“These fine people – as they’re traveling through America’s heartland – take two hours out of their travels between shows to stop in for a Daytrotter Session at Futureappletree Studio One in downtown Rock Island, Ill. The name of the city is not ironic. They use borrowed instruments, play with their touring mates, utilize a often unkempt toilet, eat some food and then cram back into their vans for the last half of the drive. What they leave behind is a pile of ashes, sometimes a forgotten stocking hat and four absolutely collectible songs that often impart on whomever listens to them the true intensity that these musicians put into their art, sometimes with more clarity than they do when they have months to tinker with overdubs and experiments. These songs are them as they are on that particular day, on that particular tour – dirty and alive.”
Check out these videos of a live in-store performance by Akron/Family in Minneapolis a few months ago. As good as their records have been, they’re even cooler live. I Sure am glad I caught their show in Denton a while back.
Get these 3 final editions of the Dr. Octagon Decipher Remixes to complete the 8 week series leading up to the release date of The Return Of Dr. Octagon…
DJ Jester The Filipino Fist
Secret Love
[Exponential; 2006; Mix]
Damnit! I can’t believe I slipped on announcing this the day it came out, 6-6-06! What kind of fuckin’ cynic releases his record on 666?! Well, that date only comes around every thousand years and it’s perfect for two things (aside from Satan rising up to take over the Earth). Releasing the new Omen movie. And for the release of Jester’s absurdly ammusing 80s mixtape-style answer to his own question, “Can there be love in the life of a traveling court jester?” After touring with Grand Buffet and as a part of Kid Koala’s turntable band, then being handpicked by Of Montreal as support, I find it hard to believe that Jester’s outlook is too dim. And as he says himself…
After the “It’s not you, it’s me” of 2005 to the “I’ll love you forever” of 2006, I figured it was time to document these heartaches the best way I know how, and I’m not talking MySpace.
sometimes something good comes out of getting your heart trampled in the mud. In this case, it’s Jester’s jumble of mixed emotions illustrated collage-style with chunks of songs and movie quotes that sound like the audio equivalent of ripped photos and used condoms.
Not to blow the “secret track listing” or anything, but in Jester’s… umm, record crates… you’re gonna find everything from Boston and Foreigner to The Dead Milkmen, Prince to Yes, Run DMC, Mix-A-Lot and Jay-Z to Billy Idol, INXS to Donovan and many others sprinkled alongside movie quotes and random scratches in the river of beats that creates a seamless set from beginning to end. Technically, some of the transitions stumble a little toward the start, but when you’re mixing things like Randy Travis’ “Forever and Ever, Amen” over a funky bass groove and hip-hop beat, it would be forgivable even if it stumbled ten times as much. [note: Not that Jester didn’t mesh those two things beautifully, it’s one of my favorite combos on the whole record]
And I hate to say this, but as much as I love Secret Love, it is a stack of lawsuits waiting to happen (probably starting with the cheesy, 80s-riffic compilation cover with him Photoshopped into it), but Jester with his Texas-sized cahones, puts out a proper mixtape, fuck the lawyers. Good luck Jester. Hope everything works out for ya!
And all you 80s kids, you will rush out and get this before the cease and desists start rolling in, won’t you? If you’ve ever couple skated on skates with four wheels that aren’t in a straight line, you should dig every second of this. Rad shit. Makes me wanna get a VW Rabbit and hack the top off of it like in Thrashin.
DJ Jester The Filipino Fist