Argument Against Snobbery No. 1

Most people will not give the original mixes of M.O.I's We're Only In It For The Money and the Beatles' Let It Be time of day. The former is overly censored and the latter has a Phil Spector slickness that was originally called "a cardboard coffin for the greatest band in the world."

I just listened to them back to back and I feel like I'm back on Bank Street.

We're Only In it will always be Summer 2006. Turning 16. Starting to gain a little independence. Starting to explore video work. Being in love. Acting in a radio play. The sun warming my face.

Let It Be will always be my Mother's favorite album and that means a lot.

Sinner's Midnight

For the first time since 2007, I'm in a band again. Joseph, Alberto and I. We are Uncle Deadly. I mostly play the keys which has me wicked excited. I haven't played this much keyboards in years and years. So much of it is still there. During our first practice, I was whipping out great licks. Tonight I was a little too tired to play at my best, but did teach the boys an old song of mine called "Similar But Not The Same." We're totally reworking it to give it a little more life and a little less...well, death. I'm surprised they took a liking to it. I know it will be even better once we're done on it.

Two other points. One, I saw Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears at the Middle East on Sunday. I swear to God, I wish I could live there. He played the blues with such a hard edge. Being part of "Booty City," "Sugarfoot," and a cover of "Louie, Louie" live was worth the price of admission and THEN SOME. Got to talk to him after the show too a/k/a shake his hand and say he's a cool guy to a "enthusiastic" reply of "Thanks, man." Whatevs. He's Black Joe and I'm just another tax-paying citizen of Booty City.

I bought three more albums. The Sun Sessions by Elvis Presley, Psalms for Ticklebag by Reality Challenged, Touch Me There by L. Shankar (produced by FZ), and The Man from Utopia by FZ. The last one brings my FZ count to 21 with 27 remaining. They are all good (and bizarre) records and will probably get a proper review at some point in time.

I've been having a strange week. It's not the same feeling of dread. It's like a mental growth spurt I suppose. Maybe I'm preparing myself to return to the Cape. I was originally thinking it was going to be this weekend, but with the crummy weather and a hopeful shoot, I may stay around here. The people grew sad...or corn. Depending on their want.

Back to my song, the two best lines I feel are "I'm sick of being a stranger sleeping in a stranger's bed" and "Love is the only reason I came." Well done, High School Kane. Well done.

If We'd All Been Living in California...

This past week I bought three LPs (technically four, but I'll get into that some other time). First, two Zappa albums. Orchestral Favorites and Uncle Meat on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, Joseph and I landed the last two copies of The Strokes' new album Angles which became yet another mild drug that kept us going through our all-night writing session. We probably listened to the thing three complete times, the did all our favorite cuts, then by luck, watched them perform "Taken for a Fool" on Leterman. I love the fact this 80s-power pop thing is back. Gotta dust off my Cars albums and what not.

We continued to keep the stereo on all night and I put on Orchestral Favorites when the sun was coming up. At that point, my blood had been replaced with shitty Mexican coffee so the album seem to last about eight minutes. Granted, it's not suppose to be one of his best. It was one of the unauthorized albums Warner Brothers put out instead of Zappa's Läther box set. To show the album had no input by the big cheese, not one of the members of the The Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Orchestra was credited. But for what it's worth, best version of "Strictly Genteel" around.

Uncle Meat was the one I looked forward to the most. As with nearly all of his older LPs, Zappa did major remastering for both the Old Masters projects and the 1987 release of his back catalog (see Ask for Record at Counter) The 1968 mix shows all the problems with digital compression. When CD mastering technology first came out, one of the main objections was to get rid of the hiss picked up from the original tapes. High pass filters were installed. Add that to compression, lots of high frequency sounds on the recording suffer. As a result, the percussion on the original LPs sounds DYNAMITE. Tunes like "Nine Types of Industrial Pollution," which on the CD sound like fuzzy sonic ramblings, end up having wonderful texture. The drumming on "Cruisin' for Burgers" is so freaking heavy on the LP, it's wonderful. Wonderful wonderful wonderful wonderful wonderful it really makes it.

Also the album on whole flows a lot better. It's more more cohesive- like a fluid stream of consciousness instead of a rushed group of loosely related tunes. This is probably because the '87 mix has an obnoxious amount of reverb. I can't wait to get my hands on a vinyl copy of Lumpy Gravy now.

ZAPPA LP COUNT- 20*
LEFT TO GO- 31**

*Including Mystery Disc 2
**Up to 1988 and not counting The Old Masters Box Two and Three.

someone to run their fingures through my hair and MEAN IT

You Can't Make This Same Lame Zappa Reference Anymore! Vols. 5-6

Last night I had that dream again. This time it came with a bit of a twist.

My mother's boyfriend drove me home one night. The area looked vaguely like Freeman Street but I was sure I had never been there before. He first stopped at a liquor store and I waited in the car. After waiting a bit, I went inside looking for him.

Inside the store were a handful of kids. Very creepy looking, like Village of the Damned meets The Wicker Man creepy. They were very snide and made these condescending comments to me.

I decided to split and walk home at this rate. A young boy ran in front of me. I followed him but pretended like I wasn't doing so. The further we went, the brighter it got until I was in a field with a bunch of kids, playing some kind of bizarre and unorganized game of Capture The Flag. I still ignored the kids even though I saw other kids my age being the counselors and coaching them along. Nearly everyone my age was guiding some younger kid.

I made my way up the hill to this gypsy caravan. Inside each wagon was basically a summer camp cabin and one of my friends was there. I snuck into one of the wagons and all the kids were watching old variety shows from the 1950s and Frank Sinatra movies, transfixed to the sets. I made my way to the back room where the bunks were.

It was a girl's cabin and Bailey was on a top bunk, wearing typical camp counselor garb. I smiled at her but she looked concerned.

"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just wish I could do this again."

With that, I buried my face into the bed and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.

***

It may be an understatement to say I have been very emotional lately and these dreams don't help at all. They bring me way down when I'm in the best spirits. These dreams of let-down children. Jesus H Christ on a crutch. That's heavy. In more than one way...

I have a bunch of music posts to do due to the shit ton of albums I've acquired in the past two days. The Strokes, Frank Zappa...well that it. Two Zappas. Also I just found the picture I took for my "I Melt With You" rant so that will come up at some point. Now that my life is sorta back in a normal position, I'll lay that all out. But I'll lay it out easy.

You Can't Do That In Hyannis Anymore! Vol. 3

There was a Newbury Comics in Hyannis in this crummy strip mall. It was right next to the Toys 'R Us so it was only logical for my giddiness over toys to be transferred to albums just next door. The first time I ever cut class was Junior Year in order to get my hands on Bright Eyes's Cassedega (2007). A lot of my first memories of Zappa albums started in that parking lot at night when I'd drive away hearing "Gregory Peccary" or "Uncle Meat" for the first (and certainly not the last) time. I dragged girlfriends there after having to endure clothes shopping. My friends would go and loudly and bluntly express our opinions. One time the whole store SANG when "Bohemian Rhapsody" came on the stereo.

The floor went through many changes but in my heart, the record albums were always in the way back. I was maybe 12 when I first shuffled through the then slim record selection. Most of it was hip-hop. Rock albums were RARITIES hence my first new LP I ever bought was Weezer's Maladroit. No I was never a huge Weezer fan but asking for a Barenaked Ladies LP was (and still is) a futile request. Also Daft Punk's Discovery was wicked out of print on vinyl.

There's still a Newbury Comics in Hyannis. They moved to the mall in the slot were the old Friendly's used to be. It's not that I'm bitter that it's changed. It has but that's not my point. I guess I'm learning that that certain part of my life is over. I have new record joints now. Better even. Digging beyond my wildest dreams. But nothing will come close to the joint I'd frequent after school was over, after the sun went down, and drive home from, listening to something new in the dark.

You Can't Do That In Andover Anymore! Vol. 2

To get my mind off things, I think of The Old Masters Box One. I will own it before the year is over. Before my birthday. There. So it is written. So shall it be done. Take me to Booty City

You Can't Do That In Roxbury Anymore! Vol. 1

There's a lot that can be said for the past 48 hours of my life. I doubt any account at three in the morning can truly do it justice...that or it would do it perfect justice. The roast went off without a hitch. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a very very long time. That shit is gonna resurface somewhere on the internet and oh my will it be entertaining. Bailey and Julia are here...and I'm too excited and happy for words. So yeah.

On a rampant Zappa kick recently, specifically guitar work. It's a genre of his that has taken me a while to get into. It's the perfect fusion of disciplined jazz structure and balls to the wall rock 'n' roll execution. A lot of his solos were extracted from live performance of other songs then released as separate pieces, usually with a wonderfully goofy title. Here's some of my new favs (along with rediscovered gems):

"The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution" from Sleep Dirt
Total jam fest here, a throw back to Hot Rats.

"Heavy Duty Judy" from Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar
The horns SO freaking make it.

"But Who Was Fulcanelli?" from Guitar
This is from the song "Drowning Witch" which is probably Zappa's most unsung later masterpieces. Not only was the original track wonderful but it also spawned this solo and the beautiful "St. Etienne." (Video from 1987's Video from Hell)

"For Duane" from Guitar
Zappa plays Allman. The variation on the timing of the classic blues progression is fucking amazing.

"Ask Dr. Stupid" from Trans-Fusion
I don't even know how he makes his guitar sound like that. I mean I have an idea but it must be twice as hard.

Probably not this weekend, but soon I'm gonna do a bit about YCDTOSA Vol. 1. No one cares but me. La de da.

Relative Cross-Promotion Obligation

Bailey is comin' soon. Let's see the week ahead...

Look at you, bringing the nice weather.

about last post

I deleted the last entry because I realized it was a horrible poem. Two drink Kane thought that scrap from freshman year was a revelation in modern poetry last night. Tonight, two cookies Kane thinks it's crap. There are some good elements. The Bo Diddley thing can work well, but overall, it's just awful.

To say I am relieved to be back in Boston would be a gross understatement. By the time I arrived, the clouds started to part and the sun was shining like crazy. My gang got together tonight, ate Costa Rican cookies, and listened to the new Strokes album that was leaked yesterday.

Creatively, I'm back on board too. Aside from the plans for the KFFS re-write (first meeting Tuesday, this is HAPPENING), I have some solid plans for my tape project. One plan is very clear and will most likely be an instillation piece. The other one is a little more "magical mystery tour" and will just be a sound piece. I'll probably start doing some transfers tomorrow and start editing/mixing on Thursday...if I don't attend this roast. That's right. A fucking roast. It started as a surprise birthday party but I'm lobbying like a Televangelist with a hard-on to turn it into a full-out roast. Roast or no roast, I'm still gonna write jokes about the guest of honor and rag on (name removed) for being a drunkard. Obviously things are hush-hush but I think I covered my ass well and besides, no one reads this.

031211

Last night I borrowed my friend's tube of Aquafresh tooth paste to brush my teeth with. I was so damn tired. The lights were low and dim. I felt like I was in my grandmother's apartment in Andover, 1995. It's weird how things like that bring you back. I thought about the week I just left behind. I thought about how I hadn't written all day and felt bad about it. Four days of nothing significant.

But it's not as bad as that. I've continued with working on my tape project and the namesake of this blog has been picked up by the COF New Play Festival. I think this was the good thing I'd been waiting for. I have a feeling things are gonna be all right. Sure hope so.

my hands have been wicked sensitive lately. they cut easily. the skin peals. the space between the fingers ache.

i tried transferring a recording of Debussy and Ravel's famous string quartets. it ended up being a recording of me and my friends talking over the television through the on board mic. there could be an idea in there.

At 6 o'clock I got a headache as well. My mother used the "w" word. I was less than thrilled.

Tonight I watched Frank Sinatra try to keep up with Gene Kelly. Franky I have some bad news- you can't win.

Dylan Heals All

My Last.fm top 20 most played Dylan songs is a pretty fair assessment of my favorite Dylan songs. Since I most likely won't sleep tonight, lemme post them and a favorite line or two to defend my cases for these tunes because maybe five of them are on popular compilations. The rest are in a no-man's land of his catalog.

1. "Tight Connection to My Heart" from Empire Burlesque

I never could learn to drink that blood and to call it wine. I never could learn to hold you, love, and call you mine.

2. "Girl from the North Country Side" from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

I'm wonderin' if she remembers me at all

3. "Lay Lady Lay" from Nashville Skyline

Why wait any longer for the one you love when he's standing in front of you?

4. "Sweetheart Like You" from Infidels

They say in your father's house, there's many mansions. Each one has a fireproof floor

5. "Jokerman" from Infidels

You're going to Sodom and Gomorrah, but what do you care? Ain't nobody there would want to marry your sister. Friend to the martyr. Friend to the woman of shame. You look into the fiery furnace, see the rich man without any name

6. "Went to See The Gypsy" from New Morning

His room was dark and crowded. The lights were low and dim. "How are you?" he said to me. I said it back to him

7. "Po' Boy" from Love and Theft (Dylan's whole career lead up to this and "Mississippi")

My mother was the daughter of a wealthy farmer. My father was a traveling salesman. I never met him. When my mother died, my uncle took me in. He ran a funeral parlor. He did a lot of nice things for me and I won't forget him.

8. "Mississippi" from Love and Theft

I've been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down.

9. "Subterrainian Homesick Blues" from Bringing It All Back Home

Twenty years of schoolin' and they put you on the day shift

10. "Changing of the Guards" from Street Legal

The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid

11. "Blood in my Eyes" from World Gone Wrong (Traditional)

Woke up this morning, feeling blue. Seen a good lookin' girl, can I make love with you?

12. "We Better Talk This Over" from Street Legal

Number 12 is really "Wigwam" but that's an instrumental. I include this song because it has one of my favorite Dylan lines ever- "I think we better talk this over. Maybe when we both get sober."

13. "Watered-Down Love" from Shot of Love

You don't want a love that's pure. You wanna drown love. You want a watered-down love.

14. "Not Dark Yet" from Time Out of Mind

I can't even remember what it was I came here to get away from.

15. "Don't Fall Apart On Me Tonight" from Infidels

It's like I'm stuck inside a painting that's hanging in the Louvre...No more affection that's misplaced, girl.

16. "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

You just kinda wasted my precious time, but don't think twice, it's all right.

17. "All The Tired Horses" from Self Portrait

All the tired horses in the sun. How'm I suppose to get any ridin' done? Hmm.

18. "Pretty Peggy-o" from Bob Dylan

Come a-runnin' down the stairs pretty Peggy-o. Combing back your yellow hair. You're the prettiest darn girl I've ever seen-io.

19. "Brownsville Girl" from Knocked Out Loaded (co-written by Sam Shepard)

There was a movie I seen one time, I think I sat through it twice, I don’t remember who I was or where I was bound. All I remember about it was it starred Gregory Peck, he wore a gun and he was shot in the back. Seems like a long time ago, long before the stars were torn down.

20. "Life is Hard" from Together Through Life

My dreams are locked and barred, admitting life is hard without you near me


Oh if there's an original idea out there, I could use it right about now.

2nd Agnostic Prayer

Jesus Christ
Today I used your name in jest
And now I apologize
You had no reason to be brought up
You have believers to heal
I was just trying to bring a smile
To an old face
But it didn’t budge
Staring at the light turned off
I don’t know many people to talk to
Not many to put my faith in
It’s a force of habit
A result of my surroundings
Although I do learn from your teachings
Some good advice to live by
You got persecuted for speaking from the heart
I get persecuted for being selective
I’m not asking for anything, I never ask for much
I just wanted a second to talk
You must get this a lot
I’ll just get gone

Peel Back and See

One of my proudest moments running the infamous Album Club at my high school involved The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967). I would often entertain/piss off my fellow classmates every Tuesday Morning Meeting with an advertisement for the album we would feature on Wednesday. My friend Alison was really pumped about presenting the album, none of us had heard it before. We were out-muscled by all the jocks patting each other on the back for something that they won or whatever and no one got to make any announcements. I chalked it up as a loss and moved on- I knew our main core of maybe five would show up. Little did I know, Allie wasn’t settling for that.

She made her way to the main office and asked to make an announcement on the PA. My heart soared. Over a dozen people showed up, people I didn’t even know. Seniors who adored Lou Reed. Warhol fans too.

It’s one of those icons in rock. Five years later, buying it on 180 gram vinyl (mono) at Newbury’s in Hyannis, I still have fans coming up to me telling me they love the album. In particular, this sales guy at Macy’s. Lock tight in his suit, I saw a nostalgic smile on his face as he said “Great album” with his eyes honed in on the 12” cardboard banana under my arm.

I’m still not sure how I feel about the album. It defiantly brings up down and out memories from high school- liquid eyeliner, cassette bootlegs, an ER visti, staring at the ceiling feeling ways about stuff. With my new art school eyes, I see at as a wonderful piece of art. The Velvet Underground, under the wing of Andy Warhol, would perform along side film projections and bizarre color light shows and drugs….drugs…and some more drugs. It was a multi-media happening called the Exploding Plastic Inevitable. This album is basically an artifact of that (as seen on the back photo). The cover itself was mostly a Warhol creation. A silkscreen sticker of a banana would peel back to reveal a pink banana. Warhol would continue with this interactive album cover in 1971 with The Rolling Stones’s Sticky Fingers cover that had an actual zipper on the fly of the jeans.

As for the actual musical production of the album, Warhol was as much of a producer as he was a producer of Paul Morrissey’s horror films in the ‘70s (Fun Fact: Morrissey took all the photos for the gatefold). He would show up to the studio, say “Oh wow that’s great” and split. Lou Reed and Tom Wilson (the man who produced the Mother’s first two albums as with Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”) essentially produced the album.

However, the whole existence of the album and the band was Warhol’s invention. He was the one who had Nico, a model and resident of the Factory, join the group despite Reed’s objections. It is that reason why I like this album more than any other Underground record. I adore Nico’s voice. I guess I have a soft spot for weird vocals. “Femme Fetale” is so freaking beautiful. Her voice simultaneously tempts and repels you and the melancholy of the whole production kills me.

I’m not the biggest fan of Lou Reed but “Heroin” is such a powerful song. It throws me right back to Mr. Murphy’s room, listening to it for the first time with the lights off. I couldn’t move. I was completely focused on the song. The meditating guitar part- it’s almost Indian but it’s two chords.

It’s my wife.
And it’s my life.

Reasons Why The Last Post Is The Best Rock Song

Aside from the reckless driving test, here are the other reasons why "Annie The Imaginary Lawyer" is the best rock song:

1. Fast. Fast. Fast.
2. Super distorted power chords in the beginning.
3. Straight forward "boom-CHACK-boom-CHACK" rock drumming.
4. A wonderful amount of "fucks."
5. Staggered rhythm in the chorus
6. The bass lead in before the second chorus.
7. A rock lyric that only makes sense when you're caught up in the song "you're about as interesting as my rent."
8. Glockenspiel. Bitches.
9. A dirty chorus that's oh so much fun to shout along with
10. Powerful fucking male vocals at the end.
11. Girl's name in the title.

I also came up with a list for why "Only Anarchists are Pretty" kicks so much ass. Quick side note before I begin: If I ever get a talk show/late night variety show, I want World/Inferno to open the show with this song. This song SCREAMS SNL in the late '70s. Anyway, the list:

1. Strong piano part.
2. HOTTEST horn arrangements. The trills in the lead before the chorus KILL me.
3. The song is about anarchy, breaking out of prison, fighting, femme fetales, and sex. Do you see anything missing? Neither do I.
4. The way Jack Terricloth expresses the sex appeal of the love interest is with the line "[You tell everyone to go to hell] with the flash of the ankle and snarl of the lip. Well I see you in the street and gasp." FUCK. YES.
5. The clean guitar solo.
6. The kick line build up in the final chorus(s).
7. The COUNTERPOINT in the final chorus(s).

Jesus H. Christ I forgot how totally in love I am with this album (2006's Red-Eyed Soul).

Summer '07

It is really really really really really hard to listen to this song sitting down in something that can't got 90 mph on the mid-cape highway. And it's really hard to listen to this and know the Knights arn't just down the road...

Hare Krshna

I have had the busiest damn week, but a good week. As a result, I haven't had a lot of time to write. I'm up to three days this year where I haven't written anything significant. I excuse it with the class film shoot I did on Tuesday (where I was a unstoppable one man sound department) and last night's Hit and Run History screening at the Massachusetts Historical Society. It was so bizarre sitting in the same room as a bunch of Copley and Blyth original portraits kickin' back the free booze and watching the little documentary I've proudly been a part of since 2008.

I return to this little blog to talk about the new(ish) album I bought yesterday in the spirit of talking about every album I buy this year. At Looney Tunes in Boston (on the same block as the Historical Society. Coincidence?) I got The Radha Krshna Temple (London) self titled LP. The albums pop culture claim to fame is its famous record label (Apple) and it's even more famous producer (George Harrison, who also plays harmonium, bass, and slide guitar). I bought it on compact disc back in November when Apple re-released a majority of its old catalog to continue the high demand of Beatles related material after the band's remastered catalog release in September '09.

The album is comprised of devotional Hindi songs/chants with all proceeds going to the Internation Society for Krishna Consciousness. The inside gatefold actually lists all the Temples that were around the world at the time of release (1970) and a neat-o flyer for mail-order ISKCON books. It is very entrancing both listening and watching it spin on my turntable. 33 and 1/3 must be a sacred number in Hinduism because that is the speed this music was intended to be played at. Harrison once said in an interview that he was drawn to Indian music because it felt so familiar and I couldn't agree more. Most of my friends agree that once they get passed the exotic nature in the structure, the music is very familiar- like home, like you would perfectly believe seeing this album in your parent's record collection, Beatle connection or not.

The point of the music is to repeat the mantra to attain a higher state of consciousness- as George said "beyond waking and sleeping." I have defiantly lost myself in the album, shouting the responses to "Bhaja Bhakata/Arati" while blaring it on my car stereo. The easiest mantra to learn is the Hare Krshna Mantra. It's the Lord's Prayer of the East but this time you are trying to listen, not talk. Exhale on each line whilst meditating. Think of it as preparing to exhale "om."

Music is the true cultural ambassador. I never would have explored Indian culture if it wasn't for their music which, at times, is too wonderful for words. I feel I am a better person for exploring the ideas of the East. Spiritually, the East is more excepting and disciplined than the West- two qualities I hold dear. And the food? Spicier AND healthier than Mexican food. Shit now I'm hungry. Spiritually and physically. I can at least satisfy the latter. I'll try meditating again too. I did nearly everyday in the last half of the summer but soon learned that meditating is harder than running a mile.

APPLE LP COUNT- 24
LEFT TO GO- 38