For some time now, my phone’s ringtone has been “Be a Clown” performed by Verne Langdon. There has never been an occasion when my phone has rung and the tune it plays has been appropriate. Not at the doctor’s, at work, at funerals, whilst shopping… it’s guaranteed to provoke weird looks and, for some reason, […]
In the rather overpopulated world of what is broadly described as ‘outsider music’, it’s true to say there are one or two frauds, or at least those who have been shoehorned in. Are The Shaggs outsiders? Perhaps it was challenging or even outrageous to insist your clearly tone-deaf daughters perform for the masses – of […]
In 1792, France was revolting; in America, George Washington sanded off his choppers for a second term as president; in England, Joanna Southcott, a farmer’s daughter from Devon announced herself as the Bride of Christ. Busy times for all. It’s easy to envisage cults existing in remote areas of America and pseudo-religions in Asia, with […]
This is what we know for certain about Schlitze Surtees, the sideshow performer – nothing. Not even his name. Actually, we can say that we know he wasn’t born Schlitze Surtees, so maybe that’s a start. Most likely born in The Bronx, New York around 1900 (some estimates suggest as early as 1882 but as […]
Thomas Wedders – likely born Thomas Wadhouse – was born in Yorkshire around 1730. Exact details about his life are sketchy, given that much of it was spent as an exhibition at circuses and freak shows. Wedders is thought to have been the owner of the longest nose ever recorded, though sadly the 18th century […]
Morley, Leeds. Like Rome, set upon seven hills – like Rome, see Morley and die. All of life spread across a settlement five miles from Leeds. One thousand years of simultaneously resisting change and grinding down resolve until unwary visitors find themselves unable to leave. First mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086, this “open […]
There’s something slightly religious about Dyr Faser. As I type this, listening to their new album through headphones which may have melted into my ears, there’s a towering, churchy, immoveability to their music. Guitar riffs punch you in the chest, rise to the rafters and circle back down to slap you about the chops. Economical, […]
Some 27 years since its original release, Screaming Trees’ most successful album is given the reissue treatment courtesy of Cherry Red, the handful of B-sides on the additional disc being only part of the reason to dig deep beneath the potatoes and feast heartily on the fleshy songs which feel as refreshingly vital today as […]
It seems fitting that music was one of the few constants in LaVey’s life. As a child, playing the piano or organ was something that, although his parents supported, they had no need to encourage. Way before the birth of rock n roll, the music he played would most likely have been classical music and […]
Just as in 1974 when their first album, “Meet the Residents” entered an unsuspecting world, The Residents defy easy description and remain as enigmatic and mysterious as ever. No-one truly knows who the band members are or were; their styles range from seemingly novelty covers to scabrous cultural and social commentary to inspired rock and […]
