[[[[[[[[ [[[[[[[ [[[[[[[ [[ [[ [[[[[[[[ [[ [[ [[ [ [[ [[ [[ [ [[[ [[[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [ [ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[[[ [[ [ [[ [[ [[[[[ [[ [[ [[ [[[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [ [[ [[ [ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[[[[[[[ [[[[[[[ [[[[[[ [[ [[ [[[[[[[[ [[ [[ [[[[[[[[ [[[[[[[[ [[[[[[[ [[[[[[ [[[[[[[[ [[[[[[[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[[[[[ [[[ [[ [[[[[[ [[ [[[[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [[ [ [[ [[[[[[[[ [[[[[[[[ [[[[[[[ [[ [[ [[[[[[[[ [[[[[[ I S S U E # 1 2 : M A Y 1 9 9 6 ============================================================================= - The Specialists - DJ Johnson.................Editor Jim Andrews................HTML coLeSLaw...................Artist Lauren Giglio..............Administrative Assistant Louise Johnson.............Administrative Assistant - The Cosmik Writers - Jim Andrews..................Music & Software Reviews Cai Campbell.................Columnist & Record Reviews coLeSLAw.....................Record Reviews Shaun Dale...................Politics & Record Reviews Phil Dirt....................Columnist & Surfmeister Deluxe Drew Feinberg................Columnist (MIA) David Fenigsohn..............Music & Film Alex Gedeon..................Music & Film Keith Gillard................Music & Record Reviews Steven Leith.................Politics & Columnist Steve Marshall...............Music & Record Reviews The Platterpuss..............Record Reviews Evelyn.......................A Modified Dog ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S EDITOR'S NOTES - Stuff 'bout this here ish. TEISCO DEL REY: SHOOTING THE BREEZE WITH THE SULTAN OF CHEESE - For years he was known as the funny guy who wrote the "Off The Wall" column in Guitar Player Magazine, but a select handful of people in the music biz knew a secret--Teisco is a top-shelf guitarist. After two amazing albums, the secret is out. In this interview, Teisco discusses everything from the importance of melody to the brilliance of particular bluesmen to the current sorry state of baseball. A CONSULTATION WITH THE BRAIN SURGEONS - For over a decade, Albert Bouchard was the drummer (and a founding member) of the amazing Blue Oyster Cult. Deborah Frost played drums with Flaming Youth and is a well known rock critic. Together with a few close buddies, they are The Brain Surgeons, a hard rockin' band that picks up where BOC left off. They talk about BOC, life, love, rock 'n' roll, and The Amazing Albertron in this interview. THE END OF MOMUS? - Keith Gillard caught up with underground electronic pop god Momus for our first IRC-chat interview! Don't you try this at home. After 14 years, is Momus thinking of hanging it up? Or is he only thinking of retiring one particular mask? "Momus is a mask that anyone can wear." Find out what that means, and what's next. POLITICAL PLAYBOOK: FEATURING A CAST OF THOUSANDS - Part three of Shaun Dale's examination of the race for the White House. This month, Shaun focuses on the "other" parties, from Independant to Green and beyond. READ THIS ARTICLE OR WE'LL SHOOT THIS DOG: THE NATIONAL LAMPOON RADIO HOUR RIDES AGAIN - It let us laugh at ourselves, and at others. The early 70s radio show--which featured soon-to-be stars like Belushi, Chase, Murray, Guest, and Ramis--was as sick and twisted as the magazine that spawned it. Now Rhino Records has released a 3-CD box set, unleashing this material into the politically correct 90s. What could be more fun? RECORD REVIEWS: Lots and lots and lots and lots of reviews! This month, we add yet another genre: Jazz! Charles Mingus is thrown into the mix with the surf and the underground electronic pop and the punk and the rock and exotica and and and . . . BETWEEN ZERO & ONE: LET THE GAMES BEGIN (Steven Leith) - As the Presidential Palace race heats up, the bullshit starts to fly. Rhetorical smokescreens can't hide the facts, however. IN THE DRIVE (Jim Andrews) - Our Mr. Andrews, of Urbania fame, returns from his long vacation in Attica. In his new column, Jim will be taking apart and tinkering with various software packages. This month: Semantec's Cafe, a JAVA programmers tool. PHIL'S GARAGE: SERENDIPITY (Phil Dirt) - Mr. Dirt invites surf guitarists everywhere to join him in a game of kick the can. THE AUDIO FILE (Cai Campbell) - In this new column, record collector and audiophile Cai Campbell discusses both of those obsessions. This month, the topic is: DCC's new release of The Beach Boys "Pet Sounds." Is this the definitive version? Cai checks it against the others. DJ RANTS: JUST ONE MORE REASON NOT TO GET A CAT (DJ Johnson) - A sick little precautionary tale about those furry little rats we take home and feed. THE DEBRIS FIELD: Quotes and various "stuff," including a review of the Kids In The Hall flick by our own Alex Gedeon. WE'RE IN, BUT WE'RE SCREENING OUR CALLS: How to contact us. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- E D I T O R ' S N O T E S It's getting to be more and more fun to put this thing together every month. My own craving for nearly all genres of music is being satisfied. My goal from day one has been to slowly introduce various genres until Cosmik Debris becomes the perfect zine for readers who, like myself, refuse to limit themselves musically. Of course, this also translates to "something for everyone," so there's plenty of room for people who focus on one genre. We just can't promise that we'll COVER that genre every single month. We'll try, though. While we're on the subject, we are looking for a writer with the knowledge and skill needed to write classical reviews. If you're that person, please send me some e-mail at moonbaby@serv.net right away. This month, our review section is missing one key contributor: Platterpuss! To his loyal fans, I apologize. It's purely my fault. I thought I had a stack of his reviews ready to go, but it seems they bit it in last month's computer virus fiasco. By the time I'd realized it, it was too late to contact Platterpuss to ask for more. What a drag. But assuming no unforseen disasters strike in the next 30 days, Platterpuss will be back. There are two new columns in this issue, but the writers aren't rookies by any means. Jim Andrews, our HTML guru, has a new column called "In The Drive" in which he will review at least one piece of software per month. This month he's reviewing Symantec's "Cafe," a Java programming tool. In the future, he plans to review music sequencing software and whatever else strikes his fancy. Sounds good to me. Like Jim, Cai Campbell has been writing for Cosmik from the beginning. This month he begins a new column called "The Audio File." Yes, he's going to discuss high-quality releases and audio equipment, but he'll also have some things to say about record collecting. (I've never met anyone with a record habit like Cai's!) The interviews this month (3 of them) are as diverse as our review section. They speak for themselves, so I'll let 'em. Everything else is in place, as well, so let's get to it. Enjoy! - DJ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHOOTING THE BREEZE WITH THE SULTAN OF CHEESE T E I S C O D E L R E Y Interviewed by DJ Johnson It doesn't matter what you call him. He's been called everything from "The Cheeze Wizard of the Guitar" to "The King of Bizarre." There's really only one way to address Teisco Del Rey: with the utmost respect. Known as a music journalist long before he was known as a musician, Teisco has been around the music world since he was a teenager, absorbing and learning, and filing information for future use. Over the past few decades, Teisco's amazing musical skills were mostly his secret to keep from the world at large, though quite a few of his fellow musicians were in on it. Luckily for us, he has finally stepped out into the light with two excellent albums on Upstart Records, "The Many Moods of Teisco Del Rey" and this years epic "Music For Lovers." There are some important things to know about Teisco before you read this interview. First of all, it's pronounced "Ty-sko," though he's probably heard about twenty alternate pronounciations. Second, he's one of the most unique musical talents to come down the pike in many years. Finally, and this is important--he's nuts! A blast to talk to. If he's recording a track and it starts to sound too serious, he'll skew it--twist and turn it until he has "upped the fun factor," because, as he puts it, "I don't ever want to be mistaken for Sting." He has nothing to worry about. * * * * Cosmik: On "Music For Lovers," you cover surf tunes, garage tunes, dance tunes...even a Finnish wedding song. Do you have a favorite style? Teisco: That would be the lambada. Next question. Cosmik: Are you a big listener, too? Do you have a great record collection? Teisco: It's way out of hand. It took a while, but I finally realized you get more bang for your buck buying LPs than guitars. It's mostly vinyl, and mostly jazz, but tons of guitar. All styles. Cosmik: Who were your biggest influences? Teisco: The most obvious are Duane Eddy--my original inspiration and still a hero--The Ventures, Dick Dale, Freddie King, and the song "Pipeline." But I was also into blues guys like Albert King, Peter Green, Mike Bloomfield, and later on Jimmie Vaughan. Growing up around San Francisco was also a big influence, the Fillmore, etcetera, as I was moving to Austin and getting to play with guys like Casper Rawls, Mark Korpi, David Grissom, and others. Cosmik: You mentioned Mike Bloomfield. Were you into him all through his career? Teisco: Well, after a while his solo albums really started to . . . I don't know, they just seemed like he was repeating himself, you know, like when he got more into being a traditionalist again. But the early Butterfield stuff . . . and the Electric Flag and the Supersession stuff, but mostly the Butterfield stuff, I mean, he was just a ground-breaking guitar player that I think, even though he spawned a legion of guitar playing fans, I don't know if it would ever be possible for him to get his just due because the pantheon of guitar heroes were Clapton, Page, Beck and Hendrix. Bloomfield was every bit in that league, and I'm not sure there would have been a Hendrix without a Bloomfield. I think Hendrix would have been different. As amazing as Hendrix was, I don't think there would have been a Hendrix without Jeff Beck, either. Jeff Beck was years ahead of any of those guys in just re-inventing what a guitar sounded like, and he had far less tools than Hendrix or anybody else. And Hendrix had pretty primitive tools, himself. Bloomfield . . . It's one of the axes I've got to grind . . . In this generation of guys in baggy suits and shades who are playing a Strat, they are so reverent as to sort of put The Blues in formaldehyde and keep it there, and Bloomfield, I mean, there was no question as to his authenticity and his legitimacy playing blues, but he was so much more adventuresome than any of these guys today. He took chances. I mean, the whole Butterfield Band . . . What blues band today would have the balls to do a 13-minute extended improvisation, essentially Raga, like "East-West?" And on that same album they had a Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart song that the Monkees recorded. I'm not sure who recorded that first. Cosmik: You're talking about "Mary, Mary?" Teisco: Yeah. Cosmik: That was a Michael Nesmith song. Teisco: So the Monkees recorded the song before Butterfield recorded it? Cosmik: Absolutely. Teisco: So that's some pretty chancy stuff. My first guitar heroes were The Ventures and Duane Eddy and Lonnie Mack. Lonnie Mack was the first one that really gave me the idea that "this guy's going out on a limb," because he wasn't just playing melodies and his solos didn't sound like little, you know, parts. But one step beyond Lonnie Mack, the first clue that I had about that was Jeff Beck, and I guess, in a way unbeknownst to me, Eric Clapton because Eric's on most of the "For Your Love" album by The Yardbirds, but it wasn't known at the time in America. That sort of crystalized the concept of what the lead guitar player is. Beck had sort of taken the James Burton role to this gunslinger razor-blade totin' image. Then Bloomfield took it so far beyond that, you know? He was just out there playing everything under the sun. Rock and roll, blues, jazz . . . There are country elements that you hear crop up in Bloomfield's playing. That was my introduction to what an electric blues band was. I hadn't heard Muddy Waters or Junior Wells or Howlin' Wolf or John Mayall. I heard Butterfield first. To me, it was like "Well hey, this is rock and roll, but way ballsier. This is like rock and roll played by grownups." Cosmik: Was that an isolated thing for you, or did you actually go through a blues phase? Teisco: Oh, that changed my life. That was, fortunately, in the days when they had really extensive liner notes that weren't in 5-point type inside a booklet, and the back of the first Butterfield album was my textbook. Everybody that was mentioned on that . . . see, fortunately I lived in Northern California and you could go into these very hip record stores in Berkeley. I'd hang around Telegraph Avenue and in a certain three block radius there were probably five or six incredible record stores. And I'd remember all those names on the back of the Butterfield album and I'd go find albums by James Cotton, Junior Wells, Jimmy Reed . . . all the Chicago guys. Around the same time, the Bluesbreakers album came out, and as sad as I think Clapton's eventually returning to blues and dishing up something as lame and boring as "From The Cradle" [is], he proved his mettle. When he was nineteen or twenty years old, he played like no one had ever played blues. And the thing about Bloomfield and Clapton was that it didn't just cross over to rock and roll people. I know, absolutely, that those older blues guys in their way were emulating, but taking to another step . . . those blues guys themselves listened to Bloomfield and Clapton. People like Albert King -- like listen to "I Love Lucy" on the Stax single. The volume he's playing at, the kind of sustain and feedback that he was getting, those guys didn't do that, not in that way, before Clapton and Bloomfield opened up that possibility to them. Cosmik: Albert Collins once told me that he used to sit down and pick out Clapton's solos note for note. Teisco: Yeah! See, what kind of testimonial is that? I mean, that's truly amazing. It's the ultimate compliment you could ever get. The other great quote that I always loved was B.B. King's one line quote about Peter Green, which was "He makes me sweat." Peter Green was the other one. If Stevie Ray Vaughan was the maximist and Jimmy Vaughan was the minimalist, then Clapton and Bloomfield were the maximists and Peter Green was the minimalist. I hate to even differentiate between "here's the white guy playing blues and here's the black guy," but if you're going to talk about race, then Peter Green is in a category of his own. If he never even plugged in a guitar, listen to the guy sing! He's an incredibly soulful blues singer, he's a great guitar player. Those bands, early Fleetwood Mac and Butterfield, and John Mayall, to a degree, although he was a little more traditionalist, but the Blues Project . . . they didn't have rules and regulations. They weren't the "Blues Nazis" type attitude that's prevalent now. It had a lot to do with the 60s, it had to do with the fact that they were the first generation of white hip young guys playing blues in electric bands. You know, [for] The Blues Project, it was nothing to do a Jimmy Reed song and then do a jazz-flute thing and then do a folk song like "Violets Of Dawn." On the first album, they did "Catch The Wind" by Donovan. It's great. I love that stuff. Cosmik: The feeling you get from Peter Green is that he wasn't playing blues to be playing blues. He was playing what he felt and it happened to come out blues. Teisco: Yeah, it was the vehicle that he could express himself on. And he also, with songs like "Albatros" and "Green Maniliche," was pushing the envelope. And in another way, people would probably think of Charlie Musslewhite as being a more traditional blues guy, a little more than, say, Butterfield, a lot more than Fleetwood Mac or The Blues Project, certainly. But think about it: he had Harvey Mandel on guitar, who was like pre-Jimi Hendrix doing all kinds of experimental sonic-type stuff, and Musslewhite was doing Blue Note jazz tunes and stuff like that on those early albums. I got to know Musslewhite . . . obviously, since he's on my first CD. I knew him probably since about the age of 16, and he turned me on to a lot of jazz records. He knows his stuff. He was the one that hipped me to this Clifford Brown With Strings album on the Emarcy jazz label, which to me is the most romantic record ever made. Buy that CD. If you've got a special occasion, anniversary or something, or a hot date, put that CD on. If you don't get lucky then you CAN'T get lucky! You might as well throw in the towel. Cosmik: When you're playing with someone like Musslewhite . . . I'm sure a lot of people out there wouldn't know who he is, but as someone who knows what he means to the blues, do you think it pushes you to a higher level in your playing? Teisco: Oh yeah. It's scary. And same with Jimmy Vaughan, or just any number of guys, like when I moved down here and Mike Buck volunteered his services as being my drummer. He was the original Thunderbirds drummer, then he left and formed a group called the Leroi Brothers that he still has. But see, the norm in Texas is that there are guys who if you had to categorize the style or styles of music that they play, and play incredibly well, it's "Texas." That IS the style. And that encompasses . . . Okay, just in the case of Mike Buck -- He's the most low-down, perfectly sloppy, loud, greasy blues drummer on the planet. He's also just about as good as you could ever get as a rockabilly drummer, as a cajun drummer, he plays great surf music, he can play the shit out of a polka, he can play western swing. He can play ALL that stuff, because it's all TEXAS stuff and those guys grew up having to play it all. You can go see a country band and ask them to play "Hideaway" by Freddie King. They will kick ass. It's like what you were saying about Jimmy Vaughan. Listen to the Junior Brown record where Jimmy Vaughan takes that solo on "My Wife Thinks You're Dead." He sounds like the guitar player of The Texas Playboys type of playing blues. Those guys played blues! Texas Playboys did "Milk Cow Blues" and stuff like that. There are people that . . . in the case of like a Doug Sahm [Sir Douglas Quintet] kind of guy, the guy's like a walking synthesizer of everything that ever came through Texas, from the Bobby Fuller Four and Buddy Holly to Bob Wills and T-Bone Walker and Flaco Jimenez and Sir Douglas Quintet . . . Cosmik: Sir Douglas Quintet. Man, I haven't heard that name in a while. Teisco: Yeah, well that was Doug Sahm's group. That was when he passed himself off as a British Invasion group. Cosmik: . . . when he was playing Tex-Mex. Teisco: Yeah, Tex-Mex with a Vox Continental, you know? But it's a joy to be able to play with guys like that, but it is daunting. After I'd moved down here for a while, the LeRoi Brothers asked me to come up and sit in with them, and I just didn't think that that ever happened. It was pretty intimidating, but it's also real stimulating. It's real exciting to be stuck in that position. Cosmik: Did you feel your performance came up a notch? Teisco: Oh yeah! You know, the old axiom is "play with people who are better than you and you get better." For most of the time I've had my band down here, my other guitar player has been Casper Rawls. He's another one of these examples of this Texas-type player. He is born to be in the Buckaroos. In fact, last summer he got to play with Buck Owens, finally, and he rose to the occasion like nobody's business. Buck Owens referred to him as a work of art. I wasn't even up there. It was one of the most thrilling things I ever got to be part of, just by watching it. He learned how to play off Ventures records like everybody else, more or less, of this generation, and one of his heroes is Freddie King, you know? I mean, he's an all-around great guitar player. There's another guitar player who's very similar named John Reed who's been associated with Doug Sahm off and on for years and years. He told me once that "My problem is I can't get my country out of my blues playing and I can't get my blues out of my country playing." And I said "John, that's what makes you great." Because these guys can cover that gamut but they never sound like they're quoting back records. They have their own stamp. In the case of playing with Musslewhite, that was more like old home week. I'd had a couple of chances to sit around a living room and jam with Musslewhite. Cosmik: That must have been great in itself. Teisco: Yeah, and I think somewhere I have a tape of me and him playing in my living room when I was a college kid in my home in Northern California. He once hired me. I'm sure it was a case where a gig came up and several other guitar players couldn't make it, because I wouldn't have been the first on the list. But I got to play a gig once with Musslewhite, and to sit in with him at a club a couple of times, and it's always been nothing but fun. He is one of my favorites. I followed his whole career. Harmonica is the one instrument where you find . . . I guess because there are so few, it's got something to do with the mentality that goes into playing the harmonica or something, but you'll find harmonica players actually do this: they sit around and rate the ten top harmonica players. And they'll usually include themselves somewhere in that top ten. Musslewhite doesn't do that, but these younger guys do. And for my money, I don't care who can play Little Walter licks backwards the fastest, or anything like that. Musslewhite always has so much more emotion in his playing. It's really coming from some place deep down. Cosmik: Who's out there today that you go out of your way to hear? Teisco: Los Lobos, Laika and the Cosmonauts of course, Sonny Landreth, and I really love C.C. Adcock. Cosmik: How do you pick the covers you record? Is there any specific process to it? Teisco: I try to pick tunes that one, haven't been done to death, and two, whenever possible haven't even been heard by lay people. Cosmik: Does the inner-journalist come out when you're picking covers? Do you ever record something because you want to turn people on to a great old band? Teisco: The only old band I want to turn people on to is Teisco Del Rey & the Nut Rockers. Cosmik: I'm guessing a lot of people are going to hear your album and get curious about The Frantics. Teisco: I heard "Werewolf" on some History Of Northwest Rock collection. They were contemporaries of bands like the Sonics and Wailers, and Jerry Miller of Moby Grape played guitar with them, but I think that was after "Werewolf." They were produced by Bob Reisdorf, who also worked with the Ventures, and on the original, that's him doing the Wolfman recitation. Their record had snarling wolf sounds, which I replaced with the woman screaming. Cosmik: Of course, if they're not already aware of Link Wray they haven't been paying attention, but most people probably hadn't ever heard "Steel Trap." How long have you been playing that one? Teisco: I have to confess I'd never heard the song until a band in town, Nervous Pervis & the Jitters, started throwing it in on gigs. So I learned it, and asked if they'd be the backup band on that track. One of their guitarists, Grady Pinkerton, and I trade leads. Cosmik: Do you play any of Link's other songs live? Teisco: The Japanese version of my first CD, The Many Moods Of Teisco Del Rey, has four live bonus tracks, including my version of "Jack the Ripper." I started playing it on electric 12-string . . .originally at a jam, I think . . .so it inevitably turns into a tour de force of 12-string psychedelic licks--"Eight Miles High," "Little Girl," "Hard Day's Night," "Hey Joe," "Hava Nagila" . . . Cosmik: What's the most important consideration in covering a song? Teisco: It has to be something I can put my own stamp on. I hear something and it goes through my filtration system and comes out in my style. A perfect example would be "Seville"--from Verdi to Bugs Bunny to me, obviously leaning a lot on the Dick Dale influence, but switching to Duane Eddy for the bridge. Cosmik: Was Dick Dale a big influence early on? Teisco: Not early on, no. To tell you the truth, if I got the Dick Dale influence, it was probably second hand. At least a lot of it. People don't realize today that if you didn't live in Southern California, you just sort of knew this guy's name as a legend. He didn't have hit records. I mean, he's less than a one-hit-wonder. He had, I think, one or two . . . "Let's Go Trippin'" and "Miserlou" . . . ever get on the charts as singles, and that was back in the days when singles were all you had. I heard "Let's Go Trippin'" probably first by The Beach Boys. And probably "Miserlou," too, for that matter. Their first album had both of those tunes on it, I think. Their first or second album. And The Beach Boys were heavyweight enough that you would actually go out and buy the album. On the other hand, one of the biggest influences in my life, probably, was hearing the song "Pipeline." If The Chantays never did anything else, that would have been enough. You can't improve upon that little piece of instrumental imagery. It's amazing to me. It was written and recorded by a couple of sixteen year old guys. The guitar players were named Brian Carmen and Bob Spickard. I got to meet those guys once. And the funny thing was they came up to me at one of those N.A.M.M. [National Association of Musical Merchandisers] shows, and I was there with Guitar Player [magazine], and they came up, familiar with my writing about weird guitars, and they were sort of fans of mine before I'd recorded or anything. And I said "I've always had one question. Which of you guys played which part?" Brian Carmen said "well, I played the [Teisco sings the rhythm part}" and Bob Spickard said "yeah, I played the melody." And I looked at these guys and said "you two guys, combined, are my biggest guitar influence." They were just blown away. But I mean, they are! That is such a classic. It's probably been recorded hundreds of times by now. See, I think it's safe to say that them doing that reverby double picked sort of mandolin style picking on the guitar, ANY of those surf bands got that from Dick Dale. When he became an influence was in the late 70s when I, as a goof, in a way, started this surf band with a friend called Cowabunga. We opened for The Blasters, we opened for David Lindley, we played around the Bay Area in these little new wave kind of clubs and stuff like that. We started it before we even found out that Jon and the Nightriders existed, so we thought we were the only guys on the planet who were playing instrumental surf music. Cosmik: What year was this, about? Teisco: About 78 . . . 79. You know, we wore white Levi's and striped shirts and stuff like that, and I already had a little bit of a collection of cheap guitars. But early on when I sort of looked at the repertoire of surf stuff, I decided that we would be complete wimps if we didn't even attempt "Miserlou" and some of the Dick Dale stuff. But I couldn't play that stuff. The OTHER guy couldn't play that stuff. So it was like an assignment. I set out to learn how to do that. Cosmik: Speed picking and all that? Teisco: Yeah, there are different ways of doing it, and in fact I don't do it the same way Dick Dale does. His pivot point is his elbow. His whole arm is going up and down real fast, and he uses like the most heavy guage strings in the world and the stiffest PICK in the world. And I use pretty heavy guage strings. I use a flexible pick when I do that stuff. I anchor with the heel of my hand and I sort of, you know, pivot from the wrist. David Lindley, when he does his "Turkish saws of bazooki" kind of playing, he can do that same kind of shit from the source. He has a real relaxed loose arm. I've tried doing that, and it makes total sense. You can play a lot faster and you don't wear your arm out. Dick Dale, his arms are like steel bands while he's playing that. The reason I do it my way rather than the way Dick Dale does it is, to me, the minimum of motion is part of the key. You know, you have a real confined little area that you're going up and down. But a lot of it is like, you know, it helps if you've got an early 60s Showman amplifier with these big JBL's, because they really fatten it up and pump away, and then you get the reverb unit and there's a certain way of giving it that really drippy sound without totally drenching it so it sounds like you're at the bottom of a well or something. But, yeah, that was when he became an influence. He definitely was not an influence at all, in any way shape or form, before I had the group Cowabunga. And it was more just out of necessity. But of course, I loved him, I mean when I heard him he was mind-boggling, and still is. When he made his comeback tour after "Tribal Thunder," we got to open some shows in Austin and Houston. It was just such a kick to watch these people come out and see this guy that they thought was going to be an old nostolgia act and then see Dick Dale just completely . . . I mean, it's like Michael J. Fox in "Back To The Future" when that speaker blows him backwards, you know? Dick Dale plays with more force than any guitar player that's ever been. Cosmik: He'll tell ya so, too. (laughs). Teisco: Yeah. Yeah! Definitely! You don't believe me, ask Dick! (laughs). But I mean, you know, I think most people would have to agree that Stevie Ray Vaughan was one of the most powerful guitar players. Go see "Back To The Beach." It's worth the whole lousy movie to see those guys jam on "Pipeline" and see Dick Dale just BURY him! And you know, I'm not trying to put down Stevie. I loved the guy. But it's like when people come up to me and say "hey man, you sound just like Dick Dale," I usually look around and make sure Dick Dale is nowhere in the county. Then I can go "thank you very much." Otherwise, I sound like an approximation. I sound better than 90% of the other Dick Dale sound-alikes. It's a true testimony to a guy as a stylist when you cannot do one of his tunes without at least making an attempt to play like him. What are you gonna do? You can't do "Miserlou" like Merle Travis, or something like that. You have to do it with a big sound with that speed picking and the reverb and all that stuff or you're REALLY going to sound foolish. You're going to sound foolish enough sort of stacking yourself up to Dick Dale. Cosmik: You dedicated "Madison Time" to Tracy Turnblad, who was a character in the film "Hairspray." Was that a casual dedication, or are you really a fan of the film? Teisco: Tracy Turnblad--and Ricki Lake--was my dream date until she lost all that weight and became a talk show host. I love that film and that song. Cosmik: I have this funny vision of "Madison Time" on a single, with a picture of the band wearing sweaters with "P's" for "You're Punished" on them. (laughs) Teisco: (laughs) Yeah, well the funny thing is . . . I've got to check with the promoter . . . next weekend we're playing a festival in San Antonio. It's one of these big outdoor multi-cultural kind of extravaganzas. He called me as sort of an after-thought when he'd listened to the CD some more . . . and he's a fan anyway, but he's the guy who's putting the concert on . . . and he said "you know, we've got a couple of dance troops that are going to be part of the festival. If I can find somebody who knows how or will learn how to do the Madison . . ." and I said "we'll do it, definitely. Let us know, we will do it." So I'm hoping that happens. If it does, we're going to make sure it gets videotaped. Cosmik: One of the original tunes, "Hermanos Alou," was dedicated to the Alou brothers, who played baseball in the 60s and 70s. Is baseball a passion of yours? Teisco: It used to be--not so much anymore. I grew up going to the Giants at Seals Stadium, before Candlestick Park, to see the Alou's, Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey. Then the Oakland A's moved to town, and I got to see Reggie, Joe Rudy, Campy Campaneris, Sal Bando, and later Willie McCovey again. Cosmik: What team do you follow? Teisco: None. Austin was supposed to get a minor league team, the Swings, but it was voted down. Occasionally I go to San Antonio Missions games. The minors are more like what baseball is supposed to be about than the majors anymore. Cosmik: We need more musicians to go on record about this . . . Do you think baseball is in big trouble? Teisco: That's an understatement. Until they stick Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame, and Orlando Cepeda for that matter, there's no point even talking about it. Cosmik: Damned straight! Okay, back to "Hermanos Alou." On that track, you turn Mitch Watkins loose with an acoustic guitar, and his solo is absolutely incredible. In fact, you do that a lot, while most solo artists don't want anyone challenging them for the spotlight. Don't you have an ego? Teisco: The sound you're now hearing is a zillion friends laughing at such a notion. My ego isn't in the Dick Dale category, but it's pretty big. I've always been a bandleader, never a sideman. To me, using Mitch--or Casper or Sonny Landreth--is a matter of arranging the tune. I can't do everything--like play Latin jazz or Louisiana slide--but it makes my CD more musical. Cosmik: "Music For Lovers" is crowded with great players. Did you have those people in mind when you wrote the arrangements for the songs? Teisco: Sometimes, like with Sonny on the second-line version of "Limbo Rock." Sometimes I'll throw a solo to someone not knowing what they'll come up with--it's just for contrast, so it's not all my tone, my sound, my style. Cosmik: You worked with Laika & the Cosmonauts quite a bit on this record. Did you know them before you were on Upstart? Teisco: I met Janne Haavisto in '88 in Austin, when he gave me a tape of his surf band, Pluto & the Astronauts. A year or two later he and Matti, the organist, tracked me down on another trip to Austin, and asked me to write the notes to the second Laika LP, "Surfs You Right." I think it was the year after that, maybe '91, that we first gigged together in Austin, and it's become a tradition. Janne's the best drummer I've ever worked with, and I think as players and composers, they're taking this instrumental stuff to the next step better than any band out there. They're also a blast to record with, and Janne was indispensible in the mixing stage. Cosmik: Sonny Landreth's slide playing on "Second Line Limbo" gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. You mentioned in your liner notes that you had always wanted to record with him. Was that a particularly satisfying track to record? Teisco: Yes, because to me that little novelty ditty--we all had the Chubby Checker 45--made so much sense with that groove. And Sonny weaved his playing around what I was doing so well! Cosmik: "El Sleazo Chorizo" is surf guitar and reggae bass, which is an amazingly effective mix. It's credited to Steve Soest from Dick Dale's band, The Del-Tones, and in your liner notes you say you heard it on a demo tape he sent you. Is yours the only recording of the song that's actually been released? Teisco: Yes, and as luck would have it, my drummer, Lisa Pankratz, is an incredible reggae drummer. Also rockabilly, blues, etc., etc. Cosmik: Have you heard from Steve? What does he think of your version? Teisco: He loves it, even though I apparently added a few notes to the basic melody. It had been a while since I'd listened to the demo. Cosmik: Do you think you might do some more reggae flavored tunes? Teisco: Sure, if the melody is strong. That was a first for me, but I like pushing myself in new directions. Cosmik: I've gotta ask...In "Missterri Meat," a woman calmly says some strange words here and there, like "Soupisch." Never heard of that. What is it? Teisco: All of those words--linguica, soupisch, melasovitch, vingadosh--are types of Portugese food. In Northern California there are lots of Portugese people. You can get a linguica sandwich at the snack bar at an A's game, but in Texas I have to have that stuff shipped to me. It's out of this world. Cosmik: Both "Seville" and "Twango" are great surf tunes, and I think a lot of people, correctly or incorrectly, think of you as a surf musician. I know it's a form you're passionate about, anyway. What do you think makes a good surf song? Teisco: A memorable melody and an evocative mood--which is pretty much true, regardless of style. It has to be more than a two-note riff that "sounds surfy." Cosmik: This question was spoon-fed to me by a mutual friend of ours, Phil Dirt. He said to ask you how you feel about bands that do surf covers without getting the basic melody right. Fire away! I'll just stand . . . over here . . . Teisco: Ah-hah! This was always a thorn in my side in the early '80s when there was a mini revival of younger bands around San Jose. You can write it off to punk attitude, but more often it's just a lack of ear training. To me, it's like getting the words wrong to a song with lyrics. "Night and day, you are the bun..." Cosmik: What are some of your other pet peeves? What makes you cringe? Teisco: Musically? Stuff that's light weight. Whether it's surf, rockabilly, country, blues--it's supposed to have balls, sex appeal. Most stuff I hear today, even lots of the retro stuff, has no sense of humor or romance. I'm pissed that the Platters aren't in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, yet the Velvet Underground is. People forget that rock & roll was also make-out music. Thank God, I didn't have my first French kiss to Led Zeppelin II-- or "Smells Like Teen Spirit," for that matter. Cosmik: Do you appreciate surf bands that bring other elements into it? Teisco: Yeah, I think you need to add other elements into it, and that's why when you're asking me about a lot of these other surf bands, and I feel a little embarassed that I just don't listen to them . . . It took me a long time to figure this out, but to keep what I do fresh and bring various elements into it, I find myself listening to anything BUT surf music. You know, Finish folk music, or New Orleans music, or soundtrack music or opera in the case of Barber Of Seville, or cartoon music. It gets too inbred if all you listen to is the other guys that are doing the same thing that you're doing. And I think that's always been the case. Think about the gamut of stuff that the Beatles must have listened to in order to come out with as many styles as they did. Plus, they had four incredibly creative people in one band, all listening to different stuff and all, in a way, competing with each other to get their song on the next record. Cosmik: Especially John and Paul. They scared each other into writing. Teisco: Yeah. And then George, you know, I think it's significant that the songs George had on some of those records were incredibly great songs. And the reason was that they HAD to be. Otherwise, John and Paul would have had two or three albums worth of great tunes at any given moment, so he had to write something as good as "Taxman," you know, to get it on there. It's weird, because if you hear the gamut of stuff they did NOW, or for that matter . . . not quite as eclectic, but a group like Creedence Clearwater Revival had everything from folk music to gospel and country and western and psychedelic. That stuff would just be deemed unworthy of the radio today. You couldn't get a song like "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" on the radio. You couldn't get a song like "Looking Out My Back Door" by Creedence on AM OR FM rock radio. Cosmik: Funny, too, because you hear that one all the time on the radio . . . Teisco: Well, NOW, because it's an oldie. It's a hit. I'm saying if you had something that was that country coming out today . . . I mean, think about country radio. It's not even that country. Most of it is far more rock and roll. Creedence Clearwater would be having hit records as a country act if they were around today. Cosmik: "Casbah" is an amazing track. Three drummers, three solos and one combination-solo with all three drummers kicking for dear life at once. Was that as much fun to watch as it is to listen to? Teisco: Yes, I wish there'd been a video. Originally there were going to be four drummers, but that's a long story. Cosmik: How did that idea evolve? Did you just have all these drummers in the studio at once arguing over playing time? Teisco: Actually, they each wanted to play as briefly as possible--they're pretty ego-less. Basically I couldn't decide on which drummer to use, because they're all so distinctive. Also I think the album needed a gimmick. There go the zillion friends laughing again. Cosmik: Before you heard Tim Ware's arrangement of "Theme From Lawrence Of Arabia," could you picture it as a surf tune? Teisco: No, even after listening to the original soundtrack with that in mind. I'm glad he could hear it, kind of like me hearing New Orleans underneath "Limbo Rock," because it was a blast to cut, albeit more difficult than "Moondawg." Cosmik: I thought "Sealed With A Kiss" was an interesting choice, because the original was so . . . sort of "cookie cutter," but it's one of the most beautiful melodies I've ever heard. Teisco: Yeah, if you separate it from that syrupy time capsule of rock and roll, which it was definitely part of. . . it was part of the teen idol period of rock and roll that The Beatles blew out of the water. . .that was a great little melody. It's a great little song. Cosmik: That's what I thought was so great about your version. It gave people a chance to really HEAR it . . . Teisco: Well, I intend to do more of that. I don't want to reveal all my ideas, but . . . Cosmik: Come on, come on! Teico: Naw, there's a lot of candidates for that kind of stuff, whether it's taking this opera motif and doing it a la Dick Dale with a pummeling surf rhythm section, or bringing out the melody of some song that people just think of as wallpaper and voicing it in a certain way. It's not just confined to oldies, either. Off the record, I'll tell you that at our South by Southwest show . . . Well, I guess since I did it publically, why does it have to be off the record . . . But we do . . .not so much a Dick Dale, it's more of like an Astronauts approach to the song "Popcorn," by Hot Butter. Cosmik: Oh my God, I thought that one was dead forever. Astronauts approach? So we've got heavy reverb on that one? Teisco: Yeah, heavy reverb. The fun thing about it is it goes by so fast it's like trying to fit the melody in while you're flying by the seat of your pants. And that's the beauty of it. That's one song that I would like to try to do totally live, just bashing and screaming and yelling and . . . get through it. Cosmik: So you're talking like Surfaris' drums and everything? Teisco: Yeah, the drums are a lot more like The Surfari's and the guitar is a lot more like The Astronauts. See, I could hear that immediately. Cosmik: What made you think of Hot Butter? I mean, what would make you think to do this? Teisco: Well, I think Rhino probably put out some retrospective . . . Cosmik: "Have A Nice Day?" Teisco: Yeah, it was either that or the "Rock Instrumental" series, or maybe I just heard it on an oldies station. But that's one of those examples, if you hear it one way, that's the way you've always heard it, you know, the computer synthesizer kind of thing. It's got a strong melody that's very similar to some of the types of melodies that The Astronauts and those groups used to do. I was going to put it on the last album, but there was just too much other stuff, and it would have required a little more rehearsal and arrangement, because I was still hearing it in my head. We hadn't done it live yet. Cosmik: I can't imagine having come up with that, though. (Laughs) Teisco: Well that's just the tip of the iceberg! (Laughs) There's all kinds of shit. Cosmik: On "Werewolf," who did the great screams? Teisco: Zoe, who also recited the "Missterri Meat" menu. She's also the blonde bathing beauty pictured in The Many Moods. Cosmik: Herman The German did the cool intro dialogue for "Werewolf" in one take! I take it you and Herman are pals from playing together in Austin? Teisco: Yes, and he brings by day-old rolls and brownies when he's out making deliveries. One review credited him to Texas French Bread like that was a band; that's his job--driving a bakery truck. He also plays a mean polka on guitar and does the most bizarre, German-accented version of "B-I-Bicky-Bi-Bo-Bo-Go" you've ever heard! Cosmik: Did you move to Austin specifically because of the music scene there? Teisco: Yes, and because of the pace, the friendliness of the people, the simplicity. Not to mention the Mexican food. Cosmik: Describe what that scene's like today. Teisco: It ebbs and flows, but it's still the most vital, highest caliber live music scene in the world. Any Sunday night you can see Junior Brown at the Continental, Tuesdays are Toni Price at happy hour. There are sub-scenes going on I don't even know about. Cosmik: Tell me about the bands that people haven't heard about from Austin that really need to be heard. Teisco: Some aren't necessarily new bands, like the LeRoi Bros. who've been around 15 years. They're still my favorite group anywhere. Also, Marti Brom is a really cool rockabilly singer, Herman the German, the Tail Gators, David Grissom, Jimmie Vaughan, Doyle Bramhall. Cosmik: How about the behind-the-scenes scene? I've heard stories about lots of late night jams long after the bars are closed in Austin. Teisco: That's kind of a myth. Happens once in a while--sometimes you wish it didn't. Some guy singing "Stormy Monday" at 3:00 AM. Cosmik: How did your performance at the big South by Southwest festival go? Teisco: Fantastic! We closed an all-surf, mostly all-instro night, following the Mermen. Opened with "Limbo Rock," the band sounded great, the crowd dug it. Lisa "Casbah'd" her ass off. Cosmik: Did you get a chance to hear any of the other bands? Teisco: Only the Mermen, unfortunately, who I hadn't seen in years. Finally met their guitarist, Jim. Nice guy. I stayed away from all the other showcases. Sounds weird, but you'd understand if this influx came to your town every year. Cosmik: How's the pawn shop scene in Austin? Have you already cleaned 'em out? Teisco: More the other way around--they've cleaned me out. Cosmik: One of your nicknames is "The cheeze wizard of the electric guitar." Accurate description? Teisco: Yes, I used to be the champion of el-cheapo guitar, but I graduated. In Japan I'm just known as the King of Bizarre. Period. Cosmik: A lot of people think of you and strange off-brand guitars as inseparable. Do you own anything boring? Like a '59 Gold Top Paul? Teisco: My first electric, a 17th birthday present from my dad, was a '61 Les Paul/SG, which I still have. I degenerated from there after discovering a silver metal-flake Italian vegematic called a Diamond Ranger. Cosmik: What's your personal favorite to play? You know, what guitar would you take to a desert island? Teisco: My '64 white Fender Jazzmaster. It's the guitar heard on "Seville," "Sleazo," "Twango,"...lots of stuff. Cosmik: Among the guitars listed in the liner notes of "Music For Lovers" is the Guitorgan. What exactly is a Guitorgan? Teisco: It's the invention of the late Bob Murrell of Waco, Texas. He'd take hollowbody Japanese models and implant organ circuitry in them and wire each and every fret so as to be touch sensitive. So when people say it sounds like an organ, well, it is; it's just triggered by strings touching frets, instead of pressing down on a keyboard. Cosmik: Wouldn't that be real easy to fuck up on? Teisco: Yeah. You really do have to articulate your fingering a lot better. And you know, you're hearing the stuff in the studio that we can painstakingly do correctly if we need to. Cosmik: But it's still going to point out every mistake you make . . . Teisco: Oh yeah, live, it's like warts and all sometimes, but inevitably it's just slop along the way. You just have to really concentrate and think of every note you're touching and where you're touching it. Cosmik: Was it almost a re-learning process? Teisco: It was when I first started playing the Guitorgan, it definitely does help your left hand technique, and fortunately it does carry over to guitar playing somewhat, so my guitar playing is probably a bit more precise than it was. Also, the more time you spend in studios you learn that you can't just sort of, like, "okay, here's my little hot lick." Each note has to be attacked a certain way. You have to have some consistancy in your picking. Guys that do that day in and day out in the studio, that's second nature to them. They know that. Because otherwise, you don't realize when you're playing live or when you're playing in your bedroom how inconsistant your phrasing is from one note to another or one phrase to another. One will be loud, one will be soft, one will be perfectly in time and the next will be sort of all over the map. Cosmik: Do you try to shy away from using compressors? Teisco: Yeah, it's funny . . .Janne was adding compression after the fact in the mixing process, and I sort of let him keep adding that until it really starts sounding like, to me, a modern techno kind of studio-ized thing, then I go "nope, that's too much, take some of that off." And on this album, more so than the first one, we did experiment, like on "Werewolf," we really went way over the top. That was sort of our little half-assed, you know, take a couple hours extra and try to make it sound like the Latin Playboys record by Los Lobos or something. Our version of it. It's like you compress it and make it sound like it's coming out of a telephone or through a boom-box or something. Janne is much more versed in studio technology, and that's why it's real helpful working with him. I'm sort of the other end of the spectrum. I just want it to sound . . . I don't want it to sound like a demo. I want it to sound like a professional finished record. But I don't really want it to sound like there's a lot of gadgetry involved. Cosmik: Of course, even guitarists who've never actually heard you probably know you from your Guitar Player Magazine column, "Off The Wall." How much writing do you do these days? Teisco: More than ever, under various names. My regular column, "Teisco's Forbidden Planet," is in a mag called Guitar Shop. Cosmik: How hard is it to balance journalism and playing? Teisco: Probably a bit harder than balancing music and driving a bakery truck, because it's all music; there's no time when I'm "off the clock." But that's also a luxury. I don't have someone yelling at me because I was hearing some tune in my head and didn't get the baguettes to While Foods on time. Cosmik: "Off The Wall" was all about cheesy guitars. Do you still hit the pawnshops on the road looking for bizarre guitars? Teisco: First off, I rarely play outside Austin, so "the road" is Congress Ave., Guadalupe St., I-35, and South Lamar. I don't hunt near as much as I did--and even then guitars would find me, whether I was looking or not. Cosmik: What are some of your cheesiest recent finds? Teisco: I recently got a '62 Magnatone that's way cool, but before that the most recent guitar I got was a Burns Nu-Sonic about a year ago. Cosmik: How many guitars in your collection at this point? Teisco: 65 or 70. Cosmik: For flat-out cheesiness, what's the top of the heap in your collection? Teisco: You mean bottom of the heap. That would be my Murph arrow-shaped, or heart-shaped, electric 12-string. Cosmik: Which ones end up getting played the most? Teisco: Still the Jazzmaster, my Baldwin "Double 6" 12-string, the Guitorgan, my Vox Mando-Guitar, and various Danelectros. Cosmik: Is there anything that you still covet out there in pawnshop land? Teisco: Not really. I'm usually blown away by something I haven't seen before. Cosmik: Who are the current Nut-Rockers, or do you still use that name? Teisco: Lisa Pankratz on drums, who's been in the group three years; Casper Rawls, an incredible guitarist who's been with me almost nine years; and bassist Kevin Smith, better known as the guy on upright with High Noon, who's been with us since the beginning of the year. Cosmik: Will you be touring this year? Teisco: I sure hope so. Kevin and Lisa also play with Ronnie Dawson, so we're doing some shows on the same bill and hope to do more. Cosmik: Who are some of the people on your A-list of musicians you'd like to record with in the near future? Teisco: I'm hearing more percussion for the next record, in addition to drums. There are some players from Austin's well-hidden jazz scene who I'd like to work with--combining their sensibilities with my lack of same--and I'd love to work with C.C. Adcock, my buddy from Lafayette, Louisiana. Cosmik: What's your personal favorite track on "Music For Lovers?" Teisco: "Twango," I think, because I'm proud of the tune, and because it's my nod to Duane [Eddy], my friend and idol, and the late Steve Douglas, his sax man--and mine on The Many Moods. Cosmik: Were there finished tracks from those sessions that didn't make it on to the album? Teisco: No, I knew what tracks would add up to the album I had in mind while recording them. Cosmik: Will there ever be Teisco Del Rey Box Set? Teisco: Instead of my boxed set being a collection of all my stuff at some point, I'd like to just go into the studio and stay there until I'd recorded so much the new CD would have to be a boxed set. Probably ought to check with Upstart [Teisco's record label] on that. Cosmik: You mentioned before that "Twango" was your favorite track on the new record. The melody on that song is right up there with some of the classic surf melodies. When you compose, do you think of that first and then work around it, or does the whole thing come to you? Teisco: The melody just came to me, and that front part. In fact, it came to me full blown. A lot of that stuff is just sort of where your fingers fall on the guitar. I don't know if I could write any song . . . I definitely couldn't write THAT song on a piano, hunting and pecking, or something. It's an A minor thing, and it's just this little bass line that leads up to the A minor chord. And when I wrote it, it sounded so realized that it kind of scared me. I played it for several friends and said "do you recognize this? Did I steal this from someplace?" Sonny Landreth once told me that when he's doubt, he calls Marshall Crenshaw, because Marshall Crenshaw will know. "Oh, you wrote 'Your Cheatin Heart' inside out," or something like that. He'll know. I called several friends and they said "naw, it does sound familiar, but I can't think of where it came from, so I guess that's a good sign." So I said "I guess so. I'll keep it." It just seems to be a strong enough hook that it does sound like "well, I must have heard this somewhere." But for the life of me, I've tried to figure out what it sounds like, and nothing at this point has come up, and I wrote it about three years ago. Cosmik: Do you manage to stay out of "the industry" end of things? Teisco: You can't, really. I mean, on my little level it's a whole other thing, but you can't afford to be ignorant. You have to know what publishing songs is about. You have to know how to read a contract. It took me two months to iron out this little recording deal with Upstart. Having my lawyer fax them and waiting to hear back. A lot of it was just delays and stuff like that, but I'd just as soon get the money and go into the studio and be working. And the funny thing is that these guys were on my side. They came to me. They liked what I did. They wanted to license my first record, they wanted to give me a budget for the second record. That wins them points immediately. I don't have to knock on doors and explain who I am and what it is I do, you know? They got it, they understood it, they liked it. But you know, a quote "standard record contract" . . . you basically give up everything. So you have to start changing clauses and rewriting this and that to get back any kind of control. And my attitude was, and still is, that if you start giving up control on any front, whether it's the cover art or the studio you choose to use, what songs you're going to put on the record, who's going to play on them, then it's not that big of a step to have some record company guy behind the board telling you "no, I don't like that note you played right there." They have to take the whole ball of wax and trust YOU. Cosmik: Do you feel comfortable with Upstart? Teisco: Oh yeah! They've got a lot of enthusiam and experience, and pretty hip musical taste. They sort of set out to have a game plan. As I sort of observed it, they wanted to build up their catalog so they weren't a little vanity label with a couple of acts, and then once they achieved that, build up the catalogs of each of those artists. Cosmik: It's a very interesting catalog, too. Teisco: Yeah! I never thought I would be a label mate with Nick Lowe. Or Reeves Gabrels. Cosmik: Are you as big a perfectionist as it sounds like you are? How many takes does it usually take? Teisco: No way. There's a fine line between perfectionism and obsession--just ask Eric Johnson. It varies. "Dimples," from The Many Moods, was nailed in the first take, solos and all. "Kyla Vuotti" was all overdubs--me playing about 8 instruments, a big production. There is a point of diminishing returns, where the feel gets lost, especially on rhythm tracks. Cosmik: I'd say that's something you've never been guilty of yet. Well, it's time to wrap it up, so tell us the most important thing people should know about Teisco Del Rey? Teisco: That he never refers to himself in third person. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A CONSULTATION WITH THE BRAIN SURGEONS Interview by DJ Johnson Growing up a "rocker" in the 70s, you had a lot of choices to make. Would you choose to follow the Grand Funk Railroad path of pre-grunge lifestyle? Would you put on some tinted shades and do the T-Rex stumble as you tripped on window-pane? Or were you "heavy?" Being "heavy" meant you probably had the complete catalogs of two particular bands--Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult. Sabbath was heavy by means of pummeling bass and buzzsaw guitar. Cult was heavy by means of attitude. They could freeze you just as easily with a ballad as they could with a rocker. One of the wags at Rolling Stone once said, and I'm paraphrasing here, that Blue Oyster Cult played with an attitude that suggested they'd just as soon suck your blood as perform for you. Albert Bouchard occupied the drum throne for all the years that matter in BOC's history. He left the band in 1982 and he has remained very active in the east coast music scene. Deborah Frost played drums with Flaming Youth, one of the prototype "riot grrl" bands. She is also a respected rock critic. Al and Deborah met, married and formed a band. The Brain Surgeons pick up where Blue Oyster Cult left off (but don't tell the guys in BOC that they "left off..." they don't know yet), painting soundscapes that are alternately dark and liberating and light and frightening. Frost's amazing vocal range and her emotional delivery, along with Bouchard's technically brilliant drumming and the skills of their bandmates, combine to make The Brain Surgeons one of the most powerful units on the scene today. This discussion took place shortly after the release of their second album, "Trepanation." * * * * Cosmik: Al, how many instruments do you play? Al: On BOC albums I played guitar, drums, percussion, vocals and harmonica. On The Brain Surgeons records I played all of the above plus saxophone, Jaminator, Microjammer, the Legendary Albertron, slide, ebow and keyboards. Cosmik: Was that you playing the killer harp solo on "Dr. Music?" Al: No that was Mickey Raphael who is Willie Nelson's harmonica player. Cosmik: Have drums always been your number one, or did you end up Blue Oyster Cult's drummer by circumstance? Al: Drums give the most joy when I play them. I started as the piano player in my first band but quickly switched to drums when the opportunity arose. By the time I got around to BOC I didn't consider any other instrument. Cosmik: You put BOC together, didn't you? Al: BOC was not "put together." The band was an evolution from several bands that I formed with Don Roeser when we met at Clarkson University. Cosmik: Was the lineup the same from day one? Al: No. Fallen by the wayside were the guys from Soft White Underbelly: Les Braunstein-singer, Richard Meltzer-singer, Jeff Richards-singer/sax, Jeff Latham-organ/guitar, Jackson Browne-singer, John Weisenthal-guitar, Andy Winters-bass. There were a few groups before Soft White Underbelly, too. Cosmik: Jackson Browne? Al: Yes, THE Jackson Browne. We were a blues band back then and not really very hard. We did only his material but I did some wild arrangements of some of his early tunes. Cosmik: I'm having trouble picturing this...How was he as a hard rock singer? Al: His singing back then was not so great but he always wrote great songs. Cosmik: How long did it take from first practice until first album? Al: Soft White Underbelly was formed in fall 1967 and made two albums for Elektra. The first was never finished in 1969 and the second never released in 70. The we starved for another year and finally got a deal with Columbia and put out the first BOC album in early 72. So you could say it was four and a half years from first practice to first release. Cosmik: The first three albums almost sound like a different band than everything from "Agents Of Fortune" forward. Was there a shift in philosophy or maybe different influences like Patti Smith in the studio? Al: We were writing with Patti Smith from day one . . . Baby Ice Dog, Career of Evil . . . so that was not a factor in our direction shift. But shift we did and it was quite conscious. We had discussed it as early as before the On Your Feet Or On Your Knees album. The first three albums were an aural painting of hell, BOC's Inferno, if you will. We eventually got tired of that and wanted the songs to be more personal, more real. Later we drifted back to the dark stuff but the hell-theme seemed corny to us after awhile. Cosmik: When did it start to feel corny? Cultosaurus Erectus? Fires Of Unknown Origin? Al: No we got tired of it around the Agents era. When we went back to the dark stuff, around Cultosaurus, we resolved we were not going back to the bad old days. Cosmik: Did you think that had anything to do with Michael Moorcock's sci-fi themes, or did you like that direction? Al: Yes I think that we were looking for lyrics. Eric was a fan of his and sought him out. Cosmik: There were other phases, of course, but if you split everything into "pre Agents" and "post Secret Treaties," which era did you enjoy most? Al: Actually it was the time in between that I was the most creative. If you're not including the last two years (94-96) then the post Treaties-pre Agents period wins hands down. Cosmik: Maybe my memory is shot here...Wouldn't On Your Feet Or On Your Knees be the only release between those two albums? Al: Maybe I'm not exactly answering your question. You seem to be talking about albums and I'm talking about a time period. That was a fertile period for all of us in the band. Cosmik: In the sense that every member of a band brings their influences to contribute to the overall sound of the group, which element of BOC's sound was your contribution? Al: Because my taste is so eclectic I think that my part of the sound is hard to pin down. As far as my influences, I was greatly influenced by my parents who were very industrious and organized. They did a lot with very little so I guess my major contribution was to supercharge everybody's work ethic. I either wrote the songs, brought the songs to the group, finished off songs that they couldn't finish or suggested the ideas for the songs that they did write--so I guess an argument could be made that my major contribution was as a writer for the group. The songwriters I was most influenced by were Bacharach-David and Leiber-Stoller, the former for their harmonic originality and the latter for their rhythmic originality. Cosmik: How much of that do you think carries over to The Brain Surgeons? Al: Well, my role in The Brain Surgeons is similar. The main difference is that these guys are funkier, funnier, more cooperative and they can learn the songs much faster. Cosmik: Expand on that for us. What are the strengths of your bandmates? Al: Deborah's strength is the depth of her emotional range as a singer. Compared to her, most of the other singers I've worked with seem monotone. Billy Hilfiger's strength is rhythmic solidity, [the] chunky, manly way he plays guitar. Another strength of Billy's is that he is almost the opposite of Pete. Pete's most obvious forte is raw speed. He can sweep pick and shred with the best of 'em but what he really likes to do is play perverted, sick melody lines. Pete is one of the funniest humans I've ever met. He's actually put everyone in the band on the floor with some of his routines. David Hirschberg's strong point has more to do with his attitude. He is totally enthusiastic about anything we do. He really is like a little kid with a new toy. He's a jammin' fool and a great all around musician. He plays killer sax, also. Cosmik: There are a few nods to BOC on the new Brain Surgeons album, the most obvious being the section from "Cities On Flame" that you played as "Night Of The 1,000 Guitars." You wrote "Cities On Flame." Is this a way of showing that that power came from you? Al: That wasn't the idea at all. I just wanted The Brain Surgeons to stake a small claim on "Cities" that we could make our own. I hate the idea of being a cover band--or even worse, an oldies act! Cosmik: Are you still friends with the rest of BOC? Do they come to your shows? Al: Unfortunately no and they never have. Cosmik: What do you remember as the best of times with them? Al: The time when we were getting the material for the first album together was very exciting. Some of the stadium gigs later on were pretty awe inspiring. When we first got the lasers they were lots of fun. Sometimes before shows in the late 70s I used to sit in my room and do charcoal drawings and get into the idea of becoming an artist and those were good times. I got to meet and jam with some great musicians and those were times I'll never forget. Muddy Waters/Francis Clay(his drummer) Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, Mahavishnu Orchestra, David Bowie, Bruce Springstein, Ramones, Ozzie, Iggy, Bob Seger, Charlie Daniels, Richie Havens. I looked up to these people at the time and most of them turned out to be pretty warm loving individuals when I met them. Cosmik: If you had to pin it down, which of those jam sessions was the most exciting and memorable for you? Al: If I had to pin it down I guess I'd vote for my first brush with the famous, the time we opened for Muddy Waters at the Third Annual Blues Bag at the Cafe Au GoGo in New York City. That was incredible to me. Cosmik: Which albums are you the proudest of? And which specific tracks, too? Al: They're all like my children and some I may favor more than others at times but I'm proud of all of them, except for maybe a couple that you'll have to pry harder to find out. Cosmik: Alright, I'll pry. You already said you thought the later records had some corny material, and of course you were getting ready to bolt around the Fire Of Unknown Origin period...Am I getting warm? Al: No, the song I most don't like is "You're Not The One" from Mirrors. That song was a little joke that wasn't supposed to be recorded. My only consolation is that it was about the producer, Tom Werman, who I was never very impressed with. I think he ruined the good stuff that was on that album too. Also, my leaving BOC came out of the blue as far as I was concerned. You might say it was a little surprise that my colleagues cooked up for me. Cosmik: Check my memory on this. You were gone by the time Revolution By Night came out, correct? Al: After putting everything I had into the production of Fire of Unknown Origin (which was the last successful BOC album - coincidence? I think not) my reward was to get sacked! Cosmik: Were you around for the writing process for Revolution? Al: I was working on Imaginos when they made that record. I was not involved in any aspect of it. Cosmik: So you left the band in 1982. What did you do then? Al: Imaginos for five years. Cosmik: Deborah, you were a big league rock critic and as I recall you weren't into pulling punches. Now you're getting out there and fronting a hard rock band. Do you ever feel like the cop who gets sent to prison? Are the critics and the peers ever a touch hypercritical because of what you used to do? Deborah: A lot of people seem to labor under the false impression that I'm a rock critic who suddenly decided to put down my pencil and pick up a guitar. The reality is that I played in bands long before I ever became a rock critic. It was sort of an accident that for a while my writing about music took precedence over my playing music-- but that was largely because I didn't really find the right collaborator until I began working with Albert. And rock is really a process of collaboration, no matter how talented the individuals are. Would Lennon have evolved without McCartney? Jagger without Richards? And so on. Cosmik: I think a lot of people will be morbidly curious about this one... Did you ever write a slam-job review of Blue Oyster Cult? Deborah: No. But I would never describe anything that I wrote, no matter how incompetently it might have been edited, as a "slam-job." I've written positive reviews and negative reviews and mixed reviews for countless publications. But I actually never wrote about BOC--I may have referred to them in some other context, though. Cosmik: Do you plan to get back into writing anytime soon? Deborah: I've never gotten out of writing. I just contributed two essays that I'm pretty happy with to a book Rolling Stone Press and Random House are publishing in February of '97. But I'm not interested writing about things that mean nothing except a paycheck to me or filling the spaces between ads, which is all most corporate mags require at the moment. Of course, the ads are getting even fewer, which says that the readers aren't as stupid as most of the editors of these glossy pieces of crap. Cosmik: How did the two of you meet? Deborah: Helen Wheels, who co-wrote Blue Oyster Cult songs like "Tattoo Vampire," and "Sinful Love" with Albert, and "Nosferatu" and "Celestial the Queen" with Albert's brother, Joe, introduced us. It's really funny, because when I was in Flaming Youth, Helen hung out with couple of the other girls and was interested in having us be her back-up band. I said, "We are NOT back-up musicians!" and was so insulted that I refused to even discuss it with her. 20 years later, we both found ourselves into a different kind of heavy metal at the same body building gym and got to be good friends. She told Albert she knew someone he'd really hit it off with--and I think we've all been surprised ever since at how right she was! Cosmik: You played drums with Flaming Youth. Do you ever get the urge to get on the kit with Brain Surgeons? Deborah: Well, I occasionally do. But only because Albert makes me! Cosmik: Do you find it difficult to balance rock and roll and parenthood? Deborah: I think that we probably share the same problems as any other working parents. But I think that children, as proud as we are of them, are really a very personal topic--and should probably stay off the record. But I'm sure that they have the same deal with us as any other kids have with their parents-- you know, that eventually the truth will be revealed that somehow they were really dropped off here by mistake by Martians. Cosmik: Wow...I thought that was just me. Okay, then, let's talk about the new album. First of all, what does the title, "Trepanation," mean? Deborah: It's a rather primitive operation in which a hole is drilled in the skull. The idea is to relieve pressure on the brain. There's actually some kind of society in England-- people who want to make trepanations available on demand to the public. We thought it was appropriate. Cosmik: You're both listed as producers. Was that as difficult as it sounds? How hard is it to compromise on those occasions when you're pretty sure your way is right and the other one has the wrong idea? Deborah: Actually, we fight a lot more about simple every day things--like who's gonna take out the garbage--than aesthetic issues. After a couple hearings, what makes it sonically--even if the idea originally seemed pretty out there to either one of us--is pretty obvious. Who's gonna be in charge of dinner, on the other hand, is really something to fight about! Cosmik: Who's responsible for the huge sound on "Stones In My Passway?" It seems like building that kind of vast soundscape is a lost art now. Al: From 1988 to 1992 I produced a number of recordings for other artists, Head Up, Maria ExCommunikata, Kablamachunk! etc. During that period I worked with a talented young audio engineer named Paul Special. When I started recording The Brain Surgeons I tried to get Paul involved in the project but he was always too busy. When we were doing Trepanation I sent him a cassette of the rough mixes and he faxed me instructions on how he would mix each song. All the mixing moves on "Stones In My Passway" were his ideas that I used. I'm happy to say that he is very involved in the new Brain Surgeons album, currently under construction, also. Cosmik: How hard was it to translate what he wrote in the fax into an actual sound? Was he real specific with EQ's and fader levels and everything else? Al: Paul was specific as far as he could be. He'd never worked on my board at that point so it was like "make the drums clean and shiny with a touch of reverb. Use any one of Robert Plant's solo albums as a model." Cosmik: "Stones In My Passway" is one of Robert Johnson's lesser known tunes. Is that one of the reasons you chose it? Al: Well, yes, that's part of the reason. I bought the Robert Johnson box set and I set about learning a bunch of the songs. That one struck me as being typical of the quirky vibe that Johnson produced that nobody else has been able to recreate so I thought I'd give it a try. The lyric reminds me of a reoccurring nightmare I had as a child. Cosmik: Wouldn't that make it kind of uncomfortable to do? Al: Yes, but it also gave it an edge. I look at it as exorcism. Cosmik: The instrument that starts that one off sounds like it might be a piano with the string being plucked. Go ahead . . . how far off am I? Al: That is the Legendary Albertron which is an instrument I made myself out of 2x4s, 1" pipe, and old guitar parts. I made it after I saw a guy named Glen Brancca play at St. Mark's church in the village in 1983. It's played by striking with chopsticks and has sixteen strings tuned to different chords. It's sort of like a electric hammer dulcimer. Cosmik: It has a great sound! Will it be used on the new album? Al: Maybe if it sounds good on any of the songs. Actually we've finally recorded the song I made it for so I think I should use it on that. Cosmik: Another one with a huge sound is "A Kiss Is A Promise." Your brother turned in a nice mandolin part on that one, too. Do you get together with Joe and jam very often? Al: Yes we play on many occasions outside of The Brain Surgeons and he has come to six of our gigs and usually sits in with us for at least a couple songs, sometimes the whole set.. Cosmik: I thought the lyric in that song was pretty chilling. Was that a true story? Deborah: I don't sing anything that does not resonate with some kind of emotional truth for me. Cosmik: Were you playing "Ramblin' Rose" live before you ever recorded it? I ask because the energy and the flow is like a live song. Deborah: I was as much an MC5 fan as Albert, and if he hadn't already done "Kick Out the Jams" with his old band, I probably woulda insisted on covering it. Albert and I used to play this together in the living room all the time. And when Fred Smith died, we were supposed to play CBGB like the next night, and although I woulda liked to do one of his original tunes to honor him the way I simply felt compelled to, I think the recording of this showed him at his finest frenzy. And we could teach it to the band at sound check. And then we recorded it, boom boom boom, maybe a week later. So you're right, it does have that genuine live feel. But more important, we hope it captures the heartfelt spirit that was intended-- that of a tribute to Fred Smith. And God bless Wayne Kramer. 'Cause irregardless of the tensions between them, which were probably no different than those that tear apart every band, he's still very much alive and kickin' out the jams. And more power to him. Cosmik: Is "Ramblin' Rose" one of your more popular tunes? That little stutter is pretty sexy. Deborah: Thanks. We don't do it as much as we should live-- maybe because we just haven't found the right place for it yet. But I think what's interesting about what we do is each listener's personal response. Everyone has his or her own favorite tune-- and they're not necessarily mine! But it's usually pretty interesting. Can't wait to hear your take on the album we're recording now. Some of these tunes are really different! Cosmik: That brings me to my personal favorite track, "My Civilization." A pretty dark view of modern society. The way the vocals are layered reminded me a little of "Dominance and Submission." Al: I had never thought of that until you asked the question. Now that you mention it it does have that trade-off feel to it. Really I'm just making songs that we all can have a little solo spot to do our thing in. I want to utilize the different personalities. Cosmik: Who's doing what in the chorus section? Al: Pete does the smooth harmonies, I do the 'Gimme Nothins' and Deborah does the wisecracks in-between. Cosmik: "Shakespeare in cyberspace - free as a feather - animating emergency for your dining displeasure." If you don't find it too strange talking about your lyrics, what does this one mean? Deborah: Actually, it's one of the more personal lyrics on the album, and it probably holds much more significance, not to mention genuine amusement, for Albert and myself than for anyone else. But for your purposes, let's just say it means exactly what you think it does. Cosmik: Aw, don't do that to me. I have an overactive imagination and this song scares me as it is, which is probably why I love it. I hear it as a verbal spanking for a corrupt society. Is it really that simple? Deborah: Well, to paraphrase our friends in the Canadian band Spackle, let your imagination do the spanking. Cosmik: Question is, does it play in Poughkeepsie? Deborah: Sure, to quote my friend Robert Plant, as long as they're not spanking while spilling their vichysoisse. Cosmik: I read a review of your first album in which the writer pointed out that your music FEELS like classic rock in the best sense of the word. A lot of people would buy it for that reason while some people would see it as a liability. How do you feel about that kind of reaction against classic rock? Deborah: The real problem is that classic rock is an oxymoron. As for people who won't buy it--actually, I'm really more concerned with people listening to it--if anyone's got a problem with labels, then he or she's a different kind of moron. Labels are something to stick on designer jeans--not that my Tommy Hilfigers ain't the comfiest things I've ever worn. But labels have nothing to do with music. They're a marketing device for people who, from the record company standpoint, are too stupid and/or tone deaf and tasteless to have any real convictions or too lazy to do any real work. And the same goes for the consumers who are dumb enough to fall for 'em. Would you have listened to the Rolling Stones if you were so concerned about the label? Or the Beatles? James Brown didn't need a label. Neither did Aretha. Or Brian Wilson. They just opened their mouths. All you had to do was hear. Cosmik: I always want to sneak a look at people's record collections. What do you both listen to for kicks? New and old. Deborah: Honey, you couldn't sneak anything at our record collection-- it covers walls. We have a lot of weird things for a lot of even weirder reasons. Depending on our moods, we listen to classical, rap, jazz. But it depends on our moods. Of course, what happens in pop music is that after you've been doing it for a long time, even when you hear something that's pretty clever, you know exactly where it came from. You appreciate the craftsmanship, but it's hard to be knocked out by the utter originality. There aren't too many brand new people who totally amaze me. I think the most innovative developments are probably happening on the urban front--I love that cover of Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly." Annie Lennox's cover of "Train in Vain" was a great piece of work. I wish she had some new original tunes that were as good as those covers. For old stuff, I might listen to Aretha. Or Al Green. Otis Redding. This is the music I really love. But most rock stuff, I've heard it so much, I don't necessarily have to put it on the record player, I can hear it in my head. You can't imagine how many times I listened to certain records when I was a kid--over and over and over. But it depends on my mood. Right now, we're working so much on our new record, that when the tracks aren't blaring, I just want silence. But it changes from day to day. Cosmik: Is there a tour in the works? Deborah: We're playing all over the place. Our dates are usually posted on the Brain Surgeons web page or the BOC-L discussion group. Cosmik: What's next? Do you already have material for the third album? Al: We have recorded 17 basic tracks for a new album of which we'll pick the best ones and finish them off by the summer. Cosmik: I have no excuse for asking this, but after seeing BOC six times in the 70s and early 80s I've just got to know...Do you still have the Godzilla mask? Al: No, Rick Downey lost it! [Ed.Note: Downey replaced Bouchard in BOC] Cosmik: Is there some irony in there somewhere, ya think? Al: Of course, it's perfect. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- T H E E N D O F M O M U S ? An interview with Momus - by Keith Gillard * * * * * "Trust me, I'm a music journalist - a specialist in the ailments of the Momus." Born in the town of Paisley, early 1960, Nick Currie is better known as his most famous character, Momus, a name he borrowed from the Greek god of mockery, the "critic of the gods". Ten years, ten albums. Huge followings in Europe and Japan. So why aren't people familiar with Momus in North America? Only one of his records has ever been released stateside. And why is that? Answer: Momus is not a "commercial project" (although he has scored commercials). Throughout the 80's, he explored the realms of taboo subject matter - beautifully, seductively, poetically. He wrote about such stuff as necrophilia, cannibalism, pedophilia, masturbating animals, prostitution of siblings, God's perversions, etc. etc. etc... - and he made them beautiful, even erotic. And, of course, disturbed several people in the process. Many people just didn't "get" Momus. Take New Music Express columnist Betty Page for example. 1991's Hippopotamomus was the peak of Momus' "taboo" period, and she didn't take it very well. Here are some quotes from her review: "It now seems beyond all reasonable doubt that Nick Currie is a perv; if not in deed, then certainly in mind...Momus is a bit like a mussel: it tastes good when swallowed whole, but examine it too closely and it looks as disgusting as a shrivelled, unidentifiable piece of sexual organ. Spit it out immediately." She even went so far as to suggest that Momus' thoughts be "suppressed." However, in the same article, she described the music of Ventriloquists and Dolls as being "a dramatic sweep, like the Pet Shops at their grandest" - yet she still rated this brilliant album a zero. Contributing to this misunderstanding of Momus' work were his frequent cultural and literary references. His works refer to Gide, Bataille, Nin, Keats, Wilde, amongst dozens of other literary figures. Many of his works are enhanced by (and sometimes require) a knowledge of these great writers or cultural figures. Although this is in the tradition of great writers, it has, however, limited his audience in a world where ignorance seems prized. Ignorance has become our replacement for innocence. But Momus is not just about perversion and literary allusions. Humour has also plaid an important role in his work, from the cynical and witty lyrics of Tender Pervert to 1992's The Ultraconformist (supposedly a "live" Momus recording from 1910), he has found ways to poke fun at himself as well as the rest of the world. But in the latter half of 1992, everything changed. Voyager was released. Although recorded at the same time as Hippopotamomus, this album was not about sexual perversion, nor was it obviously humorous. It still had the cultural and literary references, the same dispassionate-yet-intensely- emotional delivery, the same gorgeous production, the same brilliant songwriting... but it had something else as well. A new direction, new subject matter, a new lyrical approach, a new . . . spirituality. This new approach continued to 1995's The Philosophy of Momus, reviewed in this month's Cosmik. Why the change? Where is Momus going with his new approach? November saw the release of Slender Sherbet (reviewed in last month's Cosmik), an album revisiting Momus' past, revising and re-recording thirteen of his classics from the eighties (with an emphasis on 1988's Tender Pervert). Does this album commemorate the passing of the "old Momus"? Will this album of closure enable Momus to better pursue his new directions and ideas? Or is it the end of Momus altogether? Only Momus can tell us . . . as he told me in this IRC interview from Tuesday, April 23, 1996: * * * * * KG: "Momus is a mask that anyone can wear." - How would you describe the Momus character? MOMUS: The Momus character is an amalgam of all my favourite writers' personas, people like Wilde, Mishima, Swift, Juvenal, Leopardi . . . I probably mentioned two Irish writers there because I was just in Dublin and Galway. KG: At the Cuirt literature festival? Momus: Yes. And I took the opportunity to see the Writers Museum in Dublin, as well as hear a lot of living writers reading (Paul Muldoon, Simon Armitage...) KG: But is the Momus character a "mask"? People like Wilde are hard to separate from their characters? Momus: Well, Wilde created the ultimate mask myth with Dorian Gray. And I suppose Momus is closer to Gray than Wilde. 'Up in the attic I pick up the brush / Paint in the crow's feet, paint out the blush / The face this portrait is of is still capable of...' KG: If Momus is a mask that can be worn by anyone, how would you feel about someone else painting out that blush? Momus: God, I hope we're not going to start talking Turkle (Sherry, that is)! Or maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing. If someone else painted out that blush I'd say fine, but give yourself a new nickname. Momus is mine. Of course journalists are doing it all the time, and using the artist's name to project fantasies onto. KG: Like Betty Page? Momus: Yes, a fine example of painting a blush on there, I think! KG: She painted it a little thick... Momus: What I liked about that review was its openness about her own sexual misgivings. She described sex as resembling 'unidentified bits of shell or muscle which look good but on closer examination should be spat out'. KG: I found her review highly amusing, actually! What has prompted you to do an album revisiting Momus' past? Momus: Money prompted me to make an album revisiting Momus's past. And it was an extension of the ideas of time travel I'd been playing with on Voyager and Timelord. KG: Or "London 1888"... Momus: Oddly enough, all my albums dip about ten years back for their inspiration. Like, on The Poison Boyfriend I was looking at the experiences I had when I was about 19. I just seem to need that amount of distance from pain before I can laugh at it. There has to be an objective relationship to one's own subjectivity. You've got to be half bully and half victim. Because, in one of the slogans I devised for the marketing of Circus Maximus, 'one man's martyrdom is another man's matinee'. KG: The time factor must also aid you in getting that ambivalent approach to the characters in your stories. Similarly, "see ugliness in every living thing" . . . Momus: When enough water has gone under the bridge you've had time to see your subject from ten different angles. It's the closest I get to Cubism. Momus, Moral Cubist! KG: You had done a version of "Right Hand Heart" which doesn't appear on Slender Sherbet. Why did you drop it? Momus: It was ugly. I just did it live in its original acoustic version and it worked. But the recorded version was too busy with chattering sequencers. Momus: Hey, can we kick each other off this thing? When I do that (I kicked myself experimentally on a channel just now) I get a funny 'ouch' noise! KG: I don't think we can kick in a chat, but we could just close up the channel. KG: You also included "The Gatecrasher" and "Hotel Marquis De Sade". You had said earlier that you felt they were too gloomy. Momus: Yes, but I'm too gloomy. In fact I judge my own work more harshly than I ought to. Things grow on me much later. I normally hate what I've just done. Low self esteem. KG: Shouldn't you be the harshest judge of your own material? Momus: Being a good judge and being a harsh judge are different things. I'd like to know accurately what my work is like, but that's hard. KG: Do you use a third party (perhaps Shazna) to help judge? Momus: I think Shazna has trouble judging for the same reasons I do: she's too close. The best judge is someone who's never heard it and decides to buy my lyrics book because she's intrigued. Or someone attacking me for not taking a strong line against child abuse in 'The Guitar Lesson.' * * * Momus: Playing on Friday night in Galway gave me little glimpse of how STRANGE my work is. Being that private in public, and expecting to get paid for it! KG: What material did you do? Momus: I had just about 40 minutes. I did all the heavy stuff about death, necrophilia, pedophilia, more death, breasts . . .It even shocked me . . .to hear it all together like that. KG: That kind of stuff'll get you kicked off America OnLine!!! Momus: Well that's probably why I'm not on AOL. KG: Is that mostly earlier material? Momus: Yes, in the 90s I mellowed out, tried to "put the leaves back on the tree,", to rediscover emotion and even attain innocence again. I pulled back from satire and reportage. I left London, about which I'd felt very ambivalent. Now I live somewhere I approve of (Paris) and write about different things. KG: You seem to be doing a good job of attempting to re-attain innocence. Voyager seems to be the landmark album in terms of subject matter and approach. Momus: How long can the foreign correspondent sit on the sidelines of the battle before he notices that he's getting spattered with blood? Or even that he is a part of the war, that it's being waged for his benefit? KG: The voyeur . . . Momus: I felt implicated in the sleaze I was documenting. So I withdrew and discovered two things: Japan and the Internet. Or rather Japan discovered me. And I identified a shy and austere part of myself with Japanese culture. I wrote a lot of songs for Japanese girls, and in a sense became one. KG: How did that happen? PGF? Momus: A pop star called Keigo Oyamada (Flipper's Guitar then Cornelius) picked up on the el record label which I'd been a part of. He played our stuff on the radio and created an audience in Japan for it. KG: I have found that albums such as Slender Sherbet, being a summation of the past, often serve as landmark albums - a line dividing what is later seen as "old" from "new". Do you think that Slender Sherbet will be such an album? Momus: It could well be. I've been thinking recently it could be liberating to draw a line across Momus and launch a new persona. KG: It's almost as though you did that (to some extent) with Voyager. Momus: It's scary when you look at artists careers and see that very few were relevant for more than about ten years. People like Picasso are exceptions. KG: If you get more than 15 minutes, you've short-changed someone else . . . Momus: You get a certain amount of press support and if that doesn't get you to specific velocity, you sink. A name change can give you a second chance, though. KG: What do you see as the future of Momus, or his next incarnation, then? Momus: Well, in a sense Momus is already someone else. She's called Kahimi Karie and she's a big star in Japan. I write about half her material. She's a Lolita, exotic and distant and rather cold and narcissistic. KG: So will you invent a new mask for yourself? Momus: What I might do is just spin Momus out a little longer in a new medium, CD ROM. KG: Weren't you planning to do that for Slender Sherbet? Momus: Yes, but it's likely to be ready for the next release. I'm learning the skills just now. And if you ask 'what will it be like, this CD ROM' I'd answer: rain, sex, a manservant, a goblin, a clock, northern-ness. . . I don't know. KG: Your website shows your interest in animation and multi-media, and you are involved in multi-media web work for Cherry Red. Where are you going with this? Momus: With my own site it's like having a personality online which absolves me from having one offline. It's a golem which has devoured the real Momus in order to construct a dead bot on the net. KG: I'd like to ask you some more about your past: How did you get involved with Derek Jarman's Blue? Momus: I was asked to contribute to Jarman's Blue by Simon Turner, otherwise known as The King Of Luxembourg. He was with me on el records in the mid 80s then did music for many earlier Jarman films, starting with Caravaggio. KG: "I Am a Not Gay" certainly seems to fit in with the Momus character. Did you contribute anything other than the vocal on that track? Momus: The melody, the idea of making it mimic a football chant. Jarman was impressed, I remember him saying at the rushes 'That'll go down in history!' (I think he meant as the most fucked up and ambivalent coming out statement ever). KG: Oddly enough, it made me think of "The Lumberjack Song . . ." Momus: Ha ha ha! "He's a cock sucking lesbian and he's okay . . ." KG: Now all we need are the mounties . . . Another item you were involved in which I only discovered by accident was Blender magazine. How did you get involved in that one? Momus: I met the founding editor, Regina Joseph, when she interviewed me just after Timelord. We shared an enthusiasm for new media and she asked me to make a theme song for Blender, her magazine. In fact she offered me a job in New York at the end of last year and I almost took it. Momus's new persona was going to be a bratty ad exec a bit like Gibby in 'Dream On'. Then I backed out. KG: Is there any other material like this you've worked on? Momus: I've done some TV commercials in Japan. One for Menard make-up. It was the worst make up ad you'll ever see. Robotic Japanese maidens swivel towards the camera and pronounce ludicrous brand names. KG: How about b-sides? Momus: The best b-sides are on the single for "The Sadness Of Things" that came out last year on Cherry Red. "London 1888," "The End Of History" (my version) and "An Inflatable Doll" (a different version of "I Had A Girl"). KG: If there were to be a tribute album dedicated to you, what songs would you like to see done, and by which artists? Momus: I'd like to hear Bruce Springsteen's version of 'I Was A Maoist Intellectual', Bryan Adams' version of "Bishonen" and of course Billy Joel doing "Cibachrome Blue." KG: Hahahahaha Momus: No, I wouldn't really like to hear tributes. Next thing you know I'd be in the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame. Yuck. KG: You have previously stated your stance on drugs - "NONE WHATSOEVER". Does this still apply? What about alcohol? Momus: I took a little space cake in Amsterdam last year. (Oh, and some great 'E Tea' which really buzzed me). And in Ireland I had some beautiful whiskey. It may be time to start discovering drugs. But I'm afraid of making the same profound statements as everyone else who's ever taken LSD or smoked crack or whatever. I think they make you less individual by relaxing you into some sort of anonymous blissed out state. It's taken my family countless generations to get this uptight. Why waste that? KG: One last question: Would you like to write a full musical, for film or stage? Momus: I think I'm much too introverted to be able to write "Les Miserables" or "Cats 2". My work is about masturbation, forbidden thoughts, guilt, and the private wealth of people trapped in their own fantasy worlds. It ought to be consumed on Walkmans or portable CD ROM drives, not in big theatres. KG: Private, personal art? Momus: So inward it's positively clitoral, I'd say. Sorry, I should say "vaginal." * * * * * Momus maintains his own website at http://www.demon.co.uk/momus. Go visit it as soon as you're done reading Cosmik! MOMUS' DISCOGRAPHY 1982 - The Man on Your Street 1986 - Circus Maximus 1987 - The Poison Boyfriend 1988 - Tender Pervert 1989 - Don't Stop the Night 1990 - Monsters of Love 1991 - Hippopotamomus 1992 - The Ultraconformist 1992 - Voyager 1993 - Timelord 1995 - The Philosophy of Momus 1995 - Slender Sherbet ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITICAL PLAYBOOK: Featuring A Cast Of Thousands... By Shaun Dale "If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go at all." - Thomas Jefferson During the lull between the primaries and the conventions we in the punditocracy are left to flail about in search of a story. One of the perrenial subjects is whether the U.S. is ready for a third political party to challenge the Democrats and Republicans (though some wags wonder if we're ready for a second party to challenge the Demublicans and the Republocrats). There is, of course, already a third party. And a fourth. And fifth. And more. A quick flick of the web browser came up with these: Conservative, Reform, Socialist, Democratic Socialist, Pacific, Ameria, Communist, Revolutionary Communist, Peace and Freedom, Constitution, Creator's Rights, Green, Socialist Workers, Libertarian, Natural Law, Progressive Labor, New, Worker's World, Patriot, U.S. Taxpayers, and the Pansexual Peace Party. I'm going back later to find out more about those Pansexual Peace folks. Some of these will appear on all or nearly all of the ballots in the country. Some will appear on none. They all have one thing in common, though. Their Presidential candidates, if they have one, will not be the next President of the United States. I'd need a Cray just to calculate the odds on such a notion. The last new party to take the White House and establish itself as a long term national force was the Republicans in 1860, and they were basically a replacement for the by then decimated Whigs. The last third party candidate to pick up an electoral college vote was George Wallace, running on the American Independent line, in 1968. Before that it was Strom Thurmond, the State's Rights Party nominee in 1948. Some of today's third parties, like the Socialists, have been around for decades. Earlier in this century the Socialists made a minor splash with candidates like Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas. Others are of newer vintage. The Libertarians have been around for a while, trying to convince Americans that the path to political salvation is a toll road lined with waving fields of legal pot which will be sold tax free. The leading candidate for the Libertarian nomination this year is investment guru and author Harry Browne. The highest moment of political glory in Libertarian history was a 1992 victory in the Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, primary. Of course, that's a feat that can be accomplished with a dozen votes or so, but a win's a win. Among the interesting newcomers is the Natural Law Party, which entered the presidential contest in 1992 with Harvard trained physicist John Hagelin. Dr. Hagelin--now an official with Maharishi International University--is back, running on a platform which advocates a healthy dose of Transcendental Meditation as the cure for our republic's political and social ills. Dr. Hagelin could make history as the first President to levitate during the inaugural parade. The Greens have made organizational inroads in several states, and the California Greens have gathered some notoriety for offering up Ralph Nader as their presidential standard bearer. Of course, Ralph isn't a registered voter in California, and he allows as how he might just vote for Clinton in the long run even if he's running. Of course, this year we get a brand new choice, sort of. The Reform Party, an outgrowth of the United We Stand movement, will be holding a nominating convention around Labor Day. The biggest mystery around that convention will be whether H. Ross Perot will be nominated for President, or whether he will be nominated for both President and Vice President. Whatever the outcome, Ross is not expected to do as well this year as he did in 1992, and in '92 he didn't get a single electoral vote. Those Electoral College votes, of course, are part of the challenge for third parties. To get those, states have to be won. The candidate with a plurality takes all the electoral votes from the state. The others, whether a strong second or weak third, get nothing for their efforts. Like it or not, the Electoral College benefits the two strong parties in this country and the only way to change it would be a Constitutional Amendment introduced in the Congress controlled by those two parties and passed through the various state legislatures controlled by, amazingly enough, the same two strong parties. I'm not holding my breath. Another problem is ballot access. In order to get on the ballot, the various "third" parties have to maneuver the ballot access requirements of the fifty states. These have various requirements including, but not limited to, filing petitions, holding nominating conventions and maintaing a minimum vote threshold in previous elections. It requires either the long term efforts of a committed band of idealogues or the financial resources of, say, a billionaire Texan. The rules are made by legislators who, wonder of wonders, almost invariably belong to one or another of the two strong parties and who seem shockingly reluctant to ease the introduction of greater competition for their jobs. As the quotation I opened with shows, Jefferson and most of the founding fathers disliked and distrusted political parties. There is no mention of parties in the Constitution. Our first President, George Washington, was elected without a party. But the first parties, or "factions", as they were called, appeared in the first Congress. The Democratic-Republicans looked to Jefferson for leadership and the Federalists rallied behind John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. Todays Democratic Party traces its lineage back to Jefferson's faction. The Federalists collapsed in favor of the Whigs, who gave way to today's Republicans. There have always been other parties - the Populists, Greenbacks, Know Nothings, Anti-Masons--even the Women's Christian Temperance Union offered up candidates for the ballot. Colorful names and quirky ideas abound in our political history. But there have always been two of real import - the Democrats and the other guys - and barring structural upheaval of monumental proportion, there probably always will be. Our form of republican democracy seems to be hardwired for two strong parties. There will be a lot of voices in '96, but in the end there will be two choices with a shot at the White House - Bill or Bob. There will, of course, be the opportunity to cast a "protest" vote, which may or may not be "throwing your vote away." For those so far removed from the mainstream of the American political spectrum that they really can't see the ideological chasm that separates Clinton and Dole, there may be no other visible choice except the minor party candidates. But there won't be any minor league teams in the World Series this year, and there won't be a third party in the White House either. *Scoreboard* As I write, Clinton is up in the polls about 20% and is especially strong in the states with the bulk of the electoral votes needed for victory. Meanwhile, the Dole campaign is besieged by criticism from Republicans who are already proclaiming "It's not my fault" in anticipation of a November defeat. Can Clinton pull a Bush and snatch defeat from the jaws of an apparent victory? Sure. Next month we'll try to figure out how. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- READ THIS ARTICLE OR WE'LL SHOOT THIS DOG! (The National Lampoon Radio Hour Rides Again) By DJ Johnson Everybody, get in line! Here's a box set that is sure to offend everyone. I was offended twice! It's a very personal experience--one that can even desensitize, if you're lucky. So get rotten for three hours or so and listen to "The Best Of The National Lampoon Radio Hour: Buy This Box Or We'll Shoot This Dog." I remember reading National Lampoon Magazine when I was in high school and laughing so hard I got dizzy. Unfortunately, I was usually in class at those times, and only one of my teachers shared my opinion of Lampoon. He just sort of disappeared one day. Fuck 'em. They could kick me out, but if they wanted my Lampoon, they'd have to pry it from my cold dead fingers. Well, some things are worth taking a stand for. And if they DID get it away from me, there was something even better to look forward to. "The world's weekly wait is over! Like magic, an invisible chain of sound once more circles the planet. The National Lampoon Radio Hour is ready again to girdle the globe with giggles!" With these words begins nearly three and a half hours of sick skits, vicious parodies and bathroom humor from a comedy team that included future stars like John Belushi, Christopher Guest, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Joe Flaherty, Harold Ramis, Gilda Radner, Richard Belzer, Anne Beatts, Brian Doyle-Murray and so many more that I have to stop now before this becomes a two-parter. Welcome to the most dangerous box set on the planet. The radio show was first done under the direction of the late Michael O'Donoghue, best known for his "Mr. Mike's Least Loved Bedtime Stories" skits on Saturday Night Live. From all reports, O'Donoghue, while truly brilliant and twisted, was a major asshole to work with. He carried a cane and often used it to smash walls and other objects in order to make his points. After 13 episodes, he was out the door following an argument with his bosses over . . . office furniture. But what great episodes those 13 were! O'Donoghue's mercurial personality, described in the liner notes as a combination of Beatrix Potter, Oscar Wilde and Jeffrey Dahmer, translated well into the often mean humor that made the radio hour what it was. Rather than take the easy way out and do an Ed Sullivan impression by the book, O'Donoghue went on the air to over 600 stations nationwide and proposed to do his impression of Ed Sullivan if he were being tortured by having 6-inch steel needles shoved into his eyes. "I think it would go something....like this." Moments later he began to scream hysterically. I believe it was Steve Martin who once said, and I quote, "Sometimes comedy isn't pretty." The first star of the show, though he wasn't billed as such, was Christopher Guest. You probably know him as Nigel Tufnel, lead guitarist of Spinal Tap. You know, the guy whose amp "goes to 11." Here's the truth about Christopher Guest: The guy's a genius. His musical parodies alone would prove that, but he also has his many characters and his great writing to back him up. The first Lampoon character to become an "audience favorite" was Guest's own "Flash Bazbo, Space Explorer," an airhead for the ages. While Chase, Belushi and the Murray brothers may have been the higher profile players, Guest was the glue. He had so many voices that it could be hard to pick him out on the radio. Some of his best work is included on these three CDs, starting with the Flash Bazbo bits and including shocking parodies like "The Gift Of The Nazis," a gruesome swipe at "Gift Of The Magi." In his version, it is the story of an impoverished concentration camp official "who sells his electric torture machine to buy his wife a new set of lead weighted thongs for her whip, only to find that she has sold the whip to buy him a new pair of electrodes for his generator." Shortly after O'Donoghue's departure, John Belushi became the Creative Director of the Radio Hour. Under his direction, the program thrived and grew into the hideous, dripping, festering open wound that we all knew and loved. The new mix began to gel. Belushi's direction, Chase's straight-man, Brian Doyle-Murray's too-in-control menacing psycho characters, Bill Murray's happy-go-lucky hipster and Christopher Guest's one-man "cast of thousands" created the foundation. An amazing cast of talented players popped in and out on and around that foundation every week. The National Lampoon Radio Hour was like nothing else. You expected anything and everything, except normalcy. It was chaos with a French tickler--roller derby with bayonettes. There was a sick honesty in the fact that no target was sacred. Timex watches were tested by strapping them to John Cameron Swayze and having thugs beat him senseless. The old "win one for the Gipper" legend was blown all to hell in a skit in which the coach informed each and every player that they were dying of various horrible diseases. Volunteer's willing to help the folks at a mental hospital were told they were wasting their time because the psychos wouldn't remember the good deed anyway. Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson (Steven Collins, Guest, and Chase) announced their homosexuality on the air in stereotypical "flaming" voices. It was the casual attitude about it all, along with the shock of these tough-guy actors talking about cross dressing, that set you up. What knocked you down was John Belushi, as the talk show host, trying hard to be polite but feeling pretty certain that they must be joking. But the thing that frosts this cake was hearing them "out" all of the rough-and-tumble macho guys in Hollywood one at a time. It's so unfair. It's SO un-PC! Being offensive was part of the game to the Lampooners, a fact best illustrated by a particular event that took place when Belushi and Doyle-Murray wrote a very funny piece called "The Death Penalty." Over 400 stations refused to play the show that night. When one of the Lampoon brass started bitching at Belushi about the situation, John turned and flashed that classic Belushi smirk and said "you know, four hundred stations, that's the record!" If they didn't get you with the skits, they'd get you with the songs. Guest was as good then as he is now at coming up with twisted parodies. In "The Well Intentioned Blues," he pulls off a convincing Pete Seeger impression as he sings what on the surface is an anti-discrimination song. As the lyrics progress, they become more and more ignorant and racist until he actually sings "Oh, I wish I were a wetback..." Nate Herman's hilarious Joni Mitchell parody, "You Put Me Through Hell," and the late Tony Sheuren's uncanny Neil Young impression, "Southern California Brings Me Down," are included in the box set as well. Too bad Tony Sheuren's insanely brilliant John Lennon parody, "Tragical Misery Tour," isn't included, but you can't have everything. When the last track on disc three has run its course, you're forced to come back to 1996. Political correctness is once again enforced. You are advised not to leave these CDs in the workplace where someone may find them, play them, clutch their chest and drop like a sack of potatoes. You will be fired, or worse yet, studied at length. So save yourself the agony and only listen to The National Lampoon Radio Hour at home. Alone. PC is a good thing. Truly it is. However, one needs to let their hair down and laugh every once in a while--especially at themselves. Lampoon made that easy, because it didn't matter if you were black, white, democrat, republican, male, female, mechanical or a disgusting bodily function. Lampoon didn't discriminate. How did it die? Like this: 7-Up became their big national sponsor. One week they started the program off with "The National Lampoon Radio Hour is proud to present 'The Impeachment Of Richard M. Nixon,' brought to you by the bottlers of 7-Up, the Un-Cola." The good folks at 7-Up were not amused. They were out of there before the stains dried on the mattress, leaving Lampoon high and dry. The cast made lots of jokes about "7-Up, the Un-Sponsor," but a good sense of humor didn't change the basic fact that The Radio Hour was on its last legs. Just about everybody involved went on to bigger (if not better) things. It's hard not to miss those simpler days when you didn't have to evaluate before you laughed. "Buy This Box Or We'll Shoot This Dog" is one hell of a time machine. ========================================================================== [[[[[[[[ [[[[[[ [[ [[ [[[[[ [[[[[[ [[ [[ [[[[[[ [[ [[ [ [[ [[ [ [ [[ [ [[ [[ [[[[[[[[ [[[[[[ [[ [[ [ [[[[[[ [[ [ [[ [[[[[ [[ [[ [ [[[ [ [ [[[ [[[ [[ [[ [[ [[[[[[ [ [[[[[ [[[[[[ [[ [[ [[[[[[ ========================================================================== LAUREL AITKEN - The Blue Beat Years (Moon Ska) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Laurel Aitken was one of Ska's earliest and most soulful stars. He was recording R&B tracks in Jamaica that had elements of Ska before Ska even hit the airwaves, starting with "Roll Jordan Roll" in 1958. Over the years he recorded some great stuff, like "It's Too Late," "Jesse James," and "Zion City," but time has taken its toll on the original masters. Many of them have either eroded badly or disintegrated completely. Can't think of a better reason to re-record the songs, can you? Nearing 70 years of age, Aitken's voice is like fine wine. His performances are flawless and his band is right there with him the whole way. The band is partially made up of members of House Of Rhythm. They live up to that name, especially with bass/drum interplay on tunes like "It's Too Late," which is one of those sticks-in-your-head songs that you can't stop singing in the shower. There are two things I love about this CD. One is the fact that it gives Aitkens the chance to reach a new audience, which he richly deserves to do. The other is a simpler reason. His music just plain feels good to listen to. THE ALLWOMAN BROTHERS BAND - Pay Back/Witch Hunt 7" (Sloth) Reviewed by DJ Johnson The two sides of this 7 incher are so different it could have been two bands. The band puts out some pretty good punk on both sides, but on "Payback," the vocals seem way too lightweight for the track. Tanya Gordon and Alisa Garcia harmonize all the way through it, and it sounds like The Murmurs recording with punk musicians. It's not terrible, but it sure as hell doesn't prepare you for the flip side. "Witch Hunt" has power. Only one of the girls is singing lead, and the voice is gritty and angry. It works. It'll be interesting to see how this band develops. As it is, they are definitely worth a listen. (Sloth Records: 133 - 16th Ave NW Calgary, AB, Canada, T2M 0H3) BEASTIE BOYS - The In Sound From Way Out! (Brooklyn Dust/ Grand Royal/Capitol) Reviewed by Keith Gillard Whoa! The Beastie Boys do Blue Note. This is some serious cool groove... All instrumental versions of Beastie tracks, with some new tracks thrown in... All done in beautifully grooving flowing funk/jazz. Honestly, I've always liked and respected the Beasties. But I never really loved one of their records until this one. I never encountered one of their records which I would actually go out and buy until this one. Why? Well, I always felt their vocals got in the way of some very tasty funk arrangements (the exception, for me, being "Sabotage," which I loved the vocal to as well). But here, those sexy arrangements are taken for what they are, and here is where the Beasties really demonstrate that they have learned to play their instruments. They are joined by keyboardist Mark Ramos Nishita, percussionist Eric Bobo, and violinist Eugene Gore. These are very tasteful players, and everyone plays with that perfect mix of tight and loose that makes funk funk. These guests are given writing credits - even on some of the earlier Beasties material. This is very generous, as soloists and arrangers hardly ever get acknowledged for their contribution to a piece. My respect for the Beasties is growing by leaps and bounds! What do I like about this record? Plenty. Here goes a list of song descriptions which are sadly lacking in meaning. But listen to the record, and they'll all make sense - trust me... "Groove Holmes" starts us off with a sweet Jimmy Cliff organ-heavy arrangement... The wah guitars and keyboard work of "Sabrosa" are so tastefully hep... "Namaste" is dark and flowing, like a journey down some subterranean river... "Pow" pops you one right off the top, and the decelerando halfway through surprises me every time... "Son of Neckbone" is a beautifully tight urban landscape... "In 3's" does some very strange things with time, and does them quite well... "Eugene's Lament" is an Arabic minor mode showcase for Gore's lovely violin soloing (and I think I spotted an overdub in there)... "Lighten Up" is a delicious 3/4 platter of bluesy funk... "Ricky's Theme" is a groove to get lost in, and "Transitions" is another... What are the weak spots of "The In Sound From Way Out?" "Bobo On The Corner," featuring Bobo's percussion, is both too short and lacking in real musical content. Perhaps that's why they made it too short! But it's still funky as hell... "Shambala"'s sampled Tibetan monks are lovely, but the piece takes a while to get going, and doesn't go far enough even when it does. "Drinkin' Wine" is a confused, half-forwards, half-backwards, arrangement, although this is obviously exactly what they were trying to do with it. And I do like its dub elements. Unfortunately, it falls just short of gelling into a coherent piece. Overall, I love that Blue Note approach! And not just the arrangements are done in that Blue Note style, but the design is, too. The text and image layout have that classic look to them as well, with the liner notes being written entirely in French. Bonus points for being gratuitously cool... The Beasties have a very cool record on their hands here--I believe their best. Unfortunately, the commercial record-buying public at large is unlikely to agree with me; instrumental albums, and jazz/funk in general, have not really been chart toppers lately! But somehow, I don't think that this record is about money, and that's a great thing to see. Now, what the Beasties will have to worry about is other people making the real money off this record from the great number of easily sampled beats and riffs! Songwriting: 6/10 Production: 8/10 Performance: 8/10 Overall: 7/10 BLUEBEARD - Selling Point (Melodiya) Reviewed by DJ Johnson When this one first jumped into my headphones . . .well, it didn't jump--It kinda spilled. "Ah, low-fi rock," thought I. At the 1:03 mark, the low-fi flew, the hi-fi jumped, and my coffee dumped into my lap. Thanks for the fuckin' warning, guys! I forgave them real fast, though, because I was a Bluebeard fan by the 2:09 mark. These guys are heavy! The sound is a little to the left of Fugazi and the feel is a little to the right of Sabbath. If you're a fan of "maximum heaviosity," you know that's a damned fine spot. The recording is great except for the fact that you can't understand the lyrics in a lot of places. Now, that's no big deal with most "heavy" bands, but these guys seem to be singing about serious stuff (like domestic violence and the plight of the Indian), and thanks to the bizarre way the booklet is layed out (like a freakin' EYE chart for acid heads!) there's no way to find out what they're saying. The Beavis & Butthead types out there won't care, but those of us who love a good lyric would hereby like to demand a web site with Bluebeard lyrics. Slamming bass and drums, spray-gun fuzzy guitars and a vocalist with a truly killer voice make Bluebeard one of the best heavy bands to pop up in a long while. Selling Point should get them in solid with the heavy indie crowd. (Melodiya Records - 2523 17th Avenue SW, Calgary, AB, Canada T3E 0A2. Phone or fax (403)-246-8916. E-mail heggw@cuug.ab.ca) TRACY BONHAM - The Burdens Of Being Upright (Island) Reviewed by David Fenigsohn How far can one great single take you? Tracy Bonham is on a quest to find out. The first track on her debut album, The Burdens of Being Upright, is a near perfect alternative rock hit. "Mother Mother" begins with gentle verses of a phone call back home before dissolving into an over-the-top hysterical scream fest. It's haunting, memorable, accessible, and rocks harder than anything Alanis has ever done. And, at least according the credits, she wrote it all by herself. So why is most of the rest of the album so forgettable? After connecting so effectively on the lead track, Bonham proceeds to completely lose her edge, and offers up a half a dozen essentially useless songs--no bite either lyrically or musically. Much of the record is so clearly filler material one would be better off paying full price for the single than plodding through a full length disc looking for the other decent songs. Its not that Bonham is without talent. After completely flopping on songs like the coma-inducing "Brain Candy," she pulls out "The One," boasting a quality hook and some fine guitar work. And "Bulldog," at least, can fall back on a decent riff and a few good lines. Even at her worst songwriting, Bonham is an accomplished and powerful singer. But though she boasts an impressive range and a talent for stirring, emotive vocals, she can't save generic angry-girl toss-offs like "Kisses." The ridiculous "Sharks Can't Sleep" is a lyrical embarrassment, and the midtempo "30 Seconds" pounds through all of two notes and a couple monotone verses without a single spark of life. "Navy Bean" tries to be melodic rock and ends up neither, just a series of unfinished ideas masquerading as a song. For their part, producer Sean Slade and a competent back-up band do a good job with what they have to work with. The guitars are clean and clear, the drum and bass pounding and rhythmic, allowing Bonham her best shot at her own songs. One killer track, a good voice, and the sense to surround yourself with the right people should be enough for a listenable record. In this case, she's failed, but Bonham may well possess the talent to bring it together next time around. DREAD ZEPPELIN: The Fun Sessions (Imago) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Assuming that at least SOME of you haven't ever heard of Dread Zeppelin, I'll give you a quick description. They are basically a reggae-influenced rock band that has made a career of covering Led Zeppelin songs in a reggae style. If that isn't enough of a hook, here's another--the lead singer is an Elvis impersonator who goes by the name Tortelvis. Silly? Yeah, but a lot of fun, too. When they perform live, this guy named Charlie Haj runs out onto the stage frequently, handing towels and water to Tortelvis. The Fun Sessions (the cover says Sun Sessions, with "F" scrawled over the "S" in "Sun") is a collection of covers, as usual, only this time they're covering The Who, Cream, CCR, The Doors, and a bunch of others. The Who's "Baba O'Riley" begins with Butt-Boy (I don't wanna know how he got his name) jamming out the famous synth part on his guitar in a particularly rockin' fashion, but when the vocals start, the beat shifts to reggae. That's the pattern throughout the CD. My favorite track is "Sunshine Of Your Love," which really works as reggae, suprisingly enough. My beef with this CD is that many of the songs go on too long to sustain the joke. "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," for instance, clocks in at 7:06. By the time it was over I felt a bit less amused than I had been before it started. The cover of "Freebird" is almost as obnoxious as the original. The one original track, "BBWAGS," is fun for a while, but it goes on a bit too long as well. The initials stand for "Butt-Boy's Wearin' A Girl's Shirt." If Dread Zeppelin would do shorter versions of these songs, I'd like it a lot more, but by the 5 minute mark in a parody song, the joke is wearing thin. On the positive side, this band is tight and talented and they really know how to shift gears in the middle of a song. It's also fun to hear covers that are this far from the original sound. Is that enough to make it worth buying? Depends on how much you enjoy the schtick and how much patience you have. DUB OVER DUB - 27 Track Dub Extravaganza (Heartbeat) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Reviewing a true Dub CD is tricky business. For those of you who haven't been indoctrinated, let me quickly explain that "Dub" is the term for music which is basically taken from a pre-existing recorded track, and remixed with pieces of the track missing, altered or dropping in and out. It is usually quite the mind trip. The "artist" in the case of a dub recording is the recording engineer. In Jamaica in the 60s, it became common practice to release a single with a dub version on the B-side. Dub isn't exclusive to reggae or ska, but that is where its roots lie. "Dub Over Dub" is mostly the work of Errol Brown, an engineer who learned his craft from the legendary Duke Reid of the Treasure Island label. Not surprisingly, Brown became a master himself. 26 of the 27 tracks on this CD were mixed by Brown from tracks recorded for Sonia Pottinger's High Note label, and they make a pretty good representation of his contribution to the form. Brown's style was psychedelic and fluid, built on momentum. While comfortably grooving along at a lazy pace on the bass and hi hat, he would send a guitar echoing off in one direction, repeating at a slightly faster tempo. The feeling of surreal motion is intoxicating. It's like a man playing with a full-blown model railroad--making a dozen things happen in a dozen places, each independant of but essential to the whole. His use of echo at the end of cut-off vocal phrases was just slightly different from the norm. It was subtle, but it was obviously noticed by bands like The Clash. The musicianship is rarely mentioned when discussing a dub record, because, as I said before, the engineer is the story. In this case, however, it has to be mentioned that the tracks Brown was working with were top notch to begin with. Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar were the bottom for many of the tracks, and Ranchie McLean's guitar chops grace several as well. All the musicians listed in the liner notes are respected players, and all of the performances are right in the groove. "Dub Over Dub" serves as a solid document of Errol Brown's engineering skills, but more importantly, it provides a chance to ride shotgun with the man as he explores the psychedelic possibilities of these tracks. FIELD DAY - Enough For Two/Other Guy (7") (Melodiya) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Canadian punk band with power to burn. They have a very fluid bassist with great tone, and the rest of them are pretty damned good, too. "Enough For Two" is almost (here's that word again) "alternative," but the instrumental break in the middle rocks harder than anything tagged with that label. The flip side is the story here. "Other Guy" ignites in the first five seconds and never goes out. The drummer rocks his balls off on this one. They'll hate me for saying this, but if Blue Oyster Cult had been a punk band, this is what they would have sounded like. Mean, deep and final. I recently reviewed a CD called The Edmonton Covers Compilation, from Green Pepper Records. It was a kick-ass collection, and the first song was Feild Day's hot 'n' punky cover of The Beatles' "Help." Wonder what else they have floating around out there? If it's half as ballsy as "Other Guy," I want to hear it. (Melodiya Records - 2523 17 Ave SW, Calgary AB, T3E 0A2, Canada. E-mail heggw@cuug.ab.ca) iT - Era Vulgaris (Minus Habens / Disturbance) Reviewed by coLeSLAw From the Godfather of Minus Habens, Ivan Iusco, comes a collection of basement recordings done between January 1990 and June 1995. For those of you who are looking to make a good buy but are not really sure what style of electronic music you would dig, dig this! There isn't too much that isn't explored on iT's first full-length CD. Ambient? Sure...iT can do ambient. Industrial? I swear I heard a battered toaster somewhere in the mix. Techno? As much as any I've heard. But what about that old-school style of keyboard playing, like Thomas Dolby? There are tracks to please. Some of the stuff on here made me grin sardonically, and I hope I won't offend Ivan by saying that a few of these tracks ("Thessaloniki," "Nionica ") would make great video game soundtracks. Especially in the world we live in today when most companies spend so much effort on putting out a good game that they forget to keep the music up to par. In fact, I was even thinking of suggesting that "Arentostrate" be submitted to Tim Burton for the theme song to a demented claymation project. Once again (is there a trend here I should know about?), there is a cut which seemed specifically designed to hurt my ears. The title, however, was its saving grace in that it clearly stated what it was--"Temporary Irritation." See? You just need to read. What you don't know CAN hurt you. As with Monomorph, this one aside was the ONLY track to be skipped (especially at high volumes). For a better enjoyment of the industrial abilities of iT, I would endorse "Combacterion" or "Cycloviran." As far as the more dance-oriented "techno-y" side of the music goes, that as well is far reaching through many genres. Cuts such as "The Measure Of A Dog" sound as though they would have been raging club anthems half a decade ago (that's a compliment), while tracks such as "Out Of Sight" would make an equally strong impression today (so is that). I could have sworn I detected a little Jean Michel Jarre hidden in the psyche there somewhere, as well as a strong urge to hook a few of these songs up to a satellite in order to show aliens how we dance here on the planet of sound. KEBABTRAUME -Neural Earthquake (Minus Habens) Reviewed By coLeSLAw Wonder if these guys ever had the chance to meet Skinny Puppy or Ministry? Neural Eartquake is a sensory-exploding collection of tracks guaranteed to make you want to slam into other people (very very hard), and jump up and down in blissful youthful angst. Kebabtraume also features something I have rarely heard on most Minus Habens releases--vocals. It is the vocals which bring much of this emotion to life. Distorted, staccato shouts punch in and out of the music, shouting out to the world whatever it is that they are shouting out (but it certainly has conviction!). One aspect missing from the CD format is the live-performance video accompaniment performed by someone whose name I am unable to type with this keyboard in text format. However, judging by the cover artwork and the intensity of the music, I can guess that it would truly be a sight to behold. The music, performed by members K001, K010, K011 and K100 provides a more than adequate base for a multimedia concert event to be remembered (if not for the show itself, then for the cuts and bruises). B.B. KING -- Live at the Regal (Mobile Fidelity Reissue) Reviewed by Steve Marshall B.B. King's "Live at the Regal" is considered by many to be one of the definitive blues albums. Its songs have been performed by countless other artists. Captured live in front of a few hundred lucky fans at Chicago's Regal Theater, the "King of the Blues" put on a stunning performance by which all others would soon be judged. King's style of guitar playing has been copied by just about every guitarist around. Things get off to a lively start with the classic "Every Day I Have the Blues," and they don't let up 'til the CD's over. The guitar work is superb (yet never overdone) throughout the disc, and B.B.'s unique storytelling abilities are unmatched. All it takes is one listen to songs like "It's My Own Fault" or "How Blue Can You Get" and you'll see what I mean. Even King's singing style has been copied. Anyone who caught Eric Clapton's recent blues tours can attest to that. B.B. has a great 6-piece band backing him on this November 1964 performance, and he gives them due credit several times throughout the CD. Most of the songs here are fairly short, so King doesn't get to stretch out much. "Worry Worry" is an exception though. Largely an instrumental, (at least in the first half), B.B. really cuts loose on this one. The separation on the CD is excellent, due in part to the "primitive" stereo effect used when the show was recorded. The instruments are either in one channel or the other. Mobile Fidelity has taken a spectacular recording and made it even better on their Ultradisc II release. The sound quality on the CD is breathtaking, especially for a recording from this time period. Recorded direct from the master tapes, it sounds like you're right there. Not content to reproduce the concert in two 'sides' (like the album), MFSL released it uncut. All the songs segue into each other. They also used the original cover art, not the white and blue reissue. You say you want a lesson in the blues? This is a great place to start. The only thing bad I can say about Live at the Regal is it's too short. This is a great CD. LOS LOBOS -- Colossal Head (Warner Brothers) by Steve Marshall One of the best things about Los Lobos is their ability to cover a wide variety of musical styles on any given album they release. If you're a fan of the band, you come to expect it. Colossal Head doesn't have the variety found on their last album, but it does branch off in a few previously unexplored musical directions. At times, sounding like a cross between the band's eclectic spin-off group, Latin Playboys, and Was (Not Was), the new CD takes a few listens to fully appreciate all the various nuances of the music. Another thing the band has going for it (especially if you're a fan) is that a lot of the tunes sound familiar. Not to the extent where they sound like they're copying themselves--it's more a case where they take a riff that "works" and then expand on it. The first track, "Revolution," starts off with a bass line reminiscent of War's classic "Low Rider." The CD's first single, "Mas Y Mas" is up after that. The song sounds like it could be a Morphine tune, with screaming guitar thrown in for good measure. "Everybody Loves a Train" and the title track sound like outtakes from the Latin Playboys CD. The basic riff in "Life is Good" sounds a lot like "Dream in Blue," from the band's excellent 1992 release, Kiko. Again, it sounds familiar, yet it's different. The Was (Not Was) sound is readily apparent on "Little Japan." The track would fit perfectly on that band's "What Up, Dog?" CD. The last track on the CD is a bluesy instrumental called "Buddy Ebsen Loves the Night Time." The song evokes a cool, sort of Texas blues feel, then ends abruptly--almost as if the tape ran out during the mastering process. Colossal Head is another one of those CDs that require a few listens before you can truly appreciate it. Once you hear it a few times though, you'll find the songs buzzing through your head for a long time. It's not as good as Kiko, but definitely worth picking up. MAN OR ASTRO-MAN? - Deluxe Men In Space (Touch & Go) Reviewed by DJ Johnson This one is about two months old now, and in the world of this prolific band, that makes it a golden oldie. I was a little worried about MOAM several months back when they put out a 7 incher that sounded tired. I've forgotten the name of it already. Good news: All is well. Deluxe Men In Space is proof positive that the kids are alright. There are six tracks, and two of them are 45-second sound effects. I'm reviewing the CD version, which times out at exactly 9 and a half minutes. Here's what's unusual about this thing--It feels so damned complete! "Maximum Radiation Level" is a powerful surf punker with some cool string scratching by Star Crunch. "U-Uranus" is a vocal track in the tradition of "Destination Venus," but the lyric is so silly that the song can't be held in quite the same regard. It just doesn't matter, though. It's a kickin' rock and roll song. "Super Rocket Rumble" sounds closer to traditional surf than anything else on the CD until Star Crunch starts doing wild and painful things to his guitar, instantly injecting a little punk attitude in the process. "Rhombics" is more of a jam than a complete song, but it stands out thanks to Coco The Electronic Monkey Wizard's bass sound, which seems to be one part low frequency to five parts gravel. Man Or Astro-Man sounded tired on the last record. Gee, I wonder why? They toured the US and a large part of Europe, lost a guitarist and broke in a new one, came home and took twenty seven minutes off and then headed into the studio. Not that they don't ALWAYS work that way, but even aliens need downtime. Apparently the break is over. MAN OR ASTRO-MAN?: Experiment Zero (Touch & Go) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Hey, another MOAM record! Whodathunkit? Yeah, I know: Everyone. This band makes records as fast as we can listen to them. Some people bitch about that, but I'm grateful. They're almost always worth hearing, and this one's no exception. You vinyl collectors should get out there quick. At least some of these have been released on transparent gold vinyl. Got one of those right here. Intellectually, I know that gold vinyl doesn't improve the sound, but just between you and me...yes it does! There are 16 tracks on Experiment Zero, and while not all of them are particularly stellar, the ones that do make the grade rank up there with their best work. "Big Trak Attack" is fun to listen to because it's built around the beeping sounds of a Big Trak--a kids toy that was semi-popular a few decades back. "9-Volt" features the vocals of guitarist Star Crunch, mixed in the now-traditional "far away" style they first used on "Destination Venus." Like that great song, the vocal in "9-Volt" is so distant that it almost sounds like you're thinking it instead of hearing it. They do the same thing in "Anoxia," and it's even more effective because the music is as eerie as the vocal. Side two (did I mention this thing is gold?? Oh, sorry) begins with "Maximum Radiation Level," which was also on the "Deluxe Men In Space" EP a few months back. It makes a great lead-in to this side, which is like an entirely different album than side one. This is the Surf-Punk side, filled with power, attitude, chaos and the trademark sci-fi samples. "Test Driver" is one of the most explosive rockers they've ever recorded. "Television Man," another vocal tune, is straight forward punk. Kinda surprising. "Z-X3" shows how heavy they can be, a side of them that I'd like to hear more of, and hey, guess what! I got to! On the next track, in fact. "Principles Unknown" is VERY heavy, and it contains some amazing sounds thanks to Coco and his homemade Theramin. Don't get me wrong--I like side one quite a lot. But side two is classic from start to finish. Strong enough to make the entire record a classic. Certainly jammin' enough to impress the hell out of earth dorks like me. CHARLES MINGUS - Mingus at Carnegie Hall (Rhino R2 72285; Originally released in 1/75 as Altantic SD-1667) Review by Shaun Dale In January of 1975 Charles Mingus brought a new band to Carnegie Hall. Featuring Jon Faddis on trumpet, George Adams on tenor, Bunny Bluiett on baritone, Don Pullen on piano and Dannie Richmond on drums, they turned in a reportedly lackluster first set which languishes unreleased to this day in the Altantic Records vault. The two song second set was another matter altogether. Joined onstage by a stellar trio of saxaphonists, the group rallied and produced a historic jam. The guests were John Handy on alto and tenor, Charles McPherson on alto, and the immortal Rahsaan Roland Kirk on tenor and stritch. Side one is a Mingus tribute to Duke Ellington in the form of an unforgettable "C Jam Blues." While this extended version of the Ellington classic features many fine solos, Roland Kirk takes over in the middle and makes the piece his own. In a 24 chorus solo, Kirk demonstrates his amazing versatility and his incredible range of jazz scholarship as he pays instrumental tribute to a gaggle of sax greats, emulating the styles of giants like Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Illinois Jaquet, Dexter Gordon, and others. After additional breaks by Faddis and McPherson, Kirk sets up one of his trademark drones, giving the other players room for a free jazz close that seems to last forever, but not quite long enough. Side two gives us "Perdido", another classic, which Mingus once recorded in a definitive version with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. The idea that the magic of that original could be recaptured by any band stretches the imagination, but these players pull it off. Each of the horns takes a turn, with Kirk adding the stritch to his tenor solo. This track demonstrates everything that is implied by the notion of a jazz jam session, with each player pulling the band in an individual direction while never losing the central riff that makes "Perdido" one of the most recognized gems in the jazz repertiore. Interestingly, neither Mingus nor Richmond take a solo turn on either of these tracks. Instead, they demonstrate the tremendous value of a solid rythym section when a group of individualistic soloists get together, providing a solid foundation for one of the most enjoyable jazz releases I've heard in a while. Many thanks to Rhino and Atlantic for the cooperation that makes this available to those of us who missed it the first time around. And to paraphrase a note from an early Mothers release, buy this compact disk now. Top Forty radio will never, ever play it. MOMUS - The Philosophy Of Momus (May 1995) Cherry Red Records Reviewed by Keith Gillard Momus discovers the home studio! This is the second installment in a series of reviews of Momus albums, covering all of them in reverse order of release. If you're unfamiliar with Momus, I direct you to this month's feature article and interview on him, plus last month's review of Slender Sherbet. Assuming you've read either one of those, you should at least know something about him and his music... "The Philosophy of Momus" is not one album: It's two. There is a rather marked difference between the approach of the first eight tracks and the unified sound of the last eleven. It seems that this is the first album Momus has produced with CD length in mind; he also took longer to produce it than any of his past albums (or there at least was more time between "Timelord" and "Philosophy" than between any of the other albums). So how should I review it? As one album or as two? The first eight tracks are quite disparate, with a great deal of experimentation in production and songwriting techniques. Styles covered include a distorted, lurching, fake-ass blues track ("Toothbrushead"), trip-hop ("It's Important to be Trendy"), dance-hall reggae ("The Madness of Lee Scratch Perry"), Kraftwerk ("Quark & Charm, the Robot Twins") and Beck ("Withinity"). This first half of "Philosophy" is very experimental, with Momus trying all kinds of new things. I love it, but it's not as listenable as the second half. As for the second half of the album, it is much mellower, making me think of Pet Shop Boys' Behaviour. The single "The Sadness of Things", co-written with Ken Morioka, is gorgeously produced, with string swells like "Voyager" and very emotional vocal delivery. The cream of the crop, however, is "Complicated," a lovely ballad a la Getz and Gilberto. I have not been able to get this song out of my head for a month. Another great ballad is "I Had a Girl," although its use of the drum loop from "Amongst Women Only" can't help but make me think of female masturbation (which is what "Women Only" was about). The subject matter of "Slide Projector Lie Detector" is closer to classic Momus than anything else here (except perhaps "The Loneliness of Lift Music"), being the story of a retired spy with an embarassing collection of naked polaroids from his past. Criticisms: Although the sequences are wonderfully produced, the guitars are interestingly treated, and the vocal sounds are good, they don't seem to mix together seamlessly. On the first half of the album, this is understandable, and seems deliberate. But on the second half, this distracts from the smooth musical production and emotional lyrical content. Tracks which disappointed me were "Yokohama Chinatown," in which the well-written poetry of the lyrics is undermined by a confused and noisy arrangement. The title track seemed a little flat in its arrangement and delivery. The graphic design (done by Momus) is unfortunately spotty. I love the front cover, but it seems somehow blurred, un-crisp. The inset suffers, with its fragmented lo-rez .GIF of Momus, a grainy uninforming black-and-white, and a shot of Earth-rise as seen from the moon, covered with distracting moire patterns. The text layout, as well, is uninspired. Momus' graphic design skills improved greatly over the course of 1995. Overall, this is two great albums from Momus. I like them both, but prefer the second half. However, I respect the first half more, because it's more daring. I recommend "The Philosophy of Momus" very highly. Much more information about "The Philosophy of Momus" can be found at: http://www.demon.co.uk/momus . Momus maintains the site personally, and it's well worth checking out. Songwriting: 9/10 Production: 7/10 Performance: 8/10 Overall: 8/10 MONOMORPH - Subject to Electronic Control (Minus Habens/Disturbance) Reviewed by coLeSLAw From the first track, "New Life," I was in noise heaven. The disc begins with a subtly dissonant yet melodic beat, shifting into a sort of hyper-trance vibe, and finally dropping straight into a killer dance rhythm. Other cuts, such as "High Generations" and "Chinese Flow" suggested some 808 State or Orb-like influences. This entire disc has an underlying ambient feel, occasionally delving into the gloomier realm of industrial techno on songs such as "Sekuon Omo," "Moon" and "Therna Aeterna," as well as the glurpy flanged out space-sounds of "Particlexia." This album's sound would make me drool in a large club on loud speakers-- provided of course that the well-done yet sonically painful track "Loox" was omitted. The sound that is ingrained into this tune sounds like a modem logging on for nearly five minutes. Best to turn the volume down a bit for this song (but then make damned sure you turn it right back up, because to miss the rest of this album would be blasphemy). Although much of this album is fairly industrial in the pure gnashing grind of the tones, its true beauty lies in its ambience, and it ends that way. Not with a large climactic finish, but lulls you off to pleasant dreams with fond memories of butt-bouncing and hallucinogenic fits. NIGHTMARE LODGE - Luminescence (Minus Habens) Reviewed by coLeSLAw Comprised of the unique talents of Russolo and (yes) Ivan Iusco, Nightmare Lodge fit their name well--almost too well. Like the dark church choirs of Hell, these ten tracks are boiling over with a darkness that is only surpassed by the sheer mystical elegance of its portrayal. Musically, these songs reflect what it is in the human psyche that draws us longingly towards all things evil and frightening. The use of synthesized string and voice sounds brings the music into our own dimension, merging reality with fantastical lands difficult to perceive as existent. Perfectly described as "filmic" in the promo notes, all ten tracks could easily belong to some avant-garde film noir of life in cyber-punk cathedrals. Every note seems to be one of tension, keeping you in perpetual suspense for the ultimate release from anxiety (which never does come). It is that feeling which keeps the entire album listenable. At all times you are kept inches from relief, but the taste is bittersweet, and always seems reachable. One of my favorite tracks, "False Light - Segment B", brings forth a vision of what Dead Can Dance would be like in gloomier times. The final track, "It Passed Like A Dream," sums up the entire experince of the disc--yet in a somewhat more innocent, childlike way--finally fading away into an almost busy-signal like tone placed there to remind you that your quest is not yet over. NIRVANA - Nevermind: Original Master Recording LP (Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs) Reviewed by Cai Campbell Mobile Fidelity continues to boggle my mind and earn my enduring respect when it comes to their commitment to producing a high quality product offering unparalleled reproduction of sound. They have always selected classic, exceptional recordings from all corners of the musical arena and delivered them, via analog or digital formats, in a manner which allows the music to be heard as it was meant to be: pure and unadulterated. There is no exception with their treatment of Nirvana's 1991 classic, Nevermind. Yes, only five years old and this album is most certainly a classic rock and roll record which I believe will stand the test of time. Apparently, Mobile Fidelity agrees, or they would not have included this landmark album with the very impressive and elite group which makes up the entire Mobile Fidelity catalog. Nirvana seemed to come out of nowhere in 1991, although they had been a very popular underground band for years, especially after their 1988 Sub Pop release, Bleach. As the story goes, they recorded Nevermind as their next full-length effort for Sub Pop. Upon hearing the tapes for Nevermind, the masterminds behind Sub Pop went nuts. Their instincts told them they had a huge hit on their hands, one which their medium-sized operation would not allow them to handle. So they made an unusual move and went shopping for a major label which would release Nevermind. Geffen Records was the record label wise enough to agree with Sub Pop, and a deal was struck. Sub Pop and Nirvana became household icons almost immediately after the record's release. Nevermind was a powerful, hook-laden masterpiece, injected with a jagged yet melodic dose of raw angst. Kurt Cobain became the voice of a new generation searching for their own identity. Nirvana became a mirror into the souls of many disaffected youths, not only of this generation, but of generations past as well. Nevermind spoke volumes about my own thoughts and the powerful music elevated those thoughts to a new level. Life goes on, and with the tragic death of Kurt Cobain, Nirvana passed on as well. I chose not to look back, and it was only with this new release of Nevermind that I was reminded about the painful yet exhilarating past, barely tangible in my fading memory. The experience of seeing Nevermind available as a Mobile Fidelity Original Master Recording on vinyl could only be described as electric. I couldn't wait to slap it on the turntable and crank up the volume. Before I listened to the new record, I dusted off a section of my record collection and pulled out the first copy of this gem I purchased: a German vinyl pressing. I had been impressed with the sound of this record and thought it would be interesting to compare the two. I threw the German copy on the turntable and proceeded to crank up "Smells Like Teen Spirit" until the windows began to shake. Yes, even after being flogged to death by MTV, the song still stood up and smacked me in the face. I then put on the Mobile Fidelity copy and played the same song. Not only did it stand up and smack me in the face, it pushed me out the window! Almost immediately the experience of sonic enrichment and the profound dynamic depth of this new recording was apparent. As I proceeded to switch back and forth between the two records, the subtle differences began to permeate my senses (yes, all five of them). No longer subtle, the experience of the Mobile Fidelity recording was pummeling my senses with Nirvana's angst-ridden sonic beauty. The power of "Territorial Pissings" drilled into my very psyche. The subtle acoustic aspects of "Drain You" really shone through. The beautiful pop sensibilities of "On A Plain" made themselves known in no uncertain terms. Overall, the Mobile Fidelity recording offered cleaner highs, fuller and less muddied lows, raised the haunting residual feedback to a new plane, offered greater dynamic depth throughout, and succeeded in limiting distortion-- especially at high volume. Also, the record offers cleaner stereo separation, especially noticeable on "Breed." The record did, however, have more surface noise than on past Mobile Fidelity releases, but there was certainly much less surface noise than on the German pressing. The packaging job done on the record is top-notch. While the original LP was not a gatefold design, the Mobile Fidelity release is, and they've taken advantage of the extra space by publishing photos from some of the singles released off of Nevermind. One curious aspect of the record is that they print the blurb "lyrics reprinted by permission," yet there are no printed lyrics! Mobile Fidelity obviously realizes that quality music knows no boundaries. I cannot say enough good things about this recording. The music speaks for itself. If you have been avoiding Nevermind for any reason, now is the time to find out what you've been missing, and if you REALLY want to experience the music in all its sonic glory, buy Mobile Fidelity's Original Master Recording, also available on 24 karat gold Ultradisc CD format. THE PUSHSTARS - Meet Me At The Fair (Imago) Reviewed by DJ Johnson I just reviewed Bluebeard a few minutes ago. Very very heavy stuff. I like heavy stuff. Then I put this one on. Not heavy. Not even sorta. In fact, it seems to be acoustic guitar, bass, and drums. Lightweight? Okay, but in the same way that Paul Simon and Rickie Lee Jones are lightweight. What I love about The Pushstars is the stories they tell. Chris Trapper (guitar and vocals) is an excellent writer, and I suspect a lot of his songs would be huge hits if they were recorded with some electric guitars going through amps turned up to 7 or so. His delivery is incredibly honest and personal, and his lyrics are very visual. "Lack Of Motion" deserves to be a hit. The hooks are solid, both melodic and lyrical. "Well they'll never see you fall in a lack of motion. Won't see anything at all in a lack of motion." It's a story of anxiety and fear of stagnation--of the desire to seize the day. "So my father said Son, you'd better live your dream. I don't think he did so himself, it seems, unless his dream was bringing up a brat like me..." I like the way this guy writes. Trapper is probably not going to become a big star. He's too good and way too honest. Plus, MTV would be in a quandry over whether or not to bleep whole passages like "So I pictured you all silky and blue, all soft and strong and sensual and crazy, grabbed the lotion at my side and took it for a ride it won't forget..." Perhaps if they'd just add a reference to a drive-by shooting, MTV would play the hell out of it. No such luck, though. I'm not sure where The Pushstars are from, but the songs feel like small town tales, filled with introspection and longing. I hope they never move to LA. I know it's selfish, but I'd hate to see them lose that honesty. LOU REED -- Set the Twilight Reeling (Warner Brothers) by Steve Marshall The man once called "the poet laureate of New York City" has a new album out. Set the Twilight Reeling is the newest release from Lou Reed, his first in four years. Lou spans a wide range of "listenability" in his vast musical career. He can be brilliant, and he can be just plain awful. On his new album, he's very close to the brilliant end of the scale. A lot of this probably has to do with the fact Lou's happy. Elated. His new relationship with Laurie Anderson is the reason. "The Adventurer" is written about her specifically. The CD is much more guitar based than his previous album, "Magic & Loss." Reed said in a recent interview that he used every guitar he owns on the new CD. The liner notes say "Due to increased dynamic range, raise volume above average. PLAY IT LOUD." Excellent advice, the album sounds great. It was recorded digitally, direct to disc in Reed's NY studio, The Roof. From the opening feedback into "Egg Cream," to the rocking finale of the title track, this is an excellent album. It's full of superb guitar work (Lou plays all the guitars on the CD), and intelligent lyrics of life and love as only Reed can write them. There are a lot of really great songs on here. "NYC Man" has a really cool bass line running through it, courtesy of Fernando Saunders. "Riptide" is an eight minute guitar assault. Lyrically, the song conjures up images of dreams, dementia, and moonlit oceans. The brutally honest "Trade In" is another highlight. You can always count on Lou Reed to have something to say. He's never at a loss for words. The biting commentary for the right-wing conservatives, "Sex With Your Parents (Motherfucker)," is a perfect example. Reed captures several different moods with his guitar work on the CD, sometimes within the same song. The title track starts out as an acoustic tune, then rocks out at the end. Those of us who were lucky enough to catch Lou Reed on his brief tour for the album know the musical excitement he's capable of these days. Reed has produced a fine new CD, his best in years. 777 / SYSTEM 7 - Fire + Water, 1995, Big Life / Butterfly / Astralwerks / Caroline Reviewed by Keith Gillard Another example of having to review one album that's really two. Or, rather, this time it's two albums that are really one. Am I confusing you? Fire + Water is a two-CD set, consisting of disc one, Fire, and disc two, Water. Both discs have nearly identical track listings, Fire having two unique tracks, and Water having one track all its own. However, the two discs are far from being identical. While the style on both discs could be called trance techno, the approaches are very different. Fire is much more aggressive and dancey, with Water being more ambient. However, elements of both spill over from one into the other. System 7 (or 777, as they are called on this release) are another in the increasing number of intelligent trance techno duos, made up of Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy. What makes this different from all the other Orbital-wannabees that have come along is that Steve Hillage is not just another synth / sampler / sequencer jockey; he is a very well respected fusion guitarist. I can honestly say that this is some of the most innovative guitar work I've heard in some time, but it has more to do with its role within the music than the actual parts. At some points, it is difficult to tell which parts are sequenced and which sounds are actually being generated by a guitar (and I mean that as high praise). Absolutely wonderful, tasteful playing. Not to distract from the incredible synth arrangements and sound design here (which is exactly what the guitars don't do!) these sounds are gorgeously programmed and layered into wonderful whirling masses of evolving energy. I listened to both discs back-to-back (and they're each over 70 minutes) and then went immediately back to disc one. This is fine stuff, and will probably stay in my "current play" CD stack as long as Orbital, FSOL, or 808 State have. Percussion is uniformly excellent throughout the two discs. I particularly enjoyed the layered hi-hat work. Most of the percussion is electronic, with very few loops in sight. Several sounds (as well as atmospheres) were sampled on-location in Bali, which gives tracks such as "Batukau" or "Dr. Livingstone I Presume" an exotic edge. Highlights for me are "Coltrane (fire mix)", with its relentless kick (this one drills right through your scull), exotic bullfrog textures, and flanging metallic lead tone. "Gliding on Duo-Tone Curves", with its hard edged driving syncopations, can't help but make you dance. The gorgeous layered strings and guitars of "Sirenes (tranquillity mix)" are almost enough to make me cry. I have a few criticisms, however: "Mysterious Traveller" comes close to losing my attention, but the marvellous muted guitar arpeggios raise their heads just often enough to keep me there. "Radiate" reminds me just a little too much of Orbital's "Lush 3" (although, here again, it is the guitars which keep me listening). "Overview" I could have done without altogether, although it is not altogether unpleasant. These are minor complaints, though. I suppose if I had one big criticism, it would be in the songwriting department. Here we have a band who are doing incredibly innovative things in terms of production and arrangement, with fantastic programming and playing to back them up. So why are they letting the genre constrain them so much in their songwriting? Minimalism has its place, in production as well as songwriting, but I sense that 777 could go somewhere completely new and unexplored if they applied the same level of innovation to their songwriting as they have to their production. Some songs, such as "Jupiter!", hover on the border, but don't quite allow themselves to explore the songs that seem to be trying to get out. This is one area where a band such as 808 State have a real edge. That having been said, all that makes me think is that this band has some room to grow. I have heard that they have just released another album: I will be rushing out to buy it! If it progresses from this one, well, I have no idea of what to expect - and that's just the way I like it. 777's "Fire + Water" is one of the best trance albums I've heard. Innovative, brilliant, tasteful. Two discs, two moods, and some of the best production I've heard in quite some time. Songwriting: 6/10 Production: 9/10 Performance: 9/10 Overall: 8/10 Sonic Youth - Goo (Original Master Recording LP) (Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs) Reviewed by Cai Campbell CD's have all but replaced vinyl LP's. Anybody can tell you that. But vinyl still has a very strong following, both in the collecting and audiophile communities. You don't see too many new releases available on vinyl these days, but you can be guaranteed that the newest offering from Sonic Youth will always be available on vinyl. Sonic Youth is among a small group of bands who insist that their recordings be made available on vinyl. Perhaps they understand, better than anyone else, that the very nature of their music demands - nay, SCREAMS - that it be heard with all the depth and sonic clarity which only an analog recording can reproduce faithfully. Mobile Fidelity steps in to carry the process of delivering a Sonic Youth recording in all its reverb-drenched glory to the extreme: by making Goo available as an Original Master Recording LP. Goo is interesting in that it was the band's first release on a major label. After the brilliant Daydream Nation, recorded in 1988 for Blast First, many critics bemoaned the move to Geffen as a sell-out; that their music would somehow lose its raw edge under the dictates of corporate control. Sonic Youth proved their critics wrong and delighted their fans by releasing Goo in 1990. Goo is a stunning collection of classic Sonic Youth over-the-top anthems. Not only had they not lost their edge, they had refined it to such a degree that it now cut both ways, leaving the listener trembling in its wake. I must plead guilty to the fact that I did not purchase Goo on vinyl when it first came out, so I have only the CD to compare the Original Master Recording LP to. Not a fair match by any estimation, but as it turned out, it was extremely entertaining and enlightening. I queued up both the CD and the LP so that they played in synch. I then switched back and forth between them to get a real time feel for their differences. Right off the bat, it was very obvious that the Mobile Fidelity LP was much richer and sonically warmer than the CD. It seems almost a cliche to say that the CD was cold and antiseptic by comparison, but those words ring truer than any others I could have chosen. Sonic Youth's barrage of feedback and controlled distortion was crippled under the digital format, whereas the analog representation placed me in the center of the maelstrom, inundating me with sonic bliss. This breakdown on the CD's part became even more obvious at high volume. It seemed as if the middle portion of the sound spectrum was ripped out and thrown away from the CD, although it did manage to maintain a brilliant high end. It was not long before I gave up even referring back to the CD for comparison, as the Mobile Fidelity LP sucked me into the experience in a manner which only a truly astounding recording can do. Surface noise on the LP was virtually absent, and the sound spectrum maintained its strength throughout, from the highest highs to the lowest lows. As with all the Original Master Recording releases, Mobile Fidelity did an exceptional job with the package. Although the "fold-out poster" concept of the CD booklet gets lost, the gatefold LP cover opens to reveal a rich assortment of colorful pictures of the band. No other listening experience has shown me how much more vinyl has to offer. Vinyl is far from being dead, and thanks to Mobile Fidelity, it looks like we can continue to experience the luxury of a fine listening experience for many years to come. STING -- Mercury Falling (A&M) by Steve Marshall One of the most anticipated releases this year is the new CD from Sting-- Mercury Falling. Unfortunately, it's also one of the most disappointing. The songs are dull and boring. Sting should have called this one "Falling Asleep," or maybe "My Ability to Write Good Songs is Falling," etc. He covers a wide spectrum of musical genres on the disc, from country to gospel to rhythm & blues to jazz. The problem is that the songs have nothing to hold the listener's interest. Unless, of course, you like songs with no melody, or you need a quick cure for insomnia. Mercury Falling starts off with the first song written for the album (and the disc's only good track), "The Hounds of Winter." From there, it goes downhill fast. "I Hung My Head" sounds like Reverend Sting is just waiting for the gospel choir to arrive. By the next song, they arrive in full force to perform on the first single, "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot." One of the other tracks getting airplay is "All Four Seasons." This song features just about every cliched lyric ever written. By the time you get to tracks like "La Belle Dame Sans Regrets" (which bears a strong resemblance to "Sister Moon") or "Valparaiso," you're fighting to stay awake. The problem Sting seems to be having lately is a lack of cohesive melody in his compositions. This started as far back as his second solo effort, ...Nothing But the Sun. He also seems firmly planted in the middle of the road musically, as well. According to the bio sheet, Sting asks himself three questions before starting any project. One of which is "Will anyone find what I have to say remotely useful or interesting?" At this point in his career, it looks like the answer is no. PETE TOWNSHEND -- Coolwalkingsmoothtalkingstraightsmokingfirestoking: The Best of Pete Townshend (Atlantic) by Steve Marshall Atlantic has just released a new Pete Townshend compilation called (from this point on) "Coolwalking." As the principal songwriter for The Who, and also as a solo artist, Townshend has written more than his share of great music. Though the band hasn't produced any new material (besides the track recorded for the Two Rooms tribute CD) in over a decade, Townshend continues to write vital and compelling music on his own. Coolwalking covers Pete's entire solo career from his 1972 album, Who Came First, through 1993's excellent (and highly underrated) Psychoderelict. Rather than running in chronological order, Coolwalking starts off with what is probably Pete's most popular solo tune, "Rough Boys." As far as songs to start off a CD, you can't do much better than this. The original version of "Let My Love Open the Door" follows, with the Ronnie Lane collaboration, "Misunderstood" (the song featuring the CD's title in the lyrics), right behind. From there, you go into one of the best tracks from the White City album, "Give Blood." With its horn arrangement and David Gilmour's guitar work, this song was a highlight on the live Deep End shows from the mid-80's. Also included on Coolwalking are two tracks from 1982's introspective All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes album - "The Sea Refuses No River," and a new version of "Slit Skirts," with a different ending. The CD also features a Psychoderelict outtake called "Uneasy Street" (which sounds a lot like "Don't Try to Make Me Real"), plus a great new version of "Let My Love Open the Door." The new arrangement has an atmospheric, almost ambient feel to it. It's an interesting change to what was originally just a pop song. While it's great having album tracks like "Sheraton Gibson" and Townshend's solo version of "Pure and Easy" included on the CD, any Pete fan is sure to find some glaring omissions. Where are tracks like "Second Hand Love," or Pete's killer version of "After the Fire" (a song originally given to Roger Daltrey for his Under a Raging Moon album), or any of the other live Deep End tracks? Instead we get "Face the Face" and "Street in the City." If they wanted to include more from the Rough Mix album, why not use "My Baby Gives it Away" or "Heart to Hang On To?" Both of these are better songs than "Street in the City." The MTV hit, "Face Dances - Part Two" is missing too. Not to mention the exquisite "Now and Then," or any of the other great tracks from Psychoderelict. It's true, there's a lot of material that didn't make it to the CD. However, considering the fact that this is only one CD and not two, Coolwalking is an excellent representation of Townshend's solo work. THE UPSETTERS: Upsetters A Go Go (Heartbeat) Reviewed By DJ Johnson The Upsetters were to reggae what Booker T. and the MG's were to soul. They provided the music for many great front men, including Lee "Scratch" Perry and Bob Marley. Carlton Barrett (drums), Aston Barrett (bass), Glen Adams (keyboards) and Alva "Reggie" Lewis (guitar) are as important to reggae history as Marley or Sonia Pottinger. This CD is a must-have for people who care to trace that history, because none of the 16 tracks have been released previously, having spent the past 30-some years in Adams' private vault. The performances are tight and cool, as you would expect. The brothers Barrett, who later anchored Bob Marley and the Wailers, layed down some of reggae's coolest grooves. Check out the flow of "What About Africa." It's a crime that this recording wasn't heard when it was new. Some of these tracks are either alternate takes or updates of songs that DID see the light of day. Probably the most interesting is "Soul Constitution," which seems much closer to psychedelia or self-contained Dub than the original. But then The Upsetters always did make trippy music, often from simple melodies. "X-Ray Vision" shuffles right along with Adams' five-note distorted melody. Hell, it's ONE note for a good portion of the song! Complaints? Yeah, but it's just nitpicking. On "Cypriano," it sounds like it might have been mastered from warped vinyl. Either that, or Adams was doing some very strange stuff with the Hammond. It's annoying, but even if you ignore that track, you've got 15 others to work with, and not a slouch in the bunch. Can't wait to hear the next one. C'mon, do you really think Glen Adams only had 16 lost tracks in his vault?! VARIOUS ARTISTS - Estrus Cocktail Companion (Estrus) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Ultra-cool collection of instro-surf and garage punk tunes by some of the best of both worlds. On the surf side, there are killer tracks by The Apemen, Man Or Astro-Man, Satan's Pilgrims, The Del Lagunas, Girl Trouble, and Jackie and the Cedrics. "Vampiro," by Satan's Pilgrims, is one of the coolest spy tracks of the year, a murky and smoldering Peter Gunn. All of the surf tracks are A1, but the garage contingent would not be outdone. The Makers' "The Jerome Tree" and The Mortals' "Atomic Cocktail" are both ass-kickers that belong on any decent garage party tape. "Trouble Man," by Jack O' Fire, is like the guy in the tux at the toga party--you can't help but stare. What is this smooth blues song doing here? I love the track, but . . .it sounds kinda silly sandwiched between Jackie and the Cedrics and The Makers. Ah well, variety is the spice of life. Southern Culture On The Skids even has a track on this baby. "Moonshine Martini" is a smokin' little garage-a-billy number, and it's not alone, because The Cowslingers' excellent "Strip Bars, Liquor & Fireworks" is sitting in the 2nd slot waiting to jump ya. This is a short CD, considering the fact that there are 12 bands. 29:06. That's alright, though. It feels fairly complete. I think it was a pretty hip move to close it out with a lo-fi bomber, "Let's Take Another Booze" by Teengenerate. It's like a tip of the hat to the spirit of balls-out rock and roll that begat all the other music on the Estrus Cocktail Companion. I only have one question--why the hell isn't there a Mono Men track on here? It's Dave Crider's label, right? VARIOUS ARTISTS - Spawn Of Skarmageddon (Moon Ska) Reviewed by DJ Johnson There are 43 tracks by 43 ska bands on these two CDs, and the best part is the fact that it doesn't ever start to feel redundant. That's because so many styles of ska are presented. Traditional ska, with roots in American soul, is represented by bands like Stubborn All Stars, The Insteps, and Engine 54. Among the best of the trad tracks is The Blue Beats' "Don't Get Crazy," a tune done in the tradition of Laurel Aitken. (Try though they may, however, they can't quite match his soulful voice.) The Dynamics' "How Do You Do?" is distinguished by harmony vocals that remind me of the old High Note bands. The modern school of R&B and big band influenced ska is very well represented by bands like Buck-O-Nine, Crawdaddy, The Mixers and The Suspects. Mock Turtle Soup's bass player makes "Skankin' On My Lungs" the hottest track of all. I was also knocked out by the steel drum and trumpet solos in Mobtown's "Cup o' Joe," as well as the groove. The Hi Hats' cover of "Summertime" is a lot of fun, too. (Though I'm still declaring The Zombies' recording of that song as the best.) Then there's the punk-influenced ska of NY Citizens, Slapstick, SMA, The Instigators, Ska Humbug, Less Than Jake, and a handful of others. The punk level is heavy in some, hinted at in others, but it's never over the top, which is almost too bad. I think I'd like to hear Iggy Pop screaming "Spider In My Bed," but it ain't gonna happen soon. Meanwhile, these are great tracks and this is a great introduction for someone who wants to get a broad overview of what's going on in the ska genre. And at 16 bucks for two CDs, it's fairly painless as well. VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Supper's Ready... Another Serving From The Musical Box (Magna Carta) Reviewed by Steve Marshall When Genesis first got together back in the late 60's, the band couldn't have had any idea of the success they were to achieve. With Peter Gabriel, and later Phil Collins, on lead vocals, the band became one of the top drawing concert acts of the rock era. Gabriel left the band in 1975 to pursue a solo career, and, to many, took the creative spark with him. Once Collins and company started writing more hit-oriented material, the band started shying away from the longer tracks it had become known for. The songs got shorter and more radio-friendly. Whether you prefer the newer (more commercial) stuff, or the older (and better) material, the fact remains - Genesis is (or was, depending on your preference) one of the most influential progressive rock bands around. Ranging from early cuts like Richard Sinclair's cover of "For Absent Friends" to Magellan's version of "Mama", the artists on this tribute CD perform a wide assortment of the Genesis's material with mixed results. There're a few that are really great (such as Over the Garden Wall's take on the classic "Firth of Fifth"), and a few that are "interesting" (like Kevin Gilbert's "Back in N.Y.C." and Annie Haslam's version of "Ripples") but for the most part, Supper's Ready is a disappointment. Michael Zentner's vocals on "Carpet Crawlers" sound like a cross between Barry Gibb and Roy Orbison. Not exactly what you want to hear in a prog-rock song. Shadow Gallery does a good job on "Entangled," as does Cairo with "Squonk". Most of the songs on the CD are fairly true to the originals, with the exception of Crack the Sky's almost industrial version of "I Know What I Like." The biggest problem with most of the tracks here is the vocals. It makes you realize just how unique the voices of Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins really are. The music is good on most of the songs, but the vocals just don't cut it. Several of the bands here are on the Yes tribute disc, Tales From Yesterday (where they sound much better). Supper's Ready might be a good disc if you don't already know the material. If you are familiar with the songs, though, you'll probably be disappointed. VARIOUS ARTISTS - Hands On Yello (Urban/Motor Music GmbH/Polygram) Reviewed by Keith Gillard Continuing in the tradition of "YMO: Hi-Tech No Crime" and "Art of Noise: The FON Mixes" is "Hands on Yello": Some of today's highest-profile techno artists paying homage to the origins of their species. Yello is certainly one of these few bands who really deserve to be honoured as true innovators. One reason I compare Hands on Yello to the YMO and AoN compilations is that here, as in those tributes, the remixers still remained true to the spirit of the songs, generally speaking. I appreciate this. This package still sounds like Yello, overall, though there are a couple of items I would take issue with. The vocals are still present, and those famous Yello sounds are still used. This may be due to the fact that Boris Blank was personally involved in this project. However, many of these mixes are closer to the originals than some of the mixes done by Boris himself! Most of the material is early Yello, with One Second being the latest album represented. That is when Yello was at their most inventive, and when most of these remixers, as DJs or clubgoers, became familiar with our Swiss heroes. Generally, great selection of works (Baby is still my favourite Yello album, though) and well handled. I have a few highs and lows to point out, though: I love Cosmic Baby's "Dr Van Steiner," which includes some of Deiter's vocal which was left off the original. I was very happy to see "Live at the Roxy" represented here, but I could have done without Ilsa Gold's introduction. Hardsequencer's "I Love You" keeps all the original sounds, and still takes the piece somewhere new. "La Habanera" is still the glorious "La Habanera," although Carl Craig does belabour the chorus horn riff a bit much. The Orb's remix of "Excess" bears about as much resemblance to the original track as their remix of YMO's "Tong Poo" did... a wonderful trancy experience nonetheless. The last track on the disc is my all-time favourite Yello track: "Lost Again," remixed by Moby. Oddly enough, he is the only one of the artists involved in this to claim that Yello has had no particular influence on his work. His work on "Lost Again" is surprising and excellent. He presents it as a ballad, with the emphasis on the song and the lyric. What a wonderful way to end this disc! Some of the mixes really fall down, though. None more so than Plutone's "Oh Yeah" - how can you mess up a remix when you have source material as incredible and simple as everybody's favourite '80's soundtrack song? Plutone butchered one of my favourites here. Jam & Spoon's "You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess - Great Mission" is mindless jungle - ho hum! I'm not sure of whether or not I approve of Carl Cox turning "L'Hotel" from a cinematic soundscape into a hard trance number. Overall, this is a mixed bag - some truly excellent work, and some incredibly disappointing. But with such songs and sounds to work with, even a mediocre remix can still sound wonderful. The only real crime here is Plutone's "Oh Yeah," which probably dropped my rating of this disc by a whole point. But that's what programmable CD players are for! Songwriting: 8/10 Production: 6/10 Performance: 7/10 Overall: 7/10 VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Tales From Yesterday... A View From the South Side of the Sky (Magna Carta) Reviewed by Steve Marshall For nearly 30 years now (and almost as many members), Yes has been a leader in the realm of progressive music - both as a group, and in side projects outside the band. In this age of tribute albums, it seemed inevitable that someone would put something together to pay homage to the band. Magna Carta Records has done just that on the recent release Tales From Yesterday. Peter Morticelli and Mike Varney did an excellent job producing the CD, which features covers of 13 classic tracks. Roger Dean, cover artist for several Yes albums and a host of other progressive rock artists, did the artwork on the booklet. The best thing about Tales is that it includes performances by some of the band members themselves. Steve Howe contributes the guitar credenza on "Roundabout" and performs "Turn of the Century" with former Renaissance vocalist Annie Haslam. Patrick Moraz's solo performance of "Soon" was a highlight on his recent solo tour, and is included here on the CD as well. Original Yes guitarist, Peter Banks, gives an instrumental version of "Astral Traveler." Adam Wakeman, (Rick's son), shows off his keyboard prowess on Jeronimo Road's version of "Starship Trooper." The song is a bit heavy handed at times, but you can definitely tell Adam had a good teacher. The majority of the other songs on Tales are excellent. There're a few renditions that don't work, such as Magellan's take on "Don't Kill the Whale." Aside from that, this is a great disc. Steve Morse turns in faithful renditions of "Mood For a Day" and "Clap" (commonly mislabeled as 'The' Clap). Stanley Snail dishes up an amazing version of "Siberian Khatru." I heard this version of the song on the radio and swore it was Yes, until the piano solo came in. It's that good. Cairo does an excellent job on the epic "South Side of the Sky" as well. If you're even remotely a Yes fan, you'll love this CD. STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN AND DOUBLE TROUBLE -- Greatest Hits (Epic) Reviewed by Steve Marshall When Stevie Ray Vaughan died in a tragic helicopter accident in 1990, the blues world lost a great guitarist. Riding high on the success of his latest album, "In Step," SRV was thought by many to be in his prime. After winning a tough battle with drug & alcohol abuse, he was clearly at his peak. Whether this CD is looked upon as just a contract album doesn't matter. The fact remains that Stevie Ray Vaughan recorded some incredible music over his brief, but highly influential career. The material covered here includes tracks from his entire studio catalog. All the hits are here - "Pride and Joy," "Crossfire," "Cold Shot," "Texas Flood," his instrumental rendition of "Little Wing," plus a previously unreleased cover of The Beatles' "Taxman" (recorded during SRV's first sober session in Austin, TX). As with any greatest hits CD, there are always songs that should be included that don't make the final selection. This one is no exception. Epic could have easily made this more than a single CD. It's widely known to his fans that there is a ton of material sitting in the CBS vaults. Boxed set, anyone? WAR - Life (Is So Strange) (Rhino) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Another War re-release from Rhino, this one being the last of their "pre-comeback" albums. By the time this was released in 1983, a few things had changed. Most notably, Lonnie Jordan had become a polished keyboard player. It's possible he always was, but on earlier War releases, he had always played from more of a gut level. Emotion over technique. The good news is that his precision didn't dilute the chemistry. War was still War. The CD consists of six tracks, two of which are medleys. "WW III (Medley)" is tense and dramatic, but it doesn't release that tension in the classic War tradition. It builds for nearly eight minutes, then fades. On the other hand, "U-2 (Medley)," which closes the CD, kicks into a solid groove right off the bat and has a great rhythmic instrumental second half. Lee Oskar, War's Dutch harmonica wizard, contributes "Summer Dreams," a song typical of his contributions to their repertoire. As always, the harmonica is stunning and forlorn. Oskar is one of the more often overlooked heroes of the harp. (Check out his long solo in "Gypsy Man" on Deliver The Word for proof.) The track that transforms this album from good to great is "Happiness," seven and a half minutes of reggae heaven with more than a hint of street. It's just another example of War's uncanny ability to weave complex musical parts so cleverly that the final result sounds simple and uncluttered. Not an easy trick. War made better albums than Life (Is So Strange), but it's still well worth the price. The fact is that "Happiness" should be held in the same regard as "Low Rider," "Gypsy Man," "Me And Baby Brother," and "Cisco Kid," but I haven't seen it on any greatest hits packages yet. For that reason, this one is indispensible. WAR - Youngblood: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Rhino) Reviewed by DJ Johnson In the bad old 70s, War had a long string of hit songs which still sound hot and fresh today, offering proof of my own theory that a great groove is timeless. War was all about great grooves. Remember "Me And Baby Brother?" Or "Low Rider?" Try to hold still while those songs are playing. You can't. Youngblood is a soundtrack to a 1978 film that I never saw. I've actually looked for it, but it doesn't seem to exist anymore. Judging by the year, and by the subject matter of the songs, I'd say that it was a flick about a drug dealer and street gangs in the ghetto. Makes perfect sense, because War was "street" before we knew what to call it. Happily, Rhino Records rescued this band from the "out of print" list some time back. Good ol' Rhino. It's no surprise, knowing how hip Rhino is, that they even dug this gem out of the vault. Like most War albums, this one is filled with moody grooves, fantastic percussion (provided by the late great Papa Dee Allen), and their vocal harmony sound which, on its own, should put them in any music Hall Of Fame. Their harmonies didn't sound precise so much as they sounded primal, but a close listen in the headphones reveals as much precision as on any Crosby, Stills and Nash performance. The fact that they did that without distracting from the overall sound is amazing enough. Youngblood begins with the 10:42 title track, "Youngblood (Livin' In The Streets)." Like their 11 minute classic, "Gypsy Man," the groove is dark and mysterious, and the song doesn't feel long at all. "Sing A Happy Song" is a very 70s uptempo soul tune that contrasts sharply with the darkness of the opening track. Much of this music is probably intended to be background soundtrack, but it's War, you know--it all sounds fantastic. "Junk Yard" is one of those tracks, complete with street dialog over the funky percussion and bass. "Superdude" is another, but on this one War shows their skills as trad jazz musicians. "Flying Machine (The Chase)" is a seven and a half minute jam with lots of free form solos by Charles Miller (flute) and Lonnie Jordan (piano). The one that had the most commercial potential was "This Funky Music Makes You Feel Good," but it seems this album was totally overlooked. By 1978, War was being shuffled out to pasture. Too bad, because this album should have been heard. JAC ZINDER - Chairs I Have Known (Catasonic) Reviewed by DJ Johnson ALERT: Attention, those of you who are always on the lookout for something out of the ordinary. This is it. This is a sound, a body of work and a moving story all wrapped into one release. This is the story of a unique individual, Jac Zinder, who was tragically killed when the car in which he was riding was hit by a speeding drunk driver on Sunset Blvd. Jac was known by many people for many different things, but he was probably best known as "The Fuzzyland Impressario." Fuzzyland was Jac's club, and there he held court. He wrote record reviews for several publications, including Spin and The LA Weekly. All of this is explained in the outstanding booklet that comes with "Chairs I Have Known." His story would be worth the price alone, but the CD is a rare gem that makes this package priceless. Jac was ahead of his time--or way behind it, depending on how you look at it. Long before Exotica became a hot genre again, Jac was playing it and writing it. Most of these songs were recorded in various garages over the span of a decade. Jac had this cheesy old Lowrey home organ--the kind with the ultra dorky sounding drum machine built in--and he wasn't afraid to use it. In fact, it was the only sound that would work with most of this material. On later recordings, he worked up (down?) to cheesier Casios and the like. The instrumentals presented here are the perfect soundtrack to your most surreal dreams. If Art Clokey had been an acid-head, this music would have graced every Gumby clay-toon. Listen to "Hawaiian Block Party" and you'll see what I mean. While most of the songs are of the Exotica persuasion, there are a few tracks here and there that are pure punk, such as "Everybody Dance With Me" and "Pussy Boy (Motherfucker)." The latter was supposed to be an instrumental, but during this live recording at Fuzzyland, Jac became annoyed at the lack of interest from the crowd (and at technical snafus that had plagued the band all evening) and he began verbally beating the shit out of everyone present. He went way over the top so recklessly that the crowd couldn't help but love it. It's like primal scream therapy with obscenities and insults thrown in. Most therapeutic. One of the most unusual stories revolves around the song "Cool." As legend has it, Jac found the lyric on a bus, took it home and put it to exotic music that is at least as odd. Taken alone, this song would probably freak you out. You'd be wondering what the hell was happening in the music industry. Taken in the context of this entire collection, it's a mind trip that makes perfect sense. Jac's last band, Bufadora, delved into even more areas of Exotica, reaching psychedelic conclusions in songs like "Children's Wire" and "Birdhouse." I wonder what Jac would have done next. Thanks to some drunken moron, we'll never find out. Luckily, Jac had a few friends. Over 300 of them attended his funeral. Then they all got together and did a benefit to raise the money needed to release his music on this CD. It's an amazing and moving story that comes with its own soundtrack. Not everything on "Chairs I Have Known" is perfect--these are garage tapes, after all--but there is a consistantly dreamy atmosphere that is quite exquisite. Jac was a very creative guy. The booklet includes a clipping from one of Jac's record reviews for the LA Weekly. This little tidbit ended up on the cutting room floor, so to speak. His editor felt he had gone too far over the top in describing his reaction to The Mevlevi Ensemble's record. Here is the cut passage: "I became acutely aware of my blood pumping through my body, of the Earth rotating on its axis, of atoms whizzing around other atoms..." I think "Chairs I Have Known" will have that effect on some people. Some will not be able to get past the "cheap-n-cheesy" keyboard sound. I'm blown away. Until this week, I had only heard his name and not his music. I didn't know it until this CD came out, but I miss him. (Catasonic Records - PO Box 2727, 1615 Wilcox Ave, Hollywood, CA 90078. Voice phone 213-664-1404. E-mail catasonic@interramp.com. Website at http://underground.net/Weba/catasonic.html) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- B E T W E E N Z E R O & O N E By Steven Leith LET THE GAMES BEGIN Are our leaders half-empty or half-full of bullshit? I'm fairly optimistic so I think they are half-full. Half-empty or half-full, it still gives them plenty of room to shovel it on during the next campaign cycle. But lest we blame the Politicos for the tidal wave of sound bites remember the New York Times' motto: "All the News that's Fit to Print." The media shapes the debate and the politicians just go along for the ride. If you don't like our current crop of politicians don't look at your party machinery, look at corporate media. Where once the party machine selected who would run for office, now millionaire media pundits decide who should run and who should stay home. The airwaves are awash in fake debate. The Print media is drowning in an inky sea of self interest. This must mean the system is broken, right? Wrong. The system is running like a well oiled machine. The lubricant? Money. The system is not about democracy; it is about the distribution of your wealth. Yeah, wealth is distributed; but not the way the media says. Your life is not being made harder because of welfare moms. Your pay check is shrinking and your remaining income is flowing from your pockets into the vaults of the corporations. The system is working. Concentration of wealth means concentration of power, and if you don't think the media is part of the problem you just are not paying attention. The media encourages us to partake in politics as if it was a basketball tournament. The politicians move hot-air-filled ideas back and forth within an artificial boundary. Leaders dare not stray from the media created court of public opinion or they will be hounded into oblivion. Everyone is so busy shouting that the media has a liberal or conservative bias that they fail to see that it has only one bias--the bias of wealth. Wealth welcomes government liberalism when it comes to corporate welfare and fiscal conservatism when it comes to avoiding taxes. As long as the factory worker and the truck driver struggle with each other for some illusionary ideology, the vested interests of corporate culture will have an even easier job of sucking dry the body politic. Like quarrelsome dogs, we are allowed our little tug of war over the table scraps. We are suffered to remain in the great hall because we may be needed to stop up the fortress walls with our bodies. A little harsh? Consider this. You are absolutely expendable to corporate culture. Why are they not worried about laid-off workers' staggering loss of buying power? The answer is to be found in the not too distant past. When the great depression idled countless workers they did not have the wages to buy much of anything, but wealth remained and even became more concentrated. There was great wealth before the emergence of the middle class and there will be even greater wealth after the elimination of great chunks of middle class people around the globe. One overlooked but important aspect of wealth is that it exists in contrast. What good is your million dollar salary if you are not several orders of magnitude above the average worker? You can get richer merely by making others poorer. It really really works. Besides, peasants are easier to exploit and much more fun to rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I N T H E D R I V E By Jim Andrews Even if you live in a remote village in one of the Aleutian Islands, chances are you haven't been able to walk out your front door at some point in the last six months without being smacked in the face with a fish that has the word "JAVA" printed on it. Talk of Java has inundated otherwise civil discussions across the Internet. On the USENET, Java-related posts have almost caught up with AOL'ers musing "Mac sux. PC r00lz." "No. PC suks. Mac r00lz." (Usually, cryptically posted in groups like "rec.crocheting".) Programming languages, in general, don't tend to bring the word "excitement" to mind. But if C++ is a stuffy, classical musician, then Java is definitely a rock star. Why all the fuss? Well, to whittle a long story to a point, it boils down to the fact that you can make your web pages do nifty-keen things with it; things that the web pages down the block can't do. And if there's one thing that people like to do with their web pages, it's nifty-keen things that the web pages down the block can't do. The language, mind you, is a full-fledged programming language that can create stand-alone, system-portable applications, but I feel that most people will probably come to know (and love) it as a way to put little animations of Beavis and Butthead in the corner of their web pages, along with the sound of them singing the "Iron Man" riff. For those of you who fit that description, OR those of you who are more serious-minded and want to do your taxes on your web site for some reason (while Beavis and Butthead sing the "Iron Man" riff, no doubt), then Symantec Cafe is something you will definitely want to check out (read: buy). Cafe removes Java from the cold, hard "text-editor-command-line" environs and brings it into the warm, friendly Windows era. (Those of you still using CP/M and hating everything to do with Windows, please, send me mail about it at jimndrws@serv.net...I'm easily amused.) Now, while Cafe is more akin to Visual Basic than anything else, look-and-feel wise, it is NOT an easy way out of learning Java. You'll still need to know how to code your way through a project, Cafe just provides you with great project management tools to do it with. Probably my favorite tool in the package is the Resource Editor, which makes creating the look of your applet a snap. Visual Basic users will feel right at home with this tool; simply click on whatever interface element you wish to insert into your applet, then drag it out to size on your form. Changing the attributes of the various elements will be equally intuitive to VB users. Another handy addition for testing your applet (or application) is a one-button replacement for the dreaded command-line javac compiler. Just click on the little running man, and the Applet Viewer pops up and runs your current project with no muss, no fuss. Very nice. For those of you familiar with Sunsoft's JDK, you'll also appreciate the extensive debugging features of Cafe. If an error is found, just click on it, and you'll end up in the editor, right at the offending line of code. A far cry, to say the least, from the cryptic rants that spew out of javac -d. For online program support, you can't really beat the comp.lang.java.* USENET groups. There are not only plenty of Java gurus who lurk around in there, but plenty of good people who can help with specific Cafe questions as well. Of course, Symantec isn't exactly slacking in the online support department, either. Once you're a paying customer, you can visit the Subscription Center at the http://cafe.symantec.com/, where you'll find such niceties as the latest version of Cafe, new additions, an informative FAQ, tips for getting started, and lots of other nifty things to make you happy. My recommendation is that if you are already programming Java, do yourself a favor and go pick up this program. It will save you a considerable amount of time. If you'd like to start programming Java, do yourself the favor of learning it in this environment. All in all, this is an extremely well-thought-out package, and it does very well at what it's paid to do. (Price: Limited-time introductory price is $129.95, suggested retail of $299.95; Symantec Cafe Home Page: http://cafe.symantec.com/) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- P H I L ' S G A R A G E By Phil Dirt "Knowing which side of the shoe the Shinola goes on is not always a good thing." - Dirt, 1996 Serendipity. ser.en.dip.i.ty - n. 1) The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident. [From the characters in the Persian fairy tale "The Three Princes of Serendip," who made such discoveries, from Persian Sarandhp, Sri Lanka, from Arabic Sarandhb.] 2) Stepping in it, and a darn good thing too. -ser.en.dip.i.tous adj. -ser.en.dip.i.tous.ly adv. HISTORY: 1) English author Horace Walpole, whose reputation is based primarily on his 3,000 plus letters, coined the word serendipity in a letter dated January 28, 1754, where he says that this discovery, indeed, is almost of that kind which I call Serendipity, a very expressive word. The word itself may have come to him serendipitously. Walpole mutated an old name for Sri Lanka, Serendip. The name was part of the title of a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of . . . 2) Surf guitarist and podiatrist Larry Vydell (imaginary guitar giant), remarked upon tripping over an outboard reverb while reading an interview with Susan Sarandon, "Hey, that sounds COOL!," and rightly dubbed the lucky discovery Sarandon Dipity, due in part to his dippy behavior and reading matter. The continuum of mankind on Earth is full of amazing accidents that change the course of history. The name for such unexpected finds is serendipity. Such weighty and profound foundlings classifiable as serendipitous should not be confused with the law of unintended outcomes i. e. governments and bureaucracies. One of those marvelous accidents is the reverb kick. It was inevitable that it would occur, given the design of the device. The outboard has a transducer at each end of a spring suspended in a metal can. A certain magnitude jostle will result in a magnificent crash. The designers originally intended spring reverbs to reside inboard in keyboards, like the mighty Wurlitzer organs. They were unconcerned about the possibility of the springs striking the metal box because that could only happen when the device is being moved, and organs sat quite still while in use. They saw such an event as unlikely, so they took no precautions against it. Musician/technicians are not unlike auto mechanic/hot rodders. Just cuz the device was designed to be used in a keyboard doesn't mean it can't be used somewhere else. Guitarist/technicians in search of sustain saw an application. How they used it is an example of the law of unintended outcomes. When Leo Fender put a set of springs in a wooden box to plug between the guitar and the amp, he had no idea that he would cause the discovery of the first self-contained sound effect generator. Not everyone who tripped over their reverb or who heard the splashy sound it made while being moved recognized it's potential. Indeed, its like the guy who poured the white muck down the sink because it wasnt what he was looking for and thereby missed discovering Latex. Serendipity ignored or denied is the norm. So, when our hero said "Hey, that sounds COOL!," he demonstrated the real difference between serendipity and accident: Recognition! Imagine the first time in practice with his chums in the band when he intentionally kicks the box on the floor at just the right moment. I have to wonder if his band mates got it, or just put up with it. While it's not real common in surf records, it does exist more there than elsewhere, except in Iron Butterfly recordings. The reverb kick got it's start in some really great sessions, like the Vydells Unknown, where it opens the song and simply takes it over the top. So, why am I telling you this? Cuz I get a lot of surf music to review, and I record a lot of surf bands, and I love THAT sound! I wanna hear it MORE! Besides, it is a relatively unused effect that is quite natural in a relatively un-effected genre. So, how is it done? Well, first lets talk a bit of shop. When using an outboard with a loud clean amp like a Fender Showman, it is imperative to place the outboard with its axis radially with respect to the amp, and off to the side if possible. Why? To avoid acoustic coupling between the springs in the reverb and the amp, which can result in an unwanted unmusical howling. Another side effect of the reverb is illustrated in a story Paul Johnson told me once. Not long after he finally succumbed to the reverb toward the end of his days with the Belairs, he was annoyed when he could hear his bandmates stomping around on stage right through his amp. Their clomping was being transmitted through the stage floor into the outboard and coming out in the amp. Paul ended up hanging his outboard from the rafters to avoid the coupling. Ok, so that's a bit on where to put the outboard. As to the kick, you knock it with your foot across the springs (kick at the wide front or back) with a sharp strike. If you kick too softly, not much happens. If you kick too hard, you can knock over the reverb, or even disconnect the springs. But wait, there's more. You'll quickly discover that there is a timing difference -- a delay from strike to sound. Why? Well, it's in the nature of the mechanical design. The sound comes from the springs striking the sides of the can they hang in. They have to be sufficiently moved, or more correctly, the tank has to be sufficiently accelerated for the can to overtake the springs , thus striking them. It's a physics thing. The delay comes from the time required for the can to move and strike the springs. Once thats done, the can quickly stops moving, but the now vibrating springs bounce from wall to wall for a bit before settling into a slow decay of the resonant metallic joyous noise. As you can well imagine, the longevity of your reverb can be compromised if you abuse it, so be careful. Still, they are pretty tough. I've only once caused the springs to pop off their hooks on my 62 Fender Outboard, and re-hanging them was easy and solved the problem. The most likely damage is mechanical shock to the tube filaments. So, if you are a musician, try it. It'll get the attention of those louts drinking at the bar who should be listening but aren't, and it'll add a smile to my face when I hear your recording. If you are a listener and fan, now you know all about that glorious splash! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- T H E A U D I O F I L E By Cai Campbell THIS MONTH'S TOPIC: The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds: 180+ Pure Virgin Vinyl Analogue Pressing (DCC Compact Classics) This most recent vinyl issue of Brian Wilson's opus is not notable for the music. This record has stood the test of time, and sounds as pure, fresh, honest, and technically brilliant as it did when it was first released 30 years ago. What IS notable about this release is that it is yet another candidate for the "definitive" Pet Sounds record, of which there are many. I've always had a special place in my heart for this record, and as an audiophile and collector of fine recordings, I was genuinely excited when I spotted this new quality pressing of an old classic. Along with this DCC release, I also have at my disposal a very clean original "duophonic" pressing, the 1989 Japanese CD, and the 1990 deluxe "remastered" CD. When I first began buying CD's, Pet Sounds was one of the first albums I wanted, so that I could enjoy it in all its shining brilliance. Then I found that Capitol was not releasing it, for reasons unknown to me, so I had to shell out the big bucks for the Japanese import. I was not disappointed and have been extremely satisfied with this pressing. In my mind, it was the definitive Pet Sounds. Then, a year later, Capitol finally issued Pet Sounds on CD, and I found out why they delayed: they were going all out in giving this fine recording the treatment it deserved. They tracked down the best masters they could find and painstakingly transferred these 30-year-old analog tapes to digital tape where they were then further processed using Sonic Solutions digital noise reduction system. Three bonus tracks were added to sweeten the pot, and an extremely informative 24 page booklet was included, giving background stories, track-by-track tidbits of information, and many pictures from the original album cover photo shoot. The CD sounded great, and it became, in my mind, the new definitive Pet Sounds. It wasn't long after that when the newness of the CD boom started to wear off and the realization sank in that analog had digital beat when it came to richness and fullness of sound, and that even though it was easier to make a CD that sounded great, the real secret to great sound was a finely crafted analog LP played on the right equipment. I was convinced, record unheard, that this new audiophile pressing of Pet Sounds was going to become my new definitive. I decided I was going to do a comparison of all four of my Pet Sounds releases and decide which, if any, was the true definitive. One thing which troubled me about the DCC release is that there was absolutely no mention of the master source used to produce the record. Most audiophile releases go out of their way to claim that they used only the original masters. Instead, the DCC release touted their "all vacuum-tube" cutting system and gave credit to the gentleman who performed the obscure (although important) task of plating. This seemed almost a smoke screen to cover the fact that the original master recordings were NOT used to produce this record. When I began comparing the DCC LP jacket and insert with the Capitol remastered CD booklet, I noticed many similarities, including the same photo out-takes and the same statement written in 1990 by Brian Wilson for the special CD release. And then I listened to these two disks along with the original duophonic pressing and the Japanese CD. The differences between the four of them were very noticeable, with the exception of the DCC LP and the Capitol remastered CD: they sounded way too similar! I then reached the conclusion that the DCC LP used the same DIGITAL master tape used to produce the remastered CD! It certainly would have been the easiest thing to do, rather than go back and perform the painstaking process of remastering the master tapes using analog methods. At this point I felt cheated. Would they really take a digital master and go to all the trouble to create an analog representation of it? It seemed totally backwards! Multiple attempts to contact DCC Compact Classics were unsuccessful, so I cannot confirm that a digital master tape was used to produce this "analogue" recording, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is the case. My fears did not subside as I listened to this record. Although it does sound very clean and "warmer" than the remastered CD, the low end of the sound spectrum seems to come too much forward, sometimes overshadowing subtle passages such as the orchestrated bits on "Don't Cry." The DCC LP seemed to have a thin high end. I attribute this and the too-full low end to the digital master being pumped through all the analog equipment. With an analog source, this process would have helped retain the original warmth of the sound. In this case, it seems as if an almost artificial warmth and depth were added. The remastering effort done on the CD was brilliantly executed. In most cases, the remastered CD uncovers certain subtleties only hinted at on the original pressing and Japanese CD. This came at the price of sacrificing some of the high end of the sound spectrum, however, but it is barely noticeable and is only a minor complaint. If the DCC LP was indeed mastered from the same digital tape used on the remastered CD, it does succeed in amplifying this effort. There is something to be said for digital recordings being delivered in an analog format. But it boggles my mind how DCC can deliver such a product and claim it to be an "Analogue Pressing." My original duophonic release related the most warmth and fattest sound. Some of that may be attributed to the duophonic process, which essentially splits the sound spectrum into two channels and pumps them through the left and right channels to achieve a stereo effect. But I can't attribute much of the warmth to this. Tape hiss is evident on the Japanese CD, but it comes closer to the sound of the original LP than the remastered CD. The remastered CD offers a greater level of clarity, which allows the listener a chance to better appreciate the genius of Brian Wilson. The DCC LP elevates this experience a bit, but at the cost of overshadowing certain subtleties. When all is said and done, I do not believe there is a definitive Pet Sounds. The closest thing, I can imagine, would be a pristine copy of the original mono release, something which I will always be on the lookout for (if anyone out there has one they want to part with, please let me know!) I can point to each of these releases and say some aspect of one is better than the other, but it would be very hard for me to recommend one issue over another. One thing I CAN recommend is that you buy this record, in ANY format, and listen to it in earnest. Pet Sounds offers complex and moving compositions which sound simple only on the surface. It is a true pop masterpiece deserving a prominent position in your musical collection. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- D J R A N T S By DJ Johnson A CAUTIONARY TALE FOR THOSE WHO NEED ONE MORE REASON NOT TO GET A CAT This is a sad story about my good friend, Julie. It's alright to see the humor in it, because there certainly is something funny about what happened to her that night. That was the night she was getting ready to move out of her apartment. Her cat, Grizzabella, had been staring at her all night long, waiting for her to either feed her or drop dead, thereby accomplishing the same thing. It wasn't a longshot, either, because Julie was dead tired from cleaning and scrubbing the apartment. There was one other set of eyes trained on her at that moment. Her boss had talked her into kitty-sitting while she was out of town, and the cute little thing was hiding and watching the action. It was smart to hide. Grizzabella had been chasing the thing around the apartment ever since it arrived, swiping at it with her sharp claws as much to tenderize the thing as to hurt it. It's important to understand that Julie is a pushover for cats. Me, I think they're great for sticking under your tire so it won't roll when you jack up the car, but Julie loves all furred things, even if they abuse her, which Grizzabella surely does with alarming regularity. If Grizz bites Julie's hand, Julie hugs harder. If Grizz sinks a claw into Julie's lip, Julie thinks she just needs a little lovin' and attention. If Grizz bites MY hand, I'll just tell Julie that Grizz moved away to find her place in life and left no frickin' forwarding address, you know what I'm sayin'? On this particular night, Julie was getting very tired and whiney, which may have prompted what was to come. As Julie made the final few swipes of the sponge on the countertop, mini-cat let out a tiny roar and lunged out from under that couch at blazing speed and began to run around the apartment in circles. That in itself would be reeeeeeally cute, if that damned animal from hell hadn't had...the problem. See, it had diahrrea shooting out its ass like the rooster tail behind an unlimited hydroplane, and it was landing all over everything in the formerly spotless apartment. Round and round and round she goes, close yer eyes and plug yer nose. It was the most horrific explosion since Mount St. Helens shot it's wad in 1980. Faster and faster the cat ran, spraying brown death in a constant and efficient manner as Julie watched helplessly. Grizzabella's whereabouts during what has now become known as "The Great KittyShitInciDint" are unknown, but knowing her insatiable appetite, she was probably just watching and waiting like a vulture for the kitty to drop dead. This was Grizz's nature, and you can bet the kitty didn't think Grizz just needed a little lovin' and attention. The kitty figured Grizz needed an appetite suppressor. Actually, the kitty didn't think anything at the moment. It was still in high gear, spraying the entire apartment a yellow-brown. Nothing was spared. Countertops, carpet, moving boxes, clothing, VCR, TV, walls... hell, even the tops of CUPBOARDS got the treatment! And still, the hairy little bastard ran, screaming whatever cats scream when their insides explode and generating more propulsive force than was needed to get the Apollo 13 astronauts home. Just as Julie was about to faint, the kitty stopped on a dime. Seeing that the dime was still clean, the damned thing shat upon it, then let out a low moaning sound...and fell over sideways. The silence was sudden and uncomfortable, and the smell was amplified for poor Julie because she had begun to hyperventilate. Eventually, she sat down in the middle of the room (on the one square foot of floor that kitty had missed) and cried. Much time has gone by since the KittyShitInciDint, but not every wound has healed. Smart investors noticed the sharp increase in sales by the Scott Towel company, and they went long, only to see the price come crashing back to earth the following day. Nobody knows how many rolls of those towels Julie had to use, but we do know that it took eight hours to rid the apartment of the kitty crap. It took another few days for the smell to fade. The kitty lived, and seemed perfectly normal the next morning. Grizzabella lost interest in the thing as a food item, proving that even cats have some taste. The long reaching effects of the experience can be seen in the fact that Grizz is the first cat on record to teach itself to use a toilet. Julie never kitty-sat for that woman again, and has a good laugh every time she asks her to. Me, I'm unchanged by the entire event. I wasn't there, but even if I had been, I doubt that I would have disliked cats more than I do now. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a tire to change. (Note: Since this column was written, Julie's cat, Grizzabella, has come down with a nasty case of death. This column, therefore, is dedicated to that ornery feline. We think good thoughts about her and realize that right at this moment she's probably ignoring God). ============================================================================ - % @ ]]]]]]]]]] . " ~ + . ]]] ]] ]] ]]]] , ^ . ]]] ]]]]] ]] < ]]] ]] ]] ]]]] & # ]]] ]] ]] ]] ! ^ | . """ "" "" """" ]]]]] ]]]] ]]]] ]]]]] ]]]]]] ]]]] - \ ~ ]] ]] ]] ] ] ]] ] ]] ] ` ? $ ]] ] ]]]] ]]]] ]] ]] ]] ]]] ~ ` ]] ]] ]] ] ] ]] ]] ]] ] l """"" """" """"" "" "" """" `"" ]]]]] ]]]]]] ]]]] ]] ]]]]] @ : ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] / + ]]]] ]] ]]]] ]] ]] ] | ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ! : "" """" """" """"" """"" + . We have now traced the history of women from Paradise to the nineteenth century and have heard nothing through the long roll of the ages but the clank of their fetters. - Lady Jane Wilde (1821-96), Irish author, poet, translator. I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled "Science Fiction" . . . and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal. - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. We would be a lot safer if the Government would take its money out of science and put it into astrology and the reading of palms. . . . Only in superstition is there hope. If you want to become a friend of civilization, then become an enemy of the truth and a fanatic for harmless balderdash. - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Elemental Fury B.A. Punkert I hear the sky crying outside the window Pregnant raindrops shatter themselves against the glass And the cold pavement. Collecting in muddy rivers and stagnant ponds They flow desperately away Fleeing the onslaught of staring souls The ferociousness of the wind The violation of the encroaching sun A finger of light points down from the sky Accusing, angry Followed by the sharp sound of a slap The air rushing back in to fill the void (Nature abhors a vacuum) I watch the clouds as they vacillate Between gentle sobs of regret And howls of unmitigated fury The cheeks of the world Dried by the stinging hands of the wind. I pull on a sweater And head out into the storm. Logic tells me I should stay inside, warm and dry... But all the logic in the world can't stop this need So the door snicks behind me And I turn my face to the wall of water. "Laugh and the world laughs with you." I stand Kissed by the wind Drenched to the skin Pummelled by the tears of the gods. Purified - Surrounded by agony and beauty I open my soul to the elements And let the devastating sobs of the torn, bleeding soul of the universe Blend with mine.... Elvis transcends his talent to the point of dispensing with it altogether. - Greil Marcus, U.S. rock journalist. You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom. - Malcolm X You have to be a bastard to make it, and that's a fact. And the Beatles are the biggest bastards on earth. - John Lennon A composer is a guy who goes around forcing his will on unsuspecting air molecules, often with the assistance of unsuspecting musicians. - Frank Zappa I don't respond well to mellow, you know what I mean, I-I have a tendency to . . . if I get too mellow, I-I ripen and then rot. - Woody Allen There's a basic rule which runs through all kinds of music, kind of an unwritten rule. I don't know what it is. But I've got it. - Ron Wood FILMREVIEWFILMREVIEWFILMREVIEWFILMREVIEWFILMREVIEWFILMREVIEWFILMREVIEW "The Kids In The Hall: Brain Candy" (Dave Foley, Bruce McCullough, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, Scott Thompson) Seeing this flick was a sad occasion in itself: knowing that this will most likely be the last product of the original cast members is heartbreaking. It was nice to see their writing mature since their show (which, at various points in time, could be seen on CBS, HBO and Comedy Central) first began six years ago. After closing their last episode in '95, a movie was almost instantly in the works. The product: "Brain Candy." A fan cannot help having mixed reactions after its first viewing. The film is CLEARLY not of the high quality seen in their off-beat sit-com. Though the movie constantly straddles the line between good humor and "bad taste"--nothing new--the writing does not consistently hold up. The performances often lack the vitality that usually leaves the "kids'" followers with a full stomach. A lot of the care-free element seems to have been lost. However, "Brain Candy," by regular-folks' standards, is rather amusing and worth the seven bucks. The plot involves a drug company pressured to release a new, marketable product. One of the company's scientists (McDonald) creates Gleemonex, a cure for deep depression, which ends up surpassing penicillin in sales. Conflict arises because the drug was not properly tested. The cast (the five of them playing over forty roles in the movie) has assembled quite a few amusing characters: the irate, foreign, homo-phobic taxi driver (McKinney), native to the sit-com; a man who is convinced that he is not homosexual but who continues to watch gay porn and have casual sex with men (Thompson); a female scientist romancing a co-worker (McCullough); and Cancer-Boy, a wheel-chair bound child of no more than 10, apparently undergoing radiation therapy--one might be scared to laugh for fear of a surly man standing up and yelling, "Hey! My kid has cancer!" Oh, well. Watching this movie is no time to be politically correct. Overall rating: 7 (out of 10) "It's a wordless state I'm in, as if outer space were walking through a room outlined like a person." - John Frusciante (former guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- E-MAIL ADDRESSES FOR CONTACTING COSMIK DEBRIS' WRITERS DJ Johnson (Editor)......moonbaby@serv.net James Andrews............jimndrws@serv.net Cai Campbell.............vex@serv.net coLeSLAw.................coleslaw@greatgig.com Shaun Dale...............stdale@well.com Phil Dirt................Luft.F@diversey.geis.com Andrew Ian Feinberg......afeinber@panix.com David Fenigsohn..........a-davef@microsoft.com Alex Gedeon..............abraxas@primenet.com Lauren Giglio............MHND71B@prodigy.com Keith Gillard............liquid@uniserve.com Louise Johnson...........aquaria@serv.net Steven Leith.............leith@serv.net Steve Marshall...........MHND71F@prodigy.com The Platterpuss..........Plattrpuss@aol.com Cosmik Debris' WWW site..http://www.greatgig.com/cosmikdebris Subscription requests....moonbaby@serv.net Cai Campbell's BBS (Great Gig In The Sky)..206-935-8486 Phil Dirt's Surf Site is at http://www.cygnus.com/kfjc/surf Keith Gillard's "Liquid Records WWW site is located at http://haven.uniserve.com/~liquid And a VERY special thanks to Gabe Martin for letting us use his cool cartoons in The Debris Field. Gabe's outrageous WWW site is at http://www.cts.com/~borderln/todays.html and there are hundreds of his cartoons to check out there. (Cartoon ran in WWW version only, of course.)