Shee-yucks---we're only into February and boy am I dreadin' this new year more'n anything since the 1979-80 tee-vee season! Of course a lotta the dread is due to them ol' "real life" situations 'n all, (y'know---work??? as Maynard G. Krebs woulda said) but still the lack of any real stimuli to keep a feller such as I on the up 'n up is contributin' to the overall woe that has been encapsulatin' me these past few weeks. It's like, at this point in my rather sainted life, I really couldn't CARE about anything other'n tryin' to keep up my "status" as a blogger of renown which is why I keep doin' alla this "writin'" rather'n chuck the whole BLOG TO COMM concept out the ol' window. Well, it does keep me occupied the way tootsietoys did when I was three and NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC did when I was twelve.
But to add another dimension to my---I sure hope it ain't ennui---is that I am sorta jungered out given my general lack of pep, vim vigor and other old time breakfast cereals over what good there IS available out there. And that's a real bum-bum-bummer since these days I can afford a lotta the items that are being made available given that I'm a man of wealth and means and could buy out the penny candy store which had alla 'em goodies I wanted back when I was six, only it's probably all stale by now.
Take those hotcha LAST OF THE GARAGE PUNK UNKNOWNS platters that Crypt is now unleashing onna public this very moment...like, do you think that I'm savin' up the shekels and pining away like a teenage gal with the hots for Michael J. Pollard to get these particularly potent platters? No way---what woulda got me up and runnin' to sneak some twennys outta my dad's wallet a good thirtysome years back doesn't even make me wanna turn the used toilet paper to confetti in addled joy these days. You call it old age---I call it old age too.
Now it's obviouser 'n all heck that I'm more apt to plunk down the precious sheks on some old comic strip or book reprint title, but maybe that's just me getting back in touch with the happier portion of my youth. Either that or I never did escape the overwhelming influence that these comics (and more!) had on me back when I was still in the single digits and my emotional threads weren't quite as frayed as they are now. Besides, I gotta admit that reading these old DICK TRACY comics might be an entirely better option in life than listening to a good portion of the music being made anywhere these days, if only because Chester Gould never thought of his creation as being an "art project" 'r anything like that!
But at least I have these Bill Shute, Paul McGarry and P. D. Fadensonnen burns to keep me up and runnin' musicwise, and good for them because if it weren't for these I'd probably be spending my free time volunteering for hospital bedpan duty 'stead of curled up in my cozy shack listening to these deep-fried disques. And so without further adieu (it's a joke, no "sic" here!), here is this week's batch of reviews which I do hope you deserve to read about.
More Eaze-wOrk CD-r (Kendra Steiner Editions)
Marcus Rubio is back with this crazoid bitta electronic spew that might make the weaker amongst us wanna run to the nearest "safe space" for pampered petunias who can't face the bitter reality of free sound, but I get the idea that most of you readers are MAN ENOUGH to take this right between the full frontal lobes. It's mostly electronic sound with some clarinet thrown in, parts of this sounding like the Electric Eels' "Jazz Is" (really!) with a whole load of what comes off like a stereo channel on a This Heat outtake with some Controlled Bleeding in there somewhere. The sound of the future for the past fiftysome years true, but that's future's gonna finally be a 'comin' a lot sooner than any of ya's gonna imagine!
Hank Ray-COUNTRICIDE CD-r burn (originally on Devil's Rain)
Last week I reviewed an earlier album...er...Cee-Dee-Are burn by this newer'n ever country rock sorta guy. This one's from a good six years later and is more indebted to that ol' original pre-frilly country sound that sorta got axed from the scene around the time HEE HAW got canceled. Y'know the country I'm talkin' about...the hard-edged stuff that was promoted and performed by people who sorta had that heavy set of snarl to 'em that just ain't allowed in todays castrati culture anymore! Good enough renditions of old and maybe even some new tuneage that sates even if the production is way too modern for my own personal suburban slob tastes. If you're the kinda he-man type of guy with hair on his chest who misses the smell of diners with cigarette smoke embedded into those Naugahyde chairs you might just cozy up to a platter such as this.
The Troggs-LIVE IN POOLE, ENGLAND May 23 2003 CD-r burn
Gotta say that I didn't even know that the Troggs were still up and about this late inna game! But obviously they were, and y'know what??? This set and performance is almost identical to all of those Troggs Max's and elsewhere tapes that have been floating around for years, and naturally the performance is straight on powerful just like you would have expected from these long-time professionals. If this indeed were the Troggs on their "way out" (if they ever really were on their way out!) then man, they went out in high fashion! Features particularly spidery version of such true Troggs faves as "Night of the Long Grass" and "66-5-4-3-2-1" that are just as good as the originals!
George Harrison-THE ALTERNATE WONDERALL CD-r burn (originally on Pear Records)
I never saw the moom pitcher nor heard the original WONDERWALL album figuring it was gonna be more of that twangy sitar and veena drone I've experienced enough of through my George Harrison travels/travails, so let's just say that this burnt offering was something I thought would be an interesting enough spin at least once before it got filed away somewhere. As I expected, THE ALTERNATE WONDERWALL is what anyone would think a Beatle-related outtake bootleg detailing their late-sixties career would sound like, with shards and fragments of all sorts of exotic sounds mixed in with weird cornball incidental music and mellotron whoopie that probably wasn't good enough for the real deal. It's sure hokay enough for a Beatle-related educational romp through their late-sixties musical leftovers, but if you think this is gonna make me wanna seek out the movie or the original platter you are sadly mistaken.
Charles K. Noyes and Owen Marecks with Henry Kaiser and Greg Goodman-FREE MAMMALS CD-r burn (originally on Visible Records, 2511 Ellsworth St., Berkeley CA 94704 USA)
There are so many of these experimental music platters with the likes of Henry Kaiser floating around that its sure hard to sift through 'em all. Well, considering that I never was that much (if any) of a fan of Kaiser that would be one of the last things that I would consider doing, but I did get this particular platter featuring some other big names on the 80s-on improv scene and actually I found this a bit interesting even for my more rockist-attuned tastes. Nice atonal free sound that doesn't grate on ya like rubbing balloons but kinda goes through you with interesting enough intricate guitar parts that actually get your brain to perk up and analyse for once! It's nothing I would actually fork over precious coin to purchase myself, but I'm pleased enough that I got to hear it at least this once.
The Soft Machine-WONDERLAND LP (Secret Records, England)
I think a whole buncha the tracks that appear here have not made their first appearance on vinyl or any other format, but smooshed all together they make for one mighty nice encapsulation of the early Soft Machine days. My personal faves on this 'un are those with Kevin Ayers singing up and front, though if you were one of the few who got onto the Machine bandwagon via the Hendrix tour and followed them well into their import bin days I'm sure you'll find a whole lot of interesting jazz rock to enjoy here. By the way this was but one of the Christmas gifts that Brad Kohler scooted my way a good two months back...good choice you made there Brad!
The Twilights-ONCE UPON A TWILIGHT CD-r burn (originally on Aztec Records, Australia)
If you care, some fanabla who later on ended up inna Little River Band was in the Twilights, and somehow I can easily believe it. Typical late-sixties anglo-ish pop here, the kind that got Alan Betrock all hot and bothered during his JAMZ days complete with lush orchestration and interesting arrangements that woulda fit in fine on the Amerigan radio scene had this one been lucky enough to make it north of the equator. Psychedelic yet sunshine-y---definitely as good of a neo-Beatles take as the Move were. I guess if you like the Antipodean pop strains of the late-sixties/early-seventies Bee Gees you'll go for this pop swell.
Various Artists-HEIMATLICHE KLANGE VOL. 153 Cd-r burn
I dunno about Austria...it kinda reminds me of Germany without the sick stuff. It doesn't know whether it wants to be Germany or Switzerland either, and it's just stuck there right in the middle of Europe sorta flopping about. The music on this sampler is pretty much in the same vein, what with these watered-down covers of the big US 'n British hits made for (I guess) the local market. Not that it's all bad, but there seems to be a hefty lack of spirit and energy to these tracks that really don't make me wanna get up 'n dance those weird interpretive dances I did age eleven to Elvis Presley. And sheesh, I like cheap knockoffs too!
Alabama Shakes-BOYS AND GIRLS CD-r burn (originally on ATO)
These rootsy things sometimes tickle my fancy and sometimes they don't, but for the most part they kinda wobble somewhere in-between hey it's good stuff and hey it's good stuff but I don't think I'd wanna listen to it ever again. The Alabama Shakes are kinda like that, with some pretty nice retro-early sixties moves that appeal to me stuck in between some typically entertaining country rock moves that just don't make you wanna go "aah!" Take or leave music that might appeal to your sense of propriety if you liked those old Rolling Stones Muscle Shoals records, but I do get the feeling that I'm gonna lose this one in that leaning tower of CD-r burns that's just about to topple all over my bedroom.
Beck and the Record Club-THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO CD-r burn (originally on Fan Club Only Records)
Sheesh, just what I wanna hear...one of the better rock 'n roll albums of the sixties done up post-post-POSTmodern-like by a guy who I spent most of the past twennysome years or so trying to avoid. Beck's version of that olde standard "Waiting For The Man" does crank out with the same pace and stamina that a hundred or so local rock groups mighta worked it out way back when, but the rest is nada but eighties-onward precocious rose-colored rear view mirror'd takes that a whole bunch of those loathed synth bands managed to cook up much to my disliking. About on par with most post-seventies Velvet worship (they as the grandaddies of cloistered bedroom amerindie wannabes everywhere) that has been making its way out of bedrooms and remedial studies centers with an alarming regularity.
Various Artists-UNKNOWN RAGAMUFFIN SITAR CD-r burn (Bill Shute)
I dug this one from deep inna pile so I don't know just how long ago Bill sent this to me. But despite the age all I gotta say is that it ages like a fine wine rather'n one of those cheese hunks that rolled under my bed and I didn't find it for ten months what with the fine selection of hotcha sound that can be found therein. There's too much here to discuss with the fine-tooth needled detail this blog is most known for so I'll just skim over...high points include the two Charlie Feathers versions of "Look Up" which was co-written with none other than the Elvis himself, Azusa Plane's pee-take on George Harrison which really deconstructs things for ya and the infamous Beatle swipe by the Fut which actually got stuck on a buncha old Fab Four bootlegs it was that convincing. Also tops are Ken Colby's instrumental pop which sounds like the music you woulda heard in one of those dirty europeon films that you weren't allowed to go see, vanity performer Dora Hall doing some lullaby that would never have gotten me to sleep lest she whacked me hard onna head with a hammer while singing it, and the underrated Homer and Jethro who somehow have been airbrushed outta country and western history in favor of the likes of Miley Cyrus. As to just why this happened I do not know.
But to add another dimension to my---I sure hope it ain't ennui---is that I am sorta jungered out given my general lack of pep, vim vigor and other old time breakfast cereals over what good there IS available out there. And that's a real bum-bum-bummer since these days I can afford a lotta the items that are being made available given that I'm a man of wealth and means and could buy out the penny candy store which had alla 'em goodies I wanted back when I was six, only it's probably all stale by now.
Take those hotcha LAST OF THE GARAGE PUNK UNKNOWNS platters that Crypt is now unleashing onna public this very moment...like, do you think that I'm savin' up the shekels and pining away like a teenage gal with the hots for Michael J. Pollard to get these particularly potent platters? No way---what woulda got me up and runnin' to sneak some twennys outta my dad's wallet a good thirtysome years back doesn't even make me wanna turn the used toilet paper to confetti in addled joy these days. You call it old age---I call it old age too.
Now it's obviouser 'n all heck that I'm more apt to plunk down the precious sheks on some old comic strip or book reprint title, but maybe that's just me getting back in touch with the happier portion of my youth. Either that or I never did escape the overwhelming influence that these comics (and more!) had on me back when I was still in the single digits and my emotional threads weren't quite as frayed as they are now. Besides, I gotta admit that reading these old DICK TRACY comics might be an entirely better option in life than listening to a good portion of the music being made anywhere these days, if only because Chester Gould never thought of his creation as being an "art project" 'r anything like that!
But at least I have these Bill Shute, Paul McGarry and P. D. Fadensonnen burns to keep me up and runnin' musicwise, and good for them because if it weren't for these I'd probably be spending my free time volunteering for hospital bedpan duty 'stead of curled up in my cozy shack listening to these deep-fried disques. And so without further adieu (it's a joke, no "sic" here!), here is this week's batch of reviews which I do hope you deserve to read about.
Marcus Rubio is back with this crazoid bitta electronic spew that might make the weaker amongst us wanna run to the nearest "safe space" for pampered petunias who can't face the bitter reality of free sound, but I get the idea that most of you readers are MAN ENOUGH to take this right between the full frontal lobes. It's mostly electronic sound with some clarinet thrown in, parts of this sounding like the Electric Eels' "Jazz Is" (really!) with a whole load of what comes off like a stereo channel on a This Heat outtake with some Controlled Bleeding in there somewhere. The sound of the future for the past fiftysome years true, but that's future's gonna finally be a 'comin' a lot sooner than any of ya's gonna imagine!
***
Hank Ray-COUNTRICIDE CD-r burn (originally on Devil's Rain)Last week I reviewed an earlier album...er...Cee-Dee-Are burn by this newer'n ever country rock sorta guy. This one's from a good six years later and is more indebted to that ol' original pre-frilly country sound that sorta got axed from the scene around the time HEE HAW got canceled. Y'know the country I'm talkin' about...the hard-edged stuff that was promoted and performed by people who sorta had that heavy set of snarl to 'em that just ain't allowed in todays castrati culture anymore! Good enough renditions of old and maybe even some new tuneage that sates even if the production is way too modern for my own personal suburban slob tastes. If you're the kinda he-man type of guy with hair on his chest who misses the smell of diners with cigarette smoke embedded into those Naugahyde chairs you might just cozy up to a platter such as this.
***
Gotta say that I didn't even know that the Troggs were still up and about this late inna game! But obviously they were, and y'know what??? This set and performance is almost identical to all of those Troggs Max's and elsewhere tapes that have been floating around for years, and naturally the performance is straight on powerful just like you would have expected from these long-time professionals. If this indeed were the Troggs on their "way out" (if they ever really were on their way out!) then man, they went out in high fashion! Features particularly spidery version of such true Troggs faves as "Night of the Long Grass" and "66-5-4-3-2-1" that are just as good as the originals!
***
I never saw the moom pitcher nor heard the original WONDERWALL album figuring it was gonna be more of that twangy sitar and veena drone I've experienced enough of through my George Harrison travels/travails, so let's just say that this burnt offering was something I thought would be an interesting enough spin at least once before it got filed away somewhere. As I expected, THE ALTERNATE WONDERWALL is what anyone would think a Beatle-related outtake bootleg detailing their late-sixties career would sound like, with shards and fragments of all sorts of exotic sounds mixed in with weird cornball incidental music and mellotron whoopie that probably wasn't good enough for the real deal. It's sure hokay enough for a Beatle-related educational romp through their late-sixties musical leftovers, but if you think this is gonna make me wanna seek out the movie or the original platter you are sadly mistaken.
***
There are so many of these experimental music platters with the likes of Henry Kaiser floating around that its sure hard to sift through 'em all. Well, considering that I never was that much (if any) of a fan of Kaiser that would be one of the last things that I would consider doing, but I did get this particular platter featuring some other big names on the 80s-on improv scene and actually I found this a bit interesting even for my more rockist-attuned tastes. Nice atonal free sound that doesn't grate on ya like rubbing balloons but kinda goes through you with interesting enough intricate guitar parts that actually get your brain to perk up and analyse for once! It's nothing I would actually fork over precious coin to purchase myself, but I'm pleased enough that I got to hear it at least this once.
***
I think a whole buncha the tracks that appear here have not made their first appearance on vinyl or any other format, but smooshed all together they make for one mighty nice encapsulation of the early Soft Machine days. My personal faves on this 'un are those with Kevin Ayers singing up and front, though if you were one of the few who got onto the Machine bandwagon via the Hendrix tour and followed them well into their import bin days I'm sure you'll find a whole lot of interesting jazz rock to enjoy here. By the way this was but one of the Christmas gifts that Brad Kohler scooted my way a good two months back...good choice you made there Brad!
***
If you care, some fanabla who later on ended up inna Little River Band was in the Twilights, and somehow I can easily believe it. Typical late-sixties anglo-ish pop here, the kind that got Alan Betrock all hot and bothered during his JAMZ days complete with lush orchestration and interesting arrangements that woulda fit in fine on the Amerigan radio scene had this one been lucky enough to make it north of the equator. Psychedelic yet sunshine-y---definitely as good of a neo-Beatles take as the Move were. I guess if you like the Antipodean pop strains of the late-sixties/early-seventies Bee Gees you'll go for this pop swell.
***
I dunno about Austria...it kinda reminds me of Germany without the sick stuff. It doesn't know whether it wants to be Germany or Switzerland either, and it's just stuck there right in the middle of Europe sorta flopping about. The music on this sampler is pretty much in the same vein, what with these watered-down covers of the big US 'n British hits made for (I guess) the local market. Not that it's all bad, but there seems to be a hefty lack of spirit and energy to these tracks that really don't make me wanna get up 'n dance those weird interpretive dances I did age eleven to Elvis Presley. And sheesh, I like cheap knockoffs too!
***
These rootsy things sometimes tickle my fancy and sometimes they don't, but for the most part they kinda wobble somewhere in-between hey it's good stuff and hey it's good stuff but I don't think I'd wanna listen to it ever again. The Alabama Shakes are kinda like that, with some pretty nice retro-early sixties moves that appeal to me stuck in between some typically entertaining country rock moves that just don't make you wanna go "aah!" Take or leave music that might appeal to your sense of propriety if you liked those old Rolling Stones Muscle Shoals records, but I do get the feeling that I'm gonna lose this one in that leaning tower of CD-r burns that's just about to topple all over my bedroom.
***
Sheesh, just what I wanna hear...one of the better rock 'n roll albums of the sixties done up post-post-POSTmodern-like by a guy who I spent most of the past twennysome years or so trying to avoid. Beck's version of that olde standard "Waiting For The Man" does crank out with the same pace and stamina that a hundred or so local rock groups mighta worked it out way back when, but the rest is nada but eighties-onward precocious rose-colored rear view mirror'd takes that a whole bunch of those loathed synth bands managed to cook up much to my disliking. About on par with most post-seventies Velvet worship (they as the grandaddies of cloistered bedroom amerindie wannabes everywhere) that has been making its way out of bedrooms and remedial studies centers with an alarming regularity.
***
I dug this one from deep inna pile so I don't know just how long ago Bill sent this to me. But despite the age all I gotta say is that it ages like a fine wine rather'n one of those cheese hunks that rolled under my bed and I didn't find it for ten months what with the fine selection of hotcha sound that can be found therein. There's too much here to discuss with the fine-tooth needled detail this blog is most known for so I'll just skim over...high points include the two Charlie Feathers versions of "Look Up" which was co-written with none other than the Elvis himself, Azusa Plane's pee-take on George Harrison which really deconstructs things for ya and the infamous Beatle swipe by the Fut which actually got stuck on a buncha old Fab Four bootlegs it was that convincing. Also tops are Ken Colby's instrumental pop which sounds like the music you woulda heard in one of those dirty europeon films that you weren't allowed to go see, vanity performer Dora Hall doing some lullaby that would never have gotten me to sleep lest she whacked me hard onna head with a hammer while singing it, and the underrated Homer and Jethro who somehow have been airbrushed outta country and western history in favor of the likes of Miley Cyrus. As to just why this happened I do not know.
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