In The Clubs!

For reasons previously discussed on this blog, I am not able to make the scene at many shows and, therefore, I do not generally post reviews of live shows. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't take a few moments to make mention of the fantastic performances I witnessed by the Nothing People and the Wooden Shjips at the Hemlock in SF last night.

The Wooden Shjips certainly lived up to my considerable expectations with their amphetamine driven mixture of white hot, acid punk guitar leads over crunching, Kraut/Spacerock rhythms and outstanding keyboard treatments.

While I was certainly impressed by the lo-fi cyberpunk of the Nothing People's "Problems" 7"EP, nothing could have prepared me for the glory of their all too short set. Not only did they deliver the expected dosage of scorching spacepunk (that was even more raw and better live!), but their final piece truly blew my mind - with the band members completely switching instruments and creating an extended psychedelic freakout the likes of which I may have not witnessed since I saw two members of the Brian Jonestown Massacre riff out in support of Sonic Boom, who had like six guitars running through a variety of effects pedals, to create this moving, shifting atmosphere of feedback, loops, tones, and drones. In summary, the Nothing People were nothing short of amazing!

All I can say is that, based on the new material I heard during these performances, I can hardly wait to hear the much-anticipated debut albums from both of these exciting new groups!

Also in the clubs, some great Jazz upcoming at Yoshi's in O-town:

Monday, April 9 - Direct from the Netherlands, the legendary The Instant Composers Pool, featuring Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink.

Wednesday, April 25 - Guitarist extraordinaire, Nels Cline, performs in a trio with Devin Hoff (bass) and Scott Amendola (drums) under the name of the Nels Cline Singers. It should be incredible!

Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/28/07

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CASTRO, NICK, AND THE YOUNG ELDERS: Come Into Our House DLP + 7-EP (Daffodelic) - Local artist and talented multi-instrumentalist (guitars, saz, oud, harmonium, and so on), Nick Castro, returns with “Come Into Our House”, a deluxe gatefold, double LP package that includes a bonus 7” EP of material not included on the CD version of this release. Despite the presence of a new all-star cast of supporting players, not a lot has changed in the sonic world of Nick Castro since I last heard from him.

About half the material on this release is, unfortunately, dedicated to the exploration of Castro’s ongoing obcession with the precious folk balladry that was popular in the UK during the late 60’s/early 70’s. Not that it isn’t quite well done, with a diverse array of cool instrumentation and lush production values, I just personally find the majority of such tracks to be fairly derivative and uninspiring. Only “Picolina”, is really a success, as it has a more contemporary acid folk sound (think Espers) that seems more like it was merely inspired by those classic UK folk sounds, rather than being a slavish attempt to replicate them.

The remaining material, fortunately, saves the day and secures this album a place in my library. “Attar” is a majestic eastern-influenced instrumental. It is followed by the unique “Voices From The Mountains”, which begins with with an extended segment of trippy, prepared piano before eventually shifting gears radically to conclude with an atmospheric and mystical Eastern European folk inspired segment featuring only ukelin (!) and percussion. The highlights of this release, however, have got to be the three eastern-influenced psychedelic ragas. “Promises Unbroken” is more organic, acoustic in nature, featuring droning harmonium, a variety of exotic stringed instruments (celtic harp, tamboura, cello, and so on), and lots of hand percussion. “Lay Down Your Arms” and “It’s All A Dream” both use a similar approach, but are “electrified” with excellent fuzz/wah snake charmer leads.

While “Come Into Our House” is clearly a release of mixed and limited success, I do think that, overall, it is Castro’s best work to date and it does offer the promise of better things to come; especially if he is willing to free himself from his self-imposed stylistic prison of UK folk balladry and really let his impressive musicianship fly his freak flag high.


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/27/07

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LSD AND THE SEARCH FOR GOD: S/T CD-EP (Mind Expansion) - If somebody snuck into my bedroom while I was sleeping, put this release in my CD player, and fired it up, I swear that when I awoke I’d think that I must have been sucked into some kind of time warp and arose in 1989. This debut CD-EP by Bay Area shoegaze worshippers, LSD And The Search For God, just about perfectly nails the sound of late-80’s/early-90’s shoegaze, as best exemplified by releases on the Creation label by bands such as Ride, My Bloody Valentine and so on. While I’ll readily admit that I did like the music those bands produced in that era and still occasionally enjoy such sounds today, to add such a release as this in 2007 would seem to be just a little bit too much of a guilty pleasure. For readers who wish to take a trip back to those days of youthful innocence and sweaty exuberance, however, this CD may be just the ticket.


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/26/07

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POWERHOUSE SOUND: Oslo/Chicago: Breaks (Atavistic) - The Jazz world’s current leading light (in my humble opinion, and that’s saying something when you consider the curriculum vitae of some of the other potential contenders, such as John Zorn, Matthew Shipp, and William Parker) returns with the debut release from his new project, the aptly named, Powerhouse Sound. It seems Vandermark’s goal with the Powerhouse Sound was to create a unique, new sound by combining contemporary Jazz with a variety of funky rhythms and electronic sounds, ranging from the dub experiments of the legendary producers of reggae to classic funk and the sampling of hip hop. Several tracks are also informed by the influence of experimental rock, an element that has been present in previous Vandermark projects.

Vandermark originally formed this project in Norway, where he and bassist Nate Mc Bride were joined by Ingebright Haker Flaten (bass), Paal Nilssen-Love (drums), and Lasse Marhaug (electronics). Apparently, he was so pleased with the results of their efforts that he also formed a domestic version of the group, in which he and Mc Bride joined forces with Jeff Parker (guitar/effects) and John Herndon (drums). This double disc set features one studio album by each ensemble playing a similar set of compositions.

Although the Chicago group is featured on the second CD of the set, I preferred their performances, so I’ll address that disc first. Vandermark (who plays only tenor saxophone on this outing) is stellar throughout, whether crafting soulful melody lines or pursuing wild freedom chases. The rhythm section section of Hearndon and Mc Bride provides an excellent foundation for Vandermark and Parker’s sonic adventures. Mc Bride’s thunderous bass also supplies a great deal of the raw rock power. Perhaps the star of this disc, however, is guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise, Chicago Underground, etc.), who delivers reved-up R & B riffs, hallucination-inducing electronic treatments, and incredible improvisational leads. Together they create tracks that move seamlessly from groovin’ Jazz passages to delayed washes of electronic ambience to slamming funk and noisy, out-rock that are truly amazing!

The crew on Oslo disc achieves a similar sound on most of the tracks, but on a couple of pieces the differences in instrumentation do effect the final product and, in my humble opinion, not for the better. Simply put, Jeff Parker is able to cover more territory and, therefore, the Chicago unit more is versatile and their performances are more cohesive and flowing as a result. A couple of the tracks on the Oslo disc that rely too heavily on Lasse Marhaug’s electronics tend to lose focus and stall out a bit at times. On a positive note, however, the interplay betwen the two bassists, Mc Bride and Haker Flaten, provides for some incredible and often quite rocking moments. While, again, I certainly did find the disc created by the Chicago ensemble to be the superior document, it would be wrong for readers to leave with an overly negative impression of the disc produced by the Oslo quintet, as, overall, this is still quite an interesting and solid set of performances.

In summary, Vandermark and company have delivered some of the funkiest, most rocking, innovative and challenging work of their collective careers. “Oslo/Chicago: Breaks” is a tour de force that should not be overlooked. Outstanding!!!!!


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/25/07

IT'S A CHICO MAGNETIC BAND SONIC EXPLOSION!!!!!


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CHICO MAGNETIC BAND: S/T CD (Lizard) - The Chico Magnetic Band was a group of heavy French freaks who formed in the late 1960’s. This CD is a reissue of their only album, originally released on the tiny Disques Vogue subsidiary label Box Office in 1969. Chico is the vocalist/leader and he mumbles, speaks, sings, screams, laughs, moans, and generally freaks out vocally in every way imaginable. Guitarist Bernard Monneri provides the perfect accompaniment for Chico’s vocal histrionics with both funky and heavy chunks of riffage and shredding fuzz/wah leads. Chico and his crew synthesize almost every classic influence of late-60’s psychedelia and heavy rock (Hendrix, Zeppelin, Beefheart, and so on) and were aided and abetted by producer Jean-Pierre Rawson and electronics whiz Jean-Pierre Massiera (who employs every trick in the book - backwards tape loops, electronic exotica, and so on - to devastating effect!) to create these eight incredible tracks of loose, funky, heavy, over-the-top, psychedelic rock. Personal favorites include "Explosion", "Lot Of Things", and "To Where I Belong".

In this era when it seems as if every obscurity from the past is being reissued and inaccurately hyped as being the ultimate document, this is actually one album that delivers on its promise. Truly one of THE all time classics of underground freak out psych rock and I can’t believe that I hadn’t even known of its existence before now. Amazing!!!!!

CHICO MAGNETIC BAND: Disques 45 CDR (None) - This bootleg CDR (which uses source material of, unfortunately, poor quality) contains 10 tracks from four 7” releases by the Chico Magnetic Band. The first four tracks are relatively uninteresting, at least to me, covers of material by Chico's muse, Jimi Hendrix: “Spanish Castle Magic”, “Ain’t No Telling”, “Little Miss Lover”, and “If 6 Was 9“. The next two tracks (“Pop Or Not” and “Inverse Pop”) deliver some exploito-psych sounds, featuring sensual fem vox and miscellaneous electronic exotica common in that era. The seventh and eighth tracks (“My Sorrow” and “We All Come And Go”) are both from the album discussed above. The final two tracks, “Girls Of Ocean” and “Phantasm”, are also quite consistent with the heavy freak rock of their lone album and, therefore, are quite excellent. Overall, this is a pretty marginal release, but I was so intoxicated by their awesome self-titled full-length and material by the Chico Magnetic Band is so rare that I yielded to the forces of completism.


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/20/07 - 3/24/07

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Getatchew Mekuria And The Ex And Guests: Moa Anbessa CD (Terp Records) - Getatchew Mekuria (also spelled Mekurya on other releases) is a legendary Ethio-Jazz saxophonist. An overview of his work was presented on Volume 14 of the excellent Ethiopiques series. Now in his seventies, he is still quite active and continues to play his powerful, distinctive style of Ethio-Jazz saxophone.

In 2004, he was invited to come to the Netherlands by The Ex to play some dates with the long-running free-improv group, The Instant Composers Pool, whose members include such luminaries as Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink. These dates were such a success, that a new recording project was proposed. So, in 2006, he returned to the Netherlands and joined forces with The Ex and a guest horn section for a series of concerts and to record the material contained on “Moa Anbessa”.

I’m pleased to report that the results are fantastic! This release contains 11 fresh interpretations of Ethiopian tunes, 2 of which also appeared in a different form on his Ethiopiques CD. Mekuria is stellar throughout, delivering soulful melodies and agressive, free solos with equal skill. Backed with The Ex's rhythmic guitar riffs, dissonant noise treatments, and always challenging, conscious lyrics, they create a truly unique sound that merits repeated play. Brilliant!


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/19/07

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LOW: Drums And Guns CD (Sub Pop) - Although some long time fans of Low have been less than pleased with their evolution over the course of their last few albums, I've been right there with them. In fact, I'd say that I thought that "Trust" and "The Great Destroyer" were even better than such early gems as "I Could Live In Hope". With "Drums And Guns", however, Sparhawk and company have lost me. Gone is the intelligent pop of "The Great Destroyer". And while they've returned to the use of ambience that was so effective on "Trust", it doesn't work nearly as well when it isn't extended (all the tracks on this CD are short, with the longest tracks clocking in at just over 4 minutes) nor punctuated by dynamic bursts of guitar. In fact, there's almost no guitar on this release, which I'm sure plays no small part in my overall negative reaction to this material. What you're left with is a collection of fairly minimal, mainly keyboard and vocal dominated tracks that, for the most part, failed to spark my interest. To be fair, it isn't quite the near disaster that I've portrayed it to be thus far in this review. It does contain some enjoyable tracks (for example, "Breaker", "Dust On The Window", and "Violent Past"), has some excellent lyrical content (especially the more geopolitically oriented commentary) and the incorporation of some elements of electronica is a solid move. All that being stated, however, “Drums And Guns” simply doesn't rank highly enough within the pantheon of recordings by Low to make me think I’ll ever select it in the future when I desire a taste of Low and, therefore, it failed to gain admission to my ever increasing music library.


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/16/07 - 3/18/07

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PINK REASON: Cleaning The Mirror CD (Siltbreeze) - Although there is often much wisdom in the old adage that advises one not to “judge a book by its cover”, the stark black and white image of a wilted sunflower on the cover of this full length debut from Pink Reason does seem appropriately symbolic of the music contained within. At the core of the majority of these songs is leader Kevin De Broux's simple acoustic guitar riffs and dark, gripping lyrics. Simple drums and electric leads are then added to complete these tracks of dark, lo-fi angst-pop. The album’s final two tracks deviate from this approach, with “Thrush” featuring only keyboards to accompany De Broux’s vocals and the appropriately titled “Up The Sleeve” adding banjo and horns to the mix. While there’s nothing on this CD as immediately engaging (nor, ultimately, as great) as “Throw It Away” from the debut 7” (although “Goodbye” and “Storming Heaven” come close), this is still a worthy dose of contemporary DIY sounds.


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/15/07

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TRAVEL AGENCY: S/T LP (Viva) - My interest in Viva Records was heightened by Sundazed’s release from earlier this year of the overview of the label “Ain’t It Hard!”. Then a few days ago (and not by my prompting, but rather, due to other completely coincidental circumstances), my friend Karl of Anopheles Records played me this LP on Viva by the Travel Agency and the search was on. Well, as usually is the case when highly motivated, it didn’t take your Sonictroubadour long to track down a copy (in fact, I’m pleased to inform you that this is one of the records I was referring to in my most recent anti-eBay rant!) of this rarity from 1969. The 12 tracks on this release are almost like a stylistic sampler of contemporary music forms of the period ranging from sunshine pop and precious folk to beatish garage pop and droning psych. Highlights include the funky ballroom sounds and piercing fuzz leads of “Cadillac George”, the warm West Coast sounds of “Lonely Seabird”, and the fuzzy pop of “Come To Me”. While certainly not a holy grail of 60’s sounds, this is still an underrated little exploito-psych gem.


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/14/07

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KARACA, CEM AND KARDASLAR: Puskullu Moruk 10” EP (Destur) - This is a release of rare recordings by Turkish legends Cem Karaca and Kardaslar that were originally created for a short-lived “Ottoman Pop Musical” in the early 1970’s. It contains six tracks of groovy Anatolian Rock ranging from the exploito pop of the opening instrumental “Overture” to the fuzzy psych of “The Fox”, and the excellent eastern folk-influenced “Dear Mr. Judge”. Poor source quality is a bit of a bummer, but this is still a very cool and much appreciated little addition to my relatively sparce (but, fortunately growing) number of vintage Turkish delights.


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/13/07

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SILMARIL: The Voyage Of Icarus CD (Locust) - Silmaril was a Milwaukee-based group who were active during the 1970’s. They released one rare LP “Given Time Or The Several Roads” in 1973. This CD compiles the best tracks from that album, as well as material from a never released second LP “No Mirrored Temple”. I’m not normally a big fan of xian recordings, but the appeal of the better tracks on this release is hard to deny. Some of this material is very straightforward, dark, personal folk. Other tracks add little lysergic touches such as pump organ and sitar to excellent effect. The disc closes with, perhaps, its best track, a stunning dose of acid folk “Song Of The Apocalpyse”. As I similarly noted about the new release of archival recordings from Serpent Power “Ourobouros” a couple of days ago, there aren’t any great revelations awaiting the listener of this CD, but still it captures a nice sonic snapshot of a time and scene that, otherwise, would soon be forgotten and lost forever.


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/12/07

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CRIES OF DISILLUSION: S/T CD (Earsay) - Cries Of Disillusion was short-lived quintet formed by Israeli ex-patriots (and current stalwarts in the NYC free music scene) Assif Tsahar (tenor sax and bass clarinet) and Ori Kaplan (alto sax) during a 1999 visit to their homeland. There they reunited with old friends and musical partners Daniel Sarid (piano) and Oded Goldsmith (bass), and added American percussionist Bob Mayer (who was accompanying Kaplan on tour) to complete the quintet. On this 2001 release, they deliver a nicely varied set of high caliber contemporary Jazz. As expected, both Tsahar and Kaplan are excellent, whether executing ensemble passages, interweaving their improvisations, or soaring high during solo excursions. Sarid (who, like multi-instrumentalist Albert Beger, I had not heard before making my recent purchase of Earsay titles) also shines throughout this set with both his creative solo work and tasteful comping support. Highlights include the showcase for Tsahar on bass clarinet “The Vanishing Blues”, the slow burning celestial groover “Through The Night”, and the excellent freedom chase “Forth”. Another quality Earsay release. I’m ready for more!


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Final Score: Daryl Licht 3 - eBay 0

I've already posted my rant against eBay's fraudulent feedback forum and scum bag operating procedures, in general. I've also encouraged everybody to not patronize eBay. That all being stated, I'm all for people "using" eBay; "using" in the most malevolent sense of the word, i.e., to exploit them!

Case in point, I recently was turned on to some cool old records by my pal Karl of Anopheles Records. I went home and found them on eBay. I then mined eBay for the info I needed in order to contact the three sellers of these records. I contacted them and made all the necessary arrangements to purchase the records outside of eBay.

So let's review.

Did eBay hurt me/prevent me from getting the records I wanted? No. I secured all three and I did not use their subsidiary PayPal to buy them, so eBay got nothing - zip, zero, zilch, nada - from my activities!

The sellers? They sold their goods and did so without having to pay eBay any sales fees (beyond the initial listing fee) nor any fees for using PayPal, so this manner of processing the transaction was beneficial to them.

EBay? I worked'em. I used and abused their evil system, as they deserve in return for being the scum bags they are and they made not a penny off of me! They only made the initial listing fees off of the sellers, no additional sales fees nor PayPal processing fees. They lost on every count and I won.

So remember, don't be an eBay sucka! Instead, play'em for the fools they are by beating them at their own game. And if ya don't like all this...then don't hate the playa, hate the game!

Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/11/07

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SERPENT POWER: Ourobouros LP (Locust) - Originally, Serpent Power was a Bay Area group, led by poet David Meltzer, whose music was a nice blend of lysergic folk and pop elements. They released one album on Vanguard in 1967 that is well regarded among many collectors. Soon after making that first recording, the original group disbanded for a variety of reasons and Meltzer put together a new incarnation of Serpent Power. This limited, vinyl only release documents previously unissued recordings made at the studios of legendary Berkeley, CA radio station KPFA in 1969 by this “Mark II” version of Serpent Power. It contains two side-long tracks of authentic hippie free psych jamming, highlighted by segments that feature unique sonic treatments such as eastern-influenced banjo freakouts (courtesy of J. P. Pickens) and (Daniel Moore’s) wailing shenai. While I’ll readily admit that there’s nothing particularly groundbreaking nor exceptional about these recordings (though they’re surely every bit as significant and worthy as the next release from NNCK or Sunburned Hand Of The Man!), this is still a nice artifact from those long destroyed acid days.


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/10/07

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JESU: Conqueror DCD (Daymare) - On their latest release Justin Broadrick’s Jesu continues its evolution down the musical path illuminated on the “Silver” LP. Although this release contains the same basic sonic elements as all previous Jesu recordings (thick, “wall of sound” guitars, mechanical rhythms, layered, droning keyboards, and reverbed/delayed vocals) the emphasis continues to focus more on the pop spectrum. So, yeah, there’s still thick guitar feedback heaviness, but now it comes in waves, accompanied by dreamy keyboard dronescapes, instead of the precision pound and massive blocks of riffage featured on their self-titled double LP. Personal favorites include the fuzzy dream pop of “Transfigure” and the distorto pop dirge "Weightless And Horizontal".

This special, Japanese-only issue also contains a bonus disc with the two lengthy tracks from the, as of yet, unreleased “Sun Down / Sun Rise” LP. The first of these two tracks,”Sun Down”, is another piece that sounds very much like an extended version of the material on the first disc. “Sun Rise” continues to feature similar elements of sound, as well, but lowers the level of sonic density considerably to create a more ambient piece that even includes some electronica informed touches. Personally, I thought these two tracks were among the better pieces on this two disc set.

While I must admit that I found this release, overall, to be quite enjoyable, I’m not sure how interested I’ll continue to be in future Jesu titles if Broadrick’s sonic evolution continues further down its current path. When the “Sun Down / Sun Rise” LP does come out, it (also containing only two lengthy tracks) will make a fitting bookend to the “Heart Ache” CD (still the best Jesu title, in my humble opinion!) and, perhaps, a good note on which to close out the Jesu phase of Broadrick’s career before he runs its good name and reputation into the ground of disrepute like he did with Godflesh.

In other Jesu news...

As was announced on Broadrick’s blog (justinkbroadrick.blogspot.com) the band’s entry into the US was delayed by US officials/customs and, therefore, Jesu missed the first three weeks of their scheduled US tour with Isis. They are now scheduled to begin their tour tomorrow in (ironically) Washington, D.C., the seat of the US Government that delayed their entry. Sadly, even though Broadrick will now be able to finish the remainder of the tour, we will not be seeing the “real” Jesu, as bass player Diarmuid Dalton will not be playing any of the dates (due to being refused a work permit for the US) and Drummer Ted Parsons (due to personal conflicts) will also not be with Jesu on this tour. Yeah, all this bad news certainly takes away a lot of the anticipatory glow I had regarding Jesu’s upcoming Bay Area appearance in April.


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/9/07

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PINK REASON: Throw It Away + 2 7” EP (Savage Quality Recordings) - I had been hearing some buzz about Green Bay‘s Pink Reason for a while now, but hadn’t actually seen nor heard any of their releases until a few days ago when on the same day I found both this very limited (only 300 copies!) 7” EP and their debut full length “Cleaning The Mirror”, which I’ll review in the next couple of days. The highlight is the A-Side’s “Throw It Away”, a stunning dose of dark, driving, lo-fi, doom punk that harkens back to the late 80’s/early 90’s heyday of DIY 7” releases. The B-Side contains two tracks, neither of which is nearly as successful. "Slate Train" is a short track that contains similar sonic elements as “Throw It Away”, but is much slower and quieter and, as a result, isn't nearly as engaging. "New Violence" is a quirky, yet still somewhat appealing, track that takes an entirely different approach, using only synths and a drum machine to accompany leader Kevin De Broux's vocals. I can't wait to dive into "Cleaning The Mirror" on the revitalized Siltbreeze imprint, as “Throw It Away” is among the best 4 minutes I've heard committed to 7" vinyl in a while!


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Music I Liked And Didn't - 3/1/07 - 3/8/07

Sorry for the long delay in posting. Sometimes life just gets hectic. Lots of reviews of cool new releases coming in the next few days, beginning with...

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FERN KNIGHT: Music For Witches And Alchemists CD (VHF) - This is the second full length release from Fern Knight, a project led by Margie Wienk, a talented player of many stringed instruments who has performed with a number of groups, most notably, Espers. And Espers is the appropriate name to drop, as Wienk is supported on this release by Espers' Greg Weeks (acid leads and vocals), Otto Hauser (percussion), and Meg Baird (vocals). Not surprisingly, the music they create is top notch contemporary acid folk (augmented on some tracks with unique sonic treatments from instruments such as accordian, harmonium, harp, and bowed saw!) that bears an uncanny similarity to the music of Espers. Highlights include "Awake, Angel Snake", "W. Memphis", and "The Dirty South". I'm not sure how this album slipped under my radar when it was initially released in 2006, but I'm certainly glad to have caught up on this instant acid folk classic!


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