Mar 18, 2011

V/A. Grimsby Fishmarket 4 Norrkoeping 0.

0 Blurts

This ridiculously hard to find compilation was originally issued by Swedish pop fanzine Grimsby Fishmarket (I think in 1991). The Orchids track was an exclusive to the tape and never appeared anywhere else. Quite a few bands I'd never heard before, too.

1. Eusebio - Louis Philippe
2. Song About Girls - Bummer Twins
3. Walking Back To You - The Cherry Orchard
4. This Friendship Of Ours - This Perfect Day
5. Chick House - Roof
6. Barriers Of Mine - Are You Mr Riley
7. Silent Sigh City - Happydeadmen
8. Shaunty - Joe Clack
9. She Fakes Apples - My Finest Hour
10. I Fell In Love Last Night - Cerise
11. Kymri - The Apple Moths
12. Jennifer Anywhere - The Kitchen Cynics
13. Room - Bridge
14. Turn Over - Momus
15. Into The Morgue - Mary-Go-Round
16. Next Summer - Brighter
17. New World - Venus Peter
18. Chelsea Guitar - Blueboy
19. Not Unusual - BJ Eagle
20. The Light That Will Cease To Fail - Stereolab
21. High Rise - The Cherry Orchard
22. Windmills And Milestones - Bummer Twins
23. Wood Dust - Joe Clack
24. Ralph De Bricassart - Happydeadmen
25. Time Will Pass - The Rileys
26. And When I Wake Up - The Orchids
27. Birds Of Prey - Marble Hammock

Grimsby

Mar 15, 2011

The Lumerians. Burning Mirrors / Chevaux Fous.

0 Blurts

I got sucked in by the trippy cover art smiling enigmatically at me from the shelf of 45s in my local record shop. A gnomic, three-eyed, golden mystic looking out underneath a field of eyes (leaves? paramecium?) that transform into a convulsive wave of moire dots. Also, I'd just finished reading Invented Knowledge, all about fake histories and pseudosciences, and it had a chapter on Lemuria—a "lost" continent supposedly located between India and Australia—so it seemed fortuitous. I'm perfectly OK picking up an album based on its cover, and this one matched perfectly.

Burning Mirrors erupts in a spasm of pummeling drums and bass driving a deeply grooved krautrock beat, like the Silver Apples crossed with Hawkwind. It’s a whirlwind swirl of noise rock and psychedelica that builds up towering layers of whooping incantations, howling organ, and fuzzed-out guitars that quickly saturate all the available psychic space in the room. It’s a total brain melter. They’re getting comparisons to the Black Angels, and although they definitely build analog altars of throbbing reverb, it feels less retro. They’re looser, wilder, more exploratory and way more likely to just start going wiggy all over the place.

The b-side, Chevaux Fous, translates the Osmond’s Crazy Horses into a grinding echo-chamber of siren noise and triple-bad-acid occult freak-outs. They’ve got a full length out now on Knitting Factory Records that you should definitely pick up.

Burning

Mar 12, 2011

St. Christopher. All of a Tremble.

0 Blurts

Sarah 20
Released: August 1989
Tracks:
01: All Of A Tremble
02: My Fortune
03: The Hummingbird

Tremble

Mar 9, 2011

The Wild Tchoupitoulas. The Wild Tchoupitoulas.

1 Blurt

Today is the day I traditionally spend biting off the impulse to tell people they have schmutz on their forehead, which means that once again Mardi Gras has come and gone and I missed the opportunity to post this album.

I’ve never enjoyed the various pleasures of Mardi Gras, nor even visited New Orleans, although I did once attend Key West’s Halloween celebration, Fantasy Fest. I imagine they’re somewhat similar, although Fantasy Fest (when I attended in ’94 at least) was primarily being enjoyed by droves of middle-aged naked people in body paint. I do recall one delightful couple who had dressed from head to toe in vintage ‘50s duds and were wheeling around an old fashioned baby stroller. When people leaned in to see the “baby”, a little person dressed in leather bondage gear would leap out making boogada-boogada-boogada noises. So I guess what I’m saying is that if you’re looking for a getaway built around heavy drinking and nudity, Key West is probably the more family oriented destination. Although New Orleans’ celebration lasts all week and they could probably use the money more. As I’m sure you’re aware, New Orleans has not exactly been suffering from a surfeit of good fortune lately. The way things have been going, we all know it’s only a matter of time before Ben Stiller unleashes Fuck the Meters (“the hilarious and heartwarming tale of one man’s struggle to overcome dyslexia and join a New-Orlean’s funk band”1) upon the already punch-drunk metropolis.

Speaking of the Meters, they, along with several of the Neville brothers, can be found on this non-stop rump-shaker from the heyday of New Orleans funk. Despite the pedigree, the stars of the show are the Wild Tchoupitoulas themselves, a tribe founded by George Landry (better known as Big Chief Jolly) in the early 70’s. It’s a swampy stew of New Orleans jazz, R&B, and blues, with an emphasis on appropriately dirty funk. The songs are built around traditional call-and-response chants, with niceley rough and raw vocals from Big Chief Jolly and the rest of his tribe. If you’re a fan of Professor Longhair, or early Dr John, grab this now.

The word fonktaculastic gets bandied about a lot in favor of bands who would barely be in danger of catching gonorrhea if it were actually spread by rhythmic clapping. But the Tchoupitoulas are the real deal. They're more than infectious. They'll leave rabid hoodoo brand upon your brain.

1. Script available upon request. You may also be interested in my original screenplays Forrest Gump II: The Gumpening and Abel Gance’s Napoleon Dynamite.

Wild Tchoupitoulas