Thursday, March 31, 2005

Pictures

There are new pictures on the flickr site.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Trout Mask Replica

I got Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica a couple days ago. I've had other things to listen to and, truthfully, I forgot it was there. Well, I put it on about a half hour ago. Damn, this is some good, immensely crazy and hard to listen to music. I'm gonna have to actually stop listening to this and take this album in little bits. Wasn't really expecting to like this album much. I listened to Safe as Milk a few months back and thought it was decent, but not much more.

I was going to compare this album to Stereopathetic, but I don't know if that's possible now. This is much more crazy.

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Duets for Synthesizer: a conversation

As I get older, a lot of my childhood memories have become lost in a vague and nebulous fog. A few of them stand out clearly, however. Meeting Jeff Archer is one of those. We'd been driven out of the school like a herd of lemmings for a fire drill. I stood around and talked to Jeff. We really didn't know each other; he was a year older and a grade higher. I couldn't, for the life of me, tell you what we talked about. Maybe Zeppelin or Pink Floyd or the Beatles. Probably, we talked about The Who.

You see, Jeff was wearing this Who shirt- and to this day- I can still remember him walking around in that shirt. It wouldn't surprise me to find out he still has it tucked away in a closet somewhere.

Over the years, we've recorded a ton of music together and he's recorded a ton more on his own. His latest project is Duets for Synthesizer and it's like nothing I've ever heard, so I wanted to sit down and ask him a few questions about the project.


TS- This EP consists of three duets done on a moog and an ARP synthesyzer. For those of us who don't know a lot about this, can you talk a little about the differences between the two machines- and about synthesizers in general.

JA- The two synthesizers that appear on the "Duets" E.P. are the Moog "Micromoog" and the ARP Odyssey. The Micromoog was produced in 1975 and the Arp in 1972. Moog and ARP were basically to synthesizers what Fender and Gibson are to guitars; meaning they were the two most recognized and revered brands available. This is not to imply that there were not plenty of other great synthesizers around.

The two synthesizers basically perform most of the same functions with the main difference being in the components used. The ARP is a little more complex in that it contains two oscillators or "sound" sources whereas the Moog has one. The main components in any synthesizer are the VCO (voltage controlled oscillator), the VCF (voltage controlled filter), and the VCA (voltage controlled amplifier). Many synthesizers contain more than one of these components. These components all contribute to the sound of the synthesizer. For instance, the Moog filters are considered to be "fatter" sounding than the ARP filters, but the ARP Oscillators were far superior in tuning stability than those found in Moogs.


TS- Ideally, how do you want this EP to be listened to? Mood. Setting. Intense listening or atmosphere? Discuss.

JA- I feel that the only way to really experience this E.P. is for the listener to listen very intently to it, preferably in a setting where they will not be distracted easily. I almost feel bad for producing something that is that demanding on the listener, but it is the best way for it to be fully experienced.

This is a departure of sorts for me in that the last album I finished before this was "The Paradise Tapes - Volume 2" which, like Volume 1, was designed to almost be ignored and was really intended to be played on peoples porches while they are having conversations. I think the use of headphones would be the best way to go in listening to this E.P. because of the extensive stereo effects used in the pieces. I realize that the music contained in this E.P. is not for everyone, but I think some will enjoy it.


TS- Talk a little bit about the musical background that led you to record this EP. Sixteen year old kids don't go to Guitar Center and come home with a moog and a passion to make music on it. So how do you arrive at the Duets for Synthesizer EP?

JA- I arrived at the writing and recording of the "Duets" E.P. because it was simply inevitable. I have owned the Moog since I was 12 years old; before the thought of writing and recording music even occured to me. My next door neighbor "temporarily" moved some of his things into my parents house when he moved and he never picked them up. The Moog was among those posessions. Lucky me. When I was a little older and I started to teach myself the guitar, I bought an amplifier. Out of curiousity, I plugged in the Moog and what came out of it were some of the most interesting noises I have ever heard.

I started messing around with it frequently, but I must tell you that it took me about 10 years to learn how to use it correctly as far as "programming" or finding sounds went. I have used synthesizers on probably 60% off all the recordings I have made in the last five years. I prefer synthesizers to guitars and I will probably never buy another guitar again, but it is my life's mission to obtain certain vintage analog synthesizers before I die. As much as I use synthesizers in my music it was inevitable that I would start making music solely using synthesizers.


TS- What do you want a listener to get from Duets?

JA- More than anything, I want to convey to the listener the real love and passion that I have for synthesizers through the sounds I make with them. I don't know if I have achieved that with this E.P. but I hope someone picks up on it.

I have played guitars for almost 16 years but I don't really care about them nor could I tell you much about them. I can't adjust a guitar at all. There is not much to them electronically. I could explain almost anything about a vintage analog synthesizer and do it in a way that you would understand. I have studied them so extensively for the last 2 years to the point where I will shortly be starting to build my own modular synthesizer from scratch. This will take years but I will do it.


TS- Regarding your own musical output, where does Duets stand and how does it fit into your back catalog? Can we expect more EPs or LPs in this vein?

JA- My music has gotten very experimental in the last year or so. I'm sure it's due to the influence of Brian Eno. Not his early stuff, but his more "ambient" music. I don't think anyone would be suprised that I made an E.P. like "Duets". The E.P. has it's roots in both "Music For Acid Casualties - Volume 1" and the Tonto Savalas track "The Push Me Pull Me". "Acid" was an influence(on Duets)in that on that E.P. I produced all of the music on a digital keyboard although all of the sounds were "presets" so I didn't really create any of them. "The Push Me Pull Me" was a direct ancestor in that the track contained two synthesizers playing at the same time although with no regard to what the other was playing. I suppose "Duets" is really a more mature version of those pieces in that the music was composed and thought out.

I don't know if I will make any other recordings with the synthesizer duet concept. I will be making more synthesizer based music although I don't know which form it will manifest itself in Maybe when I get an LSD (Leamon Sound Device) I will produce 24-channel synthesizer "experiences".


TS- Final thoughts. Anything you'd like to say regarding this project.

JA- It was a lot of fun to produce. I think everything turned out very well. It's not the kind of E.P. you would put on at 11:00 in the morning, but It has it's place. I spent time on both "programming" the sounds and adding the effects to make the most out of the two tracks used on the pieces. I hope it brings enjoyment to people.

Pictures

I will be changing most of the photos on the flickr site in the next few days. If there are any pics that you want, I have copies of them all, if there are any that you want to stay on the site let me know. I am also hoping to receive more photos from any of you that have some. That's all, talk to you's all later.

Monday, March 28, 2005

More Webbed Out Music

For the throngs and masses- not to mention the herd, coveys, flocks, droves, troops, braces, flights, pods, sedges, chain, clashes, chatters, obstinancies, swarms, flutters, clowders, chatterings, beds, quivers, floats, murders, cowardices and charms- of fans that the Tonto/Buddha experience has gathered over the years, there's some new music up at DMusic. After you recover from the quivering orgasm that this news brings, go check it out.

As a special bonus, Jeff Archer now has a solo presence on the web. His blog is in the links, so tune in there for announcements and commentary.

Bask in the auditory glow.

Kojack

The prophetic powers of the great Tonto Savalas can not be denied. I happen to know that Ving Rhames is mentioned prominently in a Tonto Savalas song. Our music spreads out into the subconcious ether and it is reflected back at us. We should be careful not to abuse the power.

Sunday, March 27, 2005

A little bit about ourselves

I just wanted to introduce you all to the band. First off we have Jeff he plays a little bit of everything. Then we have Mick, Mick, he also plays a little bit of everything. Then there is Adam, he only plays with us occasionally (he's in a real band) and he mainly plays guitar, although he does sing. Then there is Rob, Rob, Rob, he plays everything. And lastly Scott, I play everything, badly. We also have had numerous guests over the years, here are some of them, sorry if I forget ya. Anthony, Stef, Cary, Katie, Matt, Jason, that's all I can think of right now, but i got a nagging feeling i'm forgetting somebody important.

Saturday, March 26, 2005

For Those Of Us About To Have Album Covers

For those of you interested in getting the cover art for Tonto Savalas-Book Of Tonto go here. If you have a cd labeler you can set it up yourself, if not drop me a line. Rocky Raccoon never took steroids.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Garageband.com

I recently signed up for garageband.com. It looked like an interesting place that offered a service that I wanted to partake of, namely making people listen to Tonto Savalas and the Buddha All-Stars music and having them write reviews of it. In exchange, I will listen to their music and write reviews. Fair exchange. So, I sat down and listened to songs, wrote a bunch of reviews. I had some fun with it, too. Discovered I can be a bit of a bastard when it comes to giving my opinions. But at some point, I decided to have a look around the site and see what it could actually do for me. Which is when I posted in their forum and emailed them with this:

This sevice is a great idea. A lot of people are looking for reviews and the way things are set up forces you to write reviews. Truth to tell, I actually enjoy writing a good portion of the reviews.
But, honestly, your interface sucks. I want that to come across firmly. It sucks. I look at a lot of web pages, so I know my way around one.

On the good pages, when i look for a link or a button to activate one of the site's functions, I can find it. It's clearly marked and visible. Garageband.com is extremely far away from being a good one. It sucks.

On a good website, the content is clearly defined. I can make use of the content without being overtly distracted. I'm not on edge all of the time, worried about whether the slightest little mouse click will blast me into advertising hell.

And I want a forum. I went to that tiny thing you have masquerading as a forum. I'm posting this on their right now, where it will die a slow, lonely death. People can't use that. You don't have to maintain the uber-advertising design in every part of the site. Let the forum be the forum. If people are using the forum, then odds are they are using the main page. They'll come back to it.

The amount of songs you have to review to insane. And that's just to get one song up. Your first song. I'd be willing to bet that a lot of people are discouraged before they even get the chance to be heard. Of course, you could also pay and I suppose that's really the point. Except for you're offering a lousy product as far as actual content and design are concerned and you're doing it for truly exorbinant prices. Hosting one song for and entry into the 'contest' for 19.99? That's insane.

And as far as the contest goes... maybe it has real-life rewards in marketing a band and maybe that's a lot of smoke and mirrors. Like a lottery ticket. I'm here mainly for the reviews and the hosting's nice too, but there are lots of places that offer that for free or infinitely cheaper.

Maybe all this is just corporate sensebilities in effect and I'm shouting at a brick wall.
And since I went through all the bother of actually writing that, I'm damn well going to post it on my own site. I'm off to write more reviews. I hope I don't make anyone cry.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Walkin'

I decided to take a walk down to my local party store for Faygo and some cigarrettes. On this particular walk, I noticed a girl standing on the corner of the street a block ahead of me. Now, Cass ave. is a good place to catch the occasional glimpse of a hooker and this is what I suspected she was. This girl wasn't much to look at, really; youngish, but chubby and not very pretty. She wore headphones and bounced slightly to whatever the music was.
It doesn't bother me that the occasional hooker plies her trade in my neighborhood. In fact, my usual reaction is, "Oh look! A hooker!" Kind of like you say, "oh look, horses!" when you're driving through the country. It's not like there are packs of wild prostitutes outside my front door, patiently waiting to savage the innocence out of anyone that strays too far from the herd.
(Man stumbles in his front door, suit torn and shredded, briefcase open and dangling limply from his hand. Young conservative wife rushes to him: what happened? Are you all right? Man: Prostitutes... attacked from nowhere... didn't stand a chance on my own. Wife, backing away: Don't touch me!)
So, as I'm approaching human interaction range with this girl who I assume to be a hooker, I decide to give her the polite smile and nod as I walk by. The smile and nod says that you're not interested, you're just exchanging a quick friendly hello. Don't bother me, I won't bother you. It's quick. It's easy. It's neighborly. It didn't work.
As I passed, I looked at her and started to smile. She looked at me with no expression whatsoever and yelled, "you wanna eat my pussy?" loud and directly into my face.
Being the the quick witted cad that I am, I replied evenly, "does that come with french fries?"
No, actually, I just kept walking with the smile-and-nod still half formed and frozen rictus-like on my face while my brain gurgled it's way into figuring out what the appropriate response might be.

Monday, March 21, 2005

LSD

All hail the Leamon Sound Device! Take a look at this monstrosity. I think I'll build my own with headphone speakers and a motorcycle helmet.

Meatspace

Added location tags to the blog from this site: GeoURL. There's a button at the bottom of the page, next to the hit counter thingie. Click it.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Things That Happen in My Ears

Music seems to be the only thing I'm writing about. Look for a write-up on the next Buddha All-Stars song soon. Also, look for intelligent, real looking and feeling love robots. If you find any, let me know. It really seems like the future isn't happening fast enough. Where's my totally immersive virtual reality? Where's my hover-car? Where's my second class cabin on a passenger liner to Mars? Anyway,

Music seems to be the only thing I'm writing aboot, eh? (I've decided to be canadian for this paragraph) I listened to Double Fantasy today. Most of my solo Lennon listening has come in the form of the boxed set and I hadn't really heard this album before. I had high expectations, but I was a bit leery, as well. I felt the same way going into the theatre to see Hannibal. Silence of the Lambs was a really good movie and I was really hoping the sequel would be good. It wasn't, and like Hannibal, Double Fantasy was a romp in a pig barn with a mass-murdererer. (canadians add an extra -er to all words that end with -erer) Oh god, now I'm picturing Yoko Ono asking me if I'd like some beans and a nice chianti.

Double Fantasy seems to be the only thing I'm writing about. And it really wasn't very good.

Iron and Wine, on the other hand, has pleasantly surprised me. Our Endless Numbered Days is every bit as good as Creek Drank the Cradle. I find that highly sirprising. Call me Sir Tonto Savalas from now on. From the persistent plucking of On Your Wings to the slow sweetness of Passing Afternoon, Mr. Beam gives us another album full of lush beautiful songs.

So, as Thaddius Bartholomew always used to say, "Hey baby, I feel so screwed. The vandals stole my fast car. "

Friday, March 18, 2005

(All Blocked Up)

I mean nothing was getting through, and you've got to be careful what you try to stick up in there. It's got to be stiff enough to push through all that gooey glop. If it breaks, man, you have just compounded your problems. Incence sticks just didn't have the pushing power I needed. So I did some digging around and I found a tiny round file. One end of the file was pointy and the other end rounded. I jammed the pointy part into wall and put the rounded end in at the mouth-hole. Then I just pushed for all I was worth. There was a bad part about halfway through. I got stuck. I pulled like crazy for a while and it just wouldn't budge; had to heat the whole thing up. After that, it was like butter. Old nasty one-ey butter.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Bye green beer, Hello green music

Just in case any of you want to find some new music to listen to.

St. Paddy's Day

Just wanted to say happy St. Paddy's Day to you all!

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Some stuff and some other stuff

Ok let's start off by saying that this is for the guys out there. Maybe you'll learn something, most likely you won't. Next I have to mention this Swedish band that I like The Soundtrack of Our Lives here are some of their songs, although some don't work, they are coming to The Magic Stick in a week and half so if anybody likes their songs and wants to go, let me know. Don't forget to keep checking Flickr and DMusic for updates. That's all for now.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

I'll take a Roy Rogers, please.

Want to buy Telly Savalas' last will and testament? How about Gene Roddenberry's? Jay Silverheels? All this, and it's only the male celebrity section of this celebrity collectibles site. And remember
...the folks here at THE CELEBRITY ARCHIVE want to make the following offer: Buy any single document of $20.00 and receive a TRUE copy of the will of JUDY GARLAND, as our gift.
If any of the people I know are into this kind of thing, I hope they don't tell me. I don't want to know.


Stumped

Ok. I admit to googling for references to Tonto Savalas, etc. to see if there's anything out there. Well, I came across this weird stuff. Anyone have a clue?

My Crazy Head II

Told you there would be more of my crazy head.

Update to the music post: Unfortunately, The Sticky Little Fingers Greatest Hits covers more of their career than I would really like. The early stuff is good punk and the later stuff is distinctly unenjoyable. Now really I should have used a strong word, like earbarf, instead of the vague and wishy-washy unenjoyable. I should avoid the word stuff, as well; instead, output. The early output is good punk rock and the later output is earbarf. It sounds like proto-hair metal, like a bastard child of Kansas and Sweet, like a crotch that right after you go down on, well, you don't want to be down anymore, but you kinda feel obligated to fellate just a little, cuz well, you did just work your face all the way down here... Oh Jumping Jim Hensons! Has she been storing dead Fraggles in there? Should have learned about the run-on sentences by now. The disembodies head of Bob Seger whispers in my ear, "Shit, boy, you've known that for ten years!" The Sticky Little Fingers went downhill quick.
New Pornographers never got within shouting distance of the top of the hill. I'm going to put them firmly in the middle of the indie guitar pop herd (by the way, the mental imagery is a herd of Llamas. Just thought you might like to know.) and forget about them the way I could never quite remember them in the previous post. Hopefully, they'll stretch their long necks up and give me a more Olympian yodel some other time.
The Kinks are coming out of the mix, as well. Good album. I like the Kinks. They don't fit well with the rest or I'm just not channeling my inner Davies brother at the moment.
Tonto Savalas and The Buddha All-Stars are coming out. No 'dis to the own band, don't wanna start no northside/southiside brawl. I'd hate to see Jeff come down like (holy god Mars Volta comes on strong! (with Cassandra Gemini Vii)) like Swan in the Warriors. We rock, man! Ramspeed rocks! Otis Chasing Dots blows my mind in frequent fluctuating intervals of non-consecutive and entirely incongrous intervals! Yah!
Our Endless Numbered Days makes the cut. I like Sam Beam and his downhomey goodness. I'm curious about his lyrics.
Nirvana makes the cut. Scentless Apprentice (rehearsal) is a down dirty jam. Just cd 3 this time. I know few of the song titles. For a band that I really freakin liked when I first heard them- listened to Bleach enough that I wore it out on vinyl and I still haven't upgraded to tape, so all I've got is the 8-track I listen to in my powder blue hot-rod Pinto and that's got the big clunk right in the middle of Negative (I just took a piss and, man, it smelled just like that Grape Faygo I was a'drinkin') Creep- I've owned Bleach, Nevermind and Unplugged, that's it.
Just one Fugazi album. 13 Songs. All this Fugazi and I haven't heard Waiting Room yet. Damnit, I wanted to hear Waiting Room.
Petra's off. "Don't worry, baby. I'll give you a call in a couple of days. It's not that I don't want to spend the day with you, baby, but I need some space. Maybe... I don't know... if you're up around 1 tomorrow night... I could stop by?" Ya, Petra, I'll come back for the booty call.
I'm still listening to the demo's for Scott Lozon's newest solo project, or Winston McGee, as I like to call it.
That's it.

Monday, March 14, 2005

What I'm listening to.

I've got a whole pile of new albums. Listening to them all on shuffle.

Nirvana- With the Lights Out It's a boxed set. Live stuff, demos early stuff. Everything I've heard so far has been rough and dirty sounding. Not in a bad way, either. It's grunge, so that's teh point, right?
Sticky Little Fingers- Greatest Hits This is some good classic punk rockin and I am enjoying it.
The Beta Band- Heroes to Zeroes Hey, I really liked 3 Eps's and this is more of the same, but, maybe not as interesting or something. Still pretty good, but I'll probably listen to the other one when I'm in the mood for some Beta.
Tonto/Buddha- all stuff avaialable over the interthingy. It's like 61 songs and barely a shovelfull of the mound a' lovin' that is the Tonto Buddha experience. And it's ok that theres 61 songs in this mix, because there's already a boxed set and I've got like 7
Fugazi- Albums I've been listening to The Argument a lot, so I got some other stuff. Don't know which albums are which yet, but the songs have all sounded pretty good.
Iron and Wine- Our Endless Numbered days An album that doesn't get lost in the middle of this bomb pop of punk rock. Maybe as good as the first album, but I dug Creek Drank the Cradle a lot.
New Pornographers- Mass Romantics An album that does get lost in the shuffle. Nothing has stood out. Disclaimer: This is a band that I think does a song I think I like, but cannot for the life of me remember what that song is.
Kinks- Arthur or The Decline and Fall of the British Empire I just typed the full title for some unknown perverse reason. The Kinks come through, again, with an album full of good songs. The british life and the war themes come through strongly.
Scott Lozon- Unreleased material It's all very hush-hush you understand. Chipper-chap and all that.
Petra Haden- is still in the shuffle. No I'm not writing the whole thing. And finally:
John Frusciante- Smile from the Streets You Hold and Shadows Collide with People. I need to stop listening to him for a while, but it's good and I keep listening.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Cuz I'm Generous

Below, you will find a selection of what happens when you plug Tonto Savalas into this anagram server. On a related note, I'm changing my name to Salsa Van Otto.

A LAVA SNOT SOT
A SAVANTS TOOL
A SAVANTS LOOT- you betcha!
A TONAL VAST SO
A LAST OVA SNOT- I don't want to know what that looks like
A VANS TAO LOST- it's a sad story.
NASAL VAT SOOT
NATAL OVA TOSS- Hey! Quit jumping around out there!
NAVAL ASS TOOT
SALSA VAN OTTO- that's me.
SONATAS VOLTA
SONATAS AT VOL
SAVANTS AT LOO- yes, even they need to go.
SATAN OVA SLOT- We won't go there. Not on this trip, anyway.
SATAN OVA LOST
SATAN VAST LOO- The story of the devil's big toilet
SAVANT AS TOOL
SAVANT AS LOOT- would a savant really make a stable currency?
TOTAL NOVA ASS
TOTAL SANS OVA
AN OAT ASS VOLT- by Acme!
AN ASS VAT TOOL- Who would do that? SSSSSPPPOOOOOOONNNEEEERRRR!
AN ASS VAT LOOT

More about Petra Haden Sings The Who Sell Out

An earlier post (and on this very blog, even!) got me interested in hearing the album. Well, in my noodling around world, getting from interested to actually doing something about it might a day or two weeks.

Well, today the magic day arrived!

No, I'm still waiting for the magic day. The crazy elf who promises you a magic day if you just get in the damn barrel- he lies! Don't listen to him!

Anyway, today I picked up Petra Haden Sings The Who Sell Out. I excpected to listen to it once, as a curiosity. Then maybe in a week or two months, I'd give it another go. I mean, it is an album using only the voice as an instrument and that gets old, right? How many times could you listen to ANY Bobby McFerrin song before it became aural torture?

I've listened to it three times already today. TODAY! I've also listened to european death metal today, but hey, that's no way to ass-rape the goat. Petra Haden sings The Who Sell Out has a great name, it's fun, come on type it with me. Petra Haden sings the Who Sell Outis a damn good album.

The Who sings The Who Sell out was a damn good album. I congratulate you, Petra Haden on picking some cool shit to listen to. You have made it possible for me to listen to I Can See for Miles again. It's a good song, but I was just damn sick of it.

Some of the highlight songs of the original don't come off as well as they should because, hey, The Who managed to pretty much nail it; like Odorono and Amenia City in the Sky. A song like Mary Anne with the Shaky Hands always felt like it had something wrong with it in the first place.

Then there's Tatoo. The odd qualities of the original are only accentuated by Petra's overlayed vocal tracks- including the actual lyric which breaks off into nonsense syllables. A-rooty-toot-toot. Just a hypnotic and fascinating piece of music. Or Rael. I never payed a lot of attention to it on the original album. Petra's version sends my brain out into this raging psychedelic Beach Boys boat trip. Then she scats. Then I'm back on the Sloop John B. Tthe crazy elf is there and he's just looking at me all evil-eyed and pointing right at the barrel.

The sound of the instrumentation has been wiped off the album, for good or bad, and that has left it with a surprisingly modern sound. You can't date these songs by the sound of the instruments. 1967 is wiped off the map. Well, maybe the british humor of 1967 is still there, but hey, I'm huffing kittens over here.

Good stuff, and weird as hell. It's going to stay in my current musical line-up for the time being. Then again, tomorrow I might decide to use it as sandpaper to rub out my digital hemroids. Ya. I'm like that.

Monday, March 07, 2005

NEW MUSIC

Hello, y'all! Just wanted to let you know that a new Tonto Savalas album may be in the works (some members of the band--you know who you are--still have yet to contact me about the project), but the gears are in motion. Work for a new Buddha album is 50% completed. Jeff is working on countless projects. Mick may? be working on his second solo album. Scott is 80% done with his second solo album (just waiting for my associate producer--you also know who you are-- to give me some feedback), which is tentatively titled "Twice". Just thought I'd let you know what's going on with the bands and their members.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Music Meme Part 2

I've been seeing this music meme pop up on my blog, so I though I'd give it a try...

1. Total amount of music files on your computer:

.45 gig. Mainly because I constantly delete my music files.

2. The last CD you bought was:

Bought at the same time-The Faces-First Step, The Yardbirds-Roger The Engineer.

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?

In Rime by John Frusciante

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.

"Memory Of A Free Festival" by David Bowie
It's a little sci-fi, has a good story, and a joyful infectious chorus, "The Sun Machine is Coming Down, and We're Gonna Have a Party".

"That's All You Need" by The Faces
Just some good old fashioned rock and roll, and I don't care what anybody says, when the band is rocking, rod is awesome. Plus they know how to incorporate the keyboard into rock and roll.

"Dead End" by Sam Roberts
A little old fashioned pop/rock from Montreal. Maybe it's the similarity in the weather or something, but I feel like he's writing the things that I'm thinking, and pulling it off much better than I could hope to. A nice mix of cynism and hope. My favorite artist of the new millenium.

"Naked, If I Want To" by Moby Grape
This was my toughest choice, I was going to list 2nd and 3rd place, but fuck them, they lost. I'll start by giving you the lyrics to the entire song:

Would you let me
walk down the street
naked if I want to

Can I
pop fireworks
on the 4th of July

Can I buy an amplifier
on time
I ain't got no money now
but I will pay it before I die

Their is a certain simple beauty to this song, which is even more pronounced when listening to it. The mellow guitar, simple drum beat, and the backing vocals that fit perfectly. But it's in the lyrics that I fall in love with the song, easy goin, laid back, and the theme song to my third personality. This also happens to be one of Skip Spence's first songs.

"Touch Everything" by The Capitol Cities
Click the link to hear it. Again another piece of good old fashion rock and roll. Let the bass roll in on ya, then rock out to the rest of it. As good as it is, it's ten times better live. And as an added bonus this is Detroit rock and roll from a member of the Tonto/Buddha family, and I've always thought that that Adam Thomson is one sexy bitch, though that may be because he let's me touch everything.

5. Who are you going to pass this stick to? (3 persons) and why?

I'm passing it on to all of you who read this. Feel free to respond in the comments or in your own little corner of the web. Yeah, that's what I think too, maybe? Huh? What? Whatever?

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Many Years Ago...

Smoke one down
in my room
with my friends
in the month of June

Let's deconstruct all the goodness that's summarized in the lyric above.
Smoke one down: For the totally square amongst you, dear readers, this is a blatant reference to marijuana. Or, as I like to call it "Mary, joo wanna?" And I say, "yes, I do" and she says, "fifty bucks for a half-and-half." and I say, "but I only got 40!" We work it out, though, cuz she really does love me in the end. heheh. Get it? She 'loves me' in 'the end'! Heheh. Hahahaha. God, I crack myself up.

In my room: Pay special attention to the possesive. My. This isn't just a room where you happen to be, this is private space where control of the environment has been utilized via furnishing, lighting, decoration, arrangement and many other arcane means to create mood and shout to the outer world about the inner world.

With my friends: I think it was the esteemed Dr, Seuss who said, "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." We can often multiply a simple pleasure just by sharing it in good company. And, best of all, it drowns out the snail that follows me around and urges me to masturbate naked standing on freeway over-passes during rush hour. Damn snail. I'll let St. Thomas Aquinas sum up. "Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious."

In the month of June: Face it, winter sucks.

This song single-handedly kicked the lo-fi reggae movement into gear. A scene that is alive and thriving today, in ithe cultural mecca of Omer, Mi. In My Room- number 5 on the Buddha Listening List.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Duality

I feel that there is some need for me to explain myself's. As much as I (Scott "The Glove" ) would like to take credit for all that is being posted on this site, I can't. It's all a sham, there has been a secret third party (second party, whatever) posting much of the material. Now I understand that this may compromise my chances of being elected to political office, I have to come clean. Rob "The Jackanape" has been doing much of the work, I also needed to expose this so that people wouldn't think that all of his crazyness is part of my insanity, because I might be insane but I'm not crazy, and I'll cut anybody who says that I am. In the immortal words of Mick on the live version of El Pablo (I'll add it to the music site if you want), "Die Motherfucker, Die"
Thanks

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

The Conspiracy, Part I

This Being the Secret History of Tonto Savalas

Part I: Being an Overview of the Conspiracy

As of this date, the world does not know what I am about to tell you, but it is true. Believe me. The music of the bands known as 'Tonto Savalas' and 'The Buddha All-Stars' is not just music. It is the sonic equivalent of a drug and an attempt at mind control. This may be too bold a statement to make before you, dear reader, have digested the proofs I will present below, but I tell you this; this so-called music is a diabolical, mad plan to take over the world!

This story begins with a man we will call S. I could give you what i know of the history of this man, Which I will illuminate in the section entitled 'S. and M. The Whip comes Down'. For now, let us be satisfied that S. dabbled in the occult, eastern mysticism, underground science and many other, darker areas of intellectual study that are not meant for the mind of mortal man. I cannot say what his goals were during this formative period, but I assure you that as of this moment, he is bent on nothing less that total domination of Mother Earth.

Toward this end, he (and his gang of disciples) has developed methods of playing, recording and producing music that serve his nefarious purposes. As of yet, i have not divined the theory or methods he uses, nor any way to counterract the terrible effect this 'music' has on the minds of it's unsuspecting listeners. There are ways to mitigate it's effects, however, and I will list them in the section titled 'Combatting the Buddha'.

For now, let me divulge to you the the hellish effects of the music made by S. and his cohorts in crime. First, they act on the mind in the same way that many drugs do. The music fires certain neurons in the brain and blocks certain other receptors. The physical and emotional effects are not random, but vary from song to song, and especially in earlier recordings can vary from person to person. No doubt this variation is a consequence of S. perfecting his maleific methods. In the section entitled 'Cracking the Tonto Code' I will ennumerate the various effects each individial musical piece has upon it's hapless listener. Second, these songs have ability to influence the listener, putting him or her into a light auto-hypnotic state. The listener's mind is left wide open to the insidious subliminal suggestions contained within the warped words of these terrible tunes.

But S. is more fiendish yet than you realize, dear reader. Consider the very names of the bands under which this 'music' is made. 'Tonto Savalas'. Tonto, the faithful side-kick savage side-kick of a true american hero, the Lone Ranger. Savalas, obviously referring to the lollipopping detective of '70's television, Telly Savalas. These images of kitsch are meant to draw in the youth of this nation, with their insatiable quest to find the 'cool' and the 'hip'. The cyclic nature of trends guarantees the revival of all cultural icons and S. has plotted out the timeline of this phenomenon. My own investigation into the matter has determined that the year 2006 (we will discuss the importance of the number 2006 in the section entitles 'Buddha Numerology') will be the year in which these two cultural icons will again return to prominence. This coincide precisely with the true beginning of his push for world domination.

'Buddha All-Stars' is even more insidious yet. S.'s studies in eastern philosophy and world religions have given him the perfect symbol to draw in the masses of the world. The Buddha. Smiling? Happy? Yes, but this Buddha is not a teacher, nor does he offer enlightment. He is an evil unlike any this earth has seen since the narrowly avoided incidents in Roswell, NM. He offers only enslavement. Chains in the form of headphones. All-Stars. This had me puzzled until late one night when I was again perusing that Masonic document known as The Constitution of the United States of America. All men are created equal. All-Stars. We All want to be Stars, and in Buddha, that ultimate ambition will be realized. Is there no end to the devious ways of S.?

I know that S. will learn of this document and the others that follow it. I have no doubt. As insurance against the day he comes to silence my voice and the others like me who fight against the impending evil, I have sent copies of the entire document to every major news service in the world and done my best to insure it's spread over the world wide web. As further precaution, several copies have been stored in different safety deposit boxes around the country. The code for the location of these boxes is contained within the writings of this very document. As you read this document and become an enlightened warrior, I will have gone into hiding. I cannot say where, lest I be tracked down by his agents. Fight the good fight.

-The Archivist

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