Juggalo Rabid B. Hatchetman calls the Best Show

[Soundtrackage] Fred Karlin - Westworld (1973)

I first saw Westworld when I was a small boy and, boy, did Yul Brynner, with his eerie shimmery silvery eyes, scare the living shit out of me.

That film is still fantastic and takes a premis that's pretty silly if you read it on paper (and see it during the first half of the film..) but is also one of the more relentless 'chase thrillers' you'll find.

Part of the greatness of the film is Fred Karlin's soundtrack - to be fair, most of the soundtrack isn't that interesting, consisting mainly of warbling Ye Olde Wilde West-y country tracks, but when Karlin allows the electronics to come in, he hits a new level.

Here are my two favourite tracks. The first is used in the film as a sort of 'theme of the gunslinger' (as Brynner's character is called), and is just as relentless as the character is, building and building, persevering, never letting go. The second track appears during the strangely peaceful and sort of unnerving scenes when the shot or otherwise broken robots are collected by engineers to be repaired behind the scenes. It's a floaty little number, the easiest comparison might be to something like early Boards of Canada.

The Gunslinger:

dld

Robot Repair:

dld

And here's the whole thing, if you're interested.

highlights from The Best Show last night

Spike On Michael Jackson


The 10th Annual Gathering Of The Juggalos (with Paul F. Tompkins)

Perfect Unpop - Peel Show Hits & Long-Lost Lo-Fi Favourites Vol.1 1976-80

this compilation is so fucking amazing you won't believe your ears. enjoy

The Wasps - Teenage Treats


download

Flipper - In The Garden

flipper is one of my all-time favorite bands. this is one of my favorite flipper songs, taken from the lovely 1983 Gone Fishin' Demos bootleg. the song was unfortunately never officially released. :( (sad face) but you can hear this lost gem RIGHT NOW

Angra - Wuthering Heights

I love Kate Bush and her music. No, I LOVE Kate Bush and her music. This is non-negotiable. I'm leaving the table now, we're done here. LEAVE IT.

Anyway, I came across this metal cover of her song Wuthering Heights, by Angra and it's fantastic. The song is just perfect for the wailage of classic metal.

I always feel that the true test of any song is for it to be covered. A truly great song can survive almost any genre-related sludge a band can smear all over it.

Cue Kate and Angra!


dlud

Cheap Trick - Surrender

Cheap Trick - Surrender (1978)



Steel Pole Bath Tub - Surrender (1995)



Sick To The Back Teeth - Surrender (2009)

Nauseacast revisited

the legendary Nausea blog (pretentiousblogtitle.blogspot.com) featured a weekly podcast called Nauseacast. it was hosted by a computer voice and featured freeform music and bizarre audio. here is your chance to get all the half-hour episodes at once, including the very rare later episodes!

01. nauseacast #1 - a certain sadness (30:04)
02. nauseacast #2 - paws off (30:10)
03. nauseacast #3 - whistlin dixie (30:21)
04. nauseacast #4 - cabin man (30:28)
05. nauseacast #5 - who are you? (30:23)
06. nauseacast #6 - cupcake (30:31)
07. nauseacast #7 - teenage time-killer (30:15)
08. nauseacast #8 - ordovician (30:00)
09. nauseacast #9 - property is theft (30:20)
10. nauseacast #10 - hank williams (29:43)
11. nauseacast #11 - n is for nausea (30:39)
12. nauseacast #12 - litanies (30:02)
13. nauseacast #13 - comes a time (30:03)
14. nauseacast #14 - cobain's killer (30:09)
15. nauseacast #15 - france (30:27)
16. nauseacast #16 - stress builds character (30:14)
17. nauseacast #17 - the sound of fun (30:45)
18. nauseacast #18 - south by southwest (30:06)
19. nauseacast #19 - when the top comes off (30:23)
20. nauseacast #20 - coat (30:28)
21. nauseacast #21 - terrorist (30:04)
22. nauseacast #22 - 808 snares and orchestra stabs (30:41)
23. nauseacast #23 - ottoman (30:08)
24. nauseacast #24 - la terre (30:06)
25. nauseacast #25 - at giza (30:27)
26. nauseacast #26 - aminals (30:35)
27. nauseacast #27 - superheroes (30:37)
28. nauseacast #28 - vampires (30:33)
29. nauseacast #29 - halloween (30:19)
30. nauseacast #30 - apache (30:21)
31. nauseacast #31 - mistress (29:41)
32. nauseacast #32 - metal (30:37)
33. nauseacast #33 - name that tune (30:17)
34. nauseacast #34 - jagged time lapse (30:31)
35. nauseacast #35 - free (30:00)
36. nauseacast #36 - christmas special part one (31:01)
37. nauseacast #37 - christmas special part two (30:57)
38. nauseacast #38 - the french connection (30:35)
39. nauseacast #39 - tokyo drifter (30:22)
40. nauseacast #40 - bad lieutenant (30:00)
41. nauseacast #41 - demons 2 (30:34)
42. nauseacast #42 - cherry red (30:23)
43. nauseacast #43 - the beast must die (30:29)
44. nauseacast #44 - valentine's day (30:18)
45. nauseacast #45 - sister street fighter (30:25)
46. nauseacast #46 - a tiny book (30:34)
47. nauseacast #47 - the bird with the crystal plumage (30:40)
48. nauseacast #48 - all number sevens on the astral plane (29:57)
49. nauseacast #49 - public service announcement from your dreams (30:36)
50. nauseacast #50 - set the controls for the heart of the sun (30:30)
51. nauseacast #51 - pins are the lords of the amusement machine (30:46)
52. nauseacast #52 - see you later alligator (30:50)

broken up into four gigantic zip files:

nauseacast episodes 1-11
nauseacast episodes 12-24
nauseacast episodes 25-37
nauseacast episodes 38-52

totaling 1.38 gb.. each zip includes the full tracklist and index file.

In Heaven

i don't know of any movie scenes that have been covered or referenced more often by bands than the singing chipmunk-faced lady scene in Eraserhead.

"In Heaven", the song sung by the Lady in the Radiator, has been covered by Bauhaus, Devo, Norma Loy, WC3 (à trois dans les WC), Haus Arafna, Miranda Sex Garden, Annie Christian, Pankow, Pixies, The Sherrysa-Whore, Desolation Yes, Bang Gang, Helios, Donny Who Loved Bowling, Forgotten Sunrise and Tuxedomoon. Indie rockers Modest Mouse borrowed lines from "In Heaven" for "Workin' on Leavin' the Livin'", as did the anarcho-punk band Rubella Ballet for their song "Slant and Slide". Scottish 1980s band Win! covered the Lady in the Radiator's song as a B-side on their 1986 hit single "You've Got the Power".

here are just a few examples:

Tuxedomoon - Heaven (From The Film Eraserhead), (1981)


Rubella Ballet - Slant + Slide, (1981)


The Pixies - In Heaven (Lady In The Radiatior Song)


Zola Jesus - Lady In The Radiator, (2009)

Swans - Children Of God

today's classc album is children of god by the swans. it's one of their best albums; it's their transitional phase between heavy sludge metal pounding post-everything and their epic pop period. it's also the super-scary christian themed record. you know it, you love it - if you don't then you must hear it.

i will hook you in with this deep cut from the very end:

I'll Swallow You



dl

Love - Bummer In The Summer

this song is much better than Summertime Blues... partly because it mentions fucking.

Ben Vollraph calls into the Best Show

[Soundtrackage] Eduard Artemiev - Solaris

Let's all fall in love with Eduard Artemiev! The man made some wonderful soundtrackage for Tarkovsky films, most notably Solaris and Stalker. This is the land of atmospheric electronics from the '60s onwards.

Here's a track from Solaris:



And here's the complete soundtrack album of Solaris (which as far as I know is out of print).

Chris Knox - Not Given Lightly

Chris Knox suffered a stroke several weeks ago. although he is not quite as well-known as some of his contemporaries, i am certain he is greatly adored by his fans.

i know him more from his work in the Tall Dwarfs, the fantastic lo-fi pioneers, but i was pleasantly surprised to find this lost pop hit from his solo career.

At the 2001 New Zealand Music Awards Knox's song "Not Given Lightly" (1990) was announced as New Zealand's thirteenth best song of all time as voted by APRA members.[1] A love song written for "John and Leisha's mother" - his wife Barbara - this track never scaled commercial heights though it has belately generated some income for the songwriter through its use in TV advertising (notably for Vogel's bread).

you might not see it at first, but it is a great video. very simple, honest, and beautifully photographed. the perfect compliment to the simple, honest, beautiful song.

Comets On Fire - Hatched Upon The Age

this is my favorite Comets On Fire song... the band has had a pretty diverse sound throughout their discography - slamming spaced-out soul-garage, cosmic heavy jams, experimental stoner folk, and with 2006's Avatar, clean classic rock anthems from a modern perspective.

and as far as i can tell, no bands have really captured late-60's/early-70's rock influence quite as authentically as they have on this album. this song in particular seems like it could almost fit in on a Procol Harum or Allman Brothers record, and yet it has a distinctively modern feeling - you can't totally call it "retro". also it is catchy. check out the album if you like it.

Bonus wrongspeed version

Fantasy Three - Summer (wrongspeed)

Fantasy Three - Summer

via Hantro 3 (i think)

two early live shows by The Slits

posted these years ago on another blog but i just came across them again and decided to share with the awesomest crue. 320k mp3's this time

in case you didn't know, punk rock was intended to be loud, sloppy, fast, and played by teenage girls snarling with completely uninhibited, vicious energy. and to be sure, some of these songs are done so sloppily, they barely resemble the studio versions. that doesn't matter, because what these performances lack in accuracy is made up for a hundredfold by the sheer confidence and unencumbered passion they project.

this is very beautiful music. beautiful as ten pogoing punks covering you in spit.

includes: 1977 Dingwall's, Camden Town + 1978 Action White Hart, London + one song from 1977 Islington

download

Melvins cover "Let Me Roll It" by Wings

The Melvins covering Wings "Let Me Roll It" in Boston at the Paradise Club on 5-16-09.



vastly-improved over the original, despite lacking a bass part!

Ramses Shaffy - Zachtjes lokt het water

Who wants to hear a song in Dutch? I'll ignore the deafening silence and plod on regardless.

Here's a song by a Dutch '60s troubadour called Ramses Shaffy (his mother was Egyptian, hence the name). A typical product of the '60s, Shaffy was primarily a stage actor who became famous as a singer, eventhough he was a raging alcoholic. He now spends his final days in a resthome suffering from Korsakov Syndrome (although he still performs now and then).

The song is called Zachtjes lokt het water, which roughly translated means The water beckons softly - a song about someone contemplating suicide by drowning himself (and trying to lay the blame on the water! LOLOLOLOL!!!!).


oh the download