(The Marrakesh Express Has Arrived!) Dope Wars

I probably won't be posting anything here while in Israel so I'll leave with two songs from John Darnielle's (Mountain Goats) eclectically exhaustive "Going to..." series. These are from the one-off and full-on album Martial Arts Weekend with the scholastic rubber man Franklin Bruno as the Extra Glenns.

"Going to Marrakesh" and "Going to Morocco"

Agent Orange

This is probably the second to last goodbye post before I take a break until the new year.

Agent Orange - "The Last Goodbye"
MP3 no longer available.

Related: Other required A.O. listening on Something I Learned Today

Call the Doctor

"Wrestle on your bedroom floor, always leave you wanting more..."

A friend requested a "rock-n-roll" song and this one fits the platypus's bill like a snug condom and even worse metaphor.

Sleater-Kinney - "I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone"

"This is Jennings, your anesthetist"

Spent seven hours in the Beth Israel emergency room yesterday with a pneumonia patient. Naturally I passed the time with my iPod and phone cam. I hate to go to the Jawbreaker well once again but here comes another bucket over-flowing with warm tears.

Jawbreaker - "Outpatient"

The Cogs

I was unaware The Cogs had a past of Ween covers. They used to play Mercury and Luna Lounge a bunch years ago (I only saw them once) but I assume they are currently no longer together.

The Cogs - "You're Still My Man"

Pedro the Lion

pedro the lion - "when they really get to know you they will run"

Cinnamon Toast

Cinnamon Toast was the mid 90's brain child/candy/dump of Johnny Riggs, a DJ for WHFS at the time, who recruited various friends and ms. creants (well, cute girls) to back him up. I never met the guy but there were rumors that was his pick-up schtick. (I know I know, such things are unheard of in the music world.) I really only knew Amy Lettis who played bass, recorder, and did some back-up vocals, but her then boyfriend Darron never liked Johnny. That's all I can confirm. All that should really concern you is how half of their stuff was recorded at WGNS Studios and produced by DC legend Geoff Turner. Fairly decent power-pop.

"Skyful" and "My So-Called Monolith/Knee Waves"

Related: Remember the 2000 Sowebo Fest in the rain? Yeah, I think the sky split open and hailed heroin all day.

Matty Luv and Dr. Dre Del

This order comes directly from the home office in Sacramento:

Go here Matty Luv then click the discography link, then scroll all the way down until you see “Dr. Dre Del’s Mic of Defiance.” (No permalinks or page specific URLs) The guys from Hickey did a rap album around 10 years ago, Aaron finally uploaded it, it’s fucking hilarious. The drummer is rapping, the singer (Matty) mixed all the beats using tape and Scotch tape. Genius stuff on there. Do it.

Contains 48 tracks and one of the best song titles ever: "It's Not A Beer Belly, It's A Gas Tank For A Cop Killa." You heard the man. Do it. Here are two to get you started.

Dr. Dre Del - "Magick Manichevitz" and "21 Narc Street"

Related: Matty Luv obit in SF Weekly

All Roads Lead to Space Travel

Before the The Oranges Band, Roman Kubler fronted one of the best bands, Roads to Space Travel, (while TOB drummer Dave Voyles was still acting all sketchy around Bowie, MD, talking up Clikatat Ikatowi, and stealing bicycles) to ever trace the Charm City circuit. Here are two tracks from RtST's awesome The Ballad Jazz Waltz album.

Roads to Space Travel - "Numbers" & "Unraveling"

Related: Music video of a race-walk spanning the isle of Manhattan, powered by The Oranges Band's "My Street" and directed by Mike Tully.

The Bridges of Prog

The downside of unemployment is the free time to explore music you wouldn't under normal circumstances. Below is the second half of the prog rock exploration I wrote back in April but decided, for obvious reasons of ass-sucking embarrassment, not to post. But after hearing news of a possible Genesis reunion with the original line-up, I'm letting it fly like a three-winged penguin and I'm ready to embrace Phil Collins (as long as he sticks to the drums and Peter Gabriel is on vocals, in flower costume) despite all those old Jew-hating rumors.

Part II. Worm Wars Without Borders
On the surface (and many layers below), prog rock is the antithesis of punk and in no small part the latter was a reaction/rejection of the former. Prog was mocked because it was pretentious, self-indulgent, and overblown. How seriously could you take music school nerds dressed in capes and dove costumes? (Truth be told, that's exactly why I'm enjoying it now.) But take a step back. Does prog deserve the scorn it gets in so many circles? These musicians set out to re-define rock and pop in terms of classical music with all the technical expertise one would expect from a New York Philharmonic performance. Sure, they combined it with absurd fantasy tales but what else is ballet and opera if not that?

Another important point to consider: this stuff was by and large not radio-friendly. (Stick that in your punk rock ethos cap.) These guys were probably the most talented pop musicians of their time and did they decide to cash in and crank out 70's AM Gold shits like Three Dog Night, ABBA, or Cher? Hell no! They had the dignity to at least wait until spawning and influencing other more accessible genres before plunging into that 80's cheese pit of MTV money.

Part III. Hero Returns Home With No Legs (Cooks The Egg, Eggs The Cook)
I think it comes down to this, like jazz, you need a lot of free time on your hands to enjoy prog. Music snobs always say you have to start with certain selections before moving on to the next and with 20+ minute songs involving intricate story lines it takes repeated listens just to figure out what the hell is going. High school, college, and unwanted stretches of unemployment are ideal times to do a prog tour of duty. Alas, I fall into the last category and hopefully it won't last much longer. I doubt I have the stomach to venture much beyond Genesis, King Crimson and Jethro Tull.

And before you completely dismiss all of this stuff, if you're an Eno-phile, remember he ran in these circles with Fripp, Manzanera, etc. Collins contributed to Taking Tiger Mountain and Another Green World while Gabriel asked Eno to add some effects on Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

Genesis - "Time Table" from Foxtrot (currently #6 album on the all-time Prog 100!)

Previously: The epic must-listen Genesis - "Supper's Ready"

Clogs, The National

I met Alec of the music label Brassland the other week, we got to talking about my roommate's friend Baby Dayliner whose album they put out, but he was really going on about The National and Clogs. I've been meaning to post something about them but Brooklyn Vegan beat me to the punch.

Hominid House

I've been getting serious heat for not posting pics of the Maryland Krucoff kids. To appease the squabbling tribes, here's Aaron, Chief of the Bethesda Chapter of "AK-47" Nation, at the National Zoo in front of the Small Mammal House.

Lungfish - "All Creation Bows"
[Selection comment: More obvious choices would have been Scream's "Zoo Closes At Dark" or a song by Reptile House, Lungfish's Daniel Higgs first band, which is near impossible to track down but Vinyl Mine is always handy with amusing, though slightly buried, anecdotes.]

Related: The Baltimore Zoo Closes the Reptile House (last year)

UPDATE: Vinyl Mine uncovers more Daniel Higgs and points out the Something I Learned Today post I missed with the Reptile House 7". Damn good work, guys.

Hey Hey Hey, Watch the Denim, Man

Tonight, the chicks show us their tips.

Denim - "On a Chicory Tip"

Essex Green At Bowery Ballroom

Julia Rydholm, pictured bottom right and contributor to TOP #3, writes to say she's going on tour for a couple weeks with The Essex Green. They play delightful, pretty psych-pop and will be performing this Friday at Bowery Ballroom. If you're free, check 'em out. If you're not, listen to these two songs and make yourself free.

The Essex Green - "Mrs. Bean" & "Sixties"

Related: The Ladybug Transistor