Madmen have no ears.

This post will conclude this holiday/seasonal serial concept. After this, I will resume posts inspired by my intense personal life and occasional amazing live music experience (ALME) or amazing live music experience at the Che Cafe (ALMECC). Consequently, I present the most haunting and beautiful of all melodies. Herein is a tune to slash the collective face of Brian Eno subscribers and 'non-linear' editing purists.

Baden Powell - Manha de Carneval

Results

Here is the seasonal holiday posting result, #1:

Chris-A-Riffic - Now, Now. There, There

I've been waiting for this recording for many years. This time, I got Chris-ed in his cold shed, surrounded by enthusiasts and lovers. A kiss on the cheek is enough to keep someone going for a few years.

In the meantime, a bizarre possibility: the combination of worlds or "straddling worlds". The above (British Columbia, Canada), the below (San Diego, California) and a little bit of New York City. We risk having a Christmas together.

The Ever Evie D. - Live at the Echo Curio LOS ANGLES, CALIFORNIA.

Super do I know it's Christmas?

uptodatecoverageofchristmas2008:

Me listening to "The Sheppard" by Chet and wrapping presents in my childhood room in Victoria, B.C., Canada

Modernistic Christmas

Continuing coverage of seasonal internet posting of songs. This is Christmas in Exile! John L Nichols, the business man, the entrepeneur, record exec, advertiser, producer and calypsonian, exclaims "I would rather be dead! (than miss Christmas in Christianstead)". A shining example of REGIONALISM.


John L - Christmas in St. Croix

John L - Green Christmas

The Gift of Giving and Receiving

In my best effort to be topical and seasonal, I present the first of many Christmas themed music blog posts that will occur over the next week. In this short and intense introduction, I have planned to make a sincere confession. I love giving and receiving gifts. It is a spiritual and corporal experience that transcends questions of meaning. It allows me to express my unconditional love for friends and family. Relatedly, the music of the music of one of my favourite groups, The Left Banke:

The Left Banke - Coke

The Left Banke - Hertz Rentals Car

The Left Banke - Toni Hair Spray


In other very very sad news, the following was found to be true.

Haunted Houses

As recommended by Jay upon hearing of my complete immersion in Kath Bloom, more Loren Mazzacane Connors, this time with the focus on Suzanne Langille. It is bleak and beautiful, a rich piece of fabric stripped down to a few woven thread. Misplaced thumbs thump desolate blows and suddenly Loren and Suzanne sing out together. Clearly, I have no idea what I'm doing.

Suzanne Langille and Loren Mazzacane Connors - Horses Blues

Sing the Children Over

In 2002, I spent the whole year without using an escalator. Anyone who has ever been to the A&B Sound in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada understands how awkward that can be. It has just become cold enough to use two blankets while sleeping. This is the magic of Kath Bloom & Loren (Mazzacane) Connors. A duvet and a thick wool blanket matted together. I first heard Connors while reading a zine about free weird late 60's Quebec ensemble L'infonie. Many years later, a few day after I finally graduated and a few days before I was about to finally leave Montreal, I found a copy of their 2nd LP, Volume 333. Fast forward several years to the near-present, Los Angeles, California. I buy the Chapter Music re-issue the 1982 Sing the Children Over based on strength of character of the salesman. Kath Bloom & Loren Connors sing through my headphones, a steady delicate lead voice and guttural accompaniment.


Kath Bloom & Loren Connors - The Breeze/My Baby Cries

I Wish I was an Animal

A version of myself is working on an album. I sleep at all times of the day with the phone next to my bed. Upon detecting a ring, an open reel tape deck begins monitoring my phone line. The ringing also wakes me up. By action reflex, I jump from a deep sleep into a conversation with a caller. Of course, this jump is only as seamless as the brain will allow and excepting the rare instances when a stranger places a call exactly as my mind is exiting its "REM" mode of operation, the resulting one to three minutes of the recorded calls offer considerable insight to this obscured version of myself. This n% awake 100-n% asleep, where 0 < n < 100, version of my person has recorded over 90 minutes of material and has now begun to edit and mix. It is late on a Friday night, but not too late.

Sarah Shapiro - Stranger

Now that the buffalo's gone.

It was a Lovely Day when the Water was Calm

Sea State 0

Two ideas
1. I hold an art show in a parking lot of a major art gallery in one of the largest cities in North America, preferably on a Sunday or Saturday so no one has to take time off work to see it. I park a number of cars, let say greater than 10, lesser than 20, in the lot. From the outside, they appear as normal cars. The art is inside. One is a 1993 faded silver Volvo 240 with a big gulp container, soy ice cream sandwich wrapper, Doritos Cool Ranch bag with Coke can stored inside, used Swedish fish bag, a few empty blue sky 'New Century Cola' cans, directions in map form, parts, fuses, switches, tools, a spooky drawing book, oil rags, lists, flyers and a sweater. Parked next to it is an equal year, red Honda CRX. All the windows are open and empty pop cans fill the seats and threaten to spill out. A bearded man in total agony is sitting in the driver's seat wrapping a bloody hand with toilet paper.
2. Hallowe'en costume idea: guy on cell phone. It's a lifestyle costume rather than a simple illusion. On October 31st, 2009, I will hold a cell phone to my ear and actually call people for the entire night.


Calm Down, it's Monday - Augustus Overnight Biscuits

This is the music of formerly Shotgun and Jaybird, a band I continue to be invested in. This is a harsh flat sea, heavy layers of grey.

Los Angles Raiders The Band

Mark Eric - Goin' Native

"Boys on Top is a musical group that explores the strictly factual elements of romantic relationships. Every song is in the key of A. The lyrical content of each song describes real events that happened during the course of an interpersonal relationship between the song writer and his partner. Emotions are not presented as facts, nor are they assisted by musical motifs. Instead, presentation is careful to cover events as they occurred with minimal descriptive language and a straight forward ban on outright emotional expression. Interpretation of events as either positive or negative is avoided at all cost."

Catalogued.

I ate breakfast in Portland and lunch in Olympia but wound up skipping dinner in favor of pursuing the fleeting dream of photographing Foot Village in foggy San Diego. Decidedly, they are a band that could never be captured by photograph or audio recording. Audio-Video would be incest at best. There is no point is posting a song as it will only poorly imitate the true experience. As for trying to capture the most minuscule morsel of the entire event, this is the best I came up with:



Really, you should just watch this space and hope and pray that your city makes the list.

As for the beginning of my day, all the tidal flats of the Puget Sound and the scenic vistas of the rolling remains of Mt St Helens resulted in this:

The Vibrarians - Wade

This track is from Get out of Town CS/CDr on Ick Ick Records. A single on K records is promised.

Reverse Pyramid Scheme

Guy Blackman - Live at the Echo Curio

I met Ian Mackaye and Guy Blackman within 24 hours. One started Dischord Records and the other started Chapter Music. They both made me think of ideas that scale. The music of Guy Blackman scales naturally. For certain songs, he used a backing track but could have easily sat there and sang unaccompanied. Actually, he could have sang to himself way out in the middle of nowhere to no one with no suitable surrounding objects providing back-scatter for his own listening pleasure. Equally, all of us could have picked up a thousands guitars each and played and sang the repertoire of 'Guy Blackman' (not the flesh and blood man) in unison.

The ideas of Ian Mackaye scale in the approaching limit of my own ideas, which have been expressed on this internet-writings many times. Firstly, everyone start a band. Secondly, never accept money for playing a show, unless you write songs about accepting money for playing shows. Thirdly, no visual elements.

I also want to take this time stamped opportunity to tell you my Hallowe'en costume idea. This is possibly the only original idea I've ever had. Sadly, someone will post a comment telling me about it's already been done but I will persist in believing that this was a genuine original idea and not absorbed or inherited. This year, my costume is entirely smell based. There is no visual element to the costume.

Regionalism

From the sprawling nucleus of San Diego is the spin off of a band posted below. See the man in the yellow pants. There are releases, shows and general excitement of course, all of which are found around the internet in various places. I'm just going to take it easy. I'm just going to "show up". Enjoy it:

Wavves - Gun in the Sun

More LACC (Live at Che Cafe)

Katy Davidson - Lake or something

I'm terrible at song titles but I need to call it something. This is a perfect minute and a half sample of the song/lyric writing genius of Katy Davidson/Dear Nora/Lloyd & Michael, who have already been featured on this internet ramblings many times. However, this time I'm bringing some new content to the massive web of waste of time. Better than writing about how I just discovered the Vivian Girls or some obscure yet re-issued something or other.





Fantastic Magic - Seagulls

See above for visual perspective and listen to the audience applause for auditory perspective. Fantastic Magic fill the space in between the eucalyptus outside the Che Cafe. Photo by Danny Munioz and recording by yours truly.