Pete Drake and his incredible talking guitar

P. Drake. born 1932 in Nashville Tennessee.wiki

"You play the notes on the guitar and it goes through the amplifier. I have a driver system so that you disconnect the speakers and the sound goes through the driver into a plastic tube. You put the tube in the side of your mouth then form the words with your mouth as you play them. You don't actually say a word: The guitar is your vocal cords, and your mouth is the amplifier. It's amplified by a microphone."

apparently, P. Drake picked up where a fellow named Alvino Rey left off.
warning: following video is not to be viewed by those easily creeped the heck out.
But, I guess the last video was pretty creepy too.



Stevie Wonder bonus time:



cheers to JT for the good news.

Department of Eagles

Dan Rossen, as may have been here previously declared, is very special. His buddy Fred Nicolaus is pretty cool too. Rossen (grizzly bear) whispers delicately, his voice vascillating smoothly between the lugubrious twitters of a fresh ghost, and the agitated meanderings of a forgotten poet. Nicolaus just goes nuts with loops, samples, and myriad noises. this album will hold me over until Grizzly bear finally drops that new album of vein surgers.




department of eagles on myspace

In Ear Park on amazon

my favorite la blogoteque vid:
part 1:


part 2:

breathe owl breathe

super folk three piece from Michigan. Their liltings are capable of depositing me atop the mightiest redwood with all of my birds of prey buddies. except they're nice today, and just want to hang out.

breathe owl breathe on myspace.
buy Canadian shield from amazon.

can - future days (psychoscape)

Hey everybody!

temporal stutters of antiquity's biomorphic dreams--
The collages of Alexis Anne Mackenzie.

This tiny mutation...

some great songs that have served, in this past week, as orange pulp in my juice, fishy gills in my neck, and Dad's old motorbike gloves on my palms. Good stuff. Consider this your milkshake. ♥ benji.

videos I really do like - part the 7th: Adem - Launch yourself.

just thought I'd share...

...another new picture with you.

Baby Shower of Tears

Weeeeeell, I've been pretty darn busy lately. So no existential explorations for a bit... But I have just completed the cover art for my pal Mike Bringardener's new ep. The Dustpan Coughed Static. p.s. the music's pretty awesome.

click on the picture to download the e.p...



love you all.

SoKo is so cute.

22-year-old SoKo (Stéphanie Sokolinski) is a clever and pretty French-born Polish singer and sometimes-actress. I have fallen in love with everything she does. Her songs are honest and almost overtly cute; she sings frankly about ex-boyfriends, eating candy till you feel fat, death, dirty dreams, "looking shitty," and, in the song above ("I'll Kill Her"), scheming to kill the girl who stole away the boy who never called her - all in a baby bird's voice. Her five-song EP, Not Sokute, has already garnered her enough attention to play sold-out concerts in Denmark.

Soko on MySpace

Oliver returns from the pan dimensional water mischief zone.

Breeeeeeoooooooowm woooooooosh!

in case you were wondering what was going on up there...

Large Hadron Collider- the Webcam

I guess you know that God was a wizard from space, huh?

There are cubes in here!!

Great Job!

Thee More Shallows - The Perfect Map

I'm back in Georgia again, sprawled languidly in the basement, my lazy limbs brushing the collars of my variously assembled dog family... This song for me is a sort of security blanket, an old friend in which to confide mangled truths. I have hidden the poor thing away from the carnivorous ears of my friends and knowables, so I think it fitting that I reveal this splendorous light maker from the quiet cavernous sanctuary of my Basement. The band is thee more shallows, a san franciscan three piece... The song is from their first album, a History of Sport Fishing, a 2002 project that was contrived, set loose, and recorded, awesomely, in a basement.

It's a song that has bored it's way into the frontmost of my lobey bits... Hope you enjoy it, all three (or four) of you that actually read this.



Thee More Shallows The Perfect Map

Mississippi John Hurt - Walk That Lonesome Valley

A Youtube Diamond.

If I was where I would be then I'd be where I am not, here I am where I must be, where I would be I cannot.

(Bob Dylan, Karen Dalton, and Fred Neil -- 1961)

Just a quickie as I'm sweating dreadfully in this smoke choked net cafe, and kinda want to go home pretty soon. There's a brilliant post over here at Bat and Bird what's all about the brilliant and enigmatic Karen Dalton. featuring two versions of one of my favorite songs, Katie Cruel, by Dalton and Fleet foxes (!). Go look, it's very nice.

Look here, it's a beautiful video I got from Youtube.

"Blues Jumped the Rabbit" --- Karen Dalton




In an aside, The four piece dryadic moss and branch band Grizzly Bear have just performed a new song on Letterman, and it's a cracker. it's called 2 weeks. Can't wait for the final version.

The Scene = Awesome.

this is absolutely mindblowing.





check : guy in Canary yellow at 2:56

my awareness folds like soggy cheesecake

This tiny painting is by a very talented person named Tom Long. Read a very nice interview and more images here. (Cheers Adam K for the wisdom)


In a short time I shall turn my back on the sweet crystal hiss of London, that ageless jolting cacophony-shut away the strand and Bridge, the hysterics of the Underground and the bliss of Crystal Palace park... I walk away from all that on July 15th, the day that I submerge myself in the rush of rolling rail as I trek across the channel and up to Belgium- from there, Koblenz, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, a Germanic headcrush of compressed excitement and doubtless cultural indigestion...before clinging desperately to my seat as I'm hurled mercilessly across that roiling melting plastic expanse of Ocean. I miss the horses and I miss my Puppy, now grown. I miss my family and my mother's cooking. I miss my creaking house and I miss the lake, trees, and sunlight. hummingbirds whistling through the clean air above my snoozing head like tiny electric cars. Driving through atmosphere, doubtless the marriage of the two dischordant realities shall consume my thought.

I've been listening to alot of this at the moment.
I'm trying a new tac here, because savefile brings me grief.

Click here to download these songs...



The Giant Panda baby mix:

1. A Picture of our Torn up Praise -------------- Phosphorescent
2. Graveyard ----------------------------------- Chad VanGaalen
3. For Emma ------------------------------------Bon Iver
4. Re:Stacks ------------------------------------ Bon Iver
5. Dark Horse ---------------------------------- Bowerbirds
6. Hooves--------------------------------------- Bowerbirds
7. Lazy Suicide ---------------------------------- Megafaun
8. Messages from the Stars --------------------- RAH Band
9. My Oldest Memory -------------------------- Bowerbirds
10.Wolves -------------------------------------- Phosphorescent
11.Rock my Boat ------------------------------- Dntel with Mai Doi Todd
12.My Only Boy-------------------------------- Shearwater
13.Slow down ---------------------------------- White Williams
14.So Gentle Your Arms ----------------------- Shannon Stevens
15.The Trees Were Mistaken ------------------ Andrew Bird
16.Route to Palm ------------------------------- White Williams

Whew. sweatwipe.

p.s. I also really miss my friends...

4.......9.......5.......3.......1

Right, now that we've tidied that bit of class out of the way it's time to do a bit of music. Just picked up the new one from Adem, the South London based breeze harvester on Domino records. It's called 'Takes' and its full of sweet covers. Here we have two songs, one of which is a favorite, and the other, a cover of a favorite. Listen to this while you figure out what your kids should plant on mars.



Pinback -
Loro (savefile)

Adem -
Loro (savefile)

No Age - Boy Void

The building given the spotlight in this video is L.A.'s D.I.Y. venue The Smell, its sign edited by an artist friend of the band's (Amanda Vietta). No Age - guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/vocalist Dean Spunt - are vegan, former members of the band Wives and totally punk rock. They've got that makeshift Minutemen-influenced attitude, except it's more drenched in sunshine. When I saw them open for Liars, the show was punctuated by their jokes, energy and, eventually, the passing of Randy's guitar into the crowd. This video showcases that carefree yet socially involved vibe: No Age taking over The Smell, drunken nights captured in photographs, and all the kids having a blast.

lackluster lazerbusted

It's been a rough week... therefore today I Shamelessly proffer a minimum of blog work by riding the glittery coattails of the lovely Monica's great and uplifting, summer flower festooned post (below) and fire back with my own favorite La Blogotheque episode. also, I shall include this picture what was done by Ghostco. It's pretty nice.

It's a fresh spring, so let's sing.

The Yeasayer Take Away show.

La Blogotheque's Take Away Shows - where the bands sing a capella, impromptu, in the most random of places (subways, streets, apartments) - are beautiful. The bands are revealed pared down, bare; the vibe becomes both communal and DIY. Yeasayer themselves exemplify that concept; I have no trouble taking their psychadeli-primitive-electronic grooves seriously. Their lyrics are earnest, their sounds heartfelt and their live shows: a spiritual release for some, a dance-punk-style party for others.

They seem meant for a Take Away Show - even the "Yeah yeah, we can all grab at the chance and be handsome farmers!" verse of "2080" calls to mind drink-raising coupled with cathartic yells of truths manifested in song. Considering the linked article above was written by someone who didn't like the band at all, you should be convinced they were incredible: "However, two hours after, we left an apartment at Jourdain, exalted, light-headed, convinced that we lived one of the craziest, most free sessions of all the Take away shows... with a band I didn’t like."

Even if you didn't like Yeasayer before, please watch them laugh mid-song as they slide down staircases, tap out beats on the floor and ceiling, and sing with their whole being[s]. I posted the second half of the show, 2080 and Tightrope, because of its resonance and the feeling it gives you while watching it. You want to be there drinking and singing along.

Beaches, waltzes, finals

Summer draws closer and, in the nick of time, Beach House's new album, Devotion, presents itself as even more beautiful than its predecessor. Home Again sounds like a waltz on a breezy, seashell-encrusted seashore (preferably on the west coast, because the beaches have cliffs and bluffs over there). Victoria Legrand's voice echoes like an aquatic ghost trailing liquidy satin through the whole song.
"Home Again" on Savefile

But we should not forget it's still spring. Here in New York City, the blossoms are looking more spectacular than ever and it seems like the collective bad mood of Manhattan-and-Brooklyn-ites has melted with the snow. Jonathan Richman wrote about this phenomenon: in New York, spring truly puts itself on its most beautiful and romantic display.
"Springtime in New York" on Savefile

And now, it's back to work for me:

whats that? Oh it's a giant plastic bag monkey.

Witnessed by lucky lucky folks in New York.

dynamic subway current/plastic bag street sculptures by Joshua Allen Harris

found this stuff on Wooster Collective along with many other lovely things.

Oliver Triumphant

This is my dog, Oliver. He lives in the hills and forests of Georgia, with my Mom and Sister, and is the cause of much glee and frustration. While the ladies are out, he ravages furniture and unsettles the cats. He is often discovered glad eyed and beaming, incongruently sat amid a wasteland of twisted soggy destruction. I miss him pretty bad.

Brownie Mcghee - me and my dog blues (savefile)

tense and nervous? yes.

sparrow legs!!

Physical excercise is a great reason for a radical and ludicrous shift in musical taste. Excuse me, Nick Drake and Vashti Bunyan... these are my friends from the future, here to get me pumped up!

Metronomy - Heart Rate Rapid
White Williams - New Violence
Can - I'm so Green (actually from the past)
Battles - Atlas
Animal Collective - Fireworks
MIA - Paper Planes

Special Friend Grant put together this delicately abrasive
mixtape, play it for your kids as you pour sugar in their breakfast cereals, then fill their schoolbags with action figures and comic books.

Also worth proclaiming:
This music video shines most mightily.

the MGMT - Time to Pretend

Roy Smeck, the wizard of the Strings!!!

I can't wait for the dudes at Cern to invent time travel. then Andrew Bird and I can surf through the backlog of decades to 1929, and present this mastermind with a well deserved loop machine.

note: that wouldn't actually work, as You could only go forward in time...presumably you would need an existing time machine to arrive at, otherwise...quantum leap.

Mind the Gap!

swaying to and fro, its the only way to go, on the subway.

-To childhood too sweet to be left alone by the corrosive influence of the modern world. Coming to America at a young age meant looking to the idiot box for signs of identity. In Hindsight, I see how dangerous this could have been. But thanks in part to my rudimentary knowledge of programming schedules, and the ease of my delightability, I became completely engrossed and founded my dreams on the backs of the muppets. Leave it to Humans to viciously poke, prod and taunt a good thing into a clean unoffensive corner. Today, the muppets are ludovico treated pc saps, and the dvd release of the old shows come with a dire warning: Showing these to children may induce pillaging/ and or punk rock sentiments...

this article sums the carnage up rather nicely...

Hot Chip - One Pure Thought (Supermayer remix) (savefile)

Taj Mahal, Ramata Diakité & Toumani Diabaté

Taj Mahal & Toumani Diabaté.
"Queen Bee," a song with bluesy lovesick lyrics and the rich sounds of Mali.
Listen and download here at Savefile.

As far as categorical titles go, "world music" is probably one of the worst. It implies that everything that doesn't hail from the West belongs in one huge category, when everything actually seems to influence each other (think of Vampire Weekend constantly being referred to as "Afro-pop" - the picture above is from afropop.org!). This song by Taj Mahal, Ramata Diakité and Toumani Diabaté is a beautiful example of a fusion of the music of Mali and the blues. I found this little gem on a buried-away CD called "One World, Many Cultures." The inside slip informs me that Taj Mahal feels "the music of Mali shares a strong musical connection to the blues." So in 1999, he formed a trio with these two Malians, one of whom has a gorgeous voice (Diakité); the other, Diabaté, is a kora player.

Bon Iver - The Wolves (Act I and II)

The beautifully haunting Bon Iver (Justin Vernon) was introduced to me by my co-blogger but the video lurking was done all by myself. "The Wolves (Act I and II)" features heartbreaking echo-y vocals, like he's simultaneously wincing and soothing his own pain. The story behind the video is as melancholy and strange as the song itself: shortly after arriving in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the director, Matt Amato, received news that one of his best friends had passed away. He ultimately decided to stay and film the video; from the original story: "Almost by default, Matt remained in Eau Claire in the company of his newest acquaintance. Something about it was safe, and that was enough. The next morning, Matt read the lyrics to 'The Wolves' and felt as if those were the exact words he needed to hear from his departed friend."

To me, the video looks like what Everett Ruess would film on one of his escapades in the wilderness, had he had access to a camera, to supplement the prose he wrote and woodcuts he made. One of the perhaps most random parts I like best about the song is when a musically-anachronistic auto-tune effect (a la T-Pain) is used as he sings "What might have been lost."

John Vanderslice live at the Windmill, Brixton 6-3-08

John Vanderslice- Guitars, Vocals
Ian Bjornstad - Moog Synth, Wurlitzer
Dave Douglas - Drums, Moog

Commuting to Brixton was a long and arduous affair, marked by chance busrides and lightning quick tube changes. Luck was on my side as I narrowly squeezed into several important moments in Public Transportation, but I arrived at the windmill in the nick of time, minutes before John Vanderslice began to play, with enough time to arrange for a guinness to be placed in my thirsty palms. His set was mechanically accurate in execution, but intimately heartfelt in delivery. These guys knew each other perfectly, were completely in step, but still managed to behave with all the camaraderie of a small farming family... They had us in stitches time and again, before launching into the sometimes dizzying arrangement of darkly melodious jangle pop dissonance and lyrical self scrutiny... Vanderslice's songs oscillate constantly between stripped bare singer/songwriter fare and hauntingly composed multi storey consciousness explorers...The effect of both was quite remarkable...

After about twelve songs, John proclaimed that although this would be the official last song, more would follow on the patio, and indeed it did... Wading gingerly through the crowd and strumming "my 424" with the accompaniment of the deeply devoted multitudes, He and the band set up shop on board an outdoor wooden table, and cooed and cooed with subtle magic. Whilst confidently serenading us with "letter to the east coast", Ian took on the guise of Melvillean weathered sailor, with one leg propped on the table and lofting a canorous concertina! After deftly rapping on a discarded beer bottle, drummer Dave produced from nowhere a xylophone, and carefully put the song to bed. More followed, and we squealed with delight, like neglected POWs being rescued by Americans in Tanks decorated with ribbons. Never has so much care been given to the perfection of a show that I've seen... Even after all was said and done, A jubilant John and co. engaged willingly with their fans, actively pursuing us, asking us questions, and sharing anecdotes. A nice bunch of people, to say the least.

some songs:::

Trance Manual(mp3) from 2005's Pixel Revolt...

Pale Horse(mp3) from 2004's Cellar Door... The lyrics are adapted from P. Shelley's the Mask of Anarchy, which is bloody good anyway....

there are loads more mp3s at JV's website,
and his new album, Emerald city, can be completely streamed from the dude's myspace

If you get a chance, do see him live...

Bukka White

"I play so rough - I stomp 'em - I don't peddle 'em"

District Attorney Blues
(savefile-follow the links)

Shake 'em on down
(savefile)

Both these groovy numbers were written whilst Bukka served two years time for getting into a brawl in 1937. The guy was a professional boxer, and I'm sure he earned his sentence well. When later asked about his experience in the slammer, he responded nonchalantly, "Well, I mostly played guitar". Awesome.

A Lahu Folk Song

The Lahu people are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia, spread out over various countries and regions. I found this video of a Lahu folk song entitled "We'll Be Together Forever" (sure, Youtube can be inaccurate - but let's hope not) and fell in love with its soulful melody. A bonus: Toward the video's end, birds chirping so clearly you'll think they're in your own room add to the loving experience of hearing this song.

The glass is half full, man!

Leadbelly - Good Morning Blues
(savefile)

This is my favorite blues song, if only because of it's pragmatic optimism. Here, Prof. Leadbelly recognizes the symptoms of common depression, and offers effective melodic treatment.

Dan Rossen - Deep Blue Sea
(via)
Dan Rossen (of Grizzly Bear) droning out a moving cover of a Flatt and Scruggs legend. probably from the bottom of the deep blue sea, from the sound of it. I wonder if anyone's ever recorded an album underwater?






Look out guys! Underwater Tiger!

PWRFL Power & Chubby Behemoth

PWRFL Power is a musician from Japan by way of Seattle and former member of the experimental-improv-noise group, Na. PWRFL Power - Kaz Nomura and his guitar - is melodic sweetness to my ears: his lyrics, childlike in their simplicity, are cute, charming and awkwardly funny:
"Let me teach you how to hold chopsticks/You're so pretty/and holding them wrong/You're so pretty/but holding them wrong./My dad used to beat me up because I was holding them wrong/And I don't want to beat you up/Because you're so pretty."

PWRFL Power on Myspace
PWRFL Power performing "Two Keys."


Last night, I saw him at the Cake Shop with Chubby Behemoth. Chubby Behemoth is face-melting: free-jazz finding its way out of periods of extraordinarily well-composed (so disjointed and destroyed that you know it has to be carefully contrived...maybe) and melodic metal-distortion. At least two band members are accomplished, studied musicians whose forays into experimental music started, appropriately, with their moves to Brooklyn. Totally offensive and brash in their performance, their brand of noise was so amazingly discombobulated they were playing in the audience.

Live at Death By Audio
Chubby Behemoth

Yuan Sha wrecking the Douzheng

Live and Direct from the 5th century B.C. it's the thrashably amazing Douzheng!!
The Chinese Zither! Fully customizable, from 15 to 25 strings, steel, catgut, or pure cosmic energy... In this video, Yuan Sha's hands move so deftly, swiftly you can almost see the smoke forming around her sharp, precise fingers as she rips up a most beautiful and stirring piece of music, "Ming Shan". Super!

Yeasayer on Conan, 2.15.2008

This post will be admittedly biased, because I love Brooklyn band Yeasayer. Listening to Yeasayer is a transcendental experience. There is something so visceral about them, like they are tapping into the part of you that still belongs in a hunting tribe. Aside from that, they're sparkly and upbeat and danceable - positively rhythmic. Conan seems to love them, too. Here they are performing "2080."

Yeasayer on Myspace

Bali, Indonesia

This is from the Bali Arts Festival in 2005. The children's group apparently won first prize for their beautiful Gamelan orchestrations. Gamelan is an Indonesian music ensemble; straight from Wikipedia:
"A gamelan as a set of instruments is a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together — instruments from different gamelan are not interchangeable. The word 'gamelan' comes from the Javanese word 'gamel,' meaning to strike or hammer." Javanese mythology states that in the Saka era, Sang Hyang Guru, a god and king of all of Java, created a gong to contact the other gods. When he added a second gong, gamelan was born.

No matter where it comes from, these kids are completely amazing and shred-tastic and the music is beautiful.

Son House - Death Letter

This is the blues... Son House is drowning me with paralyzing pathos!

Valentine's Day!

Happy Hallmark-and-chocolate-candies day, Internet. In keeping with the theme and to contribute to what Benji called a "litter of puppy dog blog posts," I updated pictures of said puppy and my own cat (nobly named after the Egyptian god, Ahmun-Ra):


For those bitter with the holiday, Kylie Minogue did a good job simultaneously describing the feeling of lost love and cheering you up in 1989. This is the original version of José González's heartbreaking rendition:



Ooh, Kylie, you do a good job looking happy and gorgeous in the midst of heartbreak (even though Ian Brown of The Stone Roses supposedly called her a 'little devil doll'?). The Stone Roses also have a great song ("I Wanna Be Adored") for February 14th accompanied by what is probably one of the coolest videos ever (instruments appearing from the midsts of purple clouds, dunes, a fisherman hat, microphone apathy):


For more cheering up, listen to Brooklyn band High Places, who I will hopefully get to see live on February 29th at the Market Hotel with Lucky Dragons (listen to "Mercy"), Soft Circle (listen to "Shimmer") & Pictureplane (listen to "No Law"), all of whom give me a dreamy head rush. (And Pictureplane was once a fan of my friend Kevin's old band, King Astro's Trip/Happy Halloween. So I'm technically two degrees of him.) Sweet High Places make me think of words like: bubbles, poppy, shiny, tropical.
High Places
Listen to "Shared Islands" to pretend that you're flying and to "Head Spins" to remind you of a dreamboat loverboy/girl, if you have one.

P.S. Speaking of my friend Kevin, go listen to his band, Most Furniture. Crazy beats to melt your face.
-Monica

Chihuahua tornado

Cowabunga! First serious post... the runt of what will hopefully be a very productive litter of puppy dog blog posts. by the way, heres a picture of the little guy.



Over the next few forevers, We'll show you everything excellent available on the net ever. Let's start with a song.


dan rossen - graceland
Daniel Rossen from the hoopy forest dwelling collective Grizzly Bear (more from them soon) delivers a trance enducing cover of this Paul Simon creation... It will enmesh itself nicely in the oh so impressionable folds of your brain box...

And now for some moving pictures.



Liu Fang (pipa axewoman)= ambush from all sides...
If you are unfamiliar with this instrument, It's Chinese, and has been in existence for over 4000 years. Mad licks delivered.




Tony Capstick covering Ewan McColl - Go! Move! Shift!



BLUES DANCE PARTY! Valentines Day Romp! For the Ladies!
these tunes are guaranteed to put the itch in your backside and a twitch in your eye.
I've uploaded them to the internets via savefile.com- so bear with me, they're all worth it. especially Stomp Boogie, cuz we all have the boogie inside us, and it's gotta come out.



John Lee Hooker - Stomp Boogie


Good Gin Blues - Bukka White


Candy Man Blues - Mississippi John Hurt


--no more blues. cheer up--



Everyone should chew for a bit on the drawlings of Jim Woodring... a Seattle based indie comic folk legend... and he's got a terrific blog... Truly a genius, another power player in the modern artist's quest to provide pure sensory titillation. and just a swell guy.

that about wraps it up, folks. Stay tuned.
-Benji 02.14.2008-