2/28/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "Ling Ling and Tapes"
Moby
Moby in Good Album Shocker!
Moby has tried on many different shoes over the years and some of them fit better than others. I first became a big huge fan of his in the early '90's rave-era when classics like "Go! and "Drop A Beat" swept everyone onto the dancefloor in an exhilarating rush. It's been a mixed bag since then with the ill-concieved rock attempt Animal Rights being the most harsh. Actually, many of us had started to give up on the bald one after he followed his ginormously succesful Play album with the ultra-boring carbon copy 18 a few years back. So, it was a fab surprise to hear that his new album Hotel is a return to form. Sonically, it's quite different than it's predecessors. It has a definite early-80's vibe going on, a perfect blend of electronics and guitar. The songwriting is top notch, almost every song is catchy and has single potential. Many of these tracks feature Moby's somewhat-thin-but getting-better voice, but it really works in the context of these songs. There are even a few tracks featuring a wonderful female vocalist (who is that?) that remind me of the rushing dance music he made way back when. Hotel is, in my book, Mr. Melville Hall's most shining moment to date.
Moby - Raining Again
MP3 4.26 MB, 160kbps
2/26/2005
Chinese Village, Moscow, ID
(208) 882-2931
2010 S Main St
Moscow, ID 83843
In all honesty, I was more than a little creeped out when Lou drove to the wrong side of the tracks in Moscow, Idaho, and we pulled into a dusty parking lot filled with junker cars and dilapidated sheds. I could see a queasy seafoam green building trimmed with fried red neon tubes hiding amidst the clutter. I was bitchy at first. "I'm not eating in that dump, it looks scary." Well, he had eaten there before "many times" and promised the interior was a bit more kept up.
A bit dark, it was, but not quite the nightmare hovel I was afraid of. Actually, some of the decor looked like it been installed within the last decade, including neat black lanterns and huge, overstuffed red vinyl booths. After being seated in one of these monstrosities, our perky bespectacled Caucasian waitress cheerfully informed us that our tea was still infusing and would taste better after letting it sit around a while. Over the course of the meal, I heard her share this tidbit with everyone that came in after us. It was part of her routine. She was kind of a middle-aged Plain Jane, save for the red and gold shimmery silk Chinese-collar blouse she was sashaying about in. Her prompt and friendly service was worth duly noting here.
The menu was a bit scant but did feature something a bit unusual on the American side of things: Glazed Honey Pit Ham. But of course not. I decided on the #5 (Almond Chicken/Pork Chow Mein/Pork Fried Rice/Egg Roll) and Lou the #3 (Almond Chicken/Sweet & Sour Prawns/Pork Chow Mein/Pork Fried Rice). We nervously sat, fiddling with our chopsticks in silence until we realized: Wait! Where is the Soup? And there was none to be had. We asked our glassy-eyed waitress about it and she shooshed us, saying that our entrees were almost done and that we wouldn't go home hungry. Indeed, we were starving, and my poor tummy was having a hard time with the overly-sugared (packets, unfortunately), overly-steeped tea that I had consumed four cups of already. We spaced out, listening to the rioutous conversation of some lesbians a couple of booths down.
Our food came fast and hot. I dove into the Almond Chicken first and was a bit overcome by the doughiness of it: too much breading. The gravy was well presented, with a sprinkling of Almond dust, but was a bit on the bland side. The rice was, well...fried rice. Well done, but nothing to call Aunt Mabel about. The highlight, for me, was the Chow Mein, a good texture of celery crunch and sub gum sauciness, which became perfect only after spiking it with what was probably too much soy sauce. The egg roll. Oh, the egg roll. The damn thing was simply inedible, having cleary fallen apart in the deep fryer and then overcooked to the point of a distinct fishiness. Not good. Lou, of course, was so starving he never even paused once to conider the nuances of his meal. He cleared his plate in near record time, causing our poor waitress to grab away his plate and sigh "Looks like it's fortune cookie time already..."
Fortune cookie time, indeed. I just couldn't finish my meal and was immediatley craving something chocolate.
Rating: Ambience - 7/10 Food - 5/10
2/25/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "Cinco Llamas"
Nancy Sinatra
Okay: I want to keep this blog at least PG13 rated but I gotta link to these shots of our girl. Whaddya think? - real or fake (I mean the photos, not the boobies). I do vaguely recall her having posed for Hef...
Actually, I'm too hungover today for niceties, so I'll just leave it to Nancy:
Friday's child.....Hard luck is her brother
Friday's child.....Her sister's misery
Friday's child.....Her daddy they call hard times
Friday's child.....That's me
Friday's child.....Born a little ugly
Friday's child.... Good looks passed her by..oh
Friday's child.....Makes something look like nothing
Friday's child.....Am I...yeah
Friday's child.....Never climbed no mountain
Friday's child.....She ain't even gonna try..oh
Friday's child.....Whom they'll forget to bury
Friday's child.....Am I
Nancy Sinatra - Friday's Child
2.24 MB, 128kbps,44mHz
2/24/2005
Thanks, Dave
I am semi-honored to have recieved a mention today by D.F. Oliveria in his Spokesman Review blog "Huckleberries Online" (See "Inside Huckleberries (2/23/05)") . He has named Making Flippy Floppy as one of the best named local blogs. Well, having blatantly stolen the name from an old favorite song (figure it out, kids), I don't really earn too many creativity brownie points, but I love getting mentioned anyway. Maybe it will drum up so more traffic and people will start leaving some comments on the music etc. Comments, people, comments!
Also, I have been thinking of putting more of a local slant on my blog with some Mp3's from local CDA/PF/Hayden music artists, so if you are reading this and want to contribute, please e-mail your mp3's to me.
Lastly, if you are reading this, you probably know our dear Brian, who has just thrown his bowler hat into the blog ring with the superbly titled A Scream in My Voice. Check it out, and have a dirty martini for that girl!
Random Photo of the Day: "Gentle Green"
The Organ
I am so head over heels in love with these five Canadian girls (website) . I just want to hang out and have a few drinks with them down at the bar, and get to know them a little better. They just seem like they would all be entertainingly dramatic and witty. Thier album Grab That Gun has just been released here in the US (Europe is next), but has been out since last year in Canada and it was one of my fave albums of 2004. A brooding and potent mix of the Smiths and Throwing Muses, with just a hint of old-school goth poetry, thier music is moody, thoughtful and addictive. Amusingly, they are making an appearance soon on Showtime's slightly over-hyped "The L-Word" as themselves filming a video for this track...those darned Lebesians!
The Organ - Brother
3.68MB, 128kbps, 44mHz
2/23/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "Brian In Antarctica"
Fripp & Eno
Something very low key today. It's been over 30 years since Robert Fripp and Brian Eno first used loops, tape manipulation and guitar feedback to create the essential early ambient masterpieces No Pussyfooting (1973) and Evening Star (1975). In 2004, they reunited (with amazingly little fanfare) to create the equally stunning new album The Equatorial Stars. astonishingly similar, yet not quite as "harsh" as their earlier work, it still manages to create an imaginary headspace, something that both gentlemen excel at. Actually, in my opinion, this is the best work that Eno has done in quite a few years (The Drop, anyone?) I've been listening to this album over and over lately because it helps me concentrate on my Visual Basic homework from hell...
Fripp & Eno - Meissa
11.1MB, 192kbps,44kHz
2/22/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "Lou's Clayworld"
Cursor Miner
Cursor Miner - Gizmo Kid
2.4 MB, 128kbps, 44mHz
2/21/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "Firestone"
Jeans Team
I like how this guys voice sounds like Ralf Hutter from Kraftwerk a little bit...come to think of it, a lot of german guys sing with kind of a melodic detachment that I really enjoy. Jeans Team have always created synthpop that on the surface seems really simple, but thier electro-tinged songs are actually impeccably produced and intricate. Earlier singles include my favorite "Waffenladen (Gold und Silber)" with it's headfuck electronics and sing-songy verses, and "Keine Melodien" which Peaches' turn into a leathersex romp with her cover version. Thier second album is coming out soon (or is it already out, I dunno...) titled Music Von Oben, and this is the addictive housy first single "Oh Bauer!" You'll have to order this one from your import CD specialist, kids, since I doubt a US release is in the works...
Jeans Team - Oh Bauer!
4.7MB, 128kbps, 44 mHz
2/18/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "Electro Jesus"
Josef K
I first became enamored with this tune as a cover version by German Art-Pop troupe Propaganda from thier classic album A Secret Wish. After hearing the original, I think the Propaganda version is a bit overproduced. Ironically, the original 1980 Josef K version was shelved by thier label along with the rest of thier debut album for being "too slick". It finally was released years later by another label and was hailed as a modern lost classic. I really know next to nothing about this band, but naturally AllMusic has all the gory details...
Josef K - Sorry For Laughing
2/17/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "Thirst Quenching"
Velella Velella
In this part of the country, the local live music scene consists mainly of generic punk and bad hair metal (not counting the endless gaggle of awful cover bands). So, it was to my delight and surprise one crisp evening last fall when my love and I ventured out into the trenches of Spokane nightlife and ended up at the B-Side. Now, we were actually there to see the headlining act all the way from Athens, GA (whose name I can't even recall at this point) because they were hyped in the local rags as being somewhat shoegazey, and that sort of excited me. However, it was the opening act from Spokane that stuck with me, and they 're still a favorite.
They must have been called in at the last minute after another band didn't show up because when they announced themselves as Velella Velella, I noticed the name was clearly not on the handbill. The duo took to the stage and started tinkering around with the beats from an old K-mart Casio keyboard which was mic'd up and distorted to sound like a troupe of Jazzercising manatees. The other guy began churning out rumbly bass noises on an old Korg synth, and just when the din became unbearable, they hit the play button on a little clamshell portable CD player and the pre-recorded beats kicked in, forcing the audience to nearly drop thier PBRs and head toward the stage. They played a set of wonderful and sublime experimental pop and free jazz, complete with real vibes and surfy guitar and distorto-vox and old record samples and you name it. Their sound fell somewhere near Stereolab, Trans Am, and Beck, but was mainly quite original. I was amazed to find out they had only been performing together for a couple of months and that this was only thier 2nd live performance. I was so impressed that I approached them after thier set and told them how much I dug thier sound and how amazed I was to hear something so utterly electronic and original coming out of boring old Spokane. They were nice enough to give me a sticker! A few months later, they released the fine (but way too short) album By The Wind Sailor which can be found for purchase on thier impeccably designed website, along with muchos free mp3s.
Sadly, as all good Spokane bands eventually do, V. Velella has since moved westward to the greener pastures of Seattle, and according to thier site, they have been quite successful over there, gaining airplay on KEXP with this super groovy track. Like, right on!
Velella Velella - Telephone Poles For Sale
4.24 MB, 128 kbps, 44 kHz
2/16/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "St. Vinnie's Window"
photo by Patrick, St. Vincent de Paul, CDA, 12/04Mu
Coming on like a nightmare cross between DFA, Devo, and Margaret Cho's mom, Mu has been one of my favorites since my ears were first confused and delighted a few years back by thier track "Chair Girl". Vocalist Mutsumi Kanamori has a voice that can rip thru rice paper like a hot chopstick, and music man Maurice Fulton is never afraid to experiment with all kinds of bells, whistles, and electronic doo-hickeys. They're totally out there but they DO have the funk. Thier new album Out of Breach takes what they did on thier debut Afro Finger and Gel a step closer to the limit of sanity. Lead single "Paris Hilton" is perfect and priceless, but the wildest track on the album is this one, "Stop Bothering Michael Jackson". Kanamori vents her spleen hard in charmingly broken English, calling Jackson's accuser a stupid bitch with no talent making up fake stories, and ending with "Suck my dick!" Forget Liz Taylor, this is probably the best defense poor MJ is likely to see anytime in the near future.
Mu - Stop Bothering Michael Jackson
2/15/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "Spectral Dancer"
photo by Patrick, Mik-n-Mac's, CDA, 02/11/05New Order
Apparently not everyone was as in love with the last New Order album Get Ready as I was. Oh well, I love New Order when they are in slick, jangle-guitar mode and so far the new album Waiting For The Sirens' Call seems headed in that same direction. Actually, they have brought in an official new member, and he's another guitarist, and that seems to have re-invigorated them a bit. Early reviews are saying a few tracks are even reminiscent of Joy Division (!) Lead singer Bernard says that since the band no longer runs a dance club (the Hacienda), they don't feel so compelled to make dance music. Makes sense I guess. The single "Krafty" is a breezy classic and the most electronic of the tracks I've heard so far, and seems ripe for remixing. This track, "Who's Joe?", is the first track of the album and, to me, is an awesome example of that familiar epic New Order sound.
New Order - Who's Joe?
2/11/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "So Many Hands"
David Bowie
This is an unreleased Bowie favorite that was recorded at Haddon Hall in 1970 for inclusion on the Hunky Dory LP, but it never ended up there and remains mysteriously shelved to this day. It surfaced a few years back on the bootleg The Forgotten Songs of David Robert Jones. It's a wonderfully bouncy little ode to his car. I wonder if the Man will ever get around to ressurecting this track in some form. We can only hope and pray for a Bowie Rarities box set one day but until then...
David Bowie - Rupert the Riley
2/10/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "Have a Snack"
The Blood Arm
Next-big-band-in-the-UK The Blood Arm was praised left and right by Franz Ferdinand in a recent issue of NME. It's obvious why...These kids are onto something big. The post-punk sound is a bit reminiscent of Franz and other recent acts like The Killers, but with a new quirkiness...a lime twist...a bit of XTC perhaps. Surprisingly, they aren't really an actual UK band, but they call LA home. They are gritty, young, talented, and gorgeous and I don't think they even think this, thier first single, is officially out yet...a brilliant debut, indeed. My geek-dar predicts big things for this band in the oh-five.
The Blood Arm - A Brilliant Debut2/09/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "Taking Tessa"
Mix CD: "Moving To Tuesdays This March"
Tracklist:
01 Out Hud >> One Life To Leave
02 Fischerspooner >> Wednesday
03 Razorlight>> Leave Me Alone
04
05 M.I.A. >> Pull Up The People
06 Hot Hot Heat >> Goodnight Goodnight
07 Le
08 The Blood Arm >> A Brilliant Debut
09 Mu >> Stop Bothering Michael Jackson
10 Inflatable Boy Clams >> I’m Sorry
11 Basement Jaxx >. Oh My Gosh
12 Miss Pain >> Electric Blue Fire Hazard
13 The Bravery >> Honest Mistake
14 Stereo Total >> Vive Le Week-End
15 Daft Punk >> Technologic
16
17 M83 >> Teen Angst
18 Engineers >> A Given Right
Compiled 02/05/05
Inflatable Boy Clams
What random discoveries the Internet brings! These San Francisco-area kids put out exactly one self-titled 1981 EP and sank forever into new-wave obscurity. That is, of course, until some wonderful angel decided to resurrect the Inflatable Boy Clams and put up a web page (here) devoted to their brief but illustrious career. Little information is known, but the guestbook on the web page has some revealing stories from people who saw or were associated with the band way back when (they once opened for the Dead Kennedys!) I have yet to hear the whole EP, but my tireless internet searches have turned up a couple of tracks, including this one, which is mesmerizingly tasteless, like a tuneless acapella B-52's as produced by John Waters. Brilliant!
Inflatable Boy Clams - I'm Sorry 2/08/2005
Random Photo Of The Day: "Yellow Fishtank"
Daft Punk
It's time to spread some love about the new Daft Punk LP Human After All, which comes out March 21 ( check out this link for details and a running countdown to the release date in hundreths of seconds ). From what I have heard so far it's really a return to form after the somewhat dismal Discovery and the even worse Daft Club remix album. The single "Robot Rock" is great, but this track has future dancefloor classic written all over it. It's like a sweaty come-on from a Kraftwerk robot... 2/07/2005
Random Photo Of The Day: "Miss Dolly #7"
International Fabricare Institute
Satin, suede, serapes and sweaters, Suits and coats, woolens and leathers,
Everything, whenever, whatever,
Dry clean when you care! This mesmerizing, epic track was featured as part of Otis Fodder's 365 Days MP3 series last year. This track has taken on a life of it's own around here ever since. It was recorded by a group of anonymous musicians and vocalists in 1976 and was distributed as a 45 single to promote the wonders of the International Fabricare Institute. It's a wonderful, catchy tune that will stick in your head forever, haunting your life in a pleasant way. I especially love the mid-song speech by the President of the Institute, in a voice that makes you realize where Dubya might have got some of his inspiration from. This track has features on many of my mix CDs over the past year and is in regular rotation at Jhanie's Leopard Lounge. In fact, Jhanie was cleaning house one day and found some clothes hangers leftover from the last tenant that are imprinted with the glorious "Dry Clean When You Care" logo. It was fate! International Fabricare Institute - Dry Clean When You Care
2/06/2005
Random Photo of the Day: "The Usual Spot"
Antony & The Johnsons
***Welcome to the debut edition of Making Flippy Floppy. My name is Patrick and will be your lone chaperone through this virtual prom of Mp3's, Photos, Gossip, and whatever else sticks. Please go wild with your comments and send me any Mp3 requests, illicit photos, catty gossip, life-changing revelations, or whatever else you might want to submit for posting. ***
Let's kick off the Mp3's with an amazing track from New York's Antony and the Johnsons. Antony is succesfully working a fascinating tragic androgynous persona, and has the bourboun-soaked falsetto rasp to accomany it. His voice takes me back to the dark, beautiful era of 4ad circa-1984, with shades of This Mortal Coil's "It'll End in Tears" and Cocteau Twins' "Treasure" (He has said repeatedly in interviews that Liz Fraser is a major influence.) The songs on thier new CD "I Am A Bird Now" are sparse and gorgeous, with wondrous bursts of high drama. The production is mostly light with minimal piano and guitar supporting Antony's fierce musings on gender crisis and identity. Soul sisters like Boy George, Rufus Wainwright and Lou Reed make ghostly appearances on the album, but even they manage to pale next to Antony's once-in-a-blue-moon vocal stylings. The cover sleeve features a startling photo of Warhol-era gender-bender Candy Darling on her death bed. It's an image which perfectly sets the mood for the tone and lyrical content of the album. Antony and the Johnsons have created the first future classic of 2005. Highly recommended.
Antony and the Johnsons - For Today I Am A Boy
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