October 2010 Mixtape: DO I HAVE TO WORK AT WALMART?

About two weeks ago I lost the job I've been doing for most of the last eight years. I knew trouble was brewing but I really didn't think I would be considered the responsible party for the events in question. Out of the blue I get a list of complaints with my name highlighted, although upon further inspection it turns out I'm not the main reason for the complaints, and when I am involved it's primarily one person who I didn't get along with and attempted to avoid in the first place. Overall, I'm thinking that if I talk to my boss, someone I've known and respected and considered a friend, that everything is going to be alright, but he doesn't talk to me, he just fires me. Through the grapevine I heard that this was just business and that he wanted to make things right, but when he finally calls he complains that my version of the events doesn't match what he's heard, and all I can say to that is do you want my story or not? He knows what happened, and he decided to remove me to save his company's position, which I fully understand, but he did it in the worst way possible. To make matters worse yet, when we finally met he told me in a rather roundabout way that he thought I was cheating him and he didn't care about me any longer. Almost eight years and this is the way it ends, after a fantastic history with practically no issues whatsoever, and when complaints come up and I'm not even the reason for the complaints I'm fired because my name appeared in close proximity. It makes one feel pretty faithless.

All of this said, I'm not out of faith and totally believe in myself, but I can't say that I'm fully over feeling upset. My girlfriend initially thought I must have royally screwed up and couldn't accept it, but after learning the facts she's fully on my side, although she really always was, as are the rest of my family and friends, so I've still got my support system. What's crazy is looking for a new job. I've filled out applications online but I'm surprised to see most businesses don't even accept paper copies any longer. It's taking a rough and soulless part of the process and making it worse. I've got management experience, great customer service abilities, I'm very good with technology and have worked in fields where I've handled merchandise and money safely and regularly without shrinkage, but trying to fill all of this into a cookie cutter digital application feels impossible. Data will get in, but will it be interpreted correctly? Will the minutiae of my experience be read for as dynamic as it really is? Will my unique and useful traits be visible to those who should see them? DO I HAVE A CHANCE?

So, last night, after much prodding from my girlfriend as well as some friends and family and filling out applications all over the place, I went online and applied to Walmart, assuming there is a good chance I could find employment there. I've been largely skeptical about applying to Walmart despite knowing they have a high hire rate, mostly because I doubt I'll be working in a position that I feel I'd be suited to (raging ego trip right there!) and everyone knows how "interesting" the Walmart clientele can be. Don't get me wrong, most average people shopping at Walmart are perfectly fine, but I'm sure you've all seen a few subhumans lurking the isles from time to time. If you stuck me in the entertainment and electronics section I'd shine but how likely would it be that I would be so lucky? In an organization that big I'm sure I'd end up stocking the freezers. I'd even be happy standing at the customer service desk and answering questions, no matter what they are, as I've basically been doing that in one way or another for years, but sincerely, what are my chances?

So far, the only nibbles I've gotten was an e-mail from AFLAC, offering what sounded like an office position, only to find out they wanted me to get my insurance license and sell their product on the road, and Family Video, with whom I had a great interview about a possible managerial position but there were no openings locally at the time, and having just moved I can't pack up and go to Alabama. I've had friends ask me why I can't write for a living and my answer is I honestly don't know how to get started in that field or whom I should talk to. My girlfriend said "if only I got paid for my website", to which I could only respond "if only". So the quest continues. Don't worry, just in case you might be, I'm sure I'll find a new position shortly and everything will be just fine, and more so, I don't want to sound hopeless, it's just hard to put an amazing spin on such a murky situation.

Anyway, for my own entertainment, I made this months mixtape a soundtrack to my dilemma. I hope you find it entertaining as there is some really good stuff on it, much of which really gets me moving. Thanks for letting me bitch and moan a little. Enjoy!


The Unheard Music - October 2010 Mixtape: DO I HAVE TO WORK AT WALMART?

01 David Bowie - Beauty and The Beast
The sound of a drunken Bowie getting it together. I always think of it as the theme to someone getting back on their feet.

02 The Bird and The Bee - Heard It On The Radio
Missing my job, for which all jobs are relationships. Also realizing it might not have been as good as I always thought is was.

03 Television - Little Johnny Jewel
Verlaine's guitar is so out there. This makes me think of punk rock as jazz. Abstract tunes always seem to lock my mind into place so I can get heavy thinking done.

04 No Age - Glitter (Long Version)
A few weeks ago I was driving around to this summer jam feeling like it would keep summer from ever ending. It kinda works. The extended feedback loops at the end are just dreamy.

05 Junior Senior - Shake Your Coconuts (DFA Remix)
This feels like it's mining the same area as No Age's Glitter. The cheesy nature of the original version is ditched for what is basically LCD Soundsystem making a bunch of noise and having a funky party in a loft somewhere in New York. Love the guitar feedback. It's like James Murphy, who I'm assuming is playing guitar here, doesn't even care about playing notes, just making some wild textures.

06 Astrud Gilberto - Once I Loved
Again, loss of job, loss of security, feeling of betrayal. Beautiful song from the beautiful Ms. Gilberto.

07 Lowell George - 20 Million Things
Sometimes it feels like I can do anything anyone needs, but other times I feel like I can't get anywhere myself. I guess that's what this song is kind of about, but it's what I get out of it.

08 Devo - S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain)
Who hasn't been here? Terror, paranoia, gloom and misery? This song sums up all those feelings perfectly. I don't feel this way often, but when I have this is the soundtrack.

09 Fripp & Eno - Later On
This is Eno's remix of Swastika Girls from he and Fripp's No Pussyfooting. It was only released as the b-side to Eno's Seven Deadly Finns single. The day I got fired I must have played No Pussyfooting three or four times. It totally kept me grounded and calm. Love that album and love this track.

10 Los Saicos - Demolición
Rom turned me on to these guys recently. Actually, he called while I was at my first interview with Family Video and my interviewer had to attend to some things so she told me I could return my call if I wanted to. He compared them to Iggy and The Stooges, which I don't really agree with, but they've got the punk attitude and garage rock rawness down perfect. These guys are from Peru and are something of a best kept secret. I might do a post about them in the near future but I believe their discography is now available legally here in the US so I won't be posting it for download if that's the case. Otherwise, this is fueling my engine.

11 Me'Shell Ndegéocello - If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)
Trust me, I CANNOT relate to this song, but I love the F@#K YOU attitude of it! When you get knocked down sometimes you need to do more than just get back up. You need to put a little swagger back in your step. This is overflowing with swagger and it's funky as hell, so it's been on my mind. And anyway, Me'Shell is seriously badass!

12 Jeff Simmons - I'm In The Music Business
While I've never done a porn shoot and am certain I never will, I understand the misery Mr. Simmons is conveying. That said, it's not like a song like this could really help the financial prospects of an ex-Mother Of Invention. Not saying it isn't a good song as it is, and I love the humor of it and everything from it's parent album, Lucille Has Messed Up My Mind, but one listen and you'll understand that there couldn't have been, or at least shouldn't have been, any illusions of a blockbuster hit record.

13 Adrian Belew - Naive Guitar
A beautiful, mournful melody. For the bummier moments, although I loved this piece before my current predicament was even a possibility.

14 Dizzy Gillespie - Manteca
How can you not get up and dance to this? How can you not be filled with exuberant joy when this comes on? Dizzy was/is the man! Afro Cuban jazz forever!

15 Brian Eno - King's Lead Hat
Just in case you didn't know, King's Lead Hat is an anagram for Talking Heads, the band Eno had just decided to produce when he wrote this song. Not really about anything, it's simply filled with frantic energy and makes me wanna move. Not dance, not party, but make things happen. LIKE GETTING A JOB.

16 Deftones - Rocket Skates (M83 Remix)
Rocket Skates? Really? Well, it's still a good Deftones song and a fine remix from M83. For some reason this was making me think of the Inception soundtrack last night.

17 Nine Inch Nails - Theme For Tetsuo The Bullet Man
Bold, heavy, noisy, all together maddening. This makes me wanna rip my skin off and use it like a weapon. Sounds like a sick video game, or a really sick Robbie Williams video.

18 Liz Phair - In Love With Yourself
One of Liz's Girly-Sound demos, this is an honest reminder not to kiss your own ass. Generally I'm very serious about not believing my own hype, but sometimes you've gotta remind yourself not to let your head get too big.


PS - The Prince post, which has been happening on Mondays for a while, will either be tomorrow or Wednesday. I've got a ton of really cool stuff ready to be shared that might get in the way of his purpleness, but don't worry, I won't forget.

PS2 - Hopefully no one working at Walmart will take offense to this post. Not trying to knock you guys. And to anyone that wants to complain that I shouldn't be working at Walmart, a job is a job guys. Would you rather not be able to pay your bills? Anyway, they have to hire me first, but I'd work there. That is unless someone wants to pay me 30k a year to write for their publication. I'd always take more than 30k but that would certainly pay my bills. So, who wants to hire me to write stuff for them? PLEASE?

PS3 - That part where I mentioned how if only I got paid for running this site, don't worry, I'm not going to start putting ads or anything up here. I don't believe in doing that and while I'd love to get paid for doing something I love, I don't run this place to get paid, I run it to share information, be it music, musical, historical, visual or what not. Though again, someone wanna pay me to do this thing I love?

Robert Fripp - Live at Café Campus, Ste Foy, Quebec, 8/16/79

Awesome bootleg recording of Fripp doing a Frippertronics show in Quebec, 1979. He solos all over the place throughout this set.

I got this show at Dime and it was originally uploaded by kingfrippson, so credit goes to them. I did a little work on the files afterward, putting all seven back together, normalizing the complete show, trimming the cuts between tracks so they're not as obvious and then cutting all the files back into seven individual tracks, but that's all. I've got a lossless version of my edit that I can share upon request, but you can still get the original files over Dime along with tons of other great Fripp shows.

UPDATE: Sorry guys, but Fripp's lawyers are becoming mighty feisty regarding his solo material. With that said, I'm not going to be posting any Fripp for a while, but I may post this again down the road as part of something special. Keep an eye peeled!

Robert Fripp - Live at Café Campus, Ste Foy, Quebec, 8/16/79

01 1756 / Under Heavy Manners
02 1753 To 1755
03 1752
04 1751 To 1752
05 Red Two Scorer
06 God Save The Queen
07 The Zero Of The Signified

Daryl Hall - Sacred Songs

If there was ever an example of people just not getting it, Sacred Songs is it.

Daryl Hall, fearing that his artistic abilities were being smothered by his success with John Oates, decided to record an album on his own. After bumping into his friend, Robert Fripp, it was decided that Fripp would produce the album and off they went. A lot of people were understandably confused regarding what to expect of a supposed Hall & Fripp album. On the surface it certainly sounds like Hall & Oates but once you listen a little closer the differences start to show. Lyrics about two women named Babs that might be the same person, songs about life as business and vice versa, truly mature songs about how perplexing love is, mentions of magick, all backed with Fripp's guitar and fascinating production skills, it becomes clear that this is certainly not a Hall & Oates album.

Daryl Hall wrote all the songs but two, the Frippertronics solo Urban Landscape and NYCNY, a kind of progressive punk ode to New York with music written by Fripp and lyrics by Hall. The songs all have a semi-serious, sober vibe about them although the production is concise and filled with fun little touches throughout. Babs and Babs shifts into a Frippertronics chill-out mid-way through only to flip back into the proper song full throttle and end with a meeting of both worlds. Don't Leave Me Alone With Her fades all the way out only to come right back and keep chugging away. NYCNY ends with what sounds like a locked groove or a skip on a record, only to have someone lift the tone arm, all completely audible on the recording.

Due in part to Hall's then label, RCA, and manager Tommy Mottola (of Sony fame), the album was denied release due to fears it was uncommercial. Hall and Fripp's reaction was to share copies of the album with dj's, writers and fans in a push to get the word out. The album finally saw the light of day in 1980 and didn't sell badly, but the label didn't support it or release any singles, damning it to obscurity. As bad as that is, what's worse is the debacle that followed with Fripp's first solo album, Exposure. Hall contributed vocals to eight of that album's songs but Mottola again decided to butt in. This time he told Fripp that he would only allow two of Hall's vocals to appear on the album unless the album was credited to Hall & Fripp and released on RCA. Fripp kept two Hall vocals and had the rest re-recorded by other performers, although versions of most of Hall's performances for the album have been released as of 2006 via Fripp's own DGM label on a two disc reissue of Exposure.

Sacred Songs did see a CD reissue with Hall's two contributions to the initial release of Exposure added as bonus tracks, but that has gone out of print and the album is unavailable even as a digital purchase, so I'm featuring it here today for download. The best thing I can tell you to expect is more than you probably do. It's poppy enough you might be able to slip some of the songs on soft rock radio but this is not a pop album in the normal sense. It's also not a Hall & Fripp or Fripp & Hall album. Fripp's contributions are great and can be heard and felt throughout, but Hall is the main attraction. This is a really great record that has been forced to languish in obscurity, and that's truly unfortunate. I hope you give it a chance, you might be just as surprised by how great it is as I was, and you might find it stuck on repeat just as I have.


Daryl Hall - Sacred Songs

01 Sacred Songs
02 Something In 4/4 Time
03 Babs and Babs
04 Urban Landscape
05 NYCNY
06 The Farther Away I Am
07 Why Was It So Easy
08 Don't Leave Me Alone With Her
09 Survive
10 Without Tears

FFWD or Robert Fripp meets The Orb uptown. WAY UPTOWN!

This will most likely be my final Fripp feature for the foreseeable future, only because I don't have a lot of Fripp stuff to share with everyone. This one is very cool though I don't have much information to share with you other than the basics.

First off, FFWD is a convenient acronym for the group's contributors, namely Robert Fripp with guitar and treatments, Thomas Fehlmann with electronics, Kris Weston, better known to the world as Thrash, also credited with electronics, and finally D.A.R. Paterson with ambient treatments. That's how the CD credits the individual talents at work, and everyone but Fripp was a member of The Orb around the time of this project. With that said, one would probably assume that FFWD would sound like The Orb with Fripp on guitar, but that's not quite accurate. It's actually rather out there and very peaceful while still occasionally grabbing the opportunity to be naughty with the sounds of clocks being destroyed or funny vocal samples drifting in and out. It certainly wouldn't disappoint fans of The Orb, although Fripp fans might be confused what to expect, but if you go into it with minimal preconceived notions then you'd probably be quite taken with it. Listen to this with headphones on and you'll be drifting through space, enjoying whatever distractions float past. I suppose that would make this good drug music, but the only thing I use is caffeine and still I think it's wonderful.

FFWD's self-titled album, issued in 1994, appears to be out of print so I am featuring it here, but the other part of this post is their so-called demo tape, Orbert. Fripp and The Orb supposedly met over a few days and recorded everything here, with the first example of their fruits of collaboration being Orbert, a fifty-minute-plus track that features elements of some tracks from the album but is very much it's own thing. Work on the sessions continued and mixing occurred in the summer of 1993, leading to the self-titled album being released in 1994. Orbert remains unreleased though, with it purportedly having been leaked by Thrash or from a hard drive of his that was "compromised". Whatever the case, Orbert seems to be two long tracks that are shared as one, so I didn't separate them.

I don't want to go into too much detail regarding the sound of FFWD, other than to say if you love the ambient work of The Orb you'll be pleased, and if you're open to experimentation and don't expect guitar solos and happen to be a Fripp fan, you too should be satisfied. And let me note, as some may wonder afterward, Hasson Ramsey is responsible for the wonderful percussion on Collossus. Enjoy!


FFWD - FFWD

01 Hidden
02 Lucky Saddle
03 Drone
04 Hempire
05 Collossus
06 What Time Is Clock
07 Can Of Bliss
08 Elevenses
09 Meteor Storm
10 Buckwheat & Grits
11 Klangtest
12 Suess Wie Eine Nuss


FFWD - Orbert

Robert Fripp & The League Of Gentlemen

One thing about Fripp that bothers me is he seems to be a serious revisionist. As with the God Save The Queen / Under Heavy Manners album, rather than accept those works as the final product, Fripp remixed Manners and reworked The Zero Of The Signified enough that he renamed it God Save The King. The new versions ended up on the God Save The King album with tracks from The League Of Gentlemen album, but the other three tracks and original versions from GSTQ/UHM remain out of print and seem unlikely to be reissued. On top of that, half of The League Of Gentlemen album also remains out of print with only half of it appearing on the God Save The King album, all of which is apparently remixed and missing all of the vocal samples. Of course, this leaves the original League Of Gentlemen album out of print and otherwise unavailable, just like GSTQ/UHM. Why? Revising art is completely understandable, but why act like the original works don't exist? Fripp seems to be revising this action as well with his recent reissue of Exposure which features the original issue, pretty much everything from the supposed definitive edition and the remaining unreleased Daryl Hall vocal tracks, but that was four years ago so where is the rest of his solo works? Yes, I understand the reissue of the King Crimson stuff, but what about the Frippertronics works? I would GLADLY pay for this stuff as it's quality, and I know I'm not the only one.

Anyway, with my confused little rant now over, I present the original League Of Gentlemen album, not to be confused with God Save The King. This version features a vocal appearance by Danielle Dax on Minor Man as well as a number of sound collage pieces featuring the voice of J.G. Bennett among other unidentified participants. Regarding the rip, I found this on slsk so I don't know who to credit for their hard work, but it is appreciated. That said, this is the best version I've got so my apologies if anyone was hoping for a higher quality version.

It's worth noting, if anyone else listening to this thinks it sounds a little like The B-52's, that band's future bassist, Sara Lee, was a member of the League. Dance/punk indeed.


Robert Fripp & The League Of Gentlemen - The League Of Gentlemen

UPDATE: Okay, it's back up, but if it goes down then it stays down. Sorry guys, but I have to assume if it disappears again it's Fripp's folks watching for content like this, and I will respect their wishes.

01 Indiscreet I
02 Inductive Resonance
03 Minor Man
04 Heptaparaparshinokh
05 Dislocated
06 Pareto Optimum I
07 Eye Needles
08 Indiscreet II
09 Pareto Optimum II
10 Cognitive Dissonance
11 H. G. Wells
12 Trap
13 Ochre
14 Indiscreet III

Robert Fripp - God Save The Queen / Under Heavy Manners

Oh how I am tired. Ever woken up at one in the morning to find you might be suffering from a potentially severe sleep disorder that causes you to scream out for no logically clear reason about things that make no sense? Didn't sleep well after that, although the fact I couldn't NOT sleep means I'm not suffering from insomnia which I suppose is a good thing. Anyway, the funny part is I was listening to this very record while falling asleep which leads me to wonder if it might have affected my state. I suppose one shouldn't listen to things which might affect them but this is some good shit! Maybe I need Breathe Right strips or something.

Anyway, in the recent Bowie post I mentioned my lack of knowledge regarding Fripp and Belew and requested some guidance. I want to thank everyone who wrote me which includes Roger Camden, Stanley, Anonymous (beefheartfan) and Nathan Moore (I'll be responding to you soon Nathan!), for your advice which has been quite helpful. I've found that the King Crimson stuff really isn't my thing as it just doesn't add up for me, but Fripp's work with Eno, his productions for Daryl Hall and Peter Gabriel, his group the League Of Gentlemen and his solo records are all pretty incredible! (No Pussyfooting) kinda drags but the music is so beautiful and Fripp's later pieces with Eno are amazing. Fripp's supposed AOR trio of albums are rather good if not totally off the wall, with Peter Gabriel's PG 2 ("Scratch") probably being the most sensible of the three, Hall's falling somewhere between his work with Oates and Fripp's Zen Garden vibes, and Fripp's Exposure being totally insane to the point I have no idea how it could have been labeled AOR by anyone. Exposure is incredible though, and from there I listed to the League Of Gentlemen album which is excellent and very much of it's early eighties dance/punk era. But that's when I finally heard some solo Frippertronics recordings and fell madly in love with God Save The Queen / Under Heavy Manners, one of the only albums Fripp has not reissued since it's original release.

I haven't gotten to do much research as to why GSTQ/UHM remains unavailable, but I suppose it has something to do with Under Heavy Manners, the song, also appearing on the League Of Gentlemen album and a reworked version of The Zero Of The Signified, the album's closer, also appearing on the League album as God Save The King. It's a shame though that the Frippertronics pieces haven't been reissued as they are stunningly beautiful. I've read commentary from other listeners that many see those pieces as repetitive and boring, but for myself they were just the opposite. Relaxing, beautiful, stretching out as far as they need to, it's the type of thing Eno would be proud of. And the non-Frippertronics tracks, labeled by Fripp as Discotronics for featuring bass and percussion augmenting his guitar loops, I've also seen get bashed for supposedly not changing very often, but The Zero has all kinds of little subtle shifts before the rhythm drops out leaving only Fripp's loops, and David Byrne's vocal appearance on Manners, odd and more disjointed than usual with all the lyrics written by Fripp, is stunning. Maybe Fripp thought this album, which is clearly meant to be taken as two separate sets of recordings, was damaged by this split, but I thoroughly disagree.

After having found some low bitrate MP3s of this album, a friend on a private site (who wishes to remain anonymous) hooked me up with a beautiful lossless rip that sounds so clear it's almost not believable that it's a vinyl transfer. He also gave me the artwork and liner notes for the album which are very informative, and I decided to share these all back with you, my beloved readers! So, please enjoy this ridiculously clean rip of the God/Manners album and I hope you are just as enchanted as I am. Now I'm going to do some research about sleep disorders in my family tree.


Robert Fripp - God Save The Queen / Under Heavy Manners

UPDATE: Sorry guys, but Fripp's lawyers are becoming mighty feisty regarding his solo material. With that said, I'm not going to be posting any Fripp for a while, but I may post this again down the road as part of something special. Keep an eye peeled!

01 Red Two Scorer
02 God Save The Queen
03 1983
04 Under Heavy Manners
05 The Zero Of The Signified


PS - Gotta drop you a line and chat Michael! Thanks again for the kind words.