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artichoke

jello, jealous; cello, cellist

About Me

artichoke is currently working on 2 projects: a live-band honeybee record, and a studio-ish volume 2 of "26 scientists." we are best known for volume one of "26 scientists," which came out with much geeky fanfare at the end of 2005. it's a collection of biographical songs about scientists, one for each letter of the alphabet. "26 scientists, volume 2: newton - zeno" is 12/13ths done, not counting painting the cover (a skeletal foot) and finding some cash or outside label to release it.
the honeybee songs are developing in a somewhat acoustic direction. and why bees, you ask? well, ants are drudges; moths are too dusty; hornets and wasps are dickheads; butterflies are too heavy metal; caterpillars have been done by the cure; tom waits and others have done ladybugs; squeeze and robyn hitchcock did praying mantises; fleas are nasty; tapeworms don't bear mentioning; likewise cockroaches; aphids are disgusting little sheep; locusts are a bit too biblical for me; grasshoppers are sort of locusts; cicadas are faddish; gnats, horse flies, deer flies, and mosquitos are basically too annoying; and buddy holly already harnessed the awesome power of crickets.
when i was a kid growing up in the woods and fields of upstate new york, i was stung many many times by bees and wasps and hornets. one summer it got so bad i dreamed of giant 8-foot wasps chasing me around the trees. for extra adrenaline-filled thrills in our waking hours, my brother and i would sometimes approach a foot-thick hornet's nest lurking in a tree and throw rocks at it until we'd hear the papery crunch of the rock entering the nest, followed by an angry buzz of pissed-off hornets flying in ever-widening circles to find the source of the meteor.
but i was never afraid of honey bees or bumble bees. bees have always been tragic heroes to me; valiant, hardworking, and a bit cute. i guess a lot of people think of them that way. anyway, i've done a little reading and there's certainly more than enough material for this record.
past artichoke records include "sing in traffic," "evaporation," "20 grit," "26 scientists volume one: anning - malthus," and "never mind the bollocks, here's the sex pistols by artichoke." warner brothers wants us to re-title that last record. you can't get it online anywhere until i get around to doing that and reloading it with cdbaby. i titled it that because artichoke made an homage to a classic record -- and i thought you might want to know which classic record... anyway, it's not the fall that kills ya. it's the bureaucracy.
all of these cds can be purchased at the official artichoke website www.artichoketheband.com, at our shows, and several independent record stores in los angeles including the music-friendly sea level records in echo park.
and these 3 can be purchased like this:
thanks to all the wonderful friends, fans, and musicians who have been involved with artichoke since it started in 1999!!!

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/9/2005
Band Website: artichoketheband.com
Band Members: perennially, timothy sellers
and an historic cast of thousands! including: anna mcentee, steve collins, alfredo ortiz, octavius, mike bedik, mark scanlon, ezra siegel, andy grzenia, and sharon mcgunigle, to name a few.
"bees" will probably be made by members of the eternal triangle and some female vocalist, who's identity is a mystery even to me.
"26 scientists, volume 2: newton - zeno" is at the moment just me. but we'll add steve's theremin for sure.

Influences: i have been into the newish breeders record, "title tk" a lot in the past couple years. i like how great kim sounds, how simple the songs are, and how there are no potential hits.

now a deep breath and just some other swell bands that begin with "b" -- dave brubeck beck bix beiderbeck bjork blur big black frank black francis bauhaus beatles B-52s beethoven (ludwig van) beethoven (camper van) beat happening beastie boys billie holiday buddy holly bonzo dog band bob dylan bongwater butthole surfers belly belle and sebastian syd barrett benny goodman the blues explosion brian eno count basie
Sounds Like: KUCI's music director kyle olson writes:
"Previously, all I knew about this band is that KUCI had a copy of their album “20 Grit” which was covered in sandpaper and fucked up CDs around it and it sort of always twisted my biscuit. Now, when this album came, I learned that they are working on a two-album set of songs for Scientists (one for every letter of the alphabet). So far, they have one volume, Anning through Malthus, done. Now they put out an album which is, as the title suggests, a song-by-song cover of the famous Sex Pistols album. I was completely ready to pass it off as novelty, but you REALLY haven’t heard “Pretty Vacant” until you’ve heard it sung over a ukulele. No joke: this is REALLY FUCKING GOOD. It’s sort of folksy with great vocals, but with some more upbeat songs fused with electronics. “God Save the Queen” has a kazoo solo for Christ’s sake. What will it take to sell you this?!"

Michael Erard writes in The New York Times science section "It's been years since Timothy Sellers, then a budding naturalist, licked a slug. Now he writes pop songs about scientists who were less absurd about their empiricism."

RS at www.usedwigs.com writes about "26 Scientists Volume One: Anning - Malthus" : "What if…They Might Be Giants, Ween, and Camper Van Beethoven broke into Robert Pollard's studio with a stack of science textbooks and more than a few six-packs? I imagine you'd wind up with something sonically similar to Artichoke's latest. A fun and stylistically diverse collection of DIY pop-rock, this disc is the first of a proposed two based on the concept of stringing together 26 catchy musical biographies (one for each letter of the alphabet, of course) of historical scientists. That sounds way more highbrow than it actually comes across, though. From the cowboy swagger of "Einstein, Albert" to the percolating "Burbank, Luther," and from the megaphone-voiced rave-up "Galilei, Galileo" to the Beatle-chorused "Darwin, Charles Robert"," this is more School of Rock than science class. This should fit nicely next to the hotly anticipated 5-disc collection by Jay-Z addressing the elements of the periodic table. I hear that "Ununnilium" is particularly bangin'. Standout Tracks: "Malthus, Thomas Robert", "Fuller, Richard Buckminster", "Einstein, Albert", "Burbank, Luther" - RS

"26 Scientists, Volume One: Anning - Malthus." Sounds like a boring book? No way! Its an über-cool new album by the band ARTICHOKE. Featuring eclectic power-pop tunes, one written for a scientist for each letter of the alphabet, its brain-snappingly groovy. Could these folks be the next ARCADE FIRE?" So writes Michael J. Ryan, Ph.D., Curator and Head, Vertebrate Paleontology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

ARTICHOKE - Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols

Echangeriez-vous votre baril de Sex Pistols contre deux barils d'Artichoke? Non? Et bien vous avez peut-être tort… Non pas que les Californiens soient plus sauvages et brutaux que leurs collègues britanniques, bien au contraire, mais parce qu'ils proposent une relecture fort sympathique de "Never Mind the Bollocks," l'œuvre emblématique des punks londoniens: l'album est repris titre après titre dans un registre plutôt folk et avec beaucoup d'humour (le groupe aime les albums concepts originaux puisqu'il a déjà sorti un album intitulé "26 Scientists Volume One" célébrant 26 scientifiques célèbres, d'Einstein à Marie Curie, et s'apprête à sortir un "Volume Two"). Le groupe de Timothy Sellers s'attaque donc à celui de John Lydon et les chansons des Pistols, dépouillées de leur rage, révèlent des trésors mélodiques insoupçonnés; il faut dire qu'Artichoke les y aide bien en les accompagnant de guitares acoustiques, d'accordéons bucoliques et d'harmonies vocales habiles. Les morceaux, s'ils perdent bien évidemment en agressivité, y gagnent en ironie. Ainsi, le monumental "God Save the Queen" devient une ballade (faussement) enfantine qui rappelle le "I'm Sticking With You" du Velvet Underground. Le terrible "No Feelings" flirte avec la bluette. "Anarchy in the U.K.," dans un registre un poil plus jazz avec sa basse ronde et ses cuivres, est calqué sur le "Close to Me" de The Cure – Artichoke y a ajouté les bêlements d'un troupeau de moutons. Les coups de semonce de "Holidays in the Sun" sont reproduits en frappant une caisse à outils sur le sol. "EMI," charge contre la maison de disques des Sex Pistols, devient une folk-song enjouée. Mais Artichoke ne s'impose aucune règle: "Liar," "Problems" ou "Sub-Mission" conservent une tension rock… Les Sex Pistols sont les premiers à s'être parodiés (sur "The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle" - avec notamment une hilarante version disco de "Anarchy in the U.K."); mais ici, chaque morceau est subtilement réinventé, recyclé, détourné d'une manière tout à fait réjouissante. (Ré-)inventer, recycler, détourner : une démarche très punk finalement... -- Christophe Dufeu POPNEWS Avril 2007

Am I the first one to get that "Abstract Red Adam" is about the short story, "The Circular ruins" by Jorge Luis Borges? Cool! Thumbs up to 26 scientists too, from a fellow traveler. -- Lee

Few if any know what he means, but Mark "Flyingman" Caldwell of WAWL 91.5 FM somewhere in Tennesseesays "It makes u ponder over your smooth and wrinkled college cafeteria peas. Fun loud GMO Punk well deserving of a "nobel" spin on the radio."
Record Label: greeen records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

the sound of sunlight passing through a leaf and recorded on both sides for luminous stereo

timothy,the only thing that sucks about not living in la anymore is not being able to see artichoke... that, and it's really really cold here.eagerly awaiting the next 13 scientist songs...and songs a...
Posted by artichoke on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:40:00 PST

music i’m shovelling into my earholes

it's always refreshing to hear good music around town. on friday, the henry clay people rocked one of my socks off at spaceland. my other sock was already missing from the flying tourbillon orchestr...
Posted by artichoke on Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:40:00 PST

finally we can wear our hip black clothes

most the year, it's hard looking cool in sunny southern california. i see the kids doing it, wearing their goth or black punky stuff in the blazing sun, and i admire their fashion discipline. me, i ...
Posted by artichoke on Fri, 28 Sep 2007 03:09:00 PST

buzzin' in the hive

the bee punning is inescapable. and it's all true -- we played our dozen songs of bee life at a downtown art gallery called the hive. 2 buck chuck was $3 a cup. the art was primarily cartoony, as s...
Posted by artichoke on Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:57:00 PST

"the commune" debuts at a commune

the sugarplastic wrapped up their spaceland residency last night. i wish there were more bands like them -- but there aren't, and for a simple reason -- they are geniuses! i can't help but think tha...
Posted by artichoke on Sat, 26 May 2007 09:53:00 PST

mark twain #2, anna, lauren, eric, honey bees, and wood chippers

howdy! one of my favorite writers has died. the esteemed wise ass, doodler, narrative-chopping and splicing mark twain #2, one of the great american writers of the 20th century, yes, the legendary k...
Posted by artichoke on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:43:00 PST

cautiously optimistic, boldly pessimistic

A belated Happy New Year to all you myspacers. I'll be spending the day addressing and stamping "Never mind the bollocks here's the Sex Pistols by Artichoke" CDs for college radio. It takes quite so...
Posted by artichoke on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 09:53:00 PST

griffith observatory gala; sweet sweet nectar

hi there gang. our griffith observatory gala show on sunday was weird/fun. they kept us and a host of other musicians in a tiny green room for several hours. but then we escaped, played our set of ...
Posted by artichoke on Tue, 31 Oct 2006 11:22:00 PST

obsessive mixing; great wall not visible from space

i've been working on final mixes of the 12 songs on "never mind the bollocks here's the sex pistols by artichoke" off and on all week. if i want to feel annoyed, i listen in my car. the speakers suc...
Posted by artichoke on Sat, 30 Sep 2006 12:30:00 PST

bye leaf, hello emu -- woa!!

yep, our old cat "leaf" died suddenly. he was cool -- one yellow eye, and one bigger blue one. they also reflected 2 different colors. the blue reflected red, and the yellow reflected greenish yell...
Posted by artichoke on Thu, 24 Aug 2006 01:24:00 PST