A series for Saturdays in 2026 inspired by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's set of cards, Oblique Strategies (Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas). Eno and Schmidt created them to be used to unblock creative impasses and approach problems from unexpected angles. Each week I'll turn over an Oblique Strategy card and post a song or songs inspired by the suggestion.
Last week's Oblique Strategy was- Tape your mouth.
I plumbed for the recently released Tom Waits and Massive Attack single, Boots On The Ground, a song I've returned to many times since, Tom Waits' mouth taped, both the disgust in his delivery and his words and the sound of him breathing.
There were as usual some excellent suggestions from the Bagging Area massive- Cryptoliz opted for the Bulgarian State Television Female Choir, as beloved by 4AD's Ivo Watts- Russell and as heard here singing Erghen Diado.
Rol went with Radiohead's Gagging Order, Ernie with Julie Fowlis and Joe Dolce and Al G with Deerhunter.
This week's Oblique Strategy card is this- Short circuit (if eating peas improves virility, shovel them into your pants)
Sound advice from Eno and Schmidt.
Pass the peas. More peas. Fred Wesley and The J.B.s.
I dunno if Fred Wesley and The J.B.s' peas improved their virility or indeed if they shoveled them into their pants but this is very much music that struts, 1973 funk that could potentially cause accidental pregnancies.
This is an ALFOS favorite, one I've heard go off in The Golden Lion, courtesy of Secret Circuit. Maybe not virile but definitely sexy.
2 comments:
"Short circuit (if eating peas improves virility, shovel them into your pants)" is clearly an invitation to unabashed nonsense, not mere comfort with, but a balls out embrace of imperfection.
If you take that to it's joyous logical conclusion, you arrive at 'mistakes' being the point...
No album captures the sound of wilful horny chaos better than Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica, though few who hear it know it was highly composed, probably because it does "Sound like a band falling down the stairs while still playing", as one wag on YouTube put it.
The comments under the album tracks are hilarious and well worth a read. I particularly enjoyed, "Yeah, they definitely gave up here"!
'Frownland' is a particularly difficult listen, but all the more delicious for not caring if that's how you feel about it...
https://youtu.be/r9lpLm7jwQY?si=RHE1sgyImSyTgttn
... Beefheart obviously paved the way in making it okay to learn by fucking up, or not learning at all and still doing it anyway, just for the sheer fun of it.
If you think about it, that is pretty much the guiding principle of all alternative music making.
I did wonder about going down the unabashed nonsense route, songs with ridiculous advice etc.
Swiss Adam
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