friday five - 24.04.09 - it's a freakshow

I'm back in the big boy's chair again. I never thought it would happen, honestly. Having been systematically demoted to the position of Friday Five Radio Custodial Engineer following my prior stint as FFR sub last November, I never thought Lea would let me get near the golden mic again. But, due to your regular host's myriad of unexpected computer troubles (as opposed to scheduled computer troubles, I guess), here I am once more. The theme, as she told me over the phone last night, is It's a Freakshow. No further clarifications were made as to which one of a wide variety of things this could entail, but I allowed as to how I could probably deal with it anyway.

We all have songs in our collections that are achingly bizarre; songs that, for some reason or other, just do not conform to typical songwriting conventions or social norms. What's more, some of these songs we even like. A lot. Even though it may be awkward to have them over for dinner with the parents, they're still a lot of fun to hang out with when no one else is around. They're special friends. But not to worry -- this is nothing to be ashamed of. Why, it gives both you and your library personality. At least that's what I want you to keep telling yourself. Though I could have kept going indefinitely, here are five songs I particularly enjoy that, while enjoyable, are just a little left-of-center and, well, freaky.



Also: if you need the above picture explained to you, come to New Mexico sometime. Have I got a treat for you.

Animal Collective - "Peacebone" (mp3|7.17MB)
Once you see the video for Animal Collective's "Peacebone," the connection is forged forever. There is no getting rid of the images. "Disturbing" doesn't begin to describe it. You may think the song by itself is creepy and weird, but trust me: if you haven't seen the video, you have no idea. Lucky me, the first time I ever heard the song was when I watched the video. My life has never been the same. It's, um ... well, let's put it this way: Merriweather Post Pavilion has done wonders for their career.
(from the 2007 album Strawberry Jam)

Fleetwood Mac - "Tusk" (mp3|4.81MB)
This song was a huge hit. I still have no idea how. It is one weirdass piece of work, almost definitely one of the weirdest to ever attain any degree of lasting mainstream success. It's almost like Lindsay Buckingham and the rest of Fleetwood Mac were just running a giant social experiment: post-Rumours (every single song from which they still play on classic rock radio every five minutes to this day, and none of them are even a fraction as bizarre), it seemed like the world at large might buy anything these guys put out. This, their follow-up, if anything, proves that right. And don't get me wrong -- it's totally badass. It's just ... man, not only does it not sound like the same band that did "Go Your Own Way" and "Don't Stop," it sounds like it came from another planet.
(from the 1979 album Tusk)

King Crimson - "Elephant Talk" (mp3|4.33MB)
I don't think King Crimson was ever one for normalcy, really. Being on the forefront of prog-rock means always more or less pushing the envelope. Even still, the band's early 80s self-reinvention was weirder than even the most devoted Crimson fan could likely have predicted. I'm not really sure how to describe this incarnation. It's very special, like Robert Fripp and his band of merry men got super stoned with Talking Heads, stole their rhythmic and intellectual New Wave sensibilities, and proceeded to turn them into an even bigger postmodern joke than even the Heads themselves had done. Or maybe I'm way off the mark. Either way, "Elephant Talk" is one hell of an entertaining song. It's bizarre as all hell, but it's a funny kind of bizarre. It's tongue-in-cheek. It knows it's funny. While this could easily be a deal-breaker elsewhere, somehow the meta-amusement just adds another layer of charm. It's awesome. Also: srs lulz @ the elephant guitar noise.
(from the 1981 album Discipline)

Scott Walker - "Farmer in the City" (mp3|9.11MB)
Scott Walker terrifies me. Anyone who has heard his 2006 album The Drift, which stands unchallenged as the most psychologically abusive piece of avant-garde mindfuckery I have ever heard, will know what I'm talking about. Really, I could easily have included any given track from that album; they're all fundamentally the same, and they're all indelibly frightening. I decided against this for two reasons: (1) I really don't want my readers to hate me and/or die; (2) special circumstances aside, I don't really even like The Drift all that much. "Farmer in the City" from his previous album, however, I think more suitably encapsulates his mission statement into something listenable: it's still ultra-eerie and his voice still gives me chills, but it's tuneful, it has structure, and there's even the vaguest sense he's trying to woo you a bit instead of just mess you up. So it more or less automatically becomes the best thing he's recorded.
(from the 1995 album Tilt)

Tom Waits - "Singapore" (mp3|2.52MB)
I've never been the biggest fan of Tom Waits, but I have to give credit where credit's due: it's hard to deny the brilliance of a man who can, seemingly without effort, produce a track as creepy, unsettling, and flat-out fun as "Singapore." I've always said it sounds like an outtake from some especially twisted Tim Burton flick (yeah, seriously). Never mind that, excepting Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Waits' Rain Dogs actually predates all of Burton's films; to say that Waits was merely anticipating the future success of Tim Burton would be to attribute to him a prognostic power that would only make "Singapore" creepier. But then I ask myself, is that really a bad thing?
(from the 1985 album Rain Dogs)

Yup. That'll do it for me. Enjoy! I hope your week went well! With any luck, Lea will be back next Friday with another rockin' dose of Friday Five-ness. 'Til then, take care!

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