Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Willowbrook Ballroom on Archer Avenue in Willow Springs, IL: place of legendary music (from Count Basie to the Village People) and hauntings, notably the story of Resurrection Mary.
Labels: chicago, history, music
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
"Maybe the moment-- Ken Nordine, in a 2001 Salon interview with Michael Monteleone.
has something to do
with what's going on
in Kalamazoo.
everyone's leaving
the town is in shock
where are they going?
To Manitowoc."
Odd but true: the Nordines are our next door neighbors (I've met him twice, once at a neighborhood association function a few years ago, and once as he was walking to his garage) and their lovely old home looks like the house that often appears in my dreams as an avatar of my subconscious. As I walk by with our pup Sammy, I often wonder what treasures and mysteries its shutters conceal.
I was introduced to him by a mutual friend (who also once worked in the entertainment industry) at that function. A charming gentleman, we spoke for a few minutes about radio and the media, and at the end he imparted these words of wisdom regarding freedom: "no one ever really gives you freedom - you have to take it," his hand making a snatching gesture in the air.
How true, I thought. How very true.
Labels: music
Monday, July 07, 2008
Imagine you've just come home from an all-you-can eat Chinese buffet with a rowdy bunch of friends. Okay; so you overindulged a bit on the General Tso's Chicken and the Dragon and Phoenix Plate. No biggie.
Then the real fun began: not only did you have a few too many Shaoxing-and-Tsingtao boilermakers, you decided to get adventurous. You had to sample the fried pork intestines, the shark's fin soup, and the jellyfish salad, didn't you? Even the octopus balls and sea cucumber started to look appetizing. Little did you know that your friend's buddy visiting from the West coast spiked those Mai Tais with something...a little extra.
You come home with raging heartburn and an aching head. The room spins, and you plunk down on the couch in front of an old Hammer Horror flick.
This is what you dream.
Actually, it's audio and video of the two-story (or is it three?) Mikado, one of the "music machines"* at the House on the Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The structure is based on a Dutch Mortier dance organ mechanism, packed with gilded gargoyles, a full battery of robotic/animatronic instruments and leering mannequins lit up by a riot of red and gold lanterns. With a flash, it looks like this:
More House on the Rock photos at my place on Flickr.
[*Some call them "music machines." I call them "Calliopes from Hell."]
Labels: history, music, video, WI
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Czech gothic rock band XIII. Století has returned to the stage after a four-year hiatus; YouTuber schma88 captured all seven-and-a-half minutes of their opus "Elizabeth" on video.
Friday, February 22, 2008
And now...a plug: I've been a fan of the Last.fm site for a couple of years - it's a delishable interactive social music site that allows you keep detailed track of your cumulative listening habits and share them with friends using the Audioscrobbler tracking system (thanks, Daphne!) - but creating your own personal listening charts, and having exhaustive, anal-retentively accurate records of everything you play on your computer is just the tip of the iceberg with Last.fm. I've also learned that my listening habits are:a) somewhat similar to my real-life friends', and
b) quite similar to 20-something Scandinavians and Brazilians. Go figure? Must be all that Apoptygma Berzerk I've been listening to lately.
If you use iTunes, Winamp or a similar media player* you can get started by clicking here - the basic Last.fm service is free (the UK-based company charges a nominal monthly charge for their enhanced service, if you wish to upgrade).
* No, Last.fm doesn't know where your music comes from - as long as your tracks are properly tagged with artist, title, and album information, no one need know just how you managed to get a copy of the latest ______ album four months in advance, capisce?
Labels: music
Friday, January 04, 2008
Happy New Year, everyone...yes, I know it's a few days late, but you know how things get in the Midwestern Dead of Winter. It takes a few hot javas to melt the synapses. Enjoy this live version of XIII. Stoleti's "Elizabeth" from the 2003 Castle Party in its full 7:35 glory. A little less grand than the original, but more spontaneous - and Petr Stepán cuts loose with a rare guitar solo jam at the end. [Thanks to Torquemado for uploading the "Elizabeth" video to YouTube, and x4nthi for "Fatherland"]
Monday, August 13, 2007
Lice? Check. Boils? Check. Locusts? Check. Van Halen reunion tour? Check!
By the by, the New York Post explains DLR's famous "incentive bonus system" for steering nubility backstage: in short, not a gigolo. At all. Let's face it, dude - '80s sex god' or not, you paid for it. ;)[AP] LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Rock band Van Halen has reunited with the group's original singer David Lee Roth for their first tour together in more than 20 years, they announced on Monday at a news conference. Roth, 52, spoke virtually nonstop at the press event, promising that the band's upcoming 25-date North American trek was merely the precursor to a world tour and to a new album.
"This is not like the Police," Roth said, referring to another band that recently papered over personality differences to launch a one-off reunion tour. "The idea is that this will continue on and on and on. [W]e think we got it right this time," Roth added. "You come and judge the performance harshly, please. I beg you, come on down and see."
Saturday, June 09, 2007
A little tip on an excellent shoegaze/dreampop band you may have never heard of: Tribes of the City. They're from Latvia. They're good. Check them out at their MySpace page. Anyhow, here are the last ten songs that have passed through my ears.- September - "Satellites (Extended Mix)"
- Pink Floyd - "Us and Them"
- Beborn Beton - "Vorbei (Fap 7 Remix)"
- Bruce Cockburn - "Lovers in a Dangerous Time"
- The New Pornographers - "Jackie Dressed in Cobras"
- Simple Minds - "C Moon Cry Like a Baby"
- Robert Rich and Alio Die - "Sirena"
- Joan Jett - "Make Believe"
- The Sweet - "New Shoes"
- Tribes of the City - "A Dream"
* Or, a basic Starbucks mocha. Which takes you further?
"O'Hare Airport Concourse Walkway," Photo CC 2006 by Lenka Reznicek
Labels: music
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Reuters reports on plans to sedate several hundred horses near the Serbian venue hosting the Rolling Stones's Belgrade concert:Keef must be slipping these days; one would expect the contact high would be enough to O.D. a few of those equines. [Image courtesy the Sydney Morning Herald]BELGRADE, Serbia (Reuters) -- Preparations to sedate as many as 300 horses stabled at Belgrade's racecourse to keep them calm during a Rolling Stones concert have enraged Serb animal lovers who are lobbying to have the gig moved to another venue. The concert is expected to draw more than 100,000 people to the Hippodrome, Belgrade's largest fenced space. The horses will be only a few meters from the stage.
"Horses differ, the same as people. Some are more nervous, more skittish," said hostler Jovanka Prelic. "If they get too nervous or start to panic during the concert, they'll get sedatives." The dozen equestrian clubs at the course were hoping concert organizers would allow a sufficient number of personnel to be at the stables during the concert to give the animals the pills, Prelic added. [read full article]
Labels: music
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
"Yeah, that's [his] own hair..." No, not really...but jury selection for legendary music producer Phil Spector's murder trial in connection with the February 2003 shooting death of Lana Clarkson has begun, with the proceedings to be writ large on Court TV beginning April 24th. According to Slate, the trial promises to be a true "showpiece":
For sheer trashiness, the demise of Anna Nicole Smith has nothing on the death-by-gunshot of fading exploitation-flick goddess Lana Clarkson in Spector's foyer. Spector's lawyer will argue that Clarkson killed herself. The prosecutor will argue that Spector killed Clarkson. The evidence that's surfaced publicly tilts pretty heavily against Spector, but a few stray facts tilt the other way, and of course Spector has hired some pretty high-priced legal talent, making the trial's outcome a matter of some suspense. Every theory about what happened the night of Clarkson's death seems improbable. How exactly did Clarkson die? All we can feel reasonably certain about before opening arguments begin April 24 is that the answer will be squalid. [read complete article]Spector's hair alone is worth getting cable for; and in the new BBC photos he appears to have had "a little work" for his big performance. How interesting will it all get? Slate has a taste.
According to the grand jury testimony of a police officer named Derek Gilliam, Spector told Gilliam that Clarkson took Spector's gun, waved it over her head like a lariat, and sang "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." Then Clarkson put the gun to her temple and pulled the trigger.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The Kills are cute, waify vocalist Alison Mosshart, who goes by the moniker "VV" for reasons unexplained, and pale, gangly guitarist/vocalist Jamie Hince, who also goes by "Hotel". They perform side-by-side on a barren stage with the beats played by a preprogrammed drum machine. It doesn't sound electronic, funky or futuristic -- just basic and hard, which is what these two are all about. They piss on everything commercial, gaudy and fake in rock music and attempt to create an unadulterated "f--k you" with rock n roll that stops where most music is just getting started.-- From "Never Heard of the Kills? Turn Around. That's Them..." by Mike Bruno at The Black Table, who does a nice job summing up the sound of the Kills. [Warning: language NSFW, and I don't mean the f-word I bleeped above to get this post past your Net Nanny. Let's just say...Mike likes the Kills. A lot. ;)]
The Kills' official website
The Kills on MySpace
The Kills [Wikipedia]
Monday, February 05, 2007
Noise Around Me is the latest CD by Danish band Tiger Baby, the trio of Benjamin Teglbjærg, Nikolaj Gregersen, and Pernille Pang. I came across their album more or less by accident, and it's quickly become a favorite. It feels like the soundtrack to a city night seen from a high-rise, all concrete silhouette and chrome and dapple of multicolor reflections on rain-washed pavement. Layering a sophisticated groove with the translucent, shimmering quality of Pang's vocals, Noise Around Me has not only a muscular electronic core but a warm, playful heart charged with surprising intimacy and originality. If you enjoy the sound of artists like Ladytron, Saint Etienne, Depeche Mode, or Air, I think you'll love this disc as much as I do.
Enjoy the video to their single, "Girlfriend," above.
Tiger Baby's MySpace page
Noise Around Me at CD Baby and Amazon.com
Let's Dance: The Willowbrook Ballroom
