Gee, another fun week has gone by us faster'n a pack of chubby women headin' to a girdle sale. Considering the relative feh this week was it ain't like I'm exactly sad to see it go, but I did manage to get hold of a variety of interesting musical wares that kept me from staring at that cute cartoon drawing of Betty and Veronica (Bob Montana-era natch!) showin' off their bikini bodies at the beach for hours on end. In fact, if it weren't for these items that were either purchased by me on my lonesome or donated to the cause by the likes of BILL SHUTE, PAUL McGARRY, CHEESE BORGER and P.D. FADENSONNEN who knows what shape this week's personal gab to you might have taken! Anyway read on and maybe you'll know what to do with your next welfare check other'n lose it all on one toss of the dice!
Fille Qui Mousse-SE TAIRE POUR UNE FEMME TROP BELLE CD (Futura Records, France)
Mahogany Brain and Red Noise weren't enough...I just hadda have more of that free splat early-seventies French avant punk rock to keep my nerves shattered the way they should be! But would Fille Qui Mousse fill the bill???
Henri-Jean Enu of PARAPLUIE magazine fame's group wasn't exactly an act as much as it was an assemblage. Free sound collages with or without vocals are a-plenty here, and they do sorta set the mood for the fringeier aspects of Youth Revolution with a French attitude style one would expect from a buncha uber chic radicals who were undoubtedly the scions of wealth and privilege. It's brilliant---sorta musique concrete or improvised on the spot sound with or without spoken words or vocals, and you just don't get enough of it the way these numbuhs leave you that much hungering for more. It captures the fried and perhaps even Luddite side of the International Youth mind, especially on the track where Enu strums on an African guitar to the accompaniment of a sole drummer yet this sounds as close to the true musical taproot of it all as the Seeds!
I hunger more for the more solid rock trackage here which does come close to what the likes of Red Noise were laying down on side two of their own spinner. With a line-up featuring Daniel Hoffman and the Lentin Brothers (Jean-Pierre and Dominque) otherwise known as the core basis of Dagon, Fille Qui Mousse lay down a heavy early-seventies neo-punk free drone style that certain wags have labeled as prog-punk. I never thought I'd cozy up to such terminology as that but these numbers really do capture the mad essence of primal yet "cultured" (if you think that the Canterbury Sound can be defined as that) music mixed with the p-rock attitude of the early-seventies that I assume was in rather large supply in Europe at the time. Now, these tracks are outnumbered by the more sound-patch quilt material but still, I enjoy the mix of the rock and the free spirit which does give SE TAIRE that unique under-the-underground Gallic feeling which satiates those rock cravings that pop up when I realize these guys were way more on the rockism ball back then than you'll ever be.
Good enough that I do plan to pick up Fille's "legit" TRIXIE STAPLETON album when finances allow. Another testimonial to the fact that the French did produce great rock music and like, I sure could use more of this breed of radical soundspew in my system which I will say has done a whole lot more to resensify me than just about anything that has been touted (by the usual blabbermouths) as part and parcel to the rock 'n roll spirit these past few decades.
The Cleveland Steamers-BEST RECORD EVER CD (Smog Veil Records)
Not having been as much of a studious Cleveland under-the-underground rock fan as maybe I shoulda been these past thirtysome years (face it, after the real deal talent skedaddled and the mid/late-seventies contingent retreated into their fart-encrusted bedrooms it just wasn't the same 'n don't gimme that Adults and Insanity and the Killers jazz!), stuff like the Pink Holes and other Cle worthies really did fly under my radar for a good long time. But having to choose among acts like the Jehovah's Waitresses and Bangorillas who could blame me for being CAUTIOUS? Well this one really does satiate that craving for something even barely resembling the Cle spirit of the past that had been washed away by time and dissipating talent. Surprisingly complicated and well-delivered punk the way I always thought it should be with a hefty nod to the old avant garage plus a number of special guests who make that claim more than justifiable. You might actually osmose yourself into this despite the lefty-jingoism of "My Asshole Cousin" which trots out the old tropes that never really made any sense in the first place unless you haven't studied history closely enough!
Various Artists-SINGLES GOING NOWHERE VOL. 1 CD-r burn
A lotta folk have sent their own NUGGETS-influenced sixties/seventies garage band samplers my way, but this 'un courtesy P.D. Fadensonnen has gotta be one of the weirder ones in the batch.
The Lord Fuzz tracks done up by legendary lounge jazz musician Gary Wilson's high stool band sure fits into the whole late-sixties zeitgeist of basement-level rockin' out on all cylinders, but the likes of Samuel Hobo (a French hippie singing along to a cheap keyboard and beat box---Billy Synth and Suicide did it way better!) really didn't excite me to the point of gush.
However the EP from Gary Quazar (an El Lay industry hopeful type who I get the idea even Kim Fowley woulda avoided!) sounded great even if ya get the idea that the guy was another Richie Rich whose dad backrolled his son's rock 'n roll fantasy. Also good is a pre-schmalz Bob Segar and his hard-edged repeato-riff rockin' single "2+2=?" b/w "Death Row", both sides of which woulda gotten any real kid up and hoppin' had he only had the opportunity to hear 'em on his transistor.
And yes, that is none other than Patrick Vian's Red Noise closing out the disque with a free rock instrumental courtesy that Tee-Vee clip I once posted! That bit of gulcheral shell shock must rank as one of the wildest bits of French avant-punk to make its way to the airwaves during the early-seventies! That is unless Mahogany Brain or Dagon managed to sneak their way onto tee-vee somehow.
See if you can fry one up yourself. Should be an interesting part of your Cee-Dee collection.
The Rolling Stones-A SHOT OF SALVATION CD-r burn
Paul McGarry's parting with some of the dupes in his burnt Cee-Dee collection and willed this one to me. I decided not to wait until the guy croaked to give it a listen because hey, why would I wanna wait a good fifty years to hear this considerin' just what sorta longevity McGarry is just bound to have.
I've heard most of these oft-booted Stones tracks before, but considering how 1) they ain't glossed up recordings done in some high-fancy technologically-inclined studio and 2) the Stones hadn't yet become the laurels-resting buncha old guys they have been for a few decades awlready I can enjoy these way more'n I can osmose Chuck Eddy's favorite eighties MTV stars doing more to ruin the concept of rock 'n roll than Pat Boone ever could!
The familiar material ranges from good to feh. I mean, I sure like listening to the Stones on ED SULLIVAN especially when ol' Ed sez he's gonna meet up with 'em backstage at Madison Square Garden (to try and cop some cooze?), and those rough blooze tracks like "Prodigal Son" sound almost as heartfelt if not as authentico as the originals. But if anyone can think that "Angie" is an encapsulation of the Stones at their best or that "Too Many Cooks" was a classic all-star sesh worthy of being heard in the first place they've probably been reading more CIRCUS than classic CREEM ifyaknowaddamean...
When all's said and done, next to today's (let's face it, the last forty years!) slop passing as passionate teenage expression even these tracks sound high-energy and power-punch packed to the point where they might as well be the Stooges! And although the Stone have pretty much been Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods (at least in spirit) these past few decades at least they had the right to rest on past laurels even if they all shoulda scrambooched to the old folk's home. And those laurels could get pretty tasty especially if ya were a hungry sorta guy and face it, which of you reg'lar BLOG TO COMM readers ain't?
Check out the bootleg lists and you tube downloads for these tracks. Sure they're scattered ALL OVER THE PLACE so like it shouldn't be that hard to fry yourself up a copy.
Amon Duul 2-AT THE GATES OF NIGHT CD-r (Eye of the Storm Records)
There's this new bootleg label (or so I assume unless everything over the contracted limit has fallen into the PD) called Eye of the Storm which has issued some interesting things by a number of mainland European acts, some of which don't quite fit into the BLOG TO COMM noiseosphere so we won't deal with 'em one bit. The ones that do seem good enough for normal consumption we will, and I got hold of three doozies that you will be hearing about not only this time but in the weeks to come..
This Amon Duul II (or "2" here) effort's pretty classy considering its origins. Beginning with some 1975 German tee-vee appearance, the group seems to have fallen into that rut of perfection without the raw spontaneity of their early efforts. The older the tracks are the better they sound even if I think that the ones dating back to the PHALLUS DEI/YETI era don't differentiate themselves that much from the album cuts to make them distinctive in any special way. Still I gotta say that if you're one of those krautrock fanatics who were in Amon Duul ever since Lester Bangs tipped you off to 'em in the pages of some '72-era ish of CREEM, these just might bring a slight smile to your already cragged out face
Amos Milburn-13 UNRELEASED MASTERS CD-r burn (originally on EMI-Pathe, France)
As you might have guessed, a Bill hurn. And a good one two even though I only partake in these early blues-y things when Bill deems to send me a platter or two. Originally recorded for the Aladdin label, these examples of prime postwar R/B not only set the stage for a lotta the rock 'n roll that would be headin' our way within a decade or so but contain a whole load of ideas that would become part and parcel to the entire rock and pop atmosphere by the time the sixties would clock in. Not only that, but these long-unreleased efforts have this hot and classy sorta swing to it that reflects some real style and swerve you just don't see outta our pop musicians anymore! A pretty good way to get those knots outta the back of your neck after a hard day being yelled at.
Various Artists-INSIDE BEAT FROM THE SOUR JUKEBOX CD-r burn (Bill Shute)
Here's a dig from the box that I think Bill musta sent me FIVE years ago! As usual these tracks consist of a nice array of middle Amerigana that can still be found in the outer reaches of the internet, from the teenage basement rock of the Teenbeats (one of a millyun Teenbeats out there!) to Harpo Marx strummin' his namesake to "My Funny Valentine". In fact, most of this is bound to bring a smile to your face, if your face ain't bandaged up after being beaten up by some ANTIFA member who thought you were wearing a MAGA hat that actually read CAGA!
It also's got loads of pop toonz en Espanol and a few sorta-known neo-rarities like the Jackie Lomax "Sour Milk Sea" single. Funniest part---the Benny Bell of "Shaving Cream" fame number. Unfunniest part---Mad Man Michaels' two sides of lame Polish jokes tha shoulda been tossed out with the rancid kishka ages ago.
Mahogany Brain and Red Noise weren't enough...I just hadda have more of that free splat early-seventies French avant punk rock to keep my nerves shattered the way they should be! But would Fille Qui Mousse fill the bill???
Henri-Jean Enu of PARAPLUIE magazine fame's group wasn't exactly an act as much as it was an assemblage. Free sound collages with or without vocals are a-plenty here, and they do sorta set the mood for the fringeier aspects of Youth Revolution with a French attitude style one would expect from a buncha uber chic radicals who were undoubtedly the scions of wealth and privilege. It's brilliant---sorta musique concrete or improvised on the spot sound with or without spoken words or vocals, and you just don't get enough of it the way these numbuhs leave you that much hungering for more. It captures the fried and perhaps even Luddite side of the International Youth mind, especially on the track where Enu strums on an African guitar to the accompaniment of a sole drummer yet this sounds as close to the true musical taproot of it all as the Seeds!
I hunger more for the more solid rock trackage here which does come close to what the likes of Red Noise were laying down on side two of their own spinner. With a line-up featuring Daniel Hoffman and the Lentin Brothers (Jean-Pierre and Dominque) otherwise known as the core basis of Dagon, Fille Qui Mousse lay down a heavy early-seventies neo-punk free drone style that certain wags have labeled as prog-punk. I never thought I'd cozy up to such terminology as that but these numbers really do capture the mad essence of primal yet "cultured" (if you think that the Canterbury Sound can be defined as that) music mixed with the p-rock attitude of the early-seventies that I assume was in rather large supply in Europe at the time. Now, these tracks are outnumbered by the more sound-patch quilt material but still, I enjoy the mix of the rock and the free spirit which does give SE TAIRE that unique under-the-underground Gallic feeling which satiates those rock cravings that pop up when I realize these guys were way more on the rockism ball back then than you'll ever be.
Good enough that I do plan to pick up Fille's "legit" TRIXIE STAPLETON album when finances allow. Another testimonial to the fact that the French did produce great rock music and like, I sure could use more of this breed of radical soundspew in my system which I will say has done a whole lot more to resensify me than just about anything that has been touted (by the usual blabbermouths) as part and parcel to the rock 'n roll spirit these past few decades.
***
Not having been as much of a studious Cleveland under-the-underground rock fan as maybe I shoulda been these past thirtysome years (face it, after the real deal talent skedaddled and the mid/late-seventies contingent retreated into their fart-encrusted bedrooms it just wasn't the same 'n don't gimme that Adults and Insanity and the Killers jazz!), stuff like the Pink Holes and other Cle worthies really did fly under my radar for a good long time. But having to choose among acts like the Jehovah's Waitresses and Bangorillas who could blame me for being CAUTIOUS? Well this one really does satiate that craving for something even barely resembling the Cle spirit of the past that had been washed away by time and dissipating talent. Surprisingly complicated and well-delivered punk the way I always thought it should be with a hefty nod to the old avant garage plus a number of special guests who make that claim more than justifiable. You might actually osmose yourself into this despite the lefty-jingoism of "My Asshole Cousin" which trots out the old tropes that never really made any sense in the first place unless you haven't studied history closely enough!
***
A lotta folk have sent their own NUGGETS-influenced sixties/seventies garage band samplers my way, but this 'un courtesy P.D. Fadensonnen has gotta be one of the weirder ones in the batch.
The Lord Fuzz tracks done up by legendary lounge jazz musician Gary Wilson's high stool band sure fits into the whole late-sixties zeitgeist of basement-level rockin' out on all cylinders, but the likes of Samuel Hobo (a French hippie singing along to a cheap keyboard and beat box---Billy Synth and Suicide did it way better!) really didn't excite me to the point of gush.
However the EP from Gary Quazar (an El Lay industry hopeful type who I get the idea even Kim Fowley woulda avoided!) sounded great even if ya get the idea that the guy was another Richie Rich whose dad backrolled his son's rock 'n roll fantasy. Also good is a pre-schmalz Bob Segar and his hard-edged repeato-riff rockin' single "2+2=?" b/w "Death Row", both sides of which woulda gotten any real kid up and hoppin' had he only had the opportunity to hear 'em on his transistor.
And yes, that is none other than Patrick Vian's Red Noise closing out the disque with a free rock instrumental courtesy that Tee-Vee clip I once posted! That bit of gulcheral shell shock must rank as one of the wildest bits of French avant-punk to make its way to the airwaves during the early-seventies! That is unless Mahogany Brain or Dagon managed to sneak their way onto tee-vee somehow.
See if you can fry one up yourself. Should be an interesting part of your Cee-Dee collection.
***
Paul McGarry's parting with some of the dupes in his burnt Cee-Dee collection and willed this one to me. I decided not to wait until the guy croaked to give it a listen because hey, why would I wanna wait a good fifty years to hear this considerin' just what sorta longevity McGarry is just bound to have.
I've heard most of these oft-booted Stones tracks before, but considering how 1) they ain't glossed up recordings done in some high-fancy technologically-inclined studio and 2) the Stones hadn't yet become the laurels-resting buncha old guys they have been for a few decades awlready I can enjoy these way more'n I can osmose Chuck Eddy's favorite eighties MTV stars doing more to ruin the concept of rock 'n roll than Pat Boone ever could!
The familiar material ranges from good to feh. I mean, I sure like listening to the Stones on ED SULLIVAN especially when ol' Ed sez he's gonna meet up with 'em backstage at Madison Square Garden (to try and cop some cooze?), and those rough blooze tracks like "Prodigal Son" sound almost as heartfelt if not as authentico as the originals. But if anyone can think that "Angie" is an encapsulation of the Stones at their best or that "Too Many Cooks" was a classic all-star sesh worthy of being heard in the first place they've probably been reading more CIRCUS than classic CREEM ifyaknowaddamean...
When all's said and done, next to today's (let's face it, the last forty years!) slop passing as passionate teenage expression even these tracks sound high-energy and power-punch packed to the point where they might as well be the Stooges! And although the Stone have pretty much been Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods (at least in spirit) these past few decades at least they had the right to rest on past laurels even if they all shoulda scrambooched to the old folk's home. And those laurels could get pretty tasty especially if ya were a hungry sorta guy and face it, which of you reg'lar BLOG TO COMM readers ain't?
Check out the bootleg lists and you tube downloads for these tracks. Sure they're scattered ALL OVER THE PLACE so like it shouldn't be that hard to fry yourself up a copy.
***
There's this new bootleg label (or so I assume unless everything over the contracted limit has fallen into the PD) called Eye of the Storm which has issued some interesting things by a number of mainland European acts, some of which don't quite fit into the BLOG TO COMM noiseosphere so we won't deal with 'em one bit. The ones that do seem good enough for normal consumption we will, and I got hold of three doozies that you will be hearing about not only this time but in the weeks to come..
This Amon Duul II (or "2" here) effort's pretty classy considering its origins. Beginning with some 1975 German tee-vee appearance, the group seems to have fallen into that rut of perfection without the raw spontaneity of their early efforts. The older the tracks are the better they sound even if I think that the ones dating back to the PHALLUS DEI/YETI era don't differentiate themselves that much from the album cuts to make them distinctive in any special way. Still I gotta say that if you're one of those krautrock fanatics who were in Amon Duul ever since Lester Bangs tipped you off to 'em in the pages of some '72-era ish of CREEM, these just might bring a slight smile to your already cragged out face
***
As you might have guessed, a Bill hurn. And a good one two even though I only partake in these early blues-y things when Bill deems to send me a platter or two. Originally recorded for the Aladdin label, these examples of prime postwar R/B not only set the stage for a lotta the rock 'n roll that would be headin' our way within a decade or so but contain a whole load of ideas that would become part and parcel to the entire rock and pop atmosphere by the time the sixties would clock in. Not only that, but these long-unreleased efforts have this hot and classy sorta swing to it that reflects some real style and swerve you just don't see outta our pop musicians anymore! A pretty good way to get those knots outta the back of your neck after a hard day being yelled at.
***
Here's a dig from the box that I think Bill musta sent me FIVE years ago! As usual these tracks consist of a nice array of middle Amerigana that can still be found in the outer reaches of the internet, from the teenage basement rock of the Teenbeats (one of a millyun Teenbeats out there!) to Harpo Marx strummin' his namesake to "My Funny Valentine". In fact, most of this is bound to bring a smile to your face, if your face ain't bandaged up after being beaten up by some ANTIFA member who thought you were wearing a MAGA hat that actually read CAGA!
It also's got loads of pop toonz en Espanol and a few sorta-known neo-rarities like the Jackie Lomax "Sour Milk Sea" single. Funniest part---the Benny Bell of "Shaving Cream" fame number. Unfunniest part---Mad Man Michaels' two sides of lame Polish jokes tha shoulda been tossed out with the rancid kishka ages ago.
***And after all that all I gotta say is that if you want more of the same free-wheelin', no-holds-barred kinda rock 'n roll writing like the kind you used to see plenty of during the GOLDEN AGE OF ROCK SCRIBBLING then why not latch onto one or maybe even more old issues of BLACK TO COMM! Each and every issue is filled to the gills with some mighty fine rock analysis and totally irreverent if SPOT-ON assessments of rock triumphs and even failures that the "legitimate" rock press was and remains too chicken to go near! In a world where rock, jazz. tee-vee. comics and general LIVING have been reduced to mere mimeographs it's sure grand to read something refreshing and so contrary to the general line of proper rock as a commodity thinking. Give your consciousness a break for once and latch onto a few BLACK TO COMMs...your right side of the mind will be ever thankful.
"Gee, another fun week has gone by us faster'n a pack of chubby women headin' to a girdle sale."
ReplyDeletelol sexist and fatist much? lol