BLOG TO COMM

Still celebratin' the winter blahs here at BLOG TO COMM central, and I gotta say that this sure is a nice time of the year if I wanna be quarantined in my abode with nothin' to do but watch tee-vee, eat junk food and of course listen to all of the fine recordings that I've accumulated over the years. Unfortunately it looks as if things are gettin' back to normil despite the continuing Chinese Gongo thingamabob, and since the weatherman ain't predictin' any snow days any time soon I guess I'll have to make do with whatever goof off time I do have and put it to good use! But man, could I use the thrill of knowin' that I got an instant day off due to a huge blizzard or (better yet!) the school burning down with nothin' to do but eat Bugles and slurp down sodas while switching between afternoon game shows and those weird 15-minute kiddie shows on PBS just like I had the pleasure of doin' way back when! That's what we used to call Suburban Slob Heaven, and come to think of it we can still call it that even at our advanced states of decay!

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Gotta welcome back into the fold one Mr. Jakob Boysen, a long-time reader who decided to jump on the Bill Shute/Paul McGarry bandwagon and send me some burns for review purpose! Glad to see you again after all these long years Jakob, and obviously your package did make its way to my doors albeit by way of Madagascar! Or at least the thing sure LOOKS as if it did! Some good efforts appeared twixt the envelope, a few of which you can read about below.

THE KNOWBODY ELSE LP (Purple Pyramid Records)

Eh, it ain't as hard as those Black Oak Arkansas albums but then again it ain't as stifferoo as the naysayers make it out to be.  A rather toned down early effort that shows the promise that would be those early BOA albums, but otherwise something that a good portion of you thrifty types might wanna pass over unless you happen to hit some 1975 flea market any day soon and have fifty cents to spend. Best tracks include the oft-mentioned by me "Winged Horse of Louisiana" and elpee closer "Black Blues", a track which certainly shows the White South's abilities to transform the Black South's music into a rather different if no less engaging form.

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Roscoe Mitchell-DUETS WITH ANTHONY BRAXTON CD (Sackville/Delmark Records)

I kinda find it strange that Roscoe Mitchell should get the top billing on this duet platter considering that co-conspirator Braxton was then riding high as the Bright New Face of Experimental Music what with him being signed to Arista Records'n getting hefty jazz press t'boot. Whatever, this December '76 recording is pretty much whatcha'd expect of a meeting of minds between these two AACM stalwarts who were performing a music that oft crossed over from the jazz to new classical idioms when you weren't quite noticing. Worth the effort to obtain, though I gotta say that I do prefer that Braxton team up with the other Art Ensemble reedist, mainly Joseph Jarman, around a year or so before this. 

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Gabriel Tavares-LIVE AT CBGB'S 313 GALLERY CD 

As I said many-a-time, I used to luv tuning into the old CBGB cybercasts to catch the action that was goin' down at the club back during the switcheroo of the century, and although I thought many of the acts that were playing the big stage weren't quite my cup o' lava I gotta say that I enjoyed many of the quieter, mainly acoustic acts that were playing at the 313 Gallery next door. 

Gabriel Tavares typifies the kinda act that I liked to tune into---an acoustic singer/songwriter without the petunia passion playing his acoustic guitar and singing to tape loop percussion which gave his sound a slight Sandy Bull-ish feel to an already Robbie Basho-styled raga edge. At times Tavares reminds me somewhat of Tim Buckley during his more experimental "Monterrey"-styled moments, and between that and the down-groove repeato riffs a fine live 'n perfect for lonely intimate evenings platter has emerged. Might not be totally satisfying (some moderne twists and turns do appear) but I found myself suckered in without having to try much.

One I would recommend even though I get the idea most of you would loathe the thing---should be easy enough to latch onto via Tavares' bandcamp site if you are so tempted.

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THE GUN CD-r burn (originally on Epic Records)

A Boysen donation, and a rather good one at that. Who knows how many times I passed this 'un up in flea market and garage sale stacks o'er the years, but this early Adrian Gurvitz effort ain't that bad a-tall. Sure it gets overworked with the orchestra background but the spirit of late-sixties English psychedelia (soon to doodle its way into early-seventies progressive rock --- no wonder Chris Welch loved 'em!) is still intact. If you go for those Move platters from around the same time this one probably points the way to ELO even more'n Roy Wood and Company did! Some of those irritating 1969 bloviating hard rock moves can be heard but next to some of the bloviation that has gone down in its wake who really cares?

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STAN KENTON CONDUCTS THIS MODERN WORLD 10-inch LP (Capitol Records)

More of those Bob Graettinger compositions that seemed to light up more'n a few dim bulbs over the years. Goes to prove that maybe alla that Gunther Schuller-styled Third Stream squawk wasn't so bad after all.  Forays into that future sound that many thought would typify our adult lives just as much as Supercar or Mars voyages would, but unfortunately things came out quite different than what we all expected. Hmmmm, maybe a guy who rapes his own daughter can't be so bad after all!

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Pere Ubu-BY ORDER OF MAYOR PAWLICKI 2-CD-r set (originally on Cherry Red Records, England)

Given how I pretty much petered out on the Pere Ubu experience once 1982 rolled around this Europeon live set does affect me somewhat, only because David Thomas and crew were concentrating on the early Ubu stylings at this show and very little of that latterday rent-a-Ubu feeling seeps in to ruin the whole thing. 

Not that these new renditions with the new group are particularly special but eh, they do jar up those old feelings of the avant garageness that I thought would be the cornerstone of eighties existence and boy was I wrong about that! 

Thomas' preambles are pretty whacked out entertaining in themselves and add a proper dimension to the musical proceedings even though I doubt anyone in the audience understood what he was saying.

Disque #2 features them rare Ubu encores where the group'd let some old hoary cover rip so's we get interesting takes on the likes of "Kick Out The Jams", "Final Solution" and "Sonic Reducer" kinda making me wonder what the 1980 Thomas, who at the time was eschewing his past with a vengeance, woulda thought of himself a good thirtysome years into the future!

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Zero Boys-VICIOUS CIRCLE CD-r burn (originally on Toxic Shock Records)

A whole lotta the eighties hardcore tends to sound about as dated as a Tim Yohannon editorial, but these Zero Boys sure sound as fresh and energetic as the day these rockin' efforts were birthed. Void of the cloying message music and rote approach of way too many of their brethren, the Boys have a rock-out approach that concentrates on drive and sound as expression rather'n precocious pronouncements or flavor of the issue politics. Short structures say in a minute what it took others hours to produce. For fans of those bands who exemplified the better aspects of the quest...Powertrip, Angry Samoans, Vox Pop... 

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Various Artists-DEADFUN ELEVATOR ZORBA CD-r burn (Bill Shute)

Gotta say that Bill didn't quite hit the usual heights with this selection. Other'n a roarin' rocker from Yesterday's Children entitled "Wanna Be With You" (comped a few times awlready but wha' th' hey???) DEADFUN ELEVATOR doesn't quite hit the ol' rockist g-spot like I kinda hoped it coulda. From lower-tiered punque to just plain ol' moderne avgarde that lacks the wonder of the earlier noisespew I felt a tad wanting for more. And frankly the Shadows doing "Perfidia" only proves that those bozos were nothing but slicksters next to the Ventures and somehow I feel like A PROUD AMERIGAN knowing that them bozos never made it here inna US of Whoa while they were rakin' in the moolah everywhere else onna planet!

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Just a reminder that back issues of BLACK TO COMM can be had for a mere song. Actually, I'd prefer money for 'em but if any of you so have a way with the ol' tonsils well, why not give 'em a workout for a mag or three?