Kyle Mabson, my roommate, just made his second compilation featuring interpretations of a single current hit. Last time it was Gotye’s “Somebody that I Used to Know,” and this time it’s Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.” Two number one hits. Two sick jams.
This is what I made for “Call Me Maybe.” I based my interpretation off of a cover by an 11 year old on Youtube. I knew that a lot of kids use youtube this way, but I was kind of mortified when I actually went searching for one to use for this video. Maybe parents should monitor their kids’ Internet usage more. I’m glad this technology didn’t exist when I was a pre-teen.
I call my version “Mom’s Medicine Cabinet REMIX.”
Listen to the entire compilation here. It’s got sick tracks from Maston, Dan Deacon, Fudge Dredd, Sean Carnage, Your Mom/Your Dad, 333 Boyz… the list continues. It’s 43 tracks and about 2 1/2 hours long, so go crazy.
A few years ago, in ’09, I was a bored, unemployed collagist. So, using a few old porn anthologies and an Xacto knife, I made some pornographic collages of the president and called the set “Obamaporn.”
In 2010, when Echo Curio asked me to do a solo exhibition, I chose to display Obamaporn (for some reason) and Sarah and I actually made a big giant Obama dick out of toilet paper rolls and burlap. You can check that out here.
Now it’s re-election year and I’m displaying the original pieces once again. You can see them as part of this porn-themed group show at Temple ad Hoc that is running for two weeks starting tomorrow, June 8th. Why not RSVP to the opening party on Facebook?
Temple Ad Hoc is a really cool temporary space that will be open all summer at 1218 1/2 Temple Street in that area between Echo Park and Downtown. Check it out!
I’ve been interviewed before, but the interview questions that Xenia Shin asked me for Seancarnage.com were by far the most in-depth and intelligent ones I’ve been asked. Click here to read Xenia’s interview about my art exhibit, Just Look at What He’s Doing, that is opening at Echo Curio tomorrow night. It’s an honor to be featured on the site, and I’m sincerely grateful to Sean and Xenia for the exposure.
While I’m on the topic of gratitude, I should publicly thank the people who have made the show possible:
First and foremost, Grant Capes and Justin McInteer of the Curio deserve thanks. A lot of this work wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for the space that they have provided (a space that, by the way, is in critical danger and needs your support). I was completely surprised and flattered when they asked me to do an exhibit.
I also owe a debt of extraordinary gratitude to my esteemed collaborators: Sarah Cisco, Caitlin Craggs, and Kitty Dexter. A month ago, I was freaking out because I realized that my ambitions for the show’s centerpiece overshadowed my actual talent. I asked my friends to step in and assist me, and they helped me to take it to a level that I simply could not have done on my own. Each of them has provided something truly incredible, and it was a joy working with them.
There are others who have helped. Tyler Sabbag, a master chef and one of the best friends I’ve ever known, will be catering the event and making the night quite fancy. In addition to the extraordinary promotional help that I’ve received from Sean and Xenia, I’ve also been assisted in “getting the word out” by Kathy Pinto of Radio Free Silverlake, Hillel Smith of Rent Food Broke, and Molly Shelton of KXLU. Kid Infinity also deserves much thanks for lending me the KI van (seen here in the video for “P.Y.C.O.”). Without it, I would have had to rent a U-Haul to get Caitlin’s contribution to the Curio!
Finally, thanks to Drew Denny and Janet Kim of Tiny Creatures. Three years ago, they asked me to exhibit art in a show and the resultant work was “the Audacity of Blood,” the work that is at the heart of Just Look at What He’s Doing. Before being asked to show work at Tiny Creatures, I never even entertained the idea of making or displaying visual art.
I’m very excited to present an art exhibition, entitled Just Look at What He’s Doing!, at Echo Curio from October 21-24. I was asked to do a “solo show,” but in reality it’s been a collaborative effort that I’ve done with the extraordinary help of Sarah Cisco, Caitlin Craggs, and Kitty Dexter. We’ve been working hard on it, and it’s coming together quite nicely. I’d love it if you attended. Here is a link so that you can RSVP to the opening on Facebook. Echo Curio is located at 1519 Sunset Blvd in Echo Park, and the opening event begins at 9pm. Click here to read the press release for the show!
The reaction to the posting was pretty positive; a few people told me that Ram was one of their favorite records and that hearing it on 45 brought new life to an old friend. Others told me that they hated the original Ram but liked this. Others complained that Paul wasn’t as “serious” as John, told me they were the walrus, and cursed. Still others had no opinion whatsoever.
A little over a year ago, the blog Aquarium Drunkard released a record called Ram On LA, a “Los Angeles Music Sampler” that featured bands like Earlimart, the Parson Redheads, and Le Switch covering tracks from Paul and Linda McCartney’s 1971 album Ram. I originally heard about the record from my neighbor Scott, and I appreciate the concept for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that Paul is my favorite member of the Beatles, but I don’t think he normally gets the respect he deserves. Thus, I’m glad to see him get a tribute. The other reason I’m down with record is that Ram (at least side A) is one of my favorite albums. It’s cool to realize that I, in my taste at least, keep such illustrious company!
Yet, while Ram is one of my favorite albums, I absolutely never listen to the record as originally intended. I got the mp3s of it once, and I tried to jam to them in the car. I hated them, though – they seemed so listless and lacking in energy.
See, my Ram isn’t like that.
I bought the record in the mid 2000s at Amoeba for a dollar. It was during a phase in my life wherein I bought a whole lot of records at Amoeba for a dollar and didn’t necessarily listen to them until months after the purchase. Ram was one of those records that I bought and shelved for some potential later date.
At the time I was living in a very full house with Pizza!, and we shared vinyl. While I apparently was only nominally interested in Ram, Alex found it on the shelf and decided to give it a spin. The turntable was on 45 when he did, and for some reason he didn’t notice. He accidentally played the record at the faster speed – and loved it!
After falling in love with the fast version of Ram, Alex played it for us. We all agreed that it was incredible. I, personally, was hooked.
I’ve listened to Ram on 45 a whole lot, but I’ve barely listened to it on 33. And while my initial love affair with it was a few years ago, I’ve gotten back into it pretty hard lately. Coincidentally, the other day it was the topic of conversation at a party; fortunately it was a party with a turntable and a copy of Ram. My friend Kyle S said that he had a natural aversion to things that sounded “chipmunky” because of some bad experiences with Christmas records when he was a kid. My buddy Dan C proposed that people in the era of Ram were so drugged-out that slow music appealed to them more, and he used Paul’s own “Helter Skelter” as an example. Both of them really dug Ram when it was played fast. Kyle even said that he wasn’t that interested in listening to the record at 33. I nodded my head to that. Ram on 33 sucks compared to Ram on 45!
Increasing the speed on Ram does, I must admit, “chipmunk” it. But what’s lost in low-end is more than compensated for by the gain in sheer passion, danceability, and drive. Paul and Linda made the record while on vacation on a farm in Scotland, and unsurprisingly it’s a bit sluggish in execution. Perhaps because of that, speeding it up by a few revolutions per minute really doesn’t make it that fast – especially not for me, as a listener almost forty years later with new context and ears for punk rock. The extra kick makes the songs more compelling, I think. There’s an added element of joy in songs like “Dear Boy” (which isn’t particularly happy at all when played at its original speed) and “Smile Away” (a song that is totally, completely, painfully, appallingly, and miserably boring on 33 but has a peculiar and jovial spring in its step on 45).
“Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” is truly and delightfully weird in any incarnation, and it’s even more delightful and weird on 45.
Anyway – after talking about Fast Ram at that party, I decided that I wanted to digitize it. I didn’t want to just listen to it at home, because I love it so much. And after digitizing it, I figured it was a good idea to share it – so here it is.
This is just Side A. I didn’t have time to do Side B, but I’ll do it in a few days if people are interested (NOTE: Side B was uploaded on May 14 and is available here). Honestly, I haven’t listened to Side B that much. But Side A is pretty much my favorite Beatles record… so there you go.
I have collected the flyers that I’ve made over the years for Pizza!, Big Whup, and my own solo shows. I put them onto Flickr. You can check out the set here. This is one of my favorite flyers from the collection. It’s from last year, not this year! This year basically the same lineup is playing on May 1 at the Smell, except with 60 Watt Kid and So Many Wizards instead of My Pet Saddle and the Studiofix:
I bought the record in the mid 2000s at Amoeba for a dollar. It was during a phase in my life wherein I bought a whole lot of records at Amoeba for a dollar and didn’t necessarily listen to them until months after the purchase. Ram was one of those records that I bought and shelved for some potential later date.
