It's been 5 years since teen heartthrobs Castrovalva released their first and only album. Recorded during 2 sessions in December of 2005 at 8 of Diamonds studio, Castrovalva went on to make dozens of dollars off this effort. Originally consisting of 9 tracks plus a bonus track, the 5th Anniversary Edition of Castrovalva's self titled album includes 3 new tracks including New Song, One Human Family, and Voodoo Zombie Army and 6 live tracks from 2 shows.
You do not want to pass up this very special release. If you didn't purchase it 5 years ago, here's your chance, and if you didn't, then it's time to hear it again for the first time. The best part is, it's free!
Note: This is the Castrovalva from the United States, not to be confused with the "Noise Hop" band from the U.K.
1. 8 of
Diamonds
2. Vietnam
3. Castrovalva
4. The Perfect Killing Machine (Broc Sheilds)
[Live]
5. New Song
6. Wonderland Thunderfunk
7. One Human Family
8. Surf's Up
9. The James Doohan Tribute Song
10. Flashback
11. Voodoo Zombie Army
12. Jungle Love
13. Castrovalva [Live]
14. New Song [Live]
15. Surf's Up [Live]
16. Obliteration Za [Live]
17. Jungle Love [Live feat. Liam 'Pretty Lips'
Murphy]
18. 8 of Diamonds [Live]
After a week off due to an illness, I will return to the airwaves tonight. So get ready for another 2 hours of the best desert rock on the FM (and AM for that matter) dial. I'm fresh off a trip to Philadelphia to see the Queens of the Stone Age perform their first album. I'll have a full report tonight, along with some deep QotSA cuts and more. So tune in tonight at 10 PM EDT on VMFM 91.7!
Eat your heart out Andy Warhol, because the LA based ARK Music Factory is the hot and new... music factory, or should I say "Music Entertainment" Factory. With such hot talents like Rebecca Black (see previous post), Kaya, Katie Hines, and Lena, that's right, Lena, the ARK hit machine is poised to take over the music industry. Now you may be wondering to yourself, "What?" well let me fill you in. Have you ever heard the term, "Stars aren't born, they're made"? This is where they're made. ARK Music Factory or just simply, ARK, recruits kids and molds them into pop stars in hopes of finding the next Justin Bieber or Willow Smith. There is nothing particularly special about the artists, songs, or videos, but the most intriguing feature of ARK is how hilariously bad the songs are and how the company portrays itself. Check this out.
Surreal right? It's like a amalgamation of Disney meets a middle school talent show curated by children's pageant judges meets MySpace meets my nightmares. So who do we blame for this unintended comedy? This dude.
Meet Clarence Jey
You can become one of his 55 followers on twitter (He's @clarencejey) and be privy to his deep thoughts, like. "@clarencejey It's Saturday and I still am getting over Friday....not fun.. Lol" Apparently he had that Rebecca Black song stuck in his head. With several partners, Clarence has been able to write, record, and shoot videos for this new brand of pre-teen safe dance pop.
I tried to do some digging about the ARK so I started at the most logical place, their website. Lo-and-behold, you have to register to view the "About" page AND your membership has to be approved (it took my membership about 2 hours to be approved). So I finally got on their site and nothing interesting was to be found. Rebecca Black's profile page was written in Comic Sans font, the profile pictures of the "artists" look like preview shots for a porn site, (because they're all around the age of 12 it made me feel a little uncomfortable), and there are links to flash games.
I did find this gem on the "About" page though. "Our team
at ARK have certainly recognized that raw talent alone is
sufficient to get noticed. However, to further advance as a
professional within the music industry, it is absolutely essential
for an artist to have hit singles and a well executed image - all
within that marketable package!" At least they're being up front about it.
What does this mean for you? Absolutely noting, but what it does mean is that anyone with some audio software, a decent digital camera, and a teenage girl can make crappy pop songs and videos. Though it begs the question, where is this money coming from? ARK charges the parents of these kids to produce them and in turn, reap the benefits of royalties (whatever that may be). I wonder how much it cost Rebecca Black to be made fun of on the internet by millions of people?
ARK's internet damage control team is already in full force by sticking by their horrendous music saying that other pop songs have dumb lyrics too and the music industry works on a pay-to-play format. The industry is a doggy-dog [sic] world and the fine folks at ARK are just getting these kids exposure.
So are these kids and their parents being exploited? Who cares.
The final verdict. All of these people are aliens trying to brainwash the masses, but they're not quite there yet. Keep it up ARK! Here's this weeks playlist.
1. Goon Moon - My Machine
2. The Sword - Night City
3. Weedeater - $20 Peanut
4. Mark Lanegan - Carnival
5. Queens Of The Stone Age - You Can't Quit Me, Baby
6. Gay Witch Abortion - Down With Giants
7. Dead Moon - Play With Fire
8. Hello=Fire - Someplace Spacious
9. Heliotropes - Ribbons *
10. Heliotropes - True Love's Knot *
11. Eagles Of Death Metal - Miss Alissa
12. Egypt - Touch Ground
13. Death From Above 1979 - Losing Friends
14. Brad Laner - Crawl Back In
15. Hater - Mona Bone Jakon
16. Desert Sessions - Hanging Tree
17. John McBain - Farewell Iron Age
18. Torche - Fat Waves
19. Kyuss - Asteroid
20. Yawning Man - Digital Smoke Signal
21. Wellwater Conspiracy - Something in the Air #
22. Steve Morgen - Of Dreams
23. Masters Of Reality - Worm In The Silk
24. Valis - Perpetual Motion Machine
25. Pell Mell - Blacktop
Make sure to tune in tonight for a very serious episode of It Came from the Desert. Tonight's show will be that perfect cure for that post parade day hang over. So tune in for some of your favorite tracks, not including this one.
Well this week we dedicated about an hour to the life and times of Medicine's Brad Laner. I hope you enjoyed a little change of pace and discovered some new bands. I also threw in some standards like Kyuss, Desert Sessions, and Hater. In the first part of the interview I mentioned The Captain and Tennille, I bet you didn't get the reference. Here is the video clip I was referring to.
I'd have to say that Brad was probably the most open person I've ever interviewed. Unembarrassed and unapologetic discussing everything I put on the table. Missed out? Well, here it is!
Awesome huh? Here's this week's playlist. Back to normal next week.
1. Torche - Grenades
2. Queens Of The Stone Age - The Bronze
3. Kyuss - Phototropic
4. Masters Of Reality - John Brown
5. Hello=Fire - Looking Daggers
6. Wellwater Conspiracy - What Becomes Of The Clock
7. Brad Laner Interview Part 1
8. Medicine - She Knows Everything
9. Medicine - One More
10. Brad Laner Interview Part 2
11. Caribou - Barnowl
12. Brad Laner - Find Out
13. Brad Laner Interview Part 3
14. Brad Laner - Sure
15. Skooma - The Sliver Medal
16. Gay Witch Abortion - Church Buffet
17. Desert Sessions - Eccentric Man #
18. Vega - Sunbird 19. John McBain - Hubblebubble
20. Hater - Circles
21. Melt Banana - A Hunter in the Rain to Cut the Neck Up in the Present Stage
22. The Freeks - Basque in the Splendor
I talk to Brad Laner of Medicine and DangerousMinds.net! We talk about the glorious early 1990's, Brian Eno, Caribou, hipsters, the future of music, THE MAN, and a lot more. Make sure to tune in tonight for that very intimate conversation. I'll be playing some Medicine and some more stuff I don't usually play, it'll be a fun night! Unfamiliar with what I'm talking about? Check it.
I'm also going to go postal on the post office, enjoy! Just tune in tonight from 10pm - midnight on VMFM 91.7. Just click the link over to the right to tune in. Watch this.
I dug up some old recordings and pictures and smashed them together, check out the best band ever. Heavily influenced by Yawning Man and Desert Sessions. This is the U.S. Castrovalva, not to be confused with the other band of the same name.
