Anyway… yes, we too will be enjoying the splendor and fun of moving over the next few days, just like those kids above. L-Train and I are staying in Louisville, of course, and Bloggins Base Camp will remain in The Highlands. While a simple half-mile move south down Bardstown Road isn’t exactly a move across the country, moving, in any capacity, remains one of the most brutal and arduous tasks outside boot camp that anyone can engage in.

My reasons for discussing my move this week are three-pronged:

1) Effective September 1st, all mail for this blog should be directed to my new address:

2149 Sherwood Ave.
Apt. 1
Louisville, KY 40205

Update yo’ bookz!

2) I will not have a whole lot of spare time coming up, so The Decibel Tolls is on hiatus this week while I move and organize all of our earthly shit. Please visit the blogs on the right listed under “Down the Hole” to help meet your daily jammage regiment. They will appreciate your patronage.

I anticipate that updates will resume Monday.

3) Why not leave you all with a quick Super Swingin’ Mix? Whenever I need to “get shit done,” nothing gets my game face on like some quality kraut rock (classic or neo). It’s my personal “Eye of the Tiger.” Get ‘er done.

MP3 :::
Faust – Krautrock
Cloudland Canyon – Krautwerk
Kraftwerk – Autobahn (Live)
Can – Oh Yeah
Stereolab – Jenny Odonoline
Caribou – A Final Warning
Neu – Hallogallo
Silver Apples & Spectrum – Whirlwind
Indian Jewelry – Lost My Sight
Early Years – The Simple Solution
Boredoms – (Heart)

When I think of summer and the hot weather that we’ve been sometimes enjoying, I often conjure this majestic image in my head:

Treated. It’s the Tornado at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. You can probably see this thing from space. It’s huge. I’ve made one pilgrimage across town this summer to do bidding with the mighty Tornado, and plan to go five more times (as per the season pass). Not that any of this matters to you, of course. You probably just want the jams. Fair enough. Here is a summerish mix that, despite my admiration for Brian Wilson, does not feature any Beach Boys songs. That’s just too obvious, ya know:

As a buddy of mine once said “keep it crunk, but keep it positive.”

MP3 :::
Darker My Love – Summer is Here
Shop Assistants – Almost Made It
Sun City Girls – Radar 1941
The Jesus and Mary Chain – On the Wall (the better Barbed Wire Kisses version)
Atlas Sound – On Guard
City Center – Gladest
Amen Dunes – In Caroline
Friends – Summer Sunday Blues
Seals & Crofts – Summer Breeze
The Clean – Beatnik

Derby’s a strange scene in Louisville. There are limos driving all up and down Bardstown Road. It’s totally strange and possibly stupid. Guess it’s good for the local economy. One of my best friends is in town taking photos of Paris Hilton’s party at the toolbox known as Fourth Street Live. No photos are allowed of her, though – which is kind of an odd thought considering her entire existence is contingent on hangin’ out and dudes being stoked on that. One of my coworkers told me that there’s a pretty swank Derby gala right up the street from Bloggins Base Camp on Cherokee Road in the Highlands. Supposedly O.J. Simpson tried to get in last year and was throw out. When I asked said dude what the Juice did, he said “I dunno, killed a couple people, ya know.” I lol’ed.

Anyway, happy Derby day! Like 75% of Louisville, I’ll probably be rather toasted in a couple of hours. Come meet me and L-Train and friends at the Highland Taproom if’n you’re in town!

MP3 :::
Mahjongg – The Stubborn Horse
Besnard Lakes – Rides the Rails
The Vaselines – The Day I Was a Horse
The Electric Prunes – I Got My Mojo Workin’
The Incredible String Band – Swift as the Wind

O JUNK YA’LLZ!!1 I’VE BEEN SOOOO BAKED 2DAY I ALMOST 4GOT TO PUT 2GETHER A MIX FOR 420. I’M LIKE THAT ADULTERER IN THE BIBLE STORY… LOVE TO GET STONED, KNOW WUT I’M SAYING?!?!?! NAH I’M JUST KIDDING.

N-E WAYZ, 420 IS MAH FAVORITE HOLIDAY AND I CELEBRATE IT EVERY YEAR B/C I FEEL IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE LEGALIZE THE GANJ. GRASS HELPS ME AND OTHER PPL FIND OUT THE TRUTH IN THINGS. AND U KNOW WHAT? MAN, I’LL TELL YOU WHAT THE REAL CRIME IS… IT’S WHEN OUR FASCIST GOVERNMENT TELL US… WAIT, MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT DERAILED. O WELL, LOL. BUT YEAH, AS I SAID EARLIER I MADE YA’LLZ A MIX TO BRING IN THE HOLIDAY RIGHT. ALSO, IF U WANT TO SMOKE GRASS BUT CAN’T ROLL A DEECE J, HERE’S HOW TO MAKE A GRAVITY BONG WITH HOUSEHOLD ITEMS. PEACE.

For this classroom activity, you will need:
- Kitchen mop bucket (preferably unused or at least thoroughly washed)
- a 2-liter bottle
- Sink faucet screen with nut (the lil’ doo-dad where the water comes out)
- Aluminum foil
- Knife or scissors
- Access to municipal tap water, yo

THIS IS 4 TOBACCO USE ONLY, THO, SO DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME WITH N-E THING ELSE *WIIINKZ NUDGE*

Fill bucket about 3/4 with water. Cut four small incisions at the bottom of the plastic bottle. Remove bottle cap, replace with sink screen and nut, and pad bottle nozzle tightly with aluminum foil (don’t want any of the tobackee smoke *wiiink* to get out).  Fill screen with your favorite flavored tobacco. Push bottle toward bottom of bucket. Light tobacco and slowly pull bottle up out of water. Remove cap, put mouth on bottle nozzle then slowly start pushing bottle back down into bucket while inhaling. And viola! ENJOI YR. FINE AMERICAN GROWN TOBACCO PRODUCTS LOLZ.

IF YA’LLZ HAVE N-E ?’S U CAN HIT ME UP ON AIM MY SCREENNAME IS SMOAK420

If you do get busted by the po-lice for enjoyin’ the finer things in life, tell them that you got these gravity “tobacco” bong instructions from Gorilla Vs. Bear, ya know what I’m sayin’.

MP3 :::
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO – Ange Mecanique De Saturne
Magik Markers – There is No Path Which is Not Straight
Loop – Fade Out
Comets on Fire – Jaybird
Pink Floyd – Astronomy Domine
Darker My Love – I Feel Fine
The Byrds – Space Odyssey
Landing – Gravitational 2
Cloudland Canyon – Mothlight Part 1
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Gettin’ High in the Morning
The Black Angels – Snake in the Grass
13th Floor Elevators – Slip Inside This House
Deerhunter – Octet
Frank Zappa – Flower Punk

No doubt that regular readers are familiar with the satirical Billy Corgan Twitter gimmick. It’s really taken off in a ways that I could not have foreseen, and I have to assume that you all might be interested in an update. First, Corgan himself has acknowledged its existence.

Official statement from the Pumpkin King, found in paragraph six of his mission statement thesis:

I do plan on doing other things coming up though. I have notions to start 2 other bands and also release some more solo work. I would love to get into more details on those projects but I would like to secure the domain names first because I don’t want to have to fight to get them back later. It’s bad enough that I have someone posing as me on Twitter LOL…the general idea is the work of the other groups and solo may intertwine with the SP album as far as a release schedule would go. But I’m all ready ahead of myself there

Yes, it is bad enough.

It’s hard to glean exactly how he feels about it, though. I mean, he does finish the sentence with a hearty lol (in ALL CAPS). So perhaps he has a sense of humor after all. Or… it could also be the type of lawl that’s more along the lines of “heh heh… cute. Kill him.” That remains to be seen, but I’ve gone on and removed my mailing address from this blog.

At the very least, of course, I’m thankful that fake Billy is still around to discuss his drama (today Billy is bummed because Dave Grohl won’t drum with him, claiming he doesn’t play in one-man bands… not to mention he also sat on his bucket hat by accident).

A lot of people get the jokes and are as entertained by these web 2.0 antics as I am. However, I’m quite dismayed at how many people still really think they’re talking to Billy – despite the fact that the bio line reads “completely satirical,” despite the fact that the profile picture is an image of Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series, despite the completely insane things said on there, despite Billy’s own acknowledgement that the account is indeed a fake. That’s insane, ya’ll.

And now radio stations are reading the Corgan Twitter!

Marco is a DJ for Star 98.7 in Los Angeles, as well as the beloved KEXP, which of course, I listen to all the time for them hott Lykke Li remixxxes lolz.

notmarcocollins@Billy_Corgan Wondering what you think about The Silversun Pickups? Damn, their new CD sound familiar…
Billy_Corgan@notmarcocollins I have no idea who they are. I really only listen to Taproot and my music, save for all the drummers next weekend
987LA Hey fellow tweeters, It’s @notmarcocollins. At 11:50am, I’m gonna play the new Silversun Pickups & read a tweet I got from @Billy_corgan!

I didn’t hear it myself, but its announcement was confirmed:

ltldollclaudia@Billy_Corgan Some jackass on the radio quoted the wish remark today, saying” Listen to what Billy tweeted. Wow, how deep.” LOL
ltldollclaudia@Billy_Corgan He doesn’t know it’s satire, apparently. What a Johnny Douche.

And of course, there’s the fans as well. Wishful thinking, I assume, is the catalyst for the cognitive dissonance. I hope I’m not being too big of a jerk by messing with these people.

Stoked this bro shared his MySpace with me:

Edwardgug@Billy_Corgan yo billy! my favorite album of yours is your solo album
Billy_Corgan@Edwardgug Really? Shit, I don’t even like TheFutureEmbrace.
Edwardgug@Billy_Corgan why not man? its one of your best I think! Still one of my favorite records! Im a musician too myspace.com/edwarduglielmino

Billy instructing people how to properly parent:

Barbie1492@Billy_Corgan You rock Billy!!! My 5 yr old daughter and I love ya. You are our favorite.
Billy_Corgan@Barbie1492 Your 5 year old shouldn’t be listening to my music. Don’t you know that I cuss?!

This has to be my favorite conversation. Here Billy demonstrates prose similar to what’s found in his poetry book Blinking With Fists. At least this dude’s trying to do his homework, though:

kylespringford@Billy_Corgan Loved Blinking With Fists, are you thinking about releasing another poetry book in the future?
Billy_Corgan@kylespringford Does a bear wear a funny hat? Does the Pope shit in the woods?
kylespringford@SmashingPumpkin is @Billy_Corgan fake?

At first I thought I was a little harsh, but after some consideration, I think Corgan really feels this way:

jaqroy@Billy_Corgan hi billy i was at your show november 15th at the wang! great show, loved everything! your music changed my life!
Billy_Corgan@jaqroy Thanks for the support, but the existence of Smashing Pumpkins does not rely on whether you all come to our shows or not.

Not much more to add – this entry sorta wrote itself.  Stay tuned for more news and merriment as it develops. It’s worth sharing a few of my favorite exchanges from people that do get it, just to keep things balanced…

eillumination@Billy_Corgan I didn’t even know you wore pants anymore. I’ve only seen you in dresses, skirts, and sun-god costumes lately.

Billy_Corgan: Fuck you guys. Tila Tequila is an amazing young woman whom I respect a lot. Pants-Off Dance-Off is an incredible, groundbreaking show, too.
FloppyNono@billy_corgan but did u get hed?
Billy_Corgan@FloppyNono Oh, indeed I did. Her specific pleasures we lovingly call “Tequila Sunrise.” But you didn’t hear that from me *WINK*

I HEART YOU BILLY CORGAN! Here’s my “Heart You” Mix, brah.

MP3 :::
The Free Design – Love You
Boredoms – (Heart)
Numbers – I Love You ‘Til I Don’t
West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – Funny How Love Can Be
Pia Fraus – Loveloops
MV & EE with the Bummer Road – Drive is That I Love You
Ciccone Youth – Addicted to Love

Last week, I had part one of the 26-song, seasonally-inspired, massive clusterfuck mix. Guess fucking what! This is part dos, just in time to send March off like a lion (or a lamb, depending on where you are I suppose). Spring rules, and I want you to have the jams I’m cranking in my car with the windows down and rims still spinnin’. Below are 15 more songs that are one million times better than the new Phoenix or St. Vincent or Lykke Li albums (or whatever the other blogs are poppin’ boners for). Fuck that shit. String Band, Meadow, Growing, Yoko, the Banke, Lilys, some Ghost Box, some insane old and obscure psych… I even put ol’ Ginger and Eric on here. I mean, Jesus, I wish someone had made me a mix like this.

No annotations just time. Just enjoy the jams. As always, if you think these shits is tight, support the artist and grip their album(s).

As a visual aside, I took some photos yesterday evening of the beautiful seasonal unfurling in the Old Louisville neighborhood. For our readers in the area, you should grab this mix (as well as the samples from the new Akron/Family and Lotus Plaza albums), load the tracks onto your iPod, iPhone, iCranial RFID chip, pipe ‘em through some big headphones (not shitty earbuds), and take a stroll down South 2nd Street between Magnolia and Lee Streets for a most transcendental time. Nature owns.

MP3 :::
The Incredible String Band – Koeeadi There
Penny Arkade – Woodstock Fireplace
Tower Recordings – Other Kinds Run
Belbury Poly – Scarlet Ceremony
Dungen – Familj
Dead Meadow – Stacy’s Song
Cream – Passing the Time
Growing – Wrong Ride
Margo Guryan – Sun
High Places – Namer
The Left Banke – Desiree
The Free Design – Now is the Time
Lilys – FBI and Their Toronto Transmitters
Sun City Girls – The Flower
Yoko Ono – Mind Holes

I was raised on Warp. During my very first job at a hole in the wall lawn & garden shop my boss used to put on the Richard D James Album whenever it was a slow day (i.e. every day except Arbor Day). But all my nostalgia aside, there is no other label that has promoted more discussion, mystique, or innovation to the world of electronic music than these guys right here, and after going 20 years strong, it’s time to fucking celebrate.

Here’s how they’re rolling it out. Right now, instead of reading this, you could be helping to decide the track listing for the Best of Warp compilation! This 20-song cd will have 10 tracks chosen by co-founder Steve Beckett, and the rest are up to us. Each person can vote up to 50 times (but only once for each track) from now until May 8th. My first vote just went to Squarepusher’s “Iambic 9 Poetry”.

What would a birthday bash be without some crazy guest appearances? Kicking off in Paris on May 8th will be a limited tour with a drool-worthy lineup featuring: Aphex Twin, arriving either by tank or submarine depending on location, and sharing the stage with him is wonderkid Tim Hecker, also !!! (chk chk chk), Pivot, Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke, and that’s only who they’ve revealed so far (I’m lookin’ at you, Boards of Canada). Most of the dates are in the UK, but the crew will make one stop state-side in New York on July 20th.

[Editor's Note: You too can see the spectrograph demon Richard James hidden in Windowlicker. What a creep! Read more here.]

Now, that’s already enough excitement for us faint of heart, but it doesn’t stop there. This autumn, Warp will also be releasing a collection of “new and unreleased tracks from the majority of the current Warp roster, as well as some of the finest artists from our history.” Quantities are said to be “extremely limited” so stay tuned in for details if you wanna beat me to it. Viva la Warp!

[Editor's Note: Fuckin' love Warp, dude. I just voted for Broadcast "America's Boy", Seefeel "Spangle," Aphex Twin "To Cure a Weakling Child" and Two Lone Swordsmen "Punches and Knives," four incredibly sick songs that I've included below for your consideration. Vote for 'em! If it ain't Warp, it ain't worth a shit!]

MP3 :::
Squarepusher – Iambic 9 Poetry
Boards of Canada – Drive Left Side
Broadcast – America’s Boy
Two Lone Swordsmen – Punches and Knives
Seefeel – Spangle
Aphex Twin – To Cure a Weakling Child

There’s no real need for an introduction. Spring is here finally, and it rules. West coasters may not be privy to this, but on the east coast, we have this thing called February which really sucks the life out of you. With these new mild conditions and sunshine, I had the energy to pull together a rather massive springtime collection of music – sunny folk and psychedelia (with annotations!) that evokes the oft conjured imagery of the season that I won’t waste time reiterating here. This gangsta-ass mix is so massive, as a matter of fact, that it will be be broken up into two parts. I wish someone made me a mix this monumentally ballin’, but unfortunately I’m probably the only one dope enough to bring this to you.

As always, please support the artists if’n you take a likin’ to any of these torch ballads. Salad rules, as well.

MP3 :::
Margo Guryan – Come to Me Slowly
You can find this gem on the collection 25 Demos

The Free Design – Bubbles
Everything is small potatahs up against the mighty FD, trick

Mia Dio Todd – My Room is White
Remixed by Dungen for her collaboration compilation La Ninja (ZOMG NINJAZ!!1!)

The Left Banke – Ivy Ivy
Technically, this is a Montage song, but since both groups have Michael Brown at the helm, it matters not. Good gravy either way.

Fairport Convention – The Deserter
Okay, so the subject matter of this one, as with many Fairport numbers, is not as pleasant as spring tends to be (a narrative of being ratted out on and meeting your executioner), but Sandy Denny makes everything gorgeous.

The Incredible String Band – There is a Green Crown
Eight big minutes of sitars and freak-folk before anyone knew what freak-folk was. You can find this one on The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter.

Broadcast – Look Outside
Considering their respectable following, why… in the fuck… is The Noise Made By People not available in the United States? Warp… dudes, what gives?

Black Moth Super Rainbow – Smile Heavy
Yeah… why does the sun go down? Rotation – fuck that shit. Find this on their 2004 effort Start a People.

Pia Fraus – Springsister
With the word “spring” in the title, this was an obvious choice. What I lack in subtlety, I make up for in honesty.

Mahogany – Chance
Excellent neo-gaze band from the early ’00s

Koushik – Be With
You would think this might be on Sundazed. But it’s not – it’s on Stones Throw.

Tower Recordings – Other Kinds Run
Matt Valentine, PG Six, and other rad dudes on acid freak the fuck out for three minutes.

I think full contact St. Patrick’s Day would me more interesting, don’t you? Rather than simply pinching someone who wasn’t wearing green, you mow them down with your car. Because wearing green is so important, you see. It’s a good style.

Speaking of good styles, here’s a quick and dirty mix of music that traces the general trajectory of slamming car bombs all night – from the good time to the sickness. The picture above is, indeed, the Chicago River. I definitely recommend going to Chicago for St. Patty’s Day and also, surprisingly, Savannah, Georgia.  Savannah’s celebration is huge and amazing (with better weather), and if you can avoid pockets of brodeo, you’ll have a really good time.

MP3 :::
Roxy Music – A Really Good Time
West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – Endless Night
Times New Viking – My Head
Nothing People – Sickness
My Bloody Valentine – Swallow (band formed in Ireland – see what I did there?)

There’s nothing I love more than a good old fashioned murder ballad.  Maybe it’s the juicy juxtaposition of the details of a grisly crime uttered sotto voce style over a plaintive dirge.  Or maybe I’m just sick.  But this isn’t about me.  This week TDB brings you modern day murder ballads from some of today’s hottest new artists!  You get hangings, stabbings, scorned lovers and much much more.  This very special collection is only available through TDB and is not sold in any stores.  And if you act now, we’ll include matricide as a bonus gift! 

I’m sure there are entire doctoral theses on the distant origins of murder ballads but more recent history almost universally cites Johnny Cash and Nick Cave as pioneers of the modern genre.  Cave’s haunting duet with Kylie Minogue, “Where the Wild Roses Grow”, ends an obsessive love affair Crispin Glover style with a stoning by the river.  Cash is a different breed of cat and in “Delia’s Gone” exemplifies an Appalachian fetish for firearms and the ‘wife as chattel’ meme where you take them out in back of the barn and shoot them for misbehavin’.

Both are brilliant examples of the genre and the quintessential murder ballad paints a vivid portrait of the killer and his crime.  Okkervil River’s “Westfall” is the prison diary of a small-town boy grown up and grown bored enough to kill.  With creepy details like “One was named Lori.  That’s what the story said next week in The Guardian…”, it’s the dispassionate chronicle of a psychopath.  In classic murder ballad style, the song builds to the eventual capture of the killer who, paraded out of the jailhouse, tells the inquisitive crowd that, “evil don’t look like anything.”  Take that, Nancy Grace.

Former Palace Brother, Will Oldham, dons his Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy moniker and reaches back to 18th century Ireland with an update of the traditional “Molly Bawn.”  In an episode that makes Dick Cheney look like Annie Oakley, poor Molly Bawn is mistaken for a swan and shot by her fiancé in a tragic hunting accident.  I’m serious.  This is probably more accurately called a manslaughter ballad with the possibility of time served and probation.

And in what starts out as a childhood game but presumably ends in tragedy, Sonny Bono’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” is given guitar god treatment by Terry Reid circa 1968.  More metaphoric than literal, it’s representative of an era of artful phrases in music.  Thirty years ago euphemisms like ’squeeze my lemon’ garnered a knowing wink from the hipsters while today we get 20 year old Hillary Duff cooing “touch me boy don’t you make me wait.”  Ah, good times.

- Xavier Van Zandt

MP3 :::
Terry Reid – Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
Bonnie Prince Billy -  Molly Bawn
Okkervil River – Westfall