We Can Be Weirdos 3: Wrapped in a Flag, Carrying a Cross

Reality Can Go F*ck Itself:

In a time when those who are described as successful - media moguls and tech titans among them - line up to kiss the ring all in the name of making a buck, I prefer to stick with those strange folk over in the corner who don't dress well, and pass the time by making things they like regardless of what other people think.

Let's face it. What passes for normal these days is appalling. I'd prefer the company of those who, simply by being and creating, reject it all out of hand. None of these folks come out and say so, I'll admit. But I'd like to think so.

So let's all raise a finger to this new class of rich idiots playing with guns, while the powerless  - as usual - pay the price.

Thanks, Johnny! Thanks, Neil!

Musically speaking, we will move on from Ambient, to where things quickly get out of hand. 

Fishmans: Long Season (1996)

Thirty-five minutes long, built on a simple synth melody riffed on by guitar, bass, and piano. With vocals in Japanese, of course. 

It's more upfront than the records that follow below, in that it has an easy loping beat and a simple direction. It takes its time to get to its destination, which is nowhere in particular. Quite accessible and kind of laid back.

In other words, short and sweet. At first a bit strange but in the end, what's not to like?

WTFITS Score: 4.5

A-

Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)

Not ambient. It just seems that way because it takes its sweet time getting started. But unlike Fishmans, it's got places to go and people to see, and damn if it doesn't get to each and every one of them.

But that takes some time so this is over 80 minutes long. Just four cuts, each about twenty minutes long. So if you were patient enough for Stars of the Lid and not going anywhere for an hour and a half, you will probably be fine with the buildup, digressions, and somewhat anti-climactic, um, climax. Because the peaks - and there are many - are worth it. 

The word "symphonic" comes to mind. But not in that fatal way of sounding like classical music - it's a rock band after all - but more in how it develops themes and brings them to their logical conclusions. And it's not overly dependent upon keyboards, like typical prog rock. The guitars are front and center and stay there unless there's a mysterious digression to spoken/overheard words.

Quite daunting at first, but unlike many efforts, I keep coming back to it, and each time it sounds better and better. 

WTFITS Score: 7.0

A-

Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: Safe As Milk (1967)

Remember the Summer of Love? Well, this has nothing to do with that. It's Captain Beefheart's first album, and let's just say it wasn't in harmony with the times. 

It's not exactly like the Captain just stomped out onto the world stage fully formed and took it by storm. In reality, this is the Captain before his vision comes fully into focus. It's a solid rock record - consisting of admirable takes on blues-based rock n' roll, with the occasional foray into pop and soul - that the record company wasn't going to let get too weird. And as usually happens in such cases, everyone pretty much ignored it. 

Some '60s cliches pop up here and there, and that might tempt one to dismiss this record. But I have to give it to the band, which is very tight. Excellent lead guitar and drums throughout. A young Ry Cooder helps out on the bluesier cuts, but the other guitarist Alex Snouffer is no slouch, either. And drummer John French gives even the wilder stuff some structure.  The only outright strange element is the vocals - a combination of Howlin' Wolf and Wolfman Jack - which are there from the start. Even then the twenty-six-year-old Captain had a downright scary growl.

My version has some bonus cuts taken from sessions for what would be his second album. And here is where the Captain and the Magic Band start to sound like who they would become. The songs are longer, the lyrics odder and the signature slide guitar sounds like it's being played on a rocking boat. Even John French risks losing his way. 

A mere two years later, with the help of producer Frank Zappa, the facade falls away completely and the Captain and Band are on full display on Trout Mask Replica. I tried to play my vinyl the other day, and by the time I got to Side 3 my turntable died/refused to play it/committed suicide. Hard to tell. But with CB it's hard to tell when the record player is on the fritz to begin with. Lucky for me, unlike the Captain himself, turntables can be replaced.

But Safe as Milk is where it all starts.  It could have been a runner-up for my "Most Work But Not Necessarily Worth It" award, but I guess I played it one too many times and was converted.

A-

WTFITS Score: 7.5

Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca (2009)

They are youthful, arty, pretentious, and precious, with a lead singer/songwriter who sounds like a cult leader. In all, annoying as f*ck. Upon my first listen I was tempted to fling the disc into the wall. 

It's my fault, really. I try to take in everything at once and end up hearing nothing at all. At least not the core of the songs. I hear the distractions only, and it first appears that this is made up entirely of distractions. 

Here's how my first few listens went:

First Listen: Grade: D,   WTFITS Score: 9.5 Utter loathing.

Second:        Grade: C,   WTFITS Score: 8.5 Arty, but with good musicianship

Third:           Grade: B-,  WTFITS Score: 7.5 That first song is actually good.

Fourth:         Grade: B,    WTFITS Score: 7.0 The fourth one is very pretty. 

So you see what's going on here? It's wearing me down. Just like this weird shit always does. Goddamn it. It's the old Jaybee shuffle. I go from hate to like/admiration/love and when I recommend it everyone thinks I've lost my mind and I know they're right.

WTFITS Score: 6.5

B+

Pere Ubu: The Tenement Year (1988)

Remember this Jack Benny skit?

A bandit points a gun at Jack Benny.

Bandit: Your money or your life.

Silence.

Bandit: Well??

JB: I'm thinking! I'm thinking!

That's how it was when I thought about buying another Pere Ubu album. Their album Dub Housing remains a 10/10 WTFITS score to this day. And no amount of replays or increased familiarity is going to change that.

But after forty-odd years, I'm in a strong f*ck you kind of mood, so I decided to give them another try.

In one respect they're weirder than ever. That is if you think matching David Thomas' "quirky" vocals with straightforward rock 'n roll, with the synth acting as glue is weird. If not, I take it all back. But otherwise, you might think you're listening to two different records playing at the same time. Maybe three.

But the rock and rock is very, very good. And David Thomas is, well, himself, but more "sociable" than before.

Who knows? You might even like it...

WTFITS: 8.0

B+

Ornette Coleman: The Complete Albums Collection 1958-62

After Of Human Feeling (WTFITS Score 9.0), Song X (9.0), and The Shape of Jazz to Come (8.5) I'm no closer to understanding this man's music than I was forty years ago when I started to try. So I didn't know what getting this set would do other than shorten my life, but that has taken care of itself and I've taken the plunge.

This collection brings together all of Coleman's first eight albums, all of them controversial to one degree or another. Most jazz enthusiasts found it to be an attack on jazz itself, or at least its foundations. My experience (see above) seemed to confirm that view. So I was afraid I was getting an endless barrage of unstructured, atonal, screech. 

And yet given the overall mood I've been in lately, I was attracted to the idea of that barrage. In that respect, it's sad to report that, over these eight albums, the barrage only occurs once. And even that isn't so bad. In fact, it's all really quite good. 

What is here is fast, hard, melodically intricate jazz. I'm just not hearing what's so strange about it. I guess you had to be there then.

And since The Shape of Jazz to Come is here, too, I'm getting to hear it - and enjoy it more - in this new context.

All in all, the news of Ornette's weirdness has been somewhat exaggerated.

WTFITS Score: 7.0

A-

All in all, there's nothing here to really piss people off. I do have a Cecil Taylor CD I can play with the car windows down, though, if needed. 

Nonetheless, all of this music will help me immensely during the farce that is about to commence.

In the meantime, hang onto your humanity.

And your weirdness.

Decade: 2000

Winter Draught / Spring Awakening:

For some reason, I just wasn’t getting any new music for the first few months of 2000. This was probably due to and end of decade record buying binge that then caused me to swear off of them for a while. It wasn’t until the Memorial Day that I felt like picking anything up. Mmm, where to start? How about a couple of Village Voice Pazz and Jop winners for 1999?

Belatedly starting the musical decade off with a bang, The Magnetic Fields three disc set “69 Love Songs” completely monopolized my CD player for the entire month of June. And not just because there was a lot of it. It was so good I had no desire to hear anything else.
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Now playing: The Magnetic Fields - All My Little Words
via FoxyTunes

Poor Moby, who’s “Play” just wasn’t for that month. And yet, by the time I got around to it, I found it to be, if anything, even more remarkably consistent than 69. You’ve definitely heard some of this, even if only on commercials.

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Now playing: Moby - Porcelain
via FoxyTunes

Around the same time, my wife wanted to play her students an example of scat singing. So, what would be better than Ella Fitzgerald’s “75^th Birthday Celebration”? That lesson lasted one day but we’ve still got this wonderful two disc set. It’s not for every occasion, but it is just exotic enough to pull you out of an otherwise ordinary day.

Summer:

Later that summer, we caught Blue Man Group, and picked up their first record, “Audio”. If you haven’t seen BMG yet, you should check them out. They’re a lot of fun, and the record stands quite well on its own.

Then came my annual birthday run, which is kind of like an orgy, except that instead of women, there are CDs. (Hey, the first step is knowing you have a problem.) This time around, I got a little too ambitious.

I figured Hole’s “Live Through This” would be my ace in the hole, but it didn’t quite meet my expectations. It turned out to be a typical “record that everyone liked, and even you liked what you heard on the radio, but once you bought it you thought it was really not such a big deal”. It’s quite good, just not great. Courtney can scream really great, though.

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Now playing: Hole - Rock Star
via FoxyTunes

Then there was jazz, like Cecil Taylor’s “Unit Structures” which is the type of record I buy when I’m in the grip of one of my “I can listen to any kind of music no matter what” delusions. It is surely one of the wildest records I’ve ever gotten. It’s like being locked in a room with a band that happens to be high, and mad as hell. I put it on when I feel that my soul has been crushed and I need something that will scatter all the pieces, or on beautiful summer days when I’m just not with the program. Another “put it on to get rid of the company” record.

When trying to decide on which Charles Mingus record to start with, I choose “Mingus Ah Um” - the one with the pretty cover. At first, it was just a bit out of reach at the time – despite the so infectious I can’t believe I’m hearing it “Better Get Hit in Your Soul” - but over the years, it’s grown on me, and is now one of my favorite jazz records.
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Now playing: Charles Mingus - Better Get Hit in Your Soul
via FoxyTunes

Aphex Twin’s, ambient, well “Selected Ambient Works, Volume II” was the polar opposite of Cecil Taylor, and as such is the type of record that – when company is over – is likely to elicit remarks like “one of your speakers must be out”. It’s similar to one of my all time favorite records – Eno’s “Another Green World”, but way drier. For devotees of sensory deprivation, which is what I must have needed in 2005, because I played it a lot at the time.

Somewhat similar (but boy does that somewhat make a difference!) is Kraftwerk’s “Trans Europe Express”. Leave it to the Germans to come up with something robotic, yet catchy.

See if you can spot the song that became a hip hop cornerstone.
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Now playing: Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
via FoxyTunes

And how could I leave out world music? I traveled to Africa (well, that section of the record store, anyway) for Mzaki Mbili’s “Resistance is Defense”. There’s a great sounding guitar throughout the album, but that’s part of the problem. The whole album sounds like one catchy song. Good, but too repetitive.

Next time I have to remember to balance things out a bit more. But, hey, I figured that I had the law of averages working for me.

Thanksgiving:

Leave it to my Thanksgiving run to save the day. I had been flirting with the local used CD store for a while, but feared that I’d get burned. But this time I took the plunge and came up with one great, and one worthwhile, record.

First, there was Randy Newman’s brilliant, hilarious, dark, profane “Faust”. Musically, it was perfect for the holiday season. Thematically, it couldn’t have been more perverse. This is the only context where I can accept James Taylor as God. Randy’s the devil, of course. Bonnie Raitt does the great “Feels Like Home” and Linda Ronstadt doesn’t annoy me.
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Now playing: Bonnie Raitt - Feels Like Home
via FoxyTunes

I remember putting Robin Holcomb’s first record on repeat one late night at work. It played about six times before I left. It’s quiet, slow and jazzy, and maybe a little too much of all of these things. But good to listen to when miserable, which I am from time to time.

Christmas:

And finally, when I got a gift certification to my favorite record store I thought I died and went to heaven. It was time for a major plunge into something new (by which I mean old), and this time I chose Louis Armstrong. I found his “Complete Hot Fives and Sevens” and the more wide ranging “Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man”. Both are 4 CD box sets. I went deep with the former, because the box was smaller! This music is now 80 years old, and I still can only wonder what it sounded like to people at the time. It must have been comparable to heavy metal in its shear size. I love to just take one of the CDs at random and plop it into the player. I’ll probably never get to the bottom of it all.

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Now playing: Louis Armstrong - Potato head blues
via FoxyTunes

The Tally:

The great records that I have an immediate love for - as opposed to an appreciation - were:

• 69 Love Songs
• Faust
• Play

None of these records was released in 2000. So far, My Decades is pretty good. Ours hasn’t started yet.