Prior to the Awesome Show, Tim and Eric starred-in/created Tom Goes to the Mayor, another Adult Swim program that, unlike it’s follow-up, was primarily animated and much more story-based.  The limited animation style of TGTTM was created from highly expressive (both facially and bodily) still images -processed through photo-shop to resemble photocopies and making for incredibly jumpy transitional movements for the characters- to tell the stories.  The program, which evolved from a web series, had a very specific aesthetic of it’s own, while including random live action clips interspersed throughout it.  When the Awesome Show was created, it adopted some of those same live action characters (ie. married news team, Jan and Wayne Skylar).  It also brought with it some of the many co-stars/cameos that Heidecker and Wareheim had managed to work with on Tom Goes to the Mayor (Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifianakis, Jeff Goldblum, etc.).  With the shift into the more fragmented approach of the Awesome Show, an altogether new, yet equally distinct, aesthetic was created that came to define the duo.  Eschewing the static imagery and stiff facsimile look of the two-tone TOM for schizophrenic blips and the diced-up scattered imagery of their new program, the live action felt decidedly more “animated” and, for lack of a better word, psychedelic.  It was like laying half-chloroformed in a bin of mixed candy’s while a wall of televisions flipped through clips of Max Headroom, QVC, white noise, Univision, and Sid and Mary Krofft outtakes.  While TGTTM was like a pill high (or, low, rather), The Awesome Show was like floating out of an LSD or Molly trip, while spiking your high back up with OJ, wasabi, and a cocktail of  the shit that gets you crunk, but wasn’t necessarily created for that intended purpose (solvents, dramamine, nitrous, Robitussin).  The strychnine was dirty.  The cinematography often felt like a real life John Kricfalusi cartoon. This was a style that followed Wareheim into directorial work in videos for the likes of MGMT, The Bird and the Bee, Major Lazer, and Depeche Mode, as well as commercials for Old Spice.  They’ve done live tours and even some short films for HBO‘s Funny Or Die presents, but this week the comedy duo is attempting to translate their trademark tomfoolery onto the big screen (or small screen, depending) with a handful of somewhat unorthodox promotional methods.

THE FILM

Co-presented by Funny Or Die, Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie revolves around the concept that the stars were given one-billion dollars to make a film, but pretty much blow it all immediately and are then expected to repay what they’ve fizzled away.  From there, hijinks and comedy ensue.  Many Awesome Show pals and semi-regulars such as John C. Reilly, Zach Galifianakis, Jeff Goldblum, Will Forte, and Will Ferrell make appearances, along with the folks who’ve starred in memorable sketches/segments and earned most of their own recognizability through the Adult Swim program (James Quall, David Liebe Hart, and Palmer Scott).  Perhaps the most intriguing twists come with their consistent casting of historically more “stoic” or “serious” personalities like Robert Loggia (Scarface, Big), William Atherton (Ghostbusters, Die Hard), Costas Mandylor (Picket Fences, Mobsters), Ray Wise (Twin Peaks, 24), and even business tycoon/executive producer, Marc Cuban (Dallas Mavericks, Lionsgate ent., etc.).  There is even narration provided by Michael Gross of Family Ties fame.  Simply based on nothing other than the trailer alone, the film is unmistakably a Tim & Eric production, but, as stated before, it is intended to follow a somewhat cohesive storyline and veer away from their typically and disorientingly warped pacing, which is far less likely to work as effectively in a longer format.

THE PLEDGE

Tim and Eric have stated that, after 5 seasons in as many years, the Awesome Show is effectively over in it’s current form.  Just like their previous jump from Tom Goes to the Mayor, the guys are moving on to new projects with the hopes that they will be received as successfully as the one that they’re moving on from.  To ensure that help to insure that people support their newest venture, Heidecker and Wareheim have created a form that anyone can print out and sign, pledging that they will make the effort to go out and watch Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, among other things.

In a relatively short period of time, an impressive number of celebrities  (as well as us lesser, common-folk) have videotaped themselves signing the document.  Here are a few of the more notable uploads…

Elijah Wood

James Murphy

Aziz Ansari

Paul Rudd

Weird Al

More videos on the official BDMPLEDGE Youtube Page HERE.

SIGN THE PLEDGE!

Rango’ed

Over the last week or so, Heidecker and Wareheim premiered their decidedly “raunchy” Billion Dollar Movie at -of all places- The Sundance Film Festival in Utah.  Throughout the frenzy of publicity that occurs at the world famous “indie” film fest, the duo participated in more than a handful of interviews.  Most of the footage simply shows the guys toying with interviewers and/or pushing the idea of a conspiracy that their film was actually being re-edited by studio heads to incorporate outtakes from the animated Johnny Depp lizard/Western vehicle Rango and pleading for the fans to help petition against Sundance, begging the festival to hear their pleas and show the “original” pure and “un-Rango’ed” version.

Instead of promoting their film in the typical manner and allowing the interview to progress in the direction that the interview is likely hoping and prepared for(discussing the film, etc), this following interaction with In The Can demonstrates Tim and Eric redirecting the tone and subject in their own unique and expertly perfected manner.

[If you're short on time, but still into really awkward shit, jump ahead to view the 6:47 - 7:25 mark]

As their wolf cries about Rango continued, it was great to see people like Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development) jump in to perpetuate the absurdity.

Here’s a nicely polished and edited little video that shows a condensed 360 version of the entire Rango’ing saga.

THE RELEASE (Sundance, Theaters, On-Demand, & Youtube)

Not all of the press that Tim and Eric participated in at Sundance was focused on or redirected towards the propaganda about Rango.  In fact, some of the interviews actually showcase footage where the filmmakers are the most “out-of-character” than we’ve probably ever seen them.  One such interview with The Hollywood Reporter stays pretty much on topic throughout it’s majority, but they do make tongue in cheek references about people walking out of films.  For those of you who bother to watch until after the credits of the last “Rango Saga” video (@2:36 mark) you will see footage of Eric Wareheim claiming that he and his partner “killed Sundance” and that the movie was “a total hit“.  Whether that’s an accurate account of the film’s reception or not is subjective, but what we do know is that plenty of people got up ans simply walked out in the middle of the screenings.  [To be fair, it's not the only controversial movie that drove uncomfortable patrons from the theaters mid-screening; Rick Alverson's, The Comedian, a drama about aging uncouth hipster's -also starring Heidecker and featuring Wareheim, along with James Murphy of LCD Soundsytem and DFA Records- also proved to be incredibly polarizing.]

In an even more frank and straightforward interview with /FILM, they discuss how they didn’t bother to “cater” their work towards the Sundance “community” at all and make sure to stress that the film was intentionally created to be viewed on the big screen, implying that witnessing the full and varied audience interaction is part of the overall experience.  In that same interview, they further explain that their compromise with finding alternate methods of release outside of theaters came from an acknowledgement that, with the films limited theater release, many fans might be unable to view the film otherwise.  In fact, their Video On Demand release, which began yesterday (January 27th), arrives more than a full month before the March 2nd theatrical debut for the public.

Taking further advantage of what current technology has to offer, Tim and Eric have also made the film available for advanced screening on Youtube.  You may have noticed, through accidental clicks or otherwise, that Youtube has added the option to rent feature length films on the site. No?  Yes?  Well, they have and the Billion Dollar Movie is one such movie that is currently available.  This evens the playing field further, for those who do not have access to On demand through their televisions.  Here… I’ll let the creators sell you the idea themselves.

If you still haven’t caught on yet, you’re being bamboozled with the stalling youtube video above; it’s all chicanery and Hollywood magic.  It’s a parody y’all… shenanigans.  But seriously folks… if you want to rent it on youtube, you can do so through HERE.

To visit the official Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie website, CLICK HERE.

If you’ve made it through this entire post (videos included), great job!

Marc Maron

Neptune Theatre

Seattle, WA

11.25.11

So you’re probably thinking, “Jesus Christ, Devon. What the fuck?  This goddamn show was, like, two months ago. What the hell took so long?”  I know.  I understand.  I’m a little upset about it all myself.  But here’s the thing, see… it’s Marc Maron.  I love the guy, I really do, but sometimes he can be a little rough for me.  Not him or his material per se, but the thing is that, when I talk about Marc Maron, or when I think about Marc Maron, I can’t help but think about myself.  I can’t help but think about how I think about myself, how much I do, and why and when.  Once I start getting into self-examination like that, well, it can get a little overwhelming, and it can get a little paralyzing.  But at the end of it all, it’s why I love Marc Maron.  It’s why I’ve listened to all two-hundred forty-something episodes of his podcast.  It’s why I bought all four of his stand-up records, and why I’ve read his book more than once.  It’s why I snagged a ticket to 2010’s Bumbershoot festival, just so that I could see a live taping of his podcast.  It’s all because I know that I should look inside myself – I want to and I feel like I’m ready to- and it’s not something that I was ever compelled to do before I got into this one stand-up comedian.

Marc Maron has been doing stand-up for over twenty-five years.  He’s been on my radar since junior high, back when I’d come home from school and watch whatever was on the then-nascent Comedy Central.  Every day I’d listen to In Utero, drink Dr. Pepper, and watch clips of stand-up comedians on Stand-Up Stand-Up and Short Attention Span Theater, a clip-show that Maron briefly hosted in the early ‘90s.  For years after that, I’d occasionally flip by Marc Maron’s half-hour Comedy Central specials on television, and his name always popped up in conversations I’d have with my other comedy-nerd friends – one of whom would make a point to see him on his unbelievably frequent appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (the comedian has performed over forty times on the show).  Marc co-hosted Morning Sedition on the defunct left-wing talk-radio station Air America and I can still remember a close friend telling me that the only way that he could listen to the show was to get up in the middle of the night and stream the East-Coast feed over the internet.  It was something he did as often as he could.

When he was coming up in the 80s and 90s, Marc was part of the Alternative Comedy movement.  His shtick wasn’t about sport coats or “Do you ever notice?” Seinfeldian musings.  Maron turned his comedy inward.  He was unique because when he got up on stage he talked about things that happened in his life; the same painful and self-critical things that exist in your own life, but that you probably didn’t even talk about with your own friends.  It could get a little uncomfortable now and again, but it was always smart and always personal, even if it did hit upon rage and regret.  The genius of all of it was that it wasn’t until the bits ended that you realized they were bits in the first place.  They weren’t just stories or confessions like you thought, but they actually had structure and they actually had beats and punchlines, subtle though they were.  Nothing seemed forced or egregious, it just seemed natural and intimate.  You laughed because you “got it.”  Maybe you were the same way.  Maybe you yelled at someone like that or maybe you doubted yourself the same way.  Maybe those same voices in your head tore you down the same way that they did Maron.  Marc’s honesty onstage was what drew you to him, and it’s something that you had to be ready for.

During the late 2000s, Marc Maron was at a crossroads.  It’s something that he’s often talked about in interviews and on podcasts, but to put it bluntly, his career was at a standstill.  The radio gigs were up.  The clubs were half-full.  He’d been doing this for how long?  He was how old?  His 2009 double-disc album, Final Engagement (recorded in Seattle at the “renowned” Giggles comedy club) isn’t necessarily a depressing experience, but it most definitely isn’t an uplifting one.  The comic veteran’s exasperation and frustration is on full display – he opens the record by referring to himself as a “marginalized act” and goes onto voice every concern about his future and faltering career to the audience.  He says that people leave his shows saying one of two things: either, “That guy’s hilarious” or “I hope he’s okay.”  It’s clear that something had to happen, and that something turned out to be WTF.

WTF is Marc Maron’s podcast, one that he started in September 2009.  It’s early days were like this: Marc and a comedian friend sat down and talked for an hour.  That was it.  It started with some rants from the host talking into a microphone about his day, his insecurities, and his rage.  From there he would swap road stories and career tales with a fellow comedian – maybe someone like Dave Attell or Kyle Kinane.  I first heard about WTF a few months after it hit iTunes.  I’d been heavily into podcasts for a few years and I was definitely interested in something new, especially something with comedians riffing and complaining.  There were three months of WTF episodes available in the iTunes store and, as soon as I listened to Episode One, I knew that I’d found something goooood.  It was like I’d suddenly stumbled onto a new group of friends; a group of clever guys reminiscing about their careers and deconstructing the art of stand-up comedy.  I felt like I had a real connection with Maron, something that I hadn’t really felt throughout all of that time that I’d been watching him on television.  On the podcast, he was even more open about his own life, so much so that it made me feel like I should be too.  I could relate.  He made me – just some chump listener – feel like he was a friend.  I couldn’t stop smiling when he talked about something mundane, like how upset and embarrassed he was after he bought those boots that didn’t fit and then, how he felt like they were forever taunting him from the closet.  I’d felt the same way about a handful of awful shirts that hung in my own closet.  When he talked about loneliness with another stand-up I felt a certain kinship because I had those exact feelings too.  And, even while I couldn’t relate to his stories about blowing up at a colleague or being a callow youth, there was an energy and a confidence in his voice during every story that made me feel like it was alright to open up about your mistakes and missteps.  Sometimes Maron and his guest would get on a jag laughing about ‘80s stand-ups that I remembered watching on Comic Strip Live and I ached to be part of the conversation.  During his on-air eulogy for Greg Giraldo – a stand-up who died of a prescription drug overdose in September 2010 - I heard Marc’s heartfelt sobbing and hurt and I nearly broke down myself.  Months later, when comedian Greg Fitzsimmons was a guest, I came close to tears again; only this time it was because of how infectious and joyful it was to hear two friends – two guys who had come up together in the Boston comedy scene, decades ago – joke, laugh, and rib each other the same way that we all do with every one of our close friends.  The purity and sincerity was undeniable and it was made all the more poignant because it felt like an ordinary green room hang-out session and not an episode of one of the number one-rated podcasts on iTunes.

So, anyway… now Marc was coming to the Neptune Theater.  I knew that I’d be there.  I couldn’t not be.  But, as excited as I was for the show and to see one of the few comedians that I felt like I understood and related to, I was nervous.  This was partly because it was Marc’s first solo theater show – his first time out of the clubs – and I felt a little nervous the way that you would for any friend who’s taking a big step forward.  But mostly, I was worried, because I knew that I’d be in the Neptune alongside hundreds of people who felt the same way about Marc that I did.  Hundreds of us would be sitting side-by-side and it scared me to think that this very show could mean the end of the illusion that I, and I alone, had a truly personal connection to Marc Maron.  It scared me a little to think that Maron wouldn’t be mine.

I worried about who would be there and how this would affect my enjoyment of the show.  I had seen Marc Maron perform at a suburban comedy club about a year earlier.  There was a two-drink minimum and the feature act was a middle-aged Texan woman who did thirty minutes about how her boobs sagged and how her teenage daughter had a nose ring.  What I remember the most about that night wasn’t so much that I sat at the lip of the stage or that Maron looked me right in the eye as he ranted about his notebooks and his cats, but that the crowd wasn’t “hip.”  I remember looking around the club and noticing how many people – middle-aged and “regular” people – came out, not because they wanted to see “Marc Maron,” but because they wanted to see “comedy.”  It fell on a Friday night and it was just something to do.

But now, I thought, we were just one year later and within that time WTF had exploded.  Marc had been profiled in the New York Times and the Onion AV Club.  His show had pulled high profile guests like Gallagher (who stormed off the show) and Robin Williams, Ira Glass and Brian Cranston.  And we were in Seattle.  Would there be a theater full of mustaches and skinny jeans?  I was nervous that the person sitting next to me, the person sitting behind me, and the people sitting seven rows back would all be WTF-ers too, that they’d too know every detail about Maron’s life and had brought cookies and clever t-shirts for him.  Most importantly, I was worried that there might be a collective sense of over-enthusiasm at this show and that it would weaken the connection that I felt I had with Marc, that I would be forced to confront the fact that I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

Before the show, I wondered what it  was that Marc would talk about.  Would he have a new act?  How new?  How much would I know from the podcast?  He just tweeted about shaving his mustache, I wondered if he’d have facial hair.  I wondered if his girlfriend was there.  I wondered if he’d talk about his cats Boomer or LaFawnda.  I thought about that story that I’d recently heard on WTF about the raccoon that died under his house and whether or not that would turn out to be part of his act.  I started feeling like I knew too much about Marc Maron.

At 9:30 it was time.  We’d already heard a little AC/DC canned music pumped over the speakers and we’d seen the opening act.  This was it.  Maron walked out onstage.  He wore black boots and had a 5 o’clock shadow.  The facial hair was on its way back.  He wore a blazer.  He wore Levi’s.  They were just like mine.

He opened his set by talking about the poster advertising this show.  It was an homage to a famous Lenny Bruce poster, from when the legendary comedian had performed at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium.  Maron stood onstage comedy-nerding out about it, how flattered he was that someone had put him in such company, and also about how scared he now was that he’d have to try and live up to that mythology and legacy.  Marc segued into a line about his own relationship with his audience and how his tendency is to harangue everyone in some sort of unconscious effort to push them away, pull them back, and then push them away again.

Maron talked about the Occupy Wall Street movement and read a snarky and accusatory email that he sent to his cousin, a high-class stockbroker that he hadn’t seen since they were adolescents, jamming on a Rolling Stones tune in a relative’s basement.  Marc talked about his girlfriend and, in what was probably the most telling moment of this evening, he didn’t say, “My girlfriend and I” but rather, “Jessica and I.”  He stood on stage, called her by name, and immediately followed that with an acknowledgement that, yeah… we all knew who “Jessica” was.  We knew all about her and their relationship from the podcast.  It was that one tossed-off line, “You all know Jessica” that meant a lot to me and seemed to sum up, not only the entire evening, but also where Maron is right now in his career and in his life.  It was right then that everyone in the theater unconsciously realized that, when it came to Marc Maron (and especially to the post-WTF Marc Maron) that we all had a relationship with one other and with the man with the microphone standing before us.  Even if we’d never met, we were somehow still pretend-friends.  It was almost as if this one phrase had let us all know that there was no longer the same fourth-wall barrier between performer and fan.  We all agreed, in one way or another, that we were there because we had something in common and because we had this weird affection for and intimacy with one another.  Maron recognized this and it was at that moment that I realized that there really was unique energy and comfort in the air.

Most of the other bits I knew from the podcasts, and some I recalled from previous performances or from Maron’s most recent album, 2011’s This Has to Be Funny (recently named Record of the Year by Laughspin.com), but it was never a let-down or a retread to hear them again.  In fact, it was even more interesting to see these routines onstage.  On the podcast they were stories, but in seeing and hearing them told again to a sold-out audience, you couldn’t help but notice how they had progressed into becoming fully-formed pieces of his routine.  I think that we’d all come to this show because we were comedy nerds, and because we loved the craft and the craftsman.  Seeing Maron trim the fat off of the stories that I’d already heard (and that nearly all of us had already heard) about his near-death experience on an airplane or about masturbating in his hotel room was fascinating because I knew that he would do those same routines at every show – maybe up to 6 times in a weekend – and that each time it would sound the same and each time it would feel the same to everyone in the audience.  And, by saying it would feel the same, I mean that it would sound like the story was that spontaneous every time, and that it was new and exciting.  When Maron joked about how he thought that he honestly might die when his plane hit that turbulent patch and about how his moments in his life flashed before his eyes, he spoke in a way that had all of the energy of something that only happened yesterday, instead of months ago.  It’s all so natural and yet, we all knew that it was practiced and refined.  It was all incredible to watch, because it showed me his growth as an artist and a performer.  Maron suddenly seemed like more than just a comedian, he was a bonafide storyteller and monologist.  Even in the space of one year, from the time I’d seen him perform at that suburban club last February, I could see how much better he was, even at just talking.  He was comfortable and engaging in a way that he hadn’t been before.  He wasn’t a man trying to win anyone over or take control; he was a man holding court over a group of friends and acquaintances.

Throughout his set, Marc worked through a bunch of his new material.  He’d occasionally pull out a scratchpad that he’d penciled-up backstage and talked through what new bits he liked.  He tried out something about how he was trying to work out a bit about heel inserts.  He continued this way, talking through thoughts that he’d had and notes he’d scribbled on a napkin.  He talked about how ridiculous it was that he’d decided to vacation in Seattle in November.  He hit upon some standard Seattle tropes like coffee and rain.  He affectionately called us “wine-drunk Earth-nerds” and lampooned our aversion to umbrellas.  The comedian talked about his Thanksgiving dinner at a vegetarian restaurant (“Nothing is more exclusionary than large groups of people having a good time”) and his trip to the EMP rock and roll/science fiction museum (where all he could think was, “What is this place? A room of Kurt Cobain, a room of Jimi Hendrix, and then whatever the hell else we could think of? A room about Avatar? Sure! Why not?”).  He launched into something he calls his “honest mic check,” a routine where he alternates, “Check…check..one…two” with lines like, “I disappointed my parents” and “Bad career choice, dreams fading.”

Somewhere around halfway through the evening, Maron began to do some of his older stand-up material. He even introduced these old bits by saying, “I like to do some of my older material at these shows, because a lot of people just know me from What the Fuck.”  This was honestly some of my favorite material from the set, and not because it was necessarily better or more touching, but because they were all moments when I could truly see Maron act and perform.  They were more practiced and a little more conventional than the material that had popped up earlier in his set.  He’d been doing some of them for years but, instead of being stale, they were infused with an enthusiasm that came from his excitement about recreating his former self.  His stories about his drug addiction turning into ice cream addiction, or about being put in the outfield during Little League weren’t just routines tailor-made for theater-sized crowds, or routines that were hilarious regardless of how funny you found Marc Maron (or if you found him funny at all).  They were routines that harkened back to the angry, pacing Marc of yesteryear, rather than the -as he put it- more contemplative and sedentary Marc that we knew today.  Seeing him exaggerate and pace the stage like his younger self and watching him gesticulate and raise his voice gave me an entirely new appreciation for him as an artist and I respected it, both as a performance, in and of itself, and because it showed me a sense of Maron’s own self-reflection and the growing sense that he had about his own legacy and individual place in comedy.

He brought up Jessica again and discussed the details about when and how they first met (again referencing, with a smile, how he was sure that we all knew the story already).  He explained how she was a fan who hooked up with him at a Portland comedy festival and, not long thereafter, moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles (but, “Don’t worry,” she said, “I’m not a stalker”).  From there, he detailed their tumultuous courtship, how his Blackberry would get alternate picture messages from Jessica (of her vagina) and then from his carpenter (of a custom-made bookcase).  “And I gotta be honest, I was a little more excited about the bookcase.  I’m not afraid to put things in that.”  Maron closed out the bit by talking about a particularly gnarly screaming match that they’d had, in which a frightened neighbor had come to the door and pleaded with them to stop arguing.  It was that night when they first said “I love you.”

But in spite of everything that I’ve written here, in spite of the times that I used the words “rage” or “anger,” I really want to emphasize that Marc Maron never got truly dark or truly angry.  The descriptors of those emotions came through as parts of his stories and as major themes of his act, but real and true misery never once came through in his attitude or mannerisms.  Throughout the evening there was never anything but a feeling of warmth and togetherness, both in the crowd and onstage.  It seemed like even when what I was hearing were stories about shouting at girlfriends, having no one to turn to, or being forty-four years old and still jerking off in the living room, the way in which I heard them was one in which there was still hope and where things would always get better.  Marc Maron’s tone suggested that while it’s true that we can all become angry and insecure, life really isn’t much more than a comedy of errors and maybe if we take a chance and lay everything on everyone all the time we might just get some love back.  Maybe we’ll find ourselves with the love and respect that we always wanted.  It’s worked for him and it’s what we experienced there that night.  Marc Maron is just like every one of us that was there in the audience, even when there are times that we don’t want to admit it to ourselves.  We’re all prone to frustration, anger, and insecurity, and seeing Maron transform those feelings into something and to come out the other side was both refreshing and inspiring.  I didn’t come to see him for an escape, I came because I wanted to learn something about myself and I wanted to grow as a man and as a human being.  I came because I wanted to laugh at the joy that I’m connected to someone else and, on that night, connected to everyone else.  As much as we know that each of our internal monologues are idiosyncratic and unique, there’s a whole lot of people out there who are just like us and, on that night, I felt like we were all together and that we needn’t worry because, as long as we keep at it, we just might get it all under control.

[CLICK HERE to jump directly to giveaway]

Back in the early 2000s, I lived in Olympia, Wa and there was a lot of DIY music and media production happening in the small college town.  People were mixing albums in their basements, silk-screening posters and T-shirts in their kitchens, and using DV, High-8, and/or Super-8 cameras to record short films in dusty fields and damp alley ways.  My friend Mac Dawg was taking advantage of the fact that we had a local public access station to create his own programs.  His original idea was to film a fictional, biopic-style sitcom based around Kurt Cobain in the 80s, referencing his tenure as an Olympia resident.  Being a Jewish Puerto Rican in his early twenties who had dread locks and mutton chops at the time, he came to the conclusion that I would be the perfect person to star as the dead, blonde, white grunge-rock icon in the re-imagining.  The project never actually came to fruition, but, during a random house party at Mac Dawg‘s house, I came up with my own idea for another program by the name of “TANGENT.”  The basic premise was that I would have guests on, like an informal talk show, and then just consistently shift the topic on them.  [I only have brief glimpses of memory pertaining to coming up with the idea... I was really drunk.]  One morning Mac Dawg wakes me up with a phone call and asks if I’m ready to do the show.  “What show?” I asked.  I thought that he might be referring to the Cobain thing again.  He explained that it was my idea and that I should get ready, because he was planning to film it that morning.  I threw on a slim, denim 1970s pantsuit (just vest and pants) and a large plastic dollar sign necklace, bought a case of OLY stubbies and came up with/scribbled down some topic ideas onto a piece of scrap paper during the ride over to his basement, where the video equipment was set up.  Between being awaken to sitting in the basement getting miked, it was probably 1/2 hour total.  It was about 9am, I had taken down enough alcohol to get rolling and we went from there.  There was no real podcasting back then and there was no Youtube whatsoever.  There was no real direction for the program either and, although I’d like to believe that it had it’s moments, there was a decent amount of aimlessness involved.  I imagine that doing an improvised standup routine must be similar to trying to carry an unscripted program and helping it to remain interesting; it can get awkward quicker than you may think.  If I we could have harnessed those select moments, expanded them, and worked tirelessly on them for years, I could still only have hoped to yield something half as effortlessly smooth and entertaining as the podcast, “Uhh Yeah Dude.”

Tangent only made it to about 5… possibly, 6 episodes (for good reason).  UYD, on the other hand, just clocked in their 300th episode, since their 2006 inception, just last week.  With no particular frills, regularly scheduled celebrity guests, or even a consistently designated theme, the staying power of the program rests solely on the shoulders of its two co-hosts, their abilities to expand upon and quickly interject life into whatever topics that they do find themselves on, and their undeniable rapport with each other.  Visually somewhat of an odd couple, Jonathan “JAH” Larroquette is a bearded, cigarette-smoking, longhaired, vegan that generally remains seated while sporting either worn-in T-shirts or tanktops, while Seth Romatelli is a clean-shaven character with a finely coiffed do (rockabilly light?) consistently standing and/or moving about in, typically Western-cut, collared button-ups.  If Larroquette‘s name sounds familiar, it’s because he is, in fact, the son of Emmy award-winning actor, John “Dan ‘Reinhold‘ Fielding” Larroquette (Night Court).  He is also 1/2 of the electronic duo JOGGER that was signed to Daedelus‘ Magical Properties label, released an album back in 1999, and went on the Magical Properties tour with the electronic pioneer/label-head and Nosaj Thing back in 2010 (a tour that his dad tweeted about accompanying him on).  If Romatelli‘s name sounds familiar, it’s probably because you are already aware of the Uhh Yeah Dude podcast.  Either that, or you might be a huge fan of his bit part as a “talent organzier” in the Britney Spears vehicle Crossroads (2001) or as an obsessed celebrity memorabilia collector in the Hallmark made-for-tv movie, McBride: Anybody Here Murder Marty? (2005), starring his co-podcaster’s father a year before their hour-long web series was ever launched.  Whether it’s John‘s dad or Seth‘s appearance in a shitty teen film, neither Larrouquette or Romatelli shy away from their history, but that’s clearly not the basis of the program at all and, at the most, those topics might very rarely surface in the midst of their continuous banter.  What really carries the show are the hosts’ unrestrained social commentaries and back-and-forth between each other.  I haven’t listened to that many pod casts in general, but I have always gotten the impression that they were hosted by “experts” in one field or another, or that “experts” were often brought in to weigh in on some subject matter.  What’s great about UYD is that these guys don’t really claim to be experts in anything.  What they do, however, is make their listeners want to be involved in the topics themselves and, regardless of how absurd or trivial the topics may technically be, they definitely get the mental cogs churning and explore some visually descriptive avenues while they explore them.

Here’s a bit of a breakdown on the podcast and it’s success, via the press release:

Described as “A weekly roundup of America through the eyes of two American-Americans”, Uhh Yeah Dude (UYD) is available free via the Apple iTunes store.

Uhh Yeah Dude is a comedy podcast containing discussion and free-form comedy by host Seth Romatelli and co-host Jonathan Larroquette. Episode 1 of Uhh Yeah Dude first aired on February 11, 2006 and quickly gained a world-wide fanbase.

UYD is consistently ranked within the top 10 of Podcast Alley’s 3,000+ comedy podcasts. Additionally, Podcast Alley monthly ratings for almost 50,000 podcasts often rank UYD in the top 100 podcasts worldwide in all podcast categories. Since the summer of 2008, UYD has held a coveted spot on the front page of iTunes’ featured podcasts, where they are consistently in the top 50 iTunes comedy podcasts. Uhh Yeah Dude is recorded weekly and a new episode is available on iTunes every Sunday.

The show has utilized the video format several times. The first, and most famous, was when the duo recorded their 100th episode and posted it as a video podcast. Since then, UYD has engaged more professional video help and posted high-quality video clips of their show on YouTube.

Considering that the best way to really get a grasp on what UYD is all about would be to experience it, we’ve included a few of the aforementioned YouTube video here for your viewing pleasure.  In these following clips they tackle such serious issues as…

DRUGS:

Click here to view the embedded video.

PARENTING:

Click here to view the embedded video.

and…

PARENTING with Drugs:

Click here to view the embedded video.

You’ve likely noticed that some of these clips were filmed in front live studio audiences.  That’s because, occasionally, UYD will go out and do live tapings of their podcasts in venues around the country.  On Friday, January 13th the guys will being make one such appearance at the Neptune Theatre here in Seattle.  Coincidentally, Friday the 13th was one of the topics on their recent 300th episode.  Also, somewhat coincidentally (but not really, because that’s what this post is created for), our friends at the Seattle Theatre Group provided us with a pair of tickets to give away to one of yooz lucky jerk awffs.

Tickets can be purchased for the event HERE

Earlier this month we posted an interview with San Francisco-based artist, Serge Gay Jr. Those who read it and/or already know about Serge should also be familiar with the fact that, beyond being a growing force in the fine art world, he was also recently nominated for a Grammy for the artwork that he provided for Cee-Lo Green‘s “Fuck You” video.  Last week, we also posted some preview images for the upcoming Spoke Art event “Quentin vs. Coen – An art show tribute to the films of Tarantino and the Brothers”, wherein we premiered Serge‘s contribution, “Furious Anger” (above left), which the painter created in homage to the film Pulp Fiction.  The beautifully crafted image was an instant standout and includes such “subtle” imagery as a bag of smack, a pocket watch, and a gimp mask.  We immediately had to wonder if it would be released as a signed, limited edition Giclee print, just like his Life Aquatic-inspired print, “LIFE“, from last year’s Bad Dad‘s exhibit.  The answer to that question is a resounding “YES“.  In fact, with the recent re-opening of his online store, Serge is not only offering the limited edition print RIGHT NOW -almost 3 full weeks before the launch of the exhibit that it was created for- but he also has some great original pieces available for some absurdly low prices.

HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF WHAT HE CURRENTLY HAS AVAILABLE…

“Furious Anger” – {BUY}

$75.00

“Life”- {BUY}

$75.00

If you consider yourself an avid fan of the New Hope, Pennsylvania 5-piece known as WEEN, then chances are that you have already heard something about their recent, and now infamous, performance at Vancouver, BC’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Monday Jan. 24th.  The moment the show let out, tales of Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman being “too fucked up” and/or losing his shit began to weigh down the WEEN forum and flood their official Facebook page.  It’s been described with such terms as “meltdown” and “collapse“.  There are mixed feelings about what occurred that night.  Some people were pissed off, while others have stated that they had a great time, but very few would disagree that some sort of spectacle took place.  Claims came in about how the frontman had problems with tuning, or rather constantly re-tuning, his guitar throughout the evening.  Random audience footage taken from the back of the crowd appeared to display Freeman laying on his back, at some point, and kicking his legs in the air.  I read a lot of comments regarding the show taking a downhill plunge around the song “ReggaeJunkieJew“.  One of the first things to be consistently confirmed was that, for the last half hour or so, Gener was on stage performing solo, after his frustrated cohorts eventually had enough and left him out there to fend for himself.  The screwy part is that, if all of this was true, the band had still performed a full 20 songs before they began to walk off the stage and “ReggaeJunkieJew” was already the 17th track on the setlist.  From then on, Gene took on 5 songs all by, or mostly all by, himself.  I don’t hear of too many bands knocking out that much material, even on their best nights.  So what the fuck is the problem, really?  Are the WEEN “fans” that attended the Vancouver show too whiny?  The band did leave him out there all alone; was it really that big of a irreparable disaster?  Has this group grown so large over the past decade that too many of the folks that go to their shows these days don’t really even “get it”?  It was just a fucking concert, so does it really even matter?  One thing’s for sure, those of us who weren’t in attendance can’t very well rely on the opinions of those staining the internet with their opinions.  Fortunately for us, someone had enough sense to record some up-close footage of the entire evening and afford us the ability to make our own assessments.  Hopefully, after this, everyone can move on and finally leave all of the excessive complaints, reiterations, and drama behind them.

We had already heard warnings about the possibility for this tour to encounter some shaky moments.  Two years ago, there was a lot of concerns about Gene putting on too much weight, but, since their Halloween show in Denver, all that I’ve heard about was how he has lost way too much of it in way too little time.  Is he puffing a ton of rock or shooting up smack?  Who knows, but, whether or not Freeman is actually suffering from a severe addiction right now doesn’t seem to compare to the addictions that people have for speculating about it.

The following grab from his Twitter account didn’t do much to help stifle any rumors, either…

That last tweet about being in rm “911” provides the number for the Paramount Hotel in Seattle and was posted just one day prior to the Vancouver performance.  As of yesterday, Freeman‘s Twitter account has been disabled, along with his Facebook page.  My guess would be that this is most likely due to getting an influx of messages and comments from people who feel like they have the right to contact him directly and go off about their personal feelings regarding his show in Vancouver.  If that’s true, I don’t blame him in the slightest for closing down those accounts.  After that Vancouver kick off date, WEEN went on to complete the rest of their West Coast tour with one impressive performance after the other, proving that any assumptions that the BC show may have marked “the end of WEEN” were made ridiculously premature.  So why are some people still using the WEEN Facebook page and other forums to rant about a show that happened a week ago?  Even after demonstrating, show after show, that they had pulled it together and that Vancouver was a one-off mishap, at worst, people continued to warn and beg Gener to get his “shit together” and not “fuck up” the shows each night in their respective city.  There were a handful of comments embracing the group and showing genuine concern for Freeman‘s well-being, but the overwhelming, lop-sided majority seemed to come from tactless concert goers publicly casting stones and demanding refunds.  Obviously, the best way to get an actual refund isn’t through foul complaints on a Facebook wall, but… social networking is really more about chiming in, forcing others to read your opinions, and instigating conflict anyway.

One of the most ridiculously misguided comments that I read came from a posting on the WEEN forum with the heading  “i walked out of a ween show“.

“i fell to a puddle of tears on the stairs in the lobby of the queen e theatre. i still cant believe it. how could they do this to me. i always stuck up for this band, gene just was totally loaded. im so heart broken. how could they do this to me?…“

The Facebook wall contained a handful of other statements, regarding people being disappointed after taking their young teenage children to their first show, only to have them witness what they considered to be a musical trainwreck.  Personally, I don’t fucking get it.  It’s not like these people were attending a Backstreet Boys performance; it’s a WEEN show goddammit!  For anyone that believes that I am only being so cavalier about my views, because I wasn’t one of the people who “lost” money on the show, I think we should really breakdown what these people are really saying and what they are really complaining about.

“I took my 14 year old daughter to see a show by MY favorite band, hoping that they’d play classic tunes like ‘Let Me Lick Your Pussy,’  ‘Flies on My Dick,’ ‘She Fucks Me‘, The H.I.V. Song,’ and ‘Touch My Tooter‘ but they were so unprofessional!  Now I’m gonna have to take my kids to see a band that they actually wanted to see to make up for this!“

Or maybe…

“Im not some fly-by-night fan!  I’ve loved WEEN ever since they created that lo-fi 4-track album where they huffed a rape-load of scotch guard and recorded fabricated reennactments of themselves ordering food at a taqueria.  I can’t believe that Gener got so fucking high and ruined everything!  And the worst part is, they didn’t even play ‘Zoloft,’ or ‘Put the Coke on My Dick‘!“

Yeah, it’s all a bit ridiculous, but, like I said, you can make your own determinations.  Some sketchy footage from the show was uploaded to the web immediately, but it wasn’t until the last couple of days that some higher quality and more revealing video began rolling in.  Someone going by the user name “lickingthepalm4guava” (a song title from the album GodWeenSatan: The Oneness) has uploaded the entire performance and seems to have created the Youtube account strictly for that purpose.  In fact, the backdrop image of their personal Youtube channel is a copy of the Vancouver concert poster by Jermaine Rogers.

I’ve watched the footage and, although there are plenty of moments where Gener‘s “condition” is affecting the performance, I feel that the story that everyone was able to take away from the show, had to have been worth the admission price.  Hell, I’m watching it without being “forced” to sit through anything and I’m sure that it will be getting plenty of views.  If you do feel that you are entitled to a refund, however, that is also understandable, but you should probably be directing those requests to the venue and/or management, instead of trying to convince those who aren’t super pissed off about the show that they should be.  For everyone who still wants to see what really went down, we’ve posted video and a breakdown from some of the key moments below.  To watch the footage in it’s entirety, visit lickingthepalm4guava‘s Youtube channel HERE.

THE VIDEO

The first clip is from the very beginning of the show, during the lead off track “Fiesta“.  Before they begin you will hear Freeman address the audience by letting them know that it will be a “very special show tonight.“  Besides the cryptic foreshadowing, this clip is also important because it addresses the contradictory statements about WEEN making it through 2 solid hours before any problems arose, versus the claims that the whole entire show was trash.  Most people still seem to believe that the rest of the band was on point throughout, but this footage does clearly show that Gene was having a bit of difficulty playing the tambourine at the jump off.  Furthermore, if Freeman‘s abilities were primarily impaired by some form of hard drug like cocaine or heroin, it doesn’t seem to coincide with the idea that his full-on descension didn’t really kick in until about 2 hrs deep into the set.  As you will soon see, the culprit looks as if it could possibly be something hallucinogenic, from the beginning, and a lot more like something hallucinogenic, as the show continues.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This track was followed up with a 7 plus minute version of “Take Me Away“, with jams that seemed so trippy that they were beginning to suck the singer in with them.  During that song the vocals are often inaudible and you can hear someone next to the camera screaming, “Gener!  I can’t hear you!“  They run through “Mr. Richard Smoker” and “Transdermal Celebration“, with Gene showing some signs of disorientation.  However, as they follow it up with “Mister Will You Please Help My Pony?” and especially, “Gabrielle“, he seems to really be finding his footing.  Plus, as usual, Dean is tearing the shit out of his solos.  Gene doesn’t pick up a guitar until the next song, “Piss Up A Rope“, where he’s still tuning it after the song’s already begun.  He mostly just holds it, while singing, and only employs very minimal and occasional strumming.  When it ends, he immediately begins playing “Tender Situation” and it actually turns out really great, with Gene pulling off some solid guitar work of his own.  When they do “Learning to Live” next, problems start to become a little more obvious.  Once the song ends and the music starts, Freeman continues to slur out one more final verse, unaccompanied by any music.  For “Bananas and Blow” he squeaks in late with a couple of off guitar notes, eventually returning the majority of focus towards the vocals.  Again Deaner pulls the song together with more tricky guitar work.  “Buckingham Green” goes over really nicely and sounds beautiful.  Glenn‘s electronics and keyboard work are right on and Claude continues to beat the shit out of his kit, as he has been doing throughout.

So… up until this point, some songs have worked better than others, which is to be expected.  The difference from any other show is that if it’s a song that really sucks Gener in, he appears to give it everything he’s got and, if not, they seem a little more difficult than usual for him to line himself up with.  All in all, I still would have went to this show happily and, even if Freeman wasn’t consistently at the top of his game, there are still some great moments.  But, the real reason for this post is to damper the speculation and to show the footage relating to what all of the commotion has been about.

Gener‘s facial expressions and vocal delivery are always a little exaggerated, but I’ve never seen him sit down on the stage like he does in the following video of “Mutilated Lips“.  Here’s when things really seem to take a turn for the weird.

Click here to view the embedded video.

While Gene retunes his guitar, yet again, Mickey (Dean Ween) quickly organizes the rest of the group into performing his track “My Own Bare Hands“.  Although Gene didn’t really play his guitar during the song, he starts the next one off by tuning it all over again.  He walks around the stage a bit and doesn’t start singing the lyrics for “Spinal Meningitis” until almost 2 minutes into the set up.  It’s hard to argue that there weren’t issues with this one falling apart.  Cues are missed, Claude drops a stick, etc.  In all honesty, I’m not completely convinced that they aren’t all a little wasted.  The main questions are about to what degree and how well they can still perform, individually, while fucked up.  After all, being in the backdrop makes things a little more forgiving than standing center stage with a spotlight in your face.

“Your Party” goes well enough.  “Let’s Dance” is quite a bit more rough.  As many have stated, the real shit starts going down when they try to play “ReggaeJunkieJew“.  Gener really begins to trip himself out during this one and, at about the 5:25 mark, you’ll notice that he begins holding the megaphone on the top of his head and letting its siren squeal like a goddam banshee.  At approx. the 7:20 mark, you’ll see that he’s wandered over to Glenn and mesmerized himself with the keyboard setup.  At about 9:05, someone from the audience jumps up and does a synchronized stretch with Gener on stage, before being removed so some wack chick can hop up there and work her rainbow gathering bullshit dance moves in his place.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ok, so a couple of comments here.  The first is that this is only the first half of the “ReggaeJunkieJew” video, because it’s just that long.  The other thing to acknowledge is that this is not only the spot in the show where things officially start to take a turn, but also the part where I believe that interpretations of the events actually begin to split, depending on who you talk to.  I know that for a lot of people this clip signifies disaster and a collapse of the whole performance, but for someone like me, it’s actually some of the greatest shit ever.  You can tell that the the band members are really engaged in what they are doing and the song sounds funky as all get out.  Regardless of how “wasted,” “lit up,” or “faded” Freeman may or may not be in this clip, he is definitely investing all of him self into the performance and, that alone, would have made this show for me.  Those who are furious about it, might need to take a step back and acknowledge  that this is actually a pretty amazing and genuine moment.

The second half of this video does start to signify that a certain amount of control has been lost, however, as Gener walks off and some audience jerkoff manages to dance on stage for a full minute and a half before being removed by anybody.  Even so, the jam continues to veer out into funked-out Stevie Wonder-style squawks and psychedelic whirlpools.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This next video, which immediately follows the last song in the set, features the portion of the show where Gener is laying on his back.  I’m pretty sure that the Carpenters never expected their classic “Superstar” to be given this sort of treatment.  Instead of singing the lyrics, it’s clear that Aaron is still stuck in the previous song, as he screams out “You fucking jew!” more than once throughout it.  The song ends at around the 5 minute mark, after which you can distinctly hear Freeman say, “Sorry if your panties are in a bunch.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

After a version of “Freedom of 76“, where Gene can’t quite manage to hit his usual range, the band decides to temporarily hand the vocal duties over to bassist, Dave Dreiwitz for a cover of Motorhead‘s “Ace of Spades“.  You’ll see Freeman messing around with his tuner again and then, at the 2:18 mark he yells “Hey!” into the mic, trying to get his bandmates’ attention.

Click here to view the embedded video.

When the music stops, Gene starts playing “Birthday Boy” by himself on the guitar.  The band hasn’t quite left at this point, and you will see Dean wandering around in the wings.  Glenn and Claude also switch positions with each other on the keys and drum kit set up, respectively.  They might have been burnt by then, and I don’t doubt that the show may have been a bit of a struggle for everyone, but, in my opinion, Gener‘s “Birthday Boy” actually sounds pretty good.  Anyone that thinks that the song sounds like a complete disaster should probably go back and listen to the album to hear what the original sounded like, in the first place.  What may have thrown a few people off, the band included, is that the song is usually performed acoustic and Gener went right at it with a distorted guitar and no hesitation, creating something much closer to the sound on GodWeenSatan.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The band was entirely offstage, while he played “I Don’t Want It” and “Sarah“.  This is the point where it seems like the idea of something can actually hold more power than the reality of it, if you allow that to be the case.  I think that both of the songs sounded really good and, regardless of any other possible circumstances, Freeman is clearly pouring his heart out in these performances.  The general consensus is that the band is supposed to be pissed at him.  Maybe they are, or maybe they are just burnt out and needed to get off the stage.  The story also goes that the majority of the audience was shocked and appalled by his behavior.  Maybe that’s true too, but they don’t sound that way on the video.  One thing is for sure, though; at the end of “Sarah“, Gene looks behind him and asks the question, “Where’s the band?” and then says, “The band just left.“  He has a smile on his face.

Click here to view the embedded video.

He plays a quick minute and a half version of the Roger Miller classic “Kansas City Star” and then finishes the show off with what is probably the most aptly titled track of the evening, “Don’t Sweat it“.  Before the closer he says, “Alright, I’m gonna hope that the band returns for this song.“  They don’t.  Then he confesses, “So, I think I wrote this song after 2 weeks on mushrooms.“  He seems totally cognitive and aware during the song.  Then he puts his guitar down gently, and says, “Thanks Vancouver“, before leaving the stage.  There is no encore.

WEEN has always been a group that isn’t afraid to take chances and who knows if Aaron got intentionally spun for the show or if he just pushed it a little overboard?  Personally, I would have been more than happy to experience this shit live.  If he is in some sort of actual spiral, we wish him the best, but I hardly think that he is deserving of the type of bullshit that people have been spewing at him and about him, pertaining to this Queen Elizabeth set.  The performance wobbles at some points, but the risk definitely pays off at others.  There are some truly wonderful and even intimate moments in there.  It just goes to show how different people can witness the exact same circumstances and have completely different reactions towards it.  I love Gener‘s solo section at the end, while others site that as the most pathetic and disasterous portion of the night.  If you truly want your money back, I think that you should go ahead and try to get it, but I  also think that you should reassess your expectations out of concerts and, after that, you’re gonna have to put the brakes on all of the goddamn complaining.  People regularly pay a lot more to see shows that are a lot less real and a hell of a lot worse.  Overall, this one appears to be definitely worth the ticket price.  As for the far more important issues/questions surrounding Aaron‘s health, that remains to be seen.  If the performances from the rest of the tour are any indication, things for him are hopefully heading in the right direction.

This morning we discovered the work of a Ottawa, Toronto, Canada-based cartoonist by the name of Nick Cross.  Since then, I’ve spent my day watching his various animated shorts and work-in-progress clips, sifting through his print work and reading his blog.  While finding employment through larger animation companies, Cross has managed to make the time to create quite a few gems of his own.  His personal work has been nominated for numerous awards; often transcending the animated world and infiltrating  larger independent film festivals world-wide.  For someone such as myself, who has a very limited vocabulary when it comes to this type of work, Cross seems to utilize a very “classic” style of cartoon illustration in the vein of the New Adventures of Mighty Mouse, Ren and Stimpy, and The Powerpuff Girls.  The dialogue is minimal, if present at all, and the artist is much more inclined to use silent era dialog cards, if anything, to “illustrate” his points.  Beyond the occasional foley sound-effect, the audio is mostly comprised of old stock music, which is used to set the tone and pace.  In other words, the actual animating and the detailed movements of the characters are relied on to relay the storyline and to move it forward.

The video that originally ignited our interest in Nick Cross was his latest animated piece, “The Pig Farmer” (posted below). The video, which we discovered via the great Canadian illustration blog DRAWN!, was created by the cartoonist over the last 10 months and financed through private donations.  It is similar to Cross‘ previous work in that it focuses on such issues as rural innocence and nature vs corporate greed and industrialization.  Another aspect carried over from his past shorts is it’s graphic nature, adult themes, and the fact that this is NOT a cartoon for the children.  Don’t let the cutesy header image we’ve used fool you, this shit gets pretty hardcore.  Plus, it’s chock-full of clever pig-related puns and references (Cops, The Pen, Manson Family, etc.)

View it yourself, after the following description from the vimeo page:

“The Pig Farmer is a short animated cartoon by Nick Cross. A simple tale of a wayward soul, awash in an ocean of tragedy and regret.

Animated using Flash CS3 and a Cintiq 21UX tablet.
Backgrounds done in Photoshop CS4
Composited using After Effects CS5 and Final Cut Pro 5.“

Click here to view the embedded video.

Make sure to view the following videos and links:

VIDEOS:

YELLOW CAKE

-”A lamentable tragedy mixed full of pleasant mirth.”

The Waif of Persephone

-”Persephone, the goddess of spring, is abducted to the underworld, causing an eternal winter to descend over the earth. It is up to the goddess’ servants to rescue her. However, they soon learn that to get help they need to compromise; and compromise does not always lead to an equitable solution for one and all.

Six years in the making, The Waif of Persephone was completed in 2006 and has screened in festivals around the world. ”

Angora Napkin (pilot)

- An Eisner Award winning graphic novel picked up as an animated series by Canadian cable animation channel Teletoon.  Angora Napkin is based on 3-piece all girl rock group that get into hijinks (again NOT for children).  The project was co-created by Cross and friend/fellow animator Troy Little and the pilot is a 2-parter involving zombies, Evil Dead references, violence, and erotic moments with sea life.

LINKS

Nick Cross on VIMEO
Nick Cross on YOUTUBE
Pyatyletka.blogspot.com (Nick’s Blog)
Official Angora Napkin production blog

By now you’ve probably checked out an end of the year list or two.  Whether it was the Top 10 or the Top 50 albums, you probably have some sort of opinion about all of these other opinions that people are throwing around like bunk flash grenades.  Do these “Best Of” lists really matter?  Probably not.  The problem that I see with them is the implication that whoever is making the list actually had the opportunity to hear every single release that came out within the year and, more importantly, that they actually had enough time to sit with each one and give it the appropriate attention necessary to to let the corresponding material unfold around them.  In some ways, it can create slight yet unnecessary pressures for both the artists and reviewers.  What is the purpose of these goddamn things, anyway?  I’d like to think that they ARE good for one thing; introducing you to some releases and/or artists that might have slipped past your radar throughout the year.  Other than that, they are pretty much bullshit.  Everyone has different opinions and, although I find value in hearing them and expressing my own, rating/comparing music with a number scale isn’t something that I find a whole lot of purpose in.  Of course that’s also my opinion and it might actually change in the future, but I doubt it.  Maybe it’s because I went to a liberal arts college, but I’ve always been more drawn to the concept of detailed evaluations than grading systems.  It’s true that a good ranking might also help push an act or artist further into the limelight… so… I get it…  Are they necessary?  I don’t know.  Are they expected?  Pretty much.  Still, this mandatory annual ritual of ranking one album over other, often completely incomparable, albums is starting to feel like a tedious and bothersome routine that may even be boring those who actually make them.  Basically, what I’m trying to say is that I have begun to recognize a fairly specific pattern on how many of these lists were constructed this year.  There seems to be a simple “go to” or default mode being used to churn these things out and I’d like to share with you the gist of what I’ve noticed.

Still need to make a best of 2010 list?
Here are a few rules to make it mindlessly simple for you:

RULE #1:

YOU SHOULD HAVE ALREADY MADE IT BY NOW!

Nobody waits until the actual end of the year!  What were you thinking?  December doesn’t really count anymore; you should have pumped all of your opinions out, regarding the entire year, by the last week or so of November.  This also means that you should have gotten started by the beginning of November, by the latest.  Grab all of those advanced copies of upcoming releases, listen to them as quickly and thoroughly as possible and start jotting them down.
[remember to give special attention to those that you think you might wind up liking once you actually do have sufficient time to put in.]

RULE#2:

FOCUS ON THE LAST FEW MONTHS

Strike while it’s hot folks.  Has anyone else noticed how many of the albums on these best of the year lists have only been released within the last few months?  If you want to stay on the cutting edge you need to toss your carrots in the stew while the water’s still swirling.  Sure, a best of the year list, by definition, is somewhat of a retrospective, but this is the internet goddammit!  People want their information as quick as possible.  They wanted to be fed yesterday, but with a snack from next week.  They want updates on albums that will be released 2 months from now so that they can get ideas about which leaked material they should be downloading tomorrow.  If you wanna be a taste-maker, you can’t be serving up stale chips.  An album that came out 6 months ago might as well have been from the early 90s in internet time.  All the flavors been chewed out of the gum.  Let the kids know that you are with the times and even throw in some shit they haven’t had the time to listen to.  By the time they start to form an opinion either way, there will already be some new shit to start pushing at them; stuff from the beginning of this year that you can ignore once the time for your 2011 list comes around.

RULE #3

QUICK SCAN THE 1st HALF OF THE YEAR/
SELF-FULFILL YOUR EARLIER PROPHECIES

Of course you can’t completely ignore the first half of the year or you’ll come across as too one dimensional and green.  As important as it is for your list to appear hip, current, and with it, one can never underestimate the importance of giving props to those who laid the groundwork in the past.  It’s just like if you want to be respected in rap circles you need to drop names like RAKIM or how, in punk circles, it’s not a bad idea to know something about Black Flag and SST records.  You know?  Something that the kids have heard of, but usually aren’t incredibly versed on so that you can retain that edge as a resource.  Well, these days, mentioning something from February or January on a list in November makes you look like a fucking musical historian (but one that’s still “in the know”).  Remember: seeing Zeppelin live in the 70s will give you some street cred, but if every story you have only involves shit from the way back and you keep riding these tales like a life-raft, you’ll just start to come across as outdated and past your prime.  That’s why you need to mix some of the albums from earlier in the year into your list of fresh new jams.

But what should you be throwing into the mix?  I mean, anything released in the Spring is pushing it’s expiration date by now.  The answer to that question is super easy.  Remember at the beginning of the year when you were pulling your musical Nostradamus routine and claiming that certain albums were shoo-ins to be top albums for the end of the year?  Well, make it so.  Make sure to do the reverse, as well.  If you hurriedly claimed that something missed the mark, only to realize later that it was pretty great, you can’t turn back now; casually ignore it.

RULE #4

SPRINKLE IN A LEGEND

With the current buzzing artists and the early claims you’ve made in the year, the list is filling up quick.  Now it’s time to remember if any of the real living legends have released anything recently.  Did anyone who’s universally respected drop a new album.  Neil Diamond, maybe?   Bob Dylan?  Tom Waits?  Shoot for someone of that caliber.  Have we run out of artist’s recommended by Kurt Cobain yet?  Hmmm… I’m sure you could always just pull up some names of people endorsed by someone like  Thom Yorke instead.  If it’s even halfway listenable, you’re gonna want to toss that in to the list too.  It’s hard to argue much of the time and everyone loves a comeback or return to form.  Shit, for all anyone knows it could be amazing, but just “over their heads”.

RULE #5

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

Beyond the longtime legends like The Stones or Neil Young there are artists like Radiohead and the Flaming Lips who have been working towards that status for the last 20 or so years.  In addition to them, there are artists that you may have been championing over the last 10 years or less that can never seem to do any wrong in your eyes, are gaining their veteran status, and have become big names a lot more recently.  Deerhunter dropped their latest at the end of September.  Both Antony and the Johnsons and Sufjan Stevens released new albums on the same day in mid October.  Haven’t had enough time to really go through them?  YOU’RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION! IT DOESN’T MATTER! Remember, focus on the last few months.  These guys are all supposed to be “geniuses”, right?  You’ve been claiming that forever, so you might as well add them if you need more titles.  It’s better than leaving them off and looking like a buffoon, right?  RIGHT!? The truth of the matter is that there’s no way that you’re honestly gonna be able to listen to everything that’s been released anyway and, even if you could, you would never be able to give each of them the personal attention that would be necessary to truly make a valid assessment required for any legitimate ranking.  The sheer truth behind this fact also means that you really have no authority to be claiming what the #1 album is at all and creating this illusion of authority is what music journalism is all about.  Don’t worry, if these albums turn out to be bunk, you can always construct an elaborate argument to dismantle the artists later, while explaining why you still continued to hold any misguided faith in them earlier.  Faith that has since been lost.  It will work perfectly, because that’s the other vital component in music “journalism”, tearing down those who you’ve built up.  Well.. that and self preservation, maintaining relevancy for yourself, and becoming a huge marketing vessel.

RULE #6

TEAR ‘EM DOWN

The list is building itself nicely.  In reality, we’ve basically just started with all of the hit releases that everyone has been talking about anyway and then removed, added, and arranged some pieces to create a guise of credibility.  If a group has continued in or headed in a new direction that you approve of, then they go on the list as consistent innovators.  If, for some reason or another, you don’t like something about their latest release, pull ‘em.  If you’re undecided or haven’t formed much of an opinion, toss them in somewhere in the middle (as stated in the previous rule), it might be too bold to attack someone still standing so tall.  If you have decided to sling a stone at Goliath earlier in the year and call them out for going in a direction that you’re not into, keep with it and yank ‘em like a tooth.  Remember, you can always build them back up later.  As stated before, people love a comeback.  Even if the next release is similar or they eventually prove undeniably that you were always wrong, you can always angle it as if they took your notes and got their act back together.

RULE #7

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE

Did Animal Collective release anything this year?  If so, put it towards the top.  If not, look for Animal Collective related projects.  Avey Tare, Panda Bear, & Deakin are all names to look for (the 4th member, Geologist, hasn’t pumped out any solo shit yet.  Maybe in 2011.)  Remember, Ariel Pink was the first artist signed to Animal Collective‘s Paw Tracks label and they helped put his ass on the map.  His album goes on the list too.  It’s a pretty simple formula.

RULE #8

RAP MUSIC

Don’t be racist!  Throw some hip-hop in there, or no one will believe that you are eclectic enough.  Most likely you’re gonna instinctually pick some white, indie, pseudo-rap shit like WHY?, so you’re gonna have to make a conscious effort to throw some sizzurp drinking blinged- out cat like  Lil Wayne on there for good measure.  [Pitchfork listed both Drake and Rick Ross on their list, so it obviously doesn't matter what you add, as long as you add something]

RULE #9

ELECTRONIC MUSIC

Just like RAP, full-on electronic music has proven that it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.  So, get with it motherfucker!  I get it, you’re an indie music site, which basically translates to a popular music site, and you don’t really know much about rap or electronic music.  Electronic sites are gonna have a best of list consisting of electronic albums.  Rap sites are gonna have a top hip-hop albums list.  You’re trying to play all sides and be a cool hunter and taste-maker, so you’re gonna have to find something to throw on there from both of these genres.  Right now, everyone’s trying to heavily inject electronics and synths into their sound, so it’s going to be necessary to add a legitimate electronic musician in as well.  No, HOLY FUCK doesn’t count!  Groups like that run in the same circles as everyone else in the meat of your list.  You’re gonna have to find some kind of Venetian Snares, Amon Tobin, or CEX-type cat to throw into the mix.  Someone that people who actually make electronic music or that primarily listen to electronic music might actually respect.

RULE #10

SURF/EFFECTED VOCALS/THROW BACK POP etc.

Being that you’re making a 2010 list, there’s a few things that you need to ask yourself.  Does it sound poppy as fuck?  Because poppy is in.  Now, does it sound like 60s pop?  Ok., ok… now we’ve really got something.  Think along the lines of groups like The Zombies.  Beach Blanket Bingo style surf-pop jams are also blowing up this year, so toss in groups that are employing that sound into the pile as well.  Last year was more about the Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys, but this year is more overt and poppy with the happy time surf angle.  Think less technical “Walk Don’t Run” style Ventures, as it’s been fuzzed out and utilized by such bands as WAVVES and SURFER BLOOD.

Now, do the vocals sound overly processed through hi-fi equipment to make it sound lo-fi?  That’s a good sign too.  Are you into heavy psych music?  I don’t mean laid back dreamy hookah smoking pop style shit, I mean super heavy gel-tab acid trip through a jet engine type psych rock chaos.  Well, let it go buddy, because 2010 was all about a gradual progression towards the former.  Find a crazy psych rock jam and then turn it down to a reasonable level so that there are no sharp edges and the highs don’t get too high.  The dreamy voice effect processing is the auto-tune of the indie pop world.

The electro dance beats are still popular at this point too, but for those we aren’t looking as far back as with the other shit.  We just need to go back to early MTV videos and shitty 80s cuts.  If you can remember that the kids of today want to dress like they are from the mid to late 80s but want to listen to music that sounds like it came from twice as long ago, and vice versa, your list will be looking good.  Go back 25 years and then go back another 25 years.  Now interchange the music and fashion from each, or just toss them all into the same salad spinner.  Remember, today it’s all about neon/leg warmers and psych music or leather jackets/60s gear and synth-pop.  Mix all that up and you’ve got your musical potato salad.  Fresh and ready for the kids at the potluck.

RULE# 11

“DISCOVER” THAT UPCOMING GROUP

A good rule of thumb for a list like this doesn’t veer too far from that old saying about weddings: “Something old, Something New, Something borrowed, and something blatantly stolen, but from so long ago that none of the younger generation has any substantial frame of reference for it“.  As for the “something new” you’ve definitely got to throw a new young group into the mix, at the very least, to show that you’re not only on top of the current scene, but the future of it, as well.  There are already plenty of buzz bands on the rise out there and it’s not too late for you too jump on board now.  My personal money is on TAME IMPALA… so, there’s one gimme for your list.  Just throw them on there.  They’re actually really good and are sure to gain even more popularity throughout the coming year.  Funny thing is, they provide that heavier psych sound that seemed to be wearing out, but they stabilize it with smooth Revolver era Beatles vocals.  When people look back from the future, it’ll appear that you had your finger on the pulse from jump street, even if it was really a slight bit delayed.  Whatever you do, however, make sure that you have at least one newer band on your list to build up.  Otherwise, who are you going to tear down in the future?

A Few Extra Pointers:

Don’t forget to arbitrarily contradict yourself.  It shows a reckless freedom and somehow,  ironically supports the notion that you are both the guiding force of the ever shifting musical climate, as well as being sensitive to it’s subtle changes.  You’ll also want to remember that it really doesn’t matter if you’re secretly aware that you’re opinions aren’t really as important or as vital as you lead on.  All that really matters is that others buy into it.  Represent your personal feelings as fact as much as possible.  Use a voice of authority, as if it is the end-all-be-all and constantly nourish the implication that anyone who disagrees with you is simply misguided and undereducated.  If you can’t believe it, how will anyone else?

There you go!  We wish you success on your future importance.

[ANOTHER EXTRA NOTE:  Radiohead has a new album scheduled for 2011.
Our suggestion is to just add that to your next list now and save your self the energy.]

In recent years, the art of the mashup has continued to gain more and more prominence in the music world.  Actually, “art” is probably not the most accurate term to use, considering that it has reached a point of excess in which endless amateur Youtube “deejays” are willing to forcefully press together anything that they feel might get them even the slightest amount of attention.  Generally, it’s all about the gimmick and, unfortunately, there is far too often next to no focus on creating anything of substance.  Like I said, it’s all about quick attention and the sheer novelty of seeing if you can layer somethings like a Beyonce vocal over a track from The Man Machine (hmmm….not a bad idea).  If you think about it, the idea really isn’t all that original in the first place, because stacking tracks is the basic concept behind beat juggling and, although there are genuinely some really good tracks to come out of this genre, most of these mash ups just eliminate the requirement for any skills on the tables.  Another thing that has helped to over-saturate the mashup game is that a large percentage of the people creating these things prove to be one-notes.  If you want to hop in with something to grab attention and then step things up from there, that’s one thing, but if you have little more to deliver after that point, it’s pretty much like telling the same joke over and over again.

With all of this being said, it’s is definitely true that something will occasionally comes through that’s actually worthy of the attention. Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton gained enough notoriety from The Grey Album (2004) to launch an entire career.  The main difference is that he’s proven time and time again that he could back up the hype and that he was much more than just Jay-Z and Beatles samples.  In fact, after EMI flipped their shit over his unauthorized use of the Beatles catalog and there was an internet-wide refusal to comply with their cease and desist orders from offering the project online (aka: “Grey Tuesday“), a permanent mark has been made on the entire music industry and the legalities regarding sampling rights.  Although Burton‘s otherwise innocent “art project” has prompted endless others to pursue the same route to launch careers of their own, it’s unlikely that most of them will ever achieve much and, even when a “successful” mashup does make a lasting impression, it’s rare that anyone remembers who created it.

One of the most impressive mashups that I’ve heard came at the beginning of last year and was created by a producer by the name of Tom Caruana.  Not surprisingly, the project also consisted of a-capella rap vocals being stacked over Beatles cuts.  The surprising part is that it was actually incredibly listenable.  To craft his 27-track Wu-Tang VS Beatles project Enter The Magical Mystery Chamber, Caruana focused much more on the overall sound of the product and on creating something brand new from the components that he was using.  The producer doesn’t come across as being too concerned with using the most recognizable samples just to create that “Oh shit!  I can’t believe he mixed those 2 together” factor that most mashups thrive on.  Instead, he seems to realize the true benefit of the artists’ material that he’s working with.  For both the Beatles and the Wu Tang Clan, the benefit is that each of them have huge catalogs of work to pull from and, even more importantly, they are huge catalogs filled with great material.  Unlike Dangermouse‘s infamous entry into the mashup world, Caruana doesn’t limit himself to blending a single album from each of the artists, but rather pulls from all areas of their work and careers.  This isn’t just a blending of  The Magical Mystery Tour and Enter the 36 Chambers; much of the vocals are pulled from the endlessly impressive WU-Tang solo projects from over the years, Beatles solo projects, and even samples from the Beatles covers by other artists (She & Him, Ramsey Lewis, etc), to cover even more territory.  So… if this project original hit the web in January of 2010, why are we discussing it a year later?  Well, it appears that it has returned and with a pseudo-official release, no less.

The announcement came from the official WU-Tang clan Facebook page(s) just this morning that the WU themselves would be releasing the “special edition” mix tape.  What’s so “special” about the edition exactly?  It doesn’t really say.  The cover art looks pretty much the same as that of the release that was posted for FREE on TeaSeaRecords.net last year (now removed), with the major difference being the addition of a label reading “for promotional use only” and the words “presented by Wu music group” across the top.  There is also no track listing featured, but the assumption is that the audio is the same. What we do know is that this release is a hard copy being marketed as a “collectors item”.  According to the Facebook post, the release is limited to only 500 copies.  However, as I type this, that original post seems to have been removed from the Facebook page, as well.  The real point here is that the WU themselves have clearly embraced the project and are officially and publicly stamping that label of approval onto the mixtape by offering the release themselves.  Considering that Masta Killa punched journalist, Cheo Coker in the head over some caricatures of the Wu Tang members that accompanied his Feb. 1994 article in Rap Pages, the Clan seems to have become a bit more welcoming of the interpretations on their work from others over the last decade and a half.  Then again, Joe Budden just got knocked in his skull by a member of Raekwon‘s entourage as recently as 2009, so maybe their reactions are generally just hit and miss (pun intended).  Most likely, they are just supporting this mixtape because it came through as quality and, being one of, if not THE, greatest and most innovative rap crew’s in history, it was something that was easy for them to appreciate.

Here’s the blurb featured underneath the order page on WUGotcha.com:

We know you know we know, it’s actually awesome. Some fellow named Tom Caruana teamed up with some fellow from Wu Music Group took Wu-cappelas from various songs and solo albums and put them over new productions made vaguely from Beatles samples and Beatles covers samples and some shit that couldn’t possibly be Beatles samples but must be and made a memorable Mix-tape. Thankfully, his pilfering of Liverpool’s finest is barely recognizable, except for Ghost’s “Mighty Healthy” which is now Pretty Toney rapping directly over Paul’s singing (This is great) and dirty skank. If anything, Caruana holds pretty true to RZA and co.’s original mood, if not making Shaolin sound a whole helluva lot more different than it actually is. This shit is a mosdef classic, collectors edition Mix-tape.

Again, the hard copy of this album can be ordered HERE.

If you’re interested in picking one up, I’d try and jump on it quick.  Otherwise, you’ll be purchasing it with a huge markup through ebay.  If you’re wondering how they can sell something like this with all of the copyright issues involved, they’ve gotten around it by doing a couple of things.  The first is the disclaimer stating that the album is “for promotional use only” and the second is by having their $8 fee referred to strictly as a “Shipping and Handling” charge.  $8 for shipping and handling is actually pretty reasonable, but be aware that when you go to pay for it, something’s fucked and you will actually be charged $8 for the album and another $8 for the shipping, coming to a grand total of $16.

Again, the main reason to purchase pay for the shipping of a hard copy of a “special edition” like this is for the collectability of the item.

For those of you who just want to listen to the fucking thing, we’re providing a link to the download of the “un-special” original addition HERE.  (Wu-Tang: please do not punch my face.)

And here is the back cover art/track list/sample info for the download
(click image to enlarge):

Today marks the highly anticipated re-release of David Bowie‘s classic 10th studio album, Station to Station.  When the original album was released in 1976, it represented a transitional period in Bowie‘s career, with the musical legend adopting his infamous persona of “The Thin White Duke” and incorporating electronic elements into moments of disco/funk and CAN-esque krautrock.  Beyond being hailed as a highly innovative and influential masterpiece, the album also gained notoriety for the controversial rumors and chaos surrounding it’s creator during that time period.  ’76 also brought the release of the Bowie-starring, The Man Who Fell to Earth (the Station to Station cover is a still from the movie), the abandoned soundtrack to that film, and claims that the artist was “burned out“.  Always one to internalize his characters and to invest himself fully into his projects, Bowie stepped out of The Man Who Fell to Earth with one foot still in his character of the tragic extraterrestrial, Thomas Jerome Newton, and straight into the strikingly distant, cold, and emotionless persona of The Thin White Duke.  Where the line between fiction and reality ends can often be hard to determine.  Along with the album’s inclusion of subject matter surrounding the occult, there were many tales of Bowie falling victim to psychotic paranoia and terror.  Furthermore, certain comments made during his period living as the stoic zombie-like “duke” brought on accusations of fascism being directed at the entertainer.  Bowie himself has admitted to drawing a blank, in regards to much of the Station to Station recording sessions, due in part to his ingestion of ridiculous amounts of cocaine.  Whatever the case, Station to Station is a success which continues to draw more and more recognition and garner more and more fans as time moves forward.

Today’s re-release offers more than just an opportunity for a whole new generation to discover the masterpiece for the first time.  EMI is offering two different special edition sets, each of which feature a Dolby 5.1 mix of the album and the incredibly sought after 1976 Nassau Coliseum show in it’s entirety.  The deluxe edition even includes 5cds, a DVD, 3 vinyl LPs and more.  To promote this release they’ve even created an internet-wide scavenger hunt with prizes, including the deluxe box set of Station to Station and the Virgin/EMI David Bowie catalog in full.

First, check out the details of the re-releases.  Then, look for tips about how to enter and  the clues on how to locate the pieces for the scavenger hunt below.

Special Edition and Digital Download

The special edition features three CDs in a special CD sized packaging, including a 16-page booklet and three photocards. The digital download edition includes the same audio content and a bonus track.

CD 1: Station to Station 2010 transfer

1. “Station to Station” – 10:11
2. “Golden Years” – 4:02
3. “Word on a Wing” – 6:01
4. “TVC 15″ – 5:31
5. “Stay” – 6:12
6. “Wild Is the Wind” – 6:02

• 2010 transfer of Station to Station from the original stereo analogue master in mini-replica sleeve.

CD 2 & 3: Live Nassau Coliseum ’76

1. “Station to Station” – 11:53
2. “Suffragette City” – 3:31
3. “Fame” – 4:02
4. “Word on a Wing” – 6:06
5. “Stay” – 7:25
6. “Waiting for the Man” – 6:20
7. “Queen Bitch” – 3:12

1. “Life on Mars?” – 2:13
2. “Five Years” – 5:03
3. “Panic in Detroit” (with most of drum solo edited out) – 6:03
4. “Changes” (with band intro) – 4:11
5. “TVC 15″ – 4:58
6. “Diamond Dogs” – 6:38
7. “Rebel Rebel” – 4:07
8. “The Jean Genie” – 7:28

• Recorded live at the Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY, USA. 23 March 1976, in gatefold CD wallet.

Digital download bonus track

1. “Panic in Detroit” (Unedited alternative mix) – 13:09

DELUXE EDITION BOX SET

The deluxe edition will feature five CDs, one DVD and three 12″ vinyls in an album-sized box, including a 24-page booklet and two replicas of the David Bowie on Stage 1976 and the 1976 Fan Club Folder (contents listed below).

CD 1: Station to Station 2010 transfer
CD 2: Station to Station 1985 CD master
CD 3: Station to Station single edits five track EP

1. “Golden Years”
2. “TVC 15″
3. “Stay”
4. “Word on a Wing” (first time on CD)
5. “Station to Station” (previously unreleased version)

CD 4 & 5: Live Nassau Coliseum ’76

DVD

1. Station to Station (original analogue master, 96 kHz/24bit LPCM stereo)
2. Station to Station (new Harry Maslin 5.1 surround sound mix in DTS 96/24 and Dolby Digital)
3. Station to Station (original analogue master, LPCM stereo)
4. Station to Station (new Harry Maslin stereo mix, 48 kHz/24bit LPCM stereo)

Vinyl 1: Heavyweight 12″ vinyl of Station to Station from the original stereo analogue master in replica sleeve
Vinyls 2 & 3: Heavyweight 12″ vinyls of Live Nassau Coliseum ’76 in gatefold sleeve

David Bowie on Stage 1976

• Replica Nassau ticket from night of the show
• Replica backstage pass
• Replica A4 biog
• Replica band line-up
• Three 10×8″ press shots

1976 Fan Club Folder

• Replica fan club membership card
• Fan club certificate
• Two small collector cards
• Two A4 photo cards
• Replica four-page biography
• Two badges
• Six-panel folded Steve Shapiro photo poster of Bowie kneeling

SCAVENGER HUNT (+TIPS)

In a “Find The Capn“-style scavenger hunt, 9 different Station to Station related images have been strewn across 9 different websites.  Those who locate them all will unlock an exclusive piece of content and be entered to win a host of prizes, including the Deluxe Edition box set, an iPod Nano, and exclusive t-shirt.  For a contest which has gone to such lengths as to incorporate that many separate and varying websites, there are 2 aspects about the contest which are remarkably vague.  The first is what to do once you find one of the images: All you need to do is click on the image and it will automatically generate everything, placing the images in their corresponding slots on your chart.  The second confusing aspect of this “scavenger hunt” is that, once you locate one of the images, there doesn’t appear to be any clues provided for the finding the next one.  Although I truly appreciate the idea behind such an innovative and elaborate promotion, it feels a bit random.  To remedy this, we have provided clues of our own below, for anyone that’s interested in hunting down these images for yourself.  Good luck, jerks! (hints posted below)

Following details provided from official website:

On October 18th, a, now infamous, televised debate was held for New York‘s 2010 Gubernatorial election.  Along with conservative Republican candidate, Carl Paladino, the current NY State Attorney general/Democratic nominee, Andrew Cuomo, and 4 others, there was one relatively unknown third-party candidate that managed to overshadow the other 6 and take the world by storm.  Looking like a cross between Rudy Ray Moore and Dr. Zaius, Jimmy McMillan used his pimp-style cadence to express the core positions of his “Rent Is 2 Damn High Party“, which include a pro-gay-marriage stance and, as would be expected, a belief that the rent in NY is “too damn high“.  Over the last 2 weeks, McMillan‘s stock has risen, as the footage from the debate has continued to spread across sites like Youtube and spring-board him to into full-on internet meme status.  In this relatively short period of time, the McMillan footage has been treated to the usual auto-tune remix treatments and SNL parody, while the man himself has received backlash, due to information suggesting that he doesn’t even pay rent on his own apartment, but rather provides maintenance services in exchange for his housing.  Now, the latest news surrounding the aspiring Governor involves another step towards celebrity status with the release of his very own full-length LP of poverty-inspired soul jams.

Before we delve further into that topic, however, we want to provide you with some original footage from the debate, as a foundation for anyone who has yet to see it:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The internet age has provided mankind with the ability to spread and mutate information at an unheard of and alarming rate.  Although, most people were completely unaware of McMillan‘s existence until recently, this isn’t his first foray into politics or the public eye.  In fact, Jimmy started the “Rent Is Too Damn High Party” 20 years ago, under which he has already run for Mayor of NYC in (1993, 2005, & 2009), Governor of NY State (1994) , and US Senate (2000).  His 1993 run, under the moniker “Prince Jimmy McMillan” (aka: Papa Smurf), involved him being involved in such newsworthy fiascos as being found blindfolded, doused in gasoline, and tied to a tree next to the Belt Parkway and scaling the Brooklyn Bridge, while demanding TV coverage, after which he was talked down by police and hospitalized.  That election found him coming up 300 signatures short of qualification for the general election ballot.  For the 1994 Gubernatorial race, he stayed in shelters, while traveling on foot from Brooklyn to the site of the Democratic Convention in Buffalo, where he commenced heckling, then governor, Mario Cuomo and was tossed out.  He failed to make the ballot from lack of signatures that year, as well, and was removed from the 2000 senate ballot, in which he was challenging Hilary Clinton.  For his mayoral runs in ‘05 and ’09, McMillan did qualify for the general election ballots but, with his new found fame, tomorrow’s Nov. 2nd Gubernatorial election should put McMillan in, arguably, the best position that he’s ever had to give his party the National recognition that he has fought so erratically passionately for.

The more information that is released about McMillan, the more fascinating he becomes as a figure.  Beyond his political aspirations, Jimmy has also been credited as a Karate master/instructor, actor, postal worker, “independent private investigator”, a bodyguard for Mel Hall (ex-Yankee Outfielder/convicted rapist), author, former stripper, and Vietnam vet.  His time in NAM and, more specifically, his exposure to Agent Orange are what he attributes to his constant “need” to sport his trademark black gloves, by stating, “When I get home tonight, I know I’m not going to be able to breathe if I take them off. It could be psychological, I don’t know, but I just put em on and wear them anyway.“  He’s been referred to and/or adopted such names as “Prince Jimmy McMillan“, “Papa Smurf“, “The Black Hulk Hogan“, “Santa Clause on Venus“, and “Rambo“, but there’s one specific pseudonym that has, surprisingly, gained much less exposure, recently.  That alias is none other than “JIMMY MACK“, soul singer extraordinaire.

Here’s a popular Jimmy Mack‘s single titled, “A Woman is So Hard to Understand” that was released 35 years ago by Hamster records.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tomorrow is now much more than a day for Jimmy to earn the support of New Yorkers and take a shot at becoming governor, it also marks the release of his official return to the music industry.  His new release, The Rent is Too DAMN High (Volume 1), will receive a worldwide digital release from iTunes, Amazon.com and other digital music outlets, on Tuesday, Nov. 2nd, with a physical release slated to follow on December 7th.  We received our copy today and it’s 12 songs deep; composed of electronic drum beats, soulful grooves, and funky synth jams.

Here’s the first single, titled “What Is This?”

Why this track was chosen for the lead off single, I can only speculate.  In my opinion, it is definitely not one of the strongest efforts on the release and it didn’t really showcase his vocal abilities.  I would have probably dropped something like the super funky, “Ghostbusters“-era Ray Parker Jr jam, “Come To The Floor” or the NELLY-esque rap-inspired, 2-step “Landlord Listen Up“, before anything.  This album jumps from sounding like Rockwell and Ready for the World into spooky “Murda Was the Case“-style Dr. Dre production.  Then there’s the song “R.E.N.T” with it’s chaotic mish-mash of overlaps, which sound like the voice of satan being ghetto-processed through a Casio SK-1 sampler.  Basically, what I’m trying to say is that… it’s kind of awesome and probably better than you would expect.  On top of that, you have to give McMillan props for making the entire album all by himself.  Keep in mind, this is a full-length album and, just because the last two weeks have provided McMillan with a platform to release it, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the whole thing was simply thrown together within that time frame.

Here are some quotes from the man himself, pertaining to the effort:

“I like to listen to myself as I drive around campaignin’. It keeps me focused and gets me really pumped up. I wrote and recorded all these songs myself and never thought anyone would like them.”

and:

“The guitar is my main instrument but I play everything from drums to the violin.”

As you might have guessed, most of the subject matter on the album is restricted to the topics of rent, the cost of living, and voting.  With an album full of lyrics which encourage the listener to “Vote for the Rent’s 2 Damn High Party and Jimmy McMillan November 2nd” being released on the one and only day that would make that suggestion even remotely relevant, one has to worry if the youth will even receive that dire message in time.  But don’t worry folks, “as a karate master” and Vietnam Vet with “3 Bronze Stars“, Jimmy Mack is no fool.  He knows that you can’t make a real soul album without at least one track devoted to making sweet love and sweet love making is one topic that is not only universal, but timeless, as well.

On the track “My Place“, Jimmy begs the question, “Does he ever take those gloves off?“, as he woos the ladies with such lyrics as:

“I know you didn’t come to talk

Let’s get it on

We can do it in the hall, In the kitchen

We can do it while I’m talking on the phone

We can do it while I’m moppin’ the floor

We can do it while I’m cleanin’ the kitchen

We can do it while I’m rakin’ the yard

We can do it in the car,

in the backseat, on the hood, on the truck, on the floor, in da- oh MY GAWD!“

But is that enough, really?  The election is tomorrow, but the physical release of the album doesn’t come out until December 7th.  I hear ya… but, like I said, Jimmy McMillan is no fool!  He’s got it covered folks, with a brand new Holiday classic just in time for the season.

The following lyrics are taken from the track “Rent 2 High Christmas“:

“Santa Clause got evicted

Cause he couldn’t pay his rent

Now he sleeping in a park, in a tent

Yeah, he homeless“

In all honesty, the stripped-down holiday tune might be my favorite song on the entire album, so far.  Regardless of the fact that it is cursed with the combination novelty of being both a Christmas tune and part of a political campaign, Jimmy‘s vocals are incredibly soulful and I’m a sucker for the melodica-style keys that support it.  Plus, it’s somber groove allows it to operate outside of the polarizing formulas of “overly cheery” or “depressingly religious” that Holiday music is generally restricted to.

If you want to buy the album, it’s available for only $5.99 through our Amazon link HERE.
If you want to see a karate fighting, glove-clad soul-singer become Governor of NY, make sure to place your vote for Jimmy McMillon on November 2nd.

Click here to view the embedded video.

TRACK LIST

1. Come 2 The Floor
2. Aint Nothing To Talk About
3. This Is What I Like
4. Vote 4 Me
5. What Is This?
6. R.E.N.T.
7. When You Can’t Pay Your Rent
8. Yaba
9. Land Lord Listen Up
10. My Place
11. Rent 2 High Christmas (listed as “Rent Party Christmas” on Amazon)
12. I Never Seen

LINKS

Jimmy’s official site
Jimmy on Twitter