KFJC 89.7FM

Music Reviews

Troller – “Graphic” – [HoloDeck]

lexi glass   11/12/2019   12-inch, A Library

Troller is the Austin, TX darkwave trio of Adam Jones, Justin Star-Goers and Amber Star-Goers; this 2016 release on HoloDeck (Jones’ label) is their second album. While not quite the pain factory that the album’s art might suggest, Graphic aches with dark, synth-laden pop made for a dungeon dancefloor – from the bleak title track (T2), to the forlorn ballad “Not Here” (T3), the grind of “Nothing” (T7), the heavier “Sundowner” (T9), and the final sinister slowjam “Torch” (T10) – all driven by Amber Star-Goers’ powerful, agonized vocals. Between the beats are shorter instrumental interludes (T1, T4, T7, T8), and the Lynchian dream pop of “Storm Maker” (T5). All tracks can easily writhe their way into a set alongside recent additions like Boy Harsher, Kaelan Mikla, Lebanon Hanover, and other dealers in beautiful misery.

Carlton Melton – “Mind Minerals” – [Agitated Records]

atavist   11/12/2019   12-inch, A Library

Carlton Melton does psych—or, to quote The Quietus from a nice write-up of the album, astral psych. One observation from The Quietus that resonates with me is the idea that CM have been on a mission to distill their sound over the years, perhaps break it into its component parts. Their recent live mic in the Pit (11/2/2019) is evidence of their current working method, and the same could be said of “Mind Minerals”, their most recent LP, released last year. Each track takes a limited host of sounds and explores them inside and out, giving them time to breathe and expand. The album has its more rocking moments, but a lot of it is slow and patient jams and noodlings. So definitely more open-ended, free-form, and minimalistic than, for example, “Out to Sea” from 2015.

A1: Big, amorphous intro.
A2: Establishes a straightforward beat, pretty deliberate in not changing up the routine too much to start.
A3: Mellow, serene. Staring up at a starry night sky.
A4: Starts out with the drums running solo, and then the guitar comes in hot. Definitely the most rocking song on this side.
B1: Droney synths with a hint of percussion, minimalistic.
B2: Easy drive down a country back road. Rolling along, but not in a hurry. The fields pass by.
C1: Let’s open it up a bit and ride the cymbals, let the amps scream. Let’s not be hasty and settle into it.
C2: Droney, meandering guitars and minimal percussion. Sun-faded memories.
C3: A synth patterns starts out this very minimal slice of mood.
D1: Blissed out, spaced out patterns. Best track for considering the inner spaces.
D2: Turned-up amps blazing. One last jam before fading to noise.

Rautavaara, Einojuhani – "Cantus Arcticus" – [Catalyst]

Hemroid The Leader   11/11/2019   A Library, CD

Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara (pronounced AY-no-yu-hah-ni ROW-ta-vah-ra) was born in Helsinki on Oct. 9, 1928. Cantus Arcticus & Symphony No. 5 performed by the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra. String Quartet No. 4 performed by the Sirius String Quartet.

Canticus Arcticus (1972) is a Concerto for Birds and Orchestra. Foggy & textural gradients. 3 movements, 17 min.

String Quartet No. 4 (1975) cool postwar quartet, Schoenberg 12-tones. Indeterminate pitches. Meditative. Different from the usual Western stuff. 3 movements, 22 min.

Symphony No. 5 (1985) is big and ambitious, a little disjointed here and there, maybe from the large scale. Entertaining and likeable. Maybe listen to the first half. 31 min.

African Rhythm Messengers 1/2 – "KFJC Live Mic At SJ America Fest – 1995" – [KFJC Live Mic]

Devlyn   11/10/2019   A Library, CD

African Rhythm Messengers 54:13

July 4th 1995  Live Remote from San Jose America Festival

Featuring KFJC DJs, Grawer and Earl Grey

“African Rhythm Messengers is a group of musicians headquartered in Nigeria. Their music mixes Caribbean, Reggae and African beats.” AllMusic.com They released a CD entitled Bottom Belle in 1998.”

Best Known songs written by Rex Lawson:

This recording was digitized from an archival VHS tape by Devlyn on 9//19/2019.

African Rhythm Messengers 2 – "KFJC Live Mic From SJ America Fest – 1995" – [KFJC Live Mic]

Devlyn   11/10/2019   A Library, CD

African Rhythm Messengers   Disk 2/2    57:33

July 4th, 1995 live KFJC Remote recording from the San Jose America Festival.

The recording features KFJC DJs, Grawer and Earl Grey.

“African Rhythm Messengers is a group of African musicians based in Nigeria. Their music mixes Caribbean, Reggae and African beats. They released a CD entitled Bottom Belle in 1998.”

Best Known songs were written by Rex Lawson:
Last song on this CD is the traditional song: Onye Ga Gba Egwu

Digitized from an archival VHS tape by Devlyn on 9/19/2019.

Bucket of Blues Sax Blowout KFJC Live Mic 2/2 – 1987 – "KFJC Live Mic" – [KFJC Live Mic]

Devlyn   11/10/2019   A Library, CD


1987_SAX_Blowout- A KFJC Live Mic_at_JJs_Blues_Cafe Disk 2/2 XXXXX

Recorded 12/22/1987    (1 hr 16mins :49 secs)  847661

Recorded at JJ’s Blues Cafe in Mountain View CA

Features JJs house band, Bucket of Blues, including: Deacon Jones  (organ and MC ) Our best guess this is: “Melvyn “Deacon” Jones (December 12, 1943 – July 6, 2017) an organist and founding member of Baby Huey & the Babysitters in Chicago”  Wikipedia   

Jamie Brian,

Mr Sticks

Sax Blowout starts with Terrible Tom (Probably TJ Politzer (SAX) of the Fabulous sundogs) Songs includes “I feel Good”

Noel Coutoura (SAX) comes on later

Bucket of Blues vocalist Rick Baker added in the end

The original tape runs out before the concert ends and is faded out.

Digitized from archival VHS tape by Devlyn. Some tape hiss when folks are talking. Not really noticeable when music is going, Concert is broken up into 2 CDs.




PRI – "KFJC Live Mic – 1983" – [KFJC Live Mic]

Devlyn   11/9/2019   A Library, CD

PRI – A KFJC Live Mic recorded on 2-5-1983  41 mins & 18 seconds

Genre: Punk/Metal

This recording was pulled from an old CD found in KFJC storage. The recording was labelled with the band name and the date recorded. No information about where it was recorded or information about what any of the tracks are found in the recording. Remastered by J Devlin 8/2019

We are assuming it is a recording of P.R.I.. (Peaceful Revolution Impossible), a Metal /Rock band out of Dallas, Texas performing in this period.

Loved Ones & Rosie Flores, The – "KFJC Live Mic At SXSW – 1994" – [KFJC Live Mic]

Devlyn   11/8/2019   A Library, CD

SXSW KFJC Live Mic CD 1  847188

Recorded on March 18, 1994

In 1994, KFJC Recorded and engineered performances at the South by South West Music Fest and broadcast those recordings live on KFJC airwaves and on 50 other radio stations that picked up the feed. Following is a Best of: KFJC Special featuring sets pulled from that live broadcast.

Recorded at @ Lazona Rosa Club in Austin Texas.

Track 1. The Loved Ones@ Lazona Rosa (39.16 mins) Blues 3-18-94. The Loved Ones were an Oakland-based Blues band formed by vocalist Bart Davenport, bassist Michael Therieau, rhythm guitarist Nick Rossi, lead guitarist Xan McCurdy and drummer John Kent. Their last album was Better Do Right in 1994.

Track 2. Rosie Flores and the Bad Boys -@ Lazona Rosa- Rockabilly (15 mins of a 1 hr concert was found on this tape) Flores is an American rockabilly and country music artist. She is joined on this recording by members of the Flatlanders (Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock).

Track 3. 3. Zero Gravity Stinger (for an upcoming show)

This CD was digitized from a VHS archival tape originally aired as a Mayhem special on 5/14/94 hosted by DJ  Earl Grey       

Bucket of Blues With Brian David – "KFJC Live Mic – 1987" – [KFJC Live Mic]

Devlyn   11/7/2019   A Library, CD

Bucket of Blues with 2 extra Sax players  (TJ Politzer and Noel Coutoura)

Recorded 12/22/1987    (36:03)               847010

This concert is broken up into 2 CDS. There is some tape hiss when folks are talking. Not really noticeable when music is going  

Recorded at JJ’s Blues Cafe in Mountain View CA

Tape starts with the club house band Bucket of Blues including: Deacon Jones on organ and MC for the night. ( Our best guess this is: “Melvyn “Deacon” Jones (December 12, 1943 – July 6, 2017) an organist and founding member of Baby Huey & The Babysitters in Chicago”  Wikipedia   

With David Brian, Vocalist from Palo Alto CA. Singing: Erving Berlin’s White Christmas at 28 mins

Slack, Errol & Alexandria – "KFJC Live Mic – 1988" – [KFJC Live Mic]

Devlyn   11/7/2019   A Library, CD

Alexandria & Errol Slack-Blues Band – A KFJC Live Mic from 1988

Recorded Jan 27, 1988                  847100

1 hr 5 minutes

No info on tape about how, where, or who recorded this. Likely recorded at JJ’s Blues, an Iconic San Jose blues bar where other KFJC Blues music was recorded in this period

Band Members: Errol Slack (organ), Alexandria Renate (vocals),

Fair amount of tape hiss that is noticeable during conversations.

Flayed Choirmaster, The – “Walking Case Study” – [Pet Goat Records, The]

whngr   11/6/2019   A Library, CD

Aural pet abuse.

A piercingly shrill keening reminiscent of a high-powered flash charging up before your uncle blinds you in the annual Thanksgiving family photo begins the assault on your furbabies’ sanity but quickly evolves into synthesized balloon squeaks and other abstractions. Echos, white-noise, bleeps, bloops, and crunches. Strobes, peels, shimmering squelches and later unintelligible muffled yells. Shards of sonic glass piercing the Tympanic Membrane, as Spot attacks the speaker and Fluffy claws first the door and then your face in a frenzied search of egress. A superb album for anxiety inducing enthusiasts of unstructured knob twirling and fader fingering by noise artist Sam Clifton. Reminds this miserable volunteer of an advanced AI’s death sonnet or perhaps a Wednesday evening at KFJC.

Armagedda -“Ond Spiritism” – [Nordvis Produktion]

atavist   11/6/2019   12-inch, A Library

This is beautiful, devastating black metal from 2004, re-released 15 years later. This is the last full-length from Armagedda before they disbanded to pursue other projects. Over the span of their three full-length releases, the band initially helped define black metal at the start of the century, and then immediately began pushing against nascent orthodoxies. “Ond Spiritism” is marked by a full sound—layers of immense, immersive guitar and bass, and excellent instrumentation. Vocals drip with evil while remaining clearly discernible (lyrics are in Swedish). There’s a fair amount of variety in the compositions—varying textures and tempos, including the occasional use of minimally distorted guitar. Tracks B2 and B4 are shorter, quieter pieces; the former features a simple, echoing guitar against a backdrop of falling rain, and the latter features a choral element with mournful, atmospheric keyboards. But the other tracks are furious and unrelenting. An early favorite is track A4, which uses a simple, driving structure that repeats to create an atmosphere of loss, mourning, and despair, while also teeming with urgency and dark energy. Tracks A1 and A2 both start with simple guitar passages before ramping up to full intensity. As soon as the record ends, I just want to start playing it again.

Blood Rhythms – “Civil War” – [No Part of It]

lexi glass   11/6/2019   12-inch, A Library

Civil War is the latest assault from Blood Rhythms, the noise collective fronted by Chicago-based electronic artist Arvo Zylo, here with Dave Phillips (of Schimpfluch-Gruppe), Wyatt Howland (Skin Graft) and many other collaborators. It’s a devastating – yet even beautiful – record, that might surprise non-noiseniks with its range of sounds and moods, and nearly song-like compositions. “Closure” (T1) opens with strange clarinet melodies, piercing tones, and a massive chorus of voices that finally resolves into a lone anguished scream. If the high-pitched violence of the latest Frataxin release left you begging for more, “Sick Skin” (T2) provides satisfaction, as strangled growls flail helplessly in feedback filth. With its first deep, ominous pulse, “Locked Away” (T3) descends into a forgotten underground lair, and we are overtaken by the howls of those trapped there. Side B holds the centerpiece – the colossal, confrontational “The Face” (T5) – where driving electronic rhythms collide with a cacophony of hellish horns. Yes, it’s a face-melter. The two-part finale (T6 and T7) buries heavy beats, organ bellows, metal scrap, and dying screams in a mass of noise; with one final thud, the suffocation succeeds.

White Wash – "KFJC Live Mic – 1977" – [KFJC Live Mic]

Devlyn   11/5/2019   A Library, CD

847043

White Wash Live – a KFJC Live Mic from 1977

Recorded on 2-25-1977

DJs Susan Fox and Sandy Sprague  

Length 29:50

Style:Americana

Recording features strong acoustical guitar work, congas, harmonica & 2 voices.    

Partial list of tracks:

2nd song is a guitar cover of Donovan song  “There is a Mountain”

Cover of “Folsom Prison”

City


Mermaidens – "Look Me In The Eye" – [Flying Nun]

humana   11/3/2019   A Library, CD

I know so little about this fantastic band from Wellington, New Zealand. I see two women and a man on the CD cover, but I don’t know their names. I just know that together they write and perform downtempo (and pleasingly oft-changing tempo) songs that summon images of an undersea world–figuratively, that is. The amazing lead female vocals take your emotions for a ride while the guitars and percussion help you ride the changing currents. I particularly enjoyed “Milennia” and “The Cut,” but each song has its own charm. Dive in.

Battle of The Surf Bands Vol 8 [coll] – [KFJC]

Cousin Mary   11/2/2019   A Library, CD

From the 8th KFJC surf battle held in May of 2019. Each of the 13 bands has a track on the CD and a video of a track on the USB drive. Held every 2 to 3 years for the surf music community to say thanks to KFJC for its support.

Derbyshire, Delia & Hannett, Martin – "Synth & Electronic Recording Exchanges, The" – [Dandelion Records]

Sir Cumference   10/30/2019   A Library, CD

This is not the cover that we were sent, see below…

Martin Hannett – famed Factory producer – was a fan of famed Radiophonic Workshop sound artist Delia Derbyshire and ended up in an auditory correspondence with her. They both sent tracks to each other through the post, and Martin had compiled 33 of them for a release back at the beginning of the ’80s which never happened – until now! Unfortunately there appears to have been no notes for the compilation and with no one to ask – as Martin passed on in ’91 and Delia ten years later – we can only guess. Luckily for our ears Martin appeared to be channelling his inner Wendy Carlos and going for baroque, while leaving the uniquely Delian tracks to counter in a mostly alternating arrangement on this release (though towards the end, it started to sound more Delian.) I’m quite perplexed as to why they used a picture of Suzanne Ciani on the cover!

Why is there a problem with identifying Delia in photos. There are a ton of Suzanne’s images on the internet misattributed to Delia!

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