Mini-Thrifty Music, Vol. 3: I Summon Mockcarr!

 Posted by
Oct 292007
 

Greetings, fellow seekers of the rare, the unusual and the dirt-cheap!

Today, I offer another small collection of themed music, acquired during my recent travels through the milk crates and dusty old boxes of our nation’s thrift stores and flea markets. This edition focuses on a kind of rock and roll that I posit has completely vanished from our rockular landscape: the novelty tune. To be specific, I don’t mean things like “The Monster Mash.” I mean the weird novelty sub-genre that featured groups of semi-talented teenagers bashing away on a groovy riff for a few bars, then suddenly stopping to utter some kind of mysterious word or two. Where have all these kinds of songs gone?

The Revels — Thorogood’s got nothin’ on these boys when it comes to the novelty drinkin’ song!

When Mockcarr and I were in college, I had a Pebbles comp that featured a strange little song of this ilk, entitled “Roo-Buh-Doo-Buh-Doo,” which we enjoyed laughing at and “singing” whenever the mood struck. Well, fast-forward (cough) years later, and I still find this kind of silliness quite amusing — which is why I was happily surprised by a single I scored at the local flea market by a band called the Revels. I slapped the A-side down and was pleased to discover the following tune, “Vesuvius”.

Then, I flipped the beast over and was *thrilled* to find this next song, “Church Key”. I don’t mind telling you I actually bust out laughing.

Celery Stalks! Corn! Artichoke hearts! The Kingsmen!

Today, for the first time in a few weeks, I hit the Goodwill near my pad, and found another amusing number, by The Kingsmen of “Louie, Louie” fame, entitled “The Jolly Green Giant”. What I want you to pay particularly close attention to are the backup vocals — the next best/weirdest thing to a Captain Beefheart record!

I look forward to your comments.

HVB

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Orson Rocks the House

 Posted by
Oct 282007
 

Gotta abuse my posting privileges to put the following up, for no reason other than the fact that I was reminded of it by an NPR Halloween re-broadcast of Welles’ 1938 Mercury Theatre broadcast of “War Of the Worlds”:

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Beard of Lightning: My Story, by Chris Slusarenko

 Posted by
Oct 272007
 

You may recall our very cool interview with Phantom Tollbooth’s Gerard Smith on the making of Beard of Lightning, the highly unusual post-hoc collaboration between a defunct underground band and Guided By Voices mastermind Robert Pollard. At the time, we reached out to some other figures in the making of this album, and now, a few months later, Townsman Kpdexter has uncovered the following tale, as told by Off Records head Chris Slusarenko, buried in his Inbox. A mere months after Chris took the time to provide his take on this fantastic voyage, Rock Town Hall presents this exclusive! Take it away, Chris!

Chris under the guidance of voices

In the mid-80s the late great Homestead Records label (home of Death Of Samantha, Great Plains, Sebadoh) put out one of the greatest 7″s of all time–“Valley of the Gwangi”, by Phantom Tollbooth. Hard to find at the time and with a strange black and white drawing for a cover it blew my mind but probably not many others. The music sounded like three gentlemen fighting musically between each other, jumping from prog to rock to jazz, and then emotionally twisting you back to a hook you didn’t know was there at all. I was in music geek heaven (or in college rock heaven as it used to be called). Two more albums followed as well as an ep after the fact. Then like most bands they broke up.

In the mid-90s I meet Robert Pollard for my first time after a Guided By Voices show. Doug Gillard and Ron House were also backstage and we started talking about Homestead, since they both used to be on that label. I mentioned Phantom Tollbooth and Bob starts singing “Nobody knows what we’re saying” from Phantom Tollbooth’s last album Power Toy. I tell him they are one of my favorite bands and then the night progresses into a mess of us singing bits of their songs back and forth. At one point he mutters, “I wish I had sang for Phantom Tollbooth. We would have ruled the world.”

In the early-00s I put together a compliation that both Phantom Tollbooth guitar player Dave Rick (also of Bongwater) and Bob Pollard performed on. Dave does a song about “Dr. Mom” with Ann Magnuson. Bob and GBV do two suites about the “Strident Wet Nurse”. I’m in heaven. I start self-releasing records on my label, Off Records. I set it up so that it’s only for bands and projects that don’t really exist–or more simply, just albums I want to hear badly. Tollbooth is a comin’. Bob decides that the album should be him writing new lyrics and vocal melodies for Power Toy plus the song “Valley of the Gwangi” from the first 45. The new album title was one that Bob had been kicking around for a while–Beard Of Lightning.
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Minute-by-Minute Review: I’m Not There

 Posted by
Oct 262007
 

Updated!


You all know more about this I’m Not There pseudo-bio-flick that Todd Haynes, I believe, has had in the works for a number of years. Buskirk knows everything there is to know about this film, I’d bet. I’ve been looking forward to it. I love Dylan, I love many of Haynes’ films, and I like the concept of having various actors play Dylan at various points in his life: Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Tom Arnold, Charles Grodin…

So Phawker drops this soundtrack album on us, and what’s a poor boy to do but blow off an evening with a Minute-by-Minute Review? Why don’t you turn on your love light and listen along with my thoughts as commentary? I’m not there, but if you’re lucky it may seem like I am.

Disc 1

1. “All Along the Watchtower” – Million Dollar Bashers, Eddie Vedder: What’s this, a Ricky Martin song? Oh, here’s Vedder, adding his one-dimensional, well-intentioned yarl to something that sounds as canned as a recent Santana album. Where’s Rob Thomas when you need him to throw down vocals on a backing track like this? Jeez, listen to the hand-cupping-the-ear harmony on the “two riders were approaching…” line, which he then has the bad taste to repeat a few more times with that cheesy harmony. All the while, pointless guitar solos howl, trying in vain to stand out from the mess of horns, Hammond organ, and lord knows what other muck.

2. “I’m Not There” – Sonic Youth: Is it integrity or mediocrity that keeps Sonic Youth sounding like a 1000-run pressing indie rock band on a self-financed label whenever they try to sing a simple song? This might as well be Galaxie 500’s first indie release, or a debut release by any of 50,000 bands that have followed in their wake. And I mean this as a relative compliment.

3. “Goin’ to Acapulco” – Calexico, Jim James: Yeah, the Jimmy Webb arrangement model…so cool, so hip, and so affordable when picking through used record bins. Good background music, but not too inspiring for writing these Minute-by-Minute reviews. Let’s break it up, boys…

4. “Tombstone Blues” – Richie Havens: Eh… All I can think about his how Havens wraps his thumb around the neck.

5. “Ballad of a Thin Man” – Stephen Malkmus, Million Dollar Bashers: Low expectations here. Unless I can let it wash over me, I usually find the original hard to listen to with all my attention. Malkmus can’t get away from the Dylan arrangement and phrasing, and although I like Malkmus, he’s no Dylan. Sorry, folks, I’ve got to hit Skip.

6. “Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again” – Cat Power: What’s this, one of those tolerable Natalie Merchant tracks? How many negroes were called into service to make this recording more authentic? What’s the setting for that stock Steve Cropper Tasty Guitar Lick again? Actually, this went from being “enjoyable for a Cat Power recording” to unbearably overblown with the addition of the 7th or 8th layer of stock textures: Memphis horns, Steve Cropper-style guitar, two sets of organ fills, three sets of backing vocal parts… Natalie Merchant showed more restraint. The Blues Brothers showed more restraint.

7. “Pressing On” – John Doe: I’m afraid of what’s coming as I listen to this Jackson Browne-style piano intro. I see…Doe sings well and with passion, and the gospel backing singers give it all they’ve got. As the song builds, however, Doe starts to reach the threshold of Layered Authenticity Gimmicks, don’t you think? I’ll have to give that exact point at which one too many tasty guitar licks or Hammond organ fills is too much, but although I got all I could get out of this song a couple of minutes ago, I’ll press on. OK, finally over.

8. “Fourth Time Around” – Yo La Tengo: These guys, in their mellow Fakebook mode, are masters of the art of staying out of the way of a great song. So with a feint voice and a simple arrangement, they make this song work like a charm. I’m going to shut up and simply get into the music for the next couple of minutes…

9. “Dark Eyes” – Calexico, Iron & Wine: Well, this is a nice change of pace. I sense it’s going to go on much longer than I’d like. Calixico is like The Band of the Urban Outfitters set, no? Let’s move along, boys…

10. “Highway 61 Revisited” – Million Dollar Bashers, Karen O: What is this, Halloween? Why so closely ape the original arrangement and then throw in an occasional “Monster Mash” voice? She and these Million Dollar Bashers, whoever the hell they are, perform this track with all the enthusiasm of a sweet publishing deal and a freshly bought Fake Book. This really sucks. How the mighty have fallen that Dylan once felt the need to shame Donovan on film and now he’s signing off on a crap cover like this?

11. “One More Cup of Coffee” – Calexico, Roger McGuinn: McGuinn’s always struck me as perhaps the first person in rock who needed a wedgie, and this performance confirms that the wedgie is still long overdue. He became religious, or got back to his Christianity, at some point, right? Was that the day he realized he’d achieved what he achieved in The Byrds thanks to not only the grace of God but the stronger supporting voices of his original bandmates? This reminds me, I was in a record store tonight and I was shocked to see a Best of Leo Sayer CD. “Who would have thought that Leo Sayer warrented transfer to CD” I thought to myself, “and who would buy this CD?” I have similar thoughts about those who would purchase a solo Roger McGuinn recording.

12. “Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” – Mason Jennings: This is fine and performed with taste and a feel for the song. It’s a relief not to hear a track here without the addition of Al Kooper-style noodling, muddy horns, and backing vocals.

13. “Billy 1” – Los Lobos: These guys are real pros in the best sense of the word. This has a great, easy feel, like a well-worn catcher’s mitt, like something Doug Sahm would have done, like something Dylan himself would dig.
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Supagroup Triple Play!

 Posted by
Oct 262007
 


Let the crusade continue! Townsman Hrrundi has supplied us with three audio tracks by what he feels is the most stupendously awesome, rockin’ combo of the new millenium, Supagroup! You have got to hear these tracks! If you’re like me and you felt cheesed out by that video that our Minister of Mach Schau, HBV, posted yesterday, you’ve got to listen without prejudice, without seeing a bunch of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed guys hopping around and slashing their axes like they were playing tennis rackets in front of the mirrors in their childhood bedrooms. I thought I was watching a scene from The Naked Brothers Band, a Nick kids’ show that my boys rightfully scoff at before flipping the channel. So…without further fanfare…strap it on, click on the following song titles, and let the crusade continue!

Supagroup, “Lonely at the Bottom”

Supagroup, “Born in Exile”

Supagroup, “Sold Me Down the River”

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Fire for Hire: Supagroup’s Ongoing Crusade to Kick the World’s Ass

 Posted by
Oct 252007
 

Supagroup: a gentle, sensitive quartet of American troubadors

Cheap Trick with bigger balls. Aerosmith without any Tyler-ian pretension or bullshit power balladry. Motley Crue, if they weren’t completely retarded and didn’t suck. And, yes, a whole lot of vintage 1976 AC/DC, played with the same kind of the-world-could-end-any-second-now urgency. You can probably understand why I love this Supagroup band so much.

About a month ago, Supagroup dropped their latest white phosphorus fire-bomb of an album, this time called “Fire for Hire,” and I snatched it up as quickly as I could, remembering just how fucking *hot* their last el-pee, “Rules,” had been. “Fire…” is a wee bit patchier, but still packs a brass-knucks punch that puts most other bands to shame. The el-pee’s opening salvo alone is worth more than the price of admission. Seriously, at the risk of sounding like a complete fan-boy doofus, it’s been a *very* long time since I bought an album that comes charging out of the gates like this one does. The song behind the video I’ve posted above is track one. From this point to track… uh… six, this album is fucking unstoppable, skull-crushing, brilliant. I meant to post the three tracks that follow “What’s Your Problem Now?” to prove my point, but RTH seems to be acting up again, and you should just buy the album anyway.

So that’s the good news. This is real fist-pumping, head-banging, rump-shaking American rock and fucking roll, played with a seemingly near-desperate honesty and earnestness. Jolly good! The bad news is *not* that the riffs and general boogie-rock party vibe are completely derivative. (Who cares, and what isn’t?) It’s not even that many of the lyrics — when they’re not about getting fucked up and fighting for the glory of Rock — are about screwing underage chicks and getting your knob polished before they throw your sorry ass in jail. No, the bad news is that I’m 43 years old, and I love this stuff anyway.

Understand that I don’t love it for the same post-ironic reasons that many rock critic types seem to. See, I just don’t think Supagroup is kidding. I really think they *believe* — or that they *want* to believe — when they write things like:

So get yourself some drumsticks
Buy an old guitar
It’s time to take up arms, my friend,
It’s a rockolutionary war

This is a flag under which I’m prepared to march. Rock and roll is *real*, my friends. Like the rest of you, I hope, I’ve been to the rock mountaintop, and I’ve seen how small and simple the world looks from up there. The air may be thin, but it’s one of the few places where it’s crystal-clear. It’s a high — and why shouldn’t Supagroup, and Hrrundi V. Bakshi, and the rest of you, want to live there? For Supagroup, rock and roll might be a crackpipe, but, hey, it won’t rot your teeth or shrivel your balls. Pass me the torch!

So, yes, I’m turning a blind eye to the stupider, rock-as-giant-hard-on aspects of the Supagroup message — and I’m not dwelling on the fact that there’s one dick-wilting track on this new album that’s just a floppy leather hat and a holstered 12-string acoustic away from sounding like Bon Jovi. The album basically kicks major ass, and this is is one of those cases where suspension of rock cynicism is fully warranted. Long live Supagroup, and (almost) everything they stand for.

HVB

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