Sun City Girls: classic or dud?

i was avoiding this release bc i am a total sun city girl new jack but i'm listening to it now, & some moments have been real

can't think of a better SCG record for beginners. seriously.

somehow missed that a second singles comp came out until a week or two ago. talky scg is the baddest;it even has an uncle jim appearance!

vine street piano is probably my favorite track on FM. so many great guitar sounds in one song.

"can't think of a better SCG record for beginners. seriously."

Torch is better. That's about it though.

Space Prophet Dogon is gateway, anyone who hears that song usually gets hypnotized.

"can't think of a better SCG record for beginners. seriously."

Torch is better. That's about it though.

I'd direct a beginner to FM before torch tbh

tho if they came back for more I'd send them to torch

If nothing else, you may be able to find Funeral Mariachi for sale at a reasonable price.

fm actually my second scg album, the first one i heard was "330003 crossdressers from beyond..." a cool record imo

I've really gotten into the SCGs over the last few weeks; Torch and Grotto are my joint favourites at the moment (though that keeps changing). Does anybody know if there's a recording of that final concert in Berlin anywhere?

330,003 crossdressers can vie with those two if you don't have it already.

Yeah, I have that and it's great; I guess I'd rank Crossdressers and Bright Surroundings just below the other two. The spoken-word stuff I don't like as much (only in small doses).

I know the Pelican 92 cassette is from their tour with TFUL282, but are there any recordings of a whole SCG/TF gig? I know it's a long shot...

The Seattle off ramp show of that tour was my intro to both bands. I've actually never heard that cassette...

I have a TFUL282/SCG show:

1992-10-30 Reptile House, Grand Rapids, Michigan

SCG in MP3, TFUL282 in FLAC, hit me up on PM if that sounds good.

Pelican 92 has good performances of Frankincense & Fish, Apna Desh and Black Leather Shoes, but isn't really essential.

you gotta send your email address in the body of the message, the ilx message robot doesn't translate it

as mentioned above, Funeral Mariachi is great. You should check out the 1st LP if you like Grotto Of Miracles. I am also particularly partial to Horse Cock Phepner, Carnival Resurrection #6, and Dante's Disneyland Inferno, but ymmv.

Disneyland is something I can admire and appreciate for what it is, but not actually want to listen to much. I do love HCP, and Piano Bar is a fun record in a similar vein, though it feels kinda half-finished.

I don't know the CFR volumes by number, but Libyan Dream, Hi-Asia and Sumatran Electric Chair are all amazing.

yeah all of those are great - I was referring to Severed Finger With A Wedding Ring. Some of that same show is also on Flute & Mask.

Isd there a place in Arizona called Sun City then? I didn't know what the reference in the band name was and thought it might be something to do with South Africa, but as I was tidying things up earlier today I found an envelope with Sun City AZ as part of the return address.

yeah it's near phoenix and was built specifically for retitees moving south, iirc

*retirees*

Oh right get it now, think I get the allusion too

http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/16/important-musiciansincluding-alan-bishopdispense-advice-for-musicians

:(

I will assume this eager young musician is male.

not only was this sentence not necessary, it's pretty rich from a guy who called himself and another guy sun city girls
oh well

it's not the whole sentence fwiw

Unfortunately, due to overwhelming odds, I will assume this eager young musician is male.

I think your point still stands though, it was unnecessary and isn't actually true.

right
just makes him sound old!

agreed! was literally just thinking that.

there's really not a huge gulf between irl alan and old uncle jim, is there?

anyways he is my 2nd favorite bishop brother

other things that make alan bishop sound old: his raging anti-semitism and love of cigarettes.

also, the fact that he is old

saw him in concert earlier this year, first time i had seen him live since a sun city girls show in the late 1990s

he is very tall!

he is an anti-semite huh? that is bad. source?

googling alan bishop antisemism just got me stuff about bishop tutu

extensive discussion & comments here:

http://alienatedinvancouver.blogspot.com/2006/03/are-sun-city-girls-anti-semites.html

i unsubscribed from the SCG facebook page because i was tired of seeing hateful anti-israel sentiment. everyone's entitled to their own opinion, and I'm not exactly pro-israel, but was just getting tired of seeing such hateful shit.

wow, that's pretty bad

I have a tough time with the line between impassioned critique and just vicious bile when it comes to that subject -- I'm also "not exactly pro-Israel" but it's still an emotional subject for me, so there's a line where I just don't feel comfortable with the tone anymore whatever the content. I guess I don't listen to enough SCG to know how those lyrics fit in the context of the rest of their work though.

i think it's easy enough to ignore the lyrics if you want to, not sure what it says about me that i'd be eager to do that

thanks ian, that clarifies things. yuck. agree w/Hurting here, it's a subtle line but it gets creepy fast. Not that I'm qualified to judge, but I think all of those lyric examples in the link (other than the WFMU ad, which is as bothersome to me as the epithet in "Hippie Conglomerate") are dubious examples of anti-Semitism, so it's good to hear from another more contemporary source (FB page).

some of them seemed like standard-issue criticism of israel and zionism, others seemed to take a little too much glee in being offensive, but then again this is the SCG we're talking about

More disturbed that they might be 9/11 truthers ugh. I'm not sure they're anti-semites but they're clearly kinda jerks but that's not exactly news right.

Other people have posted their displeasure about the SCG's stance on Palestine and they admit to "not exactly being pro-Israel" and being emotional about the topic because they are Jewish. However, contrary to Netanyahu's narrative, being opposed to Israel is NOT the same thing as being anti-semitic. Neither is being opposed to US military action unpatriotic. The Bishop brothers are semites themselves. Or, at least half, as their mother was Lebanese. So, I wouldn't characterize them as being anti-semitic. They are anti-Israel.
It's also not fair to criticize them for recognizing that we live in a sexist world where women are generally not encouraged to be musicians (or anything else requiring an intellect, it sometimes seems). Alan Bishop's last two albums feature female musicians, so clearly he understands talent beyond gender.
All THAT said, it IS fair to criticize Alan Bishop for being pro-smoking, which I believe is as stupid as Beyonce promoting Coca-Cola. Although in Alan's case, there's an element of humor involved in his militant pro-smoking message. I wonder if he'd quit smoking if he had a little more willpower?

Also, this is pretty funny! ** stolen from that Alienated In Vancouver blog **

Are the Sun City Girls cannibals??

I find some of the Sun City Girls' music to be interesting (except those times when the singer cackles and shrieks, which hurts my ears a little, and he barely even seems to be saying words), and I think their Sublime Frequencies label is awfully neat, devoted to poor downtrodden cultures elsewhere in the sadly undeveloped part of the world, but I've come across a few things on their lyrics archive that, well, let's just say they have me a little concerned. I have to wonder – could the Sun City Girls be cannibals?

First of all, I couldn't help but notice this verse in the song "Bitter Cold Countryside."

Then we chopped him into six pieces
Two arms, two legs and a head
And his mid-section made a fine table
Next to Jimmy-O-Wilkinson's bed

And his toes now creep in the river
And his fingers they tickle the corn
And his skull flies high in the hemlock....
From dusk till the early morn

Now, granted, there are no references to the actual consumption of human flesh here, but the ritualistic dismemberment of a human body is very often part of cannibalistic practice. But, other than that, nothing is actually consumed, and I wouldn't even give it a second thought . . . if it wasn't for THIS, in the very next song on the archive, "Ruby on the Ferris Wheel":

"And I did not cry because I like to eat human flesh and all my friends are cannibals too! And if you don't like it, well just put in a complaint at the FDA."

Well, here, if I'm not mistaken, he's coming right out and endorsing the eating of human flesh! And I'm sorry, but that's just wrong. It's anti-human (not to mention anti-Semitic by default). And it's a little disingenuous to think that putting in a complaint at the FDA is going to make things alright, isn't it?

And then, only a few lines later, we have this:

"I don't have any mercy on all those people who died from any kind of tribulation. Yeah, like I'm gonna worry about it . . . I want them dead . . . I want nothing to do with 'em at all! Kill 'em, burn 'em, fuck 'em, eat 'em . . . just EAT 'EM!"

Strong words, huh? Of course, the Sun City Girls have always been known for "pushing buttons" and "breaking taboos," so maybe this is just another example? Surely they're entitled to a satirical song every now and then, right? And part of satire is that it's not to be taken literally. Fair enough, and I'm willing to let even this rather shocking pro-cannibalism treatise pass . . . . if it wasn't for enough other references sprinkled throughout their work to give me pause.

Like this, from the innocuously titled "Sour Smells in Nevada":

"You know, human flesh is addictive. Especially the meat from the head and the insides of the thighs. You can tell a cannibal by them giving off sour smells, with eyes slickly greasy as though swimming in pools of fat. Just look in their eyes. That's how you spot a cannibal."

Now, THIS seems to communicate first-hand knowledge of what it's actually like to eat human flesh. I certainly never knew any of this stuff, and wouldn't it take someone who is actually experienced in the act to know such specific information??

So, really, what do you think? Can someone can set my mind at ease about this? If anyone can vouch that they are not actually cannibals, I would sure appreciate it. I do really want to enjoy their music, and express my solidarity with those poor Arab cultures by purchasing their Sublime Frequencies records – but I don't know if I can give my money to cannibals. If anyone wants to offer any information, or a rebuttal of some kind, please do so. (Although, for the record, I actually have no intention whatsoever of being open to any new concepts of any kind. Just so you know.)

turning up late to this one but

They uncritically repeat one of the sillier rumours about 9/11 – one which is debunked in the film PROTOCOLS OF ZION – in the "song," "WFMU Station ID: Palmer" on Carnival Folklore Resurrection 11, presenting the following as a radio broadcast:
This is Palmer from Asia and Emerson, Lake and Myself, and when I'm in the New York area watching Israelis celebrate on rooftops as the remote-controlled aircraft fly into two towers, and the American public are duped, as they usually are, I always listen to WFMU Radio.

kind of amazed that anyone with even a passing familiarity with these guys would hear that and think "welp, guess that's what they literally believe"

when i saw the farewell tour thing they played some dope stuff and then spent the rest of the time telling like sub-frogs level ironic offensive jokes, it was pretty stupid, i was embarrassed for them

Other people have posted their displeasure about the SCG's stance on Palestine and they admit to "not exactly being pro-Israel" and being emotional about the topic because they are Jewish. However, contrary to Netanyahu's narrative, being opposed to Israel is NOT the same thing as being anti-semitic. Neither is being opposed to US military action unpatriotic. The Bishop brothers are semites themselves. Or, at least half, as their mother was Lebanese. So, I wouldn't characterize them as being anti-semitic. They are anti-Israel.

i don't equate criticism of israel with anti-semitism. i don't think most of the other people on this thread do, either. there was more to the criticism of the SCG than just "they are anti-zionist,"

this is so ferocious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHnZcXRUUdo

down a youtube rabbit hole tonight

Yeah, it is! And I kinda wish there was more live SCG footage like that on Youtube, but it's such a mixed bag (like the band themselves, of course)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iziRRfFuqY

hell yeah, thanks

http://www.youtube.com/embed/bblW8PnkGGg