More Decent Nouveau Retro

Via KEXP, I found another nouveau retro band that isn't terrible. In fact, I quite enjoy these guys. Howlin' Rain was founded by Ethan Miller, who also founded Comets on Fire which I briefly lauded previously.

They sound kind of like a cross between krautrock (a la the German band Jeronimo) and Deep Purple. Here's a video of a live performance of the above studio track.

I've listened to both of their albums and recommend them both.

Arcana Obscura Review (3/8/08)

Playlist and Archive for Saturday (3/8/08)

The prodigal son returns! I've been away for a week now. Still here in New York, but I've been horrified by a gnome (or... Duende), dismayed by a death, and confounded in the search for an elusive letter. But I better start reviewin' some shows!

I played "Wicked Annabella" by The Kinks, so here's some kid drumming along to it.

This band needs no introduction. Arthur Lee and his band Love.

Finally, I played "Woman Tamer" by Brooklyn's own Sir Lord Baltimore. Couldn't find that song anywhere, but here's Steve McQueen racing cars set to "Kingdom Come."

Don't You Know You'll Stain The Carpet

Two fake memoirs debunked in the past month. Love and Consequences and Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years. In an already difficult to penetrate industry, these people are making it even harder. Troubling.

The interesting thing is that when caught, they always say the same thing.

James Frey said: "People cope with adversity in many different ways, ways that are deeply personal. My mistake, and it is one I deeply regret, is writing about the person I created in my mind to help me cope, and not the person who went through the experience."

Misha Defonseca said: "The story of 'Misha' is not actual reality, but was my reality, my way of surviving," and at times she "found it difficult to differentiate between what was real and what was part of my imagination."

One could say that these are valid pontifications regarding the nature of the Self and the construction of identity. If one were inclined to be an asshole. It's actually just a really nice therapeutic way of saying "I told the lie so much, I came to believe it myself." But that’s as much as I feel like saying, and that’s neither here nor there.

In other news, I headed out to the remains of Midnight Records and talked business with a curious gentleman. I also picked up an LP of The Way We Feel by Complex, an excellent album with a poorly designed cover:

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).

Conspiracy NYC Update: Delicious Synchronicity

A few days ago I posted about a photo I took of a gentleman who runs around Wall Street dressed like a priest holding signs with crazed anti-Semitic slogans:

It has been brought to my attention by Adam Holland that this man is actually Brother Nathanael Kapner, and that he was once Mickey Kapner, guitarist and organist for a psychedelic band known as Rebecca and the Sunnybrook Farmers. I was merely posting my "Conspiracy NYC" segment of the week, and I had no idea of its synchronicitous connection to psychedelic rock. Don't believe me? Check out the man's Livejournal! Oh yeah, and the guy was originally Jewish.

Arcana Obscura Review (1/26/08)

Playlist and Archive for Saturday (1/26/08)

Highlights:

I hoped to get some videos of songs played but the pickings were scarce. I played the soundtrack to the Kenneth Anger film Lucifer Rising, composed and performed by Jimmy Page. Jimmy Page and Anger had a fight so Page wouldn't let him use it. What to do? Get Manson Family member Bobby Beausoleil to make a new one from prison! I couldn't find a satisfactory trailer of the film but I instead found this video of two metal dudes in a Barnes & Noble being more metal than you'll ever be:

I also played the excellent "Hymn 43" by Jethro Tull. Here is a video of some guy playing the bongos along to the song, with a special surprise at the end:

And finally, another highlight was "Shine On Brightly" by psychedelic mainstay, Procol Harum. Unfortunately, the only thing I could find was a man who believes lava lamps and darkness are acceptable music video fodder. So just consider this audio:

The day ain't fucking over.

Plastic Tales Review (1/21/08)

Playlist and Archive for Monday (1/21/07)

Highlights:

Here is Arthur Brown performing Eternal Messenger at the first Glastonbury Festival in 1971 (note the KISS makeup way before KISS thought of it):

Here is a most ridiculous video by the Wallace Collection:

And here are the Amboy Dukes performing "Journey to the Center of the Mind" featuring a very young gun enthusiast Ted Nugent:


And of course, there was Sam Gopal fronted by Lemmy Kilmister.

I host next on 2/4/08!

Update: I just noticed that guy at the beginning of the Arthur Brown video might as well be Hyde from That 70s Show. And Charlie Manson shows up at 1:43. And Jesus, could white people ever dance?

The Story of Coven

One of the most played bands on Arcana Obscura would have to be Coven. Helmed by the mysterious blonde siren Jinx Dawson, Coven released their first album in 1969 entitled Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls, which sounded much like one would imagine a satanic version of Jefferson Airplane.
The album contains a full length "satanic mass" and some gems such as "White Witch of Rose Hall" and "Dignitaries of Hell," which accurately details many of the prominent demons of the infernal regions and their respective ranks and habits (as referenced in Colin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal).

Though not incredibly popular, Coven was encircled with controversy. When they performed in their hometown of Chicago, police had a mandate forbidding the band to speak in between songs, for fear that they would invoke their dark master, I suppose. All of this came to a head when the Manson murders cast aspersions onto the occult subculture and Coven was released from their recording contract.

Coven re-emerged in 1972 with a self-titled album consisting of a very different sound. Reflective of the general evolution of rock in the 70s, Coven had moved towards a more emotional, riff-heavy sound akin to a fusion of Carly Simon and Heart. This album had a song entitled "One Tin Soldier" which was their biggest hit. In 1974, Coven reached the pinnacle of their achievements with Blood on the Snow, one of my all-time favorite albums. The best two tracks on the album are "Lady O" and "Blue Blue Ships."

It is important to remember that Coven is almost definitely the first band to throw up the horns onstage, starting in 1969. Though Gene Simmons and Ronnie James Dio both try to stake that claim, the photos do not lie:

And whatever happened to Coven, you ask? Well, Jinx is still around and looking incredibly hot:

What kind of dark deal did she make Lucifuge Rofocale to retain her youth so? We may never know. But you can visit her personal MySpace page as well as the Coven MySpace page. You can also buy Coven albums and merch via their CafePress store.

You can download this MP3 of "Lady O" to see what I'm talking about. If you like it, buy their albums!