By Matt Keeley
The Gramercy Theatre, New York NY
February 13, 2010
After seeing POLYSICS for the first time in 2003, I said this:
POLYSICS are pretty much the best band in the universe. POLYSICS are way better than your favorite band. This holds true even if POLYSICS are your favorite band. They’re JUST THAT GOOD.
—Wikia Music, “POLYSICS OR DIE!!! POLYSICS”
By Matt Keeley
Perhaps the oddest thing about comedian and writer/director Chris Morris’s lack of popularity outside of the UK is that he’s peripherally involved in things that ended up being quite huge in the States.
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By Matt Keeley
I have many things to thank SCTV for in my life. Mostly, all the great sketch comedy and showing me how it should be done. But there’s something else: my Tubes fandom.
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Idea by Matt Keeley
With contributions by. . .
In our last Halloween issue, we discussed morbid melodies and the music of the scares. But what of songs which horrify us accidentally? Some argue that songwriters who pair dark lyrics and bright melodies know exactly what they’re doing, but what about words and music which cause fright when they were only intended to delight?
For example, a few of our readers noted that “Mama” by Genesis was a bit squicky, but it’s unclear whether that creepiness was intentional or not. However, I think we can all assume that “Beep Beep” by The Playmates was probably not meant to panic small children, although it obviously has, judging on some of the replies we received.
Here are some examples of the various tunes that terrify. . .
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By Matt Keeley
The title of the most important (only?) Flying Lizards fan page is “They Were a Very Different Band,” which sounds about right. They’re most famous for their deconstructed cover of “Money,” featuring a disaffected, posh-sounding English woman demanding money while speaking the lyrics over prepared piano and the sound of a bass guitar being hit with a stick. The single was recorded for a grand total of 26 pounds. Basically, the band wasn’t ever meant to be a band.
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By Matt Keeley
“Erzatz Brothers Coffee – The REAL One! Look for the can on the plain brown can.”
The Firesign Theatre members refer to themselves as a “theatre of the mind,” and their bizarre pastiche of pop culture references is probably not for everyone. Now while I’m not the biggest Firesign Theatre fan, I do dig their stuff. Some of the drug humor is a little easy (and honestly, drug humor’s a bit of an uphill battle with me, anyway), but it’s a small part of the records, providing an easy handle to get people to listen. Everything else they do is so complex, it’d be a tragedy to write them off just because they like to mention weed occasionally. The great thing about Firesign Theatre is how their records couldn’t be made in any other medium, in particular my favorite: Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers.
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Idea by Matt Keeley
With contributions by. . .
What is an album with artwork so amazing that despite knowing you’d dislike the music, you’ve almost bought (or perhaps actually did buy)?
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What is an album with artwork so ugly or hideous that, despite having a good feeling that you’d like the music on there, you could never bring yourself to own?
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