CfMRF... is sleeping...

Champignons for My Real Friends... has ended.

Please find the sequel at Ringo Stalin's Curios (and other oddities).

Much obliged.

- Ringo Stalin

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Electric Mud...

...by Muddy Waters is the most AWESOME album ever.
This is something I have just discovered yesterday and
feel it is my civic duty to keep you informed of new
developments in awesomeness.

It's the record where Chess Records had the "whacky"
idea to save Muddy's declining record sales by throwing him
in the studio with a bunch of young psychedelic-blues rock
upstarts and getting him to recut new versions of his old
blues standards. He later basically called the record a
piece of shit and a sell out...but it's GENIUS!

I've uploaded the whole album to Megaupload here.

Totally sample-worthy drum breaks on there too,
apparently Public Enemy have been nicking stuff off
of it for years.

Spenno.




Cats, cats, cats addendum

Here's the picture of our new kitties, as promised.

I introduce to you: (from left) Butter Pecan Caramel Swirl and Fantoma.

Blame my phone's camera for the sub-par quality and size.

-Ringo

Friday, December 21, 2007

Cats, cats, cats

Well, this is actually quite sad. The CfMRF... family has been stricken with the loss of one of its own; Spencer's cat, Pepper, passed away a few days ago.

What a gorgeous cat.
RIP Pepper, 2001-2007.

The rest of the CfMRF... family sends its love and condolences to Spencer, Dina and Harry.

In other feline-related news, Corinna and I welcomed two kittens to our house: Butter Pecan Caramel Swirl and Fantoma. I would post a photo, but my phone is a piece of crap and we don't have a digital camera.

So here's a clowder of cat-related songs, in memory of Pepper, and in dedication to Harry, Butter Pecan Caramel Swirl, Fantoma, Hunter, Hazmangs and all the other pets in the CfMRF... pantheon:

Wild Cats of Kilkenny - The Pogues, from 'Rum, Sodomy & The Lash'.
Clyde - The Twilight Singers, from the album 'twilight'. 'Clyde' is Greg Dulli's cat, a photo of whom can be found on the inside sleeve of the album 'Blackberry Belle', which I recommend highly.
Wildcattin' - Belittle League, from 'Oh, I Fell Down'. This track uses a sample of Owen Wilson in 'The Royal Tenenbaums'. Belittle League's Myspace: here.
Cat Man - Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps, this version taken from 'Original Seeds, Vol. 1', which is a collection of tracks that influenced Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds over the years. It's well worth having a listen.
Catwoman - Shakespear's Sister, from 'Hormonally Yours'. If there's a Cat Man, there has to be a Cat Woman, right?
High School Hellcats - James Intveld, from the soundtrack to 'Cry-Baby'.


Oh yeah, and Merry Xmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, End Of Year or whatever takes your fancy. And I guess I should tie that in with a Lolcat, huh?
funny pictures
moar funny pictures

- Ringo Stalin

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Put Up Your Ukes! (or: 'Ukes of Hazzard')

Two ukulele-penned songs inspired this blog entry,
Pete Townshend's Blue Red & Grey (mp3) from 1975's The Who By Numbers
and its contemporary offspring,
Eddie Vedder's Soon Forget (mp3) from Pearl Jam's 2000 album Binaural.
Both songs take the line that most folk deny themselves happiness by focussing their sights on what'll only leave them feeling cheated: Pete attacks vapid nightlife whilst Ed sticks it to that old chestnut consumerism. I like both of them equally, I have to say: Pete's is more wistful, Ed's more bitter; but both are lovely songs with sweet melodies and some corker lines (try this one):
"Sorry is the fool who trades his love for high-rise rent
Seems the more you make, equals the loneliness you get
and it's fitting, he's barely living a day he'll soon forget"

And for the hell of it, here's some extras:
The Who: Squeezebox (mp3)(1975, The Who By Numbers) - Because too few classic songs are quite this vulgar.
Eddie Vedder: Creep (mp3)(2000, The Birdman Sessions [bootleg]) - Ever wanted to hear a drunk Eddie Vedder trying to warble his way through a barely-competent cover of Radiohead's Creep with a bunch of guys he supposedly met in a bar?...Eh?!

- Spencer

(I wasn't going to write anything here but when Spencer told me he had a post for me, this song coincidentally came up on my iTunes (courtesy of The Inferno Music Crypt) and I had to post it:
Hallo Spencer! (mp3)
Sorry.
Oh, and those goddawful puns in the title of the post were my idea too.
Sorry, again.
- Ringo)

Sunday, December 9, 2007

We'll be looking sharp, I swear

I guess this means I've hit the ground waddling. Second post!

The biggest news I've got at the moment is that one person has already submitted their own post for CfMRF... I'll be putting that up real soon.

On to the music:

I love The Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers and basically anything Greg Dulli puts his grubby, dirty, lovable fingers on. I interviewed Greg back when Blackberry Belle was released, in 2003. During my time as a 'music journalist' with a local street rag, I would say he was my favourite interviewee, and after the initial awkwardness inherent in all interviews, he relaxed and we joked around a bit. I told him my pen name (his response: 'you are one sick fuck') and he told me of his jam band 'Sinsemilia Earhart: All flights leave at 4.20' (that's weed talk, folks).

A week or two later, I was due to interview Greg again, this time for a radio interview. I waited on hold for probably 15 minutes, only to have the management people tell me that Greg's house was being threatened by the LA bushfires and that he had to attend to that. Best excuse EVER.

I always hoped that maybe I would be able to talk to Greg again, if only to make sure his house and his cat were okay. The moment's probably passed by now though and that cat's probably long dead.











Going to Town single (buy)

1. Afghan Whigs - Going to Town
2. Afghan Whigs - Going to Town (live) (mp3)
3. Afghan Whigs - You've Changed (mp3)
4. Afghan Whigs - I Want To Go To Sleep (mp3)
5. Afghan Whigs - Moon River (mp3)

I would turn for this man, twice. Firstly, I'd pretty much sex him right there. Secondly, I'd willingly start smoking again.
- Ringo

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

I believe an introduction is in order...

Please allow me to make the introductions; my name is Ringo Stalin and this is Champignons for My Real Friends...

Also, please allow me to explain, perhaps somewhat long-windedly, why I'm here:

I recently heard MIA's 'Paper Planes' at a party and thought 'Why, that's the Clash! And one of my favourite tracks, too! It's a shame that very few of my friends have heard the original version of 'Straight To Hell''. Shortly after that, someone on Hype Machine had posted the version of Paper Planes, with the original chorus (i.e., without the sound effects), while another had posted Straight To Hell. Then I thought 'How can I share these songs with friends with the least amount of tedium involved (at least at my end)?' and then I decided to create a blog... because there's nothing tedious about a blog! *knowing wink and nudge*

And then it occurred to me that a blog run purely by myself, containing only music that I liked might not be as interesting to other people as, say, maybe a blog that had other people contributing entries, too. And maybe those other people can be my friends, who I'm sure have a few things to share, too.

And thus, Champignons for My Real Friends... was born.

Obviously it's not the most original idea on Teh Internets, but it should be a bit of fun.

Be seeing you!
-r.











Megaupload links (mp3)

MIA - Paper Planes (original chorus)

The Clash - Straight to Hell

The Clash (ftg. Allen Ginsberg) - Ghetto Defendant

No Through Road - Crush This Town

Belittle League - Underfire

Paul Williams - The Hell of It