Dive into sin, let's plug the synth: here comes an infinite subject for astonishment, one of the most outsider items dedicated to modular synths. It is beautiful. The woman is happy. The sounds are brilliant. Ravel would have been proud.
The complete identity of credited composer Fred Miller never got revealed.
Amongst the shelves of the praised Nakano bookstore Taco che, there was no way to miss such a striking artwork, blending the best of karaoke computer graphics with a unique Friday 13th aesthetics applied to kayokyoku. But it took time to put a name on the enthusiasming music, and to decode the various infos provided by the garrulous yet obscure liner notes: something that was made possible thanks to the help of Tadao Takeuchi, from the band Tartine, who actually attended a Kawanishi Kyô concert during an Oz disc festival in 1993, and taught me most of what I know now about the man.
As written on the cover, here comes "the first work sang in the language of the universe": a statement that perfectly explains the highly specific use of onomatopoeia in the two excerpts provided here. In the booklet of his self-produced item, this japanese citizen, whose lyrics are for some reasons often historically obsessed by the situation of Korean people, is credited with more than 1000 songs written between 1988 and 2007. Something partly confirmed both by the "Volume 1" label, and by a few promo videos lost somewhere deep down youtube.
It would be hard to render the unique syntax by translating song titles such as "spaceship of the maruberu break". With an opening song directly refering to the Andromeda galaxy, it is almost impossible not to think he might have a astral match with another highly specific character, the lovely andromeda hime Aoki Ai. Direcly connected to the universe, he's also a bashful perfectionnist, who couldn't help apologising in his booklet for the recording quality. God knows how many other jewels are still somewhere on the shelves ...
In a country where comedy artists & satyrical bands seems more inclinded for popular success than any others; comes a selection for what sound best to my hears. I've never been actually to Finland and once again came across for those via various cd's friends brought me back & forums.
Finnish superstar and top selling artist, Jope Ruonansuu deserved to be first to be introduced there. He began early in the 80's as a stand-up actor, then go on relasing records. I've only managed to get few of his albums blended with phone jokes and cheap parody songs. Giorgio Moroder meets Harry Merry meets Russian Army Choir (more or less).
Claiming to be hugely influenced by the whole US pop, Hullujussi (fronted by the excentric Viktor Kalborrekin) gained notoriety with running shows on finnish pirate radios back in the early 70's. The "Rope Ja Kake" song comes from a 7inch single as released in 1975 & also appears on their very first eponym LP...
While spending some time on the youtube looking for modern andean music I got stuck on those kind of vids coming out from Ecuador.
I was absolutely blown away with that bizarre mix of folkloric "altiplanos" music elements blended with the cheapest form of today's dance music. Sadly, it's pretty hard to get any information about it. I've been questionning some of the uploaders, and thankfully one of them sent me some music plus a little explanation...
Although it isn't by far the most popular music in Quito, "tecno sanjuanitos" (as it seems to be named) is hugely popular among ecuadorian andean people, with a consequent number of hits sung in various indigineous languages (Kishwa generally).
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The cdr's i was sent were mostly filled with anonymous "Carnaveles Megamix", but there were also a few compilations dedicated to specific artists such as "Los Conquistadores" and their "Mike Jaggeresque" leader.
Symbolically, for my first post on this blog, I wanted to let you ear one of my favorite outsider singer: Tiny Tim, a tall man with long black (or sometime red) hairs, white make up on his face, motley suit and a ukulele. Every of these details made him a very special characters, not to mention his high falsetto voice and his very polite manners.
This strange man had a huge succes in 1968, when he reached #17 in the us chart with a cover of “Tip toe through the tulip” (a hit from 1929). At that time, he was one of the musical sensation of the moment, used to go on every talk show, therefore became unfortunately the required idiot US television always needs for a brief period. He also appeared on a xmas recording from the Beatles, doin’ a cover of “Nowhere man”. For his very big concert in the Royal Albert hall in London, la creme de la creme of the english music scene was in the audience to see the man. After this brief period of glory, he continued to produce a few records, without success, though. And at the end of this contract with the label Reprise, he was broke and had to come back to his parents' house. His carreer went wrong until he died in 1996 : he recorded and played when he could and for a confidential audience only.
With his parents
His first period was the finest, according to the three albums he made for Reprise, but most of his records are interesting. This “one hit wonder” was known only for one song: a big injustice for a man who was a living memory of pop music, a human juke box who knew more than 1000 song: like a modern trobador, he could play at any moment a song wherever he was with the ukulele that he used to carry on a shopping bag. He only recorded cover songs, but always in his own peculiar style: here come four tunes an introduction to his childish and beautiful universe.
Although he's already a king for some of you, our wise readers, I'd like to take the opportunity of this outsider related bunch of posts to introduce Stephano di Mariano on the Cartilage Consortium. Besides, as his website remains mysteriously blank since a few months now, some of the most striking tracks - according to me - are not avalaible anymore, and I'm sure a few foreigners will be happy to discover such a french hero.
First time I got introduced to him was thanks to a friends' daughter who managed to caught a mysterious tape copy of the Petit Bikini. It took me time to discover the man was also a quite famous public street character in his city of Angers, although many people here didn't know he had such a practice. I spread the tape through various ways, mixes and other friends. A few years after, a website and myspace page were open, and a part of the mystery was solved, without spoiling the songs in any way though: a face, a world. And a unique technique consisting in overdubbing his fragile voice on various instrumentals with a rough tape recorder.
But while he is mainly famous for funk-based covers, whose lyrics in french quote De Funès and quickly turn to sexy allusions, I personnaly have a crush on this magistral masterpiece, insane heartbreaking overdub exercise on classical music. And, as a last word, let's escape in dreamy fields and put again the track which started it all.
Completing our previous posts regarding Jean-Marie Massou or André Robillard, you can find an 8 pages folder in french press Magazine Chronicart dedicated to Outsider music, including a 4 pages article by myself especially dedicated to the french-speaking ones + a portrait galery by Julien Bécourt, everything under supervisation by Olivier Lamm.
It is often thanks to the precious existence of seriously involved stalkers that we can still get sometimes hit in such a fundamental way by the extreme purity of an outrageously sincere recording.
During the last years, french director Antoine Boutet developped deep links with the character of Jean-Marie Massou, strong rural figure who spent 30 years of his life digging a cavern in the center of France. Being the only one to know how to access this narrow tunnel, he sculpted various figures in the rock. There, surrounded by these beautifully obsessive signs, he started recording on tapes mind-blowing a capellas echoing in the natural reverberation of the place.
Product of a unique encounter between two men, Antoine Boutet's documentary Le Plein Pays allows us with a constant care to visit a rough world of thorny branches, heavy stones and forgotten dust: there, Massou lives. There, the speaker of his portable radio screams in the trails as a daily fellow. And there, he talks: begging us to stop breeding. The fouling of maternity. The fear of overcrowding. Adoption instead. Or men with men, women with women. All along the 45 minutes of a tape's side.
Similar to the silent woods suddenly inhabited by this voice, the movie setups its own immersive magic tempo. As the title says, it is a dive into a "rich land", not only a sole encounter with a man, but also with his environment, and what he makes to fill it up with grace.
Highly recommended national release of the movie is planned on November 3rd, alongside a DVD edition.
A website also exists, built by Antoine Boutet for Jean-Marie Massou, with more sounds and videos:
More Daniel Johnston's tape material release, with beautifull & crapy home recordings (1980 - 1983), now released on a 6xLP boxset from the vaults of Munster Rds The records are coming with artist's personnal notes & and an Everett True's bio.
Ok the space Fantasy video has already turned up on almost every asian pop related possible blog, but a holy internaut finally uploaded the Ponchak killer material that I was expecting to find since years, with no hope except maybe taking a flight to Korea, which Cartilage Consortium's economy still sadly can't afford so far.
The encyclopedia of pon-chak mp3 appears also here courtesy of Exp Etc, where you could have a look for more.
First time I heard about Ponchak was actually more than 15 years ago, scrutating a Tokyo guide of the Popo Color zine, mentionning Takeshi Nemoto's collection of this obscure korean music tapes intended mainly for truck drivers, kind of mad obsessive cheap techno megamixes built on a few repetitive synth patterns, sometimes all along the 30 minutes of a tape side.
Initially specialized into wedding music, with a very popular audience, E pak sa is historically seen as the king of the genre, who managed to become one of these shooting superstars in Japan circa 1996, for a time that belongs to the rules of japanese fashion turnover. At that time, Sony had the strange idea to organise a collaboration with other crazy popular figure Maywa Denki, which ended up in an improbable EP released in 1997.
Although the last years may have sometimes looked like a low tide after his japan conquest, the wind is now blowing again on european and us youtube users accounts: it's more than time for spontaneity, excentricity, and honesty at their highest level to strike back into the charts, and E Pak Sa to get the new crown he deserves.
Story is, just after releasing the Ptose's tape material compilation, Loic from the Chocomix team came after me & submitted the idea for a whole record entirely dedicated to the Napoleon XIV song, asking contomporean artists to pay tribute. Due to complications (lack of organisation, gigs to come, others projects etc) the idea went away...
Around 2005 and a bit earlier, I, can remember for a WFMU post compiling the 21 versions of the song, I'm not able to give you any link as it seems to be broken. Consider those two following posts as some kind of re up!
Also spending crazy time digging for music from around the globe I've been long fantasming on arabic, cumbia related or soukous maybe etc "Take Me Away" covers. Has anybody heard for such exercise ?
In 1966 Teddy & Darrel released a whole album (These Are the Hits, You Silly Savage!!!!) of limp-voiced, gay satiric novelties starring "Strangers In The Night" "These Boots Are Made For" & "They Are Coming To Take Me Away" music covers".
> The entirety of Teddy & Darrel music was rerelased some time ago on the "Here's Queer To The Core!" comp (Quick Nuts Rds) > Some more Teddy & Parrel Music can be found on the "Queer Noises" compilation (Trikont record label)
This is it: best "Take Me Away" cover ever ! Best apocalyptic party song ever too !
Jello Biaffra plus Ministry's members (including its brainchild Al Jourgensen) team up for insane & devastating music action.
> As taken from Lard's second record (The Last Tempatation of Reid) and released on Jello's very own label Alternative Tentacles (yes the one which gave us Wesley Willis)
For those who caught this stunning Cd-r among the Bimbo Tower's recommendations, the huge shock lead to an understandable thirst for more informations related to this hungarian oddity.
Dolly Rambo, also well-known as Madam X-Otic, looks like a very strange character surounded by a team of fellow activists supporting her management on the way to fame. An enthusiasming fan club is open, and you can also find various videos cumulating a surprisingly consequent amount of visits, maybe due to various exciting TV appearances in Hungary.
First time I saw the guns of André Robillard was probably more than 20 years ago at Musée de l'Art Brut in Lausanne, something I kept a strong memory of through the years, although I was only a child then.
It was a huge surprise in 2002 to discover that the man didn't only produce objects, but also a crude, guttural and highly personal music.
Will I be the only one to feel a specific moving drama behind these recordings ? In one hand, it sounds highly infused in the roots of some french folklore, which is usually directly related to a collective function, a community entertainment purpose. But on the other hand, the appropriation by Robillard of these codes is so personal that it turns into an ode to singularity, a brilliant missed attempt to make the neighbors dance. Hopefully, the story teaches us that it finally managed to touch many people's hearts in other jubilant contexts or circumstances.
Released by the french discreet yet often extremely accurate label Inpolysons, jointly with publisher Le Dernier Cri, this item is now sold out, but support Inpolysons and have a look at the rest of the catalogue, including David Fenech, Juicy Panic, Klimperei & many more...
Last but not least, a strongly japanese curiosity to complete this post celebrating those who do it their way. Informations on this record were very hard to collect for a non-japanese speaker like me though. It was sold as being from Hamada Toshikazu, who was described as a a japanese vagrant from Tokyo, but I suspect this could be somehow just a myth or misundestanding.
This untitled album released on OZ discs looks like being his first and only, made of blended recordings, guitar or noise live elements, and what sounds like being kayokyoku karaoke sessions, everything collected by friends in the last years of a fight against cancer. While making researches on it, I had the surprise to discover the name of the amazing Himitsu Hakase credited. Small world... I imagine he was involved in the artwork as often, but probably also somehow on a more deeper level.
I'll actually try to complete this post in coming days if I manage to find more informations. Hard to find item in Europe, but still avalaible through Enban and Bridge Inc. shops for those living in Japan
Harvey Sid Fisher (aka "the undisputed king of astrology songs") first began as a model and got into recordings in the early 80's. The material for Astrology Songs was written from 1986 to 1987 and released as LP and tape. According to websites around, John Peel gradually worked his way through the record & played almost all the tracks on the radio in the early 90s.
"Zodiac video medley" with fantastic belly dancing, cowboy square dance & aerobic intense performances...
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Harvey also recorded some more music and got a 2nd record entitled "Battle of the Sexes" (one track can be found on the 10th volume of Dr Demento comps). There is even a third record "Golf Songs and Golf Jokes CD" (!?!) which i don't have. (HELP)
Ya. Today is Mother’s day after party on Cartilage Consortium. The song is called « Femme au foyer », housekicking feminism by two French gurlz, Jess & Jen, produced by Vicarious Bliss in the year 2006. Needless to say those bathrooms trained furies wrote their songs themselves, and knew how to lubricate their mic. I saw them once in a bar, made up outrageously and shouting loud at the crowd. When you reach a certain level of excitement, you don’t need to play exactly the guitar. I asked a friend what happened to them. He told me they stopped touring few months after that gig. One got pregnant, and the story of the band ended there. Seems that kind of thing happens to the best of us. Anyhow, they left three furious songs on myspace, and few action pictures. Audition, if you hear us, please, come back !
Two spacey organ cuts which originally came on Adi's 1982 "Popular Movie Melodies From India" LP (covering Bollywood classics). Unfortunatly I wasn't able to recongnize any of them.
"Adi understands the pain and agony of human life. He soothes his patients and brings happiness to young hearts, through his medical background and his extravagant musical talents." (back cover notes)
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Only a little informations are available on the net about the keyboard maestro. Anyway he seems to be part of a small spiritual group named the Zarathushtri community... Playing and accompanying as some sort of music therapeutist he provides rousing music to keep all involved until late hours for jubilee celebrations etc...
I attended my first ufologist diner last week at La Defense. Never saw such a cross-eyed traffic in a cafeteria. The first case was presented by a new age grandpa in white socks, explaining us why this triangle thing upon his car the 5th November of 1990, could not be a B2. I was watching his fuzzy slide show, wondering how satellite imagery had not solved the question of ufos yet. I mean, for better or worse, and I really want to believe in extra terrestrials. Are there too much clouds over Google Earth, who really runs those orbital cameras, and what the hell happened to Major Tom ?
Well, these three covers answer clearly. He encountered a technical problem. Some say that Tom was attacked by aliens, others that David Bowie is an alien himself. The mystery remains unsolved, but let’s hear it.
The Space oddity was first covered in 1971 by Gérard Palaprat, two years after David Bowie. The french translation is more nostalgic, with true pieces of poetry if we include a guy painting rainbows in the sky, and the evocation of the Major’s mother. Tom finally overcomes his home sick, but too late, the ground control turned russian.
The second cover was released in 1974. It’s a parody by a duo of humorists, Los Hermanos Calatrava. This one appears to be the most political, and stands a dramatic dialogue between Tom and Ground Control. I don’t get Spanish but aliens surely do. Anyway you don’t have to be bilingual to hear the crash at the end. They also did a movie remake of E.T. with their feet.
The third one is a chorus of young Canadians calling the lost Major. Their lament is heart breaking and was produced by their teacher, Hans Fenger, in 1976. Some of you have probably heard about the Langley Schools Music Project. They covered songs from the Beach Boys, Neil Diamond, Herman’s Hermits and the Beatles. David Bowie liked their version a lot. This precious recording should be kept on earth and buried very deeply, if we don’t want the Little Grays to compete in colleges and mess with our girls.
Formed in the early 70's by british composer Gavin Bryars and commonly known as "World's Worst Orchestra". It first included students from the Portsmouth School of Art but anyone could join regardless of their musical skills. The band was a combination of non musical talents and comprised of well known music talents too such as Brian Eno (a close Gavin Bryars collaborator with whom he released experimental music's pillar record, "Discreet Music" in 1976)...
Strangely it became extremely popular & a real music phenomenon till the early 80's. The orchestra recorded several singles, three Lp's (amazing live album recorded at Royal Albert Hall in 1974) and played many shows around the world.
The orchestra ceased playing but rumours are the complete discography is about to be released soon and shows to come...
Very first three music extracts taken from Portsmouth Orchestra's debut record "Plays The Popular Classics" (released in 1973 on Transatlantic Rds).
According to Bernard Maitre (from Le Theatracide), the same orchestra experience was conducted in France at Le Casino De Paris. Including french only members such as humourist & comedian Michel Colucci, amongst others...
20 years of carreer, master of independance demonstration, inventor of his own custom instruments and my favorite ultimate Max / Msp user, Mc Rorie never came back from the day he got fed up with bands. And yes, someone had to find a way to erase from the surface of the earth all these parasits who arrive late on rehearsals, want to play their way songs you never really liked, and make you loose time in neverending useless negociations.
Moving control-freak, who fought to do things exactly the way he wanted to, Mc Rorie doesn't only limits himself to cover songs: he composes, with a perceptible willing to deliver personnal messages packaged in the most american heavy sound, merging the true root of DIY with the most pleasant elements of fitness aesthetics.
A website full of generous physical mp3s among the ones I personally might recommend the hits Uru, or Nuclear Party song.
Leaves to discovery of this wonderful sound universe created by stringed instruments, in wind, in percussion and enriched by their best interpreters... You will not return there...!
Face 1
1. Flamingo - Ted Grouya 2. One way blues - Freddy Balta 3. a)Prélude en fa majeur - Jean-Sébastien Bach b)Fugue en sol mineur
Face 2
1. Improvisation N°5 - Freddy Balta 2. Mister Czerny - Freddy Balta 3. Bossa nova - Freddy Balta
