Ex Lion Tamer’s Friend (or the AMA Took My Baby Away)

Re-upload by request 08/04/2024

 

Daniel John Riddle is King Black Acid.

Riddle was born on a hippie commune in the 1960s. He doesn't know the exact date. He grew up in the company of rockers. His mother's boyfriend worked for the Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Santana, & the Allman Brothers. Riddle moved to Portland from San Francisco in the late 80s. He became known in the local rock scene as both a nine-year employee of the infamous rock venue Satyricon & as the bassist of the experimental industrial/noise tribal alt-rock band Hitting Birth.

 Hitting Birth – Fast of the Thirst Free Years, Tim/Kerr Records, 1992.

all decryption codes in comments

Tracklist –

Mayberry LSDNA

Same 18

GNMI

Fire (skit)

Pharaohs, Priests, & Pimps

Earth (live)

Happy Just to be Again

Why Hates All (Planet Fuck Turn it Up)

Air (live)

Smack

Love Me

Water (live)

Hitting Birth started out playing found materials in open-mic music cabarets. In their first appearances, Riddle & David Parks adopted the shopping cart as their central instrument. Later they morphed into a crazed rhythm & scream factory. Their live shows were ecstatic wildly unpredictable events with multiple drummers, strange stage props, & above-mentioned screaming. Translating this live chaos into studio albums was a hard row.

The band has said about their attempts: "although we never were able to capture in the recording studio what we could do live…..we had fun trying."

All that being said, IMO both of these releases, the earlier on the great Tim/Kerr label & the Freest are both most worthy.

Hitting Birth – Feel the Freest, Will Records WiL3637-2CD, 1995.

Tracklist –

Metatron

David

Drive On

We Are All

Jabar

Pie

AMA

WWW

Forwards that are Backwards

The X-Sword Swallower

Blueskin

The Birth

Fever Dream

Riddle began recording music under the name King Black Acid as a high school student in the late 1980s but it wasn’t until the early 90s that Daniel found his voice in KBA. He also switched from bass to guitar as weapon of choice. King Black Acid is Riddle’s persona to channel his musical muse more than an actual band. All King Black Acid material is written by Riddle, who sings & plays guitar during live shows but who plays a variety of other instruments in his own recording studio, Mazinga Studio, where he produces the releases under the name King Black Acid.

There have been numerous iterations of KBA: the Electric Chair Band; the Womb Star Orchestra; the Starseed Transmission; the 144,000 Piece Acid Army; or the Sacred Heart. Each variation has featured guitar-fueled, effects-heavy sonic free-for-alls. They are known for ethereal, melancholy grooves with a hypnotic rock sound. My personal favorites are from the Womb Star era.

"Think Away" is GAWDHED!

King Black Acid & the Womb Star Orchestra – Sunlit EP, Cavity Search34, 1996.

Tracklist –

Some Things Must be Believed to be Seen

Headfull

Think Away

Womb Star Orchestra: Daniel Riddle - guitar & vocals; Roger Campos – guitar; Melinda DiCillo – keyboards; & Scott Adamo - drums with Joseph Trump – percussion. WSO had a different bassist on each studio recording…on Sunlit EP it is Mitch Brown & on Royal Subjects it is Steve Dorris.

Where Hitting Birth haunt a domain similar to SteelPole BathTub, King Black Acid live in the spacey, neo-psychedelic guitar-land similar to Mercury Rev.

King Black & the Womb Star Orchestra – Royal Subjects, Cavity Search 38, 1997.

Tracklist –

60 Cycles Numb

Grand Mal Pleasure

Call Me on the Headphones

Only Wine will Tell

Passing Through the Photon Belt

144 Thousand Member Acid Army (I, II, III)

Exit Ground Level, Pt. 1

Royal Subjects

Starseed Transmission: Daniel Riddle – guitar & vocals; Sarah Mayfield – guitar; Erick 'Star Wars' Alley & Bobek Djeyfroudi – bass; Pete Ficht – keyboards; & Scott Adamo – drums.

King Black Acid & the Starseed Transmission – Loves a Long Song,
Cavity Search CSR48, 2000.

Tracklist –

Butterfly Bomber

Kiss the Beast

Into the Sun

School Blood

I’ve Heard You’re Still Alive

Colorado (Wherever it is You Are)

Born to Sleep

Gentle Collapse (Feels Good)

Here's also a couple bonus tracks, KBA & the Sacred Heart doing their version of Elton John's "Bennie & the Jets" live at Doug Fir in Portland 2008 & KBA covering Bowie’s "Always Crashingin the Same Car" from 2013.

 

Enjoy,

NØ