Gold Soundz (Let it Bea)

Bea Arthur is not a meme, OK. I want to take a serious moment to appreciate all that Dorothy and The Golden Girls have given us, while also examining what role, if any, these Miami post-panthers have had on some of the music you appreciate today. Sure, she taught us crucial pre-Degrassi lessons about teen pregnancy, infidelity, and accepting cross-dressing siblings. But what does Bea have to do with beats? We asked a few of our favorite musicians that very question.

How has Bea Arthur and/or the GGs in general influenced your musical career?

Thomas from Bellman Barker: "John owns an autographed photo of Bea Arthur that he got at a garage sale years ago - he has it hanging in front of his electronic drum kit in Baltimore. So clearly, it's the inspiration for all his beats. Most of our songs are about marrying Leslie Nielsen and moving to Atlanta (ed: in the series' final episode, Dorothy married Blanche's uncle Lucas Hollingsworth, played by Leslie Nielsen). Also, we have a shelved project called 'Let it Bea' - honestly, it's kind of hard to tell where Bea ends and BB begins."

Dan from Dan Deacon: "Like claws. Deep bold strokes of light."

Brian aka Mux Mool: "Brother Ali had a remix contest for one of his songs (Original King). A line from the song is 'That shit's Golden Girls that ain't golden gloves' - that was the first time I had ever synced up one of my beats with vocals. I actually used what became the Death 9000 beat. Similarly, I did watch a lot of Golden Girls at my grandma's house when I was a kid, which in retrospect, has had absolutely no effect."

Bruce from Double Dagger: "No influence whatsoever. R.I.P."

Who's your favorite Golden Girl and why?

Brian from Silversun Pickups: (takes a deep breath, scratches chin scrubble...) "How to answer what is undoubtedly the quagmire of our generation?" (This was followed by a long, well-executed platform outlining the attributes and faults of each Golden Girl before he finally settled on Betty White.)

Dave 1 from Chromeo: "Man I haven't watched that show in so long...I don't even remember what their names were...one of them had orange hair. Which one had orange hair? Which one was the youngest one, the cool one? (someone says 'Blanche'). Yeah she got the leather pants like me!" (full interview here)

Joshua from Santa Dads: "My sister [Wham City artist Dina Kelberman] and I watched it growing up along with almost any other sitcom of the 80's and early 90's. At the time I watched it, we did not express any emotional attachment towards the characters on the show. It was more an affection for the concept of the television, not the shows or characters themselves. But if I must choose, as I know I must, my favourite Golden Girl will be Rose Nylund (Betty White). I love her hair, her innocence, her devotion to kindness and childish grace."


Andrew Gold - Thank You For Being a Friend (LP version, 1978)


Pavement - Gold Soundz (live in Hamburg, 1994)

And when we both get older
With walking canes and hair of gray
Have no fear even though it's hard to hear
I will stand real close and say
Thank you for being a friend

And when we die
And float away
Into the night
The milky way
You'll hear me call
As we ascend
I'll say your name
Then once again
Thank you for being a friend



Related: The Teenagers Teen Chat: Beverly Hills 90210

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Baltimore is known for its all-inclusive bootstrap DIY indie spirit - and with the number of startup artists, labels and legit/underground venues climbing faster than the city's body count (200+ this year, watch your back Detroit), we had plenty of gems to choose from for the first part of this series.

And yes, everyone that lives here wears neon fanny packs and likes to dance in sweaty sardine cans.

1. Among Wolves - Sleep and Dream
2. OCDJ - Pls Stp Th Hstl
3. Small Sur - Big Sur
4. Thrushes - Aidan Quinn
5. Brian Adam Ant - Holy Hell
6. Shields - Boom
7. Santa Dads - You Don't Know
8. The Death Set - Impossible (Dan Deacon Remix)
9. Ecstatic Sunshine - Little Big Dipper
10. Beach House - Master of None
11. Cex - Baltimore
12. Ponytail - Lion Down
13. The Oranges Band - If These Stars Are Struck
14. Double Dagger - The Psychic
15. Basshound - Aerodynamic (Daft Punk jam cover, live)
16. Video Hippos - Kool Shades
17. Dan Deacon - Wham City
18. Jakuta and Carl - 31 And Luving It

Wha:
Among Wolves provides the perfect Grizzly Beach Boy/House harmonies to start and end your days...OCDJ makes sounds on laptop, guitar, kalimba, euphonium, bangs drums, shakes things, cites Master Blaster as a major influence...Small Sur is instantly familiar fire circle hymns...Thrushes are murky shoeglazed pop masters...Brian Adam Ant is psychedilifolk that doesn't sound like Neutral Milk Hotel...Shields drops stuttery butter for fans of Prefuse and Madlib...we'll get to some of his counterparts including Jones and Height next...Santa Dads are beatboxing ukelele costume kidz...The Death Set are brilliant noise...Ecstatic Sunshine are superbad instruminimalists...you already know and love the mazzed out Beach House...Cex changes skins regularly around experimental laptop hop...Pontytail will bite your face...The Oranges Band define their sound as "rock" so...Double Dagger will bite your leg...Basshound are a jam band that occasionally covers Daft Punk for the kids at CBGB...everybody thinks it's crazy...Video Hippos and Dan Deacon are well-known Wham City clan types and Jakuta and Carl are electronic clap clap clap clap.

Let us know who you dig.

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Whartscape Pt. 1: Butter Team Sits on Santa Dads' Lap

And the Whartscape coverage officially begins...Butter Team waxed with Joshua Kelberman, lead uke chopper and the more scantily clad Dad, and Connor Kizer, bespectacled baritone beat boxer and one of several Wham City artists who earned their stripes at Purchase College, NY.

Wham City is getting more attention than ever outside of Baltimore as an emerging music and art collective - so is Whartscape considered sort of a national stage for you?

Joshua: "Really, this last month it hit us that Wham City is becoming known nationwide, thanks mostly to Dan [Deacon] mentioning it in all his press. We, as a group, know we need to organize and start pumping. Our headquarters is purely conceptual right now, but we're in the process of establishing real organization and structure and hopefully opening a venue within the next few months."

What's up with the costumes? Is it a shot out to 16th century French reformation theology and 17th century English political philosophy?

Joshua: "Dan found [the dress] in the street one time when he was coming over to my house. His girlfriend really wanted it but he decided I needed it and would get more use out of it. It is my favourite costume, so far, and expresses my true self well, and compliments Connor well, too. He was Hobbes for Halloween a couple years back and generally enjoys being a tiger and so that just stuck with him. We both think it's important to remember that during any performance, we are being seen by an audience through all of their senses, so we want to develop a complete experience for them to enjoy. Also, we, simply, love to wear costumes."





















What else are you doing outside of the Dads?

Joshua: "I am a student of the occult. I have been in the process of preparation, enlightenment, and initiation, consciously, for the last few years. I have connected with my soul and I am able to perceive and understand knowledge and truth. I have found all of this in reality. This is my driving current. I wish to further connect with my soul and spirit in order to help all my fellow human beings assist all beings in the Great Cosmic Evolution. Meanwhile I work at Whole Foods downtown, slowly study Russian, Spanish, French and German, work to organize Wham City, perform as A Funny Clown, create prose, poetry, philisophical essays, and pieces for solo/group musical performace and other theatrical-based performance."

Favorite Golden Girl?

"My sister [Wham City artist Dina Kelberman] and I watched it growing up along with almost any other sitcom of the 80's and early 90's. At the time I watched it, we did not express any emotional attachment towards the characters on the show. It was more an affection for the concept of the television, not the shows or characters themselves. But if I must choose, as I know I must, my favourite Golden Girl will be Rose Nylund (Betty White). I love her hair, her innocence, her devotion to kindness and childish grace."

Santa Dads - You Don't Know
Santa Dads - WYGHYLU

Santa Dads play Whartscape in Baltimore this Saturday afternoon.
Network with them socially through MySpace and buy their new album Anima Mundi via local Wildfire Wildfire Records (makes a great Christmas or Father's Day gift).

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