Monday, January 15, 2007
sure am some highly telegenic fellers, ain't they?
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glisten
Wow, 2007 already, huh? I suppose I'm due to deliver some goods. Let's see how long I can keep this up.
The Sons of the Pioneers - "Cool Water"
Country Music Hall of Fame inductees The Sons of the Pioneer were one of the great multi-media success stories of their day; throughout the thirties and forties they regularly starred in movies, on the radio and in penny pulps and comic strips. The band's popularity was due in part to the phenomenal appeal of their bandleader, Roy Rogers, as well as to the amazing songwriting of another of The Sons, Bob Nolan (he's second from the left in the picture above). Nolan wrote a number of acknowledged country classics during his fifty year career; his 1941 hit 'Cool Water' is probably the best known of the bunch.
It is a ghostly and plaintive song, insistent in cadence and desire. At once lazy and frantic, 'Cool Water' sits on the edge of Medea-like hysteria; composed as a placid pool, but sounding unimaginable depths. The restrained orchestration and sotto voce vocal harmonies are infinitely beguiling; it's a must-have, multiple listen beauty that I'm happy to share with you as my first offering for the new year.
tell me more about it...
The Sons of the Pioneers material has been perennially in print since its inception; you can buy a best of disc from Amazon or order it digitally from iTunes or eMusic.
My own copy of this gem comes from the Rhino B-Western song compilation HillBilly Fever Volume 4.
That disc comes highly recommended.
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Visit The Sons of the Pioneers official website.
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Cool Water is a much revered and borrowed song; Warner Records notes covers by (among many others) Odetta, Marty Robbins, Eddy Arnold, Bing Crosby, Hank Williams, Burl Ives and The Mills Brothers.
Click here to listen to a rather nice downloadable cover by Jeff Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac.
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Read this bio of The Sons of the Pioneers.
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Watch the full-length Sons of the Pioneers 1942 B-Western South of Santa Fe on archive.org.
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Read a brief overview of the history of the "B Western".
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Water is cool in school. You might even learn some cool water facts.
Just steer clear of the Cool Water cologne; that stuff burns like a bitch on the way down.
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A tip of the Tofu Hat to Locust St who (according to the ever-essential Hype Machine) was the last to post 'Cool Water' on the web, about a year ago.
clicky
Hanatarash were a Japanese noise band formed by Boredoms frontman Yamatsuka EYE. Both their music and their performances were figuratively and literally assaultive; at one now legendary show, EYE drove a frickin' steamshovel through the back wall of the venue. Think about how punk that is for a second, then check out the pictures.
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Matt WOEBOT be videobloggin'.
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Gotty Boi Chris' Cut It Up is some DJ E-Z Rock shit for the new millenium.
That's a compliment, by the way.
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"I am not a freak and - NO- I don't wear woman's clothes - ever - except to sell on eBay. I am an alpha dominant heterosexual unavailable (sorry girls) male (with a capital M) I am so secure in my masculinity that I CAN model woman’s clothing and accessories!"
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Mozart's Symphony No. 40 for rollerblades, bottles and ski poles.
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The infamous 1982 "Turkish Star Wars" is now online in it's entirety; if you can think of a better way to kill an hour and a half in an office on a Tuesday, I'm all ears.
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"Mr. Hooper, how come they ain't no muppets up on the wall?"
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My unrealised plan for a New Year's celebration was intended to involve the unprecedented introduction of an-as-yet-unnamed hallucinogen; past years' bacchanals of wine and scotch having proved themselves to be anti-climactic and ultimately counter-productive, I figgered it was time to open other doors of perception.
Somewhere between getting older and stodgier, general laziness and lack of easily exploited connections, I ultimately ended up observing Aud Lang Syne bone sober, but I like to think that it would've turned out something like this.
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If your New Year's resolution involved putting Starbucks behind you, I've got something here with just as much caffeine and none of the coffee-breath. Use sparingly, as it may result in unmitigated booty shakin' and occasional fits of joy.
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I have a shiny dime (and a Tofu Hut shoutout) for the first person who successfully mashes up the "mandarin ducklings jumping out a tree" video with The Beastie Boys 'Sabotage'.
Really, we're talking straight peanut butter and chocolate here; it's a pure natural.
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I've had the good luck to see two really amazing first-run films as of late in Pan's Labyrinth and Children of Men, but this montage makes me lament of having missed the remade Wicker Man on the big screen, 'cause clearly that shit NEEDED stadium seating to really capture the full brunt of its vision. No sarcasm; honestly, I can't front on the sheer wonder that is Nic Cage in a bearsuit suckerpunching women.
Also: "OH NO. NOT THE BEES."
an open request
I'm currently working on a new project that would require the aid of a classroom of junior high age kids.
If you or any of your friends working in education would be interested in discussing getting involved with The Tofu Hut in doing some music listening and reviewing and getting your students writing in front of thousands of readers, please contact me at forksclovetofu AT gmail dot com for more information.
I look forward to hearing from you!
