ARCHIVE : Popaganda CD-ROM
IT'S LIKE FINDING A QUARTER-POUND OF GOD BETWEEN THE BUNS OF YOUR BIG MAC. IT'S A REVOLUTION YOU CAN DANCE TO.
The participants on the project CD POPaganda were given a CD ROM and videotape of the art contained within this book and asked to create a soundtrack to the art. Beyond that the instructions were unspecific. A couple of the bands were completely stumped, so I wrote some lyrics and a couple of hooks. From there, it was uncharted territory. It has been my experience that if you present talented musicians with a good challenge, they will rise to meet the challenge, or in this case wildly exceed it. The stuff they came up with was quite varied and brilliant. I don’t think there’s another record like it. If I were to review it, I would probably say it’s the musical equivalent of seeing the world through rose-colored magnifying glasses from atop the Empire State Building while bi-planes try to shoot you down. It’s a magical/mystical exploration of the sounds one hears in one’s head while buried in the sand on the other side of a no trespassing sign. It’s a CIA wiretap recording of a tree falling in the forest, broadcast via pirate radio to the malls of America, where nobody hears it because nobody is really listening. Besides, isn’t there a sale at the Gap? It’s like finding a quarter between the cushions of the couch at your shrink’s office and putting it in someone else’s parking meter because you can’t afford a car of your own. It’s like finding a quarter-pound of God between the buns of your Big Mac. It’s a Revolution you can dance to. Are we spending money yet? – Ron
Listen to the tracks below.
1. TRIPPING DAISY “Cartoon Bikini” (Tripping Daisy & Ron English) 4:36
(lyrics adapted from Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” by Ron English)
2. SCISSORS “Lone Star” (A. Widoff) 3:32
3. EYEBALL “Ron Sees It All” (S. Harbison, A. Harbison) 3:26
4. INVISIBLE CULTURE “Painted Into A Corner” (Invisible Culture, Ron English) 3:18
5. WESLEY WILLIS “Ron English” (W. Willis) 2:44
6. WOODEN “The Outer World” (E. Issac, M. Prine) 3:58
7. THE WHATNOTS “The Odd Side of Normalcy” (J.Higgins, The Whatnots) 5:05
8. THE GEFKENS “Billboard” (M. Azzarto, The Gefkens) 3:14
9. THE SUTCLIFFES “Picture This” (B. Jemeyson, R. English) 2:41
10. WAMMO “Eulogy for a Vandal Artist” (Wammo, Illness) 4:00
11. THE REVEREND VINCE ANDERSON and his Love Choir “Mr. English (You’re Going to Hell)” (Vincent R. Anderson) 3:11
12. ROBBY LEDOUX “He Said It in English” (R. LeDoux) 2:58
13. BRIAN DEWAN “The Trial” (B. Dewan) 3:19
14. DANIEL JOHNSTON “Still Life” (D. Johnston, R. English)
15. WOODEN “Outer World Dance Mix” (E. Issac, M. Prine) 3:18 Remixed by Jessie ‘Creeper’ Baumier