We have finally cleared out the backlog of great music and present some new episodes.
Episode 711 features music from The Jesus and Mary Chain, Zola Jesus, Duster, Sangre Nueva, Dialect, The Bug, Cleared, Mount Eerie, Mulatu Astatke & Hoodna Orchestra, Hayden Pedigo, Bistro Boy, and Ibukun Sunday.
Episode 712 has tunes by Mazza Vision, Waveskania, Black Pus, Sam Gendel, Benny Bock, and Hans Kjorstad, Katharina Grosse, Carina Khorkhordina, Tintin Patrone, Billy Roisz, and Stefan Schneider, His Name Is Alive, artificial memory trace, mclusky, Justin Walter, mastroKristo, Başak Günak, and William Basinski.
Episode 713 brings you sounds from Mouse On Mars, Leavs, Lawrence English, Mo Dotti, Wendy Eisenberg, Envy, Ben Lukas Boysen, Cindytalk, Mercury Rev, White Poppy, Anadol & Marie Klock, and Galaxie 500.
Skolavordustigur Street in Reykjavík photo by Jon (your Podcast DJ).
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Another V/VM alter-ego uses analog and digital sources to create vivid impressions of a specific landscape of Northern England. The mood is akin to a wet cold late-winter trek across the harshly beautiful terrain and the rare prettier music captures precious moments when the sun breaks through.
Cheekily, Bleaklow is available in either the ‘complete’ or ‘extended’ versions and there are additional downloads at the V/VM site. I am reviewing the former and the eleven tracks are all worthwhile. The dark and bleak atmospheres refer to the uppermost section of the Peak district between Lancashire and Yorkshire where, far from manicured gardens and agri-business, are some of the loneliest yet loveliest parts of England. The sweeping moors, winding paths, the craggy peaks and huge implacable stones exude an impressive permanence easily outstripping our meager human lifespan.
The album's impressions have a convincing ring of truth to them. This may be partly due to geographical and psychological distance. That is to say, the music benefits from the fact that The Stranger probably resides in Berlin and is gazing back home with an enhanced clarity of vision. In that sense, the recordings recall John Cowper Powys’ novels set in his native England written while he was exiled in the United States. Bleaklow also resembles (as a negative relates to a photograph) the decidedly jazz-classical approach of Old Heartland, Ian Carr’s shadowy portrait of the English countryside.
The overall sound here is as malevolent and nostalgic as The Caretaker (another V/VM favorite). The Caretaker revels in the dusty ballrooms, haunted halls and dance floors of memory—as is appropriate for an artist with origins broadly in the movie The Shining. By contrast, The Stranger concentrates on raw, bitter, splendidly egalitarian weather and its simultaneously battering and uplifting effect on humans.
The Stranger manages to convey nature at its most desolate and oppressive yet lying within reach of cheery humanity. This is partly achieved by naming tracks for Bob Greaves, retired reporter and Granada television broadcaster, as well as (beyond the ‘complete’ disc) for Bob Smithies the crossword compiler know as Bunthorne. The notion may be that the landscape has shaped people with the strength and wit to recognize its rugged splendor. The opening piece “Something To Do With Death” has an abrasive and somnambulant quality suggesting equal parts defiance, grandeur and gleeful derision. “Kirkbymoorside” is known as "the gateway to the Moors" and the track sounds suitably full of portent. Throughout Bleaklow there is an absence of prettiness which should definitely appeal to the perverse enjoyment of those who venture out in all weathers with Ordanance Survey map, mint cake, flask of tea, copy of The Good Pub Guide and the motto: "There's no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing..."
“Inverted Burial” manages to allude to a concept mentioned by Jonathon Swift in Gulliver’s Travels. Suicides have been buried in that decidedly non-restful position (as a post-mortem punishment) and English millenarian sects believed that this was the best position to be interred, since come the post-Apocalyptic resurrection the world would be turned upside down and the reborn would be upright! Of course, whenever the notions of a moor and of burial are mentioned in certain parts of Northern England the unfortunates slaughtered by Brady and Hindley cross the minds of the generation who recall those dreadful crimes. But hey, it’s not all doom and gloom from the tomb, “Solemn Dedication” has a slow ghastly thumping beat and ghostly quivering atmosphere that could conceivably get people twitching, well maybe just on the dance floors of Berlin, or up at the Overlook Hotel.
To celebrate the release of Nurse With Wound's Huffin' Rag Blues, Dirter Promotions are making available a limited "canned" edition of the disc which includes a bonus CD of an extended mix, an autographed photograph, badge, and your very own handkercheif to huff to. These should be ready by the second week of June along with two vinyl releases by NWW, Disconnected (with Faust) and The Bacteria Magnet.
FAUST / NWW - DISCONNECTED SPECIAL DOUBLE VINYL LP
Available for order now after what seems like an eternity. The first 1000 copies of this will be a 2 LP set. This contains the "Disconnected" album on sides 1 & 2, and sides 3 & 4 contain exclusive previously unreleased Faust and NWW material. Side three is pure Faust, from the "Disconnected" session, three tracks totalling over 20 minutes. Side four is pure Nurse With Wound, one long track, clocking in at almost 10 minutes. The double LP will also be pressed in clear yellow vinyl and be housed in a beautiful gloss laminated gatefold sleeves.
NURSE WITH WOUND - THE BACTERIA MAGNET MINI LP, VINYL ONLY
This record is available as a black vinyl edition through the retail shops.
There are also 300 white vinyl copies being pressed. 100 of these will be distributed randomly with the black vinyl copies. The remaining 200 are available exclusively mail-order only. In addition to this, the mail order copies will be personally signed by Steven Stapleton and Andrew Liles.
Pre-orders are being taken now for the signed white vinyl version.
NURSE WITH WOUND - HUFFIN' RAG BLUES ETC "CANNED" LTD EDITION CD BOX SET. 100 COPIES, MAIL ORDER ONLY.
This screen printed metal box set comprises the following:
Huffin' Rag Blues CD in digipac.
Exclusive CD of 23 minute remix of "The Funktion of the Hairy Egg (Scrambled)", this track appears on the full length CD in a different guise, this extended version is exclusive to this set.
"Huffin' Rag Blues" Handkerchief - your very own huffin' rag.
The result of what could only be described as serendipity, an ad-hoc trio of current/former Boston luminaries Vic Rawlings and Michael Bullock joined up with Lebanese trumpet player Mazen Kerbaj on a short tour after a single gig together, two sets of which are presented on this disc. Although recorded only five days apart, the two shows are actually quite different in character and feel, but both show improvisation at its best.
The shorter set, recorded in Chicago and clocking in at around 13 minutes appears mostly as an exercise in restraint. The low bass rumbles from Bullock stay sustained throughout most of the piece, heavy tones that never quite let up but keep vibrating on and on are met with rough, squeaky sounds which could be Rawlings’ various electronic gear, or Kerbaj’s treated trumpet, I personally don’t know. These harsh tones stay controlled, however, and there is a feeling that they could burst forth in pure noise at any given time. Ultra high frequency blasts of feedback and electronic tones cut through once in awhile, along with low scrapes and rattles that sound like poor stringed instruments being abused.
The longer set, about a half hour and from Washington, DC, shows less restraint and more full on aggressive improvising. Perhaps the boys had been in the van together a little too long by this point and tensions were running high. Regardless, there is a great deal more chaos in this set. The opening is more of a clash of sounds, and the overall tone is one that is more aggressive and commanding. Bullock’s feedback is more prominent throughout the piece, and has a louder and more violent tone than in the previous piece. The feedback is tightly reigned and controlled though, so rather than just random noise, it is as much of an instrument as anything else.
Electronic elements are more of a focus here as well. What could be Kerbaj’s treated horns or Rawlings’ equipment has a spacey, pulsating character that swirls around the feedback, occasionally swelling to more piercing tones that give the feedback good competition for harshness, and then at other points sinking back more quietly into a fuzzy analog haze. The metallic string scraping also is more of a focal point this time, and there are some moments where Kerbaj’s squawking, sputtering trumpet appears relatively untreated.
Being that it is somewhat more aggressive in nature, I found this to be the more interesting of the two sets, because the natural tension between improvisers adds a certain level of dynamism and chaos that only makes the work that much more interesting. Considering these guys had only played as a trio once before this tour shows their skills at improvisation is based more on natural chemistry than anything forced, and the output makes that all the more apparent.
Run DMC once said that a DJ could be a band, or at least that's how Chuck D paraphrased them. Dissecting that statement, it is perfectly logical to assume that a slab of vinyl could be an instrument, and this new disc from Philip Jeck proves that. Working live with record players, junk shop records, old Casio SK keyboards and recorders, Jeck has made a warm, nostalgic album that both personal and inviting.
For the most part, it is near impossible to tell that other people’s music was used in the creation of Sand. While far beyond the likes of simple sampling, Jeck did largely use prerecorded material as his raw sound sources, but the way he reshapes the sound into entirely new compositions is a testament to his talent and artistry. The swirling mass of clicks and pops that make up the basis of “Unveiled” could be simply run-out grooves amplified, or could be something else entirely. And, I doubt the chimes and symphonic loops that occasionally rear their melodic heads among the raw, rough moments sound completely different out of context than they originally did.
There are a few repeated elements throughout the disc, the chimes from the first track reappear in “Chimes Again” (imagine that), and horn fanfares are used in three tracks overall, “Fanfares,” “Fanfares Forward,” and “Fanfares Over.” The former two allow the horn bursts to be prominent in the mix alongside electronic squeals and harsher elements. “Fanfares Over” has the horn sounds completely trashed and cut up over top of machine gun tribal percussion and loops like swarms of killer bees overhead. Throughout its 11 minute duration the track stays dynamic, but also has some repeated segments that show a great attention to musical structure and elements that could easily be otherwise ignored in this context.
Most of the seven tracks on here feature that balance between abstraction and musicality, as well as an equilibrium between outright aggressive noise and careful, delicate melody. The aforementioned “Chime Again” features a lot of analog grime and distortion, but also beautiful, haunting melodies excised from the recordings and carefully presented as the calm within the storm. The soft crackles and buried tones of “Residue” become disarming with the quick transitions into jarring, harsher elements.
These gentle elements give a more inviting, personal character to Sand that is often lost in works such as these. The artwork, as always, by Jon Wozencroft, adds to this with its textural photographs that could be the wallpaper in an older family members home or something else that is warm and familiar, which is a perfect metaphor for this album.
While Z'EV has been performing since the 1970s, this emerged back in 1981 on Backlash Records as his first studio album. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its release, German-based label Die Stadt has reissued it as a limited CD, housed in the original LP-sized packaging along with a hand-made insert.
In many respects, this was the album that initiated his launch into the forefront of the ‘industrial music’ revolution, a trajectory that has culminated in his being regarded as one of the pioneers of the genre; it could almost be said that he was responsible for initiating a great part of the ‘industrial music’ impulse itself. He is also credited with introducing the tribal element into the genre’s repertoire, perhaps in an effort to imbue it with a much more visceral and authentic voice, if not a species of a back-to-basics aesthetic. These facets of his music are readily apparent from even an initial hearing of Production and Decay, the tribal impetus especially being to the fore in many of the pieces, the tensions being emphasised by the friction exhibited by the ‘primitive’ rhythms created using metallic and non-natural percussive sound sources, part of the Western technological palette so to speak. Given also that this was recorded over a period of two days (May 12th and 13th, 1981) and also given the state of recording technology at that time as compared to the present, a frantic immediacy and rawness are the hallmarks here, as well as a sense of the shambolic, cluttered, and unpolished, a distinct antithesis to the kind of creations of the almost ubiquitous laptop artist of today. I particularly felt, especially on the original closing track “Ook Uit,” a driving preternatural impulse, a kind of supernatural, shamanic compulsion that directed the hands of the creators, almost that Z’EV and cohorts were conduits through which something else was speaking.
Twenty-five years after the fact and things have moved on for Z'EV, in terms of aesthetic and philosophical development, and most especially in the sphere of technology, defined here by six recodings of the original songs, collectively entitled Reproduction and Decay of Spatial Relations (note also the different spellings of spacial/spatial). These I found to be somewhat of a disappointment, principally because the power so obviously and openly displayed on the original recordings was conspicuously absent—the ‘spirit’ of the original had been leached out of it. The danger was always that putting the two sets of recordings right next to each other would only magnify all the inherent differences spectacularly, and so it has proved—certainly to my ears I didn’t get the same frisson of excitement and energy from the re-imaginings as I did the originals. Granted, in a different context, i.e. had I been asked to just review the second set on their own, then indubitably I would have enjoyed the pieces in their own right. Even noting the fact that I was disappointed by the remixed set of six songs, as a document of change and development born of experience spiritually and technically, I won’t deny that this possesses an authority and legitimacy all of its own.
In addition to the ‘recodings’, the first 500 comes with a bonus CD, containing three tracks of archive material originally recorded on tape cassette, entitled That Was The Year That Was What It Was and accompanied by all the sound quality issues inherent in the medium. As is pointedly emphasised in the press-release, ‘... cassette was THE ubiquitous storage medium...’ back then, famously contributing to the flow of information in closed societies such as the ‘samizdat’ cassette culture in Soviet Russia. As such then, the quality on here does leave something to be desired, but leaving aside our digital-age prejudices for a moment, these can indeed be seen as documents of an age where all this was considered to be somewhere on the cutting edge and so deserve our consideration and attention. The performances featured are: “The sound of the light of metal for Jackson Mac Low” (a ‘wild-style’ Z’EV performance at the Madison Theater, NYC, 6th December 1982) and “element/L,” culled from the Wipe Out sessions recorded in 1982, also by Z’EV. Also included is “Past Todays” by UNS, recorded 24th May ’82, and featuring vocals by the Sha’ul Z’EV persona. As indicated, the quality is nowhere the best; that said, these recordings are very noteworthy in their own right and, as is also pointed out in the same press-release, these sound documents do indeed deserve to be heard.
Reissued with bonus tracks and detailed sleeve notes, this album highlights the period where Bryars moves from his previous style involving the synthesis of non-musical sources, loops and an almost standard (but beautiful) orchestral arrangement. Here he composes for small ensembles and includes piano and vibraphone almost anywhere he can. This is a very different Bryars to the one I am familiar with, very different but still utterly captivating.
Many of the pieces show a far more playful side to Bryars. As someone who is more accustomed to his most famous pieces, I was surprised to hear music that did not shatter my heart when I listened to them. The completely percussion-led “The English Mail-Coach” is a world away from the crushing emotional weight I expect from Gavin, the jaunty melodies providing a lift when a expected a downer. The repetitive streak that runs through his work is still present, each piece tends to evolve from a small set of ideas and he just shifts the focus of the music as he goes.
Conceptually, this is still the very same Gavin Bryars. The almost compulsive attention to detail that is evident from his constant working, re-working and re-re-working of his mighty “The Sinking of the Titanic” is present on many of these pieces. References to the author Raymond Roussel appear in the notes several times in his sleeve notes, as all these pieces are from the same period it is easy to envisage Bryars trying to tie Roussel to his own work as much as he could, like a child who has given up on collecting toy cars and learning everything about them moving on to the next obsession.
As nice as it all sounds, I cannot help but feel that these recordings have not aged very well; pieces like “My First Homage” and “Hi-Tremolo” sound of their time. That being said, these six pieces are each delightful little (and not so little) vignettes that are almost like short plays, the subtle changes in emphasis mirroring character developments on a stage. This dramatic flair transcends the individual pieces and its influence can be felt in the work of those who have followed Bryars. Aspects of his music, in particular the midnight jazz meets Satie atmospheres present throughout Hommages, have been co-opted by many other composers and musicians. Echoes of these pieces can be heard in the works of Angelo Badalamenti (particularly the end credits from the Twin Peaks TV series) and in Nick Cave’s ballads from The Boatman’s Call era and onwards.
It is nice to see a side of an artist that is normally not on show and Hommages does just that. It may not be the jewel in the Bryars back catalogue or even a classic of modern composition but it is an enchanting album nonetheless.
Infinite Suns begins a new era of change in the Telescopes music field. This LP is very much number one, the introduction to a serie of release (2 new albums and one live recording)
Out on the french label Textile Rds.
This new LP is a selection of analogue tape recordings taken between 2006 and 2007, using a multi directional mic to capture environmental response. Recording levels were set close to saturation, allowing for interaction with the tape machine itself. Side one closes with a piece centered around a lock-groove from the run-out of The Telescopes first album and is lock-grooved again to play endlessly. The recording took place in a room used by a deep trance medium to hold investigative seances. The album ends with The Telescopes channelling out on each others instruments. The sound of earthquakes dreaming, where black holes reveal infinite suns.
The Telescopes have been mining a unique anti-myopian seam of drone/dream psych for 20 years. Expertly bolting gritty blocks of noise, rich with fossil and sediment, onto minimal songs and melodies which are miles apart and miles beyond the reams of drone/ambience out there. In 2006 The Telescopes became a collaboration between Bridget Hayden and founder member Stephen Lawrie. Bridget was an original member of Vibracathedral Orchestra. The two met briefly when The Telescopes and VCO shared the bill at Audioscope festival in 2004, where The Telescopes finished their set by drilling through gtr pickups.
Following a narrow escape from a burning wreck on their UK tour in 2005, The Telescopes 5th line up disintegrated. And In 2006 Bridget left VCO to explore new ventures. Bridget had already been working with Stephen on the Dream Frequencies artwork for The Telescopes Antenna label. Both were shocked by the intensity of their first session together.
As a volcanic two piece scythe spent 2006 spreading free noise around England, Scotland, Ireland, The Canary Islands, West Coast of America, Italy and Austria, recording all the time. Their first release for the Trensmat label sold out within an hour. Their second release for the label sold out a month in advance. Copies of the releases have been known to exchange hands for over 25 pounds.
Together they harness a primeval drone, rich in texture, and build it beautifully in unison with soaring feedback, guitar manipulation & viola which forever spiral outward, fractal and hypnotic - a bed of noise percolating at the edges of audition.
The NME declares, "Shy Child are to Kraftwerk what The White Stripes are to Led Zeppelin!" And here is their story... Nate Smith (Drums) and Pete Cafarella (Vox / Keytar) met at Wesleyan University in the mid-90's where Nate had invited Pete to join his band. Although Pete was kicked out a few days later the two formed a fast friendship that would eventually lead to the formation of Shy Child once they both had relocated to NYC. Initially the band was pursued when time permitted between their various projects. They recorded their 2004 album, "One With the Sun" with small expectations and an even smaller budget, recording it in Pete's apartment to a computer with Chris Zane for the price of pizza and beer. It would prove to be just enough…
The band soon were in the studio working on new material along with the band's previous producer, Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav/ White Rabbits / Asobi Seksu). The resulting album, "Noise Won't Stop" bristles with frantic energy and blistering tones leading with the first track "Drop The Phone" and featuring the U.S. debut sonic single, "Astronaut". And producer/artist extraordinaire SpankRock, lends a his rapping/vocals to the slickest albumJol track "Kick Drum."
After a US tour with Hot Chip in November of 2006, the band took the plunge and lived as ex-pats in London for the next 8 months. The time abroad began with a full UK tour in support of their old pals Klaxons culminating in 2 sold out dates at Shepard's Bush Empire in London. And that was just the beginning; over the course of the summer they traversed the Emerald Isle four times and played numerous shows and festivals throughout Europe. The highlights included sets at 02 Wireless, Glastonbury, The Isle of Wight, and an opening slot at Wembley Stadium with Muse. When all was finished the dynamic duo had logged over 100 dates.
In June of 2007 in the UK they appeared the venerable program, Later With Jools Holland. On the bill with them that night were Sir Paul McCartney and Bjork, which made for some mighty company indeed. Impressed with their unique sound fashion maven Stella McCartney requested the band to be the performers for her segment in the Fashion Rocks TV special that was broadcasted throughout Europe to over 60 million viewers. And a few months later in January 08, while performing as part of Australia's legendary Big Day Out Festival, they were asked by Bjork to open for her at the Opera House in Sydney.
Now "Noise Won't Stop" has found it's home on the esteemed Kill Rock Stars Label and Shy Child are spending 2008 touring the U.S. Be on the look out for this transcendent two-some.
COLLECTIONS OF COLONIES OF BEES Six Guitars 12" Table of the Elements Release date: May
This 12" is part of the new Table of the Elements Guitar Series of one-sided 12" records with etchings on the B-side by Savage Pencil. Dulcimer hammered acoustic guitar combined with a nest of ringing e-bowed notes that culminate in a dense swarm where 'Birds' left off.
COLLECTIONS OF COLONIES OF BEES Birds (Japanese edition) CD + video Contrarede Release date: May
The Japanese edition of 'Birds' is pretty special - including a remix of 'Flocks I' by Marcus Schmickler's rock group Pluramon, and two videos: 'Flocks I' by Arthur Ircink and 'Flocks III' by Michinori Saigo. Available only in Japan from www.contrarede.com A fall tour of Japan to support the record is currently being planned.
JON MUELLER AND JASON KAHN Topography CD Xeric/Crouton Release date: June
"...a rich and rewarding listening experience..." - The Wire
Recorded during a U.S tour in March 2007, "Topography" studies various places from Milwaukee to NYC. These physical differences often determine what's heard on the recordings; as tones, controlled feedback, and subtle rhythms function more as interaction with the environment, than as percussionists simply striking material. Kahn uses percussion and analogue synthesizer, and Mueller uses percussion and cassettes. Both take the frequencies and textures of these instruments, and integrate them into one seemless mix. Released in an edition of 1000 and packaged in embossed chipboard.
JON MUELLER Strung 12" Table of the Elements Release date: June
"In Strung, Mueller doesn't play the guitar; he scrambles its molecules. Laying down a photon-blast of sound, he initiates a relentless, rapid-pulse attack signal that summons wave upon wave of white noise. Think inexorable alien invasion – The Day the Earth Stood Still, with Lou Reed as Klaatu and Metal Machine Music as the message. Earth doesn't stand a chance." - label info
This 12" is part of the new Table of the Elements Guitar Series of one-sided 12" records with etchings on the B-side by Savage Pencil. I do play the guitar on this, or should I say, the drums do...
MELISSA ST. PIERRE Specimens CD Radium/Table of the Elements
"Melissa St. Pierre tosses classicism and post-classicism overboard, utilizing the prepared piano - John Cage's notorious instrument of choice - and electronic enhancement to sail resolutely in the direction of rock & roll. Peppering the strings, hammers, and dampers with a variety of objects, she transforms the piano's typical timbre: sparkling gamelans chatter; harrowing voodoo drums call out in the night. "Specimens", St. Pierre's debut EP, features production and performances by COLLECTION OF COLONIES OF BEES; together they rival famed electric harpist Zeena Parkins as conservatory arsonists with a decidedly Hendrixian flair." - from label info.
JON MUELLER/CAGES TOUR August 18 - 24: Midwest
Dates are currently being scheduled for this mid-August tour of my 'METALS' set and Buffalo, NY's Cages. If you'd like us to play in your city in the midwest, be in touch.
Jon Mueller:
"For the past several years, Mueller has worked with rhythms that come from gong frequencies, from vibrations of the bodies of bass drums, and the surprising sonorities that occur with the combination of these elements. Now he applies these techniques to his latest solo effort, to stunning effect: Metals is, as its name suggests, a bold, all-percussion foray into heavy metal. No theatrical silliness here; just sheer exhilaration; the fundamental power of loud, organized, precise rhythms; ringing, heavy anti-melodies. It's this sound, in the many forms it has taken over the years, that continually inspires new philosophies, drives independent thinking, and causes hundreds of thousands of people to bang their heads."
"Majestic." -- Pitchfork
"Percussion is often subsumed within the densely swelling layers of electronic and manipulated sound…to a remarkable degree with the unstable, bottom heavy, rather threatening electronic sounds which are characteristic of this impressive set." – The Wire
An obsession with tapes, field recordings, and vocals as musical glue. Blending the organic with the inorganic. Bridging the deepest blackest ocean trench to the frozen stars in the cosmos. Solo project, formed by Nola Ranallo (Voice, Tapes) after the break up of previous band, Elad Love Affair. For this "Power Trio" lineup Nola will be joined by Patrick Bolger and David Bailey to wrangle live strings and electronics.
"Although initially fashioning what felt like fractured nursery rhymes exploding with haunted, over the top vocals, Cages is maturing into a magnificently abstract ambient unit in full command of its own sound." – Artvoice Magazine
"The sound of BIRTH and DEATH." – Kitchen Distribution
And finally, anyone who acquire's anything from the Shop will receive a free copy of my sampler CD, featuring 8 tracks from my recent work on Table of the Elements - while they last.
FINGERPOINTING features Jim O'Rourke's unique mix of the FINGERPAINTING material released in 1999. At the time, Mayo wasn't into Jim's strange formula. Almost ten years later Mayo dug it out of the piles and loved it. We spun it and dug it as well. Hence the re-issue of a new FINGERPAINTING. Now called FINGERPOINTING.
FINGERPOINTING follows The Red Krayola's ur- formula, first elaborated in The Parable of Arable Land (1967), designed to immerse and entertain the listener and confound the FM DJ's and anyone else's quest for the perfect seque in a narrative of counter - cultural meaningfulness. Where FINGERPAINTING reiterates the structure and the same material of FINGERPAINTING. It too is a parade of freak outs and songs alternately, and, like its progenitors, a dynamic synthesis that puts in play all that is at stake in the musical relation under the rubric of entertainment.
The songs are by Frederick Bathleme, Steve Cunningham and Mayo Thompson. The freak outs are not 'authored' in the usual sense. All of the music was recorded at Treehouse Studio in Pasadena, CA at the same time as the recording of FINGERPAINTING. It features the performances of David Grubbs, George Hurley, Albert Oehlen, Stephen Prina, Elisa Randazzo, Mayo Thompson, Tom Watson and Sandy Yang. The mix is by Jim O'Rourke.
Listen and See how awesome this version is. That is if you want to.
SONGS:
FFF00 BAD MEDICINE FFF01 THERE THERE BETTY BETTY FFF02 VILE VILE GRASS FFF03 MOTHER IN MY BABY'S RUTH FFF04
Back in 1988 the intention was to sequence these mainly instrumental tracks for release amidst the mostly vocal pieces from the same session. Had that happened, then Sun City Girls' best known release Torch of the Mystics would have been the rarest of beasts: a consistently excellent double album.
Charles Gocher passed away in 2007 and Alan and Richard Bishop will not be recording as Sun City Girls anymore. They are, though, about to embark on a tour as The Brothers Unconnected. Most of the shows will include a 40 minute film of video creations by Gocher followed by two sets during which Alan and Richard will perform acoustic versions of Sun City Girls’ material. Some may say this is not to be missed and indeed I’ll be driving three hours to see the closest show. Meanwhile You’re Never Alone With A Cigarette represents the first volume in what will be a series of archival releases of singles, unreleased pieces and stray compilation tracks. If subsequent volumes are put together as well as this then we are in for a treat.
Starting with “100 Pounds of Black Olives” the group applies blistering energy to their global muse. This opening track is labyrinthine and cathartic yet a structural clarity emerges as the song resolves itself. “Sev Archer” maintains the sense of urgency even as its rhythms and spaciousness seem to call up the spirit of Joe Meek or The Ventures. There is no letup in the intensity on either “Souvenirs From Jangare” or the more solemn and droning “Plaster Cupids Falling From The Ceiling.” Richard Bishop’s guitar is reined in a little on the more egalitarian “Amazon One,” and “The Beauty of Benghazi” uses vocals and guitar in a call and response.
“Wild World of Animals” sounds like a groovy strut through the Latin Quarter of an indeterminate city. There are lovely percussive twists, the bass seeming to swallow or gulp and the guitar twang, glisten and slip. The album ends with the previously unheard 12 minutes of “The Fine-Tuned Machines of Lemuria” which starts out light, then adds squalls, thuds, feedback, and echo for an extended climactic finale. The Bishops' mischievous titles and serious approach to musical adventure will doubtless continue to produce various multi-form explorations. Here is a chance to catch up with their deft and spirited past. Music rarely retains such a cutting edge two decades after it was created.