Thursday, 9 May 2019

Henry Kaiser ‎– "Domo Arigato Derek-Sensei!" (Balance Point Acoustics ‎– bpaltd202) 2006


Another Davey Williams/Derek Bailey  connection is that Davey appeared on this DB posthumous tribute album put together by Henry Kaiser, playing with Henry on "Two Of A Kind" from 1979.
Some tracks are interspersed with recollections of working with Derek, or what Bailey meant to these Bailey influenced musicians.
Andrea Centazzo also appears on here,also having worked with Bailey and Davey Williams previously.
Expect all the tracks to be from the free improvisation end of the musical spectrum.All performed LIVE with no overdubs, and minimal editing.

Tracklist:

1 Mahalo E Derek
Soloist, Electric Guitar, Voice – Henry Kaiser 5:35
2 Gamera Tai Reptilicus 2005
Electric Guitar – Henry Kaiser Shakuhachi – Kiku Day 4:07
3 The Tsuchigumi Five-Wheel Technique Vs. The Seagull School 1981
Electric Guitar [Two At Once] – Henry KaiserPercussion – Charles K. Noyes 9:15
4 The Worst Of Times 1992
Soloist, Electric Guitar – Henry Kaiser 6:11
5 Continue On 2006
Bass Guitar, Voice – Henry KaiserTenor Saxophone, Voice – Henry Kuntz 4:09
6 Improvisation 102a 1978
Electric Guitar – Henry Kaiser Trumpet – Toshinori Kondo 1:31
7 Improvisation 102x 1978
Electric Guitar – Henry Kaiser Percussion – Andrea Centazzo 2:57
8 Just Be A SCUBA Diver 2006
Double Bass, Voice – Damon Smith Ukulele, Voice – Henry Kaiser 4:04
9 Book Review 2005
Soloist, Acoustic Guitar, Voice – Henry Kaiser 13:38
10 Two Of A Kind 1979
Electric Guitar – Davey Williams, Henry Kaiser 6:05
11 The Metalanguage Trio 2006
Electric Guitar, Voice – Henry Kaiser Piano, Voice – Greg GoodmanSopranino Saxophone, Voice – Larry Ochs 4:47
12 The Night Of Departure 1996
Soloist, Acoustic Guitar – Henry Kaiser 3:15
13 Tokyo Trio For Aida 1979
Double Bass – Motoharu Yoshizawa Electric Guitar – Henry Kaiser Tenor Saxophone – Mototeru Takagi 6:07
14 Pre-Vou 1996
Alto Saxophone – John Oswald Electric Guitar – Henry Kaiser 1:25
15 Kavichandran Salp'uri 1993
Electric Guitar – Derek Bailey, Henry Kaiser Janggu [Changgo], Voice – Sang-Won Park 5:36


Derek Bailey & Andrea Centazzo ‎– "Drops" (Ictus Records ‎– ICTUS 003) 1977


I was looking for a connection between Derek Baily and Davey Williams,and came up with this. Andrea Centazzo,played with them both.
Del-boy is in fine form, firmly backed up by Centazzo's suitably understated improvised percussion/clattering.

Tracklist:

A1 Drop One
A2 Recapitulation, Reiteration And Rabbits
A3 How Long Has This Been Going On?
A4 Drop Two?
B1 Tutti Cantabile
B2 Drop Three
B3 Drop Four?
B4 Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing
B5 Jim Never Seems To Send Me Pretty Flowers?


Andrea Centazzo, LaDonna Smith, Davey Williams ‎– "Velocities" (Trans Museq ‎– trans museq 4) 1979


Ahhhh, the sepia tinged memories of the days when music was played by actual people.
Here, Ladonna and Davey are joined by another actual human, the Italian percussionist and drummer, Andrea (he's a male by the way) Centazzo.
So the general effect is lots of scraping noises,with general sounds of stuff being thrown into a refuse skip, pre-landfill.I'm not sugesting that this record is rubbish,oh no, i'm just suggesting that it sounds like rubbish, as in the sound of waste disposal.

Tracklist:
A1 Velocity 10:01
A2 Velocity 10:29
B1 Velocity 6:04
B2 Another Velocity 6:33
B3 Velocity 6:40


Wednesday, 8 May 2019

Davey Williams ‎– "Criminal Pursuits" (Trans Museq ‎– trans museq 8) 1983


Here's Davey Williams on his own, with no collaborators, just him and his guitar.Which he makes sound like a cassette recording of himself being chewed up by a cassette player.
Improvised stacatto picking ,harmonics and whammy bar abuse,cause the listener to check their equipment to see if there is anything malfunctioning;but alas, your equipment is just fine,it's meant to sound like this,with little or no effects. Even when Davey whips out the violin bow to further attack his guitar with.
A criminally unpursued guitarist,who will be much missed....yes he died recently,so discover what you missed to know how he will be missed,and remembered.

Tracklist:

A1 Apotheosis Of The Whimsy Horse 3:06
A2 Home, The Razor's Edge 2:23
A3 Violin Concerto 3:30
A3 Prehensile Legends 4:15
A5 Call Of The Chlorophyll 6:46
B Criminal Pursuits 22:09


Tuesday, 7 May 2019

LaDonna Smith / Davey Williams ‎– "Direct Waves" (Trans Museq ‎– trans museq 5) 1980


More a-scraping and a-scraching of guitar and violin strings, accompanied by someone rumaging through a christmas hamper full of pots and pans.
A lot of the music I listen to is frequently refered to as 'Rubbish' by the casual observer. Most of the time I can see what they're getting at, as with most of this free-improvisation stuff;but, I kinda enjoy listening to it,and the fact it gets comments like 'This is Rubbish' from a passing random drone, makes it even more enjoyable. Drones,normals, Trump supporters,Brexiteers etc don't like concepts such as freedom, and the abstract.Much less,things that are beyond their comprehension and seem to have no rules,or control mechanisms. These concepts can destroy society, so this is dangerous music.It is not Adult Orientated Rock,but it is adult orientated,yet retaining that childlike sense of exploration and adventure.
Here we find Davey Williams with one of his regular collaborators,unhinged violinist LaDonna Smith,exploring further abstract adventures with stringed instruments.
Whats so good about this record is that the pressing is so bad that between the tracks the needle makes a noise not unlike an early Boyd Rice/Non locked groove number.

Tracklist:

A1 Early Balloon Tires 5:48
A2 Divining 2:32
A3 Aerial Farm Machinery 4:55
A4 Silent Observer's Relection 2:58
B1 Radial Steam Instruments (To Benjamin Peret) 8:14
B2 Analogous Folk Tale 5:58
B3 Big Steel Bison 4:55


Monday, 6 May 2019

Mary Horn, Davey Williams, Wally Shoup, Doug Carroll ‎– "No Way" (Cassette Documents ‎– CD 5) 1984



A full C-60 of "Not Yet Wave Music" from Davey Williams and unhinged cohorts from Birmingham Alabama.....wasn't that where Sun Ra came from? As opposed to Birmingham UK (Heavy Metals birthplace if you didn't know) which produced an opposite music (HM)to this barely structured improv, with hints of No wave.
This is one of the better recordings,featuring Davey Williams from this epoch, mainly thanks to Mary Horn's stream of consciousness vocalisation.

Tracklisting:

1 No Way 1 (25:02)
2 No Way 2 (27:35)

DOWNLOAD wavey davey and crew HERE!

Sunday, 5 May 2019

LaDonna Smith, Davey Williams, Theodore Bowen ‎– "Folk Music" (Trans Museq ‎– trans museq 2) 1978


Looking for American Derek Bailey equivalents sent me desperately clutching at any vague similarity. So,after my attention was diverted to the sad fact that Davey Williams had died, I thought this must be a sign.Sooooo......here's an early vinyl appearance of said miester of the improv guitar stateside, the late Davey Williams, and friends,doing some folk music from another new and improved alter-dimension through a ragged piercing in the membrane that separates us all from all that isn't shite!
Its a kind of a cross pollination between AMM, The Spontaneous Music Ensemble, and a quieter Nihilist Spasm Band;but without the chin-stroking.Folk music it is not....yet,but the Irony is appreciated.

Tracklist:

A1 Untitled 6:33
A2 Untitled 9:30
A3 Untitled 1:20
B1 Untitled 5:45
B2 Ditches And Cheesecake 5:50
B3 To Tristan Tzara 5:30
B4 Mishum 1:30


Shoji Hano / Derek Bailey ‎– "Fish" ( P.S.F. Records ‎– PSFD-8009) 2001


Like the time when Lenny Kravitz and Iggy Pop bust several blood vessels trying to 'out-Rock' each other on the BRIT awards show some years ago;a similar thing to that taste by-passing duet by Jagger and Bowie for Live Aid.Free improvisation duels can result in the players involved scrambling to stand out in the melee like squabbling children. Whereas Iggy and Lenny, gurned increasingly absurd rock postures, David and Shoji thrust increasingly louder abstract chords and wildly undulating drum fills.There are, however plenty of quiet moments as they run out of ideas briefly,but generally this is a fine example of Spontaneous Music in action.
Thanks to Japan, Bailey found a new acceptance and resurgence for his career in his twilight years.A different story to the time in the early sixties with his attempts to adapt the Free Jazz style, usually the domain of saxophone players, to the electric guitar.
A true original.

Tracklist:

1 Sea Bream (鯛) 18:41
2 Bonito (鰹) 6:49
3 Sardine (鰯) 19:40
4 Angler (鮟鱇) 5:30


Saturday, 4 May 2019

Derek Bailey, Keiji Haino ‎– "寄り添い合いし 秩序と無秩序の気配かな = Drawing Close, Attuning - The Respective Signs Of Order And Chaos" Tokuma Japan Communications ‎– TKCF-77017) 1997

No, this isn't two chimps playing deulling banjo's on guitar!
Its Keiji Haino in yer left ear and Derek Bailey in yer right ear,or the otherway round depending on which direction you placed yer earphones.
Derek Bailey,as you know,was thee pioneer of the free jazz guitar, and Keiji Haino was....well.....Keiji Haino!? They both wear glasses,one of them perscription, the other off the rack shades that seem permanently sellotaped to his head.
Both have a tendancy to flesh out Chaos Theory on the six strings of a guitar,but without conventional chords,notes, or technique.
This was their first collaboration, or abberation, depending on your point of view,and I personally find it inferior to their second, called,ironically,"Songs", which you can find HERE!
I dunno, maybe this really is actually two chimps, and we've read too much into it,which is basically an artistic statement within itself?

Tracklist:

1 Untitled 1:19
2 Untitled 2:15
3 Untitled 1:47
4 Untitled 3:58
5 Untitled 9:40
6 Untitled 26:01
7 Untitled 30:28


Friday, 3 May 2019

Keiji Haino ‎– "わたしだけ?(Watashi Dake?)" (Pinakotheca ‎– PRL#2) 1981


Never seen without a pair of sunglasses on,(but unlike Bono, he can actually carry it off!), Keiji Haino, late of Free Rock pioneers Fushitsusha, entered the solo arena with this unhinged work called "Watashi Dake?", or ,for our japanese readers, "わたしだけ?".
For the majority of this record Keiji sounds not unlike an amped up Jandek on a really,really, bad trip.
This being the expanded CD version, we are treated to a half hour long bonus track of Hainos famed guitar noise and feedback onslaught, where his Gibson SG sounds like its being raped,while a sqaudron of kamikaze guitars smash into music retail establishments everywhere.Jimi Hendrix this is most definitely NOT!
Rather marvellous.

Tracklisting:

1. Ore no arika
2. Yurusarezaru monotachi
3. Yomigaeru
4. Rowa ni sasero
5. Owari ni sasero
6. Umaku dekinai
7. Motto motto motto
8. Tsuki nukete mo
9. Kuzurete yuku
10. Koko made kite miro
11. Waraitai no ni
12. Kaeritai
13. Sasageru 


DOWNLOAD and live for the emperor of noise HERE!

Thursday, 2 May 2019

Keiji Haino / Loren Mazzacane Connors ‎– "Live At Downtown Music Gallery, New York City, August 1, 1992" (Persona Non Grata) 1995



Another of my favourite guitar abusers,as if anyone cares, is, obviously, Keiji Haino, late of Fushitsusha.
So, when this improv performance with Loren Mazzacane Connors came into existence, one had to hear it. Two guitarists with intrinsically opposite styles don't make obvious bedfellows,and in this case, it shows. Haino seems to struggle to adapt himself to the quieter understated style of Connors, rather than do what he does best,ie making a soul shattering racket,inbetween the quiet patches,with the odd death rattling scream.
Nah, doesn't work, for me anyway;Despite what it says on the sleeve notes ,but well worth a try.
There's a second record apparently,maybe thats better?

DOWNLOAD this downtown improv dynamic duo HERE!

Wednesday, 1 May 2019

Haunted House ‎– "Blue Ghost Blues" (Northern Spy ‎– NSCD 012) 2011



Ten years elapsed between Haunted Houses first and second albums, but nothing much changed,as didn't in the world of pop music in general,except that it probably got more lost in its own stasis.
Loren Connors' attempt at alt rock I suppose,but, as opposed to this very american genre, the emphasis is put on the 'alternative' rather than the 'Rock' bit.
Lets face it, a record recorded at any studio called "Seizures Palace" has to be, at least, good?

Tracklist:

1 Millie's Not Afraid 9:56
2 Blue Ghost Blues 12:29
3 Grip My Hand 3:42
4 Thomas Paine 9:13
5 Hard Roads 3:06


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