Bombastic '70s progressive rock proto-metal from Italy! I Teoremi were a quartet who really kicked out the jams hard, specializing in muscular, complex stuff that, amazingly enough, at its most extreme reminds us of the prog-punk of much more recent bands like Stinking Lizaveta, Breadwinner, and Ruins! Seriously. For 1971 (when this, their only album, was released), they're one of the heaviest and most spazz-tastic we've heard. Sure, you have to enjoy some grandiose vocals in the typical dramatic Italian prog style, but mostly this is about their instrumental ass-kicking. With its herky-jerky riffing and spiralling guitar patterns, "Il Dialogo d'un Pazzo" could be a song off of one of the first two albums by Greg Ginn's Gone for gosh shakes! Now, we should mention that there's actually a somewhat more recent reissue of this on Arkarma, in one of their mini-lp style digipaks, that's got a bonus track...but we won't be getting any of those 'til we get rid of the two copies of this older jewel case version we happen to have. So we're selling 'em cheap, come n' get 'em! Everyone (well, two people) into early '70s hard prog and metal need to hear this.
Information is the subdued electronica Norwegian duo of Per Henrik Svalastog and Jorgen Knudsen, sharing more than a passing resemblance to their fellow countryman Geir Jensen (aka Biosphere). "Biomekano" is Information's third album, and has found a perfect home on the exceptional Rune Grammofon label. The Biosphere references are quite obvious in the duo's construction of arctic atmospheres through an active exploration into the rich tonal colors of ambient washes; yet Information's music is far from pure ambience as they provide a greater intensity to their music through the throbbing micro-techno pulsations often associated with Vladislav Delay and Thomas Jirku. This may not be as good as the recent Biosphere album (a tough venture for any artist), but is way better than the current Mille Plateaux output of glitch happy neo-dub.
Tim Smolens of Mr. Bunglesque rockers Estradasphere fronts this 60's "boy band" inspired outfit. Most obviously taking their style from the vocal harmonisations of the Beach Boys -- oh who am I fooling, this sucks major ass and I cannot say one good thing about it. Save yourself the embarrasment of owning this piece of crap.
Bert Jansch might be best known as one of the founding members of Pentangle, the mid-sixties psychedelic folk group who were, in a way, precursors to many of today's folkie indie bands like Essex Green, the Olivia Tremor Control, Damon and Naomi, etc. Yet his solo career began before Pentangle formed and has lasted much longer, to the present day. While he released lots of records in the '60s, his recent output has slowed to about one per five years. He's still got it though, as the last two selections below will prove.
This is a double disc anthology spanning Jansch's entire career. His singular style of fingerpicking is as immediately identifiable as John Fahey's, even if the traditional "Blackwaterslide" will remind you of Zeppelin because they covered it too. The liner notes list the provenance of each track in detail, so you can seek out individual albums based on which tracks ya like the best. A nice collection.
Like that old saying, I may not know Indian music, but I know what I like. And to a certain extent that's true. I don't know much of the history of Indian music, but this record is dreamy, hypnotic, and quite lovely. Ali Akbar Khan runs a world famous Music college in San Rafael (outside of San Francisco) and has since 1967. Students come from all over the world to study. This record documents one of Khan's first performances with his son Alam, both playing the Sarode (sort of like a short sitar but not exactly) and accompanied by Swapan Chaudhuri (on tabla), also an instructor at the Ali Akbar Khan College Of Music. Part of why this recording is so beautiful and intense, and a lot of Indian classical music for that matter, is that it is composed on the spot, and it's quite gruelling for a student to be accompanying his teacher (or father) in front of a huge audience. The music here is shimmery and drone-y, weaving a warm web of vibrating strings. A meditative buzz that soothes and relaxes. This record is totally mesmerising. Recommended!
Number eight in the Tigerbeat6 '$' series of limited split singles. Kid606 takes on two lesser known artists from across the globe, ASCDI (not to be confused with ASCII) and Printed Circuit (aka Claire Broadley, with releases on Irritant and Elefant as well as a remix disc on Catmobile).
Number seven in the unstoppable Tigerbeat6 '$' series of split singles. This time the Kid steps in the ring to take on Madrid's unstoppable DJ/Rupture, who if you recall, put out one of the best hardcore fuckstep/hiphop/ragga/noise mix discs last year. Watch for his upcoming "Minesweeper Mix CD" coming very soon... Limited, so act fast!
The Kompakt debut from German dance musik veteran Justus Kohncke. In Kompakt's newfound direction toward releasing records that transcend the dancefloor (through use of vocals and a strong "pop" sensibility), Kohncke attempts just that, but unfortunately falls a bit short of our expectations. While there are many interesting moments throughout, "Was Ist Musik" ultimately falls into dreaded adult contemporary territory. Features odd covers of tracks by Barbara Morgenstern and J�rgen Paape.
There's not a lot to Kotai's bleak electronica, as a measured recombination of Chain Reaction's heroin house, Georgio Moroder's cyber-disco synth arpeggiations, and Suicide's relentless monotony; but along with Adult., Fisherspooner, and Miss Kitten, Kotai's Goth-inflected New Wave revivalism is pretty seductive. Amongst all of those aforementioned references, Suicide stands out most prominently due to Klaus Kotai's vocal similitude to Suicide's Alan Vega. Each of Kotai's songs sound like updated versions of "Frankie Teardrop," transposing Suicide's dystopian theatricality with a hollow, but studly swagger indicative of the title "Pretty Men Wear Pretty Clothes." Kotai is Euro-trash at its finest.
Folk music from Oxford, England's Sharron Kraus, possesser of an airy yet resonant voice, accompanied by banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and an occasional whistle which gives the entire record an authentic old-timey, Renaissance Faire sheen. If you can handle the "oooh butterfly man" chorus in the first track ("Peacock's Daughter"), you'll like the rest of it. Think Shirley Collins, Anne Briggs, maybe even a little Sandy Denny.
With tracks recorded in various Mexican locations and at Skywalker Ranch up in Marin County, the Kronos Quartet have released another revelatory album of new music that takes its inspiration not from dusty ole classical shite (the territory of most string quartets), but the reality of the world around us, right here right now. And the peripatetic Kronos are no strangers to world travel, this time touching down in Mexico. An amazingly broad spectrum of Mexican music is lovingly performed / collaborated on / reinterpreted by Kronos (although why they imported an Argentinian producer is a headscratcher): There's a cover of a tune by the recently-deceased king of space age bachelor pad music Esquivel. There's a STUNNING version of the classic "Perfidia", with Kronos sounding like a '50s movie orchestra playing hugely and sentimentally in the background while a one-armed street musician named Carlos Garcia plays the MUSICAL LEAF. That's right. It's an ivy leaf. And it's so sweet and cute it might make you cry. There's also a version of "Tabu" (Taboo) where Kronos is accompanied by clickety clackety wood percussion. A medley of music from three popular Mexican tv shows! A piece where they've retuned their strings to correspond with the scale of the accompanying "plasmaht" (an instrument whose strings resonate in response to electromagnetic waves from the surrounding environment), and then play them zither-like with pencils! A collaboration with the hugely popular Mexican rock group Cafe Tacuba! And even (gasp) a dance mix... joyously delivered by Plankton Man of the Nortec Collective... and my god there's still more.
Whew, it's a lot to handle isn't it? But the brilliance of Kronos is that somehow they manage to hold the thing together so well. It's a combination of respect for the musicians / cultures they borrow from and collaborate with, plus the sound of a string quartet that has always expanded the boundaries of what a modern string quartet can do, and mean.
I *strongly* recommend you go to http://www.nonesuch.com to read the very detailed stories behind each track, because they're unfortunately not included in the liner notes..
The fourth record from this atmospheric space rock outfit from Connecticut and their debut on the NY-based Ba Da Bing! label. Dreamy reverb-heavy, tremolo guitars drift along and encounter occasional interplanetary submarine radar bleeps that at times seem rather intrusive next to the breathy male and female vocals. Check out the ultra-soothing track "First Snow". Blissed out and glistening. If you like Surface Of Eceon or Windy and Carl, you might find yourself sinking into Landing too.
Now on cd! Here's what we had to say about the 12":
Le Tigre gets the remix treatment. While somehow the cut 'n paste, deliberately lo-fi punk attitude to the making of the band's particular brand of electronic music is somehow endearing, these remixes, while similarly lo-fi and amateurish, don't pass muster. They're just mediocre. With other Le Tigre albums, there's an immediacy in relating some heavy political content, and that makes the ragged edges acceptable, but the remixers weren't even responsible for any political brain activity here, all they did was make bad, boring, predictable beats to go with Kathleen Hanna's righteous yowl. Buyer beware! With Analog Tara, Swim With The Dolphins (Johanna Fateman of Le Tigre), DJ Ham & Cheese on Rye, Reid Speed, Tim Goldsworthy (ex-UNKLE), James Murphy, and Lauren Flax.
Life Without Buildings is the next big thing according to the often overzealous and easily bought UK music press, but this time, they just might be right. Definitely too weird to -actually- be the next big thing, Life Without Buildings does offer some new and appealing sounds. They have an indie-rock jangle somewhere between Sleater Kinney's urgency and The Smith's precious perfection;
I love In The Red Records. They are one of the few labels that continues to put out great punk rock records. The Lord High Fixers were from Austin, TX and featured both Tim Kerr (of the Big Boys and Monkeywrench) and Mike Carroll (of Poison 13). 'The Beginning Of The End' just happens to be this band's swan song released posthumously. It's jam-packed with covers, many of them old blues and soul classics: Curtis Mayfield's classic "People Get Ready" with a surprise appearance of slide trombone, Booker T's "Stop And Think It Over", a suitably raunchy cover of Mudhoney's "You Got It" as well as "One Way Ticket" by the Morlocks. A wild collision of garage, blues, punk, and even some free jazz skronk! Scattered between the songs are brief spoken word clips from the likes of Guy Picciotto of Fugazi, Angela Davis and Woody Guthrie. A gorgeously raw and gritty goodbye to these garage rock heroes.
Horde Catalytique Pour La Fin, Jacques Berrocal, Semool, Fille Qui Mousse, Jean Guerin, and (this one) Mahogany Brain: there's been a spate of reissues recently of stuff originally released on the Futura label, who were some sort of French version of NYC's avant-garde ESP-Disk, based on this evidence. Mahogany Brain's 1971 debut consists of a dozen head-scratching tracks of outside art skronk rock blurt, completely freeform and loose (but more messy and mellow than nasty or noisy, although they can be that way too). You'll get into their primitive underground vibe if you dig random blues licks, free jazz spazz, and wandering dada vocals. Considered a classic, but only by those who find the likes of Captain Beefheart and the Godz to be a little too "straight". We're told this was "very influenced by drugs" and believe it.
Wow. I had no idea the Makers sounded like this now. They got some really schnazzy production which only serves to make them sound all generic 80's college rock, sort of like the Replacements on a very, very bad day. And then there's even a ballad or two? Whatthufuck? This just sounds... sad and pathetic, like Bon Jovi or something. What happened tough guy? Gone all soft? Yuck.
Dan Matz of Windsor For Derby offers two tracks of solitary, singer / songwriter tracks with him, his guitar, and a couple of guys adding harmonium and melodica drones on one song. Pretty as some of the recent Windsor recordings, but no where nearly as intense as his Michael Gira collaboration.
A surprisingly subdued direction for Ted Stevens' new project called Mayday. "Who is Ted Stevens?" you might ask. Well, you may better know him as the guitarist for considerably more aggressive emo-princes Cursive as well as the vocalist for Lullaby For The Working Class. Or you might've spotted him on the road with labelmates Bright Eyes. You might have also noticed the positive trend lately with members of the Nebraska / Saddle Creek Records family, of everyone helping everyone else out. Case in point? Look no further than this very album! There's plenty of familiar faces on Old Blood, some of which include the lovely Azure Ray, mister melancholia himself Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst, and some of Stevens' former Lullaby bandmates. This here's some fine, solemn and mature songwriting, check out the shadowy, dramatic beauty of "Captain". Might appeal to fans of Scott Walker or the Tindersticks (although Mr. Stevens' voice doesn't quite reach the deep deep theatrical depths of Stuart Staples').
In terms of listenability on its own, without filmic images, Il Serpente is one of Morricone's better soundtracks, and thus it's a nice surprise, as it's been hard to keep track of all the reissues. Although the 1972 Italian / French production (released in the
Third and final limited edition 12" from The Mountain Goats, available thru YoYo mailorder and us! Five more stripped down, melodic songs from the master, plus a cover of "Dirty Old Town". Vinyl only. Side B is again an etching by Nikki McClure (which is very YoYo-ish and childlike, but not very Mountain Goatsy). Get 'em while you can.
Disappointed with that crappy new Neil Young album? Try this instead! This is the fourth record (and first domestic release!) from the Osaka psychedelic folk duo of Shinji Shibayama and Masako Takeda. Scotland's Geographic label recently issued a great 'best of' Nagisa Ni Te compilation called "Songs For A Simple Moment" that we've sold quite a few of (reviewed on list 127) so maybe you do already know 'em. The material on "Feel" is newer than anything on that comp, though. This album, with its crisp production quality, intensifies the fragility of Takeda's voice and the overall outsider artist naivetÈ of Nagisa Ni Te. Though it's not a major part of their sound here, you should be aware that this features brief moments of extended electric guitar wank, as with most Japanese artists in the psych vein. Of course, that's one of the things we LIKE about Nagisa Ni Te (and you'll find lots more of that Neil Young-ish guitar stuff on the compilation). But "Feel" generally refrains from cranking up the volume like that.
Beautiful and minimalist atmospherics add depth and a visual element to their lyrically melancholic lullabies of hazy reminiscence and love lost. The beautiful photographs (taken by both Shibayama and Takeda) which accompany "Feel" evoke the spirit of spring and feelings of renewal. The music itself however, also reminds us of its bitter breeze and what has passed. Shinji and Masako are joined on several of "Feel"'s tracks by guests including Seiichi Yamamoto (of Boredoms/Omoide Hatoba/Rovo) and Tim Barnes (Tower Recordings).
At long last, the archive of live documents of the infamous Downtown supergroup Naked City is being unleashed! Starting out in 1989, the hardcore/grind/jazz/soundtracks/noise/etc. inspired outfit led by John Zorn had yet to include harsh vocalisations in their compositions, future contributions from Brutal Truth's Kevin Sharpe and Boredoms' Yamatsuka Eye had not yet come to fruition. This first volume in Tzadik's Archival Series of Naked City recordings presents the group at their modest beginnings, featuring the lineup of Fred Frith, Wayne Horvitz, Joey Baron, Bill Frisell and Zorn himself. The setlist performed here represents some of the earliest, raw blueprints for what was to become the first (and last!) recording for Elektra's Nonesuch imprint, plus some originals and cover versions of compositions by Ennio Morricone, Johnny Mandel and John Patton that never made their way onto proper studio recordings! Beautifully designed, as expected of all Tzadik releases, with Weegee cover art (again) and many rarely seen photographs of the group in action onstage and off.
Japanese duo Nerve Net Noise, with previous releases on Meme, Zero Gravity, and Hronir, make the sort of experimental electronic "music" that really separates the men from the boys (or, shall we say, the insane noise geeks from everyone else). But while Tsuyoshi "Tagomago" Nakamaru (who handles the mix and effects) and Hiroshi Kumakiri (who builds NNN's unique synthesizers) are from Japan, this *isn't* howling vacuum cleaner grinding shrieking death noise in the tradition of Merzbow/Hijokaidan/Masonna/etc. Rather, it's closer in style to the clicks n' cuts of Ryoki Ikeda and the "empty" sine wave pulses of Sachiko M.
Some call it "onkyo" music. How about we call it squeaky toy, modem on the fritz, annoying buzzer going off music? Yep, it's still room-clearing stuff, y'know. Indeed, it was hard to review, 'cause my co-workers kept yelling at me to turn it off!! But to NNN's ears, this is beautiful music. From Kumakiri's liner notes:
"At first, Nerve Net Noise enjoyed pure sound. These days, we try to think about music. We aspire to create music that is between played and not-played, between controlled and uncontrolled. We feel that consciously performed music can have too much evidence of human planning. But we also dislike random music that displays no evidence of human planning at all. We try to find a satisfying middle area with our albums."
Well, that's an uncommon idea of "music", now isn't it!? But it explains a lot about how this album sounds. Basically, Kumakiri's array of homemade synths are switched on and allowed to make the noises they want to make, while the NNN duo tweak the volume and so forth, affecting the sounds and rhythms. When they're happy with what they're hearing, they record the results. It's kind of a Metal Machine Music concept. Imagine a nest of robotic birds, mechanically, repetitively chirping at one another, slowly building into patterns and rhythms that will drill themselves into your brain, causing either the euphoria of a trepanation (if you're into it) or simply the pain of such. But it's clear that the former is the intention. These guys aren't trying to make assaultive music for masochists -- they just hear things differently from most folks. For instance, we suspect they'd hear the beauty inherent in a malfunctioning car alarm. If you want to open *yourself* up to this realm of sound-appreciation, then "Meteor Circuit" wouldn't be a bad place to start -- just don't expect your co-workers, housemates, family, etc. to enjoy it! (Is it perverse to like this stuff? 'Cause some of us here have more than one NNN cd in our collections...)
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We've all got our old favorite records that maybe we haven't heard in a while, but it only takes a few bars of the lead-off track to immediately bring it all back and make us wanna dust 'em off again... This was the case when AQ pal and Cup's fellow I Am Spoonbender bandmate Dustin� recently placed a special order for Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark's 1983 album "Dazzle Ships"- �a seeming direct follow-up to Kraftwerk's 'Radioactivity'�- featuring shortwave radio broadcasts, chiming synth lines, speak-and-spells, and earnest, emotive vocals. Take tracks like the bouyant "Telegraph"- it's pure synth-pop goodness, combining an innocent exuberance with considerably more weighty, dark subject matter. An overlooked experimental electronic pop gem, this album is full of wonderful songs and sounds, courtesy of�core members Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey.�In a time when 'the '80s' are seemingly everywhere - and frequently in the most watered-down, cliche forms - it's nice to catch a few quality moments with a brilliant, good old friend. FYI: Jim thinks 'Organization' is way better, but this is definitely OMD's most exploratory moment.�
You may remember Onelinedrawing from the split he did with Rival Schools a while back, and boy did we love that record. But this is the first we've heard of OLD on his own. And the sound is much less rocking. Much more sensitive and lo-fi, recorded mostly at home directly to his lap top and featuring mostly voice and guitar with the occasional 'full band' effort. Weary and emotive male vocals that brought to mind Soul Asylum, Goo Goo Dolls and Wilco. Jangling indie-pop rock with dreamy acoustic-y Sentridoh-ish ballads and shining, driving songs like the college radio ready "Smile". Pretty cool.
The Los Angeles duo of Doug Russell and Peter Kolovos has expanded their lineup as well as sonic capacities with newcomer Andrew Maxwell, formerly of SF's Caroliner. With this second lp, Open City has abandoned the haze of a pure sonic assault for a more rigid and dynamic "free" approach. Audiophile vinyl housed in a beautiful heavy duty gatefold sleeve and limited to 500 copies.
The Party Of Helicopters bring you emo at its most intense. The first disc of their double whammy reminded me quite a bit of the awesome, early '90s Pacific Northwest group who called themselves Treepeople (Doug Martsch's band prior to Built To Spill). Blending aggressive, angstful male vocals with some pretty catchy, twisting guitar licks. The second disc offers up a trippy, ten minute long opening track with a wall of guitar washes that brings their occasional comparisons to My Bloody Valentine much more into focus. Layer upon layer of cyclical vocals over rounds of edgy, driving guitar riffs. An impressive sequel to their debut two years ago, Mt. Forever.
"Recyclopaedia Britannica" could be seen as a 'greatest hits' compilation for Vicky Bennett's People Like Us; however, she is not content to merely pick tracks from her comic cavalcade of plunderphonic recordings from the past decade. Rather, this album rewires, recontextualizes, and reconfigures various snippets that have previously made their way onto all of her records, and stands as something that's almost new. Thus, this makes for an excellent introduction to her work, but will certainly be enough to warm the hearts of her fans. The opening burst (ehm) of collaged farts on "Recyclopaedia" sets the stage for the scatalogical humor that runs rampant throughout all of Bennett's work. Sampling liberally from various thrift store finds, Bennett generates an arsenal of wacky loopings from yodeling Alpine polkas, high-lonesome moseys from Cowboys and Indians childrens' adventures, and Fellini-esque blasts of circus music. Splattered throughout these musical interludes, People Like Us rearrange garden variety narratives from radio dramas and talk radio into bumbling, sexualized farces (often punctuated by more farting). In these spoken word elements, Bennett often emphasizes the breathes, umms, ahhs, and slurred pauses from her unsuspecting victims to turn their speach into wickedly funny collages of broken stumblings. This work - like the profound art joke of Piero Manzoni's can of Artist's Shit - isn't merely toilet humor, nor is it smug irony, but an uncomfortable juxtaposition of audio perversion guided by an incredibly sharp intellect and deadly comic timing. Required listening for fans of Wobbly, Negativland, and John Oswald.
France's freaky Futura label originally released this on LP in '71. It's jazz fusiony stuff, kinda "Zeuhl" (saxophonist Yochk'o Seffer, the leader of the group, soon went on to join Magma and then formed Zeuhl group Zao). Perception features his sax and clarinet blowing backed by busy drums and bass and electric piano action. Over the four lengthy tracks here, they'll quiet down for a moody respite, then go off on a noodley prog-groove that quickly explodes into full-on free jazz improv clatter, and then quiet down again for some melancholy, melodic sax soloing, and then back to the energetic ensemble interplay, and so on... Perception are definitely more jazz than rock, and a lot more together and musical than some of the other, even freakier Futura releases. Fans of Magma's jazzier side should definitely investigate.
Picastro are a quintet from Toronto, ON who've actually been around for many years, but have waited until now to present their debut album. A lovely collection of shadowy melancholia, this would be very much at home on either Thrill Jockey or Godspeed You Black Emperor's headquarters Constellation Records, but no, instead it graces the roster of Los Angeles' Pehr Records. Red Your Blues begins with some gentle guitar, a minimal snare drum beat and slowly gliding cello that leads to the slightly drowsy, slightly brittle female voice of Liz Hysen, quite akin to that of Trailer Bride's Melissa Swingle, Cat Power's Chan Marshall or fellow Canadian Julie Doiron. Highly emotive and intimate. The instrumentation moves smoothly from bare bones acoustic guitar to more complex, lush full band arrangements with creeping strings, warm piano, additional guitars, washes of feedback and plenty of toms in the percussion section. At times quite haunting and atmospheric. Fans of the above-mentioned labels and groups as well as Rachel's, Shipping News, Dirty Three, take note!
Prince Far I's first album (1976) finally available again on lp (we also restocked the cd if vinyl is no good for you.) It's basically, as the title implies, the Voice Of Thunder himself toasting the Psalms (using some poetic license of course) in his unique, gruff fashion. Definitely a crucial work.
Prosthetic Guitars is the latest offering from Dial Records, the label run by Church Steps mainman Mike Donovan. "RU-486" is a collection of guitar-based sketches that have have been
roughly stitched together through basic edits that strive to form connectivity through the repetition of various leitmotifs (one a maniacal guitar strum over free-jazz drum noodle, another being a stilted Arabic melodic flourish, another a pleasantly fingerpicked guitar chord, etc.). As none of these individual elements ever really go anywhere, and as the album as a whole sounds basically 'unfinished', it's hard to say what the Prosthetic Guitars are trying to do simply because there is never a fully realized idea. Giving them a huge benefit of the doubt that "never fully realizing an idea" is their raison d'etre, Prosthetic Guitars are another entry into the realm of 'post-irony' or fake outsider art ("it's so mysterious and alluring how I can't spell or draw or actually play...), in which they are actively trying to sound like they just learned how to play guitar.
Attention: Fans of the sadly defunct SF band Fuck, you don't want to miss this new solo effort from the former vocalist of said band, Mr. Timothy Prudhomme (and also featuring fellow Fuck bandmate Geoff Soule on drums, piano and vocals). So lovely, warm and dark, this is an album of intimate evening stroll music. The rich, deep vocals that he delivers at a drowsy lullaby's pace are carefully embraced by a gathering of soft twang guitar, haunting organ, piano, theremin, minimal percussion and wistful backing vocals - all of which beautifully showcase his lyrics so steeped in heartache.
It's a piece of history that none of the current staff were old enough to remember, yet nostalgic fragments about the initial arrival of "Nevermind The Bollocks" at Aquarius Records back in 1977 occasionally emerge from conversations with our old school customers. By now it's probably as factual as any urban mythology; but as it makes for such a great story, I'm much more inclined to believe it than what may have really happened. With record distribution back in 1977 even less streamlined than it is today, Aquarius resorted to using an importer to ship copies of "Nevermind The Bollocks" from England. The import company in question did not have a direct route into San Francisco from London, and thus had to drive the boxes up from Los Angeles. This shipping detour gave Aquarius the opportunity to throw a big party in anticipation of the album's arrival, with attendants rumored to include Crime and the Residents (in full Eyeball costumes squeezing within the confines of Aquarius' then Castro Street location). To heighten the suspense, Aquarius had arranged with the driver of the truck to call up the store every 30 minutes or so to let everybody know his progress up the I-5: "Just passed Bakersfield." "Made it through Coalinga." "Yup, I'm in Tracy."
Yet, I feel the story could end with the truck crashing somewhere near Pleasanton, as I've never felt that The Sex Pistols' music lived up to their massive cultural cache and spectacular publicity stunts. John Lydon's uncomfortable fixed stare, sneered cultural heresies, and theatrical madness (which, in fact, was lifted from Richard Burton's performances as King Lear) always appeared to be destined for greater things than the Pistol's musically thuggish simplicity. Within The Sex Pistols, John Lydon had control over the Pistol's syntax, spewing threats against royalty and decent society at large; but there was little room (and even less ability) to explore the far more challenging proposition of igniting the sound of Lee Perry and Can with the powderkeg of punk. Internal politics and Malcolm McLaren aside, Rotten needed to form Public Image Limited.
Flanked by Keith Levene on guitar and Jah Wobble on bass, Lydon began PiL with two perfectly complementary musicians to pursue his aesthetic goals, as Levene's spindly shards of metallic guitar splatter acted as the textural counterpoint to the rhythmic centrality of Wobble's low-slung dub basslines. While this line-up inevitably imploded (and with it the success of Public Image Limited), the Lydon / Levene / Wobble core for PiL reached its creative apex during their second album, originally released back in 1979 as a 3LP housed in a metal film container. PiL's second, more economical pressing of the self-evidently titled "Metal Box" garnered an equally self-evident title "Second Edition." As a whole, this album hasn't easily been upstaged in its synthesis of dub production techniques, stealthy disco grooves, and punk antagonism bathed in Situationist critique. "Second Edition" opens with Wobble's huge rolling bass in "Albatross" which finds Lydon straining to sing with a swooping baritone to match the song's unwavering plod. Yet Lydon's viperous snarl returns for the rest of the album, which picks up the pace considerably in building their signature 'death disco' sound. All around "Second Edition" is an unnerving, complex album that was never the cultural force "Nevermind The Bollocks" was but is clearly the artistic masterpiece in Lydon's career and one of the quintessential post-punk albums.
As an aside, it was a huge curatorial mistake for Soul Jazz to leave Public Image Limited off of their "In The Beginning There Was Rhythm" compilation, as PiL fits into Soul Jazz's ideology for the project better than anybody else on the record. Thus, "Second Edition" is highly recommended (if not required) for anyone who was into that compilation.
The Bay Area's own DJ Qbert, one of the most famous turntablists in the world, proves himself a pretty great teacher and comedian in this how-to-scratch DIY dvd. Whether you're a turntablist or not, this is *delightful* to watch. He demonstrates over 25 different scratches, beginning by talking about each scratch's history -- who invented 'em and when -- then breaks the move down into its parts. The demos loop so you can just leave 'em playing until you've mastered the crab, the lazer, the phaser, the swipe, etc. You're supposed to be able to watch the scratches from four different angles, too, but I couldn't do it on this computer. Qbert looks at the camera a lot so you feel like he's talking right atcha, plus he's totally sweet 'n nice, not a trace of attitude, no talking down to the viewer at all. There's a whole section of tips and tricks where he demonstrates how to set up your turntable and customize it to your own liking, how to make your own slipmats, how to fix a record that's wobbly cos its center hole is too big, explains why fingertip moistener is better than lickin' yer fingers, even how to count bars. There is a volume issue with the dvd, though, it keeps fluctuating, but it's not terribly annoying and it never drops out completely.
There's even a battles section with several djs for you to trade scratches with. OK, this is how brilliant Qbert and his cohorts are: instead of taking the easy way out by just filming himself scratching, with pauses for you to scratch back, each of the battles (which are arranged in order of difficulty) have visual themes, like level 1's Dek Demon who is wearing a black cape, way oversized devil mask, and is surrounded by flames. Really. Another cute one features Spiderman scratching on a bus while another masked man is stitting next to him steering the bus. Pretty funny shit, you could just set it up at a party and let it run. Makes learning fun!
As if all that wasn't enough, there's some plum extras, like a mock "other videos in this series" section where Q demonstrates how to do plumbing repair with the help of a sock puppet, the trailer for his animated film Wave Twisters, even a hidden surprise.
The tone of the whole thing is casual and precise, he's constantly making jokes, and his love for the craft is clear. Get this dvd! You never know when you're gonna wanna learn how to scratch, plus, this glimpse into the mind, craft, and funny bone of Qbert is just about the nicest, friendliest, most hilarious thing I've seen in a long time. Highly recommended.
Turntablist pro Q-bert here has compiled a *great* breaks record for aspiring DJs. (That's right, his name's not on it but that's who put this together.) There're dozens of tracks, long enough for scratching yet also short enough that if you put this on at a party and just left it alone it wouldn't get too boring. The breaks are uniformly fun and exciting -- lots of James Brown yelps, and I also heard Chic and Run DMC in there. Funk, hiphop and disco experts will recognize much more than I did. A PERFECT companion to Q-bert's DIY Turntablist dvd.
Back in November of '99, Radar Brothers' album The Singing Hatchet was our Record of the Week. Didn't think it was possible, but the band has actually gotten even better (to the point of -gasp- converting an AQ staffer or two who didn't like' em before), thus we hereby bestow the same honor on the new record And the Surrounding Mountains. For those of you who're unfamiliar with the LA-based trio of Jim, Senon, and Steve, their sound can be most easily described (and I'm sure they're tired of hearing it) as very similar to Pink Floyd. And not just any ole Pink Floyd, mind you!, but specifically the sad, epic two songs that conclude The Dark Side of the Moon: "Brain Damage" (y'know, "the lunatic is on the grass...") and, god, especially "Eclipse" ("And all that is now/And all that is gone/And all that's to come/And everything under the sun is in tune/But the sun is eclipsed by the moon...") You know how you never want that song to end, it's such a pretty, bittersweet way to close an album? Radar Brothers have made FOUR ALBUMS of that sound all stretched out and atmospheric and personal and warm. The guitars are ever so plaintively strummed so that you hear the chords but also the individual strings, the vocals are hushed and sung usually as a duo, the melodies achingly gorgeous, majestic swells of emotion. They're so great that I find it hard to do anything else while listening to Radar Brothers; like Low and Red House Painters' work, Radar Brothers' songs *demand* stillness and respect -- all your attention. Highly recommended.
Another outing from Uwe Schmidt, that incredibly prolific electronicist best known as Atom Heart but also as Senor Coconut, Los Samplers, Atom and Tea Time, Midisport, Geez 'n Gosh, Lisa Carbon, Datacide, Dandy Jack, LB, Bund Deutscher Programmierer ... and more! This time the operative word is JAZZ. In the same way that Senor Coconut fused Kraftwerk with the mambo, The Roger Tubesound Ensemble is a fine excuse to play around with "jazz". It's all very lighthearted, playful and fun. While the first tune is a pretty much straightforward Esquivel-inspired number complete with girl vocalists, tinkling piano and jazz drums, the later tracks blend in the electronics that Atom just can't stay away from. He slyly creeps in some stereo separation effects, the jazz in one ear, drum 'n bass in the other. Sometimes the schizo effect is jarring and sudden, but eventually the music finds its own level as a honest to gosh hybrid percolating happily.
Probably the best metal band to come out of the Czech Republic (and though it may seem unlikely, there are quite a few!) is the ominously monikered Root. Around for almost 15 years now, Root continue to make amazing records, evolving and growing with each release, from their roots (ahem) in raw black metal to avant-garde almost-operas more recently. "Black Seal" is easily their best, blending their old, simpler metal sound, and their new more polished, more melodic direction.
Classic eighties sounding metal, with killer riffs, amazing harmony leads, great production, super interesting and complex songs, and wildly creative drumming, but it's the vocals of Root leader Big Boss that really push this over the top. From warbly maniac-lounge-singer wailing to hushed chants to occasional guttural growls (not like death metal cookie monster vocals, more like sinister preacher threatening sinners with the end of the world), to absolutely dreamy, rich and lustrous lower register crooning. And somehow these bizarre vocals complement the music perfectly, with the band deftly veering between almost-thrash-metal, doomy Sabbath style epics, classic sounding hard rock, and awesome Katatonia-esque moody minor key masterpieces with hymn like harmony vocals. The whole record is dark and moody and heavy, personal, introspective and creepy. It all culminates perfectly in the album's final track, an intense and beautiful mid tempo epic, with chugging guitars and wispy minor key synths and gorgeous melodies. Big Boss contributes perhaps his best vocals of the record with a Nick Cave sort of baritone spinning a heartwrenching tale of loss and sorrow, that slowly turns into a bizarre acapella chant, with rich, low harmony vocals that go on and on and on for a full 15 minutes! SO bizarre but SO great!
Shards of sharp, echo-effected guitar build repetitively throughout the four songs found on "Fever", the darkly shimmering half-hour-long debut cd ep by an enigmatic Polish duo that call themselves Rope (and now live in Chicago, we believe). Przemyslaw Drazek's beautiful but unsettling skin-crawl guitar chime is underpinned by the pulsing bass guitar and deep, whispered vocals of Robert Iwank. The 6 and 12 string guitarwork on here sometimes reaches shrill peaks of intensity that recall the violins in Bernard Hermann's "Psycho" score. You know, the shower scene. Stabbing, stabbing! Yet the duo's drumless soundscapes are also overall quiet and lovely. Recorded in Warsaw and previously released on cassette via a Polish label, "Fever" is creepy, almost gothic (in a Swans sense) post-rock from the former Eastern bloc. The only comparisons we can make are hopelessly obscure and probably misleading: say, imagine Ulan Bator or Larsen with a restrained Keiji Haino on guitar. Hmm? Mysterious & moody, at any rate.
Here's one that may appeal to those interested in the recent post punk reissues such as The Pop Group, A Certain Ratio, the In The Beginning compilation, etc. From the same label that put out the 'Select Cuts From Blood & Fire' compilations comes a reissue of London's Ruts DC. Originally known as Ruts, the group added the additional initials after losing their front man Malcolm Owen to a heroin overdose. The remaining members of the group restructured their sound, modelling it much closer to the reggae and dub that had informed their rock foundation. After the unsuccessful 1981 release 'Animal Now', the group hooked up with Mad Professor at his newly constructed Ariwa Studio the following year and hammered out the 8 tracks for 'Rhythm Collision'. Although they couldn't claim to be the first of the "second wave" of punk groups to cite dub as an influence, they certainly took reggae music to heart and the overall sound of 'Rhythm Collision' is perhaps the most identifiably "reggae" of any to come out of the London scene. Combined with Mad Professor's technical wizardry the album was impressive in its ability to absorb the aesthetics of dub while avoiding being merely Jamaican imitators. Depending on one's prior familiarity with the album the indelible eighties production stamp on these tracks can be an obstacle, as can the occasional harmonica solos and cheesy vocals. But thank the heavens their bassist avoids the funky / slap bass urge on all but one track. It's really not as bad as all that, sounding at times a lot like what Tones On Tail did years later. As a bonus to the original tracks from 'Rhythm Collision' are five bonus remixes courtesy of Mad Professor. AND, on top of the original album and the Mad Professor remixes, there's an additional disc of remixes by Zion Train which were executed at Ariwa in 1998 on Mad Professor's now antique, or classic, gear.
Finally another issue of one of our favorite zines. SALT seems to be the zine version of Aquairus, sharing the same taste in music as well as a similar sense of humor, and a similar joy in discovering new and exciting music. Kind of wish someone would give Kevin SALT a big pile of money so he could do a real magazine and knock the Wire and Terrorizer and Spin and whoever else on their collective asses. This time around an interview with The Summer In Between, an article on Texas' Monotremata Records, an extensive review of the Acid Mothers Temple UK tour, show by show, by Kevin and a handful of friends spread out around England, as well as an interview with AMT mainman Makoto Kawabata where he talks quite a bit about his love of professional wrestling. Also in this SALT, an interview with bay area noise monsters Burmese, an interview with Aufgehoben No Process, an interview with guitarist Gary Smith, an interview with cartoonist Chris Yambar, an article about Rock And Role Play Records, home of the mighty Teen Chtulu, Blood Hag, and perhapst the best named band in the world: The Powersofdarknessshallrainblooduponthiscityfor500years, and an interview with AQ faves BORIS! As with every issue, lots of stuff you already dig, but a bunch of stuff you probably don't yet but undoubtedly will. Buy SALT or at least send this guy all your money. PUNK PLANET #49 May/June 2002 3.95 Totally fascinating story on the tumultuous history of Vagrant Records. Interviews with label owner Rich Egan and all the Vagrant bands. Also interviews with Mike Watt, Richard Hell, Hot Water Music, Electrelane and more. As well as stories on the INS crack down on immigrants/terrorists, the newly heightened security on the US/Canada border, Slavadorean activists in Chicago along with the ususal music reviews and columns. THE WIRE #219 May 2002 7.50 Cover article on Mr. plunderphonics John Oswald, Shirley Collins, The Fall, Mission Of Burma Patti Smith. A rather unimpressive Invisible Jukebox with El-P, and an article written by our own Jim Haynes on the Jewelled Antler Collective (Thuja, The Birdtree, Mirza, the Knit Sepearates and more.) Plus reviews and a funny Savage Pencil strip that seems to be poking fun at our buddies at Amoeba. ----* ----* In Stock, No Chance to Review : ----* 20 MILES "Keep It Coming" (Epitaph) cd 14.98 ALIAS "Other Side Of The Looking Glass" (Anticon) cd/lp 13.98/14.98 BLECHDOM, KEVIN "And The Temple Of Doom" (Unbearable) 7" 5.98 CALLA "Custom" (Quatermass) cd 15.98 CLINIC "Come Into Our Room" (Domino) cd ep/7" 6.98/6.98 DARK FUNERAL / INFERNAL "Under Wings Of Hell" (Hammerheart) cd 13.98 DAVIS REDFORD TRIAD "Mystical Path Of The Number 86" (Holy Mountain) cd 13.98 ELECTRIC PRUNES, THE "Stockholm 67" (Birdman) cd 13.98 FLOOR / DOVE "split" (Berserker / Crucial Blast) 7" 3.98 FONTAINE, BRIGITTE "13 Chansons Decadentes et Fantasmagonigues" (Polydor) cd 17.98 GOBLIN "Amo Non Amo" (Cinevox) cd 16.98 GOBLIN "Il Fantastico Viaggio Del Bagarozzo Mark" (Cinevox) cd 16.98 GOLD SPARKLE BAND "Fugues & Flowers" (Squealer) cd 14.98 GRUBBS, DAVID "Rickets & Scurvy" (Drag City) cd/lp 13.98/9.98 GUILTY CONNECTOR "First Noise Attack" (MSBR) cd 9.98 HIDALGO, JUAN "Tamaran (Gocce Di Sperma Per Dodici Pianoforti)" (Get Back) lp 15.98 HIGELIN, JACQUES & BRIGITTE FONTAINE "15 Chansons D'avant Le Delinge" (Polydor) cd 17.98 HIROSHIGE, JOJO "The Very Best Of Jojo Hiroshige" (Alchemy) cd 19.98 HOOD "You Show No Emotion At All" (Domino) cd ep 6.98 KIRALY, ERNO "Spectrum" (Trace Label) 2cd 17.98 LAST OF THE JUANITAS "Time's Up" (Wantage USA) cd 14.98 LLOOP "Bulbbs" (theAgriculture) cd 14.98 MAN IS THE BASTARD / GERRIT "split" (Misanthropic Agenda) 7" 3.50 MARCHETTI, WALTER "In Terra Utopicam" (Get Back) lp 15.98 MOBY "18" (V2) cd 16.98 MORRICONE, ENNIO "Ecce Homo" (Dagored) cd 15.98 NEBULA "Dos EPs" (Meteor City) cd 13.98 NOTWIST "Neon Golden" (City Slang) cd 18.98 ONENESS OF JUJU "Space Jungle Luv" (Strut) cd 18.98 OPERA IX "Maleventum" (Avantgarde Music) cd 14.98 OXES "Oxxes" (Monitor) cd 14.98 PHEROMONE "Disparlure" (Corpus Hermeticum) cd 16.98 PIRANHAS "s/t" (On/On Switch) cd 10.98 RADULESCU, HORATIU "Streichquartett nr. 4 opus 33" (Edition RZ) cd 16.98 SPOON / SWEARING AT MOTORISTS "split" (Super Asbestos) 7" 3.98 STRAPPING FIELDHANDS "Third Kingdom" (Omphalos) cd 15.98 TAAKE "Bjoergvin" (Wounded Love) cd 14.98 TROLLHEIM'S GROTT "Bizarre Troll Technology" (Woodcut) cd 14.98 TSUNODA, TOSHIYA "Pieces Of Air" (Lucky Kitchen) cd 14.98 TWINE "Recorder" (Bip-Hop) cd 15.98 V/A "Populare Judische Kunstler: Berlin / Hamburg / Munchen" (Trikont) 2cd 21.00 V/A "Populare Judische Kunstler: Wien" (Trikont) cd 14.98 V/A "Rough Guide To Afro-Peru" (Rough Guides) cd 13.98 V/A "Silk Road, The: A Musical Caravan" (Smithsonian Folkways) 2cd 21.00 VENOM "At War With Satan" (Castle / Sanctuary) cd 16.98 VENOM "Black Metal" (Castle / Sanctuary) cd 16.98 VENOM "Welcome To Hell" (Castle / Sanctuary) cd 16.98 WALKMEN, THE "s/t" (Troubleman) lp 10.98 WEEZER "Maladroit" (Geffen) cd 16.98 WIESE, JOHN "Live At Mon Ton Son: August 28, 2000 Sapporo Japan TT 17:19" (Helicopter) cd 4.98 WORLD STANDARD "Jump For Joy" (Daisyworld) cd 32.00 _______________________________________________________________________ SPECIAL ART EXHIBIT and OPENING : JIM HAYNES
A while ago Janek Schaefer himself described a record by my band Coelacanth as "soulless" so I am happy to return the favor in my review of Schaefer's latest album "Pulled Under," but of course for an album that is admittedly based upon a novel by JG Ballard, soullessness, vacancy, and desolation is just what he's going for.
Janek Schaeffer works primarily within the scope of experimental turntablism, building his own twin and triple armed varispeed turntables. That said, it's rare to actually hear anything within his compositions that really reflect his tricked out gear, with no scratching at all and very little recognizable appropriations of pre-existing recordings. Instead, Schaefer runs this source material through a considerable amount of digital filters, often maximizing the sounds latent bass reflex and smoothing out the high end. Augmented with equally manipulated field recordings, Schaeffer's "Pulled Under" transforms itself into a cold piece of sonic abstraction, rippling with desolate sonar blips, washes of unknown textures, and refractions of deep, dark drones. Sure, it's soulless, but it's a great soulless.
Greensleeves finally gets off their duffs and reissues their classic Scientist dub LPs that have been floating around in various bootleg editions for ages now. Not only are they decent pressings, but they're pretty competitively priced to boot (the unsavory LP edition of "Wins The World Cup" that we had had in previously retailed for the same price as these.) Plus, you get the original artwork in all its heroic cartoon glory (possibly some of the greatest album cover art to come out of Jamaica - much of the time it seems people will buy them for cover alone.) With these handsome new editions there's really no reason to own the CD version anymore unless you no longer own a turntable (we do have all these Scientist albums available on CD as well for those who lack vinylability) and there's certainly no reason to waste good money on bootlegs. Let's hope that Greensleeves keeps these things in print for a while this time. The albums in this series are composed of tracks recorded by the Roots Radics band at Channel 1 between 1981 and 1982 which were later mixed by Scientist at King Tubby's.
The dubs on these LPs reside on the very minimal side of the dub spectrum. Not much in the way of additional tracking was done for these records aside from percussion. The rest of the crafting is done by the Scientist behind the mixing board chopping up the tracks, recklessly sliding faders and pouring tons of delay and reverb atop the mix.
Cover note: features our hero being devoured (?) by a vicious metal Pac-Man in his control room. Behind the glass in the studio a collection of ghouls looks on gleefully. Will this be the end of Scientist? On the back cover there's an entire multi-panel cartoon precursor to this scene.
Greensleeves finally gets off their duffs and reissues their classic Scientist dub LPs that have been floating around in various bootleg editions for ages now. Not only are they decent pressings, but they're pretty competitively priced to boot (the unsavory LP edition of "Wins The World Cup" that we had had in previously retailed for the same price as these.) Plus, you get the original artwork in all its heroic cartoon glory (possibly some of the greatest album cover art to come out of Jamaica, much of the time it seems people will buy them for cover alone.) With these handsome new editions there's really no reason to own the CD version anymore unless you no longer own a turntable (we do have all these Scientist albums available on CD as well for those who lack vinylability) and there's certainly no reason to waste good money on bootlegs. Let's hope that Greensleeves keeps these things in print for a while this time. The albums in this series are composed of tracks recorded by the Roots Radics band at Channel 1 between 1981 and 1982 which were later mixed by Scientist at King Tubby's.
The dubs on these LPs reside on the very minimal side of the dub spectrum. Not much in the way of additional tracking was done for these records aside from percussion. The rest of the crafting is done by the Scientist behind the mixing board chopping up the tracks, recklessly sliding faders and pouring tons of delay and reverb atop the mix.
Cover note: Features a victorious Scientist being carried out of a venue on the shoulders of his admirers to meet the throngs of the press and his green Rolls Royce limo. Track listing: Seconds Away, Straight Left, Upper Cut, Kidney Punch, Saved By The Bell, Right Cross, Jab, One - Two, Below the Belt and, of course KNOCK OUT.
Greensleeves finally gets off their duffs and reissues their classic Scientist dub LPs that have been floating around in various bootleg editions for ages now. Not only are they decent pressings, but they're pretty competitively priced to boot (the unsavory LP edition of "Wins The World Cup" that we had had in previously retailed for the same price as these.) Plus, you get the original artwork in all its heroic cartoon glory (possibly some of the greatest album cover art to come out of Jamaica, much of the time it seems people will buy them for cover alone.) With these handsome new editions there's really no reason to own the CD version anymore unless you no longer own a turntable (we do have all these Scientist albums available on CD as well for those who lack vinylability) and there's certainly no reason to waste good money on bootlegs. Let's hope that Greensleeves keeps these things in print for a while this time. The albums in this series are composed of tracks recorded by the Roots Radics band at Channel 1 between 1981 and 1982 which were later mixed by Scientist at King Tubby's.
The dubs on these LPs reside on the very minimal side of the dub spectrum. Not much in the way of additional tracking was done for these records aside from percussion. The rest of the crafting is done by the Scientist behind the mixing board chopping up the tracks, recklessly sliding faders and pouring tons of delay and reverb atop the mix.
Possibly the best album in this series, 'Rids the World...' utilizes the most effects and cut up wizardry in the bunch. Along with his usual bag of tricks, Scientist brings out what sound like rhythm boxes and loads them with so much effects as to turn them into proto-synthesizers. It's also the only title in this series that attempts to match the visual theme / title with an audio equivalent: "The Voodoo Curse", which starts the album, is full of ominous effects and several other tracks get vocal intros a la Lee Perry's "Vampire" requesting blood, and other stock horror intros including Mummies, Frankenstein, Werewolves and the living dead.
Cover note: features Scientist crashing a midnight monster party on his sound system loaded air boat. All your favorites are there: the mummy, Frankenstein, Dracula, the werewolf, and more. In the background is the Munster's house and tombstones cover the woods. Creeeeeepy!
Allan informs me to tell all you videogame fans that the reggae music on Grand Theft Auto 3's "Jah 1 Radio" for Playstation 2 is this entire album.
Greensleeves finally gets off their duffs and reissues their classic Scientist dub LPs that have been floating around in various bootleg editions for ages now. Not only are they decent pressings, but they're pretty competitively priced to boot (the unsavory LP edition of "Wins The World Cup" that we had had in previously retailed for the same price as these.) Plus, you get the original artwork in all its heroic cartoon glory (possibly some of the greatest album cover art to come out of Jamaica, much of the time it seems people will buy them for cover alone.) With these handsome new editions there's really no reason to own the CD version anymore unless you no longer own a turntable (we do have all these Scientist albums available on CD as well for those who lack vinylability) and there's certainly no reason to waste good money on bootlegs. Let's hope that Greensleeves keeps these things in print for a while this time. The albums in this series are composed of tracks recorded by the Roots Radics band at Channel 1 between 1981 and 1982 which were later mixed by Scientist at King Tubby's.
The dubs on these LPs reside on the very minimal side of the dub spectrum. Not much in the way of additional tracking was done for these records aside from percussion. The rest of the crafting is done by the Scientist behind the mixing board chopping up the tracks, recklessly sliding faders and pouring tons of delay and reverb atop the mix.
Cover note: features a victorious Scientist knocking in the winning goal against team whitey. And yet there is one brother on whitey's team who's making a failed attempt to block Scientist's kick. Could this be a competing engineer? Former employer? Who knows.
Greensleeves finally gets off their duffs and reissues their classic Scientist dub LPs that have been floating around in various bootleg editions for ages now. Not only are they decent pressings, but they're pretty competitively priced to boot (the unsavory LP edition of "Wins The World Cup" that we had had in previously retailed for the same price as these.) Plus, you get the original artwork in all its heroic cartoon glory (possibly some of the greatest album cover art to come out of Jamaica, much of the time it seems people will buy them for cover alone.) With these handsome new editions there's really no reason to own the CD version anymore unless you no longer own a turntable (we do have all these Scientist albums available on CD as well for those who lack vinylability) and there's certainly no reason to waste good money on bootlegs. Let's hope that Greensleeves keeps these things in print for a while this time. The albums in this series are composed of tracks recorded by the Roots Radics band at Channel 1 between 1981 and 1982 which were later mixed by Scientist at King Tubby's.
The dubs on these LPs reside on the very minimal side of the dub spectrum. Not much in the way of additional tracking was done for these records aside from percussion. The rest of the crafting is done by the Scientist behind the mixing board chopping up the tracks, recklessly sliding faders and pouring tons of delay and reverb atop the mix.
Even though it was just a gimmicky way of doing a split LP by Greensleeves, I still find myself asking who the winner is of this faux boxing match between two of King Tubby's greatest proteges. There is no loser of course, but you can take this home and compare the pair's dubbing stlyles as they go through all ten rounds back to back.
Cover art note: features a drawing of the two fighters in a boxing ring loaded with speakers around its sides and sitting at their mixing consoles in each corner. The Scientist even has a bunson burner heating up some green liquid in a beaker atop his mixer.
Best band name ever? Well, I am having trouble thinking of a better one. This female led Japanese group has released several albums and assorted EPs; which are all sort of hard to obtain, so we up and contacted the band directly to get copies of No! No! No!, which was released in 2000 on Trattoria, Cornelius' label. This is very tight rock 'n roll that proudly wears its influences on its sleeve, cos they know it don't hurt the music none. Like a combination of the Runaways' wild abandon, the Breeders' precisely executed alt-rock, and just plain ole healthy rock energy, with vocals sung in English. Are you wary of all the hype the upcoming Breeders' album is getting? I am, cos y'know, 9 times out of 10, suspicious amounts of high-profile pre-release hype, means bad, bad record. Keep your expectations low on Kim Deal's deal and get this instead.
