Youtube Surrealism 2: The Strange Tale of Valiant Thor.

Admittedly, this isn't the most riveting tale I've ever encountered, but it packs a strange kind of anti-climatic punch:

The Man is at the Door: Ray Mansarek 1939 - 2013.

Youtube Surrealism: The Dying NASA Scientist Videos.

The youtube account nasajim108 uploads videos which purport to be the testimony of a dying NASA scientist.  I came across these videos before, and thought they were fairly typical of a certain type of 90s conspiracism - the coagulation of UFOs and right-wing New World Order paranoia that fueled William Cooper's militia manifesto Behold a Pale Horse, and the succession of dubious whistle-blowers that provided grist for the Coast to Coast mill during the height of the Mulder millennium spring to mind.  Some of the dying NASA scientist videos are so bizarre, however, that you might almost suspect some kind of surrealist art prank at work: 

If you thought that was a little weird, try to wrap your head around this one:

The videos seem to contain a odd stew of lurid tabloid conspiracism and esoteric and occult symbols and concepts.  References to a Jacob and Lorber law firm would seem to point in the direction of the Christian mystic and seer Jacob Lorber (whom I came across before, if memory serves, in some relation to the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen's peculiar assertion that he was "educated at Sirius").

Anyway, whether these guys are true believing conspiranoids or surrealist pranksters, or some mixture of the two, I can only tip my hat to producers of material as inexplicable as the following: 

Thanks, Christopher Knowles!

UPDATE: The Truth has been found, in the immortal words of Grace Slick, to be lies; it appears the Dying NASA scientist is the brainchild of comedian Duncan Trussell.   My compliments.

The Dance of Reality: Trailer for Alejandro Jodorowsky's New Movie.

The first film in 23 years from the great Alejandro Jodorowsky has premiered at Cannes.  Can't wait to see it.  Here's a trailer:

Here's an early review.

EVERYBODY RELAX AND WATCH ME WORK: James Brown Live At the Apollo, 1968.

James Brown's Live at the Apollo, Volume II is an amazing, landmark live set.  It captures the transition from JB's roots in more conventional soul and r and b into the sparser, grittier, groove-orientated funk sound that defined African-American popular music in the 70s, and casts a long shadow over dance music and hip-hop culture to the present day.  Of course, the sound developed slowly over a period of years, going back to Out of Sight and Papa's Got a Brand New Bag in '64 and '65, but for me, if you want one track and one moment that really crystallizes the birth of hardcore funk, it's got to be the recording of There Was a Time on the '68 Apollo record.  I first heard this record in New York when I visited the States for the first and only time in my early twenties.  Going to America is a really exciting, surreal experience for many Europeans, because we grow up with America as the semi-mythical landscape of movies and television and popular music.  So riding the subway is a surreal experience - you expect Walter Hill's Warriors or the takers of Pelham 123 to bust on at any stop.   I bought Live at the Apollo on cd on Montague Street, and started listening it on the subway home on what cats used to call a CD walkman, feeling like I was injecting all the bustling excitement of post-war urban America straight into my veins.  Side 2 features the centerpiece of the album, a long medley of Let Yourself Go, There Was a Time, and Cold Sweat.  The groove of There Was a Time flows so sinuously out of Let Yourself Go that you barely register it starting - suddenly it's just there, repeating and swelling and building, and JB, both leading the sound and being carried along with it, sings or screeches or incantates baby BABY BAY-BA BAAY-BAAA  My head felt like it was going to explode from the intensity of this track.   (The only other time I can remember being similarly overwhelmed by the intensity of a song was when I heard Sister Ray by the Velvet Underground at age 13 and was almost frightened by it.)  

This guy tipped me on the shoulder and said "What you listening to?"  and I said "James Brown Live at the Apollo" and he says "That's my roots, man, that's my roots!" and whipped the walkman off me and started shuffling up and down the train-car, screeching and whooping.  And I was thinking to myself Man, this awesome and I hope that cat comes back with my CD walkman.

Anyway, here's some primal and astonishing footage of James Brown performing in the Apollo in '68 which gives an adequate sense of what a sheer physical dynamo the man was during that period: 

I can't find the full medley from Live At the Apollo on youtube, but here is the track that counts - still one of the most badass pieces of live music - and most amazing examples of a performer's absolute control of band and audience - that I've ever heard: 

Before Lady Gaga, the Monkees were Victims of Illuminati Mind Control.

The above is the first time I've ever used the collocation "Lady Gaga" and "Illuminati Mind Control" in a headline on this blog; I'm sure it will cause a massive spike in traffic.  In this way out clip from the 1969 NBC television special 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee, the Monkees receive Monarch-like programming from beat sensations Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll, who rather unexpectedly turn out to be mid-level archons on the global Illuminati chess-board.  Can't seem to embed, so here is the youtube link.  (Hope Manson wasn't watching).  Julie cut a really striking figure on stage, like Ziggy Stardust's earth-born sister.  Here's a great blast of the Trinity rocking it live on French television:

Julie Driscoll and the Trinity's stunning version of Let the Sunshine In is about the only thing I've ever really liked about the musical Hair.   Well, that and Gelt MacDermot's First Natural Hair Band.  Edit: Oh, and also this kitsch masterpiece and old favorite of this blog:

CSNY - Down by the River - Live at the Esalen Institute, Big Sur, 1969.

Awesome footage: