For some people, doing this seems as compulsory as ass scratching. But my posting is often hindered by the attitude that I really don't have anything to post about, and this time is possibly no exception. For the two or three individuals who do check this blog regularly, I apologize. I know fully the disappointment you must be suffering through.
Woofoink will never be BS Artblog. Nor will it ever, in my wildest imaginings, be something like Neatorama. But on the other hand, I can assure you that it won't degenerate into some pretentious, faux-art forum for my own warped ego whose title borrows from music I didn't even know I liked until I found out that some cooler person liked it...Oh wait-that's
exactly what this is turning into. Dammit!
Yeah, I'll spell it all out for you: I'm pretty boring. But then, why the fuck do I have to entertain you? There are millions of ways you could have a better time on the Internet - right now you could
jerk off (or finger yourself!) to some porn! In fact, why don't you go and do that, then
wash your hands, and come back here when you're done. It's OK, I'll make a new play list on itunes while you're gone...
Ah, you're back! Had fun? Are your hands clean? Did you use soap? Cherry soap? Cherry shampoo?
What I actually did while you whapped your dang was take the dog outside to defecate. Fun? You betcha!
Was there actually a point to this post? Oh yeah! Woofoink is not so much about amusing hipsters as it is about Reg being a total jackass who only does posts about his own nerdy hobbies!For example, instead of drawing or painting right now, I am currently working on play lists to keep myself occupied. The following was composed over the last few days and I haven't really made up a name for it yet:
1. "Black and White Blues" (Leadbelly tribute) - Nirvana
2. "Plateau" - Meatpuppets
3. "She Purred While I Grrred" - Wild Beasts
4. "Everything Disappears When You Come Around" - Of Montreal
5. "Kite" - Kate Bush
6. "The Great Beyond" - Aimee Mann
7. "Mason City" - The Fiery Furnaces
8. "Believo" - Enon
9. "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" - Nirvana
10. "They Punctured My Yolk" - The Flaming Lips
11. "One Chance" - Modest Mouse
12. "The Couple In Bed Together ..." - Of Montreal
13. "In The Pines" - Leadbelly
14. "Eight Line Poem" - David Bowie
15. "Holy Grail" - Badly Drawn Boy
16. "Stay (Just A Little Bit More)" - The Do
17. "The Vanishing Spies" - Frank Black
18. "The Whistling Song" - Meatpuppets
19. "Oh Me" - Nirvana/Meatpuppets
Play lists are like recipes to me - I didn't make the ingredients, but I did combine them to make a meal. Half of the songs on this list I can't even take credit for discovering - they were found by Jeanne who does much more diligent music research and stays much more current than I do.
What I was going for with this one was kind of a tribute to
Nirvana Unplugged in New York, hence the use of Leadbelly, Meatpuppets, and David Bowie. But in addition, I selected music that gives me sort of the same feeling of listening to that album. I will provide a bit of explanation as to why I made some choices:
"Black and White Blues" is a somewhat fumbling attempt by Kurt Cobain to render a Leadbelly classic. I admire it for this reason, since we always think of Kurt Cobain as a rock star, but seldom as a fan of other artists. And clumsy as it might sound, I doubt that any guitarist I personally know could perform the song any better.
"Plateau" and "Oh Me" are both songs written by The Meatpuppets. "Oh Me" was performed along with Nirvana on their Unplugged album, and even after about 14 years , it remains one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs I've ever heard. But just because The Meatpuppets kick ass of their own accord, I threw in "The Whistling Song".
Wild Beasts are a group I'd definitely like to hear more of. "She Purred While I Grrred" is Jeanne's favorite song right now, and I'm digging it too. The singer's screaming is a little reminiscent of Cobain. "Stay" by The Do is another find I'd like to thank Jeanne for. Clever lyrics combined with the mellow strumming of what sounds like a ukulele will always win me over. And truly if not for Jeanne, I probably wouldn't have heard of Enon or The Fiery Furnaces, either.
I will admit that it took some time for Kate Bush to grow on me, but I have come around to being an admirer of her versatility as demonstrated in the song "Kite", with its reggae-like beat. (Incidentally, Kate Bush was only 19 when her first album,
The Kick Inside was released back in 1978, and some of the songs on it were written when she was just 13!) Does "Kite" really fit in with the overall theme of this play list? Absolutely not, but then it doesn't really have to.
As for Aimee Mann, I first read about her in the letters column of Image's
Savage Dragon comics (of all places) when cartoonist Erik Larsen cited her as one of his favorite musicians. That was in the early to mid 90's, but I didn't actually hear any Aimee Mann until I first saw the film,
Magnolia after 2000. Her most recent album,
@#%&*! Smilers is worthy of picking up. And while you're at it, get
Lost In Space too because it's phenomenally good.
Lost In Space also features a comic by the cartoonist Seth in its liner notes, which will reward you for actually buying the CD and not just downloading it. ( I guess Aimee Mann just scores big with comic book guys.)
Of Montreal is one of my favorite bands, and "Everything Disappears When You Come Around" is one of my favorite songs. This Beatles-esque bubblegum ditty tells the plight of a young man who is so enamoured that "birds have no heads" and "everything loses its legs" when his love is near him. (Sort of what happens to me when I'm around Jeanne.) This track from
Cherry Peel (1997) certainly sounds "unplugged" compared to the group's more recent work which is a lot more techno, but still good.
When it all comes down to it, I'm just a big, sentimental fool and that was what helped me to decide that Badly Drawn Boy should be on this play list. Not that "Holy Grail" isn't a great track from an outstanding album, but the fact is that listening to
One Plus One is One always takes me back to pre-Katrina New Orleans, riding in a car with Jeanne along St. John's Bayou at night, and looking at all of the rich peoples' houses with that CD playing on the car stereo. Though not BDB's most recent offering, I vastly prefer
One Plus One is One over
anything released in the last four years
. Every song is a finely-arranged gem featuring such elements as Damon Gough's nimble piano playing; the Latin-jazz rhythm on the track, "Another Devil Dies"; and Jethro Tull-like flute featured all throughout the album. I highly recommend it.
I'll wrap it up with "Eight Line Poem" by David Bowie. Another of my favorite songs, this lesser played track from the album,
Hunky Dory literally is a poem set to music. The lyrical content is somewhat akin to that of Bob Dylan to whom Bowie dedicates a song later in the album. But to me the beauty of "Eight Line Poem" lies in the accompaniment of no other instruments besides piano and guitar. It is a marvel of simplicity and grace, but flowing over with feeling.
Well, I'd love to write about music all night, but tomorrow I have work and it's past my bed time. Go ahead and download or rip all of those songs and listen to this play list if you want to. Or just make your own damn play list. This is how I've been spending most of my free time this week, and it would be nice if it wasn't all purely selfish.
