Poetry Slammer (#113)

Source here. Originally recorded June 18, 1998.

Whatever you call it: poetry, word salad, skat, sound poem, what have you; it's all here. An A Capella show of a different type. TKDF was my introduction to Ken Nordine, who is sort of awesome.

Lots of finger snapping recital going on here. The occasional double-bass and bongo makes an appearance. Most languages in a sort of English you might recognize. Coffee shop background effects take away from the reality rather than adding to it. Yodeling. Götterdämmerung.

1. Those with the nose for the news
2. Follow him with faith
3. Perfectly manicured to exclude the poor
4. The bookmarks, the numbers, the pages
5. (a Raymond Scott interlude)
6. They shot my man!
7. A haiku at 11pm
8. Performance mistaken for accolades
9. Layered Violence on the Radio
10. A sickly vein shot with possibilities
11. Thirteen, Right On
12. Get the pie pie pie pie pie pie pie pie
13. He'd get his ass kicked if he did it
    

Cineshow (#111)

Source here. Originally recorded on June 4th, 1998.

Careful observers of the main page for all the recordings will notice that we've almost come to the end of the list. There may be a short hiatus while the remainder of the shows are cataloged and uploaded, but I'll have to see exactly how it all rolls out.

Our Cinematic Wonderland show comes hot on the heels of the storybook wonderland show, at least in this world. A gathering of soundtracks from movies popular and otherwise was used to create this brooding, ethereal show. Where the previous show was a hyperactive fluff of dense sugar foam, this one comes across more like a thick vermouth of adult topics. There is some comedy as well, but the flavor is decidedly more mature.

1. Little child, on a postcard.
2. Nobody important, have you seen The Herald?
3. Transient or Resident?
4. I'm very sorry, sir, can you make us cry?
5. Somebody just complained, turn around
6. Rocky Horror Shortstop
7. I'll make it short, honk honk
8. Family Traditional Scream
9. Spirit in the Sky
10. Junkie Chase in Space
11. Just talking about a mine shaft
12. I am Iron Man
13. That dammed French computer again
    

JAPAN (#103)

Source here. Originally recorded on April 9th, 1998.

Part hyperbole, part hubris, part hysteria, part hagiography, part hectoring. I'm sort of torn between the bizarre thought that one could capture all of Japan in a 90 minute tape, and the uneasy suspicion that we captured none of it. This tape is full of interwoven words and music and samples and fiction of what other people think of when they think of Japan. Some of us got in there, too.

1. Chipmunk Geisha
2. Country music melodic lope loop
3. Single String Final Battle
4. I'm afraid we played the Vapors
5. Garbage Percussion
6. Mecha-Elvis has returned
7. A Challenger Appears!
8. Up From the Depths
9. Pearls created by Swine
10. The reluctant warrior awakes
11. So, you think you can defeat me?
12. A perception of no true value
13. Return from whence you came
    

Added by IanF-R:We probably should have titled this show "Naïve Westerners' Japan: A Cultural Mis-mapping Odyssey".

(#83) WILD WEST

Source here. Originally recorded November 20th, 1997.

Back on Track?

Roundin' them up in this show, our intrepid artists collected a variety of clips/tunes/effects that represented a particular view of the as-reported Wild West. It's not a unique mythos, but America - as always - buys into this mythos wholesale. Collectivisim be dammed, we're going to Manifest Destiny ourselves all the way to the other ocean using entitlement and guns.

To a certain extent, this mythos lives on today (until you get to the actual West Coast). Landlocked America welcomes you back with open arms and 24-hour Adult Superstores lining the freeway; as long as you're not too funny lookin'.

1. Faintly "Hey Pa!"
2. Citizens' Band and Guns
3. Appalachia Background
4. Crosstalk Hoedown
5. Capture and Display it
6. Dropping Open Plains Science
7. The Carter Family votes Republican
8. Big Sky Country
9. There Were More Gypsy Circuses than One Might Expect
10. Trucker Dirge and Requiem for Rail
    
11. IT'S A TWISTER
12. On Command, Zombie Reagan
13. Dead-End Gulch, pre-Ambush
    

Added by Ian F-r:
Flowsheet is here.