Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Bad Mags" underworld trash magazines

Above: The Most Incredible Tabloid Story of the Last Ten Years!

Tom Brinkmann has written a book called "Bad Mags" which looks like a great collection of the most obscure, trashy mags that you'll not find on your corner newstand or at Borders. Mondo Bizzare, Sexploitation, Outlaw Bikers, Occult Sex, it's all here. Luckily Brinkmann also has a website with a lot of cool scans of these trash treasures.

Note: NSFW or squares (NSFS)!

Ron's 60s Music Video Links: Los Shakers de Uruguay

Above: Los Shakers, Uruguay's answer to the Beatles

Found a great archive of 60s videos over at Ron's Video Links. Lots of great stuff here from the big names of sixties pop like the Kinks, and George Harrison, but also more obscure beat and "theme groups" like the spacemen of "Los Spotnicks". The song and video I liked the best was "Break it All" by Los Shakers.

Hugo Fattoruso (gtr.vo)
Osvaldo Fattoruso (gtr.vo)
Roberto "Pelin" Capobianco (bs.vo)
Carlos "Caio" Vila (drms.vo)

It's a shameless Beatles/Monkees ripoff, but a catchy, fun one.
They also starred in a movie called "Escala Musical"

Los Shakers "Break it All" 7.3 MB QT .mov link, rt-click to save

Los Shakers history/Historia de Los Shakers
Comprehensive list of bands from Uruguay

"When the music stops/don't stand there like a fool"

P.S. If anyone can show me how to prevent firefox from crashing right before I post a link, I'd be grateful.

Saturday Mirror Magazine, July 5, 1955 comics

Above: Thank you, Captain Cortal (click on images for hi-res)

Going through my pile of ephemera, I found some cool comics in the Filipino Saturday Mirror Magazine, July 5, 1955. The top comic, for Cortal headache medicine, reminds of of indie comics, esp. Los Bros. Hernandez. The Captain Cortal character was created by Anthony S. Velasquez aka "The father of Tagalog comics". I'm not sure what "singalong, house to house" means, maybe someone out there can explain. The second one, by Elmer Abustan is just goofy, classic 50's style which has now become popular again.

Popol Vuh video and mp3 - Bettina - live on Beat Club, April 24, 1971

Above: Popol in action

The Popol Vuh

Are utzijoxik wa'e

k'ak atz'ininoq,

k'akachamamoq,

katz'inonik,

k'akasilanik,

k'akalolinik,

katolona puch upa kaj.

"This is the account of how

all was in suspense,

all calm,

in silence;

all motionless,

still,

and the expanse of the sky was empty."

from the Popol Vuh's creation story

The Popol Vuh ("council book") is the Mayan book of "The Dawn of Life", a sacred text which contains the creation myths and histories of the Quiche people. The original is now lost due to the book (and people) burning tendencies of the conquistadors, but luckily some Mayan priests and clerks secretly made copies of some of the older hieroglyphic books, but using the Roman alphabet. It is a fascinating book that shows us flashes of the pre-columbian Mayan culture, as if reflected through the broken shards of a mirror.

Popol Vuh is also the name of a 70s German band led by Florian Fricke which provided soundtracks to many Werner Herzog films, including Aguirre, the Wrath of God (an appropriate choice considering their name) and Nosferatu.
Popol Vuh blended the new moog synthesizer with tribal rhythms and drones. Here is a video of Popol Vuh performing the instrumental "Bettina" (apparently named after Bettina Fricke, their Tabla player) on German tv's Beat Club in 1971. Trippy lo-fi video fx, modular synths, fur vests and tablas. Thanks to NoDude at dimeadozen.org for the upload. Enjoy!

Popol Vuh - Bettina - Video - 41 MB .avi file

Popol Vuh - Bettina - mp3 - 4 MB file

The Pin-Up Art of Dan DeCarlo - Archie's Artist

Above: We're not in Riverdale anymore

Dan DeCarlo was the artist who drew the most beloved version of the Archie comics characters (Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Moose, et al.) The Archie's series is a light-comedy rendition of the whitest, most affluent suburbs of post-war America where the biggest problems that arise are choosing the right dress to go to the prom or having your beloved Jalopy break down. Despite this, or indeed because of this, many people find nostalgia and comfort in the gentle stories of the Riverdale teens. As Jung said "The brighter the light, the darker the shadow" and that's the case here as well. Lurking perhaps over in the next town of "Bachelorville", lurked the hypersexed alter-egos of the snow-pure Betty and Veronica. From 1956-1963, DeCarlo was also drawing Playboy style "Men's comics" for various girlie digests like "Fun House", "Joker", "Laugh Riot", "Zip" and "Comedy". Betty and Veronica sashay and giggle through double entendres and visual gags focused on their buxom bodies. Of course, this humor is often dated and sexist. So why am I writing about it? Well, the drawings. The drawings are goregous. DeCarlo was a master with brush and ink. And I think every man of a certain age has a thing for Betty and Veronica. Fantagraphics has published a collection of over 200 of DeCarlo's pin-ups in "The Pin-Up Art of Dan DeCarlo"


Hi-res scan of the cover

Hi-res scan of the back

Coat of arms of the Lloyds of Stockton

Above: The Medieval Genome Project. Click image for full coat of arms.

Alan Fletcher's "The Art of Looking Sideways" is a constant inspiration to me. It's a phone book sized compendium of Fletcher's lifetime collection of interesting things ranging over most subjects: art, writing, psychology, science, history, literature, etc. The image above is a detail from the coat of arms of the Lloyds of Stockton. Fletcher's caption:

"The custom of inheriting insignia through marriage led to the 323 sepearate quarterings on the coat of arms of the Lloyds of Stockton. These go back to the ninth century, and are a vivid document of inbreeding."

Apparently there was a coat of arms for the Temple-Nugent-Bridges-Chandos-Grenville family that had 719 quarterings!

Illustration Friday 6: Remote

Last 100 visitors to http://audium.blogspot.com by world location

Technical Drawing pointers

Above: Ok, boss, I'll try!

I picked up a copy of Basic Technical Drawing, Spencer/Dygdon, 1980, at the recent SF Library book sale for $2. It looks like an excellent guide to learning how to do the kind of drawing that you can do in Illustrator in 10 minutes, but by hand, in an hour! Anyway, the book contains some funny do's and don'ts. Here's a page of them.

Happy drawing!

She's Goth to Have it - Archie's comics remix

Above: She's in parties.

Great reworking of an old Archie's strip where Betty, in a bid for attention, starts hanging out with the goths down at the coffee shop. Chai, black eyeliner, clove cigarettes...in Riverdale!?

thanks to Boing Boing

original posting (full story)

color corrected jpg (full story)

San Francisco Ghost Hunt

Moving to Pacific Heights a few years ago, I noticed something strange. Some nights when I came home, I would see a crowd slowly moving down my block, led by a mysterious man in top hat and overcoat, carrying a lantern. I was excited when I found out that this was the famous San Francisco Ghost Hunt, led by Jim Fassbinder. Pacific Heights is a stately old neighborhood filled with Victorian homes, and supposedly some restless former occupants, and it just so happens that I moved into a building across the street from one of those homes. The tour takes you to a hotel rumored to be haunted, to California Street, where you may encounter the wandering Flora, or Mary Ellen Pleasant, the "Voodoo queen of San Francisco" (and "Mother of Civil Rights in California")

Not covered by the SFGH, some other interesting sites nearby are a bulding at Sacramento and Webster which Hitchcock filmed (I can't remember which movie), as well as the demolished "Church of Satan", the Old Jim Jones' People's Temple (now a post offfice), and the site of the last known killing by the Zodiac.
I haven't had a chance to go on the tour yet, but it is on the top of my list.

Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection

Pre-Halloween party group, Central City, Colorado
October 31, 1952

"Charles Weever Cushman, amateur photographer and Indiana University alumnus, bequeathed approximately 14,500 Kodachrome color slides to his alma mater. The photographs in this collection bridge a thirty-two year span from 1938 to 1969, during which time he extensively documented the United States as well as other countries."

There are many gems here brimming with period details and suprisingly early use of color film, including this shot of a girl examining violets, young bathing beauties, a model blinking at the wrong time, hippie girls making wreaths, and a less friendly hippie.

Do They Know it's Hallowe'en animated video

Cool song and great video (embedded quicktime link) from the NAHPI (North American Haloween Prevention Initiative), aka musicians from the Arcade Fire, Malcolm Mclaren, Karen O, Thurston Moore, Peaches, Beck, Roky Erickson, and Smoosh (Lyrics with artist names). A gentle send up of "Do They Know it's Christmas", all proceeds go to UNICEF.

(thanks to Drawn! for the link)

Son of Monster Mash-Up: Halloween Mash-Up Madness!

God, I live for these mixes. Some of the most talented remixers (dj bc, fettdog, and of course, Mr. Fab and his bag-o-heads) have taken a crack at reworking Halloween, and it sounds great. Movie samples, weird noises, and pop songs are sliced and diced mercilessly to create a bloody wonderful mess.

Son of Monster Mash-Up: Tricks, Treats, and Dead Beats

1. Halloween Hassle - Dublxero
2. 2 Turntables and a lot of Monsters - The Fifthhorseman
3. Belalugrange is dead - Pilchard
4. Murder in the basement - Boasty
5. Devil Mix - Dj John
6. Fright Fest II - Fettdog
7. Halloween with Morrissey - Cheekyboy
8. Hokus Pricey - Mr. Terrible
9. FrankenBooted - King of Pants
10. Antichrist (EOTMC mix) - Thriftshopxl
11. Don't cross tehstreams!!11 - Don loves you
12. Skeleton crew on the graveyard shift - Mr. Fab and his bag-o-heads
13. Pump up the creepers - Bug
14. Haunted House of Mash ups - DJ BC
15. We suck young blood (solcofn mix) - Radiohead
16. The Raven - Fettdog
17. Halloweenie - Fukjamum
18. JuxtaPoeCreature - Juxtaposeur
19. U Should Be The Witch Queen - Voicedude

Horror Movie Double Feature: "Carnival of Souls" and "Daughter of Horror" at Internet Archive

Tonight we have a double feature, courtesy of the internet archive: "Carnival of Souls" and "Daughter of Horror". You can download these two movies and get the halloween fun started early. Daughter of Horror is notable for its score by George Antheil, a well-regarded American composer (though how he got this gig I can only wonder). Carnival of Souls was produced by Herk Hervey, a director of industrial films.

Carnival of Souls (1962)

Mary Henry is enjoying the day by riding around with two friends but everything goes wrong when challenged to a drag race and their car gets forced off of a bridge. The car sinks into the murky depths, and all three women are assumed drowned. Some time later Mary emerges unscathed from the river. She tries to start a new life by becoming a church organist but Mary finds herself haunted by a ghostly figure that instills fear and dread into her. (from Internet Archive)
IMDB listing

Daughter of Horror aka Dementia (1955)

As the narrator invites us to explore the horrors of an insane mind, a young woman wakes from a nightmare in a cheap hotel room. We follow her through the skid-row night and encounters with an abusive husband; a wino; a pimp and the rich man he panders for; a flashback to her traumatic childhood; violence; pursuit through dark streets; dementia. Filmed in film-noir style throughout; only the narrator speaks. (from IMDB)

IMDB listing

Internet Museum of Flexi/Cardboard/Oddity Records

Above: Count Chocula Goes to Hollywood

Posting the Halloween record mp3s reminded me of the great Internet Museum of Flexi/Cardboard/Oddity Records, which has tons of related images and sounds from flexi-discs, novelty records, and kids' 45s. Some are interesting, like the Skippy self-amplified record, and some are fresh, like He Pioneers Electronic Music, many are just bizarre like the Sounds of Self-Defense or Chun King. Also, this is on the WFMU site, which is one of the best radio stations in the country-and also online.

The Haunted House and Other Spooky Poems and Tales mp3s

Special Halloween treat for all you Audium readers around the world. I present: "Selections from The Haunted House and Other Spooky Poems and Tales". I've digitized all the tracks into mp3s and scanned the cover too. This is a pretty "high-culture" kid's record, including work by Langston Hughes, Goethe, Theodore Roethke. It's also interesting to think of all these authors having written spooky or macabre pieces. I bought this 45 in a thrift store in Honolulu several years back. As the ballpoint pen on the back attests, it once belonged to an "Anne Wong". The record was released by Scholastic in 1970, and contains selections from a book of the same name.

"Selections from The Haunted House and Other Spooky Poems and Tales"

The Haunted House (by Vic Crume) 1:14
Winter Moon (by Langston Hughes) 0:18
Sir Roderic's Song (by William Schwenck Gilbert) 0:29
A Young Lady from Glitch (by Tamara Kitt) 0:10
Ruth and Johnnie (by Anon.) 0:14
A Skeleton once in Khartoum (by Anon.) 0:12
It Isn't the Cough (by%2

Nicholson Baker's The World on Sunday - the colorful world of the turn of the century newspaper

Above: "The Bathing Girl of 1900" / Hy Mayer, "The Plunk Family at the Paris Exposition" New York World, Sunday June 3, 1900

The World on Sunday: Graphic Art in Joseph Pulitzer's Newspaper (1898-1911) by Nicholson Baker and Margaret Brentano, which is a goregous collection of charming, vibrant, and strange artwork from the oversized Sunday pages of the New York World ca. 1900. Author Nicholson Baker, known for novels like Vox and The Fermata, has been on a quest to save the rapidly decaying and disappearing remains of the original printed editions of newspapers, many of which featured fantastically illustrated, lavishly colored Sunday articles on such charming and arcane topics as "W.K. Vanderbilt Jr.'s 'Red Demon,' His New Automobile Weighing 1 Ton with 42 Horse Power, Running 70 Miles an Hour,"and Fun in the Year 2000,".

Many prominent libraries have either scandalously dumped their all their vintage newspaper archives into the trash, and kept no record of their contents, or disposed of them but kept a sadly inadequate memento of their existence. Besides being a visual treasure, hopefully "The World on Sunday" will help encourage overly zealous librarians to preserve this part of our shared cultural inheritance.

Winsor McCay-John Canemaker book reissued

The cover of Winsor McCay : His Life and Art (Hardcover)

Today I flipped through the revised edition of Winsor McCay : His Life and Art, by John Canemaker. Overall it seems well put together, but pretty similar to the 1987 edition. Considering all the work that went into creating the new Little Nemo in Slumberland Splendid Sundays 1905-1910 book by Sunday Press, I'm not impressed. At the least it seems that the artwork newly restored by Sunday Press could have been used in the new "Life and Art" book.
I think I'm a bit more sensitive to this because I recently was reading the slim Mary Blair book that Canemaker also authored, and there seems to be a trend of disappointingly thin content married to high prices (the new McCay book sells for $45, and the Blair book, which clocks in at a mere 128 pages, lists for $40) This doesn't make sense, as Canemaker is the dean of American animation, and as such should have no problem asking collectors and museums to open their vaults for his source material. One last thing: what the hell's up with that cover? The title font screams 1992 computer font, a wholly inappropriate choice for a book about an early 20th century artist. I also think the tilted panels on the cover could have been handled in a more interesting way. I used to work with John in NYU's Animation department, and I do stress that these are all great books--it's just that some of them could have been much better.
Anyway, I did order the Spledid Sundays book at $120 and I can't wait to get it!

Listen to Audiosports - Champagne Jam mp3s!

Above: Champagne Jam by Audiosports

Champagne Jam (2004)

1. Champagne Jam
(27.2 MB MP3)
2. Sweet Honey Sucking Bees
(5.3 MB MP3)
3. Attaché
(2.3 MB MP3)
4. No Question
Beat 2
Lovely and Charming (Live)
(31.3 MB MP3)

(click track names for mp3's)

Champagne Jam is my first album. It shows the range of music I've been making, from Mash ups to abstract improvisations. The first track is a 23 minute mega mash up with a steady beat and some obscure samples. When I played this set live, I was happy to see people breakin' to it. Cool!

The second track, "Sweet Honey Sucking Bees" is an older track I made that combines a Redd Foxx routine, a Japanese Shakuhachi, and a nice beat. Oh, and a spoken word recording of the John Donne poem "Sweet Honey Sucking Bees".

"Attaché" is a little noir piece that I made.

The last track is from a live performance at the Whitebox in San Francisco. These songs are also moody a la DJ Shadow, and also include live noise improvisation.

Andrew Loomis - Save the Books!

Andrew Loomis - Save the Books!:

Fun With a Pencil

Great site that contains several pdfs of hard to come by art instruction books by Andrew Loomis. Loomis was a mid 20th-century American Illustrator whose out of print books fetch high prices, but mysteriously haven't been reprinted (Paging Fantagraphics and Chronicle Books!) You may want to brush up on your Figure Drawing, Creative Illustration techniques, or Drawing the Head and Hands.

eye - Rapid progress - 06.03.04 Guy Leshinski

Above: beautiful rapidographs

eye - Rapid progress - 06.03.04:

"Rock guitarists have their Les Paul; cartoonists, their rapidograph.
The pen is a rite of passage, an instrument that lends their line instant
character and plugs their work into comics' striated heritage, which
trails back to the days when illustrators dipped before they drew."

Great short article on the use of the Rapidograph technical pen by cartoonists, including Tony Millionaire of Maakies, Robert Crumb, and even Matt Groening of the pre-Simpsons Life in Hell series. I prefer the Koh-i-noor Rapidograph, but any rapidograph is a sweet drawing machine.

Apparently this column by Guy Leshinski has ended, but there is an archive you can browse through.

Realtime Fourier synthesis: Using Excel as a synthesizer

Realtime Fourier synthesis

On the heels of this week's mello man, the mellotron made of walkmen, comes another impractical but lovely music machine: an excel spreadsheet! Apparently you drag sliders to vary the sound it generates. I haven't tried it yet as I'm on a mac, but this sounds like just the thing to liven up a boring budget meeting!

Secos e Molhados: lyrics

Above: Secos e Molhados mysterious floating heads


I used babelfish and my limited knowledge of Portuguese to translate the Secos e Molhados lyrics. If anyone out there can improve my translation, please do so.

Sangue Latino (Portuguese)


Jurei mentiras e sigo sozinho, assumo os pecados
Os ventos do norte não movem moinhos
E o que me resta é só um gemido
Minha vida, meus mortos, meus caminhos tortos,
Meu sangue latino, minha alma cativa
Rompi trata dos, traí os ri tos
Quebrei a lança, lancei no espaço
Um grito, um desabafo
E o que me impo rta é não estar venc id o
Minha vida, meus mortos, meus caminhos tortos


Latin Blood

I swore lies and I follow alone,
I assume the sins
The winds of the North do not move the windmills
and all that remains is a moan

My life, my deaths, my twisting (?) roads

My Latin blood, my captive soul
I breached deals, tried (?) the rituals
I broke the spear, I launched it into space
A shout, a relief
What matters to me is never to be looser

My life, my deaths, my twisting (?) roads


O Vira (Portuguese)

O GATO PRETO CRUZOU A ESTRADA
PASSOU POR DEBAIXO DA ESCADA
E LÁ NO FUNDO AZUL
NA NOITE DA FLORESTA
A LUA ILUMINOU A DANÇA, A RODA, A FESTA

VIRA, VIRA, VIRA
VIRA, VIRA HOMEM,
VIRA, VIRA,
VIRA, VIRA, LOBISOMEM

BAILAM CORUJAS E PIRILAMPOS
ENTRE OS SACIS E AS FADAS
E LÁ NO FUNDO AZUL
NA NOITE DA FLORESTA
A LUA ILUMINOU A DANÇA, A RODA, A FESTA

It Turns

The black cat crossed the road
Passed underneath the stairs
And back in deep blue
In the forest night
The moon illuminated the dance, the wheel, the party

It turns, it turns, it turns
It turns, it turns men
It turns, it turns,
It turns, it turns, werewolves

Owls and Pirilampos dance
between the Sacis and the Fairies
And back in deep blue
In the forest night
The moon illuminated the dance, the wheel, the party



Rosa de Hiroshima (Portuguese)


Pense nas crianças mudas,
telepáticas
Pense nas meninas cegas
inexatas
Pense nas mulheres, rotas
alteradas
Pense nas feridas como rosas
cálida
Mas! Não se esqueça da
rosa, da rosa
Da rosa de Hiroshima, a rosa
hereditária
A rosa radioativa, estúpida
inválida
A rosa com cirrose a anti-rosa
atômica
Sem cor, sem perfume, sem


Hiroshima Rose

He thinks about the mute children
the telepathic ones
He thinks about the blind girls
the unsure ones
He thinks about the women, changed paths
He thinks about the hot rose wounds

But! If he does not forget the rose
the rose
The rose of Hiroshima,
the inherited rose,
The radioactive rose
The stupid lame rose with cirrhosis,
the atomic anti-rose
Without color, without perfume,
without


Amor (Portuguese)


leve como leve pluma
muito leve leve pousa
na simples e suave coisa
suave coisa nenhuma

sombra silêncio ou espuma
nuvem azul que arrejece

simples e suave coisa
suave coisa nenhuma
que em mim amadurece

Love

it has led like a light feather
more than led it makes light
in the simple and soft soft nothing
shadowy silence or foam blue cloud that arrejece (?)

simple and soft soft nothing
that in me ripens

Flores Astrais

Um grito de estrelas vem do infinito
E um bando de luz repete o grito
Todas as cores e outras mais
Procriam flores astrais
O verme passeia na lua cheia

Astral Flowers

A shout from the stars comes from infinity
and a ray of light repeats the shout
All the colors and even more
Astral flowers reproduce
A worm takes a walk under the full moon

Secos e Molhados: TV appearances 1973-4 mp3s

Above: Ney Matogrosso rockin the house on TV Tupi, 1973

Soon after pinaxos uploaded the Os Mutantes video that you all are diggin, he uploaded an even more obscure gem: a video of tv appearances by the Brasilian band Secos e Molhados (Dry and Wet). I had never heard of the group. When I first watched the video I was stunned. Standing on a red carpet with a blue curtain backdrop, three men stood. The singer's face is painted with a white and black tribal pattern. He's wearing bird feathers, no shirt, a star on his arm, and elaborate looking pants. Behind him two men strum guitars. Both are wearing satin suits, have full beards, and have half of their faces painted white. They look corpse-like. This charismatic singer struts around and begins to sing in a soprano voice. It is 1973 and Secos e Molhados are performing "Sangue Latino" (Latin Blood). The singer, Ney Matogrosso, is a fascinating mix of Perry Farrell, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, a shaman, and a cabaret singer. He also sticks his tongue out in a grimace at the end of some songs. Before you say that they ripped off Kiss--apparently it's the other way around. Secos e Molhados had the elaborate stage makeup long before the boys from the Bronx.

The video includes several versions of 5 songs, from a tv studio to color and b&w footage. The music is glam and soul through a Brasilian lens. The song "Flores Astrais" (Astral Flowers) sounds like an Eno track. Anyway, listen for yourself:

TV appearances/Aparências da tevê (1973-1974)

01_Sangue_Latino_orig_on_TV_Tupi_Sempre_aos_domingos_1973.mp3
02_Vira_orig_on_TV_Tupi_Sempre_aos_domingos_1973.mp3
03_Vira_orig_on_TV_Tupi_1974_talkover.mp3
04_Flores_Astrais_orig_on_TV_Tupi_1974_announcer.mp3
05_vira_ed_orig_on_TV_1974_talkover.mp3
06_Rosa_de_Hiroshima_Sangue_Latino_Maracanazinho_talkover.mp3
07_Amor_orig_on_TV_Tupi_Programa_Hebe_1974.mp3
08_Rosa_de_Hiroshima_Maracanazinho.mp3
09_Sangue_Latino_Maracanazinho_announcer.mp3
10_Vira_Maracanazinho_announcer.mp3

The audio quality of these tracks is pretty good. Some tracks have announcers speaking over the music, so if anyone can translate what the announcers are saying, I'd be grateful. I'd also like to hear what you think of them. Enjoy! Boa Noite!

The video is on dime a dozen torrents-you need to be a member to download

Buy Secos e Molhados cds
History and Discography (Portuguese) Secos e Molhados
Ney Matogrosso Bio and Discography (Portuguese)
More on Dusty Groove

The Evanion Victorian Ephemera Catalogue at the British Library

above: Royal Aquarium, Westminster. Poster for Chang the Chinese Giant, c.1880.

"With some hesitancy of speech but the loving touch of a collector he opened his parcel. "I have brought you, sir, only a few of my treasures, sir, but if you will call - "

I heard no more. I remember only raising my hands before my eyes, as if I had been dazzled by a sudden shower of diamonds. In his trembling hands lay priceless treasures for which I had sought in vain … In the presence of his collection I lost all track of time.'

- Evanion’s collection as described by Harry Houdini in his book The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin, London, 1909

Just when you think you've seen all the amazing Victorian Ephemera there is, along comes another site. The British Library has posted images from the Evanion Catalogue of 19th Century Ephemera collected by a conjurer and Ventriloquist named Henry Evans. There's a lot of amazing stuff in here!

New Wave Single Sleeve Gallery

Above: The single sleeve for the B-52's "Rock Lobster/52 Girls"

Good lord. It's 1979 again. I'm sitting here in my gray raincoat listening to a pile of singles on my portable turntable. I'm cutting up typewritten notes with an exacto and pasting them up for my mimeographed proto-zine "Audium". Wait it was just a dream!

Tony Maygarden rules for posting this great gallery of original New Wave 45 sleeves.

Check this link for a live mp3 recording of "52-Girls" from 1978, from an earlier posting

Gottfried Pott – A Look into the World of Calligraphy

Nice discussion by Gottfried Pott about calligraphy on the excellent Linotype Font website.
Pott discussed traditional tools and methods of calligraphy, such as reed pens and ink, as well as contemporary ones, like experimenting with plastic straws as pens. Also includes a pdf file of the presentation

Even more Os Mutantes: Flickr screengrabs

Os Mutantes pix on Flickr

Restoring Slumberland - New York Times Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland

Wonderful new book out that faithfully reproduces Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland Newspaper comics. Surreal stories, great draughtsmanship and wonderful colors.


Restoring Slumberland - New York Times

Os Mutantes lyrics

I posted mp3s of these two songs earlier. The lyrics are great.

Panis et Circenses
(Caetano Veloso/ Gilberto Gil)

Eu quis cantar
Minha canção iluminada de sol
Soltei os panos sobre os mastros no ar
Soltei os tigres e os leões nos quintais
Mas as pessoas na sala de jantar
São ocupadas em nascer e morrer
Mandei fazer de puro aço luminoso um punhal
Para matar o meu amor e matei
Às cinco horas na avenida central
Mas as pessoas na sala de jantar
São ocupadas em nascer e morrer
Mandei plantar
Folhas de sonho no jardim do solar
As folhas sabem procurar pelo sol
E as raízes procurar, procurar
Mas as pessoas na sala de jantar
Essas pessoas na sala de jantar
São ocupadas em nascer e morrer
Essas pessoas na sala de jantar
Essas pessoas na sala de jantar
Essas pessoas na sala de jantar
Essas pessoas


Panis et Circenses
(Bread and Circuses)

I wanted to sing
My sunlit song
I raised the sails to the wind
I set free the tigers and lions in the yard
But the people in the dining room
Are occupied with being born and with dying
I demanded that a dagger of pure shining steel be made
To kill my love, and I did it
At five o’clock on Central Avenue
But the people in the dining room
Are occupied with being born and with dying
I demanded that leaves
Of dreams be planted in the sunlit garden
The leaves know how to seek the sun
And the roots seek and seek
But the people in the dining room
These people in the dining room
Are the people in the dining room
But the people in the dining room
Are occupied with being born and with dying
These people in the dining room
The people

Fuga No. II
(Arnaldo Baptista/ Rita Lee/ Sérgio Dias)

Hoje eu vou fugir de casa
Vou levar a mala cheia de ilusão
Vou deixar alguma coisa velha
Esparramada toda pelo chão
Vou correr no automóvel enorme e forte
A sorte a morte a esperar
Vultos altos e baixos
Que me assustavam só em olhar

Pra onde eu vou, ah
Pra onde eu vou, venha também
Pra onde eu vou, venha também
Pra onde eu vou

Faróis altos e baixos que me fotografam
A me procurar
Dois olhos de mercúrio iluminam meus passos
A me espionar
O sinal está vermelho e os carros vão passando
E eu ando, ando, ando...
Minha roupa atravessa e me leva pela mão
Do chão, do chão, do chão


Fuga No. II
(Fugue No. II)

Today I’m running away from home
I’m taking a bag full of dreams
I’m leaving something old
Strewn about, on the floor
I’m going to ride in a big, fast car
Luck and death are just around the corner
Faces here and there
That frightened me with just a glance

Where am I going, ah
Wherever I go, you come along too
Wherever I go, you come along too
Wherever I go.

High and low beams snap my picture
They search for me
Two mercuric eyes light my steps,
Spying on me
And I walk, walk, walk
My clothes cross the street
And then take me by the hand and lift me off
The ground, the ground, the ground

Os Mutantes Live on TV mp3 set

Above: Os Mutantes performing at Som Pop - TV Cultura
(originally recorded at TV TUPI, 1969).

Today I have a nice slice of Brasilian Psychedelic pop rock--Os Mutantes!
I grabbed all the audio from the aforementioned video (see below) and
cleaned up the sound. The sound is pretty good considering the recording is 36 years old and from (black and white) tv. The performances are great.This should get your week started on the right foot.

Os Mutantes　　Live On TV 1969/Viva na Tevê 1969

1. TV Intro (Shell commercial?)
2. Panis et Circensis
3. Fuga No. 2
4. Quem Tem Medo de Brincar de Amor
5. Preciso Urgentemente Encontrar Um Amigo
6. Domingo no Parque (w/Gilberto Gil)
7. Dois Mil e Um

Illustration Friday 5: "Cold"

Above: my 5th entry for Illustration Friday. The topic is "Cold".

Love Illustration Friday! keeps me busy working on new stuff every week. They're looking to update their interface (add thumbnails for instance) and are looking for any donations. They've grown to the point where over 400 people participate each week, which is amazing, considering each person has to spend a certain amount of time and energy on their submission.

My Cold illustration is based on an old stereoscopic card from the 18oos which depicts a New England ship stuck in a field of ice. I've redrawn and painted it by hand, making some changes.

Illustration Friday

Donate to Illustration Friday

Stereoscopic Cards

Stereoscope cards and viewer

Mary Blair et Yoshitomo Nara

Above: image from "The Art and Flair of Mary Blair" by John Canemaker

Looking through this book about Disney artist Mary Blair, I saw this image, which reminded me a lot of Yoshitomo Nara's angry little girls. After looking at Nara's work online, I saw that his girls differ in various ways, but I still think he knows who Blair was.

The Art and Flair of Mary Blair at amazon

Os Mutantes on Brasilian tv video

Above: Os Mutantes live on Brasilian tv show Som Pop - TV Cultura (originally recorded at TV TUPI, 1969)

Sérgio Dias Baptista, gt
Arnaldo Dias Baptista, b & kbd
Rita Lee Jones, voice

(Note to MeFites: I've posted all the songs from this video today as mp3 files, see above. Also, see the following link for the video for "Domingo no Parque" with Gilberto Gil. I regret the trouble you guys are having accessing the video. I am unable to post the .torrent file for the video as it would violate my dimeadozen membership. However, you may be able to join the dimeadozen by checking the sign up page regularly--see this page Apparently there were 111 new members admitted in the last 24 hours. Also, if you like this video, joining dimeadozen will give you free access to it and many other cool things)

General tracker statistics:

Registered users: 100,000
New within 24 hrs.: 111
Unconfirmed: 28

http://bedazzled.blogs.com/bedazzled/2005/10/gilberto_gil_os.html

My man pinaxos at dimeadozen.org recently uploaded some videos of the legendary 1960s Brasilian Os Mutantes (The Mutants) Os Mutantes played a mix of 60s candy pop mixed with Brasilian pop music and a healthy dose of experimentation. I remember first hearing of them in 1997 at the NY music shop "Other Music" which was heavily promoting reissuses of Mutantes albums. These clips are quite good quality for their age, and the band seems quite contemporary and casual. I had never seen any video clips of them, nor thought I would. This was a shame because from the few photos I had seen of them, they seemed to be lively performers with a sense of absurdist humor. Anyway, now I have seen the video, and you can too!

Os Mutantes video torrent link

Os Mutantes info

Illustration Friday 4 : Lost

Illustration Friday

Atencion, Atencion! The Mysterious World of Numbers Stations

above: a collage I created inspired by the numbers stations.

About 20 years ago, I came across an interesting book in my local library ("Big Secrets", by William Poundstone). The book described a secret network of radio stations around the world that would broadcast simple melodies, electonic tones, and anonymous people reading long lists of numbers. There were no station identifications on these broadcasts, and the stations would appear and disappear unpredictably. Poundstone's theory,which has been backed up by further research, was that the stations were secret espionage stations set up by different governments to transmit information to their spies in the field. I imagined a romantic scene of a spy checking into a dingy hotel in La Paz, Dar-es-Salaam, or Tangiers, smoking cigarettes and waiting till the middle of the night when he'd turn on a portable radio and hear the 2 minute radio program made just for him-and decipherable only to him. The next morning, he'd be off on a reconaissance mission, industrial espionage, or an assassination. The whole network seemed like a global subsconscious, dreaming in atonal blasts and ghostly voices, mirroring the conscious world of radio with the world of secret numberical code nonsense. I used my dad's old shortwave radio to search for the number stations, but I never found one. I never thought that I would hear a numbers station--but then the people at Irdial records put together the Conet Project, which is 4 cds worth of recordings of numbers stations, along with detailed liner notes.

Counting control (mp3)

from the Internet Archive description:

The Conet Project - Recordings of Shortwave Numers Stations [ird059]

0000

For more than 30 years the Shortwave radio spectrum has been used by the worlds intelligence agencies to transmit secret messages. These messages are transmitted by hundreds of "Numbers Stations".

Shortwave Numbers Stations are a perfect method of anonymous, one way communication. Spies located anywhere in the world can be communicated to by their masters via small, locally available, and unmodified Shortwave receivers. The encryption system used by Numbers Stations, known as a "one time pad" is unbreakable. Combine this with the fact that it is almost impossible to track down the message recipients once they are inserted into the enemy country, it becomes clear just how powerful the Numbers Station system is.

These stations use very rigid schedules, and transmit in many different languages, employing male and female voices repeating strings of numbers or phonetic letters day and night, all year round.

The voices are of varying pitches and intonation; there is even a German station (The Swedish Rhapsody) that transmits a female child's voice!

One might think that these espionage activities should have wound down considerably since the official "end of the cold war", but nothing could be further from the truth. Numbers Stations (and by inference, spies) are as busy as ever, with many new and bizarre stations appearing since the fall of the Berlin wall.

Why is it that in over 30 years, the phenomenon of Numbers Stations has gone almost totally unreported? What are the agencies behind the Numbers Stations, and why are the eastern European stations still on the air? Why does the Czech republic operate a Numbers Station 24 hours a day? How is it that Numbers Stations are allowed to interfere with essential radio services like air traffic control and shipping without having to answer to anybody? Why does the "Swedish Rhapsody" Numbers Station use a small girls voice?

These are just some of the questions that remain unanswered.

Now you will be able to hear this unique and extraordinary phenomenon for yourself, as Irdial-Discs releases THE CONET PROJECT: the first comprehensive collection of Numbers Stations recordings released to the public.

This Quadruple CD is an important historical reference work for research into this hitherto unreported and unknown field of espionage. The CDs contain 150 recordings spanning the last twenty years; taken from the private archives of dedicated shortwave radio listeners from around the world.

There's more information in the included PDF booklet and via the official site for this 4xCD collection.

Download the Conet 4 CD set of numbers station recordings

My man MaX in Buenos Aires (no joke) created a Flickr group devoted to the estaciones numericales

Illustration Friday #3: Floating

My third Illustration Friday entry, for the topic "Floating".

Illustration Friday

Jamie Lidell Rocks!

Went to see Four Tet tonight in SF. Jamie Lidell opened, and my god, he was amazing. One of the best http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifperformances I have ever seen. One minute he's a soulful balladeer in a raincoat, the next, he's constructing entire songs by looping his own voice. Very funky, a great performer who really loves what he's doing. Go see him!