27th July 2010

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The Flaming Lips, Oneida at Central Park Summerstage

Y’know, festival crowds suck. When Oneida opened up the show last night, dropping all sorts of free-jazz, ambient drones, and electronic squalls, building and building in intensity throughout their 40-minute set, it seemed like I was the only person in attendance who even knew a band was playing. The constant stream of people coming and going, excited to see the psychedelic version of Radiohead perform this sold out show, was incredibly distracting. And I guess you can’t blame them for not knowing who Oneida was, since, as far as I could tell, nobody told anyone that they’d be performing. I was still excited though, because they fucking rule, and they ruled last night. The drummer in particular was exceptionally gnarly; if you get the chance to catch these guys, you should do it. The best part may have been the song introduction which went “this song’s called ‘The River.’ It rules!” It did (obviously).

For someone who has never cared that much about the Flaming Lips, this was kind of a strange experience. I think I sort of knew they were into making things really warm and fuzzy for stoners, but I guess I didn’t know the extent to which they would go. From mass amounts of confetti and streamer guns to the lead singer’s crowd-zorbing, the whole show seemed to be about sweet buzz. Which is fine, especially since that buzz included about a thousand psychedelic naked ladies, projected on their enormous screen. The part that was kind of a bummer for me was that the band hit the stage after walking out of a gigantic vagina, but didn’t leave via the same route. Come on guys, it’s called consistency.

The music itself was good, but you probably already have formed your own opinions of the band. I thought it was kind of a bummer that they ended two songs in a row with sort of folk-acoustic reprise verses. I mean, one is kind of hacky, but sure, it can work. But twice in a row is kind of pushing it. But I guess that’s a big part of the Flaming Lips vibe; they’re a feelings-y group.

I guess my main issue with the show was really that I wasn’t stoned. And that’s my fault, really. The whole place smelled like a Melvins concert; I could’ve asked anyone for a hit. But even sober, it’s still a good time. I just don’t know if it had the sustain a straight mind requires…

P.S. There were a lot of balloon props used at this show. What do you call those guys who like to rub their penes on balloons? Whatever, Wayne Coyne is one of them.

Tagged: oneidathe flaming lipsdude looked like anthony keidis with a day-glo flyswatter

24th July 2010

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We Never Learn: The Gunk Undergut, 1988-2001

… Then there was the contest between the Reverend [Horton Heat] and Dwarves drummer Vadge Moore to see who could have sex with the most people. “Yeah, everyone had some money riding on who would win,” Eddie [Spaghetti] says. “I bet on Vadge. He took down this really disgusting fat girl on the very last night we were there and won the contest. The grand total winning number? Two. So the ladies weren’t exactly breaking down our door.

This excerpt comes from a section of the book We Never Learn: The Gunk Punk Undergut, 1988-2001, by New Bomb Turk Eric Davidson. That’s Eddie Spaghetti from The Supersuckers talking about an insane-sounding European tour consisting of the Reverend Horton Heat, the Supersuckers, and Dwarves. Just one of many moments from the book that had me laughing out loud like a fucking asshole (the book didn’t make me laugh like an asshole, there’s just nothing I can do about that).

Obviously, a book like this couldn’t be more down my alley, and I probably would have been happy with anything, as long as the thing mentioned Billy Childish and the Mummies somewhere in it. But this thing is great. More information than I ever would have thought existed about so many great bands in the trash-punk style I’ve grown to enjoy so much. It’s got all that awesome “crazy story” stuff you’d expect in a Please Kill Me-style oral history of a subgenre of punk-rock, like the above excerpt, and it’s handled by a guy who was involved in the scene and really loved much of what came out of it.

Couldn’t ask for more in a book like this, really. Go buy it. It’ll be another reason for you to pull out your old Milkshakes and Oblivians records, and you’ll probably get hip to some other group you had no idea rocked as hard as they did.

Tagged: we never learnnew bomb turksit's... it's a psychobilly freakout!!reverend horton heatdwarvesstuck in thee garageobliviansmilkshakesmummiesbilly childish

15th July 2010

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Psychedelic Music: I guess this is a “round-up…”

You might be wondering what I’ve been doing instead of writing up music, like I should. I mean, I should be doing this more now, right? I’ve graduated, and I’m now unemployed.

Well, I’ve been doing some research. When not reading We Never Learn, Eric Davidson’s excellent oral history of garage punk, and catching up on all the garage punk I missed out on while watching Power Rangers and being five, I’ve been getting my fix of psychedelics. And since I’ve come across such an amazing bunch of finds lately, I figured I’d fill you in on them. Not like I’ve got anything better to do, really.

Girls in the Garage, Volumes 1 - 5

Though there are ten of these Girls in the Garage compilations, I’ve only found the first five (which you can grab by following the above link). Most of the stuff on these discs is a little more doo-wop than garage scuzz, but that’s cool too. Plenty of gems on this one, but my favorite track is definitely “Those Ever-Lovin’ Baby Blues” by the Id, found on Volume 1. It’s one of those “what the hell, babe?” songs for which garage music is oh-so well-fitted, and the vocals are killer. Don’t miss it, it’s the song of every lazy, bummer summer.

Terauchi Takeshi’s Let’s Go Classics

Thanks to WFMU for this one. Terauchi Takeshi is the king of Japanese surf rock, and this record is a collection of his fuzzed-out, psychedelic surf-takes on classical music. Each is nasty, but my favorite might be “In a Persian Market,” because it’s just a bit more out-there than the rest. If you go to the above link, you can get the whole record, and then follow the trail to get another record of straight surf by Terauchi.

Kayama Yuzo’s Black Sand Beach

Speaking of Japanese surf rock royalty, Kayama Yuzo’s ”Black Sand Beach,” which appears twice on the same-titled record found above, is another surf-rock masterpiece that I can’t stand not hearing at least once a day, since stumbling across it earlier this week. You may remember Kayama from this insanely incredible video, which I posted about a year ago (if you’re some weirdo who’s been following this than for a year… do those exist?). Too bad the song from that film never made it to vinyl, or so I hear.

Love, Peace, and Poetry, Volumes 1 - 9

I fully expected a compilation called Love, Peace, and Poetry to be absolute garbage, but I was happy to find that it totally annihilates. Each volume tackles some deep psychedelic cuts from a different area of the map, including the obvious American and British psychedelic scenes, and the more interesting scenes with which you might not be familiar. My favorite comps from this set of nine were the Brazilian and Turkish ones, but they’re all definitely worth checking out. Go for it.

That’s it for now. You’ve got some work to do.

Tagged: prince of partiesbetter living through chemistrytaking drugs to make music to take drugs tofucking YESmeltingstuck in thee garagepsychlove peace and poetrygirls in the garagekayama yuzoterauchi takeshipsychedelic music

12th July 2010

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T.P. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou Dahomey at Lynch Theater

The Lynch Theater might not be the best venue for the all powerful Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, but even with the fixed-seating, nobody really had a choice but to get with the groove at last night’s performance.  The band, active for more than forty years, combines elements of Latin and African music with American psychedelic rock, funk, and soul sounds with an ease you just don’t see that often. Last night, they hit each of those areas, and they hit them hard. That’s part of what’s so great about the group; they can not only hang with the best in all those styles, but they can teach a thing or two about how to really own that stuff.

Led by Clement Melome, the last surviving founding member and awesome fat man, the group went through around fifteen songs last night in their 90-minute set, and every one of them crushed. With members old enough to be my friends’ dads, it was great to see the group play so tightly and so masterfully. Particularly impressive were the drummer and the horn section, and, of course, singer Vincent Ahehehinnou’s kickin’ James Brown style. Other highlights included percussionist Celestin Honfo’s hat, which, form where I was sitting, made him look like Mr. Slave, and the fact that guitarist Fifi LePrince’s name is Fifi.

This was their North American debut performance, and I was really expecting every single white guy in the audience to have a ponytail, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that only several of them did. They’re hitting Chicago this Thursday and Quebec on Saturday, before they head over to Europe for shows in France, Spain, Ireland, and England. And after that, they’ve got a new record coming out featuring members of Franz Ferdinand(?). I’m not sure if that’s coming out in the states, but let’s hope some awesome label like Soundway or Analog Africa picks it up and distributes that to wherever I happen to be at that time.

Tagged: legendsgetting into a serious thingorchestre poly-rythmoMusic Is The Weaponi'm still really amped up about how fat that guy was

11th July 2010

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Every day I get up and ask myself “Is it okay to wear my Bukkake Boys shirt today?” I can’t tell if the fact that I’ve had no reason not to for the past month is a sign that my life has become an exercise in freedom or a showcase of pointlessness.