That Gaping Fucking Hole

I kinda embarassed it's taken me so long to post this, but legendary New Zealand musician and lo-fi pioneer Chris Knox suffered a stroke last Thursday. According to everything I can find on the story, Knox is currently in stable condition, but according to a statement issued by his family, it's too early to tell what the long term effects of the stroke will be.

At 56, Knox has been an integral figure of the NZ music scene for over 30 years, first fronting The Enemy, then Toy Love, and finally the great Tall Dwarfs. I was first introduced to his music a few years back when a friend lent me a copy of his 1995 solo album Songs of You and Me, which shows the man at the height of his powers, crafting track after track of perfect fuzz-pop with little more than a 4-track, a drum machine and an electric guitar (Sound familiar?). Since then, I've explored his back catalog, but to be honest, I've barely scratched the surface, there's just sooooo much of it. I'm sharing a couple of my favorites with you here, and I heartily recommend that you explore Knox's massive output further.

[mp3] Chris Knox - "A Song to Welcome the Onset of Maturity"
(from Songs of You and Me; buy it here)

[mp3] Tall Dwarfs - "Song of the Silents"
(from Hello Cruel World; buy it here)

If you're interested in updates regarding Chris' condition, his family has set up a blog for concerned fans at chrisknox.blogtown.co.nz.

This Is What a House Show Looks Like

Last night, Fayetteville, Arkansas, descended upon 255 like an angelic visitation as St. Anthony, the Kicker Knot, Sciences, and Savannah, GA's Hula Hoop (which contains one former Fayettevillian) swaddled an appreciative audience in blissed-out beats and reverb-laden loops, filling the space with a record-breaking amount of good vibes. Normally, such nights go undocumented at 255, but videographer/photographer and SCnP-pal Joel Schooling brought his camera and has been kind enough to let me post some of the photos here on the blog. The full set can be viewed here on Joel's Picasa.

The Official 255 Organ:


Hula Hoop:






One half of Sciences (sorry I don't remember your name, dude):


The Kicker Knot:





Ah, the Party Tree...:


Unfortunately, no snaps of either Sciences' or St. Anthony's sets (which were both excellent, by the way), but you'll be hearing more about both of those bands in future posts. Promise! In the meantime, why not check out the Kicker Knot's new album, Ghost Mouth of the Clouds, which the band has made available for free download here!

Don't Need You for My Enemy

Slowly working our way back into an acceptable schedule here, folks. Monday morning is the official target post time for podcasts around here, and this week I've actually managed to hit the mark! Go me!

Anyway, we got a fun one this time around, definitely one of my favorite episodes to put together so far. Lots of brand-brand-new demos and fresh finds, not just a bunch of reposts of songs you've already heard about from ten other blogs (only three other blogs, tops!), plus, a brief look at 60's Indonesian garage rock!


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PLAYLIST

Best Friends Forever - "Up Up"
Hermit Thrushes - "Fourth" (buy)
Beach Fossils - "Daydream" (download)
Sam Buck Rosen - "Just Jealous" (download)
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Toro y Moi - "Ektelon" (download)
Brilliant Colors - "I'm Sixteen"
The Vaselines - "Sex Sux (Live @ Primavera Sound 2009)" (download)
Dave Van Ronk - "That Song About the Midway" (buy)
Dara Puspita - "Bhaktiku"
-
Koes Bersaudara - "Poor Clown"
Rank/Xerox - "Muscle Dogs" (buy)
Holy Shit - "Written All Over Your Face" (buy)
Cave - "Made in Malaysia" (buy)
The Intelligence - "Universal Babysitter" (buy)
-
Dog Day - "Rome" (buy)

"Nice Dress"

With the state of music videos these days, it's not often I see one interesting enough to hold my attention for its entire duration without clicking away to something else (damn ADD), but this excellent clip for "Prehistoric Dog" by Portland's Red Fang, a song I played on the podcast a few months back, is easily one of the best (and funniest) videos I've seen in years, combining metal, beer, LARPing and Monty Python-style gore! You'll definitely want to pass this on to your friends.

Buy Red Fang's self-titled debut LP here.

Your Last Desirable Trace

Yeah, gimmicks are annoying, but only when used in lieu of actual talent. Here at SCnP we have a saying that goes, "If you've got the goods, gimmick away," and Best Friends Forever definitely pass that test, even if co-founders Bri Smith and Jes Seamans did name the band after the fact that they've been best friends since 1995.

BFF sound like every great indie pop band you've ever heard, with lots of doo-wop backing vocals and Phil Spector drums, with Smith and Seamans doubling up on lead singer duty, busting out vocal interplay on par with early Camera Obscura or even Pavement! This is total sugary pop, but with a generous pinch of classic indie rock to cut the sweetness, to say nothing of Seamans' incredible bass playing, which in and of itself is reason enough to check out the band.

[mp3] Best Friends Forever - "Tape Song"
(from the Romance Conflict Adventure CD. Buy it from Plan-It-X, only $5!!)

BFF will be playing Charleston tomorrow night (June 13) at 88 Columbus along with the Sundowners, Bookjaw, Oicho Kabu and Fussy Anal. Fun starts at 7pm!

A Note from the Editor

Those of you who subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or any other podcatcher probably received the Sam Rosen and Reading Rainbow mp3s I've posted in the past couple of days along with the normal podcast (I know I did.). This is not intentional and I'm working on fixing it, but it's probably going to involve moving the podcast to a separate, dedicated feed. I'll keep you posted about this as I get things figured out over the next couple of days.

Hugs and kisses,
Tay

They Placed a Phone Call Right in My Brain

I'll start by admitting this: I'd never heard of The Intelligence prior to the past year's tidal wave of press regarding every facet of the American lo-fi/garage scene. In fact, it was only after slowly falling in love with their new album Fake Surfers that I bothered to even google their name. (Irresponsible, I know. To be honest, I picked up the album solely on the merits of its rad GBV-style cover art!)

Since then I've learned that the Intelligence have, in fact, been around for a decade and recorded and released four albums, plus at least a dozen other vinyl releases of various inchitudes. So much for getting in on the ground floor. Still, at a time when more people are paying attention to Bands on In the Red than perhaps ever before, Fake Surfers serves as a fine introduction to the band.

The album starts off with a weird, hypnotic title track that on first listen had me expecting some kinda nifty psych-drone workout, and in some ways it sort of is, but the second the choppy echoed-out guitars hit on "Moody Tower," Fake Surfers veered in a spooky, reverbed-out quasi-pop direction and stayed the course for the duration, at times bringing to mind Unrest, Faust's IV, and especially Georgia's legendary Rock*A*Teens!

It's the third track I'll share with you, though, a song that, after a twenty-second spin in the reverb tank, drops into a groove that might be called (in the parlance of our times) "surf goth" if only it didn't sound so timeless, and songer/mastermind Lars Finberg compliments the arrangement nicely with oddball lyrics describing a man's woes at the hands of a psychic debt collector. (I also love the Casio drumroll going into the second verse! You can't miss it!)

[mp3] The Intelligence - "Debt & ESP" (buy it from In the Red Records)