Don't expect anything that I would call eye-opening or revelatory (yeah, I made that word up!) in this post. But then again, what else is new??? Let's just say that it was one of those weeks, a week that was so nada that I didn't even feel like grabbing one of those burns that Bob Forward sent me that's how nada the past seven days were for me. I did play a few items that both Bill Shute and Brad Kohler sent so it wasn't like a total loss, plus I did get a nifty freebee from Guerrsen in Spain which naturally makes me feel all the more impor-TANT! knowing that my personal opines matter more'n just to a person such as myself! Thanks for the spiritual uplift, Guerrsen!
Various Artists-COLOGNE CURIOSITIES---THE UNKNOWN KRAUT ROCK UNDERGROUND, 1972-1976 CD (Mental Experience, Spain)
Wish I had the liner notes to this freebee courtesy the people at Guerrsen Records if only to dig up some info on the so low they're under the bunker acts that appear on this sampler. Originally recorded for the obscurer than obscure Pyramid label, these curiosities do add a bit of dimension to the overall German Expressionist outlook that captured more'n a few import bin imaginations during the seventies.
The Astral Army do a good over-moog'd neo-punkish pop rock while Spirulina drift off into repeato riff dream music that you could see more'n a few heads in your pithy neighborhood shooting up to. Chronos blast out some rather intricate sorta-metal that vaguely reminds me of MX-80 Sound while Neil Andersen shoulda been sued by Achim Reichel and Machines. The aptly-named Baal do the occult rock thing sounding something like Iggy mighta during his mid-seventies El Lay jaunt (the vocals veer way close to Der Igster to make me think it was all just a "coincidence") and Ten to Zen oddly enough come off as the ultimo three-way meeting point between Kraftwerk, French progressive electronics and Metal Urbain. Closing out the whole shebang is Fuerrote who do the Cluster musique concrete thing pretty snat-like even throwing some weird guitar noodling in towards the end for good measure!
I guess there's more to this kraut thing than meets the ohrs and hopefully more will come out. Well, I sure could use some more of these acts in my life, and I get the feeling you probably do as well!
Chet Baker and the Lighthouse All-Stars-WITCH DOCTOR CD-r burn (originally on Contemporary)
This '53 recording is just a tad outside of my personal radarscope but it still has enough of that West Coast drive to it that makes it an ear-popper in my own personal playlist. Of course you gotta get that whole weird mystique about the guy outta your bean before you can really enjoy something like this, but even if you know the guy's history and legend and alla those things that are just jam-packed into dullsville biopics this does make for a strikingly good spin. Features some of the creem of the local West Coast crop including Jimmy Giuffre and Shelly Manne not forgetting Max Roach before he really began spouting the strange philosophical rant. Contains a version of "Winter Wonderland" that just might conjure up old Christmastime memories in your turdler-obsessed mind, but I kinda doubt it.
Eric Clapton-OLD SOCK CD-r burn (originally on Bushbranch)
Well, I guess that if Bob Dylan could record a whole buncha old-tymey tracks that hearken back to the pre-rock 'n roll days Eric Clapton could as well. However, no Nobel Prize will come from this 'un. Since I ain't exactly been following Clapton's recording career it ain't like I have anything to judge this particular platter by, but I am kinda surprised to hear him milking the same ol' reggae riffs this far down the line. The rest might get your grandpappy thinkin' that the kids have finally come to their senses. Hopefully it will have the exact opposite effect...gotta keep up that generation gap tension that made this music all the more merrier, eh???
Various Artists-YOU & ME BAK TO '69 VOLUME 2 CD-r burn
I've never been a reggae romper the way some of you sophisticados were (or remain for that matter), but I gotta say that this selection of early island sounds did make for a nice diversion from the usual diversions in my life. Nothing that I would call spectacular (to be old and cliched about it), but these sides do have a nice lilt to 'em that even recalls some early-sixties top 40 tries only done with that familiar oom-chukka riff that's been abused so much o'er the years but can still stir a soul when the moment is right. If you just get the whole whigger reggae fan stereotype outta your mind these numbers just might actually work for you!
The Mark Four-LIVE AT THE BEAT CLUB CD-r EP burn (originally on Bam Caruso, England)
Shows you just how outta the loop I am since I never even knew this recording existed! Three tracks by the pre-Creation Mark Four live, and the quality is pretty good considering the time and place it was recorded. Not too much in the way of bowed guitar or feedback, but the mid-sixties British blues/rock scene is pretty well represented with a boffo version of their Decca "a-side" "Hurt Me If You Will" as well as the old standbys "Got My Mojo Working" and "That's How Strong My Love Is". Coulda used an entire album of this, but I better be thankful for what I got!
Fossils-CAMELOT TOWERS CD-r burn (Kendra Steiner Editions...see blogroll for more information)
Yet more from the now defunct Hamilton Ontario-based Fossils, who surprise with each and every release that comes out not only on Kendra Steiner Editions but the Middle James Co. if you can believe that. On CAMELOT TOWERS the duo of Daniel Farr and David Payne cook up a slew of sounds that you can wrap your prehensile mind around, at times doing these duos where one of 'em plays a Cecil Taylor-styled piano and the other clanks away on an acoustic guitar while at others producing electronic sounds that remind me of my stomach around suppertime when its gurgling on real loud like. For some strange reason I was reminded of watching Sunday morning television during my younger years when CAMERA THREE would present somethingorother on twentieth-century musical compositions written by guys with Albert Einstein hair. Relive those lost days of wading through educational television while waiting for the cartoons to come on with CAMELOT TOWERS.
EDISON CYLINDERS SPEECHES AND RECITATIONS 1904-1919 CD-r burn
Since I have been called a "cylinder head" more than a few times I do have an affectation as Leo Gorcey would say for these early sound recordings. And given the novelty of actually hearing the voice of a famous politician of the day it's no wonder that the Edison Company cranked out more'n a few of these talking tubes just so's the yokels back in rural Ohio could spend a Saturday evening nestled around the player listening to musical and oratorical selections. Lemme tell ya, I felt like I was in one of those old OUT OUR WAY "Born Thirty Years Too Soon" comics listening to this.
A nice array can be found too with some interesting surprises. Sure the selections from that all-time soul stirrer UNCLE TOM'S CABIN ain't gonna bring a tear to anyone's eyes but Bullwinkle's (though I got a big laugh outta the cornballusness of the whipping scene as well as the introduction of Topsy), but it really is surprising to hear that Teddy Roosevelt had a rather high-pitched milquetoast-y voice without the big boom I woulda expected, while both William Howard Taft and William Jennings Bryan had remarkably mature voices that remind me of the kind of radio and television announcers that used to promulgate the airwaves until the advent of tweedom in the seventies. And I'm sure that the recreation of Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" as well as "Sheridan's Ride" would bring back fond memories in the mind of that Civil War vet in your life, unless he fought for the South that is.
Once again, a nice slice of an Ameriga that disappeared long ago, though if you prowl through old antique shops and local museums in small towns scattered across the fruity plain you might just get a li'l smidgen taste of it all.
Various Artists-LONEWOLF BLUNDERING BEDFORD CD-r burn (Bill Shute
A li'l early for Christmas, but why wait until the last minute??? This selection contains a good bunch of sixties local rock and power pop (actually the Limits from Allentown sound more mid-seventies post-Raspberries to these ears) which I gotta admit ain't exactly PEBBLES worthy ifyaknowaddamean but still packs more bop than the combined playlists of ten dozen AOR stations circa 1980. Stuck right inna middle of it all is an episode of the radio fave LONE WOLF which is kinda shall-I-say not as good as many of the competitors (a little too dry for my rather wet tastes), all capped off with yet another one of those ELLERY QUEEN MINUTE MYSTERIES which you'll never guess inna millyun years! If you like your listening tastes mid-Amerigan (or at least mid-Amerigan of a 1967-73 post-Beatles pop influence) this might be the next best thing to washing and waxing your rusted out 1963 Valiant!
Wish I had the liner notes to this freebee courtesy the people at Guerrsen Records if only to dig up some info on the so low they're under the bunker acts that appear on this sampler. Originally recorded for the obscurer than obscure Pyramid label, these curiosities do add a bit of dimension to the overall German Expressionist outlook that captured more'n a few import bin imaginations during the seventies.
The Astral Army do a good over-moog'd neo-punkish pop rock while Spirulina drift off into repeato riff dream music that you could see more'n a few heads in your pithy neighborhood shooting up to. Chronos blast out some rather intricate sorta-metal that vaguely reminds me of MX-80 Sound while Neil Andersen shoulda been sued by Achim Reichel and Machines. The aptly-named Baal do the occult rock thing sounding something like Iggy mighta during his mid-seventies El Lay jaunt (the vocals veer way close to Der Igster to make me think it was all just a "coincidence") and Ten to Zen oddly enough come off as the ultimo three-way meeting point between Kraftwerk, French progressive electronics and Metal Urbain. Closing out the whole shebang is Fuerrote who do the Cluster musique concrete thing pretty snat-like even throwing some weird guitar noodling in towards the end for good measure!
I guess there's more to this kraut thing than meets the ohrs and hopefully more will come out. Well, I sure could use some more of these acts in my life, and I get the feeling you probably do as well!
***
This '53 recording is just a tad outside of my personal radarscope but it still has enough of that West Coast drive to it that makes it an ear-popper in my own personal playlist. Of course you gotta get that whole weird mystique about the guy outta your bean before you can really enjoy something like this, but even if you know the guy's history and legend and alla those things that are just jam-packed into dullsville biopics this does make for a strikingly good spin. Features some of the creem of the local West Coast crop including Jimmy Giuffre and Shelly Manne not forgetting Max Roach before he really began spouting the strange philosophical rant. Contains a version of "Winter Wonderland" that just might conjure up old Christmastime memories in your turdler-obsessed mind, but I kinda doubt it.
***
Eric Clapton-OLD SOCK CD-r burn (originally on Bushbranch)Well, I guess that if Bob Dylan could record a whole buncha old-tymey tracks that hearken back to the pre-rock 'n roll days Eric Clapton could as well. However, no Nobel Prize will come from this 'un. Since I ain't exactly been following Clapton's recording career it ain't like I have anything to judge this particular platter by, but I am kinda surprised to hear him milking the same ol' reggae riffs this far down the line. The rest might get your grandpappy thinkin' that the kids have finally come to their senses. Hopefully it will have the exact opposite effect...gotta keep up that generation gap tension that made this music all the more merrier, eh???
***
I've never been a reggae romper the way some of you sophisticados were (or remain for that matter), but I gotta say that this selection of early island sounds did make for a nice diversion from the usual diversions in my life. Nothing that I would call spectacular (to be old and cliched about it), but these sides do have a nice lilt to 'em that even recalls some early-sixties top 40 tries only done with that familiar oom-chukka riff that's been abused so much o'er the years but can still stir a soul when the moment is right. If you just get the whole whigger reggae fan stereotype outta your mind these numbers just might actually work for you!
***
Shows you just how outta the loop I am since I never even knew this recording existed! Three tracks by the pre-Creation Mark Four live, and the quality is pretty good considering the time and place it was recorded. Not too much in the way of bowed guitar or feedback, but the mid-sixties British blues/rock scene is pretty well represented with a boffo version of their Decca "a-side" "Hurt Me If You Will" as well as the old standbys "Got My Mojo Working" and "That's How Strong My Love Is". Coulda used an entire album of this, but I better be thankful for what I got!
***
Yet more from the now defunct Hamilton Ontario-based Fossils, who surprise with each and every release that comes out not only on Kendra Steiner Editions but the Middle James Co. if you can believe that. On CAMELOT TOWERS the duo of Daniel Farr and David Payne cook up a slew of sounds that you can wrap your prehensile mind around, at times doing these duos where one of 'em plays a Cecil Taylor-styled piano and the other clanks away on an acoustic guitar while at others producing electronic sounds that remind me of my stomach around suppertime when its gurgling on real loud like. For some strange reason I was reminded of watching Sunday morning television during my younger years when CAMERA THREE would present somethingorother on twentieth-century musical compositions written by guys with Albert Einstein hair. Relive those lost days of wading through educational television while waiting for the cartoons to come on with CAMELOT TOWERS.
***
Since I have been called a "cylinder head" more than a few times I do have an affectation as Leo Gorcey would say for these early sound recordings. And given the novelty of actually hearing the voice of a famous politician of the day it's no wonder that the Edison Company cranked out more'n a few of these talking tubes just so's the yokels back in rural Ohio could spend a Saturday evening nestled around the player listening to musical and oratorical selections. Lemme tell ya, I felt like I was in one of those old OUT OUR WAY "Born Thirty Years Too Soon" comics listening to this.
A nice array can be found too with some interesting surprises. Sure the selections from that all-time soul stirrer UNCLE TOM'S CABIN ain't gonna bring a tear to anyone's eyes but Bullwinkle's (though I got a big laugh outta the cornballusness of the whipping scene as well as the introduction of Topsy), but it really is surprising to hear that Teddy Roosevelt had a rather high-pitched milquetoast-y voice without the big boom I woulda expected, while both William Howard Taft and William Jennings Bryan had remarkably mature voices that remind me of the kind of radio and television announcers that used to promulgate the airwaves until the advent of tweedom in the seventies. And I'm sure that the recreation of Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" as well as "Sheridan's Ride" would bring back fond memories in the mind of that Civil War vet in your life, unless he fought for the South that is.
Once again, a nice slice of an Ameriga that disappeared long ago, though if you prowl through old antique shops and local museums in small towns scattered across the fruity plain you might just get a li'l smidgen taste of it all.
***
A li'l early for Christmas, but why wait until the last minute??? This selection contains a good bunch of sixties local rock and power pop (actually the Limits from Allentown sound more mid-seventies post-Raspberries to these ears) which I gotta admit ain't exactly PEBBLES worthy ifyaknowaddamean but still packs more bop than the combined playlists of ten dozen AOR stations circa 1980. Stuck right inna middle of it all is an episode of the radio fave LONE WOLF which is kinda shall-I-say not as good as many of the competitors (a little too dry for my rather wet tastes), all capped off with yet another one of those ELLERY QUEEN MINUTE MYSTERIES which you'll never guess inna millyun years! If you like your listening tastes mid-Amerigan (or at least mid-Amerigan of a 1967-73 post-Beatles pop influence) this might be the next best thing to washing and waxing your rusted out 1963 Valiant!
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