Music Reviews

coll – Break the Rules # 8 [V2}

jack soil   3/6/2005   12-inch, A Library, Format

Practically lost recordings of punk, powerpop, melody punk and sometimes banned
materials revived for your true punk listening pleasure. Inside, find a fantastic
collection of rare 7″s from punk bands around the world (Sweden, Italy, Germany,
USA, UK, Canada, Norway, more) spanning the dates of 1978 to ’82. Peter P (the
Germany based mastermind behind this comp.) hooks up with friends around the
world to put the collection together. All records are limited editions, one of
the releases were limited to 100 copies. There is some truly great material here
from the likes of Snuky Tate, Dayglo Abortions (the cover of this coll. is borrowed
from one of their jackets), Haerverk, and Xtraverts. Every song is a winner,
you will not go wrong. Excellent liner notes include little stories/history
about the band/particular song, pix from the original sleaves and inner label art.
Top shelf comp.

Sono-Bomber “Songs from the Socket” [Clif Cunningham]

jack soil   3/6/2005   A Library

7 intriguing untitled tracks exploring blips, drones, and severe electronic soun
ds. Local artist, Clif Cunningham, provides the soundscape from another plane –
the socket plane. My interpretation is that he managed to insert microphones into
the wiring system of a house undergoing renovation. The old wiring and the
new wiring don’t get along so well and what has been captured here are the trials
and tribulations of distressed wire, and of course at times everything is copacetic.
On this chunk of homemade silicon are harsh, noisy, precision layered loops,
repeating patterns, and electronic chaos that will potentially put you somewhere
other than where you are right now. Chance it, friend.

Pauline Oliveros – “Alien Bog/Beautiful Soop” [pogus]

jack soil   3/6/2005   A Library, CD, Format

Oliveros completed these two compositions during her year as First Director of the
Tape Music Center at Mills College in 1966 & 1967 (seriously out there for the
time frame) utilizing the original Buchla Box 100 series and her tape delay system
(no accordions on this one). Alien Bog was inspired by a frog pond and its inhabitants located outside of Pauline’s office on the Mills College Campus. The pond is gone now,
but the sounds are here for you to enjoy. Beautiful Soop is a bizarre Alice in Wonderland
narrative accompanied by Ms. Oliveros. What a ride! The sounds are absolutely
beautiful and will put you at one with whatever it is you are near. 2 very long tracks
that are over way too soon.

The Vendettas “The Vendettas” [360Twist]

jack soil   3/6/2005   A Library, CD, Format

Slightly inebriated twangin’ garagy rock sounds from The Vendettas. They borrow
from whatever they can get their filthy mitts on – electric blues, RnB, crazed
rockabilly. Singer/rhythm guitarist, Buffi Aguero hails from the Subsonics (as
the drummer) along with Clay Reed, producing (also from the Subsonics). Sporting
two chix and two dudes, they sound like a Cramps-meets the-Makers-meets the-insert
some other trash rawk band effort. In fact, singer Johnny Vignault could probably
step in for the Makers any time ( given that he changes his hair doo and agrees to
tour in a hearse). Good stuff through and through, occasionally snotty, occasionally
crazed, occasionally demented and always rockin, guaranteed by a solid pedigree. In
other words, it’s a solid good time. Obviously shaken like they meant it to be.

The Other Side “Don’t Look Back” [Desco]

jack soil   3/6/2005   12-inch, Soul

Enormous slabs-o-funky super soul-icious sounds. Absolutely amazing work from T
he Other Side. I’m almost speechless, but here goes – James Brown inspired phat
phat as hell funky sounds. All instrumentals, heavy heavy funky boogaloo, heavy
heavy duty wax. This shit is broke. Don’t bother repairin’ it. Just go with it.
Sounds like this should have been recorded twenty-plus years ago. This is
chunky, sticky and thick as fresh tar on a hot summer afternoon. The back of
the album maybe sez it best, “DESCO is seeking bands and musicians interested in
recording HEAVY HEAVY Funk or Boogaloo. If your influences include Parliament,
Stevie Wonder, or be-bop, you need not apply. When it comes to getting’ down,
James Brown is the ground.” Grooves and grooves and grooves.

Brother JT and Vibrolux “Dosed and Confused” [Bedlam]

jack soil   3/6/2005   A Library

4 live frenetic tracks by the crazed Brother JT and Vibrolux taken from tapes of
various concerts and even a live mic at WFMU in Orange, NJ. The source recordings
are a bit dirty sounding, but don’t give that a second thought. This is an amazing
70 + minute chaotic psycho-delic freakout that has the tangental Brother JT
rambling (in between extensive psychedelic jams) about riding the bus, witnessing
the butchering of a deer as a young child, and the value of an education. A
fantastic release from the musical and sometimes maniacal genius that is the
heavily dosed and confused Brother JT and Vibrolux. Ingest often and liberally
– can also be used as a topical cream.

Rocket 455 “Sees all- Knows all – Tells all” 45rpm [Get Hip]

jack soil   3/6/2005   10-inch, A Library, Format

With a name derived from an extremely powerful motor produced in motor city for
Oldsmobile in the early 70’s, it isn’t much of a stretch to figure out that Rock
et 455 tip their hat to the MC5 and Iggy Pop in a major way. Fast forward 25 ye
ars and not much has changed in terms of music stylings -this is a good thing.
You get 6 fast paced rockin tunes carved into this little 10″ gem. This is their
3rd release after two self-released 7″s. Rip roarin, full blown Detroit punk rock
with serious attitude and plenty of energy. Line these guys and gal up with
the likes of Duradelinquent and Lucky Thirteens for a dangerous evening. Sure,
there are alotta imitators out there, but few come as close to sounding like th
e real thing as Rocket 455. Fun and over wayyy tooo soon.

Plaid “Not For Threes” [Warp Records]

Mac   3/5/2005   A Library, CD, Format

Electronica from the duo of Ed Handley and Andy Turner. Two-third’s of the trio making up the techno group The Black Dog, Handley and Turner’s association pre-dated Black Dog, and after the trio split up they returned as Plaid, where they offer a more approachable sound.
Lighter than your average club music, the beats are reminiscent of the emerging 80’s electro-techno but with a complexity stemming from modern house music. For a harder edge, try track 7. For a techno-pop sound of the more mainstream there are some guest vocal tracks (T6 Nicolette, T9 Mara and Benet T9 Bjork T12 Leila Arab). Yes, the Bjork, but I liked Nicolette’s offering more. My favourite tracks were the three shortest (T 5, 11, 13). They give you that danceable repetitive beat but by keeping it short don’t bore you.

Banyan “Live at Perkins? Palace” [Sanctuary Records]

Mac   3/5/2005   A Library

Led by Stephen Perkins, formerly of Jane’s Addiction, this indie-pop is too jazzy for rock and too rocky for jazz. Meeting somewhere in the middle, Perkins (drummer), Mike Watt (bass), Willie Waldman (trumpet) and Nels Cline (guitar) cover as much ground as the Indian fig tree the band is named after. They’ll shift things to high gear on tracks #1 & #7 with hard driving rock/pop, then slow things down to the smooth soft sounds of tracks like #3 and #8. Playing to genre stereotypes, the faster songs sound more like rock and the slower songs fall more into the jazz groove. Elements of both are still found on every track. Though the album says Live on the cover, a few studio effects have found their way onto the recording. Final note: the last track, Fun House, is a Stooges cover.

Cambodian Rocks [coll] – [Parallel World]

Mac   3/5/2005   CD, Format, International

In the mid 60’s the American music scene was invaded by the British. By the late 60’s America was invading Cambodia. Surf, psych, pop, rock, and soul found their way into the country and out came the Cambodian flavored songs on this CD. Mad guitar riffs, catchy melodies, and weird vocals (all the singing is in Cambodian) go beyond mere imitation. Though inspired by the American greats, they manage to find their own sound, and it rivals the best garage bands America had to offer. The various rock sounds merge in ways no Americans explored, and the high pitched female vocals on half the tracks and occasional odd instruments add a truly Cambodian sound. None of the artists are named and no liner notes are given. The tracks were collected from old cassettes (see story on back). Highlights include the covers of Fleetwood Mac’s Black Magic Woman (T5) and Them’s Gloria (T13). Burned forever into my mind is the hilarious imitation of James Brown on T8. In a place with war just across the border and a political coup at home, these musicians found in rock music a way to escape and have some fun. The passion with which they play is reflected in their music, and it can blow you away. Sit back and have a rockin’ good time, courtesy of Cambodia.