Thursday tracks: summer's gone, kids

Summer is firmly in the rear-view mirror, and to lament its passing I'd like to include a couple of bittersweet post-summer songs.

The first is from a Hamburg group called Saal 2. The title of this 1981 song, "Strandgefuehle" translates to something like "beach-feelings." You can listen to it here.

The second is called "Summer Girl" by the Summer Sounds.

Finally, and more recently, this is "Summer Dress" by the Red House Painters.

But do not wilt in the face of these wistful melodies -- there is hope. This Sunday, you can catch an exciting new duo called Slow Bros at McCoy's Public House in Westport. They're playing a show with the Denver Broncos (best band name of the century) at around 9:30. I mean, just look at these guys.

Song samples and more info at www.myspace.com/slowbros

Next time on lucubrations.net: gargoyles and dinosaurs in Kansas City

Brothers in Radio

Last Thursday I revisited the KJHK shack for the first time since my last radio show in July 2004.

It was great to be at the old shack, which is -- somewhat miraculously -- still standing. I mostly hung out outside, sitting on that blue plastic chair that always has some rainwater on the seat and listening to the broadcast on the small outdoor speaker.

DJ Tom K was also kind enough to let me contribute a few tunes to his show, a hodgepodge of psych, folk, krautrock and other good stuff, like this tune from D.R. Hooker. I snuck in a few songs like this one by Wimple Winch called "Lollipop Minds." Pretty vacuous stuff lyrically, but with a delightfully playful melody.

Tom's excellent program, "Fractal Ephemera," runs Thursday evenings at 8 on KJHK. Tom is also a fearsome Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly player, and his intense will to win has earned him the nickname "Monopolean" in local board-gaming circles.

It was fun to sneak back on the airwaves, and it made me think of all my good friends from KJ who have ventured on to various DJ projects across the globe...

Sam Hopkins aka DJ Balagan

Sam went on from being the World Music Director at KJHK to spinning records in locations from Baltimore to Brooklyn to the clubs of Tel-Aviv. He's got a new international mix called "Funny Accent" that I got to preview when he was in town. It's an hourlong mix full of great beats, unfamiliar instruments and voice samples of languages I can't begin to discern. One description of the Balagan sound, from the Baltimore CityPaper:

"Balagan creates mixes and tracks from samples and first-hand elements, borrowing styles into a musical pastiche that makes the foot tap while the brow furrows. International elements figure prominently, as the diverse melodies of field recordings mingle with modern beats to represent the United Nations of soul."

To hear some of Sam's beats, find the link to recent mixes and read some of his music writing, you can start at his myspace page and go from there. You can read about some of his travels and global investment advice at www.orbusinvestor.com.

Andrew Giessel

This is my friend Andrew Giessel. Most people just call him "Giessel." Recently Giessel got a tattoo of a sprouting wheat plant on his arm. His interests include fixed-gear bicycles and anything related to dendrites. He's a smart kid. Harvard smart. Giessel had a long-running show on KJ and these days he can be found DJing occasional sets at the Enormous Room in Cambridge. To stream some of his recent playlists, visit Giessel.com. Giessel, by the way, is also the person who set up this blog for me a few years ago.

Robert Wells

Robert Wells is one of my original Brothers in Radio. I used to stay up all the way to midnight (I know...can you believe it?) to listen to his show, the arrival of which could be signaled by the acapella melodies of Beach Boys' "Our Prayer." These days Robert does double duty in Ann Arbor and Detroit, spinning rare soul 45s under the "Ann Arbor Soul Club" banner.

News of Rob's Ann Arbor activities and a few sample cuts can be found here, or heard on the radio Wednesdays 11pm-1am on 88.3 wcbn fm Ann Arbor. If you don't live in the area, you can stream the show at www.wcbn.org.

(Oh, and Rob...you've still got to hook me up with one of those mix CDs. Pretty please.)

Jay Wells

Robert's brother and my radio show co-host back in the day, Jay is responsible for events such as The Parlance and Your Parents Got Breakbeats. More recently I've heard rumors of something called "Maximum Tight."

After a stint in Brooklyn and a couple of gigs back in his hometowns, Jay is currently spinning records in Chicago. Jay's introduced me to more great bands than just about anyone, and his infectious enthusiasm for Larry Coryell eventually drove me to travel all the way to Amsterdam to see the guitarist play.

Jay is pictured here on the right. On the left is DJ Cyrus, another KJ alum who finished out his career at the station by doing a 5-day straight broadcast -- eating in the studio, taking cat naps during long saxophone solos, doing whatever it took to complete the longest consecutive broadcast by any one DJ in that station's history. (I'm pretty sure)

Miles Bonny

An old friend of mine and one of the most prolific and likeable beat producers Kansas City has ever known. One half of hip-hop duo SoundsGood, Miles can be found DJing clubs around town, spinning R&B alternating Fridays at Spitfire and alternating Saturdays at his "FeelSexy" event at Bobby's Hangout.

His album "Smell Smoke" is available on iTunes now, and a new release called "Closer Love" will be out soon. You can hear some of Miles' music here and keep up on his many involvements in and updates about soul, r&b and hip-hop events/releases in KC. Or as he calls it, Cans Ass City.

SUPERWOLF

Not a personal friend of mine, though the records he plays are the kinds you fall in love with upon first listen. The Pitch did a good write-up of him here. He spins every Friday night at Chez's, which believe it or not used to be a pretty quiet place on weekends. It's more crowded and smokier now, but the sweet sounds are worth it.

I'll be adding links to these guys' (and a bunch of other peoples') music sites on the sidebar soon, so keep them in mind when you need some new beats in your life. Also, if you or someone you know got left off this list in error, drop me a line. Thanx.

Photo credits
Sam: modularmoods.com
Giessel: ghostdad
Rob: Pattay
Jay: Jennifer Brothers
Miles: also by Jenn
Superwolf: Anna-Marie Perry

KC Wolf, etc.

This photo by David Eulitt and article from Sunday's KC Star is one of the finest examples of sports journalism I've seen in some time. KC Wolf came to my grade school one year to speak out about the dangers of drugs and alcohol (at least I think so -- that's what most speakers in wolf suits came to talk to us about). It's good to know he can put his money where his muzzle is.

Most of you in town have probably already seen this, but for Chiefs fans abroad and my friends in countries where football means something entirely different, this should at least show you that "touchdownball" (as German sporting goods stores call it) can indeed be an fun, visceral fan experience. I am of course referring to the video of the Chiefs mascot taking down a drunken fan who ran out onto the field before being tackled by the 7 foot 2 wolf and a pair of security guards. Emboldened by the play, the Chiefs went on to win the game against the Minnesota Vikings, 13-10.

While I'm link farming, I might as well send you to a couple of other vids that show how interesting life can be in America. The first is another view of the Kerry speech in which a student was tazed. I know...I found the whole thing ridiculous and annoying, too, but this is a well-done spoof. The only thing that eclipses it in silliness is this short interview with a hippie filmed during anti-tazing protests at the Florida campus where the incident took place.

Enjoy, and look for a more traditional post soon.

Next time use the getaway bike!

According to this breaking news story from the KC Star, a couple was seriously injured after jumping off the Lewis & Clark Viaduct during a police chase. They apparently stole a car, drove it to the bridge under pursuit from the fuzz, and then jumped off. Unbeknownst to them, the perfect getaway vehicle was within reach. Just under the bridge they jumped off is a walkway overlooking the intersection of the Kansas and Missoura rivers.


At the beginning of the walkway is this fanciful bicycle, which looks like it is stuck to the gate, but will actually come free and travel unbelievably fast if you just say the magic word (Sacajawea). So if any of you are out committing felony theft in KCK and need a safer, more efficient escape route, you'll know what to do.

The Real Voice of Darth Vader

A few months ago I posted a link to the Vader Sessions, which I was obsessed with at the time, thanks in no small part to the accompanying Isaac Hayes fanfare. Here's another alternate glimpse at Vader vocals, this time featuring the original voice of Vader actor Dave Prowse. I wish the entire movie could be seen with this guy's speech parts, although that might get old.

More traditional bloggishness from me soon.

Friends who can write

Recently I've been made aware of the fact that there are other outlets for writing on the Internet besides personal blogs. These sites are called "Online publications," or sometimes, "Online magazines." A couple of particularly fine online rags called "McSweeneys" and "FailBetter" currently feature stories by a couple friends of mine, Jeremiah Tucker and Stevie Davis, respectively.

Jeremiah's story is something making fun of Thomas Kinkade. I don't understand exactly what's going on in the piece, which makes it perfectly at home for McSweeney's. Jeremiah also has a blog full of entertaining musical selections and writings, including this, his most heartbreaking post of the past year.

Stevie's story can be found at failbetter.com, just below the one about vibrators. According to the author bio provided by failbetter, Stevie is a firefighter from Topeka. I never knew.

So check these guys out, along with the sites that published them.

P.S. How about you? Anything you'd like to share with the humble but growing readership of lucubrations.net? I'd be happy to send the spotlight your way, even if it only has as much wattage as a keychain light.

I Think I'm Going To Be Okay

I've always known I was pretty, but this image -- taken from my rather exhaustive photoshoot yesterday in the bowels of KU Med Center's Westwood facility -- just proves I'm a real peach.

I was reporting to KU Med to just get a routine series of head-shots (some stuff for my new portfolio -- as many of you know I've been hoping to break into commercial work for some time now) but they wound up putting me in a machine, subjecting me to a series of noises in cramped quarters, giving me a shot of something called "a coloring agent" (though if you ask me my face make-up leaves a lot to be desired!) and then took five more minutes worth of pics.

Now I know headshots in this town are expensive, but you should have seen the sticker price on these! It was so bad I have to have my medical insurance help pay for this. Which just adds insult to injury, considering they came out so...so ghastly.

Actually, none of this is true, and this light-hearted joking about serious matters is probably not in good taste toward those unlucky enough to be suffering from real maladies requiring MRI scans. I was actually at KU Med to make sure there was no suspicious swelling, bleeding or other activity in my brain, which doctors thought might be possible given the past week of severe headaches I've experienced. Fortunately everything looks all right, and I feel a lot better.

Pretty, though, don't you think?

COORDINATES

After nearly a year of compiling and designing the place-themed magazine, Coordinates, limited amounts of the magazine are now available in stores such as City Lights in San Francisco, Quimby's in Chicago as well as a few places in LA, Virginia, Portland, etc.

About 30 people from everywhere from Ohio to Mongolia contributed photos, stories, poems and artwork, and Editor Jon Allen and friends did an excellent job of putting it all together. I've got a piece in the mag celebrating some of my own favorite spots, including Clinton Lake, the Vondelpark and abandoned missile silos of Kansas.

If you aren't in a position to snag one of the few remaining copies, you can download a PDF of Coordinates here. The regular PDF will bring it up in linear form, with the collated one available for anyone who wants to print it out and bind it. Jon says the next issue, which will be printed next summer, will have a theme of music/sound. If you're interested in contributing to future publications, just let me know and I'll give you more info.

Enjoy!

ABOUT THE COVER
The cover of "Coordinates" was cut from a 10' x 10' original mono print depicting synapses in the human brain by Janie Hammerschmidt (Lawrence, KS). There were 108 covers culled from the composition, each one being entirely unique. If all the covers were brought back to a single location, they could reform the original images depicted above. Once the covers were cut, Janie then letter pressed the title to each one using 48 pt. Bernhard Gothic, Light font.