Brief yet complex Marscon report: Hanging out with musicians

Marscon 2007 was fun. The storm kept attendance down, and I spent more of my time listening to music than usual at conventions, but the con was chock full of old friends and new. The Marscon Drinking CD Exchange turned to nought. We'll have to rename it the MN-STF Pool Party CD Exchange. I wound up exchanging six CDs with various Mpls fen, and trading some (along with other Shockwave CDs) with various musicians. Including the CDs promised in the mail, I'll have acquired more music at Marscon2007 than at any other convention. My shelves are already overflowing.

The programming was limited but interesting. The Guests of Honor were terrific speakers. The live music was set up with a minimum of fuss. Old acts came up with new material and had fun with old material. Several new (to me) musicians impinged upon my consciousness. I ran around with an iPod and pen, and took several hundred pictures, some of which are good. (Actually, many people complimented me on my Marscon photos from previous years. One person said they came to the con because of my pictures. Egoboo is always appreciated, even if the lag time is measured in years.)



Various Dementia musicians promoting latest FuMP CD

l-r: Rob Balder, Bud Sharpe, the great Luke Ski, Tom Rockwell

My Bartcop-E column, expanded for LJ to include the artists buttonholed on Sunday:

A short column this week, as I'm off in the wilds of Bloomington Minnesota for Marscon 2007, the only convention with a Dementia track. As long as I'm surrounded by musicians who know other strange musicians, I might as well tap their fevered brains and besotted ears. Thanks all!

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ericcoleman

One of my favorite songwriters is a guy named Paul K. One of my favorites to the point that, when there was no website about him I made my own. The current version. His website.

I once described Paul as if Lou Reed had grown up reading Raymond Chandler rather than William Burroughs. His music runs the gamut from punky rock and roll to blues to folk to pretty much anything else he feels like tossing into the mix. His music is about redemption. He was a junkie back in the 80s and much of what he has written about the crawl back up to a real life. His most recent music is more political and his semi-regular update on the email list that I run is always worth a read. I don't get into goofy fanboy mode much, but I always do with Paul.

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Quickshots
I buttonholed several people at Marscon. They (for the most part) named their favorite weird artist/group of those who weren't at the con.

wormquartet: Possible Oscar.

druidsfire (Pheonix DJ on Dementia Radio): David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.

Art Paul Schlosser: The Trenchcoat Club, Victoria Williams

Eric Heideman: The Decemberists, Barenaked Ladies, "mutant folk" eg The Roches, Lou & Peter Berryman.

Adam English (of Ookla the Mok, Musician Guest of Honor at Marscon 2007): Jonathan Coulton. "He's so good, I probably shouldn't have told you about him."

Ed Eastman: Alex Beaton, easpcially the CD Daft Ditties.

Rob McClude (Marscon sales table): Metallica, Black Sabbath

invader_tak_1: Tom Smith

emiofbrie: Throwing Toasters, Lemon Demon

wyngarde (Nick Atoms, etc): Queen's Flash Gordon Soundtrack;, Lalo Schifrin's Dirty Harry Anthology; Ennio Morricone's, Once Upon A Time In The West; Peter Wyngarde's, When Sex Leers Its Inquisitive Head ("where I got my Nick Atoms name">

lukeski): Consortium of Genius, Throwing Toasters, Boogie Knights, Lemon Demon, Jonathan Coulton, Paul and Storm, Positive Attitude