Sorry that this post is thinner than an English sex manual but...uh...well, it IS mudder's day, a day where Brad Kohler goes to the track and hopes it rains enough so that he has a chance to win back some of the $57,942 he lost the previous year and maybe even year before for that matter. The rest of us will just have to settle back and cajole our mothers to cook up a huge meal because hey, it is their day and we don't want to let them feel like they're about as useful around the house as Karen Quinlan.
As far as other things in mine life go well, there just aren't any major two-minute hates or axes to grind pressuring me at this point...though I guarantee you that by this time next week there'll probably be enough to burn a whole slew of pixels off this computer screen but good! So until I get all lathered up, howzbout reading these reviews of some items that have been scorching my stirrups as of these past seven days...
Led Zeppelin-DISTURBANCE HOUSE bootleg 2-CD set (Wendy, Japan)
Nah, I still wouldn't call myself a Led Zeppelin lunkhead by any stretch of the imagination, but that detail in the Nick Kent autobio regarding the group's December '72 Cardiff show (the one where Zep began to use Kent as a verbal punching bag before the budding NME contributor let off with the ultimate nerve-grating insult regarding the group's frequent swiping from various blues artists) had me palpitating as to just what a crazo show that must've been. Especially with the version of "Louie Louie" the band whipped up which sounded like "the four horsemen of the apocalypse inventing the concept of testosterone driven punk rock" that got stuck in between one of many Zep meandering that produced more'n a few oldies but goodies covers. The Cardiff show only survives in part and it might not even contain this potentially paint peeling version of the Kingsmen classic, but this gig from the same British Isles tour does survive and well, it wasn't exactly what I was anticipating with baited breath.
The audience sound actually gives this a nice, distant, rough feeling that I can appreciate, but the performance isn't exactly whatcha'd call as firing on all heart valves as I woulda hoped. The rawness of the sound does take the gloss off of the more proggy aspects of Zep's early-seventies approach (if only they could have been as non-adept as Rotomagus if not Les Rallizes Denudes) while signs of tour wear do show up in the overall performance, but they manage to trudge through a variety of old and then-new numbers with varying results. And hey, I still do have a rather strong compunction spinning "Stairway to Heaven" even if that song has thankfully not graced my ears for a good two-plus decades (until this very night...gotta do my doody y'know), but I really can't complain that much considering some of the gunk that had come outta the world of metallic schmooze in the wake of the early-seventies collapse of the form which actually makes "Stairway" sound kinda...feh!
At least there's a cutback on those horrid appreciations of da blooze and Robert Plant seems to cool it with the Janis-inspired "wah wahs" to a fair minimum, so it can't be that bad. Can it?
Fadensonnen-BADLANDS 12-inch 45 rpm record (One Hand)
Outta (practically) nowhere and onto your turntable comes this dandy art/rock package from none other'n one of our favorite modern-day practitioners of the scronk form, Fadensonnen! If you're interested in something successful in the way of avant-energy musings that wasn't recorded forty-eight years ago this be thee reel deel, and as I've told you many a time these limited-edition releases (this one only 250 vinyl-wise via the can't -believe-they're-even-allowed-to-exist One Hand label) dwell into soundscapading areas that definitely would upset more'n a few prim and proper rock applecarts out there in prissyland. As usual, hearing this on vinyl comes off as such a delight with those warn drones sounding even warmer...if such a term can be applied to the total guitar distorto/electronic rock that Fadensonnen has been releasing for quite a few years now already.
One that might just snuggle into your album collection a lot more comfier than you think, if you slip it in between METAL MACHINE MUSIC and VINCEBUS ERUPTUM.
The Crunch-BUSY MAKING NOISE CD-r burn (originally on Legal, Sweden)
I really am glad that old punks never die, but I sure with that the recordings they had made since at least 1982 (and earlier!) had a whole lot more snizzle and snap'n this! Actually this is decent power pop that woulda earned a special berth in that BOMP! magazine special oh so long ago, but frankly it all comes off like the second string stuff I would have been listening to ca. 1980 if and only when I couldn't find my MX-80 Sound or Pere Ubu platters. If you still swoon steadily over the Records, you might find this one right up your ever-expanding alley.
Al Jolson-ACOUSTIC RECORDINGS 1912-1920 CD-r burn
Dunno if this is a copy of a bonafeed release or something Bill Shute gathered up via the web, but whatever it is it's a good selection of early Jolson at his wowzerst doing them songs that really knew how to bring a tear to your Aunt Flabby's face. And why not because ya gotta admit that Jolson really had the talent to drive that soulful oomph deep 'n hard into a couple of generations that were more human'n the sad species that's wallowing among us these days.
It's sure nice to hear some really emotional (not in an abusive Huffpo way) and melodic music once in awhile that sorta balances out the atonal metallic clang which is such a part and parcel of my life, and listening to the man strut his way through such weepers as "Hello Central, Give Me No Man's Land" kinda makes me wonder where did we go wrong??? (Personal favorite of the batch just has to be "My Little Yellow Jacket Girl", for obvious reasons.)
I really do get the feeling that Bus Eubanks himself is sure glad I'm spending the Sunday afternoon I'm reviewing this the way he sure intended it to be spent back when he was doing his old A TIME FOR REMINISCENCE (preceded by MEMORIES) on WPIC-AM back inna early seventies! That being right before everything switched over to top 40 and some weird mystical spell he cast was broken until next time.
HONKY TONK (1929), VITAPHONE SOUND DISCS FOR LOST EARLY-SOUND FILM STARRING THE INIMITABLE SOPHIE TUCKER CD-r burn
Heck I gave Jolson some space so why not Sophie Tucker? All that survives of this particular film feature's a buncha scratchy discs, but what a buncha scratchy discs they are since they not only give you more'n a good idea of what this moom pitcher was about, but they feature plenny of that hot jazzy finger-waggin' music that Tucker was best known for.
The plot ain't anything that'll get yer average Pauline Kael all bubbly but it suits me fine (jazz singin' mama's flapper daughter comes home from school in Europe and finds out mom's a night club floozie and doesn't want anything to do with her, mom's all sad but it works out inna end) and the music is about as toe-tapping as ya can stand what with "I'm Doing What I Do For Love" and "I'm The Last of the Red Hot Mamas" coming off a whole lot more oomph'n the past thirty years of sexually explicit pop slop that's about as exciting as a gynecology textbook (OK, I'm sure that's all many of you readers had in hand when trying to relieve those inner pressures back in the good ol days!). And even if you can't see the thing, hearing it's just as snat as well. I'm reminded of a hot summer's night watching OLD MOVIES, THE GOLDEN ERA on channel 25 outta Cleveland when I couldn't pick up the pic too good but the sound was slightly audible, and for me that's about as nostalgic as I can get about anything these days!
As a bonus, Bill snuck on the disc from the trailer as well as some Euro-only things that you might like enough if you think that the rest of the film was boffo classic early-talkie fodder that's so obscure even TCM wouldn't dare show it other'n three inna morning!
The Ketamines-SPACED OUT 12-inch 45 r.p.m. record (Mammoth Cave Recording Company)
As far as these neuvo garage band releases go, this is not bad at all! Yeah, I and I assume you got tired of all of those rote imitation garage revivalists of the eighties who, despite their blessed hearts, never really captured the energy and emotion of the mid-sixties variety, but sometimes these acts came up with more'n a few brilliant gems that sound swell even to this day. And so do the Ketamines (wonder why Bona Fide Records haven't sued over the name) even if their traipses into psychedelic territory might make 'em a little too "inauthentic" for some of the pickier BLOG TO COMM readers out there.
Odes to the late-sixties can be heard from the sampled opening of "Magic Carpet Ride" to the rather "Don't Fear The Reaper"-ish via mid-eighties Droogs styling, and if you're one to go for that particular brand of late-sixties hotcha then the Ketamines might just be the band for you. Smooth enough that your standard iron-haired gravestone-rubbing gal woulda spun this incessantly while reading Rod McKuen, while I could imagine this 'un getting repeated spins at the Hell's Angels gang-bang taking place across town in one of those beat up old houses your granma used to live in. The Ketamines really got the moves that'll affect both ends of the late-sixties teenage gulcheral spectrum and hey, they even work a good forty-five years down the line as well!
Don't let the Linda Ronstadt lookalike on the cover frighten you away...this is a platter you won't mind buying, downloading or pilfering from your friends and I do mean it.
Wau y los Arrrgh.....-TODO ROTO CD-r burn (originally on Slovenly)
Not to be confused with Wah Heat or Evelyn Waugh for that matter, Wau y los Arrrgh..... do the six-oh fuzz buzz a whole lot better'n some of the recent practitioners of the form who definitely do take on the superficial aspects of the quest. As I said in the previous review, many of those neo-garage acts sure failed in capturing the wilder sides of those primal 'n raw bands that were cluttering up the mid-sixties like boils on a German's face, but these Spaniards crank it out hard and energetic-like with all of the power and vox sounds you liked in your older sisters' scratched up teenybop single collection. Not quite in the stellar gunch realm of the Sonics, but it gets there.
Various Artists-TREMBLING PIXIE IN A HAPPY MOOD CD-r burn (via Bill Shute)
Nize selection featuring everything from local yokels like Eddie Heywood and Lynn Reed to exotics like Gene Rains and selections from the other side of town (the Consolers, Marva Whitney and Vivian Copeland). The international set will be pleased by the appearance of the famed Italian slut Mina doing some early-sixties dagopop while the Modern Age's "Bullfrog Rock" does the fifties country via seventies rock twang almost as good as New Legion Rock Spectacular. My fave of the batch undoubtedly has to be the Soupy Sales "Macarthur Park" spoof that'll have you laughing harder'n the time your dog just happened to get the whiff of a local bitch in heat and your little nephew thought that Rover hadda go to the bathroom.
As far as other things in mine life go well, there just aren't any major two-minute hates or axes to grind pressuring me at this point...though I guarantee you that by this time next week there'll probably be enough to burn a whole slew of pixels off this computer screen but good! So until I get all lathered up, howzbout reading these reviews of some items that have been scorching my stirrups as of these past seven days...
Nah, I still wouldn't call myself a Led Zeppelin lunkhead by any stretch of the imagination, but that detail in the Nick Kent autobio regarding the group's December '72 Cardiff show (the one where Zep began to use Kent as a verbal punching bag before the budding NME contributor let off with the ultimate nerve-grating insult regarding the group's frequent swiping from various blues artists) had me palpitating as to just what a crazo show that must've been. Especially with the version of "Louie Louie" the band whipped up which sounded like "the four horsemen of the apocalypse inventing the concept of testosterone driven punk rock" that got stuck in between one of many Zep meandering that produced more'n a few oldies but goodies covers. The Cardiff show only survives in part and it might not even contain this potentially paint peeling version of the Kingsmen classic, but this gig from the same British Isles tour does survive and well, it wasn't exactly what I was anticipating with baited breath.
The audience sound actually gives this a nice, distant, rough feeling that I can appreciate, but the performance isn't exactly whatcha'd call as firing on all heart valves as I woulda hoped. The rawness of the sound does take the gloss off of the more proggy aspects of Zep's early-seventies approach (if only they could have been as non-adept as Rotomagus if not Les Rallizes Denudes) while signs of tour wear do show up in the overall performance, but they manage to trudge through a variety of old and then-new numbers with varying results. And hey, I still do have a rather strong compunction spinning "Stairway to Heaven" even if that song has thankfully not graced my ears for a good two-plus decades (until this very night...gotta do my doody y'know), but I really can't complain that much considering some of the gunk that had come outta the world of metallic schmooze in the wake of the early-seventies collapse of the form which actually makes "Stairway" sound kinda...feh!
At least there's a cutback on those horrid appreciations of da blooze and Robert Plant seems to cool it with the Janis-inspired "wah wahs" to a fair minimum, so it can't be that bad. Can it?
***
Outta (practically) nowhere and onto your turntable comes this dandy art/rock package from none other'n one of our favorite modern-day practitioners of the scronk form, Fadensonnen! If you're interested in something successful in the way of avant-energy musings that wasn't recorded forty-eight years ago this be thee reel deel, and as I've told you many a time these limited-edition releases (this one only 250 vinyl-wise via the can't -believe-they're-even-allowed-to-exist One Hand label) dwell into soundscapading areas that definitely would upset more'n a few prim and proper rock applecarts out there in prissyland. As usual, hearing this on vinyl comes off as such a delight with those warn drones sounding even warmer...if such a term can be applied to the total guitar distorto/electronic rock that Fadensonnen has been releasing for quite a few years now already.
One that might just snuggle into your album collection a lot more comfier than you think, if you slip it in between METAL MACHINE MUSIC and VINCEBUS ERUPTUM.
***
I really am glad that old punks never die, but I sure with that the recordings they had made since at least 1982 (and earlier!) had a whole lot more snizzle and snap'n this! Actually this is decent power pop that woulda earned a special berth in that BOMP! magazine special oh so long ago, but frankly it all comes off like the second string stuff I would have been listening to ca. 1980 if and only when I couldn't find my MX-80 Sound or Pere Ubu platters. If you still swoon steadily over the Records, you might find this one right up your ever-expanding alley.
***
Dunno if this is a copy of a bonafeed release or something Bill Shute gathered up via the web, but whatever it is it's a good selection of early Jolson at his wowzerst doing them songs that really knew how to bring a tear to your Aunt Flabby's face. And why not because ya gotta admit that Jolson really had the talent to drive that soulful oomph deep 'n hard into a couple of generations that were more human'n the sad species that's wallowing among us these days.
It's sure nice to hear some really emotional (not in an abusive Huffpo way) and melodic music once in awhile that sorta balances out the atonal metallic clang which is such a part and parcel of my life, and listening to the man strut his way through such weepers as "Hello Central, Give Me No Man's Land" kinda makes me wonder where did we go wrong??? (Personal favorite of the batch just has to be "My Little Yellow Jacket Girl", for obvious reasons.)
I really do get the feeling that Bus Eubanks himself is sure glad I'm spending the Sunday afternoon I'm reviewing this the way he sure intended it to be spent back when he was doing his old A TIME FOR REMINISCENCE (preceded by MEMORIES) on WPIC-AM back inna early seventies! That being right before everything switched over to top 40 and some weird mystical spell he cast was broken until next time.
***
Heck I gave Jolson some space so why not Sophie Tucker? All that survives of this particular film feature's a buncha scratchy discs, but what a buncha scratchy discs they are since they not only give you more'n a good idea of what this moom pitcher was about, but they feature plenny of that hot jazzy finger-waggin' music that Tucker was best known for.
The plot ain't anything that'll get yer average Pauline Kael all bubbly but it suits me fine (jazz singin' mama's flapper daughter comes home from school in Europe and finds out mom's a night club floozie and doesn't want anything to do with her, mom's all sad but it works out inna end) and the music is about as toe-tapping as ya can stand what with "I'm Doing What I Do For Love" and "I'm The Last of the Red Hot Mamas" coming off a whole lot more oomph'n the past thirty years of sexually explicit pop slop that's about as exciting as a gynecology textbook (OK, I'm sure that's all many of you readers had in hand when trying to relieve those inner pressures back in the good ol days!). And even if you can't see the thing, hearing it's just as snat as well. I'm reminded of a hot summer's night watching OLD MOVIES, THE GOLDEN ERA on channel 25 outta Cleveland when I couldn't pick up the pic too good but the sound was slightly audible, and for me that's about as nostalgic as I can get about anything these days!
As a bonus, Bill snuck on the disc from the trailer as well as some Euro-only things that you might like enough if you think that the rest of the film was boffo classic early-talkie fodder that's so obscure even TCM wouldn't dare show it other'n three inna morning!
***
As far as these neuvo garage band releases go, this is not bad at all! Yeah, I and I assume you got tired of all of those rote imitation garage revivalists of the eighties who, despite their blessed hearts, never really captured the energy and emotion of the mid-sixties variety, but sometimes these acts came up with more'n a few brilliant gems that sound swell even to this day. And so do the Ketamines (wonder why Bona Fide Records haven't sued over the name) even if their traipses into psychedelic territory might make 'em a little too "inauthentic" for some of the pickier BLOG TO COMM readers out there.
Odes to the late-sixties can be heard from the sampled opening of "Magic Carpet Ride" to the rather "Don't Fear The Reaper"-ish via mid-eighties Droogs styling, and if you're one to go for that particular brand of late-sixties hotcha then the Ketamines might just be the band for you. Smooth enough that your standard iron-haired gravestone-rubbing gal woulda spun this incessantly while reading Rod McKuen, while I could imagine this 'un getting repeated spins at the Hell's Angels gang-bang taking place across town in one of those beat up old houses your granma used to live in. The Ketamines really got the moves that'll affect both ends of the late-sixties teenage gulcheral spectrum and hey, they even work a good forty-five years down the line as well!
Don't let the Linda Ronstadt lookalike on the cover frighten you away...this is a platter you won't mind buying, downloading or pilfering from your friends and I do mean it.
***
Not to be confused with Wah Heat or Evelyn Waugh for that matter, Wau y los Arrrgh..... do the six-oh fuzz buzz a whole lot better'n some of the recent practitioners of the form who definitely do take on the superficial aspects of the quest. As I said in the previous review, many of those neo-garage acts sure failed in capturing the wilder sides of those primal 'n raw bands that were cluttering up the mid-sixties like boils on a German's face, but these Spaniards crank it out hard and energetic-like with all of the power and vox sounds you liked in your older sisters' scratched up teenybop single collection. Not quite in the stellar gunch realm of the Sonics, but it gets there.
***
Nize selection featuring everything from local yokels like Eddie Heywood and Lynn Reed to exotics like Gene Rains and selections from the other side of town (the Consolers, Marva Whitney and Vivian Copeland). The international set will be pleased by the appearance of the famed Italian slut Mina doing some early-sixties dagopop while the Modern Age's "Bullfrog Rock" does the fifties country via seventies rock twang almost as good as New Legion Rock Spectacular. My fave of the batch undoubtedly has to be the Soupy Sales "Macarthur Park" spoof that'll have you laughing harder'n the time your dog just happened to get the whiff of a local bitch in heat and your little nephew thought that Rover hadda go to the bathroom.
***Once again a happy mothers day to you and yours, and in honor of those who are in the process of popping out a kid whether it be your first or (if you're an Iranian) your fifteenth I am going to do something rather obvious if slightly funny, like skip a period Have a good day!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words as always Chris.
The beautiful art edition vinyl is still (hopefully) available via One Hand Records - cd is available from the band's website at fadensonnen-music.blogspot.com and digital download is available via the bandcamp page at fadensonnen.bandcamp.com.
A lot more to follow in the upcoming year.