With a name sure to sell copies of their records overseas, this (American) two-piece unit would be wise to step up the availability of their merch. This release, the second to appear on our new arrivals list in the space of a month, shows that perhaps they're aware of the golden marketing opportunity the Bush administration has been providing.
Actually, Citizens of the Chronic constitutes a compact disc edition of two previous vinyl releases by the band: 2002's Masonic Chronic 45rpm 12" ep and 2001's Citizens of the Universe LP. In the wake of the duo's excellent, recently highlighted Tasheyana Compost album, this is a most welcome reissue indeed. The disc is packed with tightly wound, yet rubbery math-rock outbursts, again in a politicized punk-hippy vein (not in the 'grebo' sense though!). With vocals varying from chanted poetry to punk shouting to absurdist falsetto 'singing', it's the instrumental 'grooves' that will get you though, full of maddening repetitions, noisy chaos, tight changes, and manic energy. Yet some unexpectedly melodic, almost folky moments crop up betwixt their twangy hardcore assaults. With their sincere, skronk-folk songwriting, Usaisamonster are somehow the hybridization of Lightning Bolt, Suicidal Tendencies, Amps For Christ, and NoMeansNo. Maybe. Anyway, they're pretty great at whatever you want to call what they do. So get Tasheyana Compost, first, and then if you need another dose (like we did), pick this up.
What do Blind Lemon Jefferson, J.E. Mainer's Mountaineers, The Louvin Brothers, Mahalia Jackson, Rev. Gary Davis, The Carter Family, Flatt & Scruggs, The Stanley Bros., Blind Willie Johnson, Bill & Charlie Monroe, Hank Williams and Uncle Dave Macon have in common? Gospel. And the upstart label Dust To Digital has stepped in to sing the praises of their praises. Be they blues, old-time, country, or bluegrass performers, all of them here dedicated at least part of their repertoire to a higher power. Second only to the earnest passion of the performances on this set is that applied to the design and construction of the box set itself (the art design here was done by the same people that did the beautiful Charlie Patton box). The set contains 5 CDs of early gospel, one CD of early sermons, and one beautifully printed 200 page book filled with lyrics, biblical passages, biographical notations, photos and sundry other historical documents. All of this packaged in a silk-screened wooden box and snuggled together with two clumps of raw cotton. This may very well be the most thorough collection of early gospel music ever captured on wax cylinder, 78, or magnetic tape. Containing recordings dating as far back as 1902 on up to 1960. Along with the more famous names listed above, there are numerous tracks from lesser known artists who are just as worthy of attention. Most in evidence are ghostly a capella groups like The Alabama Sacred Harp Singers that will raise your hair on end. Then there are some truly unique visionaries like Washington Phillips, who accompanies himself on the dolceola, the most delicate of instruments, it's like a mini piano crossed with a dulcimer. It's one of the most beautiful sounds ever committed to 78. The quiet, delicateness of his performances are such that the throbbing drone of the early recording equipment becomes as much a part of his performance as his singing and playing (N.B.: there's a full length by Phillips that we should be getting in here in the near future). And let's not forget the 6th disc of sermons (25 of them) recorded between 1926 and 1941. These are possibly as musical (to be sure, many of the sermons even break into music anyway) as the first five discs and regardless of one's religious affiliation or lack thereof they are a compelling collection of beautiful and historical retoric, the art of which seems to have disappeared in the new millennium. This is one astoundingly compiled and executed collection. If you can't find a spot for it on your own shelf, you can certainly make a loved one happy by letting them find one under their christmas tree. Very highly recommended!
Revenant has once again done a swank job of a reissue. Originally only available on double CD, Revenant has now just reissued the collection in a tri-fold double LP set. Smithsonian Folkways" influential "Anthology of American Folk Music" was a massive three volume set compiled by the eccentric artist and archivist Harry Smith. Originally released in 1952 and reissued on CD in 1997, it stands as a pioneering look into the earliest recordings of awe-inspiring folk music of the "20s and "30s. This fourth volume of the series had been collected around the same time, but had never been released until 2000. Like the CD version, this double LP set is lavishly packaged. It includes a 20 page booklet, a poster and the LPs come pressed on clear vinyl. Like the original Folkways Anthology, this smaller collection features the work of some of our country's most important musical figures from the turn of the 20th century including Lead Belly, The Carter Family, Robert Johnson, The Monroe Brothers, Uncle Dave Macon, the Memphis Jug Band, and many more. It also features in depth narratives on Smith and his work from Greil Marcus, Ed Sanders, John Cohen, Dick Spottswood, and Fahey. Simply outstanding.
Here's an interesting collection. Put together by Robert Crumb, at the behest of his wife Aline, from his personal collection of 78's. The collection moves across the globe by continent, starting in Louisiana, USA moving south through Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America; then touching down in Europe (Spain, Sicily, Greece and Turkey), moving south through Africa, on to India and South East Asia (Burma & Vietnam), and finally resting in the South Pacific. Most of the recordings come from the 30's (with a few from as early as 1927 and as recent as 1950) and are quite likely to be tracks you've never heard before in your life. Some artists, like Greek singer Rita Abadzi, first lady of Cajun Cleoma Falcon and Norteno musician Lidya Mendoza are well known, and have plenty of recordings assuring their place in history. But of much of the others on this disc, very little is known. In a typically erudite, but self deprecating and witty form that is unique to himself, Robert Crumb leads us through his recordings armed with what little knowledge he's been able to glean about each performer (mostly from the internet and, Crumb insists, with the help of others who understand such modern technology).
Okay everybody, open up those stockings! Here's one helluva great stuffer or if you love, but have yet to dive into, the music from Jamaica's finest years (from Jamaica's finest studio) it's also a great gift for one's self. Purchased as a slipcased box set, each disc comes to only $12 each. While numerous talent has come and gone through this small island, no other figure has had such a long lasting and spectacular career as Coxsone Dodd and his Studio One recording facility/label. In fact more stars have passed through his doors than any other in Jamaica. People used to crowd the front lawn of the tiny recording studio everyday for a chance to audition for Mr Dodd. The five discs in the collection are broken up by theme: Rockers, Soul, DJ's, Roots & Scorcher.
The first, Rockers, is an all around best of, an excellent collection covering rocksteady on up to dancehall. Studio One Soul, as the title implies, consists entirely of soul tracks cut by Studio One. The covers of classic soul songs, recorded in the 60's and 70's, are quite a bit different than the American originals.
Studio One Roots is possibly the best in the series. As we wrote of it when we listed it back in November of 2001: "Not only are there some great tracks on here, but there are plenty of rare cuts as well. And although Dodd may not have been known as much for his roots reggae productions, he certainly has a few in his vault that can stand alongside the best. From the very beginning of this album with the Cyclones & Count Ossie's ball busting instrumental "Meditation" you know you've got a great comp in your hands. Featuring a barking and growling Hammond B3 backed by pounding nyabhinghi drumming and deep bass, it's a shame the cut is only three minutes long. There are plenty of great tracks on here -- both instrumental and vocal -- including crooner Alton Ellis' haunting and bizarre "Blackish White" in which an impassioned Ellis tests the range of his tenor, and Lennie Hibbert's jazz influenced "More Creation" with its dreamy vibraphone solo."
Studio One DJ's is another great collection. Yet again, let's excerpt from our review of May, 2002: "Unlike the common DJ of repute who was content to merely play records, Jamaican DJ's have always been of a mind to persistently interject their own thoughts, off the cuff remarks, vocal sound effects over what they played. Such was the heavy competition between Sound Systems in Jamaica, that merely having the freshest cuts would win an audience. A charismatic master of ceremonies was crucial drawing crowds. Out of this developed the Jamaican DJ: U Roy, I Roy, Big Youth, Dennis Alcapone, Count Machuki, Prince Jazzbo et al. Coxsone Dodd, having already been the owner of one of the biggest sound systems in Jamaica by the end of the 50's, continued in the capacity of producer to become the institution he is today with vaults of the most popularly versioned rhythms in Jamaica. Studio One DJ's takes a look at not only some of the most successful DJ's to work with Coxsone, but also some great obscure one's that you may never have heard. You won't find either U or I Roy on this collection, but that shouldn't dissuade you (we can set you up with great discs of either) as their's no shortage of awesome tracks on here from the sparse interjections of Count Machuki to the non-stop-almost-out-of-breath toasting and cocka-doodle-dooing of Dennis Alcapone, to the ever so gruff and foreboding chanting of Prince Far I, there's an impressive variety of artistry represented here."
Last, but not least, there's the Studio One Scorcher collection of instrumentals which we listed in October of 2002: "Usually, when one thinks of the concept of the instrumental in conjunction with the island of Jamaica, it's dub and the mounds of reverb + delay that accompany it that come to mind. But even before and after King Tubby reigned supreme with his custom modified mixing board and effects, the instrumental for instrumental's sake was already huge on the island including reworkings of classics with solos in place of vocals and entirely new rhythm tracks that -- for lack of any vocal that fit it -- became instrumentals. That the previous four Studio One collections celebrating the career of Coxsone Dodd have been so damn great shouldn't be too surprising considering Dodd's huge contribution to the wealth of music on the island. But taking into account that even the rarest of tracks on these collections are still heads above many of his competitor's greatest productions is a sign that the man had ears nothing short of 24 karat status. So it is with this fifth volume of tracks culled from Studio One's glorious past; from ska to rock-steady and on through reggae. Among the greats here are the Skatalites' rare and treasured "Coconut Rock" from the mid 60's, an amazing disco remix (one of Dodd's earliest) of "Cleopatra" dubbed "Shockers Rock" by Tommy McCook & the Skatalites that extends to almost 8 minutes and stuffed to the gills with organ solos, a laid back and soulfull version of "Walls of Jericho" courtesy of keyboardist Jackie Mittoo & guitarist Ernest Ranglin, a truly bizarre twangy southern soul "Bugaloo" by Jackie Mittoo's Soul Brothers, and a couple of heavy buru drumming backed cuts "Money Generator" and "Black Up" featuring the mellow jazz saxophone of Karl Bryan and his Afrokats with Count Ossie. There's really not a dud on the album, and even if you might be familiar with some of the rhythm tracks, you'll be impressed by these workings of them."
Five great collections at one great price!
In the "found" sound "field" recording vein of Kathy McGinty, Daddy's Curses, or Petros Drecojecai's Mistaken Receptions comes Today's Voices. We weren't given much information about the collection other than that it is a super limited edition (ie: a buy now or cry later sort of thing) and that the contained herein recordings are all of cellular phone conversations that were picked up via scanner between 1997 and 2000 (apparently the advent of digital cellular phone technology has made such scanning of cellular phones impossible). Clocking in at just over 70 minutes, there's enough strange, absurd and disturbing material within to satisfy even the most thirsty voyeur. And probably more unnerving is that most of the tracks for some reason only contain one half of the conversant parties, which makes 'you' the listener feel more like a participant than a casual observer. This odd lack of a second party to the conversation brought several of us here to the conclusion that it was the silent participant recording their own conversations. But listening to the variety of calls perhaps calls that conclusion into question. Either way, we have not been given any further info. It may not come as a surprise that a goodly fifty percent of the tracks are sex related; be they the belligerent rantings of young men trying to impress(?) the ladies on a party-line by calling them minotaurs and threatening to call CYS on them, the tentative musings of a straight man exploring his sexuality, or a phone sex chat line first date (complete with climax). While some of the phone sex tracks may put to test even the most iron willed, there are respites of interesting slices of life that are both intriguing and beguiling. There's the two old black guys complaining about the youth of today being nothing but "Charlie's children", a coked up soccer mom rambling from gift baskets to reject fortune cookies in under two minutes, bizarre nuage philosophy & advice, incomprehensible noises and more! Comes packaged with silk-screened artwork that's made to look like it could be a Folkways record. Great! Upsetting! Or just greatly upsetting!
I can see the kids ' mouths watering. If this were a show, Wolf Eyes and Black Dice, the tight pants, too-small thrift store t-shirts, white belts and bowl haircuts would be lined up around the block. And for good reason. Black Dice and Wolf Eyes are two of only a tiny handful of bands making some seriously challenging, damaged, and beautiful noise. This collaboration is maybe a bit more tranquil that you'd expect, but its listenability shouldn't deter you. The sound is a lot like Black Dice's recent Beaches And Canyons album, all rhythmic hypnos and soundscape shimmer, but with Wolf Eyes supplying a gritty electronic, rubble strewn back drop for the proceedings. Side one is droning skree over tinkling bells, swelling until it becomes a blast of full on malfunctioning Merzbow machine mayhem. Side two gets downright dreamy, a groovy sidelong Krautrock epic, so smooth and serene you'd never guess it was either of these bands. A seriously great record.
"I guess I had a lot of terrible relationships," snickers noise artist Randy Yau as an apology for the electric violence that explodes from this anthology of early works. Ah, yes, but so much great art has come from the pain of shitty break-ups and romance gone horribly wrong. Spanning his college days at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Coagulation features some of most explosive, nauseating, and abject sounds to pass through the Aquarius doors. Considering that Merzbow, Whitehouse, and Bastard Noise are frequently stocked items here, such hyperbole should not be taken lightly. Where Yau differs from his power violence / extreme noise contemporaries is in focus upon the body. His recent investigations into low frequencies vibrations within any given architectural environment engage a similar poetry, however, in a much more benevolent way. Coagulation is anything but benevolent, purposefully jumping from harsh noise to silence and back to hyper-distortion within just a few moments. These sounds hit you like a ton of bricks, letting up just enough to let you catch your breath, and then the assault immediately begins again. Yau's start 'n' stop technique immediately sets him apart from the neverending torrents of sound from many of his contemporaries.
A word of warning, do not plan on eating a meal during or after listening to Coagulation, as one track in particular the homage to Schimpfluch's Dave Philips entitled "Intermission" finds Yau purposefully vomiting over and over again. I think I turned green; but then again, has Merzbow ever done that? No fuckin' way.
