Read:My:Back

Moondog Rising

Irwin Chusid likes to take credit for a lot of my most intriguing traits and talents. (My fear of accidentally severing my hand at the wrist with a rusty chainsaw, my ability to play a saxophone while tapdancing on a Newark-bound PATH train perhaps chief among them.)

He doesn't really have anything to do with those details, but I like to humor the guy because, well, Irwin's a friend of many years and he needs his ego greased as often as possible. That said, one thing I do give him full credit for is introducing me to Moondog, the blind composer / multi-instrumentalist who lived and performed on the streets of New York City for decades. This here's a terminal favorite from the catalog. It's short (almost all of Moondog's tunes are two minutes and change), but says plenty.

Gal Costa's cover of "It's All Over Now Baby Blue"

The only song that's ever made afternoon Holland Tunnel traffic not only tolerable, but transcendent.

Windows down, volume clockwised. Inching along like a dying slug.

I dunno, maybe you had to be there?

Photo by Keithlam [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0]

Steve Wynn of Dream Syndicate—Around Town and on the Radio

Praise be to Joltin' Joe Belock. He's had Steve Wynn as a musical guest on his radio program almost as many times as I've had Dalek, and from my perspective, nothing defines the Three Chord Monte aesthetic better than these fantastic sessions from the former Dream Syndicate frontman. Now based in New York after years of being closely affiliated with the left coast musical underground, I've had the pleasure of seeing Steve and band perform many times and under many different circumstances. Two that come immediately to mind include a spur-of-the-moment run through of the Dream Syndicate's Days of Wine and Roses (at Manitoba's sometime in mid-2001), and also the odd occasion of them providing ambient musical accompaniment to a reading by crime fiction writer George Pelecanos (at Magnetic Field.) The latter was especially great, as my wife lived mere steps from Magnetic Field at the time—that afforded us the rare opportunity to rock until the late hours sans the mood-killing reality of a 3 AM subway ride on a work night. (Feel free to ignore that last bit if you're younger than 30, though I've always been ornery about getting home so late. I have theorized that my fleeting interest in hardcore music was mainly rooted in the fact that most of the shows were weekend matinees.)

Anyhow, in the midst of what were at one time fairly frequent live dates around town, Steve and band also made periodic stops at WFMU for live sets on Joe Belock's program, all of which are now available in their entirety in the FMA. This mix is whittled down to reflect my favorites, so take the fact that I've titled it "The Best of..." with a grain of salt. Try as I might, I was powerless to shy away from his epic renditions of old Dream Syndicate classics, even though Steve's more recent sounds are just as impressive. Naturally, if you like what you hear, I'd certainly urge you to go grab everything else.

Good Morning, America

It's always pretty after an apocalypse
So we strolled past the flowers planted by the Bloods and Crips
And they chose
white lilies cause they're such wacky kids
It was a good day
Damn right, it was a good day

Almost all the hypocrites and demagogues were gone
Like the sacramental moment In a Last Poets song
And Bayard Rustin came back just to bitch slap Farrakhan
It was a good day
Damn right, it was a good day

Burned to the ground
We knew it would burst into bloom
Healthy and good
So we struck that match and went back to sleep

Lee Atwater was on the corner turning tricks
Clutching the failed box set of his heartfelt blues licks
He said "I think I liked the ghetto better when it was sick"
It was a good a day
Damn right, I gotta say it was a good day

Razed to the ground
We knew it would burst into bloom
Healthy and good
Bayard Rustin smiled and went back to sleep

Good morning, America

-Smart Went Crazy -- "It Was a Good Day"

Jonathan Kane Sampler Mix

A critical primer if ever there was one: One song apiece from the February and Jet Ear Party LPs, as well as a live track recorded for one of WFMU's Free Music Series concerts. By my reckoning, that song ("Pops") was the first ever licensed for inclusion in the Free Music Archive.

Kane and friends will be performing during the Table of the Elements Copernicium Festival, which goes down at the Issue Project Room from May 12th-14th. Also appearing: Zeena Parkins, Stephen O'Malley, plus Rhys Chatham and the Lords of Tinnitus. [More info and MP3s here.]

Download now and set your ears to bleed!

The Ex—Live at the Knitting Factory, 1999

WFMU's Kurt Gottschalk recently forwarded a link to some amazing footage of The Ex performing live on a Paris streetcorner. Watching it quickly set me longing for the years in which I routinely saw The Ex perform knockout sets at the old Knitting Factory on Leonard Street. Let praise be freely distributed to whomever uploaded this 80 minute knockout video of one such concert, during which The Ex ably demonstrate why they are the single greatest and most inspiring band of current history. Any chance to see them perform live should be seized upon as though your life depended on it. No foolin', they are that good!

I'm sure I was at the Knitting Factory on this night—probably in my customary stance near the other side of the stage, knocking back a Maker's Mark and getting my head torn up in the most joyous manner possible: entirely at the hands of The Ex. The author of the original Blogotheque piece sent by Kurt summates this band pretty effectively when s/he writes:

"[The Ex] started their career in Amsterdam squats at the beginning of the DIY movement, played ten times in every single European and international venue, mixed their rock with the freest jazz, and then rooted it in the heart of Ethiopia. The Ex is a symbol for musical freedom in its most rigorous form."

Bravo, I say! For more written eloquence, check out these words from WFMU's Brian Turner, regarding the band's visit to his radio program in January of 2007.

The Ex frequently rotates the selection of free MP3s available on their website, so definitely grab these favorites while they're still in the mix.

Listen to the Painters | Hidegen Fújnak a Szelek (with Tom Cora) | Prism Song | It's a Sin

Late note regarding the Knitting Factory video: DO NOT MISS the psycho guitar improv that punctuates the song "Lump Sum Insomnia" (pay close attention beginning at the 58 minute mark). The song is from their Starters-Alternators album (1998) and remains a much-anticipated element of their live show. No wondering as to why!

Mesmerizing Pencil Animations by Ben Warren

I hope this guy's got a great job now. Music by Lullatone. More after the jump.

Chinatown | NYC | Blizzard | Monolake

Photo by Dan Nguyen [cc-a-nc 2.0]

Monolake - Infinite Snow by Anders Bersten

 

Linkbait! Dismemberment Plan tour diary from 14 years ago

I just heard the recently reactivated Dismemberment Plan's interview on Weekend Edition and decided it would be a good time to chuck this into the ether again: bandleader Travis Morrison's great/hilarious written account of one of the band's myriad U.S. tours embarked upon during the apex of their success. This tour diary originally appeared in Green Means Go! fanzine, which I co-edited between 1994 and 1997. Sometime last year, Travis mentioned to me that he and his bandmates were considering using this piece for liner notes to their just re-upped Emergency & I LP. I guess that didn't happen, but if you're one of the seemingly zillions of folks for whom that record is such a touchstone, this is sure to get you good and frothy.

[Download .zip file]

Here's audio of "OK, Joke's Over", a song which I can not hear without immediately recalling one of the coldest crosstown walks I have ever endured. (To see the Dismemberment Plan's first ever NYC show, circa 1995, with about 10 other people. Can I get an amen for Sunday nights at Under Acme?)

Four Songs About Windows

Image: "Window", Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.