Ar Thur Comics
A31
.E.
9/10/08 5:17:31 PM
.W
By P
V
ol. I, No. III •
September 2008 •
F
ANCY PEOPLE ADVENTURES
ns
own
By Souther Salazar
om Gauld
By Dan Zettwoch
fr
ey Br
By Joseph Hanks
By T
By Laura Park
By Helge Reumann
By Charles Bur
By Jef
VLER & RAZZLE
SEXY GUNS
FOOTNOTES
“I’ve forgotten what I’m trying to find out.”
PHYSICS.
FER
TOUGH TITTY
SWIPE FILE
PUBLIC WORKS
MODERN MAN
THUR COMICS
AR
By Simon Evans
COMIC
ertz
im Hensley
By Julia W
By T
By Lisa Hanawalt
VENTURA PRESS
By Matt Furie
By Al Columbia
ed May
UENA
B
By Anders Nilsen
By T
Y
y
VE NO IDEA
edited b
BOY’S CLUB
THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS
I HA
HAMER
POETR
BLUE APPLES
Arthur31_layout.indd 1
cUNEIFORM
1/4 pagE
KEeEePing
It
Loc$l
Two transplants
from the Heart of Dixie
who went west to the land
of mesas, pueblos and
geodesic domes, Rachael Hughes and
Nathan Shineywater have found a way to
thrive beyond society’s mad dash to survive.
Trinie Dalton travels to New Mexico to meet
Brightblack Morning Light, and hear their
stunning new album in the pair’s natural habitat.
Portraits: Lisa Law
36
OctOber 2008
OctOber 2008
37
I draw the line between capitalism and what I define
as freedom? Western people have a better sense of the
web of life. It has to do with the weather.”
Nabob throws his head back and belly laughs,
before finishing the riff. “East coasters are looking for
their air conditioner power buttons so they don’t die.
It’s like, Give me some iced tea and an air conditioner, and
let’s watch the football game! In the West, it’s like, Come on
out, the weather’s perfect, leave your clothes in the grass. Go
surf! Kayak! Mountain bike!”
To Nabob especially, terrain west of the Rockies
symbolizes a history of freedom fighting, frontier men-
tality, and opportunities for connecting with wilder-
L
ness and indigenous culture that informs Brightblack
eaving Brightblack Morning Light’s north-
Morning Light’s sludgy, organic sound. Though Motion to
ern New Mexico deep wilderness enclave,
Rejoin was written mostly on the California coast and in
I finally get their obsession with the local
their van during their last tour, its ambient psych-blues
AM radio. The daily monsoon moves in as I
perfectly captures the meditative freedom and timeless-
fly down the hill from their town in my red rental car.
ness that their high desert paradise affords them.
Mexican cumbia, a variation of the upbeat Colombian
pop music, sounds interplanetary crackling through
the fuzzy AM distance. I imagine it transmitting from
“Living off the grid, not being
some far off Mexican star, a star I’d like to visit. Crank
taxed on money that I don’t
the cumbia, see what it can do in a storm. Brightblack
Morning Light’s Nabob Shineywater says AM is like Sun
need to spend, that’s my
Ra. Yesterday morning, just after I’d arrived, we were
truth-seeking path. That’s
hiking up a wash and Nabob asked, “Who are we to say
Sun Ra wasn’t from another planet?”
direct action. But I feel like a
The sky gets dark as wind kicks up. With the first
foreigner around most people
lightning crackle and boom, the radio shorts and cum-
bia cuts out—quiet for a moment, then back up, hissing,
for thinking this stuff. That’s a
scratched, and damaged. Have I blown the speakers?
little scary, and I get emotion-
Has the radio station’s tower been struck? Each light-
ning bolt slicing vertically down the flat horizon causes
say, Look, this is what you could be doing everyday if
imitate accents. Posturing is a disease, awake the
ally shaken. You see people
more disruption. Nabob also mentioned that in Los
you walk away from Babylon. But people have indi-
inner self! We both grew up in Alabama, yet we
not wanting to change, even
Alamos, scientists recently disproved Einstein’s theory
vidual goals. One of the downfalls of the ’60s was
both left for the same reason, the environmental
that light travels fastest. Radio waves now win that con-
people going out on their own, looking out for I-me-
degradation due to corporate development is
though they’re oppressed.”
test. Two days after the anniversary of the Pueblo Revolt
me-mine. I’m not saying I want to join a commune,
staggering and unchecked; it makes us disgusted.
- Nabob Shineywater
of 1860—a big deal in these parts—thunder means the
but if you’re a musician and you want to make music,
However, in the Western USA we are gathered
obliteration of human sounds. Recognizable dance
then get out where there are no obstacles. Anyone
with the many folks to protect wilderness, rivers,
beats are exchanged for something Frankenstein-ish:
who hangs with Nabob is going to get river time,
and oceans. Ecology has a place in the West’s
a live, electric orchestration so weird and marvelous
hiking time, and if we’re in a band, we’ll jam. That’s
culture, even if it’s on a small scale right now.
Motion to Rejoin is lighter, more airy, and more
it could only have been invented by Nature, the omni-
what I have to offer. I wish it were enough. But people
interstellar sounding than their last self-titled LP.
present force in this sandy region.
get distracted by the possibilities of city life. It’s groovy
This ecological dedication has ranged from Rabob’s
They’ve been digging into Terry Riley, Procol Harum,
Taking part in Brightblack Morning Light’s current
having you out, but quite honestly, I’d be here anyway.”
work for Americorps to Nabob’s support of Friends
Gert Weldon, (an obscure “’60s music poet”), and Iasos,
daily life is to enter their vision of interconnectedness,
As a houseguest, I certainly get plenty of river
of the Eel River and Earth First! in Arcata, California.
a Vangelis-like musician who, according to Iasos.com, is
enacted. Nabob, with tattered shorts, tie-dyed shirt, and
time, hiking time, and cooking time in the kitchen with
Now, their vision has extended into a more generalized
one of the “founders of New Age music.” Motion to Rejoin
long sandy brown hair, spends mornings communing
Rabob, a righteous vegetarian chef. Theirs is such a
caretaking approach to all wilderness areas, especially
is piled to the heavens with crystals, feathers, and walk-
with plants, less concerned with their scientific names
serene, centered existence that I have spent my week-
those sacred to Native Americans. They’ve moved to an
ing sticks, and isn’t embarrassed to embrace the New
than with the spirits each possess. The ultimate “sacred
end with them reevaluating Babylon, a place filled with
off-the-grid house in Pueblo territory, a 20-minute drive
Age. Song titles like “Hologram Buffalo,” “A Rainbow
herb,” which he wants legalized, aids his study of plant
friends, loved ones, and opportunities, but also stress
on dirt road from a two-lane, paved highway. With solar
Aims,” and “When Beads Spell Power Leaf” are even
medicine. His partner in Brightblack Morning Light
and toxicity. Some of us, like myself, find freedom in
panels, water tank, and prerequisite Tibetan prayer
more cryptonically stoned than those on their last LP.
is Rabob. With long brown hair, sundress, and dark
that Babylon, but Brightblack Morning Light clearly see
flags flying on the porch, Nabob and Rabob have tem-
There are fewer chords in favor of the drone, more vocal
shades, she appears to enjoy some newfound domes-
it as a trap.
porarily planted themselves—alongside an elaborate
harmonies and chanting, yet its “dirty” sound, as Rabob
ticity, working around the house and weeding the
Hopi corn, tomato, and squash garden—in a house
calls it, is less about sedated blues than long, Allman
vegetable patch. Their music is intertwined with their
whose location shall remain anonymous. I can report
Brothers-on-piano jams that conjure up the majesty of
land ethic, eating habits, political interests, and outdoor
Nathan “Nabob” Shineywater and Rachel
“Rabob” Hughes are collaborators who
that inspiration for their New Mexico lifestyle came
actual earth. In character, Rabob is a terrestrial guard-
exercise regime. Interviewing them about their songs
bonded in California over shared environ-
through Lisa Law, a photographer who relocated to New
sumably so they can beach camp.
doesn’t change anything. Punk music is pure reac-
ian, a practical, disciplined woman who speaks directly,
leads to an earful on topics they deem equally or more
mental concerns, a love of “sub-woofers,”
Mexico in the 1960s with Wavy Gravy and other Hog
This time around, in an effort to shun materialism
tion. It may not actually be creative. What is creative?
while Nabob is the star freak, one who relishes a good
important than indie rock, such as, what they’re read-
as Rabob says, and knowledge of vintage keyboards.
Farm cohorts to live communally. The self-proclaimed
in exchange for the luxury of four solid walls, furniture,
The definition varies culture to culture. I’m interested
digression. Their storytelling abilities in conversation
ing about the Obama campaign and Bush-Cheney’s
Originally from Alabama, they recently relocated to a “woman who introduced hippies to granola,” Lisa was
and a kitchen, they’ve devised a self-sustainable record-
in what other peoples bring to that word. I hope our
extend into their songwriting realm, a more poetic,
botched intermediation between Russia and Georgia.
remote New Mexican mesa after a long stint of car and
instrumental in organizing Woodstock, bringing Yogi
ing method. Motion to Rejoin was recorded using solar
music is creative. It’s up to all of us to realize what we’re
intentionally gray area. Their songs are incantatory.
I leave their compound not shocked at their isola-
beach camping on northern California’s Point Reyes
Bhajan to America, and is still a politically active com-
power, which involved installing a sign-wave inverter
reacting to.”
Both band members believe in an alchemical mystery
tion, but wondering why I don’t live the same way.
Peninsula. Brightblack Morning Light got their start
munity builder. She knows who lives on what property
to their panel system to cut the humming associated
He nestles deeper into his armchair. “I know I
inherent to their collaboration, and don’t discuss their
Nabob’s learning constellations, since he’s often
in the South, when Will Oldham invited them to play
in northern New Mexico, where the turquoise is mined,
with electronics rigged to solar. Though they take their
sound like a hippie going back to nature. But we’re not
songs in a concrete, explicit way for fear of breaking
under stars, far away from light pollution. He’s begin-
shows that led to their first LP Ali.Cali.Tucky. [See Daniel
and who grows what herbs.
commitment to conservation seriously, it’s fun to bear
running from the world’s problems and living in some
the spell. Rabob says of their songwriting, “If you really
ning to detect seasonal change according to star place-
Chamberlin’s first Arthur BBML feature, “Country Life,”
What’s more intriguing than their exact location is
in mind that Brightblack Morning Light is also rock-star
dumb hippie paradise. I literally do shed tears each day
want to dig deep and be a truth seeker, be spirit-led in
ment. Rabob can identify local trees, and has a solid
for a full band history.] Since leaving Alabama many
that the band is learning stationary, self-sustained liv-
powered, rooted in a sense of fantasy and fun. When I
thinking about, for example, Russia invading Georgia
a metaphysical sense, it’s tough. The ecosystem is rich
sense of direction. They’re prepared. Our first day
years ago, they’ve been careful to verbally address
ing. They’ve lived nomadically for several years, drawing
ask why the pair has chosen an artistic path in place
today. . I am paying attention. In reality, I think we get
with life-giving beauty, but it’s not respected and upheld
together entails hiking and tubing down a river, a good
what they cherish about their Southern roots versus
on the power of movement like African desert musi-
of being politicians, Nabob responds over our spinach
too much information. Living this far out, we’re really
in many places. On the east coast, there is no wilder-
eight hours of chat before our formal interview over
what they feel is a crime, namely, the destruction of
cians Tinariwen or Etra Finitawa. But renouncing their
salad and pasta:
not that far out anymore. Living out here, at least, I run
ness, and I feel suffocated by property-driven attitudes
dinner in their loft. When I ask typical interview ques-
the Southeast’s forests. In their artist statement—more
itinerate life for the comforts of a solid studio has influ-
“I was thinking about creative people today. If you
my own life. When I want to go for a hike, I hike. I know
there. I need somewhere to go completely wild. I prefer
tions about music and how they made their newest
a manifesto—for their new Matador release, Motion to
enced their music for the better. Previously, Brightblack
look at the words creative and reactive, they look related.
my income, how much food and water I have. I know
writing music with another person. When I play music
recordings, Nabob redirects the conversation:
Rejoin, they drafted a tongue-in-cheek but sincere sec-
Morning Light slumbered in teepees, and their last
I’m not talking etymology. I’m talking about the energy
how much food my body needs, so I’m not wasting.
by myself, I feel it’s a study to play with someone else…
“[Our visitors] slow down, focus on themselves,
tion entitled What Is Southern Music?
official practice spaces were a gas station and a church.
I get from looking at each word. I like artists who know
This lifestyle has the best karma for me. I look outside
“I sing in harmony. It’s about the texture, the breath-
appreciate the beauty around them, and they look at
As Rabob said, “If it couldn’t fit in our van, why did we
they have to react to stuff and pull it in, transform it.
and have a relationship to the land. In the city, water
ing. The muscles have to be trained a little bit. I like
me. I’m like, Hey, I have a band, would you like to jam?
We feel like Southern music should be played by
need it?” Their upcoming tour includes fourteen dates
Creativity can sometimes be confused with reaction.
and electricity are metered. Walking down the sidewalk,
the idea of discipline…I really dig an enhanced way of
That’s why I brought you here. It gets really simple. I
Southern people and don’t dig it when other folks
in three weeks along the Pacific Northwest coast, pre-
Creativity can be used as a tool, whereas reacting
chances are there’s a camera pointed on me. Where do
projecting what’s coming out of our mouths and instru-
38
OctOber 2008
OctOber 2008
39
that won’t allow my jaw up. My accent will stay with me
Window Lights and two Quiet Quiet Ocean Spells. The
forever. I was forced to take speech therapy classes to
first Window Lights in Bolinas were some of Joanna’s
sound less like a black person! That’s college prep high
[Newsom], and Devendra’s [Banhart] first shows. After
school for you.”
Bolinas, they banned camping on the beach because
Delay pedals aside, I’m excited after we finish our
there were about a hundred of us. I was bummed. We
eggs to delve into investigating some fascinatingly rare
went to Big Sur, and the guy who helped with the event
equipment in Brightblack Morning Light’s studio. Gear
kept doing it, so that was good. Small is good, but what
fills their cabin’s gigantic living room—organs, mello-
about mainstream festivals? Phish is dumb. I hoped the
trons, vibraphones, and several amps that these vintage
Dirty Three would be the next Grateful Dead.”
instruments are processed through. Not exactly easy
He reveals his deeper motives for congregation.
gear for itinerant wanderers to haul. Schlepping her
“I worry about kids today. Who is there to show
signature Fender Rhodes organ around over the last
them the way? There are no great public places left
five tours, Rabob has actually incurred back injuries.
to host the parking lot scenes that [the Grateful
After we eat, Nabob shows me how they took out the
Dead] used to have. Cops would bust that up now.
organ’s heart and re-installed its electronics into two
Homeland Security? They point it back on the people.
portable cabinets that look like small guitar amps. We
I hear at some festivals now, not only do they have pot
plug in the vibes, which are basically metal marimbas.
dogs, but they also tax you on the street value of the pot
Hammered with mallets, their vibrato sounds like what
you’re carrying. Where will positive group references
people thirty years ago thought the future would sound
for psychedelics be? ”
like. One keyboard, called an Orchestron, “reads notes
“A lot of music festivals combine positive bands
off vinyl records” and is what BBML played on “Another
with bands that express a lot of hate. You don’t want
Reclaimation,” one of the spacier, Pink Floyd-like jour-
psychedelics in that environment, and kids have the
neys on Motion to Rejoin.
drugs either place. Where will kids meet leaders in a
public place? This isn’t going to happen online, or by
looking at iconic posters in a music store.”
“I worry about kids today. Who
As we finish taking photos, we leave the sacred
is there to show them the way?
turf to resume driving, agreeing to pull our car over to
watch the sunset. I contemplate what Nabob is getting
There are no great public
at. I’m no Deadhead, but I get the parking lot scene
places left to host the parking
lament. Loss of personal freedom means a decrease
in one’s ability to make smart decisions. At the core of
lot scenes that the Grateful
Brightblack Morning Light’s sound is an expression of
Dead used to have. Where will
hope that kids will not tolerate government interfer-
ence in their cultural lives.
positive group references for
Brightblack Morning Light’s music aims not to
psychedelics be?”
bottle the essences of their pristine living locations. It’s
about mirroring, creating a blank slate for listeners to
- Nabob Shineywater
reflect upon their own environment. The band’s music
is inseparable from its politics. “Wilderness first, music
second,” Nabob repeats throughout my stay.
Nabob’s morning studio tour is nearly complete
after he plugs in his Clavinet, shows me how its “man-
As I drive down the mountain through the
thunderstorm, I come away reminded of
the Aldo Leopold-ian land ethic that din-
ments. This is mostly about the live scenario, the direct
They’re daily life. Their last CD came with rainbow
dolin strings are cross-woven with yarn,” and says
ner conversation with Brightblack Morning
moment. Nabob’s taught me a lot about direct action,
spectrum 3-D glasses, a fun homage to what Nabob
their newest pride and joy came via FedEx recently—a
Light implored me to consider. I may have differing
on a daily level, and what that means as an individual
takes seriously—the energetic capabilities of rocks
custom mini Rhodes Piano Bass, one of the few left in
theories about how to live harmoniously with nature,
regardless of where you are.
and natural light forces. I want to see rainbows
existence. It’s inscribed in gold to Rabob from the man
but Brightblack Morning Light challenge each of us
“Are we politicians on a creative level? We kind of
every day! Am I oppressed? I wonder, chopping kale. I
who restored it. Though they love the big Rhodes, this
to take personal responsibility. I leave my time with
are. People who take direct action are the truth seekers
didn’t think I was. Granted, there are myriad defini-
one, in a 2x2-foot square compact travel case, has a
them grateful that Rabob invited me to slow down in
I really respect. Julia Butterfly Hill was protecting trees
tions of oppression, and Brightblack Morning Light
three-octave range and can play the same notes as the
her demure, individualist way, and Nabob through his
while we were [in the redwoods]. Now, I’m living alone
aren’t preachers. Their new songs, like “Oppressions
big one in one-third the keyboard space. It looks like
charmingly twangy speechmaking:
rurally, and I’m fine with that. Living off the grid, not
Each,” use lyrics to convey a generalized fight against
a miniature golden harp when you peek at the strings
“This land has changed me. I always went out into
being taxed on money that I don’t need to spend, that’s
all oppressions in lieu of justifying their way of life,
behind the keys. Folded into its suitcase, it weighs as
to the wilderness, with my food from the local co-op or
my truth-seeking path. That’s direct action. But I feel
which may not be for all of us:
much as three typewriters. Nabob pets it and carries it
farmer’s market, but this has been about reconnecting
like a foreigner around most people for thinking this
around like a baby.
Nobody wants oppression,
and watching food actually come about. I always won-
stuff. That’s a little scary, and I get emotionally shaken.
Our second day together involves driving across
we don’t need oppression
dered about nomadic people. They didn’t have a place
You see people not wanting to change, even though
mesas and pueblos to a geodesic dome, then out to a
to go buy food; it was a wild system. Grew corn in the
they’re oppressed.”
This gospel tune is about uniting forces, not nit-
canyon where wind and rain has carved the rocks into
places they frequented. I’ve studied industrialization
to do without. If these city planners [want] to get into a
that power is dormant in each of us. Why is it that we
After our full day of “mind and body workout,” I
picking causes. For “Oppressions Each,” they recruited
cone-like spires that elves probably inhabit. We won’t be
and agriculture. Once nomadic life stopped, people
kinder place, maybe disenfranchised people, retarded
put that in history books like it’s in the past and read
fall asleep reading a borrowed book about medicine
renowned background singers Regina and Ann McCrary,
there after dark to see elves emerge, however, as this is
needed to grow crops and thus fenced off everything.
people, people who supposedly are of no use to society
about it when it’s here right now? Wait a minute, man,
wheels, feeling like I just survived a juice fast, some
who sang harmony for Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder. I
sacred Native land and it is closed to the public after sun-
Started claiming land.
can work the gardens. The progressive society has to
that is live energy and it’s ours, now. If it’s used right,
extreme cleanse. I wonder how their utopia actually
can tell these women are key, considering the Mavis
set. Fair enough, we all agree, though Nabob becomes
“There were always cities, I realize. People say
ask itself, is food something we should be charging for?
if you act now, you can bring about some real human
plays out when I’m not around. Besides surviving last
Staples shrine BBML has constructed by the front door.
slightly obsessed with planning a strategy for convincing
they’re the most efficient way to house people. But
With our technological leaps, should we still be driving
experience.
winter at 8000 feet, when Rabob admitted to some
These soul-singers lighten the molasses-like drawl of
the Indians to let him camp there in upcoming weeks.
are they efficient? When everything’s trucked in? The
cattle? Or can we use technological advance towards
“That’s how I see this shakedown.”
stir craziness after being snowed in for 30 days, living
Brightblack Morning Light’s instrumentals and vocals,
“This is one of the most psychedelic places ever!”
harder you look, the more nomadic culture looks bal-
giving people free food and medicine?
their dream seems to be working. I’m curious to put my
while their trademark delay is heavier than ever.
he keeps saying during our walk.
anced. But then again, putting the seed into the ground
“I don’t have the tolerance. When I go into a town,
skepticism to the test.
“We like different types of effects,” Rabob makes
Lisa Law is a sweet tour guide, and I don’t feel
and wondering, watching it turn into two little leaves to
it hurts all the way. I can’t just walk past people out
Rabob wakes early the next morning and makes
clear, though, while we cook. “It’s not all de-lay, de-lay.
guilty burning fossil fuels for this epic ride. Brightblack
make me food is amazing. Life here has demystified for
there making a good living off exploiting others. That
a giant olive-tomato omelet in the cast iron skillet,
Plus, our Southern accents are not very defined. It can
Morning Light do often lament their one non-green
me some reasons why people stopped being nomadic,
disconnect is a problem. Every poor person out there
slices it into three wedges. A trailing philodendron
get mushy.” Coming from Rabob, “de-lay” sounds like
hitch—driving a tour van. For their last winter “Crystal
now that I can see magic in farming. Gathering food
is a mighty one with something to give. We each have
pinned up over the stove transforms the cooking
a bird call.
Totem Turr,” they calculated their carbon emissions
while traveling has its downfalls, of course, but it has
the power that Gandhi had. It wasn’t a special day,
Trinie Dalton lives in Brooklyn. Her new curated book,
area into a jungle, offering green to offset dry sage
Asked about delay in the recording studio, Nabob
then enlisted Matador to purchase enough carbon off-
benefits too. What is a city planner thinking about
where the sun had multiple hues, and everyone had
MYTHTYM, comes out in October from Picturebox. She's
scrub and gnarled piñon pine outside. Rabob works
tells a twisted story from his youth, equating his drawl
set credits from Terrapass to counterbalance it. They’re
these days when he knows most of our resources come
on the perfect shoes and clothes, and the food tasted
currently teaching “Book As Art” at NYU.
stovetop while I assemble salad and fixings, keeping
to delay, its musical equivalent.
a dedicated pair, and this reminds me of the intimate
from the blood of others? How can this city planner
right, that Martin Luther King Jr. came along and gave
last night’s sunset rainbow and the river we floated
“There are different kinds of Southern people.
Quiet Quiet festivals they hosted a few years back. I ask
go to sleep every night knowing that he doesn’t have
his speech and changed world history. No! That was
New Mexico-based photographer Lisa Law is now working on
down fresh in my mind. Rainbows, crystals, and
Some have a proper thing and some lose it quick.
them how they managed securing the land and keep-
a design down that’s free of oppression? It’s not that
another fucking average day, a day that extra magic just
her biography which includes her favorite inspirational images
walking sticks are not metaphors for these people.
People like me have some kind of muscle procurement
ing shows low-impact. Nabob says,
happened to shoot out. Everyday has that potential, and
“There were five or six. I remember two Quiet Quiet
hard. You just choose what to do with in life, and what
of the last 50 years.
40
OctOber 2008
OctOber 2008
41
44
OctOber 2008
OctOber 2008
45
BULL
The basement scene in the UK, as
far as heads-down psyche tone guh,
has been sweetly flowering as of late
though we can only imagine how dank
those dungeons may be. But what do we
know, maybe they are the royal swank-
ness with go-go birds in cages. Axis
Mundi, a UK/French trio of peeps
Tong
who’ve done free-time in Stuckometer
and Cooper-Jones and float between
Manchester and Lyon have a couple of
new releases out that are very beautiful
hash-blown hush ‘n’ roar kissings. Flute,
voice, electric guitar and a hallowed head
By Byron Coley Ue
of heavenly tape-head humidity combine
in ways that are startlingly gorgeous
and thrilling. Start with their self-titled
cassette on Lotus Birth and follow with
and Thurston Moore
their split with solo guitar reverb warlock
John Fante. Both tapes come in lovely
illustrated bags by the kids from Wizard
Puke and Rayon.
got a very nice new book of poems by
longtime Milk Magazine editor Larry
Sawyer. It’s called Disharmonium
(Silver Wonder Press), and is a
funny, surreal collection that combines
mundane imagist language into a rich
new mofungo. Famous west coast outlaw
Chris D, is also promising a new book
of poetry “soon,” but in the meantime,
Exploring the voids of all known undergrounds since 2002
upper left:
left, above:
we’ve been scanning his no-longer-new,
Chris D’s Outlaw Masters of
Diamond Comics #2
but still excellent Outlaw Masters
Japanese Film
top right:
of Japanese Film (I.B. Tauris). Not
bottom row, from left to right:
The Shortpants Observer #1
knowing much about Japanese cult cin-
Larry Sawyer’s Disharmonium;
above:
ema (except that we like it), this book has
Expedition Into Page by Rick
Lost Mind Doodles by Sick Llana
Best thing of this issue, perhaps of this
this into an Lp—hey, maybe we will! #2
Most whacked out record of the issue
been extremely interesting, since it col-
Myers; Anal Drill's cassette, Take
year, this decade, this whatever, is
is The Death Convention Singers
has to be the finally released Spare
lects a bunch of raw filmographical data,
Your Clothes Off And Beg
Where Demented Wented: The
with their Corrido cassette (sick sick
Parts Lp by Bad Boy Butch Matson
plus historical overviews and interviews
Art and Comics of Rory Hayes
sick)—we thinks they come from this
(Bennifer Editions/Dutch Boy).
with some of the key players. a good
by Dan Nadel and Glenn Bray
kind of new nutzo neue-New Mexican
Supposedly this pro wrestler-fantasizing
title to chain to your toilet. could say the
new Lp in a while by german minimalist
across the bow from the albany branch
(Fantagraphics). The late Rory Hayes
scene heralded by the Sick Sick Sick label.
crazed genius had been assembling his
same thing for The Queen of Black
Asthmus Tietchens. Teils Teils is a
of the freak-led sub-underground. From
has long been known amongst certain
It has been written they were some kinda
goofed zappa/beefheart meets smegma
Magic (Mondo Macabro), but the sad
splendid raft of static spliced in delicate
somewhere in the same region comes the
heads as the most insanely primitive
demented a capella scum chorale but this
meets fucked-take on new wave song
truth is that precious few people have
ways to the pineal glands of the gods. It’s
second Lp by Wicked King Wicker.
and thoroughly unfettered of the ’60s
tape is most notably not THaT—what it
stylings with cut-up TV ads/noise/
a dvd player intimately connected with
one of those records that gets deeper
Flydust (WKW) is another solid
underground cartoonists. His own titles
is is 0-fi guitar junk drone and it plays
dialogue for many years and pressing
their commode. Too bad. This Indonesian
the later it is at night, and appreciation
slub-wall of guitar-spuzz and murk with
included the Bogeyman series, Cunt
in a raw and involving deliciousness. #3
plants got concerned by the liberal usage
screwball horror extravaganza is one
is directly related to intake of Scotch
devil-ass overtones. They’ll have a split Lp
Comics and various anthologies. Long
is Nebulosis, the first release on the
of pop media. How Bennifer got wind of
of the more over-the-top visual messes
and cigs. So don’t be a priss. also in
with Skullflower soon, which should be
obscure, a good bit of his work was
celebrity Sex Tapes label by a new Ohio
this rogue mania masterpiece is anyone’s
ever created, and it should be available
this package is Stranded, a set of ten
an indicator of sorts.
collected into a bootleg in the late ’80s
(most likely columbus) long tone drone
guess but thank the canadian stars they
for viewing in every room of the house.
postcards with text in the anti-Natural
Zac Davis, infamous blasted guitar
called Come Here, Bear (or something
animal called Fairy of Eagle Nebula
did. It is BONKEROONI. Someone hook
a recent conversation with Rick Bishop
mode. The pieces are similar to some of
nymph from Lambsbread, has an Lp on
similar), but this is the first authorized
who is an exciting addition to the wild
us up with his earlier Twisted & Bent
about Indonesian exploitation cinema
Scott’s recent spoken performances, and
Olde English Spelling Bee recorded
anthology of his work and it includes
contempo legacy Ohio has been so
release puhleeze.
made it sound like there have been lots
represent a weird Futurist combination
with a few of his imaginary pals under
some wild unpublished material, a solid
effortlessly displaying the last few years.
of philosophy, humor and Situational
the aegis Sky Juice. It’s called Hard To
historical essay by the Savage pencil, a
Unlike most of that zone’s more synth
smudge. There’s also a DVD of Scott’s new
Kill and it’s surprisingly sane compared
lovely piece by Rory’s brother, geoffrey,
classicist exercises this is guitar/amp
film, Here’s to Love!, which feels like
to his history of overdriven greg ginn-
and an interview with Rory himself. This
huzz and howl in a desperate grey-screen
a feature length masterpiece as impen-
meets-Rudolph grey string strangling.
stuff’s not for everyone, but if your brain
scree. Three sweet teets to be snuggled,
etrable as chris Marker at his vaguest.
There is some of that here, no worries, but
bends far enough, you’ll be able to let
me mates.
of drool-worthy features produced there,
Carter, who has a swank new Lp called
Three or four or five people drink, smoke
there is also some very choice O-mind
Hayes’ art all the way in.
Best music fanzine we’re seen this
but only Mondo Macabro seems inter-
Shots at Infinity 2 (Important). The
and wander while the world changes
investigations. More typical white ghetto
Word is out on The Hospitals’ new
month is probably Married Life
ested in getting copies into Occidental
companion piece to a studio cD, this
around them, and music acts as text. It’s
style scribble graphix (to make Bill Nace
self-released Lp Hairdryer Peace. It
Quarterly by Mark Van Fleet. It is
hands, and we say: More power to ’em.
album is live in Maine and albany, and
pretty amazing.
puke) grace the paste on covers. Only 300
sounds nothing or everything plus so
definitely out of columbus and combines
It’s unclear what the future holds for
shows carter at his most abstractly blues-
Received another excellent entry in the
copies. Supposedly two more Sky Juice
much more than anything they’ve ever
excellent reviews with interesting
Hototogisu, the trans-atlantic duo of
wailingest. The sonics are composed of
Subscription Edition Series by Rick
Lps a-coming from Olde English Spelling
committed to wax. Truth of the matter
archival bits and a really nice feature
Marcia Bassett and Matthew Bowers, but
layered, floating, noisy guitar, wanked
Myers. This time out, Rick has created
Bee before the year is dick.
is it lives up to the hype of being the
(in the spring ’08 issues, anyway) where
their most recent Lp Under the Rose
out of form for the sheer pleasure of evil
something almost resembling a proper
You know life is excellent when a new
most goddamn killer brain-snaggling
artists critique their own discography.
(Heavy Blossom) is a fully stimulat-
creation. It’s a gorgeous and very spaced-
book, Expedition Into Page. It’s closer
batch of tapes comes in from Dead
rock n roll noise fucked Lp we’ve had in
This one has John from Emeralds back-
ing set of guitar/amp/mouth noise that
out album.
in some ways to his earlier collaborations,
Audio. This a kind of sub label to
a long time. Essential garage-fuzz meets
pedaling through fields of glory, and it’s
attacks the air in a way that’s both
The waves of great Lps spurting out of
presenting a selection of photos, drawings
Deadline Recordings the Houston,
cassette-fi noise huzz meets harry 1/2 jap
pretty great. Not exactly a music ’zine,
laconic and forceful. Sorta gives the term
the recently reignited Siltbreeze label is
and hand-scrawled texts that (as always)
Texas empire lorded by Richard
velvets pussy skum love. Wipe off yr dick
more a lit ’zine with music content, is the
“three sheets to the wind” a new concep-
one of the more consistently cool things
echo back and forth between each other
Ramirez. Dead audio concerns itself
and scam this sput now. Seriously boss.
wonderful Bejeezus out of Louisville.
tual framework. Marcia’s solo project,
happening in underground usa. Eat
in very unexpected ways. cool. a nice pile
with sick harsh walls of sex-psychosis
Three out of absolutely nowhere
We got hipped to this by the great aaron
above:
Zaimph, is represented on the Live
Skull’s Sick To Death is a treasure for
of primitive psychedelic art is available
noise. We’ve been flipping over the
cassette releases that are as sexy as a
Rosenblum before he split town for
Married Life Quarterly by
Recordings from August 2005 Lp
those of us who swarmed on those early
from Flipped Out Records in the
new Anal Drill cassette, Take Your
tanqueray & tonic-buzzed fuckbuddy. #1
Montreal, and it’s a beaut. Heavy, weird
Mark Van Fleet
(Volcanic Tongue). Unlike some recent
basement-fi guided By Voices Lps (“gather
form of Lost Mind Doodles by Sick
Clothes Off And Beg. anal Drill is
is Angels In America with their Cunt
Southern culture, with interviews that
Llana
Tree Grammar
performances, which have been vocally
the amps!”). Yes, a lot of bands have tried
. If we’re not mistaken, her work
Ramirez with the long-standing Japanese
tape which oozes
fill in cracks on everything from Shirley
right, top and bottom:
based, the material here sounds more
to ape that particular genius but Eat
for the estimable Burnt Hills collective
noise project Isabella K. and they pro-
primordial no wave guitar and bored/
collins to Emmet Miller. a wonderful
Axis Mundi's Axis Mundi
like solo guitar, run through a weeviling
Skull do not. They just blare with pop
is musical as well as visual, but this is an
duce an almost meditational grind, which
stoned femme vox glug. Someone turn
read.
and John Fante
gyroscope and presented as an absolute
skuzz charm from beginning to end. also
enveloped collection of color and B&W
seemingly seeks and finds a dour stasis of
upsetter of balance. Meanwhile, Marcia’s
redoubtable is Scott Foust’s Swill Radio
drawings she did under what well may
blood-gorged blankness. The b+ w cover
partner in her new duo, Zaika, is Tom
imprint, which has just issued the first
have been the influence. a great spurt
photo of a nude gentleman roped and tied
46
OctOber 2008
OctOber 2008
47
on a suburban carpet perfectly exhibits
MV&EE. Meet Snake Pass & Other
Assophon: seadonkeys.com/assophon.html
the slut-love sounds within.
Human Conditions is a sweet, mellow
Axis Mundi: myspace.com/theeaxismundi
got a few eye-pleasing graphics
mostly duo set (with some help from phil
bejeezus: bejeezuszine.com
anthologies here. The Shortpants
Todd), recorded in Sheffield. The avant-
bennifer editions: geocities.com/gastric_influence/beniffer
Observer #1 (Shortpants Press) is
trad train starts here.
eat Skull: myspace.com/eatskull
a sweet, square-cut collection of artists
One of the best spurts outta the
ehse: ehserecords.com
from chicago. The printing quality is
gate comes from the pac Northwest’s
Fantagraphics books: fantagraphics.com
a little odd, but the contents are excel-
Assophon label. In no real order, their
Flipped Out: flippedoutrecords.com
lent. Longer, weird stories in a variety of
first emissions are three Lps. The first
Floating World comics: floatingworldcomics.com
styles. Diamond Comics #2 (Floating
is Rendezvous by Spider Trio, an
Heavy blossom: hototogisu.org/heavyblossom.html
World) is a newsprint compendium that
unholy meeting between Wally Shoup,
the Hospitals: hairdryerpeace.com
also veers all over the style map, but
and climax gold dudes, previously avail-
I.b. tauris: ibtauris.com
does it well. The work ranges from paper
able on cDR. Recorded live, this trio (who
Lotus birth: lotusbirth.co.uk
Rad-style eye-squink to ratty conan-
don’t seem to have toured) display a very
Married Life Quarterly: mvanfleet@hotmail.com
esque junque to sludgey noise art. Very
strange and compelling set of chops—
Milk Mag: milkmag.org
delightful. also up is the new issue of
jazzic and densely free-rock at the same
Mondo Macabro: mondomacabrodvd.com
Eric Reynolds’ Mome (Fantagraphics),
time. One of Shoup’s best sessions yet.
Olde english Spelling bee: myspace.com/oesbee
which may be the best contemporary sur-
Live at the S.S. Marie Antoinette
Shortpants Press: shortpantspress.com/
vey of the current graphic scene this side
by The Sea Donkeys is the second
Sick Sick Sick: sicksicksickdistro.com
of Blab. It’s another amazing collection
album by these Seattle clump-fisters, and
Silver Wonder Press: silverwonderpress.com
of material and if you have peepers, you
it may be even more slack-jawed than its
Siltbreeze: siltbreeze.com
should take ’em out and use ’em.
predecessor. What’s here is co-ed pirate
Singing Knives: singingknivesrecords.co.uk
Highly ghost-assed sounds emanate
fudge-packing with covers of ayler and
Subscription editions: c/o Myers, 5 clinton Ave #2L, Holyoke MA 01040
from Baltimore’s Ehse label, with their
Faust and who knows who else? The ESp
WKW: wickedkingwicker.com
newest Lp, Dark Cabinet of the
godz reference is much more on-target
Strange Weird. Ric Royer reads a
here than it usually is. Last of the three
If you want the possibility of lickage, please send TWO (2) copies
bunch of stories in the Ec creep style,
is A Primitive Future OST by The
of vinyl, cassette, book, mag, DVD or whatever to:
while G. Lucas Crane crafts an ambient
Factums. This Seattle-based combo has
Bull Tongue, PO Box 627, Northampton MA 01061 USA.
musical/sound-effect setting for ‘em. It’s
produced a thrilling run of records and
like a somewhat surreal update on those
this ’un’s no letdown. Their craft is in
Massachussetts-based columnist Mr. Byron
Columnist Thurston Moore is in the
old Halloweenish Lps of our youth, and
manufacturing a buzzing load of loopedy-
Coley as always, is searching for what he
Matador recording artists Sonic Youth
is packed inside a great silkscreened box,
doofed sometimes-electron-based rock
hates to find. He hopes that his spoken
band whose next LP is not called "The
with spider webbing and bat-wings up
that reaches deep into your side pockets
word collaboration with Thurston Moore,
Eternal"—that title's already taken (by
the goddamn wazoo. Very hep. also hep
before exploding. It’s a great trick.
"Meet the Meats," will soon be released by
Joy Division).
is Singing Knives’ Lp edition of a fine
Thanks.
Chocolate Monk.
live set, previously issued as a cDR by
C&D
Two confirmed schmucks
grapple with the big issues.
opposite:
epileptics, mental health professionals, happy
D: Let me see this. [grabs cd sleeve] Aha! I
The astonishing
families, incest victims, and runaways.” Wel ,
should have known by these golden tones—it’s
Sahr Ngaujah as Fela
there you go. the fact that St. Dymphna’s is
another Dan Auerbach production.
Anikulapo Kuti in
also a the name of a bar on St. Marks Place is
C: He of the black Keys.
Fela!
simply a bonus. Would that we were there,
D: Yes, I know. the bearded bandana-wearing
above left:
indulging in libations.
one.
Hacienda, with
D: What I hear is a post-Animal col ective/
C: I’m talking to them, you idiot.
Humpty Dumpty
black Dice loop daze with zero interest in
D: Who?
(rear)
melody.
C: the readers.
above right:
C: A rather reductionist assertion, sir. She’s
D: What readers? [laughter]
Kasai All-Stars,
singing but I can’t understand a word she’s
C: Yeah wel … So, Hacienda are from that hot
congotronicizing
saying. And admittedly I can’t find the rhythm
gateway to the great southwest, San Antonio,
left:
either. And yet I must admit that I kind of dig it.
tejas. three brothers with a last name of
Gang Gang Dance
D: Perhaps it is your infamous fondness for
Vil anueva plus a cousin with the last name
have a sit-think
weird Greek mystic chicks?
Schwebel.
C: Silence in the lower ranks! Once I saw this
D: [Repeating lyrics of “Useless and Tired”]
Gang Gang Dance perform at the Hol ywood
“Never want to work in the day/no reason for it
bowl. It was like euripedes interpreted by New
any way/any troubles I sleep em away.” I
York eye And ear control. Firmly in the
resemble that remark, as they used to say.
recombinant tradition of Adrian Sherwood, Jon
C: Who is this “they” that you keep referring
Hassell, bill Laswell…
to?
D: “Inner Pace” is like advanced casio atomic
D: [Repeats lyric and melody] What is that?
dub, but I can’t find something to grab onto. My
“When you’re awake you’re out of your head”?
fingers itch. there’s no groove, no bassline to
C: Ah! Nice nod to Los beatles.
lay back in. they do everything I don’t want a
able to understand in 2008, the man and the
charisma, the undeniable conviction, that he
D: [sips beer] this is very sweet, warm music,
group to do!
music. Wel , I was total y wrong.
had. Did you know how musicians and other
but there’s something else. Like that moment
C: Perhaps we should discuss your unrealistic
D: Wouldn’t be the first time!
artists are not al owed to express views of the
during summer when you realize autumn is
expectations.
C: Quiet. It’s one thing to see the pictures, to
world in America? And if they break the rule, it’s
around the corner.
D: Okay, “House Jam”—this is the jam.
see the video, but to actual y be there, with the
cause for alarm and outrage and Drudge-
C: beauty tinged with mortality. but not
C: Kate bush’s goat-song!
whole force of the music and the costumes and
shaming and record-banning and harassment
death-haunted! It’s like when you forgot to eat
D: the whole album should sound like this. the
the VIbe in your face, at ful volume, done with
and slanderi ng and worse from the wel -funded
your ice cream cone fast enough and now it’s
rest is just clippings and trimmings. Not that I
such love and care and attention to detail, with
right-wing authoritarians. Don’t be political at
melting and you make a move. the good times
have anything against trimmings and clippings.
so much thought put into it… I don’t real y
the Oscars! Now is not the time! Nor at the
were right there, but time kept on slipping…
D: Yet I take it you prefer more jams.
understand how they did it, especial y the guy
emmys. Oprah shouldn’t endorse! And so on.
D: …into the few-chah!
C: Our work continues.
row. We are smitten by this version of “(He’s
C: Yes, I did.
concert, it’s an extremely bril iant musical-
who plays Fela, this bril iant actor named Sahr
because apparently they sometimes confuse
KAsAi ALL-stARs
D: Or at least our drinking does. Ahahaha.
Got) the Whole World In His Hands,” which just
D: How did you like it? Did you laugh? Did you
fueled biography of the man himself. the piece
Ngaujah. Who inhabits him, completely, scarily.
the message from the government and break
GANG GANG DANcE
iN thE 7th MooN, thE chiEF
C: [frowns George Will-style] Let the record
sorta echoes all over creation in a melancholy
crY?
is two hours, 40 minutes and is set inside Fela’s
It’s enough to make you weep.
the entertainment moment that the viewer was
sAiNt DyMphNA
tuRNED iNto A swiMMiNG Fish
show that whatever we say from this point
way...
C: From the first minute when the actor playing
club in Lagos, the Shrine. It’s 1976, I think, and
D: Which you did.
anticipating, and indeed had every right to
(the soCiaL registrY)
AND AtE thE hEAD oF his ENEMy
forward about any of these records that the
D: [muses] It is strange to feel so instantly
Fela sauntered by, two rows in front of me, on
he is onstage performing, and preparing to
C: I should report that there is one major
expect, given their school training and
D: I believe this is a concept album but I am
by MAGic
Arthur staff have so careful y assembled wil
nostalgic for a record you’ve never heard. And
the way to the stage in his pink jumpsuit, led by
leave Nigeria. He’s had it with the ongoing
inaccuracy: the size of Fela’s rol ed joints of
subsequent mediated experiences. the timing
unsure what the concept is.
(Crammed disCs)
invariably be colored by what we’ve just been
yet I have been having that distinct feeling for
his dancer/singer/wives, as Antibalas played
corruption and idiocy in Nigeria. the
Igbo, here it’s like a cigar but real y they were
of Fela! is impeccable. He couldn’t believe the
C: Internet says: “Saint Dymphna is
C: this is third in the “congrotronics” series of
listening to: “born With You,” by Dion, 1975,
the last hour and 25 minutes as we have been
the opening to “everybody Scatter,” I was
government has arrested him, the military has
more like torches.
public would fall for this shit that the people in
traditional y held to be the daughter of a pagan
albums by various contemporary African artists
produced by Phil Spector, downloaded off the
watching the sun go down over the Manhattan
weeping openly.
stormed his commune, beaten and raped his
D: Like a baby’s arm?
power were pul ing.
Irish chief and his christian wife in the 7th
who utilize..um…
Heat Warps blog. We are basking in its rather
skyline while listening to the wonderful, stirring,
D: I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It is said
wives and thrown his mother out of a second
C: More like a bodybuilder’s.
D: but we do.
century.”
D: ’tronics.
substantial afterglow.
heartfelt, heretofore unheard-by-these-ears
that dancing by yourself in your living room to
story window, leading to her eventual death. So
D: that’s something they can fix when it goes
C: Over and over again.
D: So she is the saint of miscegenation!
C: It says, "Kasai Al -Stars draw their songs
D: A stone gem beaut of an album...which, by
work of the incomporable team of Mr. Dion and
Fela Kuti music is the only known cure for
he’s in and out of songs and monologues,
to broadway.
cross-fertilization! Pairing of native and
from festive and ritual music played in the bush
the way, has never been released in America!
Mr. Spector. I guess it’s what they call that old
depression.
reviewing his life to that point, smoking his big
C: All the shit Fela talked about, it’s still true.
hAciENDA
invasive species!
before being banned by the europeans, who
What is wrong with you people?
deja voodoo, eh?
C: If it is that good, imagine what it must be like
marijuana joints, laughing and crying and
More true. bankers, government officials,
LouD is thE NiGht
C: but Dymphna ends up being beheaded by
considered the highly erotic dances and the
C: Have some pity on a country in decline. And
C: Ha, yes I suppose they do...
if you dance with others to it in public! the
leading this band and this dance troupe,
colonial-minded lackeys, cowards, fools.
(aLive/naturaL sound Bomp)
her would-be incest-minded widow pagan
pagan trance ceremonies as 'satanic.'" based
you full well know it’s (apparently) Mr. Spector
col ective righteous joy is unbelievable. this
putting on this two-tier Afrobeat performance
Vampire Weekend? If only. It’s been a Vampire
D: Well another oldie but goodie. Or oldie but
father.
in Kinshasa, Dr congo—
himself that kept the record from ever being
FELA! A NEw MusicAL
thing broke me out of my post-David Foster
of... It’s spel binding, just awesome, and I gotta
Mil ennium. And I can’t think of an artist alive
moldie as they used to say.
D: Oh.
D: that’s like the compton of Africa!
released here. but keeping to the point: the
at 37 arts in new York CitY
Wal ace suicide negative power zone.
say… As somebody who’s watched every
today with the bal s, and the trickster humor,
C: Actual y this is new.
C: “Her feast day is May 15 and she is the
C: “—the Kasai Al stars col ective revolves
readers should know that not only did we just
Book BY Jim Lewis & BiLL t. Jones
D: So it was a ful -on simulation?
second of available Fela Kuti footage out there,
and the anger, and the appetite for pleasure,
D: You say that every issue.
patron saint of those who suffer from mental
around 25 musicians originating from five
listen to it, we just listened to it three times in a
D: So you went to a musical?
C: Wel … It’s not simply a tribute/costume
I thought I’d understood, as best I was gonna be
and the gift for performance, and the raw
C: Wel , it happens to be true sometimes.
il nesses and nervous system disorders,
different ethnic groups, each with their own
50
OctOber 2008
OctOber 2008
51
D: And introducing the mysterious binki
be their expert witness!
language and musical tradition.”
too simple.
Shapiro, right here on the lady reggae vocals.
D: Whew! beware the wrath of the betrayed
D: And judging from the title, I believe this is a
C: We should mention that we are listening to
C: Gotta admit I didn’t see this one coming
longtime fan!
concept album.
this on stereo when perhaps it is best
from down the coast.
C: Great title. It’s like a caption to a comic book
appreciated on los headphones… “cuando
D: It sailed right in when we were watching the
DEsoLAtioN wiLDERNEss
panel.this sounds like the music Jack Kirby’s
Maravil a Fui” brings on the bhangra. this may
surfers.
whitE LiGht stRobiNG
“Forever People” would’ve made, up in their
be Le Jam.
C: rodrigo has such a great voice. but on a
(k reCords)
electronic trees: gamelan thmb piano
D: el Jammo.
track like this one [“Keep Me In Mind”], it must
C: Ah, bliss. Pure balm from these young dudes
chantdown on babylontronix with classic
C: thee big Jam.
be recognized that the similarity to Mr.
out of Olympia.
eternal North African guitar circles. this is
D: One jam, large please. With some dub on the
casablanca is uncanny, but rodrigo has a bit
D: Is this what they cal ed “shoegaze” in the
what I thought psy-trance would sound like
side.
more color, more tenderness. What a great pop
olden times?
from the way everybody went on and on about
C: “buenos Matrimonios Ahi Fuere” is
song. I’d listen to this on a bistro on a beach.
C: I suppose. but it’s more like that one little
it. What they real y meant was advertising
awesome. eternal schoolyard kid chants.
Heck I’d go to a beach to listen to this. I would
moment in time—’88–’90???—when there
agency music.
D: You can’t lose when you sample schoolkids,
apply super-SPF 300 cream to listen to this.
were all these modest late-afternoon
D: they’re on some serious ritual witchdoctor
everybody knows that.
every song is good! And there are actual bal ads.
psychedelic folk-rock guitars-and-organ-and-
shit. Like a tribal Funkadelic.
C: the canary Islands, eh? I look to the South
D: Samba. bossa nova. And what do they cal
reverbed vocals bands floating and swooshing
C: trans-ethnic, five traditions.... I wonder
for hope these days. USA and europe are
it?
around… the rain Parade, the cocteau twins,
who’s going to protest here regarding
descending into dumbness on a mass scale.
C: MPb! Música Popular brasileira.
Galaxie 500, Spacemen 3, ultra vivid scene,
non-native species invasion?
they’ve completely crushed the left and the
D: but the question remains, who is this “binki
then Mazzy Star, Pale Saints… Ah, “col ege
D: While they argue about that, the real
indigenous. Only in the South is there anything
top:
Shapiro”? that’s suspicious nametaking there,
rock.” More recently, I would say beAcHWOOD
predators circle.
like successful uprising. Venezuela, brazil,
Natacha Atlas, minus
that one. reminds me of all those pseudonyms
SPArKS.
C: I want to know more. they’re so elaborately
chiapas, bolivia…!
her ensemble
on the old Desert Sessions records…
D: that’s right. I am getting a very benevolent
done up, it’s beautiful.
D: Forget the third Way! bring on the Fourth
center:
C: [listening to “Play the Part”] Perhaps I am
salvia essence inmpression from this.
D: Other bands draw their record covers. these
World.
Megapussheads
going overboard here, but this—and
C: “come Over In Your Silver car” is song title
guys draw themselves! African glam!
bottom:
“evaporar”—is remindng me of modern Jobim,
of the month. “turquoise and Gold,” “Horizon
C: Is the stuff traditional or new fashion
MEGApuss
Little Joyriders
my amigo. but I am not an expert.
Star”…these are like brightblack Morning Light
or—remember that book that Alia was talking
suRFiNG
D: [lost in space] And Jobim and Jim beam
song titles.
about, Natural Fashion: tribal Decoration from
(vapor)
are secret brothers…
D: White Light Strobing, eh? [Listening to
Africa (Hans Silvester, thames & Hudson)….?
C: this is a side project recording by Devendra
C: [listening to “Don’t Watch Me Dancing”]
“Forget Everything”]: I feel like I’m watching
You know with some bands, the more I know
banhart and the guy from Priestbird—
the Doors…! Wow. 11 songs, 30 minutes. I think
Stan brakhage, even though my eyes are
about them, the less I want to know. but these
D: the new Pink Floyd! but nobody realized it…
we can issue a joint statement, or a communi-
closed…
guys? Gimmie.
c:—who drums in his band. that guy can write
que as we said in the old days, stipulating this
D: “Mbua-A-Matumba” is the jam to beat.
songs, but I don’t know about his bands’ names.
as darkhorse album-of-the-year contender.
GRoupER
C: You could play this right next to Panda bear.
tarantula A.D.? Priestbird? Megapuss?
First class work, gentlemen.
(No titLE)
D: those guys should col aborate.
D: there is a time and place, and yes name, for
D: And that includes you, binki Shapiro!
(tYpe)
C: can you imagine AFrIKA cOLLectIVe???
everything. And right now I am saying to you
C: Speaking of sleeping… Here’s the new
this album, which features at least 12 novelty
NAtAchA AtLAs & thE MAZEEKA
MERcuRy REV
album by the lady who cal s herself Grouper,
hits by Dr. Demento banhart and Sir Priestbird,
ENsEMbLE
sNowFLAKE MiDNiGht
which she recorded in her sleep. She’s upstairs
is the exact reason why I for one am going to
ANA hiNA
(YeproC)
from beach House, mixed by belong into
enjoy the Forthcoming Depression. Surfing is
(worLd viLLage/harmonia mundi)
C: You know when you make a wrong turn and
into-the-red, into-the-fog reverb absinthia.
not my idea of a good time. I am not an
then instead of correcting it, you make another
Which means it sounds like home demos for a
C: talk about erotic. I believe you europeans
advocate of voluntary physical endangerment. I
wrong turn which is even worse because this
new My bloody Valentine album. You know
would probably outlaw this too.
am, however, happy to watch from the safety of
time you don’t even realize a mistake has been
what I’m saying.
D: [ignoring the jibe] At last: printed lyrics!
my beach chair.
made and you go 90 miles in the complete
D: Not real y, but um… Where’s a fog machine
C: Ha, like you’re gonna sing along.
C: With a Jimmy buffett tape on no doubt. I
wrong direction?
when we need it???
D: [ignores]
just want to say that if it’s going to be about
D: Oh come on, it’s not that awful… [reads
C: Funny you should mention that. Ladies and
C: Just relax! You always need to know what
goofbal ing and bad clothes, can we switch
from promotional notes] Did you know that
gentlemen… [Pushes button on remote
you’re listening to, what kind of music it’s cal ed,
back from Jimmy buffett and Les claypool and
on this record Mercury rev experimented “with
control; fog shoots out from behind chair.]
how it’s regarded, what you can expect to hear.
the truly unctious Infected Mushroom to, oh,
laser harps, ad hoc computer programs and
the Antari Alpha F-80Z!
D: Yes, yes, yes… I am cursed with the need to
how ’bout Frank Zappa and the Fugs? thank
random note generators?”
D: exxxxxxxxcel ent! So, um, what year is this
know more.
you. this is good stuff: some more of those
C: What? to mathematical y determine that
fog?
C: Wel , I feel the need to sit on a rug. recline
great upbeat afrobeat/reggae/tropicalia party
this was the worst possible music they were
on the pil ows. Have some red grapes.
jams that Devendra’s been pumping out in the
capable of? to quote Greil Marcus, What is this
MAtt bALDwiN
Pass the pipe.
last few years that sound so deep in the pocket
shit? Former members of this band have
pAths oF iGNitioN
D: I am the pipe-passer.
live, I think this is the first time he’s caught that
grounds for a class action suit based on
(ameriCan dust/revoLver)
C: I suspect this is a concept album.
on record. And some true goofery. And hey
dereliction of aesthetic duty. And I volunteer to
C: About five minutes into the lead-off track
D: [reading from sleeve] “…east and west
hang on, there’s some spooky stuff on here at
musical col ision for the Natacha Atlas acoustic
the end.
project.”
D: A dark undertow?
C: cal ing St. Dymphna!
C: Watch out for riptides while Surfing.
D: they do a take on Nina Simone’s “black is
D: And jel yfish. And tar spots on your back.
the color,” which it says here is based on a
C: Some serious haunted canyons vibes on
Scottish folk song!
this record, I’m serious. Loooook out, lovers…
C: “Hayati Inta reprise (Hayatak Ana)” sounds
D: tell me there is not a band that is cal ed
more like Stevie Wonder “Higher Ground.” this
Infected Mushroom. that can’t be true.
is Arabic gypsy cabaret music. And “el Asil” is
egyptian swing. I wish an interzone nightclub
LittLE Joy
existed where I could hear this all the time…
(No titLE)
top:
(rough trade)
She is Grouper
EL GuiNcho
D: [listening to “The Next Time Around”]
center:
ALEGRANZA
It’s the Strokes’ beach party album!
Desolation Wilderness: ready,
(XL reCordings)
C: Ha! Actual y this is a new band cal ed Little
steady, blissout!
C: Is “el Guincho” Panda bear in Spanish?
Joy, named after Joe McGraw’s spot in echo
bottom:
D: they say he comes from the canary Islands.
Park. It’s the Strokes’ drummer Fabrizio Moretti,
Matt Baldwin assumes a Nordic
C: I say he comes from… chants and loops
also on guitar here, and rodrigo Amarante, a
pose
gradual y getting guitars layered… Steel drums.
beardo from brazil who’s been playing with
South American soccer hooligans. M.I.A. and
Devendra lately, on vocals and the guitar, and
Diplo are the gateway for el guincho. but..
guitarist/composer/arranger/Devendra
[listening to “Antillas”] Wait, is the cD stuck?
associate/man-of-hair Noah Georgeson,
D: I don’t hear enough melody. the hooks are
producing.
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53
top:
Soft boys Joshua Homme and
Jesse Hughes of Eagles of
Death Metal
bottom:
Weird balloon, with Zach Hill
“Weissensee,” which is a Neu chestnut rother/
tray for “Free Your Mind”—they reprint the best
D: I believe this music was made without laser
Hel a, who have been known to rock the show.
Dinger cover, it’s like randy Holden crashing
Sel ing Soul LP’s from bil board Magazine for
harps.
D: I shook hands with someone once who’d
into an ashram where Sandy bull was having a
week ending December 12, 1970…
C: these are basical y covers. throbbing
shaken hands with Zach Hil . there was a
hip jam session.
D: [reading chart] “1. third Album by Jackson 5
electro-orbs float by with John carpenter at
residual charge.
D: that’s some serious stormbrewing guitar!
2. Sly & the Family Stone’s Greatest Hits
the helm.
C: considering his serrated cymbal work Zach
Matt baldwin! Who is this lightning bringer.
3. curtis by curtis Mayfield
D: “How to Adjust People” is my pick to click.
must have hands like a camel’s backside!
C: I think it’s the first record from the dude.
4. to be continued by Isaac Hayes
And you can take that to the bank, baby!
D: but sensitive. Apparently Zach met Jimmy
He’s bay Area and he’s over six feet tal .
5. Abraxas by Santana
C: In my ideal town, there would be a geodesic
Page at a show once and told him, “I should play
D: clearly this is a keeper. In fact [D runs to
6. Sex Machine by James brown
juke joint at the edge of town where they play
drums for you.”
CD player]—I’m confiscating this cD for
7. temptations Greatest Hits Volume 2
this music four nights a year—on each equinox.
C: c’mon, imagine how many drummers must
personal use.
8. Still Waters run Deep by Four tops
D: Is it possible that it was easier to program
say that to Pagey.
C: It figures. Ah wel . We should tell the people
9. chapter two by roberta Flack
soul into analog equipment than it is into
D: the thing is, Zach Hill is actual y the man for
out that that there’s four more songs, including
10. everything Is everything by Diana ross
digital? that digital is not real y for humans, it’s
the job! He’d take Pagey to a whole new power
one entitled “eulogy and Dark,” [in Jim Sjveda
11. Free Your Mind by Funkadelic
for machines. can we reverse digitalism? that
grid!!
voice] which I am guessing is some sort of
12. Indianola-Mississippi by bb King
is the question.
C: Yes indeed, Zach’s got a rad attack, as
homage to Funkadelic’s classic “eulogy and
13. Spirit in the Dark by Aretha Franklin
C: Here’s to vintage solid-state equipment!
proved by this here double album. this jam
Light” off Free Your Mind and Your Ass Wil
14. We Got to Live together by buddy Miles
D: the old ways were the wise ways!
[“Keep Calm And Carry On”] is like Zeppelin,
Fol ow. talk about a song recorded at the edge
15. the Last Poets
C: I think the fog may be getting me high.
Zappa, and Zorn rol ed into one.
of sonic legibility—a prayer over backwards
16. Pocketful of Miracles by Smokey robinson
D: Waiter, I’ll have two quarts of fog juice, see
D: the guy is a total thrash jazz assassin.
top:
tape. 38 years on and people are stil
and the Miracles
vouz play!
[cranks the volume] check this out out, it’s
Machine, with Joe Raglani
responding to that album… You know why
17. New Ways but Love Stays by the Supremes
cal ed “Necromancer”... a thirty-three minute
center:
people are still responding to records from 38
18. In Session by chairmen of the board
RAGLANi
epic beginning with Marnie Stern reciting an
Together, they are Apse
tears ago? cuz the music was so much better
19. Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder
oF siRENs boRN
original fable in the brothers Grimm/ Henry
bottom:
then. the vibe was cOMPLete. Look on the cD
20. the Isaac Hayes Movement
(krankY)
Darger mode, fol owed by Zach on drums and
Jonas Reinhardt considers his options
21. Didn’t I (blow Your Mind this time) by
C: Here comes another super-quality analog
Marco benevento on piano playing a deranged
Delfonics
guy. He’s a little bit further out there, but you
duet like Dave Lombardo versus Duke el ington.
22. I Am My brother’s Keeper by Jimmy &
can still see him. employed on this record:
C: I’ve got blisters on my earlobes!
David ruffin
“Sine/square wave generator, analog modular
23. booker t & the MG’s Greatest Hits
synth, melodica…”
EAGLEs oF DEAth MEtAL
24. Workin together by Ike & tina turner
D: [“Jubilee”] It’s going like flute-style
hEARt oN
25. burning by esther Phil ips
Jajouka! this is some kind of new shiznits. I’m
(downtown)
26. I (Who Have Nothing) by tom Jones
confiscating this one as wel .
C: Moving from the gnarly to the nasty… this is
29. Shirley bassey is real y “Something”
the third album by eagle of Death Metal, who
31. Led Zeppelin III
ApsE
are led by handlebar mustachioed Jesse “the
37. Grand Funk Live
spiRit
Devil” Hughes on guitar and vocals, with Josh
39. cosmo’s Factory by creedence clearwater
(atp)
Homme from Queens of the Stone Age on
revival.”
C: Impending doom music for fans of
drums and whatnot. basical y it’s a caped male
Whew.
Godspeed and Silver Mt. Zion, Mogwai,
Peaches doing “brown Sugar” variations, and
C: Well, there it is. Al civilizations have high
radiohead, Sigur ros… I think it’s a concept
it’s a hoot.
points, some so high that they reverberate for
album, but…
D: eagles of Death Metal—they have always
the rest of the civilization’s life, however long
D: “In the 7th moon, the chief turned into a
rocked your mustache pretty hard.
that may be. It’s shadow of the colossi, dude.
swimming fish and ate the head of his enemy by
C: Not many Americans know this but eagles
magic…”
of Death Metal played possibly the coolest gig
JoNAs REiNhARDt
C: “It’s not dark yet / but it’s getting there…”
of all time: a women’s-only show in London at a
uNtitLED
this is very good as far as it goes, and maybe
place that’s usual y a strip bar.
(krankY)
I’m being total y unfair, but it might be past time
D: I think that’s what you call an “everybody
D: electromental …pardon me, electonic
for the wordless dread. Maybe now we need
wins” situation.
instrumentals… [coughing]
something more explicit about what’s going
C: [Listening to “Anything ’Cept the Truth”]
C: Sorry about the fog.
down. Does that make me old?
Not sure about this one. there’s not supposed
D: It’s okay. I’ll survive. Is this the new Klaus
D: [thoughfully] No. but it might make you a
to be bridges on eagles of Death Metal songs!
Schulze???? Or early tangerine Dream
little bit wiser…
then again “Now I’m a Fool” is something
C: It’s like he’s got the same drum machine and
they’ve never done before—an acoustic guitar,
keyboard. Serious vintage gear. recorded at
ZAch hiLL
mid-tempo, melodic toe-tapper song-of-yearn-
“the equinox.”
AstRoLoGicAL stRAits
ing—and it total y feels right. It’s PrettY.
D: Probably an Antari in there somewhere!
(ipeCaC reCordings)
D: Old eagles can learn new tricks.
C: Have you seen the Z-800II? Wireless!
C: Moving from A to Z. Zach Hill is the
Anyways.
powerhythmic drum half of hard art chargers
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Do The mATh
with the kudzu, into the highlands where the dynamo
of English language entertainment has morphed
By DAVe reeVes
the fluid folk dances of the Hmong into the robotics
of “You got Served.” america has colonized what the
French and the chinese could not.
I go from town to village to shanty camp, careful to
avoid the temples and their caustic holy water. I ride
until I run out of power lines, which is where I thought
america’s total domination would run out. But our
victory is infinite, inshallah. One dark night in the
American victory
mountains, way out, past where the power lines stop,
I catch a bunch of leprosy doctors in cowboy hats, sit-
ting around a campfire singing their aBcs. Then they
sang “Happy Birthday,” “auld Lang Syne” and “Merry
in Vietnam! That’s
christmas.” Then, having reached the limits of their
English, they sing a local folk song about fishing. They
ask me to sing an american folk song.
I teach them the “special sauce lettuce cheese” Big
right! Iraq too!
Mac song, the “wish I could buy the world a coke”
jingle and “patience.” and they love every bit of it.
Because we win. We always win.
We always win!
Hanoi, Vietnam
because nobody counts in this war.
Don’t make me say it again.
I’m in Vietnam picking out a baby for my prius.
problem is, the damn babies all look the same.
Needing to calm down, I pay fifty bucks for what
I’m not comparing Iraq to Vietnam.
looks like weed and smells like weed; but when rolled
They are very different wars. For
into Bob Marley blunts only gets me high enough to
one, in Vietnam we had “strategies.”
watch television. I’m mad, until I realize that getting
consider “Operation Linebacker II”
ripped off for illegal drugs in a supposed Buddho/
a round-the-clock bombing for the
communist country indicates a total victory of the
entire ten days of christmas in 1972.
Judeo-christian/capitalist cause.
Not just because Hanoi had been a
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t declare victory over
very, very bad city that year. Herr
nothing. It’s not about fifty bucks. I consider occa-
Kissinger was bombing them back to
sional rip-offs to be like union dues in the underworld.
the negotiating table. call it brutal,
I’ve paid money for a baggie of gravel in amsterdam,
call it insane, but it was strategy. I
purchased placebos purporting to be mescaline in
challenge you to find anything as
Texas and ingested sheets of georgia rat poison acid.
elegant in the current Mideast doc-
Besides, I get ripped off for real back in california
trine. Bomb who? Back to what table?
all the time, what with the rolling blackouts, profit
Where? It’s useless talking to our
prisons and wars without end.
Middle East leaders anyway. We know
It’s the constant miracle of Hanoi traffic that got
what our puppet will say because our
me open to the hustle. Vietnamese people tend to
hand is up his ass.
ride their mopeds at full speed, in a scrum, about as
Lord Kissinger has been pulling
far from one another as you are from this page. The
this “bomb them and feed them, no
David Reeves (pictured above) will neither
stoplights are but suggestions, hidden behind the
exit” quagmire strategy to keep us in a war since
confirm nor deny that he was drafted into the
foliage, way up on the periphery behind the “go” sign.
he took control in nineteen hundred and sixty-two.
Central Intelligence Agency while buying a bong
The side of the road a driver chooses is dictated by
Boom Boom. apocalypse Now and Later. and the
at the Hanoi Hilton, but Wall Street analysts have
whimsy. Nonetheless, at each intersection the masses
legacy of his foreign policy lays strewn about Hanoi to
suddenly projected “mad growth” in southeast
of mopeds weave through each other unscathed, with
this day. The landing gear of a B52 half submerged in
Asia. (photo by Jason Smith)
no cursing, nor shots fired.
a flower district pond makes for a fresh propaganda
I thought this symbiosis indicated that Buddhism
victory every time the sun comes up on it.
My question is, why bother giving heathens the sat-
was The answer, because it’s about respect for the
Yet, within sight of the pieces of the downed plane,
isfaction of death? all the self-immolating monks and
value of human life and yadda yah. It only takes one
young men poke at flaming piles of fake hundred
suicide bombers are just drama queens jockeying for
terrible joint to realize that the reason the Vietnamese
dollar bills on the sidewalk. For the love of money. I
the close-up on our entertainment news. Realize that
people can ride like that is because their weed sucks.
hear victory in the heels of working girls clattering
all we really need to do is declare victory, and leave.
Don’t try that shit back in california. Those mother-
after me, chanting a hustle mantra that plays on my
Leave all the guns and tanks back in Iraq. Let them
fuckers are high.
insecurities and my ego all at once like a Madison
kill each other over some dirt. Sell them nukes, too.
The buzzkill joint proves that no matter how many
avenue zinger: “Mister mister sir sir, good looking,
They’ll get one anyway. Nobody is running pakistan,
temples they build, how often curfews are imposed
you wanna get sexy party with me? Mister, why not?
and proliferation is a fact. If you don’t believe that, ask
or how many pictures of the great Leader they tack
You think you are made of gold mister, sir? You think
any fratboy where to get Rohypnol.
up, there’s going to be a street urchin with a bag of
you better than me? Maybe you are a gay. Do you have
We don’t need superbombs or überplanes. We don’t
unsexed weed running the bait-and-switch for the
aIDS mister, sir? That’s why you can’t love me, mister?”
even need smallpox blankets anymore. We are small-
love of Money. And that is America, no matter where it
Suddenly, the prius is cramping me. I feel boxed
pox blankets. americans know, more than anybody,
is! So, get the banner out, george. We fucking won. We
in, with the world on the other side of a windshield. I
how the dollar corrupts. What we need to do is just
always win.
need to weave in with the people and have the smoke
step back and let that bitch work.
We’ll win Iraq, too. Don’t worry about how. There’s
of burning money blowing through my hair. So I trade
lots of ways to win a war. We used to win wars with
the old gas guzzler for a moped and head out to the
Columnist David Reeves is drinking Brawndo and
kill ratios and body counts, but this one is different.
bush looking for holes in the Victory.
watching "Ow My Balls" while travelling the world. He
How would one account for the Shia-versus-Sunni
But there is Victory everywhere. In the little bits of
is looking for that special hot sauce to make the perfect
massacres which occurred in the security vacuum
candy-colored confetti dotting the mulch at the dump
Bloody Leroy (it’s a Bloody Mary but you stir it with a
following the initial invasion? Hard to say. Better we
on the edge of town, the beginnings of designer gar-
rib) while attending the Clean Air Fest in Pioneertown.
don’t keep score. There’s no body counts in this war
bage. I crept from town to town along the power lines
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