Mornin' Java and Archive Thumbin' : Round-Up #1 [Expanded from http://instagram.com/jeremynobody postings]

12 June 2014

[Soundtrack v1]

Noel Harrison Collage (Reprise, 1967)

(Review forthcoming)

13 June 2014

[Soundtrack v2]

Tito Rivera and His Cuban Orchestra Cha Cha Cha (Golden Tone, 196?)

(More in-depth review forthcoming)

Thought this was gonna be pure square-bear dumpster fodder, but turned out to be mellow groove Afro-Cuban Cha Cha vibes.

14 June 2014

[Soundtrack v3]

Charlie Blackwell Here's Charlie (Chafay, 1975)

Seattle born'n'bred mixed bag private touching on loungey swamp-funk/rock, country balladry, classic R&B & R'n'R, gospel, blues, and more—and remarkably 3/4's original material. The man oddly played in Stan Kenton and Dave Brubeck's bands as a drummer as well. Worth the price of admission for "Voodo Man" [sic] alone.

Some of the worst / off-base dealer-hype I've read: Northern soul???

[Mine was a thrift score, I didn't buy this hoopla.]

16 June 2014

[Soundtrack v4]

"Miss America" Vonda Van Dyke Teenage Diary (Word, 1965)

Cash-in LP reflecting on the ruminations of true love and how that all boils in an age of racing hormones, pre-marital sex—physical gratification is selfish desire... the only GENUINE love is God's love, baby!—and expensive dresses/cheap morals (starring the voice talents of Miss America 1965 Vonda Van Dyke). There's also a drunken pops who pops the protagonist's suitor when thinkin' he'd touched too much shows the grown ain't got it all figured. Sad, sad stuff... Voice-overs and dialogue are shot-through with groovy instrumental interludes (prom celebrations at a Tiki bar), and distant, ethereal singing. Any "higher choice" ya wanna indulge in gets my vote if that makes you wanna be a better hoo-man, but this kinda heavy-handedness is always a major source of amusement for me.
['Twas originally a 1960 scare film that can be procured from Something Weird Video in a combo pack along with early HG Lewis treat The Alley Tramp]

More info here — http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/09/365-days-265.html ; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480469/

[Soundtrack v5]

Richard Kimble ...IN ACTION (Vista International Productions, 197?)

Paper doll-style cut-out action shots on front slick represent the lively Canuck performer described by a Variety Mag critic as, "A bright, brisk, sexy bundle of energy, who communicates with his audience like a magnet!" on this covetable private lounge treat. I'm partial to the B-side where the groovy smaltz and Twilight Zone Holiday Inn vibes kick into high-gear, with my brand o'kicks dialing into the "Charlie Rich Medley" ('specially "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" take!), and "Memories (The Way We Were)" [which I later found my pal Mike Ascherman comped on The Worst Lounge Extravaganza Ever—click title for download] , but the whole side's a kick in the gut for those searching ace lounge vibes—and the set ends with "The Impossible Dream" NATCH'LY!

More here — http://themotellounge.blogspot.com/2011/03/richard-kimble-in-action.html?m=1

17 June 2014

[Soundtrack v6]

Berringer Takin' A Chance (Gambler Prods, 1982)

IL Lounge / AOR / SSW Soft Rock at its best when the synths get stuck on overload, the guitar kicks in, and there's a frantic, ramshackle disco-like rhythm pulsing in the background—the heat is in the upbeat—otherwise it's 3/4 melodramatic balladry (which has bursts of promise, but is pretty ho-hum). Worth the price of admission for "Love Is A Lonely Way to Feel," and the two-part title track also holds attentions (there's even a brief drum solo/break in the 2nd part!). "Magic in the Eyes of Love" and "Dreamer" also serve some hooky joys. Only to be entered by the open and adventurous.

18 June 2014

(First, can we forgive Dave Edmunds' role in foisting the Stray Cats upon us? Now enjoy...)

[Soundtrack v7]

Dave Edmunds Get It (Swan Song, 1977)

Even if you don't dig throwback vibes, ya gotta admit Edmunds did it better than many, was adept in various modes, and was an ace at connecting the faint threads of good pop music that transcend genre—and his collaborations with Nick Lowe are (yessir!) undeniable. Stabs at teener balladry ("Where or When"), Bakersfield jones' ("Worn Out Suits, Brand New Pockets"), gentle nods to godhead Sahm ("Juju Man"--penned by under-legend Jim Ford, and cut at an earlier session in '75), and classic Lowe-assisted numbers ("I Knew the Bride," "Here Comes the Weekend," "What Did I Do Last Night?," and "Little Darlin'") make it hard to pinpoint the '50s-early '60s gems from the pastiche. (The Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup by way of Elvis gem "My Baby Left Me" even dates back to '69 with superb, scorching backing from Love Sculpture). Even with slight tweaks all tunes carry the waft of Edmunds, combining his love for '50s Sun slapback rockabilly and pre-Brit Invasion pop, and filtering other kicks through that prism (plus, if you watch the songwriting credits close it could be debated Edmunds knew his way around a hook just as well as Saint Nick—Lowe, natch). Like his first two sets the majority of instruments are executed by the name on the cover, though here he finds gentle assistance from a few pals as well (members of Brinsley Schwarz, Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers, the Rumour, Man, Love Sculpture)—and a handful of tracks see the embryonic pieces of Rockpile begin to fall outta the womb.

I bend my ear close to the Lowe-assists, but that's just where one man's interests lay. I take umbrage to a take on Hank's "Hey Good Lookin'" (ya can't mess with perfection, after all), 'tis solid throughout otherwise, though.

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Zolar X 'Timeless' (1982 / 2004) LP [Unedited Version of Review Published in 'The Shindig! Guide to Spacerock: Interstellar Overdrive']

Zolar X Timeless (Pyramid Records, 1982; RE - Alternative Tentacles, 2004)

     Sonic outliers of the '70s Hollywood glam / Rodney's English Disco Scene (where they played regularly), Zolar X, as Rodney Bingenheimer himself said were, "...of course, one step ahead of everybody," beaming down to earth in 1973.

     Zolar X took a "method" approach to performance and donned their outrageous garb influenced by early B-grade sci-fi/comics (where they also borrowed lyrical ideas), identical shags with center-pointing bangs resembling a helmet when taken as a whole, and spoke in an invented dialect on and off stage. Their self-described "Space/Punk Rocket Roll" was an amalgam of high-wired hard rock'n'roll buyoed by Bowie (Ziggy-era, natch), snatches of Sabb'esque sounds, manic, laser-driven keyboard fire, and some raw power blenderized into a space-driven proto-punk/proto-metal stew.

     Co-led by Zory Zenith (Billy McCartney - lead vox*) and Ygarr Ygarrist (Stephen Della Bosca - lazor lead gtr) from '73-'81 before dematerializing, this 1982 posthumous release in non-descript packaging collects tracks from three recording sessions—the bulk of which were, oddly, produced and engineered by Memphis titans James Dickinson and Terry Manning, respectively. The set begins with "Recitation", some lost language incanting, bringing you into their created/imagined world, before surging into an ode to eternal life for all in the anthemic "Timeless," and hits on several space-floating concepts along the way ("Test Tube Baby"—that's how we're made now, dig?; "Space Age Love," a tale of love in space environs), but what separates them from others is less poetic remove, replacing metaphors with words concerning everyday occurrence. Though, the crux of all they stood for in sound and vision resides in the four-part "The Horizon Suite: Overture on Air / Tomorrow's Sunrise / Inside the Outside / Sound Barrier," where they reach their heaviest heights and most dramatic, adrift in space dust mellow, with rumbling Iommi-worthy doomy riff charge and some James Williamson'esque leads. They went all the way, and for forty entrancing minutes you too can get lost in space with Zolar X.
*Also original drummer for LA street glam outfit Shady Lady.

[Also available as an Alternative Tentacles CD w/ bonus tracks. And, languishing in post-production is Zolar X: Starmen on Sunset, a documentary on the band.]


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Traversing the Technicolour Underground, Vol. 2 (unpublished column for Shindig!)

        The loose groupings of proto-punk and power pop that can describe crazed, out-of-time contenders of many heavy stripes and those dedicated to the glory of P-O-P, respectively, carries several one-offs in its ranks. Over the last few years the well-spring has sprung with 45 excavations eulogizing frenzied footnotes with no end in sight.  My aim is to spotlight the previously shaded here, so feast on the choice offerings, kiddies…

        The new HOZAC ARCHIVAL label—offshoot of HoZac Records, known for damaged modern sounds—hits many modes with digs into the back catalog of Sonny Vincent (of early NYC scene band The Testors) and his previously unheard 1972 trio Fury with “Flying” b/w “100% Proof”; a few mid-late ‘70s vintage unreleased gems from power pop gawds Dwight Twilley Band (the ‘Band’ when co-singer Phil Seymour was still on-board) with “Shark” b/w “Burning Sand”; NY glam titans The Brats (formed by early NY Dolls member Rick Rivets) with more raw and powerful takes of their two-sided classic “Be a Man” b/w “Quaalude Queen” from 1974; and members of Midwestern lo-fi ‘70s proto-punks Mike Rep & the Quotas with the Accept It! EP under the True Believers name from 1980. Fury beats a mean combo of proto-heavy punk’ish frenzy and Sonic’s Rendezvous Band-style rock’n’roll on their two-fer, while the Twilley Band harnesses harmonies rivaling the Everlys with a foot in ‘70s rockin’ AM Gold, The Brats broadcast the grit and grime of the gender-bending ‘70s NY Street Glam scene, and the True Believers rally in a ramshackle yet together trio of skewed folk jawns and rockers residing on the precipice of total destruction to your mind, with the title track my fave-rave. All essential slabs.
        [Cut as a Titan Records single by Gary Charlson, this marks the first time the Twilley original of “Shark” sees wax rotation.]

        SUPERIOR VIADUCT continues pushing a stream of treasures from the international post-punk underground, and recently reissued a master-sourced version of the Seventh World EP from 1978 by The Sleepers. The group with headcase Ricky Williams as vocalist (a wheel in the early workings of both CRIME and Flipper) and guitarist Michael Belfer (pre-Tuxedomoon) recorded this 5-song EP—the title track the standout among standouts—of dark-toned psychedelically descendent punk prior to their transition into the moodier post-punkian vibes of their LP, and the EP stands as a tight example of the early S.F./West Coast scene.  The Seventh World EP is a release that has been long-deserving of reissue and a necessary purchase for anyone following the psychedelic trails down the decades.

        Also from Superior Viaduct: The Urinals, the loose, garage-psych-tinged punk progenitors see official reissue of their three 45 releases for their own Happy Squid label released from 1978-1980  (S/T EP, Another EP, and the “Sex” b/w “Go Away, Girl” 45). Trafficking in minimalist musings like “I’m a Bug,” and “Black Hole” from their second EP, and the Brit DIY’esque jangly strum of “Dead Flowers,” from their first—where the whole instrumental and vocal onslaught was driven through one amp—they committed some of the most damaged and uncompromising music of the era, inspiring the short-fast-rules-art-punk of groups like the Minutemen and many others. Having initially started as a learning-on-the-fly parody of the punk scene, while maintaining their rawness they charged forward as a refined machine, bringing to the fore their ‘60s avant & garage-pop roots transmitted through a distorted lens, eventually morphing into 100 Flowers, whose first LP has also been reissued by the label.

         Lastly, CHEAP REWARDS, whose primary focus is power pop and punk nuggets from TX, steps outside that state to the sunshine where The Rockers (pre-The Finders—who has seen recent LP treatment on Cheap Rewards as well) resided, by issuing their sole single released in 1980. The group's members had played together in combos since the late '60s, and all that coalesced into this perfect distillation of early '70s primo pop—not quite Badfinger/Blue Ash heights or moves, but markedly different than the punkier stance of The Rockers' contemporaries—a four-song holy grail of pure perfection from the Bay Area. The mind reels at what could've gone down had the pop-faithful Rockers issued the A-side ballad of Mersey-bred jangly gold, "Understanding," to a wider audience. Go on and get it!

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Beatleisms: How the Fab Four Cast a Shadow Over the 1970s (Shindig! #35 addendum)

      Shindig! #35 is soon to drop (Sept. 26), and I've contributed a few entries to the list of Beatles-influenced gems, but, naturally, a few of my fave-raves were already spoke for. Pick up the new issue soon-like, but in the meantime lemme tell you about a few choice selections whose virtues will be served by the pen of another, in my own words:

The Flame – S/T (Brother, 1970)

What combo better than sibling South Africans the Flame (Fataar Bros – Ricky, Steve and Edries; with Blondie Chaplin) could be the only non-Beach Boys group on their Brother Records imprint? Keepin’ it in the family, they were successful as the Flames in their native land before relocation to London where the keen ears of Carl Wilson—this LP’s producer—were pricked and ferried them back ‘cross the pond. Altering the name to avoid confusion with JB's boys stateside, they issued this consistent album of guitar-heavy, Revolver and forward harmonic delicacy with Harrison’esque licks and a bit of Stonesy swagger to little acclaim in 1970, beyond a singles chart blip from “See the Light” b/w “Got To Get Your Mind Made Up” (a one two-punch if there ever was one). Group members went on to play with the Boys proper, the Rutles, Byrds, Stones and the Band. The embers will keep smoldering till we see an official reissue and proper birth of their 2nd unreleased platter.

Rockin’ Horse – Yes It Is (Phillips, 1970)

The hydra-head strength of Jimmy Campbell (ex-Kirkbys, 23^rd Turnoff & solo) and Billy Kinsley (ex-Merseybeats, Merseys; future Liverpool Express) was much more than that of proseful pretenders posing in the aftermath, having been weaned on the same fruits as the Beatles in their own time.  Dialing back after rural sojourns and stylistic diversions, they wanted to create something inspired by their initial turn-ons and penned one of the most potent, soul-wrenching power pop records extant. Probing the pop planet (being pioneered by Badfinger and others at the time), they hit with a double-shot opener of “Biggest Gossip in Town” and “Oh Carol, I’m So Sad”—the former their A-side single release, and both comped as the maiden 45 voyage on Greg Shaw’s Voxx empire. The only thing that should be “lost” about this platter is the feelings it imbues with pathos-drenched tunes like “Stayed Out Late Last Night” and “Don’t You Ever Think I Cry”. This top of the pop canon album should be owned by all. Not only one of my favorite moments of Beatle'esque outstretching, but one of my favorite albums, and a real class package was produced/reissued by Sing Sing Records just a few years back, which you can knab here.
 

     I've surely got more horses [NPI] in the race (may even have a few more additions forthcoming), but what are your faves?

The Resonars – Crummy Desert Sound (Burger) LP

      Matt Rendon and his one-man four-track recording project (though you wouldn’t know it by the fullness captured), the Resonars, have been creating Mod-pop/power pop bedrock sounds nonpareil since “their” first footlong in 1998—with roots and unsuccessful augmentations including additional heads stretching back to '91. An off-on concern since that time amidst membership in other bands, Rendon’s creations have been resuscitated and reissued in full (every release, natch) by the king-size cheerleaders at Burger Records over the last few years. His most recent album under the name, Crummy Desert Sound, could well serve as Matt's last new release as a “solo” offering though, as this increased visibility has allowed him to put into place an able stable to express the varied emanations of his pen.

     Sir Rendon has the inner-workings of timeless pop dialed, channeling the fragility, dexterity and power of Move-era Roy Wood (“Vanishing People”), prime-time ‘60s Townshend power chords with Mooney kit whallop, and note-perfect Hollies’esque harmonies (“Invisible Gold”) exuding so much charm he deftly evades contrivance. All radiating from one man’s mind in Tuscon, AZ, the Resonars serve as something akin to a less specifically psychedelic-oriented Dukes of Stratosphere, with tunes standing aside their sources, or perhaps a very minor step under. A solid spin for anyone with a passing interest in the age-less pop playbook or looking for the magic of mid-late '60s England in one platter. Anyone not already exposed has some work ahead them.

 

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note energy (\ˈnōt\ \ˈe-nər-jē\ )
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Traversing the Technicolour Underground - Singles Column for Shindig! [Exclusive Preview]

Who woulda thunk France had high-energy, raw'n'righteous rama lama rumbling in the dire early '80s? Cameleon Records here proves it with the only issued 45 by Soggy (Waiting for the War b/w 47 Chromosomes) who really had '70s Dee-troit prime dialed in, with a hard-wired sound more akin to early American metal murmurings than what passed for danger in those days. Fronted by a manic mass of musculature all gangly and gyratin' in praise of Ig with a mane like a young Metal Mike Saunders (see the blazing amateur video of the surging A-side below) and backed by a treacherous trio choosing chunky, chugging riffs to complement all grunting and grinding. Essential.

[This review is exclusive to this destination, and acts as an addendum to the reissue column I've started for Shindig! which will start to appear in Issue 34 focusing on 45 reissues of proto-punk, power pop, "out of time" sounds and suchlike. Be on the lookout in the coming month at your fine, local newstand!]

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note energy (\ˈnōt\ \ˈe-nər-jē\ )
:spiritual sustenance provided by the perfect combination of notes and words, bringing about the sensation of excitation

An Epistle for Insane Times...

'ello, kiddies! After much resistance I've chose to forgo my more snobbish, puritanical tendencies and embrace the new age draped in a new flesh (resuscitating this few years passed corpse in the process). Standing in opposition to the modern rock writ scree which masquerades under a light cloak with a frail press release body underneath, you'll see no herculean hyperbole here; just the facts, jack! Rabid fandom prevails for us eternal fanboys blessed with future youth, and this space will contain nothing but truth-laced torrents of enthusiasm.

Thee preferred medium maintains to be print pages, but when sumthin' doesn't fit the codes of fine publications like Ugly Things, Shindig!, Flashback, Galactic Zoo Dossier, Bananas Magazine and the like, but I'm still seam-burstin' to spill, this'll be the place, ace!

And, maybe, you'll get turned onto friens (sic) contributing worthy words to the digital melee from time to time as well.

Stay tuned...

note energy (\ˈnōt\ \ˈe-nər-jē\ )
:spiritual sustenance provided by the perfect combination of notes and words, bringing about the sensation of excitation

Awaken with me now...

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