Large Plants
Viagra Boys, Sound Storing Machines, Bring Minyo Back, Sergio Mendes, Hot Topic, Lamont Dozier
All right, all right.. First Mondo Times sent from Barcelona.
This past couple of weeks have been an emotionally turbulent time filled with pre-conceived saudade, feelings of excitement & anxiety, ending and beginning something new.. The process is not complete but I finally have the time to compile this one, and the soundtrack to this process = this stoner rock cover of La Isla Bonita.
This kids, might be one of the best covers we’ll ever get. And I’m proud to say I noticed out on my own, that the vocals and the general vibe of this new Ghost Box act are very similar to another favourite, Wolf People. Indeed, it is former Wolf People vocalist Jack Sharp who got bored in the pandemic and started a side project in Bedfordshire.
60’s psych-fuzz rock with Sabbathesque riffs, the album is released now on Ghost Box. [[Spotify]]
IN HEAVY ROTATION
Hurray! rejoice as the Swedish gonzo-punksters Viagra Boys are back with an LP that feels like an issue of Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor and a video that feels like an episode of Preacher.
He goes to work on his computer
He thinks about his gun at home
One day he's gonna be a shooter
He's gonna bring his gun to work
Check out the Viagra Boys album in full on all the streaming services.
UDW
First Discover Weekly (Monthly :( ) from Barcelona as well.. This has been a good batch and surprisingly coherent. The Magic Eye contains 25 picks from different genres.
New indie pop rock fusion material from Australia’s Surprise Chef, Swiss Fai Baba, Turkish surf rockers Palmiyeler, jazz world fusion by UK afrobeat troupe Kokoroko, Cosmic Analog Ensemble, drummer Mark Giuliana, Brasilian jazz from living legend Flora Purim, Armenian virtuoso pianist Tigran Hamasyan, electronic dance stuff from Italy’s Nu Genea, techno from DC’s Black Rave Culture and more.. All hand picked by a non-algo!
SOUND STORING MACHINES
The first commercial recordings from Asia were made in Japan in 1903 by Fred Gaisberg, the legendary producer and recording engineer who traveled the world making recordings for the Gramophone Company (later His Masters Voice). The recording industry barely existed at this time. Man’s ability to record and reproduce sound had only existed since 1877 (with the invention of Edison’s cylinder phonograph) and flat disc records, what we all collect and obsess over today, had only come into being in the late 1890s. [Sublime Frequencies]
Including gagaku, shakuhachi, shamisen, storytelling, folksong and more. these recordings are a unique glimpse into an ancient culture and an important document of the beginnings of the recording industry.
Extra:
Japanese folk songs and protest/songs of struggle. I split them up as I would a record with "side a" having the folk songs and "side b" the protest songs.
BRING MINYO BACK
Min'yō (民謡), Nihon min'yō, Japanese min'yō or Japanese folk music is a genre of traditional Japanese music. Bring Minyo Back is a music documentary film about the Japanese band Minyo Crusaders based in TOKYO.
AROUND THE NET
♩The Inside Story of the UK’s ‘Biggest Illegal Party In 20 Years: [VICE]
Heavy grey rainclouds may have been gathering in distant skies, but the party popped off from Friday evening onwards. Most attendees were around 18 to 30-years-old, plus a clutch of old school ravers, families and the odd dog. Attendance estimates vary somewhat wildly, from 1,000 to 10,000. Most educated guesses put it somewhere in between, before rainfall around sunrise turned much of the site into a bog and sent some of the less hardy home.
Robin Wealleans, a free party attendee since the 90s, says: “There was a sense of defiance in the air: against the Jubilee and of the lies told by the government during Partygate. If they can party illegally, why shouldn’t we?”
♩How Hot Topic Defined a Generation of Emo Kids: [The Ringer]
For suburban or rural-based emo fans in the ’90s or 2000s, the local Hot Topic was the only place they could go—outside of a concert—to find the music they liked, buy merch to match their music tastes, and convene with like-minded fans. Think of Hot Topic like the anti-Abercrombie: Instead of pushing an aspirational—and blatantly exclusionary—lifestyle, Hot Topic went out of its way to be inclusive and welcoming, no matter your tastes.
♩Sergio Mendes: The Maestro Part 2: [Wax Poetic]
BRASIL ’77, HARRISON FORD, STEVIE WONDER, THE BROTHERS JOHNSON, AND PELÉ
♩Kyiv Nightlife Comes Back Amid Urge for Contact: [The New York Times]
Cuddle parties started before the war, but the people who came two Sundays ago — a mix of men and women from their early 20s to mid-60s — said they really needed them now.
The cuddlers gathered in a large, tent-like structure near the river, and as new age music played, they lay on floor cushions in a big warm heap. Some stroked their neighbor’s hair. Others clutched each other tightly, eyes closed, like it was the last embrace they’d ever share with anyone. After about 15 to 20 minutes, the heap stirred awake.
also this: Young People in Ukraine are holding raves to clean up cities
♩Why Pop’s Biggest Stars Are Staying Put for Long Residencies [NY Times]
Extended runs in one venue, once associated with legacy acts, have become popular with stars including Harry Styles and BTS, lowering bills and building hype as touring costs rise.
♩How a Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire : [WaPo]
In the world of audiophiles — where provenance is everything and the quest is to get as close to the sound of an album’s original recording as possible — digital is considered almost unholy. And using digital while claiming not to is the gravest sin a manufacturer can commit.
LIVES LIVED
Lamont Dozier, Writer of Numerous Motown Hits, Dies at 81
Lamont Dozier, the prolific songwriter and producer who was crucial to the success of Motown Records as one-third of the Holland-Dozier-Holland team, died on Monday at his home near Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 81.
