William Penn "Gossamer Looms"

William Penn
Crystal Rainbows
LP
(Sounds Reasonable, Inc., 1978)

From the cover and title, one might expect the album therein to be some sort of horrible New Age monstrosity. I bought it 'cause Robert Rutman appears on this track with one of his marvelous steel cellos (picture below, with string enhanced by moi). It was with a definite sense of dread that I put it on the turntable, but my fears were quickly destroyed by the content of the music within.

The liner notes tell the story of the album better than I can, so I'll let them take over:

Born January 11, 1943, William Penn has, during his career as a composer, written music which is tonally accessible to everyone. His music and sound effects scores commissioned by the National Air and Space Museum for the Albert Einstein Spacearium have thrilled millions. His music for Shakespearean Plays, performed by the Folger Theater Group and the New York Shakespeare Festival, has brought new depth to the classics. As a serious composer, Penn has written more than thirty concert pieces, twelve film scores, six musicals, four ballets, and forty-three scores for plays.

What you are about to hear is not a mainstream creation of any kind. From the choice of instruments to the final cutting of the master discs, this is an unusual production.

American primitive instruments and finely handcrafted replications have been combined with state-of-the-art recording technology to produce an amazing expression of far-sighted creativity, both idiomatically and technologically.

It all seems so magical, this assemblage of woods, strings and steel, but we who experience it daily understand the great simplicity of the work. Within the confines of the art, this experience becomes, simultaneously, divinely personal and universal, leaving works to the world which encompass all ages. Yet, instrument building is an art that needs to be seen as well as heard. Recent efforts to reveal contemporary masterworks have been most encouraging. Gallery shows, museum exhibits, art festivals, and publications have all aided this great renaissance of instrumental design.

Ken Riportella
Maker/Metamorphis II

In June 1978, Sounds Reasonable, Inc. (SRI) learned that the Renwick Gallery of the National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, would mount an exhibition that included unique and esoteric American handcrafted musical instruments. SRI subsequently developed the idea of composing an album of music played on these instruments.

By July 1978, a cooperative agreement between SRI, the Smithsonian Institution and the instrument makers was signed, and work began. SRI selected Dr. William Penn as composer for the project. After reviewing and finally choosing forty-three of the instruments, thirteen were actually used in the recording. The nature of the musical compositions precluded using all of the instruments chosen. The listener may wish to note that the instruments recorded are listed on the opposite leaf in the order of their appearance on the recording. Devices for electronic effects are listed only when used as discrete sound sources.

Tonality of the instruments has been modified throughout by using electronic and spring echo; parametric equalization; electronic pitch change; and phase reversal. Delicately recorded are the natural qualities of the instruments themselves. The Cloud Chamber Bowls drift naturally through the stereo spectrum, while the grand piano takes on an unbelievable dual identity.

Crystal Rainbows is a work of monolithic tonality which, unlike the more common commercial record, finds unity in its musical structure while allowing each listener the freedom to discover favorite colours in the making of personal rainbows.

Since the first recordings were completed, people have asked which of the instruments I like the best. Unequivocally I must answer the Ten-Foot Single String Stainless Steel Cello. The power and depth of this wonderful instrument are refreshing, and the opportunities for exploration are exciting in prospect and unpredictable in direction. Conjuring up visions of dragons, black holes and volcanic eruptions, this monster too large for the recording studio was erected in the lobby of our downtown office building at 2:00 A. M., and recorded during the lull between the passage of the night people and the early morning buses. The rubber piano, although not part of the exhibit, is also a favorite and is Penn's invention.

The audiophile will find dynamic range that literally makes the stereo system buzz; the electronic music devotee will discover new sounds and combinations of electronic equipment used to create space where none previously existed; the lover of avantegarde music will find herein an opus which reaches new heights in musical awareness; and who knows, but that Moonshine may become a hit single.

Edmund S. Barnett
October 21, 1978

The players for this piece:

• Mark Cushing: Highland Bagpipes
  
• Kathleen Doyle: Sansa Finger Piano
  
• Dominick Labino: Glass Harmonica
  
• William Penn: Finger Cymbals, Jaw Harp
  
• Robert Rutman: Single String Stainless Steel Cello

Corpses as Bedmates "Willow Tree"

Corpses as Bedmates
Babaa & Scheibel = 69
cassette
(Cow-Op Industries, 1984)

We got this cassette at my college radio station. The band and release name caught my eye, and my ears and brain were immediately transfixed by this bizarre, disturbing, demented, little nursery rhyme of a song. I played it on my show many a time over the years.

Corpses as Bedmates were the augmented duo of Susanne Lewis and Karen Sheridan. The augmentor was Bob Drake, who contributed drums and percussion, in addition to engineering and mixing this recording. By the time of the third and final Corpses as Bedmates album, Venus Handcuffs, Karen was gone and the group was simply Susanne and Bob. In addition, it was pressed on hard, black wax (i.e., vinyl) rather than cassette. Unlike the first two Corpses as Bedmates releases, Venus Handcuffs has since been reissued on CD, but with completely different artwork and the group name changed to Venus Handcuffs. No, I do not know why, and I keep it filed with the C's in my collection, rather than the V's. The second Corpses as Bedmates release, btw, was entitled Halo.

In addition to Corpses as Bedmates, Susanne and Robert were both involved with the Geoffrey Landers LP that I featured here a while back. Bob is also part of the progressive/avant garde group Thinking Plague, for whom Susanne sang for a bit. Susanne and Bob also released a few albums under the name Hail, and Susanne made a couple of albums under the rather odd name of Kissyfur. Most recently, though still a number of years ago, she released a great, eponymous solo album.

I don't know who is responsible for the drawing and poem, but it is from the innermost panel of the cassette cover.

UR KAOS "The Poor Man's Grace"

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UR KAOS
Bad Alchemy Nr 12
compilation cassette
(Bad Alchemy, 1989)

Bad Alchemy is both a record label and a long-running music magazine. The first twenty-seven issues of the magazine each came with a compilation cassette featuring artists covered in the current issue. I think the first issue I bought was Nr 3, as there is a Half Japanese song on it, and I will buy anything featuring them; they being, of course, the greatest band in the history of music. That is beside the point, however.

The cassette accompanying Nr 12 devoted a good deal of its air time to artists from Sweden, many with releases on the Bauta Records label. One of them was UR KAOS (yes, spelt in all caps because they are YELLING at you). Both pieces were cool and dark, and exclusive to the cassette, so I snagged their eponymous debut album (the one with a wolf, or is it a fox?, in a fur coat on the cover) from Wayside Music not long after hearing them. Its contents are much like the piece featured today on the jukebox: short, almost fragmentary, songs with a very dark, foreboding edge. Good times!

Their next album, A Terrible Beauty Is Born, was just as dark, if not darker. The cover certainly upped the creepiness ante, with its depiction of multiple corpses dangling from a desolate gallows. Again, it was full of short, almost fragmentary, songs with a very dark, foreboding edge. I love copy'n'paste.

Nearly a decade later, they released their third album, Av sprucket ut är valt ett inuti. The mood is a bit lighter, but the songs are still mostly short, almost fragmentary. I've been told by Swedes that the title cannot be translated properly into English (too idiomatic or something). Google Translate, however, says it means By Cracking the Selected One Inside. Yahoo Babel Fish, on the other hand, can't handle Swedish, or any other Scandinavian/Nordic language! Oooh, they make me so mad! Poor Douglas Adams is probably spinning in his grave.

NOTA BENE: That's UR KAOS on the cover of the magazine. It is the only picture I have ever seen of them (not counting one of them wearing masks), and it was taken by Anton H. Leclercq, according to the credits in the back of the mag.

Terror at the Opera "Masquerade"

Terror at the Opera
I'm in the Eye
7" single
(Ypsilanti Records, 2004)

The cover for Terror at the Opera's album Snake Bird Blue intrigued me. The duo (Gretchen and Faith) are pictured in what looks like a color Polaroid from the 1950s.

No, I don't know when Polaroid introduced color film! Get off my back!!

Anyhow, it reminded me of my all-time favorite pop vocal duo, the fabulous Barry Sisters! The CD was in a bargain bin for only $3, so there was no way I was gonna pass it up. It turned out to be a rather haunting, lo-fi and low-key affair, that actually sounded more like Yoko Ono (her often charming, slightly off-key singing voice, rather than her amazing, shrieking, ululating voice) singing gypsy folk songs than The Barry Sisters. No matter. I adore Yoko (and now Terror at the Opera, too)!

Terror at the Opera's now defunct website turned me on to this single, released sometime after the album. It took until just a few weeks ago to finally find a copy, though! It turned out to be limited to only 300 copies (on clear vinyl, to boot), so I'm not entirely surprised.

Today's song is either the B-side, if you go by the back cover and/or label's long ignored MySpace page (which I found after I found the single), or it's the A-side, if you look at the mastering numbers in the matrix. Imma go with B-side. Enjoy!

Stalaggh untitled

Stalaggh Stalaggh 7" EP (New Era Productions, 2001)

I think I'll let the insert speak for this one: Stalaggh is a Misanthropik-Nihilistik projekt of leading Individuals from both the Dutch and Belgian Black Metal and Elektro/Ambient scenes, with as prior aim propagating the sonic ideology of human genocide. With among it's members a murder convict and mental-institution patient, STALAGGH is bound to awaken emotions of depression, hate, nihilism, misanthropy and to drag you deeper down into it's pits and voids. :STALAGGH:'s :projekt nihil: was improvised and directly recorded Ina 24 track studio, driving the producer to Insanity. "Never again" were his words... Excessive self-mutilation took place while recording these streams of black emotions, evolving into a 35 minutes piece of Art, which is to be considered the soundtrack to humanities global suicide... We will destroy, we will hate, and we will spread our misanthropic audio-terror until there Is nothing left but scorched earth. ...KILL YOURSELF!!! They followed this lovely little record (today's piece is side A) with three albums of considerably less musical material, Projekt Nihil, Projekt Terrror, Projekt Misanthropia), plus variations on the same, like the remix album Nihilistik Terrror (not dance remixes, mind you). They've now changed their name and sound, to a degree, to Gulaggh and have released one CD, so far, Vorkuta. I quite like it.

The Residents "Satisfaction"

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The Residents
Satisfaction
7" single
(Ralph Records, 1976)

So, I'm back!

I've decided to start doing the occasional (or maybe frequent) (it's my blog–you can't stop me) theme week, starting today.

So . . .

This week's theme is Lightning's (that's me) favorite guitar solos. 'Cause, like, I'm a guitarist. Of sorts. Well, I own several guitars. Sometimes I even touch them.

First out of the box has one of my favorite solos and also happens to be my favorite cover song of all time. I bought this as I was easing into punk rock in my 17th year, and it was an ear opener, all right. Up until then, I'm not sure I'd ever heard anything so gloriously ugly. The guitarist on this charming piece is Phil Lithman, better known as Snakefinger. I can't remember where I read this, or who wrote it, but it's a perfect description: Snakefinger plays all the wrong notes in all the right places.

I've flagged this as both USA/Louisiana and England for a good reason. Firstly, The Residents are originally from Shreveport, LA, as am I. Secondly, Snakefinger is a Brit, and he's the soloist. So there. He was formerly a pub rocker in the UK, btw. His playing and singing with Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers is not the sort of thing that would lead one to expect . . . this.

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I cheated on the cover for this one. The pictured cover is the original 1976 issue, which was something like 200 copies. I ripped this from my 1978 repress, which was 30,000 units, allegedly.

Krzysztof Penderecki "Velincanija—Psalom 50"

Krzysztof Penderecki UTRENJA, The Entombment of Christ LP (RCA Records, 1971)

I first (knowingly*) heard the music of Krzysztof Penderecki when a buddy of mine who worked in a record store sold me a used copy of Penderecki Conducts Penderecki Album 2 that they'd just gotten in stock. The first piece, Capriccio for Violin and Orchestra, was probably the most violent sounding bit of classical music I'd yet heard, and I became an immediate fan. That piece (same recording, even), along with several of his most famous, including Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, is available on this excellent dbl-disc set on EMI. Today's piece, however, is the second section of his longform choral work, UTRENJA, The Entombment of Christ. To the best of my knowledge, it has only been recorded three times, and this is the earliest of those. From what I've read on-line, most people consider this to be the finest version, even though the second part, The Resurrection of Christ, was not included. The full work was first released in 1973 as a gorgeous, dbl-LP box set on Philips. I have that, too, but that recording is readily available on CD (albeit with a hideous cover) from the Polish label Polskie Nagrania. The CD is from the late 1980s, though, so the sound quality may just be crap; I honestly do not know. There's also a recent recording available on the budget Naxos label; I have not heard that one, however. *I later discovered I'd already heard his music in (appropriately) horror films such as The Exorcist and The Shining.

Shub-Niggurath "Variation"

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Shub-Niggurath
Live
cassette
(Auricle, 1989)

My friend Greg burnt me a copy of Shub-Niggurath's 1986 debut album, Les morts vont vite, several years ago. They came across to me as a mixture of the darkest elements of King Crimson (ca. mid-1970s) and Univers Zero, who were pretty much 100% dark in their early career. It was (and still is) great stuff. Naturally, I immediately began to search out a hard copy for myself.

In the meantime, since Les morts vont vite was currently out of print, I picked up their second and third albums: C'étaient de très grands vents and Shub~Niggurath. The latter of those is usually referred to as Testament, but that word appears precisely nowhere on my copy.

At some point, I discovered there was a live cassette release, recorded inbetween Les morts vont vite and C'étaient de très grands vents, on Friday the 13th (of January, 1989). The title was a bit more reserved than the albums betwixt which it appeared, but at least Live is descriptive, yes? Of the five pieces included on the tape (four, if you count Phineos 1 and Phineos 2 as a single piece), two later appeared in studio form on C'étaient de très grands vents, but the remainder remain exclusive to it. Today's selection is the final track. Enjoy!

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NOTE: Since the name Shub-Niggurath comes from the pen of H.P. Lovecraft, there are, naturally, at least two heavy metal bands also using it. One is from Mexico and the other from Italy.

Dagmar Krause "Song of a German Mother"

Dagmar Krause Radio Sessions CD EP (Voiceprint, 1993)

If I had to pick my favorite vocalists of each gender, they'd be Tom Jones (male), Dagmar Krause (female), and Antony Hegarty (transgender) of Antony and the Johnsons.

Spahn Ranch "Wonder and Perish"

Spahn Ranch Thickly Settled LP (Insight, 1987)

We got this one at my college radio station and I was pretty blown away. Unfortunately, the album gave no information beyond song titles and who produced it (Matt Wallace, best known for producing a buncha records by Faith No More and The Replacements). Until I found this MySpace page just now when doing this write-up, I didn't even know they were from Michigan; I'd just assumed California. NOTA BENE: There's another Spahn Ranch that plays industrial dance music, I think. Seeing as most of their releases are/were on Cleopatra Records, I imagine they're probably best avoided.

ONO "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?" "Roll Away" "Mass of the Angels"

ONO
Ennui
LP
(Thermidor, 1986)

I first heard these guys on the Starving Dogs compilation cassette back in 1983 or '84. it was Chicago0-area bands and primarily hardcore, so ONO really stuck out like a sore thumb. A really cool sore thumb, though.

This triptych of overlapping pieces is from their second album, which followed the delightfully entitled Machines That Kill People.

Belfegore "Tod durch die Blume"

Belfegore
A Dog Is Born
LP
(Pure Freude, 1983)

So, like, this post was already scheduled for today, but I hadn't done the little write-up yet. So what does one of my fellow blogger buddies do? He makes the whole dang album his feature for yesterday! THE NERVE!

This song, however, does not appear in his post, other than as a mention. HA!

So, anyhow, we got Belfegore's second, eponymous album at my college radio station, and I dug it. The single, All That I Wanted, sounded like Killing Joke ripping off The Stooges' TV Eye. On top of that, it had a video that I thought was actually pretty cool and unsettling (please, see below) (unless you're blind, that is) (or your monitor isn't working) (or you're just stupid) (or you're trying to deliberately hurt my feelings) (meanie).

So, my buddy Mike did some checking and found out they'd released an LP, a 7" EP, and a 12" single prior to the eponymous album. Of course, this meant that I had to purchase all three. While I think the second album is stronger, overall, A Dog Is Born definitely has some worthy material. Like . . . today's song!

^_^

The ABC Children's Chorus "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"

The ABC Children's Chorus
Songs for Children . . . by Children
LP
(ABC-Paramount, 1966)

When I was a kid, I had a little record player, and my parents bought children's records for me. This record, though, was a bit of an oddity. Sure, it was mostly kids singing kids' songs, but then there was this song. What a vindictive song sung to a former lover is doing on a kids' record is beyond me. Perhaps, the liner notes will explain?

Take a dozen energetic youngsters ranging in age from nine to fourteen, match them with a dozen bright familiar songs, and out comes one of the most charmingly lighthearted records you've ever heard!

From the opening note to the last, this first recording by the ABC Children's Chorus bursts with the boundless vitality that only the young possess—and the older than young only remember. As up to date as the latest missile launching, this collection includes the theme song from Batman, the TV series that caught the imagination of children of all ages; and It's Superman, a musical tribute to the superhero whose latest triumph is the starring role in the Broadway musical, It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman. Another Broadway hit—The King and I—is represented by I Whistle a Happy Tune, and the movie Mary Poppins introduced Chim Chim Cheree. Included also is the chorus's version of two popular hits—These boots Are Made for Walkin' and an unusual rendition of Tijuana Taxi, which has no lyric.

The ABC Children's Chorus consists of five boys and seven girls, who, despite their early achievements in the entertainment world, sing just like your kids would sound if they joined voices with the kids down the block. Enrolled in public schools, junior highs and high schools around the New York City area, these twelve children's ambitions run to show business (I would like to be another Connie Francis. I want to be just like Helen Hayes and Judy Garland. I'd like to be like Gene Kelly, singing and tap dancing), but one would like to be a physicist in nuclear astronautics.

The members of the ABC Children's Chorus have to their individual performing credits numerous Broadway shows (Music Man, Sail Away, Here's Love, The King and I, and Bye Bye Birdie, among others); television appearances (Bell Telephone Hour, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Jonathan Winters Show, Naked City and The Nurses); you've seen some of them in TV commercials; and at least two of the girls have modeled for magazine illustrations and record album jackets. If this professionalism makes them sound less like your own kids—or those next door—don't be fooled. Kids will be kids, and when they get together and sing, they all sound pretty much the same—young and happy, bubbling with energy—and there you have a perfect description of the ABC Children's Chorus.

This album was produced by Richard Wolfe whose varied show business career has encompassed such activities as radio station program director, director and producer of nationwide amateur talent shows, staff writer for Sammy Kaye, musical director for a music publishing firm, president of his own publishing and production companies and a partnership with entertainer Arthur Godfrey in some of the Redhead's musical enterprises. Dick Wolfe is also a highly successful songwriter.

Hmmmmm . . . guess not.

The Tom and Marty Band "Cattle Mutilations"

The Tom and Marty Band
The Tom and Marty Band
7" EP
(Artifacts , 1981)

I used to see this one in my local record store when I was in high school. Despite it being marked, For fans of The Residents, (I fit the bill), I never bought it. Luckily, when I joined the radio station at my university, they had a copy. This cheery little ditty was their hit. Meaning, I played it a bunch, and some other people did, too.

The Tom and Marty Band were a duo (surprise!) from Richmond, VA. Marty was Marty McCavitt, who'd previously been in the improv quartet Idio Savant, who released a pretty cool album on the same label in 1979, Shakers in a Tantrum Landscape; I did not know this at the time, however, so the point is moot. He was later the leader of the instrumental combo Famous Actors from Out of Town, who released a killer cassette album, FA3574, in the mid/late 1980s. Tom (Campagnoli), unfortunately, I know nothing else about. Please, find it in your heart to forgive me. If it helps, I do plan on featuring both Idio Savant and FAfooT on here at some point.

Gods Gift "925"

Gods Gift
Gods Gift
7" EP
(Newmarket Records, 1979)

We got Gods Gift's single Discipline at my college radio station back in the early 1980s. It was a big, thick slice of post punk, with chanted vocals and ugly fuzz guitar built on a bed of repetitious, throbbing groove, and I loved it. On the back, there was a note that it was their third record, but no info on the first two.

Fast forward to the days of the internet and search engines, and, after considerable effort and time, I finally managed to track down the second record, a four song 12" EP, and their debut, a self-released three song 7" EP. Today's song is the b-side of that first 7".

Last year, Messthetics released a cool compilation of stuff by Gods Gift called Pathology. Material from all three records, plus stuff from two cassettes I didn't even know about, is included. Today's song, however, is one of the ones left off. So, here you go!

Einstürzende Neubauten "Kollaps"

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Einstürzende Neubauten
Das Abendprogramm
compilation LP
(Riskant, 1982)

OK, not so obscure this time 'round. On the other hand, this exclusive compilation track has never been reissued anywhere else, and this live version of "Kollaps" is rather different from the studio version on their debut LP, also called Kollaps. Enjoy!