Chris Stewart's Bizarro Mix

This mixtape was created for you by veteran playlist wizard Chris Stewart ... Chris has a true knack for consistency and thematic unity in his mixes that really make them an awesomely enjoyable listening experience ... check out some of his amazing past Psychic Tuesday contributions :


A. William Gilbert Mix

B. Knob Schlobbin' Mix

C. Michael Jackson Is Dead Mix



This particular mix is no exception ... This is one of those music compilations that finds you laughing out loud one moment and gawking at the pure insanity of the lyrics in another ... Here's Chris to tell you more =


"Here is a collection of some of my favorite musical oddities. The early days of Ralph Records are an obvious influence for this mix, with The Residents, Yello, Renaldo and the Loaf, and Tuxedo Moon. And then there's Crispin Glover, whom we all acknowledge as being a little "out there," and the confusingly familiar squawks of Captain Beefheart. But other tracks like Jan Turkenburg's "In My Spaceship" and Gerry and the Holograms' self-titled song came to me from out of nowhere. I'm not exactly sure how these things find me, but I've always been a fan of the strange, and I made this compilation for the weirdos in all of us. Props to Mr. Paul Wilm for suggesting the Landscape and Strapped tracks for the mix. Thanks to Jamie Naugher for introducing me to "Diana" by Comus and to Greg Lowry for 10cc's "I Wanna Rule the World." "


Thanks, Chris! And strange it is, indeed! When you scroll down, you'll find that Chris was kind enough to also include music videos for most of the mixtape's songs and viewing those is quite an bizarre experience in itself ...


Also, dig that cover art up there! Here here!

Here's the tracklist =





And below is the mix itself ... ENJOY!!!

Wanna download a copy so you can listen to it each and every day of yer life?

Well, you can do so RIGHT HERE.





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In local Birmingham news, oddly enough there's going to be an actual Mardi Gras parade in town TONITE at 8PM ... the facebook event states the following :


"A Mardi Gras Parade. Free. The last time there was an official Mardi Gras Parade in Birmingham it was in 1901. The Parade will start close to Mellow Mushroom and Dave's and will end up just past Rocky's Pizza.

NOW ACCEPTING PARTICIPANTS - BANDS, Organizations, Individuals WELCOME - $10 per group, $5 per person (non-profit - costs cover permit fees). Email birminghamcarnivalsociety@gmail.com for more information and to participate.
RSVP if you are attending, email if you would like to be in the parade. Please spread the word."



I'm going! You should too!




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In art news, for the past month and 1/2 I have been on & off working on a four wall mural in Brian Teasley's bathroom of the Creature From The Black Lagoon and I am finally in the last stages of completing it!


Here are some photos of its humble beginnings =








And here are some photos of the nearly completed mural =








Also ... speaking of art, if you scroll down you can witness some really great photos that my brother Peter took ... he called the collection "Birmingham Is Beautiful" ... and well, it is!
Thanks, brother!



And speaking of photography, my fellow artists Brian Francis and Tom Bagby are having an art opening this Wednesday (5pm) at Bottletree ... the show is called "Campground Visual Collective present: Forgotten History" and looks like it's gonna be pretty incredible! Come out and support!



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And in random news, my old friend Jimmy Gordon (who now lives in L.A.) recently posted a link to this site called This Is Los Angeles which combines ambient music with live LAPD police radio ... how bizarre is that ... what's odd is that the mixture is somehow very relaxing! haha



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VIDEOS VIDEOS VIDEOS!!!

All provided for you this week by the one & only Chris Stewart ...

thanks a ton, Chris!





Gerry and the Holograms - Gerry and the Holograms:




Jan Turkenburg - In My Spaceship:




Crispin Glover - Clowny Clown Clown:




Snakefinger - Man In The Dark Sedan:




Tuxedo Moon - Baron Brown:




Captain Beefheart - Bat Chain Puller:




The Residents - Bach is Dead




10cc - I Wanna Rule the World:




Landscape - My Name is Norman Bates:




Strapped - Edna:




Yello - The Evening's Young:





And speaking of Yello, for dessert I found a truly great interview/performance piece by the band ... enjoy!





All of the photos below (sans the very 1st one, which is by yours truly) were taken by my amazing brother, Peter ... I love how many of them seem to bring out the natural beauty in their subject matter while also maintaining a sort of "documentray" quality at the same time ...

Thanks, Peter!

Merrilee's Trouble In Paradise Cassette

This ripped-from-cassette mixtape was originally created for the lovely Ms. Merrilee Challiss (you may recall Merrilee's exquisite Tony Orlando Mix from way back in '09!) ...

Here's Merr herself to enlighten you on this intensely fun-filled mixtape =



Notes on a mix-tape:

"Trouble in Paradise" was given to me by my ex-boyfriend, sometime between 1996-1998… in which case I was either living in Prague, Czech Republic (1996), Birmingham, Alabama (1997) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1998), respectively. The details of its provenance are hazy, although if my fractured memory serves correct, I remember him being especially proud of this particular mix, which would date the mix to a time during the latter part of our relationship, when he was at the full height of his sound-mix-collage-making skills, mashing up some of the earlier Prague-era mix-tapes with later Northern New Jersey (WFMU) collage-tapes made after we moved back to the States.

In the mid 90s, while living in Prague, we spent untold hours, when not drinking in bars, listening to and taping from the radio - recording snippets from the BBC, VOA, as well as local and regional stations, which played incredibly diverse and disparate music, providing a richly surreal, textural backdrop to our Slavic adventures.

Careening from the raucous to the sublime -- from punk to polka, from Essential Logic to a drunken John Wayne sound-bite -- the tape captures the dizzying sense of dislocation and discovery I felt at that time in my life, in my mid-twenties, when just about anything seemed possible. Listening to the tape now, many years later, i can still recall every transition, every twist and turn, and although the soundtrack is familiar, it's also like a dream -- or rather, listening to it is dream-like, inducing in me a heightened state of awareness -- that, even now, many things are still possible."

Merrilee Challiss
February 2011


Thanks, Merrilee! Sadly, there is no track list for this particular mixtape ... just pure, unadulterated random radio madness! To download this mix, simply click the little arrow located on the right side of the widget ... ENJOY!








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In art news, I'll be having a show with fellow Birmingham artist, Justin Wayne Butts at Parkside Cafe (located in the Avondakle area) ... the show will open Thursday night, March 24th (8 - 11p) ... Here's the flyer =







Speaking of Avondale, I've been working and working on the 3 signs that will grace the front of the building of the forthcoming Avondale Brewing Company ...


Here is a photo of the humble beginnings of the main one =




And here's a detail of the same sign after completion =




These are the sections of the other 2 signs before being hinged together =








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Hey! How about watching a few videos now? Well, OK







This is a pretty great one by a band called Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk =

A new one from Wavves =




It's nice watching this one from The Walkmen now that the weather is like 70 degrees outside ... haha =



Speaking of The Walkmen, it's also nice watching this one knowing that Spring is right around the corner! =




A backwards mess compliments of Peter, Bjorn and John =



Awesomeness from Protect-U =




Ryan recently posted this (pretty amazing) unofficial Panda Bear video (cheers!) =




A hot fresh and creepy-crawly Caribou clip =






Dessert, anyone?



1st up, some Japanese inocular soccer !!!




And Elise sent me a heaping helping of solid potato salad (mmm! thanky!), saying this :
"You so have to loop this in a crazy video - or at least some of this!" =




Here's my favorite scene from the 80's movie, "The Money Pit" (wish I could find a better quality version!) =





And now ...it's the Thom Yorke Comedy Show!

Alan Barton posted this 1st one (thanks!) ... I had tears in my eyes I laughed so hard! haha =




Part 2 was posted by Andy Stewart ... and I can't decide which is funnier! (gracias!) =