Happyblox

Who Called The Latvian Ghost Busters?

Here is a cover song you may remember, this time from a Latvian band called Intars Busulis. God I love other countries as long as they are covering American culture.

Joe Frank Ascends... Something.

Joe Frank is a well known Peabody winner who you may know from "All Things Considered" on National Public Radio. I heard him on WNYC (820 AM) today and he made me listen to the radio so intently the last time I remember doing so was as a child sneaking my fathers portable AM radio under my pillow to listen to Islander games. It was a 5 or so minute monologue called Work In Progress which I have not been able to find yet. It was a disturbing monologue describing the thoughts of a pessimistic, sadomasochistic man and his thoughts, stream of consciousness style. Maybe a soon to be or already practicing mass murder. It was so clearly written and described that you almost understood his train of thought. I found myself thinking that despite my optimistic point of view most of the time, I related to this character some how. It brought out the emo in me, the emo all of us have but that's like comparing slayer to your high school band. This was real. This was only partly fiction. These were carefully worded bunches of violence and decay. Of astute yet sinister observations and the authors negative renderings of every situation he encounters. So I go to his site (joefrank.com) and I click on this story: Ascent to K2 from his CD Mountain Rain. Even better. This is an almost 20 minute monologue describing the insane trip to the infamous K2 mountain. Don't expect a harrowing tale of fast moving storms and stranded climbers dangling between glaciers. Think more on the lines of Fear and Loading in Las Vegas. Here is Joe Frank's radio schedule. Check him out and ascend something yourself, the way you want to.

What's Up With Me? ...What's Up With You?

So take Eddie Murphy in the early 90's and put a dangly earing on him and dress him in a Whitesnake belt and a wife beater. Oh hell, throw on a big 'ol gay mustache too. Then take an equally disturbing fellow, Michael Jackson duded out in his typical "space stewardess" meets "the Nazi fashion gestapo" look. Then have them sing a duet, WAY too close to each other while small children in private school uniforms dance around them. How could this not be a bad idea? Okay, in retrospect maybe it is a little creepy... no, no I'm pretty sure it was creepy back then too. This is the thank god experimental duet "What's Up With You?" Enjoy! (Dig the Salvidor Dali, Fellini wanna be first 10 seconds.... was that a naked Murphy holding a dove? Dear god!)

Emo Kermit and the Birds & The Bees On An Apple: A double Shot From YouVert.

Via Youvert and affiliate otglu.com. What can I say? Sam is on today! BRAVO! Double shot of goodness.

If You Open Your Mind Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out.

From the brilliant mind of Tim Minchin is a song called "If You Open Your Mind Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out" and it is truly on the HAPPYBOX wavelength.

Adults Just Don't Understand...

Which may have something to do with your vocals but I can't be certain. This video gem from what appears to be Japan is clip perfection. Many equations equal clip perfection and this is no exception. Angst + Trying too hard + musical ignorance with a small factor of talentlessness = perfection. I love me some Sepultura and I used to even listen to Death from time to time but hardcore speed metal on the street, acapella style is like Hip Hop in a giant stadium, it just doesn't work. Seems Japan spawns a lot of these wierdoes. When everyone conforms you get this beautiful extra desperate quality to the individuals that decide to be rebels with really no thought to it. This kid will laugh at this if he makes it to 30. Hell I am laughing now.

Why Can't Bands Kick Ass Like This Anymore?

Granted late shows like Conan's Show and Late Night have nearly perfectly mixed sound, bands just don't kick ass on those shows anymore. You may have Tool or some crap wannabe metal bands attempting but they always sound wrong. Anyway I was cruising the You Tube and found this gem from a 1990 Arsenio Hall Show. It's Megadeth with Hanger 18 which they shortened up due to airtime by killing a lot of the lead in riffs so they could get the main solos in. Because, You know, you can't kick ass without multiple screaming, flame throwing, lightning fast solos, can ya? No. No you can't.

You gotta love Arsenio tyeing absolutely everything into a sub par urban slang crucification with  that introduction.... "Some bands bust a move but this band busts your brain." *chuckle* I swear I was totally entertained watching his show though so no hate for Arsenio here. And was Hanger 18 really a "hit single" or was that just compared to their other releases? I am sure Dave Mustain (yes thats a link to his shout out to me again, screw you I love it, thanks again xversusy.) would disagree but I am glad they never went Metallica. Never mind album sales but having fans arrested for downloading songs is just pathetic. You know come to think of it I would replace Carson Daily with Arsenio right this second if I could.

Headbanging May Cause BlankTV.com.

I recently stumbled upon a great site called BlankTV.com. "The largest collection of Punk, Ska, Oi, hardcore and Indie music videos anywhere!" If your like me and can't tell what makes something an "Oi" band versus a "Ska" band (something having to do with a horn section???) then just consider it a collection of really cool videos your parents would still hate. They got some great stuff from Operation Ivy to The Clash. Even checked out a few Suicidal Tendencies vids although that newer "Pop Song" sucks,the oldies are still goodies. ("All I wanted was a Pepsi") Which led me to a conclusion that remains steadfast in my psyche, Heavy Metal is better than Punk. Punk is great but heavy metal is greater. They both have their whammies but in general I will take my music metalized any day. To be honest with you my favorite kind of metal is the metal that's closest to punk. Like Iron Maiden back in the day (1980 even), with Paul Di Anno singing and the entire original cast of characters. No Nico on drums even! Here is what I mean. Enjoy and rock out.

The World Clock, Electric Lady Land & being Foxy.

The World Clock keeps track of nice things like infectious diseases and abortion numbers as well as basics like earth temp and number of marriages and divorces, births and deaths. The next time you are down in the dumps click on The World Clock to feel at least lucky to be alive.

I have been listening to a lot of The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Electric Lady Land". (circa 1968, click on the title for samples from cdnow.com) The famous track "crosstown Traffic" comes in early in the album setting a slow but somehow furious pace. "Come On (Let The Good Times Roll)", "All Along The Watchtower" and "Voodoo Child" also call this album home but to me it's the lesser known experimental tracks like "Moon, Turn The Tides...Gently, Gently" and " Still Raining, Still Dreaming" that make this record less like a rock & roll record and more like a jazz fusion record. Of course it IS rock & roll because Jimi helped define it.

I have been a fan of Hendrix most of my life. I remember hearing him on a Summer camp radio station, one of those stations that you measure broadcast range in yards. It was "Light My Fire" I think... Man getting old sucks... anyway I was hooked. My parents had a Woodstock recording they never listened to and he had a few songs on there too. When I was in collage I witnessed the famous footage of him lighting his guitar on fire and that's when I started really listening to him on a regular basis. I can't imagine a driving mix without Hendrix. This is a pastel I drew for my friend Julie. It is in her apartment and hung in a most distinct highly trafficked area too. Any requests? I need to start doing these again.

Now that we have established the fact that I must have my Hendrix fix often I think of Foxy Tunes an add on for Mozilla. If you don't have it already and you listen to music all day, get it. Of course it's free and it also frees up some video memory by allowing you to see whats playing and have basic controls over your mp3 player from a simple navigation footer in your browser. No more minimizing or shuffling windows to change a song, raise the volume or check what song your listening to. I have 2 monitors and I still use it but I am extraordinarily lazy.