So like, maybe it is a little too soon between these "megaposts" as I like to call 'em but eh, I want to keep this blog "somewhat" up to date and for that matter don't want all three of you reg'lar tuner inners left waiting any long than you really have to! Really, I know how some of you actually hold it in twixt posts just like I used to while waiting for the next issue of KICKS to come out, and boy could that hurt given that mag's "irregular" output! Not that there's anything of real interest to peck the keyboard about this go 'round (after all, it is January, one of the more doldrumesque months to have ever been invented), but I do want to let it all hang out in typical Hombres fashion before the news becomes even more stale than that slice of bread that somehow slipped in between the refrigerator and stationary drawers.

***

Well, it looks as if Paul Stookey really is a solo act now that onetime collaborator Peter Yarrow has  joined former partner in marching Mary Travers in hootenanny heaven, a place where I guess all good folksingers go even if they really weren't that good. Yarrow managed to live to the ripe old age of 86 which you must admit is a pretty long lifespan for a folk singer who you think would have been laid low by one of those down-home diseases like TB or Huntington's Disease. Now I am admittedly not that well versed with the Peter Paul &Mary catalog...I mean I will say that the singles of theirs that I can remember rate a two outta five stars (nothing special but not worth the energy switching the station), but other'n that when I think of them three all that comes to mind are black and white photos of people standing on some outdoor stage singing songs about hammers surrounded by other folksingers looking somewhat smug and proud given their service to humanity. 

Given Yarrow's penchant for the underage stuff (getting a 14-year-old gal to jack him off into her face) it seems as if his private inclinations have bested his public image as a wholesome altruistic man who thought Eugene McCarthy was the greatest. Being a big famous name and all it'd figure that Yarrow would be bestowed a get out of jail free card after serving a mere three months out of a three year sentence, and the fact that Jimmy Carter pardoned the guy during the final days of his presidency is definitely another big strike against the recently 86'd world leader. Sheesh, now I mentioned Carter in THREE straight posts!

Also a fond farewell to Jean-Marie Le Pen, whose daughter just might be the big hope that France has been needing ever since the Huguenots went and ruined everything that once-proud nation stood for. But you know that if she ever did get into power she'd cave in like it seems they all do. Oh well, we can always wait for another generation of Le Pens to pop up and get things right.  

David Lynch also bit it---his 86-ing doesn't affect me one bit since I really don't cozy up to those underground directors who upgrade themselves and make moom pitchers for people beyond the snob art house cadre (Florey, Waters, Downey...). Despite that, I will mention that Lynch's passing reminds me of something that happened way back in the 90s and my parents were doing an antiques show at a local "resort" where some actress who at the time was on TWIN PEAKS happened to be staying while filming in the locale. After my father heard about this he told me he wish he could have confronted the actress face-to-face and tell her what he thought about her and her definitely non-"G" rated television show! If only that meeting had happened...would have loved to have been there to see it!

And who could forget Anita Bryant, a woman we should have listened to ages ago given all the pervertos and gender-screwed nutcases (and who knows, maybe even YOU) we have to put up with these days! The Florida Orange Bird was unavailable for comment.

***

FROZEN PIZZA RECOMMENDATION!: When it comes to what you're gonna slip into the ol' oven when the stomach pangs start getting pangier try Mama Cozzi's frozen pizzas! They're the tippy top best with a tangy sauce, non-droop crust and loads of good toppings t'boot! Thankfully none of 'em have that weird preservative taste which I gotta admit I like in the same way I like Polysorbate 80. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...the meatball as well as the sausage with ricotta cheese. Available only at your local Aldi's.

***

And now, as a public service for those of you who are not up-to-date on music of other peoples and cultures, here are THE SADISTIC MIKA BAND gettin' into an Asian Roxy chic mood that should bring back fond memories for all of you import bin watchers! All I gotta say is that it must have been pretty cold in the studio that day:

 

***

Time to slip into that brainy and above-you-all rock critic mode once again so give your undivided attention to my definitely not rockcrit opinions regarding a number of items that were sent to me by Paul McGarry and no one else this time! Got some doozies in here today, but then again aren't they ALL doozies in one way or another, only in varying stages of expressiveness or decay? Whatever. here's what's on the plate this go 'round:

Bob Dylan and the Band-DISC 9 JANUARY 15, 1974 CAPITOL CENTER, LARGO MD. CD-r burn (originally on Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings)

I sure as shootin' can remember back when I was a not-so wee sprout and a whole lotta hoopla was goin' on 'bout the Bob Dylan/Band tour which was bein' touted like the second coming of Eddie Haskell 'r sump'thin'. The weirdest thing is, when I was a kid I didn't know Dylan from Adam to be cliched about it and wondered what all the hoopla that I had heard about his was all about. Like it wasn't like the guy was exactly lighting up the charts during the early-seventies (as if the local stations would have played "George Jackson" in the first place!), and although I used to see his records in the bins I had nary an idea as to who he was or his importance in any musical scene that I was aware of! 

In fact I used to espy Woody Guthrie albums 'round the same time and, given the similarity in looks between Dylan '63 and Guthrie I thought that the two, along with girly-looking Arlo, were all somehow related! But then again when I was a child I believed Bob's last name was pronounced "DIE-lan" since Ronnie Tyson's surname was "TIE-son" and not "Tiss-on" which definitely would confuse a kid still in the single-digits. But then then again as you all know I thought it was "JI-MI" Hendrix with two long "i"'s and people who gab with me will know that I still pronounce it the way I did way back when if only to be disrespectful.

In order to commemorate the original hype surrounding the Dylan/Band reunion there's a fiftieth anniversary box set detailing most (if not) all of it and y'know what---#9 of the set has been burned especially for me! Why Mr. McGarry copied this particular disque and not any of the others I do not know, but for a guy who passed on BEFORE THE FLOOD not only because it cost more than my depression-era wages could stand but because it seemed like "older kid music", this 'un's like a totally new adventure. Kinda makes me feel like those college types with long hair and mustaches I used to see all over the place when I was a way younger turdburger than I am now, hoping to Heaven that in NO WAY would I ever end up like any of these WHOLE EARTH CATALOG/PSYCHOLOGY TODAY-reading world saving yammerers.

Kinda sounds throwaway in more'n just a few spots. I never heard LIVE AT BUDOKAN so I just don't know how throwaway this would be next to that infamous tossout, but in part this is almost as sleepwalk as a number of eighties-on live shows that I've unfortunately managed to hear. Dunno about you, but for the most part the majority of these numbers sound as if they were rattled off by a jaded-beyond-belief bigger'n life (in the words of Li'l Abner) "ideel" who really is sick of singing the same ol' same ol' repeatedly but is wowed by alla 'em $$$'s dangling in front of his eyes. 

There are flashes of the ol' brilliance to be discerned here and there, some which might even reach a ROYAL ALBERT HALL height of Dylan at his bestest of best. "Hollis Brown" and "Like a Rolling Stone" growl on at a gnarling pace and the acoustic segment's got some sense of mid-sixties spark for a mid-seventies world of decadence so it can't be all bad!

You'll think it totally strange to hear that I actually prefer the Rolling Thunder-era Dylan to this flick your bic and stick it in the air period in Dylanology, but Dylan '74 still has quite a bit of post-revolution sway that appeals to me in a strange neo-Reedian way. You rich 'uns'll wanna splurge for the entire box but eh, this'll suit me just fine.

***

Wilco-A.M. CD-r burn (originally on Sire Records)

Back when Wilco first popped up on the scene I thought Wilco Johnson of Dr. Feelgood/Solid Senders fame dropped his last name so he'd be easier recognized with just the first 'un it a la "Elvis" or "Gamera". Truth was this was an offshoot of the ol' Uncle Tupelo group doing more of that alt-country rock that really must've appealed to someone, but not to me! 

Getting all of my preconceived notions regarding this music (which always irritated like an undigested peanut wigglin' in the sphincter) out of the way and trying to be honest and up front sans prejudice, I will say that Wilco, at least judging from this early effort, were "OK", non-offensive folk rock with the expected country twang done up in a way that I'll bet Peter Laughner would have appreciated. In fact, if I twist my ears a little I kinda/sorta could have seen him writing a neo-Stonesy country blues track like "It's Just as Simple", even performing it at one of his acoustic shows. Otherwise I wasn't exactly zoomed by these sounds. Face it, Wilco were yet another entry into the legion of dumbed down musical acts who took the better ideas of the past and diluted 'em like my aunt used to water down the Kool-Aid in order to stretch it out a bit.

Another one of those records I will not be listening to again, but some of you more eclectic snoots out there'll probably go for it bigtime!

***

Savoy Brown-GETTING TO THE POINT CD-r burn (originally released on Decca Records, England)

What else can one say about a Savoy Brown album? It's a Savoy Brown album! For white toughies who want to absorb the black toughie experience but are too chicken to act like black toughies. Best track to transcend what you would expect to show up on this platter..."Mr. Downchild".  

***

The Stranglers-3 EARLY DEMOS/BBC CONCERT, PARIS THEATRE 1977/CAPITOL RADIO SESSIONS 1977 CD-r burn

These demos didn't even pop up on that Stranglers collection of early turdbits I reviewed quite some time back, but as far as these sorta things go they're pretty snazz in the way that they capture that early pre-spiky hair-era styled punk rock sound that these guys were best known for at the time. The '77 live portion and Capitol seshes have a good pump that recalls the Seeds and Velvets more than it does Doors, so fooey on all you anti-Stranglers snobs!

Neeto, though I really would like to hear that Stranglers show where Burnel's amp blew so he sang the bass parts!

***

The Three O' Clock-BAROQUE HOEDOWN CD-r burn (originally on Frontier Records)

I'm so ancient that I remember when Bomp! was selling this 12-inch EP and of course I passed on it because...well, you already know why.

Finally get to hear the thing and you know, it really is a nice piece of pre-gutpuke pop-psych revival that can get somewhat "twee" (like on the record closer "As Real as Real), but otherwise it sounds sorta OK given the competition at the time. 

Back then I probably would have thought it all just too sweety-puss in light of what was capturing my fancy, but in the here and now all I can think of is just how brilliant this stuff sounded next to all that funny-hair MTV quap that was capturing the imaginations of youth who shoulda been herded into the re-education camp that was closest to their video arcade.

***

GANDALF CD-r burn (originally on Capitol Records)

Gawrsh, how many times did this platter pop up on set sale and auction lists throughout the eighties! Not that I particularly WANTED to give this 'un a spin but eh, I got a burn of it so what choice do I got?

These guys, despite their proggy sounding name, are a fairly/middling good '67 vintage psychedelic pop group with touches of the Left Banke and SoCal sunshine pop tossed in for good measure. Of COURSE they're nowhere as good as the Banke but they do convey that aerie feeling that was custom made for chubby girls who got pimples on their thighs from them rubbing together too much. The best way I could describe it is "pleasant". Don't miss their cover of Eden Ahbez's "Nature Boy" which ain't as good as the Great Society's let alone Nat "King" Cole's but is still fine '67 pop zone-out that's probably not gonna make you crawl up the wall.

Good 'nuff for some of you snoots, but for the most part this just doesn't reach them heights of true zone-out that the records of this strata were best known for. Maybe if I had only met up with that shady looking guy who always used to show up at the playground after school...

***

The Smiths-HATFUL OF HOLLOW CD-r burn (originally on Rough Trade Records)

Can't tell you just how much I was irritated by MEAT IS MURDER to the point where I wrote off Morrissey and his crew even until this very day. But you will be surprised to hear that I really enjoyed their early BBC sessions which had the kinda zip and pop that "underground" music tended to lack during those days when the seventies concepts that punk rock presented for us seemed to go off in all directions just like the Challenger.

These tracks are a roller coaster ride from intriguing to snoozerino with some of 'em good and others half 'n half. "Hand in Glove" still packs a somethingorother that's as powerful as it was when I first gave these a listen still oh so long ago...maybe it is because back when I first heard this numbuh my mind was swirling in directions akin to a spinning top on a table just bound and ready to fly off, but I find this way more digestible than what was all to be in only a few short years.

BTW, the title sure brought back the memories, not of the music but of a famous gag by Johnny Carson on the old TONIGHT SHOW. The one where he held up the photograph of an English streaker who was captured by bobbies at a football match, with one of them covering the guy's privates with his cap. Carson entitled this picture "A Hatful of Ralph" and boy for some reason did it get the laughs!

***

The A-Bones-A TRIBUTE TO BENNY JOY CD-r burn (originally on Norton Records)

Once again the A-Bones spread out on this homage to the long-forgotten (then long-remembered) Benny Joy. Sometimes these 'bones remind this fanabla of the rock 'n roll that came out of the early-sixties Minneapolis area while at others they're pre-teenbo idols Paul Revere and the Raiders. And at others they're that kind of rockabilly that made most all of the other '80s practitioners of the form sound like YOUNG AMERICANS outtakes.

The entire swerve and swivel of this effort encapsulates the gamut of rock 'n roll during its pre-mudslide days and is perhaps even more sink-into-your-psyche because of it. Did I mention the Dictators and Fleshtones? A mighty good one that reminds me of just why groups like this 'un sounded so great, especially after being inundated with tons of nth-rate 80s/90s freebees (ya really think that the editors of them mags'd send me any of the good stuff???!??) trying to make sense of the spaz I just heard then laying it all onto print as to why you should avoid it at all cost!

***

Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band-I'M GONNA DO WHAT I WANNA DO 2-CD'r set (originally on Rhino Handmade Records)

This is the oft-bootlegged My Father's Place show, presumably in its entirety and in boff SQ while we're at it. I never bothered to get the original (even though tapes of this were cluttering up a whole passel of trading lists way back when) because...well, you know. 

Good to hear it so late in the twilight of my life...the mix of old and new is fine and the newer'n before Magic Band who you would think was all slicked up (ex-Mother Bruce Fowler on trombone) suite Beefheart's vocalese and general play perfectly. Every second, from the twixt-song chatter to the old faves re-done and brand new tuneage is nothing but pure pleasure for these hammers and stirrups.  

Really, what more can be said about a guy who gave us music crazed miscreants so much happiness over the years without a single drop (even counting them Mercury albums!) in quality and pure addled energy.

***

Roky Erickson-MORE POWER TO YOU CD-r burn (bootleg)

Roky live and alone for a small and as you'd kinda expect appreciative bunch, poppin' on all cylinders with a passion that's bound to bring a tear to even the more stone hearted amongst you above-it-all readers. The strums are simple but effective in the way they compliment Roky's vocalese, and a setting such as this really does bring out a side of the guy that seemed to have been hidden from everyone but his most rabid following...that of a passionate singer/songwriter (in the truest sense) who is a whole lot more cognitive than he ever seemed to let on given all of the stories, let alone interviews, we've been inundated with for quite some time. 

The song selection features trackage not exactly part of the guy's regular song list including a downright religious effort with lyrics taken from the man's legendary yet obscure beyond-belief 1972 book OPENERS.  If you want yet another break from the high-decibel jackhammer rhythms you've been accustomed to all you life well, this unplugged as they say effort's obviously much better this than listening to Whole Grain Harry yammering about whatever haute cause there may be, right before scarfing down some Ben 'n Jerry's that is!

Of course, if you do miss Roky's more demonic side, there's an acoustic take of "Cold Night For Alligators" recorded the previous year which'll probably affect you way more than that lobotomy did Roky!

***

Quite a few people think I should be more than just "embarrassed" by most all of the scribings that I have done not only for BLACK TO COMM but a variety of publications of an under-the-wire garden variety. You might be surprised to read that I am not. I figure that yeah, most of the time the opinions expressed were atrocious along with whatever it was that passed for a "writing style", but then again the views sputtered out in these efforts were just a reflection of what I was feeling and thinking about at the time. I may feel quite differently in the here and now regarding a few of the things I once thought and thus writ, but there's no reason why I should have my old writings, as run on sentence and stream of unconsciousness as they were, suppressed or even poo-poo'd by myself for that matter. You will probably feel differently and if you're not familiar with these older efforts of mine well, you can always click on the above link and discover for yourself either the heights of fandom expression or depths of rock journalism depending on the very own winds blowing in the tastelessness of your own cranial capacities.

Overseas readers...beware the hefty postage and duty costs and ask about purchasing only if you are serious and rich for that matter. And don't be rude...I go to the post office with every made-up parcel to get the honest low down on how much it all will cost you (that involves time and gasoline!) and I absolutely hate 1) people who act all serious and then fail to notify me that they can't afford their order and 2) people who won't even respond after expressing interest leaving me in the lurch! Seen way too many of you types these past few years and well, the less of you that I have to put up with the better I say!

TO ALL MY ENEMIES, SAD NEW YEAR

Just like with every other solar spin I've experienced since kindergarten, it is comforting to know that the past 366 days have finally kicked the ol' pail and headed off into eternity. Sometimes I just love seeing my past stay there where it belongs, even if the passage of time just makes me CRINGE seeing how farther and farther away we're distancing ourselves from the boffo days of rock 'n roll as that oft-touted International Youth Language (back when people like myself were youths of course). I'm talkin' rock 'n roll as a way of life and not the backdrop for various sundry activities...rock as a serious form of expression (of hate, indifference, nihilism...) that you couldn't explain to your fellow classmates let alone the older generation. 

You should know the schpiel by now since I've repeated it so often --- talkin' the dominance of a generation that didn't care one whit about entering into the straight life yet loathed the hippydippy alternative with an equal passion. Roughly the 1964-1981 under-the-counterculture days, back when early (and mid) period Dylan and Jagger packed a good enough wallop to the general teenbo psyche of the day and, when those guys started to come off somewhat pale, there were always such under-the-counterculture types as Lou Reed and Iggy Pop that you could rely on, maybe. Even though I was musically conscious for only a few of those years I will admit that I am glad that I was alive throughout the whole dang thing. Only wish I was smart and rich enough to take it all in. Magazines, records, chemicals...those things cost a whole lotta money and unlike alla you kids who didn't have to rely on depression-era wages like I did boy did I have to miss out on most of the essentials!

It was an okay year. Heard enough new music to keep my ohrs satisfied. Also spent an inordinate amount of time burrowing through my vinyl revisiting a lotta items hanging about in the darker corners of my collection that I had been ignoring for way too long. Kept busier than usual with real life deals but tried to get some funtime into it, actually succeeding somewhat on lazy Sunday afternoons and those infrequent days off. Heck, I even managed to crank out a couple more posts than I did the year before.

If I have any regrets about 2024 t'is that I didn't tick enough of you people off with my scabrous opinions and outright comments that I felt would get the usual precious petunias who sometimes tune into this blog all a'stomach gurglin'. That is, unless you were ticked off regarding my news 'n views and didn't want to give me the satisfaction of knowing... But whatever, if you are "offended" you do deserve it.

***

Well, it finally happ'd...no more Jimmy Carter. As I wrote a few months back there were rumors of his passing slipping onto the internet which suddenly vanished in typical Tom Petty fashion, and in a joking way I wrote that at first I believed that the news of the man's deep six was being suppressed in order to get more traction out of it when the Democratic convention was in full swing (y'know, sympathy 'n all). Obviously the guy was still rumblin' on (somewhat --- remember when they wheeled him outside on a gurney for his 100th birthday and he already looked like a corpse?) until that dreadful day two weeks back when he actually did hit the carbon cycle. Not to anyone's real surprise considering all of the stories regarding his being on hospice, one which seemed to roll on for a pretty longer than usual period of time. But if you're an ex-prez I guess the suits in charge drop everything to cater to every little health-related problem while peons like us just keel over. 

Yep, he's about as alive as that tee-vee series that was named after him (CARTER COUNTRY, a show of which all memories had vanished once Carter vamoosed the White House). And with his passing well, a whole lotta old and at-times forgotten memories have just come swooshin' in from the deepest, darkest regions of my memory. 

When CBGB closed its doors a good two decades back I said that the seventies were over, but with the passing of #39 all I gotta say is that the seventies are really really REALLY over! And like I also mentioned back during the summer, Carter really did epitomize everything that I thought dank and depressing about the latter portion of that decade. Maybe you remember all of those dull television situation comedies (CARTER COUNTRY included) with those wonky, go out of their way to offend you Hollywood morality tales that were anything but funny, complete with the obligatory bedroom scene which were so patently staid that they actually made a case FOR celibacy. Howz'bout alla that horrid disco and the general AM/FM doldrums that made an underground music scene all the more potent, not forgetting a staid beyond belief middle of the road wishy-washyness that not only did Carter, but life in general oozed! 

Carter really was the dishrag president residing over a period in time that was not worth living in, the middle of the road-ster that both the conservatives and the VILLAGE VOICE radical types loathed with an equal passion. Given the general disgust and outright hatred both the Panama Canal and B-1 types as well as those rabid lesbians had for the dude these recent accolades regarding his greatness that are being tossed out all over the place sure make me want to do more'n just a little chuckling!   

Well, he was kind of an idiot trying to look hip with all of them "New South" post-segregationist whiteys he was palling around with during his campaign (remember that rumor where Capricorn Records head Phil Walden supposedly used his status as a "close, personal friend" to make the guy suppress punk rock just so it wouldn't cut into his sales, telling Carter that if punk were to flourish the kids would go wild like they did back inna sixties?). Who of you who were up and about then could forget his pathetic misquoting of Bob Dylan in an attempt to drag in the ROLLING STONE vote, a lame grab for the post-Viet whole grain kids who were so annoying even SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE was poking fun at 'em. A man so much into post-Watergate openness that he just hadda tell us that he lusted in his heart if any of us really cared what kind of sexual fantasies that wonk had rumbling 'round in his cranium. 

At least there were some bright spots in his tenure such as the mere existence of Billy, Carter's quintessential redneck brother who made for quite a few chuckles given his tendency for shady dealings and acting like the stereotypical deep south goof that most of us thought was a snooty northern bias to begin with! Do any of you remember Billy Beer or the Starland Vocal Band's summer replacement series (yeah, really!) where regulars Proctor and Bergman of FIRESIGN THEATRE fame...no foolin'!!!...had this gag about the Starland Vocal Band's Brother Billy? It's the only thing I can recall from the scant few seconds of watching that program I'll tell ya! (Episodes are available via Youtube although I did a quick comb through what was available [so you don't have to] and couldn't find this particular skit, which I surmise might all be for the better.) Gary Busey's Billy Carter portrayal on an old SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE was also a hoot, with Gilda Radner as Ma Carter's "my little ol' poor wrinkled heart" line still bouncing 'round in my brain lo these many years later.

And with this entry I've done something that I never thought possible...and that is mention Jimmy Carter in two consecutive posts!

Well to put a cap on it all let me just say that the guy eventually found his niche building houses, so more power to 'im, I guess.

***

Here's a Christmas card that made its way into the mailbox way too late to print in my last megapost so better late than somethingorother (equal thanks to the ones Fadensonnen and Bill Shute sent as well, along with some neato presents I will be reviewing not only on this post but in the future). Once again the Droogs come through to show their appreciation for one lousy article I did on 'em a good thirtysome years back which really does show true heartfelt thanks, I guess. (If you think I am proud and have accomplished one decent thing in my entire dull life well, you are right!) And hey, if any of you out there in the audience can help the Albins with their request to smuggle Droogs contraband across the border (I sure can't!) how about writing to them at 2216 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Lost Angeles CA 90046 and lending a helping hand to a bunch who never ever did let us down!

***

I love going on the UNDERGROUND ARCHIVES "X" page outta Portugal...you never know what kinda interesting rockism artifacts from the era that I most certainly appreciate one will find. Lots of rare pictures to be seen here!  Other'n that I've been amusing myself having a ball with AI, creating interesting art that maybe I should share with you lest the Vice Squad bust down the door of my bedroom. Nothing obscene mind ya, but if your sense of boy/girl relationships is stuck at age 13 well, you'll kinda get an idea of the wonders I've been whipping up as of late! It could all hang in any art gallery and you to'd stop and stare just like I did at that age!

***

The following items were all hustled my way (didn't buy a single one given that I only spend my precious dinero on absolutely positively gotta have it items these days) by people with such names as Thierry Muller, the aforementioned P.D. Fadensonnen, Robert Forward, Wade Oberlin and Paul McGarry. Yeah I know they sound like aliases, but if you were one to associate with me in any wayshapeform wouldn't YOU want to use one yourself?

Wally Shoup Trio-BLUE PURGE CD-r burn (originally on Leo Records, England)

I can see why Wade Oberlin gets off sending me dubs of this guy's works given how Shoup's playing echoes the best of alla them sixties/seventies improv types without the sterility of some of the players that have come out since. Who'm I kiddin'---I tend to go for this breed of deep reflection of loft success pass even if at times the players do rate a big "0" as Frank Lowe once said of James Chance. 

Over an hour of the even newer than the old new thing jazz with bassist Reuben Radding and drummer Rob Rees playing around the beat in the best Sunny Murray tradition. Can even discern moments of just back from retirement Ornette during the Blue Note era. Sheesh, with alla these Shoup burns Oberlin has been sending me I gotta wonder if these guys were related!

***

The Alan Lechusta/Christopher Adler Duo-PLEISTOCENE CD-r burn (originally on what I would call the artists' own personal label...no actual company is mentioned)

Some smart fanabla reviewed this quite awhile back and an equally smart one sent me a burn of it, so what else did I do but act like an appreciative sorta turdburger and listened to the thing!

So listen I did and well, I'm sure glad that I tuned in because PLEISTOCENE is one of those perfect platters to spin during these winter weekend afternoons where all I have to do is sit and reflect on how other people hadda go and waste my life away. But what a way to spend those hours, listening to Lechusta's melodic soprano saxophone trills (he plays a baritone too) while Adler plays piano almost as good as Cecil Taylor on NEFERTITTI (the album as well as the title cut of the same name). And while Lechusta is of a different breed than Jimmy Lyons he's still on the mark with his depth and passion which he infuses into his instruments. Powerful, connects to the core being of your very existence sounds are to be experienced. I'd mention how someone doing the Sunny Murray free rhythmic duties would have helped immensely but I already mentioned him in the previous review and don't wanna over do it.

At times the piano/horn interplay reminds me of that "Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles" track on CHURCH OF ANTHRAX. You heard it before but hear it again. And if you really do wanna hear it again all you have to do is activate the youtube video below:

 

***

Don Letts,  Stratetime Keith, Steel Leg, Jah Wobble-STEEL LEG V THE ELECTRIC DREAD CD-r burn (originally on Virgin Records, England)

Mr. Oberlin promised that this would be the last Jah Wobble-related burn he'll send my way, and given that I never was one who really cozied up to much of what smarter than I'm ever supposed to be underground pundits called "post punk" those words were somewhat of a relief. 

It is whatcha'd expect. Some of that white imitation reggae pops up here too (well, almost white given the presence of Letts). If you liked browsing through those early-eighties Rough Trade catalogues on the search for the latest from England this 12-inch 45 might be way up your well-traveled alley but for me...eh!

***

Mi Ami-AFRICAN RHYTHMS CD-r burn (originally on White Denim Records)

Who says noise rock is dead? Not these totally anonymous (to me at least and googlin' didn't help!) kiddos who put this effort out way back 2008 way. A particularly hard effort to describe...in parts it kinda sounds like some early-eighties 12-inch dance mix played at 78 with the rhythms pounding even harder while at others it take on airs of late-sixties Pink Floyd with a heavy organ mood backed by Burundi beats. 

Whatever it may be this is one of those records that reminds me of what the human brain could have conceived of with only the proper bit of cranial abilities mixed with various mental stimulants that can still get you into a heap of trouble.  One of the longer 12-inch 45 rpm's since Cabaret Voltaire's THREE MANTRAS. The kinda music the Soul Train Gang shoulda been dancing to!

Experience it directly below.

 

***

King Khan-THE INFINITE ONE/THE NATURE OF THINGS CD-r burn (originally on Ernest Jennings Records, Canada)

Here's a guy whose music went through a whole load of changes I'm sure even Bowie couldn't have kept up with. Unlike Bowie, the sounds weren't a roller coaster twixt maddening heights and abysmal lows, and when I say lows I'm not talking Bowie's 1977 "comeback" album either.

THE INFINITE ONE from 2020 and '23's THE NATURE OF THINGS are a mix of what I would truly call instro avant garde jazz pop if such a thing would have or could have existed way back when music really did have an overpowering feeling over impressionable sub-autistic types like myself. Sorta mid-sixties e-z listening bachelor pad sounds for the Hai Karate set yet with that bared-wire undercurrent of urban funk ('n even neo-reggae Spaghetti Western!) that made black music quite listenable. Or at least listenable before the onslaught of disco tarnished the image of black low-down cool for quite some time.  You can imagine these actually being used in some by-now ancient piece of cinematic excursion, but what you'll be seeing on the screen at the same time just might startle even a seen it all before kinda guy like you.

There does seem to be quite a bit of modern day "revisionism" which is to be expected, but what else would one expect long after the original fire's been extinguished and the mode of the music has been shredded beyond recognition?

Both of these ain't anything I'll be listening to while I'm snuggled up in this world but hey, you might have a hankerin' to give 'em more'n just "adequate" spins.

And yeah, I really admire him for the time he shoved his bared rear end into Lindsay Lohan's face. Hope he forgot to wipe.

***

The Incredible String Band-THE 5000 SPIRITS OR THE LAYERS OF THE ONION CD-r burn (originally on Elektra Records)

Shall I listen to this as if I were one of those ultra-eclectic rockscribes you used to see who liked just about everything that was placed in front of their bleeding ears? Some of them critypes were whatcha'd call "admirable" and in fact I even copped a tad of what passes for my writing style from a few of these scribblers. But I'll just play it my own stupid self. 

It's acoustic Anglo/Celtic folky music which would appeal to the more progressive type of sound discerner out there, and yet I find these attempts to bridge a whole slew of musical realms (naturally, none of the realms I actually care for) a whole lot more palatable than some of the British folk retreads of the late-sixties these guys were competing with. Is it due to a budding realization that there is music outside of my usual horse-blindered parameters, or is it because I liked the "metaphysical punk rock" of Mike Heron's SMILING MEN WITH BAD REPUTATIONS?

If you must know well...I find it all OK. Considering I did think these guys (and gal) were nothing but early progressive schmoozers I gotta say that this is a whole lot more digestible than what prog rock eventually turned into. Not my go-to when looking for the kind of music that stimulates my nerve nodes, but if I saw you with a copy I wouldn't kill you.

***

Sal Mineo-THE COMPLETE EPIC RECORDINGS CD-r burn (originally on Taragon Records)

No, I am not going to make the obvious jokes that you readers are just champing at the bit for. However, I WILL comment on the music itself and mention how these tracks were pretty hotcha if you're one of those Greg Prevost types who go for Fabian (hey, I like the ol' wopadago the same way I like teasing turdlers who can't fight back). Kinda wish the material that was chosen for him was way more punky --- who knows, he could have been the United States' answer to JP Kalfon! As it is, this is typical fifties pop for the bobbysoxers and zit-encrusted gals who couldn't get a dog to play with 'em unless they tied a pork chop 'round their necks. There are a few good enough tit rubbers that might not pack the same wallop as "Theme from A Summer Place" but eh, it'll do in a pinch.

***

Lou Reed-SISTER RAY IN THE SEVENTIES 2-CD-r set 

With a little tweaking (amongst other things) Mineo coulda been another Lou Reed, but at least we had the real Lou to contend with and he did do us some good. SOMEWHERE that is. Anyway, a chap who calls himself Tyler Wilcox (a name that sounds familiar) compiled two disques of Lou doing "Sister Ray" during his earlier solo career and it does make for educational listening. 

Lou's post-Velvet Underground days did swing from pole to pole and you can hear each of 'em on these shiny platters, at times sounding like he's content to churn out the predictable pablum for the goonies while at others giving remarkable remake-remodels that almost sound like another song, like one of the various numbers by various VU acolytes over the history of Velvetdom that took from that master and sashayed in their own direction to remarkable results ("Remake/Remodel" included). You wouldn't've thought that Lou had it in him at the time, but wonders do happen.

Mr. Fadensonnen even copied the liners for me which surely did make for finer'n fine reading. Some interesting insight is presented in these notes which give even an old turdburger like myself info that I never knew 'bout before. One surprising note regards the '73 backing group that none other than Moogy Klingman fronted...the drummer in the 'un was a chap named "Chocolate" which makes me wonder if this is the guy of the name nom de who held down the original drum chair in Hackamore Brick! If so the strange history of under-the-underground rock 'n roll gets even more tangled than I ever would have thought.

***

Various Artists-ROCKINITIS --- ELECTRIC BLUES FORM THE ROCK 'N' ROLL ERA VOLUMES ONE & TWO CD-r burn (originally on Stag-O-Lee Records)

Oddly enough I have been getting somewhat interested in rhythm and blues o'er the past few months or so, probably stirred up after reading various Vivien Goldman and Giovanni Dadomo articles from seventies-era issues of SOUNDS. Maybe not as interested in it as I should be, but given how much I love those early garage band ditties that made 1958-59 so exciting I find these efforts not one bit off the mark as far as primitive sounds and execution of said sounds go. Some familiar names, some familiar songs and although you serious aficionados probably heard it all before there's no reason why you can't hear it again.

***

The Klitz-ROCKING THE MEMPHIS UNDERGROUND CD-r burn (originally on Spacecase Records)

Actually thought 'bout buying this 'un when it first popped up 2018 way, but didn't because...well...money constraints and all. Well, thanks to Mr. Mueller I finally get to hear these Klitz and these nineteen tracks are everything I woulda expected this all-gal group to have been. Not exactly punk rock as in 1977 spiky hair 'n all, the Klitz sound instead like a group of teenbo gals who coulda put this group together a good five or so years earlier in the decade and they still would have gotten washed away by the tide of lesser talent. Total basement primitiveness from covers of "Cocaine" and "Wild Thing" along with other faves and originals that really do live up to originality. Suburban ranch house yet decadent. Musical instruments bought from the Sears catalog 'cept for little brother's chord organ. It sounds as if it was recorded on an old reel-to-reel in one of the participant's bedrooms during a slumber party. Definite repeat play here.

***

The Offhooks-OUTSIDE LOOKING IN CD-r burn (originally on State Records, or is it Get Hip?)

Gotta give major "kudos" to this 90s-vintage Scottish group that not only has the 1965-66 Amerigan local band style down to a tee but recorded it all up so it sounds like the thing's being played out of a transistor radio. Sure beats a lotta the late-eighties "garage band revival" recordings that were so pristine you woulda thought they were produced by Queen Elizabeth. Overall feel is more BACK FROM THE GRAVE than it does PRISTINE PSYCHEDELIC ALTRUSITIC DREAMS RECORDED BY HIPPIES BEING PASSED OFF AS PUNK PROGENETORS. Jim Sohns shoulda sued their singer. Really authentic to the point where ya kinda get the idea that Friday and Gannon are gonna bust the entire bunch any minute now.

***

RODION G.A.--BEHIND THE CURTAIN --- THE LOST ALBUM CD (BBE Records, England)

A Romanian electronic music composer? Didn't know they had electronic music in Romania. Didn't know they had electricity in Romania. Didn't know they had MUSIC in Romania but obviously they do and Rodion Ladislau Rosca and his Rodion G.A. is just but one aggregate who dabbles in the medium. Or at least they dabbled because Rodion's been dead three years, but anyway this recording's one that positively will appeal to anyone who grooves to seventies-vintage electronic beat bleat, the kind of music that seemed somewhat adventurous at one time then hackneyed to the core only a few years down the line. 

 It is the kind of electronic sound you used to hear on a whole slew of PBS programs and late-night commercials in the mid-seventies, a rather analog sounding synth music which should appease the purist in neo-pop electronica sounds who hates the digital era with contempt and loathing. At times Rodion G.A. come off somewhat Harmonia-esque krauty while at others this could have been music used to hype the local wrestling match on UHF. 

A nice nostalgic romp for me considering that I did have a tad bit of an "affection" for some of those early Giorgio Moroder rumbles. I eventually grew outta it but listening to this music did remind me of my just-post pubesprout days to the point where all I kept thinking about were bathroom door locks and Vaseline.

***

Randy and the Goats-ON THE LAM CD-r burn (originally on Broken Records)

There were way too many obscure bands, and I'm talkin' bands that I and undoubtedly you would want to wrap your ears around, that were up and about during the sainted seventies (give/take a few years) and definitely worthy of listening to. Unfortunately most all of 'em left us without any recorded product, or even surviving sounds for that matter, for anyone to enjoy a good forty/fiftysome years after the big beat sorta sputtered on into areas I wouldn't traverse into no matter what!

I managed to discover and even reviewed a few of 'em over the past couple of decades, but sad to say there are way too many who haven't been uncovered and surely do deserve the notoriety no matter how late in musical "evolution" it may be. And Albany New York's Randy and the Goats are but one of about a bazillion acts that ought to garnish some rah rahs no matter how belated they may be because well, they were a pretty good act and actually released (on their lonesome) a record that will appeal to some of the more rockist readers who tune into this very blog.

Nothing soul-gripping or essential, but I find Randy and crew quite worthy of praise with their Lou Reed/Dylan mishmosh meets early Tom Petty style that has a good enough neo-Stonesy backwoods slide that doesn't irritate yo the way some local bar band of the past most surely would've. For an independent platter outta nowhere this sure sounds rather pro w/o the gloss trickery that practically ruined the idea of "rock music" for me. 

The writing's as energetic as the playing, the Goats roaring on with a spirit and approach that at times reminds me of some forgotten Peter Laughner grouping, or at least that neat band you used to hear down the street that did nothing because all the bars'd book were those horrid cover bands that all the wonks you knew seemed to cum buckets over. Smart set people like us of course wanted something better but that only made us all the more evil in many a person's eyes. And like I said many times, justice (the fact that this music is somewhat remembered while those cover acts are kinda remembered like a loud fart in gym class) just don't cut it...the time for REVENGE is now and if I don't see some bloody "classic rock" scalps soon I'm gonna do more'n just a little screamn'!

A should-have for those of you who, like me, thought that music in general lost a whole load of soul and feel once the early-eighties really began to slip into gear.

***

Just yet another reminder that there are plenty of BLACK TO COMM back issues still available and they're going fast. They're going fast to the incinerator if you lunks don't buy some, so if you don't want to be dodging flames in order to snatch up these should be classic this late in the rock fandom game mags send your precious pennies my way (instructions are in the link) and see first hand what all the hubbub is about...that is if there really was any hubbub about these rags goin' on in the first place!

POETRY MAGAZINE REVIEW! CLEVELAND : GOING HOME (HOT FUCK), EDITED BY AL HORVATH (early spring 1977's my guess) 

It ain't like I hate poetry compilations...it's just like I've had some excruciatingly bad experiences with them. 

It all started during my high school years when the English department would put out the yearly literary magazine called AQUILA ('r was that the yearbook?). Boy did Mom want me to get something published in it as if it would've really been a feather in my quite unfeathered cap, and of course each year I would submit something definitely of a nonliterary, or for that matter non-cohesive nature thinking that it was the most hotsy totsy thing that mankind coulda cooked up brainwise. And naturally year after year my submissions got the big reject stamp which was really something hard for a guy like me to take, hating rejection yet having to experience it day after day. As you'd expect from a sensitive soul such as myself, I cried me a river and maybe a few reservoirs in the process.

Well, mother naturally was disappointed that my material (which wasn't "Milk, Milk, Lemonade" but almost as simplistic) wasn't used and seemed slightly peeved at me because of it, but boy did she blow her stack when one poem that DID make the grade, submitted by the son of a prominent local doctor at that, was an outright cop of some rather popular rhyme that the guy obviously lifted outta some handy book of poesy. Naturally the thief got off scot free which burned up a fellow like myself who used to get punished for transgressions both real and imagined and here I am, scorned by my own mother because none of my scribblings were worthy of the school mag and they go and print some plagiarizer undoubtedly knowing that his efforts were bogus beyond belief. Of course it wasn't until years later that I figured these sorta entries into the world of high school stature were nothing but popularity contests run by the snootier, bound for glory students who had free reign to get away with bolstering their own (and their pals') social hoity-toityness in the ranks of schoolkid hierarchies, and what was I but a mere doormat for alla 'em to wipe their feet on.

So yeah, poetry collections really do not cozy up to my own sense of what I should or should not settle down with when it's snuggle up time --- sheesh, sad to say but I've even had problems with some of those chapbooks that Bill Shute used to send me which is obviously one good reason why he quit doing so! But maybe there are other somewhat extraneous reason for me to ENJOY a poetry collection and this particular effort has quite a few.

And CLEVELAND : GOING HOME (HOT FUCK) is one collection that has its benefits outweighing the bad doodie at a pretty good ratio. Not just the dirty title, but the attitude (seventies decadent nihilists putting this 'un together 'stead of scions of rich kids headed for the ivy league and probably four divorces each) and selection of entries sure does its fair share of making this something that is certainly worthy of my time. (Dunno about you, but then again you're probably a jerk who also copped famous poetry outta books and passed them off as new.) The contributors here also read like a partial who's who of the Cle punk underground (Laughner, Pressler, Bernie from the Invisibles, Carol Furpahs of IUDecoys...) and the layout's rather spiffy for such an endeavor what with two collage splurges (Heath Bar wrapper, loose change...) and silkscreen illios, not forgetting that crucial attitude that seemed to get washed down the drain once the down and dirty seventies got scrubbed beyond belief once the next decade rolled in. And although this definitely ain't a music rag the function of sound during the mag's assembly during the horrid winter of '77 cannot be denied : playlist to the cut and past was the following --- BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo", Bowie's LOW, Patti Smith's "Piss Factory" and "My Generation" b-side, the English version of ELECTRIC LADYLAND and Derek and the Dominos' LAYLA AND OTHER ASSORTED LOVE SONGS. 'cept for the last two quite impressive and even with Hendrix and Derek somewhat interesting even if I always thought the last two were "older kid music". Well, Laughner was always an eclectic sort and I'm sure he would have approved.

I found the entries actually downright stimulating (a surprise given my inherent illiteracy) and there is just too much to mention and detail in one sitting since I'm already getting long windier than usual. Bernie Joelson's "Light" was quite inspirational, almost like a heartfelt prayer that even I feel like I should recite every night. It begins "Light, Oh light, come down on me so as to purge me of my natural inclination to be nasty to everyone I meet". Still, I gotta laugh at that one because when I called the man up one Sunday afternoon in the mid-eighties he was snotty and abusive the whole time! Must have been a bad day without any light to purge him. Tim Joyce's "Crime Report" had a human interest angle as he denotes the various incidents both funny and tragic that have passed him, or some cop for that matter, by. And James Taranto's "In America" lays down the big late-seventies miasma Jimmy Carter (who just entered into the White House) would warn us all about after he read Christopher Lasch and boosted that guy's stock somewhat. 

Best entry's hands down Peter Laughner's own ".38 Special" Dedicated to Billy Hains, owner of this dive called the Bottleworks located directly across the street from the Plaza Apartments where the haute de la Cleveland arts under-the-underground community (including Laughner) resided. Hains was of the old school of clench-fist workers uniting and all that back when the rabble claimed to support everyday working men as much as they did their other pets...folksinger Frank Thedford used to play "Deportees" for him and not only that but Laughner would take to the stage not only as a solo act but with Peter and the Wolves doing the kind of material that just didn't fit in with the Pere Ubu setlist. Haims was murdered on Saint Patrick's Night '76 during an argument over the price of a beer, and with his passing also came the passing of the Bottleworks and Peter and the Wolves.

Laughner's farewell is somewhat deep, even heartbreaking in the way he reminisces about the free food and clientele, ending his piece with the line "when i get down there to join you, save a seat and a glass for me" which, given Laughner's own demise a short time after the publication of this 'un, does have a certain poignancy that does kinda get hard to shake off.

There's plenty more too from poets both known and not...sheesh even d.a. levy pops up and he's been dead for years already! We even get a sealed manilla envelope that undoubtedly sports some surprises inside. But what can those mysterious items be? Random religious pamphlets or race track stubs? A million dollar bill that I most certainly can use? Do you think I'm going to bust the seal to find out what goodies both licit or not have been placed inside the not-quite hermetically sealed pouch? Are you kiddin'...

I've been trying, and with some success at that, to live the life of leisure these past few weeks thus this waywayWAY  later than I expected (dunno about you) post. Some of you reg'lar tuner-inners might chalk it up to a gross indifference on my part and yeah, to be upfront about it so would I. Naturally I have an even better excuse --- I only wanted to do some relaxing after a few long months of nose grindstoning and other sundry things that kept me from just oozing out like a man in my advanced state of decay should. You won't believe me but I really needed some time to myself, time to calm down and listen to (or better yet SEARCH for within my vast collection) a wide array of sounds, read old rock scribblings and long-ignored Golden Age comic stories  (I've been re-reading my old GINGER comic books, the ones that were done up when the usually bland [but not on these!] Harry Lucey was doing the pencils) and just act like the same sort of lout that I was when I was much younger and knew much better than to go out and get some fresh air. Kick up your feet stuff, and I think I got more than my share of all that done these past few weeks if it's anything to you.

I already told you about the days when Friday would roll 'round and after school I'd settle back and dig into my comic books or wide array of MAD paperbacks while bopping my dog Sam on the nose whenever he'd come sniffing in my face. Maybe even play some pre-disco AM radio back when the form emitted periods of occasional downright joy, soaking myself into the new hits and (especially) mid-sixties "oldies" just before the thing got snapped off due to questionable lyrics, complete with a warning to "NEVER LISTEN TO THAT STATION AGAIN!!!!!"  Those are the moments I would love to revive more and more of as life rolls down that lonesome trail to inevitability.

Some people think that man was meant to just laze in the sun all day, I say he was meant to be holed up in his house drinking soda pop, watching old television reruns knowing that nothing since could typify the glories of a suburban slob lifestyle, and eating the essentials...candy, Cheetos (the fried to a crackly crunch kind) and Pop Tarts straight from the box.

Given that this post is the last "biggie" of 2024 let me in typical Leo Gorcey fashion express my heartfelt holiday sediments in the only way that I can and say---I couldn't give a shit about any of you or anything you may say/think/eat/sleep even during this "joyous" occasion! Don't expect me to toss any men of good will cheer your sad and disgusting way...no "Merry Christmas" or "Tidings of Comfort and Joy" here nosiree! especially considering the way alla you louts have treated me throughout my illustrious (hah!) career!!!!!

Now that I got alla that outta the way lemme say I hope you ooze into this post like a worm burrowing through your dead mastiff, getting about as much mental nourishment as you can given that this really ain't whatcha'd call one of my better efforts (as if anything I ever wrote was worthy of THE PENGUIN BOOKS GUIDE TO ROCK CRITICISM THAT IS SNOOTIER THAN ANYTHING YOU'VE EVER READ IN YOUR LIFE...sheesh, whatever happened to those Jonathan Eisen AGE OF ROCK collection that lumped together the good stuff?). But eh, it'll do considering how the competition these days seems to make even my toss-outs read like GRAVITY'S RAINBOW.

***

BING AI AIN'T WHAT IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE!: well sometimes it is helpful in regards to answering certain historical questions regarding a load of somewhat documented ephemera and such, like what were the names of all the guys who were on the boat with George Washington when he was crossing the Delaware...things like that, but as of late the whole thing seems to have become more artificial than intelligent. When asked of which musical acts of the sixties and early-seventies sported a Velvet Underground influence (and hoping to find some rarities who have slipped by me in the load) I was given mostly a smattering of mid-seventies acts that read just like all of the other Velvets down pat pieces that told us just how great they were and we wouldn't have REM if it weren't for these guys. Sometimes it refuses to answer, such as when I asked AI of a good way to get revenge on certain people or especially when queried with questions of a somewhat naughty nature. Things like when was it when were female breasts (and, to be polite, I did refer to them as breasts and not suckems or squeezies!) first considered sexy! Sheesh, sometimes I get the idea that the intelligence gathered artificially over at Bing is being overlorded by the modern-day equivalents of those old reform league biddy types that you used to see in a slew of old 40s/50s comedies!

***

ALSO LISTENED TO ON THE ROCK WRIT PODBEAM: Phast Phreddie Patterson (smart talk about the BACK DOOR MAN days though I wonder who he was thinking of when he made those comments about how he was pulling our legs with all that definitely non-precious petunia commentaries re. "race" etc.), Howard Wuelfing (quite informative self-spew from a lifer although I sure would have liked to have heard more about his associations with Half Japanese), Lindsay Hutton (hard to understand but seems like a typically non-Scots type to me---kind and generous!) and Tim Ellison (he talks the same way he writes!). Future interviewee suggestions...Mark Jenkins (HYPERION), Fred Whitlock (SPOONFUL), Bruce Mowat (THE MOLE) and Russell Desmond (CAN'T BUY A THRILL).

***

SOMEWHAT RECENT DEATHS: Andy Paley, two-time loser who was the heart and soul behind such shoulda been bound for glory acts the Sidewinders and the Paley Brothers. Both of 'em deserved more than just their mere cult status but got wooshed under the weight of a whole slew of similar-minded and perhaps even subpar albums and like, who could afford to get 'em all anyway. (Shouldn't forget his brief stint as Patti Smith's keyboardist not to mention his role in the Shangri-La's reunion at CBGB either.)  Well, the man did good with his producing career but sheesh, if his former bandmate Billy Squier could make it big, somewhat that is, why not him??? And maybe I should mention the passing of Jamie Klimek of Mirrors/Styrenes/Jamie Klimek Band fame who sure remains a tru blu BLOG TO COMM hero and I ain't jivin'. Did I ever tell you about that Saturday in 1982 when he called me up asking how he could find a copy of Pink Floyd's "Scream Thy Last Scream"?

***

Right now I feel just like Nancy so let's get into the plenty of platters at hand for today! Now this batch of goodies might be too much for you readers to handle in all in one sitting so I suggest that you read some of it now and save the rest for later just as you would do with that cheap candy of the same name. Don't want you kids to cranially overload yourselves (of course I get the idea that most of you will read some and never come back --- so what else is new?), but beware of the gaseous gangrene-y nature of these writeups...sheesh, I just can't help myself typing away endlessly the same way I like to gab on about myself to anyone unfortunate enough to be within earshot.

Thanks to Robert Forward, Wade Oberlin, Brad Kohler and Paul McGarry for their kind donations. The rest of you who enjoy sex and travel can, you know, go take a fuckin' hike!

***

Syd Barrett-VOLUME TWO : SCATTERED NEEDLES 5-CD set (no particular label)

If anything 2024'll go down as the year I dived head first into the cult of extreme Syd Barrett worship, dragging out everything that the man has wrought us that was clinging in my collection. I'm talking items ranging from the English import copy of A NICE PAIR with the slightly different cover (too scared to play my original 1967 English copy of PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN due to its by-now larger than life value) to the guy's two solo spinners and, naturally, a wide array of bootlegs from UNFORGOTTEN HERO on down, absorbing the pure lysergic energy (without any of the bad stuff as Frank Zappa once said) while comfortably cloistered in the makeshift rec room. To be cornball about it, I'd say that this was a pretty nice way to spend a year if I do say so myself.

Well anyway, there have been a slew of rather cheap multi-CD releases gathering our old fave acts in one nice package coming out as of the past seven or so years. I assume that these recordings are now PD which would explain the budget price for so much sound and well, even though I certainly ain't gonna toss any Barrett boots that I already possess out the window I am glad that I have a whole lot more of this stuff'n any serious Barrett fan (and I'm talkin' seriouser than seriouser!) woulda dreamed even existed in the first place. I sure wish I heard alla this way back when 'stead of in the here and now when I'm so old and decrepit that I'm bound to keel over any doggone minute, but I am glad these sonic rumblings have finally snuck their way into my system! 

This has an amazing selection that even exposes these ears to a few pieces of Barrettabilia that for some obvious reason or another never did grace my hammer and stirrups. Sure you might not exactly cozy up to hearing the first album with an out-of-phase stereo mix (I don't mind because I'll listen to that album any way I can) but there's actually what I would consider a fair amount of ephemera that I wasn't aware of on these shiny slabs of aluminum. Those different takes and new versions of alla them tracks you flipped over back when they were first booted back in the eighties are here. and you hadda pay higher than usual prices because well...them record stores really had you over a barrel dealing with all that illicit booty! Just ask Brad Kohler about Jim's Records and my attempts to snare their Barrett boot ca. 1988!!!   

But whatever and whenever about these tunes, they just might just get you flashing back to the time you first spun Syd during your teenbo days and the only stimulant you had in your medicine cabinet was Vicks Vapeorub. 

The familiar bumps up against these instrumental tracks and alternative versions and hey, if some nubbleface out there asked you what your fave "desert island" disc is you can cheat and say that it's this lengthy and fun-packed piece of true rockist energy. Just hope that when you do go the Gilligan route the sand doesn't get into your portable player. 

And to think this is the second volume making me wonder what they crammed into the first given the completeness of this batch!

They're still sellin' copies on ebay for any of you interested parties out there, and if you're one of the sonic explorers of the past or even future and thought that Pink Floyd with Syd at the helm or the man on his lonesome was the pinnacle of late-sixties English punkitude then well, I guess you wouldn't mind parting with a few precious pennies now, hunh?

***

Sun Ra-SPACEWAYS LP (Org Music)

A 2016 release of some iffy-sounding live recordings from '66 and '68 respectively, packaged in a cheap sleeve bereft of credits or even your typically high-falutin' Nat Hentoff-y liner notes. Not one of his better releases but eh, Ra is Ra and there are some fiery moments to be heard such as the flute-assault and clavioline/arco bass duet on "The Wind Speaks". Loads of familiar Ra compositions are here to be re-re-re-RE-heard and re-evaluated, and if you (like me) discovered the guy during your teenbo years and glommed onto every cutout and even expensive import that bore the guy's name well, all I gotta say is ain'tcha glad ya NEVER "grew up"?

***

Fluxus and Neo-Fluxus-KEEP TOGETHER PART TWO 3-CD-r burn set (originally on Sub Rosa Records, you can get a real deal 2-CD edition here)

Not having the booklet that comes with it I'm having a hard time trying to tell which and what from where. I'm also a bit miffed that there are very few original Fluxus recordings here, most of this being but rather recent recreations. Eh, I got it for free so why should I sniff and blubber anyway?

Mix of Fluxters old and new, some from the outer reaches of the form (Milan Knizak, the guy who eventually founded the musical act Aktuel when he headed back to Prague) and many who are so new that I haven't heard of any of 'em last time I checked in with this crowd. Some surprises like rare John Cage and Nam June Paik, Ay-O (known more for his name than for his work) and hey, there are even some early Yoko Ono compositions that have finally been "realized" after all these years. 

For a guy like me who still has his old FILM CULTURE Fluxus newspaper stashed somewhere within the wreck of his bedroom (annotation and collating at this point in time would be a daunting task, so if anybody out there wants to come over and do it for me what's keepin' ya?) this sure fits in with my own passions and interests in art of this nature. Yeah it shoulda come out long ago but it's here, I'm old and at this point in time the only people who should REALLY care are you young'un's just gettin' in on the game. Le' me 'lone, I've had it. 

***

Los Lichis-SMALL MOLE & THE FLAVOR JEWEL TRIO CD-r burn (originally on Ever/Never Records)

Another one of those groups that I assume are humongous on the under-the-underground "I got this and you don't" music snob circuit, but danged if I've ever heard of 'em! 

Mexican in origin, Los Lichis continue on that long-running improv/drone rock path that has been previously treed upon by such trailblazers as, say, The Beat of the Earth. Simple, hypnotic music that isn't that dissimilar to many earlier attempts that have been somewhat intriguing since the days of The Exploding Plastic Inevitable.

A sound that is definitely relaxing while still stimulating to those unused brain cells piled up in that cranium called your bean. I won't buy any flesh and blood copies of their records (I'm poor cheap) I will say that I will recommend that you either buy 'em outright or just burn whatever's available off the internet like I was wont to do until my tower went kablooey.

***

Silverhead-SIXTEEN AND SAVAGED LP (MCA Records)

Hmmmmm, did I ever write thus 'un up on this blog? If I did well, here's another review of that album by Michael Des Barres' pre-acting career band Silverhead, the one with the reject from Rodney's English Disco (at sixteen she really was too old) pictured in full wasted splendor on the cover. 

As far as the innards go well, these guys were pretty good mind you, but not as good as most of those other decadent beyond belief (at least for the early-seventies) groups were during them days of glam slam. Silverhead played more of a straightforward rock almost like the kind that Faces were unleashing at the time...good enough not to turn off the radio if they ever did get any play, but still far from the outer reaches that Iggy was hitting in strides. 

These glam slammers sure lacked that deep down slice of decadence that woulda made 'em leaders in the seventies burnout rock brigades, but who could say that they weren't punky enough to snuggle in your record collection next to your other wasted teenbo records which epitomized the seventies a whole lot more'n PARTRIDGE FAMILY reruns ever did.

 

Probably worth a bazillion dollars these days so you shoulda gotten it really cheap way back when like I did!

***

The Raconteurs-CONSOLERS OF THE LONELY CD-r burn (originally on Warner Brothers Records)

While doing some cheating via the 'net trying to get more info on the Raconteurs I chanced upon their Wikipedia page. Yes, I am that out of the loop when it comes to most music created after the signing of the Magna Carta, and if you must know there is a certain pride in the fact considering what a lot of music made after the signing of the Magna Carta sounds like. 

It was there that I read about these Detroiters transplanted to Nashville guys who played some sorta alt/county/blues/indie globule of sound...funny, but at times their music comes off way more like early/mid-seventies heavy metal right around the time that music was changing from "sonic integrity" (as R. Meltzer once put it) to braincell-pop dirge for people who wanted "class" in their music while retaining their social status as burned out box boys. A not-so good sign of the state of hard sound if I do say so myself, although I get the idea that some of you sophisticados out there will disagree with me.

Whatever, I gotta say that I actually DO emit some beads of joy over the Raconteurs' bounce back into previous modes of CREEM-approved rockist ideals. They're actually succeeding at it, at least on some chintzy level where I have to force myself to cozy up to the thing in order to squeeze some appreciation outta these toonz. Still, it's interesting enough to the point where I don't even hate that one song with the trumpet that's heavily influenced by various eighties Styx/Foreigner/Yes snob rock moves. Neither that one with the banjo ("I'm Not That Kind of Man") which sounds like some of the lesser moments of seventies Southern Rock all rolled up in one nice tidy package. Weee-Ooooh!

Nothing that I'd up my nose at (really!) but still, I wouldn't think of snatching up a copy with my own hard-begged in a millyun years!

***

HOOVER CD-r burn (originally on Epic Records)

Not that I have anything against 70s outlaw country or even down on the farm kiddies goin' the backroads route knowin' they won't be forced into cleaning up the stables (well, I would have loved to have seen Delaney and Bonnie roasted on an open spit even if I had to pay for it). HOWEVER this singer/songwriter guy who calls himself Hoover just doesn't jibe with my own sense of what 1969 as a year for music as cataclysm shoulda stood for. Must say that the softer efforts did appeal in a...Tim Hardin sorta fashion? Maybe so. One for the more gelatine-esque and rustic amongst you, a few of you who I believe actually do tune into this blog.

***

Muddy Waters-HARD AGAIN CD-r burn (originally on Blue Sky Records)

Y'know, maybe I really could enjoy a whole lot more of these blues recordings if I get outta my head that image of white upper-crust snoots imitating white lower-crust snoots who were glomming a lot of it from the original source anyway, slumming in their leather jackets and jeans while trying to get down with the bro's hoping that Little Steven would notice 'em 'r sum'thin'. 

Not as "gets you in the gut" as those ultra-primitive efforts that ended up on those Victoria Spivey albums but wha'ja expect from a big label offering anyway, field recordings? 

I'd say give this 'un a spin after lending ear to the low-fi hardcore real deal blues like the kind John Lee Hooker recorded stomping on a board in some Detroit record shop back room. Or even those one-string guitar things that'd shred the nerve endings of many of these blues types whose knowledge of the form seems to begin and end with George Thorogood. With the miracle of internet the world, like something else, is in the palm of your hand.

***

Mount Carmel-REAL WOMEN CD-r burn (originally on Shitbreeze Records)

YeahyeahYEAH, I know you're expecting a tossed off bad review of this 'un if only based on the record label and its turncoat owner who I hope health's in dire condition due to his presumed wild lifestyle activities. Well, as usual you're wrong because I am going to rate this on total merit rather'n by association so quit'cher griping and saying that I ain't "fair" when it comes to relating to you what a record is about as opposed to various extraneous thingamabobs like sound, quality, performance...

For being on one of those snooty underground record labels it sure doesn't sound anything near "punky" or even art school experimental precociously elite. In other words I can't imagine some gal or guy with two inches of makeup caked onto its face and plastic jewelry galore wanting to listen to these hard-rock bloozed up cantatas that conjure up images of those scrawnier-beyond-belief guys with hair they ain't washed in five years you used to see a whole lot of back then. If Mt. Carmel were 'round back '75 way they sure would have given Lynyrd Skynyrd a run for the hard backwoods rock money.

Surprisingly enough I thought these rough early-seventies anti-hippie hard rock vibrations weren't that offensive to my rockist attitude. The no-big label roughness does transport this from being yet another one of those pristine flycrap-less releases that sounded a whole load worse'n had they've been recorded up the canyon of Dave Lang's rectal crevice. Best of all anyone can latch onto a copy for free via Youtube or various other on-line services, though it sure would be better if you swiped a whole load of actual copies just so's a certain label head could go directly into debt! Well, he wouldn't lose a bundle even if a good portion of his stock was to be boosted overnight, but I can still dream now, can't I?

***

Blurt-LIVE IN BERLIN CD-r burn (originally on Armageddon Records, England)

Any brain who's been in on Wade Oberlin and FAUX WOOD PANELING would know exactly why the guy burned this 'un for me. Of course it all can be traced back to R. Meltzer's boff review of "My Mother Was a Friend of an Enemy of the Somethingorother" in a '80 ish of THE VILLAGE VOICE published shortly before their music section went to total number two. 'n for anyone who's been in on the Meltzer game ever since the days of FUSION let alone CRAWDADDY can tell you the guy doesn't send you off on any wild goose chases...that record was a total winner in the realms of underground rock making that drastic dive into the cesspool and holds up swell while the other early-eighties remnants just don't swing as much as even the most caked-on makeup types would ever dare admit.

Of course it has what the competition seemed to lack...fantastic repeato-riffs worthy of any previous purveyors of the form, past + present = future assessments of musical forms, lyrics that would seem smart if I could only decipher them. The combination of the three ensures that this just ain't one of the precocious Nicaraguan Rebel Disco things that even ROLLING STONE used to drool over...its something so driving and overall entertaining (over being staid and serious anarcho-agitprop custom made for the remnants of the seventies hippie/feminist collectives who wanted to look "hip"). A not-that-uncommon effort wroth seeking out (get it free on Youtube) and I am so proud that I made it all the way through this review without mentioning Albert Ayler!

***

FANCY SPACE PEOPLE CD-r burn (originally on Starry Records)

After lending ear this I was immediately reminded of a whole load of eighties new unto gnu wave acts that irritated the bejabbers outta me back when I was looking for some sonically speaking respite in a load of Detroit-inspired Australian imports. Surprisingly enough, given how this form of sound is not quite up my expansive alley, I found more'n just a tad of interesting moves on this 'un that can be discerned on similar efforts from them days like say, Poetraphonics or Velveteen. It's the smarts that separates these goombahs from the likes of your typical MTV flash in the whatever that sadly enough was the end point to alla that visionary music that first came out in the seventies. Don Bolles is in this 'un too! Most frightening part...the opening riffs to a song that sounded like Bad Company's "Can't Get Enough of Your Love".

***

Peter Laughner-CINDERELLA BACKSTREET cassette (FLEET/Handsome Productions)

This came out in a limited edition back '02 way or so I presume, but if you have all of the Laughner compilations and various related sundries you'll probably still need this. What'cha gets here's a quality-packed 90-minute release featuring various Laughner ca. '73/'74 trackage, including a few numbers that I believe have never made it out to the public until this 'un came out. It's a nice compact package complete with the final Backstreet show and truncated "Sister Ray", not forgetting some Cinderella's Revenge rarities that surprised even a thought I heard it all before kinda guy like myself. Especially worth it for the maddening "It's Not Easy"/"I Can't Stand It" mishmosh that really must've wowed the rubes. Listening to this just reinforces all of those good feelings that I continue to have about the better moments of seventies music, the stuff that kinda got buried under the tide of boring heavy metal and disco records that were making the rounds during those shoulda been the best of days times. 

***

The Warm Jets-WANNA START A WAR LP (Rave Up Records, Italy)

Knowing that there were at least fifty-five more records in this "American Lost Punk Nuggets" series  really does get my peanut-sized brain rollin' 'round wond'rin what the rest of this series sounds like! Jusging from this 'un those really must be top notch platters 'cause these Philadelphia punkers circa 1980 do the pre-punque routine swell what with their straight-ahead approach to the rockist matter at heart sans the superficiality that some of these groups could tag onto heavily. Yeah you could call 'em the same old same old, but at least these Jets spurt off enough of that high energy drive that keeps your attention going longer'n some of the more piddling competition ever did. Be warned, the tracks entitied "Here Come the Warm Jets" which end side one and begin the other ain't the Eno classic but a group come-on in the same vein as "The Monkees Theme" or even "We're the Fugs"!

***

It's that jolly time of the year, and if you want to make me feel really joybells you'd buy a whole stack of these BLACK TO COMM back issues if only so I can recoup some of the money I poured down a rathole thinking this thing was going to somehow be profitable. Not that I did it strictly for the money altruistic jerk I was and shall remain, but I sure need some of that dinero if only so's I can get a pair of shoes for the cold winter months. Well, at least ringworm season is over.