VARIOUS It Came From Memphis Volume 2 (Birdman)
Utterly jawdropping collection that follows up on the mid-90s disc which
accompanied Robert Gordon's "It Came From Memphis" book, a fantastic read
which put a long-overdue spotlight on some of the folks inhabiting the
corners and jukejoints in the shadow of Elvis and Al Green (and even
lesser known than Alex Chilton and Big Star). While Volume 1 introduced
listeners to many of the modern scenesters carrying the traditional roots
torch into the modern day (it was my first introduction to Lorette
Velvette's great solo stuff), Volume 2 scrapes up some insanely incredible
archival material mostly from the mid 60's to 80's and what a carnival of
sounds. Besides some odd pieces of history (BB King's first recording,
under the name BB Cunningham, plus a very bizarro version of Chuck Berry's
"Memphis, Tennessee" by pro-wrestler and Andy Kaufman asskicker Jerry
Lawler), we're treated to out-of-nowhere blasts of distorto blues from
Moloch (who used to travel to open punk shows in New York in the 80's),
the Bootleggers, and fife-and-drum legend Otha Turner. A huge cog in this
big wheel through the years has been Jim Dickinson (producer of Big Star,
Replacements, pappy to 2/3 of the North Mississippi All-Stars), who is
well-represented in many of these ensembles (Mud Boy and the Neutrons, the
New Beale Street Sheiks, and offering some almost Hasil
Adkins-in-the-red-times-four vocals to Soldiers of the Cross'incredible,
burning, "Go Down Slow". Dickinson clearly was a guide in leading
the town's various session cats and talents into some wild realms that
continued to filter through the 90's. Tav Falco and Panther Burns (who,
along with Alex Chilton, helped drag Memphis into the "new wave" of the
80s) does a version of "Train Kept a Rollin" on local TV that sounds it
had a flying saucer landing right on the set, then gets literally barked
at by the show's hostess, who accuses the band of being "anti-music" and
"bitter" and refuses to let them start their second number. May many more
volumes of this stuff keep flowing!
TOWER RECORDINGS Folk Scene (Communion)
It was possibly one of the most fun WFMU benefits ever when we
got to
include both Prince Paul and the Tower Recordings on a bill at the
Smackmellon Warehouse among others. For the uninitiated, the
NYC-via-Connecticut collective has been floating down the Hudson
on a very
strange kind of lillypad for the last six years. Both embracing
the
ambiguity and shrouds of mystery that bands like Blowhole, the
Shadow Ring
and Six Organs of Admittance have cloaked themselves with, as well
as
creating a very rooted existence among other downtown moon-howlers
like Hall of Fame (who share members with TR), each new recording
by these
folks has been most welcome. While some tend to peg them as merely
a
neo-folkie band of experimentivists (and indeed one can detect a
love for
the sounds of Anne Briggs and the Incredible String Band,
especially in TR
guitarist PG Six's recent solo record), they seem to be much more
embracing of a wider spectrum of sounds than they get credit
for. This new
release (which is a reissue of last year's 10" LP with 14 new
tracks
added) is much more akin to Faust's "Tapes"; a superb display of
the vast
possibilities of sound, with many short pieces acting like
sketches
leading you from mindframe to mindframe.
LANGUAGE REMOVAL SERVICES Sampler V.2.0 (Language Removal
Services)
Not quite an artist or creative collective by definition, LRS see
themselves as an actual public service of providing insight into
individuals' unique methods of communication via their non-verbal
appropriation of sounds. Seemingly by removing words by digital editing,
one can see distinct habits of throat-clearing, saliva use, fumbling,
swallowing, etc. and how all this strung together actually creates its own
language. This disc chronicles the non-verbal communications of Maria
Callas, Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana, Sly Stallone, Noam Chomsky, Bob
Guccione, William Burroughs, Thelonious Monk and others, and they'll do it
for you too, of course, as part of their service. Amazing note: Record
Fair Director Mike Lupica walked in as I was screening this and correctly
identified the gutteral grunts of Henry Rollins without even knowing the
concept. That is very impressive (or worrysome, maybe Mike has spent too
much time with Hank?) They are next year offering the first of
their Ecstatic Opera series, a version of a 1904 aria sung by Adelina
Patti. (www.languageremoval.com)
PHANTASM Wreckage (Deep Six)
This rocks mightily! Phantasm were a bay area punk/thrash/metal hybrid
that featured Ron McGoveny (who preceded Cliff in very early
Metallica) and the soaring vibrato vox of Katon W. DePena (who also
fronted the band Hirax). The live half of this disc especially, recorded
in 1987, has a most pleasing
all-these-elements-don't-make-sense-at-all-but-rock-amazingly vibe, like
the greatest bunch of metal kids you ever saw going nuts in their dad's
garage with lots of raging/sloppy Greg Ginn-isms shredding everywhere.
VARIOUS Can't Stop It! Australian Post Punk 1978-82
(Chapter)
A much welcome anthology indeed. While many folks have already seen how
bands like This Heat, the Fall, Contortions and Raincoats have manifested
themselves by influencing various UK, American, and New Zealand indie rock
releases of the 80s, and 90s, few have seen what kind of din had been
drummed up in Oz. Besides the Moodists, Apartments, and the
(legendary and totally insane) Slugfuckers, I hadn't heard of any of the
other bands included (Essendon Airport, Xero, the Limp, Ron Rude, Tch Tch
Tch (clicking noise with your tongue!) and the wonderfully named People
With Chairs Up Their Noses) but thanks to the compilers at Australian
label Chapter Records (with some help from David Nichols of the Cannanes)
here is a very generous helping. Like a lot of the DIY-aesthethic stuff of
the post-punk area, much of this is crudely recorded, ultra-low-tech and
scabby, and at times shimmering with precious pop elements found on early
Television Personalities records. Can I reiterate how great the
Slugfuckers were!?
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