all these forms of music that sprouted forth could remain diverse while exhuding strong nationalistic identity. The side long track here by Shina Williams and His African Percussions (who also were featured on a killer Nigeria 70 track) is rife with pumping organ and a groove the JB's would kill for. Cardinal Rex Lawson's "Owuna Derina" here (Real Audio from Hatch's show).

VARIOUS - Malpractice (Birdman) - This CD release compiles five years of assorted sounds on the UK CDR label Fflint, which has during that time become a well-beloved staple in WFMU's new bin and airwaves. My friend Andee stayed with these gents in the UK back in the late 90's, raved about their releases and the connection was made. It's sure been a pleasant connection as well, the label even combed WFMU's search engine and noted every song played by various FMU DJs and compiled them into a love letter disc for a marathon prize called "To Effem You" a few years back. But besides the mutual backrubbing going on here (heh), the music is fantastic and sadly overlooked by much of the experimental-music-supporting media. It's not too hard to understand why; the 21st century glut of CDRs took hold over our mailboxes, and the stack of esoteric-looking packages with oblique titles continues to pour in, and to be honest, it's a chore separating the meddle from the muddle. What's most intriguing about these Fflint recordings though is that they don't sound like anything else. There's remnants of weird 80's DIY tape loop experimentation, Autechre-inspired electronica, dark ambient soundscapes, but totally unlike the multitudes who are also doing it. It comes from a very personal place, from Berkowitz Lake & Dahmer's electronic frog-croaks amidst metallic lillypads to Pendro's weird, Terry Riley-esque cyber-bagpipe workouts to Oleum's haunted ballroom sounds, I sense this whole gang is an introspective lot with more design on getting inside hidden recesses of your cortex than being on the cover of some hip IDM magazine and getting in at the Sonar Festival. And wasn't it supposed to be that way all along? Berkowitz, Lake & Dahmer's "Locate and Cement" here (Real Audio) from Liz's show.

Sites for Sore Eyes

The results of this month's traipse through the alternately exhilarating and lonely world of the Internet is even more schizophrenic than usual. While the "tow chinese boys" rival Internet heroes Star Wars Kid/Ghyslain and Metallica Drummer in terms of sheer geekjoy, bonsai kittens and hillbilly casinos are sure evidence of the (further) decline of western civilization.

You Tube
Operating on much the same principle as flickr and shutterfly, You Tube allows users all over the world to upload videos recorded on digital cameras, webcams and video phones. Of course you could spend hours slogging through boring vacation videos, South Park impersonators, dog tricks and drunken hijinks...but why bother when you can cut straight to the lip-syncing? Current darlings among the You Tube set are "tow chinese boys," rubber-faced divas who maintain their flow through a dizzying array of haircuts, costume changes, languages and unexplained injuries. (Is that a splint on the frontman's arm in their rousing rendition of "I want it that way"?) The one constant? The uber-nerd busily typing away in the background.

Women & Dogs
The personal collection of a Birmingham, England lad named Marcus who found his first photo of a lady with a dog in a second-hand book. From there his collection has grown to 143 found photos, and his captioning has grown increasingly delightful. Annoyed by the men sometimes found in the background of the photos, Marcus tries to focus on the ladies' choice of footwear ("Her red shoes suggest that she is lively.") and their robustness ("Here she is wearing a pith helmet and safari style outfit and displaying the strength of her legs by supporting herself on her haunches."), but he is nevertheless distracted by the dastardly acts that the men in the background may or may not be committing. 

Where Babies Come from in Germany
Gott im Himmel! The editor is so sad she wasn't given this book in her half-Germanic childhood. However, she is glad to add the word "Hodensack" into her pidgin-Deutsch vocabulary.

Ballsies -- The Jewelry with the Most
And speaking of Hodensacken!

Knit Yourself a Uterus!
You can't have a Hodensack without a Gebärmutter.

Radio News You Can't Use

Kevin Martin Demystified... almost
Business Week recently interviewed FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, who discussed improving broadband access in the U.S., making sure emergency communications are in order, and possibly dealing with the FCC's indecency complaint backlog in bulk.

Indecency Legislation to Resurface?
Rumors are flying around the nation's capitol concerning a revised broadcast indecency bill, scheduled to hit the Senate floor as soon as this week. If you'll recall, the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act passed through the House earlier this year and seemed to evaporate shortly thereafter. This time, two variations of an indecency bill are in the works, both raise the maximum fine for a naughty slip of the tongue and one has language that would place cable and satellite TV under the microscope.

Stern replaced by DLR, Jack, and Adam Carolla
As Howard Stern leaves the world of broadcast radio and steps into orbit on Sirius, Infinity Broadcasting replaces him with David Lee Roth (but that's old news) in most areas, while other parts of the country get Jack-FM or Adam Carolla. Meanwhile, Stern is still under investigation by the FCC for an allegedly indecent broadcast that aired earlier this year.

Payola Roundup
Eliot Spitzer’s investigation earlier this year dug up evidence that Sony BMG was engaged in illegal radio promotion practices (payola): bribes, vacation packages, and expensive electronics for radio station personnel secured airplay for Franz Ferdinand, Audioslave, Celine Dion, and other artists. This throw-down got Clear Channel execs shaking in their boots. They fired two employees following their own internal investigation. Now an indie label (TSR Records) has filed suit against Sony for bribing radio stations, alleging that this has blocked artists on other labels from being heard.

Liberal Radio Host Prematurely Discharged
Ed Schultz's radio program was mysteriously eliminated from the Armed Forces Radio roster at the zero hour by Allison Barber (who works for Internal Communications at the Pentagon). In a completely unrelated story, Schultz had criticized Barber earlier in the week for rehearsing interview responses with soldiers during President Bush's staged video-conference.

October Blast of Hot Air

Posts from this point on down are from the October, 2005 Blast of Hot Air, WFMU's monthly e-mail newsletter.

MP3 Download Dinner Bell For October

Los Punkrockers "Holiday In the Sun" / "Pretty Vacant" (MP3s)
If you recall the glory days of K-Tel hit compilations, there were always wanna-be K-Tel's out there (I want to say Ronco for one off the top of my head) that would also cram like 50 modern-day hits into the grooves of some cheaply-cut vinyl platter as thin as a potato chip. But since half of these fly-by-nights couldn't license the actual songs, you'd get some generic in-house band doing versions of them! I remember I had one with some definite Long Island accents buried within the Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night." And of course such was the value of the commercials' catch-phrase "hits by the original artists". Well, someone in Spain seemed to think it was a good idea to have an entirely different band do the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks album in its entirety and slap some cheezy model in faux-punk garb on the cover. But I honestly have to say that this version of the record (titled Los Exitos De Sex Pistols) might be even better than anything the Pistols or McLaren could have produced! Thanks to Strange Reaction for posting.

Barbara Bush "Reflections" (Dirty Duck remix) (MP3)
Dirty Duck has been absent from the FMU Blue page as of late, and has been reported to have been hanging out at Teanie with Moby. This MP3 makes it obvious as to why; he has been soaking in production skills from the Mobe, and has become somewhat of a remix auteur. So, bravo, and the DFA may contact him via this radio station for that Janet Jackson project if they need him.

Kookie Cook "Workin' Man" (MP3)
A while back Station Manager Ken waxed poetic about the insane Dean Carter disc out last year; a compilation of 1960's psychobilly I picked up for the station on the recommend of Major Stars/Twisted Village impresario Wayne Rogers (a man who knows a thing or two about overloaded distortion used tactfully himself). Carter's sound was what might have happened if Elvis hooked up with Chrome stepping off a time-travel machine, totally zonked and unlike anything else in the genre (with possible comparisons to the Michael Yonkers 60's stuff). Thanks to Alec Palao, the roots of Dean have been dug into a bit more on another Big Beat UK reissue called the Midnite Sound of the Milky Way, which compiles more crude and overdriven sounds from the same midwest studio Carter did his dirty work in. In fact, Carter is credited with writing lots of this material under his real name Arlie Neaville with partner Arlie Miller (the two also co-owned the studio). The acts that came through dabbled in both rocking roots and Brit Invasion sounds, but the limited technology the Arlies were able to offer (refrigerator cardboard boxes nailed to walls for soundproof, souped-up two track recording machines) made for some primitive, crusty sounds. The Cobras were kids around 12 years old almost eclipsed in view by their guitars, and Kookie Cook was almost as wild as Carter in many ways cutting solo sides as well as with his band the Satalites (sic).

"King Diamond and Anton Lavey, They Were Tight Bros From Way Back" (excerpt, MP3)
The band Tight Bros from Way Back apparently got their name from this legendary tape floating around of two buddies on the phone together, one of which goes on for 10 minutes about his need to beat up a guy who owes him $20, but then gets deeply into his favorite topic, R.O.C.K. After animatedly explaining the degrees of evil of various metal acts (it's decided that Deicide are pure evil, but King Diamond and Anton Lavey were, as we mentioned "tight bros"), he then amazingly sums up the greatest guitar moments ever, and clearly they are ranked meticulously as you will hear by the MP3 excerpt above. Tom Scharpling provided me a dub of the tape, which I edited out the obscenity from to play part of on the air, and lo and behold and email drops in my inbox from a guy named Sean, the one who recorded his pal's rants, happily having heard it blare out of an office co-worker's WFMU stream. Sean assured us that this thing will get released someday, but for now, put your guitar down, shake your head, bow, and walk off the stage in the presence of this greatness.

The Dirtbombs "Sun Is Shining (live on WFMU)" (MP3)
The sockodelic sounds of Mick Collins and company have landed on Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic twice, once in 2003 and again in 2004. Detroit's finest purveyors of pure garage-punk soul have just released a long-awaited compilation of singles called If You Don't Have a Look (In the Red Records), and they cover ESG for crying out loud. In more exciting news, there's going to be a three-way love fest CD co-released by Birdman, In the Red, and WFMU in the near future to benefit musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina; it's a disc comprised of all the bands on those labels' rosters who have done airtime in the mighty Moose Room here, including the Cuts, Brother JT, the Hospitals, and many more. Stay tuned for more details soon.

Roberto De Simone "Secondo Coro Delle Lavandaie" (MP3)
La Gatta Cenerentola was a radical reinterpretation of the Cinderella tale, done in Neopolitan dialect in 1976 by De Simone, who, since the 1960's, organized groups like Italy's NCCP to reinterpret and reinvent enduring folk tales from his country's (and Europe's) culture and history. What De Simone uncovered in his deep anthropological studies was a Neopolitan equivalent to the Wicker Man of sorts; a pagan culture unaffected by the vast reaches of Catholicism that would consume Italy later; a matriarch-based shepherd/farming community with complex ritual-based relationships with pure and unqiue musical communication, brought to life in this stage performance excerpted here. By far "Secondo Coro Delle Lavandaie" made for one of the wildest moments of the mini-opera, almost taking on the skeleton of some downtown NYC No-Wave, or comparable to the Slits or Kleenex in some ways This track was also featured on a premium a few years ago courtesy Fabio's Strength Through Failure
and recently a kind listener donated a copy of the entire album to the station's library.

Velvet Underground "I Can't Stand It" (from Rarities 66-93) (MP3)
Once when Lou Reed was on MTV in the 80's doing one of his patent freakout guitar solos (on a live version of "The Original Rapper" or something at Farm Aid), he got a snotty comment afterwards behind his back from vee-jay Dweezil Zappa, who demanded that someone must atone for the "worst guitar solo ever performed on MTV." No surprise, considering that Poppa Frank did some stinkbomb-lobbying himself when the Velvets hit the west coast in the late '60s on Mothers of Invention bills, but needless to say the glory of those kinds of solos is well encapsulated in this featured MP3, And Dweez will surely be aping that approach himself someday at the Viper Room, mark our words. Anyway, it's from the best Velvets boot by far I think called The Psychopath's Rolling Stones; besides featuring a haunting version of "Chelsea Girl" recorded with Lou on electric guitar and Nico on vox in her Chelsea hotel room, and a version of the "Star Spangled Banner"(!), it features some insanely great Lou guitar rampages at the height of the band's live power. "Run Run Run" goes beserk for ten minutes in a pure orgiastic feedback frenzy, and this live version of the great album outtake "I Can't Stand It" (which was eventually released in studio form on the legit odds-n-sods collection VU in the 80's) has one of the best Reed-invoking-Ornette on electric guitar moments in any of the band's live archives.

Johnny Boy "You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes and You Get What You Deserve" (MP3)
Johnny Boy is actually the UK duo of Davo (guitars, loops, vocal) and Lolly (ditto) and this single succeeds everywhere that the Raveonettes, unfortunately, do not. From the reverb soaked Shangri-Las/Spector drum intro it's a pure bubblegum wedding of Northern Soul, Jesus and Mary Chain scumsurfing and pure pop bliss. Their full length is due later this year, and bands like them and the Long Blondes might be reason enough to start picking up the NME again. You gotta love that song title though; and check the very cool video on the site as well.

Radio Pyongyang "Start 'Em Young" (MP3)
The latest batch of Sublime Frequencies' globetrotting audio documentations features not one but two releases from the Axis of Evil (as our President would have you believe). Radio Pyongyang: Commie Funk and Agit Pop From the Hermit Kingdom rawly captures, as they say, "a healthy dose of hagiography for Dear Leader Kim Jong-il", and also bills itself as the "Now Sound of North Korea". As with many SF releases, you're not getting a Nonesuch/Smithsonian Folkways-like exploration into the roots of music and culture framed in a National Geographic-like manner, but rather a snapshot in a dreamlike way of everyday sounds you would hear as someone passing through, the veil of mystery and wonder preserved. This particular volume is basically culled from a cassette recording Christiaan Virant made of intercepted broadcasts, samples of CDs he found along the way, demonstration field sounds, news reports between 1995 and 1998. This particular track brings up some images of kids dressed in revolutionary garb, singing under a 6-story tall Kim Jong-il, the accompanying music state-sanctioned and sterile.

Oxbow "Girl" (live on WFMU) (MP3)
Recording the Bay Area group Oxbow "unplugged" so to speak isn't as easy as one would think; under normal circumstances (i.e. electric), the band teeters in the mix with a delicate blend of tension, eerie ambient drones, explosions of math-rock mayhem, and stumbling-down-the-stairs blues, all dragged along by the rather unconventional vocal approach of frontman Eugene Robinson. Eugene, a bona-fide competitive bodybuilder, takes harrowing subject matter and creates high theater (in live situations especially) quite often physically dragging the audience into one psychodrama or another; you'd expect something like this from say, Darby Crash, but could Darby pull off an effective Nina Simone cover or duet with Marianne Faithfull? When Eugene and Oxbow guitarist Niko Wenner played an acoustic set on Brian's show back in November 2004, the dynamic of host-behind-the-glass-watching-performer took on a very new kind of vibe; engineer Gil Shuster needed to accomodate Eugene's most whispered moents and chaotic, slobbering outbursts into account in the mix, he could be in your ear quiet one second and pinning the meters running around the room the next. But it worked, and the particular mix in this session is one of the more fascinating excercises in live music recording here in recent memory. Hear for example, the Beatles' la-la ode "Girl" turned into what sounds like a person caged in confined quarters about to knock a hole in the wall, while Niko balanced the song's delicacy with downright disturbing tension you could cut with a knife.

DJ Comp of the Month: Mac's Big Seven Inch Collection

MP3s: 29 of them below the jump.

This month's MP3 compilation comes from our own Mac, host of the Antique Phonograph Music Program, who compiled a batch of sales-oriented seven inches for the WFMU record library. This collection was never offered during our marathons, Mac put it together specifically for the WFMU record library. So sing along with the Telephone Pioneers of America, shed a tear with Art Linkletter, and lasso some tefillin with Harold Stern, the Jewish Cowboy. If you like these, be sure to also check out Mac's Museum of Carboard and Oddity Records, one of the hidden gems of our vast website.

WFMU Heavy Airplay List

WFMU Top 30 compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner
(click on artist name or compilation title to hear a sample tune in real audio)

Ari Up - Dread More Dan Dead (Collision)
Husky Rescue - Country Falls (Minty Fresh)
Soundtrack - Broken Flowers (Decca)
Richard Hell - Spurts (Sire/Rhino)
Amadou & Mariam - Dimanche a Bamako (Nonesuch)
The Greenhornes - East Grand Blues (V2)
Cobra Killer & Kapajkos - Das Mandolinenorkester (Monika)
Various - Boobs: The Junkshop Glam Discotheque (RPM)
Volcano the Bear - Classic Erasmus Fusion (Volcano the Bear)
The Fall - Complete Peel Sessions Box (Castle)
Susumu Yokota - Symbol (Lo)
Various - Dimension Mix: The Music of Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson (Eenie Meenie)
Nurse With Wound - Sililoquy For Lilith (United Jnana)
Various - Vertigo Mixed by Andy Votel (Family Recordings)
The Holy Mackerel - The Holy Mackerel (Collectors Choice)
Hot Fire - Hot Fire (Vibe Theater)
Rogerio Duprat - A Banda Tropicalista Do Duprat (El)
Waco Brothers - Freedom and Weep (Bloodshot)
Mutamassik - Definitive Works (Soundink/Traffic)
Zuco 103 - Whaa! (Six Degrees)
Curse Ov Dialect - 7 Song Demo (Curse Ov Dialect)
June Carter Cash - Keep On the Sunny Side (Legacy)
Death Sentence: Panda! - Puppy, Kitty, Or Both (Upset the Rhythm)
Drinking Electricity - Overload (Survival)
Endless Boogie - Volume 1 (Mound Duel)
Various - Rough Guide To Balkan Gypsy (WMN)
(International) Tall Dwarfs - In the Dying Days of Helen Young (Tall Dwarfs)
Philip Blackburn - Habanera: A Soundwalk Through Old Havana, Cuba (Innova)
Hexa - Hexa (Hexa)
Various - I Like Yellow Things: MSR Madness Vol. 5 (MSR)

Tres Femmes Fâchées

My current musical obsession focuses on 3 artists: Colette Magny, Catherine Ribeiro, and Theatre du Chene Noir.  Many's the unifying string running thru all three: French women doing their defining work in the late 1960's & early 70's; operating well outside any cultural drift; all three appearing on the famed Nurse With Wound list (which Wm Berger has been so heroically documenting on these pages - rise Wm, rise!!).  There's a fierce political character to all 3 as well, often subtle or implied, tho in the case of Mme Magny, sublimely overt. 

But the thing that most strikes me about all 3 is a delivery that seems informed primarily by fatal despair and a supremely confident anger.  I think it's this quality that has me so gaga over these artists, and it's this quality that I'll present to you in audio linkery.  On this page, there's some brief biographical info on each, and over the fold I'll offer the audio links, selected discogs, and more links.

Colette Magny came first, (and has sadly died first) and was a massive influence on much French music to come.  Beginning her career as a blues and folk singer, she became radicalized by the U.S. Civil Rights movement, the Nueva Canción  musicians in South America, as well as the worldwide student revolt of that bygone era - you know the one.  Her most astounding material is unapologetically violent, shocking, yet quite effective agit-prop accompanied by a heavy, romping jazzy rumpus.

Catherine Ribeiro (link is to her official website) began her career as a Ye Ye Girl and actress (appearing in 1963 in Godart's "Les Carabiniers") before meeting the composer Patrice Moullet, whom she married, and with whom she formed the bands 2-Bis and Alpes.  Heavily influenced by Magny's vocal style, musically Ribeiro's most exciting incantations leap off from some of the most intense, repetitive and thrilling rural space-rock you'll find this side of Amon Düül, or even early Gong - several of whose members found their way to Alpes. Catherine's still busy performing in France, and she's apparently quite popular in Belgium.

I don't know who this woman to the right is, but she may possibly be the mysterious and haunting voice of Theatre du Chene Noir, a performance troupe from Avignon led by a guy named Gerard Gelas. There's sadly little I can find out about them, but it does seem that their recordings are actually documents of live stage plays.  Check out this pic from one of them, "Miss Madonna". Musically presenting a diversity of styles, the anonymous vocal delivery is at once sexy and defiant, cooing and unapproachable.  Her voice seems to be the one that appears on albums from 1971 and 1975. In any case, Gerard is still active.

Jump the fold and listen...

Off-Mic DJ News for October 2005

When our DJs aren't out scaring neighborhood children with bloody claws, grotesque masks or their own personal frightwigs, they honor the calendar's scariest month by offering up dark musical sacrifices to their own personal gods. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here:

On Saturday, October 1st, Downtown Soulville's Mr. Fine Wine, along with his minions Jared, David G. & the Chairman spin with their very special guest CUT CHEMIST (Jurassic 5, "Brainfreeze," "Product Placement," etc.). 10PM-4AM at the apt, 519 West 14th Street, Manhattan. Only $10!

The last "purpose-built" Communication Breakdown podcast arrives Monday, October 3rd and features all the songs Chris T. sang with the Hoof & Mouth Sinfonia since the tradition began in 2001. Communication Breakdown first appeared two weeks after Aerial View went off the air and has featured music, rants, interviews and lots of filth. The one element missing is what made Aerial View so compelling: real-time communication (hence the "breakdown") with listeners on the phone. What's that crap about one door closing and another opening? If all goes well, beginning October 14th, Communication Breakdown will no longer be time-shifted but will join WFMU's new "Mayhem in the AM" web-only roster, streaming live 6 - 9AM Friday mornings. A portion of the 3-hour program will subsequently be excerpted for the new-style Communication Breakdown podcast. The best part of this new paradigm? The phones will once again be open, with listeners able to call in from all around the world! And the filth will remain: because it's a webcast, the FCC's got no horse in this race. Saddle up, suckers!

Singing Sadie: All That, and a Pair of Tap Shoes

Recently, Irwin hosted the second artist to ever tap dance in the WFMU studios*, Australia's Singing Sadie. Assaulting our audience with a saccharine-sweet schoolyard tattletale's voice laid over 1930s big-band recordings, Sadie's cheerful wailing and spunky wit will win you over (click to hear the performance in real audio or streaming MP3). Download a video of Sadie performing the song "Until Drink Do Us Part" (mpg, 18 MB), to get the complete singing/tap-dancing experience (minus the backing music).

* Matmos was the first: they were accompanied by a tap-dancer for a set that aired on the Re:Mixology program, click here to listen to the archive in real audio.

Recent Faves From the New Bin

HOBART SMITH - In Sacred Trust (Smithsonian)
Mountain music virtuoso Smith played a vast array of instruments (banjo, fiddle, guitar, piano) with blurring intensity and density, jumping from blazing breakdowns to hypnotic blues guitar to Tin Pan Alley tunes at the drop of a dime, holding total authority over anything with a string involved. His career started when his sister contacted Alan Lomax, declaring "my brother can play anything", and recordings started to pop up around 1948. In 1963 he was living with a heart embolism that caused him great pain, yet continued to tour, do radio appearances, teach, and with fellow banjo player Fleming Brown (the documentarian here) whipped out 9 hours of music onto tape, two discs worth preserved here on this amazing collection. Smith never needed back-up musicians, his was a universe of sound so in his command that frankly there may have not been space for them, and besides, the show was all his even without the instrumentation. In between the flying notes there was storytelling, clog-dancing, and more.. Most excellent detailed booklet of course, thanks to Smithsonian, as well. Hear Smith accompany himself clogging on "Railroad Bill" (Real Audio from Hatch's show)

CARTER/CHESTNUT/JACKSON/VEAL - Gold Sounds (Brown Brothers)
Mike Lupica has coined the term "Judgementnightcore", a rather apt description of the clashing of two musical genres you normally wouldn't expect to hear, if you remember that 90's soundtrack where Helmet, House of Pain, Mudhoney, Sir Mix-A-Lot etc. all got chocolate in each others' peanut butter so to speak. Well, I don't know what exactly is happening here, but for some reason there now exists an album of Pavement covers, done up by proper jazzbos James Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Ali Jackson and Reginald Veal. According to the liners, the producer Alan Suback posed the musical question "what album would we buy that doesn't exist?" then goes on to detail picking out the fantasy team (Reginald Veal was spotted backing up Wynton Marsalis for example), but doesn't quite explain why exactly Pavement covers seemed like a suitable fantasy project other than "we were avid fans since Crooked Rain Crooked Rain."  Perhaps the Dave Brubeckisms of "5/4=Unity" from that record lit the fuse? Who knows. But the end product is fascinating, I guess, especially if you're a Pavement fan, though I don't know if the fans of the artists performing these songs would run out and buy a copy of Slanted and Enchanted. It's very peculiar to hear the tres-uptown-SNL-band treatments some of these songs get into considering some early Pavement originals were buried in lo-fi hiss; "Cut Your Hair" starts with some free-yet-restrained Carter sax skronk before settling into a funky organ groove and "doo wah's", "Summer Babe" is a slick jam around a three-chord Rhodes loop, and Chestnut's solo piano take on "Trigger Cut" somewhat preserves the ominous intro. If anything, the record definitely highlights the fact that Pavement themselves were masters of sublime melody amidst loose, dissonant pop structures that could allow for this kind of treatment; they started out very much about sifting through the static so to speak, but gained an elegant maturity themselves towards their break-up while still walking sideways with conventional guitar-based rock. There's a live showcase October 7th at Joe's Pub in case New Yorkers want to check it out; the label's site is quite unusual too, offering up images that include Michael Stipe's face, and links to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Derek Jeter, saying "if you still hate him, that's your problem." MP3 of "Cut Your Hair" here.

DANNY AND THE NIGHTMARES - Freak Brain (Sympathy For the Record Industry)
For my money this is as harrowing as Daniel Johnston gets in many ways. Billed as his full-time "horror rock" combo, the Nightmares' new record stares Lucifer in the face not unlike Roky Erickson (a self-professed hero of Johnston's) while trashing up the proceedings like a farfisa-happy Mummies burning in the pit itself. More songs inspired by women, Satan, and Jesus Christ (listed as producer of the album), but for the first time Daniel really sounds at home leading a band sharing his own vision (as opposed to say, the Paul Leary-produced Atlantic thing where somewhat proper musicians joined forces with him). It's a giant mess of a roller-coaster ride, check out "The Lord Loves You" (Real Audio) in it's belch-enhanced splendor.

The Horror Compilation (MP3)

As a special Halloween treat, here's a seventy minute long horror music mix I put together for the 2001 WFMU marathon, culled from years of Halloween specials on my Wednesday morning show. When the big day comes, throw a speaker out on the front porch, hook it up to your MP3 player and set it on repeat, this'll keep those satanic dilletantes at bay. Careful though, it's a ginormous download, clocking in at a whopping 97 megs. Download The Horror.

Artists on the mix include: Krzysztof Komeda, Wojciech Kilar, Krzysztof Penderecki, Jaap Blonk, Albanian Men's Choir, John Cale, Dick Jacobs Orchestra, Jerry Goldsmith, Theatre of Tragedy, Barnabas Collins, Endvra, Elend, Coven, Daniel Licht and others. For more info, go here.

Sites for Sore Eyes

Yeah, so we've all spent plenty of time traipsing through the wide corridors of the Internet, freebasing Cocaine Kate photos, ogling pix of Jude's less-than-inspirational johnson, and looking up our friends' Nerve profiles and cringing. Rather than further damaging your already fragile 'net-brain, save yourself. Celebrate the moustache, torment some spammers, and then relax and sit in your PortaPub. You'll feel so much better, really.

419 Eater
Scambaiter Central. If you ever wondered what those suspiciously-broke Nigerian princes look like, here's your answer. Although the Trophy Room and the Hall of Shame may lead you to momentarily pity these fellows (and some ladies), remember: these "entrepreneurs" are alleged to rake in $1.5 billion of scammed dough annually.

World Beard and Moustache Championships
Will world champion Karl-Heinz Hille retain his title after October's beard and moustache smackdown in Berlin? The editor cannot predict (although she generally roots for any gent named Karl-Heinz), but she can recommend a perusal of this glorious celebration of all men mustachioed.

Rock and Roll Confidential
Ah, the Hall of Douchebags...Cringe through multiple brick wall shots before rejoicing in the glory of Inspector Chalupa and Faux-nan.

Radio News You Can't Use

Radio's Role in the Aftermath of Katrina
Houston Astrodome officials blocked an LPFM radio station from setting up shop and broadcasting emergency info to displaced hurricane survivors... then finally changed their minds.

Ham radio geeks around the country provided an essential communication link after Katrina knocked out major TV and radio stations in affected areas.

The FCC responded expediently to the communication crisis post-Katrina, relaxing rules and offering assistance to affected broadcasters (read more here, PDF). Even the EAS (Emergency Alert System), normally a lame-duck, managed to issue an informative message pre-Katrina... However, a lack of multilingual emergency information put many Spanish and Vietnamese-speaking communities out of touch with evacuation notices and disaster-related messages.

WFMU aired a few great New Orleans tribute shows and also lent a hand to WWOZ, a community station in New Orleans that was knocked off the air during the storm. Thanks to WWOZ management and WFMU's own IT squirrels, we launched a temporary web stream for OZ, allowing them to reconnect with fans and donors during this crucial time. Blog entries from WWOZ's manager, Dave Freedman (no relation to Ken Freedman), document the process of regrouping and resurrecting this cultural stronghold from the ruins of a destroyed city. These posts can be read in sequence: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4.

GOP proposes cutting CPB funding, again
As Washington digs for spare change in its many pockets to scrounge up money for Hurricane Katrina relief, some republicans have proposed a complete elimination of the CPB’s (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) $400 million budget. CPB distributes funding to the nation’s public radio and TV stations, many of which were instrumental in relaying disaster-related information to Katrina victims. Where oh where could we possibly be spending even more money than that?

Another Power Shift at CPB
CPB's chairman, Kenneth Tomlinson, who came under fire for secretly conducting content investigations of public TV shows he believed were too liberal and adding a number of conservative shows to the PBS roster, ended his tenure this week. Cheryl Halpern, also a republican, takes Tomlinson's seat, while Newt Gingrich's conservative pal Gay Hart Gaines succeeds democrat Frank Cruz as Vice Chair. Earlier this year, former RNC co-chair Patricia Harrison was appointed CPB President and CEO, which, combined with the latest shift, means that all top-ranking officials at CPB are now republicans. We can expect CPB to become increasingly critical of PBS and NPR programming in the coming months; only 2 democrats remain on the 8-member board.

Liberal Humorist Eaten by Grumpy Geezer with Lawyer
Syndicated public radio host Garrison Keillor sent a cease and desist letter to a blogger for selling t-shirts on his site that read "A Prarie Ho Companion" (a parody of Keillor's "A Prarie Home Companion" program). Parody falls under a little statute called "fair use," which any above-average lawyer might understand.

September Blast of Hot Air

Posts from this point on down are from the September, 2005 Blast of Hot Air, WFMU's monthly e-mail newsletter.

MP3 Download Dinner Bell For September

Steve Bent "Going To Spain" (MP3)
Mark E. Smith has always had an ear for the perfect covers for the Fall to do, and since this breezy ditty got remade of 1993's Infotainment Scan LP, I've always wanted to hear the original. Lo and behold Irwin spun it last week and directed my attention to a Yuk/K-Tel compilation from 1978 title The World's Worst Record, compiled by UK DJ/comic Kenny Everett. This song was penned by Steve Bent, who performed it on a British TV show called New Faces in 1974, a sort of primitive precursor to American Idol where contestants did their own compositions. I love the whole naive tourist vibe, where the protaganist sings "Cousin Norman had a real fine time last year", being kept company by "tapes of Elton John" and says "I hope I can quickly learn the language", before the totally weird reverbed falsetto leap into the chorus. Makes a good segue to Three Dog Night's "I've Never Been To Spain", which coincidentally, I played on my last show before I, uh, went to Spain for the first time. I didn't quickly learn the language, but had a real fine time!

Reverend Charlie Jackson "Live" (MP3)
Kevin Nutt, host of WFMU's Sinners Crossroads started the Case Quarter label a few years back and has been sanctifying souls young and old with some powerful releases, the first of which was a collection of 1970's gospel singles by the Reverend Charlie Jackson. This disc packed so much raw power that everyone from Mojo to Rolling Stone was zapped by the holy thunderbolts delivered by the snakecharm guitar, ragged amp and booming voice of Jackson; garage rock gurus Crypt Records even put it out on vinyl, and singer Grey DeLisle recently did a cover song. Live documentation of Jackson (said to be at his peak in the 80's when the only place you could hear him was at festivals or gospel programs) is spotty at best, but thanks to Kevin we have an unreleased track for your Gawdfearing pleasure.

Patrick Sean O'Brien "Archie and Edith In the Fifth Dimension" (MP3)
The Bunkers get the turntablist treatment. Also check out the animated vid here.

Black Lodge Singers "Spongebob Squarepants" (MP3)
More Kids Pow Wow Songs (Canyon Label) unfortunately falls way short of the Singers' jawdropping Kids Pow Wow Songs some years back, but this is a nice addition to your MP3 collection. If you can't get enough 'bob, check out Jonny Blaze's take on the tune as well (Real Audio), culled from the DJ Technics collection of Baltimore Club Tracks we blogged about here earlier this year.

Health Hen "Drive She Said" (MP3)
If you ever wondered what Laverne DeFazio singing in a hybrid of Essential Logic and Mars might sound like, Health Hen might give you an idea. Oddly, this band gets left off your 80's Downtown/No New York-style compilations, which is too bad; not a whole lot of information except that their EP was on the Twist-O-Flex label, somewhat related to the East Village Rant imprint, another fine of some scratchy new wave sounds.

Mark Savage "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" (MP3)
First heard this on Otis Fodder's 365 Days MP3 Project, now immortalized further on the new Schoolhouse Funk Volume 2 CD on DJ Shadow's Cali-Tex label. It's heartbreaking that this cuts short after 1 minute 36 seconds, this might be the greatest thing ever.

Blaster Al Ackerman "The Pepper Young Translations"  from I Am Drunk (MP3)
Ehse Records is offering up complete MP3s of assorted releases on its site (we've sung the praises of the great Little Howlin' Wolf in the past, his most recent LP is there); one in particular features the spoken recordings of Baltimore's Blaster Al Ackerman, a spoken-word artist who has been referenced by Throbbing Gristle. Says Ehse: "This listener's prediction:  the muffled voice of Blaster Al Ackerman reading his "Pepper Young" translations with a presumed bar of soap in his mouth followed by tree frog belches will replace the sound of a passing steam locomotive as the poetic sounds of indescribable mystery and high lonesomeness. This audio icon of the 21st Century can be found on Ehse Records' LP release of Blaster Al Ackerman's "I Am Drunk".  And indeed at times he does sound drunk, but not just on booze, also on language and human absurdity. Featuring live as well as "studio" recordings, "I Am Drunk" also has two Blaster classics that raise the humdrum world of the workplace to the giddy heights of Philip K. Dick in Munchkinland - "The John Eaton Recommendations" and "The Crab".  Another prediction: copies of this album with its linguistic hijinks and squat and thrusts will be played far more times and enjoyed much more than any mothball enshrined Caedmon LP of T.S. Eliot or Robert Frost intoning.

Hubble Bubble "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" (MP3)
In our never ending search for weird punk rock, listener Phil H. in LA has put into our hands at long last a full album's worth of music from Belgium's Hubble Bubble, which featured none other than Plastic Bertand of "Ca Plane Pour Moi" fame on drums. Damn, it's good, the perfect concoction of fried DIY weirdness and structured songs. It's not quite punk, it's not quite new wave or mininal synth, but all of those elements bubble up in the mix. Some have compared them to Germany's Pack (who existed as well around this time, 1978), but that band was a bit monochromatic compared to HB. Some of this could be the Screamers mixed with Raxola, or even the Damned at times, and there's an awesome dirt-shovel on the hippies with a cover of "If You're Going To San Francisco". Here's their take on the Kinks' "I'm Not Like Everybody Else."

Baby Washington "Think About the Good Times" (MP3)
From a killer Stateside collection spanning 1963-69 that showcases Dusty Springfield's all-time fave vocalist. Baby (calling herself this after a stint as "Jeanette" though her real name was Justine) started out in 1956 with the Harlem group the Hearts but came into her own after signing to the Sue label in 1962. Her style varied from punchy soul to more tranquil jazz evocative of Dinah Washington, and her uniquely rich and earthy vocals seem a natural to inspire the likes of Dusty (who covered "Breakfast In Bed" and several other of Baby's tunes.) This track comes from her 1968 Veep LP With You In Mind, which comes its entirety on this CD I've Got a Feeling, which also includes her two Sue LPs.

Cindy & Bert "Der Hund Von Baskerville" (MP3)
I am not saying Germans are Nazis, and I am not saying Sharon Osbourne is a Nazi for her terrible treatment and public abuse of Iron Maiden on her own concert stage, but here's a German take on Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", sort of.

WFMU Heavy Airplay List

WFMU Top 30 compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner
(click on artist name or compilation title to hear a sample tune in real audio)

Various - Thai Beat A G-Go Volume 3 (Subliminal Sounds)
Marc Brierley- Autograph of Time (Castle)
Creme Soda - Tricky Zingers (Radioactive)
Cat Box Quartet - Running Uphill (Radio Khartoum)
Cause Co-Motion - EP (What's Your Rupture?)
Afrirampo - Kore Ga Mayaku Da (Tzadik)
Merry-Go-Round - Listen, Listen (Rev Ola)
Various - Nightmares at Toby's Shop (Toytown Productions)
Mike Wexler - Mike Wexler (I and Ear)
Shantel - Buccovina Club Vol. 2 (Essay)
Hannibal and the Sunrise Orchestra - Children of Fire (Universal Sound)
Scavanger Quartet - We Who Live On the Land (Acidsoxx)
Klimperei - Baboler (Acidsoxx)
Ed Askew - Ed Askew (ESP)
White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
Spacious Mind - Rotvalta (Goddamn I'm A Countryman)
King Khan & BBQ - The King Khan & BBQ Show (Goner)
Rod Lee - Vol. 5: The Official (Club Kingz/Morphius)
Excepter - Throne (Load)
Fifths of Sevens - Spry From Bicer Anise Folds (Les Disques du Soleil)
Mike Rep & the Quotas - Black Hole Rock (Old Age/No Age)
Crystal Belle Scrodd - The Inevitable Crystal Belle Scrodd (Klang Galerie)
Icky Boyfriends - A Love Obscene (Menlo Park)
Toyah - The Safari Records Singles (Safari)
Pernice Brothers - Discover a Lovelier You (Ashmont)
Differnet - Come On and Bring Back the Brjoken Sounds of Yore (Friendly
Noise)
Black Helicopter - That Specific Function (Traktor 7)
Fire - Could You Understand Me (Skyf Zol)
Various - Funky Funky Houston (Tuff City)
Encre - Flux (Clapping Music)

Download Kingface MP3s

The endlessly storied 1980's hardcore scene based around Washington DC is a topic I spent a good deal of time obsessing over during my formative years as a fan of the weirdo music. Every rotten generation has musical saving graces of one sort or another, and being a dispossessed and underachieving teenager while Government Issue, Scream, Shudder to Think, Beefeater, Soul Side, and a then-new group called Fugazi (click any band name to stream songs in Real Audio from the WFMU archives) were doing their thing is something that I still feel pretty fortunate for, given that most of my peers seemed eerily satisfied with the flaccid metal and pantywaist pop of that same era.

In 1984, I'd only been to DC once (with my parents, on vacation) but a handful of years later, I could rattle off two dozen miniscule bands, the names of the clubs they played at, what bands the members had been in previously, and all sorts of other esoteric crap that probably contributed to my nearly flunking out of school several times prior to graduation. It's a pretty typical phenomenom, actually, and I can sense a few of you shaking your heads right now with the recognition.

Always being the sort that was drawn to the outsider amongst the outsiders, one DC band that has remained a source of immense joy for me so many years later is Kingface. Although they performed alongside all the fabled bands who propelled the Dischord record label to international prominence as a premier source of underground rock music, Kingface was neither A.) a hardcore band, or B.) part of Dischord's roster of bands.

Machines Vs. Music: Mechanized Music MP3s

MP3s: 17 of them below the jump.

This month's DJ MP3 compilation comes from once and future DJ David Suisman of the Inner Ear Detour, who, in between searching for the greatest trousers in North America, made this collection for our 2002 fundraising marathon. It's called Machines Vs. Music and David described at the time this way:

Musicians - who needs 'em? Just to prove it, here's a collection of music performed exclusively or partially by automated machines, from music boxes and orchestrions to mechanical manipulations by Conlon Nancarrow, Pierre Bastien and others.

Click below for the MP3s:

Month of the Month Club: September

There was a lot of debate in our recent editorial meeting, but this month in the Month of the Month Club we feature...September! There are just a boatload of Months in September. Who needs all these extra Months? Schoolteachers, direct marketers, dj's, and anyone else who can use a cheap programming hook.

Months to Freak You Out:

• National Food Safety Education Month. Slogan: "Keep Hands Clean with Good Hygiene." 
• National Preparedness Month. They have a coalition of the willing to freak you out. Slogan: "Get a kit, make a plan, be informed, and get involved," which is about three things too many for me to do. May we suggest: "Keep Hands Clean with Good Hygiene."
• National Ovarian Cancer Month. "'Turn up the volume' on the disease that whispers." In case you were wondering what that shushing noise was down there.

Months That Suck:

• National School Success Month. You can't buy me with promotional items. Well, wfmu can, but you school people can't.
• National Head Lice Prevention Month. How can you not love a site that says "Welcome to Headlice.org."

Mystery Months:

• National 5 A Day Month. I'm trying to think of what I have 5 of a day, and I don't think it's vegetables.
• National Youth Court Month. Royal adolescents? Romantic teens?

Months To Be Aware of:

• National Sickle Cell Awareness Month
• National Skincare Awareness Month
• National Menopause Awareness Month
• National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. They have a coalition of the willing to cough. Arnold Palmer says, "There's no I in prostate cancer."

Months I Can Safely Ignore:

• National Self Improvement Month
• National Women of Achievement Month
• National Library Card Sign-Up Month, which promotes the "Smartest Card." (mp3)

Months When Somebody Could Put an Eye Out:

• National Sewing Month. "Sewing: The Alternative Yoga."
• National Baby Safety Month
• National Sports and Home Eye Safety Month
• National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month

Months That Can Fuck Themselves:

• National Courtesy Month. Make that: Months That Can Please Fuck Themselves. Thank you.

Off-Mic DJ News for September, 2005

Though I'm loathe to shatter the commonly held fantasy that all WFMU staffers (pictured right) live together in a big house, eat communal meals at a large wooden table, and are lead in song each night by Ken (front row, extreme left), who keeps time by beating a wooden spoon against an old rusty pot, the sad fact of the matter is that some of us have lives outside the immediate realm of broadcasting. This month, I am able to dish out the following details.

Music Director, Program Director, and self-described "hoagie kingpin" Brian Turner will be spreading the WFMU love like so much apple butter while DJing along with Plastic Crimewave Sound's Steve Krakow and Dublab Sound System at the giant ARTHUR Magazine festival on September 4th and 5th in Los Angeles. The show features three stages and musical performances over the two days from various luminaries of screen and stage like Sonic Youth, Yoko Ono, Merzbow, T-Model Ford, Circle, Comets On Fire, Sunn o))), Olivia Tremor Control, Earth, and many more. You can get more info on the hoo-haw by clicking here.

Closer to home, WFMU's Mr. Finewine, host of the Downtown Soulville program continues to spin
sixties and seventies soul 45s in all their infinite variety and magnificence on Wednesday nights at NYC's Botanica Bar, a glorious tradition that dates back to 1996. This is not "classic soul", but rather the obscure stuff that never made it out of Detroit, New Orleans, Norfolk, or Mobile. In other words, it's a death-defying (and drink-enabling) barrage of non-hits encompassing gritty drum-break-laden funk, sweet group soul with instantly stuck-in-your-head melodies, screaming southern deep-soul ballads, raw gospel, urban dance blues, mind-blowing overmodulated organ instrumentals, and more! You never know who may wander in, though recent sightings of Cut Chemist, Keb Darge, the Dirtbombs, and Eddie Vedder, would suggest it's worth finding out for your own bad self on any given Wednesday at Botanica, 47 East Houston St., NYC. 10 PM - closing, no cover.

Recent Faves From the New Bin

Reviews By Music/Program Director Brian Turner

BEAUTIFUL SKIN - Everything, All This, and More (GSL)
I always bemoaned the fact that bands like the Stiffs Inc.and Beautiful Skin were in NYC at the wrong time; both added a unique, artful slant to 80's aesthetic in the 1990's, but it was, unfortunately in some ways for them, a decade indie rock was riding high with the ripple effects of alternately-tuned guitars, K, Amphetamine Reptile and Sub Pop in popular corners of underground music. Of course, this doesn't detract at all from the reason these bands should have existed, they were both great and certainly had fans who "got it" regardless of what was hip for the time, it just would have been nice if some of the scene's prejudices towards particular influences didn't hamper more people hearing them. Just as Beautiful Skin busted up in 2001, Interpol hit the scene and really blew the doors open on a revisiting of certain sounds, all of a  sudden the Cure, Joy Division, and 80's Wire weren't so off the map in terms of influence again. Formed in 1997 by Nick Forte (who had previously been in punk band Rorschach and the also-predating-a-revival dance punk outfit Computer Cougar) and Brazilian ex-pat Rossano Totino, Beautiful Skin sunk their teeth into both the pop and abstract: the definite Cure/Wire vibe was there, but there were also textural explorations of vintage drum machines and synthscapes that echoed Chrome, SPK, Grauzone and Krautrock in general. When the duo added on Mitch Rackin and Charles Burst, the band locked into a new kind of power, and I have great memories of a 2000 summer show at the Cooler which I think showcased BS at their peak. This new disc digs out some recordings from the quartet period never released, adding on an early demo as a duo and the band's 7".

DANDI WIND - Bait the Traps (Bongo Beat)
And speaking of the Nylon Revival, here's a newbie appropriating some 80's synthblatt with a good sense of invention, danger, Germanic humor and definitely leaning heavily on the substance as well as style. Dandi Wind is actually one half of a duo (Szam Fidelity plays and writes the music), and I don't know about you, but the WFMU mailbox is stuffed daily with a more-than-generous share of Electrobrats making the scene with atonal synths, too much rouge, and the declaration of nothing more than "I am a robot." We know, we know, you are robots, we believe you. No really, calling your band "I Am A Robot" on top of it isn't necessary. So when someone like Dandi comes along totally tossing a bomb full of living/breathing aggro humanity (the bizarro video tacked on to this CD is basically three minutes of her convulsing, screaming and barfing all over a garbageheap in an alley and nothing more, not even music) one knows that they are in for a bit more than a round of regurgitated Siouxsie-isms. Real Audio here from Bill Zurat's show for "Todo O Dia".

MOONDOG - The German Years 1977-1999 (Roof Music)
A beautifully packaged overview of a period in Louis Hardin's grand existance that is unjustly and unfortunately glazed over (though to be fair, competes with quite a preceding saga that is nothing to sneeze at.) It would amaze me to see copies of his final studio work, 1997's Sax Pax for a Sax (Atlantic) floating around in dollar bins all over town while people would be dropping big bucks on various out jazz reissues; it was a stunning document that shouldn't have been discounted for its lateness or mainstream connections, and this collection captures a great snapshot of a still vital legend. First noticed as a blind street musician in New York in 1943, the Viking-garbed, poem-selling Moondog may have been considered an eccentric, but he was quickly taken in by New York's Carnegie musicians, making the scene with Toscanini, Stravinski, and Bernstein and learning orchestration while guest-appearing with ensembles. Alan Freed allegedly swiped Moondog's monicker to promo his rock and roll shows, Jimmy McGriff dedicated songs to him, Charlie Parker was supposedly a fan, and avant-minimalists like Philip Glass and Steve Reich profess that it was indeed Moondog that set them on course. Though he certainly relished his sphere of influence on the Out composers, Hardin was a classicist at heart, but one with high adaptability. He disappeared and reappeared in the 90's at BAM and then in Germany, even gravitating to using samplers (one 1991 show even included a Mouse on Mars member), and this 2CD set really shows Moondog's continuing open ear to adventure while carrying on tradition (with a 44 page book to boot). Hear him trot out the oinkers on the track "Pygmy Pig" played on Ken's show (Real Audio).

VARIOUS - The Answer Tapes (Heresee)
Well-described as "a sociological document of discarded human existance", here is a whole CD-R of found answering machine tapes, collected between 2000 and 2005 in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania by Michael Barker. Alternately hilarious and heartbreaking, you get the details of urinary tract infections, someone displaying some extreme bravado over his crabcake-making prowess, assorted personal threats,  pleas to have heating oil delivered that segue into profane rants, conversations from the commode, admissions to overfeeding the fishtank, discussions on Britney Spears and more. The ultimate eavesdropping document (at least since the "Cellular Hellular" cassettes and our own Audio Kitchen show). Real Audio excerpt here, more info to be had at sendhelp.org (though at time of this review the server is being changed).

VARIOUS - Can You Jack? Chicago Acid and Experimental House 1985-95 (Soul Jazz)
One of thee best Soul Jazz releases ever! And there have been some killer ones (Studio One stuff, No New York, New Thing, ESG) without doubt. But getting your brain erased by several hours of that Roland drum machine is pure pleasure indeed. This is without doubt the definitive (of many) comps trailing the history of the Chicago House scene, mainly because it ties such snug knots between the hits and flat-out experimental weirdness that flowed through several waves of artists in this scene. I love this stuff for the same reason I have dug the Baltimore Trax as of late; absurd limitations and one-trick pony items like the TR-808 required a creative mind, and the simple layers of structure on tracks like Marshall Jefferson's "Virgo" or Maurice's "This Is Acid" flick your synapses on and off like a light switch while you totally bug out on the repetition. Originally just dismissed as a cheapo variation on disco, Chicago Acid House quickly was reassessed when it took over clubs (not to mention the UK pop scene), but again, the limitations of the cheap gear and basslines that could only be varied on so much made this a limited genre. Some may get fried out easily on it, but those with a love of gurgling synth beats, and lacking in any of this stuff should just go for it. Here's some Real Audio of Tyree's "Acid Crash".

Sites for Sore Eyes

The internet gets more crowded and full of crap by the minute. But like you, we find some cosmic significance in trowling its' many crevices and gullies, in search of something more entertaining than "Rockford Files" dialog soundbytes, more stimulating than repeated google searches for "cottage cheese + ass", and perhaps even more (gasp!) creative or intelligent than the crap that wafts downstream via the local newswire. In honor of your undying committment to blowing company time and bandwidth right through the rafters above your cubicle, we are pleased to offer these diamonds in the rough.

Famous Last Words
As spoken by individuals in the moments prior to their government-ordered executions. Not surprisingly, phrases such as "I love you, Jesus" and "Kiss my ass" figure prominently.

Digital Sea Monkeys
Not recommended for eating or as dance partners.

Soviet Anti-Drinking Posters
Ahhh, those Soviets and their posters... Why, they'd put anything on a poster! Coming soon: Dental Hygiene Propaganda Posters, 1937-1939.

Horns of the Devil
And the lame celebrities who would flaunt them. I don't wanna shatter anyone's universe or anything, but it should be noted that viewing that DIO record upside down reveals the word "DEVIL", which you would know too if you'd grown up in New Jersey and slept over at Jody Hunt's house when I did.

Fly Guy
A charmingly low-tech, albeit totally pointless game where you control the actions of a pudgy businessman using your computer's arrow keys. Be aware that unlike most pudgy businessmen, this particular one (Carl, let's call him) can fly. In space.

The English Language
As expressed through a color portrait, complete with clickable zooming features and pretty Javascript dynamics. Will make you appear smarter to your co-workers, while simultaneously making you feel like a raging ding dong.

Pizza served from a machine
Lo, what the myriad talentless pizza chefs in our midst hath wrought... This might be more offensive that those alleged used girl's underwear dispensers in Tokyo, but that's probably just our Jersey pride shining through.

Learn the origins of Techno
And considerably up the BPM of your next social function.

The skeletal structures of your favorite cartoon characters
Down to the bare bones of it all with special guests Hello Kitty, Tweety Bird, Betty Boop, Eggbert, Pigpen, Blossom, and more.

Radio Free Satan
Now available, like pretty much everything else these days, in podcast form. "Heavy Metal Memories" is pretty OK, and I was as surprised as anyone to learn that I still know 70% of the lyrics to that Anthrax song.

Kyoot Widdle Stuffed Aminals
And the many, many ways in which they can be brutally killed.

Lame Toy Generator
Not so lame, actually. I'm pretty pleased with the Alien-Fu-Manchu-bikini model I just whipped up.

SWAT Team Busts Rave outside Salt Lake City
No more throbbing bass and pulsing beats for you, Mister Drug Dealer!

Antville Video Archive
Hours of distraction here, in the form of free music videos.

Begging your pardon?
Ehhh....

This month's links were collected by WFMU's Ken Freedman, Liz Berg, Kenzo, Lou Ziegler, Brian Turner, Bryce, and the editor.

Radio News You Can't Use

Bleepity Bleep
A noncommercial station in Lexington, KY recently cancelled “The Writer’s Almanac” program, because the show features a short segment by public radio’s most crass troglodyte, Garrison Keillor, who dared to utter the word “breast” and the phrase “getting high” in one episode. For some reason, WUKY received no complaints about the broadcast, but the station’s upstanding management pulled the show, anyway. This is hard evidence that the FCC’s 2004 indecency fine-o-rama has instilled so much fear in broadcasters (especially noncommercials with small budgets) that they are reaching miles beyond the actual definition of indecency to censor any content that could potentially upset the most uptight, angry, letter-writing prude in their listening area. Last I heard, we could still talk about drug use and the tastiest part of a chicken here in America... WUKY finally came to their senses after receiving an outpouring of comments from disappointed listeners.

Smackfest Smacked Down
New York station Hot 97 was ordered by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to pay $240,000 in fines for broadcasting a contest called “Smackfest,” during which entrants repeatedly slapped each other to win prizes. The contest was deemed dangerous and illegal, as it defied a state law that requires permits and the presence of trained referees/medical professionals for combative sporting events.

'She Be She' Strike Revisited (minus stoned janitor)
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is in the midst of yet another worker dispute. This time, 5500 employees were locked out after negotiations failed to resolve a dispute over the corporation's use of non-permanent contract workers. Check out Tod Maffin's CBC Unplugged blog for updated news from the picket line.

On the Air, Out of the Closet
As part of an on-air prank, Univision Radio outed a gay man on a national Spanish language radio program. The stunt involved a phone call to the victim from a man he had allegedly met in a gay bar, and as soon as the victim asked for the decoy's phone number, it was revealed that the conversation was being broadcast live on the radio. The victim, who is gay, but was not yet out to his family or coworkers, was awarded with $270,000 for economic damages and emotional distress.

Jack, Interrupted
A new study of Jack-FM fans has revealed what they like best about the new format: music genre variety, lack of talk, and hearing songs they recognize. What do Jack fans hate? Long, unbroken blocks of music.

Thumb Up... No Luck
A contest sponsored by a commercial station in Tampa, FL had 3 listeners dressed up as escaped convicts attempting to hitchhike back to the studio during the morning rush. Unfortunately, the only ride they got was in a police car. The cops intervened after several drivers called in to report that 3 people in prison uniforms and shackles were causing a traffic jam. The contestants were released, and no charges were filed against them or the station.

August Blast of Hot Air

Posts from this point down are the August, 2005 for Blast of Hot Air, WFMU's e-mail newsletter.

MP3 Download Dinner Bell For August

Tall Dwarfs "Crush" (live on WFMU 1992) (MP3)
One of the more exciting bits of live music news in New York for the summer is the return of the mighty Tall Dwarfs from New Zealand, slated to open for Olivia Tremor Control at the Bowery Ballroom August 2nd and 3rd. Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate helped herald in their country's punk scene in groups like Toy Love and the Enemy, but with the 80's advent of the Flying Nun label and it's near-flawless roster (which informed a large chunk of the American and international underground; your Pavements, GBV's Yo La Tengos and Sonic Youths have bowed quite dramatically towards the Southern Hemisphere) the duo coalesced an amazing vision into a simple TEAC 4-track recorder and created a musical output unlike any other. Somewhere between T Rex, Pierre Schaeffer, Brian Wilson, Beefheart, and the kitchen sink came inventive, experimental pop with often dark undercurrents; they made their own videos, sleeves and commanded a musical universe unlike anyone else. Live, they remained a duo, utilizing live tape loops, drum machines, omnichord and guitar, buoyed by Knox's often-hilarious stage presence (his solo shows through the years have caused many an audience member to hide in the back for fear of molestation, though he kept his hands off everyone performing at a 1997 WFMU benefit). In honor of their return to New York (for the first time together since 1992), the above MP3 is "Crush" performed in the WFMU studios on David Newgarden's show, and found on the station's They Came, They Played, They Blocked the Driveway compilation from 1993. As a bonus, Here's a little taste of the studio wizardry of the Dwarfs in its lo-fi glory, "Dare To Tread" (Real Audio) from their 1992 Fork Songs LP.

Los Shains' "El Monstruo" (MP3)
If, for some reason that certainly may be too personal to discuss, you've longed for a Spanish take on the ultra-primitive Nova's hit "The Crusher", well here's it's your lucky day. If you've never heard "The Crusher", it's simply one of the greatest songs ever featured in the whole Back From The Grave series of ultra-obscuro garage trash from the 60's, and also covered by the Cramps quite faithfully. I am not sure how faithful this version is, or if it even replicates the same lyrics; what's Spanish for "do the crusher you turkeynecks" anyway?

Christ Child "Star Whores" (MP3)
My friend Mark brought a bunch of records over recently and I wound up taping a bunch of stuff, but I screwed up the pause button on the deck so right on the middle of Arthur Brown, this mysterious, unknown-to-me-as-I-didn't-write-it-down heavy jam pops up in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, I wound up playing Arthur Brown on the air recently off said cassette, and when unexpectedly dropped in, listener Sue P. emailed me flipping out because I was playing her latest obsession, Christ Child. Who the hell are they? Neither of us didn't really knew, except this was a major label release on Arista in 1977, they were from Malibu (!), and may have been that label's hope to follow, I dunno, Patti Smith who was then being marketed as both "punk" and "new wave" (in 1977 USA, it was kind of a blur as to what was what). I dunno, though, this thing kills as it whoodles in with weirdass minimal synth that goes into a total thuggy bug-out riff that burrows itself right into your head.

Elton and Betty White (assorted MP3's)
Don't really know the story behind "Elton and Betty White" (an unmarked CDR came from a listener), and whether or not these are actually recordings of the famous Betty White. It sure sounds like her, and knowing the potty-mouthed possibilities she demonstrated in Lake Placid, who the heck knows. Here's a smattering of MP3s alternating between her vocals and Elton's: "Climaxation", "God's Basketballs", "I'm In Love With Your Behind", "Menopause", "Woman Your Smell, It Makes Me Well", and "Bitch".

The Long Blondes "Autonomy Boy" (MP3)
With all the 80's throwback going on in the world of indie pop/rock, here's a refreshing nod-of-sorts to the great Dolly Mixture and Kleenex/Lilliput from a current UK band called the Long Blondes who could teach a thing-or-two to the fashion circle popsters dipping into their own 80s well no deeper than say,  Frankie Goes To Hollywood. This is out on the excellent up-and-coming NYC label What's Your Rupture, which has been batting a solid 1000 with recent singles by Love Is All and the Cause Co-Motion, whom you will surely hear more about in the future. For now, here's "Autonomy Boy" (MP3), a great song from a new 12" EP that hits the spot just right. Thanks to What'sYour Rupture for letting us post this.

Kelly Harrell's "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (MP3)
One of the lovelier residents of WFMU's Cassette Library (we still keep 'em and play 'em from time to time) are tape collections called Victrola Favorites, put out by Seattle experimentalists and sometime WFMU guests the Climax Golden Twins. This amazing series of tapes floated around like a midway point between Yazoo's Secret Museum series and the Sun City Girls' recent Sublime Frequencies series; wedding old time jazz, pop, novelty tunes from the early 20th century with super 78s from exotic locales around the world (some of my favorite moments are taken from various comedy/theater 78s from the Far East). The Twins have posted a few MP3 here, one of my favorite being Kelly Harrell's "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" (MP3), a hillbilly gem from 1928. Kelly being a he is probably the key point in question here, and hence possibly also explains the 1927 song "My Wife Done and Left Me Again"?

Gurdjieff "No. 1, Mesoteric Series, July 22, 1949" (MP3)
Boy, there sure have been some real completist-friendly box sets over the last few years: Merzbow's 50CD's, Albert Ayler's 10CD's on unreleased material, giant Yahowa and Tomokawa boxes, etc. Basta's newly issued collection of Russian mystic G.I. Gurdjieff's complete improvisations is definitely catered to the enthusaist of long, extended drone pieces, and is beautifully packaged with 2CDs and a huge, intricately laid-out book with a disk of home movies. Add the MP3 disc that's also included, and you have nineteen, yes nineteen solid hours of material herein. It's all home-taped recordings of harmonium, a haunting instrument somewhat akin to a portable pump-organ, capable of creating long, sustained drones, and this featured outtake from 1949 (all the tracks here are recorded between 1948 and 1949) is just a sample of what one can become fully immersed in with this set.

Spaz "Spaz" (MP3)
Donna Summer/Jason Forrest solicited unsigned breakcore freaks to send him stuff for his last WFMU Marathom premium, and one MP3 from someone merely named "Spaz" made jaws drop. No info whatsoever, this is possibly the most retarded thing ever conceived by a laptop musician. We want more.

Lust Control "The Big M" (MP3)
Christian punks definitely one-upping the str8-edge band Crucial Youth's album (where they are depicted on the cover running over Gene Simmons and kids with beer with a streamroller). I don't think I need to see the cover of this record, based on the subject matter.

Juri Camisasca "Un Galantuomo" (MP3)
Creepy, eccentric folk track from an amazing 1974 Italian LP sent to me by listener Jamie in the UK. Supposedly not a big seller, but nonetheless one of the more out-there singer-songwriter efforts from Italy in any decade; reminiscent of the dark folk of Comus or even some early Tyrannosaurus Rex, with the voice definitely used in an avant-garde sense as an instrument within itself. Famed experimentalist Franco Battiato also appears on here, adding some fractured electronics over the stoned vibe.

Spazzy Answer Songs

MP3s: 28 of them below the jump, plus a handful of streaming realaudio archives.

All these periodic payola inquiries would lead you to believe that the only way to get a song played on the radio is by delivering duffel bags full of cash, cocaine and Adidas sneakers to a station's doorstep. Not so. For several decades, another time-tested method was to shamelessly hitch your tune to an already established single, a phenomenon known as the Answer Song.

In 2003, Dave the Spazz collected 28 answer songs for his WFMU marathon premium CD, which are now presented here as MP3s, with a few of the originals linked as realaudio archives.

Calling All Web Designers!

WFMU is in search of a new design for our homepage and our On the Download mp3 site. If you've got web design skills and want to throw your hat in the ring with a re-design idea, go to this page for all the details on our newly unveiled Web Design Contest. Submissions (sent as URLs, PDFs, or JPEGs of no more than 1MB) can be emailed to contest (at) wfmu dot org. Deadline is September 1st, and the prize is WFMU-In-A-Box (one copy of each DJ premium from our 2005 marathon). Ready... set...javascript!

Recent Faves From the WFMU New Bin

Reviews by Music/Program Director Brian Turner

ZIPPER / Zipper (Whizeagle)
Screw the American Idol aesthetic, Fred Cole's ragged pipes are among the world's most heavenly despite what many naysayers have to say (the same people probably hate Ron House and Jad Fair too). Cole's current trio Dead Moon continue to thunder around since the 80's, and while they got left behind in the big green Northwest Grunge cash-in, you would no doubt have seen Mark Arm, Kurt Cobain, and Eddie Vedder all worshipping at Big Fred's altar at various DM gigs. The recent Dead Moon biopic is truly inspiring, not just for the fact they are rockin' grandparents still doing it, but for their conviction to the whole DIY-ethic, building their own house, studio, guitars, and even vinyl-press while fearlessly rocking the world as only they know how. Before Dead Moon, Cole was in the Rats, and before that (but after his very Arthur Lee-inspired group the Lollipop Shoppe) came the band Zipper, circa 1975 but recently in WFMU's new bin. Needless to say, those with low tolerance for total dude rockist lyrics won't be amused (some of this stuff would make Jim Dandy do a double-take maybe), but this is righteous rock to the max, full of chunky, proto-punk riffery and blowout solos that never stray too far from a punk aesthetic despite the cock-rockery leanings. Some Real Audio linkage to: "Ballbustin' Woman" and "Scars" to get you on the Harley.

ENCRE / Flux (Clapping Music)
A few years ago Mark Hollis (who is best known from the 80's New Romantic chart-toppers Talk Talk) re-emerged with a fragile solo record that combined airy, jazz-inflected passages of live instrumentation with an undercurrent of deep, organic electronic ambience that may not have turned too many heads initially, but slowly became talked about as a turn-of-the-millenium musical landmark of sorts. It was subtle, yet in many ways groundbreaking and indeed echoes of it can be heard in recent Radiohead forays, and texture-oriented indie labels like Montreal's Constellation. I also hear it a lot in this recent disc by French artist Yann Tambour, aka Encre; what may initially seem like another installment in a long line of instro-oriented postrock releases takes on much richer definition upon repeated listens. Even though the production is sparse and instruments/samples very much breathing their own space, there's a density to what's going on that's very intriguing. Loping cellos, distant underwater drums, intimately-whispered vocals (by both Tambour and sibger Noak Katoi) all move in opposite directions yet coalesce perfectly with almost erotic-cinematic vibe. Like elements of Gainsbourg, Encre takes on some lessons learned in more experiemental, electroacoustic studio scenarios (a large chunk of which were realized in 1960's France) and brings them in a pop realm. The dynamic arrangements benefit from the element of cut-up, and multiple layers of structure, while never becoming crowded. One can listen to and appreciate Encre on many levels, which to me makes for a fascinating release. Here's "Us" (Real Audio) from Dan Bodah's Airborn Event show.

DEATH SENTENCE: PANDA! / Puppy, Kitty, or Both (Upset the Rhythm)
At first I heard some MP3's of this band and thought they were from the UK, but they are indeed a trio of SF spazzmodics (featuring one member of aggro-synthpunks Crack: WAR), whose 10" EP was mastered by the Flying Luttenbachers'  Weasel Walter but released on a UK label. Which hopefully won't make this difficult to get, because it's a dynamite slab of wax. Imagine the Magic Band stripped down to a trio with just drums, flute and clarinet (which sounds totally distorted and can be mistaken for a guitar) making a raging shitstorm of confusion, fast n' bulbous indeed. Deerhoof and Lightning Bolt seem to be somewhat compatible bands to share bills with (they have), and while there may be a ton of bands popping their corks to the neo-no wave sounds these days, DS:P! are one that I'd be psyched to see live.

ENDLESS BOOGIE / Volume One (Mound Dual)
Hell yeah! After choogling around NYC since 1997, finally two slabs of wax are birthed by the righteous Boog. One of 'em has landed here, and it's as great as you would expect from a band named after the most blowout John Lee Hooker song (with Steve Miller doing feedback destructo-guitar on it, nonetheless). I discovered Australia's great Coloured Balls through one of the fellows in this group, and the fact that whatever that band soaked itself in reigns through Endless Boogie's vibe in a big way is certainly reason enough to celebrate. Live, they make no pretensions, vogueing or fashion-conscious quotations-rock irony, just a pure love of playing rollicking, ballsy, serious stuff for the true connoisseur. . The dirty quality of the album's production is perfect, and the side-long jam "Stanton Karma" sprawls out like a Lower East Side Trad Gras Och Stenar, only to then have your asses completely kicked home by "Dirty Angel" and a locked groove that says "Jam!" over and over. Everyone else not onboard should go the hell home and curl up with their Jet records. OK, I'm going next door now to pick a fight with the construction crew putting up the condo next to FMU, the wrecking ball just missed our window here by a few feet and it's clobbering time.

BRIAN ANEURYSM / Das Element Des Menchen (Spectral Sound/Ghostly International)
Very cool and damaged slab of 12" mutant techouse from this Texas DJ born in Austria. I've been pretty obsessed with the recently-issued Soul Jazz Acid comp of underground Chicago stuff from the 80's-90's, and a lot of what makes up the grooves on this one seems like a logical continuum of what was going on there, with a big dose of Berlin darkness to boot. Totally razor-sharp hi-hat, pulsating distorto beats and vox, it's scary and evil dance music in a way that Richard Devine is doing ominous electronic soundscapes though going right to the cortex a bit more directly.

WFMU Heavy Airplay List

WFMU Top 30 compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner
(click on artist name or compilation title to hear a sample tune in real audio)

VARIOUS - Molam: Thai Country Groove (Sublime Frequencies)
TOY LOVE - Cuts (Flying Nun)
MARY LOU WILLIAMS - Mary Lou's Mass (Smithsonian)
CONFUSIONAL QUARTET - Confusional Quartet (Elica)
JAMES BLOOD ULMER - Birthright (Hyena)
BETTYE LAVETTE - Some of Her Best Songs (Anti)
FOURTET - Everything Ecstatic (Domino)
MARISSA NADLER - The Sage of Mayflower May (Eclipse)
MEADOW HOUSE - Tongue Under a Ton on Nine Volters (Alcohol)
SHUKAR COLLECTIVE - Urban Gypsy (Riverboat/WMN)
ZIPPER - Zipper (Whizeagle)
VARIOUS - History of the Hip Hop DJ Vol. 4 (HHS)
THE EVENS - The Evens (Dischord)
MARC BOLAN/T. REX - Born To Boogie Sdtk (Sanctuary)
EDDA DELL'ORSO - Dream Within a Dream (Cherry Red)
ED SHEPP - Five (Ed Shepp)
GAINSBOURG/VANNIER - Cannabis (Universal France)
THRONES - Day Late, Dollar Short (Southern Lord)
BUDDIE EMMONS - Steel Guitar Jazz (Verve)
VARIOUS - Swissotic Commune Document (Chocolate Monk)
SOUNDTRACK - Dirty Harry (Aleph)
LEE RANALDO - Music For Stage and Screen (Les Disques Du Soleil)
VARIOUS - Dub Massive Vol. 2 (Trojan)
VARIOUS - Radio Sumatra: The Indonesian FM Experience (Sublime Frequencies)
WAYNE BUTANE - Imbalanced (Flaming Canine)
OIL TASTERS - Oil Tasters (Lexicon Devil)
GNOUA BROTHERHOOD OF MARRAKESH/MASTER MUSICIANS OF JOUJOUKA - Moroccan
Trance II: Sufi (Sub Rosa)
MACROMANTICS - Hyperbolic Logic (Macromantics)
CHARLIE POOLE - You Ain't Talkin' To Me (Legacy)
DIANE CLUCK - Macy's Day Bird (Diane Cluck)

"He felt that I was speaking directly to him. He thought that all of the songs were talking to him, that I was playing them just for him."

My fellow DJs, consider this a public service message in the interest of your well-being. After Pseu Braun's recent post on "DJs gone bad," I've decided to turn my attention to the offense end of the dark court where the DJ/listener relationship lobs (wilts?) back and forth... that lithium-dulled elephant in the studio (on hold just for you at the request line): the "listener gone bad." Let's face it: to a sanity-challenged, occasionally violent, needy warp-job of a human, radio DJs (so easily obtainable with the flick of a knob) are virtually like fish in a barrel. A typical DJs face-less, booming, God-like voice is like a wet palette (or a cutting board) for any wrong person's free-floating delusions, an invisible neurosis-magnet if you will. Just Google "stalk murder DJ radio host" and you'll find a veritable shooting gallery of famously tragic cases from all over the globe. And it's a shame indeed.

However, in my research for this post, I did notice one key factor in the survive-ability of stalked DJs: the ones who made the biggest extroverted drama-queen scream-y fit over their ordeal, from the very beginning, are the ones who are still alive. So DJs, next time you get an email from a listener that seems a tad too informed of your private life, or a phone call from a song-requester that's a little "odd"... don't shrink like a wallflower! Go seizure-fit ape-shit right there and then! Point your finger and screech like Donald Sutherland at the end of the re-make of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers!" Yell "ST-ST-STA-STALKER!" dramatically into the phone or at the computer screen that holds the sinister email! Let EVERYONE see you! Point out that listener's suspicious and inappropriate attention without a moment's hesitation! Do not give that potential stalker even a micro-second to start creeping you out... you need to completely crack-out and over-spazz from second one! If you're live on the air, even better! You just go downright banana peel-smoking, speed-monkey, shout-y crackers! Interrupt the music right in studio, live on the air, and yelp in tear-gulping terror at the top of your lungs just like Adrienne Barbeau in "The Fog" "AHHHH!! STAY AWAY FROM THE FOG!! I'M BEING STALKED!! AAAGGGHHH!!" Do not give a moment's consideration to how foolish or delusional you might seem yourself... it could be the most humiliating, but smartest, thing you ever do!

Some cases in point:

Off-Mic DJ Activities

Ah yes, it's finally summer. If you're not busy at the outdoor rock show, the swimming pool, the barbecue grill, the beachfront villa or your country estate, run on out to one of these hot and sweaty rock clubs to see your favorite FMUsters in the flesh. Or at least in their Bermuda shorts and straw boater hats.

First up, we've got Dave the Spazz spinning and shakin' his moneymaker every Sunday night at Union Pool, 484 Union Street (at Meeker), in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. There's no cover, and word on the street says the photo booth in this joint is pretty rockin'.

For the Manhattanites (or those who love them), we offer Downtown Soulville's Mr. Fine Wine, who's been spinning sixties and seventies soul 45s in all their infinite variety and magnificence on Wednesday nights at Botanica since...1996! This is not "classic soul"! This is the obscure stuff that never made it out of its hometown, whether that was Detroit or New Orleans or Norfolk or Mobile: non-hits encompassing gritty drum-break-laden funk, sweet group soul with instantly stuck-in-your-head melodies, screaming southern deep-soul ballads, raw gospel, urban dance blues, mind-blowing overmodulated organ instrumentals...you get the idea. Botanica. 47 East Houston Street (between Mulberry and Mott, downstairs), Wednesday nights, 10PM until closing. No cover.

Radio News You Can't Use

PTC: Fuck, Buttsex, and S&M
After a few quiet months on the indecency front, the Parents Television Council (PTC) is back in business. The christian group responsible for 97% of indecency complaints received by the FCC has chimed in yet again: July’s targets were the Live 8 broadcast of The Who performing their classic song “Who Are You" and the Fox drama “The Inside” which airs at 9pm. S&M, buttsex, and “fuck” are put into question this time around. We’re hoping that the FCC does not take action on either of these complaints, and will shut down the PTC as it did earlier this year under Michael Powell. No decisions on indecency have been issued by the FCC since Kevin Martin was named Chair this March.

Good Parenting to Protect Kids from Indecency
Media heavy-hitters including Viacom, the RIAA, Time Warner, and the NCTA have formed a coalition called Pause Parent Play, aimed at taking parents to task on how their kids consume media. The PPP website offers a large database of advice demonstrating how parents can protect their kids from being exposed to questionable material in movies, video games, music, and on TV. Interestingly, none of the solutions offered by the PPP involve complaining to the FCC or elected officials about content. Active parental participation, now there’s a novel idea. However, we can be certain that the formation of this coalition was motivated by economics... read on.

Cable A La Carte?
Claiming that TV is “assaulting our children,” conservative lobby groups want cable companies to offer consumers the option of purchasing cable on a per-channel basis. Right-wingers insist that technology including the v-chip is not enough to protect their kids from being exposed to questionable material on TV. Cable providers have been quick to fight back, arguing that sites like PPP and TV Watch offer plenty of tips on how parents can filter TV for their kids. A la carte programming is the last thing the cable industry wants, so we can expect this issue to either heat up and/or completely disappear in the coming months. (An interesting aside: this interview with FCC chair Kevin Martin reveals that he is for a la carte cable)

America Disses Satellite Radio
80% of people surveyed by Eastlan Resources say they have no plans of subscribing to satellite radio in the near future. Another survey by New Paragon Media found that 97% of respondents listen to traditional broadcast radio, and over half of people now listen to internet radio.

Sites For Sore Eyes

The Internet is a funny creature. Sometimes it helps us find a clown. Sometimes it allows us to feel superior to outraged hamburger-eaters. Mostly, though, it just shows us unicorns copulating. Consider yourself warned.

Stuff on My Cat
Oh dear. Cats wearing plungers, cats forced to don undergarments, cats snuggling with Urkel action figures...this is just criminal. Where are PETA and the ASPCA when they're needed?

Clowns of America International
Hey, being a clown is serious business. In addition to the clown code of ethics (in which one must pledge not to get drunk prior to, or during, a performance), clowns have conventions, carry insurance, and elect ambassadors to carry the code of clowndom throughout the world. If that ain't enough to draw you to this site, may I also mention the "find-a-clown" feature?

Scopitones
What is a Scopitone, you ask? Perhaps a precursor to the music video, perhaps the most logical progression from the jukebox--however you describe it, it was created in France in the 1960s and was derided by Time magazine for being a "monstrous new machine" that "floods the premises with delirious color and hi-fi scooby-ooby-doo." Still don't get it? Maybe the best thing is just to look (and listen!): includes faves like Nancy Sinatra and Petula Clark, as well as lots of wild and free French '60s pop.

Food 911
Audio file of a crazed burger lover calling 911 to complain about poor service at her local Burger King. One hopes this is a hoax...but even Snopes isn't sure.

Brilliant Axe Guitarist Video
Brilliant? Well, you be the judge. He does have great hair, but the comments left by viewers are almost better than the video.

Bitch Spray
"Keeps unwanted boyfriends at bay." If that's true, why can't we create a version for humans? Preferably one to be sprayed directly on the dudes--oh wait, that's called "pepper spray," isn't it?

Freddie Mercury Memorial
In a magical place called the Swiss Riviera one can enjoy the beauty of Lake Geneva, attend the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival, tour nearby vineyards...and pay a visit to the Freddy Mercury memorial. For those who can't afford the trip: you can get a downloadable postcard.

The Unicorn Orgy
You know, there comes a time in the life of every Blast of Hot Air editor when the veil of innocence is lifted from one's eyes, and one becomes...sullied. Not for the kiddies. 

Paper Toys
Genius. Legions of printable cutouts that can be easily crafted into Bruce Lee paper dolls, replicas of Angkor Wat, the Sydney Opera House, or Shakespeare's Globe Theater. The all-purpose tiara, party hat and party bugle are good too.

Lucky Kazoo
A man has a deeply affecting pas de deux with a piece of heavy machinery. What would JG Ballard think?

This month's links were sent in by Rebecca Lewis, Rich Hazelton, Listener Mike, PGB, Hatch, Listener Miles, Irwin Chusid, Stefan, Brian Turner, Lou, and the editor.

Blast of Hot Air for July, 2005

Post from this point down are the July posts for Blast of Hot Air, WFMU's monthly newsletter.

MP3 Download Dinner Bell For July

As if being humiliated in an interview as sell-outs on video by Extreme Elvis wasn't enough, this prank phone call (MP3) to Gabe from costumed hardcore mutants the Locust comes courtesy of a Buddyhead compilation CD (the same disc with the Iggy Pop song where he inexplicably focuses on beating up Moby). Slipknot's "manager" offers a more-than-willing Gabe an opening slot on his client's upcoming South American stadium tour, prattling on about "mask rock" taking over.

Taken from the Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God label comp Industry Wannabes and Radio Anomalies a few years back (but heard for many many years on WFMU and elsewhere), there is little in the way of words to describe the J & H Productions guy. Except that many of you who work in the "recording industry" are familiar with messages "pertaining to" this kind of biz (MP3).

Jobriath was Elektra's big attempt to replicate Ziggy Stardust, and was a financial disaster for everyone involved. Relegated to being a footnote in rock history, only recently has attention turned to this strange and charismatic artist who fell between the cracks; Morrissey even produced a retrospective compilation for Sanctuary in the UK last year. Here's a rare live excerpt of Jobraith in front of an audience of mostly industry cronies toasting their hopeful Future of Rock, his song "Good Time" live at the Bottom Line in NYC, 1974 (MP3).

We've been enjoying a whole lot of recent South African female vocalists lately in the library, in particular Dorothy Masuka, with a great disc called Hamba Notsokolo donated by our own Doug Schulkind. Here's an MP3 of the track "My Parents", taken from another appearance of Masuka on a 1950's collection on the BB label of Hot Jazz and Dance from South Africa.

Another soul-stirring voice from another land is Gurmeet Bawa, a Punjabi vocalist with total power, emotion, and as you can here on this MP3 of "Bolia" from her 1988 album Love and Life in the Punjab, one hell of an ability to hold a note. I often think of Bawa everytime American Idol is on, wondering what it would be like to watch Simon, Randy and Paula dive under the table and render the whole contest nil, but perhaps she is somewhat of the Indian equivalent to Kelly Clarkson after all? Or so you might ascertain by reading this recent quote from a review of one of her homeland concerts: Rajni and Sandeep, third year engineering students said, “She is too good. She expressed deep feelings. Her songs were as soulful as those of Celine Dion in Titanic. She has bound us to our culture.”

Chubby Checker may have told us to do the Twist, but while we were doing that, he went to Holland, smoked a lot of pot, and recorded a single called "Stoned In the Bathroom". The flip, "My Mind" (MP3) is found on the new Toytown compilation of obscuro psych, called Nightmares At Toby's Shop, findable via Forced Exposure.

The Japanese artist known as Yann Tomita records under a lot of different names, including Pardon Kimura. Here's a track by Yann, aka Pardon, called La Strada, (MP3) not to be confused with the Fellini movie of the same name.

Another artist who makes up recording pseudonyms faster than we can keep track of them is Lassigue Bendthaus, aka LB, aka Senor Coconut, aka 386 DX. As 386 DX, he records cover versions of western and russian pop songs. Fans of Ken's new automated co-host Julio may enjoy this version of Erik Clapton's Layla.

On a recent show, our own Mike Lupica did a nice collage of Glenn Miller's In The Mood along with a hilarious segment from an unidentified Joe Frank episode. So overwhelmed was Mike with inquiries over this fine radio moment that he has excerpted it in MP3 form for your downloading pleasure: In The Mood For A Prayer (MP3).

In honor of Nike ripping off Minor Threat and then apologizing over the incident, here is a cover version of Fugazi's Waiting Room by Germany's Mambo Kurt (MP3).

Finally, in our new download offerings for the month of July, here is Go Home Productions' mashup of the Velvet Underground and Christna Agui!era: Girl Just Want to Say Goodbye to Rock and Roll (MP3). It's not new, but it sure is great.

WFMU Heavy Airplay List

WFMU Top 30 compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner
(click on artist name or compilation title to hear a sample tune in real audio)

Various - New Thing! (Soul Jazz)
Electrelane - Axes (Too Pure)
Jack Nitzsche - Hearing Is Believing (Ace)
Various - Nao Wave (Man Recordings)
Oneida - The Wedding (Jagjaguwar)
Julia R. Masterman School - Moog School (NL)
The A-Lines - You Can Touch (Sympathy)
Various - Cold Heat: Heavy Funk Rarities (Now Again)
Milk n' Cookies - Milk n' Cookies (RPM)
Various - Everything Comes and Goes: Tribute to Black Sabbath (Temporary Residence Limited)
Eyeball Skeleton - #1 (My Pal God)
Letta Mbulu - Letta Mbulu Sings/Free Soul (Stateside)
Davie Allan & the Arrows - Cycle-Delic Sounds (Sundazed)
Nurse With Wound - Shipwreck Radio Vol. 1 (ICR/United Dairies)
Debashish Bhattacharya - Calcutta Slide-Guitar (WMN)
Iva Bittova - J.H. (Indies)
Forest - Forest (Radioactive)
Luke Vibert - Lover's Acid (Planet Mu)
Alu - Autismenschen (C.I.P.)
Penetrators - Basement Anthology (Swami)
Wevie Stonder - The Horse of Wooden Troy (Skam)
Mitchell Akiyama - Small Explosions That Are Yours To Keep (Sub Rosa)
Delta Rhythm Boys - Guldkorn (Metronome)
Eric Malmberg - Den Gatfulla Manniskan (Hapna)
Kylesa - To Walk a Middle Course (Prosthetic)
Grachan Moncur III Octet - Exploration (Capri)
Somatic Responses - Pounded Mass (Hymen)
Insiememusicadiversa - Insiememusicadiversa (Die Schachtel)
Skullflower - Orange Canyon Mind (Crucial Blast)
We Are Wolves - Non-stop JE Te Plie En Deaux (TMC)

Vintage Old Codger Archives Now Online!

Old Codger radio programs from the 1990s are being archived online. The Codge (a.k.a. Courtney T. Edison), the station's longtime irascible mascot, does not know these relics are preserved on the web -- and would not approve. He scorns all archival media except 78 rpm discs, which he professes to play "like they're goin' outta style." Despite beggary and threats, the Codger (he claims he's old enough to have been pals with Mark Twain) has never been given a regular program. However, since the early 1990s he has on various occasions filled in for The Hound, Irwin, and Laura Cantrell's Radio Thrift Shop. He lives in an East Orange bunker, surrounded by his precious 78 stacks. He's a cranky mutt, who taunts listeners by sneering, "I've got shoes older than you," while sputtering contempt for WFMU management and DJs.

The Codger -- who still hosts the occasional fill -- refuses to spin compact discs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, or any format except 78 platters, which he lugs to the station in a rickety shopping cart. He abuses studio equipment, and disregards station protocol with impunity. Once asked by a female staffer what he wanted for Christmas, he replied, "My house needs a dishwasher and a doormat. Which would you prefer to be?" The libidinous Codger is notorious for on-air come-ons to female admirers, smirking that he loves "younger women -- age 45 or 50," though he draws the line at "40-year-old jailbait." Though never married, Edison has been linked romantically to hefty torcher Sophie Tucker, vaudevillian Effie Cherry, actress Ida Lupino, R&B siren Nellie Lutcher, and TV sitcom vixen Betty Rubble.

About 35 Codger programs exist. Many new ones have just been posted for online listening. By the end of the summer, we expect to have all programs online.

If you want to call the Codger at home, he always touts his private line on the air. Since 1890 he's had the same phone number -- "6."

Off-Mic DJ Activities

With summer upon us here at WFMU, many of our DJs have stumbled (slow-zombie style) from our hallowed halls and gotten themselves involved with all manner of DJ gigs, rock shows, live appearances and other extra-curricular activities in a feeble attempt to kiss up to the guidance counselor. Though there's little hope for any of us getting into college someday, a few noble attempts have been made lately...

Laura Cantrell, proprietress of the Radio Thrift Shop and solo artist en route to the stars has just released her third LP (her first for Matador Records) entitled "Humming by the Flowered Vine" to truckloads of ballyhoo. You can download an MP3 of the song "14th Street" by right-clicking here,  check out what Vanity Fair had to say about Laura in this favorable review, or marvel at the miracle that is the Interactive Laura Cantrell NYC Subway Map. That ought to be more than enough to nudge you in the direction of Battery Park this 4th of July at 3:30 PM, when Laura performs with labelmates Yo La Tengo as well as Steven Malkmus. (More info here, all the way at the bottom of the page.)

In the event that you're reading from the charming suburb of Jersey City that we like to refer to as "London" and have an open dancecard on the evening of July 22nd, you can go see Vicki Bennett, aka People Like Us, perform live at The National Film Theatre as part of the Optronica Festival. We're pleased as punch to have welcomed Vicki's wholly astounding Do or DIY back to our airwaves for the summer schedule, and we look forward to her next stateside visit with open arms and hastily made karaoke plans. (She and Pseu Braun do an utterly bitchin' "Bohemian Rhapsody"...)

WFMU's Amazing Floating LP

As much as we here at WFMU tend to reject characterizing ourselves as "nutty," "wacky," "boffo," "screwy," "batty," "balmy," "loony," "goofy," "jokey," "nutso," "waggish," "bonkers," "cuckoo," "harebrained," "zany," "daffy," "cockamamie" or otherwise anything even closely resembling a state of being "totally bananas," this can still be a pretty weird place to hang around. Case in point: WFMU's mysterious and now-legendary floating record album.

Yes, WFMU's alphabetically-arranged record library is not only home to some of the tools of our trade -- that trade being freeform radio -- it is also home to a genuinely nomadic record. A record that can not be filed alphabetically. A record that knows nothing about structure or boundaries and refuses to hemmed in by that whole limitations trip the other records and CDs are always trying to lay on it. Considered in this light, it is very much a microcosm of our mission here at WFMU. In another way, it's a corny Russian jazz record with a name I can't type out on this keyboard. What makes it truly unique, however, is that every time one of our DJs comes across it in the stacks, it is their duty to then refile it someplace else. Anyplace else.

As you can see by the detail of the jacket, this tradition dates back to 1990. No one around here will fess up to starting it, however... Even Irwin claimed not to know anything about it, and he constantly ribs me for being such a kid in comparison to his elder statesmanship at FMU. (He recently reasoned that he'd been into the band Grauzone (click to stream Real Audio) since "before [I] was born", which leads me to believe that Irwin thinks I am only 11 years old.)

But back to the matter at hand: Hokey Russian Jazz records. Here's an MP3 (right-click to download)  of the second song on side one, the title of which reads something that (in Russian) looks like "Mpncmotpn Aahr MactylIok", which according to one of those online translation programs means "Electric Pork Tuxedo". (Other songs on the record not available for download include "Aeebea" ("Asphalt"), "By Abte Aoepbl" ("Lick my Boots"), and "Xaomanhte B AaaoIihn" ("Marmalade and Heroin".)

Word on the street is that this hot combo's LP was released in a limited, hand-numbered run of only 800 copies (ours is #49). In order to secure yours, I'd suggest you soon start jockeying for position at our next Record Fair, to be held November 4th-6th in Manhattan. In the meantime, I'm heading downstairs to re-file the LP. I'm feeling drawn to somewhere between the Creedence records and the last RJD2 12"...

The Shirts On Your Back

As many of you know, WFMU thrives due to the dedication and support of many people: DJs, listeners, volunteers, the staff. But there is also a somewhat neglected group: the artists and designers who have kindly provided us with the visuals for our many geegaws and gimcracks. Listed below are the websites of many of the artists whose imagery has adorned our t-shirts. Click on their names to go to their website.

Jim Flora: Popular designer of record covers of the 1950's and influence on many current artists. He is our first posthumous designer, responsible for this popular shirt and hoodie (with a little help from our very own Dave Cunningham).

Jonathon Rosen: Responsible for the freeform-defining "Head In The Hand" shirt.

Mary Fleener: Her cubist cartoon style graces this fabulous shirt.

Eric Walczak: The fine vinyl adorning this tee was designed by Mr. Walczak.

Rodney Allen Greenblatt: Rodney gave us this shirt that proves once and for all that you can teach an old dog new tricks, or a new dog old tricks, or something like that. (Image to the right is by Rodney Allen Greenblatt.)

Gary Taxali: Gary is responsible for the pale, crying sissy rodent you see on the bodies of so many WFMU-types.

Renee French: Not only do we have a crying rodent, but also a flying rodent. Actually a floating rodent, courtesy of Ms. French in both his and her styles. (Image at top left of this post by Renee French.)

Chris Ware: The best read among our shirts by the creator of Jimmy Corrigan.

Mark Zingarelli: Mark designed the shirt for this year's marathon. I've already had someone try to speak to me in Spanish while wearing this shirt. (Image at left by Mark Zingarelli.)

Steve Keene: The most prolific painter of our age graced our heavy cotton tees with a fine painting of the entrepreneurial spirit in action.

Unfortunately, several of the artists who have designed t-shirts or sweatshirts for us do not have websites dedicated to their fine efforts. These include:

Drew Friedman: The man responsible for our beloved icon. I cannot fathom why there is not a Drew Friedman webpage.

Marco Almera: There was a www.marcoalmera.com. That's how we found out about him. Several webpages have links to it but it currently does not exist.

Here are a batch of links to WFMU T-shirts by the following artists:

Bruno Nadalin | Takeshi Tadatsu | Joe Siena | Bill Graef | Alex Ross | Burt Schlatter and Jim Coppola

And for all you longtime listeners to the station, there were indeed shirts designed by Kaz, Mark Newgarden and Joost Swarte. However, since their shirts are no longer available and their designs grace other WFMU product, we will deal with them in another post.

Recent Faves From the WFMU New Bin

Reviews by Music/Program Director Brian Turrner

ICKY BOYFRIENDS / A Love Obscene (Menlo Park)
Their first gig was in the late 80's opening for the Melvins and Thinking Fellers in their hometown of San Francisco, and they cleared the room. A guy who put out their first single had to live in his van for doing so. They starred in a film called "I'm Not Fascinating" which was about 500 times cheaper and 500 times better than the "Great Rock N' Roll Swindle". Thus is the legend of the Icky Boyfriends. Call it spazz rock, retard rock, panic rock, whatever, the Ickies were key players in SF's anti-scene scene in the 1990's and this overview of their 2LPs plus odds and ends is well overdue. Totally primitive odes to PCP, cops, hatred of Tower Records, guys who collect recycled bottles, and Nixon aides who were quoted as saying they'd rather have their toenails pulled out than rat. They have a sensitive side as well, and "Nervous Guy" (real audio from Terre T's show) speaks volumes more than your average college rock crybaby staple. We demand a Sockeye box set next.

COUNTRY TEASERS / Live Album (In the Red)
Meanwhile, in Scotland, the Country Teasers also care enough to bring you the very best, despite the fact they have as well been rejected by their scene, that is, the burgeoning rootsy-cowpunk-garage circuit that you would think might embrace them more than the indie rock world (see their 3.2 out of 10 rating in Pitchfork). Often making the Mekons look like Crucial Youth in comparison, the Teasers' main ambition is to entertain themselves while reaching deep down inside their plastered souls, and more
of than not, that is quite entertaining within itself as testified by this live disc. Between begging for drinks, responding to the audience screaming "you suck" while they disembowel Randy Newman's "Short People" (real audio). They also take on New Order, the Butthole Surfers (Real audio of "Moving To Florida"), and even Swedish brutes the Brainbombs, which makes perfect sense.

CONTEMPORARY JAZZ QUINTET / Actions 1966-67 (Atavistic/UMS)
Atavistic's Unheard Music Series continues to do wonders in tracing the geneology of American/European free jazz rarities, pulling from a rich well of out-of-print records that voiced unique indentities but may have gotten lost in the shadow of others, until now. The CJQ formed in Denmark in the late 1950's playing hard-bop until the doors blew open all over Europe with the advent of Ornette Coleman's records and all the American heavies who took up residencies on the Continent (and in particular Albert Ayler who came through Scandinavia). These 1966-67 recordings show a fiery unit in total harmony with what was going on not only in the formative FMP camp in Germany (where trumpeter Hugh Steinmetz would later wind up to record with Manfred Schoof) but with the rest of the free jazz revolution happening in the USA on labels like ESP. This reissue remains a stunning lost gem on par with much of both those labels' high point moments, and is especially fantastic due to the presence of a bonafide musical saw courtesy of Niels Harrit. Here's one track featuring Harrit prominently, "Action #VI" (real audio).

Ungodly Quantity of Rare Music and Related Hooey on eBay!

We've just added a boatload of rare records, CDs, and other items to our eBay auctions page that'll get you frothed into a materialist frenzy in no time. An autographed copy of the The Saints' "Know Your Product" single (click to stream Real Audio), a boxed set of Bruce Springsteen fanzines from the 80s, some out-of-print Chris Ware comics, rare French moog CDs, and apparently, some naughty bits that you'll need age verification to look at. You can see the full listings of WFMU's current eBay auctions by clicking here. Our auctions are updated frequently, so be sure to check back often, lest you miss that 3rd edition Incredible String Band commemorative magic marker/whistle/bottle opener you've been hankering for.

Culture Shock MP3s From Doug

MP3s: 20 of them contained in this post.

Disco from India? Doo-Wop from Malawi? Rap from Vietnam? Salsa from Scotland? With bagpipes?

They're all included here in the online version of Doug Schulkind's 2004 marathon premium, Culture Shock. Dont pass up this amazing collection of jaw-dropping, mind jarring cross-cultural music hybrids. Eighty minutes of melodious map-melters that set the world on its ears. A bonus: The music is not just goofy, it's good!

1. Salsa Celtica - Fuerte
Combining rumba with reels, son montuno with ceilidh tunes, this Scottish conflagration has the hots for Latin music. And speaking of hot, check out the scorching bagpipes - doing the violin's charanga part no less - on this track from 2000. Download MP3

2. The King Elio Boom - El Fulo
Identified as "highlife ragga" on the disc this comes from, "El Fulo" has more in common with Congolese soukous. It's a slice of funk typical of the champeta created by the African-music-crazed youth of Baranquilla and other port cities on Columbia's Caribbean coast. Download MP3

Podcasting Just Got A Whole Lot Easier

Welcome to the future. Presuming you already possess a pair of white headphones connected to some sort of digital audio playback device, please continue neglecting the need for human contact in favor of listening to hours of entertaining sounds in the safety of your own personal bubble. Easily indulge in this fantasy through the magic of podcasting.

WFMU is offering up 16 programs for portable playback, and now the new version of iTunes (v 4.9) supports podcasts. Here's a quick lesson on how to get our podcasts pumping through iTunes:

1. In iTunes, go to the Advanced menu and select Subscribe to Podcast
2. Highlight, copy and paste the http...xml links listed below for the program(s) of your choice in the resulting Subscribe to Podcast window and click OK (more help right here)
3. iTunes will now download the most recent show to your computer, and automatically download new shows each week as they are added

All WFMU podcast programs are listed below, just highlight, copy and paste the "http" address into the "Subscribe to Podcast" window of the new version of iTunes (v 4.9):

Music programs
Advanced D&D (breakcore) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/SU/SU.xml
Antique Phonograph Music Program (early recordings, 1890s-1920s) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/AP/AP.xml
Coffee 2 Go (underground hip-hop, podcast-only program) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/CG/CG.xml
Downtown Soulville (soul 45s) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/SV/SV.xml
Sinner's Crossroads (gospel, religious) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/CR/CR.xml
Thomas Edison's Attic (early cylinder recordings) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/TE/TE.xml

Talk Shows
Aerial View (archives, with Chris T.) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/AV/AV.xml
Aircheck (unusual moments in radio) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/AC/AC.xml
Communication Breakdown (with Chris T., not safe for work) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/CO/CO.xml
Dave Emory (anti-fascist researcher) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/DX/DX.xml
Jonesville Station (with Glen Jones) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/JS/JS.xml
Professor Dum Dum's Lab (metal, phone-in) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/DL/DL.xml
Seven Second Delay (with Ken Freedman and Andy Breckman) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/SD/SD.xml
The Speakeasy (with Dorian) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/SE/SE.xml

Sound Collage
Audio Kitchen (found sound) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/AK/AK.xml
Do or DIY with People Like Us (cut-ups, audio artistry) - http://podcast.wfmu.org/PL/PL.xml

Sites for Sore Eyes

From cameo TV appearances from grunge rock icons to floating Russian women to fear-mongering French people, Sites for Sore Eyes distills the web down to its most quizzical, unusual, and fascinating corners. This month, we offer the following for your consideration:

A Steel Drum Tribute to the Ramones
Ramones songs have been re-done in every style under the sun, and though I'm still holding out for chanting monks re-interpreting the entire "Road to Ruin" LP to ambient trip-hop beats, this is a reasonable diversion for the moment.

Unconfirmed Reports
Is it....? I mean, could it be? It couldn't be.... Could it?

King Buzzo of the Melvins
Caught in the stands, enjoying America's Pastime, & then ridiculed by television announcers. I still think he's got cool hair.

Make the Collector Nerds Sweat
To hell with your mortgage, car payments, or kid's future. Someone -- probably with the word "vinyl" in their email address -- is dropping a wad to take home this mind-bending stash.

Auto-Music's Automachine!
Release Stereo Total's next album before they do!

DirtDirt.com's Headacher
Don't eat the brown html, kids.

The Virtual Museum of the Boombox
In many ways, the boombox was the cultural bridge from the suburbs to the city. Re-live the magic here, while marveling over innovative (i.e. stupid) features like the boombox with a built-in synthesizer, the boombox with THREE tape decks, or the boombox with a built-in... phone jack?

Iraq War Fatalities
As "mapped across the dimensions of time and space". Note that this only charts coalition deaths, not those of the Iraqi soldiers or civilians. It's especially disquieting if you watch it with the map and city boxes unchecked.

Roger Moore's Fantabulous Eyebrows
'Nuff said.

Free-falling Russian Gymnist
The lava lamp for the 21st Century set. Or perhaps just another mildly pervy but totally addictive waste of company time and bandwidth.

Computer Programmer or Serial Killer?
It's as difficult as you'd expect to determine the difference, I'm troubled to say.

Many, many thousands of movie title screen shots
Why? I can not tell you, my friend.

Children who have been abducted by aliens
And the pictures they have subsequently drawn. Also includes information regarding thought-screen hats, which prevent FOUR (4) different breeds of aliens from reading your mind.

The Fatal Consequences of Masturbation
I dunno, I thought it made sophomore year go by a lot quicker. Feh, alarmists...

This month's links were contributed by Irwin Chusid,  Brian Turner, Evan "Funk" Davies, Lou Ziegler, Ken Freedman, Listener Pete from Boston (and NJ), Mister Science, and the editor.

Radio News You Can't Use

Public Broadcasting’s Emotional Rollercoaster
With the exceptions of murder, divorce, and the long-lost brother of an estranged ex-lover slipping into a coma, the events affecting public broadcasting over the past month have unfolded in a manner akin to the plot of a soap opera. The changing political climate in public broadcasting has been quite visible, including right-wing motivated content investigations of PBS programs suspected of promoting a left-wing agenda, as well as a suspicious and unexpected resignation of the CPB’s former President, politically-neutral Kathleen Cox, which led to the appointment of former RNC co-chair Patricia Harrison (who has no experience in broadcasting) to the post. Other recent drama in public broadcasting included the ousting of PBS mainstay and public affairs host Bill Moyers (a change driven by republican CPB Chair Kenneth Tomlinson’s content investigation), a movement in Congress to cut CPB’s budget by $100 million, which led democratic senators to call for Tomlinson’s resignation, a pathetic puppet plea, and finally a House vote against cutting the CPB’s funding. In spite of all this, cuts in funding for technical upgrades and educational programming on PBS remain in the pipeline.

U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against File Sharing Companies
Peer-to-peer file sharing software companies may now be held liable for acts of copyright infringement committed by individual users, thanks to a case brought to the U.S. Supreme Court by the MPAA and RIAA. Originally touted as a possible reversal of the 1984 Betamax decision, which allowed a Sony videocassette recorder onto the market even though it could be used to copy protected works, this most recent ruling promises not to threaten technologies that embody "substantial non-infringing uses." Before this decision, companies producing technologies that might allow someone to duplicate copyrighted material were never held responsible if someone was caught using their creation to do so; individuals who actually violated copyright laws were held responsible for their own illegal activities. Apparently Grokster and Morpheus, the peer-to-peer companies involved in the case, "actively and knowingly encouraged piracy," and this is why they will be held responsible (even though both have legitimate uses that do not involve illegal filesharing). Read more about the murky road we're headed down, then buck up, becase there is some hope for circumvention.

FCC Raids Pirate Station in VT
Unlicensed 10 W Radio Free Brattleboro was raided by the FCC on June 22; all operations have ceased as their broadcasting equipment was confiscated. RFB is now asking the FCC to return their equipment.

70th Anniversary of FM Celebration Honoring FM's Inventor, Major Edwin Howard Armstrong
The event was held at Alpine Tower in Alpine, NJ, the site of the first FM broadcast in 1935, and was broadcast on the original frequency used by Armstrong. Read about the event here, and for more on Major Armstrong, check out this article written by Chris T. from an old issue of LCD.

Fake Police Get in the Way of the Real Police
Does a week pass when a casual stroll about Manhattan doesn’t lead one to stumble across a taping of Law & Order? The FCC recently busted the TV show for using high-powered walkie talkies on-location that interfered with NYPD radio communications. Read the story here.

WFMU Yard Sale Wrap Up

WFMU's third un-annual Yard Sale was nothing short of a hoot and a vinyl huntin' dollah hollah! We cleared our pathetically overstuffed basement of thousands of dollar records, so as to make way for new donations, and we also unloaded our equipment closet of things like antique cart machines, mini-disc recorders, and a slightly water-damaged but otherwise workable Technics 1200 turntable, all for something south of five bucks apiece. If you didn't make it, you can either console yourself with the knowledge that our utterly legendary (and 200 times as big) Record & CD Fair will be back in effect on November 4th, 5th, and 6th, or you can listen (Real Audio) to the live edition of Seven Second Delay that was taped during the yard sale, during which Andy Breckman offered one minute of face time for the paltry sum of one dollar. Per minute. The wily OCDJ, who moonlights under the employ of Mr. Breckman, used his dollar wisely as you can see from this picture, in which he enjoys an uninterrupted 60 second Andy hug while Ken Freedman and Gaylord Fields look on. This was a particularly sly move on OCDJ's part -- there's no way Breckman can ever fire him now. You can check out more pix from the WFMU yard sale in this post, including one of Diane Kamikaze's amazing Egyptian Pharaoh skeleton guitar case, and another one of some dude with a mohawk buying it off her. (Thanks to Listener Max for the pic.)

June's Blast of Hot Air

Everything from this point on down is from the June, 2005 edition of Blast of Hot Air, WFMU's monthly newsletter.

MP3 Download Dinnerbell For June

Getcher clicking finger warmed up... Below you'll find more MP3s than you can shake a stick at. First, some newbies:

Ridiculous Trio - No Fun (MP3) Mike Hagedon on trombone, Rob Plesher on Tuba and Shannon Morrow on drums play the Stooges! More info and mp3s here.

Inflatable Boy Clams - Five songs from this proto art-punk female quartet from San Francisco, originally pressed onto two seven inch singles by Subterranean Records in 1981: Skeletons | Snoteleks | Marin | I'm Sorry | Boystown (MP3s)

Wayne Butane - MP3 excerpt from his new "Imbalanced" CD. Thankfully, people like Wayne Butane exist and have a lot of time to take millions of audio snippets and assemble them into brain-altering rivers of sound gush, that will often leave you chuckling in a most Beavis-and-Butthead-like manner before it all ends. Pure genius for the short-attention span potty-humor loving gnomes in the audience. Discs available at Flaming Canine's site

Chuck Jones - Loveline Questions (MP3) From Jones' Four Isolation Studies collection, a sea of strung together questions. No answers.

But there's more! Follow the link below for more new MP3s, plus a recap of all the MP3s from Beware of the Blog for the past month.

WFMU Yard Sale!

We know, we know...you missed our now-discontinued May record fair. Fear not: we'll make a triumphant return to the Metropolitan Pavilion on November 4th, 5th and 6th! Until then, we offer our semi-traditional, once-in-a-while, when-we-feel-like it, Yard Sale! That's right: oodles of dollar LPs, scores of old FMU riot gear, and maybe even Fabio's hat. In the parking lot next to 66 York Street, Jersey City. Saturday, June 18th, 10am-4pm. Rain date: Saturday, June 25th, same time, same place.

WFMU Top 30

WFMU Top 30 Compiled by Music/Program Director Brian Turner based on recent arrivals played by WFMU DJs.

VARIOUS - Yellow Pills: Prefill (Numero)
THE MASONICS - Outside Looking In (Vinyl Japan)
VENETIAN SNARES - Roszz Csillag Alatt Szuletett (Planet Mu)
CLASSICAL M - Complete Collection (Lion)
VARIOUS - Radio Phnom Penh (Sublime Frequencies)
DMBQ - Hercules Hits (Avex Trax)
THE PONYS - Celebration Castle (In the Red)
VARIOUS - Wasted (Cock Rock Disco)
LOUISE FORESTIER - Avec Enzymes (Unidisc)
YO LA TENGO - Prisoners of Love / A Smattering of Outtakes (Matador)
CHARMING HOSTESS - Punch (ReR)
VARIOUS - Sound In Color (Sound in Color)
BLACK MERDA - The Folks From Mother's Mixer (Funky Delicacies)
LITTLE HOWLIN' WOLF - Singles (Heresee)
BEARSUIT - Cat Spectacular! (Microindie)
HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS - Heels N'Wheels (Get Hip)
WAYNE JARRETT - Showcase Vol. 1 (Wackies)
VARIOUS - Mass Culture Control Bureau: Things From the Past (Ad Hoc)
MONGEZI FEZA - Free Jam (Ayler)
ALASDAIR ROBERTS - No Earthly Man (Drag City)
VARIOUS - Jump & Shout (J & S)
SHAPESHIFTER - Reticulum Flux (Schematic)
VARIOUS - Tokyo Flashback Vol. 5 (PSF)
TONY MASON-COX - Heartfelt (No Label)
VARIOUS - Next Brel (DRG)
PHAROAH OVERLORD - #3 (Riot Season)
GO HIRANO - Corridor of Daylights (PSF)
LOVE JOYS - Lovers Rock (Wackies)
MERLE TRAVIS & JOE MAPHIS - Country Music's Two Guitar Greats (Sundazed)
ALUMINUM KNOT EYE - Trunk Lunker (Trick Knee)

Recent Faves from the WFMU New Bin

This month Music and Program Director Brian Turner reviews:

Shapeshifter / Reticulum Flux (Schematic)

Dave Soldier / Da Hip Hop Rascals

Electrelane - Axes (Too Pure)

DJ Fave Five

This month the refreshingly polite Hatch, currently holding down the Saturday 2-6 AM shift, shares "five top-notch Spanish and Latin American psych reissues:"

Pau Riba -- Jo, La Donya I El Gripau (PDI, Spain, 1971) click to hear real audio of the song "Mama Nen"
Congreso -- El Congreso (Record Runner CD/Shadoks LP, Chile, 1971) click for real audio of "Maestranzas De Noche"
Ana y Jaime -- Es Largo El Camino (Amort, Colombia, late 1960s) click to hear "Cafe e Petroleo" in real audio
Jaume Sisa -- Orgia (Discmedi, Spain, 1970) listen to "Carrer" in real audio
Congregacion -- Viene... (IRT, Chile, 1972) click to hear real audio of "Arrebol"

Radio News You Can't Use

Breaking radio news:

• Speculation on possible FCC appointees
• The Third Coast International Audio Festival is coming up, including a competition for outstanding broadcasts

Other radio headlines making waves on Beware of the Blog this month:

• Clear Channel eats itself: pirate radio hijacking hoax
• Fucked: TV Reporter fired, Canadian radio station fined
• Jim Hawthorne, founding father of freeform, rediscovered
• She Be She Strike: Canadian DJ strike = Eskimo janitor radio takeover
• Vatican radio poisons the masses
• Podcast Radio: can a buzzword program a radio station?
• Jack format sweeps the nation’s commercial radio stations, popularizes the segueway faux-pas
• Unshackled!, the longest running radio theater series offering help to sinners everywhere
• Australian news reporter regurgitates mid-sentence
• Read about talk radio host, Lionel, adding much needed wit and humor to a sufferable genre

Off Mic: WFMU DJ News

Plug and Play's OCDJ offers up a live solo ambient laptop improvisation on Monday, June 6th during his regular night at the Lucky Cat (245 Grand Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn). 8PM, FREE! On Wednesday, June 8th the young lad moves to the Knitting Factory Tap Bar (74 Leonard Street, Manhattan), where he'll spin between sets. Featuring performers Printed Circuit, Bit Shifter, Dan Deacon, and The Dares. 8PM $8 cover.

Dave the Spazz (Music to Spazz By) tosses around the rock'n'roll records every Sunday night at 10PM at Union Pool (484 Union Avenue at Meeker, Williamsburg, Brooklyn). Best of all, you can experience the action for no cover!

The Radio Thrift Shop's Proprietress, Laura Cantrell, celebrates the release of her new album ("Humming By The Flowered Vine" on Matador Records) with an in-store performance at the Virgin Megastore (52 East 14th Street, Manhattan) on Tuesday, June 21. 7 PM, no cover. She'll also be performing at Maxwell's (1039 Washington Street, Hoboken) on Saturday, June 25th. 9:30 PM, $10 cover. East Coast tour dates, album ordering information, and all other Laura-related info. can be found here.

It's Chris T.'s 16th year as MC of the Mermaid Parade, a Coney Island tradition since 1983. Saturday, June 25th, at 2 PM. For the best views, Chris says, "Show up early and park your carcass near the reviewing stand, by the Cyclone roller coaster (Surf Ave & 10th Street)."

Sites for Sore Eyes

 From hemorrhoid discussions to inspirational foot pads: the "best" of the 'net, such as it is. Collected by Amy and Mike, who hope they will not be killed in workplace accidents this year.

In-Souls: Inspirational Shoe Inserts
Fascinating. Will give Material Christianity author Colleen McDannell a whole new chapter to write: Mormon garments, sidewalk shrines, Lourdes' water, and now... Biblical shoe inserts!

Secret Fun Spot!
Coffin banks, Nerf rocket launchers, Andy Gibb collectibles ("Move him to the Disco Beat! Disco dancing with the stars!"), Merlins... what more could aging hipsters ask for?!

The Clint Howard Variety Show
Savvy web-sters may have already seen this-but "Bingo, out popped the hemmie"?!! Dang.

And the Bride Wore...
It is June, after all.

Under the Orange Roof
With the news that the Manhattan Ho-Jo will be demolished, this seems appropriate.

Robot Cats
The Japanese really do think of everything!

JamminJohns
For the guitar aficionado who also likes... toilets.

Dunun
At last, a virtual drum circle. And so much more. If you can figure it all out. (Flash page).

High Speed Videos
Jello, explosions, facial expressions and so much more, all filmed at super high speed.

Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
Very cool site of black and white surrealist photographs.

This month's links were sent in by Listener Jules, Listener Matthew, Listener Annie, Listener Joe, Station Manager Ken and our beloved Lou Ziegler, who is deserting us for Ohio. Boo hoo.
  

Tampon Cases, Sun Ra and Nimoy to Benefit WFMU

Another round of auctions are up on eBay to benefit WFMU and keep us out of the clutches of the man. We periodically clean out the residue from our prize closet and put it up on eBay. You can see the WFMU auction items here. Up right now are rare LPs by Sun Ra and Leonard Nimoy, a tampon case and an out of print biography of Ed Wood.