Henry Flynt, RAGA ELECTRIC

Locust, 2002; available

7 tracks, 32:42

I'm back! I had to focus on schoolwork and other life events for a bit; did you miss me? Well, even if you didn't, expect updates more frequently and now on to the review!

The works of Henry Flynt aren't for the faint of heart. It should say a lot that he's probably best known by music fans for being kicked out of the Velvet Underground for daring to play Appalachian-style fiddle! Most of his recorded work is an avant-garde take on hillbilly and/or raga music, with a few rock and tape music albums as well*. As is often the case, most of these works have seen the light of day via archival releases such as this one. Collecting some experimental works from 1963 to 1971, RAGA ELECTRIC is some of the most intimidating Flynt on record. Well, for the most part anyway. Opening track "Marines Hymn" (1971) is a genuinely trance-inducing raga take on the classic military tune, performed on acoustic guitar and chanted vocals. This track is actually one of Flynt's prettiest, but it sure doesn't prepare you for the rest of the disc! The four "Central Park Transverse Vocal" pieces (1963) are exactly that: weird avant-vocalisations recorded in the titular tunnel. As crazed as they are, "Raga Electric" itself (1966) is absolutely insane! While musically it is a genuine raga performed on what seems to be multi-tracked electric guitar, Flynt's vocal performance defies most attempts at categorization. Shrieks, howls, chants, and general weirdness is the order of the day, and the resulting performance can be terrifying or laughable depending on mood. Fans of Ono and Galas could very well consider Flynt their male counterpart based on this performance. Finally, the epic-length "Free Alto" (1964) is self-explanatory. While a bit long, it does have some interesting squeals and skronks that make it worth hearing. This is a great collection with some interesting tracks, but the intense and abstract nature of the program doesn't make for everyday listening. Check out some of the albums in the footnote if you're a Flynt newbie and then pick this up; he really is an acquired taste.

*Other Flynt albums I can recommend are I DON'T WANNA, a lo-fi proto-punk gem with a full band (the Insurrections); C TUNE and PURIFIED BY THE FIRE, each of which is a forty-plus minute wonder of violin and tamboura raga; and the self-explanatory HILLBILLY TAPE MUSIC. These aren't nearly as intense as RAGA ELECTRIC and might make a better starting point.

Karlheinz Stockhausen, AUS DEN SIEBEN TAGEN

Harmonia Mundi, 1969; available

2 tracks, 46:19

The late Karleheinz Stockhausen recorded this series of pieces after a long depression. Two are represented here; I'm not sure if they're different versions than those on the seven-LP (!) box. AUS DEN SIEBEN TAGEN (ON THE SEVENTH DAY) is a classic of intuitive music. Stockhausen gave his musicians instructions on how to play (based on mood, interpretation, and other non-notational methods) and then let them take flight. Jazz guy Michel Portal sits in on various instruments (bass clarinet, tenor sax, E flat clarinet, bass clarinet, basset horn, and taragod); the other musicians, mostly French avant-gardists (it was recorded in Paris), play everything from electronium to tam-tam to darabuka. Stockhausen himself controlled the filters and potentiometers, used to distort and manipulate the sound of certain instruments. Both pieces, "Fais Voile Vers Le Soleil" ("Look Towards The Sun") and "Liaison" ("Connection"), are wonderful examples of guided intuitive improv. There are long stretches with few instruments being played as well as noisy clusters. I consider this a nice preview of the mega-set, which contains all eleven compositions (some in multiple takes). However, as a standalone album this two-track distillation is a perfectly great addition to any avant-composition collection.

Karlheinz Stockhausen, KONTAKTE

Wergo, 1963; available

Technically 2 tracks, 35:07

Well, it was about time Stockhausen ended up here! This disc is a performance of the title piece* spread over two tracks. Stockhausen and Gottfried Michael Koenig handle the electronics, while Christoph Caskel and David Tudor provide drums (and piano, in Tudor's case). For a hair over thirty-five minutes, this quartet manages to astound. The electronic sounds come in bursts, while Caskel and Tudor respond organically on their respective instruments. The effect is one of violence fading into tranquility, which is exactly what Stockhausen intended. It's short, sweet, and one of his most accessible works (!). I highly suggest this edition as a Stockhausen primer; if you're already familiar with his work, this is an important addition. There is another realization recorded in 1978 with James Tenney on percussion and William Winant on percussion. It' was released by Ecstatic Peace! on CD and vinyl in the late '90s. Some folks prefer this to the Wergo disc, but I find it to be a little less exciting.

*Composed in 1959, "Kontakte" exists in two versions: this one, for electronics, drums, and piano, and the earlier electronics-only version. The electronic sounds are identical, but it is worth seeking out the other version to hear how much the drums and piano add to the piece.

William S. Burroughs, BREAK THROUGH IN GREY ROOM

Sub Rosa, 1986; available

15 tracks, 44:53

I'm going to assume everyone reading this knows who Burroughs is; if you don't, you should fix that! This album collects various sound experiments and snippets recorded between 1960 and 1976 by Burroughs and his assistant Ian Sommerville. The massive "K-9 Was In Combat With The Alien Mind-Screens" is an epic take on radio plays, cut-up style. Here, Burroughs and Sommerville mesh bizarre spoken dialogues with pecussive loops, static, and all sorts of noises; several other tracks on the comp get briefly sampled too. Different techniques are used on each song for a unique twist on audio manipulation. "Silver Smoke Of Dreams", "Recalling All Active Agents", "Present Time Exercises", and "Working With The Popular Forces" are the standouts. Each one takes a bit of spoken word and then proceeds to warp it in glorious ways. Some tracks are cut-ups interspersed with static and other noise, while others layer sound on sound or create strange tones by inching the tape forward or backward manually. Then there are the few tracks that stand out for not being manipulated. "Origin And Theory Of The Cut-Ups" is just Burroughs explaining the process, while "Junky Relations", "Burroughs Called The Law", and "Interview With Mr. Martin" are readings of his written work. The short "Joujouka" tracks are recording of that village's Master Musicians, made while Burroughs and Ornette Coleman were visiting Morocco. This whole collection is very hard to get into if you're not a fan of the avant-garde, and even a few dedicated avant fans will find this to be a bit much. However, it has immense historical value as an influence on industrial music (Genesis P-Orridge actually supplied a lot of the source tapes!) and as a fairly successful translation of Burroughs' written work into sound.

Noah Howard, THE BLACK ARK

Freedom, 1972; reissued by Bo'Weavil; available

4 tracks, 40:38

This legendary free jazz album is finally readily available, and boy is it a doozy! Having recorded previously for ESP-Disk', Noah Howard put together a radical septet in 1969 for THE BLACK ARK. It isn't certain why its release was delayed for three years. The other players are trumpeter Earl Cross, conga-player Juma Sultan (who also played with Jimi Hendrix), drummer Mohammed Ali (not the boxer, but drummer Rashied's younger brother), pianist Leslie Waldron, bassist Norris Jones, and the legendary Arthur Doyle on tenor sax(his debut performance!). Most of these players went on to other things, and all were obscure masters of their respective instruments. Definitely in the same category as Ayler or Takayanagi and Abe, this is jazz set to "destroy". The four tracks all begin and end with a more-or-less melodic theme; the funky "Domiabra" and Asian-tinged "Mount Fuji" (the longest tracks at 10:20 and 15:32) are most remarkable in this regard. The middles, however, all descend into noisy free-for-alls. Howard and Cross are every bit as riotous as Doyle, and each man's solo involves lots of shrieking and honking. The rhtyhm section holds its own nicely. Waldron attacks the piano in a percussive manner, while Ali manages to provide furious pounding and blasting or restrained rolling according to the other players' whims. Juma's conga adds another layer of strangeness, with its trippy delay effect creating a unique sound. The Bo'Weavil CD issue comes housed in a very nice thick card sleeve, almost like a mini-LP, with an inner sleeve for the CD itself; it's also available on vinyl. The reporduction of the orginal liner notes plus new commentary by Oren Ambarchi adds to the overall wonder of this album. If you're at all interested in free jazz, you probably need this and I heartily recommend it. I will even go on record saying I enjoy this one album far more than ANYTHING Ayler recorded!

The Blue Humans, LIVE - N.Y. 1980

Audible Hiss, 1995; out of print

4 tracks, 68:50

Here's a recipe for you. Add two parts free jazz to one part no wave. Place the ingredients on a stage; let them boil for approximately sixty-nine minutes. This recipe yields one copy of this album.

Recorded live at Hurrah on March 12, this is the earliest document of Rudolph Grey's Blue Humans. Grey was no stranger to the underground; he had teamed up with Von LMO (in Red Transistor and Why You Murder Me) and Mars, providing his noisy guitar textures and occasional barked vocals. He had also performed with drummer Beaver Harris in a duo setting. Harris had an impressive resume, gracing sessions by Ayler, Shepp, and others. These duos were some of the first performances using the Blue Humans monkier (a few earlier performances featured a duo of Grey and percussionist Rashid Baker). Along the way, Grey had discovered/become a fan of Arthur Doyle; in fact, Grey was present at the Doyle show which was released as ALABAMA FEELING. Previously reviewed on this blog, Doyle's reed playing is absolutely in a class of its own. The review quoted by Grey in the liners describes Doyle as "dangerous" and "nasty"; no wonder Grey was intrigued! The three came together around 1980, bringing their crazed free jazz to post-punk audiences. On this particular night, all three players are in top form. Harris can provide a light atmospheric backing or the full-on clanging and bashing usually associated with this music. Either way, he never settles down, providing a near-constant percussive backdrop for Grey and Doyle. The former shows remarkable restraint; clearly Rudolph respected his fellow players, for his feedback-drenched strumming and slashing meshes perfectly with the others. That leaves Doyle, who goes about as crazy as you'd expect! Doubling on tenor sax and flute, Doyle's shrieks and flutters are always perfect. Fans of his ALABAMA FEELING or Noah Howard's THE BLACK ARK certainly won't be disappointed! Interestingly, there are several points over the long "tracks"* where one or more players will duck out to allow the others to shine. Mostly this involves Doyle and Grey leaving room for the other, but there are several points (in the third track, especially) where it's just Doyle and his horn. The recording quality is pristine; if it wasn't for the enthusiastic applause you wouldn't think it was live! This is yet another gem which has been allowed to go out of print; it's also quite hard to find for under $20. If you have even a passing interest in truly outrageous free jazz, the no wave scene, or the early days of punk/jazz fusion, I suggest you make the effort to get this.

Doyle would leave for France, briefly replaced by Charles Tyler. Grey and Doyle still collaborate to this day, though the Blue Humans seem to have fallen by the wayside. In particular, Grey's TRANSFIXED features a stunning Doyle performance, while the Arthur Doyle Quartet's LIVE AT THE COOLER documents Doyle, Grey, bassist Wilbur Morris, and drummer Tom Surgal in a particularly fiery '95 show. Other Blue Humans lineups have included Surgal, Alan Licht, Rashied Ali, Charles Gayle, and Jim Sauter. Particularly interesting is their sole studio album, CLEAR TO HIGHER TIME (with Licht and Surgal). Harris also appears on the Blue Humans' INCANDESCENCE (with Grey and Sauter; also highly recommended). He kept playing free jazz until his death in 1991.

*None of the tracks have names, and the four indexed have times of 21:02, 6:44, 29:46, and 11:15.

Franco Battiato, SULLE CORDE DI ARIES and CLIC

Bla Bla, 1973; reissued by BMG; available

4 tracks, 33:26



Bla Bla, 1974; reissued by BMG; available

7 tracks, 32:07

Battiato's amazing first two albums, FETUS and POLLUTION, were reviewed here a while ago. It's about time I got to the other two albums from his classic early quartet!

For SULLE CORDE DI ARIES, Battiato is joined on every track by percussionist Gianfranco D'Adda and guitarist/mandolinist Gianni Mocchetti*. He has several guest artists across the tracks as well, from violin to recited vocals. Battiato himself tackles the VCS3, guitar, prepared piano, and kalimba. A distinct retreat from the rock touches of POLLUTION, SULLE finds Franco somewhere between modern composition and cosmic pop-rock. The sidelong "Sequenze E Frequenze" is mostly an electronic pulse, anchored by drums and other touches. It easily rivals the best cosmic music from Germany, and might even surpass some of the better-known acts in that style. The B-side is made up of three shorter tracks. The instrumental "Aries" and moody near-classical "Aria Di Rivoluzione" show how much Battiato has progressed from the almost naive FETUS. "Da Oriente A Occidente" starts with a VCS3 whine and double-tracked, slightly out-of-phase vocals, leading to a wonderfully folky tune that ends the album quite unexpectedly. Definitely his most assured outing to this point, SULLE CORDE DI ARIES would be hard to beat.

Leave it to Franco to beat it! Dedicated to none other than Karlheinz Stockhausen, CLIC was Battiato's first real stab at modern composition. D'Adda and Mocchetti are back (with Mocchetti playing bass and guitar rather than mandolin); Juri Camisasca and Pietro Pizzamiglio are credited with vocal effects, and the Quartetto Ensemble del Conservatorio di Milano also helps out a bit. This time around, Battiato himself takes on piano, organ, mandolin, VCS3, "crystals" and "metals"(!). Only the stunning "No U Turn" features Franco's singing; the rest of the album is avant-instrumental music of a high caliber. "Rien Ne Va Plus - Andante" and "Ethika Fon Ethica" are brief but humorous sound collages; they may not be the best examples of this style, but they're still fun! Several tracks are absolutely gorgeous electronic pieces, including the minimal "Il Mercato Degli Dei" and the stunning "I Cancelli Della Memoria". "Propriedad Prohibida", while ostensibly a joking jab at the more-left-wing Italian prog acts, is a perfectly stunning piece of synth bliss. With CLIC, Battiato showed the world that he was indeed an artist to take seriously.

These albums are available as fairly priced Italian imports. Both are highly recommended, and with POLLUTION and FETUS they form an impressive early body of work. From here, Battiato would go further into experimentation; unfortunately, and as previously mentioned, for a while this meant whole sides of two piano notes being struck repeatedly. From there, he went into his pure pop phase and out of my realm of interest.

*D'Adda and Mocchetti were an essential part of the early Battiato sound; they also appeared on FETUS and POLLUTION. Sadly, CLIC was their final appearance on a Battiato album.

Damenbart, IMPRESSIONEN '71

DOM Elchklang, 1989; reissued by Psychedelic Pig; apparently available

Psychedelic Pig CD: 8 tracks, 59:31

When it was released, this was claimed to be a long-lost krautrock artifact. In reality, it was recorded around the time it was released by neo-krautrock/industrial tricksters Hirscht Nicht Aus Sofa (better known as H.N.A.S.). One major clue is the supposed band photos; the fake beards are fairly obvious! While the hoax aspect does raise questions, this is still really good in a kraut-revival kind of way. With such lengthy tripfests as "Innovative Schwingungen" and "Marihuanabrothers", Damenbart manage to sound convincingly like a genuine relic rather than a then-current pastiche. Their sound draws primarily from the spacier realms of krautrock, but there's plenty of odd sounds and tape manipulation along the way. Only the advanced synths used truly give its real age away. For the CD reissue, four previously unreleased tracks have been tacked on. One claims to be "live in Sief, 1972" while the others are session outtakes, but I'm willing to bet they're all studio recordings. These blend perfectly well with the rest of the album; in fact, the supposedly live "Ich Bin Der Wind" is one of the best tracks! While not truly essential, this would definitely be of interest to krautrock fans and H.N.A.S. addicts. I truly am not sure about its availability, but several online stores list it as being still in print.

Et Cetera, KNIRSCH

Note: The reissue is credited to Wolfgang Dauner on the spine

MPS, 1972; reissued by HGBS; available

5 tracks, 44:55

Ah, Wolfgang Dauner. He's definitely been mentioned here before! The man has covered so much ground in his career, but his experimental work is what I like best (shocking, I know). This was the second album by his band Et Cetera. While they never had a truly set lineup, Dauner and usual percussionist Fred Braceful appear on all three of their releases. On KNIRSCH, Braceful and Dauner are joined by guitarist Larry Coryell, drummer Jon Hiseman, and bassist Günter Lenz. Coryell gets writing credit on opening number "The Really Great Escape", which is honestly quite out of place, being a scorching hard rock tune! The remaining four pieces are all written by Dauner, and they're far more abstract. "Sun" is a pretty jazz number, filled with inventive guitar lines and delicious interplay between the percussionists. The epic "Yan" takes things way out there, sounding something like a cross between Herbie Hancock circa SEXTANT and musique concrete. Richard Ketterer provides "sounds + voices" for "Yan"; good luck figuring out which is which. The equally epic "Tuning Spread" is excellent electro-jazz-rock fusion, while closer "Yin" slinks along in a distinctly Eastern way. Taken as a whole, this almost sounds like different tracks from different bands. Such is the Dauner way! Not a moment is wasted (even "The Really Great Escape" holds your attention the whole way through), and this would be a gem in ANY band's discography. Luckily, unlike most Dauner releases, this is relatively easy to find, and I highly suggest doing so. Now if someone would just reissue OUTPUT! (Oh, and if you can find it, I strongly recommend Et Cetera's self-titled debut as well!)

Opus Avantra, INTROSPEZIONE (a.k.a. DONNELLA DEL MONACO)

Trident, 1974; reissued by Artis and Arcangelo; available

Artis CD; 11 tracks, 46:07

The long-running Opus Avantra sought to combine the avant-garde with the traditional (hence AvanTra). Alfredo Tisocco is both the pianist/keyboardist and the musical mastermind; divine singer Donella Del Monaco* is the lyrical genius. Flautist Luciano Tavella, violinists Enrico Professione and Pieregidio Spiller, cellist Riccardo Perraro, drummer Pierdino Tisato, and percussionist/effects man Tony Esposito round out the group on this, their debut outing. While definitely within the classically influenced realm of most of their Italian contemporaries, Opus Avantra bring more than a bit of avant tweaking to their sound. The two-minute title track** opens the album; it's a bizarre bit of musique concrete, leading directly into the next song. Track two, "Les Plaisirs Sont Doux", features Del Monaco's gorgeous vocals singing French against a purely classical backdrop, accompanied by a spoken word double-tracking. From here highlights are hard to pick out, as the music veers from beautiful folk to ominous dark prog, always peppered with bits of odd production and sound effects. The drumming throughout is definitely jazz-rock inspired, which makes for an interesting accompaniment to what is otherwise a mostly classical lineup. The closing "Rituale" brings everything to a furiously rocking end, with proto-breakbeat percission and the most frenzied performance by Del Monaco. As a bonus, the Artis CD contains "Introspezione (Integrale)", which is the full six-minute version of the title track. In this form, it's an even more stunning bit of concrete experimentation. While all their albums are worth a listen, this debut outing is simultaneously Opus Avantra's most daring and enjoyable work. I love it, even if I don't understand any of the (mostly Italian) lyrics!

*Donella Del Monaco would be absent on Opus Avantra's next outing, but she's on most of their other albums. She also has a solo career that might be worth investigating.

**"Introspezione" (and by extension, "Introspezione (Integrale)") is credited to Tisocco, Esposito, Giorgio Bisotto, and Mireno Tisato.

Rune Lindblad, DEATH OF THE MOON: ELECTRONIC & CONCRETE MUSIC 1953-1960

Pogus, 1997; available

8 tracks, 73:54

The late Rune Lindblad (1923-1991) was a true pioneer, yet he's all but unknown to the majority of music fans and scholars. Actually, none of the pieces collected here were released in any form until 1988! This is a true shame, for this disc contains some incredible examples of mixed electronic music. By "mixed" I mean Lindblad used both pure electronic and concrete sources. True, contemporaries like Dockstader and (earlier) Stockhausen did the same thing; however, at the time most composers favored one technique or the other, and they tended to be outspoken against the other. Audiences and critics hated his music at the time, but now it stands as a truly astounding body of work. As the title makes clear, DEATH OF THE MOON covers 1953 to 1960. The sound quality can be murky at times, but better than expected given the age of the source material. The pieces are presented in chronological order, and they definitely do plot a progression in technique and resources. My absolute favorite of the bunch is the incredible "Evening (Op. 7)"* from 1956. It's truly difficult to describe, but suffice to say it has some startling no wave-esque guitar alongside Lindblad's unidentifiable concrete sounds. The lengthy "Optica 1 (Op. 16)", composed from 1959 to 1960, also deserves mention. Apparently using actual video tape (as sound source or recording medium, I'm not sure), this squelchy sequence of bursts and blips sounds oddly like much-later glitch! From a technical standpoint, "Party (Op. 1)" from 1953 is the most primitive track, sounding like little more than bits of conversation fading in and out of a bed of feedback; rest assured, it's still a great listen! Early industrial music is the best possible comparison, and considering the age and obscurity of these pieces, it's sadly not shocking that Lindblad wasn't hailed as a VERY early pioneer of that genre. Now that his catalog is more available, everyone with even a passing interest in early electronic music can experience true masterpieces of the genre. Pogus' companion volume OBJEKT 2 covers 1962 to 1988, while the Swedish lable Elektron put out a two-disc eponymous compilation collecting unreleased pieces from 1960 to 1980. Both of these are as highly recommended as DEATH OF THE MOON. While harder to find, the 1975 LP PREDESTINATION is also worth hearing, but be aware it favors electronics over concrete sounds.

*With rare exceptions, most Lindblad compositions end in "(Op. #)".

Jacques Berrocal, PARALLÈLES

d'Avantage, 1977; reissued by Alga Marghen; available

Alga Marghen edition: 10 tracks, 61:14

Jacques (he wasn't Jac just yet!) Berrocal has been reviewed here before. This, his second album, is probably the single best-known thing he ever did. The reason for that is the avant classic "Rock'n'Roll Station", which Nurse With Wound later covered*. Here, it is scored for the powerful voice of Vince Taylor, Roger Ferlet's repetitive double bass, and Berrocal's bicycle improvisation(!). It's admittedly a great track, but it almost pales in comparison to the others. "Parallèles" itself is an improvisation by Berrocal and Ferlet, who trade off runs on valve trombone and regular trombone respectively for eight and a half minutes. Similarly, "Galimatias" is three minutes of Berrocal on solo cornet. It says a lot about Berrocal that these two tracks are endlessly fascinating despite their limited instrumentation. By contrast, "Post-card" has trombonist Berrocal and pocket trumpeter Ferlet accompanied by Michel Potage on guitar and voice. What's unusual is that this was recorded in a pigsty (yes, you can hear the pigs), and Potage recites the back of a random postcard. These four tracks made up the original A-side. "Bric-à-Brac" takes the honors of occupying the B-side, and it's a doozy for sure! In addition to Berrocal, Ferlet, and Potage (who play about fourteen instruments between the three of them), five other players are involved: cellist Philippe Pochan, double bassist Pierre Bastien, pianist Richard Marachin, and multi-instrumentalists Claude Bernard and Bernard Vitet**. True to its name, "Bric-à-Brac" is an epic noisy improvisation, never sitting in one place yet never really overdoing it either. It's subtitled "To Russolo", and that should tell you everything you need to know about how it sounds. Towards the end of the track, a version of "Rock'n'Roll Station" shows up. The album proper finishes on this delightfully unexpected note, but Alga Marghen has generously added five bonus tracks spanning '72 to '79. These range from the sound collage of "Villa Povera Naturale" to the electronic experimentations of "Cryptea IV" and "Lisylis Pavillion". The best, however, is "Occupé", a six minute gem from an unreleased Michel Potage LP featuring most of the players from "Bric-à-Brac". While this is a varied and unusual album, it's definitely a great representation of several sides of Berrocal. It's also my absolute favorite Berrocal album.

*Berrocal and Stapleton have worked together many times, going back to the second NWW album.

**Vitet, you may recall, was in the excellent Un Drame Musical Instantané.

***You may recall her from Jean Guérin's TACET; she also appears on Vitet's LA GUÊPE.

Tod Dockstader, 8 ELECTRONIC PIECES

Folkways, 1961; reissued by Locust; available

8 untitled tracks (of course!), 36:45

With this album, Tod Dockstader's unique brand of electronics was introduced to the world. Using both purely electronic and concrete sources, Dockstader brought his expertise at editing (picked up while working for cartoon companies!) to his music. It's impossible to tell what sounds are what. Different elements weave in and out, always giving way to fresh noises. It's not as random as this sounds; these are definitely electronic PIECES with a set structure and detectable progression. "Organized Sound" (the title of a later Dockstader LP) sums it up nicely. The lengthy seventh and eighth pieces are definite highlights, but there's not a single wasted moment on this whole collection. Even the monophonic recording doesn't blunt the impact of this disc! Folkways sure was bold to release this, but kudos to them. Dockstader would make more records, retiring for a long time after the stressful sessions for OMNIPHONY 1 (a story to be told in later reviews*). He's recently been active again and creative as ever. This is a pretty brief review, but know this: If you like early electronic music and you're unfamiliar with Dockstader, GET THIS NOW! For that matter, anything by Dockstader is guaranteed to please, so pick it up on sight.

*I have yet to acquire OMNIPHONY 1 or the compilations QUATERMASS and APOCALYPSE, but once I do they'll receive reviews as well.

SPK, LEICHENSCHREI

Thermidor, 1982; reissued by Mute; available

14 tracks, 43:18

While I'm not the first to review it (see http://thetintinnabularium.blogspot.com/2009/02/spk-leichenschrei-1984.html , for example), I feel the need to assure everyone that this is indeed one of the finest early industrial releases.

Australia's SPK* were one of the first industrial bands. For this nightmare of an LP, SPK were Oblivion (a.k.a. main instigator Graeme Revell; various instruments), NE/H/IL (Neil Hill; electronics), and (James) Pinker (percussion). LEICHENSCHREI was their second LP, following some intense singles** and the primitive INFORMATION OVERLOAD UNIT album. Members allegedly worked in the mental health field, a theme that carries over to the music. A heavily percussive mass of sound is the result, with disturbing soundbites and samples weaving in and out of the mix. It's all very structured and rhythmic compared to most contemporaries, but that's the ONLY concession to accessibility. This is every bit as disturbing and grotesque as Throbbing Gristle, with the prominent rhythms doing little to blunt the impact of the other sounds and noises. Well, pehaps it's not COMPLETELY devastating; things calm down slghtly towards the end of the album. Highlights are hard to pick out, and the initial LP release was divided into two sides with no distinct tracks (one side ended in a lock groove). With that in mind, while it's harrowing, this is best experienced from start to finish. Be warned it's still every bit as paranoia-inducing as it ever was, and definitely be sure you're in the right frame of mind before playing this. I'd hate to see what could happen otherwise.

It's worth mentioning SPK's DESPAIR video here. This is essentially concert footage mixed with some truly nightmarish imagery. The parts with Revell tearing chunks off a skinned horse's head and chewing them onstage is one of the less disturbing images on DESPAIR, and while it's not grosser than many FACES OF DEATH-type collections, the atmosphere is absolutely nerve wracking and I've never been able to stomach the whole thing. If you think you can handle it, watch it, but be absolutely sure you know what you're getting into.

Revell would continue SPK with a revolving cast (plus his wife Sinan), eventually lapsing into fairly unexciting synthpop*** before disbanding. He currently does soundtrack works for major motion pictures, which isn't as surprising as it might seem. Hill took his own life two years later. Pinker appeared with a few other bands (most notably Dead Can Dance) and is apparently still active in music.

*For what it's worth, SPK stood for Sozialistisches Patienten Kollektiv for this album; the "Socialistiches" on the reissue is a misspelling. On other releases it's spelled out as Surgical Penis Klinik, SoliPsiK, SePpuKu, and System Planning Korporation.

**The compilation AUTO DA FE collects most of these tracks (including the particularly vicious "Slogun") along with some of the better synthpop-era tunes.

***With the exception of the excellent ZAMIA LEHMANNI: SONGS OF BYZANTINE FLOWERS, which shows Revell and company succeeding at ambient music.

JOHN GAVANTI

Hyrax, 1980; reissued by Atavistic; available

14 tracks, 32:10

This would be the infamous "no wave operetta". I'm not sure who to credit this to; most sources list it as either Mars and DNA, Mars alone, or Sumner Crane. Some even list the band name itself as John Gavanti! Anyways, this bizarre concept album features a whole slew of New York no wave's finest. Sumner Crane of Mars does most of the singing; he also wrote the (included) libretto and contributes 3-string guitar(!), piano, and percussion. Also from Mars are Don Burg (see the Mars review for her other stage names; bass clarinet, abstract vocals) and Mark Cunningham (horns). Ikue Mori from DNA contributes strings and, on two tracks, percussion; on one of these tracks, DNA's Arto Lindsay and his brother Duncan also contribute percussion. The music itself is in a universe all its own. For the most part the tracks don't rely on guitar noise for their distinctive atmosphere, focusing instead on the assorted horns, bass clarinet, and string sounds. This actually is one of the closest things to free jazz in the no wave archives, since most of the arrangements are improvised around Crane's demented vocal performance, but it also veers towards avant-garde theatre. About Crane: His vocals are absolutely jarring on first listen, but they do grow on you. His style is best explained as a cartoonish monster/fake ethnic hybrid, coming somewhere close to a slightly more intelligible Joseph Spence. Given that the surprisingly coherent plot is a deranged remake of the classic opera DON GIOVANNI, his vocals are a perfect fit. However, I don't recall Don Juan seducing lionesses and grandmothers "in the beautiful autumn of life", but hey, artistic license. You really have to love an operetta with the classic lines "Oh Ancient Ocean!/You are nothing!/Vast you may be!/Next to me what are you?/I am beautiful pink and you are stinky green!" Did I mention the first thing John does, upon waking up in his volcano, is drink a glass of lava? Yep, you read that correctly. From that point on, Gavanti brags, boasts, travels the world, seduces literally EVERY female that catches his attention, is reunited with his long-lost assistant John Yellow, has his arm torn off by a white statue (but he has a spare at home, so it's alright!), and finally rides off into the sunset with the grandmother. Naturally, it's not quite as simple as that, but that's the general plot anyway. Burg contributes surprisingly tender lead vocals to "Mirror Mirror", and the track with the Lindsay brothers is a fairly straightforward samba piece, but the rest is pure avant-garde heaven for any experimental rock fan. It's worth noting that ths was recorded at Sear Sound studios, an all-vacuum-tube-equipment studio (most famous for being where Sonic Youth later recorded SISTER). You should definitely get the Mars and DNA retrospectives first before diving into this, but it certainly belongs in any good no wave/experimental collection.

Please visit the following link for Mark Cunningham's insight on the album, as well as some tidbits about the fan video (!): http://www.convolution7.ws/mark/bands/john.htm

Fluence, FLUENCE

Pôle, 1975; out of print

3 tracks, 37:16

It's been a while since I reviewed something from Pôle Records! Fluence is essentially Pascal Comelade, assisted by different folks on different tracks. Side one consists mostly of the wonderfully titled "A Few Reasons To Stay - A Few Reasons To Split". Featuring a guest appearence from none other than Heldon's Richard Pinhas, this starts with a melodic and soft synth pattern that is soon accompanied by Fripp-esque guitar and what may be a treated guitar loop or a droning organ. It's a classic example of French-style '70s electronic rock, easily ranking with the best of Heldon, Ilitch, and Pôle's other artists. Finishing side one is "Barcelona Tango", featuring Ben Soussan and Ph. Besseme (unfortunately, only Pinhas is credited with any specific instrument; even Comelade's contributions are left unspecified). This is a short jazzy number, certainly enjoyable enough but very much out of place. "Schizo" occupies all of the second side, and it's every bit as cosmic as "A Few Reasons...". Comelade is assisted here by G. Ibanez and J.P. Barreda. Starting off with an electronic drone and several inventive synth vamps, it drifts along blissfully, soon accompanied by some truly soaring guitar. About midway, it gets a bit more chaotic, with the synth and guitar sounds battling it out over the drone to the very end. This too is a great song, and the obscurity of this release is a true shame. As with most things Pôle, a reissue is long overdue. Comelade continued to make interesting music and is still quite active today. His other work is very much worth checking out, but most of it is fairly hard to find. There IS a compilation called BACK TO SCHIZO (1975-1983) which has a five-minute excerpt from FLUENCE, but it's hard to recommend due to its haphazard edits and poor sound.

Yoko Ono, UNFINISHED MUSIC NO. 2: LIFE WITH THE LIONS and PLASTIC ONO BAND

Zapple, 1969; reissued by Ryko with bonus tracks; available

Ryko: 7 tracks, 61:32



Apple, 1970; reissued by Ryko with bonus tracks; available

Ryko: 9 tracks, 65:36

I'm pretty sure you know who Yoko Ono is if you're here, so let's go straight to the reviews!

First up is the second of her three experimental albums with John Lennon. Coming at a time when Ono was a pariah, LIFE WITH THE LIONS didn't help her public image one bit. This album has the honor of being one of the most genuinely unlistenable albums I own, while also being one of the most conceptually interesting. "Cambridge 1969" is a bold opener: twenty-six and a half minutes of Ono freely vocalising over feedback, with slight sax and percussion by Johns Tchicai and Stevens towards the end. It also occupied all of side one. Side two is no more accessible. The sweet acoustic "No Bed For Beatle John" is up next to the self-explanatory "Baby's Heartbeat" and "Two Minutes Silence"; all were recorded in the hospital during Ono's troubled pregnancy. It's rather touching and sad to know that the baby didn't make it, which gives both the heartbeat and the silence that much more impact. The LP proper ends with "Radio Play", which is Lennon and Ono conversing while changing radio stations, even flipping around with "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" at one point. Bonus tracks "Song For John" and "Mulberry" are returns to the sweetness of "No Bed For Beatle John". It's not something you put on every day, but as a work of art, this album merits investigation.

PLASTIC ONO BAND (not to be confused with Lennon's identically named album) is much more enjoyable overall. Five of the tracks feature a lineup of Lennon, bassist Klaus Voormann, and Ringo Starr; the other, "AOS", is a rehearsal recording from '68 featuring Ornette Coleman's quartet. "AOS" is the most out-there track here, with Coleman's trumpet coaxing Ono into a frenzy. Bassists Charlie Haden and David Izenzon team up with drummer Eddie Blackwell to maintain the wild feeling. The rest of the tracks are very ahead of their time, predicting all manner of post-punk mutations down the line. Starr and Lennon sound like they're having the time of their lives NOT sounding a jot like the Beatles! Lennon skronks and skrees to his heart's content while still finding time for trancier modes of expression, while Starr surprises with consistently innovative drumming, be it fast-paced rock pounding or motorik-esque pulsing. "Greenfield Morning I Pushed An Empty Baby Carriage All Over The City" and "Paper Shoes" both feature Ono's use of processed vocals over nearly krautrock soundscapes, while "Touch Me" and "Why" rival ANY '90s noise rock act for ferocity. The long "Why Not" is about equally divided between these extremes. Ryko put three bonus tracks on here. "Open Your Box" is a funky little number, originally intended for a single. "Something More Abstract" is a short snippet, and "The South Wind" finds Lennon and Ono improvising with acoustic guitar and vocals. This is the truly essential Ono purchase.

Check back for a review of UNFINISHED MUSIC NO. 1: TWO VIRGINS soon. This little gem is a collage piece that, while savaged at the time, is the better of the two UNFINISHED MUSIC albums. There's also THE WEDDING ALBUM, which didn't impress me very much, and the wild live albums LIVE PEACE IN TORONTO 1969 and SOME TIME IN NEW YORK CITY*. Anything else credited to Ono and Lennon (though not necessarily to Ono solo) is FAR more mainstream. Ono's massive FLY deserves special attention as well.

*This double LP features a side of Lennon/Ono/Mothers of Invention jams!

Toy Killers, THE UNLISTENABLE YEARS

ugEXPLODE, 2008; available

25 tracks, 67:36

Toy Killers was the percussionist duo of Mark E. Miller and Charles K. Noyes. When not providing dual percussion for artists such as John Zorn (on POOL) and Elliott Sharp (on ISM and CARBON), they created some of the most intense and deranged music from the no wave era. This CD compiles the only properly released Toy Killers track ("Victimless Crime", which appeared in '83 on the SPEED TRIALS compilation) alongside more than an hour of rare and unreleased studio and live tracks. Six of these WERE released as a cassette called HUMDRUM, but even Noyes and Miller are unsure when, and it's rare enough that ugEXPLODE's Weasel Walter has never seen a physical copy of it! The first eighteen tracks are a mix of short-to-average-length studio and live works, while the last seven are crazed improvisations. Everything was recorded between 1980 and 1983 (interestingly, some of the tracks aren't dated, but it's a good thing they were saved at all). Naturally, being limited to percussion would get stale after a while; luckily, Noyes and Miller had some great connections! Zorn, Sharp, Arto Lindsay, Nicky Skopelitis, Bill Laswell, and Wayne Horvitz are just some of the names that pop up on these tracks, each adding their identifiable mark while never overshadowing the core duo. One of the improvisations supposedly features Derek Bailey playing a bit and then walking off in disgust, but I can't tell which one. The liner notes by Weasel Walter and Anton Fier provide some great insight, Fier's being about a particularly spectacular glass-smashing incident. It's probably important to note here that "incendiaries", cocktail shakers, and saw are three of the instruments credited, and it's also worth noting that they occasionally set their drums on fire. The music is every bit as potent as that sounds, ranging from short bursts of DNA-esque skronk (Lindsay's vocals especially make the comparison apt) and rhythmic noise rock to such surprises as the sound collage of "24 Handkerchiefs For Roger Trilling" and a short but delightful collaboration between Miller and the Pe de Boi Samba Group (from HUMDRUM). Then there's the improvisations. At times they sound like early AMM jamming with the Blue Humans, and then some are even looser than that. Some reviews have expressed disappointment with the improvs; I think they're actually quite stunning for the most part. The sound quality is superb, and even the live tracks sound remarkably good. This disc would be a great addition to any no wave/Downtown scene fan's collection, and fans of the likes of Captain Beefheart might just like this as well. Look for new Toy Killers recordings soon, featuring Weasel Walter and Henry Kaiser amongst others!

Please visit http://www.myspace.com/toykillers; there are three tracks from this release up to preview alongside newer works, as well as a five-part commentary by Weasel Walter on this compilation's genesis. To purchase this for $10 (postage included!), go to http://nowave.pair.com/ugexplode/

Richard Maxfield and Harold Budd, THE OAK OF THE GOLDEN DREAMS

Two albums on one disc (see review for individual release dates); this compilation issued by New World Records in 1999; available

6 tracks, 66:48

It's an odd pairing, but this compilation works! Consisting of the late Richard Maxfield's ELECTRONIC MUSIC (issued by Advance in 1967 or '69; sources differ) and Harold Budd's THE OAK OF THE GOLDEN DREAMS (also issued by Advance, but in 1972), this is an hour plus of important and little-known music. Maxfield has been previously discussed on this blog (see the review for NEW SOUNDS IN ELECTRONIC MUSIC). ELECTRONIC MUSIC compiled four of his pieces for a short but delightful trip through pre-synthesizer machine music. "Bacchanale" (created in 1963)is essentially musique concrete, with Edward Fields reading a poem over a strange tape collage. Meanwhile, fellow artists Nicholas Roussakis, Terry Jennings, Fahrad Machkat, and Robert Block provide instrumentation (respectively: underwater clarinet, saxophone, violin, and prepared violin). The liner notes claim no sounds are of electronic origin, but there definitely is some sort of mucking done to the tapes. It's a fascinating piece, but the material surrounding it is even better! "Piano Concert for David Tudor" dates from 1961 and finds Mr. Tudor playing a prepared (I think) piano to the accompaniment of tapes featuring Maxfield manipulating the strings of said piano. "Amazing Grace" and "Pastoral Symphony" (both from 1960) are full-on electronic explorations, sounding light years ahead of their time. "Amazing Grace" even uses a tape of a preacher before Steve Reich's "It's Gonna Rain"; the results are at least Reich's equal! Maxfield's works occupy just under half an hour of this disc, while Budd's massive "The Oak Of The Golden Dreams" and "Couer D'Orr" (from 1969 and 1970, respectively) fill up the rest of the space. These are much more drone-based than the work Budd is best known for, and that actually works in their favor. Budd appears to be heavily under the influence of Terry Riley on these pieces while still managing to establish a distinct identity of his own. "Oak" is performed solely on a Buchla synth played with both hands (one providing a rich drone, the other beautifully improvising), while "Couer" features two tape loops of different notes (D-flat major and B major) played endlessly while Charles Oreña provides a saxophone improvisation; towards the end, one of the loops stops to interesting effect. Both of these tracks are peaceful yet never boring, and they provide a welcome counterpoint to Maxfield's considerably more abrasive pieces. The Budd pieces are also an excellent example of minimalism's influence on later developments such as ambient. Every serious fan of electronic music, ambient, minimalism, and related genres needs to find this disc; you won't be disappointed.

Area, EVENT '76

Cramps, 1979; reissued a few times on CD; availability uncertain

3 tracks, 39:39

Area was mostly known for creative prog rock. This release is certainly creative, but it sure isn't rock of any sort! Reduced to the impressive trio of Demetrio Stratos (vocals, though they're really used as an instrument here), Patrizio Fariselli (piano), and Paolo Tofani (guitar and synth), Area is joined by guests Steve Lacy (sax) and Paul Lytton (percussion)*. This is basically live versions of two pieces from the MALEDETTI album, "Caos Parte Seconda" and "SCUM" (here retitled "Event '76"). For "Caos", the band had pieces of paper with different "moods" to play in: silence, sex, irony, violence, and hypnosis. It's pure improvisation, with everything from crazy instrumental bursts to long stretches of restraint. Every player is in top form; extra consideration should be given to Stratos, who (as always) summons forth an incredible array of vocal effects and textures, not the least of which is some quacking early on. "Event '76" is no less free, but after the side-and-a-half of "Caos" it does drag somewhat. In all honesty this would be a bad introduction to Area's catalog for most since it's not representative of their work, but fans of free improv and the like can dive right in with no worries. For more traditional (but not less inspired!) prog, I'd start with CAUTION RADIATION AREA or MALEDETTI.

*Both Lacy and Lytton have several solo and group works worth investigating; actually, so do all three Area members present here!