The Philter

So why am I posting a song you’ve never heard, called
Second Still by a band you’ve never heard of called Modern Eon?

Good question, and the answer is sort of roundabout, so bear with me if you will. The Easy Star All-Stars recently released a full-length reggae version of Radiohead’s OK Computer as the follow-up to their fantastic Dub Side of the Moon. I found this interesting because I’ve long considered OK Computer the Dark Side of the Moon of the 90s. This led me to wonder, what was the Dark Side of the 80s? I couldn’t think of anything that was commercially successful in the 80s that had that kind of ambition. The best answer I could come up with was Fiction Tales (1981) by the aforementioned Modern Eon, from which this song is taken.
Read more »

It’s been tougher finding time to write lately, and I can’t help but feel that the cosmic balance of things is being thrown off somehow. Meanwhile, I have this stockpile of obscure/out-of-print/unavailable music I’ve been wanting to post, so I guess this is the time.

We’ll start with a short one: Thing by the Jazz Butcher and his Conspiracy, clocking in at an economical 1:02. I’m transcribing the lyrics here as well, not because they’re hard to understand, but just because I like them so much.

Thing (c. Pat Fish, 1986)

I have an affair, a love affair with a thing
I have an affair, a squalid affair with a thing
Well the preacher tell me, son
To love an object is a sin
See now I call that thing J. Edgar, though it don’t run no FBI
And I call that thing J. Edgar, though it don’t run no FBI
That’s the end of this song
And I don’t know why
Goodbye

So, yes, it’s been a while. I missed you too, blog. I wish I had some good news to report, but the only note on the culture front I can think of concerns the new Rob Corddry sitcom, The Winner, which I am sad to report is an absolute piece of crap. It was all I could do to make it through the first five minutes, which were jam-packed with tired characters, ancient jokes, and a ridiculously obtrusive laugh track. Supposedly Seth MacFarlane of The Family Guy is involved with this abortion, though it’s hard to see how. This show makes Chris Elliott’s Get a Life—from which it cops its premise wholesale—look like T.S. Eliot.

I hope Corddry didn’t give up his day job—I mean, night job—on The Daily Show for The Winner, which should be gone mercifully soon. Then again, maybe it’ll become a huge hit, while the rest of us continue to wait for the DVD of Andy Richter Controls the Universe. Who knows.
Now I must go watch several episodes of 30 Rock to get this bad taste out of my mouth.