Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Music I Liked And Didn't - 10/31/06


Ain't it fun

Ain't it fun when you're always on the run
Ain't it fun when your friends despise what you've become
Ain't it fun when you get so high that you, well you just can't come
Ain't it fun when you know that you're gonna die young

It's such fun... such fun

Ain't it fun when you're taking care of number one
Ain't it fun when you feel like you just gotta get a gun
Ain't it fun when you j.j.j. just can't seem to find your tongue
Cause you stuck it to deep into something that really stunk
It's such fun

Well somebody come up to me they spit right in my face
But I didn't even feel it, it was such a disgrace
I punched my fist right through the glass
But I didn't even feel it, it all happened so fast

It's such fun, such fun, such...

Ain't it fun when you tell her she's just a cunt
Ain't it fun when she splits and leaves you on the bump
Ain't it fun when you've broken up every band that you've ever begun
Ain't it fun when you know that you're gonna die young

It's such fun, such fun, such...

Amen, Peter. RIP


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BODUF SONGS: Lion Devours The Sun CD (Kranky) - Boduf Songs returns to deliver another dose of atmospheric acid folk sounds, coupled with, at times, some pretty intense lyrical content. A couple of the later tracks go into slow motion and get quite repetitive, making an already dark and somewhat angry feeling release almost a test of endurance, but, overall, Boduf Songs has avoided the sophomore jinx fairly successfully.


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Running Count For The Year

Adds 133/65%

Did Not Add 73/35%

Monday, October 30, 2006

Music I Liked And Didn't - 10/30/06


In high gear, motivated to show all my detractors at KFJC (and I know you're checking me out!) just how far ahead of them I am, how much music I can process, how much of an asset I could be to them, if they'd only get over their fear and jealousy and let me contribute!

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OZKENT, MUSTAFA (AND ORCHESTRA): Genclik Ile Elele CD (B-Music) - This is a reissue of a 1973 Turkish rarity. Ozkent was apparently a musician, arranger, and producer of some note and he created this LP of eleven instrumentals that sound very much like the “exploito-psych” produced by LA studio musicians in the late 60’s/early 70’s, but with an added Turkish influence. Not very significant in a musical sense, but enjoyable nonetheless. To be filed under guilty pleasures.

MAURICE AND WALTER: Moolah LP (No Label) - First off, let’s get this straight, I believe the artists are Maurice and Walter and “Moolah” (probably, or could it be, “The Great Seal”? somebody needs to track down either Maurice or Walter and settle this controversy ASAP!) is the title of this release, not the band’s name being “Moolah” and the LP’s title being, “Woe Ye Demons Possessed”, as it is always commonly listed. Anyway, whatever ya wanna call it, this is a reissue of a 1974 private press LP, included on Stapleton’s legendary Nurse With Wound list. After one listen it is obvious that it was an influence on Stapleton, too. Six tracks of murky Kraut/Basement Psych jamming that sound very much like many NWW tracks I heard over the years. Somewhat over-rated, overall, but still cool to hear/have.


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Running Count For The Year

Adds 132/64%

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Music I Liked And Didn't - 10/27/06 - 10/30/06

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PARKER, EVAN: Time Lapse (Tzadik) - Yeah, I know that it makes me uncool to pan a release by a legend like Parker. The fact is, however, that even though Parker’s execution is masterful and these tracks are, at times, fairly trance-inducing, these extendo-solo tape loop concepts sounded a lot more ground breaking 40 years ago when Terry Riley (and others) were blazing the trail.


Running Count For The Year

Adds 130/64%

Did Not Add 73/36%


Oh, and as always - FUCK GRAWER, OPHELIA NECRO, AND DOC AT KFJC!!!!!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Music I Liked And Didn't - 10/25/06 - 10/26/06

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V/A: Prae Kraut Pandemonium, Vol. 15 (No Label) - My man Karl at Anopheles Records (http://www.anophelesrecords.com) hooked me up with the latest installment of this long-running and popular series of 60’s German beat, garage, and psych. Highlights include great tracks by The Joint (best brittle fuzz leads this side of the Plastic Cloud!), The Monks (an unreleased track!), and Berry Window And The Movements. Solid!


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Running Count For The Year

Adds 130/64%

Did Not Add 72/36%


Oh, and as always - FUCK GRAWER, THURSTON HUNGER, OPHELIA NECRO, AND DOC AT KFJC!!!!!

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Music I Liked And Didn't - 10/20/06 - 10/24/06

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BORIS: Vein LP (Important) - Current leaders of the Japanese underground scene, Boris, are back with another blast. While Boris features a wide range of styles in their sonic attack (and their best releases demonstrate this variety nicely!), the material on this release focuses mainly on the hard core punk/metal spectrum of their sound. One great, long slothcore track and a couple of experimental noise drones, but otherwise, Boris are keepin’ the pedal to the metal on this outing. Pressed on clear vinyl, with a unique goat head border printed around the outer edge of the LP (making it, in essence a 10”, rather than a 12”), this, like all their other vinyl releases, is bound to quickly become another over-priced Boris collectable.

D’SILVA, AMANCIO: Konkan Dance LP (Qbico) - A lot of archival world fusion jazz recordings have been released in the past few years, such as those by Ethiopian great Mulatu Astatke, Egyptian jazzman Salah Ragab, and so on. Now, we get the Indo-Jazz stylings of D’Silva. Like the other artists mentioned above, D’Silva received a formal musical education in the west, specifically, England. The material on this LP, recorded in the UK in 1972, but unissued until now, is a pretty tasty blend of western jazz and Indian rhythms and instrumentation (such as sitar and tablas). The title and final track, “Konkan Dance”, is more rock influenced with electric guitar playing a major role in the sonic mix.

TALL FIRS: S/T CD (Ecstatic Peace) - This is the debut release from this long-running NYC trio who describes their music (quite accurately, in my humble opinion) as being “underground electric folk”. This is dark, deep contemporary folk, with lots of ambiance and intense lyrical content. Some tracks are augmented with organs, loops, and so on, which gives them a more fully developed, more “rock” sound, especially on the great track, “The Woods”. Excellent!

By the way, as coincidence would have it, they’re playing tonight in SF at the Bottom Of The Hill at 9PM, in case any of you Bay Area residents wish to catch them live. And Bert Jansch on Wednesday 10/25 at the Great American Music Hall if you want to get a more old school "guitar soli" vibe.

YOUNG, ROLAND P.: Isophonic Boogie Woogie CD (Em) - Roland P. Young was a figure in the Bay Area underground music scene, as both a DJ and a performer, from the 60’s to the early 80’s. He produced this solo release, Isophonic Boogie Woogie, in 1980. The material here is deeply personal, other-worldly jazz, which reflects the wide range of influences he must have soaked up in the fertile environment of the black underground culture of the 60’s. Free jazz freakouts, afro-centric influences and instrumentation, and the electronic experimentation that exploded in all genres the 60’s are all in effect on these tracks, crafted by Young on kalimba, sax, clarinet, bells, electronics and other assorted instruments. Like most deeply personal recordings, the material on this release isn’t uniformly appealing, as it’s usually difficult to fully relate to any other individual’s personal trip, but, overall, this is a pretty satisfying archival blast. A public service to those interested in Sun Ra, Brother Ah and so on.


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Running Count For The Year

Adds 129/64%

Did Not Add 72/36%


Oh, and as always - FUCK GRAWER, THURSTON HUNGER, OPHELIA NECRO, AND DOC AT KFJC!!!!!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Music I Liked And Didn't - 10/18/06 - 10/19/06

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JANSCH, BERT: The Black Swan LP (Drag City) - Legendary acoustic guitarist Jansch returns with his first release in 4 years. Aided by a guest cast of luminaries (such as Helena Espvall, Beth Orton, and David Roback), this is certainly also one of his better releases in recent years. Not uniformly great, but, overall, this is a pretty solid dose of well-developed and glorious sounding contemporary folk.

RASHANIM: Shalosh CD (Tzadik) - This is the third full-length release from self-described NYC “Jewish power trio”, Rashanim. As on their previous outings, Rashanim delivers an unique and satisfying blend of jazz, klezmer, rock, and surf. Whether they’re rocking hard on tracks like, “Ein Gedi” or cooling down with gorgeous sounding tracks like “Ar Aare”, Rashanim pretty much hits the mark on every track this time around - sweet!


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Running Count For The Year

Adds 125/63%

Did Not Add 72/37%


Oh, and as always - FUCK GRAWER, THURSTON HUNGER, OPHELIA NECRO, AND DOC AT KFJC!!!!!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Music I Liked And Didn't - 10/17/06

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TALAT: The Growl CD (Tzadik) - This is the debut CD from this New York-based quintet. They deliver 10 tracks of enjoyable, if somewhat unadventurous, klezmer-influenced jazz; kind of like Masada with less of an edge.


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Running Count For The Year

Adds 123/63%

Did Not Add 72/37%

Monday, October 16, 2006

Music I Liked And Didn't - 10/7/06 - 10/16/06

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CHRISTIE, SUSAN: Paint A Lady LP (Finders Keepers) - A well-hyped issue of demo-only recordings from the early-70’s by this Philadelphia-based folk singer. While the LP’s centerpiece, “Yesterday, Where’s My Mind”, is a pretty great track, it is hardly the dawn of proto-trip hop that it’s hyped to be; that’s just an attempt at utter sales generating bullshit! Overall, a passable mix of acid-tinged folk and more mainstream pandering folkish pop that would mainly be of interest to real afficionados of the (sub)genre, like me.

RED SPARROWES: Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red Sun 2XLP (Robotic Empire) - There’s a lot of bands doing sweeping, dramatic, cinematic rock (GYBE, Mono, and so on) at the moment and, based on their split LP with the great, Grails, and this, their latest double LP release, I’ve got to say that the Red Sparrowes are quickly establishing themselves as the new leaders of that pack. More focused than some, like GYBE, who try to be too cute and end up meandering and becoming boring and more rocking than others, like Mono, who who seem to have almost dropped the “rock” from their “orchestral rock”, Red Sparrowes strike the right balance on this solid release.

VANDERMARK 5: A Discontinuous Line CD (Atavistic) - A Discontinuous Line, is the latest blast from Chicago-based, multi-instrumentalist Ken Vandermark’s long-running and great ensemble, the Vandermark 5. It marks a new era for the 5, with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm replacing trombonist Jeb Bishop, whose contributions to previous V5 dates I really appreciated. As always, the V5 incorporates a variety of influences to cover wide range of stylistic ground: alternating between tuneful, post-bop passages; minimal, neo-classicism; slamming rock/funk rhythms; and awesome freedom chases. Outstanding!

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Running Count For The Year

Adds 122/63%

Did Not Add 72/37%

Oh, and as always - FUCK GRAWER, THURSTON HUNGER, OPHELIA NECRO, AND DOC AT KFJC!!!!!

Friday, October 06, 2006

Music I Liked And Didn't - 10/2/06 - 10/6/06

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AKRON/FAMILY: Meek Warrior (Young God Records) - Akron/Family are obviously a talented bunch with a wide range of musical interests, but I’ll readily admit that I’ve only had a limited appreciation for their previous work. I’ve enjoyed their folk ragas and their free music moments, but have found the hippy-folk/prog aspect of their varied sonic attack and their sometimes overly wrought vocals to be less appealing. Fortunately, their emphasis seems to be more on the aspects of their sound that I like on this somewhat short (only 35+ minutes) CD. Aided by a stellar cast of guest players (including percussionist extraordinaire, Hamid Drake, and an assortment of players on a variety of horns), they throw everything in their sonic arsenal, including the kitchen sink, at you right from the opening track, “Blessing Force”, which has acid folk segments, free rock segments and free jazz segments. There’s also a great folk raga, “No Space In This Realm” and, “The Dolphin”, is another solid and fairly raucous track. Still not uniformly successful, but always interesting, challenging and, ultimately, a rewarding listening experience.

RAGAB, SALAH (AND THE CAIRO JAZZ BAND): Ramadan In Space Time LP (Art Yard) - Ragab is a seminal figure in Egyptian jazz, forming the first jazz big band in Egypt (The Cairo Jazz Band) in 1968 and he was also the leader of the Military Music Department in Heliopolis. The music here is very similar to that of the great Ethiopian composer, musician, and band leader, Mulatu Astatke, combining African rhythms, scales, and instruments (including the nay and the baza!) with American jazz (and, to a lesser extent, soul). It is, however, a little less well executed and suave, as the compositions sound a little more “by the numbers” (especially on the A-Side), than Astatke’s best work. Still, if you’re into such things, as I am, this is a pretty cool slab of heretofore unknown (at least to me!) Afro-Jazz.


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Running Count For The Year

Adds 119/62%

Did Not Add 72/38%

Oh, and as always - FUCK GRAWER at KFJC!!!!!

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Music I Liked And Didn't - 9/30/06 - 10/1/06

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SOTHEAR, SREI And Sin Sisamouth: Cambodian Psych-Out LP (El Suprimo / Defective Records) - At this point, there’s been a lot of archival releases of 60’s/70’s Cambodian material and, in general, the quality of the material they contain has been going down further and further since those great initial Cambodian collections (like the first, “Cambodian Rocks” LP on Parallel World and Sublime Frequencies, “Cambodian Cassette Archives: Khmer Folk & Pop Music, Vol. 1”, for example). This LP, however, changes that trend, as it contains some of the absolutely best, “east meets west", 60’s/70’s Cambodian material I have ever heard! A perfect blend of eastern-influenced song structures and those great, otherworldly, sing-song vocals, with over the top western electric rock treatments, such as fuzz and wah. In fact, the only small complaint I can make (and it’s a recurring thing with these types of releases) is that they should stick to original material, rather than doing covers of western “hits”, as those tracks are invariably the worst tracks, and they are in this case, too. An absolutely great and essential release!


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Running Count For The Year

Adds 117/62%

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