Out of the Bubbling Dusk

New Mix: Exercise Your Face (and Smile)

2011-08-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

Summer has come again - and I am still trying to get this blog back to normal. 2 large relocations in one year, though, will take it out of you. I made this mix for the annual Waxidermy mix-swap, and it's the usual brew of late nite AOR steamers, and fried college folk. Hope everyone is doing A-OK, and that when I finally get settled down (again) we can get some better locomotion going here... the records are piling up! Yargh! Dig it...

Metz on Lone Starr

2011-05-31T22:39:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Long time no see! Well, you'll be pleased to know I've been living it up in the beautiful state of Texas... sort of a revelation moving to the deep south, soaking in the heat, enjoying the musical bounty of one of the weirdest regions on the planet! You know it! Up for the taste today is a beguiling piece of the METZ puzzle, the 7" counterpart to the world's rarest glammy hard rock MDMA git-down LP - known only in the most luxurious THC-drenched NOLA bachelor pad circles, and Dallas thrift-store crack-ups! Literally one known copy of the big disc, and not sure there's another one in sight of the record pictured above... wild! So what's the joint? On the Universe / New Life split, Senor Metz pilots the ship into rockier waters and pummels one of the best 70s hard rock assaults I have witnessed - hand's down - drops the sisters and shoots for the blisters... beautiful, beautiful wasted hard rock and only made more beguiling by the Chrome / Lone label swap and mutual Houston pressing matrix. Who were you Metz?! What black-light puke-encrusted disco ball alternate reality do you cling for dear life to? Would LOVE to know more about this massive obscurity - so get in touch! Blessings and godspeed from Tejas -- watch out Raven, enjoy this blast!

New Life

Universe

Jack Wilcox - A Marriage of Clocks and Highways

2011-02-27T15:25:00.000-08:00

Let me preface this post by apologizing for my total lag in time-space the past 2 months. Strangely, though, this record ties into the unexpected move I made in January from the Northwest to Southern Texas. Jack Wilcox was introduced to me by a good friend as a buried regional LP from my neck of the woods, maybe 3 years ago... a lost loner folk record that sounded like it was recorded by the angry son of a logger, trapped in Northern Idaho, a wayward intellectual youth washed out into the resignation of beer-can spray and icy roads of the soul... I liked the LP then, and still find something very appealing about it now. Allegedly recorded in an empty bar, Wilcox's voice is fragile but coarse, and his songs exude the dull ache of blue collar America's trappings and smoke filled particle board interiors. The whole trip may seem a little flat at first but I found a subtle edge to it all that only grew on me over time. For folk fans, it is most certainly something worth checking out. When the record was first brought to my attention I tried quite hard to find Jack, but was met with a series of dead-end phone numbers and addresses. Having spent a fair amount of time digging for records in Idaho as well, I figured that finding a copy in the wild was inevitable, but still after 3 years of sporadic road trips across the state I had nothing to show and was no closer to finding Jack himself. Having taken note of one of Jack's prophetic song titles, "Don't Ever Fall in Love With a Poet," nearly 3 years ago itself, I did the exact opposite of his prosaic advice and made a life with my lover, a lady so gifted with the pen that I wove my words around her for as long as I could. We parted ways after the holidays this year, though having taken our last Christmas vacation together in Southern Idaho, and my fate still completely unbeknownst to me - I found a beautiful copy of this very record at a thrift store along the way! An eerie capstone to a wonderful chapter in my life, something I'm proud to have been apart of. Jack, if you're out there, drop me a line... I'd love to buy you a beer someday and talk about the tallest pine trees devised by man. Texas dispatches next time... Adio!

The Poet Reclines

Video of the Month: Walking the Floor Over You

2011-01-29T17:29:00.000-08:00

From York, PA, it's James "Rebel" O'Leary with the Ernest Tubb staple. Stand back!

Ron Cornelius Interview

2011-01-19T08:34:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the slow slurf here lately... Have been dealing with a number of real-world issues in my life. I feel alot like the guy in the above photograph, the bottom in sight, how to climb back out? The man in question is Ron Cornelius, who's cult-classic mid-70s folk-rock LP Tin Luck has grown in stature over the years after being almost universally canned by Polydor at it's release. Uncompromising, jagged, and absolutely gorgeous - you need to track one down! I had the pleasure of sitting down with Ron and talking about the LP and his career as a prominent session musician in Nashville and Los Angeles. You can check it out at Waxidermy.com. Be well, and I'll get back to the boards before you know it. Luego...

Annum Novo: Reissue Wrap

2010-12-25T21:48:00.000-08:00

And so it came to pass... another year spent hunkered in the bunker unwinding my gears to the endless parade of long-eared gasps at eternity, loose-limbed strumblers from specks on the grass to the peaks of the fountains, nay-sayers and rambling loquacious losers on the necks of swans. To say the least, it was a good year - a full year, and feeling like the gentlemen above during this fair fair holiday crush and cookie crumble, I procrastinated my long overdue "Stocking Stuffer" shopping list for the mixed up mangled up lovers of the other mothers into the oblivion of a New Years reissue wrap up - so that if you missed the boat - maybe the boat hasn't missed you - yet, or ever, or unecessary to add I'd just like to see these fine productions, retreads perhaps - but essential - find essential homes - become cartridges for the slipping steam should the winter thaw to break the frost, the fragile loam surrounding my brain - HEY - so dig these discs this winter or else! I'm opposed to numerical order - these are all special, and deserve YOUR time if you can handle a little wayward loving, symphonic gloving, sisterly mugging... etc. al etc.!!!

To get things off on the right foot, I'd like to start with a record I only heard for the first time in early 2010, and the story of that discovery is nearly as miraculous as the fact that it has materialized as a gorgeous reissue less than a year later. Having played El Gusano's Fantasia del Barrio a million times since the initial WOW, I can say I've only grown closer to this dust coated desert hallucination, but perhaps am no nearer to fully realizing what exactly they had in mind when laying this set of highly original instrumental set of Latin funk down on tape. The back of the album describes a loose set of ideas pertaining to the movements of individuals - the ebb and flow of border-town life during war time, and more generally a consciousness pertaining to the human fabric of labor, family, and ideals. This of course is all a loose topography for the sounds - a deep, weird, earthy trip into the most cerebral riffage - epic tawdry cinematic dystopic dive-bar be-ins crashing up against rabid grooves and loud electric guitar - the flash of windchimes and roach buzz, hallowed chasms of a new "thing" - to think it alone in a small town on the edge of nothing in South Texas, the poetry of this motion almost the singular imagination of a band fused by the lysergic stoicism of a true survivor... well, I'm rambling, but if you've even caught wind of this already you probably get the idea. It's a bonafide keeper and easy to check out thanks to the upstarts at Heavy Light Records in Austin, TX.

Though perhaps not as epically proportioned to crowd-please every long-legged turntable this side of the Milky-Way, Wilcox-Sullivan-Wilcox's Album of Original Music is unquestionably one of the most worthy candidates for popular consumption this year, and a record that over time has taken on monumental importance to me personally, spiritually, and musically speaking. It is worth noting truly how many records there are that start off somewhat like this dynamic trio's New Mexico debut from 1971, and yet how few actually deliver the promise of transcendence and a nascent, otherworldy consciousness through acoustic folk music that this group delivers as easily as the flow of water through a mountain stream. I have spent a tremendous amount of time in this album's grasp and could probably babble on about it for just as long. The crux of it all though is in submerging yourself in their crystalline glow, imbibing a truth in the liminal lyrical phrasings, and taking pause at every subtle gesture of the steel guitar as it weaves hexagonal grace above and below wordless vocals that seem to echo forth from the supine harmony of growing hair, dogs drinking warm milk, people smiling and actually meaning something by it. This record is just that real, and I can think of very little else that touches it from the 70s whether privately pressed or majorly labeled. You've just got to spend a little time getting to know... Graciously made re-available by the original label, in resplendant unadulterated re-master (this thing sounds GOOD), and with a few clicks a mint CD of it can be yours. Read more here, buy it here, live this always. Amen!

Though I feel as if the popular discovery of Justen O'Brien's hypnotic AOR gyroscope of an LP has been long coming, the beautiful co-production of Time Will Tell by Yoga and Guerrsen Records certainly feels a bit slept on this year with all of the new things that have come to light in 2010. There's no doubt in my mind that the record, as magnificent and fully realized as it is, could work it's way into a lot of unsuspecting playlists, yet maybe folks just need to come to this one on their own terms. Time will tell... For me - O'Brien's high-plains seeker in a self-made limo was a true gateway drug - a world-class LP that illuminated the catatonic zone where most of my favorite records dwell: highly original musical citizenship without a clue in the world as to how utterly of themselves they appear and yet how beyond themselves they sound, like drawing raw energy from a star: their chords and guitar tunings secretly living on the dark side of the moon. If you've never gotten astral with Justen, it's just about that time of the year when things are dark enough for the true underbelly of the record to make sense: the maddening reality of life always on the edge of warmth, fame, and love - careening slightly out of control. If you were to take a trip out to the desert feeling like that, then maybe the lights would appear to you too... I'm never one to disbelieve! Available as a download from the fine folks at Yoga Records and on LP by Guerrsen with the gorgeous originally intended color jacket as seen above. This is a heavy one. You've been warned!

In the straight out of left-field department comes Doug Hream Blunt's Gentle Persuasion. This is one of my favorite re-press jobs this year, and another magical LP I had never heard til just a few months ago... Blunt's late 70s blend of soulful breezy funk, silky smooth production, and bouncy gleeful unabashed lyrical refrains completey won me over on the first spin and I have been thinking to myself, "Girl I just wanna chill" ever since. Located somewhere in the cross-section between new-wave and modern soul, the music has an irresistible groove that extends beyond time and space in a late-night cruising mode - palm trees flapping, circus animals walking all over the hood of your car, colorful ladies catching a ride... the atmosphere is pure magic and Blunt's laid-back croon will work out all your kinks by the time you have to get back to the real world - a softer place now, somewhere you can live, dig? Orders can be placed with: otrecords@hotmail.com This extends to you rockists too! Seeya at the big-top...

If you've ever thought to yourself that a half-way decent version of the after-life is a murky basement filled with endless mold-covered master-tapes of 70s home-brewed rock and down-home folk, then the Numero group's Lone Star Lowlands comp is an essential pick-up this holiday season... The celebrated archival label went well out of their way to rescue a small Mom and Pop Texan studio's stash of just these kind of rough-hewn shoulda-been hayseed pop star epiphanies and blissfully toked out rural rock barn-burners. The results are absolutely stellar and should be mandatory listening if you like your denim severely frayed and long for the days when a beer can needed two holes to be drained. Musically the set spans all kinds of 70s nomenclature... and illuminates the freedom of expression in rock music before FM radio and "adult" oriented music marketplaces took the stage. I live and die for this stuff, so naturally this set was such a welcome addition to the seemingly bottomless well of long-lost long-hair croon and spoon. Loose, sun-baked, stem-munching bliss, brother. Check it out!

In other 70s pop miracle zones comes a welcome vinyl reissue of friend Paul Levinson's effervescent flower-pop magnum opus, Twice Upon a Rhyme. The LP, if you haven't already checked it out, is a glowing outburst of psychedelic color and stoney early 70s home-studio groove. I've long enjoyed the record and took time out to chat with Paul last year about his wonderful creation. Will speak personally to say that I've lifted many a foul mood with this meticulously crafted gem... and would love to spend some time in the shady glen that produced "The Coming of Winter"! The reissue is a very limited pressing so I suggest acting now... copies can be ordered directly from the label at: sales@whiplashrecords.co.uk

In a final blurt I've got to give a shout out to my two favorite almost-reissued in 2010 LPs... the wild and wooly double-header of Michael Farneti's Good Morning Kisses and Stan Hubbs' Crystal, which will both see the light of day on the legendary Companion Records label out of Oakland, CA. I've waxed poetic enough times about both LPs, but needless to say - they are entirely worlds of their own, and Hubbs in particular might get my vote for the single greatest piece of private press zonk rock ever. Seriously. It's that freaking good. Not for the faint of heart, and a truly heavy trip even for the most well-traveled ears. Our proverbial anti-guitar hero was camped out in the foggy nether-underground of northernmost Sonoma county in the late 70s-early 80s, cobbling together local musicians to play his mutant breed of smoked out quasi-metal stoner rock unprecedented in this galaxy, then or now. The record has just a monumentally personal, earthy, strange presence that makes the walls breathe and the hair on your neck stand on end. I can't think of a single other disc that pushes me that close to the brink... Firm firm personal fave, and will be the reissue to beat in 2011, cowboys!

So many words... and so many more things to come... feeling tired now, and a little bit scared so it's time to travel on... May the new year treat you kindly, and stay in touch. Yours in music... JDF

Follies Bazaar - Right to Little Rest

2010-12-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

Curiosity struck when I realized that this above average comp from URI had not a single artist credited on the label and a suspiciously blank back jacket. Having spun it last month as winter settled, I figured others might appreciate that kind of Northeasterly hypnosis which the LP speaks to perfectly. Daydreaming, stoned, lodged in the snow... indeed, there are many excellent tracks here, and while maybe not quite as atmospheric as Take Flight - I find myself coming back to this one... easily the better end of the Follies Bazaar series, a collective at URI which issued an annual student music sampler well into the 80s. If wintry folk explorations and jammy lo-fi Deadhead pirouettes aren't your bag, you at least have to needledrop the astounding, "Am I Not the One," a perfect slab of (even then) retrospective Ballroom psychedelia... Like everyone else, this highlight goes uncredited, and so I must leave it to the foggy mists of the Rhode Island Sound to give us any clues... Anyways - enjoy, and talk soon!

Am I Not the One

World's First Kinbotes Cover?

2010-12-12T21:05:00.000-08:00

Imagine my surprise when I awoke this morning to a completely unexpected e-mail from new musical co-conspirators Friends With Benefits who had graciously sent along their spur of the moment trip-hop (?!) cover of future-science Kinbotes smash-hit "Hang Around"! Seriously made my day, dudes! Simply unbelievable... and makes me think we need to have a covers contest someday soon... a little "Top of the Morning," anybody? Anyways - BIG thanks to Tony and Crew - and rock out already to this! Magic!

Hang Around by Friends with Benefits

Duende Out-Take: The Moon Lions on DJ

2010-11-23T21:57:00.000-08:00

Here's a missing link from that old mix... absolute mystery band (whatta name!), on a mega obscure El Paso label - and as usual with the border-town blasters 1 side is scorching and the flip is a pretty mellow traditional waltz... But what a scorcher! "Voy A Llorar" sounds alot like a traditional mid-60s garage work-out (primal scream before the break included) but is lost in a fuzzy early 70s (?) tunnel... epic dive bar atmosphere, total twilight zone material, here... An LP full of stuff like this with some longer work-outs, moody ballads, etc. is just a complete dreamland record for me. Have asked a few Tejanos about this label and it's kind of a head-scratcher, though I'm sure someone knows the scoop. Have to doubt there's much more from the Moon Lions though... but hey, one can dream!

Voy a Llorar

A Dash of Yule with Summer Madness

2010-11-18T23:34:00.000-08:00

Admittedly this is as close as I'm going to come this fair Holiday season to posting anything actually related to Christmas music, and with that being said, it's really only a wee bit of the ol' jingle and mostly just some very odd jangle... I found this beguiling 7" EP recently and immediately fell in love despite the fact that they cover "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (rarely as listenable as their wonderfully progressive take would have you believe) and round it out with, yes "The Little Drummer Boy" among other strange cover choices (an undeniably spooky "Hills of Shiloh" is, however, magnificently refurbished with basement electronics and atonal vocals!!). The one group original is a beautiful mini-slab of psychedelic pop that sounds like an out-take from Surf's Up era Beach Boys! Seriously! With all this being said, I am nowhere near figuring out what exactly is going on here, but I really like it and figured I'd post it up for further examination. Housed in a cardboard sleeve with a wild psychedelic illustration and self-released on their own Summer Madness imprint, there is little else to add in the way of information from the cryptic package. Check it out, stay warm, and be in touch! Talk soon, J

Side A - Little Drummer Boy / Hills of Shiloh

Side B - Leaving on a Jet Plane / Summer Madness

Back with a Blast: Sonaura on Uncles Richie's

2010-11-09T22:57:00.001-08:00

Hopefully this marks a return for a while at least of steady dependable brain dredge from yours truly... had a blast down south and am now back to the wintry lair, trying to keep the puzzle put together! Stumbled across this ungodly raw blast from an early 70s hard-rock group (sounds like a trio) called Sonaura... I tried tracking them down but couldn't quite figure it out. To say the least the vibe here is frantic, desperate, and dark - matched with a production that sounds like it was recorded in an empty castle... which checks off most of the stops on my short-list to perfection! "Song of Sauron" is the hype here, but I dig the flip too which is a moody down-tempo basement number... This kind of shit absolutely slays me in part because of how good it is, but also just how buried it stays on 45s... If anyone has further info give me a shout, I'm curious about the label too...

Song of Sauron

Don't Ever Leave

Salt Creek - 1

2010-10-13T18:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry posts have been light, lately. So much going on in my personal sphere right now... kind of overwhelming, and a two week sojourn that is about to commence had me thinking I should probably put something up here before an entire month passes in absence! A good friend turned me onto this nocturnal melancholic folk-rocker during the summer and I had the pleasure to talk to one of the band members who recollected recording the whole thing in one shot from midnight to 6, natch! Salt Creek was a thrown together combo of Army brats in central Mass, and this LP is the extent of their recorded output. Also worth noting, is that it's a different band altogether than the other rural folkster who privately released "Just About Due" in '77 from upstate NY (??). There are a few duds here, but all told I really like this record... just such a sweet autumnal lovesick vibe (ambiance, baby!), w/ one or two left-field Christian songs thrown in elbow to elbow w/ the one 'good time' cut - "That Good Old Horny Feeling" (!!). Such it so often went on these 70s homemade releases... this one custom pressed by the United Sound label. Worth a listen for sure, and hopefully I will see YOU - sooner, than later!

The Salt Creek boys recline...

Heavy Summer Rock Mix: Duende

2010-09-16T00:49:00.001-07:00

A little late for the summer haze, but here's a rocking mix I made for the annual Waxidermy mix swap... Accents on despair, ghosts, and Latin rock! Some of my all time favorites here, and also some new friends too. Check it out... Talk soon, J

Technical Difficulties...

2010-09-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

It's been brought to my attention - that, for whatever reason a lot of my old embedded div-share players are dying out... In lieu of that, and my extremely basic tech-savvy I'm wondering if anyone could help me out with an alternative to this crappy file-sharing service and tacky looking embedded player... I spent the better part of an hour trying how to figure out the classy Java-script one upon realizing that I don't actually have any kind of server space to link this up to. Any suggestions? Ideally I'd like to have this stuff stored somewhere reliable, and be able to have a track or two up for alot of the albums too, for a sample once the album link expires... Please let me know what you think!

Turiiya - Waiting

2010-09-08T21:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a very special LP that quickly crept into being one of my favorite new spins of 2010... My friend Callum mentioned this Kiwi folk-psych long-player in an e-mail exchange a few months ago as being a true delight, and so I immediately tracked down a copy to check it out. I was quickly sucked into their lush cosmos of nocturnal vocalizations, looming cello runs, and odd drawn out song structures. The record in a sense seems born out of some loose stage of new age phenomenon, hailing from the late date of 1986, and the band being annointed with a Hindu word meaning, "pure conciousness," in turn much of the lyrical flavor comes through on this level: gorgeous female vocals intoning the depths of the forest, the Aboriginal "Dreaming," vantages onto island travel and living a small life in the bounds of Anglo Oceania - calling to mind at times Campion's wonderful film, Sweetie, as well a host of other celestial and earthly energy fields. Musically the group is indeed first and foremost a kind of loose aggregate of spirituality born to sound. Sonically I can't help but flash on things like Comus or the Christ Tree... yet Turiiya are of their own place and time, and it would be reductive to just tag them with the much overused folk-psych tag and be done with it. They seem formed within some kind of a far flung indie rock scene, but simultaneously orbiting well beyond the identity politics and catch-phrase jingo-ism that usually inform those kinds of records. I know New Zealand had its share of shambolic forthright female outfits in this time period, yet Turiiya still seems to be beckoning from a mistier clime... In any case, being hard to pin is one of my favorite aspects in sound, so I'll let my hypotheses rest here. The record is a mash of organic, strange, illuminated ideas and it really should just be enjoyed. I can find virtually no references to the LP online, so any further info is much appreciated. Talk soon - J

The Mysterious Women of Turiiya

Ringing Endorsement: The Exotica Project

2010-09-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

If you're anything like me, you can't help slipping deep inside the prehistoric womb of Yma, Denny, or Ahbez whenever the needle happens to drop on a side... Exotica is and has been a timeless genre for all kinds of music freaks, but fairly unknown to me, and I think others, was how deep the genre ran on 45s... no one who's ever gone looking for records hasn't picked up a Denny or Baxter LP at some point, and they're great - don't get me wrong, but thanks to a wildly in depth new site spearheaded by a friend, Dan Shiman, the parameters seemed to open on all kinds of things I had never encountered before once the speed was set to 45 RPM! Accompanied with some great writing on the topic, side-length mp3 clips, and beautiful hi-res scans of over 100 45s the site is truly something worth taking the time to explore. I'll quote from Dan, as to why if you dig lost music, generally speaking, the site may really gel with your view:

"A wide variety of artists from a wide variety of backgrounds populates exotica's back pages: established jazz musicians and Latin congueros, landlocked surf guitar combos, forgotten actresses-turned-thrush and cruise ship combos, hinterlands nightclub singers, frustrated session musicians and studio arrangers, for-hire African percussionists, R&B vocal groups and chitlin circuit B3 wranglers. The genre-spanning diversity of exotica is reflected here.

The role of the 45 format must not be overlooked, either. Exotica abounds on 45, the best examples wilder, looser, stranger, more eccentric, more ambitious - more experimental, even - than their album track counterparts."

Seriously! Check it out, already!

Mix: Nocturnal Plant Life

2010-08-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

Here's an oddball 80s mix I fooled around with recently, and decided to stick out there... Strange intersection of harder wave edges and ambient new age textures. May be the first in a small series of mixes on this theme. There are a few artists included here, who'd I'd love to write about at greater length as time allows, on the blog. In the meantime, enjoy...

The Jugs - First Batch

2010-08-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

I've always complained to no end that the state of Vermont never reached it's quota of truly fried private press hippie rockers in the seven-ought-tees, a disgrace considering the plethora of granola osmosis the state endured from '69 onward. The Philo label sucked up a lot of local talent, and while impressive in their scope and professional flair, most of those LPs lack the grit and gristle that drives me wild... Having grown up in the Green Mountain state I can count a mere handful of actually home-made longhair releases I would go to bat for, so resigned I've been for the most part on anything new coming to light on this... though one can always dream! It seemingly took forever, then, for this slab of teenage Deadhead litanies to surface on the collector scene - a whole long player's worth of rural jamming w/ properly zonked shit-kicker attitude and a few ace original tunes, the perfect antidote to the last time you actually forced yourself to sit through a Mark Winokur LP. "First Batch" was issued in 1981 on the custom press imprint at Green Mountain Records, the band consisting of 5 students from the Vershire School in southern Vermont who had recently returned from a class trip to Mexico where the bulk of the songs were written. The small private school was closed several years later, due to various tawdry reasons which seem in keeping with the existence of "First Batch" as a musical reminder of the place and time it came to be. I can't proclaim this some kind of masterpiece that will appeal to everyone, as it's a true paen to late 70s Deadhead mores and moves, but for me the thing just oozes summer charm, and many stony vibes close to the heart of this olde Vermonter... so jump for joy!

Latitudes: 1974

2010-08-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

This compilation from Montgomery Community College has been known about for years, but I had mistakenly slept on it for as long as I've been buying private press stuff, and now thanks to a good friend who recently gave one to me - all of that has been changed. I figured since I had already posted the volume from '75 I would give this one a post too, and was doubly motivated to do so because one song on here just kind of worked its way into being something of a summer anthem for me, the deliriously glammy, lite-Rush melodic power-pop gush of the band Y and their alternate-universe hit "Silver Screen Betty" - so go figure! Several of the groups here, including Y just nail that dreamland private press sound, and I would take even a half-hearted (or baked) full-length from any of them. Particular stunners include the stoned basement art-rock of the Tubular Chamber Ensemble, the immaculate hard-prog of Puddleduck, the singularly bizarre folk-rock lyrical mash-up of Donna Pretsch, and a superb folk-psych cut from the Shack People. Even the seemingly goofy hick outfit, the Ambler Ramblers who receive two slots on the billing, at turns deliver a gorgeous piece of instrumental psychedelia called "High Harbor." I owe Brennan in VT a big thanks for swapping this out to me, and if anyone has further info on these bands or anything else they did, drop me a line. I'm interested, too, as to if there are any LPs in this series from before 1973... Here's a link to the full LP, and below a sample for those just curious... rock on, Betty!

Silver Screen Betty

Tyger on Tiger Records

2010-08-08T13:45:00.001-07:00

Well, with summer vacation now winding it's way down I will be back in some capacity for the duration of the hot weather and peak annual beer consumption. The above record is something I only found out about recently - and is a total mystery to me. Found in a thrift store in Arizona, none of the usual sources seem to know it at all, and but for a stunning home-made sleeve and limited info on the labels I can't even verify the band name - etc. But what there is, is an album's worth of very nice folk rock that reminds me at times of Wilcox, Sullivan, Wilcox though a bit more amped and AM ready. Tasteful violin playing gives it an edge like Jackdaw or Canada's Mantra but this might be all more a factor of my own personal mind garden, and you may just hear some charmingly low-key longhair vibrations not altogether that distant from America or (gasp) James Taylor. I think it's a real nice LP and worth a few spins at least, especially in all those dusky twilight summer moods I'm sure you're kicking up out there... Big thanks to Bruce in California for sharing this, and hoping this post may shed some kind of light on who or what this release actually is. I've posted label scans below, and here's a track-list too, for good measure. Any info can go here, and otherwise enjoy!

1. Wendy's Song
2. I Need You to Give
3. Manna
4. Where Do You Get Your Ideas
5. June Brown Wheat
6. Tell Your Lies
7. Your Eyes
8. Rented Room
9. Think About the Music
10. Sunday in the Country

Dennis Harte on Roundtable

2010-06-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, right around this time I found a copy of a bizarre and great kids-play-rock LP by a duo known simply as Donnie and Joe. Their long-player debut, "Dreamin' Wild," totally bowled me over when I brought it home from an antique store in Eastern Washington. Hazy, heartfelt crooning that seemed to project out of this really lonely but familiar place - backed by slightly off kilter instrumentation - it became a quick favorite with me, and as the word spread, with many others too. They had such a peculiarly singular sound that I was truly surprised to find something that I thought matched it in the *wow* department, but also that the 45 in question just sounded uncannily like it could be those same two kids casting off a 7" ... albeit from across the country and culturally as far from Spokane Valley farm-land as you could get. I know very little about Dennis Harte or the Roundtable label out of New York City, but he and his brother cut at least 3 7"s, one of which I'm missing (unfortunately). The best cut of the bunch is this utterly powerful slab of teener summer sneer that just buzzes and hisses it's way across the thick Manhattan haze, an intense wall of sound backing the pleas of Dennis as he extrapolates his heart-ache. I've listened to this song 50 times since picking up the 7" and still can't get over how much this sounds like Donnie and Joe... total goosebumps! I'm not as in love with the flip but it's worth checking out nonetheless.

Summer's Over

Treat Me Like a Man

Let's Get Out of the City

I Don't Need Anymore

Anyways, the other 45 I have to share is nowhere near as epic or mind-melting as "Summer's Over" - but it's worth posting up as it has kind of a quirky lo-fi dork-rock charm of it's own. Sounds to me like it's an older brother singing on these songs... there's some great wah and a mildly psychedelic edge on the flip, too, which may be the stronger song of the two. If anybody has further info on the Roundtable label or the Harte boys - please let me know. Would love to hear more from these guys!

Al Huskey in Tennessee

2010-06-22T10:58:00.001-07:00

Here is an absolutely exquisite home-made country LP from Illinois. I have been dumpster diving through stuff like this for years and can honestly think of but a handful that I like this much. It's tough to say why so many private country records are weak, but it may have something to do with the singles oriented format for the genre. It also just seems to be a grouping where you get a lot of cover material filling out a record with one or two songs aimed as a hit, making LPs full of original material just plain rare. Al Huskey’s “In Tennessee” is one of these, and somehow he wrote 12 songs that capture a depth of moods and expression that are personal, beautiful, and just wonderfully quirky - soulful, occasionally bizarre. In the best tradition of self-released music the LP presents a cross-section of genuine talent and slightly unconventional production. The whole thing glows, foremost with Al’s unmistakably original voice, as he moves from tales of blind men making it to heaven, to debunking the color lines, to bemoaning lost loves and discussing the peculiar otherworldly nature of an echoing voice. It’s a 70s record, but the production is warm, earthy, almost hit’s a “rock” stride on a few trax, and ultimately it's all about the songs - several of these I would love to hear dusted off for cover. “Whipping Boy” for example has that perfect moment of soaring honky-tonk denouement every country-hit yearns for - the point where the minor-key verse changes gears into a massive open chorus - and the narrator gets to finally stand on stage and deliver judgment for the abuses he has suffered. For me the highlights are the moody almost country-rock flavored late night tumblers… “I Won’t Cry” and “Echoes” both just completely wreck me. Al is still active in music today, and can be reached via his MySpace page. This is a pretty easy LP to find if you’re looking for the vinyl, and is usually pretty cheap. Really a great record, and recommended even if you’re not usually keen on this kind of thing. Talk soon, JDF

Suzanne on Birchmount

2010-06-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

I was alerted to this groovy Quebecois femme-pop LP recently by an old Paul Major radio broadcast that was circulating amongst some friends. The set closed out with two magical tracks from this obscure LP released on the Birchmount label with about half the songs penned by Greg Hambleton of A Passing Fancy. These two songs have been on constant rotation the past few weeks, and I hope will captivate your imagination as well. "Shendah" is a love song written to a horse, and is just totally heartbreaking - in only the way that it could be! "Island" is a ballad of teenage alienation couched in gushy organ fills and a subtle marching drum-beat. You could make a killer 7" out of these two! Check 'em out... and I'll see you next week.

Shendah

Island

Suzanne

Austin Sirch - Self-Titled

2010-06-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

This is a little bit of a shameless plug for a friend, but I don't want anyone to be confused - I'm a big fan of the guy's work. Austin and I go back years and years of kicking around in green grass pastures, the mis-adventures of mouse-infested cabin life, the ever-present hourglass passed in puffs of smoke, and the nite-time as John Lennon would speak of it in that song with lots of saxophone and sunglasses. Austin's music is a joyous cacophony of strings laid bare to effervescent harmonies and shimmering lush psychedelic pop atmosphere. There's an effortlessness to his whole jag, a push back to summer dawns bathed in the Beatles and strong dope. I'm biased I suppose, as I associate the songs with really fond memories, but rarely does one find such a warm repose, an envelope sonically arranged for you to crawl inside and find the things you love about home-made music all over again. The distinction for me is that he's a writer, and the songs stand out as fully crafted paths through a forest of days lost to the grind of getting older and heartaches that seem heavier as the years go on. Really personal beautiful stuff that is super close to my heart. This is a CD EP from 4 or 5 years ago. If you like it, let him know. With that I bid you warm summer feelings, breathe deeply - eat something you enjoy. Warmly, JDF

I. Wishing Bell
II. No(is)e
III. When the Ships Come In
IV. Something Else
V. The Missile Blues
VI. Sophie's Song

Dog Ear on Planet Chant

2010-06-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

Easily one of my favorite 45s from the spring... gorgeous home-made cosmic country that sounds like Bobby's Blues Band + a slide guitar and desert sand under their feet. Absolutely killer mellow vibe that I would die to have an LP of. Called around on this and got absolutely nowhere... I was hunching that it was from Texas... 1973, on Planet Chant Productions. Enjoy!

Just Children

The Man Who Left Her

Mix-tape Re-run: Bummer in the Summer

2010-05-27T23:46:00.000-07:00

It's been two years since I made this garbled mix-tape of woozy lounge cacophony, psychedelic rock, and stardust crooning... and I'm just rounding out a similar mix for later in the summer but figured I'd return to this one for a little inspiration. The track-list is long gone, but I could probably identify most of the artists, at least, if you press me. It's literally a tape turned to a CD so apologies for lack of track splits. Hope you enjoy, and sorry for occasionally miserable fidelity issues (2nd to last track on side B is embarrassingly in the red and all but ruins it, yikes!). Some familiar faces await, some less familiar ones too. Talk Soon, JDF

Peach and Pockets

2010-05-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

I realize stuff like this 45 appeals to about 5 people out there besides myself, but ever since first hearing Peach and Pockets several months ago, I have had "Top of the Morning" running through my head, encouraging all of my bad habits and drenching my dreams in cheap champagne... For fans of Michael Farneti, this is about as close as I've come to finding someone else who occupies that delirious space of 70s swinger lore made manifest in absolutely unchecked musical indulgence. Issued on "Duckbilled Platters," a small label from Mercer Island, WA, I implore you to have at least a "One Time Thing" with Peach and Pockets ... this marvelous duo I have literally no further information about. If anyone has any other 45s on this label, please drop me a line... I'm totally curious now!

Top of the Morning

One Time Thing

Tim Cain - For You

2010-05-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

Traded a friend for a copy of this over the winter and was really pleased with some of the songs on here. Tim was a multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter, formerly of the Sons of Champlin, who retreated to Eureka, CA in the late-70s, and released this project in 1981. An intriguing mix of kids songs, rural rock, story-telling, and folk - I can't say I love it all but the best tracks exhibit an exquisite post-hippie come-down vibe that feels perfect as things get green outside and you can osmose a little sunshine and dew, yet again. Tasteful woodwinds are to be noted, as well! One thing for the skeptics out there is a truly jaw-dropping acid-folk cut entitled "Whispers and Screams" by a lady named Linda Mortensen who does back-up vocals on a few of the other songs here, and snuck this one solo cut on as well. What I would give for a long-player from her! "Whispers" is a haunting track that lyrically ponders failed love affairs in a rather psychedelic manner. Simply amazing, and a gorgeous voice. I asked Tim if Linda had recorded further, and he wasn't sure. I never heard back from Linda herself... Enjoy the tracks and you can check out Tim's website here for more info on his other projects.

Paloma

Whispers and Screams

Song of the Wind

Old Moon

Black Fox on Transplanet

2010-04-29T19:04:00.001-07:00

Beautiful 45 I recently encountered from Sacramento, an interesting blend of outer space lyrics and imagery with a superbly primitive folk rock groove. I know very little about this outfit, though I think this is the only thing they ever did. The A-Side has got this marvelously frantic vibe happening replete with a kitchen-sink percussion breakdown, but it's the B-Side which totally slays me as it lays psychedelic love philosophy on the pursuit of exploration in all kinds of space, and fades out on a ramped up swaying riff with wordless vocal refrains. Really haunting, magical stuff. Hope you enjoy...

Voyage to the Moon

Journey of Men

Wheelhaus on Pacific Avenue

2010-04-24T23:07:00.000-07:00

Found a copy of this 7" about a month or two ago and really dug the sound, sorta reminded me of a cool laid-back mash up of the Dead and Big Star! Hailing from Omaha, Wheelhaus was comprised of the Van Fleet Brothers, Larry and Gary, and their buddy John Cannon. I called up Larry and spoke with him about the band which was a short-lived outfit playing the usual home-town gig circuit of bars and regional festivals. They recorded this one single at Pacific Ave. studios, and were able to get it some local airplay and in the juke-boxes. I was hoping they may have had an LP I had never heard of before, or even just a few more 7"s, but alas this is it! Can't say I'm complaining though, as this 45 is just about perfect... that rare combination of mellow 70s groove and an almost effortless power-pop sensibility. Musicianship is really high too, just dig the shimmering guitar explosion at the end of "Room at the Top"! That song has been stuck in my head for weeks, something about it just catches the vibe of kicking around in the summer twilight so perfectly, the bliss of having nothing to do. It's a love song though, too, slyly winking at that girl who'll never quite come around... melancholy, but free. My gut tells me these guys would've put on quite a show! You can check out Larry's further career in music here, he's still very active in the Omaha area. He kindly sent along these clippings. Looks like great times! Thanks, Larry!

Room At the Top

You've Got to Give her Rock'n'Roll to Keep Her Home

Wheelhaus!

Lewis - L'Amour

2010-04-17T10:09:00.001-07:00

Easily one of the most sincerely weird - and great - records I came across last year was this private press LP from Santa Monica by a guy simply known as Lewis! A good friend turned me onto the record with the caveat that we should try to find him, a trail which was becoming increasingly confusing and eventually impossible. Our search for Lewis ended with a Guam address sans phone number, so I'm going to leave it at that! But the music still stays lodged in my brain, a bizarre floating late night SSW trip with cosmic synth washes, enigmatic vocals, and just a truly wigged mood. I'm completely serious when I say that the vibe on here is just about the closest thing I've found via vanity press records to the highly atmospheric universe of David Lynch's Twin Peaks... Like that show it's ostensibly a really cheesy platform but everything is just so soaked in some kind of weightless transcendence and spooky subterfuge that it just totally destroys me! There's something very very world weary about the LP but couched in this great faded mumbly croon that seems effortless, yet pushing at somewhere far out... I've really been fascinated and mystified by the whole thing, and I hope some other folks will be too. Thanks to Aaron in Canada for first turning this up! Lewis if you're out there, get in touch!

Sage on Sandwich

2010-04-03T23:37:00.001-07:00

Picked up 2 45s by this group recently and have been grooving on their slightly subdued late 60s small-town vibe. Has that fumbly earnestness mixed with bare bones country rock sentiment that makes records like the hallowed Hickory Wind of Indiana just glow. Have literally nothing to report on this band, though I'll say the above 7" is the better of the two. They get a great late night rehearsal sound on Midnight Memories, and She Fades Away is a perfect breezy ride through rustic heart-aches.

Midnight Memories

She Fades Away

On the Road Again / Lookin' for Love is basically two sides of the same song with different lyrics in a pretty straight ahead country rock vein. Fun laid back vibe with some great barn acoustics and swamp wah on the solos. Make sure to listen to the lyrics of On the Road, they crack me up - especially the marvelously out of touch bit about not getting paid at one gig in Louisiana but being invited back again next year for being so nice about the inconvenience! Anyone with further info on this mysterious combo, please drop a line... And as always, I will see you soon!

Lookin' For Love

On the Road Again

Danny Espy on BJ Records

2010-03-22T17:09:00.000-07:00

Enigmatic rainy day loner garage 45 from California... I've had it for a few years and puzzled over the why's and where's but a friend recently was able to make contact with Danny who lives in New Jersey and recorded the 7" sort of ad hoc on a vacation to Southern California with his family in '74. Still can't quite figure out if this is Buster Jones' "BJ" label which had a number of soul releases and was active more or less when this would have been recorded. A band was provided for the occasion, and that's about all there is to tell. Enjoy the fragile teen ambience on "Lonesome Man" and warbly basement shuffle of "When Will the Sun Shine." It's a rare one!

When Will The Sun Shine

Lonesome Man

Interview: Phil Lewin

2010-03-14T22:26:00.001-07:00

I had the pleasure of speaking with Philip Lewin recently, a Toronto area song-smith and musician who released two marvelous LPs back in the 70s. I would describe both records as very personal statements from a unique perspective... something all too rare when it comes to self-released folk and rock music from those halcyon days. Phil is that wonderfully dialed voice which possesses a beautifully cynical mysticism, an intellectual drift fallen on hard times, and ragged musical ends that find their home just because they can. I was so caught off guard when I first heard Diamond Love and Other Realities a few years ago that I played it back to back for days in a row, before finally giving Phil a call a year or so later. Upon hearing Am I Really Here All Alone? a bit later the whole picture clicked, and I could see all these fascinating threads weaving in and out of both records... heartfelt, sad music that reached out and commanded everything I had as a listener. Astonishing late night epiphanies that arose from something very familiar and pushed far out into the atmosphere: cerebral moving dystopic visions of love and longing, of magic and holy people moving in tawdry circles, dark and light like the album cover flashing in the fog, all of this - mind you - wed to a canvas of fragile electric leads and accomplished confident song-writing... Watercolors, which I've posted below is a piece of music that has always stopped me dead in my tracks, an epiphany of the slender line between existential ecstasy and dread, as heavy a song as anything you'd call to mind from your 70s folkie pantheon of Tims and Bobs... and so it is I remain rapt and raving! It's my pleasure to present this interview, as I consider myself a true fan and hope a few more people might dig into these records and enjoy Phil's story. I'm surprised too that Am I Really Here has not been reissued on vinyl yet, as it seems like it would go over well with a wide group of folks - in lieu of that, I've posted a track from each record for you to check out... and should you wish to purchase a CD of either album from Phil himself, he can be contacted here. So without further ado... Phil!

Interview with Phil, March 14, 2010

A snap of Brian Gauci and Wyatt MacDonald, from the Diamond Love Sessions

Watercolors from Am I Really Here All Alone?

Diamond Love from Diamond Love and Other Realities

Dirt Road Band

2010-03-09T22:03:00.000-08:00

Posts have been light lately... Apologies. So so busy with work right now! Found a copy of this cool garagey rural-ish pounder from the Bronx recently and figured I'd share the sounds. Both sides have that great youthful 60s flashing immediacy... and rightfully so, as I doubt they ever cut anything else. Mysterious label I don't know much about either... thought for a minute when I first picked it up that it was the prolific country studio out of New Mexico, yet a NY address and a production credit to the Maple Syrup Kids (!?) is about all there is to tell. A friend mentioned that this Gold Dust may have had some soul singles out too. If anybody has more info drop a line!

Mrs. Past

I've Been Thinking About the Past

Bob Harrison - Yellow Moon

2010-02-20T23:40:00.000-08:00

In the micro-genre of local Elvis impersonator LPs there's usually little to write home about... Rick Saucedo managed to pull a real rabbit out of the hat with his soft-psych sublimation of faded crooner vibes into something truly effervescent on the rare Heaven Was Blue LP, but usually it's just a guy with a bad haircut and even worse retreads of the King's hits put alongside glassy-eyed tributes to his departed holiness, in leather may he rest. Bob Harrison's Yellow Moon on the other hand is something completely different, a record that manages to capture a workingman's struggles with the music business and life in general but funneled through the late night vortex of Elvis's loungiest desperado ghost reality. What appears at first to be a novelty based on a jacket that has been well-loved for years by aficionados of weird lost sleeves reveals itself to be an LP's worth of perfect blue collar rockabilly grunge, 11 original songs detailing life in the slow lane of a talented yet strange crooner about 15 years too late for the vibe he's really tapped into - and the honesty of that fade is just remarkably endearing and special. The record opens up in a way similar to the beloved Dane Sturgeon - a man out of time, but perfectly in sync with his own slightly warped reality. Girls, cars, life on the road, lost loves - all pop out of the twilight and into your ears with flangey backing trio hitting such a moody dark persuasion, eerie back-up vocals illuminating the corners and creeping out the back door for another cigarette break. Really beautiful stuff that grows on you, and should appeal to fans of a variety of genres. Can't say I know much about the man aside from a California address that has lead nowhere as far as locating Bob in the 21st century. I have another LP of his from a few years later that showcases him in full impersonator mode - billed as Lil' Elvis - and lacking a little in the creative depth that makes this one so special. Bob if you're out there, certainly get in touch, otherwise hope you enjoy on this yellow moon, and I'll seeya soon.

Our Memories

Take Flight

2010-02-08T22:05:00.001-08:00

Found this obscure longhair college compilation this December in a junk store back east, and was really pleased with some tracks on here, as well as that unruly monster bird adorning the jacket! Montgomery Community College has other LPs, as I understand it, but this one has stayed buried longer for some reason. Hailing from what would seem like the winter of '74-'75 come 9 stoney moss-covered pieces of tranquil atmospheric hippie folk. Really nice stuff, overall. Love the opener by Samuel John McCullough Jr. which reminds me of the magnificent Jackdaw LP by Larry Conklin, Diana Donahue's "Colors in the Wind" is a great comp-able piece of haunting female folk-psych, Paul Franzo's guitar soli instrumental is actually kind of devestating in the context of the album's play-through (2nd to last song) - just takes it nicely to a space beyond voices and narrative like you're leaving behind all that for a higher reflection into something else, and finally the ultra-light-Deadhead-panache of "The Drifter" by Mitch Schuck - the only cut that really breaks out into electric rock though granted it's super subtle and a treat if you like low-key doped local Dead-sound-alikes. Perfect atmosphere for a record like this, and a good one for this time of the year when it seems like everything stalls and your mind wants to freeze up like the rest of it... Cheers, J

Colors in the Wind by Diana Donahue

Tracks!

2010-01-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

Easily my favorite 45 I came across last year was this total mystery science head-scratcher from presumably Indiana... A copy surfaced on eBay and got sold to a friend of mine and somehow I wound up with this beater a few months ago. Suffice it to say, I need an upgrade! But anyhow, those kinds of details are marginal, and the real intrigue with Tracks is primarily based on how outrageously good the 45 is... two sides of absolutely smoking 70s biker-psych, the kind of stuff heads dream about all day long - and on LP there is virtually nothing on this level left kicking around to be uncovered anymore. "Lady of Darkness" is the real meat and potatoes of this claim, a brooding melancholic dirge with psychedelic guitar runs spasming all across your radar. It's a really powerful piece of music, as well as a full on sonic attack. The flip "Let Me Play," which is actually the A-side, is a little more straight-ahead in a sort of phasy hard-rock mode, but to my ears an equally monumental slab with searing leads and deranged harmonica playing. My daydream is that somewhere out there Tracks are sitting on a box of tapes... if this 45 is any indicator it would be some wicked wicked stuff. As of yet, we're not even sure if the record is actually from Indiana - the closest we get is that it was issued under the auspices of "Wanamaker Productions" which for the moment is an equally mysterious entity as Tracks themselves! So I leave you with some soundfiles from my toasted copy... and if anyone related to the project or label runs across this please, please, please get in touch...

Lady of Darkness

Let Me Play

Billy Ashe - You in You

2010-01-23T09:22:00.000-08:00

It’s been a few years since I first heard Billy Ashe’s unheralded 1971 debut “You in You” (Thanks, JC!) but the album has only grown for me as a wonderful piece of warm and talented local folk music. It’s the kind of LP private press hounds crave, a very homemade unassuming atmosphere that is both low-key and sincere at the same time. The catch here for me, is that unlike 4 million other guys with guitars, Billy wrote some excellent songs and captured a really unique vibe that I just can’t quite tie to any other major musician of the era. Sure, you can pick up a piece of Dylan here or there - without the sarcasm though, and maybe a sliver of Buckley in the lilt, but for the most part Billy really shoots from his own rustic hip - and it’s great (I will say, something about the title track distinctly reminds me of the Mayo Thompson sound on Corky's Debt to his Father!). Hailing from Salado, TX, Ashe made the LP just for the sake of putting a few songs out there, though according to a friend who spoke with him, most copies didn’t make it much further than Billy’s dry and dusty neck of the woods. There’s a wonderful late-afternoon feel to the proceedings, very mellow thoughtful stuff that moves from verdant finger-picked guitar passages to lyrical soliloquies verging on the dream-like and nocturnal, reflections on life in the setting sun. The bottom line, like so many works, is love. It’s everywhere here, in all of its shades. Complex, mature stuff that definitely deserves some more listeners - so here‘s hoping you enjoy it. I’ve included some scans from the lengthy mimeographed booklet with illustrations and lyrics that came with the LP. Beautiful work!

Twilight Nuages

2010-01-16T13:11:00.000-08:00

Probably my favorite new spin of late '09 was this unknown song-writer's demo from a Connecticut high school music teacher named Bill Last. I had the pleasure to talk with Bill about the record and how it came to be, an interesting story no doubt - though I'd like to sing it's praises a little bit first. "Twilight Nuages" is quite possibly the most purely gleeful, unabashedly classy, wildly recorded albums I own, or have had the pleasure to hear... I'm reluctant to post mp3s, because most of my friends didn't really respond to the music in that format, but upon first hearing it in person I just about went through the ceiling and proceeded to spin the thing back to back nearly 10 times in a row... Basically a work-a-day songsmith, Bill put together a group of students from his school and formed a little band to get his material out there. Recorded live in one take, the atmosphere is pure living-room heart-on-their sleeve realness, and due to the fact that Bill had actually penned some true gems and absolutely let the band rip the whole package just takes off for the stars. I'll say, this may not be for everyone... or at least that's what some people tell me... but I think Twilight Nuages is quite possibly one of the best real-people garage-pop extravaganzas ever. I would say you've got to forgive a tendency towards the lighter side of 70s song-craft, but I think that undermines the whole appeal of Bill's completely unfettered and utterly charming approach. I'll be the first to say it, he wrote some damn fine pop songs and projects the world of joy it is to play and sing music straight from the heart. This thing just totally glows. A real high-light for me, as well, are the various teenage female vocalists who take the lead here and there... they provide some of the most evocative performances from a high-school group I've ever heard. Try it on for yourself, and let me know what you think. 100 copies pressed and distributed to friends and family circa 1977 in glorious midnight blue splatter vinyl! Happily, JDF

2010 Wants!

2010-01-15T17:21:00.000-08:00

Hello friends, and a happy new year to you all! Sorry for a laconic lack of content the past 2 weeks, though I assure you there is much good coming soon. I returned home after the vacation to a fried internet connection so things have been a little touch and go, but I wanted to take this opportunity to do a strictly once annual want-list post, basically heavy-duty private press stuff, much of it *impossible* but in the name of the new year, and a healthy stack of nice trade LPs I figured I'd give it a go (I know, it's a ridiculous list - but what do they say, "when you wish upon a star"?). My promise to you is that I won't bore you with any posts like this till 2011, but if you're interested in moving any of these records please drop me a line here. Good trades or green paper (when available!) awaits...

100% UNKNOWN FIBERS. "ODD LOTS" (1971)
4TH MOVEMENT. "4TH MOVEMENT" (1980) [Tryangle]
A-AUSTR. "MUSICS FROM THE HOLY GROUND" (1970)
ALCO. "THREADS OF LIFE" (1972)
ALI-BABA REVUE. "LET IT ALL HANG OUT" [Boss]
ALL IN ONE. "ALL IN ONE" [KPS]
ALL OF THUS. "ALL OF THUS" (1968) [Century]
ANONYMOUS. "INSIDE THE SHADOW" (1981) [A Major Label]
ARCESIA. "REACHIN'" (1972) [Alpha]
ARICA. "ARICA" (1972) [Woo-Soo]
ARICA. "AUDITION" (1972) [Audition]
ARK. "VOYAGES" (1978) [no label]
ARROW. "COMING ATTRACTIONS" (1977) [JAMA]
BACHS. "OUT OF THE BACHS" (1968) [Roto]
BERMUDA TRIANGLE. "BERMUDA TRIANGLE" (1977) [Winter Solstice]
BERRY, BOB. "HEAVY BERRY" [no label]
BIRCH, STEVE. "RIKKY THE MUSICAL" (1978)
BIXBY, DAVE. "ODE TO QUETZALCOATL" [D-24]
BLACKBIRD. "BLACKBIRD" (1974) [Vinnick Studios]
BLACK VELVET. "BLACK SPIRIT" (1973) [Krio]
BLUEBYRD. "BLUEBYRD" (1975)
BLUE LIGHT. "REFLECTIONS OF THE INNER" [BLPC]
BOA. "WRONG ROAD" (1971) [Snakefield]
BOYLE, BOBBI. "A DAY IN THE LIFE" [Encino]
BOUSSAC, JORGE. "CASCADA"
BRADSHAW LEATHER, DON. "THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US" (1972) [Distance]
BRANDT, MARC. "BACK TO BETTER DAYS" (1973) [no label]
BRIGMAN, GEORGE. "JUNGLE ROT" (1975) [Solid]
BUMP. "BUMP" (1970) [Pioneer]
BURNT SUITE. "BURNT SUITE" (1972) [B.J.W.]
BUTLER. "BUTLER" (1973) [Family]
CACY, MICHAEL. "GATHERING" (1972) [Smiling Tomato]
CEDAR CREEK SOCIETY. "CEDAR CREEK SOCIETY" (1971) [Dessa]
CENTER FOR TRUTH, THE. "CENTERING" (1971) [Rexius]
CHARLES. "AT HARLOW'S" (1969) [Cube]
CHILDREN OF ONE. "CHILDREN OF ONE" (1969) [Real]
CLAP. "HAVE YOU REACHED YET?" (1972) [Nova-Sol]
CLEM HUTCHINS. "DOES IT AGAIN" [Jaguar]
CONCRETE RUBBER BAND. "RISEN SAVIOR" (1974) [American Artists]
CONGREGACION. "VIENE"
CONKLIN, LARRY AND JOCHEN BLUM. "JACKDAW" (1981) [no label]
CONTEXT '70. "CONTEXT '70" (1970) [no label]
CORBIN, FRANK. "ONE FELL SWOOP" (1976) [Prelude]
COUVSON, BILLY. "BONGO SENSATIONAL SOUL" (1977) [Bongo]
CRASH COFFIN. "CRASH COFFIN" (1974) [Mus-I-Col]
CREME SODA. "TRICKY ZINGERS" (1975) [Trinity]
CRISTAL WEBB. "MISTY MORNING" (1973) [no label]
CRYSTAL BALL. "IT'S NOT TOO LATE" (1977) [Album World]
DAMIAN AND THE CRITERIONS. "AVANT GARDE" (1982)
DAMIN EIH, A.L.K. & BROTHER CLARK. "NEVER MIND" (1973) [Demelot]
DEEP, THE. "PSYCHEDELIC MOODS" (1966) [Cameo]
DOM. "EDGE OF TIME" (1971)
DREAMIES. "AURALGRAPHIC ENTERTAINMENT" [Stone Theatre]
ECHOES AND A DREAM. "ECHOES AND A DREAM" (1973) [no label]
ERIC. "ERIC" (1970) [CEI]
ESTES BROTHERS. "TRANSITIONS" (1971) [Edcom]
EYES. "NEW GODS: AARDVARK THROUGH ZYMURGY" (1977) [World Theatre]
FARM. "FARM" (1970) [Crusade]
FARQUHAR, J.W. "THE FORMAL FEMALE" (1972) [Brainblobru]
FEATHER DA GAMBA. "LIKE IT OR GET BENT" (1971) [D.G.]
FERRIS WHEEL. "SUPERNATURAL GIRL" (1974)
FOLLIES BAZAAR. "CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS" (1975) [Follies Bazaar]
FOUR WISHES. "WITH LOVE" (1969) [Pasque]
FREEMAN, PHILLIP H. "(PETER ISLAND GOSPEL SINGER)"
GANDALF THE GREY. "THE GREY WIZARD AM I" (1972) [GWR]
GARONE, JOEY. "WAVES OF TIME" (1981)
GEORGE-EDWARDS. "38:38" (1977) [no label]
GHETTO BROTHERS. "POWER-FUERZA"
GILBERT, JOHN/MEADE RIVER. "JOHN GILBERT/MEADE RIVER" (1972) [AV]
GOOD CHEER. "TIME FOR GOOD CHEER" [ORS]
GREENWOOD, CURLEE & THOMPSON. "ONE TIME, ONE PLACE" (1972) [no label]
GREER. "BETWEEN TWO WORLDS" (1973) [Sugarbush]
GREY EAGLE BAND. "UNDER DIRECTION OF: OPAL J. JOHNSON"
GRINSTEAD, SPARKY. "WON OUT" (1978) [Sparlene]
GRUDZIEN, PETER. "ALBUM NO. ONE (IN TWO SIDES) THE UNICORN" (1974) [P.G.]
HAKU. "NA MELE A KA HAKU" (1976)
HALFORD, DAVE. "TULESBERG" (1973) [no label]
HALFORD, DAVE. "THE DAVE HALFORD RECORD" [no label]
HALF TRIBE. "ONLY STARTIN'" (1965) [Frank Webber Productions]
HARBINGER. "SECOND COMING" (1975) [AE]
HAPPY SOUNDS. "LIVE AT THE CARIBE ALTON" [VU]
HARM'S WAY. "TIME MACHINE" (1981) [no label]
HAWAIIAN SPOTLIGHTERS. "MAUNA KEA BREEZE"
HENDRICKSON ROAD HOUSE. "HENDRICKSON ROAD HOUSE" (1970) [Two:Dot]
HIGGINS, GARY. "RED HASH" (1973) [Nufusmoon]
HI-HOPES. "ABILITY" (1970) [Band 'n' Vocal]
HOI'POLLOI. "HOI'POLLOI" (1972) [Custom Fidelity]
HOOKER, D.R. "THE TRUTH" (1972) [On/XPL]
HOWE, RICH. "A SUMMER" [Century]
HUBBS, STAN. "CRYSTAL" (1982) [no label]
HUCKERT, JOHN & MARY LITTLE. "THROUGH THE MUSIC I WILL LOVE YOU" (1975) [no label]
INDIANA FEATURING GARY HALL. "BACK HOME AGAIN" [Mark II]
ITHACA. "A GAME FOR ALL WHO KNOW"
J-ANN-C TRIO. "AT TAN-TAR-A" (1966) [Burdland]
JARVO RUNGA. "DEMO DISC" (1972) [no label]
J C & THE B'S. "1ST AND 10" (1975) [Essay]
JONES, ANDY. "THE FIRST NOT THE LAST" [Brougham Records]
JONES', DEL POSITIVE VIBES. "COURT IS CLOSED" (1973) [Hikeka - psych mix]
JR. & HIS SOULETTES. "PSYCHODELIC SOUNDS" (1971) [no label]
JULIAN, RON AND SANCTUARY. "LITTLE BOY" (1969) [Stereophonics Corps]
KAPLAN BROS. "NIGHTBIRD" (1978) [Quinton]
KENNELMUS. "FOLKSTONE PRISM" [Phoenix Internat'l]
LARRY T. AND THE FAMILY. "I'M MOVING ON" (1980)
LAST NEXT. "SHANTY BLUE FOLK" (1972)
LAST CALL OF SHILOH. "LAST CALL OF SHILOH" (1972) [Last Call]
LESLIE BROTHERS. "WANTED" [Cupid]
LES TEMPS HEUREUX. "...EN CES JOURS" (1971)
LU-WOWS, THE. "DREAM BUBBLES" (1967) [Premier]
McLAIN, HARLEY & J.B. "NATURAL PEOPLE'S LEAGUE" (1980) [no label]
MADRIGAL. "MADRIGAL" (1971) [Spyder]
MAIDEN VOYAGE. "IN NEW YORK" (1974) [F.R. Dickinson]
MANTRA. "MANTRA" (1970) [MMC]
MASTRO QUINTET, VINCE. "GREATEST HITS" [Clevetown]
MAZHAR VE FUAT. "TURKUS TURKU CAGIRIZ" [Yonca]
MELANSON, MARK. "THE HAUNTED HEARSE" (1970) [Color Esoterics)
M.H.S. ROCK. "ON RECORD" (1981) [RPC]
MICHAEL ANGELO. "MICHAEL ANGELO" [Guinn]
MINETTE. "COME TO ME AT TEA TIME" (1968) [Collectors Choice]
MOLES, THE. "MOLES" (1969) [Bandwagon]
MOORE, R. STEVIE. "PHONOGRAPHY" (1976) [Vital]
MOOSETRACKS. "MOOSETRACKS" (1972)
MORLY GREY. "THE ONLY TRUTH" (1972) [Starshine]
MUNDY, MARC. "MARC MUNDY" (1971) [Tomarc]
MUTHA GOOSE. "MUTHA GOOSE" (1975) [Alpha Omega]
MYSTERY MEAT. "PROFILES" (1968) [Director]
NEW CREATION, THE. "TROUBLED" (1970) [Alpha Omega]
NEW DAWN. "MAINLINE"
NIGHTSHADOWS, LITTLE PHIL & THE. "SQUARE ROOT OF TWO" (1968) [Spectrum]
NUCLEAR DEBRIS. "IN SPACE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU FART" (1981)
OCTOBER. "OCTOBER" (1979) [Charisma Sound]
OFOEDIAN DEN. "THE BIRDS" (1970) [Rock Bottom]
PATRON SAINTS. "FOHHOH BOHOB" (1969) [no label]
PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL. "PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL" (1969) [no label]
PERSPECTIVE. "SYLLABUB" (1970) [Gerry]
PICHNARCIK. "SINGS ASTROLOGY" (1976) [Zodiac Records]
QUOTH THE RAVEN. "NEVERMORE" (1972) [Triple G Records]
RAINBOW PROMISE. "RAINBOW PROMISE" (1972) [New Wine]
RATLIFF, K.S. AND BLACK MAGIC. "FEAR OF THE NIGHT" (1981)
RAYNE. "RAYNE" (1979) [no label]
REALITY FROM DREAM. "REALITY FROM DREAM" (1975)
REAL THINGS, THE. "EXPRESS" (1975)
REAM, KIT. "ALL THAT I AM" (1978) [Creative]
REFLECTIONS, THE. "THE UNIQUE SOUNDS OF..." (1971) [RSVP MC]
RELATIVELY CLEAN RIVERS. "RELATIVELY CLEAN RIVERS" (1976) [Pacific]
R.F.D. "LEAD ME HOME" (1971) [no label]
ROY WILLIAMS TRINITY. "GOOD NEWS IN TOWN" (1979)
RUBIN & ROTFREE. "ATLANTA UNDERGROUND - FREEK MUSIC" (1971) [Purple Haze]
RUSH. "THE WAY IT IS" (1975) [Sadbird]
SAGE. "LIKE THE WIND" (1978) [A&B Records]
SAGE. "SAGE" [McCullar Sound]
SAINTE ANTHONY'S FYRE. "SAINTE ANTHONY'S FYRE" (1971) [Zonk]
SAUCEDO, RICK. "HEAVEN WAS BLUE" (1978) [Reality]
SCHIBBINZ. "LIVIN' FREE" (1968)
SEARCH PARTY. "MONTGOMERY CHAPEL" [Century]
SEICHE. "DOSE AFTER DOSE" (1981) [no label]
SHADRACK. "SHADRACK CHAMELEON" (1973) [IGL]
SHARKEY. "SIGNPOSTS" (1975) [Fireworks Discorporation]
SKY DOG. "JUST WANT TO MAKE YOU HAPPY" (1974) [Paw Records]
SOFT ROCK. "SOFT ROCK" (1972) [WC Knapp]
SPECIALISTS, THE. "WHO WILL BUY?"
ST. JOHN CYO-MEMPHIS, THE. "JOHNNY'S WORLD" (1970) [Century]
STONE, ACEY. "OVERDRIVE" (1987)
STONE HARBOUR. "EMERGES" (1974) [Stone Harbour]
STREET AND THE SEA, THE. "THE STREET AND THE SEA" (1975) [no label]
SUNDOG SUMMIT. "ON SUNDOG HILL" (1976) [Audio Mixers]
THESE TRAILS. "THESE TRAILS" (1973) [Sinergia]
THIRD ESTATE. "YEARS BEFORE THE WINE" (1976) [Third Estate]
THOMPSON, MAYO. "CORKY'S DEBT TO HIS FATHER" (1970) [Texas Revolution]
TIGHT LITTLE UNIT. "SINGS JUST SEND HER TO ME" (1966) [Orchid]
TODD CLARK GROUP. "WE'RE NOT SAFE" (1979) [World Theatre]
TOUCHSTONE. "MUSIC OUT OF PANDORA'S BOX"
TREES COMMUNITY, THE. "THE CHRIST TREE" (1975) [Pomegranate]
TRILOGY. "TWO SIDES OF" (1970) [Strange Productions]
UTOPIA. "UTOPIA" (1971) [Laza]
VALE, RICHARD AND THE GEMS. "WHERE AM I GOING" (1968) [Vale Records]
VALE, RICHARD AND THE GEMS. "MANY MOODS OF"
VARIOUS ARTISTS. "I LOVE YOU GORGO" (1968) [Suemi]
VARIOUS ARTISTS. "LIVE AT BLOOD AND BONES" (1972) [no label]
VIRGIN INSANITY. "ILLUSIONS OF THE MAINTENANCE MAN" (1971) [Funky]
WATTS, ALAN. "THIS IS IT" (1962) [MEA]
WESTERMEYER, GEORGE & TOGETHER. "LIVE AT THE SANGRIA" (1974)
WESTLEDGE SCHOOL. "SOUNDS"
WHITE BOY AND THE AVERAGE RAT BAND. "SELF-TITLED" (1983) [Tradewind]
WILCOX, SULLIVAN, WILCOX. "AN ALBUM OF ORIGINAL MUSIC" (1973) [Golddust]
WILD & UNTAMED BLUES BAND. "WILD AND UNTAMED" [no label]
WILSON, GARY. "YOU THINK YOU REALLY KNOW ME" (1977) [Gary Wilson]
WILSON MCKINLEY. "SPIRIT OF ELIJAH" (1971) [Voice of Elijah]
WRAY, VERNON. "WASTED" (1972) [Vermillion]
YA HO WHA 13. "CONTRACTION" (1973) [Higher Key]
YA HO WHA 13. "EXPANSION" (1974) [Higher Key]
YA HO WHA 13. "PENETRATION, AN AQUARIAN SYMPHONY" (1974) [Higher Key]
YONKERS, MICHAEL. "MICHAEL LEE YONKERS" (1974)
YONKERS, MICHAEL. "THY WILL BE DONE" (1976)

When the Heart Sings

2009-12-24T12:13:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite records that surfaced in the past couple of years was the Minister and Nuns LP out of Brazil. My friend Will turned me onto it, and I pretty immediately fell in love with their way of looking at the world, and the contagious harmonizing they conveyed it with. If you haven't heard the LP it consists of a group of Brazilian sisters accompanying American minister David Wayne Smith who sing-speaks in English positive messages of human kindness and the warmth of God's love. I'm not a particularly religious person and this stuff absolutely melts me. The heart in these grooves is just so unbelievably pure, and they also sound like they're having the time of their lives! There's a wonderful quirkiness to the whole proceedings, a sort of cross-cultural meeting of the minds, if you will - but even if you just want some vibes, the bossa groove laid down by the Nuns is undeniably slayin' (Minister plays trumpet too!), and their back-up vocals will absolutely lift you above and beyond the blue. So, long story short: this magical collaboration came out in the United States on a small label from West Virginia, and was also released in Brazil as a slightly different press with 4 alternate songs. I had been looking for this edition for some time as I was eager to hear what else the group had cleverly tucked up their sleeves... and here it is! Just in time for Christmas. I'm only posting the songs that appear strictly on the Brazilian edition, as I sort of hope the whole project sees a reissue sometime - it's one of the most beautifully uplifting things you'll ever hear. All the best to you in the New Year, I hope that means happiness, health, and good vibrations. Ate logo ~~ JDF

Balada da Caridade

Youthful People

A Sad Story

It Feels Good to Be Good

Los Pablos on Tear Drop

2009-12-19T10:02:00.000-08:00

A few years back I got hip to one of my favorite local releases from the 70s, a mysterious and heavy duty latin-funk rock platter by a group called Moonlyte who put out one excruciatingly rare LP and a few 7"s on the Astro label. Ever since I got totally into that one, I've been on the look-out for exciting local-press latin rock and psychedelia. Most of the time there is just a truly wild grungy party vibe to alot of this stuff, and it really puts me in a different place than my favorite starry-eyed white-boy dreamer records. What's hilarious about the 70s small-label latin rock scene is that some of the best titles are really only half an LP worth of killer shit. And that's not because of filler, but literally because the label probably needed to sell the record to more than just the local dope-heads, and in a music-industry tradition as old as the hills, the A-side is usually pleasant but dull cumbia or tejano music, and the flip some kind of back-room after-hours mind-scorch. It would seem given the best case scenarios this worked in a band's favor, at least as far as putting out an insane side of rock music after bottling up all that energy during your sets of sleepy Tejano waltzes. So it goes with this little beast from San Antonio! Los Pablos, self-titled debut came out on the Tear Drop label probably around 1970, but I know of little other information at all concerning the band. In typical manner for these types of LPs, there is no band member info on the back, the record label instead deciding to post part of their catalog there. The music, however, on the "party side" of this one is pure bliss for fans of unhinged late-nite ambience, alternating ripping Hendrix fuzz riffs / loud horns / over-the-top vocals / and that crucial cheesy organ sound that is like the glue that holds the whole thing together. I ripped it all as one track, because it basically is despite having 3 song titles listed on the back of the LP. Turn it up!

Randy Rogers

2009-12-17T14:17:00.000-08:00

Little is known about this fantastic and mysterious 7" by a young man named Randy Rogers. Two beautiful sides of acoustic loner folk on the RSI label, with a copyright dated to 1975. I had a friend who figured out that Randy was from Nevada, but the trail ran cold there. I've posted both of the songs below, great vibes for the onset of winter, which has more than arrived as far as my geography is concerned! And Randy if you're out there, please drop a line!

Just For You

Why Is It Always the Same

Ice Skates With Arms

2009-12-07T23:38:00.000-08:00

A very good friend recommended this to me last spring as something he had been recommended - but hadn't heard, and so I picked it up on a lark as I had never heard of it before either and was enchanted by the awkward name. The jacket furthered my anticipation, which had guessed that the musical product would be some kind of scuzzy bar-wave along the lines of Ghostdance, or maybe at best an arty 80s DIY tinker-fest like the Department Store Santas. To my surprise, the needle dropped on 'Buy This Album and No One Gets Hurt' and it was pure and unadulterated acoustic folk music. The first choruses unwound, "You've got money, you've got time..." and things seemed to click into focus. Strong agile vocals that weren't pretentious, or shy, but strangely ambitious - stoned, no doubt - but clear and with a kind of forthright deliverance rare in private press folk records. Then I noticed the guitar playing - swift, earthy, finger-picked licks darting all over the place yet actually quite immaculate. What looked like a total low-ball amateur hour something or other via the jacket gradually knocked me on my ass by the end of side 1. All original songs, and really good ones! The kind of stuff guys spend months and months trying to get right for some stupid coffee-house performance and these guys just completely nail it in this off-hand manner that speaks to true musicianship and class. Lyrics too were jumping loudly out of the woodwork, and right off the bat... "I checked the time, the time checked me..." and I thought, I feel like I know these guys! It's a weird beautiful sensation, I only get now and again, and I was jumping all over the place by the time I got around to spinning it a half dozen more times. What's impressive about the Ice Skates is that they eschew alot of potentially disastrous camps for folk musicians at the end of the 70s... this record could just as easily be yet another vaguely hippie-ish knock-off, or an agitated acoustic punker, or worse - some kind of John Cougar Hometown Hero crap. Yet the more I played the Ice Skates the more I was struck by how little folk music actually sounded quite like this without devolving into tired emotional cliches or bland hooks. There was truly something special in their grist, and that golden sparkle of the knowing how good it is without it dripping all over into the sauce. It's simple stoned-ass beautiful losers-play-ball folk music and I think it's one of the better straight up acoustic records of the 70s, by anyone. Seriously.

Crambark and Szwank - Mystery Men of KC, Missouri

There's nothing really experimental or edgy about any of it, and yet it rules so concretely for just that reason - that, and the fact that they could actually write songs. Side 1 closes with a 6-minute guitar instrumental, but other than that every other cut is a piece of delicately worked song-craft, 7 wonderful slices of hazy late-night air from a basement or back-porch just the other side of over there. I don't know much about the Ice Skates, other than a few tid-bits care of Dante Carfagna, an old friend of the group who sold their records out of the Kansas City Music Exchange in Missouri. Apparently they performed in other capacities on CD, and are still playing in the KC area now and again, though probably not under this moniker! Having said more than enough I'm gonna turn you over to the endlessly flaxen and highly vaporous strains of Ice Skates with Arms. I hope you dig them, too.
Note: I've been asked to remove the download link. Here is a small taste, and hopefully this will see a proper reissue sometime in the near future.

'Wilma'

Looking Back

2009-12-07T16:12:00.000-08:00

On a dismal day of digging in Eastern Washington last winter I chanced upon this pretty unassuming high-school revue LP from Toronto. Nothing about it screamed 'cool' but a couple of solo vocal credits with original songs were enough to make me pick it up for a quarter. It turned out to have a few beautiful folk songs from a trio of young women who attended high school in Toronto and managed to make it onto their senior year retrospective LP. A further look at the back jacket revealed that they were genuine song-smiths and that they were apparently pretty prolific, however I could find out little else about them. Surely a full length LP by Mary Jean Crawford, Patti Schram, or Jenny MacGregor would command some attention although I doubt any such thing exists. I tried locating them to no avail, and so regardless I felt compelled to share these tracks from a woefully obscure little LP. My personal fave is the off-kilter piano ballad by Jenny - actually a cover of a Joe Mock tune, though I think the crowds will truly dig "There is a Way" which edges into folk-psych territory and is comp-worthy. Gorgeous innocent teen vocals soar over finger-picked guitar with cymbal flourishes for a really stunning piece of moody introspective folk music. Check them all out:

There is a Way by Mary Jean Crawford and Patti Schram

Nothing's Easy by Mary Jean Crawford

Would You Like to Stay by Patti Schram

Fear of Flying by Jenny MacGregor

Paul Levinson Interview

2009-11-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of recently speaking with Paul Levinson, the creator of the celebrated psychedelic pop folk LP "Twice Upon a Rhyme." I've been a fan of the LP for a while, and was able to learn some interesting things about it upon talking to Paul. I hope you do as well! If you haven't heard the LP, it's available as a swanky CD reissue on Big Pink Music out of South Korea. You can also read more about Paul and his career as a writer on his blog... And without further ado... Here's the interview!

The Kinbotes

2009-11-10T10:19:00.000-08:00

"I recall seeing him from my porch, on a brilliant morning, burning a whole stack of them in the pale fire of the incinerator..." --Nabokov, Pale Fire

In a sea of mundane trendy over-hyped local 80s new wave LPs, a truly rare gem came to my attention last winter thanks to a glowing review by Mike Ascherman (“The greatest sub-garage band ever!”) and a cheap copy that fell into my hands from an online listing. I didn’t know much about the band or the scene (if any) it came out of and its mysterious packaging gave a variety of strange clues that pointed all different directions. The wrap-around paste-on featured hand drawn portraitures of three men in varying degrees of artistic accuracy. A guy who looked like he should be working for IBM circa 1980 was the foremost cartoon; bespectacled with a lumpy tie and a looming crop of black hair – his expression an air of resignation and introspective thought. Lurching sideways in the background to his right, we find a slightly more perfunctory drawing of a Neanderthal-ish man with a piercing glare, almost suspicious yet somehow dignified. And finally on the left was a mere sketch of a ghost-like figure with scribbled out eyes and virtually indistinguishable features… I had to ask myself: was this even the band? Flipping the record over there was a funny rant about the merits of popular songwriting in this day and age of avant-garde artistic pre-occupations, signed by the one and only “Chas” Kinbote, who our more literary listeners will note is none other than the narrator of Nabokov’s seminal novel ‘Pale Fire’! My curiosity was truly piqued.

After this lengthy examination I finally sliced open the wrap-around paste-on that covered jacket opening and put the damn thing on the box. The contents of the LP were nothing less than jaw-dropping: a wild lo-fi mish-mash of Velvetsy clatter, Devo flashing on Neil Young, new-wave sentiments subverted in utter personality subterfuge, ancient drum-machine burps, sing-along anthems about Rock’n’roll, zombie girls, the ennui of dorm life, marginal utility, teenage crushes, dead rock star satire… An overwhelmingly youthful glee permeated the music, and the songs were bonafide pop gems. Inept, reckless playing brought the material a lovably sincere quality, and I was immediately hooked. I had to know more.

My search began in New York City, the purported locale listed on the back jacket, and I wound up calling several guys named Nat Hirsh - none of whom responded or were the guy in question. The same went for Tim Ireland. A round about search for David Cateforis led me to the right guy, now a Professor of Art History at the University of Kansas. Returning my call with shock and delight a few days later we had a long conversation about the band and how the record came to be. The story lived up to the music, and we both agreed it should be shared.

As the story goes Dave met Nat at Swarthmore College, a small liberal arts school, outside of Philadelphia as a freshman. Connecting over music and living on the same hall they decided to form a band. Dave was actually a musician - something Nat, an economics major, had very little experience with - and he had played in garage bands since Jr. High. Dave described Nat as having a strange vision for the whole project, however, and as someone who would not let his limited musical talent hold him back. Their partnership involved Nat writing lyrics and basic melodies for which Dave would make up guitar parts and develop further musically. Nat’s lyrics had a truly nutty air and reflected a wide array of influences and obtuse references. Nat was something of a labyrinthine guy, and according to Dave, loved to spin riddles into everything he did and let you form your own conclusions. The songs therefore offer a dry deadpan sense of humor that was allowed plenty of room to air on the LP. The song “King of Comedy” was a reference to Scorcese’s classic 80s film starring Robert De Niro, but turned into a satirical piece about the suicide of Ian Curtis of Joy Division, whose music Nat found deplorable but which Dave earnestly enjoyed! Their musical credos split in funny ways and Dave described Nat having an unimpeachable canon of influences that had their own internal order but was less oriented to “new wave” which Dave would have described as his “sound” at the time. Nat loved Neil Young and the Velvet Underground and with an equal verve preferred ABC (especially their arch-dramatic hit “Poison Arrow”) and Roxy Music to earthier new wave picks like Jonathan Richman (a common comparison to the Kinbotes LP)!

Once they had a solid roster of material the boys set about recording the LP, almost entirely done in Nat’s dorm room, even though Dave thought they should get some studio time and have a little more professional approach. Dave took music seriously, and while I think Nat did as well - in his own way - there is a sense that Dave is just completely letting go on these tracks and playing sloppy for the hell of it, partially because he thought it would go no farther than being strictly a demo tape! Unbeknownst to Dave, Nat took the material after their 1986 graduation and had it pressed as an LP without telling him… taken aback at the time, Dave remarked that nowadays he sees what is special about the LP, and that buried in there are some truly great pop songs - indeed, “Like a Movie” for example is screaming to be dusted off for cover!

Allegedly an artistic rendering of Nix proprietor, Mark Satlof.

The LP was done on the mysterious “Nix Records” which I later found out was not really a label at all. Mark Satlof, a childhood friend of Nat’s only released one other record on the label, a 7” by a group called the Bureaucrats produced by Wayne Kramer of the MC5! Bringing his tapes to Mark, a student at Columbia, Nat would allow them to be mixed and just have a few background vocals added before going to press. Rumor had it that they only issued 50 copies of the Kinbotes LP, but Mark assured me this was not the case - just that after making its way to family and a few friends most of the run wound up in the dump, despite one copy winding up in Richie Unterberger’s hands and receiving a mixed review! The cover art was a bit of hoax too; after taking a picture of themselves in an old-fashioned photo booth, Nat carefully copied the image, including dorm hall mate Tim Ireland who was not even in the band, but completely obscured his own features. Dave remarked that it was typical for Nat to hide behind characters and masks. I think, however, that despite this tendency, the music speaks for itself. And what I hear is a wide-open heart, a voice too strong for his youth, and a fragility that had to be contained lest it be harmful. It’s a really special thing, and 1,000 other pompous dorks that strut around in rock clothes don’t come close to this kind of alchemy, ever.

The band was a big deal for Nat, and after college ended Dave remarked on feeling bad about leaving the duo - that it really had meant something to Nat that he couldn’t grasp. Dave went on to grad school at Stanford for Art History, and Nat took work as a bank examiner in New England, which Dave remarked as being curious and seemingly out of character - but again aligned with a kind of bread-crumbs trail he laid everywhere. Nat wanted to keep playing music and would continue to record into the 90s. He sent Dave some of the tapes after the latter visited New England in 1995 to see family and catch up with his old friend. Nat was living by himself in a crowded messy house, albeit one he had paid in full for after having turned a modest graduation gift from his parents into a sizable bankroll in the stock market, and the music on the tapes had gotten stranger, more maniacal. Dave was worried about Nat, and thought he might be losing it. The truth is, as I would later find out, that Nat had recently suffered a traumatic car accident, part of which was an injury to the head among other more curable ailments. While his body healed, he sunk into a deep depression which his family believes was due to the head injury, and tragically, a few years later Nat took his own life.

There is a heart-breakingly ironic twist, when you learn this and listen to a song like “King of Comedy” or read ‘Pale Fire’ and find out the narrator, one Charles Kinbote himself meets his end by his own hand. I picked up the book after talking with Dave and found it a spellbinding read. The penultimate “puzzle-novel,” a work some critics describe as “meta-fiction”, it presents the reader with a story that yields a multitude of interpretations: Kinbote is at once perhaps the Zemblan prince he recounts paradoxically in tales of times before, and also may be Shade, the poet he worships and ferociously edits after his death. The story weaves a tapestry of first-person narrative, epic poetry, and hilarious flashbacks that leave you wondering where you were the last time the page turned, but strangely aware of the book’s own internal geography. It can be read, on the one hand, as a fairly straight-forward novel, and a very easily entertaining one at that, but it masks a much darker, more rewarding “deep” reading to those willing to go further into its minutiae. I could see Nat all over it… hair-mussed, gears wildly spinning away, pencil scratching, and finally figuring his own way through the maze. In turn, he created his own: the LP by the Kinbotes on the one hand offers a pleasant lo-fi garage pop experience that is easy to initially get hooked on - but the further you go with it, the more subtleties and hidden agendas come out of the woodwork; every time I come back I hear something new creeping around the perimeter. I don’t know if I’m right about all of them, but then again, maybe no one is! When asked about the book, Nabokov would talk about “plums” waiting to be plucked from the tree that was ‘Pale Fire’ if only the right reader could find them, and I think the Kinbotes LP has plums galore, ripe ones, for fans of independent DIY musical releases from any era.

Final meeting, Nat (left) and Dave (right)

I wrote this article to offer the music of the Kinbotes to a wider audience, and to also say rest in peace. Every time I go off on a wild goose chase to find the creator of an LP I’ve come to love, I can’t wait to meet the man himself, and in this case it proved impossible - not because they were dodging taxes in El Salvador, or wouldn’t return my messages because they hated their funny little record from 1971, but because he had taken his own life. It truly saddened me, and I wanted to offer this piece, and say thanks to Dave and Mark for sharing Nat’s story - which I have taken to heart. The music more than speaks for itself, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. I’m convinced it deserves a reissue and if someone out there is listening with that thought, please drop me a line.

Hang Around

Julie Don't Care

Gingerbread Boy

Los Strwck - La Doctoriza

2009-11-03T22:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a ridiculously fun LP I finally laid my hands on a few weeks ago. I owe a big thanks to Rich Haupt for turning me onto this gem... a hypnotizing blend of loungey Mexican club rock and raging psychy fuzz-guitar workouts that kind of defies categorization. It's not that such a mix is completely incomprehensible, it's just that these blasts of unmitigated feedback seem to come out of nowhere and often somewhat alter the course of the song altogether pushing this firmly into the strange. As if that weren't enough to pique your interest, it's also a total party record. Not every song features a dimension shift into mind-warp zones, but the few ballads are a delight and properly overwrought in classic Mariachi fashion. I absolutely love this stuff, and I hope you do too. There's no info on the back of the jacket - just a catalog for other releases on the obscure Kubaney label... Apparently these guys have a load of other LPs and only one comes close but doesn't even scratch this beast! Any further details are appreciated...

Communicame Tu Ritmo

Mix: You Really Would

2009-10-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here's something to keep the wheels spinning... I made this mix for the summer Waxidermy CD-R swap and figured I'd offer it up here as well. Perhaps some familiar faces, and a few very obscure seven inches and random 1-trackers. All of this stuff appeared out of nowhere in late spring-early summer and just fell together nicely as a weird mix-tape loop that absorbed my mental currents for a month or two. Hope you like it. Here's a track list:
1. A Wave - Woo
2. Measurement - Pat Madden
3. Take Me Home - Bert Keeley
4. Anthony Burgess - Bing Selfish & the Ideals
5. Have You Ever Had That Feeling? - Jim Hansen
6. It's Over - Gatsby
7. Misty - The Estate
8. Anybody Home - Dennis Soares
9. Dogs - Glenn Phillips
10. Fear of Flying - Jenny MacGregor
11. Where Are You? - Tim McKenna
12. Searchin' - Charmer
13. Universal Person - Grand Canyon
14. A Simple Thought - Greg Todd & the Jacks
15. Try Baby - Pat Madden
16. Diamond Love - Philip John Lewin
17. Tots in the Way - Ice Skates with Arms
18. The Stars are Bright - Benny Cook
19. A Job Well Done - Jo Ann Stokes
20. The Cleaner - Woo

Wild band feature coming up this week... stay tuned. Best, JDF

Yin & Yang

2009-10-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

Easily one of the coolest discoveries of 2008 had to be this completely unknown private press LP of mixed performers folk and rock music. To say it is mysterious is sort of an understatement, as it's discoverer found it in the back of a Ram Dass 'Love Serve Remember' box-set with nothing but a painted paper sleeve covering it. Posted info and mp3s on a renowned record forum warranted no further info, other than that it was probably from 1971 based on the Matrix numbers, and judging by the sounds a commune project LP - and a very good one, at that. I've entertained a lot of these types of LPs and few are this rich in atmosphere, musical quality, proper arrangement as a playable-through album (think Context '70) and a unique and individual vibe that you actually remember distinctly as its own. Yin & Yang is a perfect mixture of tender wasted folk with a sly druggy smile, mellow pastoral rural rock, sound experiments, poetry, nature sound effects, and some beautifully dark instrumentals. The record really really grew on me the more I played the sound-files, an amazingly deep post-lysergic mossy candlelit aura creeping around the room each time I came back and got better acquainted with the voices within. And the progression from light to dark was equally intriguing... the album begins with an almost suspiciously cheery folk song about sunshine, and ends in an otherworldly vocal harmonization that follows a haunting version of the Arabian Dance from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker! There is a real magic here, even on their one cover of a Gordon Lightfoot song ("Early Mornin' Rain") a completely spaced out spell gets cast over the material, it sounds like they lived it. I hope this post reaches some of the members involved with this project... It's hard to say because I have no names to post, and I'm not even sure if Yin & Yang is the album name proper or just the names that appear in place of A and B sides. The songs are tagged in the files, but here is the track-list anyhow in case that might trigger in a search engine. There was some speculation that this might be from a commune associated with Ram Dass, but it seemed less likely according to another source. In any case, if you have any information about this record please drop me a line. Otherwise, enjoy! And a huge thanks to Tyler for finding this and graciously letting me share it here. It is really special.

Then You Have Loved

Om

Early Mornin' Rain

Track-Listing:
Yin
1. Ocean
2. Mister Sun
3. Two Guitars & Flute
4. Then You Have Loved
5. Maids When You're Young
6. Instrumental
7. It's a Beautiful Day
8. Ocean

Yang
1. Birds
2. Rama
3. Harmonics
4. A Poem on How to Write a Poem
5. Early Mornin' Rain
6. Arabian Dance
7. Om

Pat Madden - Self-Titled

2009-10-25T13:35:00.001-07:00

My first official musical-content post comes from this mysterious LP that surfaced on the collector circuit but a few months ago, and has been delighting my ears since then. I chanced into a copy and was surprised that it wasn't just a 1-tracker, as I had suspected, but a truly solid late night female folk-rock LP with a strong backing band that alternated between lo-fi roadhouse grooves and tender acoustic confessionals. The standouts were almost unanimously the several truly stunning solo tracks where Pat's beautiful voice and aching guitar work shone through, however almost more importantly the record played solidly from front to back and was arranged like a proper album - with all original songs to boot! All of this of course had me scratching my head as to who Pat Madden was, and why this LP was so obscure in such a raked over field of half-baked private press folk records and tired 70s rock amalgams. I could find nothing on the woefully generic sounding "Calypso Records," and despite a lengthy search came up empty as far as Madden herself was concerned.

Madden's Musical Cohorts

There was no location listed on the back, and the band member names were all astonishingly common. So here I am left with a dead-end search, and a cry to the inter-web universe: Pat where are you? To casual listeners, I hope you enjoy... I think the record has a great swampy hippie trailer-park atmosphere and an earthy production quality that fits the material nicely... If nothing else "Measurement" is an otherworldly femme-psych moment and should be comped! All the best, JDF

Measurement

Welcome.

2009-10-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

Hi. Some of you might remember, "And then the chimney spoke...", which died sometime a few years ago. And then there was silence. I bought alot of records though, and chased down some more interesting artists. I feel the need to share. And while the chimney was an entertaining, and very addled experiment, I feel like I'm much better equipped now to do something more akin to actual journalism (haha!). My hopes for this blog are to disseminate musics of unknown, obscure, and truly buried artists. No reissued stuff... nobody with a website... in some cases, no one with a bloody phone number! I've got some cool interviews in the pipes, a few band features, a load of mysterious stuff I haven't been able to figure out, and hopefully much much more. In most cases everything is coming from a direct rip of stuff from my own collection, or possibly of a close friend's. If you the artist, is not happy with this, please get in touch. I'd probably love to talk to you whether you're pissed at me or not! Lots of love, JDF