Hey, wasn't that previous post by Brad Kohler just the livin' dickens??? Yeah, I thought so too which is why I decided to post his timely and important missive immediate-like rather'n let it wait until whatever Tuesday in the queue it is where I usually publish these "special guest post" entries! I personally feel that this particular edition of BLOG TO COMM piloted by Kohler is that good to the point where I've even postponed my own weekend update (the one you're reading, dummy!) until late in the day (Sunday, that is) just so's more and more people can get an eyefulla Brad's informative and entertaining opinions without having to trudge through my post to get to it! THAT'S how considerate of others I am, and if I were you I wouldn't go 'round sayin' alla that nasty stuff about me that you're most likely to, you half-truth peddlin' liars you!
Of course (despite your dearest wishes) I am not going to give up in my quest to present to you the best in rockism-related blogging so as Jimi Whatzizname might have said to Otis Redding backstage at Monterrey, "Dig my reality". And with those words, "dig in..." (Freebies courtesy Guerssen, burns courtesy Bill Shute, P. D. Fadensonen and Paul McGarry.)
Requiem-FOR A WORLD AFTER CD (Mental Experience c/o Guerssen Records, Spain)
Here's an early-eighties effort from Germany that reminds me more of a smattering of mid-seventies synth/guitar efforts than they do of your fifth birthday party. And, like a good portion of the electronic moo that was coming out at the time, this seems lost and out of place next to some of the more nightmarish electronic music that was being made at the time as any fan of Chrome or Throbbing Gristle could tell ya. Not as "punk rock" as Harmonia nor as motorik as early Kraftwerk, Requiem still does have a particularly calming effect that should suit fans of a whole load of seventies synth experimentation. Heavily Berlin-infused---in fact if you were one who was known to take afternoon naps to side two of David Bowie's LOW (like I have during extremely exhausting times) then this one just might help you out as well!
The Thirteenth Floor Elevators-REUNIONS CD-r burn
The Mother Earth tape from 1973 has been floating around for quite awhile but this is the first time I heard it so bully for me! The sound quality is as bad as the tape traders said it was, but who cares given the total energy performance of the more or less reunited Elevators who deliver a pretty good set that equals the likes of the Detroit hard rock groups in terms of all-out energy. Contains a great version of "Rainy Day Woman" which is one of those songs custom made for Roky Erickson to sing just like "Werewolves of London" was and I ain't kiddin'! The '77 show lacks Roky and sounds a little better but the magic just ain't there...after all a Thirteenth Floor Elevators show without Roky would be akin to a slumber party without a vibrator!
Freddy Cannon-BANG ON/STEPS OUT...PLUS CD-r burn (originally on See For Miles, England)
Maybe I should have a mad-on about Cannon after hearing that story about the time he'n Link Wray were on tour and Cannon was blabbing about just how great he was and that Wray was nothing but a hasbeen, and the famed guitarist actually pulled over and pushed Cannon outta the car for being such a loudmouth! Keeping personal opinions aside 'n alla those things them Big City rock critics were (there ain't any anymore, or so I hope!) supposed to do I figured that I should judge this 'un on merit alone! A hard task true, but I've done it and y'know what...for this music being more-a-that typical early-sixties boy singer stuff that many people hate they do have a nice spark to 'em! Of course there's nothing SPECTACULAR about Freddy per se but these tracks (consisting of the hit "Palisades Park" and a whole slewwa covers) do show some excitement and fun that might have gotten lost in between the more croon-y stuff and the adult Mitch Miller material that was popular at the time. It won't satiate all of those goofs who think rock 'n roll died twixt Buddy Holly and the Beatles, but it sure sounds better'n the stuff they probably were listening to at the time!
Various Artists-KSE 11TH ANNIVERSARY ALBUM CD-r burn (Kendra Steiner Editions)
Eleven years sure doesn't seem like a long time unless you're twelve, but it has been that long since Bill Shute began his chapbook and music biz which has flourished while lesser competitors have failed. This neato sampler sums up just about everything that label has stood for from musique concrete to jazz to things I'll bet they don't even have a name for yet, and if you want a good encapsulation of what it's all about maybe this is the KSE platter to pick up. My faves of the batch include Massimo Magee playing a tenor sax that sounds more like the mating call of a jackal with one cojone hanging way lower'n the other, More Ease taking electronic music to an even more whacked-out level than they took it to on their last outing and Fossils doing their best to ape the entire Cecil Taylor experience recorded by some nosy kid next door.
Paul Flaherty/Randall Colbourne/Stephen Scholze/Mike Murray-CYDONIA CD-r burn
Crazy session featuring the long time team of Flaherty and Colbourne aided and abetted by violinist Stephen Scholze and guitarist Mike Murray, and boy do they create a glorified racket that's bound to break any lease extant! Dunno about you but this music remains "liberating" and alla that old hippie jargon years after the fact what with Flaherty's saxes taking off in a direction similar to those charted by the likes of Ayler and Jarman, while Colbourne does his best to make people forget who Sunny Murray is! (Fat chance it'll work but nice try guy!) The addition of violin and guitar gives an added depth to the proceedings and the results are one record you wish you woulda picked up for a buck in any big city used record shop! I'd use the old capper about playing this one for your standard Chick Corea fan but hey, even that went out with the Edsel!
Blue Cheer-KMPX, SAN FRANCISCO 1967 CD-r burn
If I'm correct, wasn't this 'un originally released on a side of the infamous CALIFORNIA EASTER ALBUM bootleg that came out about thirtysome years back? If so, it's a shame that these early recordings have gotten to mine ears so late in life because they really are that good of a hard rock listen as well as (yawn!) "historically important". Dunno all of the whys/wherefores and whatevers about these three tracks, but they veer off if only a tad bit from the originals and still sound as good as any overload band of the time (or since) could. That side of San Francisco them hippies just don't like to talk about!
Cromwell-AT THE GALLOP CD (Got Kinda Lost c/o Guerssen Records, Spain)
I kinda find it strange that an Irish group would name themselves after one of the evilest men to have ever set foot upon the Emerald Isle (and there were many!), but Cromwell did just that which might account to the fact that these guys never did make it humongous either at home or abroad. Not quite the proto-punk hard rock that I thought it was going to be, AT THE GALLOP does come across as a mid-level straight ahead rock album that, while lacking the outright drive of a Thin Lizzy or a number of national acts whose names escape me, might have made a small splash had this one gotten out more than it did. Fans of 1971-72 Rolling Stones might like the lazed groove AT THE GALLOP presents, and as for you...
Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3-"BURGERHAUS" HEILBRONN (GERMANY) 3.4.2003 2-CD-r set (originally on Blue Rose Records)
Well, not being a fan of the Dream Syndicate (who I shrugged off after more'n a few plays back '83 way as being the latest hipster flash I could do without) it wasn't like I was rarin' to listen to these relatively recent (that is, if fourteen years could be considered "recent") Steve Wynn sides. But soldier on I must and hey, even though I will NEVER darken my eardrums with this 'un again I gotta say that it was a fairly good effort on the part of all involved. The paisley underground-y songs really don't capture my fancy but they are done up in a way where you don't wanna grind these disques up for anal grit, and even the quieter acoustic-y numbers have a nice feel to 'em reminding me of...David Patrick Kelley and Toivo??? Well, there is a striking resemblance in part, and if you were one of those guys who used to comb the early-eighties fanzines for life beyond the great underground fragmentation maybe this will restore your faith in....something... I mean, what is there we can have faith in these sad and sordid days anyway???
THE SMILEY BURNETTE SHOW CD-r burn
Old timey cowboy fans'll really wanna listen to these fifteen-minute radio programs starring none other'n Gene Autrey's sidekick Smiley Burnette jokin' it up and singing up a storm with the Gay Caballeros and Sweet Georgia Brown helpin' things out. Thankfully the jokes are straight-on cornballus, the music pretty good and Burnette is his good ol' self keeping it all together as the host with his gosh all personality that sure comes off great these sordid days. A good relaxer after being bombarded with hours of assaults on your very existence from people you wouldn't pay to shovel the stuff they're flinging at you left and right.
Willie Mabon-WILLIE'S BLUES---HIS GREATEST HITS 1952-1957 CD-r burn (originally on Jasmine Music)
Willie "Seventh Son" Mabon did some pretty nice bloozy jass things way back when, and a good smattering of 'em are available on this collection which I would guess is of European ancestry because in the United States of Amnesia who cares!?! A great tension tamer after a hard day at the orifice, these slow burners encapsulate a lotta the good that came outta that whole blues idiom long before every Tom Dick and Penis got in onna game trying to be more authentic than the rest usually coming off like more like urban ethnic "cool guy in leather jacket" fodder. Dunno if this one has made it into those Borders Book Store listening booths yet, but get in on the action before it does (and you have to idle chit chat about it with more neo-hippies than your poor little heart can stand!).
Various Artists-ALRIGHT HANGMEN EARTHQUAKE REGA CD-r burn (Bill Shute)
Other'n that I gotta 'fess up to the fact that it's getting harder and harder to write these prerambles given the fact that hey, it ain't like there's much to write about life-wise (at least in my life) nowadays. Let's just say that at this point in that decades-long trek alla the good things that were supposed to happen to me shoulda happened a loooooong time ago only they didn't, and what is happening now ain't anything that's gonna make ya wanna rush out a special edition of THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CHRIS STIGLIANO any day soon. The realities of life can get to be a drag, and when there ain't that much good rock 'n roll or free jazz or even classical hoo-hah to get you up 'n resensified then what's a poor fanabla to do?***
Of course (despite your dearest wishes) I am not going to give up in my quest to present to you the best in rockism-related blogging so as Jimi Whatzizname might have said to Otis Redding backstage at Monterrey, "Dig my reality". And with those words, "dig in..." (Freebies courtesy Guerssen, burns courtesy Bill Shute, P. D. Fadensonen and Paul McGarry.)
Here's an early-eighties effort from Germany that reminds me more of a smattering of mid-seventies synth/guitar efforts than they do of your fifth birthday party. And, like a good portion of the electronic moo that was coming out at the time, this seems lost and out of place next to some of the more nightmarish electronic music that was being made at the time as any fan of Chrome or Throbbing Gristle could tell ya. Not as "punk rock" as Harmonia nor as motorik as early Kraftwerk, Requiem still does have a particularly calming effect that should suit fans of a whole load of seventies synth experimentation. Heavily Berlin-infused---in fact if you were one who was known to take afternoon naps to side two of David Bowie's LOW (like I have during extremely exhausting times) then this one just might help you out as well!
***
The Mother Earth tape from 1973 has been floating around for quite awhile but this is the first time I heard it so bully for me! The sound quality is as bad as the tape traders said it was, but who cares given the total energy performance of the more or less reunited Elevators who deliver a pretty good set that equals the likes of the Detroit hard rock groups in terms of all-out energy. Contains a great version of "Rainy Day Woman" which is one of those songs custom made for Roky Erickson to sing just like "Werewolves of London" was and I ain't kiddin'! The '77 show lacks Roky and sounds a little better but the magic just ain't there...after all a Thirteenth Floor Elevators show without Roky would be akin to a slumber party without a vibrator!
***
Maybe I should have a mad-on about Cannon after hearing that story about the time he'n Link Wray were on tour and Cannon was blabbing about just how great he was and that Wray was nothing but a hasbeen, and the famed guitarist actually pulled over and pushed Cannon outta the car for being such a loudmouth! Keeping personal opinions aside 'n alla those things them Big City rock critics were (there ain't any anymore, or so I hope!) supposed to do I figured that I should judge this 'un on merit alone! A hard task true, but I've done it and y'know what...for this music being more-a-that typical early-sixties boy singer stuff that many people hate they do have a nice spark to 'em! Of course there's nothing SPECTACULAR about Freddy per se but these tracks (consisting of the hit "Palisades Park" and a whole slewwa covers) do show some excitement and fun that might have gotten lost in between the more croon-y stuff and the adult Mitch Miller material that was popular at the time. It won't satiate all of those goofs who think rock 'n roll died twixt Buddy Holly and the Beatles, but it sure sounds better'n the stuff they probably were listening to at the time!
***
Eleven years sure doesn't seem like a long time unless you're twelve, but it has been that long since Bill Shute began his chapbook and music biz which has flourished while lesser competitors have failed. This neato sampler sums up just about everything that label has stood for from musique concrete to jazz to things I'll bet they don't even have a name for yet, and if you want a good encapsulation of what it's all about maybe this is the KSE platter to pick up. My faves of the batch include Massimo Magee playing a tenor sax that sounds more like the mating call of a jackal with one cojone hanging way lower'n the other, More Ease taking electronic music to an even more whacked-out level than they took it to on their last outing and Fossils doing their best to ape the entire Cecil Taylor experience recorded by some nosy kid next door.
***
Crazy session featuring the long time team of Flaherty and Colbourne aided and abetted by violinist Stephen Scholze and guitarist Mike Murray, and boy do they create a glorified racket that's bound to break any lease extant! Dunno about you but this music remains "liberating" and alla that old hippie jargon years after the fact what with Flaherty's saxes taking off in a direction similar to those charted by the likes of Ayler and Jarman, while Colbourne does his best to make people forget who Sunny Murray is! (Fat chance it'll work but nice try guy!) The addition of violin and guitar gives an added depth to the proceedings and the results are one record you wish you woulda picked up for a buck in any big city used record shop! I'd use the old capper about playing this one for your standard Chick Corea fan but hey, even that went out with the Edsel!
***
If I'm correct, wasn't this 'un originally released on a side of the infamous CALIFORNIA EASTER ALBUM bootleg that came out about thirtysome years back? If so, it's a shame that these early recordings have gotten to mine ears so late in life because they really are that good of a hard rock listen as well as (yawn!) "historically important". Dunno all of the whys/wherefores and whatevers about these three tracks, but they veer off if only a tad bit from the originals and still sound as good as any overload band of the time (or since) could. That side of San Francisco them hippies just don't like to talk about!
***
I kinda find it strange that an Irish group would name themselves after one of the evilest men to have ever set foot upon the Emerald Isle (and there were many!), but Cromwell did just that which might account to the fact that these guys never did make it humongous either at home or abroad. Not quite the proto-punk hard rock that I thought it was going to be, AT THE GALLOP does come across as a mid-level straight ahead rock album that, while lacking the outright drive of a Thin Lizzy or a number of national acts whose names escape me, might have made a small splash had this one gotten out more than it did. Fans of 1971-72 Rolling Stones might like the lazed groove AT THE GALLOP presents, and as for you...
***
Well, not being a fan of the Dream Syndicate (who I shrugged off after more'n a few plays back '83 way as being the latest hipster flash I could do without) it wasn't like I was rarin' to listen to these relatively recent (that is, if fourteen years could be considered "recent") Steve Wynn sides. But soldier on I must and hey, even though I will NEVER darken my eardrums with this 'un again I gotta say that it was a fairly good effort on the part of all involved. The paisley underground-y songs really don't capture my fancy but they are done up in a way where you don't wanna grind these disques up for anal grit, and even the quieter acoustic-y numbers have a nice feel to 'em reminding me of...David Patrick Kelley and Toivo??? Well, there is a striking resemblance in part, and if you were one of those guys who used to comb the early-eighties fanzines for life beyond the great underground fragmentation maybe this will restore your faith in....something... I mean, what is there we can have faith in these sad and sordid days anyway???
***
Old timey cowboy fans'll really wanna listen to these fifteen-minute radio programs starring none other'n Gene Autrey's sidekick Smiley Burnette jokin' it up and singing up a storm with the Gay Caballeros and Sweet Georgia Brown helpin' things out. Thankfully the jokes are straight-on cornballus, the music pretty good and Burnette is his good ol' self keeping it all together as the host with his gosh all personality that sure comes off great these sordid days. A good relaxer after being bombarded with hours of assaults on your very existence from people you wouldn't pay to shovel the stuff they're flinging at you left and right.
***
Willie Mabon-WILLIE'S BLUES---HIS GREATEST HITS 1952-1957 CD-r burn (originally on Jasmine Music)Willie "Seventh Son" Mabon did some pretty nice bloozy jass things way back when, and a good smattering of 'em are available on this collection which I would guess is of European ancestry because in the United States of Amnesia who cares!?! A great tension tamer after a hard day at the orifice, these slow burners encapsulate a lotta the good that came outta that whole blues idiom long before every Tom Dick and Penis got in onna game trying to be more authentic than the rest usually coming off like more like urban ethnic "cool guy in leather jacket" fodder. Dunno if this one has made it into those Borders Book Store listening booths yet, but get in on the action before it does (and you have to idle chit chat about it with more neo-hippies than your poor little heart can stand!).
***
Another impressive collection what with the addition of a number of garage band rarities that I don't think have made it onto any recent samplers, not that I haven't been taking notice. Most of it is pretty decent stuff even if it doesn't quite make it to early PEBBLES stature, but I kinda am glad that I got to hear the Four Dimensions' "That's Life" before I die. Naturally Bill hadda slip a buncha weirdities onto this 'un such as the Rega Dance Orchestra's "The Vamp" (the kinda music that Grapevine Video used to slap onto alla those old Biograph shorts) not to mention a newer version of "Muleskinner Blues" that sounds like a late-sixties vintage attempt to cash in on that old Jimmie Rogers/Fendermen fave just like Dolly Parton did around the same time! Oh yeah, and there was also some chapter from an old radio serial on here that kinda bored me a bit, but then again the heroes seemed like such jerky fanablas that I really couldn't care less about 'em! Give this one a spin and find yourself rooting for the bad guys...I sure did!!!
***STOP THE PRESSES!: a little bit of bad news to report...just found out that Jaki Liebzeit of Can is no longer amongst the living. He was one of the better late-sixties/seventies bred drummers too, up there with Twink, Maureen Tucker, Scott Asheton and a few more whose names will come to me about ten minutes after I file this report (Von Lmo...Keith Moon...Ringo Starr???). A big drat and a few boo-hoos are in order and yes, I and I know you will miss the guy!
I discovered Willie Mabon when I heard "I'm Mad" in the cartoon "Sing, Beast, Sing." I even found a Chess 78 of that very song... and gave it to a friend.
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