So how was your Christmas anyway? Mine wasn't so hot what with the realities of life and the lack of moolah hanging over my head like the Sword of Damocles and all. But don't wanna get you down. Actually the Christmas Eve/Day holiday (and for me that's a Holiday considering my work schedule!) wasn't a total bust considering how P.D. Fadensonnen sent me a beauteous bevy of burnt Cee-Dee offerings that really will last longer'n Dentyne. If it weren't for him I woulda been spending both days just starin' at the fart encrustation on the walls of my bedroom so THANKS BE TO YOU P. D. for making this winter solstice season something more'n just rheumy reminiscences of biting my cousin on the back of the neck because he wouldn't let me near his new toy gas station and (a few years later) kicking him after he broke the new drum I just got that Christmas morn!
Anyway, here's what I've been listening to in between thinking about holiday visitors and eggnog and piles of presents under the tree, none of which I got so screw you!
Albert Ayler-BELLS/PROPHESY EXPANDED EDITION 2-CD set (ESP-Disk)
If anything got me outta the Christmas Spirit (not that I had that much of it inna first place) it was this particular reish that really laid it out on the line as to the entire gnarliness of it all. Nice-looking digipack houses the expanded versions of these two ultimo classic Ayler platters that (if you ask me, and why not?) show the man at his atonal best not only with his brother Donald doing some apropos trumpet blasts on BELLS but the by-now infamous Peacock/Murray dissonance section transcending everything that was going on even in the new thing pointing hefty ways towards the decade-end clash of the AACM and other unclear minds. Too much has been written about these long-legendary albums already and why you're even reading this feckless blurb (and why I'm writing it in the first place other'n to tell ya all "I GOT IT!!!!") is certainly beyond my brain capacity!
Lou Reed-AGORA BALLROOM CLEVELAND, 10/3/1984 CD-r burn
Remember that time in Lou's career where he sorta bumped up from the nada he had been unleashing on audiences for quite a few years? That was undoubtedly due to the presence of Robert Quine in his band which really helped zoom things up as far as any sorta return to previous Reedian glories go. This WMMS "Coffeebreak Concert" thankfully captures Lou during this particular bump what with his precision band which made even those doggier compositions of his sound good, and once you get over the entire slickness of the effort (remember, these were the days of rock videos and the selling of gristle over sizzle) this does become whatcha'd call a satisfying affair. It might not break into any unheralded realms but, dang ya, this recording does come off a whole less schleppier'n some of the post-Velvets Reedian-related wares I (and you) have had the displeasure of listening to.
The Tapes-RADIATIONS CD-r burn (originally on Industrial Tapes)
Another recording that jarred me outta what little Holiday Cheer I might have been able to muster up this pathetic year. Not having been spinning whatcha'd call a wide array of industrial music as of late, this particular offering (the second one Bill sent me making me wonder...) features loads of atonal banging mixed in with various recordings making for a particularly garbled time. At least groups like Boy Dirt Car had a solid basis in the rock aesthetic that was common to find in the underground rock of the day. The Tapes are even fringier and custom-made for the unfeeling cyborg state of humanity that began its manifestation around the same time OP began giving space to such tape-only projects as this. With my current state of terminal agitation I don't know if I can take anymore...someone please slip on some METAL MACHINE MUSIC to soothe my nerves...
VIRTUAL THRIFT STORE ARCHIVE SERIES PRESENTS EDISON CONCERT BAND 1899-1912---13 ROUSING PERFORMANCES
I might be getting older'n Methuselah 'n all that, but dang it if these early cylinders (some recorded before the twennieth-century even got into gear!) affects me in my own suburban slob way a whole lot more'n a good portion of the next hotcha big thing rock that's been begging for my bucks these past thirtysome years. Thirteen rousing brass-band pouncers guaranteed to get you up and marching around the room just like I used to do when I was three 'n spinning "Washington Square" over and over. Best of the batch..."Home Sweet Home" as played around the world. This is what soul-stirring music meant to alla you Amerigans long before the likes of Johnny Mann turned it all into addled hokum for those whose systems were just too tame for the rabid likes of Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods.
Various Artists-POP SOUND '70 CD-r burn (originally on Polydor Europe)
Those hip label samplers that came out inna seventies were certainly helpful if you were the kinda guy who wanted to hear a smattering of acts yet didn't want to dish out the big bucks for alla the albums these toonz originally appeared on. This Polydor collection's but one of many of these kinda platters, though I really gotta admit that just what Polydor was offering during the rather barren year of '70 ain't really anything that really flibbens my jib ifyaknowaddamean. Rock was heading well into that dirge we all knew and hated by that time, and although the likes of Taste, Fat Mattress and TOMMY-period Who might tingle your toes I prefer to pass. Only Savage Rose really made my ears perk up and yeah, I finally got to hear Cat Mother here and I really can't see what the big to-do was about them like Mark Jenkins and Jonathan Richman did. Made for a rather annoying half hour if I do say so myself.
Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra-ROUTE 66 THEME AND OTHER GREAT TV THEMES CD-r burn (originally on Capitol)
Who out there in BLOG TO COMM-land doesn't like the theme from ROUTE 66? And what real fan and follower of this blog doesn't just drool at the thought of classic television from the late-fifties until the mid-sixties back when looking forward to the new tee-vee season was something that was as much a part of mid-Amerigan suburban slob living as summer vacation or checking out the new Studebakers with yer pop. Well, if you're the kinda guy who's beholden to the values and morals of sane pre-hippie relevance tee-vee then this platter is the one for you! Sure the jazzing up of such themes as BEN CASEY and MY THREE SONS might not settle well (just like the theme from THE UNTOUCHABLES doesn't do by me because I hate that show the way they make those bootleggers [you couldn't find bigger heroes!] look evil!), but you ain't gonna get back to the whole spirit of just what life was for people like us without a platter like this in your abode. Well, that and about a few thou DVDs both legit and grey area and a few of those substations that still show fun programming like this and, come to think of it, maybe a Studebaker in the garage would help out a bit!
Ian and the Zodiacs-LOCOMOTIVE CD-r burn (originally on Star Club Germany)
Being one of the lower-caste "British Invasion" groups didn't quite help out these guys' career even though Ian and the Zodiacs are remembered (and even "fondly") this far down the line by those who followed them. Which I must admit wasn't much at home but BIG over in Germany. However being comparatively passive-sounding didn't help these guys out much either. Let's face it, Ian and the Zodiacs weren't exactly whatcha'd call hard 'n gutzy like the Stones nor were they primitive punk like the Troggs. They were good true, but in many ways they were also rather wishy-washy as these particular tracks definitely point to. This did make for a nice Christmas Eve listen-to but I'll admit next to any or all of the big guns of the day you can see why the Zodiacs never did make it outta their own niche alive and kicking.
Various Artists-FLYING SAUCER BANDSTAND CONCEPTION CD-r burn (Bill Shute)
Sandwiched between two of the unfunniest comedy sides I've ever come across via the Bobby Roberts Trio are more of Bill's fave rave song poems and old country infatuation tracks along with some early soul sides from a Roberta May who's about as obscure as the rest of the folk getting their second chance at success via this burnt offering. The Counts (one of many) are strange, kinda sounding mid-sixties pop with snatches of late-sixties cliches and a subject matter that's clearly early-seventies relevance, while the c 'n w's definitely pre-gloss stuff that warns about flying saucers heralding end times and such other pertinent subjects guaranteed to remind you of what that Old Time Religion used to mean.
The song poems are good as they always seem to be...it's great hearing these guys take some of the worst lyrics sent to them and make something out of the disgusting mess, but I've probably said that before. In all, a nice way to spend a Friday day off lounging around the house in my sweatclothes I'll tell ya!
Anyway, here's what I've been listening to in between thinking about holiday visitors and eggnog and piles of presents under the tree, none of which I got so screw you!
If anything got me outta the Christmas Spirit (not that I had that much of it inna first place) it was this particular reish that really laid it out on the line as to the entire gnarliness of it all. Nice-looking digipack houses the expanded versions of these two ultimo classic Ayler platters that (if you ask me, and why not?) show the man at his atonal best not only with his brother Donald doing some apropos trumpet blasts on BELLS but the by-now infamous Peacock/Murray dissonance section transcending everything that was going on even in the new thing pointing hefty ways towards the decade-end clash of the AACM and other unclear minds. Too much has been written about these long-legendary albums already and why you're even reading this feckless blurb (and why I'm writing it in the first place other'n to tell ya all "I GOT IT!!!!") is certainly beyond my brain capacity!
***
Remember that time in Lou's career where he sorta bumped up from the nada he had been unleashing on audiences for quite a few years? That was undoubtedly due to the presence of Robert Quine in his band which really helped zoom things up as far as any sorta return to previous Reedian glories go. This WMMS "Coffeebreak Concert" thankfully captures Lou during this particular bump what with his precision band which made even those doggier compositions of his sound good, and once you get over the entire slickness of the effort (remember, these were the days of rock videos and the selling of gristle over sizzle) this does become whatcha'd call a satisfying affair. It might not break into any unheralded realms but, dang ya, this recording does come off a whole less schleppier'n some of the post-Velvets Reedian-related wares I (and you) have had the displeasure of listening to.
***
Another recording that jarred me outta what little Holiday Cheer I might have been able to muster up this pathetic year. Not having been spinning whatcha'd call a wide array of industrial music as of late, this particular offering (the second one Bill sent me making me wonder...) features loads of atonal banging mixed in with various recordings making for a particularly garbled time. At least groups like Boy Dirt Car had a solid basis in the rock aesthetic that was common to find in the underground rock of the day. The Tapes are even fringier and custom-made for the unfeeling cyborg state of humanity that began its manifestation around the same time OP began giving space to such tape-only projects as this. With my current state of terminal agitation I don't know if I can take anymore...someone please slip on some METAL MACHINE MUSIC to soothe my nerves...
***
I might be getting older'n Methuselah 'n all that, but dang it if these early cylinders (some recorded before the twennieth-century even got into gear!) affects me in my own suburban slob way a whole lot more'n a good portion of the next hotcha big thing rock that's been begging for my bucks these past thirtysome years. Thirteen rousing brass-band pouncers guaranteed to get you up and marching around the room just like I used to do when I was three 'n spinning "Washington Square" over and over. Best of the batch..."Home Sweet Home" as played around the world. This is what soul-stirring music meant to alla you Amerigans long before the likes of Johnny Mann turned it all into addled hokum for those whose systems were just too tame for the rabid likes of Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods.
***
Those hip label samplers that came out inna seventies were certainly helpful if you were the kinda guy who wanted to hear a smattering of acts yet didn't want to dish out the big bucks for alla the albums these toonz originally appeared on. This Polydor collection's but one of many of these kinda platters, though I really gotta admit that just what Polydor was offering during the rather barren year of '70 ain't really anything that really flibbens my jib ifyaknowaddamean. Rock was heading well into that dirge we all knew and hated by that time, and although the likes of Taste, Fat Mattress and TOMMY-period Who might tingle your toes I prefer to pass. Only Savage Rose really made my ears perk up and yeah, I finally got to hear Cat Mother here and I really can't see what the big to-do was about them like Mark Jenkins and Jonathan Richman did. Made for a rather annoying half hour if I do say so myself.
***
Who out there in BLOG TO COMM-land doesn't like the theme from ROUTE 66? And what real fan and follower of this blog doesn't just drool at the thought of classic television from the late-fifties until the mid-sixties back when looking forward to the new tee-vee season was something that was as much a part of mid-Amerigan suburban slob living as summer vacation or checking out the new Studebakers with yer pop. Well, if you're the kinda guy who's beholden to the values and morals of sane pre-hippie relevance tee-vee then this platter is the one for you! Sure the jazzing up of such themes as BEN CASEY and MY THREE SONS might not settle well (just like the theme from THE UNTOUCHABLES doesn't do by me because I hate that show the way they make those bootleggers [you couldn't find bigger heroes!] look evil!), but you ain't gonna get back to the whole spirit of just what life was for people like us without a platter like this in your abode. Well, that and about a few thou DVDs both legit and grey area and a few of those substations that still show fun programming like this and, come to think of it, maybe a Studebaker in the garage would help out a bit!
***
Being one of the lower-caste "British Invasion" groups didn't quite help out these guys' career even though Ian and the Zodiacs are remembered (and even "fondly") this far down the line by those who followed them. Which I must admit wasn't much at home but BIG over in Germany. However being comparatively passive-sounding didn't help these guys out much either. Let's face it, Ian and the Zodiacs weren't exactly whatcha'd call hard 'n gutzy like the Stones nor were they primitive punk like the Troggs. They were good true, but in many ways they were also rather wishy-washy as these particular tracks definitely point to. This did make for a nice Christmas Eve listen-to but I'll admit next to any or all of the big guns of the day you can see why the Zodiacs never did make it outta their own niche alive and kicking.
***
Sandwiched between two of the unfunniest comedy sides I've ever come across via the Bobby Roberts Trio are more of Bill's fave rave song poems and old country infatuation tracks along with some early soul sides from a Roberta May who's about as obscure as the rest of the folk getting their second chance at success via this burnt offering. The Counts (one of many) are strange, kinda sounding mid-sixties pop with snatches of late-sixties cliches and a subject matter that's clearly early-seventies relevance, while the c 'n w's definitely pre-gloss stuff that warns about flying saucers heralding end times and such other pertinent subjects guaranteed to remind you of what that Old Time Religion used to mean.
The song poems are good as they always seem to be...it's great hearing these guys take some of the worst lyrics sent to them and make something out of the disgusting mess, but I've probably said that before. In all, a nice way to spend a Friday day off lounging around the house in my sweatclothes I'll tell ya!
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