My Best of 2008

The Aural Intensity Edition

In order from quietest to loudest...

El Guincho and Magnetic Fields get extra credit for being great "headphone" albums.

No Longer the Indian of the Group

LONDON – Jimmy Carl Black, drummer, vocalist and self-anointed "Indian of the group" of Frank Zappa's The Mothers of Invention, has died at age 70.

Black, a native of El Paso, Texas, died Saturday of cancer in Siegsdorf, Germany, according to Roddie Gilliard, a British musician who performed with him.

Born James Inkanish Jr. on Feb. 1, 1938, Black had Cheyenne Indian ancestry through both parents. He changed his name legally to Jimmy Carl Black in 1958, adapting the name of his stepfather, Carl Black.

He was playing in the Soul Giants in Los Angeles in 1964 when the group recruited Zappa.

"He joined the band and three days later he took it over," Black once said.

Zappa changed the group's name and, according to Black, boasted that "if you guys learn my music, I'll make you rich and famous."

"He took care of half of that promise, because I'm damn sure I didn't get rich," Black recalled.

He credited Zappa, who died in 1993, with introducing him to modern classical music and teaching him complex rhythms.

Black appeared on Mothers albums including "Freak Out," "Cruising with Ruben and the Jets" and "Burnt Weenie Sandwich." He played trumpet as well as drumming on the 1968 album "We're Only In It for the Money," and also introduced his catchphrase: "Hi boys and girls, I'm Jimmy Carl Black, I'm the Indian of the group."

Zappa disbanded the Mothers in 1969, and Black's career thereafter was not lucrative. A recent remix of some of Black's work was titled "Can I Borrow a Couple of Bucks Until the End of the Week?"

The band members were shocked when Zappa fired them.

"We all just got a phone call from him stating that he had decided to break up the band and your salary has ended as of last week. That is pretty cold," Black said once in an interview.

Black later appeared as Lonesome Cowboy Burt in Zappa's film "200 Motels," and in 1980 he worked on five songs from Zappa's "You Are What You Is."

"I had a really good time with Frank at that time and he really treated me great. I even got paid," Black said.

Following the breakup of the Mothers, Black formed a band named Geronimo Black after his youngest son. The band's 1972 album was not a commercial success, and Black went to work in a doughnut shop in Anthony, Texas.

In 1980, he teamed with ex-Mothers Bunk Gardner and Don Preston in The Grandmothers, a band that broke up and reformed several times over two decades.

During one musical lull, Black formed a house-painting company in Austin, Texas, with Arthur Brown. They also made an album, "Brown, Black and Blue."

Black moved to Italy in 1992, then to Germany in 1995, and has appeared as a singer with The Muffin Men, a Liverpool band that specialized in the music of Zappa and Captain Beefheart.

Black is survived by his wife, Monika, whom he married in 1995 following the death of his second wife; three sons and three daughters.

A fundraiser planned in London for Black will go ahead on Sunday, Gilliard said Wednesday.

http://www.jimmycarlblack.com

CHRISTMAS ON MARS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2008
10 PM
WODU RADIO and THE BOOT PRESENT:




A FREE screening on the Flaming Lips' feature film, "Christmas on Mars". If you've ever been a fan of the band, a film afficianado, or have been waiting as long as I have to see this movie, this will be your ONLY chance to see it in a public setting!

And did I mention it's FREE???

The Boot is located at:
123 W. 21st Street
Norfolk, VA

Come support college radio and one of the best bar/restaurants/concert venues in the area!

I Watch This Clip

...every year around this time.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=105095&title=september-11,-2001

(I wanted to embed the clip, but Blogger had some problem with the coding.)

Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

Continuing my obsession with music and/or David Byrne and/or Brian Eno, enjoy this streaming player of their new album which will be available exclusively from their website http://www.everythingthathappens.com. Go to the end to watch Byrne and Eno try their hardest to not act self-important. I won't go so far to say it's amazing and I'm totally in love with it (yes, it's true, I don't like a few tracks) but it will be interesting to see Byrne pull of some of these sounds in a live atmosphere.

Stolen Car Pt. 2

what's that floating in the water?

The Virginian-Pilot
© July 30, 2008

NORFOLK

Police hauled a stolen Chevrolet Impala out of the water at Cobb's Marina on Dunning Road this morning.

Deerhunter

This photo was awaiting me Friday AM when I opened up the Daily Break. It is also the first photo you see when you Google search "Bradford Cox". Seems like the graphic editor didn't really want to put a lot of time or effort into this job...at least he/she removed the shadow effect.

Deerhunter went on to sell out The Boot Friday night. If you missed it, you missed out. Words cannot describe what I witnessed. Looking back, I wonder if the emotions I felt are like those felt at a revivalist church. When it was all over, I thanked Bradford for the show, talked to him about having their new album leaked 4 months prior to its release date, and took a swipe at Vampire Weekend. I shook his hand, turned to leave...

...and he followed me to the back of the venue, giving me a shoulder massage until we parted ways.

Honest.

Make Your Own 4' 33"

with these simple instructions.

This Is Not A Blog Posting

...and this is not a pipe.

I Hope...I Hope...

I'll be in NYC next week seeing the Cure at Madison Square Garden. I have no idea where I'll be in relation to this, but I REALLY want to do this:

The Nouveau Nouveau Riche

First, we have rapper/producer/all-around talented bastard Rick Ross and his obviously Warhol-inspired piece "My Face on A Gold-Encrusted Chain".



Next comes R&B heartthrob/straight thug Plies, AKA "It's Yo' Boy Plies" (you have to say it like you just downed a bottle of Nyquil) with his black diamond masterpiece which I like to call "Goon/Go On". Whoever did the typeface on that thing should be shot. You can't see it, but inside the mouth of his tiny diamond replica is a mouthful of smaller diamonds to match the set he has in his mouth.



I'm sure you can find millions of other instances of things like this. I always enjoy hearing "artists" like this saying, "When you come from da hood and you ain't got nothin, and then all of a sudden you can afford everything you always wanted, you gotta jump at it." When I hear things like that, I always find a happy place, waiting for the day when the money stops coming in and the repo company who works for the label comes to collect what is now their property while the artist shouts, "Oh man, not my car! Oh, nah, not my Lambo!"

Or, in the case of Kanye West: "Aww, fam, not my (insert Swedish/Japanese/Italian/French designer) shoes, wardrobe, etc.)

Visit his blog here. But, be warned; he is actually very talented, just very full of himself. Luckily, all he asks you to do here is look at how sophisticated his tastes are.

Honest Opinions Please

Scarlett Johansson's album comes out next Tuesday (May 20th) on ATCO Records. I was lucky (?) enough to be sent a digital copy last week. For those of you who haven't heard, she really likes to sing. She also loves Tom Waits. So, last year, she and Dave Sitek (guitarist for TV On The Radio) headed down to Louisiana to record this album. Sitek brought in a few guest artists, and then David Bowie caught wind of the project and "surprised" them both by asking them to be a part of it. Read all about it here:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/50200-interview-scarlett-johansson

Now, we get to the "interactive" part. I can't very well share any audio samples from the album (Well, I could but then her label would be in their legal right to sue me.), so instead please view this video for the new single, "Falling Down". Ignore the...umm, acting, and just listen. Turn off your monitor if it helps:



Now, here is Tom's original version from his album, "Big Time". Don't worry, he's not doing the carny thing on this one: (and, no, the picture doesn't change)



I've yet to decide what I think of Scarlett's album. One reporter has already given it his nomination for Best Album of the Year (I'm not ready to go that far, though I do like the song) and compared her vocal styling to Nico. My fiance is still convinced I was listening to Sinead O'Connor. Or Cat Power. Or someone who's listened to a lot of both.

Your mission (if you choose to accept it) is to give an honest opinion of Scarlett's re-interpretation. You've got all the facts you need right here. What do you think: genuine talent? Or Jim Nabors 2.0? And, as this is a single, and therefore considered to be a selling point; if you had the $$$ to spend on this album, would you?

In All Its Glory

Front cover.




The signed back cover. See the previous post for the story behind this signature.





Pompous drugged-out Lou writings.




Thanks to Ronn Ives of Futures Antiques for shooting the photos and reminding me that celebrities don't bite. Maybe one day I'll repay the favor and post his "autographed" photo of Tom Waits.

My Handshake w/ Lou Reed

As some of you (or at least Ronn) may know, I spent the last month attempting to score an interview with Lou Reed while he was here in town to perform. A month went by with no response, so I thought I had been given the typical “I’m a big-time celebrity and serious artiste, so why would I waste my time answering your questions?” brush-off. So, I decided for the next best thing: stand outside the Norva, get his autograph, ask him a few questions.

My fiancé and I waited outside for an hour and a half watching his road crew load up the truck, the band members take their gear (and venue-supplied “road supplies”) to the van, and then I saw her: Lou Reed’s manager AKA the woman I had sent the e-mail to a month ago. I told myself (and my fiancé) that by the end of the night, I would introduce myself to her, “remind” her of my e-mail, and state my case yet again.

An hour and fifteen minutes into our wait, I approached her politely: “Excuse me, ma’am...”

“He’ll have his own Sharpies if you need one.”

“No, I have one of those. I don’t mean to impose but is your name XXX?”

“Yes.”

“I’d like to introduce myself; James Duval, WODU Radio. I e-mailed you about making an interview request and I wasn’t sure if you’d received it. But if you had, I was wondering why you may have rejected my request.”

“Well, we just started this tour a few days ago and we really hadn’t had time for press.”

“No, this would have been about a month ago. I know that’s a long time to you, but I was hoping I could refresh your memory. You see, I’ve always been interested in his music and would really enjoy the opportunity to interview him. I read the interview in the local paper…”

“Which one?”

“XXXX. I don’t mean to be rude, but it really wasn’t that good. They used two qoutes and shoved him into a small two-column article. And I understand he doesn’t like to give interviews and I respect that, but I figured I’d at least give it a try.”

And then she did something I didn’t expect; she told me to e-mail her again and she would see what she could do. She admitted that they were very busy with the tour and it could be the beginning of May before I heard back from her, but she would be glad to try.

At that point, Lou Reed and his very exuberant and energetic drummer (he either splintered or shattered a stick on almost every song. I later discovered he had a bagful next to his kit and he would often replace a stick mid-song) exited the Norva and made their way toward the single file line his manager had requested us to get into. People asked for autographs, posed for pictures (Reed would wrap his arm around the person, but never allow any part of his body to actually touch them), and even allowed for re-shoots, telling one person, “C’mon, it’s a digital camera. You can see what it looks like.”

Slowly, but surely, he made his way to me. I held my copy of Metal Machine Music up and as he began to sign it, I thanked him for the show, and completely surprised myself: I shook his hand and asked a question without a nervous shake or stutter. His handshake was very light and lasted only a brief second. My question was: “Was Metal Machine Music in any way influenced by the 20^th century Modern music composers, like John Cage or Penderecki?”

His response was brief and spoken in a very low, hushed voice (think a more gruff Andy Warhol): “Sure, of course.”

And with that, he went on to the next person.

My Adventures as a Hype Man

Yes, is true. During the WODU talent show (last Thursday, April 3, 2008) I served as Whitest Hype Man Alive for the worst rapper on campus: Bryant Rogers AKA Governor AKA Jersey AKA Whatever He Wants To Be Called This Week.

Apparently, my performance was recorded. It's too long of a story to go into, so hopefully video will follow.

I Still Contend...

...that this is the greatest record of all time.



Original Rolling Stone Review
(Note: When Led Zeppelin first released their albums, RS panned them too)

20-odd Years Later

Enduring Metal Machine Video



Lou Reed Himself Explains MMM


If Lou Made Music Videos, Would It Look Like This?


Lou's Original Liner Notes

Lester Bangs Agrees!!!

That's all for now. Further recommendations include:

Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima - Krzysztof Penderecki

Ancient Voices of Children - George Crumb

John Cage - 4' 33" - MMM's polar opposite (or is it?)

How Did I Miss This???

Great, now I have to go listen my Led Zeppelin records ALL OVER AGAIN...



T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor
I met a girl so fair
But Gollum and the evil one crept up
And slipped away with her, her, her, yea
-"Ramble On"

The ringwraiths ride in black, ride on.
AND
The magic runes are writ in gold
-"Battle of Evermore"

Overheard @ WODU

"This guy's gots to be a singer...he's got his hand on the wall! Ain't no rapper does that."

*SIGH*

HOLY CRAP!!!!

This guy is coming to The Norva on April 25th.

The LyricWiki Quiz

It's kinda like "Name That Tune", but without the music. Use LyricWiki.com to identify the song these lyrics belong to.

1. You get the gray skies outta my way,
You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day.

2. They put up my picture with silence
'cause my identity by itself causes violence

3. It seems my life is through
and I'm so doggone blue

4. I blew up your body
But you blew my mind

5. I was born a unicorn

6. We're sorry to inform you
Tony Orlando has been postponed

7. Skeedle-a-booka-diki biki skeedly beeka gookity woop!

8. The bulgin' eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burnin' flesh

9. Die Fahrbahn ist ein graues Band
Weisse Streifen, gruener Rand

10. All the leaves are off of the oak and
All the sheep have followed the spoken
Word I'm coming, Constantinople
Here I come

11. watch out, touch monkeys
all that blood
they're gonna swallow you whole

12. Did you feel like Jesus?
Did you realize that you were
A champion in their eyes?

13. Be a loyal plastic robot
For a world that doesn't care

14. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeahyeahyeahyeah!
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeahyeahyeahyeah!

15. One two three four five six

(I tried to provide a link to LyricWiki but I'm still learning all these fancey-schmancey blog tools. All I saw in the place of its code after my original post was a huge blank space. So, in lieu of that space, enjoy these words and the artwork for one of my favorite records this year. No, no; at the top of the page.)

And Now For Something Completely Different

I'll be posting a Lyric-Wiki quiz later today or tomorrow. In the meantime, if you haven't registered to vote yet, here's a quick and easy way to do so. I'm not gonna get all preachy and tell you who to vote for, why you should, etc etc. If you want that, I can recommend some really slanted films to do that for you. Rather, I'll provide you with this fancey-schmancey widget to make it that much easier.







There's also this really neat-o registration count, which shows you how many people have registered to vote from your site. If it wants to work, it should go right here:



If anyone wants the code to embed this in their site as well, just ask.

When I was growing up in Georgia, Van Halen's "1984" used to spin constantly on my first record player. (Actually, I'm sure that was its' name: the Fisher-Price My First Record Player.)

I was at least 5 or 6 years old when 1984 found its way into our house. My parents wouldn't let me listen to my brother's other record: Twisted Sister's Stay Hungry. So, it was either VH or The Chipmunks Greatest Hits (this was during their 80's revival, so they sang songs like Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" instead of "Witch Doctor"). I chose both, but oddly, it was the Chipmunks that stayed in my record collection the longest. Still, I had some good times listening to 1984.

Like the time my older brother and I argued over the words to the title track. At that time, I was only interested in two cuts off the album: "Panama" and "Jump". The argument was pure older/younger brother material. I argued that my words WERE the words to the song. He argued that it didn't have any words. He was right; still, I thought my words were a pretty good fit. (Don't ask me to remember them all; though I do remember shouting "Nineteen-EIGHTYFOUR!" a lot.)

Later, I would discover "Hot For Teacher". Around this time, I also found out how to change the speed on a record from 33 to 45 and vice versa. I still can't figure out why listening to that opening guitar solo on 45 RPM was so hilarious, but to me it was.

When I was 9 years old, going on 10, we moved to our first house in Norfolk. My Fisher-Price record player was still working. My brother was moving on from Van Halen to hardcore punk, Metallica, and the Dead Kennedys. I was still listening to 1984 and the Chipmunks. My younger brother, David, and I shared a room and a two-tiered bunkbed. Around this time, we had also gotten cable. MTV was still airing videos and so I got my first glimpse of DLR in action. Oh, sure - I had the photo grabs on the Panama single of him flying tethered through the air in his spandex pants, giant sunglasses, and ghettoblaster, but nothing could prepare me for seeing the man in motion. Of course now that I'm older, I know where he got all that extra energy from (rhymes with "propane"). Still, it didn't stop me from climbing atop my bunkbed and launching myself to the floor with every "Might as well jump"...

Years went by. I found They Might Be Giants, then Nirvana, and with my teenage years came the rejection of all that dorky, younger James found enjoyable. That also included Van Halen.

And now, here in 2008 I find myself stealing..err...downloading...err "previewing" Van Halen's 1984 so that I can have it in my collection again.

Boolzie-boolzie-bop!

And Then This Happened...

Is it just me or do those wine bottles coming out of the chocolates make it look like some sort of misshapen snail?

Shameless Plug

Oh, you weren't aware that ODU has a radio station? Don't feel bad; it seems like this comes as a surprise to most of our students. I host a show every Friday 3 to 7 PM. (See, I told you this was a shameless plug!) To get an idea of what you've been missing, here's the setlist from last week's show:

OFF THE RECORD 02-01-08

Vampire Weekend - A-Punk
Sons & Daughters - Gilt Complex
Beck - Minus
Brunettes - Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth
AM Syndicate - My Friend The Sleepwalker AKA The Cowbell Song
Faunts - meno mony falls
Saviours - Into Abaddon
Black Mountain - Stormy High
Ungdomskulen - Ordinary Son
Hot Chip - Out at the Pictures
Kenna - Loose Wires / Blink Radio (w/ Malcolm Gladwell)
Isotope - Crunch Cake
Meat Puppets - Ice
Electric Wizard - Raptus
Rafter - Cuddling Raccoons

4:20 Long Song Set - 1 VERY long song, played as close to 4:20 as possible
Glenn Branca - Symphony No. 8, 2nd Mvmt

(Fire Drill) - No, a REAL fire drill like in elementary school days, courtesy of ODU

They Might Be Giants - Havalina
Joy Zipper - Wave of Mutilation
Fashion Victims - Hey (Double Dragon Redux)
Daft Punk - Human After All/Rock N Roll
Ghostland Observatory - Dancing On My Grave (Let There Be Vinyl Mix)
Tilt - Arkade Funk
Mark Lanegan - Man In The Long Black Coat
The Hold Steady - Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?
Sonic Youth - I'm Not There
Shortstack - Pretty Saro
Beck - Devil Got My Woman
Cat Power - I Lost Someone

Super-Egotistical Set Piece
James White & The Blacks - Contort Yourself (August Darnell Remix)
James Chadwick - The Wooden Floor
James Figurine - 55566688833 (The Field Remix)
Thurston Moore - Honest James
The Whitsundays - Sorry James
M.I.A. - Jimmy

The Velvet Underground - I'm Sticking With You
Kimya Dawson - Tire Swing
" " - Tree Hugger
Magnetic Fields - California Girls
Lightspeed Champion - Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk
Jens Lekman - Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig
Daedelus - Fairweather Friend
Beck - American Wasteland
Bonde Do Role - Office Boy (CSS Remix)
Gnarls Barkley - Run (I checked; this was a WODU & possible WORLD premiere - See, it pays to listen to college radio sometimes)
Lou Donaldson - Who's Makin' Love (To Your Old Lady?)


End of shameless plug.


Listen:
http://www.woduradio.com/listen.html (Requires a decent copy of Windows Media Player or plug URL into iTunes.)

My First Blog In Ages

This is old. I hope Viacom doesn't sue me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpcvR1tIBfQ

I'm not a big fan of MySpace, either (long story); but I like the song.