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parody by nacrowe
​check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO focused on the legacy of the NEW WAVE OF BRITISH HEAVY METAL, a very influential era that progressed from vintage BLACK SABBATH with more propulsive drumming and uptempo songs that led the way for THRASH METAL and modern DEATH METAL. if you aren't familiar with these bands, they are definitely worth your time checking out! check out the show.
​ ​past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO as well as other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG are available here at the DEER GOD website. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience!
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photo manipulation by nacrowe
over a year ago when we were in the planning stages of what later became our OFF THE M series of live performance videos at the TRANS PECOS and MARKET HOTEL venues in NYC, we were looking for possible artists to showcase. bay area INDIE band NO VACATION was the first band that i straight away wanted to film after listening through their complete recorded output.
as mentioned before, my senior year of high school i moved from KUWAIT to SACRAMENTO to live with a distant relative in the aftermath of 9/11. by far the weirdest moment i had that year was going to a graduation party where there were videos playing of memories going back to elementary school. none of it had anything to do with me. THAT is the vibe i get from NO VACATION. their atmospheric brand of dream pop is a hazy mix of reverb drenched feedback and single-note passages that sounds nostalgic or yearning for some time gone by that i cannot discern. like a bittersweet memory. oh yeah, they rejected our invitation to be a part of the series. no matter, i still love their catalogue and look forward to their next release. check them out. 
photo manipulation by nacrowe
for some reason i was reminded of this anecdote recently and i'm surprised i haven't written about it here before.
for my freshman and sophomore years of high school i attended the NORTHFIELD MOUNT HERMON SCHOOL in western MASSACHUSETTS. its a private boarding school that, at the time, had a student population of around 2,000 students (now i believe it is closer to 650). i basically couldn't get in now if i wanted to as it went smaller and more exclusive (joining the EIGHT SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION, a mirror of the IVY LEAGUE). but back then it had a reputation for being the most liberal of the elite northeast boarding schools having in the past educated the children of MARTIN LUTHER KING, MALCOLM X and even NAT KING COLE when other similar institutions wouldn't due to racism. i attended because my parents lived overseas and attending school where they were stationed in NIGERIA was not an option. those two years were beyond weird and still affect me to this day. just the privilege and power dynamics that i saw there seem to be on display to me all the time in AMERICAN civic life and none of it deserved. it might be because i was a public school teacher, but witnessing fellow students with straight Cs go on to YALE and HARVARD still churns my stomach when i consider the number of bright, hard-working youth from limited means get turned away. such is life. i'll probably go into it in detail in subsequent posts, but fellow peers at NORTHFIELD included sons and daughters of ambassadors, HOLLYWOOD directors, WHITE HOUSE officials, heads of industry, foreign dignitaries and world leaders. it was a dizzying experience at point in my life when i was still figuring out who was. so here's an example of a typical NORTHFIELD random event. our school had a chaplain, which was a holdover from the school's initial mid-19th century roots as a seminary founded by famed evangelist DWIGHT L MOODY. the chaplain was non-denominational and not even associated with a particular religion, in fact she was a graduate of HARVARD SEMINARY and was married to NOEL PAUL STOOKEY of PETER, PAUL & MARY fame. he lived on campus as an "artist-in-residence." once a year he would play for all the students, which was quite the sight. this old bald dude with an acoustic guitar, from a bygone era, connecting brilliantly with the most jaded of crowds. just to give you a sense of how privileged this student body was, past guest speakers when i was there included MAYA ANGELOU and KEN BURNS. i vividly remember STOOKEY introducing a song saying, "contrary to public opinion, this song is not about drugs" to which he played the introductory chords to "PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON." all my dorm-mates looked at each muttering under our collective breath "yeah right." he also played "LEAVING ON A JET PLANE" and "RIGHT FIELD" and others, but honestly nobody cared. everyone was there to hear "PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON." and everyone sang. like everyone. me included. and i am the last person to ever sing in unison at a big collective event. but this was different. it was "PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON." didn't hit me until later what a feat he pulled, as i was often asleep or near sleep at those formal school meetings, all dressed up in my sport jacket and all. ugh. so there you have it. just one instance of my very odd high school years in boarding school and beyond. to be continued. 
cover by nacrowe
​check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO dedicated to the ROCKABILLY, a uniquely AMERICAN early form of what later evolved into ROCK AND ROLL.
​ ​past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO as well as other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG are available here at the DEER GOD website. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
photo manipulation by nacrowe
if you do anything creative (not that i am claiming to be such), there will come a point at which you feel like you've cornered yourself into a pattern and can't get out of self-imposed rut. during my teaching career this was something i was aware of an constantly attempting to shift from, even though the smart thing to do would have been to codify my plans and never experiement or stray away from that which worked before. sadly most successful educators i came across in the field did the later and not the former, which is partly why i am still so down on the profession.
maybe i blame CAPTAIN BEEFHEART. he is the ultimate tinkerer and was a gifted multi-instrumentalist/composer that is renowned for his solo recordings and vague association with FRANK ZAPPA and his merry band of musical freaks back in the 1960s and 70s. the dude was attuned to what was going on in the FREE JAZZ and AVANT-GARDE worlds as well as the then-current BLUES-based BRITISH INVASION-influenced music of the time. but he was unconventional. he was constantly messing with the formula. on his renowned TROUT MASK REPLICA (STRAIGHT RECORDS, 1969), which quite honestly is required listening for any music fan of any genre, he had his band play instruments they weren't familiar with in order to garner an "unbiased sound." in my family calling anyone "unbiased," whether they be a politician or critic, means they are unbiased by previous knowledge or in other words, completely clueless. i like to think that i strive for an unbiased opinion as much as possible diving into things i wasn't trained or schooled in, such as photo manipulation or video editing. when i was teaching i would have a skillset i was attempting to impart and would attempt to think of new ways that would benefit my students as well as me intellectually. remember, i taught in unfamiliar places such as MYANMAR, VENEZUELA, ALBANIA and JAPAN and i know from feedback over the years that that my former students enjoyed teaching me about their culture. to me those experiences are invaluable but would not have been possible without accepting and giving in to my ignorance. to that i thank and blame CAPTAIN BEEFHEART. his music as well as its production was unique and no doubt influenced countless musicians since such as JOHN FRUSCIANTE, DEVO, PJ HARVEY, THE BUTTHOLE SURFERS, SONIC YOUTH, PRIMUS, THE RESIDENTS, MARS VOLTA, THE BIRTHDAY PARTY and FAUST among many, many other freaks. 
parody by nacrowe
check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO dedicated to classic SOUTHERN HIP HOP from MIAMI, HOUSTON, NEW ORLEANS, VIRGINIA BEACH and MEMPHIS.
​ ​past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO as well as other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG are available here at the DEER GOD website. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
photo manipulation by nacarowe
its funny how with everyone wearing beanies these days it almost looks like a scene out of the classic animated film THE POINT! (MURAKAMI-WOLF PRODUCTIONS, 1971). its even more interesting given that the children's film deals with themes related to identity and conformity, main character OBLIO wearing his unique cone-shaped hat to hide the fact that he doesn't have a pointed head like all the others in the POINTED VILLAGE.
this film was the brainchild of criminally underrated songwriter HARRY NILSSON and director FRED WOLF (ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS, DUCKTALES, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON), who both co-wrote the screenplay, and boasts an incredible list of voice actors that includes RINGO STARR, DUSTIN HOFFMAN, ALAN THICKE as well as various others that worked on everything from ROCKY & BULLWINKLE to THE BRADY BUNCH. im fascinated by films from the 1970s in general because it was the initial period when the creative albatross known as the production code was pretty much a thing of the past and with it the last remnants of the STUDIO SYSTEM. it also predated modern marketing (we can thank STEVEN SPIELBERG and GEORGE LUCAS for that - JAWS, STAR WARS, E.T.) so what you get is creatives taking on interesting projects without later shackles of focus groups, marketing strategies and the pressure of cross-platform media promotion. the stakes were lower but the products churned out were unique. now i originally saw this as a child and what hooked me then as well as now is the music. unlike DISNEY films, past and present, these songs are genuinely haunting and very much evoke the loneliness and desperation of OBLIO as he goes about his journey with his pet ARROW to find his point, because by law everyone must have a point. NILSSON had such a tender, lilting quality to his voice and the songs are just powerful. i remember them hitting me very hard as a child, with lines about teardrops falling into the ocean and being eaten by fishes that were eaten by other fishes, who in turn was swallowed by a whale who grew so old, he decomposed. blew my mind. lyrically its very out there and very much the result of a unique songwriter given full control at the height of his powers. i also love the message that you don't need a point to exist. such a deep movie that is far superior to the drivel thrown our way by DISNEY and the like. i cannot recommend this film any more passionately. its a favorite from my pre-elementary years and is compelling for both young and young-at-heart audiences. 
guilty as charged
photo by nacrowe
check out this latest episode HERE of TOM's free-form live streaming NOWHERE FAST show on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC where he goes through some recent vinyl acquisitions to help celebrate the new decade.
remember that past episodes of THE NOWHERE FAST SHOW as well as other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like DEER GOD RADIO, MAKE HER SPACE, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG are available here at the DEER GOD website. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! 
photo by nacrowe
in the 80 and 90s with maybe the exception of scene favorites JANE'S ADDICTION and FISHBONE, the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS were the de facto definitive ALTERNATIVE band from LOS ANGELES. incorporating disparate elements of PUNK aggression with off-kilter FUNK feel and time signatures, their sound was unique in an era where originality was a virtue. their revolving door of guitarists (HILLEL SLOVAK, JOHN FRUSCIANTE, DAVE NAVARRO) and the foundational core of FLEA and CHAD SMITH provided one of the great rhythm sections of all-time.
but this is ANTHONY KIEDIS' memoir and i'm not gonna lie, he's the weak link in my opinion. i'll just say that up front. even on their best releases, his word-salad approach to lyrics and frat-boy demeanor and general public womanizing was something to be tolerated and not applauded (this is even more problematic given the later accusations that have come about in recent years way after the publication of this book). getting my bias out of the way, SCAR TISSUE (HYPERION 2004) by ANTHONY KIEDIS and LARRY SLOMAN is mainly about the three major relationships of KIEDIS' life up until this point: his father BLACKIE DAMMETT, his best friend and bandmate FLEA and drugs, specifically heroin. for as much as this book is about his unconventional nomadic upbringing and later numerous trysts and relationships over the years, which all seemed pretty boring quite frankly, in the end I foung this book to be about an extroverts need for attention in a community only too willing to grant such. i can only imagine what growing up with a failed-actor, drug-addled father would do to a young psyche. the messages spoken and unspoken about one's self-worth in a HOLLYWOOD community that trades on humans like they are commodities. not to mention how women were treated as arm candy in an ambitious arms race for fame and notoriety. I found KEIDIS to be pretty shallow on most subjects in the book with the exceptions being his thoughts on those three relationships and how they informed him as a person. in some ways this book feels like a celebration of his friends and the LOS ANGELES artistic community that challenged and supported his band. for that I applaud him, but it doesn't alter the fact that on some level he's a LARS ULRICH-like impotent mouthpiece where his talk is supported by the actual talent and virtuosity of those around him. or maybe i am too hard on him, this was written during a renaissance in his career after two successful reunion albums with legendary guitarist JOHN FRUSCIANTE. maybe he was coming to terms with the fact that he was a chauvinistic douche. i doubt it. if you are fan of KIEDIS, definitely check out this book, if not do yourself a favor and listen to a FAITH NO MORE or MR. BUNGLE record. When is MIKE PATTON gonna put out a book, anyway? 
parodies by nacrowe
tonight starting at 8PM on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC there will be a double-bill of two separate DEER GOD RADIO episodes showcasing both the pioneering production work of STEVE ALBINI and the influential BRITISH independent record label 4AD RECORDS. past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO as well as other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG are available here at the DEER GOD website. and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience! ALBINI
4AD
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nicholas
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