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Update 156
SF Indie Music Archive
I've had this idea for awhile that I want to start an archive of independently produced music by San Francisco musicians/bands. In a way I have already been archiving independently produced music by Bay Area musicians with the Embryo compilations. But I want to do something more comprehensive. I want to be a clearinghouse of sorts - a place where if you're a musician or band in San Francisco you could send you're independently produced CD and I would classify it, catalog it, and make available information about it on a Web site, perhaps even posting a few music files from each CD. I got the idea from the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). They have what they call the Little Maga/Zine Collection. The SFPL describes the Little Maga/Zine Collection as documenting "the alternative press of the San Francisco Bay Area...The collection has grown to represent almost every literary and cultural movement from the 1940s to the present, and includes political little mags and self-published zines (including the Cubby Missalette!!)...Currently the collection holds over 3,900 items." Check it out. Anyway, after finding out about this collection and donating a copy of almost every issue of the Missalette to them, I asked if they had something similar for music. Though the library can and does add local (and sometimes independently produced) CDs to its collection (both circulating copies, which can be checked out, and reference copies, which are held in the SF History Center where you can listen to them but cannot check them out), it does not have an official archive of this music like it does for locally produced, self-released zines. Perhaps if I did do this myself, I could one day donate the collection to the SFPL. The problem, though, is that it seems like such an intense project and I don't know how I would find the time to build the Web site, listen to all the CDs, and catalog and classify the CDs, not to mention the problem of where I would store all the CDs (assuming, of course, people actually send me CDs - and that brings up another question: how would I let it be known that such an archive exists?). If anyone has any ideas on how I would begin to undertake such a project, please email me. I would appreciate any advice I can get.
Brian
3.21.08 8:19pmpst
Update 155
Ritual Sound
A little while back I sent some Cubby Creatures CDs (After the Deprogramming and Embryo 4) and vinyl (Who Remembers Kathy Barra? and Three Sides of Cubby) to this guy Joe who runs a blog called Ritual Sound. I was introduced to his blog when he sent a friend request to the Embryo MySpace account. I accepted the add and checked out his Ritual Sound MySpace page and blog. On his MySpace page he has the open invitation to send him music for review, and I was into the fact that he wanted "Underground bands & labels looking for exposure," and I thought it was cool that he says "I will accept a CD but only if there is no vinyl release available." I was a little unsure at first because though he says he's into "psychedelic rock" and "freaky folk," he also listed "doom, black metal, magical dub, and experimental noise." I didn't know if he would be into the Cubby Creatures. But I thought what the heck, if he decides to give it a bad review, then I'll chalk it up as "all publicity is good publicity." Plus, it seemed he mostly reviewed things he liked, so I figured if he didn't like the Cubby Creatures he just wouldn't review it. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised when he left a comment on the Cubby Creatures MySpace page saying he had received the package I sent him and was really impressed. And then I was even more pleasantly surprised when I checked the Ritual Sound blog today and saw Joe's very cool review of "After the Deprogramming." Check it out...
Brian
3.17.08 11:13ampst
Update 154
News Haikus
moses
Moses was tripping
high atop Sinai mountain;
he thought he saw God.
what happened to governor spitzer?
spitzer said crime's bad
then got caught paying a whore
so he quit, busted.
Jol
3.13.08 8:29pmest
Update 153
Mad Chot
I wrote about this in an email recently and thought I should post it to the Daily Discharge, since it might be of interest to Cubby historians, and also because I wanted to bring to the attention of the world a band that existed but no one's ever heard of. Oh, and I can't identify myself because drugs are mentioned and I don't want family members or potential employers to know this is me. But some of you will know who is writing this. Anyway, here's what I wrote in the email...
"On a related side note, I once played in this band (which we called Mad Chott) when I briefly lived in Santa Cruz. I lived in this house out in the woods with three other guys (who were all in the band). The house had a garage and we had all our band equipment (drums, guitars, bass, amps, microphones, P.A.) set up in the garage, and since we were out in the middle of nowhere, we could play loudly at any time of day or night. Of course, we usually played at night after (or while) doing lots of drugs and drinking lots of alcohol, and the rehearsals (or jam sessions, really, since we never actually wrote any songs) would often turn into sessions of destruction where different persons would take turns destroying (inspired no doubt by the music and drugs and alcohol) random things in the garage while the others kept playing music. It was really quite remarkable (and very therapeutic - a release of some sort of primal rage, probably). We never destroyed any of our instruments or gear, though. We knew where to draw the line, I guess."
And, of course, that was the extent of Mad Chott. We never played any shows. We never recorded any songs. And we never played again after we got kicked out of the house (for reasons unrelated to the music playing, drug taking, and alcohol drinking). Though, I think we did record some of those rehearsal sessions. Perhaps I will digitize a "song" or two and post it to the Daily Discharge someday.
Anonymous Cubby Creature
3.8.08 9:31pmpst
Update 152
Oscar Miracle
I was really happy that Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard won the best song Oscar for their song "Falling Slowly." Up against three nominated songs from the Disney movie "Enchanted," I thought they had no chance. It really restored my faith in the Academy Awards, that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences can, indeed, still reward art over entertainment. And the acceptance speeches by Irglova and Hansard were very Cubby, with Hansard encouraging viewers to "make art, make art" and Irglova declaring that "[t]he fact that we're standing here tonight, the fact that we're able to hold this, it's just proof that no matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible." Right on!! And if you haven't seen Once yet, go rent it now. It's a truly great film with a fantastic soundtrack.
Brian
2.27.08 9:29pmpst
Update 151
Kathy Barra Redux
Last week I received an email from Bill saying he was going to be playing keyboard with the Chantigs at the Rodent Records Chinese New Year party, and that they would be performing "Who Remembers Kathy Barra?" in honor of the new year, since the new year in the Chinese horoscope is the Year of the Rat. Of course, I had to see this. Upon arriving at the event, Bill asked if I would come up on stage during Kathy Barra to sing some backup vocals (the chorus part at the end of the song), which I did, along with Jason and some other Rodent Records luminaries. It was really a lot of fun, and it was great to see the Chantigs perform that song. It was such a good version that I was even thinking it sounded better than the original. But Liz made me feel better later when we were talking about it and I said I thought I liked their version better than the original and she said something like, "Now wait a minute, you're treading on sacred ground here, mister." I couldn't disagree with that. Sill, though, I wish you could hear their version. I think they recorded the whole show so maybe they'll podcast it at some point. I'll post a link when/if they do. Plus,their whole set was fantastic, and Bill played on all the songs, which was really cool. I have to mention, too, that it was a star-studded affair. Billy Talbot (of Neil Young and Crazy Horse fame) played bass with Rodent Records band the Hobbyists; Russ Tamblyn (of West Side Story fame) was there; his daughter actor Amber Tamblyn was emcee and performed with her mother Bonnie and sister China (wife of Rodent head honcho Elton); San Francisco poet laureate Jack Hirschman was there and even recited one of his poems on stage. What a great night!! Oh, and all this inspired me to make "Who Remembers Kathy Barra?" the Song of the Month, so go check it out if you haven't listened to it recently.
Brian
2.14.08 11:45pmpst
Update 150
A Frank Account
frankincense and murder
as the saints go mincing in,
twirling dirty ballerinas
asking pennies for your sins
trials run to mock the innocent,
churches ministering guilt,
underwhelming infrastructure
bleeding bridges badly built.
waiting dumbly for the moment
when the right regime will fall,
haven't done a bloody thing
just simply haven't gone to war.
our unconscience is objecting
and we poets use no words,
tried transcendent transportation,
but we found we were not birds.
trust misplaced misled us
to the quagmire we're in,
paranoia is pandemic
as we're dying to be thin.
all our practiced diplomatics,
acrobatics by degrees,
picture-processed paralytics
burning paper in the breeze.
If all works out we'll still die
when we reach a certain age,
and even in a castle, dear,
you'll still live in a cage.
And so I'm stuck, as you are,
as we plot our great escape
amid crass signifiers we're
descended from the ape.
And yet i'm optimistic
schizophrenic though I am.
Obama made me hope and now
I'm cool to give a damn.
Jol
2.7.08 10:01pmest
Update 149
Reptiel
I'm making an official announcement. I am in a new band called "Reptiel." (That's Dutch for "Reptile.") It consists of former members of Thee Druggles. You can still expect to hear from Thee Druggles, but our lead singer moved to Tucson, so it's a little difficult for us to rehearse, so some of us former members of Thee Druggles decided to start a new band. I'll maybe write more about this later.
Brian
2.7.08 11:38 pmpst
Update 148
Emerson Touching Upon the Mission of the Cubby
Everything that tends to insulate the individual, to surround him with barriers of natural respect--so that each man shall feel the world is his and man shall treat with man as a sovereign state--tends to true union as well as greatness...
In yourself is the law of all nature...in yourself slumbers the whole of reason. It is for you to know all; it is for you to dare all...
Public and private avarice make the air we breathe thick and fat...The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself. There is no work for any but the decorous and the complacent. Young men of the fairest promise, who begin life upon our shores inflated by the mountain winds, shined upon by all the stars of God, find the earth below not in unison with these but are hindered from action by the disgust which the principles on which business is managed inspire, and turn drudges or die of disgust, some of them suicides.
What is the remedy?
They did not yet see...that if the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts and there abide, the huge world will come 'round to him. Patience, patience, with the shades of all the good and great for company. And for solace, the prospective of your own infinite life. And for work, the study and the communication of principles; the making those instincts prevalent; the conversion of the world.
Is it not the chief disgrace in the world not to be a unit, not to be reckoned one character, not to yield that peculiar fruit which each man was created to bear, but to be reckoned in the gross, in the hundred or the thousand of the party, the section to which we belong, and our opinion predicated geographically as the north or the south? ...
Please God, ours shall not be so. We will walk on our own feet, we will work with our own hands, we will speak with our own minds...
The dread of man and the love of man shall be a wall of defense and a wreath of joy around all. A nation of men will for the first time exist because each believes himself inspired by the divine soul, which also inspires all men.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The American Scholar Address," August 31, 1837.
1.19.08 3:01amest
Update 147
Face the Cubby
I've spent some time lately doing a little online marketing for The Cubby Creatures. It all started when I recently became obsessed with Facebook. I had created a Facebook profile for myself quite awhile ago, having been invited by a friend to do so, but it's only been within the last few months that I've begun to really explore the social networking service. It's similar to MySpace in concept, however there are a lot of differences, and Facebook is supposed to be "the one for adults." I don't know how true that is, but it's still pretty fun despite its reputation. There are all these applications you can add to your account, like "Scrabulous," so you can play Scrabble online with friends, and "Books iRead," through which you can list the books you're reading, have read, or want to read, and you can rate them and write reviews for them, and little images of the book covers appear on your profile. In regards to music, if you add the "iLike" application to your profile you can then list all your favorite bands, and when you do so, little images for them appear on your profile.
So, of course, after adding the iLike application to my Facebook profile, I searched for The Cubby Creatures to add to my profile, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that not only were they listed in the iLike database on Facebook, but a little image materialized representing them. Becoming interested in how the image was generated, I visited the iLike Web site. It is also a social networking site, but it's primary purpose is to "discover new music with friends." Apparently once you create an iLike profile you can share your iTunes and Windows Media Player playlists with friends who also have iLike profiles, I guess so you can see what your friends are listening to or have listened to recently and to show them what you're listening to. Anyway, I searched for the Cubby Creatures in the iLike database and sure enough they were listed. Pretty cool!! I guess that means someone somewhere had been listening to the Cubby Creatures on their iTunes or Windows Media Player and so iLike created a generic profile for them, even generating an image (which was this really poor image of the cover of two Cubby Creatures albums placed diagonally next to each other in a square). I was given the option of claiming the Cubby Creatures profile, which I did, uploading my own image and a number of MP3s.
Well, the point of this whole post is to encourage those that are Facebook members to add the iLike application and add The Cubby Creatures to your profile! Also, I wanted to share some other music social networking sites where you can find Cubby Creatures profiles and music. Check it out...
Cubby Creatures on Facebook
Cubby Creatures on iLike
Cubby Creatures on Last.fm
Cubby Creatures on purevolume.com
Cubby Creatures on Hi5
brian
12.13.07 7:25pmpst
Update 146
some notes from the cubby department of observation:
on december 7 this year we are remembering not so much pearl harbor day (it happened way before our time. how could we remember?) but the tenth anniversary of the first cubby creatures show. it happened in san francisco in the hole-in-the-wall theater of Artists Television Access, where Jol was a volunteer. the first cubby creatures show featured matt mahnke on drums, his one and so-far-only live appearance with the band. jason gonzales was but a tingle in the cubby's shorts at that point, and same with bill fisher, who the early cubby creatures had yet to connect with. the show was notable for the fact that at least two times the cubby creatures blew a fuse. this disrupted not only the music but also the film loops that mark taylor was projecting onto the band, among which was original 8 mm footage of some early cubby creatures romping shot by karl soehnlein.
missalette #3 was released at the show.
on december 8 we remember Cubby Saint John Lennon's assassination date. It was from news reports of the former Beatle's violent end and of the subsequent tsunami of public mourning that young Jol first became aware of both John Lennon and The Beatles as concepts. John Lennon was killed in New York City at the age of 40. He was canonized as a Cubby Saint in October 2007.
submitted by Jol on behalf of the Cubby Department of Observations.
12.07.07 10:10 pmest
Update 145
Zine Fest '07
In preparation for an appearance we're making at the San Francisco Zine Fest on Saturday, October 6, I've revamped and updated the Cubby Missalette area of the Cubby Web site, and I thought I'd post here to let you know what changes have been made. First of all, I added a link for our new Missalette, which is going to be #19, even though the Missalette is not out yet and there's no Web presence for it yet, which is why it says "coming soon." However, when you click on it, you get a pop-up window with information about the new Missalette and how to reserve your copy. Next I've added a link for Missalette #17, which takes you to a page where you can download and look at PDFs of the master copies for print versions of Missalette #17 and its insert. They're pretty big files and take a while to download, but they look great. I also added a link on the Missalette #16 page so that you can download a PDF of the master copy of its print version. Long overdue on the Missalette #15 Web site are links to download the MP3s from the Exquisite Corpse CD, which came with the print version of Missalette #15. You can now click on a link (at the bottom of the Missalette #15 homepage) that will open up a pop-up window with information about the MP3s and links to download and listen to them. I revamped the Missalette #14, #13, and Emergency Missalette areas, though you might not see any noticeable changes. It was mostly under-the-hood-type work. BTW, please send me a submission for Missalettte #14, the Political Issue (which is the only ongoing and never-ending Missalette) -- we could use a new featured submission. Lastly, I'm working on getting the Cubby Bible online. It will happen!! And there's a big surprise in store regarding that. We'll keep you updated.
Brian
09.21.07 12:03 ampst
Update 144
Jerry, fall well to hell.
brian
05.20.07 10:06 pmpst
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