All Hack by Dmitri Samarov

 

(Pictures and Blather, 2020) A few years back I read writer/artist Samarov's first collection of stories from his days as a cab driver in Chicago in the first decade of this Century. I missed his second book (which apparently had some bad mojo as far as distribution), and I had never seen his hand typed zines he did on this subject, so I was delighted to see a new beautiful, hardcover collection (of both volumes, all the zines, a selection of tweets taking notes on interesting rides, and related writing done after the second book), and borderline surprised that it was only $20. It is definitely interesting to learn about the ins and outs of the industry in the age of rideshares, when cabs seem like faxes (my no-credit card-having co-workers always paid friends cash to order Ubers rather than calling a cab, which they found inconceivable). Dmitry deals with predatory traffic cops, the whims of dispatchers, leased vehicles he hates (and loves), strange co-workers, arrangements for special needs riders, and particulars of where to eat, pee, and serve penance for wrongdoings. But the heart of the book is the vivid snapshots of the riders, many casually (or virulently) racist, and/or oddly open about their ethical deficiencies, but so many others delightful, fascinating, odd, beautiful characters, who reveal a lot (and leave a lot mysterious) during their short interaction. There is definitely some backseat fucking and drug deal adventures (and maybe a war crime or two revealed while discounting the cabbies ears), but more thrilling is learning about how interesting each individual in each corner of so many Chicago neighborhoods is, revealed by little trips to pick up a settlement check, deal with  a pet, or just go through a drive through for a burger. Samarov, an painter by training, says that interacting with these folks and contemplating life during these marathon shifts made him a writer. But for folks used to seeing his paintings at bars, him drawings bands at rock shows, and the thousands of aesthetic images he's made over the last couple decades, it is kinda interesting that while his written portraits are so vivid, his drawings of the riders are less so (understandable since his eyes were on the road). While not all of the people pics are evocative as you'd hope, where this book reaches the stratosphere is with the moody, magnificent ink washes of Chicago traffic, architecture, and the outsides of bars and businesses that were his whole world for 6 to 16 hours a day from 2003-2012. Some of the drawings of the people are intriguingly odd and ugly, but all of his cityscapes and auto view traffic portraits are all out beautiful. All hail this cab book.

Zisk #30, #31

 

(Zisk, 2020) Celebrating their 20th anniversary Zisk puts out a double issue that is really two issues and is definitely a crowning achievement. #31, the more regular ish, features Rev. Norb channeling Jack Kirby on the cover, making it by far the best cover they have ever printed. This issue features research, rantings, and really nice prose on what baseball fans call The Big 3 B's. Namely Buckner, Bob Dylan, and Bitching about all kinds of things you don't like about baseball (mostly of the usual statistical/rule change/commissioner stripe, but also a surprising knock on non-Dodgers teams honoring Jackie Robinson). But #30 is the big deal here, as they break format and just print a small book by Todd Taylor researching the tragic razing of homes owned by poor Mexicans in Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles, ostensibly to build public housing but after a bait in switch, making the Fountainhead dude look like Mother Teresa, they equate projects with communism and eventually just pay the Dodgers to take the land and a lot of money to replace everything and everyone there  with a privately owned park and parking lots. This, of course, necessitates bulldozing the last remaining homes after barely yanking the residents out kicking and screaming. It's a nasty and ugly and predictable tale, guest starring Fernando Valenzuela as the dude who eventually convinces Mexicans that it's OK to like the Dodgers. If your powerful baseball zine can make you feel like shit for going to  a baseball game, that's what I call a baseball zine!

Roy and the Devil's Motorcycle "Good Morning Blues"

(Voodoo Rhythm, 1996/2020) This archival (from either the 90s or Middle Ages, it is unclear) release is blues music if blues music means cursed spook-a-sonic-scape spellbook incantations made by ghosts that can only be listened to through a 1" transistor radio speaker that somehow has a tiny tube amp inside it. My world is always better with haunted house psyche drones as my soundtrack to I fully endorse playing this 24 hours a day where ever you go.

Dr. Demento "First Century Dementia

 (Liberation Hall) As this shitty year closes out I finally have a clear cut favorite record of the year. That the music is mostly a Century or more old proves how far we need to get away from 2020 to get to something good. Though it would be more properly titled "First Quarter Century Dementia" (as all the recordings are 1895-1923), this collection is one of the Doctor's best compilations, as any joke that is still funny after a hundred years definitely holds up. First up, I don't know what happened over the last few years with digital restoration, but I can't believe  how clean are rich these sound. Second up, I normally would be  critical of the same artists repeating over and over on a comp, but this time I think it gives context. Billy Murray, according to the Good Doctor, released thousands of records, so why not give him multiple slots on this, especially if it means we hear him do historical goofs on prohibition ("Alcoholic Blues") and the then-sturdiness of American cars ("The Little Ford Rambled Right Along") and animal eating, which was apparently a fad in 1914 ( "Fido Is A Hot Do Now"). And you can certainly have multiple cuts by Billy Jones if they are include such all-time greats as"Yes We Have No Bananas" and "Barney Google."  It's amazing how many of these records predict comedy/novelty records that were decades away. Telephones were pretty damn new in 1913 but Joe Hayman already understood that a one-sided telephone conversation was comedy gold (even if Bob Newhart would be the one grabbing the gold a half century later). Jones finds a treasure with his Steve Martin-predicting "Old King Tut." And Cal Stewart's "Uncle Josh Buys An Automobile" is the same kind of hick comedy Andy Griffith built his recording career upon. There are some familiar favorites here (Bert Williams' "Nobody," DeWolf Hopper's "Casey At The Bat," "The Okeh Laughing Record") but also some new to me, including a weird 19th Century recreation of a Shakespearean actor having a mental episode, and Ed Gallagher and Al Shean doing a Ziegfield Follies hit that is amazing simply because they sing their own names in a very funny manner. Dr. Demento's liner notes are great, reproductions of the 78 labels are lovely, and this record is a gem. 

One addendum I love Dr. Demento, and I  delight in the use of the terms Demento, Dementoids, and Dementites. However, I don't love it as much when he throws around the term "Dementia" in this age of Alzheimers awareness. I am on a mailing list and when I see that in the subject line I always get a little sad before I realize what it is.

Martin Mull "No Hits, Four Errors"

 

(Capricorn, 1977) I never fully got my fellow RISD alum Martin Mull's deal. He was definitely funny in everything but I didn't super connect with his albums and I felt I had missed something, in part because I never got to see Fernwood 2Night, which I was convinced was a lost gem by the way trusted comedy fans discussed it. Well, after we lost Fred Willard earlier this year I found almost every episode on Youtube and it was worth the wait, Mull's character's smarm and disdain and guilt-free  relationship with ethics were a delight. Revisiting his greatest "hits" I actually had some revelations about his musical comedy. On "Jesus is Easy" and "Normal" Mull wonderfully takes a WASP-y view of the counterculture, one that Jewish comics couldn't really take, which is that he can just go back to comfortable status quo whenever he's done slumming. A little less impressive is his take on racial matters, as his "The Blacks Are Giving Me The Blues" is just awkward, and his "Santafly," is which he does a fake 70s soul falsetto, is problematic not only because he is doing vocal blackface, but because there are plenty of actual, legit, similar Soul Christmas records on the R&B charts, the idea that this is a ridiculous novelty just shows how disconnected he was from the music he was trying to parody. Sure Cheech and Chong did the same kind of joke with "Basketball Jones," but it at least demonstrated that they really knew the music they were riffing on. But that aside, some of these songs are really pleasantly pleasing (especially "Licks Off  My Records" and "Eggs") so I'm mulling moving Mull up to the next tier of comedy greats.

The Firesign Theater "Dope Humor of the Seventies"

 

(Stand Up Records, 2020) I am as big an advocate for comedy LPs as you'll find, so I have heard a number of Firesign albums, and the fact that I can't remember anything about them probably tells you a lot about my opinion on them. After listening to over two hours of bits from their 70s radio show I still can't say I'm down with the FT, and I really didn't laugh listening to this, but I do feel I have a better idea about where they fit into comedy history. The general vibe I get is sort of those comedy duos/teams you would see on Ed Sullivan footage doing Nichols and May type skits, but not as funny as N&M. But everything also has the kind of dank scent of 70s comedy for stoners, where general silliness mixed with sounds-like-smartness (without making any actual clear points), appealing perfectly to a slowed down, giggle primed brain. When they do an old man voice it is such an homage to Jonathan Winters that there's also a revival of the kinda chaotic manic madness that Robin Williams later ruined. All that said, while I didn't love this, they seem to be amusing themselves pretty much, which is fun to hear. Also, for fans, buy this instead of streaming for free because the booklet, featuring tons of fantastic reproductions of handwritten and typed scripts, notes, scripts with notes, scripts with doodles, and some great photos is my favorite part of this package 

Mr. Boop Volume III: "Cease & Exist" by Alec Robbins

 

(Mr. Boop, 2020) I'm sure you are aware of the whimsical, erotic, fair use-defying comic Mr. Boop, in which Alec Robbins chronicles his life as the very happy husband of naughty nonagenarian cartoon legend Betty Boop, to whom he is married. But have you ever asked yourself what would it be like if he was NOT married to Betty Boop? Well no need to blow your own mind, Robbins does it for you in the latest collection of his romantic escapades. Past volumes have been the Ready Player Ones of cartoon orgy books, but here the copyright laws catch up with Alec in some very unexpected ways that you will hate to love (and vice versa). If you want your heart broken, if you want mainline true love and devotion, and if you want to see multiple drawings of Mickey Mouse's erection, cease and desist not buying this modern masterpiece. 

Lady Saw "Give Me The Reason"

(VP Records, 1996) Lady Saw was one of the biggest names in Dancehall, ever, when she forsook secular music a few years back (she now goes by Minister Marion Hall), and I am familiar with her raunchy, rousing hits. But until recently I never listened to her sophomore album all the way through, and subsequently, I did not listen to much else for the next week. As far as her bold, strutting take on Reggae that would make her a legend, it's all here. Her phrasing on the spare, hypnotic "Darnest Things" is dancehall gold, and "Good Wuk" features some great work. On tracks like "Life Without Dick" we hear the explicit lyrics that became her signature, though the sexual content is mostly pretty mature, in the non-dirty sense of that word (advocating monogamy and contraception on "Condom," for example). But what makes this album so magnificent is how seamlessly, convincingly, and intoxicatingly it bounces around diverse musical styles. It is not unusual for Reggae artists, and Lady Saw in particular,  to make a Country song, but "Give Me A Reason" is not only the title track, it is also so twangingly Country, and more importantly, it is so good.  Few folks in Nashville were making tracks this traditional or this impressive in '96. The bouncing, grooving "Glory Be To God" is one of the banging-est sacred songs I've ever heard (it makes me want to check out her current gospel work).  And what really knocks me out is that side two opens with an un-ironic cover of the Drifters "Saturday Night at the Movies." While male singers cover the entire song, Marion pops in between verses to hype Denzel and Stallone and Sharon Stone and movie snacks, and the joys of getting down in the balcony with her date  ("You are my Batman, baby, so please keep me warm").  Sly and Robbie play on most of the tracks, though they are not credited with any production or arrangement, Garfield "Sampalue" Phillips is the main dude, a prolific producer who did a lot of her records in the 90s, but it really feels like it is the flexibility, creativity, and personality of Lady Saw that makes all these different tracks feel contemporary, powerful, and cohesive. While she will be making no new albums as Lady Saw, I am really grateful this one was new to me.

Dolly Parton "Holly Dolly Christmas

 

(Butterfly) I LOVE Dolly Parton! I have 80 Dolly records in my collection; I binged that entire Netflix series where they act out her songs; I've journeyed to Dollywood; and if they let you choose COVID vaccines I sure as hell will choose the Dolly one. But this is not her finest moment. It ends strong with a powerfully sacred rendition of 'Mary, Did You Know," "Comin' Home For Christmas," which came out a few years ago but has not been on an album to my knowledge, is some prime Dolly songwriting, and that's a helluva top she is wearing on the album cover. But there's a lot of musically uninteresting hokeyness here (Dolly has done fascinating hokeyness scores of times) and a lot of uninspired duet pairings.  The only duet with any pop is with her brother Randy, while the others just don't rise to the season (I would love to have heard Dolly and Willie's voices melding on "Pretty Paper," but the production drowns out Willie's voice, and Miley Cyrus needs a certain kind of production and song to shine, and doesn't get them here). If you are excited to hear Dolly duet with Jimmy Fallon on "All I Want For Christmas Is You," complete with a ton of awkward chastely romantic banter between them, then God bless you, but I have never met you or anyone who shares your opinions in my life. First off, while that song is a legit contemporary Christmas classic (it might end up the last song to make the Christmas Canon), it doesn't really need to be covered - no one can touch the original. Second  - Jimmy Fallon? I am not a complete hater (his pseudo hardcore song about a snowball fight is a novelty record that scores high on my Demento-meter), but c'mon, is this who we want to hear sing with Dolly? I bought this on vinyl and the best I can say is the second side is way stronger than than the first, so I may bust it out on occasion, flip it over and listen Fallon-free. Not sure I can recommend this on another format. That said, there is actually an $55 Amazon-exclusive 8-Track edition of this album, with a bonus track! 2020 is a very weird year. And I love Dolly Parton.

Karl Meyer "No Mask No Music"

(KarlMeyer.Bandcamp) Novelty Pandemic Pop Punk was obviously an inevitability, as Karl gets his best Dr. Demento-meets-Fat Records groove on while joking about the benefits of covering your ugly face with  a mask and the horrors of quarantining with someone your sick of. Less droll than New Yorker cartoons, funnier than Jim Carey and Alec Baldwin on SNL, and approximately one millionth as vital as the worst anti-Reagan hardcore record from 1982.