Kitchen + The Plastic Spoons – “Screams to God” – [Dark Entries]

Killer catchy art-damaged pop-punk with tworky analog
synth way out front, but some snappy drumming provides
crisp pulse to most of the tracks. Emergency girlfriend
vocals Anne Larsson are so good in that nervous but
not afraid way. The lead-off cut, “In Bars” feels like
two songs that collided into something spectacular.
Oddball audio on the last track closing side A, befitting
a band from the early 80′s that was more prank than
political. And evidently too good to hold it together
for a proper release, but Dark Entries to the rescue
again! On some tracks Linda Motsieloa and Iodine Jupiter
trade-off singing, adding to the playful vibe. No matter
who is singing, Helena L??nnqvist and Iggo Karlsson squiggly
synths really get this cartoon cavorting (again, I can
taste the Devo in the batter, but I ain’t complaining.)
“Happy Funeral” indeed… All of Side A rollicks, but
the flip side scores as well. “Filmen” with its gusts of
middle eastern melodies eventually turn “Midnight Express”
into a dance movie. “Psch” with the wet decay of old
angsty keyboards and a flair of secret agent guitar hit
the spot as well, delivering a death wish disco dirge
delight. Love the Stockholm Syncopated Syndrome delivered
here, a truly great find.

-Thurston Hunger

Big Blood – “Radio Valkyrie 1905 – 1917″ – [Feeding Tube Records]

Behold a Russian author’s mystic reprieve? A lost Jodorowsky
soundtrack? No the latest full flight from a band that had me before
their very first drop (talking walking Cerberus Shoal blues). As much
as I dug the revelation of the earliest donttrustheruin CDRs this double
12″ drop from the fine folks at Feeding Tube sounds like a crowning
achievement. Plus the packaging captures the motif of those homespun
art project CDRs. More music from the family hearth and ancestral
meadow in Portland, Maine of Big Blood. Patient psych, drawn out
without being strung out, outside folk with swells of voice and rustic
guitar. Field recordings, home cassette memories and sleepy music
boxes drift in. “Secret Garden” could be some electrified caveman’s
proto lute or a slide sitar, Caleb Mulkerin untangles the notes well,
and retangles them when needed. Colleen Kinsella’s voice, inherently
so pretty and soothing, forsakes bouquets and garlands for a trek
through brambles and weedy overdubs. Each of the four sides here
hold a spiral of songs, no breaks other than psychic ones. Personalitles
emerge, demiurges splurge. Muse meets muse, inspiration ping pongs
back and forth, themes are born and reprised, children are born and
harmonizied. Flutes fly in on “Ice Swells” even when a vocal stays
the same, “Everything is Improving.” This duo knows their mantras,
and it appears many of the lyrics here are tight phrase reductions from
the writings of Yevgeny Zamyatin, It’s more about how they are sung
then the words themselves, and how they recur as the musical themes
do here. Whether they deliver rocking chair anthems knitting kaleidoscopic
blankets, or spooky lullabies for vampire children hanging upside
down on backwards guitar, or ballads for dissident phantoms from
EVP broadcasts, Big Blood bleeds a rainbow of beauty. Valkyrie Eleison!

-Thurston Hunger

Higuchi, Keiko – “Ephemeral As Petals” – [Utech Records]

Whatever Egyptian priestess’ soul possessed Diamanda Gala
looks like she’s time-sharing with Keiko as well. Honest,
I tried to delete my memory of Galas rumble-screech
cocktail hour in hell piano blues/ballads when listening
to this, but every time some defunct synapse would sprout
a new axon. Higuchi is new to me, but apparently she’s made
complicated music with folks from Merzbow to Alan Silva.
She’s lithe but a force, check out the heavy improv at

From that, guitarist Masami Kawaguchi shows up here on #2
and #6, cool broken fingers on the frets. But Higuchi and
her power-gargled, nasal-flaringhell bent laments over
polished piano (its pedals are less ephemeral) are the
the supreme focus. Drums attack her, and she slings them
off. She sings in English some of the time, Japanese too
and the rest…maybe it’s Klingon? Or Martian, but from
the rough side of the red spot. Plus she’s either occupied
by multiple spirits or perhaps multitracked, but I the
listener was definitely outnumbered, even in the quieter
moments. The mandatory cover of “My Funny Valentine” is
about as straight as this album gets, but it still features
plenty of menace. Great use of dynamics throughout, and an
excellent surprise from the Utech label. How her stiletto
heel tore off my ear lobe while listening, I still don’t know.
-Thurston Hunger

Algiz – “Claire-Voie” – [Tursa]

1996 recording, not only produced by Tony Wakeford but released
on his Tursa label. Algiz, a quartet+ from Belgium, return the
favor and cover Death in June’s “Fall Apart.” That is the one
song in English, and the only one sung by Jean-Francois Brohee.
Everything else is in French, singer Leila Janssens offers fairy
tale madrigal voice over music that may have an earthy pagan folk
core (behold the 12-string guitar), but works in a lot of programmed
percussion in a deft, but not overpowering manner. So you get the
medieval rush of an artful joust with laser precision. For a variety
of reasons, I wish the lyrics were in English. Most of the second
half of the album, sans “Fall Apart” has no words (though some
excellent disembodied work by Janssens.) Mourning in the meadow
violin (Brohee) and cello (Alexandra Debert) join in fray. Check
the digital thunder stomp and tabla roll at the end of “Dehors, La
Plenitude I” (DJ’s may want to let that flow into II with Janssen’s
yearning vox.) “Organique” has an icy Projekt kind of feel, and
“La Chaise (sur l’eau)” floats on a weird chomping loop before the
renaissance festival hits. Actually that instrumental was my favorite
track, covering a lot territory and it sets up the Death in June
cover very nicely.
-Thurston Hunger

Spires That in the Sunset Rise – “Ancient Patience Wills It Again Part II” – [Hairy Spider Legs]

Spires That in the Sunset Rise
“Ancient Patience Wills It Again Part II”
It is hard for me to understate how much I am floored
by this release (the Spires’ sixth, including a companion
Part I which KFJC yet lacks). This Decatur, Illinois
group is down to just two members, Kathleen Baird and
Taralie Peterson, but they create a mesmerizingly full
sound. Every track summons a steady, eerie beauty.
Lots of harmonium and what haunts me of nyckleharp.
Strings ripple through tracks like “Smoke” (electric)
and Revella (acoustic). Call it folk I guess, as it
has a timelessness that would appeal across the past
couple milennia. You could tell me Baird and Peterson
are part of a Civil War women’s infantry, singing cold
songs in colder forts and I’d believe it. But there’s
elements of Nico and Richard Youngs that I think will
open this release up to any DJ, who has ever looked out
a window for an eternity while a song played over and
over. The songs shift, subtly, but the mood lingers,
slowly consistent, a paradoxical conconction of bitterness
and solace. “Ours Is No The Only Society” takes a 1950′s
film or cassette documentary, loops and twists it before
the harmonium wall hovers in with singing saw, or is it
a yodeling ghost. I’ve dug their earlier Secret Eye work,
but something about this release overpowers me. I wind up
flat on the floor (so risky to listen to while driving).
Please lie down next to me and listen….

-Thurston Hunger

Anomonous – “Anomonous” – [Prom Night]

Follow the Maroney! Denman is a multi-visit denizen
of KFJC’s library, bringing his prepared piano,
aka the HyperPiano, to eager seeking ears again.
Joined here by Prom Night stable star, Josh Sinton,
on an enhanced bass clarinet and Ben Miller on excellent
weirding electronics/synths. Bonus points for elder
KFJC’ers who connected his name immediately to the seminal
Destroy All Monsters (I looked at the teacher’s edition.)
Together they present one long evolving piece, sliced
into 20 radio-friendly portions. It seems each section
is demarcated by a new idea or new sound by one of
the trio. It all begins in a primordial slippery
slope descending into a sonic soup; much of the album
involves murky, but not amorphous sounds coming from Sinton
or Miller. (I think. This is one of those great
unclassifiable, and not so easily traceable who-does-what
outings.) The steely scrape of the HyperPiano often feels
like a subway grinding the rails, and Sinton’s sax too has
metallic tight tones, likely amplified by his set-up
(think that’s him on #8 and #9 for example). Sinton
elephones nicely while Maroney is on the *outside* of
his piano on #10. Miller adds circuits snapping,
electron winds and maybe even muffled voices into
the kickass morass. But the music never feels crushed by
chaos there seems to be a strong guiding sense throughout
their exploring improvisations. Listened to this over
and over, I might need to join Anomonous’s Anonymous

-Thurston Hunger

Black Bug – “Reflecting The Light” – [HoZac Records]

More rock from the alternative future where keyboards
are outlawed from use in government sanctioned punk
rock. As result, synthesizer parts are stolen from
old abandoned computer labs found on cordoned off
universities (Google search algorithms improved
enough to obviate the need for education.) From
that world, a tiny Black Bug crawls into today and
it has bitten many a KFJC DJ, myself included. Early
signs were a Tumult full length and a HoZac single
From the latter, “Helicopter” is reprised here. Some
say this Swedish trio was born from a John Carpenter
movie marathon, others say they moved to the catacombs
beneath Paris where they were taught bad manners and
how to sing in English by an Atari. Plenty to love
here, but love it quickly, not just the thick synth
filth, but the oppressive ambiance and rightful mistrust
of authority. Computer voice action on “Police Heliopter”
(Bad Lieutenant meets Robocop?) and “Nightstick.”
Drunk college singing on “Mask”, imported women on
“Slay Them” (feeling like Servotron with a nice nasty
virus) Sci-fi theme instro for an imaginary file to
close it with “Onskestenen” Some swelling may occur,
but repeated bug bites will build up positive toxins.
-Thurston Hunger

Group Rhoda – “Out of Time – Out of Touch” – [Night School]

Pastel ice. Before buying this, I dug samples of Group Rhoda
online, feeling like a blend of cold wave revival with a more
romantic, lyrical approach. Despite its name, Group Rhoda is
neither. It is however a one-woman project put together by
Mara Barenbaum. Interestingly Mara is not some Berlin 80′s
frau fatale, but working today out of nearby San Francisco!
She’s got an interesting clipped accent when she sings, and
her phrases (and word choices) have an odd aspect, the Remind
me of a person in a crowd viewing a painting, who comments
solely on the frame. The framing here is an array of
sibilant drum machines that sashay and banks of keys, lot’s
of bright electric piano style, rather than the icy stark
sounds of yesteryears synth pop. Ornate little arpeggiated
bridges. Topics match the classical minimal vibe, scary
stuff like isolation…silence….lawyers… “I get so scared”
and “To walk away without a trace.” I could see some
ambient types remixing this in a lot of directions,
cranking up the haunted vibe or adding some organic warmth.
I expect live, things are more austere and maybe more
driven. But I kind of dig the airbrush leisure on some
of the tracks, not quite as happy as Arthur Russell but
more in that vein than the Suicide citings. And again her
singing put me off a little at first but really won me over,
as if she went to an English as a second language class taught
by Yoko Ono. Nice release, and kicks ass vs the Mary Tyler
Moore Project!
-Thurston Hunger

Espvall, Helena and Diaz-Infante, Ernesto – “A Hallowed Shell of Ash and Rust” – [Erototox Decodings]

The “drone room” is cavernous, with room for plenty
of variety (and room for plenty of contemplation too.)
Erstwhile Esper, Espvall joins forces here with the
man from Pax, Ernesto, for a series of recordings
that rather than denote the decay the album title
implies, for me evoked more of the early morning
pre-dawn sense of becoming. Frequently Espvall bows
her cello so smoothly, and gracefully the sounds
lack an attack or collapse and just hang like
stalactites of sound where you can see neither end.
Ernesto’s tanpura add shadows to those moments. I
dig when those moments ricochet into more vibrant
sound as on “Bridges to Nowhere” which also drops
ornamental clutter and some slithery bowing and
ethereal zings on top. Ernesto, a multi-instrument sort
of fellow, often focused on prepared guitar; and
here we find some of this best work. Adding bristle
and rattle without tearing the fabric of the drone.
Both he and Helena find ways to ping high harmonics.
Both “Against A Realization In Weathered Iron” and
“A Glamour In Base Materials” illustrates that with
clouds on top of clouds all from the mountains of
Twin Peaks. And is Espvall singing on the first,
far away? Ghostly but not sepulchral. Tracks 7 and 8
feature a little more twisted, active sound, and
tight half-step dissonance. The whole album progresses
through states (maybe therein lies the “Ash” and
the “Rust”) and the titles strung together may be
a poem, or clue, or item for further decoding.
While at it, trace the dots to Morris Minor and
KFJC’s pit on this release.
-Thurston Hunger

Kuti, Fela & Africa 70 – “Everything Scatter / Noise For Vendor Mouth” – [Wrasse Records]

“Big trouble, big argument, big fights, big everything…”
and that would include a big sound. A 2-for-1 reissue of
albums KFJC does not have among its massive Kuti booty.
“Everything Scatter” is so ebullient, so indomitable,
every one coming together on the Afro-beat. Fela is
such a master of whipping up the energy of a song,
the drum starts it, the horns herald what is to come,
and the vocals hang back so long, you think the singers
missed the bus, but they’re in there, just letting the
music work its magic. Stir things up. The vocals
powerful and almost another form of percussion, the
call, the response, the pattern pulls the listener in,
s/he becomes a singer, and after a few choruses its
time to sit back and let Fela speak/sing a story.
Some funky synth on “Who No Know Go Know” and definitely
on “Noise for Vendor Mouth” had a tripped out Sun Ra
vibe. “Mattress” may stress the mistresses, but come
on that beginning is as sexy as your most secret fantasy.
Horns spouting, and the drums yearing to find the one.
“Who No Know..” and “Mattress” have some killer sax,
and likely lead to some killer sex too. The force of
procreation conquers the political, ask any senator
in a scandal, but “Everything Scatter” out-drives
even the temptation of “Mattress” on this. Both releases
originally from 1975…
-Thurston Hunger

Ring Craft Posse, The – “St. Catherine In Dub 1972-1984″ – [Moll-Selekta]

Rodguel “Blackbeard” Sinclair captains the Ring Craft Posse,
producing a nice variety of dubs, each tagged to a district of
Portmore in St. Catherine, Jamaica. The lead off district
“Westbay” blows the doors open with great horns triumphant
over the shuffle. Sly and Robbie are part of the posse so
the rhythm never fails, I’m not sure which guitarist[s] to
praise for the gritty grind on “Garvey Meade” and the super
aquatic flacking on “Braeton” but nice work on both. The congos
and distant chorus on closer, “Westchester” placed second for
me, but surely your dub will delight in other ways. Melodica
addicts, they’ve got you covered. Including “Waterford”, unless
that’s a harmonica, but check out the grunt and metal drum
shots on it too. “Naggo Head” coughs too much to be confused with
Rosemary Castle. Supposedly that district was named after
a man who was beheaded long ago. I won’t pretend to know the
original tracks by the Aggrovators, the Revolutionaries, or
Roots Radics, from which these dubs were clubbed, but tune
in to Spliff Skankin’ on Sunday between 3-7 pm, and all will
be made clear.

-Thurston Hunger

Sunflower Logic, The – “Clouds On The Polar Landscape” – [Pink Banana]

Embrace the mystique. Do the imperial. Hologram shards and
baseball cards. It’s the old new Guided by Voices by any other
name, perceive the Sunflower Logic. The high school marching band
assembled under a sky overcrowded by interplanetary starships,
it’s “UFO Night.” Ramshackle rococo. Limited edition, unlimited
sedition. I was supposed to be on the wagon, but the truth is
I frequently down a couple of Pollard pop brews whenever
the searchlights sweep away. Is it wrong for my favorite thing
here to be the fake insert catalog of other imaginary bands on the
Pink Banana label? Five cuts, “UFO Nights” stalls in the middle,
distortion and conspiracy rule the night. “I Wanna Marry Your Sister”
lonely boy and cat phone message to start, that confesional mic??
style plus??percussive bad electronics over broken-hearted guitar.
“I Was A Boy” sputters like Ate It Twice, firecracker guitar
cable zaps arc the wizard. “Felt Stars” sci-fi piano and Robert
Pollards voice full of triumph and regret, like all those old
roman emperors. “Fuck You Mr. Smith” revenge on a middle school
gym teacher? It clocks in at a GBV prorated epic 4.5 minutes, but
that includes the tacked on drum major and band at the end.
Recorded in his home cockpit studio, the Public Hi-Fi Balloon,
Pollard floats more ideas in a two minute song on a knock-off
EP than your dirty neighbors float germs in public pool across
town. Take a dip.

-Thurston Hunger (placing this album in KFJC’s library as bait for erstwhile KFJC DJ Harry Haller)

Tembo, Chrissy Zebby & Ngozi Family – “My Ancestors” – [Qdk Media]

Wham bam thank you Zamrock (and Forced Exposure.) Originally
out in 1974 when barre chords ruled the rock and roll world
and guitar solos were always good to go, and even better to Ngozi.
Really dug Paul Ngozi’s fuzzed out fret flights on the
“45,000 Volts” reissue, and he’s as much the focus here as
drummer and vocalist Tembo. Allegedly this release was a
Ngozi alternate configuration to get Tembo some of the royalties
(ifffff you trust the internet). Tembo’s singing (all in English
by the way) is steady and often upbeat even when singing
lyrics that shout at the merchants of death. The best track,
“Coffin Maker” has Tembo finding something to keep him going
just in the ecstatic pursuit of rock, while said Coffin Maker
is surrounded by empty coffins. Fans of Crushed Butler, or
heck even confused Deep Sabbath / Black Purple peeps can
dig this.?? Reading around is funny how different reviewers cite
different bands, I think if you are of a certain vintage that
dates back to this album’s release whatever band you grew up
playing in the garage or basement, will connect to what you hear
here. And that includes “Gone Forever” as the slow dance send off,
Tembo not necessarily giddy, but atoned in the death of a paternal
figure. Ngozi gets burbly with the effects on that one. But he’s
best when the going gets rough and the distortion gets rougher,
“Trouble Maker” is the sweatiest cut. “My Ancestors” and “Lonely
Night” go with catchy pop melodies, and lots of interspersed
guitar work by Ngozi. “Oh Yeh Yeh” is an instro, riding a heavy
metal riff in a kinda Yardbirds-y way with Ngozi a la Beckola.
Ngozi, aka Paul Dobson Nyirongo RIP 1989.?? I’m not sure if Tembo
is alive to this day, I hope so. It’d be nice to hear his take on
this release and various things Ngozi.

-Thurston Hunger

Kerkar, Kesarbai – “Kesarbai Kerkar” – [Mississippi Records]

Actually an off shoot of the mighty Mississippi Records, Canary
as collected and curated by Ian Nagoski. The 8-page booklet
with an essay by Ian depicts Ms. Kerkar (1892-1977) as fierce and
forthright as any punk femme force. This paragraph pales to
what he put together, so seek that out. Song slices here date
from 1950 or so, pretty consistent in their arrangement with
Kerkar’s voice scaling and swirling in the forefront of the
mix, like mist up a mountain peak. The mountain itself is
sarangi and tabla and occasionally harmonium, that music
is sturdy, but truly just the scenery for Kerkar’s expression.
I must say, something about the deepchandi rhythm of
“Jaat kahan ho” kind of connected with me, or maybe it
was the more featured harmonium.?? The music’s interesting
but the accompanying booklet and her story is the magnificent
gem here.

-Thurston Hunger
PS??KFJC has??some interesting releases under Nagoski himself worth checking out too. More power to him as curator *and* creator!

Butcher, John / Buck, Tony / Mayas, Magda / Stangl, Burkhard – “Plume” – [Unsounds]

Two live sets with a dynamic duo of John Butcher (saxes)
and the outstanding percussionist Tony Buck joined by
a different third improvisor on each. “Fiamme” features
Burkhard Stangl on brittle guitar; his angular twists and
harmonic taps start things off. Butcher valve fluttering
and doing more subtle sputtering, some shuffly percussion
until about 4:30 in when Butcher starts to hit the squeakier
tea kettle piercers. Some nearly flamenco strums come
and Butcher works into uproar mode by 6+ minutes…what
ensues is sort of a relay race between those few fiery
escapades and more gentle, but still vivid free work. Around
12 min, the band sounds like a harmonium impostor verging
on some kind of lab alarm. Some moments like 17-20 min are
tough in the car, but heaven in the headphones. Microsounds
too much to review on a sticker that fits on the CD. Buck
topples some metal, and makes cymbals rain. He’s amazing.
And that’s the shorter piece! “Vellum” rolls Magda Maya’s
piano into the fray, prepared under the hood goodies vs
the bird calls of Butcher. Buck tries building a cage
around them, but a city then an ocean (Mayas’ piano at
the bottom) and then a world keep growing. By 14+ mins we
are reminded that all three are percussive, but again a
quiet cycle slips in. I often feel that improv is more
playful and humorous than my ears can tell, but this sprawler
covers some downright spooky territory in its construction,
(see 32-34min) before the pulsating waves of more jointed
jazz close it. More dark and furious than the first.

-Thurston Hunger

Devil Is Busy In Knoxville, The [coll] – [Mississippi Records]

Many things flow from the mighty Mississippi (label), and
here some 78′s wash up, cleaned up and darn near baptised.
Despite the title of the album (a presumed nod to Leola
Manning’s “The Devil Is Busy in Knoxville”) this is no
collection of murder ballads, but instead his grace and pearly
gates, where “Fify Miles of Elbow Room” await us. The
harmonies on here are downright heavenly. Not just frequent
angel-wing fliers like the Carter Family but the straight
collar sweet hollar of the Anglin Brothers and the Delmore
Brothers (connecting to Palace and Everly brothers in my
sacred heart and scarred ears). Of course the purest
chorus comes from the mouth of babes, and “Chariot Jubilee”
sounds like it could almost be a pacific island sublime
frequency call and response chat. Too short. If you want
a little hint of the apple polished by the serpent, check
out the rough and ready work of Elder Richard Bryant’s
Sanctified Singers, or the Silent Grove Baptist Church
Congregation (the shadowy bass accompaniment behind
the powerhouse unknown lead male vocal defying the Grave).
Is Rev I.B. Ware a real person, I reckon so but his sentiment
“I Wouldn’t Mind Dying” closes this album, which also
features the cover lady, the mighty Sister Rosetta Tharpe
belting out a tune from her thinner days, and holding a
note too high and pure for any devil to touch. Sing on
sister and brothers, sing on right on past the grave.

-Br’er ‘Unger

Deison – “Quiet Rooms” – [Aagoo]

At last, astral projection from the comfort of your
own bathtub! Or are these just the ambient dreams
of a foley artist? These four 10-17 minute tracks of
steamy ambient beams of sound float right on up
and through you. I didn’t even notice the gaps
between the tracks on my first listen. The cloudiness
of the sound, banks of synth swirl, feels like it
may have been one long piece, split into four different
hotel rooms. The album cover indicates the way to
get the most out of this release, a wide-eyed,
temple-activated immersion. I do think active
listening, as opposed to your drive-time dial-in
will pay off more, as the samples pop up like
flotsam in the ambient. Call it flotsambient, but
it triggers a detective response, maybe initially
prodded by Italy’s C. Deison being in a hotel room
and thinking, what the hell is going on next door?
Or perhaps just chilling out and saying, wow that
AC Unit just hit a really nice stride. The embedding
synth work never touches the ground, like a ghost
organ with invisible pedals. Quiet on the set and
quiet from the onset.

-Thurston Hunger

Ramble Tamble – “Secret Museum of Kind Men Vol. 2″ – [Casual Acid Tea]

Again kudos to Matt Clark and his Casual Acid Tea label for taking
the dip/trip into Pat Conte’s amazing collections. But right off the
bat, KFJC’s got a problem here as we do NOT appear to own the original
Secret Museum Of Mankind Vol. 3: Ethnic Music Classics: 1925-48.
We’ll get somebody on that, but let’s drop the needle here now.
This time kind men were found in the “band” Ramble Tamble which is
Turner Williams, Jr.??and friends, whether in NYC or down in Alabam’.
First up: From Epirus with epilove, “Ta Magia Sto Pegadi” has Ramble
Tamble swapping out the Balkan flights of clarinet for fiddle
flourishes and laser light pitch wheel synth dervishes. Under the
mix, drums kick up dust and Turner Williams, Jr grinds out some grit
on his Electric Shahi Baaja. That song sort of breaks into two,
an initial somewhat dour descending melody that hits a pause
and Adam Markiewicz slings his bow and the tune into a rising
kind of arpeggiated spin. To me the winner was Tunisia on the
flip side, “Raks Fazani” where Williams and Casey Glover now
on piano get the magic carpet flying like a santur dreaming
of a shooting star. On the 7″ inner seal, both tracks say
as “interpreted” by Ramble Tamble, so the sounds are intentionally
more citified and trade vocals for licks and maybe even tumble
the tunes a bit. Still good for soul.

-Thurston Hunger

Vanity Case Reality Tunnel Volume Two – The Carnival Is Over [coll] – [Vanity Case]

From the Geese freaks and their flock of friends comes
this limited edition (2012) CD and bundle of sage to
burn for cleansing. Even without the sage you can smell
the odors of pachouli and paisely from the chunes here.
Some tweaked covers including the opener from astronaut
Buffy St. Marie. Others may take a while to twig on
the ST37 cover (crickets included!) from Twin Peaks, one
case where the original is even stranger. The CD ends with
a sweet sax “Smile” (honestly I didn’t know Charlie Chaplin
wrote that) For a collection, this sure has both variety
and a nice flow. And it’s not all trippy hippie space/psych
sounds. I really dug Kilgore Trout’s “Basilisk” feeling
like a Camberwell Now lost track. It wouldn’t be a true
carnival without a debauched clown, so put a big red nose
on #9. Mueran Humanos provide the haunted house, from a
live seance conducted by our pal Brian Turner at WFMU.
3eese build some kind of dungeon out of a simple drum beat,
some rotten lumber and sampled crowd gasps, excellent!
Howard Be Thy Name summon a cross between Syd Barret and
Alastair Galbraith. Step right up…

-Thurston Hunger

CSC Funk Band – “Funkincense” – [Electric Cowbell]

Tight, clean all-instro funk on the latest flight from
Colin Langenus and the CSC Funk Band. Keys and horns
spark it up, the guitar weaves in and out with the
wacka-wacka and the drums keep it all locked down.
A funk‘s secret weapon : the flute darts in and out
on a few tracks. On some tracks, the percussion and
horn/synth combo join up to bang out a secret handshake
on the break. As this is on Electric Cowbell, nice to
hear a regular cowbell twonking away on the title cut.
That also features a magic carpet solo that could connect
to Omar Souleyman. The closer, “Versace Nachos” has a
wind-whipping synth woosh and the most emphatic bassline
on the album. “Choom Gang” starts with a Fox News/Obama
potline shout-out then teases with the possiblity of a
beatboxing before unraveling more New York stately funk.
Definitely a melting melange of flavors, and true-to-your
Angel Flight jeans of yesteryear. If anything, I could
use a little more nasty in the mix. Maybe if the sax
had a drinking problem, of the flute player slept with
the drummer’s partner? “You Say” delivers a bit of a
karate chop, that hurt good. “Klip Winger” has a nice
hesitation drop, and the flute and sax get right on it.
“Make Your Mind Up” echoes reggae with the horn charts.
Funk me, just play it and dig it.

-Thurston Hunger