BLOG TO COMM

So many records and so little money! Well not really as far as the moolah goes, but I'm trying to save at least a sliver of my bank account for my ever-approaching old age even if by that time the only thing I will be able to afford will be banged up cans of beans found in the dumpster behind Dollar General. But man there are some items being plunked onto the "market" that I'd sure like holding in my once come-stained mitts but the price tag usually has me shudderin' in sticker shock. For example, take the recent re-re-REPACKAGING of the Hawkwind SPACE RITUAL extravaganza (this time as a ten-disc set complete with a blu ray which means nada to me and a thick enough book to peruse through it all) which is sure tempting but is going for upwards of three-hundred-something dollars!!! Thankfully there are a few items that are just within the realm of my pocketbook, that is if I don't go hog wild and "pour my money down a rat hole" as I was told while growing up and wanting a quarter for some candy. 

THE BAD NEWS: when I tally up the cost of even all of the less pocketbook-pounding items I would sure love to have and to hold the total can be quite staggering, but thankfully there's always ramen to help out on one's entertainment budget. Surprisingly enough considering my financial straits I managed to get ONE hot off the press item that I'll gladly blab about this go 'round, but still those care packages I get from Paul McGarry and Robert Forward sure do help out a whole load ('n not that kinda "load" you stupid perv you!).

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Other things that have been accomplished since we last met --- well, not that much though I have been getting in my share of thrills doing things that only a true rockist would dare to do here so late in the rock died in 1968 but its malady lingers on game. Things like rock 'n roll-related reading when I have the time including quite a few old classic-era fanzines, the ones which were reporting on a rock 'n roll re-birth (or maybe even after-birth) that was blossoming before many a wide eye during the mid-seventies. Also eyeballed recently was the book that was enclosed with the Peter Laughner 5-LP set which collects a good portion of the man's --- er --- "rock criticism" (yech!). Them Laughner records haven't touched needle since I first spun 'em way back when, but the book has been opened a few times and reading his opines lifted outta ancient issues of CREEM and various small Cleveland papers really is inspirational even when he's writing about something most of us care nothing about. Like with all of our favorite seventies scribes, Laughner's prose is as musical as the sounds he was describing, even invigorating to the point where his commentaries re. everything from Lou Reed to even Rory Gallagher sure makes me wish I was born five-ten years earlier and aware of the music being made (it wasn't like essentials such as Iggy Pop and Beefheart were exactly prevailing on the radio dial) and that I had the money to afford it all and that I possessed a state-of-the-art stereo system and had parents who weren't so uptight about my personal tastes in sound/literature and...do I need to go on???

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Another thing that's been occupying my dwindling free hours has been goofing around on the internet with Artificial Intelligence, which I somehow tend to feel could be just as hazardous to one's state of nervous system as fooling around with sub-atomic particles. Threw a few interesting ideas into the ol' AI generator and came up with (at times since some of my suggestions were seemingly impossible to translate into pictures!) a few interesting things that I sure get a hoot outta! F'rexample take these following illustrations that came up when I, off the top of my rather shiny dome, pecked out "Iggy and the Stooges at Max's Kansas City" and got the following strange wonders! This Brave New World is sure better'n anything Huxley coulda come up with!:

Here're some more AI "Stooges" pics I conjured up. They don't look like 'em but I get the feeling these guys from Dimension X coulda been the ultimate heavy metal band (in the best CREEM  magazine sense) had they actually existed! And I really gotta give credit to anyone who could play those Bizarro-world electric guitars! Oh how I wanna give 'em a good listenin' to!

And this is Lou Reed and John Cale performing on the street --- in 1965!

I'm not even going to tell you what group this is supposed to be!

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Given the time of the year I thought this cartoon just might remind you of the days when Halloween wasn't just a holiday by kids for kids but a time when them inhibitions regarding respect of property and general goody goodiness went flying out the soaped up window. Sheesh, it looks like the axis powers were right after all, at least regarding us kids runnin' WILD at least once a year! Light a cat doo-doo bag on yer teacher's front porch and give Adolf a helping hand...

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THINGS LISTENED TO IN THE INTERIM that I'm listing not only to pad out this post but to look "cool" even though my selections are so obvious that they really will convince many that I'm just a phonus balonus who's trying too hard flopping about in the process. But really, my only true regret is that I haven't had that much time to connect with my vinyl --- maybe next list:

Elliot Murphy-LOST GENERATION LP (RCA Records)

Frank Lowe-DOCTOR TOO MUCH CD-r burn (originally on Karma Records)

Charles Gayle-TIME ZONES CD (Tompkins Square Records)

CHARLES MINGUS AND FRIENDS IN CONCERT 2-CD set (Columbia Records)

David Bowie-CHANGES CD (Lobster Records bootleg, Italy)

David Bowie-CLEVELAND MUSIC HALL CD (Gold Standard Records bootleg --- same tour and set as above and not sounding as hotcha for that matter, but think of all of the Cle underground luminaries in the audience!)

Guru Guru-ESSEN 1970 CD (Garden of Earthly Delights Records, Germany)

Anthony Braxton-ALTO SAXOPHONE IMPROVISATIONS 1979 2-LP set (Arista Records)

Zusaan Kali Fasteau-Noah Howard-Bobby Few Trio-EXPATRIATE KIN CD (Creative Improvised Music Projects Records)

International Harvester-SOV GOTT ROSE-MARIE CD (Silence Records)

Moebius-Plank-Neumeier-ZERO SET CD (Sky/Gyroscope Records)

Loose Gravel-THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES CD (Bucketfull of Brains Records, England)

David Wertman-KARA SUITE CD-r burn (originally on Mustevic Sound Inc. Records --- an official reissue should be out by now)

Sonny Boy Williamson-KING BISCUIT TIME CD (Arhoolie Records)

The Revolutionary Ensemble-VIETNAM 1 & 2 CD (ESP Disk/ZYX Music Records)

MUSIK VON HARMONIA CD (Brain Records, Germany)

Harmonia-LIVE 1974 CD (Water Records) 

John Cage-SONATAS AND INTERLUDES, SUSAN SERCEK, PIANO (Centaur Records)

Sirone Bang Ensemble-CONFIGURATION CD (Silkheart Records, Sweden)

Country Joe and the Fish-THE RAG BABY EPs box set (Akarma Records)

The Velvet Frogs-tracks off THE STORY OF OAK RECORDS and PSYCHEDELIC SCHMIELS 4 CDs (Wooden Hill Records, England)

THE FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THROBBING GRISTLE CD (Thirsty Ear Records)

Various Artists-MESSTHETICS GREATEST HISS (Vol. 1) (Hyped to Death Records)

Joseph Jarman/Anthony Braxton-TOGETHER ALONE CD (Delmark Records)

Muhal Richard Abrams-LEVELS AND DEGREES OF LIGHT CD (Delmark Records)

Cluster-SOWIESOSO CD (Sky Records, Germany)

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Here are the sounds that get lined up against the brick wall this week, and as usual thanks be to Bob Forward and Paul McGarry for their contributions to the discord. A nice slab of booty here too if I must say and who knows, some of 'em might actually fit in with the breadth and scope of the blog (and before that the crudzine)!

The Final Solution-THE FILLMORE WEST July 7, 1966 LP (Take It Acid Is Records)

If it weren't for Alec Palao and Jud Cost's essential and much-missed fanzine CREAM PUFF WAR I doubt I would have ever heard of the Final Solution, and for that I should be forever grateful to the two. These  guys were part and parcel of the San Francisco scene back when it was still PUNK ROCK (in the purest sense possible), a scene which even I will admit was something that was downright awe-inspiring at least until the drugs and pretension set in. The Final Solution's raga-folk sounds, along with such luminaries as the Great Society and some ne'er do wells calling themselves the Warlocks, were definitely the highlight of a long strange trip that sure went off on a wilder tangent than I'm sure many people even in San Francisco coulda conjured up in their then comparatively-unaddled minds.

Great sound, lousy audience (well, all three seemed appreciative!). Musically the Solution were a cross between the Society and Beau Brummels with some Vejtables/Mojo Men influx still sounding as NUGGETS as we'd hope any group outta 1966 woulda. Long Indian-influenced tracks and a Pigpen-ish "Turn On Your Lovelight" romp unveil before your very ears, and just wait until you hear the strange "America the Beautiful" and "2120 South Michigan Avenue" mishmosh that closes out the entire shebang!

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Alison Cotton-ONLY DARKNESS NOW CD-r burn (Bloxham Tapes, England)

First utterance had me thinking MARBLE INDEX what with the presence of Cotton's harmonium and viola, and then the shifting drones conjured LaMonte Young. Only this is dolorous and reminds me of what some very early tones of pagan praise might have sounded like. Actually if you combine all three this makes pretty darn sense. Femme oohs mate with that heavenly blare that makes me think that maybe these are MARBLE INDEX outtakes ('r at least backing tracks) after all!

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PROBLEM - HATE/GREY CD (Easy Listening Records)

I approach every eighties (and beyond) vintage experimental rock effort done by art majors who can't find jobs with more than just a small spec of suspicion. You would too given some of the musical atrocities of the past few decades. And frankly I did the same with these guys (and gal) who were doing the ol' art project thing in the culturally pumping city of Port Huron Michigan. Gawrsh how I thought this bunch (pretty much same group under different monikers) was gonna scrape the bottom gobbling up alla the worst aspects of art wave cheap electronics/drum machine dorm room precociousness but guess what? They pull it off just as snatly as the same bands who were doing the same things in larger cities and maybe gettring away with it as well!

If you have an imagination, try conjuring up a somewhat halfway there cross between Tuxedomoon, Sick Dick and the Volkswagens and Throbbing Gristle. Now imagine someing just a tad angrier'n a good hunk of the aural school glue that many a precocious petunia type was conjuring up out there in the middle hunk of the United State during the dankness of the eighties. 'n fact this is rather hard and intense with growling vocals mixed with cyborg electronic grave new world visions that I kinda get the impression coulda only been created by drug-hardened coasters who lived and died by their wits and they probably didn't smell too good either. A surprise outta that oft-visited place called nowhere.  

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The Pagans-THE PINK ALBUM --- PLUS! CD-r burn (originally on Crypt Records)

Dunno if McGarry sent this to me so's I can eke a review outta it or just to bug me for skipping this 'un over as well as their debut 45 "Six and Change" when I had ample opportunity to buy both. Whatever the reason here's a burn which re-introduces me as to just why these Cleveland rock 'n rollers seemed like the only hope for some high energy jamz even if they were stuck smak dab in the center of Pantsiosville.

Being the doofus I am and shall remain, I kinda forgotten just how much of a rich rock history this group had. They weren't just a buncha fanablas who read about punk rock and decided to do some bandwagon jumping on, and lotsa past rock 'n roll highlights can be discerned from lo fi rockabilly to early-sixties teen combo crankout to mid-sixties punk rock (t'was fitting that Crypt Records handled this reish!), all done in that total p-rock abandon that separated the Pagans and their likes from a whole slew of hippies in disguise who were creeping in on the real deal. Y'know, the ones who were turning the entire mulch of "punk" into a touchy-feely movement that was so socio-politically stilted it made the early-seventies BLESS THE BEASTS AND CHILDREN/BILLY JACK crowd look stoic in comparison!

Additional tracks help out from the CLEVELAND CONFIDENTIAL EP take on the tune of the same name (aka "Real World") to live versions of the Drome tracks that sure make me wish that label woulda put out them Bernie and the Invisibles and Harlan and the Whips recs that were slated for release before the entire shebang capsized. Yeah, this style of rock 'n roll sure woulda seemed outta place given how that decade (and beyond) was devoted to glitz over energy, but for true blues like ourselves it sure came off even fresher than that hackneyed "breath of fresh air" everybody seems to be talking about.

Closing the sesh's two perhaps not-so-surprising choices of covers, the first one being a decent enough take on Alice's "Eighteen" and the other a twisto changeo version of "Final Solution" that I don't think will upset fans of the original although I might be wrong.

For an old turd like myself it sure hurts in the ol' compost heap I call a memory that this music is, for all intent purposes, ancient. Still, its fresher'n even the freshest tampon the likes of any of 'em devil worshipping pop stars who are up and about these days would dare shove into their over-traveled holes, and at this moment in time all I gotta say is that's all that matters, and NOTHIN' MORE!!!!!

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Albert Ayler-REVELATIONS (THE COMPLETE ORTF 1970 FONDATIONS MAEGHT RECORDINGS) 4-CD-r set (originally on Elemental Records)

If you weren't bright enough to buy these back when they were packaged in awful generic sleeves and goin' for budget prices, here's a chance to redeem yourself even if it might cost you an arm and some other appendage you might wanna keep. Believe it or not but these are the complete Ayler Foundation gigs in one package, and if I had the real deal 'stead of a burn I'd gander that there would also be a booklet with rare pics and all sorta reminiscences t'boot!

What else could be said to add to everything anyone has ALREADY said 'bout these shows which were Ayler's last stand a few months before his plop into the East River. As far as being a swansong it's great to know that Ayler went out on such a keen note --- contrary to the Wikipedia entry his group was just as copasetic with his entire being as any of those earlier classic lineups (I'd say markedly better than the early Swedish efforts), and although you might disagree I gotta say that Mary Maria wasn't the inhibitor that many armchair snoots out there tended to make her out to be. In fact I'd say she fits in quite swell with her passionate voice which complements Ayler's soul scrape! The unrehearsed nature of these shows make this all the more fresh and spontaneous and far from the splatterfest that I get the impression some people assume this effort to be. Well, whaddaya want, to see 'em playing from scores like my cyster assumed these improvisors did?????

You might think you already have too many Ayler spinners in your abode, but in reality is there anything wrong with having as many of his efforts as you can in your already overstuffed collections? That's like saying you were gonna get someone a book for his birthday but he already has one. Purely illogical.

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The Art Ensemble of Chicago-CHICAGO JAZZ FESTIVAL 8/31/80 CD-r burn (download it here)

Eh, by this time they lost a lotta that spark 'n move that defined their early days, but some AEC is better'n NO AEC 'n I'll take this over just about all of the other acts that popped up at this fest. The NPR patter is somewhat interesting even if you get the impression that Billy Taylor coulda cared less about 'em. If you (like Brad Kohler) were the type of guy who snatched up their ECM albums at cutout prices you might just go for this one bigtime!

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Matchez-MACHINES CD-r burn (originally on Matchez Records)

The electronic splurt had me thinkin' those obscuros that popped up on the R. Meltzer radio show while the twenty-three-minute "Daylight Fades to Darkness" reminded me of something that woulda fit in snugly on any one of those Mother Mallard albums I reviewed a few months back. It's nothing "new" mind ya, but it still has a rather decent approach and feel to it that sure stirs up the stirrups in a fashion that's way more appealing that a whole load of the electronic mulch I've heard as of late. Might be worth your while if you were the kinda kid who did a term paper on electronic music when you were a sophomore in high stool and your sister mis-typed "Sun Ra" as "Sien Ra" 'n I'll NEVER forgive her for that!

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Yeah, even an egotist such as I has gotta admit that they are quite shallow. Not only in writing skills but in overall content, with articles and reviews that blither on about very little that would interest anybody anywhere and at any time in recorded history. A few of the "facts" that are spewed within these pages are far from the honest truth (which really wasn't my fault given the fuzzy memory information sources I hadda rely on) and most if not all come with a horrid layout and (at times) print job for your eyes (or self-respect) to suffer through. But then again they're MINE, and like a good bowel movement I was somewhat satisfied with it all after the "digestion" of putting out such an ordeal was over and done with. Won't you join in the resultant plop?