(Comic Sans) That Boy Needs Therapy (/Comic Sans)

December 19, 2022 2:44 PM

Avalanches - Frontier Psychologist (Reanimated by 70 Artists)

Full credits of animators.

posted by MollyRealized (23 comments total)

This is going to be in my head for weeks. This is not a bad thing. I'm crazier than a coconut.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:21 PM on December 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

What does that mean?
posted by Earthtopus at 3:23 PM on December 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

For folks unfamiliar with it, this is a reanimation of the original music video, whose concept was always amazing - just reverse engineering all the sounds from the samples and recreating what that must look like if there was a band doing it live on stage rather than a bunch of electronics and editing. The official video has a YT comment tracking down a bunch of the samples; I was surprised that this plunderphonic masterpiece was built so heavily from old Wayne and Schuster tracks.
posted by Superilla at 3:47 PM on December 19, 2022 [8 favorites]

The Enoch Light Singers
So that sent me down a wikipedia wormhole into who Enoch Light was - a fascinating guy; an American big band leader who learned his trade in Paris in the late 20s - and by the late 60s he was advancing sound recording technology through cover albums. He hired a bunch of top session musicians, and it is plausible that the brass under the ghostly choir includes Doc Severinsen, better known as the leader of Johnny Carson's house band, the NBC Orchestra.
posted by Superilla at 4:20 PM on December 19, 2022 [6 favorites]

I'm crazier than a coconut.

I think it's "He's crazy in the coconut", ie, the head.
posted by dobbs at 5:26 PM on December 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

Enoch Light, yes! He was a leader in the "stereo hi-fi" craze of the '50s, when liner notes began to go into fetishistic detail about the microphones used and the recording gear employed. I don't know if there was a previous manifestation of this, but, otherwise, this was the first full flowering of "audiophilia," at a time when people had disposable income, a good selection of high-end consumer audio products, and heavy pharmaceutical habits. Enoch Light's albums were like stereo demo records, with extreme panning in high-quality recordings of his orchestra, whose instrumentation and arrangements were made, at least in part, to showcase the "stereo-ness" of the experience.

The Free Design recorded for his label and appear on a few of the albums released by its component musicians, such as Sinatra first-call guitarist Tony Mottola.
posted by the sobsister at 5:46 PM on December 19, 2022 [5 favorites]

Impressive tribute! (The Gorilla 2nd drummer doesn't mute the cymbal in this version). The original is the best music video in all history. Wayne & Shuster were an ongoing presence on Canadian television when I was young, they blended corny schtick with subtle riffs and oddness.
posted by ovvl at 5:54 PM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Great work!
posted by inexorably_forward at 6:18 PM on December 19, 2022

This is amazing. I discovered the Avalanches 3-4 years ago and love that there are other people still interested in their music. This is one of my favorite things about the internet.

Thanks so much for sharing, OP.
posted by midmarch snowman at 6:43 PM on December 19, 2022

This is amazing. I discovered the Avalanches 3-4 years ago and love that there are other people still interested in their music. This is one of my favorite things about the internet.

SILY is pure gold, but they are still making music, in fact, their last album We Will Always Love You came out December 2020 and it became one of my top 5 most played albums of the winter pandemic era.

It's not the sample-palooza of the earlier stuff (although it has its fair share), but it is more cohesive and emotional, in my opinion. I love it.
posted by jeremias at 7:02 PM on December 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

I've had this song probably since it came out but I never knew there was a music video, these are great!
posted by jameaterblues at 7:03 PM on December 19, 2022

I've loved this song but somehow never saw the video, it's awesome and the animated version is even more awesome!
posted by shmurley at 7:47 PM on December 19, 2022

I noticed they employed the "Kubrick stare" at one point.

And they also made false teeth.
posted by chimpsonfilm at 8:03 PM on December 19, 2022 [5 favorites]

Sometimes a parrot talks
posted by mmmbacon at 8:45 PM on December 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

Just here to say that I’ve loved the avalanches for probably 10yrs & I think we will always love you might actually be their best work. Give it a few chances and then a couple more and then play it for friends and see how they react; they’ve still got it & this is still the shit we still need. frontier psychiatrist ofc remains a classic & this vid rules
posted by Buckt at 9:22 PM on December 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

some years ago when this record was new, I included it on a mixtape I made for friends who had a seven or eight year old kid. A few months later, they mentioned that he (the kid) had more or less been possessed by it. He loved it maybe a bit too much. He knew every word, every sample. And loved to repeat them.

"That boy needs therapy" and "psychosomatic" in particular

He's now almost thirty and, last I heard, not in therapy.
posted by philip-random at 11:02 PM on December 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

The WhoSampled page for Frontier Psychiatrist is just as much of a fun rabbit hole as would be expected - including the original "Frontier Psychiatrist" sketch by Wayne and Shuster. I was there because I wanted to find out which version of Anna (el negro zumbón) was playing over the outro (this one) - I'd originally heard Pink Martini's cover - it from a film with the usual fare of nightclub singer becomes nun.
posted by rongorongo at 7:19 AM on December 20, 2022

fantastic

I don't think my partner cares for this stuff but it wholly satisfies something I need.. what's this stuff called, broadly speaking? sonic landscapes with heart and soul is how I receive it

worth a mention: (scratch and samples) Kid Koala's fender bender and music for morning people
posted by elkevelvet at 8:00 AM on December 20, 2022

I don't think my partner cares for this stuff but it wholly satisfies something I need.. what's this stuff called, broadly speaking?

Turntablism generally, electronica more broadly. Cut Chemist, I think, is one of the best. The artists that use real turntables have largely been replaced by people using digital samples but the sound remains the same.

Brief History
posted by fiercekitten at 8:44 AM on December 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

I first heard this on the radio(!) lo these many years ago (KITS-FM, San Francisco) and loved it then. Years later, I saw the music video and I just loved the madness of it all. What an honor that it's been animated. Thanks to all who tracked down the sources!
posted by Lynsey at 9:04 AM on December 20, 2022

I'm crazier than a coconut.

I think it's "He's crazy in the coconut", ie, the head.
posted by dobbs

Yes, but I'm even crazier than that. And harder of hearing, apparently.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:12 PM on December 20, 2022

It's also "Granny gazoo, let's have at you" inside my head. I have a strange relationship with song lyrics.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:14 PM on December 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

→ Sometimes a parrot talks

HelloHelloHello'ello'ello'ello'ello'ello'ello'ello'ello'ello'ello'ello'llo'llo'llo'llo'llo'llo'llo …
posted by scruss at 3:29 PM on December 20, 2022 [1 favorite]