Musings of a Punk Rock Father

One of the things I miss most about my previously held job at CitiMortgage was the CD club I shared with 2 of my co-workers. Well, just because I was laid off does not mean Citi should lay claim to my need for new music as well as my need for regular pay.

Thusly, I contacted the aforementioned 2 co-workers in an attempt to revive our CD club. The club basically involved the 3 of us deciding upon a theme for a compilation, or mix CD (which sounds so less romantic and elegant than mix-tape, but that's what happens when technology evolves - never mind that it is now the mix-USB flash drive, but I am getting ahead of myself), and then giving ourselves a deadline for producing, for the auditory enjoyment of the other 2 members, an album using that theme. I immediately hear back from one co-worker, but not from the other, although I know the other has far bigger fish or other sea creatures to fry, so I do not hold a grudge against him.

I suggested to my ex-co-worker a city comp, a mix-CD of songs that mention cities. We both excitedly got to work on this project. I like comps, mixtapes, whatever, because the blank audio format becomes a canvas upon which to paint with other artists music in such a way that it becomes its own creation. And I am excited that ECW (ex-co-worker, not Extreme Championship Wrestling) also enjoys making comps.

So yesterday I received a package from ECW. Unfortunately, it was not big enough to be a CD (see, if you remember the 2nd paragraph, then you already know the outcome - if you don't remember it, then you could direct your eyes above and ruin the end of the story for the 2nd time, it's just that you didn't remember ruining it the 1st time). I opened the package, and it held a cassette. See, this made me upset because ECW knows that I do not have the necessary access to a tape player. We have one in the Camry, which Melanie drives (although the other night she sent me out to Oberweis for some premium Conservative Republican ice cream, a trip which I used to blast a cassette with Articles of Faith and Bhopal Stiffs, a tape also made by ECW) and I have one under our TV, but which is not actually hooked up top anything. But I opened it and quickly realized that it was a cardboard tape, a fake, a fugazi, if you will (I just watched Donnie Brasco tonight, forgive me). Inside the fake cardboard cassette tape was a flash drive containing ECW's cities comp entitled "Topics in Audio History: Chicago, Vol. 1." Ambitious, no? See, he compiled 20 songs that all referenced Chicago. I was impressed.

Here, then, since I am actively listening to it, I present my compilation of city songs, dubbed "Downtown Shout Down," a title which is understood and funny only to a select few ex-co-workers. Included is/are the songs referenced.

Be-Common ref Chicago
Cleveland Confidential (Real World)-Pagans ref Cleveland
Safe In New York City-AC/DC ref NYC
All I Can Do Is Cry -Mike Ness ref Kansas City
See Ya Later-The Boys ref Belfast
It's All Moving Faster-Electric Frankenstein ref NYC
Lexington Nightlife-Gas Huffer ref Lexington, Charleston, Concord
Imminent War-Living Sacrifice ref Jerusalem
Doomsday-Transplants ref San Pedro, Washington
Battle Crick-Bantam Rooster ref Battle Creek, MI
Love Kills-Radio Birdman ref Chicago, Detroit
Motor City Is Burning-MC5 ref Detroit
Wanted Man-Johnny Cash ref Kansas City, Cheyenne, El Paso, Pleura, Shreveport, Abilene, Albuquerque, Syracuse, Tallahassee, Baton Rouge
Spanish Fly By Night-New Bomb Turks ref Cincinnati
Gun Street Girl-Tom Waits ref Birmingham, Waukegan
Modern World-The Modern Lovers ref Boston
Idle Hands-The Murder City Devils ref Austin, Dallas
Goodmornin Da-The Tossers ref Dubllin
Bodies-Sex Pistols ref Birmingham, England
The Young Crazed Peeling-The Distillers ref Melbourne
The Strangler of Boston Town-Thee Headcoats ref Boston
Bangkok-Nomads ref Bangkok
Rip Off-Sham 69 ref London
Goin' Back to Tucson-Supersuckers ref Tucson
Normandy-Project 86 ref Normandy

Last night I saw the Bronx at Double Door, FOR FREE. If you haven't heard them yet, they are absolutely the best rock n' roll band around right now. The show was completely energetic. Vocalist Scott Caughthran has the coolest voice. He ran around the pit during "They Will Kill Us All (Without Mercy)" and didn't miss a note. I was blown away. Did I mention it was free?

The shame of it all is that the club was maybe three-quarters packed, but that probably had more to do with the fact that it was a mid-week show and the band went onstage close to midnight. But it was worth losing sleep for. They performed practically their entire catalog, which isn't difficult since they have only released two albums so far, both of which are self-titled.

A bonus was hanging with a couple guys I worked with before we were laid off. We used to talk about the Bronx every day at work, so it was a blast to see the band with them.

Mel and I are currently in in Portland, Oregon! Expect an update at some point!

I've started a string of posts over at my Hint of Disaster blog (used only because my employer does not permit access to Brendoman) wherein I write about whatever album I listened to that day. Most of these (for the next several weeks, probably) I was made aware of by Kyle and Kendrick, so I must give them credit. A lot of the posts will be about artists I've never really listened to, and some will be about albums I've never listened to by artists I like.

Our friends from Denver, Herb and Cara, left this morning. We had a great weekend with them, and it was good to get to know Herb. We went to their wedding back in November, but only got to share about 30 seconds of conversation with them.

Since it was about 500 degrees below zero, we opted not to go walk around downtown Chicago. It feels like kind of a disappointment to be so close to Chicago and not be able to share it with out of town friends, but when your snot turns to icicles upon opening the front door, it's probably best not to try to brave the cold.

Instead, on Saturday Herb showed us his boyhood home in Palatine, then we showed them the third most impressive structure in Chicagoland after the Sears Tower and Wrigley Field, Ikea. We made some exciting purchases: two bath mats, a garbage can and a shower curtain liner. Herb and Cara picked up a sweet light that projects different images and different colors on the wall.

We also went to a mid-day lunch/dinner at Wildfire in Oak Brook. We were seated immediately, and when we walked out there was a 2 hour wait. Wildfire has some amazing filets; I got the horseradish crusted filet and Herb got the bleu cheese crusted filet. Quite good. The one downside was the attack from a dish of sour cream, or some other creme/sauce concoction, from some table near us. It suddenly flew over our table, with some lannding on Cara and Herb, some on the table, and some in the hair of a girl at the table next to us. The restaurant was really great about it, offering to pay for the dry-cleaning of any clothes, and they comped us dessert.

We capped off the night with Melanie's superb creme brulee, and a viewing of the Tom Cruise-Steven Spielberg opus, "War of the Worlds." I still like the film.

I have received a couple of compilations from Kyle, such as a 2-disc set of Flaming Lips songs and a single disc volume collecting Kyle's favorite Beck songs. In return, I sent him a disc of Project 86 songs, whittled down from the massive 2 disc set that I had previously put-together (I thought 2 discs might be too much screaming for Kyle's taste).

But I started thinking, "What do I have that might be more up Kyle's alley?" Then it came to me: Pere Ubu. I had the now out of print 5 disc Pere Ubu collection that spanned from 1975 until 1982, and included a live album and a disc of rarities from the likes of Suicide and Rocket From the Tombs.

So, utilizing a couple of websites (mostly because I don't know enough about Pere Ubu to know what is "essential Ubu"), I created a disc that is, if not ncessarily the "best of Ubu," then maybe the most important.

I present this tracklist just in case there are some Ubu fanatics out there that might have a different opinion on what the tracklist should include. I have already burned this one for Kyle, but I may change it up for future compilation give-aways.

30 Seconds Over Tokyo Datapanik in Year Zero 1975 6:25
Heart of Darkness Datapanik in Year Zero 1975 4:48
Final Solution Terminal Tower 1975 5:01
Nonalignment Pact The Modern Dance 1977 3:21
The Modern Dance The Modern Dance 1977 3:32
Life Stinks he Modern Dance 1977 1:54
Caligari's Mirror Dub Housing 1978 3:54
Thriller! Dub Housing 1978 4:43
I, Will Wait Dub Housing 1978 1:49
Drinking Wine Spodyody Dub Housing 1978 2:48
Ubu Dance Party Dub Housing 1978 4:51
The Fabulous Sequel New Picnic Time 1979 3:09
Small Was Fast New Picnic Time 1979 3:35
Make Hay New Picnic Time 1979 4:08
Kingdom Come New Picnic Time 1979 3:16
Go The Art of Walking 1980 3:39
Misery Goats The Art of Walking 1980 2:42
Rounder The Art of Walking 1980 3:26
Birdies The Art of Walking 1980 2:32
The Long Walk Home The Song of the Bailing Man 1982 2:39
Stormy Weather The Song of the Bailing Man 1982 3:22
Thoughts That Go By Steam The Song of the Bailing Man 1982 3:50

Here's what allmusic.com has to say about the period I've compiled:

Pere Ubu emerged from the urban wastelands of mid-'70s Cleveland to impact the American underground for generations to follow; led by hulking frontman David Thomas, whose absurdist warble and rapturously demented lyrics remained the band's creative focus throughout their long, convoluted career, Ubu's protean art-punk sound harnessed self-destructing melodies, scattershot rhythms, and industrial-strength dissonance to capture the angst and chaos of their times with both apocalyptic fervor and surprising humanity. Named in honor of Alfred Jarry's surrealist play Ubu Roi, Pere Ubu was formed in the autumn of 1975 from the ashes of local cult favorite Rocket From the Tombs, reuniting Thomas (aka Crocus Behemoth) with guitarist Peter Laughner; adding guitarist Tom Herman, bassist Tim Wright, keyboardist Allen Ravenstine, and drummer Scott Krauss, the group soon issued its debut single, "30 Seconds Over Tokyo," on Thomas' Hearthan label. The follow-up, "Final Solution," appeared on the renamed Hearpen in early 1976, and resulted in a series of live dates at the famed New York City club Max's Kansas City.

Laughner's longstanding battles with drugs and alcohol forced his exit from Pere Ubu in June of 1976; within a year, he was dead. The group continued on as a quintet, with bassist Tony Maimone signing on in the wake of Wright's move to New York, where he joined the pioneering no wave band DNA. In the wake of their third single, "Street Waves," Thomas was approached by Mercury label A&R exec Cliff Burnstein, who convinced the label to form a new imprint, Blank Records, for the express purposes of signing Pere Ubu; their debut LP, The Modern Dance, was issued in early 1978, and although the record made little commercial impact at home or abroad, its manic intensity and dark impenetrability proved profoundly influential on countless post-punk acts on both sides of the Atlantic. The follow-up, Dub Housing, was even better, pushing the band to further extremes of otherworldliness, but already the cracks were beginning to show, and upon completing 1979's New Picnic Time (working title: "Goodbye"), Ubu disbanded. Although the group re-formed months later, Herman opted not to return, and was replaced by Red Krayola mastermind Mayo Thompson.

The Art of Walking followed in 1980, with subsequent tours in support of the record heralding the increasingly pop-centric sound which would distinguish later Ubu projects; a live record, 390 Degrees of Simulated Stereo, appeared a year later. Krauss was replaced by drummer Anton Fier for 1982's Song of the Bailing Man, but as before personal and creative differences began taking their toll and Ubu again disbanded; while Maimone and Krauss reunited in the group Home and Garden, Thomas continued the solo career he'd begun with the 1981 effort The Sound of the Sand (And Other Songs of the Pedestrians), a collaboration with guitar virtuoso Richard Thompson.

I think Kyle, who shares my appreciation for artists as diverse as Godspeed You Black Emperor and Johnny Cash, may appreciate the avant-garde sensibilities of Pere Ubu.

Go over and visit my good friend Kevin and read the interesting stuff he has to say.

He calls himself "Hamster."

I myself have been too lazy to register with blogspot and so have been unable to comment on his posts. I really need to do so. I always enjoy reading his thoughts, and I hope you do, too.