DISCLAIMER

This is a place to share and discuss rare and odd music/video, if there is any problem with a post or something uploaded, simply email mentallydivergentAVC@gmail.com and we will take it down.

Monday, March 31, 2014

The Lost Man Soundtrack by Quincy Jones

I use a private torrent tracker site called cinemageddon.net. It is a treasure trove of weird, rare and hard to describe data. Video and audio from all manner of odd and obscure sources.

In 2011 I was going through a phase where I was researching villain themes from movies and over time I came to find that the ones I gravitated toward the most came from Blaxploitation films of the late 60's and early 70's. There was an edge and a keenness to the bulk of what I was listening to in this category. I had downloaded a package of Blaxploitation soundtracks and was moving through them thoroughly. I came across The Lost Man soundtrack by Quincy Jones. This LP has got it ALL. Dark and tumultuous travel grooves and soft sweet ballads run alongside one another in a disorienting fashion.


First is the opening theme which pairs strings with hand percussion and a group of kids singing, well more like an early version of rapping more than singing. The music suggests subterfuge in the action, and there is plenty. It is musically unnerving and paranoid. It takes an abrupt turn (the only kind available on a soundtrack and in a movie so unsettling) into Sweet Soul Sister, which is about as sultry as you can glimmer from the title. Extremely versatile male vocals on this song, in a wonderful scale flux and brimming with attitude.

What made it stand out at this point conceptually, seeing the film and hearing the soundtrack is that this movie's main character is both hero and villain, as are the police who chase him. The line between right and wrong is insanely blurred as are your morals as you watch. The music reflects this in its main theme variations, a sort of spy movie with soul, a police movie that is always looking over its shoulder.

This feeling sticks out hard on Slum Creeper. It is dark and mangled, nearly chaotic. Rap Run It On Down flips the mood 180 degrees again with a gospel pop song, riddled with swelling harmonies. Dual male/female call/response vocals make this song one of unity and solidarity. Next up is the heartbreaking He Says He Loves Me, with its insanely talented female lead swirling vocal melodies all across a scale breadth I can't begin to fathom. If this song as full volume doesn't make you well up even a little bit (despite its antiquated words and themes) then you just don't have any soul!

Try Try Try is my favorite tune from this record hands down. Like the female lead character of this film, as she dances to it, this song has got "soul for days". Smooth meaty basslines and classy brass elevate this female vocalist to astronomic levels as she leads the song along a wondrous and glossy pop ballad. There is simply no describing this song accurately enough to communicate the joy it gives me (again despite its antiquated words and themes).

Up Against The Wall is another dark paranoid instrumental, vibing on this films darkest and most white knuckle moments. As this LP winds down to its melancholic end we feel the ending of the film loud and clear. It helps to have seen the movie to know specifically what I mean but it isn't needed, as the music does a very thorough job of passing along the feeling of the film.

You can watch this film on youtube, for now, and it's clearly sourced from the same VHS rip I have in avi format. You can and should download this soundtrack below, it is near impossible to find in pirated or purchase. I did find an old copy on ebay for 15 dollars shipped. It was worth every penny.



DOWNLOAD THE LOST MAN SOUNDTRACK VIA DROPBOX HERE

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Kids On The Internet!

Are you a Kid or Parent? Have you heard of this newfangled thing called The Internet coming to a household near you? Are you concerned or confused about the implications of the internet on a national community? Do you want to learn how to be safe? Is it the mid 1990's?
Boy have I got a treat for you. Kids On The Internet was a VHS tape produced and circulated around 1996 to give you all sorts of information about connecting to and using The Internet.
This is a fun/terrible little visual experience for you to enjoy on a nice weekend.


DOWNLOAD OR VIEW "KIDS ON THE INTERNET" VIA DROPBOX HERE

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Robert Pollard - Silverfish Trivia LP (aborted)

I'll be frank and tell you I have been dreading this post.

2006 was a breathtaking year for Robert Pollard. Mid year he put out one of my favorite albums, Normal Happiness. Some of my favorite Pollard tunes of all time appear on it. To me, it's nearly as good as Not In My Airforce. "Get A Faceful" is one of my all time favorite songs by anyone. So when I heard Bob's next album would be coming out months later (pretty much par for the course) and was called Silverfish Trivia, I couldn't wait. I opened up Soulseek and added those search terms to my wishlist (which is a constantly searching feature for Soulseek, akin to google alerts).

A day or two after this announcement I got a search return. 12 songs, titled "track 01.mp3, track 02.mp3"...etc. in a folder called Silverfish Trivia. I downloaded it. It came down like lightning, and I quickly shared it with my other Soulseek Pollard nuts. Within hours the original user (who I added to my list) disappeared and the shares were spreading like wildfire.

I started listening to the songs and it was a perfectly sequenced follow up to Normal Happiness, a superb indie rock statement in much the same vein as Normal Happiness.

A few days later I see an article on Pfork saying that Bob is upset about the file leak and as a result is pulling the release for retooling as a shortened EP. I was shocked, and a little embarrassed. Could I really be the cause of one of my hero's anger? I am a loyalist with records, I may pirate but I always buy what I like, direct from the artist. I didn't even have song titles for these songs!!!

This shock and abort didn't really affect my ability to love this album. What did affect my enjoyment of this album was hearing the finalized EP. Three of the songs on the original album show up here, skewing the context and sequence. Orchestral string segments bookend this underwhelming EP which I would give maybe a 4/10 rating to, from an album that was a 9.5.

I felt a little at odds with this relationship, EP to LP, like fans were being punished for being curious. I can understand the mentality it would take to cause a situation like this but it doesn't change how lame and deflated this EP sounds. I feel like maybe Pollard intended to punish his fans but infact punished his own art. I would love to hear what he thinks of the EP vs. LP.

This LP is stellar, and over the next 6 months from the leak I was able to accrue the song titles as these songs were split up and released as extras on the Crickets compilation from The Fading Captain series and as B sides for the 7 inch singles club that was released around the 2 albums that came next: Coast To Coast Carpet Of Love / Standard Gargoyle Decisions.

DOWNLOAD SILVERFISH TRIVIA ABORTED LP VERSION VIA DROPBOX




Thursday, March 20, 2014

AN OWL IS AN OWL IS AN OWL - a short film to be filed under WTF?

I think this page has 2 kinds of posts. Posts where I have an abundance of personal information about a project, and posts where I have basically no information. This is a post where I have basically no information.

I was friends with a dude who liked to horde all kinds of weird data. From time to time I would bring my external HD over to his place and he would load me up with weird stuff. This little short was suddenly in my life. Much of the stuff he would give me I would try out late at night when I was bored. This was an extremely unsettling experience for me, like a bad dream on VHS.

I quickly began loving this little clip.

I have recently found it on youtube, and it is embedded below




CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD "AN OWL" VIA DROPBOX

Saturday, March 15, 2014

BS2000 - SIMPLY MORTIFIED!

Oversimplified breakdown: BS2000 is Adrock from The Beastie Boys and the BB drum tech Amery "AWOL" Smith. It is spastic 8-bit synth/dance cheese.



In-depth explanation: Adrock was always my favorite Beastie. The pitch and attitude of his voice stands out among the others and pierces through with the sort of "fuck authority" sensibility I craved as a youth. To discover that he had a scream/yell 8-bit dance band was a shocking and glorious experience! I first saw that ugly album cover sticking out like a sore thumb at my favorite record store of the time, Danbury's VOLT. I remember being repulsed by the title, the color, the drawing of the guy. Basically the whole visual representation.

I learned many weeks after that first viewing just what this band was and who was in it. I believe I even saw the video for "Buddy" on late night MTV2, back when music videos actually got broadcast on TV!



Now I am not a guy who really likes synths. I see them as ornamental as a rule, with my preferences being heavy on acoustic pianos. I guess if synths are to be employed, I prefer them to be annoying/distracting to the fullest extent. This explains my early enjoyment of Atom and his Package. The songs/vibes were never serious, mostly self deprecating  and referential. The same feeling can be used in the enjoyment of this wonderfully weird, high energy 2nd and final album by BS2000. I would argue that more than 80% of this album is stellar, outstanding and entirely enjoyable. Most of the songs are about dances these guys came up with, which adds a real retro/meta aspect to it.



Simply Mortified was the final release through the Beastie Boys "Grand Royal" label, and while it is a point of contention there is speculation that this release was the final financial nail in the labels coffin. Grand Royal assets and back catalogue have since been "bought" by several fans and lives on as GR2 Records.


This is another album I just can't understand why it is so hard to find.

DOWNLOAD BS2000's SIMPLY MORTIFIED VIA DROPBOX HERE

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Open Star Clusters - Bloodletting


Open Star Clusters is not a band for people who like things spoon-fed to them. They are an uncompromising noise-rock nightmare. Mercilessly assaulting conventions of songwriting, band structure and soundscape; this project began as an ambitious and inclusive project headed by Rick Visser (who was the central force behind the Tape Reels For Eyes movement). I have a very personal connection to this movement and to these people, by way of location and shared sensibilities.



Early OSC would mostly consist of Rick solo, with pedals, guitar, 4-track (or other tape based machine), occasional saxophone, and any number of unexpected additions. Over time Rick put together his first incarnation of the OSC band, which was nearly 20 people (myself included). Mostly percussion and vocals, the performance went of mostly without issue and was a success. Over time a solid formation began with OSC, the addition of brilliant local drummer Nate Sadowski, brilliant local weirdo Scott Bowers-Defino on guitar and brilliant spastic nutjob Sean Heslin on various electronic noise machines. They recorded a stellar EP "Various Forms of Animalcula" in '06-'07 and played a ton of shows all over the place.

Then they set out on a proper LP, Bloodletting, in '08 for release in '09. These songs are fucking CRAZY. Noisy as all fuck, time signatures all over the place, and (the best addition to the mix) instrument switching. Nate Sadowski wanted to do some guitar work, and that matched with the moderately equal skill (and distinctive flavor each member contributes) caused the band to switch instruments for sets of songs. There were several that had Scott Bowers-Defino on drums (and his delightfully Frog Eyes-esque drumming style) and several with Rick Visser on drums (which he beats with a wreckless abandon all his own). This switching made for some of the most interesting combinations of sounds and songs that could have ever come from this group. Different members were on lead vocals for certain songs. Each member has their set of unique skills which I think were perfectly tapped and harnessed for this straight up MAGICAL album of ferocity and joy.

The song titles are silly. The vibe is a dizzying array of tongue-in-cheek humor, menacing seriousness, inclusive bliss and vicious bile.

Recently, while hooking me up with these song titles Scott Bowers-Defino said "I can't believe we toured this band...". That's how wild this is.

Rick Visser went on to be in Brooklyn's White Suns, Scott Bowers-Defino and Nate Sadowski went on to form the acclaimed Fins with John Lydon, and as a result there is very little record of this band aside from their physical releases (if you can find them).

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD BLOODLETTING VIA DROPBOX

See some insane-o live videos below:









Monday, March 3, 2014

The Book Of Life - Soundtrack

Now this one's a doozy. I discovered Hal Hartley's films by way of Henry Fool. I was an instant convert and Henry Fool still makes my top 10 list every time. I was maybe 16 when it came out on VHS. It was a random VHS rental one night, and I was gripped by the first moment onward. A short year or two later I was watching the fairly new IFC channel and there was a short film that aired called The Book Of Life.






This movie blew my mind apart. It featured some of the actors from Henry Fool, plus PJ HARVEY! I was obsessed with PJ Harvey at the time. The visual style and look of this film is unique, having been shot on commercially available video (Video8 if I recall) and blown up to 35mm manually, creating a bizarre visual dissonance and fluidity of color. In the film Martin Donovan plays J. Christ, returning to earth in NYC on December 31st, 1999 to bring about the apocalypse (until he has second thoughts). PJ Harvey plays Mary Magdelena, and Henry Fool himself, Mr. Thomas Jay Ryan, plays the devil. The movie is around 60 minutes and features so much of that Hartley dialogue and "choreography" that I have grown to love.




I was obsessed with this movie for years. I got it added to my english class curriculum my senior year of high school. I special ordered this soundtrack at my local record store (the now defunct VOLT from Danbury CT) and it took 5+ months to arrive from Japan.

I can't IMAGINE why this soundtrack is so rare and hard to find. I am always astounded that I am often the only source for this soundtrack on the internet. I uploaded it to the long defunct Demonoid years ago and it spread for a bit but I  have never seen mention of it or other torrents of it EVER.

This is perplexing as hell to me because this soundtrack features some extremely popular musicians and music you cannot find anywhere else!

David Byrne offers a heart melting swell of strings for his piece, 'Machu Picchu". Yo La Tengo give us 2 awesome instrumentals in "Turtle Soup, parts 1 and 2". There are a few songs that stand out as amazing, despite coming from nearly un-Google-able artists. "My Name Is Rich" by Joey Sweeny is rich with big reverberated guitars, just the right amount of fuzz and an endless supply of "Pavement-esque" vocal indifference. This song stood out to me so much that I went looking for more from Joey Sweeny to discover he had made a single album, near impossible to find. "Waking Up" by Miss Crabtree is another shockingly wonderful tune, filled to the brim with swelling reverb. Many people in my life have latched onto this song as a unique and beautiful listening experience.

There is also the title card music, "1.666666" by Takako Minekawa. This song has some of my favorite guitar and drum tone ever. I recall clearly as a late teenager wanting so desperately to record something of this caliber in tone.


The song that drew me to this soundtrack more than anything is "The Faster I Breathe The Further I Go" by PJ Harvey. This was an outtake from the "Is This Desire" album (my fav PJ album by FAR) which showed up on the "The Wind" single. This song, to me, is the very essence of why I love PJ Harvey. This song has more mood and atmosphere and more balls than any song by any man of the time period. PJ stands apart from catagory or gender, and this song is a prime example why.




Without further ado, please enjoy and proliferate this insane mix of music all found on one beautiful soundtrack!

DOWNLOAD THE BOOK OF LIFE SOUNDTRACK VIA DROP BOX