THE SARCOPHAGUS OF TALK

Soul/Funk Youtube Playlist

2010-12-23T09:18:00.003-06:00

I've spent enough time watching records go round on the internet, I thought it would be nice to engage the medium a little and make a mix of sorts. On top of that, it has been a while since I've spun soul music, and I have recently been lamenting the theft long ago of my low rider tapes that I bought at the mix shop when I was 15. So enjoy now, cry later.

Links to articles I've done for Musique Machine

2010-10-29T02:24:00.004-05:00

http://musiquemachine.com/articles/articles_template.php?id=189

After discovering the music of Tuluum Shimmering, I came into contact with him through trading. From there private discussions ensued, as well as participation in public ones. The sound is like a sort of loop driven, timeless ethnic music without a region or a tradition, with more gamble and moxy than one might normally expect from something like new age music, but with any real identifiers stripped away. I think he exists at a perfect time for his style. I think he epitomizes the best and most sincere incarnation of the "No Age" current that is zeitgeisting everywhere these days. Jake was one of the first contributors to my short-lived international podcast type of radio program "Delirious Sunrise" (http://posterityplaylists.blogspot.com/search/label/Tuluum%20Shimmering), and his 2 hour long podcast of tribal chants and audio workings for war dances was one of my favorites. So, when I came across the following quote from TS, I decided to proceed with an interview, although he's admittedly a shy person, and the interview was cut short (conducted in February of 2010). Since his recent commitment to putting all of his music online right around that time, and also incidentally ending up in a situation with very limited internet access, I have not heard from him at all. READ ON

photo by Anna Gregoline

http://musiquemachine.com/articles/articles_template.php?id=159

Seeing this band live, it's like they change the lighting in a room without any kind of special effects. It's less a performance and more an exhibition of raw, soulful splendor, unmiterated by any gimmickry, appeasement, or fake bad boy attitudes. A wall of sound and song will delineate into an instrumental industrial ballad; organ, guitar, lap steel, electric drill, and sheet metal will interlace, sparks will fly, and just when you might think there may not have been a plan, a ghostly sort of crooning that could fit into a David Lynch movie might emerge from out of the fog, and you will find that you've just seen a triumphant epic sewn together in front of your very eyes, yet no secrets have been revealed. An experience like this had drawn me further to this group, and spurred me to find out more. On a brisk but sunny Sunday afternoon in November (09), at lead singer travis's marvelous home on the south side of Chicago, I was fortunate enough to be blessed by their hospitality and gather some information during a wholesome feast much like the one described in this Roctober article, on one of the days that they regularly meet for rehearsal. READ ON

http://www.musiquemachine.com/articles/articles_template.php?id=155

The two core members who comprise Bull of Heaven have a decorative and scattered history between them. Some achievements of note include lecturing to grad students at art schools, high profile DJing, touring with bands rooted in noise, prog, hardcore, and drone, as well as burning both EMI and the entire mash-up genre in one foul swoop, among other things. As of around two years now, their prolific energies have culminated into a recorded output that has eclipsed any other in musical history; with works ranging from 1 minute to 1 month in length and beyond, sound sources that utilize anything from electronic drones to crazy hobo rants about the end of the world. There are tracks with titles taken from Crowley's 'Book of the Law,' the Gnostic Bible, Shakespeare, Poe, political quotations, and various newspaper clippings. Any given chunk of sound could contain a complexity and breadth with the potential of being picked apart for days, or it could mean nothing at all. Not unlike the work of John Cage or La Monte Young, Bull of Heaven further challenge current preconceived notions of music and recorded media, but to add to that, they realize ideas that Salvador Dali or Marcel Duchamp probably took to their graves. Throughout this formidable heap of work, one might hear tribal war drums, theremin, prepared piano, modified fan propellers, psychedelic rock, political speeches, or an entire answering machine tape whose previous owner is probably a deceased mother. To simply call this drone, or to say that anyone can do it would be derisive and pedestrian.

READ ON

Childe Bride Interview (full, was lost from MusiqueMachine.com due to a server crash)

Originally published at musiquemachine.com

During this time of year, people originally wore elaborate adornments to ward off demons, took stock of food for the winter. Now maybe they buy more non-perishables and go across that same grocery store for a costume. Around Halloween, I think about paganism or occultism and how relevant it is for people to take part as mystics, since that is the imagery that comes up around this time. Even in the most rural areas there is a super store down the road. I think that the word "ritual", as defined by the dictionary, has lost a lot of meaning. Sitting together in front of the television with family or checking one's horoscope on the internet can be a ritual. Being a midwesterner all of my life, I've been west a couple times. I've looked at the unchanging, forgotten desert and found it hard to imagine people living around there making electronic music, for instance. Still, I feel like there are rare people intrinsically finding a way to approach an urban or concrete environment in a manner that is otherworldly, whether you want to call it spiritual or not. That said, I consider it incredibly fortunate and timely that I was able to do the interview that I did, via email no less.

Childe Bride (with a newly added E) is the solo project of Arizona native, Baltimore resident Shana Palmer. It has been referred to as "psychedelic noise folk", "tribal drone", or "a pagan cyber-witch mourning the death of her shaman", but most often the prevalent adjective given is "mysterious". She's toured all over the US, has releases there as well as the UK (some of which came with an owl's feather), and in the three years since she initiated this project, Childe Bride's been on the bill for the International Noise Conference more than once as well as having played a number of smaller fests. In addition to that, she's been represented within a box set focusing on female noise artists.

It's obvious that Shana has rapidly found a home in the noise sphere. Listening to things that fit under that broad umbrella for me is about how the more reflections of someone's personality there are, which exist in the sound, the more I enjoy the end result. In this case, throughout Childe Bride's discography, there are sounds of explosions slowed down, Indian chants, children's keyboards, sitar, shortwave radios, 70s cult movie imagery, creaky machine loops, and a quite clever sample of the Beatles' "Come Together", among other things. Heavily delayed vocals are prominent; layered, chanting voices with lyrics piled on top of eachother, It's almost as if it is to render their meanings subliminal and make the listener wonder which part of the sentence they have missed (if it was a sentence at all). The music occupies a consistently cohesive strain that might perceivably be simple in application, whether it is a calculated song or a 4-track soundscape. But the attention to detail is so keen, variable, and incredibly ornate; juxtaposed with innocent nuances and chance background noises, that it commands attention.

The end result is, indeed, mysterious.

MM: I read that your performances are improvised; serious at times and playful at others. This isn't the conclusion that I drew from it myself, so I should ask: How much of your project is conceptual? Would you say that your material starts more from an extension of an idea or an extension of yourself?

CB: Well, I would have to say that my material begins as both an extension of an idea and an extension of myself. The mixture of the two can result in an elliptical concept that I then weave into a loosely defined structure. I would have to agree that my sets rarely come across as "playful".

MM: Your voice often seems child-like on your recordings. While there's a healthy balance of organic qualities, it can't be denied that there is a fair amount of preparation and conceptual continuity as well. Would you care to share the meaning behind the name? Is it a movie reference, or something poetic involving the practice of Child Marriage? Is it a thesis statement for your work or is it something that became a good moniker to frame your work with?

CB: The name began as a Halloween performance I did at a Future Haunted Condos warehouse space in Providence, RI. They had sold the buildings of a lot of artists and were kicking everyone out, so the artist converted the whole place into a haunted house demolition party. I hung white mesh around myself and did my first Childe Bride performance there. After that, I kept the name because it was befitting to the sounds; haunting, child-like vocals and an atmosphere where "the things that creep around you" could come out of the shadows to play.

MM: How does being on a label called "Teenage Whore" work for you? Is there some kind of artistic meaning in it that smooths over what the label name implies?

CB: I was never excited about the idea of putting something out on a label called " Teenage Whore Tapes," but was excited that someone else wanted to put my music out after only playing my third show as a solo musician! My dark humor also smirked about the similitude between the two names. As a person and a musician I have evolved so much since then. That is why I changed my name from Child Bride to Childe with an E. I wanted to move myself and my music away from the dark and taboo connotations behind the moniker. Childe is an archaic term referring to a youth of noble birth or a youth in training to be a knight.

MM: Were you in a band before that?

CB: Yeah, I was in one band before that called Sickie Sickie. It consisted of me on drums and singing, a guitar player named Mellisa White and Faye Knutson of The Better To See You Withon vocals.

MM: I like it, and it's funny to see small elements of what came to be in your solo project. Where do you think your penchant for Native American imagery came from, and how did it get into the Childe Bride scheme of things?

CB: The answer to that somewhat relates to my childhood. My family moved around a lot and when we moved to the southwest the Native American symbolism that was everywhere really awakened something inside of me. Yet, using the imagery as part of my aesthetic was never a conscious decision. Gary Stevens of the band Head Molt drew the cover for a tape split we did a few years ago. What he drew was a beautiful totem deer with a rainbow shield. Subsequently, people began to associate my music with that style of imagery. It is not a total misapprehension though, my music does embody a kind of personal spirituality that can probably best be represented through Native American metaphors.

MM: I can definitely see how you would get that imagery. I've spent time at White River Indian Reservation in Arizona. I've seen the Indian Boarding Houses, the Native American Museum, and I've spent the night at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I find the desert to be incredibly stimulating. I remember passing through Sedona with their neon lit sports bar highlighting the "Cosmic Portal" tourist attraction. All throughout my sightseeing I observed what seemed to be visual representations that communicated original Indian beliefs, mutilated by indoctrinated Christianity. I know that there are still some Indians out there that simultaneously believe in Rain Gods and Jesus. Especially after hearing your last response, it seems like your music is a sort of unconscious, spiritually subterranean melting pot at times. Would you care to describe your spirituality? Would you say that your music is a spiritual act in itself?

CB: "White Shamans and Plastic Medicine People," is a great documentary that you can watch online. It speaks about the sacrilegious practices of white people and the misappropriation of the Native American spirituality, like what you witnessed in Sedona, Arizona. I am in no way claiming to have any direct ties to any spiritual belief or religion. What I have developed for myself is a infused brew of different cultural rituals that help keep me sane in the transapocalyptic climate that we live in. I feel that my music used to be more of a personal ritual until more recently, when I have been concentrating on effecting the energy in the room and audience. Daniel Higgs or Nautical Almanac achieve similar effects and they have had a lot of influence on me in terms of performance.

MM: With this new adaptation to the name especially, what does it look like for you in the future? What plans are on the horizon?

CB: Well I have a new collaboration with Mellisa Moore, who does the Whispers For Wolves project. That pet is called Secret Secrets and we will be recording in November for a release on Ehse Records. It is akin to Childe Bride with me singing and playing electronics while Mellisa's drumming intensify's the pulse. I am continuing to record me and my shadow, while preparing totake part in the Los Solo's Female Musician series here in Baltimore. It is a real honor to be taking part in that series which includes women like Maria Chavez and Jenny Graff of Metalux. For that appearance I am building an environment for my music with my own light set up and back drop. I plan to take that set up on the road with me in early December, when I hope to sneak in a small east coast tour.
In further futures, I am really excited about traveling, collaborating and organizing shows in Argentina for the spring. Buenas fortunas!

2010-02-14T14:22:00.000-06:00

100% Canadian Monsters

2009-10-31T20:11:00.001-05:00

2009-10-28T14:28:00.002-05:00

Shared by a neat internet friend, Kali Anne.

Eddy Detroit!

2009-09-26T09:47:00.003-05:00

2009-08-19T23:04:00.001-05:00

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Anti-Coloring Books

2009-07-16T19:03:00.002-05:00

Thanks to my friend Tracy for this.

More on Sonic Weaponry

2009-06-03T03:09:00.001-05:00

Several years earlier, Tandy was working late in the "haunted" Warwick laboratory when he saw a gray thing coming for him. "I felt the hairs rise on the back of my neck," he said. "It seemed to be between me and the door, so the only thing I could do was turn and face it."* But the thing disappeared. However, it reappeared in a different form the next day when Tandy was doing some work on his fencing foil. "The handle was clamped in a vice on a workbench, yet the blade started vibrating like mad," he said. He wondered why the blade vibrated in one part of room but not in another. The explanation, he discovered, was that infrasound was coming from an extractor fan. "When we finally switched it off, it was as if a huge weight was lifted," he said. "It makes me think that one of the applications of this ongoing research could be a link between infrasound and sick-building syndrome." When he measured the infrasound in the laboratory, the showing was 18.98 hertz--the exact frequency at which a human eyeball starts resonating. The sound waves made his eyeballs resonate and produced an optical illusion: He saw a figure that didn't exist.*

Link

Tandy believes that ‘ghost hunters’ could benefit from investigating the
infrasound frequencies at other ‘haunted’ locales. Not only does the 19Hz frequency create visual disturbances by vibrating the eyeball – hence the shimmering appearance of apparitions – but the frequency could also stimulate a psychological sense of disquiet (hairs on the back of the neck rising and so forth). Even the ‘drop in temperature’ associated with spectral manifestations could be an effect of infrasound: “It does not cause a measurable drop in temperature of the air,” says Tandy, but “the effect is caused by a reaction in the body.”

Effects like these could also, theoretically, be contributing to sick-building syndrome as standing waves of infrasound can be created by architectural anomalies or frequencies set up by electronic devices. sIn 1978, the artist-industrial musician Monte Cazazza and the group Throbbing Gristle (above) experimented in their East London studio with the creation of both ultrasound and infrasound frequencies. Cazazza remembers during infrasound tests using an industrial tone generator that the air began to shimmer and his clothes visibly “rippled under the waves.” The group’s ultrasound experiments were equally notorious; using an array of piezo-electric speakers (“because they were cheap” remembers Monte), they used frequencies in excess of 20,000Hz in a ‘sonic loop’, creating a continual, culminating wave. Their target was some troublesome neighbours; according to the group, the neighbours’ dogs began to bark and both people and animals exhibited aggressive irritability. Unsurprisingly, the unwanted neighbours moved shortly after the sonic attacks.

There is good reason to believe, then, that exposure to certain infrasound frequencies could stimulate aggression and exacerbate psychological disturbances. This might explain accounts of ‘temporary psychosis’ associated with some natural phenomena, such as the Mistral (in the Rhone Valley) and the Sirocco (off the Sahara), the famous winds that are said to create periods of momentary insanity. That certain gusts of wind have infrasound frequencies has been documented. 6

The link between periods of insanity and exposure to specific infrasound frequencies forms the basis for the ‘Feraliminal Lycanthropizer’, a device claimed to stimulate atavistic animality, sexual excitement, and a loss of inhibitions in its target. As described in an essay published in Dainty Viscera magazine, the Feraliminal Lycanthropizer creates two infrasound frequencies – 3Hz and 9Hz – which, combined, generate a lower, third
frequency of 0.56Hz. The machine also uses a combination of four subliminal, looped, audio tape recordings – playing both forwards and backwards – outside the normal audible pitch.

...In his essay “The Electronic Revolution”, cynical libertarian William S Burroughs suggested that riots could be triggered by playing tapes of gunshots, screams, and violent altercations at strategic locations. The idea influenced German filmmaker Klaus Maeck, who based his 1984 film Decoder on the idea of anti-muzak that creates riots. Shooting some of the film in Berlin during the annual May Day riots, Maeck found that many of Burroughs’ ideas were already employed by the crowd, who were broadcasting tapes of conflict and riot-noise.

Link

During the Vietnam conflict in the early 70s, the US military experimented with a structured programme of psychological warfare, dubbed the Urban Funk Campaign. A sonic weapon known as the 'Curdler' or 'People Repeller' was employed to disrupt unruly crowds, and generally irritate the enemy during the night. Audio frequency oscillators were mounted on helicopters, and blasted frequencies at 'Charlie', ranging from 500-5000 Hz at an amplitude of 120dB – equivalent to the roar of a jet engine at close quarters. This was a highly effective panic-inducing weapon, which was also reputedly deployed during the height of the Northern Ireland conflict. The Urban Funk Campaign also employed an 'audio harassment' programme, Wandering Soul, in which recordings of eerie sounds said to represent the souls of the dead were played through the night in order to spook the superstitious enemy. Despite eventually realising that they were hearing a recording beamed from a helicopter, the enemy snipers could not suppress the fear that their souls would some day end up moaning and wailing in a similar fashion after death.

Link

I wonder what these people think of the Tesla "Earthquake Machine" oscillator which was recreated in modern day. While it was found to be very short of making earthquakes, it did make a fully reinforced bridge shake.

Link to buy Lycanthropizer recording

YOU HAVE TO OBEY

2009-05-27T05:11:00.005-05:00

(credit)

I received LIMB in the mail today, and immediately dropped what I was doing to go through it. It's a collection of Foetus' early minimal works and it comes with a documentary DVD. Therein, Richard Kern says he suspected Thirlwell was on acid all the time, although he couldn't be sure partly for being on heroin most of the time. The documentary is enjoyable. For me it has been a long wait. It seemed to suffer from some minor symptoms of a low budget, but all in all, it was an inspiring and effective portrayal of one of my longest standing favorites.

The CD contains a few rehashes that many Foetus fans will already have, albeit different, early versions. However, the whole CD brings to light the techniques that Thirlwell used before sampling or midi technology, and illuminates the manic, isolated, reckless abandon I found to be punctuated later on in his first major releases. But this is the first time we can really thoroughly catch this guy in a strictly experimental atmosphere, previous to the focus that went into lyrics and vocal phrasing, and seemingly more introspective than the collaborations within Steroid Maximus or Nurse with Wound. Every track has this multilayered sort of well-produced lo-fi visage which suggests that each second of it is hopping with meticulous, meddlesome, alchemical glory. To me the highlight is an "Extra Limb" mp3 bonus called "YOU HAVE TO OBEY". It is a 20 minute long cavalcade of a single Vincent Price sample; layered, pitch bent, and phased into a mesmerizing, undulating food chopper of sound. It's the kind of eloquent repitition that I really enjoy, and this might be some very strong evidence against any argument Thirlwell may have about whether or not he did acid all the time in those days.

Then again, I'm on my 3rd listening of that piece as the sun is now beginning to bleed through the shades, and this is irrespective of the fact I haven't scored that stuff for some time now.

Donor

2009-05-14T19:51:00.001-05:00

Raise the Roof!

2009-05-09T00:51:00.001-05:00

Mark Twain's Mysterious Stranger

2009-04-13T20:28:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine who prefers to be referred to as "NV", sent this youtube link to me. I found it to be moving and worthy of consecutive repeat viewings.

Happy April Fool's Day!

2009-04-01T04:32:00.002-05:00

Happy April Fool's Day!

THE FOOL

Basic Tarot Symbols

The fool in colorful motley clothes, pack tied to a staff, a small dog, a cliff.

Basic Tarot Story

With all his worldly possessions in one small pack, the Fool travels he knows not where. So filled with visions and daydreams is he, that he doesn't see the cliff he is likely to fall over. At his heel, a small dog harries him (or tries to warn him of a possible mis-step).

Basic Tarot Meaning

At #0, the Fool is the card of infinite possibilities. The bag on the staff indicates that he has all he needs to do or be anything he wants, he has only to stop and unpack. He is on his way to a brand new beginning. But the card carries a little bark of warning as well. Stop daydreaming and fantasizing and watch your step, lest you fall and end up looking the fool.

Thirteen's Observations

In the Tarot, cards like The Magician or The Hermit can often stand for the Querent or for someone in the Querent's life. The Fool, however, almost always stands for the Querent alone, no one else. In standing for the Querent, the Fool represents a time of newness, a time when life has been "re-started" as it were. The person feels that they are back at zero, whether that be in romantic affairs, or career, at their job or intellectual pursuits. Far from being sad or frustrating, the Querent feels remarkably *free*, light hearted and refreshed, as if being given a second chance. They feel young and energized.

In addition, they likely have no idea where they're going or what they're going to do. But that doesn't matter. For the Fool, the most important thing is to just go out and enjoy the world. To see what there is to see and delight in all of it.

Unfortunately, in this childlike state the person is likely to be overly optimistic or naive. A Fool can be a Fool. This is the card likely to turn up when a Querent is thinking of investing his money in a new, "sure fire" business. Or when the Querent is sure that it's "love this time!" Like the Fool, they're so busy daydreaming of what might be that they're ignoring what is. They're about to fall right off a cliff. It's time for them to listen to that watchful little dog, which might be a concerned friend, a wise tarot reader, or just their instincts.

As a card, the Fool ultimately stands for a new start. When it turns up the Querent might be about to make a move, not just to a new home, but new job, new life. There's more than just change, renewal, and a brand new beginning in the Fool, there's also movement, a fresh, exciting new time.

From Wikipedia:

...Another origin is that April 1 was counted the first day of the year in France. When King Charles IX changed that to January 1, some people stayed with April 1. Those who did were called "April Fools" and were taunted by their neighbors...

Alabama Changes the Value of Pi: The April 1998 newsletter of New Mexicans for Science and Reason contained an article written by physicist Mark Boslough claiming that the Alabama Legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi to the "Biblical value" of 3.0.^{[citation needed]} This claim originally appeared as a news story in the 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.^[5]
Spaghetti trees: The BBC television programme Panorama ran a famous hoax in 1957, showing the Swiss harvesting spaghetti from trees. They had claimed that the despised pest, the spaghetti weevil, had been eradicated. A large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate their own spaghetti trees. It was, in fact, filmed in St Albans.^[6]
Left Handed Whoppers: In 1998, Burger King ran an ad in USA Today, saying that people could get a Whopper for left-handed people whose condiments were designed to drip out of the right side.^[7] Not only did customers order the new burgers, but some specifically requested the "old", right-handed burger.^[8]
Taco Liberty Bell: In 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to "reduce the country's debt" and renamed it the "Taco Liberty Bell." When asked about the sale, White House press secretary Mike McCurry replied tongue-in-cheek that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold and would henceforth be known as the Lincoln Mercury Memorial.^[9]
San Serriffe: The Guardian printed a supplement in 1977 praising this fictional resort, its two main islands (Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse), its capital (Bodoni), and its leader (General Pica). Intrigued readers were later disappointed to learn that San Serriffe (sans serif) did not exist except as references to typeface terminology. (This comes from a Jorge Luis Borges story.)^[10]
Metric time: Repeated several times in various countries, this hoax involves claiming that the time system will be changed to one in which units of time are based on powers of 10.^[11]
Smell-o-vision: In 1965, the BBC purported to conduct a trial of a new technology allowing the transmission of odor over the airwaves to all viewers. Many viewers reportedly contacted the BBC to report the trial's success. ^[12] In 2007, the BBC website repeated an online version of the hoax.^[13]
Tower of Pisa: The Dutch television news reported once in the 1950s that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over. Many shocked people contacted the station.^[14]
Write Only Memory: Signetics advertised Write Only Memory IC databooks in 1972 through the late 1970s.^[15]
The Canadian news site bourque.org announced in 2002 that Finance Minister Paul Martin had resigned "in order to breed prize Charolais cattle and handsome Fawn Runner ducks."^[16]
Annual BMW Innovations^[17] see a new "cutting-edge invention" by BMW advertised across British newspapers every year, examples including:
- Warning against counterfeit BMWs: the blue and white parts of the logo were reversed
- The "Toot and Calm Horn" (after Tutankhamun), which calms rather than aggravates other drivers, so reducing the risk of road rage,
- MINI cars being used in upcoming space missions to Mars,
- IDS ("Insect Deflector Screen") Technology - using elastic solutions to bounce insects off the windscreen as you drive,
- SHEF ("Satellite Hypersensitive Electromagnetic Foodration") Technology, which sees the car's GPS systems synchronise with home appliances to perfectly cook a meal for the instant you return home,
- Marque-Wiper - mini-wipers for each exterior "BMW" logo coming as standard on all future models,
- "Uninventing the wheel" to counter the "EU ban" on right-hand drive cars,
- Zoom Impression Pixels ("ZIP") to counter new "Slow Cameras"
- "BMW Instant Messaging" - using Reactive User Sound Electronic (RUSE) particles to display the driver's words to the car in front on the windscreen.
- A compact disc available to all BMW owners, which when played over the audio system performed minor service and diagnostic checks; when flipped over it played soothing classical music (Australia).
- Canine Repellent Alloy Protection (CRAP)- a means of discouraging dogs from urinating on car wheels. (2008)

More April Fool's stuff Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, and Here.

The Sonic Weapon of Vladimir Gavreau

2009-03-26T03:25:00.005-05:00

This was shared by an internet friend who calls himself "Mr. Misanthrope". I've found that there are many reposts of this essay, but I can't help but share it to any of my readers who may not know about it. I always like to think about things such as this. For more info about Nikola Tesla's Earthquake Machine, go Here. and Here

The Sonic Weapon of Vladimir Gavreau

by Gerry Vassilatos

HE listened and closed his eyes as the rolling waves of sound poured over and through his being. Thrilling, intoxicating, the hysteria of heaven, the enthralled and frightening flight of angels. Electrifying. Messaien’s organ music signalled messages of meaning, titanic foghorns ululating among dimly perceived near-worlds. Olivier Messaien, master composer of musical expressionism, used the ground thrumming tones of great Parisian cathedral organs to evoke sensations which may only be called otherworldly. Masterfully macabre. Black foundations, blue pillars, and rainbow ceilings.

Sound, rhythm, and space. Ultra-chromatic chord frames, rising like rock walls from the black depths. And immense stellar crystallizations, radiating tonal perfumes through deep and black radiant space. Lovely and lyrically swooping melodies, the flight of birds through delicate limbs. And melodic lines, reaching up toward unknown depths of space, each had their foundation in ultrabass tones of rooted depth. The basso profunda of Messaien are the critical foundations, the strong vertical pillars of an immense architecture which extends beyond performance walls. He scoured the deep and unreachable roots of worlds to hold his musical cathedrals together. Such majesty and grandeur of sound! Rich in the intelligence which flooded and made the world, the musical currents and the atmosphere of tones. Fluidic music and meaning.

The most fundamental signals which permeate this world are inaudible. They not only surpass our hearing, but they undergird our being. Natural infrasounds rumble through experience daily. There manifestations are fortunately infrequent and incoherent. Infrasound is inaudible to human hearing, being of pitch below 15 cycles per second. The bottom human limit. The plynth. The foundation. Infrasound is not heard, it is felt. Infrasound holds a terrible secret in its silent roar.

Infrasound produces varied physiological sensations which begin as vague "irritations". At certain pitch, infrasound produces physical pressure. At specific low intensity, fear and disorientation. Nazi propaganda engineers methodically used infrasound to stir up the hostilities of crowds who were gathered to hear their madman. The results are historical nightmares.
At a very specific pitch, infrasound explodes matter. At others, infrasound incapacitates and kills. Organisms rupture in its blast. Sea creatures use this power to stun and kill prey.
The swelling bass tones of the cathedral seem as though they can burst the very pillars which uphold the ancient vaults. Stained glass windows have been known to erupt in a shower of colored fragments from the organ’s basso profunda. Impulsed ultrabass tones...thunder. Somewhere in the almost inaudible roll of these basement sounds there was a devastating and fearful power.

THE ABYSS

The Cold War was on. The United States alone held the dread secret. The most terrible weapon yet developed was the private property of one government. The mere existence of the atomic bomb was threat to nations whose motives were not entirely altruistic. Motivated, aggressive, and imperialistic, obtaining atomic bomb data was a priority for several nations. The only manner in which some nations obtained the secret was by stealing it. When Stalin’s science officers finally developed an atomic duplicate of the American bomb, pressure suddenly was placed upon every other European nation to achieve an equivalent or better device.

When one seeks to defend one’s borders, the consequences of releasing weapons of devastation to the world do not seem important. Weaponry is death-oriented by nature. But there are moral differences between weapons of defense and weapons of offense. Previous to this atomic proliferation, competing nations concentrated their weapons research on truly bizarre and equally deadly means for defending their national boundaries. A great variety of such deadly weapons were perfected in rapid succession. This included deadly variations and combinations of gas weaponry, pathogenic agents, and radiant weaponry. Stalin’s research teams investigated psychic powers as a possible means for destroying an enemy. Psychotronic warfare was developed among numerous groups, both private and national, with measurable success.

Information on some simpler psychotronic weapons have recently been obtained through an increasing process of Soviet disclosure.
In truth, the larger the weaponry the less safe the national boundaries truly were. While the superpowers concentrated their weapons development programs on mass-destructive nuclear weaponry, others focussed on more practical conventions. The limited tactical warfare of small battlefields seemed a more immediate need. While developing their own atomic device, France sought defensive tactical weaponry on every possible technological front. Short range weapons would best defend against a conventional national assault. But other systems were also sought; systems which, though non-nuclear, were equally invincible. As the great Frankish Knight, Charles "the Hammer" Martel repelled ruthless invaders from the medieval east, so a new hammer would be sought to defend France against possible new enemies from the east. Even as Charles Martel arose from obscurity, so this strange new "hammer" would arise in equal obscurity.

GAVREAU

The central research theme of Dr. Vladimir Gavreau was the development of remote controlled automatons and robotic devices. To this end he assembled a group of scientists in 1957. The group, including Marcel Miane, Henri Saul, and Raymond Comdat, successfully developed a great variety of robotic devices for industrial and military purposes. In the course of developing mobile robots for use in battlefields and industrial fields, Dr. Gavreau and his staff made a strange and astounding observation which, not only interrupted their work, but became their major research theme.

Housed in a large concrete building, the entire group periodically experienced a disconcerting nausea which flooded the research facility. Day after day, for weeks at a time, the symptoms plagued the researchers. Called to inspect the situation, industrial examiners also fell victim to the malady. It was thought that the condition was caused by pathogens, a "building sickness". No such agencies were ever biologically detected. Yet the condition prevailed. Research schedules now seriously interrupted, a complete examination of the building was called.
The researchers noticed that the mysterious nauseations ceased when certain laboratory windows were blocked. It was then assumed that "chemical gas emissions" of some kind were responsible for the malady, and so a thorough search of the building was undertaken. While no noxious fumes could be detected by any technical means, the source was finally traced by building engineers to an improperly installed motor-driven ventilator. The engineers at first thought that this motor might be emitting noxious fumes, possibly evaporated oils and lubricants. But no evaporated products were ever detected. It was found that the loosely poised low speed motor, poised in its cavernous duct of several stories, was developing "nauseating vibrations".

The mystery magnified for Dr. Gavreau and his team, when they tried to measure the sound intensity and pitch. Failing to register any acoustic readings at all, the team doubted the assessment of the building engineers. Nevertheless, closing the windows blocked the sense of nausea. In a step of brilliant scientific reasoning, Gavreau and his colleagues realized that the sound with which they were dealing was so low in pitch that it could not register on any available microphonic detector. The data was costly to the crew.

They could not pursue the "search" for long time periods. During the very course of tracking the sound down, an accidental direct exposure rendered them all extremely ill for hours. When finally measured, it was found that a low intensity pitch of a fundamental 7 cycles per second was being produced. Furthermore, this infrasonic pitch was not one of great intensity either. It became obvious that the slow vibrating motor was activating an infrasonic resonant mode in the large concrete duct. Operating as the vibrating "tongue" of an immense "organ pipe", the rattling motor produced nauseating infrasound. Coupled with the rest of the concrete building, a cavernous industrial enclosure, the vibrating air column formed a bizarre infrasonic "amplifier".
Knowledge of this infrasonic configuration also explained why shutting the windows was mildly effective in "blocking the malady". The windows altered the total resonant profile of the building, shifting the infrasonic pitch and intensity. Since this time, others have noted the personally damaging effects of such infrasonic generation in office buildings and industrial facilities. The nauseating effects of exposure to a low intensity natural or manmade infrasonic source is now well appreciated.

It has become a routine architectural procedure to seek out and alter any possible such resonant cavities. The sources often appear in older buildings, the result of construction rendered faulty by previous lack of this knowledge. All such "improper" architectural formats are modified by the additions of sound-blocking materials.

WHISTLES

Dr. Gavreau and his research team now carefully investigated the effects of their "infrasonic organ" at various intensity levels and pitch. Changing the spring tension on shock mounts which held the fan motor, it was possible to change the pitch. Various infrasonic resonances were established throughout the large research building. Shutting the windows blocked most of the symptoms. When the window was again opened, however weak as the source was made, the team felt the nauseating effects once again.

In the business of military research, Dr. Gavreau believed he had discovered a new and previously "unknown weapon" in these infrasounds. Aware of the natural explosives by which infrasonics are generated, Dr. Gavreau began to speculate on the application of infrasonics as a defense initiative. The haphazard explosive effects of natural infrasound in thunderclaps were quite effective in demonstrating what an artificial "thunder-maker" could do. But, how could a thunderclap be artificially generated in a compact system? These thoughts stimulated theoretical discussions on the possibility of producing coherent infrasound: an infrasonic "laser".
The first devices Dr. Gavreau implemented were designed to imitate the "accident" which first made his research group aware of infrasonics. They designed real organ pipes of exceedingly great width and length. The first of these was six feet in diameter and seventy five feet long. These designs were tested outdoors, securely propped against protective sound-absorbent walls. The investigators stood at a great distance. Two forms of these infrasonic organ pipes were built. The first utilized a drive piston which pulsed the pipe output. The second utilized compressed air in a more conventional manner.

The main resonant frequency of these pipes occurred in the "range of death", found to lie between three and seven cycles per second. These sounds could not be humanly heard, a distinct advantage for a defense system. The effects were felt however. The symptoms come on rapidly and unexpectedly, though the pipes were operating for a few seconds. Their pressure waves impacted against the entire body in a terrible and inescapable grip. The grip was a pressure which came in on one from all sides simultaneously, an envelope of death.

Next came the pain, dull infrasonic pressure against the eyes and ears. Then came a frightening manifestation on the material supports of the device itself. With sustained operation of the pipe, a sudden rumble rocked the area, nearly destroying the test building. Every pillar and joint of the massive structure bolted and moved. One of the technicians managed to ignore the pain enough to shut down the power supply.

These experiments with infrasonics were as dangerous as those early investigations of nuclear energy. Dr. Gavreau and his associates were dangerously ill for nearly a day after these preliminary tests. These maladies were sustained for hours after the device was turned off. Infrasonic assaults on the body are the more lethal because they come with dreadful silence. The eyesight of Dr. Gavreau and his fellow workers were affected for days. More dangerously were their internal organs affected: the heart, lungs, stomach, intestinal cavity were filled with continual painful spasms for an equal time period.

Musculature convulses, torques, and tears were the symptoms of infrasonic exposure. All the resonant body cavities absorbed the self-destructive acoustic energy, and would have been torn apart had the power not been extinguished at that precise moment. The effectiveness of infrasound as a defense weapon of frightening power having been demonstrated "to satisfaction", more questions were asked. After this dreadful accident, approaching the equipment once again was almost a fearful exercise. How powerful could the output of an infrasonic device be raised before even the operating engineers were affected?

With greatest caution and respect for the power with which they worked, Dr. Gavreau began recalculating all of his design parameters. He had grossly misjudged the power released by the pipes. He had, in fact, greatly lowered those calculated outputs for diagnostic purposes. Never had he imagined that these figures were actually far too great in the world of infrasound!
Empirical data being the only way to determine how infrasonic energy correlated with both biological and material effect, the tests were again attempted with a miniature power supply. First, the dimensions of these devices had to be greatly reduced. Their extreme length was objectionable. In order to provide absolutely safe control of the deadly blasts, several emergency cutoff switches were provided. These responded to the radiated infrasonic pressure wave. the intensity could be absolutely limited by use of automated barometric switches.

In an attempt to achieve more compact and controllable infrasound generators, Dr. Gavreau designed and tested special horns and "whistles" of various volumes. These were each remarkably simple flat circular resonant cavities, having a side output duct. They were simply the large analogues of foghorns and police whistles. These flat forms were volumetrically reduced in successive design stages because it was found that their output was far too great. The infrasonic foghorns could produce a frightening two kilowatts of infrasonic energy, at a pitch of one hundred fifty cycles per second.

The flat "police whistles" were more easily designed to required specifications. Their overall characteristics were quite simple to determine, a mathematical formula being devised for the purpose. The whistle’s resonant pitch was found by dividing its diameter into a numerical constant of 51. Increasing the depth of the whistle effectively increased its amplitude. A whistle 1.3 meters in diameter produced an infrasonic pitch of 37 cycles per second. This form violently shook the walls of the entire laboratory complex, though its intensity was less than 2 watts infrasonic power.

DANGER

Not much amplitude is required for infrasound to produce physiological malady. Several researchers accidentally did themselves great harm when, by deliberate intent or accident, they succeeded in generating infrasonic vibrations. Tesla used vibrating platforms as an aid to vitality. He delighted in "toning the body" with vibrational platforms of his own design. Mounted on heavy rubber pads, these platforms were vibrated by simple motorized "eccentric" wheels.
Their mild use, for a minute, could be pleasantly stimulating. The effects invigorating the whole body for hours thereafter. Excessive use would produce grave illness however, excessive aggravations of the heart being the most dangerous aspect of the stimulation. The entire body "rang" for hours with an elevated heart rate and greatly stimulated blood pressure. The effects could be deadly.

In one historic instance, Samuel Clemens, Tesla’s close friend, refused to descend from the vibrating platform. Tesla was sorry he had allowed him to mount it. After repeated warnings, Tesla’s concern was drowned out by both the vibrating machine and Clemens’ jubilant exaltations and praises. Several more seconds and Clemens nearly soiled his white suit, the effects of infrasound being "duly recorded".

Tesla often went to great lengths in describing the effects of infrasounds to newspaper reporters who, behind his back, scoffed at the notion that a "little sound" could effect such devastations. Yet, it was precisely with such a "little sound" that Tesla nearly brought down his laboratory on Houston Street. His compact infrasonic impulsers were terribly efficient. Tesla later designed and tested infrasonic impulse weapons capable of wrecking buildings and whole cities on command.

Walt Disney and his artists were once made seriously ill when a sound effect, intended for a short cartoon scene, was slowed down several times on a tape machine and amplified through a theater sound system. The original sound source was a soldering iron, whose buzzing 60 cycle tone was lowered five times to 12 cycles. This tone produced a lingering nausea in the crew which lasted for days.

Physiology seems to remain paralyzed by infrasound. Infrasound stimulates middle ear disruptions, ruining organismic equilibrium. The effect is like severe and prolonged seasickness. Infrasound immobilizes its victims. Restoration to normal vitality requires several hours, or even days. Exposure to mild infrasound intensities produces illness, but increased intensities result in death. Alarming responses to infrasound have been accurately recorded by military medical experts.

Tolerances from 40 to 100 cycles per second have been recorded by military examiners. The results are sobering ones. As infrasonic pitches decrease, the deadly symptoms increase. Altered cardiac rhythms, with pulse rates rising to 40 percent of their rest values, are the precursors to other pre-lethal states. Mild nausea, giddiness, skin flushing, and body tingling occur at 100 cycles per second. Vertigo, anxiety, extreme fatigue, throat pressure, and respiratory dysfunction follow. Coughing, severe sternal pressure, choking, excessive salivation, extreme swallowing pains, inability to breathe, headache, and abdominal pain occur between 60 and 73 cycles per second. Post exposure fatigue is marked. Certain subjects continued to cough for half an hour, while many continued the skin-flush manifestation for up to four hours.

Significant visual acuity decrements are noted when humans are exposed to infrasounds between 43 and 73 cycles per second. Intelligibility scores for persons exposed, fall to a low of 77 percent their normal scores. Spatial orientation becomes completely distorted. Muscular coordination and equilibrium falter considerably. Depressed manual dexterity and slurred speech have been noted before individuals blackout. Just before this point, a significant loss in intelligibility is noted.

The findings of Dr. Gavreau in the infrasonic range between 1 and 10 cycles per second are truly shocking. Lethal infrasonic pitch lies in the 7 cycle range. Small amplitude increases affect human behavior in this pitch range. Intellectual activity is first inhibited, blocked, and then destroyed. As the amplitude is increased, several disconcerting responses had been noted. These responses begin as complete neurological interference. The action of the medulla is physiologically blocked, its autonomic functions cease.

WATCHMEN

Infrasound clings to the ground, a phenomenon well known in the animal world. Female vocalizations and those of their young, take their traceable routes through the air. High pitched sounds are aerial in nature. This makes females and young natural targets for predators. Low pitched tones cling to the ground, being "guided" along the soil layers. Male vocalizations cannot be localized by predators. Male sounds "hug the ground", diffusing out from their source. Some males rumble the ground with voice and hooves. These are communications signals which they alone comprehend.

The fact that the ground draws and guides low frequency tones is a remarkable gift to the animal kingdom, enhancing the survival of male leaders. When herds are attacked by predators, the males can continue to give guidance to their companions, while remaining completely "invisible" and elusive. Predators cannot locate the voices and rumblings of male leaders because their low pitched signals ar impossible to pinpoint. They are therefore also impossible to attack. Predators are often overtaken by the males who maintain their diffusive communications across and through the ground.

The same analogies would apply to an infrasonic defense system. First, infrasound does not lose its intensity when travelling very long distances across the ground. They remain at the same intensity as when released from their deadly sources. Also, because of the ground clinging effect, infrasonic sources cannot be located without special appliances. This would work well for those who used the weaponry of infrasound. But suppose some hostile force were themselves using infrasonics? Infrasonics are inaudible. The battle would be over before anyone knew it had begun. How would one know of an infrasonic attack? The first line of defense would therefore be the detection of the "unperceived enemy". The development of an adequate infrasonic weapons systems would first require an infrasound detector.

Dr. Gavreau first concentrated on developing infallible infrasonic detectors for the personal safety of his operators as well as for eventual tactical deployment. He experimented with several designs which followed the arcane analogues of old wireless detectors. One such design used enclosed flames to detect infrasonic pitches. They were reminiscent of those flame detectors developed by Lee De Forest just before his invention of the triode. The flame detectors of Gavreau employed variable resonant cavities. Flame amplitudes shifted with specific infrasonic pitches. He could calibrate the infrasonic intensity as well as the pitch with these detectors. But, flames are dangerous and fickle, not being very reliable in battle.

Dr. Gavreau next experimented with enhanced mechanical barometers. These coupled large resonant cavities with very fine barometer tubes. They displayed great sensitivity. Steady increases in barometric pressure were registered when large cavity bellows were compressed by infrasounds. The sensitivity of these barometers increased as the bellows capacity was increased. They were adequate, but frail.

Another embodiment resembled the early mechanical television designs of John Logie Baird. It utilized large tympani skins, mirrors, lights, and photocells. A mirror was fastened to the tympanum. A light beam flickered when infrasound struck the mirror. The photocell recorded these flickers as an electrical signal. This detector system was very reliable.

By far, the most advanced detectors which gavreau designed and tested utilized an electrolytic process. In this analogue of systems developed by Fessenden to measure faint wireless signals, chemical solutions and fine wirepoint electrical contacts were used. Chemical solutions, separated by an osmotic barrier, were forced to migrate through the barriers whenever infrasound traversed the system. This chemical mixture was then measured as an increased electrical conductivity in a sensitive galvanometer. This system was reliable and accurate. All of these systems suffered from one possibility. The offensive use of an incredible infrasonic amplitude would burst them into vapor.

ARMOR

Claims were issued by french authorities, stating that Dr. Gavreau was not developing weapons at all. Several patents, however, betray this conspicuous smoke-screen. While it is impossible to retrieve the actual patents for the infrasonic generators, Dr. Gavreau is credited with extensive development of "infrasonic armor". Why would he "waste" such time and expense if not for an anti-weapons program?

Thus use of infrasonic weaponry necessitates the development and implementation of infrasonic shields. Dr. Gavreau spent more time developing infrasonic shields than on developing efficient infrasonic horns. Infrasound could not adequately be blocked, as Dr. Gavreau discovered early in his research. Infrasonic devices require extremely large baffles.

Furthermore, no one would dare initiate an infrasonic barrage on any invasive force without adequate protection. Infrasonic horns can project their sounds in a given direction, but natural environments "leak" portions of the sound in all directions. Infrasounds saturate their generators, flooding and permeating their sources in a few seconds. They "work their way back" toward those who dispatch their deadly signals. Infrasounds "hug the ground" and spread around their sources. Unfortunately, those who would release infrasonic energy would themselves be slaughtered in the very act.

The first method of Gavreau involves the conversion of infrasound into successively higher pitches, until the infrasonic pitch is "lost". This was achieved in his passive "structural" method, an enormous layered series of baffles and resonant cavities. This form is "passive" since it merely stands and waits for infrasonic barrages, absorbing and converting them into harmless audible tones.

The second method of Gavreau is more active and "aggressive". It actively engages and nullifies any offensive infrasonic power. The nullifier uses a well known physical principle for its operation. As an "active" shield, it transmits tones whose opposing wavefronts destructively interfere with incoming infrasound. Infrasonic attacks are nullified, or at least brought to much weaker levels.

This method requires high speed detection and response systems. The process involves determination of an attack pitch, generation of the same, and projection of the pitch "out of phase". The active nullifier method is not completely accurate or protective by any means. A highly modulated, mobile infrasonic source would be nearly impossible to successfully neutralize without extremely sophisticated electronics.

But an elegantly simple approach was imagined, one which would not require the defender to be exposed to his own infrasonic projections. While fixated on the old notion of gun installations and stations, Gavreau and the team had momentarily forgotten their first research endeavor. Robotics!

THE HAMMER

Let us recall that Dr. Gavreau and his team of pioneers were in the business of robotics. They developed industrial and military automaton systems. How difficult would it have been to couple his newfound weaponry with robotic applications? Dr. Gavreau combined the organ pipe and whistle format. The device was housed in a block of concrete. It was less than a cubic meter in volume. The primary whistle was poised within its interior. At its flared opening were placed several resonant pipes. The device was operated by highly compressed air. Its output was frightful. It was capable, in a conventional engagement, of utterly destroying an aggressor.

This infrasound whistle design was once sealed in an 880 pound concrete pier for tests, a concrete baffle placed over its projective end. Even with these precautions, the device succeeded in absolutely shaking a fan-shaped portion of Marseille. It broke through its supportive concrete pier and destroyed the baffle covering in an instant. Macabre. No sound was ever heard.
This design demonstrated great pitch selectivity, power, and directivity. In this last feature, Gavreau and his team achieved a safety factor of greatest value. Infrasonic defensive armaments could now be safely directed away from the operators against any foe. This weapon was a remarkably compact and efficient device. Its efficiency was gauged by the destructive output and the weapon volume.

A later embodiment of this terror disclosed another compact cube. The infrasonic whistle was presumably housed therein. Proceeding from the front plate were some sixty pipes, flared horns aimed in deadly forward array. It was said that this device alone, remotely guided into an arranged artificial battlefield, burst heavy battlements and tank interiors open with a hideous effortlessness. In addition, several other more frightening and unmentionable disruptions were observed with equal effectiveness. In each, not a sound was ever heard.

The device was mounted and mobilized. A robotic vehicle. Powered by diesel engines or compressed gas, the almost insignificant unit would be a bizarre foe for an army to engage. Preliminary experiments had proven the extreme danger of loosing infrasonic power among Gavreau and his workers. Without automatic remote control mechanisms each technician would succumb to the deadly sound and die, while the machine kept broadcasting its deadly sound. As defensive weaponry, such a device would be terrible and effective. The system would be a true deterrent for those who would be foolish enough to attempt ground assault on any nation so armed. Armies would fall flat. Once the infrasonic horns were unleashed against the foe, the battle would not even begin.

Such a war engine would be impossible to locate. None who saw its size would believe it to contain such a lethal power. Most would overlook the device completely. A flood of such devices, each emanating a peculiar highly modulated blend of infrasound, would be an unstoppable wall. Robotic tanks equipped with infrasonic generators could sweep an area with deadly infrasound, destroying all opponents to within a five mile radius. These terrible infrasonic weapons could easily be secured in drone jets, where aerial assaults could quickly and methodically waste any offensive approaching army.

Deterring would-be aerial attackers could be equally devastating for the offenders. Infrasonic beacons could sweep and scan the skies with a deadly accuracy. Infrasound passes through all matter with equal effectiveness, seeking out offenders with deadly consequence. The intensities which the Gavreau devices effectively broadcast into the environment are frightening. In these devices we see the perfection of phenomena which never naturally occur in such dangerous intensities. This is why these weapons must be deployed by remote control, operating as automatons at great distances from their operators.

Weapons are made to defend, not to offend. In Gavreau’s own words: "There does not exist complete protection against infrasound. It is not absorbed by ordinary matter, walls and chambers do not suffice to arrest it". And so, once again, we stand at the cross-roads. We are called, summoned to appear before two pathways. On the one, we hear Messaien and the musical messages of peace. On the other, Gavreau and the musical messages of war. And again we choose. And again we must choose. Whose music will it be?

THIS is also a very useful article, complete with sources.

Flying Cars

2009-01-23T14:44:00.003-06:00

Thanks to my friend Aden for sharing...

’Flying Car’ Goes to Market
Irene Klotz, Discovery News

Jan. 22, 2009 -- A Boston-area company plans to begin flight tests this year of a two-seater airplane that moonlights as a car.

The aptly named Transition takes a stab at bridging the gap between automobiles and airplanes. Some people call it a flying car. The company designing and selling the vehicle prefers the term "roadable aircraft."

Either way, it boils down to this: You sit down behind the steering wheel, drive to the runway, unfold two wings and take off. You can fly 500 miles on a tank of gas -- regular unleaded -- and when you land, you simply fold up the wings and drive where you want to go. At the end of the day, you fly back, drive home and park inside your garage.

Terrafugia, of Woburn, Mass., is not the first firm to attempt what may be the ultimate hybrid.

"It’s probably a concept that people have been dreaming up since there have been airplanes and cars," said Dick Knapinski with the Experimental Aircraft Association, a 55-year-old aviation group based in Oshkosh, Wisc.

A company called Aerocar of Longview, Wash., debuted one of the first flying cars in 1949. The company built six prototypes, one of which is sitting in the EAA’s museum, but never went into production.

Terrafugia, founded in 2006 by a group of MIT students, has taken deposits for more than 40 Transitions and plans to begin deliveries in 2010, said Richard Gersh, vice president of business development.

The vehicles sell for $194,000.

Advances in materials and propulsion technologies are among the reasons why Terrafugia is in position for commercial success. But equally important, says Knapinski, is an easing of government regulations on private aircraft and pilot licensing.

HERE IS THE LINK

Hark! The Angels Sing! Life Is CHEAP!

2008-12-27T17:50:00.002-06:00

Music From The Silent Films

2008-03-19T11:55:00.003-05:00

Art Phag

2008-03-19T09:20:00.013-05:00

From their myspace page

Spewing forth from an industrial swamp south of Detroit in the mid-1980s, Art Phag cut a raw-boned, stripped down, gut poundin’, dead raisin’, hot damn I’m on fire and I’m takin’ you fuckers with me to hell path of destruction through the Motor City music scene for nearly a decade before flamin’ out like Russian space junk fallin’ from heaven on a starry starry night.

Co-founded by Detroit’s legendary surf-rock-a-billy guitar lord and mad scientist, Len Puch and heavily medicated, sometimes lucid, mostly liquored, crazed songwriter, Vegas Razz, Art Phag combined a heavy, swampy, bluesy wall of thick thick mud with a bazooka directness. Heavily influenced by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, The Cramps and a steady dose of voodoo beats from the other side, Art Phag blasted a sonic grunginess long before kids were rippin’ their jeans in Seattle AND doing it all with only a greased up guitar, jungle pounding drums and other-worldly vocals. At their highpoint, Art Phag tour with the likes of the Jesus & Mary Chain, The Membranes and My Bloody Valentine.

Art Phag's star slowly fizzled out in the mid 90s as prison, psycho wards and religious rituals began to take their toll on it’s founding members.

Art Phag - Golf

Click here to read Len Puch's musical history. He now goes under "Len Von Speedcult", and makes metal sculptures among other things (as seen above), like a backyard roller coaster called "The Roaster Coaster" with accomodations for Go-Go Dancers.

Art Phag - 4 Basic Vejabo Groups

I Am Not Going to Get up Today!

2008-03-13T15:44:00.002-05:00

Suggested Listening:

Cheap Fibronitrogen and Expensive Biliary Sludge!

2008-02-24T08:04:00.009-06:00

Rubber-O-Cement at No Fun Fest

The following statement is untrue:

Rubber O Cement was a spin-off of Bay Area avant-gardists Caroliner (aka Caroliner Rainbow), whose severely warped Americana bore a faint resemblance to the severely warped electronic noise of its offspring. Normally a trio led by enigmatic Caroliner frontman Grux (who founded the group during Caroliner's late-'90s hiatus), Rubber O Cement was most noted for its surreal stage shows, in which the bandmembers used cardboard, foam, and tin foil to dress up as robots and monsters, and cavorted around the stage in front of a large cardboard computer. Set against this backdrop, their equally oddball music relied chiefly on vintage analog synths, low-budget effects, and skronky noise guitar. Rubber O Cement shared Caroliner's penchant for found-object packaging; their debut album, 2002's High Speed Electronic Cardboard, was released in a limited edition by the Toyo label and packaged in an envelope stuffed inside different individual issues of Clive Barker's Hellraiser comic book. The group also cut a split release with Panicsville, and issued several CD-ROM recordings (again in tandem with comic books), among them Thylakoid Hubcaps N' Chloroblast! and Heated Expression of the Crawlycule. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide

The pervious statement is false

Rubber 0 Cement are, depending on your definitions, Avant metal, a la Black Dice or Wolf Eyes, the latter of whom they tour with, or Musique Concrete, following in the traditions of 'found noise' artists such as Pierre Schaeffer and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Certainly their music is a sound collage of this ilk, although it is less 'Revolution No.9', more, to quote the name of their record label, 'Brutal Sound Effects' .

Their full sound of electronic feedback, echo and whine puts them in the bracket of Noise or Drone according to some, but the band themselves would have other ways of describing their noise, such as "cheap fibronitrogen, and expensive biliary sludge" - the band seldom mention anything outside of the chemical or synthetic. To further this modernist dystopia they dress as giant mutated robots.

Their only overt instrument onstage, other than a giant computer they claim is made of cardboard, is a seven foot "bass javelin" which is played by an aforementioned robot by being swung round, hitting and scraping anything in its path.

Their love of found noise seems to extend beyond, er, noise. Some of their CDs are released in comic books "to make them attractive to the younger audience", they say. But these are not specially commissioned comics, they are old D.C. comics that they found in a skip.

There is one person on OkCupid, a dating website, who lists Rubber 0 Cement as a favourite band.
Rubber 0 Cement's first full length DVD, "Butyl RNA World, Solid City State, and Ratar Toilet Seat Cover" is out now.

http://www.myspace.com/rubber0cement

Hear Rubber 0 Cement on This Radio Show Archive from 06.11.07

Concerto For Voice & Machinery

2008-02-19T11:40:00.012-06:00

Coincidentally, I found this interview with Blixa Bargeld from a year ago with the following as a preface, completely unbeknownst to myself. Almost a year to the day since the event in question.

On January 3rd, 1984, members of the German industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten joined forces with musicians such as Genesis P. Orridge and Frank ‘Fad Gadget’ Tovey to perform a one-off piece entitled ‘Concerto for Voice and Machinery’ at the ICA. The gig, involving pneumatic drills and chainsaws, was chaotic even by Neubauten standards, culminating when someone threw bottles into a cement mixer, which sent broken glass flying all around the room. As the ICA tried to put a stop to the pandemonium a riot broke out in the audience. Accounts of subsequent events are rather muddled but it would appear that power tools were used to drill through the stage, possibly in an attempt to get to the underground tunnels that allegedly run underneath it, connecting Whitehall to Buckingham Palace.

On February 20th, the artist Jo Mitchell will stage a re-enactment of ‘Concerto for Voice and Machinery’ at the ICA. A group of artists playing the band members will attempt to reconstruct the events as they unfolded twenty-three years ago.

photo credit

From This Source:
Commissioned by Michael Morris, the site programmer, with Mark Chung of Einstürzende Neubauten, the work was scored by Chung and F.M. Einheit for cement mixers, jack hammers, chain saws, angle grinders, breaker drills, banyo hammers, road drills, a metal locker room cabinet, a section of a tree trunk, milk bottles, bricks, loud hailers, a gently quiet upright piano and performers, Frank Tovey, Mark Chung, FM Einheit, Gila Groeger, Stevo, Alex Hacke and a ICA- banned Genesis P.Orridge.

Blixa Bargeld made a last minute appearance to scream ‘sehnsucht’ into a microphone amidst the sawdust, petrol smells, smoke, sparks and chaos as the ICA officials unplugged the power and closed the show.

Varying reports suggest that Einheit jumped from the stage inciting others to drill through to the Royal Family’s nuclear hideaway under the ICA’s dressing rooms, that Stevo was goading the onlookers and that an audience member had called for an attack on the ‘fascist institution’ and attempted to initiate this.

So every account of this post-Punk Dadaism differs - hence the legend and the creative impossibility of Jo’s task despite her incredibly thorough research through bootleg recordings, photographs, witness statements, the availability of Mark’s score and her imaginatively close direction of the event.

Here is a snippet from the reinactment:

And another one with Vocals that was edited for repitition throughout:

Here is a review of the original performance by a journalist in attendance who actually had a hand in putting together the re-enactment, as reviewed Here.

From the 1984 review:

On the stage, things veered from gleeful, precise carnage to an exhilaratingly dangerous chaos. The protagonists jolted and bumped into each other. At times I seriously expected an arm or a leg to be severed, the disembodiment then insanely celebrated by the tossing of the blood-dripping limb into the audience.

From the Re-Enactment:

At the re-enactment, I spent the first five minutes or so hating it, thinking the whole thing had been a waste of time as it had none of the intensity of the original and, apart from anything else, it was remarkably quiet (despite the earplugs being offered at the door). But once I adjusted to the idea that I was watching a re-enactment, not a repeat, the whole thing became enjoyable in a manner which I’ve still not worked out. Blixa Bargeld apparently commented on hearing of the planned re-enactment that he found the idea ‘charming’, and the re-enactment was, for me, actually quite charming, though others would experience it in many different ways.

And as commented by a youtube user:

My dad was there in 1984. The difference between then and now is that, at the original, his friend was almost killed by a piece of flying glass from the cement mixer. And he was part of a group trying to pull down a speaker stack that would most definitely have killed them had it gone...

The obvious can be assumed about it being dumbed down and contrived to stage a reinactment. According to this blog, There were people that reinacted the audience heckling. From what I've read, the energy and raucousness of the crowd in 1984 was what made the night legendary. So the concept of a re-enactment for something of this nature seems silly. However, if people simply performed "Concerto for Voice and Machinery", I would have never heard about it happening. If any of you reading this has a bootleg of the re-enactment (or especially the original for that matter, there were said to have been bootlegs used as source material for the act), or even just a recording of someone destroying a piano with a chainsaw, give me a hollar!

But we would have kept it pretty straightforward if we weren't inspired by the reaction of the audience. There's a famous Walter Benjamin essay about the destructive character, and he says: "The destructive character knows only one watchword: make room. And only one activity: clearing away." And that's how it was. We were thinking, "Actually, it's not us doing anything. The audience are tearing the place apart!" People were fighting over the drills and sledgehammers. Cables and machinery were pulled into the audience. - From an interview with Alexander Hacke

Christians Against Scooby Doo

2008-02-17T09:32:00.002-06:00

"Phil Phillips" here, says that 80% of cartoons deal with the occult, and that children projecting themselves upon the character of a toy is dangerous. I love the fact that there is a TV in the background that says "DEMONIZED" in spooky lettering on the screen. Thanks to Saturday Morning Blog.

Pluck The Vibrating Strings; Since Fate Strikes Down The String Man!

2008-01-26T09:33:00.000-06:00

Carl Orff was born in Munich, Germany and came from a Bavarian family that was very active in the German military. His father's regimental band supposedly had often played the compositions of young Orff.

Orff's association with the Nazi party has been alleged, but never conclusively established. His Carmina Burana was hugely popular in Nazi Germany after its premiere in Frankfurt in 1937, receiving numerous performances. But the composition with its unfamiliar rhythms was also denounced with racist taunts. He was one of the few German composers under the Nazi regime who responded to the official call to write new music for A Midsummer Night's Dream after the music of Felix Mendelssohn had been banned — others refused to cooperate in this. But Orff had already composed music for this play as early as 1917 and 1927, long before this was a favour for the Nazi government.

Orff is most known for Carmina Burana (1937), a "scenic cantata". It is the first of a trilogy that also includes Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. Carmina Burana reflected his interest in medieval German poetry. Together the trilogy is called Trionfi, or "triumphs". The composer described it as the celebration of the triumph of the human spirit through sexual and holistic balance. The work was based on thirteenth-century poetry found in a manuscript dubbed the Codex latinus monacensis found in a Bavarian monastery in 1803 and written by the Goliards; this collection is also known as Carmina Burana. While "modern" in some of his compositional techniques, Orff was able to capture the spirit of the medieval period in this trilogy, with infectious rhythms and easy tonalities. The medieval poems, written in an early form of German and Latin, are often racy, but without descending into smut.

Naïve is industrial rock group KMFDM's fifth album, released in 1990. It is out of print due to copyright infringement: the seventh track, Liebeslied (Unedited), used unauthorized samples from a recording of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana (O Fortuna). A common misbelief is that the album was pulled immediately after its release; in actuality, it had been out for three years before it was recalled. Copies today are rare and considered collector's items, often fetching high prices at auction. The album was recorded in Hamburg, Germany.

KMFDM - NAIVE Search on EBAY

All of the other tracks on the album, except for the original mixes of "Die Now-Live Later" and "Go to Hell" were subsequently available on other discs. The album was re-released as Naïve/Hell to Go, with some songs remixed, in 1994.

A digitally remastered reissue of Naïve was released on November 21, 2006, along with Money and Angst. It was reissued with an edited version of the track "Liebeslied" without the offending sample. It also features the remixes that initially appeared on 1994's Naïve/Hell to Go album.

KMFDM - Liebeslied (Live 1992)

The remastered version of "Liebeslied", according to the CD booklet, is "Different from the original only in that the 'O Fortuna' samples have been removed. No other elements of the song have been altered". However, if you compare the original version to the reissued edit, the original is around 30 seconds longer. This is due to the sections of the song where the 'O Fortuna' samples should be being shortened.

Also, if you listen very carefully to the reissued version of Liebeslied, you can just about hear the reminants of the 'O Fortuna' sample, just before the first chorus (around the 1:10 mark). (Wikipedia)

This album is arguably KMFDM's most "metal" album. Also on Naive is "Godlike", which has been reinterpreted a lot, but this is their most aggressive version, quite possibly containing a riff borrowed from Slayer's Angel of Death .

On-again-off-again KMFDM contributor and core member Raymond Watts put out a solo album under the moniker PIG in 1988, one year before Naive was recorded, called A Poke in the Eye... With A Sharp Stick, which also happened to be out of print (reissued in Japan only in 1998 with different cover) for reasons that don't seem to have anything to do with Carl Orff, although you'll find his sample as well as one possibly of Metallica on the first track of the album.

PIG - It Tolls For Thee (Pig's Breath)(LP)

PIG - Shit For Brains

PIG - Poke In The Eye Search on EBAY

Therion - O Fortuna

*Note: The title of this blog is based off of a misspelling I found while searching for and within the lyrics to O Fortuna. I found it to be poigniant, so no knit-picking is necessary for that portion*

In Memory of Clayton Counts

2008-01-24T07:47:00.002-06:00

According to his website, Clayton Counts has been dead since Christmas Eve. His Wiki Page says that the death has not been verified. In any case, Clayton is/was a gracious fellow. He was a very intelligent guy, without the pseudo-intellectual loftiness that often comes along with it, and a sharp, dark sense of humor to boot. He could talk about chemistry and pizza in the same unassuming demeanor. He and I weren't the most regular of friends, but we were in regular correspondence since I met him in 2004.

In our email exchanges, I eventually put him on a bill for a show I was playing at Hotti Biscotti, a quaint experimental venue. Knowing I was fond of the music on his website that I was aware of, I was still weary about the laptop ambience that might easily get squelched by the noise in the small bar. I met him there and we chatted about music, approaches to executing such, and various secret ideas he had, for practically the entire nite. Contrary to my concerns, he played a spiraling enclave of electronic blips, bloops, and farts that eventually mutated and waddled into a rabid, chaotic interchange; apparently without predictable use of distortions, that I can only describe as this:

... Or maybe by saying that it was more persistently cacaphonous, but in the same vein as this ColoringBook track

Clayton and I continuted to hang out a little here and there. Eventually, due to his court trouble at the time (see Chicago Reader article PDF in aforementioned Wikipedia page titled "Last Night A DJ Called Me A Whining Little Bitch"), and since I had an album in the works, that I was in the market for getting mastered, he agreed to do it for a modest sum to supplement his court expenses. It also allowed for a lot of telephone conversations and meetings at bars or coffee shops that were not only productive but also littered with mental notes for me to take home about musicians I'd never heard of. He once said that my music sounded, in an off-the-wall way, similar to Les Baxter, and now that I've long since found out who that is, I consider it a great compliment.

Les Baxter - Hogin Machine

That album was distributed in an edition of 40 CDR's, then taken back to the drawing board to be radically refinished. The following track doesn't sound anything like Les Baxter, but it was mastered by Clayton from a deliberately peaked recording with a focus on getting fullness and stereo activity out of basically mono material. It's essentially a recording of a glitch in my sequencer that happens when I try to make it do too much at once. It wrangles the sounds that you're working on into mush if it's the right material/if you rub it right.

Mister Fuckhead - 3.31 (deleted album version)

I had Clayton on my radio show last fall to do an interview, live performance, and guest DJ set. You can nab the live set Here. The interview amounts to over an hour at least, and the mic that Clayton was speaking into was faulty, so it will take some cleaning up before I post it. You should check back for that, I will have it up eventually.

Clayton also contributed to WFMU's 365 Days Project, here are the days he featured something:

002,

166,

173,

180,

309,

362

Clayton Counts - Fuck EMI

Anyone who knows anything about Clayton knows about The Beachles, but if you don't, here's the Wikipedia link regarding the first Beachles album. The Beachles' - Sgt. Petsound's Lonely Hearts Club Band is commonly known as a mash-up album, track for track, of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Clayton never really seemed to agree about it being hapharzardly placed into the category of "mash-up", and never really explained why he wanted to do the album other than to be clear that it was not to antagonize anyone. I would just add that I think it's quite a clever premise and surely wasn't chosen half-heartedly. For one, Pet Sounds was said to be inspired by The Beatles' Rubber Soul, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was supposedly a reaction to Pet Sounds. Sgt. Peppers also had more than a little collage work on the cover, which makes it all the more fitting, thematically, to use their music as a launch pad to make something else.

Sgt. Petsound's Lonely Hearts Club Band (2006)

The way that The Pet Sounds Sessions was compiled by the Beach Boys' own Brian Wilson almost asks for it, and listening to the original SMiLE bootlegs, I'd say that Brian and Co. might have liked The Beachles. I don't know what all the fuss was about.

Not only that, and this might be a stretch, but Harry Nilsson was heavily inspired by The Beatles. After John Lennon died, Nilsson neglected to do another album, and instead devoted the rest of his life to Gun Control. His early albums were most obviously influenced by The Beatles, namely Aerial Ballet and Pandemonium Shadow Show. When it came time for said albums to be reissued, Harry took material from both of the albums and made one single album, Aerial Pandemonium Ballet, which was probably, inadvertently, the world's first mash-up album; latently influenced by The Beatles. Coincidentally, RCA released what is essentially a mash-up/medley of Nilsson's previous material called Scatalogue, intended to promote those albums by him.

But the Beachles record isn't just a mash-up record. It used primarily source material to create something new. It's not as strict, track for track, as has been implied. There's plain out soundscapes on there, and The Super Mario Brothers Theme too, among other things.

Clayton has posted some of the second Beachles album, and his friends are gradually posting things related to him on his website. He said that projects he works on always come in 3's, so in any case, I will be checking his website for updates of varying importance in the days to come.

Handy links for finding used products:

Beach Boys Pet Sounds on EBay

Beatles Sgt. Pepper search on EBay

Download Two Slaps and Delirious Insomniac Radio Shows from 01/08/08

2008-01-08T08:23:00.000-06:00

HERE is the link to playlists from 01/08/08 for both of the radio shows I do at WLUW. You will find 4 portions from each show to download there. The Freeform show stands out particularly because I was jabbering and awkward more than I've ever been on air. I don't know what it is, lately the words have been coming out like gillopies. And to add to that, a caller kept simply hitting a single button over and over, as he/she has done before, so I proposed on air that I would give away tickets to a show Eric Lab Rat and DJ Demchuk do every month. Demchuk and I used to cohost it when it was called The Freeform Shuffle, so I had a bit of leverage. One could win by calling me and playing "Mary Had A Little Lamb" with the keypad over the phone, to outdo the prank caller. Someone did succeed, and hung up after they were done.

There was a storm last night that caused a lot of damage, derailed a train full of toxic chemicals in town that needed to be evacuated, and knocked out some power. In San Fransisco they had 80mph winds and 100,000 people out of power.

My girlfriend's cat was tearing around my apartment all day, dangerously jumping at invisible things, landing face first into my desk etc, and when I came home, it had taken many of my black socks out of my closet to make them into some kind of circular nest in front of my refrigerator.

As a bonus, a link to this was sent to us without explanation by a listener in an instant message:

Radio Shows from XMas Eve + The Impending New Year's Eve

2007-12-28T00:29:00.002-06:00

The independent community Radio Station I Dj at does not archive radio shows on it's website, so I'm compelled to keep some things for posterity at least before Loyola boots WLUW from the premises at any time they see fit to make way for educational programming.

Below are links to download recordings of my guest spot on The Destination Unknown Radio Show as well as Two Slaps Radio from last week (the evening of December 24th). The playlists can be found
here.

Destination Unknown Xmas Eve Part 1

Destination Unknown Xmas Eve Part 2

Two Slaps Xmas Eve Part 1

Two Slaps Xmas Eve Part 2

You can also download the radio shows that I recorded ahead of time for New Year's Eve. I compiled these with Adobe Audition having gone 3 days without sleeping. While it is only 4 hours of content, it took me over 8 hours to produce, downloading/uploading stuff as I saw fit and taking a ridiculous amount of time to render several hours without very much virtual memory. You can hear my cognition progressively decay on these files, with a broken karaoke mic no less. There's also the luxury of me smoking a cigarette on air since I didn't record this at the radio station, so it's not in a public place that I'm smoking, but I guess it is most certainly in a public way. It's a good way to wring in Chicago's new smoking ban, which I am frankly more annoyed about than the CTA's alleged lack of funding or the Iraq war. The playlists are here.

Two Slaps New Year's Eve Part 1

Two Slaps New Year's Eve Part 2

Delirious Insomniac New Year's Eve Part 1

Delirious Insomniac New Year's Eve Part 2

Other than that, I have been drinking Lucid's brand of Absinthe, which is what has been referred to as "Absinthe finally legal after 95 years" schpiel if you haven't heard already, that I have been reading about. It has very little thujon at all, and therefore, lacks the necessary lustre of the real thing. Take heed.

Meanwhile, I have been listening to this Live Recording of Tiny Tim from 1968 all night, and he never dissappoints.

In Other News, rumor has it that Clayton Counts has killed himself. Whether that is the case or not, and hopefully the latter, he has left selections from his double Lp sequel to the controversial Beachles album for us to peck at.

Enjoy!

All My Clothes Are Uncomfortable: The World of Little Fyodor

2007-12-09T09:07:00.000-06:00

I heard about Little Fyodor on the internet a few years ago. From there, I ended up becoming familiar with Boyd Rice, not the other way around, oddly enough being that I have been told that I make noise music. Boyd Rice put out Boyd Rice Presents: The Very Best Of Little Fyodor's Greatest Hits! via DISCRIMINATE AUDIO, and in its liner notes there is a rather inspiring interview between the two of them which is available on both of their respective websites, and so below. I played Little Fyodor's music on WZRD, as his entire discography can be found there, whenever I was a guest DJ and became as familiar with his music as I can. At some point, I performed live on WZRD and just so happened to be interviewed by someone that knew Little Fyodor, who let me in on the fact that Little Fyodor comes to Chicago every Christmas and has played on WZRD numerous times.

After that I contacted him and we exchanged pleasantries, played eachother's music on our respective radio spots, mine being clandestine, sneaking into WZRD whenever I can and staying there all night, while his was a 10+ year long run on KGNU with his show called "Under The FloorBoards", then we exchanged CD's. So I asked him if he would like to play a show that I can put together. This was easy because at the time I was booking every Thursday at the now defunct Bar Vertigo. Not only did I book a show there for him, but also the following Saturday at Elastic Arts. Unfortunately, there was so much snow last year that there were no flights coming out of Little Fyodor's hometown, Denver. The shows went well and were highly stimulating for all concerned despite the missing centerpiece. This year I hope for better results on December 21st at The Mutiny.

Little Fyodor - Dance of The Salted Slug

Whenever I see really good albums in the used section at a record store or at places like Amazon.com, it always makes think about the world's rampant injustice or something equally melodramatic, that people don't appreciate these things as much as I do. At present time, Boyd Rice Presents: The Very Best Of Little Fyodor's Greatest Hits! is going on Amazon for $3.12 used. I've made a compilation that not only contains 4 tracks (and cleaner recordings of them are actually on the GH album ) from that album, but also stuff that didn't make it on there; some of which I enjoy just as much if not more than what's on the aforementioned compendium. Plus, there's a track from Babushka, his other half, who has performed and been featured with him since the mid 80's.

Little Fyodor and Babushka

She is influenced by "Granny of The Beverly Hillbillies, The Wicked Witch of the West, Nina Hagen and bitchy women everywhere!!" (according to Their Myspace Page) and has done an "Naughty XXX-Mas" CD (with Little Fyodor and The Inactivists). She also was on the Live Album with Little Fyodor in NY during The Church of The Subgenius' XX-Day Celebration. There's also a couple of tracks by Walls of Genius, a band that Little Fyodor was in as he was just beginning to gather any solo efforts, putting stuff out on an underground cassette network of some sort. There's a prototype of what later became a Little Fyodor song, Sister Schizo, and a song that made me laugh my ass off the first time I heard it. I was so inspired by it that I asked Little Fyodor if I can do an interpretation of it with him live.

Below, the featured songs are from the CD-Rs available from his site exclusively, and due to the over-used nature of my CD-R's there is some fuzz going on here and there, especially on the tracks from the XX-Day CD. A Couple of the tracks that do happen to be on the Greatest Hits CD are from before they were remastered. The volume levels are inconsistent from song to song, and you can fix that with either iTunes or Pyro. That being said, I hope you are entertained by it regardless, especially if it moves you enough to buy some damn shit from one of the original DIY'ers. There's other stuff to download on Little Fyodor's Website and Myspace page, too, if your pallette abides.

Little Fyodor on Ebay

This Comp exists to not only help illuminate the broad array of music he's partaken in, but also to be a teaser. The mix was the result of an urge I had to put together a diverse slab of songs that focus on a certain aspect of Little Fyodor's music I particularly appreciate. While these are mp3's, and they are ripped from unscratched CD-r's, they either have been played so much that they simply don't rip well, or my lens is faulty, on top of it being compressed. So if you like this stuff, it would be in your best interest to pick up an original copy. If anyone wishes for me to take the songs down, I will gladly do it, although if you look at my views, you'll know that this isn't exactly an international download chop shop or anything; it doesn't even come up in search engines. Consider this a mix tape between friends, which will not be active for long.

All My Clothes Are Uncomfortable: Arvo's Little Fyodor Appreciation Compilation Illegally Downloadable Bootleg Straight From The Bowels of Insectdom - 37.1 Minutes, 48.7 MB - (Rapidshare)

Cover Art taken from a vinyl LP painting by Babushka

Tracklist:

01: You Will Die
02: All My Clothes Are Uncomfortable
03: You Give Me Hard-On
04: I Believe In God
05: Useless Shit
06: Doomed
07: A Reaction To The Election
08: Sister Schizo
09: I Am Insane
10: Watching The Squirrels
11: I'm So Glad
12: Those Three Little Words
13: Oh Horny Night

I feel that his bio and the liner notes below would do him better justice than I, but I should just say that I am pretty damn enthusiastic about his music, if that isn't already evident.

Little Fyodor has been spreading his unique brand of avant-pop madness throughout the world musical underground for over twenty years, creating twisted, satirical songs which - beneath a crass and maniacal outer shell - express a deep empathy with those who most acutely experience the frustrations and alienation of modern life's "insect existence." Fyodor's songwriting, aesthetics and outlandish performances somehow manage to be simultaneously sad, angry and hilarious, and in doing so, appeal to the silent majority of disillusioned weirdos of the world, whom he adeptly addresses with a theatrical, daresay Vaudevillian flair, that is a brand all his own.

In the many years he's been pursuing his uncompromisingly eccentric artistic vision, Little Fyodor has released countless cassettes, several vinyl LPs and singles, a video, and a handful of CDs; the finest moments from all of which have finally been distilled down into one, definitive release presented by DISCRIMINATE AUDIO, Boyd Rice Presents: The Very Best Of Little Fyodor's Greatest Hits!. This "best of" disc spans not only Little Fyodor's career, but also the full spectrum of instrumentational possibility, featuring tracks which utilize everything from the traditional "rock" ensemble, to saxophones, synthesizers, samplers, drum machines, toy instruments, and beyond.

Little Fyodor started his underground musical career as the Assistant Head Moron of Walls Of Genius, who have been called "funnier than hell weirdos" in the 1996 book Unknown Legends Of Rock 'N' Roll. He has since hooked up with his lovely assistant Babushka, who has lent her support in an act of mercy reflective of her Olde World upbringing, forming a guitar and keyboard performance juggernaut backed by a powerhouse punk band of crazed hipsters! Little Fyodor is also a radio deejay and has been hosting a show on KGNU, Boulder & Denver called Under The Floorboards since 1982 featuring experimental and idiosyncratic sounds of the underground.

Interview with Boyd Rice from the liner notes of The Very Best of Little Fyodor's Greatest Hits:

Liner Notes:

In my time I've seen Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop, David Bowie and various members of the Rat Pack, but by far the most charismatic performer I've ever laid eyes on, has got to be a man who goes by the stage-name of Little Fyodor (pronounced Fee-A-Door, like Dostoevsky). On the surface, he would appear to be the antithesis of what you'd expect of a Pop Star; and he is - deliberately so. He has consciously inverted the rock n' roll paradigm, and in so doing created a kind of bizarro-world version of the rock idiom.

That said, Fyodor's music is perhaps truer to the spirit of rock n' roll than anything produced by the sort of ersatz bad boys who feign defiance in Mtv music videos. Little Fyodor is a genuine outsider, a pop anti-hero who both laments and celebrates his alienation. His songs are well-crafted pop psychodramas that usher the listener into a funzone in which giddy glee and paranoia blur effortlessly into one another.

By way of introduction, we here reprint an interview I conducted with Fyodor roughly a decade ago. Welcome to the world of Little Fyodor...
-- Boyd Rice, 2005

Little Fyodor performing live with Boyd Rice

Boyd: So how long have you been doing the Little Fyodor stuff?

Fyodor: Solo since about 1985. Before that I was in sort of a band called Walls Of Genus, though Little Fyodor was born in late '81. That's when I first started writing all these songs out of the desperate depression I was in.

Boyd: But you didn't have the name Little Fyodor at that point?

Fyodor: Not quite; that came later. That was originally a friend's idea as a joke. But I thought it was cool, because he knew I was reading [Fyodor] Dostoevsky at the time.

Boyd: So having this Little Fyodor character helped you exorcise all these things?

Fyodor: Yeah, it gave me a purpose in life, to express all the shit that was going on inside me. All I wanted to talk to people about was how depressed I was, but I thought, "I don't want to bum everyone out by talking about that." So I wrote these funny songs about it instead. Now I can entertain people with how depressed I am, instead of bumming them out.

Boyd: Yeah, it seems a real kind of psychodrama. It seems like a channel for focusing and expressing these feelings that probably go through most people's minds, but they don't really have any outlet for it. It just bubbles back there and festers.

Fyodor: Then they become mass murders and things like that. I think 'most everyone's got this stuff going on in them to one degree or another… I just wanted to examine all this shit rather than kind of try to brush it aside or repress it, or… I 'm not sure how people deal with it. It kind of slowly goes away as you become middle-aged, but I didn't want to wait that long, at the time, I guess. You know, you're young and impatient… Before I started doing songs, I was trying to be a writer, but being a writer's so much more difficult. I'd walk around in my room trying to think of something to write - that didn't help much. I'd come up with all these great ideas for novels and stuff, but I'd never get around to writing them. I wanted to follow in the footsteps of Nathaniel West - whose real name was Nathan Weinstein - and write short novels of nasty satire, on how fucked up everything really was. His style of writing is what I'd call minimalism. It's almost like his style of writing and The Ramones' style of writing songs - those are combined influences. All these short snappy satires that are just so black in their nature, so negative - at looking at the underside of human life that most people want to brush aside - and yet they're so hilarious in the way they deal with it. So in that sense West's work was very therapeutic for me when I was depressed, because I could just laugh at all this stuff. So I feel I'm kind of on a mission to give that back to all the other insects out there.

Little Fyodor - I Want An Ugly Girl

Boyd: There aren't many people who succeed at doing stuff that is really funny - it entertains you and you can laugh at it - and yet it has that weird, dark undertone, or sometimes sort of mean-spiritedness.

Fyodor: Hardly anyone wants to be both funny and sincere nowadays. You're either sincere and deep - and you take a serous tone - or you're comical, but not sincere… most people who try to do both are really just making fun of poor schleps who're anti-social and stuff. What I'm doing is satire, but I'm not really making fun of poor schleps - I'm empathizing with poor schleps because I'm kind of a poor schlep myself. But on the other hand, I wanted to raise it above the dreariness of schlep-existence and bring it to another level. So if I'm making fun of anything, it's just human existence; we're a race full of schleps.
It's kind of funny when you think about it, but when your experience is schlepness, it's more painful. What I do is kind of the opposite of the ancient Greeks. I heard that Nietzsche admired the Greeks for expressing life as tragic, but the plight of the individual as comic. I'm sort of the other way around. I guess it's mainly because I can't take seriously crooners expressing how sad they are. To me it's just kind of hilarious - but on the other hand, pain is real, too. I'm just trying to express both at the same time. I think there's no contradiction there, and I've always found myself disgusted with the notion that you have to take a serious tone to express serious feelings. I disagree with that totally.

Boyd: People seem to pick-up on either the funny side of what you do, or the sad side. A lot of people don't see both sides of your expression.

Fyodor: I think that's just because they're not used to it. They're trained to think it's one or the other. I think the people who see more of the serious side, are people who have heard the recordings, but haven't seen me live. Sometimes I get reactions like; someone once saw me live and thought I was so silly I'd make Joe 'King' Carrasco look like a depressive intellectual - but then, in Options, this reviewer wrote, "This guy bums me out. This guy just hates the world. He thinks everything sucks, and his band obviously agrees."

Boyd: It all seems stuff that's your real feelings, but an exaggeration of them at times.

Fyodor: I like to use the word 'caricature.'

Boyd: I was going to say 'caricature,' but I didn't know if that would be good…

Fyodor: In a way it's like stick figures. People say to me, "Boy, are you really like this?" And it's kind of like, you only have to feel something for five seconds and you can write a song out of it.

Boyd: It's like an exaggeration, and at the same time, it's all very real. I'm sure that stuff has gone through a lot of peoples' minds, but they might prefer to turn on the TV and make it go away.

Fyodor: By exaggerating it and by making it humorous, you can deal with things a lot more intensely than you can when you're being realistic or somber, because you can get more at the root of it all. The humor kind of sugar-coats it in a way, and the exaggeration kind of blows it up, so you see it like a big picture. Like, "Nobody Wants to Play With Me" - I wrote that actually as a result of working the graveyard shift at the Hotel Boulderado, and seeing all these people… I was new to town so I didn't know anyone, and here I was the front desk clerk with a goddamn tie and stuff, and feeling very neurotic, and all these people were like drinking and partying all around me. So I wrote a song about someone whose whole life was like that, from point A to point Z.

Boyd: I think most people think your stuff is either funny, or stimulating... I focus on stuff like that because I hear it and think, "God, that's exactly right!"

Fyodor: People are so into falling into molds; they like to mold themselves just so they know what they are. I was never able to do that for myself, and that's why I had these mixed feelings and paradoxes and dilemmas going on within myself. I've never been able to mold myself as easily as some people do. I don't know; that might sound smug or something… and actually, here's why it's not smug: because a lot of the time I would have wanted to. I've had a lot of people - when I told them I wanted to be a hippie or things like that - go, "I thought you were an individualist." And I'd say, "Yeah, but that was by accident!" Doing Little Fyodor is what really helped me become comfortable with being an individualist. Until then, I was always trying to fit in somehow, but always failing.

Boyd: And it's even worse - you're even more of an outcast - when you try to fit in someplace where you're obviously not meant to fit in.

Fyodor: It seems like that was everywhere. Especially after progressive rock started becoming commercial - that was the last time I fit into anything; when I was in high school, and an ELP freak. And then all those bands like The Strawbs and ELP started singing all these really sappy love songs, and I thought it sucked, but all my friends were like, "Oh, this is great! This is great!", and I was like, "What's wrong with you?" That's when I really started going into the ozone, because I lost the one thing that had anchored me: my progressive rock, and all my friends that were into progressive rock. I started seeing through it. Then I started getting into '60s rock, but then I started seeing through that, when I was tripping at a Grateful Dead concert and everyone else was getting into the cosmic experience of the Grateful Dead, and I got into the cosmic experience of realizing that everyone's excited just because they want to be excited. That's what I'm seeing: here's a crowd, here's a band. It's just a coincidence that they're both here.

Boyd: A lot of the stuff you do has an abstract edge to it, but in a lot of ways it's classic rock, the way the guitar and keyboards interact; so it's hard to pin-down your influences.

Fyodor: That confuses people, because they don't know whether to call it avant-garde or rock, because it's sort of neither. My main influences were really late '70s punk, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks, The Sex Pistols, and all the stuff where you just strum the hell out of the guitar and bleed out all your feelings. On the other hand it's not just normal - when I tell people I was influenced by The Ramones, a lot of times they don't see any relation at all. Plus I have a more open-minded attitude as to what music could or should be. It doesn't have to be all one thing - a lot of times it takes on other influences - it can be more abstract. It's not like I think if you don't have a bass and drums, you're not allowed on a stage. I just do whatever works. I picked up a guitar as a kid and put it down when I was listening to progressive rock, because I thought I could never play all those leads and stuff like that. Then after The Ramones, I thought, "Well, maybe all I need to do is play chords? I love to play like that."

There is a little bit of that pure musician in me that loves strumming a guitar; it's kind of like throwing a Frisbee or something. But it's not the point of what I'm doing; I wouldn't be doing this except that I've got these ideas I want to express, and strumming on the guitar is one way to do it. When I heard The Ramones, that put a big smile on my face; but I'd given up on being a hippie, so I wasn't really going to try being a punk, because they were all taking fashion real seriously and all I wanted was to put on was a t-shirt and jeans, and not comb my hair. So I didn't really fit in with the punks either, even though I liked a lot of their music. That's when I realized I was on my own. But that's when I started writing some songs, kind of influenced by The Ramones. The first one was "Useless Shit." It was right after college; I was a flop with girls, I had a shitty job, and I was hanging out with these friends, who I kind of liked, but I couldn't really communicate with. Then I got into avant-garde music, and then into Walls of Genius.

We were kind of an experimental band, but we bucked a lot of rules for experimental bands, because we did cheesy '60s songs, too. We did anything and everything, and that was a lot of fun; I was the Assistant Head Moron. At our live shows, Ed Fowler, one of the guitarists, decked us out in these outlandish clothes he found in thrift stores. They told me to go out first because they thought I was really funny, the way I sang and stuff. And suddenly, once again, I realized I'd found my place in life: onstage. I just got into wearing those clothes. It was the first style in my life that I ever enjoyed. Eventually that broke up. Little Fyodor is a much more focused thing. Occasionally my depravity showed through in Walls of Genius; the other guys were a little scared of that. I think they wanted to be a little more of a light-hearted, cheesy kind of thing. One of them only got serious when it came to left-wing politics. He did songs like, "Fuck You Ronald Regan," which I always felt a little uncomfortable with. Not that I liked Ronald Regan, but it just seemed so cliché to say, "Fuck You Ronald Regan."

Boyd: So many of my friends in San Francisco were into that, and I'd always think, "These people are kind of smart, and so talented, and it seems like a waste of their talent to do something that you could have on a bumper-sticker. Why bother to tell someone something they already know?" It's like, "What, everybody loves Ronald Regan? You're like wising-them-up to the fact that he may be a goof or something?"

Fyodor: Well it was basically sloganeering. I went along with it, but it wasn't how I'd really have expressed myself. I want everything to be connected to what's going on inside me, so if I sing, "The world's doomed," it's because I'm doomed. I try to make the connection. I think one of the biggest problems in politics is everybody thinking, "I'm right and you're fucked up." I try to show that in some of my songs, but I never want to preach to people, because people will listen to whatever they're going to listen to. They're going to hear what they want to hear and they'll tune out every thing don't, so there's really no point. I'm not interested in it anyway. Though if I could encourage people to think for themselves…

Boyd: That's something people will either do, or they won't do.

Fyodor: That's probably true - it's kind of an impossible dream for me, anyway. I like to write songs that invite people in by giving them something to relate to, and then put it in a context in which what they're relating to is something they would have seen in other people; like this is them, not me. So I try to create that cognitive dissonance, so that people have to see in themselves what they don't want to see; or see in other people things that they don't like, that are in them. So on the other hand, if people just think it's all a big goof, well aesthetically I prefer that to being taken overly seriously. Although I know on the other hand… I know that only when people start writing about what a genius I am, that's the only time I'll ever get popular - like The Talking Heads and all that kind of crap. That always pissed me off, when people would come up in my face and go, "Don't you realize what a genius David Byrne is?" That always used to piss me off so much, just because his lyrics never made any sense.

Boyd: Maybe if you started writing lyrics people didn't quite understand, they'd think, "This guy must be really smart, because he knows what this means, and I can't quite catch on."

Fyodor: I just can't bring myself to do that. Not for moral reasons - I just don't know how. This is the only thing I know how to do, really, is writing these songs that are results of dilemmas that I'm going through, and yet at the same time, seeing the absurdity of it all. I'm just now finishing songs that I wrote years ago, when I was really depressed. It's like, "I'm going into the studio next week, I guess I'd better finish up that song." I started "The Blackness" ten years ago; I started finishing it a couple years ago, when I was driving into the mountains and thinking about how I was polluting the mountains in order to appreciate them. That's when I started writing the lines of, "I know the arguments are good and long, about how all that I do is wrong." On the other hand, I know that you just have to not give a shit, or the best thing you can do environmentally is to kill yourself. When I pointed that out to someone, they said that if that's true, then what you want to do is take as many people with you first…

Boyd: That's really deep ecology - six feet under!

Fyodor: The richer, the better, of course. The rich use more resources… So you could go to some disco and try and kill as many rich people as you can at one time…

Boyd: Yeah, that's what David Berkowitz wanted to do. He was going to do it the very night they caught him. Darn the luck, huh?

Fyodor: Well, the world is filled with would-have-beens…

People in The Vicinity of Chicago can see Little Fyodor and Babushka perform on the 21st for no cover (donations encouraged):

Excerpt

2007-11-25T03:53:00.000-06:00

Here is an excerpt from some noise that I made. I'm still working on it...

Windy City Soul

2007-11-20T14:44:00.000-06:00

I just caught wind of Eric Lab Rat's review of the Two Slaps Radio One Year Anniversary Party that we put together at Darkroom on November 4th (A Sunday) from his blog. I was waiting to do one myself, but I think he sums it up pretty well...

The other show was Windy City Soul at the Darkroom, a celebration of Two Slaps Radio's first anniversary. We were billing the show as a "sophisticated soul party" and despite the technical problems that made the first hour hellish for me, Arvo, and the sound guy, the show was everything it was supposed to be by the time real people showed up. Harlet Star played a set of Def Poetry Style hip hop, with a heavy jazz-soul fusion base and a little chick who could blow Aretha Franklin's ass out with her singing voice. It reminded me of one of those children's sports movies, Rookie of the Year or The Mighty Ducks or some shit where there was always some kid who was incredibly, superhumanly powerful but had no control ...

...her voice was so strong that sometimes it got away from her, but overall it was a good thing. The Revelettes came out between bands to do a throwback go-go dance set, replete with big hair, short skirts, tall boots, and costume changes that brought out more short skirts and tall boots.

I'd never taken into account how slick the atmosphere of the Darkroom was because I'd mostly just been there for hipster shit, but it was really smooth. The last band up was JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound, a soul band with an iconoclastic lead singer who channeled James Brown into call-and-response songs about how the Chicago Transit Authority s fucking us over.

Photo by Eric Lab Rat

I would just like to add that JC Brooks and The Uptown Sound played some great upbeat soul music that didn't sound derivative, but also didn't present any new takes that would ruin the effect either. They were some of the best at crowd interaction and between song banter I've seen, and I usually shy away from that. While there was a concern that since they were playing last that people would be leaving, People stayed and danced in solid abundance, and the scene was free from jaded nonchalance etc.

The Revelettes amplified the fun zone so much more for all concerned. It was such a great atmosphere with the overall red hue of the Darkroom to have them dancing to their choreographed interpretations of Blondie and The Shangri-Las etc. Plus, it gave me the excuse to play a good amount of girl group stuff, which was a nice chance happening, because I was spinning Northern Soul for about 3 hours while people were trickling in and Eric was driving back home to rectify some of our technical problems and to pick up his hookah, which also added brilliantly to the atmosphere of the night. At a rare time when the both of us had a free moment, we were just chilling at a booth in the corner with an entourage of people mostly clad in suits or other such formal wear puffing on the hookah. You can't buy that kind of synchronicity. It was one of the best Sunday night shows I've taken part in throwing for a while, and I'm sure there will be more where that came from in the near future.

Turn Me On Dead Man

2007-11-19T21:48:00.000-06:00

The Mammoth Yuletide Singers - Turn Me On Dead Man (wma)

I found this curious tape at WZRD and recorded it for further exploration, despite my lack of interest in Christmas music even if it is satirical. But who knows, maybe I could find a harmonious voice. I have been constantly hearing about some kind of "World's Largest Carol" being organized in Chicago in an attempt to make it into the Guiness Book of World Records. Christmas or its non-Christian equivalent is okay as a holiday, but the advertising and just plain out onslaught of consumerist exploitation annoys the hell out of me, not to mention the fact that people are taking steps to make the image of Santa Claus thinner so that it is not a bad influence on children. Let's just go ahead and say that Jesus wore a plush Nike jumpsuit up there on that crucifix so as not to promote exhibitionism!

There's not a political rant coming on. I'll just say that the manner in which Christmas is presented is annoying just like the way that people wearing their ethnicity or their sexual orientation or fringe group like a chip on their shoulder is annoying. The fact that I am about to start hearing Here Comes Santa Claus (albeit a thinner one) every time I walk into a grocery store, or even step outside, is something I'm not looking forward to, and it has nothing to do with my opinions about religion. I guess I could either say that I'd like to see this holiday season be more privatized, or that my religion (if I had a tangible one) have more advertising space. So I'm gonna play the second side of this tape on the radio a bit in the coming weeks, and I shouldn't be accused of being intolerant to Christmas in doing so; just the events that surround it.

Now for the subject at hand...

Mammoth Records was an independent label that was picked up by Atlantic shortly before this release came out. Disney now owns it and they put out stuff like Squirrel Nut Zippersthrough it. I find it odd that the label was picked up on the free market by Disney for almost 40 times their initial investment after being dropped by Atlantic in 1997. There were some somewhat household names on the roster like Big Head Todd and The Monsters, Machines of Loving Grace, and The Melvins, among others, but it hardly screams "Disney!". Then again, Disney did sign Insane Clown Posse, although scrapping their album 6 hours after release, which is a much farther cry from appropriate for children, or tasteful for that matter, than this recording. And maybe Disney owns some Porno ring that I don't know about too.

Side one is The 12 days of Christmas as performed by the Mammoth Yuletide "Singers": Jill Tomlinson, John Wroten, Chris Sawin, Amy Barefoot, Josh Wittman, Dan Gill, Liz Sloan, Sean Ford, John Roper, Christophe Choquart, Kristen Meyer, Stuart Nichols, Jay Gress, Sean Maxson, Karen Booth, Steve Balcom, Lane Wurster, Juliette Dickey, Jay Faires, Chris Eselgroth, Betsy Wonnell, and Paul Laughter, with piano by Mark Lewis. Below the listing of singers it says This Recording Must Be Played Loud (but use the earplugs), and the other side (ENO EDIS) has the words Turn Me On Dead Man spelled backwards. Side two is just side one, The Twelve Days of Christmas played backwards, and it's strange how quickly one can recognize it. It's still cathcy backwards. Here's a list of more
Satires of the song

plus bonuses:

Tiny Tim - Santa Claus Has Got The Aids This Year

("AIDS" was candy bar at some point in time)

(thanks to Clayton Counts)

and

Sparks - Thank God It's
Not Christmas

Shanks On A Train

2007-11-14T20:12:00.000-06:00

I was asked by Machine Media to drop them a blurb of 100-200 words about my most memorable experience on Chicago's public transit, and this is what happened:

Some time in 2003, I was working the graveyard shift at the Dunkin’ Donuts location on Clark and Belmont, catering to any number of drunks, jerk-off baseball fans, punk rockers, goths, homeless people, and scumbags on a nearly full-time basis (3 days one week, 6 days the next), but I’d have to say that our primary clientele was transsexual hookers. They would often visit in a group of 5 or so, order one donut, and sit there for hours, as if they were on break from standing on the corner. It got to a point where I knew all of their names and a little bit about each of them. Their pimp was a tall, skinny person who looked like a man with a slim mustache, a lot of gold jewelry, and a lot of feminine gestures about him. He had a sort of delicate, medicated calmness devoid of machismo, but still somehow confident and commanding when he ordered his “Coolatas” or vanilla donuts with sprinkles. What I came to learn though, is that while he was their pimp, the transsexual prostitutes also existed as an autonomous gang or a branch of a gang, as it goes, who also, to their apparent benefit, had a leader. She, too, was tall and skinny, but much more gruff and formidable in her presence, always wearing red ruffled dresses, and always looking angry even if she was telling a joke. Through time, I gathered that her brother was a leader of a long-standing and far-reaching gang.

This knowledge came in handy regarding a couple of incidents. One day I was returning from L & L tavern, when they still served absinthe, on my lunch break just before 2 am. I remember wanting to be alarmed, but not quite registering it past everyday occurrences when I saw a bunch of trannies in the parking lot, about 15 in total, waving around broken broomsticks, steak knives, bike locks, chains, and the little baseball bats that they give out at Wrigley Field sometimes. They were yelling and arguing violently in the vacant summer night, like as if it was out of some grainy1980’s low budget gang movie. All I could hear was the echoing words “MOTHERFUCKER!!”, “BITCH”, and “THAT’S BULLSHIT!” in between lots of herd tumult and expletives bouncing off of the sleeping buildings. I casually walked into Dunkin’ Donuts to find that my co worker, a 60 year old Middle Eastern woman, was panicky, hiding behind the counter, and about to call the cops. I reasoned with her, tried to calm her down, and told her that if she called the cops, we might end up being questioned at length or in the police station filling out incident reports, and I don’t get paid that much. To my disbelief, in the 4 months that I worked there, I saw maybe two police officers come in, and that includes the times that my co-worker actually did call the police. Even on the night when I saw six police vehicles, including a police truck in the parking lot for what seemed to be merely a drunk driver they’d pulled over, not one officer had a craving for a pastry. Eventually, I convinced my “team member” in the clearest impersonation of her thick accent while also trying very hard not sound patronizing, that I would handle the scuffle without police.

Outside, the situation was rectified more easily than I expected. I’d gathered that one trannie threw a rock at another trannie for reasons that I can only presume were scandalous or territorial, and so reinforcements were delegated and arrangements were made for the chance meeting at the parking lot of Dunkin’ Donuts. The leader’s brother had more on the way. I patiently walked into the circle and calmly suggested that if anything is going to happen, it cannot happen in this parking lot. In the middle of people yelling, arguing, and threatening, I asked a number of people individually, and in a very civil way, that there is a frantic old foreign lady itching to call the police, and if they could relocate their engagement to somewhere that isn’t well-lit, and on the corner of two busy streets.

Each person, riled up and itching to fight, replied politely that they don’t make any moves without the consent of their leader. After the third or fourth person I asked of the people who looked as if they were immediately going to swing, I finally got to the leader, who naturally was standing in the least vulnerable position, hence my reasons, in the immediate heat of things, for not going to her in the first place. I introduced myself with a brisk handshake in case she didn’t remember, and explained that there’s nothing I can do to prevent my co-worker from calling the police, that this altercation would be better pursued somewhere like an alley. She affirmed and wasted no time, authoritatively snapping her fingers and exclaiming “C’mon girls, let’s go”. At an instant, they all ignored the opposing party, flipped back their hair, and walked behind their leader with a confident strut, as always. It was a truly amazing sight to behold, a group of people with the character traits and habits of a greaser gang, just short of a secret whistle and a fat guy named “Slim”.

That is why my later experience on the CTA was so memorable. I’ve been exposed to Chicago’s Public Transit pretty regularly since I was a freshman in high school; having never owned a car, and never quite latching on to the bicycle phenomenon. I’ve partaken in all manner of madness, absurdity, and otherwise enriching situations on Chicago’s mode of public transportation. The CTA world offers a cornucopia of mental disorders, ex-convicts, half-way housers, homeless insane, gang bangers, solicitors, beggars, gamblers, drunkards, thieves, harassment, and just plain random discourse; sometimes life-affirming, usually not.

One night I caught the last car on a red line train in a hurry, running into one of those cars where a bum had shat in the corner, piled in a heap of splattered, blackened diarrhea, stinking up the whole place like burnt corn and dead fish. It was truly repugnant. I live in a part of town that is particularly rife with homeless people, especially since two shelters had been shut down right around that time, so I am used to the smell of piss and things like that, but this had to be the fecal matter of some junky having withdrawals who’d resorted to eating rotten cabbage or something to pass the time. I held my nose, tried to hold back my nausea, moved through the emergency exit to the next car and grabbed a seat by the doors to get as much fresh air as possible.

Just then, 3 or 4 of the regular transvestites from the donut shop walked in from the emergency exit on the other side of my car, sitting down on the other side of the door to me. They quietly sat down together until someone else came in behind them.

One of the trannies of the group, “Miss Jennifer” (the only name of theirs that I can remember), had always been the one that was the most convincing as an attractive woman. She was the one that people would quietly ask me about at the counter. “Is that really a guy?” or “Damn, I was checkin’ out her ass, until I saw her Adam’s apple!” She was more articulate and insightful than the rest, and I had engaged in conversation with her less than often, but more than seldom. She had a voice that was very high in register and often sounded like a squeal, so I would at least smirk if not become awkward when she would flirt with me either to make other people feel uncomfortable or to please herself in the knowledge that I wouldn’t say anything derogatory to her or talk down. It wasn’t embarrassment though, it was more that her voice worked in a way that seemed to be from an otherworldly creature, amplified by the stereotypical lisp.

I said hello to her and she pleasantly waved back, so I asked across the train how she was doing, and just then another guy walked through the same emergency door they’d entered through. He’d been following them and threatening them about the gang he was in and what area he was claiming; a black kid from the west side, about 15 years old that couldn’t have weighed much more than 100 pounds. She walked over and sat next to me, giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. The rest of her group followed, as well as the kid, getting louder and throwing up gang signs. The other three were standing adjacent to us, understating the young thug’s status (or lack thereof) and brushing off his barking. Then he threw up a gang sign with his hands about 2 inches from the leader’s face.

The leader swiftly pulled out her flimsy steak knife and started yelling, brimming with anger. Again, the only words I could make out were “SHANK”, “NIGGER”, “MOTHERFUCKER” and other exclamations of the sort, but she eventually pushed him onto us, causing Miss Jennifer next to me to start swinging at him and yelling with her particularly shrieking voice. He got back up, and immediately I was watching the leader swiping a knife back and forth in his direction as he was being punched in the ribs from the side. Somehow, he backed off, said some self-inflammatory parting words, and went through the other emergency door that led to the “shit car”. Until our stop at Belmont, we all engaged in small talk and made jokes about the fact that he’s probably sitting in the car that reeks of foulness, with nowhere else to go until he gets to his stop, trying to reassure himself that he’s still a bad boy. I could just see the pseudo-machismo energy trickle out of him while he ponders being “punked out” by some “faggots” dressed like “bitches” who take it in the ass for a living.

She Is Not Dead, But Sleepeth

2007-11-14T13:30:00.000-06:00

Joyce Jameson - He Is Not Dead But Sleepeth

At the moment, I've been listening to the above song on repeat for close to 12 hours in my various little pet projects and appropriately stubborn reluctance to sleep. I recorded it from a DVD of the movie, The Comedy of Terrors.
This is the best summary I've found, although it is from a website dedicated to Basil Rathbone, who plays the Shakespearian Mr. Black, the land lord. Mr. Black threatens eviction to local Undertaker, Mr. Trumbull (Vincent Price, whom I did not find a fansite for at this time, oddly), a drunkard who has been getting on by killing people and charging their families to bury them, even dumping the dead out of their casket when mourners are not looking so that he can use said casket for the next burial.

Peter Lorre (who plays The Raven wonderfully in another Edgar Allan Poe spoof) is Trumbull's ogre-like half-wit assistant, Gillie who has the hots for Trumbull's wife Amaryllis, a tone-deaf opera singer and subject of her husband's vitriolic sarcasm throughout, played by Joyce Jameson.

Mr. Black ends up being the next lucky victim, although he's prone to catalepsy, and can seem to be dead for several hours. After being falsely pronounced dead a few times, he finally ends up in a casket long enough to make it to a funeral, and that's where the above song comes from. Amaryllis sings He Is Not Dead But Sleepeth, with her oppressive voice, breaking flower pots and disturbing Rhubarb The Cat as a prelude to a damn funny eulogy laced with black humor by the bumbling Mr. Hinckley (Boris Karloff!). "... {the departed} whom the pious and unyielding fates have chosen to pluck from the very prime of his existence and place into the bleak sarcophagus of eternity..." The soundtrack is by Les Baxter!

Boris Karloff and Joyce Jameson

In the recording, we hear some sobbing in the background, Vincent Price playing the organ and answering Peter Lorre with a nonchalant "I wish her vocal chords would snap" when Lorre, visibly panting and enamored with Trumbull's wife, says "I wish she would have picked another song" at a convenient break in the song. Plus there's a startled Mr. Hinckley, awakened and mumbling from a nap, a comment from Rhubarb when Amaryllis is doing her loud finale/shreaking to the point of breaking glasses bit for a second time. For some reason, there is an inherent distortion in the recording that I couldn't avoid, and chose not to repair, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless, and if you want a copy to record yourself, you can download or rent The Comedy Of Terrors for $3.99.

As for the origin of the song, The Skeptical Review compares two biblical writings and tries to make sense of inconsistencies which can be summarized in this paragraph about Jairus's 12 year old daughter who died and was brought back to life by Jesus as found in Mark ch.5, vs.22-24 & 35-43 and Luke 8:52):

"She is not dead but sleepeth.": A sermon preached at Westminster Abbey, on Sunday, December 9, 1849, being the Sunday after the death of Her Majesty Queen Adelaide

They came to Jairus's house and entered. They saw the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. Jesus said to the crowd as he stood in the doorway, "Why make ye this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth." As Jesus walked into the room, he said to others, "Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth." Some, who had seen the child, said that she was dead. Jesus desiring that all should leave called out so that all can hear, "Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth." And the people laughed him to scorn, because they knew that the child was dead. After the crowd was removed, they went to where the child lay. Jesus took the child by the hand and said, "Talitha cumi," which is, being interpreted, "Damsel, I say unto thee, arise" or "Maid, arise." Then her spirit came again and she arose right away.

The site WHERE ARE THE DEAD? uses this quote and many more to argue the perspective of life after death even in biblical times.

"She is not dead but sleepeth", a bed or a cradle, is a "denial of death" used on tombstones.

At the moment, I cannot find any lyrics or musical history for this song, despite a couple hours of effort and a bit of distraction, but I have found some interesting funeral services that, to me, would sound kind of cultish if taken out of context. "Cor.15:56: The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law" sounds downright Satanic!

6. SERMON ... DEATH IS SIMPLY A SLEEP

Speak on Scriptures such as those listed below. Impress on your audience the reality of the resurrection. The Christian faith is founded on the fact that Jesus (Yeshua) died for our sins and rose from the grave! And that all who believe on him will also rise from their graves and live for all time! These are absolute facts. Preach them!
They 'all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.(Luke 8:49-56)
Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. (John 11:1-44)
I am the resurrection and the life. he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Rev.21:1-4)
The Apostle Paul writes further in:
1 Cor.15:
51: Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52: In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54: So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55: O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56: The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law 57: But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Joyce Jameson, Date of Birth : 26 September 1932, Chicago, Illinois, USA - Date of Death : 16 January 1987, Burbank, California, USA. (suicide) was a classic example of the professional "dumb blonde" with a diametrically opposite off-screen personality. Entering films as a chorus member in the 1951 version of Showboat, Jameson honed her musical comedy talents in several satirical revues staged by her onetime husband Billy Barnes. Intelligent, sensitive, and extremely well read, Jameson nonetheless found herself perpetually cast as an airhead or golddigger. In films, she was seen in such roles as a Marilyn Monroe wannabe in The Apartment (1960) and a call-girl who runs screaming from her room when she thinks Jack Lemmon is about to paint her body in Good Neighbor Sam (1963). One of her more unorthodox film assignments was as the vulgar, unfaithful wife of Peter Lorre in Roger Corman's Tales of Terror (1963), in which she and her paramour Vincent Price are walled up in Lorre's wine cellar. One year later, she was reteamed with Lorre and Price in the raucous A Comedy of Terrors (1963), where she was more typically cast as a nitwit. Her later films include The Outlaw Josie Wales (1976) and Hardbodies (1981). Joyce Jameson was a fixture of 1950s and 1960s TV, playing a variety of buxom "straight women" for such comedians as Steve Allen, Red Skelton and Danny Kaye. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

List of Joyce Jameson's Broadway appearances

Episodes of Andy Griffith and The Twilight Zone episodes featuring Joyce Jameson that you can see via TiVo

DJ Playlists Are Now At...

2007-11-14T10:05:00.000-06:00

http://playlistposterity.blogspot.com/ so that it doesn't clutter up the other stuff that I might post in this one.

Organist plays Super Mario Bros Theme at Church Service

2007-11-14T10:00:00.000-06:00

Below is a church organist abusing her priviledge and playing the Super Mario Bros theme at a church service! She says on her page that no one commented about it, or seemed to notice!

Two Slaps/Delirious Insomniac (Long Songs) Playlists

2007-11-06T03:49:00.000-06:00

Two Slaps Radio:

Arvo:

The Delfonics - Walk Right up to the sun
Sly & The Family Stone - (You Caught Me) Smilin'
The O'Jays - BackStabbers
Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Ain't No Sunshine
Altyrone Deno Brown - Sweet Pea

Sharon Jones - I Got The Feeling (James Brown)
John Williams & The Tick Tocks - A Little Tighter
Artistics - This Heart of Mine
Lon Rogers & The Soul Brothers - Too Good To Be True
Bob & Fred - I'll Be On My Way
Mitchell Mitchell - Gene King - Never Walk Out On You

Lee Fields - Take it or leave it

Eric Lab Rat:
The Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band - Spreadin Honey

The Chi-Lites - Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So)
Mary Wells - The One Who Really Loves You
Rufus Thomas - The Memphis Train

OV Wright - Motherless Child
Ray Charles - You'll Never Walk Alone
Huey 'Piano' Smith & the Clowns-

Arvo:
Irma Thomas - Time Is On My Side
Ruth Copeland & Funkadelic - Gimme Shelter
Booker T & The MG's - Outrage

Otis Redding - Satisfaction
Chuck Berry - Too Much Monkey Business
Bosco's Billionaires - Freddy's Ribs
Willie Hightower - If I Had A Hammer

Eric Lab Rat:

War - The World is a Ghetto

The Arvo Fingers Delirious Freeform Radio Show: Long Songs

Electric Wizard - Eko Eko
Lard - Time To Melt
Swans - Money Is Flesh
Neurosis -Origin
Burzum - Det SOm En Gang Var
Melvins featuring bliss blood - The Man With The Laughing Hand is Dead
Dead Meadow - Silver Apple
Einsturzende Neubauten - Perpetuum Mobile

WZRD Guest DJ Playlist

2007-10-30T19:58:00.000-05:00

Here is my playlist. I always like playing at WZRD. They don't have live streaming or archiving becasue it is broadcast from NEIU and the school thinks that the activities of the station are too suspect to allow them to be broadcast intenationally on the internet. It is an entirely freeform station, and it is fittingly located/banished in the basement which is now littered with old yellowed flyers, autographs from no name local bands from the 80's, and dust; not to mention the asbestos I'm sure. It's a great break from the bright fluorescent lights and sterile environment of the WLUW studio, with its self-proclaimed role as the voice of diversity, but with comparitively very strict and often completely arbitrary rules, especially for a station that is completely independent. Anyhow, WZRD has 33 years of history, as well as 33 years worth of records, and if I had the audacity to enroll in school at NEIU just to be entitled to be a regular DJ, I'd definitely enjoy my ass off there.

Two Slaps/Delirious Insomniac Playlists - Halloween Editions

2007-10-30T04:06:00.001-05:00

Two Slaps Radio:

By the way, we are throwing a party:

Eric Lab Rat:

Gnarls Barkley - Boogie Monster
Chicago Afrobeat Project - Superstar Pt. 7

Bobby 'Boris' Pickett - Monster Mash
L. Hollis & the Mackadoos - Bui Bui

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

Arvo:

Jumpin' Gene Simmmons - Haunted House
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I put a spell on you
The Poppy Family - Where Evil Grows

Fabienne Delsol - I'm Gonna Haunt You
Gloria Jones - Tainted Love
Lavern Baker - Voodoo Voodoo
Charles Sheffield - It's Your Voodoo Workin'

Johnny Otis Show - Castin' My Spell
The Beattle-ettes - Seventeen
Louis Farrakahn - Zombie Jamboree
The Bootles - I'll let you hold my hand
The FAbulous Brothers - Run For Cover (Dells)

Eric Lab Rat:

Shirley Bassey - Light My Fire
Dave and Ansil Collins - Double Barrell

Soul Unlimited - Raving Vampire, Pt. 1
Kermit Ruffins - Drop Me Off In New Orleans
Marie Queen Lions - Fever

JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound - Baltimore is the New Brooklyn
The Rebirth Brass Band - I Feel Like Funkin It Up

Arvo:

The Fresh Prince and Dj Jazzy Jeff - Nightmare on My Street
The Fat Boys - Are YOu Ready For Freddy?

Dawn Silva And The Brides of Funkenstein - Whole Lotta Game
Ruth Copeland & Funkadelic - Gimme Shelter
The What Four - I'm Gonna Destroy That Boy

The Arvo Fingers Delirious Insomniac FreeForm Radio Show:

Haunted George - Graves In The Desert
Ghoultown - Killer in Texas
The Ghastly Ones - Ghastly Stomp
Moontrekkers - Night of The Vampire

Screaming Lord Sutch - Dracula's Daughter
Lambert, Hendricks And Ross - Halloween Spooks
Groovie Goolies (from 70's cartoon) - When I Grow Up

Groovie Goolies (from 70's cartoon) - 123
Sheb Wooley - Purple People Eater
Cab Calloway - Viper's Drag

The Five Blobs - The Blob
Jack MAlmsten - Satan Takes a Holiday
Gene Moss and The Monsters - I Want To Bite Your Hand
Gene Moss and The Monsters - Drac The Knife
Gene Moss And The Monsters - Little Black Bag

Screaming Lord Sutch - Jack The Ripper
Eddie Munster - I Wish Everyone Was Born This Way
Link Wray and His Ray Men - Jack The Ripper
The Theremin Orchestra - Scary Sound Effects

Frankie Stein and His Ghouls - Swinging Head
Frankie Stein and His Ghouls - Saturday Evening Ghost
Frankie Stein and His Ghouls - Be Careful, It's My Throat

Milton Delugg - Ghost Meets Ghoul
Milton Delugg - Creature From Under The Sea
Milton Delugg - The Addams Family
Milton Delugg - The Munsters

Disney Song from the Haunted Mansion - Grim Grinnin Ghosts
Ennio Morricone - Magic And Ecstacy (From The Exorcist II)
Ennio Morricone - Humanity Pt 1 & 2 (from The Thing Soundtrack)

Professor Armchair - Funeral March of a Marionette
The Gravetones - Devil's Rain

Roky Erickson - If You have Ghosts
45 Grave - Evil
Alice Cooper - Feed My Frankenstein
The Cramps - Early 80's youtube footage of live Bay Area Halloween Show with 2 Covers

Electronic Communications with the Dead - Breakthrough Side 1

Two Slaps/Delirious Insomniac playlist

2007-10-23T03:56:00.000-05:00

Arvo:

Sugar Pie DeSanto - I Want To Know
Irma Thomas - Don't Look Down
Barbara Stephens - Wait A Minute
Ruby Andrews - Everybody Saw You
Helen Shipiro - Stop & You'll Be Aware
Little Eva - You've Been Talkin' bout me Baby
Earnestine Eady - The Change
Major Lance - Cryin' In The Rain
Roosevelt Grier - In My Tenement
Rita & The Tiaras - Gone With The Wind Is My Love
Marie Knight - That's No Way To Treat a Girl

Lab Rat:

Jackson 5 - I Want You Back (Z Trip Remix)

The Explosions - Hip Drop
The Artistics - Leave It Up to You
24 Carat Black - 24 Carat Black

Curtis Mayfield - Live
Frank Penn - Gimme Some Skin

Arvo:

Betty Davis - F.U.N.K.
Yvonne Fair - Funky Music Sho 'nuff Turns Me On
Little Sister - Stanga
Isis - April Fool

Ten Wheel Drive w/ Genya Ravan - Ain't Gonna Happen
Sweet Linda Divine - I'll Say It Again
Ruth Copeland & Funkadelic - Gimme Shelter

Lab Rat:

Clarence Carter - Snatching It Back
Eddie Floyd - Good Love, Bad Love

The Temptations - Since I Lost My Baby
Sweet Breeze - Good Thing

Thomas Bailey & the Flintstones Band - The Flintstones Shuffle
War - Slippin Into Darkness

Delirious Insomniac Radio Show:

This set is following through with the "Strangely Dancable or Strange and Dancable" theme from last week. No requests were made at all. It was great. Note that I played a public service announcement for Democracy Now! that entailed police corruption right before "The Laughing Policeman" went on, completely incidentally. This set could've been a children's album for adults.

Gescom - Track 14:44

Insect Deli - Track one from No More Snacks
Gintas K - Nezinau
Esplendor Geometrico - Muerte A Escala Industrial

Viki - ???
Soft Serve - 1s 0sXs Os
NON - Cleanliness and Order

Karen Finley - Belgian Waffles
Strangulated Beatoffs - That'll Be 200 Dollars, Ma'am
Serge Gainsbourg - Ecce Homo
EaViL - Cerebral Patsy
Mort Garson - Never Follow The Yellow Brick Road

Hans Reichel - Excerpt From Le Bal
Lucia Pamela - Walking on the moon
Killer Pussy - Pocket Pool
Little Fyodor - This Diamond Ring
US Maple - Homemade Stuff

Sigue Sigue Sputnik - She's My Man
Divine - You Think You're a Man

Suicide - Frankie Teardrop
Diamanda Galas w/ FM Einheit/Panasonic - ???

The Suspicions - The Laughing Policeman
Oliver Onions - miss Robot
Peter Cook & Dudley Moore - BeDazzled
1From 100 Songs for Kids - Chicken Dance
Olaf Sveen - Happy DAys Polka
Cackle Sisters - When I Yoo-Hoo In The Valley

*+ I also played a 14 minute version of Papa Don't That Mess by James Brown because my succeeding DJ was late*

Dismemberment Can Be An Art - An Interview with Andy Ortmann (November 2006)

2007-10-22T17:04:00.000-05:00

This interview was originally published in a truncated version by The Machine Media around February of 2007. It was edited to such a degree that the conversation didn't seem coherent, which included changes to my questions that make me seem unclear and somewhat insensitive, if not someone that espouses an opinion that he doesn't have. A full version exists on their website, but with those same edits of my questions still there (and no pictures). I hope you enjoy the uncircumsized version.

Andy Ortmann is part of a dying breed. A quick Google search will reveal that he, through his band, Panicsville, his label, NIHILIST, and various other projects, has proven to be one of the last thought-provoking, prolific, and wholly “against-the-grain” types around. While most of his recordings can be classified as “experimental”, it’s not simply noodling or “avant-fuckery”, as they call it. Among parts of his live performances with Panicsville, he’s been known for microwaving shark meat on stage, throwing plastic Easter eggs filled with rotten food and live insects into the crowd, igniting dry-ice bombs, and wearing all manner of costumes as that of an octopus, plague doctor, newspaper mummy, or bizarre stuffed animal.

On any given work he’s taken part in, each piece is it’s own unique cupcake, baring a strong attention to detail, sometimes coming in impractical formats like 8-track or 13” lp, and in unusual frames such as galvanized steel, ceramic tiles, lingerie, vinyl bags, or latex. There seems to be an innocent, genuine, and poignant element of what fashion judges call “beautiful ugly” in a lot of what he does, and in a lazy, jaded, politically correct period in time where performers don’t quite act the part and actors don’t quite dress the part, it’s refreshing to know that someone has all of their bases covered. I was fortunate enough to correspond with Andy via email between his trips to San Francisco and England near the tail-end of 2006.

AZ- How long have you been in Chicago and was there anything that prompted a long stay (and return)?

AO- I used to come up to Chicago (from St.Louis) for shows and to go record shopping on a monthly basis from about '90 onwards. I always felt some deep connection with the city and knew I'd be living here sooner or later. I finally made the move in August of 1998. Since that time I've had an endless amount of awesome times and have met a ton of cool people along the way. As many cities as I've been to around the world, I still wouldn't want to live anywhere more than Chicago.

AZ- Can you pinpoint anything in particular other than good times that set Chicago apart?

AO- As far as the music scene goes, there's a vast number of people working making it a diverse scene. So much so, that I notice many genres represented (noise, electro-acoustic, improv, power electronics, drone, etc.) Outside of the music, we have some of the most awesome Mexican food around! If you’re a thrift shopper, there's an endless wealth of options to go shopping and always score interesting things. I could go on and on...

AZ- I’ve put it together that Chicago seems to have the best Philly cheese steaks too. What's your favorite Mexican place? I personally rule out places that aren't open 24 hours on principle alone. So, I would say El Charro on Milwaukee and Fullerton, but the jury is never quite out on that one.

AO- I think I've had better Philly Cheese in Philly! They're really good and cheap too. My Mexican current fave is probably Tecalitlan, on Chicago. Though the location around the corner on Ashland has a pretty amazing décor. If you’ve been there, you might agree. But El Paisano has the coolest logo, a guy riding a taco like a bull, and he’s got a lasso…!?!

AZ- Some may not know that Panicsville has been around since 1992, in times where abrasive textures and punishing structures didn't have nearly as much of an audience as it does now. What do you think was the catalyst that eventually led to your vast amount of gear, personnel (in regards to the great deal of revolving members in Panicsville, other collaborations), and Nihilist Records?

AO- When we first started Panicsville, we used whatever equipment was laying around, which was incidentally, rather limited... I knew what kind of sound I was going for but it was near impossible to get the equipment I needed to achieve this. I was constantly out on the prowl for better gear, as I was painfully dissatisfied with the first four years of recordings! Now I have a wicked-ass arsenal of electronics...

I've had to change band members more often than the bed sheets of a grossly obese-mentally-retarded-chronic self-pisser. The first two members left to join a hippie commune and a "rock band” respectively... after that I would recruit various riff raff within my peripherals (I moved around a good deal, which made having a steady lineup out of the question). Jeremy Fisher has been the most stable member, since about 2001. Though I constantly work with other artists, mainly for some specific idea I may be developing, where this individual is the perfect element to concrete that idea. Panicsville has always been a collaborative project.

As far as Nihilist goes, I wanted an umbrella moniker that would encompass all my interests (art, sound, video, text, etc). It's not like I just thought one day, "Oh, I want to start a record label!" It just seemed like a logical way to organize my thoughts and ideas.

AZ- So you had these sounds in your head and wanted to get them out, so you started with what was lying around? I guess nearly everything could be considered stimuli, and result in ideas, but were your ideas influenced by anything you can put your finger on before starting Panicsville?

AO- My influences at that time included movies like The Holy Mountain, Re-animator and Satyricon. Art movements like Fluxus, Da Da, Futurism and Aktionism were as much an influence as direct industrial/psyche bands like NON, Throbbing Gristle, Nurse With Wound, and Smegma.

AZ- You seem to be acquainted with Boyd Rice. In particular I read that you took part in a CJ competition with him. It must've been cool to work alongside one of your influences, especially since you're on equal plains with him in many respects. He seems to be a bit elusive, though. How did meeting him come about?

AO- Well, the CJ competition actually had nothing to do with Boyd. That was an entirely separate event. I initially met him in Houston, TX in 1997 where he was playing with Death in June (I did a brief interview with him). Later, after I moved to Chicago I did DJ a show with him and Luftwaffe in St.Louis in 2000. I was more of a fan of his work when I was first getting into this stuff than I am now, though it was pretty funny going shopping with him though…

AZ- Were you shopping for Barbie Dolls with him? Apparently he's said to have the largest collection of them in the world... or Record Shopping?

AO- Actually, neither. We ended up checking a couple military surplus stores, then we went for cheeseburgers and malts.

AZ- I know Nihilism can be defined as something to the effect of "rejecting current ethics and principles", which in it's context is great for a record label to champion, but I have to admit that I associate Nihilism with Apathy and Indifference, as it is applied to people I've met who carry the views. While your work seems to be pretty thoughtfully and eloquently put together, it seems like detrimental imagery to the people who may judge by a name rather than even a cover before content. Do you have any thoughts on that?

AO- That word has several different meanings, I've generated another association with it through my work. I could care less about how/what people think when drawing comparisons to my label and textbook definitions. I don't feel that having a substandard set of aesthetics is in any way synonymous with nihilism. These people's opinions you're referencing mean about as much to me as a car is to a bird.

AZ- Regarding the music scene, there are always questions abound about the appeal behind noise or experimental music etc. and what constitutes a "good show". It goes without saying that some people get it and most people don't, but since Panicsville has always been a variable and well rounded presence live, I thought I would ask what noise shows and the like do for you.

AO- I like seeing what other people are doing, it’s more telling (live shows) versus listening to a recording at home. Not that it’s always about “performance”, but the live atmosphere gives you a good idea as to where someone is coming from. Elements like volume can totally alter your perception of someone’s work when you’re in a room being vibrated by sonic waves rather than normal listening level on a home stereo. The live shows are essential!

AZ- You've said in another interview that you find noise to be emotive. Some of your work seems to incorporate chance happenings or have the qualities of "serial music" as well as being the result of everything else that happens on the cutting room floor. For instance, there was the "Four Notes in Search of a Tune" record, which was a record made up of carefully placed shards of broken records. In other mediums there was the piece of a art that consisted of a fox inside of plexi–glass, and that "Absorb” project, a project about releasing cassettes that will make a cassette player erase the content of the cassette that succeeds it, as I understand. This stuff is much more than simply writing your name on a urinal or a pair of underwear, but is it all emotive? Or do these things have another function as pieces of art?

AO- The conceptual art isn’t really about emotion. Those projects have more to do with getting people to think about things differently than how they normally would, rather than to evoke emotions. Two inherently different things there…

AZ- Would you say that there has been a time when there was a union of conceptual and emotive? I mean the fox thing, well, I wouldn't necessarily call it emotive, but there's definitely expression in it, in gesture alone. I feel the same about the cover of Perverse. I think the way that the pictures of disemboweled cattle are portrayed and manipulated was beyond conceptual.

AO- Actually, the fox was a piece that combined emotion and concept. It was based on a Brothers Grimm story, The Golden Bird. It involved a man who was transformed into a fox and needed to be dismembered, to return to his natural form. This is a relatively moving story to me. The mutilated bovine photo is an obvious commentary on the beef industry, whether or not that is emotional is for the viewer to decide...

AZ- I'm pretty fond of the Brothers Grimm stories, there are the roots of all the morals I was spoon-fed as a kid, only it was before Disney got to them. That story can be found here for anyone curious. I think now that the association to the story has been made, that fox piece exists as not only conceptual art in the sense of challenging the boundaries of art, but also in commenting on the often much more leisurely ways of making art, i.e. the rusty cage vs. the golden cage juxtaposition. Quite brilliant. Bravo!

As for the bovine photo, I actually interpreted it, because of the use of colors in particular, as a representation of the aspects of life that everyone has to deal with, and a reminder of what people try to forget about in their every day life more so than a commentary on the meat industry. Instead of the colors being dim or black and white, they are vibrant and lively, almost as if to create a dichotomy. But in any case, it seems like we might both have something in common in that regard. We both eat meat, but we disapprove of the excess that the meat industry uses, such as force feeding, hormones, and the ridiculous amount of natural resources that are compromised just to produce the maximum amount, not to mention the fact that an animal can be bled to death and still be considered kosher by industry standards.

Or maybe I'm just projecting. But either way, what's your stance on the meat industry?

AO- I do think that we could do without the hormones in the USA meat industry, where as in Europe you don't see this kind of thing. The meat is more expensive over there, but you get what you pay for. It's places like McDonald's that have me puzzled. How they can make chicken that is porous is beyond me. But then again, White Castle now has chicken rings!? Go figure. I buy all my meat at the local Mexican grocery stores, they use ALL the parts, and none of it is wasted.

AZ- What do you think about animal rights in general? Should animals be used for experiments in laboratories, or for fur coats etc?

AO- I think if animals are being used in research experiments that are actually furthering scientific advancement it's acceptable. When it's pointless sadism like injecting perfume into cat's eyes, I think anyone would agree that those scenarios are just wrong. I am a leather fan, I think leather is OK, I generally don't like the way fur looks. I'm more against it on a level of aesthetics.

AZ- How does activism sit with you?

AO- It seems to make other people feel good about themselves, and gives them some level of justification for their droll self righteous behavior.

AZ- Speaking in terms of Chicago, can you list some local characters that you would say are your peripherals?

AO- I don't understand the question.

AZ: You've been doing this since 1992 or so. Would you say that there are people coming out and still capable of showing you something new, or influencing you in some way? Do you think you're still impressionable in this realm?

AO- Absolutely! I've always an open ear to new and interesting work from people.

AZ- When I say "peripherals", I'm basically asking who else in Chicago you think are on equal plains, creatively speaking. You've got a lot of different ventures in a lot of different mediums on your plate; anything from VJ’ing, participating in bands with almost diametrically different styles, mastering, production, making a wide range of art, and while a lot of what you put out on NIHILIST is of the experimental vein, there are some pleasantly asymmetrical acts being released too. The casual observer can guess that your field of interest is not limited to just one direction, and since many people who read this interview may not be very familiar with you especially, I'd be curious to know who else in Chicago rouses your interest. Are there any others, artists, musicians, or writers that "speak to you", so to speak?

AO- There's a few people that come to mind... Gregory Jacobsen is a very talented painter. Peter Sotos is a considerably provocative and intriguing writer. There's a wealth of musicians about town; Oakeater, Kevin Drumm, Steve Krakow, Rory Lake, Thymme Jones, Magas, Nicole Chambers, the recently dissolved Coughs... I could go on and on.

AZ- I know you've been a member of more conventional acts like Plastic Crimewave Sound, Lovely Little Girls, Behold! The Living Corpse! and others, I'm sure. To what extent do you understand music?

AO- I began reading music in the 4th grade. After three years of this I knew that this path was of no interest to me. Anything I've ever accomplished after this time was of my own self taught ability and intuition.

AZ- Learning an art form could be detrimental to the creative process sometimes. I've met a lot of film and music students that say that what they've learned destroys the way a person appreciates the overall effect, and while I don't know a whole lot about music or anything else myself, I pick up on formulas or plot structures pretty quickly anyway. Do you think you're less inhibited by learning on your own terms? How do you think it would've affected your creative output to be trained on how to do it?

AO- Definitely. I always hear from trained artists or musicians that they have to unlearn what they've learned to truly be free. I feel completely unrestrained in most every sense. I feel like I make the most progress by exploring ideas and thoughts, no matter how far out they might seem. I can't see how being "trained" would've been beneficial to me as an artist... you can't teach people to have ideas.

AZ- I'm fascinated with the idea of a child picking up something without encouragement and sort of spurring creativity, like tapping on a desk at school or scribbling on paper before having ever seen a coloring book. I like to entertain the idea that creativity is instinctive rather than simply a hobby or what-have-you. How long have you been making visual art, which creative medium did you pick up first, and do you have any interesting story about how you came about doing that?

AO- I've been drawing for as long as I can remember... In kindergarten my teacher (Mrs.Nicholson) wrote a letter to my mother telling her that my obvious skill warranted that she buy me thin crayons versus those fat ones everyone else was using. That may have been the first time someone took notice, though my mother may argue that it started in the delivery ward where I pissed on the wall! Both mediums are still an integral part of my work.

AZ- What do you have on the horizon? I know there's Panicsville, and you've been developing material as a solo artist for a while. What other stuff have you got on the boil?

AO- Yeah there's some new Panicsville records due out next year (including a 13"
LP entitled "A Dragonfly for Each Corpse" on the Rococo record label), I've been working out my electro-synth-dance-punk project, Fashion Dictator. I have a show with Bobby Conn coming up (this past December 06), there'll be an LP out next year for that one.
For the past year I've been doing vocals with Behold! The Living Corpse as well, a new LP should be out in the Spring sometime. Running Nihilist is a full time job, so that's keeping me pretty busy. There's some new stuff in the works from Kevin Drumm, John Wiese, Schimpfluch Gruppe, Sixes, Evil Moisture, and Thurston Moore. Other than that, just trying to get more editions of my radio show (The Eternal Now on WFMU) recorded and doing more artwork. I have some new drawings coming out from a couple different French magazines; Hospital Brut is doing a new book and CD and the controversial magazine, TIMELESS will be printing three of my pieces.

AZ- Do you see yourself staying in Chicago for a long time?

AO- All signs point to yes.

All Photos Courtesy of Andy Ortmann

Panicsville on Programma Di Religione Comp

Panicsville on Hospital Tested Comp

Panicsville on Kausing a Kommotion - A Tribute to Madonna (Nihilist)

Andy Ortmann's Nightmania CD (Nihilist)

PANICSVILLE on Ebay

Andy Ortmann on Ebay

Review of "Phantasmic Seam" by EaViL

2007-10-22T16:22:00.001-05:00

Phantasmic Seam is the second self-released Ep from a band that
has been materializing for a while, but only in existence for a short time:
EaViL. This time around, after their follow up to Le Miroir, their sound is much more
variable and polished; a combination platter of electronic delicacies.

During the 26 minute
excursion that is this recording, there are moments that would be the perfect souvenirs to
take with me, if I were to be banished from the outside world, into a cave, or beneath some subway train tracks, with no memento beyond a recording
and maybe a broken disco ball. At other times there are dense, rhythmic, and also dancable electronics to cushion the sort of unaccelerated, almost nonchalant vocals of E.IV that force me to harken back to early SUICIDE. This was recorded at "the NERV": a cozy shell that is not only their recording space, but also a multi-media venue, said to accompany little more than 5-10 people.

EaViL understands that visual (provided by the other side of the duo, N.VI), audio, performance, or written art should coincide within thematic parameters. It shows in every aspect of their performance and in this recording, among other things. If this EP is any indication, their future should be promising.

This is a review I did about a year ago, intended to be in an issue of The Machine Media, but they never ended up including reviews on their website.

Delirious Insomniac playlist

2007-10-16T06:23:00.000-05:00

This set was intended to be based around the concept of asymmetrical music that is dancable in an unexpected way. However, there were a number of polite requests that I adapted my set around and also technical difficulties, so it didn't fully come to fruition. Maybe next week. In the meantime, I enjoyed myself.

Imminent Starvation - nothuman
Celluloid Mata - HEctic

matera - darkside 11am
xanopticon - ungrokd
DEV/NULL - Rave7
venetian snares - EinsteinRosen Bridge (request)
hecate - brew hideous

Klute - 174 bpm (request)
Dat Politics - Pass Our Class
squarepusher - greenways trajectory

Merzbow - Elephants Memory (remixed by Panasonic)

Atari Teenage Riot - Sick To Death (request)
Hanin Elias - In Flames
DELTA 9 - From Darkness

Autechre - Gantz Graf
Aphex Twin - Windowlicker (request)
Richard Devine - Track 3 from Aleamapper
LFO - Snot
Lemon Jelly - ??? (Request)

END. - Fit To Die
Kid 606 - Powerbook fiend (I had to play this on the fly because of technical difficulties, would've rather played some of his more retro stuff)

Shirley Bassey - Light My Fire (Kenny Dope Remix)

Front Line Assembly - Prophecy (Request)

"Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder" - A Playlist for the Truants

2007-10-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

For those of you who cannot catch my show because it is too late at night and is not archived on the website, I have a playlist of some of my favorites (note some seasonal favorites as well) based on what is public on itunes so that people in distant lands or sleeping patterns can enjoy it whenever they want. Here is a direct url just in case there is html trouble:

http://www.pplaylist.com/user/14593068

Arvo's Two Slaps Radio/Delirious Insomniac playlists

2007-10-09T08:27:00.000-05:00

Two Slaps:

Betty Everett - It's In His Kiss (Shoop Shoop Song)
Jerry Butler & The Impressions - For Your Precious Love
Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions - You've Been Cheatin'
Otis Leavill (childhood friend of Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler) - Love Uprising
Artistics - Hope We Have

Gene Chandler - Duke of Earl
The Dells - Oh, What a Night
The Radiants - Voice Your Choice
Jan Bradley - Mama Didn't Lie
Jackie Ross - Selfish One
Billy Stewart - Sitting In The Park

Major Lance - Please Don't Say No More
Donny Hathaway - I Hear Voices (Everything is Everything)

Dusty Springfield - The Summer Is Over
Shelley Fabarette - Lost Summer
Reperata and The Delrons - I Can Hear The Rain Falling

Bridgitte Bardot - Contact
Fabienne Delsol - I'm Gonna Haunt You
Sandi Shaw - I Heard About Him
Diane Renay - Navy Blue
Diane Ray - Snow Man

Delirious Insomniac:

Slayer - South of Heaven
Sonic Youth (featuring Lydia Lunch) - Death Valley '69
DOA - I Hate You
Butthole Surfers - Who Was In My Room Last Night?
Foetus - Gums Bleed
Chrome - Chromosome Damage
Mars - Helen Fordsdale
Wire - Options R

The Heartbreakers - Born TO Lose
Shellac - Watch Song
Pere Ubu - Final Solution
MindFlayer - Everyone Dies
Chinese Stars - Sick Machine
Arab On Radar - Birth Control Blues

Liars - Broken Witch
OOIOO - UMO
Lozenge - Big Jesus Trash Can

The PLasmatics - Squirm

Man Man - Feathers
Shooby Taylor - Lift Evr'y Voice and Sing
Congress-Woman MAlinda Jackson Parker - Cousin Mosquito
Congress-Woman MAlinda JAckson Parker - Cousin Mosquito #2
The Munsters (Eddie) - I Wish Everyone Was Born This Way
Gothic Archies - Smile! No One Cares How You Feel
Leonard Nimoy - If I Had A Hammer (The Hammer Song)
Serge Gainsbourg - Lunatic Asylum
Martha Wainwright - It's Over
Francoise Hardy - Il Est Parti Un Jour

Ween - I Don't Want It (reluctant request)
Einsturzende Neubauten - Krieg In DEn Stadten
Negativland/Chumbawumba - The ABC's of Anarchism

(I also played some 20 minutes song by CAN whose name I can't remember because my DJ successor was late).

Delirious Radio Show/Two Slaps Radio playlists 10/2/07

2007-10-02T04:06:00.001-05:00

Two Slaps Radio -

Eric Lab Rat was sick this morning so I covered Two Slaps, from 12 am to 2. I went back to where I left off last week for anyone who heard. I've been listening to a lot of girl groups since I started at this station, and now this has been accelerated by the fact that I've discovered podcasts at boydrice.com where Boyd has played some absolutely amazing material which I of course, snatched out of the sky and shared with people as well. I'd say about 1/3 of the stuff listed is from what I found on Boyd Rice's Website.

Darlene Love - Strange Love
The Shangri-Las - He Cried
The Ronettes - Walking in the rain
The Poppy Family - Which way you goin' Billy?
Jonna Gault - I'm Never Gonna Cry Again
The Apollas - Mr. Creator
Fatimas - Hoochy Coo
Lesley Gore - You Don't Own me (in french)
Lesley Gore -
The she's - Fool
The Dolls - And That Reminds Me
Shammy and the famous ruis family - I'm just a little girl
Sunday and the penn - You cheated

Priscilla Paris - My Window
Paris Sisters - Dream Lover
Diane Ray - Snow Man
Diane Renay - Navy Blue
Sugar & Spice - Come Go With Me
Die Sweetles - Die Schule Ist Aus
The Royalettes - Come TO me (Darling)

Annette Funicello - Promise Me Anything
The Daisy Chain - ZZotto
Lori Sanders - Out of Your Mind
Little Peggy March - Hello Heartache, Goodbye Love
Sandi Shaw - Puppet On a String
The Pussycats - the Rider
the Love Exchange - Swallow The Sun
Elaine & The shandells - Tell Me that you care
Ina Martell - Liebe kann man nicht erzwingen
Nina Lizell - Ein kleiner Teufel steckt in Dir
Nina Lizell and Lee Hazlewood - Hey Cowboy

Vicky Andros - Scopitone
Lori Burton - Love was
Timi Yuro - Smile
the Velvelettes - Since You've been Loving Me
The Toys - Lover's Concerto (request)
The MArvelettes - Don't Mess With Bill
Irma Thomas - Gone
Lena Horne - Love me or leave me
Sharon Jones And the Dap-Kings - Humble Me
Fiona Apple - Shadowboxer (request)
Nina Simone - Everyone's gone to the moon
April march - Chick Habit
Brigitte Bardot - L'Appareil a sous

Delirious Insomniac-

It has been one hell of a foggy night. When I was on the train, the lights went out and the conductor warned us to be careful as we get off of the train because we may not be able to see in front of us. So I played material that I thought fit the mood. It wasn't as coherent as I wanted it to be - you'll notice that I mix up genres that would've fit together nicely in a set instead of spanned throughout, and it didn't help that there were a number of calls and messages, assisting me in forgetting that my "cavernous" portion, for example, had not entirely reached fruition.

Joe Meek and his blue men - Valley of No Return
Aphex Twin - i
Screamin' Lord Sutch - Jack The Ripper
The Cramps - Creature From the Black Leather Lagoon
Music from the Groovie Goolies Cartoon - 123

Lustmord - Heresy part II
Ministry - Paisley
Electric Wizard - I, The Witchfinder

Excerpt from ERASERHEAD
Lungfish - this world
Warren Zevon - werewolves of london

My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult - Universal Blackness (request)

Patrick Wolf - The Childcatcher
xiu xiu - Luber
Santo & Johnny - Sleep Walk (request)
Ethel Waters - Stormy Weather
Lustmord & Melvins - idolatrous apostate
Coil - Are You Shivering? (Live in Greece)
Link Wray - Rumble

Lustmord & Melvins - Pigs of the Roman Empire
(This is a 22 minute song I played because the dj that comes in after me called at the time she was supposed to be there to tell me that she was going to be late. This isn't to imply that this bothered me. You may have noticed in a previous blog that I wanted to fit this into a different set as well. It is a good piece, and a good excuse to repeat artists).

Delirious Radio show w/ Guest Clayton Counts

2007-09-25T18:54:00.001-05:00

For this show I had a special guest, Clayton Counts. He did a live set and a guest dj set for a half an hour. The rest of the time I played material from some of his various projects and we did an interview. We talked about some of his approaches to music, his motives behind the "Beachles" album that got him into some trouble with EMI, garnering him some death threats, his times in Chicago, his court battle with the owner of LAva Lounge, and his various detractors, impersonators, and stalkers. I only wish that I could've played some of the pranks that he has done as a kid on air that he was telling me about, but alas, they are too incriminating.

For more information about Clayton, go to his website claytoncounts.com , where he will be archiving the entire interview, live set and dj set sooner than later. but in the meantime, this man has such a comprehensive knowledge focusing on obscure music (and sharing it) that I don't think anyone reading this would be unamused upon visiting his website. here is his setlist from the DJ portion of the evening:

"Kaffe Matthews - Subwired 1 - A Custom Skylark
Flying Saucer Attack & Roy Montgomery - The Whole Day
Morton Subotnick - Silver Apples of The Moon Part A
Richard Maxfield - Sine Music (Swarm of Butterflies)
Raymond Scott - Cindy Electronium"

(35 minutes)

Delirious Insomniac FreeForm Radio Show 9/1807 (Deviating Within Format)

2007-09-18T05:37:00.000-05:00

For this show, I decided to follow the "format" of WLUW that you're supposed to adhere to if you don't have a specialty show. My specialty show is "Freeform" but it is concise in the sense that I follow certain themes or moods and develop an array of ways to accentuate that. For an inependent radio station (not a college radio station, it just happens to be broadcast out of Loyola university until it gets galloped upon by "Educational programming" in June 2008 at the latest; the hammer can legally fall at any time) to follow the "College Radio Top 30" and play 3 songs from it every hour doesn't exactly blink "INDEPENDENT" as a beacon in the sky
to me. Never-the-less, WLUW does get more local support than any other station, and I'm not necessarily complaining. I had fun creating a set that I thought was subversive and also practical around music that I don't particularly have much of a vested interest in.

I personally can't bare to listen to a 2-hour segment of this format to save my life. This being my second time abiding by it, it wasn't as annoying as my first time. The first time I had no idea how I could consider myself a dj while following this mold. I was more like some kind of contraption out of "Pee Wee's Big Adventure"'s breakfast scene making sure that the same 10 heavy rotation Cds get an adequate amount of attention.

I had an idea of how to put things together in a syncopated way, and use these limitations that I find to be absurd at 2am (I did it on my own free will, but if I wasn't there, you can bet that someone who wasn't aggressive or ambitious enough to have a specialty show would be stuck with it in my place) to be some kind of challenge. In my two hour set I was set with a timeline to play this kind of rotation and read PSA's etc. at specific times. Instead I stretched the format for one hour to an hour and a half, and the second hour to 30 minutes (just short of 3 songs). It catered to the mood for the first hour and a half, then I became more kooky, playing tracks that are .37 seconds long (Fortunately Thurston Moore's latest album is in the Heavy Rotation) and the like.

I will probably never use this format again. Once I was done I was told that some of the parts of the format required "Light Rotation" which was supposed to replace "Local" at some points, even though they are marked with the same green sticker on the spine of the cd case. As it is, I had to tailor my sets to the heavy rotations, which was difficult, because I was lucky enough to like something in the heavy rotations. The light rotation section was what I thought were new "local" cd's, and I thought that I could play old local cds just the same. This is not the case, and as I say, I'm not going to tailor my whole set to some crap that college kids like that I have mostly never cared to remember (Heaven knows I have heard them before involuntarily).

It should also be noted that DJ's are supposed to only play music that is in the WLUW catalog, and officially, our own library, or even what the internet has to offer in a public forum is supposed to be off limits.
If you look at the notes in parentheses for the songs, you'll maybe grasp what I mean. By the way: A "Core" song just means a popular band that is not new, or something to that degree.

LIARS - The Dumb In the RAin (Heavy Rotation*)
Ennio Morricone - CAnzone Lontana from "Il Serpente"(Choice%)
Azita - Track 6 from enantiodrama (Local#)

Kraftwerk - The Hall of Mirrors (CORE song&)
STEREOLAB & NURSE WITH WOUND - A NEW DRESS (REMIX) (choice%)

Brent Gutzeit - Track 4 from "Drug Money" (Local, amplified motors placed upon piano strings and electronics)

Angels of Light - Not Here/Not Now (HEAvy Rotation*)
Lee Hazlewood - WOnt you tell your dreams(Choice%)
NICO - It Has Not Taken Long(60's or 70's$)

US Maple - Sweet & Center(Local#)
Death In June - Fall Apart Live Hamburg 1991 (Choice%)

Butthole Surfers - Sweet Loaf (Local#)

MIA - Bird Flu (Heavy Rotation *)
OOIOO - UMO (Choice%)
Crash Worship - Live Video on Youtube (70's or 80's):

*Second "Hour" executed in half an hour minus the last heavy/choice/70's or 80's imperative*

Tom Waits - Chocolate Jesus (Core Song&)
Hasil Adkins - Gee But I love you (Choice)
Wesley Willis - Chronic Schizophrenia (Local)

Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass (HEavy Rotation)
K-the-i???- go go go girls (choice)
Ohmega Watts - Border Patrol (Local)

Thurston Moore - Free Noise among Friends (HEAVY Rotation)
Boyd Rice - Live In Sintra Portugal (choice)

Smegma - Industry (60's and 70's)

Lord of the Yum yum - Bizet Carmen Overture (local)
Residents - Boots (choice)
Mister Fuckhead (referred to as "f-head" on the radio) - trunculence (local)

Detholz! - Mister Electricity (local)
DEVO - Space Girl Blues (Choice)
COCK ESP (are based in Minnesota now, but have numerous members in and from Chicago, hence their "local" status) - Live at Grandma's House

Delirious Radio Show PlayList 09/11/07

2007-09-11T04:34:00.000-05:00

This was a set designed to accompany a severe hangover and upset stomach from poorly prepared burrito. I'm quite happy with it, although I wanted to squeeze in the 22 minute track from the Melvins/Lustmord record.

Swans - A Screw
TV On The RAdio - Ambulance

Kaada/Patton - Seule
Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Maximum Black

Josephine Foster - Track 5 from A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing (Ein Wolf Im Schaspelz)

Strawberry Switchblade - Go Away
Metalux - flexi - Armadillo
Wolf Eyes - Rationed Rot
khanate - Dead

Chrome - Mondo Anthem
Big Black - Dead Billy
Ministry - Faith Collapsing

Clint Mansell - Winter : The Beginning of the End
Pamelia Kurstin - Theremin Orchestra
Clara Rockmore - Chant Du Minestrel

Teenage Jesus and the Jerks - I wake up Dreaming
PANICSVILLE - LEt my people A Go Go
Neurosis - To The Wind
Cab Calloway - St. James Infirmary
FAts Waller - Viper's Drag"