MOG - fistula spume's Posts

Angie Reed Presents The Best of Barbara Brockhaus

fistula spume — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:50:41 GMT

The Best of Barbara Brockhaus is a concept dirty electro album by Angie Reed. It was released in 2001 on Chicks on Speed Records. Angie was a bassist and vocalist for German band Stereo Total. She left the band to work on her solo work in 2000. The album was produced by Patric Catani (EC8OR) and Bomb20. They’re also known for their work as The Puppetmastaz.

Barbara Brockhaus is an imaginary alter ego of Angie’s. She’s a single, bored secretary that imagines a life filled with hot gigolos and cosmos. She doesn’t seem to be a good secretary and her imagination is probably fueled by women’s magazines that are at her desk. She seems to like and hate her boss. She wants to dominate him. Babs is a very saucy and sassy girl with a very dirty mind. On the stage show Angie wears her Barbara outfit and plays slide projections of her art and pictures. It’s apparently quite the steamy show from what I've read online.

Overall I really liked this album. It’s a little short but not too bad. It's chock full of attitude and moxie. The complete title of it is Angie Reed Presents The Best of Barbara Brockhaus with music for the lazy and not the bureaucrazy. I forgot to mention that Chilly Gonzalez also participates on the track "Jungle Gigolo". Angie says that Babs is a "spicy pepper". I can agree. She had another album in 2005 called XYZ Frequency. I’m very interested in hearing that one. You can read an interview with Angie HERE. Check her out if you get the chance.

Summer

fistula spume — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:05:07 GMT

I'm done with it! No more Summer! It isn't even August yet and I'm ready to throw the towel in. It's probably because it got up to 102 degrees today and it's wicked humid. That or the fact that the air conditioners broke down yesterday at 2:00 at work and didn't work at all today. They did send us home at 4:30 but it was little consolation. I was a little sweaty and kind of hallucinating at 10:30 today. I think the heat is messing with my head. I'm not feeling very inspired to draw (I'm sure that will pop back), and I'm not feeling a lot of music lately. Some reason I got a lot of minimal/glitch/math rock/jazz kind of music and I like that but I also enjoy variety (no Japanese music jokes please). What's up with Summer?! I checked my iTunes and I've got around a couple hundred songs about Summer. That's hella more than any of the other seasons. I have to say about 30 of those are "Summertime" covers and probably about 15 are "Summertime Blues" covers. I'm done ranting. I felt like posting tonight because the heat is bugging me and I wanted to post some Summer songs. I hope they give you all sunburn! ;p

Hamster

fistula spume — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:54:09 GMT

Chocolat is a pop artist in Japan. She released this second album Hamster in 1999 on Sony Records Japan. She seems to be a bit of star from what I've read. She was born in 1978 and is the oldest of her twin sister. Her friends called her "Chocolat" in high school and the name stuck. She married her husband Akito Kayatose in Maui in 1998. He was in the band GREAT3. They have now teamed together and have released two albums as Chocolat & Akito. There's a lot of YouTube videos of them together. Their newer work is more subdued and adult sounding. Chocolat's earlier work leans more towards your typical J-Pop except she's got a really nice voice, which most music factory industry girl-bots tend to not have. This album was produced by Spanova and Kirinji. It also features a pretty huge cast of characters that helped on the songs. The track I'm posting "Fooringu ando raviingu" is made by Hideki Kaji. Superstar Shibuya-Kei bassist Hitoshi Watanabe is on quite a few of the tracks. The one song I don't like on this album (and I'm really quite disappointed) is a cover of Janis Ian's "At Seventeen". It's made by Yoshinori Sunahara (whom I love) but I really don't think they pulled it off. It's boring. There are a ton of music producers and musicians on the album who have worked with artists like Pizzicato Five, Cornelius, Fantastic Plastic Machine, Kahimi Karie, and various others. It's a pretty swell album. Very upbeat. I like her voice a lot. I'm not sure if I'll get her newer work but I'm might try to get her first album. You can check her out on her and her husband's MySpace and on her own site.

http://www.myspace.com/chocolatakito

http://www.chocolat.ne.jp/index.html

7

fistula spume — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:41:13 GMT

I've been listening to Kirinji all weekend long. I fucking love them. The more I listen the more my brain turns into a gloopy mess. I feel like an obsessed 13 year old girl listening to them. I like them that much. It's crazy. Not all their tracks I like but the ones I do like I love. Love! It's crazy. They have this song "Call Me" that I think I've played about 75 times in the last two days. Right after the 3 minutes and 54 seconds are over I hit reverse and play the song all over again. I can't remember the last time I've had a reaction like it. I've posted about them before. My post on their third album 3 is HERE. They have a sound that's like Steely Dan meets Stevie Wonder meets a zillion 70's singer songwriter artists. What's weird about "Call Me" is it really doesn't sound quite so much like any of that description but it gets me. I think it's when the accordian picks up on the chorus that really melts me. At any rate the rest of the album is pretty great too. It came out this year. I think they also had a 10 year anniversary this year as well. I hope they never stop. They're just too good.

Manamoon

fistula spume — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:22:31 GMT

Once again a Japanese band I know nothing about but I love their music. Serani Poji has a sound that to me is like a cross between Pizzicato Five and Thievery Corporation. This is their first album and it came out in 1999. They have a blog that's in Japanese that tells me only that they have at least 5 other albums since. There is a remix album of this one. P5's Yasuharu Konishi offers up a remix for it. Manamoon has a hypnotic kind of sound. The songs draw you in, and they don't lull you because they're so upbeat, but drive your mind shooting through outer space. I really need to hear more of them. I heard a later song and it was more picopoppy sounding. Need to investigate them more. If you happen upon this album definitely check it out.

Sound-Sphere

fistula spume — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:14 GMT

Even though this is Japanese I think this is probably one of the best indy rock records I've heard in a while. Petset plays a mix of jazz and indyrock. They're very dynamic with emotional twists and turns in their music. They have a very clean and polished sound. The whole album is an emotional treat. I think Sound Sphere was released in 2002. It's hard to find info on them. I'm not sure how many albums they've had or what their back story is. They make amazing music though. I think they have one other album after this one but it came out years later like '06 or '07. They're such a treat. I highly recommend them. Even if your not into most Japanese music but you are into Elephant 6 Collective type music I think you'll really like this group. They're quite special.

Pan-Da

fistula spume — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:39:48 GMT

Yet again another band I don't know that much about. Their albums are on Usagi-Chang Records. They have a Flipper's Guitar and P5 sound. It's a bit J-Popish but a little more updated and now sounding. Very uplifting music. I love their video for Pan-Da. The reprise of the song is probably my other favorite off the album. I think they formed in 1999. This album came out in 2004. I've seen some pictures of them live and they've got someone in a giant panda outfit like the panda from their video and album cover. Marxy says that the album is a tribute to Japanese music of their childhood. It's cool stuff and I totally recommend picking up some Aprils.

Super Miracle Circuit

fistula spume — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:11:34 GMT

I don't know that much about Japanese Picopop band Sonic Coaster Pop . I know they've been around since 1999. The group is Chinatsu Furukawa and Akira Suzuki. Their bio on their label says that Chinatsu likes Japanese band Supercar and Akira likes Saint Etienne, New Order, and Human League. Their second album Super Miracle Circuit was released in 1994. They make some very high octane new wave video game music. From the label I'm pretty sure their description is the best "Hi-SPEEDでcute & happyなelectro guitar pop!!" That about sums it up. This is a pretty fun album as most of this sort of thing is. It's a little short though. You can find a lot of artists that make music like this on the Usagi-Chang Records website.

Cute

fistula spume — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:52:27 GMT

Hazel Nuts Chocolate is the super cute Japanese artist Yuppa. She's worked with Capsule and Plus Tech Squeeze Box. Her second album Cute was released in 2005 and produced by Hayashibe Tomonori of Plus Tech Squeeze Box. The band was formed in 2000 with the goal of creating a picture book world with Yuppa as the main character. The album is a cartoonish romp through Yuppa's world with a lot of whisper and tiny voice singing which is soooo Japanese. The whole album is really quite fun. Check it out if you get the chance.

Dying naked isn't as embarrasing as I thought it was going to be.

fistula spume — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:04:59 GMT

Well it's happened! And while I was in my birthday suit no less. Oh the humanity. I find that nudity is probably the best thing in the world. It just started out as something in my house. Then I started taking out the trash naked and getting the mail naked. Finally I started going to the store and going to work and the community seemed to welcome their nudist comrade. Boy was I wrong. It seems the community was fed up and hired this crack commando deg5000. I don't know when the shots were fired but before I could think to put underwear on for my mothers sake it was too late. I was going to post pics of the gruesome site but I don't want to unecessarily hurt anyone else as well. You think you know people. I mean I don't get it. My cat walks around naked all the time and no one seems to care. What gives society. It's not my fault that I love streaking and listening to tunes! Here's the killer mix that was responsible for this travesty.

DEATH BY NUDITY

A (mostly) Naked Mogwars mix For Fistula Spume, by Deg5000

1. I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today - Avenue Q Original Cast

2. I like You So Much Better When Your Naked - Ida Maria

3. Let Us be Naked - Eef Barzelay

4. Start Swimming - Summer Hymns

5. Naked In The City Again - Hot Hot Heat

6. Naked As We Came - Iron & Wine

7. Sexuality - Billy Bragg

8. Falling Through Your Clothes - The New Pornographers

9. Nude - Radiohead

10. Still - Matt Nathanson

11. A Long Dream - Tyler Ramsey

12. Bathtime in Clerkenweld - Tuesday Weld

13. She Got Dressed - The Fleet Foxes

14. Sink Or Swim - The Delgadoes

15. Jackie, Dressed in Cobras - The New Pornographers

16. Eve, The Apple Of My Eye - Bell X1

17. Remember The Mountain Bed - Billy Bragg & Wilco

Well that's it. The soundtrack to the end of my existance. I really like it and haven't heard of most of it. Is it weird that I asked to die naked if I had to or is it weird that Deg's got 17 songs about it? ;p I only have 3. This was a lot of fun. Can't wait for part 4. I'm tired of dying so soon all the time. I'm a naked vampire zombie now!

The Night Is Still Young - 7:00pm Tokyo

fistula spume — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:42:18 GMT

This was a mini 3" cd that came out in 1993. It was a 3" cd single snap pack that were very popular in Japan in the late 80's/early 90's. This song was released on the album Overdose in 1994 in Japan and on The Sound Of Music in 1995 in the US. It has really great club mix of the song and an instrumental of the original. Not much else to say about it. I like the song. I really love the packaging. I didn't break it apart because I like how it looks as it is. The left side of the picture the front of the package and the right side is the back. The inside is cool too. I wasn't ever really into singles but if they looked like this I might have bought more. I think I'm finally done with posting Pizzicato Five tracks for now. The moon is no longer full so I'm probably over whatever mental strangeness I was in this week.

Five By Five

fistula spume — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:31:08 GMT

Yes it's yet another Pizzicato Five post. I'm in a funk and not the cool kind. I think I'm about a month and a half behind on posts I want to post. I have more time to post lately but I'm not feeling it. I think I might have a post block or something like that. Pizzicato Five makes me happy so I'm posting songs by them. I love how they bring on a full art package. In more ways than one. They have fantastic photos, art, music, clothing designers, and packaging. I remember seeing once they released an album or collection (or something) as an expensive handbag that costed more than a thousand bucks. They have a lot of strange non-traditional album packaging that I can't afford. I could afford their Matador releases in the US though and those were pretty sweet. I've googled some of the albums that rich Japanese kids have and the packages are just nuts. The songs I'm posting are from the Five By Five maxi cd that came out in 1994 as a companion to their main US debut Made In USA. Both are collections of music from albums that had already been released in Japan. I remember the local CLASSIC RAWK!!!! station 92.1 KKEG played the "Twiggy Twiggy/Twiggy VS. James Bond" song on the radio and asked people to call in and see if it was something they wanted to hear regularly on their rotation. Surprisingly a lot of people called in and said they loved it. I was flipping out because I had bought it a few months before (I only bought the album for the cover) and I couldn't believe it was on the radio in Fayetteville, AR. Sandwiched between all the other old crap they always played. I don't think it worked because they didn't keep playing it. Those were weird times then though because I think radio had an aneurysm when grunge and indy bands became popular and they were grasping at straws. All that aside I'm sure at some point I'll get a wild hair up my nostril and post a ton of albums. Until that point I might just keep posting Pizzicato Five. They make me feel alright. The song I'm posting is way cooler than the album version. This one has a really dope hip hop beat and sounds overall way more kick ass. Cheers.

The Audrey Hepburn Complex

fistula spume — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:21:51 GMT

"The Audrey Hepburn Complex" was the first 12" record released by Pizzicato Five. It came out in 1985 back when they were a quintet. The members featured Konishi Yasuharu, Keitarō Takanami, Ryō Kamomiya, Mamiko Sasaki, and Shigeo Miyata. They went through a few vocalists before settling on the Nomiya Maki that we know and love today. You can pick up a collection of the the old '85 and '86 records on the compilation called '85. Fantastic music and very interesting to see the early building blocks for what they would become. This early work was produced by the legendary Haruomi Hosono (Yellow Magic Orchestra, Happy End). I absolutely love the song "The Audrey Hepburn Complex". I stick it on mixes all the time. The rest of '85 is great but this song really hits a sweet spot with me. I love the dischordant piano and the song to me is a perfect pop structure. Not necessarily a pop song but you get the idea. There's a fantastic video on YouTube of the track that I wanted to post as well. Check out their earlier work if you like them. It's definitely genius in the making.

Funky Friday by Pizzicato Five (or 5 if your partial)

fistula spume — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:57:47 GMT

I've been listening to a ton of new Japanese music lately that I want to post about. I've been going through some tough times lately. My wife's mother (whom I love!) met with hospice lately. My wife is working with a mayoral candidate that I hope wins. My job sucks but I feel very fortunate to have this job because I process tons of people losing their jobs every day and more so lately. I also see tons of businesses going out of business too. These are hard and weird times. I used to bitch about where I'm at right now, and know now I should count my blessings. More and more people look at me in disgust for what I do. It's not like I picked it. It's not my fault. I tell people it's the longest temp job I've ever had. It was a temp job. I'm pretty sure I could do any job given the chance. I was only brought to this because of a 4000 person nationwide layoff because of 9/11 and the .com bubble burst. Any way fuck that shit. I wanted to post some funky tracks off of this Pizzicato 5 clear 10". I really love it. Luckily I burned these tracks from the vinyl before both our stereo's decided to burn out. Anyone know where to get a cheap receiver? I'm not looking for quadrophonic sound here. Also, I wish I could post the art from the 10". It's way cool but there are no good pics on the net. Also (I love saying also) because the vinyl is clear and the songs are repetetive there's a really interesting pattern in the grooves. I've wanted to post more lately but I'm just so overwhelmed. This post is probably anti-funky. The songs aren't though. Click on the buttons. I know my level of posting is more than others but if I can't post every other day I get nervous. Oooh I better post. I only got 3 minutes CST.

We'll Have A Time

fistula spume — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:14:33 GMT

Sometimes you find out more about a band when you just feel like posting a couple of tracks. I got Dear Nora's we'll have a time in 2001. I've always wanted to post about this album. I assume everyone got it. This album is gold! When I went to check on their album output this is the only one. They've had a couple of 7"'s but that's it! Apparently they were tour buddies with Mates of States. I didn't know that. This album just reminds me of everything I love about twee pop (or whatever you want to call it). Check out the album if you get the chance. The Japanese release of it has a ton of extra tracks (which I must find now). we'll have a time was recorded in Aisler Set's Amy Linton's basement in San Francisco. I think Dear Nora is or was based out of Portland. Looking this up made me wonder whatever happened to Aisler Set, Rainer Maria, Saturday Looks Good To Me, and a bunch o' other bands I liked in the early 00's. Investigating man needs to investigate. Any how I hope you enjoy the tracks. They've got all the soft parts in the right places. Plus their lyrics are great to boot!

The Most Wanted Song

fistula spume — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:54:22 GMT

"The Most Wanted Song" is a musical work that will be unavoidably and uncontrollably "liked" by 72 ± 12% of listeners.

I figured since I posted "The Most Unwanted Song" it would only be fair to post the most wanted one. You can read all about this on Komar and Melamid's website http://www.diacenter.org/km/musiccd.html. You can also check out the Most Wanted and Least Wanted Paintings on their site as well. Fun stuff. If you ask me I do not fall within the range of those that like this song. In fact it makes me cringe to hear this song. I did get a big chuckle though when the guy starts singing. This is a pretty sweet project.

Kick Ass USA!

fistula spume — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:15:12 GMT

When I was a kid they played this song all the time on The Doctor Demento Show. I think part of what made it funny was in the 80's every person and their dog said "kick ass" about everything. Everything was kick ass in the 80's. This song kicks ass. Cartoons kick ass. Blowing up shit with fireworks is kick ass. Barbeque is especially kick ass. Happy 4th of July all of my fellow US Mog friends.

Spiked! The Music of Spike Jones

fistula spume — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:34:50 GMT

There only seems to be about 3 or 4 collections of Spike Jones music. I got this one in 1994 and it is fantastic. The wicked awesome album cover is by Art Spiegelman (Maus). You can see every page of the really great booklet the cd came with at discogs http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=730245. ; I wanted to post some tracks from the album. It's so freaking good. If you want to bone up on your history you can check out his wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Jones. ; If you get a chance also check out the documentary The Spike Jones Story. It's very intertaining and interesting. Spike Jones is the shit!

Forbidden Zone

fistula spume — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:51:59 GMT

Forbidden Zone was an irreverant, bizarre, ridiculous, offensive, surreal, and highlarious movie made by Richard Elfman with a soundtrack by Danny Elfman and The Mystic Knights of The Oingo Boingo. It was released in 1980. Apparently The Mystic Knights of The Oingo Boingo were formed in 1972 by Richard Elfman (Danny's older brother). Eventually Danny took over the band. The film was made as an attempt to capture the essence of the stage group's live shows on film. Some people might find this movie boring or just completely stupid but to me it's got a lot of heart. Plus it's got Hervé Villechaize (Tattoo), The Kipper Kids, and Andy Warhol's superstar Viva. I won't get too much into the plot of the movie. You can google that or watch it. I wanted to post some tracks from the album. It's a surreal blend of New Wave and big band music. I can't tell if this is the first release made by Oingo Boingo. They had some early EP's in 1980 and a 7" in 1976. Their first album as Oingo Boingo was released in 1981. This came out in '80 so maybe so. Eeeenyway it's a great soundtrack. Check it out. I really like it.

We can all be Lykke Li

fistula spume — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:55:43 GMT

Somethings up with things loading when I look at Mog pages today. Here's something that I've noticed for a while now but just thought I would point out if you haven't noticed. When I click on Lykke Li under Top Artists This Month at the bottom left hand corner it automatically is linked to the page that your already on. Like if I went to Ivy's Ashanti Afrika Jah post and clicked on Lykke Li it would lead you back to that post. Weird. It didn't do it just now. This Lykke Li is mysterious. If you click on it on this post it will take you to fistula_spume/blog_post. Why is that? And who is this Lykke Li that all of the youngsters are posting a lot about? And why can't I keep kids off my lawn? And when will they admit that the space program is fake and aspartame is evil? I feel like I'm in a continual time warp. Thanks Lykke Li.

Sud

fistula spume — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:23:12 GMT

Miniflex is Yugo Katayama (aka Yugostar and Yugo*). He’s also married to Yukari Takasaki (aka Yukari Fresh). He also helps Yukari make the music for her albums. They were known as a band called Snapshot which had a mini album in 1996 called Icerink. Yugo has also worked with other artists on the Escalator Records label such as Losfeld, Neil & Iraiza, and Cubismo Grafico. This solo album (of sorts) came out in 2001. As much as I love all of his collaborations I found this album to be fairly ho hum. At best it’s like a collection of Yukari Fresh instrumentals only not as quirky. Yukari does sing though on a couple of the songs. The big thing here, as with a lot of Escalator artists, is orchestrating loops into songs. Sometimes it works (see Land of the Loops, The Busy Signals, Solex), and sometimes it’s formulaic and repetitive. I wouldn’t say this album is entirely bad but it’s not really great either. It’s 50/50. There are a few tracks that I did like so I thought I would post them. Enjoy.

Glass Candy & The Shattered Theatre

fistula spume — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:39:15 GMT

Dachmo had posted some Glass Candy last week. I felt like I would post some of their music from the earlier 00's which is a completely different story from the electro dance group they are now. They were called Glass Candy & The Shattered Theatre but dropped "The Shattered Theatre" when they went electronic. I really like em both ways but it's a pretty stark contrast I think. Ida No's voice on the older stuff reminded me of Eve Libertine (whom I adore) or various other old punk, post-punk, no wave sounding vocalists. I was quite shocked a few years ago when I decided to find some new Glass Candy, and instead of a noisy punk band, I heard an electro group in their place. I love it though. Their new music is great. I even like their cover of "Iko! Iko!". I want to say they did a 360 turn but it seems more like they just did slide into glam and keyboard territory. Everything I like about them still seems buried in the new music. When I first heard the group I thought they were one of those obscure gems from the 80's that I had overlooked. I love how low-fi and growly the earlier work is. The baselines are right up my alley too. Hope you like it.

Sniff

fistula spume — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:04:56 GMT

I don't know anything about this group. I love them though. I do know that they're based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota and that their two albums were released by Minty Fresh records in the 90's. They have a MySpace page here http://www.myspace.com/thelegendaryjimruiz. ; If I had Mog in the early 00's I would've probably spent most of my time posting about downtempo music and forgotten gems of twee pop/indiepop from the 90's. I definitely would've posted about this group. I thought I already had but their artist page and a google search tells me that no one has on Mog. This group to me sounds like you put Jonathan Richman, Stephen Merritt, and the Acid House Kings in a mortar and ground them up in to a very pleasant mixture of shyness, pain, and love. There's also a lot of references to Francoise Hardy and Brazilian music. It's kind of like indy jazz. Or some kind of twee crooner music. At any rate I love it. This is their second album which came out in 1998. This is the kind of band that (if I could afford it) I would love to play at a garden party for me. Today was mild, mid-70's, partly cloudy, a little breezy, and this album totally fit the mood. For some reason I woke up this morning and my first thought was "Jim Ruiz". It's great lazy day music. Check em out if you get the chance. They're very fun and this album has two songs about Bigfoot. How can you not like that?!

The World's Most Unwanted Song

fistula spume — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:41:44 GMT

I'm so bored. I've wanted to post this for a little while now. This is The Most Unwanted Music. I don't know about you but I say it's the most wanted! You can read about it here: http://www.artsjournal.com/quickstudy/2008/04/yo_yo.html

"The most unwanted music is over 25 minutes long, veers wildly between loud and quiet sections, between fast and slow tempos, and features timbres of extremely high and low pitch, with each dichotomy presented in abrupt transition. The most unwanted orchestra was determined to be large, and features the accordion and bagpipe (which tie at 13% as the most unwanted instrument), banjo, flute, tuba, harp, organ, synthesizer (the only instrument that appears in both the most wanted and most unwanted ensembles). An operatic soprano raps and sings atonal music, advertising jingles, political slogans, and "elevator" music, and a children's choir sings jingles and holiday songs. The most unwanted subjects for lyrics are cowboys and holidays, and the most unwanted listening circumstances are involuntary exposure to commercials and elevator music. Therefore, it can be shown that if there is no covariance--someone who dislikes bagpipes is as likely to hate elevator music as someone who despises the organ, for example--fewer than 200 individuals of the world's total population would enjoy this piece."

Komar and Melamid - The Most Unwanted Song 21:58

Hotel Bocchi

fistula spume — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:59:56 GMT

Hotel Bocchi was released in France in 2001 by music whiz Julien Ribot. Julien was apparently a professional illustrator and gave it up to make music prior to making this album. He seems kind of mysterious. That's only because I can't speak French. If there is a social networking site on the internet this man is on it. He must get a million email updates a day. All that aside I can't find any reviews of this album. It's really great. Reminds me a bit of fellow French countrymen Fugu and Etienne Charry. There's some fantastic instrumentals on the album and a few of which make me think of Air's The Virgin Suicides soundtrack. Fellow French illustrator and chanteuse Francoiz Breut is also on the album lending back up (or up front) vocals. There are a few more contributors but I have no clue who they are. Despite not knowing much about this album I think what really matters is the music. The album is absolutely dreamy. Even if you can't speak French it still captivates the mind and entertains. He has a new album out in May of '08 called Vega which is supposed to be fantastic.

Beat Vacation

fistula spume — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:43:50 GMT

I've mentioned Digiki a time or two before. I'm not sure if you remember. He's that French guy living in Tokyo that puts out the incredibly awesome Polypunk podcast. It's a really fresh mix of tunes. He also has a rather delightful blog at http://www.maudevintage.com/diginikki/. He posted sometime last year that he had an album coming out. I was interested but wasn't sure if I would get it. Well heavens to betsy if I didn't find it on Emusic. Beat Vacation is a very enjoyable listen. A bit far from the music he plays on his podcast but you can see how this well rounded individual is inspired. His music is a mix of glitch, experimentalism, and somehow a mutated one eyed, 5 armed, baby beast of pop music. If your not a fan of noises, pauses, skips, random background sound, or sudden events I don't think you'll like this album. I like to think this album is like a special online radio that has accidentally gotten the feed to 30 different stations at once, and each one is fighting to be heard. It's cool stuff. He's got a new album coming out in July. Looking forward to that. You can check out a bio of him here. Also I know I've said it before but you gotta subscribe to Polypunk. It's good stuff.

Fresh Push Breakin'

fistula spume — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:41:25 GMT

Fresh Push Breakin' is Hifana's first album from 2003. Hifana (which means "south wind" in Okinawan) is the duo KEIZOmachine! (Keizo Fukuda) and Juicy (Jun Miyata) Hifana used to be a bellydancing, didgeridoo playing, percussion group called Tribal Circus that formed in the 90's. They had an album that was released as Tribal Circus that featured and was produced by Boredoms front man Yamatsuka Eye. They went from tribal to hip-hop in the early '00's employing the use of turntables, MPC's, and cd players. They play their electronic instruments much like their percussive instruments. The music features a slew samples ranging from Japanese instruments and traditional music, TV and radio samples, commercials, classic hip-hop samples, cartoons, and various other sounds. The two really make a very fresh sound for creating on the fly. Video's and art is also a huge part of their scene. Juicy and primarily his older brother MAHARO create the album artwork and the look of the videos (which is included on a DVD with the album). This album is pretty diverse from track to track but the main theme is hip-hop and these guys throw it down in a way that is really refreshing. Check em out if you get a chance. They got the get fresh flo.

Wunderbra!

fistula spume — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:54:10 GMT

Hoopla! This album is awesome! It's a downbeat, experimental, electronic, loungey, space jazz treat for the ears. It came out in 2002 on Germany's Crippled Dick Hot Wax label. I'll let you read what the label says about the album. It was all they needed to say:

"Berlin-based Künstler Treu (ex-Dauerfisch) has another passion besides making good music. He's also a dedicated collector of weird and unusual records. That's why vinyl from quite an unexpected conglomeration of decades can be found jumbled together across his shelves. Including, for example, some quite rare productions by the American electronic music pioneer Jon Appleton.

Appleton, who experimented with electronic noise-collages during the late 1960's, released several albums in cahoots with the likes of Don Cherry and Tom Scott on Flying Dutchman Records. He was also a co-inventor of the first digital sampler - the famous Synclavier. Treu, daring, open-minded and cosmopolitan, contacted Appleton in 2002 and was immediately invited to Dartmouth College to record with him.

The result of this musical whirlwind is "Wunderbra!", an album that - thankfully - can not be conveniently categorized with any current genre-labels. Even Brazilian Native Music icon Marlui Miranda joins in on two of the tracks.

"Wunderbra" delivers a finely woven melange of electronica, space-age-pop and dadaism - nervous energy exchanging blows with delicate, graceful melodies.

An organic whole, far beyond fastchanging everyday trends." http://www.crippled.com/?cat=products&id=31&subcat=127

Cloudbuster

fistula spume — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:33:18 GMT

Don’t give this guy milk or lemonade. I’m just saying. Cloudbuster is the new album from Munk off of the Munich label Gomma. I could’ve sworn I read somewhere that Munk is his label but I can’t find it now. Gomma has put out a lot of cool stuff like Rodion’s Romantic Jet Dance, a new Rammellzee album, the amazing late 70’s New York comp Anti NY and a few other really cool things. This new offering by Munk has some pretty interesting tracks on it. My favorite is of course is the weirdest on the album. Actually I’ve enjoyed the tracks without vocals more than those with. The album starts out with more vocal tracks and then gets more into a instrumental abstract moody headspace as it goes. Pretty top notch production and there a lot of layers to the sounds he makes. I liked it. Hope you enjoy it.

Voice of an angel that one.

fistula spume — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:44:19 GMT

I love kids singing. I want to start off saying I hate Kids Bop and Jordy. That out of the way I typically like it when kids sing on albums. Here's a short list I've thought of. I love the Langley School Music Project, The Shaggs, Patience and Prudence, those kids that sing on Pink Floyd's The Wall, those kids at the beginning of the Rolling Stones's "You Can't Always Get What You Want", the Von Trapp family from The Sound of Music, that adorable Rachel from The Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players, Musical Youth, Michael Jackson, Foster Sylvers, Pookey Blow and a lot more that I can't think of right now. Do any of you have favorites? Do kids singing drive you up the wall? I personally do not like plays or concerts of kids singing because they bring back ill memories but for some reason I love kids on albums. Maybe I'm alone on this. I like it when kids sing. What do you think?

Year 2

fistula spume — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 03:18:18 GMT

Yup. That' me. 3 years ago but I still look the same. That's still one of my favorite pair of shorts. Two fucking years! Two years of MOG. Who knew?! I actually almost quit at the beginning of this month but in a fit when I was about to click that quit button I did not (thank you mog for asking me if I was sure). I have to tell you since that moment I have had some of the most fun on Mog I have ever had. Cody's post and Tyler's post recently got me so fucking pumped. It reminded me about so much fun and how fun Mog actually is. It's retarded. I recently found an actual flesh covered friend that has some of the same verve I have for new music and that is pretty sweet but I swear to the goddess (or whatever you pray to) Mog is my salvation. It's also my curse. You would think after all this time I wouldn't get worked up over shit. I do. Mog's gone through a lot of changes and I still stick through it. I feel like I have to. You have to persevere. You people that I love so much have helped me out in ways that you cannot understand. Not just those that donated to my mother-in-law's cancer benefit. By the way that was so amazing and touching for those that contacted me to donate. We were so amazed and thankful for that and we'll never forget it. I remember some drunken late nights where I felt like I couldn't connect with anyone but you guys [and gals (I'm speaking colloquially here)] and the Moggers and the Mogos was there. Most now have no clue what the Mog-O-Sphere was. It was what this was http://mog.com/posts/commented_on/all/all/all/none/all. ; I have enjoyed all of those that have came on board this year and stuck it out. I'm talking to you ardyjormkiv, sam the artist (sam's rule!), Pete Lapides, brittanybf, SunshineDaydream, Bartleby and too many others to list. There was a huge surge in March '07 that I cannot deny that I've grown closer to: contrabandwitdth, DenRa, Lady Miss Ian, King Sara (Bugsy Malone holla!), Librarianguish, and again too else many to name as well. I also miss older Moggers... I really miss LadyC, Kate, Spencer Owen (mogmail me sometime dude), Max, and especially The Boy Flood. Boy Flood I hope you'll come back in July like you said. I had fun this year talking to Dale and Andrea on Skype. I'm still open for a forum like that if anyone is inturdrested. It's weird because I feel like you have all become a weird extended family. My wife always asks me "How is Ivy doing?", or some other Mogger. I am constantly referencing someone to my flesh friends. They don't get it though. Nobody likes music like you guys do and I feel happy and enriched for it. I actually have a zillion things I want to post to describe this momentous occasion but I gotta stop. Thank you to David Pescovitz for telling me about Mog and thank you to Mark Frauenfelder for teaching me that I was a Happy Mutant even though I didn't realize that I was. I look forward to next years posts. I'm gonna post twice as much. If you missed my 1 year it's here. I hope you all stick around. Who knows what's going to happen. Heres to year 3 bitches!

Hifana for HHT!

fistula spume — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:29:05 GMT

Holee crap. I’ve found a brand new obsession. Maybe I’m infatuated. I don’t know. Somehow whilst researching Comoestas I came across this turntablist group from Japan called Hifana that is wicked awesome. Their videos are super dope too. Check em out. Can’t wait to find an album. I’m diggin what I’m hearin.

Hifana - Wamono

Hifana – Connect

Hifana – Fresh Push Breakin’

Last Mambo In Tokyo

fistula spume — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:14:08 GMT

Comoestas is Japanese DJ and producer Comoesta Yaegashi. He’s been putting out albums, mix cd’s, and remixes since 1991. He seems to have a huge knowledge bank of 60’s-70’s Japanese lounge and club music as well a love for French and Brazilian music. I can’t find a reference anymore but I remember I read somewhere that one of his parents was Japanese and the other was Brazilian or Spanish or something like that. He’s put out a lot of work over the years. You can see a rather large discography on his website http://www.monstera.jp/comoesta/heya/disco/index91.htm. The only album I have is "Last Mambo In Tokyo" which came out in 2000 on Readymade Records. He’s released some albums as Comoestas and some as Comoesta Yaegashi. From what I can tell his music as Comoestas is more club music oriented while his other music is geared more towards lounge. This album is mesmerizing. It’s like trance but instead of a pounding 4/4 beat you get a complicated barrage of bongos, toms, and various other percussive instruments. He uses a lot of Perez Prado call outs on the album to great effect. My only problem with the album is it’s 6 tracks long and only lasts for 29 minutes. It’s a awesome 29 minutes though. I’ve had this album for about 5 years now and it gets better and better the more I listen to it. I was reading on chipple.net that in 2004 Comoesta went to a flea market at Kissa Ginza in Ebisu to sell "60's-70's wa-mono (Japanese) used records and also clothes (mostly under ¥1000) including some from the Tokyo Panorama Mambo Boys era!". Plus you could get a free promo cd. How awesome is that. I wish I could buy old records off of DJ’s I really liked. I’m posting a video that isn’t from this album but it was the only one I could find and I thought it was so cool that I would add it. Also, I don’t have it but he put out these two fantastic compilations for Readymade that I really want called Midnight Tokyo: a collection of Japanese clubjazz music 1966-1981 and Good Night Tokyo: a collection of Japanese clubpop music 1967-1972. No one has it for sale except I noticed that iTunes Japan has it and its almost enough for me to get a Japanese gift card from jbox http://www.jbox.com/PRODUCT/ITUNESCARD just to get it.

The Arrogance of Simplicity

fistula spume — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:05:19 GMT

I got the 2007 release of tHe pEneLOpe[s] album The Arrogance of Simplicity. They are a electric synthpop group from France and are made up of Axel Basquiat and Vincent Tremel. It’s a pretty fun mix of songs. Diedre Dubois sings on the track "Demian" which is a pretty cookie cutter track but still a lot of fun. You can remix the track on their website http://www.thepenelopes.com/. DJ Morpheus (Samy Birnbach) provides lyrics and vocals to the almost shoegazery track "In A Storm". The styles weave in and out of synthpop and rock. It’s fairly typical but a very enjoyable album. Looking forward to seeing where they go. Also, don’t get tHe pEneLOpe[s] confused with Japanese twee pop group The Penelopes. They spell it differently.

I love my library!

fistula spume — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:19:23 GMT

Took a trip to my library on Sunday and picked up some albums to listen to. I got:

Audion - Suckfish

Cassius - 15 Again

Clientele - God save the Clientele

Deerhunter - Cryptograms

Editors - The Back Room

I've only listened to the Audion album to completetion so far. It's a really great album. I skimmed through the Deerhunter and liked what I heard. Not so sure about that Cassius album yet. I've never heard this Editors album so I grabbed it. Clientele is just plain awesome. I only made it through the first row of the cd section to the letter "E" and was outta there. I passed up a lot I wanted to hear too but I was trying to diversify. I love my library.

Mixing Business With Pleasure

fistula spume — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:55:07 GMT

This album is NSFW. In fact I’m pretty sure it’s not safe for children either. Kids On TV is a Canadian electro-punk trio. Mixing Business with Pleasure was released in 2007 on Chicks On Speed Records. It was recorded between 2003 and 2006 and was mastered by Larry Kramer of Shimmy Disc. The album is a raucous and cheeky exploration of gay themes through electro-punk, digital hardcore, booty beats, and noise punk. Their live shows are supposed to be amazing with lots of audience participation and breakdancing. The album has a cover of Jermaine Stewart’s "We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off" and Roxy Music’s "In Every Dream Home a Heartache". Surprisingly those are the easiest to digest songs on the album. Their hit off the album is "Breakdance Hunx". There are two different mixes of the song on the album and one features Boy George doing guest vocals. I found this to be a pretty entertaining and shocking album. It’s pretty hilarious in spots and definitely had my ears on edge.

Wild Animals

fistula spume — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:40:10 GMT

I noticed two weeks ago that Barcelona duo The Pinker Tones has a new album out called Wild Animals. I don’t know if you heard their first album The Million Color Revolution but I’m enjoying this one just as much. They have such a diverse sound. They remind me of a bit of Cornershop, Scissor Sisters, and Fantastic Plastic Machine rolled into one ball. There are a few tracks on here that have a more definite Beach Boys influence that wasn’t so prevalent on the previous album. It is such a goofy and fun bunch of songs. A couple is in French, a couple in German, one Spanish song, and the rest are English. They mix all kinds of genres together. It’s hard to explain. I’ll let the tracks speak for themselves. They really are a lot of fun to listen to. It was a bit of a wait from the last one but well worth it.

Friday The 13th

fistula spume — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:16:59 GMT

You know it just dawned on me that it is Friday the 13th. I checked iTunes to see if I had a track with that title and it turnes out I do. It's really cool. I also figured I would post some horror-ible tracks too. Hope you like em.

I dare you to tell me this song is awful.

fistula spume — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:28:19 GMT

I was listening to songs at random on my iTunes. Some seriously weird ones cropped up and some cool ones too. I heard this Jacknife Lee song "Cookies" and I thought it was awesome. I think Hermes clued me into him. His wiki says that this Irish man has produced U2, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, Editors, Weezer (The Red Album), The Hives and many more. He has some really dope funky beats. I looked and I had more songs. Then I saw that I have this wicked stupid remix he did of Tom Jones covering "Black Betty". I dare you to not like this bizarre strange offering. Also since I can't post tracks in the comments using Mog I made my own player. Enjoy bitches!

Mitch Hedberg

fistula spume — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:30:55 GMT

I absolutely love Mitch Hedberg. It's a shame that he had to die. He was 37 when he passed in 2005. Absolutely one of my favorite comedians. I just noticed today that there is a fan site where you can download a lot of his standup shows and interviews with him. Check it out http://hedburgh.com/media.shtml. There's also a random quote generator on it that's pretty fun.

"I got a business card cuz I wanna win some lunches... That's what my business card says, "Mitch Hedberg: Potential Lunch Winner." Give me a call, maybe we'll have lunch... if I'm lucky."

"They say the recipe for Sprite is lemon and lime. But I tried to make it at home, there’s more to it than they act. "Want some more homemade Sprite?" "Not til you figure out what the fuck else is in it." "

Flight Of The Conchords

fistula spume — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 03:45:39 GMT

Since my wife and I watched the DVD collection of the first season of Flight of The Conchords it's been the most common denominator between us. The show is golden. You have to see it if you haven't already. Comedy gold. Plus the music is dope. I've been listening to this more than anything for the last month. So good. Watch it already. Jemaine's impression of David Bowie is worth the price of admission. On another note is anybody else getting spotty email notifications this week? I've been kind of frustrated with that. To that I say:

I also love that episode from that video because it features the comic genius Aziz Ansari who you might also know from Human Giant. He's also a huge music nerd.

BeatMania Soundtracks*THE SOUND OF TOKYO!

fistula spume — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:50:36 GMT

My good friend Kohei got me this album about 5 years ago when he went back to Yokohama for Christmas break. It's such a fun album. BeatMania is some kind of DJ turntable and mixing station that you plug into your Playstation and make your own mixes. I think it's exclusively made by Konami but I'm not sure. There's a lot of them. This one was compiled by Konishi Yasuharu of Pizzicato 5. It's a really weird mix of Shibuya-Kei and is absolutely lovely from start to finish. I haven't heard of most of the artists that participated on the album. I thought I would post some tracks from it. I still listen to it a lot. It's super happy fun! The track above is my favorite on the album. It has this amazing build and break about two-thirds into it that just gets me. It's really subtle but I think it pays off. Enjoy.

It's like you don't even know me. Not that you asked.

fistula spume — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:41:43 GMT

I get this feeling sometimes that people think I only listen to electronic music and Japanese music. Lately, it's kind of been like that. Something happened in the early-mid 90's that introduced both of those things to me at the same time. It was like I took a double shot of Aphex Twin and Pizzicato 5. That was a real eye opener time for me. Before that I was way into finding out about indy rock and all manner of hardcore and noise. If it was loud and crazy, or soft and emotionally disturbed I had to hear it. I had a period before then when all I listened to was the blues. Before that I think I spent a year on Pink Floyd and after a time realized I identified more with Syd Barrett than Roger Waters, which isn't how I went into it. When I worked at a comic book store in the early 90's I developed an insane compendium in my brain of classic rock and 70's music thanks to 92.1 KKEG. I got way into obscure hippy music for a time in the early 90's. In the late-ish 90's I got really into lounge, exotica, swing, ragtime, and all kinds of good feeling music. Over all this time I got into tons of obscure or weird music from schizophrenics, outsiders, and social misfits. I had a moment when I revisited disco. I shunned it for years because I thought it was a sign of a time of my parents that I really didn't care for. I like it now. Because of my older brother I was exposed to a lot of speed metal, thrash metal, heavy metal, and hair metal. I still have a lot of his Iron Maiden posters. Because of my mother I unfortunately know all the words to most pop country music from '87 until '94. In the 2000's I have explored other things. I had a huge glam rock revival moment for a year where I looked up bands that weren't as well known as Bowie or Gary Glitter. I definitely went through a funk stage trying to find everything I missed out on. I've never been that big on hip-hop because jr. high and Eazy-E left a bad taste in my mouth. I was really into breakdancing when I was a kid though and always loved Grandmaster Flash and a slew of electro artists. I went back and revisited that too. I've found that I tend to like hip-hop more sometimes when it's just left of center and a little weird. I'm rambling now but I just wanted to let you know that I do listen to other music. There wasn't a reason to say so. I just noticed a pattern and felt like saying something. I go through patterns. I also went through these phases: Brazilian music, French music now and in the 60's, Acid House, all kinds of Jazz (chaos, free, fusion, classic, acid...), a tiny amount of Klezmer, New Zealand rock, Industrial and post-Industrial, New Wave, No Wave, post-punk, slow core, folk core, reggae, African music (all sorts), (insert nation here) music, and a zillion other things I can't think of off the top of my head. Anyway. I really just wanted to post some Sebadoh songs because I fucking love them. It kind of turned into this ego stroke post, though. Whatever. Hope you enjoy the tunes.

Tridem

fistula spume — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:13:38 GMT

Holy crap if you like electronic music, smooth soul, Italian soundtracks, funky rhythms, exotica, and amazing music production then run quickly (don’t walk) and grab a copy of Tridem by Alessandroni, Paul & Honesty. It came out in 2004 on the German label Crippled Dick Hot Wax. Alessandroni is a famed Italian musician and composer and Paul & Honesty are the glitch-hop duo also known as Slope. You might know Alessandroni from his whistling on the movie “A Fistful of Dollars”. The album is just so amazingly dynamic and diverse. My little ears were unprepared for this album. I’d say more but I think I’ll let the music speak for itself. Press the red button!

Songs On The Rocks

fistula spume — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 20:38:55 GMT

The newest album by French music producers/step brothers Nôze is a pretty fun record. I haven’t heard their first two albums which reviews say lean more towards micro house than the Parisian jazz/cabaret feel of this album. The first two things I think of listening to the album are Gogol Bordello and Tom Waits. Only with a lot more techno. I wouldn’t say it’s mind blowing but there’s some great tracks. I like the song "Danse Avec Moi" but there’s not really any other tracks that sound like it on the album. The 8 ½ minute track "Childhood Blues" sounds annoying at first with all of the dark back alley bar room growling but the song really hooks you if your paying attention. Apparently their live shows are really fun from what I’ve read. It seems they got more popular when they had tracks included on Hot Chip and Booka Shade’s DJ Kicks albums. I don’t really have that much else to say. I think if you like Balkan Beat Box you’ll like this. It’s not exactly in the same vein as all of the Balkan techno music but it’s pretty close. Check em out. If anything they’ll get your butt out of your seat.

RE/Search: Incredibly Strange Music Vol. 2

fistula spume — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:20:12 GMT

I wanted to follow up my last post with some songs from the second Incredibly Strange Music compilation. I think it’s the by far the better of the two. The first track I’ve posted was from record on how to speak hip. It’s been sampled by a ton of electronic musicians such as Wagon Christ, DJ Food, and Dimitri From Paris. I hear it all the time. Some really great Ken Nordine tracks and a cool Hot Butter song that isn’t Popcorn. There’s also a totally rockin’ sitar version of the song “The Letter”. That wacky gospel puppet Marcy has a delightfully demented song called “Join The Gospel Express”. There’s a lounge song by Les Baxter called “Terror” that starts out like a sweet “moving strings” kind of song and then it turns into some kind of a weird nightmarish Disney song.

RE/Search: Incredibly Strange Music Vol. 1

fistula spume — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:53:44 GMT

Incredibly Strange Music Was a two book and two cd compilation released by RE/Search Publications. I actually had the books first before I got the CD’s. They came out in ’93. They really exploded my head into a weird and wonderful realm of music back then. It’s how I discovered all sorts of cool artists like Perrey/Kingsley, Ken Nordine, Eden Ahbez, Les Baxter, and a slew of others. The books are filled with a lot of really great interviews with people on topics of all manner of outsider music, novelty music, exotica, sitar cover songs, obscuro religious music, and everything else you couldn’t make up. Contributors included The Cramps, Eartha Kitt, Jello Biafra, Martin Denny, Gershon Kinglsey, Ken Nordine, Robert Moog, Esquivel and a lot of other great people. I barely remember the books as they were stolen from me and I didn’t have a chance to properly devour them. I do remember Jello Biafra saying that there was a band in southern California whom he thought was the greatest punk rock band in the history of punk but they only played a couple of shows and didn’t have an album. I seem to remember Eartha Kitt being rather interesting as well. The companion albums feature music that is discussed in the book. AllMusic guide says that they’re only worth one play but I’ve probably listened to them at least a zillion times. I always stick songs from these on mixes. One thing about each of the musical contributions is that each person has some really fantastic story behind them. There’s Fred Lowrey: the blind god of whistling. There’s Katie Lee who released 3 novelty pop albums about neurosis. The spectacular Lucia Pamela who has an incredibly weird album about a trip to the moon. She was featured on Ripley’s Blieve It or Not for memorizing 10,000 songs. Stereolab made a tribute song to her called “International Colouring Contest” with a voice sample of her. These songs seems silly or weird at first but the more you look at the people and who made the music and the stories surrounding them the stranger it gets. I love it. I wish they’d make a documentary out of this. I’d buy it. Check it out. I noticed that there a ton of albums by the contributors out in the blogosphere. People love posting obscure weird music. Also I really recommend other RE/Search Publications. They have all sorts of books that cover a wide range of topics from Pranks, Freaks, Pagans, Feminism, Body Art, Body Fluids, JG Ballard, William S. Burroughs, and even Bob Flanagan: Supermasochist. I’ve read 3 other books and they were top notch. If you are into this music I also recommend the Songs In The Key of “Z” compilations and anything on the Arf Arf label.

Das Ist Ein Groovybeat, Ja

fistula spume — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:57:40 GMT

Jake Slazenger is one of the many alter egos of Michael Paradinas aka µ-Ziq. I bought this album on vinyl in 1996 when it was released on Warp Records. He has one other album as Jake Slazenger that was released prior to this one on the Clear label. It's called Makes A Racket. I haven't heard that one as it's impossible to find Clear albums. It's supposed to explore more old school electro themes than this one. This one certainly isn't without it's electro leanings. There's also a heavy funk and R&B aspect to this one as well. He has some seriously rocking synth solos in some of the songs that are so heelarious you'll squirm just to hear their awesome over the top majesty. I love this line from John Bush's review on AllMusic Guide, "It makes one wonder whether an artist can be experimental and enjoyable when using all this cringe-worthy synth, but in the end, Paradinas pulls it off." It's a fun album. I bought this one off of Bleep because I can't listen to my records. The stereo is broken and I have no way of hooking up the record player. Rather than buy a receiver I paid the $9.99 and got this album as a download. I love it. Actually if you do like it looks like Amazon has it used for around $4. I just couldn't wait. Hope you enjoy the tunes!

B.T. Express for Funky Friday!

fistula spume — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 23:58:36 GMT

Give it up for the Brooklyn Truck Express for Funky Friday people. These dudes got it going on. Solid!

Defunkt for Oatmeal

fistula spume — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:42:42 GMT

Oatmeal posted Konk so I thought I would post a couple of Defunkt songs. Hope you enjoy them. You can learn more about them at their wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defunkt

Apparently they've got a documentary out now about them. Gonna have to see if Netflix has that one.

Romantic Jet Dance

fistula spume — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:40:37 GMT

This album plays like a soundtrack to a cheesy 80’s anime movie that was produced by an Italo Disco legend. I made a post about Italian group Rodion last October after I got the EP’s. I finally got the album. I should’ve gotten it earlier. It’s way fun stuff. Definitely threw me off guard though. The songs aren’t necessarily as straight up dance floor as I had thought it was going to be. There’s a lot of drama from track to track. There’s something almost corny about some of these songs. There’s this craptacular guitar in “Bilancia Blue” that almost makes me giggle when I hear it. The tracks “J Bunker” and “Donq” have this kind of 8-bit sound in it that is so faux haunting it kind of reminds me of the game Ghosts and Goblins, or maybe the theme to the Black Hole. I can’t really place it. All that aside this is a really great album. There are some really choice builds and breakdowns on a lot of the tracks and the sounds are layered really nicely. Besides Rodion there’s a lot of other great music coming out of the German label Gomma. If you go to their website you can download mixes by their roster including a live mix by Rodion. Check it out. If your into this sort of thing you won’t be disappointed.

The Genesis Songbook

fistula spume — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:47:52 GMT

No of course this post isn't what you think it is. I've been listening to the 2005 album by the delightfully cute and abrasive Japanese picopop group MacDonald Duck Eclair. I first heard about them from an interview on the Swedish podcast MeroMero&More back in 2005. During the interview they said that they were hugely influenced by Atari Teenage Riot. You definitely hear that aspect in there music. There's also an electronic pop sensiblity and classic girl "whisper" singing. From their site their characteristics are, "many musical elementals from digital-punk,bossa nova,french pop,guitar pop etc.... contrasts between cuteness & hardness,simpleness & complication,freshness & machines beautiful melody like a French pop." It's pretty cool music. They have 3 albums out now that I can tell and a ton of tracks on comps. They've been around since 1998 and I think their sound has really gotten better from the earlier tracks. Check em out. If your interested in more artists like this I highly recommend checking out their label Usagi-Chang Records.

The Upper Cuts

fistula spume — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:58:21 GMT

This album came out in 2005. It's a compilation of Alan Braxe singles and 12"'s. The styles range from track to track but mostly stay in the French House area. This album doesn't really work as a whole but the tracks are pretty good individually. It's taken me forever to get it. I think it's worth it just to get the "Rubicon" track. A lot of people probably remember his most memorable song "Music Sounds Better With You" as the group Stardust with Thomas Bangalter and Benjamin Diamond. That's a pretty dope track but I thought I would post some other cuts that I quite like. I hope maybe someday Alan Braxe puts out an albummy album with flow and such but til that time I'll keep listening to this one and sticking "Rubicon" on mix cd's. One more tidbit that I thought was funny is on the album cover it has a little girls handwriting on it that says "nathalie". It's a cool cover.

Street Horrrsing

fistula spume — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:12:00 GMT

Reviews of the 2008 album Street Horrrsing by the Fuck Buttons are pretty hysterical. By hysterical I mean it seems this album instills laughter and fright in people. It’s been a while since I’ve had an album that unnerved me a little bit. I like the feeling and this album really caught me off guard. It’s filled with layers upon layers of reverberating, delayed, distorted noise. That and there are some lovely sounds, guys screaming, and really creepy tribal drumming. It’s really quite the progressive album and some tracks build and build in really slight increments. There’s only 6 tracks on this album and aside from the track “Ribs Out” most songs are about 7 to 10 minutes long. I’m not sure what possessed me to get this album but I did and I’m hooked. It lulls you into a trance like state that your unsure if your going to start laughing or start crying. Like a touch and go moment where your unsure if this trip is bad or not. I guess this was originally released on their website in ‘05(?) but they just recently were able to have it released. It’s a cool album. I had to chase it with a lot of Lio to wash it out of my brain when I was done. Check em out. If your into droning psychedelic shoegazery noisefests this album is for you.

Premier Album

fistula spume — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:12:14 GMT

Apparently the whole world knows about Lio but the US. Why I'm just finding out about her is a mystery to me. Lio's name comes from a girls name from the Barbarella comic book. She was born in Portugal and moved to Belgium at age 8. Her real name is Wanda Maria Ribeiro Furtado Tavares de Vasconcelos. Her first album Premier Album was produced by the Belgium group Telex and was released in 1980. There is something to this album that screams modern Japanese pop to me. When I first heard a song by her I could've swore it was a Japanese song. The music has a sort of disco/new wave/girl group sound to it. Even though I do not understand the lyrics I found this album to be a delightful breath of fresh air. It's really fun and upbeat. Lio has made several albums since this one and has appeared in a lot of movies. She currently is a judge on the French Idol show Nouvelle Star. I'm curious to hear some of her other albums. This album and others were rereleased on the ultra hip ZE Records in 2005.

Cornelius - Omstart

fistula spume — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:34:17 GMT

I originally did a post of videos for Cornelius's last album Sensuous here http://mog.com/fistula_spume/blog_post/45328. There's a new one out for the track "Omstart" and it's visually delicious. It has a valium-like effect on the brain but it's still great. There's this multi layered voice part in the song that reminds me of 10CC's "I'm Not In Love".

Cubicle Dance Party USA

fistula spume — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:44:58 GMT

Hey there Moggers. Working hard or hardly working? I’ve got a case of the Fridays! Oh and it’s the last business day of the month. Got a lot of projects to finalize. I thought I would post some upbeat music to get you through the day and into the evening. Have you seen these Cube playsets? It’s cubicle action figures with many floor plan configurations. Personally I like the Corporate Zombie action figures. Check em out and press play already! http://www.cubefigures.com/home.html

Caribbean Ensemble

fistula spume — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:47:21 GMT

I feel like posting today. I have a lot I want to write about but actually I’ve spent the last couple of months listening to books on tape and got kind of obsessed and now I’m behind on my music listening. Which I haven’t gotten to because I’m behind on podcasts. (insert frustrated sigh noise). I have been wearing out the new Matmos Supreme Balloon in the car. That album rules. I’ve been wanting to post about this Cubismo Grafico compilation I got. I really don’t like it. I’ve sang praises to this group at roof tops and posts but this really didn’t rub me right. There’s something about listening to reggae music made by Japanese people that just doesn’t quite set well. There are a few songs that I quite like though. The MC Paul Barman remix(?) of their track “Man From LaFonda” is pretty cool. I like Paul Barman so I think that helps. I really don’t like their reggaefied versions of “What A Wonderful World” or “Ave Malia”. I can’t do it. Most of these songs were released on singles or on comps. Cubismo Grafico do have a really sweet island sound (steel drums are always present) that’s mixed with their breakbeats and disco lounge samples. Something about a full “island” sound really doesn’t set well with me. I like that they compiled these tracks in an easy to find spot though. Maybe since Japan is an island they feel a special connection to their Atlantic island cousins. For whatever reason this album exists. I don’t want this post to turn anyone away from looking for albums by Cubismo Grafico. They’re really quite awesome.

Dedication to Mog and all my Moggers

fistula spume — Sun, 25 May 2008 03:16:35 GMT

Give it up folks this one is for you. Keep posting, being friends, fixing code, paying attention, listening, opening communication, telling people about bands, and loving each other. I love you all.

Shooby Taylor

fistula spume — Sat, 24 May 2008 20:08:08 GMT

Shooby Taylor was a scat singer that was born in 1929 and lived until 2003. He was "The Human Horn". Most of his songs are of him doing his thing on top of other people's recordings. I first heard about him on the Songs In the Key of "Z" compilation. He's quite the hot item for those that like outsider music. I really quite like him. I think he'll make most listeners want to barf out of their ears but to me I only hear lilacs gently stroking the tiny hairs in my ears. If you want to get all of his music to absorb into you left and right hemispheres then you can check it all out at the Shooby website. There's also this video of him performing and failing at the Apollo Theater in the 80's. I think he won but the audience doesn't seem to be into it. Oh well. If your tired of the same old same old I highly recommend listening to his catalog. You won't know what hit you.

The man with the...

fistula spume — Sat, 24 May 2008 19:21:01 GMT

I wanted to post this Bowie song just because I really love it. Not sure why but it made me think of other men songs I like. Like Robyn Hitchcock's "The Man Who Invented Himself". I noticed that there's quite a large number of "The Man With The (insert descriptive word or phrase here)" songs. I think there's probably enough for a whole mix cd. Whether or not this would be a good mix I don't know. Here's what I got so far:

Robyn Hitchcock - The Man With The Lightbulb Head

The Monochrome Set - The Man With The Black Moustache

Bauhaus - The Man With The X-Ray Eyes

Laurent Garnier - The Man With The Red Face

Tom Tom Club - The Man With The 4-Way Hips

Miles Davis - The Man With The Horn

Kate Bush - The Man With The Child In His Eyes

That's what I have. I'm sure I've got more like these in my cd's but I can't think of any right now. Do you have any? The man can be a lot of things. There's a ton of movies that start out this way. Why does the man always have to be with something?

Creative Cookery Set

fistula spume — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:17:23 GMT

I've been listening to Balduin's 2001 debut album Creative Cookery Set. It was released in 2001 on Germany's Crippled Dick Hot Wax label. Balduin is from Switzerland. I've had my eye on this one since it came out but I never got it. I really wish I hadn't waited. A lot of reviews make comparisons to say that Balduin is a master chef when it comes to cooking up a tasty tune. I can agree with that. This album cooks! There's a lot of loop and delay shenanigans at work here. According to The Story of Balduin he's been at it since the age of 8. He only has two albums and and EP so far. He's been making music for years though. You can check out older works on his website http://www.reitschule.ch/balduin/. Balduin is apparently influenced by psychedelic pop/rock, sunshine pop, jazz, film music, and techno. His beats remind me a lot of Wagon Christ's beats because they are so tight. One thing I like about this album is how crisp all of the sounds sound. Sometimes when artists use samples the quality of sound can get pretty muddy. He makes them all sound really fresh. Fresh ingredients make for a good cook. I also had fun looking at his blog http://balduin.wordpress.com/. He has some cool pictures of old video game advertisements, old synths, and just other bits of fun things to look at. I'll definitely be purchasing his second self-titled album. This one was delicious.

Jay Bharadia

fistula spume — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:34:54 GMT

It's a good thing I occasionally save things. I was contacted this weekend by Jay Bharadia. He liked my review of his album The Yeti Cave that I did last year. You can check that out HERE. Still such a cool album. He dropped a link to a new track and a link to a trailer for a new video being made for "Snowy Day". I am passing that along to the nets and my fellow Moggers. The track is located HERE and the video can also be seen on YouTube HERE. As Hermes has pointed out before you can hear The Yeti Cave on Jay Bharadia's website http://www.yeticave.co.uk/. I totally dig this new track. It's got a bizarre kind of drama to it. Check it out and check him out if you haven't already. How cool is he to share with fans like that?!

Killing Time

fistula spume — Sat, 10 May 2008 23:46:41 GMT

This has been an eventful week. I participated in the local art collective art show Art Amiss. Got a lot of great feedback and new fans out of it. Gave me an emotional boost and a lot of ideas. Today my spouse is at a bachelorette party and I'm about to depart for the bachelor party. I've been killing time for the last 2 1/2 hours by checking out music online and listening to tunes. I got all the My Robot Friend songs I'm missing off of emusic. I got a lot of other stuff too (will post in future). Checked out a lot of music from Ghana. Anyone know of a good psychedelic Ghanaian compilation? I found out that My Robot Friend has a new album coming out sometime in the middle of this year. It's called Robot High School. There's a video of a new song and you can also download the track at http://www.robothighschool.com/. I really like the video and the track. Very excited for a new album. Dial 0 was immensely entertaining. I thought I would post that track and video. I'm also posting a track in comments that he did about wanting to have sex with Canada. You can get that on his website http://www.myrobotfriend.com/. Hope your all having a smashing weekend. Ciao!