Listening Project: Week 7: Music From a Painted Cave by Robert Mirabal

[MugginsXO]

Cool, looking forward to hearing this one!

[the captain]

This was entirely new to me and now is a challenge to appropriately describe. Maybe the best way is to say I don't have a hole this shape to be filled. Whatever it could have done for me was done by the Mothers of Invention 20 years ago. Rather than whet my appetite along those lines, it sated it. So for me, it doesn't much matter that the Bonzo Dog Band is good--which they are. Or that they're funny--which they are. The listening experience (two-plus times through) was a good one, but one that is unlikely to be repeated unless I find myself in some situation where they could be a reference. (You know, some drunken rabbit-hole music discussion or other.)

So Dudd, thanks for the new listening experience.

[Please delete my account]

Right, I'm going to try and catch up

Nada Surf- O.K. Nothing I'd switch stations for, but nothing I'd buy.

Gallant- Likewise. Pretty, and atmospheric, but every time a new song came along that made me prick my ears up and think "this is a highlight", I had wearied of it by the end of the song. Perhaps it needs more time.

Tom Waits- this was pretty awesome. I've always like Tom Waits in theory but never put my time and money where my mouth is and bought/listened to his records much. I was very familiar with the title track as it appears of not one but two mixtapes friends had given me, and I loved it from the moment I heard it. I had no idea it was from so late in his career, I just assumed it was form the early '80s. But enough personal background. I liked everything on this album, and loved a lot of it. It didn't feel autumnal to me, but wintry, partly because it's getting very cold here right about now, and partly because of those ice-skating lyrics. 

[Please delete my account]

I can go into a bit more detail with the Bonzos as I'm already very familiar with this album.

It's may be their best, though their previous LP "Gorilla" has a lot of charm and sounds more like a band doing what they naturally do. However, that's also got a lot of covers on it, whereas "Doughnut" is all originals. On the other hand a few of the Neil Innes songs let the side down (as is the case with their subsequent album "Keynsham"). They're a band I appreciate best when I listen to my own custom-made compilations or playlists spanning their whole career.

"We Are Normal"
This is a great song, though I usually have to skip the endless intro. Good work rhyming "freedom" with "Bert Weedon".

"Postcard"
Very pretty and Beatlesque.

"Beautiful Zelda"
This took a while to grow on me but now its a favourite. The trouble with comedy bands is when they have a song that isn't very funny- as this one isn't- it often takes a while to notice what a good tune it has. This is a Neil Innes tune and I tend to like his songs less than Viv Stanshall's but this is maybe my favourite of his.

"Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?"
Brilliant c o ck snooked at one of my least liked musical genres.
Harmonica player starts a solo- "not yet, man"

"Hello Mabel"
Enjoyable filler in the "Martha My Dear" mould.

"Kama Sutra"
Cool

"Humanoid Boogie"
Pointless. Worst song on the album.

"Trouser Press"
The song on the album that most feels like the first album and the roots of the band as a jazz/dada/art/parody experiment/experience. A lot of fun.

"My Pink Half of the Drainpipe"
The centrepiece of the album, Viv's manifesto, with themes that he'd return to throughout his career. Also one of the two songs that is funny enough to work as comedy as well as music (the other being "Rhinocratic Oaths"). This might be their best song, actually, though "Mr Apollo" and "Canyons of your Mind" would run it close.
(I think when I say this is their best album I'm thinking of stuff like this and forgetting about "Humanoid Boogie" and "Rockaliser Baby")

"Rockaliser Baby"
I love what Neil Innes has done with the rest of career but I have to say a lot of the songs he wrote for the Bonzos on his own I don't like. And I like his singing a lot less than Stanshall's.  

"Rhinocratic Oaths"
Classic Stanshall prose, paving the way for the Sir Henry at Rawlinson End stuff

"11 Moustachioed Daughters"
And this paves the way for his darker, more serious work like "Men Opening Umbrellas Overhead". A very strong closer. And the fact that the album begins and ends with such psychedelic, experimental and musically assured pieces as this and "We Are Normal", colours one's perception of the album as a whole and makes one think of the album as being more advanced and avant-garde than it actually is .

[MugginsXO]

Tom Waits- this was pretty awesome. I've always like Tom Waits in theory but never put my time and money where my mouth is and bought/listened to his records much. I was very familiar with the title track as it appears of not one but two mixtapes friends had given me, and I loved it from the moment I heard it. I had no idea it was from so late in his career, I just assumed it was form the early '80s. But enough personal background. I liked everything on this album, and loved a lot of it. It didn't feel autumnal to me, but wintry, partly because it's getting very cold here right about now, and partly because of those ice-skating lyrics.  

It IS from early in his career for all intents and purposes. Very little of the Wild and Crazy Tom manufactured to separate from Bruce Springsteen or The Eagles or whoever did better with his songs than he did. Alice is honest straight ahead love songs, not experimental gubbins for people who don't actually want experimental music. By early 2000s the punchline of Frank had be ome as old and predictable as the Small Change joker. The Small Change joker, decades older was still less affected, and resulted in more pleasing songs. The last Waits record should have raised the Pitchfork authenticity/cliche shackles by a large measure. So crazy he has confetti at his  shows! What a non conformist!

[alf wiedersehen]

That's a rather cynical way of analyzing it.

[Dudd]

Thanks for the response, captain! And I'm glad you at least enjoyed it. I kind of have the same problem with the Mothers; I very much enjoy a lot of their work, but Vivian's unfortunately already sated that hole by raving about coffee tables and giraffes.

And cheers for the writeup, unreleased backgrounds! I agree with a lot of that (although I'm afraid I do like "Humanoid Boogie" an awful lot). "Canyons of Your Mind" is most certainly a contender for best Bonzos track, just a shame the rest of Tadpoles doesn't hold together quite as well as this one...

[feelsflow]

I'm still not ready with my Bonzo review.  Still having problems with Spotify freezing up.  But:

More comments on Tom:  He's not like other men.  Certainly not to most people's taste.  For many his experimental music is just a very loud racket.  My appreciation jumped up high in 1983.  I've bought Alice now and close to getting Frank's Wild Years and Blood Money.  They need to re-master his stuff in America.  Those Japanese prices are steep, and Frank's Wild Years is one of the ones in desperate need of a sonic face-lift.

I had gotten Real Gone back in 2004, and didn't care that much for it, same as another I have, The Black Rider.  I think the reason I didn't buy the 2002 releases.  Then after he had been away so long I took a chance and bought Glitter and Doom.  I loved that and quickly got Bad As Me on release, even getting the Deluxe Book version.  I very much like where he is today.  Stomping and shuffling around the stage throwing glitter up in the air.  Guess I like confetti.

[Please delete my account]

And cheers for the writeup, unreleased backgrounds! I agree with a lot of that (although I'm afraid I do like "Humanoid Boogie" an awful lot). "Canyons of Your Mind" is most certainly a contender for best Bonzos track, just a shame the rest of Tadpoles doesn't hold together quite as well as this one...

Actually I listened to the album again after writing my review and i htink I was too harsh on "Humanoid Boogie". i still don't think it's  a good song but it is a very good performance/production. It rocks. I've decided now that the worst song is actually "Rockaliser Baby".

[Theydon Bois]

I haven't been joining in with this game but I wanted briefly to interject to say that the Bonzo Dog Band are every bit as important to me as the Beach Boys and that "Humanoid Boogie" is actually sort of fantastic in its own way.  Thanks.

[MugginsXO]

That probably came across as too negative. I like Tom Waits and I love quite a lot of his stuff. I am just slightly exhausted by the notion that he represents the cutting edge of something or other. He is an off centre singer songwriter with a very fine touch for love songs and occasionally the character stuff. It is not that I don't understand what he is doing - what he is doing is neither complicated or challenging - it is that I think it is played out. Bad As Me did exactly the same things in much the same order that he has been doing since the Frank stuff. He has been doing the same routine for longer than when he got tired of he drunken piano player with a sick sense of humour. Alice to my ears is more exciting than Bad As Me or any of the others since Bone Machine precisely because it eases off in that stuff and is content with just serving the songs.

[feelsflow]

...His dad's name was Frank.  At 14 Tom's first job was at Napoleone Pizza House in National City (a suburb of San Diego), keeping the job for 5 years (1963-1968).  He used the story often when doing the intro to "The Ghosts of Saturday Night."    My favorite from 1999, "...I got a tattooed map of Easter Island on my back.  And I have the full menu from Napoleone's Pizza House on my stomach.  After a while they dispensed with the menus.  They'd send me out and I'd take off my shirt and stand by the tables."     Okay I'll stop.

  I don't know Viv's projects that well.  When I've seen him on film it's always impressive.  He's got a lot of presence.  After Magical Mystery Tour I heard more about him than hear him.  Anything I've seen or heard from this record came after this music was originally made.  Maybe the late 70's.   I had some friends that were into the Rutles and played this.  I liked most of the tracks.  Viv is the singer of the ones I liked best.


Bonzo Doo-Dah Dog Band -    The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse



"We are Normal" - good tune once I got past the intro - almost two minutes.  They should have picked a track that opened with music instead of a sketch.  The organ adds a lot to the track.

"Postcard" and "Beautiful Zelda" - seem designed to play live.  Sorta like soundtrack music.  I like when late 60's bands use horns.  Both of them just played along.  It's hard to get a good feel for something I've not heard too many times.

"Can Blue Men Sing The Whites" - One of the better tracks.  Guess they're doing Canned Heat here?  fun track.

"Hello Mabel" - I've been listening to the Country Hams this week - this fits in with that.

"My Pink Half of the Drainpipe" - I looked into this one more after my listening session with the album.  There is an interesting video on youtube.  Made by some cat that enters videos into competitions.  I watched a few of his short films.  You didn't hear too many bands going for this sound in the 60's.  Ray Davies did it.  Also Mick on "Something Happened to me" - the end bit near the fade ..."if you're on your bike wear white"

"Rockaliser Baby" - strong track, great vocal.  This is a top track.

"Rhino Cratic Oaths" - love this.   Everything I'm saying seems brief and straightforward, but something like this one I could own.  This is what Vivian built on as he developed.

"Mustachioed Daughters" - This one, and just this one, is the only track that really reminded me of Zappa.  I watched several Zappa pieces from his Colour Me Pop show from this same year.  Zappa is only sometimes doing parodies.  And he's serious while he's doing it.  Always came across as serious to me and had deep messages buried in his comedy tracks.  These guys sound British.  Flip.  And never serious.  Zappa sounds like where he came from - after years of playing out in the desert roadhouses.  On the psychedelic/jazzier bits - The Buckinghams have a track that has this sound.  Another that might catch on with repeat plays.

"Blue Suede Shoes" - probably in the set the night they played for John and George while on the Mystery Tour.  I didn't check the year, but must be earlier than the record.  Strange pick to open the bonus tracks with.

"Bang, Bang" - After hearing this the other day, I ran across it on the Cover songs better than the Original thread.  I was compelled to post my favorite was by Terry Reid in 1968.  This is a serious song too, and along with "Alley-Oop" doesn't fit the Bonzo's very well.

"Canyons of Your Mind" - my favorite of the bonus tracks.  Viv does Elvis.  This worked better as a video clip.  Liked it better the more I played/watched it.

I also ran across another one I liked on youtube.  "Jollity Farm" - another cool take on Ray's Music Hall days.

Well, that's an hour gone forever.  I wonder how many people buy this kind of music these days. - Judd I guess

And I enjoyed unreleased Backgrounds review.  You seem to know this music very well.

[Please delete my account]

"Beautiful Zelda"
This took a while to grow on me but now its a favourite. The trouble with comedy bands is when they have a song that isn't very funny- as this one isn't- it often takes a while to notice what a good tune it has. This is a Neil Innes tune and I tend to like his songs less than Viv Stanshall's but this is maybe my favourite of his.

I forgot "Keynsham" (the song) and the Beach Boys spoof "King of Scurf", both Neil Innes songs for the Bonzos that I like even better than "...Zelda".

"Mustachioed Daughters" - This one, and just this one, is the only track that really reminded me of Zappa.  I watched several Zappa pieces from his Colour Me Pop show from this same year.  Zappa is only sometimes doing parodies.  And he's serious while he's doing it.  Always came across as serious to me and had deep messages buried in his comedy tracks.  These guys sound British.  Flip.  And never serious.  Zappa sounds like where he came from - after years of playing out in the desert roadhouses.  On the psychedelic/jazzier bits - The Buckinghams have a track that has this sound.  Another that might catch on with repeat plays.


Well, that's an hour gone forever.  I wonder how many people buy this kind of music these days. - Judd I guess

And I enjoyed unreleased Backgrounds review.  You seem to know this music very well.

Thanks! Yes, I love this band. I was brought up by the British Music Press to despise comedy records but it didn't take! Aside from the spoken word material, "Teddy Boys Don't Knit" is a very good solo Viv album. "Men Opening Umbrellas Overhead" is a more serious, scary album following the lead of "11 Mustachioed Daughters" but I found it quite hard to love. There's a lot of rare or unreleased Viv material here http://therawlinsonendudioarchive.blogspot.co.uk/ and here http://www.solostanshall.blogspot.co.uk/

[feelsflow]

I did some research on the history of comedy records in England, and the history of this band.  Many of the British stars were tied together, showing up in each others projects.  Crazy People (soon to be called The Goon Show) hit the airwaves in 1951.  They had music, but it tended to be "straight" songs, and not sung by Spike or Peter.  But Peter could sing, and made some comedy records that were popular in the UK.  He was the first to do Beatles parodies.  George Martin's early career was in the comedy field, and produced many popular acts - including Sellers and the great Bernard Cribbins ("Right Said Fred" "Hole in the Ground").  He did more than comedy, but it was one of his specialties, and helped make Parlophone what it became.  I did know who Cribbins was - from his work in Sellers' movies, the Carry On films, and later The Avengers, Dr. Who and The Wombles.  He did the sequel to The Mouse That Roared - Mouse On the Moon.  I was a big Sellers fan growing up, his movies not music.  I heard his Beatles parodies, but that's it.   The Bonzo Doo-Dah Dog Band fit into this by being the musical act (every show) on the Do Not Adjust your Set show (no, not shown in America - never seen it) - I didn't check to see if it is up on youtube, maybe.  Most of those shows were wiped from history by the BBC.  Only the independent Rediffusion shows are left.  Idle, Palin and Jones were in from the start - Terry Gilliam in the later shows.  From what I've heard the show was fantastic.  Speaking of fantastic, a trivia aside:  Captain Fantastic was a super-hero in a running feature bit on the show.  Elton took (or Bernie took) the name for their 1975 album - which was a look back at the beginning of their partnership, 1967-1969 (same as the show).  The rest of the python gang were in At Last the 1948 Show - Chapman and Cleese (and Marty Feldman!) cooking up the sketches.  Within six months of the two shows ending, Monty Python was created.  As I said, I didn't hear The Bonzos until Magical Mystery Tour.  Their "lucky break" didn't help to make them popular in America.

In the America of the late 50's/early 60's, we called this style novelty records.  "Beep Beep" "Purple-People Eater" "The Blob," Alan Sherman's "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" - he turned that into an industry.  Very few of the British comedy acts, except Peter Sellers, got too well known.  Seller's was helped by The Beatles' mentions of the Goon Show and Spike Mulligan (as they helped Nilsson - just by mentioning his name).  The Beatles spoke, we listened.  But they didn't import those records in to my knowledge.  We had Redd Fox, Andy Griffith, Bob Newhart, Smother's Brothers, (who all went on to TV after starting in the novelty records field) and a favorite of mine Moms Mabley (she couldn't tone it down enough to get on TV).  I'll never forget meeting her at a local wrestling match.  I was in awe handing her a soda (I was a hawker at the Civic Center).  She gave me a tip!

I don't think I heard of Innes until The Rutles came around.  The "Jollity Farm" track was a nice find.  I will continue to check some more of their tracks on youtube visits.  Again, it is a plus that we have a UK'er to fill in some of the holes for this band.  What we're doing here is fun, I'm learning and hearing stuff I never paid close attention to.

So, Peter Reum is up next.  I hope he joins in.  I've been reading his stuff for over thirty years.  He did the booklet for The Capitol Years Beach Boys box in 1980.  I know we're all just people, like everybody else here, but I'm interested to see what he will pick.

[the captain]

Is Peter still planning to participate? If not, are we skipping ahead?

[MugginsXO]

Apologies for the delay, I have been away for the weekend and was unable to edit the thread. I will pm Peter Reum now to remind him. If he is unavailable we will skip ahead.

[halblaineisgood]

.

[Peter Reum]

Hello again! I have been listening to lots of different stuff....I would very much like to offer a diiferent twist to this process. You all are invited to listen to Indigenous Artist Robert Mirabal. The name of the album is Music From a Painted Cave. You can find it at Spotify (free version) or Rdio (free version). As an introduction, I will send you over to youtube for this video track from the dvd of Music From a Painted Cave....  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6SqqeF9Do4

[MugginsXO]

Thanks Peter! I will be catching up with this and the last weeks album in the next few days.

[the captain]

I really did not like this album. Those who did or do, don't take offense. This is just my opinion based on my taste. But just as a warning, I'll be pretty blunt.

This album largely reminded me of the worst Lou Reed music of the 80s and 90s, with bland, cleanish-tone electric guitars reiterating uninteresting patterns to a midtempo beat, but with kitchen sinks' worth of decoration around the edges--scratching, strings, cheese-guitar solo, and most of all the Native American soundscapes cheesed up with effects--all with Kalinichesque lyrics. The whole thing reminded me of something that might have received a grant to be produced and eventually broadcast as a PBS special concert for an audience of excited, well-dressed white people, semi-rocking out to the uptempo drum solo and believing they are becoming cultured because, hey, I mean, Native American guy, right?

Just my opinion, no doubt based on my own personal baggage. But there it is.

That said, thanks to Peter for yet another album in this project I had never heard before. I think all but one or two of the choices so far fit into that category, and that's the most fun part about this whole thing for me: listening to something I wouldn't otherwise have known existed, or would have passed over entirely anyway just out of habit. I believe the old saying is, "it's better to have listened and not loved than never to have listened at all." Or something like that... 

[Peter Reum]

Actually the performance was filmed for PBS. It was broadcast to young Indigenous kids nationwide. The live performance that I attended was sold out. Two benefit shows at the Alberta Bair theater here in town were  done in the afternoon and 2800 Native American kids saw the performance.  I certainly understand your perspective from a rock music perspective.  Thanks for listening!

[Please delete my account]

Found this one quite hard going. Similar response to the Captain's. If it had had better tunes (that is, better to my ears) that would have outweighed any stylistic issues however.

[Lowbacca]

I have now lived in Berlin for exactly one week and after a long day finally opened a beer and put on some music. Tom Waits' Alice. Sadly, this is how far behind I am on our 'project'. I'm really sorry. Nevertheless, Alice is giving me so much right now. It is reassuring in a general sense and attesting in a more specific sense. More later - if I'm still awake then. Great music.

[Peter Reum]

Perhaps I was mistaken in choosing the Mirabal album that I hoped would be the most accessible. At any rate, if you are looking for Indigenous music, his more traditional music is some of the finest around. It is often sung in Tiwa, so I thought an album of English songs would be more listenable. Thanks to the hardy souls who went through the whole album.

[Please delete my account]

Why not say a little more about how you feel about the record, Peter, while we wait for more reviews to roll in? Though I didn't care for it myself I'm still interested in hearing other perspectives.