One to watch

I am reluctant to admit it because he is such an inveterate shit talker, but I dig Everett True.  

Everett routinely turns me on to cool music that no one else is talking about; music that hits a nerve with me.  Then he gives credit to the web bots of Youtube. 

Gavlyn is young and undoubtedly still has some artistic growth ahead of her but she already possesses a deft old school style and charisma in spades. 

Her laid back delivery reminds me of Guru.  

I dig her crooked teeth - her sly smile is all the more mesmerizing for them.   

But if you think this all about watching some barely legal hottie in a baseball cap,  play a track again with your eyes closed.   This chick is hungry.  

  

Vader and son

So J.J. Abrams is gonna direct the next Star Wars movie and I find myself ambivalent.

I think this is a byproduct of the current lens through which the entire Star Wars Universe is viewed at my household.   You see, my five year old son is really into Star Wars right now even though he has yet to see any of the movies.

How is that possible you ask?  Well, there are Star Wars Legos (which drain my wallet) and Star Wars Angry Birds (which drains my phone's battery).  

They are both little bizzaro worlds of the Star Wars movies and toys I grew up with.  

I mentioned this to my wife recently; how strange it was that all our boy knows about Star Wars comes through Legos and Angry Birds and she says to me, "Oh, we were driving the other day and I told him all kinds of stuff."

M: "Like what?"  I ask nervously...

D:  "Y'know, stuff like Luke and Leia are brother and sister.  And Darth Vader was their father..."
...

She tells me this like she is checking it off a list of basic factoids of citizenship. Like she told him "The President lives in The White House.  And we all can help to choose who gets to the job by doing this thing called voting".

....

.... 

Is this (....) the blog equivalent of squinting your eyes and staring in disbelief at the soulless way in which your loving spouse just callously ruined one of the greatest reveals in cinematic history for your offspring? Cuz that is what I am going for here.

Occasionally my wife and I lie to ourselves and say, "Oh maybe he won't remember this less than stellar moment of my parenting" but deep down we know it is something we utter to smooth over fuck-ups big and small.  We both know this kid never forgets a thing you say to him. 

This probably has just as much to do with my ambivalence.  What is the point now of getting excited about moving through the Star Wars and Empire with young grasshopper?  

Then a few days later, I find this book by Jeffrey Brown at the library.  Its broad and gentle humor helped me to ease back up.  

You can find this readily at the moment and I suggest you seek it out.  It is short but definitely sweet.   Here is a taste. 

 This book rekindled my hope in a Star Wars that I can share with my kids.  I didn't know that was a big deal until I realized it had been lost and regained. 

One label changes for another...

D: There is some freaky noise coming from The Enclave.  Did you leave something on?

M: Oh, I probably left an album on the - HEY!  That is Tortoise's first record! That is some groundbreaking music right there.

D (smirk): Oh, I had no doubt you would typify it as such, BUT once you are no longer down there listening it changes into freaky noise. 

P.S. Searching for an image of Tortoise's first record also turned up these two images that I felt compelled to share. 

Give your opinion?

I can't decide which one of these gifs I like better.  Both are handy to have around...

The Taxpayers

My good friend Dem told me I had to do what I could to spread the word about this band - The Taxpayers - and their latest release.   

Dem wrote an article about the band HERE with some assist from his cohort Becky- it is the first music article he has written in almost four years.  One listen to the music below and it is clear why The Taxpayers demanded a return to the computer keyboard.   Like he mentions in his article, these guys have an authentic edge about them.  

This is a jazz punk concept album that swings with ferocity.  Henry Turner was a pitcher for Georgia Tech in the 1970s but he threw his arm out before he made it to the big leagues.  He lived much of his life homeless.  

That might lead you to believe that the album is a monochromatic downer but it isn't.  It packs a lot of emotions and it is gloriously messy.   

The songs all work as individual tunes but overall I guess I would say that it is very humanistic body of music.   

Most depictions of homelessness in music fall into two distinct camps:

The "homeless as magical" myth variety -- Arrested Development's "Mr. Wendell", Los Lobos's "Angels With Dirty Faces", Roger Miller's "King of The Road", etc. 

Or the "Pity these poor wretches" variety -- "Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins or Elvis singing "In The Ghetto" are two examples. 

The Taxpayers have deftly avoided these broad stereotypes.  They knew this guy and they are honoring his life by presenting it straight up. 

As Dem writes - "Henry Turner. Was he simply a misfit? Some of us are. Was his life one of misfortune beyond his control or missed opportunities that he chose to ignore? Was he an asshole or was asshole-ism his defense? None of that is important. Henry Turner was a person and his dignity as a person is revealed in the course of these songs." 

The Taxpayers have such songwriting elan that I hope that my few loyal readers will give this record some serious time and attention.  It will be rewarded.  

Bowels of Bargain Bin Hell!

This guy is a genius. Certifiable.

He calls himself The Blasphemer and makes sacrificial art out of bargain bin castoffs.  

You can find even more his work HERE 

AND if you act within the next 20 hours or so you can even bid and win one of his original dark artistic enchantments.   Just visit that damned marketplace for the occult: Ebay 

Buck Gooter

I got an email yesterday from G$.  The only text was in the subject line: "check this out (loud)"

Turns out this was sage advice and I suggest you follow suit.  

G$ reads the email updates from Permanent Records thoroughly and religiously.  I appreciate that fact immensely because I get turned on to a lot of great scuzzy and weird rock without quite the hit to my pocketbook.  

I am gonna to check out more Buck Gooter on Youtube just as soon as I can my baby daughter to stop wailing and get back to sleep.  Seems that she is sensitive to Witch Molecules.    

Fan Fashion

A week ago yesterday Neurosis split my head open with their ferocity.  I am still not fully prepared to discuss that show.   I am fairly certain that I will fail to find words to adequately convey the seasoned intensity of this band. 

But I did spot this homemade jacket and I just had to ask the woman wearing it if I could snap a pic.

Her friend made it for her and I love it even though I don't fully understand it. 

St. Peter was crucified on an inverted cross because he didn't feel he deserved to die in the same manner as Christ.  PJ Harvey recorded Let England Shake at the 19th century St. Peter's Church in the small village of Eype near her home.   That could be it.  

OR it could be a reference to the beguiling and mysterious man that we meet in the beginning of "The Dancer". 

He came riding fast like a phoenix out of fire flames
He came dressed in black with a cross bearing my name
He came bathed in light and the splendor and glory
I can't believe what the lord has finally sent me

OR, it could just be a satanic thing.  

It doesn't really matter, it is cool because it is homemade and truly one of a kind.  

Born In Chicago!

Coming home from a beer and potato chip run I happened to have XRT's "Blues Breakers" tuned into the radio dial.

Lonnie Baker Brooks started running through a version of "Born In Chicago" and it made me think of this similar (but different) song of the same name. 

This album came out when I was a senior in high school.  I used to have it on tape but it hasn't yet surfaced during the Great Cassette Excavation.  

At the moment I can't recall a single other song on the tape but I really dug this bratty take on da blooze.  It wasn't angry enough to be punk but it was also too hip to be hair metal.  

A quick search on the Slammin Watusis turned up this article from 1988 when they first signed to CBS Records.  It mentions going on upcoming tours with The Godfathers and then The Replacements.  Both vastly superior bands to be sure, but you can still give it up for the hometown boys with their hometown pride. 

Outer Space

Following Star Trek, here is a short video of Saturn's rings reminding me of a record spinning.  

Big ups to Sander van den Berg for putting this actual NASA footage to music (Cinematic Orchestra) and creating this beautiful video.  I hope there is more to come! 

Outer Space from Sander van den Berg on Vimeo.

Planet Encal's Dilemma

The top three benefits of a well stocked Junk Drawer:

- show and tell with an element of surprise
- prepared for anything
- sharing is caring

Young kids can laser focus on anything they set their mind to.  

The only problem is that they lack the skill to aim that focus.  The target can often be banal or tedium-inducing, but the real issue is that this immersive focus ability that all young minds possess (which often borders on fetish) ALWAYS contains the potential to destroy your day. 

To the unprepared caretaker, this constant threat would take a heavy toll on the psyche.  

*********

My son was fixated on this cheap, tiny Christmas coloring book his little sister got from daycare.  She hadn't paid any attention to it since she brought it home except to tell him flatly "No" whenever he asked if he could color in it. 

For about a day and half, he kept asking and she kept saying no.  It drove him nuts but for whatever reason he REALLY wanted to color in this coloring book. He must have surmised if he tried to take it by force, then there would be tears and he wouldn't get very far in his coloring.  But it was obvious he was nearing his breaking point...

At first I couldn't understand what he saw in this little booklet.  He had way cooler coloring books with plenty of pages left to color...

That was it!  This coloring book was still virgin.  Untouched by a single stray line of color.  

That was the power it held over my son and I understood it well.  

A few years ago I was spelunking around eBay and started looking at vintage coloring books.  You realize pretty quickly that the coveted ones are those that have no pages colored in them; eventually, I scored a few for a fair price.  

I paused before I shared the Junk Drawer's stash of pristine Whitmans.  Will he appreciate this sacrifice?  I thought. 

But then I realized my son had no prior experience with Star Trek.  Curiosity got the better of me - I wanted to know how he would take to this bold new frontier.  I also wanted  a nap and I thought this might buy me some time...

The needs of the father outweigh the needs of the son. 

Here are the some of the results.   I gotta say, my son picked up on the color aesthetic from the book's cover pretty quickly.  

The story in this coloring book is actually pretty rad. 

That's right, I said story because BACK IN MY DAY KIDS, COLORING BOOKS HAD STORIES!  

How did things work out on Planet Encal?  Well, this cheery little fella is giving us the sign that a celebration was in order. 

Cold, Cold Lampin

Tomorrow - Jan. 4 - is my good buddy Trocc's birthday.  So, I wanted to give his tumblr blog a plug. 

It is called Cold Cold Lampin and he does not fuck around.  

By that I mean it is a solitary journey best embarked after dark and one that should NOT be attempted at work.  

Horror movies, comic books, heavy metal, basketball, scantily clad babes: all the good stuff in life.  Trocc collects it in a tidy little place for you to vibe on.  Clever animated gifs and neat art, too - you should check it out.  

Back in the early days of the internet, I used to send Trocc a cheesecake photo in an email for his birthday.  I would spend about an hour looking for the perfect picture of the perfect girl to brighten his day (oh how I suffered!).  

Today that task is so much easier thanks to Tumblr blogs!  Vast curatorial exercises in sight all for your perusal.   

So I just went to the very first tumblr blog I happened upon years ago, Yimmy's Yayo - visual crack for the ocular fiend since 2008 - and within SECONDS found that perfect gift for my buddy.

Happy Birthday, Trocc - keep 'em guessing!