December 2007 Archives

For those city dwellers (or prudent suburbanites and exurbanites) who lack their own fireplaces or can't find a neighborhood pub or friend with one to share, I'm happy to bring you the wonder and joy of the Yule Log. 

If you're travelling this season, feel free to download your own from the fine folks at Tribune Broadcasting. I do remember seeing the Yule Log a few times on WPIX when spending Christmas with my grandmother in New York, but my current interest is more curious than nostalgic.  I also prefer the sound of the logs crackling to piped-in carols, but feel free to poke around the interwebs for those variations.

And if you're within range of an Internet connection between 6:00pm on the 24th and 6:00pm on the 25th, I encourage you to stop by WPRB.com and listen in to the 20th Annual Jon Solomon Holiday Marathon, now in its 19th edition (with a hiatus in 1995 for the once-in-a-lifetime experience of seeing Northwestern University in the Rose Bowl).  If I can plan to tune in from 6 time zones away after a 8-hour flight, then perhaps you can find a few minutes to share in the experience too.

Best wishes to all for a peaceful end of the year.

This post is not really about music, except for the background riff rattling through my skull.  Fans of intense, moody, propulsive rock music from the late 70s and early 80s ought to get their tails over to Zeno Records and pick up the box set of the first three Wipers albums -- if only for the outtakes and bonus tracks. (If you already have this set, then take a few minutes to visit and learn about Greg Sage's tangential role in Portland's professional wrestling scene -- but do turn down your speakers first thanks to the embedded auto-play musical selections.)

Anyway, most everyone has ranted about "those darn kids today" at some point. It goes back a few thousand years, at least, with those witty Romans sighing "O tempora, o mores" as they sashayed to the Colosseum to watch people maul each other for entertainment. Today, though, it's as much about their parents as it is about those darn kids.

One of the best interpretations I've seen appeared in a recent thread on Jezebel (part of the GawkerMedia family) about the nightmare that is recutting old Sesame Street episodes (i.e. the era I grew up watching) to remove the negative influences -- like "Alistair Cookie" taking a bite out of his pipe. Commenter Cycles does the honors:

Sunny day (so be sure to put on sunblock so you don't get cancer)
Sweepin' the clouds away (but bring a raincoat and umbrella in case they come back)
On my way to where the air is sweet (but don't breathe in too hard, what with all the exhaust fumes and pollution)

Can you tell me how to get (kids, if you're lost, go to a police station. do not get directions from strangers)
How to get to Sesame Street (get an adult to help you cross the street, you could get run over)

The rewrite goes on for the second verse, as well.

This latest incident gives me the chance to pull out some material I'd been meaning to mention for some time. 

(E! Online photo)	(press kit photo)	(MySpace photo)

 

Two Australian MCs, both women, both making me scratch my head about their physical resemblences to Minnie Driver. (Incidentally, who knew that Driver had recorded an album in the past year?)

One of the very first videos that showed up on my Last.FM dashboard was this sock-puppet screwball throwdown from Macromantics.  I was initially excited about this record and then forgot about it for a while ... so the video recommendation is quite a welcome reminder of one of the more unique releases of 2007.

 

And hot on her heels is CatCall. The current work is a far cry from Catherine Kelleher's days shouting and shrieking in no-wave noise merchants Kiosk (as documented in July 2006 by these Punkcast videos). It's unclear whether Kiosk's work on this planet is truly done -- the MySpace page is maintained regularly, but the "official" LiveJournal site hasn't been updated in over a year -- but CatCall is definitely headed front and center.

Listen to August:

I've managed to track down four CatCall songs, and my favorite so far is "August," a downbeat sung number with fantastic organ phrasing. The raps are also solid -- a little choppier and rougher than Macromantics' flow, but equally slamming.  Aussie music blogs Off The Record and Who The Bloody Hell Are They? naturally have the head start on (and my gratitude for) bringing CatCall to the world-at-large ... with any luck, she'll be wrecking all our sound systems with an official release in 2008.

From the "why hadn't I heard of this yet" file:

• English wackiness manifested in the form of round two of "Never Mind The Buzzcocks," here used as the premise for a "UKTV" promo. With the Writer's Guild strike in full swing (and no sign of settlement soon), one can only hope that one of the networks is bright enough to import the original (instead of a half-baked port) to stave off the flood of so-called reality programs.

And congratulations to:

• Frequent Deadly Tango mentions Lucky Soul, whose toe-tapping, teriffic "Add Your Light To Mine, Baby" was featured in the November 8th episode of ER during a party scene at a local watering hole.  Does this mean that the best-dressed band in England might finally come state-side in the new year (please)?
• Inspiral Carpets, for pulling the Hammonds and Farfisas out of storage next March once more to show the "nu-rave" kiddies how it's really done.  I was never a Madchester baggie or glowstick raver, but I do know a good organ riff when I hear one -- and the Inspirals had many, many good riffs. Shoutout to MP3Hugger for the good news (even if I'm unlikely to take advantage).
  
• Kat Flint (pictured right), for breaking free from the roving bands of "thoughtful singer-songwriters" marauding the aural landscape from one side of the pond to the other. Yes, the "cute Scottish redhead" angle is what got me to listen first... but the songs are what matter.
  

Listen to Go Faster Stripes:

The a-side of her forthcoming single is an excellent, swirling, slightly dark folk/pop song, reminiscent of Barbara Manning's excellent first solo album (even before the "scissors as rhythm instrument" registers).  The buzz is starting to build, with UK radio airplay from Tom Robinson (BBC 6Music) and Steve Lamacq (BBC Radio 2) recently, and her first album coming out in the new year.  Major shoutout to The Runout Groove for piquing my interest. (Photo by Caerphoto, via Flickr.)