Month: February 2018

While this joke may have already been made, it occurs to me: is O45 just a late ‘70s Roger Waters for our times?

“Are there any queers in the theater tonight?
Get them up against the wall!
There’s one in the spotlight, he don’t look right to me,
Get him up against the wall!
That one looks Jewish!
And that one’s a coon!
Who let all of this riff-raff into the room?
There’s one smoking a joint,
And another with spots!
If I had my way,
I’d have all of you shot!”

I realize I have a very high tolerance for old movies. And most of the time, what other people call old are not old enough for me.

I like new movies too, but something black and white is really comforting. I know I wasn’t always like this, but for some reason, I get more excited about Hitchcock than a superhero flick.

If I may be serious for a moment: tonight’s program is an audio essay delving into a subject that has been on the minds of our culture quite a bit recently: our obsession with mental health. Join MKUltramegaphone as we jam away live to LPs and experts talking about the current state of affairs. New radio show! New ideas! New MKU! Starts at 10 PM, Sharp!

I realize I never went to any proms or homecoming dances. I went to a few other school dances here and there, and didn’t really have a good time.

They were largely unmemorable, to the point that I originally didn’t remember any dances, until a few embarrassing flashes felt too real, and must have been first-hand memories.

I’m glad that, at 42, I don’t regret this. Everything I understand about school dances doesn’t make them sound very appealing, ever a quarter century later.

I’m gonna be straight up about this: I am in this movie, and it is pretty cool to be on film talking about Negativland, one of my favorite bands. They were incredibly influential on me and my radio career, and their recordings are singular and wonderfully inventive, and have inspired me my entire adult creative life, so much so that I conducted my own interviews with the band recently. (midvalleymutations.com/category/negativland.) So I do have a slightly vested interest in selling you on the idea of a Negativland documentary.

However, I’ve seen the final cut, and if you are a fan, this is a story you will be interested in seeing, told by the members of the band, and the fans that love their work. Directed by William Davenport (Unsound Magazine, Problemist), this follows in the tradition of his other films, The New Punks, Great American Cassette Masters & Ziners in offering a look at artists that are working in ways that defy convention or tradition. This is a pretty cool film, offering William’s take on a slice of the art world that is often overlooked. I would probably recommend that you pick up a copy of this film from talkstoryfilms.net/shop anyway, even if I wasn’t in it, because it happens to be a great movie and a great story. But I’m also in this, and thus, I’ll probably be plugging it heavily for a while.

Even if you are new to this group, and know nothing of their records, this film captures their heart and their career in a way that stirs emotions even in the blackest of hearts. Check out the trailer, and thanks again William, for letting me ramble on and on about one of my favorite groups.

About to go live with The Secret True Origin of MKUltramegaphone. You can still donate to the Pledge Drive on kmuz.org, and when you do, mention our program, and you’ll get a free LP or comic book from my collection. Help out the station, get cool stuff, and listen to how MKUltramegaphone got started, live on the radio! Tune in, won’t you?

The kid in me who used to manage a Germs fan page and play covers of their stuff in the mid-’90’s just about flipped out to be talking to Don Bolles on the phone. Listen as he gives me a full breakdown of all the cool shit he’s done over the years, and tell some outrageous stories along the way. I still can’t believe this happened.
https://anywhereanywhen.wordpress.com/2018/02/06/don-bolles-it-was-fun-to-be-pissed-off-and-broke/