Tuesday 30 April 2019

Haunted House ‎– "Up In Flames" (Erstwhile Records ‎– erstwhile 002) 1999


Loren Mazzacane Connors wasn't always alone,or in a short lived duo with various scenesters,he was also,occasionally, in a group. Haunted House was the appropriate moniker for LMC's ghostly guitar apparitions, but this time enhanced by some slow motion Psychedelic whig outs. Its kinda like My Bloody Valentine or Loop played at 16 rpm,over the more sublime moments from that This Mortal Coil LP,but improvised.This could have been on Creation Records if they had a less nebulous singer,or a drummer, and the Label owner wasn't such a ginger twat.



DOWNLOAD these haunting tunes HERE!

Monday 29 April 2019

Loren Mazzacane Connors ‎– "Red Mars" (Family Vineyard ‎– FV69) 2011


Not only is Mars red, its dead also. Its been probed,and explored by robotic vehicles for decades now,and the best they can find is the odd jet of Methane escaping from the deeply frozen martian dust.
Lets face it, there is no life anywhere in the observable universe,well, at least within a few light years of our blue oasis floating in a very narrow goldilocks zone,and an endless series of good fortune.Our little Earth, you know,the one that we're destroying? And the inhospitability of our dead twin further emphasises that there is NO planet 'B'. We're fucked, and there's Fuck all we can do about it because the ,major cause of our demise is capitalism,the unsustainable manifestation of our own greed and short-sighted stupidity.
In extra-terrestrial life terms we are,supposedly, in the 'Intelligent' bracket,but, if there was 'Intelligent life surviving on any exo-planet within 50 light years in any direction we would know about it. There have been no, zero, alien transmissions detected from any of our neighbouring star systems.And none of the closest exo-planets that have been spectrum analysed, have any polluting or unantural elements. like CFC's, in their atmospheres.Suggesting that if there is any intelligent life on these bodies,they haven't yet achieved any equivalent of the Industrial revolution as of yet.....lucky for them.Of course, there is a very real prospect that there is a natural limit of tecnological advancement that if reached, leads to the inevitable self-anihilation of the incumbant species.A process that seems to have been triggered on our planet,and is currently advancing like a runaway train with no-one manning the brakes.
The odds of the Human race being alone ,at least in this Galaxy, have been slashed to odds-on favorite. And nobody can encapsulate that stark reality better than Loren Mazzacane Connors.
In space there's no-one to hear you scream, or anybody else screaming that we can hear to give us hope we're not alone after all.

Tracklist:

1 On Our Way 10:24
2 Red Mars I 1:56
3 Red Mars II 10:46
4 Showers Of Meteors 6:52
5 Little Earth 4:34


Sunday 28 April 2019

Loren Mazzacane Connors ‎– "The Departing Of A Dream Vol. III: Juliet" (Family Vineyard ‎– FV34) 2004


I'm world renowned for my incisive insight and i'm gonna take a wild stab in the dark and say that the Juliet mentioned in the title is none other than Juliet Capulet?.....I'm on safe ground there methinks?
Like an insurance advertisement, the fictional life of the prettier half of the star crossed lovers, whizzes by, leaving her wishing that she had taken out adequate life insurance to cover her funeral expenses for loved ones left behind. Still a teenager, I doubt that such responsibilities, post-mortem, had crossed her love addled mind.......but then again her family were loaded weren't they, so no problems there then. This was undoubtedly the whole point behind Bill's most famous play.Not unrequainted love doomed by prejudice.....it was to get youngsters planning for retirement and unexpected funeral expenses. She would have got the famed 'free Pen' and some argos vouchers just for inquiring.....although back in elizabethan times it would have been a free Quill and Ink, plus a token for a sack of turnips.
There are actually thousands of romantically inclined fuckwits who actually write to Juliet in Verona every year, for advise on affairs of the heart.There's even a person employed by the city of Verona, to write agony aunt style replies to these sad individuals!?
These people must not be the sharpest tool in the box,and can't have read the play to its tragic conclusion, then they'd know that Juliet killed herself and in no known circumstances could she give out advise on how Donna can persuade her 58 year old lover, Cedric, to leave his wife.
Loren Connors, manages to en'capulet' (sic) the tragedy of these doomed lovers, while at the same time reminding us that our life is speeding past us before our eyes, in thirty minutes of minimal guitar atmospherics.Drenched in lo-fi amp reverberation and tape hiss.
"Yea, noise? Then I’ll be brief. O, happy dagger,
This is thy sheath. There rust, and let me die." (Not a quote from 'Sid and Nancy' by William Shakespeares smarter brother).


Tracklist:

1 Her Love 20:39
2 Her Fate 4:54
3 Her Death 1:47
4 Juliet... 1:26
5 In Lovers Eyes 1:46


Saturday 27 April 2019

Loren Mazzacane Connors ‎– "The Departing Of A Dream Vol. II" (Family Vineyard ‎– FV22) 2003


From this side of the barbed wire fence, we stand and watch the dream of our lost childhood trapped in a past.While we drift away into oblivion until those days before disappointment and experience become nothing more than a blurred dot viewed from the wrong side of the event horizon.
There's a moment in life,or an event, when innocence dies,and we are irreversably sucked into a black hole with no prospect of mercy.All that is left are foggy recollections of what it was once like to have hope.
This fuzzy minimalist classic evokes a series of black and white images that flash across your mind as one floats in a black and starless void waiting to cease existence.We are essentially alone with our own personal illusion,then without reason, it stops.
But, on a brighter note, at least we have music and football you cry!!??...no wait, football has been stolen by the elite, and music has been killed off as a creative and relevant force by....oh yeah...the fucking Elite again!!.....we certainly need some kind of Event Horizon! Something like reclaiming the wealth that has been stolen from 99.9% of the suffering population of the Earth, and jailing the perpetrators.
The politics of Envy they would label this while they flaunt their fleet of Bentlys in front of TV screens full of starving children advertising charity causes to further heap the guilt on their slaves.
The Politics of Envy?...I'm cool with that, as long as they don't mind the Politics Of Violence which will inevitably come in their direction.
I hear JayZee, has had discussions with survival experts on how to pay his security staff after the system collapses, and money is worthless.He already has a fully stocked bunker system under his mansion for his fat arsed wife and himself.
The answer is,Jay Zee....hang on isn't that my Initials too???....the answer is, that your security staff are gonna kill you and take your stuff.
In fact who wants to survive in a world where the only survivors are useless fools like Kanye West and I wanka Trump.
Well, I'm off to my Bunker now, to listen to Loren Mazzacane Connors, and await the arrival of Planet Niburu......and NO, I AINT GONNA LET YOU IN.....not even Jay Zee when he's screaming for his life.I'd have to think a few seconds about Beyoncé though....then, still say NO! Anarchy is a great leveller isn't it?
Oooooooh the basic thrill of power!(Tee Hee Hee Hee).....but alas, it is just a dream.Life is not a Disney movie after all,especially if you were sexually abused by the hosts of the Mickey Mouse Club,like mind-controlled trauma-bots Britney Spears and Justin Trousersnake.

Tracklist:

1 The Departing Of A Dream Vol. II, 1 10:51
2 The Departing Of A Dream Vol. II, 2 1:44
3 The Departing Of A Dream Vol. II, 3 1:29
4 The Departing Of A Dream Vol. II, 4 1:54
5 The Departing Of A Dream Vol. II, 5 1:10
6 The Departing Of A Dream Vol. II, 6 1:39
7 The Departing Of A Dream Vol. II, 7 10:15
8 The Departing Of A Dream Vol. II, 8 2:24


Friday 26 April 2019

Loren Mazzacane Connors ‎– "The Departing Of A Dream" (Family Vineyard ‎– FV11) 2002


This maybe Loren Connors' best,most melancholic, work from a vast canon of unique nebulous guitar experimentation.
This is the sound of drowning, the sensation of falling, or recovering from an anaesthetic.A stark dream disappearing in a slowly swirling vortex of mist as reality pulls you away back into captivity after an all too brief escape.
The two requiems for the 9/11 attacks are particularly moving,shrouded in amplified tape hiss.
No need to mention the hundreds of thousands of post 9/11 victims that are rarely mourned to the tribute. As the lives of bankers,and stock traders seem to count for far more than any innocent muslim family vaporised by a Drone looking for 'Terrorists'.
I shall resist the temptation to go on a tiresome monologue about the 9/11 conspiracy,despite my earlier flirtations with the theory.I have looked into it a lot more, and all the paranoid theorums have been more than adequately deeeeee-bunked.....especially Tower fucking Seven!!!!
Yep, as unbelieveable as it may seem to an increasing number of persons under the spell of social media reverse mind control, a bunch of Islamic Terrorists....sorry...I mean terrorists!!!....flew some jets into some buildings, whose structural integrity was compromised, clearly, on live TV from many angles.....and, Collapsed into their own footprint, slightly slower than freefall speed.
No Hollograms,No free energy weapons, and above all absolutely NO controlled explosions.
The Paranoid Dream has definitely departed.
Feel free to argue otherwise in the comments section.

Tracklist:
1 The Departing Of A Dream Pt. 1
2 The Departing Of A Dream Pt. 2
3 The Departing Of A Dream Pt. 3
4 The Departing Of A Dream Pt. 4
5 The Departing Of A Dream Pt. 5
6 The Departing Of A Dream Pt. 6
7 The Departing Of A Dream Pt. 7
8 The Departing Of A Dream Pt. 8
9 The Silence (For NY 9/11/01)
10 And Sorrow (For NY 9/11/01)


Thursday 25 April 2019

Loren Mazzacane Connors, Jean-Marc Montera, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo ‎– "MMMR" (Xeric ‎– x 99.5) 1997



Although the sight of the names of the two most prolific Sonic Yoof Bores emblazened across the cover would put anyone off this record, it's actually one of the better Mazzacane Connors collaborations.
The MMR vaccine scandal, in which one doctor said it gives your kids Autism, therfore no-one on the entire planet vaccinates their kids against anything anymore,has nothing to do with this record.But if you play it long enough to any 'Anti-Vaxxers', while forcing them to watch clear evidence that MMR has fuck all to do with Autism, it could well,potentially, save 1000's of kids lives every year. So this album is potentially an anti-MMR aural vaccine......lets call it the 'MMMR' vaccine.
Loren Mazzacane is probably over powered by the 'experimental tuning twins' Renaldo and Moore, so it's mo(o)re their album than his. Whereas Mazzacane's solo work is more Novacaine than Mazzacane, here we are treated to much scrapping and banging, and doubtless, the two eternal teenagers with record collections on the album, would have whipped out their drumsticks to abuse their wildly customised guitar collection,and show off to their avant garde chums.
The first track is the more tunful, and mannered of the three,and is ,by coincidence(not),the track where the Sonic Yoofs are strangely abscent!
I'm only jealous.....its a great record, and I love Sonic Youth really........I think!?
Lets ask John Fahey,Grammy award winner, guitarist, avant-folk legend from beyond the grave, what he thinks eh?

"This is great improvised music. It is beautiful and complex and, most importantly, it breathes. As good and as moving as anything you'll hear this year."
John Fahey
Tracklist:

A1 Mazzacane Connors / Montera 11:11
A2 Mazzacane Connors / Montera / Moore 10:07
B  Mazzacane Connors / Montera / Moore / Ranaldo 20:35


Wednesday 24 April 2019

Loren MazzaCane Connors ‎– "Lullaby" (Carbon Records ‎– CR045) 2001


Someone who evokes a similar atmosphere of isolation and loneliness as Jandek,but without the pain, and has indeed appeared on a couple of Jandek records; is Loren Mazzacane Connors.
He has even out-produced the revered corwood representative, by more than two to one, in terms of album production.
He seems to be motivated only by the need to make music in an endless desire to get something out of himself.Even though he has had Parkinsons syndrome since the late ninties.
This probably helps in creating his unique haunting style.
Undoubtedly Post-Rock before either Post,or Rock.He's one of those 'Guitarists Guitarist', with all and sundry scrambling to do a collaboration.....and yes, Thurston fucking Moore has done at least one with him!
These collaborations usually sound like someone else playing over the top of what Loren Mazzacane normally plays,like two records playing at once...sometimes it works, mostly it doesn't.So my recommendation is to stick to the ,very,solo works,like this one.
The title of this ethereally melancholic collection of guitar lullabies, gives it away.A very pleasant and relaxing way to fall asleep.....forever, if necessary.



DOWNLOAD to fall asleep,but in a good way HERE!

Tuesday 23 April 2019

Various ‎Artists – "The Corwood Variations - A Jandek Tribute Companion" (Summersteps Handmade ‎– SUM HM 001) 2006


As every fucker and his granny has a 64 track digital recording facility in their bedrooms nowadays;and everyone likes or pretends to have bought "Ready For The House" before everyone elses granny did. It was inevitable that there were going to be far too many volunteers to be included on the two Jandek Tribute albums released in the early noughties.(get 'em Here! and Here!)
This CD is the chaff sorted from the other chaff separated from the few grains of wheat what made up the A-list on the two previous compilations.
The fact that someone called 'McCartney' appears on here should not go unoticed.Apart from that, there's no-one famous enough to be an obscure cult on here.
I promise....NO MORE JANDEK.....well at least until I get the latest few releases.

Tracklist:

1 –Cookie Pusher - How Many Places 3:28
2 –The Indicators - Cellar 2:29
3 –Jabon - Simple As That 2:18
4 –McCartney, Moulder & Nyoukis - Lavender 3:32
5 –Accubat - European Jewel (Incomplete) 2:37
6 –The Short Wave Mystery - Ghost Town By The Sea 2:36
7 –Sugar Bear - Spirit 1:58
8 –Static Films - Show Me The Way O' Lord 3:11
9 –Jack Walton - A Letter 2:33
10 –Monster Island - Naked In The Afternoon 2:51
11 –Tiltmaster - God Came Between Us 3:24
12 –Ape In A Tank - Go To Bed 3:19
13 –Burning Star Core - Hey 2:48
14 –Martin Way - Sense Of Reason 2:18
15 –Pengo - Hey Mister Can You Tell Me 3:59
16 –A Warm Palindrome - I Passed By The Building 2:00
17 –A Distant Chorus Of Handclaps - I Went To Hell 2:47
18 –Deluxx - Painted My Teeth 2:40
19 –LMP - The Beginning 5:15
20 –Mile 97 - Om 3:49
21 –Quaker Dynamo - Eziekiel 2:23
22 –Kemialliset Ystavat - Untitled 2:18
23 –The Golden Calves - Janitor's Dead 3:03
24 –Sinister Dexter - A Real Fine Movement 2:32
25 –Dirty Projectors - The River 2:13


Jandek - "Austin Tuesday" ( Corwood Industries ‎– CORWOOD 0823) 2017


The last post of Jandek Super Monday,and the last Jandek post until i get the latest four CD's.
Dysfunctional beat poetry backed by a primary school chamber quartet sounds like my kinda gig.
Shelia and Sterling Smith share the poetry duties affront scraping violinage,wandering clarinet,harpo marx style plucking,and the odd thud or two on the big bass drum.
Recorded at the Austin Library on the 16th of Feb,2016.

Tracklist:

1 Old Tin Roof 7:33
2 The Doves 5:40
3 The Sparkle 6:37
4 Ultimate Bet 5:18
5 When I Thought 6:45
6 Happy Girl 3:39
7 The Fence 4:53
8 Human Time 2:32
9 The Top 5:24
10 Strangely Serene 2:54
11 The Trembling 4:19
12 Touching My Bed 5:32
13 The Man With The Hat 4:03

DOWNLOAD so everyday is tuesday in austin HERE!

Monday 22 April 2019

Jandek ‎– "Hamman Hall" (Corwood Industries ‎– CORWOOD 0827) 2018


The soundtrack to 'Paris Texas' as reimagined by a patient in a secure mental facility on heavy anti-psychotics.Who, amongst his many splintered personalities,thought of himself as a version of Ry Cooder who had never left the Magic Band,on a valium and mogadon cocktail.
Reminds one of Loren Mazzacane Connors work,who I think must have had an influence on Jandek after his couple of guest appearences on "Glasgow Sunday 2005" and "Manhatten Tuesday". As absurd as it is to suggest that Jandek has any influences at all.It may be just a happy coincidence.
If you needed backing music to crawling through an post-armageddon radioactive American desert....no not Donald Trump country....an actual Desert; then this is it.The only time the use of a pedal steel guitar is,or has been, acceptable.

Tracklist:

1-1 Colorado Sky 13:25
1-2 Louisiana 10:12
1-3 The Shatter 7:42
1-4 Hey There, Beautiful 7:42
1-5 Orchid Eater 6:22
1-6 Albuquerque 10:45
2-1 When I Was 7:40
2-2 Since Sunday 11:15
2-3 Some Giving 7:31
2-4 That Was Life 7:29
2-5 The Painting 7:59

2-6 Back To Phoenix 7:57
2-7 From There 11:49

Jandek ‎– "The Ruins Of Adventure" (Corwood Industries ‎– Corwood 0787) 2006


Adventure is an over-rated commodity. Adrenaline Junkies being one primary example of human stupidity gone ballistic. Scraping the remains of an idiot free runner off the pavement around a bollard covered in human meat, is ,I guess one definition of 'the Ruins Of Adventure'.Another being a 'Normal' downloading and listening to this album in the company of his or her immeadiate family.There is a chance they would never speak to him, or her, ever again.A dream come true for many people,and for those who require this conclusion, this is the album for you.
This one is part of Jandeks detuned Bass series, and also contains some of the Rep's finest stretched out whining.

Tracklist:

1 The Park 10:08
2 Bluff Brink 8:10
3 Completely Yours 7:10
4 Mysteries Of Existence 6:42
5 The Ruins Of Adventure 14:28


Jandek ‎– "Maze Of The Phantom" (Corwood Industries ‎– Corwood 0808) 2012


Just when y'all thought it was the end,myself included, i've discovered that one has shamelessly omited a few albums from the long Jandek inventory.
This attempt at some neo-classical modern composition with a gloomy cover, and a female singer doing an impression of Les Baxters "The Passions", being one glaring omission!
Play this one to your intellectual friends,and pretend its an Estonian composer that they all should know the name of.Then sit back and enjoy their struggle to maintain their intellectual superiority.Its up to you if you tell them its Jandek or not.
It could easily also pass for one of Scott Walkers film soundtracks,which would be an acceptable answer also.
Predictably ,a far superior work to any of Sir Paul MaCartneys childlike silly symphonies by a country mile.

Tracklist:

Disc One
1-1 Part One 18:08
1-2 Part Two 14:48
1-3 Part Three 13:23
1-4 Part Four 13:59
Disc Two
2-1 Part Five 10:32
2-2 Part Six 15:49
2-3 Rehearsal One 7:07
2-4 Rehearsal Two 16:53


Various Artists ‎– "Down In A Mirror : A Second Tribute To Jandek" (Summersteps Records ‎– SUM0020) 2005



This is the last Jandek Monday,until we receive more New Jandek albums later this year.It being Easter,when J.C. (Jandek of Corwood) returns to his tomb after wandering the earth for 40 years. A fitting place to end our looooong journey into the inner space of Jandeks complete Discography
There are not many artists who receive the honor of being the subject of two 'Tribute' compilations, but ,somehow, Jandek has this dubious entry looming large on his CV. Also I noticed that I have infact posted "Glasgow Sunday 2005" twice, with different reviews attached!!!?...no-one else has that equally dubious honor on this blog either!You lucky Jandek you!
This follow-up compilation collects more obscure four four time versions of our hero's time signature-less ditties set forth to tickle your ear lobes.
Yes there's the normal smear of unheard of Indie bands from Oaklahoma,and the odd geezer we've heard of, like Six Organs Of Admittance, and at least one decent take on the Corwood Rep's reportoire......that being someone (Eric of Sebadoh)was brave enough to put music to one of Jandeks spoken word pieces from the beyond great "Worthless Recluse" album.
Of the two Jandek Tributes, i'd say this one is marginally the better of the two......but its better to stick to listening to the man himself in my humble opinion......but not too much as this stuff should carry a government health warning.



DOWNLOAD and take a long look in the mirror HERE!

Sunday 21 April 2019

Various Artists ‎– "Naked In The Afternoon : A Tribute To Jandek" (Summersteps Records ‎– SUM0010) 2000


You've heard everything Jandek has commited to tape,so now we have the 'Tribute'!?
As is par for the course with these, usually, truly awful arrays of third division Indie bands, this has a few listenable tracks....ie once, and a slew of stuff that totally misses the point of the person,or persons, who are being lionised.
For most of these acts, this was about who will win the fight to cover 'Nancy Sings', which is probably thee only actual song that Jandek has ever 'written'.....and that was patently accidental.
This was inexplicably won by some ernest young men with facial hair called Ivory Elephant?.....Who?
It would have been a far better idea to appeal to genuine misfits/outsiders who have never heard,or heard of Jandek to give their impressions of what the Corwood Representative is all about, because this rainbow of 'Normals' haven't got a clue. It takes years of isolation to understand what Jandek's music is really about.
I should imagine various Jandek albums are essential additions to the Hipsters record bag, ready to whip out at the fair trade coffee shop. Beard, Check, Short back and sides, check, copy of 'Blue Corpse', double check!
There's something unsavoury about rock stars wearing Daniel Johnston T-shirts or dropping hints about how R. Stevie Moore influenced their hit.Then, of course, Jandek will be mentioned as a pointer to how weird they are(n't).Then they make music to be liked by, as if they have never listened to any of these artists at all......Fuck I just noticed Thurston Moore guests on track 2*!.....is there any 'left-field' album he doesn't guest on post Sonic Youth/Marrige breakdown? There's also the obligatory downtown NYC underground artist,in this case Amy Denio, seeing the 'Art' in Jandek.
Its not unlike Nigel Tufnel in Spinal Tap saying how Mozart really influenced his composition called "Suck My Love Pump".
Also,I notice that they managed to get 'Low' to do a track,I've heard of them.Once thought they were pretty good until i watched a documentary about them, and found out that they were exceedingly Normal,Nice, and completely fucking boring as people.......maybe this was the intention, but it put me off......I'm as fickle as fuck, and proud of it.

Tracklist:

1 –Peter Weiss And Brian Charles - Quinn Boys II 4:33
2 –Dapper - Painted My Teeth 4:15*
3 –The Couple Scene - Babe I Love You 2:24
4 –Retsin - New Town 6:06
5 –Cassie Rose And The Pickled Punks - Spanish In Me 2:02
6 –The Choppers - Twenty Four 2:49
7 –Low - Carnival Queen 5:10
8 –Ho Chen Keit - Harmonica 4:49
9 –Kid Icarus - She Fell Down 3:40
10 –The Early Morning Initials - Remain The Same 1:04
11 –Gary Young - Take It Easy 2:52
12 –Psychatrone Rhonedakk - The I Woke Up Medley 3:49
13 –Ivory Elephant - Nancy Sings 3:24
14 –Las Vegas On Mars - Janitor's Dead 3:47
15 –The Goblins - War Dance 1:22
16 –Amasa - Sailors 2:48
17 –Monster Island - Road To Corwood / Lost Cause 2:39
18 –The Storkettes - Cave In On You 3:29
19 –Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't - Jessica 3:14
20 –Bright Eyes - Have You Ever Heard Of Jandek ? 3:46
21 –Amy Denio - Your Condition 9:25


Jandek ‎– "Glasgow Sunday" (Corwood Industries ‎– Corwood 0779) 2005



Now we have come to an end of pre-2019 Jandek albums,fittingly with the beginning.The representatives first known live appearance.
Just when we thought we had Jandek sussed as a reclusive hermit weirdo, who we will never see in public, he appeared, as if by magic, at The Arches, Glasgow, as part of the Instal festival,on October 17th, 2004 .Playing unannounced with backing from Richard Youngs on bass and Alex Neilson on drums, he seemed to go down well with the crowd.
For an unannounced act of questionable commerciality, the audience seemed to appreciate the racket rather too much to believe he was completely unexpected.Maybe they felt obliged to scream and howl,or someone held up cue cards, I dunno.
There's two new CD's for 2019 so far,including a studio one called "The Ray";but you'll have to wait for them....give 'em a chance to not sell out first eh?

Tracklist:

1 Not Even Water 10:24
2 Where I Stay 7:29
3 Darkness You Give 9:37
4 Sea Of Red 7:50
5 Real Wild 6:25
6 Don't Want To Be 5:55
7 Blue Blue World 6:42
8 The Other Side 6:48


Saturday 20 April 2019

Jandek ‎– "Austin Sunday" (Corwood Industries ‎– Corwood 0786) 2006


Recorded at the Scottish Rite Theatre. Austin, Texas. August 29, 2005.This one has a more of a bootleg feel and sound to it than subsequent performance recordings.
Its very electric era Jandek, with suitably freeform drumming and directionless basswork.
That's it.

Tracklist:

1-1 Throw Me Away 9:13
1-2 Ugly Man 7:12
1-3 Lithe Body 9:25
1-4 The Police 7:21
1-5 Run Away 5:32
1-6 If I Wanted 5:45
2-1 Wine You Devil 8:50
2-2 You Hold Me Up 5:37
2-3 You Just About Killed Me 6:53
2-4 Little While 5:36
2-5 Lonely Dog 6:51
2-6 Let Me Try Again 12:54


Friday 19 April 2019

Jandek ‎– "Newcastle Sunday" (Corwood Industries ‎– Corwood 0783) 2006




Live at the Sage, Gateshead,in north east England, May 22nd 2005. Finds Jandek in the land of scantily clad women going clubbing on a freezing january night;their male counterparts in only a t-shirt and moustache.Simple folk with simple tastes,who think their local Football Club is one of the 'Big Five', when they have never won anything since before world war two.I did once witness Leicester City getting a firm hammering of 7-1 by Newcastle United.The game preceeded by a performance by Lindesfarne......the less said about both those performances the better.....but at least we (Leicester City FC) have since gone on to win the Premier League and the FA Cup....so......HA! (Ed: Don't forget the Charity Shield)!

Of course not all Geordies (residents of Newcastle upon Tyne)are boneheaded hard cases.....I mean Zoviet France come from there, somehow I can't see them as plain t-shirt wearing moustachioed hard men? (although ZF are prime whingers in the free download department;which is why there isn't any ZF on this blog no more...silly boys...but links can be provided if requested)
Luckily for The Representative of Corwood Industries, the more erudite type of Geordie,(Brian Ferry and Sting accentless geordie types), had turned up in Gateshead to applaud our man in the black stetson.
Should have been called 'Gateshead Sunday' really?
Again, the lovable carrot top indulges in some tuning ritual before a few of the songs.He seems to have got it right however, as this sounds like classic Jandek from the electric albums,but with classier backing, and a couple of effects pedals.

Tracklist:

1-1 Depression 8:11
1-2 Other End Of Town 5:26
1-3 Every Morning 6:59
1-4 All Of A Sudden 6:57
1-5 Locked Up 4:33
1-6 Put It Up 6:08
1-7 Mangled And Dead 6:11
2-1 Some Other Name 6:20
2-2 Telephone Blues 7:08
2-3 Cottage In The Rain 6:35
2-4 Sheba Doesn't Have 8:48
2-5 Shadow Of The Clouds 11:17


Thursday 18 April 2019

Jandek ‎– "Glasgow Monday" (Corwood Industries ‎– Corwood 0785) 2006



Like a piano player in a deserted bar at 4am,Jandek helps you stare into your half-empty whiskey glass, and decide to end it all.The most pleasant method is apparently inhaling an inert gas, such as Argon,or Nitrogen.A feeling of euphoria accompanies ones dying moments,and seeing the faces of dead relatives is allegedly a distinct possibilty. The least pleasant method is doing it whilest listening to a Jandek record.His primary purpose is to reveal the bitter-sweet charade of existence in its naked form via the medium of music.He seems to be in touch with the long forgotten ancient art of understanding our brief tenure in this permanent 'now'. Resurrecting a long dead paganism (represented by the picture of the Dolmen on the cover?),which at least identified our real gods, the sun and the stars.

Basically you're a ghost driving a meat-coated skeleton made from stardust....what do you have to be scared of?

The nine parts of 'The Cell' ,a metaphor for the human body I assume,was recorded live at the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow,on May the 23rd, 2005.And marks the first release of Jandek on Piano,backed by some understated contrabass,and percussion.Our Corwood Representative, mumbles a slew of existential ramblings above his largely tuneful ivory tinkling.
Don't play this while relaxing in your flotation tank, or you just might drown yourself.
You have been warned.

Tracklist:

The Cell

1-1 Prelude 5:12
1-2 Part One 10:26
1-3 Part Two 8:25
1-4 Part Three 11:04
1-5 Part Four 9:15
2-1 Part Five 7:40
2-2 Part Six 6:21
2-3 Part Seven 7:51
2-4 Part Eight 6:29
2-5 Part Nine 12:10


Wednesday 17 April 2019

Jandek ‎– "Brooklyn Wednesday" (Corwood Industries ‎– CORWOOD 0789) 2007




Boy, this is a long one! Four CD's of the representative sounding like his records, very early in his live career at the Issue Project Room, Brooklyn, NYC, September 7, 2005.

It could drive yer average guy on the street into an inexpicable rage, or make a grown feminist cry.This is the epitome of 'Wrong'......four CD's of 'wrong'.
This isn't the music you wanna be playing before you kick the stool away,because, as you dangle there, slowly asphyxiating, you really don't wanna hear Jandeks bleak world view echoing in that tunnel of white light as your Brain goes into anoxia mode, preparing the 'off' switch.
Maybe some Abba, or Classix Nouveaux....something to make you glad you're dying,rather than be in more emotional pain as you head for the last round-up.
Jandek's non-music is, I suppose, a kind of living death.Many allegedly 'great' artists have tried, and failed, to create such a feeling; but Sterling Smith from Houston,has the ability to do it effortlessly.....and, more importantly, without explaining himself, or 'it'.

Tracklist:

Set One
1-1 Put Me There 11:21
1-2 Destroy The Day 10:43
1-3 Obscure Physics 8:26
1-4 Structure Of Words 9:02
2-1 All I Want 5:11
2-2 Lonely World 8:32
2-3 Change My Brain 9:51
2-4 I'll Send A Thought Out Floating 5:09
2-5 I Love You 10:51

Set Two
3-1 How ’R You 13:31
3-2 City Pounding Down 12:12
3-3 Different Blues 9:21
3-4 My Necessity 8:21
4-1 Sea Of People 7:59
4-2 Sorry, Sorry 9:13
4-3 Tequila Girl 10:54
4-4 Just Enough 10:15


Tuesday 16 April 2019

Jandek ‎– "Manhattan Tuesday" (Corwood Industries ‎– CORWOOD 0788) 2007


Well, there's only six or so Jandek albums left to post, so fuck Jandek Monday, this is gonna be Jandek week. The day that Notre Dame in Paris lies smoldering, it seems fitting to mourn this classic of Gothic architecture with some classic Gothic outsider misery.
Lets face it, it was just a building, no-one died, but we're still gonna spend billions restoring it, with enough money to end child poverty in africa, or pay for enough subsidised solar panelling to make a large dent on greenhouse emissions.Normally frugal Billionaires have prized open their wallets to donate 100's of millions of Euro's, but remain unmoved when confronted by starving african kids, or even when made aware of the plight of my own personal pet project, Saving The Pangolin!(click here to donate a fiver).
Meanwhile,Grenfell Tower, a purposely sub-standard highrise block inconveniently housing ordinary people(scum) in an expensive part of London,which burned to the ground, with huge loss of life, is as nothing in real terms in comparison with that smoldering national symbol.The needle on the moral compass is spinning wildly,like the wheel of fortune,landing on 'Lose a Turn'for the poor, and 'Bankrupt' for Africa.
When Coventry Cathedral got destroyed by the Luftwaffe, they didn't rebuild it, they built a cost effective,and rather stylish, replacement, leaving the ruins next to it for posterity.They didn't do such a great job with the rest of Coventry sadly. Same thing happened to St Pauls in the 18th century. So should this be for Notre Dame. Nothing lasts forever, its time to move on. There's too much emphasis on 'Things' and not enough on people and suffering
This is why I wanna move on from Jandek Monday, and leave the ruins of Jandeks splintering personality on display, in full, here, for posterity. Alongside the majestic charred edifices of Our Lady in Paris, with this smoking appearence from our Corwood representative in New York.
This performance in Manhattan, at the Anthology Film Archives on sept 6th 2005, is enhanced by the inspiring fret work of Loren Mazzacane Connors on guitar, leaving the groaning and synth work to the Representative.
I know i say this a lot, but i think this is my favourite modern Jandek album;but then again maybe the best Jandek record is the last one you listened to? 

Tracklist:

Afternoon Of Insensitivity:

1-1 Part One 13:04
1-2 Part Two 20:44
1-3 Part Three 9:56
2-1 Part Four 11:24
2-2 Part Five 12:39
2-3 Part Six 7:06
2-4 Part Seven 18:25


Monday 15 April 2019

Jandek ‎– "Glasgow Friday" (Corwood Industries ‎– CORWOOD 0791) 2008



It's Jandek Monday at Brigadoon,as featured on the cover.Except that the castle pictured is Dunluce Castle in Northern Ireland.
Recorded on the 14th of October 2005 at The Arches in Glasgow. Performing as part of the Instal festival, the same festival and venue at which he had made his unannounced live debut in 2004 ("Glasgow Sunday").
The main feature of this performance is how Jandek appears to be tuning up before every section!? I guess he's just making sure he's not in any standard tuning before the cacophony begins.Tuned to the key of whatever.
Tracklist:

1 Walking Blues 13:08
2 Goodbye Today 6:45
3 This Wasted Life 6:14
4 Slave Of The River 6:08
5 My Plan 10:48
6 If I Could Be With You 6:36
7 Out And About 6:13
8 These Kokomos 9:24
9 Something New 5:41
10 Arms Of A Stranger 6:47


Saturday 13 April 2019

The Pigs ‎– "1977" (Bristol Archive Records ‎– ARC 090 V) 2010



The Pigs were the little brothers of The Cortinas in the Bristol punk scene in 1977. They were the ones who were due to support the Sex Pistols but the venue burned down the day before.
Like the Cortinas, theirs was avery Pub Rock/Punk hybrid sound.Clean guitars and speed were all that was needed.
They didn't stimulate the metal end of the genre, so quickly faded away after one highly regarded single.

Tracklist:

1 Psychopath
2 Youthanasia
3 Ran Me In
4 National Front
5 They Say
6 Exploitation
7 General Election
8 Nuclear Disarmament
9 Personality Change
10 Give It Ball
11 They Shoot Horses Don’t They


Friday 12 April 2019

Great British Heroes ‎– "Eric Miller" (Lightning Records ‎– GIL 538) 1978



The legendary 'withdrawn' Lightning Records release of GBH's (not the more famous GBH) only single.
They played the Roxy a few times, after they switched from bog standard Hard Rocking group to 'Punk', and featured, briefly, future TV comedian Roland Rivron on drums.Er... Thats about it.
Thanks to the internet we can now all hear this great lost single.
They imploded shortly after this.

DOWNLOAD soomething  grievous and bodily HERE!

Thursday 11 April 2019

The Snifters ‎– "I Like Boys" ( Lightning Records ‎– GIL 534) 1978



Well......er......I'm frightened! This slightly dodgy euro-pop atrocity, enters itself into the "What the Fuck was that" category of pop histroy......not that this anthem for Gay sexual predators was at all popular.....except eith Gay Sexual Predators.
The lightning Records Belgian connection comes well and truly out of the closet here, with this Synth Punk tribute to 'Boys and their Stinky Toys'.....a desperate grasp for some pink punk  pounds from the gaping back pockets in the crotchless leather shorts of the nascent Gay Disco scene.
This horrible tune will leave you open-mouthed and looking for the exit, rather than open-mouthed waiting for one of those 'Stinky Toys' to fill the void.
It's also actually quite funny in a 'Good Bad' kind of way.The heavy flemish accent doesn't help, and the Arnold Schwarzenegger style backing vocals, sound like they're being delivered by a lobotomised hairy backed lummox in a gimp mask, chained up in a particularly damp corner of a secret basement apartment.

"Here Dere ev-rywhere,
I Like Boisss, I Like Boisss,
I Like dere steenki Toissss"

Mummy!!!!!

The sleeve accurately describes the music, with a sovereign ringed hairy hand caressing the rear of a wavy haired manchild, ripe for some abuse.
The rear sleeve, for the B-side, "Baby Punker", is potentially more disturbing. Portraying a baby seemingly gratifying itself in an unforgivable prone receiving postion, through it's diaper!!!?
This could easily have been the Belgian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1978 as far as I know. Its certainly an argument for the UK leaving the European Union.
Whoever made this record is, no doubt, in prison now......or, more likely, Dead!

Tracklist:

A I Like Boys
B Baby Punker


Wednesday 10 April 2019

Cane ‎– "3 x 3" (Lightning Records ‎– GIL 531) 1978


The main problem with these disappearing outsider punk groups was the instantly forgettable names thay gave themselves.....'Cane'!?...what's that?....'Pain' rather than Cane would have been an improvement,and not signing to Lightning another.
Then Lightning Records decided to release the Watford trio's most non-punk song as the A-side of a three track single, which killed them off for good......not that they would have gone on to anything however;but they did get a track on the 'Streets' compilation,which was one of the first 'Punk' albums I owned.
Inevitably they sank without a trace.

Tracklist:

A Dice
B1 Suburban Guerilla
B2 D. K. Dance


Martin And The Brownshirts ‎– "Taxi Driver / Boring" (Lightning Records ‎– GIL 507) 1978



Another bunch of dubious reprobates on the Lightning 'Punk' roster were Martin and his Brownshirts. From the lovely middle class town of Chester,Chestershire, where all the nouveau riche and footballers live nowadays.
Of course with a name like that they quickly attracted a Nazi following, who ruined everyones fun, so they had to change their name.
They did manage this superior outsider punk single about the Scorsese classic 'Taxi Diver'.Wether the Martin in their group name was inspired by the director or not is not known, but the lyrics definitely were inspired by the Travis Bickle mirror scene. Thankfully ,like the other hive-minded Punx, they never copied Travis's hair cut which came to define the stupider kind of Punk that still lives with us today!
This could have been a Hit!

Read Drummer, Willie Williams rather amusing account of the groups lifespan HERE!

DOWNLOAD something brown HERE!

Monday 8 April 2019

Jandek ‎– "Glasgow Sunday 2005" (Corwood Industries ‎– CORWOOD 0792) 2008


Jandek's set that included a second JFK assasination connection, was recorded live at The Arches, Glasgow, Scotland on October 16, 2005.
He had previously appeared at the Texas theater in Dallas that Oswald was arrested at, in 2016;a review of which(by 'moi') you can get HERE! During which one concluded that Jandek fired the fatal bullet from the 'Grassy Knoll'. So is the reference here a further indication of our Representatives guilt? Is he laughing at us, hiding in plain sight?.....probably not, but we all like a mystery don't we? That's the primary reason we like Jandek.
The spoken account of mass brainwashing, which is the track named after that infamous Knoll, seems to suggest a Sirhan Sirhan style Manchurian Candidate scenario, which involved the Representative 'losing his mind to them', and that '(he) knew that he must GO!?'.
Like Oswald he suggests he was the patsy, who didn't go along with the plan made by that 'God Man' Sterling refers to.
Like any conspiracy nut, one can make any piece fit the jigsaw puzzle,so please face up to the clear Facts that it was Jandek wot dunnit guvner!
The ethereal guitarwork backing up this admission from our favourite beneficiary of CIA identity protection, is provided by the magnificent Loren Mazzacane Conners, whose many albums are the epitome of melancholy.Probably another outsider guitarist on the CIA witness protection program, but far less moany than the Identity given to Jandek.
Things get a bit wilder for the second track, as Alan Licht takes over guitar duty, and Jandek moves to drums.Ending in wild applause from the Glaswegian crowd.
The J(andek)FK Conspiracy starts here!

Tracklisting:

The Grassy Knoll 25:26
Tribal Ether 24:47


Sunday 7 April 2019

Too Much ‎– "Who You Wanna Be" & "Kick Me One more Time" 7" Singles (Lightning Records ‎– GIL 513/GIL 552) 1978/1979



Tracklisting:

A Who You Wanna Be
B Another Time Another Place



Tracklisting:

1-Kick Me One More Time
2-Be Mine
3-It's Only For Me


Too much what? Certainly not too much in the department of record releases. In fact, just enough.
For most pop groups two singles should be the maximum output for their careers.....what careers?
Again, not much is known about this youthful act on Lightning Records, but they did do a photoshoot at least, and it reveals they had a prediliction for turned up jacket collars to make them appear cool.A fashion angle popularised by Alvin Stardust,Eric Cantona and John Robb of the Membranes......not to be encouraged.
Fresh out of secondary school by the sound of it, and the look of it.Too much's fledgling career was no doubt curtailed by 'Real Life', jobs, university courses and other crap like that.Likely, they had to sell the music gear their mums and dads bought them to pay the rent in their grotty bedsits as society began to grind down their youthful enthusiasm.They're probably all dead now!?
They did,however, leave us with five charming upbeat power pop rave-ups with a distinct Pub Rock flavour.....more photo's anyone?...
Yes, one of them had a beard.Very  subversive in 1978.

Friday 5 April 2019

Lucy ‎– "Really Got Me Goin' + Never Never (7" Singles) " (Lightning Records ‎– BCS 0008;+GIL 516) 1977/1978


Tracklisting:

A Really Got Me Goin'
B Oy


Tracklisting:

A Never Never
B Feel So Good

Lightning Records philosophy strictly followed the 'If you throw enough shit at the wall some will stick' rule.
They threw lots of Punk Shit at all available walls,and mostly nothing stuck.The walls of taste were teflon coated.
Sad thing is not all of it was shit, including the two singles, in '77/'78 by the abysmally named 'Lucy'.
Four tracks of faultless high octane rock'n'roll, of the original Pub Rock/Punk Rock hybrid that we all fell in love with.....yep, I love Lucy.....thats what i was building up to. Tadaaaah!
If they had a name something like Slaughter and the Dogs they would have been a sucessful medium sized punk rock act....but nah!...they were called 'Lucy'!!!!????

Snatch ‎– "Snatch" (Pandemonium ‎– WITCH 1) 1983



Oh Christ!...Patti Palladin and Judy Nylon were 'Snatch';two potty mouthed american ex-pats,or, immigrants if they were black; who were sooooo bored that they decided to be Rock-Stars one hungover morning after drinking somebody elses booze the previous night.
There are times when the phrase "Too Cool For School" applies rather too fucking much. You just know these kool chicks wouldn't want to be seen with ugly penniless no-marks like you and me....well at least not you anyway.
Just read this toe-curling interview with Patti Palladin extracted from too cool for school 'search and destroy magazine:

"When I came to London in about '74 we(Palladin and Judy Nylon) became good friends. We were trying our best to get something going, we were both creative chicks... We both had ideas of sorts.
For 2 foreign chicks living in London, what is there really to do? So that's why Rock & Roll! It was the obvious thing to do out of boredom. We thought about forming a band together. We worked on basic lyrics and melodies and things. But it was hard trying to find people who understood where we were coming from. At that time all the punks were suddenly beginning to appear. Everyone was into saying, "I'm a punk. I'm cool, I'm aggressive, we're going to change it" and all this shit."

These cool coooool chicks could easily pass for Glam refugees Johnny Thunders and Bowie in drag. In fact didn't Palladin have a relationship with her male-self? The ultimate narcissistic kick.
These flat-chested chanteuses had their most famous single released on fake punk label Lightning Records in 1978, and it scraped the bottom edge of the charts. Like a Glam/Punk version of The GTO's, they sang about being bored and shopping to muddy post-bowie backing tracks mixed low beneath their piercing drawls.
The myth is that they never exploited their sexuality, unlike the other Punk girls(?), which is of course pure bollocks.Look at the sultry poses that adorn the two sides of the LP cover....notably with the less attractive one (Judy Nylon) on the back,rather than on her back.I imagine there were some bitchy battles about that subject....ahhh....maybe not because they were 'Artists' weren't they.....better than us.
This all involved, naturally, an 'Eno Collaboration',but knowing Eno, they likely collaborated in bed as well.....they were after all, Too Cool For School.

Tracklisting:

A1 Credit 3:18
A2 All I Want 3:50
A3 Second Rater 2:00
A4 Amputee 1:56
A5 Joey 2:20
A6 Stanley 3:57
A7 Carlotta 2:02
A8 Trial By Fire 2:21
A9 Radio Ad 1978 0:33
B1 Dead Heat 4:12
B2 When I'm Bored 1:56
B3 I.R.T. 2:16
B4 Shopping For Clothes 3:45
B5 R.A.F.
Featuring – Brian Eno(told ya!) 2:58
B6 Black Market 5:11


Thursday 4 April 2019

The Jerks ‎– "Jerk Off" (Overground Records ‎– OVER 65CD) 1997


They mentioned the Dole Queue, they said that they 'Hate You',and one of them had bleached hair......must be Punk right?
One of the more credible groups on Lightning Records, but don't ask me me why!
They did after all,have a keyboard player,which breaks rule number two of Punk Rock...No Keyboard Players. They also break rule number one, No Backing Singers.At least rule number three wasn't contravened,...No Brass Sections.A big no no that one....remember The Saints second album!???
The later tracks reveal  genuine pretentions towards New Wave Pop,but they didn't have any talent, which is, in itself, a major talent if you wanna make proper Punk Rock......which The Jerks managed to actually do on a couple of tracks.All this despite the rather silly use of the word 'woofing' in a tune that resides in one of the very worst punk sub-genres.....'Comedy Punk'. Did anyone ever find Toy Dolls, Splodgenessabounds, and the Dickies funny at all?

Tracklisting:

1 Back To Berlin
2 California Sun
3 Hold My Hand
4 You're Not Worth It (Jerk Off)
5 Dole Queue Boys
6 We Hate You
7 Get Your Woofing Dog Off Me
8 More More More
9 Join The Navy
10 Cool
11 Cruisin' (Again)
12 Safety Zone
13 The Beating Of Hearts
14 Come Back Bogart
15 Are You Strong Enough?