#mad scene
Heavy Rotation in 2018
Lithics, “Excuse Generator” (2018, Kill Rock Stars)
Maxine Funke, “nicest thing” (2018, I Dischi Del Barone)
Felt, “Bitter End” (1988, Creation)
O.V. Wright, “This Hurt Is Real” (1969, Back Beat)
Pusha T, “If You Know You Know” (2018, G.O.O.D. Music)
JJ Ulius, “Tänder Ett Ljus” (2018, Happiest Place)
Grachan Moncur III, “When” (1969, BYG)
The Mad Scene, “Paperplane” (1992, Homestead)
Total, “Tannery #1″ (1994, Freek)
Delia Derbyshire & Barry Bermange, “Running" (1964, BBC Third Programme)
Skee Mask, “Lil DB Tool” (2018, Monkeytown)
Stereolab, “Fluorescences” (1996, Duophonic)
Aretha Franklin, “Eleanor Rigby” (1970, Atlantic)
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tagged by @justine to do the top 10 songs… I had quite a busy couple of weeks, but here is an exceedingly belated response. Listed in random order, with Discogs and listening links…
Electric Chairs, “So Many Ways” [Safari Records, 1979] (video above)
Carla dal Forno played this in a recent FACT Mix, and it blew me away. You guys really should’ve told me about this one! As I understand it, this was Jayne County’s (then Wayne County) band, but working without Jayne County just for this 45.
Rays, “Subway” [Trouble In Mind, 2018] (bandcamp)
The new LP by Oakland’s RAYS is briskly paced and incredibly catchy. A great listen, front to back, but this is the track that’s stuck in my head at the moment.
Felt, “Christopher St” [Creation, 1988] (YouTube)
One of several standouts from Felt’s Pictorial Jackson Review LP. I’ve only really delved into Felt in the last 18 months, so I’m not the guy to ask, but is this record not a bit underrated? Not that Felt can be dinged for any terrible records, but this is quite a good one. A loose “hang-out song,” if you will, this is one of those Felt tracks where Lawrence’s Lou Reed and Bob Dylan homages kick into high gear.
Naked Roommate, “Lube Boys” (bandcamp)
Amber and Andy of The World put together a pretty much perfect cassette of stripped-down, spindly New Wave of the Pressler-Morgan variety. You’re gonna want it.
Maxine Funke, “Best Kept” [Feeding Tube, 2018] (bandcamp)
What a great year Maxine Funke curated for us. “Best Kept” comes from her latest LP, Silk, out in less than two weeks. I’m still warming my hands to Funke’s home fi cassette and eternity 7″, both from earlier this year, and can hardly believe we’re about to get another half-hour or so of her conversational songwriting.
CiM, “Shift” [Delsin, 1999] (YouTube)
Such a gorgeous deep space pastoral. Busily rhythmic, but the overall impression is… drift.
JJ Ulius, “Tänder Ett Ljus” [Happiest Place, 2018] (bandcamp)
A very winning “Needles and Pins”-esque stomper from the Skiftande Enheter frontman. His recent Monokultur 7″ EP is a different beast, but that’s another one you won’t want to miss.
Total, “Tannery #1″ [Freek, 1994] (YouTube)
Zoned-out and ecstatic guitar bliss I can get lost in. This is Matthew Bower at his best, with assistance from John Godbert, later of Vibracathedral Orchestra.
Even Tuell, “Precious Cloud” [Latency, 2014] (bandcamp)
This has been out for several years, but recently enjoyed wider release digitally. A particularly lovely slice of what I’d call “pensive house,” this feels like a companion piece to Even Tuell’s 2013 collaboration with Midnightopera for Workshop.
The Mad Scene, “Paper Plane” (Homestead, 1992) (YouTube)
I’ve had Mad Scene’s A Trip Thru Monsterland album for a while, obtained because, well, The Clean. It’s only recently that I’ve given the record the attention it deserves, and I’ve fallen hard for it. Lots of good songs, though Lisa Siegel’s vocals on “Paper Plane” (this version also appeared on a 7″ a year earlier) make this one the clear standout.
New mix for the end of September going up on Mixcloud today. This one runs just under an hour of your time and features brand new songs from The Stroppies, JJ Ulius, Saloli, Terry, Matt Harkin and Peel Dream Magazine, plus still-vital music from The Television Personalities, The Moscovite Five, Mad Scene, and Bill Direen.
Click here to listen to backstreetsbackalright 09.28.18
Jędrzej Dmochowski, “Part of the World” [Whaam!, 1982]
The Stroppies, “Ornamental Tone” [ANTI FADE, 2018] (bandcamp)
Matt Harkin, “Nothing” [Hobbies Galore, 2018] (bandcamp)
Twelve Cubic Feet, “Mary’s Got The Bug” [Namedrop, 1982] (bandcamp)
Moscovite Five, “Untitled” [In Phaze, 1982]
JJ Ulius, “Tänder Ett Ljus” [Happiest Place, 2018] (bandcamp)
The Mad Scene, “Paperplane” [Homestead/Flying Nun, 1992]
Saloli, “Barcarolle” [Kranky, 2018] (bandcamp) (soundcloud)
Peel Dream Magazine, “Qi Velocity” [Slumberland, 2018] (bandcamp)
Arthur Alexander, “Detroit City” [Dot, 1965]
The Casual Dots, “Clocks” [Kill Rock Stars, 2004] (bandcamp)
Stefan Christensen, “Silent Deluge” [I Dischi Del Barone, 2017] (bandcamp)
The Gifted Children, “My Favourite Films” [Whaam!, 1984]
Terry, “Oh Helen” [Upset! The Rhythm, 2018] (bandcamp)
The Unrelated Segments, “It’s Gonna Rain” [Liberty, 1967]
nsi., “#*=<” [Non Standard Productions, 2010] (bandcamp)
Ralph Lundsten, “Cosmic Song” [Harvest, 1977]
Bilderine, “Trees” [Full Moon Publishing, 1984]
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Today we’re listening to French soprano Sabine Devieilhe sing Ophelia’s Mad Scene from Ambroise Thomas’s opera Hamlet.
What is happening in this scene?
Ophelia cannot understand or accept the fact that Hamlet has rejected her.
When Ophelia appears, villagers gather in a quiet spot in the woods near a lake.
Despite Hamlet’s rejection of her, she imagines herself as his wife. The scene is one of the opera’s highlights, recalling another of opera’s great mad scenes, the one from Donizetti’sLucia. Ophelia’s struggle is represented by extravagant coloratura, interspersed with music that’s delicate and moving.
Ophelia sings: “There he is! I think I hear him!”. As she leans over the water, she repeats some moments from her love duet with Hamlet in Act I. As the act ends, Ophelia enters the water to drown.
I read that the melody at 6:22 is from a Swedish folk song called Näckens Polska. And that Ambroise Thomas heard Swedish soprano Kristina Nilsson (pictured above), whom he wrote the part of Ophelia for, perform it at a concert, and he found it so incredible he incorporated it into the opera.
