Cream Abdul Babar "Temple of Doom"

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Cream Abdul Babar
The Backwater of Masculine Ethics
CD
(Albert Ayler's Jukebox Records/What's Wrong with Your Eye? Records, 1997)

Southern Voice was the main LGBT paper in the Atlanta area when I moved here. Music coverage was usually relegated to the latest from Madonna, or dance music, or lesbians with acoustic guitars. Nothing against any of those things, but none of them are all that interesting to me, for the most part. I happened to read an article right around the turn of the century, however, about a band from Florida with an openly gay member, noisician Tradd Sanderson, called Cream Abdul Babar. They were playing at The Echo Lounge that week (hence the article), so I decided to give them a shot, music as-yet unheard. As it turned out, they were a juggernaut of pretty monstrous proportions: heavy, noisy, metallic, and punk as <expletive deleted>. They were not, however, a ska punk band. I say this because I have seen them referred to as such on at least one occasion. See, there's a guy who plays trombone, and they have a silly pun for a name, so they must be ska punk, right?

Gahhhhhh . . .

Today's song is from their first full-length album, The Backwater of Masculine Ethics. It's been out of print for many years, but was reissued (less one track) as the first disc of the collection Excavation: 1993-1998, released by Public Guilt in 2004. The missing track was a cover of John Cage's 4:33, minus about 15 seconds and renamed 22:07.

Sadly, they split up several years ago. The last time I saw them was just shy of five years ago, when they played at The Masquerade with one of my favorite local combos, now also sadly disbanded, Light Pupil Dilate.

Pansy Division "Bunnies"

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Pansy Division
Undressed
cassette
(self-released, 1991)

Such an inocuous title!

Such naughty lyrics!

Motörhead "(We Are) The Road Crew"

Motörhead Ace of Spades LP (Bronze Records, 1980)

Why do I love this solo? Well, for starters, it's nice and noisy. I love a good wha-wha workout, and guitarist Fast Eddie Clarke can't keep his foot off the darn thing on this song. What sends it over the top for me, though, is what happens at roughly the -0:45 mark. Eddie stops playing, but his guitar is still on and emitting howls of feedback for 15 or so seconds before he starts playing again. I can't help but picture him jamming away then momentarily passing out, mid-solo, when the speed in his bloodstream wears off. This album was one of my Christmas presents from my dad when I was 17. I knew it was due to be released sometime not too long beforehand, so I begged him for it, and he came through. A few months later, they came to America for the first time, touring with Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Ozz. They were the openers, of course, but they blew Ozzy off the stage. This is tagged magazine discovery because I first heard of Motörhead when I was 16 and their second album, Overkill, was reviewed alongside the lone Hawklords album, in issue 39 of Trouser Press. The reviewer savaged them, so when I found one of their records not long after, of course, I had to buy it. 'Twas a wise decision, though I had to check the speed on my first listen, 'cause there was just no way humans could play that fast!

Mofungo "Little Giant"

Mofungo End of the World cassette (self-released, 1981)

I read about this tape in an issue of Take It! magazine, which I'd bought because it had a flexidisc with an exclusive Flipper track. The tape sounded interesting, and several years later, I came across a copy at Joe's Record Paradise Too. Naturally, I snagged it (and have never seen another since). I'd write more, but I desperately need to get to bed. Suffice to say, it's a great album, and thank goodness I didn't throw my copy away when I thought it was hosed (one song is mangled, sadly).

KnowMassive "Fly by Night (Third Movement)"

KnowMassive MoodSwingSet CD (Moodswing Records, 2003)

The now defunct magazine Southeast Performer featured some of the poorest writing about music I have ever read. Every once in a while, though, an artist I didn't know would be featured and would sound worth investigating. KnowMassive (birth name Jason Atkins) was the featured artist in the July 2004 issue, one of the few I've actually kept. He talked about "listening to a lot of Can, Chrome, Nurse with Wound, Current 93, and Psychic TV" and "trying to incorporate those sensibilities into hip-hop." That, coupled with the photo after the break, caught my eye. The only hip-hop I'd heard remotely along those lines was dälek, so the prospect of more was appealing.

Taylor Hollingsworth "You're Lost"

Taylor Hollingsworth
Shoot Me, Shoot Me, Heaven
CD EP
(Brash Music, 2005)

As free music rags go, Southeast Performer left a bit to be desired (it's still around, but now called just Performer. The writing was almost always atrocious, for example. On the other hand, I discovered a number of good musicians and bands via their pages. As you've likely guessed, Taylor Hollingsworth was one of those.