 The Curious Universe of Outsider Music by Irwin Chusid OUTSIDER MUSIC COMES INSIDE! BOOK and CDs spotlight musicians on the lunatic.fringe |
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 Author / producer Irwin Chusid's book profiles dozens of outsider musicians, both prominent and obscure, including such figures as The Shaggs, Syd Barrett, Tiny Tim, Joe Meek, Jandek, Captain Beefheart, The Cherry Sisters, Wesley Willis, Daniel Johnston, the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, Wild Man Fischer, and Harry Partch. The text presents their strange life stories along with photographs, interviews, cartoons, and discographies...
"Iconoclast / upstart Irwin Chusid has written a meticulously researched and passionate cry shedding long overdue light upon some of the guiltiest musical innocents of the twentieth century. An indispensable classic that defines the.indefinable." --John.Zorn "Chusid takes us through the musical looking glass to the other side of the bizarro universe, where pop spelled backwards is ... pop? A fascinating collection of wilder cards and beyond avant.talents." --Lenny.Kaye "This book is filled with memorable characters and their preposterous but true stories. As a musicologist, essayist, and humorist, Irwin Chusid gives good value for your entertainment.dollar." --Marshall.Crenshaw
- TABLE OF CONTENTS - Introduction: The Realm of Outsider Music Prologue: Transistor Under My Pillow - A Memoir The Shaggs: Groove Is in the Heart Tiny Tim: I Get a Kick Out of Uke Jack Mudurian: Chatterbox Jukebox Joe Meek: Blast from the Past Song-Poems: Bus Fare to the Grammys The Cherry Sisters: The Fruits of Clean Living Jandek: The Great Disconnect Daniel Johnston: Casper 1, Satan 0 Harry Partch: Hallelujah! He's a Bum Wesley Willis: Hell Ride Syd Barrett: Guitars and Dust Eilert Pilarm: The King of Sweden Lucia Pamela: Interstellar Overdrive Captain Beefheart: Inscrutable Dreamer Shooby Taylor: Scat Man Do Florence Foster Jenkins: Widow's Peak The Legendary Stardust Cowboy: Wide Open Space.Cadet Robert Graettinger: Sleep in the Grave B. J. Snowden: Mission to Venus Wild Man Fischer: Ritual of the Savage Snapshots in Sound: Elsewhere in the Curious Universe (52 brief.portraits) Afterword / Discography / Bibliography The book includes artwork by
the following talented luminaries: |
Too strange for radio ! Outsider Musicians have come inside for a celebration of their art. Two counterpart CDs to the book SONGS IN THE KEY OF Z: THE CURIOUS UNIVERSE OF OUTSIDER MUSIC are available, produced by the book's author, Irwin Chusid. The CDs feature songs by artists profiled in the book, and others discovered since the book's publication. From the uninhibited coyote howls of the Legendary Stardust Cowboy to the arrested-adolescent passion of Daniel Johnston; the flea-market cowboy soul of Buddy Max, to Joe Meek's ultra-rare, wobbly "Telstar" vocal demo; the Shaggs aboriginal backwoods rock to Lucia Pamela's vertigo-bent outer space lunacy -- the SONGS IN THE KEY OF Z CDs are unforgettable romps through music too strange for radio but too fascinating to ignore...
Irwin Chusid is a record producer, radio personality, journalist, and music historian. He was the primary force behind the resurgence of interest in pop composers Raymond Scott and Esquivel, and produced the heralded Langley Schools Music Project. Chusid hosts a weekly free-form radio program on WFMU, has produced dozens of records and concerts, and has written for The New York Times, Mojo, New York Press, and many other publications. His book about Jim Flora will be published in August 2004 by Fantagraphics. |
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