Singers & Players - War of Words

Lotta people seemed to have enjoyed the last Singers & Players that I posted up, so here’s another one. From 1981 on 99 Records in the U.S., released the following year in the U.K. on On-U Sound. Although Bim Sherman does the vocal duties on five of the seven tunes (& never sounded finer), this is the first album by Singers & Players with Prince Far-I & Jah Woosh.

War of Words has that heavy slow dub with early dancehall influences. Bim Sherman handles the vocals on "Devious Woman," "Fit to Survive," & "World of Dispensation", great funky rootsy skankers while "91 Vibration" has echoed dub with vocals he must have phoned in from another area code. However, when Prince Far-I steps up to the mike on "Quante Jubila" a re-working of Creation Rebels 's "Know Yourself" it is a thing of beauty, the juxtaposition of the Prince’s gruff vocals with the songs emotional lyrics. If you liked Leaps & Bounds, you’re gonna really groove to this one.

Singers & Players here are: Bim Sherman, Prince Far-I, & Jah Woosh - vocals; “Crucial” Tony - guitar, bass, keyboards, & vocals; Keith Levene - guitar; Geotge Oban - bass; Lizard - bass & vocals; Ari “Stepper”, “Bigga” Morrison, Doctor Pablo, & Nick Plytas - keyboards; Eskimo Fox & “Style” Scott - drums; & Mr. Ranking Magoo - percussion. Produced, of course, by Adrian Sherwood.

Singers & Players - War of Words, 99 Records 99-02LP, 1981.
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This Side -
Devious Woman
Quanté Jubila
Sit & Wonder
Fit to Survive
Other Side -
Reaching the Bad Man
World of Dispensation
91 Vibration

Enjoy,
NØ

Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 10/05/2013. Enjoy, NØ.

Anders from Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson became a friend after I posted their freshman release Unnoticed in a Tiny Town over at Digital Meltd0wn (where I also do time) & he wrote to me.

If you don't know, YPOFH is a post-rock band from Bodø, Norway. As I said over at DM, their songs are haunting & skygazing epics combining electronic elements with soothing layers of dreamy guitars & pounding yet jazzy intricate beats. It is post-rock with a pop feel laced with spoken, sung & screamed vocals. One can dance to their tunes or be lulled to sleep, they are at the same time beat-driven & dream-inducing.

Anders recently let me know that they are now on tour in the USA, heading for SXSW. They are traveling from NY to TX in March, playing concerts along the way (unfortunately they are not voyaging west to Cali). Below are their tour dates. If you live in any of these areas, go check'em out & tell'em Nathan sent ya. You won't regret it. This is their first time in the US.

MARCH 2011 Limited US Tour
07: Manhattan, NY @ Pianos
08: Brooklyn, NY @ Legion Bar (w/ Cattle Drums and Golden City)
09: Philadelphia, PA @ Millcreek Tavern
10: Ridgewood, NJ @ Tony's house (w/ A Garden Overgrown and Prawn)
11: Annapolis, MD @ Savvas' house (w/ AGO, Prawn and Sleep Bellum Sonno)
12: Harrisonburg, VA @ Crayola House (w/ SBS and many more!)
13: Wilmington, NC @ Soapbox (w/ Fractal Farm and SBS)
14: Clarksville, TN @ The Coup (w/ Deadhorse and The Ascent of Everest)
15: Shreveport, LA @ Bear's Oyster Bar (w/ Gifts From Enola)
16: SXSW (day off)
17: SXSW (day off)
18: notSXSW @ Plush (4pm) (w/ Sleep Bellum Sonno and many more)
19: SXSW @ Swan Dive (8pm)
20: Oklahoma City, OK @ Hi-Lo Club (w/ The Arts & Crafts Movement)

I've taken the liberty to post up their latest, self-titled release. Hope I don't wind up in trouble. Recorded during some hot & not so hot months late 2009 in the southern parts of Norway. 2 x CDs with a hardbound 32 page book with full color & b/w illustrations. Available in four different background color covers: Red, Grey, White (this cover) & Green.

Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson - self-titled,
How is Annie Records HIA031, 2010.
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Puzzle cd -
Let's Rent Bikes from 1942
I'd Rather Listen to Weston
He Can't be Dead, I got his Autograph Last Week
To Sit Down or to Follow, So I Follow

The Detective cd -
Our Door Handles Stopped Moving Years Ago
The League Will Never let the Albino Kid Win
I Think E.T. is Involved in my Family
Scientists now Think this City is Overdue

Enjoy,
NØ

R.I.P. Phil Vane

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 11/16/2013. Enjoy, NØ


Everyone else seems to be posting up Extreme Noise Terror or Napalm Death as a tribute to the dearly departed M. Vane. Thought I'd give a bit of OWP. Rest in pieces. Vain to the end. Take the bribe or take the bullet.

Optimum Wound Profile - Silver Or Lead,
Roadrunner Records RR 9040 2, 1993.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist -

One Head Two Eyes
Nazilover
Twisted
Crotch Metal Orgasm
Plata O Plomo
Slavetrade
Verfall
Sidewinder
Doghead
Exorcise
Lubricator
Modus Operandi
(hidden tracks)

Enjoy,
NØ

Up for the Down Stroke

 UPDATE: This post has been re-uploaded 08/27/2013. Enjoy, NØ.

This is thee premier FUNK!

Parliament’s second outing, their first with Casablanca, the return of Bootsy to the Mothership (after two years along with the Horny Horns over at Godfather JB’s place). Everything is right with this slab. The critically acclaimed title cut, the funkier reworking of (I Wanna) "Testify", the poignantly hip "Presence of a Brain". & just as "Maggot Brain" is my número uno Funkadelic song, this album contains my favorite Parliament song, "All Your Goodies are Gone". That song alone propels P-Funk well beyond the adulations laid on less worthy bands like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. Clinton & frenz are in a class of their own. The title of the album tells it all.

Parliament - Up for the Down Stroke,
Casablanca Records NBLP 7002, Dec 1974.
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Side 1 -

Up For The Down Stroke
Testify
The Goose
I Can Move You (If You Let Me)
Side 2 -

I Just Got Back
All Your Goodies Are Gone
Whatever Makes Baby Feel Good
Presence Of A Brain

Enjoy,
NØ

Really Freaked

So I see Randy Quaid is in the news a lot lately, & since he is one of my favorite character actors, I was wondering what all the buzz was. I found out it is great news. He is starring is the sequel to 1993s Freaked.


The movie is called Really Freaked: The Persecution Of Elijah C Skuggs. Elijah & his wife Evie are wanted by the law & are found hiding out at their old place, Freekland. After being released on a half Zillion dollars bail each, they flee the country, trying to get asylum in a foreign Dominion. Elijah has incurred the wrath of the Hollywood Hierarchy after creating his troupe of mutant Entertainers using his Zygrot 24-powered mutation device.


The Hollywood Hierarchy dispatch the insidious Hollywood Star Whackers. What ensues is an action-packed comedy/thriller. The Star Whackers follow a trail of star-studded clues in the search for Elijah & Evie, eliminating everyone they encounter as they go. They manage to kill Heath Ledger, Britanny Murphy, Chris Penn, Natasha Richardson, Michael Jackson, & David Carradine. They poison Jeremy Piven with mercury-laced tuna, launch smear campaigns against Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, & Mel Gibson, & frame both Robert Blake & Phil Spector for murder.

The mainstream media is quick to side with the Hollywood-written script, mocking & ridiculing the couple, attributing their defection & apparent betrayal to drug abuse. They circulate rumors that the Skuggses “snort Demerol to cure migraines”.

Then one of Hollywood’s own, publicist Ronni Chasen is gunned down in her Mercedes on a busy Beverly Hills street in broad daylight. She has left documents & photographs to be released to the World press in case of her untimely demise. The media quickly begin singing a different tune (the theme song “Really Freaked” by pedophile Gary Glitter).

I’ve probably given away too much about the film already & I wouldn’t want to ruin the climax for anyone so all I’ll say is, go out & see it yourself. You’ll love it, it’s REALLY FREAKED.

Various Artists - Freaked Un-OST, Bill & Ted Records BTR @$*%!, 19--.

Freaked - Blind Idiot God featuring Henry Rollins
Gumby Jack Flash - Paul Leary
Rip/Stop - Blind Idiot God
Butter Queen - Butthole Surfers
Hideous Mutant Freekz - Axiom Funk (PFunk, Bill Laswell, & frenz)
Sweat Loaf - Butthole Surfers
Midget Man Skank - Blind Idiot God
Cha Bump - Bald Bill Hagan and His Trocaderons
Gluehead Stomp - Blind Idiot God

Eye & Eye, mon.

Enjoy,
NØ

San Francisco Blues

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 08/22/2013. Enjoy, NØ.






While digging through all my accumulated esoterica, I came across this forgotten tome.

Kerouac typed up the complete text for San Francisco Blues in 1961. There were 79 choruses in all. Those choruses were never published together until 1983. Before that, fragments had appeared in small magazines & some only materialized on records. Fifty four of the choruses were never published at all! Kerouac would have loved for the entire work to be published as a 'beautiful unity' as he saw it. To fill that gap in the Kerouac shelf, San Francisco Blues is here published in its entirety.

"My new book of poems SAN FRANCISCO BLUES...I wrote when I left Neal’s in March & went to live in the Cameo Hotel on Third Street Frisco Skidrow---wrote it in a rockingchair at the window, looking down on winos & bebop winos & whores & cop cars..."
--Jack Kerouac (1954)

"SAN FRANCISCO BLUES was my first book of poems, written back in 1954 & hinting the approach of the final blues poetry form I developed for the MEXICO CITY BLUES.
In my system, the form of blues choruses is limited by a small page of the breastpocket notebook in which they are written, like the form of a set number of bars in a jazz blues chorus, & so sometimes the word-meaning can carry from one chorus into another, or not, just like the phrase meaning can carry harmonically from one chorus to the other, or not, in jazz, so that in these blues as in jazz, the form is determined by time, & by the musician’s spontaneous phrasing & harmonizing with the beat of the time as it waves & waves on by in measured choruses. It’s all gotta be non stop ad-libbing within each chorus, or the gig is shot."
--Jack Kerouac (1961)

Chorus (15)
When whistlers stop scowling
Smokers stop sighing
Watchers stop looking
& women stop wailing
& worrying overcoats
When gray beards grow no more
& pain don’t take you by surprise
& bedposts creak in rhythm
Night & morn
& dry men’s bones
Are not pushed
By angry-meaning
Pelvic propeled legs
Of reason
To a place you hate
Then I’ll go lay my crowned body
On the heads
Of three men
Hurrying & laughing
In the wrong direction
My idol

Chorus (25)
For the World’s an eye
& the Universe is seeing
Liquid,
Rare,
Radiant

Chorus (35)
I also have loud poems:
Broken plastic coverlets
Flapping in the rain
To cover newspapers
All printed up
& plain

Chorus (51)
Little boys are angels
Crying in the street
Wear funny hats
Wait for green lights
Carry bust out tubes
Around their necks
& roam the railyards
Of the great cities
Looking for locomotives
Full of shit

Chorus (52)
Run down to the waterfront
& dream of Cathay
Hook spars with gulls
Of half-a-void thought

Jesse ‘Lone Cat’ Fuller - San Francisco Bay Blues,
Original Blues Classics OBC 537,1992. (re-issue of 1963 release)
decryption code in comments

Side 1-

San Francisco Bay Blues
Jesse's New Midnight Special
Morning Blues
Little Black Train
Midnight Cold
Whoa Mule

Side 2 -

John Henry
I Got a Mind to Ramble
Crazy About a Woman
Where Could I Go But To the Lord
Stealin' Back to My Old Time Used to Be
Brownskin Gal (I've Got My Eye on You)

Enjoy,
NØ

As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 09/08/2013. Enjoy, NØ.


Since I started the heavy rotation of Singers & Players around here, I dragged out all the OnU Sound/Adrian Sherwood material (Skip ‘Little Axe’ McDonald, Tackhead, Mark Stewart & Maffia). This is one heavy, heavy chunk o’ vinyl. 1985!

from the OnU Sound website -

"Mark Stewart & Maffia"

"As teenage front man and mastermind of seminal Bristol post-punk legends The Pop Group (1978-80), Stewart already used his microphone as a weapon. In an era that saw public opinion and perception tainted by Thatcher, Reagan and the Cold War, The Pop Group emerged as one of Britain’s most radical exponents of new music and quickly gained notoriety well beyond the British Isles. Their until then unheard mix of punk, funk, dub, jazz and noise, countered by Mark Stewart’s scathing political slogans and lyrics (We Are All Prostitutes), easily counts among the most impressive, provocative and lasting manifestations of musical spontaneity seen, heard and experienced by the end of the 1970s.

After the group’s dissolution in the early 1980s, members of the Pop Group re-emerged in a flurry of new bands and guises: Rip Rig & Panic (featuring the then still unknown Neneh Cherry), Pigbag (with their surprise Top 10 hit ‚"Papa’s Got A Brand New Pig Bag”) and Maximum Joy. After a short stint with the New Age Steppers, Mark Stewart decided to pursue a solo career as Mark Stewart & the Maffia. His friend, On-U sound owner Adrian Sherwood, took care of production and mixed the Maffia on their various tours. With Doug Wimbish, Skip McDonald and drumming talent Keith LeBlanc Stewart recruited a truly exceptional rhythm section who had previously played with the likes of Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, James Brown, Madonna, Africa Bambaata, George Clinton, Tackhead and many others. Considered seminal milestones by many of his peers and fans, the solo outings by this‚ godfather‘ of Bristol’s eclectic music scene blend the most diverse of genres in a unique and unconventional mix of dub, funk, punk, techno, electro, noise – spiced up with a generous dose of Stewart’s trademark political lyrics and slogans.

Albums like As The Veneer Of Democracy Starts To Fade or Learning To Cope With Cowardice have left a lasting mark on the current music scene: icons in their own right like Massive Attack, David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, Carl Craig, Asian Dub Foundation and Nick Cave call Mark Stewart’s work a decisive influence."

Mark Stewart & Maffia - As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade,

Mute STUMM 24, 1985.
decryption code in comments

Side A -

Passcivecation Program & (passcivecation dub)
Bastards
The Resistance of the Cell
Untitled (Call to Mecca)

Side B -

As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade
Pay it All Back
Hypnotized
Slave of Love
The Waiting Room

Enjoy,
NØ

Blood Satisfaction

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 10/12/2013. Enjoy, NØ.
 
Well, it’s a New Year.

Hope you all got your blood satisfaction for all your funky little demons.

You can read all about it in the Wolfgang Press.

" Too sophisticated for the mainstream and too, well, arty for the prevailing underground scene of the time, any record of theirs was always going to require more than one pass to grub out the intricacies. "
----- Sam Bucca

The Wolfgang Press - Funky Little Demons,
4AD CAD 4016, 1995.
decryption code in comments

Side 1 -

Going South
11 Years
Blood Satisfaction
Chains
Christianity
Derek The Confessor

Side 2 -

So Long Dead
Executioner
She's So Soft
New Glass
Fallen Not Broken
People Say

I have added the bonus CD Funky Little Demons Mixes from the 2007 CD re-release.

Executioner (Adamson mix)
Christianity (Sherwood mix)
Going South (Adrenalin mix)
11 Years (Sabres main mix)

Enjoy,
NØ

Happy New One

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 04/13/2014. Enjoy, NØ.

 

Hope this next one increases your every desire by leaps & bounds.

Singers & Players - Leaps & Bounds,
OnU Sound ON-LP 33/B Red 58, 1984.
decryption code in comments

Enjoy this & all that the future holds for each & every one,
NØ

At the Drive In at Xmas Tyme

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 08/22/2013. Enjoy, NØ.

Even thought I’m not an Xtian, I get a kick out of the holidays. I've got to admit that some of my friends are definitely geeks & some of my closest friends are total musick geeks, which has its real advantages this time of year.

I’ve been selling off parts of my record collection in a move to down-size my life to a more realistic, less materialistic level. So some of my musick geek friends have taken it upon themselves to attempt giving me musick that I will desire so much that I’ll be forced to keep it, no matter what my financial or habitational situation.

The holiday season is made for these (5, mainly) geeks friends. They all gifted me with 'invaluable' records, to my chagrin as well as benefit.

Two of these presents I mention here now, along with public (blogland) thanks.


My friend MAJ sent me Gila Monster’s Scottishe Grammophon 7". It contains flyers, stickers, & three different interchangeable covers. Why it is most prized by me is because Jer Reid, of Glasgow noise outfit Dawson, plays guitar on "Scaredom". This is a rarity with which I won’t be parting. Thanks, babe.


Then my friend Horsefly topped everything. He is an artiste as well as musick geek & he hand-made me a silver box that he filled with some of the greatest musick I now safeguard.


I am sure anyone familiar with my bizarre musickal tastes know I’m a large fan of The Mars Volta. Well, I will brave the limb I am climbing & say that The Mars Volta were unnecessary if only At the Drive In had not folded or imploded or whatever. At the Drive In played some of the tastiest, most articulated PUNK RAWK around, kinda like a West Texas Clash, only completely different.

ATDI is one band that I never get tired of hearing, or ranting on about, as Horsefly well knows from many chemically-fueled late-night talk & rawk sessions at the Casa Nada. Well, not only did he create the box this box set came in, but filled it with the following vinyl:

3 12"ers -
1998 In/Casino/Out (clear vinyl)
200 Relationship of Command
2001 Live in Tokyo (yellow vinyl)

1 10"er -
1999 Vaya (white vinyl)

3 7"ers -
1995 ¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo!
200 Invalid Litter Dept. (yellow vinyl)
2000 One Armed Scissor...

I don’t even have the words to express my overwhelming gratitude. For your listening pleasure...

At the Drive In - ¡Alfaro Vive, Carajo! 7“, Western Breed, 1995.
decryption code in comments

Enjoy,
NØ

This Boy's Gone Crazy

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 01/12/2014. Enjoy, NØ.

 

As everyone sez around the Casa Nada this time of year, "What up, Dog?".

A gift for everyone from us.

Overlooked band’s best effort. Just cuz theys inalectyuals donenot mean they cain’t FUNK!

What up, Dawg?

Was (Not Was) - What Up, Dog?,Chrysalis F2 21664, 1988.
decryption code in comments

Tracklist -

Somewhere in America There's a Street Named after My Dad
Spy in the House of Love
Out Come the Freaks
Earth to Doris
Love Can Be Bad Luck
Boy's Gone Crazy
11 MPH
What up, Dog?
Anything Can Happen
Robot Girl
Wedding Vows in Vegas
Anytime Lisa
Walk the Dinosaur
I Can't Turn You Loose
Shadow & Jimmy
Dad I'm in Jail

Enjoy yer Brumalia,
NØ

>>>>>>>>>>Don Van Vliet<<<<<<<<<< *****19 Jan. 1941 - 17 Dec. 2010*****

R.I.P.

He always has been & always will be my #1.
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band - Her Eyes are a Blue Million Miles

American Woman

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 08/11/2013. Enjoy, NØ




Sweeping across the wheat fields of Manitoba, Canada blown by the winds of hard-rock that was rearing its head in the late 60s - early 70s, The Guess Who took America & the rest of the world by storm. "American Woman" was the first #1 hit by a Canadian group since The Crew Cuts hit the top with 1954s "Sh-Boom".

This selection goes out to my friend Jonder, who brought up the current epitome of American Womanhood, Kim Kardashian. After years of pencil-thin waifs & heroin-chic skeletons, it’s nice to drool over a curvaceous cutey. This post is dedicated to the two of them

The Guess Who, in their fourth incarnation on this album, were: Burton Cummings - keyboards, vocals, guitar, & harmonica; Randy Bachman - guitar; Jim Kale - bass; & Garry Peterson - drums.

The Guess Who - American Woman, RCA Victor LSP-4266, 1970.
decryption code in comments

Side 1 -

American Woman
No Time
Talisman
No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature

Side 2 -

969 (The Oldest Man) (Instrumental)
When Friends Fall Out
8:15
Proper Stranger
Humpty's Blues / American Woman (Epilogue)

Enjoy,
NØ

Bloodrock

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 12/07/2013. Enjoy, NØ.

 

I was going to post up Bloodrock 2 just because it contains the great proto-metal masterpiece "D.O.A." but Bloodrock’s debut album is in my opinion a better album overall. It is a dark heavy album with drummer Jim Rutledge singing songs of great lyrical imagery, with Steve Hill’s mesmerizing swirling organ, & Lee Pickens’ fiery guitar lines.

Emerging from Texas in 1969, Bloodrock prove that good ol' Southern boys could rock as good as any English band at the time. At times, the interplay of guitar & organ reminds a bit of Ritchie Blackmore & Jon Lord in Deep Purple except that Lee Pickens is a more soulful guitar player than Ritchie Blackmore, possibly one of the most underrated guitar players of his era.

Bloodrock - Bloodrock, Capitol Records 435, 1970.
decryption code in comments

Side A -
Gotta Find A Way
Castle of Thought
Fatback
Double Cross
Timepiece

Side B -
Wicked Truth
Gimme Your Head
Fantastic Piece of Architecture
Melvin Laid an Egg

Enjoy,
NØ

Montrose

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 08/22/2013. Enjoy, NØ.

 

There was one band that I saw at Winterland even more than Humble Pie. Bill Graham would stick them on any bill that needed another band & a little wake-up-the-crowd musick.

That was Montrose.

They seem to have been lost in the 70s history rewrite, especially when other American hard rock bands like Grand Funk Railroad & Aerosmith have gained much more (undeserved) exposure.

 

I would really like to post up Jump On It just because of all the testosterone-laced memories it brings up. That cover gives the 'Red Rocker' new meaning. Brother, that’s no camel-toe.

But, fact is, Montrose' self-titled first album is a greater hard rock album. Ronnie Montrose is a talented virtuoso guitarist who had a vision...a vision to rock & to rock hard.

Released in 1973, this record introduced a young Sammy Hagar to the world, but the explosive aggression of Ronnie Montrose's biting guitar left no doubt as to why the band was thusly named. Then there is the rock-solid rhythm section featuring drummer Denny Carmassi & bassist Bill Church.

Songs like "Rock the Nation" & "Good Rockin' Tonight" lay the ground rules for an entire generation of late-70s California bands. But it was the sheer euphoria of "Bad Motor Scooter," the adolescent nastiness of "Rock Candy," & the gargantuan riffage of the phenomenal stand-out tune "Space Station #5" that propelled this slab o' vinyl. If this musick doesn’t rock you, then you’re rock done rolled away. You better go find it, zombi.

Montrose - Montrose, Warner Bros. Records BS 2740, 1973.
decryption code in comments

Side A -

Rock The Nation
Bad Motor Scooter
Space Station
I Don't Want It

Side B -

Good Rockin' Tonight
Rock Candy
One Thing On My Mind
Make It Last

Enjoy,
NØ

Home

 UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 11/25/2013. Enjoy, NØ.

Whenever I say Procol Harum to anyone, they always give one of two responses..."A Whiter Shade of Pale" or "Conquistador".

I think??? Robin Trower...Gary Brooker...Keith Reid & two albums that if you haven’t heard, then you don’t know jack...er,Procol Harum. 1968s Shine On Brightly & 1970s Home.

I am constantly torn trying to decide which one I like the best. I think Shine On right now, but I’m posting Home nonetheless.

“I’ll blacken your Christmas & piss on your door. You’ll cry for mercy, but still there’ll be more.”

Procol Harum 1970: Robin Trower - guitar; Gary Brooker - vocals & piano; Chris Copping - bass & organ; & B.J. Wilson - drums. Lyrics by Keith Reid, music by Brooker or Trower. Produced by Chris Thomas.

Procol Harum - Home, A&M Records, SP 4261, 1970.
decryption code in comments

Side 1 -

Whisky Train
The Dead Man's Dream
Still There'll Be More
Nothing That I Didn't Know
About to Die

Side 2 -

Barnyard Story
Piggy Pig Pig
Whaling Stories
Your Own Choice

Enjoy,
NØ

Fascist Eats Donut

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 10/31/2013. Happy Halloween, NØ

 

Pop-O-Pies - The White EP, 415 Records 415A-0009, 1982.
decryption code in comments

Enjoy,
NØ

Play, Don't Worry

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 10/05/2013. Enjoy, NØ.

 


 

I’ve been listening to a lot of my old (late 60s - early/mid 70s) vinyl. I’ve been driving everyone here at Casa Nada totally bonkers. Decided to pass it on to you. I’ve been going through Traffic (from Mr. Fantasy through Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory), Deep Purple (mainly In Rock), Procol Harum (Shine on Brightly & Home), Free (Heartbreaker), Thin Lizzy (everything from their self-titled first through Bad Reputation), Nazareth (especially Hair of the Dog), Vanilla Fudge (the first four), Ten Years After (from Ssssh through A Space in Time)...well, you get the idea...clean rock, great guitars, lotsa hair.

I never know where to start, exactly, when I get on one of these weird tangents.

I have decided to start with the second album from the much overlooked solo career of one great guitar-slinger, Mick Ronson, ex-Spider from Mars. Mick at first wanted to be a music teacher, but the likes of Jeff Beck, whom he idolized & strove to emulate in his own guitar stylings, filled Ronno's young mind with secret dreams of rock stardom.

Mick played in the obligatory rock (Voices) & soul (Wanted) groups before joining the Rats, a Yardbirds-like r&b unit. They had a few singles on UK Decca & Oriole, but broke up after an ill-fated European tour.

1970.

Enter one David Jones, now not wanting to be confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees & calling himself David Bowie. Ronson signed on as guitarist for Bowie’s new project, brought along friend & ex-Rats drummer Woody Woodmansey & proceeded to create the classic The Man Who Sold the World. After the session, Ronno was again out of work.

Mick was close to calling it quits as a professional musician when Bowie called once more. Mick returned to London with Woodmansey & yet another ex-Rat, bassist Trevor Bolder. They began the sessions for Bowie's brilliant follow-up album Hunky Dory(1971). With the ouster of long-time Bowie co-hort Tony Visconti, Mick took over on the production as well, doing the arrangements for many of the songs, which favored strings, piano & horns.

With this kind of momentum, the ex-Rats were no longer just session musicians, but were finally a band again, becoming the Spiders from Mars. They followed Hunky Dory with The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars. Bowie’s exceptional songwriting & charismatic stage presence were undeniable, but equally crucial was the album’s truly unique sound, which again, as on Hunky Dory, combined strings, keyboards, & acoustic guitars with a crunching rock power trio. Mick Ronson was responsible for that sound. He co-arranged the entire album & performed all the keyboard parts as well as filling his usual role as the guitar-slinger.

Ziggy Stardust’s glitter rock & polysexual decadence made superstars of Bowie & "the Spiders". Ronson, as leader of the Spiders became a star in his own right through several sold-out tours & follow-up work on Bowie's next two albums, Aladdin Sane & Pin Ups (both 1973). Then Bowie announced his "retirement" from the stage. Actually he only retired the band.

Mick didn’t stay retired long, quickly releasing two albums, the Ziggy-influenced Slaughter on 10th Avenue in 1974, followed the next year by the more straight-ahead Play Don't Worry.

He then donned numerous hats: joined Mott the Hoople as guitarist; then when Hoople broke up, he partnered with Ian Hunter for Hunter’s next five solo albums; toured with Hunter in the Hunter-Ronson band; did session work with Kinky Friedman, Pure Prairie League, Genya Ravan, Ellen Foley, Slaughter & the Dogs, & John Cougar (Mellencamp); played guitar in Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue; where he hooked up with Roger McGuinn for the Cardiff Rose album; Ronno also worked as producer for the likes of David Johansen, Morrissey, Iron City Houserockers, the Payolas, & Glen Matlock’s post-Sex Pistols The Rich Kids.

Mick was working on his third solo album when he died of cancer on April 29, 1993 . The result was the posthumous Heaven & Hull.

Although Slaughter on 10th Avenue is probably his most well-known non-Bowie work, my personal favorite is this album, his second solo release from 1975. The album starts off with "Billy Porter" on which Ronson plays all of the instruments himself, showcasing his multi-faceted talent, then goes into one of my favorite tracks, "Angel No. 9". On this song, Ronson’s fierce guitar playing is very up in the mix, highlighting his greatest talent, his sweet guitar chops.

Hope this was a good place to begin this retro-madness.

Mick Ronson - Play Don't Worry, RCA APL1-0681, 1975.
decryption code in comments

Side A -

Billy Porter
Angel No.9
This is for You
White Light / White Heat

Side B -

Play Don't Worry
Hazy Days
Girl Can't Help It
Empty Bed (Io Me Ne Andrei)
Woman

Enjoy,
NØ

Legendary Pink Dots at Cafe Du Nord

 

Last Saturday Lao Elanya, Black Dahlia, Guitar Mike & I ventured out in the worst downpour we’ve had in quite a few years, at times (near Vacaville) with zero visibility, to drop into the basement of San Francisco’s Cafe Du Nord to partake in the artistry that is the Legendary Pink Dots on their (unbelievable) 30th Anniversary tour. 

Nothing could have kept NØ away.

Anyone familiar with this blog knows that I’m a LPD junkie, but honestly, it was the best show I’ve been to in years. Cafe Du Nord is always a great venue for LPD. Everyone in attendance was ready for some great entertainment. They were not denied. LPD played for nearly two hours & did two long encore sets without much begging (some begging, not too much). Words fail me, so I’ll let this approximation of their set speak for the band & my feeble attempt at review.

 

 

I will briefly add that Phil Knight (aka: The Silverman, Phil Harmonix) on keyboards, soundscapes, electronics devices, gadgets, technology; & Edward Ka-Spel (aka: Prophet Qa-Spel, Qa'Sepel, Che Banana, D'Archangel) on vocals, keyboards, devices, gadgets, interference, & premonitions work together as a finely tuned machine & new-comer Erik Drost was , as they say, a thunder of stringed things including acoustic, electric, bass & Hawaiian guitars. It was all lovingly presented by Raymond Steeg, LPD's long-serving mixing & engineering guru. 

 

 

The Legendary Pink Dots - Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, November 20,2010. 

Endless Time 

The More it Changes The More it Stays the Same 

Waiting for the Call 

Another Kind of Violence 

Love Puppets 

The Key to Heaven 

The Brightest Star 

Remember Me This Way 

encore -

Soft Toy 

A Crack in Melancholy Time 

another encore -

Close Your Eyes, You Can be a Space Captain 

Enjoy the show, NØ

TWO BEAUTIFUL WOMEN! AN UNHOLY LUST!

Out of the harrowing days of the Spanish Inquisition, across the centuries, comes the torturous & unforgettable saga of Ambrosio, The Monk.

Proud & powerful, Ambrosio commands legions of adoring followers until violent, forbidden passions drive him from the holy embrace of the Church into the waiting arms of Matilda, an enchanting & treacherous temptress in league with the Devil. Desperate with depraved desires for yet another mysterious, though innocent, woman, Ambrosio is plunged into the terrors of profane, unspeakable acts & dark occult deeds from which there is only one escape.

THE GREAT CLASSIC --- NOW A POPULAR PAPERBACK!

Matthew G. Lewis - The Monk,
Avon (Publishers of Bard, Camelot, Discus, Equinox, & Flare Books),
First Avon Printing, September, 1975.

Just got back from driving a LA round-tripper this weekend. Crazee good hash/sinsemilla voyage. Ate at The Supreme Masters Loving Hut after a mad rush down I5 to the high desert past Palmdale & into the back-door of the Inland Empire. The pure-energy food woke our bodies & souls. We called our contacts & met them on Baseline. They gave us two nights in a plush sweet suite with in-room jacuzzi; the place had a state-of-the art work-out room & indoor pool & sauna. I swam & sweated. We then headed out to Bright Star Vegan Thai for late dinner. They emptied the place out as we munched on Shrimp Batter 1 (vegan tempura from on high!). Then the chef cooked up a presentation dinner that equaled anything from Greens or Millennium.

Somehow through all the insanity of the past few weeks (Tobee dying, Tony in the nursing home), I’ve somehow read my way through the Stieg Larsson The Girl trilogy, The Monkey Wrench Gang (thanks Michelle, I finished it & lent it to a friend who had read it years ago & had been wanting to read it again), & am now reading this.

Enjoy the tune..."Amen" by Bardo Pond from 1993s No Hashish, No Change Money, No Saki Saki. Thought Amen went with THE MONK.

Enjoy,
NØ