This 1999 collection of eccentric electronic instrumental Christmas music by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh doesn't sound much like Devo, or, for that matter, Christmas music. It does sound really nice, tho. As the song titles indicate, the tunes suggest famous Xmas carols, and sometimes just barely at that, e.g.: the cartoonish "Midnight Windup Toy". And isn't "Soylent Night" the greatest title?
Mark Mothersbaugh - Joyeux Mutato 01 Jingle$, Jingle$, Jingle$02 Blue Joy03 Midnight Wind-Up Toy04 Bell Boy05 Happy Woodchopper06 Only 12 Shopping Days Left07 Peace And Goodwill08 Enough Xmas For All09 You Better Watch Out...10 Let There Be Snow11 I Don't Have A Christmas Tree (Soylent Night)BONUS: Devo - Merry Something To You [a barely minute long jingle from a 2010 Warner Bros xmas comp]
I was reminded of this album after li'l bro Paul Fab told me about the big ol' Mark Mothersbaugh exhibit he saw recently at the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art. (That's Paul at the exhibit, above.) It's a career retrospective of Devo memorabilia and Mothersbaugh's prodigious visual art output. Check the short (exclusive! not on YouTube!) video below Paul shot of some crazy contraptions: "I believe he calls them Orchestrions. It's a gallery (his kooky rugs on one wall) with four Orchestrions which all play together. They're mostly old organ pipes, but also many bird calls, whistles, metal bells and other noisy things. They're cobbled together with visible electric (and barely electronic) controls all left out and taped into whatever position they're supposed to be in. Every 5 minutes they start playing. What a cool sound."
Damn! Can't wait to see it. Once it finishes its Denver run, the exhibit will be on tour for a couple years. (I did quite like Mark's "Beautiful Mutants" gallery show in 2009.) Thanks to Paul for the pic and vid.
Victorian-era robots! Plinkety-plonkety music not played by human hands!
If the phrase "music box" conjures up images of that tchotchke in your grandma's living room with a ballerina twirling around on top as "Moon River" plays, you may be surprised to hear how lush and orchestrated these beauties sound. We don't know exactly what singers and musicians of the pre-recording era sounded like, but as these big boxes, sporting such impressive names as the 'Symphonium,' were actually found in household parlors of the late 1800s, listening to them is a bit of a time machine into them long gone days before radio, records, or the internet provided in-home musical entertainment, and song titles all started with "O."
The tunes featured on this 1977 release are short, sometimes under a minute, so for the big hits like "Silent Night," they wind 'em up and play the song two or three times in a row. And if you hate Christmas music, there's plenty of unfamiliar songs here that don't feel especially seasonal and could feed your mechanical-music jones all year 'round.
Christmas Memories Played on Antique Musical Boxes1
. O Tannenbaum2. O Sanctissima3. Silent Night4. Among Shepherds-The Holy City-Every Year Anew5. O Come Little Children6. O Tannenbaum7. O Come Little Children8. See the Conquering Hero9. Cloister Bells-Ave Maria10. O Come All Ye Faithful11. Monastery Bells
Another vinyl gem unearthed by this blog's ol' pal Brer Windbag. And if you're looking for some appropriate Victorian-era literature to read whilst listening to this, how 'bout this 1882 book of children's short stories that usually feature the children dying. Features the feel-bad classic, "The New Mother":
"Anyhow Stories"
O come little children, indeed. "The Imitation Fish" is another cherished tale to make your kids miserable. And who wants to set "The Paper Ship" to music?Thanks to Count Otto, and Windy!
I don't usually post things I haven't listened to, but by the time I have the opportunity to check these recent presents that Santa dropped into my in-box, these seasonal sounds will be out of season.This blog hasn't been very active lately, and one reason is technical - the official M4M computer hasn't been feeling well (I'm writing this on Mrs. Fab's borrowed laptop). So I'm entrusting you-all to listen and review in the comments these enticing krazy krampus kollections:
"Wild Xmas With Bomarr Vol. 9" - Bomarr's been making these superb collections for years, and, as he writes: "I swear these mixes get weirder and weirder every year." He compiled this "after hours and hours of digging deep" and I'd believe it - I haven't heard of any of these artists.
Cat A Wallers' Xmas Mixes is a new site, a work in progress, but already has a couple of things up, inc. a not-safe-for-work "Rude-Ass Christmas Mix," so that's gotta be good.
While I still had a functional office, I was able to re-up by request:A Steelband Calypso ChristmasRockin' Disco Santa Claus
Brave Combo - "Christmas In July"
Bah Humbug - The Alternative Christmas Album
