buckminster fuller ≥ william borroughs ≥ frank zappa ≥ michael x.
or is it william borroughs ≥ frank zappa ≥ buckminster fuller ≥ michael x.?
max abelson's super groovy music video spectacular
1960s on mon
1970s on tues
1980s on wed
1990s on thurs
2000s on fri
featuring the fine musical stylings of: the beatles, the rolling stones, serge gainsbourg, yo la tengo, the kinks, harry nilsson, ike & tina turner, antony, aretha franklin, wilco, elvis, talking heads, stephen foster, dr. dre, bonnie 'prince' billy, elvis c., neil young, the smiths, dusty springfield, al green, jimi hendrix, r.e.m., ray charles, belle & sebastian, randy newman, cat power, the cure, queen & pavement
i write for the observer, email me at mabelson at observer.com
"mtv makes me want to smoke crack." -beck
see the archives, or a random post.
"i just happen to be here, and it's okay." -caetano veloso
"it took me about three or four weeks to toilet train my cat, nightlife. most of the time is spent moving the box very gradually to the bathroom. do it very slowly and don't confuse him." -charles mingus
"sing a simple song but keep the swing strong." -de la soul
"his wife was a spent piece of used jet trash, made good bloody marys, kept her mouth shut most of the time, had a chihuahua named carlos that had some kind of skin disease and was totally blind." -tom waits
"i’ve still got things inside me—sad things, happy things—that people don’t know about." -loretta lynn
"after cheesecake with all of your friends and family, who's gonna front the bill? me... say you want to take first-class trips, well i want to work those first-class hips. yes i do." -r. kelly
"i drive a rolls-royce, cause it's good for my voice." -t.rex
gotta think straight, keep a clean plate." -joanna newsom
"keep a clean nose, watch the plain clothes." -bob dylan
"my mother used to tell me about vibrations. i didn't really understand too much of what that meant when i was just a boy. to think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death." -brian wilson
"i'll be the wind, the rain and the sunset." -lou reed
"hey there, hey now, well, you can make a pacemaker blink, yeah, easy thing, make a man's heart go bibbity bom like a gentle drum: dirty ass rock and roll. -john cale
"i'm dealing in rock and roll. i'm not a bonafide human being." -phil spector
"at a certain point phil approached me with a bottle of kosher red wine in one hand and a .45 in the other, put his arm around my shoulder and shoved the revolver into my neck and said, 'leonard, i love you.' i said, 'i hope you do, phil.'" -leonard cohen
"we were having coffee or something to drink, i forget, at 2 am at the plaza hotel. phil had this long hair, down to his shoulders, he’s a very strange looking guy, it’s, well, anyway, this was before longish hair was everywhere, it goes back. i could see at this table nearby, there were two couples, i remember, they were older people, at least in the 60s, they’d whisper at each other and look at phil and whisper at each other. finally this lady, tanked, comes over to phil and says, 'alright, sonny, what’s your problem?' and he said, 'premature ejaculation, what’s yours?'" -tom wolfe
"i bite my nails and if that fails i go get myself stoned, but when i do i think of you and head myself back home" -gram parsons
woody allen's reasons to live: "i would say groucho marx, to name one thing, and willie mays, and the second movement of the jupiter symphony, and louis armstrong’s recording of potatohead blues, swedish movies, naturally. sentimental education by flaubert, marlon brando, frank sinatra, those incredible apples and pears by cézanne, the crabs at sam wo’s, tracy’s face."
"i'm going to boogie my scruples away" -lowell george
"the first time i got stoned on grass was with john paul jones of led zeppelin. we'd been talking to ramblin' jack elliott somewhere and jonesy said to me, 'come over and i'll turn you on to grass.' he had a huge room with nothing in it except this huge vast hammond organ, right next door to the police. i ate two loaves of bread. then the telephone rang. jonesy said, answer that for me will you? so i went downstairs to answer the phone and kept on walking right out into the street." -david bowie
brian eno songs that will make good book titles for my 10-volume memoir, in order: here he comes, baby's on fire, golden hours, brutal ardour, taking tiger mountain, events in dense fog, through hollow lands, some of them are old, everything merges with the night, dead finks don’t talk
ry cooder albums that every man should own: into the purple valley, boomer's story, paradise and lunch
#1 song on the white album (tie): long long long, happiness is a warm gun
"the only word is love." -john lennon
thelonious monk's middle name: sphere
"think about something else. was art tatum talented?" -charles aznavour in shoot the piano player
"really, we don't want people twiddling their goatees over our stuff" -radiohead
"i don't rap fast, i rap slow, 'cause i mean every letter in the words in the sentences of my quotes." -lil' wayne
"i love songs about horses, railroads, land, judgment day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. and mother. and god." -johnny cash
"the moon is clear, the sky is bright, i'm happy as the horse's shite." -the pogues
"i hope that you all out there, young, old, tall, short, fat or thin, quick or slow, no matter what kind or color or shape or person you are, if you like to make music, why, go ahead, don't let the microphones and loudspeakers faze you, make some yourself.” -pete seeger
"but chuck berry isn't merely the greatest of the rock and rollers, or rather, there's nothing mere about it. say rather that unless we can somehow recycle the concept of the great artist so that it supports chuck berry as well as it does marcel proust, we might as well trash it altogether." -robert christgau
mashable.com says about the spectacular: "you can expect the unexpected with this awesome gem. groovy."
the 33 1/3 book series' blog says: "whenever i start playing around on youtube i always end up watching that lady fall over while stomping grapes, so it's nice to have someone steer me in a more worthwhile direction."
see album covers, photos, posters, quotes & staches
make a tumblr!
2008: j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d.
2009: j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d.
2010: j. f.
1970s on tues
1980s on wed
1990s on thurs
2000s on fri
featuring the fine musical stylings of: the beatles, the rolling stones, serge gainsbourg, yo la tengo, the kinks, harry nilsson, ike & tina turner, antony, aretha franklin, wilco, elvis, talking heads, stephen foster, dr. dre, bonnie 'prince' billy, elvis c., neil young, the smiths, dusty springfield, al green, jimi hendrix, r.e.m., ray charles, belle & sebastian, randy newman, cat power, the cure, queen & pavement
i write for the observer, email me at mabelson at observer.com
"mtv makes me want to smoke crack." -beck
see the archives, or a random post.
"i just happen to be here, and it's okay." -caetano veloso
"it took me about three or four weeks to toilet train my cat, nightlife. most of the time is spent moving the box very gradually to the bathroom. do it very slowly and don't confuse him." -charles mingus
"sing a simple song but keep the swing strong." -de la soul
"his wife was a spent piece of used jet trash, made good bloody marys, kept her mouth shut most of the time, had a chihuahua named carlos that had some kind of skin disease and was totally blind." -tom waits
"i’ve still got things inside me—sad things, happy things—that people don’t know about." -loretta lynn
"after cheesecake with all of your friends and family, who's gonna front the bill? me... say you want to take first-class trips, well i want to work those first-class hips. yes i do." -r. kelly
"i drive a rolls-royce, cause it's good for my voice." -t.rex
gotta think straight, keep a clean plate." -joanna newsom
"keep a clean nose, watch the plain clothes." -bob dylan
"my mother used to tell me about vibrations. i didn't really understand too much of what that meant when i was just a boy. to think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death." -brian wilson
"i'll be the wind, the rain and the sunset." -lou reed
"hey there, hey now, well, you can make a pacemaker blink, yeah, easy thing, make a man's heart go bibbity bom like a gentle drum: dirty ass rock and roll. -john cale
"i'm dealing in rock and roll. i'm not a bonafide human being." -phil spector
"at a certain point phil approached me with a bottle of kosher red wine in one hand and a .45 in the other, put his arm around my shoulder and shoved the revolver into my neck and said, 'leonard, i love you.' i said, 'i hope you do, phil.'" -leonard cohen
"we were having coffee or something to drink, i forget, at 2 am at the plaza hotel. phil had this long hair, down to his shoulders, he’s a very strange looking guy, it’s, well, anyway, this was before longish hair was everywhere, it goes back. i could see at this table nearby, there were two couples, i remember, they were older people, at least in the 60s, they’d whisper at each other and look at phil and whisper at each other. finally this lady, tanked, comes over to phil and says, 'alright, sonny, what’s your problem?' and he said, 'premature ejaculation, what’s yours?'" -tom wolfe
"i bite my nails and if that fails i go get myself stoned, but when i do i think of you and head myself back home" -gram parsons
woody allen's reasons to live: "i would say groucho marx, to name one thing, and willie mays, and the second movement of the jupiter symphony, and louis armstrong’s recording of potatohead blues, swedish movies, naturally. sentimental education by flaubert, marlon brando, frank sinatra, those incredible apples and pears by cézanne, the crabs at sam wo’s, tracy’s face."
"i'm going to boogie my scruples away" -lowell george
"the first time i got stoned on grass was with john paul jones of led zeppelin. we'd been talking to ramblin' jack elliott somewhere and jonesy said to me, 'come over and i'll turn you on to grass.' he had a huge room with nothing in it except this huge vast hammond organ, right next door to the police. i ate two loaves of bread. then the telephone rang. jonesy said, answer that for me will you? so i went downstairs to answer the phone and kept on walking right out into the street." -david bowie
brian eno songs that will make good book titles for my 10-volume memoir, in order: here he comes, baby's on fire, golden hours, brutal ardour, taking tiger mountain, events in dense fog, through hollow lands, some of them are old, everything merges with the night, dead finks don’t talk
ry cooder albums that every man should own: into the purple valley, boomer's story, paradise and lunch
#1 song on the white album (tie): long long long, happiness is a warm gun
"the only word is love." -john lennon
thelonious monk's middle name: sphere
"think about something else. was art tatum talented?" -charles aznavour in shoot the piano player
"really, we don't want people twiddling their goatees over our stuff" -radiohead
"i don't rap fast, i rap slow, 'cause i mean every letter in the words in the sentences of my quotes." -lil' wayne
"i love songs about horses, railroads, land, judgment day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. and mother. and god." -johnny cash
"the moon is clear, the sky is bright, i'm happy as the horse's shite." -the pogues
"i hope that you all out there, young, old, tall, short, fat or thin, quick or slow, no matter what kind or color or shape or person you are, if you like to make music, why, go ahead, don't let the microphones and loudspeakers faze you, make some yourself.” -pete seeger
"but chuck berry isn't merely the greatest of the rock and rollers, or rather, there's nothing mere about it. say rather that unless we can somehow recycle the concept of the great artist so that it supports chuck berry as well as it does marcel proust, we might as well trash it altogether." -robert christgau
mashable.com says about the spectacular: "you can expect the unexpected with this awesome gem. groovy."
the 33 1/3 book series' blog says: "whenever i start playing around on youtube i always end up watching that lady fall over while stomping grapes, so it's nice to have someone steer me in a more worthwhile direction."
see album covers, photos, posters, quotes & staches
make a tumblr!
2008: j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d.
2009: j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d.
2010: j. f.
neon park, who had the excellent idea of putting a flesh-ripping weasel on the cover of frank zappa & the mothers of invention’s weasels ripped my flesh (and, better yet, a swinging cake and smiling tomato on the cover of two wonderful little feat albums), titled this poster—for a taj mahal concert in a san francisco ballroom—peyote bird.
i hope a real life bird eats peyote one day and designs a neon park at the taj mahal.
what the video for summertime clothes really needs is a nice orange elephant who exhales clouds, or pink elephants who hang with blue rhinos and giraffes, or a nice little doll (above) whose eyes emit neon-colored electromagnetic funk waves of goodness and glory. and i’m just riffing here, but remember when the houston rockets’ billionaire vegetarian owner dressed up his cheerleaders in outfits that said ‘animals have rights’? it would be neat if the video featured those gals doing synchronized dance moves with the elephants and eye-wave dolls.
in this weekend’s times, ben ratliff called grizzly bear “extremely cold,” “oppressively ascetic,” “frozen,” “murky,” and “precious,” either because ben ratliff has bad taste in music, or because he likes getting in strong jacuzzis and complaining that the boiling water isn’t warm enough. anyone who watches two weeks’ red balloon video and doesn’t cry (like ben ratliff or, worse, my good friend and colleague leon n.) has no feelings.
they might be giants, april 24th, 1990, $13, minneapolis’ downtown danceteria
it’s easy to adore adorable bands, and it’s easy to loathe adorable bands, but it’s not easy to loathe adorable posters for adorable bands.
the sad thing about the silver jews breaking up is that there won’t be a band named the silver jews anymore. the really sad thing is there won’t be any more bands whose frontman writes poems with lines like, “as a way of getting in touch with my origins every night i set the alarm clock for the time i was born.”
the flaming lips have better posters than any group ever except the communists.
how can looking at concert posters online all day be bad if it feels so terribly good?
there’s a scene in shoot the piano player where carles aznavour does an anxious countdown with his fingers behind his back (while he’s walking a lady home) that will make anyone with a fifth of a heart scream or shake or possibly vomit with joy. there’s an even better scene where he says to himself: “think of something else. is art tatum talented?”
this isn’t as nice as the posters for you’re the one for me, fatty or meat is murder, but it’s pretty okay. just joshing, it’s awesome. it’s a picture of truman capote in midair for christ’s fucking sake.
the only thing better than a smiths album is a smiths album cover, and the only thing better than a smiths album cover is a promotional poster for a smiths album (even if in the course of that album’s promotion morrissey laid down the famous zinger, “one can have great concern for the people of ethiopia but it’s another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of england.”)
