Music Page
For music lovers we recommend The Anachronisms' website
For page 2 of the music archive, click here
Among the many delights of Weapons of Mass Distraction, the new album by distinguished metamusic group The Anachronisms, is a collaboration between the group and NEW IMPROVED HEAD's own Cecil C. Thistlethwaite, a favourite of many of our loyal readers. Cecil contributed the lyric to "Ethelred Said" and The Anachronisms the melody and arrangement. The recording is unusually tight for The Anachronisms; their arrangement is clearly intended as a showcase for the lyrics. The lyric, sung by Sid Herpes, is delivered uninterrupted, and its jewel-like qualities are enhanced by the pristine elegance of its setting.You may download one copy for personal non-commercial use only. All rights to this selection are reserved to the Anachronisms and to Mark Wideman.
The file is about 2.5 megabytes in size. To download it click here.
Okay, we've been slowly introducing you to metamusic over the last few months. What we've been doing is carefully preparing you for this week. What happens this week is that we go all the way. You get your first experience of soaring to the heights of what metamusic is capable, or of plunging to the depths – in metamusic, these are the same thing. As you've probably realized.Our selection is "Dance Pathetic" from the latest album by renowned metamusic group The Anachronisms, Strictly Washroom. The instrumental part, a Hector LaPaunche-Carlos Carlos composition, combines one of the most technologically sophisticated forms of music – electronic dance music – with one of the least – hambone. As usual in metamusic, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Are those hints of "Willie and the Hand Jive" we hear? No, they're not. That's hard core metamusic playing with your head.
The lyric, by Hector LaPaunche, may at first hearing sound like a parody of conventional pop lyrics, but after you've listened to it a few times you realize that it is not a parody of pop lyrics but an alternative to them, as authentic as pop lyrics are inauthentic. And that realization is chilling.
A difficult lyric to deal with, but Dulcimer Zither rises to the occasion by spontaneously developing a new vocal style which synthesizes the diverse musical and poetic origins of this piece into a completely new and organic form. Sid Herpes plays/transforms the hambone/Bo Diddley riff in the background.
Oh, yeah. I forgot – disdain for outmoded obsessive-compulsive conceptions of rhythm, harmony yadda yadda yadda.
You may download one copy for personal non-commercial use only. All rights to this selection are reserved to the Anachronisms.
The file is about 7.4 megabytes in size. To download it click here.
Our previous selection for the music archive was a classic recording by renowned metamusic group The Anachronisms. "Alienated Manicurists at Work," from the 1986 album Out of Sinc, is a haunting examination and evocation of the human condition. The lyric, written and sung by Sid Herpes, encourages us to imagine ourselves in both positions in the defining relationship of our age, that of employee to customer. The vocal is followed by a brief groove section, after which the piece finishes with a long Herpesian guitar solo facilitated by the playing and singing of the other members of the group (Carlos Carlos, Hector LaPaunche, Dulcimer Zither).You may download one copy for personal non-commercial use only. All rights to this selection are reserved to the Anachronisms.
The file is 5.6 megabytes in size. To download it click here.
Our first selection for the music archive came from The Resurrection of the Bawdy, the recent album by renowned metamusic group The Anachronisms. Carlos Carlos's insistent keyboard line underpins Hector LaPaunche's sensitive rendition of his own dazzling lyric distinguished by a multitude of perspectives and insights which leave you simultaneously concerned and reassured about the human condition.You may download one copy for personal non-commercial use only. All rights to this selection are reserved to the Anachronisms.
The file is 2.7 megabytes in size. To download click here.
The second posting in our archive was "Significantissimo" from In Search of the Lost Lunch, one of many seminal albums from renowned metamusic group The Anachronisms. The highlights of this selection are two impassioned yet elegant violin solos by Hector LaPaunche. Carlos Carlos, Sid Herpes, and Dulcimer Zither provide a jazz-samba-influenced polyphonic setting for the solos. Carlos also contributes a brief vocal.You may download one copy of the MP3 for personal non-commercial use only; all rights are reserved to the Anachronisms. The file is about 4.8 megabytes in size. To download the MP3, click here.
For all those fans who'd been deluging us with e-mail demanding an MP3 that featured Dulcimer Zither or Sid Herpes, our third selection featured Dulcimer's impeccable rendition of a thoughtful Sid Herpes lyric, La Parole (Keep Talking) from the popular album Another Dog's Breakfast by renowned metamusic group The Anachronisms.You may download one copy of the MP3 for personal non-commercial use only; all rights are reserved to the Anachronisms. The file is about 3.8 megabytes in size. To download the MP3, click here.
We accommodated the Sid Herpes fans with our fourth selection. Sid sings his own composition, "You," an evocative and touching ballad from the Gravy CD of renowned metamusic group The Anachronisms. Carlos Carlos, Dulcimer Zither, and Hector LaPaunche provide a sensitive and restrained accompaniment. Do those chords sound familiar? That's because the tune is an elaboration of the group's famous "Instant Jazz" chords!You may download one copy of the MP3 for personal non-commercial use only; all rights are reserved to the Anachronisms. The file is about 2.1 megabytes in size. To download the MP3, click here.
From distinguished metamusic group The Anachronisms' CD Resurrection of the Bawdy comes "Superfly." This piece features Carlos Carlos singing his own composition, whose lyrics provide an amalgam, typical of The Anachronisms' work, of political insights and perceptive analysis of pop culture. Carlos also plays a prominent role on keyboard. Sid Herpes demonstrates his unbelievable flute chops in two solos. As in many Anachronisms pieces, the typical homophonic pop texture is nowhere to be heard.You may download one copy of the MP3 for personal non-commercial use only; all rights are reserved to the Anachronisms. The file is about 3.3 megabytes in size. To download the MP3, click here.
You may download one copy of the MP3 for personal non-commercial use only. All rights are reserved to the Anachronisms. The size of the file is about 2.8 megabytes. To download the MP3, click here.
You may download one copy of the MP3 for personal non-commercial use only. All rights are reserved to the Anachronisms. The size of the file is about 3.0 megabytes. To download the MP3, click here.
All musical selections © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 The Anachronisms.
Lyrics to "Ethelred Said" © 2005 David Mark Wideman.
