It's Wednesday so that can only mean one thing! Robots singing scat! Right? Everyone? RIGHT.
Caravan Palace are a Paris based electroswing band who started out making music for silent pornography. Of course.
Their whole output is an ear melting blend of block rocking beats dancing with Django and Grappelli- the soundtrack to robotic fever dreams covered in the melting wax of a gypsy jazz record. This is particularly true of today's Song of the Robocalypse- Star Scat.
I picture a black suited robot holding court at a cabaret, it's head hanging off its neck like a bobble toy belching and bleeping scat songs. This is surrounded by heavy striding rhythm and fiddles. It's amazing how well double bass clambers atop processed beats, like rubberbands iceskating down a subway track.
It's reassuring to know that even after the machines rise up and take over we'll still have some damn fine dance floor grooves- just don't do the robot. I'm serious. They will destroy you.
There's something about the music of Multifaros that makes me think of bubblegum. Not the genre mind you- actual bubblegum. It's in the sound I think, all plastic and glisten held together by twangs and wind.
The opening sub-bass tones of 'Bouncing' are round and rubbery bubbles that shift and burst to the sound of drums exhaling in reverse. Pingponging chip bleeps echo across the structure like a digital likembe while free wheeling guitars funk there way into the shape of squares and triangles.
Multifaros is the stage name of Swedish chip/bit/electronic/indie wizard Bård Ericson. Today's track 'Bouncing' is available on his 2010 EP Dreams. He has many more EPs and albums of his genre crossing musics available from his website.
Tugboat is a New York based drummer and electronica musician who, up until retiring from the genre two years ago, was one of the more prevalent and talented chiptune artists. For those who need a refresher, chiptune is a genre of music based upon using the soundboards of old video game consoles to create new pieces.
Our personal favourite track by Tugboat is Small Regrets, which can be found on his career spanning compilation album Man Of The Year available for free from CalmDownKidder Records.
The mood of Small Regrets undeniably wears its heart on its sleeve, but that's exactly what I find so awesome about it and more broadly what I find awesome about chiptune. It's music which has taken the sound of an entire generations collective childhood memories (specifically I suppose a generation of children who played video games in the eighties and early nineties) and creates new emotionally resonant compositions out of them. It melds and morphs the harsh electric squalls of archaic technology and gives them a new lease on life. It's a genre which is seeped through with nostalgia, both literally and figuratively, in every bleep.
Yet it also manages to be a fresh and attention grabbing sound. The viral popularity of free demake albums such as 8Bit Side of the Moon or Kind of Bloop have shown there is a wider public thirst for the style of music. Even radio friendly hits are getting in on the action! Most likely tied into the long running eighties aesthetic revival pop and rock music have been going through for the past ever, the use of chip sound boards has become more prevalent than ever before.
It's a rapidly growing genre with an enormous amount of diversity contained within it, and we want to help more people hear it. If you enjoyed today's song, check back each Tuesday for another dispatch from the land of chip.
So we needed to have a Halloween novelty hit. It wouldn't be That Song Blog without one. However choosing just one is almost impossible. If you're at all interested in these and other novelty hits I highly recommend the compendium Wacky Tunes. Anyway, after much consideration it was deemed best to go with the original and most ubiquitous Halloween smash, Monster Mash.
Did you know that when singer/songwriter Bobby Picket was shopping Monster Mash around, nobody wanted it? It was only when award winning producer Gary S. Paxton was played the song that it was picked up and turned into the holiday devouring smash we know today.
Anyhow. I just thought you'd find it interesting that we might have never, ever heard this song. What a world.
Also! Legos! They make everything incredible! I approve of CaptainBulldog's video.
'The Witch' makes me think of the Batman theme song on steroids. In fact the titular Witch would make the best super hero ever. A garage rock heroine roving the city late at night in a long black hearse fighting villains with sex, hair and a massive shotgun she calls her BroomStick. Goddamn yes. What was I talking about?
Right! The Sonics are old favorites here on That Song Blog. We've spoken about their brutally percussive brand of sixties rock before, so you know what to expect. It beats the shit out of you while forcing you to do a violent twist.
You know the drill- load it up and make it LOUD, because it's illegal to listen to The Sonics if your ears aren't beginning to bleed.
Halloween simply isn't Halloween without a little Jandek:
The history of Jandek is convoluted and confusing. In an attempt to put simply: the performer known as Jandek has been self publishing his own brand of crypto-goth blues since the late 70s behind many layers of obfuscation and intentional misdirection. Since late 2004 he has finally begun performing (reasonably) consistently in public.
Yet even with the artist making public appearances nothing can take away from the sense of dread and rot ground into every note of 'Naked In The Afternoon,' the opening track from Jandek's 1978 debut Ready For The House.
This is the song where a six year old threatens to chop off your toes and work his way up to your brain.
The Books are a New York based duo known for slicing and mixing spoken word pieces into rhythmic dance collages.
The track 'A Cold Freezin' Night' from their fourth album The Way Out isn't an obvious choice for a Tune of Terror. However there's something undeniably unsettling (played upon endlessly in the head-spinning video above) about the increasingly violent confrontation between a young brother and sister. And really, what's more terrifying than children? I wouldn't mess with these kids. They'd chop my hair off!
Terrifyingly toe-tapping! Right!? Am I right? Guys?
Well anyway. Happy Halloween everyone. Throughout today we will be putting up some totally holiday appropriate songs for your freaky pleasure, starting with little known rockabilly roarer 'She's My Witch' by Kip Tyler. Kip was a fixture of the Los Angeles rockabilly scene, commanding a dedicated cult following for his manic live performances and wild man attitude often incorporating bongos ( I ask you- what wild man is complete without bongos?).
'She's My Witch' was the B side to his 1958 single 'Rumble Rock,' both tunes particularly notable for the contributions of veteran sax player Jim Horn (largely known for his work with Duane Eddy). His blowsy lines are almost melting atop the icy guitar strums and echoing drum claps.
It's a song of woozy sex, witchcraft and drag races. What more could you ask for on Halloween?
UPDATE: Crikey that was quick. Apparently we don't love music as much as Warner Brothers love copyright protection and we now can't show the Kip Tyler video to you. We've replaced it with a Spotify link, hope you can still enjoy it.
This summer I had the pleasure of visiting Le Musée de la Poupée in Paris, a tucked away museum celebrating the history of dolls and puppets. There, alongside the unnerving glassy eyed stares and lavishly curated display dioramas, was a special exhibition dedicated entirely to the history of that penis-less wonder- Ken 'Barbie' Carson.
Hidden among the many evolutions, makeovers and career shifts Ken has gone through since his introduction in 1961 was his stint as a pop singer: Live Action Ken On Stage, including the packed in smash single 'A Little Bit of That Sky.'
So let's get this out of the way first: No, it's not very good. Surprised? Me neither. It's musical Wonderbread- assembly line fluff in the vein of Bobby Sherman or The Osmonds. From the pieced together rhythmic styles to the 'OOOH-WAAAAAHHH' backing vocals the song feels like a banal Frankenstein sewn together with 'choice' cuts of bland sixties pop. Dig those oh-so-fluttery flutes, the softshoe pianos, beebopping bass, the absolutefacemelter of a solo at 1:30. Ken himself sounds about as stiff and Colgate smiled as a singer based on a doll would sound (though not as authentically castrati as it should be). What's really awesome is how much of a hippie Ken proves himself to be, cheesing his way through lines like 'Life is the learning way / and there is a beautiful wizard in man.'
The song hasn't really stood the test of time, but then not many sixties branded animated bands have- with the possible exception of The Archies. In any event, it's a fascinating listen to hear what the folks at Mattel felt was a good cross section of popular music for young girls. I can't find any listings of who the session musicians were for the recording (rather unhelpfully the song is usually credited to either Ken or Mattel), so if any of you out there have some info on it's origins please drop us a line.
Otherwise enjoy what feels like a slightly too long three and half minutes of inspiring your inner wizard to desperately grasp a little inch of the sky, safe in the knowledge that after this single Ken never really dusted off the mic ever again.
Cibo Matto like writing songs about food. I could fill up many more volumes of ASAF focusing squarely on the howls and beats laid down by Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori. However 'Birthday Cake' is probably the angriest, and really that's what's important. Granted they're not angry at the birthday cake, but then it's hard to be mad at birthday cake.
The song is probably about a mother making a cake for her son on his thirtieth. It's also a violent recipe. But it's mainly about Shutting Up and Learning To Eat.
Here's where the musical proof that robots will destroy ALL OF US begins. A historic recording of the first singing computer performing Harry Dacre's 'Daisy Bell,' (which would in turn give us the most famous singing computer- the HAL 9000).
The piece was created at Bell Labs in 1961 using an IBM 704 (or 7094 depending on who you ask). The vocals were programmed by John Kelly - a Texan scientist, gunslinger and pilot, while the backing was arranged by Max Matthews - a trailblazer in the creation of computer music and sampling.
There's something haunting about the recording- it's easy to see why Kubrick took inspiration from the piece for 2001: A Space Odyssey. As a listening experience it's aurally anachronistic, simultaneously archaic and futuristic. It's the sound of a Victorian brain being kept alive by a Speak and Spell.
I present to you the first in what will be an ongoing series: Angry Songs About Food.
Today! A gentleman singing a song about cranberries and DAMMIT HE'S UPSET ABOUT THEM.
But let's be serious for a moment: In 1959 there was a deadly cranberry shortage. Cranberries from all over Oregon and Washington were covered in bad herbicide. Rats definitely died. People may have died. Thanksgiving exploded. Probably. Which of course lead to the creation of Cranberry Blues by Robert Williams and The Groovers!
I've spoken before of my fascination with Splatter Platter records; a pop evolution of the murder ballad that grew in prominence during the 1950s. These 'death discs' focused upon dangerous adolescence: teenagers caught up in a frenzy of rock'n'roll, drugs, hair, and (very often) cars. These songs would lament the death of a young person taken before their time- usually involving some sort of grizzly vehicular death.
The Splatter Platter du jour, and today's Best Song Ever, is 'Death Of An Angel' by Donald Woods and the Vel-Aires. Woods got his start as a doowop singer in Vernon Greene's group the Medallions (chiefly famous for their sexed up automobile hit 'Buick 59'). Woods then absconded with a few of the members of The Medallions to form Donald Woods and the Vel-Aires (sometimes also known as the Bel-Aires). If 'Buick 59' was doowop with a cheeky sleaze, 'Death Of An Angel' is doowop gone goth.
It opens like a beaten and broken 'I Put a Spell on You' before settling into it's jazzy funeral march rhythm. You can hear dust and cobwebs coating the sax lines, spare heartbeat drums pushing along a chorus of gently crooning pall-bearers. Donald Woods voice is the essence of late night smoke and mourning distilled into a soulful performance that never crosses to far into either histrionics or understatement.
As was common with teenage tragedy numbers, the song also contains a fair amount of theatre and drama. The background tears and wailing are both unnerving and funny. However it was this same gallows humor that so frightened audiences at the time of it's release. The song, with it's implicit overtones of death, broken hearts an suicide, was immediately banned from wider airplay. This was compounded by a conspiracy theory blossoming out of the record's B-Side, 'The Man From Utopia,' involving an alien that killed the protagonists girlfriend in the A-Side. The truth of the matter is debatable, but the vinyl was already soaked with too much blood once the rumor started and the record was immediately destined for obscurity.
New Orleans jazz/rock/funk (or, as I am now officially calling it, jonk) fusion meets hip-hop meets brass band. It will blow your mind while blowing it's horns.
From the Corner to the Block is the title track from New Orleans based fusion group Galalctic's (originally named Galactic Prophylactic) fifth album. The track features fellow New Orleans natives Juvenile and The Soul Rebels Brass Band- though it's the latter presence that really elevates it to such heights. It's a funked up car crash of time lines, genres, and a sousaphone.
'Why Don't You Smile' is an early piece of sixties garage drone from a pre-Velvets Lou Reed and John Cale (along with Terry Phillips and Jerry Vance). It was the heavy (and frankly far superior) B side to the bopping single 'Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket,' released under the band name The All Night Workers. While Reed and Cale's performing on the record is debated Cale did revisit the song solo later on in his career, but there's something undeniably special about the original article.
From it's Northern Soul vocals to it's droning psych-blues backing, the song slowly inhales before blowing viscous technicolor fumes down your ears. The record was cut towards the end of Reed's tenure as a staff writer for Pickwick Records. The session band consisted of a myriad of rising sixties musicians including Lloyd Baskin (of Seatrain), Mike Esposito (Blue Magoos) and the rumored involvement of Peter Stampfel (The Holy Modal Rounders).
It's a fascinating look at the experimental drone rock sound Reed and Cale were concurrently developing with The Velvet Underground and a powerful piece of classic garage in it's own right.
Today we wish a very Happy Birthday to Hank Williams (he of 'Hey Good Lookin' fame)!
We wish him a Happy Birthday with bullwhips! Birthday bullwhips! Rhythmic Birthday bullwhips! All to be found in today's Best Song Ever, a cover of Hank's famous hit 'Ramblin Man,' by Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan.
One night, Eilert Pilarm was visited by the ghost of Elvis. The King told him someone had to carry on his legacy- and that person was Eilert. So on went spangly jumpsuits. On went a pair of thick glasses. And on went Eilert Pilarm.
Known as the Swedish Elvis, Pilarm travels the country playing cover shows attended by his devoted cult audience where he belts out avuncular Presley covers including today's Best Song Ever 'Jailhouse Rock.'
Elvis impersonators are a dime a dozen, there are veritable clone armies standing ready to take over Graceland in a flurry of lip curls, hair wax and fatal hip thrusts. However it's this ubiquity of the Elvis impersonator stereotype that marks Pilarm out- he doesn't try to be Elvis, nor does he really want to be Elvis. Eilert is simply Eilert, a former lumberjack turned janitor who moonlights as Swedish Elvis in late night rock clubs.
You'll love Eilert because he's not trying to be something he's not. He's simply feeling the transcendent joy of engaging with his favorite music, much like you or me when we belt our favorite songs in the shower or walking down the street.
Christian Marclay is a Swiss-American visual and sound artist known for intentionally damaging vinyl records in order to create multi-layered sound collages. He is an argued early pioneer of turntablism and is closely linked with noise music.
Marclay claims he doesn't look for specific records when creating his works- he simply buys random vinyls from pawn and charity shops and manipulates them. At times he has even taken pieces of different records and joined them together to get rapidly changing and endlessly distorted sounds.
Today's Best Song Ever, 'Phonodrum' can be found on his compilation Records 1981-1989. Marclay reportedly created the unique sound in the number "by dragging a guitar string attached to the stylus across wooded records and wooden discs studded with nails." The sound is about as nuts as you'd expect from that origin.
It's like a building falling at hyperspeed into your ears over and over again as your brain rips down a conveyor belt while being assaulted by robots. Out of the screeches, bumps a squeals comes a sudden urgent and insistent rhythm. It's damaged punk evolving into a dance routine made of twisted metal and broken wood.
Now, some creditors came calling at a clearing in the hills,
And asked to see a statement that would justify her bills.
When they viewed her liabilities, the atmosphere was tense,
But when she showed her assets, her assets were immense!
It's time to enjoy a twee and titillating Tuesday with 'Nellie, The Nudist Queen' from 1933 by Stuart Ross and John Sargent.
It's hard to find much info about the record beyond the names of the songwriters. Described as a comedy duet with piano, in many ways the song is a prototype for the skewed pop that Spike Jones began producing a few years later.
If anyone out there has any info on Ross and Sargent drop us a line! Maybe they were nudists! I hope so! The world needs to know!
Short one today. And I hope you like drums. Because what you're getting is drums. I like drums.
Global Drum Project was a briefly formed supergroup consisting of four percussionists: tabla player Zakir Hussain, talking drum expert Sikiru Adepoju, Latin Jazz drummer Giovanni Hidalgo and former drummer for The Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart.
They released a single self titled collaborative album in 2007, with many tracks consisting only of percussion. By taking advantage of the unique timbre of each percussive instrument they have created a melody out of nothing but scrapes, slams and bangs (the same principle can be seen in the wildly successful West End show Stomp or in the playing style of Bongo Joe whom we featured on this site a few months ago).
Today's Best Song Ever is 'Dances With Woods,' a dizzying tumble through drums that sound like tree branch cracks, leaves caught in an up draft, and the slamming of your heart as you race from a predatory percussive poltergeist.
