“The whole point of viewing something critically is the shock of recognition that comes from the intersubjectity of two unique sensibilities — the critic’s (or, ideally, every reader’s) and the artist’s. If the reader is merely a supplicant before the art, he’s doing neither himself nor the artist any favors. If he respects the artist and himself, the reader (the critic!) brings his own worldview, his own philosophical orientation to bear on the art and, in the event, perfection and idolatry ought rightly to be looked on with some suspicion. Heretical as this sounds, appreciation could be made even more pungent and challenging when there’s some friction between the reader’s perceptions and the artist’s expression.”

 - Gary Groth, “A Bill of Goods (or ‘Why The Death of Criticism Couldn’t Have Come At a Worse Time’)”

“Lots of first-rate literary criticism has been written by people who are monolingual, or who read lots of novels but almost no poems, or who have no political concerns, or who are philosophically illiterate, or who have little sense of what happened in history. Good criticism is a matter of bouncing some of the books you have read off the rest of the books you have read. The greater number of books you have read, and the more various they are, the likelier it is that the criticism you write will be of interest. But there is no natural order of priority, nor is there any set of methodological precepts, that should guide your decisions about which books to read first. All you can do is follow your nose.”

 - Richard Rorty, “Looking Back at Literary Theory”

The long awaited collaboration between Dirty Projectors and Björk - a conceptual suite of six (seven?) original songs first performed at the Housing Works Bookstore in NY last May - has finally been released. It’s available as a download in exchange for a donation (as low as $7, as much as $100) to the National Geographic Society’s Oceans Initiative, a campaign to establish international marine protected areas (watch this TED video).

Dave describes the concept behind the album in a letter:

“Amber from Dirty Projectors was walking along a ridge on Mount Wittenberg, north of San Francisco. She was looking out at the ocean and saw a little family of whales, as you sometimes do in April on the Northern California coast. I wrote some songs about it and sent them to Björk, who agreed to sing the part of the mom whale. The songs became Mount Wittenberg Orca. Amber and Angel and Haley sang the part of the kid whales, and I sang the part of Amber.”

Listening to the songs with that in mind makes the whole thing overwhelming ADORABLE. I keep imagining the girls’ vocal parts in “On and Ever Onward” being little baby whale yelps and it’s so painfully cute I can’t even fucking take it! It also turns Björk’s lyrics on “Sharing Orb”: “come into my home / murder my family and leave me alone” from a moment into a one. A few of these songs can’t help but remind me of Ponyo - Longstreth’s lyrics often having the same wonderful combination of childlike awe and bittersweet poignancy.

This interview about the songs and the Housing Works performance is worth reading.

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To the Breathing World is a drum and voice record. THAT’S. IT. No guitar. No bass guitar. No keyboard. No electronics. No saxophone. No string section. Just the sound of wooden stick hitting plastic skin and air escaping human lungs. There’s not even any effects applied. Just a little bit of multi-tracking and some smart panning (he recommends listening on headphones). He also occasionally does that thing Dirty Projectors do where they’ll cut something so it stops really unnaturally abruptly.

As might be expected, even with the (occasionally dense) multi-tracking, this is a rather sparse and minimalistic record - jarringly so on first listen. It takes a little getting used to the absence of other sounds, but once you acclimate yourself to that initial shock, you begin to hear Morgan’s beautiful melodies and complex, engaging rhythms. I’m finding describing the music itself difficult. There seems to be so little to compare it to; but I’ll offer Extra Life, Nat Baldwin, Final Fantasy/Owen Pallet, Storm & Stress, and maybe Necking? Though none of those really come anywhere close to hitting the mark. His voice has a sweetness to it that none of those bands really possess (though Nat Baldwin’s voice probably comes the closest).

If the concept of a drum and voice record at all appeals to you, I’d say just give it a chance. It’s definitely the kind of thing that grows on you.

Listen to “Salamanders”
Listen to “Love Me World”
Myspace
Buy It

I think this is only the second time ever I’ve mentioned my band on this blog. Regardless, we’re going on tour tomorrow! And to commemorate the occasion, we’ve put together a little CD - 7 tracks, 22 minutes, covering material created between when our band first formed in Fall 2006 and now. It’s our very first release, and I’m very happy with it, and wanted to share it with you all.

DOWNLOAD IT

And if you’re going to be near any of the following locations on the following dates, come see us perform and you can buy a physical copy yourself!:
5/30 - The Submarine, Washington D.C.
6/1 - Pet Cemetary, Baltimore, MD
6/2 - The Hideaway, Johnson City, TN
6/4 - The Killing Floor, Hickory, NC
6/5 - Shea Stadium, Brooklyn, NY

Also, we’re planning on recording as soon as we get back, so expect to see news of other releases shortly.

Not sure if this is old news and I just missed the boat on it, but I just found out about this guy Tonetta777. Apparently he was a brief internet sensation in 2008 before YouTube suspended his account and took down all his videos (many have since been re-upped by his fans). That’s a shame. He’s incredible! A highly talented, highly prolific, highly WEIRD middle-aged gay songwriter who accompanies his lo-fi jams with videos of himself three-quarters naked, sweaty, dancing, and lip-synching. Sometimes he’s bizarrely costumed, sometimes he surrounds the videos in day-glo diamond borders and applies odd digital effects, sometimes he merely films himself in his unadorned, poorly lit living room. The music is diverse and well written, and the lyrical topics range from slightly sleazy homoerotic love songs to enthusiastic odes to scat. I’m not joking. Check out the lyrics to “G & B Showers”:
I love what’s yellow, warm and runny
I love what’s dark and thick and chunky
I love what pours into my mouth
so that’s what life is all about
yeah that’s what life is all about
let me be your drain tonight

Few of the other songs (or videos) match that level of insanity, but after listening for a while, it’s not the ridiculousness of the lyrics that sticks with you. These actually are catchy, well written pop tunes, resting comfortably somewhere between Serge Gainsbourg and Ariel Pink (but with a higher signal to noise ratio than the latter). Really though there’s no point describing it, you just have to listen (and watch for yourself)…

No clue where this came from (I found it on a message board), but if you’ve enjoyed what you’ve heard so far, you’ll be happy to know there’s an (unofficial?) 6 CD anthology available of his collected materials (I wasn’t joking when I said he was prolific!) called The Godlike Genius of Tonetta777 - Anthology Vol. 1, which you can download here:

DOWNLOAD CD 1
DOWNLOAD CD 2
DOWNLOAD CD 3
DOWNLOAD CD 4
DOWNLOAD CD 5
DOWNLOAD CD 6

I can’t remember if I’ve even mentioned this here yet or not, but I was and still am planning on making a zine on the topic of “internet outsider art” this summer, and this guy will definitely have to be a part of it. If anyone has any suggestions for that zine, or wants to help out or submit some writing (or do an interview), let me know!

BARR (aka Brendan Fowler) makes minimalistic, self-referential, autobiographical, motivational, self-help, spoken word rock. It’s hard to really convey what that means, and I was going to post some lyrics here, but that won’t convey it either. Because it’s the music (and the tone in Fowler’s voice) that really imbues those words with emotion and makes them a lot more than just some art school kid, fed on critical theory, thinking out loud and over-analyzing his life and his relationships.

Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote about BARR’s track “The Song Is The Single.” At the time, that was really the only track on this album that I enjoyed. I think when you’re first confronted with these songs, it’s hard to get past Fowler’s dry intellectualism and allow yourself to feel the naked sincerity underneath. This is “post-modern” music, yeah, but its definitely not ironic. And I don’t think its contrived or pretentious either. Even with all the art-theory-speak and intellectualizing of everything, Fowler always sounds conversational, like this is just how he talks about stuff all the time. And even if it’s not, I’m sure it’s how he thinks about everything. And I guess I can relate to that.

I feel like in order to really appreciate this album, you have to be going through some heavy shit, or be close to someone who’s going through some heavy shit. If you’re in a certain head space, and you’re willing to let your guard down a bit and give it a chance, this album can be the most uplifting, re-assuring, life affirming thing ever. Brendan Fowler is my fucking life coach.

If you just want a taste, listen to the track I linked to in the second paragraph. If you like that, I’d say give the album a chance.

BARR - Summary (2007)
1. First (2:31)
2. The Song Is The Single (4:06)
3. Summary (3:24)
4. Complete Consumption Of Us Both (5:06)
5. Untitled (3:55)
6. Half Of Two Times Two (Newer Version) (2:34)
7. Was I? Are You? (2:09)
8. Piled on Piles on Head (2:24)
9. Context Ender (5:05)

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From the Pitchfork article on No Age designing a sneaker:

“The members of No Age walk an interesting line. They’re some of the biggest proponents of DIY all-ages spaces out there, but they’re also fully willing to play shows with corporate sponsors. They clearly know their Fugazi, but they’ve adapted the punk rock ethos for an age when even your mom is on Twitter. It’s kind of inspiring.”

I didn’t know “inspiring” was the new word for “gross” (or “adapted” the new word for “abandoned”).

My friend Ben’s recent tumblr post reminded me that a while back I discovered a gold mine. Some kind soul had unloaded onto Youtube a batch of vintage videos of the B-52’s performing “at the Downtown Cafe in Atlanta, Georgia in 1978, about a month before the release of their first album”:

“Rock Lobster”
“Hero Worship”
“Devil’s In My Car”
“Downtown”
“52 Girls”
“Runnin’ Around”
“Dance This Mess Around”

The sound quality of these is astounding. And it’s interesting to compare the versions of the songs here to the versions on the album (two songs: “Runnin’ Around” and “Devil’s In My Car” wouldn’t appear on record until their second album, Wild Planet). In a certain sense, they’re just as polished and full sounding as the album versions, but live, they also have a wild punk energy that totally surpasses the album versions (or maybe it’s just the accompanying visual that gives that impression). “Dance This Mess Around” is probably the highlight, as we get to see Cindy Wilson literally screaming the lyrics at the top of her lungs (although this slightly more recent live vid is a nice treat in that respect, as well). And it’s cool to see Fred Schneider, thin as a rail, sporting a wife beater and a face full of stubble, in full on gay southern punk glory, doing the Coo-ca-choo and the Aqua-velva.

Finding these got me all excited about early B-52’s material - does anyone know if there exist even earlier bootlegs floating around out there? The band was around for a full 3 years before releasing their first album, so surely there’s at least a few documents of their beginnings, no? I’m super curious. What did they sound like? Were they more punk rock? Were they more surfy? More girl groupy? Having something akin to the Hardcore Devo comps for this band would really blow my mind.

Following up on my Ann Steel post two months ago, Trevor from Detroit was kind enough to send me this cover version of “My Time”:

02-my-time.mp3

The cover is by “a Belgian group called TELEX, also from the same late-70s electro period, that was founded by Blue Note jazz pianist Marc Moulin,” according to Trevor. The singer in this version is male, and has more of a robotic, Gary Numan-ish thing going on. Without Steel’s majestic vocals, it can’t really reach the magnificent heights of the original, but it’s still a great listen and an interesting curio. And if you’re interested in hearing the rest of TELEX’s output, you can download three of their albums over at Egg City Radio.

Trevor also sent me a copy of the Cacciapaglia-produced album Tam-Tam by French chanteuse Amanda Lear. Again, doesn’t measure up to The Ann Steel Album, but it’s not too bad if you’re in the mood for a similar breed of disco pop. (The cover instantly reminded me of Adam and the Ants, but unfortunately it doesn’t sound anything like them)

Thanks again, Trevor!

This is album is every bit as campy and silly as the title and cover art would lead you to believe. But it’s also very very fun, and often rather interesting musically. Essentially, Star Trek is the 1972 collaboration between one prog-rock keyboardist and a bunch of reggae musicians who attempted to create some sort of cross-over album (or as allmusic claims, “an attempt to break into the easy listening market”). As you can probably predict, it’s drenched in echoey, warbly, space-pop goodness. Some of the tracks are positively weird, such as the swinging, Oriental-kitsch of “Shang Haied” and the chirping, bubbling, saxophone and tom-tom heavy “Asibiso Jungle.” Others are just straight up funny, like “Dracula,” which features the Count himself shouting things like “You’ll never get away! I’ll bite you! I’ll bite you!” in his characteristic Transylvanian twang. And there’s a reggae-prog cover of Joe Meek & The Tornados’ classic “Telstar,” which in and of itself should be worth the price of admission. I’ve also included the follow-up album, made one year later: Interstellar Reggae Drive by Colonel Elliot & the Lunatics (same keyboardist) - for convenience, labeled simply as part of the same album. And if the idea of science fiction-themed and space age reggae sounds appealing to you, you might also want to check out the Life on Reggae Planet compilation from Music for Maniacs, which includes three tracks from this album.

DOWNLOAD PART 1
DOWNLOAD PART 2