The Last Month of the Year

December has been unusually busy, as you can see from how quiet it has been around the Pimps site this month. Between holiday shopping, travelling, drama at work, getting hired out to make mixes as presents for a friend of mine, DJing and all other sorts of distractions, I haven't had much time to check in here.

Because of this lack of attention, I'm going all out in this post with a big bandwidth buster. This will likely be my last post before the 1st of January, so enjoy it while it lasts. I have a bunch of new tracks I want to share but no time to write about them, so tonight I'm going to succumb to topicality: this post contains the Christmas mix I've assembled for friends and family this year.

I highly recommend putting these tracks on a CD in the order in which they're presented here. Then you can pretend I made you a CD, and you can start thinking about what gift you're going to get me. What's that? Nothing? That's okay, too.

Some of these tracks were culled from my favorite blogs, so I can't claim to be the one to have unearthed some of these gems.

PIMPS OF YULE: Christmas 2005
1. "Five Wishes for Christmas" by STEVE MARTIN
2. "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" by DARLENE LOVE
3. "Father Christmas" by THE KINKS
4. "Merry X-Mas Everybody" by SLADE
5. "Christmas at the Zoo" by the FLAMING LIPS
6. "Christmas Party" THE WALKMEN/NICOLE SHEAHAN
7. "Christmas in Hollis" by RUN D.M.C.
8. "Christmas Rappin" by KURTIS BLOW
9. "The Christmas Massacre of Charlie Brown" by DJ JOHN
10. "Santar Klaws" by POJ MASTA
11. "White Christmas" by CORPORAL BLOSSOM
12. "The Christmas Song" by THE RAVEONETTES
13. "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight" by the RAMONES
14. "Santa Claus" by THE SONICS
15. "Merry Christmas, Baby" by OTIS REDDING
16. "Christmas Comes but Once a Year" by AMOS MILBURN and CHARLES BROWN
17. "I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus" by BRENDA LEE
18. "Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!" by SUFJAN STEVENS
19. "Christmas Eve" by GORKY'S ZYGOTIC MYNCI
20. "Old Toy Trains" by ROGER MILLER
21. "I'll be Home for Christmas" by ELVIS PRESLEY
22. "Blue Christmas Lights" by BUCK OWENS
23. "Christmas Time Will Soon be Over" by JACK WHITE
24. "Blue Christmas (To Whom it May Concern" by MILES DAVIS and BOB DOROUGH
25. "Merry Christmas Mary" by JOHNNY CASH
26. "The Last Month of the Year" by VERA WARD HALL

A Gesture of KARL HENDRICKS

I think you'll find that a lot of bloggers (at least the music bloggers) out there are what I like to call Attention Whores. They're out there trying to rack up big numbers, attracting readers with the latest big thing or remix of the latest big thing. They're posting Neutral Milk Hotel demos or deep tracks off of Sufjan Stevens' "THE ILLINOIS YELLOW PAGES AS SUNG ALPHABETICALLY BY A LARGE COLLECTION OF TWEE SWEATER WEARING MINIONS." They run the music sites that scoop even Pitchfork before they can run a snide, rarely funny dis review.

And then you have guys like me. Guys who post about albums that are 12 years old, trying to get one last copy sold before the record and its memory fade like a million No Hit Wonders that came before. Guys who are so unhip that when they finally do post a song that winds up being a bandwidth buster, it's not a WOLF PARADE exclusive track. . . it's a dusty old nugget from the Traveling Wilburys (their biggest hit, no less!).

With that in mind, get ready to hop into the Way Back machine for another dusty one. This time I'm taking you back to Pittsburgh, PA in the mid-1990s. Back to a time when the term Alternative Rock was just about to lose all meaning entirely. This is the era of THE KARL HENDRICKS TRIO, 3 skinny post-SUPERCHUNK rockers who made beautiful dischord out of every indie geek's worst nightmare: dealing with women.

While two albums and an EP preceeded it, "A GESTURE OF KINDNESS" is -- in my opinion -- the complete realization of the band's sound (and therefore its masterpiece). The guitars are jangly and explosive, the lyrics full of regret, embarassment, bitterness and quite frankly, a little bit of misogyny. From what I've heard, Karl Hendricks looked a bit like Steve Albini if he'd turned out more like Mark Borchardt and dressed more like Garth from "Wayne's World." I like to think that this album is what Robert Crumb would sound like if he'd made a punk band.

The album opens with the tone-setting "Foolish Words of a Woman in Love," which sounds like an exact combination of the aforementioned Superchunk and the ARCHERS OF LOAF. The band is on a roll that continues through the rest of the album, starting with "The Official Shape of Beauty" (a great DINOSAUR JR song, if J Mascis took out 3 minutes of guitar solos and just made a pop song). Following that is the jazzy "The Scoffer's Reply", where Hendricks takes on his biggest critic, his ex-girlfriend ("The scoffer's reply: 'It's not jazz when you play like that'").

My favorite track on the album comes 7 songs in, "King Beds Morning Coffee." Even if you hate the rest of the record, you've got to love this one. It has a really cool opening bassline that leads into a great descending guitar part, and some great sad lyrics that -- even if they were in some made up language -- sound exactly like what the guy is feeling. If you only spoke Spanish and heard this track, you'd still know it's about a bitter geek and his lost love. (Unrelated trivia: Does anyone know if there was actually a coffee brand called King Beds' Morning Coffee? For some reason, I've always thought there was.)


FOR MORE ON TONIGHT'S POST:
- The Karl Hendricks Trio at Merge Records. Stream a few more recent tracks here.
- "A GESTURE OF KINDNESS" was out of print for years, but was just rereleased on Spirit of Orr Records. If anyone out there has the reissue, I'd love to hear the bonus tracks.

The Fast Rise of THE KINGSBURY MANX

I'm literally and figuratively running on a low battery right now, so tonight's post is going to be brief. The three songs (plus one tengential cut) posted here were going to be my last three songs of my November quest to get 60 songs up in 30 days. I made it to 57. I guess there's always next year.

I did have a few readers who ponied up with offers of bandwidth space, but I wound up being too busy this weekend to take them up on their generous offers. I think these guys deserve a shout out at the very least, so go check out Rob's blog and Sean's Liturgy site.

Now, on with the music...

I spend most of my days working in one of Omaha's finer indie record stores, and it's pretty rare that we get good promo CDs from record labels trying to pimp their wares. Usually, you can only hope at most to get a CD you can put in and ignore for 45 minutes. Typically, you're not that lucky and you wind up buried under a pile of half-baked, half-assed records.

Such is not the case with the new album from THE KINGSBURY MANX. I'd largely ignored the band's catalogue until a music blogger out there posted a few months ago a song of theirs called "Pelz Komet". I immediately started tossing the song on every mix I made. What I really like about the song is that it has this homemade charm while still sounding like a lost radio anthem. The vocals and music also reminded me of another fine indie band, VERSUS. That band's "Lose That Dress" was one song that came to mind.

A few weeks ago, we got the new Manx album in the mail and I've been popping it into the store's player every few days. That's more than you can say for a lot of the discs we have behind the counter. I've been doing similar championing of THE STANDARD's new album, along with SUN KIL MOON.

Aside from the Versus comparison, I'm also hearing a good deal of that old KINKS sound on The Kingsbury Manx's "The Fast Rise and Fall of the South" (the name of both this song and the album itself). My current favorit track on the album has to be "I0008". The only things I can't figure out is how these guys sound so goddamned British when they're actually from North Carolina, and how I've managed to sleep on them until this, their 5th proper album.

FOR MORE ON TONIGHT'S POST:
- Get more downloads from their official site.
- Buy super cheap downloads of all their records at Emusic.com.

NOVEMBER - Stereogum Killed My Bandwidth!

While I'm extremely flattered to have reached the pinnacle of bloggerdom -- to have my site linked on Stereogum -- their link to my site and the subsequent downloads from a few thousand people journeying over to check out the tracks from my last post have killed my bandwidth for the month. No more songs, no more pictures, until December 1st.

Anyone out there have a little extra bandwidth to spare? I was really hoping to reach my goal of 60 songs for the month, and I'm only a few tracks away. I can't imagine it would take more than a couple of GBs of space. I'd be more than happy to compensate you with cash, CDs, "oral favors"... you name it. I'm begging one helpful soul out there... don't let the dream die! I really don't like the idea of using sites like yousendit or those other semi-laborious hosting sites. I've always wanted my blog to be as easy as possible for people to use.

Anyway, I'm really happy that I got a bunch of exposure to a bunch of new readers this week. Hopefully some of you will stick around for a few days and will continue reading my site when I'm able to start posting again.

Sincerely,
Dylan Gaughan

NOVEMBER - 27 Songs in 10 Days

If you've been following my posts this month, you've seen me reference the EBAY STORE I've been setting up for the record store where I work. While business has been going fairly well, I can't say running the store hasn't had its fair share of hassles. The real fun is in dealing with the poor translation in communication with foreign customers. Last week I had a frustrating exchange with a potential Italian customer, who kept sending me gibberish messages like, "Pear tree, chip axes cash? CHIP AXES EURO?" I finally threw in the towel and sent him something he probably stared in as much confusion at: "Sorry Mauro, I only accept Paypal. Seventeen maids a runnin."

If you're out there Mauro, I'm sorry. It wasn't meant to be.

You don't love me. You jus' love my bloggy style:

"Muzzle of Bees (live)" by WILCO: This performance was ripped from the recently released DVD "Burn to Shine 2 - Chicago." This DVD is #2 in a series of films put together buy FUGAZI's Brendan Canty which document a collection of bands playing over the course of one day in a house that is about to be demolished. The DVD features a number of great performances from the likes of Shellac and Tortoise, but Wilco's is really the standout track. Buy the DVD at one of many places.



"Go! Go! Go!" by ROY ORBISON: This one goes out to my friend James Myers, who calls me about once a year to have me debunk some myth about Roy Orbison. A few years back, he wouldn't believe me when I told him that Roy wasn't blind. It took me emailing him a photo of Orbison enjoying one of his favorite pasttimes -- driving a go-cart -- to win the argument. About two years later, it was whether or not Roy was an albino. He wasn't, but he was a hell of a singer. Even when the guy got old, he could still do his thing. I was always a big fan of one of his final songs, the Bono/Edge penned "She's a Mystery to Me", and I will always have a soft spot for that first TRAVELLING WILBURYS album, where Orbison joined up with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne. My mom had it on cassette, and hearing "Handle With Care" always makes me think of family road trips. I think Orbison died before the making of the video for this one. I seem to remember his parts in the video being played by an empty rocking chair and a well-lit photo of the nonblind, non-albino.

"Before I Lose My Style" by SPACE NEEDLE: This one kind of reminds me of that aforementioned Orbison ballad. My friend Matt threw this on a tape for me when we both were becoming mesmerized with indie rock. This fuzzy, rusty, droning thing of beauty always seemed like the great Indie Prom Song.

"The Book of Love" by NOW IT'S OVERHEAD: I'm surprised I haven't already posted this one. In the same vein as the above track, this is a pretty little slow dance number, perfect for that hipster wedding. Probably my hipster wedding, if I ever find a girl who doesn't care that no one else in the room will know the song we're dancing to. "The book of love has music in it, in fact it's where music comes from."

"Do You Wanna Touch Me" by JOAN JETT: I won't go again into my explanation of how I first fell in love with Joan Jett when I was a kid. I will say that this song, a GARY GLITTER cover, was a whole lot of in-your-face sexuality for me to be taking in at such an early age. To this day, Jett's vocals make my spine tingle. I recently uncovered the Gary Glitter original (much in the same way police recently discovered the dirty bastard himself, trying to escape Vietnam), and was pleased to find that Jett's version still lays his to waste.

"I Turn My Camera On (John McEntire Remix)" by SPOON: A bouncy, disco funk version of one of the coolest songs on SPOON's "Gimme Fiction." I'm probably the 4,000,000th blogger to say that it's a great album, so forget I even brought it up. Throw this on in a room full of hipsters and see if you can guess the first one to come up to you and say, "What the hell is THIS?"

"The Spider and the Fly" by the ROLLING STONES: Since Britt Daniel of Spoon has an obvious love of the Stones, I figured I'd finish with one of their older, lesser known songs. I hadn't heard this song much until a few years ago, when I was sort of dating a girl who found it incredibly sexy. The song, not me. One should always take notice when the person they like finds a song about infidelity incredibly sexy.

"She Thinks I Still Care" by GEORGE JONES: Okay, if I'm going to finish with a song after talking about relationships, it should really be this one by George Jones. I remember hearing this one when I was a kid, and Jones's soaring voice immediately made me overcome any reservations I might have had about country music. This raggedy motherfucker who looks like a ball sack in a Western shirt. . . he sings like an angel.

NOVEMBER - 42 Songs in 16 Days

Damn, 42 songs to go and my bandwidth is already half chewed up for the month. I still intend on making my goal, so this might get a little trickier for you readers out there. Once I post a new batch of songs, I'm probably going to have to remove the tracks for my previous post. In other words, get 'em while they're hot. All the songs for the past two posts are gone now, and tonight's won't be up for very long either.

Before I post tonight's music, I have to say thanks to any readers out there who have followed THIS LINK to buy shirts from my Ebay sale. There are more shirts available now, and I'll be adding another dozen or more designs in the next week or two. If you do wind up buying a shirt and you are a reader, let me know in the Notes section from your Paypal payment and I'll try to throw in some goodies with your order.

Stick these in your ears:

"Could We" by CAT POWER: I love crazy women. Let's just get that right out there. I don't particularly want to be in an actual relationship with a crazy woman, but I love a gal with a batshit look in her eye. Fiona Apple looks like she's going to claw your eyes out. Something about that is sexy to me. Now Chan Marshall isn't that kind of crazy, but there's something there in her music that points in a certain direction. Between the mostly dark and somber songwriting and her history of strange behavior at her concerts, it's nice to hear this new approach she's taking on her upcoming album "THE GREATEST." I can't speak for the whole record, but from what I've heard it has a more upbeat, even bouncy and soulful (in a classic 60s, Memphis horns kind of way) sound. On "Could We," she sounds like she's spinning with joy as she sings, ""Thank you. It was great. Let's make another date real soon."

Chan, call me. It has been too long.

(While I'm at it, I may as well throw out the first track from "THE GREATEST" to leak its way onto the net, the gorgeous title track. Take note of her backing vocals where she sings "greatest, greatest, greatest" along with what sounds like a lap steel guitar. Gets me every time. I've always loved her voice and thought she'd be great in a more R&B setting, and this song is further proof.)

"Rear Wheel Skid" by the FACES: I was skipping around through my library last week trying to find some fresh material for my DJ gig on Friday, when I double clicked on a Faces song I'd only heard once or twice. This mostly instrumental jam is a little askew from the normal Faces sound. This needs to be on the soundtrack to a nice bloody bar brawl.

"Theme from 'The Warriors'" by BARRY DE VORZON: Suddenly, the whole world is back in love with the 1979 cult classic directed by Walter Hill (he did "48 HOURS" and a bunch of crap). There's even a planned Hollywood remake in the works, with Tony Scott (whose latest movies have gotten a little too stylized and hyperkinetic) in the director's chair. I've always liked the theme song, though it feels like it goes on too long without much happening. I love those late 70s electronic soundtracks by the likes of John Carpenter and Goblin, who did some of the creepy music for George Romero's "DAWN OF THE DEAD."

And that, ladies and gentleman, gives me the opening to include a picture of one of my all-time favorite things: Zombies.



I've been immersed in zombies for the past couple of weeks since my friend Brian bought DVDs of "LAND OF THE DEAD," "DAY OF THE DEAD," Lucio Fulci's "ZOMBI 2," and the videogame "STUBBS THE ZOMBIE" (where you play a brain-eating zombie out to rescue your lost love and avenge your death). Oh yeah, and he rented the classic crapfest "RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD." So in honor of our obsession with the walking dead, enjoy a little Italian proggy goodness with GOBLIN's "L'alba Dei Mori Viventi."

While we're on the subject of zombie music...

"M1A1" by GORILLAZ: One of my favorite songs from the GORILLAZ' debut album happens to feature a prominent sample from my favorite George Romero gorefest, "DAY OF THE DEAD." The opening of this track is also the opening to that movie. As creepy as it sounds here, it's even creepier on film, with a man shouting into what he thinks is an abandoned Florida city, looking for survivors. Guess what he finds instead.

"Love Buzz" by SHOCKING BLUE: You might know Shocking Blue as the group who performed "Venus," the song that BANANNARAMA made re-famous in the 80s. Shocking Blue did it better. Some of you may even know them as the group who performed "Love Buzz" before NIRVANA rode its greatness on their debut album, "BLEACH." Again, Shocking Blue did it better. (If Mike is reading this, the lead singer of Shocking Blue is a female. Told yer ass.)

"Fire" by THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN: VH1 Classic used to show the "video" (it was actually footage from the movie "THE COMMITTEE," which also featured a score from PINK FLOYD) for this song and from what I remember, it whips ass. Picture this guy in an aluminum pre-MF DOOM mask, with a ring above his head covered in flames, bellowing "I am the god of hell fire!" I don't think this was a huge hit in 1968, but I can only imagine whoever did hear that coming out of their radio back then was probably a little shocked.

"Life and Limb" by FUGAZI: A Top Five band for me, without a doubt. Fugazi changed my life. Why don't people buy their albums anymore? I'm not sure what the word is on whether they're kaput, but I really hope they're not done. I never got the chance to see them live. They came to Omaha when I was younger, but I was too young to go. "Life and Limb" is from their wildly overlooked last album, "THE ARGUMENT."

Need some more Fugazi in your diet? Check out "Number 5" from the "FURNITURE" E.P., which was released concurrently with "THE ARGUMENT."

"Lush and Green" by GRANDPABOY: If the voice behind Grandpaboy sounds familiar, that's because it belongs to ex-REPLACEMENTS frontman PAUL WESTERBERG. His records under the Grandpaboy moniker have been a sort of return to form, at least if you're one of those fans who have been a little wary of his solo material. I know I'm one.

Sometimes I wonder how many people out there aren't aware of The Replacements. I'm going to take a sort of a poll by posting a couple of their songs and seeing how many downloads they get. If you haven't heard these songs, you should really check this band out. If you can, I'd rec' starting with "LET IT BE," which features a ton of great songs, including their cover of the KISS classic, "Black Diamond." Their "HOOTENANNY" album from 1983 is home to the classic "Color Me Impressed," while the oft-maligned "DON'T TELL A SOUL" had a few greats among a lot of filler. "Talent Show" is probably my favorite song from that record. For obscurity's sake, here's the "TIM" version of one of the band's few hits, "Can't Hardly Wait."

Get 'em all. Let God sort 'em out.