Category Archives: editorial

Paisley Babylon Interview on Transistor Radio

editorial, Interviews, Media

If you’re into Paisley Babylon, the Turntabling.net band/turntablism project, don’t miss the Paisley Babylon interview segment featured on this week’s edition of Transistor Radio.

Transistor is an amazing Chicago-based shop selling vinyl, art, books and mixed-media art. I covered Transistor recently as part of the Vinyl Road Rage series and this is definitely one of the hippest new Chicago music haunts in the area.

One of the things that makes Transistor so awesome is their involvement beyond the four walls of the shop with things like their regular Transistor Radio show. As it happens, I’m performing at Transistor as Paisley Babylon this Friday (October 15th, 2010 at 8PM) and I was interviewed in anticipation of the show on Transistor Radio.

Host Rani Woolpert asked a lot of great questions about the origins of Paisley Babylon, how I got into turntablism, mashups and the like. Christian Marclay I am not, but he’s definitely the spiritual godfather of what I’m doing these days as Paisley Babylon with the five turntables, five echo boxes and crates of vinyl…

There are two other guests on the Transistor Radio show besides me–Chicago mixed media artist Damon Locks, whose work (what little I’ve seen) looks amazing, and ditto for sustainable architect and furniture designer Eve Fineman. They’re both well worth checking out. Transistor Radio is quickly becoming one of my favorite Sunday night listening pleasures–now I look forward to Sundays for it, along with my all-time favorite Sunday radio experience Word Jazz with Ken Nordine.

Friends of Paisley Babylon (I’ve always felt uncomfortable about saying “fans”) should definitely have a listen to the Transistor Radio interview with me about PB, but please stay tuned for Locks and Fineman after my segment. Good stuff all round.

–Joe Wallace

WTF Album Covers: Skillet and Leroy The Okra Eaters

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Somehow I keep finding these “adults only” albums featuring poorly photographed humans from Earth in sexually compromising positions, making unfunny statements with cartoon speech bubbles. Ever since I found a Blowfly record in the dollar bin, these albums are now constantly turning up when I go vinyl shopping.

The most horrifying thing about this album cover apart from the nyuk-nyuk “lookit,we made a sex funny” vibe are the safari suit and the green checked pants. I want a pair to wear on stage now, thanks. When the alien archaeology teams land on this plant in a hundred years, they will find these records and wonder just who the the hell Sanford and Son were. Hell, some high school graduates are wondering that RIGHT NOW.

–Joe Wallace

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Turntabling and Paisley Babylon at Music Box Massacre Saturday October 9 2010

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Saturday at 11AM, Paisley Babylon does a short set to kick off the Music Box Massacre at the Music Box Theater at 3373 N. Southport in Chicago.

I spent most of Friday preparing for the show, which also features our usual table for Turntabling featuring tons of great obscure vinyl and much more.

Part of the prep for the Music Box Massacre was a gear setup and soundcheck, which I recorded and converted to MP3 for your listening pleasure. Please feel free to download and enjoy this half-hour set of mashed-up and mutilated tracks from Skinny Puppy side project Download, Ennio Morricone, Goblin, the Mister T Be Somebody album, and the Zombie soundtrack.

My favorite part of this is where I mashed up parts of the Suspiria soundtrack by Goblin with the album The Story of Star Wars. Some will call this heresy, but I had SO much fun doing it…enjoy.

Download the Paisley Babylon Music Box Massacre soundcheck and ruin your brain for good.

Please join me at the Music Box Massacre—come by early (11AM) to catch the set and be sure to drop by the Turntabling table and say hello.

–Joe Wallace

Aleister Crowley Black Magic Recordings Vinyl LP

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Here’s an anomaly; in the early 1900s, the notorious Aleister Crowley, the self-appointed “Beast 666”, recorded himself doing a variety of readings from his writings including his Gnostic Mass, a bit of poetry, and some ritual magick. Today, these recordings have resurfaced (because they’re public domain, now, I’m guessing) as Black Magic Recordings, a vinyl LP released by Cleopatra Records.

Crowley stated on many occasions–including his turn in the witness stand in several of his failed defamation of character lawsuits–that he was staunchly opposed to black magic, so the title of this album is a bit sensationalized and clearly caters to the easily shocked who consider any form of magic to be evil. But this is a fascinating bit of history–Crowley made these recordings on WAX CYLINDERS, so this is one of very few wax recordings (to my knowledge) to make it back into circulation as a retail item, however small the audience might be for it.

Cleopatra is a johnny-come-lately on this set of recordings though, as David Tibet compiled a VERY similar collection of Crowley’s wax cynlinder recordings back in 1986 according to Discogs.com.

It was a very limited release by Current 93, a total of just over 400 released for public sale before the plates were destroyed. The Current 93 release had two interesting features–the first being that the album is a 45RPM on side one, but is meant to be played at 33RPM on side two.

Interesting feature #2–the center hole for the LP was punched, then labeled over. To play the record for the first time, the paper needed to be punctured. There’s no question whether you got a brand new, unplayed copy of THIS record, called The Hastings Archive/The World As Power. And trust me, you’ll WANT to know if you ever find a copy of it for sale–this 12 inch vinyl LP is said to have sold on eBay for over $400 in 2008 from a starting price of $5 according to Popsike.com. Fascinating.

–Joe Wallace

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