NUMBER 6: RIP

Patrick McGoohan, star of our favorite 1960's tee-vee freakout (The Prisoner) has died. Like a proto-Gilliam fever dream, The Prisoner injects elements of surrealism, sci-fi, allegory and spy-action into a wholly singular vision of dystopia. At once silly and deadly serious, The Prisoner's gleeful opposition to mainstream squaredom is one of the few messages generated by 60's-era mass media that actually feels a little earnest. The show also inspired one of the best episodes of The Simpsons ever, on which McGoohan guest-stars as Number 6 and Homer is repeatedly gassed by a menacing, psychedelic koala.

As played by McGoohan, Number 6 is all lantern-jawed outrage, refusing to accept that a man might be reduced to just a number. His constant challenges to the authorities of "the Village" say more about individuality and resistance to assimilation than Abbie Hoffman ever could. Snappy dresser, too.

Be seeing you, Number 6.

THE DEATH OF PUSSEY

The new Dan Clowes looks only so-so.

LE MIEUX EST L'ENNEMI DE BIEN

via garance doré

A Frenchman in sneakers is like a Frenchman singing rock and roll. Certain things simply weren't meant to be. They get high fashion, flake pastries, and sensual masculinity, but bad taste is all ours.

THE PALE & THE LEADER

The Carter Family - Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone (1928)

Woody Guthrie - Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone with Sonny Terry, Leadbelly, Cisco Houston and Bess Hawes (Alan Lomax's sister).

The Carter Family - Can the Circle Be Unbroken (1933)

Ken Parker - Will the Circle Be Unbroken
From Keep Your Eyes on Jesus, an album of gospel released on Tabernacle, a Studio One subsidiary.

Pentangle performing "Will the Circle Be Unbroken", from a French television special.



The Carter Family - Wildwood Flower (1928)

Bob Dylan and the Band - Wildwood Flower
From the Genuine Basement Tapes.

Kilby Snow - Wildwood Flower

The Carter Family - Cannonball (1930)
The first Carter Family recording with AP taking solo lead.

The Carter Family - Cannon Ball Blues

Townes Van Zandt - Cannon Ball Blues
From Live at the Jester Lounge, Texas 1966

Here is a clip of Sara & Maybelle performing "Cannon Ball Blues" in 1966. After Sara came out of retirement to record An Historic Reunion, with her son Joe stepping in for the deceased AP, Maybelle coaxed her into playing some live engagements to promote the record. Allegedly, they were headed to their car after a performance when John Cohen asked if he could film them playing a few songs.



The second song, Sweet Fern, is here.

BEEFHEART ON LETTERMAN

A pair of interviews circa 1982.

BARNEY BUBBLES: REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

Colin Fulcher- AKA Barney Bubbles- created some of the most iconic imagery of the late-1970s London underground. After working closely with Hawkwind in the first half of the decade (he designed album covers, created song titles, and conceptualized their stage shows), he eventually concentrated his efforts on the emerging Stiff Records.

Characterized by its playful nature, Fultcher's work expanded the ambit of music-related graphic design. His work for Elvis Costello alone displays many of his favorite techniques: the cover of This Year's Model features a deliberately poor cropping job, and the first 1000 copies of My Aim is True came with postcards beseeching consumers to "Help Us Hype Elvis!"

Fulcher committed suicide in 1983, but his work lives on in the newly published "Reasons to be Cheerful: The Life and Work of Barney Bubbles."

Via Selectism.

OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST

Airing from 1971 through 1987, The Old Grey Whistle Test provided a necessary contrast to the cheese ball lip-synching of Top of the Pops. Original host "Whispering" Bob Harris- still jockeying for BBC Radio today- introduced acts as disparate as the Buzzcocks, Billy Joel and Kris Kristofferson with equal enthusiasm, his goofy awe-shucks mannerisms a bit at odds with the progressive nature of the show. The BBC issued the show on DVD a while back, but managed to leave off some great performances.

The Rezillos: Destination Venus/Getting Me Down



Phil Lynott (w/ Huey Lewis on harmonica!): Ode to a Black Man



This last one is available on DVD, but is so transfixing it had to be included.

Talking Heads: Psycho Killer

EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING

Now that winter has officially dug in its claws, I'm on the prowl for any distraction from the sub-freezing temperatures and howling winds. Skimboarding and volleyball aren't typically the stuff of garage-punk dreams, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of the boys in Eddy Current Suppression Ring. Knocking around the outback since 2003, ECSR made a name for themselves this year when the legendary Goner Records issued the band's second LP, Primary Colours. The album was subsequently nominated for an ARIA Award- Australia's version of the Grammys.

ECSR's brand of clipped phrasing and tight, muscular riffs are the perfect antidote to winter in Chicago, and the video for "Witch Way To Go" has been getting heavy play on the old laptop. It's got everything we haven't- sun, sand, and groovy little kids- and every time I watch it I'm reminded that music videos can actually be pretty great.