Hope you all, or at least a choice few of you, had a nice week. The rest can suffer from one of those oogabooga diseases I wish upon people I don't like for all I care. Had a fair go of it myself what with the hours of hotcha tee-vee watching either via satellite or Dee-Vee-Dee for that matter, not to mention listening to all sortsa funtime music that really gets them juices flowing all over my body! Gotta thank Bill, Paul and Feeding Tube Records for the donations which I gotta say I really need because...I mean what else is there? As for Bob F., I will get to your goodies more later than sooner, but get to them I most surely WILL!
suckers customers when some guy and gal on a motorcycle zoomed by me, the guy saying to me "Hi Guv'nor", and without a phony English accent for that matter! Not knowing who this helmeted guy or his passenger were, or caring for that matter, I say hi back and left it at that. A few minutes later he and his gal zoomed back, the guy saying to me "Are you Don?" I said no and when he looked at me rather incredulous-like I then remarked..."Do I look like Don???" to which he remarked "No, you look like a dolphin" before he and gal skedaddled outta the place. Frankly I am still baffled as to what this whole communication was about and whether of not I did look like this Don guy our leather boy was inquiring about. But ME look like a dolphin? A bottle-nosed whale perhaps, but a dolphin?????
Contemporary Shamisen Duo-GENPATSURYOKU CD-r (Kendra Steiner Editions, see link on left, dummy!)
I sure don't know what any of the Japanese titles mean here but I can tell you one thing...if any of this Cee-Dee gets played in your standard Benihana-styled restaurant where they cook 'em up right in front of you I'll bet more'n just the meat 'n vegetables would be flippin' all over the place! Koto plunks and something else (electronic effects?) merge together to make a sound that is something that has little if any semblance to traditional Japanese music that I can tell. But hey, this is KSE and not Smithsonian Folkways so like, whaddaya expect? The sound of the old and the new merging into a music that you might think negates each other, but does complement quite the same even if you think your brain is trying to make a mad dash for the toilet bowl
MB JONES BY MB JONES LP (Feeding Tube Records, available via Forced Exposure)
Another Feeding Tube strangity that kinda comes off like an electro-casio version of Magic Michael or in uteri Gary Wilson. Wafts off into areas of semi-consciousness that reminds me of the time I was getting my tonsils out and tried to keep conscious even with that ether mask on my face dropping me into areas of dank I still haven't recovered from. Don't worry...you'll feel the same way I do after giving this rather talented guy (Aspergers?, Autism?, Mad Genius???) a go on this rather obscure yet engrossing platter.
Dang it, but were those Miller Brothers sure involved in a whole slew of different rock things one can barely keep up with! Right before Laurence and Ben joined Destroy All Monsters they were involved with this (more or less depending on the situation) trio that specialized in electronic sounds of a most omni-tonal nature. Nothing that was that different from a variety of similar minded efforts out there in avant garde music land at the time (think of some of the more out-there space rock efforts that were flying about) but still forceful and even mind-churning as many of these outta-nowhere abstract sound efforts can get. The quality's even improved due to this being taken from cheap cassette recordings so if seventies hiss and buzz work wonders with your listening parameters well, go to it!
The Ansley Dunbar Retaliation-REMAINS TO BE HEARD CD-r burn (originally on EMI Stateside Records, France)
These late-sixties white blues groups trying to osmose the rill dill can sometimes bore on ya, and this 'un is no exception. Maybe it's hearing Western Europeans imitating Amerigans of Western European extraction imitating blacks of Amerigan extraction imitating whites of Western European extraction that chills me out, but for the life of me I couldn't extract any real enjoyment outta this particular slab from the legendary Dunbar and his band. Sheesh, the only thing that comes to mind when I hear Dunbar's moniker brought up is that scene in the UNCLE MEAT movie where he admits that he likes being "caned" on the backside....to which I say "Bad album Ansley (CRACK!), bad album!"
The Monkees-HEAD-3 CD RHINO HANDMADE BOX DISC ONE CD-r burn
Like them Charlie Parker sets reviewed a few months back I thought I'd do these HEAD-takes one by one. It might be a good idea I did so as well, because there's so much good caga on this platter that sitting through the entire box at once just might be too much for this li'l ol' heart to stand. In between the expected comedy patter we get some pretty hotcha rock fare even considering the eternal ire the hippoids gave these guys for being prefab (they even answer these concerns on "Ditty Diego - War Chant")---numbers like "Circle Sky" and "Porpoise Song" which stands with anything Moby Grape could do at their best, while "Daddy's Song" is one hotcha nostalgia spin that stands with "Your Mother Should Know" and a good portion of the Bonzo Dog repertoire. Kinda makes me wish I DID fight off my Pop when HEAD popped up on CBS LATE MOVIE up against Carson during some Christmas Holiday break back '72 way.
Bullet Proof Lovers-SHOT THROUGH THE HEART CD-r burn (originally on Rum Bar Records)
Well whaddaya know! Paul sent me a burn of a current day group that actually sounds good in the way all of those good groups forty years ago were supposed to sound only the populace at large was too addled to tell good rock 'n roll from their last bowel movement. Pretty hard rockin' punkitude goin' down on these sides by a group I never heard of before, who kinda sound a third "good" Mott the Hoople, a third Ramones and a third all of those guys who were hot on the Stones and Slade and all those hard-edged rockers who got called punks even if it really didn't agree with their digestive systems. So above and beyond the call of doody that I might even give this one another listen later on in my life (whatmIsayin??????).
Strawbridge-JUST FOR KICKS CD-r burn (originally on Argyle Records)
Despite the presence of an Elton John cover I gotta say that this Mississippian rock group does pretty good to the whole Southern Rebel thing that was all the rage when this album was released back '73 way. Gruff lead vocals and a performance that ain't too polished help make JUST FOR KICKS a platter that, along with the likes of the Hampton Grease Band, Hydra and Black Oak Arkansas, I could recommend to those who like early-seventies under-the-radar rock but don't quite care for the Dixie stuff. Only the album closer, their take on Hari Krishgeorge's "Here Come the Sun", fails to elicit any real chill thrills that I look for in obscure seventies recordings like this.
Various Artists-SELECTIONS FROM BAMBOO RECORDS (LOS ANGELES), DISC TWO CD-r burn
More from Bamboo, this time presenting some earlier efforts which do reflect that strange just-pre-British Invasion music scene here in the USA. The results were rather nice even if the usual hippie naysayers who still like to go on "musical journeys" may think otherwise. The over-production really doesn't hurt these efforts which reflect the girl vocal and instrumental tastes of the early-sixties about as swell as the actual hits of the time most certainly did. Personal faves include "Crab Louie" by the Sandabs, while the Pagents' "Sad and Lonely" sounded like as good a "Chantilly Lace" swipe as one could come up with without directly plagiarizing the Big Bopper hit.
Various Artists-MR. TOYTOWN PRESENTS...VOL. 3 CD-r burn
This one is quite different from the usual samplers of sixties rock obscurities that have made their way to many a collection over the past forty years, for MR. TOYTOWN PRESENTS... features nothing but rare late-sixties psychedelic pop tracks that seem to borrow from those who were borrowing a whole lot from the Beatles and other sunshine-oriented acts of the day. The sounds are quite dreamy, sort of mirroring similar if more successful endeavors from the likes of the Move and Bee Gees and at time predicting certain seventies efforts like Sparks as well as a few other glam-glitzters who might have been popping up on the English charts during the glitzier portion of the seventies. Nice Sunday morning easy listening music to prepare one for a day of afternoon tee-vee channel surfing.
Various Artists-JESSICA BANDERA MAGILLA CHORALE CD-r burn (Bill Shute)
Frankly if I hadda choose between Magilla Gorilla and Yogi Bear I'd write in Yakky Doodle. Still, this spinner's another winner from the grinner himself, Bill Shute. Two versions of "Night Train" mingle about with everything from an Alaskan barroom revue and a variety of schmoozers both good (Jimmy Witter) and feh (Nino Nanni), not to mention two radio ads for a moom pitcher the kind that the seedier kids in high stool would sneak out to see on Friday nights, ifyaknowaddamean...
The Magilla Gorilla recitation of ALICE IN WONDERLAND was fab even without the visuals, but the surprise of the spin for me were six rare pop songs dating from a pre-revolutionary Cambodia which, given the sound quality, were probably discovered in a pile somewhere in the wilds of that country. Somehow I get the idea that everyone involved with these records are a pile somewhere in the wilds of that country as well, but sheesh why should I judge those Noble Communist Types everyone drools over these days considering how we treat our left handed herniated LGBTWTF Cheyennes here in the Good Ol' U.S. of Whoa!
***BIZARRO TRUE STORY THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO ME LAST WEEK! While at the Salem Ohio Kiwanas Anitques Show held at their local park last Saturday, I was sitting at my booth on the lookout for prospective
***Hey, I got a complaint from some flounder out there about the typos that are to be found with alarming regularity on this blog. Well lissen up y'all, sometimes these so-called "typos" AREN'T typos at all but mistakes made on purpose (hah!), and besides if they were made by mistake so what? As the late Steve Ditko once said with regards to others correcting his own spelling and grammatical errors, doing just that would "ruin the integrity" of the work at hand! Now, who am I to argue with a guy who did more to enforce a radical aspect to the art of comics than I ever will trying to do the same as far as under-the-grovel sub-fanzine styled writing goes! Yeah I know.....WHAT "integrity"??? Still, if any of you are willing to volunteer as a proofreader for me...DROP DEAD!
***And before we get started with this mess, do any of you recall that sixties act the Trylons (actually a male/femme singing duo with boffo rock backing---I could see themselves being called Trylon and Perisphere if one was tall and thin and the other one fat 'n tubby) who were almost on the classic NUGGETS set? I sure do because in this dream I had Friday AM I was at some radio station with some young and straight haired seventies-looking gal and a guy who kinda looked like a cross between Ruben Kinkaid of PARTRIDGE FAMILY fame and Bobby Troup who was a dee-jay there. Anyhow, while talking to the guy behind your standard office area counter I requested he play the Trylons' only hit (well, a low ranking one it was) called either "Blood and Honey" or "Honey and Blood"---I fergit---and the guy said he couldn't because the station would not allow any record with the word "Honey" in it to be played due to the obvious sexual connotations! At which point I did my Edith Bunker total realization "Ooooooooh" impression---y'know, the three stages of figuring out something Archie had to explain to her about the gay lib and "Daughters of Sappho" representatives campaigning door to door! If any of you out there do have a copy of "Blood and Honey" and wanna swing it by me well feel free to do so---sometimes these dreams of mine seem so real...
I sure don't know what any of the Japanese titles mean here but I can tell you one thing...if any of this Cee-Dee gets played in your standard Benihana-styled restaurant where they cook 'em up right in front of you I'll bet more'n just the meat 'n vegetables would be flippin' all over the place! Koto plunks and something else (electronic effects?) merge together to make a sound that is something that has little if any semblance to traditional Japanese music that I can tell. But hey, this is KSE and not Smithsonian Folkways so like, whaddaya expect? The sound of the old and the new merging into a music that you might think negates each other, but does complement quite the same even if you think your brain is trying to make a mad dash for the toilet bowl
***
Another Feeding Tube strangity that kinda comes off like an electro-casio version of Magic Michael or in uteri Gary Wilson. Wafts off into areas of semi-consciousness that reminds me of the time I was getting my tonsils out and tried to keep conscious even with that ether mask on my face dropping me into areas of dank I still haven't recovered from. Don't worry...you'll feel the same way I do after giving this rather talented guy (Aspergers?, Autism?, Mad Genius???) a go on this rather obscure yet engrossing platter.
***
Dang it, but were those Miller Brothers sure involved in a whole slew of different rock things one can barely keep up with! Right before Laurence and Ben joined Destroy All Monsters they were involved with this (more or less depending on the situation) trio that specialized in electronic sounds of a most omni-tonal nature. Nothing that was that different from a variety of similar minded efforts out there in avant garde music land at the time (think of some of the more out-there space rock efforts that were flying about) but still forceful and even mind-churning as many of these outta-nowhere abstract sound efforts can get. The quality's even improved due to this being taken from cheap cassette recordings so if seventies hiss and buzz work wonders with your listening parameters well, go to it!
***
These late-sixties white blues groups trying to osmose the rill dill can sometimes bore on ya, and this 'un is no exception. Maybe it's hearing Western Europeans imitating Amerigans of Western European extraction imitating blacks of Amerigan extraction imitating whites of Western European extraction that chills me out, but for the life of me I couldn't extract any real enjoyment outta this particular slab from the legendary Dunbar and his band. Sheesh, the only thing that comes to mind when I hear Dunbar's moniker brought up is that scene in the UNCLE MEAT movie where he admits that he likes being "caned" on the backside....to which I say "Bad album Ansley (CRACK!), bad album!"
***
Like them Charlie Parker sets reviewed a few months back I thought I'd do these HEAD-takes one by one. It might be a good idea I did so as well, because there's so much good caga on this platter that sitting through the entire box at once just might be too much for this li'l ol' heart to stand. In between the expected comedy patter we get some pretty hotcha rock fare even considering the eternal ire the hippoids gave these guys for being prefab (they even answer these concerns on "Ditty Diego - War Chant")---numbers like "Circle Sky" and "Porpoise Song" which stands with anything Moby Grape could do at their best, while "Daddy's Song" is one hotcha nostalgia spin that stands with "Your Mother Should Know" and a good portion of the Bonzo Dog repertoire. Kinda makes me wish I DID fight off my Pop when HEAD popped up on CBS LATE MOVIE up against Carson during some Christmas Holiday break back '72 way.
***
Bullet Proof Lovers-SHOT THROUGH THE HEART CD-r burn (originally on Rum Bar Records)
Well whaddaya know! Paul sent me a burn of a current day group that actually sounds good in the way all of those good groups forty years ago were supposed to sound only the populace at large was too addled to tell good rock 'n roll from their last bowel movement. Pretty hard rockin' punkitude goin' down on these sides by a group I never heard of before, who kinda sound a third "good" Mott the Hoople, a third Ramones and a third all of those guys who were hot on the Stones and Slade and all those hard-edged rockers who got called punks even if it really didn't agree with their digestive systems. So above and beyond the call of doody that I might even give this one another listen later on in my life (whatmIsayin??????).
***
Despite the presence of an Elton John cover I gotta say that this Mississippian rock group does pretty good to the whole Southern Rebel thing that was all the rage when this album was released back '73 way. Gruff lead vocals and a performance that ain't too polished help make JUST FOR KICKS a platter that, along with the likes of the Hampton Grease Band, Hydra and Black Oak Arkansas, I could recommend to those who like early-seventies under-the-radar rock but don't quite care for the Dixie stuff. Only the album closer, their take on Hari Krishgeorge's "Here Come the Sun", fails to elicit any real chill thrills that I look for in obscure seventies recordings like this.
***
More from Bamboo, this time presenting some earlier efforts which do reflect that strange just-pre-British Invasion music scene here in the USA. The results were rather nice even if the usual hippie naysayers who still like to go on "musical journeys" may think otherwise. The over-production really doesn't hurt these efforts which reflect the girl vocal and instrumental tastes of the early-sixties about as swell as the actual hits of the time most certainly did. Personal faves include "Crab Louie" by the Sandabs, while the Pagents' "Sad and Lonely" sounded like as good a "Chantilly Lace" swipe as one could come up with without directly plagiarizing the Big Bopper hit.
***
This one is quite different from the usual samplers of sixties rock obscurities that have made their way to many a collection over the past forty years, for MR. TOYTOWN PRESENTS... features nothing but rare late-sixties psychedelic pop tracks that seem to borrow from those who were borrowing a whole lot from the Beatles and other sunshine-oriented acts of the day. The sounds are quite dreamy, sort of mirroring similar if more successful endeavors from the likes of the Move and Bee Gees and at time predicting certain seventies efforts like Sparks as well as a few other glam-glitzters who might have been popping up on the English charts during the glitzier portion of the seventies. Nice Sunday morning easy listening music to prepare one for a day of afternoon tee-vee channel surfing.
***
Frankly if I hadda choose between Magilla Gorilla and Yogi Bear I'd write in Yakky Doodle. Still, this spinner's another winner from the grinner himself, Bill Shute. Two versions of "Night Train" mingle about with everything from an Alaskan barroom revue and a variety of schmoozers both good (Jimmy Witter) and feh (Nino Nanni), not to mention two radio ads for a moom pitcher the kind that the seedier kids in high stool would sneak out to see on Friday nights, ifyaknowaddamean...
The Magilla Gorilla recitation of ALICE IN WONDERLAND was fab even without the visuals, but the surprise of the spin for me were six rare pop songs dating from a pre-revolutionary Cambodia which, given the sound quality, were probably discovered in a pile somewhere in the wilds of that country. Somehow I get the idea that everyone involved with these records are a pile somewhere in the wilds of that country as well, but sheesh why should I judge those Noble Communist Types everyone drools over these days considering how we treat our left handed herniated LGBTWTF Cheyennes here in the Good Ol' U.S. of Whoa!
***In case you're still wondering, yes there are back issues of BLACK TO COMM still available and if you want some well like, what's keeping ya? If you wanna work out a deal swell, if not just hit the link and do your best to get hold of the rest...that is, the rest of these albatrosses I just can't seem to get rid of no matter HOW hard I try!
Speaking of the Bonzos, I was wondering if you feel that Paul Revere & The Raiders were just as funny as them. The reason why I ask is that several years ago I found several bootleg DVDs of their appearances on Where The Action Is & other TV shows & found that the level of their humor was sorta kinda near the Bonzos level. If they were English & came out of art school instead of being a Pacific Northwest garage band, they would probably gotten more "cred" for their humor instead of being derided for being cornball. Just a thought (I dig them both)
ReplyDeleteFunnier even. Some of those skits on WHERE THE ACTION IS were prime knee-slappers I wish were more readily available these days.I'm sure youtube would have a few up and running.
ReplyDeleteI still think back to this one skit (I don't remember the musical number) which took place in a shoe store ending with (I believe) Smitty trying to pull a tight shoe off of Fang pulling so hard that he took Fang's entire leg right off! Of course it was faker than ever, but being a five-year-old kid I thought Fang actually lost his limb and boy was I creeped out!