The Out Of Bodies - Stripped... Naked

Well, since people have been begging for some "NEW" Out Of Bodies content on this website I have decided to oblige the masses by going back into the OOB vaults, once again, and dig real deep... What I've come up with this time is something I've found from as way back as 28 years ago! Hence the quotation marks around the word "NEW"! - - It's hardly new, but it's new to YOU folks!

Also mixed in there were a few audio snippets found randomly, which were recorded - more or less - around those same years... and then it hit me... Where have I heard something like this before? Aha! I know, there's a Beatles CD I have called "Let It Be... Naked" which is a 2003 remixed and remastered version of their 1970 "Let It Be". When this CD came out it included a bonus disc called "Fly On The Wall" - which contained candid spoken dialogue among the group and additional song excerpts. So THIS is, if you can just stretch your imagination for a few moments, the Out Of Bodies version of that similar concept... The Out Of Bodies raw... no overdubs, no rehearsing, not even a single lyric sheet... just one big improvised mess!! (Wait a minute, did I just say mess out loud?)

When Dan heard it he wrote me "That was fun, so many gems that we done, it's unbelievable, that "I Call Your Name" Bones-style was really good! I'm adding this to my youtube channel, give us more, give us more, Ha Ha!!!"

And so I DO plan on making more of these... there's always plenty of these little Out Of Bodies surprises lying around the bottom of the barrel! Stay tuned - - and enjoy!!

The mystery of the strange man with the light weight trunk

And now it's time for yet another Out Of Bodies mystery (courtesy of my pal, Dan Banic... who is FULL of unsolved mysteries!!)...

I don't know where to begin here except to say I have no idea what this song of Dan's is about. Something about a Chinese man carrying a light weight trunk handing out candy to little children... wha-WHAAAAT???

Dan also made this little video, which similarly creeps the bejeezuz outta me. I'm not sure why, but it might have something to do with that awful attempt at a Chinese accent Dan does when the character in the song is handing out candies... "Here's some candy for you too - everybody get candy! Ooooh, I didn't leave you out! Here's candy for YOUUUUUU TOOOOOO!!!!"

Then there's the subtle mix-ups which I can only assume were non-intentional - where the song references a Chinese monk, but then mentions Japan? And that part that goes "I'm so sorry-NARA!" (Sayonara) - that's Japanese for "goodbye" isn't it? And what's in that light weight trunk? What frightens me even more is that I'm even spending a minute pondering this!

Oh, I'm so Confucious!!....

Anyway..... enjoy.... I think.......

Norman's back... again...

Oh good... I was wondering a while back what happened to the A&E Bates Motel series... it went into some sort of hiatus, I lost track of it, it came back, I didn't notice - and then by the time I did it was gone again... I even fell behind with the story ...which if you've watched the series you'd know that's a very easy thing to do, with it's whole sub-plot involving some seedy underground pot farm operation - which seems neither integral to the story nor interesting...

But they've just released a quick teaser for their upcoming season 4, which promises to begin this March 7th at 9/8c - so with a fresh season come new beginnings... or new endings......

The show's also been renewed for a 5th season - which is one of those good/bad scenarios... Good because, well, it's more Norman Bates... but bad because it could also be an indication that we won't be seeing any events which cross-over into the Psycho movie until the end of season 5 - so what's to hold our interest throughout the two final seasons leading up to it? Certainly not Norman's half brother, Dylan, who in spite of his good intentions to help out Norman and to re-connect somehow with his estranged mom - is as interesting on-screen as watching paint dry. 

Add to that other characters which barely hold my interest; Emma with the oxygen tank, Bradley who's father gets toasted (literally) by the drug trade he's involved in - and who herself eventually gets killed by Norman in his mother's persona for convincing Norman to run away with her, Sheriff Romero - good cop/bad cop - who sometimes holds a striking resemblance to Anthony Perkins, Caleb (father of Dylan, Norman's brother - who is also the incestuous brother of Norman's mother Norma)... in short, Bates Motel is a show which is much easier to hate than it is to love...

...and yet I watch...

David Bowie, and may God's love be with you

 

What a bummer it was to wake up on a chilly monday morning, dragging myself out of bed to get ready for work (that alone can cause me to crawl right back under the sheets) - - only to find out that David Bowie - a major contributor to the soundtrack of my life and a gigantic influence on The Out Of Bodies - had passed away only a few hours ago. It wasn't publicly released until now that he had been battling cancer for about a year and a half - and according to his long-time friend and record producer Tony Visconti, Bowie wanted to leave his fans with a parting gift in the form of what critics are saying is his most extreme album ever, titled "★" (Blackstar) which was released on January 8th, just days ago on his 69th birthday. 

Visconti wrote on his Facebook page "He always did what he wanted to do. And he wanted to do it his way and he wanted to do it the best way. His death was no different from his life - a work of Art. He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift. I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn't, however, prepared for it. He was an extraordinary man, full of love and life. He will always be with us. For now, it is appropriate to cry."

In spite of some downright creepy visuals (which Bowie is known for creating in his videos) and obvious lyrical references to his own mortality, Bowie's last album is also somewhat dreamlike - driven by, as one critic noted "long, jazzy jams mixed with the kind of driving beat pioneered by Seventies German bands Can and Kraftwerk." About it's origins Visconti elaborated "We were listening to a lot of Kendrick Lamar. We wound up with nothing like that, but we loved the fact Kendrick was so open-minded and he didn't do a straight-up hip-hop record. He threw everything on there, and that's exactly what we wanted to do. The goal, in many, many ways, was to avoid rock & roll."

Tonight I'm going to pick up my copy on compact disc rather than just downloading it - I'm imagining Bowie would appreciate the fact that there are still those out there who, in spite of all that technology offers, prefer to hold something visual in their hands. Bowie was, after all, just as much a visual artist as he was with his music. I guess I can also safely assume I will be listening to Blackstar during many car rides - perhaps even getting a little spooked. I'm looking forward to it.

Enjoy the videos... and thank you, David, for everything...

New Video added! B1 Bomber!

This new year has (so far) brought outofbodies.com not one, but TWO new video additions for you to enjoy!... last week's Origin Of Ka Ka Cat, and today - a week later, B1-Bomber - an early Out Of Bodies song of Dan's! When Dan first saw it he was quick to note the in-joke that starts off the video - a brief, limited-animation segment pointing out Dan's mispronunciation of Russia's "Moscow"... Dan accidentally fumbles the intro and says "This is B1-Bomber heading for Bosco!" (Yep... the delicious chocolate syrup) and Bosco the Bear's eyes dart nervously about the room as if to say "Did he just say what I thought he said?" It's quick - and not too many people will get it - but I just had to throw it in there...

Dan responded, "Oh man , I'm on the floor laughing, the video, lyrics, footage and the added sound efx' makes this just the best, Ha Ha !!! Great job Donald. One more thing, in the very beginning I meant to say the words "Moscow" but got nervous on the mike and blurted out B first so it came out Bosco ...but I tried to change it quickly to Moscow, Ha Ha!, true. You brought back memories of when I did my first early 4-track songs, I kept getting nervous on the mike worrying about the record button and me forgetting my lines when singing! After a while I said to myself, "what the hell you got to be nervous about? You're recording in your room on a cheap machine and there's nobody here!!" That's when I started to relax and didn't give a crap, Ha Ha!!!"

The clip's Facebook debut was prefaced with the tongue-in-cheek disclaimer "Play loud!! Just make sure the kids, your boss, and anyone else offended by the f-word aren't within earshot - as this song contains a bit of that... it's a catchy tune though, you will find yourself humming it at inappropriate times!" Also included was a shout-out to The Royd's "I should add I got the idea for the lyric treatment from the Royd's - a much classier video!"

 

Still unexplained after all these years is WHO is it supposed to be who's saying "I think we F@#&ed up"? The guy DROPPING the bomb or the unfortunate RECEIVERS of the bomb below? And at the end it changes from "we" to "I" think I F@#&ed up... who's the "I"? Well, like most of Dan's songs - it's the lyrical ambiguity that only adds, not detracts, from the song's charm. Add that to the many unanswered questions... "who's Jacob Shotwell?"... "was Wendy in Wendy Will Die a real person?"... "who's telling who to back away in Just Back Away, and why?"... "The Son Will Come sounds like a dialogue between father and son - was it actual advice?"... We may never know.

Anyway, folks - enjoy the video!!