Dr. Yo’s Magic Lantern
Another round for my dark companion The view from here is crowded now, I raise my glass My doppelgänger Smiles at me From across the room The great social issues mean less than nothing to the national pests On my TV screen I will wear only black and white and hide in the alleys […]
In memoriam of Peter Principle, I present to you the lyrics mysteriously omitted from the liner notes of Tuxedomoon’s exceptional postpunk album, Desire. Was the following verse, repeated twice in the song “Jinx”, considered dangerously existential sufficient to trigger censorship? Or was it merely a transcription error? Occam’s Razor says the latter, but the truth […]
Keith Moon was infamously uncontrollable in more ways than one. Apparently it was humanly impossible for him to simply play a consistent beat without adding fills and triplets throughout. His playing style was idiosyncratic and bombastic, but he had innate ability, so I guess if you’ve got it, flaunt it. And Keith, in the immortal […]
This year, we in Portland were cheated out of spring. The weather oscillated between winter and summer several times. Now, following the solstice, it’s settled into the normal pattern of unrelenting sunshine with occasional 100-degree heat. Luckily for me, the KPSU studio is in the sub-basement of the Student Union. The air conditioning is so […]
The music of Magma is evocative of an extraterrestrial collective intelligence’s algorithm for summoning the ghost of John Coltrane. J Church, a band named for a beloved light rail line, lamented the turnover of endless cycles of urban and cultural decay, appropriation, exploitation, and inevitable gentrified banality. The historical context was the post Dot Bomb 1.0 era, […]
Liberté égalité fraternité. The ideals of secular humanism never more succinctly expressed. Imagine, allowing science to inform public policy… how quaint. Thanks to the Internet, the France-centric view of art history is expanding, and that’s a good thing. Dr. Yo’s Magic Lantern is not for everyone. Discontinue use and consult your doctor or witch doctor […]
With a cameo from Don Kirchner, a lick from “Smoke On The Water”, and a reference to newspaper classifieds, “The Marshall Plan” is a self-reflexive product of mid twentieth century postmodern decadence. That’s just as it should be. Eventually we will hear Radiohead cover versions in every possible rhythm, intensity, and texture. Meantime, white collar angst […]
What happens when you take a NEU! groove and overlay some poetry and jangly guitar bits? Let’s find out. And add some anthemic power chords while we’re at it. Dr. Yo’s Magic Lantern is not for everyone. Discontinue use and consult your doctor or witch doctor if you experience fatigue, nausea, or ennui.
A brain is like tonsils: more trouble than they’re worth. This self-evident fact is given voice by the story of the stranger. He was tall, dark, and had a special look about him, as if he could see right down to the bottom of you. But little by little, the critics put us back on the […]
Sometimes it’s not so easy to differentiate mediated experience from direct experience. To quote Brian O’Blivion, “Television is reality, and reality is less than television.” And so, the simulacra precess, precede, and pre-empt. But wait, there’s more! The plasticity of memory is only one dimension of ambiguity. Orthogonal to that is the question, “What is real?” […]
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