STRANGE/OUTSIDER/NOVELTY JFK SONGS

John F. Kennedy inspired a lot of music. This is some of the weirdest. Song-poems! A Frank Zappa composed/produced surf record!  A singing psychic! Mexican music! And all 6 tracks from the great "Sing Along With JFK" album that featured pre-sampling tape manipulations of Jack's voice "remixed" with original music and a vocal chorus. You've heard of musique concrete?  This is musique ridicule.


Sing Along With JFK

1. George Atkins and Hank Levine: Begin Anew For Two (from "Sing Along With JFK")
2. George Atkins and Hank Levine: Let Us Begin Beguine
3. George Atkins and Hank Levine: Alliance For Progress Bossa Nova
4. George Atkins and Hank Levine: Ask Not Waltz
5. George Atkins and Hank Levine: The Trumpet 
6. George Atkins and Hank Levine: Let The Word Go Forth
7. Los Conquistadores: Homenaje a John F. Kennedy
8. Brian Lord & The Midnighters: The Big Surfer (written/produced by Frank Zappa, recorded in his Cucamunga studio, 1963)
9. Frances Baskerfield, "The Singing Psychic" - The Grassy Knoll
10. Johnny Tucker - Mr. Kennedy
11. Mike Macharyas - Lee Harvey Oswald (from the 2005 album "Ashlee Simpson" in which all Macharyas does is repeat famous peoples names over and over; he has 17 albums of this insanity)
12. Lee Roy Abernathy: John F. Kennedy The Greatest Of All (like the Johnny Tucker song, this is an indie country/folk record, but this guy seems really worried about Texas' reputation as much as anything else)
13. Norm Burns and the Five Stars: John F. Kennedy Was Called Away
14. Norm Burns and the Five Stars: John F. Kennedy's Election Race (Song-poems! This one's the more inept/funnier of the two)


Thanks for some of these to WFMU's Beware of the Blog, and master blogger Bob Purse.

Ahh...Outsider Music...

The George King/Joe Corney Space-Age Organ Sounds are back on-line.

The first thing many Americans think when they hear the phrase "folk music" is still the Joan Baez/Dylan types listlessly strumming acoustic guitars and singing protest songs in coffeehouses, none of which has much to do with actual American folk traditions. The excellent new compilation Turn Me Loose: Outsiders of Old-Time Music
features not only the weird 'n' wild obscurities you maniacs crave, but it also serves as a nice corrective to the '50s/'60s folk revival's rewriting of history. For one thing, acoustic guitars were not too common (almost no songs on this album feature them), banjos were originally a black instrument (derived from African instruments), silly humor was much more common then protest politics (e.g.: the wacked-out duo Mustard and Gravy), and plenty of "non-folk" instruments like the piano really were used in folk music, Charlie Tweedy's berserk stylings on the ivories being one of this albums' many highlights (which reminds me of Tom Lehrer's crack introducing his song "The Folk Song Army": since the piano isn't considered a folk instrument "imagine I'm playing an 88-string guitar.") Ernest Rodgers' Greek lesson "Mythological Blues" punctures holes in the notion that these were all dumb, uneducated hicks.

Most of these recordings, taken from old '78s, are by fairly professional if necessarily rough 'n' raw performers, but at least one character here, Willard Hodgin, is just flat-out nuts. To quote from compiler Frank Fairfield's extensive liner notes: "He recorded 18 sides (1927-1928) for various labels, which is quite an outstanding feat considering how unusual a performer he was. The combination of the occasional verse speckled in with his own unusual yet charming stanzas and his delirious haphazard banjo strumming make him one of the most unique performers to ever record." 18 songs?  Someone put out a complete Willard Hodgin album! (Clicky on song titles to take you to Divshare-land:)

Willard Hodgin: "Don't Get One Woman on Your Mind" Now with bonus offensive racist lyrics! 
But don't musical saws make everything better? Dig this barn dance earworm:
South Georgia Highballers: "Mister Johnson Turn Me Aloose"

Another great new comp recently purchased at my local record emporiums is "Enjoy The Experience: Homemade Records 1958-1992," a two-disc set plus 44 page booklet, all for only $15. Explore the wonderful world of private-press records! I was amused to see that the booklet featured reproductions of the covers of a couple albums I own, namely Mike Hudson and Wayne & Marin Foster. No tracks from them featured on this, but I included them on my own collection "I'll Take Las Vegas." This album goes way beyond Vegas-y lounge performers, tho, ranging from the already sorta-well known punk jazz of Gary Wilson and the middle-aged former Big Band singer-turned-hippie Arcesia, to such unknowns as the hip Christian behind this absurdly catchy upbeat bit of apocalyptic pop:

Ray Torsky: "666"

The booklet includes interviews with some of the performers the compilers were actually able to track down. The heartbreaking tale of Joe E.'s swindle at the hands of a fly-by-night record label is particularly memorable. Unfortunately nothing is known about one Vinny Roma, but he recorded what could be this blog's theme song.  Hell, it could be my (or your) life's theme song:

Vinny Roma: "Ahh...Music"

And if that's still not enough outsider music for you, Colchester, England's premier mental patient/transvestite/stoner/coprophiliac singer-songwriter has a new album out called
"Hippie Heaven" 
for your free downloading pleasure. It's like a 12" single more than an album, with the same songs appearing in slightly different forms throughout. Highlights inc the biting "Parasite Pest," and "Rock 'n' Roll Brothel" ("Why won't any of the girls have sex with me? It's quite frustrating...I could get a complex!") The backing track of "Lady Dub #1" could be by Martin Rev. And paging Yoko Ono! The final track is a 20 min field recording of wind.



   

COVER THE EARTH 4

UPDATE 8/10/13: File is back up.  I'm a little worried that it disappeared as I haven't had any trouble with zippyshare...yet...
Yet another batch of strange and wonderful covers of Western pop songs performed by people of other lands on ethnic instruments in various exotic styles. Some real mind bogglers here, e.g.: Jamaican senior citizens playing Iggy Pop, Joy Division goes calypso, surf music on sitars, Bowie's "Space Oddity" turned into a Mexican comedy routine, but the gamelan orchestra recorded "in the field" in Indonesia performing a song by the late '70s British marxist art-punk band Gang of Four truly takes the cake.  What the heck is the story behind this? I couldn't find out, and maybe that's just as well. There are still some mysteries the universe is not willing to share with us...

COVER THE EARTH 4
  
1. Los Miticos Del Ritmo [Columbian cumbia] - No Pares Hasta Tener Lo Suficiente [Jacko "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough"]
2. Zia [Iran] - Man Kiam? [Monkees "I'm A Believer"]
3. Surf Champlers [Japan] - "James Bond Theme"
4. Willie DeVille [US/Mexican mariachi] - "Hey Joe" [Jimi Hendrix]
5. Luna Lee [Korea] - "Voodoo Chile" [Jimi Hendrix] video below
06 The Jolly Boys [Jamaican mento] - "The Passenger" [Iggy Pop]
07 Sekar-Melati [Indonesian gamelan]- "Not Great Men" [Gang of Four] video below
08 Louis Brennon [France] - "l'anarchie pour UK" [Sex Pistols]
09 Grupo Falso Baiano [Brasilian samba]- Irmaos Super Mario [Super Mario theme]
10 Hermanos Calatrava [Mexico] - "Space Oddity" [David Bowie] UPDATE: a commentor on WFMU's twitter feed claims this is Spanish, not Mexican
11 Steel Harmony [UK/Caribbean steel drum] - "Transmission" [Joy Division]
12 Caetano Velosa [Brazilian bossa nova] - "Billie Jean/Eleanor Rigby" [Jacko, Beatles]
13 Banda Plástica De Tepetlixpa Mex. [Mexican brass band] - "Yesterday" [Beatles]
14 Kumbia Queers [Latin American cumbia] - "Luci, Fer y Sam [Pink Floyd "Lucifer Sam"]
15 The Draytons Two [Barbados spouge] - "Blueberry Hill" [Fats Domino]
16 Wganda Kenya [Afro-Columbian] - "Combate A Kung-Fu" [Carl Douglas "Kung Fu Fighting"]
17 Rita Chao [Singapore] - "Proud Mary" [Credence Clearwater Revival]
18 The Bombay Beach Boys [US/India] - "Pipeline" [The Chantays]
19 Ondatrópica [Columbian cumbia] - "I Ron Man" [Black Sabbath "Iron Man"]
20 Jimmy Sturr [US polka] - "Fun Fun Fun" [Beach Boys]
21 The Soul Fantastics [Panama] - "Ain't No Sunshine" [Bill Withers]
22 Funk Como Le Gusta [Brasil] - "16 Toneladas (Sixteen Tons)" [Tennessee Ernie Ford]
23 Shang Shang Typhoon [Japan] - "Let It Be" [Beatles]

Dan Knudsen Won't Hurt You

Another great outsider musician named Daniel, Dan Knudsen is just as sincere, child-like, likeable, odd and God-fearing as D. Johnston, minus the mental-illness related drama and trauma (so far as I know). In spite, or maybe because of the fact that this janitor at a YMCA couldn't be more different from other Portland, Maine punk/industrial/avant artists, he's championed by this small-but-tightknit scene, doing shows with him after he started appearing at open mics, backing him live, even putting together a tribute covers album.

Knudsen's many wonderful releases are now up for free streaming/buying, all featuring his cheap xeroxed album covers, his acoustic guitar (and some rinky-dink electronics), and his high 'n' homely voice. They can be addictive - I've found myself playing one of his EPs after another. 

The six track "Beaches and Zoos" from 2005 is as good a place to start as any - in the somewhat creepy sing-along opener, Knudsen insists that he won't hurt you ("Your face will never be black and bluuuue! Aren't you glad, aren't you glad?"); both "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Lord of The Rings" are summarized in song; the Jonathan Richman-like title track promises numerous visits to, you got it, beaches and zoos, with some truly unique lyrical rhyming (e.g.: "USA" and "Flori-day"); and when you do go to the beach, once again, you have nothing to fear: "The Sharks are Gone!" Few performers could so unselfconsciously sing lines like: "I'm well-trained and skilled in aquatic safety," but Knudsen makes it all seem so natural.

The Dan Knudsen story began with 2000's lo-fi "Sunsong," six painfully sincere tales of love and heartbreak. "Grass, Grain, and Appleseeds" from 2002 has one of my favorite oddities from the Knudsen oeuvre, the spacey "We Are Not Alone." The beautiful title song sums up life as well as any. The chorus of "Rockin' On The Railroad" sounds a little too much like Neil Young's "Rockin In The Free World" to be a coincidence, just as "Rain Falls Outside My Window" appears to be a bizarre re-write of John Denver's "Sunshine On My Shoulder" ("If the rain falls thru a hole in my roof, it will make me drown...") [UPDATE 7/9/13: re "Rockin' On The Railroad", got an email from a reader who noticed "If you listen to the guitar riff, it sounds very similar to the Traveling Wilbury's "At the end of the line". And guess what is featured in the Wilbury's youtube video of the song?? They are singing the song while riding on a train.  Coincidence?!]

The catchy title track to 2011's "Lost Airways" finds him taking a flight, looking forward to seeing family and friends, worrying about terrorist attacks, and singing: "It's almost a six mile altitude/the roar of the engines sounds real rude" over guitars and cheezy Casios. He also points out that "We All Make Mistakes."

Advanced students may want to move on to "Outer Space," a sci-fi fantasy that's pretty out-there, in all senses of the phrase.

Sweet and guileless, utterly without pretension or show-biz posturing, with a slightly ominous undercurrent that keeps it from being too corny and wholesome...count me in as another "DanFan."

Dan Knudsen's Bandcamp page

TOM WILSON - "GAY NAME GAME"

Back in 2008, I wrote: "One day in the early '90s, I was looking through one-dollar records in a thrift store when I came across one called "Gay Name Game." With a song entitled "Lesbian Seagull" listed among it's contents, how could I resist? The album is a typical sensitive singer-songwriter acoustic relic of the '70s, though the out-and-proud lyrics certainly set it apart from, say, James Taylor.

So imagine my surprise when in 1997, in the middle of a mainstream Hollywood film ("Beavis and Butthead Do America"), one of the characters starts singing "Lesbian Seagull." And legendary crooner Engelbert Humperdinck sings it over the closing credits! Eh, what?! I guess Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge must have stumbled across this record, too.

Thus, a strange curio from the original gay-rights movement enters the mainstream. It is an amazing tune...Caw, caw, caw!"

By request, here's the whole album.  "Lesbian Seagull" is the classic, as singularly odd, funny and heartfelt as you would expect from that song title, but the whole album is quite a good listen. The way-ahead-of-its-time subject matter certainly holds one's interest, and the witty songwriting of tracks like the title tune rival master satirists like Tom Lehrer (Wilson even outs J. Edgar Hoover way before that hit the mainstream).

This was Wilson's first album of a still-going cabaret/musical career. It has never been digitaly reissued.

TOM WILSON - "Gay Name Game" (1979)

The FLYING DUTCHMAN - ONE-MAN BAND SHOW

How's THAT for an album cover? 

I think you can see why I picked up this private-press piece of vintage vinyl recently - it truly is a slice of authentic Americana, a peek into un-hip rural backroads (in this case, Pennsylvania Dutch country) where Ma & Pa go out on a Saturday night to the local tavern and dance to the kind of music left out of the history books, played by the sort of performer usually considered to be not worthy of critical consideration.

Recorded live, Mr. Dutchman is  clearly having a good ol' time, chatting with the crowd,  letting loose with whoops and yee-haws! on occasion. Everything that doesn't sound like a polka (even the Elvis cover) is delivered in a wave-your-mug drinking song waltz-time. And might I direct your attention to the song that features our man playing the accordion and tap-dancing (!) at the same time. They don't make 'em like this any more.  (Or do they?  I suspect that this fellow might be the same guy.)

The FLYING DUTCHMAN - ONE-MAN BAND

A STONER'S TRIBUTE TO CARL SAGAN (Milvia Son Records Sampler)

I've passed the 1000 posts mark. And boy are my fingers tired.

On to 1001! Milvia Son Records from up in the Bay Area sent me a batch of their vinyl-only goodies, and the first thing you should know about 'em is that they've released an album by Can's first singer Malcolm Mooney. If that doesn't automatically score cool points, what will? They didn't send me that one (it sells itself, presumably), but there's other fun to be had in their catalogue of "head music" that bears little resemblance to most psychedelia or stoner rock currently being made.

Milvia Son sampler

1. Bad Drumlin Grass "All Night Long" - Bad grass? Actually, this New Wave-y tune from a 7" is made from good stuff, like synth farts and nonsense vocals. And nekkid ladies on the cover!
2. Bad Drumlin Grass  "Can Do" (excerpt) - Speaking of Mooney-era Can, I was digging this lengthy jam, the opening track to their album "The Invigorating Scent of …" and it reminded me of Can's "Yoo Doo Right." Then I checked the song title. So probably no coincidence. The song "Out on the Tracks" is an ill synth jam; the album gets increasingly jazzy/trippy, less groove-y as it goes on and the chemicals kick in.

3. Bob Frankford "O Carl" - Totally ridiculous ode to Carl Sagan sung (?) over a mangled recording of the theme to Sagan's tv show "Cosmos." I shouldn't love this, but I really do.  From the four-track 7" sampler "Just a Little Bit of Milvia Sun," which includes a pic of Dr. Carl, and a lengthy quote allegedly from the famous astronomer himself describing how great smoking pot is, e.g.: "Experiencing orgasms while high and listening to music, particulary electronic or 'psychedelic' music, is one of the greatest pleasures of my life.'  Wow, did he really say that?
4. Jaki Jakizawa " Period Fart" - All of side one of Jaki's album is super cool disco electro improv - like Giorgio Moroder goes free jazz.  I spent part of the '90s looking for anyone who was doing to synths what Coltrane did for the sax, what Jimi did for the guitar, and not coming up with much besides Sun Ra. A much-welcome approach to the synth. The flip is drum-less cosmic electronica recommended to Tangerine Dream fans. And there might still be a few of them left.
5. Old Yeller & The Pigbites - "The Wreck of the Jerome Garcia"/"Handsome Stranger" - This no-fi mess of acoustic guitars and vocals piled on top of each other makes Daniel Johnston sound as polished as Celine Dion, but some gems do rise thru the muck. ("Handsome Stranger" = Not Safe For Work.)

By the way: If you are a Can fan, the new "Lost Tapes" box set really is a treasure-trove, not just a hodge-podge of leftovers, crappy-sounding live tracks, demos, etc, as these types of collections usually are.

That's Athientertainment!

If Christian and religious music is a niche market, the pro-science/atheist music scene is practically microscopic. I bought a few CDs recently that are for sale from outlets like the Center For Inquiry and The Freedom From Religion Foundation.  Yep, they have gift shops, too.  Good timing: now that the Higgs Boson particle has been found, our ideas of physics (The Standard Model) have been confirmed, which means we pretty much know what the universe is made out of.  Pat yourself on the back, human race!

Dr. Stephen Baird of Stanford University is an actual scientist, as well as being the frontman for The Opposums Of Truth and The Galapagos Mountain Boys.  I generally find his style of music - hillbilly/bluegrass - kinda irritating, what with all them high screechy voices and plinckety-plunkety banjos and fiddles and whatnot.  But, somewhat to my surprise, I started diggin' these albums ("Darwin, Darn It!" and "Ain't Gonna Be No Judgement Day: Scientific Gospel") after a couple spins. Really well played, and it's always funny hearing technical jargon sung with enthusiasm.

The Voices Of Reason are a Los Angeles a capella vocal group, here covering/rewriting "The Hallelujah Chorus" and the old "Negro" spiritual "Joshua Fit The Battle of Jericho." I saw 'em open for Julia Sweeney's show "Letting Go of God" a few years ago.

And here's some songs from previous posts that have since gone off-line:

Anthropologist Richard Milner: "Charles Darwin: Live and In Concert" is channeling the great naturalist thu witty, upbeat original songs with rapid-fire rhymes that would give eminem a run for his money. I hear the likes of Noel Coward, Cole Porter and his admitted heroes GIlbert & Sullivan.

Dan Barker is an atheist satirical songwriter, like a one-topic Randy Newman or Warren Zevon. He's released several albums, including "Beware of Dogma."  It features "My God is in My Soul," a brilliant track by Michael Newdow, the guy who tried to remove the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance (who has a pretty interesting CD himself). It includes samples of profane voice mail messages left by furious Christians. They're not just dropped onto music, but are ingeniously integrated into the lyrics of the mock-reverent "hymn." The result walks that hilarious/disturbing line. "Fleas" is a parody of Joyce Kilmer's poem about how I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree, blah blah blah.

Baba Brinkman (a Canadian, eh!) first appeared in these pages with his rap version of The Canterbury Tales. His album "The Rap Guide To Evolution," (available from his site) is, well, just that. It's scientifically accurate, musically solid, even funny sometimes. But dealing with biological complexities can make the songs amazingly wordy, e.g.: the finely funky song posted, set at a dinner table as our hero tries to reason with a stubbornly unscientific family. I'm certainly aware of the large number of religious creationists out there, but the feminist who says gender has no basis in science threw me for a loop. Are there still people who think like that? I thought that was a relic of '70s hippie-dom.

"A Brief History of Rhyme: MC Hawking's Greatest Hits": Stephen Hawking: brilliant physicist, considered the heir to Newton and Einstein; crippled by Lou Gehrig's disease, he speaks thru a voice synthesizer. MC Hawking: his hard-core hip-hip alter ego. So someone gets ahold of the type of voice synthesizer Dr. Hawking uses and records a buncha profanity-laden rap songs. About science. Sounds like it might be funny for maybe 30 seconds, right? Guess again Einstein, this is genius - whoever is behind this knows both his science AND his hip-hop. The debut album "A Brief History Of Rhyme" is dripping with tunes both hilarious and (I hate to say it) even sorta educational..Funny, righteous, boomin' beats. "Entropy" is a parody of Naughty By Nature's "OPP" (with another dig at Creationism thrown in), "What We Need More of is Science" peels New Age kooks' caps back, and "UFT For The MC" is The Sex Pistols' "Anarchy In The UK" with new lyrics reflecting the Hawkman's quest for a Unified Field Theory. The real Stephen Hawking is aware of this project and has given it his blessing.

Athientertainment: a MusicForManiacs mix

(After clicking the above link, scroll down for a choice of downloading options. You may have to wait a few secs.)

1. The Galapagos Mountain Boys - Walk Down In The Water
2. The Voices Of Reason - The Evolution Chorus
3. Richard Milner - Darwins Nightmare
4. Dan Barker - Fleas
5. Dr. Stephen Baird And The Opposums Of Truth - Randomness Is Good Enough For Me
6. MC Hawking - Fuck the Creationists
7. Baba Brinkman - Creationist Cousins 2.0
8. Dan Barker - My God is in My Soul
9. The Voices Of Reason - Battle 'Tween Church And State
10. Richard Milner - Why Didn't I?
11. Dr. Stephen Baird And The Opposums Of Truth - I Have Seen Evolution With My Own Two Eyes

COVER THE EARTH: Ukrainian Punk

As an addendum to the "Cover The Earth" post of bizarre international versions of your favorite oldies, here are various rock remakes recorded over the years by The Ukrainians. Peter Solowka, one of the members of the popular '80s/'90s British combo The Wedding Present, is of Ukrainian descent, and picked up on the music from his father. He hooked up with musicians from the old country to play Ukrainian folk music, but then threw in some covers relevant to his present condition as a rocker living in the UK. And it is some crazy stuff.  No wimpy hippie folk music here, thanks to the occasional addition of some of Solowka's old Wedding Present buddies injecting some rock'n'roll energy into the mandolin-and-fiddle based tunes.  By the early '90s, Solowka had quit the Wedding Present to make the Ukrainians his full-time gig.

Included here: the entirety of the "Pisni Iz The Smiths (Songs Of The Smiths)" ep from 1992, Sex Pistols and Velvet Underground covers from a 1993 live album, a 1996 Kraftwerk cover commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, and two Pistols covers from a 2002 single. (They also have a 3 song single of Prince covers that I haven't found a copy of yet.  Anyone?)

*smacks head* Ah, durn!  I forget to include Googoosh's berserk Iranian assault on Otis Redding/Aretha Franklins' "Respect" on the first "Cover The Earth."  So here 'tis, as a most thoroughly non-Ukrainian bonus.

COVER THE EARTH: The Ukrainians

1. Batyar (The Smiths - 'Bigmouth Strikes Again')
2. Koroleva Ne Polerma (The Smiths - 'The Queen Is Dead')
3. M'yaso Ubivstvo (The Smiths - 'Meat Is Murder')
4. Spivaye Solovey (The Smiths - 'What Difference Does It Make?')
5. Anarkhiya (Sex Pistols - 'Anarchy In The UK')
6. God Save The Queen (Sex Pistols)
7. Pretty Vacant (Sex Pistols)
8. Chekannya (Velvet Underground - 'Venus in Furs')
9. Radioactivity [Orthodox mix] (Kraftwerk)

BONUS:
10. Googoosh: Respect

FOLK SONGS FOR SPACE ALIENS

Two free albums that sound good played at the same time:

Dr. SETI (aka Dr. H. Paul Shuch) sings songs about his namesake and day job, the Search For Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.  Book him for your next party!  He considers himself a singing ambassador for the hunt for little green men, and his acoustic folk tunes, some parodies of oldies like Patsy Cline's "Crazy" or John Denver's "Take Me Home Country Roads," are brimming over with not only his deep faith in the existence of aliens, but with endearing enthusiasm, and an endless parade of hopelessly obscure inside references.

Id Loom's newly released album "Sonic Bungalow" is fascinating aural sculpture, a 19 track exploration of haunted abstract electronica with no beats, lyrics (except for a sampled voice on the last track), or traditional song structures. The "song" for sampled doorbells is particularly brilliant. We first mentioned Id Loom when we included a track from a different album here.

Although both collections stand on their own, I thought that they sounded like a natural pair when played together - songs about outer space accompanied by appropriately spacey sounds.

Dr DETI Sample Songs

vs.

Id Loom "Sonic Bungalow"

Punk Mariachi!

Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, here's a few tracks from L.A. bands playing...punk mariachi? How is such a thing possible?  One style is electric, fast 2/4 or 4/4 beats, hard drumming, modern, angry and cynical, and originally sung in English; the other is seemingly the complete opposite: acoustic, slow, in 3/4 time, no drums, traditional, and sentimental. You may be a rock'n'roller, but if you've grown up in Los Angeles, you're part Mexican, even if you're not. (Like how Lenny Bruce said that everyone in New York is Jewish, even if you're not.)

L.A. rock has pretty much always been influenced by Mexican folk music. Apart from actual Latino acts (Richie Valens, El Chicano, Los Lobos, etc), non-Latino rockers have sported south-of-the-border influences since at least the days of The Champs' "Tequila" and beach-party bands like The Surfaris, whose "Latin Beat" is one of my faves; Dick Dale plays a mean mariachi trumpet when he isn't guitar shredding.  And it's gone from the '60s (Love's "Alone Again Or"), the '70s (War), the '80s (The Minutemen's "Corona") right up to this loco bunch:

Punk Mariachi! - A MusicForManiacs Mix (6 songs)

- Carne Asada "Cielito Lindo": White punks on jokes; this is their (piss-)take on the most famous mariachi standard, "Ay Ay Ay;" from their album "Full Contact Mariachi." Muy silly!

- Mariachi El Bronx: "Litigation," & "Clown Powder;" two from actual hardcore band The Bronx (Angelenos despite their name) who made a sincere transformation into mariachi, replacing electric guitars with horns; even tho they've retained drums and English lyrics, it's still hard to believe that these moving songs are by the same guys I saw convincingly play Black Flag in the Darby Crash/Germs bio-pic "What We Do Is Secret."

- Los Super Elegantes "Por Que te Vas": this co-ed crew was the first band I heard use the term "punk mariachi," but in a tongue-in-cheek way, I'd say - it's more like bilingual indie pop.  Mi mucho gusto this tune.

- Metalachi "Breaking The Law": I wrote about these heavy metal pranksters back in 2010.

- Mariachi Rock-o "Ben": This isn't rock, this isn't even really mariachi; it is pure kitsch; from their ridiculous album "Sonidos de Jalisco," featuring remakes of classics by Bowie, John Lennon, the Eagles, Marvin Gaye, and this cover of Michael Jackson's touching ode to a killer rat.

OUTSIDE POLAND Pt 2: Mr Witek from Atlantis

Following up on last week's post (or whenever it was - I'm in buying-a-house/packing/moving hell right now) on outsider music from Poland, our man in Poland Piotrek tells us about Pan Witek z Atlantydy aka "Mr Witek from Atlantis": "... he is most famous outsider in Poland, he was invited many times to polish TV, he was a "star" of underground and punk festival in 80's Jarocin, and he wanted to be president of Poland, seriously:) His songs are f.ex. about Speedy Gonzales, masturbation, cosmos and many more."

Mr Witek is an older guy who vigrously strums an acoustic guitar and really hams it up as he runs thru Polish language versions of songs like Pat Boone's "Speedy Gonzalez," "Let's Twist Again," "Guantanamera," and that "Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end" song, and plenty of other tunes that I'm not familiar with. Even not understanding a word of Polish cannot hide the man's good humor and uninhibited personality.

Here's his cassette release from 2000, Side A and Side B split into two files, courtesy of the panmietic blog:

Pan Witek - Gość z Atlantydy

Strona A:1. Spidi Gonzales - tłist egien 2. Kuantadamera 3. Koń na biegunach4. To były piękne dni 5. Nie pijcie przed weselem 6. Noc poślubna 7. Mój koń nie mieści mi się w dłoń 8. Ela (a niech cię jasna cholera).Strona B:1. Ruiny Edenu2. Ty odeszłaś tamtej nocy z tamtym panem 3. Mówili ludzie: nie wierz dziewczynie4. Kiedyś zrozumiesz 5. Chcę ci dać 6. Idąc przez życie 7. Jestem kosmitą



Thanks again to Piotrek!

John North Wright is STILL Outasight

As I wrote back in '06: In 1995, The Phoeniz (AZ) New Times received a demo tape from one John North Wright. The tape began with the growly voice of a middle-to-senior aged man announcing, ""Hi, I'm John Wright. Uh . . . all these songs are copyrighted 1985, words and music by myself. Uh, conceptually, they form the songs for a, uh, rock video opera I have written in my mind. It's set mostly in Hawaii and the Orient. It's called Teenage Volleyballers." What follows is an interminable tuneless guitar & voice meditation on, yup, teenage volleyballers, with little to say about them except that they're "out of sight."...Obsolete slang, hilariously inept music, and a generally creepy pedophile-ish aura all come to together to create the stuff of outside-music legend.

John North Wright Soundcloud page

Wright was an anti-Semetic paranoid conspiracy-theorist and Dylan-influenced singer songwriter (tho he blamed Dylan for telepathically stealing his woman) from Port Huron, MI (he pronounced it "Port Urine") and left this world back in '04, but thanks to the good people at Hott Lava, 15 songs (and possibly more to come) are now up for free listen/download. All the old 'hits' are featured, like "Teenage Volleyballers" and "Down In The Land Of Evil" which, as I wrote in a Wright update, has something to do with Satan's, er, "schlong." Some great new tracks have been added - "I'm On Medication" really is as good as its title. Outsider essentials.


I'm On Medication by johnnorthwright

ECK! A MOUSE!

I think it's safe to say that, of all the thousands (millions?) of albums ever made, this is the only one of it's kind ever recorded.

From the late '70s comes this traditional bluegrass band singing most un-traditional lyrics about "Eck," which was apparently some kinda New Age offshoot of Hindu - songs like "The Sound Of The ECK" are nearly impenetrable to the uninitiated. Weird and funny as you might expect, but very well played if you're into bluegrass. Which I am not (sorry, Steve Martin), but the vocal harmonies on "River Of Light" totally rule, even as they sing things like: "Look to the light of the living Eck master, he will guide you." Probably wouldn't go over so well on "Hee Haw"...

Hindu Kush Mountain Boys Plus One
And - hey, guess what! - there's actually a new album in the works from these guys. Good karma to windy for sending us this one.

STAR TREK FAN BANDS: NOT NEARLY AS BAD AS ONE WOULD THINK

(Vote for "M4M Idol"! You've got 'til Oct. 6.)

A Klingon death-metal band. Just think about the sheer awesomeness of that concept.

"Trekkies 2" is a 2004 documentary about the most extreme 'Star Trek' fans, produced and hosted by, of all people, Bing's granddaughter Denise Crosby. The soundtrack album features some funny bits of dialogue from the film, a few soundtrack cues, and lots of entertaining fan songs. Somehow Fred Schneider of the B52s ended up on here as well. Maybe he's a Trekkie? Wouldn't be too surprising.

As for the musical acts, who pretty much only perform at 'Trek'/sci-fi conventions, Warp 11 are quite good in that Descendants/Bad Religion/Green Day-style of melodic punk. "Everything I Do, I Do With William Shatner" really is as good as it's title. No Kill I: The Next Generation (yep, that's the band's name) make a great Devo-ish New Wave ruckus. Ash Productions are two charming teenage girls. Reminding us of Trek fan history, Leslie Fish does it old school: a solo acoustic "filk" (sci-fi folk) tune. And then there's death-metalers Stovokor, who not only dress up as Klingons, but they sing in the Klingon language.And if you ain't down with that, well, pally, you have landed on the wrong blog.

I don't know much about 'Trek" beyond watching the original series ("TOS" in Trek talk) as a kid, but it's inside nature is what I like about this stuff. Fan music, like song-poems, make me realize how generic most music is. Frank Sinatra couldn't have sang about "Star Trek" (or what his favorite color is, or who he supported for President) because he had a general audience, so we just got lots of love songs since, presumably, that's a human universal. So it's fascinating to me to hear people singing passionately about something very specific. They can only exist in the rarefied world of fellow fans, or, in the case of song-poems, they just put out tiny pressings of private recordings. They don't have to worry about what the music biz (even the "indie" end of it) thinks.

Trekkies 2 The Official Soundtrack

1. Since I Was Zero - Denise Crosby 2. Beam Me Up - Fred Schneider 3. The Worst Time To Call - Gabriel Koener 4. Italy Theme - Billy Sullivan 5. Channeling Roddenberry - Karl Miller 6. Red Alert - Warp 11 7. A Girl Came - Brian Dellis 8. Everything I Do, I Do With William Shatner - Warp 11 9. We're Niners - Michael Leon 10. Boldly Going - No Kill I: Deep Space Nine 11. Extremities - Gabriel Koemer 12. Vulcan Mind-Meld - No Kill I: Deep Space Nine 13. Low Frequencies - Jason Lewis 14. For The Glory Of Qo'nos - Stovokor 15. Klingon Santa Claus - Denise Crosby 16. Life In Exile - Stovokor 17. My Rank Is Commander - Renee Morrison 18. Arkansas Theme - J.J. Holiday 19. Ever Hear Of Filking? - Denise Crosby 20. The Expendable Guy (Live) - Ash Productions 21. A Typo - Kathleen Sloan 22. Banned From Argo (Live) - Leslie Fish And Friends 23. What's Normal - Dave Smith 24. No Kill I Theme Song (Live) - No Kill I 25. Auk - Jean Whitehead 26. Tranya (Live) - No Kill I 27. Remain Calm - Allen Maxwell 28. Data And The Beta (Live) - No Kill I: The Next Generation 29. Starbase Dentist - Denise Crosby 30. We Are The Borg (Live) - No Kill I: The Next Generation 31. It's Just Good - Jon Garrison 32. Germany Theme - Billy Sullivan 33. Ethan's Aliens - Ethan Philips 34. Beam Me Up (Instrumental Reprise) - Fred Schneider 35. Lame Reality - Ward Young

Mexican Water Jug/Soda Bottle Folk Instruments

(Vote for "M4M Idol"! You've got 'til Oct. 6.)

A welcome recent trend in Mexican and Mexican/American music is playing instruments made out of recycled garbage. Apart from looking real cool and producing new sounds, it's another example of the resourcefulness of low income people (see also The Congo's Konono No.1, and Staff Benda Bilili.) So far as I know, there haven't been any recordings of this stuff yet, but there are a few YouTube vids featuring the Sparkletts bottle/garden hose (or PVC pipe) "tuba" and plastic 2 liter soda bottle "trumpets." I say "so far as I know" because the comments are all in Spanish and I'm just not bilingual enough to understand it all, e.g.: are there any recordings featuring these instruments? And the last video demonstrates how to make a water jug tuba - can anyone out there translate it for me? I want! Muchas grassy-ass.

First up, the border style known as norteña music. The flatulent sound of this tuba makes me laff!:



Slightly better sound quality on this tune; note the European polka beat, the mark of the norteña (Northern) style, aka Tex-Mex:



South of the border for some Coke bottle mariachi:



Judging by other videos, it seems pretty basic: garden hose or pipe, connects to bottle (e.g.: 12 oz soda bottle), connects to big jug. But - que? - this vid makes it seem more complicated:

VINYL-PALOOZA #7: Music For Tree-Huggers

If you like trees - I mean, if you really like trees - well, today's your lucky day: here's an entire album's worth of songs about our leafy, barky buddies, courtesy of the US Dept. of Agriculture. Your tax dollars at work! Released in connection with the Bicentennial in 1976 (not sure what the connection is there, but, oh well) folkie Ray Schmitt and the Free State String Band play original, painfully earnest songs with lines like "Have you ever seen a tree cry? Well I did/Have you ever heard it sigh? well, I did." Beavis and Butthead's hippie teacher Mr. Van Dreesen probably has this album. On 8 track.

Just as I was starting to zone out from all the mellow vibes, along comes the song "Just A Tree," a kind of funky jazz rap song about all the things we make out of trees, with multiple vocalists, including children. Cool! And "Imagine," (not the John Lennon song) is really cool - a psychedelic jazz trip-out, with Yma Sumac-ish soaring female vocals. Imagine...Alice Coltrane making

public service announcements. I guess they ran out of ideas for more tree songs because the last two tracks are wild bluegrass instrumental jamz, played so fast I thought I had the turntable on the wrong speed. Can't blame 'em for the filler tho - I mean, how many albums dedicated to trees have ever been recorded? This is a

rare accomplishment. Far out, man.

Ray Schmitt and the Free State String Band "A Forest Is..."

Schmitt is still around, mostly making documentary films, but he has a few CDs for sale as well on his site. Since we just had Earth Day, and Arbor Day is coming up (hey, remember Arbor Day?) if there was ever a time to listen to an album like this, this would be it.

Thanks again, windbag!

DEMONOLOGY

I have zero info on the demon(s) responsible for this free download release, but I can tell you that this album (or side one, at least) is a highly entertaining witch's brew of sleazy rock in the Cramps/Roky Erickson/Velvets (jugular) vein and lyrics that are, well, just look at those song titles. Tho they're sung in an unlikely high, nerdy voice, I still wouldn't mess with this dude. When he starts screeching about "rats with wings," it sounds like he means it.

Side two reverts to a more normal rock and acoustic approach, but bits of psychedelia and even violin keep things interesting. And don't miss the title song - it's the albums catchiest tune, and sounds like it's sung by children, which makes it all the more wrong. Just how we like it.

Swilson "Demonology"

1. Polyester Shirt Polyester Pants
2. Stealing Chickens
3. Electric Aborigonie
4. Planet Of Sex
5. White Witch Black Witch Which Is Which
6. Rats With Wings
7. La Diosa Verde
8. Dealing In Death
9. Demonology
10. When It's Dark
11. Plastic Flower Melting Sun
12. Swilson's 666th Nightmare

THE FINEST YODELING YOU CAN HEAR

Like the "obsolete" instruments I've written about, yodeling is another "uncool" old folk style that, nonetheless, requires a fair amount of technical skill, has a long, rich history, and can be quite ridiculously entertaining. So, once again, let's get uncool.

Arthur Brogli was (is?) a Californian of Alpine origin whose '70s D.I.Y. release "Happy Yodeling" (sorry Goths, no gloomy yodeling here) features, apart from vocals, pretty much only accordion. Which, strangely enough, makes it resemble the "Philip Glass For Accordion" album we recently featured here. A playlist that goes back and forth between these two albums might make for an interesting experience.

Arthur doesn't shoot his wad all at once - you have to wait 3 minutes into the album before you get any yodeling. But that's okay, "Happy Wanderer" is one of my favorite polkas. Then he plays an instrumental. But after that he does get down to some serious yodel action, including a swell version of that much-hated Disney tune, "It's A Small World," thus proving that yodeling makes everything fun.

Arthur Brogli - Happy Yodeling


This has been another fine windbag contribution.

HEAVY METAL + MARIACHI =

Metalachi.

Yep, metal classics (Ozzy, Iron Maiden, etc) played in a Mexican folk style, from this L.A. combo who not only came up with this ridiculous concept, but followed thru with songs, costumes, websites, videos, live gigs around town. Got to give 'em credit, especially since Judas Priest actually sounds pretty damn good like this:

Metalachi - Breakin' The Law

The loco kids these days - what'll they come up with next?