]]]]]]]] ]]]]]]] ]]]]]]] ]] ]] ]]]]]]]] ]] ]] ]] ] ]] ]] ]] ] ]]] ]]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ] ] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]]]] ]] ] ]] ]] ]]]]] ]] ]] ]] ]]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ] ]] ]] ] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]]]]]]]] ]]]]]]] ]]]]]] ]] ]] ]]]]]]]] ]] ]] ]]]]]]]] ]]]]]]]] ]]]]]]] ]]]]]] ]]]]]]]] ]]]]]]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]]]]]] ]]] ]] ]]]]]] ]] ]]]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ] ]] ]]]]]]]] ]]]]]]]] ]]]]]]] ]] ]] ]]]]]]]] ]]]]]] I S S U E # 1 7 : O C T O B E R 1 9 9 6 DO UNTO PUMPKINS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THkm...AAAACK!!! ============================================================================ - The Specialists - DJ Johnson.................Editor Jim Andrews................HTML coLeSLaw...................Graphic Artist Lauren Marshall............Administrative Assistant Louise Johnson.............Administrative Assistant and Keeper Of The Debris - The Cosmik Writers - Jim Andrews, Cai Campbell, coLeSLAw, Robert Cummings, Shaun Dale, Phil Dirt, David Fenigsohn, Alex Gedeon, Keith Gillard, DJ Johnson, Steven Leith, Steve Marshall, The Platterpuss, Paul Remington, and John Sekerka --------------------------------------------------------------------------- T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S EDITOR'S NOTES: Happy Halloween! Contest winners announced. ANYTHING BUT HARMLESS: Lance Kaufman's music demands attention. With Yard Trauma in the 80's, he provided powerful Farfisa organ. With Harmless in 1990, he unleashed an album filled with shattering and cerebral music that demanded even closer attention. This year, he has taken on an alter-ego, Karla Pundit, and released an exotic album of organ music. What he'll do next is anybody's guess. In this interview, he discusses all of those projects, his 56 unusual roommates, and his fascination with the dark side of music. INVASION OF THE BOSS MARTIANS!: Seattle's awesome surf combo is on the rise! Guitarist Evan Foster discusses his music, his gear, and his zeal for the entire scene. AN INTERVIEW WITH THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS: Satan takes a break from whatever it is he does all day and talks to our nervous interviewer about Halloween and whatever the hell is on his little mind. POLITICAL PLAYBOOK: The Fat Lady Tunes Up - As the Presidential elections near a conclusion, the results are looking pretty obvious. Shaun Dale takes a look at the good and the bad of it. RECORD REVIEWS: Loads and loads of 'em. Oodles, even. (What the hell's an oodle, exactly?) BETWEEN ZERO & ONE (Steven Leith): Mr. Leith looks at another possible future for the Internet, and shares a little advice: use it while you've got it. PHIL'S GARAGE (Phil Dirt): Sir Dirt's short story, "The Lady In The Reverb," with a main character that doesn't resemble any living person. Nope. Not one. Not him, either! Nobody. Back off! We have a lawyer! THE AUDIO FILE (Cai Campbell): Cai's final Cosmik Debris column deals with an affordable tool that can make all the difference in the world for your sound system. dead STUFF I NOTICED (DJ Johnson): Do you love your band? Do you want to keep playing together forever and ever? Then DO NOT let this man interview you! TAPE HISS (John Sekerka): A double dose of rock and roll, as John interviews Killdozer AND The Upper Crust. THE DEBRIS FIELD (Louise Johnson): Our Debris Keeper, Louise, has outdone herself this month! It's a Halloween potpourri. RAISE THE DEAD (How to contact us!) You can either go through a medium, which means all that down time while you wait for our spirit guides and all that, or you can just...you know...send us e-mail. It's always good to have options, isn't it? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- E D I T O R ' S N O T E S By DJ Johnson Happy Halloween! My favorite day of the year, actually--probably due to my overactive dark side. In honor of the season, we've decked this issue out in our own version of Halloween decor. Right off the bat, I'd like to thank two people who worked a lot of extra hours to make it all come together. coLeSLAw, our artist type guy, spent a lot of late night hours on the phone with me this month batting ideas back and forth, creating great titles and just generally being indispensable. I'd also like to thank Louise Johnson, my wife, who has rescued The Debris Field from neglect by spending a lot of time searching for cool stuff to put in there--and forsaking sleep in order to tweak the Field until it looked absolutely incredible. Make sure you check it out. We're losing a writer. One we've lost before! Cai Campbell was one of the four original Cosmik writers, and one of the people who helped shape Cosmik from the beginning by sharing ideas and offering creative feedback on other peoples' ideas. Cai has some great ideas for an E-Zine of his own, and he's decided to make it happen. As soon as it's ready to fly, Cosmik Debris will have an announcement, and we will have a link directly to Cai's page. We'll miss his Audio File column and his educated reviews. Good luck, Cai. I also want to take this opportunity to thank KFJC-FM disc jockey Anne Arbor for inviting me to be interviewed on her drive time radio program, Dancing In The Fast Lane With Ann Arbor. It gave me a chance to spend 20 minutes going on and on about my favorite topic--Cosmik Debris--to listeners in San Francisco and vicinity. Thanks, Ann. Finally, we have last month's contest to talk about. Our Halibuts CD and T-shirt giveaway, to be precise. The winners are: Jorge Rosas of Aveiro, Portugal; Dave Wood of Rockville, Maryland; Peter Pugliese of Quebec, Canada; Pat Stevens of Oxford, Connecticut; and Boyd Williamson of Columbia, Missouri. They each win a copy of the brand new Halibuts CD, Life On The Bottom, and a Halibuts T-shirt. Congratulations to all. Be sure to check out this month's contest, where you can win a pair of CDs by Lance Kaufman. His 1991 release, HARMLESS: Protect Us From Evil, and his new release (in the guise of his alter ego, Karla Pundit), KARLA PUNDIT: Journey To The Ancient City. If you only get the ascii version of Cosmik Debris, you're still eligible to win. Simple send e-mail to moonbaby@serv.net with your name, address, phone number and e-mail address. Multiple entries will be discarded. Those of you who are reading us on the World Wide Web will find entry forms at the end of the Lance Kaufman interview and also toward the end of the table of contents frame. That's about it. This issue is packed. Hope you enjoy it. DJ Johnson Editor --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A N Y T H I N G B U T H A R M L E S S ! From Yard Trauma To Harmless To Karla Pundit, Lance Kaufman Does It All. Interview by DJ Johnson As MTV and top-40 radio continue to blast out unchallenging music for mass consumption, a much smaller segment of the population waits anxiously for anything that will make them think. If a certain piece of music can catch their attention, it's welcomed with open arms. The music of Harmless grabs and shakes its listeners, demanding not only their attention but immediate participation and analysis. Lance Kaufman's musical vision is quite unique in this world of cookie-cutter recording artists. An immensely talented keyboard player with a jazz background, he walked away from that scene for a time to play with San Francisco's legendary garage band, Yard Trauma, with whom he released two excellent albums. In 1991, he formed a band called Harmless around a semi-fictional storyline he had dreamed up while doing time playing in jazz nightclubs. The music contains several elements of jazz and even exotica. The sax (played by Martin Fierro) acts like an errant bottle rocket all through the album, fizzing and screeching in every which direction, creating a chaotic sonic face-slap that got the attention of the listener and held it for Kaufman's lyrics. His lyrics are most definitely not standard issue boy-meets-girl pablum. Dark, unsettling and sometimes wildly disturbing, the lyrics also demand attention, but more than that, they demand that you form an opinion. Songs like "Richard Bible," a story of outrage at a system that would release a repeat sex offender into an unsuspecting community where he would kill children; like "Hiroshima Maidens," an emotionless verbatim reading of a 1955 article about the medical progress of young women who were tragically disfigured in the atomic bomb blast; like "Harmless," the true centerpiece of the album, which chronicles the progress of an oppressed house jazz band as they rebel against the attitudes of their audience and run amok playing exactly what they really want to play. By the end of the album, the listener is wrung out, but much wiser. Kaufman's old Yard Trauma bandmate, Lee Joseph, released Harmless on his Dionysus label in 1991. Unfortunately, not many heard it. Of course, in 1991, not many were READY for it, either. After a stint as keyboardist for the legendary Oscar Brown, Jr., Kaufman returned this year as Karla Pundit--a dead on tribute to Korla Pandit, the turban-wearing organist whose exotic style made him a star in the Hollywood of the 50's and 60's. With exotica being all the rage, the timing couldn't have been better, but the truth is that Lance Kaufman had been into exotica since his youth. Now, with Karla Pundit sales doing very well, Kaufman is considering giving Harmless another chance to catch on. A lot of horrible musical garbage has come our way since 1991, over television, over radio, over and over. Perhaps people are ready to listen to music that might challenge them. This originally figured to be a fairly quick interview, but the more he talked, the more interesting it became to me. More questions followed, and before we knew it, nearly nine hours of conversation had gone by. Here, then, is a remarkably condensed version of one of the most interesting conversations I've had in a long while. - - - Cosmik: What was your training? Was it classical or jazz, or... Lance: Yeah, I am classically trained. I hope no one holds that against me (Laughs). My parents decided when I was three and a half that I had some musical talent just because I was pretending to conduct the orchestra on some record or something. So they kind of forced me into studying piano, and I studied for I guess about ten or eleven years, pretty much hating it the whole time. That was my way of pleasing them. It was set up so I kind of stuck with it. I was bribed. It gave me a real good foundation in terms of playing what I wanted to do, but it was never [an issue] of whether I'd like the music or not. I mean, occasionally something would catch on just because there would be a piece that was interesting. But it was just haphazard. More than likely, it was something that I was just doing because I was supposed to do it. I've gone back, years later, and was able to do music that I wanted to do and it was a whole different thing, because I like a lot of classical music, but I'm pretty opinionated and have pretty limited tastes. I like a lot of twentieth century stuff, and then...real early stuff, but it seems like otherwise, there's a lot of the standard stuff that I'm really bored by. Cosmik: Like? Lance: Oh, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms...Occasionally I'll hear something by Brahms that I like, but I'm definitely like an all-around classical person. I'm sort of disgusted with the state of performances, and what gets performed and what doesn't get performed. But I could say that, probably, about jazz or any other kind of music. At any rate, I studied for that number of years, and I did pretty well, won some competitions and stuff. And then finally, I got to a point where I just couldn't stand it, and I really blew a competition badly. And at the end of that, I told them that I didn't want to do it anymore. Cosmik: Did you blow it intentionally? Lance: Well...probably subconsciously. But I really just didn't want any part of it anymore. It had been going on too long. And during that time, I had been listening to rock and roll and collecting 45's, and that was really the music, at that time, that I liked. Several years after I quit studying classical piano, I got interested in jazz, and sort of learned how to play jazz on my own. I was playing it before I understood what it was, really. I didn't have any idea of chord structures or things like that. That came later. So I have a background in both, and there's a lot in both that I like. And then again, there's a lot that I don't like. Cosmik: You mentioned that you like some modern composers. Who specifically? Lance: Well...probably anyone who isn't connected with minimalism. My own opinion of Phillip Glass is that he's the yuppie composer of the late twentieth century. I like Schoenber, I like 12-tone composers. There's a composer who I really like who probably has written quite a bit but hasn't had things recorded very much. Her name is Miriam Gideon. I think she's from New York. I like George Crumb, you know, a lot of the atonal people. Actually...You go to the edge, in terms of sound, and you get to a point where noise equals music, you realize you can't go any further. So you have to go back and pick up on some of the stuff that you missed on the first journey. So, there are some people that are a little more conventional, like Benjamin Britten, that I've really gotten to like, and I actually really like his operas. For me, an ingredient that's important in any kind of music is that it's making some kind of an emotional statement. I don't like judging any music either technically or theoretically, or breaking it apart and analyzing it. I think if something moves you, whether it's simplistic or if it happens to be more complex, then that's great, but I don't think I could ever listen to music for a technical exercise. I've never really liked show-offs in any kind of music--pieces that were written in the classical repertoire for violinists to show off, or something like that. I think of people like Al DiMeola, who I've never understood his appeal to anyone, because basically, it just seems like he's trying to play as many notes as he can. In jazz, too, I feel like if you're going to play notes, they should mean something, and not just be showing off. I'm not generally impressed by that sort of thing. I'd rather hear something sparse or simple and find that there's an emotionally compelling aspect to it. Cosmik: Are there exceptions in jazz or avant garde? Players that maybe are technically amazing, but are also playing something meaningful... Lance: Oh yeah. Someone like Eric Dolphy, who was an incredible technician, and I've heard that he was capable of doing anything on the instrument. But he's using sound to say something. I mean, it isn't just bullshitting around on the instrument. Or even going back further...for some reason, I like Art Tatum, and he's, to me, an amazing technician, but for some reason it doesn't seem that superficial. But somebody like Oscar Peterson, who is very much out of that same mold, I don't like at all. I've never liked Oscar Peterson. In terms of newer people, obviously there are people doing some experimental stuff or cross-breeding different types of hybrid musics, but I sort of feel like the current situation in jazz in general is kind of pathetic. I hate to name people and criticize them, but someone like Wynton Marsallis can be considered a legend or something, and basically he's just an okay imitator of about five different trumpet players. There are people around now that are doing a lot more original stuff that I'd rather see getting attention. But it seems like... jazz used to have an underground aspect to it. It was not the accepted music. There was an edge to it. It implied rebellion in its own way. Now, in general, it brings images of jazz festivals and people sitting around smiling at each other and tasting wine and cheese in a completely unthreatening atmosphere. "Let's go to a jazz festival! Happy happy!" And in fact, that's actually how the group concept of Harmless got going. The music has another story, but the whole idea of the Harmless thing is it's this group that's trying to be as inoffensive as possible and they're playing for these nice audiences, but they've just about had it, and essentially they go berserk and tear off their nice clothes and express what they've really been wanting to play all along. The song "Harmless" is envisioning that group...that goes astray and finally asserts itself rather than being willing to continue playing the bullshit to survive. Cosmik: "If we played the music we wanted to, it would make you shit." Lance: Yeah. Which, unfortunately, people don't want anything that they have to digest or they have to think about. It seems that way in film, or in the arts in general. Everybody wants the superficial crap that you can just lay on a table in front of them and they can absorb it all. Like with film... Show me a film that's ABOUT something instead of one that just demonstrates the technological advances that, you know, "we're able to show anything or recreate anything." How about a little humanity in there somewhere, or a little statement about something. Cosmik: I hear elements of both classical and jazz in the Harmless material. Which artists influenced your keyboard playing? Lance: Well that's a tough one, because a lot of the stuff I've listened to over the years has not been keyboard players. I've listened to a lot of standard jazz keyboard players, but in terms of something that I would do now, or something that was relevant now, a lot of the groups that I've enjoyed were keyboardless. Then you get into that whole other thing of keyboards and rock and roll, and what that brings to mind for most people--and rightly so--is overproduced, watered down, and smooth. And I really don't like that, but there's a reason for that label, because a lot of the stuff that's done with keyboards, unfortunately, is that way. I didn't want to do something that way. In doing the Harmless thing, I wanted to do something without guitar using a standard jazz lineup, and using keyboards but to try to use them in ways that might surprise people and show them that keyboards can have an edge, or even acoustic piano, if used properly, can have an edge and can create some of the intensity that you find in rock and roll that would NOT use keyboards. Essentially, I was trying to use sounds that were uncharacteristic. There's a single version of "They Dug Up Elvis," and the flipside is a Martin Denny/Arthur Lyman take-off called "Peaceful Amazon Village." The single of "They Dug Up Elvis" is different from the album version. It's much more "wall of noise." I use something that I call The Lance-a-Tron on it, which is kind of a joke. It's one of the very original electric pianos that somebody just had in their house, and they gave it to me. It's like a little baby upright piano that you have to pull the keyboard out and stick it in, and it just comes out with these two prongs. But it's basically a real piano with strings, and this thing was all out of tune and fucked up, and I just left it that way and ran it through a bunch of effects. I used it on "I Passed For White." That was the Lance-A-Tron on there. It was called The Piano-Tron, but I went out to a stationary store and got letters that matched up, scraped the "Piano" off and put "Lance" on. Actually, that's languishing in a storage shed in San Francisco right now. But anyway, I wanted the album to be jazz influenced without necessarily being a jazz album. But I think there is definitely, like you say, a jazz influence in there, and even a classical influence. I would have to say people like Cecil Taylor, and Muhal Richard Abrahms, or Paul Bley. Everybody's always talking about Karla Bley, and for some reason she's someone I've never warmed up to. But her ex-husband, Paul Bley, before he kind of got old and tired really did some interesting things, piano-wise. And there was probably the influence from listening to saxophones and horns a lot. I like, if I'm going to use chords, I'll use them not as a chord structure, but as a texture. I did that on "Hiroshima Maidens." It's two chords that keep repeating. And I wanted the sax player to listen to that as a texture that was there, and not like "well, that's a G-chord there, so I'm going to play in this mode that fits a G Major chord," or something like that. I wanted him, in fact, to clash against it--to use it as something to bounce off of and NOT fit in with. Cosmik: When did you play with Yard Trauma? Lance: I was on their first two albums, which was like mid 80's. '83 or '84. They went through quite a transition over a period of time. They actually started out as strictly a noise group with someone playing radio broadcasts and stuff. It was just two people, I think. Lee Joseph and Joe Dodge always liked 60's stuff a lot. About the time I joined, they switched gears and went into a neo-60's punk kind of thing. Actually, there was a stage in between that where they were briefly kind of a hardcore band, and I joined them at the tail end of that. I was just playing Farfisa [organ] in the group, and people found it rather amusing that I was playing like hardcore Farfisa. (Laughs) I remember that there were some people that didn't particularly like that idea! And they may have been right, in retrospect. Then it evolved into a fairly hard edged 60's sounding group, which I actually had a whole bunch of fun playing. They were real powerful sounding, and the songs that those guys were writing were real interesting. We were doing a few covers, but it was mainly original stuff. They really evolved to where they wanted to get away from the 60's thing. This was after I left. Cosmik: Why did you leave the band? Lance: I couldn't move on to LA with them. My wife was just finishing up medical school and was just getting ready to start a residency in Phoenix. But I really loved playing with them. Cosmik: With your background, wasn't Yard Trauma kind of a stretch? Lance: Well, I've always been a hard person to understand, from the viewpoint of other musicians. Like when the whole punk and new wave thing started, and I was playing jazz with people in San Francisco, and I would bring this stuff to them to hear, and they thought it was trash and couldn't understand how someone who had the capabilities I had, you know, [in mock-awe voice] to play jaaaazz could actually listen to this "crap." Which shows how closed-minded they were, because this so-called crap was so much newer and fresher and... full of energy than anything that they were doing. But I've always been hard to pin down, and I've actually gotten to a point where I like that fact now. Somebody seeing Karla Pundit is going to think I'm this lounged-out mellow guy, and then play "They Dug Up Elvis" for 'em, and they'll say "Wait a minute, this can't be the same person." I don't know, now I'll have to come up with something else completely different from that stuff to keep people guessing. I definitely don't want to be labelled as a jazz person. I don't mind it being considered that I can play jazz, though I think I'm probably just an adequate player. But again, if somebody has something to say musically, it doesn't matter if they have all this technique, or whatever. Some of the people I enjoyed most didn't even know how to play, and once they learned how to play, I didn't like them anymore. Like Jad Fair, from Half Japanese. They were, I think, just a bunch of kids that got together with their friends and played instruments they didn't know how to play and made some great music. Then the last couple things I heard, it sounded like they learned to play. And actually, Pharoah Sanders is another person who played instinctually rather than learning the theory of playing, and in learning the theory of playing, he sounds completely different and is not nearly as interesting. Cosmik: How did you go about choosing the players for Harmless? Lance: Well, they're people that I knew that were used to...well, Martin Fierro, the saxophonist, is maybe a little more diverse in his background, but in general they are jazz people that have interests in other areas, and are used to following me in crazy directions, and who knew that they weren't going to make any money, but whatever it is, it's going to be something odd that won't be boring. Martin, actually, is kind of a bay area legend. He was around in the late 60's, mainly in a band called The Shades Of Joy, which I think is considered one of the first jazz influenced rock and roll bands. They were on the soundtrack to El Topo. He was on everybody's albums. He did some stuff with Sir Douglas Quintet, Quicksilver...I think he was on some Grateful Dead albums. Seems like just about any album that had a horn section coming out of the San Francisco scene back in those days, he wound up being on it. I've known him for a number of years. But I think this was the first chance he got to really open up... Cosmik: Yeah, there were no rules, were there? Lance: No. Well, I mean, they are songs, so there is some kind of structure to everything. And that was the intent. I didn't want to do an album just of free improvisation, and I actually got criticized by some of the free improvisers because I had lyrics and because they were actually song-length pieces rather than stretching out. Which we could have done, but that wasn't the concept. But back to your question, they were guys who I had done some other stuff with...some jazz and rhythm and blues stuff back in San Francisco. Cosmik: Did Harmless play out much? Lance: (Laughs) No. We played out one time, and it was the wrong place, the wrong time, we weren't organized enough...there were some real problems. And I think that may be part of the problem. There wasn't a band out there... Cosmik: Supporting it? Lance: Yeah, doing any live performances. The timing was really bad. The release date was a lot later than originally planned. And...I'm not going to dwell on this, but I've got some real problems with keeping a positive attitude. I've got, at times, some major depression problems that can effect my functioning as a musician, or as anything else. I think I got discouraged early on, before it was time to, and kind of shut the thing down. But at this point, it's looking like we're going to try it again. Cosmik: I know musicians hate to be pigeonholed, but how would you describe this music? If you had to put it in a section at a record store, where would it be? Lance: I would hope it's not "Alternative." I would rather see it in "Rock and Roll" than in anything else, I think. I'm not sure I would say that it should be in experimental, because it's not really experimental in the way that people think of experimental. So I would probably just say the "Interesting Rock and Roll" section as opposed to the "Corporate" section. Cosmik: I get the impression that "They Dug Up Elvis" isn't necessarily about AFTER he was dead. I wondered if it was more about his later career. Anything to that? Lance: No, it is after he's dead. I'm sort sickened by what we do to people who we supposedly revere and love, and in the name of that love we trash them for our own pleasures and enjoyment without any consideration that they were human beings with feelings. There's this sort of mania that takes over, and I'm just sickened by it. As you'll see by the cover of the single, we did a photo shoot in Phoenix on a Sunday afternoon. I got a bunch of friends together and told them to dress up like the Elvis fans of their nightmares. We got a coffin and a skeleton, and an Elvis jumpsuit like he wore in Vegas, and put it on him in the coffin. And these people were all pouring over him and pawing at him. So it is very much after he's dead. It's like a nightmare happening, and the events that you would expect stupid people to require of him, in the name of their love for him--what they force him to do. Cosmik: You screamed that song at the absolute top of your lungs. I think about the famous story of The Beatles saving "Twist And Shout" for the end of the session because they knew it would shred Lennon's vocal chords, and all I can think of is that you must have practically needed hospitalization! Lance: (Laughs) Well, no, believe it or not I got to where I could do that and still talk and sing and speak normally. It isn't screamed. The way I do it is sort of forcing it out, tension-wise. It's really not at that great a volume--it's not open. It's like a closed screaming rather than open as loud as I can possibly go. But I've got to come up with something else to use that voice on. (Laughs) It's the only thing I've ever used it on. Cosmik: (Laughs) It's effective! Lance: It's such a waste! I mean, it's a good voice. Cosmik: Is there any particular reason you chose that song to open the album? Lance: Oh, I don't know. Possibly because the single of it actually did pretty well. I wanted to open the album with "Harmless," because that would make sense as this group of people that are harmless and then the music proceeds after that because they've started to assert themselves. But I was afraid people would listen to that and hear that first, and it wasn't necessarily one of the stronger pieces in terms of style, and I was afraid that they'd hear that and dismiss it and not go on. So I just felt, in a way, that there were some people out there that would buy the album because they would recognize that "They Dug Up Elvis" was on there. I mean, the single didn't do great, but considering nobody knew who I was, it did okay...much better than the album did, at least initially... I mean, with the new revived interest in Harmless, and the fact that it looks like there is going to be a new band, I'm hoping there's going to be a new album. I had a bunch of new material back then that didn't get recorded, and I'm writing new stuff now, so I'm hoping we're going to do another album and this time actually perform and do it properly. And give it a chance. Cosmik: "I Passed For White" is a strong anti-racist statement. Why did you decide to write it from the perspective of an alien visitor? Lance: Well, some people latch on to stuff I do and see it as humor, and certainly there is humor in there, but I think what I basically am doing is...I think that I'm a person with a moral mission or something. (Laughs) I mean, I'm screaming out in outrage about all these various things. I think you have to be careful in how you approach these things. I think it's real easy to get preachy if you write about something serious or that you feel strongly about. You can get preachy, or pretentious, or self-indulgent. My feeling is that in order to write about something like that, like racism or Hiroshima, you have to come at it from some kind of an odd angle, like with "They Dug Up Elvis" or "I Passed For White," doing it somewhat humorously and definitely from an odd perspective. I use humor and coming from these odd directions in order to be able to tackle some of these subjects and not have it be ponderous. The "Hiroshima Maidens" thing, you know, here I wanted to write something about Hiroshima, and I find this great article by this guy who was writing for the Saturday Review, and just reading it without any emphasis or trying to be cute with it, I think that kind of thing can make a stronger statement in its sarcasm or the absurdity of it than if you're ranting and raving about what happened to those people. The thing about "I Passed For White" that was so weird was that I woke up in the middle of the night and had the idea for the song. I think the name is actually from some old B movie from the 50's. I find things that I want to write about, and then it's like trying to find a way to approach it that isn't going to be stupid. Or maybe it IS going to be stupid, and that will make it work, whereas if you just tried to be straight-forward and serious about it, it wouldn't have the impact. Cosmik: When you first found that 1955 Saturday Review article that became "Hiroshima Maidens," did you immediate see it as a performance piece? Lance: Yeah, absolutely. Cosmik: It just struck you right then and there... Lance: Yes. The way I found it was that I was researching at the library looking for material, and I was getting nowhere because I was thinking "how can I write about this from my perspective," trying to think of what perspective wasn't going to sound like, again, preachy, or overbearing, or maudlin. And then I kind of stumbled on this by accident. And it worked out, I think, very well. Cosmik: Tell us about "Blowjob Parts 1 & 2." The whole "sex is a lie" concept. That's a pretty disturbing song. Lance: There, you've got a whole area of thought that I'm preoccupied by. I guess sex in real life as opposed to glamorized life, and particularly in music. I mean, I don't want you to think that I've been a complete miserable failure in my sexual relationships, but there have been some good things and some real nauseating things. And I get sick of this "everybody has a great time and everything's great," and I guess I'm preoccupied with showing the failed side of sexual relationships, and I'm intrigued by the reality of our sexual relationships with each other as opposed to what we try to make each other believe or what we want to believe. There are enough people writing about sex in a stereotypical way. I'd like to get in a few pieces about the destructive or darker side of it. The "Richard Bible" thing is another side of it. The same thing...my preoccupation with the darker side of sex. Cosmik: That was the next song I was going to ask you about, too. Lance: He was a Flagstaff phenomenon. Cosmik: Was that his real name? Lance: That's his real name. When people read the it, they'll pronounce it "Bibble" because they just can't believe that's his real name. I was living here when that happened, so I experienced the whole community thing that was going on with it. That, to me, if there's one piece that's the strongest on the record, it was that one. There was no way that I could have anything AFTER it on the record. That had to be the last piece on there. I just listened to the CD for the first time in two years. I listened to it in the car when I had to drive into Phoenix for the day, and I was in tears when I was listening to that. Cosmik: Yeah, that song wrings me out. Lance: I think the piece succeeds really well that way. So yeah, I have a preoccupation with sex, and I also have a HEALTHY preoccupation with it that occasionally comes out in more positive ways, but I don't think, in general, that my songs are very positive. (Laughs) I'm actually writing one piece that the new Harmless is going to do that is more optimistic. It's about as optimistic about life as I'm gonna get, I think. It's not all smiles and happy happy, but... I think I tend to zero in on darker things. I love the Marx Brothers, and I love comedy, and I definitely have a sense of humor and love the absurd, but I think, basically, I zero in on the dark things maybe because there's more emotion there or more intensity. The films I like are pretty dark, and the music I like is pretty dark and intense. Cosmik: With "Richard Bible," I didn't feel any humor. I felt outrage at the system. Lance: Yeah, that may be an exception. You're right, because I don't think my little sarcastic bits got in there. Maybe I felt I wanted a purity in there that went right for absolutely what happened and chronicled it. And absolutely didn't mess around with it. Cosmik: The song was more an indictment of system than an indictment of Richard Bible, wasn't it? Lance: Oh, yeah, I mean it's something that has shown up relatively frequently, and I'm not sure why it keeps happening. Cosmik: The title track is probably very funny to the average listener...it's like a sarcastic "fuck you" to the whole jazz club-background music thing. But to musicians who've done that gig, it rings very true, things like "careful we don't disturb a word you're saying." Have you had to play in that kind of atmosphere, or was that an outside observation? Lance: Well, I definitely have had to. The fact that I survived playing music for a number of years...that was the only way I could. I probably didn't have the luxury of getting into recording stuff. I suddenly needed to be making money instantly, so I wound up in the club scene doing that. I think there are many musicians that can relate to that. I'm not sure how non-musicians would relate to it, but I think people that are more serious about their music could relate to that even if they aren't musicians, because they see what those people are like that go into those places. Cosmik: Did you have any hope that the people who treat bands like that in clubs might hear the song and think? Lance: No, you know, I think more and more, I sort of feel like I have no hope that anything anybody is going to say is going to change anybody's mind. I almost feel like what we do when we try to express something that could teach, that somebody could learn something from, what we're doing is reinforcing our own group and the solidarity there. Or releasing these screams that we have to release--that we have to say this even if nobody's hearing it. Cosmik: Because the music is anything but passive, and the lyrics demand that the listener forms an opinion, I wonder if "Harmless" is also a swipe at the bands of the last fifteen or twenty years that don't try to say or change anything... Lance: I don't want to say that, because I think that people do that stuff for a variety of reasons. Like me, I had to disguise myself. The person that people were seeing or imagining me to be like was absolutely nothing like what I was. And I know that I worked with other people who, for whatever reason, needed to be doing this too, and hated it and wound up hating themselves. I went through a self-hate thing and a guilt thing over all the shit that I did. On the other hand, there are people who enjoy doing that. To them, that's what music is. But I wouldn't want to, in general, say that all these people are full of shit for doing this, because you get put into a position where if you have to survive and make a living, it's the best option at the time. Cosmik: Throughout the whole record, the sax sounds like chaos. Sometimes the music in the background, even though it's not simple stuff, it tends to be more of a stable texture while the sax is going crazy... Lance: Yeah, well see, that's what I was talking about. I'll use something texturally, whether it's chords that might be fairly simple, or some other kind of a structure. It's intriguing to me to put something on top of that that would not normally be there or is in direct opposition to that. So that's very much intended. Cosmik: The upheaval in that music is fascinating and dangerous. Are you attracted to chaos? Lance: Oh yes, very much so. I don't think I could listen to album-length constant noise that didn't have some kind of a structural point to guide it, because that can get as dull as listening to the same chord changes played the same way over and over again. But I like chaotic stuff a lot. There are some jazz players I like--mostly reed players--that tend to be pretty chaotic, like Roscoe Mitchell from The Art Ensemble. And then there's a New York player by the name of Marty Erlich that's real talented. And Oliver Lake, who has played with the World Saxophone Quartet, but has done a bunch of stuff with other people. And Arthur Blythe, and then a person who just died recently, Julius Hemphill, who was a great player. They don't all sound alike, but they all have that human screech, screaming, crying quality. Cosmik: How would you describe the role of the sax in Harmless? Lance: Well, it's obviously human voice-like, like screaming. Basically, it's the solo instrument. I don't know why I particularly wanted that sound, to tell you the truth, but I know I hear that kind of saxophone playing as speech; as speaking, or screaming, or crying or whatever. There may be some kind of connection there that I've never really thought about that much, but I think the decision for that sound was based on the fact that I liked the idea, musically. It actually looks like this up and coming version of Harmless may be saxophoneless. I may just do it as a trio. But it's still going to be the same thing. Instead of the saxophone screaming, probably in some way whatever keyboard things I'm doing will have the same kind of chaotic frantic thing going on, to some degree. It may be more subtle. If there was a guitar player, that's the sound I would want, you know. Kind of a constant barrage of sound rather than waiting to play a solo or playing some written line. I do like the idea of bombarding people with sound. I joke about being the Phil Specter of the avant-garde or something. (Laughs) I like toying with people's minds; taking them in a direction as far as I can and getting them out on a limb before they realize that they've been tricked. Which you'll see when you hear "Peaceful Amazon Village." Cosmik: Why won't Martin be back? Was there a falling out between you and Martin? Lance: Well, he's in a band called Zero, which is much more mainstream, but they've wound up doing very well. He just doesn't have time for both projects. Cosmik: Let's talk about exotica, which is a style you perform as Karla Pundit, and you used elements of it in Harmless before it was a popular style again. I know I discovered it because my dad liked it when I was a kid, and I rebelled against it then rediscovered it later. How did you discover that genre? Lance: The same way you did. The one person who I really think of, and this is getting off the track a bit, but Louis Prima, who when I first heard him, I thought he was just ridiculous. I couldn't believe anybody could be that stupid. Then at some point I realized what I'd missed. I'm not really sure how I evolved into liking exotica, but it's been quite a while. I'm an absolutely fanatical addictive record collector. There is no hope for me ever having a place to put my stuff, getting it cataloged and...my studio has turned into a storage place for records. They're in the way of all my keyboards and everything. I listen to an awful lot of music. It seems like...you've got to keep growing, somehow. And so I went through the jazz stuff that I liked, and the rock and roll stuff that I liked...and you keep looking for other stuff. In a way, I like something of everything. There are a couple kinds of music that I'm still struggling with, one of them being rap, but I'm even finding a few things there that I like. And country western being another. I've only recently started listening to earlier country western...I don't think I'll ever like the modern country stuff. Cosmik: How was it that your playing in Harmless had an exotic sound? Was that something you absorbed from hearing it in your house when you were growing up? Lance: No. No, I think absorbing that was fairly recent. If there's a talent I have that's a bit unique, it's not that I'm that great a player in any particular area, but for some reason I can adapt to just about anything and do an adequate job. And have it sound in context, not have it sounding like it doesn't fit. Part of it is that I've always been a group person or an overall sound person rather than a person who wants to show off, solo-wise. I've always been real conscious of what part each individual plays in the overall sound, and that's what you're trying to achieve, whatever that happens to be for that particular group or project. But just by listening to stuff, I seem to absorb the influences, and if it ever comes up later that I want to do something with it, it's there. Cosmik: What's your concept behind Karla Pundit? I thought it was going to be a spoof, but after hearing it, I'd say it's more of a tribute to Korla Pandit... Lance: I was intrigued initially by Korla Pandit because he seems like he's presented like it's going to be this amazing innovative music, and then it turns out to be this kind of interesting but easy listening organ music. So there's an element of humor there, but I don't think that I laugh at him. I think I truly revere him, in a way. I have a framed picture of him up on the wall. It isn't a joke. I do not want to do a spoof, because I do respect him. I have all his albums, and I listen to them, so he's not someone I'd want to make fun of. On the other hand, I've had a concept for a while of doing a Yma Sumac thing that would be low comedy. And for some reason, I don't feel the same way about that. This was not... I mean, the cover was a joke, but I feel like it's making fun of me, and who I am. My little bio on the album is so ridiculous. I'm sort of playing the fool. There's nothing on there that's meant to say HE'S a fool. I think his records, for what they are, are quite enjoyable and there's a kind of magic there. When Lee [Joseph from Hell Yeah! Records] first mentioned the project to me, I wasn't sure what I was going to do because I didn't think doing it as a joke would be appropriate. So I thought "what am I going to do?" I didn't want to do the same standards that he does. So I felt there had to be something to make it unique, which ultimately meant, to me, writing original music. And then the question was, well, what can I write in this style that will be fun and interesting and have some listening quality so it isn't just a cover that's crazy that people are going to buy and put on their shelf and say they have it. I was hoping that some people would LISTEN to it, too. So it's definitely not just meant to be a joke at his expense. Cosmik: The music, the liner notes that tell the story of the songs, everything on Ancient City suggests you studied Korla Pandit in great detail. Lance: No, not in great detail, but I'm used to getting those albums that would take you into a fantasy land... like a lot of the Yma Sumac albums talking about her being taken away from her tribe, and that opposed to the rumor that she's actually Amy Camus and all this stuff. They definitely loved to ham it up back in those days. I think people were being exposed either to music or quasi-music from places that they had never heard music from, and they were having fun getting caught up in these fantasies of all these things and places and people. There's something really neat about that. But some of those liner notes on those records were completely unbelievable, and that's what I wanted to capture with this, as well--to create this village. When I was writing the pieces, I saw--and still see--the events, the village, the processions and stuff. It's crazy and completely off the wall, but I was trying to create a fantasy, and pretending like I'm trying to make someone believe it. Then from the little bio, it just completely deteriorates, and hopefully nobody will believe that. Cosmik: I have to confess that when I saw the four album covers in the liner notes, I wondered if you had really put those out and I had just managed to miss it completely. Lance: Well, that's another thing they would always do on albums, like "these are other records by such and such that you would enjoy." So I wanted to do that, but I thought that rather than coming up with things that were completely outrageous, I would come up with titles that sounded intriguing so if people start ordering them, they would actually become albums. (Laughs) I mean, they don't exist at this point, but I would love to do them. Easter Island Suite, or whatever... Karla Pundit Visits Java... If enough people order them, they WILL exist. (Laughs) At this point, they're a joke. Cosmik: They sure as hell LOOK authentic enough. Lance: I didn't think they were going to come up with actual photos. Cosmik: They did that on their own? Lance: Yeah! I came up with the names of them, and I thought they were just going to list the names, but to my surprise... (Laughs) And the photo session was really goofy, because I had the turban on, and I had the ornament on it, but it was hanging down WAY too low. It was between my eyes. Cosmik: Yeah, it's on the bridge of your nose. Lance: And about two thirds of the way through the photo shoot, they said "are you sure that's where you want that?" And I said "I don't know?!" (Laughs) I looked in the mirror and it looked ridiculous, so we raised it, but a bunch of the pictures came out really goofy looking because of that, and they used some of that for those covers and it looks really funny. Cosmik: Have you seen Korla Pandit on video? Lance: Yes. The first time I saw him was after Lee had asked me about doing it, and I think at that time I was unsure, but after I saw the video, for some reason, I decided yes I could do it. You've seen it, haven't you? Cosmik: I have one video of Korla, but I'm not sure if it's the same one you saw. It's a bunch of clips from his 1949 TV show. The tape is in a yellow cover... Lance: Yeah, see, I haven't seen the packaging. I've been trying to find those things everywhere. They seem consistently to just be him playing... he had the piano on his right and the organ in front, and then they'd intersperse views of him playing with these pseudo-exotic dancers on these real cheap sets with columns and stuff. Considering when that was and who was watching it, there was something almost subversive about it. It was like "Hey, this is pretty weird!" I really enjoyed the shows, and that essentially decided the matter for me--that I would do it. Cosmik: Do you think Korla Pandit is aware of Karla Pundit? Lance: I doubt that he is, and that's a bad area. I think, for a number of reasons, he's not apt to be very happy if he becomes aware of it. I think he probably has always taken himself real serious, and I think he may not appreciate the whole thing. Cosmik: Would that be hard for you? Lance: I don't know. I don't know what he's like as a person. I think if he proved to be an unbearable egotistical asshole, it would be easier than if he's a nice person whose feelings are genuinely hurt. Cosmik: It's almost cliche to ask "Did you write the music or the lyrics first?" But in this case, I wonder...did you write the stories behind the music first, or did the music suggest the stories? Lance: I think, on most of the things, it was the stories leading to the music. I wanted it to be a suite, and I decided early on that it would all revolve around this fictional ancient city, so I started listing things that might be interesting about a city so there would be a nice variety of things. Cosmik: Are the stories actually based on any fact from any culture? Like the hall of snakes, for instance? Lance: No, well, the closest thing I can think of, with that, is that I've read about some of the African cultures where they do similar things with hot coals or irons. There is some basis for things like that in some cultures. But no, in general, I just started fantasizing about this village and what might have gone on there, and that's about it. Cosmik: With "Hall Of Snakes," the visualization is so bizarre and eerie that I think some dark part of my psyche wanted it to be true. Lance: Yeah, that's the whole thing. Sometimes it's just fun to get into these frames of mind. I wonder whether people really believed those things they read on album covers back in the 50's, or whether they just wanted to believe it because it sounded so wild and unlike their ordinary lives. Cosmik: Do you think you probably WILL do more Karla Pundit projects? Lance: Well, I hope so. Whatever I do, at this point, depends on whether anybody's interested in it. I would love to do another Karla Pundit thing, because I had a great time writing the music. It was really fun. It was really fun to record it. I hope that I don't have to become this guy for the rest of my life, but I would certainly enjoy doing some other stuff and maybe expanding it or stretching it a little bit, musically, too. And I'd like to do that Yma Sumac thing, but that would be a major project because it would have to be orchestrated, and I wouldn't be able to hire an orchestra. But I DO have a commitment from a high school band teacher in San Francisco who teaches jazz band, and he said that I can use his horn section for a mambo. But basically, if I was going to use samples, they would have to sound real enough so that they don't sound stupid. And then the trick is to find an Yma--somebody who can sing with the ability of an opera singer, even though she was so corny. It would have to be someone who could laugh at themselves and be goofy enough to put in time doing it, so I don't know if it's going to happen or not. I've got, pretty much, the concept for pieces on that, taking her and putting her into situations like doing a mambo, and an argument in the recording studio while the piece deteriorates and the musicians decide they've had enough and start playing other stuff that has nothing to do with backing her up. (Laughs) So I don't know what I'm going to be doing, though it looks like we're going to do the Karla thing live, and probably Harmless. Cosmik: Are you into Exotica, in general? Lance: Yeah. It's fascinating on various levels. I legitimately enjoy the music. It isn't just a background for doing something else--to put on to create my bachelor pad and seduce somebody, or something. There's such a fun tongue-in-cheek humor aspect to it that I enjoy. Cosmik: Who are your favorites from the Exotica era? Lance: There are two divisions that I see: one is things that were produced fairly well, where there was some planning and an intent not necessarily to be Earth shattering, in terms of the music produced, but with a good idea of production values. The other area is sort of like the cheap low budget "let's get on the bandwagon because this exotica music is doing so well." In the first group...a lot of the Les Baxter stuff I really like. He was an excellent composer. My favorites were The Sacred Idol, which may have inspired Journey To The Ancient City, and I like Jewels Of The Seas very much. And The Passions, which I guess you could call exotica, but that's almost his attempt at serious music. But I hate to say The Sacred Idol isn't serious, because I think it stands up very well, but it's not "classical music," by the way we divide music. But to me, it's serious. There's also an album by Richard Hayman called Voodoo, that I think was very well done. It definitely takes you somewhere, to a fantasy or another world. I think the best exotica always does that in some way. And then just about anything Elizabeth Waldo did, like The Rights Of The Pagan and The Realm Of The Incas, and Maracatu. And then in the second group, the ones that are just thrown together without any care for quality, the one that I like is the Robert Drasnin one. I talked to him a little bit about that. He got the phone call because his label wanted him to do an exotica album to cash in on it a little bit. It was thrown together real quickly, but I think his writing saved it, because it's so interesting. Even though the production level was not that great and not much forethought was put into it, I think it turned out real well. I really liked the voice...I think her name was Sally Teri. I really liked the pieces she was on, and I wish she'd been on a couple more. Cosmik: Are there any others that you like, or styles? Lance: I like a lot of the pseudo-African things that have come out, pretending to be African jungle music...African tribal music, and acting like it's the real tribes when actually it's studio musicians. You can usually tell those, because they aren't specific about the location, the country... And the names sound a bit illogical for something that would be actual ritual music from Africa. It seems like whenever I see something that fits into that category, I grab it. This isn't really exotica, but I really like bongo records. I like Jack Castanzo a lot. I guess that would be more lounge or Latin. He was a studio percussionist in LA back in the 50's, and he supposedly taught James Dean and Marlon Brando to play bongos. He's done all these Latin bongo records that are fun. I like Tito Puente, Perez Prado...all of those. Cosmik: Assuming the exotica thing is a retro-trend that will pass...and that's what always happens...what do you think the next one will be? Do you have any pet forms you'd like to see make a comeback? Lance: Well, I would like to see more of the original jazz people get credit for what they did. It seems like a lot of the be-bop stuff, a lot of the west coast jazz stuff, has had a resurgence and has gotten popular, but there was some semi-obscure avant-garde music from the late 50's to the early 70's that I'd like to see... Cosmik: Like who, specifically? Lance: Early Archie Shepp stuff... Just about anything on the ESP label. Albert Ayler. There's a saxophone player named Charles Tyler who was into that same kind of thing. Oh...Ornette Coleman. To some degree, he's gotten some credit and gotten more popular. I don't know, though... Sometimes it's fun to be tuned into something that you can feel like there are only a few people who are sharing it with you. First of all, you can find it in the bins, instead of having to go to the collectable stores. Cosmik: And pay fifty bucks a shot! Lance: Yeah. I'm actually doing really well back here, now, and I may start trying to SELL some stuff, because I'm finding a lot of things in thrift shops and second hand stores. Not necessarily things that I'd want to keep in my collection, but things that are worth money. Cosmik: How big is the collection now? Lance: Well, I would say about ten thousand, but that's just how many I have cataloged. I probably have again that much that's either down in Phoenix or up here waiting to be sifted through. I mean, it's a joke. I've got stuff I'll probably never be able to listen to, but I keep acquiring it. Cosmik: So check my math, here... You've got twenty thousand albums and fifty-six cats? Lance: Yeah. Cosmik: Where do you sleep? Lance: Uh, with the cats. When Barbara's working down in Phoenix, there's times when I have sixteen or seventeen of them sleeping on the bed with me at the same time. It's fun! Sometimes you get this massive purring... or a sea of ears--I'll wake up in the morning and I'll just see all these ears everywhere. They lay all over me, they lay underneath me, they lay on my head...I wake up completely crunched. And I like it... It's just so neat. But it's good to get away, sometimes. I was out of town all last week, and I missed them, but I slept good. (Laughs.) Cosmik: How do you feel about all the compilations coming out now, like the Les Baxter Capitol stuff, and the Ultra Lounge slash exotica slash whatever...How do you think it's being handled by the industry? Lance: Well, I've got a problem with "best of's." Particularly in jazz, when they take someone like Wayne Shorter--somebody who did an infinite number of great album on Blue Note--and they'll throw together a CD that's "The Best Of Wayne Shorter" instead of reissuing each album in its entirety. And I think we're seeing that with like Les Baxter's stuff. It's like the Reader's Digest Condensed version of Les Baxter instead of his complete albums. No, I'm just not a fan of "best of's." Cosmik: What other kinds of music do you get into now? Lance: There's just such a broad range of stuff that I enjoy. If you were going to ask me about bands that are part of the independent scene, there's a band called Codeine that's probably my favorite band of that kind now. There's a band called Lungfish that I like, mainly because of the lyrics. This guy is, to me, a real poet. But the stuff is really aggressive. It's an interesting combination. They're pieces that are not about stupid inconsequential things. He actually has a strange view of things that keeps coming out in the pieces, and it's real enjoyable. I sort of feel like...I don't know if it's the yuppie mentality, but that's what I call it...it has infiltrated all kinds of music, and now what used to be the underground independent stuff is the yuppie independent stuff. It's all this self-indulgent relationship related complaining griping about "what you didn't do for me" and "what I didn't do for you." Nobody's writing things that are about anything of any importance. Writing about relationships is important, too, but when it gets to a point where it's just whining. Enough! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- INVASION OF THE BOSS MARTIANS! - An Interview With Evan Foster Interviewed by DJ Johnson "Dude," he says, "THAT...is totally boss." Sounds like a character in Fast Times At Ridgemont High, doesn't it? Well, it ain't. It's Evan Foster, guitarist extraordinare and leader of Seattle's coolest band, The Boss Martians. When I first saw The Martians live, in a Seattle night spot called The Crocodile Cafe, I was knocked out by the full sound of the band, by Evan's perfect guitar work, and by his unusual banter between songs. "Hey, man, we'd like to play you a little song we call The Martian Stomp. Dig it! It's a groove." I assumed it was put on. After finally meeting Evan this week, I am convinced that it's no act. Evan is the real article! Everything about the man is authentic, from his approach to the music he loves right down to the way he talks about it. While most surf bands are sticking to the instrumental side of the street, The Boss Martians play a mixture of vocal and instro tracks that run the spectrum from surf to hot rod to good old fashioned garage rock and roll. As I learned during this interview, Evan does a lot more for his band and his scene than just writing great songs. And that's a very good thing for those of us who live in his city, because Seattle really needs all the help it can get when it comes to generating surf culture. Thanks to Evan and his bandmates, Nick Contento (organ), Scott Betts (bass) and Dan Israel (drums), Seattle surf fans have something to brag about. So without further delay, I'd like to turn you on to a groovy cat who I think you'll totally dig, man. Meet Evan Foster of The Boss Martians. * * * * * Cosmik: Where are you from, Evan? Evan: I was born in Chicago in 1971 - then moved out to Hollywood with my parents in 1972 and grew up there in SoCal until 1985 when we moved, once again, to the Pacific Northwest. Bellevue, Washington, to be exact. Cosmik: So you were in LA most of the time you were growing up. Evan: Yeah, we moved out there because my dad was still in the recording industry at the time. He was recording and playing locally, and also began working for a record distribution company and retail chain called Licorice Pizza Records. Cosmik: Oh, are you kidding? I remember Licorice Pizza Records! Evan: Yeah! He was in the buying department, and eventually became Vice President in charge of buying and merchandising. That takes us up to 1979-80, and that's when he decided to get involved in software. That's when he made the jump from making records and working for Licorice Pizza into software. Cosmik: You know, when you're onstage and you're talking to the audience, you've got this great 60's vernacular going, like "yeah, it's groovy, it's hip." But talking to you in person and away from performance, your vernacular sounds more like...Valley. So where did you learn the 60's schtick? Evan: I dunno, man, I guess from watching way too many American International pictures, man...if you can dig. (Laughs) You know, so much stuff in California was ingrained in me, growing up. I was never a Valley Dude, by any means, but living in Hollywood and then moving out to a city named Glendale out by Burbank. We moved out there in '81 and lived there until we moved to the Northwest. You know, honestly, the whole valley thing was ongoing at that time, but I never really identified with any one particular scene. My mom and dad always let me know there was a lot of east coast and mid-west in my family background, there, so they kind of kept an eye on everything there. They didn't want me to become some California burnout child at the age of nine or ten. Cosmik: Did you find that Glendale was pretty insulating? Evan: No, because we traveled a fair amount, so I thought that Glendale was a groovy city with its own ups and downs, just like every other city in the US that we went to just cruising around with my parents. That's something I picked up on at a young age, and I'm glad I did... that there really is no "grass is greener." You'll find that every city's got something you can dig about it, and many things you DON'T dig about it. Like Seattle's a real cool place to live, man, but for me, one of the downers is the weather. I'm not a real Seattleite weather type person. But there's a counter to that, which is that the software industry's really boss up here, so I'm willing to give on the weather to be where the industry's really rockin'. I try to find something positive about each city. Cosmik: Seattle's so culturally rich, but for a surf band, it's not necessarily the place to be... Evan: No, it's not. Cosmik: Do you find that depressing? Evan: Oh... no, not really, because I'm in constant lock-in with guys like Bartlett down in San Fran. Our connections out of the Seattle area are pretty damned strong, so we never lack for any kind of a connection or information or scene. Cosmik: So your dad was a player? What was he into? And what kind of music were you exposed to when you were growing up? Evan: To be honest I was listening to all types of music at home. I heard a lot of rock and roll, folk, bluegrass, country, and rhythm and blues records on the turntable. My parents were in several folk trios in the mid 60's that recorded for NY's Kapp Records label ("New Village Singers", "The Three of Us" and a couple of others I can't remember) and toured the US and Canada with other rock and folk acts of the time like Gordon Lightfoot and the Dave Clark Five on one of their east coast US tours. So because they were always listening to a broad range of music when I was a kid, I guess I was too. Cosmik: How did you discover surf music? Evan: I basically got hip to the real surf and hot rod sound towards the end of high school and into early college. Aside from having the obligatory Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, Surfaris, and Chantays records and singles I started looking a little harder and asking record shop owners about more surf and hot rod bands, so naturally I started picking up on Dick Dale, Pyramids, Trashmen, and Astronauts records. I met Dan, our drummer, in 1991 and he had a lot of records by the Phantom Surfers, the Untamed Youth, and a bunch of other Norton Records releases that he'd gotten hip to while living in NYC. So upon hearing these platters I was like, STOKED! So at that time I started seriously looking for more surf and hot rod records and got really hip to bands like the Lively Ones, the Sentinels, the Challengers Band, all the Del-Fi permutation bands, Dave Meyer and the Surftones, the Shockwaves, and a mess of other combos. Cosmik: Let's see...if you were born in 1971, then you were only nine years old when the first surf revival rolled in. Evan: Oh yeah, when Blair and Dalley and all those guys were doing clubs and doing shows at The Troubador, yeah, I was still a kid. That was actually at a time when my dad was playing those places, too. My dad was into folk rock stuff, and he was playing all those LA clubs like The Blah Blah and The Blue Lagoon and The Troubador. And The Whiskey, too. But I was way too young to know what was going on in the local rock and roll scene. When I was nine, I was hell bent on Devo, and trying to get as many Devo records as I could. Cosmik: How old were you when you started playing guitar? Evan: Oh, well, let's see here... It would have probably been my freshman year of high school, so I was probably about 14 years old. Actually, I started taking lessons when I was 15, and that was when I started playing seriously, so I guess you could say I didn't start playing until I was 15. I took lessons at a place in Bellevue called The Academy of Music. It's not too far from the Bellevue American Music [a local gear shop. Ed]. So I took lessons for a couple years and then just took off on my own. Cosmik: Was California much of an influence on your playing early on? Evan: Well, being the child of musical parents, I was around so much music all the time that there was never just one kind of completely dominating sound that I was hearing a lot. But even as a kid, I've always been a complete die hard Brian Wilson fan. I've always been a monster Beach Boys and Brian Wilson fan. The Beach Boys records that I dig, personally, are like Pet Sounds and on, like Smiley Smile, in its bizarre hacked up version of what Smile would have been. Everything up to Sunflower. I really dig Beach Boys records, period. Cosmik: What is it that attracts you to that music? Was it Brian's production? Evan: Huger than life production, and just the huge rich vocals. I finally figured out that the thing that had gotten me fired up on earlier Beach Boys records was the fact he was using everybody from Billy Strange to Ray Pohlman to Hal Blaine--The Wrecking Crew on guitar, bass, and drums. Leon Russell on piano... and all these great wind players and horn players. I was always so impressed with the instrumentation. And Carl DID play a significant amount of guitar, but the thing that I thought was the coolest about The Beach Boys was also that Brian liked to get the tracks in one to three takes. He wanted maximum energy to the takes. Real spontaneous tracks. That's what I thought was coolest about Brian. Cosmik: Your style of playing, especially live, is very full and rich. Did Brian Wilson's production influence that? Evan: Well, the way that Carl's guitar went to tape was definitely an influence, because before I was able to get really rooted into The Trashmen, Astronauts and Pyramids records, I guess you could say the first surf guitar I heard was Carl Wilson's guitar. And of course Dick Dale. Of course I love early Dick Dale records, but it's just not exactly the sound that I'm into for the most part. I love his aggressive forceful attack, but it's just not my sound. The Beach Boys records that I was listening to did have a big influence on the sound and the tone that I went to. I've always been a big fan of the Jaguar. I play Stratocaster, too, you know, I mean I love the Strat tone. The Pyramids were like the ultimate example of one the coolest bands with the ultimate Strat tones. But I guess Brian Wilson's early records where Carl Wilson was playing were definitely an influence. By the time I got to The Trashmen and The Pyramids and The Astronauts, that kind of defined the sound that I was going for. Cosmik: How much were you listening to hot rod music? Evan: I don't know, probably about as much as I was listening to surf music in general. I was listening to anything I could get my hands on, y'know? One thing that I thought was cool about hot rod tunes was that lyrics were completely focused and dead on and accurate. Cosmik: Of course it's harder to say "this band" or "that band" when you're talking about hot rod music, because so many of them were studio creations, but what were your favorites? Evan: Of course, it falls back to The Beach Boys, but y'know, some of the tunes that The Trashmen were doing that were written by Larry LaPole were totally boss. I was totally into The Trashmen tunes like "Sleeper" and "My Woodie," although "My Woodie" isn't really a hot rod tune. And then The Astronauts, too. The Competition Coupe is completely a rock and roll record all the way through, and I was always into that. Mainly the song "Competition Coupe," which we've actually recorded for a compilation record that was put out by Jeff Martin of The Surf Trio on his Blood Red Discs label. It's out on ten inch vinyl and CD. It's pretty boss. Cosmik: Was it hard finding other players who wanted to play your kind of music, at first? Evan: Not at all! Well that's not entirely true. Here's the story - Scott Betts, our bass player, and I were looking to start a new combo and hooked up with Dan in December 1991. We worked out as a trio while getting material ready to record and started the search for a rhythm guitar player or an organ player. We went through a bunch of organ players until we located Nick in '93 so he's been with us since then. I actually met Nick in college at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, when he joined my fraternity. Cosmik: How do you like recording for Dionysus? Evan: Lee [Joseph] is a real boss guy. He's been great to us. Have you ever met Lee? Cosmik: No, I've just talked to him on the phone and through e-mail a lot, and I interviewed him once. Evan: Lee's a real good dude. Cosmik: Yeah, everyone who records for him seems to be real faithful to him and the label, which you don't always see in this business. Evan: Oh yeah! Lee was the first guy that contacted us because he found our very first single that was put out '92. He found that at a record store in San Francisco, so he dropped me some mail while I was still in college, and he was like "yeah, man, I just wanna put out a record." Cosmik: Dionysus is in California, you're in Seattle... Have you guys played in California yet? Evan: Yeah, a fair amount. More Bay Area than anything, but we've done two tours as far south as LA, and we've also toured out to Vegas. We've done San Fran a bunch of times, Sacramento, hit LA twice, and been out to Vegas once. And each time we've gone out, we've had a really positive reception. Cosmik: Who were you playing with down there? Evan: We were playing with The Bomboras down in LA, and in San Francisco we were playing with the Phantom Surfers, The Trashwomen, and then in Sacramento we were playing with The Tiki Men. Cosmik: The Trashwomen! Evan: Rocked, dude. I'll tell ya, man, for three people, they put out a great record. Cosmik: Well, are the Phantom Surfers from San Francisco? I thought they were from LA... Evan: Absolutely. Phantom Surfers are like San Francisco one hundred percent. Well, actually, Mel Bergman moved from San Francisco down to LA. Mel also did The Gonuts with Derek Dickerson from Untamed Youth. Johnny Bartlett, Mazz and Mike Lucas all live in San Francisco. But Johnny Bartlett left the Phantom Surfers not too long ago to run Hillsdale Records full time and work on his new band, The Saturn V. Russell Quan came in to play drums. Cosmik: Is Johnny on the new album? Evan: Yeah, Johnny's on the new Lookout album. He's all over it, absolutely. Cosmik: I just got that but I haven't had a chance to hear it yet. Evan: The one with the Mad Magazine artwork? That's boss, man. Cosmik: So hey, how did you all react to finding out you were going to be included in the Cowabunga Surf Box set. Evan: We were totally stoked. Everybody was just really really pleased and feeling very good about that. Cosmik: Your track on that set is great. Evan: Thanks, man. Yeah, that track, "XKE" was our first Hillsdale single. That's Johnny Bartlett's label. That came out sometime in '93. Cosmik: Are there other labels you'd like to work with? Evan: Well, right now it's just Dionysus and Hillsdale. But the bottom line is that we did sign with Dionysus for two more LP/CDs, and then when the contract's done, we're free to do LP's with other labels. But in our contract, we have a clause that says we can do singles with anybody. So, dude, let it be known that we are into doing a single with anybody and everybody that's willing to do a Martians record. Cosmik: I'll be sure to put that in there. Evan: Let everybody know that if they want to do a Martians single, we're all over it. Cosmik: You just DID let everybody know, just by saying so. The magic of interviews, y'know. Evan: (Laughs) Yeah, the magic of interviews! Cosmik: Tell me what other kinds of music you're getting into these days? Evan: Well, I just listen to every kind of rock and roll--I mean, I love rock and roll music, period. But I listen to a lot of stuff like... well, The Standells are one of my favorite bands of all time. I think the guy that used to write tunes for them, Ed Cobb, wrote some killer rock and roll. I also dig folk stuff like The Kingston Trio. Cosmik: So you like 60's garage? Evan: Totally. Cosmik: Some of the more obscure stuff? Evan: Well, yeah, but there's also stuff that people might think is totally played out, like The Kingsmen. I love The Kingsmen. Totally awesome rock and roll band. That was a totally cool scene. Thing is, a lot of those bands were playing a lot of rhythm and blues, and I love rhythm and blues music. Cosmik: Do you know what it was about the music that got to you? Evan: Yeah... I guess it was the guitar tone and the feel of the drums. Just really aggressive grooving drums. And I was completely into the guitar tone. Cosmik: When you were putting The Boss Martians together, what was your blueprint? You know, everybody thinks "my band is gonna sound just... like...this..." Evan: Oh yeah, well everybody's got an idea of what they want their band to be like. I was really stoked on The Trashmen and The Astronauts and The Pyramids, so initially, when we were getting The Martians together, we were gonna do a rhythm guitar deal. Bass, drums, lead guitar and rhythm guitar. We were gonna do half and half vocals and instro. But we never ended up getting a rhythm guitar player that worked out. In order to be in the band, the guy has to be able to play and keep up. That's one of the cool things about Los Straitjackets. Those guys are real players and they give it a real working over. Cosmik: They're incredible. Evan: Yeah, totally incredible. So it just worked out to get an organist in the band. All the Martians are huge Untamed Youth fans, too, so I always dug the sound of organ in surf music, man, I really thought it was boss. Johnny and the Hurricanes did some really killer organ lead instrumental rock and roll, too. We just figured we could get an organ and start pluggin' people in and see what worked out, and the organ just kinda stuck. So the 4-piece surf & drag combo was just kind of the model. As it wound up not being rhythm guitar, at least we had an organ going. On our current LP, the one that just came out on Hillsdale, we've actually got a sax lead on one of the tunes. I hired a sax player from a local ska band called Easy Big Fella. His name's Jason Nelson. Cosmik: Easy Big Fella's a cool band. Do you like that kind of music? Evan: Ska music's totally cool. It's like I'm not listening to a lot of ska records, but there are incredible ska bands out there, like The Toasters, who really give it a working over. The coolest thing about those guys is they play just incredibly tight, and their records SOUND good. Cosmik: It's cool that you were exposed to so much music. Were your parents supportive of you wanting to be a musician? Evan: Oh yeah, totally. I mean, they were always into me playing. I guess there wasn't much talk about it. I just picked it up and started playing. I started out with trumpet, and then just sorta gravitated towards guitar. It was like "hey, can I take some lessons?" "Sure, no problem." So they were real supportive. I was real lucky. My dad was real cool with it, so he bought me my first guitar and amp, which was a Japanese Fender Stratocaster, and... let's see, what was the amp... It was a Fender Stage Lead, an '81 or '82 Fender Stage Lead amp, single-12, like a 35 or 40 watt solid state combo. I was ready to start playing with bands. I wanted to start working with people because you can really only get a feel for it so much if you're just sitting and practicing off your notes from guitar lessons and stuff, so you've got to feel what it's like to work with other instruments. Cosmik: Most of us, when we were growing up, playing guitars and listening to rock and roll had to fight with our parents the whole way. Must have been kind of nice to skip all that. Evan: I never had a problem with practicing and stuff. I've always done most of my practicing unplugged, anyway. And I knew that I had a really good thing going with my parents, so the last thing I wanted to do was piss them off by jamming the amp way too loud, man. So I just practiced quietly, and they didn't care WHAT I was playing, just as long as I was busy playing it and trying to do it well. I just turned 25, and I left for college in '89, but all through high school when I was playing guitar, I was never like playing the stereo screamingly loud and trying to jam with it. I went about it in a more controlled way, because I wanted to keep the support going. Cosmik: And what were you playing? Evan: Definitely punk rock. Maybe like more of a tendency toward punk rock and ROLL. I was a huge X fan because of Billy Zoom, and I loved Devo a lot. I was into a lot of true LA punk rock bands like Circle Jerks, and Youth Brigade...Black Flag, of course. Then throughout that whole time I was really digging Chuck Berry records, too, and the really earthy Muddy Waters records. My old man turned me on to people like Charlie Christian, and I was blown away at the speed of that guy's fingers. Then when I was really hip to incredibly fast jazz playing, he turned me on to Django Rheinhardt and then kind of like made the connection into the more whitebread bluegrass music, like Merle Travis and those guys. I recently got hip to Joe Maphis and Jimmy Bryant through guys like Johnny Bartlett and Derek Dickerson. Those guys are incredible. Jimmy Bryant was just an incredible player. So I got hip to those guys through getting into surf music, actually. Cosmik: Sounds like Johnny Bartlett's been damned good for your development as a musician. Evan: Johnny Bartlett is a guy who, in a very hip and cool way, intro'd me to three quarters of the stuff that I'm really cool to, like the real stuff in the scene. Johnny Bartlett's really got me hip. Cosmik: You have a feeling for so many types of music, and so many directions have been taken with surf music... This is almost like my own personal stock question that I ask all the surf players I interview, because I'm personally very curious what they'll say, so I'll just go ahead and ask you now. Is there some new direction you'd like to see someone take surf music, or that you'd like to take with The Boss Martians? Evan: You know what? This is gonna sound completely weird, but in answer to that question: yes. There is a total tone and a total sound that I absolutely love and would bring into it, and I'm kind of bringing in on 13 Evil Tales. See, DJ, 13 Evil Tales, the LP that I'm working on right now, well I just got this wild hair and I said I really want to do a record that's totally Martians, but brings in all these different influences that we're into. So I pulled out the Vox Tone Blender, man. Like, the fuzz box? We busted out a few rave ups, man, and we've got some heavy Paul Revere and the Raiders kind of stuff going on. There are a lot of different sounds going on in this new Boss Martians LP. And, dude, there ARE some purist surf instrumentals as well, there's no doubt about that. But the tone that I'm totally into and would like to see more of is one that would make the guys on Cowabunga [surf music e-mail list. Ed.] say "dude, pack it up and go home," ...DRY! Dry, baby. Cosmik: Really!? Dry? Evan: Totally! Listen up, man. The tone that I'd be totally into would be just Jazzmaster and Jaguar tone, like 12 or 13 gauge flatwound strings, through a Showman--dry! Cosmik: Whoa. So you're talking about a true Fender body-tone, then? Evan: We're talking about a pristine Fender tone, man. For example, my main rig is an L-series 1964 Fender Jaguar, Olympic white. That's my guitar. I use .12 gauge flatwound strings. And I'll be honest, occasionally I'll bump down to an .11 gauge when I want to be able to bend a little more, but I always use a wound G, no less than a .22 gauge. I also have an Olympic white Strat that I use quite frequently like when we're doing overdubs and stuff where I need to overdub a rhythm track. I run that into an October 1964 black face Fender Reverb, and then I run that into a 1965 Fender Showman amp... I mean a stock Showman amp. A single Showman head that dumps a full 85 watts, 8 ohms, into a single Showman cabinet with a single 15 JBL D130-F speaker. And that's my rig, right there. But see, dude, the thing is that I love pristine tone so much. One of the coolest things about The Fireballs, other than just like the studio tape echo, was the fact that these cats cut their tracks dry, man. These dudes sat down with their guitars and these guys just...played...tunes! And the thing is, it's all right there, all up in your face. And there's nothing more embracing than the crystal clear low end punch of like a Fender Jag or a Jazz just being played through the Showman rig, man, just with those low E's--with the low strings just punching out of the D130's. It's the ultimate tone, man. Cosmik: Do you think that the seed for that might have been planted by your practicing so much unplugged? You mentioned that you practiced dry all the time. Do you think your respect for that tone came from that? Evan: Absolutely, man. And also listening to guys like Merle Travis. That dude HIMSELF was just like an incredible amplifier. He was playing those Gibson Supers, man, and he was playing bass, rhythm and lead at the same time. It wasn't just that he played so well, it was the fact that he had awesome tone to begin with. It took him a guitar, a cord, and an amplifier for tone. Even his 40's recordings! He was playing acoustic guitar. But yeah, absolutely, when I was practicing my guitar, first getting into it, I was never using fuzz or whatever. I was just plugging straight into a Fender amp. And the little Fender combo that I had DID have reverb, yeah, and I always dug a clean reverbed guitar, but when I was practicing, I was just hip to hearing exactly what I was playing, you know? I wanted to KNOW what I was playing. I didn't want to wimp out and cover anything up. I wanted to make sure that where I sucked I was getting my stuff together--and where I was good, I wanted to strengthen it. Cosmik: Let's talk about 1996 for a few minutes. What has this year been like for The Boss Martians? Evan: '96 has been real good. When we started out, we were still in college and it was easier to slack off and do more band stuff, but I've been working in software for the last three years since I got out of school. Everybody in the band has a real busy work schedule full time, so any spare time that we can pull away for band stuff, you can believe we're doing it. So for as much as everybody's got to work, '96 has been very good for us. I've been gaining a lot of momentum locally putting together shows. I do shows called "Evan Foster Presents..." Some of the bands I've booked have been...like The Bomboras, and us... I did a major Dionysus two-day weekend thing... Cosmik: You put that together?! Evan: Dionysus Demolition Derby was my baby! Cosmik: I had no idea! So is this something you have aspirations for? Being a promoter? Evan: Um, not really, believe it or not. It's just out of necessity to get more garage shows going in the Seattle area, man. It was the brainchild of Lee Joseph and me. We got tired of just talking about it, so I said "dude, we're gonna do this thing, man. We need something like this in Seattle." So I started contacting bands, and I talked to Girl Trouble, who was into doing it. That's what kicked off the whole "Evan Foster Presents" thing. I've booked Girl Trouble, Bomboras, The Mono Men, The Makers, and lots of local bands like The Statics, and The Primate Five, and The Splashdowns... A lot of local garage-slash-surf-slash-punk acts. So this has been a good year for me in getting momentum built up, and fortunately a lot of the club owners have been really cool to me, especially Dan Cowan at The Tractor Tavern in the Ballard area of Seattle, and The Backstage as well. And The Colorbox has turned out to be real cool. As far as booking The Martians, locally in '96, it's been one of our better years, for sure. And now all I'm into doing is bringing more bands into town and doing more shows and hopefully building up some visibility. And a reputation for putting together solid shows. From The Martians standpoint, we've gotten more releases out in '96 than we ever have before, period. Our last LP release before Jetaway Sounds was in 1994, which was our self-titled Dionysus LP/CD. We hadn't had an LP since then. Just a couple weeks ago, we had Jetaway Sounds come out, and we've got 13 Evil Takes coming out in January. So I'm trying to pump out as much material as possible. Cosmik: What have you learned about promotion that you didn't expect? Evan: I've learned that there is more leg work involved than anybody could possibly imagine, if you want the show to go over well. That includes knowing artists that can put together decent looking flyers. I've been fortunate to come across two great local artists that really crank out some great flyers, and they've got their own art company called Art Anywhere. These guys are real heavily influenced by The Pizz, and Big Daddy Roth... a lot of the real hot rod art guys. They do great flyers for me. So I do everything from flyers to radio promotion to local print media promotion. If you really want a show to go over well, and you want to create the visibility, you gotta be dedicated to making sure the word gets out that the show's going on. Cosmik: Sounds like you're very passionate about it. Do you get a real buzz from making a show go well? Evan: I do, yeah. I get a real big kick out of it. I guess you could say my favorite thing in life is making records and... playing guitar and recording is my favorite deal. If you have a band and you also work full time, it's real hard to do a full time band thing. So a lot is in your hands to promote your own band and to promote your scene. I just decided to stop sitting back, and to kick it out and see what happens. Cosmik: What was your best show? As a promoter, I mean... Evan: As a promoter, it would have been the Demolition Derby, definitely. I booked The Surf Trio to come up from Portland and play the Saturday night show and open for The Bomboras, The Boss Martians, and Girl Trouble. But they couldn't make it up because I-5 was flooded out, so a great local trio called The Splashdowns plugged in at the last moment. They came and opened up the show and we ended up going on second that night, because The Bomboras were from LA, and they flew all the way up here, and I wanted to give them a real good exposure spot. So we let them play third, and then Girl Trouble went on. It was the most well attended show I'd ever booked. There was a line out the door, and it was really boss. The Tractor Tavern was just completely packed. It was great. Cosmik: Where do you see this going? Evan: You know... as a matter of fact, DJ, I think I'm just going to leave it open on that, man. Let it be known that I'm going to put out as many Martians records as possible until people are going "dude, gimme a break with all these Martians records!" We will play with any good rock and roll band. I'm not gonna be closing doors and saying "hey, if you're not of this genre, then forget about it," you know what I mean? I like putting together good solid bills. I'm really jazzed about that. I mean, hey, knock wood and hope the stars are in alignment and all that stuff. I just hope the shows keep getting bigger and better, and I definitely want to push that forward and make it happen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- AN HALLOWEEN INTERVIEW WITH THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS Interviewed by Cosmo Debrinski He's been called everything from Satan to The Prince Of Darkness. What you don't know about him, though, could fill a book. We caught up with His Evil Majesty during the busy Halloween season. He was gracious enough to give us this, his first interview since the Manson trial in 1970. ----------------- * * * ----------------- Cosmik: First of all, I'm a little surprised that you have...well...this is an office building. Satan: Oh! Yes, I get that all the time. I don't know why everyone is so surprised by this, though, I mean how do they think I do what I do if I'm not organized about it? Cosmik: How much organization is needed to... Satan: An enormous amount of organization. Cosmik: Well...how much org... Satan: Meticulous all-consuming organization. Cosmik: More than, say...NBC? Satan: Please. Cosmik: More than IBM? Satan: Who's to say we're NOT IBM? Cosmik: Point well taken. What is it you do, specifically? Satan: Well, of course, the world being what it is, or has become, I don't have time to do everything I used to do. And I have a bad back, now, too. So I delegate most of the pestilence and misery work. I like to keep my hands dirty, though, so I stick with my personal favorite. Acquisitions. Cosmik: Acq... Satan: Soul purchasing. Cosmik: Oh. Uh, what's involved? People want something so badly that they say "I'd sell my soul for this" and you appear? Satan: Oh! Noooo. You've seen too many Twilight Zone's. It's not like that at all. Mortals rarely even realize they've made the sale. They almost never know they've been in my presence. Cosmik: But how do they consent to sell... Satan: Well, it's really very simple. They fuck up. They do something very bad that they know they shouldn't. So you see, it's an implied thing. Cosmik: So doesn't that mean just about anybody... Satan: Yes, and I'll be seeing you again in about 29 months, young man. Cosmik: WHAT?!? NO!!! Satan: Kidding. Cosmik: Jesus!!! Satan: Language... Cosmik: (After considerable recovery time:) And when they die, they're cast into a terrible pit of fire and... Satan: (Laughing) Oh! My boy, please! Hell is not like that at all. No, I'm the Prince of Darkness, but I'm not ALL bad! We don't have terrible pits of fire, tiny spiked rooms or even refrigerators filled with empty milk bottles. I love that commercial, by the way. Very funny stuff. No, we have a much quieter eternity here. It's basically a lot of very long lines. Cosmik: ....lines... Satan: Like bank lines, only you never reach the front. Really quite survivable. Cosmik: Any small children in the lines? Satan: Yes, well...after all, it IS hell, isn't it? Cosmik: Let's talk about your servants on Earth. Tipper Gore and many others think it's the heavy metal bands, like Slayer or Megadeth... Satan: Haven't heard the new Slayer. Megadeth...please. Mustaine gives 20 percent of their income to a certain hocus-pocus religious organization whose name I won't mention. Cosmik: Dave Mustaine? Are you sure? Satan: I think...Well, maybe that was Ozzy. Heh. You gotta love Ozzy, don't you? Cosmik: Is Ozzy one of... Satan: Do you think we'd be that obvious? No, boy, none of the above. The metal bands are simply a diversion. They just like wearing makeup. Cosmik: Well, who DOES do your work in the music business? Satan: Ever hear of Kenny G? Yep! How about Michael Bolton! You see? It's always the ones you least expect. Cosmik: What about Dick Clark? Satan: You have to ask? Cosmik: How about Kiss? Satan: BZZZT! Wrong again! Go ahead, guess who my best selling agents were in the 70's. Cosmik: The Village People? Satan: No...but you're way warmer than I expected. Cosmik: I dunno, who? Satan: THE OSMOND BROTHERS! Hahahahahaha! WHO KNEW? None of ya! Cosmik: Wow! That's really impressive. I never suspected them. How about rap music? Satan: Rap music? Cosmik: Yeah, some of those performers MUST work for you, right? Satan: I'm sorry, just one moment please. (Satan speaks quickly and angrily into an intercom, telling his secretary to get all available information on rap music.) I have no comment on...rap music...at this time. Check back with me on that one, okay? Cosmik: Techno Rave? Satan: No. Cosmik: Acid Jazz? Satan: No... Cosmik: Hip Hop? Satan: What hop? Cosmik: Well, I'm really surprised that you're not up on all of these genres of music. I mean, isn't it in your best interest to be present where the kids gather? Satan: OH!! Yes! That's why we have Nintendo! We kill a dozen birds with one stone. Cosmik: Very shrewd! Satan: Yes, well, ya gotta be. There are so many conflicting sources fighting for the same souls... Cosmik: You mean the churches? Satan: (Laughs hysterically for several minutes.) The CHURCHES!? (Laughs hysterically for several more minutes. Tape runs out. Interviewer turns tape over and wisely waits for Satan to calm down before hitting "Record.") Son, most of the CHURCHES are just little shops in our franchise chain! C'mon, you didn't know that? Cosmik: Uh, well, I... Satan: Boy, you're easy! No, I didn't mean the churches. I meant political correctness. Cosmik: Pol...you mean the practice of it? Satan: Yes, the whole cultural brainwashing. It gnaws away at the key element of our attack. Hatred. Cosmik: So you're saying that if political correctness causes less people to grow up hating, Hell will be out of business? Satan: Don't be so dramatic! We still got Nintendo. Cosmik: How about the movie industry? Satan: One name...Jack Nicholson. You saw Witches Of Eastwick? Cosmik: Yeah, of course. Satan: Well NOBODY is THAT good an actor. Cosmik: Well, that one, I suspected all along. Satan: Yeah? How about Meryl Streep! Cosmik: Knew it. Satan: Oh...okay, how about Sandy Duncan! Cosmik: ...okay. You got me on that one. Satan: Here's one you didn't know. Annette Funicello. Cosmik: Oh, I think we ALL knew about that one. Satan: You young punks think you're so smart. Listen, time is money. I have work to do. Let's wrap this up. Cosmik: Okay, let's just do a little word association thing here and then we'll wrap... Satan: Oh goodie. Yeah, that sounds fun. Cosmik: Fermament. Satan: Wine. Cosmik: Brimstone. Satan: What is that, coffee? Cosmik: Newt Gingrich. Satan: Amateur! Cosmik: Ted Turner. Satan: MOOK! Cosmik: Really!? Why? Satan: Because he wants to colorize all the great old black and white movies! Cosmik: And that upsets you? Satan: Hey, just because I'm the devil doesn't mean I got no soul! Ted Turner, now, HE don't have a soul! HEY TEDDY! KEEP YOUR FUCKIN' HANDS OFF THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY! Cosmik: Bob Dole. Satan: We're just good friends... Cosmik: Christian Coalition. Satan: Stay the course, boys. Stay the course. You're doin' juuust fine. Cosmik: God. Satan: He never calls anymore. Cosmik: MTV. Satan: The motherlode! So many lost souls, so little time. Cosmik: Now how about looking at a few ink blots and telling me what you see in them. We'll start with... Satan: No. Cosmik: It'll be easy. We'll start with... Satan: I don't do ink blots. Cosmik: What do you see in this blot? Satan: I see your charred and naked body rotating slowly on a spit over a lava flow, cooking and crackling as my minions dance around you, applying barbecue sauce liberally to your... Cosmik: Well, that about does it, I think. Any parting words for our readers? Satan: Yes, I hereby decree that from this day forward, my name shall be this. (Points to a symbol on a piece of paper.) Cosmik: Yeah? What does it mean? Satan: "The Entity Formerly Known As The Prince Of Darkness." Cosmik: But what should we call you? Satan: "The Entity Formerly Known As The Prince Of Darkness." Pay attention, will ya? Cosmik: But isn't that just like the symbol Prince uses? Satan: No, no, that's "The Artist Formerly Known As Popular." Cosmik: True... Well, The Entity Formerly Known As The Prince Of Darkness, thank you for taking the time to talk to us today. Satan: No problem, kid. By the way, most of your relatives send their love. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITICAL PLAYBOOK: The Fat Lady Tunes Up by Shaun Dale "...right now, I'm calling four more years..." Political Playbook, March 1996 ...and I still am. Yep, after seven months of ups and downs, primaries and conventions, charges and counter-charges, polls and predictions, not much has really changed in the quadrennial Presidential sweepstakes. Sure, there are still big questions left - Will Bobdole pull within 10% by election day? Can Bobdole get over 100 electoral votes? Does Bobdole have a first and last name? Is Ross Perot's home town really in Area 51? Who *is* Harry Browne, anyway? Big questions. But this one is, for all practical--if not political--purposes, done. The woman in the horned helmet and breastplate is warbling softly in the corner and she'll be singing full throttle in a month unless, as one wag put it, Clinton gets caught partying with Michael Jackson and his little friends. Everything's fallen in place for the man in the White House. The Federal Reserve Bank took a pass on its last chance to raise interest rates before the election. Netanyahu and Arafat came to the White House to shake hands and make nice for the TV cameras. The Fraternal Order of Police endorsed their first Democrat in decades. Susie McDougal kept her mouth shut. Everything's gone wrong for the "ordinary citizen" from Kansas. He's taken as many shots from prominent leaders in his own party as from the other side. In his effort to run away from his long (and in many ways distinguished) service in Congress, he's robbed himself of his ability to take credit for his accomplishments and has been caught up in reversing himself on longstanding and well documented positions on issues. He's using up valuable resources trying to hold on in places like Arizona and Texas, which Republican candidates usually assume as safe. Though the tracking polls everyone sees on TV or in the papers show some ebb and flow--Clinton's lead ranges from 10 to 25% from week to week and poll to poll--the electoral college predictions are generally consistent, with Clinton steadily holding a 2 to 1 lead. Everything seems to move the popular vote. Nothing seems to move the electoral vote. So what's left for election watchers to watch? Lots. *YOU SAY YOU WANT A (COUNTER) REVOLUTION* As the inevitability of the Presidential outcome sinks in, attention has turned to the Congress and the prospects of giving Clinton a Democratic House and/or Senate to work with. The great Republican revolution of 1994 turns out to have been something less than advertised. (Seen anyone waving a copy of the Contract on America lately?) With narrow majorities swept in by about a 1% national margin in a low turnout, off-year election, the prevailing wisdom seems to be that the Dems have a better than reasonable shot to regain the House of Representatives and a slimmer but still possible chance to take back the Senate as well. From my base in Washington State, it looks like the prevailing wisdom is on target. This was a big one for the GOP in '94 - six Republican freshman were elected to seats held by Democrats in the previous Congress. Of the six, four were under 55% of the vote in our recent primary, with two actually drawing fewer votes than their Democratic challengers. This is shaky ground for incumbents, who usually look for 60+ as an indication of safety in November. It's reasonable to expect at least three of those seats to go D again. If that trend holds up nationally, you can look for Speaker Gephardt to gavel the next Congress to order. The Senate is a tougher nut to crack, especially with the retirement of some popular southern Democrats like Sam Nunn (GA) and Howard Heflin (AL), who would ordinarily have been seen safe for re-election. Recent years have seen southern seats in both houses of Congress shift inexorably to the Republicans. But this year, anything can happen. How many people would have picked Clinton as a sure thing for re-election two years ago? It's dicey enough now that Bobdole himself saw fit to take a day off from the Presidential campaign to drop in on his old Congressional colleagues and deliver the reassuring message that his failure probably wouldn't hurt them as badly as they were reading in the papers. *THE STATE OF THE STATES* There are also Governors and state legislators being elected all across the country. These races are more important in policy terms than they've been in many years. One area the Gingrich/Dole Congress had some success in was the devolution of programs back to the state governments. The highly touted (or defamed, depending on your perspective) "welfare reform" bill, for instance, doesn't really eliminate welfare, though it does dent the federal welfare bureaucracy. What we will have are 50 beefed up or trimmed down state welfare bureaucracies, delivering or not delivering vital services at the whim of Governors and legislatures--very possibly accompanied by an exodus of the poor to states with more compassionate governments. Which, of course, is why welfare programs were moved to the federal level in the first place. If there's another Republican Congress, we'll be looking to state government for environmental protection, workplace safety, and a host of other things as well. Things, frankly, that they often didn't take care of when they last had the chance. If you're a US voter (yes, I know there's an international audience out there), then take a closer look at the bottom of your ballot than you usually might. Every state rep will count next year. So there's lots to watch, and a lot of good reasons for you to get out and vote, but as someone (I think it was me!) said in this space seven months ago... "...right now, I'm calling four more years..." *SCOREBOARD* I suppose I'd be cheating if I didn't make some hard predictions after shooting my mouth off for all these months, so here's my best guess for November 5th: President: Clinton - 51% and an electoral landslide Bobdole - 45% and a well earned retirement Perot, Browne, Hagelin, et al - 6% US House: Democratic - 220 to 215 US Senate: Republican - 51 to 49 Check in next month to see if I'm crowing or just eating crow... (Speaking of crow, an apology to my faithful readers (assuming you're out there) but in last month's installment I misled you. It seems that Susan Molinari's husband isn't an ex-congresscritter after all. Mr. Perkster is the still serving (and running for re-election) Rep. Bill Paxon. Either one is representing a district he or she doesn't actually live in (which is allowable under the Constitution) or they apparently don't share a domicile outside D.C.--which didn't prevent the conception of their infant daughter. Congrats to the happy couple and consolation for the strain of a working mom struggling to raise a young 'un on a scant $270,000.00 a year...) ============================================================================ [[[[[[[[ [[[[[[ [[ [[ [[[[[ [[[[[[ [[ [[ [[[[[[ [[ [[ [ [[ [[ [ [ [[ [ [[ [[ [[[[[[[[ [[[[[[ [[ [[ [ [[[[[[ [[ [ [[ [[[[[ [[ [[ [ [[[ [ [ [[[ [[[ [[ [[ [[ [[[[[[ [ [[[[[ [[[[[[ [[ [[ [[[[[[ ============================================================================ MONTY ALEXANDER: Yard Movement (Island Jamaica Jazz) Reviewed by Shaun Dale Island Records has selected Jamaica born pianist Monty Alexander to help kick off their new Island Jamaica Jazz label, and a better choice couldn't have been made. While Alexander has lived in the US since the early sixties, his early experiences as a Jamaican session player and solo artist are very much a part of his music today. While he has played with an amazing list of jazz masters, on this disc he pays tribute to some of the Jamaican artists he started out with. The disc opens with a three song set from Alexander's 1995 appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival, beginning with a version of "Exodus" that marries the movie theme with Bob Marley's "Movement of Jah People." This sets the tone for the rest of the disc, including five tracks recorded in a Geneva studio after the festival performance. The Jamaican influence is apparent in the rhythms provided by Carlton Messan on bass and percussionists Rolando Wilson and Robert Thomas, Jr. Alexander, who usually fronts a piano trio ensemble, is also joined here by Dwight Dawes on keyboards and guitarists Robert Angus and Ernest Ranglin. Ranglin's lead work is as impeccable as Alexander's piano stylings. In addition to "Exodus," I especially enjoyed "Momento," an Alexander compositon that gives a nod to the Jamaican mento music of his early days. It features Ranglin trading leads with Alexander over a rocksteady rhythm that is, well, it's downright cheerful - it sounds like a recorded picnic. Also noteworthy is the closing track, "Sneaky Steppers," a bluesy tune that reveals the stylistic influence of the great Oscar Peterson, with Ranglin soaring like a Jamaican Django. Great improvisational jazz, island riddims and instrumental virtuosity infuse every cut on the disc. Alexander has been a favorite in clubs, festivals and studios for over thirty years. Listen to this one and you'll know why. Track list: Exodus * Regulator * Crying * Moonlight City * Love Notes * Momento * Strawberry Hill * Sneaky Steppers THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND: Brothers and Sisters (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Anadisq 200 LP) Reviewed by Cai Campbell Duane and Gregg Allman were cutting their chops playing in various bands during the British blues invasion of the 60's. The advantage they had above their brothers overseas was the fact that they were born and raised in the southern United States, soaking in directly the very influences which the brit boys were trying to emulate. The culmination of their journey resulted in the Allman Brothers, where Duane and Gregg teamed up with exceptionally talented and like-minded musicians and started producing a pure, powerful offshoot of rock music tinged with blues, gospel, and soul. Sadly, Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1971. Duane was such an integral part of the Allman Brothers sound, that Gregg knew he could not simply replace him. Instead, he realigned the band and lead it off on a tangent which would soon become known as "Southern Rock." Brothers and Sisters was the first studio album after Duane's death, and it not only marks a stylistic turning point in the band's career, but also showcases the bands professionalism, versatility, and dedication. Brothers and Sisters is an emotional, technically brilliant work which features the hit "Ramblin' Man," which is arguably the band's most recognized work. In reality, "Ramblin' Man" is probably the weakest tune on the disk, and is not an accurate reflection of its content. The beautiful, thick, pounding blues of "Jelly Jelly" and the forceful, foot-stompin', rhythmic boogie of "Southbound" are more accurate representations of what the Allman Brothers were all about. Not to mention the searing aural textures of Jessica. Mobile Fidelity's presentation of this masterpiece allows the intensity and technical mastery of this recording to really come through. Compared to the original vinyl release, the Anadisq 200 LP raises the resolution and sonic clarity of Brothers and Sisters to such a degree that it really is like hearing the music for the very first time, even if you're intimately familiar with this recording. Some recordings benefit only nominally from Mobile Fidelity's care. Most of them, though, rise to a higher plane. But a few, like Brothers and Sisters, are greeted at the gates of heaven. This is a sonic experience you will not want to miss. THE ALL WOMAN BROTHERS BAND: At 164 bpm (Melodiya) Reviewed by DJ Johnson On this 4-song, 10-inch 45, Canada's All Woman Brothers Band seems to have advanced light years in their songwriting skills. When last we checked in with them, they had released a very good single called "Payback." The writing on that song wasn't the strong point of the record. The slamming rhythm section and the vocal blend of Tanya Gordon and Alisa Garcia were the highlights. "Pure Pressure" puts all the elements together into a track that's musically powerful without being lyrically boring. Side two is the big one. "Looking Down" knocks you on your ass with its powerful vocal hook and a snare sound that evokes images of a hyperactive kid beating a coffee can to death with a ball-peen hammer. Drummer Wolfboy Szabo sounds like one of those Bonzo-types that plays so hard he has to be miked from the McDonalds across the street from the studio. Now, imagine that kind of percussive violence hooking up with a highly-overdriven bass (ridden like a bucking bronco by Clay Culbert) and two crunchy electric guitars, plus deceptively sweet harmony vocals from the ladies, and you've got a general idea of why you want this one. (For info on how to buy this cool platter, write to 2523 17th Ave SW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T3E 0A2, phone or fax them at 403-246-8916, or send e-mail to heggw@cuug.ab.ca) DAVID ARVEDON: In Search of the Most Unforgettable Tree We Ever Met (1967-1974) (Arf!Arf!) Reviewed by Shaun Dale This double disc release chronicles the recordings of David Arvedon and a variety of backup units during the early years of a career which began with the pioneering punk band The Psychopaths and continues today in Boston area karaoke bars. Most of the cuts here are the product of vanity sessions - after the Psychopaths scored with "Till the Stroke of Dawn" and broke up, Arvedon hired a series of session players to back him on self produced recordings--an album, a single and a remarkable 8-track only release titled "The Most Remarkable Tree We Ever Met." All the tracks from these releases are here, along with the Psychopaths two sides and some alternate arrangements of several songs. This isn't always easy music to listen to. Arvedon has some real skill--a pop sensibility that rivals Jonathan Richman (whose Modern Lovers Arvedon once auditioned for), a twisted sense of humor and the knack for crafting a good lyrical hook. He also has a habit of "singing" in an upper register that he simply doesn't possess. There are keys in which he can actually sell a lyric, but he apparently doesn't prefer to use them much. But there are songs worth hearing here--and songs which, given the right treatment by the right performer, could be hits. Enterprising musicians who could look past the vocal quirks and sometimes sketchy production could find material well worth adding to their repertoires. Some of it's even fine the way it is. Arvedon *can* control his vocal excesses when he wants to, and some of the players he hired are quite capable. David Arvedon abandoned his musical pursuits in the late seventies to pursue marriage and business interests. The marriage failed, and the business followed suit, and Arvedon's back in music, making appearances in the Boston area. Sometimes he plays with the latest version of the Psychopaths, sometimes he sits in with local bands, sometimes he hits karaoke night with his own tape to perform original songs. One of his songs was picked up by Dr. Demento and got enough response on the air to merit a slot on one of the Doc's compilation albums. Arvedon figures this might lead to his big break. Until or unless that happens, though, there's music in this package, and some of it bears digging out. David Arvedon's not for everybody, but hey, you're not everybody - you're somebody. You might even be somebody who'd find something to like here... I did. BEETHOVEN: String Quartet No. 13 in B Flat Major, Op. 130; Grosse Fuge, Op. 133. Brandis Quartet (Thomas Brandis, Peter Brem, Violins; Wilfried Strehle, Viola; Wolfgang Boettcher, Cello). NIMBUS NI 5465 [DDD] 61:12 Reviewed By Robert Cummings As many classical music devotees know, Beethoven originally composed his Thirteenth Quartet with a finale we now know as a separate work, the Grosse Fuge. He replaced it at the urging of his publisher and others because they felt it a mismatch for the work's other five movements. To their apparently delicate ears the mighty fugue's profoundly epic character seemed an overwhelming culmination to an otherwise chipper, elegant work. Though he acceded to their wishes in composing the substitute rondo finale, Beethoven had probably never accepted their judgment and would almost certainly have preferred the fugue over the rondo in performances of his work. In this Nimbus recording, you get both finales. One can therefore program either version of the quartet or include both finales for a marathon seven movement hearing. But this disc's major selling point isn't quantity-it's quality, specifically the quality of the performance. The Brandis Quartet has been garnering favorable notices in their Beethoven Quartet series thus far, and it's not difficult to see why. The group plays with unfailingly accurate intonation, technical finesse to toss off difficulties with seeming ease, and a keen sense of musical architecture. They also impart a feeling of oneness to their musicianship that suggests interpretation isn't arrived at through consensus or by domination of one (usually the first violinist), but rather occurs naturally. While this "intuitive" method of performance is almost certainly not the case here, one can nevertheless hear their collective artistry this way, quite easily discerning the individual players' comfort with the interpretive choices, however they were determined. Listen to their joyous account of the first movement, how they convey an exhilaration that makes you question the music was written by a man possessed of colossal inner miseries, a man who had grown completely deaf by the time of the work's composition. Try the group's mesmerizing Cavatina, too; hear their deft control of dynamics that serves to heighten the passionate outpourings and romantic utterances. Notice here, and throughout the performance for that matter, that they never allow detail to blur or the musical trajectory to sag, despite moderate to slightly expansive tempos. They can be rugged, too, even downright fierce, when the score demands it: hear the passage just after the opening of the Grosse Fuge (track 6; 0:55), where the violinist's fervid attack signals the epic thrust of the movement and his cohorts respond with driving spirit and the last ounce of commitment. Surely this is one of the greatest accounts of one of the greatest quartets ever written. I well remember a concert performance I attended by the now-dissolved Fitzwilliam Quartet of this work, minus the rondo. It, too, was spectacularly played. This Nimbus issue, though a product of the studio, has much of that air of spontaneity, of electricity that you associate with a live concert. It sears the work into the mind, becomes a standard against which to judge other recordings. And while one can obtain excellent performances of these works by the Quartetto Italiano (Philips), Tokyo Quartet (RCA), and Vermeer Quartet (Teldec), this Nimbus disc, which features excellent sound and informative notes, is one that will satisfy almost any tastes. Highly recommended. BUNNY BRUNEL: Ivanhoe (MRP Records MRP027) Touch(MRP Records MRP028) Momentum (MRP Records MRP034) Reviewed by Paul Remington Bunny Brunel has established himself well over the years. Having received his tenure as bass player alongside such musicians as Chick Corea, Larry Coryell, Al DiMeola, Joe Farrell, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter, and Tony Williams, it only makes sense Brunel would explore and record his own music. A trio of these solo releases (originally released in 1989) have recently been re-released through MRP Records, and serve to establish Brunel as a formidable jazz/fusion bass player. His talents are not limited to performance. He has the ear to compose interesting and intelligent music, as these three releases prove. The personnel on "Ivanhoe" resembles a who's-who in the world of jazz/fusion. Such musicians as Corea, Hancock, Williams, Farrell, Stanley Clarke, Bill Watrous, and Al Vizzutti are featured, along with a number of others. Brunel's compositional talents reveal themselves in many original pieces, ranging from smooth and romantic, to grooving and rhythmical. Brunel's compositions allow each musician to stretch their musical capabilities. The presence of such a strong supporting cast augments Brunel's playing, producing a sound that is both solid and melodically pleasing. His intonation on the fretless bass is flawless, and very reminiscent of the late Jaco Pastorius. "Touch" picks up where "Ivanhoe" completes. An equally adept rhythm section features Daniel Goyone on piano, Corea on synthesizers, with Nicole Brunel on vocals, Paul Nicola on sax and flutes, Bernard Torrelli on guitar, and Andre Ceccarelli on drums and percussion. The compositions are somewhat softer throughout, and display some beautiful chordal progressions that compliment Brunel's fretless playing. Strings have been lightly added to some of the pieces, conducted by Brunel and Goyone. "Touch" implies sensitivity, and Brunel's sensitive approach to each composition is wonderfully communicated. "Momentum" finds Brunel with a completely different, and slightly smaller rhythm section. Brunel is supported by Kei Akagi on keyboard, Patrick Moraz on synthesizer, Frank Gambale on guitar, and John Wackerman on drums. Unlike "Touch," "Momentum" features a variety of musical styles ranging from lush and melodic to a blend of rock and contemporary jazz sounds. Brunel's ear for chordal changes provides a harmonic foundation that serves as a breeding ground for melodic content, no matter the musical style. The musicianship is superb, with excellent guitar playing by Gambale. Brunel's interest in the bass began with the early contemporary American jazz musicians of the 1970s. A native of France, Brunel was intrigued by the music produced by the early pioneers of jazz/fusion. In the late 1970s, Brunel found himself playing alongside Corea, and performing with the musicians he so admired. Active as a performer and solo artist, Brunel has also applied his compositional talents for Hollywood. His music is found on the title track to Clint Eastwood's award winning film "Unforgiven" ("Claudia's Theme"). Currently, he composes the music for the hit TV series "Highlander." Brunel has also completed three instructional books for Mel Bay Publishing, each of which explore a variety of position and harmony techniques for the bass. With so much talent in so many areas, Brunel will, no doubt, continue to explore his musical horizons. MRP Record's re-release of these three CDs adds to the marketplace yet another musical voice that has been so instrumental over the years in helping define the jazz/fusion sounds we have today. COCOA TEA: Israel's King (VIP) Reviewed by Shaun Dale Cocoa Tea (aka Calvin Scott) is one of reggae's most underrated treasures. Respected in Jamaica as a veteran artist and a serious rootsman, he hasn't been as successful as some in extending that reputation in Babylon. This is the disc that could change that if it gets heard. This may, in fact, be the most satisfying reggae release I've heard this year. With a beat established by no less a light than Sly Dunbar, the always capable horn work of Dean Fraser and a vocal assist from Luciano, Cocoa Tea has come up with a collection of songs that complement his lilting but soulful voice. These songs are both deeply conscious and highly accessible. There are too many treats to detail here--the title cut is one of the finest tributes to Jah on disc, "Rough Inna Town" has a fine contribution from the young Rasta phenom Luciano, Fraser's contribution to "Hurry Up & Come" is memorable, etc.--but "Don't Want To Live Without Your Love" deserves stateside airplay. It's a classic mid-tempo soul ballad that is, frankly, a better song than half of what you'll hear on the air and a better performance than most of the rest. Then there's "Bruck Loose," an insightful social comment without rancor or condemnation, "Rastaman," a call for pan-African unity, "One Bright Day," a hymn of joyful anticipation...great songs, one after another. If you know Cocoa Tea's work, you're probably already on your way to grab this one. If you don't, you should be. Track List: Israel's King * Rough Inna Town * There's No Hope * Rastaman * Repatriation * Hurry Up & Come * Don't Want To Live Without Your Love * Bruck Loose * One Bright Day * Morning Ah Come * Namibia JOHN COLTRANE WITH THE RED GARLAND TRIO: Traneing In (DCC Compact Classics 24k gold CD) Reviewed by Shaun Dale In the late summer of 1957 three of the members of the recently disbanded Miles Davis Quintet came together with drummer Arthur Taylor for a session with producer Bob Weinstock. Pianist Red Garland, bassman Paul Chambers and Taylor had already released a series of albums as the Red Garland Trio. For this date they were joined by John Coltrane on tenor. Trane, who had played with some of the finest on the scene, including Dizzy Gillespie and, of course, Miles, was entering a new period. He had found his voice with Miles' group and was playing confidently, ready to assume the leadership role which would make him a jazz legend. The origins of that legend might be traced to this disc. As Ralph Berton wrote in the notes for the 1969 posthumous re-release of the album, "If you don't know this album, you don't know Coltrane." Opening with the title track, we're put on notice that this is going to be a wild ride. The quartet takes almost thirteen minutes to stretch out on the blues and display their chops, revealing the virtuosity of every member. Moving to the ballad "Slow Dance," the focus is put on Trane, who lends a touch of the mystic mood that would make his reputation in the 60's. "Bass Blues" is another Coltrane blues which features, as the title implies, masterful work by Paul Chambers, who contributes one of his noteworthy bowed solos. "You Leave Me Breathless" is the highlight for me. Trane is in a groove, hitting the high notes dead on, and there's room for more solo work by Garland and Chambers. The album closes with Irving Berlin's "Soft Lights and Sweet Music," which is delivered at high tempo. While "Breathless" and the title cut are exceptional to my ear, every track is essential as four masters weave a tapestry of sound and mood. DCC has done their usual exceptional job of providing original art, complete notes from both the 1957 release and the 1969 re-issue, and has put the music on their 24k gold disc format. If you don't know this disc, you don't know Trane. I didn't. Now I do. You should. DIGITAL K: King Tubby's In The House (ROIR) Reviewed by Shaun Dale Digital K (aka Keith Ruddock) learned his craft at the knee of his uncle, the late, great King Tubby. King Tubby may be in the house spiritually, but it's K at the mixing table and he's in command. The label claims elements of "sampling, reggae, hip hop, soul, jungle, house, roots, acid jazz and blue funk" here. It's true, and it's the only problem with this disc. Digital K is obviously talented and he's apparently driven to extend dub music beyond any mental borders that others will put around it. His adventurous and experimental approach takes him down paths that can surprise and delight. Occasionally, it takes him to places that, frankly, just don't work as well as others. There are fifteen cuts here, and fifteen directions. Digital K is searching for a "new generation of dub," and he's a likely candidate to find it, but as with every new generation, there are some growing pains to be had along the way. The high points here, though, are high enough to make the overall effort worthwhile, and even when he doesn't quite hit the mark, the attempts are interesting. It's almost two discs - one full of strong avant garde dub for the appreciative listener and one of cutting edge lessons for those who will follow him in studios. Tracks that should please most dub fans include "Generation Dub," "Man Dub," "Freedom Dub," "Piano Dub" and "Tubby's Dub (remix)." Anyone interested in producing their own dub, though, or interested in the future and possibilities of dub should listen carefully from start to finish. ELEVATOR TO HELL: Parts 1-3 (Sub Pop) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Eric's Trip is no more. That they were able to hold it together as long as they did is nothing short of miraculous, considering the personal nature of their music--and the fact that the disintegrating relationship that fueled the lyrics was taking place within the band between Julie Doiron and Rick White. Elevator To Hell is White's new "group," though it's mainly just him and his home studio. I use the word "just" only as a quantifier. The music here is even more surreal and beautiful than anything Eric's Trip ever did. White's songs seem very simple--and even, at times, child-like. Even when he sings "I have a drug problem," it comes through with such wide-eyed innocence that it throws the listener off balance. This is one of the things that sets Elevator To Hell apart from the "alternative" crowd. Another very important part of the charm is the fact that each song was recorded the day it was written, guaranteeing spontaneity. As a songwriter, White is capable of making music that seems psychedelic and disjointed but actually works on a pop level. Some people just have incredible pop instincts, and White is certainly one of them. His choice of instrumentation indicates either genius or a very small collection of instruments. One of the most beautiful and yet disturbing tracks is "Rather Be," a deceptively uptempo tune built on two acoustic guitars, some ghostly background vocals, kick drum, and what sounds like a bag of change being used to simulate hand-claps. Very effective, whatever it was. White's wife, Tara, plays bass on several songs, and she also sings backing vocals with a voice so haunting and angelic it can break your heart. Her voice is a perfect fit with this surreal and highly personal material. The only other credited performer is Eric's Trip drummer Chris Thompson (using the name Christopher Moonsocket), who played on two tracks, so this really is a Rick White solo project. There are 27 tracks spread over 63 minutes, not one second of which is the slightest bit boring or unessential. Even if you missed out on Eric's Trip, this should convince you that White is one of the most interesting artists of the 90s. THE BOBBY FULLER FOUR - The Bobby Fuller Four (Del-Fi) Released in 1994 (but VERY worthy of mention!) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Bobby Fuller is best known for his classic recording of Sonny Curtis' "I Fought The Law," but there's a lot more to tell, and in fact, his (short) life story would make a hell of a movie. Bobby was an excellent performer, and a fine mimic who always seemed to have a knack for sliding into the groove of whatever was hot. When surf was the rage, the BF4 played some pretty convincing surf. When vocal surf got popular, they pulled off some great Beach Boys clones. Their two big hits, "I Fought The Law" and "Love's Made A Fool Of You" have confused more than a few shoppers into looking in the Buddy Holly section. Hell, they even had Wolfman Jack make a lot of noise on one their 45's, which wasn't exactly a new concept at the time. The thing that set them apart from the crowd was simply that they did it all extremely well. And somewhere along the way, they absorbed it all into a sound of their own. Though they only did two nationally released albums, The Bobby Fuller Four made quite an impact. Then, in 1966, Bobby Fuller was found dead in his car. It was officially ruled a suicide, but the circumstances were more than a little suspicious. And that was that. This CD, released in 1994, contains every track from both albums--KRLA: King Of The Wheels and I Fought The Law--plus a few rare tracks from 45's. The songs aren't presented in their original order, but Del-Fi's been nice enough to provide a listing of that order in the liner notes for those of us who want to program our CD players and hear it like it was. I strongly recommend doing this, and adding the extra tracks at the end. This is an interesting document of a band and an era, and it should be experienced as it was then. Besides the big hits, there are plenty of standout tracks, such as "King Of The Wheels," "Another Sad And Lonely Night," and "The Phantom Dragster," which is a nice variation on the Bo Diddly beat. Then there are tracks like "Saturday Night." Eddie Cochrane was already dead, so he couldn't demand Fuller give him his song back. (Though credited to Fuller, it was a dead ringer for Cochrane's "Come On Everybody.") Still...it rocked. No, this isn't a new re-release. But I was afraid you might have missed it. Del-Fi (BF4's original label) is preparing to release a box set of recordings the band made in their hometown of El Paso, Texas, prior to setting out for LA and fame and fortune. I've never heard those recordings, but I suspect it's going to be one of the more important "archeological releases" of the year, so it seemed a good time to blow the dust off of this gem and tell you about it. Keep your ears peeled for music from that box. GIGANTOR: Atomic! (Lost & Found) Reviewed by The Platterpuss This latest full-length disc finds Gigantor still mining the same silly punk territory as their mentors The Dickies and doing a fantastic job of it, too. Right from the first song, the soon-to-be-a-classic "Lunar Bop" through such other gems as "My Dad Looks Like Lemmy", "Iron Man No. 28", "What's The Buzz", "Hard Luck Boy" and "Next 2 Nothing" just about every song is a potential hit (in God's perfect world, anyway). Every time I write about these guys I mention how they were inspired by The Dickies but the truth of the matter is that Stuart & Co. haven't put out anything this exciting in years. Write away and buy this now or be sorry later. (Bonteweg 1, 30900 Wedemark, GERMANY) THE GREEN HORNETS: 4-song EP (Alopecia) Reviewed by The Platterpuss The Hornets play real garage in the vein of such classic bands as The Chocolate Watch Band, The Standells and The Haunted. Every song on here, 2 of which are sung by The Queen Hornet, romps and stomps and shakes and shimmies like crazy, making this the ultimate party liven-upper or maybe just the perfect record to get you going the morning after. Either way, if you dig real garage music, you'll want to score one of these. HARMLESS: Protect Us From Evil (Hell Yeah!) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Lance Kaufman is one of the most interesting musicians I've ever listened to. He was already known and respected in the San Francisco music scene when he left his jazz band to join Yard Trauma, one of the great 80's garage groups. In 1990, he imagined a jazz band that would grow tired of providing background music in clubs and go totally berserk, forcing their shocked audience to listen to the music they really wanted to play. Protect Us From Evil is the soundtrack to Kaufman's vision. His former Yard Trauma bandmate, Lee Joseph, released Harmless on his Hell Yeah! label in 1990, but it went nowhere, probably because the public was nowhere near ready to hear some of the elements of the material. Now Hell Yeah! has decided to give it another shot, thinking that perhaps people have become a little more anxious for adventure in this year of Hootie & the Bullfish. The music is diverse beyond the tolerance of the average top-40 listener--to say the least--and won't please stuffy jazz types very much either. Clear your mind of all preconceived notions before listening. The album begins with a hysterical vision of over-the-top fan worship. "They Dug Up Elvis" juxtaposes a slamming Peter Gunn bass & drums undercurrent, subversive acoustic piano, nightmarish sax meltdown (played at the top of the register), and Kaufman's thoroughly screamed lead vocal, which would have scared the shit out of Sam Kinnison. There is so much going on in this song--and on the entire album--that you can listen to it literally dozens of times before you've caught it all. From the violent to the merely frightening. "Afraid Of The Dark" is a much tighter musical structure based on Kaufman's exotic synth work (done years before Exotica came back into fashion). The song itself is quite dark, an agoraphobic's checklist of uneasy do's and don't's made doubly eerie by a sliding fretless bass line. "Big Gut, No Butt" follows, and it's easily the most traditional musical structure on the album, save for the distorted and biting electric piano that comes across like a drunken elephant's trumpeting. By this, the third song, one pattern does emerge: there is chaos everywhere. Every piece of music has something that hacks violently at your subconscious and demands your attention. Usually, it's the sax, played by veteran Bay Area musician Martin Fierro. Sometimes it's Kaufman's piano, skillfully played to sound like an exploding aneurysm inside your brain. These sounds refuse to let you get comfortable with the musical textures in the background. They force you to listen, and that's why you hear the most important part... the lyrics. Kaufman has plenty to say. "I Passed For White" begins with a single sound, distorted and frightening, similar to the high note of an air raid siren that seems to hold forever, building tension. It is written as the observations of an alien among us, shocked by the human need to hate. "Hiroshima Maidens" balances surreal and slow free form musical sounds with Kaufman's hypnotically detached reading of a 1955 magazine article, which detailed the slow physical rehabilitation of a group of young girls who had been badly disfigured in the Hiroshima bomb blast. The title track is a sarcastic "fuck you" directed at the pompous jazz club patrons who expect the band to play quieter than their conversations. Most disturbing of all is "Richard Bible." The true story of a serial killer in Flagstaff, Arizona (where Kaufman now resides), it is an indictment of an impotent legal system that would turn a sick sexual predator loose on society. "Richard, they should know you better." Hopefully, Harmless will find an audience this time around. Hopefully, there are people who are sick of their steady diet of music they can roller skate to. I hope so, because I'd like to hear Harmless II. Which, by the way, you'll never find in the easy listening section. There is nothing at all easy about Harmless. (Dionysus/Hell Yeah! Records can be reached at PO Box 1975, Burbank, CA 91507, or by phone at 818-848-2698.) ISRAEL VIBRATION: Free To Move (RAS) Reviewed by DJ Johnson This is a group that has never abandoned the roots for a solitary second. On Free To Move, Israel Vibration proves yet again that the 70s approach is still powerful and valid. Covering such subject matter as survival in the real Jamaica ("In The Ghetto" and "Livity In The Hood"), Rastafarian spirituality ("Solomon Bloodline" and "Savior In Your Life") and, ultimately, the against-all-odds victory of the human spirit ("Feelin' Irie"), Free To Move becomes a strong candidate for conscious record of the year. The music is performed with so much warmth and sincerity that one cannot help but take it personally. Even those who can't grasp the Rasta ideals can appreciate the grand gesture, and those who can't even get a clue can at least close their eyes and ride the grooves. ERIC JOHNSON: Venus Isle (Capitol) Reviewed by Steve Marshall Eric Johnson has just released his follow-up to Ah Via Musicom entitled Venus Isle. After six years and almost as many title changes, Venus Isle contains eleven new songs in a wide variety of musical styles. People have said that Johnson was suffering from 'Boston syndrome' (only releasing a new album every six or eight years). However, the big difference between this and a Boston album is that Johnson's new album is great. Johnson tries several new things on the CD and most of them pay off beautifully. Two of the songs--"S.R.V." and "Camel's Night Out"--have been part of his concert repertoire for years. Things get off to an excellent start with the majestic title track. Johnson's multi-textured guitar work on the song is stunning. "All About You" is another of the many highlights on the disc. The fluid guitar licks on the song's chorus are truly memorable. This song also marks the first time that Johnson has included a percussion section on any of his CDs. "S.R.V." is a tribute to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. The song's solo by the former leader of the Fabulous Thunderbirds--and SRV's brother--Jimmie Vaughan adds a nice touch. On the CD's only weak track, "Lonely in the Night," Johnson makes use of a string arrangement with less than spectacular results. Johnson shows off his jazzy side on "Manhattan." His warm, tasteful playing on the cut evokes the sounds of jazz great, Wes Montgomery. "Camel's Night Out" revisits the Jeff Beck-like power trio sound heard in some of Johnson's earlier works. In another first for Johnson, the tender "Song For Lynette" marks the first time a piano-based song has appeared on one of his CDs. Guitar Player magazine named Johnson "Best Overall Guitarist" for the last four years in a row, and deservedly so. While his playing can seem a bit self-indulgent at times--almost as if to say "look what I can do"--the fact remains that he has produced a brilliant new album you don't want to miss. Venus Isle is one of the finest albums of the year. THE KINKS: Kinks (You Really Got Me)/Kinda Kinks (Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs - 24k Gold Ultradisc II CD) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Way back before "Lola," and way way WAY before "Come Dancing," The Kinks were a mean R&B outfit, authentic as The Animals or The Stones. They could also play pop music and give it a bluesy edge, as evidenced by classics like "You Really Got Me" and "Tired Of Waiting For You." The two albums on this single disc were the first two successful Kinks records: Kinks (released in 1964 and titled You Really Got Me by the stupid meddling American label goons) and Kinda Kinks (released in 1965), and each was loaded with great R&B performances. While nothing beats the satisfaction of owning a pristine original vinyl pressing of such an album, Mobile Fidelity offers many compensations. Sound quality, as on almost any MoFi product, far surpasses the original. Hiss is reduced to a whisper, separation is greatly enhanced, highs shimmer and lows kick. The liner notes have been recreated and a few new pictures have been added. Most importantly, three songs that the aforementioned stupid American record label goons stripped off for the US release of Kinks have been restored. (The labels apparently never butchered Kinda Kinks.) One of those songs, "Revenge," is a harmonica-driven instrumental masterpiece that truly showcases Ray Davies' prowess on that instrument. It's nice to see that song back where it belongs. The entire package is loaded with positives. The quality is a huge plus. The historical accuracy is an even larger plus. Best of all, you get 26 tracks, only two of which have been played to death by classic radio. It's time to rediscover another great band. For many, this will be the first real exploration of what The Kinks were up to before they ran into Lo-Lo-Lo-Lo-Lola. THE KLOROX GIRLS: Rapunzel's Unrest/Color My Imagination (Grinning Idiot) Reviewed by The Platterpuss Featuring current members of Oswald Five-O, Kpants and Dead Girlfriends, this part-time combo playes some pleasant, rough-edged punk tinged pop. I've never heard Dead Girlfriends but anyone who likes either of the other bands will probably really like this as well, as I can hear lots of elements of those groups here. Makes me hope that they've got a whole disc's worth of songs in 'em. (PO Box 10634, Eugene OR 97440) LLWYBR LLAETHOG: Mewn Dyb (In Dub) (ROIR) Reviewed by Shaun Dale Nope, that's not a typo. The name of the group is Llwybr Llaethog. It's pronounced any way you please, as far as I know, but the real pleasure is in the listening. This is another of ROIR's CD re-releases of their previous cassette-only catalog of international dub, this time from Wales. The cassette dates from 1991, but the music remains cutting edge. The message is up to date, too. After all, a track titled "War in Baghdad isn't My Bag Daddio" is just as timely in 1996 as it was then, I'm afraid. The members of this four piece unit are credited with various combinations of drums, tin whistle, synthesizer, bass, guitar, keyboards, banjo and trumpet, but the sound really belongs to mixmaster John Griffiths and his scratching, sampling and mixing skills. Political raps (some in Welsh, but I'm told those are political, too), heavy dance beats and instrumental snatches create as much mood as music. It's not a bright mood, but this is vital club music. Griffiths, along with bandmates Pete Willward, Ben Bentham and Kevs Ford, serve up that rarest of creatures, danceable topical tunes. This is a very collectible piece because of its geographic origins and place in the development of dub as an international musical movement. It can't be written off as a novelty from dub history, though. It's music to move to, and music that will move you. Track List: Ai Bod Dub (To Be Dub) * Mynd Adre' Dub (Going Home Dub) * Marion McKeone * Rhyfel (War in Baghdad Isn't My Bag Daddio) * Baile Atha Cliath (Dublin) * Cariad (Lover) * Methu Dal Y Pwysa (Can Stand the Pressure) * Mae'n Bywyd Braf (It's a Great Life) CURTIS MAYFIELD: People Get Ready (3-CD Box Set) (Rhino) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Curtis Mayfield is one of the most important figures in the history of popular music for more than one reason. For many whites, his music was an eye-opening introduction to funk music and black awareness. To black Americans, his importance is immeasurable because he was one of the first blacks with pop chart success to write songs of black self-empowerment--at a time when the civil rights movement needed that voice. Throughout the 60's and 70's, Mayfield was a positive voice of reason and a source of pride for a race of people who were constantly being told--by the government, racist factions, and school systems--that they had nothing to be proud of. People Get Ready is a 3-CD retrospective of his magical career. Disc one begins, logically, with The Impressions--Mayfield's vocal group during the 60's--and their 1961 Top 20 hit, "Gypsy Woman," which put them on the map. Over the next eight years, The Impressions visited the charts on many occasions, scoring as high as #4 with "It's All Right." 1964's "Keep On Pushing" marked Mayfield's emergence as a political voice--and the beginning of The Impressions' woes with white radio stations, many of which stopped playing this "subversive" music. Those acts of ignorance couldn't prevent the song from reaching #10 on the pop charts, nor could they stop "People Get Ready" from becoming an instrument of awareness for sensitive whites who were just starting to realize what was going on in the world. With "We're A Winner," Mayfield began to shift his message from one of instruction to one of affirmation, reaching out to those with self-doubts and filling them with a new pride and sense of worth. In 1970, Mayfield released his debut solo effort, simply titled Curtis, and it went all the way to #19 on the pop charts--in marked contrast to his final LP with The Impressions, which languished at #104. Three tracks from this vital album are present in this collection: "The Makings Of You," "Move On Up," and the ground-breaking single "(Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below, We're All Gonna Go." Mayfield's next LP was Curtis Live--a shocking move that turned out well, peaking at #21 on the LP charts and producing five brand new tunes, including "Mighty Mighty (Spade & Whitey)," "Check Out Your Mind," and another ground-breaker, "Stone Junkie." That song dealt with drug abuse as a color-blind universal problem. These solo tracks had a great deal of soul, and a hint of what was to come. Disc two finds Curtis as he is combining all ingredients into a new sound, much more powerful and downright funky than anything he had previously done. "Beautiful Brother Of Mine" flows on the current of a heavily distorted bass and Curtis' chopping rhythm guitar. The vibe grows darker with the four tracks from the landmark Superfly album, which was Mayfield's only #1. The title track and "Freddy's Dead" are familiar to anyone who owned a radio in 1972, but "Pusherman" deserved as much airplay as either of those and received none. The dark groove, powered by excellent conga work, is exquisite. I'd tell you who played the congas, but for some reason, the Superfly album is one of the few sources that doesn't include a complete set of credits in the liner notes. They say the info wasn't available. I say "did anyone think to ask Curtis?" "Can't Say Nothin'," from the Superfly follow-up LP Back To The World, marked the beginning of Mayfield's slide down the pop charts. Pop-America, in typical fashion, had gorged on Superfly and then moved on. Too damned bad, too, because some of his most interesting music was to come: "Kung Fu," "Billy Jack," and "If I Were Only A Child Again" are unknown classics of funky soul that need to be heard. Around this time (1975), another element came into Mayfield's music: mellowness. "Sweet Exorcist," "To Be Invisible," and "So In Love" typify the love-song genre that he was moving into. As that kind of music bores me to tears, I can't comment on most of disc 3. There are some tracks that can catch the ear of those longing for his funkier sounds, such as "Party Night" (which is funky yet only a 1-2-3-4 drum beat removed from disco), "You Are You Are" (which gets closer to disco) and "Do It All Night (which nails right it on the head). The good news is that Curtis' brand of disco is far more listenable than most. The most recent track is from 1990. That year, while touring to support his Take It To The Streets album, a lighting rig fell on him, paralyzing him from the neck down. Happily, Curtis' situation has improved steadily, and he is now signed to Warner Brothers Records. The packaging of this box set is very nice. The 56-page booklet contains a lot of interesting information--especially the semi-comprehensive list of supporting musicians--and many great photographs. I'd like to make a plea to those of you who, like myself, originally dug Curtis for the funky grooves but hadn't lived enough to understand what he was singing about: rediscover this man! Listen to the things he was saying, because it all holds true today. This 51-track box is a good place to start. FREDDIE McGREGOR: Jamaican Classics Vol. 3 (VP Records) Reviewed by Shaun Dale Since the beginning of his career as a 7 year old phenom with the legendary Clarendonians, through his tenure with the Soul Syndicate and a noteworthy solo career, Freddie McGregor's contribution to reggae music is well established and justifiably respected. This disc, the third in a series of collections of Jamaican standards from the sixties and seventies, could be considered McGregor's payback to the musical tradition that has given him so much...and payback, in this case, is a joy. While Freddie McGregor is capable of producing some of the most conscious reggae around - and there are a stack of releases that will prove the point - that's not what you'll find here. These are the songs that McGregor (and Marley, and Tosh, and...well, you get the point) grew up on. Songs by writers like John Holt, Larry Marshall and Alton Ellis, recorded by groups like the Paragons, the Gaylords, and the Heptones. Those names don't mean much, or anything, to you? Well, if you're interested in Jamaican music, they should. They're the originators, and the original masters. Like too many of their names, too much of their music has faded from view, and McGregor not only pays them tribute, but provides us a great service by reviving these songs. These are love songs, for the most part, not paeans to Jah or rants against Babylon, but they're delivered soulfully and it's clear that McGregor takes his role in perpetuating these classics seriously. This is music that deserves preservation, not as museum pieces, but in an accessible format for contemporary listeners. Jamaican Classics Vol. 3 fills the bill admirably. Track List: I've Got To Go Back Home * Danger In Your Eyes * Watch This Sound * You Don't Need Me * How Can I Forget * Everything Crash * Nanny Goat * My Jamaican Girl * Can I Change My Mind * Sweet Talking * Hooligan * Dance Crasher * Moving Away * You've Caught Me MERIDIAN ARTS ENSEMBLE: Five (Channel Classics CCS 9496) Reviewed by Paul Remington Few ensembles have accomplished what the Meridian Arts Ensemble have in the last six years. Having won first place in the 1990 Concert Artists Guild New York Competition, the ensemble released their first CD (Meridian Arts Ensemble CCS 2191) featuring works by Hindemith, Lutoslowski, and other 20th Century composers. Since then, their support has grown, and they have found themselves performing in some of the best-known concert halls around the globe. The ensemble is committed to devoting their musical unit to the works of modern composers. The statement in their latest CD, "New music is alive and well," expresses their positive outlook on the pulse of modern music. "Five" does not deviate from the ensemble's main focus--to present the listener with a prodigious performance of 20th Century compositions. The ensemble has gained not only the respect of their audience, but also some important and up-coming composers. They have collaborated with, and premiered works by, Milton Babbit, Stephen Barber, Elliot Carter, Ira Taxin, and Frank Zappa, to name a few. Their adventurous programming has also yielded some fascinating adaptations of works by Jimi Hendrix and Captain Beefhart, winning them first prize in 1994 from the ASCAP/Chamber Music of America for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music. Hendrix and Beefhart are not a likely choice of composers for most ensembles. Their repertoire also includes custom arrangements and compositions by members of the ensemble. Suffice it to say, any musical ensemble operating today that exhibits the talent and musical farsightedness of the Meridian Arts Ensemble can only be classified as a musical treasure. "Five" represents the fifth CD in the ensemble's catalog, and is clearly an appropriate title. It is performed by five musicians - Jon Nelson (trumpet), Wayne J. du Maine (trumpet), Daniel Grabois (horn), Benjamin Herrington (trombone), and Raymond Stewart (bass). The works of five American composers are featured - Ira Taxin, Stephen Barber, Jan Radzynski, David Sampson, and Peter Robles. Stephen Barber's "Gone is The River" was commissioned by the Meridian Arts Ensemble, and appears in recording for the first time since its 1990 premier in New York City. Other works include "Fanfare" by Ira Taxin, "Take Five" by Jan Radzynski, "Morning Music" by David Sampson, and "Finale Rounds" by Peter Robles. The compositions on "Five" range from brief and dissonant (Ira Taxin's "Fanfare"), to sublime, rich with harmonic and rhythmic development (David Sampson's "Morning Music"). Attention to subtle detail enhances the performance. Difficult passages are well interpreted and performed, with each musician paying close attention to time and dynamics. The end result is a sensitive and balanced performance, with superb interaction between musicians. New music is alive and well because of ensembles like the Meridian Arts Ensemble. With youth on their side, their abilities are sharp and they have time to continue developing both their sound and repertoire. The commissioning of new works furthers growth in these areas, and gives the music world new material to learn, perform, and enjoy. For me, this is the ultimate experience as a musician--to perform in a world-class ensemble while defining the history of 20th Century musical composition. "Five" is yet another addition to the ensemble's growing catalog--a catalog that proves new music is alive and well. MOMUS: Don't Stop The Night (1989) (Creation) Reviewed by Keith Gillard Don't Stop the Night is perhaps the peak of Momus' eloquent exploration of the taboo. Although 1991's Hippopotamomus went further, it did so in a way that was overtly humorous. Don't Stop the Night, on the other hand, is far more subversive and disturbing. Although humor is definitely an element at play in many of these songs, rarely does Momus make the joke just a joke. On the first listen, you're never sure whether to laugh or be offended and repulsed. And the subject matter here can certainly be offensive or repulsive. Let's see... this album contains songs about necrophilia, raising one's sister to be a prostitute, masturbation, doctors taking sexual advantage of their patients, and that perhaps most taboo of taboos, pedophilia. The scary (and impressive) thing is that Momus manages to suspend the listener's disgust just enough to let them see the situation from the other side. In the same fashion that Stanley Kubrick carefully crafted A Clockwork Orange, Momus puts you on the side of the moral "bad guy," without completely dispelling your repulsion. This is a difficult thing to do - how does one transform a vile and detestable act into the erotic? Serge Gainsbourg knew how. Momus knows how. Does anyone else? "Trust Me, I'm a Doctor" starts off the album, firmly setting the disco tone. "Trust me if I seem to touch you / During the course of the cure in a sexual way / You see I long since lost all interest / In feelings of pleasure and pain / I don't ever expect to feel those feelings again / But you still may..." The R2D2 appearance is a nice touch, and the track is very enjoyable, even if the guitars are overblown. "Lord of the Dance" is a disco anthem, featuring the return of Jesus Christ in the body of a beautiful disco diva. As if this wasn't enough to heat up certain listeners, Momus then states that this sexy dancer is also Siddharta Gautama, equating the Christian savior with the first Buddha. It's intelligently written, provocative, and funny. One of my personal favorites is "How Do You Find My Sister?" (which has been making a club comeback of late). In this old-school-rap-meets-barbershop-halfway-at-Kraftwerk's-place epic ballad, our hero (a servant) raises his sister from birth to be a prostitute. When she is ready, he systematically introduces her to all the men of power, whether businessmen or politicians, until he has the ability to blackmail his way to anything he wants. The end of the song is a wonderful reversal of fortune: "They knighted the servant yesterday, today you call me 'Sir' / You men who laid my sister I say to you now what you once said to her: / (You're surprised to hear me talk this way but stranger things occur) / 'Kneel before me, kiss it, call me 'Sir!'" Very rich. Perhaps the greatest piece on the album, though, is "The Hairstyle of the Devil." Pet Shop Boys picked this song as single of the year in 1989, and it certainly is very Pet Shop. However, I don't believe that even the Pet Shop Boys could have pulled off the subject matter with quite the same graciousness, neutrality, or elegance. Momus' biggest hit in England did score major airplay and even a music video, but sadly was not enough to light the charts on fire around the world. (I would be remiss if I did not state that a wonderful acoustic version of "The Hairstyle of the Devil" can be found on 1995's Slender Sherbet.) The title track is a disco revisitation of "Ballad of the Barrel-Organist," the first single released under the name Momus. A nice interpretation, but compared with the rest of the tight songwriting on the album, it seems to wander aimlessly, with many different sub-sections. The guitar work is very nice, though. "Amongst Woman Only" is, I believe, the greatest song about female masturbation ever written by a man (the greatest song about male masturbation is still Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up"). With lyrics a little too explicit to quote from (even in the freedom of Cosmik), you will just have to get a copy to hear how erotic this track is. Or you could go download the lyrics from Momus' website. Perhaps the most disturbing song ever written by Momus is "The Guitar Lesson." This is a song about pedophilia, where a guitar teacher seduces his pretty twelve-year old student. In my opinion, this is a superbly well-written song. I don't make any defense of the subject matter (nor, for that matter, does Momus); in fact, I find little that is more disgusting than the act which may occur at the climax of "The Guitar Lesson" (Momus never does clearly state that the improper act is consummated). However, Momus manages to bring beauty out of the situation, which is extremely disturbing. In a similar vein, "The Cabriolet" deals with necrophilia. Again, Momus takes the terrible act of a man making love to the corpse of his estranged girlfriend or wife beside the shattered remains of his crashed car - and makes it erotic. Scary stuff, kids... With the final track, "Shaftesbury Avenue," Momus hints at the great production that would grace Voyager three years later. Actually, this track would seem more at home on Voyager than on Don't Stop the Night, but it still makes a glorious finale here. Don't Stop the Night is the sound of a great songwriter starting to come into his own as a producer. The songs are daring, challenging, and provocative - definitely not for AOL! But for those of you who really admire good songwriting, this album is one of the finest examples of clever work with difficult material that you could ever encounter. I strongly recommend it. Songwriting: 9/10 Production: 7/10 Performance: 8/10 Overall: 8/10 MUTE BEAT: In Dub (ROIR) Reviewed by Shaun Dale Reachout International Records demonstrates the truly international reach of the music we most often associate with Jamaica on this CD release of Mute Beat's 1986 cassette only recording, "In Dub." This Tokyo based, horn driven band will soon have you believing that Trenchtown is found on an island off the coast of Asia, populated by descendants of Miles Davis. Led by trumpeter Kazufumi "Echo" Kodama, Mute Beat features a creative two piece horn section (Kodama is joined by trombonist Akihito Masui) playing against tight, sparse rhythm arrangements. Bassman Takayoshi Matsunaga and drummer Gota Yashiki give dubmaster Isumi Miyazaki plenty of space to work his understated mixing board magic. Mitsuwa Sakamoto joins in on keyboards on a few tracks, including an inventive and effective dub arrangement of Dave Brubeck's "Take 5," titled "Dub No. 5." This is the most effective marriage of jazz and dub I've found, though there is a growing interest in extending the music in that direction (see a review of Digital K's efforts elsewhere in this month's Cosmik Debris). The heart of that success in in Kodama's talent on the horn and skill as a composer/arranger. This is one that won't rest comfortably in the collection of any jazz or dub fan - it'll get taken out and put to work. Clean, creative and very listenable, it's worth looking out for. Track List: Metro * Fiolina * Dee Jay Style * Beat Away * Landscape * Downtown * Mixed Up * Dub No. 5 (Take 5) * Schoolyard Dub * Still Echo * Break A Road PASTEL COLLISION: Here Comes The Summer EP (Spirit of 86) Reviewed by The Platterpuss The label name is a takeoff on the whole C-86 thing, a mid-80s pop music trend that was all the rage in England but went totally unnoticed over here. Basically, it's characterized by a very clean and wholesome, bright and shiny jangly guitar and vocal sound that's easy going and pleasant to listen to. The A-side of this is not the Undertones song but is a fine slice of upbeat pop nonetheless. The 2 songs on the flip are a bit slower and sparser but also quite nice. Though it's 10 years later, with records like this, the spirit of 86 is still alive and very well. (Room 31, The Exchange Bldg., Swansea, SA1 1SQ, West Glamorgan, UK) PET SHOP BOYS: Bilingual (Parlophone/EMI) Reviewed by Keith Gillard At last! A new Pet Shop Boys album! It's been three years since Very and Relentless were simultaneously released. In that time, we've seen the release of two compilations of Pet Shop Boys material: Disco 2 (which was the most disappointing piece of recycled, repackaged, megamixed crap I spent my sorry money on, and one which PSB had hardly anything to do with) and Alternative (a complete collection of b-sides, and a great package). Those two releases bought Neil and Chris enough time to put together something very special for 1996. The package has finally arrived, and it was worth the wait. Bilingual is every bit as good as Very was, and has more elements of daring and experimentation which were missing from that last album (but were, of course, present in Relentless). Plus - it's the first Pet Shop Boys album to include the lyrics, so even casual listeners can absorb some of the very literate writing. For me, and many fans, though, there are mixed feelings about this. I always enjoyed the neutrality and anonymity of Pet Shop Boys packaging, and its conscientious lack of lyrics. "Discoteca" starts us off with the sounds of rich layered percussion (courtesy of She-Boom), with the Pet Shop Boys' characteristic major seventh strings, trumpet and fairlight-esque sounds. Of course, over all this is layered a wonderfully rich melody and bittersweet theme. The bridge is the high point of the song, rising above and beyond any expectations. The tracks segues directly into "Single," with a very similar groove. This is a technique the Pet Shop Boys haven't used since Introspective, and it is used to even greater effect here. Oddly enough, "Single" is musically reminiscent of "I want a dog." The groove rich Latin percussive groove used for these opening songs is a wonderful progression of the Pet Shop Boys sound. "Metamorphosis" is great semi-happy New York house disco. The vocoder effect at the beginning is a very effective intro, and Neil's dispassionate spoken delivery reminds one of "Left To My Own Devices." It's nice to hear Chris' voice in the chorus as well. Subject-wise, the Pet Shop Boys have generally been understated when dealing with the matter of homosexuality in the past; this song breaks from that tradition sharply: "What I wanted to be was a family man, but nature had some alternate plans. So I did without the lot, put emotion on hold and hoped my instincts would do what they were told." "Electricity" has a slow, old-school hip hop beat, complete with scratches. The lyrics seem to be a tongue-in-cheek self-mockery, in much the same vein as "Yesterday when I was mad." However, given Neil's attitudes and past writings (such as "The Power of Negativity"), one must wonder if this song is about the Pet Shop Boys, or is in fact an attack of irony against someone else--or the industry in general. The current single, "Se a Vida e (That's the way life is)," is a happy uplifting pop song filled with hope and warmth. I think the Pet Shop Boys have only done this sort of song once before ("Was it worth it?"), but this time they got it right. This song grows on you incredibly. The Latin percussion, guitars and brass section are very sweet. The bridge inputs the note of bittersweet which saves the piece from being a sacharrine-fest, and balances the piece very well. Great pop! The cream of the crop is "It Always Comes As A Surprise." Wow. What an amazing song. A mysterious intro leads us into a gorgeous Latin showtune guitar ballad. The guitar is so tightly played (by Hugh Burns) that I mistook it for sequenced; even knowing that it's a real guitar, the part still seems too perfect to be true. Very impressive. But it's the melody and chord progression which really make this song soar. And the Getz / Gilberto sample (from one of my all-time favorite jazz albums) doesn't hurt either! Unfortunately, songs like this are never singles. However, this is very likely the best song to be released in 1996, and makes my top-ten best-written songs list. What will probably be a single is "A Red Letter Day." This sounds like a direct cross between "Go West" and its great b-side "Shameless" (actually, there, the b-side was even better than the single). The title and the Russian men's choir implies the same political subtext that "Go West" did, and applies it to a love song. Very interesting, with a powerful bridge. The percussion loop in the intro and outro is very rich. "Up against it" reminds me of "Young offender," and I still have not been able to decide whether or not I like either. It has some wonderful elements, and the melody in the verse is great, but the music and lyrics seem almost at odds (except in the pre-chorus and bridge). The music is just a little too happy for Neil's bitter sentiment. Perhaps this was intentional, however; take the line "Drinking this swill to sweeten the pill.".. "The Survivors" is another consummate pop song which suffers slightly from just-slightly-too-obvious production work, particularly in the rhythm track. The same complaint could be made of "Before," but even stronger. Chorused lead vocals have never been a favorite of mine, and these just don't sound right, no matter how many times I listen to them. The percussion tracks are great, however. "To Step Aside" has some of Neil's best lyrics. The story seems to be one of a dictator who is questioning the value of his rule and his future. "Will I always need you? Would you want me to? Can you love me for good the way you thought you could? Or will spring bring rain and summer burn? Will tears at last precede the turn from summer warmth to sudden cold as certainly as growing old?" Bilingual ends with "Saturday Night Forever." This piece has too much showtune in it to be a true disco anthem, and has too much house to be a true showtune. It's a great mix of both elements, but is unlikely to be a single. Unfortunately, the production on this track is also just slightly overblown. The greatest criticisms I can raise against Bilingual are the barely-blatant production towards the end, and a lack of unity. Both complaints come back to production. The best-produced pieces on this album are the ones produced by the Pet Shop Boys themselves. Had the album all been produced to that standard, I would give it 10/10 for production. Chris Porter and Danny Tenaglia both seem to have different production sensibilities, and this can often be a strength for an album. However, here, their work on their pieces (particularly the last few), when compared to the wonderfully rich subtlety of the Pet Shop Boys-produced tracks, has the slightest tendencies towards the sophomoric and the obvious. But only slightly. Their production still rates highly; it just can't compare with the flawless work at the beginning of the album. Still, a fantastic album, and a great addition to anyone's collection. Songwriting: 9/10 Production: 8/10 Performance: 9/10 Overall: 9/10 BILL, AL, BOBDOLE, RUSH etc. (or reasonable facsimiles thereof): Politics As Usual (DCC) Reviewed by Shaun Dale Hillary tells the tale of the beautiful princess and the philandering prince, Bobdole gets high, Rush hosts the Montana Freemen Glee Club... Yep, it's Politics As Usual, this year's premium piece of political satire. Featuring voices by impressionists John Roarke, Paul Joseph, Brian Whitman, Philece Sampler and Frank Welker and written by a team whose credits include work for Leno, Letterman and Politically Incorrect, this one comes just in time to brighten a dismal political landscape. This is a no holds barred, no side spared look at the contemporary scene. Every ox is gored, including Gore's. The voices aren't all dead on target, to my ear anyway, but there are some belly laughs here, and a lot of those things that make you go "hmmm...." You probably won't want to gather the kiddies around the speakers for every cut (though hearing Clarence Thomas ask the Prez "Where's the bitches at? Where you keeping the bitches?" is fairly pale compared to some of the rap they hear on the airwaves), and you're bound to be offended at one point or another no matter what side you're on. That's ok, though, because you'll be delighted by the skewering of the other side on the next cut, or maybe the next sentence. And I won't even tell you what they do to George Stephanopolous, except to say that the laugh I got out of it is worth the price of the disc all by itself. Well, either that or Bobdole's explanation of how tobacco saves lives... Anyway, get it - before they shred it. (DCC Compact Classics: 9301 Jordan Ave, Suite 105, Chatsworth, CA 91311. 1-800-301-MUSIC) KARLA PUNDIT: Journey To The Ancient City (Dionysus) Reviewed by DJ Johnson In an era when tribute albums nearly outnumber the regular releases in the rack, when you're thinking it's just a matter of time before Trent Reznor records a Bing Crosby classic, this is really and honestly a whole nuther animal. Karla Pundit is actually Lance Kaufman, the wildly talented keyboardist of Yard Trauma and leader of Harmless back in 1990. (A review of that album appears in this issue of Cosmik Debris.) With Harmless, Kaufman screamed, moaned, intoned and expectorated along with some of the most inventive and radically varied music anyone had ever heard. As Karla Pundit, he takes an entirely different, extremely faithful road. Korla Pandit was a star of cinema and early television who played a great big Gulbransen organ while wearing a jeweled turban. His music was heavy, exotic and moody, evoking images of desert caravans and bustling street markets. He frequently changed tempo in mid-stream to great effect. As his alter-ego, Karla Pundit, Kaufman performs seven original compositions inspired by Pandit's style. It's an astounding success, showing not only his considerable skills as a keyboardist, but also his intimate understanding of Pandit's muse. The liner notes are as much a tribute to Pandit as is the music. Descriptions of the inspirations for each track add a great deal to the listening experience. According to the notes, the entire album is about an ancient city deep in the jungle between India and Burma, abandoned since the 10th century A.D. The songs tell a story of life in that city from the eyes of an outsider, who hacks and fights his way through the dangerous jungle to reach it. Sure, it's instrumental music, but one quick reading of these liner notes is all the fuel your imagination needs. The music fits the stories perfectly. The explorer witnesses such wonders as the "Dance Of The Virgins," where young women use their new-found charms to attract a mate, and the bizarre justice of "The Hall Of Snakes," where those suspected of crimes are made to walk down a long hall filled with venomous snakes, the innocent believing they will not be bitten, the guilty doomed to die. Not being a student of this subject, I don't know if this history is true or imagined, but it doesn't matter. The city and its inhabitants are as real as you and I--for half an hour, anyway. Exotica is still in vogue, and this CD/EP is as exotic as it gets, so I wouldn't be surprised to see another Karla Pundit release in the near future. I'll be picking it up as soon as it's available, but I will know what to expect next time. When this arrived, I thought it was a parody. Instead, it turned out to be a true tribute and a grand gesture of respect. (Dionysus/Hell Yeah! Records: PO Box 1975, Burbank, CA 91507, 818-848-2698.) EMIL RICHARD'S YAZZ BAND: Yazz Per Favore (Del-Fi) Reviewed by DJ Johnson This "Yazz" is jazz of the exotic variety, beautifully presented by a talented band that includes Francisco Aquabella (conga & bongos), Paul Moer (piano), Al McKibbon (bass), Marcellino Valdez (tympani, gourd, conga & jawbone of an ass...yeah, that's what it says), Cuco Martinez (timbales) and Richard's himself, who is (was?) a great vibe and marimba player. The music is of a decidedly Latin flavor, with percussion instruments being played by 5/6ths of the band. Like most good exotica, it can transport you to tropical places if you let it. I'm not sure when this was recorded, or even when Del-Fi re-released it. This is because the liner notes were apparently written by LILIPUTIONS!!! For Chrissakes, a magnifying glass didn't even help! This is text the size of the letters at the very bottom-right on an eye chart, three or four rows below where most vision tests end. Too bad, because I wanted to know a lot more than I do about the Yazz Band. Oh well, to hell with the liners. The important notes are played on the disc itself, and those are clear as a bell. Yazz Per Favore is something that all collectors of exotica need. SONNY ROLLINS WITH THE SONNY ROLLINS QUARTET: The Sound Of Sonny (DCC Compact Classics 24k Gold CD) Reviewed by Shaun Dale As 1957's Downbeat Critic's Poll "New Star," Sonny Rollins would have been a welcome addition to many jazz combos, but he was already an accomplished leader of his own unit when they entered the studio in July of 1957 to record "The Sound of Sonny." An amazing sound it was, too. The quartet consisted of Rollins on tenor, Sonny Clark on piano, Roy Haynes on drums, with Percy Heath and Paul Chambers sharing duty on the bass. Rollins wasn't to be outdone by these fine sidemen, though. As the title implies, this is the Sonny Rollins show all the way. Of the nine tracks released on the original album, two stand out as examples of Rollins' brilliance as a player. It's hard to imagine what a hard bop master like Rollins would do with a chestnut like Sammy Kahn's "Toot, Toot, Tootsie" until you hear it, but it's wonderful. Playing it straight at a quick tempo, Rollins pushes the tune, stretches it and transforms it. By the time he turns it over to Clark for a brief solo turn, it's hard to remember where he started. Then he takes it back and winds his way back to the melody, leaving you wondering how he got there from wherever it was he had been, and how he could possibly have gotten there and back in just over four minutes. It's just great, that's all. On "It Could Happen To You," Rollins takes a real solo turn. Playing unaccompanied, he displays both his virtuosity on the keys and the amazing quality of his tone. You can almost sense the other players in the studio listening to this and thinking "Don't touch it." Another track worthy of note is a bonus, recorded at the "Sound of Sonny" sessions but previously found only on a Riverside anthology. "Funky Hotel Blues" is a medium tempo masterpiece that deserves to sit beside the other cuts from the album. While audiophiles continue to debate the merits of analog versus digital, I'm just grateful for a format that makes room for the restoration of complete sessions in a single package. I don't mean to dismiss the contributions of the four players who join Rollins on this disc - each performs admirably and it would be less satisfying without any of them, but "The Sound of Sonny" is Sonny Rollins' showcase and an vital document of the development of one of the great performers of jazz. As always, DCC has created a package worthy of the music, which is presented on their 24k gold disc format. Track list: The Last Time I Saw Paris * Just In Time * Toot, Toot, Tootsie * What Is There To Say * Dearly Beloved * Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye * Cutie * It Could Happen To You * Mangos * (bonus track) Funky Hotel Blues. (DCC Compact Classics: 9301 Jordan Ave, Suite 105, Chatsworth, CA 91311. 1-800-301-MUSIC) SONNY ROLLINS QUARTET: Tenor Madness (1957) (DCC 180+ Virgin Vinyl LP) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Sonny Rollins was never a member of the Miles Davis Quintet, but as Miles used him on many occasions in the studio, he no doubt got to know Paul Chambers (bass), John Coltrane (sax), Red Garland (piano) and "Philly" Joe Jones (drums) pretty well. This LP was recorded when the Quintet were taking a break. They happened to be in New York City at the same time that Rollins was heading into the studio. That little bit of fate led to this wonderful recording, originally released on the legendary Prestige label. (Prestige LP 7047 - Hi Fi, for you audiophile types with books.) The interplay between all of these jazz giants is something one feels lucky to hear. All five tracks are marked by great performances, but the one that takes the prize is the title track--because it is a wonderful tune, because everybody solos, and because it has historical significance. It is the only recording of Rollins and Coltrane playing together. It was suggested to Rollins as a showdown between great saxmen, but what developed instead was a perfect blending of two different styles and approaches. Even when they began trading licks, it was less a battle and more a unified attack. It's tragic that they didn't record together again. At least they gave us this. This is another Prestige re-release from DCC Compact Classics, and if you've been following their progress in Cosmik Debris' review section, you already know that they've got their act together. Their vacuum-tube cutting system--a fairly recent addition to their operation--and the care with which they treat the original recordings makes for some stunning sound reproduction. Very little hiss. A whole bunch of signal! This one stacks up very well to the best I've ever heard (Pee Wee Russell's "Portrait Of Pee Wee"), though I doubt anything will ever top the clarity of that one. Of course, I'm the guy who said nothing would ever beat the speed of a 386. (DCC Compact Classics: 9301 Jordan Ave, Suite 105, Chatsworth, CA 91311. 1-800-301-MUSIC) SACRED SYSTEM: Chapter One - The Book Of Entrance (ROIR) (Produced by Bill Laswell) Reviewed by DJ Johnson What a trip! This is trance dub, which is far removed from reggae's brand of dub. Of course, that's the point. It has become its own genre. Deep stirring bass lines that cycle and connect like an electronic circuit move your vehicle slowly through scenes of blissful tranquillity and occasional digital chaos. The bass suddenly vanishes, leaving you with a feeling not unlike hang gliding, soaring quietly on the wind with just the sounds of the birds and the waves below, only to be picked up by the bass once again like a strong updraft moments later. Pardon the imagery--it's impossible to speak of this music in ordinary terms. Trance dub is surreal by definition. Sacred System takes surrealism to another level. Have sex to this music and you're a better lover. Go with the flow. SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 3 in C, Op. 52; The Swan of Tuonela, Op. 22, No. 3; Karelia Suite, Op. 11; Valse triste, Op. 44, No. 1; Finlandia, Op. 26. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lorin Maazel. SONY SK61963 [DDD] 70:05 Reviewed By Robert Cummings This is the capstone to Lorin Maazel's Sibelius Symphony cycle for Sony. In the 1960s his complete set for Decca/London with the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the first in stereo, was received with general acclaim. This new series, if I can judge it without having heard the second issue which contained Symphonies 1 and 7, features many of the traits we've come to associate with Maazel: transparency of orchestral textures, a tendency toward wayward tempos and gestures, and an ability to unite spontaneity and calculation, quirkiness and sobriety. Throughout this cycle Maazel's interpretations work well, not least because he coaxes excellent playing from his orchestra, an ensemble the high-brows should cease relegating to the second-tier rankings. His readings of Nos. 4 and 5 are quite compelling: the former is dark and tragic, slower than his intense earlier effort; the latter, appropriately epic and lyrical. In No. 2 his slow first movement tempo threatens to sag in places, but in the end succeeds, thanks in large part to extra weight given to rhythmic accents and to exposing crucial inner detail. His spirited reading of No. 6, a well-played rather centrist approach, is one of the best of the recent crop. No. 3, however, may be the jewel of the group. Maazel's brisk first movement tempo gives the music an invigorating jauntiness, while, for example, the more relaxed Sir Colin Davis (RCA, and earlier, Philips) serves up a kind of chipper bounce. Both approaches work, but the recent Davis effort is marginally preferable here because of a slightly greater expressive flexibility. In the second movement, though, Maazel's livelier pacing is utterly convincing, leaving both Davis recordings and Ashkenazy (London) in the interpretive dust. Henceforth I may find significantly slower readings of the middle panel hard to take, even a test to my patience. I favor Maazel in the finale, too, where surprisingly he slows the tempo in the latter half, but to magnificent effect. Has the ending of this otherwise rather subdued work ever sounded more majestic, more resolute? The sound reproduction is superb, the best I've ever heard in this symphony; the notes, written by the distinguished Finnish composer Kalevi Aho, are a model of insight. In sum, this is a Sibelius Third to cherish. But there's more. Maazel turns in a ponderous, fully convincing reading of The Swan of Tuonela, and serves up a joyous Karelia Suite, whose infectious themes, especially in the finale, come across as a sheer delight. There follows a brisk but richly atmospheric Valse triste, and, to close, a brilliant, monumental Finlandia. Again, the sonics offered by Sony's 20-bit technology are excellent. The splendid reading of the Third alone makes this disc worthwhile, but the fillers elevate it to candidate for best orchestral CD of the year. Make no mistake, this one's a winner. SOUNDTRACK: Blow-Up (Soundtrack) (Rhino) Reviewed by DJ Johnson First, let me say that I was probably one of the last hundred or so people in the world who hadn't seen the 1966 film Blow-Up. When this soundtrack arrived at the Cosmik office a few weeks ago, everybody was saying "Oh, what an amazing film!" Seeing my blank expression, they all said the same thing. "You've got to be kidding...You never saw Blow-Up!?" It got to be kind of sickening after a while. All I knew was that I loved the soundtrack. So last night, my wife and I did Chinese food and a movie. After a tediously slow start, the film became very interesting for a while, and then it ended. Without resolution of even one element of the plot. The star was still an asshole, a murder may or may not have happened, and nobody was behind bars. In fact, when "The End" first hit the screen, I had to rub my eyes and look again. This is a classic? Good Lord. It was great for only one reason; you get to see The Yardbirds scorching out "Stroll On" at painful volume. You even get to watch Jeff Beck destroy his guitar. And see Jimmy Page with a hairstyle he obviously nicked from Mary Tyler Moore's "Dick Van Dyke Show" years. As it is so obvious that I have no breeding, I'll move on past the film itself and talk about the soundtrack, which is an absolutely fantastic collection of cool jazz, mod rock, and folksy pop. Most of the music was written and performed by Herbie Hancock, who recorded the tunes with an all-star jazz band that included the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Jim Hall, Phil Woods and Jimmy Smith, along with Hancock's fellow Miles Davis Quintet members Tony Williams and Ron Carter. With a group like that, no note was going to miss. The grooves on these tunes are amazing, thanks to that stellar lineup. The non-Herbie tunes are well worth mentioning, too. While the cover of The Lovin' Spoonful's "Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind," credited to "unnamed studio musicians," seems out of place in its very uncoolness, there was a reason for its inclusion. I'd say "you have to see the film," but I don't want to be responsible for that. Just accept that it's there and move on the the aforementioned Yardbirds track. Powerful to extremes. The excellent liner notes tell an interesting story of a band called Tomorrow that was originally slated to be in the film. The Yardbirds were brought in at the last second instead. Tomorrow had recorded a pair of tunes for the soundtrack, and of course they weren't included when it came out in 1967. Rhino, bringers of all that is cool, has included them here as bonus tracks that close the CD. Besides their automatic value as lost relics of film lore, they will also be of interest to some because Tomorrow's guitarist was Steve Howe, who was in a fairly successful little band called Yes a few years later. Apparently, this film was huge with the Mods, so they will probably want the soundtrack. It's the only place to get these particular Herbie Hancock tracks, so jazz buffs will want this soundtrack. The Tomorrow tracks have been included, so trivia buffs will want it, and of course, Yardbirds fans will want it. Talk about your shrewd marketing! A disc that nearly everybody will want. And I'm betting nobody will be disappointed. As for the movie...I want my two hours back. STORYVILLE: A Piece of Your Soul (Code Blue/Atlantic) Reviewed by Shaun Dale "Storyville, huh?," I thought. "New Orleans, maybe?" Nope, Texas, but it sounds like lead vocalist Malford Milligan has spent a little time listening to the Nevilles--when he wasn't busy soaking up Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. Storyville has been the hot band on the Austin scene for a while, and if there's any justice in the music biz at all, they're due for a major national breakout. Built on a foundation of rythym supplied by none other than Chris Layton (drums) and Tommy Shannon (bass) of the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble band, along with David Grissom (Joe Ely, John Mellencamp) and Dave Holt (Ely, Mavericks, Carlene Carter) on guitars, this is a band with the instrumental chops you'd expect from players with such distinguished pedigrees. More than simply four accomplished musicians, though, this is a unit--these guys play together like they *want* to play together. Milligan adds a vocal dimension that puts Storyville in the ranks of the top R&B acts in the country with their first major label release. The disc opens with "Bitter Rain," a track reminiscent of the Allman's, which is fitting, given that Grissom's resume includes a stint as a tour replacement for Dickie Betts. "Good Day for the Blues" follows, and it's a great choice for Storyville's first single--"It's a good day," Milligan sings, "for Bobby Blue Bland, for 'The Thrill is Gone' and Magic Sam." And a good day, I might add, for anyone hearing this fine track. "Blind Side" takes a tougher stance; a blues rocker delivered in a staccato soul shout. "Don't Make Me Cry" is a straight blues ballad, and Milligan delivers it with convincing passion. The tempo picks up again for "What Passes for Love" and "Solid Ground" before the title track kicks in. "A Piece of Your Soul" is a definitive example of the Texas blues of the Vaughan brothers or the Winters. "Cynical" is another ballad, a form the band is particularly adept with. "Luck Runs Out" hits a funk groove, and reflects more than a passing acquaintance with the Stax/Volt soul tradition. "Can't Go There Anymore" continues in that vein, one well worth tapping. The album wraps with "Share That Smile," a bitter sweet, gospel flavored tune with a chorus that begs for an audience to sing along. Milligan invites us to "Share that smile, smooth the edges off a world that's running wild." This disc leaves me smiling every time I hear it, and while the music has an edge, it's played with a sense of style and conviction that can smooth out a rough day. With the right push and a little luck, Storyville could be the next big thing. They should be, with great players, some great songs and one of the finest new voices in a good long while. The CD's in the stores and the band is on tour. Look for them, and invest a few dollars, a little time and a piece of your soul... THROWING MUSES: Limbo (Rykodisc CD) Reviewed by Cai Campbell It's hard to believe it's been twelve years since the first Throwing Muses record was released. Back in 1984, their sound was like nothing else. Kristen Hersh's raw yet flowery voice and quirky songwriting mastery set the band apart during a time when pop music was struggling to find a new identity. Throwing Muses hold the distinction of being the first U.S. band signed to the eclectic 4AD record label and led a quiet pop revolution, of sorts, spawning successful splinter groups (Breeders and Belly) and a slew of imitators (too many to list here.) It's 1996 and Throwing Muses are no longer a distinctive voice, but are caught in the middle of their own invention. On Limbo, Kristen Hersh's voice and songwriting have obviously matured, but the question is, to what end? The voice is definite, but those delightfully jagged edges aren't quite as sharp as they used to be. Limbo is an apt title, for it seems as if the band is attempting to punch their way out of the proverbial paper bag. The problem is, complacency seems to have softened their blows. This is not to say that the disc is not good, because it is a fine collection of music fit for an anguished night of soul-searching. The performances are solid and the songwriting is more than adequate, unfortunately, the disc is not remarkable in any way, and try as they might, Throwing Muses cannot get past their own formula. It's really sad, too, because when you take this disc and judge it on it's own merit, divorcing it from the band's history and the current state of pop music, it is damn fine piece of work. But then, trying to remain objective in that sense is, more often than not, an exercise in futility. The band is hip to current trends in technology, at least, and for those who can't get enough of Kristen and her buds, their website can be found at http://www.throwingmusic.com. Also, the Limbo CD sports a hidden "bonus" QuickTime video of "Ruthie's Knocking." TINY TIM with BRAVE COMBO: Girl (Rounder) TINY TIM: I Love Me (Ponk/Seeland) TINY TIM: Live In Chicago (Bug House/Pravda) Reviewed By John Sekerka "Girl" almost didn't see the light of day ... cuz of a girl. Seems Tiny had an unanswered crush which halted the recording process. Several years and a mended heart later, Tiny finished it off and we couldn't be happier. The comeback continues as our, er... man Tiny shakes his curly locks, twangs his ukulele and falsettos and baritones his way through such classics as "Bye Bye Blackbird," "New York, New York," "Stairway to Heaven" and "Hey Jude." For backing this icon, Brave Combo are certainly that, and they provide the necessary stretches needed to pull these numbers off. Tiny tiptoes not so daintily, and his interpretations may be termed butchery were it not for the gusto factor. As covers go, there may not be one to rival Tiny's version of "Another Brick in the Wall (part 2)." That and some more recent material is collected on the aptly titled "I Love Me." Besides the usual connoisseur choice of excellent material (Irving Berlin, Cole Porter) Tiny shows his pen is mighty, too, with what will surely be the craze of '96: "She Left Me With the Herpes." I kid you not. If you crave the sensation that can only be quenched by a concert, then "Live in Chicago" is yer best bet. Tiny rambles through curt versions of classics (Jerry Lee Lewis, AC/DC), leading his instant backing band (the game New Duncan Imperials) with "this one is in the key of C, maestro!" It also contains a great phone message at the end in which Tiny, all business, asks for his payment, before signing off with his famous toodeloo. Tiny IS show biz, and it's never too late to fall under his magic spell. UPHILLDOWN: 5-song EP (Soundhole) Reviewed by The Platterpuss Uphilldown write some really terrific songs that sound as if they could've come off an unreleased All album, which right away should be enough to pique your interest. In addition to 4 originals they do a pretty cool version of The Who's "We're Not Gonna Take It" and it should be noted that that is the worst song on the record. Let's hope that this is just the beginning for these guys. (PO Box 36513, Richmond VA 23235) VARIOUS ARTISTS: Better Read Than Dead (Epitaph) Reviewed by DJ Johnson The 22 tracks on this CD cover a wide range of music, some great, some obnoxious. The benefactor here is AK Press, which puts out anarchist literature. There is far more information about AK Press in the liner notes than there is about any of these bands, and they tell me there's even an AK Press catalogue on here somewhere (enhanced CD, y'know?), but my machine doesn't seem to want to find it. There are some great highlites here. Chumbawumba's "Safety Pin Through My Heart" makes me laugh every time I hear it. Snuff's cover of "I Can See Clearly Now" is almost as hot as the one done by The Sea Monkeys for the Picklemania NYC compilation earlier this year. A great example of the diversity on this comp? How about Propaghandi and The Levellers! Two bands I happen to love. It's nice to see somebody had the cajones to mix them up on a disc. The oddest track? My vote goes to Bjorn Baby Bjorn's basically faithful cover of Abba's "Waterloo." Yep, I know. Other artists on the disc include J. Church, Pitchshifter, Napalm Death, Zoinks, NOFX, Spazz, and Wayne Kramer. Summary? Lots of music, lots of range, political cause, books for sale, crappy font that makes identifying the bands an adventure, and maybe a catalogue on CD Rom, provided your computer doesn't suck. (Epitaph: 2798 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90026) VARIOUS ARTISTS: Billboard Presents Family Scarytime Classics (Kid Rhino) Reviewed by DJ Johnson While I'm not sure all these tracks are the original versions, I do know that this is a cool little Halloween CD. "Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes," "The Dark Shadows Theme," "The Blob," and "Theme From The Munsters" are just what the mad doctor ordered for Halloween party-tape making. The highlight of the disc is saved for next-to-last: "This Is Halloween" is a timeless gem from the Tim Burton film The Nightmare Before Christmas. Kay Starr's "The Headless Horseman" and Peggy Lee's "Bewitched" offer a little nostalgic fun for the grown-ups, while "Casper The Friendly Ghost" will excite the little ones. The only terrible miss, in my opinion, is "The Addams Family Main Theme," which is the right song but the wrong recording. It's instrumental, and it's elevator-bound. Is this the theme from the old Saturday morning cartoon version of the show? Never saw it, can't answer that question. Overall, however, that's a pretty minor bitch. If you're looking for a CD you can share with the kids during the Halloween season, this is a good bet. VARIOUS ARTISTS: heathenmegamix (VP Records) Reviewed by Shaun Dale Take a couple dozen conscious and capable reggae singers, blend with three talented producers and the mixing skills of DJ Mighty Mike and you get a heathenmegamix. Really, you should get it. They are voices new and old, including Cocoa Tea, Shabba Ranks, Yami Bolo and Prez. Brown. That just scratches the surface though, and Mighty Mike (who goes by Michael Jones when wearing his producer's hat) mixes and matches with a free and able hand. The performances by some of my favorite artists are welcome, but there's also an introduction to many fine new names--new to me, at least, and it's hard to imagine any but the most knowledgeable reggae fanatics not finding someone new and worthwhile here. This is more than just a compilation - Mighty Mike's mix and commentary give it the feel of a set in a Kingston Club. While every cut reflects Jah consciousness, it's also set at a consistently danceable tempo. Slip it in at a party and evangelize your friends. VARIOUS ARTISTS: Monster Rock And Roll Show (DCC Compact Classics) Reviewed by DJ Johnson My original plan was to get ahold of all of this year's Halloween CDs and write a feature piece about them. Ha! There WEREN'T any! Well, a few, but not enough to base a feature on. So I decided to review each of the ones I found separately. This one isn't even new. DCC released this in 1990. So why am I reviewing it? Because this is the coolest Halloween party disc you can buy! This isn't even source for your party tape, because it IS a party tape in the form of a CD. Songs are segued with recordings of old radio ads for horror and sci-fi flicks. The songs are a mix of the obvious (yet indispensable) and the obscure. The obvious tracks are "The Monster Mash," "The Purple People Eater," "Lil' Red Riding Hood" and...maaaaybe "The Witch Queen Of New Orleans," though that one's only kinda sorta obvious. Then there are the less obvious gems, like "Morgus The Magnificent" by Morgus and the Ghouls, "Feast Of The Mau Mau" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, "Midnight Stroll" by The Revels, "Bo Meets The Monster" by Bo Diddley, and "Green Slime" by Green Slime. The movie commercial clips include Black Sunday, 4-D Man, The Haunted Strangler, The Mummy, Horror Of Dracula, and The Astro-Zombies. These songs and ad clips are chosen and programmed perfectly. For example, the segue from the I Was A Teenage Werewolf clip into Five Man Electrical Band's "Werewolf" is absolutely poetic. I don't ever want to hear that song again unless that clip precedes it. This is just one example. It happens all through the disc. Okay, so you already have "The Monster Mash" on about five CDs around the house, right? Right. But you still need this one, because it (and everything else on the CD) was mastered by DCC's Steve Hoffman, a guy who definitely knows how to do magic. The sound is incredible! Hoffman is used to working in the 24k gold disc and 180+ vinyl formats, but on this disc, he manages to make ordinary plastic sound amazing. One other note: the segues have just a hair of silence, making it possible for you to commit heresy by splitting these tracks up onto various compilation tapes. That's all good news, but the best news is that this CD is still available, and it's 51 minutes of instant Halloween. VARIOUS ARTISTS: Reggae Gold 1996 (VP) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Another interesting collection of dancehall, reality and lover rock/reggae from VP, featuring Beenie Man ("Old Dog"), Bounty Killer ("Fed Up" and "Benz And The Beama"), General Degree ("When I Hold You Tonight") and others. The most powerful track is probably "Bad Boy," by the great Buju Banton, who possesses a voice so deep and gravelly that it can yank your attention away from just about anything. Lady Saw graces three tracks, including the hilarious "No Long Talking," in which she makes her preference regarding penis size a matter of public record. She also turns in the strangest track, "Give Me A Reason," a record that could fool Nashville enthusiasts in a taste test. What a country/folk tune is doing on this collection is anybody's guess. Then again, mixing the dancehall and lover genres seems strange enough. The shock of the segue from Beres Hammond's "Love From A Distance" to Bounty Killer's "Fed Up" could be fatal. Ah, but what a way to go. VARIOUS ARTISTS: Rock Don't Run (Spinout) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Eddie Angel is one of the masked wonders from Los Straitjackets, and his pedigree as a rockabilly and garage guitarist is quite authentic. Rock Don't Run is a hot collection of instrumental rock and roll that Angel has released on his own Spinout label. As he explains on the back cover, these are some of the great bands that opened for Los Straitjackets last year all across America. This CD was brought to my attention last month as I was interviewing Pete Curry and Rick Johnson of The Halibuts, when they correctly referred to it as a great party album. With tracks by The Kaisers, Thee Phantom 5ive, Laika and the Cosmonauts, The Volcanos, Dragula, The Surf Kings, The Panasonics, The Fathoms, The Astro Naughts, The Halibuts, Los Straitjackets, and a solo track by Angel himself, how could this be anything BUT a party album? Aside from its obvious uses as a party pick-me-up, Rock Don't Run serves as an excellent introduction to the world of instro. There are so many different styles here, from the exotic carnival sound of Laika and the Cosmonauts--Finland's greatest national treasure--to the sultry surf-noir of Boston's Fathoms. I'm curious to learn more about The Panasonics, from Osaka, Japan. It seems they, too, count Eddie Angel as a member. Doesn't the man ever take a day off? The answer is no, he doesn't, and in fact he is planning Rock Don't Run II as we speak, so you'd better buy, enjoy, adore and absorb this one now or you'll be behind the rest of the class when II arrives. (SPINOUT RECORDS - 4402 Soper Ave. Nashville, TN 37204) VARIOUS ARTISTS: Roots Daughters (RAS) Reviewed by Shaun Dale There may be a musical genre tougher for women than reggae - maybe the Vienna Boys Choir. Many listeners can rattle off long lists of their favorite reggae performers, but when asked about women in reggae, they point to Rita Marley and Judy Mowatt and...well, Rita Marley and Judy Mowatt. But there are other women making vital music, and there have been for some time. This collection displays the talents of nine of the groups and artists that were working with Lee Perry's Ariwa Sounds Studio in the late 1980's. The opening cut, "Guide and Protect," by Aisha, calls down a blessing from Jah in mellow harmonies. It could be taken as a blessing on this entire project, since these were all artists deserving of additional notice that they must have sometimes felt would require divine intervention. The tempo picks up with Live Wya's "Catch the Boat," featuring a fine lead vocal by Pauline Catlin. This moves into Sister Audrey's "English Girl," which includes some noteworthy percussion work by Jah Shaka. The inclusion of a cut titled "Free South Africa" dates the collection, but the performance by Sandra Cross and Wild Bunch is one of the highlights of the disc. Cross' lead voice is clear and sweet over the almost percussive backup voices. "Fire," by Fabienne, is one of the most politically conscious cuts here, but not one of the strongest presentations. Her voice, though, has some unique character and characteristics, and my eyes (and ears) will be open to find more of her work. On "Until You Come Back," Just Dale is backed by Mad Professor's band Robotiks and they take the song into a dub groove. This is followed by Kofi's "A Place in the Sun" and "Mr. Roots Man" by Rasheda. These are fine tracks, featuring strong voices and solid rhythms. The disc closes with a self-titled cut by D.J. Mama, and it's a keeper. Mama throws out some rapid fire toasting that stands with the best of the Kingston DJs. Her prideful attitude shows clearly that daughters have deep roots too. This won't make anyone's recording of the year list, I suppose, but there are strong performances here by artists who are too often overlooked. The music isn't brand new, and it's not all great, but it definitely deserves a spot in any reggae collection. VARIOUS ARTISTS: Street Jams - Back 2 The Old Skool (Rhino) Reviewed by DJ Johnson This is a brand new series from Rhino that compiles some of the greatest 70s funk sides onto 3 CDs, which are sold separately. People who followed the R&B charts (which were always stocked with MUCH better music than the pop charts) will be headed for a trip down memory lane. People who thought "The Hustle" was funky will be headed for a breakdown. While bands like Tower Of Power and War found the pop charts on occasion--usually with less funky stuff like "So Very Hard To Go" or "Why Can't We Be Friends," there was a great scene happening over in R&B land, with bands like Brick, Fatback, Zapp, The System, Slave, and Brass Construction. The groove is the thing, see, and nearly every track in this series has a nasty groove. Among the deepest are Brick's "Dazz," Mtume's "Green Light," Mass Production's "Firecracker," and Fatback's "Gotta Get My Hands On Some (Money)." Fatback has five tracks spread over these three CDs, all of which pack a funky punch. Much of this music was released as disco was sucking the creativity out of R&B, and eventually the better music won out. Elements of disco can be heard in some tracks, but never without a funk signature to steer it back onto the road. The packaging needs it's own paragraph in this review. The cover, which will appear blurry in the picture here, is actually a multi-frame shot of a car bouncing on its air shocks. When the cover is inside the special slot-faced jewel box (sounds like an insult!), you can make the car jump by tilting the jewel box forward and back. If I knew what they call that effect, I would tell you. Sorry. Just call it cool. The liner notes, written by KCRW (Santa Monica) disc jockey Warren Kolodny, touch on each performer and each track and give a nice compact overview of the history of old school funk. There are separate liner notes for each disc. The old school gave way to the new school, as all old schools eventually do, and little by little, the music became more and more diluted until it turned into the bland R&B that VH1 plays today. Hopefully, this series will continue, or at least spawn others like it, and this superior music will make enough of a comeback to catch the attention of the modern players. Who knows? Maybe the new dogs can be taught old tricks. VARIOUS ARTISTS: Supernatural Fairy Tales: The Progressive Rock Era (Rhino) Reviewed by Steve Marshall Progressive rock, as we know it today, originated in Europe in the late '60's. The music combined elements of rock and psychedelia with assorted classical and jazz influences. Throughout most of the 70's, prog-rock had a huge following. Groups like Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, and Genesis (all of which are included here) ruled the FM airwaves. Since the beginning, however, critics were notorious for dissing progressive artists. Pure-bred rockers blew it off as pompous and pretentious. Classical aficionados found it too simple and undemanding. Still, the crowds flocked to the concerts and the bands sold millions of records. In celebration of the first wave of prog-rock (1967-76), Rhino has just released a 5CD box set entitled Supernatural Fairy Tales: The Progressive Rock Era. Three years in the making, this 53-track collection includes more than five hours of music from multi-platinum groups, as well as lesser known artists, with nary an "I love you" in the lyrics. Keeping with prog-rock tradition, renowned artist Roger Dean created the artwork. Supernatural Fairy Tales also includes a comprehensive 60-page booklet brimming with photos, and informative liner notes from compiler Archie Patterson, Keith Emerson and several others. Disc one starts off with the single version of The Nice's "America." The song was originally banned in the US due to the song's so-called 'anti-American' tone. As you would expect, there aren't many 'hits' in this collection. The Moody Blues' classic "Legend of a Mind" qualifies as one though, and it fits in perfectly. Also included on disc one is a precursor to what later became known as 'space music', Klaus Schulze's "Searching." One of the best things about this box is the variety of artists involved. Chances are, there is something here that you'll remember hearing from years ago, but forgot about for whatever reason. Maybe it was just the 70's. For me, one such track appears on disc two - Atomic Rooster's "Death Walks Behind You." Another band I had been aware of for years, but never heard, was Van Der Graff Generator. After hearing "Killer" (from the band's second album), it made me wish I had discovered them sooner. Disc two also contains one of the few prog tracks to make it into the pop charts, the classic "Hocus Pocus" by Focus. Who can forget the song's yodeling choruses and stellar guitar licks? Nothing like that had been done before, or since. Disc three starts with the first of two tracks from Yes, "Perpetual Change," from the band's third album. Though this was still the 'pre-Wakeman' era, the album's six songs are among their best. One thing to note about Supernatural Fairy Tales is that the songs are all uncut: there are no short versions here. Electric Light Orchestra's eight-minute version of "Roll Over Beethoven" is included, as is the (once rare) complete version of "Karn Evil 9 - 1st Impression" from ELP's masterwork, Brain Salad Surgery. Until CDs came along, the track was split across two sides of the album, except for a rare compilation album that had the complete version. There aren't many tracks on Supernatural Fairy Tales that make you stop and ask yourself "why is this song on here?." However, one such track appears on disc four--Roxy Music's "Virginia Plain." Apart from Brian Eno's presence on the track, there is no reason for this song to be on here at all. "Ladytron" (also from the band's debut album) is a valid choice, but "Virginia Plain" simply doesn't belong. The same applies to "Warrior" from the third Wishbone Ash album. Its chorus sounds like Monty Python's "Lumberjack Song." Disc four isn't all bad, though. One group that I'm glad to see included is Nektar. The band's Remember the Future was one of 1973's biggest prog albums, represented here by the track "Questions and Answers." I was surprised at just how well this cut stood up outside the context of the album. Italy's self-proclaimed answer to ELP, Le Orme contributes "Ritorno Al Nulla" from their second album. The band sounds more like an orchestral version of Camel than ELP. Disc four ends with an instrumental by the French band, Clearlight, cleverly entitled "Without Words." With cuts by lesser known artists like Samla Mammas Manna, Banco, and Seventh Wave, disc five has the most obscure tracks. It also features material from prog stalwarts such as Gentle Giant and the jazz-rock sounds of Gong. The last 'hit' on Supernatural Fairy Tales is Golden Earring's classic rock staple, "Radar Love." Given the other great songs on the album (like "Vanilla Queen"), this one doesn't belong. It's great to see the band represented here, but they should have picked a better song. The box set wraps up with a cut from the lone American band included here; Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. While Zappa was undeniably progressive in his own right, this song ("Inca Roads") seems an unfitting conclusion to the box. Whether it's nostalgia, or just a new audience discovering the music, the fact remains that progressive rock is still a viable form of music and this compilation draws upon the period where prog-rock was at its creative and influential peak. As with any collection of this size, there are sure to be those who will disagree with the selections included here. Yet when you look at the box as a whole, it gives you an excellent cross-section of the bands responsible for creating and influencing this musical genre. Here's a side note for collectors: the initial pressings of Supernatural Fairy Tales have an error on disc four. Yes' "Siberian Khatru" (as listed on the jewel box, the booklet, and the outer box as well) is actually "And You and I." Rhino has corrected this for future runs and replaced "And You and I" with the correct track, "Siberian Khatru." Anyone wishing to exchange their copy of disc four for a corrected one should send the disc--not the whole box set--to Rhino Customer Service, Prog. Rock Box Set, 10635 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025. You'll receive the corrected disc in the mail. *** VIDEO REVIEW *** SOUVENIRS de MONTREUX LES McCANN & EDDIE HARRIS: Swiss Movement (Rhino Home Video) RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK: The One Man Twins (Rhino Home Video) Reviewed by Shaun Dale Rhino has released video companions to the first two CD releases in its Souvenirs de Montreux series (reviewed last month in Cosmik Debris) and they're both valuable contributions to the legacy of jazz. The McCann/Harris video includes four of the six cuts on the CD, including the classic performance of "Compared To What" (missing are "You Got It In Your Soulness" and "The Generation Gap"). It includes a bonus track, "Listen Here," not found on the disc. This is a historically valuable recording, and the extra track is welcome, but it's not exactly cutting edge in its production values. Recorded in black and white, the overall feel is of a piece preserved by an afficianado more than something produced for commercial release. The sound recording is of good quality, though, and the tape is worth having with or without the disc. "The One Man Twins" is the companion to Kirk's "I, Eye, Aye" and is a marvelous complement to the disc. Some of the CD cuts are altered or sacrificed on the video--"Satin Doll" is trimmed from the improvisational ending on the disc, and "Pedal Up" is absent from view--but they are replaced by a spectacular combination of "Misty" and "I Want to Talk About You" and an excerpt of the encore "Never Can Say Goodbye." Film of Kirk in performance is rare, and this is reputed to be among the best available. The performance was recorded in color and seemingly with an eye to eventual release. The musical performances show Kirk at the top of his form, and seeing Rahsaan Roland Kirk in action is an amazing experience. Kirk's talents as a multi-instrumentalist are legendary, but his practice of playing multiple instruments simultaneously is somtimes misunderstood as gimmickry by those unfamiliar with him. Watching him in action--using his hands, feet, mouth and even his nose to produce his unique sound should convince anyone that there is no gimmick involved. There's just a man so full of music that he would, and did, use any possible vehicle to get it out. I love listening to "I, Eye, Aye," but if I had to pick, I'd get "The One Man Twins." Recorded in 1972, long before the notion of "music video" gained any popular attention, it's everything a music video should be--a quality recording of genius in action. I don't know if Rhino will be limiting its Montreux releases to packages with both sound and video recordings available, but I hope they continue to release the video counterparts whenever possible. A trip to the store to snag either or both of these (and if its either, make it the Kirk) will help encourage them to do so. I encourage you to encourage them. VOICES OF ASCENSION: From Chant To Renaissance. Dennis Keene, Conductor. (DELOS DE 3174 [DDD] 63:50) Reviewed By Robert Cummings Chant, in case you've been asleep lately, is quite popular these days. One recent recording, simply entitled Chant on Angel, a compilation from four previous recordings, became a mega chart buster and started a trend that must have prompted certain record execs to scratch their balding heads in surprise (or, if they were women, to fuss with their split ends in astonishment). Now, of course, practically every label's getting into the act with recordings of chant and its close neighbor, religious choral music from the Medieval and Renaissance periods. This is the third entry in this competitive field by the talented forces of Dennis Keene and Voices of Ascension on Delos. Some people, of course, buy this kind of music because it is soothing, meditative, something they even doze off to. If that's your bag, I won't gainsay your listening habits, but be aware there's substantive music on this disc, not mantra-laden stuff packaged to fit some PR man's idea of new-age music in Renaissance robes. For example, you get two pristinely beautiful hymns (or Sequences) by the mystic nun (Saint) Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). And, again, if you been asleep lately (perhaps snoozing to the peaceful sounds of chanting Monks), Hildegard, also a poet, writer, scientist, diplomat and visionary whom nobles and popes consulted, has developed a rather large and devoted following in the past decade-and-a-half. Some of her admirers call her a feminist, but grudgingly concede her feminism was hardly in step with that of today-who among the Steinems and Smeals worship fervently in a male-dominated religion, much less write hymns extolling the Blessed Virgin? But the disc, as you can glean from the fat headnote, contains considerably more than just music by Hildegard. There are four motets by Palestrina, perhaps the leading composer of late Renaissance church music. There are also significant works by Dufay, Issac and Josquin. And, of course, you get a healthy quota of chant here-Gregorian Chant. The singers, under the knowing guidance of Dennis Keene, deliver performances of authenticity and commitment. Especially notable is the singing of Kathy Thiel in the Hildegard pieces. The notes, written by Keene, are excellent, as are the sonics. Each of the 24 selections is given a separate track. In sum, whether you soothe yourself into slumber with, or listen seriously to, this genre of music, this release will reward you richly. Track list - Hildegard of Bingen: O virga ac diadema; Ave generosa, Kathy Thiel, Soprano; Palestrina: Sitivit anima mea; Surge illuminare; Hodie Christus Natus Est; Ascendo ad Patrem; Byrd: Justorum animae; Rejoice, rejoice; Sing Joyfully; Miserere mei, Deus; Issac: Sanctus (from Missa Prolationem); Josquin Deprez: Ave Christe; Dufay: Alma Redemptoris Mater, Alexandra Montano, Neil Farrell, Jeffrey Johnson, Thom Baker, Singers; Tallis: In ieiunio et fletu; Farrant: Lord, for thy tender mercy's sake; Lotti: Crucifixus; Ingegneri: Tenebrae factae sunt; Weelkes: Hosanna to the Son of David; Alleluia, I heard a voice, Peter Stewart, Baritone; Anonymous: Rejoice in the Lord alway; Gregorian Chant: Kyrie eleison, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei (from Missa `cum jubilo'); Ave Verum Corpus, Susanne Peck, Soprano. THE VOLCANOS: Surf Quake! (Estrus) Reviewed by DJ Johnson An even dozen fantastic surf tracks from this 4-piece trad outfit. All the songs are originals, and just about all of them would have been right at home on a 1962 release. "Bikini Sunset" is such a stormin' powderkeg, I won't be surprised to hear most of next year's bands covering it. Attitude is a big factor here. Even the fast tunes sound moody. I like that. There is very little info on the back cover notes--hell, there aren't even any last names listed--so I'll just say that Rick and Chris are great guitarists. This is authentic. This is surf. (Estrus Records: PO Box 2125, Bellingham, WA, USA 98227) WEEZER: Pinkerton (Geffen) Reviewed by Keith Gillard After 1994's breakthrough debut album, Weezer seemed to be over before it had even begun. Two of the members (led by bassist Matt Sharp) formed Moog-celebration band The Rentals, and did very well with it. It seemed that great Weezer pop songs like "Buddy Holly" would belong only to 1994. Upon hearing that Weezer were doing a new album, I wondered what the new lineup would be, and whether or not they could pull it off without Matt Sharp. Surprise! It's the same line-up. The Rentals was just a side project, and it seems that the other half of Weezer was mature enough to let it happen without letting it get in the way. Like their debut, the most difficult thing for Weezer with Pinkerton is going to be deciding which of these songs will be singles. They could all be! Every track on this album is infectious and danceable, with memorable lyrics (even when they don't particularly make any sense!) and great melodic hooks. It hits hard and it hits sweet. The song chosen to represent Pinkerton as the first single is "El Scorcho," a slow and heavy bored-generation anthem. Allusions are made to works as disparate as M. Butterfly and Green Day within the course of a single verse, which is very entertaining. The simple repeating guitar riff is very effective, although the vocals are desperately out-of-tune in the choruses. The Rentals influence can be heard on Pinkerton right from the very first track, "Tired of Sex," with its tweezy, detuned analog synthesizer melody. Of course, it's not pristine electronic tone--it's as fuzzed out and distorted as the guitars are, and is a very nice change from the usual power pop guitar-only diet. The third track, "No Other One," is a 12/8 heavy ballad, and very catchy, even if the lyrics are hard to distinguish from the sea of harmonious noise that surrounds them. However, I suspect that the actual lyrics are secondary to the sounds of the words, and that the vocal line is just another instrument in the ensemble. The lyrics to "Pink Triangle" are bound to raise a few eyebrows, and perhaps keep it out of radio play. The song focuses on a man whose heart is broken when his girlfriend turns out to be a lesbian. I particularly like the line "We were good as married in my mind, but married in my mind's no good." The last track, "Butterfly," is very beautiful, with a heartfelt performance of vocals and acoustic guitar only. Again, the lyrics seem intended to provoke here. I have to wonder, given the M. Butterfly references in "El Scorcho" and the Oriental woman depicted on the back cover, if this track is another reference to the same woman. The only major problem with Pinkerton stems from performance, but really has more to do with production. The production on Weezer's first album was wonderful and rich, courtesy of Ric Ocasik (of Cars fame). Here, Weezer produced themselves, and the emphasis is on live performance energy--it is captured extremely well. However, the vocals are frequently out-of-tune, particularly in the multi-vocalist choruses. This sounds more like an outstanding live album than a studio album. I like what they have captured, but the performances could have benefited from some tightening up. This could have been accomplished by better production. Despite any flaws I perceive in the production or performance, this is a very solid pop album. Good sounds, nice mix, and excellent songwriting from Rivers Cuomo. If you liked the first Weezer album, or The Return of the Rentals, you'll like Pinkerton. Does this mean the break-up of The Rentals? Songwriting: 8/10 Production: 6/10 Performance: 7/10 Overall: 7/10 WHITE ZOMBIE: ...Presents Supersexy Swingin' Sounds (Geffen) Reviewed by DJ Johnson Well, this is certainly one of the strangest releases of the Halloween season. After a long long wait, White Zombie fans have something to sink their collective teeth into--something that will taste quite familiar. Why? Because it's White Zombie's LAST album. What we have here is a stack of tracks from the album Astro Creep: 2000 - Songs Of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head. God, I love that title. So why should you buy an album twice? Because this one is, essentially, a hotter-n-hell technorgy of remixes done by a host of criminally insane producers. No, I'm not talking about "oh, hey, that little guitar line wasn't distorted on the original!" I'm talking about industrial techno bombardment and complete changes of venue. Twists and turns and nightmarish imagery--essentially all the power that comes with any White Zombie record with the addition of some sonic angel dust and the creative input of Freddy Krueger. Darkness abounds. Charlie Clouser, who played keyboards on the original version of the album, hits in the lead-off spot with remixes of both "Electric Head Pt. 2" and "More Human Than Human," adding thick layers of surreal electonics to the latter without screwing with the powerful slide guitar track one bit. THANK you, Chuck! The Damage Twins (Oliver Adams and Praga Khan of The Lords Of Acid) went totally nuckin' futs with "Electric Head Pt. 1," pulling out all the stops in creating a total noisescape. It's probably the closest thing to late 80s techno on the album. John Fryer's remix of "I, Zombie" is very Eastern Europe, and who knows where the inspiration for P.M. Dawn's remix of "Blood, Milk and Sky" came from, but the interesting thing is that the common thread--White Zombie's unstoppable rhythms--bonds it all together as a cohesive work. It's all so unusual that the final track, a cover of KC and the Sunshine Band's "I'm Your Boogie Man," seems right at home. That track can also be found on the soundtrack to The Crow II: City Of Angels. Now here's something kinky: the cover is a parody of the lounge music era, which is currently being revisited as the latest retro-trend. A mid-60's Playboy-type photo of a nude woman in a hammock graces the cover. The similar picture under the CD tray is a mind (and pants) wrecker! Totally tasteful, leaving most everything to your imagination, and why the hell am I talking about this in a music review? Sorry. The point is that poor unsuspecting morons could buy this, expecting Arthur Lymanesque exotic moods and getting, instead, electronically juiced vampire music. Shhhh. Don't tell any morons. It'll be fun! FRANK ZAPPA: Lather (Rykodisc) Reviewed by Steve Marshall There's exciting news for Zappa fans this month: Lather, the 'long lost Zappa album,' has just been released by Rykodisc. For those who may not know the whole story behind the album, let me fill you in. Zappa originally conceived Lather as a 4-record box set. FZ's record company at the time (Discreet - a now defunct subsidiary of Warner Brothers), didn't want to release it. Zappa then tried to release it with another record company (Polygram) as a 'special project.' Polygram briefly agreed to release the box set, then reneged on the deal due to legal complications with Discreet. Discreet told Zappa that he owed them four more records under his present contract. In an attempt to fulfill his contractual obligation, Zappa reformatted Lather and delivered the remaining four albums all at once. They wouldn't pay him, nor would they release him from his contract. Never one to be pushed around by the record labels, Zappa took Lather to a local radio station in December of 1977 and asked them to play the entire thing. Frank assumed the role of "temporary bogus disc jockey" for this special broadcast. After asking listeners to get their tape decks set up, he delivered Lather to the radio audience for free. Soon after the radio broadcast, Lather saw its first release as a bootleg 4LP box set. There was also a double-LP bootleg called Leatherette. It featured songs from Lather, plus tracks alleged to be from the same sessions (including the still-unreleased studio version of "Dead Girls of London" with Van Morrison on vocals). Commercially, the material ended up being spread out over a number of albums. The final four Zappa releases on Discreet all had tracks from Lather, as did the excellent Shut Up and Play Your Guitar series. Sheik Yerbouti and Tinseltown Rebellion both featured cuts as well. Some of you may be wondering why this whole thing is such a big deal in the first place. The answer is simple. It's the music. Recorded between 1973 and 1977, Lather contains some of Zappa's most diverse and best loved material. All the tracks from the original box set are here (now on three CDs), plus four bonus tracks. The only problem with the CD version, surprisingly, is the sound quality. The vinyl bootleg actually has better sound. Not that Lather sounds bad on CD, it just doesn't sound as good as you'd expect--especially considering Ryko's recent overhaul of the entire Zappa catalog. Some of the tracks appear in edited form (the unedited versions can be found on the individual releases), and several versions of the songs are exclusive to Lather itself. So what's on these CDs, anyway? The material ranges from orchestral excursions (like "Pedro's Dowry" and "Duke of Orchestral Prunes"), to instrumental workouts ("The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution" and "The Purple Lagoon"), to the so-called 'comedy songs' like "Broken Hearts are for Assholes" and "Titties and Beer." Overall, disc one is the best of the three. With classic Zappa tunes like "Tryin' to Grow a Chin," "RDNZL," and "The Legend of the Illinois Enema Bandit" (featuring a scorching solo by FZ) all on the same disc, you just can't go wrong. Disc two isn't quite as good as the first, but there are still a lot of great tunes on it. It starts with the unedited version of "Honey, Don't You Want a Man Like Me?" (complete with the "fuck you very much" response from FZ to the heckler in the audience), then goes into concert favorites "The Black Page #1" and "Big Leg Emma." Up next is the controversial "Punky's Whips," a song written about Punky Meadows--guitarist for the 70's glam band, Angel. Due to lyrics regarding Meadows, Jeff Beck and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, FZ ended up being sued over this track (and "Titties and Beer") when it appeared on the Zappa in New York album. Zappa removed the song, and edited "Titties and Beer" following the legal frenzy. The most interesting cuts on Lather appear on the last disc. In addition to the 'cleaned up' version of "Titties and Beer" and "The Adventures of Greggery Peccary" (Lather's original side-long finale), there are four bonus tracks--sandwiched between excerpts of the actual radio broadcast where Zappa debuted Lather. The first bonus track is a 1993 remix of "Regyptian Strut." The sound quality is much better than on the original version. The next cut, "Leather Goods," features an excellent Zappa guitar solo and sound bites used in various places on Lather. "Revenge of the Knick Knack People" is an assortment of outtakes from the Baby Snakes soundtrack. The last bonus track is the original instrumental version of "Time is Money." Lather includes a 32-page booklet with notes on all the songs, plus insight into the legal complications FZ had to deal with when he tried to release it. This is prime Zappa material, all edited and arranged by FZ himself. Though the sound quality may not be perfect, Lather is essential for all Zappa fans. WARREN ZEVON: I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (Rhino) Reviewed by DJ Johnson There aren't many performers who can conjure up as wide a variety of images as can Warren Zevon. Known to his fans as The Excitable Boy, Zevon has had an extraordinary career. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead is a 2-CD retrospective from Rhino (of course!) that contains 44 songs recorded between 1976 and 1994. The key to Zevon's greatness as a songwriter has always been the characters who populate his songs, and the cynical wit with which they view their circumstances. In "Poor Poor Pitiful Me," for instance, the narrator bemoans his desperation over being pursued and exhausted by a variety of kinky ladies. "She really worked me over good She was a credit to her gender She put me through some changes, Lord Sorta like a Waring blender." Is he as happy as I would be? No! He's desperate. "I'd lay my head on the railroad tracks And wait for the Double-E But the railroad don't run no more Poor poor pitiful me!" The population of Zevon's world is as strange as anything you'll find in a Tim Burton film: "Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner," who stalks his murderer all across Africa seeking revenge; the tragic junkie in "Carmalita," who sits in the dark playing solitaire with his "pearl-handled deck;" the gorilla from the LA Zoo that steals his glasses and the keys to his BMW and makes his escape, assuming the storyteller's identity and relationships. The sorry revelation of that song, "Gorilla You're A Desperado," is the fact that the gorilla can't fuck the guys life up any worse than it already was. Then, of course, there's the best known Zevon classic, "Werewolves Of London," which needs no description. His hair was...perfect! Not all of Zevon's lyrics are funny. "Desperados Under The Eaves," "Accidentally, Like A Martyr," "Reconsider Me," and "Hasten Down The Wind" reveal Zevon's other side--the side that seeks redemption, or at least a little understanding. The track order on this collection offers the listener a wild ride on the emotional rollercoaster, sadness following laughter following fascination. This is appropriate. This is how any Warren Zevon album effects most people. The first disc covers Zevon's years on Asylum Records (1976-1986). With disc two, we delve into the Virgin/Giant years (1987 to present). During this period, Zevon experienced a lot of personal changes that would kill most ordinary men, including the painful experience of drying out after years of alcohol and drug abuse. That experience is chronicled in "Detox Mansion" with more than a little humor thrown in...because how else can one survive such an experience? Three songs from the Transverse City album are included as well. This was easily Zevon's strangest album--a conceptual collection of songs about survival in a post-apocalyptic world. "Run Straight Down" tells of the environmental dangers, "The Long Arm Of The Law" is about the danger from authority, and "Splendid Isolation" is his ultimate solution to the puzzle, in which he makes his own private world in the desert. "Boom Boom Mancini," from the Sentimental Hygiene album, seems an unusual subject for Zevon until you consider Mancini's story. A nice kid with dynamite fists who, against all odds, won the world lightweight title that had eluded his father, only to see that euphoria turn to deep depression when he later killed a challenger in the ring. Here was the real life counterpart to the classic Zevon character, surviving the rollercoaster ride as best he can. In the outstanding liner notes, Zevon himself describes each track, offering interesting bits of information about what was going on in his life at the time the tune was written and how certain parts of it came to be. And throughout the notes, the same elements are present as in his music: wit, wisdom, honesty and a knack for survival. Survival, in fact, seems to be a central theme in Zevon's post '86 work. It's certainly a subject he knows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- COSMIK QUICKIES: Really really short reviews for those in a big hurry. DOYLE BRAMHALL II: Doyle Bramhall II (Geffen) Reviewed by Steve Marshall Bramhall was one fourth of Arc Angels, a band he formed with Charlie Sexton and half of Stevie's Ray Vaughan's band, Double Trouble. I had high expectations for this CD, since the Arc Angels disc was so good. Unfortunately, those expectations were dashed as soon as I hit the play button. This is the lamest CD I've heard in a long time. It starts off bad and goes downhill from there. Bramhall's backup band on the CD are Wendy and Lisa (both ex-members of Prince's band), but even they can't save this turkey. Avoid this CD at all costs. DIZZIE GILLESPIE: Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac (Impulse) Reviewed By John Sekerka Time is 1966 and Dizzy is the man. Caught in his jovial prime, Gillespie is heard foolin' around with his band as they rev up for the title track: chanting, singing and laughing before he and sax great James Moody pick up their horns to blow the town down. Dizzy's unique brand of humour gives a sweet touch to this recording, which also happens to include a killer vocal version of "Kush," and the Brazilian gem "Mas Que Nada." Presented in gorgeous fold out cardboard packaging, this is one to savour. MICHAEL HALL: Day (Deja Disc) Reviewed by John Sekerka Been a long time since I last jumped around to "Mud, Lies & Shame," an infectious obscurity of an album by the long gone Wild Seeds. So it was with giddy anticipation that I slapped this disc on. Y'see Michael Hall is the thread here, and those in the know still keep their copy of Mud handy for those special times. More on the reserved side, Hall's solo work shows a mature writer honing his craft, choosing to vent emotion through the power of the word, not the big beat. Not that all of the rock has gone out of Hall, he's just found a new form of expression. If you wanted to get back on the springy bed, you better set back down for there will be another day to jump around. In the meantime take a good listen to one of the better records of the year. HONEYRIDER: 3-song EP (Candy Floss) Reviewed by The Platterpuss I'm generally not all that fond of that whole noisy pop thing that so many people seem to be into and, at first listen, this 3-songer kinda fell into that category. But, after a couple more spins, what I heard were some realy catchy hooks and pretty melodies not too far beneath the surface. In fact, the more I play this the more I like all 3 songs especially "Drugstore Shoot-Out" on the A-side. (130 Sutter St., 5th Floor, San Francisco CA 94104) PEARL JAM: No Code (Epic) Reviewed by Steve Marshall Pearl Jam's newest release should be titled No Good. The band's fourth album never quite amounts to anything. They try out a few new ideas here and there, but they never fully explore them. The first single, "Who You Are" drones on and on over three or four notes. It almost makes you yearn for Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to come in for a change of vocal inflection. Well, almost. Eddie 'can't find a melody' Vedder grunts his way though "Lukin." Luckily, the song's not much more than a minute long."Present Tense" is the best song on the CD. Aside from that, it sucks. Interesting packaging on the vinyl, but the CD version is too small to appreciate. PINK FLOYD: Relics (Capitol) Reviewed by Steve Marshall Available for the first time on CD in the US, Relics is a collection of early 'hits'. Completely repackaged and digitally remastered, it looks and sounds better than ever. What's that? You say you're still looking for that CD to scare the trick-or-treaters on Halloween? Well, look no further. Just program your CD player to repeat "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" over and over. You can't beat it. It works as a great tune to crank up & piss off the neighbors, too. PREZIDENT BROWN: Original Blue Print (VP) Reviewed by DJ Johnson The Prez is an interesting performer who can mix styles of reggae such as dancehall and classic, often using elements of both in the same song. His delivery reminds me a little of the great Sparrow, a testimony to his skills as a storyteller. The only thing that detracts from that--and it's as much my own "dense white guy" thing as anything else--is the fact that I can't always understand what he's singing. A lyric sheet would be very nice, thank you. Maybe you'll understand more of it than I do. So in summary: it's wonderful! I love it! I dance around. I don't always know what he's saying but I'm enthralled with his stories. I don't know why. Then again, some people watch operas performed entirely in Italian. THE SORT OF QUARTET: Kiss Me Twice I'm Schitzo (SST) Reviewed by John Sekerka Kickin' jazz seems to be a new obsession with legendary punk label SST. Add The Sort of Quartet to Hotel X and Bazooka to the growing hepcat roster making wild and wooly head waves in the stodgy, stuffy jazz world. These fellas are the epitome of blunt, as they race forward with primal drum beats out front. In fact this is yer classic guitar, bass and drums rock'n'roll line-up, 'cept they play with strange time signatures, change pace throughout and slip in some sax when yer not lookin'. It is the inspired skin pounding by Rob Peterson that fuels this little rocket, and makes my toes go pitter patter. Yowsa! VARIOUS ARTISTS: The Best Of Tragedy (DCC Compact Classics) Reviewed by DJ Johnson It's kinda hard to believe there was actually a genre called Tragedy. It was just rock and roll, of course, slowed down and outfitted with death lyrics so maudlin that Howlin' Wolf records sounded downright cheery in comparison. The heyday for this style of music was probably 1960 through 1963, though in some form or another it still continues to this day. "Last Kiss," by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers is a prime example of this music. Don't remember it? Here's a word-clip. "Oh where oh where can my baby be? The Lord took her away from me. She's gone to heaven so I've got to be good so I can see my baby when I leave this world." Know it now? Well, if you don't, you might not know "Teen Angel," "Tell Laura I Love Her," "Patches," "Leader Of The Pack," "Mr. Lonely," or "Dead Man's Curve," either, but they're all here in case you get curious. This even makes a great little Halloween CD. By the 5th or 6th song, the thought of driving your car will scare the shit out of you. VARIOUS ARTISTS: A Stab At The Residents (Vaccination) Reviewed by John Sekerka Of all the outfits to cover, this has to rank as the most adventurous. Indeed, how do ya cover the craziest mystery band on the planet? A group that's veiled in secrecy, hides behind head-sized eyeballs, and dabbles in music deconstruction. Quite easily, as it turns out. Thirty quirky tunes by a roster which includes heavyweights Cracker and Primus, and an interesting collection of obscure bands. Laid out lavishly in a slick fold-out slip case, enhanced by superb artwork from Chuck Squier, and presented with charming liner notes from Penn Jillette, it's one of the spiffiest packages in recent memory, and one to covet. Not that this'll really win over any new listeners (the versions here are just as fucked-up as the originals), but fans will devour it. My pick for choice cut is Stan Ridgeway's phone message excuse for not participating. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- BETWEEN ZERO AND ONE By Steven Leith THE GOOD OLD DAYS ARE NOW These are our glory days on the Net. The intellectual freedom possessed by the techno-elite is unparalleled in history. No borders can contain the flow of ideas. No nation can prevent the rush toward total world freedom; or can it? Many technologists make extravagant claims that the Net is merely the beginning of a revolution that will usher in a brave new world of freedom. They seem to think that the voice of reason will not only prevail on the Net, but that the voice will be loud enough to prevail in the streets and board rooms of the world. Hello? The techno-elites are so busy looking toward the rosy new dawn that they never spare a backward glance at history. Yes, history holds the clues to our future. Each evolution in human communication has unleashed a freedom of expression that flourishes for a time then vanishes. The printing press is an overworked example of how something that could mass produce information became merely a means to mass produce lies; so, lets look at the spoken word. Now there was a technology! You could make sounds at someone and they would understand what you meant. I doubt the first speakers were concerned about what they said. Everyone was so damn happy just to be able to talk that nothing was prevented from being voiced. Guess what? That didn't remain the way of the world. Words became the vehicle for dangerous thoughts like, "Gee, I don't think God is real," or "I could do as good a job as the King." When ideas are dangerous to powerful groups within a society those words can and will be banned. The Czars outlawed public and private discussion about their fitness to rule as did the Bolsheviks after them. Of course stopping the free flow of ideas may not keep the rulers safe forever, but it can be surprisingly effective in the short run. Yes I do have a vision of the future. It is not for the faint hearted so don't read on if you are easily frightened. Net culture will be usurped by Madison Avenue as fast as it can be created by the techno-elite. The best way to stop a new idea is to reduce it to a fashion statement, like long hair in the sixties or body piercing in the niNeties. The Net is already under attack and the saddest part is that the long neglected techno-elite think that this public attention is just what they need. You can bet that the anonymity of the Net will be replaced by a surprisingly effective system of control. Yes, any system meant to control the Net will be flawed, but censorship does not have to be complete to be effective. Squeezing through the cracks of the approved Net will be far too hard for the average citizen. Small InterNet Service Providers will slowly disappear, replaced by Multi-National Telcoms who will be quite happy to consign to oblivion any rogue Network Server the government defines as outlaw. You see, part of the way the Net works is that the Network you are on may choose to prevent you from accessing another Network's web pages or email. Can you get all the UseNet Newsgroups on your server? Outlaw servers will exist, but there will be no reason to raid them or burn them down. All you will have to do is prevent the masses from even finding that they exist. In that way the Net will ossify. Then some years down the road the next wave of communications technology will be heralded as the revolution that will bring information freedom to the world. So use the open Net now. You may have less time than you think to enjoy it. 011010010110100101110011011000100110010101101100011010010110010101110110011 Between Zero & One http://www.speakeasy.org/~leith/ leith@speakeasy.org 011010010110100101110011011000100110010101101100011010010110010101110110011 PHIL'S GARAGE By Phil Dirt THE LADY IN THE REVERB "It's hard being a legend. Everyone expects me to be more than I am. If I write songs that are too different, I am not being not being true to my roots. That reminds me, did I dye my hair this week? I digress. If my new songs are too much like the old ones, I'm just rehashing the past. What's a poor Prince of Prowess to do? I'm just a Guitar Hero, not a machine. Why can't they just love me?" The Kaiser of Kool often talks to himself while writing songs. This is very helpful. After all, he can get honest feedback, without embarrasing criticism from the nitpicking nabobs of negativity. The Baron of Bravado is feeling insecure about what all those others expect from him. It's so unfair to be expected to BE the legend. What's worse, the God of Reverb made up half of the legend himself, so he has no one to complain to. He is a lonely man, searching for guidance, for a voice to tell him how to proceed...how to return to the top. Sitting alone in his living room, the aging demi-god of the surf guitar is trying to write a new song. He is playing the Whammy Master special edition guitar issued in his honor by the Bumper Guitar company. He's honored, though it really bothers him that it took them 30 years to get around to it. After all, if it wasn't for the immense influence of the Pied Piper of Pomona, everyone would still be playing Moe's Right guitars. The Duke of Suave is working on yet another variation of his favorite hit from the golden age of the guitar "Watusi George" when a voice cries out from the kitchen "Why don't you write a NEW song?!" A curt "Yes dear" is all that is uttered aloud, but under the breath is whispered "rotten witch...they're all the same...think it's so easy to be a legend...eat your rabbit pellets and leave me alone." At some level, he wishes he were 10 years old again, living back on the East coast in his parents house. It doesn't take long before he remembers the critical ear his mother applied to his early attempts at the ukulele, and the time his dad made him sing Hank Williams "Your Cheatin' Heart", which he hadn't quite learned, to draw attention to his little sister's failing lemon aide stand. He remembers the neighbor kids laughing at him when his Sears acoustic fell apart in his hands. Life just hasn't been fair to the Regal Chord Master. Several times during the past hour, there has been this slight howling sound emanating from his amp. It sounds a bit like reverb tank howl, but not quite. So far, the Champion of the Double-Pick has ignored it. A half an hour passes, and the same melody keeps coming...nothing new. As the tune is started for the sixty fourth time, the Great Glissando hears what he thinks is a faint voice through the howling saying something he can't quite make out. He shrugs it off, and rocks quietly to himself to rendition sixty five. Again, he hears something, and this time it sounds like a female voice saying something about a song. Wondering if it's the mother of his happiness, he asks "Did you say something, dear?" The reply from the kitchen is a less than complimentary "Can't write and can't hear either." More under-the-breath mumbling about "women of the female persuasion" and how little action there is since getting hitched. He launches into number sixty six, but only two notes into it, there's that howling voice again. It sounds like she's saying something important, but he can't quite make it out. He figures he must be tired, so he puts away the guitar for the night. It's Thursday night, and rehearsal with the band. The Grand Visor of Staccato has introduced a new song he has tentatively called "Zunami Zephyr." About half way through the song, he hears that voice coming from his amp again. He stops playing. He asks his bass player if he heard something. The reply is "What? I wasn't listening." Once more, just before the end of the night's work, that voice seems to speak from the amp. This time, the drummer asks "What's that?". The Legend issues a sigh of relief. He's not going crazy. He says "I've been hearing that girl's voice in the reverb howl for a few days now. I thought it was just me. I was getting worried!" The drummer say's "What are you talking about? I was asking about that dreadful melody. I'm sick of doing "Watusi George". Mr. legend says "Never mind" and thinks to himself how shallow these schmucks are. Don't they know who their playing with? The next night, they are playing at the Bourbon for the darlings of the industry. It's a gala Halloween costume party, and a very important gig for the big cheese. The last album didn't do well. The picture of the seventies van with the Indian scene painted on the side had turned off his traditional fans, and the label had dropped him. The search for a new label is on, and there are lots of industry lizards expected to be in attendance. Before the show, they stop at the Herbivorous Diner for a bite. A healthy blend of grasses on whole wheat, glazed with juniper extract. The King's energy is revived. The bill comes. It's $6.66. Is this a bad omen, or just the luck of the draw. The waitress is not sure, she just works there. The Glossary of Guitar Hooks is rattled. He glances through the Kitchen door, and thinks he sees an aged female in the dark corner near the back laughing at him. He turns away, but when he looks back, she is gone. He wonders if she's the one in the reverb, or if she was there at all? He dare not ask. At the venue, Dr. Hip is getting pretty nervous. What if "she" says something while he's on stage? He doesn't even know what she's saying yet. What will he say to his minions? Will they even hear her? Bullets of sweat are running down from his receding hairline. To top all of that off, his Navajo costume is too tight around his expanding equator, and the beads keep falling into the strings of his guitar. At least the opening band is no threat. The contract requires a lame non-surf act to open. The King of the E-string must not be overthrown. Sound check is uneventful, voice wise anyway. Maybe all will be swell? Soon, there comes the house introduction by a locally worshipped denizen of cool Ras Tah. He speaks softly and clearly into the microphone, his robes flowing and his eyes glazed from the sacred potion. "Goblins and Goblinettes. The convergence of the flows of demiswirls is at hand. Prepare for the mystical voyage. Give a warm welcome to your guide and protector, the Progenitor of...what's he do?...oh, yeah, surf guitar...Mount Olympus! Well, that pisses off the Monarch of Riffs. Who is this seance reject anyway? The show must go on. The Legend struts to the microphone. He says "Thanks Rusty. Are you ready to rock with the God of Reverb?!" The crowd goes nuts, shouting back "OK!" The first note is plucked. It's huge. Then the second, and the drummer dribbles out a stream of snare taps. The third note rings out, and this time the bassist thumps in as well. The Grand Visor bows. Everyone loves him. He is whole. The world is a better place. He shouts out "You all look grand in your costumes. Do you like mine?" More cheers and admiration. Life is good. He launches into his set, and it moves right along for about forty five minutes. Then there's a slight howling from the reverb. "Uh-oh" mutters the legend. Thinking quickly, he approaches the microphone, and says "I brought the reverb with the ghost in it for Halloween. Do you like it?" Hoots and hollers and cheers all around. Wheh! The Maestro of Musical Melange coaxes "If you listen real careful, you might hear the Lady In The Reverb. She only comes out for special occasions, like tonight." Still more applause. The King can do no wrong. A few more times, the reverb howls. The lady in the reverb can be heard, but her words can not be distinguished. Each time she speaks, the Reigning Prince of Guitar Rumble steps to the mic and asks "Did you hear her?" and the bumpkins incognito respond with a cohesive and resounding "Yes!" Further into the set, the voice begins to get louder. The Legend starts to worry, because he still doesn't know what she will say. Still, he keeps a confident face on for the costumed merry makers. After all, they all love him. They are just sure he's putting it all on. So far, so good. He gets all the way through his planned set, except for the last song. The lady's words are still illusive. The God of the E-string announces "Thanks for coming. This is my last number...a new song...Zunami Zephyr!" The crowd cheers. The King get set to slam out the first familiar note. The reverb begins to howl. The lady in the reverb speaks! "The Emperor has no songs! Nice boys wouldn't be out so late. You get home right now!" It rings out loud and clear as a bell throughout the house. The place falls silent. The Mayor of Twang cries "Mom?!" NOTE: All characters in this story are fictional. If you recognize yourself somewhere in here, your ego is too big. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE AUDIO FILE by Cai Campbell A Tool For Your Ears Last month I took you on a trip down memory lane, explaining my own infatuation with quadraphonic sound. I also promised that this month I would delve more into the technical aspects of quad and surround sound. In performing my research, I have realized that I have opened up the proverbial can of worms! I had no idea that the history of quad and surround sound was so detailed and convoluted. Needless to say, by the time deadline rolled around, I was nowhere near able to do this topic the justice it deserves. So, dear reader, "Do Audiophiles Dream of Quadraphonic Sheep - Part II" will have to wait. But don't worry, when it is complete, it is bound to provide an entertaining and (hopefully) enlightening look into the sordid world of multi-channel sound systems of the past, present, and future. In the meantime I would like to share with you a tool I have acquired. In past articles, I've discussed tools for improving the sound of your stereo system without shelling out a whole lotta dough. But with all the tweaking and adjusting, how do you know if your system is REALLY delivering? What is needed is a tool for your ears. Sure, you can listen to a recording which you are intimately familiar with and get a fair idea whether or not a particular system or stereo component is performing on par with your expectations, but more often than not this exercise is flawed by its inherent subjectivity. The tool I am talking about is an Audio Test Disc. Test discs (or disks, as the case may be) have been around since the dawn of hi-fi, but Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab now has available a professional quality test disc produced by two of the top audio engineers in their fields: Alan Parson and Stephen Court. As Alan Parsons points out, they created Sound Check with ."..the intention of getting away from the laboratory test bench type of product and instead, aimed to introduce a universal tool which anyone with a serious interest in sound, whether amateur or professional, would find beneficial and easy to use." Sound Check is chock full of test tones, pink noise, max level tones, and other assorted technical patterns aimed at the professional. While studio technicians and serious audio enthusiasts will no doubt find great use for these, the moderately interested audiophile may not. But Sound Check does not stop with these dry and sometimes arcane tone patterns. It also includes discreet vocal and instrumental tracks, sound effects, and music tracks, all aimed at helping the listener pinpoint weaknesses in their sound system or in evaluating the performance of equipment. It's difficult for me to speak about the benefits this disc can offer in a manner which would be beneficial to any but the moderate audio enthusiast, of which I am one. So I will speak from my personal experience with the disc and apologize in advance for not illustrating the full potential of this great test disc, because its applications are far reaching indeed. The first thing I tried when I played the disc was the octave bands. There are 31 bands ranging from 20Hz to 20kHz. My goal was twofold: to insure that my speakers could reproduce the extremes of the spectrum and to verify that my hearing was capable of identifying those extremes. Also, I was curious if the sound reproduction of the amplifier and speakers would be consistent throughout the spectrum. What I found was that I could not hear the 20Hz and 25Hz bands. At first I thought that my ears simply could not resolve those low of frequencies. But I could clearly resolve the 31.5Hz band which is not too far a cry from 25Hz, so I started going over the specs of my equipment. Both my CD player and amplifier are rated for that frequency range but I discovered that my speakers are rated for 35Hz to 24kHz. Already I had found room for improvement in my system! I also discovered that the upper-mid frequencies (between 2kHz and 3.15kHz) sounded slightly distorted. This was more readily apparent with the sweep tones, which is a separate set of bands on Sound Check which quickly sweep between varying frequency ranges. The most useful bands on the CD, for me, turned out to be the discreet instrumental tracks. Here I was able to listen to various instruments (such as a piano, electric guitar, saxophone, and different types of drums) and analyze my system's ability to reproduce the widely varying sounds. The sound effects tracks were also useful, especially the sub machine gun and chieftain tank. With all the varying sounds with their wide-ranging signatures, my system (and ears) were really getting a workout! The music tracks brought it all home by presenting four full length tunes representing very different styles of music. This test disc stands out from others not just because of the unique all-encompassing approach, but also because it is a true audiophile disc, mastered from the original master recordings and presented on a 24 karat gold compact disc utilizing Mobile Fidelity's Gain technology. It is without a doubt the ultimate test disc, no matter at what level you choose to employ it. Its ultimate versatility is its greatest asset. In the final analysis I am relieved that my ears are functioning on par with my expectations but am somewhat dismayed by the less than perfect performance of my sound system. Yet the disc performed its job as advertised and now I must set to the task of tweaking, adjusting, and testing, in my continuing effort to find sonic nirvana. ------- Special Note: This is the last issue of Cosmik Debris which my Audio File column and record reviews shall appear in. I am in the process of establishing my own presence on the World Wide Web and will direct my energies there. The Audio File and record reviews will be an integral part of that effort, so keep reading Cosmik Debris for an official announcement concerning this. Thank you, Cai Campbell --------------------------------------------------------------------------- dead STUFF I NOTICED By DJ Johnson This month, I'm afraid I'm a bit down in the dumps. A bit distressed. Just a tad freaked out. With the recent news that one of my favorite bands, The Woodies, has decided to call it quits, I have been brought face to face with a demon I've been denying for ages. For you see, my dear friends, that I am the kiss of death for bands I interview or take a particular interest in. Superstition is supposedly the curse of a limited mind, and I'd prefer to think of myself as something loftier than Lenny in Of Mice And Men, but there comes a time when you have to tally up the scorecard and see what your batting average is. And my batting average, ladies and gentlemen, is high. The facts are in. I'm bad voodoo. My first interview for Cosmik Debris was The Mel-Tones, an instro-surf band from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, that I happened to be very fond of. Mel Waldorf split for Montreal shortly after that interview, leaving Jeff Halladay and Chris Sanzo behind. I was crushed, but totally unaware that I had blood on my hands. The next band that I took a strong personal interest in was The Basement Brats, from Halden, Norway. Something like a cross between The Devil Dogs and The Ramones, with killer hooks and wall of sound guitars, these guys were my favorite band from the moment I heard them. And then...well, they didn't break up, but they booted Ole Olsen out of the band--a fatal mistake, since Ole's vocals were a big part of the identity of the band. I still didn't make the connection, however. I just mourned. They weren't the same. In December of 1995, I interviewed Sue Horwitz, a talented guitarist, singer and songwriter who was the leader of the New York City punk band known as The Wives. Again, I became totally psychotic in my need to listen to their album over and over. Again, the band split up shortly after the interview. I became suspicious. Over a year ago, I heard The Woodies, San Fran's killer instro band fronted by one Rick Escobar. Rick and I became e-mail buddies. I reviewed their latest demo tape. They'd been together since John Lennon started copping Lonnie Donnigan riffs. (Okay, that's stretching it, but suffice to say they had been a popular fixture of the instro scene for some time.) Last week, word got around that Rick had grown frustrated and pulled the plug on The Woodies. You'll note that I have had no contact with The Rolling Stones. So there it was. The Mel-Tones. The Wives. The Basement Brats. The Woodies. It became clear; an interview by me was a quick ticket to splitsville. I fear for The Halibuts. And poor John Blair just got The Nightriders back together again, fer chrissakes. Honestly, I don't know how The Beatles managed to mess things up so badly without me. And then it occurred to me that this wasn't necessarily all bad news. Sure, I wish all of those bands were still going strong, but look at it this way: I seem to have a power that could be used for the good of all mankind. What if I were to interview, say...The Grateful Dead? Perhaps I could just ask a few questions of Bootie and the Wholefish. I would even be more than willing to come up with a notebook full of questions for the Stone Temple Pilots! And how strong IS this power? For instance...if I interview Sammy Hagar, will HE break up? And if it can do such destruction, can you tell me how to go about reaching Madonna's management? Never mind all those. Just take me to Nashville. There is much work to do. HALLOWEEN SPECIAL: The Sharp Pointed STAKE Award! I recently flipped on the Trinity Broadcast Network to get my daily dose of horror, and there I saw Benny Hinn, a bizarre huckster who has what appears to be trillions of idiots convinced that all he has to do is either touch them or blow on them and all their ills will be cured. He was doing a show in some dome, and the dolts were lining up to get on stage. He'd run up to people and scream "TOUCH!" while throwing both hands toward them. The touchee would fly backward in the air, legs kicking wildly, arms flailing in a move most likely learned from years of mindlessly watching Big Time Wrestling, ultimately crashing to the ground in tears. Old people in the crowd cried and said "Praise the Lord" over and over again. Tens of thousands of them. They go home and discover their arthritis has returned as strong as ever, never suspecting they had simply been on an adrenaline buzz. To these people, and the people who support that network of thieves, I present a blanket award. There are too many of them for individual statuettes. People, please listen up: You don't have to be stupid. With just a little bit of education and gumption, you could be...well, you could be a politician! Like Phil Gramm. Phil wanted to be your president, remember that? I remember that. I never really had the impression he was serious, though, almost as if running was something he was expected to do, but even HE could see it was an absurd notion. Unfortunately, Senator Gramm does have some power in our nation's capital. Phil did his part to push the Anti Gay Marriage Act, making the absolutely ludicrous remark, and I do quote, "The traditional family has stood for 5,000 years. Are we so wise today that we are ready to reject 5,000 years of recorded history? I don't think so." Which part, Phil? Which part of our history? The part where we don't recognize gay marriages? Or the part where we persecute homosexuals and stone them to death for not conforming? What exactly is it about our forefathers that seems so brilliant and wise that we now refuse to question any of their atrocities? A sharp pointed stake in your heart, Senator Gramm! Or exposure to sunlight. Whatever it takes to rid the land of a vampire like you. Thanks to Brian Guy for tipping me off to Gramm's moronic remark. Brian's letter can be seen in Cosmik Correspondence. He's obviously one registered voter who is sick of the bullshit. Jump on that bandwagon, folks. It's high time we kicked some stuffy ass. That's about it for this month. Remember, YOU can nominate a deserving moron for a Sharp Pointed Stick Award simply by sending a message to moonbaby@serv.net. See you next month. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- TAPE HISS By John Sekerka PART I: K I L L D O Z E R Long before there was grunge rock, there was Killdozer: a horrific combination of loud guitars, headache-inducing drumming and demonic guttural vocals, which scared the living bejesus out of mid-America. It wasn't punk, it wasn't metal, it wasn't industrial; it was KILLDOZER! Most will remember their chilling versions of "One Tin Soldier", "Take the Money and Run", and "Unbelievable" with awe - as Killdozer re-invented those sappy pop tunes into a writhing, heaving mass of thundering RAWK. Well into their second decade of debauchery, vocalist and Killdozer spokesman Michael Gerard disappeared, bringing cries of, "say it ain't so Michael - is Killdozer no more?" A man cannot live on reputation alone, and Michael longs for the fast lane lifestyle of a rock star - something that has so far inexplicably eluded his grasp. Not content to go out with a whimper, Killdozer is staging their "Fuck You We Quit" tour. Before all this came down I had a chance to talk with Michael, who was debonair, charming and quite pleasant, though I did detect a degree of frustration in his deep baritone as he chatted from his kitchen phone while dinner sizzled in the background. JOHN: I thought you resided in Madison? MICHAEL: At one time. I moved away about six years ago. I lived there for ten years and it suddenly struck me: the town's full of hippies, and I left. JOHN: What did the locals in Madison think of Killdozer when you were locals? MICHAEL: We're still the local favourites. They've kind of overlooked the fact that I live a three hour drive away. It's still my musical home. JOHN: So the hippies love Killdozer? MICHAEL: Naw, the hippies don't love Killdozer. They don't go out to see us. They go to bed early so they can get up early to cultivate their sprouts to sell at the co-op. It's in Wisconsin, so there's a large population of drunks, and they enjoy us. JOHN: So kegger is part of the daily vernacular. MICHAEL: Absolutely, it's part of the daily activity. JOHN: I've read about Smut 'n' Eggs at Bennet's Supper Club. Can you fill me in? MICHAEL: You can get scrambled eggs and home fried potatoes for two dollars. Another fifty cents gets you the bacon. Happy hour is six to eight in the morning: one dollar Bloody Marys. They show pornographic movies on the weekends, oh... up until eleven in the morning. It all comes to a grinding halt when one of the regulars was made to bring his kid in by the wife. "Oh no Ralph's got the kid", and the videos have to be switched to the sports channel. The eggs are pretty good though. JOHN: Why did you move to the big city? MICHAEL: I thought in a big city they'd have Smut 'n' Eggs every day - not just on the weekends. JOHN: And do they? MICHAEL: I haven't found 'em. There's places for breakfast and there's places for smut, but not for both. JOHN: What is it exactly that you do in the band? MICHAEL: When we're touring I do all the driving. On stage I do all the singing, I also play the bass guitar and a little bit of dancing - that's what makes it a show. You need visuals. JOHN: Have you always had that deep, rumbling, demonic voice - even back in the glee club, or church choir as a youngin? MICHAEL: Church choir? I was never in the church choir. I would just mumble the hymns like any twelve year old boy when I went to church with my parents. In my first rock band I sang with a really high voice which I can't duplicate any more. It's not because of puberty, I just ruined it. I have a range of about a half octave. JOHN: Isn't Killdozer a bad Burt Reynolds seventies movie? MICHAEL: Close, Clint Walker was in it. Burt Reynolds was in The Cannonball Run. That's probably what you're thinking of. I'm always thinking of that. Clint Walker was in a Caterpillar tractor - a bulldozer, and six other actors who've never been heard of again other than maybe in a Domino Pizza commercial. On an isolated island on an ocean, or maybe one of the Great Lakes, the supply ship the Edmund Fitzgerald only came once a week. So when the bulldozer came to life the crew of seven who were building a resort, were at its mercy. JOHN: Did you grow up watching a lot of movies? What was your addiction? MICHAEL: Television. I grew up watching a lot of television. Except in the eighties when I didn't own one. Then I found out that you can get one cheap at the Salvation Army. My latest addiction is Mystery Science Theatre 3000. I can watch a tv show which consists of people watching a bad movie. They make wisecracks, and we make wisecracks, so there's twice as many gags. Other than that ... lemme see ... "Edie, what's my favourite tv show?" .... Oh, my favourite tv show is Larry Sanders. I've also been told that my other favourite tv show is Hawaii 5-O. See I just like all tv, so I have to ask my significant other, Edie, here in the background. JOHN: Edie, as in Edie Gourmet? MICHAEL: Yes! That's exactly who she's named after. She considers that to be a rather cruel and sadistic act on her parents' part. JOHN: What is the goal of Killdozer? MICHAEL: I want to be a star. My dream is to be a star. I'm going to be a star. That's my goal and dream. The other guys can come along with me if they want, though I don't need them. JOHN: It's nice to hear such honesty, cuz I think that 99.9% of people in show biz wanna be stars, but they don't like to admit they are chasing fame. MICHAEL: It's crazy, you get these jokers like Kurt Cobain who couldn't take being famous. What the hell's he doing in a band? He shoulda been a janitor if he couldn't take fame. JOHN: Does Killdozer attract groupies? MICHAEL: Yes! JOHN: What kind? MICHAEL: Ladies! JOHN: The preferred sex for Killdozer, I would imagine. MICHAEL: Highly intelligent ladies! JOHN: Let's talk etiquette. before Edie, in your dating days, were you a kiss or handshake guy on the first date? MICHAEL: I'd leave that up to the lady. I could always tell by the look in her eyes. I'd never force myself. Also it's important for the man to walk on the inside when strolling on the sidewalk because muggers could be waiting in the alleyways. Unless, of course, it's raining--then the man should be on the outside just in case a taxi splashes the couple. JOHN: Thanks for the words of wisdom. Any parting thoughts? are you flogging any product? MICHAEL: We have a split single with Alice Donut called KillDonut, with art by poster man Frank Kozik. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PART II: T H E U P P E R C R U S T Powdered wigs, pantaloons, fluffy shirts and guitars. The Upper Crust are an anachronism of the wildest order: playing souped-up heavy rock and roll while looking like they just walked off the set of Valmonte. Hailing from the Boston area, but sporting flaming British accents, these snobs are swooping the country by storm in support of their one and only recording, ringing ear drums and talking down to the plebeians along the way. I managed to corner one of the gents between a wig powdering session to try and get down to this mystery band of renown. Marquis Mark (one of his many pseudonyms) engaged in curt conversation, careful not to let too much out of the bag, before shooing me off on my merry way. THE UPPER CRUST SPEAK TO THE PLEBEIANS JOHN: Is it Upper Crust, or The Upper Crust? MARQUIS: It is The Upper Crust. One desires the article. JOHN: How should I address thee? MARQUIS: Your Grace. JOHN: You have a charming accent, your Grace. What is your place of origin? MARQUIS: This causes a bit of confusion with the populous. You see, we are in fact natives of Boston, but we have these raging accents. No one seems to know why. JOHN: Touring is a gruelling ordeal. Why do you put yourself out? MARQUIS: We feel a need to please the people. JOHN: What is your mode of transportation? MARQUIS: We use the electrical motorcoach with a driver. It has hot tubs, small women... all the amenities. JOHN: Can you paint a visual picture of The Upper Crust for readers? MARQUIS: Certainly. We are four, we are five, depending on the evening. We are very, very trim gentlemen with lovely, lovely wigs, powdered faces in the style of a gentleman, beauty spots, lovely frilled shirts, pantaloons, buckled shoes, and we deliver rrrock and rrroll like no one's business. JOHN: This is something that's been lacking here: good ol' rock'n'roll. MARQUIS: I think you've hit the keystone of the Crust music philosophy: today we are growing tired of the negative, cynical, self-obsessed rrrock, and I think people want a return to the old style, shocking, sexually ambiguous rrrock and rrroll of the fifties. We provide that in a more updated fashion. JOHN: Exactly how ambiguous is the sexuality of the band? MARQUIS: I leave that to you. JOHN: Take us back to the formation of The Upper Crust if you will. MARQUIS: Approximately three years ago we were visited in our various estates on the shores of Lake Geneva, as we were playing badminton - a gentleman's sport. From the waters appeared an arm bearing an electric guitar and a terrible voice which bid us to "let them eat rock". From that we knew our calling was in fact to deliver in the classic style: to the people. JOHN: How do you answer charges that you borrow your sound from AC/DC? MARQUIS: We think they are fine men. The one problem that they bear is that they are Australian, but of course, one cannot be perfect. I feel it is more a spiritual kinship, rather than an outright robbery. That is what our legal council has advised us to say. JOHN: There are definite similarities between "Let Them Eat Rock" and "Let There Be Rock". Is that purely coincidental? MARQUIS: Purely coincidental, my good man. How dare you suggest otherwise? JOHN: Your wigs must be an important facet of your lives. Do you have special wig boxes for travel? MARQUIS: Yes there are special wig boxes, but when one is in public, one must wear the wig. It would be, in fact, vulgar otherwise. JOHN: Do you carry servants to administrate the wigs and coiffe them? MARQUIS: Absolutely. Our servants attend to our every need. JOHN: Some critics might call your attitudes outdated, and maybe politically incorrect. MARQUIS: Really? [long pause] I think it could be only more correct. The people have to realize what true dignity is. JOHN: Have people adopted your style of dress? MARQUIS: No, thankfully. That would make it difficult to retain the distinction between various strata of our society JOHN: Your pictures on the CD are quite striking. MARQUIS: We're vogueing. The photo indeed, was initially used in Vogue. Word got out. They phoned. They felt we were expressing a certain fashion statement that needed to be covered. JOHN: How have you avoided the Spinal Tap syndrome of revolving dummers? MARQUIS: Spinal Tap are somewhat vulgar aren't they? We are cultured men, so we don't create such vibrations which might result in spontaneous combustion or some such phenomena. ..tape hiss ============================================================================ - % @ ]]]]]]]]]] . " ~ + . ]]] ]] ]] ]]]] , ^ . ]]] ]]]]] ]] < ]]] ]] ]] ]]]] & # ]]] ]] ]] ]] ! ^ | . """ "" "" """" ]]]]] ]]]] ]]]] ]]]]] ]]]]]] ]]]] - \ ~ ]] ]] ]] ] ] ]] ] ]] ] ` ? $ ]] ] ]]]] ]]]] ]] ]] ]] ]]] ~ ` ]] ]] ]] ] ] ]] ]] ]] ] l """"" """" """"" "" "" """" `"" ]]]]] ]]]]]] ]]]] ]] ]]]]] @ : ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] / + ]]]] ]] ]]]] ]] ]] ] | ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ]] ! : "" """" """" """"" """"" + . A Halloween gathering of things, items & stuff! The Valley Of Unrest Once it smiled a silent dell Where the people did not dwell; They had gone unto the wars, Trusting to the mild-eyed stars, Nightly, from their azure towers, To keep watch above the flowers, In the midst of which all day The red sunlight lazily lay. Now Each visiter shall confess The sad valley's restlessness. Nothing there is motionless- Nothing save the airs that brood Over the magic solitude. Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees That palpitate like the chill seas Around the misty Hebrides! Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven That rustle through the unquiet Heaven Uneasily, from morn till even, Over the violets there that lie In myriad types of the human eye- Over the lilies there that wave And weep above a nameless grave! They wave:-from out their fragrant tops Eternal dews come down in drops. They weep:-from off their delicate stems Perennial tears descend in gems. -Edgar Allen Poe- "Every old woman with a wrinkled face, a furr'd brow, a hairy lip, a gobber tooth, a squint eye, a squeaking voice, or a scolding tongue . . . a dog or cat by her side, is not only suspected but pronounced for a witch." -- John Gaule (Vicar of Great Stoughton, Huntingdonshire, England in the 1600's) HEART OF DARKNESS Something unusual is happening in my apartment My bathroom has taken on an extraordinary dimension No longer is it just a filthy Alabama slime pit Gone are the days when it was merely A wildlife sanctuary/rainforest Somehow through a great deal of prayerful angst It has become a battleground of mythic proportions A lavatorial extension of my shadow A journey into the Dark Cambodian Night of my Soul Guilt prevents me from bleaching the porcelain Free of algae and other sentient beings Fear keeps me running from The mildewed towels and long forgotten underwear That creep across the floor Yet I possess a need for wholeness A need to confront the demons In the decade-old cans of Drain-O A need to do battle With the dragons howling From the depths of the toilet Screwing up my courage I take a face from the ancient gallery And walk on down the hall Brandishing a bayonet and flame-thrower Trashing every wrathful diety in my path Until I reach the shower curtain Once a lovely indigo Now puke green And cut it away And then I see him The Wild Beast hidden inside Rush Limbaugh Naked and tattooed Spitting out the remains Of cockroaches and centipedes Staring at me as he slowly draws his face Into a lizard-like grin I slowly back away Careful not to make him frightened Until I reach the door And bid a hasty retreat Grappling for the phone To call in a napalm strike I hear him mutter A demented mantra: "The way things ought to be... The way things ought to be..." Copyright (c) 1996 Paul McDonald email: Paul@louisville.lib.ky.us "There's something dreadfully decisive about a beheading." -- Anne Smedley (1894-1950), U.S. author DISGUSTING RECIPE OF THE MONTH HALLOWEEN FEAST Fried Frog Legs in Emphry Batter Dinner 1 batch toad liver-deviled eggs 1 batch Fried Frog Legs in Emphry Batter 1 batch laughing gas pie Spread out table cloth. Lay a deviled egg on each plate, two for formal dinners. For more formal dinners, only add one frog leg for each plate; casual dinners get two. Laughing gas pie is saved until 5 minutes after the next hour; more formal dinners require 10. Laughing Gas Pie Ingredients 4 tablespoons Laughing Gas 12 witches' sweetener packs 2 cups laughing gas pudding maker 12 teaspoons purple coloring 1 cackling crust Directions Empty laughing gas into large bowl. Stir in pudding maker and purple coloring. Drizzle in sweetener. Fry. Spoon in big globs into cackling crust. Ready to serve. Do not cool for victims. Fried Frog Legs in Emphry Batter Ingredients 4 tablespoons Emphry Batter 12 frog legs 2 cups liquid artificial scrambled frog brain flavoring 12 teaspoons liquid sleeping pills Directions Empty Emphry Batter into large bowl. Stir in liquid sleeping pills and frog brain flavoring. Drizzle onto frog legs. Fry frog legs, being careful to barely burn the joints. Ready to serve. Do not cool for victims. Toad Liver-Deviled Eggs Ingredients 1 Box Toad Liver (1 lb) 2 1/2 cups deer antler mush 4 cups scrambled roach brains 12 eggs- raw Directions Empty toad liver into large bowl. Stir in deer antler mush and roach brains. Crack egg in half, being careful to save all the yolk and handling the shell with care. Stir in yolk. When mixed thoroughly, empty into egg shells. Ready to serve. "There sighs, lamentations and loud wailings resounded through the starless air, so that at first it made me weep; strange tongues, horrible language, words of pain, tones of anger, voices loud and hoarse, and with these the sound of hands, made a tumult which is whirling through that air forever dark, and sand eddies in a whirlwind." - Dante Alighieri (from The Divine Comedy, "The Inferno") One day six wise, blind elephants were discussing what humans were like. Failing to agree, they decided to determine what humans were like by direct experience. The first wise, blind elephant felt the human, and declared, "Humans are flat." The other wise, blind elephants, after similarly feeling the human, agreed. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." - Bible: New Testament. 1 Peter 5:8 "We may not pay Satan reverence, for that would be indiscreet, but we can at least respect his talents. A person who has for untold centuries maintained the imposing position of spiritual head of four-fifths of the human race, and political head of the whole of it, must be granted the possession of executive abilities of the loftiest order." -- Mark Twain MEDIEVAL ROADS Hitchhiking With Roger Waters etching words of tangents into wood panels as thoughts creep into formidable places all you can remember in the morning is whether you got a good night's sleep or not. maybe there's a way to penetrate forces or possibly there's no reason for the walls but with every characteristic of morality there comes something without a dream to follow. hues of every single color float in my eyes as the mirror only reflects what I feel but sometime there will come a change to forgive as nothing ever returns that didn't destroy first. hatred is embedded in the souls of flawless minds while peace flows from the lips of animosity but you can fight the barrier with a bladeless sword or you can cross the river with knights on your side. what will define the way of culture and proverbs when there are no heroes to pull the rope that rings the bell so here everyone sits in the shape of a solemn omen yet no one hears death tumble through the valleys. we invite ourselves into the castle on the hill where hope and dignity is protected by calm winds we eat our fill as the village turns quiet and cool then we lay our heads on gorgeous pillows forever. -- Sir Christopher Stolle cstolle@indiana.edu http://copper.ucs.indiana.edu/~cstolle "I think of horror films as art, as films of confrontation. Films that make you confront aspects of your own life that are difficult to face. Just because you're making a horror film doesn't mean you can't make an artful film." -- David Cronenberg (Canadian filmmaker) THEY DUG UP ELVIS They Dug Up Elvis And made him sing again They dug up Elvis And made him play for them They dug up Elvis They took him from the grave A rock and roll zombie Their entertaining slave They dressed him in his outfits And made him play guitar He had to play fifty encores He was their favorite star They made him play Las Vegas He had to sing and dance They made him shake his pelvis And watched him split his pants He had to keep on singing All their favorite songs And every song they remembered They had to sing along They made him sing "Feelings" And then they yelled and screamed To all these million people It was like a dream They made him pose for pictures And then they tore his shirt And after they were finished They threw him in the dirt And after it was over They all remembered when They dug up Elvis And made him sing again - Written by Lance Kaufman From the album Protect Us From Evil, by Harmless (See Lance Kaufman interview in this issue) "There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it." -- Alfred Hitchcock THE SLEEPER by Edgar Allan Poe At midnight, in the month of June, I stand beneath the mystic moon. An opiate vapor, dewy, dim, Exhales from out her golden rim, And, softly dripping, drop by drop, Upon the quiet mountain top, Steals drowsily and musically Into the universal valley. The rosemary nods upon the grave; The lily lolls upon the wave; Wrapping the fog about its breast, The ruin molders into rest; Looking like Lethe, see! the lake A conscious slumber seems to take, And would not, for the world, awake. All Beauty sleeps!- and lo! where lies Irene, with her Destinies! O, lady bright! can it be right- This window open to the night? The wanton airs, from the tree-top, Laughingly through the lattice drop- The bodiless airs, a wizard rout, Flit through thy chamber in and out, And wave the curtain canopy So fitfully- so fearfully- Above the closed and fringed lid 'Neath which thy slumb'ring soul lies hid, That, o'er the floor and down the wall, Like ghosts the shadows rise and fall! Oh, lady dear, hast thou no fear? Why and what art thou dreaming here? Sure thou art come O'er far-off seas, A wonder to these garden trees! Strange is thy pallor! strange thy dress, Strange, above all, thy length of tress, And this all solemn silentness! The lady sleeps! Oh, may her sleep, Which is enduring, so be deep! Heaven have her in its sacred keep! This chamber changed for one more holy, This bed for one more melancholy, I pray to God that she may lie For ever with unopened eye, While the pale sheeted ghosts go by! My love, she sleeps! Oh, may her sleep As it is lasting, so be deep! Soft may the worms about her creep! Far in the forest, dim and old, For her may some tall vault unfold- Some vault that oft has flung its black And winged panels fluttering back, Triumphant, o'er the crested palls, Of her grand family funerals- Some sepulchre, remote, alone, Against whose portal she hath thrown, In childhood, many an idle stone- Some tomb from out whose sounding door She ne'er shall force an echo more, Thrilling to think, poor child of sin! It was the dead who groaned within. Each night Father fills me with dread When he sits on the foot of my bed; I'd not mind that he speaks In gibbers and squeaks, But for seventeen years he's been dead. -- Edward Gorey --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Robert Cummings..........rcummings@csrlink.net Shaun Dale...............stdale@well.com Phil Dirt................Luft.F@diversey.geis.com David Fenigsohn..........a-davef@microsoft.com Alex Gedeon..............abraxas@primenet.com Keith Gillard............liquid@uniserve.com Louise Johnson...........aquaria@serv.net Steven Leith.............leith@speakeasy.org Lauren Marshall..........Ocean@pluto.njcc.com Steve Marshall...........SteveM@pluto.njcc.com The Platterpuss..........Plattrpuss@aol.com Paul Remington...........premington@rochgte.fidonet.org John Sekerka.............jsekerka@gsc.NRCan.gc.ca Cosmik Debris' WWW site..http://www.greatgig.com/cosmikdebris Subscription requests....moonbaby@serv.net Jim Andrews' "JimbOnline" web site (contains tons of Windows 95 (tm) shareware) is at http://www.serv.net/~jimndrws Shaun Dale's web site is at http://www.zipcon.com/stdale 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 Steven Leith's web site is at http://www.serv.net/~leith 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.the-borderline.com, and there are hundreds of his cartoons to check out there. (Cartoons run in WWW version only, of course.) One final note. Please, whatever you do, don't peel the labels off your mattresses. It's the law. We want you safe and sound to read us another day. Good bless you and Godnight.