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. I am Divine
New doc about how a chubby misfit from Baltimore became the greatest drag-queen movie star/disco singer of all time. There’s no way this can be anything but awesome.(K)

12. Keith Jarrett - Koln Concert
I was talking to an older head the other day about Jazz records and he mentioned Keith Jarrett.I always thought Keith was cool because he plays on some of my favorite Miles Davis Records. But I never heard the Koln Concert before. "Oh man, I got laid so many times back in the 70's because of that record. It hypnotizes chicks". Well, needless to say I had to run out and buy it. (S)

11. Earthen Grave – Blood Drunk
Bass player for Chicago doom legends Trouble formed this chugging, grungy doom n’ roll outfit with a violin player(!). Their debut is a killer, but this song is a standout. A tale of misery and murder, Blood Drunk’s tone is so dismal and hopeless that you’ll need to gulp down a fistful of happy pills when it’s over. Nice to know Chicago’s still gloomy after all these years. (K)

10. Neil Merryweather - Space Rangers
This is sorta like a re-post because Ken and I constantly yap about how much we love Neil and we play him on our show all the time. I just scored a copy of his 1974 "master peace" Space Rangers on vinyl! You should too! (S)

9. Blue Beat in My Soul Blog
If you’re in the mood for some funky stuff, the always excellent 60’s/70’s album-share blog Blue Beat for My Soul has been posting some impossibly funky soundtracks to 70’s violent cop/giallo flicks and they are amazing.  Pop one on, throw on your favorite polyester turtleneck, and go chase down some hoods in your 68 Chevy! (K)

8. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Old Grey WhistleTest
I know many of you Advanced Demonologists aren't into these guys, but I am. They are an incredible mix of lot's of things I love like country music, Cream inspired heavy rock, hippiedom and total redneck swagger.  These beatniks grew up in northern Florida and trust me they are the most avant, progressive thing to come out of that neck of the woods ever. If you had long hair in the 60's where they lived, you better be able to use your fists. This is them in their prime, and speaking of swagger, you'll see what I'm talkin' about.  (S)

7. Turnaround
A short but fun doc about why everybody wants to listen to vinyl records again. Spoiler alert: because they’re fucking awesome. (K)

6. Fraction - Moon Blood
I have no fucking clue. Somebody described this Lp as the album the Doors wished they made. Well I doubt that highly, but it's definitely the album Swilson wished he made. The cry of "Sky High" seems genuine, immediate, maybe even urgent. Somebody call the paramedics! I think the lead singer most likely cut his vocal track pinned to ceiling of the studio on a neon crucifix. Just a guess.  (S)

5. John Campbell
My favorite bluesman was a one-eyed, motorcycle riding Frankenstein who died at age 41. John Campbell was a blues guitarist from Louisiana who began playing professionally at age 13.  He was a fast-living dude who got into a horrific car wreck while drag racing as a teenager. The accident took his right eye and left him horribly disfigured. He face had to be reconstructed. Took 5,000 stitches to put it back together. Still, he carried on. In 1991, he put out the incredible One Believer album, perhaps the darkest authentic blues record ever made. He also got married that year. The president of the local Hell’s Angels club was his best man. Dr. John performed the service. More demons were unleashed on his follow-up album, 1993’s Howling Mercy. Campbell died of a heart attack a few months later. Nobody knew the blues like this dude did. Check out his albums sometime; you can actually smell the fires of hell when he plays. (K)

4. Bulldozer - The Final Speration
The follow up to the mighty Days Of Wrath. An Italian celebration of all things Venom. Great record cover! Very Italian! And some great advice to boot…..never relax. (S)

3. The Devil
Mysterious UK metal band that wear masks and hoods and tie every conspiracy theory you can think of into one giant ball of fear and paranoia. Are they a nefarious cult? Evil pranksters? Is it actually Satan himself freaking out the squares? Only the dudes (?) under the red robes know for sure. (K)

2. Hot Tracks
Long-running public access show featuring two dudes talking about music. Sorta. This is amazing middle-American endtimes couch of woe stuff, awful-but-awesome and hard to look away from. A documentary (!) is in the works!(K)

1. Swilson - Cool Skull - Official Video
Here is the official video for the song you can't stop rocking. (S)

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. Rolling Stone All Access
So here's something awesome: if you subscribe to Rolling Stone (you have to subscribe to the print edition for some reason. There's no digital-only subscription. Still, it's only $20 a year), you get instant access to EVERY ISSUE they've ever printed, going back to the late 60's. There's limitations – you can only read them on a browser, no offline downloads – but still, it's a pretty incredible treasure trove of music and pop culture. Listen to Rumours and crack open a (digital) copy of Rolling Stone from 76, it's like time traveling! (K)

12. Rockaway Beach
The summer is almost gone and I'm wrapping up my east coast summer vacation. The other day my brother took me out to Rockaway Beach and I have to say I'm impressed. They got a cool thing happening on the boardwalk there around B. 96. A bunch of young hipsters took over some concession stands and it's a damn good time. You can get a gourmet hamburger, homemade ice-cream, a cold bold beer and listen to a psychedelic band play live, than go for a swim. But the creme' de la creme has to be former Orgone Energy bass player Johnny DiCosmo's Italian Ice. Johnny adds a modern twist to his family's nearly one hundred year old tradition. All organic ingredients  and way out flavors like strawberry avocado.  It's maybe the best summer desert in the whole country. You only got a few days before he wraps it up for the summer so head out there! (S)



11. Nocturna
Belly dancer turned “actress” Nai Bonet wrote, produced, and starred in this amazing (and amazingly cheap) disco vampire flick from 1979. Everything about it is jaw-dropping. Nai's acting is horrendous, she's naked in it every five minutes, Brother Theodore is in it (!) as her werewolf manservent, John Carradine stumbles around as a very creaky Count Dracula, there's terrible dancing and bad disco, the vampire/bat transformations are handled via primitive animation, and the dialogue sounds like it was written by someone attending English as a second language night classes. Also, it was rumored to have been bankrolled by a mobster, who turned up dead a year later.  A cult classic in the making, dig it up! (K)



10. Hicky & Boggs
This is one dark and disturbed movie directed by Robert Culp and written by Walter Hill. It's a hard boiled neo-nior and is really completely relentless and bleak. It's no wonder that it was a commercial failure when it came out, i'm sure it was a further reminder that the early 70's were, yes….a bummer. None the less it's some kind of masterpiece, too bad Culp didn't direct more of 'em. (S)



9. Septien
Great little weirdfilm about a trio of dysfunctional brothers living in the woods somwhere who happen to stumble across the high school coach who molested one of 'em, causing him to dissappear for 18 years. They ponder what to do about it when a loony snake-oil preacher shows up to help exact revenge. This is a comedy, by the way, although there's not a chuckle in it. You gotta see it just for the scene where they all lie in bed and sing the “Smother the demons” song. Thoroughly whacked and unsettling, but with a surprising amount of heart and a sorta happy ending. (K)

8. The Worst Cars Of All Time
Everybody is always raving about the best cars of all time and many an Advanced Demonologist envisions himself hurtling through liquid light time and space behind the wheel of a 1973 Dodge Charger. We rarely have the alternate fantasy of being stuck in traffic on the 405 behind the wheel of an overheating Ford Pinto. (S)

  

7. The Mystery of Oak Island
Oak island is a tiny hunk of land in Nova Scotia. There's a mysterious pit on the island, 200 feet deep, that many people believe holds Captain Kidd's treasure. Unfortunately, the pit is booby trapped. Treasure hunters have spent the last hundred years trying to get to the bottom of that pit, and they've failed every time. At 90 feet, they found a stone with inscriptions on it that may explain what's down there, but so far, no one's been able to translate it, although it's online, so you can take a crack at it yourself. There was even an episode of In Search Of about it! Crazy stuff. (K)

6. Lonnie Frisbee
I haven't seen the 2007 documentary about the man yet, in fact I just discovered him a few seconds ago when I did the the search on youtube for "Hippie Death" (you see how a great mind works?).   Lonnie Frisbee (is that the best name of all time?) was the real life leader of the Jesus freak Movement. Since we like Jesus rock almost as much as we love Disco on this blog It's about time we dig deeper. (S)

 

5. Cat Gang – Locomotive Breath
Cat Gang was an Italian disco studio project. In 1983, they released their debut (and only) single – a nine-minute discofied version of Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath, complete with maximum flute jams. Majestic shit! (K)

 

4. Peter Brotzmann - Nipples (1969)
Sorry guys, it's been a lot of traveling and listening to old favorites on the ipod. I know not a single Heavy Metal band ever listened to this record and it's considered by most to be a jazz record, even though most jazz fans have never heard and those that have hate it  and when you're riding on a bus from New York City to Atlantic City, it will cause a minor panic attack. (S)



3. Marahachibu
Amazing, hardcore psych-garage from Japan circa 1971. Maybe it's the singer's accent, but this sounds a lot like the proto Sex Pistols to me! (K)



2. UFO - Rock Bottom
Is the official song of Swilson's four week tour of the Jersey shore. It might be the number one beer drinking song of the summer , I listened to this tune every chance I got and I'd like to thank the song itself for rocking so hard and the band UFO circa '75 for all the summer of 2012 memories. (S)



1. Montreal – A Summer's Night
Well, it's September, so we can put this bizarre summer to rest. Dunno how it was for you, but for me, it was alternately amazing and devastating. I'm looking forward to a much breezier (hopefully) Autumn. To send off the summer of '12, here's a suitably dreamy meditation on the season by long-gone early 70's Quebec psychedelic outfit Montreal. Stay cool, everybody. (K)