god, show me magick

"The Secret Chiefs are said to be transcendent cosmic authorities responsible for the operation and moral calibre of the cosmos, or for overseeing the operations of an esoteric organization that manifests outwardly in the form of a magical order or lodge system. Their names and descriptions have varied through time, dependent on those who reflect their experience of contact with them." [more]

Secret Chiefs 3 is a band formed in the mid-nineties by Trey Spruance, Trevor Dunn and Danny Heifetz - respectively the guitarist, bassist and drummer in Mr Bungle. The line up has changed with each record, but it's fair to say that Spruance has remained the "chief" creative force - excuse the bad pun.

Steve's recent post reminded me that I hadn't contributed to the Rally since April. Whilst I offer no apologies for this state of affairs, it seems like an appropriate time to contribute again. In truth, I had considered writing something about Secret Chiefs 3 for a while, but in a "5 degrees of separation"-sort of way, it was Steve's live album post that finally did the trick...

To be more precise, it was Hibbett's comment. Here's how my brain works:

Modern Lovers Live > Jonathan Richman > he needs to get his sinuses sorted > as does Chuck Mosely, vocalist on Faith No More's first couple of albums > FNM? I prefer Mr Bungle > but I like Secret Chiefs 3 even more.

Naturally all of this was processed in a nanosecond or three.

Ok, enough beating about the bush. To warm y'all up, here's a track from the band's second album, "Second Grand Constitution and Bylaws: Hurqalya":

Secret Chiefs 3 - Renunciation



On their most recent album, "Book of Horizons" (2004), SC3 have formed 7 sub-bands (only 6 of which are named...), each one representing one or more aspects of their musical interests. Now, I'm developing an aversion to the use of 'eclectic' when describing music, as it's usually applied to bands that play songs at more than one tempo, or use instruments other than guitars, but here goes: SC3 are truely eclectic. You can read more about this elsewhere (yes you can), for now listen to these:

Secret Chiefs 3 [UR] - Anthropomorphosis: Boxleitner



Secret Chiefs 3 [Ishraqiyun] - The 3

Good. Now go buy all their records immediately...

While you're at it, visit the SC3 website and also the Web of Mimicry label pages.

just say yes...

The scene opens with the camera close-up on a pair of French windows, as two pairs of sneaker-clad feet approach... As the doors slide open, the camera pans upwards to the faces of FERRIS and CAMERON; both have looks of faint wonderment...

CAMERON: (Respectfully) The 1961 Ferrari GT California... less than a hundred were made... My father spent 3 years restoring this car... it is his love, it is his passion...

FERRIS: (Interrupting) It is his fault he didn't lock the garage!

Yello - Oh Yeah



For a long time this and The Race were all I really new of Yello. I have to say that I liked both songs, and their "unconventional" image certainly intrigued me, but they remained something of a mystery. That was until the reissue of their first 6 albums late last year. Oh Yeah! I really don't know what took me so long, as they tick so many of the "Jim music" boxes.

I'll dispense with the history lesson, as that can be found elsewhere. To simply describe their music as "dance" or "electronic" does Yello a great disservice; it is both of these things, and much more besides.

Their first album, "Solid Pleasure" (1980), is a fun-packed art pop adventure. At this point, the line up still included guitarist Carlos Peron alongside the recognisable moustaches of Boris Blank and Dieter Meier. For me, it makes the album sonically more ecclectic than later releases. That isn't to say that later records aren't worthy of attention. They are. For me though, Yello's thirst for experimentation and comic swagger on "Solid Pleasure" make it something special...

Here's a taster:

Yello - Night Flanger



Yello - Bananas To The Beat



Oh yeah.

Buy - Yello remasters.
Visit - the official Yello site.

a year at the rally...

So there we were in the pub, having the annual Johnny Domino Christmas drink, when we decided that we should each try to come up with some sort of end-of-year list for The Rally. Being drunken miserable old gits, we then spent a good while complaining about the state of modern music and bemoaning the fact that we'd never be able to come up with a list of great albums/tracks that came out this year. However, before the night had ended we agreed to try to list the 5 best things we'd heard in 2005. These could have been released in any year; they just had to have been things that we'd heard for the first time in 2005.

Most of my "contemporary" favourites have either been featured on here (see The Bad Plus, Langhorne Slim, Silver Jews) or everywhere else in BlogLand (Sufjan Stevens, LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire - "Funeral" is pretty much the only album that came out in the UK this year that you can say is a stone-cold classic).

The Bad Plus - Rhinoceros Is My Profession
Langhorne Slim - And If It's True
Silver Jews - Animal Shapes

SteveDomino's hits from the vaults, 2005, would have to include:

Miles Davis - A Tribute To Jack Johnson - mind-blowing jazz-rock-funk-fusion work-out from 1971. Over an hours worth of great music over 2 tracks - not very bloggable!
Harmonia - Musik Von Harmonia - 1974 motorik repeato-rock featuring members of Neu! and Cluster. Great stuff but I think Jim is planning a Harmonia post so I shan't tread on his toes.

Outside of those, the album I've played the most is without a doubt Martha Wainwright's debut album, but she went and ruined it by releasing an expanded edition. Is it me or is this fashion for repackaging current albums with a couple of bonus tracks one of the true curses of modern music?

Next in rotation is probably The Coral's "The Invisible Invasion". I don't understand why they seem to have fallen so out of favour, especially when they've released what I think is their best album yet. A couple of years back the press in the UK was all over them but this came out in the summer to barely a whimper. They're still doing the Pink-Floyd-meets-Freddie-&-The-Dreamers thing but they've obviously been listening to A LOT of Can. Give 'em a listen, 'cos it's a great album.

The Coral - She Sings The Mourning



The Coral - So Long Ago


However a late contender swept it's way to my album of the year spot, They Might Be Giants' "Venue Songs" set. When They Might Be Giants toured last year they set out to write a track for every town and venue that they went to. (Maybe Sufjan Stevens should've done that, 'cos I can't see him getting through all of the US states at his current rate of work...). A lot of the songs sound like other artists - notably The Who (Leeds), Frank Zappa (Dallas) and The Cars (Vancouver).

They Might Be Giants - Vancouver
They Might Be Giants - New Orleans
They Might Be Giants - Minneapolis

"Venue Songs" comes as a 2-disc CD and DVD set if you buy it from They Might Be Giants directly. They're the ultimate love-em-or-hate-em band; I just think they're really clever and fun. There are also some great non-Venue Songs on the CD, most of which have been available for free download from TMBG.com.

They Might Be Giants - Renew My Subscription

Visit - tmbg.com and buy "Venue Songs"
Visit - The Coral
Buy - "The Invisible Invasion" by The Coral

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Here is Marc-o's list, as he sent it to me:

- "Oceans Apart" by The Go- Betweens
- "Love Kraft" by Super Furry Animals
- Best Re-issue - "The Glasgow School" by Orange Juice
- Re-discovered Gem - "Swoon" by Prefab Sprout
- Best Download surprise - "A Salty Dog" by Procol Harum*
(* which he got from Spoilt Victorian Child)

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Oxbow's personal musical highlights of 2005:

1. Michael Hurley - 'I Paint a Design' (posted on Last night an MP3 Saved My Wife in October- no longer up there I'm afraid, but I am now discovering this artist's albums, so thanks!)
2. Jean Sibelius - 'The Swan of Tuonela' (this has truly been the year of Radio Three for me! Not sure how I feel about what this says about me but it's the truth... )
3. Charles Mingus - 'Better Git It In Your Soul' (magnificent jazz off an old mix tape made by Steve)
4. The Kaiser Chiefs - 'I Predict a Riot'
5. The Soundtrack of our Lives - 'Origin Vol 1' (rock album, will do a post about it soon.)

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Last but by no means least, this is Jim's list:

Coil - The Ape of Naples - the last ever studio album - very nice, very accessible, the quintessential Coil album
Kate Bush - Aerial - never mind all the crap about, "oooh, didn't it take ages?", this is just a really good album that should be on every discerning coffee table
The Yello remasters esp. "Stella" and "Solid Pleasure" - bonkers Euro geniuses
Super Furry Animals - Love Kraft - a double Domino vote!
This year I've been listening to a lot of Frank Zappa - same as last year, really...

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Thanks again for listening this year - see you in 2006!

into the mystic... and back again

Occasionally I like to drift into "buy an album because the cover looks interesting" mode. I'm sure plenty of you have done the same: sometimes your mysterious purchase turns out to be utter shit, other times you stumble across an absolute gem... I'm happy to say that today's posting concerns one of the latter (in the future I might be tempted to drop a steamer).

Lay-dees and gentlemen, I offer you two tracks from "Cosmic Tree" by the Rabbinical School Dropouts! (maybe I should mention that the picture above IS NOT the cover artwork - follow the links below for that!) As you can probably guess, it wasn't just the cover image, but the whole schtick that caught my attention...

Cosmic Tree


A rich vein of twisted humour runs throughout the album, as does a genre-crushing sense of adventure: there's helpings of klezmer, punk, jazz and more, sometimes all in one song! The second track I've selected is a personal favourite.

Semitic Slam


I've only just looked at their site and discovered that they have two other albums out... Go hunt them down!

rsdo.com
Tzadik records
buy "Cosmic Tree

checkered past

Cheap Trick - Hello There



AaaH! the perfect song to kick off my contribution to Domino Rally. This has to be the best "sound check" number around!

I love this band; their music is truly dynamic. It bristles with perfect pop hooks, subversive humour and er, 12-string bass. Their look is a winner too: that unlikely fusion of two effeminate pretty boys, a hyperactive nerd and the chain-smoking private dick on drums. Compared to the legions of spandex clad poodles and punk fashion victims, they had real personality.

I am one of the subset of Trick fans who got into the band thanks to Steve Albini. the Big Black version of "He's a Whore" was the first Trick song I heard. Albini and co. do a good rendition, but the original is superior. There's a lot more bass for a start...

Cheap Trick - He's a Whore



visit Cheap Trick
buy their music