Dave Bell Memorial

A memorial for Dave Bell is being held Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. at Loutzenhiser-Jordan Funeral Home, 366-368 S. Main Street, Greenville, Pennsylvania USA.  Dave died this week from cancer.  An obituary and more information on the service is at https://www.loutzenhiserfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/david-bell.  A good buddy of mine, Dave is missed.  I first met him in 1990 if I remember correctly.  My mom was set up at a flea market and made Dave's acquaintance.  Dave was helping his grandmother who was also set up there.  He liked cool music and was a cool kid, so we soon struck up a friendship.  We played in many fun bands together including Yeast?, Angry Housewives, Anal Spikemobile, The Lenin Spoonful, Rage Against Dabney Coleman, Ungoat, and probably a few others whose names I forget now.  We also saw many great concerts together including Nirvana, The Boredoms, Slayer, Pavement with Gary, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Guided By Voices, and many, many others.  

In addition to punk/alternative/indie/whatever you want to call it, Dave also played hip-hop, electronica, noise music, and even drummed in a polka band once.  After playing in the Pennsylvania/Ohio scene (Youngstown, Warren, Pittsburgh, and so forth), he was active in the Kent, Ohio USA music scene of the 1990s.  Some of the acts included Black Squirrel And Freaky and The Sacred Hearts Auto Club.  After that, he moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he caught the tail end of the 1990s garage rock scene that produced The New Bomb Turks and Gaunt.  Upon moving back to Western Pennsylvania, he made a variety of music on his own and played with various acts.  At one point, he was involved with the Cleveland noise music scene.  Even while undergoing cancer treatment, he was still making music.  I remember him showing me some cool beats he was making on a drum machine.  With luck, maybe we'll all get to hear some of the unreleased music down the road (I particularly loved one silly song called "I Like To Ride My Helicopter Around Town"), but, unfortunately, that's still no substitute for Dave.  He was like no one else.

If you want to hear some Dave music, then you can hear The Angry Housewives and Anal Spikemobile.  That's Dave singing on "Duster" by Yeast? as well.

Music Video: Why Honey Sings

 

I filmed most of this in Oberlin, Ohio USA, a cool little small college town nearby.  It's probably the only little town in Ohio one can go to a noise music record store and a local bakery that sued the local college, so you know it's an interesting place.  I filmed way more footage than I needed, so maybe some of it will pop up in another video but maybe not since each one tends to be conceived of individually.  In any case, I always liked this song.  The long flower shot makes me a little dizzy, so maybe it will have the same psychedelic effect on you.  If you go to the flowers and flags spot in Oberlin early on a Saturday morning, you can find some relics from the 1960s still protesting for peace, which is wonderful.  It hasn't worked in 60 years, but they still haven't given up hope that someday our country will stop bombing peasants around the world.  I hope they're right because that's a horrible way to waste money, time, and lives.  Like the hippies, I'm for peace and prosperity.  With luck, one day we'll get it.  In the meantime, here's another cool tune to groove to and gawk at.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!  If you did, you might double his listenership--wow!

Yip!*: Back Issue

If you read comic books in the late 20th Century, then you'll likely also enjoy this magazine, which covers comics from that era.  Similar to what Roy Thomas does for mid-20th century comics in Alter Ego, Back Issue's writers examine comics in a critical and enthusiastic light, so you get interviews with creators, retrospectives of various series, and other features that illuminate the subject.  Founding editor Michael Eury has retired, but with luck the magazine will continue to be fun.  There's some danger that after more than 150 issues that they may have exhausted the subject, but they could always expand into the early 21st-Century at this point seeing how we're a quarter-century in now.  Every once in a while, the publisher will have a crazy sale.  I picked up a number of "back issues" of Back Issue for $5 a pop each.  There are very few ads, so the magazine is dense at 80 pages or so.  They also keep their eversions available, so one can read the entire run electronically if one were so inclined.  I found it better to dip into the issues where the comics covered were of particular interest to me, but the magazine is very good, so I am more likely now to read it regularly even when that issue's theme doesn't strike me as particularly interesting.  If, like me, you deplore much of what passes for contemporary comic books (variant covers, recycled storylines, cramming everything into 6-issue arcs, horrible computer-assisted art, too many unnecessary staffers causing the comics to be too expensive, and I'll stop ranting now, though I could go on and on and on), then Back Issue is a good way to still enjoy comics as it can point the way to overlooked gems from the past and get one to reappraise works one has read before.

*Yips! are good things!  So is my latest novel, Fast Guy Slows Down!

What Wred's Reading: Despite Everything: A Cometbus Anthology By Aaron Cometbus

I used to have a large zine book collection.  I also used to have a large zine collection, but that's another story.  In any case, at some point, I tired of lugging boxes of books I would probably never reread again around and decided just to reread them and dispose of them.  There is not much left of the zine book collection, only a few books.  This is a big one, so my muscles thank me in advance for finally getting it out of my life.  Cometbus is a fun zine, but reading this all in one large chunk gets a bit numbing.  Best taken in shorter doses, Cometbus's stories of punk life are charming.  Some of them even made me laugh out loud.  If even only half of the events are true, Aaron Cometbus, the editor and main writer of the zine, is lucky to have survived some of his crazy exploits.  The book now looks to be out of print, so maybe I can sell it on eBay (say, have you been checking out my eBay listings lately?--if not, then you're just like the rest of the world as eBay appears to be near-comatose, but maybe it's just the economy in general).  I don't know if Aaron is still publishing the zine itself as it's been a few years since I stumbled across a new issue, but it might still pop up again as zines are wont to do.  If so, I'd probably read it.  I just won't hang onto it for 22 years like I did this book.

If you want to read, but you're going to pass on reading about punks dumpster diving, then please read one of my novels.  My new novel, The Front Yard War, isn't out yet, but the previous Wred Fright novel is!  You can read the others also!

Music Video: Hey, Honey!

 

The latest music video is for another track from What's Your Flow Setting, Baby?  It's a fun, happy little song, and the video was fun to make as well.  Some of it was filmed at Dominic's in Wickliffe, Ohio USA, and my buddy Shawn helped out, so thanks to him and Dominic's.  Thanks to Shawn, I actually get to appear in my own music video, which is rare, usually you just see my hand or something if you see any part of me.  I saw some videos by local bands recently and they were boring (of course, they get hyped by the local media, which is how I found out about them).  Mainly, they were performance shots with the bands lip-syncing or something.  I actually don't mind videos like that, but I prefer they be live performances.  It's cool to see how a band rocks out in person albeit by video, but if you're going to make a non-live video, I usually find the lip sync stuff boring.  That's why I try to make weird little films that fit the subject matter but are visually interesting (at least to me; others may not find billiard balls bouncing off pool table walls as appealing as I do).  

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Soundcloud, Spotify, or Bandcamp!

Review Copies Of The Front Yard War

 

If anyone wants a review copy of the new novel, then please get in touch (leave a comment with your contact info or email me at wredfright Where it's at yahoo dott com).  I don't care where you review it.  It could be in a large city newspaper, your Facebook page, or even the bulletin board at the bagel shop.  I don't care.  As I have noted before, reviews are hard to come by these days.  I've done four albums in the past four years, and I don't think I've gotten a single actual review of any of them (maybe people think they suck and are just being polite, but it seems as if an awful lot of culture just passes by these days unnoticed).  The last novel had a couple of reviews, but that was it.  The corporate publishers can afford advertising.  For us indie lit types, it's all about word of mouth, so if you want a free book, just please agree to write a review.  You can even hate the book (though I'd be surprised if you were--so far, I'm enjoying the proofing and suspect that most other folks will enjoy the read as well); I don't care, just share your thoughts and spread the word if you would be so kind.

The Front Yard War isn't out yet, but the previous Wred Fright novel is!  You can read the others also!

New Single!: Forget Me Fondly

wredfright · Forget Me Fondly

This is a bit of a strange track (of course, to people who listen to American Idol or whatnot, all my tracks are probably strange).  Originally, I had a short song and decided to use it as the "third input" in another song (the third input being the bridge or middle eight that breaks up the monotony of the verse and chorus repeating ad infinitum), something I've never done before.  Then during the editing process, pretty much all of the main song disappeared, so you get this really weird short song.  Musically, it's an oddball as well.  I am drumming on a book, specifically Why You Like It:  the Science & Culture Of Musical Taste by Nolan Gasser, which is no doubt interesting to read maybe, but does work great as a percussion instrument since it's a thick hardback book.  Then the guitar part is played with a vintage toy Matchbox car.  Fake bass on guitar completes the process.  Lyrics are below (lyrics I ended up using anyway):

A pair of dentures.
A ratty knit hat.
A can of ginger ale.
A picture of a dead cat.

An old man's things. 

A black cane.
A paperback about World War II.
Last month's newspapers.
An empty can of beef stew.

If you forget me, forget me fondly.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

Cover For The Front Yard War

Here's the cover for the new novel.  It's in the proofing stage, so it's moving towards when you can read it.

The Front Yard War isn't out yet, but the previous Wred Fright novel is!  You can read the others also!

The Front Yard War

So what's the new novel about?  Here's a description:

"Jane Carcrashski is getting a divorce.  Jane Carcrashski is looking for a new career.  Jane Carcrashski is getting good at hiding her nervous breakdown. But one thing Jane Carcrashski is not doing is cutting the grass. You see, her estranged husband says he'll do it, and she's making sure he keeps his word.  Unfortunately, he's real busy, so he hasn't had time to do it, but he says he'll be over tonight.  If not tonight, then the next day.  OK, maybe this weekend.  Well, something came up, so next weekend?

In the meantime, the grass is growing, and we're past No Mow May into Angry Neighbors And Government Code Violations June, and Jane is thrust into an armed standoff with local government goons fueled by a group of misfits drawn to her growing grass including a property rights extremist who maybe only loves his rights slightly more than his guns, a native plants enthusiast who feels guilty about finding dandelion sandwiches so damn delicious, a yard artist who thinks Jane's yard just needs a few more inflatable flamingos and it would look better, and a digital druid who dislikes clothing and insists on live streaming his intense naked conversations with the plants in Jane's yard.

Remember the Alamo?  Remember Waco?  Remember Attica?  Remember how the Harpers Ferry raid ended?--Also, remember when Harper's Ferry used to have an apostrophe?  OK, enough digression, let's get back to the main point--Remember when Philadelphia dropped a bomb on a bunch of militant vegetarians?

No?  Well, none of those had happy endings.  Jane's still hoping for one here, but that's only probably because she's drunk.  If you like novels such as The Monkey Wrench Gang, then you're probably on a government watchlist, but you'll also likely enjoy reading The Front Yard War!"

The Front Yard War isn't out yet, but the previous Wred Fright novel is!  You can read the others also!

New Wred Fright Novel!

I wrote another novel.  It should be published this fall.  It's in the proofing stage.  It's called The Front Yard War.  Provided I don't get run over by a bus or something, more info will be forthcoming, so please stay tuned!

If you haven't read the last Wred Fright novel yet, it is still available!  You can read the others also!

Music Video: The Calling

I like music videos, but I generally dislike the usual MTV quick cut style where image poured upon image and the viewer never really got a good look at anything (which is probably why I was one of the few who liked the "Bastards Of Young" video by The Replacements).  For this video, I tried to catch some wildlife and other nature by the lake and in the yard, and I tried to keep some extended shots going as usual while still keeping it visually interesting.  I think it came out pretty well.  See what you think.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

drinkdrankdrunk: "EXIT THE HANDSOME" by The Midnight Rider

i realize that the focus of this story is cashpoint, but i’ve never written a novel without mentioning the big handsome (who is perhaps my most mentally ill friend) … the big handsome’s family is rich-as-shit, but he’s fallen on hard times in 2017 and had to move back in with his mom in kentucky … in the span of about 9 months, big handsome’s father and cats died, plus he was fired from another teaching gig in colorado (and i think the death of his beloved cats hit him the hardest) … we kinda lost touch over the years, and the only reason i know anything about him now is through his internet podcast … the disconnect certainly wasn’t my fault--i flew out to denver on spring break to stay with him in 2014, and the big handsome was too high to pick me up at the airport … i called and called, and he was ultimately too fucked up to drive the hour from colorado springs, and i wound up staying with another friend, alaska dave, in boulder … i haven’t seen the big handsome since 2013, and it’s entirely possible that i’ll never see him again (and that makes me sad) … per the podcast, big handsome is seeing a psychiatrist in 2017, but i don’t necessarily know what’s wrong with him (other than being high every moment of the day from 1990-2015) … other stories from other novels dealt with big handsome calling me a “republican” for not wanting to sit in 6-month-old puke while driving to a party, and his cats using his bathtub as a giant litterbox, but this particular paragraph will deal exclusively with the life/times of big handsome while teaching at a college in louisville from 2008-2010 … there’s no real connection to cashpoint other than they paid my salary, and i came back to iowa with some fucked-up stories to tell my students … this might seem like a diversion, but i promise that the big handsome is always worth it … at the time, big handsome was teaching english at government cheese university…..i don’t know how he got the job, but he only lasted 2 years … big handsome went to colorado to party the summer after his 2nd year and never returned … as the story goes, the head of the english department started calling big handsome’s friends/colleagues/former professors in september after the big handsome failed to show for the first 3 weeks of school--there was no official resignation or notification of any kind--big handsome simply decided to go smoke doobies and assumed his job would be waiting for him when he returned … i was only on their campus once, but government cheese was a helluva nice school--100 times classier than cashpoint and the kind of place where i would give my left nut to teach … my one visit to their campus was to see a play that big handsome had written about his cats as part of some “galileo festival” (and i have no idea what the connection to galileo was other than big handsome’s life revolved around his cats the way planets revolve around the sun) … i was high-as-a-bat, but big handsome played himself, and his cats were played by 2 hot coeds in slinky cat-suits complete with ears/tails … instead of smoking doobies, the character was a writer who drank scotch and played with his cats (who would perch on the furniture while sticking their asses in big handsome’s face wanting to be petted) all day--nice work if you can get it, yeah? ... big handsome even got a stipend from the university for writing the play (which seemed to be nothing more than his own life, but with hot coeds playing the parts of his cats) … i sat with one of big handsome’s students, and she seemed to think he was some kind of eccentric genius … she seemed to like me too--until i asked her if she wanted to go outside to get high (and then she seemed terrified of me) … after the play was over, we went to a local pub where big handsome let his students buy us drinks for the remainder of the evening … i didn’t have my car and big handsome was out-of-his-mind, so one of his students offered to drive us home (and, of course, big handsome paid the kid back by getting him so high that he wound up crashing on the floor next to me) … if you’re curious, big handsome’s apartment was just like you remembered it … there were 5’ tall stacks of dirty clothes in each room (complete with q-tips, dental floss or whatever other piece of garbage big handsome decided to throw into the pile) … big handsome was 38 at the time and had no idea how to do laundry--whenever he needed new clothes, he would simply charge them to his mother’s credit card … there was no toilet paper or cleaning supplies whatsoever, and i think big handsome shat at work and showered at the government cheese gym … the only food big handsome knew how to make was pizza, so his fridge was an assortment of (dripping-out-of-the-can) sauces, pizza dough, and assorted designer beers … whenever big handsome drank a beer, he simply left the bottle wherever he finished it (and there must have been thousands of empty beer bottles strewn across his apartment) … one time, big handsome’s alarm clock buzzed and woke him up, so he smashed it with his fist and the broken glass stayed on his nightstand until i returned again the following year … big handsome didn’t like junk mail, so whenever it was delivered to his mailbox, he immediately threw it on the front steps leading up to his apartment--the pile was 2’ high during my first visit and 4’ high for my second visit (and never forget that big handsome has a phd and his grandfather had once been the attorney general of kentucky) … during my second visit in the spring of 2010, i got to meet some of big handsome’s friends from undergrad … the most interesting of the pack were the son and daughter-in-law of one of big handsome’s english professors at the university of louisville … i don’t remember their names, but the dude had worked as a male stripper to put himself through college, and the chick had been a jockey at churchill downs until she failed a drug test (meth) … the groom’s go-to story was about once stripping for jeffrey dahmer at a private party in milwaukee whereas the bride’s had to go with doing lines off the winning horse’s saddle after winning a $1,000,000 handicapped race … the couple had 3 kids, lived in a victorian mansion full-of-books, and both worked as nurses as the local hospital … they were also huge cokeheads and hooked me up with their dealer in the bathroom of a dilapidated bar in the seediest section of town--then we went to the graveyard across from their house and did lines off the headstone of colonel harlan sanders (i thought it was disrespectful, and it made me uncomfortable, but party etiquette dictates that the needs of the drug dealer takes precedence over everyone else) … (daytripper) big handsome actually refused because of what happened to len bias and because doing lines off the grave of colonel sanders would be disrespectful to the great sport of basketball--hey, i guess we all have to draw the line somewhere

The Midnight Rider prefers to remain mysterious.  You could visit his website, but he won't say where it is.  You could read his books, but he won't say what they are.  You could email him, but I'm pretty sure spam@gofuckyourself.gov is not a real email address.  In a world where everyone is repping their Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, sex tapes, line of clothing, new microbrew, virus panic vaccine status, and overall brand, I find that refreshing.  I am happy to have The Rider ride on drinkdrankdrunk.

Music Video: Canaries

 

Years ago I saw a tv series about World War I and found one of the aspects very interesting, so I wrote a song about it.  World War I is my favorite war, which is not to say that I like it--most if not all wars are pretty stupid and wasteful when you dig into them--but it is the most interesting with all the new technology being used to just slaughter people for no good reason, and all the powerful art and literature that emerged in the wake of that absurdity.  The Great War also pretty much set up the table for much of the rest of the 20th Century from World War II to The Cold War, and even the current issues in the Middle East.  Of course, the sane people such as James Joyce and the Dadaists just seemed to wait out the war out in Zurich.  We shouldn't feel too superior to those living a century ago though.  The virus panic was pretty stupid also and may actually result in a higher body count (just had a healthy friend die last month out of the blue, and I have my suspicions why).  If only we had a metaphorical Zurich today, eh?  I was surprised to find some public domain World War I footage of the women in the factories.  I thought I would have to use all photographs for the music video, so that was a nice surprise.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

drinkdrankdrunk: "ASSBURGERS GARY" by The Midnight Rider

 

i don’t know what story to tell about assburgers gary because assburgers gary is ultimately too neurotic to really do anything of note … that’s not to say that assburgers gary isn’t one of my dearest friends (as well as the last one left in town) … assburgers gary is 72 and received his phd from cal-berkeley at the tender age of 23 … is assburgers gary a genius?--i would say yes, but he’s also almost too “special” to be walking around amongst the proletariat (his word--not mine) … does assburgers gary really have assburgers?--not officially, but he’s old enough to have had “it” before new york invented the concept (to make money off neurotic gentiles) … is assburgers gary a virgin?--well, he claims to have lost his virginity to a swedish grad student under a bridge in stockholm circa 1965, but i don’t think there are any (living) witnesses … assburgers gary is most definitely a millionaire (the urban legend is that he has a $20 bill hidden in every book in his apartment with number in the tens of thousands), but lives like a pauper in the worst slum in eastern iowa … his neighbors are all criminals/drug dealers and my dad would say that one of them will soon “knock him in the head” and take all his money … he actually fell prey to a computer scam just last week--he was on a poetry submission site and his computer froze and a message popped up that he should call a number in canada for virus-protection--he called the number and he gave them his credit card number and they deducted $250 from his account before unfreezing his computer (which they froze to begin with) … gary then spent 36 hours writing a 14-page e-mail warning all his friends of the scam … if you want a better story:  gary organized a “co-birthday party” for wiseman and pastor ted a few years ago where we would all meet at the local movie theater for a movie and then go out to dinner afterwards … the three of us arrived at 6, but there was no assburgers gary … we waited until 6:30 and then 7 and then i tried to call him (knowing full well that assburgers gary wouldn’t pick up because the phone call could potentially cost him long-distance charges) … instead of going to a later movie, we decided to drive over to gary’s apartment and bang on his door … it’s also worth noting that, to my knowledge, no colleague of gary’s has ever been in his apartment since dean bell helped him move circa 1982 … when we knocked, gary unlocked the door, but wouldn’t remove the chain … it seems that there had been a tornado warning earlier in the day, and assburgers gary had retreated to the relative safely of a closet in his bedroom … since the tornado warning expired at 7, gary eventually joined us for dinner/drinks (and only ordered a glass of water since he was “dieting” that week) … there was also the story about the time gary almost burned his apartment complex down … he forgot that he was cooking noodles on the stove and by the time he realized it, the fireman were knocking at his door because of all the smoke … the fire marshal paid gary a visit later that week and told him that the 50,000 books (a rough estimate because i really have no idea how many books are in gary’s apartment) were a fire hazard and he would have to get rid of half of them … and much like the beaver from leave it to beaver, gary loaded thousands of books into his broken-down pt cruiser and drove them to school the day the fire marshal came back to inspect his apartment … gary also has a thing about weight (i think because he used to be heavyset as a child) … for the first year i knew gary, he would ask me at least once a week how much i weighed--he wasn’t afraid to come up and randomly say “282 pounds” in the hall either … on more than one occasion, i’ve also seen gary walk up to a random female faculty member and guess how much weight they had put on since the last time he had seen them (and i promise you that women hate that infinitely more than chubby kids--they don’t seem to understand that it’s just assburgers gary’s way of letting them know that he’s paying attention to them) … so what is gary’s life like in 2017 after the fall of shady state with no family and me as his only friend?--well, gary claims that he’s “busier now than when he was teaching” … he joined 3-4 book clubs and somehow talked his way onto the school board and the town human rights commission (not that a tiny, iowa town particularly needs a human rights commission) … he also has lunch every weekday at a different retirement home in the area … did i mention that he writes poetry and emails me 3-4 poems a day for proofreading?--once i proofread them, he sends them out to hundreds of people (former colleagues, retirees, and folks from the nursing home) to the point where i get 3-4 emails a month from his friends asking me how they can “get gary to stop sending them poetry without hurting his feelings”--and the only response is: that’s just gary, you can’t

The Midnight Rider prefers to remain mysterious.  You could visit his website, but he won't say where it is.  You could read his books, but he won't say what they are.  You could email him, but I'm pretty sure spam@gofuckyourself.gov is not a real email address.  In a world where everyone is repping their Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, sex tapes, line of clothing, new microbrew, virus panic vaccine status, and overall brand, I find that refreshing.  I am happy to have The Rider ride on drinkdrankdrunk.

Music Video: (I'm Going To) Youngstown (To Get Fucked Up)

 

I had a hankering to make some music videos again, so I'm picking up where I left off.  "(I'm Going To) Youngstown (To Get Fucked Up)" is the first song off What's Your Flow Setting, Baby? so it got the new video treatment first.  The video is basically a tribute to the late 1980s/early 1990s Youngstown art/music scene.  If you were around back then, then you might recognize an artist, band, newspaper, or venue.  I also had to throw The Gargoyle in there, though technically that club was in Warren, Ohio USA and not Youngstown, Ohio USA, but then again many of the bands were from New Castle, Pennsylvania USA or Sharon, Pennsylvania USA anyway.  That whole area kind of mushes together.  Thanks to Crazy Carl for the professional wrestling photos.  They were from a show in Youngstown in 2002.  I am not involved in the current Youngstown music scene, but I would hope there are some folks making a ruckus there still.  The Chris Yambar stuff made me a bit sad.  I always enjoyed running into him at a local comic book convention and seeing whatever crazy project he was currently up to.  I hope Y-Town has some new crazy artists making that rust belt city interesting like Chris did when he was alive.  The video is lo-fi as usual, but I hope you find it more interesting than the A.I. or lazy lyrics video I've been seeing lately.  Come on, folks, it doesn't take much to make a reasonably interesting music video.  Don't be lazy!  Come up with as something creative as the song.  Look what I did with an empty beer bottle and some old newspapers.  You can probably do even better!

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

drinkdrankdrunk: "DIRT DICK AND THE MACHINE ELVES" by The Midnight Rider

if the linguistics professor at cashpoint went to my undergrad, they’d call him “dirt dick”… brotherman has a 7-year-old son from a bartender at the punkrock bar in town, a 4-year-old son from another bartender at the punkrock bar in town, and he recently married one of his students who is 15 years younger (and from colombia) … there are plenty of professors at cashpoint who think they’re playas, but this dude really is one … i walked into a strange liquor store with him one time and the girl-behind-the-counter was ready to abandon her post and go to his house in about 30 seconds--there are conflicting theories as to his popularity with women, but i’d go with:  giant cock … he’s not particularly choosy, but who i am to judge? ... he’s also a weed dealer, but in general, i’m not a fan of the sour diesel (and generally only call on him as a favor to annie’s sister) … the last time i was at his house, he broke out the dmt (dimethyltryptamine)--you know, the psychedelic compound that causes the user to see machine elves (the humanoid hallucination of an elf-bouncing-a-ball first coined by ethnobotanist, terence mckenna) … well, i didn’t see any little/green elves, but i did see a vision of cartoon/technicolor hell when i smoked/snorted the compound … before i tell the story, i should mention that if you asked dirt dick what he thought of me, he would prolly respond that i was paranoid (and you would be too if your mother was peeping around the corner watching every cookie you ever ate) … conversely, sitting in a room with dirt dick reminds me of boarding school when one of the richer/kooler kids was trying to dare me into doing something that i didn’t want to do--perhaps i cosmically believe that dirt dick is kooler, but there’s something about his personality that makes me want to keep him at arm’s length … anyway, onto the machine elves … the first time i barely hit the bowl, and when i looked down, i could see red/cartoon swirls for a few seconds … dirt dick was in another dimension for about a minute, and when he came back, he asked me if i saw “it”--when i told him what i saw, he heckled that i didn’t do enough … we smoked again in a few minutes, and i did a little more … when i looked down this time, i saw the same red/technicolor swirls plus millions of tiny dilbert-style (like for office workers) cubicles … when dirt dick came back around the 2nd time, he seemed even angrier that i hadn’t seen “it” and implied that i was a pussy … after about 45 minutes of arguing, i agreed to snort the dmt--this time it “worked”, and i was forced to make a decision … i knew that if i looked down that i would see hell--it would be a red/swirling, tex avery version of hell, but it would still be hell … i knew that the effects of the dmt were only supposed to last 30 seconds or so, but i was afraid that if i looked down that i would be stuck in hell forever … and being the pussy that i am, i wouldn’t let myself look down … i looked up instead--thereby remaining on the right/rational side of the fence … over the years, i’ve prolly done over 200 hits of lsd, but i never did more than one even when my friend, nootie was doing 3-4 … i was always afraid that i would lose my mind and never come back … since doing the dmt, i’ve noticed a few subtle changes in my consciousness (and they say once you do it, you’re never quite the same) … the first change is in my rem “sleep”--usually when my eyes are closed and i’m nodding off, the vision i see in my brain is of my eyes as some sort of vehicle “driving” down a road … since the dmt, i see darkened figures shooting off to the left/right as opposed to a road--maybe you could call these figures “neurons”?--i really don’t know … the second, small thing i’ve noticed occurs when i’m watching a ghost show or scary movie on tv … for most of my life when hearing a ghost story that i believed, i got the chills--well, i still get the same chills in 2016 when i believe, but they seem to be 20 times more intense … i know this section is ostensibly about the life/times of dirt dick, so maybe i should end with the story of his wedding (to a 22-year-old, former student from colombia) … dirt dick decided to have a “big lebowski” wedding at the local bowling alley complete with costumes and memorabilia … i did my part by wearing the costume of the cashpoint mascot i had worn the day before at the school soccer game … one of the more interesting aspects of the wedding was that all the cashpoint nuns were in attendance and one of them even read a scripture verse--and he was marrying a student who was in his class at the time! ... wiseman, giada, and i all ate special brownies, but giada didn’t tell her husband, and i spent most of the evening encouraging her to eat-more-food (so her husband wouldn’t know she was freaking out) … the liquor store was right across the street, so i snuck away from the wedding for about an hour to hang out with my buddy, rob, whose dad owns the place (we watched tv in the backroom and smoked a couple doobies) … supposedly the bride and groom got in a fight at the end of the night because the bride refused a drunk drive home (while the local police circled the block) … the groom eventually made it home unscathed, but somewhere in the mix, he left both his guitar and driver’s license (and there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest because of a 1999 trespassing charge in illinois) … when dirt dick went back to the town the following monday, he was arrested and given a future court date … i never found out what happened after that, but in retrospect, maybe dirt dick really is kooler than me? … my wedding gift to the couple was the fabulous furry freak brothers compendium, so at least they knew my heart was in the right place

The Midnight Rider prefers to remain mysterious.  You could visit his website, but he won't say where it is.  You could read his books, but he won't say what they are.  You could email him, but I'm pretty sure spam@gofuckyourself.gov is not a real email address.  In a world where everyone is repping their Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, sex tapes, line of clothing, new microbrew, virus panic vaccine status, and overall brand, I find that refreshing.  I am happy to have The Rider ride on drinkdrankdrunk.

New Single!: Stop Communication

wredfright · Stop Communication

I was looking through some files the other day and came upon some old letters from old friends, and I was struck by how little people today communicate when compared with the letterwriters of yore.  It's especially ironic considering how many new avenues of communication have opened up in the decades since those letters were written.  People could email the equivalent of the letters, but they almost never do.  Most emails I get are from businesses or organizations, not from people.  People could even still send letters if they wanted to, but they don't.  That's what inspired this song.  I took the title from my old pals Radar Secret Service who had an album called Stop Communication, but from what I recall never a song of the title.  Musically, this tale of a lack of communication between two old friends?  lovers?  acquaintances? is me drumming on a table along with this goofy cheap door alarm my father had.  Lyrics are below:

You could stop over and chat, but you never do.
You could call me on the phone, but you never do.
And if I left you a voicemail, I'd still never hear from you.

Stop!
Communication.
I guess you have nothing left to say.

You could send me a text, but you never do.
You could zip me an email, but you never do.
And if I left a comment on your Website, I'd still never hear from you.

All the new modern technology and nobody communicates--they just shout at each other and complain they're lonely.

You could write me a letter, but you never do.
You could send me some smoke signals, but you never do.
And if I ever see you again, I'm not going to say boo.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

New Single!: Kaurismaki

wredfright · Kaurismaki

I am fond of the films of Aki Kaurismaki.  If you're aren't familiar with him, he's a director from Finland.  In this song, I utilize various elements that often appear in his films.  Maybe The Leningrad Cowboys can cover it sometime!  I probably butchered his name in the chorus, but I don't speak Finnish.  Musically, this was composed very strangely for me, just using a tiny drumset I had.  The bass (fake bass, it's a guitar) and guitar were almost afterthoughts.  I've been composing on the guitar for so long that it was time to try to write songs on different instruments before I just fell into a rut.  It's been very interesting doing so.  I am certain I will return to the guitar at some point, but it may be some time.  Lyrics are below:

I moved from the country to the city.
I got a dog, and it was not pretty.
I smoked a cigarette down by the river.
If I keep on drinking this way, I'll need a new liver.

Kaurismaki

I got mugged, so now I have no money.
Can't find a job, and that's not funny.
I met this femme.  She said she's going to help me.
That's good because sleeping in doorways isn't real healthy.

A cop came around asking some questions.
So I stepped into a nightclub and caught some late night sessions.
I'm going to sneak out of here on a boat.
If I ever go to Finland again, I better bring a warmer coat.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

Gang Of Foreigner On Spotify

 

My latest album, Gang Of Foreigner has arrived on Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/artist/4jtrirYbvh6O1zQ7AJghIB.  I'm assuming that means it's available at the zillion other music sites worldwide that the distributor sends it to, so you can probably listen to it wherever you want to.  It was a little delayed because the moderator at the distributor must have thought it was K-Pop or something and thought it needed remastered or whatnot.  I basically told them that no, it's supposed to sound sort of fucked-up, and then it was smooth sailing, as the old saying goes.  If you listen to it, you'll probably double my monthly listeners.  Considering something like 25,000 tracks a day pop up on Spotify, I am not saddened by that.  I like it.  It's there if you want to give it a spin.  If you like it, then give it another metaphorical spin.  If you don't like it, then maybe you'll like one of the other 25,000 tracks from that day.  I know there's a deluge of content, but I'm still always amazed that people don't try new music these days.  I love the oldies also, but it's not like one has to shell out money to hear a new album anymore.  It's OK to roll the dice and stream something.  You might find something new to like.  One fun thing about Spotify is that they generate a Wred Fright radio station which has other fun stuff (right now, it looks like it has Car Seat Headrest, Gilla Band, and some others, but it's always changing, presumably based on what listeners are listening to and various computer algorithms trying to link tracks together that the same people will like).  Spotify thinks the album is from 2020 probably because the distributor notes the earliest year of composition, but it's from this year (my first album is listed as being from 1994, but came out in 2021). 

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his previous albums a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as SoundCloud or Bandcamp!

Gang Of Foreigner On Bandcamp

 

Gang Of Foreigner is on Bandcamp now.  You can find it here:  https://wredfright.bandcamp.com/album/gang-of-foreigner.  What's your favorite song?  I picked "Smart Set" as the featured track.  Mainly because it's the first track anyway, but it probably would be the leadoff single if we were living in the old days when lps and cds were the main ways music was released.  Of course, all the songs on the album were singles already, as I released them as they were recorded.  And many are my favorites with a few remaining in my current set.  It will be interesting when the album hits Spotify to see what the most popular track will be.  It's often a surprise and not just for me.  Pavement's most popular song is some late, obscure B-side that hit it on TikTok with the younger folks.  Go figure, as it is said.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his previous albums a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

Gang Of Foreigner On SoundCloud

wredfright · Gang Of Foreigner

It's out!  My new album, Gang Of Foreigner, is out on SoundCloud:  https://soundcloud.com/wredfright/sets/gang-of-foreigner.  It should be coming soon to Spotify and elsewhere (the distributor says July 2nd, but sometimes they show up earlier).  It will be coming to Bandcamp probably inbetween.  You should be able to download MP3s from Soundcloud, which I recommend.  I've been uploading digital music for years, and the sites always are dodgy.  MP3.Com disappeared, MySpace disappeared, and so on.  Eventually, the sites get bought out or go bankrupt or whatever and the tracks just disappear one day.  Best to have your own stash somewhere.  Hope you like it (if you don't, I certainly don't care)!

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his previous albums a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

Gang Of Foreigner Liner Notes

The liner notes for Gang Of Foreigner can be found here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ul5r92kPYfOySkWrmB_R9zzNMpkcsx_f/view?usp=drive_link.  I am a fan of liner notes.  I always enjoyed it when Robyn Hitchcock would have a silly short story or The Dead Kennedys would have some crazy collages and news clippings or Joe Strummer would pretend to be The Clash's butler.  Being able to stream music everywhere or download MP3s is great, but the liner notes from a cd or lp were a great part of the fun of buying a new record, so I am doing my part to keep that tradition alive.  The album will be out shortly.  The next post will likely announce the album's presence on SoundCloud.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

Gang Of Foreigner Track List

The track list for the new Wred Fright album, Gang Of Foreigner, is currently set as follows:

1) Smart Set

2) Cheekbones And Legs

3) The Whistleblower Takes Up Harmonica

4) Gang Of Foreigner

5) Sheridan Market

6) Rub My Arm

7) Another Year Without A Valentine

8) There's Nobody In This Town Worth Fucking

9) This Coffee Is Going Right Through Me

10) The Plagiarist In Chief

11) New Hire's Tragic Disappearance

12) Starter Spouse

13) It's Not Such A Wild Weekend

14) Run Of The Mill Punk Rock Song

and 15) History Of Our Home

The album clocks in at about 38 minutes which is in keeping with my belief that albums are best kept to one side of a 90-minute cassette with space for a 7" taped on the end.  Generally, the album should run over 30 minutes though.  You can hear the tracks now at https://soundcloud.com/wredfright though I have not created the official album/playlist yet.  It is interesting how songs placed in juxtaposition to one another create an independent entity as a whole.  If you have a suggestion for a different track order, then please feel free to email me or post it in the comments.  Otherwise, look for the next post to feature the liner notes for the album.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

Gang Of Foreigner Cover

Here's the cover for the new album.  I figured if my cat could make a book cover, then my dog deserved an album cover.  She must have been still a pup here.  I'll share the track listing in the next post.  If you are excited for the new album, then you can warm up by listening to the first three albums (links to them are below in the blurb).

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

New Wred Fright Album!

A new album should be coming shortly.  It's called Gang Of Foreigner, named for my dream radio station that mixes up all the fun tunes from Foreigner to Gang Of Four (and one would hope more), not caring whether it's mainstream or alternative, just that it rocks.  You can hear some of the tracks at https://www.soundcloud.com/wredfright, but I'll list the track listing and cover and liner notes here in subsequent weeks, as well as let you know when it's out on Soundcloud, Spotify, Bandcamp, and the rest of the streaming services.  I have no plans for a cd or lp release, but you could probably sweettalk me into burning you a cd if you wanted to, and some record label would have to pony up for the vinyl because I'm still selling vinyl from 1994 myself (see the blurb below for how to get a copy).  The first three albums are already out and available for listening (see the aforementioned little blurb below for links).

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

New Recording!: "History Of Our Home"

wredfright · History Of Our Home

I wrote this song in 2021.  You can hear the demo and read what I wrote about it then here.  For the rerecording, I added fake bass (on guitar) and drummed on the walls and floor of the house.  I also clanked on a folding table leg and added some beeps.  I like how the song builds musically until it's a full house.  This is the last of the Gang Of Foreigner tracks.  If I don't get run over by a bread delivery truck or something, look for the album to be out soon.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

Comic: Steamboat Goat

So Mickey Mouse finally landed in the public domain, at least the version of Mickey that's in Steamboat Willie.  Disney made some weird new version of Steamboat Willie that shows dozens of Steamboat Willie Mickeys running around causing havoc (clearly, an allegory for what they feel Mickey entering the public domain will unleash).  I watched the original cartoon thinking it might be fun to do a Mickey Mouse strip, but the character who caught my eye was not the mouse.  I encourage other cartoonists to have some fun with Steamboat Goat.  He's a cool character.  To read the comic, I suggest clicking on the image and making it full screen.  You could also download it after you click on it for the primo view, I suppose.  I've also loaded the panels individually below if you like scrolling down (it works either way).

For more fun (albeit words, not pictures), read one of my novels, such as the latest, Fast Guy Slows Down!

New Recording!: "This Coffee Is Going Right Through Me"

wredfright · This Coffee Is Going Right Through Me

I wrote this song in 2020.  You can hear the demo and read what I wrote about it then here.  For the rerecording, I added a bit of fake bass on the guitar and drums.  I shook a bag of coffee beans as part of the percussion.  I also sang in falsetto just like Prince would have, but I stuck that in the background.  The drum in the chorus is a trash can.  I like its sound.  I slurp some water at the beginning since I already drank all the coffee.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

Comic: Meet The Voters

I occasionally work the polls.  The last election that I worked was hectic because pot was on the ballot, and apparently Americans love their pot.  A lot of elections though there is a lot of time to kill while waiting for the voters to arrive.  Officially, one is not supposed to read during the downtime (though everyone plays with their phones), so I usually just pass the downtime doodling.  Those doodles inspired this comic.  To read the comic, I suggest clicking on the image and making it full screen.  You could also download it after you click on it for the primo view, I suppose.  I've also loaded the panels individually below if you like scrolling down (it works either way).

For more fun (albeit words, not pictures), read one of my novels, such as the latest, Fast Guy Slows Down!

New Recording!: "Starter Spouse"

wredfright · Starter Spouse

I wrote this song in 2020.  You can hear the demo and read what I wrote about it then here.  For the rerecording, I fleshed out the guitar and vocals with drums and a sort of bass.  By a sort of bass, I mean I turned up the bass setting on the guitar amp and played a bassline.  I once played in a band where when our bass player didn't have a bass, she used to do that, and it sounded pretty cool, albeit not as good as an actual bass.  I like the way it sounds here since I was able to do my faux bass differently than I can do on the keyboard.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

Comic: It Is Time The Sun Set On Daylight Savings Time

Ugh.  I hate Daylight Savings Time.  Yet another idea demonstrating that our society is somewhat daft.  I poured my disdain into this comic.  And no I didn't make up the stuff about the Ohio legislators.  Our leaders are actually that dumb.  So is our media.  As far as I can tell, I'm the only one who noticed their idiocy, which is pretty sad since I'm just an obscure cartoonist.  To read the comic, I suggest clicking on the image and making it full screen.  You could also download it after you click on it for the primo view, I suppose.  I've also loaded the panels individually below if you like scrolling down (it works either way).

 

For more fun (albeit words, not pictures), read one of my novels, such as the latest, Fast Guy Slows Down!