Wellwellwell, another week has come and gone faster'n you can say "a fana caga", and y'know, it was a pretty spiffy week at that. After all, I made it out alive which is more than I can say about other weeks where I end up feeling more rung out than your mother's monthly rag. Dunno it it's the upcoming holiday season that has me going (I doubt it...it's come to the point where I feel like going into hibernation as soon as those irritating Christmas ads hit the tube), but I feel so gooood knowing that this is the time of year between doing yard work and shoveling snow that leads to more of those goof off hours that I most simply adore, sweetie!
Nice selection too, sent from the kindness of Bill Shute's and Bob Forward's hearts not to mention Feeding Tube Records and Weasel Walter who just can't stop with the metallic jazz overdrive that he's been doing since who knows when. Special thanks goes to Alan "Snake" Globekar of Cleveland power pop fame who sent me a few of his recent releases, two of 'em which get the royal treatment this week. You may remember Alan as the guitarist in the final incarnation of Circus (see my last batch of singles review for my opines regarding the platter) as well as the Andy Gerome Band and Brian Sands' various projects, and hey Al if you are reading this I'm in the process of writing a letter to you shortly detailing the various things that I've been tossing at'cha. Anyway, thanks big for the platters which were a pleasant surprise considering how I thought you've been outta the music game for ages!
THE RATTLE SNAKES CD (Electro Records)
This was Al Globekar's early 'teen's group of which I know NOTHING ELSE ABOUT. An' with a name like the Rattle Snakes I was hopin' these guys woulda emulated the infamous where-did-they-go group the Sidewinders who put out that great outta-nowhere album on RCA back in '72. Well, this ain't the Sidewinders, it's totally different but in a good, redeeming way.
Bobby Lamphier pretty much fronts the group, he on acoustic rhythm guitar and lead vocals. Globekar plays lead and produced, Mike Wey is on bass guitar and Rob Luoma (a name that sounds familiar) plays drums. And they do a good job putting out a platter that's part pop, part rock and even's gotta bit of country in it, perhaps left over from the time Globekar was putting that C/W act together with Brian Sands, some results now out there on Soundcloud.
Half covers, half originals and it all goes down rather smoothly. Maybe a bit too slick for some of you purists in the raw power groove, but I can enjoy the takes of Presley and Holly (as well as a laid back "Baby Please Don't Go") as much as I can Lanphier and Globekar's original material. And in no way could I ever say anything bad about Globekar's lead lines which sound beautiful as they careen in and out of not only the melodies but (eventually) your mind.
A nice one especially for people like me who have been following the exploits of Globekar for awhile and then alla sudden poof! Sheesh, could it have been THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS since I first heard Globekar's Andy Gerome Band broadcast on WMMS way back when? Of course...I'm nothing but an old turd these days as I'm sure most of you are!
Milford Graves-BABI 2-CD set (Corbett Vs. Dempsey, available here)
Finally after all this time (a good forty years since New Music Distribution Services ran outta it) the legendary Milford Graves BABI album is available, and as those of us who hadda rely on tapes or burnt Cee-Dees of it know already it's a killer. Graves plays his percussion and moans like a wildman while Arthur Doyle and Hugh Glover do their best to make Coltrane sound like Lucy Ricardo playing "Glow Worm"! They shred the air the same way all of those great early-seventies outta-nowhere greats did! Sure good seeing this 'un back in circulation!
Of course the best thing about this reissue is that the fine folk at Corbett Vs. Dempsey actually included a second disque, this one featuring the same lineup a good six or so years earlier doing the same overload in the sanctity of their rehearsal space and man is it a killer! More of the same only these four tracks last about a whole hour en toto, and the raw sound really does add to the intensity if I do say so myself! Turn this one up and if you don't hit levels of beyond-hope internal gut churn I dunno what's wrong with you!
A definite keeper for a guy like me who spent a good portion of the eighties trying to catch up with everything he missed out in the seventies, and although I'll NEVER be able to fulfill my goal well, ya gotta admit that it's been fun enough at least givin' it the ol' go, y'know???
State Champion-SEND FLOWERS LP (Feeding Tube Records, available here)
Not one of the better Feeding Tube releases but...well, you may like it. Slow neo-alt pop that at times (thanks to the slide guitar) might even borders a bit on new country what with its downer mode and twisted introspective lyrics that depress more'n anything. The better tracks do contain that Mirrors via Pink Floyd dreariness that actually uplifts a la "Slow Down" so I wouldn't call it a total wash out. Take yer choice.
Martin Escalante + Weasel Walter-LACERATE CD (ugEXPLODE Records)
Gonna be extra hard describing this ugEXPLODE release w/o copping too much from the other ones. That means NO AACM comparisons (including the droppings of such names as Joseph Jarman, Anthony Braxton or Roscoe Mitchell) nor slight appeals to free jazz heritage (Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Guiffre etc.). Sheesh, and I would like to fill out the review to at least covers' length at the left of where you are now reading with something about Weasel Walter's percussion sans any paens to the inside/outside the beat purveyors as Sunny Murray or Ronald Shannon Jackson for that matter. Maybe a few...naw, not even that would suffice. Sheesh, I guess I really am at a loss of words as far as telling you just how much of an ajax this newer than new jazz as it was meant to be staked out platter is, eh?
Bill Dawg and the Dirt Road Rockers-HOWL AT THE MOON CD (Electro Records)
Here's another Globekar-related effort, he being the guitarist in this recent act featuring a man who calls himself Bill Dawg! Rob Luoma from the Rattle Snakes is also here while Rattle Snakes frontman Bobby Lamphier also makes an appearance, and like that effort this one seems torn between a country rock twang and fifties homage. And like the Rattle Snakes this one does come up with a few tasty pop moments you might appreciate. I could see these guys in the here and now playing to a few lost souls at one of those Northeastern Ohio bars that has a shooting in the parking lot at least once a week.
Ray Bryant-COLD TURKEY CD-r burn (originally on Sue Records)
Haw, for a moment I thought Bryant was gonna be covering John Lennon, but still this title does fit in swimmingly with the holidays. Snazzy piano trio jazz that's bright enough to get you well and happy even if some of the time you get the feeling you're watching MISTEROGERS. It's nothing that I would call crucial in that it doesn't tear the mind up and make you feel like a preying animal like the best music should, but hey, I think you could milk some pleasure outta the gol' durn thing!
George Jones-LIVE AT DANCETOWN USA CD-r burn (originally on Ace Records, England)
It's not hard to see why Paul McGarry just loves the dickens outta these old George Jones recordings. After all, by the time this 'un was released in 1965 country music had earned a sort of respect with the general populace outside of the rural enclaves where it was birthed, and even though the sound was getting more and more honed and aimed at the same people buying other forms of pop messterpieces country still retained those fried roots that (at least at the time) separated itself from the mop top battalion. Of course nowadays it's ALL turned into a horrid watered down pop parody but back in the sixties country was a good antidote to various forms of lethargy that were sweeping the record dial.
Twenny-six rousers here, some in the standard C/W vein while others slip into Jones' early rock 'n roll mode that might have upset quite a few listeners only a few years earlier. Still a good slice of live entertainment with a few surprises like "Bony Maronie" and a generally more fun time'n had I decided to spin that Delaney and Bonnie platter Paul snuck in his latest package. Hey Paul, wassamatta with ya anyway?
Coyote-CAST OFF YOUR OLD TIRED ETHICS CD-r burn (originally on Old Dog Records)
Haw! I thought this album was gonna be done up by that prostitute union that got a whole lotta press in the mid-seventies (C.O.Y.O.T.E. worked for the betterment of slit sellers in these here United States to the point where they didn't even want their Johns opening doors for 'em!) but from the sounds of it... Well, this buncha Coyotes were an early-eighties hard rock group, male and all, that took all of the worst aspects of the AOR moosh of the day and sliced and diced 'em up in their own not-so-special way. I gotta admit Coyote did some hard moves better'n expected (such as the J. Geils-influenced "Riot in Cell Block #9" riff "Final Notice") but for the most part they take the same tired hackdom and rehash it for even more sopored out kids. Y'know, the ones who were easily taken in by the most transparent hucksterisms that have ruined teenage culture for the past fiftysome years. I can see some old turdburger just poured into his jeans and leather jacket hanging out at the coffee shop having bought this one oh so long ago, and for some strange reason I suspect he might be you.
Various Artists-MUNICH SANTA HOMBRE WATER CD-r burn (Bill Shute)
Wotta (typically) strange effort starting off with an obscure Jerome Cooper track from I dunno where (he being the percussive part of the old Revolutionary Ensemble with Leroy Jenkins and Sirone) and afterwards pummeling our senses with not only a whole lotta Spanish language versions of mid-sixties Amerigan hits but FIVE olde tymey Christmas ditties just in time for the holidays, including one vocalized by none other'n Ozzie and Harriet. Thanks Bill, I'm already sick of the Holidays and it's still November!
The more interesting tracks here were done up by up-and-coming jazz guitarist Mary Halvorson and saxophonist Joe McPhee (see last week's post), the resultant stew reminding me more of those old Derek Bailey efforts featuring pretty much the same setup. You might have heard the stuff she did with Weasel Walter and maybe even Anthony Braxton, and if you (like me) go for the ugEXPLODE style of sonic liberation you'll probably go for these tracks done up with another legendary newer-than-new thing performer who fortunately hasn't left the boards yet. I'm sure an internet search'll bring up more of these settings and if you weren't as lazy as I am you would have found out by now!
***As ya know, last Thursday was Thangsgiving Day, and unlike other years BOY DO I HAVE A LOT TO BE THANGFUL FOR!!!! Mainly the beauteous bevy of platters that I have received this week, some of them paid for with my own hard toil (and believe me, it is hard toil to beat a seven-year-old outta his lunch money!) and other totally free via the mail if you can believe that! In fact, I got so much hotcha items as of late that I'm definitely gonna hafta save some of the booty received for future posts that's how happily bogged down with music for reviewing purposes I am at this time! Sheesh, if only Stevie Wonder could see me now!
Nice selection too, sent from the kindness of Bill Shute's and Bob Forward's hearts not to mention Feeding Tube Records and Weasel Walter who just can't stop with the metallic jazz overdrive that he's been doing since who knows when. Special thanks goes to Alan "Snake" Globekar of Cleveland power pop fame who sent me a few of his recent releases, two of 'em which get the royal treatment this week. You may remember Alan as the guitarist in the final incarnation of Circus (see my last batch of singles review for my opines regarding the platter) as well as the Andy Gerome Band and Brian Sands' various projects, and hey Al if you are reading this I'm in the process of writing a letter to you shortly detailing the various things that I've been tossing at'cha. Anyway, thanks big for the platters which were a pleasant surprise considering how I thought you've been outta the music game for ages!
***A SPECIAL NOTE TO A CERTAIN SOMEONE, OR SOMETHING, OUT THERE-can any of ya direct me to where I could find a recordings (legit or not) of the late-seventies Sydney-based groups Trans-Love Energies or Trans 262? Yeah, I thought so. Creeps!
***And with that well, here we go!
This was Al Globekar's early 'teen's group of which I know NOTHING ELSE ABOUT. An' with a name like the Rattle Snakes I was hopin' these guys woulda emulated the infamous where-did-they-go group the Sidewinders who put out that great outta-nowhere album on RCA back in '72. Well, this ain't the Sidewinders, it's totally different but in a good, redeeming way.
Bobby Lamphier pretty much fronts the group, he on acoustic rhythm guitar and lead vocals. Globekar plays lead and produced, Mike Wey is on bass guitar and Rob Luoma (a name that sounds familiar) plays drums. And they do a good job putting out a platter that's part pop, part rock and even's gotta bit of country in it, perhaps left over from the time Globekar was putting that C/W act together with Brian Sands, some results now out there on Soundcloud.
Half covers, half originals and it all goes down rather smoothly. Maybe a bit too slick for some of you purists in the raw power groove, but I can enjoy the takes of Presley and Holly (as well as a laid back "Baby Please Don't Go") as much as I can Lanphier and Globekar's original material. And in no way could I ever say anything bad about Globekar's lead lines which sound beautiful as they careen in and out of not only the melodies but (eventually) your mind.
A nice one especially for people like me who have been following the exploits of Globekar for awhile and then alla sudden poof! Sheesh, could it have been THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS since I first heard Globekar's Andy Gerome Band broadcast on WMMS way back when? Of course...I'm nothing but an old turd these days as I'm sure most of you are!
***
Finally after all this time (a good forty years since New Music Distribution Services ran outta it) the legendary Milford Graves BABI album is available, and as those of us who hadda rely on tapes or burnt Cee-Dees of it know already it's a killer. Graves plays his percussion and moans like a wildman while Arthur Doyle and Hugh Glover do their best to make Coltrane sound like Lucy Ricardo playing "Glow Worm"! They shred the air the same way all of those great early-seventies outta-nowhere greats did! Sure good seeing this 'un back in circulation!
Of course the best thing about this reissue is that the fine folk at Corbett Vs. Dempsey actually included a second disque, this one featuring the same lineup a good six or so years earlier doing the same overload in the sanctity of their rehearsal space and man is it a killer! More of the same only these four tracks last about a whole hour en toto, and the raw sound really does add to the intensity if I do say so myself! Turn this one up and if you don't hit levels of beyond-hope internal gut churn I dunno what's wrong with you!
A definite keeper for a guy like me who spent a good portion of the eighties trying to catch up with everything he missed out in the seventies, and although I'll NEVER be able to fulfill my goal well, ya gotta admit that it's been fun enough at least givin' it the ol' go, y'know???
***
Not one of the better Feeding Tube releases but...well, you may like it. Slow neo-alt pop that at times (thanks to the slide guitar) might even borders a bit on new country what with its downer mode and twisted introspective lyrics that depress more'n anything. The better tracks do contain that Mirrors via Pink Floyd dreariness that actually uplifts a la "Slow Down" so I wouldn't call it a total wash out. Take yer choice.
***
Gonna be extra hard describing this ugEXPLODE release w/o copping too much from the other ones. That means NO AACM comparisons (including the droppings of such names as Joseph Jarman, Anthony Braxton or Roscoe Mitchell) nor slight appeals to free jazz heritage (Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Guiffre etc.). Sheesh, and I would like to fill out the review to at least covers' length at the left of where you are now reading with something about Weasel Walter's percussion sans any paens to the inside/outside the beat purveyors as Sunny Murray or Ronald Shannon Jackson for that matter. Maybe a few...naw, not even that would suffice. Sheesh, I guess I really am at a loss of words as far as telling you just how much of an ajax this newer than new jazz as it was meant to be staked out platter is, eh?
***
Here's another Globekar-related effort, he being the guitarist in this recent act featuring a man who calls himself Bill Dawg! Rob Luoma from the Rattle Snakes is also here while Rattle Snakes frontman Bobby Lamphier also makes an appearance, and like that effort this one seems torn between a country rock twang and fifties homage. And like the Rattle Snakes this one does come up with a few tasty pop moments you might appreciate. I could see these guys in the here and now playing to a few lost souls at one of those Northeastern Ohio bars that has a shooting in the parking lot at least once a week.
***
Haw, for a moment I thought Bryant was gonna be covering John Lennon, but still this title does fit in swimmingly with the holidays. Snazzy piano trio jazz that's bright enough to get you well and happy even if some of the time you get the feeling you're watching MISTEROGERS. It's nothing that I would call crucial in that it doesn't tear the mind up and make you feel like a preying animal like the best music should, but hey, I think you could milk some pleasure outta the gol' durn thing!
***
It's not hard to see why Paul McGarry just loves the dickens outta these old George Jones recordings. After all, by the time this 'un was released in 1965 country music had earned a sort of respect with the general populace outside of the rural enclaves where it was birthed, and even though the sound was getting more and more honed and aimed at the same people buying other forms of pop messterpieces country still retained those fried roots that (at least at the time) separated itself from the mop top battalion. Of course nowadays it's ALL turned into a horrid watered down pop parody but back in the sixties country was a good antidote to various forms of lethargy that were sweeping the record dial.
Twenny-six rousers here, some in the standard C/W vein while others slip into Jones' early rock 'n roll mode that might have upset quite a few listeners only a few years earlier. Still a good slice of live entertainment with a few surprises like "Bony Maronie" and a generally more fun time'n had I decided to spin that Delaney and Bonnie platter Paul snuck in his latest package. Hey Paul, wassamatta with ya anyway?
***
Haw! I thought this album was gonna be done up by that prostitute union that got a whole lotta press in the mid-seventies (C.O.Y.O.T.E. worked for the betterment of slit sellers in these here United States to the point where they didn't even want their Johns opening doors for 'em!) but from the sounds of it... Well, this buncha Coyotes were an early-eighties hard rock group, male and all, that took all of the worst aspects of the AOR moosh of the day and sliced and diced 'em up in their own not-so-special way. I gotta admit Coyote did some hard moves better'n expected (such as the J. Geils-influenced "Riot in Cell Block #9" riff "Final Notice") but for the most part they take the same tired hackdom and rehash it for even more sopored out kids. Y'know, the ones who were easily taken in by the most transparent hucksterisms that have ruined teenage culture for the past fiftysome years. I can see some old turdburger just poured into his jeans and leather jacket hanging out at the coffee shop having bought this one oh so long ago, and for some strange reason I suspect he might be you.
***
Wotta (typically) strange effort starting off with an obscure Jerome Cooper track from I dunno where (he being the percussive part of the old Revolutionary Ensemble with Leroy Jenkins and Sirone) and afterwards pummeling our senses with not only a whole lotta Spanish language versions of mid-sixties Amerigan hits but FIVE olde tymey Christmas ditties just in time for the holidays, including one vocalized by none other'n Ozzie and Harriet. Thanks Bill, I'm already sick of the Holidays and it's still November!
The more interesting tracks here were done up by up-and-coming jazz guitarist Mary Halvorson and saxophonist Joe McPhee (see last week's post), the resultant stew reminding me more of those old Derek Bailey efforts featuring pretty much the same setup. You might have heard the stuff she did with Weasel Walter and maybe even Anthony Braxton, and if you (like me) go for the ugEXPLODE style of sonic liberation you'll probably go for these tracks done up with another legendary newer-than-new thing performer who fortunately hasn't left the boards yet. I'm sure an internet search'll bring up more of these settings and if you weren't as lazy as I am you would have found out by now!
I keep pestering you to buy up these BLACK TO COMM back issues and as usual you keep ignoring me. What do you need to happen to you before you actually get off your bum and give me an order anyway...a stack of issues to fall flat on your head? Heaven knows that's happened to me a coupla times already...***
From Wiki: "[Milford Graves] is considered to be a free jazz pioneer, liberating the percussion from its timekeeping role."
ReplyDeleteA highfalutin way of saying: He can't keep time, can't play his instrument?
Sheesh-o-rama.