doing laundry by hand lends great insight
into the filth of daily existence. after just
one day, socks turn the water shit brown.
cold water rinse, wring them out.
Unijazz is my new favorite place. despite
its being on the top floor of a building
just off of Vaclavak, i guess you could
call it underground. no sign out front, you
enter nondescript lobby, buzz to be let up
--4? 5? 6? flights of stairs (hard to count,
you go round and round). there's a bar,
small music shop, TV in the corner for
occasional presentations (the other night
was debunking mental illness stereotypes).
you can order a drink, sit down and audit
CDs at leisure, blow smoke out the window
if that is your pleasure. today i picked up
a bunch of stuff, doing my part for the econ-
omy and transcontinental culture diffusion.
here's what i bought... DJ Vadim, USSR:
"russian percussion" by scratch-happy dj,
recombinant aural genetix at its finest. |
unijazz listening station: cigarettes, wine,
music |
|
from PPU book, photo circa
1973
Radost, Mravenci Snedli Kocku [Ants Ate
Kitty]: herky-jerky horns, funny czech lyrics,
children and groaning on supporting vocals,
produced and directed by
Miroslav
Wanek.
SABOT, 120 Months: Bass and drum duo
from San Francisco now run culture exchange
program CESTA in Tabor, czech republic.
band history and tour diary book complete
w/ tribute CD. chris and hilary (fucking) rock!
picture i took
1998--never had i seen the
other! |
Plastic People of the Universe, kolejnice
duni:
Plastics music from 1977-82, includes epochal
"100 Points", lyrics to which i got in english
via small hardcover book, of which this is a bit:
...They fear art
They fear books and poems
They fear plays and films
They fear records and tapes...
They fear water and fire
They fear humidity and dry weather
They fear snow
They fear the wind
They fear frost and hot weather
They fear light and darkness
They fear joy and sorrow
They fear jokes
They fear honesty
They fear integrity
They fear the educated
They fear the talented...
They fear the truth
They fear freedom
They fear democracy
They fear Human Rights Accords...
So why do we fear them?
Frantisek Vanecek (who wrote this, 1973/74)
was implicating the then-Soviet leadership,
which was eventually toppled in part due to
this one band's outspokenness. but sadly the
lyrics are also timeless. one needs look no
further than US government--or should i say
its puppetmaster, corporate special interests.
(i guess the answer to that last question is:
they've got bombs and guns and who knows
what else and have proven themselves willing
to use them again and again. but is that any
reason to let them get away with the threat?) |
