I posted an entry last year talking about how William Shatner was busy in the recording studio making a new album with Ben Folds. One of the songs off of it has popped up on the web, and it's a doozy, a cover of Pulp's Common People. That's Joe Jackson singing, by the way. I was all prepared to enjoy it in a sneering, post-ironic sort of way, but dammit, I really like it! Can't wait to hear the rest.

In other news, I'm leaving for Boulder, Colorado this weekend. I'll be there for 2 weeks. If anything interesting happens, I'll let y'all know.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Posted by MrBaliHai at 9:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

The last article I was slated to write before Cool and Strange Music magazine met its uncool, and most decidedly strange demise, was a biography of one of pop's most misunderstood and controversial figures, french chanteur, hedonist, and cultural agent provocateur, Serge Gainsbourg.

Gainsbourg glided easily between genres - jazz, rock, blues, and even silly pop - but no one would ever characterize his music as "easy". His punnish lyrics toyed with themes of incest, farting, death camps, and comic books, but he's best known for his heavy-breathing duet, Je t'aime... moi non plus, with actress Jane Birkin; the song was banned everywhere and released here in the US sans vocals. I remember listening to a bootleg of the single at my friend's house back in the early Seventies, and wondering why this woman was erotically moaning about how much she loved a man who replied by solemnly intoning some bizarre non sequitur about wanting to "come and go between your kidneys". Such was the perplexing brilliance of Serge.

Gainsbourg's excesses caught up with him in 1991, and his passing has elevated him to a stature in France that's only slightly below that of Jerry Lewis. If he somehow managed to make it to heaven, I'd imagine that he's busy sodomizing cherubim or hitting on the Virgin Mary right now, but I think it more likely that he's in a hotter place.

Thanks to I Like for the link to his official website.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 11:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here's a fascinating glimpse into the origins of LA's punk scene, courtesy of X-8. Check out the interviews with Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Gos and Exene Cervenka of X, then have a listen to some early punk gems like Forming by the Germs, the Zeros' (AKA the Mexican Ramones) Don't Push Me Around, and who could forget Black Randy and the Metro Squad's smash hit Loner With a Boner? Ah, the classics!

Like Ms. Wiedlin, my favorite LA punk band has always been the Weirdos. Founded by brothers John and Dix Denney, they churned out intensely dangerous, somewhat arty, and infectiously catchy songs, along with their own brand of incredible, dadaist flyer art.

NOTE: since many of these links are from Microsoft founder Paul Allen's Experience Music Project site, all sound and video files require Windows Media Player, unfortunately.

Posted by MrBaliHai at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)