Bedhead - Bedside Table

Bedhead was Texas-based indie band that formed in the early 90s and kept going until around the turn of the century (that always sounds so epic: The Turn of the Century). The Kadane brothers, Matt and Bubba were the center of the band, but they had a third guitarist, Tench Coxe, as well as the required bass and drums (Kris Wheat and Trini Martinez, respectively; everyone in Bedhead has a great name).

If I were to do Bedhead word association, my first thought would be: quiet; getting louder. My second thought would be: obscurity. The band had its following and critical acclaim but for whatever reason, didn't "take off" like a lot of 90s bands. Probably because they didn't sound like anyone else and with the three ringing guitars, sloooow progressions leading to cathartic crescendos, and vocals way low in the mix, you had to work a little to listen to Bedhead. But they made the work so rewarding: meditative, contemplative, accomplished and beautiful all fit the band's sound. Bedhead is no more, but the Kadanes formed The New Year and kept their sound going.



The 1939 vacation footage was beautifully shot by Wallace Kelly, an accomplished writer, photographer and painter from Lebanon, Kentucky. His films are available on the Internet Archive. Several have been preserved by the Center for Home Movies with funds from the National Film Preservation Foundation. His daughter Martha gave permission for me to edit this together--thanks to you, Martha.

STAROCK - Music for the Future (from the near-distant cable-access past)

Back in the mid-80s, El Space Vato spent awe-struck moments, watching the SF CH-25 cable-access show STAROCK. Now I'm a convert too. You can't see the show any more, but you can enjoy the very unique essence that is STAROCK on their YouTube. Roland Grand was the west coast Dave Stewart to Monica West's Annie Lennox. Together they work potent psychedelic magic. As Vato points out, their enthusiasm is only matched by their incredibly high self-regard. I genuinely like this band and their full-throttle go-for-itness. Anyone this true to their aesthetic gets a head-nod from me. Damn catchy too.

Somebody over at STAROCK forgot to hit the "embedding disabled by request" button when he uploaded this one. So at last I can share their supreme presence with the world.

The lyrics are not top-notch. Note:
Making eyes, meeting guys, telling lies...Joy Riding
Hanging out, tearing out, making out...Joy Riding
Breaking up, shakes me up, but making up...Joy--(and so on)

But look at that gung ho performance by Monica West. She believes in STAROCK. And I'm not going to sit here and deny her belief system. The available STAROCK videos shall remain links for now. Do click--you won't be sorry. Really.

My personal favorite, Your A Natural (sic), with its "One, two, three, yeah, yeah, yeaaaaah" finger-count chorus and sparkly attired West doing free-dance choreography in natural settings to bubble-gum keyboard accompaniment, speaks to me.

STAROCK bills itself as the only band in the world to use PROJECTION TV as an ACTUAL BAND MEMBER! Roland Grand is in "Two Places At Once," on keyboards, bass and drums. Technically that's three places, but that only makes him more fantastic in my book. Projection TV does its thing in The Original Scene.

Now dig this: Changing Faces. Monica looks right through you in an asymetrical striped top and futuristic purple eye-shadow. Roland is in full military garb and also in another place, wearing some kind of poncho or cape-like device. There's a gold record hanging on the wall of the studio. That is the mise-en-scène. Take from it what you will. You won't be sorry.

My video adventures with Scribbler

I got an email a couple weeks ago from a band called Scribbler, asking to make a video for a song of theirs. Since I'm currently completely unemployed and the weather was overcast, I said, yes to that. There wasn't a lot of information on Scribbler, in the email, or on their MySpace page, but I gather they're a group of people from Halifax, Nova Scotia and they're members of a collective involving other Halifaxans called The Radiator Family.

This was an interesting experiment into the unknown. They sent me an MP3 and here's the result:


It's odd, but somehow compelling in its oddness. Then I heard from them again. They wanted another video, this time animated, and set to a song written by their bass player when he was four years old. Actually, I didn't know what they wanted until I received the song--which was obviously written and performed by a very young person.

It's a nice song, but none of the cute animated characters I initially tried worked out. They were so anime-adorable but their body movements were minimal. Their little Hello-Kitty arms could barely reach over their big, round melon heads. It wasn't working. So I used this character instead, who at least is somewhat limber, though creepy. I was sorry to do this to a four-year-old's composition, but the bass player is 24, and I think he'll be OK with it. At least I hope so. I haven't heard anything from Scribbler since I posted this. Perhaps their silence is comment enough.

Tom Hanks Pickle Sandwich

Every once in a while when rambling around the Internet, I find something so inexplicable, I can't even attempt a guess as to why it exists. It just is. This is just such a thing.

Tom Hanks Pickle Sandwich - SUPPENDAPO from wreckandsalvage on Vimeo.

I hate you, pop culture

I watched seven minutes of the Grammys. That's pretty good for me. I just wanted to see half-naked and sparkly Pink dangle from the ceiling and spin around really fast while singing a ballad and not lip synching. She got splashed with water and kept spinning upside down and singing, splittering water all around the stage and onto the first three rows of musical trensetters (excellent use of water). No one was electrocuted and she kept singing nicely and on key. Way to wow everyone, Pink.

Then THIS group showed up and I could not turn away. Luckily someone else has said it all for me in this video. Thank you for shouldering the burden, Gladstone.

Black Eyed Peas Have Officially Written The Worst Song Ever -- powered by Cracked.com

Note: Counting down the minutes until links will be non-working due to copyright issues in 5-4-3...

Radical Feminist Punk Rock Band's First Song

Hot Mess is back! And they're rehearsing their would-be hit single in cousin Bernie's new game room. Take it away, Hot Mess.



- The formation of Hot Mess, radical feminist punk rock band.
- Hot Mess's first cover song and sell-out session.

MADtv predicted iPad with impunity

Sorry to jump on the "making fun of iPad" bandwagon, but who knew MADtv would predict Apple's new cutting-edge technology? All the way back in 2007.