Swag Report

I opened my mailbox today and after I got out the junk mail I noticed that there was something else in there. It was a CD sized box and it bore the return address of Enriched Geranium. I'm always excited to be getting stuff from people I like, but when I opened the package I was blown away because inside was an EP on CD from The Motor Primitives, Mr. Geranium's band.

They even autographed it for me!

I couldn't listen to is right away because I had to skeedaddle out of Monkey Central because we had a realtor coming by to show our place to a client but when I got back home later this afternoon I slapped that CD on and I gave it a listen.

I'm gonna be honest with you people, I did not like the CD...I fecking loved it! The Motor Primitives play a really cool brand of rock that veers into the pop music sphere and then it dances out again and it goes into left field after stopping off at bar for a drink or two. The band has a great insistent driving drum beat that keeps things humming along even in the slower numbers. Th guitars and Mr. Geranium's bass lines are crisp and clean, and at times they jump up and grab you and slap you in the face and make you question your very existence. The organ slides in and out of the songs and it adds layers of rich rock and roll goodness to the whole package.

I'd be remiss if I did not single out lead vocalist Pam Barrett for her sultry sexy smokey singing. She's got a seductive sound that at times reminded me of a mellow Patty Smith and at other times she sounds like no one else out there. I've got a crush on her just from listening to her sing and play her guitar. Grrr baby, grr.

My favorites off this 6 track EP are "What's the Matter," "Horseman," and "The Model." But truth be told I love all of the swinging sounds The Motor Primitives laid down on this EP. If you like rock and roll, especially non corporate controlled rock and roll, then do yourself a favor and pick up this CD by my favorite band ever to come out of Madison, Wisconsin. Check out their website here and if you buy a CD tell them it was Dr. Monkey who turned you onto them.

And for those of you keeping track, this is the second bit of swag that the Geranium/Ether clan have sent me. The rest of you are woefully behind and I shall not forget those of you who did and who did not send me swag when I hit the Mega Millions and or the Powerball jackpots.

Don't hate me Matty Boy

In my never ending effort to stay "hip" and "with it" I have had to drop The Wonders of Science as my official house band. They were a great band who kept things hoppin' here at Monkey Muck but the kids who read me in droves aren't into the quasi new wave-ish sounds of WOS, nope the kids today go more for the type of music this band plays. So please put your hands together for the new house band of Monkey Muck.....ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for THE MOTOR PRIMITIVES!

Welcome aboard you crazy rockin' kids from Wisconsin!

From out of the mouths of bakers

We stopped by Scratch, a great locally owned and operated deli/bakery/pizzamakery on Sunday afternoon and Jamie, the gal who runs the place with her husband, said, "Hey you guys, try some of this." She opened the lid to a crock pot on the counter.

I asked, "What is it?"

"It's almost chili. It's not quite regular chili, it's just to the right of it," she replied. Then she smiled and said, "Since it's not quite Chile, we're calling it 'Argentina.'"

Sparky and I ate the little samples Jamie gave us and we laughed at her joke. Then we turned and began to look at the assorted breads they had for sale. Sparky tapped me on the shoulder a moment later and said, "Look." She was pointing at a sign on the refrigerator case that was taped up in front on some containers of what Jamie had just given us samples of. The sign said, "Small containers of Argentina $4, Jars of Argentina $8." We both had a laugh again but Jamie got the last laugh because we ended up buying some Argentina and we'll be having it for supper later tonight.

Rumor has it...

...that you invited Yngwie to your place for a rockin' Thanksgiving. I hope for your sake that the holiday doesn't end in tragedy.

Green Monkey ABC Mix

Somehow I managed to wrangle another spot in another Green Monkey mix! This one was tough to get into since Splotchy limited the participants to songs that begin with a specified number of letters in the alphabet. As luck would have it my obsessive checking of other people's blogs paid off for me and I got in under the wire and I was able to take part in my second GMMP mix.

Splotchy assigned me the letters P through T and here are a few words about my choices:

P-I chose an Ute Lemper song for my P selection because she gets very little love here in the US of A. She's my second favorite German female singer, sorry Ute but Nena, she of the 99 Luft Balloons and fuzzy arm pits will always be my fave German female vocalist. Passionate Fight comes from her Punishing Kiss CD and it is one of my favorites off that stellar effort.

Q-This one almost threw me for a loop until I remembered a song that Sparky and I had heard not too long ago when I put the John Prine CD's in the Scion. Quit Hollerin' at Me is one of my favorite newish songs of Prine's and it also is something I usually have to say to family members when I see them, I come from a family of LOUD talkers and shouters.

R-Respectable is my second favorite song off my favorite Rolling Stones recording. I love the lyrics, "You're the easiest lay on the White House lawn." If you're not dancing when you hear this song then you're probably dead.

S-Beckeye was the first to put an Elvis Costello song into the Green Monkey Music Matrix and I'll always have a grudge against her for it (just kidding sugar). She chose a good one but this one is from Armed Forces which was the first Elvis album I owned. Senior Service is early Elvis at his snarling, sneering, world hatin' best. How great are these angry lyrics about wanting to get ahead by any means possible: "I want your dick, I want the seat that you sit on, I want your chair." I love this song, I love this album, and I love angry Elvis.

T-Nah, nah, nah, I got the first Nick Lowe song all up in the Green Monkey. What? No one else loves Nick as much as I do? Well feck off then. The Rose Of England is such a hip song that it takes me away when I hear it. It should, like all Nick Lowe's stuff, be played and appreciated more than it is. I admit it, I'm a pub rock geek. Pub rockers, for those of you who do not know are people like Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Graham Parker, and Iam Gomm. Let the clever writing and music of this Nick Lowe ditty take you away and then go buy some of Nick's CD's.


Thanks for letting me do my second Green Monkey Music Mix Mr. Splotchy. It's a great thing you did by unleashing that verdant simian onto the blogosphere.