- 5 March 2008:
RECORDING CONTINUES APACE
Kristian has been busy in the studio all through January and February.
After doing the basic tracks for his new 17(!) song album, an opus to be called simply "FOP", at
Earle Mankey's fantastic studio, he has moved into the Hollywood studio of long time musical cohort,
pro-tools expert, current official Bangle and all around rock muse,
Abby Travis, to track the scrillions of overdubs
for what he proudly promises to be, in a jubilant tone that implies no irony or winking and
nudging, "my most pompous bombastic overproduced record ever!"
Abby is the engineer and magic worker, making everything happen with yet another of her shockingly proficient skills.
Dave Bongionvanni has been a regular on white hot Glam Ronson-esque
guitar stylings, and banjo! Other stellar studio guests so far
have included the golden voiced and flaxen haired
Kristi Callan, and the
outstanding and lovely songwriter
Carolyn Edwards on all sorts of crazy backing vocals,
and session man and pop maestro extraordinaire
Probyn Gregory on trumpet, trombone, French Horn and, er, banjo!
Probyn is not only a current member of The Brian Wilson Band, the Wondermints, and The Now People, but also plays with
all sorts of kooks from the Mello Cads to um....well, Kristian!
Sessions are already planned with Candypants' own Lisa
Jenio on vocals and flute. Andrew of the smokey Colin Blunstone tamber is on tap to
sing extensive backing vocals as well. And a trip to NYC to have MAJOR
orchestrations DRIPPING with pretension
is in the planning stages, with logistical help already secured from the unbelievably
gifted founder of the notorious Loser's Lounge, Joe McGinty,
Kristian's recent cocktail hour guest in Los Angeles.
BOOK AND MOVIE MADNESS
Kristian is also extensively quoted in the new Velvet Hammer Burlesque hardvover volume, filled with scads of fantastic gorgeous pix of
the VHB's most luscious ladies. Warning! Kristian had NEITHER photo approval NOR quote approval -
the entire volume was all edited together by inscrutable publishers of German extraction. So although Kristian beams with pride
at his long term association with this heady cultural institution, please don't blame him for the facts that:
A. This book contains one of the most unflattering, dour and wrinkly pictures of Kristian EVER! And...
B. The quotes were taken from Kristian's diaries, which had oodles of fabulously
gossipy tell-all remarks about the VHB cast and crew. But the German editors saw fit to
include at least one lengthy quotation that has absolutely NOTHING to do with VHB! Wah?
Well, obviously - you're not supposed to actually READ this picture book! Just ogle and slaver as God intended! So please, order it today!
CINEMATICALLY YOURS
Also, Kristian's long-time classic composition, "Scarecrow", which is his fan-favorite duet with Rufus Wainwright,
has been earmarked to be featured in the
new coming-of-age movie "Tru Loved" by
award winning director Stewart Wade. Further
music is provided by pop maestro
Rick Jensen of "Jensen Bell" who brought Kristian into the project, and wrote the catchy theme song for the film.
LUXURIA ANNIVERSARY!
Kristian is rapidly approaching the two year mark as DJ for the fabulous streaming radio station,
Luxuria Music.
His show "Pepperland Spicerack" airs every Sunday from Noon until 2:00 P.M. PST, except when Kristian is on tour.
The format consists mostly of lite, twee, baroque, and novelty psychedelia circa 1966-71 with an emphasis on
seldom heard bands of the era from "the continent",
plus a smattering of crazed acid workouts, and plenty of unabashed Richard Harris/Jimmy Webb style orchestral bombast,
AND whatever kooky novelty or just plain peculiar vintage records he thinks you'll finds amusing.
The show is constantly gaining in
popularity and is documented as the in-store choice of bookstores and boutiques from Austin to Manhattan!
Luxurimusic itself is a great station founded by vinyl record obsessives who have all been scouring thrift stores and swap meets since they were swaddlers, and the list of DJs includes
amazing Rock Historian and sometime Rock Star, Ian Whitcomb, Howie Pyro, Kristian's former Dave Davies bandmate Jim Laspesa,
and of course Kristian's great friends and redoubtable record experts Andrew Sandoval and Steve Stanley. And of course the default Lounge/Exotica/Novelty jukebox isn't bad either!
Keep up with all the Luxuriamusic news and special events on their
Official MySpace Page!
NEW PICKS!
Kristian has long been intimidated by his own inability to stem his own exhausting verbosity. Thus he has approached adding new "Picks" to his "Picks" page with trepidation - a spasm of listening
pleasure suddenly feels like a deadline for a soul numbing term paper!
So to save you the irksome skimming, and to save him the hunt and peck typing marathon,
he's simply posting a slew of recent acquisitions that he loves - and hopes you will too!
For your impulse shopping pleasure, Visit KH's Picks Page today!
LASTLY:
Just because this main website is NOT updated everyday, doesn't mean that there aren't crazy activities happening in Kristian's life! Think of this as Kristian's corporate headquarters, where everything will sooner or later be documented in the massive archives, and you can do your "Kristian based research" to your hearts content!
But for daily injections of Kristiana Arcana, be sure to keep up with Kristian's regularly posted rants and raves, foibles and misadventures, and contact him personally on HIS
Official MySpace Page.
- 15 December 2007:
He Knows If You've Been Bad or Good!
Photo By Rocky Schenck
"Sometimes we're slow" Department - we never posted it at the time, but in an interview with ReGen Magazine in November 2006, Kristian's
long time collaborator Abby Travis sang Kristian's praises in no uncertain terms,
and we've FINALLY put up a link to the article on the Press Page.
So scroll on down, and read all about it!
Speaking of reading all about it, you can enjoy the myriad comments and delightful
controversy inspired by Kristian's many recent mini-blog entries (three this week!) on the Blog page
of his
Official MySpace Page.
While you're there, you can enjoy a seasonal posting of the
4-track demo of his Xmas Perennial song "Christmas Time Is Coming (So Get Out Of The Way)".
You can also simply visit our own vintage Official Kristian Hoffman Website Christmas Page (Circa 2004)
with an
EXTRA X-mas Travesty of a song by simply clicking Here!
PLUS: See a fun EVEN EARLIER period Xmas Card from the Mumps,
and several newly posted photos and flyers, plus new fan comments,
on
Mumps Official Myspace Page !
- 1 December 2007:
It's official! Kristian is in the studio recording his NEW solo CD!
Four basic tracks for the EIGHTEEN TRACK CD have already been completed with Dan Joeright of
the Rentals on drums, plus Kristian's stalwart Rock Gods, David and William Bongiovanni.
This week Kristian goes back to Earle Mankey's fabulous studio to lay down six more tracks with
regular rock God Drummer (and Non Credo auteur/artiste) Mr. Joseph Berardi.
PLUS: Kristian's legendary CBGBs era punk pop band, MUMPS, are now official members of MYSPACE, with loads of photos,
a bio, gaggles of new friends, easy access to various Mumps, and a super easy iTunes link to
purchase individual songs! Please visit
Mumps Official Myspace Page everyday!
Or you can just press the iTunes button directly below, and go shopping now!
 ..
- 11 October 2007:
Media Blitz! After a frantic week playing gigs with Abe Lincoln Story, Abby Travis, and Ann Magnuson,
we found out that the Ann Magnuson/Kristian Hoffman gig in Santa Barbara Ocober 4th
had been documented in no less than three separate articles (and two picks!) !
Check them out on the Press Page.
- 22 September 2007:
ORIGINAL DEMO VERSION OF KLAUS NOMI'S "FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN" DISCOVERED ON YOUTUBE
KRISTIAN "PLAYS " GUITAR!
Before Klaus got signed to RCA France, the frenetically enthusiastic Ron Johnson, Klaus’
original manager and champion, somehow secured studio time in hopes that some high quality
demos might stir up some label interest in the “act”.
The original demos were supposedly lost, or in Page Wood’s safe along with that Faustian
contract with the bloody X where his signature should be, but a fan sent a link to this video,
and the soundtrack to the video is NOT the studio version of the song, but rather the original demo in all it's primitive glory,
- although, oddly enough, it was edited to make it LONGER (in true period disco crossover form) with all the finesse of a buzz saw.
Amusingly, this time capsule of a video is replete with a typically 80's Nagel
type model doing her incongruous breeder eye-candy thing, while chewing lasciviously on some Venetian blinds in total budget Durannie fashion. However, Klaus is already fully realized as his polished glam persona and a delight to watch.
The demo is interesting because Kristian plays guitar (and keys) on the demo.
It is thus a rare document of the original line-up of the band. The band started as a
three peice: Kristian would stand behind the RMI electric piano he bought from Orchestra Luna
(because it was just like Ron Mael’s keyboard!) playing guitar on the verses, and then just switch to keyboard for the choruses and intros.
Kristian says, “You can hear me trying my best to apply guitar-playing lessons learned
in my recent stints as No Wave sideman of record. I had been in the Contortions for a while.
I knew from that experience to write the bass line as the skeleton on which you hung the
clothes of the arrangement. James Chance also wrote out my Contortions guitar parts on sheet
music paper with X’s, like a snare. There were no notes. I was just supposed to hit the
guitar in rhythmic patterns. At the time I also was usually back stage at all the
Teenage Jesus shows, ‘tuning’ Lydia's guitar, so I co-opted some of her assaultive naif style as well.
I also got to play with them once! I hoped the fact that these No Wave luminaries didn't
ever use actual chords might trickle down to change the fact I couldn't actually play guitar
from a liability into a.....Oh well, it was still a liability! But I wasn't quite as ashamed anymore! Just listen to my patently brazen ‘dying cat meow’ whining thoughout the song!”
Kristian continues: “ My brother was actually in NYC at the time, and visited me in the studio.
He is a skilled musician, and offered to play the guitar 'right' for me - but I was a legitimate No Wave auteur/deluded victim, and huffily refused the offer."
"What fascinated me later about the studio version ( which was made when I had been
summarily banished from the studio in that Klaus Nomi "tweener" period,
before they came crawling back to me as directed by RCA to ask for more original material),
was that their "real" New Jersey bar band guitar player actually copied MY solo - note for
misbegotten note! I mean - couldn't someone who could
actually 'play" come up with something a little better? I guess not! Of course, he foolishly left out one of my favorite tricks, which was playing
the strings up by the pegs on the wrong side of that little metal bar.
But other than that, he slavishly copied my every inept and unintentional move!”
“Not so lucky was my "good-tymey" barrel house piano styling
in the bridges - that was cut from THEIR version. I bet they were afraid
someone might mistakenly think Klaus was CAMPY or something! Thank God they prevented THAT misconception from happening by sticking to their Huey Lewis roots! But in this demo version, you can hear that music hall piano in all it's "When I'm 64" glory!”
The probable line-up for this demo was Joe Katz, of the Student Teachers,
Swinging Madisons and late period Mumps on bass - Page Wood on drums, with
Joey Arias and Tony from Strange Party on backing vocals. George Eliot from Come On probably added the one riff that took conventional guitar-playing skill: - the little semi muted guitar runs at the end of each phrase.
All the other guitar and keys are by Kristian.
Also peculiar to this video are the original intro, taken from a Marlene Dietrich recording,
and the punk-adjacent “Deutschland” outro, tastefully omitted from the studio version.
Mein Kampf? Well, not exactly - My Camp is closer to it!
Check out the Demo/Video HERE!
- 19 September 2007:
SEE KRISTIAN - IF YOU DARE - IN 1979’S SUPER 8 EPIC “THE LONG ISLAND FOUR”!
In 1977-78, despite complete lack of experience and, in some cases, talent or aptitude, a bunch of neophyte young director wannabes, including Eric Mitchell, James Nares, Patti Astor, Tina L’Hotsky, and eventually Swedish transplant Anders Grafstrom, decided to do for film what punk had done for music: do it yourself!
The ensuing cinematic “product” was wildly variable and often boring, opaque and indifferent. But as a time capsule of the most colorful characters to be seen at almost any hour of the day wandering the sidewalks of the East Village in varying states of inebriation, usually on their way to some rehearsal or new club in some church basement, these films are remarkable historical documents.
Anders Grafstrom, who came late to the collective, is the one filmaker who would most
likely have made a lasting mark in real cinema. He actually cared about focus,
audible dialog, and dramatic flow - which seemed pretty unimportant to his
somewhat “punkier” compatriots. Unfortunately he died tragically in a
car accident soon after The Long Island Four was completed. So it’s best to think of
it as his audition “reel” - it fails on many levels, but mostly due to
the constrictions of the super 8 medium, time, and money. Obviously,
if he had lived longer, Anders would have learned to tighten the editing and keep the audience
a little more engaged. But the film still manages a strange beauty, outrage, humor, and even poignance.
And the cast is unbelievable!
Klaus Nomi
Bradly Field from Teenage Jesus and The Jerks (Kristian’s BF at the time)
Lance Loud
East village superstar Patti "Wild Style" Astor
Genius artist David McDermott
La Ann Magnuson!
Tina L'Hotsky (queen of the Mudd Club and filmmaker herself!)
Joey Arias (Klaus' muse, best friend, dancer, also leader of Strange Party, and now ringmaster at a Las Vegas Cirque show!)
Gedde Watanabe (who actually went on to have a "real" career in film - what an escape artist!)
Steven Kramer (genius artist, longtime friend, member of the Contortions in my configuration, and leader of the legendary Wallets)
and many more!!!
Howie Pyro prvides the link to this fairly apt encapsulization from the
Shocking Video
website :
"THE LONG ISLAND FOUR (79) Four exceedingly fey Nazi
spies (one is played by Lance Loud of TV's An American
Family, for crying out loud!) land in New York City in
1942. They originally intend to plant bombs and
disrupt national morale, but quickly lose interest and
become submerged in the city's hedonistic nightlife.
This Super 8 underground feature boasts elaborate
costuming, art direction and vintage music soundtrack,
but the real reason to grab this up is for KLAUS NOMI!
Yes friends, the New Wave Kabuki opera singer from
outer space plays a supporting role as a German
counteragent! He sings the Marlene Dietrich standard
"Falling In Love Again" once in tuxedo and then in
drag! The rest of the cast and crew are comprised of
many familiar names from New York's "No Wave"
performance art gang of the period, such as Ann
Magnuson, Kristian Hoffman, Patti Astor, and many more.
An absolute must-have for fans and followers of this
phase of American pop culture!"
And - you can actually buy a copy - if you dare! Here is the link:
iOffer.com
- 18 September 2007:
After much hair pulling, fingernail biting, brow furrowing, and basic garden variety lazy avoidance, Kristian has finally whipped up a mammoth re-entry into the diary entry sweepstakes. No - it's not complete! But --- it's long! And getting longer! That counts for something - at least in an Extenze commercial. Check out the ramblings on the diaries page.
- 14 May 2007:
Kristian is on his way to NYC and to Spain, and isn't really doing a single gosh darn thing
to make this site more entertaining! However, lovely artist and
minimalist Vivianne Viveur has charitably stepped into the breech, donating a
diary entry of her experiences at the fabulous Klaus Nomi tribute in Parma Italy! Thanks, Vivianne!
Check it out in the diaries page.
- 7 May 2007:
Loads of upcoming gigs! Kristian plays keys with Abe Lincoln Story at
their record release party, and is (briefly!) featured in their hilarious new video "I Don't Need A Bag", then it's off to NYC for
a special appearance playing keys with Ann Magnuson at Joe's Pub, and after that a brief tour
of SPAIN - yes, you heard that right! - playing keys for the ever lovely and
evocative Andrew! Details on the .
Kristian is also busy making demos for his own NEW CD! Finally! To be recorded this year for release in early 2008.
Also, expect a Kristian Hoffman and the Rock Gods performance at this year's IPO festival.
Incidents keep piling up so fast - Ann Magnuson's two sold out shows at the Steve Allen Theater,
Abby Travis best most rocktacular
performance ever at the fantastic pipe dream of Baroque gilded opulence that
is L.A.'s new club Bordello
(Jane Wiedlin jumped on the stage and sang "Cry Me A River" - beat that!)
that there's been little time for diary writing. But expect some rushed updates soon!
Meanwhile, don't forget to buy your Ann Magnuson CD TODAY!
- 20 April 2007:
Kristian Hoffman downloads are easier to buy than ever,
now that you can get them directly from
his
Kristian Hoffman Myspace Page. Buy some today!
- 19 April 2007:
Klaus Nomi Tribute (Click for details)
in Italy - you should all go! They're going to be showing
The Nomi Song
and having a big Klaus Nomi dance party afterwards,
and there will be an exhhibit of Klaus-related memoriabilia.
But the best part of it is that
they made an open call for submissions by various artists and fans for covers and remixes of
Klaus Nomi songs, which you won't actually have to travel to Italy to enjoy.
The call has resulted in amazing stuff like this wildly original
version of Kristian's seminal composition "Total Eclipse" that sounds
like a DNA recombination of the genes of Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, and Nico,
by Austrian aesthete and songster
Christian Rainer! Just click on his name and listen. Nomi lives!
- 16 April 2007: News Flash! Ann Magnuson show at the Steve Allen Theater a smashing success. Sold out both
nights and they had to add two extra rows of seats for the Saturday show! Amazing. Also worthy of note is
that the Steve Allen Theater is appropriately headquarters for
agencies, boards, committes and spokesmodels for:
A. Atheists!
B. Pagans!
C. Metaphysical Debunkers!
Home at last! They've got the magic!
Meanwhile - MUMPS finally make it to England - sort of! Check out this (completely unauthorized and uncredited)
use of the Mumps "English Version" photo! Waterloo Sunset indeed!
- 11 April 2007: A brief aside for a fun-filled history lesson - Check out Photographer/renaissance man Steve Lombardi's fun gallery
of New York Rocker pix from the goooooooolden era of yore, including Lance Loud, Kristian solo and in the Swinging Madisons,
great pictures of Kristian's friends Jayne County, Paul Zone, the Student Teachers, Tish and Snooky, and the Go-Gos!
Click onto the N Y Rocker page of his website.
Also, check out the Los Angeles Times coverage of the
Long Gone John
going away party at Spaceland. Long Gone John, who championed the Mumps with the release of "How I Saved The World"
on his wonderful label, Sympathy For The Record Industry, is moving to a wooded island somewhere in the Pacifc Northwest -
so loads of his friends showed up and gave him a poignant but fun-tastic farewell. Kristian sang with Candypants and is quoted,
ever so briefly, in the article.
- 9 April 2007: Kristian plays (and sings!) with Ann Magnuson for two nights at the
fabulous Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles! Go to the Gigs Page
for exciting details!
- 28 February 2007: A review of the Ann Magnuson album Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories on the press page.
- 6 February 2007: Now available: Ann Magnuson's new album Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories produced and arranged by Kristian, who also writes songs and plays on the record. Details at the Recordings page.
- 18 September 2005: Kristian will appear on Q Television Network on Sept. 22. Details at the gigs page. Also a few more upcoming appearances have been posted.
- 13 September 2005: Some new concert dates at the gigs page.
- 4 August 2005: Some new concert dates at the gigs page including Friday, August 5 -- the last show ever at Bricktops, which is closing due to a change in ownership.
- 30 July 2005: New diary entry about all kinds of things including Mumps, Nomi, and lots of other topics.
- 29 July 2005: Some new gigs listed, including a genuine Kristian Hoffman and The Rock Gods show slated for August 11. Details at the Gigs page.
- 9 July 2005: Updated the Links page with links to Mumps and Carolyn Edwards websites.
- 6 July 2005: Now available! The new Mumps CD with DVD, How I Saved the World. Visit the Mumps Record Store for ordering information. The CD/DVD twofer is available from the record company, Sympathy for the Record Industry, and many on-line retailers. Also available: a pink vinyl 45 of "Crocodile Tears/Waiting for the World to Catch Up."
- 6 July 2005: Added a bunch of vintage Swinging Madisons and Bleaker Street Incident press to the Press page.
- 7 June 2005: Some new gigs listed, including the record release party for Mumps How I Saved the World on June 30. Details at the Gigs page.
- 26 May 2005: Well, it's about time -- Mumps finally have their own website! Go pay a visit -- no need to knock! You can find it at http://www.mumpsmusic.com.
- 15 April 2005: Kristian will back up Carolyn Edwards and Abby Travis in their respective sets at Mata Hari on April 20 and will sing two of his own songs -- details at the Gigs page.
- 12 April 2005: The current issue of Tabu Magazine has a feature on Kristian's art work. Details on the News page.
- 3 April 2005: Added some vintage snapshots that Kristian took of the N.Y. Dolls way back in the day to a 2004 diary entry about the Dolls' current tour. Here they are.
- 3 April 2005: Click here for some interesting ruminations on Kristian's history with James White and the Blacks.
- 2 April 2005: Coming soon -- a new Mumps CD compilation called Mumps - How I Saved the World, with accompanying DVD. Details at the News page.
- 2 April 2005: New diary entries on the Nomi Song premiere at the Nuart Theatre and other lively discussions.
- 2 April 2005: Updates on the News page and the Gigs page.
- 2 April 2005: A picture of Kristian with the Contortions on the Mumps & Antiquities page. (Scroll -- it's about halfway down).
- 9 March 2005: 2004 End of Year Round-up on the Diaries page.
- 18 February 2005: Some further dates for The Nomi Song and some Kristian live performances, to the Gigs page
- 30 January 2005: Added some fascinating and revealing vintage Mumps press clippings, to the Press Page.
- 11 January 2005: Kristian will introduce the Nomi Song at its L.A. premiere on Feb. 4; details at the Gigs page
- 8 January 2005: Diary entry about the Nomi Song premiere.
On the Gigs page information about the Klaus Nomi movie theatrical release and some details on KH's Jan. 20 gig;
a new CD (New York Rocks, compilation on the Koch label of NYC punk-era songs)added to the Recordings Page;
a photo credit added to the Swinging Madisons Pictures Page (sorry, Eric!);
amusing photo added to History page.
HERE IS THE WHAT'S NEW ARCHIVE: whatsnewarchive.htm
otherwise known as what's not new anymore
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