Wonderful Strangeness from the Musical Archives

This clip from the late 80s US show Night Music, which featured jazz and experimental music legends like Brandford Marsalis and Yoko Ono features a fabulous cast of musical characters. Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Bongwater and the Pussywillows perform "You Don't Love Me Yet" by Roky Erickson. Doesn't get any better or weirder than this!



PS: I auditioned for the Pussywillows but they chose another singer and then the Pussywillows broke up and the founding member Elinor became April March. Even though they were short-lived the 'Willows had great potential. This is one of my favorite songs by this precursor to punky girl-groups like Best Coast and the Dum Dum Girls:

Great Song for a Snowy Day

We have a few inches of snow on the ground and more on the way (could be up to 10 inches). So here's a warm, comfortable and somewhat melancholy song for a snowy day from the lovely and talented Bonnie Raitt, the John Prine cover of "Angel from Montgomery,"

Troll Hunter

This Norwegian film is getting great reviews and was screened at this year's Sundance to much acclaim. It looks like a cross between Cloverfield and Lord of the Rings (with of course some Blair Witch, the mama of the genre, thrown in for good measure). I especially like the religious sub-text that if you do not believe in God, the trolls will not find you, which makes this movie less of a contemporary horror flick and more of a modern day fairy tale:

Best Records of 2010 - #1

I realize that I never added the final song in my list of the Best Records of 2010 (in no particular order I might add).  Number one is Brandon Flowers - "Crossfire" which has commercial appeal, a soul-aching chorus and a gorgeous Hollywood-style video.  It's cinematic quality makes it a great soundtrack for film so I'm not surprised that HBO has picked it up for use in it's advertisements.

New Album for Kate Bush

Very exciting news indeed!  Kate Bush is set to release her ninth studio album in 2011.  Let's hope this is not just a rumor.

Archival Punk Videos Resurface

This looks like a fantastic and important exhibition:

The Fales Collection at New York University will shortly begin the process of preserving and cataloging an extraordinary video archive of punk and new wave performances known as “Gonightclubbing, Ltd.,” mainly recorded in the nineteen seventies at East Village clubs like CBGB using reel-to-reel video.

The archive is the work of video artists Emily Armstrong and Pat Ivers, and until collected by a team from Fales last week it occupied significant cupboard space in Ms. Armstrong’s apartment. Although the material has been presented at museum and theater shows, it has never been commercially available. Almost 200 live shows by acts like the Dead Boys, the Heartbreakers, Iggy Pop and Suicide have remained largely unseen since the two young cable TV employees hauled their gear around downtown clubs more than 30 years ago. Read more from The Local East Village story here.

RIP - Mick Karn, ex-bassist for UK pop band Japan loses battle with cancer

My sister and I listened to Japan as teenagers and were influenced by their sultry synth pop well into our adult years. We were even members of the Amercian fan club for the band and would get monthly magazines filled wih band tidbits just for the super-fans. Mick Karn and his music will be missed.  Sadly, he died at only 52 years of age.