The NEW Mega MEGA album by The National Cynical Network:

'THE CHEECH & CHONG 4-20 REMIX TRIBUTE PROJECT'

This project has been under production/development since October of 2021 (one and a half years) and is NOW complete!

And you don't even have to pay anything for it! (Name-Your-Own-Price).

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DETAILS:

This mega MEGA-Album is being posted on, and for, 4/20 of the year 2023. It has been under production/development prior to that time for a year and a half.

This arose because we created some 'Cheech & Chong' remix sequences (which we wanted to do for the purpose of some very on-topic comic-relief) for our developing audio art project called 'THE TRIP!! (Can You Take It??)' aka 'The Ultimate 'Head' Mix'! which we are still working on.

These sequences served as a starting point for THIS show, which came about when we decided to search for 'Cheech and Chong Remix' on Youtube and discovered a veritable TREASURE trove of interesting and some very very good rarely-heard, obscure artistic remixes (and some cover) material that we think need to be heard by fans of the perennial stoner comic duo, a crowd which we count ourselves definitely a part of since the 1970's.

At that time, as a Californian suburban 'tween', I used to avidly collect as many Cheech & Chong LP's that I could get my hands on.

I was very keen on comedy records, in general, at the time, it was their heyday in the years BEFORE there was HBO and Comedy Central. I'd usually make a bee-line for the comedy section whenever visiting the local Tower Records in Campbell, CA (since closed, out of business).

At that time, my biggest collecting effort in terms of comedy were the very popular records (at the time) of one Bill Cosby.

But Cheech & Chong offered something wholly different: a twisted kind of surreal and often hilarious 'Firesign Theatre for Stoners'. The two-man troupe's efforts offered fully stereoscopically-rendered and immersive 'scenes' or 'skits' (initially based on their stage act when they were starting out in 1971) that had an almost palpable reality to them, as you listened, in all of their sonically and richly rendered detail.

The trained ear, attuned to audio production, can appreciate what they have done here, and the amount of detail and work they have put into their recordings.

If my hyper-religious mother EVER had a CLUE that Cheech & Chong were on about DRUGS and drug CULTURE, she would have NEVER bought the albums for me.

But, fortunately, all of their cover art, and titles were JUST discreet or 'coded' enough to fly just under her radar.

"Heh heh heh."

Who the HELL in white-toast suburban San Jose even KNEW what 'Big Bambu' MEANT anyway?? In the days before Google, hell, I didn't even know what a ROACH CLIP was!

''Cheech and Chong'. Hmm. Sounds like some kind of Asian comedy team. I guess it's okay...'

It was just some sort of 'weird comedy album' as far as she was concerned.

But definitely NOT Bill Cosby.

*ahem*

I spent many, many hours...and years... enjoying them in my bedroom.

And it WAS an education. I was too young for pot, at the time. Too 'green', you could say. The kids I hung out with were not stoners at the time, but many would probably grow UP to be stoners. And they had older brothers, many of them, who WERE. These older brothers though, at the time, did not SHARE, circumspectly (this WAS the mid-1970s).

But all that un-known-ness just added to the wondrous MYSTERY of it all. And the 'NAUGHTY FUN' aspect of it all. Something that carries through even through to this day even to, my GOD, 2023: a year that, back in the 1970's was something straight out of a science-fiction story anthology.

And nowadays? Who woulda thunk it, but Cheech & Chong are still going STRONG some 50+ YEARS after their FIRST album. Still doing their thing. Now on social media. And thanks to NCN, now here on Bandcamp.

Because now, this show exists.

And you get to hear it.

One of the things I've always admired about Cheech & Chong, other than of course their frequently demonstrated ability to just be drop-dead fucking gut-bustingly funny, is the sonic production quality of their LP comedy efforts. The detail, and the ambience that was put into those recordings.

There's this moment, in this track called 'Sargent Stadanko' (you can hear it in Track 22 of this collection) where one schoolboy character (played by Chong) gets mad at another schoolboy character (played by Cheech). And at the moment he gets mad, and the two of them are about to 'throw down' and fight, the Chong character gets up very quickly from his school desk/chair.

And you hear this kind of detail in other pieces by them, but the way that you know, as the listener, that the character is standing up very quickly in anger at that moment...

Because Cheech and Chong put such detail into their work that for a split second, you hear the skid sound effect of the kid's chair moving back as he stands up sharply. So you see it in your mind's eye even though you may not consciously know exactly why you do.

See, these dudes weren't just comedians, they were fucking ARTISTS.

And they still are.

And so it is a pleasure, and a privilege, with this show, to PLAY with that sonic perfection, that comedic JAZZ (because that's what it was) and to remix it, mutate it creatively and psychedelically. To re-contextualize it, and to show the depth and scope of their influence, as well as their roots and what influenced THEM as we present the works of others who have done just that sort of thing throughout the years along with the exceptional and extraordinary work of Cheech & Chong and have done so in meaningful and beautiful ways.

Because we love it.

For those who know and love the comedic work of Cheech & Chong and appreciate their indelible cultural contribution, this is Cheech & Chong like you've never heard them before.

Join us won't you? For this special VERY long-running remix tribute show, several DECADES in the making, in a way...

Since the 1970's.

For this one's TRULY a labor of love.

Thank you, Cheech and Chong, for the laughs, for the love, for the memories and for the good times.

Back at 'ya!

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Most of the individual pieces in this mix were painstakingly assembled by NCN and have never ever existed in this overall form before April 20th 2023, but many pieces herein were not created by NCN but rather were collected and created by various mainstream, underground, obscure, or DIY artists and are being used (fairly) in this mix. All derived material has been somehow transformed (through some combination of editing, remixture, fragmentation or re-contextualization) here or is being used as a cultural touchstone or reference. It is NCN's hope and intention that our use of these artists' work increases their scope and their audience and gets them more attention. They deserve it. Please explore more of Cheech and Chong's work through official channels. We feel that the artists referenced in this work, and the derived work used, are important, interesting and worthwhile voices in the cultural conversation that we are trying to portray and capture with this program.

Bandcamp Version Total program length (running time): 10 hours 14 minutes and 12 seconds.

PRO TIPS on how to listen to this program:

- Use headphones
- Take breaks. This is a long program. It is not necessarily meant to be 'consumed' all in one sitting. Think of NCN 'mega-album' programs not so much as traditional 'albums', but more like eclectic 'sonic photo albums' or 'audiobooks with music'. The best place to take breaks is when you hear an NCN 'Station ID' which identifies that you are listening to The National Cynical Network. This usually signifies that a temporal, or thematic change is taking place in the program.
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- Try listening to it in the background while working on the computer or even on long trips, like on an airplane or bus ride. The way these and other NCN programs are constructed (we find) is that they are both effective as a mental sonic 'wallpaper', because of the dynamic richness in form, but also rewarding listens if you also devote your entire attention to them, due to the crisp and compelling nature of the content and its sequences.

Happy Listening!

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