Hello, partygoers!
This week Mary and David do the impossible and cover a complete mixtape in one (yes, admittedly long) episode.
Dave was lazy compiling this mixtape and chose all really long songs so we get eight great songs about metronomes, the importance of money for fun, Old English minimalism, pastoral prog, punk prog, fiddlin’ psych, folktronica, and indie pomp.
So join us in the rumpus room where we’re listening to:
- Stereolab – “Metronomic Underground” – Emperor Tomato Ketchup, 1994 – 30:43
- The Holy Modal Rounders – “Give Me Your Money” – Bird Song, 2004 – 46:04
- Tortoise – “Gesceap” – The Catastrophist, 2017 – 1:06:43
- Caravan – “With My Ear to the Ground/You Can Make It/Martinian/Only Cox/Reprise” – If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You, 1970 – 1:37:26
- Television – Marquee Moon – Marquee Moon, 1977 – 1:55:59
- Fairport Convention – A Sailor’s Life – Unhalfbricking, 1969 – 2:27:58
- The Beta Band – “She’s the One” – The Three EPs, 1999 – 2:50:50
- Sufjan Stevens – “Majesty Snowbird” – Live at the Crystal Ballroom (a bootleg – recorded 10/13/06) – 3:10:24
Also spinning on the old Victrola:
- Steve Reich – Music for a Large Ensemble – Octet • Music for a Large Ensemble • Violin Phase, 1980 – 1:19:08
- Television – “Little Johnny Jewel (Parts 1 and 2)” – Ork Records, 1975 – 2:20:25
- The Funky 4 + 1 – “That’s the Joint” – Sugar Hill Records b/w “That’s the Joint (Instrumental)”, 1980 – 3:30:30
If you’d like your own uninterrupted version of this episode’s mixtape, you can find it here!
Please check out our fellow party goer Ed Draganski’s funtastic designs for show mascot Peanut Duck and, while you’re there, buy a shirt!
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Probably the BEST EPISODE EVER (!!) because you featured the BEST BAND EVER – finally!!!
Some other recollections of that first time seeing The Beta Band at Richard’s on Richards – there weren’t a lot of people there before the show, and there was a guy there sitting close to where we were with a bunch of vinyl in a plastic milk crate – he was playing music for the club for a while, then another guy stepped in and played a totally different style of music; that was repeated with the third guy; and again with a fourth, each with distinctly different musical tastes. Then when the band came on stage, I realized that the four guys playing records before the show were the band.
And immediately, their #1 fan was front and centre, and while this tall, lanky guy was hopping around they told the story of playing a gig in NYC, and this chap was in the audience and was so enthralled by the band that he proceeded to hop in his car and follow them across the continent, gig by big.
And while individually most of their songs build to a crescendo, their live act does as well – at this particular show, as the night went on, they ultimately ended up with about 4 extra people up on stage playing various percussion instruments (including their #1 fan on the bongos). And that was the show stopper.
I think we saw them four times live? And I still miss their shows to this day.
Nearly the completion of a 70 episodes mission : to explore strange old music. To seek out good music and novelties. To boldly go where no hear has gone before !
If you will.
Make me remembered I was kind of obsess by music too. Mainly 70’s blues rock. It began by The Blues Brothers. It’s my all time favourite movie. So many car crashes, good music and a pair of antisocial main characters. I learn recently that Dan Akroyd has the Asperger syndrome, and I think John Belushi had it too or he was at least a gifted. Maybe more on that on the main SD channel…
I was eleven, then at around sixteen I was into blues and blues rock, when I discover Led Zeppelin which was, for me, the epitome of Blues rock. At this time I was trying to find all the forgotten jewels of this kind of Music. And one fo my means was to buy 70’s copies of the french rock magazine Rock & Folk, and parse the disc critics section for hints of unknown bands (at least to me). I read Q too which in the 90’s and 2000’s was more modern but good source of (reedition) critics.
And parsing the CD trays of used CD record shops.
I discovered bands like American Flag / Mike Bloomfield, the Greatest Show On Earth (not Bloomfiled but the band literally called The greatest Show on Hearth), Caravan, Pacific Gas And Electrics, Atomic Rooster / Chris Farlow (and shady character) amongst others many others.
But my liking goes to other styles too, funk (The Meters, Cymande…), Jazz (from coltrane to Zappa), rap (mostly 80’s Run DMC and DefJam stuff). And french stuff (Leo Ferre, Noirs Désirs, Renaud, Téléphone…)
At University I was organizing concerts, rather than go to class, I nearly became tour manager for a semi-pro band at this time.
I meet french guitarist Claude Barthelemy, two time leader of the French Jazz Orchestra, for which I develloped a little soft which can list all the notes series which have each note and each possible intervals only once.
Oh, I was learning computer sicience, and the system administrator had named some of the server with obscure 70’s bands or albums (for the main mortal), like Kentucky Sleigh Ride or Soft Machine or references to Van Der Graph Generator stuff… and even politic ones like Passo Del Ebre, high level stuff.
And I got a piece of music from Claude dedicated to me, based on my soft result, it’s callled Priquele By Garbonzo, because I printed the resulting notes series at the university and the printer server was called Garbanzo, my name, Priqueler, was shortened because of a 8 caracters limitations on the spooler, so at the top of the pages there was the name of the file followed by “printed by priquele on garbonzo”.
And nearly all the week-end (No Life vibes, anyone?) I was going to listen to Zoran as sort of Yougoslavic reincarnation of Hendrix mixed with Steve Ray Vaughan which played small pub venues. I even write an article about him… in the main french anarchist newspaper, “Le monde libertaire”.
I also got a little collection of guitars, but I can’t really properly play guitar… a least not at the level I wanted.
I had been limited by short term memorie problems, playing twelve bar blues when you lost count on where you are at the third bar…. And It’s to much work when your attention spam is quite short, too many things going on in your head at once, and that you’ve got too high expectations, like playing like Jimmy Page, but starting at 24 and got other things to concentrate on…
I still listen to music but in a less central way. Recently I (re)discovered Captain Beefheart Unconditionally Guaranteed LP on Spotify, which seems to be one of it’s worst (according to his musicians) but I really like it. I listen to french music radio FIP (France Inter Paris) which is 90% music, 0% Ads and mostly good to very good music of nearly all styles.
Speaking of Spotify, I just packed my CD collection (after referencing it) and put it in the basement… Times They Are A Changing…. I guess.
So all this (I know it’s a lot) to say I hope you will continue to do something around music, and I hope we will still have the joy to listen to Mary at least from time to time.
And as allways keep up the good w… fun.
Thanks for this set of mesmerizingly long songs and your always informative and entertaining commentary which got me through yet another Photoshop session. I especially enjoyed the folky sounds of “A Sailor’s Life” and sweeping strings in “Majesty Snowbird.” Joining the Listening Party during an art project really helps me to relax and not stress over every pixel. As a student, I didn’t listen to music while doing homework as Mary did, but maybe I should have.
As a tie-in to Sneaky Dragon Episode 494, here is my list of Top Five Songs of the 70s sung by Muppets with a bonus track from 1969.
Kermit – “Bein’ Green” – Sesame Street, 1970
Ernie – “Rubber Duckie” – Sesame Street, 1970
The Beetles – “Letter B” – Sesame Street, 1970
Kermit – “The Rainbow Connection” – The Muppet Movie, 1979
Kermit and Fozzie Bear – Movin’ Right Along – The Muppet Movie, 1979
Bonus Track: Mahna Mahna – “Mahna Mahna” – Sesame Street, 1969
I heard “Bein’ Green” sung by the great Vancouver jazz singer Eleanor Collins who was then in her mid-90s (she’s since turned 100) at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church at a black history month concert our soul choir was performing in. It was especially touching sung in that context and I’ve since learned it’s been covered by a lot of artists of colour over the years including Lena Horne, Ray Charles, Oscar the Grouch and the demon Lorne on Angel.
100% agree on “Miller’s Crossing” being a Coen Brothers masterpiece, I remember taking an impromptu blind date (as a favor to a friend) to see it. She was from out of town and we decided to see “Miller’s Crossing”…we were both memorized by it. I never saw her again, but I’ll never forget seeing that film. I have to throw in “The Big Lebowski” as a close second since I’m such a Jeff Bridges fan and my brother is basically the same guy as “The Dude.”
With my ear for score music, this episode gave me some “feels” of thought provoking selections that are worth going back to. Way to mix it up and give us something completely different!