I’ve got some awesome news on that front.

The CDs have been assembled by Mars Pyramid and are on the way to Contrarian HQ. The inimitable Susan Norton has turned in the comic that comes with the purchase of the physical copy of the album. The liner notes have been written and the lyrics pieced together. All that’s left are the videos (and probably a podcast where I explain what a tremendous pain in the ass it is to do this stuff, but also why it’s fun and rewarding). Look for an official rollout within the next couple of weeks.

But it’s not all about me, me, me. I’ve decided, after six or so solo releases (at least two of which have been successful by modest standards), to put out some stuff by other artists.

Lux Eterna is the name of the label, and the next release will be from classically-trained experimental-Americana guitarist Mark G. Cooley, who has decided to go electric on his new recording. (Go ahead, scream “Judas!” — it always feels good.) So what does this as-yet-unnamed album sound like? Picture Discipline-era King Crimson as played by technicolor gnomes from another dimension and you’re almost there. There’s lots of cool shimmers and shudders for all you noise addicts, too. In other words, something for everyone.

Next, I hope to collaborate on a pop song cycle with Arthur Adams. I’ve long wanted to compose an album in tribute to weirdo rocket scientist Jack Whiteseide Parsons in which bygone California — in all of its bootstrapping, schizophrenic glory — serves as a musical lodestone. Last time I checked with Arthur, he was down. All the way down, even.

After (or perhaps before) that, I hope to release something from The Ten Thousand Things, whom readers will know as our resident Library Scientist, Wes Covey.

By the way, my short story “The Cove,” which was featured as a digital extra for my last record, Eldritch Musicks, is published in the latest edition of Fantastic Horror #16. You can read it online, even.

As you were.

Happy birthday, Elizabeth B!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=skCV2L0c6K0

In mini-Juggalo news, Violent J‘s progeny, Violent J.J.(!!!), is launching his own music career at the tender age of… um, I’m guessing 5? The song is called “Bad Bad Man,” and it will either make your day or ruin it, depending on your blood-to-Faygo balance.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGqlRtXuJNE

And finally, because there was a strange harmonic convergence around Billy Squier a couple of weeks ago (don’t ask), I am posting video that tragically derailed his career. But before you have a look, please consider my friend Elizabeth’s astute observations:

I would hardly say it’s tragic — I found it very informative. It’s like one legendary move after the next. Here are some of the high points for me:

1. He starts out wearing a completely absurd shirt that for whatever reason has one nearly torn off sleeve

2. His dancing is mostly a lot of marching around and then rolling around on the floor

3. Is that a crane? In his bedroom?

4. He rips his shirt off and immediately replaces it with an equally ridiculous one (Why? I mean, if he was so encumbered by the first one, why put on a new one that appears to actually be LAYERED TANK TOPS)

5. Just when i think that I’m going to explode from the sheer euphoria of this feast of the senses, I’m happily rewarded by three more minutes of the song.

1. Hilarious/compelling concept

2. Concept is infinitely repeatable

3. Content is easy to produce.

I came up with these rules off the top of my head, but I still think they’re valid. Interesting that The Contrarian doesn’t quite hit the mark. Delancey’s new site, Stairway to Poetry, nails all three.

The concept couldn’t be simpler, but it’s definitely got legs: “an algorithmic approach to poetry composition using classic rock lyrics and Google translator.” Fucking. Awesome.

Here’s the AC/DC classic “Back in Black,” translated thusly:

English->Hebrew->Lithuanian ->Welsh->Vietnamese->Spanish->Swahili->Finnish->Japanese->English

Back in black
I go to sleep
I am a long time, I’m very excited again
Well, the opening
Link
I still keep it
I keep looking at the sky
It is not so,
Forgot your funeral, even for the dead
My nine lives
Cat
Using the behavior of wild

I’m back
Yes, I’m back
Well, I’m back
Yes, I’m back
Well, I go back, come back
(Yes) I’m black again
Well, I’m black

Back
Cadillac
Coup, called
Yes, I am an explosion
Gang
When I persisted, they caught me
Is again the way I am,
I head
Nobody is going to rap
Look at me now
I’m playing now
Do not push your luck. To my way

I’m back
Yes, I’m back
Well, I’m back
Yes, I’m back
Well I go back, come back
(Yes) I’m black again
Well, I’m black

Well, I have Yes, I’m back
Well, I have Yes, I’m back
So I go back, come back
I’m black again
I’m black again

Hooo yes
Oh well
Yes, it is
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, right
Now back to the top
So, I repeat, I repeat,
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back
Back in black
I’m black again

———————————

Wow, huh? The Powers of Dorkness compel you to bookmark and/or RSS this site post-haste!

“This guy basically solves the complicated perplex that is rock and roll music. I might be the only person who truly enjoys this stuff, for I am a scientist.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-OwJx50VNg

“This guy” happens to be lo-fi psych hooligan Brother JT, who I actually used to listen to quite a bit. Glad to see he’s still completely fucking nuts.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQcE2dq3YD0

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjEXjiWonN4

Awesomeness kicks in around the 40-second mark.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItZyaOlrb7E

Well, not quite yet. But if civil rights hero Libertarian chowderhead Rand Paul doesn’t stop using the Canadian prog stalwarts’ music in his Senate campaign, they very well might. And Rush aren’t some “Fly By Night” band. They mean business.

This isn’t a new phenomenon — you may recall the Jackson Browne/John McCain incident (“Running on Empty” as a campaign song was actually a breakthrough for truth in advertising). Heart was not happy with Sarah “Barracuda” Palin, for obvious reasons. I think John Mellencamp went after McCain, too. And, most recently, a judge ruled that it was not a “fair use” when California senatorial candidate Chuck DeVore made fun of President Obama using a couple Don Henley songs as his springboard. I’m not gonna get into the legal specifics of each case right now, but I will say that I’ve been following these incidents pretty closely, and, where they have ended up in court, I’ve agreed with all of the decisions.

What makes the Rush/Rand situation unique isn’t actually copyright or fair use interpretations, but rather the band — and Rand’s — politics.

Rush lyricist and drummer Neal Peart has penned a number of songs that are heavily influenced by another Rand. That’s right, I’m talking about that intellectually poisonous witch, Ayn Rand, and her spurious creed Objectivism.

It kind of makes sense, when you think about it. Rush are from one of those “socialist” countries. Perhaps Objectivism is the epitome of rock ‘n’ roll rebellion in a nation with free public health care. And Rush did have a thing for fantasy themes when they first started out. I guess they just swapped one fantasy for another.

In songs like “New World Man” and “The Trees,” Peart’s lyrics reflect a typically juvenile internalization of Randian concepts. It’s as if he read Atlas Shrugged and the Fountainhead in high school and figured he had political philosophy all sewn up.

At the height of their popularity, Rush may have served as a gateway drug to Objectivism. Think about it: their fans were usually nerdy teenage boys who, due to the ostracizing that often comes along with being smart, built up elaborate fantasies of themselves as the true superiors — their peers were just too dimwitted to see it.

This kind of self-mythologizing is natural, particularly in teenagers. Which is why young people are roused by Rand when they first encounter her. Yet most of us, as we grow into adulthood, come to realize that her “philosophies” are not only hopelessly simplistic, they’re actually dangerous.

For the record, Peart has stated that, while inspired by Ayn Rand, he does not label himself an Objectivist. “For a start, the extent of my influence by the writings of Ayn Rand should not be overestimated — I am no one’s disciple,” he said.

Not that there’s an actual comparison to be drawn, but I wonder how many Germans in the mid-1930s would say they were “inspired” by Hitler but didn’t label themselves Nazis?

Keep in mind that I don’t despise Rush. I don’t love them, either. 2112 kinda rocks, Objectivist concept album or not. I just think it’s interesting that the band is telling Rand Paul to stop using their tunes.

Rush’s lawyer, Robert Farmer, also seems aware of the irony, and has taken pains to clarify that it’s not about ideology.

“This is not a political issue — this is a copyright issue,” he told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “We would do this no matter who it is.”

I guess you could say Rush is just is exercising their “Freewill.”

With all of the stuff happening at my job and the consulting I’m doing, I’ve not had a ton of time for music making. That doesn’t mean I haven’t made some progress, however.

My new record, Farewell Plutonia, is just about done. Originally, I had intended it to be another concept album about, well, something. I’d even toyed with the idea of publishing a short graphic novel with a CD included as the “soundtrack.” Unfortunately, the narrative never fully emerged, so I’ve tabled that idea for the time being. Now I’m looking at doing a fairly small run of CDs, once I figure out the design direction. Obviously, it will also be available at all the digital stores and services. And I’ll probably make some new videos.

I haven’t completely given up on the graphic novel idea, though. In fact, I’m thinking that the next album I make will be inspired by (if not completely based on) the life of Jack Whiteside Parsons — father of American rocket science and flamboyant metaphysician who blowed himself up back in 1952. That seems more suited to the comic format, and the narrative is already there.

In other music news, my friends Timothy and Elizabeth Bracy came over this weekend. Timothy used to be in the Mendoza Line. Some of you probably know them; they released records on Kindercore, Bar None and Misra. Anyway, they got me drunk (or I got myself drunk — it’s hard to remember) and roped me into playing with them at the Black Cat next weekend. Next weekend! That means I have to hurry, hurry, super-scurry to learn the material. But if I’m gonna end my moratorium on live performance, it might as well be with the Fabulous Bracys. As my revenge, I think I’ll force them to make a new record that I’ll produce.

Bwah-ha-ha-ha!