As you can obviously see if you only check this post out, there really ain't that much for me to crow about this week. I guess that my overall lethargy with regards to giving you a jam-packed post is nothing but a combination of da winter blooze combined with a general laziness, not forgetting the lack of any real impetus to go out and snag some new high energy, resensifying music which is in such scarce supply these days. Not that I expect the world of rock & roll to return to its previous heights of glory from the late-fifties up until whenever it petered out faster'n you can say chuckeddyisaputz (no later'n '68 on an overground level, '81 at the latest underground-wise) but SHEESH, I would have expected more'n a few torchbearers out there to have been keeping the cause alive somehow, someway! And although it may seem rather outta date for a pimplepudge such as I to even care here in the not-so-glorious year of 2013, you know that I still harbor perhaps an inkling of passion, desire and even some hope that there will be a renaissance in rock heading out way very soon. Gee, I kinda feel like Chaing Kai Shemp or whatever his name was rallying the Taiwanese troops by tellin' 'em that this was gonna be their year to finally conquer the Mainland, for the thirtieth year in a row!
***Now for some GOOD news! Got an email from none other than GREG PREVOST this past Tuesday, and it turns out that he's now got a new web site which I've graciously linked up on the left side because it does need to be publicized! I spent a few minutes goin' through it and found his linkup to be really informative, complete with an autobio and rare snaps of the guy which will split your eyes open wider'n the time Luis Bunuel did the razor treatment on that lady in UN CHIEN ANDALOU...if you wanna know what Greg looked like in his high stool yearbook now's your chance, but don't say you weren't warned! (Actually he looks typically early-seventies-ish, but that's only because he had his long locks put into a ponytail!!!) Can't wait to comb through the rest of the site because hey, what else is there to do on this web 'cept for bidding on scratchy Cee-Dees and looking at topless Tahitian maiden postcards?
***And now what you've been waiting for, a whole buncha neat capsule-like reviews (mainly because everybody thinks I'm such a long-windy-kinda guy, and what else is new?) that I hope you can squeeze some knowledge and value outta the same way you squeeze a blackhead until you get that li'l drop of bloody water extracted 'n it feels so good it's almost like your pore's singing the sextet from LUCIA. Some goodies here and maybe even a surprise there, even though the only one I could really care to mention with regards to this post is that this must be the first time in history where both Magma and Smegma were reviewed in such close proximity! As my father would say, "Lead on, MacDuff!"
Miles Davis-DOUBLE IMAGE CD-R burn (originally on Moon Records, Italy)
Dunno if this is the same Moon Records that also issued a neat Ornette Coleman bootleg back in the eighties, but if it is you can tell that this particular label was built on dissonance if anything. And for a guy who was knocking the jazz avant garde to smithereens in the infamous Leonard Feather-helmed DOWN BEAT blindfold test of 1965, he and his band (including Jack DeJohnette, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland and a pre-e-metered Chick Corea) sure lay pretty free on these sides that were originally recorded for Eyetalian radio. Great in/out playing that roams between fusion and the "new thing" that Davis had once so vehemently rejected, typical sounding of that period in Davis' career when it seemed as if Columbia was releasing his albums just about every other week.
Erkin Koray-MECHUL-SINGLES AND RARITIES CD-R burn (originally on Sublime Frequencies)
I dunno, I just got this "thing" about Turkish people. Every times I think of 'em, all that comes to mind are a bunch of burly sailors on leave who are more than anxious to turn your anus into the Grand Canyon. The second thing that comes to mind is their penchant for rather heavy and downright sick pornography, none of which I actually have seen mind you but word does get out. Maybe that's why I've been avoiding this Erkin Koray guy, the "Jimi Hendrix of Turkey"'s work for so long, other than he was actually called the Jimi Hendrix of Turkey in the first place.
All kidding aside, I still gotta say that this collection of singles and rarities didn't quite excite me the way I was hoping it would. Electric saz sounds to enticing y'know, but for the most part the music Koray performs sounds like commercial late-sixties pop with a mid-eastern twang to it. Kinda Greek-sounding in many ways, but don't tell any Greeks I said that. Some nice tricks here/there but nothing comes even close to breaking through that barrier between music that's "there" and something that's in the process of "becoming" (or at least can get your lobes off in varying degrees of aural stimulation).
Various Artists-GRANNY'S MINI-SKIRT; ODDBALL 45's AND ALBUM CUTS, CELEBRITY RECORDS, VANITY RECORDS, ETC. A RICH AND FROTHY MIX!!!!!! CR-R burn (no label)
Bizarroid collection sent in by Bill Shute featuring everything from two sides of an Irene Ryan quickie cash-in single to a Dick Cavett/Mel Brooks radio commercial for Ballantine beer not forgetting a number of covers that sound so bad only Mike Douglas coulda done 'em worse. Some high-larity is in store, such as with nine-year-old Michelle Cody's "Merry Christmas Elvis," and while we're talking Christmas you sure wouldn't mind hearing Mae West singing a Christmas ditty to a 1966 garage band beat nor Kay Martin's hot-for-Santa moaner. After giving all of these a go all I can say is Bill, you have a pretty warped sense of humor!
The Velvet Underground--LIVE AT THE END OF COLE AVENUE, THE FIRST NIGHT 2-CD set (Keyhole England, available through Forced Exposure)
It's nice that I don't have to replace my cracked up copy (disques fine, case mutilated straight from the bootleg distributors) of this once-very limited edition live set, but if memory serves didn't the original numbered variation sound a whole lot crisper'n this supposedly legit take? And for that matter better mastered as well??? Performance-wise this is the Velvets at their Doug Yule period best (even if that particular era is already over-documented) complete with a neat free-form after hours jam through various Velvet riffisms you won't be able to hear elsewhere. But if """""I""""" were in charge do you think this 'un woulda sounded a whole lot better'n it does? NOT ON YOUR NELLIE!
Smegma-MIRAGE CD (Important Records, available through Forced Exposure)
Impressive newie (with a ca. 1973 track just to sweeten the pot) that takes the standard Smegma layer upon layer of sound and spits out a music that reminds me of Italian Futurists and crazed dadaists meeting up with the best demo tape Bizarre/Straight ever received before dumping it in the waste can. Better ebb 'n flow than The Grateful Dead ever came up with, which on one hand takes everything good the sixties ever had to offer us from the Art Ensemble of Chicago to Ventures, yet on the other a total rejection of the entire kit 'n caboodle and with a vengeance!. Another mysterious miasma courtesy these guys, and the only fault that I can find in it is...once again no R. Meltzer!
Dunno if this is the same Moon Records that also issued a neat Ornette Coleman bootleg back in the eighties, but if it is you can tell that this particular label was built on dissonance if anything. And for a guy who was knocking the jazz avant garde to smithereens in the infamous Leonard Feather-helmed DOWN BEAT blindfold test of 1965, he and his band (including Jack DeJohnette, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland and a pre-e-metered Chick Corea) sure lay pretty free on these sides that were originally recorded for Eyetalian radio. Great in/out playing that roams between fusion and the "new thing" that Davis had once so vehemently rejected, typical sounding of that period in Davis' career when it seemed as if Columbia was releasing his albums just about every other week.
***
I dunno, I just got this "thing" about Turkish people. Every times I think of 'em, all that comes to mind are a bunch of burly sailors on leave who are more than anxious to turn your anus into the Grand Canyon. The second thing that comes to mind is their penchant for rather heavy and downright sick pornography, none of which I actually have seen mind you but word does get out. Maybe that's why I've been avoiding this Erkin Koray guy, the "Jimi Hendrix of Turkey"'s work for so long, other than he was actually called the Jimi Hendrix of Turkey in the first place.
All kidding aside, I still gotta say that this collection of singles and rarities didn't quite excite me the way I was hoping it would. Electric saz sounds to enticing y'know, but for the most part the music Koray performs sounds like commercial late-sixties pop with a mid-eastern twang to it. Kinda Greek-sounding in many ways, but don't tell any Greeks I said that. Some nice tricks here/there but nothing comes even close to breaking through that barrier between music that's "there" and something that's in the process of "becoming" (or at least can get your lobes off in varying degrees of aural stimulation).
***
Bizarroid collection sent in by Bill Shute featuring everything from two sides of an Irene Ryan quickie cash-in single to a Dick Cavett/Mel Brooks radio commercial for Ballantine beer not forgetting a number of covers that sound so bad only Mike Douglas coulda done 'em worse. Some high-larity is in store, such as with nine-year-old Michelle Cody's "Merry Christmas Elvis," and while we're talking Christmas you sure wouldn't mind hearing Mae West singing a Christmas ditty to a 1966 garage band beat nor Kay Martin's hot-for-Santa moaner. After giving all of these a go all I can say is Bill, you have a pretty warped sense of humor!
***
The Velvet Underground--LIVE AT THE END OF COLE AVENUE, THE FIRST NIGHT 2-CD set (Keyhole England, available through Forced Exposure)It's nice that I don't have to replace my cracked up copy (disques fine, case mutilated straight from the bootleg distributors) of this once-very limited edition live set, but if memory serves didn't the original numbered variation sound a whole lot crisper'n this supposedly legit take? And for that matter better mastered as well??? Performance-wise this is the Velvets at their Doug Yule period best (even if that particular era is already over-documented) complete with a neat free-form after hours jam through various Velvet riffisms you won't be able to hear elsewhere. But if """""I""""" were in charge do you think this 'un woulda sounded a whole lot better'n it does? NOT ON YOUR NELLIE!
***
Smegma-MIRAGE CD (Important Records, available through Forced Exposure)Impressive newie (with a ca. 1973 track just to sweeten the pot) that takes the standard Smegma layer upon layer of sound and spits out a music that reminds me of Italian Futurists and crazed dadaists meeting up with the best demo tape Bizarre/Straight ever received before dumping it in the waste can. Better ebb 'n flow than The Grateful Dead ever came up with, which on one hand takes everything good the sixties ever had to offer us from the Art Ensemble of Chicago to Ventures, yet on the other a total rejection of the entire kit 'n caboodle and with a vengeance!. Another mysterious miasma courtesy these guys, and the only fault that I can find in it is...once again no R. Meltzer!
***
Given that Magma never were a top ten spinner here at BLOG TO COMM headquarters it wasn't like I was exactly plannin' on picking up more of their records any time soon. However, a mention of 'em, positive at that, by Lester Bangs via a CREEM rejection slip sent to none other than Eddie Flowers (which is available for viewing on Eddie's own website) had me doin' a li'l reconsiderin'. Judging from the ones he sent Flowers, Bangs really knew how to write nice rejection slips which even included bits and pieces of solid information regarding the guy, and if he was willing to go out on a limb to give the thumbs up to Magma well...I know I was kinda burnt by his Tasavallan Presidentti review but it ain't like I've totally written the legacy off, y'know? Maybe Bangs had something going with his Magma insight, and you all know that I'm so hungry for rock et roll in the day and age that I'll try just about anything even if it means being burned by old Omega albums that Passport released over here in order to cash in on the Euro Rock hype of '74/5!
Gotta say that hey, Bangs was right again...KOHNTARKOSZ is a winner in a European '70s rock scene kinda way, almost as spacist as Can and Amon Duul II but definitely in their own realm. This is kinda like a fusion Sun Ra, only with a white European sensibility and some pretty neat chops that sound like everything you heard about the whole DOWN BEAT-hyped jazz scene, only better.
Manic atonal fury is followed by quiet segments that fortunately don't decay into Gnu Age tinkerings. The horns that made their debut sound sooo Chicago are fortunately gone, and I can THANKFULLY sit through the entire platter w/o having to distort my sense of values trying to find something here that I hope I really like! A keeper for sure which I'm quite surprised A&M (home of the Carpenters, Cat Stevens and many a seventies slop pop disaster) actually had the peanads to release back in the days when things were so open in the world of major labeldom that even Anthony Braxton managed to finagle a deal!
***Uh, like maybe next Wednesday or so? Only if I can manage to crawl outta this gigantic crater of funk I've obviously tumbled into...
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