I've been trying to pump out these major league posts at a more frequent pace that I have these past four years, and I am doing my best if that means a heck of a lot to you. Believe it or leave it, but I don't see much of value in any of them including this 'un but still it's better'n if I had just stayed in my room the whole time digging through my NANCY paperback collection like any real deal BLOG TO COMMunist out there should. Doing this blog is sorta like an updated version of my mom yellin' "GO OUTSIDE AND GET SOME FRESH AIR!" and well, it does keep me occupied in between viewing HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL reruns and scrubbing the toilet after a rather powerful prune juice experience.

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Heavens to Betsy Ross but it does seem as if it is picking up on the record front! Unfortunately I'll be passing on most of the new/old or old/new or well, you know, those old things that are getting some new life items that are making their way to a variety of online mailorder businesses. The new collection of rarities from the Laughing Hyenas archives looks rather yummy as do such other fresh off the press items like the Brion Gyson DREAMACHINE longplayer not forgetting the Black Randy reissue which passed my paws when it first came out because I was poor even back then. Too bad I can't afford the whole lot of 'em even though I really should given that I've saved up a whole load of moolah for my "old age"...unfortunately I'm unable to lay my hands on it at this time and gotta wait a few years if not more to hit that ol' jackpot. But when I do get hold of it I better go out and flitter all of my money away on such items because well, it looks like I don't have any heirs and I don't want to give all of whatever I have that's left over to The Society to Combat Baldness. 

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MY TWO CENTS WORTH DEPT.: In this world of real deal death and destruction I gotta tell you that I really don't cozy up to all of this heavy duty carnage that is now going on in the Middle East and for reasons that don't even remotely have anything to do with (maybe) you and (definitely) me. Yeah it sure is fun watching all of those happy Iranians jumping up and down even though you get the feeling that a good portion of 'em or at least their parents were yelling "Death to the Shah!" a good fiftysome years back, but what does that have to do with me in the here and now stuck in Western Pee-YAY? It's also nicey-nice to know that at least few high-ranking Iranian badskis have been sent to their afterlife, but in the overall what does any of this really matter when it comes to the important things in life like putting food on the table and records on the turntable? Something deep inside like a constipated turd tells me that all of the joyous hubbub is going to be ending a whole lot sooner than anyone out there's expecting and with consequences than few if any of us can imagine. And I don't just mean inflation or even mass-scale carnage in your local municipality either.

Maybe this whole Mideast kabnooming's all fun and jamz for those Death Cult Christian types who want to hasten the end of the world even though if they do they'd be denying future generations into joining the gang so to speak, but overall this breed of religious fervor makes me want to puke my last two Chinese buffets. Y'know, Old Testament revenge and the annihilation of schoolchildren to fulfill some naturally misconstrued Bible prophesy that may or may not come about in the near future but well, it sure feels good in that altruistic self assuring way that you're going to be first in line for the oblivion express while all of us pagans are gonna be tearing each other apart. Or something like that which doesn't faze these worshippers who believe that some people are destined for eternal glory while children are OK targets because they're not in on the Big Ol' Glory Train so-to-speak. And yeah, I'm in with all of those Communist types like Norman Finkelstein on this one! 

Haven't we all had enough of this End Times rigamarole ever since THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH had more'n a few Chicken Littles doing the glory hallelujah freaking out routine while letting everyone around 'em osmose their sanctimony way back in the seventies? Talk about suicidal people who want to take everyone else with them! Kinda makes me wish that if I were around in those BC days I'd be up and front on the pagan train if only out of spite!

And all of this after Trump put down (rightfully so) Obama for his own saber rattling too. Eeeugh! Well, next time someone out there elects a peace president please let me know.

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It looks like HOMEMADE SHIT has gone down the crapper. Instead expect a new mag entitled RUTEBAGA which is supposedly to be patterned after the old English magazine OZ so expect a lotta nude gals in these pages. Maybe Wade Oberlin should rent a balloon and toss copies all over Hooterville!

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Bless it all but yet another issue of DUMB AND READY PIGMEAT has made its way to my door, or at least my sliding glass window. A fine cudzine to read on the pot while your number two dutifully glides down your colon as you actually get to read Brad Kohler's screenplay for a film about none other than Darby Crash's...er..."crash" that got rejected because there was already a film on the guy being made at the time. That 'un came and went without anyone noticing because frankly, who else other than Hollywood snoots and dimwitted slobs go to the moom pitchers these days anyway. Support the guy...I mean, his wife listens to NPR so he needs all the help he can get! Again, send all of those green pieces of paper with the pictures on them to 802 Crystal St., Ames IA 50010 and that's in the USA in case you didn't know.

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Oh boy, record review time! Thanks go to Otto von Ruggins for the Kongress material and Pail McGarry for Dock Boggs.

Various Artists-CBGB & OMFUG - A NEW YORK SOUNDTRACK 1975-1986 4-CD set (Cherry Red Records, England)

I won't apologize to Bruno for not being able to find my Stilettos disque in time to help out with the liner notes to this budget-priced four Cee-Dee set.  The one containing material I woulda killed for way back which purports (and actually succeeds) to be a cross-section of what was going up and down at CBGB back during the Golden Age of Smart Underground Rockitude. I don't apologize for anything anymore out of self-respect but eh, at least this collection finally made it out without my help and like, I think this is a pretty neat bunch of trackage if I do say so myself. I'm glad Bruno got his Stilettos information despite my lack of help even if he probably hates the dickens out of me.

Not a great package considering that some of the groups who were playing at the club at the time weren't exactly up to BTC standards and others were ignored but still, if you're the kind of guy who wants to know what you might have been listening to had you plopped your butt at the club this would be a close approximation. Without some of the glammier, more metallic or even folksy trios true, but close enough to maybe even get that cigar.

It is a brilliant selection of the well known mixed with the nth-string. Not enough nth-stringers that I would have loved hearing for my tastes but still fun with a purpose enough in the old HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN vein with early practitioners like the Magic Tramps intermingled with the later on flashes with all sorts of entertaining bits and surprises thrown in. If you like the era of glam punk you'll dig this as well as all of those brainy art bands and even a few that I never thought would ever make it to disque like the Planets even! Most of it sounds good intermingled with a wide array of under-the-underground stylage, although the more synth-y and hardcore types just make me think about how disappointing it was to see the mid/late-seventies lurch into a new style that more or less reflected either the hap-hap-happy eighties or a faint attempt to counteract them rather than the gritty seventies that produced all of that nerve-grating beauty. The music that drew a whole load of people (including myself, virtue signaling me must confess) to this breed of rambunction in the first place.

Its a pick or choose with this trackage but I doubt that anyone stupid enough to tune into this blog won't find something that just might suit their tastes no matter how hard-edged or simpy it may be.

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Kongress-50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION! MAGICK BY KONGRESS (MADGICIANS 1 + 2,  MAGICK) 3-CD-r burn set

Sheesh, FIFTY YEARS??? Even I can remember back that far back when people were still marveling about what was happening fifty years earlier in the Roaring You-Know-Whats, like movies and early radio and celebrity criminals who still seemed to resonate with the older people in my life. Even to me it seems like ancient history on one hand and current events on the other...sheesh, at that time many of the actors who were making those old films were still up and about doing interviews if not even still stepping in front of the camera on occasion. Today it seems all as much history as the Babylonian segment of INTOLERANCE if not the dawn of time, and if you think that makes li'l ol' me feel any younger you are sadly mistaken!

Kongress didn't make the CBGB collection cut, probably because they were anything BUT a CBGB band having the honor of being banned from the club twice in 1976 and more or less deciding to stick with Max's Kansas City as home base. But still they were one of many acts from those days who should have gone on to better things even if they didn't quite fit the idea of what underground rock 1976 was supposed to be or something along those lines and like, if a group like the Ramones could make it big why not Kongress?

The early tracks do have a late-sixties/early-seventies punk (in the old CREEM magazine sense) sound with plenty of of krautisms (which were always punk anyway) with '68 Velvetisms and some Arthur Brown tossed in to pound home that evil tinge. The earlier tracks do harbor a strong sense of cusp-era cataclysmic music attitude but could easily have been PEBBLES fodder if honed into one of those local group single sides from '71 that actually made it onto a few of those albums. Sheesh, if Kongress were around way back when I'm sure they could have cooked up a neat single along the lines of It's All Meat or the Magi, without the synths of course but it sure would have been a doozy! 

The later ones with Marilyn and Ilosa Hatt vocalizing do have more of a "new wave" tinge to them, but it's like good "new wave" back when groups like the Comateens were actually making listenable records despite the inherent ginchiness of the times. Even "Oliver Twist" which snatches some early-eighties rap moves doesn't trigger any regurgitating despite all indications that I SHOULD do a li'l puking if only our of maintaining a good self image. Great stuff despite the aura of early-eighties sparkle, though I must admit these songs do make me feel somewhat down though, if only because a lot of this music reminds me of a particularly bitter time in my existence...ain't their fault tho!

One truly bizarro thing about this set is that on "Son of Sam" Krozier's vocals are censored for some reason, replaced with some inaudible to me electronicized garble. The lines edited out went something around the lines of "His skin is brown, but not from tan/All my victims have brown hair" which I guess would be offensive to someone out there in these precious petunia days but I don't know why!

A bunch of  extremely ear-opening sounds definitely deserving the royal red carpet treatment complete with the obligatory book enclosure and tons of inside info. Credits and song background info dates/personnel/instruments/onandon would also help. If you're interested in hearing these, try this link or maybe even this other one as well. 

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Les Rallizes Denudes-FRANCE DEMO TAPES CD (Bamboo Records)

These early-eighties recordings have been flying around for a longer time than anyone could imagine, but it's sure nice seeing them gathered together in one place and cleaned up somewhat. As any fan of the group would know these Denudes are part of the essentials along with all of those other ones that have been getting tossed at us these past sixtysome years, and with yet another nervegrating version of "The Last One" and a remarkable "Cruel Love" that settles into one of those repeato riff modes that you can really soak into your psyche at that how can you lose getting hold of this. If you're only going to buy one Les Rallizes Denudes album this year make it this one. I already did knowing that finances won't let me buy another.

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Kraftwerk-KLINGKLANG LIVE 1974 CD (Audiovaults Records)

By now Kraftwerk were settling into a relatively tame electronic rock style which would propel them to international notoriety once AUTOBAHN got them onto the charts and into the collections. Gotta admit that Kraftwerk at this stage in the game were becoming even more reserved than they were on RALF UND FLORIAN, and I'm afraid that recordings like this one show the beginning of the end of Kraftwerk as a nervetwisting musical entity and the beginning of them as a robotic dance band for people who won't admit that they like disco but they listened to Kraftwerk because they were German and thus continental. Now if only someone would locate a tape of that infamous live show from a few months earlier where the two were joined by a pair of guitarists who divebombed their way through an early version of "Autobahn" that puts the better known version to abject shame!

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Dock Boggs-LEGENDARY SINGER & BANJO PLAYER CD-r burn (originally on Folkways Records)

This guy sounds like one of those twenties-vintage Appalachian types who picked up a banjo and did pretty good with it even though it was more or less his avocation, he making most all of his bread slaving away in the coal mines. Then, after a brief recording career, he dropped the musical act altogether and devoted his hours to the real life deal only to be re-discovered a good thirtysome years later by one of those pointy-headed intellectual New York types who made him a proud member of the new folkie boom until eventually doing the big 86 like they all seem to do. From thereon in the man became one of those proud forbearers of a whole slew of sounds that studious practitioners of various hip musical forms consider the "roots" of whatever it is they're doing these days. Am I right? 

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STRAVINSKY : THE FIREBIRD-SEIJI OZAWA, BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CD (EMI Records, Japan)

Gotta say that I prefer THE RITES OF SPRING over this, but it is still early Stravinsky and a whole load of rock types, both snooty and not, really go for this breed of longhair barrage. Fine to the point where you can purge yourself of some of that inner turmoil that's been rumblin' inside your guts as of late and besides, with this 'un you can all finally throw away your copies of YESSONGS! 

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BLACK TO COMM back isues are still available in case you are interested. And anyone who has been reading this blog for the past twentysome years should be interested enough in latching onto a whole number of these essential magazines which might not be as important to the canon of eighties/nineties underground rock journalism as FLIPSIDE true, but they might look nice on your coffee table when the in-laws come to visit. Which might be a good idea,,,after all, you know they'll never come back after seeing those laying around that's for sure!

BOOK REVIEW! THE COMPLETE LAND OF THE LOST COMICS : VOLUME 1 (Midcentury Comics)

At least a few somewhat serious comic book fans and followers out there are smart enough to admit that the Pre-Trend period of the EC comics line ranged from turdburger funny animal swipes to well-honed efforts that foreshadowed future greatness. And really, when that infamous comic book line got off the ground in 1946 who would have guessed that the same publisher that was putting out such innocuous titles as DANDY COMICS and THE HAPPY HOULIHANS would eventually rankle the prissies and prudes of the day with THE HAUNT OF FEAR and WEIRD SCIENCE-FANTASY! I'm sure that the biddies who were responsible for this particular title in question never would have thought so, and if you only got hold of an ish of LAND OF THE LOST way back when you too would have had your own doubts!

Along with TINY TOT COMICS ("Your First Comic Book!"), LAND OF THE LOST was part of the first wave of non "Picture Story" titles that MC Gaines launched after he sold off his All-American line to DC. After a cursory look at this title I'm sure you'll admit that this one had about as much to do with MAD as Little Orphan Annie had to do with Oktobriana (more on her in a future review!).

Judging from the inside front cover of the debut issue featuring biographies and photos of LAND OF THE LOST's creators (a franchise which actually started out as a Mutual network radio program and featured story books amongst perhaps other marketable ephemera) you'd get the idea that writer Isabel Manning Hewson and artist Olive Bailey would have been part of the same mob that would have LOVED to have burned down the EC offices during the days of the comic book purges. In those just post-WWII days the two were cranking out what many would have called a nice innocuous comic book that featured fantasy stories that normal people would have said were perfectly suited for wholesome, well-behaved kids. EC would obviously be catering to the demented teenbo types in a good four or so years and I know, who at least in this audience of mine would have wanted to be some well-scrubbed and behaved bow-tied nimnul anyway.

As the story goes siblings Billy and Isabell are given magic seaweed by Red Lantern, a kinda/sorta cross between a fish and Ed Wynn, which allows the pair to breathe underwater as they visit the Land of the Lost. That's where all lost things go ('cept for my hair and a whole slew of hymens I gather) and a place where the denizens of the deep go anthropomorphic complete with clothing and fins that aren't quite as armlike as Donald or Daffy Duck's but suit their purposes rather doggone well.

The stories really ain't that much to rave about but then again they're aimed at the single-digit types and not us sophisticados. That would sort of be like me complaining about Mister Rogers because he didn't tell dirty jokes! 

I'll admit that despite the overhearing kiddietude of this title the sagas are quite original and at times somewhat witty. What I really like about LAND OF THE LOST is Bailey's art. It is somewhat pedestrian even by forties comic book standards, but there are various flashes of brilliance that remind me of the illustrations in books that I remember thumbing through during my own turdler times. Times that continue to bring back a whole load of happy memories before kindergarten and reality began to set in if I do say so myself. 

I personally liked the Umbrellaland story which features a bumbershoot that sports a rather feminine set of eyes, as well as a pert nose and lips. I dunno but this one does "something" deep and almost spiritual to me, like reminds me of preschool-era fun things I saw when I was but a mere three years old long before everyone turned on me. Sometimes I believe that my turdler self knew more about life and existence than my current codger form ever will...at least I believed in things that were more on the ball than what others held to their hearts, like that in the hierarchy of life there were humans, dogs and then all of the other animals (canines really did, and still do, hold a special place in the ranking of the living and breathing) and that I had special powers that would allow me to fly, walk on the walls and twist my head around like Charlie McCarthy. Unfortunately all of these supernatural gifts I had suddenly vanished when the authorities decided to infest my life with "reality", and danged if I'll ever get my abilities back!

There are other surprises to be seen, from a story entitled "Desert Dawn" (drawn by ex-Fleisher animator Saul Kessler and originally released as a pamphlet for the American Museum of Natural History) featuring an obvious Bugs Bunny swipe named Johnny Jackrabbit, to more of those tritely-rendered historical dramas that the Picture Story series was famous for. There's even a one-pager by Ed Wheelan of MINUTE MOVIES and FAT AND SLAT notoriety that pops up in issue four injecting a little looniness into the entire properness of such a title as this!

Some might find these comics snoozeville, reactionary and downright fill in the blank whatever "ism" that's popular these days but hey, only a hidebound feminist, male gender lacky or modern day rock critic wouldn't admit that LAND OF THE LOST was a well-produced and pleasant enough read even for someone long past this mag's target audience. It even sports the "Educational Comics" slug logo 'stead of the more familiar "Entertaining" one that would soon come into use on other EC titles. Whatever, an interesting enough entry into the Golden Age canon of comic books that catered to a kid clientele that weren't that particular, but were smarter than most would have been led to believe.

Quite a few Sluggos out there (well, actually only three) have inquired about the whos whats whens whys and hows about my last post, the one that purported to be the liner notes to a box set featuring Velvet Underground-influenced recordings made by a variety of 60s/70s soundscapaders from the late-sixties to early-seventies. The post that I decided to print without comment just to get a load of the reaction I thought it would cause. Unfortunately I didn't receive as much feedback as I would have liked but still it was peachy keen to thrust this one upon you in the hope that someone out there was stymied enough to ponder as to what the heck is going on. Sheesh, I'm positive that a few of you regular tuner inners (well, the less bright ones) even believed that the post was a sneak peek for a real deal item that is being readied up for release. If ONLY...

In actuality this was yet another one of my conjuring up via artificial intelligence the booklet notes for as to what such an item would turn out to be. Part reality (meaning facts I fed into AI) and part total creation on AI's part (like f'rexample I never even brought Red Square up and besides they weren't formed until the mid-seventies) and well, I thought the results were imaginative enough to publish without making any editorial changes if only to get a few of you out there perked up somewhat. And do me a big favor, save all of those comments that I know I'm going to get about how you all think that AI should write ALL of my posts (sheesh, what a bunch of ingrates I have for readers).

Some of the information is pretty much legit. The background regarding the section on the group COMET (who were actually called C.O.M.E.T before becoming C.U.M then wisely enough C.V.M) was actually taken from some information via an email interview I had with group guitarist and singer Deryk Barker (he's the one with the lambchop sideburns and Snoopy t-shirt) that was abruptly truncated for one reason or another. C.O.M.E.T weren't just any group...in fact they were the rock 'n roll division of the famed English avgarde aggregation known as the Scratch Orchestra (there were various fragments including a folk and protest group), and besides various Scratch-related performances I believe they actually did at least one real deal gig that was not connected with the art sphere in any wayshapeform. And yes, C.O.M.E.T performed not a 25 minute like the post said but a 45 minute "Sister Ray" (the photo shows Barker with group drummer Byrn Harris and a dancer during that very performance!) as well as extended versions of "Come Together" and "Dropout Boogie" (that much was truthfully relayed)...their lineup was a collection of well-known names in the English avgarde world (I believe Michael Nyman once sat in) and well, I'm sure a good portion of you readers would like to hear an album of theirs one of these days and there are tapes.

It's the stuff AI seemingly tossed out at us willy nilly which really got me going on wanting to share this with you. I think we'd all like to hear that Godz "Electric Handshake" number as well as "Broken Radio Drone", both of which never existed at least here on Earth One. And I sure wonder if it is worth taking the time and trouble to pick up some Taj Mahal Travelers and Zweinstein efforts which would set me back a pretty penny, but as usual I am tempted. Any of you out there care to comment on these groups and if what those liner notes said about them are for real-deal? Of course not.

But even with all of the interesting convolutions that AI went through to create this collection there are some glaring omissions. I mean, what about Toronto's Gass Company who created that soundtrack for the David Hofsess films REDPATH 25 and BLACK ZERO which revealed a strong EPI-era Velvet Underground influence? I believe that the actual soundtrack is available on Youtube so if someone could jet a copy my way maybe I could discern for myself? There surprisingly were many others...I mean Figures of Light should also have been tossed into the stew not to mention the Stooges, Mahogany Brain and early pre-beat box Suicide. With various other rarities that really do exist maybe some form of that box set will eventually see the light of day even if it probably won't be in any of our lifetimes. 

But I really have to admit that make-believe is always better than the real thing! I sure wish that the Chicago Art Ensemble Rock Unit and those other bands like the Hackamores (I wonder how AI  came up with that name, huh?) were actually up and about and are just waiting to be discovered for the longtime Velvet Underground obsessives that all of us seem to be at one level or another! We can only hope and pray you heathens you!

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Ever since his wife removed the lock from the bathroom door Brad Kohler has been forced to engage in other time-occupying pastimes. That's but one reason why there's a third issue of the infamous cudzine DUMB AND READY PIGMEAT out only a few measly weeks after the last epic effort. Seven pages of rock 'n roll writing (instead of "criticism") is to be found within and Mr. Kohler has done a pretty good job of whatever it is he's supposed to be doing here, what with an article on trudging through thrift shop bins filled with John Kennedy Memorial Albums and West Side Story soundtracks for that oh-so elusive gem (give up Brad...I've been pouring through piles of old records all over the place since the seventies and have yet to find a Red Crayola album) plus an article on Johanna Went which I doubt would please the famous performance artist who undoubtedly sees herself as...well...an artist. Get yours from 802 Crystal St., Ames Iowa 50010.

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ANOTHER MYSTERY SOLVED (albeit a good thirty years too late). For quite awhile I've pondered as to the who whats whens where and whys regarding the mysterious rock group Passion Force, an act whose only claim to any fame I could find was their appearance at the legendary Mont de Marsan punk rock fest way back a good half century ago. Curiosity-laden me wanted to know more than what was being given out as to who this Afro-Amerigan three-piece who wowed 'em and then vanished was, and here after just recently perusing through the first issue of the French fanzine I WANNA BE YOUR DOG trying to translate what I'm reading I discover that Passion Force were led by none other than guitarist/singer Titus Williams, a guy who sure figured into the entire Skydog Records scheme of things. 

This Williams fellow was definitely someone who didn't exactly fade out into oblivion unlike his old group, continuing to have a career overseas while recording tracks which have appeared on various Skydog samplers as well as a couple of other labels. Naturally prices for some of these are hitting the ceiling making me wish that I was aware of the guy decades back when I could at least afford them but eh, maybe someday I'll get some of these for a mere pittance and relay to you my usually on-target opinions regarding them! Thankfully there's yet another forgotten punk rock hero for me to do a whole load of research on, something which I must admit is way more exciting than doing a term paper on the love life of the amoeba for grade school sex education class.

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Just a reminder regarding a recently deceased presidential candidate who liked to spit in the hamburgers of white people:

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Once again a mix of somewhat recent releases mixed with old items recently procured. And guess what? I bought each and every one of them!

LINK WRAY SINGS AND PLAYS GUITAR LP (Destination Records, EU)

The better portions (meaning the more rocking out ones) have already appeared in the Norton anthology series from way back when, but it sure is nice to see this '64 album originally released on brother Ray Vernon's Vermillion label while Swan wasn't looking finally getting the royal reissue treatment! This one is done up with all of the love, care and affection one would hope of an album of such legendary (at least by Wray fans) renown and given not only its rarity but the song selection this is a real wowwowWOW kinda thing that deserves to be placed in any true-blue fan's stack of records.

Sound's too cruddy even for a guy like me who usually doesn't care, but the music sure is fine enough to make even the stodgiest of Hi-Fi nuts throw away their copies of STEREO REVIEW, or at least in a just and righteous world it would. On the first side Link roars through a bunch of numbers both familiar and not, all of 'em worthy of the attention of anyone who tunes into this blog or even is elderly enough to have been in on the Wray game since the very beginning. The Buddy Holly-inspired "I Wanta Get Married" was a nice if mid-energy offering new to my lobes, while the rest is naturally boffo enough even if you undoubtedly have heard it before and in better quality. Come to think of it, I do like the distant AM radio sound of this in my own cornball suburban slob way. Sure is a refreshing change from all of that half-mastered hype that prevailed throughout the early eighties.

Flip it over and you get the tracks Norton wouldn't touch in a million centuries, ballads that would have sounded like total pus in the hands of most sixties crooners but at least get the life breathed into them thanks to Wray's quite remarkable (especially for a guy with one lung) vocalese. This side might not suit some of you more rock 'n roll or nothing types but it does act as a pleasant enough counterpart to the all-out rockers that you just got through with and like, you don't have to hate ballads just because Dick Cavett likes them.

I sure wish this came out during my OCD Wray days back when I was slapping together issue number 18 of my old crudzine  (now thankfully out of print) but eh, music like this will affect me as long as I have the ears to hear it. Definitely a must-have for all of you readers who used to pour through Midnight catalogs and pay exorbitantly inflated prices for European pirates of items that would eventually get the legit release treatment...in twenty years. 

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Mammals of Zod-L'OF CD 9 (Lovesphere Records)

I've perused old CBGB (and Max's, Club 82 and Mothers) listings for quite a long time if only to find out if there were any out of the way nth string aggregations out there that might be worth the trouble of delving into. I usually go by the name of the group, the more unique the better, then pour through whatever books and magazines I have access to (and naturally the internet) hoping for at least a shard of interesting info to spark my nodes. You all know how much I still need to find that long-lost item to brag up and down the blogpost and besides, kicks are getting harder to find these days even more than they were these last few decades which were rather kick-less if I do say so myself. I need my musical fix all the more dearly now that my days are numbered...it may be quite a large number I will admit, but numbered they are!  

I guess all of the above is just exactly why I was overjoyed to find out that a group that called itself Mammals of Zod (name espied in some 1996 VILLAGE VOICE cafes/clubs/discos section I found online) actually have a couple of recordings out that might be somewhat available, and with a name like that I just hadda pounce upon getting hold of this disque in the hopes that I have discovered another one of those under-the-underground groups that really do rescue me from the tedium of everyday existence.

The Mammals do create quite a cacophony of free form muck that you just might like. One thing that makes this act especially tuned into my own wavelength is that the Mammals are heavily reminiscent of the Earth People, this jazz/rock/experimental group that used to not only play the old CBGB Lounge back during the final days but featured a list of some some pretty impressive big names in the free jazz world guesting at a number of their shows and on their albums. If you've been in on this blog since the beginning you'd know a whole load about them but anyway, I heartily recommend their releases for those of you who are still front and center for the new jazz even years after it first tossed a nice li' ol' burr in Leonard Feathers' saddle. Considering that both Mammals of Zod and Earth People shared some of the same crew like vocalist "M", saxophonist Sabir Mateen and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter the connections should be somewhat clear.

However, while the Earth People soared through long and twisting aural journeys that thankfully lacked the hippydippyness of the usual tie-dyed mob, Mammals of Zod play short and somewhat disjointed tuneage that goes from the new thing to abstract with even a touch of acoustic guitar strums and cockeyed rockist moves sounding somewhat akin to a free jazz Faust. It's a weird mixed bag that works on/off which makes me wonder just how this music was presented in a live context. Somewhat fun on the first spin but, unlike the Earth People, not suitable for repeated play. At least in this decade.

A strange batch of soundage we got here bub. More lost NYC underground music history unraveled before my very ears and like, if you are interested in locating a copy I do wish you the best of luck.

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Kraftwerk-SOEST LIVE CD (ISP Records, EU)

I really must be heading into the Age of Old because I totally forgot I already had a CD-r as well as a bootleg LP of this recording in my spacious (lots of spaces needing to be filled in it) collection! Let that be a warning to you people who want to hold onto your pennies...make sure your memory is sharp so YOU don't make the same bonehead mistake I did! 

But still, the sound on this 1970 live show is a whole lot crisper if that means a thing to you, and besides it is a pretty wild  set revealing that early, punk rock side of Kraftwerk back when they wore their love of the Stooges on their brownshirted sleeves. I get the feeling that those techno types who remember Kraftwerk from their TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS and MAN MACHINE days on will probably end up totally confused after giving this ball of Stockhausen-bred electronic frenzy a listen, and who could blame them (while having a good laugh at their expense).

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Deadline-DOWN BY LAW CD (Celluloid Records)

Naturally I would be interested in any of drummer Phillip Wilson's "dissonance and blues" projects, but frankly these mid-eighties tracks show strong signs of capitulation to the meek and mild miasma that typified even the bolder jazz and rock moves that were being made during those days. At least the urban funk and android Yorubaisms manage to make this a whole lot more listenable than some of the other jazz/rock "crossovers" that were competing against it. Even with the technoslickness it's good enough that it even makes me only want to hear Wilson's earlier efforts not only with Deadline but "Magic" which might have just been an early name for the same thing but wha' th' hey... 

Still some smart and definitely trance-y playing emerges as does a rather tasty lineup including longtime collaborator Olu Dara, Wilson's former employer Paul Butterfield and Parlafunkamendelic organist Bernie Worrell. Note that I left Jaco Pastorius's name out of it, and for the usual tasteful reasons if I must say so myself.

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STONEGROUND CD (Collectors' Choice Music)

A ten-piece group with Sal Valentino of Beau Brummels fame in it sounded like a great idea. The fact that some members of Stoneground later formed Pablo Cruise didn't. The appearance of future Jefferson Starship bassist Pete Sears ditto (even though he was in Fleur de Lys and Sam Gopal Dream, but a lot has happened since). Still, throwing caution to the wind I snatched this reissue up and found it to be a whole lot better and lacking in much of the West Coast hippydoodle I was expecting from this group at this time in history and in one of the worst places for rock 'n roll as well. 

Valentino's in fine form sounding as smooth as he was with the Brummels, and that gal singer who thinks she's Janis is unique enough so that you don't mind the proximity of the two in the history of toughass female vocalists. Sixties fans might want to know that ex-Mystery Trend leader Ron Nagle even helped out, and despite the usual jiveoid moments you would expect (and do make their way into the stew) this actually is listenable...not great, but you might be able to sit through it. 

Most regular readers of this blog might also want to pick up the soundtrack to the Stoneground tour film MEDICINE BALL CARAVAN which contains a live version of Alice Cooper and crew doing "Black Juju" that a whole load of Cooperites never seem to mention for reasons quite unknown.

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Faust-PATCH WORK CD (Staubgold Records, Germany)

Between this and the MOMENTAUFNAHME series there's a lot of Faust rollin' around out there in krautrockland. Penny-pinching me has to be careful where his hard-begged goes so I decided to latch onto this PATCH WORK one which better satiate me until someone who loves the dickens outta me sends me these other releases.

Snatches of the familiar coupled with new efforts done up like THE FAUST TAPES might not sound that funtime to you but I enjoyed hearing different versions of various Faustian legends like "It's a Rainy Day" chopped up and tossed in with various sonic atonalities. Well, that's what krautrockers liked to do I guess. Some new outright rockers even show up so don't exactly poo-poo this one as yet another waste of somethingorother.

If you were one to latch onto the krautian aspects of rock back in the nineties this should help tie a few loose nerve endings up. If you were in it for a longer amount of time well, be thankful you actually did live so long!

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Hey are you rich? If so I would like to be rich too and the best way for that to happen is for all of you guys with money to just toss around to jet some of it my way and I'll jet back some back issues of BLACK TO COMM back. That's but just one thing which will undoubtedly fill my coffers and make it so I can afford some of the finer things in life for once. I mean, I would like to own a state of the art stereo system that I never was able to get with the little dinero that was tossed my way and really, I wouldn't mind if my vinyl collection was triple in size just like those of all of you high falutin' collectors out there. Time to share the wealth and help get the economy moving, and what better way than to dump your hard-begged for a stack or two of my mags?

 

🎸 AFTER THE FEEDBACK: Underground Echoes 1967–1973

Obscure Proto‑Noise, Drone, and Avant‑Rock Inspired by The Velvet Underground

40‑page Booklet (Text Draft)

Disc 1 — European Shadows

Early Krautrock, commune recordings, and pre‑industrial drone experiments

1. Amon Düül — “Improvisation für Grau Morgen” (1968 rehearsal tape)
2. Amon Düül — “Untitled Commune Jam #3” (1967, unreleased) 
3. Amon Düül II (proto‑lineup) — “Schwarzlicht” (1968 rehearsal) 
4. Ton Steine Scherben (early lineup) — “Der Strom” (1969 rehearsal fragment) 
5. Zweistein — “Echoes from the Basement” (1970 private tape) 
6. Limbus 3 — “Drone für Viola und Metall” (1969)
7. Pre‑Faust (Wümme collective) — “Tape Loop Study #2” (1970)

Disc 2 — Japan: Before the Noise Broke

Pre‑Les Rallizes Denudés, student radicals, and feedback minimalism

    1. Hadaka no Rallizes — “Night of the Assassins (early form)” (1968  rehearsal)

   2. Hadaka no Rallizes   — “"Feedback Session at Tachikawa" (1969)

    3. Zuno Keisatsu (Brain Police) — “Black Helmet Blues” (1970 rehearsal)

    4.Taj Mahal Travellers — “Violin + Radio Feedback” (1971 private tape)

    5. Group Sounds dropout band — “Kuroi Ame” (1970)

    6. Rallizes side‑project (unverified) — “For the Silent Majority” (1971)

Disc 3 — UK Ghost Circuits

Lost British underground groups who worshipped the Velvets

1. COMET — "Sister Ray" (live at the Greyhound 1971)**
2. COMET — "Come Together" (MC5 cover, rehearsal 1971)**
3. COMET — “Dropout Boogie” (Captain Beefheart cover, 1971)**
4. The Red Square — “Transistor Love” (1969)
5. The Deviants — “Broken Radio Drone” (1970 rehearsal)
6. The Pink Fairies — “Street Jam #7” (1971)
7. Third World War — “Factory Floor Blues” (1971 demo)

Disc 4 — American Basement Reverberations

Proto‑punk, art‑school noise, and Velvets disciples from the U.S.

1. The Index — “Raw Nerve” (1968 rehearsal)

2. The Godz — “Electric Handshake” (1969)

3. The Up — “Free the Music” (1970 rehearsal)

4. The Velvet Illusions — “Grey City” (1967 demo)

5. The Hackamores — “Drone in E” (1970)

6. The Boston Sound Dropout Band — “Subway Heat” (1969)

7. The Chicago Art Ensemble Rock Unit — “Metal on Metal” (1971)

📘 BOOKLET TEXT

INTRODUCTION — “After the Feedback”

Between 1967 and 1973, the Velvet Underground cast a shadow far longer than their record sales suggested. Their influence seeped into communes in Germany, student occupations in Japan, squats in London, and art‑school basements across the U.S. This box set gathers the fragments — rehearsal tapes, private press singles, and half‑remembered performances — that reveal how the Velvets’ drone, repetition, and confrontational minimalism mutated across continents.

These recordings are not polished. They are raw, unstable, and often recorded on failing equipment. But they capture something essential: the moment when rock music cracked open and let the noise spill out.

DISC 1 LINER NOTES — European Shadows

Amon Düül: The Commune as Amplifier

Before Amon Düül II refined the sound, the original Amon Düül commune produced hours of chaotic, ecstatic improvisation. Most tapes were believed lost or taped over. The two recordings here — “Improvisation für Grau Morgen” and “Untitled Commune Jam #3” — come from a box labeled “Nicht benutzen” found in a Munich attic in the late 1990s.

The Velvets’ influence is unmistakable: the single‑chord vamp, the trance‑like percussion, the sense of ritual.

Zweistein & Limbus 3

These groups approached drone as a spiritual practice. Their recordings feel like the Velvets’ “Black Angel’s Death Song” stretched into 20‑minute meditations.

Pre‑Faust: The Wümme Experiments

Before Faust’s debut, the Wümme collective created tape loops and industrial textures that echo the Velvets’ fascination with repetition and noise. “Tape Loop Study #2” is one of the earliest surviving examples.

DISC 2 LINER NOTES — Japan: Before the Noise Broke

Hadaka no Rallizes: The Missing Years

The earliest Rallizes recordings are notoriously elusive. These tracks — sourced from student‑movement rehearsal rooms and a Tachikawa airbase protest — show the band before they became legends of distortion. The Velvets’ shadow is long here: the monotone vocals, the hypnotic bass, the sheets of feedback.

Zuno Keisatsu & Taj Mahal Travellers

Both groups absorbed the Velvets’ experimental ethos but pushed it into political and psychedelic territory. “Black Helmet Blues” is a rare rehearsal where the band sounds almost like a Japanese “Run Run Run.”

DISC 3 LINER NOTES — UK Ghost Circuits

COMET: The Great Lost British Velvets Band**

Little documentation survives of COMET, a short‑lived London group active around 1970–71. They were known for marathon covers of “Sister Ray,” sometimes stretching past 25 minutes. Their rehearsal tapes — rough, overloaded, and thrilling — show a band trying to channel the Velvets through the lens of the MC5 and Beefheart.

Their version of “Dropout Boogie” is particularly unhinged: a collapsing blues riff held together by sheer volume.

The Deviants & Pink Fairies

These groups were the Velvets’ spiritual cousins in the UK: anarchic, noisy, and defiantly uncommercial. The rehearsal fragments included here capture their rawest moments.

DISC 4 LINER NOTES — American Basement Reverberations

The Index & The Godz

American underground groups absorbed the Velvets’ influence in different ways: some embraced drone, others noise, others a kind of proto‑punk minimalism. The Index’s “Raw Nerve” is a perfect example — a single riff hammered into transcendence.

The Up & The Hackamores

Detroit’s The Up were overshadowed by the MC5 and Stooges, but their rehearsal tapes reveal a band deeply attuned to the Velvets’ rhythmic insistence. The Hackamores, meanwhile, sound like a Midwestern cousin to “European Son.”

Velvet Illusions — “Grey City”

       1. A rare demo showing the band’s darker side.

The Hackamores — “Drone in E”

      1. A basement recording that could almost be a lost Velvets rehearsal.

Boston Dropout Band — “Subway Heat”

      1. A gritty urban blues filtered through art‑school sensibilities.

Chicago Art Ensemble Rock Unit — “Metal on Metal”

1. Free‑jazz textures collide with rock rhythms.

📜 LONGER HISTORICAL ESSAY — “Echoes in the Underground: The Velvet Underground’s Secret Legacy, 1967–1973”

When the Velvet Underground released their debut album in 1967, it sold poorly. Critics were baffled. Radio ignored it. Yet beneath the surface, something extraordinary was happening: the band was quietly rewiring the DNA of underground music across continents.

The Velvets’ influence spread not through charts or magazines but through tape trading, word of mouth, and the mythic power of their live shows. Students, radicals, artists, and commune dwellers found in the Velvets a blueprint for a new kind of music — one that embraced noise, repetition, minimalism, and emotional honesty.

In Germany, communes like Amon Düül saw the Velvets as proof that music could be collective, ecstatic, and unpolished. Their marathon jams echoed the trance‑like qualities of “Sister Ray,” transforming it into something uniquely German.

In Japan, the student movement embraced the Velvets’ darkness and intensity. Early Rallizes recordings capture a band channeling the political tension of the era through sheets of feedback. Meanwhile, groups like Zuno Keisatsu and Taj Mahal Travellers absorbed the Velvets’ experimental ethos and pushed it into new territory.

In the UK, art‑school bands and squat‑scene misfits found liberation in the Velvets’ refusal to conform. COMET’s marathon covers of “Sister Ray” became legendary among those who witnessed them. The Deviants and Pink Fairies carried the Velvets’ anarchic spirit into the British counterculture.

In the U.S., the Velvets’ influence seeped into basements and garages. The Index, The Godz, and countless forgotten groups absorbed the band’s minimalism and noise, creating proto‑punk long before the term existed.

This box set captures that hidden history — the shadow network of musicians who heard the Velvets not as a curiosity but as a revelation. These recordings are rough, unstable, and often barely preserved, but they document a moment when rock music cracked open and let the noise spill out.

The Velvet Underground may not have sold many records in their time, but as Brian Eno famously said, everyone who bought one started a band. This collection is the proof.

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📸 PHOTO SECTION (TEXT DESCRIPTIONS)

Photo 1 — Amon Düül Commune, 1968

A grainy black-and-white shot of long-haired commune members sitting cross-legged on a floor covered in cables, a single microphone dangling from the ceiling.

Photo 2 — Hadaka no Rallizes, Tachikawa 1969

A blurred image of Mizutani mid‑feedback, the crowd half‑visible behind a haze of cigarette smoke.

Photo 3 — COMET at The Greyhound, 1971**

The band on a tiny stage, amps stacked precariously, the bassist wearing sunglasses indoors.

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