The Fugs – second album
originally issued on ESP Disk… oh fuck it. I think I pretty much need to let this one speak for itself as well. go here to read a history of the band, which includes some details on the circumstances around this album. in some ways, including providing cover-fodder on one of their later albums, this group can be seen as a bizarre ancestor of Sun City Girls. but don’t take my word for it – listen to “Dirty Old Man” or “Mutant Stomp” for all the evidence you should need.
get it here
Ya Ho Wha 13 – “Penetration”
on the subject of this masterpiece, it’s probably best if we let someone else do the talking for us:
Ya Ho Wha 13 were formed in 1969 in the Los Angeles area by one of the most eccentric freaks of the time, a middle-aged beatnik called Jim Baker who believed himself a god and went by the nickname of Father Yod. Their extreme psychedelic sound, that employed tribal drums and distorted guitars in a deliberately childish manner (all unrehearsed live and with no overdubs, editing or design), was the ultimate product of the hippie era.
The band (tighly related to Father Yod’ religious cult, the “Source”, and to a vegetarian restaurant located in Hollywood) frequently changed name to The Savage Sons of Yahowha, Yodship, Fire Water Air, Spirit of 76, but the key players were always the same (Djin Aquarian on guitar, Octavious Aquarian on drums, Sunflower Aquarian on bass, and occasionally Sky Saxon of the Seeds).
Yahowa 13 are credited for Penetration – An Aquarian Symphony (1974 – Higher Key, 2004 – Swordfish, 2005), which stands as Father Yod’s masterpiece (or, better, Djin Aquarian’s masterpiece) and one of the milestones in psychedelic-rock.
Djin Aquarian wrote:
“The Penetration sound came out as it is because of all the band members inputs at 4 in the morning, which is when we recorded at this family meditation. Father Yod was the greatest influence in developing this sound with me. Father Yod was the leader and teacher of our commune of 144 people in Hollywood and it was he who felt called to produce, sing and play tympany and 40″ diameter gong, on much of the 65 albums we made, most of which have been destroyed (but 9 remain that are being re-released on Swordfish). None of the music or lyrics were pre-conceived. We built our own garage studio, recorded, did the art work, manufactured and distributed all on our own resources from working at our health food restaurant on Sunset Strip.”
there you have it, from the horse’s mouth.
get it here
Fifty Foot Hose – “Cauldron”
a CD re-issue of this now-legendary late-60’s San Fransisco psyche masterpiece was found for me by a collector/DJ/record-store-owner friend in the mid-90s as well (Forced Exposure had been all out of copies when I’d tried to order it from them at the time). like many others upon discovery of this album, it pretty much became a shrine in my collection for the next few years. I still go back to it fondly. since this version, it seems there have been other re-issues with more extensive inclusion of bonus tracks and such. this particular version, released by former band member Cork Marcheschi on his Weasel Disc label, features the album proper along with some demo versions of key songs and the tail-end addition of the group’s even-more-elusive “Bad Trip” single from around the same period. 14 tracks in all.
get it here
Group 1850 – “Paradise Now”
this Dutch psyche group was another of my mid-90s, Forced Exposure-driven discoveries. initially I came across their third album “Polyandri” and for a while, it was all I could (or cared to) find… lucky for me then that I eventually searched out their far superior first two albums (which I ordered from this site), of which this is the second.
get it here
Black Widow – “Sacrifice”
this 70’s British group first came to my attention through a tape-trader friend in the mid-90s. it was an odd sidebar for this particular trader, who was primarily interested in metal and almost never dabbled in other genres… but I had told him I was getting into older obscure psyche stuff at the time – this was around the period that I was first discovering the likes of Ash Ra Tempel, Guru Guru, etc… then suddenly a tape shows up with Pentangle‘s “Basket of Light” on one side and this on the other. the only way I could make any sense of it was that the lyrics for “Come to the Sabbath” struck a chord somewhere amongst his usual metallic persuasions… at any rate, a great discovery both then and now.
get it here
Farm – “The Innermost Limits of Pure Fun”
soundtrack to a 60s surf movie played by a group of musicians that went on to join such varying bands as Surf Punks, Captain & Tennille, Big Wednesday and even the 80s/90s incarnations of the Beach Boys.
get it here
Golden Palominos – s.t.
ok, we’re admittedly all over the map today… at this point the Palominos shouldn’t need much an introduction, but if they do read their wiki entry. but with a line-up of Anton Fier, Arto Lindsay, John Zorn, Bill Laswell and Fred Frith on an album released in 1983 and seemingly only available today if you can find a used copy… well, what more do you need to know?
get it here
Nervous Cop – s.t.
not-quite-music, not-quite-noise from this quartet featuring Joanna Newsom on harp, Zack Hill (of math-rock gurus Hella) and Greg Saunier on drums and John Dieterich on “programming”.
get it here
Unireverse – “Fabulous Sputnik Posse”
Canadian synth-weirdo trio featuring Brian Damage of the infamous Phycus. beyond that, the group’s own website tells the story much better than I could. this here was a mp3-only release in 2005 on the Phonique label, which evidently no longer exists (the domain name is currently for sale). in the meantime,
get it here
UFO or Die – “Cassettetape Superstar”
Eye and Yoshimi’s project which IIRC precedes Boredoms, but did continue to run concurrently to their more well-known incarnation for a while. fans of early Boredoms will know what to expect here as it’s much in the same vein: short, almost thrash-y bursts with Eye’s usual yelping and noodling over more bass-and-drums spazz. some ridiculously-priced copies of this have shown up on Amazon recently… who knew. at those prices though, you’ll probably want to get it from us instead.
so, get it here
Null – “Terminal Beach”
here’s an outing of solo ambient guitar work which is incredibly peaceful in comparison to K.K. Null’s efforts with Zeni Geva or ANP (whose “Metacompound” release I posted here a while back). in fact, with his other work in mind, this disc came as a pleasant surprise when I received it during a trade with our friends at The Ceiling (not sure if they have any copies left however).
get it here
Magical Power Mako – “Music from Heaven”
apparently around in one form or another since the 70s, I first became aware of Mako via the same paper Forced Exposure catalog that introduced me to Ghost. in fact, I believe I ordered this disc at the same time as “Temple Stone” which I posted here a little while back. this disc has a very quirky four-track type of quality and, although multiple tracks are listed on the insert it plays through as one complete track – something Mako has done on more than one release…
get it here
Acid Mothers Temple – “Magical Power from Mars”
the first three tracks of this were originally issued as a series on single-track eps, then later compiled on this disc with the addition of the fourth track. this was my introduction to ACM… not their best album by a long shot but not a bad place to start either. these tracks lean pretty heavily on Hiroshi Higashi’s keyboard work.
get it here
New York Noise 2 (Various)
second volume of this compilation (not sure if it became a series beyond this or not) which also features tracks by some artists I’ve posted full-lengths by previously (Del-Byzanteens, Ut, Y Pants, Mofungo) and other well-known NY’ers (Sonic Youth, Rhys Chatham, The Static).
get it here
New York Noise – Dance Music from the New York Underground 1978-1982 (Various Artists)
continuing with a series of NYC-based compilations today, this particular comp. features tracks by many artists who I’ve posted full-length albums by already (Liquid Liquid, ESG, Theoretical Girls) and some other well-knowns of the era (DNA, Mars, Contortions, Material, Bush Tetras, etc). split into two parts due to length.
part one here
part two here
No New York (Various – Mars, DNA, Contortions, Teenage Jesus)…
starting early on Saturday night because I don’t know if my hung-over ass will be able to handle posts tomorrow. at any rate, if this needs an introduction then you really need to get out of that cave you’ve been dwelling in.
Musica Transonic – “Orhtodox Jazz”
another one of those Japanese “supergroups”, this is Asahito Nanjo of High Rise and Mainliner, Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Happy Family, Koenjihyakkei, Vasilisk, etc – as if you didn’t know) and Makoto Kawabata (Acid Mothers Temple main man – which you also knew already, right?).
get it here
Mainliner – “Mainliner Sonic”
for me, the relevant connection between Mainliner and High Rise is the fact that I discovered both bands and bought both of these discs at the same time. but aside from that, they also share bassist Asahito Nanjo – probably not a trivial detail.
Mainliner is a bit more over the top – literally. this recording sounds like the needles on the recording console would have been buried in the red, probably to the point of snapping off the meters completely.
get it here
High Rise – “Disallow”
in my usual habit of tying things together (or trying to at least), Pill was also a member of this Japanese power-trio at one point. and guess what? he played on this excellent album!
get it here
Gauze – “Fuckheads”
classic LP from this band, who also appeared on various compilations along with many of today’s other postees.
get it here
Lipcream – “Close to the Edge”
members of this band are apparently still active. to wit: tomorrow, I’ll be posting a recent gig that Pill from Lipcream did with Keiji Haino and Reck (of no-wave favorites Friction). in the meantime, enjoy this classic.
get it here
Outo – discography
for the most part I really think these bands need no introduction, so I’ll spare you anymore of my blathering for today.
get this one here
G.I.S.M. – “Discography”
I re-titled this folder… it was called “Discography” and might have even been released as such, but in actual fact it only contains one of the band’s three full length releases (“Detestation”) as well as a collection of their tracks that appeared on various compilations over the years: “v/ Outsider LP (City Rocker 1982, Japan)“, “v/ Great Punk Hits LP (Rebel Street II) (Japan Record 1983, Japan)“, “v/ Hardcore Unlawful Assembly LP (AA Records 1984, Japan)“, “v/ The Punx Cassette (?/1984, Japan)” and “v/ P.E.A.C.E. 2LP (R Radical 1984, US)” (info from this page)…
Guy In Suicide Mission? or something else entirely? regardless what the acronym means, this band is one of the early Japanese punk/grind leaders… years after their existence, there are still bands naming themselves after G.I.S.M. songs (such as Toronto’s Endless Blockade)
once again, this release contains the “Detestation” 12″ plus all of the tracks from the aforementioned compilations.
get it here
C.F.D.L. / Hellnation – split 7″
it’s “hardcore” day again, this time sticking to Japan. well, mostly – Hellnation, the band sharing this 7″ with Japanese spazz-masters C.F.D.L. are actually American. I always understood the acronum to mean Crazy Fucked-up Daily Life… but according to google, it could also mean Coastal Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, or… well, anyway…
get it here
Rovo – “Mon”
another project formed by Seiichi Yamamoto, this one is a definite oddity among his various groups. there seems to be conflicting info as to whether or not he participated on this release (it’s not listed in this discography) but regardless, it’s pretty typical of their trance-rock-fusion sound.
get it here
Omoide Hatoba – “Black Hawaii”
attentive readers already know that this Seiichi Yamamoto project is one of my favorites among the Japanese “avant-blender” bands. here is another fine release of theirs.
get it here
Marble Sheep – “The Gate of a Heavenly Body”
another Japanese group who need no introduction. featuring a former member of White Heaven and creating a collision between more spaced-out psyche and the 60-garage/punk-inspired variety thereof…
get it here
Altered States – “Mosaic”
“progressive rock, jazz-rock, psychedelia, metal, noise rock, electronica, funk, ambient, and even country music” are some of the influences cited for this nearly-legendary Japanese trio, who also participated as members of Otomo Yoshihide’s New Jazz Quintet, New Jazz Orchestra and Ground Zero (all of which have had material released on Tzadik‘s “New Japan” imprint). if there is demand, posts of their “Plays Standards” and “Live in Estonia” releases may follow. be sure to leave comments if you’d like to see those releases here. in the meantime, enjoy this one.
get it here
After Dinner – “Paradise of Replica”
second and apparently final album from this multi-instrument avant-new-wave-traditional-Japanese ensemble, which had a revolving door of members throughout it’s existence in the 80s.
get it here
Kousokuya – “1st”
although there have been many live recordings, this album marks the only time that this criminally-overlooked group (who by rights should be as revered as Fushitsusha) have ever made a studio record. in a recent interview I read with James Plotkin (of O.L.D., Flux, Phantomsmasher, Khanate, Khlyst, etc etc fame), he claims that he is or will soon be coaxing them into a second studio record that he plans to release. hopefully that will materialize, but in the meantime we can still enjoy this masterpiece.
get it here
Les Rallizes Denudes – “Blue”
one of the different “color-coded” releases from this near-mythic, secrecy-shrouded Japanese psych entity, which existed for almost four decades.
get it here
Kuni Kawachi with Flower Travellin’ Band
rare album recorded with members of Flower Travellin’ Band… to be honest until I did a bit or research, I thought it was another one of their albums. great all the same…
get it here
Taj Mahal Travellers – “July 15, 1972”
second release from this wildly experimental late-60s/early-70s Japanese psychedelic group, who incorporated middle-eastern musical influences and drones into their sound and in some ways rejected the idea of “psychedelia” altogether.
get it here
Evolution Control Committee – “Plagiarhythm Nation Vol 2.0”
featuring the now infamous “Rocked by Rape” single, ECC followed up their first album with this arguably more “mature” release. well, “mature” in terms of technique and vision, at the very least 😉
get it here
Evolution Control Committee – “Double the Phat and Still Tasteless”
I still remember receiving this one in the mail. I was doing the whole cassette-label thing in the mid-90s, and a fanzine as well; this came my way either as a trade or review subject, I can’t recall which. I wasn’t sure what I loved more: the audio or the packaging (the CD came inside a gutted old-school 5 & 1/2″ computer floppy disk). at any rate, this Columbus crew came up with a pretty-much-perfect title for this gem. the audio itself came in at just under 100MB, so I had to separate the scans of the packaging into a second folder to appease Mediafire. I suggest that you get the images as well though, so you can appreciate the whole package with this one.
audio here
scans here
Party Like It’s Only $19.99 (Various Artists)
probably the first compilation we’ve posted, this mish-mash of artists pilfering, twisting and just all around screwing with Prince‘s end-of-the-(20th)-century anthem was complied and released by Evolution Control Committee back in the day. and despite the title, it truly is priceless.
get it here
Tape Beatles – “Music with Sound”
another group in a similar vein who sprung out of 80’s underground tape culture. at approx 60 min. in length, this must have originally been released as – you guessed it – a C60.
get it here
People Like Us – “Recyclopedia Brittanica”
here is the plunderphonic project of British multimedia artist and sometimes Negativland-collaborator Vicki Bennett. it pretty much is what it is: Negativland‘s sensibilities filtered through the perspective of a female and a brit, with an altogether-too-appropriate title to boot.
get it here
Negativland – “Dispepsi”
today, our “theme” is plunderphonics (as John Oswald refers to it – unfortunately we don’t have his infamous release of the same name, as complete copies are apparently hard to come by in file-sharing land); or “plagiarhythm” as Evolution Control Committee called it on their second album (post forthcoming).
following from yesterday’s theme of SST records… although this particular album was not released on that label, Negativland did put out a thing or two on their roster – isn’t it neat when I tie everything together like that? lol. anyway, Negativland are pretty much considered both masters and forebears of the art of creating something new out of previously existing recordings. this goes well beyond simple sampling and into the realm of cut-ups and juxtapositions of anything and everything, with the usual end goal of either surrealism, humor or political statement (and sometimes all of the above). I don’t think I really need to spell out which corporate giant Negativland were doing a piss-take on with this masterpiece.
oh, and the best thing about today’s posts is that none of these artists can get angry that we’re “stealing” from them 😉
get it here
Elliot Sharp – “In the Land of the Yahoos”
a solo effort from this downtown-NY stalwart, who has collaborated with such a long list of people over the years that a list of them could practically become a novel unto itself. while schooled in and influenced largely by jazz, contemporary classical and perhaps some prog, his own work runs the gamut of all of the above. On this particular SST release, he takes a bit of a bent toward the stylings of no-wave – at least in tone, if not in playing style.
get it here
Mofungo – “Bugged”
no-wave/post-punk styled group, for whom their producer/cohort Elliot Sharp managed to secure a deal with SST for the release of what would be their penultimate effort. plenty of NY-isms abound on this excellent record.
get it here
Zoogz Rift – “Looser Than Clams”
SST had begun to branch out into more prog/art-rock territory, with projects like the afore-posted Univeral Congress Of and label-owner Greg Ginn’s own instrumental trio Gone. Zoogz Rift‘s brand of Zappa/Beefheart-like antics also found a comfortable home on the label; and perhaps a fan-base among those who, while disliking the larger prog dinosaurs of the 70s, were comfortable with the output of groups like Henry Cow and Art Bears.
get this excellent album here
Universal Congress Of – “This is Mecolodics”
Joe Baiza’s post-Saccharine Trust group (named after the title of his first solo album) went on to become a sort of free-jazz/funk oddity and continued to release their output through SST as the label spread out into more and more adventurous territory.
get it here
Pell Mell – “Flow”
my favorite album by this other one-time SST group, which was comprised mainly of producers from the 80s indie scene (Steve Fisk being among the members). an all-instrumental group, Pell Mell actually saw major-label breakthrough during the Nirvana-spawned “alt-rock explosion” of the early 90s. they based their aesthetic around the 60’s surf-guitar sound, but expanded enough into other genres to underpin that influence and avoid repetetiveness.
get this excellent album here
SWA – “Evolution 85-87”
stating a series of SST posts with this release, which compiles highlights from the first three records from this band featuring prior Black Flag member Chuck Dukowski. the most striking thing about SWA in retrospect, is that they played pretty much straight-up rock n’ roll in a scene and an era when that was about the least “cool” thing a band could do.
get it here
Sector 2814 