Roger Chapman finally arrives, Neil Young deals with WAR and some depression crap

Finally...after 6 months!!...the Roger Chapman: Family and Friends (2003) 5 cd box set finally arrived. Having listened to the first 3 cds so far, I have come to the conclusion...it was worth the wait!

I've always been a huge Family fan and have all their albums, and have touched upon The Streetwalkers phase and his solo career marginally....so, there's lots of great stuff I've never heard on this, and some great unreleased live Family cuts as well. From what I've heard, it's worth getting live Chapman in any of his phases.

I went online and googled the box set, and so little came up it was ridiculous! I'm not a big fan of comparisons, but if you like Kevin Coyne and/or Ian Hunter I would recommend you check Roger out. Start with classic Family and then go from there. There are 2 good sites out there...thankfully! One for Family and one for Chappo.

[aside: "I Keep Forgettin'" is playing right now...and...oh my...music can be soooo powerful]

[2nd aside: I'm listening to this as I'm working on another part of the blog, and cd 2 is blowing me away. Awesome!]
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Random Thoughts

I've never heard or seen the P-Funk All Stars: Urban Dance Floor Guerillas (1983), but it sounds like it could be a hidden gem. The search will continue!

Check out Cosmic Slop's blog for a link to an awesome live "Maggot Brain" by Banyan. Incredible.
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Neil Young: "Living with War" (2006) for the politics ***** for the music ****

I've always been a big Neil fan, and am always interested in how people react to him. The Guru herself has said that she finds Neil somewhat irritating. Yet...she likes "Harvest Moon". Even if you generally don't like Neil, you can usually find one album you don't mind.

I like them all...even the ones I don't like. Do you know what I mean?

Example - I don't really listen to his 80s albums. Landing on Water, Life, Old Ways etc...Let's be harsh. They are pretty far from being saddled with the "classic" tag. Yet I like the fact that they exist. The experimentation, the balls, the sheer ridiculousness of some of them...and just the fact that his record company sued him for making non-commercial albums. Gee...that opened my eyes...I thought record companies were in it for the music. Hahahahahahaha.

[aside: Life actually has a classic 3 song punch on side 2 (I used to have it on record) of "Too Lonely", "Prisoners of Rock'n'Roll" and especially "Cryin' Eyes". ]

One other thing about Neil. His lyrics. The man can write classic songs with insightful concise lyrics...brilliant...perceptive. BUT. He also writes some of the most clunky cliched lyrics out there. For some reason, I find this charming. Only Neil can get away with this.

[another god-damn aside: I just read a comment (not by Eyeball) on The Eyeball Kid's blog that stated that Tom Waits has attacked Neil Young for his often mundane lyrics. That doesn't sound like Tom so take it with a grain of salt, but as the Guru said...he wouldn't be wrong.]

Oh yeh!! The album? It sounds like the best Neil in years, even though I'm the only person on earth who actually loved, let alone "like", "Greendale".

[interjection: I saw Greendale live with the Guru in Toronto and actually liked the Greendale part of the show better than the greatest hits set....it was a great show all around, and I'm glad I finally saw Neil.]

The message of the lyrics is certainly more important than the poetry on this album. It was a rush job, since he wanted to get it out before George W. and his cronies totally screw the US up. Even if you disagree with the message, this is the most passionate and straightforward and simply rockin' Neil since Ragged Glory.
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Warning: Depression Crap

This is for those of you out there who struggle with depression and stuff...ha..maybe most of us. Remember, that even when everything seems hopeless

STOP!!!!!!!!!!!

THINK...

I mean REALLY think hard and try to be as rational as possible. It's never as bad we think. It's distorted thinking. I know. My thinking has been distorted for a long time (my whole fucking life!!!), and it's been really hard, but I know it's time to change that way of thinking for myself and my loved ones.

I'm taking it day by day and studying "The Feeling Good Handbook" by David Burns (as well as all the other fun shit that goes with it...counsellors, group work, meds) and it's really helping me a LOT!

Don't be put off by the cover. I know he looks like the most conservative boring guy ever, but man, it's making total sense to me. Even though I didn't show it last Monday night or Tuesday morning, and was sprinting to the funny farm, I started applying some of the shit and it's helped me bounce back fast...and hopefully better and wiser and more understanding. So, if anyone reads this and they're feeling like shit...hang in there and here's some positive vibes. PEACE
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Depression and Life....

Just when you think it couldn't get any worse....
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It does.
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[aside: added at 4:45pm PT - But life MUST continue on]

Next blog...back to the music!
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Acid Mothers on the tip of my tongue, HEAVY Funkadelic and I'm Lost in the Grooves!!

I already rated Acid Mothers Temple: "Mantra of Love" (2004) *****

It deserves it!!

Two long pieces that
ebb and flow
ebb and flow
and morph into
beautiful liquid electricity
as the mind
yearns to attain
that elusive
mantra of love.

My friend Randy (Hi Charlie!) is getting tons of Acid Mothers Temple, and my ears can hardly wait to devour them. The Acid Mothers, Can, Ash Ra Tempel, Albert Ayler and Gong are 5 musical artists who have moved way up my "fav scale". Red Krayola, Alex Harvey and Pharoah Sanders are on the rise too!

Acid Mothers Official Web Site.
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Random Thoughts

Nothing gets as deep down funky as Funkadelic did.
Bar none.
Ponder this.
The first song on the first record is
"Mommy, What's a Funkadelic?".
It doesn't get any heavier than that!!!
The heaviness of early Funkadelic blows me away.
A bluesy, funky, grimy yet HEAVY sound that is quite
unlike anything I've ever heard in my life.
The drugs back then MUST have been fucking
dynamite...

The Funkadelic Album List.
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Van Der Graaf Generator: Pawn Hearts (1971) **** This is the only VDGG I have, and I'm rather sick about it. It's like Roky Erickson on downers fronting early Genesis with King Crimson peeking in holding a vat of Soft Machine, while Pink Floyd are walking down the hall.

If one has to make a comparison.
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I just picked up Lost in the Grooves: Scram's Capricious Guide to the Music You Missed edited by Kim Cooper and David Smay. The book lists those classic albums that slipped under the radar and have attained obscurity status.

Hey, the book comes with recommendations from Irwin Chusid (an expert on outsider music), Barney Hoskins (a well known critic guy), Marianne Faithfull!! and Blag Dahlia from The Dwarves!!!! With those people recommending this book, it should be good.

Glancing through it I saw Beefheart, John Cale, Exuma!!, James Gang, Judee Sill, Flo & Eddie!! and David Cassidy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What!!! And The Partridge Family!!!!!!!!!!!

OK.

This book looks like it's going to be F U N! You know, I'll be making notes and then eventually rant and rave here in the carnival.

I started looking through their web site (click on the link above!) and it looks pretty awesome. Check it out.
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Uncut's Playlist gets analyzed, Arctic Monkeys heat up humans, and an old lyric's cobwebs are blown away!!

I'm listening to the new Uncut Playlist May 2006, and while good as usual, it is lacking in truly revelatory material.

Hey! That was almost critic-like. Stop that Harvey Dog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm already very familiar with the following:
Lynyrd Skynyrd!? (didn't expect Skynyrd on an uncut cd!)
Fairport Convention (love em...saw Richard Thompson live a couple of years ago, and he was fantastic)
Ronnie Spector (covering The Ramones' "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" and sounding incredibly natural...great!)
Japan (blah...never got into them...poor man's Roxy. Re-evaluation time?)
Tom Verlaine (always loved Television...this sounds ok)
Bob Marley (i wonder why I've never really got reggae...I mean I love the ganja, but it just doesn't hit me - the music, not the ganja...I always find my mind wandering. Sorta like what it's doing now...any suggestions? anyone I should explore? actually this "Soul Shakedown Party" sounds great. I think I need to check out early Wailers stuff and forget the later commercial stuff)

Faust (they have Faust on the playlist! Awesome! I already have the first 4 Faust albums, but anyone who doesn't needs to do some exploring!! Fucking Faust...great stuff)

Familiar to a lesser extent with:
Lambchop (interesting)
Calexico (haven't hit me)
Editors (this caught my ear...)
Graham Coxon (not bad, rabbit, not bad)
The Charlatans (sounds ok...not that familiar)
Candi Staton (why haven't I checked her out yet? this is great!)

[aside: goddam it!! I just had my flow interrupted by a phone solicitation...that sucks!]

New stuff for me:
Band of Horses (sounded blah, then great, then so-so, then pretty great...all in one song. Could be worth a little interrogation)
Jose Gonzalez (wow! loved it!)
Denim (sounds like cool NYC rawk'n'roll...the guy from Felt. gotta check em both out)

I love these Uncut cds. If Paul McCartney has nothing to do with them, then they're bound to be good. Uncut, MOJO and Record Collector blow away any North American music mags. Except for maybe Black To Comm or Mole's old fanzine! Black To Comm's Blog called, cleverly, Blog To Comm. Check it out!

[aside: Allan Jones where's my commission??]
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Arctic Monkeys "Whatever You Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" (2006) I am rocking out to "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" and now it's changed to the funky rocker, "Tales of San Francisco". What a great 1-2 punch
to the fucking jaw
of modern rock'n'roll!!!

I keep turning the volume up while listening to this cd...now that's fucking ROCK'N'ROLL!!!
this ain't pristine
this is
grit
dirt
sex
anger
a release for the soul
saving my soul
fucking my soul....that's what we all need. A good soul fuck!

Arctic Monkeys Home Page
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ANGER

I shiver with rage at the lack of sensitivity
when I walk around your smelly downtown,
There was this asshole
who pushed me aside, he thought he was tough,
I'm not taking it, I've had enough.

Don't push me round
don't put me down
Anger!!!

Sex in the city, isolation's free
if you want to live miserably,
why don't you talk to me
I'll remind you of your history,
we can't keep making the same mistakes
if we wanna die naturally

We gotta fight
we gotta fight
Anger!!!

This anger cannot be constrained
this anger cannot be restrained,
it's time to spit it out
and let everybody know
that it's too late to be sedate
we've got to let the anger flow

We gotta fight
don't push us round
Anger!!!!

By: John Harvey 1986? recorded and performed by The Hated Uncles back in the day.

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Country Joe's integrity, 10 million cds and does that translate to happiness? Doesn't hurt baby, doesn't hurt!

Country Joe McDonald is certainly a man of integrity. Check out his site. I'm gonna check out his Paris Sessions (1973) - this month's MOJO's Buried Treasure. A feminist album done with an all-gender band that cost him $100,000 cause there was no support from anywhere. [source: MOJO March 2006, p. 122]

I don't know...I just kind of found this story uplifting for some reason. Human integrity and all that.
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The parental units have departed...maybe for the last time....

to offset the unhappiness and depression and all that crap
I went INSANE
and downloaded
and bought WAY too many albums

this gave me an incredible surface happiness
which I hope will be translated
into a DEEPER
more TRUE happiness.

Hey man, that's all our goals. Right?

time to discuss some of this
incredible cache of music
and maybe, just maybe,
you'll discover some
musical interests that tickle your
E A R D R U M S
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[aside: I am only listing the albums I've listened to...only a few tonight. I want to get a post out there. More ravings to follow!]

Red Krayola: Introduction (2006) Yes!!! Thanks to Cosmic Slop for writing about this release. On first listen...what can I say? It fucking BLEW me away!!

Kevin Coyne: Legless in Manila (1983) I love Kevin Coyne. He's dead. He left behind dozens of albums to enjoy and dissect, wrote poetry and stories, was an artist...man, he was a fucking genius and I highly recommend him. Kevin Coyne's official web site. This album sounds like he wrote it at a bar all bitter and that.

Eric Burdon: Soul of a Man (2006) This was a shocker. It sounded great. Eric's voice is in great form, the band is tight and the songs are high quality. [aside: Guru T-Lu was listening to this album and said that it sounds like Eric Burdon ate Van Morrison. I couldn't agree more!]

Acid Mothers Temple: Starless and Bible Black Sabbath (2006) Great title and strangely apt! Sabbath crossed with Crimson isn't a bad description. Absolutely awesome stuff.

John Cage: Bird Calls (1972) I listened to this at work and felt very strange afterwards.

Diamanda Galas: The Litanies of Satan (1982) Wow! Um...you could say she's a little intense.

Pharoah Sanders: Karma (1969) This is my first Pharoah solo album and it floored me. It's very uplifting, and upon first listen it had the same power as Coltrane's Love Supreme (1964). I LOVE THIS ALBUM!!!Pharoah Sanders web site.

Mum: Yesterday Was Dramatic, But Today is OK (2000) I heard about this one from Ricardo Wang's What's This Called? on KPSU radio Saturday at noon. Wild eclectic show worth checking out. This is beautiful experimental music.
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Oh man, there's so many more
too many more...
no no no
blasphemy
there can never be too much
joy
happiness
elation
thought provoking
and endlessly
fascinating music
for our
listening pleasures.
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Harvey Dog gets Gonged, Red Krayola teach parables and Poobah falls asleep

I got some Gong recently and did I ever get fucking high I was floating through angel eggs and motherhoods full of acid and...

Finally, I am starting to get into the world of Gong, and from what I've heard it's a world I think I'll enjoy very much. I bought Gong: The Very Best of Gong 1971-1977 (1997) and it merely whet my appetite. Now I have Angel's Egg (1973) and a wicked collaboration with the Acid Mothers on Acid Motherhood (2004).

Travel to Planet Gong the official home of all things Gong. Here's a great article on Acid Motherhood and a great description of a 2004 Gong show. Daevid Allen is soooo fucking nuts. He's awesome!!!
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Red Krayola: Parable of Arable Land (1967) ***** In anticipation of eventually getting the N E W (yes...NEW!!!) Red Krayola album, it was time to put on their 1st album.

What can I say? This is amazing shit!! I think this album is still ahead of its time! It's chaotic, angry, beautiful, melodic, outrageous, poetic, dark, light, somber, noisy, quiet...

all these things
none of these things
as we are all one
yet we are no one
and all we know
is ignorance
and all we want
is bliss
bliss and ignorance
and this is not that
nor is it not...

it is merely...

everything.

Here's a Red Krayola web site that has a couple of live performances from 2004 - the extremely relevant "War Sucks" and "Wives in Orbit". Awesome! Thanks!
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Random Thoughts

The Dream Syndicate were a pretty awesome band. Days of Wine and Roses (1982) **** still sounds fresh and exciting.

I mentioned in a blog a long long long time ago, that I found Little Feat a rather disappointing band. I'd heard how great they were blah blah, and the pedigree is amazing. Lowell George and Roy Estrada came from Zappa's Mothers of Invention, and "Willin" is a great song. BUT...I thought
ONE MORE TIME!!!
so I put on Sailin' Shoes (1972) *** and I found even my fav album of theirs wasn't doing it for me anymore. A 4 to a 3. Not awful or anything.

Whenever I think of Red Krayola, I also think of The Silver Apples. They're both worth checking out.

Poobah has fallen asleep...how the hell can she fall asleep when Red Krayola are on the stereo!?!? Oh right. She's a dog. I forget sometimes.

After Red Krayola, how can you do anything else but put on Ash Ra Tempel? Rave On Timothy Leary Rave On.

I may not get a blog done this weekend, because my parents are visiting from Ontario. Oh Lord....

The first Argent (1969) album surprised me. Sounded really good.
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Thanks to Cosmic Slop for some encouraging words! Check out his flickr site for photos from some amazing concerts (including Red Krayola...motherfucker!!) he's attended, and check out Cosmic Slop's blog.

Here in Northern BC we get Motley Crue...NOT Red Krayola.
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That's fun to say. Cosmic Slop's blog.
slop blog.
blog slop.
actually...say "Cosmic Slop's blog" 3 times fast. I break out into tongues!
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