Instead of doing work today I decided to hunt down Brian and Dennis Wilson’s notorious Cocaine Sessions, sometimes known also as the Hamburger Sessions or Things We Used to Get Brian to Show Up for Practice. The two brothers recorded this demo at Village Recorders during a real low point in 1981 while Brian was in temporary hiatus, not too long before Dennis’ tragic death. This short collection of fragments documents a sweet and haunting glimpse from the last years of their song writing partnership. I can’t brag about the quality, I know, the tape hiss is about as loud as the music, but with a little Treble Reducer the white noise dissipates and some pretty great sketches emerge. Stoned off their gourds, the duo navigate some pretty commanding melodies on organ and piano with vocals both exhausted and hysteric. The tape’s two ‘coherent’ tracks “Oh Lord” and “I Feel So Fine” were slated to be properly developed although they just never materialized, but maybe these dejected, underwater gospels were never meant to get cleaned up.

You can grab the whole bootleg here.

MP3 :::
Brian Wilson & Dennis Wilson – Oh Lord
Brian Wilson & Dennis Wilson – I Feel So Fine

As followers of our Twitter are more than aware, Kenny Bloggins has been straight fiendin’ the past few weeks. It’s probably been annoying as all hell, and I suppose I’m somewhat sorry. But not really – the final season of LOST begins tonight, and we are throwin’ down. In the traditional way this blog celebrates all the stupid shit going on in my life, it seemed necessary to throw a Super Swingin’ Mix in your vicinity to lift John Locke’s name on high. And hey, it also can serve as sort of a peace offering to you all for the general numberskullery that will occur on the Twitter account over the next few months. So… all the songs below relate to themes, storylines, etc. from LOST. Can you find all the connections at home, kids? Oh, and of course 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 are well represented in this mix. What kind of a blogger do you think I am?

I’m not entirely sure many or any of you care about some of the theories that myself, L-Train, and our friends have hypothesized. I’ll just leave it at this – John Locke will resurrect and Jacob’s ass is evil. Believe.

Much love to the Vintage DHARMA Flickr pool for providing the image above.

MP3 :::
Nethers – It’s an Island
Brian Eno – Burning Airlines Give You So Much More
Trap Door – International Psychedelic Mystery Mix Untitled 15
The Advisory Circle – Farmland Freeland
Broadcast – Never Trust a Rusty Bolt
Fairport Convention – Eastern Rain
Silver Apples – Program
Blonde Redhead – 23
Battles – Bad Trails [Live]
The Wilderness – Your Hands
The United States of America – Stranded in Time
Flying Saucer Attack – To the Shore
The Conet Project – Counting Control
Can – Mushroom
Brian Wilson – Cabin Essence
The Great Northwest – Chief John
No Age – Things I Did When I Was Dead
13th Floor Elevators – May the Circle Remain Unbroken
The Zombies – Imagine the Swan
Leadbelly – Don’t You Love Your Daddy No More?
The Incredible String Band – Nightfall
Animal Collective – Don’t Believe the Pilot
Bachelorette – The End of Things

Tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of the Jonestown massacre at the Peoples Temple community in Guyana, the second largest death en masse of American civilians from non-natural disaster origins (the first being niner eleven), claiming 909 very loyal lives. Jonestown wasn’t just a bizarre and significant historical event, but also was a direct influence or tangential muse to lots of delightfully psychotic music.  As with anything that could be filed under the hard-to-explain, I, too, am extremely fascinated by cults.

Heaven’s Gate and the Manson family unequivocally have compelling histories themselves, but no cult was as organized, influential, and as close to moving beyond cult-dom, as it were, as Jonestown. Total insanity. Of those who were killed 30 years ago tomorrow, casualties included North Carolina Congressman Leo Ryan, the first and only (to date) congressman killed in the line of duty.  That’s a hell of a thing. There was a recent production in Chicago called The Peoples Temple, also in commemoration of the 30th anniversary, about the final moments of Jim Jones‘ and his most important constituents’ lives.  Totally wanted to see it.  Wasn’t sure if anyone would come with me, or if I was in the position to afford tickets to fine art events.

If by chance you’re not too familiar with Jonestown, please read up on the rich history of Jim Jones and his followers with this Time article from 1978 here and/or this documentary here (nevermind the corny transition music).  Interestingly enough, Jonestown’s first run-in with the American government was through the FCC for unlicensed use of shortwave radio transmissions, which was the primary way the town communicated with people back in California.

It’s pointless to try to pass judgment on those to turned to Jones, or those who went through with the “revolutionary suicide.”  The truth is, you never know what these people were going through, what influenced them, and so forth. I hate when you read or hear reporters regurgitate the obligatory “why?”  It’s not inconceivable that any of us could get swept up in something that we believe in, unsavory or otherwise.  We all have to believe in something, right?  More importantly, though somewhat indirectly, look at what the Milgrim experiments taught us – it’s entirely possible for psychologically sound people to commit grievances while remaining keenly aware that it’s wrong.  And that’s just balls-to-the-wall crazy.

But I’m not writing today to condemn, defend, or WTF the Jonestown cult members who drank the purple stuff and died in 1978.  Many musicians also have a fascination with cults and the occult.  The most obvious reference to this is the Brian Jonestown Massacre, whose name is a pastiche of the late Rolling Stones guitarist and the mass suicide.  So it felt appropriate to take a trip into historical catacombs, as well as reach into my arsenal of strange recordings and render the “Jonestown Death Tape” for you all today.

I guess I should go on and warn you, this recording is extremely macabre.  It is exactly what it sounds like – Jonestown, death, et al.  The recording is a half hour long and features Jim Jones addressing everyone’s concerns – everything’s falling apart around the compound, the Feds are already after them – and how the “revolutionary suicide” is the best solution.  You hear him at the end accept responsibility for Ryan’s ambush.  However, you don’t hear anything particularly disturbing at any point, other than the general creepiness of peering into what a fervent cult is like.  With that said, remember that all faith-based organizations satisfy some of the criteria for what is considered “cultish.”

MP3 :::
Jim Jones – Final Sermon

It would be pretty excellent if Google displayed a festive logo to mark the occasion tomorrow.  Perhaps I’ll design one for them.

In the spirit of cults and the macabre, how about some Charles Manson?  The truth of the matter is that LIE and his other available recordings are pretty great, as long as you can try to forget that this is, indeed, Chuck Manson.  Of course, lots of psychedelic and acid folk artists went plenty berserk at some point.  Alexander Skip Spence, for example, tried to murder the other members of Moby Grape with an axe one night. Roky Erickson wrote a notarized statement claiming he was an extraterrestrial. So if you can sit down and hear Skip Spence and the like without picturing insanity and violence, give the ironically “Don’t Do Anything Illegal” a decent chance.  Really great jam.  L-Train’s take on Charles Manson is pretty entertaining, commenting as she was hovering over me while I typed this entry: “He does have a lovely voice.  It’s like a less nasally Lou Reed.  Of course, his music is better than Lou Reed’s.”

While we’re on the subject of Charles Manson, he was good friends with Dennis Wilson and was deeply influential to the almost equally batshit Brian Wilson.  I’m going to include my favorite song off of Smile below, but not the new one, because I don’t like it.

In the spring, look forward to some waxin’ on the Branch Dividiens and Waco, as Boards of Canada have written a great number of ditties about David Koresch and his roving gang of ruffians.

MP3 :::
The Brian Jonestown Massacre – The Ballad of Jim Jones
Charles Manson – Don’t Do Anything Illegal
Alexander Skip Spence – All Come to Meet Her
Brian Wilson – Cabin Essence

While you’re groovin’ high, I suppose you can also peruse all the hawtttt celebrity gossip USA Today is wont to publish. The article has a nice little timeline available to read so you can get to know B Dubs a little better, though it curiously omits the most fun part of his life – flipping out and building a sandbox around his piano. I hope that That Old Lucky Sun is awesome, but being released to USA Today first doesn’t bode well for its potential awesomeness.

I actually had the pleasure of hearing Brian Wilson speak at a panel during the CMJ Music Marathon 2004 in New York City, right before the Smile sessions were released. He seemed like a nice man. Though he was the keynote speaker that day, he didn’t say much. At all. Whatsoever. Van Dyke Parks did most of the talking, and he would occasionally lean over to Brian and say “isn’t that right, Brian.” “Yes, yes, I remember that. Very fun. Making music. Fun.” It was weird. But it was awesome, too.

Pics or it didn’t happen:

And you also can hear new Verve album Forth (which is not “Fourth” as I reported a couple of weeks ago… clever) on their OMG MYSPACE LOL streaming in its entirety. I assume they did this since the album leaked on torrent last week (and I was able to snag it).

I can’t decide whether the new Verve record sucks or not. Forth comes out on Tuesday (the 25th). I probably will not be spending my milk money on it. Be it as it may.

First, I should say that I feel the Verve deserves every bit of press and success they receive by reuniting and releasing Forth. I feel this way for two reasons. Numero uno, it’s good to have the Verve back and in the public conscience, even if they’re a shadow of what they were in the early ’90s. Things are worse than ever in music Thunderdome, even worse than when the Verve called it quits in the late ’90s during the advent of rap metal and Third Eye Blind’s reign of supremacy. At least at that time, the indie and college radio world didn’t embrace utter horseshit like they do today. In 1997, when Urban Hymns was released, the en masse dumbing down of music came from the mainstream. Now, it’s coming from the “underground” (strong emphasis on the quotations). And that is worse. Vampire Weekend and the Ting Tings are basically this decade’s Third Eye Blind and Smash Mouth. Jesus fuck. In the more visible echelon of music, we need a formidable presence like the Verve now more than ever.

Secondly, it’s about time that the Verve cashed in their dues. They released two mammoth, majestic albums (A Storm in Heaven and A Northern Soul) as well as a definitive shoegazing five-song EP, all of which, tragically, barely made a splash. Then, when the Verve finally got a taste of success with “Bittersweet Symphony,” motherfuckin’ Rolling Stones lawyers took, like, all their goddamn money… and technically, their Grammy too. The suit itself was brought on by Alan Klein, a music industry hack who owns the copyrights to Jagger/Richards pre-’70s catalog. The reason – they sampled too much of the string arrangement from “The Last Time,” despite a licensing agreement that allowed the Verve to sample it. The band argued that the cretins who represented the Stones got greedy when they saw how well the single was doing. The Verve received no loyalties from the track’s success.

Considering all this, the Verve has earned the right to do whatever they want. Including the right to suck, if they so choose.

So anyway, yeah, Forth is a confusing record for me. It’s not an intrinsically lousy album. The vast majority of it is catchy, melodic, and beautiful. But here’s how l look at it (as I continue my mantra of “tangential associations are as vital as the music itself in a listening experience”) – if this album was released by, say, Manic Street Preachers or Doves, I would’ve probably liked it. But this is the Verve. The Verve are hard-ass shoegazers. So when Coldplay releases a more daring album than a group of hard-ass shoegazers, there’s a serious problem here.

The track’s single, “Love is Noise,” found here, is pretty representative of most of the record. Lots of cool sound effects, dense layers of sound, impeccable percussion… completely corny radio-ready pop song. “Love is Noise” could’ve fit perfectly on Achtung, Baby, since cool sound effects plus cheesy pop was its vibe as well. Once again, there’s nothing wrong with slick pop, but the Verve has the talent to go beyond those parameters. The next track, “Judas,” doesn’t get much better, mixing thick, brooding, bombastic Brit-rock guitar standards with Ashcroft vocal-hooks almost coming off as a moody Starland Vocal Band. “Noise Epic” is neither noise or epic – lots of reverb on the rhythm and melody, but when Richard pops in to recite an, ehhh, spoken word piece, dumbassery is laid on thicker than the ProTools layers on each guitar track. I really hate spoken word tracks in rock – that’s the Lizard King’s self-indulgent territory, not the Verve’s. Vanity Fair recently described this record as (a phrase I often use) “brain melting psychedelia.” If that’s the case, Vanity Fair’s brain probably melts right out of its skull like butter when The Joshua Tree thumps from the speaker. I really wonder who these people are that magazines hire.

The album collects more focus as it progresses. “Appalachian Skies” marches toward Anton Newcombe style electric folk. “Valium Skies” and “I See Houses” both take a cue from Spiritualized – you can mature without growing old, creating two fairly fresh, exciting, thick dream pop gems. Unfortunately, these are the only three moments of clarity in a rather meandering album striving to oust Britain’s most popular right now (that’s a 70% failure rate for those of you at home playing along). Really, the Verve, considering the legend that cultivated around their demise, could’ve released a spectacular, sonically richer, and more challenging record to about the same level of success. It’s too bad they didn’t seize that opportunity.

So I dunno about this whole Forth business. Forth, at its best, is incandescent and ethereal, bloated and insubstantial at its worst. Forth is almost cosmic refuse. It’s the sound of a group trying to recreate its former drugged-out sound. But between balancing families, finances, and responsibilities with kickin’ out the jams, NPR-accessible hooks are, perhaps begrudgingly, thrown in the mix. It’s a compromise between reaching for psychedelic bliss and paying the bills. It just sounds peculiar and odd. I know it’s pretty lame when a music review always resorts to the “waaah, the early stuff was better, waaah” argument, but in this case, it’s true. When such a group of artists leaves a legendary mark postmortem, then reunites with less than half the flair, it’s truly unavoidable to wish for something on the level of A Storm in Heaven or the 1992 eponymous EP.

Here… lemme show you… much more so than Forth, both of these tracks WILL CLAIM OWNERSHIP OF YOUR TEMPORAL LOBE. ON THA REAL.
MP3 :::
The Verve – She’s a Superstar
The Verve – Blue