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The incredibly strange life of rock and roll alchemist Joe Meek
08.31.2010
01:00 am
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Joe Meek was a brilliant, innovative and influential British record producer whose short life was filled with bizarre and ultimately tragic drama.

Meek produced several hit records in the 1960s and was often referred to as the English Phil Spector. His experimentation with electronic effects, including reverb, echo, distortion, compression, close-up miking, filters and multi-tracking, resulted in the distinctive “Meek sound.” Telestar Telstar, a spacy instrumental by The Tornadoes was his biggest hit and still sounds as excitingly fresh as it did 50 years ago. His other big international smash (and a personal favorite of mine) was the hard driving, percussive Have I The Right by The Honeycombs. The rhythm track of the song was augmented by Meek using a bunch of microphones clipped to banisters while the band stomped it’s feet on the recording studio stairs and beat a tambourine directly into a microphone.

Sadly, like Spector, Meek’s life became a tabloid nightmare that has to a great degree overshadowed his musical legacy.

Meek was gay at a time when being gay was illegal in the United Kingdom. His sexuality was the source of extreme mental conflict for Meek, he actually thought he could be cured of his homosexuality. Fear of incrimination pushed him into an increasing sense of isolation. Perhaps in an effort to seek some kind of cosmic sexual healing, he became obsessed with magic, the occult, extraterrestrials, and conspiracies of all sorts. He claimed to communicate with the ghost of Buddy Holly via ouija board and in seances. He reputedly placed microphones in graveyards to record the voices of the dead.

After a series of devastating personal and financial catastophes, Meek eventually became a paranoid recluse. His life ended at the young age of 37 in murder and suicide.

Joe Meek’s brief ascension into the heavens of pop stardom and crushing descent into a hell of circumstance and social pressure, as well as one of his own making, is a story as compelling and offbeat as any in the annals of rock and roll’s dark side. This hour long documentary tells that story in riveting fashion while also providing fascinating insight to his particular musical genius. The Very Strange Story of The Legendary Joe Meek.
 

Posted by Marc Campbell
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08.31.2010
01:00 am
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Mziuri: Early 70s Georgian pre-teen girl electric folk rocking
08.30.2010
07:29 pm
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From what I can gather, these beautifully odd clips are from the early 70s Soviet era Georgian film Mziuri which appears to be some sort of showcase for electric folk tunes performed soley by pre-teen girls. On a cruise ship. Can a Georgian DM reader perhaps tell me more about what’s going on here? I love the overdriven sound especially. Toasty good !
 

 
more great clips after the jump

READ ON
Posted by Brad Laner
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08.30.2010
07:29 pm
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Album Tacos: Tacos on your favorite album covers
08.30.2010
06:25 pm
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It’s about TIME Internet! I can finally die a happy woman.

Album Tacos

(Thanks again, Nerdcore!)

Posted by Tara McGinley
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08.30.2010
06:25 pm
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Aphex Twin uses live interactive face mapping on audience
08.30.2010
02:40 pm
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Wow! This is pretty crazy, unexpected and a wee bit creepy. Watch.

At this weekend London Electronic Festival (LED) Aphex Twin used live facial recognition to map the audience and overlay images of his own, trademark distorted face. Mesmerising and disturbing in equal measure!

(via Nerdcore)

Posted by Tara McGinley
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08.30.2010
02:40 pm
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Dangerous Minds Radio Hour episode 3
08.30.2010
11:17 am
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It’s the 3rd episode of the fortnightly Dangerous Minds Radio Hour !  Join Brad and Richard as they settle in and follow their deep and abiding love for dusty old records, somehow finding heavy connections between each selection. From sublime melody to astringent noise, you needn’t believe in God to appreciate the catholic tastes of the amiable gents from Dangerous Minds.

Glen Campbell: “Guess I’m Dumb” (produced by Brian Wilson)
Spring: “Everybody” (produced by Brian Wilson)
Simon & Garfunkel: “My Little Town”
Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band: “Touch Me” (with John Lennon and Ringo Starr)
Keith Levene: “Killer in the Crowd”
Public Image Ltd.: “The Cowboy Song”
The Slits: “Man Next Door”
Leo Graham/The Upsetters/King Tubby: “Three Blind Mice/Three Times Three”
Barry Adamson: “007, A Phantasy Bond Theme”
Bee Gees: “Red Chair Fade Away”
Cher: “A Woman’s Story” (produced by Phil Spector)
All Tiny Creatures: “An Iris” (with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver)
The Pentangle: “Light Flight”
Family: “Anyway”
Polly Brown: “(Up Up Up) In a Puff of Smoke”
Wha Ha Ha: “Akatere”

 
Download this week’s episode
 
Subscribe to the Dangerous Minds Radio Hour podcast at Alterati

Posted by Brad Laner
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08.30.2010
11:17 am
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The Beatles shred: StSanders’ latest masterpiece
08.29.2010
06:03 pm
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The latest masterpiece by the true genius of the form, StSanders. This guy’s videos are a well known phenom for good reason and he keeps getting better. Total hilarity and it only improves with multiple viewings.

Posted by Brad Laner
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08.29.2010
06:03 pm
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Documentary on DJ Derek, reggae’s oldest living selector
08.28.2010
05:19 pm
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The original DJ Derek, a badman
 
Thanks to the great Mixmaster Morris for the heads up on this. For many years, white DJs have played a key role in popularizing black music in the US and Britain. In the British reggae scene, alongside pioneers in the sound system game like Jah Shaka, Jah Observer, Channel One, and others, paler-skinned music fanatics like the legendary David Rodigan have been working respectfully to promote the music became a worldwide phenomenon.

Just before Rodigan, however, a guy called Derek Morris from out of Bristol started his 50-year love affair with American R&B and Jamaican music, becoming an obsessed record collector. Here’s video director Jamie Foord’s excellent short vid documentary of the extremely charming and gruff-voiced DJ Derek—still spinning reggae, chatting patois on the mic, and rolling around England on the bus.
 

DJ Derek pt. 1 from Grand Finale on Vimeo.

 
After the jump: part 2 of the DJ Derek story…
 

READ ON
Posted by Ron Nachmann
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08.28.2010
05:19 pm
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Quiches and Flans and Bottles and Bags
08.28.2010
02:46 pm
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Uh….

Rare footage of Polish psyche duo Usmiesch Zebiczny. This is their one and only chart entry, “Quiches And Flans And Bottles And Bags”, which came in at number 83 in October 1967. The pair have never been sighted again since this was filmed.


Well no actually, but that’s a good one. It’s actually Bristol, UK band Schnauser (!) being hysterically funny and spot-on. Love it !
 

 
Thanks Richard Midnight Hatsize Snyder !

Posted by Brad Laner
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08.28.2010
02:46 pm
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Raga: 1971 film featuring Ravi Shankar and George Harrison remastered
08.28.2010
11:21 am
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October 14 will see the long-overdue DVD release of the 1971 documentary Raga narrated by and featuring Ravi Shankar. Digitally remastered from a 35mm print, from the looks of the new trailer below it should be stunning. I’ve always loved and been intrigued by the Apple Records soundtrack LP so I’m looking forward to finally seeing this in pristine quality.
 

 

 
Via Arthur Magazine, thanks !
 
East Meets West Music

Posted by Brad Laner
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08.28.2010
11:21 am
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Maxime Bruneel’s delightful video for Freakowls
08.28.2010
06:54 am
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Maxime Bruneel sent me this terrific little video she created for Freak Owls and I thought you might enjoy it. I do.

Posted by Marc Campbell
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08.28.2010
06:54 am
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