We're not typically fans of the meandering, self-important post-rock stylings of indie-press faves Mogwai, but their song "Punk Rock" is clever bit of emotional manipulation. The song samples an interview Iggy Pop gave to Canadanian broadcasting legend Peter Gzowski, in which the head Stooge freaks out the norms by declaring that punk rock is, among other things, "a word used by dilettantes and heartless manipulators."
Born in Louisiana, Rev. Louis Overstreet's particular brand of electric gospel is one of the rawest examples of a traditionally raw form. Accompanying himself on guitar and bass drum (at the same time) and backed by a choir, Overstreet's playing is pure Pentecostal fever. He made one record, recorded live for the Arhoolie label in 1962, before he died in 1980. Long-time fans of the album, we were recently alerted to this video footage, which captures the Reverend at the peak of his fire-and-brimstone evangelism.
Native Portlander Harry Smith is best-known to those with an interest in early American music as the compiler of the indispensable Anthology of American Folk Music, originally issued in 1952 on the Folkways label. What many may not know is that Smith's interests ranged far and wide, and in 1939 he began to experiment with film.
Abstract and animated, Smith's films were designed to be accompanied by live bands, and the surreal visual effects were achieved by hand-manipulating the celluloid. Despite their never being given a legitimate release, Smith's films have garnered wide critical attention; below are examples of some of his earliest work.
Chicago's adopted son Andre Williams has been toiling in the margins of popular R+B for 50 years. He penned a few odd-ball hits in the 50's ("Bacon Fat," "Jail Bait") and ended up co-writing an early Stevie Wonder song ("Thank You (For Loving Me All the Way)"). His early-60's smash ("Shake A Tail-Feather"), first recorded by the Five Du-Tones, was later covered by Ike & Tina Turner. He spent the rest of the 60's and most of the 70's writing minor hits and producing better-known acts. Then he disappeared.
Addicted to drugs, Williams spent most of the 80's impoverished in Chicago, begging for change on the streets of downtown. His successful re-emergence in the mid-90's was due in large part to the pedigree of his garage/punk collaborators, notably Mick Collins, who helped assemble a band for Williams and produced a couple of his records. A new documentary, Agile Hostile Mobile: A Year With Andre Williams, has been making its way around the country, and now Pitchfork TV is streaming it free-of-charge for one week only.
The video below spotlights the owners of two distinct "sticker cars," a custom-car iteration on the rise in New Orleans. Relatively cheap and easy, the process involves applying customized vinyl decals to American sedans or SUVs; why food products are such a popular theme is anyone's guess.
