Les Claypool plays the whamola among other instruments for the theme and character music in Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars. The music on the website and in the game trailers sounds appropriate for a fun yet mysterious mushroom adventure. Les writes about the gig:
When Mushroom Men was first presented to me I was coincidentally on the perpetual late fall hunt for the elusive King Bolete mushrooms which dot the West Sonoma County landscape where myself and my family dwell,” said Les Claypool. “The yearly quest for these fabulous, fungal delicacies has become a bit of a seasonal obsession for myself and my two children over the past few years. Coupled with my son’s obsession with fantasy gaming, it was all I could do to get anything else done around Rancho Relaxo once he got wind of the impending Mushroom Man game and the creator’s interest in having me do the soundtrack. After seeing the design material and mock-ups online, I was queried on a daily basis whether or not I had ‘talked to the Mushroom guys’ and would they be sending us a beta version to try out. I knew at once that this was an opportunity to gain massive brownie points in the eyes of my offspring, a feat that becomes more and more difficult the closer they get to adolescence. Thanks Mushroom Men.
I was just listening to Les Claypool - Mushroom Man
A great friggin show. The performance was mind-blowing and the crowd was awesome with a strong Texas contingent. I loved it. Before I get back to work on my dance moves, here is an attempt at a setlist. I think it’s complete but probably a little off on the order:
Piano Man
All You Rock & Rollers
Stranger Lovers
Vibrate
Sad Sad City
Edge of Town
No Place For Me
Midnight Voyage
Move With Your Lover
Shoot ‘Em Down
Dancin’ On My Grave
Heavy Heart
Robotique Majestique
The Band Marches On
Silver City
Rich Man
HFM
Also, an impressive set of photos of the show by “Madeas” is live on Flickr. I recognize these from the photographer who was standing right in front of us. I can’t say enough how much I appreciate people hauling their gear into these shows and putting their stuff up on Flickr for everyone to enjoy. It’s rock photography at its finest.
There will be a test on all of this after you finish the video:
Best video blog ever. Upon first glance it appeared silly but then I realized the song choice is always ironic. Oh, and Davey has some nice dance moves. Just watching one of these made me forget all about the hour of sleep I lost last night.
I was in somewhat disbelief last night when I received a last-minute beacon to come out to Williamsburg to see The Hives. I didn’t know they were playing out there nor had I remembered they were playing in New York. I acquired a copy of their new album, Black & White, several weeks ago but hadn’t listened to it in a while. In fact, I can’t say I generally listen to the band except when it comes up on random. It’s neue punk/indie rock and while they have plenty of excellent tracks, it’s rare I would sit down to a whole helping of The Hives.
Now that I have seen them live it’s easy to look at this band in a whole new light. Their wit, energy and presence doesn’t translate on their records like it does when they’re on stage. The lead singer, Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist, might as well be the bastard child of Iggy Pop and Mick Jagger, backed up by AC/DC. It isn’t often to enjoy a combo platter of fancy microphone acrobatics (except for Ghostland Observatory), scissor kicks, stage diving and endless banter from your leading rock stars these days. By far the best commentary of the evening was something along the lines of, How about clapping Brooklyn? I know it’s been a long time since there was clapping in Brooklyn but I don’t even have to ask for it anymore. I know they say audiences in Brooklyn are boring but I don’t know what they’re talking about.
Oh and this is all spoken with an accent as if Elvis was Swedish but spoke English almost perfectly. It was pure rock and roll showmanship and entertainment — truly a lost art that this band has mastered and perfected.
Setlist
Try It Again
Guerre Nucleaire
A Little More For You
Walk Idiot Walk
No Pun Intended
Bigger Hole To Fill
Die All Right
Hate To Say I Told You So
Here We Go Again
Won’t Be Long
Diabolic Scheme
You Dress Up For Armageddon
Two Timing Touch
Tick Tick Boom
You Got It All Wrong
Main Offender
Return The Favour
I was just listening to The Hives - Walk Idiot Walk
If you haven’t heard, I am really into this Austin duo called Ghostland Observatory best described as synth-soul indie rock. They kicked off their tour promoting their latest album Robotique Majestique at the Austin Music Hall. For one of the more rockin tracks on the record, they were joined by the University of Texas marching band. I doubt the show in New York later this month will live up to this:
That rocked. I have watched it at least three or four times but as a result my eyes are starting to itch. Must be all of the ‘horns signs.
Also, I think it’s somewhat ironic that the only other school-marching-band-in-rock-music-history moment I can recall is the USC Trojan marching band with Fleetwood Mac.