Conspiracy Watch NYC: Val Kilmer Wears His Sunglasses Indoors

So he can, so he can
Keep track of the visions in YOUR dreams!

Taken at Big Apple Con, October 2007.

Arcana Obscura Review (2/23/08)

Playlist and Archive for Saturday (2/23/08)

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, glam gods and architects of Bon Scott's karmic retribution. This is them, but a lot older:

Next we had "Drip Drip" by progressive folk freaks Comus. The only video of the song I could find was a music video someone had made of himself playing Final Fantasy Tactics. I don't really understand the internet.

And finally I played "Timothy" by UFO, thanks to the recommendation of one Julian Cope. I couldn't find a video of that, but I did find an interesting television appearance of them playing "Rock Bottom." Achtung, German headbanging youths of 1973! Check out the TV host who strips and writhes on the floor in ecstasy as well as the lusty middle-aged woman fanning herself with money.

Some Randy Maniac Bishop

Somehow today I was reminded of a video I had as a lad. The video involved a sea captain and a wisecracking duck who travelled around in a magic hot air balloon. Or something like that. It was called Monster Hits: Are You Afraid of the Dark?

They travelled around encountering different monsters, who then proceeded to sing songs, or people sang songs about them. For instance, there was a ballad about what a lonely life Igor has as well as a jaunty ragtime number about Dracula's biting fetish. Frankenstein's Monster also shows up, voiced by a Boris Karloff impersonator. So basically this video made me the man I am today. Fucking lawsuit.

The animation in this video was so bizarre. It was some kind of really early computer animation. I was able to find a video of one of the songs, a little ditty sung by a British explorer who warns America's children not to get "chummy with a mummy, or the mummy might get chummy with you." I was glad to learn this, since when D.A.R.E. and the Police Athletic League were trying to impart that very same wisdom to our 5th grade class I was like, "hey guys, I already know." So here's the goddamn mummy video:

Archaeology jive.

Arcana Obscura Review (2/16/08)

Playlist and Archive for Saturday (2/16/08)

You're racing like a fireball and dancing like a ghost, so let's start you off with some Deep Purple:

I danced myself right out the womb. Is it strange to dance so soon?

Also, I did play some new stuff. Occasionally I emerge from my polyester cave and put my ear to the ground for new sounds. The Chuck Dukowski Sextet, for instance. A band eponymous to Chuck Dukowski, former Black Flag bassist and key SST Records figure. The latest album, Reverse the Polarity, has a divergent sound simultaneously reminiscent of X and Shocking Blue, not to mention various girl groups and female fronted bands of the mid 90s that were beloved to my teenage years. Some of the tracks venture into a spacey mournful realm of reverb banshees, and those are the ones that most fit with Arcana Obscura.

Castlevania, Brooklyn: Post-Rapture

Plastic Tales Review (2/11/08)

Playlist and Archive for Monday (2/11/08)

Highlights:
I've made it no secret that on Monday's show I interviewed Jinx Dawson.

But don't let that take away from the rest of the show! We had some good stuff in there. First I glammed the shit out of things with the wonderfully androgynous Sweet:

After that we moved on to swarthy looking Greek band Aphrodite's Child, with their sorrowful ruminative number "It's Five O' Clock." Take a look at the organ player. He just might be the coolest man who ever lived, a man who must wake up in a different backyard every night. Also, check out the dancing invisible men at the end:

Finally we have the melancholy drug ballad "Sugar Man" by Rodriguez. The only decent video I could find of the studio version looks like a goddamn iPod commercial:

I often think that my life would be so much more enriching if I played the organ.

UPDATE: Yeah, so that organ player from Aphrodite's Child I posited as so cool? Scored motherfucking Blade Runner. His name is Vangelis.

Interview with Jinx Dawson

Yes, that's right. I interviewed Jinx Dawson of Coven on Plastic Tales From The Marshmallow Dimension. We talked about many things including witchcraft, Charles Manson, Black Sabbath, Jim Morrison and Charlie Chaplin. Listen to the show here! I say "wow" a lot, but it's still awesome. The interview is about a half hour or so into the show. I plan on transcribing it soon.

Plastic Tales Review (2/4/08)

Unfortunately, Monday's show was only broadcast over FM in the NYC metro area, as the internet stream was disconnected.

The good news is that the next Plastic Tales and all subsequent shows are now available LIVE IN FRANCE over aupradio.org (American University in Paris) and soon on French cable channel 199. The cable channel alone will reach over THREE MILLION HOMES in Paris and other major French cities. Far fucking out.

Anyway, here's a video of "Seasons of Change" by Australian band Blackfeather:

Playing recorder on that track is Bon Scott, who would later front AC/DC and go on to drink himself to death in 1980.

Arcana Obscura Review (2/2/08)

Playlist and Archive for Saturday (2/2/08)

Highlights:

We heard a lot of strange music such as: the incomprehensible 60s avant-rock band The Godz covering The Beatles, an eight minute long song by Fire about magical shoes, and of course, the manic vocals of Fred Cole with Dead Moon.

We played the titular song by German band Lucifer's Friend. Though there is no video for that song, I did find one for Ride in the Sky. I really like this band, but while I watched the video I was amazed by how weird looking these men are. The guitarist looks like a shrunken Andre the Giant, and the singer looks like someone forgot to take Steve Coogan out of the dryer.

This song wins a TUT Award (Terrific Use of Tuba).

Capitol Offense

I might just be really out of it politically, but I had no idea Mike Huckabee played bass in a classic rock cover band. Prepare yourself for the butchering of Steppenwolf:

Thought I'd spare you the Freebird.

Nouveau Retro: It's Not All Terrible

That's right, you heard me. There are a few modern bands with distinctly retro sounds that actually pull it off. Not only can they mimic obsolete genres, but they actually add something to them.

Who are these bands? Not in any particular order:

1. The Chesterfield Kings

The Chesterfield Kings are the result of a failed science experiment from the 1980s in which musicologists attempted to clone the Rolling Stones. After the disappointing single Start Me Up, the Stones were cloned using DNA from their discarded syringes. But something went wrong akin to Lex Luthor accidentally creating Bizarro, and we were left with a wholly unique musical act. The album to check out? The Mindbending Sounds of the Chesterfield Kings. The first track, I Don't Understand, is their signature song as far as I'm concerned.



2. Midlake

Midlake's release from 2006, The Trials of Van Occupanther, is the closest you're going to get to a modern equivalent of mid-70s Fleetwood Mac. Only replace Steve Nicks with a whiny guy whose art school thesis project most likely involved found objects. I know that sounds bad, but it's actually quite good. Sadly, the single Roscoe is the best song on the album. Listen to this song and then listen to Rhiannon and Gypsy. You'll see what I'm talking about.



3. The Brian Jonestown Massacre

I've been listening to these guys since 1998, and I've never been disappointed. The antics of frontman Anton Newcombe were popularized in the 2004 documentary DiG!, depicting the rivalry of BJM and the Dandy Warhols. I've seen them live a few times, and it's a bit like going to see a hockey game, because 2 out of 3 times the band erupted into violence. In 2004 at the Mercury Lounge, Anton punched out his guitarist because he didn't like the guy's girlfriend. This is why there are so many lineup changes. Unfortunately, these days Anton spends more time writing vitriolic anti-Bush rants on his MySpace blog than writing new music. But the man is hell with a sitar.



4. Comets On Fire

I'm not really sure what to say about this band, except that after hearing Hatched Upon the Age, I had to have the album. It's hard to really pin down where their retro sound lies, but to me it is reminiscent of certain early 70s Krautrock. Listen to the track here.

And that's all I got. For now.