Thursday, January 26, 2006

Love Dark Orgasm Monkey

Two episodes into Columbia Broadcasting System's midseason show Love Monkey and I'm in love, monkey! Ed the lawyer left Stuckeyville OH and moved to NYC to take a gig as a record exec. He also changed his name to Tom. And his black friend is no longer in a wheelchair...must've gotten better. Tossing perfunctory nods to formulaic tensions aside, it is refreshing to spend an hour (44 minutes, TIVO time) watching a show about MUSIC. Lyrics get quoted. Artists drop by. Cool Tshirts are worn. Music is played. And it's way better than American Idol.

Also, I received direct from the UK the latest Julian Cope disc Dark Orgasm. Immediately I was given a soundscape recalling his brilliant 1992 work Jehovakill. Heavier. Darker. Neolithic-er. A Thor's-Hammer-on-ecstasy rhythm section turns the wheels of buzzed-out trash guitars and Cope's baritone vocals on gems like 'White Bitch Comes Good', 'She's Got a Ring on Her Finger (And Another Through Her Nose)' and 'Nothing to Lose Except My Mind'. The instrumental opener 'Zoroaster' is a great way to tell your co-workers "Not today, I'm bizzy."

1 comment:

2poppy said...

Hmm. Ed was much better. I watched this week's ep (also through the magic of Tivo) and was mildly entertained but was ultimately left with a sickly-sweet taste in my mouth that was quickly corrected with a nice cold bitter beer. Perhaps I succumbed to the formulaic tensions. I worry that because it's on CBS, it will try to appeal to everyone's tastes (yep, cool to see Ben Folds show up, but not at all cool to see Leann Rimes - both seem too forced, though). The Ed guy is very appealing (dare I say man-crush-worthy), but his friends are completely irrelevant (including Dr. Brandon) and his coworkers are complete idiots (I think Ivana Milicevic is perhaps the worst actress on TV right now - and just what is her connection to the former president of Serbia?). Show more interaction with Judy Greer, who is awesome on Arrested Development, and maybe I'll enjoy this more. I haven't given up hope. I think the premise is great and there aren't enough music-oriented shows on the air (who needs another frickin' doctor or lawyer show anyway?). Just my initial thoughts after one viewing. By the way, Aimee Mann is on next week's episode.