From Indonesia to Madison (Songs For Hannah)

Melt-Banana - SURFIN’ U.S.A.

John Zorn and Naked City - Gob Of Spit

Last weekend we at Transmissions From Wintermute had the pleasure of hanging out with my old college chum and fellow blogger, Hannah, and showing her our fair city of Madison. Hannah is the talented writer and daring explorer behind Newly Indonesian, which chronicles her adventures living in and returning from Jayapura Indonesia. Despite all the many exotic wonders she’s experienced, I’m sure her weekend trip to Madison Wisconsin was probably the most exciting, and certainly the most glamorous, of her young jet-setting life. Why? Because we took to her the record shack on the east side. And eventhough we got there 15 minutes after it closed, it was still a sight to behold. Go check out her blog, because it’s kick-ass-ness merits checking out.

Hannah is big fan of Japanese noisecore band Melt-Banana, and she’s a former Beach Boys fanatic. So in honor of her visit, here’s a Melt-Banana cover of Surfin’ U.S.A. from their live album MxBx1998/13000MILES AT LIGHT VEROCITY. Lead guitarist Agata pulls out the long surf-rock slide with as much raw joy as anyone, stretching it to the point of destruction and then snapping back from the edge.

I also have Hannah to thank for turning me onto John Zorn. Here’s a pretty little ditty by Zorn’s noise-jazz(?) 6 piece Naked City off their 1992 album Grand Guignol.