Return of the DJ Thread: Electric Boogaloo

[Satan's Onion]

Say, remember that "post some awesome music" thread that Mauve Mage had going a couple of months ago? It was pretty cool beans, wasn't it? ...You don't think so? Well, you can go piss up a rope because I'm bringing it back!

Anyhoodles, for the inaugural post up in this fucker I'd like to draw your attention to the work of the Bonzo Dog Band, and one of its mot awesome members, the Ginger Geezer Vivian Stanshall.

If you haven't heard of the Bonzo Dog Band (known also as the Bonzo Dog Dada Band, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, and the Bonzos for short), well, I can't necessarily blame you--they only really had the one hit, "I'm The Urban Spaceman", and a few famous friends (you can see them perform in the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour). I do, however, pity you a bit, because they did some pretty awesome stuff! Here, for instance, is a delightful and not at all disturbing little cartoon set to the straight-from-the-1920s sounds of "Jollity Farm":



The Bonzos as a whole, and Neil Innes in particular, had an excellent ear for pastiche, recreating others' sounds with astonishing accuracy. (Check out Innes' work with the Rutles for proof of his ability to capture the fundamental essence of the Fab Four.) But of course if that was all they did, they'd be pretty goddamned boring, wouldn't they? The Bonzos also trafficked in the absurd, and did it damned well. Check out Sir Viv's Elvis-esque turn in this live version of "Canyons Of Your Mind":



Sir Viv was the driving force behind some of my favorite Bonzo Dog Band tracks, like this surreal spoken-word piece "Rhinocratic Oaths":



(Incidentally, if you like this, go check out Sir Henry at Rawlinson's End, which is like Stanshall-flavored P.G. Wodehouse: The Radio Series.)

If you like those, you can go and rock the fuck out ( \m/ >_< \m/ ) with Mr. Apollo and the Humanoid Boogie. (If I gave you Youtube windows for every fucking awesome song by the Bonzos, I'd run out of room.) Or you can go buy Cornology, the three-disc retrospective that covers almost everything the band ever released.

Perhaps you've noticed that my Bonzos playlist is a little heavy on the Vivian Stanshall. This is partly because he was a big part of the band--he sang lead on a whole lot of stuff, and wrote a fair chunk of their output as well. It's also because I happen to think he was pretty amazing. His solo career is all over the place, and in some ways pretty experimental, but hot damn is it ever special. I finally got my hands on a legit copy of his solo album Men Opening Umbrellas Ahead, one of his most emotionally open, if not downright raw, offerings. I wish I could find the album's opening track, "Afoju Ti Ole Riran (Dead Eyes)", but in lieu of that, here's the album's amazing closer, "Strange Tongues":



And here's his rollicking little ditty about being shitfaced, "Bout of Sobriety":



The entire album is by turns vicious and dark, whimsical and hilarious, ribald and earthy, cerebral and strangely touching. Dude basically popped the top off his head and shook out whatever was rolling around in it. If you ever have a few extra bucks, go get a copy.

So, what does everyone else have in their playlist right now? Share it here, explain a little about what makes it awesome. (You don't need to go to anywhere near the trouble I did here, but it wouldn't hurt to add just a few words describing what you got.) Happy listening!

[Shyria Dracnoir]

Watched "O Brother Where Art Thou" again recently. Here's my favorite picks.

[mauve]

One of my favorite Gorillaz songs:


And because this song is awesome, have some Frankenstien.

[pochercoaster]

Needs more Rasputina:

[A Zarkin' Frood]

These threads usually fail because everyone posts ten thousand songs in each post, and people like me often won't even listen to one if they're already listening to music or just passing by. Which is sad, because the music I have to post is the best there is. Well no, it isn't but it's pretty sweet. I love to post songs by this band because they release all their stuff for free on http://quoteunquoterecords.com/



Edit: Yeah, this might qualify as the opposite to this song, but it doesn't have the awesome build up. I like build-ups

[Flarecobra]

I may not be a fan of the Elder Scrolls series... but it's got some good music. Especally when stuff like this comes out.

[Magni]

It's amazing what you can do with music nowadays.


And this is a fan video a guy made using the music. It is also fairly awesome and impressive.

[Bard The 5th LW]

[Gregness]

From the interesting internet crap thread:

Originally Posted by Gregness

@1:53 - Dat low brass.

[pochercoaster]

Dude sounds like Freddie Mercury: