Wednesday, December 29, 2010

The Process!

A preview of the next Experimental Bunnies album, BUNNIES ON FIRE. We found this incredibly inspired improvisation that was captured on video, edited out about 8 minutes of fumbling, and ended up with a 26-minute track. Enjoy with the intoxicants of your choice.



Monday, December 13, 2010

Time to build a house in Purgatory

Hawaii/New York punk blues raconteur Rob K's Purgatory Home Companion is finally being released! An epic adventure through Dante's imaginary universe employing collaged musical fragments from scores of artists from all over, this is something you're going to have to really sit down and devote some time to.

Our own Experimental Bunnies can be heard on the track "Time To Pay", which samples extensively from a xylophone/acoustic guitar/brushed drums jam that will also appear on the third Bunnies album as "How To Build a House". We are thrilled with what Rob and co-producer Mark Abramson did with our music and honored to have played a part in this ambitious project.



The entire album can be found here.

On first listen, if there is a "hit" on the album, it has to be the swaggering Stones-esque "Bardot Hotel" (whose title punningly combines the lovely French icon with the Tibetan word for the state of existence intermediate between two lives on earth). Which is a convenient excuse to repost the excellent live performance of the song we taped at An Undisclosed Location many moons ago. Enjoy:

Saturday, December 4, 2010

And the youth they go "oh, oh, ohhhhh!"

My year old post on the Mighty Ballistics Hi-Power seems to have generated some action. May this wonderfully elusive band (or at least their still-timely 80s recordings) resurface at last! We need their music.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Ear Candle Radio's Top 20, November 2010

Sometimes the best thing to do in the face of opposition is to take all the insults thrown at you, embrace them, and shove them back in your detractors' faces, as Yoko did on this 70s track that tops our charts this month. Don't let them kill your spirit! Number two is a flashback to our childhoods with some infectious Peanuts cartoon music, then at number three Winston Tong and Tuxedomoon deliver a classic 80s hit that gets under your skin. Paula Fraser and Tarnation take an obscure 60s nugget and make it lilt, Ken Nordine gives us some twisted words of encouragement, Isaac Hayes tells it like it is, our own Experimental Bunnies (with a guest appearance by Baltimore guitarist/producer Trevor Simpson) let their psychedelic melodies unfurl.

International space pirates Cyclub invite us on a journey, the Beatles drop a classic from the BBC Sessions, Vivian Stanshall returns with a sprawling number from his just-reissued '70s solo debut, the Aislers Set give us a seasonal instrumental, Little Richard shouts about freedom on his late 60s hit, the Bonzos roll out the noises, Olatunji leads a slightly premature happy new year singalong, and the Who give us one of their all-time quirkiest songs, a Kinks/Small Faces influenced Cockney pop tune about greyhound racing that the band are apparently still embarrassed about, but really, it's no more absurd than Tommy.

We were e-mailed by a young Russian band named Put who asked very nicely for airplay, and we obliged by adding our number 16 track this month. We have no idea what they're singing (though the title offers a slight clue...any Russian speakers out there?) but it's a catchy tune. A track from the first Parliament album (penned by Baltimore cult heroine Ruth Copeland) cries out to a deity that doesn't seem to have much to say in response. An early New Order track swells with post-Joy Division dread, Matthew Grasso's Nada Brahma Ensemble ascends with an extended 25-string guitar raga jam, and the Fall bring it home with an epic anthem to defiant middle age.

Thanks for tuning in and submitting your ratings. Have a smashing December, and keep listening!

1. Yoko Ono - Yes, I'm A Witch - Onobox (A Story)
2. Vince Guaraldi - It's Your Dog Charlie Brown - Oh, Good Grief!
3. Tuxedomoon - No Tears - Desire
4. Tarnation - Little Black Egg - Mirador
5. Ken Nordine - You're Getting Better - The Best of Word Jazz, Vol. 1
6. Isaac Hayes - Soulsville - Shaft
7. The Experimental Bunnies - Waiting For A Bad Idea To Die - Biology And Physics
8. Cyclub - Let's Go On A Journey - Science Future
9. The Beatles - Soldier Of Love - Live At The BBC [Disc 1]
10. Vivian Stanshall - Strange Tongues - Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead
11. The Aislers Set - Christmas Song - The Last Match
12. Little Richard - Freedom Blues - The Rill Thing
13. Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - My Brother Makes the Noises for the Talkies - Gorilla
14. Babatunde Olatunji - Odun De! Odun De! (Happy New Year) - Drums of Passion
15. The Who - Dogs - 30 Years Of Maximum R&B
16. Put - About Pot, Jerk And Sorrow - Dirty and beauty
17. Parliament - Oh Lord, Why Lord/Prayer - Osmium
18. New Order - Truth - Movement
19. Nada Brahma Music Ensemble - Miyan Ying - The Five Deadly Talas
20. The Fall - 50 Year Old Man - Imperial Wax Solvent