Most
prolific artists yearn to flood the market with new titles,
but the music industry's promotional machinery and conventional
wisdom dictates a certain amount of restraint, for reasons
ranging from audience burnout to quality control to simple
confusion. Marcus doesn't have much use, he says, for the
music industry, conventional wisdom, or quality control.
The result is a wildly uneven pile of releases, and artistic
hairpin turns that will remind you why you listen to music
in the first place. Marcus is never afraid to follow his
creative foresight in unexpected directions, or in many
unexpected directions all at once. He also prefers to bring
his music directly to you, the listener, via the internet.
No middlemen, no third parties, no hoops to jump through.
Just great songs, free for the taking. Most of his later
recordings are produced and played with no outside help.
 |
BUTTCRACKER
hits Wall Street with a bang...
TheStreet.com
By George Mannes
Senior Writer
01/02/2004 07:03 AM EST
READ
IT
(Worldwide readership: a few million) |
|
10.27.02
[Gotta
love those gals at the tabloids.
They say the funniest things sometimes].
...........
Anonymous
unpaid-for commentary, complements of taxi.com:
|
"What
can I say to a CD called Buttcracker except -- sweet!"
|
On
Mr. President [BUTTCRACKER, 2003]:
"Unique and X-rated"
"Deceptively lullabye-ish"
"Pretty hilarious, for those not offended"
"Reminded me quite a bit of the Fugs, rascally,
unkempt heroes of the East Village…kinda refreshing
to hear something this rude in the current P.C. atmosphere"
|
..................
"Anyone as profoundly affected by Frank
Zappa's incredible music
and life as I am must be worth listening to. I appreciate someone
is
following along with the in-your-face style he favored, because
his kids
sure as hell didn't." --Daniel D.
[Review
by PINK]
Marcus is a fellow Zappa phile who'd recently contacted
me,
so I endeavoured to check him out.
Being the lazy bastid I am, and too lazy to click a couple
buttons, I of course forgot all about it.
like usual.
But this wasn't spam......OH NO!!
this was
kinda groovy!!
like it had the vibe to it:
[Marcus
wrote]:
"Thanks
Pink.
Would
love a sentence or 2 review.
Democrates
vs. Bush?
With
Howard Dean getting beat down,
I
guess will have to go with Kerry.
Anything
is better than BUSH.
My
anti-bush song:
http://marcusgoodwin.com/070-mrpres.wma
[Pink wrote]:
--Marcus
"
Being a longtime staunch detractor of our self-elected
Emperor,
That clinched it.
So there i went, even putting aside the lovely chore
of scoping the rest of my spam.
and I'm glad i did.
What greeted my jaded ears was something that tickled
my mind so it made me smile.
Marcus handles the chore with exceptional grace and
humour,
it's not easy to portray the truth in such a direct
and fun light.
I'm listening to the horrors of the shrub dynasty's
dubious accomplishments laid out
and diggin' it'
especially when ...well ya gotta hear it...
it's like adam sandler on acid, if he only had the balls
to sing the truth.
I think FZ would have approved on this song alone, and
i haven't even begun to scrape the surface of M's catalog
yet.
But i digress...that damn glaucoma medication tends
to give me diarhea of the key board....
THIS SHIT IS COOL!!
and i love the flute wailing demented little chops all
over the song..
this could be an anthem at keg parties or stadiums
or DNC conventions
and i think it's your patriotic duty to scope this song
out!
"hey mr president, the world doesn't revolve around
you..."
this needs to be on every college radio station in the
country...no the ENTIRE FREE WORLD!!
It has a good beat, too.
ya can dance to it AND sing along...
I give it a 10!
peace,
pink Jimi Photon
jimipocius.com
.
|
TONGUE
Review by Coy Banter
02/09/04
Tokyo
Girl:
Wish I could play bass on this in a live performance.
I love this type of driving rock with the vocal chorus
response.
High
School Daze:
Angelic Dermacil Gauze Pad Rock.
I adore the vocal mix.
Bethlehem:
This one might be my favorite of the bunch.
The refrain kept ringing in my head for quite some time
after being exposed to it.
Considering the overcrowded neighborhood between my
ears, that is a noted accomplishment.
These mixes are dynamic and quite interesting.
The
Happiness Effect:
The truth really does hurt.
Honesty and vulnerability go hand in hand.
The hook on The Happiness Effect rips my flesh.
The lyric stings the soul like lemon juice in your eye.
Never
and Rarely:
Matter of factly presented with a soft and fluid confidence.
I wanna play this stuff on a stage with my Ampeg SVT
bass rig coming back through big wedge monitors and
sidefills.
Accidental:
This is totally "Blue Comets" meets Lou Reed.
Like everything I have heard from Marcus, very easy
to listen to, though each work demands a thoughtful
participation.
Like a come as you are open invitation, the listener
has equal responsibility in the outcome of the expression.
Love
Rules:
This one drives like my brother in laws car.
The one I used to borrow in exchange for baby sitting.
It had an AM radio and one exposed coaxial speaker laying
on the dash.
You had to manually control the turn signals and work
the automatic gear shift like a manual stick to keep
her from stalling at stop signs....
Love Rules requires that just sort of participation
to get you where it will take you.
Certain songs sounded so perfect in that rusting squeaky
love chariot.
This song would be right at home in that old beater.
There is a certain cool comfort in this song.
The fact that you can bump into something and not worry
about anything at all makes this one a keeper.
The
Strike Zone:
How I long to play these tunes in a live rock ensemble.
Such immense joy filled with thoughtful momentum and
attitude.
In
conclusion, I enjoyed each song presented here.
The songs get right to the point and the hooks feel
good.
They drip with attitude and I get a buzz from such sonic
events.
The vocals lay on top of the mix like kids rolling around
on a stack of hay in the barn.
Marcus
has a keen sense of observing the human spirit in action
and reaction.
It is his very own spirit demanding action and reaction
that makes these works worthy of attention.
Highly recommended.
Coy
Banter
MeDiaDAMagE
www.MeDiaDAMagE.com
|
.............................
"Marcus...you're a sick dude. BUTTCRACKER is everything I
expected it to be."
--Pablo,
Testosterone Kills
...........
"Love it...keep your eye on the charts"
--Ron
Burd, CIUT Radio Toronto
..........
"Aggressive urban rock n' drone"
"This is a really cool track [Jack
& Jill]. The imagery is really interesting. It unfolds
more like a novel than a pop song. The music and lyrics sound
very urbane, the product of living in a bustling city and having
to deal with all the chaos around you. I think this is what makes
it great...most consumers aren't ready for anything that really
challenges their intellect, but people accused Bob Dylan
and Lou Reed of not being commercial and look where they
are today. The spoken bit towards the end reminds me of suicide,
but not as scary. Personally, I enjoyed the listening."
-- Anonymous
unpaid-for commentary, complements of taxi.com
Videos
"Excellent!" --Jeffrey
Sidelsky Photography, Phili, PA
"Underground stuff isn't usually my thing but the videos
are fantastic. I'm really impressed by them.
Sorry I can't think of anything profound to say!"
--Jennifer M, England
_______________
Greeting From New York City
[50 listeners surveyed; top 5 answers] 1.
Hi Marcus! Great CD,
(Track 1 and 10 are my favorite). Love them! You
have a complete, sellable work of art here but...hey you didn't
need me to tell you that I don't think or maybe you did. The music
has an edge (it's rock n' roll) but yet it's catchy, there's a
sincerity to it, radio ought to be interested, especially college
type radio. I can hear Get To Know You on the radio. There's
a quirky feeling to it, yet it's intelligent, it's catchy, and
stayed with me long after I listened to it. I think if I had to
compare your work to another band/time period, I'd say you do
to the music scene what Debra Harry and Blondie did to
it. They brought something unique and fresh to the scene. Your
singing reminds me a little bit like Paul McCartney only
slightly darker in tone, slightly more cynical but not angry,
you know? I wanted to say, the CD cover is really cool and inventive.
I like that underground look (sort of what NYC once symbolized),
"the phoenix (or artist) rising from (above) the abyss",
it’s a strip mall city now. It seems the foundation of the
music, and the energy behind it, is love, pure and simple. Everyone
is searching for and wanting to be loved and to love...but in
this world, well...as you say... "Hold on baby tight, the
world is spinning out of control" [This Life]. And
here's a guy that is basically, disenchanted by the whole scene
and is trying to rise above it all, to reach higher, to love.
The point behind the music appears to run along the line of..."hey,
can't we just get on with the thing that really matters...love...
and stop with all the other crap! It's what great artists do,
they look inside of something and then bring it out for everyone
else to see in an interesting way. That's what you've accomplished
with your CD. And the intellectual side to it adds humor, gives
it a twist, a social commentary of sorts. It's a lot more than
that, that's, in my opinion, the sign of something really cool.
--D.Diaz, New York, NY
2.
Yo Yo Yo,
I received your CD. Albert, my guitarist, though it was great
as well....Albert said, and I quote "I THINK HE IS A GENIUS"
I say ditto. I love the artwork too. You’re a pretty creative
motherfucker. All in all it is original in it's own right; it
is weird, yet pop, folk and rock with a bit of a circus/carnival
type of thing going on in some songs. That is good, not bad. No
one out there sounds like your project yet it has a familiar connection
with the B 52's, REM and Weezer. I hope you
like my opinion and take it constructively. If not, go fuck yourself.
I'll come over there and knock your fucking teeth out of your
mouth.
--J.Lotito, Staten Island, NY
3.
Um,
Sounds like someone wants to be Hootie & The Blowfish.
Catchy though.
--S.Silverman, Atlanta, GA
[Note:
Hootie & The Blowfish,
“Cracked Rear View”
sold 14.5 million CD’s]
4.
I really like this dude!!!
They're songs to listen to. You want to get this to as many college
radio stations as possible. That's the road to follow in my opinion...
Go there and get on live. You and an acoustic guitar... You just
want to get behind a microphone and play this stuff. Why are you
still reading this? Get going!
--Gregg Gerson, Drummer (Billy Idol, Roger Daltrey,
Gloria Estefan)
5.
Hey Marcus,
Thanks for the CD. I’m a big fan of Billy Bragg, and
your bitter-sweet songs of protest and love remind me of him.
Right on! Best of luck with your new path. Sorry to loss you as
my psychic. I’ll give Cleo a call…
--A.Peterson, San Francisco, CA
|
