Category Archives: Uncategorized

May 29 2010
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

Knowledge is a Gateway drug

May 19 2010
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

MAY 22, new drawings from “Anthropic Principle Lullabye”

Hello

It has been a LONG time since I posted, but coming soon are new articles about Clucking Blossom. I will post here my interviews with rock stars and cd reviews. Ok? ok.

I recently performed at CB6 (may 15), playing piano with Craig Brookes (Paper Scissors) and I performed my performance art piece “the Anthropic Principle Lullabye”…. Imagine Walt Whitman’s Song of myself updated for the 2000s! Here are some of the images from it.

Also, I am performing at a benefit to raise money for “Angry Young and Poor” which will be held July 24. I will do some of my more adult comics, some stand up comedy and some songs. That’s this Friday (the 22) at The Marlin at 10. I will try to play early, we can probably also expect sets from Craig Brookes and Chuck Bainered… who else?? You have to show up to see. its just 5 bucks and it helps to go towards the cost of a FREE music Festival .

Apr 19 2010
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

Roz Raskin and the Rice Cakes Interview

I highly recommend giving this excellent band a listen. They are based in Rhode island and have a unique sound, their primary instrument is a Rhodes piano, and the vocals are quite unique and exciting. Roz was kind enough to grant me an interview, here it is in its entirety.

Isaac- Do you listen to a lot of keyboard music? Gospel? jazz? classical?
What made you choose the Rhodes sound to be the primary rhythm instrument over say… an electric guitar???

Roz- I’m a classically trained pianist, turned jazz pianist, turned whatever I am now.  As for keyboard and piano music, I actually don’t listen to too much of it.  But what I do listen to has influenced me so much.  My favorites are Thelonious Monk, Herbie, and most importantly Chick Korea.   I was in high school when I first heard “Return to Forever” and it changed how I viewed music.  I thought to myself “What is that keyboard he’s playing, it sounds fucking sick”.  When I found out it was a Rhodes I new I needed one, or at least a keyboard that sounded like it.
I play a Nord Electro that gets a sound almost identical to the Rhodes.  You will be happy to know that I play an actual Rhodes on “the Friend Ship”.  Matt Decosta’s brother Mike received it from his high school music teacher and let us borrow it for the recording.  Needless to say when I found out we were using it I almost peed myself.  If I have a Rhodes, why would I play an electric guitar?  You feel me right?

Isaac- How do you write your songs? Tell me a little about the process? Your delivery is very… precise. I feel  I can hear the lyrics and put together a narrative the first time I hear these songs. It seems lyrics are an important part of the songs to you.

Roz- Lyrics are super important to me.  When I listen to a song for the first time I look for good original lyrics and music that plays like it hopes I keep listening.  I enjoy music that feels like it has purpose.  I’m not interested in anyone’s filler music or ideas based in attempts to make money.  I write my lyrics hoping people want to understand and feel what I’m talking about.  Lyrics, similar to musical composition, are open to all sorts of interpretation and that’s what make’s music so incredible.

These days the song writing process is more of a group effort.  Although I write all the lyrics, the music is entirely bits of each Rice Cake.
Ever since the edition of new bassist Justin Foster the band as a whole is contributing to all song writing.  Justin was a breath of fresh air for us.  He is extremely talented, loves to experiment, and most importantly, wants to play music at every given chance.

Isaac-Do you play mostly for over 21 crowds? did you have trouble booking shows when you were under 21? ( are you even 21 now?) is it important to you that you play all ages shows?

Roz- We have never had a big problem with age limits on crowds.  I recently turned 21 as did the boys.  We play to a pretty broad audience so all ages shows are super important.  We don’t want anyone to be left out.  We have only been turned away from one club for me not being of age and our response was “Fuck it, we’ll play some where else”.

Isaac- How did you record these songs? if you got to do a dvd commentary for the album- what are the inside scoops you could tell us about it?

Roz- Our recording engineer was a good friend and musician Matt DeCosta who fronts the Providence based trio Formal Action.  He engineered, mixed, and mastered “The Freind Ship” himself.  In terms of production, I would say it was a group effort.  We knew what we wanted the album to sound like and Matt made that possible.  He has a good ear.
We recorded the album with Matt in his living room in beautifully scenic Narragansett, RI.  It was the dead of winter and right near the beach.  It was probably the most peaceful setting we could have asked for.  Matt’s living room was covered in 70’s wood finished walls that made the acoustics in the recording’s sound natural and raw.  In the track “The Beating” you can hear a clock ticking behind my acoustic guitar and it sounds like I’m playing the guitar right in front of you.  That’s the vibe we were going for, the real deal.  Mostly live recordings.  We want it to sound like Casey is playing drums in your room.
We pretty much laid down all the live tracks the first day of recording in Narragansett.  Johnny (our then bassist) went home for the evening for a family party but me and Casey stayed over at Matt’s trying to record but mostly chilled, drank, and dabbled in illegal substances.  By 2 am Casey passed out but I was still awake and really inspired.  Matt and I were hanging out listening to some records and I said “I think I wanna throw down another key’s part on “Sing to Me”.  “Sing to Me” was the first song I was proud and I wrote it when I was 17 so it’s very near and dear to my heart.  Matt was down so he pressed record and I played a second backing Rhodes part.  For some reason I was so happy and inspired (and ridiculously high) that I started crying while I was playing.  I kept saying “it just sounds so beautiful!”.  I’m not a big crier in general so when I do it’s kind of a big deal.  Matt and I were laughing about it until the wee hours of the morning.  It’s too bad he was the only one there to witness it.

Isaac- Sum yourselves up in a quick little snippet for the website.

Roz-We are three kids out of Providence who love to play new and experimental music and hope to one day make a living off of it.  Until then, well there is no til then.  We’re just playing and having a fucking awesome time.

Tagged , , ,
Mar 19 2010
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

Yakuza Heart Attack “If the world is a post apocalyptic wasteland, it won’t stop me from making music.”

 

Update;

Keith Rankin is currently releasing music under the name “Giant Klaw”

And its pretty 🙂

 

Yakuza Heart Attack is Keith Rankin: guitar/keys, Matt Emmons -on keys/Synth, Chris Mengerink on Drums  and Justin Baker on bass. They play otherworldly EPIC instrumental pop on synthesizers. They are embarking on a tour that includes Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois and Tennessee. Read more and hear their music at myspace.com/yakuzaheartattack

Yakuza Heart Attack!

Squids Eye Records

Do you mind if my adjectives JUMP out at you in attempt to quantify this music? Punchy! zippy! elaborate, presenting, fanfare- tadaaa! its Yakuza Heart Attack- Exploding Fireworks of LOVE!
Dayton’s Multi-instrumentalist Kieth Rankin presents this triumphant 2nd album from Yakuza Heart Attack. (Also behind such bizarre sonic experiments as the Crane Engine and Erasers Fantasy, under his moniker “Keith Kawaii”)
One obvious highlight is the epic “Tears of the Judge,” which contains portions that are plodding and intense like metal, but there are excursions into sillyness, quick synth blips appear out of nowhere to herald a new section, as if a space ship has blasted away an opponent, only to encounter another more terrifying one.
The blissed out “Goodbye Rainbow Road” has wacky synths in conversation that remind me of Jean Jaques-Perry. “Power Surge” is pure candy joy for fans of YMCK, and sometimes sounds like the music in old Capcom games like Megaman, and other times resembles the music in Super Mario RPG. Keith uses bright and sugary tones frequently, especially on ”Hyper Fun Zone.” The bass and drums are also excellent and multiple tempo changes and unexpected diversions keep things spontaneous. The multiple layers of sound remind me of the joyous circus extravagance of Belaire, or what it would sound like if Ratatat were to expand and commit itself.
This music is great for sledding or snowboarding, or any other busy activity full of excitement!

Isaac – Did you record this yourself? as a band? or are you playing everything yourself? do you have label support?
Keith- I recorded/produced the album myself… half using an old Fostex recorder, half in Logic on a mac (and a little bit on Acid Pro on PC)
I’m obviously a fan of ‘in the red’ style recordings, where the sound is very loud and bursting. The record is unmastered, mainly because the sound files are peaking so bad that not much can be done with the dynamics. I thought mixing a more “modern, heavily distorted” aesthetic with synthesizer music would be cool. I’ve been making recordings like that for years, and now it seems like a pretty trendy thing to do (even the Flaming Lips last album was pretty blown out)!  Our label head (at Squids Eye Records) actually became gravely ill right as the YHA II album came back from press. He thought he might die. So we were left a bit stranded, with tons of CDs but no immediate plans for distribution. Most of the attention we got in 2009 came from blog posts, from me emailing places with a free download of the album and putting it up on our myspace for free.

So you released the cd for free on the net first. Then you plan to release it in stores?
That’s the plan for now… Our first album is on Amazon, Itunes, all that. The second one will hopefully be out soon. People can contact me through our myspace right now if they want to buy a CD or get a download. I think the question of how music is sold and obtained is the most important and complicated issue for musicians and the broader industry right now. I would obviously love to make a living off of music, be able to live from selling albums and touring, but you know, how many musicians in America actually do that? I read some statistic where only like 25 artists sold more than 100 thousand albums last year or something. I can’t remember the exact numbers, but the point is that our cultural view of music has changed forever, and everyone has to adapt. Kids aren’t going to magically stop downloading torrents. And it’s not up to me to decide how someone else wants to consume things. If they want the physical album, its there, if they want mp3s that’s there too. Giving the album away has helped us out, just by getting some tiny internet recognition.
I guess the big question is if people will get so accustomed to downloading that physical products fall by the wayside. Or what happens if people stop buying music altogether? Speaking for myself, if the world is a post apocalyptic wasteland, it won’t stop me from making music. Maybe we should start weeding out the money hungry opportunists masquerading as “artists” right now?
Isaac- What do you say when you are trying to convince a club or bar that you are worth their time? How do you try to make yourselves stand out? Your music is unique, but when you have to describe yourself, what words do you use?
Keith- I think it’s fairly easy to “sell” ourselves to certain areas, because a lot of elements in our music cater to niche genres that people are passionate about. All you have to say is “This shit sounds like a 70s Cop Movie Soundtrack mixed with King Crimson” and the right people will have a strong reaction. “70s synthesizer music like Wendy Carlos, early electronic stuff like Raymond Scott and Edgard Varese…” there’s just a lot of reference points that are starting to bubble up in popular indie music at the moment. So when you say, “We are heavily inspired by Clara Rockmore,” if someone is down with that, they’ll get excited, because it’s been only a minute since that style was “cool.” Analog synths alone are a big drawing point. There’s also the whole chiptune angle. I’m fine with it all. I also love that 70s music like Cluster and Neu! are becoming so canonized now. Kraftwerk is already the bible to a lot of people.

Isaac- This sounds like compositions from an orchestra, rather than jams from an indie band. Did you record all the parts and then teach it to a band? Or were these written as collaborative efforts with a rhythm section?
Keith- Most of the foundations for the songs originated on piano with me or the other key player Matt, but when we bring in bass and drums, everything changes. It’s funny, our bass player, Justin, is always getting down on himself like a depressed motherfucker because he thinks he doesn’t contribute anything original to the band, but his bass lines add an extra line of counterpoint that really brings the compositions to life. We try thinking about music horizontally rather than vertically, but it can be a challenge because so much of modern music, particularly rock, is built around jamming block chords, not stretching separate melodies overtop one another. When people hear horizontal music in a rock setting, though, it can be somewhat startling and exciting. Even if its just intense arpeggiations and nothing else, the lack of symmetrical block chords lining up musical bars can sound fresh, even though simple counterpoint is, you know, OLD.
Isaac- Is there a “nerd music” scene in  your town? I have heard of the Protomen, and the Minibosses, There’s a band in Seattle called “Press Start to Rock.” Who do you play with, who is your scene? there is a fun band called YMCK that plays gameboys.
Keith- I love YMCK. We recently played with Anamanaguchi and Starscream who seem like big parts of the chiptune scene. Their energy is awesome. Our best friends in our hometown of Dayton, Ohio is this band Astro Fang who share a certain progginess with us.  I think in general “nerd culture” is becoming less and less taboo. Who doesn’t love Mario Bros? Both the game AND the music! That theme might as well be ‘happy birthday’. It’s here to stay.
Do you have an interest in the Yakuza? Do you find them fascinating or is it just a Japanese sounding word to you?? The Yakuza are responsible for human trafficking and sexual slavery. I have a hunch that “Al-Qaeda heart attack” or “Nazi heart attack” would send a different message.
Living in the states, the Yakuza almost seem quaint. I know they have cut peoples heads off, but from what I understand they are still heavily involved with local economies and communities — they’re not just terrorists. That might all be a bullshit westernized view of the Yakuza, but I guess it’s why we went with them instead of the Third Reich. Also, apparently when the Japanese police don’t want to deal with a Yakuza related death, they just report that the victim died of a heart attack. Now I guess the name sounds like some hipster nonsense, though. We’re stuck with it!
What keyboards are you playing?
Live we rely on two Casio MT-100 keyboards, which somehow cut through everything when the music is blaring. Also there’s the Jen SX-1000 which is a really streamlined, basic synth that’s easy to drag around. The real “star” of YHA II, though, is the Roland SH-02, which we got JUST before we started overdubbing key parts. It gives all those “whoooosh” and bubble sounds, and a lot of the sound-flavors that are floating around in the background. There’s something massively appealing about being able to turn knobs to affect a sound in real time, a feeling that’s completely lost in most digital keyboards I’ve played around on.
I love sound-world albums, where noises and notes are used out of the context of a melody to elicit different reactions — different from what you feel when you hear a heavily contrapuntal piece of music. Even though our album is filled with saccharine, dark, or triumphant melodies, that method of composition can be very straightforward in its relationship to certain emotions. We’re so culturally bound to, say, minor chord changes being sad, that it’s a bit of a trap when you go ahead and use one. It’s like, “Oh, heres the sad one. Now there’s a happy one.” I think the spread of noise and pure sound as a legitimate form of composition is making ambiguity easier, and hopefully there’s a bit of that on our records. It would be wonderful to get to a point where people were registering the pure sounds more prominently than the compositional techniques behind the music, but that’s a long ways away
Isaac- Naming instrumentals is always a prickly pear, names like “Untitled #4″ and “Composition in D# for four Cellos” are unsatisfying and banal.  Many of my favorite bands are instrumental, and they often have unsatisfying song titles. The Bad Plus, Medeski Martin and Wood, Do Make Say Think, Tortoise, and Man… or Astroman?, are all fantastic at composing, but their titles bore me.
I really mean no offense, but why did you name these songs these things? The terms “monster,” and “beast” are vague. “Tears of the Judge” and “Heart Pounding Prison” are more fun titles because they force us to make an image in our mind that is unusual or contradictory. Raymond Scott had very colorful titles,  “Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals” packs a lot more narrative punch than “Hello Dance,” or “Power Surge” It seems to me that these songs are so vibrant and exciting that naming them at all brings them down a little- ties them to reality in a way that dissatisfies me. again, I hope not to offend.
THIS INTERVIEW IS OVER!! Kidding. Titling is often difficult. On the records I make by myself, I sometimes leave the song titles blank, because part of me does like the old classical system of naming things — the idea that an album is all of a piece, or that someones entire musical career is of a piece: Piano Sonata #4 Op. 58… whatever. It’s tied to a more statistical way of thinking.
YHA II obviously has song titles though. I’ll give you the pretentious explanation for it all:
 I like to think of the record like you’re entering an alien world or going through epic levels in a video game. Each title is like a new level or segment of a larger ‘journey’, so in that light you could take Beast Attack literally if you wanted. You know, it just depends on how much nerd-energy you want to invest.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Feb 19 2010
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

Yellow Fever, Nous Non Plus, Marco Benevento,UUVVWWZ, Marion Call, Sweating Honey

Here are some cd reviews I contributed to Performer Magazine. Some were published there already. More to come!

Yellow Fever
myspace.com/yellerfever
Recorded at their House in Austin Texas, Engineered by Adam Moore

Yellow Fever sing songs that resemble childhood chants to accompany playground jump rope games but sung with a dry hipster detachment? ie “My brother and me went to a show and we saw everyone we know.” In another she sings, “The cutest boy, I ever saw,” which I believe is still sung by girl scouts around campfires.
Are they inspired by the Dada aesthetic? Most songs are very sparse, with either just a guitar and a snare drum accompanying Jennifer Moore’s youthful female voice. This minimalism works in their favor on “Psychedelic” and the very catchy “Cats and Rats,” but I can’t help but feel these are 11 versions of a single plastic song rather than 11 distinctly unique songs.
Sometimes their lyrics remind me of the “dumb on purpose?” aesthetic of bands like Ladytron. Or are they the “Ernest Hemmingway” version of the Moldy Peaches? (About writing, he famously said, “take out all the good lines.”) These do not sound like songs written by children, but by adults trying to write songs in the style of children.
I suspect that they have written hundreds of songs and put those on the album that audiences seemed to like.  I’d like to see 11 more in a few years, assuming they play regularly, and see how their style has changed.
Nous Non Plus (New York City)
Produced by Dan Crane, engineered and mixed by Bryan Cook, additional engineering by Jon Erickson.

Recorded at Kingsize Soundlabs. Additional recording at The Hanger, Mellow Workshop, Edison Music, LoHo Studios, and in various apartments in NY, Paris, LA and Flagstaff. Mastering at SAE Mastering.


For fans of Paris Combo, Os Mutantes, Brazilian Girls, The Cardigans (early recordings)
Let the organs and horns transplant you to another time, gleeful 60s gogo music sung (almost) entirely in french. The flutes and vibes (Benoit Rault and Joe Berardi) remind me of the breezy tunes The Cardigans released in the early 90s, and the zippy energy often brings to mind “Soul Bossa Nova” by Quincy Jones.
The music of Nous Non Plus urges us to enjoy ourselves. Their politics extol a gay hedonism over violence and destruction.
“When you dance you cannot fight so lets stay up and dance all night!”  they sing in “Mais Maintenant il Faut Danser,” which translates as “for the moment we must dance.” I thought they were singing, “big bombs fall on literature,” but their lyric sheet tells me its “little children” which are the unfortunate victims of the explosives… oh well, fuck it. lets dance.
Jean Luc and Celine sometimes coo together, at other times they trade who has the mic which gives some tracks a slight “garage sound,” and others a sexy lounge vibe. The excellent production, apparently recorded at studios all over the world, makes it all match and compliment each other. One highlight is a Unicorns cover: “Tuff Ghost”, another is the wacky “Catastrophe.” Here is a tip for singing along, which your sure to do; in French, you don’t pronounce the “e” at the end.
I also recommend you watch their music videos online, it’s there you can see their cute faces and know comprehensively that they are not taking themselves seriously. In one, there is an atomic girl zapping people with a laser gun on a space ship, in another they are dancing in a kitchen while making a souffle.

Marco Benevento, Brooklyn, NY. Between the Needles and Nightfall
Key Track: “IIa Frost”

Recorded at Trout Recording in Brooklyn, NY. Engineer: Bryce Goggin
Mixed by Mell Dettmer, Eyvind Kang, Jesse Lauter, and Vid Cousins.

Benevento delivers another fun and lively collection of funky keyboard music.
A friendly bass riff supplied by Reed Mathis (Tea Leaf Green and the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey) is a prominent part of the title track. “Numbers” chugs along like “Benny and the Jets” but with whirling, whizzing synths and circuit bent toys by Tom Stephenson from Math Robot.
An eye-opening cover of Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good,”  features some extremely overdriven organ. Drummer Andrew Barr really shines here, bringing unexpected counter rhythms and colorful rim shots. Benevento said in an email interview, “that song is a future classic, it will be in every fakebook soon.”
The dreamy shuffle on “Music is Still Secret” reminds me of Kid Koala. (Maybe that’s due to mixing by Vid Cousins.) “Snow Lake” has a creepy shamisen-like chiming, these are processed bells from Scott Amendola.
There is always a certain feel to a Benevento song: a pleasant “skip in your stride” mood, that lends itself to walking with a forward lean, to going out and nailing that job interview, or finishing that 17×24 painting, or climbing that fucking mountain just because its there!  “Ila Frost” is a highlight, and an ideal example of melodies that sound truly optimistic. Swirling organs provide the poetry, and Vince Guaraldi-like piano bring the philosophy, its a Jack Kerouac novel converted to pure sound.
A mellotron, an optigan, various acoustic and electric pianos, organs and a harpsichord are processed through bit shifters, delay effects and ring modulators, and join in like characters in an avant-garde opera. You are sure to hear more layers each time you indulge in this eccentric album.

Domestic
marcobenevento.com
UUVVWWZ
recorded by Andy Koeneke and JJ Idt.
Mastered by Doug Van Sloun
Saddle Creek records
UUVVWWZ- self titled
Lincoln Nebraska
myspace.com/uuwwvvz
This new band apparently got signed to a label with a great reputation very early in their career; their debut album is very fun and definitely carries its weight alongside the other heavy hitters on their label! They are from Nebraska, and I had no idea something so invented and inverted could come out of that state. I thought of many bands upon listening, but none of them were the ones listed on their promotional material. The outrageous vocals and arrangements reminded me of the Fiery Furnaces and Land of Talk. It is made up of guitars and basses and drums like all the post Pixies indie bands. I haven’t had this much fun since Be Your Own Pet. I can’t assemble these lyrics into any kind of narrative; though Teal Gardner’s vocals are exceptionally clear for what some would call punk rock. She coos, then croons, then belts it out like a banshee. It is certainly experimental, but that doesn’t mean its unintelligible noise.There are no synthesizer cliches, or feedback drones; no samples and no glaringly obvious studio tricks. I would put them in a mix alongside two other bands that are committing the iconoclastic sin of merging math rock with “pretty:” V for Vendetta and Maps and Atlases.  It’s weird yes, but good weird. very good.

Marian Call, Vanilla
Anchorage Alaska
mariancall.com
Recorded at Pacific Studios in Tacoma, Washington by Tony Thomas (mixing and mastering)
and by Ryan Brownell at The Garden Recording Studio in Anchorage Alaska.


Marian’s debut album “Vanilla” is warm, quirky, and fun from beginning to end. “Your Fault,” the “Volvo Song,” “Vanilla” and “Rx: Stop What You’re Doing” stand out as highlights, and are full of many lines that will bring smiles to listener’s faces. She calls her self a “square, a “geek” and a “lexiholic,” and in addition to bars and coffee shops has been playing house concerts and Science Fiction conventions. She writes songs about Firefly, yes the Joss Whedon television program, not the genus Coleoptera Lampyridae. “Dark Dark Eyes” is for River Tam. Marian reminds me of two other “library nerd” songwriters, Nellie Mckay and Casey Dienel. Others compare her to Joni Mitchell, and if you like her you should also look up the Homer songwriter Sarah C. Hanson.  Inspired studio performances abound on this gem of a disc. My favorite guest appearance is David Salge on Clarinet on” Vanilla. There are other contributions, David Pew adds accordion and banjo and Paul Pew delivers sparse but soulful piano. These collaborators never distract from what should be front and center, Marian’s genuine, humorous lyrics and her soulful and friendly voice.

Sweating Honey
When We Were Young

Fairbanks, AK
Produced by Luke Beckel and Corwyn Wilkey | Mixed by Sweating Honey | Mastered by Mandy
Parnell at Electric Mastering in London, UK | Recorded at Dome Studios in Fairbanks, AK

When We Were Young makes a great introduction to this party-friendly funk band from Alaska’s Interior. Primary songwriter and front man, Luke Beckel, turns his love of all genres into a thrilling LP.

Though the energy is high, tempos are never rushed or frantic. You can tell these musicians are field-tested and confident. What really gets the listener moving is the percussionist, Nick Shier, and the horn section, bringing a Latin feel to many of the tracks. There are many life-affirming lyrics along the lines of “living without love is like breathing without air.” Two highlights are, “Whatcha’ Gonna Do,” a psychedelic salsa with a reggae breakdown, and “Summer Thang,” where trumpet player Corwyn Wilky puts down his horn and does some soulful lead singing.

“Man on the Moon” is a pleasant piano ballad that may remind some of Ryan Adams, and the exciting “Ezmerelda” tells a story of seduction and murder with a peppy Latin beat reminiscent of Calexico. “Drew Grass” is a peppy bluegrass number with mandolin and tight, restrained drumming.

The album concludes with a traditional tune, “Nobody’s Fault but Mine,” where Beckel shares the vocals with guitar player Drew Frick, bass player Jeremiah Bakken and Wilkey. Each vocalist takes a turn at a verse and the four of them sing in sweet harmony for the choruses. This passionately delivered final track acts as a nightcap after a swinging party; it’s just when the sun is rising and you get sentimental for your family and friends who are far away that Frick howls, “My children, they taught me how to live.”
-Isaac Paris

Tagged , , , , , ,
Sep 22 2009
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

workshop, No Shame, Oct 3 GALA

I am going to host a stand up comedy workshop. In order to make it less exclusive- i am also inviting all slam poets and monologists, performance artists and wierdos to my workshop. We can share our work eith each other, give comments and supply each other with a shoulder to cry on. This is to get ready fo…

NO SHAME theatre at THE EMPRESS downtown, sponsored by Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre. it starts at 7, and costs 5 dollars… the flyers do not indicate if performers get in free but it has 3 rules- 5 minutes- nothing gets broken, and only original material… though I imagine that the nothing gets broken rule is the most flexible, they probably don’t want you to break their equipment, but if you bring your own thing and break it, I imagine that is ok. I am excited by the possiblities!

my workshop is OCTOBER 1st at the Green Room, I hope members of Groudn Squirrel can come, also my slam poetry friends… and we will see if my flyers bring anyone new??

Paper scissors concerts are coming up in october! OCT 9 at the marlin, 16 at the pub, 30 at the marlin.

Also… zendikar comes out soon, and I am applying for a grant for my book. exciting stuff.

isaac

Jun 28 2009
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

A Geust in Cartooning Class, Angry Young and Poor, Lonely Hearts Burlesque

I recently was a guest in Jaime Smith’s Cartooning class, there are pics and descriptions here at his blog, which I am now adding to my links.

Reading "Homonculus" in Jaime Smith's Cartooning Class

Reading "Homonculus" in Jaime Smith's Cartooning Class

http://inksnow.blogspot.com/

I will play at Angry Young and Poor June 11 in ester park. It has been many years, but I have played at every one so far, I won’t have Dan and Quinton with me, but I have something special planned.

I will be playing an old song that I very rarely play at Lonely Hearts Burlesque. It will have cartoon illustration accompaniment.

It opens Friday July 10. It also has my friends Anna Gagne Hawes, Rachel Blackwell, Christina, Mary Haley, Sarah, Melissa, Meagan, Jessica and Ramiro. I wrote 3 of the sketches: among my inspirations, the Marx Brothers, Harold Lloyd, Old Burlesque Sketches, A bit of Fry and Laurie, and Monty Python.

Tagged , , ,
Jun 09 2009
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

Folk Fest, Sibel Edmonds interview now available, and Caligari Alaska now online.

I am playing a short set at the Folk Fest this weekend. I am playing at 1:45.  It will be an all banjo set, all originals, unless I have time for a Jeff Lewis cover.

My interview with Sibel Edmonds is now available on the web and published in the Ester Republic. Thank you Dierdre Helfferich for your help in getting this story out!

Here is the link-

http://www.esterrepublic.com/Archives/iparis1.html

I also put it at the bottom of this post. Also I’ve added her blog to my list of blogs.

www.123realchange.blogspot.com

My Songs from Caligari ALaska are now on the web as well. You can watch the whole production for FREE at this website-

http://theatreuaf.org/blog/

Thank You Kade Mendelowitz. He interviewed me for the production, and also made and desigend the sets. This show features my friends Anna Gagne Hawes , Rachel Blackwell, Jey Johnson and Sergio Santana. It was directed by Anatoly Anohin and Brian Lyke and was/is fantastic.

I played at Clucking Blossom two weekends ago, I unveiled new large color illustrations for the humanist,  pro- environment,  anti-nuclear proliferation song “Anthropic Principle Lullaby”

and performed the classic, often requested and irreverant “William H Macy.”  I also managed to draw many people and play accordion accompaniment for Greg Bryce- also known as “Black Fowers Black Sun.”

I also hosted a Circuit bending workshop, and recently discovered Makeyourownclone.com and Getlofi.com. I may construct one of Make Your Own Clone’s pedals someday, now I am looking at their kits and thinking they are cool, wishing I had money to blow. I got some chips from Getlofi and will be putting them in my old gameboys. 🙂 I may be in the lineup at Angry Young and Poor, July 11th at Ester community park

and Lonely Hearts Burlesque- July 10 through 25th at the Golden Eagle. With an original song by me and original skits in the style of old time vaudeville. If you like the Muppets, Monty Python or the Marx Brothers you’ll like my skits!

Here is the article mentioned above in its entireity. Please read and forward to others, more people need to hear Sibel’s story!

Gagging the Truth about Corruption in the War on Terror
a conversation with Sibel Edmonds, FBI whistleblower
an interview by Isaac Paris

On Wednesday, April 8, I conducted an interview with Sibel Edmonds. If you are unfamiliar with her story: she joined the FBI as a translator of Turkish, Farsi, and Azeri shortly after September 11, 2001. She found corruption, incompetence, and perhaps espionage in the Middle Eastern languages translation department. She noticed that “if counterintelligence receives information about terrorism that implicates certain nations, semi-legit organizations or the politically powerful in this country, then that information is not shared with counterterrorism, regardless of the consequences.” She followed protocol by filling out forms and going to her superiors. She was accused of going public with the information and taking it to Congress when she had not. She was fired, and then went to Congress and the Supreme Court. The Bush administration classified what she said to Congress as confidential under the States Secrets Act. Her case could not go forward in the Supreme Court because everything related to her case had been classified confidential.

Among her claims: that the US missed opportunities to prevent September 11; that the “US Government engaged in mock investigations and shut down many small Islamic charities and organizations, giving the appearance of action in the so-called ‘War on Terror;’” that Dennis Hastert, former Republican Speaker of the House, accepted tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from Turkish lobbying groups in exchange for “political favors and information;” that the American Turkish Council is a front for illegal activity involving opium money and selling confidential US weapon technology; and that loyalty to Saudi Arabian business partners was more important than the safety of American citizens to former President George W. Bush. We cannot know all that she has found because the government invoked the state secrets privilege to gag her and Congress in order to ‘protect certain sensitive diplomatic relations,’ or, to speak plainly, profit.

I had stumbled across Sibel Edmonds in my research for a comic book on historical figures who had been silenced or persecuted for their views and who fought for free speech. A few of those featured in the book are Sonya Kovalevskya, Max Stirner, Shuanzi, and Socrates. I had gone to College Coffeehouse to have the conversation with Edmonds, and, while my young son, Miro, pestered me to cease ignoring him, and others there enjoyed espresso and checked their e-mail, she and I discussed her story. I felt nervous to be discussing such matters in a public place, but her demeanor and humor put me at ease.

Sibel: I think it’s a great idea to do a comic. I read one of a woman from Iran, it was very good.

Isaac: Yes… Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.

Sibel: Ah, you must be young; you still have your memory.

Isaac: My project will have two-page biographies of people who have been gagged, who have said unpopular things, and who have stood up for freedom of speech. I would like to have a page about you, and I wanted to get the details right. I heard of you first when I was studying Daniel Ellsberg.

Sibel: Ah! my best friend.

Isaac: Oh really? I think he is perhaps the most famous whistleblower; so, you stick together?

Sibel: Yes, he is a dear friend and when he comes to the DC area he stays at my house.

Isaac: I was researching him, I didn’t interview him, but in one of his interviews he mentions you. Have other whistleblowers contacted you?

Sibel: Yes, and I have made an organization, at nswbc.org. [National Security Whistleblowers Coalition]

Isaac: I read the ACLU report that explained that the Whistleblowers Protection Act doesn’t really protect any whistleblowers.

Sibel: Yes.

Isaac: Are you trying to get the word out more? What are you doing now?

Sibel: I have been taking a break, I haven’t done any interviews for a year. I get so many e-mails and I can’t respond to all of them, but your comic book sounded interesting.

Isaac: Thank you. In my comic, I depict you as shocked and surprised as these events happen, is this accurate?

Sibel: Well, yes, at first I was shocked and then I was dismayed. I really didn’t believe something this ridiculous could happen in this country. It really defies all logic.

Isaac: The Vanity Fair article was what I used primarily for the “plot” of my comic, would you say this article did a good job?

Sibel: A pretty good job, but it focused on the connection to Dennis Hastert, not the silencing of Congress and the Supreme Court. But the article was only ten pages, to tell the whole story it would need to be over forty pages long…

Isaac: There was a statement by someone in the government, [who] called the article, “an exciting read, entertaining, but no truth to it.”

Sibel: The article didn’t focus on the court case, which is what I think is most important. It was shut down because everything was classified. I use the word Kafkaesque, as there is no other word to describe it.

Isaac: It’s as if there isn’t a court high enough to hear your case.

Sibel: Exactly, and there is no first amendment rights for someone who has things to say that are made classified by the government. Or in my case, retroactively made classified. I hope you include a satire regarding the languages I translate and my birth date being classified. If I were to be pulled over by a policeman I couldn’t give him my driver’s license because its classified!

Isaac: So is that the case? You can’t fly, for instance?

Sibel: No, of course I am required to give my passport when I fly. It’s all absurd. The things made classified were public knowledge, as they had been available on the web, from Congress’s own website. The Executive branch should never gag Congress. They complied with the illegal gag order. “Yes, we will do whatever you ask of us because of the terrorists, because of the boogie man.” And the media isn’t doing its job, holding these people accountable.

When Daniel Ellis brought the Pentagon Papers to the Washington Post and the New York Times in 1971, these media organizations were pressured by the Executive branch to suppress the information. Eventually, the Supreme Court granted the newspapers the right to publish documents deemed confidential. In Sibel’s case, the Supreme Court was cowed by the Bush administration. Newspapers have been less eager to cover the story, perhaps reflecting popular opinion; in 1971 the Vietnam War was exceedingly unpopular, and criticizing it was common. In 2004 the War on Terror was supported by the majority of the American people, still reeling from the terrorist attacks of September 11. This is only more evidence that we need to be the media.

Isaac: So in my comic, I say that you ran into information about the September 11 attacks and you found evidence of illegal activity within the first few weeks, but you had a low-level clearance, is that right?

Sibel: Well, no, as a translator your clearance is higher than even that of the agents. The first line is the translators. The translator decides what should be discarded as unimportant.

Isaac: So our agents could be the best and it wouldn’t matter.

Sibel: Exactly. All is determined by the translator, there is no mechanism to check or double check. There are only three agents in the FBI who can speak Arabic and none who speak Turkish.

Isaac: And you were the first Turkish translator hired by the FBI?

Sibel: Well, there were Turkish translators in other divisions, who sometimes would be told, “We need you for three days or for three months or whatever” by the FBI, but yes, I was the first Turkish translator, and then they hired three more.

Isaac: Your supervisor, Mike Feghali, I want to put him in the comic, but there’s no photo that I can find, can you describe what he looked like?

Sibel: He is a very unimportant man. He is just a low-level bureaucrat. He is from Lebanon, fifty years, 5’5”. Heavy, shiny, greasy-looking man. Dark olive complexion, balding in front, double chin, maybe triple chin. He used to work for the FBI in NY as a translator for Arabic.

Isaac: And in my comic I say that he was padding his time sheets, and did he brag about that to you?

Sibel: No. This was not happening while I was there. But he was hiring his brother, his sister-in-law, his friends, and his friend’s brothers as translators. But that’s just bureaucracy. But he was billing the FBI for hours he didn’t work—this was long before my time with the FBI—and they fired him. He also had several sexual harassment charges, but he filed a complaint that this was prejudice against him because he was of Arabic decent so they kept him on. And then he applied for supervisory positions several times and they didn’t give him the job.

Isaac: So after that he was untouchable? Is he Fluent in Turkish?

Sibel: No. But he didn’t have to be, at the time he was my supervisor he was just a manager, he just had organizational duties. I don’t know if he was padding his time sheet but he was padding others, his friends. Or, they would go to him and say “I want to go see this Iranian singer who is coming to town,” and he would approve that that was a work expense, and pay them for that.

Isaac: And he was the one who asked you to translate slowly?

Sibel: Yes, but that was the whole department. They had lots of backlogged digital files to translate, and we were all told to take our time. They were trying to convince higher-ups that they needed more funding.

We talked more; I was trying to get descriptions of the people who would be in my comic. Eventually our conversation wound its way to discussing the current administration.

Sibel: The Obama administration had a chance to prosecute the Bush administration and hold them accountable but they did not. The Obama administration is granting the Bush admin people immunity.

Isaac: And all this promise of change turns out to be just business as usual.

Sibel: Yes, I do not have much hope for the Obama administration. We had a chance for real change with Ron Paul, but he is labeled a nut, and people say, “I don’t want to throw my vote away.” I don’t agree with everything he says; I am not an economics expert, but in him I saw the potential for genuine change.

Isaac: It’s like what we went through with Nader in 2000.

Sibel: We need fifty honest Congressmen to have real change. We cannot put our aspirations in a new president. It is not enough to have Ron Paul and that other guy. You need $250,000 to run for Congress and that’s just too much.

Isaac: When all the attention was on Blagojevich for trying to sell Barack Obama’s senate seat to the highest bidder, I felt, he is just one corrupt politician—and there are so many others who are getting no coverage at all!

I asked her what she was doing lately, and she said she had been traveling and had gone to Asia. I told her I was going to be traveling soon, and we began to complain about airport security.

Sibel: What does it take for people to say, “Okay, now we are officially living in a police state?” We see it most in the airports, we are being violated, our constitutional rights, every single day and especially when we travel. Did you hear Ron Paul’s manager was detained in an airport and he asked, “Under what law are you detaining me?” and they didn’t give him one. Fortunately he had a fancy cellphone and taped the entire incident.

I have been traveling recently and I visited the UK and Australia and they have adopted the same oppressive mood in the US airports. They have the same rules. I visited Vietnam and felt much safer in non-American airports than in those of the so-called ‘democracies.’

I talked to some friends in Vietnam, I asked them, “You aren’t afraid of the terrorists?” and they said, “Why should we be? Why would they hit us? We haven’t done anything to anger anybody.”

Isaac: Have you returned to Turkey?

Sibel: I am completely blacklisted. I cannot return to Turkey because if I do, I will be arrested immediately. To them I have committed treason; I worked for another country’s intelligence.

Isaac: I didn’t realize.

After I had taken about an hour of her time and Miro’s patience for sitting in the coffeeshop listening to me talk politics on the phone was at the breaking point, we concluded our chat pleasantly with some lighter humor.

Sibel: Have you heard of the drug czar? The US appointed four new czars of other things, I think we have the National Security Czar and the Economy Czar… What does this word mean? “Czar.” Have we really run out of English words for officials and we must use the word “czar”now? What would a female be? A czarina?

Isaac: It seems to imply that they are unquestionable.

Sibel: Yes, and what word do we use next? When this position is made obsolete? God? Here is a country that hates monarchy and we name a government position, “czar?”

Isaac: Whose idea was that? is that supposed to sound like someone we can trust?

(A little internet research reveals that we also have a Border Czar, and many humor websites have joked that the head czar would be a—drum roll please—czar czar.)

Isaac: Is this conversation likely to be wiretapped?

Sibel: Oh yeah, you can bet on it.

Isaac Paris is a musician and cartoonist living in Fairbanks, Alaska. His most recent project was composing music for Theatre UAF’s “Caligari: Alaska.” He is also helping with Clucking Blossom 5, May 30th at Birch Hill Recreation area. To keep updated on his book project and hear his songs, you can visit his blog at isaacparis.wordpress.com.

For more information about Sibel Edmonds, there are many websites where you can read interviews and articles about her case.

The Wikipedia entry on her: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibel_Edmonds

“The Highjacking of a Nation,” by Sibel Edmonds, November 15, 2006, available on line at: www.nswbc.org/Op%20Ed/Op-ed-Part1-Nov15-06.htm

“In Congress we trust… Not.” Sibel Edmonds, May 4, 2009. Available on line at: www.bradblog.com/?p=7117

“What FBI whistle-blower Sibel Edmonds found in translation,” by Philip Giraldi. Dallas News, February 17, 2008, Available on line at: dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-sibeledmonds_17edi.ART.State.Edition1.45b446a.html

“Sibel Edmonds: Help me put Perle and Feith in jail.” An interview with David Swanson. March 13, 2007. Available on line at: lukery.newsvine.com/_news/2007/03/13/613021-sibel-edmonds-help-me-put-perle-and-feith-in-jail

“Edmonds sues Ashcroft again, asserts 911-related actions were illegal,” Tom Flocco. Wednesday, June 24, 2004, http://tomflocco.com. Available online at: tomflocco.com/fs/EdmondsSues.htm

Whistleblowing organizations and websites:

Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy, www.fas.org/programs/ssp/govsec/

National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, www.nswbc.org

National Whistleblowers Center, www.whistleblowers.org

Project on Government Oversight, www.pogo.org

Wikileaks, www.wikileaks.org

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
May 24 2009
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

First Circuit bending show, CB, Lonely Hearts burlesque

I played my first Circuit bent show at Cafe Alex.

I was playing my Gameboy advance with Nanoloop, an alesis Air FX, a Kaos Pad, into some boss pedals, a New LOOP Feedback pedal from Napalm ( a guy from the UK) and 3 circuit bent instrument I have made.

I have had a few workshops with circuit bending, I am having good times with potentiometers and capacitors. 🙂

The show was very fun and at Cafe Alex. I have got to thank Caleb and WORK for sharing the stage and Bernie who rocked our socks off with a kick ass cover band of BE Your Own pet. they played all the best songs and i danced and moshed happily.

Also Clucking Blossom: I am playing at 4:40 with Melissa Buchta helping me make up songs- and Jennifer Harmon on violin. I will also be there all day, enjoying the music, drawing anyone who wants a free drawing, and demonstrating circuit bending for the uninitiated…

I am Music director for Lonely hearts burlesque. I am looking for a bass player and a drummer… The shows will be in July at the Gold Rush Saloon.

We will performing classic burlesque songs from showtunes, we have 8 or 9 girls who do dances singing, striptease and comedy. I will do some some stand up comedy and I am helping write and direct the comedy sketches.

Peace!

love

bye

May 10 2009
Leave a comment
Uncategorized

An article with my Brother, Chris and I

thanks john Wagner for the photo and thanks Amanda Bohman for the article

http://www.newsminer.com/news/2009/may/10/fairbanks-cartoonists-draw-experience-bring-charac/

← Older posts
Newer posts →