Easter 2012-living with our eyes open

Today at a family gathering, I was reminded, surprisingly so, about a tendency that is now no more unfamiliar to me than the back of my own hand.
While my Uncle played DJ to our gathering, his sister, my Aunt, made a song request and when he acceded, she then proceeded to ask that he play the same song again.
Her daughter then began lightly teasing her about it and jibed her about how she used to put a song on repeat in our younger days and leave it on the spindle for hours.
At this point my cousin brought me into the debate and asked if I also recalled when these occasions happened, which I do and I did.
Now, the song in question was Leo Sayer’s “When I Need You”; judge as you will, I recall hating it by the 3rd go ‘round. And it would go on, and on, and on…
My Aunt then dragged my Mom into the debate by asking if she didn’t do the same thing when I was younger and, I had to admit, while the artists were different, I recalled her doing that as well.
Mom would put on a stack of LPs and let them blare throughout the house, when they were done; she would re-queue and do it all over again.
I now realized, this is exactly the routine I play out when I’m in a mood; good, bad or indifferent. You find a song, or songs, which encapsulate your feelings at the moment and wallow in whatever emotions you’re currently dealing with.
I also remember that Mom’s were typically some very melancholy songs, themes of regret, apology or plain sadness.
Until today, I had no clue; So much for being a clever dick.
When I’m in one of those moods, I too, tend to just tune out everything around me and after the song has done its duty, I want nothing more than to do it again- Sam.
Without getting too interpersonal, I have to admit our family had had its share of turmoil but of all the manifestations I recall, nothing resounds with me today as much as the ‘sad song on replay’ and that I failed to recognize it until this, my 46th year on Earth, bespeaks of how much, so very much, there is for me to still learn.
Today, Mom was happy & dancing, enjoying the company of family, extended and close and reveling in the music that was presented, no harm, no foul.
But – Shame on me, and quietly, on my cousin for not seeing the moments in our younger days when the omnipotent parent was, unbelievably, sad.
As it happens to us, it happens to them – And I officially apologize for my error.
This is my paean to Mom because I refuse to play Leo Sayer –

Easter Sunday 2012-Schatzie Guerra

Joe Angio answers 4 questions about his new film "Revenge of the Mekons, Cimm Fest Info and some other Cool Stuff.

http://cimmfest.org/
Cimm Fest 2012 Information


As many of you in Chicago may already know CIMM Fest 2012 is looming large in the near future with events packed between April 12th to the 15th. Looking through the program this year looking for a writing project for this blog was no simple task as there were so many interesting shows and music related films to choose from. Everything from Scout Shannon’s full color 2-D epic about Gig Posters, ”Just Like Being There” to Old school Punk Legends Sham 69’s trip across China in the world premiere of "This Band is so Gorgeous" directed by Dunstan Bruce and so much more….. No easy choices here.

I finally decided that I would focus on the work in progress “Revenge of the Mekons” directed by former Chicago resident & filmmaker Joe Angio. Even in the eleventh hour Joe was kind enough to grant me a short yet concise interview. Four questions, that’s all I asked (well except that 5th one about the casting couch that he tastefully ignored). Angio will be packing up his director’s chair for the trip to Chicago to attend the screening at the Logan Theater on April 14th at 3pm. "Revenge of the Mekons" is part of Cimm Fests ”Roots-Rock Gods” program.

Photo(c) Victoria Rich

1) Why the Mekons?

There's a short, medium and long version. I'll give you the medium version. Aside from being a fan of their music the thing that makes the Mekons so interesting to me is not so much that they've persevered for 35 years but that they've done so without ever "making it." They've endured and overcome obstacles that would have (and have) made most bands pack it in long ago. What drives a band to keep going when all but the loyal stalwarts have tuned out? Why do they bother? I think it has something to do with staying true to the "punk ethos" (at least as it was understood in 1977). They took this quite seriously and, while they're less dogmatic about it than they were in 1977, they've more or less adopted it as a code to live by, which sounds grandiose but when you see how they scrape to get by while crafting their personal lives around keeping the band together, you see they really put their money where their mouths are, without calling any attention to it. It's really admirable.

Plus, they're the only band from that first blast of punk rock that has endured with what amounts to its core members. There's this myth about how there have been something like 100 members of the Mekons, but that's a misconception because the band's members started using pseudonyms early on (to avoid being thrown off the dole), a practice which continues to this day. And while they've had a number of musicians guest on their records, seven of the eight members of the band most fans know as the Mekons have been together for 28 of its 35 years (and the most "recent" entry celebrated her 20h anniversary this year). So it's not like the Fall, which is basically Mark E. Smith and whoever he recruits to back him. This has been an active, intact band for more than three decades!

2) What was the best/worst part of putting this film together as opposed to your other films?

The worst part is the same old song: the constant hunt to find money. This time I was fortunate enough to find an investor who put up some money early on, which allowed me to continue shooting. And then Kickstarter came along just when I was preparing to edit, so we had ran what turned out to be a remarkably successful Kickstarter fundraising campaign, which paid for the edit. But now we're looking for funds to pay for the licensing of archival footage and the color correct and sound mix. So it's a constant struggle. When I set out on this film I was seriously thinking this was a year-long project; it's now four years and counting. But I'm confident we'll have it finished in time for the fall film festivals. On the bright side, this one has taken me half the time of my last film, the Melvin Van Peebles doc, "How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It)." So it's a good trend line -- the next one should take only two years!

The best part was that it took me to some interesting places, in particular the time I spent with saz/oud player Lu Edmonds in Tajikistan, where he spends a lot of time working with local musicians. I shot him when he was there in 2009, helping to build a recording studio in this small musical-instruments museum in Dushanbe.



3) (If you had kids) What story about making this film would you keep from telling your children?

Probably the crystal meth bender with the Mekons and the model-train enthusiasts in Wales. They'll never hear that one.

4) I always felt like some music seemed to be a personal soundtrack to my own life and I don't think I am alone in this thought. If you picked one Mekons tune that was/is a soundtrack to a time and a place in your life, what song would that be?

I'm actually a relative latecomer to the Mekons -- a colleague at work turned me on to them shortly after I moved to NYC. He gave me a tape of "The Curse of the Mekons" and "I ♥ Mekons," so whenever I hear "The Curse" or "All I Want" it takes me immediately back to that time when I was discovering a new city. And much younger.



An early Mekons single on Rough Trade Records


Mekons doing a dirty and live version of Hard to be Human at the Mean Fiddler in London.

The first guest here at Chatter of Apes...Schatzie Guerra

1980 was my Freshman Year and everything old was new again.
At least half of the people I had attended grammar school with were going elsewhere and my social circle was easily halved. Time to meet new friends.
September of that year was to bring back the highly anticipated return of Led Zeppelin and the folks in my primarily hesher neighborhood were in 7th Heaven.
Now, up until this point, I had been exposed to the typical MOR format available from WLS and its Easy Listening dial-mates. There were occasional derivations, and I remain to this day a fan of the piano as 'band' and am particularly fond of Chopin, but-
The death of John Bonham put the stops on the Zeppelin tour and also as a functioning band.
My Uncle, being slightly older than myself had introduced me to some of the 'heavier' artists around on WLUP, your '70s staples - Hendrix, The Who, Aerosmith and the like; there was also something new happening and I admit to my curiosity being piqued.
'New Wave' was the term and off the top of my head, I recall Blondie's 'Heart of Glass' followed by 'Call Me', the latter having made the charts due to its use in 'American Gigolo'.
'Heart of Glass' had what I later found out was that Giorgio Moroder driving synth, the like of which I had never heard in a 'rock' song, disco being a significant part of the music scene also.
That synth...
Kinda like a piano, but not---I was fascinated.
Girls liked it, most of the guys I knew did not, it being too close to disco, and dancing
To them there was no difference between this style and say, KC & the Sunshine Band.
'Heart of Glass' was only the set-up for the knock-out punch delivered in late 1980 -
Gary Numan's 'Cars'.
"Oh, synthesizer you say? Well by all means, have some of this!"
I was awash in a Sonic Ocean and there was no land to speak of.
Keyboards WERE the band, certainly the other instruments were present, but now this was their time to shine, futuristic, precise and all consuming, I could not get enough of this song and I had to find more from this artist. Even the album, 'The Pleasure Principle' hinted at science and no emotion, purchased, I devoured it and then started on to the back catalog.
Eventually, it turned out that Messr Numan began as a punk rock musician and to my listening ear, had managed to go from playing an expression of raw emotion to a modular, self contained android which only served to heighten my admiration. I had to have everything Numan (even his stage moniker bespoke of a new type of humanoid) and furiously sought out whatever my budget allowed.
To this day, I remain a fan of his, although I did taper off after his transition away from the Man/Machine phase but still keep a high regard for his music.
I will still play and sing along to 'Telekon', 'Are Friends Electric?' and Tubeway Army recordings, fondly recalling the time my musical horizons expanded slightly wider and into a Future I couldn't clearly envision until the release of 'Blade Runner' in 1982, but that's a whole other Ball of Wires-



Thanks for putting this together Schatzie and glad you were the first guest here.

Frameworks Has a Future And You Should Be Part Of It.

Matt Frameworks Brewer has proven to be about as difficult to write about as it would be to write about J.D. Salinger. There just isn't enough information out there to really put many words together so we must turn to the art. In Matt's case the art is beautiful music as opposed to Salinger's brilliant novels.

Matt's solo work (of which I have the greatest interest) is predominantly Chilled Ambient pieces that evokes some sort of hope, maybe even a " Darkest before the dawn" feel. It is very cinematic in scope in the sense that with eyes closed the imagination unrolls images or with eyes wide open, it becomes a pleasant, reflective soundtrack for waking life. There are shades of Nick Cave & Warren Ellis collaborations, Portishead, Cinematic Orchestra along with mind melting horns and strings. This isn't to say that the upcoming Frameworks EP isn't without originality as it has flavours that are wholly unique unto itself.

In a conversation with Matt "Frameworks" Brewer himself I got this bit of info "On my main stuff I'm working with Sabira Jade, JP Cooper and Ríoghnach Connolly.
The Ep is out with First Word in the next couple of months & the live band is in practice now and will be playing Soundwave Festival



Protect


Fold-Frameworks Feat. Kelly Atkins


The cut Fold evokes many of the facets of early Portishead which I am certain will be readily apparent but listen close because this is no pale comparison. This piece has a shimmer and beauty all its own.

Recipe for Happiness- Frameworks


Keep an eye out for Frameworks debut EP on First Word Records
due to be released in a few short weeks.

Early on Matt was a drummer for a Heavy Metal band and has since, obviously, grown in various directions. Aside from from the beautiful works crafted above this Manchester UK DJ has worked with some amazing Hip Hop talents. One of those groups is the Long Island duo, QnC.

QnC has an upcoming release on Hero Records that has Matt Frameworks prints all over it.

Here is a teaser from the upcoming QnC release on Hero records.


Here is a link to Blu Rum 13

For some straight up Canadian Hip-Hop,Frameworks also has a collaboration with Blu Rum 13 in the near future on My First Moth Records.

I feel honored to have gotten a sneaky taste of whats coming up on Frameworks upcoming First Word release.It's delicious to say the least and I can almost promise you that this will not be the last you hear from this Manchester DJ.



UPDATE: The official video for Frameworks track Somehow, taken from the Vanish EP. You can buy it at http://shop.firstwordrecords.com

The new video is here...

...and now a word from our sponsor

Cosmic Christ & More

A Requiem for Davey Jones...

I have always loved this song as it is one of the greatest psychedelic tunes ever penned (by Gerry Goffin and Carole King) and recorded in my opinion. The Monkees were in a constant struggle to break the mold of their Bubble Gum pop beginnings and this film, Head, was a direct if not bizarre byproduct of that struggle.




The Monkees - The Porpoise Song (the main theme for "Head")

My, my the clock in the sky is pounding away
There's so much to say
A face, a voice, an overdub has no choice
And it cannot rejoice

Wanting to be, to hear and to see
Crying to the sky

But the porpoise is laughing good-bye, good-bye
good-bye, good-bye, good-bye

Good Bye Davey...



The incomparably lovely and incredible wordsmith Ann Magnuson and the talented Mark Kramer of Bongwater left this behind as a great mark of Bongwater's brilliant but seldom noticed career.



...and you will know us by the trail of dead - The Porpoise Song (live)



Polyphonic Spree - Porpoise Song

Thanks to Jon F. for posting this on Facebook



Pixies- Monkey Gone To Heaven



Killing Joke- Requiem

and now this...Thanks Schatzie for this one.

The great thing about these kinds of experiences that we often fail to see at the time is that...

Printempo - Tired High



Audiopharmacy - Ruined Lands



Klitbeats - A Thing Or Two



Holdcut - End It?