Thursday, February 23, 2012

Top 13 (of the Week)



Sure, you know what's cool. But do you know what's really fuckin' FAR OUT? That's where Advanced Demonology comes in. Every week, (K)en and (S)wilson trudge through the murky waters of the pop culture hellscape, dredging up sparkly morsels of wonder. These are the results of our latest foray into the world of the weird, our wildest, wiggest-out picks of the week. Call it our 13 Point Program.

13. Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid Psych and Experimental Folk By Jeanette Leech




I thought I was reading the same acid-folk book Swilson was. I wasn't. I was reading this one. And it's awesome. Stretching back to the 50's and ending squarely in the freak-folk forest of today, J Leech tells the whole twisty tale with flair and economy. Great stuff. (K)


12. Cactus "One Way….or Another" - Yeah I think they invented boogie rock ( not a good thing), yeah there's a bunch parchment farm covers, but it's easy to forget about all that once Jim McCarty steps on his ampeg scrambler and blind sides you with a heavy dose of bonged out  fuzz. Plus, how many bands can claim that their lead singer was….. machine gunned to death!!! (S)




11. Explorers Club – Grand Hotel 
70's style soft rock returns with a groovy collection of tunes by a new band from South Carolina that sounds like the Beach Boys rifling through the Burt Bacharach songbook on a sunny afternoon. (K)




10. Kenneth Gangemi "The Volcanoes From Puebla" - It's an A to Z travel guide to Mexico published in 1979 from the hilariously unique author of OLT.  The entries start out very objective and then get..well..subjective.  It's a fast read like all of Gangemi's books and all of his books are highly recommended. (S)




9. Last Days Here: The Pentagram Documentary




I remember hearing DC proto-doomsters Pentagram's first (sorta) album, Relentless, in 1985. At the time, it was the heaviest thing I'd ever heard. Basically I decided right then and there that I didn't need to hear anything heavier, and I still stand by it. That shit was pure, tree-trunk thick DOOM. At the time, Pentagram main-man Bobby Liebling was on the comeback trail; Pentagram (and his even earlier band, Stone Bunny) had been bringing the heavy since the very early 70's. Bobby's been a (very) underground cult hero ever since, which of course does nothing for his wallet or his sense of well-being. Turns out he's been teetering on the edge of oblivion for decades – doom, indeed. Last Days Here is the Anvil-esque documentary that will either make or break Bobby Liebling. Either way, it's gonna be a heavy ride. (K)




8. "Hippies, Hasch und Flower power" - A collection of 60's German pop reactions to the hippie movement. Some great tracks on here to cherry pick, but If you can listen to this collection all the way through with out going "verruckt", than mister your a better man than I. (S)


7. PP Arnold was/is an American singer who made her bones in Britain in the mid 60's, providing UK audiences with authentic American soul. She had great tunes and she also happened to be drop dead gorgeous. 




And she still is. Dig it. (K)




6. Square Grouper - An extremely entertaining, very sincere  and unusually sympathetic look at three separate stories of weed dealing in southern Florida during the 70's and 80's.  (S)




7. The Band in Heaven: An obnoxious, ungainly mess of fuzzy shoegaze, dreampop, and  psychedelic blow-out rock. The perfect teenage soundtrack for guzzling a box of wine and falling down the cellar stairs. I don't even know if they have a record. They don't even need a record. They can get by on pills and Youtube, I'm sure of it. (K)




6. Mellowtone Wolf Computer - Who doesn't want a Wolf Computer in the band?!?! I just got this stomp box and it's out of control. I can't seem to wrangle it. (S)




5. Jezebel (1938) I haven't been this conflicted about a movie in a long time. Bette Davis plays a southern belle/hellraiser who shows up at a debutante ball in 1852 in a racy red dress – I imagine the 80's equivalent would be showing up to the prom in a mohawk – and her brazen behavior ruins her life. 




Her boyfriend (Henry Fonda) leaves her and she loses her standing in the community. And then she spends the rest of the movie whimpering and begging for forgiveness. But then again, she was pro-slavery, so maybe she got what she deserved? Dunno. Also, is Bette hot or sorta homely? Also don't know. But it's all fun to think about. Cool flick!(K)




4. Chromium Dioxide Magazine – I should mention that I've yet to actually read this magazine; I just became aware of it a couple days ago. But here's the set-up: a print mag dedicated to half-naked chicks, beer-swilling, denim-vest heavy metal and obscure splatter flicks on VHS tapes. That's like me, at age 14, in a magazine. I WANT IN. (K)




3. Laya Raki. German exotic dancer/actress/singer  from the 40's/50's. 




She could apparently hypnotize men and cause them to walk into traffic. I believe it. (K)




2. Agwa:  Bolivian Cocoa Leaf Liqueur - This stuff is pretty good. You get a weird buzz from it when drank by itself, but it makes a nice mixer. It's good for a party. Get's the girls all giddy. (S)


1. Magpedia. The Movies About Girls show finally gets its own Wiki! Advanced Demonology included. If you want to find about about the roots of Advanced Demonology – as well as four-plus years of podcast craziness – check it out. (K)




PS Drop by this weekend for a brand new episode of the Advanced Demonology Podcast

1 comment:

  1. To help keep my sanity this winter, here are 3 lists I'm working on...

    1) 50 favorite short stories from the splatterpunk era - I have 30 so far.

    2) 50 movies that should only be watched at 3am - again, 30 so far

    3) 200 nostalgic songs from the early 80s - I'm up to 187... it's agony!

    We're planning to take another roadtrip in mid-April so I'm looking forward to that. We'll drive down thru Maine. Who knows where we'll end up?

    Also, here a sweet Forbidden Dimension gig poster inspired by new song "Oculus Cursus". Nice art eh?





    also

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