Once again this blog becomes a StoryCrops cheerleader; this time it’s Christmas cheers for SC’s latest in which Jerry Johnson intervus his mom, Carrie Conley, about raising six kids by herself (4:18):
Was listening to Lukas on KGLT this weekend playing all kindsa insane and inane Xmas-isms. Called him up and he pointed me to Otis Fodder’s three free mp3 free collections, Holiday Freak Out & In. I knew the Otis’ name from his 365 Days Project. But didn’t realize, till Lukas, informed, he’s also the music sampling phenom The Bran Flakes.
Holiday Freak In 1 includes one of the best Christmashups ever; it’s Corporal Blossom assembling bits of Satchmo, Elvis, Bing and The Supremes all wishing for a “White Christmas” (3:19 mp3):
The song first appeared on the Illegal Art compilation A MUTATED CHRISTMAS.
Big blow-out memorial down the road in Butte last weekend for Evel K, with fireworks, evangelists and thousands of mourners. Leave it to WFMU’s Blog to have Evel Knievel’s LP Always Wear A Helmet with his poem “Why” (5:26 mp3):
Otis Fodder (365 days Project) also has an VIVA KNIEVEL page with intervu clips, some of which he used with his band Bran Flakes on their CD I Don’t Have A Friend. The song is
“Evil Knievel” (2:34 mp3):
An Xmas fave from the Vinyl Orphahage (aka “Our Lady of Perpetual Obsolescence Vinyl Rescue Mission and Orphanage”) comes this Xmas fave Christmas at C.P.H. – , a recorded performance by the Children of the Inpatient Music Therapy Program, University of Michigan’s Children’s Psychiatric Hospital. One of the best on the LP is this audience sing-a-long “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful” (2:16 mp3):
This morn on NPR the Western Folklife Center’s What’s in a Song series caught the core of Greg Keeler’s “Coyotes and Cowboy’s” (4:03 mp3):
Greg is a long-time fren, composer of several songs for our radio work, and pollutes young minds at our local MSU-Bozeman.
A while back Found Magazine asked musician friends to craft songs out of their finds, debris of notes and letters that people send in. Several songs appeared on their Found 7-inch vinyl release. But my fave is not on disc, nor any longer online. So, here ’tis, Devon Sproule with “Julie” (3:06 mp3):
(Just heard from Davy Found himself: “we ARE eventually gonna release a CD with songs based on Found notes by awesome musicians, including devon sproule’s “julie” song… we welcome all submissions!”) More…
Weekend America has been running Ann & Kara‘s latest series One Thing, stories of refugees. Last week’s was the sisters Leena and Mariya, and their mother, Shafiqa Sher, “Afghanistan to Amarillo” (8:40 mp3):
Mariya Sher Ali behind the counter of her store, Amarillo International Foods:
Notice: The staff of Chesty Morgan’s Forbidden Love! and Post-Modern Times — two of the ground- and wind-breaking radio shows of the last century, announce their consolidation into a new entity called:
The Witless Protection Program
featuring Larry and The Self-Fulfilling Prophets… Brought to you by Chesty Chunks, the breakfast Cereal roasted in the box by Larry himself — for better flavor and better sleep.
We reach back this week to a time in the last century when airline pilots still took the time to tell you why you were scared and tired, when woman challenged men to tell us things, and a little angel named Rollo could tell time.
“Witless Protection 2” (6:41 mp3):
Next episode will be “The Amish Adventure.”
Sound-artist Joan Schuman offers her audio oeuvre online as HyperAcousia. What’s a sound-artist? Glad you asked… “Radio~Sound~Art” by Joan Schuman (6:07 mp3):
Welcome to the World Premiere of the earth-shaking, ass-tounding new old radio show Chesty Morgan’s Forbidden Love! The Producers are the well-known international dateline traders and typhoon tycoons, Artissimmo Silverguy, Ask Amy, The Medium is the Massett, Christ Mantra, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Flowers.
So, you asked for it, and you’re gonna get it. Now, Loadies and Gentrifieds, w/o any further undo, we give you CMFL, Episode One, in which our Chesty searches for Identity (7:36 mp3):
Tune in next week when Chesty gives good headings to the Dog Lovelorn.
This week’s HV cast is for World AIDS Awarenes Day, Dec 1. AIDS workers in Africa share what’s kept inside “memory books” and “memory boxes”– keepsakes that help children orphaned by the AIDS virus to remember their parents. The Memory Box Project is a community outreach program of the University of Cape Town. Interviews courtesy of Bush Radio of South Africa and the First Voice International Africa Learning Channel. A story by Sandra Rattley, “Memory Box” (4:11 mp3):
Dear Nor’easters,
If you wanna good dose of coordinated noise-phonic instrumental rock-guitar symphonies, catch Kinski (Sub-Pop artist and my frens) on their East Coast dates:
11.28.07 Velvet Lounge, Washington, D.C., w/ Clockcleaner & Kohoutek
11.29.07 Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia, PN w/ Alasehir (members of Bardo Pond)
11.30.07 Club Europa, Brooklyn, NY. EARLY SHOW! 7 pm w/ Oneida & White Hills
12.01.07 Middle East, Boston, MA, w/ Oneida & Cul de Sac
12.05 thru 12.08 Scoring a live dance performance for robbinschilds called C.L.U.E in NYC. We’d recommend getting tickets in advance. More info at PS 122.
Kinski, Airs Above Your Station, “Semaphore” (6:06 mp3):
A participatory sound project, “ItSpace pages feature everyday household objects. Each page has a photo of the object, a description, and most importantly, a 1-minute piece of music composed of recordings of the object being struck and resonated in various.” Here’s an example, some rhythms made from stair “Banisters” (1:02 mp3):
Peter Traub‘s ItSpace is a 2007 commission Networked Music Review of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. (who produced the 1990’s sound-breaking series New American Radio).
via Lu Olkowski.
In this week’s HV cast we have our own Middle Eastern summit— Students visiting America from across the Arabic-speaking world share their perspectives on the misunderstandings between their home nations and the United States. A story by Barrett Golding (9:11 mp3):
“For over 50 years, outlaw American radio broadcasters exploited a legal loophole and aired powerful pirate radio from the Mexican side of the border. So called ‘border blasters’ – or ‘X stations’ – were true innovators whose influence continues to be felt today. OTM’s Jamie York tells the story.”
With powers as high as 1M Watts — 10X that of the largest legal US transmitters — “locals saw it electrocute birds in mid-flight,” sez reporter Jamie York. From selling goat glands and baby chicks, to live love-making, to giving Wolfman Jack, Woody Guthrie, and the Carter Family an international audience, “The X Factor” (16:49 mp3):
via Kathy: Creative PR.
StoryCorps® this morn (NPR-ME) once again plucked the heartstrings, reminding us what we have to give thanks for. Danielle and Gabrielle Hall remember their mother Martha, who died of breast cancer in 2003. “I have pictures of our last Thanksgiving…” (2:08 mp3):
Every once in awhile you hear a new band and think: “What is that?”— in a good way. That happened the other day with Akron/Family. Not sure what to think about their music, or I should say musics, cuz every song is a different style; hell, there’s often several styles in the same song.
The press on them only deepens confusion, like these descriptions in an emusic review:
“band of itinerants, wandering between the Pacific Northwest, upstate New York, and rural Pennsylvania…” “came together in Brooklyn in 2002 under the freak-folk banner.”
From their latest Love Is Simple, “Ed is a Portal” (7:32 mp3):
Firesign Theatre has their old podcasts at Archive.org, inclduing their NPR “April Fools” ads; like this gem, “US Plus” (0:40 mp3):
In this week’s HV cast— A woman sits cross-legged, panhandling on a busy city sidewalk. She takes money only from white folks, and gives it to blacks who pass by. Her sign reads: “200 Years of Slavery in the United States. Reparation payments accepted here.” damali ayo is a street performance artist. “I offer people a convenient opportunity to pay for the unpaid labor of African Americans.” This piece is part of her “living flag” project. A story by Dmae Roberts and damali ayo, “Living Flag- Reparations” (9:02 mp3):
WFMU’s blog has a collection of albums cover and mp3s by country music giant “Porter Wagoner, The Last Great Hillbilly?,” including a few spoken story songs, like “Confessions Of A Broken Man” (3:00 mp3):
And “Wino” even adds some sound effects (2:08 mp3):
Wagoner “conducted field research by visiting the Skid Rows of Chicago and Minneapolis, dressed in disheveled attire, the better to soak up the seedy atmosphere.”