Heart on a Stick
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Keep Yourself Together
posted 02/21/2007
I know it’s, like, fifty degrees outside, but let’s start with this:Now I don’t know me much about this “e-lectronic” music with which you “kids” and your “compu-tors” find yourselves so enamored these days. And my ignorance probably shows in how quick I took to this song. It’s fun to spazz out to mashmashmashup stuff like Girl Talk, but us old folk? There’s the Charleston, the Jitterbug, the Fatboy Slim. We stopped crossing the country when we hit the Land of 1,000 Dances.
You younguns keep heading West if you want. I hear tell they got a thousand three, maybe a thousand four out California way. Me, I’m going to stay right here and help Rufus teach his monkey to do the dog.
SOMEONE HID MY MEDS. SEND HELP.
Anyway, what I was trying to say was: I wouldn’t be surprised if you found the first two and a half minutes of that track underwhelming. It takes one back to a time when every dance track featured a sample of some public access preacher. Synth handclaps! There’s an idea for you.
I’m pretty sure those electro-toms are supposed to be funny.
It’s the guitars that do it for me. A simple riff you can bang your head to, a good bit of grind for texture. I really like it when it all drops out around three-forty, the riff just chugs along while some namby-pamby angular call-and-response gnats around. Slow and steady, slow and steady.
It may be fifty degrees out now, but the big clock on the wall says it’ll be back below freezing by Friday night. You save this for then, then. Ain’t gonna start no dance dance revolution, but it’ll keep you toasty in all the right places.
Dammit, Ruf’! That’s the mashed potato. Don’t reward the damned monkey unless he does the dog. Or finds me my meds.
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Why am I dropping some flyover dance outfit on you? Mostly because I saw this:
The Prairie Cartel (myspace) is a Chicago-based electro-rock outfit featuring Blake Smith and Mike Willison (founders of ‘90s alt-rockers Fig Dish and the Beck-worshipping Caviar (see below)) and LOCAL H’s Scott Lucas. Thaaaaat’s right. My official fanboy contract says I must get a bit excited over every bit of new Scott Lucas music... and a bit frustrated that this side-project might get in the way of future H-oriented activity. But for now: The PC’s myspace has them doing a live (2PM?) set at Emo’s for SXSW (sxsw.com makes no mention of this, so someone’s going to be surprised; UPDATE: Info's here. They're scheduled at "Emo's Jr." at 2:25p on 3/14.). I’ve never seen this outfit perform, I can’t issue a big moist recommendation. I can only say that I really, really wish I were going to be there.
The band’s first CD is supposedly coming out at about the same time; until then, there are a couple more songs available for download on their site (Brit snyth fans should check out “No Light;” post-punkers should look forward to “Beautiful Shadow”).
A different version of “Fuck Yeah, That Wide” appears on Local H’s excellent No Fun EP (buy); that EP is half originals, half covers (Ramones, Godfathers), and FYTW is credited to Primal Scream... but no Primal Scream song goes by that title. I’d pretty much given up on finding the original when the Wikipedia, of all things, cleared things up. The H song was built around the “You got the money, I got the soul” line from XTRMNTR’s “Kill All Hippies.” Primal Scream got full credit. Duty? Generosity? Whatever. Maybe it’s just fun cutting royalty checks out for a song that says, “Can’t be bought, can’t be owned.”
Local H used FYTW to close sets for a good couple years, and the song would stretch out ad infinitum. Even after drummer Brian St. Clair had given up, Lucas would pound out beats and lead crowd chants; these things went on far longer than anyone wanted them to. At Tribeca Rock Club, we were chanting “House of... Charlie Murphy!” so hard Dave Chappelle came back from Africa. The Khyber actually cut the power to get Lucas off stage; he responded by punching a hole in their ceiling.
It was usually exhausting, but this Southpaw performance kills. Yes, it’s eleven minutes long. But Lucas is really determined to get the anemic crowd going. Every time he returns to the guitar it gets more intense.
I love the really drunk guy who’s randomly shouting “Money!” and “Soul!” And the fuckface at the bar. And how it just fucking rocks. We got the soul, the soul, the motherfucking soul. We got the soul we got the soul.
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You know who else is going to be at SXSW? Imperial Teen (myspace). Imperial Teen! Their official showcase is Wednesday, March 14th at Antone’s, and they’re the best thing about this well put-together “Blogger-Curated Music Experience.” IMPERIAL TEEN! Hopefully this means a new record, and a tour, and and andandand...
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Also at SXSW? Brooklyn’s own O’Death (myspace). I think I’ve mentioned them before. Everyone who missed them on their last tour (and that would probably be, well, everyone) finally gets stomp around like we do. Their official showcase is Thursday, March 15th at The Parish II.
O’Death is also at Pete’s Candy Store Friday night, as part of the BAM’s Brooklyn Next celebration...
...and headlining the Mercury Lounge THIS Saturday, 2/24, with Black Hollies, Nous non Plus, Aeroplane Pageant, and Ladyfinger. $10, no advance tix. Show! Romp!
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I mentioned Caviar up there – its members make up the non-Local H part of The Prairie Cartel? I know, you’re really excited about Imperial Teen, now. I understand.
Caviar put out a really frustrating record called The Thin Mercury Sound in 2004. They had the riffs and the beats... but they also had some very unfortunate lyrics (“Whuh-uh-uh-oh, keep it on the down low?!”) and a tendency to retreat into pop-punk. You’d be grooving along, then WHAM! Wheatus. Bleccch.
This is probably my favorite song off that record, a psychedelic, Chemical Brothersish voyage to Martin Dennyville:
The “Quiet Village” sample they use is from composer Les Baxter’s original (Baxter gets a co-songwriting credit on “November”). Baxter and Denny were pioneers and popularizers of the “Exotica” movement in the 1950s. They made musical EPCOT centers, taking world music, adding guard rails, sucking the sex out. Whitewhitewhite is the color of our everything.
Compare/contrast: Baxter will have you reaching for a rubber machete, Denny for a little drink with an umbrella in it.
Ah, Polynesia. Land of the 1007th Dance. One can only dream.
Genuine pith helmets, daddy-O, straight from Taiwan. Only $47.95! They’ll prove you were there.
It’s, like, fifty degrees out. I can’t tell what’s unseasonably warm, anymore, but this faux-tropical bs seems like the perfect thing to get you through the slush.
YES? YOU THERE IN THE BACK? (5)
1. kathryn left...
02/21/2007 4:43 pm :: http://kathrynyu.com/
That Prairie Cartel show is part of The Metro (Chicago) 25th Anniversary
Party at Emo's...one of the unofficial daytime parties.
2. eric left...
02/21/2007 7:04 pm
and you can see scott dj here and there on sundays in the smartbar. the
bartender, kelly, is also the best. and the other guy behind the bar, don't
bug him unless you want to hit on him.
3. J____ left...
02/22/2007 12:26 pm :: http://heartonastick.blog-city.com/
Thanks, Kathryn. When I went to the Emo's site a few days ago, that date
only had a "Visit SXSW.COM for all info."
4. mjrc left...
02/24/2007 9:44 am :: http://lostinyourinbox.blog-city.com
these prairie cartel songs are fucking fantastic. great find.
5. Crimson Ghost left...
03/04/2007 8:01 pm
Denny's "Firecracker" was covered in the late 70's by Japan's YMO (Ryuichi
Sakamoto et. al). Then J-Lo's handlers sampled it for "I'm Real".