Sorry for the lack of postings round these parts recently. I am planning a move to London town, whilst looking for work and working on a new post that is taking more time than initially thought. Whilst it doens’t quite fit into the danceajig ethos, it concerns reality in cinema and specifically concentrates on 3 directors: John Cassavetes, Harmony Korine and Andrew Bujalski. Look out for it, it shouldn’t take too much longer.
I’ve also been doing much online digging recently and come up trumps with some excellent 45s and funky LP’s that I will begin to document proper very soon. One of which you can find a good write up already over at the fantastic Fleamarket Funk blog here.
Can’t wait to start rocking that one out. See you all real soon!
I had fully intended to err on the side of obscurity in the business of audio posting on here but for quite some time the bulk of the record collection has been stuck up North away from the central base and unavailable for digitisation for MP3 satisfaction. So you have had to deal with posts dedicated to some of my all time favourites. Give it a few weeks and most of the vinyl should be back with me, but for now, turn your attention to a man who has shaped the lives of (amongst others) countless slightly-nerdy young men, including of course myself, Mister Beck Hansen.
The seminal Odelay stands up today as one of the finest albums that has graced the stereo receptors known as ears, not only making use of the many nuances of these human instruments (good work again Dust Brothers) but also containing a calibre of song writing that elevates Mr Hansen to the realm of genius. Admittedly, many of his earlier works I am still yet to catch up on, and I am fully aware of some more obscure independent albums, but the single Loser was one of my first ever purchases as a boy of 11, titilated by the use of expletives on the b-side track, Fume. Since Odelay we’ve seen many sides of Beck and all have been superb. His range is really quite magnificent and he chooses his producers well – The Dust Brothers work always sounds good to me and his work with Nigel Godrich is nothing short of magnificent. Live he is a treat, whether it be acoustic or with his amazing cutlery playing band:
(this shit all over Stomp)
So enjoy some highlights from his long and varied career and take time to appreciate a true iconoclast and legend of our times. The first selection is Sissyneck from Odelay, one that frequently gets spun on the two turntables when I’m out and about with a bag of records, and has an almighty vocal delivery – firing out lines like ‘Matchstick strike, when I’m riding my bike, to the depot’ in a fashion that sends shivers through the body, brrrrrrrrrrrr! (can anyone tell me where the whistling comes from? I know it’s a great country blues number but I can’t remember what it is). Next up is the soothing tranquility of Sing It Again, seeing Beck in full country mode and originally penned for none other than Johnny Cash, taken from the sublime Mutations. And finally, to bring us bang up to date we have a selection from The Information, his latest album, again reaffirming his creative prowess. I seem to recall that when the album surfaced, there were a few critics dismissing a couple of numbers, calling them overly produced, studio hot-jiggery-pokery yet these are the ones i consider to be highlights. Judge for yourself by checking out 1000 BPM. What will come next from this genre dismissing goldenboy? Impossible to predict and that’s the way i like it, uhhuhuhhuh.
Apologies for the lack of postings round these parts of late. I blame the newly discovered world of office temping I’ve just stumbled into. It’s everything it always appeared to be, A world of boredom, stationery and dull operating systems – The comedies didn’t lie. So today we are to peek at a few highlights from the world of office-based comedy. There’s the obvious stand out from Ricky Gervais and the wonderful US counterpart that sprung from it, the mighty Peep Show has a fair old whack of office mishaps and we must give kudos to the number one source of pride to be of British origin, Monty Python and his Flying Circus with a fine office sketch from them. Watch on, watch on. And be assured that some musical goodness will be up later in the week.
So we start with something that has become so legendary in such a small space of time. Yes you know it and yes you’ve seen it a hundred times or more. But it is still SO funny. Fusing Flashdance with some MC Hammer shit, Mr Gervais!
The US version of The Office was something that could have gone rather awry, but thanks to some fantastic writing and some unbelieveably good judgements of casting, it is a superb companion piece to the beloved UK original. Marvel at Steve Carrel’s artistic magic and his uncanny career ability to switch from loveable virgin to manic depressive Proust scholar to sleazy David Brent of the US Of A. Well done that man.
The exciting news that Peep Show is returning for a fourth YES a fourth series is music to comedy fans everywhere. A modern masterpiece! Here we have the first of two interview clips of the post. The interview process seems an ideal place to find humour, all the silly preassure and fear that comes from a rather absurd meeting means you have to laugh at it all. Especially when Jeremy has a ‘facial spasm’ around the 2,20 mark. Unspeakably funny, roll on 13th April when new Peepers appears (check the 10 minute catch up here)!
And finally, a clip from something that is bound to keep cropping up on the boards of Dance A Jig. It’s the silly interview sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus, a group of fellows that are perhaps the funniest in all of the land, if not the universe. And the series has just got a fancy release on the DVD format. The second interview sketch found here, they are both surpisingly good to watch before actual real life ones, to calm those unfounded nerves, and they go out as a special dedication to all my people out there looking for fresh new jobs in the fangled media land. We’ll all make it soon my friends
The epitome of bebop cool and a lyrical mastermind, Oscar was a man who’s interests lied very much in the political domain. He fiercely campaignined for social justice and made no bones about his race during a time when inequality was rife in the US. You get the impression he never stood still as he also tried his hand at a few musicals too. And what a voice! Here he is demonstrating he still had it:
Such a performance. And such a beard! Not sure when this was but it can’t have been too long before he passed on in May 2005.
Ever the optomist, a fine poet and one of the most intriguing personalities of contemporary US culture, yet he is so often overlooked. Start rocking Al Wilson’s version of The Snake in a public spot and you will no doubt receive praise from the Northern Soul crowd, many of whom I regret to say have no idea that it was our man Mr Brown that penned the classic in the first place. And boy does his version swing! So here for your aural delight today are a couple of hits, the original of The Snake and also a nice jab at the foolishness of masculinity on But I Was Cool – the man can REALLY wail! It is highly recommended that you take a peek at the official website for a good bio of this most fascinating of cats and also check out his catalogue of recordings because there ain’t a dud to be found.
What better way to start up the comedy postings than with some classic Simpsons. This clip is hurtling beyond hyperfunny space. Impossible to pick a favourite moment or episode of perhaps the classiest show on the light box, if I were forced to choose it may well be Cape Feare from which this clip arrives. Sideshow Bob, just a classic character (the bit with the rakes is the stuff of legend) and the whole episode is somethin’ else. But it is Homer, trying to come to terms with his new name for the witness relocation programme that kills me more than anything.
I have never seen such comic timing in all my years. Just look at Homers face! Dumbfounded! The masterstroke of this clip though is the passing of time cutaway. When the picture fades back up, you can’t help but wonder how long the FBI guys have been doing their darndest to get him to respond to his new moniker. One has a cigarette and one looks close to boiling point. Bart twizzling a pencil with the rest of the incredibly bored looking family. Homer unfazed. A class act all the way.
Yes I used genius. I know I know, I nearly started off this by saying something like “Now genius is an oft-used phrase” but what’s the point. Yes the word gets over used, but seriously now, Tom Waits is perhaps the most important and eminantly listenable recording artists still around and doing his thing.
There is a huge amount of material to discover from Mr Waits, which is why with 8 albums under my belt I am delighted to know there is still an ocean of unchartered material to discover. Yet every album has a personality of its own and every track jams itself into the brain to the extent that upon repeated listenings you find that an old friend has come to visit and is again describing to you the most wonderful fable your ears have been ever had a chance to be a part of.
In fact I was going to wait until I first posted anything about this fellow, something of a mysterious one, it appears there is a wealth of information to discover that I feel worryingly under-educated to provide any kind of real overview. You can bet your bottom nickel there will be more to come about him on DanceAJig in the future. For now, step right up and peruse the selection presented before you here.
For your first course, try this TV spot taken from a rather curious 70’s spoof talk show with none other than Fred Willard (one of the all time greats of comedy), don’t know much about main host Martin Mull but there are some priceless facial contortions going on with him. There’s a fantastic rendition of The Piano Has Been Drinking, its comic performance here serves to enhance the feeling of tragedy, it’s really quite something and the interview that follows is priceless.
One more TV spot here, a more recent interview with David Letterman. Mr Waits on top form tackling the rather thorny issue of cribbing, demonstrating once again his impeccable comic timing and knowledge of bizarre and questionable facts.
Very hard to pick a selection from his vast back catalogue so here you can find tracks taken from three rough guide posts from the beginning, middle and right now of his career. The first from Short Change (it’s early yet his fifth album!), Jitterbug Boy is a gently soothing ballad to perk the darker times, typically down-on-your luck lyricism with that strong edge of hope and vague satisfaction shining through. The second selection, from what many argue the quintessential Tom Waits album Raindogs, with a track of the same name. It does sum up what you might consider a typical Waitsian style, but put some effort into listening to what he does and you will soon see that there ain’t no box to stuff him into. Finally check out Top Of The Hill from the more recent Real Gone, its the opening track from the album and somehow champions a real zest for life by throwing you down a road of mechanical rhythms and messy turntable work. Boy howdy.
With the just released Orphans, Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards triple CD, there would appear to be no stopping this musical juggernaut from carrying you further on up the hill. So climb inside and enjoy yourselves.
Undoubtedly you know this record, a mariachi classic it’s the sort of thing that just appears on the stereo, somewhat akin to a delightful Summer wind, lingering just long enough on a sunny day to improve it tenfold. Perhaps one of my favourite melodies ever written – just pure romantic whimsy to be found here no doubt about it. Written by a Mexican gent by the name of Agustin Lara (check him out on Wiki here) I would glady kiss his feet if it were at all possible for creating this musical masterstroke. And here for your perusal be three of the many versions out there, one by Trio Los Ponchos, features on the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack, another from the mighty Esquivel and one more from the one and only Nat ‘King’ Cole this particular version from an excellent LP featuring Nat singing in the Spanish and Portugese languages. Marvellous! Still, hard to pick a favourite but I think Esquivel might just have it with the fancy whistling (we need more whistling on records people, seriously) and a nice use of stereo too. Slap them on in the kitchen and dance around the table for full effect.
Welcome to a new super fantastic blog, the intention behind which is to deconstruct and share some classic and not-so-classic comedy along with a generous helping of musical good stuff. Oh yes! Some may argue that deconstructing comedy could render it unfunny. I disagree. Some may also argue that writing on the subjects of both comedy and music on the same page is counter productive and somewhat unfocused, now, this could well be the case but it’s worth a shot surely? Because just like nuts and raisins, music and comedy work rather well together, both manage to perk you up in that time of need and convince you of the wonderous joys of humanity, yes siree! We’re going to serve up comedy from all over the spectrum with a tasty sprinkling of genre-spanning music. Best believe!
