Saturday, January 19, 2013

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 result 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. Sonic Flower – Black Sunshine
Blistering Japanese stoner-psyche freakjam that will cave in your skull. I like to wake up to this and then punch in a few windows. (K)


12. A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren in the Studio by Paul Myers
I was in the mood to read a book about music again but I wasn't in the mood to read one about drugs and debauchery in the wake of music. It's getting to be an old story with the same old ending, ether death or recovery, the former being more interesting than the latter. I've always been a big fan of Todd's and I knew he produced a ton of records but I never knew the details.  This is a great book about music. Just music. This is just Todd in the studio, there is almost nothing about Rundgren's personal life, it's just about him making records, for himself and others.  Todd was the king at the controls behind some great records: The Band's  Stage Fright, Sparks' Halfnelson, Bad Finger, Grand Funk, The New York Dolls, The Tubes' Remote Control, XTC's Skylarking,  Meatloaf's Bat Out Of Hell and million other stunners and mega-sellers. If anything it makes you want to check out a for the first time or re-examine a ton of cool records.  A refreshing look at the recording process and I loved every minute of it.  (S)


11.  Sexytime: The Post-Porn Rise of the Pornoisseur
Everything about 70’s (and half of 80’s) porn was fascinating. I mean, the movies themselves are kinda gross/boring, but everything else – the promotional art, the cheap, funky soundtracks, the crackpot producers and druggy stars – all endlessly entertaining. This gigantic book collects some of the cooler/weirder posters from the era in eye-popping full-color, and it’s awesome. Raincoat not included, but recommended. (K)


10. Steve Hillage "L"
Produced by Todd Rundgren (big surprise) this is Hillage's second and maybe most excusable record. Playful, funny, deep and massively psychedelic in a 70's post hippie kind of way that only Gong's guitar play could. Great covers of songs by Donovan and the Beatles. Note the trumpet solo in the clip below by free jazz trumpet player Don Cherry.  Flying teapot Forever! (S)


9. Halina Frackowiak - Wodo, Zimna Wodo
Polish  psychedelic funk is great, because…I mean, who the fuck would expect Polish psychedelic funk? And Halina Frackowiak is the queen of Polish psychedelic funk. Which is a real thing. (K)


8. Hall & Oates - War Babies
Who knew  the smooth operators from Philly could make a record that fits perfectly in the Advanced Demonology pantheon? But They did it. With the Help of guess who? Todd Rundgren. He also helped them get dropped from therecord label for making a scary record. But it's great! By far my favorite thing I've heard by these guys. Weird as hell. It's sorta about how horrifying everything really is. Supposedly it was about New York but ya know….(S)


7. Comedian pisses himself
I’ve watched this a bunch of times, and I  dunno if this is extreme anti-comedy or just a guy having a nervous breakdown, but either way, holy smokes,  this is a long way to go for laff. (K)


6. King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard - Eyes Like the Sky
These Aussie superstar garage rippers are already on the third full-length in 2 years. Eyes Like The Sky is a spaghetti western themed sleaze opera. They are teasing us with one song on bandcamp but I got my pre-order in and so should you. (S)

5. Berry – Le Bonheur
There is only one thing better than watching pretty girls twirl around in the desert singing folky  songs, and that’s pretty French girls twirling around in the desert, singing folky songs. (K)


4. The Ovations
It doesn't get much better than this. I'm addicted to soul and this is pure uncut soul, scored at the dope-spot. Because after hearing this version, I think this song is actually about Heroin…..I'm serious. (S)


3. Dead Malls
With the advent of internet shopping and the cratering of  the US economy, shopping malls have become less and less useful. As a result, many of ‘em are shutting down, and  the spaces are too big to do anything with, so “dead malls” are proliferating all across the country. Deadmalls.com is a website where you can check your state for any dead malls; urban explorers often take photographs of the decaying malls and there’s some pretty eerie videos on Youtube, as well. What will we do with these giant cavernous spaces? My vote is we bring back roller disco rinks. (K)


2. Mad River
A bunch of creeps from Ohio form a band in 1967 and head out to San Francisco for free love and revolution but end up taking too much speed which they thought was acid and accidentally play speed metal way before they or anybody else knew what it was. (S)


1. Ted Russell Kamp – Night Owl
Swilson and I have been going nuts over this guy this week. He’s the quintessential 70’s soft-rock/country-soul crooner, singing plaintive late-night ballads about long-lost loves, only he's not doign it in 1976, when it would have landed him at the top of the AM radio charts, he's doing it right now. This guy makes Dr. Hook look like GG Allin, but goddamnit, the songs are so good, and he clearly means every word, how can anybody resist? TRK, man. This motherfucker is the real deal.(K)

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