secret comics

Rack Hack Hijinx!

Helen Back recently gave me two "build 'em yourself" CD racks that she didn't want anymore thought I needed, and, like always, she was right. I've got ten kinds of crap (well... mainly CDs, books, and D&D paraphenalia -- Monster Manual, Legends & Lore, 1st Ed., etc. -- stacked up all over my apartment, thanks to the "air conditioner leaking all over the spare room" debacle, and it would be nice to have things a little more organized. But two CD racks seemed like too many -- or maybe I had too little space to use them effectively, what with all the random piles of usually-low-lying things: not enough wide, but plenty tall. The space roughly four feet below my ceiling was drastically under-utilized.

Helen also gave me no instructions with the CD racks, so I decided to hack the damn racks and build the tallest single still-practicable rack I possibly could with all the parts of the combined sets, gravity be damned! Here's what I came up with:

[oops -- picture deleted!  blame typepad, not me]

So yes, I had to photoshop some of the snaps to get a somewhat cohesive perspective -- be sure to check the up-up-upper-left hand corner of the pic to get some hacked rack/ceiling perspective. Straight shots didn't really convey the actual height (the grandeur, if you will), and even though this pic sort of tapers down towards the bottom, I think (a) you can get a real sense of my new hacked rack's full height (b) especially in relation to the other, smaller CD rack at right, and the crummy Target lamp between them. All said and done, I probably have about a third or fourth of the combined rack component parts left over, minus (most of) the shelving clasps -- what to cobble together next using only my intuitive sense of instuctions for these sorts of things...

Six Feet Under The Radar

I saw Jandek tonight -- er, Sunday night. I am trying to get some thoughts down for a few minutes here... so, OK:

• Jandek is not a lot of things you might hear about him. Jandek is not the mentally handicapped son of a record plant owner who gets his records released by his dad for free. Jandek is not some crazed nut whose music is a release from whatever afflictions he supposedly struggles with. One clue -- Jandek keeps releasing records, 42 to date, and they are progressing, changing, and showing clear (sometimes radical) shifts in aims/means, something not usually associated with art strictly for therapy's sake. Jandek is also apparently a nice, pleasant guy to talk to -- and that's second-hand information, yo, mined straight from the source. Two sources now, I guess. So no, I didn't get to chat with Jandek.

• Anyway, Jandek is a "capital a" artist, not deadly serious all the time, but an artist nonetheless. He's got pretty, ah, unique vision, but he's executing it with technical ability, proficiency of expression, and passion. And it seems like Jandek isn't unaware of how his art always was/is "captial a" art within the larger scheme of things.

• Brief show review from this point, since I wasn't taking notes and there were a million things to take in.

  No doubt, Jandek is an important avant musician at this point in his career. His guitar playing is anything but traditional "outside musicianship" where "can't tune = "outside" = "unintentional avant garde". Maybe he chooses to express some ideas (most notably in the past) in a more straight-up "outside" style, but not right now I don't think. Jandek is, for lack of a non-moronic expression, an axeman. His playing features a wide vocaulary of avant rock/jazz expression, performed live sans a single pedal, I might add, including echoes of Derek Bailey, Nels Cline, Glenn Branca, Jim O'Rourke, etc. I can't call these complicated, diverse musical touchstones a coincidence -- a million monkeys and all that couldn't come up the unique, techincally incredible (though maybe not for everyone) guitar style Jandek has developed -- on his own, as well as member of a distinguished avant-guitar community.

  Not that you can't tell from the last several of electric records how good/focused he's gotten, but seeing Jandek with his band was phenomenal. It's almost like... like everything you've heard on record was sort of dated afterwards. Of the two drummers, the unnamed drummer on the right was un-fucking-believeable. He had drums as rhythm and as lead down tight -- but how to adequately describe? I will say that he was, at points throughout the set, taking symbols off their stands and using them with his drum heads to create additional mind-blowing percussive sounds. The drummer on the left was excellent too, but he seemed to focus on more strictly rhythmic aims. So they worked well together.

• Jandek raged. Jandek grooved. Jandek even smiled -- more than once, and genuine smiles, too. I couldn't help kinda smiling back**. He definitely got into the gig, visibly, taking center stage(ish) for extended pieces and working with his musicians the way that, well, good leaders in jazz/improv groups do. To me, the songs themselves (meaning the lyrics, etc.) were almost secondary to the improvisional uses Jandek made of them last night. More and more I was thinking the personal themes with Jandek's songs are being at least equalled in significance by this whole incredible range of musical ideas/thoughts/emotions. The more fevered the pitch of the extended improv pieces, the more amazing Jandek was. It wasn't "hate jazz" nor unlistenable, but Jandek live is more overwhelming and powerful than you would have any reason to expect, squarejohn or not.

**Oh yeah, Helen Back and I were in the front row, the first two right aisle seats. It would have been a perfect spot for heckling, but you know... sometimes there's funny, and sometimes there's just going too far.

How To Make Enemies and Irritate People

Somtimes I write things on message boards that I find pleasing . This particular entry (quoted below) is mainly about Mike Watt's touring as the bass player for the Stooges. You can read the most recent the tour diaries referenced, then maybe this will make a little sense. Or not. There's more, if you were wondering. Anyway, fewer people than usual will enjoy this, but oh well...:

I know this won’t probably be the most popular post on the board, but after reading the last batch of watt’s Stooges tour updates, I’m kind of irritated. Why irritated? And why share? I don’t know, seems like this might actually not be the preaching to the choir that so often infects artist-related boards. Much respect to all involved in this endeavor, though. I guess that's a little like closing with "bless their heart" here in Texas.

First. Iggy kinda seems like a princess. Let’s see: lets other people soundcheck for him – princess. Travels alone, occasionally leaves directly after gigs in a private car without band/crew – princess. Chastises Mike for too much or too little – princess. Getting on Mike for what shirt he wears on stage – princess. Is the band now really called "Iggy Pop + The Stooges" - if so, that's way princess. The whole "fine wine" thing… admit it – a little princess. Or ultra-bourgeoise. Showoff-y, anyway.

Second. The way Stooges folks (OK, mainly Iggy) seem to treat Watt (re: the music I mean) makes me mad. Watt’s a hell of an accomplished musician, and it seems like he’s getting treated like crap – an extended hazing, maybe? It’s been a couple of years, that shit should be over and done. Fuck them if they can’t take a few extra fills over some of those patently dull Dave Alexander bass lines. Watt doesn't owe them anything.

Third, and finally… who the fuck do the Iggy and the Stooges think they are? They’ve put out one great record ("Fun House", of course, which I love as much as the next person)... in 1970! That was 35 fucking years ago. "The Stooges" is OK, but not so consistent or very listenable.

So… Iggy has now been riding on the fumes of one (and half) great record(s) for over a third of a century. I dare anyone to point to any post-“Fun House” release (beside "Raw Power", and even then...) that’s anything but mildly listenable or "pretty good", and worth paying anything near full retail price for. Iggy really seems to be famous for, well, being Iggy.

Conversely, Mike Watt has done fair amount in his 28 year or so musical career – take the Stooges “Fun House” record (1) and compare it to “Paranoid Time”, “What Makes a Man Start Fires?”, “Buzz and Howl…”, “Double Nickels On The Dime”, “Flyin’ The Flannel”, “Contemplating the Engine Room”, and “The Secondman’s Middle Stand” (7). You might count a few more fIREHOSE and Minutemen records, I was just going for my favorites. Anyway, in chess that's called a severe superior material advantage for watt in terms of quality artistic output.

Even more specifically, “Fun House”, head-to-head with “Double Nickels”, is a lesser record: less creative, less focused, less well written, less intelligent, less funny, less amibitious, and on and on.... Not to mention, watt puts out new (very good) material on a regular basis, while Iggy… well, seems put out a terrible solo record every five, six, seven years or so, re-issue old records, and keep flogging those glory days of ‘69/’70.

Look, I still like the Stooges. But more than the Minutemen? Ninja, please. And really, I don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. Still, it really bothers me to read watt’s tour diaries and feel like he’s being treated like this second class Stooge, berated for playing what’s in his heart, and not falling in line (intentionally or not) with Iggy’s master plan. Master plan for what… mining the past for all it’s worth now that his solo career is pretty much dead as a doornail? Sorry – bringing the Stooges to a generation that missed them the first time around. Fuck that. Start a new band playing music people want to hear even slightly as much as the Stooges. Hell, just write a new Stooges record and see how it stands up to "the legacy". Don’t take the lame-ass “Molly Hatchet ‘greatest hits’ eternal county fair circuit” cop-out.

The only thing worth mining is the present (and hypothetically the future, I suppose) and that’s something I’ve always respected watt for working at in his art. I think Iggy would do well to take off the tiara, skip the early ride home, and try to learn a few things from his bassman.

Sandy Pearlman Can Eat It

We need to learn more about metal. More and more and more and more and more about metal, actually. Like... subgenres. Silly subgenres, sizzlechest. I appear to have missed out on a bunch between buying Somewhere In Time and the present day. Wasted years, those wasted hipster years...

more of the same (as above) here... Warning: men wearing makeup and blood and pig's heads and stuff. Also the word "sodomized" is visible in one photo. Just the word, but still.

saddy dumpington vs. the dancing brothers

Good news: there's a new cartoon! Isn't that great?

The Band I Was In Played "The Boys Are Back In Town"

For some reason, I was driving on some Houston freeway in the middle of the afternoon -- maybe I'd skipped out of work early with a panic attack, maybe I had somewhere to be. Maybe both. Possibly neither. So I still had the radio on 90.1 KPFT from listening to NPR or something on my way into work, and accidentally stumbled across (almost all of, anyway) "Let There Be Rock" by the Drive-By Truckers. Weird to hear this completely brilliant, mysterious song on the radio. Not that not having heard it before necessarily made it "mysterious", but still. Surprising, great music on the radio... in Houston**. It had been forever since that kind of thing had happened, and it hasn't happened since. Maybe it won't ever happen again. I guess there's always a chance -- maybe that's the whole point.

Maybe the surprise and the context of the moment helped contribute to its brilliance, who knows... No, now that I listen to it again, over and over and over, it really is an incredible song. Mad genuis lyrics, something I remember noticing that day -- rare the first time you hear a song, you know? Like the first time hearing "Subdivisions", sophomore year in high school. Kind of a magic moment.

Also, I think "Let There Be Rock" was featured on a heavily possibly underrated compilation shortly thereafter. During the "ten songs, thirty minutes or less" period. Heavy on Singles Going Steady and early Clash, if I remember.

**Houston radio, for a city its size, being terrible. For a city any size. OK, most radio is kind of... not very good. Usually. And KPFT was/is mostly world news-slash-bland community radio (a la KOOP) during the day, so I completely was not expecting rock like "Let There Be Rock" after lunch.

Everybody Digs Bill Evans

Of course, once I put the "hiatus" down in writing, I start having the itch to start posting again. Sadly, I have nothing clever or file-ish or anything like that to amuse myself (or anyone else) with. I wish I did. Maybe I'll poke around later and see... what is possibly... available... or possible. I am getting tired of the great eternal link circle aspecting of the journal-o-verse -- subscribe to bloglines, or just check out mine, and you tend to get a pretty good idea of where these mildly amusing/often depressing things come from -- they start someplace small, boing boing takes credit for them, then a bunch of other people see them on boingboing (now approved) and they are disseminated accordingly. Yes, I am feeling slightly anti-boing boing. Like anyone cares. I barely even care that I care enough to have feelings one way or the other. But they're still on my bloglines, so I guess they win in the end.

Listening to the new reissued version of Fun House -- sounds pretty good. I like to listen to records loud with my headphones on, so who knows how much better it sounds than the old, non-remastered version... Well, I guess I can tell it's been punched up a little. Disc Two is also worth checking out for the alternate, sax-heavy takes of "Fun House". OK, moving on...

I am also hungry, but not really enough to do anything about it. Hmmm. Maybe I can find someone to go eat somewhere with... and maybe I will go and try to find a person right now. Way heavy if I can't, then am still hungry and looking at (a) eating alone in an actual restaurant on a Saturday night (awesome!), or (b) fast food at home with the cats (also kind of awesome, no exclamation point). No fast food sounds good, really. It hasn't, in like... forever. I guess that means that I end this entry and try to get on with my life. My life tonight, that is. Also, I have updated the "secretcomics.com" account so the secretcomics.com domain name should be good again (fingers crossed) and I will resume getting emails notifying me of comments. Credit card on the account had expired. Now fixed. Or something.

Not The Droids You Are Looking For

In case you were paying attention for some reason, things are on extended hiatus.... for the time being, I guess.

Fuck it, check this out in the meantime.

"Until She Caught Flu Off His Sony Walkman..."

I'm not all that hep on concept albums. I don't think I even own 2112 -- well, not anymore, anyway. Probably did, at one point. I have been known to take in an occasional rock opera, but only a very select few. Even then... where is the exact "rock opera"/"concept album" nexus? In the narrative restrictor plates of the opera format? Or that a concept record can choose to bind itself to narrative structure(s) for all, part, or none of it's mission?

Anyway, how delightful it was to stumble across the skull-crushingly brilliant songs on Neil's Heavy Concept Album! And fully archived! -- one can download it here. I was referred to them by these fine folks. So... what exactly is Neil's Heavy Concept Album? Why not decide... for yourself:

• "Our Tune" -- They feature this number prominently at my wedding or I go in strapped with C4 and leave in a very large number of very tiny pieces -- bonus! If they refuse to play "Our Tune", and you're not blown up along with me, you get to exchange your gifts!
• "End of the World Cabaret"/"No Future (God Save The Queen)" -- These tracks need to be listened to back-to-back. Thanks
• "Bad Karma In The UK" -- Is it wrong for me to be a sucker for Neil's mother taking an interest in his career?

You prolly can't find Neil's Heavy Concept Record in your local record shops, and good luck picking up a hard copy online or anywhere else, mate. Best bet? Download it directly from here. If, for whatever reason, I can get you the complete record on CD-R (from my files), with maybe extra bonus materials. For your non-commercial, totally groovy personal listening pleasure, of course. In fact, as a gratuitous good faith gesture (aren't they always the best kind?), and since its pretty clear now who this "Neil" character his and why all the hubbub:

Neil's Heavy Concept Album liner notes!... and other good kinda-related info!

Plus cover art:

Much was cut from this post due to some irksome (and increasingly frequent) uploading issues. Hmm. We lost some good bits about the about the Blessed Virgin, especially since the Feast of Her Assumption is coming up August 15. We looked at the current Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission's paper on the Blessed Mother, where there continue to agreements, disagreements, and "agree to disagrees", Ron Burgundy-style. This would be my one signficant "take away" from the post, if such a thing can be spoken of. That is, if those sort of things interest you, you one-in-a-million blog-reading-superstar, you!

Dancing On The Dole

For those with at least a passing interest in Sex Pistols' arcana, you should meet the Ex Pistols, the Sexless Pistols, and their cohorts. There was something kindy zany, almost charming about the world of no-budget, completely shameless analog music piracy. Read the article for sure, and be sure to scroll all the way down to almost the bottom for some (likely semi-limited edition) fileage.

Personally, I have no real interest, so I'll just be passing.