BLOG TO COMM

Brace yourselves, for here I go taking the time and energy to spout off about my current obsessions in the half-baked hope that someone out there will see this and want to connect with me for whatever reasons they may conjure up in their pea-sized brains. But then again probably not because frankly I could care less about any of you anymore but back to the subject --- ever since I can remember I've been a person who has been a slave to the various fancies, passions and/or obsessions that have passed my psyche, enough to the point where I would bore telephone callers with whatever subject I was deeply engrossed in at the time of the unfortunate ring up. It could have been anything from old television programs to long-forgotten three-wheeled automobiles and now-obscure actors who may have put in an appearance or two at the legendary Educational Films Exchange. Although you might not think that much of it and perhaps even think less about me for it but as far as this particular fanabla was concerned well, these current interests were the blood 'n guts of my otherwise feh-like existence!

This blog continues on with the tradition so-to-speak, and let's just say that if you're the kind of person who just ain't savvy to my downright love for the old, obscure and somewhat SACRED sorta sights and sounds that earwig their way through my soul there might be a much better blog suited to your personal tastes like SEXUAL RESPONSE OF THE ADOLESCENT IBEX or some other keen-o title I could swipe out of any sixty-five-year-old issue of MAD. Otherwise just settle down and get used to it --- it's my life and I can do whatever I want to you in it and if you so dare you can always hang up as many a bored recipient has.

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You probably have it already, but if you don't I'm sure there are plenty of issues of FAUX WOOD PANELING #3 available for you to give an eyeballing to (see link on the left and get in touch!). Of course its great, sorta like one of those "personal" genzines of the sixties/seventies with a stream of somethingorother flow and a massive jump from one thing to another like not just from A to B to C but like from A to Q and maybe a sidestep to G and then maybe back to B and C before hitting Z (guess where I lifted that concept from and I'll send you absolutely nothing!). Subjects to be found in this issue --- Bon Scott (s'posedly a Joe Carducci effort), Damo Suzuki, polka, book reviews (including one that was inspired by a post found on this very blog!) and quite a bit on anime ---- well, at least it ain't hentai!

Sad to say tho that I haven't played the FAUX WOOD PANELING ROCKS CD-r that came with this ish yet. It's a doozy of a spinner too with a variety of songs both heard and not by me, something which I get the idea would make for splendid sunny afternoon driving backdrop. Next time I have a splendid sunny afternoon where I'm goin' somewhere this will be on the deck.

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This modern day animation had me thinkin' for a minute (OK a whole hour) that it was actually some real deal lost video! Just think how lifelike this is gonna look ten years from now when technology (hopefully) gets into overdrive!

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Words can't really express the gratitude that I have for people like Paul McGarry and Robert Forward for sending me these burns of new and not-so recordings that appear in most every one of my "normal" ifyaknowaddamean posts. Considering the hefty cost of purchasing such items especially for a cheapskate such as I these recordings really do take a strain off the ol' pocketbook and helps me divert my dinero to other perhaps not-so-crucial concerns such as taxes, medicine and various other thingies that I personally could do without (blackmail). Bought one or maybe even more (we'll see) items that are up for the ol' scrutiny but let's just say that if it weren't for these fine friends these posts would be just about as long as a Cambodian lifespan.

Special thanx to Forward who keeps sending these Ornette Coleman "boot" burns, an entire turdload at that which is taking me forever to go through. Only able to spin a short portion of these given my rather fractured free time, so I get the feeling that I'll be listening to the final minutes of these during my final minutes.

Alice Cooper-KILLER, EXPANDED VERSION 2-CD set (Warners/Rhino Records)

Sheesh, these bigtime labels really know how to getcha to dig deep into yer pockets for things ya had for eons awlready! However when it come to memeME I better have a GOOD reason to spend my precious pennies for such items that I would otherwise ignore, and with this double duty Alice Cooper spinner I sure got the excuse that I was lookin' for!

Platter #1's the same KILLER we've (presumably) have heard for ages, but although it purports to be a better mix I can't tell the diff. Of course listening on a cheap portable player doesn't always bring out them nuances that hi fi nuts are on the lookout for but eh, at least this new edition's a pretty good enough excuse to listen to it again.

Disque #2's got a Cooper set from the '72 Mar y Sol fest that sounds as if it coulda been a fair contender for an actual live spinner, or at least the bootleg of the year had somebody had the wherewithal to smuggle this 'un out. Still, these live trax don't quite match the originals and the show doesn't kick in at least until the "Dead Babies"/"Killer" climax but wha' th' hey. The early, slowed down (and instrumental) version of "School's Out"'s something that even the casual Cooper follower would splurge the good twennysome-plus bucks this'll cost'cha for.

The big surprise of the album's the ne'er before heard outtakes, with a radically rearranged "You Drive Me Nervous", a horn-less "Under My Wheels" and a "Dead Babies" that ain't that much of a switch from the more famous version, but they stuck in on here anyway and you get extra music so quit complainin'!

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The Electric Eels-SPIN AGE BLASTERS CD-r burn (originally on Scat Records)

It's kinda/sorta surprising that McGarry sent me this 'round the same time I got the Alice thingie directly above. I always thought that Alice's "Yeah Yeah Yeah" sounded rather Eels-ish and well, after re-listening to that 'un it's more'n obvious where the Eels got a whole lotta their inspiration from! Talk about good timing on your part Paul!

I believe most of you've already heard these numbers but even if you have you'll still want this. SQ's been upgraded a bit --- about as good as a cheap studio as if that matters to you non-audiophile nuts out there. Nice cover too and eh, maybe there are some new and insightful liner notes that came with this one making a flesh and blood purchase worth my while. Now when's Mr. Griffin gonna release them Summer '76 "Eclectic Eels" rehearsals with Tim Wright on bass guitar 'n even some Adele Bertei???

Might be worth the pennies you're scrimping and saving with in these inflation-laden days because hey, even if you've been in on the legend for decades the Electric Eels are more important than food!

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The Dum Dum Boys-NOTHING MEANS NOTHING CD-r burn (originally on Closer Records, France?)

I guess these ain't the New Zealand Dum Dum Boys but a late-eighties French variant who I "might have" heard a long time back. These Dum Dum's are not bad what with their eighties-era take on past punk accomplishment, but they're somewhat pale when compared to the Detroit-inspired blare that was so potent that the NZ band of the same name hadda skedaddle to Australia for its own good. Well, they do play some pretty competent and straight ahead rock 'n roll that reminds me of the (French) Dogs and other local yokels who kept on doin' it high energy in a world that couldn't care less. If you were the kind of person who purchased such European publications as HARTBEAT or RIPPLE you'll definitely go for this 'un.

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The Wipers-IS THIS REAL? CD-r burn (originally on Park Avenue Records, then Sub Pop much later on)

(WARNING: a whole load of personalist hatethrash and tearing open of old wounds appears in the following, some of it which might be just too boring and unnecessary to your very existence to withstand! But then again given how I can sus most of you readers out you just might go for it if only out of a morbid curiosity. As many of you know I am a bitter person and I pretty much explain why I happen to be so in the following soul-bear. It might totally turn you off not only to this blog but myself given how I am prone to feel sorry for myself [well, somebody has to!] so let's just say it ain't like I didn't tell ya.

Then again, if I totally delete this review like I tend to do most if not all of my hatescreeds directed at the enemies of myself and this blog well, you don't have to worry about making your way through all this steam-letting. But I personally think it's some of my best writing as of late so I will do my durndest to keep it all intact and, for that matter, unexpurgated. Because frankly, at this stage of my life, I don't give a dingdong how petty and immature I come off!)

Haven't listened to very much Wipers o'er these past thirtysome years. That's because, when you get way deep down into it, I really am whatcha'd call a feeling, sensitive, cry over a broken flower sort of person this world sure could use a whole lot more of. 

Y'see, back 'round '87 way a certain "rock critic" actually used a Wipers review to poke some pretty damning fun at me, and although I usually brushed such things off I couldn't this time since this crit had treated me rather nice just a short time earlier and the 180 sure came off like a hefty gut punch. It did hurt, in the wallet that is since I was one who REALLY hadda scrimp and save to put a mag out on an even less than shoestring budget and I couldn't afford a loss in readership and besides like, this was all happening at a time in my life that wasn't exactly the tippy toppest and in fact was pretty depressing for reasons I won't go into here. And here comes some rich Boston to New York record label "mogul" trying to make underground brownie points by doin' the ol' build up/tear down game with me costing me perhaps half if not more of my potential readership! (I tried making nicey nice with the guy but he [a real snob as I could tell from merely talking to him purposefully mis-reading my reviews because he deep down really is a jerk deserving of death] wouldn't have any part of it perhaps because, once you get down to it, he definitely is of a higher realm and looks down upon lower forms of life such as myself.) Really does hit you hard, in the ol' pocketbook ifyaknowaddamean...

Well, until I either get a whole load of much needed revenge (justice just don't cut it no mo') or have a good laugh at this certain "person"'s inevitable demise I'll try to get them decades old feelings outta the way and enjoy this particular piece of what I'd call an important watermark in rock 'n roll history (no hyperbole about that!). IS THIS REAL is one platter that screeches out the high energy rock 'n roll while spewing out a lotta the same punk unto post-punk (yech!) neo-cliches making them WORK for once. Unlike the Northwest grunge this music had ultimately led to the Wipers mix a whole load of taste in (and leave the stoner outta) their swivel making for a music you can enjoy especially because (at least on the surface) it appears that the musicians DON'T want to wallow in the same pigsty of precocious self-consciousness that many of the groups they've influenced seemed to crave.

Some of them typical eighties hard-thud bass/neo-badass guitar moves can be discerned making IS THIS REAL? a heavy metal monster as much as it is a punk monument. Thanks to the more'n just "obvious" talents of Wipers leader Greg Sage and band a whole load of what could have been instant tossout comes off rather sleek and just what the doctor ordered with regards to music in "that raw state of becoming" as Wayne McGuire once so succinctly put it. Unfettered forcefulness with control which gives that overused "power trio" term the proper rectal kick it needed for years on end. 

The reish comes with some additional goodies that thankfully were not left on the cutting room floor as well as the ALIEN BOY EP which I might have reviewed on this blog way back when but am too lazy to find out for sure. It all stirs up the rock spirit in me (dunno about you) and the plain fact that this platter is jarring enough to remind me of various eighties accomplishment is strong enough to make me wanna dig up my copy of the TRAP SAMPLER with the Wipers sharing some precious vinyl space with locals such as Pell Mell, Drum Bunny and Napalm Beach. Shee-yit, my review of that 'un's what started the whole disgusting mess which turned me off the Wipers for a good many years --- let's hope it don't make me even MORE hate-filled than I already am! 

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New Math-DIE TRYING OR OTHER HOT SOUNDS CD-r burn (originally on Propeller Sound Recordings, 2023)

Not being one iota familiar with this group (or if I had been I totally excised 'em from my memory) I approached this one thinking it was gonna be one a those early-eighties styled "gnu wave" cute and precocious efforts that got all the attention at the expense of the more gnarly sounds. For once in my life I'm (more or less) wrong, because I'll admit that this Rochester NY group did a fairly good job with their late-seventies pop-punk pounce that someone like myself never really got "into" but eh, it's there for ya! New Math will appeal to the more flash dress shades 'n badges types that used to proliferate the local hipster cool cat scene a good forty-plus years back and I found it somewhat entertaining myself. Just don't ask me to listen to it again.  

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Charles Gayle-UNTO I AM CD (Les Disques VICTO, Canada)

Here's the legendary Gayle solo session recorded in Montreal that sorta, uh, shook up a few of the recent fannage that gathered 'round the late multi-instrumentalist a good thirty or so years back. And not necessarily from the music itself which is shattering enough even for those of you born and bred of the AACM/BAG system of sound deconstruction.

It is an extreme affair to say the least what with Gayle's solo sax and bass clarinet coming off highly reminiscent of those Roscoe Mitchell efforts that ended up on a whole slew of small labels throughout the seventies. More amazing's when Gayle plays drums AND sax simultaneously actually sounding like two separate entities a la INTERSTELLAR SPACE or DUO EXCHANGE ifyoucanbelieveit! An incredible achievement that really knocks one for that oft-used "loop" term, making me wonder if anyone else had come up with the same idea earlier (of course any help'd be appreciated although I double any of you would bother responding). 

Of course the piano track where Gayle gets into his street preacher mode and offends a good portion of his uppercrust fans is the real deal reason to get this, not only because of the free splat piano playing (as far as I know not even Cecil Taylor had gone this far!) but for the impassioned sermonizing regarding all of those hot button morality-based subjects that are bound to "offend". Sheesh, after all of the OFFENDING these precious petunia types have been shoving down decent peoples' throats for what seems like ages don'tcha think that said people should be on the RECEIVING end for once in their sick and shallow lives? I sure do, even though these flowering types think they're too anointed and above us all to have any sort of contrary opine reach their so-tender ears!

A real worthy to have and to hold. Perhaps the pick of the week/month/whatever.

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Listen, I can set up some Paypal account or a GoFundMe in order to get some much needed money flowin' my way, but all I ask of you is to buy some back issues of BLACK TO COMM not only for me to get some of the moolah I spent on them back but to get some more moving around space here at the old abode. Whaddaya wan' me t'do anyway, make up some story about my basement getting flooded in order to squeeze the compassion outta you like some soaking rag???