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Somebody Stop Me!
The mask may be used to perpetrate a crime or a scare. The Early Norweigan Black Metal scene understood this power. They bring attention to oneself while simultaneously taking it away. It's anonymity, but sometimes the mask can take over, a la Ziggy Stardust or, more laughably, Jim Carrey's 1994 Swing Revivalist character - the inconspicuousness gone too far, the disguise now both a summoning vessel and a funerary mask. In spirituality, masking as an evil spirit can restore order to the universe. In the religion of rock and roll, for every Righteous Brother, there must be an Insane Clown. The mask is, in essence, the externalization of the internal. That is not to say that the character is not real. Its fiction conjures something deeper within our beings, something more fundamental and often more shocking about our nature than the maskless. In disguise, the truth is brought to the forefront.
I've Got Ace Frehley, I've got Peter Criss.
When I was a pre-teen, every inch of wall space was covered in rock posters. I loved music, but much of my fascination was with the fashion alone. I had a picture of Frank Zappa looking like a muppet on a tractor long before I picked up the compilation album Cheap Thrills. Inside my fish tank lived a Gene Simmons doll, and like Rivers Cuomo, I had a KISS poster on my wall. I wasn't that into the music of KISS. I most enjoyed them when they channeled their Casablanca labelmates' disco grooves. I Was Made For Lovin' You and the Ace Frehley cover of Hello's New York Groove were preferred to the unconvincing heaviness of Rock and Roll All Nite. I'm convinced that "Disco All Nite" would have been a killer record if it existed. Despite the underwhelming music, I was attracted to those outfits. The characters and theatrics of it all were very appealing. I had graduated from being a Power Ranger to become a Knight in Satan's Service. As a side note, their 1978 mega-flop of a film, KISS meets the Phantom of the Park, plays a lot like a Power Rangers episode. I was horrified when I came across a copy of Lick It Up and saw their generic non-decorated mugs. The makeup, the mask, as it turns out, was essential. They had washed off all their power.
The Starchild, The Demon, The Spaceman, and The Catman had plenty of contemporaries playing elaborate dress-up. Glitter was strewn all over the landscape of the Seventies. The psychedelic theatre group, the Cockettes, had paved the way for the alien rock star that was Ziggy Stardust. David Bowie later cited Kabuki theatre and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy as primary influences. E.L.O.'s Roy Wood donned face paint for his new group Wizzard. Klaus Nomi arrived in New York City in 1972 with his triangular mime get-up, including full white face paint. By 1975, even Bob Dylan wore white face during his Rolling Thunder Revue era. The paint was likely a nod to the 19th Century French Mime Baptiste, whom Dylan had modeled his character in Renaldo and Clara after - mimes were in (See Bowie). Bob was fond of quoting Rimbaud during this period - "I is another." The archetype of the singular songwriter, the musical novelist, had lost its appeal. Dylan was not Dylan anymore. Alice Cooper had taken his theatrical and stage makeup cues from The corpse paint and flaming Viking helmet of Arthur Brown brought to life the self-proclaimed "God of Hellfire." Brown was inspired by television travelogues, which showed African dance masks, the circus, and the Japanese Noh Theatre. In late 70s New York City, The Misfits took the image of the 1946 film The Crimson Ghost and applied its image to their faces. Horror Punk was raised from the crypt. Their simple makeup and Devillocks would slowly evolve into elaborate outfits invoking "Famous Monsters," but the early, primitive version was more potent in its non-commercial earnestness.
Hey Jughead, Where are You?
The Misfits are both a punk band and a rival band of the animated Jem and The Holograms from the mid-80s show Jem. The animated band is yet another disguise. Without the Chipmunks and his alter ego, David Seville, Ross Bagdassarian would have been nothing more than a very strange outsider artist. In 1969, the song Sugar, Sugar by The Archies knocked The Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Woman out of the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 to begin a four-week run. The Archies' success exposed the reality of 1960s record production. Very few pop groups from this era performed everything on their records. The Monkees take all the abuse for this fact, but most albums were supplemented or entirely performed by session musicians. The masterpiece that is Pet Sounds was performed, outside of the vocals, by the infamous Wrecking Crew. In Detroit, it was the Funk Brothers; in Philadelphia, M.F.S.B. and Nashville had the A-Team. Producer George Martin brought in session musician Andy White to replace Ringo Starr on the U.S. version of Love Me Do. Prolific and innovative drummer Bernard Purdie even claimed to have overdubbed drums on many of the early Beatles releases. Though his account has been disputed, it is hard to imagine that there isn't at least some truth in his telling.
Archie Andrews was the mask of session musician Ron Dante and former Monkees producer Don Kirshner. Kirshner wanted a group that he could control entirely, and the only way to do it was to use animation. In their complete fakeness, the Archies exposed the reality of the record business. There have been many animated bands since the Archies - Josie and the Pussycats, Morfonica, and Dethklok all come to mind. One of the most recognizable examples is Gorillaz. Formed after the Brit-Pop band Blur's demise, singer Damon Albarn explained that with the rise of the boy band phoenomena, he wanted to create something that felt similarly manufactured. Once again, the mask of animation was being used to reveal the inner workings of a complicated record industry. With Tupac holograms, A.I. K-pop bands like Eternity, and others expanding into the metaverse (BLACKPINK), a new form of singularity masking is likely a large part of our complicated digital future. In the few days since I originally posted this, Grimes (another frequently masked artist) has said that she will supply the audio files of her voice for A.I. manipulation. She claims that she will split royalties 50/50 with anyone who uses her voice in a "successful" song. It's getting wild out there.
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The music on this playlist is by artists that have worn literal masks. There are, undoubtedly, thousands of examples that are not present. In the 2000s, there were probably 100 spin-off bands of Slipknot alone. D.J. and Metal culture is especially prone to masks. Kanye West has been seen lately wearing some real gems. Nearly all U.K. drill rappers, like V9 and S.V., wear masks.
I want to point out what is obvious. The "outfit" is just as much a mask as a literal face covering. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5, Moondog, and Led Zeppelin; all wear a kind of mask, as do Taylor Swift and "authentic cowboy" George Strait.
Charged Up- V9
Fire- Arthur Brown
New York Groove- Ace Frehley
Rhinestone Eyes - Gorillaz
Meat Grinder- Madvillain, Madlib, MF DOOM
Tension 2- Blue Man Group
Where Eagles Dare- Misfits
Spotted Pinto Bean - The Residents
Isis (Live) - Bob Dylan
Listen, The Mighty Ear is Here - The Locust
Euphoria - Zomby
The Spinning Heart of the Yo-Yo Lobby - United Nations
Starlight Brigade - T.W.R.P., Dan Avidan
Elastic Heart - Sia
Mess Me Up - Nobunny
Pass This On - The Knife
Ferryboat of the Mind - Clinic
Killer - Alice Cooper
Kilter - Portal
Ghetto Blasters - Ghoul
LifeWeLive - SV, StayWidlt
Negotium Crucis - The Infernal Sea
Shutdown - BLACKPINK
Kali Ma - Cult of Fire
Private Life - Grace Jones
Vokuro - Björk
Da Funk - Daft Punk
Lightning Strikes - Klaus Nomi
Are You Ready to Rock - Wizzard
The Joker - Steve Miller Band
Panic Attack - Pussy Riot
Bounce - Deadmau5
Freezing Moon - Mayhem
Sunshine - The Archies
I'm Real - Eternity
Murmaider - Dethklock
Daylight - Morfonica
No Fibz - SV
Yaeji - With A Hammer
I knew this was a winner as soon as I saw the cover.
It's the best pop album, I've heard in a few years. It has moments of rhythmic ASMR reminiscent of Holly Herndon, but done more casually. The lyrics are simple and sincere. The track Fever is a favorite being built around what sounds like a loop of clown horns in duet. A gentle, airy "chorus" gives way to a rapid fire rap and then a simple guitar riff enters as the clowns take a break. It's a brilliant arrangement within a perfectly tracked album.
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