Yellowman Feat. Fathead - “Just Cool” - [Vp Records]

Jamaican Yellowman (so-called because of his albinism) exhibits his signature rude reggae and dancehall DJ skills here on these tracks from 1982 that have been remastered. Fathead joins him with his ???oinks??? and ???ribbits,??? among other vocalizations. Every tune is upbeat, if not clean. The last two are bonus, longer tracks.
FCC: 1, 3, 10, 12

Baker, Steven - “Lunar Etudes - Time Differentials” - [Edgetone Records]

Line this one up for the Day of Drone! Five tracks that represent a sonic exploration of the moon???s orbit of the earth. Baker builds instruments such as the Chalice, Microtonal Drone, and Leaf Springs on Daf–all out of metal and woodwork–to convey harmonics that inspire meditation. Thollem McDonas appears on 2 with a 117-year-old Cornish pump organ. Track 4 is appealing with its sound resembling gamelan bells, very intense and trance-inducing.

Br??ckner, Michael - “Days In The Sun” - [Self -released]

Electronic/ambient: Germany is a hotbed of electronics, and Br??ckner does the genre proud with this release. It???s a luxury to let one song track through to the next, as they are all of a piece, with 9 (???The Siren???) seeming the most distinct because of its jarring siren start. The long tracks (1 and 8) are never boring because of their ambience. Br??ckner???s wife adds her rich voice to 1 and 3 (which she sings in English and is very melodic), and his daughter adds her pretty voice to 7 (although she sings in a different language). Field recordings of crowd sounds are heard throughout, and book???s pages turning open 4, which is a cool journey (???In a Book???). Beats heard on 6, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, and there???s an oasis in 11 followed by a male-spoken, computer-manipulated poem. Fascinating. 9 is the most versatile track.
PGM: Everything tracks through.

Ellis, Alton - “Mr. Soul of Jamaica” - [Treasure Isle Records]

This is an uptempo album that is viewed as being definitive of rocksteady, a dance style that preceded reggae. Tommy McCook and the Supersonics back the pleasing voice of Ellis on these songs, whose tempos are slower and more relaxed than ska. Check out the cover of ???You Make Me Happy???. ???Willow Tree??? is sweetly melancholy, although the riddim can???t help but make you smile anyway. All tracks are enjoyable, but I???ve starred my favorites. Ellis??? influence on the trajectory of dancehall, reggae, and hip hop is significant, albeit little-known.

Lamps - Songs of Sexual Frustration 7″ - s.s. records

1. Boring girls (3:12) 2. I Need a Chick (4:58) LANGUAGE,

Dirty, distorted, garage punk from L.A.’s Lamps. Here we find two songs of sexual frustration. First they cover The Pissed jeans’ “Boring Girls” before obliterating Devo’s “I Need a Chick.” Despite the noise attack enough of the lyrics are discernible on “I Need a Chick” to place this squarely off limits during respectable hours. It is also extremely catchy and more than once I’ve found myself repeating to no one in particular “I need a chick to suck my dick” - be warned!

The lamps are an L.A. Trio consisting of Monty Buckles (guitar/Voc.), Josh Erkman (Drums), Tim Ford (Bass). They have two albums and a number of singles to date (1/2009) this single appears on Sacramento’s s.s. records - sluggo

Linda Hagood - Pink Love Red Love / Awesome Vistas

New York???s Linda Hagood surrounds us in colorful bunny
love on this release from Awesome Vistas. This is like
a book of demented children???s stories read to you by a little
girl with a very active imagination. Her Vocals
are quirky and childlike. The sounds, created by a mix of guitar,
keyboards, violin, and drums, are weird, creepy, kooky,
and yes, even a little ookey. She describes her sounds
psychedellic punky comedy, and she looks pretty
interesting wearing masks and crazy hats on stage.
Overall her the vocals match her sound as they meet up in
crazy kiddieland.

Check out the cool album artwork by Christine Shields

Grouper / Inca Ore - 12″ Split

First released on cassette in 2007,
this split between Portland???s Grouper,
Oakland???s Inca Ore (aka Ava Salens of
Jackie O Motherfucker) , is full of
foggy ambiance. The Grouper side
( four tracks), apparently written as a response to
the search for a neighbor???s cat, is incredi bly
distant sounding musically, and even more
so vocally. She calls out into the night after
the gray cat she is seeking. It made me feel
cold, but calm. Could be played as an entire
side, because it is cohesive. Inca Ore brings us
native ameican sounding chants through a hollowed
out tube. Seven fairly short tracks in all, with muffled
vocals, and mellow overtones.

Rodgers, Jimmie - “Train Whistle Blues” - [Rca Records]

Jimmie Rodgers’ recording career was not long (6 years), and he was suffering from TB the whole time, so it’s a wonder he managed to cast such a huge shadow across a wide range of popular music, serving as an inspiration for country, folk, pop, jazz, rock and soul artists to this very day. He was certainly one of the first white artists to successfully adopt black blues idioms, bringing the “blue yodel” out of the minstrel tradition and into the mainstream. Ralph Peer discovered Jimmie on the same 1927 field trip to Bristol, Tennessee that brought us the Carter Family. Rodgers had already become a well-rounded entertainer as a young man on the medicine show circuit, so he was was ready for the big time when Peer found him, far more so than most of the hillbilly and gospel acts down in Bristol. He would soon find himself recording not only country, but pop as well, and jazz with no less a sideman than Louis Armstrong. This collection was put together by RCA in 1958 and serves as an overview of his career, with not too many overlaps with the other Rodgers discs at KFJC. Some, but not all, of his biggest hits are here, leaving room for lesser-known sides and recordings made shortly before his death in 1933. (crimes)

White Lung - “Magazine” - [Deranged Records]- 7 inch 45

4 piece out of Vancouver, B.C. Drums, bass, guitar, and female vocals. 3 songs. Side A-”Magazines” starts with creepy neo-surf guitar and angry riot girlish vocals. It also has some “shit”s thrown in, so side a is for safe harbor hours. Side B- starts with “Therapy” and more dark and creepy guitar/bass and shouted female vox. Another “Shit” thrown in for good measure. The 7 inch closes with “Backhouse” the only track without language. Modern take on riot girl punk rock.

Tuymans, Luc / Balka, Miroslav ??? Crazy Horses {Ultra Eczema}

This is two guys just horsing around. Seriously. No, dude, they are literally & figuratively horsing around on this recording, no joke or trite summation. Not good enough, huh? OK, so the story goes that renowned Belgian artist Luc Tuymans & Polish sculpturist Miroslav Balka fidgeted around with a hand held cassette recorder at the Fundacao de Serralves and Porto Palacio Hotel where an art exhibit called ???Privacy??? occurred in 1998. The two men jostle the recorder around in the garden & inside the building, which they refer to as being ???shit,??? that housed the show. What started as a fun mouth mimicking of running horses & hooves turned into humorous asides & more wild, untamed & crazy horses. They comment on the quality of equestrian noises they make, ???Oh, that???s good!??? They pause & ask, ???Where??? the mic? How are you? Did you enjoy the show???? before returning to another round of whinnies & laughter. There???s a lot of mic commotion, heavy breathing, a woman questioning in Spanish, Everything ButThe Girl???s club hit ???And I Miss You??? playing briefly as background as these men clock their tongues, massively inhale, squish sticky cheeks together & let out meows amidst the neighs. It???s quite an amusing and bizarre sort of competition. This one-sided vinyl is limited to 500 copies and has an etched drawing on the non-playable surface by Tumans & Balka.

FCC: SHIT (1:22 ??? 1:40 but no curses after that)

Mahjongg ??? Free Groove Rider {K Records}

Chicago???s known to get freezing ass cold or sweltering muggy hot.?? Mahjongg knows this & it seems they opt for heat.?? Sometimes they duck into a boiling sweaty tiki lodge & drop a mildly spicy jungle flavored tune dipped in dubstep & chic cheap synth melodies with a ripe & juicy vocoder vibe.?? Sometimes it???s a slow-roasting Afro-beat island groove they dole out when concocting delicious blends of experimental dub, synth clap beat electronica & minimal tropicalia.?? These guys have got it made in the shade so have some fun in the sun & soak this in.

Girl Talk ??? Bone Hard Zaggin??? {333 Recordings}

Greg Gillis is an audio terrorist, hijacking other folk???s songs & forcing them at gunpoint into compromising positions.?? This Pittsburgh provocateur procures modern music samples under strict copyright & thinly disguises them into novel dance floor gems or mischievous mash ups.?? This illegal art proves an unlikely yet hilarious hob nob of???? suspects from the music industry mainstream.?? Most of the fun comes from dissecting the meticulously crafted hodge podge of the 80???s, 90???s & 2000???s, recognizing the sample & appreciating its clever combination with other top o ??? the pops selections.?? Kanye West, C&C Music Factory, Digital Underground, Jay Z, Petey Pablo, Beyonce Knowles, Lloyd Banks, Bananarama, Cam???ron, Hall & Oates, Smashing Pumpkins, Salt ???N??? Pepa, Michael McDonald, Nirvana, Ce Ce Peniston & 2 Live Crew among others get to have a playful rough & tumble during this audio orgy.

FCC:?? Side B ??? FUCK!!!

Sagan ??? Resisting Pleasures {333 Recordings}

Blevin Blectum (Blechdom From Blectum) & husband Jay Lesser (Matmos) along with Wobbly & video visual whiz Ryan Junell formed Sagan and released this limited lovely in 2006.?? Figure that this is trippy experimental electronica with peculiar sample sounds, heavy bass buzz bursts & a solid but occasionally stuttered glitch beat.?? It also introduces plump rubbery synths with paunchy rhythmic sway, fluttery omnichord sounding melodies & crisp mid tempo beats & some weird little vocals.?? It???s catchy.?? It???s cool.?? It???s fun & sorta funky.?? 333 copies exist of this instrumental exercise in pleasure resistance.

Die Monitr Batss/Les Georges Leningrad [coll] - [5RC]- 7 inch 45rpm

Die Monitr Batss (sometimes spelled Batsss) is a spin off of Olympia, Washington’s “The Gossip”. They are a 3 piece out of Portland, Oregon. They sound nothing like The Gossip. Noisey, rockin, no wave/ art punk bringing to mind of some of the sound coming out of New York in the late 70s. Female vocals with saxophone, guitar and drums. “Clean Up” is catchy and has a subversively sexual tone not uncommon from the band that brought us “Spread Your Legs, Release The Bats”.

Les Georges Leningrad is out of Montreal. Electro, post punk weirdness. This band puts on over the top stage shows with elaborate props and costumes. “Monster Klaw” is typical Les Georges, with obnoxiously processed vocals paired with a groovey, bassy, new-disco/electro vibe.

Sisters ??? Everybody {Parts Unknown}

Sisters be two guys & one gal from Olympia, WA.?? I know, bummer, you wanted them to all be lipstick lesbo siblings who play with each other like they play their instruments,?? fingering each other on stage & off.?? Well, *POP!* burst that little bubble right now sailor.?? Anyways, the record is Everybody and these Sisters play gritty grungy garage raucous rock.?? It???s a mashing of gnarled yet tuneful indie rock, diseased feverish guitar pop & discordant feedback.?? I kinda suspect you???d get this shoved into a pigeonhole with Sonic Youth, Pavement, Thee Oh Sees, My Bloody Valentine, Calvin Johnson, Dinosaur Jr. & those sorts of folks??? which is good company to be in.?? This trio is awesome & has raw intensity & a jagged sound for two guitars, drums & incensed screaming.?? Great and recorded at K Records!????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

FCC:?? A2, A5 & B1 = FUCK!!!

Crazy Dreams Band - “S/T” - [Holy Mountain]

Crazy Dreams Band is a Baltimore outfit on the Holy Mountain Label. It’s chaotic, retro rock with a heavy psych flavor with caterwauling female vocals by Lexie Mountain. Rounded out with moog, guitar machete, harmonica, lap steel, bass, keyboard and drums, it’s definitely some full-fledged sounds.

Silent Land Time Machine - “&hope Still” - [Time-Lag]

Silent Land Time Machine is a solo artist from Austin, Texas, playing a variety of instruments on this debut release from October 2008 put out on Indian Queen Records and Time-Lag Records.

It’s a one-man band, home recording on this CD; with some guest vocals and instruments. It’s mainly instrumental (although some wordless and/or quiet vocals), atmospheric sounds created with strings, guitar, cello, electronics, accordion, samples, etc etc. Some tracks are glistening and optimistic, like the sun breaking through the clouds on a rainy day (track 2), whereas others have more frenetic, buzzy, and experimental touches. Mesmerizing stuff.

Skein, The: Andrea Parkins and Jessica Constable - “Cities and Eyes” - [Henceforth]

The Skein is the duo of Andrea Parkins (electric accordion, effects, samples & live processing, synthesizers, piano, and voice) and Jessica Constable (voice and electronics). Their debut album “Cities and Eyes” starts with a crazy racket of clanging, buzzing, and percussive noises punctuated by wailing, feline-like female vocals. Other pieces (like track 2’s “Nothing/Otherwise”) are more dream-like in places, with softer vocals and spacy keys. It’s all improvised, with some more jazz-like moments, intriguing samples (even operatic male vocals), and an experimental feel throughout. It’s an out-there ride with these talented musicians.

Chapman, Michael - “Time Past & Time Passing” - [Electric Ragtime]

Born in Leeds, England in 1941, Michael Chapman’s musical career goes back some 40 years, but this release is the first of his to reach KFJC’s library. His early work covered a lot of ground, with folk, rock, and blues efforts performed both solo and with bands, but his current fascination now seems to be American places and styles, with tracks here featuring ragtime fingerpicking a la Rev. Gary Davis and post-Delta blues explorations like those of John Fahey, who gets an explicit nod here via the track “Fahey’s Flag”. Chapman’s rough singing is not his strongest card, and and so he wisely focuses on playing, with most of these tracks being either instrumentals or songs with long instrumental passages. His playing is precise and controlled, but not so much as to become a technical exercise. The production is intimate and close up, done in a small English studio, but the overall sound sometimes evoke the wide open spaces, especially on his electric work here. (crimes)

Cosi, Valerio/Franchini, Enzo - “Conference of The Aquarians” - [Last Visible Dog Records]

Electronic/jazz/rock: Valerio Cosi and Enzo Franchini got together in Italy to do some free jazz improvs, and later Cosi added overdubs and radio manipulations (especially on 8). Cosi???s alto sax screams and squawks on 1, yet sounds smoky on 2. Franchini???s cymbals and drums are the highlight of 4, and his vibes close out 7 quite nicely. Cosi adds sitar, double bass, electric guitar, piano, synth, and electronics (see scraping on 2, glass-breaking sounds on 6, and radio voices on 8). Snake-charmer vibe to 3. These pieces move in various ways, but mostly they are fast and weirdly accessible.
Picks: 7, 6, 3.