Just in from Chris Scofield over at Strange Attractors, this looks pretty amazing:

Hi everyone –

I now have some trailers available for the forthcoming Jack Rose and Glenn Jones The Things That We Used to Do DVD.  And I am sharing with you folks first.

I’ve posted the little “teaser” trailer here:

Soon, I will be posting a more in-depth trailer, clocking in around six and a half minutes.  But this is intended to get a quick taste out there, and also to spread around in a much smaller, more convenient package.

Complete info about the DVD project can be found here:

http://www.strange-attractors.com/catalog/saah058.html


Of further note, here's an excellent article from Magnet, written by the one and only Bill Meyer back in '07, centering around the current crop of eclectic/ethnic solo acoustic players, like Jack and Glenn above, and other personal heroes (James Blackshaw, Richard Bishop, etc), minus quite a few others, but still a damn fine roundup for those curious of the mysteries of 6-string shamanism and the modern day descendants of the amazing players heard on the Wayfaring Strangers comp, of which I waxed ecstatic a while back.      

Three More Randoms

39 Clocks Zoned (De Stijl) CD - Zoned is an excellent anthology from this little known German duo, which just happens to be one of the most freaked out Krautrock groups to come out of the motherland that I'd not heard before now. Drawing equally from Nuggets era garage psych, The Velvets, Krautrock and even Suicide (who also used a drum machine and were a duo, though 39 Clocks existed concurrently), these lads weave such influences along with their own wacky screwball sensibilities to conjure weird, tuneful art punk/new wave ditties that amuse, disturb, confuse, transfix -- often at the same time.  It's fairly amazing how far ahead of the curve this stuff sounds when you think about it, not that I recommend such foolishness.  As stoned to the bone as it is minimally austere, Zoned lands somewhere between the warped acid pop of Ariel Pink and the original New Wave era.  Highly recommended, and one of the sweetest surprises of '09.

Blues Control Local Flavor (Siltbreeze) CD - Yet another tripped out duo with something to say, Russell and Lea hit their stride on this their third--fourth?--full length, first for the gods of Silt.  The four songs on Local Flavor are often more upbeat and downright boogielicious in a way that explores the righteous bleed-over between West Coast psych, early Eno, NYC ghettotech and Krautrock.  Nice enough trick on paper, but in Blues Control's hands it comes off like genuine psychedelic muzak majik on the changer (and on stage!).

Kito Mizukumi Rouber Otonaki Touge De Hagureta Kmr (Ultra Eczema) LP - This weird record was Tom Lax's #1 album of '09, so you know it's some messed up shit.  Kito Mizukumi Rouber is a self-described dance band from Japan.  Their "dance music" is, ostensibly, amateurish idiot slop that promises to test the listener every second of the way, but that's only at first.  The opening songs of Kito Muzukumi Rouber albums are apparently like a rite of passage of sorts -- a test to determine whether you are worthy of what follows.  Their second album, Otonaki Touge De Hagureta Kmr, features uber-destroyed art punk new/no wave garage skronk that comes recommended only for the chosen, deranged few.  If up to the task, you will find a cathartic post industrial dance party that raises the bar all over again when it comes to utterly destroyed/deconstructed sonic splendor noise punk mayhem.  As tortured as it is joyfully unhinged, as beautiful as it is ugly, not to mention deceptively dramatic and darkly hallucinatory, this record is a case study in calculated deconstruction that comes highly recommended for all the brain-damaged children of the sun.  There's even a couple hooks in there!  End results land somewhere between Harry Pussy, Dead C, The Stooges and Maher Shalal Hash Baz.  If that sounds like your cup of tea, then God help you, and dig in.  The rest of you can probably pass.  Me?  Hook, line and sinker.

So I've seen two really memorable New Years Eve live shows so far. The first was Big Star backed by the Posies in 2000, and the other was this one. (Highly recommend clicking that there link). Arrived just in time for the last song of Stardeath and White Dwarfs' set, which was actually their cover of Madonna's "Borderline," with Steve Drozd from The 'Lips sitting in. I dug it. I recorded it, but as you will hear, most of the videos I took myself bottom out pretty horribly. I've also included a couple clips captured by other folks and a whole mess of pictures, two of which were taken in Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill. Thanks to Travis, Tara, Nick, Evita and the wonderful people of Oklahoma City for making it a bash to remember. Here's hoping they do Revolver next year! Farewell to 2009, the year of anxiety. Hello to 2010, the year of meditation. Intro to the Dark Side portion of the show, featuring Wayne's enormous laser-beam shooting hands. Most of "Money."

More random pics of the psychedelic madness (click 'em for full size...





The silver saddle hanging above Toby Keith's bar.

Find a few more photographic goodies here.

Howdy, dear hearts. Happy 2010! I actually drove up to Oklahoma City and attended the Flaming Lips New Years Eve Freak Out bash with some pals a few nights ago, and also got to catch up with a dear old friend and meet his special lady. It was all too short and dancin' in the whirlwind, but I didn't get too intox too fast and awoke the next day sans hangover. Got some good videos and pics ripe for perusing, which I'll post next. Had a blast and must agree with my mates that it was the full cover performance of Dark Side of the Moon that propelled the whole evening into the stratosphere and made it one for the books. Also OKC has the most laid back security I have ever encountered in the continental United States, jsyk.

29 in '09

1. James Blackshaw The Glass Bead Game (Young God) CD
2. Six Organs of Admittance Luminous Night (Drag City) CD
3. The Soundtrack of Our Lives The Communion (Yep Roc) 2CD
4. Trembling Bells Carbeth (Honest Jons) CD
5. Courtis/Moore Brokebox Juke (No-Fi) LP
6. Peaking Lights Imaginary Falcons (Night People) LP
7. Om God is Good (Drag City) CD
8. Oneohtrix Point Never Rifts (No Fun Productions) 2CD
9. Aethenor Faking Gold & Murder (VHF) CD
10. Jesu Opiate Sun (Caldo Verde) CD
11. The Flaming Lips Embryonic (Time Warner) 2CD
12. Current 93 Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain (Coptic Cat) CD
13. Wand Hard Knox (Ecstatic Peace) CD
14. Sun Araw Heavy Deeds (Not Not Fun) LP
15. Sunn O))) Monoliths & Dimensions (Southern Lord) CD
16. Greg Davis Mutually Arising (Kranky) CD
17. Starving Weirdos Into An Energy (Bo'weavil) CD
18. Flower-Corsano Duo The Four Aims (VHF) CD
19. Steve Gunn & Shawn McMillen - End of the City (DNT Records/Abandon Ship/Abaddon) LP
20. Age of Disinformation Self-Titled (Mayyrh) CD-R
21. Hush Arbors Yankee Reality (Ecstatic Peace) CD
22. MV & EE & The Golden Road Drone Trailer (Di-Christina) CD
23. Social Junk Born Into It (Digitalis) CD
24. Immortal All Shall Fall (Nuclear Blast) CD
25. Locrian Drenched Lands (At War With False Noise) CD
26. Barn Owl The Conjurer (Root Strata) LP
27. Nurse With Wound The Surveillance Lounge (United Dirter) CD
28. The One Ensemble Other Thunders (No-Fi) CD
29. The Shitty Listener Constant Stranger (Digitalis Ltd.) C47

Reissues

Chris Bell I Am the Cosmos (Rhino Handmade) 2CD / All those kickass Beatles remasters, at least the ones I've heard so far.

7 Top Gigs

1. Leonard Cohen @ Nokia Theater, Grand Prarie, 04/03/09
2. The Flaming Lips / Stardeath and White Dwarfs @ Cox Center, OKC, 12/31/09
3. My Bloody Valentine @ The Palladium, Dallas, 04/22/09
4. The Woven Hand @ Spiros during SXSW, Austin, 03/20/09
5. MV & EE @ The Lounge on Elm, Dallas, 02/02/09
6. Dave Burrell @ The Sandaga Market, Dallas, 12/12/09
7. Yells At Eels @ Lolas Stockyards during No Idea Fest, Ft. Worth, 2/24/09