Kurt Vile, Childish Prodigy (lala)
Generationals, Con Law (lala)
The (wrong, see comments) Jody Grind, One Step On (lala)
Smoke, Another Reason to Fast (lala)
Joe Brainard, New Work (Amazon)
John Luther Adams, Red Arc/Blue Veil (lala)
These two things go together: a NYT video of a mob of people mobbing the opening for a photographer who has come to the shocking conclusion that arty photos of naked ambisexual twentysomethings are hot, and the J. Alfred Prufrock jams of Philadelphia's Kurt Vile, a guy blessed with the the most 2000's meta-de-plume ever as his given name. All we see in the glass is ourselves, either ourselves in the scene on the other side or glaringly absent from it.
Jack Pendarvis and I got to talk music a bit after the food thing and he brought up the Jody Grind and Smoke, both from the hazy cloud around Atlanta in the 80's/90's. I'd all but forgotten completely about Smoke but the Jody Grind's deep space explorations were one of the great discoveries of my college radio career.
Edited to add: except I got the wrong Jody Grind. This one is from 1969, not the group to which Jack was alluding. I was getting the band name mixed up with the Bevis Frond, hence the arch-psychedelics seemed right on. I think I got the right Smoke, though.
I don't remember who first unsuccessfully tried to turn me on to Joe Brainard, but they got an assist from the back cover of Allen Ginsberg's First Blues (I'm trying my best to embrace National Poetry Month) during today's library sojourn. I was going to get coffee but instead sat in the library coffee shop and read the whole of New Work, using John Luther Adams' big piano artistry the wrong way - to drown out the frappuccino blender - and yes, a good deal all around. I pictured some wry Sedarian voice reading things like this over Adams' "Dark Waves."
GRANDMOTHER
Once when grandmother was sick in bed, and I was all alone with her, she had to go to the bathroom. So I picked up her 80 pound body and started to carry her. But when I got into the hall, I dropped her. I just stood there and laughed and laughed. And grandmother cried and cried. There was always something very special between us.
Stuff like this makes me wanna have a scene! Writers and poets and bands and actors! We'll start our OWN church! Anyone wanting to pony up with listening/poetry suggestions should not hesitate to do so.
Hey Alex! That cut is by some other Jody Grind. The REAL Jody Grind's albums were ONE MAN'S TRASH IS ANOTHER MAN'S TREASURE and LEFTY'S DECEIVER.
ReplyDeleteWho would've ever thought there would be more than one band called The Jody Grind. Its not exactly a Heartberakers" or "Houserockers" kind of band name that you'd expect that from. The one I posted is actually from 1969. All apologies to confused Jody Grinders everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI like how Allmusic puts Kelly Hogan's contribution to the real Jody Grind: Singer Kelly Hogan distinguished the band ... from any number of alternative groups, as she was a real singer. They were in short supply back then.