Well, it's June, it's 2019 and I'm still here and thanks be to goodniz my OBSESSIONS are continuin' to be up and about just like they have been my entire brain-conscious life! Y'know, ever since I was but a mere turdler I've thrown myself into some form of the obsessive arts whether it be directed towards (now get this!) station wagons/estate cars/breaks that had different tail light and rear fender structures than their sedan brethren, (I think this was some form of misplaced sexual structure confusion, only the fact remains that women have different headlights, not taillights, than men!), dinosaurs, comic strips. airplanes, comic books and tee-vee...things that really have not left my ever-advanced mindset which only goes to prove that I'M TRUE TO MY SUBURBAN SLOB UPBRINGING AND MAYBE YOU SHOULD BE TOO! That is, you should be true to my Suburban Slob upbringing because hey, I dunno about yours.
My big obsession these days just happen to be the same one I've head for nigh on a few years or so (hah!), mainly music of a variety of forms and permutations, especially the kind that strikes various pleasure centers in my brain to give a rather euphoric state of existence if I do say so myself. That's undoubtedly why I've not only done this blog but put out a fanzine (see below for more info) where my rabid affection for such things as neo-Velvet Underground dronings and various guttural sounds of the mid/latter portion of the previous century could be spurted out w/o me being reduced to a total pent up and frustrated fan holed up in my own crusty boudoir. I wasn't always a hermit y'know, and maybe one day soon I'll crawl out from under my shell and rejoin whatever there is left of the human race. That is, whatever hasn't devolved into some sorta sicko commercialized slush passing for emotion and virtue and in reality is nothing but barbarism with a smiling face. AS FOR TODAY, NO WAY CHARLIE!!!
Joseph Allred-O MEADOWLARK LP (Feeding Tube Records)
Allred might not be one in the many successors to the great John Fahey/Robbie Basho acoustic music to screw to in the dorm sweepstakes, but he does pretty fine with his steel-stringed guitar and banjo pluckings which transcend the usual do-re-mi into near sonic combustion. Like The Masters, Allred can transport you into various musical realms you probably forgot all about with his definitely avant garde take on the solo guitar, but this ain't in the Derek Bailey fashion that's for sure! Only 300 made so if you think you're gonna find this at some flea market well---wait till I croak and my "heirs" who don't know what the value of my collection is worth dump the whole kitten kaboodle at a really cheap price! Eh, it's gonna be either that or the landfill...
PLANTS OF THE BIBLE CD (Feeding Tube Records)
Didja know that female troubles were first mentioned in the Old Testament? Really, like you never heard of the burning bush??? All kidding aside, this lez duo make a rather funeral parlor pallored music with their one-line singing and rather downer casio music that at times can even make Nico look as if she was up and alive dancin' the tarantella...interesting in parts yet I gotta say that sometimes I felt like doin' my own li'l Karen Quinlan impression given the somber nature of these tracks. Quite pleasant otherwise and those of you who have been in on that whole "outsider music" game for nigh on thirtysome years might just understand it way more than I do (maybe I should put some more oomph into my musical third ear 'r at least clean out the wax!).
Art of Music-HALLO AND FAREWELL CD-r burn (originally on Buttercup Records, Sweden)
Sounds like a home-produced (and recorded, and packaged for that matter) effort from the very early seventies if not before. Art of Music were from Sweden which only goes to show that the urge to record your own efforts was brimming over there as well as here. The simple recording and flash-less playing coupled with a pressing that's only sub-ceded by various BYG releases still can't belie the fact that Art of Music were still a fairly enjoyable act to give a listen to. Material ranges from good timey neo-Sopwith San Fran to a not so good as Big Brother but so what version of "Summertime" as well as an extremely slowed down "Tired of Waiting" that's not as bad as you might imagine. If they have flea markets in Sweden you might find HALLO AND FAREWELL in a stack of albums for sale.
Donkey No No-PRETTY CONFUSING cassette (Feeding Tube Records)
Yeah, I know that the drone-on violin might have you thinking you tuned into JOHN'S OTHER MARSHA, but these Donkeys really are doin' something really crazy while staying within the realm of "proper" experimental music. It's like some sorta jam between one of the new post-Fahey/Basho strumsters (see Allred review above) and either Billy Bang or Leroy Jenkins on violin with percussion splatters added throughout (use your favorite downtown player of the eighties to complete the mess brewin' in your mind). If ya really wanna know, this kinda comes off like the soundtrack to some 1940's vintage avant garde movie that Marie Mencken probably got her fingers into somehow. Believe-you-me, you'll be havin' more'n a few interesting scenes pop into your brain when this tape (about a whole hour long!) processes its engrossing sound through your personal entertainment system.
The Who-OUT IN THE STREETS 7-inch EP CD-r burn (originally on Decca, France)
Ya already heard 'em all, but if this li'l EP was snuggled in your collection boy would you be talkin' about it from here to eternity and back! Nice sleeve and nice selection for people who go for the European extended plays, and if you got this 'un in its original form boy are you lucky! One thing I gotta admit---when I was a kid I thought "A Legal Matter" was about abortion, which really goes to show you just how abstract a kid's thinking could go when not honed in the right direction, 'r sumpthin' like that.
The Von Bondies-LACK OF COMMUNICATION CD-r burn (originally on Sympathy For The Record Industry)
Gotta say that I never gave these guys (and some gals I hear) in the Von Bondies a lissen to before. But hey, this debut platter of theirs really is a hot and bothersome piece of hard blooze rock that transcends a whole load of genres to produce what can truly be called rock & roll without any real non-rock infections, ifyaknowaddamean! Haven't heard much slams you to the back of the brain kinda blues-y rock like this in awhile, at least since the dusk of the blue wave of the late-seventies or so. Worthy of the original Stiff Records credo...naw, it's gnarlier than that, or perhaps what Skydog woulda taken great pains to bring to all our attention back when the gettin' (like this stuff) was good. Yeah, maybe it still is OK to be alive.
Various Artists-LEON'S CHICKENMASH EXPLOSION CD-r burn (Bill Shute)
These Bill burns are usually good enough to lift me outta the doldrums otherwise known as modern day living, this one being no exception. Sure the Dennis Weaver novelty track will make you wish that maybe Chester woulda caught some interesting disease upstairs at the Longhorn, but the radio ads are good enough to remind you of that music that was blaring across the neighborhood back when you were a kid espying the gals sumbathing and the rest ain't nothin' to sneeze at either! I actually enjoyed the Pointed Sticks track a whole lot more'n I thought I would while is that 999 really the same English group of late-seventies New Wave fame? Always thought they didn't have any gals inna group an' that definitely is a gal of the bitch mode singin' 'em songs!
The country-tinged version of "Deep Purple" also got me jumping up and down as did the Ayler's Angels track which shows that sometimes these post-seventies homages to the one called Albert can evoke his proper spirit. And to think that it all ends with a couple of Ultravox songs that we've heard for ages but 'eh, once more won't hurt.
My big obsession these days just happen to be the same one I've head for nigh on a few years or so (hah!), mainly music of a variety of forms and permutations, especially the kind that strikes various pleasure centers in my brain to give a rather euphoric state of existence if I do say so myself. That's undoubtedly why I've not only done this blog but put out a fanzine (see below for more info) where my rabid affection for such things as neo-Velvet Underground dronings and various guttural sounds of the mid/latter portion of the previous century could be spurted out w/o me being reduced to a total pent up and frustrated fan holed up in my own crusty boudoir. I wasn't always a hermit y'know, and maybe one day soon I'll crawl out from under my shell and rejoin whatever there is left of the human race. That is, whatever hasn't devolved into some sorta sicko commercialized slush passing for emotion and virtue and in reality is nothing but barbarism with a smiling face. AS FOR TODAY, NO WAY CHARLIE!!!
***EXTREMELY IMPORTANT RIP-OFF ALERT!: remember last week when I mentioned that the GETTIT channel was showing a whole lotta old programming that would pretty much be right up the alley of many of you FUNTIME TEE-VEE viewers---old series like THE LUCY SHOW, PETTICOAT JUNCTION and THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES that true blue boob tubers cold watch over and over again without ever being bored silly or cringin' at the newest controversial cause to worm its way into what used to pass for funny??? Well, if you do good luck, sorta, for the six-episode blocks that have been popping up on GETTIT are just that...the SAME SIX EPISODES of whatever series there is in question being run sporadically throughout the week with no change whatsoever!!! Now I like THE LUCY SHOW a whole lot, even more than I like I LOVE LUCY, but I'd like a li'l variety in my sit down and do nothing but watch the boob tube day, and something like this really does reek of the ol' get away with shillin' the rubes as much as you can deal which has been goin' on since time itself began! I know that these particular episodes are probably PD by now and it ain't like GETTIT is gonna dish out for the entire series, but sheesh maybe there are more freebee series out there they can run if they want to 'cast something in between those Cindy Crawford and shark vacuum infomercials! Variety is the spice of somethingorother...
***EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES!: just a few things I've been spinnin' while the spinnin' was good...Grateful Dead-MASON'S CHILDREN (actually a hot enough boot of very early Warlocks tracks and a few WORKINGMAN'S era things that doesn't reek the whole patchouli hype that followed these guys around), Tim Buckley-STARSAILOR (never has commercial suicide been so sweet!), Amon Duul-PARADIESWARTS DUUL (I'd call it metaphysical punk rock, if only I knew what metaphysical means), Alan Sondheim/Ritual All 770-THE SONGS (a slightly different groove than the ESP albums but genre/mind twisting in its own strange way), Be Bop Deluxe-AXE VICTIM (yeah Bowie shoulda sued, though he woulda been pretty busy not only suing but being sued as well!) and maybe a few more.
***Big heapin' hunkerin' thanks to Bill, Paul and Feeding Tube for the gift of music as they used to say on album cover stickers.
Allred might not be one in the many successors to the great John Fahey/Robbie Basho acoustic music to screw to in the dorm sweepstakes, but he does pretty fine with his steel-stringed guitar and banjo pluckings which transcend the usual do-re-mi into near sonic combustion. Like The Masters, Allred can transport you into various musical realms you probably forgot all about with his definitely avant garde take on the solo guitar, but this ain't in the Derek Bailey fashion that's for sure! Only 300 made so if you think you're gonna find this at some flea market well---wait till I croak and my "heirs" who don't know what the value of my collection is worth dump the whole kitten kaboodle at a really cheap price! Eh, it's gonna be either that or the landfill...
***
Didja know that female troubles were first mentioned in the Old Testament? Really, like you never heard of the burning bush??? All kidding aside, this lez duo make a rather funeral parlor pallored music with their one-line singing and rather downer casio music that at times can even make Nico look as if she was up and alive dancin' the tarantella...interesting in parts yet I gotta say that sometimes I felt like doin' my own li'l Karen Quinlan impression given the somber nature of these tracks. Quite pleasant otherwise and those of you who have been in on that whole "outsider music" game for nigh on thirtysome years might just understand it way more than I do (maybe I should put some more oomph into my musical third ear 'r at least clean out the wax!).
***
Sounds like a home-produced (and recorded, and packaged for that matter) effort from the very early seventies if not before. Art of Music were from Sweden which only goes to show that the urge to record your own efforts was brimming over there as well as here. The simple recording and flash-less playing coupled with a pressing that's only sub-ceded by various BYG releases still can't belie the fact that Art of Music were still a fairly enjoyable act to give a listen to. Material ranges from good timey neo-Sopwith San Fran to a not so good as Big Brother but so what version of "Summertime" as well as an extremely slowed down "Tired of Waiting" that's not as bad as you might imagine. If they have flea markets in Sweden you might find HALLO AND FAREWELL in a stack of albums for sale.
***
Yeah, I know that the drone-on violin might have you thinking you tuned into JOHN'S OTHER MARSHA, but these Donkeys really are doin' something really crazy while staying within the realm of "proper" experimental music. It's like some sorta jam between one of the new post-Fahey/Basho strumsters (see Allred review above) and either Billy Bang or Leroy Jenkins on violin with percussion splatters added throughout (use your favorite downtown player of the eighties to complete the mess brewin' in your mind). If ya really wanna know, this kinda comes off like the soundtrack to some 1940's vintage avant garde movie that Marie Mencken probably got her fingers into somehow. Believe-you-me, you'll be havin' more'n a few interesting scenes pop into your brain when this tape (about a whole hour long!) processes its engrossing sound through your personal entertainment system.
***
Ya already heard 'em all, but if this li'l EP was snuggled in your collection boy would you be talkin' about it from here to eternity and back! Nice sleeve and nice selection for people who go for the European extended plays, and if you got this 'un in its original form boy are you lucky! One thing I gotta admit---when I was a kid I thought "A Legal Matter" was about abortion, which really goes to show you just how abstract a kid's thinking could go when not honed in the right direction, 'r sumpthin' like that.
***
Gotta say that I never gave these guys (and some gals I hear) in the Von Bondies a lissen to before. But hey, this debut platter of theirs really is a hot and bothersome piece of hard blooze rock that transcends a whole load of genres to produce what can truly be called rock & roll without any real non-rock infections, ifyaknowaddamean! Haven't heard much slams you to the back of the brain kinda blues-y rock like this in awhile, at least since the dusk of the blue wave of the late-seventies or so. Worthy of the original Stiff Records credo...naw, it's gnarlier than that, or perhaps what Skydog woulda taken great pains to bring to all our attention back when the gettin' (like this stuff) was good. Yeah, maybe it still is OK to be alive.
***
These Bill burns are usually good enough to lift me outta the doldrums otherwise known as modern day living, this one being no exception. Sure the Dennis Weaver novelty track will make you wish that maybe Chester woulda caught some interesting disease upstairs at the Longhorn, but the radio ads are good enough to remind you of that music that was blaring across the neighborhood back when you were a kid espying the gals sumbathing and the rest ain't nothin' to sneeze at either! I actually enjoyed the Pointed Sticks track a whole lot more'n I thought I would while is that 999 really the same English group of late-seventies New Wave fame? Always thought they didn't have any gals inna group an' that definitely is a gal of the bitch mode singin' 'em songs!
The country-tinged version of "Deep Purple" also got me jumping up and down as did the Ayler's Angels track which shows that sometimes these post-seventies homages to the one called Albert can evoke his proper spirit. And to think that it all ends with a couple of Ultravox songs that we've heard for ages but 'eh, once more won't hurt.
***Just my usual reminds that I have tons of back issues of BLACK TO COMM for sale and I get the idea that you'd wanna get hold of these because like hey, if you tuned into this blog you must be crazier than I am! Write now for wholesale rates, or just pick 'em up one by one if you're not goin' into the restocking of ancient fanzines biz like I sure wish a whole lotta people on this planet would.
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