Have you ever been listening to the Pixies and found yourself thinking, “Hmm, there’s too many words in here!” I KNOW, ALL THE TIME, RIGHT? Well don’t turn off your stereo just yet, college rock fans, because the Pixies’ Joey Santiago and David Lovering have joined forces to create experimental instrumental rock band The Everybody. And they’ve got a split 7-inch coming atcha faster than you can say “colored vinyl!” Or at least by December 20.
This special split goes by the name of “Marooned” b/w “Demon Oar.” It’s a collaboration between The Everybody and legendary studio wizard Eddie Kramer (Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Curtis Mayfield) on “Marooned” and the anagram-loving Indiana alt-rockers Stationary Odyssey on “Demon Oar.” (Stationary Odyssey’s contribution is a reworked version of Side A.) Pixies superfans and weirdo collectors of limited-run releases, take note! Because this baby’s limited to a run of 300 and it comes on delicate white vinyl, nestled snugly into a screen-printed wooden case by Ryan Grisham of the band Mock Orange. There’s even a Kickstarter page for those that want to give/get more. Lyrics schyrics. The sounds of a million Pixies fans drooling should be more than enough.
Consider this preaching to the choir, but thank God (or whomever) for the ability to record and reproduce. Just as the Ancient Egyptians creatively revealed the obscure fashion choices of 2500 BC through their paintings and sculptures, analog and digital recording have continually demonstrated their value by allowing musical expression to live on perpetually (or until the medium degrades or is destroyed, or files are deleted). Serving as yet another testament to the benefit of this immutability, Under the Radar reports, in an interview with bass guitarist James Cargill, that he’s been sifting through vocal recordings from the late Trish Keenan, in preparation for an entirely new Broadcast album.
Well, maybe. Upon closer inspection, it appears as though such an album isn’t entirely set in stone. Here’s presumably the whole of what Cargill had to say on the subject: “Trish left a lot of tapes, four-tracks and stuff, and I’ve been going through those. It’s difficult, and I’m connected to it at the same time. It’s wonderful, but I’m also feeling a sense of loss.” With regard to the prospect of using these prior recordings on a future album, he equivocally states, “I think that would be a wonderful thing.” So, technically, this apparitional album barely qualifies as being in the works.
More definitively, however, Cargill states how he is also planning to complete the soundtrack for the 2013 film Berberian Sound Studio, which he and Keenan both initially worked together on. There’s no word on what Keenan’s contributions actually consisted of, but no matter; I think the majority of us are more than grateful for the seductively lackadaisical nature of her previous recordings.
Jeff Tweedy sat on his porch, admiring the Chicago skyline from afar. To his left was Nels Cline. To his right, Glenn Kotche. He looked at Cline and told him about his dream last night, in which he met Kareem Abdul-Jabbar but it wasn’t really Kareem Abdul-Jabbar because he was of average height and possessed a high, shrill voice. It felt alright to him. Kotche felt a little left out, like he was listening to something that he had the right to hear, yet he felt he wasn’t supposed to hear it.
Cline admitted that the dream seemed pretty freaky, but that his mind was more on their Record Store Day release. Hearing that, Tweedy only looked out into the distance, musing that, huh, Record Store Day just comes later and later each year. Even in his bitterness, Kotche couldn’t bear to correct him that it was Black Friday Record Store Day, the iteration of the event taking place on November 25.
Still, Tweedy knew that they were putting out a new EP titled Speak Into The Rose on Record Store Day. After all, Consequence of Sound reported it. He knew that it had the title track and “Message From Mid-Bar” and that these were previously only available on the deluxe CD of their most recent record, The Whole Love. He knew that it also contained a demo of “I Might” and an alternate version of “Art of Almost.” Most of all, he knew that it would all be out on 10-inch translucent red vinyl and that 30 copies would include a poster signed by him. He knew it all, and it was killing him.
Hans Reichel—the criminally under-appreciated German experimental guitarist—passed away in his hometown of Wuppertal yesterday at the age of 62, according to a West German newspaper. Virtually unknown on this side of the Atlantic, Reichel was a self-taught guitarist who may be best remembered for his radical homemade guitars and his invented instrument, the Daxophone.
Picking up music at an early age by teaching himself violin, Reichel (like just about everybody else) became enamored with rock music in the ‘60s, picked up a guitar and played in various blues-based groups before all but abandoning music to study graphic design (Reichel would go on to be a fairly well known typesetter). Reichel returned to music in the early ‘70s with his folky and unpretentious improvisational approach to the guitar differentiating him from the field of European improvisers at the time. His idiosyncratic take on the guitar drew the attention of legendary German avant-garde label, FMP, who would go on to release the majority of his work—much of which has never seen proper North American distribution. Reichel collaborated with a wide range of like-minded players, including cellist Tom Cora and guitarist Fred Frith.
Though he will never be a household name, Reichel’s contributions to the avant-garde are considerable and will be sorely missed by fans of forward-thinking music. Fare thee well, Hans.
“The Lawnmower Man” is a 1975 short story by writer Stephen King. It was first published in Cavalier magazine and was later collected in King’s 1978 collection Night Shift. The original story involves an individual who hires a serviceman to mow his lawn and is murdered after the serviceman, a satyr of Pan, summons an evil lawnmower and eats all the grass. That does not concern us. What concerns us is the 1992 film adaptation starring Pierce Brosnan, which deviated heavily from the original story. The film’s story instead concerns a scientist (Brosnan) who conducts virtual reality experiments on his mentally retarded gardener (Jeff Fahey). Long story short, the gardener becomes a magical internet being but also kind of evil. It was this theme, along with the film’s stunning visuals, that inspired British rock group The Duke Spirit to put out their new record Bruiser for internet downloading.
For the world’s lawnmower men, Bruiser is digitally available through the Shangri-La Music label. But all of us normal, non-lawnmower men and women, we must wait until January 12 to be able to hear the music encased within our Bruiser discs. Oh, to be a lawnmower man. Not only would I have access to the world’s digital music, I would also be able to hang out with Pierce Brosnan. Instead, I sit here, listening to my music discs on primitive electronics. Forever, I shall dream of The Lawnmower Man.
Bruiser tracklist:
01. Cherry Tree
02. Procession
03. Villain
04. Don’t Wait
05. Surrender
06. Bodies
07. De Lux
08. Sweet Bitter Sweet
09. Running Fire
10. Everybody’s Under Your Spell
11. Northbound
12. Homecoming
Andrea True, the disco star who had such hits as ‘More More More’ and ‘What’s Your Name, What’s Your Number,’ died Nov. 7 in a Kingston, N.Y. hospital, the Daily Freeman reports. The Gilpatric-VanVliet Funeral Home, which handled the arrangements, announced her passing with an obituary notice. The 68-year-old’s cause of death was not released.
