WEEZER Radio ID's (Interscope)
I've always been fascinated by the concept of bands doing
prerecorded legal ID's for radio (i.e. "Hi, this is _____ and you are
listening to _____") It's a personal touch, and one that record
companies and music directors most certainly bond over. It makes it
sound like famous rock stars are THERE in person, hanging out with
the DJ. Perhaps sharing some food or something else special. One can
only imagine what Fred Durst and K-rock's Cane discuss in their
off-mic moments. It's a great idea for college radio, too. Hey, if
record company reps aren't allowed to buy MD's strippers at CMJ
conventions anymore, there's got to be SOMETHING they can do to help
get "ADDS" on those sacred Mondays. Today, I cleared out the gigantic
mountain of finely cut coke that came in the mail and found that
Interscope (who I am NOT saying ever did these nasty things) had sent a
personal WFMU Weezer ID on CD
for us. But not only that, they didn't bother to edit the thing out and
send it exclusively, it also includes 94 other Station ID's for everyone
else as special as us, and it's indexed! It seems that we aren't indeed
that special, and Weezer did not sit down just to say our name personally,
but they spent several hours in a studio slapping down ID after ID.
Listening to 25 nonstop moments of "Hey this is Brian, Mikey and Pat
(screw you Rivers Cuomo, too good to say hello to college radio!) and
you are listening to (WKNH, KXLU, WRCT, KZSC etc)" followed by a
guitar strum for an entire CD length is a stark and surreal
experience. It's fascinating to hear the boys keep up their chipper
demeaner station after station, and a great audio document of a band
in it's promotion mode. Perhaps they really enjoyed it. Maybe they
lost a part of their souls and minds after this was all over. Maybe
this is why Rivers stayed away that day. Kenny G's show awaits. Rock
out, Binghamton!!
VARIOUS Seventies Mutation (Seventies Mutation)
Well, if you enjoyed that mutant version of "Boys of Summer" that Puff
Tube put out years ago, this is for you. French performance freak Costes
does Lennon's "I Found Out", and you also get completely messed up
versions of "Black Magic Woman" (by Xpr.xr), "Have You Never Been
Mellow" (Phigg-Newtons), "She's Always a Woman" (Slippery Fingers), "Le
Freak" (His Hemmorhoids Are Gone) and many more gems not only covered but
deconstructed into piles of smoldering electronic goo. I suspect most of
these are the same artist under different names. An amazing hand-cut,
glued, decorated booklet to boot.
MAINLINER Imaginative Plain (PSF)
Third blow-out from Asahito Nanjo (High Rise) and Kawabata Makoto (Acid
Mothers Temple) with a new drummer, taking both Japanese bands' penchants
for in-the-red, overmodulated distorto-freak out guitar jams and
continuing the tradition quite ably. The jams are heavy, the sound is
grotty, the spirits are free.
LIARS Demo (Liars)
Now that !!! are settled in New York City, they do have some new
competition for the agitpop crown. The Liars take on the best elements of
skronky, dance rockers of the 80s dear to the heart: APB, the Pop Group,
Birthday Party, and (they'll hate me for saying it, Gang of Four) and
inject some new vitality in. This is a quick slab of what they have to
offer (and they offer it great live too) with more to come in the near
future we hope.
DJ JESTER River Walk Riots (210 Records)
You see a lot of folks these days showing off their eclectic record
collections in DJ mixes & hip-hop records, but few records are as much of
a blast as this one by Jester (a turntablist from Texas). Here, he dumps
together hilarious Richard Simmons bits that segue into "Apache"; Willie
Nelson, Terence Trent D'Arby and Willy Wonka all make appareances, and
there's even one track built around the lazy fuzz riff from Pavement's
"Summer Babe"! This is truly the sound of a spunky soul funking it up in
the basement with minimal means, which is what is especially charming
about this disc.
|