Nearly 30 years after releasing their last studio album, Avalon, influential art-rock act Roxy Music have announced that they will reunite for the first time in over a decade for
Any Major Dude Will Tell You is the third track on the 1974 Steely Dan album Pretzel Logic. Here’s a funny excerpt from Blinded by the Lyrics…
“Okay, friends, break out your Steely Dan decoder rings. Starting with the release of their debut album Can’t Buy A Thrill back in 1972, no group has trafficked in more oblique, head-scratching, and just plain weird lyrics than Steely Dan. Case in point: Have you ever seen a squonk’s tears?, an enigmatic line from “Any Major Dude Will Tell You” off the Pretzel Logic LP.’
What on earth is a squonk? As they used to say on the old Laugh-In television show, “Look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls!” Actually, don’t both bother, because the word squonk is not found in any dictionary.
It turns out that squonk is a piece of jabberwocky, a completely made-up word referring to a mysterious animal, that due to its abject homeliness, spends most of its time crying. Credit for coining squonk goes to William T. Cox, who introduced the word in his oddly named book Fearsom Critters of the Lumberwoods, with a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts. To quote from Mr. Cox’s volume: “The squonk is of a very retiring disposition, generally traveling about at twilight and dusk. Because of its misfitting skin, which is covered with warts and moles, it is always unhappy; in fact, it is said, by people who are best able to judge, to be the most morbid of beasts.”
Two years after Steely Dan introduced listeners to the mythical squonk in “Any Major Dude Will Tell You”, Genesis included the song “Squonk” on their A Trick of the Tail album, wherein Phil Collins sang: Stop your tears from falling / The trail they leave is very clear for all to see at night.
The Contestants:
God Street Wine: The earliest recording on the Live Music Archive of God Street Wine performing this cover dates back to 1990. So when GSW played it last Friday, it was a good 20 years since that night at The Wetlands. Resident GSW expert ScottyB pointed me in the direction of the performance below from 1994. Man, the way they perform the intro makes it sound more like The Grateful Dead than Steely Dan. Source: 9-16-1994
[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/gswdude.mp3]READ ON for the scoop on the rest of this week’s contestants…
The Virgin Mobile FreeFest returns to scenic Merriweather Post Pavilion on September 25th for the second year in a row boasting a ridiculous lineup that includes Pavement, LCD Soundsystem and
Back in May we broke the news that Phish’s Trey Anastasio had started working with a new songwriting partner – Broadway vet Amanda Green. The first fruit of the pairing’s
Widespread Panic made their first appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night and performed North. The jam legends return to town on Thursday for a show at Radio
Camp Bisco 9 @ Indian Lookout Country Club – July 15-17
It seems that every year the Disco Biscuits bassist Marc Brownstein starts the last set of the weekend by commenting, “This Was The Best Camp Bisco Yet!” and yes, this year it rings truer than ever.
From the eclectic artists who kept the music flowing – about 48 hours in total – all weekend long to the new art installations which dazzled and entranced attendees, there was more action at Camp Bisco 9 than ever. While the Biscuits were only able to complete five of their six sets scheduled for the weekend – one set was lost due to safety concerns from heavy lightning – there was no shortage of music to keep you moving all day and night long. While the main focus of the festival seems to be turning to more of an electronic mix, there was much more than just DJs spinning over the weekend.
There were a few major changes that dramatically increased the amount of music that you could see over the weekend. Following the catastrophic rains that left last year’s Dance Tent anything but functional, the tent, which showcases DJs all weekend long and provides late night music till 4AM, was moved to a better location closer to the road up the path from the main stage. Also, a second stage was added adjacent to the Main Stage allowing bigger acts to play back to back without breaking for set changes. The Silent Disco debuted this year giving fans another great late night option that ran just short of sunrise. Other fun additions to the landscape at the Indian Lookout Country Club included performances each night by the Philadelphia Experiment – a dance troupe that included fire dancers, fire hoopers and poi spinners.
Thursday, July 15
On Thursday afternoon, Rubblebucket’s Kalmia Traver rocked a sax that was about the same size as her and the band brought a funky Jazz vibe to Camp Bisco. Many fans soon pushed on to the Dance Tent to dance with Orchard Lounge, who showed that no matter what time it is if you are ready to throw down some hot tracks, people will be there to hear it. Even with a five hour wait to enter the venue, there was no shortage of fans checking out what was their first set of the weekend. Never an act to rest on their laurels, OL also played the VIP tent vs. Magner and the Silent Disco. Pretty Lights took the stage after the Biscuits’ first set of the weekend with their Finally Moving Remix featuring an Etta James sample that had the whole crowd singing along. LCD Soundsystem closed the main stage on Night One by giving props to New York with a combination of New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down and Jay-Z’s Empire State of Mind.
READ ON for more from Jeremy and Carla on Camp Bisco 9…
Following up on a story we told you about last week, Ezra Koening of Vampire Weekend has addressed the lawsuit filed against his band by Contra cover girl Kirsten Kennis.
Camp Bisco took place this past weekend in upstate New York, and to mark the passing of the event this week’s Stormy Mondays features a single track of old school
Umphrey’s McGee just announced details for the 3rd Annual Monster Mash Up Halloween extravaganza. This year, the group moves the celebration from the West Coast to the Midwest as the
Words and Images: Andrew Bender
All Good Review 2010 – Days 3-4 – No Expectations
Day 3:
Every music festival is different & I try to plan things out and have some idea of what to expect when going to a festival for the first time. However, as much as I might try to make things happen according to plan, or figure out what to expect in advance, festivals are usually best approached with a fair bit of planning & plenty of flexibility. Being able to surrender to the flow & let go of expectations is essential to enjoying 40+ bands in four days.
Missing the morning sets at the Campground Stage by the Brew and Rubblebucket, I took a scenic walk to the festival box office tent to replace my broken plastic wristband. Festival security staff were truly wonderful the whole weekend, and I didn’t hear or see a nitrous tank the whole time. I recently heard that the festival security had caught all of the large distributors going into the festival. I did get a second hand report of one tank in the campground on Sunday afternoon, but it sounded more like a personal tank. If I had to guess, I’d say somebody was selling some of his own personal N2O for a little dough, and not part of a highly organized criminal operation.
- Previously on HT: All Good Festival Pt. 1
I made it out to see my good friends from Ann Arbor, the Macpodz in the first set of the day on the main Dragon Stage. In some ways the ‘podz represent everything that’s good and weird about southeast Michigan. They blend funk, rock, jazz, latin beats with Nick Ayers’ percussion and Ross Huff’s hot trumpet trading licks with Jesse Clayton’s dexterous keyboard work, all kept in time by Griffin Bastian’s tight kit drumming and Brennan Andes’ high energy bass playing. These guys are up-and-comers on the festival circuit, and it was a real treat to see them on the big stage. Even in the heat of the noon sun, the Macpodz had a nice crowd getting down to the first party of the day in the festival bowl.
READ ON for more from Andrew on All Good…
